I don't own them, I don't make any money off of this and I only write for my (and hopefully your) entertainment. I promise to return the characters to the author unscathed. No copyright infringement intended.
Thank you, Kat, for betaing for me. You did an awesome job!
Birthday Surprises
by Katrin
Chapter 9
We'd talked about when and where we were getting married and had both agreed on getting married on the cruise. It would save us a world of hassle and we'd get the wedding we wanted, not what either of our mothers would like to see. This would be about us, not someone else.
The time flew by and it was almost time for us to start packing for our cruise when I began to feel uneasy. The weeks since we'd gotten engaged had been nearly uneventful. There hadn't been any major injuries, just scrapes that didn't take long to heal.
Our days were filled with bringing in skips and doing security work, and Steph training Phoenix with Bobby's help.
One Sunday sometime in the middle of September I had a bad feeling as I woke up. It felt like our peace would be interrupted sooner rather than later.
Steph was still curled around me, so I kissed her to get her moving.
"Morning, Babe."
"Ungh."
"Steph, I've got a feeling that our wedding's gonna have to wait. It's been some time since they last called us in, and I'm afraid they'll call us pretty soon."
"Okay?"
"Last time they gave us a warning a few days before we had to go. I'm sure we'll have to leave at a drop of a hat this time. We should do a few trial runs for you to pack your stuff. Last time it took almost an hour and a half. We won't have that much this time around. I think we should do a trial run. Forget anything important and you might get killed. You've got twenty minutes to pack everything you need. When the time's up we'll see if you'd have survived."
"Sounds good. Can I get dressed first?"
"Counts into the time. You're sleeping and get the call at night. You've got twenty minutes until you have to leave the apartment. Go."
The transformation from sleepy Steph to high alert Moxie was instantaneous. She scrambled out of bed and raced through the bathroom, pulling her hair into a messy ponytail as she was running into the dressing room. So far so good.
She was sleeping naked now most of the time, so that saved a few seconds which she used to get dressed. She scrambled into her panties and sports bra, then yanked a top over her head and cargos up to her hips. She left them unbuttoned for the time being. Good move. Next were her socks and boots and then she started in on attaching her armory, which took about four and a half minutes. Getting armed always took up the majority of the time.
Next she started on her backpack. When I told her the time was up she was standing in the middle of the dressing room, looking unfocused. She was probably trying to figure out what else she'd need.
"Grab your pack and come into the bedroom. Let's check how much you forgot."
When we emptied the backpack I was seriously impressed. She'd forgotten nothing essential. She was dressed ready for action, kevlar vest secured and all the pockets filled with everything she'd need.
Only thing missing was underwear and another warm sweatshirt or two. Closer inspection showed she'd done a great job. She'd even taken care of the anti- mosquito spray that Bobby had issued her after last time's scare. The underwear wouldn't be a serious problem, though it might make her uncomfortable and therefore distract her, but she was professional enough to work around that.
"What about tampons, Babe?"
"In one of the front bags. Put a new package in right after we came back."
"Med Kit?"
"Mini kit is in my vest, there's a bigger one in the other front bag and the serious stuff is in an inside pocket Ella added for me."
"Bombs?"
"Another inside pocket."
"Extra Ammo?"
"I've got a whole bunch of ammo on my belt right now and two magazines for each gun in my pants pockets. There's a lot more in a pouch somewhere."
"Sniper rifle?"
"Hanging from my shoulder right now, but it can be worn with the backpack."
"Do I need to remember something else?"
"Yeah. The steel for my throwing knives is in the pouch with the ammo, just like a big pack of tranq darts. The stars are in their box in the same pouch. I'm wearing the tracker and have called control to activate it. I've got the compass, my watch has new batteries, I've got the tablets to sanitize water and there's a whole bunch of power bars as well as enough food for two weeks at least in my backpack."
Damn, sounded like she was better at that than me.
"The mess kit is attached to my backpack and stored in a way it won't make any noise and won't reflect light and I've got bottles with fresh water. And there's two packs of un-lubricated rubbers to transport water if necessary."
"Damn, I'm speechless." How did she know stuff like that?
