Hi guys thanks so much for your feedback! But please keep your comments coming, it's the only payment writers in the Fanfic universe get and it really makes us feel warm and fuzzy…
I'm going to try and post at least once a week until this story is finished, but in the run up to the end of the school term (some of my schools finish in just over a week and I'm up to my eyeballs in reports, badges, 'Olympic' swimming galas and assessments etc) things have been hectic so please bear with me!
Oh, and this chapter is for highlands girl…
;oP
As Steph left Chase's office she could sense a tense undercurrent of emotion in the air so quickly made a note of the events that would take place in the tournament then scuttled off to hide in a cubicle she'd spied a couple of days earlier. No-one seemed to be using it and it seemed a good place to hide out as it was in the far corner of the floor. An ancient and dust-laden computer stood on the corner of the desk and she hoped there was some stationery in the drawers. Sitting down on the four legged, plastic chair, she was pleased to find a few sheets of blank paper, a couple of chewed pens and a slightly blunt pencil.
As she began to set up shop she momentarily wondered where Ranger and Connor were then dismissed her thoughts as unnecessary. Carlos could be counted on to take care of things so she knew she need not worry.
Where to start, she pondered. Where indeed. She looked at the list of games, 12 in total, that Ranger had pinned to the wall but was at a loss as to who should be assigned to which event. After all, she'd not really been introduced to the team in Atlanta so had little or no idea of the men's strengths and weaknesses.
Deciding she was not going to get anywhere in the short term, she decided to grab a cup of coffee then make a couple of calls. Perhaps her colleagues in the other offices would have a better idea of the people around her. She thought about calling Lester, but knew he would massage or even bend the truth – he was highly competitive after all and they were always playing tricks on each other. Chances are he'd stitch her up good and proper. No, he was not an option.
Tank? Rees? Vera? Ace, even?
Chewing the already chewed pen she held in her hand, she wandered into the break room and grabbed a cup from the cupboard.
o0o0o0o0o
Connor stood in his shower, letting the water wash the tears and emotions from earlier down the drain. The heated water did nothing to clear his head, but the soreness in his body did.
Ranger may be a fucking machine, but even he knew the best way to make a point. Several points actually.
As he scrubbed the sweat and angst from his body he thought about what exactly Ranger had said and done this morning.
Flashback
"Right, that's the formal stuff done with. OK, Connor, time to talk turkey, what the fuck have you done to my company?"
Connor took a deep breath. He knew this moment had been coming for some time but as ever, denial land had been a warm and safe haven but even as he passed through passport control, he'd known it would provide only a temporary refuge. Right now though he knew he was on a fast track outta there and probably with little or no chance of ever being allowed back in.
"Ok, I admit it, I fucked up." He started, trying to sound as if he really didn't care, when in fact he did.
Very much.
Ranger looked at him and sighed.
If Connor hadn't seen it himself he would never have believed it, Ranger sighed! What was the world coming to? First he was in LURVE and now he was… sighing? WTF?
"Connor when you've finished your internal monologue, care to share?" Ranger said, breaking into his mental meanderings.
Connor took a loud and nervous gulp. "to be brutally honest, I wasn't thinking about the long term, all I could think was that I needed was a distraction, something else to focus on. I didn't stop to think about how I was changing one crutch for another. I miss her man, I miss them all… so. Fucking. Much."
Ranger nodded in understanding "Go on" he said calmly.
"Then the money I'd been bequeathed was all gone, but the gambling helped or so I thought so I thought what the hell. It allowed me to disappear into another world for a while and to forget reality. I entered a world of carefree sex and pretend power. I… I just got carried away."
"Yeah and with Rangeman funds. Connor, you were playing with money that you had no right to. That you could never hope to pay back. Did none of that count? For Chrissakes, you helped build up part of the empire that exists today. And you were prepared to knock it all down just because you couldn't face up to your feelings like a man?"
Even as he said it, Ranger realised that although he hadn't done the monetary damage that Connor had, he too was guilty of the same emotional cowardice.
Connor just stood there, unable to say any more.
"If things hadn't been forced out into the open, when were you going to come clean or were you planning on hoping that no-one would find out?"
Connor hung his head in shame, unable to reply.
"What have you got to say for yourself?"
Silence…
"You're fucking pathetic!" Ranger said as he turned away. "Mats, now. If you can't apologise then at least I can vent my anger at your betrayal." He sneered out as he turned and left the apartment, Connor reluctantly just behind him.
End flashback
Connor let the last of the really hot water work its magic on his aching body then turned it to cold so that he could focus his thoughts.
How the fuck was he going to make it up to Ranger? He had no idea. He knew he couldn't come up with the money to repay his former…
He stopped in his mental tracks.
He knew he could never hope to generate the cash he'd stolen, not unless he got lucky on the cards and he had a sneaking suspicion that if he went within 100yards of a casino he'd be packed up and dispatched to a third world country. Before he took another step.
