AN- This is what happens when I get bit by the Olympic bug while reading Janet Evanovich. This is a bit ooc, since I've made Steph an athlete, but the characters are going to keep their basic personalities and all of the things we love them for. I also had to make them a little younger.

Disclaimer- I am making no money off this. All Characters you recognize belong to JE. I'm just barrowing them for my own amusement. I am also not an Olympic expert so if I make up a few rules, just role with it, I promise to make it enjoyable. This goes for the whole story; I will not put one of these in ever chapter. If I was making money, I wouldn't post this on a fanfic site.

No Cupcakes were harmed in the making of this very Babe story. Helen Plum might get a few bruises though, depends on how mean my muse is feeling. Rating is for language, sexual themes, and a high chance of smut in later chapters.

Fight for it

Chapter One

Pov- Steph

I set Rex down on the counter in his little glass aquarium. "Well here it is Buddy," I said giving the side of his cage a tap. "What do you think of the new place?"

The wood shavings in the corner twitched, but it looked like that was all I was going to get from my little guy. Hamsters were easy to take care of, but he wasn't the most talkative roommate. I filled his water bottle and gave him a few raisins before turning to look around the sparsely furnished apartment. What a mess. I grimaced at the boxes piled all over the place knowing that soon I would have to start unpacking them. "I know exactly what you mean."

There was a soft knock on the door and I called out, "Come on in, it's open."

My coach Amber came in looking ruffled. "Steph, you should have locked the door. You need to be more careful."

"Who's going to know that we're here?" I asked. "Wasn't that the point of dragging me back home?"

"You still need to be careful Stephanie." She pressed. "Until we find out who's been threatening you I want you to be extra careful with yourself, ok?"

I nodded, looking back around the room.

"Promise me." She pressed, hands on hips. "I want the words out of your mouth." Amber was only a hair above 5 feet tall, but no one could say that she didn't hold her own space. She stared me down like a mama lion until I nodded again.

"I promise Amber." I swore honestly. "I think you're over reacting, but I'll be careful."

"Who's overreacting?" Amber's twin brother, Brandon, came into the room and when he stopped next to his sister, he gave me the same frown she had. "Why was the front door open?"

I tried to look sheepish and failed. "Sorry Coach,"

Brandon's face softened and he pulled me into a giant hug, wrapping his long arms around me. "I know you're not thrilled about hiding out here for a bit, but do me a favor and humor Amber ok?" He asked. "She's a pain in the butt as it is and I don't need her ridding me anymore."

I chuckled as Amber gave him her patented 'look', eyes narrowed, arms crossed, foot tapping. "Trenton was your idea." She shot back.

Brandon nodded brushing his, always too long, black hair out of his face. "It's a good idea. Whoever's been threatening Steph will have heard we moved her, I doubt they'll think to look here, especially since we've been smearing it all over the press that we're going to California to get ready for this year's National competition."

Amber looked like she was going to start talking back so I held up my hands and groaned. "Can we please not go over this again?" I asked, tossing my coat onto the back of my couch and kicking off my shoes. "It's been a long day and I'm tired."

"Are you stiff?" Brandon asked.

I shrugged. "A bit,"

"Want me to stretch you out?" He offered, "We've got a training facility set up, but we can't start using it until tomorrow morning. We're going to pick you up at 7, bright and early so make sure you set your alarm tonight."

I waved him off, "I'll stretch later."

"Do you want any help with these boxes?" Amber asked, looking around at the piles of boxes that were all of my worldly possessions.

"No thanks Am." I said. "I'm just going to do the basics tonight anyway and head to bed early." We really hadn't moved that far, but I felt like a mess. I'd never traveled well.

Brandon gave me a sidelong look and I frowned. "What now?"

He pointed a stiff finger at his little twin sister and slid a step away from her. "Her fault, it was her idea." He said quickly.

"It's a good idea." Amber defended, "Besides you were the one who hired him."

"It was still your idea." Brandon said. "She can be mad at you."

"I can't believe your throwing me under the bus like this."

"I'm the nice coach remember." He taunted with a smirk. "You're the hard ass."

I watched them banter for a minute before it became clear that they were not going to get back on track. "What did you guys do?" I asked. "Who did you hire and for what?"

Amber stepped up in front of me and pouted with her bright green eyes. "Don't hate me ok?" She asked. "Someone here has to be the hard ass and I won't risk you getting hurt because we didn't take these threats seriously. This is your year to win it all and I don't want anything to happen to you. Ok? I'm just looking out for you."

