Title: Saying Goodbye

Author: Robin

Disclaimer: Standard stuff. Ranger and Stephanie aren't mine and neither is the world they live in. sigh

A/N: Babe fic. Some angst. Consider us spoiled through Plum Lovin'. Thanks for the fantastic reviews, I really appreciate each and every one.

Rating: PG… for now

Chapter 4

I knew I should call Joe back and make a preemptive strike before he was besieged by the Burg, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It would all up end up okay... I'm sure... probably. Yes, procrastination is my watchword and it's right up there with denial.

Since I'd gotten a stay of execution, I decided to wander around the apartment and 'make myself at home' as Ranger suggested. This apartment looked a little more lived in as opposed to the one in Trenton. It was still very polished and sophisticated, but there were a few more personal touches, hints about the man who sometimes lived here.

An afghan that looked to be handmade was folded over the ottoman and an inexpertly hand-thrown glazed pot sat on the shelf, both appeared to be here more for sentiment than aesthetics. In the living room there was a small collection of well worn books. There were a few volumes of poetry in Spanish, but the rest were in English. I recognized a few classics that I was supposed to have read in college, but never got around to. There was one, The Art of War, by Sun Tzu which looked well loved.

I pulled the beautifully leather-bound book from the shelf and paged through it, noticing a handwritten inscription on the inside cover. It read: Carlos, I hope making war someday brings you peace. I'll be looking forward to that day. All my love, L.

Feeling like I was intruding where I shouldn't, I closed the book and returned it to the shelf, taking care to make it appear untouched. There was this little knot in my stomach that hadn't been there a few moments ago. It was the sinking sensation that maybe Ranger had an entire life I knew nothing about.

In truth I didn't really know Ranger all that well. I mean, I knew him, I just didn't know him, ya know? I knew he was the bravest man I'd ever met, that he die to protect me, that he cared for me, but I knew very little about the life he'd led before we met up with in that diner so long ago. And I didn't know what he did or where he went when he mysteriously disappeared for days and weeks on end. I wondered for a moment if Ranger could be one of those men who have a wife and kids in one city and a girl or even a whole different family tucked away in another, neither party knowing the other existed. I shook my head. No. Ranger was too moral to do something like that even though he traveled enough to pull it off. Still, I knew little enough about his past, present and future to wonder if the reason he wasn't relationship material was partly because he was already spoken for.

I turned from the bookshelf and distanced myself from the temptation of snooping though the rest of the books for personal messages from the mysterious L. Of course I was burning with curiosity. Who was this L? A relative? A former girlfriend? A current lover? Wow, I really didn't want to go there, but I guessed it was possible. He and I hadn't been together for almost a year. I could hardly expect a man with Ranger's sexual appetite to live like a monk. But the idea of him with someone else cut deeply. It wasn't fair, I've been shacked up with Morelli for months now, but I still thought of Ranger as my territory. If I couldn't have him then I didn't want anyone else to either.

But if I really wanted him, what was I doing with Morelli?

I decided it was better to just put those dangerous thoughts out of my mind. There wasn't enough Ben & Jerry's in the building for me to go down that road. I'd think about it later. Much, much later. I continued perusing the living room, though with a little less enthusiasm than before. On the other wall, there was a framed photograph. I approached it and smiled. It was a school portrait of Julie, and from the look of it, I'd say it was recent. I was heartened by the sign that he was letting Julie into his life. I hoped we'd see her while we were in town.

I meandered through the bedroom and refrained from digging through his drawers. I already knew exactly what Ranger wore, or rather, didn't wear under his cargos. The bathroom was luxurious and lush with light marble flooring, dark walnut cabinetry and warm, soft lighting. Unlike the Trenton apartment, this bathroom had a large tub in addition to the glass-encased shower. No Bulgari, though, I noticed with a moue of disappointment. I'd have to find Miami's version of Ella and let her in on the secret of the devil shower gel.

