Disclaimer: If I told you this was mine, I would go to hell for being a liar.

A/N: I am soo sorry for making y'all wait so long for this! I gave y'all a long chapter, to make up for it, and…drum roll please…we have the first chapter with Babe SMUT! I tried it out, and be warned, this is my first attempt at writing smut…hope it's well received!

I have been updating Te amo's side stories, and Ranger's POV was posted a while back, and I need to stress: YOU WILL NOT UNDERSTAND THE ENDING OF THIS CHAPTER IF YOU DID NOT READ SIDE STORY NUMBER 3! It is imperative that you read that before reading this update.

I took this opportunity to present to you, dear readers, the Babe Talk! Yes, I know, finally, right? Enjoy!

To Chesi 66- Thanks so much, for all you are and all you do. No matter how busy RL gets, you always have my back, and I got yours! Love ya!

To JayNel- I miss you like hell dudette. Love ya, and can't wait for Friday!

To Margaret aka whymelucylui- Thanks so much for pushing me to get going with this chapter and always being so supportive!

Dedicated to Superman, for making me believe in something I may have given up on otherwise. Saved me already, Superstar.

###

Steph POV

I watched as Les and Bobby left the room and Ranger approached me. That small ball of trepidation that had been in my stomach since I woke, slowly dissipated with each step he took toward me. It stopped amazing me, just how safe I felt in his presence. It was like, whatever happened to me left scars, sure enough, but when Ranger was there? He was the bandage. He was the salve. He was the cure. Sometimes it felt like, no matter what I ever had to go through, I would always be okay if I had Ranger with me. These thoughts in mind, I reached out when he was in grabbing distance and bunched his shirt in my hand, tugging him to the bed. He came easily and sat next to me and I burrowed myself into his large frame. I was slightly surprised at the ease with which he held me against him; there was no hesitation in him as of late. He'd never held back when I needed him, I knew that, but something was telling me that this was different. This wasn't because I had almost died and it wasn't because I was in danger. It felt more like he was holding me to make sure I wouldn't leave him; holding me as though afraid that I would disappear or something, and it would kill him if I did. Ranger could never be mistaken for dependant on my presence but he acted as though having me out of sight was his worst nightmare. I hated to say it, because it made me feel almost needy, but I was intensely enjoying the thought that he hated me being out of his sight…especially since I couldn't particularly stand it when he was out of mine.

"How are you feeling, Babe?" he asked in a low murmur, stroking my hair. I snuggled deeper into him, and if I could? I would be purring.

"Physically, better," I answered truthfully. "I don't feel as weak and the pain is manageable; Bobby gave me magic drugs and I barely feel the pain. Mentally…well, I feel better when you're around," I admitted. "More secure. Safer."

"I feel better being around," he told me, nipping the top of my ear playfully. I giggled and wondered what had gotten into Ranger; the badass mercenary I had come to love never showed his emotions in any way if he could help it. He looped an arm around my waist and cupped my face with his other hand. Bringing it up to meet his eyes, he placed a soft, gentle kiss to my lips. I craved more as soon as our lips met, but he kept it light and teasing until I groaned in frustration.

"Are you trying to make me scream, Batman?" I blurted out frustrated. His eyes darkened and his hold tightened and I suddenly realised what my words sounded like.

"Believe me, Babe," he growled, gaze almost feral with lust, "if I was trying to make you scream, you would be screaming."

A shiver ran through me and every nerve ending in my body became raw with anticipation. Screw all my rules about keeping him at arm's length. Screw Operation Cold Turkey. I wanted this man. I needed this man.

Leaning up and ignoring my arm's gnawing protests, I attacked his lips with mine. Impatiently, I nipped on his bottom lip and I felt a growl rumble in his chest. He took over the kiss and plunged his tongue into my mouth. I moaned and he responded by slipping the hand not wrapped around my waist under my shirt, squeezing my breast through my bra. I gasped into his mouth and he took the opportunity to suck on my bottom lip. I arched against his talented hand as the deep fire churning low in my belly became a full-on inferno. Somehow, I managed to manoeuvre my body so I was straddling him, and I rocked my hips against him, grinding into the obvious bulge in front of his jeans. He growled and dropped the hand around my middle to grope my ass. Too far beyond reason to consider the consequences of teasing Batman, I rocked, more lightly, against him again, this time slipping my hand between our heated bodies to stroke him.

