Always There

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, but am grateful to JE for inventing them for us to play with. Unlike JE, I am not making any money from them either

A/N: Okay, so this is a bit of a filler chapter, but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless. It's kind of moving little bits of the story on. Hopefully, I'll be posting the next one fairly soon – but I do have to make a start on the work I have to have done for when I go back to the real world! As ever, your reviews and pms are the most motivational things ever. Thank you so much – I really love hearing from you all. Thanks as well, to those who lurk, alert, follow, favourite, or all of the above. Enjoy

Chapter 5

Moving On

Steph smiled and stretched reaching out to the space next to her. Nothing. No-one. Just a cold bed. He'd gone. She knew he would, but just this once, she was hoping he would still be there, after all, nothing to regret had happened.

After he'd received her text, Ranger had been back in her apartment in a flash. He hadn't pushed a thing, but seemed to sense that she just needed him to be close by. So he'd stayed and held her until she fell asleep. She could still feel the muscular arms around her – she always felt totally calm and secure when he was there. Still, at least she'd had the best night's sleep in what seemed like forever. Actually, it had been so long since she'd slept so deeply that she felt more tired than normal.

Deciding it was probably best to do the getting up thing slowly, Steph dragged herself into sitting position. That's when it hit her. Bacon. Coffee. Batman? Steph squeezed her eyes tight shut and hugged her knees. Please let it be Batman. Quickly, she tried to engage her morning brain and go through who else it could possibly be.

"I smell smoke Babe," came an amused male voice.

Cracking one eye open, Steph looked towards the door. What was standing there was definitely worth two eyes open. Wearing the black pants and grey shirt from the previous night, but this time with bare feet and leaning against the door jamb holding a mug of coffee was Ranger.

"I thought you'd…well, you know, gone," she said quietly, the relief evident on her face.

She thought she saw a flicker of hurt in his eyes, but she was more interested in the fact that he was moving towards her. Placing the mug of steaming coffee on the night stand he dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

"Get a move on Babe, breakfast is almost done."

Steph stumbled into the kitchen ten minutes later feeling more awake and refreshed. The smell of bacon made 'the Beast' growl loudly and Ranger smile as he added pancakes to the bacon. On the side was a bowl of fresh fruit, yogurt, fresh OJ and another cup of coffee.

"Wow, I didn't even know I had all this stuff. Did the food fairies come?" asked Steph through a mouth full of food.

Ranger looked like he thought about chuckling.

"Not sure Hal and Cal would appreciate being called fairies Babe."

Steph almost choked on her pancaked at the thought. She looked at Ranger in panic.

"Your secret's safe with me," he said with a wink.

After finishing their breakfast and clearing away, Steph reached for the 'phone, but Ranger took Steph's hand and sat her down.

"Edna is fine Babe. Bobby called this morning and she had a good night. So good in fact that he took her to Clip 'n Curl this morning."

Steph looked aghast.

"Bobby? Bobby took grandma to the hairdresser's? Voluntarily?"

Ranger nodded, waiting for the next barrage of questions that would surely come.

"What did he do? I mean this has to be his way of avoiding being shipped off to somewhere right? Wait! Did he spend the night at mom's house? He must have or he couldn't have to taken her to Clip 'n' Curl."

Ranger reached out and took her hand again gently stroking the back of it.

"Babe, let me explain. No, Bobby isn't trying to get back into my good books and no, he didn't stay the night at your mom's. He stayed until he was happy she was settled and went back first thing to check on her. We all saw how tired you were getting and thought you needed to get out, so Bobby said he'd stay with her."

Steph's eyes flashed. "She's my grandma Ranger, she's not a burden, I can cope!"

"I know you can Babe. And no-one's suggesting that you can't or that Edna is a burden, but the situation is not easy. Everyone has to have time to recharge. If you don't, then it'll wear you down too – and then what use would you be to Edna?"

Steph let out a breath at his soothing tone and the sincerity in his eyes. He was right.

"So how did Bobby get to take her to Clip'n' Curl?" she asked, a smile on her face.

"I'm glad you asked Babe, because I need to talk to you about that…"

ooOoo

Steph arrived at her parents' house still stunned by what she had just heard. She had listened carefully to what Ranger had to say and by the time he had finished had tears in her eyes. She couldn't wait to see grandma's face when she found out. However, just at this moment she was shocked and a little scared that for the first time ever, no-one was there to meet her at the door.

As she and Ranger let themselves in and shut the front door, they were met by laughter coming from the kitchen. Sat around the table were her parents, Edna, Bobby, Lester and Manny. In front of them were the photo albums her mother had taken down from the attic when Edna had first been taken ill. Her grandmother looked up, a huge grin on her face.

