Disclaimer: The characters from the Stephanie Plum series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.

Challenge: The Toby Keith challenge – using the phrase, "Yeah, I'm real good uner pressure" from the song "American Soldier". It also uses three quotes from John Wayne (I stumbled upon them before I began writing this). Two are clearly identified and the third is identified by the {1} after it.

Note: My muse is being weird again. This is more of an outline than a story, and in a post-apocalyptic type of setting which I don't usually care for, but there you go. It's what wanted to be written so it was. I will most likely never flesh this out. I just don't have the time.

Overcoming

By TT

March 11 – Plum house, Chambersburg, NJ

Stepping out of the kitchen, Stephanie laughed softly, smiled and called over her shoulder, "I'll see you Sunday, Mom."

She'd taken only a few steps toward the living room when she heard her Grandma Mazur utter the words, "Oh, my dear Lord."

The tone of the older woman's voice made the hair on the back of Stephanie's neck stand on end. The words uttered were filled with awe, horror and fear. Only once before had she heard that tone of voice. It had been on September 11, 2001.

A sick feeling twisted low in her guts as she determinedly moved into the living room, not knowing what to expect, not wanting her world to turn upside down, but never wavering in the knowledge that she had to learn everything she could.

When she stepped into the room, she took one look at the television and immediately dropped the bag she held in her hands. "Dear God," she whispered, taking in every sight, every sound and every comment of the newscaster as it spilled forth from the speakers.

When the signal ceased transmitting, she snapped into action and started barking orders to her family even as she headed toward the door. There were things to do.

June 23 – Headed toward Trenton

Ranger kept walking, pushing, driving himself forward, doing his best to ignore the devastation around him, not speaking to the men who followed him. There was nothing to say.

He had been out of the country when the first attacks happened, deep in the jungle gathering recon. A job he wouldn't have accepted before he met Stephanie Plum, simply because he considered it a waste of his skills. As he grew closer to her, however, the danger lost its attraction, thus his willingness to take on more recon jobs.

There were still elements of danger in these jobs and more than once he'd been grateful for his less socially acceptable skills since those alone had saved his life. But the recon jobs used his other skills, had helped him hone them. He just prayed those non-lethal skills would help him track down his Babe because he refused to believe what common sense told him – there was no way she could have survived the attack.

Because his mission kept him out of touch, he suspected nothing until his ride failed to show up at the rendezvous point. He moved to the secondary extraction point and waited. Again, his ride failed to appear.

At this point, he took a chance to try and raise someone. He failed.

His trek through the jungle took almost a week before he reached a small village where he could commandeer a vehicle, or, perhaps just by it off its owner.

When he finally found the man who owned the lone truck in the village, he explained what he needed and where he wanted to go. The man just looked at Ranger as if he were insane before explaining exactly why Ranger could not go to the city and would not be flying anywhere.

That was the first he heard of the attacks – three weeks after they happened.

With much luck and more than a little bribery, luck and threats, he and his team had managed to make their way to the coast where they found a man willing to get them at least part way home.

As they traveled, they gathered more information. What they learned proved almost impossible to believe until they passed within sight of what had been a costal city. The devastation stood as silent testimony that, as fantastic as it seemed, the rumors were true. An alien race had arrived and began destroying cities in an attack that mirrored the movie "Independence Day", at least in part.

It took he and his men two months to arrive in a tiny, overlooked hamlet on the Texas coast – one of the few places to survive the attacks thanks to its insignificant size.

Transportation through the middle of the country still survived and Omaha proved to be the temporary national capital with the government running out of Offutt Air Force Base. Ranger agreed with that decision. Having been there only twice, he knew it to be defensable and fairly centrally located.

He had gotten as close to Trenton as he could. When they were told it was the end of the line, he had been surprised to see that most of his team stayed with him. As soon as they hit American soil, he told them they should go check on their families. Of the six other men on the team, only two left. Being honest with himself, he was unsurprised Bobby Brown remained with him. The other man had set up a comfortable life in Trenton. Brown's family would be safe enough since they were based out of St. Louis, but, in the face of these events, Ranger still felt some surprise that Bobby's presence.

He didn't know the other three that well. He knew that Temper – Liam Schultz – had family in Boston, yet the man stuck with Ranger despite the fact he was headed toward Trenton.

He couldn't, remember where Sweetie and Ajax came from. Half the time he couldn't even remember their real names and it didn't really matter. They were under his command, but no one would ever hear of it, no one would ever know.

Still, they followed after him as he trudged through the destruction and devastation, through the rubble and the ruin toward the only place he could remember feeling alive, toward the one woman who, he finally admitted, owned him heart and soul, toward Stephanie Plum.

