JE created the wonderful characters below.

Fredda (Rangergirl1234) I can't thank you enough for your hard work as the beta on this story.

Amy (beancounter74) thank you for being the inspiration for Dr. Amy Walker. Hopefully she'll do you justice.

Chapter 9 - Sturdy

"Damn Bomber, when did you learn how to play poker?" Bobby asked after losing over twenty bucks to my wife.

She grinned an evil smile but didn't answer as she pulled her winnings from the middle of the bed and put them in her growing pile. "Do you want to play again or are you ready to call it a night?"

"I'm beat, plus I'm broke. I'm calling it a night," Bobby admitted. "You want me to give you two a minute and we can walk to the hotel together?"

My face dropped at the thought of my best friend walking with Stephanie anywhere without me. Then I looked at her face and I knew exactly what she was thinking.

"I think I'm going to hang out here for a little while longer," she told him, holding my eyes with hers.

I grabbed her hand, grateful that she wanted to be with me, but not wanting her to see me at my worst yet either. I was torn between wanting to sleep with her warm body pressed next to mine and wanting her as far away as possible to keep me from hurting her during the night.

Bobby must have picked up on my internal debate. "Bomber, the doctors here aren't going to let you sleep with him, and if you are in a chair then he won't rest because he'll be worried about you. Let's go back to the hotel, and I'll bring you back over first thing in the morning."

When he mentioned that her being here would keep me from sleeping, she seemed to cave a little. "Just give us a minute," I told him letting her move to curl up next to my chest.

"Later, man," Brown said heading out to wait in the hall.

"Don't make me go," she whispered, letting me know if I asked her to leave, she would.

"Beautiful, I can't stand the thought of hurting you," I said while moving my hands up and down her back.

Before she could argue that I wouldn't hurt her, the door opened and Marcus came in. Steph turned her head to see who had interrupted us and smiled at the large man in front of us. "You look like Ben," she said with a smile.

Marcus was shocked, clearly not expecting that as an opening line. I got the feeling most women tended to ignore him because of his size and quiet demeanor. "Cousins," he replied to answer her unasked question.

"I'm Stephanie," she said moving more to better face him. "Thank you for taking care of Les since he's been here."

"S'Alright," he replied while looking down, as though he were a pre-pubescent boy, standing in front of his first crush.

"My husband seems to think it's too dangerous for me to stay with him tonight, but I'm trying to convince him that it's okay," she said carefully watching his face.

Marcus' eye nearly bugged out of his head. "No ma'am. That's not a good idea."

"Because of the dreams?" She asked.

Marcus nodded. "He wouldn't mean to hurt you, and…" he paused and winced as though answering her were physically painful. "And the guilt over something like that does hard things to a man."

Steph looked at him and Marcus focused a smudge on the wall just over my head. Steph stood up, put her hand on Marcus arm, making him jump at the contact and said, "She would have understood."

Then she turned back to me and placed the sweetest kiss on my lips, "I'll be back first thing in the morning, and you aren't going to throw me out again." With that I wished her a goodnight and watched her sexy hips swing as she walked out the door.

We were both silent for a period of time before Marcus spoke, "That's one hell of a woman." He did a few checks and then walked to the door before turning around with a slight smile on his face and said, "Any chance she'll get tired of you?"

"Did you just make a joke?" I asked him, watching the hint of a smile blossom on his face.

"Good night Captain," he replied, refusing to answer my question.

When I finally went to sleep, it was to dreams of Stephanie. As I woke up it was to dreams of her as well but they were of a drastically different nature.

I drifted off to dreamland with erotic thoughts involving her, Victoria's Secret, and the hood of my car. When I awoke the image burned into my brain was of her covered in blood, on the ground in front of the VA hospital. She'd tried to walk over from the hotel and was gunned down by someone. I watched it happen, but in my wheelchair I couldn't get to her in time to stop it. I pulled myself out of my chair onto the cold hard asphalt beside her to cradle her limp form in my arms, screaming out at the injustice of her life being ended so suddenly and cruelly. As I cried out to God to save her, knowing it was a lost cost, her hand began to move. Even covered in blood it soothed me as she ran it through my hair and across my cheek.

"It's alright Les, I'm here and I'm okay. I'm not going anywhere," she continued to chant her reassurances to me until I started to slip off to sleep once more, clinging to her, refusing to let my dreams take her from me.

The next time I awoke, it was slowly to the sound of hushed voices. I could feel someone in my arms and I didn't need to open my eyes to know Stephanie was in my bed with me. How she got there in my arms I wasn't sure. I wasn't complaining because the feel of her body molded into mine was perfect.