Ranger had put my bag on the bed and I returned to the bedroom to pull out something to wear. My jeans were too much in the heat down here. I selected a light blue scoop necked knit top and coordinating skirt. Most of what I'd brought was in this vein and it would be a nice change to be a little feminine. Plus all my shorts were in storage in the basement of my building and there hadn't been time to search for them. As I slipped on a pair of sandals, my stomach grumbled. It was time to find Ranger and food.

Picking up the phone in the kitchen, I pressed "2" to get the Control Room.

"Control," a voice said, more of a command than a greeting, sort of like, 'State your business and stop wasting my time.'

"Um. Hi," I said, ever the brilliant conversationalist. But cut me some slack, the Rangemen were intimidating on a good day when they weren't even trying. "Hi," I repeated, clearing my throat. "I'm trying to find Ranger. He told me you'd have his location."

"Hold, please," the voice responded abruptly. Without having the chance to respond, I heard the handset being covered by a hand and someone muttering. The only words I caught were 'the bossman's bimbo' before the line clicked, went silence and I was put on hold. I was shocked to say the least. Now, I was used to the Merry Men in Trenton. I'd worked with them, I'd spent time with them, and I'd sent more than one of them to the hospital. We respected each other. They were a motley collection with all sorts of backgrounds and I'm sure they had their opinions of me and my "relationship" with Ranger. But never had one of them voiced their opinion to me. And if it was negative, I doubted they'd voice it to Ranger either.

I was fuming as I waited while the Control Room Neanderthal (who I'd gladly put in the hospital if the opportunity arose) located Ranger. Who did he think he was to talk about me or Ranger that way? I couldn't wait to tell Ranger so that he could kick his ass or send him to Uganda or something. Of course, then I remembered why I was here and realized it would be better to just let it slide. Ranger didn't need anymore stress, and it wasn't that important. It went against my nature, but I'd just let it go. I knew that I wasn't some bimbo; that would have to be enough.

"Ranger's in Marco's office. I'll send someone up to escort you," the voice said.

"That's not necessary," I said. "If you tell me which floor the office is on, I'm sure I can find it."

"Company policy," was the clipped reply. "All visitors are escorted while in the building."

I rolled my eyes. Trenton had the same policy, but I was always an exception. I sighed, "Yes, but—" and I was cut off by the dial tone. He'd hung up on me. Prick.

I was tapping my foot and silently seething while I waited for my babysitter. Then I decided I'd better apply another coat of mascara, just for protection. What I really needed was a Tasteykake. Of course there weren't any Tasteykakes in this sad and backwards part of the world. Poor deprived Southerners.

There was a knock on the door and Buddy was standing in the doorway, looking eager to help. Poor guy, apparently this was the highlight of his day. They must have him filing in his spare time; that was the shit job that always got laid on the new guy – at least the ones that could alphabetize. He smiled shyly and beckoned me to follow him without a word. I fought the urge to put on my sunglasses to protect myself from the glare of the hallway paint and slipped into the waiting elevator behind Buddy.

He pressed "3" on the panel and we stood in awkward silence as the elevator smoothly sank to the third floor. If this building was anything like Trenton, I figured that my every move was being monitored by Control. I really wanted to flip off the jerk behind the desk, but I fought the urge to show him my Jersey charm and I just stared at the floor.

It was funny, I was used to getting certain special treatment from the guys in Trenton because of my friendship with Ranger, but until now, I didn't realize how special it was. I wondered what Ranger had done or threatened to do to get them all to treat me with such polite courtesy.

When the elevator doors slid open on the third floor, all discussion stopped. If I'd been in a paranoid mood, I'd swear they'd been talking about me before I arrived. There were stares following me as Buddy led me through the honeycomb of cubicles and banks of monitors and it was a little disconcerting. I worked at maintaining my poise (yeah, right) and not making eye contact.

Wow. Tough room. I looked for the dickwad that had given me a tough time on the phone, but it was hard to tell who it was. There were several men with wireless headsets and it could have been any one of them.

