Disclaimer: All characters are property of Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them a little bit.
Author's Notes: Once upon a time, I did see the movie Camelot. But for the life of me – I can't remember much about it now, so apologises to any glaring mistakes. I'm a complete Tart so this is going to be a Steph/MM fic. I wasn't going to post this fic, until I had more written, but I would like to know what everybody thinks – so here it is. I hope you all enjoy.
The Dark Knight
Chapter One
Sighing I looked down at my dress. It certainly wasn't what I was used to wearing, but it was pretty none the less.
The light breeze drifted in through the woods, making the flag – whoops, Bobby had corrected me on this earlier – the pennant behind me flick softly in the wind. I looked up at the pennant and couldn't help but give a slight smile at the silver Rangeman logo hand-sewn onto the black background. Ella had done a fantastic job with it. And with everybody's costumes. And the tents. And the food. I think she just likes to sew and cook a lot – and this long weekend definitely provided a different outlet for her creative urges. It turned out that she and Louis had made the tents themselves, which explained why they all matched so perfectly. I was extremely pleased when I found that that was even a small shower one set up. Thankfully the area had bathrooms already! When I agreed to come I was slightly worried about the lack of modern day amenities...
Moving my sight away from the pennant I look around the clearing, taking in the sights and sounds. Everywhere people are dressed in costumes and busy putting up tents. I even spotted a few young children with the supervision of an adult, setting up torches and lanterns leading to the path down to the 'market' and 'show' areas, since the festival also continued into the evenings.
Honestly, if I didn't know that it was the 21st Century, I would really think we were back in medieval times. The atmosphere of this forest certainly helps, with its tall dark pine trees and soft whispering winds.
I can't help but sigh again, and pick up the mug – tankard – to wipe off any dust. Ella had put me in charge of making sure all the necessary cutlery and stuff was ready to go, then, as she put it, "go and have a good time".
Sometimes my life was really odd.
Picking up another tankard, the last one of my task, I thought back to how I gotten involved in this.
It was a Friday night, and had been an extremely long day. After successfully nabbing a skip (without getting dirty for once) I had headed over to Rangeman to check if my inbox had any searches to run. I had been working for Rangeman fulltime for three months, and loved it. Ranger let me skip trace for Vinnie at least twice a week, I had a partner to do it with, and the rest of time I either filled in for one of the guys on various tasks, or ran searches. The pay was good. The benefits were great. And Joe had finally gotten the message that we were never going to work together.
There were three searches to run in my inbox, none marked urgent, so I started with the one on top first, and then made my way to the kitchen to see what there was to eat. Ella and I had a secret spot in the kitchen, where she would hide me tasty and delicious types of food. And despite the guys best attempts none of them knew where it was.
Or at least that's what I told myself, because nobody ever seemed to take anything from there.
By the time I had retrieved my snack – chocolate cake, Ella was a goddess – and made my way back to my desk, there were three new searches, all marked urgent, sitting on top of my keyboard. And same as always when this happened, they were all from Rodriguez.
Sighing, I sat down in my chair. That's when I saw the note on top of them written in smooth cursive:
"I'm sorry for dumping these on you Steph, especially on a Friday afternoon, but you are the best at them. R."
Well – that was certainly different. I've never seen Rodriguez, and if it weren't for Tank's assurance I would think he didn't really exist. This is the first time he's ever written a note either...
Ping. I looked up at my computer and it was done with the first search. I printed out the results and put them in the file.
Putting down my cake, I put in the info for Rodriguez's first urgent search, a badass guy who went by Jimmy the Hand. Once that had started, I thought about the note and how all of the guys had been acting over the past two months.
They've managed to learn phone manners from somewhere, but I suspect that they only apply them when talking to me.
They've also started knocking before breaking into my apartment – though I suspect it has to do with the time Lester came strolling in and found me wandering around looking for clean clothing to wear naked. I think they heard my screams back at Haywood. Lester still hasn't lived that one down, and now all of them knock loudly.
Cal has started to open doors for me, and even holds my chair out to sit. I think the chair thing is a bit of over kill, but he lights up when I let him and always gives me such a cute smile, so I can't say no to it. The one time I did, I felt like I had kicked a puppy, after Cal gave me a sorrowful look with his big brown eyes.
Hal doesn't like to see me lifting anything heavy (except weights in the gym), and takes over carrying anything he considers to be too heavy for me.
