Thanks for the continued huge response to this one. A lot of you have mentioned that having no idea what to expect with this one. Glad you stayed for the wild ride.

Here's a short update, showing that there may still be some house cleaning needed even after Morelli. Let me know your thoughts.

Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE. Typos are my bad.

Stephanie's POV

"Ugh." I groaned when I swung my legs over the side of Ranger's big bed. "I'm okay." I said to Ranger as he rushed into the bedroom. Unlike me, he's been awake and moving for a couple hours already. He even finished his religious exercise routine.

"Babe?" Ranger arched an eyebrow when I stood up to make my way towards the en suite.

"I have a meeting with my hire ups today." I said to him in passing. In true Ranger fashion, he gave me enough time to take care of mother nature's call before he followed me into his big bathroom.

"I need a shower." I whined, wondering how the hell I'd be able to manage washing my hair. My curls are a struggle on a good day and with two good arms, so…"You think Ella would mind helping me wash my hair?" I asked hopefully once I was done brushing my teeth. At least my breath is nice and minty now.

"Babe." Ranger hovered behind me, catching my gaze through the pristine mirror. "I've helped you in the shower before."

The blush immediately left my face and neck feeling flushed. "Yeah…" I croaked, shuffling my feet in place. "…but we were doing some fun things then, so…" I shrugged my left shoulder, unsure.

"Stephanie." Ranger's tone was soft, a clear reminder that he's not Joe. "You'd do it for me." Was his closing argument. A very good one at that.

To ease the tension, I spun around to look him in the eye without the mirror's assistance. "Yeah." Smiling sheepishly, I speared my fingers into his dark hair. "Plus, your hair's a dream. You can wash it with one hand." I pointed out as the vision of us having a child assaulted me suddenly. This isn't the first time I've wondered about a future with him, yet it is the first time I don't feel any sense of panic thinking about a future with a man who's gone to bat for me more than once. Huh…

Proving that he's always prepared, Ranger already had a portable shower bench ready inside his heavenly glass encased shower. Ranger helped me put on an aqua guard on my wound, because lord knows the last thing I need is an infection caused by one of my curls swirling into my healing flesh. If it can happen, it will happen to me. Better safe than sorry.

I managed to scrub my body with little difficulty, although Ranger did help me with my back and any other areas I couldn't reach without having to twist around. In a testament to how well he knows me, I didn't have to give him any pointers on my hair care routine.

"Damn, Batman. You could send Mr. Alexander to bankruptcy." I joked, but it fell flat because I ended up moaning halfway through as Ranger massaged my scalp. He gave me a similar massage in Hawaii, his hands fisting in my hair only serving to further ignite the firey lust between us. His touch then was sensual and playful, whereas now he's being so delicate.

"Babe." There was a twinge of humor in Ranger's voice as he brought me back to the present, but there was something else there too. His handsome face filled my line of sight when he leaned forward, planting a Spider-Man kiss on my lips. Hmm, so I guess that's possible even if he's not hanging upside down. Go figure.

Ranger helped me dry my legs so I wouldn't have to bend down, continuing to be so good to me. I needed a little bit of help while dressing, but I'm proud to say not much.

My hair? That's a whole different story.

"Damn. My hair even behaves better with you." I commented how easily he was able to gather my curls into a ponytail, no frizz or curl uncooperation in sight. Even my wild curls conform to Ranger.

"Babe." Ranger flashed me his thousand watt grin, loving his praise. Of course, I repaid him with a peck on the lips because he was just that damn irresistible. Okay, he's always been irresistible, but now I don't have to second guess what crossing the friendship line could mean for our future.

"I'm catching up with the Core Team today." Ranger shared as we had breakfast. He's technically still offline, yet I know he likes to be well informed about his company, especially after an in the wind absence. "Call me if you need me. Please." His pleading tone and eyes made me automatically nod.

