Disclaimer: I do not own or possess any copyrights in relation to this story, nor am I being compensated in any way … unless you count warm fuzzies from reviews. Sadly my bank does not accept those as currency.

Fair warning: There will be violence, mature language, and sex in this story, so read at your own risk ... be prepared for MA/NC-17 content.

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Chapter 12

Jon wondered if it was always this exciting in Trenton or if it was the circumstances. Or maybe it was just because it involved Stephanie?

Bones had left the SUV running when he leapt out and no one said a word as Nathan pressed the button to lower the window so they could hear what was going on. Midwest manners only go so far.

"Go home Morelli, she's not here and even if she was, she doesn't want to see you." Jon eyed the man, remembering the name from conversations with his brother.

"Screw you! I want to know who that shot was aimed at. That asshole should have been protecting her if she's being targeted again, isn't that what you guys are paid for? Or is it something you guys did that put her in danger again?" The cop sputtered, fingers poking emphatically at the two men blocking him. Was that the beginning of a black eye?

The air inside the SUV grew tense as the family absorbed the way this asshole was talking about their son or brother.

"Morelli, we will share all relevant information with the cops, just like we always do. That's not why you're here. You're here to see if you can take advantage of Steph while she's vulnerable. Leave her the fuck alone before we let her finish the job it looks like she started on you." Cal paused and then continued in a wickedly amused voice. "I hope you were dumb enough to call Ram that to her face, you walking funny too?"

Nathan snickered as he saw the cop flinch a little.

"You have no right to keep me away from her, now get the fuck out of my way before I arrest you for detaining a police officer." Bones grabbed Cal by the shoulder and pulled him back a little when it looked like Cal was going to press even closer.

"Free country. Of course if you go into her apartment and snoop, that's breaking and entering and I'm pretty sure Bomber will be all over pressing charges. You don't get it do you? She's done with you man. She took on the entirety of Rangeman not that long ago and won. She's not the girl you knew. You don't have a chance."

Suddenly Cal and Bones separated and from between them a couple of elderly women appeared, glaring at the cop. The entire family started laughing when all of a sudden both of the women started beating him with their purses. And apparently in Jersey, it didn't matter how old you were, you carried a big purse. Even from here they could hear the heavy whump of each hit.

"You! Go away now! I'm going to call your Grandma Bella if you don't leave right this instant," one of them threatened loudly.

The other one was swinging wildly, connecting about half the time. "I know what you did Joseph Morelli! Stephanie still had your handprint on her face when she came home the night she caught you with your whore. You leave her alone or I'll stun you and Edna and I will teach you some manners."

"You leave her and that nice boy alone!" With that, the two women forced the guy into his car and stood there glaring at him until he finally drove away. After they stopped laughing, Cal and Bones kissed both of the women on the cheek and helped them back inside before getting back in the SUV.

The Ramseys were quiet as the drive continued. Jon was hoping that something would soften his mother before she was confronted with the reality of Stephanie. He was pretty sure that Stephanie wasn't going to back down for anyone, including their mother. Of course a confrontation would simply set Judy Ramsey in her opinions. Firmly. It would really be best if they were on the same side before they met.

Pulled out of his musings by the sound of one of the guys in the front seat, he looked up. Of course Nathan had already been watching them with narrowed eyes. The two men were talking so low that he had to strain to hear it. He could hear his parents arguing almost as softly behind him.

"She tell you?"

"Not that he hit her. I knew she caught him cheating."

"Fuck."

"Yeah."

"Think Ram knows?"

"If he does, he hasn't known very long or she managed to make him promise not to retaliate."

"I've never seen her like this," Cal admitted softly, his eyes far away. "Not even with Ranger and we all knew how that was."

Bones made a noise that Jon couldn't interpret. "Did we? We know what it looked like, but I don't think that's the whole story."

"Think he'll call her?"

"If he finds out what happened, I don't know that anything could keep him from making sure she's ok."

"Wish I could be a fly on the wall for that conversation. She's going to tear him a new asshole for all the shit we've been ordered to do. Ram has been talking her down from going off on us, which we all need to thank him for now that we know what that actually looks like. Jesus."

"Bomber is fierce, especially with people she loves. We need to pass the word; everyone needs to back off giving him a hard time about her. We're fuckin lucky she never caught on to that. I can't even remember why it started, but it has to stop."