I nodded and gave her a gentle smile seeing that she was genuinely concerned that I'd be mad. "I could never really hate you Am, just tell me what you did."

"I hired a local security company to provide protection for you while were here and to look into these threats and see if they can figure out where they're coming from. We have a meeting with the CEO in an hour to discuss what precautions we should take."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "You mean like a bodyguard?"

"Bodyguards, maybe." She said with a shrug. "I know I want some security put here in your new apartment, possibly an escort to and from the gym."

"Every day?" I asked.

She nodded. "If that's what it takes to keep you alive."

"You're going to hire a baby sitter to follow me around every day."

Brandon stepped forward. "Don't think of it as a babysitter, think of it as-"

"Prison guard?" I offered.

"Someone took a shot at you!" Amber snapped at me using her Coach voice. "I know this sucks, but until we find out who wants you dead, you're getting a babysitter."

I swallowed hard at the memory of the shot I'd avoided two days earlier. Brandon and I had been standing outside of the private gym, he and Amber owned in New York City, when a car had driven by and put a bullet in the glass right between us. We'd gotten lucky, and the police hadn't been able to tell if the shooting was random or if it was linked to the threatening letter's I'd gotten. I was praying that it was a random drive-by gone wrong. Chances were good though, that someone really was serious about getting rid of me.

"Ok Amber," I agreed. "I'll meet with anyone you want me to. I promise."

She gave me a sympathetic smile and a hug, glad that I wasn't going to fight her anymore. "Thanks Steph, We'll give you some time to unwind ok?"

I nodded, "Sure, I'll meet you in the parking lot in an hour."

"Lock the door, when we leave." Brandon said, pulling me into another hug.

I walked them both to the door and then locked it behind them. When I walked back into the living room, I frowned at all of the boxes. I really didn't want to unpack. I grabbed a box that said 'bathroom' and decided to start with the essentials and I definitely wanted to take a shower before we went anywhere.

I cringed at the outdated orange and brown bathroom, but the temptation of a hot shower was too good to pass up. I soaked myself in the steamy water until the grim of travel was gone and then stood there trying to get my muscles to relax until all the hot water was gone and my skin was pink.

I brushed out my hair, tying it up and out of the way before returning to the living room in my towel to try and find some clean clothes. I tore through a bunch of boxes, finding all of my work out clothes, but no nice 'real' clothes. By the time I gave up, I only had ten minutes to get down stairs. I pulled on a pair of tights and some work out shorts covering them up with a pair of light jeans I'd managed to find. I pulled on a sports bra and a tank top groaning when I couldn't find a blouse. I rolled my eyes; maybe I should just wear a leotard.

There was a knock at my front door and I want out to answer it, remembering to look through the little peep hole first. It was Brandon and Amber. I looked at the clock and realized I was five minutes late to meet with them.

I pulled open the door and started apologizing. "Sorry, sorry. I can't find any of my clothes." I turned and dived back into the living room, ripping open another box marked 'clothes'. Half of the boxes were marked 'clothes'. I should have been more specific when I was packing.

"Steph, calm down, honey." Amber said passing me a shirt, she'd carried in with her. "I thought you might need some help. Wear this."

I grabbed the shirt. It was a cute, light blue, button up blouse. "This is great, thanks Am." I tossed the tank top away and buttoned up the new shirt.

"Come on ladies." Brandon called from the door. "We're going to be late."

I slid on some of my training shoes, not willing to start cutting open the boxes marked 'shoes' and snagged my purse as Brandon pulled me out the front door. I hoped into the back of Amber's little black car and roared off.

A few minutes later, we pulled up to a plain looking building on Haywood Street. Brandon glanced down at his map. "You sure this is the right place?"

"I think so." Amber said.

"I don't see a sign."

I pointed to a turn that led down to an underground parking lot. "Go to the call box and ask if this is the right building."

Amber pulled in and pressed the little call button. A moment later, a man's voice spoke up. "RangeMan security." He said. "Do you have an appointment?"

"My name's Amber Stasiuk." Amber said. "I have a meeting with Mr. Manoso at 5."

We were buzzed into the parking garage and took an elevator to the main floor. An attractive Hispanic man, dressed in an all black uniform, was waiting for us and he introduced himself as Lester Santos. "Mr. and Miss Stasiuk, welcome." He said politely, shaking hands with Amber and Brandon. Then his eyes moved to me and he smiled wider. "You must be Miss Plum?" He asked.

