Disclaimer: In case you haven't noticed, the rangers belong to Disney, Marie, the Novas and K belong to KSuzie and everyone else is mine :)
Power Rangers Legacy
"All Hallows Eve"
Rhianna sat curled up in her bed with her favorite stuffed demon tucked tightly under her arm. It had been a rough few days since her last battle with the rangers and she was really at a loss over what to do.
There was a whirlwind of activity once they returned to the palace. Their initial concern had been over Rhianna's powers, but that quickly faded away once some of the Cirranadrones came squawking about Callisto's disappearance. They weren't entirely sure what had happened. Just that she had gone down to the surface, supposedly to fight the yellow ranger, when somehow she got trapped.
Cratus was furious. How did she get trapped? Who trapped her? It couldn't be the yellow ranger. She didn't have that kind of power. Where did they take her? All are questions he screamed at the Cirranadrones, who had no valid answers for him. He had to find out. Someone, somewhere had to have an answer. He was loyal to Callisto and he wanted to see her freed. It was because of this that he took off, vowing not to return until he had answers. That was the last Rhianna saw of him.
Once Cratus was gone, Rhianna was alone. He wasn't there to help her. The bigger point was that Callisto wasn't there to help her. That was rather upsetting. After all, Callisto had been the one who had been guiding her this entire time. She essentially created every battle plan and pushed Rhianna to where she needed to be. And although she had been upset with her as of late she needed her influence in her life.
Without her she had no idea what to do and she had simply retreated to her room. The Cirranadrones were no help. She supposed she could send them out to fight but would that really do any good? After a few hours she could feel her powers come back. But with Callisto gone and Cratus not there to push her she had no inclination to go back out. Besides at the moment she didn't really care. She felt like she was on the top of the world the afternoon of the fight. But things had changed with the blink of an eye.
Now here she was, depressed and lonely, and not really sure what to do with herself. There were the obvious reasons for feeling that way. She had lost the battle. Callisto and Cratus were both gone. Goldar was still gone.
Several hours after her powers came back she realized she needed somebody. She started thinking about Goldar, the one who raised her and truly cared about her, and that's when she remembered he was still locked up in the holding cell. The most positive thing about Callisto being gone was that she was in charge. Meaning she could get down there.
For the first time in the hours since the battle she had felt a surge of hope. Leaving her room she ran down to the holding area. It wasn't long before she realized Goldar was nowhere to be found. She'd questioned the guards, but they simply said he was gone and that they didn't know what happened to him. She suspected they weren't telling, that they were still loyal to Callisto. She hoped he wasn't dead but she feared the worst.
Upon hearing that news she sulked back up to her room where she'd stayed for the next two or three days. She wasn't sure, time hadn't meant much to her. The days she had spent closed up in her room had her thinking. A lot. About everything.
She spent some time thinking about the rangers. At first they made her angry. She blamed them for taking everything from her. But then she really thought about them, about all the times she'd spied on them when it wasn't battle related. And if you took away the fact that they were rangers and battled against her, she came to the conclusion she was jealous of them.
They had friends in each other. True friends, those that were there for you all the time and wouldn't leave you alone in your house, depressed with absolutely nothing. She longed to have something like that with others. She started to wonder what it was like to live on Earth as a normal human. She wanted to be carefree, have no stress in her life like someone her age should. She wanted people who were there for her.
It was a thin line she was walking. For a while she kept thinking about her mission. To conquer Earth like her parents had set out to do. To take revenge on the rangers they fought against, the rangers that spent years working toward destroying them. That completely contradicted her desire to know what it was like to be human.
She battled with that for a long time. Eventually with no one there to correct her, her mission started slipping to the back of her mind until it had fallen away completely. For reasons she doubted anyone else would understand, she wanted to know what it was like to live a normal, human life on Earth. In Angel Grove.
For the last day or so she'd been debating with herself if that was even possible. She was, after all, still Rhianna, evil daughter of Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa, with a huge target on her back courtesy of the power rangers. But what were the chances she'd actually run into one of the rangers? It was easy enough to see them coming and walk the other way.
