Chapter 6: Onward and Upward, I Guess

A/N: I'm sorry I missed a week and this is shorter than usual. I could make a bunch of excuses about how hard this time of year is, but that's not your fault. Instead, I just ask for patience and some leniency and I'll continue to post stuff as soon as it's finished. I can't guarantee how long they will be, but I'll try. Thank you for all of the reviews. I really appreciate them! 3

Also, I only posted once. I updated the last chapter to fix some grammar errors.

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Lester's P.O.V.

We met up with tia Ella on the sixth floor. I know Steph is stressed about all of the new changes coming her way, but I'm confident she can handle them. We all are. I'm not really sure why she's stressed about this pseudo fitting though. It's not like she's getting measured for a cat suit, it's just the basic uniform we all wear. Plus, she's never seemed too concerned with the way she looks judging by the way she routinely eats massive amounts of junk food. Maybe it's just excess nerves from the assessment.

We stepped off the elevator on six and I led us over to the only door on the right in the small lobby. There were two guest suites to the left, but the entire right side of the floor belongs to Ella and Louis. I knocked once and waited, Steph standing behind me. Tia Ella opened the door with a smile before looking around with a slightly confused expression. I realized that with Steph behind me, she was completely hidden from the doorway. I wonder if she did that on purpose?

I leaned forward to give her a kiss on the cheek. I stepped back and to the side so she could finally see Steph. "Tia Ella, this is Stephanie Plum. Beautiful, Ella is in charge of taking care of those of us who live and work in the building. She tries to domesticate us the best she can." I winked at Steph and continued, "Her husband Louis maintains the property and helps with any construction or rehab work we need done. Tia, Steph needs a couple of uniform sets and some workout gear. She'll be working with us for the foreseeable future." Steph grimaced.

Ella noticed and spoke up, "Oh don't worry, dear. I just need some basic measurements so I know what sizes you need. Come on in and we'll get started." She smiled and stepped back so we could enter. Tio Louis was sitting on the couch watching tv and I walked over to join him. Nothing like getting to watch soccer while on the job. I settled in with a handful of chips from the bowl on the coffee table while Ella led Steph over to her work room and closed the doors behind them.

We had been sitting in companionable silence for around twenty minutes when a scream came from the other room. I jumped up and burst through the door gun drawn to assess the situation. Ella was standing near a small round platform in the center of the room looking at me with surprise. I looked past her to make sure Steph was okay and realized I'd made a mistake. Steph was sprawled on her stomach on the floor. It was immediately obvious that there wasn't any danger; She had apparently fallen off the small platform and had called out as she fell. She twisted slightly to look over her left shoulder when I busted in and seemed shocked I was standing there. Of course, some of the shock may have come from the fact that she was half naked. She was laying there in just her lacy bra and underwear, looking way to much like a pinup girl then should be possible in this situation. Generally, clumsiness isn't an attractive feature. I definitely don't know why she's concerned, from where I'm standing she looks amazing! Crap. Ranger is going kill me. I could feel a blush starting and retreated back through the doorway before they could say anything. I feel like such an idiot! Why in the world would I assume they were in danger? We're in a building that might be more secure than the White House and I thought someone had broken in and what… tried to kidnap Stephanie? How dense can I be? And why the Hell am I blushing? I don't blush. I don't get flustered. I'm a self-proclaimed ladies man for God's sake. The guys are never going to let me live this down and Heaven help me if Ranger doesn't find it amusing. I'll be meeting him on the mats for weeks when he gets back.

Steph's P.O.V.

Well, that was mortifying. Not only did I fall off the world's smallest platform, but Lester came in and found me laying on the floor in my underwear. They guys are going to give me hell for this. I hope they don't decide I'm too uncoordinated to continue training! And don't get me started about Les seeing me in my underwear to begin with. I'm just hoping he doesn't say anything. I don't really want to be rated by Mr. New-Girl-Every-Night.

Ella glanced back at me as the door closed and said, "Are you okay? I'm sorry that happened, I don't know why he came in like that. It's not like you're in danger or anything."

I picked myself up and started to get dressed. (I had tripped stepping off the platform when Ella told me we were finished.) I shrugged and said, "It's embarrassing but not that big of a deal. It's not like I dress like a nun or something. I'll be fine. I just hope he doesn't tell everyone else, they would never let it go."

When I finished dressing, we walked back into the living area. Les was looking anywhere but at me and Louis looked amused. I smiled at Ella and rolled my eyes toward Lester before shrugging and walking towards the door. I could hear Ella chuckling under her breath as Lester scrambled to follow me. Hey, if he's going to act like an idiot, I'm not going to wait around while he drowns in his stupidity. We walked to the elevator and stepped in. I looked at Les and waited for him to select a floor. He stabbed the button for the parking garage and leaned back against the wall with his eyes closed. I guess he's just going to ignore me from now on. I rolled my eyes so hard that I think I saw my brain. That should make this whole training thing a lot easier.