A/N: Okay guys hope you enjoy this story, its a T.J/Cassie fic. Here's the interesting thing I didn't write it, I found it on a very old website, the author gave me permission to post it here so please enjoy chapter 1
Disclaimer: I don't known Saban. Enough said.
Heart's Desires Chapter 1
By Arigeitsu
The moonlight shone down on the city of Angel Grove, it went past the downtown district area, extended past Angel Grove High, and continued through Angel Grove Park. The lake was lit up as it reflected the moonlight. T.J sat down leaning against a tree. His eyes were on the Pink Ranger who was lying in the cool crisp grass looking up at the clear sky before her. Somehow, T.J could tell what she was thinking of. He realized after a while that he had formed a special bond with the Pink Ranger. Although she would never admit, T.J knew every time Cassie would go and look at the clear night skies, she was thinking of her current love, the Phantom. T.J always wanted to say or do something to put her mind at ease, but knew he couldn't. The only thing he could do was be her friend and continue to support her in anyway he could. At times, T.J felt like hugging Cassie, sheltering her from the world's evils and disappointments, and never letting go. T.J wanted to be the person who she could hold close to her heart... and she is the one he held close to his.
The sun had almost gone down below the horizon that was the Angel Grove Mountains. Cassie suggested that they should sit for a while and see the sunset. T.J, of course, happily agreed to it. He went to sit under a tree that was a few feet away and Cassie laid in the cool grass. T.J hadn't noticed after a while that the stars appeared in the sky and the moon was shining down on Cassie until he woke from his trance of admiring her gorgeous looks, her generous nature, and curvaceous body.
T.J sat up, and walked over to Cassie and sat next to her.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" T.J asked.
"Yeah, it is," Cassie responded. "I've always liked the stars. They appear every night and just light up the world. It's not the same looking at them from Earth as when we are in the Megaship."
T.J smiled sweetly at Cassie and noticed she was shivering a bit.
"You cold," T.J asked her with a small concerned look.
"Yeah, just a little bit," Cassie responded rubbing her arms to warm them up.
"Here, you can use my long sleeve shirt," T.J said untying the sleeves from around his waist.
"Thanks, T.J," she thanked as he helped her into it. Afterwards, she gave the Blue Ranger a small hug and then looked up at the sky again.
T.J and Cassie fell silent for a moment. Perhaps looking at the Saturday night clear sky with awe made them quiet.
T.J turned his head to look at Cassie who still remained looking up at the sky.
"What'cha thinking about," T.J asked.
"Nothing really," Cassie said. "Just.. stuff."
T.J gave her a small charming smile and looked up again as well.
"This is the perfect opportunity to tell her," T.J thought to himself. "We're alone, so nobody could walk in and interrupt."
However, doubtful thoughts began to grow in his mind.
"But what would she think if I told her? Would our friendship be in jeopardy? I better not risk it."
"You know, Cassie? This is rather nice. Thanks for letting me join you. It's a good change from fighting the forces of evil. You know, punching a Quantron here and there, and destroying a few monsters in the middle gets a bit tiresome after a while," T.J spoke to Cassie.
"Well, Teej, you're my good friend. I feel comfortable around you. I mean, you were the first person I met here in Angel Grove, and I've grown a grand trust in you," Cassie said.
T.J smiled at her, "Same here. It's funny how things turned out after a simple bus trip."
T.J and Cassie sat there for about another fifteen minutes. T.J found it rather odd that what felt like only a few minutes, turned into a couple of hours. He picked up his wrist and looked at his communicator.
"We better get back, Cassie," T.J suggested. "The others might be worried about us."
Cassie yawned. "Yeah, we should get back. It's rather late and I'm sort of tired."
T.J helped Cassie up to her feet and she brushed off the loose grass that was stuck to her.
"Alpha, we're teleporting back to the ship now," T.J said to his communicator to warn them of their return.
They both pressed the teleportation button and landed in the work bay in flashes of blue and pink.
T.J and Cassie walked to the Bridge to find the others in their normal suits and pressing buttons on the control panels.
"Hey, where have you two been," Ashley asked.
"Nowhere, just in the park checking out the view. What are you guys up to?" Cassie said.
"We're still tracking Dark Specter's ship. We came close to finding it, but lost the signal," Andros said still pressing buttons and not making eye contact with anyone.
"It's weird," Carlos said. "Why would Dark Specter slip up like this and Astronema not do anything in defense? She hasn't attacked in over two days."
"We better be on our guard then," T.J said. "She might be preparing for a huge battle against us."
"Her attacks have become more fierce since her reprogramming," Carlos said.
