Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine except Ashley. Linda and Cassidy belong to themselves! :)
Author's Note: Just a one shot unless I get a lot of reviews asking me to carry it further!
A Dream Come True...Or Not
Ashley pulled her green GMC Jimmy into her friend's driveway. Actually this is going to be the first time she was to meet her friend Linda and Linda's friend Cassidy. They met through fan fiction and became fast friends through their similar like of Ranger and the merry men. After talking through email and facebook for almost a year, the girls decided to get together and take a vacation. Of course their vacation spot was going to be one their favorite places. Ashley heard the front door open to the beautiful house in front of her and she looked up. She smiled as she saw Linda walking out to greet her. She put the car in park, turned it off and hopped out of her vehicle.
Linda was the first to speak. "Hey girl. It's nice to finally meet you." Ashley nodded in agreement.
"Likewise Babe. It's about damn time too." Both girls laughed as it broke the ice and the girls hugged.
"Are you ready to go?" Ashley asked Linda.
Linda nodded her head. "I'm so ready to go. So is Cassidy. She had to work this morning, but she's already packed and I have her stuff here. We're going to pick her up when she gets off work and head north." Ashley broke out in a smile and nodded eagerly.
"I can't wait to get moving. I have been driving Paul crazy. I thought he was going to kick me out last week." Linda laughed.
"I know what you mean. I have been the same way. I have been driving Brian crazy. Speaking of which, why don't you come inside and meet Brian and then we can get the car packed and ready."
"Sounds good to me. What time does Cassidy get off work?" Linda glanced at the watch on her wrist.
"About 3:00 this afternoon. She's going to try to get off early so we can head north faster."
The girls laughed as they walked inside the house. Ashley looked around in awe. "Linda, your place is beautiful." Linda turned to look at her with a smile. "Thanks Babe."
Linda lead Ashley into the living room where Brian was playing his playstation. "Brian, I want you to meet Ashley." Brian glanced over and smiled. "Hi. Nice to meet you."
Ashley smiled and nodded. "It's nice to meet you too." Brian turned back to his playstation the girls forgotten. Linda rolled her eyes and turned back to Ashley.
"Come on. Let's get our stuff ready. Which vehicle do you want to take?" Ashley shrugged.
"I don't care."
"Can I smoke in your vehicle?" Ashley laughed and nodded.
"You can smoke. You can eat. You can sing. Hell if you want you can dance in my car. I'm not picky. I got it cleaned before I came this way because it so needed it, but really I don't care. Paul smokes so it's all good."
"Okay, well your vehicle has more room so we'll take yours."
"Cool. Let's get our stuff packed and head to pick up Cassidy."
It was noon and the girls were headed to Trenton, New Jersey. Cassidy true to her word got off way earlier than she planned and called Linda. As soon as the girls heard she was off they headed over to pick her up. It was going to take about 14 hours to get to Trenton and the girls were going to take turns driving so they could drive straight through. They wanted to hurry to Trenton, so they could visit their favorite 'fictional' place.
The three girls all differed in looks and personalities, but their love of Janet's world of Ranger, Stephanie, and the merry men made them easy friends. Anyone watching them would think the girls had been friends for years. Their getting to know each turned to talking. Their talking turned to chatting. Their chatting turned to joking. Their joking turned to smiles and laughter. Their smiles and laughter brought on the tears.
"Okay Cassidy, if you had to choose which merry man would you want to be with?" Cassidy bit her lip deep in thought.
"I would say Cal." Linda and Ashley nodded their heads in complete agreement.
"Cal is really hot, Cassidy. Good choice. So why him?" Ashley asked. Cassidy shivered.
"That tattoo of his is sexy as hell. It's a turn on."
"Yea I would most certainly have to agree with you too." Ashley turned to Linda as she spoke.
"Well Linda, I know who you would pick." Linda smirked.
"Mmmm I know who you would pick too." Ashley blushed and the other two laughed.
"I know who Linda would pick, but Ashley who would you pick?" Cassidy asked Ashley.
She smiled as she answered. "I would pick Ram in a heartbeat. There is something about that sexy man that I can't seem to get enough of."
"Oooooo." Cassidy bumped her shoulder with Ashley's.
"I think in all honesty that all the merry men are hot as hell and I wouldn't mind hooking up with any of them." Cassidy replied. The other two girls nodded in agreement.
"Too bad they're not real." Linda frowned at Ashley's comment.
