Thanks for the awesome support on the first chapter. It was supposed to be a oneshot (I don't do many of those), but you all voiced the need for a continuation. This is now a short story. Maybe three or four chaps. This chapter is longer (about twice as long) than the first one as a thanks for the awesome feedback and it deals with the immediate aftermath, picking up right where chapter one left off. Chapter is split between Stephanie and Ranger's POVs.
I felt this song was perfect for 'Ready or Not'
I Did Something Bad- by Taylor Swift
If a man talks shit
Then I owe him nothing
I don't regret it one bit
'Cause he had it coming
They say I did something bad
Then why's it feel so good?
Let me know your thoughts. What do you think will happen to Joe?
Disclaimer: The Plum Universe belongs to JE. Mistakes are mine.
I could feel that all eyes were on me as I walked down the hall towards the exit. There was absolute silence as I moved in sync with my two escorts. Ranger was to my right and my lawyer, Anna Jones, on my left.
I ignored the stares and worked on keeping one foot in front of the other.
When we went outside I realized night was falling. Shit. A whole day gone. With an audible sigh, I followed Ranger's lead. He opened the passenger door for the Turbo and I happily slid in. I groaned when I sank into the gloriously comfy seat.
"Babe." Ranger tucked a stray curl behind my ear before he closed the door.
As I was buckling myself in, I caught sight of Ranger stopping in the rear view mirror. Anna said something to him, shortly followed by a vehement head shake on her part. She could hardly control her facial expressions during the cataloguing of my bruising. The female officer present, Officer Stevenson, did a bit of a better job hiding her dislike of the marks on my body. I didn't even know it, but there a good sized bruise on my right leg from where Joe kicked my legs apart when he first slammed me against the patrol car. That's why I hit the hood so forcefully. He kicked my feet apart and shoved me, which left me with no footing and no hands to brace myself. The face slam hurt, but at least I saved my nose.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the window as Ranger got behind the wheel. He likes to drive in his zone, so me not chatting him up won't really be out of the ordinary.
The drive was over before I could really get comfortable. I snapped my eyes open when I felt Ranger exit the car. I watched him round the front of the Turbo to open my door.
"Thanks." I mumbled softly as I accepted his hand and angled out.
Instead of taking the elevator in the garage, we took a detour to the lobby. It was standing room only with a bunch of the Merry Men not so patiently awaiting my arrival.
A collective gasp resounded across the walls of the lobby as the men took in my appearance. I avoided looking at myself at the TPD, but maybe my face is looking kinda rough if the Merry Men are audibly upset.
My eyes landed on Hal, who looked torn between standing still by the desk or rushing to my side to crush me in a bear hug. Knowing he was warring with some heavy emotions, I made the decision for him by closing the distance between us.
"Oh, my Halosaurus." I whispered for his ears alone as I wrapped my arms around as much of his torso as I could. He quickly reciprocated the hug, squeezing me tightly. "Thank you." I said when we finally disentangled and I took a step back.
"I'm gonna kill him." Lester said with finality once I was in full view again. I could feel him vibrating with pent up energy.
"Si." Hector agreed a beat later.
"Guys..." I waved my right hand to get them to stand down. It wasn't worth it for them to also have to deal with a legal battle.
I didn't get the chance to finish, because the men all gasped in outrage. It was a resounding sound in unison as they took in my marred wrist. Oops. I forgot about that. Morelli really cranked down on the cuffs. All the yanking around only made the metal dig into my skin more.
"Yeah, let's see him do that to someone his own size." Zero blurted out.
"Or bigger." Cal added.
The growing murmurs amongst the men was my indication that I'd lost the conversation. Turning to Ranger for help had the murmurs quieting down, but not fully subsiding.
Ranger curled an arm across my shoulders, effectively tucking my body against his left side.
"Stand down." Ranger said in his no nonsense voice. Some of the men let out what sounded like a snort of protest, yet didn't otherwise voice their dislike of the order. "Stephanie is calling the shots on this one." Ranger added with finality.
"Yeah, she did!" Zip blurted out with a fist pump.
That got a small smile out of me and a head shake. They're insufferable sometimes, but I love them.
I gave them a small finger wave as the elevator doors closed. I leaned more heavily against Ranger as the elevator moved up to the seventh floor.
Ella was arranging our dinner on the dinning table we hardly ever use.
"Thank you." I said to both Ranger and Ella as I sat down. Ella gave my right shoulder a reassuring squeeze before she exited the penthouse.
