Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Plum Universe, nor do I make any money off of this or any other form of writing, unfortunately.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, this is the last regular chapter. I'm doing alternate endings, so the next chapter will be the first, and the chapter following that will be the alternate ending. Thanks so much for all your reviews and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

Chapter 11

"Stephanie, we have to be there in two minutes. You look great. Please, let's go up to five before they start without us." I had been home from the hospital for a week, and Ranger had agreed that I could start back to work. I had been doing searches like crazy since I came home, and I had let the Merry Men and Ranger take over in the investigation. Today was the day I had to meet with the Marshalls. I can't say I was excited, I mean, I was holed up in the bathroom applying mascara as liberally as only massage oil should be used.

Santos finally picked the lock on my bathroom and manhandled my mascara out of my hands. "It is going to be alright." he whispered. "I'll make sure of it. And if they are stupid enough to pursue it, we can prove them wrong."

"But it's not even, Les!" I howled in response. He just stared at me in a half amused, half exasperated sort of way. So much for fooling him.

We made it to the fifth floor with barely seconds to spare. Santos hustled me into Conference Room A and took a seat to my left side. Redding, Gunter, and an older attractive woman with grey streaks in her black hair were seated directly across from me. Ranger walked in and seated himself to my right.

Redding took the lead again, introducing the woman seated across from me as his superior. I shook all of their hands, trying to hide my distaste for the whole idiotic situation.

"Ms. Plum." Maria DiAngelo, the woman that I hadn't known, said slowly as she switched on a tape recorder. "Can you explain to me what happened the afternoon of August the eighth?"

I took in a deep breath. "I left Rangeman to go with a friend to her ultrasound. She's pregnant. She left her phone in the waiting room of the OBGYN's office, so I went back to get it for her. Before I managed to get halfway across the parking lot, Anderson jumped out and stun gunned me." I took a breath, meaning to continue, but DiAngelo cut me off.

"How did you leave Rangeman without your bodyguard?" She asked casually.

I glanced at Lester. Well, I should say that I glanced at my lawyer, because Les wasn't my lover right now, he was my lawyer. He had explained to me how when he left the service, that Ranger had paid for him to go to law school while he worked part time for Rangeman. It gave the company an immediate consultant if needed, but Les usually wasn't required to act in that capacity. I had met the other attorney for Rangeman, LLC, but couldn't currently remember his name. Santos gave a nod that I could answer DiAngelo's question so I did. "I cuffed my bodyguard to a chair in the gun range."

"So we have you for wrongful imprisonment, at the least." The woman said with an infuriating grin. She stopped smiling at Santos's interjection.

"That is if the man is willing to testify. He is outside of the door right now, let me get him." He called out to Zero. Zero came in, brushing shaggy blonde hair out of his eyes. He shook hands with the Marshalls and gave me a quick kiss on the temple.

"You are going to testify against this woman for her wrongful imprisonment of your person, are you not Mr. Zerona?" The evil woman stated. It hadn't really been a question, even if she was careful to phrase it that way. It was the absolutely wrong way to deal with any Rangeman. Assuming they would go along with you was akin to telling them what to do.

"I am not going to testify against Stephanie about anything." Zero replied angrily, blue eyes flashing murderously at the Marshalls. "And frankly, I'm shocked that you are even inquiring about this obvious case of self-defense. I mean, really. I'm sure Steph didn't let Carson Anderson stun her, cuff her, take away the majority of her weapons, and cart her off to the middle of nowhere just so that she could succeed in some master plot of murdering him."

"She admitted that she handcuffed you to a chair." DiAngelo replied, obviously choosing to ignore Zero's remarks on the investigation. "I would consider that wrongful imprisonment. Since she admitted to it, we can subpoena your testimony against Ms. Plum in this matter."

Zero grinned. "So you are going to subpoena me to testify that Stephanie and I were playing an erotic game, and that she handcuffed me to a chair for love-making and that is somehow going to be construed as wrongful imprisonment?" Ranger stiffened to my right and Santos had that look in his eyes that said he was going to howl in laughter any moment. I blushed furiously and hoped that DiAngelo took it as embarrassment rather than indignation. I tried out my superpowers and was sad to find out that lasers did not issue from my eyes and ignite the tape recorder.

"It was a sex game?" Redding said in disbelief before looking me over again. The look gave me the creeps; it was as if he was rethinking some former thought about me being a 'missionary only' girl. Lester's look of barely contained mirth vanished to be replaced with some Alpha male possessive look. I kicked Les under the table. I hate Alpha male macho bullshit.

