A/N: Standard disclaimer applies to this story. Highlands Girl, thank you for all the work you've done on this chapter, as always, your input has been invaluable.


Chapter 12. Sometimes words have two meanings

Denial land was a safe place that never failed to shelter Stephanie from reality. Since she'd returned from Rumson a week ago, she busied herself with work, spending as little time by herself as possible to avoid thinking about her future. Relieved that Tank's prediction about no one noticing the change in her had been dead-on, she went about bringing in low bond skips and running searches for RangeMan as if nothing had happened.

That morning, she picked up a dozen doughnuts at Tasty Pastry and, after spending three quality hours catching up on the gossip with the girls at the office, got the file for Marlene Kaminski. Heading to her parents' house, Stephanie figured she'd kill two birds with one stone: mooch lunch and, since Marlene was from the 'Burg, pick Grandma Mazur's brain for the skip's whereabouts.

Pulling up to the curb, she was surprised that no one was waiting by the door. The 'Burg radar must be on the fritz, she thought, walking inside the house, and yelled, "Hello? Anybody home? Mom? Grandma?"

"Hiya, baby granddaughter!" Edna's boisterous voice carried from the kitchen. "Your mother's at Giovichinni's market. Your father's at the Lodge."

Making her way into her mother's domain, Stephanie was surprised to find Grandma Mazur fussing about. Dressed in a tight fitting lavender track suit with the word 'juicy' emblazoned in rhinestones across her behind, Edna bopped to music only she could hear, setting the table. Returning to the stove, she lifted the lid off a Dutch oven to add a pinch of paprika to the simmering stew, and the mouthwatering aroma wafted from the pot, taking Stephanie back to the days of her childhood.

Breathing in a lungful, she asked almost reverently, "Grandma? Is that goulash?"

"Uh-hum." Edna smiled at her youngest granddaughter, ladling a hearty portion into a bowl. "Just like I used to make when you and your sister were little." Cutting a slice from a large round loaf with a thick crust, she set it on a plate next to the bowl and pulled a chair out for Stephanie. "Sit. Eat."

"Aren't you going to have any?" Stephanie asked, dropping a dollop of sour cream into her stew and moaning after the first bite.

"Well, I was going to wait for your mother, but I'll have some with you." She fixed herself a bowl and settled in a chair across the table. "Now that I'm going steady with Arnie Nemeth, I need all my energy to keep up with the young stud."

Arnold Nemeth was a seventy-one year old building engineer and no spring chicken. But he was a year younger than Edna, and she got a kick out of that.

Grandma flashed Stephanie a conspiratorial smile, and her eyes twinkled with mischief. "Bingo at the senior center tonight. You like this outfit? Or should I change?" She unzipped her hoodie to reveal a fuzzy midriff-baring top in neon fuchsia. "I'm thinking of leaving the jacket at home. They had a mishap with the air conditioning last Thursday. And I don't need a heat stroke before I get to check out Arnie's real estate."

Taking in her outfit, Stephanie swallowed a spoonful of goulash without chewing much and said, "It's very you, Grandma."

The striking contrast between the flashy clothes and the slack skin over Grandma's dainty frame made Stephanie see the harsh reality of growing old, something she'd never get to experience. And as Ranger's words floated into her mind, you won't look a day older than you do today, she felt a stab of a foreign emotion, which she had trouble grappling with. Relief was there, but so was regret and fear of inevitable loss. No matter how much time she had left with her parents and grandmother, it wasn't nearly enough. For the first time, since waking up immortal, it occurred to her that grief over losing her loved ones would become a part of life forever.

Seeking solace, she covered Edna's slender hand with hers, squeezing gently, and felt a faint sizzle. The second she jerked her hand away, the sensation faded as if she'd imagined it, but the jubilant look Grandma Mazur gave her meant that she hadn't.

"Ain't that a pip?! It finally happened, huh?"

Rendered momentarily speechless, Stephanie managed, "What? How…?"

Growing uncharacteristically serious, Edna studied her granddaughter for a moment.

"You felt it." Even though it was more of a statement than a question, she waited for Stephanie's confirmation. Seeing her nod, she continued, "I've known you'd become immortal, since you'd jumped off the garage roof, baby granddaughter. And with all the trouble you've gotten into with this bounty hunting gig lately, it was only a matter of time."