After fifteen minutes of picking at my Mac and Cheese I gave up the pretense of eating. "I'm not hungry." Pushing my plate aside and making a move to stand up had Ranger arching an eyebrow at me. "I just want to take a shower and call it a day." I really had no appetite, which I know is a first for me.
I padded silently to the bedroom. I made a quick detour to grab something to wear after my shower and then bypassed the bed to head into the en suite. As I undressed I started at myself in the mirror over the sink. The bruise on my face was darker than I anticipated, making it obvious something had happened to me. No wonder the guys were so riled up when they saw me. Shrugging off the visual, I undressed quickly before stepping into the glass encased shower.
The hot water cascaded over my head as I stared down at my body. My wrists both wore the marks of the tight cuffs. There was a hand shaped bruise on my left forearm, just above my wrist. A matching hand shaped bruise was on my right upper arm, just above my elbow. Then there was my face and the mark on my leg. "What a life, Plum." I mumbled to myself.
As soon as the day's events replayed in my mind, the tears and sobs broke loose and escaped without my permission.
That's how Ranger found me minutes later.
His large hand closed around my nape, applying a soft pressure. "Babe." His voice brought me back as I whirled around to face him.
"I couldn't find him." I sobbed as I wrapped my arms around Ranger, burying my face against his neck. The water pulsed against my back as Ranger crushed me tighter to him. "He was so small." My skip's file mentioned he was married with eleven and four year old sons. As soon as I walked into the FTAs home, the horrible stench hit me all at once. I knew it was the smell of death, but I wasn't prepared for the horrifying scene. "So small." And so decomposed. When I found the wife's and eleven year old son's bodies I had hope that the FTA had spared his four year old son, because I couldn't find him. It wasn't until my third look that I found him by his mother's feet. It was an abominable scene.
"I know, Babe." Ranger reassured me that he understood as he held me tighter.
S&R
Ranger's POV
When Babe left her food untouched, I knew she wasn't doing as well as she wanted everyone to believe she was doing. It wasn't until I found her full on sobbing in the shower that I realized how affected she really was.
I held and reassured her until the crying episode subsided. I proceed to lather and scrub her from head to toes. With extra care, I padded her body dry before dressing her in the over-sized T-shirt she commandeered from my side of the closet and panties she left on the sink counter.
I led the way back to bed and settled under the covers with her. Her body automatically curled against my side, with her head resting on my chest. I used my fingers to massage her scalp, relaxing her to the point she fell asleep without realizing it.
Before my alarm rang the next morning, I shut it off so I wouldn't wake her before she was ready to tackle a new day. Slipping from under her still body without jostling her too much was no easy feat with her arms clinging tightly to me. Once I completed my mission, I stood by my side of the bed and watched her sleep for a few beats. Automatically, she rolled on her abdomen and wrapped her arms around my pillow when her head rested on it. A small smile tugged on my lips as I adjusted the covers over her still form. I used to break into her apartment and watch her sleep just to satiate my need to know she was safe. Now I don't have to just watch her, because I have the right to join her.
A few men were already deep in their workouts by the time I strolled into the gym. A few of them stopped what they were doing to track my movements. I appreciate how much they care about Stephanie. She thinks they watch out for her, because I order them to. In the beginning that was the case, but she quickly stole their hearts and wedged herself in their lives. Just like she did to me.
I was halfway through my workout regimen when Hector stormed into the gym.
"Mira." Hector urged, pointing towards the set of TVs mounted on one wall of the gym. Some of the men catch up on news or current events while they're in the workout zone. Hector tapped something on his tablet and then a video played on all the TV screens.
"Look at this mofo." A disembodied voice commented on the video. "He's been yelling at her for over an hour!" The same voice continued to narrate on screen as we watched Morelli wave his arms and clearly yell at Babe.
"Aww, shit. Look at at her face! Homegurl is done with his shit!" Another voice commented as we watched Babe return her phone to her pocket and Morelli obliterate any sense of personal space between them.
"As she should." The first voice replied.
"Hell yeah!" The second voice cheered as Stephanie's knee connected with Morelli's balls, quickly followed with a back of the hand strike to his face. He unceremoniously dropped to the floor.
"Ha ha! All the cops are laughing too." The first voice added before dissolving in a fit of giggles.
Everyone was too busy laughing to catch the shift in the atmosphere as Morelli righted himself. It was quick. He reached for her, pulling her arms behind her back forcefully and roughly cuffing her. The men in the gym shouted their protest as we watched Morelli whirl Babe around, kick her feet apart and slam her face first against the nearest patrol car.