Unfortunately, from his perspective, the unlikely emotion of compassion had, more than once, moved he and his men to delay their journey and help others. Though they could do little to truly improve a situation, assisting in moving some rubble or killing and dressing a deer for a family took little enough time and effort.

Now he stood on the outskirts of the city that had been his home. He had no idea what to expect, where to head, where to start his search for Stephanie. So he headed, as he always had, toward her apartment.

He smirked slightly to himself as he wondered if her hideous brown and orange bathroom had survived the attack. It had survived all the others.

Moving into the city, he found himself surprised to find several roads nearly clear. Obviously some heavy machinery would be needed, but a swath of clear, though broken, pavement stretched down the middle of the road. The five-foot wide path would not allow a car down it, but it certainly made walking much easier and, perhaps a dirt bike or bicycle could handle the rough road.

He paused at an intersection and looked around, trying to judge where he currently stood versus where he thought he should be. Taking in his surroundings, he eventually determined they were closer to Rangeman then Stephanie's apartment and turned right to head toward the building which housed his business.

Ranger spared a thought or two for the other branches of his business – Boston, Atlanta and Miami. All of those cities faced the same issues as Trenton. In essence, the company that had been his dream, now stood in ashes. Oddly, that didn't matter to him nearly as much as finding Stephanie alive and well.

As he approached the location for his building, Ranger noticed the road became more clear, some buildings were open and there were people moving about on foot with purpose, looking determined.

Eventually, he reached his building and stopped to take it in.

The top four floors were missing, but the rest of it stood. The windows were no longer the one-way, reflective glass they had been, but instead seemed to be clear plastic.

What surprised him the most, however, were the people entering and leaving the building. Old, young and in between seemed to be lined up outside the doors to the lobby, waiting patiently to go inside. Above the doors to the building a banner hung displaying a quote from John Wayne: Courage is being scared to death… and saddling up anyway.

Making his way around the building, he found the entrance to the garage just as Big Dog and Cal walked out.

"Ranger?" Big Dog greeted in surprise.

"Big Dog," Ranger returned with a nod. "Cal."

The surprise cleared from Big Dog's face and a small smile appeared. "You should go in and up to the third floor," he said, his smile suddenly looking sly. "Take the stairs. We still don't have electricity for the elevator."

With that said, the two men headed off down the street. Entering the building, unsure of what else he would find in this odd version of Trenton, he and the men made their way to the stairwell and up to the third floor.

Stepping onto the floor, Ranger catalogued the changes. Most of he internal walls were gone, the scars of battle evident on those that remained.

The only divided room left was the conference room in the corner, it's glass walls miraculously intact.

He could see a number of men gathered in there, some he knew, some he didn't. The Chief of Police stood with his back to the wall, talking to someone sitting in the desk. The other people he identified included Sam Walters from the fire department and Henry Russell, one of the administrators from St. Francis.

"Rangeman?" Tank's voice asked, dripping with incredulity.

Turning to see his long-time friend, Ranger offered the smallest of smiles and nodded. Ranger felt stunned a moment later when the big man reached out and hugged him tightly.

"Thank God," Tank murmured.

Ranger briefly returned the hug and stepped away from his friend. "What's going on Tank?" he asked, rather than commanded. He needed to gather intel before taking command of things.

Tank just shook his head a mysterious smile appearing on his face. "Follow me," he commanded, turning and heading toward the conference room.

They had taken three steps before the door to the conference room opened and a slight figure appeared in the doorway. Ranger immediately identified the form as Stephanie.

His eyes were fixed on her, drinking in the sight of her standing, healthy and whole. He didn't even register it when she raced forward. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her as she launched herself at him from a few steps away. He didn't give a conscious thought to capturing her lips with his own.

The kiss finished too soon and lasted forever, communicated desperate passion and abiding love. It was the most contradictory kiss he had ever experienced, but said more than either of them could ever express.

Eventually, the kiss stopped and Stephanie leaned back, unwilling to step away. Her eyes sparkled with love, lust and joy. "I've missed you," she said, her voice rough with emotion.

"I love you," Ranger responded softly so only she could hear. Pulling back to see her eyes, he could see that he wasn't the only one shocked by his comment. Yet he could not deny the truth of it.

Stephanie stood on her tiptoes, kissed his lips briefly and whispered, "I love you, too."

"O. K. Break it up," Sam Walters said, a broad smile on his face and evident in his voice.