Cal nodded and sighed as they pulled into the hospital driveway. "Well let's hope she doesn't have time to think about it because I'm pretty sure that's what she was trying to figure out last week. Angel hasn't forgiven us for what happened with Michaels. I'm pretty sure she was playing us and trying to figure out what's going on. We were all so happy that she was treating us like she used to that we didn't even question it."

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After signing in, they were escorted to the fourth floor, seeing men that obviously worked with his brother stationed at various places on the way up. Security? Did they know more about the guy that did this?

There were more men wearing all black in the surgical waiting room and he was halfway amused to realize that they were arranged so that they created a wall between the curly haired brunette asleep on a cot and the rest of the room. A huge black man walked towards them after sending the woman a quick worried look. That had to be Stephanie, right?

"Hello folks. My name is Tank and I'm in charge here. If you have any questions or need anything, please let me know. I'm told that you have as much information as we do," he nodded at a smaller man standing next to him.

"I'm Bobby, I'm the Rangeman medic. I wish I had more information for you, but we haven't learned anything new," he said apologetically. Jon's eyes were drawn to the fresh scratches all over his arms and the brace immobilizing his wrist and he winced a little.

Unwilling to take their word for it, Jon seated his family and then went in search of a medical professional. Bobby may be a medic, but he was a surgeon and he needed to know that everything was being done that could be.

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Stephanie groaned and scrunched her eyes hard, trying to deal with the jackhammer in her skull. Feeling a cool hand on her forehead, she relaxed into the touch with relief before everything came rushing back to her.

Sitting up abruptly, eyes wild, she looked for Bobby and saw him leaning against the wall at the back of the waiting room. "You drugged me? Are you kidding me? What the hell Bobby?"

He held up a wrapped wrist and glared back at her. "You were out of control Bomber, but thanks for this."

"I warned you," she snarled unrepentantly.

He nodded his head, acknowledging that. "Yeah, you did, but I guess I didn't realize Ram had trained you so well."

Tears immediately started flowing as the thing she had been trying to avoid was back in front of her. Looking over as Lester squeezed her hand, she tried to smile at him.

"He's out of surgery and in recovery, Beautiful." He grabbed her arm and pushed her back on the cot as her legs suddenly stopped working.

Bobby knelt in front of her as her breath hitched in relief. "He'll be in a medically induced coma until the swelling goes down a little, Bomber. They won't really know anything with any certainty until he wakes up and they can perform some tests. But it doesn't look that bad, ok?"

She nodded frantically. She could live with that for now. Wiping her hands across her face, she wished she could stop crying. Looking at the clock she bit her lip and closed her eyes tightly. It had only been 12 hours ago that they had been dancing around their relationship, easing through the more sensitive topics.

Ok, she had to stop this. The time for falling apart had come and gone. It was time to step up. Rubbing her face, she attempted to organize her thoughts a little.

"Hey Beautiful, we have some of your stuff here if you want to change," Lester said softly.

Irritated that he was acting like she was glass, she tried to temper her response. After all, she probably looked pretty shattered earlier, so could she blame him? "Thanks Les."

Picking up the bag he pointed out and tossing it over her shoulder, she tugged on the pink top and tried to make it cover her a bit more modestly. Apparently she and Bobby had played pretty rough. She made it less than five feet out of the waiting room before she turned around.

"Who broke in this time?"

Cal's hand was raised sheepishly and she smiled before walking over and pressing a kiss to his tattoo. "Thanks Cal," she whispered.

He nodded. "I fed Rex too and Bones called to have someone pick him up."

Her eyes glistened as she swallowed hard and nodded. "Thanks."

Looking around she was surprised at who wasn't there. "Where's Hector?" she asked suspiciously. Noticing the shifty looks, she pinned Tank down with demanding blue eyes. "Tank?"

"He's looking into your FTA. That guy didn't have a violent history, not even a sniff of it. He was all white collar shit. We want to know if there's more to him than we thought." She nodded a little, more than aware that Hector was the best hacker in the company.

"Plus he might be hiding from you a little," Bobby admitted.

"From me? Why?" Stephanie tried to hide the hurt, but she was pretty sure her walls were for shit at this point. She'd build them up later.

