My thanks to Natalie for her help. Standard disclaimers apply – of course it's not mine. Don't be silly. Just playing in JE's sandbox.

Rangeday

Chapter 19

With the help of the wine she slept for about three more hours, but by six AM she'd been far more awake than she considered acceptable. Worse, she still had enough alcohol in her bloodstream to feel halfway between wobbly and hung over. A couple of cups strong coffee and about a litre of water helped clear her head.

"Hey Steph!" Lester grinned when she come into the office at eight. "You look like someone kept you up all night."

Someone did, but not in the way you think. She said nothing, just gave him a friendly thwack to the back of his head as she walked past.

"Hey Tank. You look like your weekend turned out okay," she greeted the big man.

He gave her a small nod.
"It did, despite the crisis Saturday."

Had he seen Tsuy? She'd wager he had, but there was just no non-nosy way to find out. Since most of the guys only appreciated her nosiness when it concerned an FTA that had to be found, she left it.

"Ranger said there's an interview?"

"Yeah, it's at 10 AM."

"Do you have a file or anything on this guy?"

"I do, but I don't want you to read it."

She gave him a confused look.
"I thought Ranger said he wanted my opinion on this guy. I need to prepare myself if I'm going to be any use."

Tank smiled.
"Don't prepare. I know all his background, but having read all that, sometimes you overlook stuff a fresh person would spot right away."

"Okay. But this guy is basically qualified, right? So it's just to see if he's suitable."

"He's qualified. Ranger ran into him during a job last week. Boston can't offer him a permanent position and he doesn't mind relocating, so the boss sent him down here for a talk."

She was already in the meeting room when Tank brought the man in, and next to the huge black man the interviewee looked almost small. People tended to be nervous when standing next to Tank, but clearly, this man wasn't intimidated. He was a little over 6 feet tall and while not as bulky as most of the rangemem, he had a hard look to his body.
His hair was millimetred and his skin was shaded in a way that suggested a lot of time in the sun - or a mixed ancestry. Judging by his cheekbones, probably the second.

He walked around the table toward her, extending his hand. She was pleasantly surprised, because usually she was acknowledged with a glance and then dismissed. She smiled as she accepted his hand, and paused the fraction of a second when her eyes met his - they were a startling pale blue. His lips quirked a little at her reaction.

"Michael Scofield," he introduced himself.

"Stephanie Plum. Nice to meet you."

She'd agreed beforehand that she would introduce herself by name but not by function, because Tank wanted to know how the guy would react. It was a common technique in negotiations, he had explained. Leave out some information and observe how the other filled in that gap. Apparently it said a lot about a person.

She sat silently while Tank asked Scofield about his experience and ambitions. Not sure what exactly they wanted her to pay attention to, she tuned out the words for a little while and just observed him. He wore a navy dress shirt over a white longsleeve and slacks, neat but not suity. He'd picked a chair that faced the door and seemed to have part of his attention on whatever was happening behind it.
A phone rang in the next room and there was a slight pause in his speaking, as if he couldn't tune out the environmental sounds. She wondered about that. It wasn't an army thing; even Ranger, Mr aware-of-your-surroundings, could tune out the office sounds and concentrate on what he was doing.

He spoke softly, in a low, slightly gravely voice. He seemed to consider his answers carefully, and to her surprise, now and then he would look at her, addressing her as well as Tank.

"So, tell me what you think of this guy," Tank turned to her after Scofield had left.

"Is this a test?"

He considered that a moment.

"Call it an exercise. You're observant, and you notice different things than I do."

"Okay. He's not military."

Tank nodded.

"I think— I'm not sure, but I think he's done time."

"How do you come to that conclusion?"

"He looked at his watch and I saw the edges of a tattoo. And he wore a long-sleeved shirt under his dress shirt. I think he has a full-torso tattoo."

"Lots of people do," Tank shrugged, challenging her.

"Hmm, okay. I connected it with jailtime, but you're right. He also habitually speaks like he doesn't want to be overheard, and he has this... I don't know, hyper-vigilance?"

He made a 'go on' gesture.

"I know you guys are aware of your surroundings, but you're also used to trusting someone else to be on guard for you. Like when you're in here, you tune out the sound of a door slamming or a phone ringing next door, because you know there's other guys watching out. He couldn't tune that out. I think maybe he's done time and has learned to have eyes in the back of his head."

