Disclaimer: All characters are property of Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them a little bit.

Author's Notes: I'm a complete Tart so this is going to be a Steph/MM fic. Thanks to everybody who has reviewed – it's awesome knowing people are enjoying the fic!

This chapter is longer than what I would normally post, but I couldn't stop it halfway through, because it felt too disjointed then, and I already knew where I wanted it to end. Enjoy!

The Dark Knight

Chapter Three

The herald blew his trumpet again to gain the attention of the audience once more, "The tournament will start tomorrow at 9am, with the lists on the board from 7:30am."

With that the crowd started to disperse from the stands, many of them wandering onto the field to talk to people they knew within the different tournament groups. As Ella and I left the stands, we were soon surrounded by a gaggle of girls and young women. A pretty brunette wearing a dark green dress was the first to speak up, "Wow, I can't believe that you got four tokens from the Rangeman team!" Another younger girl in pale yellow looked at me with wide eyes, "And the Dark Knight's token as well."

I could feel myself blushing. It wasn't like I expecting any of the guys to do this. And I had no idea who the Dark Knight was at all, except that he was known by the Rangeman guys. Now I was surrounded by this group of girls. I looked to Ella, pleading with my eyes, for her to do something.

"Ok ladies. I think we should start to make our way back towards the Market Place," she said and started to herd the majority of the group towards the path. The initial woman in green who spoke first, lingered at the back of the group with me, "Ever since the Rangeman team started, none of them have ever given out any tokens. We all assumed that they already had girlfriends or whatever..." she paused for a second, "I guess we just supposed that guys that hot would be taken already."

I smiled a little bit. I had often thought the same thing, until one night on a surveillance shift with Zip, I asked him. He said most of the guys didn't have steady girlfriends or were not married due to the fact that most women couldn't deal with their jobs. The weird hours and danger aside, most of them had seen a lot of shit when they were within the Armed Forces, and a few were still contracted in and could be called up at any time. What Zip had said to me made complete sense, but I still felt sad for the guys sometimes – because they were complete sweeties (most of the time) under the black cargo pants and guns.

The woman was waiting for me to make a comment, "I work with them, and know for a fact that the majority of the guys don't have any girlfriends, partners or wives," I paused letting it sink in, "Most of them have been burned by women previously who couldn't accept their jobs or pasts."

The woman in green nodded, "They work in the security business, right?" I nodded my head, this woman had been doing her homework, "And I can tell that most of them were in the Armed Forces at one time..." She paused again. How on earth did she know that they had been in the forces? The woman must have noticed my curious look, "My father was in the forces while I was growing up, and I suppose it makes a bit more sense now that I've thought about it." She grinned and looked at me again, "I'll admit, I'm glad that the one wearing the light grey shirt didn't give you a token."

Ohhh... So she's been eyeing off Bobby...

I couldn't help but laugh in response, "So am I! I think having four of them courting me, plus whoever this Dark Knight is, over one weekend more than enough."

She laughed in response, "Anyway, my name is Sophia..." and then she proceeded to explain how the tokens and courting worked. Once we reached the Market Place, she said goodbye and went in the opposite direction to the Rangeman stall, while I headed towards it.

Now that I understood the courting process properly – I can see how this weekend is going to be fun for me.

Who doesn't like the idea of being swept of their feet? And there's no obligation after this weekend, unless I want it. Since all of the guys obviously know the rules of this, it made me feel a lot more comfortable.

How is it that I've gone from a drought of men, to a flood?

And I wasn't even looking!

The Rangeman booth was busy when I arrived. Obviously the wares are popular because business was teeming. As I was watching Ella try to convince a woman that the purple dress would suit her better than the orange, I felt a light touch on my elbow and turned around.

Vince was standing there, blushing slightly. He gave me a slight bow and kissed the back of my hand, "Lady Stephanie, would you like to accompany me for a stroll?"

Thank goodness Sophia had explained everything! Or else I would have laughed and asked why he was being so formal, which in turn would embarrass him... And of course I wanted to go for a walk with Vince, he was super cute, especially when he blushed.

Vince grinned and his blush reddened slightly. It seemed I had once again spoken out loud without meaning to...

