I don't own anything; all characters belong to Janet Evanovich.

Hope you enjoy. Fluff mostly.

52

Tank'sPOV

I felt all the air in my body whoosh out of my lungs as I saw my Lula sprinting across the road, coming from the direction of the warehouse. I hadn't even noticed her leave the building. My legs started pumping of their own accord as I met her half way between the SUVs and the warehouse, collecting her in my arms and hugging her securely to my chest. She immediately sagged against me and started sobbing. Lifting her up into my arms, I carefully carried her back to an SUV constantly murmuring words of love and affection to her. Bobby opened the back door for me as I climbed in, sitting down with Lula settled in my lap. Her arms were wrapped around me firmly and she was shaking slightly.

She was ok; thank you God. I was going to make sure Steph knew my gratitude everyday for the rest of her life. She had saved my woman, saved my child…saved me from falling to pieces…

I pulled out my phone and dialed 911, requesting an ambulance for Lula…praying that one would be all we would need. I redialed 911 and requested the police, briefly explaining who I was and the situation.

Putting my phone away I brushed my lips across every inch of my sugar's face, kissing away her tears, hugging her reassuringly.

"Tankie?" She cried.

"Yeah baby, it's me, I'm right here. You're safe. I love you" I promised her gently.

"Oh Tankie! I love you so much! I'm so sorry…Shit, I've been such a bitch Tankie…I'm sorry. I love you, God do I love you!" She sobbed hysterically.

I pulled her as close to me as physically possible.

"Shhhhh Lula. It's alright. Everything's going to be ok. Calm down sweetheart." I soothed.

Glancing up as one of the doors opened I found myself facing an anxious Ranger. Shit, Steph was still in there…

"How she doing?" He asked, nodding at Lula, his eyes tight, occasionally flicking towards the warehouse.

"She's ok…she's going to be fine. I've called an ambulance, and the cops. I want her to get checked out at the hospital, just in case" Ranger nodded and ran his hand through his hair, staring at the ground.

"I'm glad she's ok" He finally murmured.

"Thank you" I answered, extremely grateful.

Suddenly, the sound of an explosion cracked through the air, both our heads shot up and towards the warehouse, where smoke was starting to billow out of the windows.

Holy shit! Bombshell!

"Steph?!" Ranger whispered harshly, watching the men sprint towards the building. He was only a split second behind them.

"What was that?" Lula gasped from my shirt, her voice muffled.

"A bomb…that was a bomb" I muttered closing my eyes to the tears that welled there as I watched Ranger drop to the ground in front of the warehouse, a broken man.

No. It couldn't be. Steph couldn't be … dead?!

"Tankie? What's wrong?" Lula wondered quietly, shifting slightly in my lap.

"I…I think…Steph…she's gone" I summarized, unable to say aloud the word dead and Steph in the same sentence.

"Wh-what?!" She whimpered, her sobs racking up a notch. "B-but, I never got to tell her sorry…to thank her…she saved my life! She's my best friend, the only best friend I ever had! No!" I felt Lula bury her face in my chest again and bawl her eyes out; my shirt becoming saturated.

I opened my eyes when I was sure I wasn't going to cry, to glance down at my woman. Shifting my eyes in the direction of Ranger briefly, I noticed a familiar curly haired woman on top of him, both of them lying in the dirt.

She was ok…Steph was ok…she was alive. Thank fuck. I started to breathe again.

"Lula baby, she's ok. Steph alive, she's ok!" I announced joyfully.

"She-she is?! Oh thank God! I have so much to tell that skinny white girl! Damn her for scaring us like that! I'm going kick her white ass when I regain some of my strength!" I chuckled lightly.

"Glad you're back" I murmured, kissing my woman's lips forcefully. "I was missing the old Lula" I disclosed.

Swiftly, the ambulance and the cops arrived on the scene, one after the other. I hopped out of the SUV and carried Lula over to an EMT who yanked out a stretcher, and motioned me to place my woman on it.

Big Dog approached me with a rookie cop. Big dog shifted uncomfortably on his feet for a second, while the newbie bounced excitedly on the spot. I hate rookie cops.

"Need help?" I questioned, watching the man checking Lula's pulse, breathing and blood pressure.

"This is an intergalactic emergency. I need to commandeer you're SUV and all your weapons. Who's in charge here?" The rookie demanded. I raised an eyebrow at Big Dog. Was this freak serious? He did not just ask me that.