I held out my hand and nodded. "That's me. It's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is ours." He directed us back to the elevator and said. "Right this way. We'll be meeting with the rest of the core team up on the third floor."

Lester led us into a small conference room with a large circular table. A few other men were already seated and Lester introduced them as they stood to greet us.

Lester waved one man forward and I swear, he was the biggest guy I'd ever seen in my life. "This is our second in command. You can call him Tank."

"I can see why." Over 6 feet tall, skin like the night, and build like a wall. Tank certainly had a fitting name. The gun on his hip only made the picture more menacing.

A couple of the guys turned to look at me and Amber giggled. "You said that out loud Honey."

I blushed. "Sorry, I do that a lot." and I'd been trying to stop it for years.

"Not a problem Ma'am." Tank assured me shaking my hand.

Lester nodded to the next man who came up to meet us. "This is Bobby, our company medic and the little quiet one behind him is Hector." He nodded to the last man in the room, who had not stood to greet us. "I understand you want to install some of our security features into Miss Plum's new apartment?"

Amber nodded. "Yes, I want her to be completely safe."

"Then Hector's your guy." Lester said. "He's our tech pro. He'll hook her up once we decide exactly what you'll need."

I shook hands with Bobby and thanked him when he pulled out a seat for me to sit in. I was sitting across from Hector and I smiled at him when we locked eyes. He nodded back, but kept his face blank. Like Lester, Hector had the tanned skin of a Hispanic background. His hair was buzzed short and I counted a number of tattoo's poking out from beneath his clothing, the most interesting being the set of teardrop's below his right eye. It didn't take a genius to recognize them as gang marks.

There was a knock on the door as soon as we were settled and another man dressed all in black came into the room. I smirked to myself, all of the guys in this building so far had been fairly attractive, but this one was definitely my favorite.

He was just about the same height as Brandon and his skintight black shirt showed off a perfectly toned body. He skin was a shade darker then Lester's and his long black hair was pulled back with a leather tie. There were two diamond studs in his left ear and I wondered briefly if his skin would taste as good as he looked. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, he glanced at me and I sunk my teeth into my lip to make sure I didn't say that out loud.

He introduced himself as Carlos Manoso, saying that most people just called him Ranger and took a seat at the head of the table. "Why don't we start with an overview?" He said, and I had to tear my gaze away when he looked at me again. "Can you tell us exactly what's been going on?"

Amber nodded, pulling several papers out of her bag and leaning forward to get everyone's attention. I bit back a smirk when all of the RangeMan guys turned to look at her rather than Brandon.

"My brother, Brandon, and I own and run a private gym in New York City." She started. "We train professional gymnastic athletes." She nodded at us. "Stephanie is currently our star pupil."

I blushed when everyone glanced at me and fought not to look down at my hands. I'd been working hard for as long as I could remember to get to this point. I should be proud of the name I'd made for myself.

"A few weeks ago," She continued. "Stephanie received a threatening letter, demanding that she not compete in this year's National Championship competition, which is of course impossible."

"Why?" Ranger asked softly. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we should know as much information as possible." He explained. "What is it about this particular competition that makes it so important that Miss Plum compete?"

Amber nodded. "Of course; no problem. The National Championship is the most important competition of the entire year, especially this year. It's where scouts from the Olympic Games will be coming to pick out the athletes who will be representing our country in this year's summer Olympic Games. They've been watching all of the countries athletes since the last games."

"Stephanie's a sure in for the American team." Brandon said, speaking up for the first time. "She competed in the last games as well and her scores have only gotten better since then. But, she has to be in the competition in order to qualify."

"Of course, she'll qualify." Amber agreed, "As long as she doesn't get shot first." She pushed several pieces of paper across the table towards Ranger. "There were two more letters after the first, these are copies of them. They all say the same basic thing. They don't want her competing, because they know she'll win if she does, and it will be an upset in the world of Olympic Gymnastics."

"Why?" This time the question came from Lester. "I get them not wanting to lose," He continued. "But why would it be considered an upset?"

I wasn't surprised that they didn't' know. Rhythmic Gymnastics wasn't the most popular sport, even in Olympic circles, and I was doubting that this room of big, strong, men had ever even heard of it before Amber reached out to them.