"I know right. But then that would be too much like perfect." Ashley shook her head.
"I don't know, Linda. We all have men in our lives and it would hard turning them away to be with one of the merry men." Linda and Cassidy nodded their heads in agreement.
"She has a valid point, Cass." Cassidy frowned but nodded.
It was early in the morning when Linda pulled into the hotel in Trenton, New Jersey. It was almost 5 in the morning and all three girls were exhausted, but it was so worth it. They finally made it to their favorite 'fictional' place. The girls decided to pool their money together and rent one of those 3 bedroom suites. It had 3 separate bedrooms, one for each girl. It also had a huge living area and a little kitchen area with a dining room table. In the long run, it ended up being cheaper then getting 3 separate hotel rooms.
The girls entered their suite and looked around. Cassidy was the first to break the silence.
"This place is beyond awesome." Ashley and Linda nodded.
"I don't think I ever want to leave." Ashley murmured. Linda opened the first door to the left and looked inside. "I call this one."
Ashley opened the second door. "I'll take this one if that's okay, Cass?" Cassidy nodded and opened the final door.
"I'm good with that." The three girls went into the separate rooms to put their stuff away.
Ashley was the first to emerge and went to the tiny kitchen area and looked around.
"Holy shit." She let out with a sigh.
She almost jumped out of her skin at the voice behind her. "What is it?" Ashley spun around and looked at Linda.
"Jeez louise, you scared the shit out of me, Linda." At the look on Ashley's face, Linda started laughing. Ashley waited until she stopped a frown upon her face. After a few minutes of Linda laughing, Ashley joined in.
"Alright girl, you scared me. But remember this." Linda looked up with tears in her eyes. "Paybacks are a bitch." That only made Linda laugh harder and Ashley rolled her eyes in humor. Cassidy walked into the kitchen and zeroed in on Linda.
"What's so funny?"
Ashley answered for Linda. "She scared the shit out of me. Big time. She thinks its funny." Linda straighten up and looked at Cassidy.
"That's because it is funny." Ashley smiled.
"How about we cook breakfast and then head to bed. When we get up we can start going around town."
The girls all agreed and set to work.
At 11:00 that same morning, the three girls stepped out into the sunlight. Linda was wearing a pair of pink shorts with a white t-shirt. Cassidy was wearing a pair of jean shorts with a blue tank top. Ashley was also wearing a pair of shorts with a pink camisole top. All of them wearing flip flops. It was hot and already sticky, but they didn't notice. They were excited about seeing some landmarks in Trenton, New Jersey.
"Where to first?" Linda asked the other two.
The other two smiled big. "Tasty Pastry." Cassidy and Ashley spoke at the same time. They turn to each other and laughed.
"I agree with that. Let's go girls."
Within a couple of minutes, they had found the Tasty Pastry. They were about to go in as a tall curly haired brunette walked out with a huge box in her hands.
"That looks like Stephanie Plum." Ashley whispered.
"Doesn't it, though?" Linda agreed.
Cassidy shook her head. "Too weird. Come on." They shook their heads as though trying to clear their thoughts and walked inside the small shop.
A bright eyed teenager behind the counter smiled. "What would you like?" They looked at the display of what it appeared to be hundreds of donuts.
Ashley spoke up first. "Um, well how about a little of everything. Just give us a dozen donuts completely assorted." The teenager smiled, nodded and set to work. Within minutes, the girls walked out holding a box of donuts and 3 bottles of water. They sat in the car eating donuts and admiring the world around them.
"Everyone seems so happy here." Cassidy noticed.
"They do, don't they." Linda agreed. Ashley looked around.
"I wonder what they're on?" Both girls turned to look at Ashley with bewildered looks on their faces. Ashley just looked at them. "What?" Both girls shook their heads.
"Where to next?" Linda asked.
"About we just get out and walk around. See where our feet take us. Then we can work off those darn donuts." Ashley replied.
Both girls nodded their agreement and got out of the car. They started walking along the sidewalk admiring different shops and businesses along the way. Linda pointed up ahead.
"Look its Pinos." The other two girls snapped their heads around and stared.
"That is so cool." Ashley nodded in agreement with Cassidy.
"Let's go try a meatball sub." Ashley said.
"But we just ate donuts." Ashley looked at her watch and gasped.
"What?" Cassidy asked.
"That was almost 2 hours ago."
