Title: It's all about living life
Chapter 25: Getting there.
Author: Ann (Chrystalsandsnowflakes)
Rating: (G to NC-17): Language/adult themes
Spoilers/Warnings: Takes place in the future, so after EOT
Summary: Stephanie is going back to Trenton
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, I just play with them. Thanks for the reviews!

Getting there

Stephanie gripped the wheel a little firmer. It was about 5 pm and she was getting closer to Trenton everyday now. She guessed she needed about 2 more days and she would be there. Back in her apartment, working for Vinnie and maybe Ranger occasionally. The latter occupied her thoughts frequently. She wondered if he really hadn't followed her, or if she simply hadn't found out. But her spidy sense hadn't tingled, so her gut feeling was that he had not tried to find her. She had thought a long time about sending the card or not, but in the end decided that she did want to let Ranger know that she was alive and on the other hand wanted to make sure he understood he had to wait until she chose to return. She really didn't want to follow up on her threat, so she hoped it would convince Ranger to wait for her. Because she didn't know his address and didn't want to send the card to his office, she used her own address, guessing and actually expecting Ranger to check her apartment on a regular basis for clues and to make sure everything was in order. If she had been wrong, it wouldn't be a problem because she hadn't put anything too important on that card. And she knew he would know that she was Canada, but her gut feeling said that he probably had found out about her flight ticket and rental car anyway. She wondered how things were in Trenton. She had called her mom about once a week, so she was up to date with most of the gossip, but her mother had no information about Ranger or Morelli. She had thought a long time about what she would do when she was back. She had decided that she would first greet her family and friends and then she would give Ranger a call to see if he wanted to meet with her. No need for her to wait for him to make the first move. She knew now that she wanted him, and she could tell him that. No need for her to fret and wait and be anxious about whether or not he would contact her. She would take matters in her own hands. She smiled. Imagine that: she was going to pursue Ranger!

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Tank looked over at Ranger, who was slouched next to him in the car. They had been to the hospital and were now on their way back to Rangeman. Ranger was half asleep because of the drugs they had given him. The x-rays had shown that the fracture in his wrist had moved so they had to straighten the bone before putting it in a cast. The 2 cracked bones in his hand made it an extra painful experience, so they had given him something to take the edge off. Tank knew that Ranger himself was responsible for the movement of the bones, because he had tried to do a lot of things with his right hand, despite the doctors' orders to give it complete rest. After the doctor was satisfied with the alignment of the bone, they had put the cast on and the nurse had actually asked Ranger which colour he preferred to be put over the cast. Ranger had looked at her and she had taken that as encouragement and had shown him a whole set of colours ranging from bright pink to black. Ranger had just pointed to the black and she had asked 'are you sure, I think blue would suit you better." The look Ranger had on his face was priceless, but he had insisted on the black. She even found him a black sling to match, so he could still maintain his image. Women do that sort of thing for him.

Ranger shifted in his seat and looked up.

"Where are we going?"

"I was going to drop off some receipts at the bond office." He just nodded. When I parked in front of the office he suddenly sat up straight, looking around him, on full alert.

"What's up?" Ranger kept scanning the street and tried to look in the office. After a few seconds he shrugged and undid his seatbelt.

"You coming in?" Tank asked.

"Yeah." That was surprising, because normally he would have waited in the car, to avoid questioning by Lula and Connie.

Lula and Connie stopped talking when we came in and looked at Ranger with huge eyes.

"What happened with you?" Connie asked.

"Accident," was all that Ranger said, his eyes telling her not to ask any more questions.

"Some accident," Lula said. Ranger just gave her a look and Lula put up her hands.

"Hey, I'm just saying," she said. Tank walked over to Connie and dropped the body receipts at her desk.

"Wow, you guys have been busy." We had had a lucky streak and caught 3 high bond skips in 5 days. She got out the check book and started writing the checks. Tank looked over at Ranger, who seemed restless. He was looking at the door to Vinnie's office and looking out of the window again. Lula was looking at Ranger, like she was waiting for something to happen. Just as Connie was writing the last check, the door to Vinnie's office opened and we all heard Stephanie say:

"Okay, I'll start Monday."

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"Joe, can you look at this?" Joe got up from the couch and walked over to the computer where Eve Fresco was working on. They had spent hours and hours already in the office that had been set up for this investigation trying to find out leads and going through information. Soon detective Morelli and agent Fresco had turned into Joe and Eve. He leaned over her shoulder to see what was on the screen, noting her delicious perfume and well shaped breasts.

"What do you make of this picture?" she asked him.

"When did this come in?" he asked her.

"Just now." Joe looked at the picture. It showed 3 men standing together somewhere. He could see 2 cars in the background and what appeared to be a park bench. One man was known to him, he was a suspect in this case. One of the others looked slightly familiar to him, but he couldn't place him.

"Do you know the other 2?" he asked Eve.

"No, do you?"

"The one on the left looks familiar to me, but I don't know why right now."

"This came in from our surveillance unit. The meeting happened this afternoon." Joe nodded. It could mean anything, but he had a feeling that this might be important.

"Can you print it for me? I'd like to compare it to some other files I have. Maybe I can identify the guy on the left."

"Sure," Eve said and tapped a few buttons, bringing the printer to life. He went back to the couch and Eve settled in next to him, with a stack of papers. She gave him the photo and then they looked at the other information that had come in. Their heads were bowed over 1 particular piece of information when they both looked up at the same time, and their lips were less than 3 inches apart. They looked at each other, but they didn't move. During the past few days, the sexual tension had become more evident. Joe had caught Eve watching him a few times and vice versa. He had thought about it for a long time, and decided that he wanted to see if they could build something together. She was a 'one in a million' type of woman for him. Eve licked her lips and Joe felt his body respond. Slowly he moved his head about an inch forward, to see how she would react. She seemed to think about it and then her head came forward too and their lips met in a soft kiss. It was gentle and warm. Slowly Joe withdrew his head and looked at Eve again. He smiled at her and she smiled back. He felt relieved, she wasn't angry or afraid, she had wanted this as much as he did.

"Want to have dinner with me tomorrow night, Eve?" he asked her, their lips still inches apart.

"Yes, Joe, I'd like that." They smiled again and with one last quick kiss they went back to work again.

After another hour Joe looked up at Eve and warm feelings spread throughout his body. The kiss had felt very natural, as had the dinner question. Wow, he really liked this woman.