Thanks for your wonderful feedback - I'm glad you felt the sorrow that the characters have been feeling. Black clouds will be going away soon, I promise!

Morelli glanced at the clock, it was 11.00am. He'd managed to get 4 hours sleep which had taken the edge off his fatigue. It would have to be enough. He had to get back to his office, pronto and try to plow through some of the backlog that he knew would have accumulated in his three day absence.

"Cupcake?"

"Hmmm?" she replied dreamily.

"I've gotta go. I need to be back in my office asap, you OK?"

"Yeah."

"You did really well and I'm proud of you, but we need to talk, K?" he whispered as he slid out of Steph's bed and stumbled into the bathroom, hoping to come back into focus under the influence of the hot water from the shower. She'd sort of acknowledged his last comment but he didn't want to push it, she'd looked so peaceful. He knew she'd sleep on. God, after what she'd been through she needed it. But what had surprised him was how she was considering all that had happened over the last few days. Amazing.

She was so brave and capable.

And reckless.

Even so, he couldn't believe that she'd volunteered to get herself into such danger. Even worse that he'd had to find out from Manoso. Good job she was leaving Trenton in a few days, he'd be able to keep any eye on her better when they moved into Jack's old apartment together. He stepped into the shower.

As the water washed over him his mind began to wander. He could now see why Ranger and his men were so drawn to her as she'd obviously infected so many people with her crazy personality. Once she got under your skin, you never really recovered.

He began to wonder at the enigma that was his Cupcake. There was so much about her that he'd chosen to ignore – her need for excitement and variety which obviously was a need. Not many girls would have followed him into his parent's garage to learn how to play choo choo for example!

Could he tamp down that need so that she would still be happy but settle into the 'Burg lifestyle' that he now craved? Possibly not a voice whispered. He was starting to have serious doubts about whether he was doing the right thing. Could she cope away from the smog and chaos of the life she had made in Trenton?

He finished in the shower, no closer to resolving the thoughts flooding through his head. But he needed her, didn't he? She was fabulous in bed and a wonderful woman. Funny, sexy, nosey, delicious, vibrant, sexy, demanding, good in bed, stubborn...

As he left Steph's apartment, Joe looked round for the last time. In just over a week Steph would be leaving it all behind. As he'd got dressed he convinced himself that it was nerves that had made him doubt that everything would turn out ok. They were good together but could he control her? He still had to discuss this latest escapade with her and her stupid decision to get involved in something that was of no business of hers. He needed her to realise that she couldn't go finding trouble anymore. Once they were married she'd have to calm down. That was a conversation he was not looking forward to having...

He straightened his back and headed back to his new life heading up a new division five hours away from Trenton.

o0o0o0o0o0o

The next morning, Ranger called the meeting to order in Conference Room B. It was the biggest of all the meeting rooms and was full to bursting with Rangeman personnel plus Steph, Joe Juniak and Dave Sewell a director from the FBI who had brought along a court reporter to officially document everything.

The events of the previous three days were listed on Ranger's laptop which was currently beaming onto the screen at the front of the room. As each key event was reached, the appropriate people stood up to recall their actions. Everything was duly annotated by Elaine.

Once it was all recounted, Dave Sewell stood up to thank everyone for their efforts, which had not only returned a lot of people to their loved ones, but looked to have provided enough evidence to smash a huge human trafficking ring that spanned seven other countries. He was a very happy man.

Once Sewell had finished, Ranger stood up to wrap up the meeting and to show his appreciation for a job extremely well done, then he dismissed everyone. As Steph made to leave he caught her arm gently and asked her to have lunch with him and Tank on 7 there was something he wanted to talk to her about. She nodded her consent and said she'd pop up to Ella's to ask her to prepare some lunch. She also said she'd stop for a chat with some of his men and meet him in his apartment at 1.00. He smiled longingly at her back as he watched her leave.

He turned round to find the room empty except for Juniak.

"Can't believe you're letting her go" Juniak said, walking round from the other side of the desk towards the door, looking him in the eye and waiting for a reaction as he continued. "Joe's too focused on his own requirements to be able to really give her what she needs. Unfortunately he needs someone to look after him – I'm not sure that's right for my girl. She's a remarkable woman and needs someone who'll let her fly. Why have you decided to let her go? I may not see everything that goes on between those I work with, but I do have ears and they are large and extremely good at hearing things" he gave Ranger a knowing look "I know what people bet on and it's not all based on when her next car will get blown up, if you get my meaning."

Ranger knew exactly what Juniak meant. "My life doesn't lend itself to relationships. Morelli is at least willing to give her that" he replied stiffly, his blank face giving nothing away.

"Are you really sure that's what she wants?" Juniak persisted, determined to leave Manoso with something to think about. His surrogate niece was too precious to him not to at least make his point completely clear. "She loves you, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, but I can't give her what she needs..."

