Terry arrived back at the Shiba House, still fuming over what had happened at the Career Fair. He stormed into his room, pacing intently as he ran his hands through his hair.
He was a joker, everyone knew that, but that didn't mean that things didn't get to him. He had been humiliated by his dismissive defeat at Dekker's hands, but it was more than that. He had let The Cursed Warrior get under his skin. When he had mocked him, dismissed him as merely a substitute, it had really gotten to him.
Terry knew all too well that he was only a temporary substitute for Mia while her wrist healed, but that didn't mean he liked being disrespected. He was strong in his own right. He had always come through for the team in the time he had been fighting by their side. He had said himself that he had no intention of replacing Mia permanently, but he liked to think he had proven himself. Heck, Emily wasn't meant to be there, and she had done well enough that even though Serena COULD come back, they had all elected to allow Emily to continue in her stead.
Unfortunately, that was the problem. He didn't care what Dekker thought of him. Dekker was just a Nighlock. He was a powerful and deadly one, but a Nighlock none-the-less. It was the fact that he had touched a nerve, getting Terry thinking that he wasn't good enough to be there. He wasn't good enough for her.
It had been obvious to him for a while that he liked Serena, and that he wanted a lot more from her. It had apparently been obvious to others too, as Ji had already spoken with him on the matter. It had angered him that Ji felt he needed to warn him about what Serena had been going through. He knew all about Stephen. It wasn't exactly a secret; indeed, it still stood as a painful reminder in the house of the cost of failure. Although the battle against Xandred had ended in defeat, the team had walked away from it. For Jayden, Stephen's murder was still the most grievous and painful of all his failures. For the others, they had lost a good friend, and for Serena...the first man she had ever loved.
He had been drawn to Serena, even before they had spent all that time together. Their paths had been so different; it was her strength that called to him. She had come back from a tragedy that by rights should have broken her. She had dedicated herself to her new family, and gave them everything, no matter the cost at all times. He was in awe of her, and she represented everything he wished he could have been for Mia. It was over time that he knew his feelings for her were changing, but he always kept his distance. He doubted that Serena would return the way he felt about her. He had never intended to suggest she was ready to stop mourning, and he doubted he could hope to compete with the spectre of Stephen.
Over time though, things became more and more frustrating. There were times when her guard slipped, times when she almost seemed to forget her sorrow. The times he saw her smiling, when she would seem to find herself able to laugh again, she was easily the most beautiful woman he had ever known, and on a few occasions, he had even found himself daring, if only for a few fleeting moments, that perhaps the day would come that she would be ready to move on, and perhaps even do so with him.
Unfortunately, on more than one occasion, he had seen something in her, something he didn't want to. During the times they had laughed together, sometimes, just sometimes, he had felt their eyes connect, and her laughter would end abruptly, followed quickly by panic, and pain, things he never wanted her to feel. He understood that she still loved Stephen, and any thoughts that she had for anyone else had to cause her anguish. When she had kissed him, he finally understood, she did have feelings of some description for him. What those feelings were, what they meant for them he didn't know, but one thing was clear. She was fighting them, which meant as much as he didn't want to think of it, she had made a choice. She was fighting so hard to keep herself from her feelings that it was clear she didn't want him. He wasn't good enough.
He turned on his bed as the door opened, seeing his sister entering the room. He just let out a sigh and shook his head.
"If you and the others..."
"The others aren't back yet. I came alone." She told him, coming in and sitting on the bed. She just put an arm around him. "So, would you mind telling me how you got yourself into this mess?"
"Mia, are we really doing this?" He asked her. She just looked to him and nodded her head.
"You know that normally I like to have as little to do with your love life as possible. After that girl that set about your car with a golf club, I really could live without the drama." She admitted. "But this...you have to admit, this is creating more than a little bit of a mess. Haven't you ever heard of the saying don't shit where you eat?"
"Yeah, because I really planned this." He said sarcastically. "I've already heard this lecture from Ji..."
"Ji caught onto this?" Mia asked him. "Terry, what the hell?"
"Why exactly does everyone just automatically assume that all this is my fault?" He demanded angrily.
"Terry, no one is blaming you for anything." Mia assured him. "I just want to know what's going on. I care about you, and I care about Serena. This thing...you have to admit, it's all becoming really messed up."
"I had kind of noticed." Terry muttered. "It's always the same; things are fine until I get involved."
"Terry..."
"I mean it Mia, Serena was fine until I showed up." He reminded her. "Now, she's a complete basket case!"
"Terry..."
"Look Mia, I think everyone can agree everything was so much easier before I got here." He told her. "Your wrist should be fine by the end of the week. I'll just keep my distance, and when you're back on your feet, I'll pack my bags."
"Terry, that wasn't..."
"What else can I do Mia?" He asked her. "I just make things worse no matter what I do. The sooner I'm gone, the better."
"Well, I guess that's for the best." She sighed, getting up and looking at him with a look of disappointment on her face. "I mean, if you're going to give up the second things get difficult, then maybe you don't care about her."
"That's not fair Mia!" He protested.
"Serena's messed up enough as it is, so if you're not prepared to be there when things are tough, then she's better off without you."
She turned and left the room, stopping outside and stroked the bridge of her nose in frustration. She hated to chew him out like that. She loved Terry, and she also loved Serena, but what was going on was clearly no good for either of them. It would hurt, but she couldn't see how they could come back from this. Terry and Serena would move on eventually, but sometimes things just didn't work, and clearly that was one of those times.
Back at the convention centre, Serena spluttered as Emily hit her with another clod of mud. Serena looked up to her, tears streaming down her face.
"I mean it Serena; I'm going to keep doing this all day until you spill it!" Emily demanded.