"Yes." Zero answered Redding's question. "If you want me to testify to that, I will, but Stephanie will be very angry with you for tarnishing her reputation." I glared at him. When he noticed he simply had to add, "She's a little wildcat in the bedroom, and the gun range, and the break room, but she likes to keep it out of the public eye, ya know?" With all the rumors this was going to start, my reputation was going to the dogs anyway. I considered banging my head on the table top but reconsidered when DiAngelo changed the subject.

"That will be all Mr. Zerona." Mrs. DiAngelo growled. "Ms. Plum, please continue."

"Okay," I started again, struggling not to roll my eyes. "So he stunned me, and I think he may have given me something, because I felt all groggy when I came to. When I did finally come to, I was in the back of some kind of pickup truck that had a bed cover. My hands and feet were cuffed and shackled. I tried to get out of it, but I couldn't. I had a panic button on me. I had braided it into my hair in case something happened, but I couldn't get to it because of the way I was cuffed. When he stopped the truck and pulled me out, he dragged me into the house by my feet. I was scratched all up the front of my body. He nearly broke my hip when he dragged me up the stairs. Dr. Gabriel Manoso informed me that if I had been angled one more inch differently, it would have broken my hip." I sucked in a breath, and then forced myself to continue.

"When Anderson pulled me into the house, I told him that I needed to go to the bathroom, and convinced him to take the cuffs off of my hands. I locked the door, which he hadn't intended. I turned on the panic button and was trying to figure out what to do when he shot a hole in the lock. I didn't think that would actually work, but it did. That's when I realized I still had the knife." My throat somehow made a strangled sob, and Lester's hand found mine under the table. Ranger snagged my other, and I was very grateful for the both of them at that moment, despite how weird and awkward the situation could be if I let myself think about it too much.

"When Anderson managed to get the door open, he ran at me, and I used the self defense techniques that one of the guys had taught me a few days before. I clawed his face and punched him in the throat. He dropped the gun, but I couldn't get to it. I didn't know what to do, so I grabbed the knife from my ankle sheath, meaning to defend myself if he came at me, and when he charged me again, he ran right into it. I tried running away after that. I just wanted to get out of there; and that's when he shot me twice." I stopped, allowing tears to flow freely down my face. I'd only killed a handful of people in my lifetime, but it always hurt me. Jimmy Alpha, Spiro, Kenny, I would never be able to forget them like I was able to forget the rest of my tough skips.

"I think you'll all agree that Ms. Plum did nothing wrong." Ranger said dangerously. "I think it's time for you to call an end to this investigation. We all know that it's a sham you're using to cover your own asses for not being able to control your witness."

"A few more questions please, Mr. Manoso." DiAngelo said calmly. "What is the nature of your acquaintance with Harry 'the Hammer'?" She asked me.

I snorted derisively. "Harry the Hammer is my cousin/boss's father-in-law. I've never met him. I've never spoken to him. I know him by reputation only." All I knew really was that if Harry ever found out about Vinnie and the duck, that he'd rip Vinnie's balls off and shove them down that poor duck's throat.

"Have you ever been in contact with Jimmy Rizzoli?" She added finally.

"No." I answered with a sigh. "I've never even met him."

"Is Vincent Plum in contact with him?" I rolled my eyes and looked incredulously at Lester.

"Look. I don't know anything about who Vinnie is in touch with. You would have to ask his secretary, Connie, about that. I prefer not to know. The only person who doesn't know about his numerous elicit affairs is his wife. I don't want to know about anyone or anything that Vinnie knows. Frankly, I'm sick and tired of you trying to browbeat something out of me. If you'd be honest and tell me what you suspect, I would have all the right answers, and I might even be able to help you with what you are looking for. I've told you the truth on everything you've asked. I don't know what else you want me to do. So if you have anything else that I can help you with, please tell me so we can get this charade of an interrogation over with." I ended sarcastically.

So maybe that was a bit on the rude side, but what do you expect? The way Redding was looking at me was getting under my skin, and from the cold glares he was receiving from Lester and Ranger, they'd noticed the creep-o looks as well. DiAngelo harrumphed and ended the interview with iciness. I didn't really care seeing as the woman was obviously unhinged. Anyone who thought that I would play kinky sex games with Zero of all people had to be completely blind, if not an idiot. Zero could only be like 23, and that age difference was a little too much for a girl like me.