Stephanie blushed and moved to stand beside Ranger instead of in front of him despite the fact her eyes never broke with hers. "A lot's changed since you went away," she stated, drawing him toward the conference room.

A throat clearing startled her and she looked around, noticing all eyes on the floor glued to her. Glancing over at Tank, she asked, "Tank, would you see to these men? They look like they could use some rest before we brief them on the situation." Then, turning to the three men who had been in the conference room with her she continued, "Would you gentlemen come with me. We should be able to finish quickly so that I can update Ranger with what's been going on."

Ranger felt a bemused smile betray his emotions as he watched Stephanie ordering everyone around with an authority he hadn't seen before, but of which he always suspected her to be capable.

He followed along to the conference room. When he stepped inside, he realized it had been turned into an office. Unwilling to be too far from his Babe, he settled in the seat behind the table and drew Stephanie down into his lap. He smiled a little more when he saw her blush at his actions, but simply wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.

Stephanie cleared her throat. "I've finally heard back from my friend in Cleveland. They're willing to supply what they can for the hospital. She's going to contact other hospitals in the area and see what can be arranged. It may be a few days, though. Will you be OK for a while?" she asked Russell.

The administrator thought for a few minutes. "We're doing what we can with what we have," he admitted. "Sooner would be better, but we'll take what we can get. Thanks for doing this, Stephanie. I know how hard it is and how much I was pushing."

Stephanie waved off his thanks. "Yeah, I work well under pressure," she deflected, blushing slightly. "If there's nothing else?" When all three men shook their heads, she continued, "Great. We'll meet again briefly tonight for updates."

The three men agreed and left the room.

Stephanie waited for them to go before turning sideways in Ranger's lap, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm so glad you're home," she whispered, her voice betraying the tears she was holding back.

"Shh," Ranger whispered. "I'm here and I won't leave again."

"Promise?" she demanded.

"Promise."

Taking a deep breath, she stood and took his hand.

Rising from the chair, Ranger sent her a questioning look.

Stephanie shrugged. "I have a lot to tell you and I don't want the guys to see me getting all emotional. I'll just let Tank know where we're going and have him get me if needed."

Ranger held off on the questions brimming in his mind and simply nodded, allowing Stephanie to lead him.

He felt a small amount of surprise as she grabbed an oil lamp, lighted it and led him down to the sub-basement. He felt even more surprise as he realized the sub-basement had been sectioned off into small rooms. Stephanie stopped in front of one of the doors, unlocked it and pushed it open.

Stepping inside, he scanned the room, recognizing the hodge-podge of furniture from various places around Rangeman. She eventually led him over to a sofa he recognized from the waiting area, sat and pulled him down next to her.

He gave her a minute to gather her thoughts. When she seemed reluctant to start, he asked, "What happened with the attacks?"

Stephanie took a deep breath and moved a little closer to Ranger. "I saw the broadcast of the first attack on New York. I was at home. I made my parents and Grandma pack a small bag and head out of town as quickly as possible. Grandma has a distant cousin in Tennessee just outside of Nashville. I told them to head there." A sad look flooded her eyes as she admitted, "I don't even know if they made it. But I hope they did."

Taking a shuddering breath, Stephanie shook those thoughts away and continued. "I called Val and told her to do the same. Then headed down to the police station. The chief had things under control there, more or less and everyone on the force began going out either to evacuate people or to direct traffic so they could get out of town.

"While I was there, seeing if I could help, Tank showed up ready to offer Rangeman assistance. He disappeared with the chief for a while and I kept looking for something to do. Eventually, Robin drafted me to work on the phones, calming people, talking to them…

"We got word from New York, Philadelphia and Washington while we were trying to empty the city. Those things were landing and sending ground troops. Obviously people fought them, but met with limited success. The attack began on Trenton five hours after New York. Most of the buildings were destroyed in that first assault, but we'd been successful in getting the majority of citizens out of the city. Tank, it turns out, had been going over safe locations with the chief, finding spots deep underground that might survive the assault. Everyone who couldn't make it out of the city was instructed to go to one of those locations, the police, fire and emergency workers who stayed were told to begin gathering as much food, water and other supplies as they could and move them to some of those locations.

"Stores got emptied. The streets were almost deserted, but there was more to do. We just didn't have enough hands to get everyone to safety and save everything. So we drafted the gangs."

"Wait, you got the gangs to help you?" Ranger asked, surprised.

Stephanie offered a wry smile and nodded. "Apparently, under the right circumstances, they're very civic minded," she observed.

"And when you've got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow {1}," Tank's deep voice offered from the doorway.

"Ta-ank," Stephanie whined.

