Mission 11: Part 3

Erin Reilly gave a small yawn and ran a hand though her wet chestnut brown hair while riding the hotel elevator down to the first floor. After having showered, she had thrown on a casual yellow t-shirt and some jean shorts before heading down to breakfast in the hotel dining room. As she wove around a couple tourists and tall flower vases, she found the Red Ranger sitting at a table. He was wearing his dress uniform while drinking coffee and working on a datapad. Upon nearing the table, she found Martin absently singing to himself before she took a seat next to him. "Morning Captain. You look like you're in a good mood."

He glanced up and greeted her with a small smile, "Hey Erin. What makes you say that?"

"Well for starters, you're smiling... and that worries me," she laughed in amusement, "Plus you were singing to yourself just now. Something about a Mambo Italiano?"

He took a sheepish sip of coffee and set down his datapad, "Okay… maybe I was. Just a little music while I work on this report to Caldwell. It's about our buddy Croc Bot."

Erin poured herself some coffee from a pitcher on the table, "You think those reports that Bara and I gathered the other day are worth checking out? That the Xeno might be using the city sewer systems to sneak around and terrorize people?"

"I do think you're on to something there," Martin nodded as he handed her his report, "That's why I'm reorganizing our evening patrol routes and putting the local security forces on alert."

The Yellow Ranger nodded as their other friends sat down to join them at the breakfast table. Bharata gave a grin as he took a seat beside Erik. "Hey big guy. Glad to see you made it back from the restaurant. How was your meal?"

"Oh, the food was actually very good," the Blue Ranger answered, "To be perfectly honest, I was more intimidated from meeting Ella's family."

"I'm so sorry about all that Erik," Ella said apologetically from across the table, "I know they can come off as a bit nutty, but they're nice people and they really do mean well."

Erin nudged her female teammate in the arm, "Oh? What's wrong? What happened?"

Erik cleared his throat, "Well, thanks to Ella's little stunt at the press conference yesterday I'm now having to pose as her boyfriend. After I go to visit the German basketball team today at their game, I agreed to go with Ella and visit her grandma... the undisputed matriarch of the family."

At that, the other Rangers at the table all began laughing and choking on their breakfast. When the merriment died down, Martin stifled his chuckles, "Why not just fess up and tell the truth?"

The Pink Ranger shook her head, "No. Trust me. It's easier to do it this way and get my Nonna off my back. My family is kinda old-school Italian and having your personal life meddled in kinda comes with the territory."

"Speaking of… Martin, how was your little date with Miss America yesterday?" Erin smirked while elbowing him gently, "You're already looking pretty spiffy this morning."

The Red Ranger stood up and breezily put on the jacket of his dress uniform, "Christina's a very nice girl and we had a very pleasant time too. Okay?"

The others all continued to look at him expectantly until he continued with a sigh, "Aaand after I go cheer on the American swim teams today, I might have agreed to meet Chrissy again for dinner tonight. Apparently her teammates all want to meet me now too."

"Chrissy? Now we've moved on to nicknames?" Ella teased gently.

"Bye Catalano," Martin retorted with a wink as he walked off from the table leaving the other Rangers to their own plans. As they finished their own meals, Erin held the small datapad that Martin had left her.

"So... the captain left us our modified assignments here but I'm not in any rush to go out on patrol either."

Bharata stood up and glanced at his watch before pulling her up from her seat by the arm, "Then let's get to work after the Judo competition. It should be starting soon at the stadium campus."

"Well... a deal is a deal," Erin admitted before waving goodbye to the others, "Catch you two lovebirds later."

Ella stuck her tongue out before Erik stood up at the table, "I should probably get going to the basketball game too. You wanna come?"

"I suppose I have no choice," the Pink Ranger sighed, "I did put myself in this situation, didn't I?"

"Ah, come on! You'll have fun at the game. I promise," Erik said kindly offering his arm.

Ella reluctantly too his arm and walked out of the dining room with him, "This doesn't mean anything so don't get any funny ideas Dobermann."

"Of course not dear... I wouldn't dream of it," he chuckled before getting another mild slap in the arm.