"Babe," he choked gruffly. "Stop."

One word, it turns out, can be more effective than any cold shower.

Jerking back, worse than when the bullet struck me, I scrambled off his lap, turning away from him ashamed. How could I ever have thought that he would still want me? After how cowardly I was with Morelli and after all the trouble I was, why would he want me? Who could want such a worthless waste of space?

"Don't!" his infuriated roar caught me by surprise and I squeaked in surprise, jumping and cringing. Surprisingly enough, I wasn't so much afraid as I was shocked.

"What?" I asked timidly. Seeing something in my expression, his whole face immediately softened.

"Dios, Babe, lo siento. I'm so sorry, querida," he apologised softly, his gentle tone a vast contrast to his previous outburst. "I didn't mean to shout at you. But dios, babe, how could you ever think that you're a worthless waste of space? And how can you ever think that I don't want you? I stopped you because we need to talk, carino! Why do you think that?" he asked incredulously, and I blushed.

"Out loud?" I asked unnecessarily, in a small mumble.

"Querida, you are beautiful, funny, open, intuitive, warm, loving, kind, sexy…frankly, you're far too good for me, not the other way around," he chuckled. "You're the most amazing woman I have ever met, Stephanie Plum. You have fire, Babe, and it's that fire that everyone can't get enough of. It's what I can't get enough of. Morelli is nothing but a spineless, moronic, witless prick, and I don't ever want to hear that you believe a word of what he's been telling you."

I stood for a second just looking at him. A thought struck me and I furrowed my brow suspiciously.

"Ranger, have you been drinking?"

He barked out a laugh and ran a frustrated hand through his locks. "Babe, how can you believe him, who's lied to you more times than Lester's picked up a woman, but you can't believe me, who's never told you anything but the truth, unless it was to protect you?" I searched his face, and damn if I couldn't detect any hint of lie on his face. He thought I was too good for him? On which planet?

"I believe you," I answered instead, quietly. I sighed inwardly at the lack of conviction in my tone.

"I'll make you believe it," he vowed solemnly. "But, more to the point," he continued softly, advancing toward me, eyes slightly dark, "how could you possibly think that I don't want you? Does it not look like I want you? Didn't it feel like I wanted you? Babe, I just need to hear your voice and I'm already hard as nails. More than want, I need you Babe." He had reached me by now and he pressed me up ever so gently into the wall. He dipped his head down and whispered into my ear, "I can never get enough of you." He pulled my earlobe into his mouth and sucked hard, covering my left breast with one hand and pinching my already stiff nipple between his forefinger and thumb. I let out a strangled cry and threw my arms around him to keep from falling to the floor in a melted puddle of desire. I latched my mouth on to his neck and sucked greedily as he slipped one of his thighs between my legs. He ground his thigh against my soaking centre and I rocked, riding his leg with shameless ecstasy. Dipping his head, he latched his mouth on to my right nipple, sucking hard through the thin material of his Rangeman shirt and the lace of my bra. I moaned loudly and he growled, moving back. I made a disappointed sound before realising that he stood back to carefully rip his t-shirt off me.

"Ranger, your t-shirt…" I trailed off in a breathy protest.

"…is in the way," he grumbled. Successfully ripping it off without hurting my (forgotten) wound, he made quick work of bra before resuming his earlier sucking/pinching combination. I groaned and, determined to give as good as I got, slipped my hand between us once more, this time putting my hand into his cargoes to grip him properly. He bit down on my nipple gently before licking it and blowing softly across it, then he switched sides, all while I stroked and gently squeezed his obvious erection. When I pumped him gently, he made a low sound deep in his chest and stepped back.

"No, Babe," he told me, his pitch black eyes wild with want. "Now, it's my turn to feel. To touch. To squeeze. I need to assure myself that you're fine and with me."

Wordlessly, I followed him to the bed, heedless of the pain I knew would come in the morning when this fantasy of Ranger and I and a happy ending came to an abrupt halt. He laid me down and straddled me. Taking my wrists in his hands, he placed them gently next to me, so as not to hurt me, but the message was clear; don't move.

