So I've always been curious about Stephanie's tax situation (some of you already know what I do for a living and if you don't, now you do, lol - audits, teaching tax law, certifying new tax pros, etc. I do it all). Since she's always broke and barely scraping by, I'm pretty sure that come tax time she doesn't have money saved up to pay her tax liability. I've had the sinking suspicion that Ranger has a hand in that. Here's how I think it'd go down. This is just a silly oneshot.

I might be biased in this matter, but I actually believe that Stephanie's return and interview would be quite interesting. Because we all see the characters slightly different depending on our backgrounds, I'd like to issue out a CHALLENGE to any other reader/writer out there who happens to read this and wants to take a stab at it: write a story (one shot or more chaps; up to you) that revolves around your work theme. I think it'll be extra fun to see what others come up with and how we all see these characters in different situations.

Let me know your thoughts on this one.

Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE. The typos are mine.

Stephanie's POV

Blowing out a sigh I adjusted my face mask before I angled out of my most recent POS. Squaring my shoulders, I ascended the small steps leading up to the front entrance. My hand hesitated slightly before pulling the glass door open. Stepping inside, I was greeted with the sound of soothingly upbeat music playing.

This isn't so bad, I thought.

"Hi, welcome. My name's Tonya. How can I help you?" A young woman got up from the closest desk by the front door. She wore a dark blue blouse that had the same logo that was posted on the sign above the building. She paired her shirt with dark slacks and chucks. She looked to be about my age, give or take.

"Hi, I'm Stephanie." I approached tentatively as I told her I was looking to file my tax return.

"Great!" She said with more cheer I'll ever have before handing me a form to fill out. "Please fill out your basic information and we'll go from there." Tonya led the way back to her desk, pulled out my chair and encouraged me to sit.

As I filled out my name and contact information, I began to relax at the easy atmosphere of the place. Tonya gave me good vibes and seemed to sense how stressed I felt. Once I filled out the form, signed and dated it I handed it over to her.

"Do you have any income forms?" Tonya asked as she perused my information.

"Ah, yes." I dug through my shoulder bag and pulled out the envelope Connie gave me for Vinnie's and the one I got from Rangeman.

I sat still, momentarily wondering what the next step would be. Since my first job at the Tasty Pastry when I was a teenager my dad took to me his tax guy in the Burg. Domenico Ricci was as set in his old ways as everyone else in the Burg. He never really asked me many questions. I handed my forms to his receptionist, who was just as ancient as he was, Ricci inputted my info while I waited in the overcrowded lobby and then I'd get to sit face to face with him for mere minutes. It was always quick and to the point. When I was let go from EE Martin and began the whole Bounty Hunting thing, he just grunted in disapproval for the first couple years before even my profession stopped being new news for him. Despite the process never being a super stellar one, Ricci got the job done and I never had any problems. He recently passed away due to old age and that's how I found myself in need of a new tax person. Lula recommend the guy she goes to, but I declined. Some dude in a hooded sweatshirt sitting at a table in the food court of Quaker Bridge Mall was a hard pass for me. Connie recommended someone else in the Burg, but I know he was a little too involved with the local families and I decided to look elsewhere. It was actually my neighbor Mrs. Bestler's granddaughter that told me about this place. It's technically not in the Burg, which is fine by me, and just minutes away from my apartment.

"You didn't even open your envelopes." Tonya said it wasn't a problem, quickly revealing my income forms. "Oh my god, you work for Rangeman?"

"Uh yeah." I did several distraction jobs and some searches for Rangeman last year in between skip tracing.

"All of those guys are super handsome." I could tell she was smiling wide beneath her mask since her eyes turned dreamy. Oh girl. "I thought only men worked there." She said as an afterthought, quick fingers working on opening the envelope from the Bonds office.

"There are women contractors." I supplied.

Tonya scoffed. "You're not a contractor."

"Uh, yeah I am." I frowned, wondering why she made that statement. This is the most interaction I've had when it came to my employment while filling my tax return.

"No." Tonya flipped over Rangeman's form. "You're an employee. W-2 form." She reached into the open envelope and pulled out the bonds' office form. "1099 form. This one's a contractor."

