Title: It's all about living life
Chapter 18: Planning!
Author: Ann (Chrystalsandsnowflakes)
Rating: (G to NC-17): G
Spoilers/Warnings: Takes place in the future, so after EOT
Summary: Steph has a plan…
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, I just play with them

Planning!

When Tank opened the door to the backseat, Lula turned around and just looked at me with a friendly smile.

"Hey girl," she said.

"Lula, how was your evening?" I asked.

"It was great, we had a lovely dinner. We were actually on our way to Tank's place (knowing look over her shoulder to me) when we heard about your little adventure. We thought we might take a look to see if we could help you." It was implied that Ranger wouldn't need help, but I chose to ignore it.

"That was nice of you guys, thanks."

"No problem, girl."

The rest of the ride we chatted about important issues, like the importance of good donuts (never around when you needed them most), clothes (you could never have enough) and men (always around, but not the way you wanted it mostly) while Tank drove to the hospital. There they kept me company until the nurse said that somebody could look at my ankle now. It had started to swell and looked quite blue already. The doctor turned, twisted and pulled and said that nothing was broken (told you!), but that he would ask one of the nurses to put on a bandage that would support the joint for the next week. I had to visit my GP in 5 days to have the swelling checked and until that time I would have to use crutches and keep my foot elevated. Great… Another 45 minutes and I was trying to get used to the crutches while we were on our way out again.

"Home, Bombshell?" Tank asked.

"Yes, please." There was nothing more that I wanted than to go home, have a shower to wash the awful beer smell from Joey of me and crawl into bed. Mmm, maybe a bath would be better, I could hang my foot over the edge then, because of the bandage. Whatever, really.

When we arrived at my apartment, Tank helped me out and they both came up with me to make sure I would make it safely inside. When the water was running in the bath and Tank was sure that there were no evil persons in my apartment, we all stood in the living room, looking at each other.

"Are you gonna be all right, girl?" Lula asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. A good night's sleep and I'm as good as new," I answered. I expected that I looked less than okay. I expected my hair looked like a tangled mess, I expected that my make up had migrated south of it's original location and I knew that I smelled of beer and hospitals.

"You want us to stay?" Lula asked. I was touched by her question, because I knew that she had had other plans for tonight.

"No really, I'm fine. You two go ahead and enjoy the rest of your evening." I knew that since Ranger was back they weren't able to spend as much time together as in the beginning. And besides, I didn't want either of them sitting next to the bathtub while I was soaking. I considered both of them my friends, but I do not run around naked in front of my friends. I'm not that kind of person. I smiled encouraging at the two of them and they started to move towards the door.

When Lula opened the door, a thought crossed my mind and the word "Tank" had already left my mouth before I could stop it. He turned back and walked back towards me. He looked curiously at me. I suppose the tone in which his name had left my mouth had triggered his curiosity. The thought flashed again through my mind and the idea settled itself more firmly into my mind. Yes, the more I thought about it, the better it felt. It would solve so much of my current problems! The sound of Tank's voice brought me back to reality.

"Stephanie?"

"Sorry, I kind of zoned out for a moment."

"It looked like they were happy thoughts."

"Yes," I said thoughtfully, "they were."

I took a deep breath to put my plan into action.

"Could you pass a message on to Ranger for me?" I asked quietly so Lula wouldn't hear. Tank looked at me intently before he answered.

"That would be possible."

"Could you tell him that I will leave town as soon as possible and that I don't want him to follow me or contact me in any way. I will get in touch with him when I am back."

"Where are you going, Bombshell?" Tank asked quietly. He looked very seriously and a little bit worried. No wonder, it is me we're talking about.

"I'm going away. That's all I want to say. I know that if I tell you more, Ranger will see that you know more about this, and I'm sure he'll find a way to get it out of you. I just want to be alone for a while. Get things into perspective. Clear my head." I looked pleadingly at Tank, hoping he would understand. Tank looked back, and then straightened his shoulders, his mind made up.

"I will give him your message, but I can't guarantee that he won't try to find you anyway." Tank looked doubtful. I realised that Tank had a point. I had to give Ranger a reason not to try to find me. Or at least do it in such a way that I wouldn't notice it. I assumed that if Ranger really put his heart into it, he himself could follow me without my own knowledge. A thought popped into my mind.

"Tell Ranger he will loose my respect and friendship if he can't honour my wish," I slowly said to Tank, while looking straight into his eyes. Our eyes held each other for a while, and then Tank looked straight back at me when he said:

"You got it, girl."

He gave me a big hug and whispered a warm "good luck" in my ear. Then he turned around, walked through the door and closed it softly behind him. I felt strangely relieved about my last-minute decision. While I was swimming in my bathtub, my brain worked on my plan. It was going to be good, I knew it!

"Yo."

"Yo. How's Steph?"

"She's fine, a couple of days of rest and she's good as new."

"Good to know."

"Hang on; she wanted me to give you a message."

"I'm listening."

"Do not contact her again or follow her in any way until she contacts you. She's leaving town."

"What?"

"She's leaving town asap. She asked me to tell you not to try to follow her or contact her in any way until further notice. She will get in touch when she is back."
"Right."

"She said you will loose her friendship and respect if you do."

Silence…

"Right..."

"Told you not to push her too soon."

"Fuck off."

Dial tone.

After 35 minutes of soaking I couldn't stay in the bathtub any longer. My leg was asleep from hanging over the side and my mind was bursting with ideas. I wanted to put my plan in motion immediately. I knew that Ranger would not stay away for very long after only one message from Tank, so I wanted to leave my apartment tonight. I hobbled through my bedroom, getting the stuff together that I wanted to take. Then I made a couple of last calls.

"Hi, it's me."

"Steph."

"Listen, I want to ask you a favour."

"Sure, anything for you."

"Say I wanted to live under a different identity for a while. Any ideas on how to do that?"

Silence.

"Come again?"

"A different identity, how would I get documents and so on?"

"Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"No, I just want to leave town for a while and live in peace and quiet."

"Right."

"Yes."

Silence.

"Does this have to do with Manoso?"

"No, Joe, just with me."

"Honestly?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll get back to you."

"You can reach me on my cell."

"Okay."

"Thanks, Joe. I really appreciate it."

"No problem….. Good luck."

"Thanks. … You too."

"Good evening, American Airlines reservations, how my I help you?"

"Hi, which flights do you still have available in the next 5 hours."

"Let's see… eh, in 3 hours you could fly to Los Angeles, and New York. In 4 hours there are still seats open to several destinations in Canada, Tampa and Miami."

"Which cities in Canada?"

"Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto."

"Calgary, please."

"Alright, could I have your credit card number and details, please?"

"Sure, my name is Stephanie Plum …. "

"Hi, I need a cab to the airport in 2 hours."

"Sure, madam. What's your name and address."

"My name is Stephanie Plum and I live…"

Five hours later I leaned back into my airplane seat. The plane was mostly filled with business men travelling back from business in the States or going to Canada for business. The seat next to me stayed empty, and I was glad. I could put my leg up. My ankle had started to hurt a little bit more, but I just had to do this now. I hoped that my friends and family would understand that.