I finally released my death grip on my two protectors' hands and stood. Redding stopped me just outside the doorway and blocked my escape. "So, Ms. Plum, Stephanie, if you are ever looking to ditch that blonde kid, I can show you what a real man can be like." The man's smile still never reached his eyes. I was considering what the consequences would be for kicking a U.S. Marshall where the sun didn't shine, when the man turned tail and practically scampered off. I turned to see Lester and Ranger both directly behind me, glaring daggers at the man's back Tank and Ram were there as well, though I don't know where they had come from. Tank was cleaning his fingernails with a knife. Men!

"Um, thanks for that, you guys." I said, rolling my eyes, "But next time, I think I can handle it myself, at least when I'm in a secure building and have cameras watching every moment of interaction. Maybe you can save the alpha-male bullshit for when you have your annual Halloween Ultimate Rangeman Fighting competition? Maybe if you did that you could actually beat Hector this year." Ranger's eyebrows rose in surprise, Tank and Ram scowled, and Lester looked as if his ego had just taken a beating. Hell, Lester's ego probably needed a beating. The man had an egotistical comment for everything. I have to admit that lots of times, it was sexy and endearing, but sometimes I'd love to give him some ice for the swelling his head was apparently undergoing.

I needed something to do to keep my mind off things for awhile, so I walked to my cubicle and spent some time cursing Rodriguez on his sticky note habits. After I had sufficiently tortured myself, I walked around and socialized with the guys. I had really missed getting to hang out with them.

Ram was my scary movie confidante. Lester didn't really like horror films. He said that they weren't scary enough to be worth watching. Ram and I liked getting cheap thrills by watching scary, and often stupidly clichéd, movies.

Bobby was my closet musical junkie. Before the Anderson ordeal, we had gone to the Opera, and to see so many different musicals, and his only insistence was that I never tell any of the guys. I could definitely understand that seeing as they would never let him live it down. I hadn't ever told them that Cal and I did the mani/pedi thing together either.

After I visited Ella, I made my way back to my apartment. Lester had been visiting me a lot, even though he wasn't sleeping over most nights. The problem with that was that I was a slob, and Lester was a bit of a slob, so my apartment was a mess. I had asked Ella to refrain from cleaning while I wasn't working. I felt terrible having her clean something that I messed up while I wasn't even remotely busy.

So, basically, I had some cleaning to do. I tossed a CD in and did a basic cleaning: dishes, laundry, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, and cleaning the bathroom. When I finished I decided to take advantage of the amazing Jacuzzi tub that was feeling neglected in my bathroom.

I turned on the tap and filled the bathtub, adding my favorite bath salts and bubbles. Gabe had encouraged me to use a stress reducing aromatherapy product that smelled minty and was called 'Eucalyptus Spearmint'. He said that I needed to learn some stress relief techniques or that he was going to prescribe me some anxiety medication. I didn't really want to be on medication, so I had taken him seriously. Besides, I really needed to relax and figure things out. I honestly hadn't taken time to weigh the pros and cons of the whole Ranger and Lester situation.

Ranger had mostly kept his distance since the hospital, giving me the space I needed to make this decision. Santos had never really asked what was going on. Ranger either told him, or he figured it out on his own. No matter how he found out though, he let me have some room to figure things out. I guess he sensed that I needed the space.

I had been putting the inevitable conclusion of one of my relationships off for too long. Now it was crunch time. Unfortunately my post as the Empress of Denial Land was not a lifelong duty. It was time for me to grow up.

I grabbed my little notebook and a pencil, and slipped into the bath. It was days like today that made me happy that I'd moved into the Rangeman apartment. My old apartment's bathtub was so small that I felt like a horse trying to take a bath in a puddle. The bathtub at the Rangeman apartment wasn't enormous, but it was comfortable. Stephanie, I thought to myself, Stop procrastinating and get on with it.

On one side of the page I wrote Lester's name, and on the other I wrote Ranger's. Okay, now this was the hard part. I thunked my head on the bathtub in annoyance. I was such a chicken. Who in their right mind would make a list and compare men? Stephanie Plum that's who. I wrote out to the side Good and about ten lines down I wrote Bad. Then I made a sort of table.

I decided to start with Ranger, since he'd been in the picture longer. Under Good, I wrote the following: We love each other. He always protects me. He helps me fly. He is a Cuban Sex God. He helps me to be a better person. He has always helped me with my job, even though sometimes I seriously suck at it. He never trivializes my feelings or the way I handle things. I trust him completely. He always dropped everything to come to my rescue

Under Ranger's Bad section, I wrote some other things. He left me, twice. I don't know if I know the real Ranger; he's always so closed mouthed and secretive. He doesn't let me in to most of his secrets, even though my life is pretty much an open book. Does he trust me? He packaged me off to Morelli, and then packaged me off to Santos, and now he's changed his mind. Will it last, or is this just some kind of phase?