"TK had me learn the survival handbook. Can I have breakfast now?"
"Babe." She constantly amazed me. Steph was lounging on our bed and I joined her. She cuddled up to me instantly. I was pretty sure we'd have made a funny picture. Steph dressed to invade some foreign country and I naked.
"You've got me running around before the day even started and then you expect me not to be hungry. You know I'm always hungry."
"You get breakfast in a minute. I'll wake you up once every night to pack your stuff until we're called in. I want you to be sure in what you're doing."
"Okay. What's for breakfast?"
"You could call Ella to bring you something, we could cook something ourselves or we could go out."
"Go out?"
"Go out it is. Where do you want to go for breakfast?"
"Let's drop by my parents. We could visit with Dad until Mom brings back the donuts."
"Babe."
"What? Do you have a better suggestion?"
"You know she'll nag about some thing or other. And she might start planning our wedding."
"Damn. I've got a suggestion. Let Ella sleep in, and we make our run over to the Tasty Pastry and bring back donuts for the guys. Or we could even wake them up and drag them over with us. The guys have been lazy lately and we could eat there."
"Tasty Pastry it is."
I took my turn in the bathroom while Steph changed into her running clothes, shorts and a short tank top. Her tattoos weren't a secret anymore, so she didn't have a problem with showing them off and it was still warm enough to go running like this.
"Wear a shirt, I'm going downstairs to wake the guys." With that Steph was out the door. I had no idea how much she was carrying but I knew it was at least two guns.
When I was dressed I followed her downstairs, only to find four bleary eyed men standing in the hall, looking at Steph like they were thinking about strangling her and Steph parading up and down in front of them.
"Don't complain about having to get up early, Ranger already made me pack my stuff and analyzed whether I'd get killed or not. We've been up for over an hour now. And I gave you enough time to get ready. All you needed to do was take a leak and pull some running shorts up and grab your shoes."
They muttered something and I made the mistake of snorting.
Moxie whirled around. "What? You're the reason I had to get up so early. If you'd let me sleep for another hour or two I'd have called Ella to bring breakfast. But no, you had to drop this bombshell on me. Now suck it up guys. Go get ready, grab your guns and get back here. I have no idea why you're whining anyway. You'll get donuts and Ranger's paying. Remember the last time that happened? No? Because it never happened before. Now go."
A few minutes later Tank, Lester, Lil and Bobby stood in front of Moxie again, this time ready to go running. We did our stretches and then were on our way.
We made the three mile run over to Moxie's favorite bakery in near silence, only Steph and Lil were discussing a skip they'd have to take in that week. The rest of us were in our respective zones, keeping watch. Ever since Moxie first came back from her training she preferred to run on a treadmill in a secure environment, but with the six of us running and her in the middle of our group she felt now safe enough to go outside. She felt unsure because she couldn't arm herself as heavily as she was used to.
When we reached the Tasty Pastry they were just opening up and preparing for the crowd that would come in when mass was over. I'd learned that in the Burg you eat donuts after mass, no matter if you attended or not.
"Sit down, guys. Lil and I'll take care of it." Before I could speak up she answered my question. "Yes, I'll get you some healthy, icky donuts. We don't want to pollute the temple."
"Babe."
The both of them walked up to the sales lady and I couldn't help but admire Moxie's ass. Wearing only her shorts and a sports bra, she was a sight for sore eyes.
"You're staring, boss," Tank admonished me.
"Uh-huh. But she's my fiancée and I'm allowed to." The guys laughed at me, but before they could say anything else Steph and Lil came back, bearing donuts and coffee for everybody. Keeping up her promise she'd bought zucchini muffins for me.
"What the hell is this?" I asked her.
"What? You want healthy, you get healthy. But if you ask nicely I'll share my donuts with you."
With that she took a bite, moaning as the cream filling squished into her mouth. Damn, the sounds she made while eating. Although the guys were mostly used to it by now, they still looked a little pained at Moxie's obvious enjoyment.
Moxie chatted with the core team, discussing one takedown or another. And most of all Lester's dates with Connie.