I listened and could hear Bobby and Dr. Walker talking. He was sharing a story from one of our missions where we had gotten split off from the rest of the group is some Central American jungle. It was hot as hell, buggy, and wet. Both of us were tired and we each had an injury, but we were together and knowing our unique skills weighted the deck in our favor of getting out. He jumped into the story, including the part where we stumbled into a shit hole of a town and into a bar at sun-down. We had no money, no communication devices, and no supplies, but there was a woman at the bar. She wasn't beautiful, but she wasn't without some merits either. Bobby explained that I walked up to her and in my exhausted state my internal editor wasn't working, so I blurted out in slightly blurred Spanish, "We are broke, injured, and starving. If you will give us food and something to drink we will offer you the only thing we have to give." The girl looked at me clearly intrigued by the offer and asked what that was. "Our bodies," I explained.

She went into the kitchen and came out with water, plates of food, and bottles of beer. We jumped on the nourishment and then took her up on the offer of her bathroom to clean up and tend to our wounds. After we were feeling human once again, I turned to thank her, but her expression changed as she reminded me that she expected payment for her hospitality. By now my vision was clear enough to see this was defiantly not the world's prettiest woman, but I was grateful to her, so I manned up and asked if she had a room she wanted to use. Her face changed and she looked to Bobby. I remember feeling both relieved and insulted that she seemed to be interested in him instead of me.

I looked at Brown who was turning green at the idea of having to pay for the food and drink with sex, but he walked over to stand beside me and looked at her silently. Then she grinned and said, "Ahora dos veses."

Bobby's Spanish was still a little rusty, but I understood her perfectly. She had instructed the two of us to kiss each other. I looked at Brown and told him what she wanted and he actually seemed to relax. I knew he wasn't gay, so I raised an eyebrow to ask why he seemed so relieved to be kissing me instead of her. "You I know are clean and not going to tell a soul. Her, I'm not so sure about."

Dr. Walker laughed a soft, sweet sound and asked, "So did you?"

"Kiss him?" Brown asked to clarify.

"Yes. Did you two get it on to repay her for her kindness?" She pushed for the details.

"Yea, I kissed him. When I pulled back and looked at her she had tears in her eyes and took a few shaky steps away from us. Apparently, her husband left her for another man in the village and she always wondered what the attraction was, and after seeing the two of us together she was even more confused. I guess we didn't make the best looking couple after all," Bobby told her honestly.

At that confession Dr. Walker actually howled. I realized then that while she had laughed at some of the things I'd said during our conversations, that I'd never heard her really crack up. She seemed to be enjoying herself with my buddy, so I continued to hold Stephanie in my own little heaven, listening to my friend happily chat up the doctor.

When they quit laughing Bobby's voice got more serious and asked, "How's my man doing?"

"He's getting better day by day. Jack is pleased with his PT progress, and I believe I could get him discharged in another day or two if you have the facilities to handle his rehab. They are going to switch out his cast today for a different one that he can walk with. The exterior stabilization screws are coming out, and then he can start working on getting some mobility back." After a brief pause she added, "The injuries he had should have been fatal. I figured if he fought through the hell of the pain and the odds so heavily stacked against him that whatever was pulling him to stay alive must have been one hell of an incentive. Seeing those two together tells me everything I need to know." She said softly.

Bobby agreed with her before saying, "I knew he loved her. I knew it about six months ago when we worked a distraction with Bomber."

Dr. Walker interrupted to ask what a distraction was. Bobby explained, "It's when we need to round up a dangerous skip who has been spotted in a public place. We can't just go in there guns at the ready to pull him out because of the risk to civilians is too great. So Steph goes in dressed to kill, 'distracts' the guy enough to get him to follow her out, and then we nab them in the parking lot."

"That makes sense. It seems like a clean way to do it," Dr. Walker commented.

"Usually it is, but that night the skip had seemed to be cooperating and had agreed to take her out to the parking lot. Just before they exited, we heard Steph whimper through the wire along with the unmistakable sound of somebody being punched. Lester practically took the door of the hinges to get inside and find out what was happening. When we rounded the corner the skip had pushed her into a secluded corner and had his fist reared back to hit her again. Les grabbed his arm and began to show him what he thought of the way he'd been treating our girl. It took three of us to pull Les off the skip, and he was in such bad shape that I had to patch him up before we could haul his sorry ass to the station."

"After Steph left to go home, Les and I walked up to the bar and I could feel the tension still coming off of him. Usually when he was wound up tight he would find some girl and hook up for the night to get rid of some of the aggression in a more appropriate way. We each had a couple of beers and the women seemed to be drawn to his pissed off attitude. I don't think I'd ever seen so many people throw themselves at the guy." I remembered that night perfectly.

