Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
Author's Note: 100 stories. I thought I'd do something fun.
No one had asked Mike to do this. No one had pressured him into it. No one even hinted at it.
No one knew he wanted to see a therapist except for Mia and Mentor Ji.
Mike had gotten Dr. Fletcher's number from Ji. After attacking Emily and nearly killing her he knew he needed help again. He couldn't promise he would never get mad again, as his therapist before had told him: it was a natural human emotion. Getting mad was good because it meant he wasn't dead inside.
But there was a big difference between getting mad and being dangerously mad. Mike had done what he had sworn he would never do. He struck Emily and put her in danger. He had threatened her.
He didn't tell Emily he was seeing a therapist. He told her he would get help, but he didn't want her to worry for him. Seeing a therapist, at least to him, meant he still didn't have control. He didn't want her to back away from him. It would be counterproductive if she moved away because she was scared. He would tell her eventually, but for now, it was better kept a secret.
He didn't tell Serena either, for the obvious reasons. She had decided to give him a second chance, but even the smallest mistake for him would mark the end of his relationship with Emily. If he did anything at all to hurt Emily, Serena would do everything in her power to protect her little sister. Mike knew that meant death for him.
Mike loved Jayden and Antonio, but they weren't the kind of friends he told secrets too. They were close enough to share secrets with, not close enough at the same time. They were caught in the middle. Too involved, but not involved enough.
That left him with only Mia or Kevin to share with. While Kevin was his best friend, the blue Ranger had a protective instinct for Emily. He didn't trust Mike's anger issues around Emily. In fact, he hated them.
Mia was the only option, really. Mike felt like, no matter what he did, she wouldn't turn her back away from him. It was one of the qualities that made her the mother of the team: unconditional positive regard. No matter how much her friends screwed up, she was always there for them. She would always listen to them. She would always help them.
Mike needed that.
He had his session with Dr. Fletcher and Mia waited for the entire hour. She even offered to pay for the first session herself. She wanted him to get better. She had mentioned it was to keep Emily safe, but Mike could tell what Mia really meant. He had seen it in her eyes when she passed the money to the secretary. She was doing it to help him.
Afterwards, to his surprise, she took him out for ice-cream.
Mike left his spoon in his sundae and looked across the table at Mia, "I've never had a real sister before," he said.
Mia looked to him curiously, "Of course not. You're an only child."
Mike shook his head, "I don't mean like that…" he gestured to the space between himself and Mia, "This feels real."
"And what is this?"
"You're more than a friend, Mia."
"Mike…"
"I don't mean like that," Mike chuckled and stuck out his tongue, "No offense, but that's wrong. You're like my sister."
"I know," Mia laughed, "I was just teasing."
"But not like we're friend-siblings because we're close… and not even siblings because we're forced to be."
"You're losing me."
"I don't just call you my sister because you're a girl, you're my friend, but you're not my girlfriend. It's not just a label so people don't think we're together. And you're not my sister because we have the same parents and we have to be siblings. What you did for me today… it really means a lot."
"You're getting mushy," Mia frowned playfully, "Man up, Mike. Kevin can barely pass as cute when he does it."
"I'm serious, Mia. I've never had a friend like you."
"You're a good kid, Mike. Some people don't see it."
"You're telling me," Mike rolled his eyes.
"If I don't believe in you, and if I don't help you, who will? I can't let you prove all those people right. You're better than your first impression."
"Only you and Emily saw that right off the bat," Mike smiled. "In my entire life, actually, it's only ever been you and Emily who knew I was more than just some lazy punk. Everyone else either figured it out after sticking with me long enough, or they just didn't put up with me and walked away."
"To be fair," Mia said, "I did think you had a lot of growing up to do. Emily probably only didn't because she is younger than you."
"But you didn't leave, and you didn't look down on me. It means a lot, Mia. Thanks."
Mia shrugged her shoulders, "Don't mention it. I always said I wanted a little sister. I think that's why I took to Emily so quickly. But what no one knows is I always wanted a little brother. Kind of like you. You're an annoying little butt sometimes… most of the time."
