NOTE: This is it; our journey has come to an end. Thank you so much for your feedback and continued support. Sorry it took me nearly a week to crank this out, but it wouldn't be rushed and I'm trying to let the muse stretch at his (yes, my muse is male) own pace so I don't wear him out. Poor thing is trying to keep up, but I kept him caged too long. This was his first extended fieldtrip in a long while.

Ooh, and I took a moment to answer jen4310's question in response to the previous chapter: Stephanie has four confirmed orgasms, and (at least, but as the author, I would advise you to think higher) one more at the very end.

As an added bonus, Ranger and Stephanie's "reconciliation" counted to 3,433 words from the 'first kiss' paragraph to the (ahem) finish. Stephanie got her socks rocked on pages 25, 29, 31, and 34 (in my word processor, double spaced).

Enjoy.

SPOILERS: There's no bedroom orgies with Steph, Ranger, Diesel, and Lester, fertile as my mind may be.

RATING: Parental guidance is not suggested because if you're under eighteen and your parents catch you reading this stuff they'll probably ground you from the internet. Language, beer, and some slightly milder smut.

CHAPTER ELEVEN: EPILOGUE

Ranger reached for Stephanie and came instantly awake when he found the bed empty. She'd slipped out on him. He sat up, listening for movement from the bathroom, but he knew she wasn't in the apartment, he could feel it. And her side of the bed was cool. When the hell had she learned to get out of bed without waking him?

He didn't want to admit it, but there was a thin tendril of panic coiling around his heart as he yanked on a pair of track pants and fetched his cell phone from the living room. He hit speed dial one. He hung up almost immediately when he heard the Batman theme song coming from Stephanie's purse.

Okay, so she wasn't in the apartment, but she was in the building. Feeling a bit like an asshole, but comfortable with it, he booted up his computer and logged into RangeMan's monitoring system, calling up the control room first.

No Stephanie. He flipped through the channels, viewing the break room, the gym, and all the conference rooms until he found her. She was with Santos in the last of the conference rooms and they were talking earnestly, seated in the executive chairs and facing each other, their knees touching. Santos had on his blank face and Steph looked both nervous and a little dreamy.

Jealousy coursed through him like poison and he stood abruptly, ready to storm the conference room and beat the shit out of Santos, but something on the screen made him stop.

Years of Spec Opps had honed his ability to read lips and it was a valuable skill he'd developed and employed time and again. He could have just turned on the volume in the room, but it wasn't necessary.

"He loves me."

Santos smiled slightly and tapped a finger on the end of her nose. "Of course he does, Beautiful. We all told you." He hesitated for a moment and Ranger couldn't blame Santos for the suddenly sad twist to his mouth before he corrected it. "I'm happy for you both. Hopefully this means Ranger will stop being a dick to us, too." He winked at her and Ranger relaxed.

They both stood and Santos wrapped Stephanie in a hug, but it was the same as the hug he'd seen them share on the gun range; purely platonic. Was that just yesterday? It seemed like a lifetime ago.

"So get the hell out of here," Santos told her, pulling away. "Go put him in a good mood so this place can get back to work."

Stephanie jumped up, kissing him on the cheek and then darted out of the room. Ranger flipped through channels, following her progress to the elevator and then her trip to the seventh floor.

The computer was off and Ranger was back in bed, sans track pants, when Stephanie came into the room. He feigned sleep, listening to her disrobe. He was glad he'd chosen to lay on his stomach because it would be obvious to Stephanie that he was wide awake if he was on his back. Just the thought of her jeans dropping to the floor had him rock hard and he reined in his control to keep his breathing even, his muscles still.

After the sound of her pants dropping the room went completely silent. He stretched out his senses, listening for her and was startled when he suddenly heard her voice, right against his ear. The only thing that saved him from jumping was years of training

"I know you're awake, faker." He could hear the smile in her voice and his eyes flashed open to see it dancing across her face.

"And I know you've gotten very sneaky," he countered and rolled to his back, simultaneously grabbing her around the waist and dragging her astride his lap while leaning himself against the headboard.

Stephanie settled into his lap, his erection pressed between their bodies, her breasts flatted against his chest.

"Not the only thing I've gotten," she whispered, taking his face in her hands and kissing him gently, teasingly, delicately licking his lips with just the tip of her tongue, controlling the contact.