I smiled cheekily at Vince who was still blushing, "I would love to," and took the initiative to link our arms together. I decided that I liked walking with one of the guys like this. It made me feel special, plus it was a nice reminder of how well built each one of them are!

As we strolled through the Market Place occasionally stopping at a booth, I managed to get Vince, who is usually extremely quiet, talking about his goblets and how he learnt to make them. The transformation on his face and the enthusiasm shining through when he spoke about how he loved blowing glass, and working with the iron to create the beautiful and delicate objects was amazing. It turned out his grandfather used to make glasses similar and taught Vince when he was a lot younger. Vince picked up the skill again after leaving the armed forces, and apart from selling them at the fair, also has a range stocked in a boutique shop in Trenton. I could listen to him talk about it all day.

After an hour of wandering around and talking, we started to head back towards the Rangeman booth.

"Umm... Stephanie." I paused in our walking and looked up at Vince. He had used my full name – something extremely rare, but not entirely unpleasant. He was blushing slightly again, and the way he couldn't properly look me in the eyes indicated that he was extremely nervous; "I hope you don't mind about the whole tokens and courting thing."

Before I could get a word out he continued talking still avoiding looking at me, "It's just that a few of us really enjoy spending time with you, and have been wanting to ask you out on a date for a while... Except we weren't sure how you would react..."

Now he looked at me properly, and I could sense how earnest he was being, "So when you agreed to come this weekend, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity..."

I couldn't help but grin up at him, even knowing that this was pre-planned by them, "Honestly Vince, at first I was panicking a bit. But now that the tokens and courting have been explained to me, it sounds like a lot of fun. Plus this is a great opportunity for me to get to know some of you better outside the work environment."

Wow – I sounded so mature and calm saying that... Usually in a situation like this I would stutter and stumble over my words, never quite conveying what I wanted to. This courting could be good for me personally as well...

Vince relaxed at my words – obviously he had been worrying about how I was going to take it. "Well I just want you to know Steph, regardless of what happens this weekend with the courting, I'll always want to be friends with you."

I couldn't help but smile at that, "Thanks Vince. I'll always want to be friends with you as well."

When we reached the Rangeman tent, he kissed the back of my hand again, letting his lips linger there slightly longer than before, "Goodbye for now Steph. I hope we can have another walk later," and with another small bow wandered off into the crowd again.

Smiling, I can't help but wonder if all my 'courtships' with the other guys will go as nicely as this time with Vince...

I stopped by the spot on the outside table which was empty late this morning. Obviously, Rodriguez had somehow managed to get his wares to the fair. That's surprising, but maybe he managed to convince someone to bring them for him. It seems as if he is really close to the guys and perhaps it's just coincidence that I haven't met him yet. I held back a snort – yeah right. Maybe he likes the title of the Mystery Man too much?

I looked closely at what he had made, and found myself amazed by the beautiful jewellery. The majority of the jewellery was silver, and covered all the normal types from rings, bracelets, necklaces and pendants. There were even some of the bands I had seen other women wearing around their heads with a small pendant hanging from the band onto their foreheads – but the ones Rodriguez had made were much more intricate than the others. Most of the pieces also had semi-precious stones set into them. I'm not sure how long I was standing there and admiring the jewellery, but it seemed each piece had its own vibe and character.

Seeing the jewellery Rodriguez had created, made me want to meet him even more. I wanted to meet him so I could tell him how much I admired what he could make. Maybe, when I was back in the office on Tuesday, if I had any searches from him, I could put a note in them...

Hmm... I tugged on one of my curls. That's something I'll have to think about a bit more...

And I need to remember to ask Tank about this Dark Knight. He was curious before, and now that he's 'courting' me...

I didn't want to pester Vince with questions about him. I thought that it would be unfair since they're both courting me at the same time.

"Hey Bomber," I shook myself out of my thoughts and turned to look inside the tent where Tank stood with Lester and Bobby, "We need to have a chat with you."

From the sound of Tank's voice I knew it was something serious. And also due to the dark, furious look on Lester's face. Hopefully it wasn't anything too bad... But somehow I doubted that. I wandered inside the tent to where the guys were standing at the back next to the weapons.

"What's wrong Tank?" He blinked at the fact I had correctly picked up on the fact something serious was happening. Honestly – I'm not that oblivious. Well, at least not all of the time.

