Thank you all so much for the wonderful responses to the first chapter! You've certainly made my Christmas Merry & Bright!

All hail JE, creator and owner of all things Plum! (except for the mistakes, those are mine)

Ranger was past the point of being surprised. "You're the ghost of Christmas present?"

Bobby smiled. "Surprise!"

Ranger chuckled. "All right, Brown, show me what you got."

Bobby led Ranger up to the fifth floor. He walked him into the conference room, where their Christmas party was set up. Ella had once again outdone herself, judging by the massive amount of food spread around the room. Ranger looked at Bobby. "Ella got you to show me the Christmas party? Looks like you got the easy job."

Bobby gave him a droll stare. "This may be our Christmas party, but can you tell me what's missing?"

Ranger took another look around the room. Not seeing anything missing, he asked, "The Rare Who Roast Beest?"

Bobby rolled his eyes. "Roast Beest is a feast I can't stand in the least. Seriously, though, do you see any decorations?"

"I told Ella we didn't need them. You can't eat a Christmas tree."

Bobby shook his head. "That's not the point. This looks more like a corporate luncheon than a Christmas party. Look, man, I know Rangeman isn't about the decorations, but would it have killed you to slap a wreath on the door? Never mind, let's take a look around." He led Ranger out to where the employees had their cubicles.

Ranger pointed to one of the cubicles. "See, there's decorations."

Bobby crossed his arms. "And whose cubicle is that?"

He slumped a little bit. "Stephanie's."

Bobby smiled. "She's the only one around here that heard you say that you weren't interested in decorations and decide that you didn't know what you're talking about." Ranger smiled. "Actually, this wasn't her fault." Both men laughed at that. "She hung that sad little wreath that she probably picked up at CVS. The next day Hal gave her a Christmas ornament, and she hung it up. After that, everyone here gave her one. Well, except for you and Les."

"Les didn't give her an ornament and Tank did?"

Bobby Grinned. "Tank gave her the one shaped like a kitten." Ranger rubbed his temples, trying to get rid of the headache he could feel coming on. "Les is the one who hung the mistletoe on her monitor." Ranger had a look that said the ghost of Christmas Past might actually become a ghost by the end of the day. "Relax, bro. She called him a perv and pushed him away. You know that he was teasing and she doesn't feel that way about him." Ranger was still seeing red, but he settled his blank look back onto his face.

"Great. I'm an ass and everyone loves Stephanie. Is show and tell over now so that I can get some work done?"

Bobby clapped him on the shoulder and led him to the stairs. "Shit no. We just got started."

They got into Bobby's SUV and drove to Stephanie's apartment. When they walked up to the door, Bobby got a set of lockpicks from his pocket. "I know you usually do this, but I need to practice my skills."

"But,"

"Shhhh, I need to concentrate. I haven't done this in a while." Ranger leaned against the wall and crossed his ankles while Bobby picked the lock. When he heard the familiar tumble, Bobby turned and smiled at Ranger. His smile fell when he spotted the key Ranger was holding in his hand. "What's that?"

Ranger smirked. "I was going to suggest using the key, but that seemed to work."

"That's just wrong, man. You know that one of the reasons she calls you Batman is how easily you break into her apartment all the time." Ranger's smirk turned into a grin, and he put the key back into his wallet. Bobby shook his head and opened the door.

Other than a few small bags and a roll of wrapping paper on her table, you would never know it was Christmas by looking at her apartment. There was no tree, no lights, and no Christmas stockings. In fact, knowing Stephanie, there was probably no food in her kitchen, either. Ranger looked at Bobby. "Other than the fact that we both hired the same Christmas decorator, was there a point to this visit?"

Bobby looked at Ranger. "Isn't it obvious? You know she loves holidays. I bet if you look where she usually stashes her tastykakes, you'll find those Little Debbie Christmas tree shaped cakes. Why doesn't she have a single decoration?"

Ranger ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I've tried, Bobby. She won't take anything from me. I practically begged her to take the job, and she'll only work part time."

Bobby gave him a look. "She doesn't want a handout, Ranger. You know what she wants. The only question is, are you ever going to be able to give it to her?" He peeked inside one of the bags on the table. "Why don't we take a break and go to the party for lunch?" Ranger was only too glad to leave the apartment. "Just a warning, I'm under orders from Ella. If you try to leave the party without me, I will tranq your ass." They walked out of the apartment. As Bobby closed the closed the door, Ranger looked from him to the door. Bobby said, "You have the key, you lock the door," and headed to the stairs.

They got in the car and Bobby started the motor. Before he put it in gear, Ranger asked, "Do we have time to pick up an ornament?"

Bobby smiled and drove from the parking lot. "I know just the place."

When they got back to Rangeman, Ranger saw Stephanie finishing a search on her computer. He turned to Bobby. "I'll catch up with you in the conference room."

Bobby looked at Stephanie. "Straight there." At Ranger's nod, Bobby walked away.

Ranger walked up behind her and leaned on the wall of her cubicle. She absently rubbed the back of her neck. "The mistletoe is a nice touch, but you could give a guy the wrong idea."