Holding them there, he bent and kissed me before slipping his mouth off mine and trailing hot, open mouthed kisses down and around my neck. When he reached my breasts, he pulled and sucked and licked my right breast, torturing it with his mouth while his hand performed magic on my left breast. He kneaded and squeezed and pinched until I was so wet, I was sure I would orgasm at the slightest touch from this wizard of a man. He leaned back and kissed down to my ribs. He kissed each of my bruises, while doing some very interesting things with his hands. When he sat up a little, I was stunned to find that, sometime during my heavenly treatment, he had gotten my panties off. He ignored where I wanted him to go the most, instead kissing all the way down to my legs and the arch of my foot and back up. I squirmed, but kept my hands where he had left them. Without warning, his tongue flicked over my clit and my hips shot off the bed as I came with a scream.

"Told you I could make you scream, Babe," he told me, when I came down from my high. Not that he was finished…

No sooner had I recovered before he plunged a finger into my core.

"Carlos!" I screamed, arching my back and ignoring the pain that was strumming in the background in my shoulder. I stilled in shock; I didn't know what had come over me, I had never called him by his real name before. He stilled for a second as well, and when he looked at me, his eyes were wild and black as coal.

"Say it again," he demanded wildly, adding a second, third and fourth finger, in quick procession and reaching his other hand up to knead my breasts.

"Carlos…" it came out as a half moan, half scream, as I fought to remember to breath. My hips were mostly off the bed anyway, so he angled my body until my knees were hooked on his shoulders with his head between my legs. He kept it up, playing with my breasts and pumping into me with his fingers, while circling my overheated clit with his tongue until I was begging for release.

"Come for me, Babe," he ordered roughly. He made a "come here" motion with his fingers and bit down on my clit again and I came violently, screaming his name again.

"Carlos," I gasped, breathing heavily, "I need you. I need you inside me, right now."

In a second, his halfway-off cargoes hit the floor and he entered me in one smooth motion. I moaned wantonly, and he stilled for a second, allowing me to adjust to his size. Impatiently, I rocked my hips, and he took the hint, pushing into me. He braced one hand against the headboard and groped my breast with the other and I simply clung to him, immensely enjoying the feeling of being so thoroughly possessed. He pumped in and out of me, and I met him thrust for thrust. He pounded into me relentlessly, burying himself to the hilt, any semblance of control gone. When he reached his hand down from my breast to pinch my clit, I was a goner, but I squeezed my thighs together to make him come with me. To my immense satisfaction, we came together. As he came inside me, I screamed with pleasure greater than I had ever known and he held back his roar by taking my breast into his mouth once more and biting down hard, marking me. He collapsed next to me and pulled me closer into him. I turned so we were spooning as usual, and he nuzzled my neck.

"I love you, Babe," he whispered.

My heart stopped then picked up double time when he didn't add a qualifier. His breathing evened out behind me and I turned slightly to see he had fallen asleep. He must've been up since our nap before Operation Ruin Helen Plum. I looked at his perfect features and sighed.

"I wish I could believe you, Batman," I murmured sadly, before closing my eyes, snuggling against him and escaping to denial land, where I was a strong accomplished woman, had a mom who loved me more than life, and lived happily ever after with my dark knight in shining armour.

###

Joe POV

That skank Terry ignored me the entire drive back to Trenton from the airport. When I dropped her off, she had grabbed her bags, screamed a shrill promise to tell her father about how I didn't protect her and all that bull, and stomped her sexy, yet annoying, little ass out of my car. I was brewing and I knew my Italian temper would stop me from thinking rationally. Taking a deep breath, I tried to decide what my next course of action would be. Cupcake would have to pay, no doubt, but I needed to know everything I was up against before I went in. I grinned to myself. It was time to pay Helen Plum a visit.

R&S#R&S#R&S#

To be greeted by a flying plate was not the way I had envisioned stepping into the Plum household that day.

Frank and the crazy old bat, Stephanie's Grandma Mazur, were out, but as soon as I walked in, Helen took one look at me, screamed in rage and threw the plate she was holding at my damned head. She started raging and screaming about how I needed to fix this and talk to my mother. I ducked, and seeing red, I started to scream back…until the bat threw a bowl at my head next. Figuring she was as crazy as the rest of the women in this damn family, I turned tail out of there.

Obviously, more had gone down in Trenton than I had originally anticipated. It made me agitated; being out of the loop, unaware of the tiniest detail, could mean your life when dealing with a volatile situation like this…and it was volatile, now Manoso was involved. I had counted on Stephanie's "stalker" taking Manoso out of the picture, but I knew now that "The Cobra" was just a clever ruse on her part.