"Because an American's never won before." I said before I even realized the words had left my mouth. "We've never even placed for a medal. I came in fifth in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. That's the highest an American woman has ever scored in Olympic Rhythmic Gymnastics. The sport is completely dominated by the Soviet Nations. Russia, Belarus, The Ukrainian every year it's the same thing. They fight each other. Most of the rest of the world's not even considered real competition."

"Until Stephanie came along." Brandon said with a smirk. "She's the all around favorite right now and the standout in some of the individual elements. If she goes to the London Games, there is a very good chance she'll place high enough for a medal and she's fully capable of going as high as the gold."

I tried not to blush at the high praise. I knew I was good. I worked hard. I had already earned a handful of national titles, but none of them counted next to an Olympic Medal. I wanted to bring the gold home for the U.S.A. I wanted to be the first American woman to ever place in Rhythmic Gymnastics. I wanted one moment to prove I could fly.

"So you think someone, possibly from another country, is trying to knock Stephanie out so she can't compete in the Olympics?" Tank asked.

Amber nodded. "I'm sure of it. Along with the letter's there was also an attempted shooting at our gym in New York City."

"You didn't mention a shooting." Ranger said his eye flickering to me again. For just a moment, I held his gaze and wondered what he was thinking behind that blank face.

Brandon nodded, "The shooting happened after I originally called you. Two days ago a gunman took a pot shot at Steph and myself while we were in front of the gym. Fortunately for us, he missed."

"Barely," I muttered and Amber smirked at me. She loved it when I spoke my thoughts aloud.

"What happened exactly?" Bobby asked, looking at me.

I shrugged. "We were just standing in front of the gym, talking. I didn't see the car until it was right next to us on the road. A gunman in the back seat took one shot at us and the bullet went through the glass window right between us. We couldn't have been more than a foot apart."

I watched as Bobby and Ranger locked eyes for only a moment, but I had a feeling they were talking to each other. "I hate to tell you this." Bobby said, "But I don't think he missed. Shooting from a moving car is hard, but at a close distance, you'd have been an easy target from the road. If someone from another country is really going through all this trouble, they won't hire someone below par. This first shot was probably a warning to prove to you that your stalker is serious about getting rid of you, one way or the other."

Then for the first time since this whole mess started, I truly felt scared. There was really a nutcase out there trying to kill me. He could have just as easily hit Brandon if he'd wanted too. What if they'd shot at Amber? What better way to send a message then to kill one of my coaches?

"Someone needs to watch Amber and Brandon too." I said, fiercely. I glanced over at Amber. "What about the others?" I asked her, turning to look at Ranger. "The gym's not safe for any of them is it? If they want me to stop bad enough would they go after my team, my coaches?"

"What others?" Ranger asked.

Amber rubbed at my arm and gave me a small smile. "Brandon and I are currently working with five gymnasts. They all have access to the gym anytime they want it."

"Are your other students going to be coming to Trenton?" Lester asked.

Brandon shook his head. "We didn't think that would be necessary with Steph leaving. We've let it leak to a few different press agents that Stephanie will be moving to California for some intense training to get ready for Nationals."

"It seems to me that anyone who's been watching you won't fall for that." Ranger said. "Not if they see the two of you there. How often does a professional athlete leave their gym and their trainer's right before a big match?"

I shook my head. "Not often; and it's not a secret that I've been working with Amber and Brandon for my entire professional career. They took me on right out of high school."

"Will the two of you be staying in Trenton with her?" Tank asked.

Brandon shook his head. "No, not full time. We had planned to take turns being here and back in New York. While Steph is clearly our strongest player right now, we have four other girls on our team who need our attention too."

Ranger shook his head. "It'll be dangerous to have you going back and forth. All someone will need to do is to follow you here and they've found her again."

Amber bit her lip. "We hadn't thought of that."

"You've done a good thing in getting Steph here." Bobby said. "and the press leak will trick them for awhile, but eventually they'll realize she's not in California and start looking for her. You two are the most obvious place to start if someone was trying to find her."

"Is there any reason someone could tie you to Trenton?" Tank asked looking over at me. "Have you ever been here before?"

I nodded. "I was born here. My parents are still living in the house I grew up in." They didn't look to pleased about that. "But," I added quickly. "I haven't been here in years. I had a big falling out with my mom a few years ago and I never came back."

Ranger and his guys talked for another hour, asking questions and tossing around ideas. Ranger had some friends in New York who would send him the information from the police report Brandon and Amber had filed when I'd gotten the first letter and a security company they'd worked with in the past was willing to keep an eye on the gym.

