See previous chapters for disclaimers. Not mine, just playing, not earning, etc. Those who are easily offended should turn off the computer and go hide under the bedcovers because life must be difficult for them.

RangeDay
Chapter 11

She drove to work on Wednesday morning wondering what to say to Tank. It'd be best if she could speak to him before the lesson that evening, but…

Well, it was a bit awkward. She couldn't imagine Tank wanting to share details of his love life with her, let alone having to receive hints for a first date. Ah well, if this meant things with Tsuy went easier he'd probably forgive her later on.

"Tank? You have a moment?"

He looked up and gestured her in. She closed the door behind her to signal this was private. His door was always open.

He watched her silently as she settled in the visitor's chair. She'd grown a lot more comfortable with him since the first time she'd met him, but he still wasn't exactly talkative. She wondered what he'd talk about with Tsuy… and then smiled at the thought they'd both be perfectly happy not saying much.

"Got a call from a certain self-defence teacher last night…"

He raised an eyebrow at her, and she realised that being direct was probably a lot more effective here than trying to be delicate. Also…

"Did you really ask her out when I had that accident?"

She'd come to the conclusion that it hadn't been Wednesday evening, for sure. She had been with one of them at all times. Plus, when he called her after the accident he'd said he would send someone… until she'd mentioned Tsuy was with her. Then he'd turned up himself.

He flashed a grin, unrepentant.
"Seemed like a good moment."

She sucked in a breath and grinned back.
"Damn, and there I was thinking you just came to make sure I was okay."

He leant back in his chair, and she took that for a signal to get to the point.

"She was a bit worried about this dating thing—" the faintest hint of a grimace passed over Tank's face, "—and I promised I'd mention this to you."

A hand gesture for her to continue. This was the closest to impatience she'd ever seen him.

"Date in the evening – not good, for now."

He nodded in acceptance.

"It kind of sounded like for her dating is something you don't do until you're quite serious. At first you'd just spend time together in daytime, get to know each other."

"Okay, that's good to know. Thanks."

He looked slightly relieved. Maybe he had been worried about a change of mind. She wondered if she should give him some advice on communicating with Tsuy. It felt a bit weird to talk about her friend like this, but if they liked each other and wanted to spend time together, this little titbit could make all the difference.

"Can I give you some advice?"

Blank stare. Could mean anything from 'go for it' to 'You think I need it?'. She plunged on.
"She has this weird thing about saying no. Apparently her people don't do it 'cause it's bad for harmony, or something."

"She won't say no? I didn't figure her for a passive person."
Ah, she had his interest now.

"Apparently sometimes they even say yes and then later act no, because to them it saves face. It's kind of complicated." That was an understatement, but she was sure he understood that. "She told me that she's trying to learn to at least not say yes, but I guess you just can't rely on outright answers."

"So how would she react instead?"

"She changes the subject. That took me a while to figure out."

"I'll keep it in mind. You ready to kick ass tonight?"

She grinned at him. Absolutely she was ready.

"I'm stuck. There's no way to get out of this," Stephanie sighed.

Tsuy walked around, taking in the situation, considering. Tank had her squashed up against the wall, hands pinned to her side, his heavy body pinning in her into place. He was too close to knee him. She simply couldn't move anything apart from her head, and headbutting him in the chest would only give her a headache.

"I agree. Not many options from here. Do you want to come with me a moment so I can help you find a solution?"

Stephanie nodded, and Tank released her. She grinned because he was wearing his uh-oh… expression.

Tsuy gestured to the door and they stepped outside of the dojo room for a moment.

"Surprise him, so he's off-balance. Then use the moment," Tsuy said.

"Okay… how would I surprise him?" she really couldn't see this working.

"Make like you're going to be sick."

"What?" she heard her own voice squeak. Talk about surprise.

"Most people recoil in reflex at the idea that you'll vomit on them. You get bonus points if you can actually induce it."

"You'd do that?" she couldn't believe Tsuy of all people would suggest this. What about this whole honour code in martial arts?

"Especially if this attacker was wanting to rape me. Not a lot of things are more libido-killing than sick or the thought of it. Chances are good he will at least shift onto his back foot, and you have your moment."

"Okay. But how will this work in slow motion?"