He nodded approvingly.
"Anything else?"

"He's intelligent... and observant. He knew that I wasn't here to take notes. He even tried to draw me into the conversation a bit, maybe to feel me out... or to flatter me."

Tank grinned slightly.

"See, this is why we like you to sit in on this kind of thing," he said. "You notice different things."

"So why is Rangeman interested in this guy?"

"It's time to diversify the team."

"How so?"

"Everybody here, with the exception of you, has spent extended time in the military," he said. "While we value the training and discipline that has given us, it means that we basically all think according to the same military tracks. We do things the way we've done them before, because a drill sergeant yelled any creativity out of us."

She was surprised to hear him speak of the army like that - and surprised that he included himself. She'd never consider him or Ranger uncreative. He quirked her a smile.

"I don't regret my choices, Bombshell. But it can't be denied that to function in the army, you have to think army. Since you've started working here we've noticed the value of having someone around who doesn't think army. Sometimes cases are like abstract puzzles," he continued. "With all of us are sitting on one side of the table figuring it out. Then you come in and sit down on the other side of the table."

"Thinking outside the box?" she grinned. "To speak with a horrible management cliché."

He chuckled.
"Ranger decided that when we interviewed for a replacement for Bill, we should try to find someone who could help make this a more balanced team. So we sit on all sides of the table."

She wondered if this had anything to do with the botched job on saturday night. She had heard that it something to do with people waiting for orders instead of improvising and reacting to the situation fluidly.

She had noticed that Rangeman had a core team of leaders, and that the rest of the men had mostly been hired because of good attitude and physical ability. Maybe now that the business was shifting in different directions, Ranger found he needed other types of personalities in there as well.

"So are you hiring him?"

"Do you think we should?"

"I hate it when you ask for my opinion but don't give me yours," she sighed. "Okay, I think he could be an asset, but I can't decide until I know what got him into the pen. He's a smart guy. I wonder... Usually guys like this are smart enough not to do anything too illegal, or good enough that they don't get caught. Having the second sort of guy work for Rangeman would be a risk for the business, so I can't see that."

"He held up a bank," Tank said. "To get into the same prison where his brother was on death row."

"Um, okay?" This helped the situation how?

"It played out big in the Chicago papers a couple years ago. The brother had been framed, and his name was finally cleared. Scofield sat out half of his five years and then got out on parole. I think he had planned to break them out, but of course you don't hear that stuff on the news."

"Hmm."

"I intend to hire him, unless you have a bad feeling about it," Tank said. "He'd be doing mostly tracing until he's passed some training courses, so you'd work together with him a lot."

"He needs training courses?"

"It's easier to find someone with the right mindset and train them, than get someone with the physical skills and try to change their way of thinking."

"Fair enough. When would he start?"

"Tomorrow, if he can. We're offering him a 4th flour apartment until he finds a place."

"'kay. I'll let him know about Rangeday," she grinned. Tank quirked a grin back, but didn't try to pry anything out of her. Maybe he had other methods.

Michael Scofield started the next day, and she spent some time introducing him to the men and to the work. He was at ease with computers and quickly got the hang of the various search programs. Most of the men were polite, but cool – like they had been with her at first. She was surprised; she'd thought they had acted like that because of who she was. Now it seemed like they just took a while to warm up to new people

She found she liked Michael, but he seemed like one of those men you'd never really get to know. Private, guarded almost. She wondered if he had decided on a way he would behave around the office and was now following that course. Pleasant, neutral, untouchable.

She told him about Rangeday and the surrounding intrigue and plotting, because the tension in the office was increasing by the day. The betting book was closing this coming Friday at four PM, so she fully expected some last-ditch attempts to uncover her plans. Michael chuckled silently.

"How did you get into this kind of stuff? Someone mentioned you used to bounty hunt."

"I was hard up with the hunting and Ranger offered me a job," she shrugged, not feeling like explaining exactly what drama had surrounded her being hired. "I'm naturally nosy, so I was perfect for research. My friend Lula does the bounty hunting now, and I help her sometimes."