"What?" Linda asked. "Has it been that long already?"
"Now that you mention it, I am kinda hungry." Cassidy said.
"Me too." Ashley agreed.
"Alright me too." Linda admitted.
The girls walked inside and placed an order for 3 meatball subs. When their orders were ready, they sat down and started to eat.
"Mmmmmm now I know what the fuss is about. These are delicious." Linda said over a mouthful of sub. Both girls too busy eating to reply just nodded. All of sudden Ashley started choking. Cassidy handed her a bottle of water and Ashley almost guzzled it. When she stopped choking, she managed to force out a couple of words.
"That looks like Detective Morelli from the books. A tall Italian with olive skin and brown wavy hair. Look." Both girls turned to look in Ashley's direction and gasped.
"Oh my goodness, it does look like him." Cassidy agreed.
"Come one guys, it's just a coincidence." Linda said.
"You're probably right." Ashley agreed and Cassidy also nodded in agreement.
The girls doubled back and grabbed their vehicle and parked a block down from Pino's. They got back out and continued to walk down the sidewalk. Too busy laughing and joking they almost missed the sign hanging from a small brick building with huge windows in the front.
Cassidy and Ashley looked at Linda when they heard her gasp in surprise. She didn't utter a word just stared at the building in front of her. Cass and Ash looked at what Linda was looking at and let out a shriek of surprise.
"Is that?" Ashley asked.
"It is," replied Linda.
"Oh my gosh," exclaimed Cassidy.
"Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. It's real."
"It can't be, Linda." Ashley shook her head. They continued to look at the building as a tall dark skinned blond haired man walked out of the bonds office.
"Oh shit." Cassidy gasped.
"He is hot." Linda murmured.
"He looks like Lester." The blond haired man turned around and focuses on the three girls. All they could do was stare in shock. He turned back to the truck, opened the driver door and threw in some folders. He then shut the door and turned back to face the three girls. He walked over slowly studying each one as he did so. They still hadn't moved.
"Good morning, Ladies." They each swallowed and said good morning. "Your names, please."
"Cassidy."
"Linda."
"Ashley." The blond haired man takes each one of their hands and gives a small kiss on their knuckles.
"You guys must be Janet fans." The girls' eyes widen further at his statement.
"What?" Ashley finds her voice.
"That is how you knew my name right?" Linda gulped hard and spoke.
"You're Lester Santos?" A bright smile came across his handsome face.
"I am."
"Wow."
Cassidy looked over at Linda then back at Lester. "So her books are real?" Les shrugged.
"Most of it is. Some of it is blown a little out of proportion." Ashley chewed on her bottom lip a minute clearly thinking before responding.
"So Stephanie Plum, Ranger, Ram, Eddie, Grandma Mazur is all real." Lester nodded.
"Yep we're all real." He made a small shudder. "Even Grandma Mazur." They three girls cracked a smile at Lester's voice. Lester smiled back at them.
"Damn but you three are beautiful." All three girls blushed. Linda spoke first this time.
"If all you guys are real, then how come more people don't know about it?"
Lester answered easily. "Trenton took an oath to keep it a secret. We really don't want a lot of tourists running around making a mess of things, so we keep this to ourselves."
"We're sorry, we didn't mean to intrude. We had no idea." Cassidy said.
"No sorry needed. It's clear you didn't know." He leaned in closer to Linda and smiled. "Wanna meet the rest of us?" The girls all nodded eagerly.
"You guys wanna meet Morelli first before going to RangeMan?" They all three shook their heads clearly disgusted.
"So you guys are babe fans?" They all nodded. Lester smiled a wolfish smile. "Good, then I must take you to RangeMan."
Lester told them that since they were visitors they would have to go to the lobby. He told them that he would go park in the garage and meet them in the lobby. They were standing quietly waiting for Lester when the elevator doors open.
Lester along with two other men got off the elevator and headed in their direction. One of the men had to be Ranger. He was in full combat gear guns and all. He had shoulder length dark hair and dark eyes and his skin was mocha latte in color. When he got closer he gave them a smile.
"I heard you guys were babe fans?" They could do nothing but nod. "You guys are not fans of Morelli?" This time they shook their heads no. "Even better. You guys are welcome here." He turned to Hal. "Show them around. We'll be right behind you." Hal nodded and then turn to the girls.
"This way." They followed him without protest.
Once they were away from ear shot, Ranger turned to Lester.