Stephanie jumped about a foot out of her chair and spun around to face him. "Jeez, give a girl some warning." She tried to arch an eyebrow, but of course, they both went up. "Maybe it was the right idea, but the wrong guy."

Ranger looked around her cubicle. "Very festive."

She bit her lower lip and blushed a nice shade of pink. "You didn't say we couldn't decorate, just that you didn't see a need. I got that crappy little wreath as a joke and hung it up. The next day, the guys started giving me ornaments. It was so sweet that I had to hang them up. Hal gave me the little dinosaur, Cal gave me the skull with the Christmas hat, and Ram gave me the little toy soldier. Even Rodriguez got into the spirit." She pointed at a clear ornament that looked like it should have something in it. She handed him a sticky note that said, "The Invisible Man is in there. Rodriguez." He knew she'd been trying to get a glimpse of him for years, which made his ornament very fitting.

Ranger said, "There seems to be one missing, Babe."

She looked away, then looked back at him. "No there isn't. Les gave me the mistletoe."

Ranger held out a small bag. "I was referring to this one."

The look of delight on her face made it worth the trip to the comic book store. When she pulled out the gray ornament with the Batman logo, her eyes softened and turned a shade darker. She carefully hung it next to her wreath. "It's perfect."

He knelt down so that they were face to face. He pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. "So, going back to our earlier conversation, who would be the right guy for the right idea?" He gave her a soft kiss.

Stephanie was saved from having to answer by the growling of her stomach. Ranger gave her a rueful smile and held out his hand. "Come on, Babe, let's go feed the beast."

After they ate their lunch, Bobby and Ranger got back in the SUV and drove to the bonds office. When they walked in the door, Connie looked up from where she was painting Christmas trees on her nails. "Steph took your files with her this morning and Vinnie isn't here. Whatcha need?"

Bobby nodded to her. "My mistake. I forgot she was getting them. If you'll excuse us."

He turned towards the door when Lula came barreling around the filing cabinets. Lula is always a sight to behold, but during the holidays she gets even more outrageous. Today she was wearing a red spandex top and a green spandex skirt, both with fake white fur at the edges. This must have come from her Ho Ho Ho collection. The biggest problem he could see was that it was about two sizes too small. Breathing too heavily for comfort, she said, "You ain't getting away that easy, Batman. I want to know what you got white girl for Christmas."

Ranger gave Lula a stern look. "I don't think you need to know, Lula."

Lula put her hands on her hips and continued to block Ranger's exit. "Hunh. That probably means you didn't get her nothing. You'd best have gotten her a gift, Batman, and I want to know what it is."

Ranger was perplexed. "Why does it matter to you what I did or did not get her?"

"Because everyone knows what she's getting from her family and the cop. I want to know what you got her."

"So the only person that will be surprised by her presents is her?"

Connie snorted. "I don't think surprised is the word you're looking for. I'm thinking disgusted is more likely."

Ranger shot Connie a look. "What is she getting?"

Connie blew on her nails and shrugged. Ranger was getting seriously annoyed when Lula spoke up. "It's no big secret. Supercop got her one of those Cooking for Dummies books, and her mother got her a gift certificate that's only good for the bridal department at Macy's."

Connie finally decided to talk again. "It's not all bad. Her grandma got her a gift certificate to the Tattoo parlor on Hamilton."

Ranger fought the urge to bang his head against the wall. Once he was composed, he picked Lula up and moved her out of his way. "Good Afternoon, ladies. I'm sure you'll find out about Stephanie's present after she opens it." Bobby and Ranger beat a hasty retreat.

Once they were in the car, Ranger shuddered. Bobby sighed in relief. Once they got it out of their systems. Bobby made a phone call. "I need the location." He must not have liked what he heard, because he let out a soft curse and hung up the phone.

Bobby drove them out to a strip mall on Route 1 in Lawrence Township. Ranger had no idea what they were doing there until Bobby walked across the parking lot to the Motel next door. Ranger cursed when he saw the SUV parked there. The way the motel was set up, the doors were in an inside corridor, affording guests a small measure of privacy, and there were windows on the outside. Bobby walked into the office and came out a minute later shaking his head. He led Ranger around the back side of the building to a window about halfway down. Through a small part in the curtains, Ranger saw exactly what he thought he was going to see. He turned away and leaned against the side of the building.

Bobby laid his hand on Ranger's shoulder. "Do you really think this is what she wants?"

They drove in silence back to the Rangeman building. A wet snow started to fall, promising to blanket the city in a layer of gray slush. It seemed to match Ranger's mood. Once they were parked in the garage, Bobby spoke again. "Why don't you head on up to seven." Ranger didn't argue. He could really use a drink.

The first thing Ranger noticed when he walked into his apartment was that it was frigging cold in there. His breath puffed in front of him. The second thing he noticed was the giant outline of his friend in the dim light of his living room. "Let me guess, you're the ghost of Christmas yet to come?" Tank bowed, but didn't speak. "What the hell did you do to the heat in here?"

Tanks voice boomed out across the room. "Yeah, Merry Frigging Christmas to you, too."