"Yes." I told him I would, as well as reminding him that I promised Bobby to follow his suggestions. "Today I'm doing more of a virtual role, but will be popping in for small periods of time. It's going to be some back and forth, but this way I can take a break per Bobby's recommendation."

Ranger rode the elevator down to the underground garage with me and stood by the stairwell until Hal drove towards the underground exit.

"Thank you." I thanked Halosaurus for the ride, to which he blushed lightly before telling me it was no problem as the drove down Haywood.

S&R

Hal's POV

"Need any help?" I asked Stephanie, letting her know I'm at her disposal. It's my day off, so I offered to be the one to drive her back and forth between Rangeman and Spirit throughout the day. The Core Team has their third quarter meeting, filling Ranger in with all the operational stuff he needs to be aware of for this final fourth quarter of the year.

"No." Smiling softly, Bomber said she'd call me when she was getting ready to head back to Rangeman. Knowing that chaos tends to follow, something in my gut told me to stay nearby just in case.

"How's it going?" I said to Ram. He's on the morning shift and will be relieved by Cal for the afternoon shift.

With it being Slasher day during the final days of Spirit Week, Bomber is wearing a Friday the 13th long sleeve jersey. With it being my day off, I too am rocking slasher merch. I went with a Ghostface tee for my slasher choice. Ram is wearing a pin on his sleeve to represent his fave slasher classic, none other than Michael Myers. With a head nod to my bud, I kept myself busy yet nearby in case Bomber needed me.

The day was pretty uneventful for me. I did some inside and outside patrols. Weekdays are slow, with the afternoons, nights and weekends being busy for the Halloween store. Stephanie had said she'd be ready to call it a day, but then ended up getting held back because corporate showed up to do a surprise walkthrough.

I shopped around some, knowing that Bomber would be ready soon after over two hours of delay. Finding a couple Scream goodies, I was in line getting ready to pay for my new Ghostface collectibles when I accidentally overheard the corporate woman and man murmuring to themselves. I couldn't hear much, but it was obvious they were talking about Bomber and not necessarily the store itself.

Oh shit.

Could this mean trouble for Steph? Surely, they can't hold the Friday night incident against her, can they?

After dropping my purchase in the SUV's backseat, I slowly ambled back inside when I watched the surprise visitors leave after another thirty minutes. Ram arched an eyebrow in question when he saw me tracking the group as they loaded up in their vehicles. I shook my head minutely, indicating this wasn't the place nor time. Ram was quick to show me he understood.

When I went back inside, Stephanie was talking to her assistant at the register while holding a Chucky doll to her chest with her left arm.

"His box got ruined. We can do 15% damage discount." Bomber was saying that there was nothing wrong with the doll and was willing to offer a small discount to get it off the sales floor. She was interrupted when one of her employees ran inside, catching her breath as she reached the register area.

"Uhm, hey Steph, Lizette's gonna be a little late." Chewing her bottom lip nervously, the young girl amended her statement. "Or, more like a lot late."

"Why, Lindsey?" Immediately, Bomber's Spidey senses were tingling. She knew something was wrong even if there wasn't much cause for concern given.

"We were riding the bus and got a little hungry." Lindsey grimaced, admitting that they both technically broke the 'no eating or drinking' rule on public transit. "The bus driver called the cops and they were waiting when we reached our stop across the street." Shrugging, the girl angrily pointed out that she too had broken the rules but she was let go. The implication that it was because of the color of her skin didn't sit well with either Stephanie or myself.

Bomber asked the girl to take her to where it was all going down, with me following close behind.

"We gonna need some back up?" Ram asked me. I didn't know, but told him to be vigilant. With Bomber, it could go either way.

"Hey!" Stephanie yelled at one of the uninformed officers, who had already placed cuffs on the young girl.

The officer scowled at Bomber, for some reason looking automatically annoyed for her coming to the young girl's rescue. Lizette is bawling her eyes out, there's several bus riders who got off and are also demanding he remove the cuffs. It really is going overboard for an infraction that truth be told we've all been guilty of at some point.

