Title: It's all about living life
Chapter 26: Being there
Author: Ann (Chrystalsandsnowflakes)
Rating: (G to NC-17): Language and adult themes
Spoilers/Warnings: Takes place in the future, so after EOT
Summary: Some Steph and Ranger time… Awwww:)
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, I just play with them. Thanks for the reviews!

Being there

I opened my eyes to see where we were, noticing we weren't taking the fastest route back to the office. The drugs that they gave me were pretty strong, so I hadn't noticed before. The whole wrist episode had been pretty painful, but now I was feeling very little at the moment. Tank told me he was dropping off some receipts at the bond office. We were getting closer to the bond office when I felt a familiar feeling. I only had that feeling when Stephanie was around. Could this mean that she had come back? My pulse jumped at least 20 beats at the thought of it. I started looking at the street, seeing if I could spot her car or any sign of her, but I turned up nothing. I looked into the office, but couldn't see her there. Still, the feeling grew stronger, as did my excitement. Tank was surprised I came in with him, I hadn't planned on it but now that Stephanie was nearby, I had to. Inside the feeling was so strong I knew she was there, but still hadn't seen anything that confirmed it. I did see Lula looking at me expectantly, so something was up. Could I be right? I looked at the door to Vinnie's office. Maybe she was in there. I could feel Tank glancing at me, wondering what was going on. I once again tried to identify the cars outside, when the door from Vinnie's office opened and Steph walked out, saying something about Monday over her shoulder to Vinnie. An incredible feeling washed over me, I felt happy, relieved, excited, irritated and tense all at once. She turned around and immediately we locked eyes. She stopped and I stopped and we just looked at each other. The whole world seemed to come to a halt when I looked into her deep blue eyes. Then slowly a smile spread over her face and I gave one back.

"Ranger," she said softly.

"Babe." She looked good, tanned and healthy. Her eyes were shining again and she looked more at peace. Her eyes zoomed in on my arm.

"What happened with your arm?"
"Accident."

"Is it broken?"

"Broken wrist and 2 cracked bones in my hand."

And then Tanks phone rang, interrupting the moment and making her aware of the curious stares from Connie and Lula in our direction. Since I couldn't do much, Tank was in charge of most of the business this month. We did discuss a lot of things, but all emergency calls went to him, because I couldn't do much about it anyway. It was a short conversation, but I could tell that it wasn't a good one. I looked at him and he said:

"Problems with a takedown," and left the office. It wasn't until after his car had left, that I realised I had no transportation. Shit. These drugs were making me slow. Since the whole office was still watching Stephanie and myself, I wanted to get out of there.

"Walk with me?" I asked her. She nodded and said goodbye to Connie and Lula. She walked over to a car I didn't recognize.

"New car?" I asked.

"No, it's a rental. I'm returning it tomorrow."

"Could you give me a ride to the office?"

"Tank took the car, huh?" She smiled at me.

"Yeah."

We got in and she drove to my office. She parked her car in the underground garage and looked at me.

"You look tired."

"Arm's been keeping me awake."

"How much longer do you need the cast?"

"They said 4 to 6 weeks." I gave a sigh and rested my head against the seat. She smiled at that.

"It happened recently?"

"Yeah, I got the cast today."

"It happened today!" She looked at me with surprise.

"No, 5 days ago, but there was too much swelling so they couldn't put a cast on yet." She nodded.

"When did you get back?" I asked, to change the subject.

"Today. I just visited my parents and went to the bonds office to let Vinnie know that I am back at work on Monday." I nodded. I wanted her to stay around longer, just to talk and be around her.

"Want to have dinner upstairs?" She looked surprised and for a moment I was afraid that I had pushed her too much. I still had no idea what happened during her trip, or how she was feeling about me. But then she gave a small nod and said:

"Why not, saves me a trip to Pino's." We got into the elevator and I tried to open the front door for her, but it was awkward to do it with my left hand. Too late I realised that the apartment was a mess and that I didn't have a lot of food in the house anymore. Ella had a week off and she wasn't due to come back for another 4 days. Usually I'm reasonably tidy, but with only one hand, I had not been able to do even a lot simple things, like dishes and so on. So I had left them on a stack in the kitchen. My clothes were laying all around the apartment because I had been frustrated. This morning I had tried a few things before finding something that I had been able to put on and looked reasonably formal, so my bedroom looked messy. I had been eating sandwiches from the control room for dinner mostly, and Tank had dropped in yesterday with Chinese take out. Ever tried eating rice with your left hand only?