I knew that I had to check in on my gang of assassins, make sure they were still stationed at their targets, but at the moment, my priority was finding out exactly what I had missed. To do that, I needed to go to the woman who knew the Burg like none other.

It was time to visit my mom.

###

Ranger POV

No feeling in this world could compare to waking up next to my Babe after we made love.

I lay there next to her, content to just stay in bed, lying there and watching her, drawing soft circles into her sensuously soft hips as she slept with a peace over her face that hadn't been there since this whole fiasco started. It made my temper flare and the beast inside me rage at the thought of that pendejo's hands on her in any way, and what fuelled my anger was what Babe had unintentionally revealed to me before my passion and lust took over me; he had broken down her self-esteem too.

Worse was knowing that I may have played a part in it.

I gazed at her, lost in thought. How did someone so damn perfect believe that they were nothing? More than ever, a fierce, feral protectiveness seeped into me. I couldn't allow anything to harm her. Our talk was going to happen as soon as she woke up, and I wouldn't allow myself to be distracted by her utter sexiness until I had told her just how much I loved her.

Why was this so difficult? I had faced down demons worse than the one's in nightmares without as much as flinching, so why did I find myself worried about how I was going to go about this?

Stephanie Plum was unlike anyone I had ever met. She was strong and fierce and determined and strong-willed. She never backed down from a challenge and similarly, never backed down in fear. She stared things down with the courage of a lion in a gazelle's body. Initially, the sheer size of her tiny frame had made me scoff, believing that she was going to quit bounty hunting at the first broken nail. Over time, I watched her doggedly chase down leads, whether she was luring skips out of bars or getting tossed into dumpsters after chasing a skip into the slums. I watched her approach every one of her skips with kindness and compassion before deciding whether she wanted to teach them a lesson, or save their lives. I watched her turn gang-bangers and mob bosses into soft-spotted protectors. I watched her touch everyone with her inner light, affecting them in ways she wasn't even aware of. And no, she didn't quit at the first broken nail. Nor at the first bruise. Or the first broken bone. Or at the first gunshot wound.

Whatever my initial feeling was, it had since turned into love, adoration, admiration, passion and a fierce protectiveness. Seeing her take on her world with such heedless abandon amused me on one hand, but also caused me endless worry. I never knew what she would be getting herself into next, and I often did whatever I could to make sure I could keep track of her in case she ever needed me, because I knew she would never let me shadow on every one of her captures. It was a beautiful thing, watching her work, because no matter what went down, at the end of it, she was always sending us that bright, beautiful smile and her little trademark finger wave, letting us know she was alright. She never questioned why there was almost always a Rangeman near her when she caught someone; similarly, she would never know of the mini heart attacks those men had until they saw that little wave and that smile. I hadn't noticed when, but somewhere along the line, the men had stopped needing me to order them to go. Somewhere along the line, they had started going regardless, some even downright ignoring one of my orders to go check up on her, Santos, Brown, Tank and Hector being my main examples.

She was magic. I had never believed in anything of the sort before I met her, but there was simply no other conclusion.

I used to think she was my greatest weakness.

But…

Could Stephanie Plum…my Babe…be my greatest strength?

I was never more lethal than when she was under a threat, nor was I ever more precise. She forces me to think out of the box and as of late, it's her thinking that helps me catch skips at a significantly faster rate. She made my company into a family, and we've never had a better sense of workmanship than we've had since she entered our lives. And she keeps me sane. Keeps me human. I want to do good things because I want her to be proud of me. I find a way to take down the bad guys with minimal damage because she shows me creative thinking and unorthodox, yet effective methods. Dios, I now have a relationship with my daughter because of Stephanie Plum, that consisted of more than a monthly cheque and a card with money in it on her birthday and Christmas. Unknown to me, Babe had slowly and probably unwittingly integrated herself into my life more fully than any other person in my life. It was never a question of whether I could live without her. I wouldn't survive a night.

All at once, all my doubts and uncertainties left me. After the realisation that I couldn't be without her, the truth of my love for her came easily to the surface. No longer did I want to shy from the words; now, I was practically dying to tell it to her.

As if sensing my impatience, like you would a child on Christmas morning, Babe stirred in my arms. Soft with sleep, she turned in my arms to face me. Before I could lean down and kiss her as I wanted to, her face contorted in pain and she hissed a breath through her teeth.

"Babe, your arm?" I asked worriedly, propping myself up on my elbow.

