An X in the Equation Redux

Chapter 3

Home Sweet Home

Kimberly powered down and ran over to Xavier. She sidestepped the large crack in the ground to get to him. The other rangers followed suit and went to him. Billy bent over and put his fingers on Xavier's pulse. He turned to Kim.

"It's strong Kim. I think he just passed out." Kim smiled and looked down at Xavier. His shirt was almost completely ripped off showing his well muscled body underneath. She gently shook him awake.

"Good morning sleepy head." She said with a smile. His eyes were slow to open as the energy finished healing him. He finally opened his eyes and grinned back. Kim held out her hand and when he grabbed it she helped him up, or at least she tried to but he almost pulled her over as he stood. While helping him up Kimberly felt an electrical charge coursing through her body. They both sat there looking at each other grinning like fools for at least five minutes. Realizing that she was holding his hand for too long she let it go quickly then blushed. Xavier grinned and went to pick up his and Kim's books. The others quickly took them from him ignoring his protests.

After a few minutes they reached Xavier's house. It was a large colonial house much like the others in the area. It was white with the paint peeling from age. The windows were dingy and almost impossible to see through. The lawn was overgrown and choked with weeds.

"Nice place you got here." Jason said sarcastically.

"Bite me. We just moved in." Xavier said with a smile. He looked at Kim. "Listen I know I said I would walk you home but I am really tired."

"No I understand. You go rest." Kim said with a smile. Xavier grinned back and then went inside. They took off towards Billy's house. It was a single floor blue house with a well maintained lawn. Billy opened the garage. The inside was a large lab. Putting their books down the rangers started to talk about what happened.

"What do you think Rita was trying?" Zack asked.

"Isn't it obvious? She was trying to get Kim when it was impossible for her to morph." Billy said.

"Yeah and when that didn't happen she tried to kill Xavier. I guess she figured that if we couldn't save him it would kill us." Jason added.

"But what I don't get is how Xavier moved that pile. I mean it was huge and then what he did to Rita's goons. I have never seen anything like that." Trini said. The other rangers agreed. After a few hours of talking and joking they said their good-byes and went to their homes.

The next day at school Xavier and Eric met up with Kimberly and Trini. Smiling Xavier took Kim's books while Eric took Trini's. They were just about to walk to class when Xavier and Eric were pushed out of the way by two other boys. One was a large boy wearing a leather jacket. The other was very thin. They both had black hair and poor completions. They looked like a horrible parody of Laurel and Hardy. They wore dark colored punk attire and didn't look like they took care of themselves.

"Hey Kim are you going to go out with me?" The fat one said. He put his hand on her arm and clamped down. The thin one blocked Trini's path. Xavier and Eric looked pissed that they had been pushed away. Xavier cracked his neck and walked to the big one.

"Go away Bulk." Kim said looking annoyed.

"Yeah go out with us." The thin boy repeated.

"Shut up Skull." Bulk said.

"I don't think so boys." Trini said looking at him. Before Bulk could give a response he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he looked right into the cold eyes of Xavier. Jason stepped between Skull and Trini.

"You have fucked up twice today. First you push me and then you harass this beautiful girl. Now you can either apologize or get your ass beat. Which do you want?" Bulk scoffed at Xavier something Xavier definitively wasn't used to.

"You some martial arts master like her buddies because I know that you have to wait until I swing first." He grinned as he gloated in Xavier's face. Xavier looked over at Eric and he grinned back.

"I'm not a martial artist. Are you Eric?"

"Nope." Eric said slamming his fist into the lockers beside Skull's head. "Now apologize or next time it will be your face." He said his green eyes almost glowing. Skull stammered out an apology before taking off.

"Now I know you want to apologize too." Xavier told Bulk as he picked him clean off the ground and held him there. Bulk nodded his head and then said he was sorry to Kim. Xavier just dropped him and started to walk towards Kim's first class as the ladies stood there stunned.

"What?" Xavier asked looking at her.

"How could you do that to them?" Kim asked.

"What do you mean?" Xavier asked confused.

"You two just terrified them." Trini said looking at Eric.

"What you liked them hitting on you and treating you two like you were a trophy?" Eric asked looking at her.

"No but normally Jason just outsmarts them and they go away." Trini said.

"Yeah but I'm not Jason. Sometimes a little fear gets the message across better." Xavier explained. Kim just sighed but they walked to class with the boys.

The rest of the week went smoothly for the new friends. Everyday Eric and Xavier waited for Kimberly and Trini at school and then walked them home everyday. Trini was attracted to Eric due to his intelligent. He was very much like Billy except for his confidence. Billy was so much in a shell that she thought he would never ask her out. When Eric did ask her out she jumped at the chance because honestly she wanted to be thought of as more then just a good friend or the reliable one. She wanted someone to like being with her in a more physical sense. While Rita did send monsters down nothing happened like on the first day they met. Pearth and the girls became fast friends and agreed to go shopping on Saturday.

