Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: As much as I wish it was so, the Stephanie Plum series and the characters portrayed in the novels do not belong to me.

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Chapter Nine:

James, Allie, and Julie came walking back to the group of teens, security employees, and an English Professor. Each one wore an accomplished grin. Cayden mentally began reading a list of stunts that Allie and James had pulled as they grew up together.

"Where's your mom?" he asked.

"Stephanie's having a talk with my dad," Julie said. She turned to look at Tank. "As far as my dad is concerned, your lock pick set is at home and you can't find the key."

"What did you do?" Cayden asked darkly.

Allegra and Julie smiled innocently as James shifted uncomfortably. "We only gave them a quiet place to sort things out," Allegra explained. "Which may, or may not be a locked closet. Just accept our evil ways and move on."

Cayden's shoulder sagged and he looked at James. "How did they wrap up in this mess?"

"I can't say no to Allegra," James shrugged. "I've tried. Every time I do, I end up feeling really guilty. It's for a good cause. Can't you just over look this minor infraction just once?"

"It depends," Cayden said. He looked at Allegra. "How long do you plan on keeping them locked in a closet?"

"Well, we're hoping Ranger doesn't pick the lock with his god like powers in the B and E department," Allegra said placing a finger on her chin. "No more than an hour. Sooner if they agree to date and actually be in a relationship."

"Allegra, Ranger doesn't date. Stephanie told you this," Cayden stated throwing his hands up in the air.

"Well then, it's too fricken' bad, because casual sex just won't do," Allie defended. "It jerks mom's emotions around, and I won't stand for it." She crossed her arms stiffly.

"So you locked them in a closet!"

"It'll work, trust us," Julie smiled.

Cayden pointed to Allie. "I don't trust her, what makes you think that I would trust you and Allie together?"

Tank sighed. A nagging voice in the back of his head told him that it would be a bad idea if Allegra and Julie were left to their own devices. Another voice told him that they were two teenage girls looking out for their single attractive parents.

"One hour," he told them crossing his arms. "Then you give me the key."

"Okay," the girls smiled.

"You guys are devious," Lester said rocking back on his heels. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I like it."

Allegra focused on someone behind Bobby and Lester. She looked down at the polished gym floor and moved closer to James. James moved in front of her. His gaze hardened and Cayden turned to see what was going on. Mason, John, and Wendy looked around nervously.

Tank, Bobby, and Lester looked at the new group of teenage boys. From their Jerseys, it was obvious they were football players. At the head of the group stood a six foot tall teen with the same shaggy brown hair and brown eyes as James.

"Jay move," The head of the pack smirked. "You're blocking Allegra and it's very rude."

Allegra shifted slightly and moved even closer to James. Zook and Julie sensing the tension moved to either side of Allegra.

"John, please, leave us alone," Allegra stated peeking from behind James's shoulder.

"I just want to make today a little more interesting," John Masters spoke. "I propose a bet between our team leader and your team leader."

Allegra looked at him and shook her head furiously. "I'm not making a bet with you."

"Afraid you'll lose. I mean I have a team of football players, and your team has a ballet dancer, my cousin the violin repairman, the mathlete, the hacker, and these two new comers. Oh and I should forget you, the music prodigy."

"What do you want?" Allie asked stepping into full view. Her glare was hard and she stood straight. No one insulted her friends.

"Simple, my team wins against your, and you go on a date with me."

"No!" Zook, Julie, and James stated firmly.

"Okay," Allegra said brushing her friends' objections off. "And if my team wins, you, and your gang of miscreants leave me and my friends alone. I don't want you to put your hands on me. I don't want you to talk to me, hell I don't want you to look at me."

John's smirk grew. He held his hand out and Allegra raised an eyebrow. She ended up shaking hands with the football player.

James looked at John and glared at him as he pulled Allegra to a corner of the gym. The two friends started arguing quietly shaking their hands and their heads.

Cayden looked at John. "Lay a hand on my daughter again, and my brother, who works for the FBI, will find any reason to put you in jail."

"It's a fair bet Mr. McAllister. You saw your daughter agree to the terms," John smiled.

"My brother won't see it that way," The English Professor said. "Allie is infallible in his eyes and if you do anything to hurt his 'little pixie', he will hunt you down. You see these three men right here?" he gestured to the merry men. "They work with Allie's mother. Tell me, do you think you can take them on?"

John smiled and walked away. Julie curled her lip back in disgust. "What a dick!" she said. She looked at Tank. "Let me guess, dad's already assigned two of you to make sure he doesn't hurt Allie?"

Lester and Bobby nodded. "We'll be your daughter's best friends for a while," Bobby told Cayden. "Low profile. Think of it as having two former military guardian angels."

"Don't interfere with her studies and we won't have a problem," Cayden said heading to the bleachers as people started filing in.

All the while Ranger and Stephanie were in the closet. Both had taken a seat on the cold concrete floor. Stephanie out of feel and Ranger sat next to her to console her and her slight fear of enclosed spaces.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?" Ranger asked.

"She needed a larger cast of characters," Stephanie answered hugging her knees. "Before she started to open up in school, it was just James and her, so they went by Sherlock Holmes and James Watson."

"Allie was Sherlock?"