"I'm okay, I just jostled it turning around," she hastened to reassure me, looking up at me with eyes slightly widened in confusion. I raised an eyebrow at her in silent question, and like no one else could, she read the enquiry in my expression.

"You're still here," she explained her confusion, her forehead scrunching up.

"Yeah, Babe," I nuzzled her neck. "That's what we need to talk about."

"It's okay Ranger," she cut me off, her voice and face devoid of emotion. Before anything else, I felt the pain of her calling me "Ranger" after she screamed my real name last night. She gently pulled herself out of my grasp and, not wanting to jostle her, I let her go, no matter the despair filling me, and she stood up, covering herself with part of the sheet. "You don't need to give me the speech again," she informed me flatly. "I knew what I was getting into last night. I know that this- that we- can't happen, and I don't need you to sugar-coat it for me. Your life doesn't lend itself to relationships and you don't have to try and keep up the charade anymore. I'm a big girl, and I made the decision to do this…friends with benefits thing, or whatever we have going on here, and you don't have to tell me that it was more than that."

Anger filled me initially. White hot, and instant, I fought the urge to snarl at the thought that what we shared was anything less than the ridiculously romantic, forever type of love that I thought I could never have until I met her. Following the anger was the hurt; did she honestly feel that way or was she trying to keep from getting hurt by putting on this show? I decided that I needed to find out; I couldn't block off my emotions anymore and try to shield my heart. The only way, now, to capture Babe's heart, was to show her my own.

More terrifying than facing down a delusional sociopath, but true.

With a deep breath, I forced myself to forgo my blank face. I let her see every emotion on my face, in my eyes, raw with freshness and fierce as the sun was hot. I let her see the anger, and the pain at how she described our time together. Our love making. I let her see the weariness and fear this whole scenario was instilling in me, having to watch over and over as she got hurt. I let her see the adoration and admiration that had cultivated in me with every mishap and success she'd had since that most wonderful, fated day at the diner. Most of all, I let her see the passionate, fierce love I had for her. I let her see to the depths of my soul, see the fire there, set and raging only because she was here and mine and somehow, I was going to make sure she always would be.

With a small, barely audible intake of breath, she sat back down on to the bed.

"That's what you think we are?" I asked her softly, the fire in my eyes born purely out of desire and passion and love. "A charade? Some friends with benefits thing?"

"You tell me, Ranger," she shot back, some of her old fire creeping back into her cerulean orbs as she stared at me, chin tilted in defiance. "Since I'm apparently your entertainment expense, how about you tell me what we have. Because from where I'm standing, it sure as hell feels like that."

"How could you think that?" I asked frustratedly. "You're the first woman that I've ever fell asleep with, and you're the first woman to ever sleep in my bed, in my room, in my apartment! You're the only woman besides Ella who's ever even seen the inside of this apartment!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ranger," she shot back, rolling her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "My ESP seems to be on the fritz again, because clearly, I couldn't read your thoughts and find these facts out!" She glared at me. "What does it even make a difference? You were the one who walked away last time, not me. You were the one who called it an entertainment expense, and don't even get me started on..."

"Babe!" I interrupted her with a short, sharp bark. She fell quiet and glared at me again, and as much as I hated arguing with her and seeing her mad at me, I was still overjoyed to see her fighting back; fighting me no less. This was my Babe. This was my fighter. She was regaining her fire.

"What, Ranger?" she bit out, narrowing her eyes at me.

"Call me Carlos again, please," I requested softly. I couldn't help the pleading tone that crept into my voice. I don't know what came over me last night, but hearing my real name on her lips, screamed out in pleasure was more than I could ever have anticipated. Love overwhelmed me, followed by fierce desire and I had never been harder in my life. I needed to claim her, to possess her, and after this conversation, I suddenly didn't want her calling me Ranger anymore, not unless we were in a work environment. Hearing her call me by my given name made me lose any and all control and I needed her to call me that from now on.

"Carlos," she repeated softly, slight wonder in her tone. The feeling assaulted me again and I wanted to actually groan at the sheer power of it. It was strong and vibrant and I hoped to hell she never stopped calling me Carlos ever again. She nodded in consent and I felt like a weight lifted off me.

"Babe, what we need to talk about; what we've needed to talk about since you came into Rangeman announcing your wedding and resignation; is how I feel about you." I took a deep breath and locked my resolved eyes with her slightly hopeful, slightly pained ones.