"Thomas will act out his reactions. You don't have to do it really slow as long as you do it low-impact."

Tank watched from the other side of the dojo room as they came back inside. He grinned as he watched them.

"Something tells me Ninja and Bombshell have been sharing some eeeeevil tricks!"

She grinned at his nickname for Tsuy. It had a fond tone to it. Tsuy smiled a little. Maybe he'd called her that before.

"Yup. You worried?"

He tilted his head a fraction to allow that he might be, a little.

They resettled into the earlier stance and she wiggled a bit, pretending she was trying to get a hand free. He leaned in heavier, something of caution in his face. He didn't believe for a moment that that was all she had in mind to try.

She gulped and thought of Ramirez, feeling the blood drain from her face almost immediately. Tank would never intentionally hurt her, but the bulk of his body blocking her way… and if she imagined Ramirez' soft, taunting tone…

"—I'm gonna be—"

She shut her mouth and felt her body heave. The weight was abruptly shifted away from her as Tank rocked back on his heels. He still had her hands, but she now had enough space to use her knees. One of them flew up toward his crotch, stopped in time, and then came down so her heel landed on his foot. Her hands were suddenly free and she mimicked a finger-stab to his eyes.

Tank staggered back and she slipped out from between him and the wall, retreating almost to the other side of the room.

Tsuy applauded a few times, softly. Tank straightened up. Stephanie tried to get herself back under control and picked up a water bottle for a drink.

"Well done. Are you all right?" Tsuy said. She took a long swig of water, did some deep breathing, and nodded.

"Yeah. That was very… real… for a moment there."

"Hell, Bombshell, I didn't have to act that reaction."

"Last thing for today," Tsuy said later that evening. She opened a cupboard and took out two bricks, some pieces of wood, and a red pillow. This she set up in the middle of the room. A piece of wood balanced like a bridge on the two bricks, the pillow underneath.

Tank smiled and sat down against the wall, his part of the session over. Stephanie and Tsuy stood on each side of the wooden plank.

"You are going to use your hand to break the wood," Tsuy announced. Stephanie looked down at the plank.

"No way."

"Why do you say that?"

"It'll hurt."

"Not if you do it right."

"What does that mean? Do I have to spend an hour in meditation suspending my nerve-ends first or something?"

Tsuy chuckled soundlessly.
"You shape your hand correctly, like we have practised, and you breathe like you have been doing during all our sessions. And you aim for the pillow, not the wood."

"But why do this? I'm hardly going to be attacked by a tree."

"You watch too much Karate Kid."

Tsuy sat down on her heels and gestured for her to do the same.
"You do not believe you can do this. I am prove something to you."

"Proving," Stephanie corrected her friend distractedly, eyes fixed on the wood grain.

"Proving," Tsuy inclined her head a fraction in acceptance of the correction. "Proving that you are stronger than you think."

She'd used the boxing bag in the gym a few times, but that was different. She'd been wearing gloves. And the bag was pretty hard, but not like wood. On the other hand she didn't think Tsuy would ask her to do something that she really couldn't do.

"Talk me through this?"

"Very well. First of all you must ignore the wood. It is simply in the way of your goal, the pillow."

Huh. Right.

"Then you shape your hand," Tsuy watched as Stephanie formed a loose fist. "Indeed so. Now breathe slow, deep. And on an outbreath, call out. Swing your hand. Hit the pillow."

"I have to yell?"

"You do not have to, but it often helps."

"Oh."

She scrutinised the bit of wood for a long moment, then took it away and stared at the pillow. It was plump and kind of pale red. With a bit of effort she could imagine Dickhead Orr's face there instead. It had been that shade while he loudly encouraged Joyce to ride him harder on the new dining room table. The plank was just in the way of delivering a nice, satisfying punch to his nose. Yeah. Hold on to that thought.

She could spend ten more minutes agonising about this, trying to gear up for it, but it would hurt either way. Better to get it over with.

She replaced the plank, took a deep breath, yelled 'HAI!' while swinging her fist, heard a loud crack, and watched as the two halves fell to the padded floor.

Silence filled the dojo. A glance passed between Tank and Tsuy. Stephanie looked at her own hand as it still rested on the pillow. It hadn't hurt at all.

"Wow."