He grinned at that and leant back in his chair.
"Are you involved in any of the fieldwork here?"

"Sometimes. Stakeouts, takedowns, mostly." She didn't mention distractions. Didn't want him to think that was the only reason she worked there. "You?"

He was silent for a moment, as if wondering how much he wanted to tell her. She got the feeling that he considered that question a lot.
"Have you read my file?"

She shook no.
"Just your CV. After the interview Monday."

He nodded to himself and then seemed to come to a decision.
"I'm still on parole, so I won't do any fieldwork at first."

Ah, that was it.
"You can't risk getting caught carrying concealed." Or hitting a skip, or doing any of the grey-area things that sometimes occurred during take-downs.

He nodded.
"By the time it's over I will be up to par with the physical stuff, so it works out okay."

"I kind of wondered how a structural engineer ended up in Security."

He gave her a look that probably meant 'you ask a lot of questions' and she held up her hands in defence.

"Hey, I'm not saying anything. You're looking at a former lingerie buyer. I did say I'm naturally nosy."

He chuckled and was silent for a moment.
"In my workfield you don't get hired if your record isn't spotless. After… I got out, I did some nightshift work for an agency and there I ran into someone who referred me to Rangeman Boston." He leant forward. "Now, how did a lingerie buyer end up bounty hunter?"

"I was laid off and I was out of stuff to sell to pay the rent," she said. "Blackmailed my cousin Vinnie into giving me the job."

It felt like an age ago.

Wednesday night Tsuy dedicated the lesson to pressure points; where to find them, how to use them and how to follow up. It was a fun lesson and she felt thrilled to notice that her friend was actually exerting herself during a sparring session. Before ,Tsuy had held back, applying enough pressure that she had a challenge but not so much that it was discouraging. It felt good that she could now make the other woman work hard enough to break a sweat.

The three of them had a dinner of zaru soba noodles with marinated beef, edamame beans and all the trappings, and Stephanie smiled to see that the cook brought them a great amount of food to start with. Had Tsuy arranged for double portions so they would be saved the trouble of asking if there was more? It wouldn't surprise her.

She was pleased to see how happy Tank and Tsuy seemed to be with each other. It was very muted, but she caught the occasional warm smile across the table and smiled to herself. Whatever it was that had put Tank in such a foul mood last week, it was apparently solved now.

"Friday is when the big company day secret comes out, isn't it?" Tsuy asked. "Does that mean you'll finally tell me?"

She grinned because her friend seemed to feel the need to convince Tank that she didn't know anything. Maybe he'd been poking around.

"Yeah, next week I'll tell you," she answered. "Not earlier."

"Why not? I'm good at keeping secrets..."

"And he," she nodded her head to Tank, who was following the conversation with rapt interest, "is good at getting them out of people."

Tsuy and Tank eyed each other for a long moment, and Tank gave a slow, slightly dangerous smile. Tsuy's eyes widened a little and she abruptly turned back to Stephanie.

"Good point. Tell me later."

The day flew by on Thursday as she tried hard to concentrate on her searches. The guys were clearly thinking about Rangeday and a lot of eyes were trained on her every move. She tried not to smile or look smug … too early for that. Instead she practised her innocent look.

Thursday night the landline phone rang, and for a moment she thought it might be Ranger. He had promised to call, so he would, right? Not like last week. He'd probably been busy, but Ranger always did what he promised.

"Hello Stephanie," Grandma Mazur said, her voice full of glee. "I must thank you for all the scenery you caused us today. It was a most spectacular show!"

"Scenery? Grandma, what happened?"

"I'm talking about all those hunky black-clad men that came to see us today! Even Ellen admitted that there were some fine speciMEN among them!"

"People from my work came to see you? What about?"

"Rangeday, of course! They convinced us it was vital that they found out about your plans, but we of course knew nothing. I did offer to show them your old room.."

The nerve of them! At least grandma probably made them sorry for trying...

"Well we just wanted to thank you for the show. The only thing that could have made this day better would have been the hottie bounty hunter with the nice package dropping by."

"He's out of town," she said distractedly. "Thanks for letting me know about this."

Mary Lou was the first she called.