"If I'd have known all it would have taken to get these hotties here was some old photos, I'd have done it years ago," she laughed.

"Hey Bomber, you were so cute when you were little," added Manny.

"Interesting dress for ML's wedding," chimed in Lester.

Steph couldn't help but smile herself at the scene in front of her, even if all she could do was poke her tongue out at the boys for teasing her. She could hardly flip them off with her parents there.

"So," started Helen looking at Steph, "are you all ready for your trip?"

Steph blinked a couple of times. Her mom knew and wasn't making a fuss?

"Um, yes, all packed. Ranger explained this morning, so I threw some things together and here we are. You ready grandma?"

"Stephie, I was born ready!"

At her grandmother's words, a flurry of controlled activity started. Lester helped Edna to get her coat as Ram turned up at the door right on cue. Whilst Manny took the bags out to the waiting SUVs all attention turned to Helen. Ram handed her a full itinerary so she could contact them at any point. Bobby told her that he had spoken to Dr Olsen first thing that morning and that he was still happy for Edna to go and promised that they would take excellent care of her.

Within minutes, everything was ready to go. The term 'military precision' was not lost on Steph, but even so, she needed a quick word with her mother. Not only had she not pitched a fit, but she was perfectly calm about the whole thing. Steph needed to know when the storm was coming – or who had taken her real mother and replaced her with this one! Sensing what she needed to do, Ranger engineered everyone so that only Steph and Helen were left in the kitchen.

"So, mom, are you really ok with grandma going off for a few days?" started Steph tentatively.

She felt her mother look up sharply before taking a deep breath and sighing. She seemed almost – sad.

"Yes Stephanie, I'm fine with it – really."

"But…"

"But you thought I'd think it was ridiculous and frivolous?"

Steph went to say something, but couldn't quite make anything come out.

"Well, you'd be right – about a month ago. But not now. Oh Stephanie, now is not the time to get in to it, but I've seen things so very differently in the last month or so. Would it be my choice? No. But your grandmother is her own woman. If she wants to do this – then who am I to stop her? Or you?"

It was all Steph could do to stop her jaw physically dropping. Helen almost chuckled.

"I still have a way to go. I'll still worry about you and want the best for you, but I'm trying. You're your own woman too, so much like her. Now, go!"

If Steph hadn't known better she'd have sworn her mom had been emotional. Shaking herself into action at Helen's command to go, Steph turned and headed for the door, still in slight shock. She followed Lester who was helping her grandma down the front steps and all three headed towards Ranger who was waiting by the cars. Just as she got to the gate, Edna turned and waved not just to Helen and Frank but to all the neighbours that she knew would be watching the spectacle of a small fleet of black SUVs taking her and her grand daughter away. Lester bent down and whispered something in her ear. Edna's face split into the biggest grin as he picked her up and carried her across the side walk, placing her carefully in the back seat of the car.

Steph couldn't stop the grin that crossed her face either – or the lump forming in her throat. She'd thank Lester later. Not just for giving her grandma a 'moment', but for knowing that her frail, small, grandmother could not have made that big step up without help.

ooOoo

Twenty minutes later they all pulled in to the underground garage at Haywood.

"I thought we were driving there," said Edna as Lester gently lifted her out of the SUV.

He winked. "No way. Only the best for my girl." He made a big flourishing gesture making Edna giggle. "After you madame."

Steph took over leading and accompanied Edna to the elevator. They waited for Ranger, Bobby and Lester to join them.

Steph made a conscious effort to look at her grandma's face when the elevator doors opened and she saw what was on the roof. She wasn't disappointed.

Edna's grin was so wide she had to keep a check on her dentures. There it was. A big, black helicopter.

"Are we really going in that?" she asked excitedly.

"I told you," said Lester, "nothing but the best for my girl. Come on, let's get you strapped in."

As Bobby helped Lester make sure Edna was safe and comfortable, Steph turned to Ranger and slid her arms around him with tears in her eyes.

"I don't know what else you've got planned for the next couple of days. It doesn't matter, but I just want to say 'thank you' now. I always knew you were a good man Carlos Manoso, but you didn't have to do this for her."

Ranger pulled her tightly to him.

"I'm not doing this for her Babe…" he replied as he tucked a stray curl away. "Well, not entirely,"

Before Steph could say anything, Bobby interrupted, indicating that they were only waiting for them now. Ranger ran Steph over to the waiting bird and made sure she was safely in before organising himself.

As the machine started the men could feel the thrill, anxiety and excitement of Steph and Edna. And as it took off, giving them their first glimpse of the ariel view of Trenton all any of them could hear in their headphones was Edna's excited voice.

"Woo Hoo! Atlantic City, here we come!"