Well, I usually don't start writing fanfiction this soon into a show's storyline, but this new season is just singing to me. Usually I have a good 10-or-so episode count before I even start thinking of shipping, but Mack and Rose are just too adorable for their own good. I'm hooked. If they end up with other people in the series, I'll be seriously disappointed because there's just so much potential for the two.
Right. So this was supposed to be a drabble, but it, ah…didn't work out that way. The bit with Spencer at the end was kind of spur-of-the-moment, but I added it in because I love Spencer. He's probably the best written character of this season so far, so the end was my tribute to him.
Enjoy!
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"Watch with glittering eyes the world around you. Those who do not believe in magic will never find it." -Roald Dahl
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She was in her room studying. Again. It was the usual sight, with Rose sitting on the bed with her back up against the headboard, open books and papers littering her nightstand, faced scrunched into a slight frown as she typed away at her laptop.
Typical of her, she knew, but Rose didn't always feel like hanging out with the rest of the rangers. Social situations were definitely not her forte. She wasn't about to go put herself in an awkward situation if she didn't have to; that was just illogical. Besides, the team could handle an afternoon at the mall without her. She needed to work on her thesis anyway.
Mostly she just didn't want to be near Dax. Watching him run screaming through the food court while randomly doing acrobatics over tables was not her idea of fun. She loved the boy to death, but sometimes he could just be a bit much. She knew Will and Ronny wouldn't try calming the poor guy down, either, because they'd spend the whole time making stupid googly eyes at each other. It was disgusting, really. Sometimes, she swore Mack was the only one on their team with a single ounce of logic.
…she really needed to work on her thesis.
Her mind just couldn't focus. Her team was a distraction even when they were out of the house! Not to mention the day had been a tough one; up at dawn, physical training and zord training and more physical training, and then- wonder of wonders! An afternoon off. Oh, and how they needed it.
Mack had pushed them, and she knew he would, without a doubt. But Mack cared about all of them; he managed to motivate them in a subtle way, making the rest of the team go above and beyond their best without even realizing what they were doing. He was a great leader, even though he himself was a shy about it. She remembered teasing him earlier during training, telling him that he was so much better than he gave himself credit for. She remembered him shaking his head, and turning away muttering about needing to train himself more, but she knew he was flattered. He was funny that way.
She cracked a smile at the thought. It was one of many that had made its way to her face in the short span of time she had been living at the Hartford mansion. It was definitely fitting, seeing as how Dax's antics could make any one of them turn their lips upward. Her team was dysfunctional, but they definitely fit well together.
"What'cha smiling at?"
Her head snapped up. It was Mack, of course. She recognized the voice before she even saw his face. She raised an eyebrow at him as he plopped down onto her bed, effectively taking up the rest of her leg room as he sprawled himself out. She shut the lid of her laptop and gingerly placed it on an uncovered spot on her nightstand before turning to look back at the red ranger. She gave him an incredulous look. "I thought you were going to the mall with the rest of the team?"
He shrugged. "Didn't feel like watching Will and Ronny flirt with each other all afternoon, so I decided to spend it in your highly boring company." He cracked a grin to take the sting off his statement. She grinned right back and then reached over and lightly punched him in the arm. "Doofus."
He laughed outright. "Oh, you wound me so!" and he proceeded to fake his death right there on the bed. She couldn't help but chuckle when his antics made him fall off the bed with a loud 'plop!' as he hit the ground.
But Mack, for all the world a joker, just got right back up on the bed and sprawled himself over her blankets like nothing had happened. Then he rolled of on his stomach, put his head on his hand and looked right up at her, grinning his normal silly smile. "Well, at least your room is always quiet. It's hard to get any peace around this place, even with the team out and about."
"Amen to that." It seriously got way too loud in the mansion. With Dax showing off, Ronny flipping out over new zords, and Will playing his music on full blast wherever he went, it was hard to find any place on the grounds to just sit and think.
Rose jumped slightly when she heard Andrew calling loudly from downstairs for the ranger that was nestled so comfortably next to her. Though the pink ranger was startled outright when Mack suddenly groaned and plopped his face into her pillow, his ever-messy hair falling even more into disarray. She pushed his bangs out of the way to try and get a closer look at his eyes, but it was to no avail. "Are you okay?"
"My dad is trying to kill me."
She laughed at the sheer impossibility of it. "Is that what he's calling you for? To come and bring you to your sudden but inevitable doom?"
He frowned. "You're laughing now, but he's really trying to end me, I swear to you."
The pitiful look on his face managed to earn her sympathy, and she smiled sadly down at him. "He's working you way too hard, isn't he?" Mack heaved a sigh.
"I might be the leader of the team, but damn it all Rose, I'm not invincible! I do get tired, just like the rest of you. All work and no play makes me an annoyed, dull boy."
"He just wants to make sure you're ready for the upcoming fights, Mack. He doesn't want you to get hurt. Our enemies aren't exactly nice folks." He sighed again and hugged her pillow close to him. She began to rub slow circles on his back, hoping it would calm him down.