"Yeah. I prefer the Mad Hatter and Alice," Stephanie smiled. Somehow the pair worked. "Allie came up with the Wonderland Brigade, but she refused to be the leader, so Mason took charge as The White Rabbit."

"How long have these guys been friends?"

Stephanie sighed. This wasn't what they were supposed to be talking about. "Allie and the twins are cousins, so they've grown up together. James too because his family has been friends with the McAllisters for a hundred years or something," she answered. "Mason and Allie have been in the gifted program together since kindergarten. They're a tight knit group, but have always been friendly and open to others. Bringing Zook and Julie in is good for them. It expands their world."

"Allie excels in other area aside from music?"

"Music will always be the area where she is comfortable. She knows the sound of every key on a piano by heart, but she finds science fun. Mostly she works harder than most," Stephanie said. "She can make smoke bombs, rockets, boats, popsicle stick roller coasters. They're all projects she did with Cayden and I as she grew up because that's where we wanted her focus. We didn't want her to get wrapped up in a society where looks are valued above what you can bring to the table intellectually."

"He's an English professor, and he conducts Physics experiments in his free time?"

"That English professor tested at the genius level when he was eight," Stephanie stated. "I don't think our daughters had this in mind when they locked us in here."

"We've been in here twenty minutes. I would have opened the door but there's no lock on this side," Ranger said. "What's there to talk about?"

"Ranger, Allegra and Julie want us to talk about a relationship," Stephanie said tiredly. The security expert who probably killed people back in his army days was a complete dunce when it came to teenage girls.

"But we have a relationship," he told her.

"Yes, a relationship that is driven by sex and instinct," Stephanie said. "Allie doesn't think that's good enough. She never has."

"She's sixteen, and hasn't started dating. How does she know about stuff like this?"

"She's not stupid. Anyone could figure it out. She's objective. It's always been like this. You need a clear head to look at something, you give it to Allie. The point is, sex is no longer going to cut it," Stephanie explained. "Even if it was just once. Do you realize that I haven't been on a date for years? Not with Joe and certainly not with you."

"Babe."

"Don't Babe me Manoso. I'm tired of being jerked around by the men in my life. You either love me enough to date me or you don't."

Stephanie let out a deep breath. She had finally said everything she needed to and a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

As soon as the breath had left her lips, Ranger had wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. She lost her senses for a moment only to quickly regain them and push him off.

Ranger gained a wolfish grin. "If we were to date, where would we go to dinner?"

Stephanie stared at him dumbfounded. "Are you asking me out?"

"On a date I believe."

Stephanie shook her head to clear her thoughts. She smiled. "Anywhere. I don't care. I just want to go on a date with you."

"Okay," Ranger said. "Seven o'clock tonight. Julie and Allegra can hang out, maybe see a movie."

"Oaky."

Ranger pulled his cell phone out and dialed his daughter's number. "You can let us out now."

"Tank has the key. We're signing up as a team," Julie chirped. "I hope you didn't do anything stupid." She hung up and a minute later Tank opened the door.

"Please don't kill them," Tank said. "Together, they're kind of cute."

"Together, they're evil little masterminds," Stephanie growled. As they entered the gym they found Julie talking with Zook and the rest of the Wonderland Brigade.

Ranger and Stephanie took a front row seat next to Cayden and in front of the Merry Men. They looked around and found Lula and Connie enter with Sally Sweet.

Allie and Julie separated from the group and walked over to their parents. "Sorry, but your progress was slow and we were impatient," Julie said.

"We're so glad you figured things out," Allie said. "Even if it was something small."

James walked up and waited for Allie's undivided attention. She looked up and smiled. "I propose a bet."

"What kind of bet?" Allie asked. "I already have the bet with John."

"If I catch more balls than you, you and I will go to dinner alone sometime this week."

Allie's chin dropped and her mouth hung open. Julie started laughing and sat next to her dad as Allie tried to speak.

"I…uh… mmm…" Allegra babbled. She looked at the ground to try and regain some of her composure.

"And if Allegra catches more balls?" Cayden asked.

"Then I'll be her pianist for solo ensemble. She picks the piece," James said. "I won't argue."

Allegra looked at her mother helplessly. Her cheeks had a small pink tint. She looked at James defeated. "Okay," she whispered.

James smiled and pulled Allegra into a hug. "Don't choke up on me; we need to win against the lost boys so you don't have to go on a date with John."

Allegra pulled away. "I'm not going to lose to that dolt cousin of yours," she said gaining a determined gleam in her eyes.

Stephanie looked at Cayden. "Did I miss something?"

"A lot, I'll talk about it with you in a moment," Cayden answered.

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Author's Note: Well the next installment has been posted. Obviously. I hope you liked it. I'm in the middle of writing the next part, but it won't be posted nearly as fast as this one. I'm going to be checking my email throughout the day, so I should be quick to respond to any questions.

It looks like Will Scarlet will be Bobby, and Friar Tuck is reserved for Lester. Thank you to everyone who provided their input on this past chapter.

I have a twitter if anyone is interested in following me. I post the links to my chapters as well as quick little updates and blurbs. They're written as if Ren Kayashima was a separate person from myself, so please don't think I'm crazy.

Check out my forum. There a good number of threads on it for you to check out. I don't mean to sound like a bother, but I created it specifically for the group of readers and writers on this site to create a sense of community.

Ja ne.

Ren/Shane