T.J looked at Andros after Carlos had said that. Andros closed his eyes for a few seconds and continued to press buttons on the control panel as though the comment had no effect on him, even though it did.
"Hey, I'm going to go to sleep now. I'm beat," Cassie said, yawning a bit.
"You okay, Cassie?" Ashley asked curiously.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I don't know. Today has drained me, and I didn't even do much. Maybe a good night's rest will make me feel as good as new tomorrow," Cassie said.
"How about if I walk you to your room," T.J offered.
"Okay," Cassie said.
"Night guys," Cassie said in her sweet voice and gave a cute wave at the others.
"Night," the other Rangers said after one another.
T.J and Cassie both walked to the doors and they lifted up with a hum. Cassie's room wasn't too far and they reached it in about 10 seconds.
"Here's your shirt, T.J Thanks for letting me use it," Cassie said.
"You're, as always, welcome," T.J spoke in a high class gentleman way.
"Take it easy, Cassie. Get some rest, we don't want our pink ranger sluggish tomorrow," he teased.
Cassie sort of laughed a bit giving T.J a slight glare, "Funny. Night Teej."
"Yeah, you too," T.J responded slowly stepping away from her door smiling at her.
Cassie went in her room and the door fell shut.
The thoughts of telling Cassie how he felt once again clouded T.J's mind. Something in his heart wanted to tell her how he truly felt, but his mind was hesitant. All he could think about was them sitting there alone in the park admiring the stars. For some awkward reason, T.J began to feel awfully weak and drowsy. He thought that all that thinking might have caused it. He figured he would head to bed as well. He made his way to the Bridge and entered and found Andros and Ashley. He stopped in his tracks and noticed that Carlos was not present. T.J could hear Ashley and Andros laughing a bit and having a good time. He didn't think they heard him approach, so T.J didn't disturb them. Instead, he left and headed to his room. The door opened from bottom to top and he walked in, the lights turning on automatically.
"Thanks DECA," T.J said in gratitude.
"My pleasure, T.J," the super computer responded.
T.J changed into his normal space jump suit. He sat on his bed and leaned forward with his head looking down at the ground. His mind still couldn't stop thinking of the day. It seemed the more T.J thought about it, the more sleepy he got until his head fell on his pillow.
Meanwhile on the Dark Fortress, Astronema was coming up with a new plan to attack the Rangers. Ever since she became her new evil self, she's had nothing on her mind but destruction.
"We need to come up with a plan to finally destroy those Rangers," Astronema said with an evil intent pacing back and forth as her loyal protector, Ecliptor, stood ready to assist her in anyway.
"Perhaps we should take them out a little at a time, my Princess," Ecliptor suggested.
"Hmm...," Astronema said to herself. She smiled evilly and slowly walked to the main window of the Dark Fortress.
"Good idea, Ecliptor," Astronema said. "Who should we begin with?"
"How about the Blue and Pink Rangers," Ecliptor asked.
"Yes..., those two... they seem to have some sort of special bond. I've seen them in battle. Always helping each other, defending, attacking together. Yes, this could go very well," Astronema said.
"Call upon Sting Raider, Ecliptor. Now!" Astronema ordered.
"As you wish, Princess," Ecliptor responded and began to press buttons on the main computer of the Dark Fortress.
A huge flash of light and electricity lit up the room and there appeared a monster with massive power. An ugly somewhat wrinkled face, long sharp nails, and an overall Sting Ray look.
"Sting Raider, at your service, Astronema, Princess of Darkness," the monster said with respects. "How may I assist you?"
"You're going to attack the Blue and Pink Rangers and destroy them," Astronema said.
"It would be my pleasure, Princess," the monster responded.
"Failure is not an option. If you do, I'll destroy you before you destroy them," Astronema threatened approaching Sting Raider while pointing her staff.
"I will not fail you, Astronema," Sting Raider said with a bow to Astronema.
"Now.. get out. I'll call you when we're ready," Astronema ordered.
Sting Raider quickly exited the Bridge of the Dark Fortress as Astronema stood there, smiling evilly of her new plan.
"It's time to get up, T.J," DECA said as her red scope lit up with each word.
T.J slowly opened his eyes trying to enter back into reality from sleep.
"Thank you, DECA," T.J said to her.
"You're welcome," she responded.
DECA and T.J never really talked. It was a normal basis thing for her to assist with certain things and T.J thank her. Other than that, no real communication was involved.
T.J slipped on his space jacket, groomed himself properly, and headed to the work bay on Mega Deck 1. He found Carlos, Cassie, Ashley, and Andros already eating their breakfast.
"Good morning, T.J," Andros said.