Time for the truth.

"Babe…I love you. No qualifiers, no conditions. I love you more than I can even begin to tell you. I wouldn't be able to explain the depth of my love for you, babe, because quite frankly, I don't understand it myself." Her shocked eyes gave me hope, so I continued. "When you walk into a room, Babe, the energy shifts. I look into those beautiful, big blue eyes, and suddenly, my world isn't revolving around the sun anymore, its revolving around you. When I look at you, I see my future. I see the man I want to be and the ending I want our story to have. We're magic babe…I know I haven't given you reason to believe me, and I haven't really even shown you how much you mean to me, but you have to believe me when I say that you are the single most important thing in my world. Whatever I've said before, it was to protect you, Babe…you're not entertainment and you're certainly not just some random roll in the hay. When I touch you, when we're together like that…Babe, that's making love, it's not just sex. That's something I've never experienced with anyone else. When I'm with you, I feel like I could never get enough."

"Carlos…" she whispered, tears filling her eyes. I cupped her face gently in my hands.

"Let me finish, mi amor," I pleaded huskily. "You are my heart, and my soul, and my life. You're the air that I breathe and the sun in my darkened life. I would give you the moon and the stars if I could. I know I could never possibly deserve you, but for some odd reason, you chose to love me, and I know that if I can convince you to let me show you, for the rest of our lives, how much I love you too, then everything will be okay. I want to fall asleep with you spooned against me and I want to wake up wrapped around you so that there's not an inch of space between us. I want to kiss you whenever I want, in front of whoever is there at the time. I want the world to know that you're mine Babe, and I want them to see that I don't share. More than anything, Babe, I want to be yours, and you, mine. I love you with everything I was, everything I am, and everything I could ever hope to be."

I finished my declaration by pressing my lips against hers in a soft, sensual kiss, pouring all my feelings into it, cradling her face in my hands like it was my most fragile, most precious treasure…which it was. I tasted the salt of her tears that had begun falling during my speech. I pulled away for a second to wipe the offending moisture away with the pads of my thumbs, before I kissed her again. When she hesitantly opened her mouth for me, I felt victory running liquid fire in my veins.

When we pulled back, she looked up at me. I saw fear there; pain and uncertainty and hesitant hope, but more than anything else, I saw a boundless, fervent love there that took my breath away.

"Carlos," she breathed, her sweet breath washing over me, intoxicating. "I trust you with my life, without a shadow of a doubt, more than I trust anyone. But when it comes to trusting you with my heart…Carlos, I did it once, and I am so afraid that it's going to get broken like it did the last time. I was messed up after that, and I don't think I can ever recover if that happened again. I can handle anything else in the world, but not having my heart broken by you again, because I love you more than anything too. More than life."

"Babe, I will never again…" I started to vow ardently, feeling as though the earth was shattering beneath me. With a tired, wan smile, she cupped my cheek, stopping me.

"Let me finish this time, Batman," she said gently. "Hearing those words coming from your mouth…you don't know how long I've dreamed of hearing them. But that's just it- it was a dream. I'm sorry, because I don't want to hurt you, but I can't just believe that after so long of being kept at arm's length, that you're suddenly going to give me Someday." I felt like the floor had fallen underneath me and I was falling, endlessly, into a pit of darkness. I started to turn away and this time, it was her who grabbed on to me. "I can't believe this right off the bat, Carlos," she repeated, tugging on my arm until I faced her. "But if you say you love me, and want to be with me…Carlos, I love you too. So, so very much. And I want to be with you too…you have to know that I will need some time to believe you and to begin to trust you with my everything again, but I want to try, if you're willing. I want to love you, if you love me too."

In all my life, never before had I heard any such sweeter words.

Overwhelmed with relief and love, I pulled her into a fervent kiss. I knew she would need time; time to heal; and I was more than willing to be patient and help her heal, regain her trust. I touched every inch of her fevered body that I could reach, as she did mine.

I could scarcely believe that every one of my dreams had just come true.

My babe, was now actually, officially, mine.

My Babe.

Caught up in my possessive thoughts, I was caught by surprise when she shifted her weight. I let her move me until she was straddling me. I was flat on my back and she was over me; she took my wrists and, as I had done to her last night, gently pressed them above my head.

"It's my turn to play, Batman," she purred seductively.

Dios mio, yes please.