"Bullshit! I never had you down for a fool, or even worse a coward!" Juniak snorted. "I thought you were better than that." He said waving his hands in the air in frustration and went off in search of the elevator.

o0o0o0o0o0o

Ranger was quiet on his way up to 7. It pained him to think that today would probably be the last time Steph would ever be in his apartment. Could he live with that? He had no choice. She was going in just over a week and the more he thought about it the worse the pain got. He'd made his decision, he wasn't going to complicate her life any more. She didn't deserve any more confusion caused by his poaching or innuendo and he wasn't sure he could give her she really wanted from him.

God it hurt though.

o0o0o0o0o0o

"So what you're saying is that I get 25% of the total reward which to date stands at $389,975? Are you sure? That means I would get nearly $100,000, more if the figure rises! That's ridiculous! You put in so many men and equpiment, you must be out of pocket! She looked to Tank for support, he just looked at her and grinned.

"Actually, it's $97,494 and you earned every penny, though I'd have loved to see you wielding that tie..." Ranger smirked (Ok, so the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, which for Ranger was the equivalent of a full blown belly laugh).

Steph raised her hand to stop him. She really did not want to be reminded of that part of the 'adventure'. She still didn't feel totally clean and she'd had a couple of long and very hot showers since then.

"I'll gladly to take some of the money, but I can't take that much. I wouldn't know what to do with it. Use it to set up Rhianna and Britney. They have nothing and no-one. Their need is much greater than mine. I'll take a maximum of $30,000 and no more. That's my final word!" She said, crossing her arms over her chest to emphasise her declaration.

"Babe." He said. Only you, he thought.

Tank's phone rang at that moment and he stood up and wandered off towards the kitchen to answer it.

"Duty calls." Tank said a few moments later snapping his phone shut and returning to the lounge where Steph and Ranger were sat on different couches. So different from the last time she'd been here, he thought. That time she'd been sat round him, on his lap and in his heart. What had happened to let the cop win? He thought sadly. He nodded briefly to them both and left.

Steph's stomach growled "time to feed the beast, Babe" Ranger said standing up and offering his hand to her. She stood up and took it and he led her to the dining table where Ella had laid out a simple but tasty meal of mixed salad leaves, lightly toasted bagels, various cheeses and relishes.

They ate in silence, each in their own sad world, thinking about the end of their friendship and how they would be affected by it. Both knew that they couldn't continue what they had over distance. It would be too painful. Best to let go completely and suffer in the short term rather than let it die a painful and slow death. Half an hour later they left in silence. Ranger headed to 5 and Steph carried on down to the car park. Both in denial. They didn't say goodbye or touch in any way. It would have been too much.

Tears fell silently from Steph's eyes and ran gently down her cheeks.

Ranger cried invisible tears that tore his heart to pieces.

o0o0o0o0o0o

"So, white girl, you gotta tell us the whole story on account of my Tank won't tell me nothin'. He says you needed to tell me yourself. He was so proud of you. Come on spill it – we want every last detail." Lula was seated on the fake leather sofa in the bonds office. Her usual vibrant spandex and lycra combination stretched to capacity. How it didn't explode Steph had never figured out. She was relieved that it hadn't though as she figured that like Humpty Dumpty she'd never be quite the same again.

Connie was loading the coffee machine with beans and begged them to wait until she was back with a fresh brew. Vinnie yelled through his closed door for her to get on with it. He'd obviously hidden a bug so he could hear clearly with the door shut. She didn't want to think about that too closely. Pevert. EEEEwwwwww.

"Ok, Lula, let's wait for Connie. All I will say is thanks for the ho'ing lessons – they came into their own."

Lionel came in at that moment with a body receipt and sank down on the sofa next to Lula "Steph I never had a chance to thank you for all that you did for Rhianna and Britney. They're really coming to terms with all that has happened and already I can see they'll be OK. I'm so pleased that you were willing to help them. You're a saint, a saviour, Wonder Wom..."

At that moment Steph's 'saviour', Connie, came back with a fresh pot of coffee. Steph felt like asking whether everyone was comfortable before she began, but just suppressed a smile and started from the beginning.

o0o0o0o0o0o

"Wow!" said Connie.

"You're either completely insane or a hero, or both" said Lionel.

"White girl" said Lula.

"Is there a video?" yelled a breathless Vinnie, still hiding in his office.

o0o0o0o0o0o

Later that day:

Steph needed to talk to someone so decided to go and scrounge dinner at her parents. She arrived at 5.59 to find her mother and Grandmother standing on the porch waiting for her. Yeesh.

"Hi Mum, Hi Grandma" she said as she marched up the path. They stood there smiling at her and waited till she reached them before pulling her into a big three-way hug. Steph was going to miss them so much. Stop it, said Sensible Steph, you've made your decision. Stupid Steph stormed off in a huff, not able to come up with a witty reply.