"There were four of them, FOUR!" her friend thrilled. "The first one was really intimidating, with a tattoo on his forehead. I knew he works with you but I didn't want him in the house, so I told him you were taking them mountainbiking. Then a while later came that really gorgeous charming man, Santos, and I invited him for coffee because I was bored, and he was really persuasive so I told him I thought you guys were going rock climbing. And around lunch—" Mary Lou broke for air, "the big guy you stunned last year. He was really nice so I offered him lunch and..."

Stephanie felt her eyebrows rise while her friend related the story of her four Rangeman visitors, and oh by the way one came by yesterday as well, and... and...

"Well girl," Lula said, "I'll tell ya, Hal sure tried to get it out of me! But I resisted bravely and let that fine man torture me for hours – I never said a word!"

"Uh-huh. Hours of torture. The things you do for me," she grinned. "Seen any of the other guys?"

"A bunch of 'em came down the office. Connie was having a ball with 'em."

"Yes, I've had unusual amounts of Rangemen dropping by this week." Connie said. "Kind of seemed like every receipt and every file needed its own courier. Lula and I laughed our heads off."

"Did you tell them anything?"

"We told them everything! Everything and anything we could think of."

"I'm going to get mobbed at the office tomorrow."

Some more calling around revealed that one of the men had even been to the police bureau to ask Joe and Eddie if they knew of anything. The merry men were nothing if not thorough.

She woke around 2 AM from the sounds of someone working on her door locks. The first flash of panic ebbed away to make room for the thought that Ranger could have come home early. This brought her from panic straight to hot flash. She hadn't forgotten his statement about how he would decide when the time was right. She'd thought it arrogant then, and she still did – but if he thought the right time was now, he'd find no contest here.

She slipped out of bed and tip-toed into the hall. The corner bolt was set. She had to admit she sometimes forgot, but tonight it was set. She wondered how he would handle that. Maybe he'd ring her mobile to get her to come open it. She could surprise him...

The second lock tumbled and there was a push inward, halted by the bolt arm. He cursed softly and pushed again. She reached out to disengage the bolt when there was another, harder push.

"Fuck man, just open the goddamned door," someone hissed.

"I'm telling you, it's open!" another voice.

Stephanie froze and felt all the warmth leave her body. Not Ranger. She'd been about to open the door in her t-shirt and underwear and it wasn't Ranger. Cold sweat chilled her back.

Someone pushed again. The second voice let off a string of curses that could have turned the air blue.
"Fuck, what did she do, pull her couch in front of it? Damn it, we have to be back in the office before Bobby comes back. I don't want the boss hearing about this."

She finally recognised the voice as Vince, and relaxed again. Vince was trying to break into her apartment. What he hoped to accomplish there was anyone's guess. She didn't have anything about Rangeday in her home. The only thing that could give her away was on a remote internet archive that she accessed via her laptop, everything firmly passworded. Probably only Ranger knew she even had a laptop, and even he would have to somehow know where to go AND know her password details before he'd find anything.

Meanwhile she had the problem of two merry men on the other side of the door. They weren't dangerous, but she didn't feel up to midnight interrogations. So far all the Rangeday intrigue had been a fun challenge, and she didn't want them to take this over the edge of intrusion.

"Um, guys?" she interrupted their whispered discussion full of curses. "I suggest you leave right now, or I'll have the cops out here."

"Fuck the cops," Slick said through the door after a long moment. "We'll be gone by then."

He had a point.
"Okay, how about this?" she conceded. "I'll call Ranger and let him know what's going on."

"Fuck."

"See, I know he's in Boston and all, but I'm sure he'd find a moment for you in his schedule when he gets back."

She heard some scuffling as if they packed stuff back into a bag, and then a low conversation disappearing down the hallway. Her shoulders slumped as the tension drained away. She locked the door properly, thankful to the locksmith that had recommended her the deadbolt and her own sense to use it tonight.

I need to make sure I remember to lock it every night, she told herself sternly.

She waited at the window until she saw a black Explorer start up and drive out of the parking lot.

Sleep wouldn't come again. He still hadn't called. She stared at the ceiling and sighed. It wasn't so much that she needed a phone call – she missed him, but she knew he was okay. And she could probably call on his mobile. It was just… he'd promised to call her. If she called, it'd feel like she was whining. As if she couldn't handle not hearing from him for a few days. She didn't want to feel like some needy woman who freaked when he didn't have time to call her. It was just hard to believe that he didn't have five minutes in which to call her. That had to mean…

Had to mean…

Damned if I know what it means.

