A/N: It's a Babe fic, and definately not Morelli friendly. This fic was actually quite hard to write, as I really do like Joe...I just like Ranger more. JE owns all things Plum and all mistakes are mine. The lyrics are taken from Far Away, by Nickelback. Let me know what you think.

This time, This place
Misused, Mistakes
Too long, Too late
Who was I to make you wait
Just one chance
Just one breath
Just in case there's just one left
'Cause you know,
you know, you know

I hit the down button on the elevator and glanced at my watch. Ten thirty, 21st November. A year to the day since I left Trenton. I never intended to be away for so long, but the mission got very complicated very quickly, and the government had held me up. But my contract is over now and I chose not to renew it. Needless to say, the government had not been happy that they'd lost one of their best men, but since they couldn't give me the last year of my life back, I wouldn't give them my skills or services.

"Morning, Rangeman," said Tank as I stepped out of the carriage.

I nodded in acknowledgement and walked to the control room. The mumbling instantly stopped as I entered the room. Bobby and Lester focused their attention on the screens in front of them. I picked up the keys to the Turbo. "I'm going to the bonds' office. I'll be back in about an hour," I said as I turned around. I saw them both stiffen slightly, but it was only noticeable if you knew them well enough. "How's Steph been?" I asked.

I hadn't seen her or spoken to her since I left, but her memory had stayed strong in my mind. Bobby and Lester exchanged glances out of the corners of their eyes. I felt my chest involuntarily tighten at the thought of something bad happening to her, but I would have been informed if she'd been hurt badly.

"She's fine," Bobby said, although it was obvious he was hiding something.

"Brown?" I questioned; hoping the authority in my voice would get me more answers.

"You should talk to her yourself," said Santos, his blank face in place.

We held eyes for a moment, but I could get nothing from his bright green orbs. I left the control room and jogged to the garage. I slipped the key into the ignition of the Turbo and pulled out of the building. It was only a ten-minute drive to the office, but it felt like hours.

I slipped into what Steph calls my zone and focused on the road in front of me. Connie would probably have some skips for me to bring in, but I'd wait a few days before going after them. I had a lot to catch up on. I pulled up on the curb and looked through the window into the office. Connie was sitting behind her desk painting her nails blood red, Lula was dressed in neon green spandex and was reading some fashion magazine. My Babe was flipping through some files, a small smile playing on her face that didn't quite reach her pretty blue eyes. She looked beautiful.

Just like in the control room, everyone stopped talking when I walked through the door. Lula let out a quiet yet high-pitched squeak and Connie dropped her bottle of nail paint. Steph just looked at me, an unreadable expression on her face, but I could tell she was surprised to see me. Hell, if someone I knew disappeared for a year without contact and then suddenly came back, I'd be surprised to.

"Lula, Babe," I nodded to them. "Got any files for me, Connie?"

She nodded slowly and reached into her top draw. She handed me three thick folders and sat there watching me. I stuck the files under my arm and turned to face Steph. "Can I talk to you for a minute? Outside?"

She hesitated for a moment before nodding and following me out of the door. I silently led her round the back to the alley.

We stood in silence for a while until her curiosity got the better of her. "Where have you been?" she asked.

"Can't tell you, Babe, it's classified," I knew she was used to that answer, so she dropped it. "Are you OK?"

She nodded once; her dark brown curls looked less lively than I remembered them. Her electric blue eyes were missing their usual spark, but she was probably just tired. "I don't…I don't know if your men told you, but…I'm married," she said.

I felt like someone had sucker punched me in the stomach, but I didn't show it. Instead I just narrowed my eyes. The Stephanie Michelle Plum I knew was scared stiff at the thought of the altar after her failed fist marriage to the Dick. If she told me she had a baby I was going to hit something. I looked down at her left hand and sure enough there was a diamond engagement ring and a simple gold band on her ring finger. Now I understood why she hesitated to leave the office with me. All of our previous meetings behind the office ended with me pinning her to the wall and kissing her. I just couldn't help myself; she's so beautiful. I love her – I fucking love her – and she's married to another man!

"Who?" I asked through clenched teeth, even though I already knew.

She looked at the ground and shift weight from on foot to the other. "Morelli," she whispered.

I couldn't believe that she had married that asshole. She deserved so much better than him. He was a respectable cop, but he was always trying to change the way she was. I couldn't understand why he couldn't see that if she changed, she wouldn't be the woman we both loved. And yet here she was, married to the cop and still working for Vinnie. Maybe he had changed his mind and finally accepted her for the way she was. I guessed it was partly my fault. I told her to go back to him after we slept together. She just couldn't understand that I wanted her to be safe, it was too dangerous for us to be in a relationship. If I fought harder for her, maybe she wouldn't be Mrs Joseph Morelli.

"Are you happy?" I asked her.

She nodded and smiled, but again, it didn't quite reach her eyes. I brushed a stray curl out of her face and rested my hand on her cheek for a moment to long. She was acting differently and I could have sworn she flinched slightly at my touch, but it was probably the shook of seeing me again after so long.