It was Friday and she was still riding the victory train. The stunned, utterly triumphant feeling that had come over as she sat there watching the two halves of the plank clatter to the mat still hadn't left her. It was as if with one swing of her fist she'd broken years of frustration, Burg pressure, guilt, discouragement and setbacks.

There was nothing to feel guilty about. She didn't have to do the Burg thing – she could do the Stephanie thing and there was nothing wrong with that. And she could damn well do with her life whatever the hell she wanted to.

She'd fitted the halves together and asked Tsuy to write her name on it as a witness, wanting to hang the broken plank on the wall in her bedroom as a reminder of this moment. Her friend had fetched a marker and written a line in Japanese, then underneath it the translation: "Where ever you go, go with all your heart." Confucius. She also put the date on it and signed it.
Liking the way it looked, Stephanie had then handed the marker over to Tank, seeing as he was also witness. He'd grinned and drawn a little cartoon of a figure with wild curls letting a fist crash down and bits of wood flying everywhere. He could really draw. Then he'd signed it.

Thursday morning Ranger had woken her up to go running, since he wanted to take her along to a meeting later in the morning. They hadn't talked much but it had been nice. These runs had improved a lot since she had grown able to keep up with him. And she'd made herself useful during the meeting, even participating in the discussion and asking some critical questions.

"Steph, you coming along to Shorty's?"

"Of course! Someone promised to beat me at pool," she grinned at Hal. On the other side of the table Lester slammed his fist down on the table and did a loud Austin Powers 'Yeah baby, Yeah!'. He seemed to be well on his way toward a good buzz, and that was always fun. Lester was a happy drunk. Nobody stayed moody for long during nights like these. Not that that would be the case tonight. She was already drunk on happiness – and she hadn't even hit the margaritas yet.

"I'll beat ya good, Bombshell!" he called out, grinning wide. She'd won a game of pool from Hector a couple of weeks ago, and Lester had scolded Hector for losing from a girl. She'd offered him a game, but before they had been able to play it there'd been a fight at the bar, and they had had to migrate to another place, which didn't have a pool table.

"I'm trembling in my boots!" she called back, grinning just as wide. She'd practically majored in pool back in college. He didn't know that.

She felt Ranger's eyes, and turned to find him watching her with a smile. It didn't fade as her eyes found his. He was watching her with what she thought might be tenderness, even love. Was it still the kind of love that came without ring, but with condom? She didn't know, and right now she didn't care. It was good to have him in her life, no matter in which capacity.

"Did you play a lot of pool when you were in college?"

She heard his car door shut while she struggled with the buckle of her seatbelt. Not only was she tanked up on margaritas and a sky-high mood, she hadn't eaten anything since the pizza early in the evening, and it was now somewhere past midnight. She felt decidedly woozy.

"Yup," she answered finally, sitting back, giving up on the seatbelt. He grinned and reached over, fastening it for her.

"It's not hard to imagine you in college."

The engine came to life and the Cayenne rolled away from Shorty's, leaving a herd of the boisterous rangemen to pile into the two SUVs they used to transport people.

"What were you like?" she asked before she could contain her curiosity. Had Ranger ever been the typical wild college boy she'd known so many of? It was hard to imagine.

"Liked the subjects, hated the lectures," he said, his eyes focussed on the road ahead. "I was a disruptive little shit. Sit-down-and-shut-up education has never been my thing."

She grinned and was silent for a while, dreamily watching the red taillights of the cars ahead. It was nice to be in a car with him. Hell, it was nice to be just about anywhere with him.

"Hey," she suddenly noticed. "My place is that way..."

"Slight detour, Babe."

"Oh."

He was smiling, and she turned sideways in the passenger chair, so she could look at him more easily.

"Where are we going?"

He didn't answer. When he hit the indicator and turned off the road, she looked through the windscreen and saw a familiar sight.

"Taking me to McDonalds?" she squeaked in surprise.

"I can hear your stomach, Babe," he smiled.

"But don't you like… spotnani—sponati-- suddenly combust when you come too near to one?"

He threw his head back and laughed. The sound made her stomach skip and flutter. He swung the car into the drive-through and ordered. Instead of the salad she had expected, he got a milkshake and fries for himself.