It would be simple to change her appearance, make herself look a bit more normal. She dressed the evil part quite nice but she could certainly make herself fit in. Then she could wonder Earth freely. And if the rangers saw her on Earth, what were the chances they'd realize it was her, even if they thought "that girl looks like Rhianna"? If they did think with any certainty that she was, in fact, Rhianna, would they act on it? She didn't think so. If she was caught being well behaved on the surface they should, in theory, leave her alone. She was pretty sure attacking unprovoked broke some sort of ranger rule.
After several days of debate, her mind was finally made up. She was going to pull herself out of bed. And she was going to satisfy her curiosity. She was going to go down to the surface and see what it was like to be human.
It was early Wednesday afternoon and Kim found herself hunched over her desk in an attempt to get some work done. She was glad to have the opportunity as the last few days had been relatively quiet, at least on the ranger side of things. Which was unusual and she hoped that meant that Rhianna had yet to gain her powers back. The office that day had been a bit louder than usual, which Kim chalked up to the two hour Halloween party they'd thrown at lunchtime, that for some had yet to end.
She didn't know why her coworkers were so eager to celebrate Halloween. She supposed some were just stressed out and appreciated the break. Kim had enough work distractions in her life without taking time away for Halloween and she had simply snuck in and grabbed an orange frosted cupcake, which still stared at her from its spot on her desk.
There wasn't time to party as she had to finish a project that Sandy wanted done yesterday before she could go back to the work she was doing for Ashley. If she didn't get Sandy's work to her soon, she'd never hear the end of it. Although Ashley's opinion counted the most, she didn't want to give Sandy any more reasons not to like her.
She had planned on working on her project over the past weekend but she had never got a chance. Saturday had been a complete wash. The most obvious reason was because of the battles, but afterwards Kim spent the rest of the day watching Billy heal her friends. Despite everything that came with it, she was lucky she was Muirantian. Her teammates had gotten hurt. There were bumps and bruises around and several broken bones which Billy spent a lot of time putting back into place. On top of it all her friends were exhausted. She'd admit to being worn, all the time jumping and exertion of powers tended to make her that way. But she didn't sleep nearly as long as Tommy did that night.
At eleven Sunday morning, when Kim finally climbed out of bed, her boyfriend was still sound asleep next to her. With her seeing no signs of him waking anytime soon, she elected to run some errands. Kim found herself jetting across the galaxy as there were a lot of people she needed to talk to. She needed to wrap things up with Ninjor, as well as fill Dulcea in on everything that happened. She also needed to talk to Elemi, which was something Tommy would never let her do. But they had a lot of things to discuss about the recent turn of events.
She didn't bend time as much as she could, figuring she had done it enough in the previous day and she didn't need to use that much energy again. Although now she supposed she should have, as she would have been able to use some of her Sunday to work. Instead she returned home a few hours later to find Tommy up and moving and more than happy to see her. He was still a bit tired and a bit sore, and she elected to spend the rest of her day with him.
That brought her back around to Monday, the start of the work week, and she was no farther on Sandy's project than she had been on Friday. She hoped to have it finished shortly but only time would tell. Kim let out a sigh as she jumped back into her work, only to be interrupted by a ringing phone.
"Kimberly Hart. How can I help you?" she questioned in her most courteous voice as she answered.
"Hey Kim. Can you come up to my office?" If the voice didn't give the caller away, Kim quickly noticed that Ashley's office extension was where the call was coming from.
"Sure I'll be there in a second." Kim replied, placing the receiver in its cradle. "Crap." She spoke aloud. Ashley was probably wondering how her stuff was coming along. Kim didn't really have any answer for her.
Ashley would probably be ok with the fact that monster attacks pushed Sandy's work behind which pushed Ashley's work behind, but that always seemed to be her excuse. It was quite the valid excuse, and one Ashley understood better than anyone. At the same time, Kim couldn't help but wonder how much more could be put off due to monster attacks before Ashley had to put her foot down and dismiss her. She couldn't help but wonder if Ashley remembered exactly how much time rangering took up when she said that her being active was ok.
Briefly Kim tidied up her work space, stacking a few papers and closing some of her open computer programs, before heading out of her office. As she headed through her floor, she noticed that most of the offices were empty. One glance toward the conference room told her that most of her coworkers were gathering around the remaining Halloween sweets. Kim simply shook her head. Their lunch time party hadn't even been over for a half an hour, yet they were gathering again.
