This story takes place in the middle of TBO, so if you haven't read it, it may not make much sense…Steph left Joe's house in Ranger's truck to discover the wonders of GPS…and Haywood Street.

Thanks to Becky for encouraging the idea.

And thank you Stayce, for giving Joe the right Jersian voice.

Disclaimer: This time I'm actually quoting dialogue…and without owning the characters, too. Oh boy. Even the title is stolen, from Bon Jovi!

Rating/Warning: The language is pretty bad

I cracked my knuckles, chucked the coffee cup and got up. There was one person who might be able to help me…and was always willing to, for a smile and the promise of more.

Bad Medicine

2

I knocked on the doorjamb to her office. "Hey Veronica, got a minute?" It was a rhetorical question. Veronica Myers would always have time for me. I have a girlfriend, I'm not dead. I get Veronica's signals just fine.

She looked up and smiled, "Sure Joe, come on in." I smiled back at her when I sat down on the visitor's chair.

"I need your help," I said, putting my elbows on her desk. Her eyes wandered over me quickly and then she looked away, probably thinking I didn't catch her look. Oh yeah, she wanted me. I usually pretended not to notice how she got flustered when I talked to her, but I'd seen plenty of girls do it in high school, I knew the drill. And today, I had to lay it on thick; she had to do me a favor that could cost her the job.

"Of course," she said, fidgeting in her chair. "What can I do for you?" I snorted as if that was funny and leaned back. "Well…" I cleared my throat and paused. She blushed. She was so easy.

Veronica started working for the department about six months ago; she was a paralegal before, at some law office in Trenton. She was 25 and single, had blond hair and all the right curves. Pretty, if you liked that look, I was more a brunette type. And she did her job well. She was doing background checks and rap sheet research, that kind of stuff. If there was dirt on a suspect, she'd dig deep enough to find it.

From the day I met her, she started flirting with me, giving me looks, laughing at my jokes, blushing easily, that kind of thing.

I'd never cheat on Stephanie, but there were days when I enjoyed a good flirt. Probably Veronica wanted more than flirting and my ego liked that just fine. I just wouldn't act on it.

"I got this case…" I started. And then I gave her a rough overview of the Red Devil and the Slayers. I had to make sure I told her the background from a cop's standpoint, and I had to leave references to Steph out. I didn't know if she'd help me if she thought it was personal.

"So you need me to run some checks?" She asked. She was cute when she was confused. "Yeah, only I don't have the right court orders to run them…"

"Oh," she said and I could almost see the little wheels in her head turning. She was probably wondering if I was worth the risk. And I felt shitty for acting like I was going to make it worth her while. "Yeah," I agreed and let my shoulders slump, blew out some air and looked her directly in the eye. I knew I had her when she chewed on her lip.

"Who do you need?" Bingo! Yep, Morelli, you still got it, I thought. I gave her the names of the Slayers I could think of and thanked her, giving her the big smile on the way out.

I didn't know how much she'd be able to find out, but it could only help. Of course now I was left with what to do next. I went back to my office and called Steph, I needed to talk to her. If she didn't feel comfortable at my house, I could put her in a safe house, I was sure I could get the lieutenant to spare a couple of men for a watch.

Her cell phone went right to voicemail. What now? I could call the bonds office or her parents or Mary Lou, but that seemed too desperate. Fuck. I hated it when I had no plan. And to get a plan, I needed time to think. But I couldn't think when I had to worry about Steph 'out there'.

The Slayers knew where she lived and as long as she was driving around in that truck, it wouldn't take them long to find her. All she needed was a sign, 'Hit me, I'm right here'.

This wasn't working, I couldn't sit in the office and wait for information to come to me, I needed to move. I knew a few people on Stark, I was going to call in some favors.

On my way to the car I called my mom. If anything worth knowing about happened at the Plum house last night, she'd know about it. If Steph came visiting late in the evening and stayed, mom would have heard, and she'd grill me about it.

I knew she hadn't heard anything when she asked if I'd bring Stephanie for dinner on Sunday. "I don't know yet, Mom," I said, "I'm gonna check with her and let you know."

"You do that, I haven't seen you for so long!" Like a week. I rolled my eyes. Like I didn't have anything else to worry about. "I'll let you know," I said again and said goodbye. If I stayed on the phone too long, I'd tell her I had no idea where Steph was and I was busy trying to find her. Mom had a way of getting everything out of me.

