Summary: Things become much more complicated with the arrival of Marietta, and it appears the Reunion might be in jeopardy. What will Tommy do?

A/N: Are you enjoying the story so far? grins

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Marietta stepped into the cabin, finally able to give it a full look now. It was a beautiful looking cabin; fine oak walls and flooring with expansive window's that soaked up as much of the sun as it could. The kitchen was extra fine, considering the hard dark oak table that rounded out with a double wide kitchen and large back porch. It was an almost perfect little estate; enough for a small family.

Kim had just come down the stairs and paused when she saw the girl. Marietta grinned and gave her a little smile. For a moment, they simply stared at one another; each trying to size up the other. "So…who are you?" Kim asked, arching a brow as she glanced down at her Dino Bracelet.

"There's no need to transform, I pose you no threat." She looked away and into the living room. "You…should check up on Mr. Oliver. I believe the hook I gave him really knocked him for a loop." Kim gave her a bewildered and entirely frightened look as Marietta gave a thin smile in return. Though, she merely turned to the living room and walked into it.

Marietta stood at the window, peering beyond the forest and into nothingness. She sighed lightly, trying to gather her thoughts. So much had gone so horribly wrong. First she steals for the thrill of it and then finds out it's a Dino Gem from the Power Rangers. Then she ends up assaulting two of the Rangers – though the thought of beating both was mildly amusing – and now she met a rather strange woman who seemed to be friends with the Rangers.

"Oohh…I HATE MY LIFE!" Marietta screamed and jammed her fist against the windowsill.

"In that case…it probably hates you too." She whirled around, falling into a stance. Ethan arched a brow and grinned, shaking his head. "Right, so…you are?"

"My name is Marietta, yourself?"

"Ethan James, Blue Dino Ranger…but of course I'm sure you're aware of that right now otherwise you wouldn't be here." Ethan stepped into the living room, frowning. "So, what do you plan to do now, hm? You know that we are Power Rangers…and you know you have to keep this a secret…"

"I-I…plan to…" She bit her lip hard and sighed, peering out into the forest again. "So are you guy's planning to go somewhere? I hope I didn't interrupt anything?"

"Yes, we were." She looked up to see Tommy standing in the doorway. "But for now, that has been temporarily put on hold." Ethan groaned and fell into the chair. "First thing's first, where did you learn to fight like that? I recognized the styles you used, but you seem extremely proficient with them. Who taught you?"

"The only person in my family who cares about me…" Melissa whispered, looking down at the floor.

"Excuse me?" Tommy whispered, arching a brow. "You said something but I couldn't hear it…"

"My Uncle Stephen has trained me for the last err…about twelve years. While he used to be in the Seals, he used to take Aikido and Boxing. The Ninjutsu?" She looked away again, peering out the forest. A wolf stepped back into the shadows, its ears curling before dashing into the forest. "I trained myself in that. I had a bit of help from fellow students at school…but nothing much."

"Stephen? You mean Stephen Moore?" Tommy arched a brow. "National Boxing Champion; very powerful We met once when I was going to get my fifth degree and we ended up having to duel once. I assure you, I got my ass completely kicked." He sighed and fell into the chair. "Thankfully, I was able to defeat him in the end, however, and got my belt. I was wondering why those punches hurt so damn much." He held his jaw.

"Ah…yeah…I'm really sorry 'bout that." Marietta said and frowned deeply. "I didn't hurt you too much did I?"

"No, but it still really hurt. I think you might make a good ranger after all." Everyone looked up at him bewilderedly. Even Marietta looked surprised. Tommy cleared his throat and produced the Golden Dino Gem. "To be quite honest, it's uh…not like you have a choice." The Gem itself was pulsing hard with golden draconic wings shimmering to life. "You see now that you've possessed the Gem once, it has bonded with your DNA."

Marietta frowned, tilting her head a moment as Tommy tossed the gem to her. She reached out for it, but it turned into a mass of golden light and zipped forward. Marietta shrieked and staggered back as the gem latched onto her wrist. She groaned hard, feeling the energy surge through her body and veins. Everyone shielded their eyes as the light grew brighter and brighter until finally it vanished.

Tommy was the first to look up and saw what had happened. To be honest, it was rather strange to see another person in the suit, though it had been modified to a degree. The helmet remained the same, however, the suit had taken on more a draconic style. A dragon coiled around the waist mantle, along her chest and back with the head resting over her right should. Claws marks covered her arms that pulsed a golden-yellow a moment and then settled.

"Interesting." Tommy said, arching a brow. The others looked impressed as well, albeit a bit blinded. "Do you feel all the powers of the gem?"

Marietta waved her hand as a rod of golden light slipped through her hand and melted into a bladed staff. "Yeah…I think I do." She ran her fingers along the morpher and frowned as the suit vanished. "So this is what it is liked to be a Power Ranger, is it?"