Later that evening as they tidied up the kitchen Steph took her Mum's hands in her own and pulled her to the table. "Mum, am I doing the right thing?" she asked, looking into her mother's eyes for her reaction to such an important question and sitting them both down.

"Steph, dear, I don't know. If you leave I'll miss you terribly as will lots of other people. But only you and Joe know whether this is the right thing for both of you. Aren't you leaving it pretty late to be having second thoughts though, sweetheart." She asked gently.

"I don't know, Mum. It's just that I'll be leaving so much behind and Joe and I don't have the best track record. What if there's someone else out there that is the perfect fit for me? Am I only going with Joe to stop myself from being alone?"

"Oh, Steph!" Ellen said, getting up from the table and cutting piece of pineapple upside down cake which she plated up and slid and a fork across the table at her daughter. "You can't think like that. You're one of the toughest people I know. You're quite capable of being on your own but I don't think that's the issue here, is it?" She coughed slightly and Steph raised her head which allowed Ellen to look directly into her eyes. "Life is what you make of it. You know better than most that people don't like to be manipulated." Ellen had the grace to look a little sheepish before she continued. "I also know all about your feelings for Ranger and that he's given you everything except a relationship. Can you wait around for him just in case he changes his mind? Don't you think that you deserve better? Joe loves you and wants you in his life. Only you can decide whether that's what's right for you. What if you decide to wait for Ranger to change? What if he doesn't want to or can't? What if you could really build a great life with Joe but decide to chase a dream? Something that might never be? I can't tell you what the right thing to do is. You are the only one who can decide that. But whatever happens, I'll always be here for you. You know that, don't you? Anyway, dear. It's late and you need to get some rest. Go speak to Joe this evening and try to sort out what you want from your life."

With that the alien that had invaded the body of Ellen Plum packed up a bag of leftovers and sent a stunned Steph back home to Rex.

That night Steph braced herself for the Morelli disapproval whirlwind as she dialled Joe's number. They still hadn't talked about her involvement with Brewster...

Instead she got his answerphone.

Damn!

Steph fell asleep in her thinking position. Trying to work out whether it was nerves that were making her have second thoughts or whether it was something else. Whenever she thought of Joe and where he was living her spidey sense went off but she couldn't quite identify the reason why. On top of that, her Mum had thrown her completely with her earlier conversation.

What about Ranger? Oh God, Ranger!

What to do, what to do? A few more days and it would all be over she thought as she drifted off into the Land of Denial where she reigned supreme.

o0o0o0o0o0o

Joe heard the answer machine kick in and sloped over to listen to the caller. He really wasn't up to dealing with Steph right now so he left it to pick up her call. The further away from her he'd driven the more angry he'd become with her for getting involved with Brewster. What if she'd been raped or killed? How could she have put herself in such danger? Why didn't she seem as affected by it all as he was? Didn't she care about her own well being?

Did he even know Steph at all?

He decided that he needed to calm down before he had that conversation. After all, not only had she endangered her life, but he now so far behind on his work again that all the effort into getting ahead seemed pointless.

He stomped downstairs and grabbed a beer out of the fridge.

"Hey, you OK, Joe?" Aly asked, wandering into the kitchen.

o0o0o0o0o0o

"Lula?"

"Yeah..."

"Lula, you will visit me won't you? You know, when I move away?"

"Yeah..."

Steph could see her friend wasn't really listening. Crap! She hadn't even left and people were already forgetting her. Would Ranger forget her so easily? That thought caught in her throat and she let out a sob.

Lula turned in her seat and gave her best friend a worried look. "You OK, white girl?" she asked, taking her eyes off the small apartment block they were currently staking out.

"Yeah" she said and broke down in tears, recounting the events of the previous evening between sobs and sniffles.

Joe had called her back a couple of hours after she'd left her message and she could tell he'd had more than a couple of beers. The disapproval conversation that they'd both been dreading was hard and nasty and they'd both gone off into their separate corners to nurse their wounds having finished their phone call on an all time low. She wasn't even sure whether they'd actually said goodbye before hanging up on each other.

Steph had called him back at 2.00 in the morning unable to sleep and she could tell Joe wasn't alone. He'd told her he had fallen asleep on the couch and that he was sorry for all the things he'd said. Somehow she didn't quite believe him. They finished the conversation on a better note and said a much happier goodnight and she'd sloped back to bed where she'd watched the numbers change on her alarm clock for another three hours. Eventually she'd given up all pretence at sleep and gone to watch Rex run round in his soup can.

As she finished recounting her tale, Lula pulled her into her arms "White girl, you need to have this out with Supercop. He can't mess you around at this stage. What if he's been foolin' with you? If it ain't gonna work you need to know NOW!"

They both looked at each other and Steph knew exactly what she had to do.