My frown deepened as I processed the revelation. "I contract out to both." I defended.

"Well, not on paper." She waved her hand like it wasn't a big deal and went on to do her thing, her friendly smile beneath her mask making her eyes crinkle.

"Must be exciting to be a Bounty Hunter." Tonya chimed in moments later. It took me a second to register her remark, because I was still stuck on the whole Rangeman employee designation.

"It has its days." I muttered, still lost in thought.

"How do you do it? It must be very difficult." I blinked, snapping myself out of my musings with the question. I must have missed something, because I had no idea what she was referring to.

"Do what?" I had no idea what she was talking about, so I'm hoping she can repeat it.

"Working with all of those fine men." Again that dreamy look. "They're so hot."

I nearly rolled my eyes. "I don't see them that way." I said honestly. The Merry Men are handsome, sure, but the only man I see there in that light is Ranger.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make assumptions." The way she backtracked and turned apologetic let me know she thought I didn't like men.

"Oh, no it's not like that." I shook my head. "They're my friends."

"Ah." Tonya nodded, returning her focus to the screen ahead of her, but not really believing me per se.

Once we were done, Tonya explained that thanks to Rangeman's form I broke even from the self-employment tax that came from my skip tracing contractor payments. I was reeling at the realization that Ranger basically had his people keep track of my contractor pay with Vinnie so that I wouldn't owe at the time of filing. My brow furrowed in anger. Pity jobs from Ranger are one thing, but this? Nope. He's going to hear from me.

"Thanks." I said after paying for the service and taking my copies.

"Aww hell nah!" I snapped my head up on my way towards my SUV. "I ain't done nothin'!" I came face to face with Tony Bogle. He's a Vinnie regular.

"I'm not after you." I said annoyed. "If you haven't done anything, then you should be fine." I snapped back, which got him to back away.

"Okay. Cool. Sheesh." He said before stalking down the sidewalk.

Once I was behind the wheel, I began to run the conversation in my head. Ranger's got some explaining to do.

S&R

Ranger's POV

I'd just finished reviewing the last report on my desk when the phone rang.

"Report." I barked out the order as I closed the file in my hands.

"Sir, Stephanie just parked." A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. We've established a relationship that fits our needs, so the knowledge that she's back in the building when I've finished my work for the day makes my mind wonder into sexy territory. "Uhm, sir?" Bones asked for my attention before I could disconnect. "She looks upset." Bones said Babe took the stairs and is currently barreling her way up to the fifth floor.

I disconnected, frowning at the thought of Babe being upset. Within minutes she was barging into my office, face red with overexertion.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" She hollered, slamming the door closed behind her. I didn't miss the fact that she locked the door before moving my way. She waved a folder in the air as she continued.

"Babe." I called out to her in hopes of getting her to snap out of whatever got her in such a mood.

"Don't Babe me." Her eyes narrowed as she tossed the folder on my desk. She was so worked up that she forgot to take off her face mask, making her eyes an even bigger focus point than usual. They were a bright blue flame as her gaze locked with mine. She continued, angry that Rangeman has covered her tax liability for the past several years.

I sighed internally, knowing this was a blow out years in the making. "Stephanie." I tried a different approach as I rounded my desk to stalk towards her.

The heat in her stare and the way she was going off only served to ignite my desire. I want her all the time, but a pissed off Babe is quite a sight to behold.

"No!" She poked her index finger into my right pectoral, using a surprisingly powerful move to shove me slightly backwards. "You knew!" She hollered, her blue eyes turning electric with the heat behind them. "All this time I've thought I'd been extremely 'lucky' to be able to break even with my expenses, but no!" She muttered something about her old tax guy never clueing her in. "Sure, I admit I never even looked at my forms or my copies but…" Babe's huffing tirade was interrupted when I leaned in closer, risking a hand to the face, so that I could curl my fingers into the ear loops of her disposable face mask. "Wh-what are you doing?" She asked suspiciously, her eyes shifting between my face and hands.

