Thanks for the support on the first chapter. I had every intention of this being a silly oneshot, but then I realized that there were some holes towards the end product of my foggy brain, lol. Some of you asked for an expansion, to clarify some things like GarbanzoBeans said. So this oneshot has turned into a short story I hope to have done before I go back to work next week.
Sorry in advance, because I'm about to ruin the 'cute' feeling of chapter one with this update. One thing that needed a bit more follow up was why Ranger was in a 'mood' in the morning, if Steph helped him overcome his weird nightmare from the night before. Here's what my brain came up with.
Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE. The typos are my brain's fault. Oops.
Ranger's POV
The feeling that something bad was going to happen has followed me since I woke up this morning. Babe's naked form plastered almost atop mine was a very nice sight to awaken to, yet I couldn't shake off the weird feeling. Slipping out of Babe's grasp required a bit of maneuvering on my part, but I managed it with minimal disturbance to her sleep. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I got ready and headed down to the gym.
Sure, I pummeled the crap out of the punching bags to get out my frustration of not being able to shake off the negative feeling. Babe's usually the one that has the Spidey Sense, as she likes to call it, but I just knew that something bad was coming our way. It was a difficult realization to grasp, since I'm not usually the premonition type.
When I was done with my regimen for the day, I wiped off the sweat from my forehead, neck and arms before heading back upstairs to shower. I wasn't expecting to find that Babe was no longer sleeping, yet finding her in the shower under the hot water spray and seeing water sluice down her curves is always a welcomed sight. I wasn't intending on us having sex, considering how many times we came together during the night, but then she looped her arms around my neck while she stood on her tiptoes. We shared quite the heated kiss and the rest of our early morning is history.
I blinked, then pinched the bridge of my nose when I realized that despite multiple attempts I still haven't been able to absorb a single word of the report in my hands. Thankfully, Tank entering my office unexpectedly saved me from another futile attempt.
"Yo." I greeted as he came in.
"Heard you were going at the punching bags a little too heavy this morning." He said by way of acknowledgement as he took a seat in front of my desk.
I gave him a miniscule frown. Of course Lester would assume some shit's going on and would spread it around the building. "Nothing I won't be able to put behind me." I answered when he asked if something was going on.
Tank gave me a nod, satisfied with my response.
"How did she find out?" He asked with a hint of a grin several moments later.
It was my turn to smile. Despite my nightmare sounding silly, I had to fill him in so that he could have background info to go by. "Stephanie already knew about your new romance." I shared.
Tank grimaced. "Oh, God, no!" He shuddered at the thought of anyone at Rangeman, let alone him, pursuing Julie romantically. "I'd be right there with you, kicking that asshole's ass!"
I let out a bark of laughter. "Babe said the exact same thing." Whether Julie likes it or not, she'll always be our little girl.
Tank got serious suddenly. "Then, were you upset because…" He jabbed the air between us, wordlessly asking if I was upset by the possibility that I could have hurt Babe.
"It used to." I shared that at first that was one of the items on my seemingly infinite list of excuses of why I told myself that I should keep Babe at arm's length. She chipped away at my armor and defenses, until one day it just clicked that keeping her away wasn't a viable option. That was the day that we stopped torturing ourselves.
"But not anymore?" Tank asked, looking even more confused.
"Not anymore." I nodded, because Babe and I have come a long way. Things between us couldn't be better.
"If the idea of me with a Julie isn't it, then what had you in such a sour mood this morning?" Tank asked with a hint of a smile. Tank humor.
With a huff, I told him that I haven't been able to shrug off the negative feeling that something bad was headed our way. And soon!
"You worried about Stephanie because she's out of the building today?" Tank knows what my worst fear is: that someone I love needs me and I'm not there.
It took me a long time to overcome the guilt of the aftermath of Scrog. Julie had to grow up a lot faster than most kids her age, which wasn't fair to her. Then there's all the near misses and close calls Stephanie's had.
I sat up straighter in my chair, willing myself to snap out of it. There's no indication that anything's happened.
"Hal and Steph made their capture and as of ten minutes ago were headed to the TPD." Tank shared without prompting, further showing how well he knows me.
"I got the alert." Plus, Babe sent me a text and attached a smiling picture of herself. That photo's the most likely culprit of my wandering mind. No wonder I couldn't absorb a single word off the report I tossed on my desk as soon as Tank joined me. Her eyes were a vibrant blue today and her smile was infectious, making me miss her despite the short time she's been gone. I was looking forward to her return. Maybe I could even coerce her to an early lunch date.
