I'm so sorry this took longer than expected! I was on the go all day yesterday and then this chapter just wouldn't cooperate! I can't even begin to tell you how many times I threw it out and started over. I finally was able to sit down and get it out... I'm not 100% happy with it, but it's the best I can do right now! I hope you'll enjoy!
Previously:
As Stephanie and Zero sat in the booth waiting for their subs, they were talking about Zero's favorite movie, song, and game. The bell above the door rang as other patrons walked in. Deep in conversation, Stephanie didn't notice the man walk up to their table until he made himself known.
"Cupcake?" asked Joe, shocked to see her there with another one of Ranger's men. He noticed her casted leg sticking out from under the table. "What did you do this time?" he snarled.
Stephanie's head jerked up at the sound of his voice. She tried to say something, but felt her heart pounding and her world starting to slip away. Reaching for Zero's hand, all she had time to do was whisper, "No" and her world went black.
When Stephanie woke up, she realized she wasn't at Pino's any longer. Looking around, she saw Zero slouched in the chair next to her bed. His eyes were shut and his breathing was even. She knew he was asleep but all she'd have to do is make a small noise and he'd be wide awake. Not wanting to wake him yet, she carefully looked around the room; she wanted to find out where she was.
She noticed an IV Pole next to the bed and followed the lead to her arm. Fighting a groan so she didn't disturb Zero, she continued to look. It didn't look like a hospital room, but she knew it wasn't a bedroom either. When she spotted a plaque on the wall, she saw the name Robert Brown on it and knew she was in the infirmary at RangeMan.
"Hey, you're awake," she heard a whispered voice.
Turning her head, she looked into the most amazing grey eye's she'd ever seen. "What happened?"
Zero stood up, leaned over, and kissed Stephanie's head. "We were at Pino's and you passed out."
Stephanie closed her eyes, trying to remember why she passed out. "Shit," she whispered. Looking at Zero with scared eyes, she said, "Jacob. I remember."
Zero sat on the edge of the bed and held her hand. "What do you remember, Belle?"
"I remember everything," was her only reply before she began sobbing.
Zero reached down and pulled her up to his chest. He held her there, his mind wondering what everything meant. Once Stephanie's sobs stopped, Zero pulled her back a little and wiped her tears. "Belle, what's wrong? Talk to me, please."
Stephanie clung to Zero for safety as she began to tell him. "I remember standing in my kitchen, fixing a peanut butter and olive sandwich. I dropped an olive in Rex's cage and when I turned back around, he was standing in my way."
"He told me that I needed to come with him; that Grandma was in the hospital and needed me. I wanted to grab my phone, keys, and purse, but he wouldn't let me. Told me that I'd be back soon or he'd come back for my things."
"We drove past the hospital and I asked him where he was going. He told me that she was in a Newark Hospital. I questioned him about that and he backhanded me and told me to shut the fuck up. I started to panic. I knew if I said anything else, I'd be hit again, but I didn't want him to taking me anywhere."
Zero hadn't realized he was holding her so tight until she finally said, "Jacob, can you loosen up just a bit?"
He looked down and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry, Belle. I didn't mean to hurt you." He looked in her eyes, "I'd never hurt you."
Reaching her hand up, she cupped his face. "I know that, Jacob. I trust you completely."
Zero kissed her palm and shut his eyes. Not wanting to ask but needing an answer, he pushed on. "Belle, who took you? Who is responsible for hurting you?"
Closing her eyes and looking down, she whispered a name. Unsure if he heard correctly, Zero tipped her chin up and asked her again, "Who?"
Taking a deep breath and slowly blowing it out, she answered him again.
Zero believed her, but he wanted to make sure he was killing the right person. "Look at me, Belle." He waited for her eyes to meet his, "Are you one hundred percent sure?" She nodded with tears leaking out.
Zero stood up, kissed the top of her head, and walked out of the room. She knew he wasn't pissed at her and knew where he was going. Had she not remembered everything she might have been worried, but she knew he was heading to the gym to work out some frustrations.
Knowing she wasn't going anywhere with the IV in her hand, Stephanie leaned back and shut her eyes. The next time she opened them, she saw Bobby and Ram in the room with her.
Bobby was taking out the IV and Ram was sitting in the chair. Ram noticed she was awake and stood up, "How are you feeling, Steph?" he asked.
"My head is still throbbing," she replied as she looked at his worried face. "What's wrong?"
Ram looked at bobby and saw him slightly shake his head. Stefani noticed it as well and knew they were hiding something. "Tell me and tell me now."
Bobby and Ram looked at each other and mentally fought over who should tell her. When she saw Ram look away, she knew he had lost.
"Steph," asked Ram, "what did you tell Zero?"
She looked around wishing that Zero would walk through the door, but he didn't. "Where is he? Please tell me he didn't leave."
"Relax, Bomber," said Bobby. "He's on four sleeping."
"Why is he sleeping? What did you do to him?" demanded Stephanie as she tried to sit up.
Ram tried to hold her down, "He was worked up in the gym. He bloodied his knuckles from beating on the bag. He wouldn't stop and Bobby had to sedate him." Ram looked in her eyes, "We've never seen him like that before."
"I want to go to him," she stated.
"No can do, Bomber. We need to be able to protect you."
"Protect me from Zero?" she laughed. When Bobby and Ram nodded, she knew they were being serious. "He won't hurt me," she yelled.