"Finally I got sick of watching him shoot them down and asked if was looking for something in particular. He looked me in the eye and said, 'I'm not looking at all. I know what I want, I just can't have it.' I knew then he was talking about Bomber. From that night on, I never saw him give another woman the time of day. It might not seem like that big a deal, but Santos had been systematically sleeping his way through the female population, and to shut it off so abruptly let me know something serious had happened." I didn't realize it had been so obvious, but thinking back on it now, I guess I should have known better. It would have been weird for me to suddenly quit chasing skirts.

"How long after that was it before these two got together?" Dr. Walker asked, still trying to piece together my puzzle.

"Don't know," Bobby admitted. "I didn't realize they were together officially until we got the notification paperwork from DC, alerting us the next of kin was his wife, Stephanie Plum Santos. About three months after the distraction, Steph went through a rough patch and Les was by her side. He called her, stopped by her place to check on her, and forced her to keep going. I think something happened in there somewhere and they started shifting from just friends to more, but when they jumped into marriage or a real relationship, I have no idea."

There was silence for a few minutes before Brown added, "Shame really. Seeing them together now is great, and I would have liked to have seen it happen."

"Why did they hide it?" She wondered, making me question the same thing. Why did we keep it secret?

"No clue. She had a complicated relationship with our boss, who is also Lester's cousin. But I don't think it ever turned into anything real. I think Les might have kept it quiet to protect her from any gossip from the guys at the office and to protect them both from the boss' temper if he found out and didn't like. The mission probably rushed things up a bit 'cause he thought he was out of time." Bobby speculated.

"He was out of time," Dr. Walked clarified. "I read his orders; only an idiot would have missed the sub-text which was this soldier wasn't to make it back alive. Do you know anybody that would think of Lester as a threat if he were no longer under the control of orders from a CO?"

Bobby let out a long breath. "We've all got our enemies, so there are plenty of people that would be relieved to think of Lester not making it back. But if you're asking about people within the government, I can't think of any. They weren't happy when he announced a few months back that he wasn't going to resign, but he'd always done what was asked of him, so there was no threat there that I know of."

After a minute to reconsider he added, "But Les was always known as a ladies man. It's possible he pissed off somebody somewhere and never knew about it. I mean, if somebody slept with my sister and left during the night I'd be pissed as hell about it."

"Do you have a sister?" Dr. Walker asked. I struggled to keep my blank face in place, realizing she was after personal information on my friend and not me.

"No," Bobby leveled with her. "I've got these two, that's family enough."

"So you never had a thing for Stephanie?" She pushed a little more.

"No," Bobby replied smoothly, letting me know it was the truth. "I mean, I love her. She's fantastic, and one hell of a great woman, but she isn't my kind of woman?"

"And what is your kind of woman?" Dr. Walker questioned.

The silence was almost deafening as I tried to be sure I heard his response. Finally, he started talking, the truth just pouring out of him, "Somebody that understands me and the balance I need to both bring healing to those who are hurt, and pain to those who deserve it. I need somebody that doesn't freak out over the idea of a gun being in every room of my home and on several different places of my body all the time. I need somebody that understands how to enjoy good food, but who also enjoys a good workout. They've got to be strong and tough but not afraid to be tender and soft when it's just us. I want somebody strong enough to protect themselves when it's necessary yet feminine enough to let me do it when I'm around. And finally…" there was a long pause and I tightened up, knowing what he was about to say and wishing he'd keep his big trap shut so he didn't scare away my shrink. "My kind of woman is just that – a woman. Someone that I can feel comfortable being around without worrying that I'm going to break her. I need her to be…well…sturdy."

Oh shit. He basically just said he wants his ideal woman to be an ox. Sturdy? Who the hell describes a woman as sturdy? I mean, I can see why he'd struggle to say he doesn't really like skinny women, but there so many better ways to put it than that.

I heard Dr. Walker clear her throat and repeat, "Sturdy?"

"I don't think that came out the way it should have," Bobby replied.

"I think it came out just fine. I don't ever remember getting such a thorough and obviously well thought out answer before to that question," she replied before repeating the word, "Sturdy," once more.

"I have thought about it. My life is a little unorthodox because I'm a medic and a soldier, and most women are only attracted to one side or the other, never both. I've had plenty of nights to dream up what it would be like to find someone who could handle both sides of personality without trying to rid me of one or the other," he offered as an explanation.

"You just need to find somebody who has been through the same thing," she replied directly.

Bobby let out a sound that was half laugh, half disbelief and asked, "Right. Any ideas where I could find someone like that?"

Before she could respond, I heard the door open once more and Ben announce that Dr. Walker had a phone call.

"Who is it?" She asked, not willing to be interrupted for just anybody.