More than one chuckle burst forth and she glared around the waiting room, her eyes landing on the family sitting in the back of the room watching the show. They kind of looked like Ram, but it was hard to tell. There were two men that she thought could pass for an older and younger brother. It wasn't hard to decide to ignore them for now; she wasn't really dressed for greeting her … boyfriend? partner? … whatever Tony was to her, she wasn't really dressed to meet his family.

Lester coughed lightly and said in a carefully controlled voice, "Bobby couldn't hold you still and stick you so Hector came at you from behind. You made some pretty painstakingly detailed threats while he was holding you down. He didn't seem to have any problems understanding what you were promising."

"Speaking of Hector, Little Girl, you and me are going to have a chat about that panic button he said he gave you," Tank warned.

Eyes flashing and so completely fed up with this shit, Stephanie turned to face him, walking closer until she was in his face. "No actually Pierre, we aren't. We've had more than one 'chat' about your inability to understand that whatever you think Ranger said, I know damn well he didn't tell you to treat me like this. I never went anywhere without at least one tracker and panic button and there was always someone who could pull up the GPS on my car. I chose to give Hector and Ram access when I was off shift. I never promised to use the control room to monitor my movements. You're lucky you got that much of a concession. If it hadn't been for Ram telling me that you were only acting like an asshole because you cared, I'd have quit and gone back to Vinnie."

Those blue eyes narrowed dangerously as things suddenly fell into place. "I'm not an idiot and I know you guys are keeping something from me. I will warn you now, if whatever you're keeping secret had something to do with Ram getting shot, I will take Rangeman apart brick by brick."

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Jon watched Stephanie stalk off with the bag Cal had brought from her apartment and considered the varying dynamics. She was a handful that was for sure. He wondered how she related to his brother. She was obviously protective of him and it wasn't hard to see that if she could have taken the bullet for him, she would have.

Glancing over at his mother he groaned internally. Judy Ramsey's eyes were trained on the hallway that Stephanie had disappeared down. Jon wished he knew if she had mellowed or not. He looked at his father for a clue, but he was lost in thought, distress still etching his face. Nathan had moved over a couple of seats and was now talking in low tones to one of the men sitting near them.

Resting his elbows on his knees and scrubbing his hands over his face, he hoped Anthony was moved out of recovery soon. They were exhausted, the strain and worry were wearing them all down. Hopefully when Stephanie returned she could take them to Anthony's home.

Twenty minutes later, a much more refreshed and attractive woman walked back towards them. Her curly hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but her blue eyes were clear and bright. She was wearing a simple outfit of jeans and a v-neck sweater, but with high heeled boots that seemed to give her a lot more confidence. The men around him seemed to relax again as they saw her and he saw Tank, Bobby, and who he thought was Lester break away from each other and face her. There was some low murmuring that he didn't catch but looked important from her reaction.

She stopped in front of them, eyes narrowed and searching their faces before her eyes closed with an anguished look on her face. Straining to hear, he realized the entire waiting room was silent.

"I can't believe this. Are you fucking kidding me? Please tell me this is some kind of sick joke." She threw the bag on the floor and put her hands over her eyes before turning to one of the men, pleading apparent in her tone. "Lester, you didn't know, right?" He was silent, but the guilt was clear on his face. "I don't even know what to say. Did he know? Did you at least warn him?" Her hands fisted when Tank shook his head no.

She was shaking she was so mad. "I want every resource you have looking for whoever did this, if we find out it wasn't Klein behind it. You owe me that. You owe him so much more than that." Jon watched the three large men nod obediently. "How could you? I just … I ASKED and you lied to me. I don't know what to do with that."

She started to step away, coming towards his family when she froze and her eyes filled with tears. Licking her lips, he saw her swallow a few times before she managed to speak. "If I'm around him, will it put him in more danger?"

Tank's voice rumbled through the silence, addressing the back of her head since she hadn't turned around. "We don't think so Bomber."

Stephanie managed a jerky nod before she said brokenly, "Yeah, but you didn't think we needed to know there was a threat in the first place, so maybe you don't know a damn thing."

"Steph, the damage is already done," Lester said, regret painted on his face when he saw her body jerk in reaction to the word damage.

Jon narrowed his eyes at her. He could see the guilt building, hurting her all over again, but he didn't know what to say to make it better. He was pretty sure that Anthony wasn't going to blame her no matter who the shot was aimed at.

