Not a songfic, just another title inspired by Bon Jovi

Hope you feel better, Becky!

This fic is based on, and inspired by my friend from the other side.

Disclaimer: As per usual, I don't own anything, I'm just having fun with JE's characters

Raiting: K, T, whatever. No smut. The f-word though…

Who Says You Can't Go Home?

4

'I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold
I've been there, done that, I ain't lookin' back
The seeds I've sown, saving dimes, spending too much time on the telephone...'

Bon Jovi "Who says you can't go home"

"I mean it." Joe confirmed. "I want today be the first day of the rest of our lives." I rolled my eyes. I really don't do displays of emotions well.

Joe did a palms-up. "Look, I understand you're skeptical. I mean it though, let me prove it to you."

Well, I had decided to give him a chance…and it was true, one more day wouldn't matter. If I saw any change in our relationship, if I saw he was trying, I could give it another day. As long as I was careful not to slip back into our old pattern.

"Okay," I said and picked up the stack of files. "First up is Lucy Klein. Beat up another soccer mom at her son's game." I scanned over the information. Lucy didn't look like much of a threat, not like someone I couldn't handle on my own.

I looked up to see Joe's reaction. He was listening and his cop face was in place, the one that showed no emotion.

"Does it mention any weapons?" He asked. He was actually going to do this! I read over the file again. "No," I said, "It sounds like the other woman didn't really have to press charges, there were just a few bruises and scratches." I saw Morelli's eyes glaze over and sighed. Men!

"Get your mind out of the gutter, it wasn't a cat fight! Lucy pushed the other woman into a hedge!"

"Oh," Morelli said, "Bummer." I smiled. He was so predictable sometimes.

"So if she isn't armed, there's no need to bring your gun, right?" He asked, his eyebrows raised. Morelli knew I had a license to carry a gun, but not to hide it in my purse. That was called carrying concealed and other than the cops and a few chosen individuals, no one had a license for that. Morelli hated it when I carried concealed because it forced him to turn a blind eye. After all, he was a cop and I was breaking the law. Since I was very reluctant to use my gun for actual shooting, I mostly kept it in my cookie jar. I just didn't like guns.

"No need," I agreed, "But I'll still bring my cuffs and my stun gun." Morelli nodded. Round one had gone without a fight.

I rinsed my cup and got my jacket and my shoulder bag; Morelli was already good to go. He always kept a change of clothes at my house in case he stayed over.

"Do you want to drive?" He asked when we had gotten downstairs. Yeah, right, like I was going to believe that. No way was he being serious. He was trying though, I had to give him that.

"Why don't you drive and I give the directions?" I asked and headed for his truck. I was just as good a driver as Morelli, but I never turned down the opportunity to be chauffeured around. Also, his cars didn't usually blow up, so in a way, I was prolonging my car's life if we were only seen in his.

"Let's hit McDonald's first though, I need a good breakfast to get me started." I said. Morelli smiled and started the car. This was one big difference between Morelli and Ranger. Ranger would have given me a look and a reminder that McD's was going to kill me. Morelli was probably already thinking about his order.

This might not be such a bad idea, I thought as were on our way. If the women didn't cooperate, I could send Morelli to charm them into following. If the men were reluctant to come along, I could have Morelli wave his badge. Then again, the whole idea was for me to show Morelli I could do my job, so probably it was best to get him involved as little as possible. Me and my damned independence!

We pulled into the drive-thru lane at McDonald's and Morelli placed our order. I wanted to make a snarky remark about how he'd made a decision for me, but unfortunately, he'd ordered exactly what I wanted. The man knew me too well.

Armed with our breakfast, we took off for Ames Street to find Lucy. She lived in a cookie-cutter middle class neighborhood of single storied ranches. The colors varied, but it was still easy to see one house was like the other. I counted off the houses until we found 405 and asked Morelli to wait in the car.

"I thought I was helping you?" He said. "Of course you are. I'll tell you when I need help." I said, rummaging through my bag.

"What are you looking for?"

"My cuffs."

Morelli sighed and opened the glove compartment, pulling out a pair of cuffs. "Try not to lose them." He said and handed them to me. I leaned over and kissed him quickly.

"Wish me luck!" I said and got out of the car.

I knew he was watching me, so I tried to put extra confidence in my step as I approached the front door. I knocked and took a step back, plastering a friendly smile onto my face.

Unfortunately, it wasn't Lucy who answered the door, it was her husband. Or I assumed it was her husband since he looked like he was in his 40's and was dressed in a white wifebeater and blue shorts. He had apparently forgotten to shave for a couple days and his greasy brown hair clung to his scalp.

"Whaddaya want?" He greeted me, and even through the screen door, I could smell his 100 proof breath. I kept my smile though.

"Hi, my name is Stephanie Plum. I'm looking for Lucy?"

"I know who you are!" He slurred. "Get the fuck off my property!"

So much for the easy capture, I thought. "Mr. Klein, your wife didn't keep her court date the other day and we'd like her to reschedule."

Only first-time offenders usually fell for that line, but it was worth a try. Instead of replying, Klein reached behind him and before I knew it, I heard the unmistakable sound of a shotgun being loaded. Lucy's bond was $3000, and $300 wasn't worth getting shot for, whether my rent was due or not.

I turned on my heel and ran as fast as I could back to the car. I heard the screen door screech open and the racket, then a shot was fired.

I reached the car completely out of breath and when I looked over my shoulder, I could see Klein huffing over the front lawn.

"Go, go, GOOOOO!" I yelled and jumped into the passenger side. Morelli jumped away from the curb and sped down Ames.

"What the hell happened?" Morelli yelled. I was still trying to catch my breath, so I ignored him for the time being.

Morelli took a left and pulled over. He swiveled in his seat to face me. "Stephanie, what the hell happened?"
"She didn't want to come with," I said sarcastically.

"Christ!" Morelli said and banged his head on the steering wheel. "Are you okay?" He asked after a beat.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It wasn't her anyway, it was her husband. I'll just stalk the place out first, I'll come back when he's not there."

I looked up when Morelli didn't reply. One look at him and I knew he was having an inner debate. It would be so easy for him to say 'You see???? That's exactly why I want you to quit your job!' and we both knew it.

In a way, I was happy it had turned out this way. This was the true test: How would he react?

I could see a muscle in his jaw move; he was clearly fighting for control. "Is this a typical day for you?" He finally asked. He knew exactly how often things like this happened to me. Reverse psychology, I got it.

I shrugged. "Not typical, but not out of the ordinary either." It was the truth. I had gotten used to it a little bit, although I still hated getting shot at.

Morelli shook his head. "And you like it?" He asked.

I shrugged again. "I don't have to wear pantyhose."

Morelli looked heavenwards and took a deep breath. "I better stock up on my Maalox." He said and put the car in gear. My eyebrows shot up to my hairline. Was that it? Was he really not going to make a bigger deal out of this?

I had to give him credit, he was really trying.

I leaned over and kissed his cheek, smiling.

A/N: OK, what do you think? More?