"Oh fuck!" The two voices in the video said in unison, vocalizing our sentiments exactly.
Eddie and Carl rushed to Babe's side. Gazarra pushed Morelli back as Constanza bent at the waist to speak to Stephanie. Morelli ignored Eddie, pushing him to the side and reaching for Babe again.
"Let her go!" The first voice shouted as Morelli paraded Babe towards his car. Morelli glared at the camera even as he shoved Babe into the backseat of his POS. Babe's lips were pressed into a tight line, but she wisely kept her mouth shut despite him still going off on her.
"Where'd you find that, Hector?" Bones asked once the screen went black.
"Community Crime Watch app." Hector explained the video has gone viral and there's a lot of comments sharing their similar encounters with Morelli.
"Send me the video." I ordered and Hector did just that. As soon as I had the video, I forwarded it to Anna. She's going to have a field day with this. She lost her only daughter to domestic violence. Despite knowing that seeing Stephanie in the state she was in yesterday could trigger bad memories for her, Anna decided she would be the best option for this case. Anna's been a long time family friend and there's no doubt in mind that she'll get justice served.
I'd just cleared the stairwell on the seventh floor when Anna's reply came in.
Fucking asshole. We'll get him good.
I had no reason to doubt her, so I sent her a quick affirmative reply.
Closing the door behind me, I tossed my keys in the silver bowl on the sideboard to my left.
"You're back." Babe's voice had my head snapping up in her direction. I watched her pad barefoot towards me, still sporting only my over-sized Rangeman T-shirt.
"Babe." I grinned as she stalked closer, grateful to have her here with me despite the horror scene I witnessed downstairs in the gym. It's one thing to hear a recount of the events and another completely different experience to watch it go down.
"Ranger!" She let out a surprised shriek when I lifted her onto the sideboard and stepped between her knees, dipping my head to fuse our lips together.
By the time we broke apart, gasping for air, our hands were busy tugging each other's clothes off. My T-shirt hit the floor, quickly followed by hers. With my help, Babe shimmied out of her panties without falling off her perch on the sideboard. Her hands tugged my shorts past my hips as I tested her readiness. Stepping out of my shorts wasn't an easy task since I realized she was just as ready for me as I was for her. Sometimes it's scary how in tune our bodies are.
Her legs wrapped around waist as I plunged inside, settling on a comfortable rhythm from the get go. My mouth latched onto her throat as her hands buried in my hair.
The sounds of our passion and the feel of her all around me consumed all of my senses. Neither one of us realized the front door was swinging open until it was too late.
"Oh my God!" Ella's shriek stopped our combined movements.
"Oh shit!" Babe buried her face against my neck, her arms looping tightly around my shoulders to press her breasts against my chest.
"Oh dear!" Ella stammered, quickly averting her eyes to the ceiling and pushing the cart of food back out of the apartment so she could retrace her steps. "I...I...I didn't knock because Stephanie said to just come in!" Ella was obviously mortified, making a quick escape.
"Babe." I palmed her ass to move her off the sideboard. I fought to keep my chuckle internal as I moved us to the bedroom.
"How was I supposed to know we'd end up naked 30 seconds after you walked through the door!" Her face was still pressed against my neck, which caused her words to rumble against my skin.
"That's always a possibility with us, Babe." I reminded as I settled us on the bed, my back on the mattress and Babe straddling my thighs.
"True." She conceded as she pushed herself off my chest. A small chuckle escaped as she closed her blue eyes briefly. "I think we just scarred Ella for life." Another little chuckle escaped as her eyes flew open. The spark had returned to her eyes. She'll be okay. Babe's resilient.
"Everyone at Rangeman knows we have a sex life, Babe." I tugged at an unruly curl to get her attention back on me. "We live together." I fake whispered as if it were a secret.
"But they don't have to see it!" She groaned as she threw her head back.
"Babe." I laced my fingers with hers so I could tug her back down. Once our torsos were pressed flush together once again, she spoke.
"Thank you for coming to get me." Her eyes scanned my face, trying to gauge my reaction to her admission.
"I wasn't going to let you sit in a cell for longer than you had to, Babe."
"I know." She shook her head, causing her curls to caress my skin. "I mean, thanks for always having my back and for following me into even the darkest of places." Her lips pressed against mine, kissing me like her life depended on it.
"Always, Babe." I kissed her as I rolled us to be on top. "I'll always follow you anywhere."