He wanted to crush his mouth to hers, fit his lips to hers, suck her tongue, but she just gave him little tastes, her breath warm against his face every time she sighed. She was rocking her hips against his slowly, rubbing her sex against his cock.

A groan shuddered through him as she teased him and herself, her breath becoming more labored. Her hands had slid down to his shoulders and then one hand had curled around the back of his neck, wrapping the strands of his hair around her fingers as she slowly deepened the kiss, giving him her mouth.

Ranger let her dictate the pace, his arms wrapped around her, his hands pressed against her upper back. Her tongue slid into his mouth, inviting him to take a little more. He pressed her even closer, rocking against her slightly, inhaling her gasp.

Her mouth moved to his ear and she nipped at his earlobe, tugging gently. "Now," she urged and Ranger needed no further direction.

He grabbed her hips in his large hands, lifting her up and then down, groaning into her mouth as he filled her.

Their love making was slow and sweet, and Ranger took his time building her up, holding her pelvis tight to his and rocking her so that his cock was stimulating her clit as well as her G-spot.

"Look at me," he commanded and she fixed her eyes on his, watching his face as he rocked her, captivated by the depth of the love and desire in her expression.

Her teeth were gritted, lips parted, her breath coming in little hissing gasps and he felt her clenching tighter and tighter around him.

"Come," he growled, pressing tight against her. "Come for me, mi amor."

Stephanie shuddered around him, whimpering against his mouth, internalizing her orgasm. While she was still clenching and pulsing around him, he rolled her beneath him and began moving within her, quickly bringing them both to the brink and then over it again.

She gathered him close, tucking her face into his neck, riding out the aftershocks of their release.

Ranger wrapped his arms around her back, holding his weight up on his elbows and pressed his forehead to hers, the almost black strands of his hair brushing her face.

"I love doing that with you," she whispered, staring into his eyes, seemingly gazing directly into his soul.

Ranger kissed her slow and deep. "Good," he replied. "'Cause I'm going to do it again."

#

Stephanie keyed open her door and stepped into her apartment. "Diesel?" she called, shutting and locking the door behind her. There was no answer and she drew her Sig, clicking the safety off and moving into the darkened apartment.

She went room to room, not holstering her gun until she was sure the apartment was clear. The bed was made, everything was straightened up. The only thing that told her Diesel was still around was his pack, loaded with a few changes of clothes. He'd be back.

Ranger had an account that was demanding his immediate attention and took off a few hours after she'd finished talking with Santos. It had been a relief that Santos seemed genuinely happy for her and she hadn't gotten a single weird vibe from him, so it seemed that their friendship was completely intact. That was a relief; over the last six months, Lester had managed to become as important to her as Morelli.

Figuring it was bad form to leave Diesel cooling his heels in her apartment for any longer than necessary, she'd showered and dressed at Ranger's, pleasantly surprised to find he still had her left-over toiletries stocked in his bathroom. It had made her feel warm and fuzzy throughout the remainder of her morning.

Now, she had to tell Diesel that everything had turned out even better than she'd hoped. She couldn't say it was like the past six months hadn't even happened, and she couldn't look at the experience as a completely negative one. It had forced her to take a hard look at herself and her career choice and start making positive changes to her entire life that would affect her ability to be a successful BEA and RangeMan employee. She might still be bumbling around Trenton, surviving by the seat of her pants and the skin of her teeth, depending on Batman to swoop in and save the day when she got in over her head if things had gone differently.

Deciding that she better hurry up and wait, Stephanie headed into the kitchen and took a cold slice of pizza out of the box left on the counter and snagged a beer from the fridge before plopping down on the couch and flipping on the TV.

She was halfway through the third and last slice of pizza and was tipping back her second beer when there was a pop behind her. She was too relaxed to jump and was proud of herself for being able to casually turn in her seat, stretching her beer arm across the back of the couch to spot Diesel standing behind her.

"Hey," she said, lifting her beer in a little salute.

"Hey, yourself. I wasn't expecting you to be up and walking so soon."

Stephanie raised a brow. "I don't know what you mean."

Diesel chuckled and walked into the kitchen, returning a moment later with a beer. "Of course you do. You didn't come back last night and you've got The Look."

"The Look?" You could hear the capital letters.