"Let me do that," Stephanie said. She took the keys from my hand and opened the front door and walked in. I heard her take in a quick breath at the sight of the apartment.

"Ella's out of town," I said.

"So I see," she said with a smile.

Stephanie POV

I looked around the apartment. For the first time it looked like someone lived there. There was a stack of dishes in the sink and some take out cartons standing on the counter. A sweatshirt was laying on a chair near the kitchen counter and a t-shirt was on the floor. A jacket was hanging over the back of the couch and a pair of socks was laying next to it on the floor. A pair of black trainers were laying next to the bedroom door, obviously kicked off, laces still tied up. There were several cups and a bowl with spoon on the coffee table. A book was on the couch and his laptop was on his desk in the office area, mouse on the left hand side. Papers were laying around it, together with a note pad and pen. I walked towards the bedroom door and looked in. The bed was unmade, sheets crumpled. Some type of pills laying on the nightstand, a book laying on the floor in front of it. On the end of the bed there was a small pile of clothes, and I recognized a shirt, a pair of pants and some sweats. Another t-shirt was laying near the door to the bathroom, and right in front of the door was a pair of running shorts. Another pair of trainers laying the corner, again with the laces still tied. The bathroom door was open and I could see a pile in there that looked like laundry, a towel laying on top. I smiled. It was obvious that living with only one hand wasn't all that easy. I turned from the bedroom door and looked at Ranger. I now noticed his slightly strange outfit. He usually dressed with great care, but today he wore dark grey slacks with a black t-shirt and a dark grey neat sweater. It didn't look bad, but I had seen him wear this combination once before, but then with a white dress shirt. The t-shirt didn't completely fit the neat outfit, but I could understand why he currently preferred it above a shirt with buttons. He looked a bit sheepish, still standing in the hall, his right hand in the sling with a black cast (of course). He was leaning against the wall, following me with his eyes. He looked tired.

"So who's cooking dinner?" I asked playfully. I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Some fruit, vegetables and milk, but not a lot there.

"Ehm… How about we order take out?"

"Sure, how about pizza?" I was teasing him, but he surprised me.

"Yeah, that's okay. What would you like?"

He placed our orders and then made a move to clean up some clothes.

"Leave it, Ranger. I don't mind."

"Sorry, this living with one hand thing is more difficult than I thought."

"Hey, my apartment always looked like this and I had no excuse for it." He smiled and settled himself on the couch, only to sit up again.

"Would you like a drink?" he asked.

"Don't get up, I'll get it." I got up and went into the kitchen. He followed me anyway, he wasn't good with a passive role. I turned around and looked at him. He was looking uncomfortable. I suddenly realised that he had no idea about my mindset regarding him. During my trip I had come to the conclusion that I wanted to try out a relationship with him if he could open up a bit more, but I hadn't told him that yet. And he must have gotten the card about a week ago, so he maybe even thought I was angry with him, or had tried to put some distance between us. I wanted to let him know that there was nothing to worry about, but that we would talk in more detail later. I was looking at him, thinking about how to say this when he spoke.

"Are you angry with me?" No Babe, no Stephanie.

"No."

"Why did you send the card?" So he had found the card and it had bothered him a lot.

"I wanted to let you know that I was still alive, but that I really needed my time." He just nodded, and I thought that I saw a flash of relief in his eyes.

"Hell of a way to let someone know that you're still alive, Babe." The Babe was back.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you understood how serious I was about this trip." I didn't regret the card, but realised I should have phrased the message differently. Oh well, it wasn't as if Ranger had never left me guessing about the meaning of certain words. I gently grabbed his shoulders and he let me turn him around. I gave him a little push towards the couch.

"Go sit, relax. I'll get the drinks." He hesitated but did walk to the couch and sat down on one end of it. I grabbed 2 glasses and filled them with the only juice that was left in the fridge and carried them over to where Ranger had settled himself on the couch. His eyes were closed and his head was resting against the back of the couch. When I put down the glasses he sat up with a jerk. I raised my eyebrows at him in question.