Our talk shifted to business as I willed my thoughts away from Babe.
We were discussing the latest schedule rotation when Lester burst into my office without knocking. The first thing that caught my eye was the white stain on his cargo pants. I scowled at him. Was he trying to be funny? He literally lives one floor away. He could take five minutes to change his pants, seriously.
When my eyes trailed up, finally reaching his face, I understood that what he was about to tell me wasn't good news. Lester's so good at annoying the crap out of most of us, that whenever his serious face makes an appearance… it… it's never a good sign.
"Report!" I barked out, once again ignoring my work responsibilities.
"Something's happened, Boss." Santos sounding solemn instead of using his perfected smartass tone, is always a bearer of bad news. "Stephanie…"
I was out of my seat before he even finished what he had to say.
S&R
Stephanie's POV
Hal parked our fleet SUV and had our FTA marching towards the TPD back entrance while I dug our paperwork out of the glove box. This isn't a personal skip, so my shoulder bag stayed home. Plus, all of the research is in my head anyway.
We'd just reached the glass doors when Morelli burst out of them. I came face to face with his fool proof breath. I blinked and took a step back from him on instinct. The tingling in the back of my neck was going haywire, like it's never done before.
"Morelli." I said curtly as I scanned my eyes over his form. His glassy eyes and that snear he gets whenever he drinks were dead giveaways that he was indeed under the influence. I frowned, hating that the rumor that's been circling around the Burg turned out to be true: that Joe's become a high functioning alcoholic like his father. A wave of sadness washed over me as I held his heated gaze.
"Steph?" Hal butted in, checking to see if I needed any assistance.
When I swung my eyes over to the right I was suddenly reminded that we were in the middle of a job. I passed the paperwork over to Hal and told him to start heading inside. When he made no move to do so, I assured him I'd be right behind. "Please, Hal." I gave him a small nod as a go ahead.
"Bomber." Hal said with a small nod, finally heading inside the TPD.
As soon as we were left alone, I tugged Morelli by his jacket sleeve. I led us off to the side of the doors so we wouldn't be blocking the entrance.
"What the hell, Joe?" I said, raking my eyes over him. The Burg loves to contort the truth to their liking, however, with Morelli it seems they got it just right.
"What, Cupcake?" He slurred as he kept moving, backing me towards the small walkway that was off to one side of the building. The very deserted side of the building. It was barely wide enough for one person to pass, which meant actvity was minimal here. On one side there was the TPD wall and on the other their metal fence.
Dread settled low in the pit of my stomach the moment I realized that he cornered me against the wall on purpose.
"You're drinking while on the job?" I suggested he went home and came back once he was sober, trying my best to diffuse the situation.
"I'm not drunk." Morelli sneered, his breath brushing against my cheek. Once again, the stench told me otherwise. "And you're not the one that should be throwing the first stone, traitor." He bit out, an angry look crossing his features.
I shook my head as I tried to push past him. There's no talking to him when he gets like this. I learned that the hard way after years of screaming and shouting so that he could hear me. Morelli never did.
"Where do you think you're going?!" Morelli slurred as he wrapped a hand around my throat, slamming me back against the wall. His body quickly pinned me in place as his hand squeezed tighter, choking me. "You're mine. Always have been and always will." He threatened to send me back to Rangeman after he fucked me. "Bet Manoso would love that payback." A sinister shiver croused through me at his dark tone.
Flashbacks I've tried to bury assaulted me as I choked out a ragged breath. The Choo-Choo train as a child and the Tasty Pastry incident when I was a teenager seemed to be stuck in a loop in my head, freezing me in place momentarily.
I'd been too scared to hit him when I was a teen with him hovering above me on that dusty bakery floor, but not today. It took me two years to gain the courage to jump the curb and hit him with my Dad's Buick. I'm not holding back this time. Nope!
Joe laughed in my face as he easily deflected my knee, further restricting my movement. "What are you going to do?" He smiled in triumph, because I couldn't knee him in the balls like I've perfected over the years.
"Sucks to be a one trick pony, doesn't it?" Morelli beamed down at me as he groped my torso roughly. The hand not on my throat squeezed rather hard over my left breast before he resorted to groping me elsewhere.
"We're done here." I bit out when he loosened his hold on my throat slightly. I glared at him defiantly, unwilling to show him any fear.