No, what he could do to repay his debt was to become the man he used to be. The man that laughed with his friends, loved with his heart and helped build Rangeman Atlanta into what it once was, with all that it stood for.
Stepping out of the shower and dressing quickly he headed down to 5. He would work closely with Stephanie and make sure that Atlanta not only did its best in the up and coming tournament, but that it showed the rest of the offices what it was really capable of and win the trophy.
As he ran down the stairs he laughed. Carlos had never mentioned what the prize was to be.
Clever bastard had everyone salivating about the tournament but without ever mentioning what the winners would get. For all he knew it could be a packet of condoms and a 4-pack of beer.
First things first though, he had a meeting with Chase and Ranger to discuss how things were going to be run from now on.
He had a sneaking suspicion that things might, just might, turn out OK and that maybe, just maybe Megan was smiling down on him after all.
o0o0o0o0o
Steph leant back and thought about the information Rees and Ace had given her. None of it was of much use. She sighed and rolled here eyes with frustration.
Tank had told her in no uncertain terms that he couldn't and wouldn't give her any insight to the men that worked out of Atlanta. He argued that it wouldn't be fair to help one office and not another.
She pointed out that all the other offices' top personnel had far more intimate knowledge of the guys in their teams, hell they'd probably served in the back of beyond with half of them.
Tank conceded to that point but still wouldn't budge but in any event, she got the feeling that even if he spilled the beans it wouldn't take more than a couple of minutes to tell her everything he knew.
She was getting nowhere slowly. Time to put plan B into action.
Firing up the search engines she quickly ran top level searches on all the men currently on the payroll. She couldn't use any of the internal personnel files but she could easily get the basics on most of the men around her.
If they were to have any chance of making the grade she had to do something. She knew Connor would most likely be useless. Even if he cared to share with her what would be the point? He was out of there in two weeks so what would it matter to him whether Atlanta sunk or swum?
No, as usual, Stephanie Michelle Plum was on her own.
Mentally rolling up her sleeves, she set about studying the information that the search engines were spitting out.
o0o0o0o0o
Ranger finished up the conversation he'd been having with Tank on his phone from the penthouse apartment.
Well, ok. Between them they'd strung maybe 100 words but they'd understood each other perfectly and now Tank was fully appraised of the current situation.
Earlier, Ranger'd escorted Connor to his apartment on 6 and sat with him until he felt sure he was OK before heading up to his own place for a shower.
He grinned to himself as he stepped into the shower and noticed her shampoo. Things were on the up.
There were glimmers of the old Connor, hiding inside the fucked up excuse for a human being that he'd taken to the mats earlier so he knew there was hope for him. Given time he knew Steph would start the process, but Bobby would help him to face his demons and get him back on track. True, he would not be able to work for Rangeman in his current capacity again, but he'd think of something. He always did.
On top of that, although he was really pissed with himself that his stupidity had caused Steph so much pain, she'd had to spread her wings and fly solo and by Christ had she risen to the challenge! She was making him so proud with her ideas and follow up actions.
His heart and perhaps a certain other part of his anatomy swelled as he thought about how much she'd grown while they'd been apart yet all the while she was still the woman she'd always been. Full of life and energy and feisty as hell but more than that. Stronger, more determined and much more capable of going after what she wanted.
And what she wanted, it would appear, was him.
Rees was out of the picture, for good he hoped. He had no idea what had gone on there, but if the man had hurt her… he snorted at his own stupidity. He was the only one that had really hurt her, but yet she was still his!
He said a small prayer to the man upstairs thanking him for giving him a second chance. One he intended to make good use of and this time he, promised, he was not letting her go.
Now that they were talking again he was determined they would both be truly honest with their feelings. He was going to tell her how incomplete his life had been without her in it. He would probably confess to trying to put her out of his mind by using other women. Scratch that, he thought. Might be a bridge too far… Nope, he was going to make sure she knew how much he loved her and that if needs be, he'd spend eternity making things good between them both.
This sounded like a better plan and his heart and his hormones did a little happy dance as he stifled a grin.
He snorted as he realised what he'd just done. He was glad that his Babe couldn't see him right now, she be laughing her head off. How the mighty Batman has fallen to the world of men!
He finished his ablutions, dried off and quickly dressed in his uniform of black on badass black.
Once he'd added his various weapons he headed down to 5 for a meeting with Connor and Chase to discuss the handing over of the running of Atlanta from one man to the other. He was hoping to make the promotion a permanent one, after all, he'd been watching the man for a while and, combined with the information Babe had given him, felt he was up to the job he was being asked to caretake.
Yeah, things were definitely on the up.
So, waddya think? good or bad? Just let me know.
I promise that the next chapter is the one you've all been waiting for...