Tank coughed slightly, "Ok Steph, I'm going to be very blunt – Jimmy the Hand is here."

Umm... Ok... It seems that this is serious. Like so serious I think I'll need a double dose of icecream and cake by the time we've finished talking, "I don't suppose he's here just to enjoy the festive and fun atmosphere?" I asked hopefully. I saw Bobby smirk and shake his slightly in disbelief. Well – it is a possibility – even if Jimmy the Hand is a contract killer... Or at least that's what his file suggested when I was reading it last week. Even contract killer's need to have a hobby and fun occasionally.

"No Bomber, he's not here for the fair. Though he is apparently making the most of the costumes and blending in." Tank took a deep breath, "He's here for you Steph."

I frowned. That was sort of unexpected. I racked my mind thinking of any connection Jimmy the Hand would have to me or any of the skips I had picked up recently and realised that was none. I sighed softly, "Ok Tank, I'm drawing a complete blank. Why is Jimmy the Hand here for me?"

Bobby stepped forward to explain the connection, "Remember that gang banger you picked up about a month and half ago, Amancio Ruiz." I nodded in remembrance. I was picking up my weekly supply of peanut butter, olives, twinkies and icecream, when I recognised the guy who was in front of me at the checkout line. He was one of Rangeman's high-bond skips, Ruiz. Making the most of the opportunity, and the fact I had my cuffs in my back pocket, I slipped one onto the wrist of his hand which was leaning on the counter, and the other half I locked onto the confectionary stand. Thankfully the stand was welded to the checkout, because once Ruiz realised what I had done he went nuts, and I was forced to zap him my taser before he could pull any weapons on anybody. I called for backup and Zero and Hal responded and took him down to the station. According to Big Dog who was on cell checkup that evening, Ruiz was not happy about being picked up by the Bombshell Bounty Hunter, and wouldn't stop shouting that he would get revenge on me. Unfortunately this is nothing particularly new in the life of Stephanie Plum.

None of us were too worried at the time, because he didn't get re-bailed, and was sent to jail for a minimum of ten years for manslaughter. Ranger managed to smooth things over with the local gang Ruiz had been a part of, so they wouldn't take retribution on me for putting away one of their own. But now it turns out Ruiz had hired his own killer.

"How did Ruiz get in contact with Jimmy the Hand?" The guys looked slightly startled. It was nice that I could still surprise them. "What do you mean Steph?" Lester asked.

"Well – Ruiz is gang, while Jimmy the Hand is old school mob. They don't exactly socialise in the same circles..."

Tank nodded in agreement, "Rodriguez mentioned that Ruiz is currently sharing a cell with a low level mobster, so that's likely where the connection is." I nodded. Damn – my meant to be fun weekend is now turning out to be not so fun. However, I still didn't want to leave the fair and be locked up in Haywood.

I sighed, "I suppose one of the guys is always going to have to be with me," all three of them nodded, "Well as long as I get to stay at here at the fair, then it's alright."

All three of them were sporting looks of disbelief at my easy acceptance of needing a guard. And rightly so as well – usually I would rage and get angry about being guarded, but having read Jimmy the Hand's folder, I would honestly prefer one of them to be around, just in case. Thank god I made the decision to wear my thigh holster with my gun in it under my dress. And while I now know how to use it, I would still prefer to have a guard as well. Jimmy the Hand is nasty bastard – one of those types, where if you saw him at night you wouldn't just cross the street to avoid walking past him, but go across an entire state.

Something Tank mentioned earlier clicked in my mind... "So if Rodriguez talked to you, does that mean he's now here?" Tank and Bobby both gave me identical smirks, while Lester chuckled, "Bomber, if Rodriguez was here, you would never know anyway."

Blast. Lester is absolutely right. I have no idea what Rodriguez looks like so I couldn't identify him either way. And it's useless trying to identify him by who the guys talk to around the fair... Vince seemed to know stacks of different people who are obviously regulars at the fair. Damn it!

Tank just grinned at me. All of the guys thought it was hilarious I got so worked up about not having met one of them, and teased me with the knowledge constantly. He suddenly turned serious again, "Bomber – are you packing?"