He sighed again, softer this time, and talked into her pillow, muffling his voice. "Doesn't mean I have to like it, though." She gave him a big smile, laughing inwardly at his gracious defeat.
He looked up and saw the silly smile on her face. "Well, Mack, if it makes you feel any better, I won't tell your dad where you are. You're safe with me, at least for the rest of the day."
His smile conveyed his thankful thoughts perfectly, and she couldn't help but notice how comfortable she was around him. If it had been anyone else on the team, she would've kicked them out of her room ages ago.
She saw Mack close his eyes and smile, obviously enjoying the back rub. She knew he was stressed out and that, more than anything, he just needed to relax. They all needed to relax. They weren't even two months into their ranger careers, and they were already feeling the stress that came along with saving the world. They'd take in all of the quiet moments they could. Afternoons like these were almost perfect.
When Rose could feel the even rise and fall of Mack's chest, she stopped her ministrations and grabbed the laptop she had out on her nightstand. She flipped the lid back open, smiled, and began typing. Her thoughts came more easily now, and she slipped into a quiet stare, half thinking of the words she was typing and half listening to Mack's easy breathing. He was still hugging her pillow, and the ease at which he fell asleep in her presence sent a small jolt of pride tingling down her spine, knowing that he wasn't this comfortable with just anyone.
When he turned a bit to rearrange himself, he threw his arm over her leg, and then wound it back under the pillow, so he was half hugging her thigh. His head managed to find the hollow between her knee and the bed, and he nestled himself next to her, finding the most comfortable position he could. She couldn't help but laugh a bit when his breath hit the inside of her knee, and she had to wiggle a bit to get it to stop tickling.
Even in sleep, her red ranger was optimistic, with a small smile on his face. Rose admired that quality in him. She lightly ran one hand through his hair as she brainstormed ideas for her writing, and she felt him unconsciously relax into her light grip. He was under pressure from his father, from the team, from the world, but he still managed to hand out a quirky grin or say a few kind words just to ease hurt feelings or soothe frazzled nerves.
Rose didn't know how long Mack had been sleeping or how long she had been typing, but it was just about sunset when she thought she heard Dax clamoring about two floors beneath her. She chuckled outright at the absurdity of being able to hear him from the third story, and the slight tremor from her laughter shook Mack awake.
His groggy eyes met hers, and she couldn't help but smile at the sight of him, all disheveled with his hair falling in every which way. He raised an eyebrow at her small smile, obviously not sharing her amusement at the prospect of being woken up. When he saw that her smile wasn't going away, he groaned loudly and shoved his head back into the pillow. Her smile turned into a laugh.
"C'mon Mack, rise and shine." She shook his shoulder lightly. This time the groan was muffled by her pillow. "I don't wanna!"
She shook her head in amusement, and then pushed him off the bed. All she heard was an loud oomph and then… quiet.
Rose leaned over the side of the bed to see Mack half-lying on the pillow, trying to get back to sleep. She laughed loudly, took one of the pillows lying next to her, and hit him upside the head with it. "C'mon, morning glory, it's almost time for dinner. Your dad'll be expecting us soon."
His glare made her smile wider, and he huffed and rolled away from her in mock indignation.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and tapped him with her feet. He turned back over. "I thought the point of me staying in here was so we could get me away from my dad. Are you throwing me to the wolves?" He was still pretending to be angry at her, but she could hear the smile in his voice.
She gave him a lopsided smile. "You're going to have to face him some time or another, Mack." His annoyed gaze turned pitiful instantly.
"Yeah, but do I have to go right now?"
"You sound like a two year old, Mack."
"Hmph." He rolled over onto his side, his back to her. She trembled from holding in her laughter. For all that her red ranger was fierce and tough, he could act very childish when he was in the right mindset.
She got up from the bed, grabbing her wrinkled comforter, and lay down on her back beside him, resting her head next to his on the bright pink pillow he had stolen from her bed. She wasn't all that hungry anyway, and to be honest, she was having way too much fun teasing Mack. She'd much rather stay here with him than face the other rangers.
She gave him an exaggerated sigh. "I suppose we could stay here a bit longer-" He sat up suddenly and unexpectedly, turned to her and gave her the biggest smile she had ever seen on his face. He put his hands on his hips, striking a dignified and downright ridiculous pose.
"Hah! I win!" He gave a hearty laugh and stuck his chin into the air, playing up his success.
She laughed and pulled him down towards the ground, and he fell over her awkwardly, almost completely laying on the top half of her body. He let out an amused puff of air, and went to move off of her, but she held fast to the arm she had grabbed.
The suddenly intense look in her eyes set off a strange pang of emotions in his heart, and the feeling only grew as he stared right back at her, both of them suddenly, uncharacteristically silent. He trembled, and the hand on his arm was warm and oddly comforting. He was so wrapped up in his emotions that he barely heard her whisper.
"Stay, Mack. Please, just…stay."