###

Angie Morelli POV

I stared at the door, feeling mostly numb at the scene that had just unfolded before me. How had it come to this? In the space of just a few days, my entire world had collapsed around me.

I sat on the couch, staring into space. I felt like I should be crying, and frankly, the way my throat was constricting, I was sure I would be very, very soon. I had wanted revenge after those revelations of my husband's indiscretions with the wretched woman, and I was sure I still did, but this new bit of information…

…could I really go through with all this?

###FLASHBACK###

"Mom, I'm home!"

My Joey's voice came through from the lounge and I smiled in delight. I had missed my little boy- he was away for the past few days on a police assignment. That was my Joey, always putting others before his own safety, cleaning up the world, one scumbag at a time.

"Hi Baby," I cooed, kissing both his cheeks and pulling him into a hug. "How was your assignment?"

"Top secret, Ma, I can't talk about it," he told me. He winced as he sat down and I fluttered around him in concern.

"Did you get hurt?" I asked worriedly. I hated this part of his job, but my Joey always wanted to save people.

"Just a little bruised up, don't worry, Mom," he told me. I was suspicious at the sudden flare of anger in his eyes, but dismissed it as a bruised male ego. "Tell me what's been happening in the Burg, Mom."

"Well…" I hesitated. Did I really want to involve my baby boy in the horrid things that had to revelation over the past few days? With a resigned sigh, I realised that he would hear about it anyway. The Burg Grapevine just had too many mouths feeding it. He may as well hear the truth from me, not the convoluted version from some misery-sucking leech in the Grapevine. "Honey, there's something I have to tell you."

"What is it, Mom?"

"Joey, sweetheart, your daddy was…he was having an affair. With a married woman. She was already sleeping with your uncle Jason, that slut, so your father isn't fully to blame…"I trailed off, still wanting to believe that this was purely Helen's fault.

"Who was it, Ma?" he asked me in a measured voice. I hesitated again.

"Helen Plum," I finally whispered. Worry built up in me and I hastened to reassure him. "Don't hold this against Stephanie though, dear. I may not choose her for you as my favourite, but she is not like Helen and she is far too loyal to repeat her mother's faults, I can respect that about her."

I watched as Joey contemplated something. I saw in his expression when he came to a decision and he turned to look at me.

"Mom, if I needed your help with something, would you give it to me?" he asked. I was shocked at the question.

"Of course, Baby, of course I would!" I cried, cupping his face. "Tell me, sweetie pie, what can I help you with?"

When he began his sordid tale; how he knew about the affair all along, and the plot Helen and he cooked up to break Stephanie into the Burg mould; I was no less than horrified. How is it that my Joey couldn't see that he was turning into his father? And poor Stephanie! That explained all the bruises she had…why hadn't I put the pieces together then?

"I need your help, Mom, to get Helen out of the picture and to get my Cupcake away from those thugs. Will you help me?"

###END FLASHBACK###

As I sat on the couch, I asked myself again; when had everything fallen so spectacularly around me? Not only did I find out that my husband cheated on me with a woman I considered a friend, but I also found out that the apple of my eye, my little Joey, was turning into the monster I tried so hard to stop him from becoming. He was becoming Anthony Morelli. My stomach turned over with compassion for what Stephanie must have gone through. Like I mentioned before, I liked Stephanie's fire; I respected her as a woman even though I didn't quite jump at the idea of her as a Burg wife. I felt sick at the thought of all the pain she must have endured, both physically and emotionally. I could understand why she did what she did to Helen. I hoped she was alright right now.

What is a mother supposed to do and say, when the son they adored turned into something like that right before their eyes? And proceeds to ask you for help in destroying an innocent little girl's life?

I told Joey I would help him.

And help him I would.

He may not see it yet, but the help he needed was not to finish this insane plot he's worked up. He needed help to see the error of his ways. He needed professional help to stop from doing something that wouldn't allow him to turn back from this dark path. The help I needed to give him, needed to start with me trying to save the situation at hand.

And my helping my baby boy ended with me destroying the woman who corrupted my Joey in the first place.

I had to get revenge on Helen Plum. Then, I had to help Stephanie.

I think it may be time to speak to the Burg's Bombshell bounty hunter.

###

A/N: And there you have it! Phew! That was by far the most difficult chapter I have ever had to write. Hope y'all enjoyed! Please review…I may be becoming a bit of a review addict!

-JazMitch