Friday morning the tension in the Rangeman building was an almost audible buzz in the air. It kind of reminded her of Christmas evenings when she was a kid. Her sister going to bed earlier because that made morning come sooner. She herself, hyperactive and unable to sleep for fear of missing anything.

The men in the office would abruptly cease their conversations when she approached, and she rolled her eyes at them.

Michael looked up from a stack of newspaper archive material and flashed her a grin.
"And then to think I thought this would be a serious place, being the head office and all."

"Apparently this is nothing. Tank keeps a 'best of security tape' video reel, to be shown at the company Christmas party."

"So it's also like this when the boss is here? He has the fear of God into the Boston guys."

"Maybe a little less openly." She stood in the doorway of her cubicle and looked in. "Did they search my stuff?"

"Think so. Someone was in there when I got here."

She stood at the entrance of the cubby for a moment. Everything had been left in almost perfect order, so they'd been thorough. Not that there was much to find. At best they would have found a post-it note she had made some notes on about the shopping that had to be done on Thursday the 4th.

"Oh well, apart from the amount of beer I plan to buy, I don't reckon they found out much of interest. Have you put in a bet?"

"Put a tenner on a wild guess, to get into the spirit of things."

She chuckled.
"You know, when this whole thing started I thought that would be the extend of it for everybody. I didn't expect for the guys to go all special forces on me."

"Hey Steph, you going to the gym with us?" Ram stuck his head into her cubby at lunch time.

"Only if I'm not in danger of interrogation!" she replied.

"Now bombshell, you know we're more subtle than that," Lester smirked. "You coming as well, Michael?"

When she walked into the gym she found Ram at the weight bench and Lester and Michael on the treadmills. Michael wore a T-shirt and she saw she'd been right about the tattoo. They were full sleeves and she suspected covered his torso as well. Some kind of church style display with words here and there. What did it mean? She decided to ask at a later point.

"Thought you had ambition to tackle the Stairmaster this time," Lester said when she stepped on the crosstrainer.

"Do I look like someone who likes stairs? I'm a lift person. I don't even walk stairs to get somewhere, let alone never-ending stairs on an evil machine."

"Didn't you fall off last time?" Ram interjected.

Damn, someone had seen that? Curse those video cameras.

"Didn't you drop a dumbell on your foot last time?" she asked sweetly. He flashed her a grin.

After the warming up the guys went to the big punching bag, coaching Michael, while she did her sets of weighs. She'd moved on to kilo weights now, and though the goal wasn't to grow buff, it was still satisfying to feel that she could do 25 repetitions without straining. When she'd first started doing this, everything hurt after 10.

The guys had moved on to some friendly sparring, and when she was done with her set she observed them while walking out on the treadmill. Ram and Lester did this a lot, punching and blocking with the easy familiarity they seemed to have in everything. Michael was less experienced. His punches were good, but his defence was lacking. She wondered who would be training him.

She was so absorbed watching them spar that she hadn't heard what they discussed in low voices. Suddenly she was grabbed by the upper arms from two sides and dragged off the treadmill. She yelped in shock, and Lester put his hand over her mouth.
"Shh, Bombshell. Here's a choice," he said in a low tone. "You tell us all about Rangeday, or we'll stick you under the cold shower."

She glanced to Ram, who was holding her other arm, and Michael, who was observing with a blank expression. She imagined that he didn't know what to think.

She bit Lester's finger and he uncovered her mouth.
"Wow, Santos. You were right, you guys are subtle," she grinned, her heartbeat lowering to normal. Don't be intimidated. This was all in fun. She knew these guys and they would never hurt her.

"Right, cold shower it is," Ram said. They began to drag her toward the dressing room. She tossed the security camera in the corner a wicked smile.

"Gee guys, are you sure you want to tell Tank about how you put me under the shower?" she said. "cause he might think that a bit unprofessional. And I don't think Ranger would be too amused either…"

She trailed off as they came to a halt in the door opening.
"Fuck, she's right. That wouldn't go over well with the boss," Lester said.