Now it was my turn to turn shoot them a cheeky grin. Since I was fairly hidden from the sight of other people in the tent, I lifted up the skirt to my dress and flashed the guys a glimpse of my thigh holster, complete with gun, "It's even loaded," I joked. I happened to look at Lester as I was resettling my skirt, and had noticed his eyes had turned darker. Interesting... That's what happened when Lester barged into my apartment when I was naked...

I wonder if the other guys would get turned on by the thought I was wearing a thigh holster.

"That's my girl Steph," Tank replied, "At the moment, we think you should just continue as normal," I gave him a look, "Well as normal as you can being at a medieval fair, but keep vigilant, don't go anywhere by yourself, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera." I was amazed – Tank was channelling the bald guy from that musical The King and I! He grinned, "I figured that you know the deal by now, so why bother repeating it."

I couldn't help but smile at that.

Lester stepped forward, "Well – if we're keeping things normal," he bowed extravagantly, and placed a light kiss on the back of my hand, "Lady Stephanie, would you honour me by going for a wander?"

I raised an eyebrow, "And getting courted by five different men over one weekend is normal for me?" Lester gave a slight shrug in response, "I'm working with what I have."

"In that case, I would love to take a wander with you Lester."

Linking my arm in his, Lester led me out of the tent and started in a direction of the Market Place I haven't explored yet. I heard Tank yell from behind, "Thanks Bomber, I always wanted to be thought of as a King." Once again my mouth overrode my brain... It must be hunger which causes it to happen...

I hope this walk includes something to eat – I am starving!

Lester laughed, his eyes crinkling in the corners, "Don't worry Steph – we're heading to the food section."

I grinned, "Good. Because I feel the need for something sweet now." He nodded in understanding – I needed comfort food. We walked in companionable silence for a little bit and I realised I had forgotten to ask Tank about the Dark Knight. Damn. Breaking my chain of thought, Lester explains that there were a couple of guys not in sight to us also watching over me. I don't have the heart to go into Rhino mode over it, especially since he was leading me to food.

"Have you ever tried mulled wine before?" Lester asked suddenly as we rounded a corner to see booths selling various types of food and drink, and large wooden picnic tables spread throughout the area in between them. "No I haven't – but I'm not a big fan of wine," but everything here smells so good!

"I think you'll like this type of wine," Lester led me to one of the tables where I sat. Since it was still too early for dinner, this area of the Market Place was relatively quiet and empty. I watched Lester as he strode to one of the booths; the trousers he was wearing hugged all of the right places! He got two mugs of something, presumably mulled wine, and then went to another booth where they handed over something wrapped in cloth. This fair really takes the re-creation aspect seriously at times. Thank goodness nobody was speaking using 'thou' and 'thyself' though!

While we were eating our lamb pasties (delicious!) and drinking our mulled wine (non-alcoholic version, due to Jimmy hanging around) Lester explained how the tournament worked. He was participating in a few different sections, and I could see he loved the challenge of learning new things like archery.

As the food area started to become more crowded, Lester took my arm, and led me to another booth. "Two of the honey and sesame please?" The woman handed me a warm flaky pastry. I take a bite and find it is lightly flavoured with honey and sesame seeds – and is amazing! Lester just grins at my moan, and re-links our arms again.

Now that the sun has gone down it's started to get a bit chilly. "Lester – do you mind walking me up to the camp, it's getting a bit cool and I want to grab my cloak."

"It would be my pleasure Steph. I nearly forgot, but I have to meet Woody in fifteen minutes up there to discuss tactics for tomorrow." He looked slightly annoyed that our 'courting' (which sounds so silly, it's a date, so why don't they call it a date?) would have to come to an end. Once we reach the camp area Lester once again bows over my hand and places another light kiss on the back of it, "Thank you for a wonderful and delicious wander, Lady Stephanie. I hope we can repeat the experience again soon."

I smile at him. I genuinely enjoy spending time with Lester – he's easy to talk to, always has something interesting to say, and definitely knows how to keep a girl distracted when she needs to be. "I had a wonderful time Lester; I also hope we can do this again soon." Shooting another quick smile at me, he walked over to where Woody was talking to Binkie.