"What do you want to hear Emily?" She screamed. "I know it's wrong! I know I have no right to..."
"To what? To mess Terry around?" Emily demanded, pelting her again.
"I have no right to feel this!" She sobbed. "I have no right to...to..."
Emily paused as she saw Serena on her knees before her, broken and defeated.
"I have no right to like him." She sniffed. She looked up to Emily, pleading with her with her eyes. "Don't you think I know it's wrong? Don't you think I'm disgusted enough with myself?"
"Serena, what are you talking about?" Emily asked her sympathetically, lowering her Samuraizer. She started to approach her slowly as Serena held her face in her hands.
"I'm talking about Terry." She told her. "I...I...don't know what I'm feeling."
Emily, like the others, had seen the kiss. She hadn't managed to talk to Serena about it, giving her some space, but things had gone too far for her to ignore. Seeing Serena so weak before her was heartbreaking. She could tell that Serena was genuinely distraught.
"How can I feel anything for him? I love Stephen." She said weakly as Emily finally came over to her, kneeling with her and hugging her tightly. She could only hold Serena as she wept.
"Serena, you haven't done anything to be ashamed of." Emily whispered to her sympathetically. She had seen Terry and Serena getting closer long before the kiss, and though she hadn't suspected how far things might have developed. She looked to her sister's eyes as she took a deep breath. "Serena, no one blames you for being confused or..."
"How can I even look at Terry when I love Stephen?" She asked her. "What does that say about me?"
"It says that you're human." Emily sighed. "I loved Stephen too. He made you happy; he gave you something that will be with you for the rest of your life. I can even admit that on occasion, I had started to think about him becoming part of the family."
"You...you thought about that?" Serena asked her. Emily just nodded.
"It was kind of hard not to. The two of you were made for each other. I loved him almost as much as you did. I could have seen him being a part of our family." She told her, before breathing a sigh. "I like to think I knew him pretty well, and that's why I can honestly say, I don't think he'd have wanted you to mourn him forever."
"Emily..."
"I don't know what you and Terry have together, but I know one thing. Since he's been here, you've been happier than I've seen you in months. I've seen you smiling, and I've seen you laughing. I feel like I finally got my sister back, and for that I'll always be grateful to him."
She sat beside Serena, holding her tightly.
"I still don't know how I feel." Serena admitted. "When I'm around him, I feel like I like myself. I feel really good, but then after a while, all I can think about is Stephen, and I feel like I'm betraying him."
"You can't betray Stephen, Serena. Stephen's dead." She reminded her. "I know that's unfair, I know that sucks and I know it hurts, but he's gone. He's not coming back. All you can do is ask yourself. Knowing how much he loved you, do you really think he'd want you to feel this badly about being happy? Do you really think he'd want you to be alone?"
"But...what about Terry?" She asked her. "What about if he...?"
"Well, that's something only he can answer." Emily interrupted her. "But unless you want to make even more of a mess of this than you already have, I suggest you really think long and hard about what you want from him. Because so far, things have been pretty messed up, and I really don't think he deserves that."
Emily got up, helping Serena to her feet. She pulled out her Samuraizer, and cast forth a symbol, causing the wall of rock she had jammed into the doorway to collapse. Jayden, Kevin, Mike and Antonio were all waiting, and looked more than a little annoyed. Jayden started to make his way forward.
"Alright, can someone please tell me what's going on?" He demanded. Emily just looked to him and shook her head.
"Please, we'll fill you in when we get home." Emily assured him. "I promise I'll fill you in then, let's just get out of here."
Meanwhile, in another part of town, Spike and his friends had all gathered in a burger joint, once they were confident that Dekker hadn't tried to follow them. They were all more than a little shaken, and were glad that they were safe. In Panorama City, safe was a relative term of course, but over the last couple of months, things had been especially quiet. Spike just sighed.
"I recognised that guy. He's been seen fighting the Rangers a few times." He told them, neglecting to mention the fact that he had in fact met Dekker before. Back when he was still obsessed with the Pink Ranger, Dekker had seen Spike's Facebook page and thought that his imaginary relationship with Mia was real. As a result, he had taken him and his uncle hostage to draw the Rangers out. "He's one of the more powerful ones."
"Yeah, I think I've seen him on the news." Jimmy agreed. "So, do you think...?"
"I think that if he's back, it can't be long until some of the other really scary ones come back." Spike interrupted him.
"Just in time for the start of our Junior year." Mal grumbled. "Bloody typical."
"Well, at least we still have the weekend right?" Vicky asked them. "We can't exactly leave town or anything, so it's not like we can do anything about it. Maybe we should just try to make the best of it."
"I guess so." Spike said with a shrug. "I guess all that's left for us to do is look forward to the future."
"Well, I already know what's in my future." Jimmy said with a smirk. "A bacon double cheeseburger and extra large fries!"
"You know, I'll never know how you eat so much and stay so small." Mal teased him, shoving his younger friend gently.
"No point worrying on an empty stomach." Jimmy answered. As Spike and his friends all laughed, enjoying what would be their last weekend of freedom before they started back at school, they didn't notice an older guy who had been watching them closely getting up and heading out of the restaurant. He went to a car that was waiting outside, where another man was sitting.
"So, you see what I meant?" He asked him. The first man just nodded.
"Yeah." He sighed. "I just...are you sure this is the only way?"
"We've been over this!" The guy behind the wheel stated coldly. "You can't get weak on me now. If we're going to get what we deserve, we need to be strong."
"I know, it's just..." His words tailed off.
"It's natural to be scared." The man behind the wheel answered as he started the engine. "But soon, it'll all be over."