Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J. E. belong to J. E. All other characters are a figment of my imagination and any resemblance to real persons is strictly coincidental.

While reading a story co-authored by Margaret and Melissa,I read part of a chapter that started me thinking. So thank you Margaret and Melissa for helping me come up with the basic idea. This story has a lot of Joe Morelli in it, but the story is not a Cupcake. If you aren't a Joe fan you may not like the story. There is a Babe presence in the story though.

Warning: Violent subject matter

Chapter 4: The Story Continues

Joe's POV:

I knew when I left Trenton that I had no plans to contact Stephanie. Not then, and not when I got back home. I'd done the best I could to protect her and to get her to move on with her life without giving me too much thought. What I hadn't counted on was that I might have done too good a job at pissing her off. I got a clue as to just how pissed off she was when I returned to Trenton once I got out of the Navy. I was sitting outside Giovichinni's Meat Market when I saw her driving by in her dad's Buick. Suddenly she jumped the curb and ran right into me knocking me on my ass and breaking my leg.

After that I made sure to stay out of her way. I had made several decisions, and it was time I put them in motion. I entered the police academy and intended to have a life free from my father's legacy. I worked hard and made some good busts. I ran into Terry often in my work, especially when the police needed information from her uncle. I was the only cop he was willing to deal with. I think he knew how much I loved Terry, and that I would do my best to protect her. That was my only regret. I could never marry the woman I loved because I chose to be a cop, and her family was Mafia.

I lived for the times we worked together. Then I could be with her for real. For years it was enough. Then Terry started to notice how I'd watch the children playing and get a faraway look. She told me we needed to stop hurting each other and move on. She knew she couldn't give me the one thing I really wanted, a family. So when I finished my last assignment, we agreed to end it and move on. It hurt.

That was about the time that my life got fucked up when I was arrested for supposedly killing an unarmed man. I had no choice but to go FTA if I wanted to stay alive. I very much wanted to stay alive. I had no choice but to go into hiding. Who should Vinnie send after me? None other than Stephanie Plum. The only other girl I'd ever had feelings for. I couldn't believe when she stole my jeep and was riding around in it. I fell in love for the second time in my life.

It took us a while to finally get together, but we did eventually. She was being stalked by Sugar and her apartment had been blown up. She showed up at my place needing a place to stay. I had every intention of keeping her safe and finding the bastard that tried to take her out. In the end, she'd taken Sugar on and managed to take him down at an apartment complex near a bar where she and Sally had gone looking for Sugar.

Seems Stephanie was always winding up looking for an FTA that ended up leading her to all my answers for my current cases before I could solve them myself. I hated her being involved though. I wanted to protect her from all that. I wanted her for what I gave up Terry for, to be my wife and the mother of my children. I did love her. But she was never able to make that final commitment to me. I knew she loved me. But apparently it wasn't enough to marry me and be a stay at home wife and mother like all the other Burg wives.

I think the final nail in my coffin as far as marrying Stephanie went was the way she reacted when Manoso walked into her apartment when Skog had her and Manoso's daughter. She was inconsolable when he'd been shot. She refused to leave his hospital room till he was released from the hospital. That was the beginning of the end, but there was no stopping the downward spiral of our relationship. By the time I finally admitted we were over, the only thing I could do for her was to make sure Manoso took his head out of his ass and accepted what was right in front of all of us.

I'll never forget that meeting. We ended up beating the shit out of each other, neither one of us willing to cry uncle. In the end, I couldn't keep going against his unrelenting strength. When I lay there gasping for breath, he asked me why I was doing this. I looked him in the eye and told him. I told him everything from when I was eight and she was six, to the Tasty Pastry, to all the rest. I told him that at the end of the day, even though we couldn't make a go of it, I loved her.

Manoso turned to me and told me I was a fool. He had no doubt I loved Stephanie, but he told me I was part of the problem. He told me you can't love someone with the idea of changing them to fit your own needs. I nodded and told him he would never have to worry about Stephanie trying to change him. She loved him just the way he was. Then I told him what he didn't see after Skog shot him. The look on his face made my heart hurt. He told me he did love Stephanie, in every way a man could love a woman. But he wasn't going to put her in the path of danger. I turned and met his gaze. I asked him if he thought that would stop Stephanie if she thought his life was in danger and there was anything she could do to save him. He just laughed and said nothing in the world could stop Stephanie from doing something once she's made up her mind to do it. Then he looked at me and told me if I really loved Terry, I wouldn't let anything stand in my way of being with her. I guess we both had something to think about.