Disclaimer: The usual

Author's notes: The idea just came up all of a sudden. Heck, Carter Grayson's gotta be one of the cutest rangers that have ever graced us on PR--and why the heck haven't any tv shows ever picked up on him when he was doing his ranger duties? So I give my idea on what if Carter was given the title "most eligible bachelor" in Mariner Bay--no, it's not going to follow that Bachelor show on tv (I honestly haven't seen it and don't really care to). Just giving Carter a shot at some fame ;) Hope you enjoy it. Feedback always appreciated.
Timeline: Probably during season two of PRLR

The Lucky Bachelor
Part 1: Bachelor of Mariner Bay
By: stargazer_1017

"And you say that the food here is awesome?" Carter Grayson asked. He was sitting at a small table with his fellow ranger, Dana Mitchell in a restaurant in Mariner Bay.

Dana grinned and took a sip of water. "Honest, Carter. I love the soups and sandwiches they have here," she replied.

"Soups and sandwiches? I thought you loved the one on the Aquabase."

"These are even better," Dana said, looking up as a waiter came to their table. "What can I get for you today, sir, madam," he said politely.

Carter raised his eyebrows at Dana. "We'll take the soup and sandwich of the day," Dana said, smiling at the waiter. The waiter smiled back. "The usual then, Ms. Mitchell?" he asked, writing down the order. Carter gave Dana a questioning look and Dana laughed slightly. "When something's good, you've gotta come back for more," Dana replied.

The waiter nodded in agreement and said, "Be right back with your orders," he said and walked off. "You came here often?" Carter asked.

Dana nodded. "I used to come here after school and then I came here during the break between shifts when I was a paramedic," she replied.

Carter smiled at the thought of Dana coming to this little restaurant when she was younger. It was hard for him to imagine her as a young girl or teenager running around the town doing stuff. "Well, there are quite a few people here," he observed, taking a quick look around the restaurant.

"Are you kidding me? This place is a goldmine," Dana replied.

"You've probably been the one supporting their business," Carter joked. Dana's jaw dropped slightly as she reached across and gave him a friendly slap on the arm. "All right, I'm probably their biggest fan," Dana admitted. "What can I say--I'm a sucker for picnic food."

The waiter came back with a tray of two large sandwiches and two large bowls of soup. Carter's eyes widened as the sandwich and soup was put down in front of him. "Huge lunch," he remarked.

"That's why I only ate a bannana for breakfast," Dana said, picking up her spoon.

Carter nodded and then he caught a flash of movement at the podium where the host stood. He turned his attention in that direction and saw the host dealing with a customer who was discussing something with him. The host appeared slightly aggitated by the customer.

Dana looked at Carter and noticed the frown on his face. "Carter, is something wrong?" she asked him, concerned. Carter turned to her briefly and didn't say a word. Dana turned around in her chair to see what he was looking at. All of a sudden, the host's face took on a look of shock as the customer pulled out a gun from his jacket.

Dana gasped and Carter rushed over to her and pulled her underneath the table. Right after they had gotten underneath the table, the man yelled out, "Nobody move!" Dana looked at Carter and asked, "What do we do?"

Carter stared at her for a moment, waiting for an idea to come to mind. Suddenly, he looked down at his morpher. "You're thinking of morphing?" Dana whispered, knowing already what he was thinking.

"I can probably get to him before he gets to me," Carter said, whispering back.

"And how are you going to do that? By shooting at him with your rescue blaster?" Dana demanded. "He's a human, not one of Bansheera's monsters."

Carter nodded with understanding. "And he'd probably take some people down too," he said, realizing one more hole in his plan.

"Hey, I saw two people here," the man's voice said, dangerously close to the table Carter and Dana were under. "Where are they?"

"I don't know," came a soft reply. The man pounded his fist on the table, making Dana flinch. "Where the hell are they?" the man demanded, his voice getting loud.

"I'm going out," Dana whispered to Carter and started to move towards the edge of the table. Carter held her back by putting his hand on her arm. "Wait a minute. . .why?" he asked her.

"He's starting to wonder where we are. He obviously spotted us when he came in. He might hurt someone if he doesn't get answers," Dana replied. Carter frowned, and he obviously disagreed with her tactic, but he nodded. "Hope you come up with a plan fast," Dana whispered again before she jumped out from under the table. "I'm right here," she said, speaking to the gunman, who had walked back to the podium and had his back to her. The gunman spun around and focused his gun on her. "Where's your boyfriend," he asked.