"Hey, cool," she said to herself when he stabbed the straw through the lid on his milkshake. "An alien must have taken over Ranger's body… an alien with cravings."

He parked on the far side of the lot.
"I have cravings, Babe," he said with a smile, claiming his fries before she could confiscate them. "I just don't usually give in to them."

She didn't answer, because she had her mouth full of burger. He slurped on his milkshake and then gestured at her with the cup.
"You have a bad influence on me."

"Hey!"

He grinned at her indignant tone.

"Well okay, you have an influence on me. Jury's still out on if it's good or bad."

That made her grin.

"You have a good influence on me," she said, watching his fingers as he lifted a fry to his mouth.

"Babe, mostly I think you have a good influence on you."

What? Was that meant nicely or not? She wasn't up to complicated conversation at this time of night… let alone with this amount of alcohol in her bloodstream. He must have noticed her confusion, because he continued.

"You've grown a lot over the last few months. Become safer. Started living your own life instead of what others want it to be." The pride spoke from his voice. "I'll bet that if you would go after a skip now, you wouldn't get covered in garbage."

"I don't go after skips anymore," she shrugged, taking a sip of her coke.

"Sounds like you regret that."

"Maybe I do a little… I think I'm ready to do more fieldwork."

He smiled wide; unreserved, lighting up the car.

He'd once mentioned, in the week after the Stiva incident, that she should let him know when she felt ready to do more that research in the office. Probably he hadn't wanted her to feel pressured, because he'd never mentioned it again.

"How are you doing? Still worried about not having a life script?"

She grinned as she found that she hadn't worried about that in days. Must have been the thrill about RangeDay and her victory in the dojo that put it out of her mind.

"Not as much, I guess."

She finished her food and wiped her fingers with a napkin.

"I'm kind of sad things didn't work out with Joe…" she thought he might look a little crestfallen at that. "I also feel like I lost 20 pounds. Shame my jeans don't show it."

"Don't," he said quietly, voice serious. Don't what? She was beginning to feel she was lagging behind in this conversation.

"Don't be sad?"

"Don't feel like you have to lose weight."

Huh? So it was alright to be sad about Joe? She shook her head to clear it, grasping for a way to react.
"I thought you didn't want a fat chick working for you."

He actually grimaced. Then all of a sudden she found herself sideways on his lap, legs stuck out over the console. He had his arms around her and his eyes were very serious.
"There's couple of things I wish I hadn't said to you, and that's one of them."

She blinked in surprise. Those words had stung at the time, but he'd been right, so it hadn't bothered her that much. She was surprised he even remembered it.
"Why?"

She was very aware of how close they were right now, but it didn't have the supercharged sexual tension she was almost accustomed to. Mmm, he smelt good. She relaxed into his arms and let herself enjoy the feel of him. She was tipsy after all, she could always blame it on the margaritas later.

"I don't like the thought that I made you feel bad about yourself."

"You've always encouraged me," she said with a shrug in her voice. She couldn't quite understood why it bothered him. His lips were close to her temple. If she turned her head and sat up a little… but then that would be a bad idea. A very, very bad idea.

"Tank is taking Tsuy out," she said, just to have something to say, so she didn't have to concentrate on his warm breath brushing her cheek.

"Oh? So that's why he was so pleased about, Wednesday evening," Ranger said. She smiled at the tone of his voice. He was happy for his friend.
She wished she could be completely happy for Tsuy, without the slight tinge of jealousy she currently felt – Tank did do relationships. And while he might not rush things, but if things worked out between them, happily ever after was definitely an option for her friends.

As opposed to the happily-until-bailout she knew was the only thing she could have with Ranger. That was exactly why she didn't want to get involved with him, though her body thought differently.
She didn't feel much appeal for the marriage, 2.6 kids, suburb house with white picket fence and Golden Retriever thing… but she did want the commitment. It didn't have to be a ring. If Ranger wanted to be involved but reserved the right to one day say 'it's been fun, goodbye' then she wasn't going to go there with him. If she was going to have a relationship ever again, she wanted to be all the way in there, and her partner on that same page.

His breath was warm and moist over her ear and she couldn't contain a shiver. It was easy thinking those kind of things. It was harder sticking to them when he was this close and seeming intent to get closer. Even harder when most of her body agreed with him that this was a marvellous idea.

