Here's the first chapter ladies!...and gents? Have fun with it and don't forget to review!! Again, thanks for the kind words on this fic.
CHAPTER ONE
TWO MONTHS LATER….
"BOOM!" Stephanie sighed as she watched her POS car go up in flames. She sat on the side of the road, grumbling about her misfortune. It seemed to her lately that everything went wrong. This was the third car she lost to her skip in the past two months. She and Joe had broken up, again, and she didn't think anything short of a catastrophe would get them back together. Her mom was crying "Why me?" and secretly attending AA groups that Frank had enrolled her in. Grandma Mazur thought that a hoot and the whole town eventually knew of the "secret get-togethers."
The sound of sirens broke her thoughts and she groaned at what was coming. Joe Morelli. The bane of her existence. He was the first person to usually show up when her car, or her, went up into flames. Stephanie didn't want to deal with him right now, but she knew she wasn't that lucky.
Before Joe could reach her, a black Bronco pulled up. She gave a mental dance of joy and prayed that whoever it was would get her out of there before Joe reached her. The engine cut off and Lester jumped out of the driver's seat and went to head off Joe while Bobby hunched down in front of her, checking for injuries. He prodded a tender area on her arm and she let out a low hiss before she snatched her arm away from him and cradled it to her chest.
"What the hell you tryin' to do Bobby? Put me in a hospital?" His eyes darkened and he suddenly stood up. She stared at him in confusion and her eyes widened when she saw what he intended to do. She let out a shrill shriek and began pleading with him not to have her taken to the hospital. He ignored her and picked her up, carrying her to the waiting ambulance where Jamie-yes, they were good friends based on past encounters-was waiting for her.
"Heya Steph! Long time no see. Thought you'd be back within a few days, not a week. Must be a record for you." Stephanie gave another hiss from her current place in Bobby's arms and snarled when she was dumped on the stretcher. Crossing her arms, she waited for Bobby to say something.
"Well, what are you planning to do? Force me to go to the hospital? You can't do-" Her words were cut off when Bobby jumped into the ambulance and glanced at Jamie who was closing the doors. When they clicked shut, Stephanie managed to find her voice and began sputtering about having a choice in the matter. Bobby raised his eyebrow at her and she glared back, finally shutting up. They reached the hospital and the doors opened. Bobby got out before Steph and held out his hand so he could help her down. She refused it, pushing it aside, before jumping down herself. She glared at Jamie, who had just joined the group, and stalked inside to the receptionist. She had patients looking away and nurses stopping in mid-step with the dark looks she was giving everyone. The receptionist handed Stephanie her form to be filled out and told her to go to her room-it literally had Stephanie's name on it-and wait for her doctor.
X-rays were conducted and Stephanie was fitted for a cast. Apparently an exploding car equaled bones breaking where Stephanie Plum was concerned. Luckily, for her, it was only one bone and the cast would be gone in six to eight weeks. This earned the doctor some…words.
"What the hell do you mean that I can't chase skips while in a cast?! How in the fuck am I supposed to earn a living? How about this, we'll trade places for the six to eight weeks I'm out of commission and you can chase my skips down for me while I sit around and issue orders. Well?" The doctor glared at Stephanie and stalked out the door, on his way to clock out and hit a bar. He needed to get drunk. Bad. Stephanie always had that effect on him. Poor doctor.
Stephanie had just gotten off the examination table when the doors opened and her mom stalked in. Great, just what I needed to round out a perfect day.
"Yes mother?" Hellen glared and stuck her hands on her hips, mouth pinched together in a tight white line.
"How could you Stephanie? Why are you still doing this job? I mean look at you! This is the third car you've blown up in two, two, months! You're in the hospital, again, and you aren't even dating Joseph anymore. Why me?!" Stephanie sighed and looked behind her mom and gave a slight smile when she saw Lester and Bobby leaning against the doorjamb.
"Come on in boys. I'm going to assume that you're my ride back to my apartment. Am I right?" Lester smiled and Bobby gave a slight smirk.
"Uh Stephanie. What about me?! I'm your mother! I am perfectly capable of taking you home myself. Why-" She was cut off by the ringing of a cell phone. Everyone checked their phones to see if it was theirs. Fortunately for Steph, it was her mother's phone. Turns out Valerie was stuck on the side of a road with a flat and needed someone to pick her up. Hellen, being who she is, told Valerie to 'hold on for a minute' and left the room without saying good-bye to Stephanie, who in turn sighed and flopped back onto the bed. Bobby grinned and came to stand above her.
"Come on Bombshell. We're busting ya out of here. There's something we need to talk about anyways." They piled into the bronco idling on the curb and pulled out. Stephanie didn't notice anything unusual until she noticed they weren't going to her apartment.
"Uh guys…my apartment's thataway." Lester looked into the rear view mirror at her and grinned.
"We know Bomber, but Tank wants to see you. You see, we kinda called him and told him about your latest adventure. He wants to talk to you." Great. Just what I wanted. Another Merry Man on my trail.
"Do you guys know what he wants to talk to me about?" Bobby grinned evilly and cackled.
"Nuh uh Bomber. You ain't getting that out of us. Tank wants to tell you himself." Stephanie groaned and banged her head against the side of the car. The day just couldn't get much worse. Not.
