Chapter 18. Waking up

Ranger could tell when Stephanie woke up. Her whole body stiffened, and she audibly drew in breath.

"Relax, Babe. I've got you."

"Ranger?"

She turned around in his arms. She looked a fright. Her hair was all over the place, her blue eyes were puffy and red rimmed, and he thought he'd never seen anything so beautiful.

"It's me, I'm finally back."

She hugged him, and put her nose against his neck, breathing him in.

"It really is you." She started crying.

He just held her, speaking in soft Spanish, rubbing her back. After a few minutes she relaxed in his arms.

"What happened, Babe?"

She sighed. "What didn't happen. It feels like I haven't seen you in years."

"I'm sorry Babe, I…"

She interrupted him with a finger against his lips.

"You don't need to apologize. It's just been very lonely without you."

"I'm finished now. My contract is done."

Her stomach chose that moment to let itself be heard.

"Come on, we'd might as well see what can be scrunched for breakfast. I'm afraid it will be meager, I've not been here since before the summer. Hopefully there's some bread in the freezer."

"OK."

"The bathroom's over there. The kitchen is downstairs. Come down when you are ready."

Downstairs he put on the coffee, and then raided the freezer. It held whole wheat bagels, some turkey bacon and a few frozen dinners courtesy of Ella. Not much for breakfast, but he toasted the bagels and fried the bacon. Steph came down. She had obviously taken a short shower, and was clad in his t-shirt and her own jeans. She was barefoot. When he saw her he just had to hold her, and went over and hugged her tightly. Now it was his turn to burrow his nose in her neck, inwardly smiling when he smelled the Bulgari shower gel.

"Come over to the table," he said. "There were some bacon and bagels in the freezer, that's all. But at least there was coffee as well. And some powdered milk."

Steph doctored her coffee, and ate a bagel with bacon. They ate in silence.

"There's a lot of things I want to know," Ranger said. "Is it alright if I take a quick shower? Why don't you sit down on the sofa by the windows, or snoop around a bit? I promise I'll be quick."

Steph nodded. She had been silent, which was very unlike her. Ranger hurried through showering and shaving, and dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt. Downstairs he refilled their coffee cups, and sat next to Stephanie in the sofa, looking out over the beach through the big panorama windows. He carefully put his arm around her shoulders.

"Are you cold?"

"No. Or maybe, my feet."

Ranger took the blanket from the back of the sofa, and carefully wrapped her feet in it. He then reclined sideways in the sofa, pulling Stephanie to sit in between his legs, and rest against him.

"OK?" he asked.

She just nodded, and they sat for a while in silence. Then he heard a sniffle, and saw a tear leaking out of the corner of her eye.

"Please Babe, won't you tell me about it?"

"I don't even know where to start."

"Just talk, I can ask you if I need clarification, and I'm usually good at puzzling things out."

And so she told him. In a jumble of words and sentences, interspersed with crying and ranting. And was there a lot to tell - Grandma Mazur's death, the deceit from the people at Plum's bonds office, the Powerball money and the will, her new job, studies, the exploded car… And finally, about her mother and Morelli. Her feelings of betrayal.

"I promised not to kill him," Ranger said. "I said nothing about maiming or sending him away. I could ship the both of them to Siberia."

Stephanie rested against him, and could feel how tense he was.

"No," she said.

"Report them to the police?"

"No. I just want them out of my life. I don't plan on ever seeing them again."

Ranger told her of the blood and urine tests, and the photos he'd taken. They both thought that the evidence would be enough to keep Morelli and Helen away.

Ranger reheated two Ella meals, and they ate in the sofa, still touching.

"What do you want to do?" he finally asked, after they had put away the dishes. They were standing in the kitchen, beside the dishwasher.

She thought for a while.

"Continue my studies, besides that I don't know."

He could see she was exhausted, and her face was pale and drawn.

"Would you be open to live someplace other than Trenton?"

"You mean not having to risk running into either Morelli or Helen? And yes, 'Helen', I refuse to call her mum, she hasn't behaved like one towards me for a long time, if ever."

She sighed.

"Honestly, I think I'd prefer to move away."

Ranger put his hand in his pocket, and went down on one knee after fetching the ring.

"Babe, Stephanie, if one good thing has come out of these last few months, it is that I can say without a doubt that I want in you in my life. I've missed you every single day I was away. I love you, will you marry me?"