His hand shifted from where it played with her hair and a touch on her cheek gently turned her head to face him. Then he kissed her, slow and smouldering. It was a good thing there were several layers of clothing between them, or she was sure they would have been fused together, heated skin melded.

It took long minutes before the kiss came to an end and then she leant in close, her face against his shoulder. He held her, one of his hands stroking along her side, equal parts soothing and electrifying. His breath was calming down to slow, deep breaths. The side of his neck was warm against her cheek and she could feel his pulse and smell his skin. It was heaven.

It was way, way too comfortable. The thought occurred that she could get used to this… would like to get used to this… and that it was definitely time to be at home in her own bed and alone so, before she could be tempted to beg him to take her to his home.

"I'd like to go home," she said softly. She knew he'd heard her; his muscles stiffened a fraction. He let out a long breath, almost a sigh. After a long moment he released her, helped her back into the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt. He was silent on the way to her apartment. He usually was while he drove, but this time she couldn't help feeling he was angry, or something like that.

He walked her up to her apartment and did the habitual quick sweep of the rooms. When all was clear, she went to the kitchen to say hi to Rex and drink a glass of water.

"Want as well?" she gestured with the glass, and a little water splashed over the edge. She licked it off before it could run into her sleeve. He shook 'no', and his eyes suddenly seemed darker. Realising he'd been looking at her lick at the water, she momentarily forgot her plans to be in bed, soon, alone – and threw him a wicked grin.

She took a sip and closed her eyes in enjoyment of the cool liquid. Then suddenly the glass was taken from her hand and put on the counter with a soft clink. She still had her eyes closed and didn't hear him move, but that wonderfully male scent was a lot stronger now.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Thinking about kissing you," he whispered over her right ear. Her breath hitched at the warmth of it.

"Oh." What did you reply to something like that? She kept her eyes closed, rather enjoying the sensory pleasure of his closeness.

"I was telling you something earlier, but I'm not sure you heard me…" he breathed over her other ear.

He what? What did he mean? He'd told her quite a few things over the course of the night. Most of them trivial.
"Maybe you should try again," she whispered, feeling her lips curve into a smile. A delicious shiver crawled down her spine.

"I think maybe I should…"

She'd expected words, not the sensation of his lips on hers – but she couldn't bring herself to be disappointed. One hand was cradling the side of her face, the other stroking the small of her back. She suddenly noticed she was swaying on her feet. His tongue licked along her lips and she opened them a little, feeling her breath rush out as he pulled her closer against his body. Her knees buckled and she vaguely heard someone moan. Might have been her.

Somehow her hands had ended up on his back, underneath his shirt. She let them slide upward, playing over the hard muscles of his broad back. His mouth tore away from hers and he trailed hot, open-mouthed kisses along the side of her neck. She flexed her fingers when he reached a particularly sensitive spot.

"Babe," he groaned. "I love you…"

It took a few seconds before the shockwaves of the detonating bomb – well, okay, statement – reached her befuddled brain. When it finally did, she felt some hidden source of anger erupt like a volcano.

"What?"

From zero to bitch in 0.2 seconds. She took a step back, was stopped by his hand on her back, and shot him a furious glare. His face was without emotion. The hand released her.

"You tell me that now?"

He gave no reply, just looked at her. His face blank. That just angered her more. Was she the only one that gave a damn? Were her emotions a game to him, picked up and played with or put back on the shelf like a Gameboy? Was she still entertainment?

"You do all these things, give me all that help, be there for me every time, and you tell me to go back to Morelli. You tell me that you love me and in the next breath that you won't have a relationship with me, but you keep giving me those goddamn kisses," she was trembling with emotion now; mostly anger, and that was good. If she stopped being angry she'd start to cry. That just wouldn't do. She could hear her own voice rise.
"And just when I'm getting used to the idea that you're giving me exactly as much as you're willing to give me and that there won't ever be more, you go and kiss me like that and say those things? What is this? A new way to get me into bed? Your idea of entertainment? Giving me a little taste of what it could be like, and then disappearing back to the batcave?"

She couldn't continue because his fingers were on her lips, gently, halting her fuming rant.

"I'm sorry," he said. It had a final tone to it. Then he was gone.

To be continued

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