~*~

Chapter Four

~*~

She's breathing heavily as she runs through bushes. Allie can see the beach up ahead. The sudden yell makes her jump. It's familiar. She's heard that voice before. She moves closer towards the beach, bending down so she can hide herself behind one of the boulders and sees Nick.

He's fighting a strange purple monster. And he's losing the battle.

No! Her heart pounds wildly as she gasps.

"Nick, look out!

"Allie, don't!"

She jumps in between the two and a burst of light engulfs her.

Allie jumps awake, breathing heavily as she takes a look around the room. Her friends are towering over her, snickering. And it isn't until she hears their laughter when she realizes what they've done. She almost forgot she fell asleep at work.

"Oh ha ha, very funny," she mutters as she pushes herself up to a sitting position. She eyes them with suspision. "You didn't draw anything on my face, did you?"

"We wouldn't dream of it, Allie," Vida answers innocently. Allie sticks her tongue out childishly which Vida mimicks through her laughter. "Don't worry, we stopped Chip from drawing anything."

"Hey!" Chip looks affronted at the girl beside him. "I haven't drawn on anyone's face since first grade!"

"Eh, I can vouch for him," Vida shrugs in agreement. "He really hasn't."

Vida leaves to get up to her usual spot behind the record players and Chip returns to his area of the store which he turned into a giant fort.

Her breath catches in her throat when Nick steps into the store with Chip blocking his way with his so called "moat." He looks over at her, sensing her quiet gaze, smiles brightly, and waves at her. She returns his smile and quickly waves back. Nick looks like he's about to rush over to her but accidentally bumps into Xander, who's carrying the bank deposites.

"You're drooling, Allie," Maddie's giggles snap her out of it. And she hastily wipes her mouth only to find no drool there. She gives Maddie an exasperated look. "Kidding, I'm kidding!"

She dodges a pillow Allie throws with ease.

"I'm pathetic."

"No, you're not," Maddie reassures her. "besides I think he kind of likes it."

"What? My patheticness?" Allie raises her eyebrows.

"No," Maddie exhales sharply. "the attention you're giving him."

"I seriously doubt it."

"I don't see him giving Leelee that much attention."

"Let's be honest here, Mads, Leelee is a bit too much."

"He doesn't give me that kind of attention either," Maddie says quietly. Her cheeks turn a bright red.

"You like him?" Allie gasps with a small smile on her face. "No way."

"Maybe...a little bit," she admits sheepishly.

"What?" Allie asks quickly, now wide awake. "When did this happen?!"

"You know the monsters that attack the city sometimes?" Maddie bites her lip and at Allie's slow nod, she continues, "Well, I was doubting myself again over something Nick said. And I was stupid enough to get in that monster's way to save someone, but he saved me instead."

"Hey, listen, you're an amazing person and you don't need a guy's approval to tell you what you already know," Allie nudges her. She's fully aware of her friend's doubts and worries. She gets them herself. A lot more quiet about it but that didn't mean she couldn't help people who felt the same way.

"And if it helps any, I think you guys are totally cute together," she gives her friend an over the top wink which she giggles at but still turns a darker shade of red.

"Anyway, if you figure it out come over to the turntables," Maddie points over to where Vida is rocking out on her headphones. "there's this really cool CD you should listen to, I think you'll like it."

"Thanks anyway, Mads," Allie laughs as Maddie makes her way to the turntables.

Allie glances down at the draeing in her hand, frowning at the battle scene she drew.

"You're always drawing in that thing," Nick's voice startles her out of her concentration and she jumps. "Sorry," he smiles sheepishly.

"No, no, you're fine!" she says quickly. "I just wasn't paying attention."

"What are you always drawing in there anyway?" he asks curiously staring at the purple book in her hands, trying to take a peak of one of her sketches but she closes it before he can see anything.

"You'd just make fun!"

"It's okay, you can tell me," he reassures her.

She wants to believe him. He's definitely alot nicer than Vida and Xander. But, that fear is still there.

"I can't right now," his look of disappointment makes her feel guilty.

"Nah, it's okay, I under--" he suddenly stops himself midsentence, blue eyes glazing over as he stares blankly at the floor. She frowns. He isn't going to pass out on her, is he? He did look a little tired when he came in.

"Are you okay? You seem a little out of it." Whatever she said snaps him out of his trance and he's back to normal.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Nick is still tense for some reason and wouldn't meet her eyes. "I just realized I had to get some stuff from the truck. I'll catch you later."

He leaves quickly before she can say bye to him. That was...odd, to say the least. He looked like he wanted to talk more but got distracted by something else.