"Especially not since it'd take the both of you to get and keep me in there," she grinned. Now she thought of it, taking a shower with two buff guys didn't sound so bad. This was definitely fantasy material.

"Actually, that might be fun. I've changed my mind, let's go!" she tried to move through the door, but now they were holding her back, and a silent conversation was exchanged over her head. She imagined it had something to do with Ranger, Fed-Ex rates, and third-world countries.

After a long moment they turned her around and nudged her back into the gym, and then both disappeared into the changing room. The door clicked shut behind her.

She looked at Michael, who was shaking his head with bemused disbelief.

"If you think that was drastic, last night I had two guys trying to break into my apartment. Luckily I recently treated myself to a really good deadbolt."

"Are they always this fanatic?"

"I think it's an army thing."

They shared a 'what can you do?' shrug.

"Maybe I should send them to sensitivity training after all. A Rangeday of sharing and hugging and meditating... that would be fun."

She thought that over for a moment longer.

"For certain values of fun."

They were both silent for a moment, contemplating the idea.

"Except then I'd have to join a witness protection program."

He gave a 'that'd be a bother' kind of hum, and tossed her her towel.

"Are you actually going to reveal it today? It's just the closing of the book, right?"

"Hadn't decided yet. Just for this, I might decide not to tell until next Thursday."

"Bet that will go over well."

Oh yeah. She just couldn't help thinking that a little revenge was in order. Standing under the shower in the 7th floor apartment, she decided she was definitely due the opportunity to make them squirm a little.

"Gentlemen, the book closes right now," Tank said softly. Somehow the hubbub in the break room quietened down instantly. She always wondered how he did that – be heard while speaking so softly. If she'd wanted to say something she'd have had to shout.

Not now though. Right now she could whisper and they'd hear her. That would be because the entire room was staring at her intently. She stared back.

Don't make any sudden movements.

"Well?" someone finally demanded.

"Well what?" she smiled.

"Well who won!"

"I would have to see the book to tell you that," she said mildly, trying to resist a smirk. Tank pushed the closed book over the table in her direction. She glanced at it, but left it where it was.

"You're not telling?" Hal.

"I was going to… but then certain people got so fanatic—" the men looked at each other, "—that I haven't decided yet if we're going to do what I had planned… or go for sensitivity training after all."

"You can't be serious about that!" someone groaned.

"Some people seem to need it."

"It was a joke, Bombshell!" Lester called out.

"Maybe," she conceded to him. "But a couple of things happened that I didn't find that funny."

She saw Tank come to attention and look over the faces of the men, clearly displeased about this news. It was very, very silent for a long minute.

"So," she declared, when no more protest could be heard. "You're all getting a kit list by Tuesday."

She got up and started to leave. Hal looked like he wanted to say something, but Tank still had the 'someone's in trouble' look in his eyes and nobody spoke.

She didn't look up from her monitor when Tank appeared in her cubicle.

"You going to tell me what happened?"

"Wasn't planning on it," she said shrugged.

"Why not?"

"Because people getting heads ripped off doesn't really add to the party I'm planning."

He was silent for a while, and she typed in the last search request for the day. The Saturday crew would probably need this for their takedown, so she didn't mind working a little longer.

"Fair enough," Tank said finally. "Aren't you curious if anyone guessed right?"

"Sure I am. I'm just resisting the urge to find out, because that would give it away."

"You coming back to the break room?"

"Yeah, when this is done. But if I'm going to be bugged about it…"

"You won't."

It was nearly eight PM when she got back to her apartment. She'd had pizza and orange juice – getting drunk around the guys hadn't seemed like a good idea right now. Some of the guys planned to go to a club and that had been a good moment to call it a night and go home. Vin Diesel was waiting for her.

She was halfway through The Pacifier when her mobile phone sounded the batman tune. She paused the DVD to answer it.

"Yo."

"Yo yourself."

Silence. She let it stretch for a moment, wondering why on earth he had called her if he wasn't going to say anything. After a minute she decided that that zen crap was for the birds.

"You still in Boston?"

"Yeah, there's something planned for tonight. Probably won't be home until tomorrow morning. Sorry Babe."

