Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them.
Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it. So here is the normal update for this week. There will be another on Friday.
Warning: Tissues may be needed towards the end.
Behind Blue Eyes Chp 10
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After three months, Helen had decided to give up all hope and have a memorial service for her daughter. There was a severe division in the family at this announcement, but nothing was going to stop Helen. It seemed that the talk about Stephanie was dwindling since there was nothing new and Helen had decided that everyone needed to grieve the loss. The argument between Helen and Frank was almost on the same scale as the fight between Stephanie and Dickies divorce.
"She is not dead. We will not be having a memorial service." Frank yelled.
"It's time that we move on. She's gone Frank. It's time to grieve and then move on with our lives." Helen said.
"This is our daughter you're talking about." Frank yelled. "You want to give up on her, like you always have. You never supported her in anything that she did, so you are willing to give up all hope that she will come back so you can go back to your normal little life. You're a cold hearted woman Helen." He finished coolly.
"I don't deserve to be talked to that way Frank. She was a difficult child, and yes she embarrassed me a lot, but if I didn't believe that she were dead I wouldn't be doing this. I have a right to grieve." Helen said sadly.
"You want attention, it's not grief. The only thing I've heard come from you in the past three months that I have been searching for my daughter is 'why me' 'Why does my daughter have to get kidnapped.' It's not about you, it's about Stephanie." Frank yelled.
"And she's not here is she? No, the selfish child never put her families needs before her own and look where it got her." Helen spat.
"You're blaming her for this? You think this is something that she wanted?" Frank asked loudly. "Wow, if I didn't know any better I'd bet that you thought everything that went wrong in your life was Stephanie's fault." He looked deep into his wifes' eyes and saw that what he spoke was the truth, she did blame everything on Stephanie. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down before he said anything, "No wonder she hated coming here, I had no idea that you hated her. I know that you were jealous of her free spiritedness, but I had no idea you were that heartless, that you would hate and despise your own daughter."
Frank walked up the stairs with Helen following him, "I'm leaving. I won't be back anytime soon. You'll be getting divorce papers soon, I suggest that you sign them." He threw some clothes and his toiletries in a suitcase and went down the stairs.
"Frank you can't be serious. You need to be at the memorial service. What will the neighbors think?" Helen shrieked.
He turned to look at the woman he thought he knew and told her, "I don't give a fuck what the neighbors think." He turned around and walked out to his car and was out of the driveway within seconds.
The memorial service took place just as planned, without Rangeman in attendance, without her father and grandmother, and without anyone who truly considered themselves a friend of Stephanie Plum. None of them were ready to give up on her just yet. The only ones in attendance were the gossip mongers of the burg', Helen Plum and Joe Morelli. Even the majority of the TPD refused to attend. Joe sat holding Helens hand as the priest spoke and gave her a shoulder to cry on, however the tears were oddly missing.
Frank had made several trips around the country based on some random information that they had received on possible sightings of Stephanie. Each time one came in, the hopes of the men within the building on Haywood would rise, only to fall again once it was proved to be a false lead. Frank was now living on the fourth floor of the building, and taking a more active role in the business and getting into contact with many of the men that he had under his command in years past. Young and old, they all understood exactly how he felt about this missing daughter and they all vowed to do anything they could to help with her safe return home.
On his latest trip to DC he came across a young man who he had known since he entered boot camp. He hadn't changed much, maybe matured a bit, but the young man had always reminded him of Stephanie. It took him a while to adjust to the strict discipline of the military, but once he was able to control his energy and spirit he was a fine soldier, actually one of the best.
The man walked toward him with a smile on his face and shook his hand, "General Plum, how are you sir?" the young man asked.
A small smile came to his face, "Physically fine, but things could be a lot better Sergant. How about you?"
"Good sir, I just finished my contract. I finally decided that it's time to get out and find something less dangerous to do with my life." he smiled.
"Good for you son." Frank clapped him on the shoulder.
"Sir, is there anything that I can help you with? Excuse me for saying so, but you don't seem to be yourself." The young man asked.
With a deep sigh Frank admitted, "My daughter is missing, has been for nearly four months. Just let me know if you hear anything."
"Will do sir, but I'm heading out of the country, do you have any idea where she may be?" He asked.
Frank shook his head no, "She was taken from the hospital while she was unconscious. She'd been in an explosion and was placed in a medically induced coma until the swelling on her brain had dissipated, but was taken before she woke up, we have absolutely nothing to go on."
The young man frowned, that was definitely not good news. He knew that whoever had taken her in this case was professional, it just wasn't clear if this was to harm or to hold as leverage. He pitied the man, the General had spoken openly about his daughter on several occassions and he and his brothers in arms had hoped to one day meet her. He could only hope she was alright. "You'll find her sir." They shook hands and parted ways going about their scheduled day as if nothing had happened. The young man to his apartment and finish packing so he could head to his new job and life abroad, and the General to check with old collegues and see if they had anything new for him.
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The burg was in an uproar today, all claiming that Joe Morelli was scum of the earth. News that should have made Ranger ecstatic in any other situation, made him raging mad today. Under normal circumstances he would have been jumping around like an idiot, knowing that Morelli had skipped town with his latest girlfriend to Vegas to get married because she was pregnant should have been good news. It wasn't Stephanie, his babe, that Morelli had knocked up, he should have been elated. However, given the fact that four months after Stephanie had disappeared the man had already gotten another woman pregnant and was marrying her only enraged him.