Dana ignored the mistake and took a deep breath before saying, "He went to the bathroom."

The gunman walked up to her quickly and put the gun to her chest right above her heart. "You're not lying to protect him from me, aren't you?"

"No," Carter heard Dana reply as he poised himself under the table, ready to jump out if in case Dana would need him. Carter started to think of a plan. The only thing he could do was rush the man. . .but he had to chose the right time to do it.

Dana started breathing even heavier as the cold, metal gun was put on her skin, but she glared at the man and stood her ground. She could see the gunman's hand shaking and his determination to stay in control. Suddenly, the man spun around and walked back to the podium. "Now tell me where John is," the gunman demanded.

The host shook his head. "Honest, Earl, I don't know."

The gunman pounded his fist into the nearest table. "Don't you lie to me, damnit! I know he's here! Now tell me where he is!"

Under the table, Carter listened to the voice and it sounded as if the gunman had walked off a bit further from him. He peeked out from under the tablecloth slowly and saw the two men arguing. He noticed that while the gunman was arguing, he held the gun casually, flicking it around as if it was just something in his hand. Carter got out slowly from under the table and stood up. Dana looked at him with surprise and watched as he tried to approach the gunman from behind. Two women who had noticed Carter appear from out of nowhere started to put their hands to their mouths. Dana shook her head quickly at them and put her finger to her lips to warn them to be quiet. When she was sure they were going stay quiet, she turned her attention back to Carter, who was just only three feet away from the gunman.

The host had seen Carter sneak up from behind and tried to make his expression neutral, as not to draw attention to Carter. "Why don't I give him a call," the host said suddenly, turning to walk off. When the gunman pulled his gun up, Carter took this moment to take him down. He jumped forward and tackled the gunman from behind. The gunman was so surprised by the action, he dropped his gun and it went sliding across the floor.

Dana rushed forward immidiately to grab the gun before anyone else could get it. Not sure of what to do with it, she opened its chamber and emptied the bullets. Carter put his weight on the man's back and held onto his hands to make sure he wasn't going anywhere. Then he noticed the bullets on the floor and asked, "Why'd you do that?"

"So it doesn't go off accidentally," Dana replied. The host came running back to them. "I've just called the police. They're on their way," he informed them. He gave a big, relieved smile. "Thank you so much, sir," he said. "All of us here owe us your life."

Suddenly, an applause broke out around the room. Carter and Dana looked around and Dana noticed something--majority of the people there were women. Then Dana noticed something else: they obviously appeared very impressed by Carter's show of heroism.

***

"It must be so fascinating, being a ranger and everything," the brown-haired girl said, smilng at Carter. Carter smiled back. "I just want to help people and being a ranger helps me do that," he replied. It was right after the restuarant had been secured and the gunman was taken away.

The girl smiled even wider as she leaned in closer to him. "You know, I've always wanted to be a Power Ranger. How are you chosen?"

Carter shrugged. "Actually, we were chosen by Captain Mitchell. He's the head of the Lightspeed Aquabase," he informed her. The girl seemed impressed by all this information.

"Ahem," Dana said, pretending to cough. Carter turned to her and saw she was sitting in the driver's seat of the rescue rover, waiting for him. He turned back to the group of women who had gathered around him and smiled apologetically. "Sorry ladies, I've gotta go."

The group was obviously disappointed by his departure. "When will we see you again, Carter?" one called out.

Carter was speechless. Never in his life had he this much attention. "I don't know," he replied quickly and jumped into the passenger seat. He smiled at them and nodded as Dana drove them off to the Aquabase. "Looks like you caught yourself a huge fanbase, Carter, and the whole fanbase is full with women."

Carter shrugged. "I have no idea why. All I did was stop a gunman from trying to kill people."

Dana turned to Carter with an unbelieving look. She smiled and turned her attention back to the road. "Stop being modest, Carter. You'll only make the girls chase you harder." Carter turned to her briefly and didn't respond, thinking about the comment she just made.

***

"So who was the crazed guy that pulled the gun out at the restaurant?" Joel asked. He and the other rangers were seated around the table and were being briefed by Captain Mitchell about the day's events.

"I'm not exactly sure myself, Joel," Captain Mitchell replied. He turned to the woman next to him. "Ms. Krennick, a reporter for the Mariner Bay Times, was nice enough to brief us on the situation." He nodded to the woman and she turned to the five rangers. "The gunman that Carter Grayson stopped was a former chef of the restuarant. His name is Earl Cooper. He was fired the day before for threatening another employee at the restaurant and he came back to the restaurant today, planning on killing the manager that fired him."