"Hey, Allie," Maddie greets her. Allie returns the greeting with a small smile which quickly drops at Maddie's troubled expression. "Did you notice Nick seemed a bit off today?"

Oh good, she wasn't the only one.

"You noticed too?" she frowns. At Maddie's nod of confirmation, she continues, "He had this weird look in his eye."

"It's the same look you sometimes have when you get your visions, Allie."

"Really?" she perks up at that. If that's true...then maybe Nick might be going through the same thing as well.

"I'll --I'll go check on him," Allie says out of concern. She hides her sketch book underneath one of the pillows and gets up and heads out the store.

If he really is having visions like her, she might be able to help him out. She's about to greet him once more, noticing him carefully getting boxes out of the truck but stops herself. This could totally blow over. He might not believe her and call her crazy.

"Allie!" she jumps at the sound of Leelee's squeal.

"Nice to see you again, Leelee," Allie grunts as the blonde girl hugs her tightly.

"New outfit?" Allie asks politely.

"Spent $500 on this bad boy," Leelee grins proudly, dusting off invisble dirt from her leather jacket.

Allie nearly recoils from shock and disbelief. She could almost hear the sound of her wallet crying. Who could afford to spend that much money on clothes?! She could barely pay her own rent!

"It looks good on you," Allie compliments.

"I know! Don't you think we look so good together?" Leelee squeals giddily.

"I--I suppose?" she hesitates. "You're still talking about the outfit, right?"

"No," Leelee sighs and rolls her eyes. "I meant about me and Nick. We're totally getting married. He just doesn't know it yet."

"I--I see." she doesn't know how to feel about this.

"You're totally going to be invited to the wedding!" Leelee giggles. "Are the others in or are they taking their breaks again?"

"Yeah, they're still --"

"Great! See ya later!" Leelee waves as she enters the store.

Allie shakes her head and sighs heavily. Why does she even bother? She glances over at Nick who has hunched over as if he were in pain. He's stumbling back and if he moves back anymore, he'd smack his head on the concrete.

"Nick!" she rushes to his side and catches him before he falls over. She inhales sharply as a burst of light blinds her momentairly. "Nick? What's wrong?"

She's back in the dark forest and battle cries could be heard.

"Do not interfere with our battle, witch!" A deep voice growls at her. She jumps as purple smoke surrounds her, preventing her from nearing the figure in red.

Was he speaking to her? Who was that?

"Allie!" Nick exclaims in surprise. "Oh my -- I am so sorry about that. Are you alright?"

"I should be asking you that," Allie chuckles weakly, winded from the visions. "Seriously, are you alright? You're really out of it today."

"Yeah," he sounds exhausted. "sorry. I'm just having an off day."

"Nick," she heaitates. Might as well get it over with. "Do you believe in visions?"

"Visions?" Nick asks incredulously. He shakes his head. "you mean like psychics,seeing the future, and crystal balls? Those kind of visions?" he stops laughing at the serious look on her face. "To be honest, before I moved to Briarwood, I didn't believe in any of that crap. Now, though, I'm not so sure."

Interesting. Something must have happened to him and her friends when they went to the forest. She's certain she felt some sort of weird energy there. Maybe it's why no one went to the woods.

"Hey, you're spacing out on me," Nick says after a long pause between them. He gently nudges her. "Penny for your thoughts?"

She can't help but laugh when he actually hands her a penny which she politely takes.

"Just thinking about the forest," she admits. He tenses besides her. " There's something weird about it. But... I don't know, It's probably just my imagination."

"Right," he says half heartedly. He clears his throat. "I think Leelee was about to head into the store earlier."

She raises her brows at the quick conversation change, but goes with it anyway, "Yeah, just bumped into her. She seems excited about your little date with her."

She nudges him back playfully, snickering at his look of confusion.

"Wait, what?" he asks with a small frown. "We aren't dating."

Oh. Well, that's awkward. She stops laughing to stare at him in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he's hesitant to answer. "I mean, she's pretty and all, but, there's something off about her. I don't know, it's kind of like how you feel about the forest."

Huh. She'd noticed that too. As much as she wanted to be friends with the blonde girl, she's always felt uneasy around her.

"Hey, Nick! Allie!" Maddie cries out suddenly, startling the both of them.

She and Nick both turn to see the others rushing up to them.

"Hey, guys, where's the fire?" She frowns. Nick glances up at her voice with a matching frown.

"$1000 dollars is missing from the store," Xander explains breathlessly. "and when you guys weren't there..."

Wait, what? Was he talking about the bank deposits? Wait, he seriously didn't think --?

"Oh, I see," Nick realizes. "you guys thought I took it."

"We sort of did, yeah," Chip admits witb a guilty smile.