When Saturday rolled around Kimberly called up Trini and another friend named Heather. Heather was the head cheerleader at Angel Grove High. She had red hair and blue eyes. Almost every boy in school wanted to date her but she wasn't conceited like some of the other girls on the squad. She and Kim were friends from back in middle school when Kim was the head cheerleader. Kim didn't try out for the squad this year because she wanted to focus on her gymnastics. They agreed to meet up at Kim's house and then go to Xavier's house to meet up with Pearth.

Kim's house was an elaborate white two-story colonial style house. The grass was neatly mowed and a rose garden was growing in the front. Kim's mom was working on the garden that morning. She was a spry woman entering her forties but who still had her looks from her twenties. Gardening was her passion and the only time she let herself get dirty. Trini got to Kim's first. As she walked up she waved to Mrs. Hart. She was wearing a yellow tank top and black shorts. Kim greeted her in a pink t-shirt and blue jeans. Five minutes later Heather was there. She was dressed in a white sun dress that was altered to barely go past a quarter of her thigh. After saying their hellos they left for Xavier's.

As they approached the house they heard a banging noise. Getting closer all the girls stopped and took in the scene. Xavier and Andor were up on the roof while Tony and Eric were mowing the lawn. All of them had their shirts off and the ladies were admiring the show. Xavier's body was extremely muscular while Andor's was lean and toned. Xavier's hair was cut short on top and faded down the sides and back. Andor's lavender hair was pulled back in a pony tail and it was almost the length of his back. Tony's body was muscular and well defined but not as large as Xavier's. Jason's body was lean but it lacks definition. Xavier was lugging a stack of shingles around while Andor hammered them in place. Jason was mowing the grass while Tony used a weed whacker. Walking up Kim yelled up to Andor.

"Hey Andor where is Pearth?"

"What?" Andor said unable to hear her over the hammering and mower. Andor waved at the others to stop. The noise receded as Andor looked at Kim.

"Where is Pearth?" She called up again.

"She's inside getting us some drinks."

"Go on in ladies." Xavier said looking off the roof. With that he turned and went back to work. Kim and the others walked inside. The inside of the house was decorated tastefully in an old world feel. There were a lot of hard woods and dark colors in the house. There was even an oil painting of a beautiful red headed woman. Just from the picture the girls could see that she was very dignified. As they went through the living room Pearth called out from the kitchen.

"Come on back girls. I'm almost ready here." She walked out carrying a tray that had a pitcher of lemonade and four glasses. She was wearing a lavender dress that matched her hair and eyes. It seemed like her wardrobe was dominated by three colors, purple, lilac, and white. She smiled and nodded her hellos to the girls. Heather offered to take the tray but Pearth just shook her head.

"I've been waiting on these guys for a while now and I know exactly how they like their drinks."

"Oh that is so mean you have to wait on them." Trini said.

"No you misunderstand. If I wanted to I could just sit on my butt all day long and Andor and the others would get me anything I wanted. I can't stand to do that though. So while they do work outside I fix their food and drinks. It works for us."

"Sounds like a good deal." Heather said. When they walked out Kim called the boys over. Eric and Tony stopped their machines and walked over. Suddenly Xavier and Andor leapt off the roof. They landed gracefully and turned to face the girls. Andor went over to Pearth and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She pushed him back.

"Get off your all sweaty." She said laughing.

"You never complained before." He said sneaking another kiss.

"That's because I'm getting sweaty with you." Pearth said in a very provocative voice.

"Well then you want to get sweaty later?" Andor said with a smile. Before Pearth could answer Xavier cut in.

"No disrespect but no one here wants to know this."

"I don't know about that. Maybe we can hear his technique and help him out so Pearth quits waking me up at night." Tony said as he edged off the porch. When Andor realized what he said he took off after him. He tackled Tony in the yard and they started to wrestle.

"We're not going to let them have all the fun, are we Eric" Xavier said as he leapt of the porch. He and Eric slammed in to the others. After a few minutes of messing around they stopped and went up to the porch. They were out of breath and covered with grass clippings. This is the first time Kim can think of that Andor, who was normally so serious, let himself laugh. It looked good on him.

"Hey before I forget this is Heather." Pearth said as she laughed at the boys.

"How are you doing? My name's Xavier. This is Andor, the red head is Eric, and the goofy looking mother fucker that is checking you out is Tony." She said her hellos to the others and then she looked at Tony. Their eyes met and a spark flew between them. Heather was wondering what his sweat tasted like. Tony was wondering what her legs would feel like wrapped around him. Before they could say anything to each other Kim spoke up.

"Well we had better get going. See you guys later." She said grabbing Heather and Pearth. The girls turned and walked down the drive going to the bus stop.

"I hate to see them go." Tony said. Xavier glanced over at him. He didn't want to take his eyes off the girls.

"But I love to watch them leave." He said. With that they all went back to work.

A/N: I took out the whole character of Nick Masters and because of his removal I put chapters 4 and 5 of the original story together. I also want to thank my two reviewers Jeremy Shane and Brankel1. Thank you both for the reviews.