Then came the hard part. Amber and Brandon couldn't travel back and forth to meet with me if they were also going to keep up with the other girls. Ranger thought it would be possible to sneak them back a couple of times, but it was safest for everyone involved if they picked one location and stayed.

"I'll stay here with Steph." Amber said quickly and it didn't surprise me. Amber was the one who worked with me regularly, she'd been the one who had approached me at my last high school met and asked if I'd ever considered seeking professional training.

Brandon was a traditional men's Gymnast and while he and I got along great, he couldn't give me the technical help I needed since he wasn't a rhythmic gymnast. I mostly saw Brandon in warm-up or when I was cooling down after a workout. He ran my weight lifting workouts and acted as our gym's medic, handling the everyday injuries of being a gymnast. I also knew I couldn't take Amber away from the gym.

"Amber you can't stay." I said sadly. "What about the others. They have competition's coming up too. Leslie and Cat are both performing at National's this year too, they'll need your attention."

"Brandon can't work with you right, it has to be me." She argued back. "He'll be able to take care of the younger girls."

I gave her my own look and she just shrugged. "I can't leave you alone." She pressed. "We need to be pushing hard these next couple of weeks. You have five routines to nail down."

"I already know the routines Am." I told her, we'd been working on them for months already. I could do them with my eyes closed. As much as I was desperate to stay with Amber and Brandon right now, I was starting to think that they might be safer away from me. "These next couple of weeks are just going to be about muscle memory and cleaning out the exchanges. I can do that on my own."

Amber opened her mouth to argue with me when Brandon spoke up. "Amber," He said softly, catching my eye. He stared at me for a moment longer before gently nodding his head to me. "I think she's right."

"Are you out of your mind?" Amber asked waving a hand at me. "We've put 7 years of work into her! We can't abandon her right now."

"You're not abandoning me." I promise her. "I'll call you every day. You can yell at me on speaker phone while I workout."

Lester laughed and I shot him a grin. "She likes to yell at me."

"Motivation is not yelling." Amber defended.

"With you it is." Brandon added.

"It is the safest way." Ranger pressed. "For Stephanie as well as yourselves and for your other students. Where were you planning to train while you are in town?" He asked looking at me.

I shrugged and looked to Amber. She nodded and pulled out a map of the area showing him a building she'd circled in red ink. "We rented out a gym space near the big mall down route one. We sent up some equipment. It's not the best, but it's private." Amber said quickly.

Ranger shook his head. "That's forty-five minutes away from here. Even with our security camera's in place it would take us to long to get there if she needed help fast."

"We couldn't find any place closer." Brandon said. "Not that still met our requirements."

"What sort of requirements do you have?" Lester asked. "Maybe we can help you find somewhere closer."

Amber pulled out yet another picture from her folder of things and I was embarrassed to see that it was a shot of me from one of my last competitions. In the photo, I was wearing a black and gold show leotard posed to start my dance with a matching black ribbon in my hands.

Amber ignored me and pointed to the floor mat I was standing on. "Her standard performance mat is 43feet long both ways." She said. "Any space Stephanie is going to practice in has to be able to hold the full sized mat as well as her weight lifting equipment. She'll also need a way to play her music so she can work to it."

"So you really just need a giant space." Lester said. "If you have all of the equipment here already, it wouldn't have to actually be a gym."

"I guess not." Amber said. "You have some place in mind?"

Lester looked over at Ranger and I sensed more silent communication. "You're thinking about the warehouse." Ranger said.

Lester nodded. "We got the last of the stuff moved into the building last week. Its big, its empty, we've already got camera's in it, and its only two blocks away. How long would you need it?" He asked looking to Amber. "When is the National Competition?"

"Three weeks," She said. "But, we need to be there a week early so Steph can settle in, she doesn't travel well."

I rolled my eyes when everyone glanced at me again and felt my cheeks turn pink. "Not my fault."

"It's a good idea." Ranger said nodded. "Tank can take you over to see it tonight, if you'd like." He offered, looking at Amber. "You can check it out and make sure it will meet with all of your requirements. If it does we can have your things brought in tomorrow and Stephanie can use it while she's here in Trenton."

"Excellent."

Conversation started to wrap up then. Ranger and Hector were going to come out and look over my apartment tomorrow morning and see what security measures they thought would be appropriate there. Amber still wasn't happy about not being able to stay, but I promised over and over that I would keep up on my work. I'd always had a strong work ethic and it helped that I really wanted to go to London.