Lester was easier to think about. Under his Good section, I wrote quite a few things. Lester was loyal and trusting. He wore his heart on his sleeve despite how he tried to cover it up with flirting. Also a Sex God. Ate like a human (meaning pizza and cake), and not like a giraffe. He is patient. He dropped everything to take care of me when I was hurt, even though I brought it on myself for being stupid. We love each other. He always so tender with me, especially after the Anderson incident.

Now for Lester's faults. He has this thing about yelling when he's angry. He tries to keep me safe, even when I ask him not to. (Though at least he doesn't try to talk me out of my job like Joe always did.) He's a bed hog. He doesn't like horror movies. Oh my god, he is definitely way too good for me.

I contemplated drowning myself in the tub. This list was pointless. I knew exactly who I should be with, but the problem is that I was just making up excuse after excuse to try to put things off. The thing was that I knew someone was going to get hurt. It would hurt me, but I would still have someone when I walked away. I hated hurting the people I loved. What I needed was fresh air and a shot of courage better known as a dozen doughnuts.

I dressed in jeans and a tank top and headed down to the fourth floor where the two objects of my contemplation were working. I dropped by Lester's cubicle and knocked on his desk. He grinned up at me. "Couldn't wait til tonight?" he asked with an exaggerated wink. I smacked his arm.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm going out for a walk." I answered. I had really been attempting to be more thoughtful and realistic about my safety, at least a little more realistic. I didn't want to get in another situation like before. I'm not going to complain if they want people with me everywhere. I kind of get it I guess. All's well unless they decide to send someone to the bathroom with me.

Lester gave me a grin that made my heart melt. "I'm glad you told me. I actually have someone I'd like you to meet." He grabbed his phone and dialed a three digit extension. "Hey Max, could you go out with Steph this morning? She's excited to meet you." I cocked an eyebrow at him. Max? Why couldn't Manny or Ram go with me? I didn't even know anyone named Max. He talked to the dude for a few more minutes and hung up.

"Max is one of the most dangerous ex-cops we've got at Rangeman." He said, by way of explanation. I started to ask some questions, but he held up a finger. "Max will be right over." I guess I'm supposed to ask Max about himself. That's fine. I'm good at that. I spun around as I heard a woman shriek with laughter.

Ram had a small woman picked up over his head. She had short black hair and she was wearing black cargos and a white tank top. She was beating her small fists on Ram's shoulders and cursing in so many combinations and variations that even Cal looked impressed.

"Damn it, Elliot! Put me down!" she finally managed through her cursing and laughter. I realized with a start that she was talking about Ram. I mean, I guess I knew that Ram had a name, but I never thought I'd actually hear it. Especially from a woman like that. He put her on the ground and ruffled her hair. She had it in some kind of punk hairstyle stuck out in a kind of purposeful disarray. She had green eyes and a wide smile.

A bunch of the guys walked in and took turns slapping the woman on the back or hugging her. I thought they might kill her. She was only around five feet tall, and though I could see that she was muscular and healthy, she still seemed so small. She extricated herself from the men and stuck out a hand to me.

"Stephanie Plum, meet Maxine Garrett." Ranger said from behind me. I grinned and shook her hand.

"When Lester said 'Max', I assumed that he meant another typical Rangeman." I laughed. I had been picturing someone gigantic older man that was going to make me the new spectacle of Haywood Street. I mean really, what did he expect when he said 'most dangerous ex-cop'?

"Sorry to disappoint." Max grinned. She spoke with a distinct southern accent. I couldn't help but wonder where she was from. "I'm definitely not a typical Rangeman. I shoot better, I kick more ass, and I'm much sexier. Not to mention that my knife is bigger than Ranger's." She winked at Ranger, and he laughed! Yes. Ranger laughed. Shocking.

I looked Max over. She looked tough. I was even willing to bet she did have a bigger knife. "Max, I know you have a bigger knife than I do." Ranger answered. "You tried to take my head off with it, and almost succeeded." I looked back and forth between the two of them. She had almost taken out Ranger?

"Hate to break up the reunion, ladies," Santos said with a grin, "but Steph's wanting to go out, and I thought she'd enjoy hanging out with Maxine instead of Ram or Brett. Ram gave me an incredibly fake hurt look. Max rolled her eyes at Santos.