She tried not to sigh. She'd really looked forward to seeing him tonight. Why did it feel like he wasn't as bothered as she was? Don't think that. It's the job.

"Okay."

"I'll call you tomorrow when I feel halfway human again."

"Ranger?"

"Hmm?"

"Was this a test?"

The words had formed themselves before she really thought about it. She hadn't worded it quite this way to herself, but this was what she thought he'd been doing. Testing her.

"Babe?"

"Being away, not calling. Was this a test to see if I could handle being with you?"

She could almost hear his expression hardening.

"I have to go Babe, I'll see you tomorrow."

She cursed the dial tone. Who did he think he was? Did he think she was the only one supposed to give in this relationship, and that she was willing to let him steer while she hung on and stuck with him? That it would be her doing all the adapting and he could just do what he always did? That he got to decide if and when they'd see each other, if and when they had sex? As if he was such an expert on making relationships work. Hell, apparently he had no idea who he was in with.

I'll show him, the ass. He won't know what hit him.

She stomped down the stairs and went to her car. The Hilux gave a satisfying growl in the quiet parking lot.

I'll fucking show the bastard!

Something tickled on the edge of her mind, and Stephanie slowly swam toward awareness. She was deliciously comfortable, snuggled into a light cover, curled up on a mattress that may well have been a fluffy summer's cloud in a previous life. She felt like she'd slept for a week. With the dim realisation that it was Saturday she stretched lazily. No rush to get up. She could stay in bed all day if she felt like it.

Stretching her arms her fingertips came to touch something solid, and a jolt of awareness shot down her arm. This wasn't her own bed. And that… that was Ranger she'd just poked in the shoulder. He was moving now, clearly just waking. His dark eyes, still heavy-lidded with sleep, searched her face.

"Hey." What else could she say? She was in his bed, and she'd just poked him awake. What had happened last night? How had she ended up here anyway?

"Hey yourself," he said, his voice husky with sleep.

"What am I doing here?" she wondered, sleepily rubbing her face.

Ranger rolled over until he was right next to her.

"I think you came over to chew me out."

Oh yeah. She'd been pissed off, but tiredness had overtaken her anger somewhere around midnight. The Corona's she'd stolen from his fridge hadn't helped. She'd lain down on his wonderful bed thinking she'd just close her eyes for a little while.
Stephanie tried to re-find her anger at his arrogance, but it wasn't easy when he was this close to her, all warm muscle and smooth skin and deliciously sleep-tousled hair.

"Well, you deserved it," she finally said.

He hummed his agreement and pulled her closer, slipping a knee between hers. She draped her arm over his side and nestled her nose against the side of his neck.

"Mmm."

After a while she realised he was laughing silently.

"What?" she grumbled.

"If this is a chewing-out," he whispered with laughter in his voice, "then I'll be sure to piss you off more often."

"Shut up." She bit down in his trapezium muscle to emphasise her words. "Don't remind me what a rude and infuriating man you are."

He growled low in his chest and pulled her closer against him. Her breasts were pressed against his hard chest and she found her lower body in full contact with other… hard… parts of him.

" You know, an apology isn't going to cut it this time," she whispered, fighting to hold on to her brain functions. He hind brain punched the air and did she snoopy dance. This is finally it!

"I know. I'll have to plan a way to get back into your good graces."

Oh boy.

She took a deep breath, a rush of heat leaving her speechless for the moment. One of his hands stroked down her back and back up, this time underneath her T-shirt. His hand seemed incredibly warm and her skin came alive with fiery trails where he touched her. Her fingers curled into the skin of his back, and he shifted his leg, angling their hips closer together.

She licked the skin of his throat and rocked her hips against the hard length of him. If she shifted just a little… the friction... there, that was it. He groaned and a hand dug into her hair, pulling her head back so he could claim her lips. The kiss racked up her body temperature to previously unseen heights, and when they broke it they were both breathing heavy.

"If you're going to break this off because it doesn't adhere to some kind of 'perfect moment' scenario you have in your head—" she panted, grinding her hips against the hard ridge of his erection, "—then I promise you I'll lock myself into my apartment with one of those rabbit vibrators—"

He made a strangled sound and his fingers dug into her backside, and she moaned and added:

"And stay in there for months and months—" she gasped as he drew her earlobe into his mouth, "—just me… and the rabbit… and a biiig box of batteries."