"Fine," She finally agreed sourly. "But, you're going to call me every day with updates. You remember the changes we made in the ribbon number?"

I nodded. "You changed the counts on the ending."

"And make sure you work on that section in the middle of the Ball routine. That's your weakest apparatus."

I nodded. "Amber, I promise."

"We'll have to send you your show wardrobe once we get the pieces, so you can practice in them." Brandon added. "Don't over work yourself." He said narrowing his eyes at me. "Practice strong, not all night. I want you getting plenty of sleep."

"Yes Dad."

He smirked at me and a couple of Ranger's men laughed. "Smart ass."

"We'll stay tomorrow," Amber said. "We can go home on Sunday. Is that ok?"

Ranger nodded. "Should be fine."

Everyone started to stand up and I winced when my hip cracked. Brandon didn't miss it and was at my side instantly his hands ghosting over my shoulders and down my sides. "You're stiffening up."

I nodded. "Didn't get a chance to stretch yet."

"We passed a park on the way over here." He said. "There's more room there, then in your new apartment. Let's go now and I'll help you loosen up."

"We have a gym downstairs, if you'd like to use it." Ranger offered.

Brandon nodded. "Thank you, that's very generous."

"I'll show you the way." Lester offered.

"Brandon, let her go." Amber said. "I want you to come and look at this warehouse with me."

He nodded. "Alright," He looked at me. "We'll come pick you up when were done and I'll rub you down then."

Amber and Brandon left with Tank and I offered my hand to Ranger. "Thanks for everything you guys are doing for me." I said. "I really appreciate it."

The corner of his mouth turned up as he took my hand, kissed my knuckles, and said. "No problem Babe."

I smiled at the little pet name, enjoying the way his strong hand felt in mine. Getting the chance to look at him up close I admired just how beautiful he was. A strong jaw and a confident stance that proved he knew what he wanted and was used to getting it. "And thanks for letting me use your gym tonight." I added, tearing my gaze away from the stud's in his ear. "I promise not to trip, twist an ankle, and sue you."

The little lip quirt came back and I bit back a sigh. "I'd appreciate that."

He left then without another word and Lester moved in to take my arm. "Right this way Beautiful. This works out well actually, I didn't get a chance to work-out this morning. Now I can tell everyone I've trained with an Olympian."

I smiled." Bet you break a sweat before I do."

His mouth fell open as he turned his disbelieving brown eyes on me. I crossed my arms over my chest and stuck out a hip confidently. What can I say, I'm competitive.

"Is that a challenge?" He asked.

I looked him up and down. Lester was definitely in shape. He had strong arms and a well-defined chest. Clearly, Ranger made sure that all of his men stayed in shape. "Ex-military?" I guessed.

He smiled. "Active duty actually." He corrected. "I'm between tours right now, but I keep in shape."

"Thank you for serving our country." I'd always admired military personnel. "My Dad's Ex-military."

"Which branch?" He asked.

"Army." I said proud.

He smiled a bright smile, full of white teeth that shone next to his tanned skin. "Good man; Me too. I'm still going to kick your butt in the gym."

"Play nice, Les." Bobby said as he moved past us. "She's our client, and I think that little Amber would kill you if you injured her prize athlete."

"She was kind of scary." Lester agreed.

I giggled and nodded when they looked to me. "Amber's a force to be reckoned with," I agreed.
"but she really is very sweet, and she's an amazing coach to work with."

Hector left with Bobby, and then Lester led me out into the hall and over to the elevator pointing out all of the interesting things in the building while we walked.

We took the elevator down to the basement level and Lester pointed out the gun range that RangeMen employees used. "And this is the gym." He said swiping his ID pass and letting us into a small, but well stocked gym.

Equipment ran along most of the walls leaving the center clear for open mat space. There were only a couple of other men currently using the space and they gave us both an odd look as Lester led me over to the side of the mats.

"Ok," He said. "This is your show, where do we start, and I bet you'll break that sweat first."

I smirked and undid the button on my jeans. "First we change." I said looking down at his combat boots and cargo pants. He also had a gun on his hip and I caught the handle of a knife coming out of his boot. "You're not going to work out in those are you?"

He watched as I made a bit of a show at pulling down my jeans and laid them out next to the mat along with my shoes. He eyed my tiny black short and I smirked. "Not sweating already are you?" I teased.

He shook his head and snapped his eyes back to my face. "You're not the first pretty lady who's striped for me."