And on top of all this and more, none of them ever let me pay for food when we grab lunch or dinner. Looking back I can see that it started the week Ranger packed up and moved to Miami. Little did they know that a month previous, when I started working fulltime for Rangeman, Ranger and I made a deal. I would work for him fulltime, if he either backed down or stepped up. He decided to back down. At the time I was pretty sad, but it was better to stay as close friends, and now we talked at least once a week on the phone. It sounded like he was finally building a proper fatherly relationship with Julie.
Now – Rodriguez – the Merry Man I've never even met face to face is leaving me polite (and pretty looking) notes apologising.
My computer pinged again, so I pushed the thoughts of how odd the guys had been acting to the back of my mind and delved into the sick and twisted world of Jimmy the Hand.
I was startled out of my work by Lester poking me in the side.
"Bomber! What are you still doing here, it's 7pm."
Wow – I hadn't even realised how much time had passed. Rodriguez's searches were really full on.
"I was doing some searches for the Mystery Man, and I guess I lost track of time." Lester smiled at me, and leaned over to look at my computer screen. I could feel myself heat up, Lester's smile was definitely sexy. The guys all loved it how I called Rodriguez the Mystery Man, but seriously, I have never even met this guy – what else was I going to call him?
"Well – it looks like the searches finished running two hours ago. What have you been doing since then?"
I could feel my face heat up slightly, "I was reading through the information and seeing if I could make any connections..."
Lester just gave me that sexy smile of his again, and out of the corner of my eye I could see Bobby approaching.
"Hey Bomber – we thought you had gone home hours ago!"
I smiled at Bobby, "I was just finishing some searches off." I stood up and stretched out my back, inwardly smirking when I saw both of them trying not to watch me, "Now that they are done I think I will go home." My stomach rumbled and Lester and Bobby both grinned.
Bobby's eyes sparkled, "Hey, we have stacks of pizza arriving soon and am watching a few movies tonight at Vince's apartment. Did you want to come?"
Well – the idea of going home to my foodless apartment wasn't particularly appealing...
Lester swung an arm around my shoulder and picked up my pocketbook from the desk, "Well that settles it then."
Huh – damn. I talked out loud again. Both of them laughed as Bobby turned off my computer, and put the files in a neat pile.
They led me down to the fourth floor (via the staircase naturally) and once we arrived at Vince's apartment didn't bother to knock and went straight in, dragging me along with them.
"Hey – look – we bought Bomber with us!" Lester exclaimed. All of the guys in the room cheered then proceeded to shuffle around and make room for us to sit. Once I had place of honour on the big sofa squished in between Vince and Brett, I could finally take stock of who was here. In addition to Vince, Brett, Bobby and Lester, there were several other guys sprawled around on chairs or cushions on the floor. Cal and Zip were leaning with their backs against the sofa I was on, while Hal, Woody, Zero and Binkie were sprawled around the floor on cushions with Lester and Bobby.
A knock sounded on the door, and Tank entered his hands full of pizza boxes with Junior following with a case of beer and some bottles of soft drinks. The guys let out another cheer, and after some rearranging managed to make room for Tank and Junior to sit, with the pizzas and drinks on the coffee table. It was crowded in Vince's living room, but everybody appeared to be comfortable. I loved seeing the guys when they were relaxed and in casual clothes – it was a completely different side of them.
I overheard Tank ask Vince where Rodriguez was and tuned my ears into their conservation. I wanted to know more about the Mystery Man. All Vince said was that Rodriguez had some urgent work to do so couldn't make it tonight as planned. I wonder if this had to do with the searches I had done for him this afternoon – there were a few interesting connections I noted down for him and put in the files with the searches...
Vince nudged me and handed me a plate. I was in the best position. I could see the television perfectly, reach the pizza easily, and was squeezed on a sofa between two incredibly hot guys in a room full of hot guys. I was feeling like an incredibly lucky girl at the moment.
Once everybody had gotten some food and drink, Vince pressed a button on the remote next to him and the lights dimmed. The television turned on, and a menu button for... What? Seriously? We're going to be watching Camelot?
When I opened my mouth to say something, Brett nudged me and shook his head.
Ok – I could wait until the movie was over to ask what was up with Camelot. Relaxing back, I settled in and enjoyed the movie.
As soon as the credits starting rolling Lester and Bobby started a debate with Zero and Junior over the different fights with swords and whether they were real enough or not. Tank, Cal and Vince were talking about the costumes; while Zip, Woody and Hal started in about who they would be out of the Knights of the Round Table.
