Ranger stood at the edge of the parking lot and watch the scene in front of him unfold. He was too far away from her and she was locked to deeply in her own misery for Steph to notice him so he just stood, glued to the spot, as Morelli walked over to 'his' Babe. To the casual eye Joe looked calm but Manoso knew better, he could see the tension in the other man's shoulders and the oh so slight scowl on his face.

Steph was sitting with her long legs folded up in front of her with her arms wrapped round them, watching her latest PoS slowly melting, flames licking gracefully from its interior. Her chin was resting on her knees and her eyes were locked on the carnage. She was oblivious to the people frantically moving around her, doing a futile job of trying to save her car.

Joe crouched down in front of her, blocking her view, she looked up slowly and blankly at him. He watched a muscle in Morelli's jaw twitch. Yep, Ranger could see he was pissed alright.

A short conversation took place then Joe reached out and grabbed her hand, yanking her hard as he stood up. Reluctantly she followed him to a standing position. He made no move to comfort her or try to ease her pain. Instead he began to wave his hands round and pace about and even from where he was standing, Ranger could hear the odd comment.

"Maalox"

"Button factory"

"Madness"

"Quit"

Ranger couldn't take any more and walked over to where Steph was standing, his eyes locked on her. Concern written behind them.

"Babe?" he asked, stopping Joe in his tracks.

Steph turned to look at him, snapping out of her reverie. Ranger did a mental chuckle, it was obvious she'd been in the land of Denial from the moment Joe had walked over to her.

She smiled at him "Fine, Ranger, just fine and dandy. It wasn't my fault, you know" she added sheepishly. He almost smiled and leant forward tucking a curl behind her smudge-ridden face. "Need a ride?"

"Yeah, that would be great. Joe was finished anyway." She added pointedly, giving him a Burg death glare.

Joe returned it before turning on his heels, waving a hand behind him and stomping off, muttering about death and Batman or something.

Ranger took her gently by the elbow and steered towards the Explorer he was driving before opening the door and helping her up. So his hands lingered on her ass a little longer than they should have done but at that moment if he'd dropped her pants and taken her from behind he doubted she would have even noticed.

"Where to, Babe?" he asked, hoping she wanted comfort with him on 7.

"My apartment, please. That is if it's OK with you."

Ranger did a mental pout which clearly didn't make it to his face but set off towards her crappy flat anyway. Minutes later they arrived and he parked by the dumpster. Seems her parking karma rubbed off on him, he mused as he climbed down and went round to help Steph.

Minutes later he'd checked out her apartment and deemed it safe to enter so gently pulled Steph in.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked as she wandered into the kitchen with him following behind.

"Nah. Same old, same old" she nonchalantly replied as she reached into the fridge for a couple of bottles of water.

At that moment Ranger's phone went off. He quickly took the call. "Sorry, Babe, duty calls" he said, effectively stopping any conversation they may have been about to have. He ruffled her tangled curls, smiled slightly and left. Again.

He sprinted down the stairs and out the door. Again. Would he ever be able to have a conversation with Steph and tell her how he felt. How did he feel? He thought as he turned over the engine and exited her parking lot.

It took eight minutes to get to where he was needed and in that time he thought about how he really felt about Stephanie Michelle Plum. He smiled ironically as he realised that he was her own personal long term stalker. Perhaps a lot more subtle than all the others before and since, but he'd been fixated with her since that day in the diner when he'd been waiting for Barratt.

Ok, so he didn't have her picture plastered all over his walls – they were in his head and heart instead.

Ok, so he didn't send her cryptic messages – he just said "Babe" instead.

Was he ever going to take it up to the next level? Probably not, after all Morelli was still in her life and it looked like he was probably going to be there forever. He couldn't give his life to her only for her to go back to the cop. He wouldn't be able to cope with the rejection.