Although T.J was still a tad bit tired, he did feel ten times better than he did the previous night. He approached the Synthetron letting out a small yawn and pressing the buttons to make bacon and eggs. The Synthetron beeped and he slowly opened the door and the aroma of his breakfast did waken him a bit more. It wasn't the best bacon and eggs in the galaxy, but it was still good. T.J took a seat on his normal stool and began to eat. The other Rangers were talking about random things. Overall, they were being funny and joking around. T.J paid no particular attention though, acting as if he was in his own world within his mind. However, he couldn't over help hearing them coming to the subject of who would clear the table after breakfast. T.J then noticed his fellow Rangers turned their attention on him. He raised his head and looked at them slowly swallowing his food.
"Oh, I guess it's my turn," T.J asked knowing they would make him do it whether it was his turn or not.
The other Rangers nodded with sly grins on their faces and smiling innocently.
"All right, I get the idea," T.J said to them with a small smile. "I'll clean up here as soon as you finish. Besides, a little work never hurt anyone."
After a while, all the Rangers were finished eating and headed towards the Bridge. T.J was left alone in the work bay. T.J sat there for a while in the quiet area and slid out of his seat and began to stack each metal plate one on top of the other. Some metal clanking began to approach and Alpha entered the work bay.
"Do you need some help, T.J," Alpha offered in his high pitched voice.
"Nah, that's okay Alpha, I got it," T.J declined.
"All right, T.J," the robot responded and left to the Bridge.
T.J picked up all the plates and placed them inside the Synthetron and shut the door. As he headed towards the Bridge, the feeling he was missing something ran through his body. He stood there for a second and realized he didn't have his morpher.
"Astro Morpher... Man, I need to get on track today," T.J said to himself and ran to his room to retrieve his ranger accouterment. He slipped it on his left wrist and then looked up at the mirror that stood in front of him and saw himself reflected in it. T.J, again, began to think about the previous night alone with Cassie. To be honest with himself, that had to be the closest he had ever been with her. The regrets of not telling her how he truly felt seemed to make him feel a little sad for a moment. If there was a time to tell her, that was it, and he didn't do it. Fear had consumed him.
"Eh... maybe I shouldn't worry about it. I mean, why would she be interested in me anyway? I can tell she loves the Phantom. Sorry, T.J, you can't help not being the one she love," T.J said to himself in his mind and sighed.
A small knock and a voice came from the doorway.
"T.J," Cassie asked poking her head into the room and looking at T.J standing in front of his drawer.
T.J was broken from his train of thought and turned his attention to the Pink Ranger he admired standing at the doorway.
"You all right," she asked in a sweet caring voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking of... things," T.J said to her.
Cassie cocked her head a bit and smiled.
"Come on, the others are wondering where you are," she said putting her hand on his
shoulder.
"All right," T.J said as Cassie began to exit the room. T.J headed for the door as well to head back to the Bridge, but not before looking at the picture inside held within a metal frame sitting on the table next to the exit. It was of T.J and Cassie at the Angel Grove Fair about a month ago. One of the greatest nights he had for a long time. T.J smiled a bit at the picture and left to join his fellow Rangers.
"Hey, there you are," Carlos said as Cassie and T.J entered the Bridge.
"Yup, I'm still here," T.J responded with a small smile. "I forgot my morpher and went back to get it after cleaning up."
"Well, we're going to head down to Earth," Ashley said. "My mom is throwing some get together with friends and family and wanted me to come help with the preparations. Of course, I told her I would only go if you guys came too," Ashley smiled nervously waiting for an answer hoping her fellow Rangers would help out.
"Hmm... sounds fun. I'm in. How about you, guys," T.J asked.
"Yeah, things seem pretty calm. I say we go have a good time," Carlos said.
Andros stood there thinking and had a preoccupied expression on his face.
"Andros, what's wrong?" Cassie asked.
"Um, what's a get together?" he questioned.
Everyone sort of smiled and looked at Andros.
"It's like a party. You know, people talking and getting to know each other and stuff. Catching up on old times," T.J said in response to Andros' question about the Earth custom.
"Oh, okay," Andros replied with a nervous grin. "Okay, let's head down to Earth then."
"Thanks, you guys," Ashley said with a smile.
"Should we get ready?" Cassie asked.
"Good idea," Carlos said. "People would begin to wonder if we went to Earth wearing this."
Everyone chuckled at Carlos's comment and they went to their personal quarters. T.J chose to wear a nice blue long sleeved shirt, black jeans with brown shoes, and as soon as he was ready, he headed to the work bay to wait for the others. From a distance, T.J could hear Ashley and Cassie laughing and carrying on.