I don't know how things got so out of hand, but they did. Before I realized it, not only was I cuffed - I mean I wasn't going to let the officer on his ego trip put his hands on Bomber and not interfere - but so was Stephanie, in an awkward way due to her brace, and to everyone's confusion and shock, the Chucky doll.

The cherry on top? Bossman's shiny Turbo parked behind the cruiser. His pissed off look told me that Officer Power Trip will be in a lot of hot water by the time Ranger is done making some calls. No one pulls strings better than Ranger.

S&R

Stephanie's POV

"This is ridiculous!" I huffed when Officer Angelucci's partner, Officer Klein, two of the TPD's most problematic aside from Morelli, cuffed the Chucky doll I'd been clutching to my chest just mere seconds before.

"You have the right to remain silent…" Officer Klein began in full serious mode. It took me a second to realize he wasn't talking to Lizette. No, he was talking to Chucky!

"And you are under arrest for harboring a fugitive." Angelucci said to me, attempting to cuff me too. Hal stepped in, but had to stand down when I shook my head. One thing we know is that Rangeman's lawyer will help any of us out of an issue, but we must not resist arrest or give any reason for violence to escalate for our own safety.

"What?" I scoffed, wondering what the hell he was on.

"That small friend of yours…" Angelucci cocked his head toward the doll as I felt the cold metal closing around my left wrist. "…is a fugitive as of last week."

It took me a while to register what he was insinuating. And when it did, I burst out laughing. I couldn't help it!

"That's not Randy Briggs!" Can they not tell it's a freaking doll?!

"Yeah, it's a doll." Lindsey said, the only one of us not currently in cuffs, probably because they ran out after cuffing four of us.

"It is?" Klein asked, squinting at the limp Chucky he was fisting by the hair.

"Yo, this some bullshit!" One of the bus riders that got off to protest the officers' actions was clearly filming the whole interaction. I grimaced, knowing that this would be all over the Burg before long.

The tingling on the back of my neck went haywire from one instant to the next. I knew Ranger was here before I turned around to see him walking on the sidewalk towards this shitshow.

Seeing Ranger on scene wasn't surprising. No, what caught my attention was spotting none other than the Chief of Police.

Uh oh.

The Chief ordered the two officers that arrived just before he did to uncuff us and disperse the gawkers while he pulled Angelucci and Klein to the side. I'm not the best at reading lips, but the two idiots were getting their asses chewed out. Good!

"Go inside. Take a break." I said to the girls, telling them that Hal would escort them back.

"Babe." Ranger arched an eyebrow when he spotted poor Chucky propped up against the brick pony wall, the cuffs on tight.

"It's almost Halloween?" I shrugged, because it's unfathomable to me that these idiot officers confused a doll for a person. I cannot with the TPD right now.

The bus and its riders resumed their route before the Chief finished chewing out Klein and Angelucci. My cell phone was buzzing incessantly in my pocket, no doubt the Burg grapevine already in full swing.

Cutting my eyes to poor Chucky, I gave my blue eyed counterpart a sympathetic look. Even dolls are at risk in my vicinity.

"Wanna buy a spooky doll?" I asked Ranger, deciding to laugh about poor Chucky still being in handcuffs. Guess he wasn't such a priority all things considered.

"Babe." Ranger's right arm wrapped around my waist, gently tugging me back towards the store. The Chief made eye contact with us, silently indicating he'd come looking for us shortly to smooth this whole thing out. At least there's that.

With a cuffed Chucky in tow, I leaned against Ranger's side as we slowly made our way away from the scene of one of my most bizarre encounters. This one was new even for me.

Haven't forgotten about Morelli having to own up to keeping the house for himself. It's coming;)

The end for this one is near. Only some of you have guessed about what Steph's next move will be after Halloween…