"They gave me painkillers in the hospital." That must have been some stuff to almost knock him out.

"Why?"

"They had to set the bone straight before they could put a cast on it. It was a bit difficult since I cracked 2 bones in my hand as well." Difficult, yeah right. Painful would be more like it.

"That must have been a painful experience." He just nodded and drank his juice. His phone rang and he answered it. The conversation was brief.

"The pizza arrived. They're brining it up." And a minute later his doorbell rang and he got up and opened the door. He put the pizza on the kitchen counter and I joined him there. The pizza was already cut into slices, but when he picked up a slice with one hand, the tip hung down, and the toppings fell off. He muttered something under his breath and started to put the toppings back on. I was wondering how he was going to solve this problem. The easy way would be to ask me to cut the slices into pieces that he could eat with a fork. But this is Ranger we were talking about. He picked up another slice, trying to get the tip to stay up, but his hand wasn't big enough, and again, toppings fell off. He put the slice down and closed his eyes for a moment. I decided not to offer my help, but see if he would ask for it. He looked at me with an unreadable expression and saw I was already halfway through my first slice. He sighed, looked at his pizza, and looked at me again. I looked back, but didn't say anything.

"Babe." It sounded pained.

"Ranger," I said calmly. He looked at his pizza again. Come on, I thought, just ask! The silence stretched and I had to work hard to keep my expression neutral. I felt a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. He was getting worked up because he had to ask for help.

"Can you help me?" he gritted out.

"Sure." I got a knife and fork and started cutting the slices in smaller pieces that he could eat with a fork.

"Thanks." He started eating and we didn't say anything. I had just finished my second slice when Ranger forked a new piece of pizza, which slid off his fork halfway to his mouth and landed upside down on the counter. He made an agitated move with his left hand, and unfortunately forgot that his glass half full with juice was there and it fell over, drenching most of his leftover pizza in orange juice.

"Goddamn it!" He threw his fork down and got up. He walked towards the couch, his back to me and I could see his left hand grabbing the back of it, knuckles white. I could see he was trying hard to calm himself down again. His shoulders slumped and he looked defeated. I could only imagine how often this had happened in the last few days. And Ranger was a person who liked his independence and was used to be able to do anything he wanted basically. Now he had to ask for help with simple things and everything took longer than usual. I got up and got some paper towels to blot up the rest of the orange juice. I picked up the piece of pizza from the counter and threw it out. After about a minute he turned around again leaned against the couch.

"Sorry, it's just that…. Well, today hasn't been my day." I nodded.

"That was the third glass that I knocked over today, can you believe it?" He made a frustrated move with both his arms and his right arm was stopped with a jerk by the sling. He looked like he was about to explode. I felt sorry for him and walked to him and grabbed his left hand.

"Come on, Ranger." I tugged at his left hand and he let me lead him around the couch. I pushed him down on the couch and walked around it again, so I was standing behind him. He was following me with his eyes, looking a bit unsure. I put my hands on his shoulders and could feel the tension there. I gave them a quick squeeze.

"Relax, Ranger." I could feel him make an effort to relax a bit, but there was still a lot of tension left. I reached around him and got a pillow that was laying next to him and put it on the armrest. Then I gently lifted the sling over his head and placed his right arm on the pillow. Ranger just looked at me but didn't say anything. I pulled his sweater up and he lifted his arms so I could pull it over his head. He replaced his right arm on the pillow. I placed the sweater next to him on the couch and then I put both my hands back on his shoulders again, and started massaging them. I could feel his muscles rolling under my hands. He still didn't say anything, like he was unsure what to do. I gently kneaded on, and when that still didn't have the desired effect I gave him a little shake.

"Just relax, Ranger." I could finally feel him give in to the massage. He started relaxing and when I moved my hands up to his neck he let his head fall forward, giving me better access. I worked my way up and down his neck, and then back to his shoulders again. I pressed my fingers a bit more firmly into his muscles this time, Ranger didn't seem the type for softly, softly. I worked on his shoulders for a few minutes and then went further down his back. He leaned forward a bit, placing his left arm on his knees for support, his head still hanging down, eyes closed. I found some knots in his lower back, and started working on those. After that I worked my way up again.