I got out of the lot and headed south, towards Stark. I turned the radio up so I could hear all calls going out. If there was even a chance Steph was involved, I wanted be the first to hear it. Christ, I'd be relieved if she blew up the car and I could take her home, or to her parents, or wherever, as long as I knew she was safe.

I parked across the street from the Stark Street Gym and the irony wasn't lost on me. Years later, and I was still in the slums of Trenton, trying to save her ass.

I hit the 'Mad Raven' first. It was a fitting name for a dive of a bar. The windows were painted black so it was dark inside. Probably a good thing, judging by the smells. I didn't want to see what caused them.

There were a couple booths on both sides and a bar that ran the entire length of the room. The Raven was popular, it wasn't even noon, and the place was pretty full. Everything went quiet when I entered. People here knew a cop when they saw one, even though I was wearing jeans and a shirt.

I nodded at Lenny behind the bar and conversation resumed when he returned the greeting. I took a stool at the far end, pretty much out of earshot from the other patrons.

Lenny sauntered over to me after a couple minutes. "Get you anything?" he asked. I wondered if eleven was too early to start drinking, but then I shook my head 'No'. My head and my stomach still hadn't recovered from the night before.

"You hear anything?" I asked Lenny. Lenny wasn't an informant, he was a barkeeper. Bar keepers knew everything about everyone. If there was word on the street, Lenny would've heard it. I didn't have to explain what I meant; Lenny knew what I'd be interested in.

"Slayers are getting restless," Lenny said, wiping the bar with a dirty rag. "They're getting ready for a major turf war or something."

This was nothing new. There was always one turf war or another going on, and to be honest, I didn't mind if the gangs were killing each other. It meant they had less time to rob and steal and use up our time.

"This time it's different," Lenny added when he saw I wasn't impressed. "There's trouble within the Slayers."

"What kind of trouble?" I asked. Lenny shrugged. "Heard they have a problem with some locals. Usually they take care of it. This time, they put a contract out."

"They hired someone from the outside?" I didn't like the sound of that and I had a pretty good idea who the local was they had trouble with. Lenny nodded. "I heard they went big, too. Hiring a professional, if you know what I mean. Rumor has it they're looking for a new leader, one that can prove he's worthy." He shrugged and I took that to mean he had no idea what worthy would be for the Slayers. I thought eliminating the trouble would probably do the job.

"That the sort of thing you were looking for?" He grinned, already knowing the answer. I dropped a twenty on the bar and got up. "Thanks," I said and left.

Glad to be in fresh air again, I took a couple deep breaths when I left the Raven. I knew why I wasn't much of a bar-goer, I'd never be able to stand the stink for long.

Now I had news, but they didn't make me feel any better. I knew it was serious before, but I didn't know just how much danger Steph was in.

I went back to my car and called Veronica. She had to change her search to all contract killers known to operate in Jersey, if that was possible. Veronica said she'd do her best and I told her how much I appreciated her help and how desperate I'd be without her. I was actually amazed at how easily I could turn the flirting on.

Next I tried calling Steph again and was relieved when she answered. "Where are you?" What? That was not the first thing I wanted to ask, I meant to ask if she was okay, if she needed anything. But I'd instantly switched to cop mode.

"I'm in the Shop n Bag lot, and I'm eating lunch," Stephanie said. I smiled. Yep, she was okay. I could hear it in her voice. And she was eating. Granted, Steph didn't lose her appetite over much, but it was still a good sign.

"Have you heard the rumors?" I figured it was safer to be vague. If I asked her 'Have you heard they hired a killer to off you' she might freak and do something stupid.

"There are so many," she said with her mouth full, "Which ones are you talking about?" I sighed and rubbed my free hand over my forehead to ease the headache that was pounding away.

"Oh, those rumors," she said, but I couldn't hear in her voice if she was scared or didn't take them seriously. "Yeah, I heard those rumors."

I waited for more, but that was all she was going to say apparently. I took a deep breath to stay calm. "What are you going to do about them?"

"I'm sort of hiding," she said. Yeah, in a public parking lot. Real good hiding place.

"You'd better hide really well, because I'll put you under house arrest if I find you," I blurted out and then I grimaced. Nice going. Threaten to keep her locked up, that'll work. Sometimes I think my foot lives in my mouth.

"On what charges?" She challenged, and there was an edge to her voice now. I closed my eyes and leaned back. "Reckless endangerment of self and driving me nuts. Where are you hiding?" I knew she wasn't staying with her parents because mom would have told me, right before she'd ask me what was wrong.