"Herbert Stewart," Ben replied, making my eyes snap open at the name of my handler in DC being announced.

"Son of a bitch," she whispered. My eyes shot open needing to see what was going on. Bobby jumped up when Dr. Walker reacted that way, watching her carefully as though he needed a clue about what was going on that had upset her.

She took a couple of laps around the empty part of the room and then shook her head to clear it. "I'm sorry to leave so abruptly. I'll be back later but there is something I have to deal with regarding Mr. Stewart."

"Make sure you tell him I'm still breathing," I said in a gravely voice. I could feel a pure hatred for that man even though he was no where near me.

"Oh I intend to tell him a good many things about you Santos," Dr. Walker assured me before walking out.

When the door bounced closed Bobby looked at me and smiled, "That is one hell of a woman."

It was then that Stephanie decided to announce she was awake too by saying, "Yea, and she's - sturdy."

My friend has dark skin and a tough disposition, but that single phrase made his cheeks darken as he sat down hard in his chair once more. "I blew it with that, didn't I?"

Stephanie giggled. "I thought it was kind of cute, but in the future, no woman wants to be compared to draft horse."

"I was thinking more like an ox," I commented, making Stephanie laugh even more.

"Both of you can bite me," Bobby retorted in a huff. "I'm going to find your physical therapist and suggest some stretches that will hurt."

He stormed out of the room, but I could tell he wasn't as angry as he was pretending to be. That man liked my shrink, and the idea of it made me happy.

Having every one out of my room allowed me to turn my attention to the woman still in my arms. I pulled back a little and said, "I don't remember going to bed with a teddy bear."

She blushed slightly and took a slow deep breath as I appreciated the blush on her face. "I couldn't sleep at the hotel, so I snuck back over about two hours after I left and sat in the chair in the corner. But you started to dream, so I climbed in bed to calm you down. You were screaming my name, so I talked to you and you began to settle down, holding me really tightly to you. Once you went back to sleep you didn't relax your grip on me, so I stretched out and slept with you. I didn't wake up until I heard Bobby tell Amy about your slash experience."

I growled slightly at her description of the kiss Bobby and shared in that hole in the wall bar. "That's not a kiss I care to remember," I told her looking at her lips.

Her tongue came out slowly, methodically, and brushed over her lips before she spoke. "Are there ones that you want to remember?"

"Definitely," I told her thinking back to the one at our wedding and touching her face with my fingertips to assure myself that she was real.

Steph's hand moved up and rested on mine while holding my hand to her face. Slowly she moved in and placed her velvet lips against mine. My mouth opened, trying to draw her warmth into me. She tasted sweet and I wasn't sure if it was from something she'd eaten or if that was her natural flavor. As I suckled her tongue into my mouth, I began to seriously reconsider my stance that I didn't have much of a sweet tooth.

I could feel Stephanie pushing forward, so I relaxed and let her roll me onto my back. She was careful to keep any weight off my stomach, but her chest was pressed against my side and the dual hungers of wanting to continue exploring her mouth and wanting to draw on one of her perfect breasts instead was confusing me. As we kissed my mind was awash with images of the two of us making out in the bed of my condo after I proposed to her. I remembered her trying to climb on top of me to move it to more than just lip action and me telling her I wanted to wait just one more night so that our first time would be as husband and wife. Who would ever believe that Lester Santos turned down sex in order to wait until he was married?

I was so lost in the sensation of her mouth that Bobby was able to get the slip on us both and announce, "I came back to see if you needed any help getting up, but I see your wife's already taken care of that for you."

I pulled back only enough to talk in order to say, "Get the hell out of here Brown."

He had the audacity to reply with a laugh, "I would but Jack wants you downstairs in ten minutes, and I'm sitting in on your session so that I can continue the work back home. You're going to have to stop for a little while, man."

Stephanie found the whole thing amusing as I buried my face in her hair, drawing deep breaths trying to get my body under control. She offered me the motivation I needed to begin the day when she whispered, "You may as well get up. He's obviously not going to leave, and maybe after PT you'll feel a little more limber and I can show you the surprise I brought for you."

I pulled back and asked, "What surprise?" hoping for a mention of something that came in a pink bag from the mall.

She pulled herself up then bent back over the bed to tease my ear with the warmth of her breath as she spoke. "Grandma Mazur gave me a book, and I think there are some positions in there that will work in this bed even with the cast and tender abs."

She stood back up and turned to leave. "I'm going in search of doughnuts and will be back soon."

Bobby watched her leave and looked at me and narrowed his eye. "Brother, I don't even want to know what she said. You look like all the blood just drained from your face."

I looked at the majorly obvious tent in the bed between my legs and smiled. Yea, the blood definitely wasn't in my face.