A cool breeze flicked through the camp ground. I shivered slighted. Definitely time to get that cloak. As I'm walking towards my tent, Binkie suddenly appears next to me, and gently holds my hand.

"Lady Stephanie, would you do me the honour of accompanying me to my favourite part of the fair?"

Hmm... There's no fighting or anything on tonight. I wonder what Binkie's favourite part is? And wasn't he meant to bow and kiss my hand and everything?

Curious, I smile, "Of course I will Binkie." I start to walk towards my tent again, "I just have to grab my cloak first." When I reach the tent, Binkie gently stops me, "Let me just check it first, please Steph." I nod in agreement, and he ducks into my tent. I think Jimmy the Hand would be nuts to try something in our camp area – my tent is literally surrounded by all of the guys tents. But it's better to be safe than sorry.

Binkie exited the tent holding my cloak, "It was all clear, but I thought I would save you the trouble." Aww... How sweet of him. He swept the cloak across my shoulders, and then proceeded to do up the buckle on the front of it. Mmmm... I'm glad Ella convinced me the cloak was a good idea – it's very comfortable and warm. I wonder where Binkie is going to take me.

We stopped at Binkie's tent, and he ducked in and came out with a dark purple cloak similar to mine. Shrugging all he said was, "It is starting to get a bit chilly." Linking my arm with his, he started to lead me towards me the market place. From the sounds travelling up the path, it appeared the majority of people were still down there.

I couldn't wait and see for myself, I just had to ask him where we were going, "Ok Binkie – you have to tell me, what is your favourite part of the fair? I thought it would have been the tournament..."

Binkie squeezed my arm slightly, "I do enjoy the tournament. But you'll have to wait and see my favourite part."

Right before reaching the market place, we turned a sharp left, onto a well travelled path I hadn't noticed before. It led around the edge of the market for a little bit, before a large bonfire appeared. People were sitting on wooden stalls placed around it.

"Terrific – it hasn't started yet." What hadn't started yet? I'm nearly beside myself with curiosity, but all Binkie does is shoot me a small smile.

"Let's sit here Steph; we'll get a good view." As we sit down in our chosen spots, the other stalls were quickly filling up around us. Binkie gently picks up one of my hands, and holds it between his hands "Is this ok, Steph?"

"Yes, it's nice Binkie." Especially if he keeps on rubbing my palm with his thumb like that...

He smiles and leans a bit closer happiness shining from his eyes, "I just know you're going to love this."

And boy – was he right!

As we watched the fire breathers, and listened to the ballads sung and the stories told, I leaned into him and relaxed. It was fantastic!

Once all the performances had ended, and the bonfire was softly glowing, we started to head back to camp. There were a few ballads and songs which had been sung in Gaelic, and Binkie was going through them with me – he had a lovely singing voice – explaining and translating them into English. He said his grandmother had taught him Gaelic, and he still talks to her every week in it.

At my tent, Binkie once again checked the inside. "Thank you for coming with me tonight Steph," he leant down and kissed my hand, "I hope we can hang out together again over the weekend."

I couldn't help but giggle a little bit at Binkie's break in the formal farewell, "I would love to Binkie – tonight was just awesome!" He smiled and let go of my hand and held back the tent flap for me to go in, "Sleep well Steph."

Louis and Ella had done a fantastic job on the tents. Mine was slightly smaller than the guys, but had enough room for a camp bed and mattress, a fold up seat, small mirror and my weekend suitcase. Ella had kindly hung up my dresses up from one of the support poles around the edge. All together, this was way better than I had expected for camping.

Hmm... What to do now though? I suppose it might be a good idea to shower now, because no doubt the guys would be monopolizing it in the morning...

Ok – shower it is!

Stripping off my clothes I pull on my comfortable and well worn terry-towel robe, tying the belt in a tight knot. It wouldn't do to flash anybody on my way there. What else do I need...? "Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, razor..." and I put them all into a small carry bath bag. "Towel, body loafer..."

I was startled out my musings by a soft knock against the piece of wood Louis had hung out the front of my tent so the guys could continue to practice knocking. I waited for whoever was there to enter. That's odd, usually they've barged in by now...

Checking to make sure my robe is covering me properly; I pull back the tent flap.

Oh... I certainly wasn't expecting him...