"We, uh, need to talk to Ranger" Big Dog translated, slapping the kid upside the head. I pitied Big Dog. I glanced at Ranger and Steph and found them standing so close together; you couldn't have fit a piece of paper between them. Shit. I was going to have to break them up. Ranger was gonna kick my ass.

"Tankie! I want to speak to Steph! I need to speak to Steph!" Lula shrieked.

"Calm down ma'am, you're blood pressure is a little high. You need to calm down or you might hurt your baby" The EMT instructed.

"I'll be right back Lula-baby, I'm just gonna go get Steph, ok?" I grasped her hand between the two of mine and kissed her wrist.

"Don't be long" She begged. I nodded once and turned and stalked over to Ranger and Steph quickly.

"Uh Ranger...can I borrow Steph for a while?" I questioned, noticing both he and Steph were crying and smiling like idiots at each other.

I had never seen Ranger cry. Ever.

Ranger shot a sharp glance at me before his eyes swept the area. He sighed slightly and took a step back from Steph.

"They need to talk to me?" He gestured in the direction of the cops.

"Yeah...I'll look after Steph, get her checked out. I'll take her to the hospital with me" Ranger nodded and ducked down to kiss Steph heatedly. I turned away, embarrassed by their passion, feeling like I was intruding on their privacy.

"I will see you soon Babe. As soon as I get this wrapped up, I'll meet you at the hospital. Stay with Tank ok? I love you, so much. Don't go crazy without me" Ranger softly whispered to Bombshell.

"I love you too. I know you'll come get me as soon as you can. Don't get shot. I love you" Steph murmured back. I could hear the tears choking her voice.

"An hour tops Babe. That's all. Then we can escape for a few days. Stay with Tank" I turned back to face them and found Bomber pushed into my arms. Ranger slapped me on the back and walked briskly towards the cops, barking out orders as he went.

"How's my little sister?" I smiled down at Steph. She smiled back, happy, breathing, alive.

"I'm...ok" She mumbled. I nodded at her hesitant answer; I didn't expect her to be fine.

"Steph...I...thank you" I expressed my gratitude, giving her a tight hug.

"It's all good Big Guy, I'd do anything for you, you've helped save my life more times than I can count" She shrugged off my thanks and gazed at Ranger, who now stood hands on hips, growling at some poor Policeman.

"C'mon Steph, let's go" I threw my arm around her shoulders and led her in the direction of the ambulance.

"How's Lula doing?" She wondered quietly.

"You can ask her yourself. She's been asking to talk to you" I watched Bombshell out of the corner of my eye. Her eyebrows rose in disbelief.

"Oh yeah?" Her voice was a little higher in pitch.

"Yeah Steph...give her a chance to say all she has to say alright? It might take her a while to get it all out" Bomber nodded and trained her face to a placid expression as we came closer to the stretcher. I removed my arms from her shoulders and walked to Lula's side.

"Tankie! Where have you been?! They've been wanting to ship me on off to the hospital! I've had to put my foot down to make them wait" Now it was time for my eyebrows to rise. I looked up, met eyes with Bobby and smiled. Who had put their foot down?

"It's ok Lula, I'm here now, settle down" I leaned forward and kissed the corner of her lips.

"And Steph?" Lula asked.

"Yeah Lula, she's right..." I turned around and found Steph standing five yards away, still staring at Ranger. "Steph!" I hollered. She jumped slightly and practically ran towards me. "Stay with me Bomber, or Ranger will have my dick" I chuckled. She nodded and shuffled her feet, staring at the dirt. I sighed.

"You got something to say to Steph, Lula?" I prompted. We needed to get this show on the road.

"Steph?" Lula started. I sighed. This might take longer than I thought. Steph lifted her head and met Lula's gaze.

"I'm sorry. Really, really sorry white girl. Sorry doesn't even begin to cover it and I know it don't make up for nothin', but I still gotta say it. You saved my life, again. I doubt I will ever be able to repay you for that. I was a bitch and I treated you worse than shit. You've always had my gratitude and respect. Thank you for savin' my life. I know we won't be able to be friends again right away, but I'm sorry and I want to be friends again someday. Can we at least try?" I shot my eyes between Steph and Lula. Steph just nodded; her face rather blank.

"We can try" Steph agreed, I saw the uneasiness in her eyes. Her shoulders were stiff too...