Ranger destroyed his apartment after hearing the news. Not because he was upset that Morelli was getting married to any woman that was not Stephanie, but because he was so angry that Morelli had just given up on her. It had only taken Joe a month to move on to someone new. He had dated a few women since she had disappeared, but this one had gotten pregnant, so he was marrying her. He was supposed to love Stephanie. How could you claim to love someone and give up on them? A month, a fucking month, and he had moved on, four months and he was getting married.
As he raged in his apartment he threw anything that wasn't nailed down. The art work that was over the mantle had been sent sailing through the air, the glass vases that had once adorned the entertainment center were now just shards of glass on the floor. There were several gaping holes in the walls that he had put his hand through. The dining room table was nothing but shredded shards of wood. Not a glass or plate in the kitchen were left intact, the bed in his room was thrown from the box spring and the bed tables were smashed beyond recognition, the couch and chairs were ripped and overturned. The only things that remained untouched in his apartment were an 8x10 picture of himself and Stephanie leaning into each other, her hands splayed across his chest, his arms around her waist, and a look of pure love in their eyes, and the cage on the kitchen counter that housed Rex, who was now cowering in his can.
Ranger slid down the wall of his living room and let the tears flow down his face. Energy spent on the destruction of his apartment now gone. The front door of his apartment opened slowly, and Ranger waited to see who it was that dared enter.
Ella made her way to his side after scanning the room, and slid down the wall to sit beside him. "Talk to me." was all she said.
He took a few deep breaths before he opened his mouth to speak. "How could he have claimed to love her and then move on, only a month later, when we haven't even found her? He just gave up on her." He paused. "How could he do that to someone that he claimed he wanted to spend the rest of his life with?"
"There are all types of love Carlos. The question should be, did he ever love her the right way for her? Through the years I have watched Stephanie and Joe go back and forth, heard the arguments, and was also an ear to listen when Stephanie needed it. She told me many things that probably not many know. Joe may have loved her, but he was also killing her little by little with his version of love. He may have just realized this himself and the only way to put it behind him was to move on. He may not have given up on her, but just on his relationship with her. Sometimes taking a good long hard look at one's self in the mirror can be an experience that we don't like. It's possible that Joe got that look, maybe because someone pointed out to him what his actions did to her." There was a long pause before she spoke again.
"Have you given up on her?" Ella asked. "Will you ever stop looking for her?"
He looked at her in shock, "Never. I could never give up on her." He said sternly.
"And why is that? Why will you continue to look for her when we have found nothing?" Ella asked him. She wanted him to speak out loud what she knew he felt, he needed to acknowledge what he was feeling. In the four months that she had been gone, he had completely shut down. This was the first truly emotional outburst she had seen from him outside the time on the mats with the men.
"She's my life! She's my everything! I'm empty without her. I would go to the ends of the earth for her. Give her anything that she could ever want." He paused taking another deep breath. "I love her." He head fell to his knees and his body shook as he cried.
"Then why were you willing to leave her before she woke up? You say that you're miserable without her, but this is exactly what would have happened if you had left." Ella explained.
He shook his head no. "I would have given up anything to know that she was safe, even if it meant my own happiness. She deserves better than to be in constant danger. The pain that I would have felt would have been my own doing and I would have accepted that. This, she was taken from all of us, we don't know where she is or how she is. At least I would have known where she was and that she was safe, known that she was happy." He tried to explain.
"But do you understand how wrong you are? That girl would do anything for you, just like you would for her. Do you not think that she would have given her life for yours? Just because you would have left to keep her safe, doesn't mean that she would have been. Look at the danger that she gets into on her own Carlos. She attracts crazies, she would have been better off with you, rather than without you. You would have taken her choices away from her, and you would have ruined your friendship with her." She said sadly.
"I know that you love her, anyone can see it, but everyone can also see that she loves you as well. She would never have been happy without you. You both would have been miserable, and she would have blamed you. Now you need to think about what you are going to do once you find her. Are you going to be the macho man who makes all the decisions and walk away like the coward that everyone claims that you were, or are you going to fight to keep the woman that you love? You need to think long and hard Carlos, because if you intend on staying and try to be with her you will not find it easy. Those men downstairs have every intention of protecting her from you. Their loyalty shifted the moment they learned what you intended to do. Now you have to earn back their respect." Ella said to him.
He just nodded his head in agreement. "When you show that you have her best interests at heart, and that you want to support her in every way, not just what you think she should do, but every way they will begin to accept you again." After a pause she said, "I'm here for you Carlos, I understand what you were trying to do, that doesn't mean I support it, but I can understand where you were coming from, but think long and hard about your next actions, or you may never get another chance with Stephanie or your men." She explained.
She stood up and dusted her pants off, "Go get a shower and I will call Luis up here to help clean this up." Ranger stood and she cupped his face with her hands, "Everything will work out Carlos, you just need to have faith. We will find her." With that she shooed Ranger off to the bathroom and got to work.
Only the core team and Frank knew about what had happened in Ranger's apartment. They all felt for him, but they were still mad as hell at him. They would never again let Ranger run roughshod over Stephanie, they would do everything they could to protect her, and that meant not just physically, but emotionally as well. They just needed to find her in order to protect her.
So we have a talk with Ranger and we can see where he is coming from. There will be more talking, but this should be then end of emotional Ranger, at least for the time being. We will be seeing a lot more of him, but he will be evolving, so don't hate me too much for this version. It's just where the story led me. Let me know what you thought, I'd love to hear from you.