"Yes, but, that means you…"

"Me?" Edna shook her head. "Oh, no."

"Then how'd you know…?" Stephanie trailed off, trying to wrap her mind around Grandma knowing that she'd become immortal one day, and then asked absently, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Edna's firm voice interrupted Stephanie's musings. "I'll tell you a story, and maybe you'll understand." She rose from the chair and said, "Be right back," before disappearing behind the door.

When she returned to the kitchen a few minutes later, she was carrying a red maple puzzle box that usually sat on top of the dresser in her bedroom. Growing up, Stephanie and Mary Lou often played with that box, but could never figure out a way to open it, and stopped trying after they scratched one of the intricately carved planks.

Grandma set the box onto the table and sat down. Turning it to the side, she pushed out the bottom slat and removed a small key from the thin compartment inside. After sliding down the carved plank covering the keyhole, she put in the key and lifted the lid. On the inside, the name 'Edna Molnar'* was etched in delicate cursive beneath the mirror. Stephanie ran her finger over the engraving and looked at her grandmother, awaiting explanation.

"Mary Lou's grandfather on her father's side was my third cousin. Didn't you know that?" When Stephanie shook her head, Grandma added quietly, "Ed never came home from the war**. But this has nothing to do with him. That story is for another time."

Falling silent, she began taking things out of the box. A thin stack of postcards, tied off with a pink ribbon, a blue velvet pouch, smelling faintly of cedar and musk, a silver lamé coin purse, missing a bead at the clasp, and a mother of pearl pillbox, adorned with a cameo, were all set aside. At the very bottom was a sepia photograph that Grandma picked up and laid gingerly in front of Stephanie.

Edna Mazur was easily recognizable in the young beauty, wearing a light shirtdress with billowing skirt, leaning over the rails of the boardwalk next to the Ambassador Hotel. But it was the man in a dark pinstripe suit, standing beside her, who drew Stephanie's attention. He wasn't Grandpa Mazur.

"He's a looker, isn't he?" Grandma tapped her scarlet nail over the picture. "One summer, before I knew your Grandpa, I went down to Atlantic City with the girls. When I saw him on the Boardwalk, I knew that he was different from anyone else I'd ever met. That he was my soul mate." She smiled softly at the memory. "Jason was handsome, charming, smart, and loaded – everything a girl's dreams were made of, except for a teensy detail – he was unavailable."

"Grandma!" Mortified that her grandmother could have been a home wrecker like her arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt, Stephanie exclaimed, "What were you thinking? Please, tell me you didn't get involved with a married man."

Edna smirked at the passionate outburst from her granddaughter. She must have done something right with this one; even if her baby did jump to conclusions too quickly, her integrity was unquestionable.

"No, baby granddaughter, he wasn't married. But it didn't make him any more open to the kind of relationship I wanted. He didn't hide that he wasn't cut out to be a family man, and I wasn't going to settle." She sighed and picked up the photograph again. "But you don't choose who you fall in love with. I was young and naïve, thinking our love would change him… Men don't change. The longer they live, the more set in their ways they become. Either accept them as they are, or move on."

"Jason was immortal?"

"Yes. And even though I never went through the change, I could feel his energy." She paused so Stephanie would catch the significance of what she was about to tell her. "He told me that I could become one too."

"And you believed him?"

"Didn't have a reason for doubt," she hesitated again, mulling over something. "Well, that, and the strong tingling sensation that I felt anytime he was near. I believed him because, for as long as I'd known him, he never lied to me, even when he probably should have. Not unlike that hot bounty hunter of yours."

If only that were true, Stephanie thought, as it occurred to her that Grandma had just admitted to knowing that Ranger was immortal.

Noticing her granddaughter's stunned expression, Edna explained, "Other than Jason, I've only been able to sense immortals with a touch." She waggled her eyebrows. "M-hum, copping a feel of that Ranger's package was illuminating in more ways than one."

Stephanie winced, remembering Ranger's pained expression the time he had a close encounter with her grandmother's wandering hands, and rushed to change the subject.

"Grandma, if you were in love with Jason, how'd you end up marrying Grandpa?"

"Jason told me about the changes I'd have to make once I became immortal. And I wanted none of it."

"What do you mean, you wanted none of it? As if you had a choice or anything…"

"Sure did. There was always a chance that I could have gotten killed, but if not, I could have taken the sleeping pills that Jason had given me before going to bed one night, and I would have woken up immortal the following morning."