"Of a woman that got fucked all night long. And probably some this morning." He dropped next to her on the couch, grabbing the remote and clicking on to OnDemand. She finished her slice, content to let that comment die where it stood, while Diesel sought out Robot Chicken.

As the Les Claypool theme song picked up its creepy, jaunty little tune, Diesel returned his attention to her.

"So, you did get fucked all night, right?" he asked, his face creased in a smile.

"Jeez, yeah, fine. Like that's the important part." She gave him a dark glare as she took another swallow of beer.

"You must be talking about the big emotional reunion." She felt her glare go from 'dark' to 'Burg'. "That went well, then?"

Stephanie hated that it was near impossible to be angry with Diesel. He'd told her once it had something to do with him being cute and cuddly, and that those things made it alright. It didn't hurt that he smelled like Christmas, cookies, and sex.

Letting go of her mostly-feigned anger, Stephanie leaned back into the couch cushions and sipped her beer, feeling herself go a little dreamy as she remembered the previous night and that morning. "Yup."

"Just 'yup'? That's it?"

"You want a play-by-play of all the mushy exchanges of 'I love you' and blah, blah, blah? Because they were mushy and wonderful and I'd be happy to go on and on about it, although I thought I'd be sharing that moment with Mary Lou." She turned her head against the cushion to look at him. "I didn't think you'd be interested. Mission, successful should cover it."

Diesel gave her the dimples and hooked an arm around her neck, dragging her against his side. "It's cool that I was kinda hoping he'd fall through so you could abuse me in his place, though, right?"

"You want me bad." She grinned back at him and waggled her brows.

"You bet. I'll live, though." He knocked his beer bottle against hers. "I have a fertile imagination."

Stephanie laughed and settled in to watch dirty cartoons.

"Thanks for being here for me, Diesel," she said a while later. His arm tightened around her companionably.

"Any time, Honey."

"I owe you one."

"You know better than that," he replied, his voice gently chiding.

"Better than what?" she asked.

"You've heard this before and it's true with me too; no price."

#

Ranger tumbled the locks on Stephanie's door and let himself into her apartment. He could hear the television and moved quietly into the room. The only noise he'd made had been from the locks but Stephanie always knew when he was near.

"Come sit with me," she called, still facing the TV.

Ranger kicked off his boots and removed his gun belt before sitting on the couch and pulling Stephanie to his side, lowering his face to capture her lips in a warm, welcoming kiss.

"Babe," he greeted her, stroking her cheek.

Stephanie snuggled into his side, lifting her legs to rest across his thighs. He pulled her closer so she was fully in his lap and kissed her some more, taking his time, wrapping her curls around his fingers.

"Missed you," she whispered against his mouth. "All day."

"I was rushing to get back to you," he admitted and it wasn't even difficult to say.

"How'd it go with Diesel?" he asked, brushing kisses across her jaw, the tip of her nose, her eyelids. He liked the way her lashes fluttered against his lips when he did that, so he did it again, lingering gently.

"Went good. He decided to go check out the French Riviera. Something about nude beaches and palm trees." She was nibbling on his jaw now, working her way to his mouth.

"What was he here for? You never did say." Diesel as a subject was becoming less interesting by the second, but he still wondered.

"He's on vacation and decided to drop by," she answered, licking the corner of his mouth with the very tip of her tongue.

"Vacation," Ranger mused, mirroring her movements and touching his tongue to her mouth. "Mmm, that sounds good." Then he dropped the subject and put all his effort into the one he was really interested in: Stephanie.

And they lived dangerously ever after.

#

YO: The shortest chapter, but it's more epilogue than chapter, so I hope you'll forgive it. Because the pathos was over, I decided to make Stephanie's talks with Santos and Diesel nice and easy, but there was character-rationalization involved. Santos does well because I don't want a heart broken Lester for his FF (which is just about ready to be posted;). Diesel handled it well because even though he wants in Stephanie's pants, he's only emotionally attached on a friendship level. I can easily picture Ranger being relationship material for the right woman, but Diesel... He's a different animal. I still gotta find a way to write him some smut, though. I'll let my plot bunnies play and maybe they'll come up with something for a panty-ruining one or two shot.

So, there it is, the end of Plum Dirty. I so hope you enjoyed it and that you'll check out Lester's continuing story in the upcoming Santos Slide. It's going to be OFC and will probably be similar in length to this.

So looking forward to your feedback. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

xoxo

Dejah Thoris