CHAPTER FOUR: First "Dates"

The phone rang far too early for Ryan Mitchell's liking. His cell vibrated on his nightstand, killing any hope of him going back to sleep. He rolled over and fumbled blindly for the phone, his hands finally closing over it and miraculously hitting the SEND button. "Hello?" he asked sleepily.

"Sorry!" the voice of Kelsey Winslow apologized. "I forget that normal people sleep in on Saturdays."

Ryan flipped over onto his back. "Hi Kelsey," he said sleepily. "No worries…guess I should be getting up anyway." He stared at the ceiling. "What's up?"

Kelsey sounded like she was running. "Well, Chad was gonna come for a run with me this morning, but I guess he overslept or something and so now I'm kinda running past your place and I thought I'd see if you wanted to come with me."

Ryan closed his eyes. "Sure, why not."

"Really? Awesome! 'Cause…I'm kinda already outside your house…"

Ryan's eyes snapped open and he stood up and padded across the carpet. Down in at the bottom of the driveway, Kelsey waved, one hand on her phone.

"Give me five minutes," Ryan said. Then he sighed. "Well, make it more like ten."

"I'll wait," Kelsey replied. "See you soon!"

Ryan hung up and flopped back down on his bed, looking around the room. Then he got up and fumbled for his clothes and went to change in the bathroom. His room still creeped him out, but he would rather sleep in a bed than on the couch-he didn't want his father to know. At least the creepy room beats the boulder in the Shadow World.

Ten minutes later, true to his word, Ryan was somewhat awake and dressed in a pair of black athletic shorts, green tanktop and tennis shoes. He pulled the front door gently closed and walked down to the end of the driveway. Kelsey was sitting in the grass next to the driveway stretching, wearing a yellow sports bra and black shorts. Her ever-present headphones were settled around her neck and her Walkman was clipped to her shorts. "Morning!" she greeted him happily.

"I must learn your secret," Ryan groaned. "You're way too awake for 8AM on a Saturday."

Kelsey grinned, her eyes sparkling. "This is late," she replied. "So…is three miles too much for you, Mitchell?"

Ryan thought about it. "I don't know," he said finally. "I know I'm in shape, but I don't even know if I like to run, so…" He shrugged and smiled. "Let's go for it. I'll turn around if it gets to be too much."

Kelsey nodded and got up off the grass. She took off down the sidewalk, Ryan keeping up with her. As they ran in silence, Ryan marveled at Mariner Bay. He'd not gotten to see much of it before. In between jumps to the surface he'd been so single minded in wreaking destruction that he'd never taken any time to learn the city, and it was fascinating. For one thing…it was so green. Kelsey led him off the main road and up into the green space in the higher elevations. She took this seriously, Ryan noted, following her up a dirt path into the trees. She kept her pace no matter what the terrain, hopping over stumps and boulders like they were nothing. Ryan followed awkwardly. She makes it look so easy, he thought.

He missed a tree root, caught it with his sneaker, and faceplanted hard into the dirt. He lay there for a moment, embarrassed.

A pair of yellow sneakers stopped in front of his face. "Nice landing," Kelsey said as he pushed himself onto his elbows. "Need a hand?" she asked him, offering him one. He grasped her wrist and hauled himself up, dusting himself off.

"Sorry for slowing you down," Ryan apologized. He rubbed his hands together, stinging from the fall. "You can keep goin' if you want."

"And leave you here?" Kelsey shook her head. "Nope. Not gonna leave a man behind." She smirked. "Even if it's his own fault for not watching where he was going."

Ryan didn't argue the point. "So you do this every day?"

Kelsey led him over to a fallen log and sat down. Ryan plopped down ungracefully next to her. "The past week I have," Kelsey replied. "When I was living at the Aquabase I mostly ran on the treadmill," she admitted. "Wasn't as much fun as being out here in nature."

Ryan surveyed the area. The trees grew pretty close together here, but patches of sunlight lit the dirt and moss in funky patterns. "Yeah, I can see where this'd be better," he said.