"I thought you guys were my friends," Nick shakes his head, scoffing. "Sorry, Allie, I'm out."

He rushes off without saying any thing else.

"Seriously, what you guys did just now was not cool," Allie scolds and the four have a decency to look ashamed of themselves. She shakes her head and tries going after Nick once more.

~*~

Ever since they accused Nick of stealing money from the store, the feeling of dread would not go away. Nick did not come back since then and her gut keeps telling her to go to the beach.

If her visions are true, he would right about... she hears Nick scream in the distance... there.

"Nick!" she calls to him as she sprints closer towards the beach. He doesn't hear her but she can see him running towards the purple warrior near the shoreline.

"Magical source, mystic force!" Nick chants and he is engulfed in a strange red smoke.

Allie inhales sharply as a warrior in red bursts through the smoke with a battle cry. It's the same warrior that she met in the forest.

This time she doesn't hesitate running towards him. She bellows his name as she reaches them in time to witness him being thrown to the air. Nick whirls around. She can't tell what his expression is like behind his mask but she imagines he's surprised to see her.

"Nick, you alright?!"

"Allie, get out of here, it's too dangerous!" Nick demands. "Let's finish this, Koragg!"

"With pleasure!"

"Nick, Look out!"

"Allie, don't!"

She steps in front of him out of instinct and the next thing she knows a strange burst of magic comes from her hands and straight to the monster about to attack Nick. Her eyes widen at the dark, shadowy wall floating in between her and the strange monster. The smoke is a mixture of purple and black and the monster brings down his sword at it only to be blown away by an invisble force.

"What?!" The monster, Koragg, bellows. "This is impossible!"

"How are you doing that?" Nick gasps.

"I don't -- I don't know!" Allie stammers. Her heart's beating fast, wincing every time Koragg brings his sword down on the shadowy shield. All she could think about was wanting to protect Nick.

"Well, whatever it is you're doing, don't stop! And don't freak out!"

"It's too late for that, Nick!" she exclaims hysterically.

Oh, she's freaking out alright. What had she done?! By the purple warrior's surprise, she must have tossed his own magic back at him. But how did she do it?

Nick lands on his side, his ranger suit is conpletely gone. He groans in pain as he clutches his shoulder. Something in her clicks and she rushes to his side.

"I won't fight an unarmed opponent," Koragg growls.

Allie tenses as the purple warrior moves towards them.

"And you," he adresses her. "I don't know how you used my own magic against me, witch, but I'm going to find out, make no mistake about that!"

Allie holds her breath as a strange purple light bursts from the sand at his incantation. And the warrior disappears within the light, leaving Allie and Nick breathing heavily, winded from the fight.

"Wait, you're the guy in red?" she glances over at Nick and slowly backs away from him. He tilts his head much like a confused puppy and frowns at her. "You were the guy that saved me in the forest?! Why didn't you say anything?!"

His cheeks turn a bright red and he rubs his neck bashfully.

"What was I supposed to do? Tell you, "Oh hey, Allie, I'm sort of freaking out because your visions might actually come true, and by the way, me and your friends are Power Rangers?!"

"Um, yes, that would have been extremely helpful!" Allie exclaims dryly. "You hurt my feelings, you jerk face!"

"I'm really sorry for everything, you know," Nick says once they're both calm.

"I'm sorry too, for... for not sticking up for you more in the store." she sighs heavily. "My friends can be jerks sometimes. Well, Xander and Vida are. Maddie and Chip are okay."

"Don't you mean 'Jerk faces'?"

She stares at him incredulously before bursting into laughter, with him joining her.

"I get them too... "Nick clears his throat. "The dreams..."

"What?"

Before she can ask anything more, they're interrupted by a familiar Austrailian accent.

"Nick! We came here as fast as we could!" the ranger in green exclaims. "We know you didn't take the money!"

"Wait, I know that voice -- Xander?!"

"Alli-argh!" he stops himself when the pink ranger punches his side. "I mean, a total stranger whom I've never met before. Who is this Xander you speak of? He sounds like a handsome bloke!"

Okay, that totally is Xander. Allie stares at him in disbelief.

"Calm down, guys," Nick rolls his eyes. "She knows."

"Oh, well, that makes things easier," the boy in yellow pipes up. "Power down."

Their ranger outfits disappear in a cloud of smoke and her friends are all standing before her in their purple work uniform.

"Chip?" she asks slowly. He grins and waves at her. "Okay, can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?!"

~*~

"So...magic..."

The five of them stare at her expectantly with huge grins on their faces.

"Magic's real..." she continues. Her thoughts are practically going a hundred miles a minute trying to comprehend her situation. "you guys are wizards."