"I'm staying at a friend's place," Steph answered. I hoped she didn't mean Mary Lou. I'd have to check on that next. "Is it safe?" It was a silly question, Steph had a weird definition of safe.

"Yep," She said neutrally.

That answer did nothing to make me feel better. But I'd already ruined my chances of talking her into a safe house by threatening to detain her. I sighed again. I had to give it another try. "I'd feel better if you sounded more scared," I said, and then I gave it my best shot. "These guys are crazy. They're unpredictable and irrational. They operate under a whole different set of rules!" It was all true. I knew Stephanie knew all this, but I was hoping if I said it out loud, she'd get scared and allow me to help her. I disconnected before I said something stupid, she'd have to come up with the next step on her own, or else she'd run even further from me.

I put the car in gear and waited for a break in traffic to make a U-turn. I had one more source to tab. My phone rang and I pulled over when I saw it was Steph. 'Calm and cool, Morelli,' I told myself, 'Keep it together.' I cleared my throat and answered. "Yeah?"

"It's me. You know when you asked me if I heard the rumors? Just exactly what rumors where you referring to?" She sounded a little more nervous now. Who had she talked to in the five minutes since our last call?

"My personal favorite? The contract killer rumor." I was going for light and funny but I didn't know how long I could keep it up.

"I just heard about that," Steph said. "Is it true?" I could imagine her chewing her lip, looking around nervously. I took a deep breath. "Don't know. We're checking. Are you still in the Shop n Bag lot?" When she didn't say anything I knew I'd gone too far. She probably thought I sent a cruiser to pick her up.

She said she was done grocery shopping and on her way back to the office. "Let me know if you hear anything," was her goodbye before she hung up. Oh great. I was sure she was heading in the opposite direction of the office, just to avoid me. Still, I had to check. I could always find my snitch later, he wasn't going anywhere.

My phone rang again before I got to Hamilton. It was Costanza, telling me Steph's car had been released and just came back from the auto body and they got lucky with the graffiti. Everything had come off. I needed all the good news I could get, even if it was just about her car.

I drove past the bonds office looking for Manoso's truck. It was hard to miss, it looked like a black tank. When I didn't see it on either side of the street I went down the side streets in a two-block radius. Steph might have tried to hide it, but I was pretty sure she wouldn't walk more than two blocks. No truck.

Since I was on the edge of the Burg already, I drove by her parents' house and Mary Lou's house. No truck.

I ground my teeth and pulled over, flipping my phone open. I took a deep breath before I speed-dialed Steph, trying hard to stay calm.

"I thought you were going back to the office?" I asked when she answered. She said she changed her mind. Yeah, right. "Where are you?" Part of me knew she wouldn't tell me, but I had to try.

"Point Pleasant," she said, "I had some time, so I thought I'd take a walk on the boardwalk, it's such a nice day. A little windy here though." I didn't believe her. For one, it didn't make sense for her to go there, and two, I've been to Point Pleasant many times and it didn't sound like the background noise where Steph was.

"Sounds like there are a lot of people there," I said, making it clear I wasn't buying her fib.

"I'm in a pavilion," she tried. I sighed. Why was she lying to me?

"Sounds more like a shopping center," I called her bluff. There was a pause. Was she trying to decide if she should tell me the truth? "And you called, why?" No such luck. If I was guessing before, her sudden change of topic confirmed she wasn't in Point Pleasant.

I told her about her car and that it was ready for her to pick it up. "Thanks. That's great. I'll send my dad over for it."

So she still thought I was trying to lure her into a trap. God, she was paranoid. I changed directions. "You can run but you can't hide Cupcake, I'll find you," I said, meaning every word.

She scoffed. "You are such a cop."

"Tell me about it," I said and hung up.

She was right. I was being all cop and I was distancing myself by making it about 'the case'. I'd told Veronica all about 'the case', never mentioning Stephanie and I realized now how easy it'd been. The problem was, I'd distanced myself so much, I was treating Steph more like a suspect than a victim, and I definitely wasn't treating her like the my girlfriend whose life was in danger.

I threw the phone on the passenger seat in frustration. 'Okay', I thought, 'time for plan B.'

The problem was, I would get way to emotional if I stopped thinking like a cop. And I didn't know how much use I'd be to Steph once I stopped thinking rationally.

TBC

A/N: So…I'm thinking this will be the end of following the actual TBO plot…you know what happened, why rehash it, right? I think I'll rewrite the plot…what do YOU think should happen?