"Babe..." that was definitely a groan. "Christ."

He suddenly rolled them over so he was above her, and leant up, tugging on her T-shirt. She raised her arms, wanting it out of the way. Wanting to be skin to skin. Then she started to laugh a little because he was hindering the process by kissing her deeply, simultaneously plundering her mouth and tugging the T-shirt upward.

He broke for air and chuckled as well, and she felt buoyed by heat and mirth and love, all mingled together in an intoxicating mix. His eyes were narrowed and his lips curved upward, and he was giving her an intense, dark-eyed look. She tried to stop laughing, but couldn't, and it bubbled up, grew, until her entire body shook with the silent force of it.

"What? It's not nice to laugh around a naked man, Babe," he said, his eyes warm as he looked at her.

"I love you—" she heard herself say it and her eyes widened in shock. Whatever she'd wanted to tell him, that wasn't it. If she'd had her hands free, she would have clapped them in front of her mouth. His smile grew wide and brilliant, and he leant down to kiss her, slow now, and gentle, and intense.

"If I tell you how I feel," he kissed her again, soft presses of his lips to her forehead, her eyes, her lips. "Will you yell at me?"

Her breath caught at that and she sobered; she hadn't understood up 'till now how much that had hurt him. It was a painful reminder to a time when he'd told her something that mattered, and she'd been angry because she hadn't wanted to hear it. Or rather, had wanted to hear it, but had been too unsure and insecure to really trust it.

"No."

She let her hands glide over the skin of his back, soothing. His spine was tensed, and he was giving her an intense look.

"As long as you don't stop looking at me like that," she whispered, using the opportunity to lean up and press a soft kiss just under the corner of his left eye. "And as long as you'll share yourself with me." She kissed under the other eye and lay back down, smiling because he looked so very serious.

"I—" he closed his eyes and she could feel tension crawl through his back. He was silent for a long moment. "You're amazing."

She could take that to mean that he couldn't promise that he would share himself with her, but she felt too good to let her insecurities get in the way now. She'd told him how she felt… and he'd been stunned and happy. Just because he couldn't quite say it back right now didn't mean he didn't feel it. He did love her – the way he was holding on to her and the curling of his fingers and the breathless "Oh Dios" he was whispering in her ear all told her that he did. His lips trailed along her jaw line to her lips and they shared a slow, deep, powerful kiss that made her feel light in the head.

"Ranger?"

He leant up on his forearms so he could look at her.
"Babe?"

"You better call control and tell them that you don't want to be disturbed for a while…" he chuckled "…because if you think I'll let you run out again," she licked the shell of his ear and dropped her voice to a husky whisper, "you're seriously mistaken."

Now it was his turn to laugh softly, and she loved the sound of it, the look on his face, the vibration in his body and the delicious pressure that seemed to set her body on fire. She smiled at him, just soaking him up, storing this moment, this feeling, for whatever difficulties they would encounter in the future.

God, I love him.

"You have a way of messing up my plans," he finally said, his tone warm.

"It's what I do," she grinned, undulating her body against him. "What was the plan?"

"I was going to kidnap you and take you home."

Something in the way he said that made her forget about rocking her hips for just a moment.

"And then I was already there?" she fished for information. He smiled.

"Home – home, Babe. Not here."

Finally see the batcave? That was tempting. Not half as tempting as his deliciously hard body against her own, though. She'd see his house later. Right now she had other things on her mind. She stroked her fingertips under the waistband of his silk boxer and softly raked her nails over his skin. His hips jerked, and she shifted her legs a little too the side, so that he was nestled between her thighs, the pressure just in the right place.

She slowly trailed her nails up over his back and he kissed her, hard and deep, almost squirming under her hands.

"You gonna call?"

He reached out to grab his mobile phone from the nightstand and speed- dialled control.

"Yo, it's me. You're in charge."

"Yeah. Dire emergency only. Dire, Santos."

He disconnected and tossed the phone away.

"Now, where was I..."

note
I stole Michael Scofield from Prison Break, because I could easily see him as a Rangeman. I don't know anything about how PB will continue and end, so this is him from an alternative universe.