"Santos, if you start calling me Maxine again, I'm going to start calling you Tiny." Santos' eyes widened and he glanced at me with a grin. I shot him a warning look that plainly showed that if he asked me to confirm that in front of everyone, I was going to kick his butt into next week.

"Fine Max." Santos pouted. Max glanced over at me and grinned again.

"Ready to get out of this testosterone clusterfuck?" Max asked.

XXX

Max and I were sitting on a bench outside of the Tasty Pastry an hour later. It had taken awhile to slog through all the Rangemen that wanted to welcome her. "Are the guys always that friendly?" she asked as she swallowed a piece of her doughnut.

"Not really." I answered. "They just get excited when a woman's in the room. They used to be like that with me, but they're used to me by now. So, if you don't mind me asking, how'd you get involved with Rangeman?"

Max gave me a once over before answering. I wondered if she was deciding what to tell me.

"I met Ranger about three years ago in Miami. I had just been accepted into the police department in Miami. I was a complete rookie, and one night when I was off work, I just happened to notice a guy that was on the FBI's Most Wanted list. I called it in, but the guy was about to head out, so I decided to try to get him myself. All I had in my car was a hunting knife that I always carried just in case. I stuck it into my purse and chased the guy down. I had him cuffed and pinned and was sitting on top of him when Ranger shows up. He looked like some kind of street thug." Max laughed and continued.

"He shouldn't have, but he reached down to pull me off of Zimmerman, and I stuck the knife to his throat. I hadn't been working long enough to recognize him by sight, so you can imagine how frightening he can be." I nodded at that. Ranger still frightened me sometimes. "My captain showed up and gave me the World's largest ass chewing. He told me that since I had issues with Ranger, I could just be Ranger's contact in the department.

"I've had to work with nearly all the guys in the Trenton office over the last few years. By the way, how did you manage to tie Lester Santos around your little finger? The boy has it bad. I always thought it would take an act of God to get Santos to settle down." I blushed and looked down. I was a little uncomfortable talking about it with someone who was technically a stranger.

"Shit. I'm sorry, that was completely rude. I kind of feel like I already know you. The guys talk about you a lot. I've known Ram for ages, and I've kept in touch with Santos, Tank, Brett, and Ranger since the last times I saw them, and they always tell me about the Bombshell, or Jose, as Ram's started calling you lately. You know the guys all love you right?"

"That's fine." I answered. It made me feel kind of good to know that the guys talked about me with their friends. I'd always loved the Rangemen, with the exception of Vince. "I love them too. It's like having a huge family full of older brothers." She grinned at me.

"Well, now you can have a little sister as well." She looked troubled for a second. "Well, I actually don't know if I'd be your little sister or your big sister. I'm twenty five."

"I'm thirty." I answered, wondering if she was trying to flatter me. It was completely obvious that I was older. "So where are you staying? Haywood?"

"Yeah, I'm staying with Elliott until Ranger gets my apartment set up. Apparently, it's the one next to yours, and they haven't finished the bathroom yet." I wondered if there was something between Ram and Max.

"Elliott?" I asked. "I never knew that Ram's name was Elliott."

Max laughed. "He hates when people call him Elliott. He transferred to Trenton from the Miami office. Ram and I went to high school together. His mama was my Sunday School teacher. Ram and I grew up together. The only person who ever called him Elliott is his mama. Mrs. Bertram was a character. Everyone started calling Ram by his nickname when he started growing all those muscles."

We headed back towards Rangeman, and a car pulled up to the side of the road. Max grabbed me and positioned herself between me and the black sedan. Her other hand was at her waist where she had her gun holstered.

I growled when I saw who was behind the wheel. Redding and Gunter were sitting in the front. Redding had a gun leveled at Max. I grabbed her arm. "They're US Marshalls." I whispered. She sucked in an angry hiss and released her weapon. I didn't want them using me as an excuse to trump up some charges on Max.

"Miss Plum," Redding called. "We need to speak with you privately. Will you take a ride with us?"

Max crossed her slender arms across her chest and leveled her green eyes at Redding. "Ms. Plum needs to have her lawyer present before speaking with you." I nodded agreement, and the man cursed under his breath.

"I'm afraid you both need to enter the vehicle, now." Gunter added, his gun trained on us as well. Just fucking perfect. Okay, these guys are not going to shoot us in broad daylight no matter what they want us to believe.

