A/N: To all of you who've sent messages to ask about "Divine Madness" – I haven't abandoned it, I WILL finish it! I apologize for making you wait. I didn't intend to be away from it so long! And as always, thanks to everyone who takes the time to leave a review. They keep me going.
Disclaimer: Characters from the books are property of JE and borrowed without permission. Original characters and the story are mine. I'd trade if she let me keep Ranger…
-oOo-oOo-oOo-
Chapter 2
Stephanie made her way to the seventh floor apartment, smiling to herself as she let herself in. A lot had changed in the past two months. Ranger had revealed one of his most closely-kept secrets to her, proving beyond all shadow of doubt how much he trusted her. It had broken the last barriers between them and marked the beginning of their new relationship.
Relationship with a capital R, Steph thought. She'd never imagined she'd ever get any kind of commitment from Ranger, much less be persuaded to live with him, but here she was. The seventh floor apartment had become her official residence six weeks ago.
She made her way into the small office and turned on the computer there. It had been a while since she'd heard from Stravos and she wanted to make sure his contact information hadn't changed. The fastest way was to run a search on RangeMan's system.
While she waited she raided the refrigerator, finding red grapes to snack on and fixing herself a Coke over ice. By the time she went back to the office the information was ready.
His home address and phone number hadn't changed. He'd changed jobs a couple of times in the past few years and now was working as a contractor, field unspecified. Steph frowned. He'd been an investment councilor, how could that be contracted out? Shaking her head she read on until she found a cell phone number listed. Nodding in satisfaction, she picked up the phone on the desk.
It rang five times before he finally picked up, and then he sounded so distracted that for a moment Stephanie thought she'd gotten his voicemail. Then he repeated "Hello? Hello?" and she knew it was him.
"Stravos," she began in a very bad melodramatic gypsy voice, "this is a voice from you past…"
There was a moment of silence, then Stravos laughed. "Stephanie Plum, I can't believe it! How are you – I haven't heard from you in ages. Your accent still sucks, by the way."
"Well, I'm out of practice. Besides, you still recognized me! I'm doing really good, how about you? What are you doing now?"
"I'm doing some work for one of my uncles right now… How did you get my cell number? There's no listing, and it isn't on my home machine."
Steph decided to just lay it out. Stravos had never appreciated subtlety, anyway. He liked the direct approach. "I'm working for a security company in Trenton now, and I ran a low-level security check to see if the phone number and address I had for you were still current. Your cell number came up, too."
"Why do I get the feeling there's a reason for this call?" he said wryly. "I haven't heard from you since you married that Dick guy."
"Seriously, it's been that long? The Dick is ancient history now but you're right… Remember that favor you owe me?"
-oOo-
Ranger looked up from his computer when Steph slipped into his office and closed the door. She was fairly vibrating with excitement. He smiled as he pushed his chair back from the desk.
"I take it you located your friend?"
"Oh my god, Ranger, you aren't going to believe this!" She came to him and accepted his tacit invitation, practically crawling into his lap. "Not only did I talk to Stravos, he's working for his uncle Dimitri, the one who trains cats! They're in New York right now making arrangements to pick up a rare cat from someplace in Asia. I'm supposed to meet them for dinner tonight to talk about the favor. And get this! Stravos says Dimitri already has an invitation to the Halloween party at the Resort! He's on their standard VIP list but he usually doesn't attend."
"Babe, you've got the devil's own luck," he said, chuckling when Steph lightly punched his chest. "Where are you meeting them?"
"They're at the Hilton at LaGuardia. Their cat's in customs for a few more days." She paused long enough to drape her arms around his neck and brush a kiss across his lips, smiling when she felt his arms tighten around her. "Do you want to come with me to talk to them?"
One eyebrow went up. "I thought you'd want to handle it on your own."
Steph bit her lip as she thought for a moment. "I'd like to have you there. I'm going to need to tell them something about why we need their help, and I would appreciate you being there for that. Besides, I think you'll enjoy meeting them."
He nodded.
"Stravos said they'd prefer not to dress up for dinner, but we ought to leave here in time to get there at seven."
After a quick glance at his desk clock Ranger said, "That means we should leave in just under two hours."
Steph's eyes flicked down for a moment before she marshaled her courage to ask her next question. "Did you talk to Tank?"
"Not yet."
"He doesn't like this plan, does he?" she said it as more of a statement than a question. "He doesn't think it will work."
Ranger's fingers tilted her chin back up so she would meet his eyes. "It's not the plan that's bothering him, Steph. He knows about Abuela's gift but because of the circumstances under which I had to tell him, he's not comfortable with me in my altered form."
"Do you think that's it? But he wouldn't have to be close to you…"
Ranger cut her off, putting one fingertip over her lips. "The fact that you know -- and don't have a problem with it -- may be bothering him, too. I won't know until I talk to him."
"Okay." Steph dropped the subject but hoped Tank and Ranger could clear the air between them. They needed Tank for this to work.
Ranger consulted his watch. "Why don't you go start getting ready and decide what to tell Stravos and Dimitri. I'll be up soon."
He watched her slip back out, her exit considerably more sedate than her entry. Then he sighed and got up to find Tank. They needed to talk.
-oOo-
Tank wasn't in his office or in the gym. The men on monitors knew he'd gone downstairs, but not where. Ranger finally found him in the gun range systematically working through a series of targets, five clips for his gun laid out on the shelf in front of him. Three were empty. Two were still full.