He gave her another smile that sent chills down her spine, and he didn't have to say a word. He leaned back down, nestled his head in the crook of her neck, wrapped his arms haphazardly around her, and closed his eyes. He couldn't see it, but in the twilight of the sunset, her eyes sparkled as she hugged him back, finding herself exactly where she wanted to be. They both had their lips upturned in secret little smiles as they fell asleep in comfortable silence.
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Spencer wiped the sweat off his brow as he heard the exuberant rangers walk through the large double doors of the mansion. He had been working on reformatting the zords' hard drives for the better part of the day, and was exhausted. The rangers return home meant a welcome escape from the computer parts scattered around him, so he gladly left the zord bay behind and made his way up to the main house.
As he entered the enormous kitchen, his initial reaction was to give a hefty chuckle at the scene before him. Dax was pestering Andrew about the food he was preparing while Master Hartford was trying to slap him away from the food with his spatula, and Will and Ronny were busy arguing about the pros and cons of sports cars versus sport utility vehicles. Though, he soon became puzzled. "I was under the impression that your son was going on the outing to the mall with the other rangers, Master Hartford." Spencer raised and eyebrow.
Ronny snorted, "He totally wimped out last minute. Said he was too tired or something and wanted to stay home." Dax nodded. Andrew turned to Spencer, keeping half an eye on the food on the pan to make sure it didn't burn.
"I tried calling for Mack earlier; wanted to go over some new weapons tactics," Will snorted and rolled his eyes but Andrew continued on, "but he didn't answer me back. I wasn't about to go search for him in this place either." He exaggerated his statement by throwing his arms out wide, almost hitting the blue ranger in the face. He had the decency to look sheepish before he focused his attention on Spencer again, who sat down at the table and poured himself a cup of lemonade.
Mr. Hartford looked thoughtful. "As a matter of fact…I haven't seen Rose all day either."
Will looked up from his argument with Ronny to answer Andrew's unspoken question. "She said she needed to work on a paper for something. She's probably holed herself up in her room to pour over it." He shrugged.
Spencer stood back up. "I'll go find the two of them, seeing as how dinner is almost ready," he turned towards Ronny, "Can you go and set the table? I believe it's your turn tonight." She nodded and went to go grab the silverware.
Spencer was awfully glad of the chores that Andrew had them all do. It took a great load off of his own back. He had enough to do as it was; beyond his regular duties, he somehow ended up being the ranger's emotional counselor. It was very tiring, really.
He climbed up the stairs to the third story, making a beeline for Mack's room. He figured that if the red ranger would be anywhere in the house, that would be the best place to find him. However, when he reached the red door and found it open with no one inside, he wasn't too horribly surprised. The house was large, and the boy could be anywhere.
His next stop was Rose's room. It was on the way to the game room, which was where Mack usually hung about when he wasn't in his own room. When he reached her door, he knocked on the painted pink wood lightly, and when there was no answer he opened the door slightly. He found it strange that the light was on, but no one was in the room.
Spencer was about to leave, when he noticed a large lump on the floor. Or rather, two lumps. What he had originally disregarded as a heap of blankets on the floor was actually the two missing rangers cuddled together under Rose's large pink comforter.
The scene made him smile. With all of the stress that went into being a ranger, it was good that the two found strength in one another. He quietly tread across the room and switched off the lamp, finding his way back to the door by walking towards the light coming from the hallway lamps. He whispered good night to the two, even though it was probably just as effective as talking to a graveyard. The two had turned a deaf ear on the world, and were sleeping soundly. Spencer shut the door softly and made his way down the stairs.
He didn't make it all the way down. Andrew was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs, a questioning look on his face.
"Food's on the table, Spencer. Where are Mack and Rose?"
He was tempted to tell Andrew about his son and the pink ranger cuddled together upstairs on Rose's floor, but swatted the idea out of his mind the second it manifested itself. Master Hartford would only see the ranger's relationship (innocent as it was) as a hindrance and a lack of focus on their training. As close as he was to his son, Mr. Hartford didn't get to see the brunt of the boys' impatience and aggravation as much as Spencer did. The boy always tried to act respectful in his father's presence, and he did it to a fault. As such, his father usually pushed him too hard. He didn't understand how much Mack needed Rose to be there for him, and vice versa.
"The two are both sleeping, Master Hartford. Today's events have tired them both out tremendously, I believe, and they were in need of some extra shut-eye." Andrew nodded.
Alright, I'll wrap up their food and put it in the fridge. I'll meet you in the dining room, Spencer." He nodded to dismiss himself from the conversation, and made his way to the kitchen.
Spencer watched for a few seconds as Andrew walked away, and then turned around to walk towards the loud voices coming from the dining room. His smile was threatening to overtake his face, and he had a small spring in his step. He was glad that Mack's secret could be safely kept from the rest of the house's inhabitants. Rose and Mack didn't deserve to be teased incessantly by their fellow rangers.
Spencer would keep their little secret close to heart, and hope that in the future the two would find more than friendly companionship in one another.
They deserved that much at least.