"Well, how do we look?" Ashley asked as her and Cassie did a fashion runway act entering the dining area.
T.J smiled at them, "You two look great. Of course, you always do."
Ashley and Cassie dropped their shoulders and looked at him with a smile.
"You're such a charmer," Cassie said with grin.
T.J smiled a bit and looked down at the ground for a second and then at Cassie again. A few moments later, Carlos and Andros entered the work bay as well.
"Ready?", Andros asked everyone.
"Yup, I think we're ready to head out," Ashley said, giving each ranger a short glance.
"All right," Andros said with a smile and took his place in front of the red jump tube.
Ashley, Carlos, Cassie, and T.J then took their places in front of their designated color, did the hand motion simultaneously, and jumped inside the tubes.
Within seconds, they had arrived on Earth and landed behind The Surf Spot that people rarely went to.
The Rangers all walked to the front of the building and stood looking around at everything that surrounded them; trees, cars, people.
"Okay, let's see here...," Ashley said as she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket.
"A cake, punch mix, balloons, hamburger and hot dog supplies... and the list goes on like this...", she said with a sigh.
"How about we divide the list up and pick up the stuff?", Carlos suggested.
"Good idea, Carlos," Ashley said and began to divide the list into three different parts.
"Um, can you get the party supplies?", she asked Carlos handing him that part of the list.
"Yeah, sure, no problem, Ash," Carlos responded, briefly looking over the list.
"Teej..., Cassie..," Ashley said stopping for a second to look over the two remaining lists. "Can you get the food?"
"Uh, yeah, sure thing," T.J responded, getting the list from Ashley.
Cassie responded with a nod and smile.
"Great," she said with a laughing smile. "Andros and I will get the cake and the rest of the stuff on this list."
"All right," T.J replied. "Oh, where should we meet?"
"Oh..., we can meet at my house. My mom would be very happy to know that you guys helped out with this," Ashley said in a sense of relief from having the list divided.
"All right, then, Ashley. So, I guess we'll see you in a couple of hours," T.J asked, looking at Cassie and then his other three ranger friends.
"Yeah," Carlos responded. "Well, I'm going to go pick up this stuff. I'll see you guys in a bit."
Carlos then slipped past the Rangers and headed down the sidewalk and down the street.
"Well, Cassie and I are going to go pick up the food," T.J said to Ashley and Andros.
"All right, Teej. See you later, Cassie," Ashley said giving us both a smile and then looking at Andros and signaling him to go.
T.J and Cassie headed down the sidewalk to downtown Angel Grove while Ashley and Andros headed in the opposite direction.
"Man, there are tons of items on this list," Cassie said looking at it and sighing. "You think we'll find all this?"
"Yeah, we should be able to," T.J said with a slight nod to Cassie.
T.J and Cassie continued down the sidewalk. T.J made short glances at Cassie, smiling a bit at the young lady walking with him. Cassie looked up and met his eyes, and T.J quickly directed his attention forward a bit embarrassed.
"T.J, um, I don't meant to pry, but is everything okay with you? You seemed very preoccupied earlier when I saw you in your room," Cassie said.
"Yeah, everything is cool. I was just thinking about a lot of things," T.J replied in a low voice.
"Well, like what?" she asked curiously.
T.J fell silent and became awfully nervous. He couldn't possibly tell her what he was really thinking about. He couldn't admit his feeling for her. The damage it could cause to their friendship.
"Well...," Cassie said. "Come on, Teej, you can tell me anything."
T.J stopped in his tracks and looked at Cassie straight in her beautiful brown eyes. Cassie smiled at him with a reassurance that he could tell her anything that was on his mind. That was probably the best thing about Cassie; the ability to open up and put trust in her.
"Well, you see, the thing is... I've known you for quite some time now. I think you're a great friend. We do a lot of stuff together like hanging out and things like that. I enjoy being around you. The truth is..., well, it's that I...," T.J said sort of trembling from nervousness.
"Yeah...?", Cassie said in a deep curious voice.
"I... li..", T.J said nervously, stuttering a bit.
"T.J! Look!" Cassie said pointing behind my shoulder.
Quantrons were attacking and terrorizing innocent people and destroying anything in their path. T.J's eyes widened up and was frozen in place for a moment.
"Come on," T.J said to Cassie and they both ran to a place where nobody was around.
"Let's Rocket!" T.J yelled out and they both opened their Astro Morphers and morphed into their designated Ranger colors. They both ran jumping in the air, kicking Quantrons on the way back to the ground, sending them towards their comrades.