"Mmmm, Babe." Ranger mumbled. Guess he liked it. I worked all the way up to his neck again and moved to the front of his shoulders. Ranger slouched further down and put his head against the back of the couch, eyes closed, looking much more relaxed. After another 5 minutes I slowly stopped kneading. His eyes were closed and I wondered if he had fallen asleep. He looked very relaxed now, his eyes closed, his eyelashes resting on his cheeks. I slowly withdrew my hands and walked back to the kitchen. I started cleaning up the soggy mess that was left of his pizza. Nothing could save that one. I ate another slice of my own pizza and put the rest of the pizza in the fridge. I had just started doing the dishes when Ranger stirred on the couch. He sat up and rubbed his face. He turned around and looked at me.

"Hey there," I said and smiled at him. He smiled back and got up.

"Babe, you don't have to do that." He walked into the kitchen and dropped off one of the glasses that he had taken with him from the coffee table.

"It's no bother. Here, let me help you to put your sling back on." I gently lifted the sling over his head. I took a step forward to be able to adjust the sling in his neck, just as he moved forward to accommodate me. We were suddenly very close and his left hand slid around my back, pulling me close to him. His eyes were searching mine, asking if this was okay. My arms found their way around his back and I could feel him putting his face in my hair and taking a deep breath. My forehead was leaning against the side of his neck, and I breathed in the heavenly scent of Ranger. Oh, how I had missed this, this feeling of warmness and safety. This feeling of his body in my hands, feeling the muscles move as he moved, feeling his hands on my body.

"Thank you, Babe. I needed that," Ranger said, referring to the massage. I smiled against his t-shirt.
"You looked like you could do with some pampering." I heard him chuckle and felt the vibrations going through his body.

"Yeah, something like that."

"You should go to bed, you look tired." I pulled my head back to look at his face. He looked doubtful. I stepped back from his arms and placed my hands on his shoulders.

"Come on." I started pushing him in the direction of the bedroom. He reluctantly let me.

"Go change. I'll finish this up and then I'll leave you alone to have a nice night of painkiller induced sleep." We were now standing at the entrance of his bedroom. He walked in and sat down on the bed, bending forward to take off his shoes.

"I ask you to come over for dinner, and then I can only offer you take-out in a messy apartment and I fall asleep halfway through the evening." He sounded incredulous. I laughed at that.

"Oh well, it's a nice change. Usually I was the one who fell asleep." He too smiled at the memory.

"Have lunch with me tomorrow, to make it up to you?" he asked. I thought about that. Tomorrow was Thursday, and I didn't have plans yet. I was off until Monday.

"Okay."

"Good, can you pick me up at around 12.30?" I nodded. Then I gestured to the bed in general.

"Do you need help with anything?" As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt the atmosphere change and the sexual tension was there. His eyes darkened as he looked at me for a moment and I felt my mouth go dry. I mumbled:

"Forget I asked," and quickly turned and walked to the kitchen. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and finished washing the dishes. After I had wiped the counter, I could feel he was watching me. He was standing in the doorway and looked delicious. He had taken the sling off and his right arm was hanging down by his side. His left hand was braced against the wall. All that he was wearing was a pair of black silk boxers. The black cast looked good on him. He still looked dangerous, but with a touch of wounded warrior thrown in. I felt my insides go soft and I instinctively licked my lips. We looked at each other, neither of us moving.

After what seemed like hours, but were probably just a few seconds, I shook my head to clear my mind. I couldn't believe the effect this guy had on me. This could be fun if I was really going to pursue him. If he played his cards right and looked at me like that, the pursuing part would maybe last about 1 hour, then I would be ready to surrender to him. How had I ever been able to resist him? I must have been really in love with Morelli, I thought by myself. I cleared my throat so I was able to talk again.

"All is finished in here. I'll see you tomorrow then." Was that my squeaky voice? I quickly grabbed my purse and walked to the door. I had to get out of here before I jumped him. When I stopped to open the door he grabbed me from behind and pulled me against him. I jumped a little because I hadn't heard him move. His lips were next to my ear when he whispered to me.

"Looking forward to it, Babe." He gave me a quick kiss in my neck and reached around me to open the door. I just nodded and automatically walked through it. The door closed softly behind me, leaving me alone with my thoughts.