As he pulled up behind Brown's vehicle he'd reached a decision. He'd stay her stalker, after all, that was what he was best at, wasn't it?

o0o0o0o0o0o

Steph pulled herself reluctantly from her now tepid bath, sliding her hands over her body to remove the bubbles before stepping out and wrapping a bald towel round herself. After drying most of her body she padded across her threadbare carpet and into her closet, looking for a clean pair of jeans and t-shirt.

In the background she could hear her cell phone ring with the theme tune to the Sopranos, it was Joe. She walked through to it and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Cupcake"

"Hi Joe" she said, sighing sadly.

"Sorry, Steph. I didn't mean to have a go at you. It's just that I get so worried about you. Can I come round and make it up to you? The boys miss you." He added hopefully.

"Fine, as long as you bring food with you – the cupboards are bare" she added, still with sadness in her voice.

"Be there in 5, I'm in the parking lot" he replied, a grin clearly evident in his voice.

"Smartass" she replied, almost smiling.

Steph finished getting dressed, leaving her hair loose to fall down her back. She threw on some war paint and went to face Joe, putting on a couple of coats of mascara for courage. She figured she might need it after the thinking she'd done whilst in the bath.

o0o0o0o0o0o

"So, you're saying you need a break, right?" Joe said as he reached for the last piece of pizza.

"Yeah, something like that" Steph replied.

"Why?" he asked, genuinely surprised that she'd reached her decision so easily. Come on, it wasn't as if he didn't shout at her on a regular basis, plus the make-up sex was phenomenal. There must be more to it than that, he thought as he chewed.

"I don't know. I just think we're not good for each other. You drink too much Maalox, I ruin too many cars. TPD spends its life paying out on bets related to my work..."

"That's easy, quit and come and live with me." Joe grinned, waggling his eyebrows.

"Joe!" Steph groaned. "You don't get it do you. Sure the sex is great, but the arguments aren't. The making up doesn't outweigh the shit that goes before it any more. I'm really sorry, Joe, but I need to get my head clear."

Joe could see she meant it and stopped, his pizza just inches from his mouth which was open in readiness. He put it down onto the box and leant forward.

"Have you thought about this, I mean really thought about this?" he asked, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his legs.

"The details, no. The overall picture, yes." Steph replied, dipping her head.

"It's him, isn't it" Joe hissed out "You're going to run off to him, fall into his arms." He leaned further forward and if looks could kill then she'd have been badly damaged at least.

"No!" she said, snapping her head up to look at him. "Why do you always think it's about Ranger? This has nothing to do with him. He's just a friend. He's made that very clear that's all we could ever be." She stood up "Damnit Joe, this is about me. Us. My life. Your life." She went and stood by the window looking out. "I've realised that I need to grow up. Look at my life, Joe! Look at my crappy apartment" she whined, turning round and sweeping one of her arms out to demonstrate. "Is what we have and this all I have to show for 31 years of life? I suck, our relationship sucks. This flat sucks."

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry" Joe mumbled as he stood up and wandered over to where she stood. "Can I at least give you a hug before I go?" he asked gently.

She nodded and he wrapped her up in his arms, kissing her head. "I guess you're right, though I had hoped we be together for a bit longer. If you need me you know where I am. I'll always love you Cupcake." He added, tightening his grip slightly before pulling her back. He could see big tears in her eyes so turned to leave knowing she'd want to release them in private.

"Any time, day or night, call me and I'll be there." He said as he picked up his jacket and left.

Steph turned back to the window and looked down on the parking lot. What she'd done hadn't been easy but it had been for the best. Joe could finally move on and find someone to share his dreams with. She'd known for a long time that she couldn't be that person. It had just taken today's events to push her over the edge. To make the break that they so badly needed.

Joe was walking towards his car and turned to look up at her window. Seeing her there he waved and blew her a kiss before heading off to get on with his life.

Steph turned away and looked at the sight before her. She needed to change everything. She needed a refuge from the world outside. She reached for her phone and pressed speed dial, she knew just who to turn to.