"Sorry," Mike laughed.
"But when you're bugging me… it feels normal. I didn't have normal growing up. My parents were divorced and I didn't even live with them. Year after year I had to explain that to my teachers and my friends."
"Is this permission to keep annoying you?" Mike asked. He pushed a napkin towards Mia, "I would like that in writing, please."
Mia laughed and shook her head, "Keep dreaming."
-Samurai-
"I'm sorry, Emily, can you repeat that a little louder? I can't hear you."
Emily shoved the notebook in Antonio's face. He had been teasing her for ten minutes about the fact that she couldn't speak while her neck and throat were recovering. She knew her writing had been atrocious as a kid, but it had improved over the years. It still wasn't the best, but it was legible.
Antonio insisted it wasn't. Antonio insisted she needed to speak up.
He pulled his head away from the book and squinted his eyes, "Slmut ub? Those aren't words, Emily. I think what you're looking for is shut up."
From the other side of the room, Jayden had been watching. He rolled his eyes and laughed, "Stop teasing her, Antonio. It's bad enough she's got to write out everything she's got to say."
"She doesn't write everything," Antonio insisted as Emily scribbled something else down in her notebook and showed it to Antonio. He shook his head, "That's just rude."
"What did you say, Em?"
Emily showed the notebook to Jayden. It was a picture of a stick man hanging from a noose.
Antonio pointed to the image, "Sometimes she draws. Show Jayden the one you drew about Kevin."
"You drew that."
"You have no proof," Antonio told her. "It's in your notebook, after all."
"Let me see," Jayden said. Emily sighed. She flipped back a few pages and then showed Jayden the image. Jayden let out a laugh before placing his hands over his mouth. He looked to Antonio, "Who's going to believe she drew that?"
Emily placed her hands on her hips and turned to Antonio with a knowing smirk. He shrugged it off.
"Whatever, it's still in your… what are you writing now?"
Emily turned the notebook over. It was a picture of a face sticking his tongue out at Antonio.
Antonio crossed his arms over his chest, "Oh, so that's how you want to play it, huh? Well, then, read this."
He snatched the notebook from Emily and wrote her a quick note. It didn't take her long to read "run" and she took off. Antonio was right behind her, fast as always. He snatched her up by the waist, lifted her over his shoulder, and carried her to the couch.
Jayden rolled his eyes and shook his head as Antonio started to tickle Emily.
"Take it easy with her," he reminded the gold Ranger as Emily screamed with laughter. Jayden winced slightly. That had to hurt her throat. "Antonio!"
"Laughter's the best medicine," Antonio smirked. Emily swatted at him with her hands but he grabbed her gently, "Ah, ah."
"Get off," Emily giggled. Antonio shook his head.
"No speaking, Em."
"Then I need my notepad," Emily said and pointed to the table. The notepad was just out of reach.
Antonio smirked. He had an idea. He grabbed her and carried her over his shoulder to the table and held her right over her notepad. Her arms were too short to reach.
"I can't get it!"
"Antonio," Jayden rolled his eyes, "You're going to permanently damage her."
Antonio shook his head. He slipped Emily a little further down his back and stepped forward so she was still too far to reach her notepad. Emily giggled as she pushed against his back.
"I don't want to see your butt!"
"Give her the notepad."
"Her voice sounds fine."
"She sounds like she swallowed gravel," Jayden said, "Just give her the notepad."
"Or, Emily could just shut up."
"Put her down," Jayden stated. Antonio sighed and lowered Emily, upside down, to the ground carefully. She laid on her back and reached up to the table to grab her notepad. She wrote something down.
"That was fun."
"See!" Antonio snatched the notepad and showed Jayden, "She liked it."
"You were going to hurt her," Jayden shook his head, "And I was going to be the one to get in trouble for it!"
"C'mon, amigo, it's not like we've got a lot to lose."
Emily frowned and showed Antonio the notebook, "HEY!"
Jayden got up, "You two are just as bad as each other."