"Have you told them yet?" He asked Lester.
"No I haven't. What are the chances of them being angry over it?" Ranger gave a barely there shrug.
"Who knows. Come on. Let's go tell them the good news." Lester snorted but followed. They got to the 5th floor where the girls were being introduced to the rest of the team.
Linda didn't know it yet, but Lester was going to lay claim on her. She couldn't go anywhere and by the look she was giving him earlier, she wouldn't care. She was laughing at something Hal said and Lester clenched his fists. He walked over to the group and started asking questions.
"So girls, who is your favorite?" Ashley turned to Lester glaring at him. He was looking straight at Linda when he asked that. She was mad for putting her friend on the spot in front of everybody.
"Our favorite is Ranger." Ashley told him in a no nonsense tone. Lester smirked and looked towards the other guys. Cal, Ram, Hal, Manny, Vince, Junior, and Ranger were standing there wanting to know what Lester wanted to know. Lester shook his head and smiled.
"Well since he's taken, I meant who is your favorite merry man?" The three girls stared in surprise. Linda spoke first. "Who?" Ranger shook his head and laughed. "Stephanie." Ashley's mouth dropped open. "What?" She asked.
"You know in the 8th book where we made the deal and then we spent that night together?" They all nodded. "That really happened, but after that night, Steph dumped Morelli and we've been together every since." Ranger gave the response that all three girls had always wanted to hear. "Cool." Ashley exclaimed. Lester spoke up. "So who is your favorite merry man?" Cassidy snorted and looked at Cal before her eyes jump back to Lester. She answered first.
"My favorite is Cal." She peeked a glance at him from the corner of her eye and watched as his chest puffed out and he grinned. "Good to know. At least I get one." He replied back. They didn't understand his words so they choose to ignore him. Lester turned to Ashley and grinned. "Your turn, short stuff." Ashley gritted her teeth.
She took a deep breathe and let it out. "My favorite is Ram." Ram pumped a fist in the air. "Hell yeah. I get the one I wanted." Ashley looked at him confusion on her face. Before she could comment Lester spoke to Linda.
"How about you, Gorgeous?" Linda swallowed hard. "My favorite is you." Lester's eyes widen and he grabbed Linda's face between his hands and kissed her hard on the mouth. Linda shocked and stunned didn't know what to do. She pulled away at Ram's voice.
"Wait a minute now, if you get to kiss her, then we get to kiss ours." Ashley and Cassidy both started backing up when Ram and Cal started coming forward. Lester once again started advancing on Linda. Ranger's voice halted them all.
"Stop." All 6 of them jumped and turned to look at Ranger. Ram spoke first. "I don't want to stop. I want to claim what's mine." Cal nodded. "Yea me too before they change their minds." The girls were looking from man to the other.
"What are you guys talking about? All three of us have men at home waiting for us?" Ashley explained to them. Ram growled. Ashley jumped.
"Ranger, you need to explain it to them." The three girls turned to look at the man standing beside Ranger. This must be Tank.
"Explain what?" Cassidy asked.
"You guys will not be leaving Trenton?"
"What?" All three girls said at the same time. "We have to. We have lives you know?" Linda's voice was full of annoyance.
Ranger went further into explaining. "Whenever you enter Trenton, your old lives became null and void. It no longer exists." Tears sprung to Ashley's eyes along with Linda's and Cassidy's.
"They'll be worried about us." Linda said. Ranger shook his head.
"No, they won't even remember. It will be like they never met you. Let me explain. When Janet's books first starting coming out, Trenton got thousands of visitors. To the point where we couldn't live our lives without constant interruptions. So a spell was cast so that tourists would stay away. However whenever a fan of Janet's does enter over Trenton they automatically become one of us. You will be physically unable to leave Trenton. You can try, but you won't get far."
"So what is this claiming shit." Ranger grinned at Linda's question.
"A lot of men that live here decided to stake claim on the tourists and then marry. But because a lot of them were Morelli fans they never got to meet us. Morelli even married one of the tourists himself."
"He did?" Ranger nodded. Ashley looked at Ram and bit her lip. He was a big man but he looked super sweet. Ashley then turned to Linda and Cassidy. Lester spoke up.
"So did your dream come true just became your worst nightmare?" It was question that had all the men around them waiting for an answer.
Author's Note: So should I make it longer and see how the 3 girls do in a whole new world...? Let me know!