I smiled at her. "Do you need any help with your skips?"

She shook her head slowly. "I don't do that any more," she mumbled.

"What do you mean?"

She started playing with the hem of her shirt. "Lula's the one that goes after FTAs now. I'm the filing clerk."

I looked at her and realised she was serious. She had actually given up the job she loved. I was a fool to think that Morelli had changed. He had finally broken her, and she had given in. The asshole.

I had to get out of there before I shot something. Or someone, namely an Italian cop. Luckily my pager went off. I picked it up from my belt and looked at the screen. "I have to go," I kissed her gently on the cheek and started to walk away. I stopped as I reach for the door to the Turbo. "Congratulations, Babe. Call if you need anything."

I drove over the speed limit back to RangeMan. Tank had some explaining to do. I parked the Turbo and took the elevator to the control room. "Where's Tank?" I demanded. Bobby and Lester both pointed to his office.

I walked in without knocking and slammed my hands on the desk. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

He looked up and pushed his paperwork to one side. "Because it's none of my business. I thought you should hear it from her."

"When?" I said through gritted teeth.

"About four months after you left. She had a traditional 'Burg wedding. She invited us, but we chose not to go. We couldn't stand seeing her and the cop joined together in holy matrimony."

I pushed off from the desk and pounded my fist into the filing cabinet, denting it. It was just to dangerous for Steph and I to be together, but as selfish as it was, I didn't want her to be with anyone else – if I couldn't be with her then no one could.

"You alright man?"

I took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm going to bring in some skips," I said, slamming the door behind me.

This time I took the Porsche. I flipped through the file quickly. Marty Harris, arrested for murder and domestic violence, also had a history of drink driving and rape. Why does Vinnie write bail for these guys? His address was listed as an apartment on Stark Street.

The Slayer incident flashed through my mind. I remembered finding Steph asleep in my bed, smelling of Bulgari and waking up next to her in the morning. I pushed the memories of her getting captured out of my head and tried to concentrate on the task at hand.

I knocked on Harris' door and when I got no answer, I simply kicked it down. He was lying face down on the floor, obviously drunk. He was unconscious, so I handcuffed him and dragged him to the back of the car.

I looked up in disbelief at a red Firebird and saw Lula yelling through a door across the road. "Need any help?" I asked.

"Damn skippy. Damn skip locked herself in and won't come out," she said, her hands on her hips in what Steph calls her rhino mode.

"Name?"

"Sally Brooks."

"Arrested for?"

"Shoplifting at Macys."

Since I was too angry with Morelli to bother with B and E, I repeated what I did to Harris' door and kicked it down. I found Sally Brooks in the kitchen. "Car. Now," I said, my voice low and emotionless.

She paled and ran for the Firebird, locking herself in. Lula just smiled. "Batman, you are the shit. It's good to have you back."

I leaned back against her car and folded my ankles, and my arms across my chest. "You're one of Steph's closest friends, right?"

She nodded. "Sure am."

"Does she seem…different to you?" I asked.

She thought about it for a moment. "She's lost weight, said she's been going running a couple of times a week and is cutting the sugar out of her diet again."

That defiantly didn't sound like my Babe. She would never voluntarily run and she didn't need to diet. She was perfect.

I gave her a nod and drove to the cop station to get a body receipt for a still unconscious Harris. All eyes were focused on me as I handed him over. I looked around for someone I recognised and saw Eddie Gazzara by the front desk.

"Where's Morelli?"

Gazzara looked at me nervously. "He's investigating a homicide at the moment. Should be back in a few hours. Want me to give him a message?"

"No," I received a body receipt and left as suddenly as I had come.

I was in front of the bonds' office before I knew it. I sat there for a moment watching Stephanie. She had her back to the window and was standing in front of the filing cabinet. The diamond from her engagement ring caught in the light a shone brightly. Almost as brightly as she did.

I got out of the Turbo and handed Connie the receipt. She wrote me a check and I led Steph out back to the alley again. "Are you busy tomorrow night?" I asked.

"Why?" she questioned.

"I was hoping you'd be up for a distraction job."

She was closer enough that I could smell the vanilla scent of her hair, but there was also a hint of Morelli's after-shave on her. It took every bit of control I had not to kiss her there and then, and make her smell of Bulgari again.

"I can't," she finally said.

"Why not?" I asked, even though I had a dreading feeling I already knew.

She hugged her arms. "Because…Joe wouldn't like it. You turning up out of the blue, asking me to dress up in a skimpy outfit and taking me to a bar."

I understood where she was coming from. "I never intended to be away for so long."

She shrugged. "You could have…a phone call, even a letter would have been nice," she whispered. "I spent months wondering if you were still alive or wondering what you were doing."

"I wanted to get in touch with you, but it just wasn't possible."

We stood in silence for a while. "How about if I moved the distraction job to another day?"

She thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "He's working late the day after tomorrow."

I nodded and turned around. "I'll pick you up at eight."

TBC