Late that afternoon, Ella headed out toward the houses around the Coliseum with Erik in tow to visit her grandmother. It was already late afternoon and early evening had begun to set in bathing Rome in a gentle orange summer light. Once they reached the piazza near her home, they found that a neighborhood block party was already going on. Music was playing from some radios nearby while the smell of seafood and pasta dishes filled the air. Several of Ella's Castaldo relatives were already present and the young children of her female cousins ran about playing tag with each other.

Erik smiled as he passed by and watched the children play, thinking of his own little daughter back in Munich. After meeting and greeting a few of Ella's other relatives and their neighbors on the block, they finally came upon an elderly woman sitting at a table chatting with a few other people. As the neighbors moved on, Ella cleared her throat and came over to kiss her grandmother on the cheek, "Come stai Nonna?" (How are you Grandma?)

The older woman put her hands on her granddaughter's cheeks, "Carmella! Welcome home dear. I heard you were in town for the Olympics. Isn't it exciting?"

"It is, though I'm still here on business for about a week. I wanted to say hello and to introduce you to my umm… boyfriend. Nonna, this is Erik Dobermann."

"Pleased to meet you Mrs. Catalano," he said politely shaking her hand.

The elderly lady shook his hand and eyed him for a moment longer, "Dobermann? Like the name of the dog?"

"Yes ma'am," Erik replied gently, "Believe me, I've heard every joke in the book while growing up with it."

"Oh my… you're so tall. You aren't Italian by chance, are you?"

Erik shook his head, "No ma'am. I'm from Germany… Munich."

Mrs. Catalano nodded as if trying to comprehend for a moment before Ella cut in, "He's also a Ranger, just like me. Before that, he was a medic with the German Air Force so he's good about keeping us safe and healthy."

At that moment, Erik's personal cell phone buzzed and he pulled it from his pocket. "Oh… sorry. Excuse me for a moment."

He turned to Ella, "It's Sarah. I've got to take this."

As he walked off speaking in German over the phone, Mrs. Catalano turned to Ella, "Who is Sarah?"

"Oh, that's his daughter. She's probably around five and she's so cute!" the Pink Ranger said before she stopped and mentally kicked herself. Her grandmother's eyes went wide,

"Carmella… he has a daughter? You're dating a man who already has a child out of wedlock? What if he gets you pregnant too? You don't have any children we don't know about, do you?"

"No Nonna! It's not like that!" Ella said in exasperation while trying to calm the situation. "Erik is a great guy and he's a good father who loves his daughter too."

Her grandmother kept going, "What has the military done to you Carmella? What if you two get married? You'll be dealing with another woman's child… and you'll have a funny last name too! Why don't you just leave the service and find a nice proper Italian boy instead?"

"I can't do that Nonna," Ella said stubbornly, "I have a lot of people counting on me... and you really shouldn't be so hard on Erik either."

The Blue Ranger walked back over and put his phone away, "Hey, sorry about that. Sarah has been sick with an ear infection and just wanted to talk for a few minutes."

Ella was too embroiled in her own rant, "And another thing Nonna, all of you raised me to be a good judge of character so you can be sure that Erik is a good man, even if he is a little different."

To his surprise, the Pink Ranger reached over and planted a quick firm kiss on his lips before storming off across the piazza. Erik blinked in shock before turning to a shocked glare of Mrs. Catalano, "Umm… I'm going to go make sure she's okay. It was nice meeting you ma'am."

The Blue Ranger beat a hasty retreat and hurried off to find Ella at the other end of the block sitting glumly on a bench. She seemed both angry and upset so he approached carefully, "Ella? Is everything okay? I walk away for a few minutes and then… well, I don't know what just happened."

Ella sighed and scooted over letting him sit down beside her, "I'm sorry about all this Erik. I wanted to make a point to my Nonna because she said some pretty unfair things toward you... just because you were, well… different. You're my friend and it upset me to hear those things being said without knowing what a good guy you are."

She paused a moment before continuing to talk, "I think a lot of my family believes I'm kinda crazy for joining the military and becoming a Ranger. To them that's just not what good respectable Italian girls should do. We should just get married and be traditional housewives… stay home, cook, and have children. That was never me. I wanted to tinker with computers and jump out of planes, and see the world… you know?"

"As a matter of fact I do," Erik smiled gently, "I jump out of those same planes and go on adventures with you too, remember?"