When Stephanie got within a few feet of them, Judy Ramsey stood up and stared at the woman who, as far as she was concerned, was responsible for all of this.

"I want you to stay away from him, away from all of us. I heard what that man said," she hissed, "and my Anthony is in a coma now, he almost died. He may never wake up or walk again! How could you place him in danger? You're going to get him killed!"

"Judy she didn't know," Henry Ramsey protested softly, sending Stephanie a quick but apologetic look. "You know what Jon said Anthony has told him, stop blaming her."

"Mom, you're not being fair," Nathan murmured. "Don't say something you'll regret, ok?"

Judy and Stephanie were locked in a silent staring contest. Judy looked righteous while Stephanie seemed to be searching for something. Jon could see that his mother was starting to waver a little, but she held firm. The things Tank had said had shocked her and she had reacted without really thinking, but Stephanie's reaction to the confrontation shocked him.

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Taking a single step back from the Ramseys, a symbolic retreat, Stephanie nodded at Ram's mother. The woman might be upset, but she wasn't wrong. And this was her son.

Looking down at the cell phone that was suddenly in her hand, she blinked away the tears. It's not like she expected a different reception. Listening to the ring, she sniffed once, commanding herself to get it together.

"Ella?" she whispered, before clearing her throat so she could speak at a normal volume. "He's … better. He's in recovery right now. Can you do me a favor? Can you have one of the guys take you to Ram's and get it ready for his family? Maybe leave them something to eat?"

"Of course dear, I have a couple of casseroles in the freezer that should work. I'll put together a continental breakfast for tomorrow morning. I can change the sheets on the beds as well. Will they need any cots?"

Looking into Judy's confused eyes, she veiled her thoughts while Ella made plans. "The couches are comfortable, but just in case maybe 2? I appreciate it, and I'm sure they will too. Is it ok if I send Lester to drive you around? He can come back for the Ramseys after he drops you off."

"That will be a lot of driving for Lester, I could get someone else to help and he could simply drop the Ramseys off when they are ready. That would probably be easier for him," Ella said warmly.

Her eyes hardened and she made an effort to soften her voice before she replied, swinging her eyes to meet Lester's miserable ones. "Actually Ella, Lester volunteered, so let's just let him do it his way. He's on his way to you now. If the Ramseys decide to go back to Ram's before he's back I'll make sure someone is available just in case. Thanks Ella."

"Of course sweetheart. Will you be staying here or at your apartment?"

Stephanie bit her lip indecisively. Being surrounded by Ranger sounded like heaven right now, because if there was one thing she associated with Batman, it was safety and comfort. Shaking her head, she realized that it would probably send the wrong message to just about everyone if she did that. She didn't need more problems.

"Unless there's a reason for me to be in lockdown," her eyes narrowed on Lester, "then I'll be at my place if I'm not here. Cal told me that someone took Rex to Haywood. I'm going to leave him there for awhile since I don't know how much I'll be home. Lester is on his way, thanks Ella."

Closing the phone, she stared at expectantly at Lester.

"I'm so sorry Beautiful, so …"

She shook her head wearily. "Shut up Lester, I don't want to hear it. You … you were someone I trusted. I love all of you, but you were special to me and you know it. I've been putting some things together and I don't like what it's telling me, but I don't have the energy to deal with it now. Right now all I know is that you betrayed me by keeping me in the dark and you betrayed Ram by leaving him hanging in the wind."

Her voice dropped to a furious hiss. "Do you honestly think that Ram would have been so careless with my safety if he had known there was an active threat? He may have been willing to hear my arguments out, but he's as much of a fucking alpha male as the rest of you. The very least he would have done was make sure we took precautions."

Throwing her hand up when he opened his mouth to respond, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before digging in her purse for a piece of paper and a pen. "Just go Lester. Go away. Drive Ella around. Do your best to help Ram in the only way you can now. I don't want you anywhere near me." She thrust the paper with Ram's address and alarm code towards him. He could pick the lock for now.

"Cal?"

"Yeah, Angel?"

"Can you sit with the Ramseys in case they need something? If they want to leave before Lester gets back …"

"Of course," he said soothingly. "Maybe you should get some more sleep Steph."

She shook her head, face tight against the emotions starting to swamp her, the guilt that this was her fault, the pain of hearing Ram's mother tell her to stay away from them, and the betrayal and rage that men she had counted on to have her back had let her down and Ram was paying the price.