"So I have a question for you," Kelsey said, and Ryan braced himself. "When you left-right after the whole tattoo thing….where'd you go?"

Ryan flinched at the memory of the tattoo. He had almost forgotten the giant cobra. "I don't really remember having a set destination," he replied after a moment. "I just know I was on a mission to find a way to stop Queen Bansheera and Diabolico." He toed the dirt in front of them. "At one point I went back to the high desert, back to the ruins." He chuckled. "It's actually a really nice place, except for the creepy writing on the walls and the sense of foreboding."

Kelsey smiled. "You'd probably think it was pretty cool," Ryan told her. "There's a lot of pretty sweet rock formations and stuff. I know you like to climb." He frowned. "I wonder if I like to climb."

"Guessing you didn't get a lot of free time," Kelsey said, and Ryan nodded.

Kelsey bumped him with her shoulder. "So, do you like running?" she asked him. He thought about it. "I like doing something," he decided. "I like it here."

"Good." Kelsey hopped off the log and pulled him to his feet. "Let's run back to town, and by then I'll be starving." She took off, leaving Ryan in the dust. "We can see if you like pancakes!"

Ryan stared at her retreating figure for a moment, then shook his head and took off after her.

I think I just found something else I might like.

"You're such a baby!" Dana held the door open for Carter, holding his Lightspeed jacket and a carton of Chinese takeout in one hand while Carter limped into his apartment. She had to laugh, but kept it to herself. He looked so awkward-the big six foot two frame trying to keep some semblance of his manhood while he struggled with forward movement. "Hurry up, my arms are getting tired."

"Hey, in case you haven't noticed, I'm injured," Carter replied. He pushed past her into the apartment and made a beeline for his couch, collapsing on it with a sigh.

Dana closed his door, set his Lightspeed jacket over a chair, and put the takeout on his coffee table. So this is how Carter Grayson lives. The apartment was very livable, albeit a very small space.

From where she stood in the doorway, she could see both his living space and his kitchen. The kitchen was typical apartment fare. The stove and fridge looked a little dated, the cabinets a little worn. The floor was laminate instead of linoleum, which she thought odd-why put so much work into the floor and not the rest? The living room had basic white carpet, and Carter had furnished a black futon and armchair. The TV stand looked secondhand, and the TV on top of it was a mid-90s model. Carter caught her looking. "I spent a lot of time at Ladder 4 or else at the Aquabase after I got recruited," he said by way of explanation. "Didn't make sense to have a huge place."

The one indulgence, Dana noted, were the two solid oak bookshelves in the corner of the room. They were full of books. As Carter settled onto the couch, Dana drifted across the living room floor over to the shelves. "I didn't know you read," she said, running her fingers along the shelves. Stacked neatly inbetween firefighting guides and textbooks were biographies of famous world leaders, interspersed with mystery novels and a few science fiction/fantasy titles. She picked up a Robert Jordan book and waved it at Carter. "You're an interesting man, Carter Grayson."

Carter held out his hand for the book, and then turned it over thoughtfully. "It's a nice escape from reality sometimes," he replied. "I used to bring that series back to the Aquabase with me." He handed it back to her to put on the shelf. "Might explain why I didn't think I was losing it when I saw that demon in the fire the day we became Rangers."

"Because you thought there was something else out there?"

He nodded. "I was right, wasn't I?" Dana nodded in agreement. She went over to the table and picked up the Chinese food, handing him one of the cartons and a set of chopsticks. She chose the Orange Chicken and popped the box open.

Carter watched her eat. "I'm sorry," he told her after a moment.

She stopped with her food halfway to her mouth. "Whaddya mean?" she asked.

Carter gestured to the cartons, his apartment, and the two of them. "Well, this isn't exactly the first date I had in mind," he told her. "I pictured something a little more romantic."

"Really." Dana set her food down and leaned back on her elbows on the floor. "Tell me, Carter, what's your idea of a great first date?"