"Babe." I warned as I removed her mask, slanting my lips over hers. Risking a bite was worth it when I felt the spark our lips connecting elicited through me. My move caught her off guard, but it only took a few swipes of my tongue against her lips to get her to respond. As soon as she granted me access, our kiss turned heated. My fingers flexed against the back of her head as I depended our connection, her curls tangling around my digits.

When her hands moved down my chest, past my abs, to settle against my lower abdomen, my hunger for her instinctively grew. My hold tightened as our kiss became more desperate, tongues dueling for dominance. Her fingers curled into the waistband of my cargos, pulling me closer while deepening our lip lock.

"Babe." I hissed out as I fought to catch my breath, goosebumps spreading along the skin she just graced. "Stephanie." I groaned appreciatively as her hands splayed over my scorching skin under my T-shirt. The raking of her nails across my abs had my muscles involuntarily flexing with her touch.

"I'm still upset." She voiced while using her hands under my shirt to drag the cotton up and off my body.

"I hear you." I nodded, diving in for another kiss as I dragged her girly V-neck T-shirt up her torso.

"We're not done talking about this." She moaned as my lips latched onto the swell of her left breast.

"Of course not." I agreed, knowing full well we still had to settle this matter. However, it was going to have to take a back burner. There was just something about her in this moment that drew me to her more than usual. I didn't think I could satiate my need fully while we were inside of my office, but it would have to do under the circumstances.

"Okay so it's settled." She breathed out, her fingers spearing through my hair to keep me in place as my lips closed over the skin of her other breast. "Oh shit. Cameras?" Babe moaned, her hands moving to my shoulders to help ground herself.

"Off." I replied, quickly sharing that I always turn them off whenever she's set to pay my office a visit.

"Okay." She nodded, her nails digging into my shoulders as she pressed her pelvis against mine.

S&R

Lester's POV

"What do you think's going on?" I asked Woody as I kept my trained eyes on my cousin's closed office door.

"Don't know." Woody shrugged, shifting his attention back to the paperwork on his cubicle desk. "Bomber looked pretty pissed as she stormed into his office."

"She was mad for sure." Cal poked his head over his cubicle three spaces over to put in his two cents.

"Did Bones say anything else?" I inquired, still wondering what could have happened to make Beautiful so angry.

"No." Woody chimed in before returning his full focus to his work.

I continued to work, every now and then glancing at Ranger's office. There had been some pretty heated arm waving going on when she stormed into his office. But once that door closed we only got very faint muffled sounds.

"Think Ranger needs rescuing?" I asked to no one in particular after about an hour of staring at the closed door.

"Leave them be." Bobby popped up out of seemingly nowhere, giving me a firm glare. Brushing him off, I closed out my search programs and clocked out of my shift. My cuz can't give me shit if I'm not wasting company time.

I'd just stepped away from my desk when the wooden door was yanked open. Beautiful stormed out, face mask firmly in place and her hair pulled up into a messy high ponytail. She walked towards the elevator briskly, not even stopping by the control room for a quick hello. I frowned, wondering what the hell was going on because she's usually very cheerful. Her positive energy is usually infectious. Something big must have went down to leave her so closed off to us.

Clenching my teeth, I intercepted Ranger as he followed her out.

"What'd you do to Beautiful?" I demanded.

"Santos." Ranger's no nonsense tone held an unspoken warning. It was clear he wanted me back off.

"We care about her and don't want to see her upset." I threw back unflinchingly. I knew he'll enact payback, but I didn't care.

"Santos." Ranger warned with finality.

I didn't back down. And it seems I wasn't the only one.

"We really care about Bomber, Sir." Hal added, squirming slightly when Ranger shifted his attention to him.

"I got this." Tank's booming voice startled a few of the men around us as he too joined the mix. "Santos, Mats 0500." I immediately groaned. Time on the mats with Tank and Ranger will be no fun.

"Mats 0500." Hal and I replied in unison. Hal took it a notch further by bowing his head before he retreated back to his cubicle.

Ranger shot me a final warning with his steely gaze before he continued on. He opted for the stairs, no doubt on his quest to catch up to Beautiful up in their penthouse.

God help us if my cousin is stupid enough to not mend things with her. Mats at the crack of dawn will be the least of our problems.