"What are you going to do, Cupcake?" The smugness he exuded was almost as potent as the alcohol on his breath.
"Read my lips, since you're not fucking listening." I gritted out, my voice sounding little more than a whisper now that he was back to constricting my airway. "I don't want your hands on me. Get off!" I croaked, knowing that I didn't have much space to maneuver.
"Or what?" Morelli taunted, leaning closer to my face.
I was done wasting my minimal breath on him. He's not going to listen.
Sometimes you have to fight dirty.
Hector's words floated through my brain, remembering his advice out of the blue. Morelli doesn't know how much training the Merry Men have given me this past year. Or how much time I've invested on bettering myself and my skills.
Do whatever you have to do to get your assailant off of you. Whatever it takes.
I made up my mind, embracing Hector's teachings.
"Fuck you!" I ground out just before I headbutted him. Hard. I've been told time and time again how thick headed I am. Might as well use it to my advantage.
Morelli cursed as he reared his head back, giving me the perfect opening to slide an arm between our bodies. I raked my short nails across his face, pressing on his eyeballs for maximum effect. As he howled in pain, he staggered back slightly. That afforded me enough room to raise my knee, hitting him where it hurts.
As I darted off to my right and rounding the corner of the building, I knew that I didn't hit him with my knee as hard as I would have liked.
"Wow!" I heard as I barreled straight into a female officer, knocking both of us over. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked as she searched my face.
"Morelli." I choked out as I got to my feet just in time to see him rounding the corner. He was coming in hot, so I knew that I had to keep moving. And fast!
Chancing a peak over my shoulder as I darted away, I saw Joe easily fling away the female officer. Yeah, he's pissed.
I felt stupid as I ran deeper into the parking lot instead of going into the precinct.
Way to go, Plum! I mentally berated myself as I dashed past the Rangeman SUV. I didn't have the keys. Hal did. Now I severely regret leaving my utility belt and weapon in the vehicle just because a bunch of nosy assholes inside of the TPD like to tease and say that the belt makes my ass look bigger. Ugh!
I was headed for the visitor entrance until I saw that a cruiser was coming in via the secured gate.
Redirecting myself, I headed that way. It was closer. The cop car screeched to a halt when it saw me barreling its way. When I jumped on top of the hood, I briefly saw that Eddie was behind the wheel when I put my other foot on the windshield to keep moving. He had a look of utter shock as he watched me move without missing a beat. I climbed onto the top, not willing to stop.
I slid off the back of the cruiser, hitting the pavement running. Even as I felt the burn of the overexertion all over my body, I kept moving. As I crossed the mechanical gate as it started to close, I hooked a left. I ran harder, grateful that all those obstacle courses the guys insisted I did were paying off. This time last year, Grandma Mazur would have outran me.
The main street was so close, yet I could hear Morelli gaining ground. Shit.
I fumbled for my cell phone, but couldn't reach it. It was in the pocket below my knee. Usually the pockets in my cargo pants are a godsend. Not today.
My legs and arms pumped harder, moving in perfect sync as I got ready to round the next corner. I'm closer to looping around the block to head towards the main walk-in TPD entrance than any other heavily trafficked area.
A large hand fisted in my ponytail, twisting their fingers roughly through my curls to gain a better hold before they yanked me back. Morelli tackled me next to the bushes that lined the front side of the TPD outer perimiter.
"We'll be done when I say so!" Joe grunted as he slammed my back against the wet earth.
I grinned up at him as I grabbed a fistful of mud, even as he hit my head against the ground. I got to slam my hand against his face. It was quite satisfying to hear the sound as my hand slapped against his mug. Not one to lose momentum, I used my elbow to give him a good shot to his nose. As he reared his upper half back, I put my boot clad feet to good use. I kicked him as hard as I could and as many times as possible while I wiggled myself through a small opening between the bushes. I tried not to pay attention to the spider webs that clingled to me as I did so. One fight at a time.
Once I emerged on the sidewalk, I pushed myself to keep moving. I got up, despite the pain, and hauled ass once again. I felt sweat drip into my right eye, restricting my vision. I used the non dirty part of my arm to brush the sweat away. When I caught a flash of red, I knew that what was tricking down the side of my face wasn't sweat. It was blood.
"I got him!" Eddie hollered after me, but not even that stopped me. I forged on until I collapsed on the top step of the TPD entrance.