Ella laughed lightly before Erik scratched his chin, "For what it's worth, I appreciate your sticking up for me. I'm glad you joined the service and that you're a good friend to me too. Thank you."

He patted her hand and pulled her to her feet as some slower Italian folk music started to play and other guests at the block party began to join in a swaying dance, "Come on. We might as well enjoy the rest of the evening and keep up appearances, right?"

Ella nodded and joined him in the slow dance. As they swayed, she gave a thoughtful look to her friend, "Erik? I was just curious about Sarah's mother. You never really talk about her. You don't have to tell me if it upsets you, but…"

He shook his head, "No. It's okay… really. To be honest, I don't really know where Sarah's mom is now. I had met Ana when I was on medical leave with a torn ACL. I had been injured in a training exercise and I met her during my recovery."

"Was it a serious relationship?"

Erik shook his head, "Nah. Kinda fast and wild actually. We were both young and stupid and when Sarah was born, I guess Ana realized she wasn't ready for that kind of change in her life."

Ella gave him a little hug and looked up again, "Erik, that's awful. And she just left you with the baby?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't all bad. Sarah is still the best thing that ever happened to me so in that sense, I'm grateful to Ana and in a weird way, I still kinda love her for that."

Ella nodded and rested her cheek on Erik's shoulder, "Yup. My Nonna really was wrong about you."

Unfortunately, the warm fuzzy moment was cut short as their morphers chimed. The two friends let go of each other and glanced to their wrists urgently. Erik grimaced, "Looks like it's our turn to go on patrol. Shall we cut out of the party early?"

Ella began to hurry off toward a side street while waving her comrade on, "I thought you'd never ask."

Amid the lights of the city, Bharata and Erin finished their own patrol in the city's west district and stopped to play some bocce ball at a local outdoor entertainment venue. Many tourists were out and about while a few other visiting Olympic athletes milled about the recreational grounds that had been set up for drinking, games, and food.

As Bharata took his turn and tossed a ball into the sandy pit, Erin gave a content smile and admired the lights from the other side of the district. Just over the river she could see the lights of the Vatican and Castel Sant'Angelo. "Beautiful isn't it Bara?"

The Green Ranger dusted off his hands and handed her a yellow bocce ball, "I know. I did make a good play just now, didn't I?"

Erin gave him a friendly elbow and hefted the ball, "Actually I was referring to Il Vaticano across the way."

As the Yellow Ranger made her play, Bharata looked over across the river, "You wanna go visit there later in the week or something?"

Erin gave a nod and reached for a pair of drinks they had set aside at an adjacent table, "Of course! What self respecting Irish Catholic would dare pass on a chance to see the Vatican and visit the pope himself?"

Bharata took a sip of his drink and snorted in amusement, "Maybe he'd be able to say a few prayers and help us find that Croc Bot who's still on the loose."

No sooner had he said that was when the two Rangers heard several people cry out in terror while warning shots from Xeno blaster weapons were fired into the air. The two Rangers glanced to each other and moved toward the danger but not before Erin stopped a moment to glance skyward and make a hasty sign of the cross, "I never doubted you Lord... uh, thanks."

As the crowd began to clear out, the two spotted a pack of Eidolon soldiers marching down the street firing their weapons at buildings while kicking over tables and smashing open windows of the nearby shops. At the rear of the formation was the infamous Croc Bot who stomped down the pavement and stopped to crush a vespa scooter in half with his freakishly large and powerful jaws.

Bharata reached for his morpher and radioed an emergency, "Atlantis Base, we've got trouble here on my nav beacon... Xeno commander and a platoon of Xeno infantry."

"We hear you Lieutenant," Lucy's voice answered, "Stand by. Help is on the way."

The Green and Yellow Rangers immediately morphed and pulled out their weapons to confront the alien foes. As Croc Bot took a bite out of a streetlamp and caused it to crush a row of parked cars, Erin leveled her Nova blaster and pulled the trigger, "Hey Jaws! You wanna dine al fresco? Why don't you come and try this next course: red hot las bolts!"