"Sir, ma'am...we really should be headed to the hospital" I glanced at the EMT who shrunk away from me a little.

"Lula-baby? Bobby's gonna ride with you to the hospital ok? I'm going to follow behind you in my SUV with Steph. I promised Ranger I would take care of Steph." Lula opened her mouth to protest but firmly snapped it shut after a second.

"See you there Tankie. I love you" I smiled and kissed her pouted lips.

"I'll be right behind you." I assured her again, inclining my head at Bobby, and taking Steph's hand.

Bobby and the EMT loaded Lula inside the ambulance safely. I pulled on Bomber's hand and towed her to an already idling SUV. Man is it good to be the boss. Stopping Steph in her tracks, I unzipped her jacket and removed it and her sweatshirt, hat and vest, leaving her in her t-shirt, pants and boots.

"Better Bombshell?" I wondered, rubbing a hand gently over her protruding belly.

"Yeah, thanks Tank." She lifted her shoulders and rolled her neck.

I opened the passenger door and lifted her into her seat, buckling her in, before jogging around the car and swinging up behind the wheel. As soon as the ambulance pulled out, we were on its tail.

"Are you ok Tank?" I heard Steph ask softly.

"Yeah, fine. Lula's ok, you're ok. That's all that matters" I shrugged and kept my eyes trained on the road.

"No...I mean...are you ok with Lula...she hasn't been treating you very nicely either..." Her voice trailed off.

"I love Lula" I summarized.

"I know you do...I just thought you might like someone to talk to about... everything...I can't imagine you going to one of the guys for this kind of heart to heart...I'm here if you want to talk." She fell silent and didn't utter another word.

I sighed noiselessly. I had two choices; I could remain silent...or I could talk out my feelings with Steph. I knew she wasn't going to tell anyone else about our conversation...Leaning forward, I yanked out the wires for the sound and recording equipment so no-one could hear or video tape what was about to be said.

"I guess... I've always felt like Lula has settled for me. I've always been second best to Ranger and I feel like if she could have had him she would have dumped me in a second flat...but when you and Ranger got together, I guess the bottom fell out of her fantasy big time and all that pent emotion from not getting Batman for herself made her even more angry, jealous and resentful towards you, which compounded the feelings from your fight and made everything worse" I decided to just jump straight in there and lay all my cards on the table. I didn't say much, so I wanted what I did say to count.

"I don't think Lula wanted to feel that way Tank...a fantasy is just that; a fantasy. She wouldn't have agreed to settle down with you if you weren't the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Lula's a proud and stubborn woman Tank, and she loves you...I think being kidnapped might have just highlighted to her how in love with you she really is. Ranger was just a passing crush, but what she feels for you is the real thing. I used to fantasise about Bruce Willis before I met Ranger" I stifled a laugh; damn she always knew how to make me feel better.

"Bruce Willis?" I raised an eyebrow. She shrugged.

"I'm a Die Hard fan, so sue me" I chuckled and shook my head.

"So...Lula?"

"Really loves you, watch how she looks at you next time you're together...watch what her eyes do when you tell her you love her...She does" I exhaled feeling relieved when I didn't even realise I was that worried about it in the first place. Guess I did need to talk to someone about it.

"Thanks Steph" She smiled at me as I pulled into a park near the door of the ER.

I jumped from the vehicle and helped Bombshell down.

"Hang on a second Tank" I paused and felt my eyes bulge as Steph removed three guns and four knives from her body, shoving them under the passenger seat. Holy shit! "Ok, I'm ready now. You're armed right?" I inclined my head and placed my hand at her elbow, leading her into the chaos that was usually the ER room.

After locating where Lula was, and making sure she was settled, I found a doctor to look Steph over. She was fine, except for a bruised elbow.

Less than half an hour later, I heard a disturbance in the hall and then Ranger was barging into Lula's room, where Steph, Bobby and I were waiting. Ranger scooped Steph into his arms, kissed her till she was incoherent, and then announced that Bobby was in charge for the next few days while he and I were offline.

And with that the love birds escaped, no doubt off to their love nest. I turned back to smile at my Lula. As soon as I could get her discharged into my care, we would be off to our love nest too.

"I love you baby" I murmured, watching her eyes soften, and then fill with all of the love and affection she held in her heart for me. My lips touched hers.

"I love you too" She whispered.

Damn if everything wasn't right in my world.

TBC...only a few chapters left.