A/N: We got back earlier than expected. There will be a lot of updates this week, but not as many next week. I found out I am having an EMG on Monday to test the severity of nerve damage in my leg, and possibly some spinal surgery after that. I know that once they start talking about taking knives anywhere near my back I'll be too uptight and nervous to write much. With that in mind I bring you the next chapter of A Time for Tank.

It had been about a month since Tank had moved out, and I had settled into a new routine. Tank still came for breakfast with Bobby and Lester, but now Steph seemed to be the one who joined me for lunch most often, and I had dinner with Steph and Ranger at least once a week either upstairs or down here in my apartment. On the nights I wasn't hanging out with Steph and Ranger I had an open door policy, any of the guys who wanted to stop in and grab a bite were welcome. As a result I was really getting to know them all a lot better.

Hector was the only one of the guys I was still unsure about, but that was mostly because of the language barrier. He was teaching me some traditional dishes, but because he talked so fast we often had some interesting results.

I still missed Tank, and I felt a closeness with him that I didn't share with anyone else. He called almost every night to check on me, so we still talked a lot, but there was a physical distance between us that made my heart ache.

I looked at the pan in front of me trying to focus on making lunch. Steph was dropping by today. She did that a lot, which was great. Luckily she never again brought up her plan for Tank's surprise birthday party. I wasn't sure I was really game for calling his mother and going behind his back. I rather got the feeling that anyone who jumped out and yelled Surprise at a man like Tank would be greeted with a bullet and not a smile. I figured I'd just not get into a situation like that, after all .45 holes are not a good look on anyone.

I jogged to get the door when I heard Steph knock. She hurried into the apartment and closed the door before looking at me fairly vibrating with excitement. "It's all set Angie! I've got everything planned out except the menu, but Ella said she'd help you cook. Ranger said he'd arrange to get you out of the building safely and…"

I held up my hand to stop her. "Wait a minute. What are you talking about Steph?" I had a pretty good idea of what she was talking about, but I was hoping against all hope that she was talking about something completely different.

"Tank's birthday of course!" Steph said as she practically danced into the kitchen. "Do you mind if I grab a soda Ang?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed softly. Of course it was Tank's birthday, which according to my calendar and Steph's earlier information was exactly two weeks away. I followed behind Steph into the kitchen. "Go ahead Steph, you know the rule. First time you're here you're company. Second time you're family." I told her with a smile.

I watched Steph grab her soda and then lift herself up to sit on the counter. "So like I was saying. Ella said she'd do all the shopping, and would help you cook if you needed it. Ranger agreed that you could leave the building for the day and said he would take care of making sure you got there and keeping Tank busy. Tank's mom said she'd be there to let us all in and get everything set up." Steph stopped and started sniffing the air. "Angie, I think something is burning!"

"Oh Hell!" I hurried to the stove and pulled the pan with the grilled sandwiches off the burner. I turned the stove off and sighed. "Well let me get started on lunch again and you can tell me all about your plans."

Steph didn't seem to notice I sounded like I was going to my own funeral, she just continued to chatter on. "Don't worry. I'll call in an order to Pino's and we'll have one of the guys pick it up."

Steph jumped off the counter and hurried to make a phone call while I cleaned up the mess from my failed attempt at lunch. Steph put down the phone after ordering lunch and arranging to have Lester pick it up.

"Ok so Angie, the plan I had was for a dinner party. You, me, Tank, Ranger, Tank's mom, Bobby, Lester, and maybe their dates. We'll head over early, and get everything set up and then Ranger will bring Tank home and we can surprise him. How does that sound?"

I just stared at her in amazement. I hadn't seen her so excited in all the time that I had known her. I tried to be just as happy and excited as she was, but I was finding it a little difficult. I missed Tank, and I wasn't looking forward to spending much time in his house. I still didn't like to think of this place as my apartment, even though I had moved all of my stuff except my furniture in here. "It sounds like you have everything planned perfectly Steph. You have a knack for this. If you ever decide to quit bounty hunting you could be a party planner." I honestly meant that. It seemed like she had done a really good job figuring out all the details.