"By jove, I think she's got it!" Vida exclaims through her laughter, prompting laughter from the others as well. Allie's cheeks warm up from embarrasment.

"Hey, don't make fun! Up until now I thought everyone did magic tricks at parties!"

At this everyone turns towards Maddie with an incredulous look, who cowers and smiles sheepishly.

"Don't look at me!" she defends herself. "She's my best friend! I had to tell her something!"

"Magic parties, sis?" Vida smirks as she lazily leans against her sister.

"She still bought it, didn't she?" Maddie argues.

"But don't you get it?" Allie takes another look at Rootcore and stares at the giant crystal ball at the middle of the table. "You guys are wizards! Not even the creepy kind like in the fairytales! You're like Harry Potter wizards!"

"Sweet, I've always wanted to be a Harry Potter wizard!" Chip exclaims dreamily. Nick snickers beside him.

"Are you mad?" Maddie interupts with a guilty smile.

"How can I be mad?" Allie asks, afronted by the question. She throws her arms around the girl in a fierce hug. "My best friends are super heroes! How many people can get to say that?!"

"Eh, not much!" Chip agrees with a shrug of his shoulders and joins in on their hug.

"This is perfect!" Maddie laughs at their little group hug. "We get to tell you everything now!"

"Does that mean I get to be one too?" she asks excitedly.

"I'm afraid not, dear," came a soothing, calm voice from the top of the stairs. A woman with long, red hair dressed in white tattered clothes comes down the stairs with a troubled look on her face.

Allie's smile falters, as does her friends, as she breaks out of the hug. The excitement of her finding out is completely gone in an instant.

"What do you mean, Udonna?" Maddie asks with worry. "Allie can't learn magic?"

"She can train under my supervision just like Clare," Udonna smiles but it doesn't reach her eyes. "but she can't become a ranger like the rest of you."

"Why not?" Nick demands, noticing that Allie had gone quiet.

Udonna turns to him and sighs, "there's only been records of five mystics in our legends," she explains softly. "never a sixth. I do not have a wand for you. I'm sorry, Allison."

Allie shrugs her shoulders, smiling tightly as she tries to hold back how hurt she felt, "It's alright, being a ranger sounds like too much work anyway."

She tries to ignore the worried looks thrown her way.

"I mean, face the facts, guys, working at the shop is hard enough as it is!" She reasons, earning half-hearted smiles from the group.

"But, don't lose hope, alright?" Udonna asks her, placing a gentle hand on Allison's shoulder sympathetically. "You can still learn magic. It'll be different. But, maybe we can train you to calm those visions of yours."

"I'd like that, thank you, Udonna," Allison smiles gratefully and the elderly woman returns it. It's like a huge weight has been lifted from her shoulders, now that she knew there's a way to stop the visions.

"Alright, you six better get going," Udonna says sternly. "Now that Allison's part of the team, you all need extra training tomorrow."

A few of her friends groan at the thought of more training but still do as their told.

"See you tomorrow, Udonna!" Madison says as they head out the strange, magical tree.

Allison hesitates to go out, she's the last one still standing in Rootcore, and she turns towards the elderly woman who gives her a concerned look.

"What is it, dear?"

"I still have questions about the visions," Allie sighs. Udonna frowns. "Will...will I ever be able to get rid of them?"

"Visions come and go, Allison," Udonna says. "There's a way to calm them but they can not be stopped. Are they troubling you?"

"Yes," Allie replies tiredly. "to the point where I'm starting to lose sleep."

"I'll try to make you a few potions to help calm your nerves and help you sleep better but I'm afraid I won't be able to make them disappear permenantly," Udonna throws her an apologetic look.

She sighs. It's a start. She'll take any help she can get.

"As long as they stop them for a little while," Allie smiles. "Thanks so much for everything, Udonna."

"It's honestly no trouble at all, dear," Udonna laughs as the girl wraps her arms around her in a fierce hug. "Now, I think your friends are waiting for you out there."

Allie grins at the elderly woman before heading out the strange tree. What she doesn't realize is Udonna waving her hand over a crystal ball that had begun to turn black from dark magic. She stares at it in concern, having a sinking feeling that she knows exactly where the dark magic is coming from. And she hopes she's wrong.

~*~

[A/N] Just a quick heads up, things might be a little different now that Allie's part of the story! It won't end up being an exact retelling of the show!

Barbychan4ever Thank you so much for your amazing reviews! I'm glad you're liking her encounters with Nick, they're a lot of fun to write. XD

Ariannalefey Don't worry! They have their reasons for doing so! There's also a reason why she isn't a ranger yet, it'll definitely be explained in later chapters!