Ranger put on ear protectors and sat down in a chair just inside the door, settling in to watch. He didn't interrupt when Tank paused to change clips, or when he put up new targets. He waited patiently until Tank finished shooting, and then cleaned and reloaded his gun. When Tank finally met his eyes he stood up and led the way into the small room off the range where there was a work table and a few chairs.
Only twice before in their long-standing friendship had Ranger been in the situation of having to talk out a disagreement. On the previous two occasions Ranger had simply waited until Tank finally started talking. Today he didn't have the luxury of time. He didn't want to push but he could get the ball rolling.
"You don't care for the plan," he stated quietly, and waited.
Tank twitched in his chair but it didn't take long. "When did you tell her?"
"Two months ago, on the night of that last break-in at her apartment."
"She see you change yet?"
"Yes." There was something in Tank's voice, something that sounded almost defensive. It made Ranger think about the first and only time Tank had actually seen him change. It had been when they were in the Rangers, on some FUBAR mission in a jungle hell-hole, cut off from the rest of their team. Tank had been shot in the leg and barely able to walk, and the enemy was closing in on all sides. There hadn't been time to explain; Ranger had handed Tank his guns, told him 'don't shoot the leopard', stripped off his boots and pants and shifted forms on the run. He'd circled, getting the drop on each man hunting them, killing them one by one. The last one had been taking aim at Tank when he'd leaped on him from a tree.
Not exactly the best first impression, he realized now. Christ, no wonder Tank wasn't comfortable with his cat form!
Maybe he could straighten this out after all.
He cleared his throat and looked steadily at Tank. "I changed in the apartment about fifteen minutes after I told Steph about Abuela's Gift. I had to – I'd waited almost too long."
"Which cat?"
"The black leopard."
"She didn't freak out?"
"No." There was still a trace of bemusement in his voice at that fact, too. "She was almost weirdly accepting of it. But then, I didn't shred anyone in front of her either."
Tank made a barely-perceptible flinch at the memory. "What did you do? Just change back?"
"I sat down in front of her and let her scratch my ears," Ranger admitted, hoping Tank couldn't tell how sappy he felt saying that. "Then she got dinner out and we ate, she watched some TV…and then we sort of got into a game of keep-away with the remote."
"Stephanie played keep-away with that big-ass leopard?" Tank asked, incredulous. "She wasn't scared of it? You?"
"She pulled me off the sofa by the scruff of my neck," Ranger admitted, an unconscious smile curving his lips. "When I tripped her and laid on her back to pin her to the floor she was laughing her ass off."
Tank was silent, probably trying to imagine that.
Ranger sat forward. "I can't change what happened that first time, Tank, and I wouldn't if I could. If I'd been one second slower we'd both be dead. I do regret not telling you the truth earlier - and I'm forever grateful that you didn't shoot the leopard – but I can't go back and do it over. If you're willing to try, I'd like to show you what it can be like when things are calm. I'll probably have to practice changing, depending on what cat I need to be for the distraction. You're welcome to come with us."
After a long thoughtful silence, Tank said quietly, "I'd like to try."
-oOo-oOo-oOo-
An hour later he walked into the apartment looking for Steph, wondering how she'd be dressed to meet her friends for dinner. He was a little surprised to find her wearing a pair of faded jeans that hugged her butt lovingly and a black RangeMan polo shirt. Casual was fine with him. He changed into black jeans and pulled on a clean black t-shirt with the RangeMan logo on the breast pocket.
Hector met them in the garage with the car.
Steph stopped short two steps out of the elevator when she caught sight of the vehicle. "We're going in a limo?"
"It's a long drive," he defended. "We'll be more comfortable, and Hector knows New York like the back of his hand." The car was small as limos went, with little in the way of a trunk, but the two rear seats were of equal size and faced each other and it handled like a dream even in traffic. The electric gull-wing back doors just made it easier to get in and out, honestly.
Stephanie rolled her eyes and got in, smiling at Hector when he winked at her.
The tinted privacy glass was up, and as soon as they were moving she asked about Tank. "Did you talk to him? Is he okay?"
"I think he will be," Ranger said. Taking her hand and idly playing with her fingers, he told her about having to change in front of Tank, and why. She listened intently to the details of their talk, and smiled when he told her about inviting Tank to be with them the next time he changed.
"I'm sure it will help," she reassured him, turning her hand to mesh her fingers with his. "Especially if we go somewhere there's enough room to play, like you did with me."
"Speaking of play…" Ranger shot her a sidelong glance and one side of his mouth quirked up. He lifted their joined hands to his lips and nipped at her fingers, then kissed her and tried to pull her into his lap.
Stephanie held him off with both hands braced against his chest, laughing. "No! You can't mess up my hair, all I brought with me is my cell and my ID. Down, boy!"
He grumbled something under his breath and subsided with a sigh, slouching slightly and propping one leg on the facing seat. Steph had the audacity to laugh at him but a moment later her hand patted his thigh.
"I'll make it up to you on the way home," she whispered.
Ranger caught her hand and held it. "Promises, promises."
-oOo-oOo-oOo-
TBC…
A/N2: Help! I need someone who knows British slang and who won't mind answering silly questions. PM or E-mail me if you're willing to help. Thanks!