"He admitted all of this?" Chad asked.

Ms. Krennick nodded. "Yes, he did," she replied. "It was lucky you did what you did when you did, Mr. Grayson. He seems slightly unstable, and who knows what he would have done if he had more time."

Carter shrugged modestly. "I was just there at the right time," he replied. "I'm sure anyone would've done the same in my position."

Ms. Krennick was smiling widely. "You're very modest, Mr. Grayson," she observed. "Women love that in a man."

Carter raised his eyebrow as Captain Mitchell asked, "Does this case require Lightspeed's attention, Ms. Krennick?" She turned to Captain Mitchell and shook her head. "The Mariner Bay Police Department will handle the case from now on, Captain."

Captain Mitchell nodded. "All right, then. If that's it, I'll have one of my technicians--" he was stopped short by Ms. Krennick. "Captain, if you don't mind, I'd like to conduct an interview with the hero of the day."

Captain Mitchell was surprised by the request, but turned to Carter and raised his eyebrows. When Carter nodded, Captain Mitchell turned back to Ms. Krennick. "All right. But please try not to keep him away too long, Ms. Krennick. A city emergency might come up."

"I won't, I promise," the reported vowed. Captain Mitchell turned to the other four remaining rangers and said, "You're dismissed. The other rangers got up from their seats and walked out of the room, followed by Captain Mitchell. Carter watched them leave the room and turned to the reporter, who had taken a seat right across from him. "Congratulations on your heroic actions, Mr. Grayson," Ms. Krennick said, smiling at him.

"Carter's fine, Ms. Krennick," Carter corrected.

"Well then, since we're on the first name basis, Brenda's fine," she replied. Carter nodded. "So what's your take on the event? How do you feel about it personally?" she asked.

Carter shrugged. "Like I said. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Anyone would've done the same."
Brenda paused for a moment and Carter had the feeling she didn't get the answer she was looking for. "You know, you have a lot of admiring fans out there--A large one of women."

Carter raised his eyebrow. "I'm not really aware," he said.

"Are you single?"

"For the time being, yes," Carter replied.

"Are you sure? You're not dating anyone. . .like Dana Mitchell, maybe."

"Dana? She's a teammate."

"You've been seen a lot around Mariner Bay with her by your side. . .so you're not involved with her at all?"

"I told you, we work together as rangers, but I'm not involved with her romantically."

"Did the thought even cross the mind? Would you consider her as one?"

Carter narrowed his eyes slightly at the reporter. "What does my relationship with Dana have to do with what happened today at the restauraunt?" he asked, trying to figure out what the reporter was trying to get out of him.

Brenda hesitated before replying, "Nothing much, actually." She got up and grabbed her purse. "I'm sorry for distubring you like that, Carter. I hope I didn't offend you."

Carter was slightly surprised by her hasty retreat, but chose to steer away from it. He shook his head and Brenda smiled. "All right then. I'll make sure you get the right exposure in the paper, Carter Grayson. You won't be disappointed."

Something was weird about how she was saying things, and Carter picked up on it immediately. Before he could tell her, she was out of the door. Carter just shook his head and walked off to his quarters.

***

"He's like, Mr. GQ or something," Kelsey said, holding the newspaper up. She, Dana, Chad, and Joel were eating breakfast in the galley the next day. "Can you believe it?" she asked, passing the paper off to Joel.

"Man, I don't get it," Joel complained. "Out of all the rangers to focus on, it's gotta be him. He's not the only handsome ranger running around saving lives."

"He's the only one majority of the women in Mariner Bay noticed," Chad replied with a smile. Joel scowled and went back to eating. Just then, Carter walked in. "Good morning, guys," he greeted them as he took a seat between Chad and Dana.

Joel folded up the newspaper so that he could get a look at Carter's face. "Guess what's on the front page of the paper," he asked.

"The attack at the restaurant?" Carter guessed.

Joel shook his head and Dana grabbed the newspaper and read the quote,"The most underated eleigble bachelor in Mariner Bay." Carter felt his stomach drop slightly. "Oh no," he said, taking a guess at what was on the front page. Dana passed the paper to him and his jaw dropped. Sprawled under the headline Dana just read was a picture of him!

To be continued. . .hehehe. . .