Okay, so here's what happened. I was moving along with a new chapter and thinking it'll be so great to have a new chapter out and all will be well in my world.

And then BAM. Writer's block. Hardcore. So bad that anything I wrote either didn't make sense or it was utterly terrible. So I scrapped it.

Twice.

But then I finally got into the swing of it and pulled out the next chapter. I wanted more R/S this time, but I'd rather do it in another chapter than not post anything at all. Hopefully this helps to move the story along.

Not mine, although for every birthday wish and letter to Santa, I ask for Ranger.

Stephanie's POV

I sighed and dropped my pen. "We're getting nowhere."

"Come on, Beautiful. You can't give up hope now!" Lester said, grinning at me.

I sat back in my chair and blew out a breath. "We haven't had a lead in weeks. Even Ranger said things have settled down. The bad guys don't even think I can do it."

"We do. The guys and I do. We believe in you."

"Thanks," I said smiling a small smile. "But even that's not enough."

I was feeling frustrated. Nothing was going on. We were stuck in a mire of cold leads that lead to nowhere. I was beginning to feel hopeless. Who was I kidding? I couldn't do this. I wasn't a detective like Joe. I couldn't infiltrate like Rangeman could. I was just a silly little white girl from the Burg with a big bad security team humoring me.

"Maybe we should just give up for tonight." I said, feeling defeated and sorry for myself. I wanted to continue this pity party alone.

Lester looked surprised. "Are you sure? I can stay for a few more minutes if you want…"

"No, that's okay. I'm tired." I yawned widely.

I could tell that he still wasn't convinced, but he stood anyway. "Okay," he said. "I can be here tomorrow at…"

"Why don't I call you when I get home? I have some things I need to do tomorrow."

"Sure. Later Beautiful."

I walked him to the door and gave him a hug. "Later Les."

He looked like he was about to say something more, so I shut the door in his face. Sighing, I slowly walked back to the dining room where we were working to clean up. I neatly stacked the folders one by one, and took the whole heavy mess into my hands.

And shoved it right into the drawer.

I needed a break. Things weren't moving and I was feeling the pressure for something to happen. So I was going to take a few days off. Recharge.

Three weeks later, I was still "recharging". And it didn't look like it was going to stop. Everything else was going well in my life. Joe and I were finally in a good place again and my mother couldn't be more pleased.

I couldn't help but think that there was something missing…

Only when that feeling came around, I usually stuffed more cake into it.

Ranger and the guys tried to bring me out of the funk for the first week, then their calls lessened until finally they stopped all together. I could feel the disappointment through the phone line every time I said 'not tonight'.

"You can't keep hiding from this, Stephanie." Ranger had said to me.

"I'm not hiding from this." I said, but we both knew it was a lie. I sighed. "Has there been another attack on my life? No. Are we any closer to figuring out who killed this kid? No. What if he is just part of the gangs? Moms don't know everything. Mine surely didn't."

He paused. "You really don't believe that, do you?"

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"This is how some cases go. They aren't solved in 45 minutes. It takes time."

"And I need to take some time. Look, I appreciate all you've done, but…"

"Don't. Don't say it."

That stopped me. "I don't want to quit, Ranger. I just need time."

He didn't say anything for a while. "Ranger?" I asked.

He had hung up.

That was the last time that I had spoken to Ranger. The guys even stopped calling too. But that was okay. My life was going great.

Turns out, I could lie to myself.

Joe smiled at me from across the table at Pino's. "This is nice." He said. We had been seeing each other more regularly and taking things slow since I stopped the case. I was beginning to remember why we were going out in the first place. I nodded and smiled at me. He took my hand.

"Maybe tonight you could invite me up?" He asked suggestively. We still hadn't had sex and I was okay with that. I liked that we were going slow. I just increased my shower time and sugar intake.

I smiled coyly. "Maybe…"

He chuckled. "Stephanie Plum, are you playing hard to get?"

I giggled. Giggled. "Maybe…"

He laughed again and kissed my fingers. "I like this side of you."

I could feel the blush rising on my face. Our food was ordered and we sat back to dig in. The moment was officially diffused. We enjoyed a nice meal and Joe drove me home.

"So…?" He prompted.

I sighed. "I'm tired. Not tonight."

I saw his hands clench on the steering wheel. "Okay. Maybe next time."

I nodded. "Okay."

We made out a little in his car and then I got out. I waved when I got to the door and he beeped his horn in goodbye.