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "If a bottle of prescription meds doesn't spell 'romance', I don't know what does."

"Don't be so quick to judge, baby granddaughter. It was a way for us to be together. For eternity." She sighed. "I wasn't much of a trailblazer back in the day. Brought up wanting marriage and children, I turned him down because he couldn't give me that."

"You mean he wouldn't?"

Edna let out a dry chuckle. "Marriage means little if both partners outlive their identities every twenty years. I could have lived without it, but," she smiled sadly, laying her hand over Stephanie's, and added softly, "immortals are sterile."

"You mean…" Stephanie's voice wavered. She wasn't even sure she wanted children, but having the choice ripped from her felt oddly disconcerting. Though she could see a definite upside, as it would be pointless to worry about not being the ideal 'Burg wife when there was no chance for her to ever become one. "I can't have kids?"

Grandma Mazur shook her head, and Stephanie released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "I don't know if I even wanted to be a mother, so that's okay, I guess."

"Remember, Stephanie, destiny is what you make of it. The choice is yours: nothing more, nothing less. I gave up mine because I wanted a family. You'll make your own way."

She chucked Stephanie under the chin with her gaunt finger. "I've lived a life of a good 'Burg wife. Stayed out of harm's way. Boring? Sure. But safe. And I have no regrets. Don't ever doubt that."

Picking up the blue velvet pouch that she'd set aside earlier, Grandma loosened the ties and shook out an Art Deco navette-shaped aquamarine necklace onto her palm. "I want you to have this."

"Omigod. It's beautiful," Stephanie said softly, "I can't…"

Edna cut her off, "Don't be ridiculous. Of course, you can," she winked, "it'll be our secret."

Making her way over to stand behind Stephanie's chair, she brushed her curls off to the side. "Lift," she said, holding it away from her neck. When Stephanie complied, Edna slid the chain around her neck and fastened it. The stone nestled right over Stephanie's sternum, just above the scoop neckline of her top.

"Go on, let's have a look." Edna ushered Stephanie into the hall, stopping her in front of the full length mirror. "There. Perfect."

Admiring the reflection, Stephanie caught Grandma's eye in the mirror and asked, "How come I've never seen you wear this?"

Edna gave her a hard look, all trace of mischief Stephanie had come to associate with her gone. "It wouldn't be proper for a married woman to wear another man's jewelry, would it?" Then the harsh line of her mouth relaxed, as her face brightened again. "But it's a keepsake for you to remember me by."

She smoothed her hands over Stephanie's shoulders and gave her a light nudge. "Now, it's your time spread your wings. Don't be afraid of your destiny. Seize it. For the both of us."

Stephanie climbed into her clunker and thumped her head on the steering wheel. Ranger lied to me. Even if she'd suspected as much, Grandma unintentionally confirmed it. If Jason didn't lie to Grandma, there was no way Julie could have been Ranger's daughter. Stephanie wasn't so naïve as to believe Batman didn't know that. Whose daughter was she? And Scrog? What happened then?

Stephanie squeezed her eyes shut, as painful memories flashed in her mind. The blood-soaked carpet in her apartment, Ranger's prone form on the gurney, and the sleepless night she'd spent pacing the halls of the hospital, waiting for updates on his condition. All that had to have been nothing more than a well-choreographed show. But her anguish had been real, almost too real to bear, and his disregard for it was a tough pill to swallow.

Starting the car, Stephanie motored to her apartment, thinking about the past week. Ranger abided by her wishes, giving her the space she'd asked for, after he'd left his house in Rumson. Even though she'd felt his presence at RangeMan, before he was called up to Boston to handle an emergency three days ago, he hadn't pushed her to spend any time with him until she was ready. Unlocking the door to her apartment, she made her decision. As hurt as she was by his lies, she couldn't imagine a life without him in it. So she was going to ask him to tell her the truth about Julie and Scrog, once he returned to Trenton, and hoped that she could learn to trust him again.


A/N: *Molnar would be Edna's maiden name in this universe.

**'war' in this case is World War II

This plot twist has been brought to you courtesy of trhodes9. Her comment to one of the earlier chapters, 'Too bad grandma isn't an immortal too. That would be a hoot!' inspired me, so there you go.