Meanwhile, Martin and Christina took a short evening walk just outside the main campus of the Olympic Village to sit on a park bench eating small cups of gelato and admiring the lights of a nearby street festival. While they sat listening to some local music drifting through the evening air, Martin gave a content sigh and ate a spoonful of the nice cool dessert. "Well Chrissy, I have to admit... this has been nice. I've had a great time hanging out with you tonight, and I've really been enjoying your company."

She gave him a faint smile and shrugged slightly while poking at her dessert, "Hmm? Oh... yeah, me too."

The Red Ranger stopped and looked to her curiously, "Hey... is everything okay? You've been acting kinda quiet since we got back and met with your teammates earlier."

"It's nothing. Forget it," she said trying to wave it off and offer him some of her gelato.

"Is this about your upcoming competition?" he asked while gently stopping her, "Or maybe is it nerves?"

She slumped on the bench and sighed, "I don't know...maybe... kinda... it's hard to explain."

"Is it me?"

Chrissy shook her head and reached into her pocket. She pulled out her phone and brought up an online news feed then showed it to him, "One of my teammates showed this to me earlier while we were visiting the dormitory."

Martin eyed the news articles, some of them sports editorials and others paparazzi-type tabloids. "Lasky's eyes on the prize and it's not a medal? Olympic Gold in Ranger Danger?"

As he skimmed the articles and photos, he saw that their little "date" from the other day had not gone unnoticed by some people in the media. Some sports pundits had begun making some comments about Christina's ability to deliver on a gold, or if she was still physically competitive, or if her priorities were suddenly mixed up. Understandably, everything written was a little embarrassing and distracting.

"This is awful," he frowned before handing her phone back, "I'm so sorry about all this. I can't help but feel that I might be kinda responsible."

She shook her head, "No. You shouldn't have to apologize. I was the one who put myself out there and got myself into this. I just... this kind of distraction from those vultures is not something I need right now. I just wanted to try and have a little fun here in Rome. It may very well be my last chance to put all the training time and public BS aside for a day or two and just... live, you know?"

Martin sat silently and nodded in understanding. Having spent years training and fighting the Xenos, dealing with hardship, death, and loneliness, this little trip to Rome had been a nice opportunity to "live" too... to just stop and smell the roses. He reached out and put a comforting hand over Christina's.

"It's okay. You shouldn't have to apologize either. I kinda know how you feel because I've been enjoying this little break from reality too. I'm glad you took a chance and put yourself out there... to remind me that it's okay to have some fun too, so thank you for that."

She looked to him in surprise, "Really? You mean that?"

He nodded, "I do. It was very brave of you to approach me, and to come and compete here in Rome one last time too. I'm sure those know-nothing blowhards in the media don't know the real strength and determination you've already shown me. Who cares what everyone else thinks? You've come this far, so you might as well finish strong and show them for real, right?"

Chrissy's lip quivered before she broke out into a grateful smile, "I... thank you Martin. That was really sweet of you and also kinda inspiring."

"Well... it's what we Rangers do. We serve, protect... and inspire Olympian athletes on the side."

She giggled and nudged him with her elbow causing him to laugh again, "I'm serious! When you're a Red Ranger, motivating your team is kind of a required job skill. It's all there in the manual."

"And what about getting the girl?" she asked while tilting her head and leaning in close to him, "Is there anything in the manual about that too?"

Martin smiled and touched her cheek while leaning over to kiss her. He stopped just short as his morpher went off and he heard Lucy's voice over the comm. "Captain Sterling? Are you there? There's been an incident. Please respond."

"You have got to be kidding me," he muttered under his breath as he slowly drew back and gave Christina an apologetic look, "I'm sorry. I've gotta take this one."

"You have your duty, and I have mine," she smiled giving his hand a squeeze before letting go again.

The Ranger rose to his feet and opened a channel back to Atlantis Base, "I'm here Lucy. What's happened?"

"Bharata and Erin have tracked down that Xeno crocodile. They almost cornered it, but it got away. Right now, they and a handful of security troops are skirmishing with Xeno foot soldiers who are dug into defensive positions of the western districts."

"Understood. What about Erik and Ella?"

"I just contacted them. They're en route," Lucy answered, "And Martin... if you're going into battle again, please... be careful?"

He grimaced to himself and clenched his fist before taking off running down the street toward the battle, "Hang on Roma. Nova Squadron is on the way!"