"Les, tell us about your dates!"
"What?"
"Don't play dumb Les, you know what I mean."
"But Bombshell..."
"I always spill my beans, now it's your turn. Better start talking before I have time to come up with ways to make you."
"Sheesh, why don't you threaten to kill me, huh?"
"Talking's kinda difficult if you're dead. You should know that."
"All right. What do you want to know?"
The rest of the team fell silent, listening to Steph question Les. They all knew that she'd get the most info out of him and it was best not to interrupt her for anything.
"Anything and everything."
"I took her out for dinner, we went dancing, I brought her home, gave her a kiss, left."
"Uh huh. What about the second date? I know you guys had more than one date."
"We haven't had that many dates yet, but I feel like she's the one. She really touches something inside of me."
Moxie smiled at him. "Just make her happy. And remember that you might find yourself with a pair of concrete shoes if you hurt her. She's connected and if that doesn't happen I'll make sure something along those lines happens to you anyway."
Lester gulped, then nodded.
I'd been planning the day, when I remembered the fax I'd gotten the night before.
"We've got a redecoration job scheduled for tonight."
"What?" Moxie asked.
"Redecoration. I got the fax late last night. The landlord has hired us to clear a three bedroom apartment."
"Why tonight?" Lil wanted to know. "Kinda short notice."
"There was some kind of accident last night he doesn't want a repeat of."
"When?"
"23:30 in the hope they'll be asleep. More details later."
We finished our breakfast and started back to RangeMan, looking forward to showers. Moxie pushed the tempo and we were all dripping with sweat when we made it into the elevator.
The guys got off on four and as soon as we were back in our apartment as well, Moxie changed back to Steph. She relaxed and you could see the tension leave her body.
"Want me to show you how good I am in the shower?"
"Race you!"
With that she took off, shedding her clothing as she went. I followed her at a more leisurely pace and detoured into the kitchen to get us some water. We both needed it.
When I stepped into the bathroom I found Steph already in the shower. She was sitting on the built-in bench, the water cascading over her, the shower massager in hand. Damn, there went my good intentions.
I didn't join Steph until she'd satisfied herself, but when I joined her, I showed her again why she usually didn't need a shower massager these days.
When we finally got out of the shower it was on wobbly legs, all pruney but squeaky clean and thoroughly satisfied.
We got ready and by the time we joined the rest of the core team in the smallest conference room it was almost 10:30am. Time flies when you're having fun. Almost as soon as we entered, Moxie made an appearance.
We settled down around the round table, folders with all the necessary information in front of everybody. Time to get down to business.
"Three bedroom apartment on the third floor."
"Uh oh," Moxie muttered under her breath.
"What?" Lil wanted to know. That would be the first redecoration job he'd ever work with Moxie.
"Tank will be happy to tell you. Or just ask your bro." Lil looked confused but indicated for me to go on.
"The apartment's occupied by three couples with different sexual orientations."
"What does that mean?" Bobby wanted to know.
"There's a gay couple, a lesbian couple and the third bedroom is occupied by two guys and a woman, but there are sleepovers every night and nobody really knows how many people sleep there. Other tenants have complained about the noise, the drugs the guests bring with them and the verbal assaults."
Les spoke up. "What do you mean with verbal assaults?"
"There have been rude comments towards elderly and kids, they've offered drugs to the kids and they threatened some tenants."
"When do we get to throw them out?" Tank wanted to know.
"Please no throwing this time."
"Don't be so squeamish, Bombshell."
"Uh huh. Anything more we need to know? Because I'm getting hungry."
"Bombshell, you just ate half a box of donuts. You can't be hungry again."
"Contrary to common belief, there are more forms of workout than what you guys do every day. And I've had a workout since we got back, so shut up Lester or that's the last time we buy you donuts. I'll have you on a twigs and bark diet in no time, just watch out. And remember your date with Grandma." Moxie stood up and left the room. If I didn't know better I'd say the redecoration job was rattling her, but I had no idea why.
We finished the details and I made my way to my office, expecting Steph to be there. She was neither in my office nor in hers, so I walked over to the monitor station in the control room. Cal and Hal were manning the monitors.