"You know it's true," Tank continued, entering Stephanie's apartment and settling in the lone arm chair. He smiled when Stephanie merely huffed in frustration. "And you're not telling the whole story."

"I'm telling what needs to be told," she defended.

Tank shook his head. "You're telling what you want him to know," he opposed. "It's already done and over with. He's going to hear about it one way or another."

Stephanie crossed her arms and glared at Tank. "Fine," she groused. "You tell it, then."

Ranger smiled at the pout on Stephanie's face before reaching over and moving her to his lap. Wrapping his arms around his woman, he looked at Tank and commanded, "Speak."

The three of them spent the next few hours going over the details of the assault, the fight with the aliens and how, finally, they received word on how to destroy the ships. They managed to get rid of the ship that attacked Trenton before it moved on, but the alien ground troops proved far more difficult to destroy, resulting in several weeks of fighting before victory could be declared."

While they revealed the story, Ranger also discovered how Stephanie came to be looked upon as the defacto leader of the human cause. It wasn't her strategic prowess, organizational skills or anything else that had promoted her, the skill that helped her rise was her knowledge of people. She was a central connection among the various groups of people and someone they all trusted enough to put in charge.

When Tank praised her leadership skills, Stephanie rolled her eyes and denied doing anything. She passed it all off as simple delegation, of responsibility.

Eventually, the discussion wound down as they explained the Rangeman building now served as the central government agency. People came here to get work assignments. Stephanie had rallied her 'troops' together and they had one common goal - to take back Trenton and make it theirs once more. It would be the final victory over the enemy, a sign that they could endure and overcome.

To say he was impressed would be a major understatement. Ranger felt so much pride in the little Burg girl who hated her gun, lost her cuffs and stole his heart, that he couldn't stop the words if he tried. Looking down into her blue eyes, he allowed himself to get lost for a few minutes before kissing her deeply and stating, "Proud of you, Babe."

Tank left shortly after that. Despite his desire to become physically reacquainted with Stephanie, Ranger knew she was no longer the woman he had left behind when he departed for his mission.

For her part, Stephanie seemed to be happy to just sit in his lap, leaning her head against his shoulder and being held. After several minutes, her soft voice broke the silence. "I'm so happy you're back," she said. "I need you so much."

"I'm here now, Babe," he assured, running one hand up and down her back in a soothing motion. "I'm not going anywhere again," he assured. "I'll be right by your side."

Stephanie lifted her head and kissed him softly. "You're what kept me going," she admitted.

Ranger blinked in surprise.

She smiled at his expression. "When it started, before the destruction, I needed a part of you with me. So I went to your apartment. I meant to take one of your shirts, but I saw a book sitting next to your bed and took that instead. I could tell you read it a lot and even found some notes in it. I kept it with me, always," she admitted. "When things got tough, when I would question myself, I just kept asking 'What would Ranger do in this situation' and then acted how I thought you would."

Ranger felt his heart swell with love; something he had never before experienced. He squeezed her more tightly to him and placed a gentle but firm kiss to her temple. "I can't imagine what you went through," he whispered.

Stephanie settled her head on his shoulder once more and rubbed her cheek against him. "When things seemed their worst, I would recite one of the John Wayne quotes you wrote down in the book." Seeing his eyebrow raise in question, Stephanie recited, "Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday."

Ranger nodded his head. That quote had carried him through more than one dark night as well. Especially when he realized that his tomorrow might include even a glimpse of Stephanie Plum.

"I would recite that and wonder if tomorrow would be the day you would come home," Stephanie admitted.

"You never doubted I would come," he stated. For some it might be a question, but Ranger knew Stephanie well enough to know she would never question his appearance, just accept it as inevitable.

"I knew you would come," she agreed. A soft smile played on her lips as she cupped his face in her hand, "You're my Batman. You're always there to save me whether from psychos, aliens, despair or responsibility. You're always in my heart, my mind, my soul. Now you're in my arms and I'm not going to let you go. I know you have a lot to assimilate, a lot to learn, but I hope you'll be by my side as we continue to rebuild Trenton." Closing her eyes, she rested her forehead on his. "I'm so tired, Ranger. I don't know that I can continue on my own."

Ranger moved his head so he could kiss her lips once more. "You're not alone anymore, Babe. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere," he assured once more.

He had no idea what the future held. He had only a vague idea of the present issues and pressures, but he knew with certainty he would never voluntarily leave her, that he would help her carry this burden and give her all the love he had. For the first time in a very long time, he knew with certainty that here, in Stephanie's arms he had found home and home was worth fighting for.

End