How could things change so horribly in less than a day?

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Nathan Ramsey watched Stephanie Plum in a sort of fascinated wonder. He had read the stories in the paper, just like the rest of his family, but his admiration then was based more on how exciting her life seemed to be. He knew his family thought he was kind of shiftless and unmotivated, but he just got bored so easily. Reading about her adventures had always made him a little jealous actually.

He knew that Anthony had been partnered with her recently, but he never caught a hint that it was more than that. Granted, Anthony didn't call him much either. Apparently he called Jon instead.

Pushing the sibling rivalry away, something that had stopped being cool when they were squabbling over action figures, he hoped that his mom would lighten up before she made a mistake she couldn't take back. He didn't know who this woman was to his brother, but she obviously felt strongly about him. The last thing they needed was a fight or for Anthony to be stuck in the middle.

Moving next to Jon, he nudged him and motioned towards Stephanie with his chin. "Anthony and her?"

"They were heading that way. He's completely gone for her. I didn't realize until we got here that it was so obviously mutual or I would have kicked his ass for being stupid. I think, from something she said, that they were in the process of actually acknowledging it when this happened today," Jon told him quietly.

"Fuck," he breathed. "That sucks." He looked at his mom thoughtfully and then back at Jon. "Mom's gonna have to chill then, it's not right what she said."

"I'm hoping she'll calm down and see that on her own," Jon admitted.

Nathan snorted. "Pussy."

They sat there for a few minutes, both tired and fading fast, but wanting to see with their own eyes that their brother was alive. A man dressed more like a gangbanger than anything else suddenly slipped into the waiting room. Seeing that no one else reacted, Nathan mentally shrugged and closed his eyes.

"Estefania," a heavily accented voice called. Cracking an eye back open, he saw the man crouching in front of Stephanie's chair and bumped his brother to get his attention.

Suddenly the man stood up and unleashed a stream of Spanish that he couldn't keep up with. He managed enough to figure out that the man was yelling at the other men for not watching her. The medic dude was moving over to them.

Nathan was pretty sure the guy was scared that she'd come out of it with him near her. She'd been pretty pissed off earlier. He still hadn't figured out what they had been talking about, not really. But Anthony was probably going to be pissed if she didn't let go of some of that guilt.

Some of the men were talking back to the new guy, but everyone seemed very respectful. Maybe this was that Ranger dude?

A nurse that had been by a few times to update the room was walking towards them and the waiting room all straightened up. She frowned at Stephanie, who was still staring at the floor in some kind of weird trance.

"Mr. Brown, is Stephanie ok?"

The guy forced a smile and then admitted that it'd been a long day for her, she just needed to recharge a little. Nathan was thinking that was a bit of a fuckin understatement.

Pretty blonde nurse looked concerned, but then sent a smile towards the Ramseys. "He's been moved into the ICU. Family can go in two at a time for 10 minutes a visit. Then I'd suggest you all go home and get some rest."

"Take Dad with you," he muttered to Jon quickly. Jon was quick on the uptake, he'd give him that. He'd hustled Dad away and towards the ICU before Mom even realized what was happening.

"Come on Mom, let's head that direction." Nodding at the guy who said he'd give them a ride to his brother's house when they got back, he put his arm around his mother and led her away from the crowd.

"You think I was wrong," she said as they slowly walked down the hallway. His mom might be quick to judge, but she would usually think about it later. He was hoping enough time had passed. It's not like they had much else to do, just watch the show and think. Show was pretty damn interesting though.

He snorted. "Yeah Mom, you were wrong. You are wrong. I get that you're scared, but don't put Anthony in the middle."

"What if he gets hurt again? You heard her! She asked if she was around him if he could get hurt again!" Judy Ramsey's voice was climbing and her youngest son patted her arm a few times.

"Mom, do you really think that Anthony doesn't already know almost everything about her? I don't know if they're just partners or there's something more, but … I get it, I do, but don't do this." He stopped and turned to face her, his eyes searching hers. "If she's something he'll fight to keep going for, what's it going to do to him if you push her away?"

Hugging her when she started crying, he sighed into her hair. Seeing his dad and Jon walking back down the hallway, he eased back and smiled at her.

"Come on, let's go give Anthony hell for scaring us."

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Next up – Stephanie finally gets to see Ram