"Where did Moxie go?"
"Ella," came the reply from Hal. "She didn't look too happy."
That confirmed my suspicions. If she was in serious need of comfort food something was bothering her big time.
I went up to the sixth floor and found the door to Ella's apartment open. Walking in, I found Steph sitting on a counter licking out a bowl of dough. Probably for cookies or chocolate cake. Ella was standing beside her, whipping up another bowl of dough, but when she saw me she left. Steph was looking miserable, and the bowl and wooden spoon in her hand made her look like a little girl all over again.
I moved over to her, took the bowl and spoon out of her hands to set them down on the counter and enveloped her in my arms. She drew me tighter against her, nuzzled her face into my neck and then started crying. Rubbing big circles on her back I whispered Spanish endearments in her ear, waiting for her to calm down.
When the crying had subsided to sniffles I brought her face up to look at me.
"What's bothering you so much, babe?"
"The job tonight."
"But why?"
"Last time you took me along a junkie flew out a window, Tank got shot and I blew up a building. I'm scared I'll screw this up." She sniffled again.
"You won't screw up. Since we took you along for a job like this the last time you've come a long way. You got training, you can beat Tank's ass, hell you can beat my ass. You won't fall asleep on the job, and you won't have to do a guard shift later."
"Thank God. I'm just afraid someone will get hurt because of me."
Before she could say anything else I pulled her to me and shut her up with a kiss. It had been a long time since Steph had been so insecure, but the one redecoration job she'd worked with us had been bad for her. She never worried that she might get hurt, she was afraid for everybody else first. My men all were afraid she'd get hurt, would all gladly give their life to safe hers. And Steph would do the same for them.
When I pulled back Steph looked a little bit dazed, but her smile was back. "You ready to get back to work? You have Lil's ass to kick today."
"Tell him to meet me in the gym in an hour. I've got some dough to enjoy first."
I chuckled and went back down to my office to take care of paperwork. My accountant was getting on my nerves.
I finished my paperwork and Steph took care of Lil's tendencies to take sides with his brother instead of her. When she'd adjusted his attitude they both went to take their second shower of the day and then went out and dragged a skip back into the system. By 6:30 that night we'd taken another shower and, had had dinner and were now contemplating a nap versus playtime. In the end the nap won.
The alarm clock interrupted our cuddling at 10:30 and we went to get ready. Dressed in black and armed to the teeth we made our way down to the meeting room where the rest of the core team was already waiting for us.
"Let's go." This time we took the stairs down and got into the cars. Bobby went with Lester, Lil and Tank took a car together and Moxie and I.
Two blocks down from the building we were hired to clean up we pulled up to the curb to go over last minute details.
We met between the cars and I pulled vests for everybody out of the cargo area of my truck, as well as wind breakers with 'Security' on them for everybody.
Les took a look at Moxie and chuckled. She caught his eye and the silent conversation thing that she used to hate so much took place.
"I know, I know, Les. I'm no fun because I don't like to get shot and I don't like to get arrested. Shut the fuck up or it's you going through that window this time."
"Huh?" Lil looked at me like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"When we brought Moxie along for her first redecoration job she didn't bring her gun and had all sorts of complaints to try to get out of it. Santos here teased her that she wasn't fun because she didn't like to get shot at or arrested. Later on Tank threw a junkie out of window who was coming with a knife at him. Sadly the guy landed on the fire escape."
"Well, that explains it. But from the looks of it I'd say Moxie at least solved the gun problem." Lil winked at her. And he was right. She was armed to the teeth, and ready to kick ass. At the moment I was just worried it was Lester's ass she was going to kick.
"Anything else I need to know about this first redecoration job of yours, Moxie?"
"Oh well, falling asleep on the job saved me from getting shot, Tank got shot and I nearly blew up but other than that? Nope, nothing I can think of at the moment."
"Smart ass. But now I remember. You told me about it the night we got the hostage out in Ethiopia and were waiting for the others to show up."
"Yep. And you guys like my ass. Now let's get this show on the road."
Thanks for reading. Kat