I was gobsmacked. I could feel Brett silently laughing beside me, so I turned around and looked up at him. "I bet you never thought a bunch of tough guys would enjoy watching Camelot, hey?" I shook my head in a negative. This was a complete head spin. They all seemed to enjoy the movie, and now they were debating various aspects of it. And talking about costumes.
Brett grinned down, "About three years ago, Frederick, Vince and I stumbled across a fair held about an hour outside Trenton. It was a medieval style fair, and after spending a couple of hours wandering around the fair and talking to the people there we were hooked. It's held every six months or so, and they have booths and tournaments, and everybody wears costumes."
Ok... I wouldn't have thought that Brett or Vince would be into something like that, but I suppose I could see the appeal...
"The three of us started to go-"
Brett got cut off by Binkie who had heard our conservation, "and the rest of us decided it sounded like fun and started to go as well. Now it's a bit of a tradition that we go every six months to the fair. The weekend before, we watch movies and check our weapons and costumes."
I was flabbergasted. By this time all of the guys were looking at me. Tank's deep voice rumbled through the room, "Ranger gives all of us," he gestured to the room, "and Rodriguez, the long weekend off whenever a fair is being held. Even Ella and Louis come with us. Ranger said it was a good chance for team building outside the normal workplace, and has even come along a few times himself."
"The guys who really aren't interested don't mind covering Rangeman for the weekend we're gone." Zero looked thoughtful, "Though why they wouldn't want to hit other men with swords is beside me..."
All of the guys were watching me to see how I reacted. While I think it's odd that these guys would be into this medieval stuff, I also think it's kind of cool that they have something which they so obviously enjoy so much. And the fact that they're opening up as a group and letting me participate in part of their preparations for next week is also really kind.
I smiled at them all, "It sounds pretty cool."
The smiles on their faces let me know that I had said the right words. Zip looked up at me from his spot next to my legs, "How about you come with us next weekend Steph?" Zip's eyes were full of hope and enthusiasm.
My eyes widened.
Woody chirped up, "You do have the whole weekend off."
I nodded my head agreeing that I did have the weekend off.
Should I go with them? See what this medieval fair was about? It could be fun... Right? I'd get to know the guys better. My mind wandered back to what I was thinking about that afternoon, they had been incredibly sweet the last couple of months.
I shook my head and looked around the room. Each and every one of them was giving me small shy smiles, and big eyes.
Lester did his sexy smile, "Come on Bomber. It will be heaps of fun. We promise." All of them nodded in agreement, their smiles widening.
"Well... If you promise it will be fun..."
Vince stood and pulled me up so I was standing on the couch, while all of the guys cheered and stood as well. He looked up at me and grinned, "You'll see Steph, and it's going to be an awesome weekend!"
After that there was much hugging and talking about the fair. The more the guys talked about it, their enthusiasm shining through (though I know for several of them it was just the fun of the tournaments they really went for) the more excited I got. The realisation that this got me out of dinner at my parents next week was an added bonus.
I startled when one of the guys came up behind me and hugged me from behind. I was so wrapped up in thinking I didn't notice anybody approaching. It was ok though, because I could tell by the way he held me around the waist that it was Lester.
"Ok Bomber, you're done. We're all done setting up the tents and stuff, so let's go and check out what is happening down at the market ground."
I placed the tankard down, while Lester grabbed my hand and starting leading me towards the path down to the market. While we had only been here since this morning setting up, I could already see it was going to be a fun weekend.
When Ella had heard I was coming along, she got so excited, going on about fair maidens and clothing. I think she was hoping I would come, because she already had several dresses and a beautiful cloak made. I looked down at my dress again – I had several different ones all courtesy of Ella and her sewing machine, and from what I seen - the other women wearing, my dress wasn't all that different, except it was much more pretty and better made.
Lester tugged on my hand. "Come on Bomber, I want to show you what Tank has been up to."
I grinned and trotted to keep up with Lester. A few of the guys had disappeared as soon we arrived, and went down to set up stuff at the market ground and the tournament area. I couldn't wait to see what they had done.
Even when I asked during the week none of the guys would let me in on who was participating in which tournaments and what type of market stall they having. They just gave me mysterious smiles and said I would see.
I had a feeling they were planning something behind my back – but since they had promised it would fun last weekend, I wasn't too worried about their schemes. How much trouble could I get into a medieval fair... Right?