The other remaining Quantrons looked down at their fallen soldiers, directed their attention to the Pink and Blue Ranger, and began to charge them with their blades lifted in the air. One charged T.J trying to knock him to the ground with the Q-Blade, but he ducked and kicked the Quantron in the back. Cassie was doing punch and kick combinations on the ones coming from all directions at her. T.J ran up to Cassie and punched a Quantron in the stomach sneaking up behind her, grabbed it by the shoulder and sent it flying in the air. T.J stood next to Cassie in a stance ready to intercept another attack.
"What say we finish these guys," T.J said boldly.
"You got it, T.J Satellite Stunner!" Cassie commanded as her weapon suddenly appeared in a pink flash.
"Astro Axe!" T.J called out as his weapon appeared in his hand in a blue flash.
Cassie fired her Satellite Stunner shooting circular rays at the Quantrons freezing them in place, and T.J initiated his Astro Axe Spin attack hitting each of them. Sparks flew everywhere as each Quantron collapsed to the ground in pain.
"All right. We got 'em," Cassie rejoiced.
"Yeah, great job, Cass," T.J replied with confidence putting his arm up for a cross wrist high five and she met her wrist with his.
"You too, Teej. You were awesome," she replied in praise.
"Don't you think you Rangers are celebrating a little prematurely?" a mysterious voice bellowed through the smoky area.
"Who are you," T.J asked demandingly to the monster approaching.
T.J and Cassie retreated a bit, getting a look at the huge Sting Ray slowly making his way towards them.
"I am Sting Raider. I've been sent to destroy you pathetic Rangers once and for all!" he said and shot bolts of lightning from his fingers at Cassie and T.J who jumped to the side in opposite directions.
Cassie charged the monster dodging the hard punch he threw, and kicked it, but Sting Raider slashed her with his sharp claws sending her to the ground.
T.J ran up to Sting Raider, gripping and running with it a bit, and punched him in the stomach, but didn't phase him at all. Sting Raider grabbed T.J by the arm and sent him flying in the air hitting the ground back first.
"You Rangers aren't so tough. I expected a much tougher battle from you," Sting Raider said standing over T.J laughing and mocking the two fallen Rangers. Cassie managed to pick herself up back to her feet, but didn't last when Sting Raider sent another lightning bolt at her sending her back to the pavement.
"All right, time to finish this ranger once and for all," Sting Raider declared, charging up an attack from his red ears.
T.J laid there in pain and tried to regather himself to his feet with every last bit of strength in his body. He was able to get to his feet stumbling a bit, raised his arm, and leaped in the air and shielding Cassie from the monster's attack.
"Noooo!" Cassie yelled, as the multiple shots kept striking T.J in the chest.
Sting Raider's attack ceased and T.J fell to his knees with the rest of his body collapsing to the ground.
Cassie who was still on the ground, crawled her way to T.J, slightly sniffling and agonizing in a bit of pain.
"Teej, talk to me, are you all right? Answer me! Come on...", Cassie repeatedly asked. However, T.J was too badly hurt to respond. His whole body seemed paralyzed and all he could do was lay there. T.J felt Cassie's hand on his shoulder.
"T.J...," Cassie said in a mourning tone. "Andros, Carlos, Ashley, we need your help over here. Hurry!"
Cassie put her wrist down as she ended the transmission on the communicator.
"Awww... how sweet of you pinky, comforting your fallen comrade. Too bad you won't be able to for long. You're coming with me," Sting Raider declared slowly approaching Cassie.
Cassie slowly retreated a few steps back. Sting Raider came up next to T.J and gave him one good stomp on the back and T.J grunted as if someone pierced him in the back badly.
Cassie quickly stood up and jumped to attack the monster, but he quickly dodged the attack, grabbed Cassie's arms, and crossed them behind her back.
"Astronema will be very pleased to have a captured ranger," Sting Raider commented with a laugh.
From the distance, Andros, Ashley, and Carlos morphed and all were running up to the carnage that had just taken place.
"You're too late, Rangers. Until we meet again," Sting Raider said and vanished in a bolt of lightning along with Cassie.
Carlos slowly approached T.J kneeling in front of him. "Teej, are you all right?"
As with Cassie, T.J still didn't reply. The blows from Sting Raider immobilized him and any attempt to speak or move made the pain worse.
"Quickly, we better get him back to the ship," Andros said.
"Right," Carlos responded. "Galaxy Gliders, hang ten."
The yellow, black, and red Galaxy Glider flew in and landed in front of the other three Rangers. Carlos slowly and carefully picked up T.J and set him on his galaxy glider. T.J began to lose his vision until everything went black.