Smiling, I headed up the stairs and thought about the date. My mother would be so happy that things were progressing with Joe. She would be expecting a ring any second.

Truthfully, so was I.

I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Yes I loved Joe, but…

I paused. There shouldn't be a but. Love never came with conditions. It was either or. You loved the person or you didn't. I did love Joe, but I wasn't sure if I loved him enough to get married. I loved how our relationship was going, but, I still felt like there was something missing.

Shaking off the thoughts for now, I put the key in the lock and stepped into my apartment.

And straight into a gun.

Ranger's POV

"Pull up her trackers." I asked Hal. He nodded silently and got to work.

"She's at her mom's house." He replied. I silently brooded behind him. It had been two weeks since she had wanted a break, but I was still checking up on her. I couldn't explain it, but I felt the need to. And really, I didn't want a reason. I wasn't ready to go that deep. Yet.

Jeanne came into the control room. "Hello boys. Boss." She said on a head nod. We all nodded our hellos back. Her eyes turned to me. "Have a minute?"

"My office." I replied.

Things between us were good again. She froze me out for a few days, but that was just Jeanne's way. We were finally getting back into the swing of being friends.

"I got an offer from a bail bonds agency. True Blue Agency. They want to contract out and add to their number of skip tracers. I want to do it."

"I see."

"I was thinking we could draw up a contract where we rotate some of the guys and help him out. That way you won't lose me, since I am the best."

"You were thinking." I repeated.

"It's a good opportunity, Ranger. It'll bring in more revenue and get the guys out of the office a couple of times a week."

I nodded. I had to agree, it was a good idea. "I'll talk to the partners. See what they think."

She grinned. "Good. You won't regret it."

Tank chose that moment to come in. "Won't regret what?"

Jeanne just grinned and sauntered out. Tank shut the door and walked the two Tank steps to my desk. "Please tell me you're done with her."

"We're done."

His shoulders relaxed slightly. "Then what…?"

"She had an idea. A bail bonds company wants to contract out with her."

"Hunh. Good idea. Morelli's here."

"Here? Why?" Was there something wrong with Stephanie? I mentally shook my head. Not my problem.

"He's here for the briefing." Tank looked at me weird.

"What?"

"You went pale for a second."

I shuffled my papers around. "Send him in."

Three minutes later, Morelli strutted in. Jesus, how does she put up with this?

"Ranger." Joe said.

"Sit."

I smiled internally when he did. Joe went into the cases that we were helping the police on. I gave him the information we had. We both walked away mostly unscathed from this transaction.

Until he opened his big, fat mouth.

"Stephanie hasn't mentioned you in a while."

I shrugged, not responding.

"I don't know what you did or said, but I'm just glad my Cupcake is back to normal."

Back to normal? "What?"

"She's focusing on the important things again. Me."

What a douche.

Morelli left soon after that, thank God. I was ready to punch him.

Another week went by and I still hadn't heard from her. The longer this "break" went on, the longer the threat to her life continued.

Granted, it could get worse after we caught the guy, but that was really for another time.

Before Stephanie came into my life, it was like I was only seeing shades of grey. She came into my life like a burst of sunshine and color flooded my view. Now that she was gone, the color was slowly fading back into the background.

Until a storming ball of color rushed into my office. Color flooded my view once more. I sighed, enjoying the illusion.

Wait… it wasn't a figment of my imagination. It was a person.

"I'm sorry sir, she barreled right past me." Hal said, looking chagrined.

I waved him off. I'd deal with him later.

"You Ranger?" The ball of color asked.

"Yeah? Who's asking?"

"Lula."

I took a good look at the color… woman in front of me. Lime green spandex, cheetah print halter and bright pink shoes. All three hundred pounds of her.

"Look," she said as she put her hands on my desk. "You don't know me and I don't know you. But we've got one thing in common. Stephanie."

This perked me up.

"White girl's in trouble."

"How do you know?"

"Being a hooker gives me certain… access to people." She said evasively. I stared her down until she broke. "I know a girl who knows Bobby and was boning his henchman when his secret fetish came out. He had her put on a brown curly wig while he choked her."

I felt my face pale. "Is she alright?"

For a second, Lula looked taken aback. "Yeah, she's got some bruising, but she's fine."

My shoulders dropped. We didn't need any more blood being shed.

"All I'm saying is that this thing with her? It's not finished. Not by a long shot. She needs to be protected. Right now."

This is going to sound terrible, but I can't remember if I brought that up already or not. Go figure. Let me know if it doesn't mesh!