"Good, that would have been too easy." Then I pulled off the blouse, slowly popping each button open. I'd taken off my tank-top back at the apartment so that left me working out in my sports bra. "Go get changed." I said while he was ogling what little chest I had. "I'll meet you on the mats."

He left and I gave a little finger wave to the other men watching as I walked out onto the mats and started with just some basic stretches. When he walked, back in I upped the anti and rolled onto my forearms and let my toes touch the back of my head.

He rolled his eyes as he walked over and sat on the mats in front of me. "Show off."

"You challenged the gymnast to a flexibility contest." I reminded him a little smug." I've been able to do this since I was four years old."

He leaned forward and touched his toes. "I didn't say flexibility contest, I said you'd break a sweat first."

"Of course I will, if I'm doing all of the hard moves."

He stretched for a little bit while I sat back down and ran through a quick set of harder stretches to make sure all of my muscles were warmed up. Brandon would kill me if I pulled something because I hadn't stretched out properly.

"I can do a handstand." Lester offered leaning over and kicking his feet up above his head. He walked around on his hands for a bit before tucking into a roll and getting back to his feet.

"Very nice."

We stretched together for a while and while it was obvious I had the better flexibility, Lester surprised me a few of the moves he pulled off.

"I do yoga." He said, when I asked him about it. "It's good for core strength and not a bad idea for releasing some of the stress that builds up around here. It's useful in the bedroom too." He added, wagging his eyebrows at me.

I laid back on the mat and sighed, enjoying the warm flush of being in the gym. My heartbeat slightly faster than normal, my breath coming just a touch faster. "I feel better now."

"Want to go for a run?" Lester asked offering me a hand as he nodded to the treadmills lined along the far wall.

I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. "Sure." As we walked over, I noticed we'd drawn a bit of a crowd. Several more of the RangeMan guys had suddenly appeared, working out while they watched us. Actually, I was guessing they were just watching me. Probably wondering who I was and what I was doing here.

"You're not used to having a girl in this gym are you?" I asked Lester.

He smirked. "They just want to see the hot girl in her bra. You're also the first girl who's ever been in this gym. RangeMan does not currently have any women employed on our field team and our house keeper is not required to log gym time."

"We'll then we should give them a good show."

"What did you have in mind?" He asked raising an eyebrow at me.

I turned around and looked back at the stretch of open mat behind us. "Can you do any flips, Lester?"

He shook his head. "Not really, what kind of flip?"

I took a running start and moved into a set of flips. Front flip, back flip, double flip, no hands. I stuck the landing and waved back at Lester. "That kind."

He shook his head. "Not a chance, Beautiful. You want me to break my neck?"

I returned to his side and we moved onto the tread mills, setting an even paced jog. I found that I was really enjoying the new atmosphere of working out with Lester. I couldn't remember the last time I'd trained with a guy who wasn't Brandon and found myself pushing harder to prove I could match him step for step.

"How long has it been since you've been to Trenton?" Lester asked, breaking our comfortable silence.

He glanced at me when I didn't respond right away and I shrugged. "Four years."

"You mind me asking why?" He asked. "You said you had some sort of problem with your mom. What happened?"

I kicked up the speed on my treadmill and tried not to scowl. There was no way for him to know what a sore topic this was for me. "She doesn't like my job."

He gave me a funny sort of look. "She's not proud that her daughters an Olympic athlete?" He asked. "Isn't that as high as an athlete can go?"

I kicked up the speed again, trying in vain maybe to outrun the memories of my mother that Lester was bringing up. I'd excepted a long time ago that we'd never see eye to eye on my choice of career, but it had hurt when she'd asked me to leave all those years ago.

"She blames the Beijing games for my marriage falling apart." I admitted.

"You were married?"

I nodded. "For about five minutes. Then I caught him, pants down, with my arch-nemesis on our brand new dining room table. It turned into the loudest divorce in Burg history."

He threw his head back and laughed. "Good for you Beautiful, kick his cheating ass to the curb. I would have loved to have seen that."

"Oh I kicked his ass all the way around Trenton," I assured him. "Raised holy hell and lost nearly everything in the divorce at the same time."

"Why's that?" He asked.

I sneered. "Because a 'good' Burg wife lets her husband handle the money so everything was in his name." I said remembering the words in my mother's voice as she'd spoken them to me. "A good wife would be home more often, cleaning and cooking, not wasting all of her time at the gym doing silly dances." I continued, letting myself fall into a much needed rant. "She'd focus on giving her husband children and getting diner on the table at the right time. God forbid the pot-roast be five minutes late to that damned table. If I'd been home more often, maybe Dickie wouldn't have had to look for comfort in the arms of another woman, like that stupid skank Joyce Barnhart!"