"Steph," started Ram. "We don't know what set him off or how he'll react when he wakes up."
"I'm going up there and you can't stop me." Stephanie sat up and looked for her crutches. Spying them in the corner, she asked, "Will you please get my crutches?"
When neither Ram nor Bobby moved, she hopped off the table and clumsily made her way to the wall. "Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it," she sarcastically said to them.
"Stephanie, wait." Ram reached out and grabbed her crutches. "If you're going up there, so am I."
Stephanie grabbed her crutches and took off for the fourth floor. When she reached Zero's apartment, she let herself in and saw Tank sitting on the couch. "You can leave. He won't hurt me."
Tank stood up and approached Stephanie, "Steph, what happened? I saw him on the monitors. He left the infirmary and went straight to the gym and pounded the hell out of the bag. He wouldn't stop; it was like he didn't even recognize we were there."
Stephanie looked at Tank and sighed, "It's my fault. I remembered a lot of shit and told him about it. Once he heard some, he took off and went to the gym."
Tank looked at her and lifted his chin, "What did you tell him? What do you remember?"
Stephanie really didn't want to get into it with the guys, she wanted to check on Zero. Saying the only think she could think of, she responded with, "Everything," and took off for the bedroom.
Crawling up in the bed, she wrapped an arm around Zero and hugged him. She saw his bandaged hands and whispered, "Oh Jacob. I'm so sorry."
Waking up, Zero felt an arm around his waist and smiled when he noticed it was Stephanie's. He reached up and interlocked their fingers together and listened to her breathing. She was asleep. He wondered how she ended up in bed with him; hell, he wondered how he ended up in bed. Last thing he remembered was being in the gym beating shit out of the bag as he pictured Joe Morelli's face. Remembering what Stephanie had told him, he became enraged once again, but knew he had to keep calm.
He slowly rolled over to face the beautiful woman in his bed and sighed when he saw her. She had tear stains on her face and he wanted nothing more than to take them away. Reaching up, he stroked her cheek and accidentally woke her up.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you, Belle."
"It's fine. I didn't mean to fall asleep." Stephanie leaned over and kissed his lips. "Are you okay?"
Zero pulled back and looked at her. He knew he couldn't lie to her. "Physically, I'll heal. Mentally, I'm pissed." Closing his eyes, he sucked in a deep breath and asked, "What do you want to do about him? I cannot and will not let him go unpunished."
Stephanie laid in Zero's arms as she thought about the answer to his question. She ran through the beating he had given her, how he'd hit her multiple times with a pipe, how he'd hit her on the head with the butt of his gun, how he'd left her in the alley after telling her she was nothing but a whore and slut and he hoped she died.
She relived the pain of each blow to her body, the pain of her leg breaking and her head splitting open. Did she want him to live? No, but she also didn't want any of the guys going to jail or prison for murder.
She hadn't realized she was crying until Zero reached up and wiped her tears away. Leaning down, he kissed her cheeks, forehead, eyelids, and finally her lips. "It's okay, Belle. He'll never ever hurt you again."
She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his lips to her again. In the blink of an eye, Zero was hovering over her, careful not to hit her casted leg. He cradled her face in his hands and stared, "My beautiful Belle."
"Jacob," she whispered as his lips crashed down. Her good leg found its way to his hip as his hand slid up her ribcage and rested just below her breast… and then there was a knock at the door.
Resting their foreheads together, Zero closed his eyes and wished the intruder would go away. But he didn't. There was more pounding on the door and Zero knew if he didn't go answer it, they would bust in. "I'm sorry, Belle," he said as he stood up.
Stephanie lay there staring at the ceiling, what the fuck are you doing, Plum? You are so not ready for this. He's going to leave as soon as you're better and able to take care of yourself.
All those thoughts were flowing through her head when Bobby and Ram appeared. "How are you this morning, Bomber?" asked Bobby. "You're looking a little flushed there. You have a fever?"
Stephanie blushed and hoped he couldn't tell what her and Zero had been up to. "I'm fine. What brings you by?"
As Bobby watched Zero sat down next to Stephanie and pulled her hand into his lap, he said, "Just wanted to check on you two. And find out what happened yesterday."
Zero squeezed her hand, letting her know she had his support. "I know who did this to me. I remembered everything yesterday. Not just about the attack, but I remember my entire life and everything that has ever happened. It all came back when I saw him."
Ram sat down in the chair and leaned forward, "Saw who, Steph? Who did this to you? Who is the fucker that we get to kill?"
Shaking her head, Stephanie looked at the guys, "No, you can't kill him. I won't let you."
"What?" yelled Ram. "He fucking beat the shit out of you, left you for dead, and you're telling us we can't do shit to him?"
Zero scowled, "Shut up, Ram. Just listen to her and then we'll figure something out."
Stephanie continued, "If I tell you who it was, I don't want you running out to kill him. I don't want anyone going to jail or prison because of me. I won't let you."
"Bomber, none of us will be going to jail or prison. They'd have to find the body and tie it back to us first. Now, who was it?"
Looking down at her hand joined with Zero's, she finally gave up the name. "Joe Morelli."
Okay everyone... do they go after him? What do they do? How does Stephanie react to their decision? Let me know what you think! Oh, and we will be hearing from Ranger again, don't worry!