"Oh, Ranger, Carlos, I love you too, and I've missed you so much. Yes, yes, I will marry you!"

He slipped the ring to her finger, and then they kissed. Just as they kissed he realized that it was their first kiss after being reunited, the Morelli/Helen kidnapping had really messed up the important things.

It was quite a while before Stephanie even looked at the ring. It was a filigree ring in rose and white gold, without any stones. Delicate looking and beautiful.

"I thought you'd still be a bounty hunter," Ranger said. "So I wanted you to have a ring that wouldn't get snagged on anything. If you don't like it, we can find another…"

"Shh, Batman, you're rambling," Steph said. "I love it, and I don't want a big diamond ring, that's just not me."

She kissed him again.

"I was just wondering if you'll wear a ring as well."

"Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I have the matching wedding rings…"

"That deserves another kiss."

They kissed again.

"And how long have you've had these rings?"

"Since Scrog. I've had them in the safe here. Whenever I've felt particularly maudlin I've come here for a few days."

"Do you mean we could have been together ever since Scrog?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure either of us were ready for a committed relationship then. I can only assure you that here, today, I have no doubts whatsoever that you are what I want."

"Then Batman, I really want to celebrate our engagement."

"I'll book a table at…"

"No, Ranger. I don't want a fancy dinner. I want to celebrate. With you. Upstairs."

Ranger wasn't stupid, so he immediately carried Stephanie upstairs for a thorough celebration.

Steph had called Les Sebring, who immediately upon the news that Ranger was back, told her to take the week off.

They stayed at the Batcave for three days. A call to Rangeman had brought them clothes and food via special delivery. They walked the beach, celebrated upstairs, and downstairs too… And talked. Stephanie was absolutely happy with the fact that Ranger was finally back, and that they both were at the same place with their relationship. That said, she was a mess emotionally. What Joe and Helen had done to her… After discussing it with Stephanie, Ranger called the psychologist mainly working with Rangeman. He recommended a female colleague, Sarah Fitzgerald, and she even came out to the Batcave for a first consultation.

"To see if we fit and you trust me enough to continue the sessions," she said.

Ranger had made himself scarce during their talk, but had stayed close enough to be there almost immediately if needed.

Afterwards Steph had decided that she wanted to continue the sessions with the psychologist, and she thanked Ranger for finding her. She also declared that even though she loved the beach house, she needed to get back to Trenton.

Before they left they posted a letter each for Helen and Joe. Inside they put copies of photos from Joe's bedroom, the results from the blood and urine tests, plus an estimation of what the crimes would yield in a courtroom. The fact that the blood test showed that if Stephanie had eaten her usual amount of cake she'd probably died, was heavily underlined. Helen also got a special paragraph about what an accomplice to kidnapping and attempted manslaughter would be sentenced to. They stressed the fact that they had several copies of the evidence, and if either Helen or Joe so much as tried to contact Stephanie or Ranger, they would deliver the evidence to the police. Not the TPD, since Joe seemed to have special connections, but rather the FBI.

Back in Trenton they drove towards Haywood.

"Do you need anything from your apartment?"

"Yes, but honestly I don't want to go there right now. Even if you're with me, it still holds too many bad memories right now. I don't feel safe there."

"If you want to I can get over to collect some of your thing?"

Stephanie nibbled on her lip.

"I feel weak, but the one thing the psychologist stressed was that I have to talk about what I want and need, I can't rely on the people around me being able to read my thoughts. Right now I don't want you to be away from me. At Haywood I'll know where you are, and that is alright, but I don't want you to go to my apartment. It's not rational, but…"

Ranger took her hand and kissed it.

"I'm glad you talked to the psychologist, and that you can tell me what you want and need. You've been betrayed in the worst way, and I'll gladly stay close to you until you feel more secure. But would it be alright if we sent someone else to pick up your things? Maybe Ella?"

"Ella sounds perfect, if she has the time. Maybe someone to help her carry the stuff as well, that way we won't have a Merry man in my lingerie drawer."

Ranger smiled, and kissed her hand again. He kept holding it while they drove the last stretch of the way to Haywood.

"Do you want to say hi, or go straight to seventh?"

She thought for a moment.

"I want to say hi."

She gave him a mischievous smile.

"Why don't we stop at five? And see how observant they are."

She wiggled the fingers on her left hand, and he smiled.