Disclaimer: The characters of the Stephanie Plum series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended
Pairing: Cupcake
Notes: 1) Not sure why my muse came up with this one and I certainly don’t believe this an acceptable reason for what happened, but we’ll chalk it up to youth and inexperience and (hopefully) quickly move on to something else. 2) This story assumes that Stephanie is perpetually 30. 3) This story is set during "Ten Big Ones"
Rating: Suitable for people over 13
Feedback: Email comments to ttsmiscellany@yahoo.com

To Protect…
By TT

Joe was listening to the information intently, not only out of duty but because this had become personal. It involved Stephanie and her latest problem with the gang.

He suppressed the urge to run his hands through his hair as he thought of her being in danger.

His instinct was to take her to a safe house and hide her away, but they both knew he couldn’t act on that. Well, he couldn’t act on it yet, anyway

A name suddenly seemed to separate itself from the monotonous droning - Normal Carver, AKA Junkman.

A chill raced down his spine as his mind drew up old fears and memories from fourteen years before. The danger Stephanie faced had suddenly risen to levels far beyond what he could imagine. The gang problem had just become more personal.

Fourteen years ago
Joe leaned back on his towel and let his eyes scan the various, shapely forms displayed so beautifully here on the beach.

He had always loved the water, which was one of the reasons he had signed up for the Navy, but with only two days until he shipped off for basic training, Joe just wanted a pleasant evening with a willing body.

He had just settled on a shapely blond when someone dropped into the sand beside him.

A quick glance showed him it was his cousin. “Mooch,” he greeted. When the other man didn’t respond, Joe turned and looked at him. He knew his cousin well. They had been best friends for as long as either of them could remember. Joe knew something was wrong. “Spill it before you choke on it,” he commanded, thinking that something had come up between Mooch and his girlfriend.

Mooch took a deep breath, blew it out and then another. He ran a hand through is hair and then looked away as if trying to find the words. With a mild curse, he started talking. “I ran into Frankie today,” he began.

Joe tensed. The gang problem from the big cities had finally made its way to Trenton. Their long-time friend Frank Carolli had been sucked into that life. Now he was an established member of a gang called ‘The Slayers’. “Mooch,” Joe began, trying to think of the words to say.

“I wasn’t hanging with him,” Mooch defended immediately. “He actually came to my house and woke me up this morning.”

“What did he have to say,” Joe prodded when his cousin seemed to fall silent.

Mooch blew out another breath. “You know he was a really good friend before all this Slayer stuff, right?”

Joe nodded.

“He knows how you feel about Stepahanie. How you’ve always felt about Stephanie,” he informed. “Not many people in town don’t know, except maybe Stephanie herself.”

A small smile curved Joe’s lips at the mention of the only female to ever touch his heart. He had shared his dreams of a future with her only with his cousin and close friend, Frankie. His two-year stint in the Navy was based on a plan he had been formulating for years. He would go away, join the Navy and when he returned after his two years, she would be eighteen and he would have proven he was a responsible man. Then he could begin dating her to convince her to marry him. Despite his own proclivities, he dreamed her bringing her to their wedding bed still a virgin. A task he thought wouldn’t be too difficult since she had been overheard more than once saying she was going to wait until she found the right man. Of course, Joe thought, she had already met the right man.

Joe shook his head to clear his mind of his dreams of the future. “What does this have to do with Stephanie?” he demanded.

Mooch leaned a little closer and lowered his voice. “There’s a new guy in the Slayers, just transferred in from Newark. He’s spent some time in juvie for selling junk. They call him Junkman because he used to sell junk, smack, whatever. But since he’s new and they found out he’s a virgin, he has to ‘prove’ himself by bringing the gang some ‘virgin blood’,” Mooch informed, his disgust and horror evident.

Joe felt his blood begin to grow cold in his veins, fearing where this would go. Sure he was a horny eighteen-year-old, but he loved women, not just banging them, but everything about them, their voices, their curves, their laughter…

“Frankie said when Junkman brings her in, he’ll have to stand by and watch as every member… does her and then Junkman will have his turn with her before finishing her off,” Mooch finished, his voice barely a whisper.

A quick look at his cousins’ face revealed that Mooch looked about as green as Joe felt. “We need to go to the cops,” he choked out, barely recognizing his own voice.

Mooch shook his head. “Won’t make a difference, they’ll just wait to do it. Besides the cops can’t do anything to them until they commit the crime first.”

“Jesus,” Joe rasped as he reached up and ran both hands through is hair. Then, his stomach clenched and started to rebel as the beginning of the conversation came back. In a strangled tone he asked, “What does this have to do with Stephanie?” He prayed he was wrong.

Mooch looked out at the water and took several deep breaths, trying to quell his own rebelling stomach. “Everyone knows she’s a virgin and Frankie said the head of the Trenton Slayers wants nothing more than ‘that fine piece of ass’ for his own pleasure. So…”

“So this Junkman and is going to kidnap Stephanie and … because she’s a virgin?” Joe choked out.

Mooch nodded but remained silent.

Both young men sat on the beach silently, all the pretty, scantily-clad bodies around them forgotten.

Joe’s mind raced with ways he could protect Stephanie, but he kept coming back to one solution and he knew, without a doubt, it could very well ruin all his future plans. The more he thought about it, though, the more he knew he didn’t have a choice. “I’ll take care of it,” he said, his voice firm, even as his heart was breaking.

Later that night, he stepped into the Tasty Pastry just moments before it closed and smiled at the curly-haired beauty behind the counter. For the first time in his life, he was faced with a task he didn’t want to accomplish.

As he greeted her and began flirting, he ignored the sickness in his stomach. He reminded himself this may be the only time he would ever have with her and he was determined that, at the very least, she would enjoy herself.

Slipping around the counter, he soon found himself standing near her, surrounded by her scent, her voice, lost in her eyes. His thoughts and worries drifted away. The last vestiges of concern disappeared as their lips met and a ferocious passion that he had never felt roared through him.

When his breathing and heart rate returned to normal, the passion and wonder he had felt at Stephanie’s response and their joining faded as the reality of the situation came crashing down around his ears. With one last kiss to Stephanie Plum’s swollen lips, Joe rose and slipped into his clothes. He walked out the door and didn’t look back, knowing if he did, he would never be able to carry through with the second part of his plan.

The next night, his last before leaving for the Navy, he stood outside the Plum house and stared at the window he knew belonged to Stephanie.

It was done. The proof that she was no longer a virgin would spread like wildfire throughout the community. He knew he had most likely lost her forever and felt a tremendous guilt for what he had done to her. He knew her life would be a living hell for the next few years. “But at least she’ll be alive,” he murmured.

Turning away, he headed toward his own house, leaving behind all of his dreams for a future with Stephanie Plum. Now he had two years to figure out a new future, a new dream and pray that, someday, she would forgive him.

Present
Joe felt his jaw clench with anger and determination. Junkman had already cost him his future once. There was no way Morelli would allow that scum to take Stephanie away a second time. Not after all these years, not after everything they’d been through, not after his dream was finally returned to him, was finally coming true.

Eddie Abruzzi had been a threat to Stephanie and Joe had stepped aside to let Ranger handle it, unwilling to cross that line. But for Junkman, Joe was unwilling to step aside for anyone. Junkman would pay for his actions, for his threats, for causing Joe to hurt the one woman he had ever loved.

Joe would make sure Junkman never hurt anyone again, especially Stephanie Plum.

End