"I still need your help though. We're going to have to rent a table. Ranger says Tank's table isn't big enough to hold all of us. I thought if we were going to rent the table we could rent some really nice looking dishes and everything."

I couldn't help but smile. Steph really had an image in her mind of how this was going to go. I didn't think that Tank was the fine dining fancy dinner party kind of guy, but I was willing to go along with what ever she had up her sleeve. "So did you have a menu in mind?" I rather hoped she did. I didn't know if I wanted to try to plan a menu around Steph's dream dinner party.

"hmmm well I had some ideas. I know having steak would be good, but I don't know what else would be good. I mean like that first dinner we had here was awesome! You know with like the salad and main course and dessert. Could we do something along those lines?"

"Ok, we could start with maybe a mixed green salad with an Italian dressing, and maybe a grilled steak and lobster? I have no idea about dessert though. I mean half of the dinner guests don't really eat dessert. I suppose I could do a berry ice cream."

Steph looked overjoyed at this. "Oh this is going to be perfect."

We were interrupted by a knock on the door. When I answered it I found Lester standing there with the Pizza. I invited him in and closed the door. Lester put the pizza on the table and headed to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

"Hey Steph, did you fill Angie in on all your plans?"

Steph came over to the table and opened the pizza box with a grin. "Yup. All systems go for Operation Birthday Party."

Lester and I both laughed as Steph decided that this was no longer just a party, but a full fledged operation. I headed to the kitchen to grab three plates. I figured Lester would be joining us for lunch.

When I got back to the table I had to laugh at Steph and Lester already eating pizza over the box. I passed them each a plate before sitting down and grabbing a slice for myself. Steph was excitedly explaining things to Lester when I turned my attention to the conversation.

"And then we'll have grilled steak and lobster, and Angie knows how to make a berry ice cream, and everything is going to be awesome!"

I just smiled and shook my head. I couldn't believe she was so excited over someone else's birthday. "It is going to be very nice Steph. I'm sure everything is going to be absolutely perfect."

Lester was keeping his mouth shut, but I could tell by the look on his face he was really amused. Steph finished inhaling her pizza and jumped up out of her chair. "I have to run upstairs and get the catalog from the rental place so we can pick out dishes and all the other stuff we need."

I laughed and waved as Steph hurried out the door, and then turned back to my lunch.

"Uh Angie? How do you plan on pulling this off?" Lester asked.

I shrugged. "I'm not pulling anything off. All I have to do is show up and cook. This is Steph's show."

"That's not what I mean. I'm pretty sure Steph wants you to actually EAT what you're cooking." he pointed out.

I laughed and stood up clearing my plate and Stephs. "Lester, right now she is so excited about pulling together a fancy dinner party. I'm not going to burst her bubble. I'm planning on twelve for dinner even though the count Steph gave me is 9. I'm hoping she won't notice when the table is set for 8. I mean look at her she is so excited."

Lester sighed and picked up his plate to bring to the kitchen too. "I know. I don't want to tell her that Tank really isn't a fancy dinner kind of guy. It would break her heart."

I nodded as I set the plates in the sink. "Then don't say a word. Just find another couple to invite, and hopefully everything will go off with out a hitch."

Lester looked like he was about to say something when the door flew open and Steph came back holding a stack of catalogs. She took them and set them on the wooden trunk I used in place of a coffee table. "I brought the catalogs. I went through them the other night and put post it flags on the stuff I liked. I thought we could pick out what to get together since you know what we'd need."

I looked at Lester as we headed into the living room to help Steph pick out the perfect everything. I swear we must have gone through catalogs for hours before everyone could agree that Steph had made wonderful choices on everything. I did have to add an order of a couple different types of glasses, but other than that I let Steph make her choices. I for one would have stayed away from gold chargers. I really didn't like gold. I was more of a silver fan, but what ever made Steph happy. She even put in an order for nice linen napkins. By the time Steph and Lester left I was exhausted. I didn't know where Steph got her energy for all of this.