Carter laughed. "Wow, no pressure being put on the spot or anything." Dana stuck her tongue out at him. "I guess I would've started it off by picking you up at your place." He sat up on the couch, propping his foot on top of a Mariner Bay Dolphins throw pillow. "We'd go downtown for something to eat. You don't strike me as the type to want something crazy fancy on the first date, and I don't like the idea of having to whisper the whole time while some guy in a tux frowns at us."

Dana laughed. "So where're we eating?" she asked. "You're right, I don't mind getting dressed up if the occasion calls for it but I wouldn't want to eat fancy food on a first date. I'd be so nervous I'd probably drop it on my dress."

"Speaking of," Carter said, indulging the fantasy, "what are you wearing on this date?"

"Hmm…." Dana's eyes sparkled. "Well, I'm kinda tired of pink. I've got this great purple dress that I've only worn once, and that was to Dad's promotion ceremony."

"Yeah, purple huh?" Carter grinned. "Describe it."

Dana swallowed, and she could feel her face getting red. "Well, it's got spaghetti straps. It's probably a little tight since Dad got promoted like two years ago and I've gained a little muscle since then." She flexed and Carter smiled at her. "It just goes straight across my chest, like this-" She sliced a line across the top of her t-shirt just above her bra line. "-and then it stops probably around my knees. It flares a little at the bottom, so if like, I'd be dancing or something, it spreads out a little."

"Not as much as Marilyn Monroe?" Carter asked, an image of Dana and the dress in his head, and Dana shook her head vehemently. "Definitely not Marilyn Monroe," she said. "And then I dunno…I've got a pair of heels I'd have to wear considering you're so gosh darn tall."

"What can I say, good genes," Carter shrugged. "Well shoot, since you're gonna be wearing that, I better step up my game."

"We don't have to match," Dana teased. "You wouldn't look good in purple."

He made a face. "Ah, no, I agree," he said. "Hm. Well, let's assume this date takes place after I'm out of an Ace bandage."

"Scenario accepted," Dana said. "I don't want to have to haul you all over Mariner Bay."

This time, he stuck his tongue out at her. "All right then. I guess I wouldn't get too dressed up since we're not going out to Le Bordeaux…Gray slacks, probably a button down…" He thought about it. "I think I'm still a little attached to red, so it'd be my red button down." He closed his eyes for a second. "And then I've got a pair of black steel-toe boots to wear. They don't have much of a heel so I wouldn't be adding more inches, since I'm sooo tall."

"You are," Dana emphasized. "Well all right then," she said. "Now that we're dressed…where are we going?"

"Well, since it's a casual night, I'd suggest The Pink Cadillac," Carter said. "Burgers, fries, casual atmosphere, music's not too loud."

"That sounds good." Dana stretched out on the floor. Carter tossed her another pillow from the couch and she tucked it under her head. "So burgers and fries. I like it, actually, I really do." She rested her head on her elbow. "So what happens after dinner?"

"After dinner…." Carter mused. "Is a walk on the beach too cliché?"

Dana shook her head. "Nope. Gives us time to talk and get to know each other. We didn't get a whole lot of alone time at the Aquabase, which is saying something considering how closed quarters that is."

"No kidding," Carter said. "So okay, a walk on the beach. If we're not full, how about we go get ice cream? There's that cool little place that sells shaved ice and cones right by the boardwalk."

"I like that place. Their strawberry vanilla is the best."

"So ice cream and a walk on the beach." Carter thought about it. "I guess we walk and talk for a while…if things go well, I'd suggest going out again."

Dana looked up at him and drew his gaze to her. She sat up and leaned across his coffee table. "Is that... all you'd suggest?" she asked him.

She could swear his ears turned a faint shade of pink. "Maybe, maybe not," Carter replied honestly. "If it felt right, and you seemed like you wanted to, I'd probably ask if I could kiss you before we walk back to the car."

Dana closed her eyes, freezing that thought in her head. "That sounds like the perfect first date," she told Carter. She sat up and snatched the Chinese carton off the table. "We'll have to do that sometime," she said, wishing right then that Carter was healed.

"Promise," Carter said firmly.