I stepped off the treadmill hard and bent over at the waist trying to catch my breath. Lester joined me, passing me a bottle of water.

"Thanks," I sipped at the cool water and stood up forcing myself not to drink to fast.

"No problem." He said. "Sounds like you've been bottling that up for a while."

I shook my head. "It's just being back in this town." I told him. "Brings up bad memories. I fought Brandon when he suggested I come here. I'm sorry I dumped that on you."

Lester took my hand and led me out onto the mats again. "Wait here." He grabbed a set of red boxing gloves off the wall and handed them to me. "You ever box before?"

I shook my head, eyeing the padded gloves. "No"

He stepped forward and helped me put the gloves on, tightening them around my wrists before grabbing a set of black pads and standing opposite of me. "It's great for releasing stress." He explained. "It also gives you the chance to hit something. Let me show you a few of the basic steps."

He showed me a couple of beginner hits and blocks and we fell into an easy passed patter of swinging and ducking. This was a new exercise and it wasn't long before my arms were aching and I was drenched in sweat.

"Keep going." Lester said when I moved to stop.

I swung at him and he absorbed the hit into his pad and swung at my head. I ducked and moved to hit him again.

"Hit harder," He coached, pressing forward. "I can take it."

I blew my bangs out of my face and narrowed my eyes, letting myself fall into the same sort of zone I used when I was running moves with Amber. I hit harder and Lester pressed back faster. All of a sudden, Lester broke our pattern. He swung left fast and cuffed me in the shoulder, knocking me to the side and I fell to one knee.

"What was that?" I demanded, pushing myself back up.

He smiled at me, raising his gloves. "Boxing,"

"You hit me."

"You can't always rely on things being the same." He said. "This isn't gymnastics. In boxing, your opponent gets to hit you back."

I rolled my eyes. "Trying to play Yoda now?"

He bounced on the balls of his feet and flashed me another big smile with those adorable dimples. "Admit that you feel better." He taunted.

"What if I don't want to?" I shot back.

"Then you're a liar as well as a terrible boxer."

I brushed sweat off my forehead and pulled the gloves off. I was soaked in sweat, my arms were stiff and my whole body ached. I felt great. "I do feel better."

He hung our gloves back up and nodded to the front of the gym where Amber and Brandon were just coming in. "Looks like your coaches are back."

"Thanks for working out with me, Lester."

He smiled. "Anytime."

"I'm going to take you up on that." I promised. "With Amber and Brandon gone I'm going to need someone to kick my butt."

"Beautiful, I'll kick your butt anytime," He promised. "But in truth," He added with a smirk. "I can think of better ways to blow off stress then boxing."

I swung my leg up and caught him in the hip. "Pervert."

He laughed and dodged my second kick. "Hey," I said suddenly, remembering the bet we'd made. "You won the bet." I pointed out, waving a hand down my sweat soaked clothes. His shirt was damp too, but not as bad as mine was. "What do you want?"

He stepped back a pace as Brandon and Amber came forward. "Rain check, Beautiful. I'll let you know when I think of something really good."

Brandon ran me through a short cool down workout while I told him about boxing with Lester. Once he'd rubbed me down and was convinced that I was fine, he helped me up and had me change. A black SUV followed us to my apartment. Ranger was setting a man to watch the building overnight since my security system wouldn't be in place until tomorrow.

"Good night Steph." Amber said laying a kiss in my hair as she and Brandon let themselves out of my apartment. They'd gotten a room at a hotel just outside of town. I dropped some hamster crunchies into Rex's cage, fed myself a peanut butter and olive sandwich on gross whole-wheat bread and gave my living room of boxes a displeasing look. Where were my pillows?

~Darkrose

R&R. Let me know if I'm completely out of my mind for loving this idea.

Olympic fun fact- Rhythmic gymnastics was first introduced as a legit sport in 1940 when the first Rhythmic competitions started. The sport was first brought to the Olympics in the 1984, Los Angelis, Olympic world Games.

If you are interested in watching a bit of Rhythmic gymnastics, and I would suggest you do if you are unfamiliar with the sport just so you understand what my Stephanie does for a living, I would recommend looking up a wonderful athlete named Anna Bessonova and watching her Beijing Olympic performances. She is my personal favorite.