"Yes…you're in for one helluva wild ride." Tommy placed a hand on his hip, the other sliding through his spiked hair. "Ah…well…I guess…uh…Welcome to the Family." He glanced over his shoulder to see Conner staring, Kim looking worried and the others shocked. Tommy rolled his eyes and glanced back at Marietta who had yet to move.

A jingle echoed through the house and Tommy started, feeling the phone at his side. He flipped the lid and vanished the stairs; voice echoing through the hall. A tense silence followed as Marietta stared at the floor, rubbing her arms lightly. Kim let out a breath and stepped towards the living room, still eyeing here. Before she could say anything, however, Conner interjected.

"We'll help you get through this, yeah know." Conner grinned and ruffled his hair. "Being a Ranger is hard at first, considering you've got to put this before your real life…but it gets easier with time." He shrugged a moment and slipped both hands into his pockets. "I assume you understand the basic and most obvious rules of being a Power Ranger?"

"Sworn to secrecy, no transforming in public, defeat good and uphold justice? Oh yeah, no using the powers for personal vendetta's?" She arched a brow, looking hopeful. "Those are the usual rules in the comic books."

Conner glanced back at Kim, grinning. He looked quite impressed. "She's a quick learner."

"Oohh…do I sense that some body is falling in love?" Kira taunted, arching a brow. Marietta grinned behind him and turned to the window again. "So Marietta, have you ever been interested in the Power Rangers before this?"

Marietta took a deep breath and then shrugged. "Who isn't interested in the Power Rangers? They're like Comic Book superhero's brought to life." She paused and glanced back at them. "But what I can't believe is you five are the Power Rangers. I always knew it was strange for a student to be hanging out with their Teacher…every single day."

"How do you know 'bout that?" Trent asked, eyeing her suspiciously. "All the time we spent together was away from the public eye."

Marietta grinned, arching a brow. "Well, I am a thief after all." She turned away, staring deeply at the bushes. "I've seen the five of you together at the Cyber Café, hanging around with Hayley." She failed to notice the wince that followed. "I am sorry about the loss, as well."

"What else did you see, hm?" Ethan spoke up now, standing up. "Did you ever see us morph?"

"No, however, I have followed you back here a few times." Marietta took a deep breath and the continued. "I knew something had to be up because no student in their right minds will hang out with a teacher after school hours – unless its for sports or something."

"Maybe it was sports that we were doing." Conner countered and whimpered feeling Kira sock him in the arm.

"At your teachers house? In the middle of the woods?" Conner winced again, burned by two women at once. "At first, I thought it was something a little more…but I won't go into that; I'll spare you the mental images." She grinned, already feeling them shiver as she looked back at the window.

"Okay…so how long did you follow us for, exactly?" Kira asked, leaning against Trent as he draped one arm around her. "Sounds like you followed us for a long time."

"Yeah, you could say that." Marietta shrugged a moment. "I don't know…maybe half your senior year, perhaps? There were times when you went back to the good Doctors house and would sometimes suddenly come rushing out of the house and jump in that jeep of his. I've tried to follow you, but you were a bit to fast for me to keep up with."

"What would you have done if you found out secret then?" Conner asked and everyone held their breaths. This was one question they all wanted to know.

"I would have turned you into the media, of course." The tension grew instantly in the room. "I video taped all six month's and was going to turn into the police in order for them to investigate…but after today." She shook her head. "I'd be pretty stupid to turn those tapes in now. Imagine what they'd find here? They'd arrest you all for being a vigilante."

"Yeah…I'm glad you didn't." Conner whispered and then sighed, rubbing his throbbing forehead. That moment, Tommy came bounding down the stairs again, keys in hand. He held up his cell phone and gave it a little shake.

"That was Jason and he says he's prepared for our arrival." Tommy gave an innocent shrug. "He says most of the other rangers were able to make it, but not sure how long some will be able to stay. I suggest we leave now." Everyone looked back at Marietta and before anyone could speak, Tommy cut in. "She's coming with us. Now that she possesses the power of the Golden Dragon, it would be best for her to get know her lineage as well – albeit there has been only one Gold Ranger before, but that's besides the point."

Everyone cheered at once but Marietta as she continued to stare out into the bushes. She really didn't care where they were going for there was a constant nagging thought at the back of her mind. There were two Gold Rangers before her; Hayden and another unknown. Marietta didn't know how she knew the boy's name…but it just stood up. Looking down at the morpher, it pulsed a moment and she frowned. "I guess it's the morphers fault I remember the name."

Feeling a hand rest on her shoulder, she whirled around to face Conner. He was grinning widely and nodded towards the door. "Come on, babe, we gotta go! Tommy put on a little Ranger Reunion for us to meet all of our past in the flesh!" He grabbed her hand began to drag her out of the house and towards the door.

Beyond the window, a shadowy figure stood next to the wolf in the bushes. It turned and then vanished into the darkness of the forest…

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A/N: More chapters eventually. Enjoy.