When I heard my name being called, it came as such a surprise that I spun around in a full circle before spotting the source. Silvio was walking toward me with a smile, his hand extended.

Now, I didn't know Silvio all that well – we'd only worked together for one day before he was transferred to Miami – but I couldn't be happier to see him. An ally! It took all that I had to keep from hugging him in relief at seeing a friendly face. I settled for an enthusiastic handshake, but I didn't want to let go.

"Hi, Silvio," I said warmly.

"Stephanie," he said. "It's good to see you."

The speculative stares were still on me, but seemed more curious and less hostile now.

"The buzz was that Ranger had company. I should have realized it was you."

"How are you doing down here?" I asked. I leaned in and said in a soft voice, "Do these guys blink?"

Silvio laughed, "Yeah. They're good guys, just a little wary of outsiders." He glanced around and lowered his voice, "There's been some trouble lately, and everyone's guard is up."

I nodded and wondered what kind of trouble, but knew better than to press. If Ranger wanted me to know about it, he'd tell me. Probably Silvio had already told me more than he should.

"How is Trenton? Any explosions I haven't heard about?"

"No," I said, trying to sound offended, but I ruined it with an eye-roll and bumped his arm with my shoulder. "Everything's been relatively quiet since Scrog."

Silvio nodded. He and the Miami office had been in on the search for Julie, I didn't need to explain what a mess that had been.

"Well I'd better get back to work. Maybe you can fill me in on all the Trenton gossip sometime while you're here. And you could help me get some of my searches done." He said waggling his eyebrows.

"Don't count on my help, not that you need it, but I'll definitely find some time to catch you up on the Trenton scoop for sure," I smiled and gestured to Buddy, standing a few feet away and not doubt overhearing every word of our conversation. "I'd better not keep my guard waiting. You know I can't be trusted."

"Not with anything flammable at least." Silvio winked and turned to head back to his cubicle.

"Hey, Silvio," I called as he walked away, "can I see your stun gun a sec?"

He turned and laughed, "Won't work on me, Steph. Try Buddy."

I grinned and shrugged, "It was worth a shot." I realized how much more comfortable I felt now, even though I was still the center of attention and I turned to Buddy. "Lead on," I said with a smile.

Buddy put his hand on his stun gun which was holstered at his waist and asked, "Did you need to see this, ma'am?"

"No," I laughed. "No, I was only teasing Silvio." I shooed him toward the row of offices against the far wall which I presumed was our destination. The murmuring had resumed and now I was fairly certain that I was the topic of conversation, paranoia be damned.

Buddy knocked on the door farthest to the right and upon hearing "Come in," opened it to reveal an office that was Day-Glo yellow. It was so yellow that it nearly knocked me over. I was so focused on the overwhelming color that until Ranger spoke, I didn't even notice him and the man, whom I guessed was Marco, standing in the center of the room.

"Babe," he said and there was a smile in his voice if not on his face.

"Hi," I said. "Wow. I think I was suffering from hysterical blindness there for a minute."

Ranger smiled for real this time and reached a hand out to me, grasping my elbow and pulling me to him until I was standing flush to his side with his arm wrapped around my back, his hand resting on my hip. "Babe, this is my brother, Marco. Marco, this is Stephanie."

Marco and I sized each other up for a moment. There was no question that he was Ranger's brother, same dark eyes, dark skin and dark hair - cut short. But their taste couldn't be more different. Marco was wearing shorts and a bright red tropical shirt with large yellow flowers (that matched the walls) splashed all over it. He was what Ranger would look like if he let himself eat too much cake. Marco wasn't fat by any means, just a bit softer, not as fit and muscular. His face was similar but not as classically handsome as Ranger's and it showed the signs of hard living: too much drink, too many drugs and not enough sleep.

But his smile easy and wide and the laugh lines at his eyes indicated that it wasn't an uncommon occurrence. He took both of my hands in his and pulled me from Ranger, kissing me on each cheek.

"It is good to finally meet you, Stephanie Plum," he said. "Ranger has told me absolutely nothing about you."