"I'm afraid we can't do that, Fellas." Max grinned. Redding popped the driver's side door open and exited the vehicle. He walked straight up to Max and grabbed for her gun. I didn't quite see how it happened, but the next thing I knew, Redding was on the ground clutching a broken nose, and Max was holding the two guns, pointing them at Gunter.

"I think that you and your buddy need to leave before I call and tell your superiors that you are stooping to kidnapping suspects that have already been cleared." Max said in her upbeat Southern Accent. I heard a noise and then Max was down on the ground being tasered. I spun around and saw DiAngelo, with a sick smile on her face. She released the trigger and Max lay there twitching for a few moments. I was in such shock that I couldn't move.

"Gunter, get your ass out of the vehicle and load the ladies into the car, please." DiAngelo said in her high pitched, sickly sweet voice. I grabbed for Max, planning to make a run for it, but then I felt the cold metal of a gun barrel pressed against the back of my head. "Don't even think about running. You are coming with us."

With little or no effort, Gunter tossed Max over his shoulder and shoved her into the backseat of the Lincoln. "Walk." DiAngelo told me. I didn't really have another choice. In my head I was a brave bad ass that knocked the gun out of DiAngelo's hands and quickly kicked the asses of all parties involved. I was sure that was what Max would do. Unfortunately, I was Stephanie Plum, coward extraordinaire, and I simply climbed in the back of the Lincoln.

Max looked out for the count, so I checked her pulse just to be safe. She was breathing and her heart was beating, so I took that as a good sign. We drove a few blocks before I realized that we were heading out of Trenton. Great. Another incident involving Stephanie Plum. I just hoped that Max and I wouldn't pay for the Anderson incident with our lives. The goons turned up the radio, apparently old school rap was Gunter's music of choice. I contemplated jumping out of the moving vehicle, but I couldn't when Max was lying hunched over in the seat because she had been protecting me. She would have succeeded, if we'd been watching our backs.

I noticed Max's hand inching toward her ankle and had to bite my lip to keep from doing a double take. If she was awake, I didn't want Gunter and Redding to notice her because I was gaping like a fish. In a flash, she had a small gun pointed at Redding's head, and a knife to Gunter's throat. "You'll want to pull over, now." Max said with a strained voice.

She ordered the men to toss their guns into the floorboard. Then she took their keys and told them to get out of the vehicle. Still pointing her gun at the men standing outside of the vehicle, Max handed me the keys and I took the driver's seat. I drove like a maniac back to Rangeman.

"Holy shit." Max groaned. "I've never been tasered before. Does it always feel like your hair is standing on end after that happens?"

"I'm not sure," I answered breathily. "Did we just break the law?"

"Definitely." Max answered. "But they broke it first. Ranger is going to be fucking excited. He's been waiting for the two of them to screw something up royally. He has connections in the Marshalls."

"I think Ranger has connections everywhere." I muttered under my breath.

"True." Max winced and buried her head in her hands. We pulled up to the garage and I waved at the camera. The gates popped open and I drove inside. "Do you mind calling one of the guys? I'm still feeling pretty messed up. I need help getting up to five." I hopped out of the car intending to use the call button to get one of the guys down, but the elevator dinged open, and Tank came out.

"Tank, a little help over here?" I asked. He looked at Max and shook his head in disbelief.

"Hey, Big Guy!" Max yelled through the open door. "Are you going to stand there all day gaping, or are you going to carry me upstairs to report to Ranger?" Tank laughed and picked Max up out of the car. It was an amusing sight. She had her arms around his neck and next to Tank she looked like a seven year old. Her black hair was all over the place, and she looked like she might be sick.

"So this is pretty embarrassing." Max mumbled. "My first day on duty and I get tasered to the point of extreme nausea."

"Shake it off, sis." Tank laughed. "My first day on Steph duty and I got my leg broken. Hal got a concussion from passing out, and Erik was in even worse shape." I glared at Tank.

"None of those things were my fault, well except for Erik. But he really should have told us that he was my bodyguard. I can't help it if Connie and Lula are excitable." Max's mouth dropped open and Tank gave a hearty laugh.

XXX

After we had reported to Ranger, I helped Max to Ram's place and we watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit? When it went off, I knew that I had procrastinated long enough. I really had to talk to Ranger and to Lester. I couldn't keep dragging them both along. I headed to Ranger's office.

A/N: Which ending do you want first? I'm going to write them both out as fast as I can, and they are going to be pretty short. I believe in keeping endings open…