Quickly she made her way up to Ashley's office, where the secretary gestured for her to go ahead and enter. Kim slipped quietly into the office doors, sliding into a chair before giving her boss a smile. "Hey." She greeted casually. She always felt weird being this at ease with Ashley. Most of her employees were nervous around her, always being proper and finishing almost every sentence addressed to her with "Ms. Hammond". Once when Ashley was leaving after stopping by Kim's office to grab something Kim yelled "hey Ash" to get her attention and at least six heads snapped in her direction. She knew what they were thinking. Who was she to call Ms. Hammond Ash?
"Hello." Ashley returned her greeting, giving her a smile. She would admit that her office relationship with Kim was oddly casual to the others, but she couldn't help it. As a ranger she looked up to Kim and she wouldn't dream of having it any other way. Besides she wouldn't mind if she could be casual with all her employees, but some of them had a hard time seeing her as anything but the company owner who had to be treated properly or else they were afraid of being fired.
"What's up?" Kim questioned as she made herself as comfortable as possible in her chair.
"I wanted to talk about your performance." Ashley started the conversation.
Kim suppressed a groan. It was what she was afraid of. Ashley couldn't keep letting her run off to play hero while her work was getting ignored, despite how important she knew that her being a part of this battle was. "Oh?" Kim finally questioned, trying her best to give Ashley a smile.
Ashley leaned into her desk. "We've been doing some survey's and getting some feedback." She started with a grin. "The fall line is doing better than we expected. And people love your marketing campaign."
"Really?" Kim questioned, quite pleased that this was not at all going in the direction that she was afraid it would be.
"The response to your work has been so good I thought it was time to maybe bump you up the food chain, increase your salary." Ashley said with a smile. She loved being able to reward her employees for a job well done. Although Sandy was not too keen on the idea, Sandy still worked for her and she'd have to get over it. She was hoping that a side effect of rewarding Kim would be that Sandy would let her be. Of course Sandy was still Kim's everyday boss, and she couldn't stop her from making Kim's life miserable.
"What? Seriously?" Kim questioned as she sat straight up.
Ashley couldn't help but be confused by the tone in her friend's voice. "Don't act so surprised, you deserve it."
"Well, I mean," Kim took a deep breath to collect her thoughts before she continued, "to be honest I thought you'd called me in here to fire me. I thought you'd finally had enough of me running off to save the world."
Ashley couldn't help the giggling that erupted as she fell back into her chair. Once she was calm enough to speak again she did. "I can't believe you manage to do the quality of work you do and keep up with the rest of the universe. Believe it or not, Andros knows what's been going on behind the scenes. He keeps me informed. You do disappear during the day sometimes but your work gets done reasonably on time and it's amazing. Firing you hadn't even crossed my mind."
"Thanks." It was the only reply Kim could think of. She was happy about the raise and relieved that Ashley hadn't the inclination to let her go. Things seemed to be going good for her lately. Work was good, Tommy was good, Callisto was gone and Rhianna was quiet. She couldn't help but think that her luck would run out. In the life of an active ranger things never stayed that good. But she could certainly enjoy it while it lasted. "So what exactly does all this mean?"
Ashley reached for a folder that was sitting on her desk. "I'm glad you asked." She said as she opened it and pushed it toward Kim. There were two printed pages in there that were the legal documents that defined exactly how she was rewarding Kim. "You read these over and we'll discuss any questions.
"Great." Kim said as she opened the folder and glanced down at the first page. She shook her head to herself as she started reading. She was definitely going to enjoy her string of good luck.
Carri stood on the curb of a busy street, working on hailing a cab. Finally one slowed for her and she graciously climbed in, giving him a destination before sulking back into her seat. It was a cold, rainy evening in New York and she did not want to be here.
Of course she supposed it was better being in Angel Grove, where the thought of dealing with her cousin was giving her a headache. The lunch she'd had with her cousin on Saturday afternoon had turned out to be a disaster, and she wasn't even made aware of it until much later.
Carri didn't even turn her phone on Saturday night. It was late once she and Rocky finally got back from the Command Chamber and they were both tired and sore and collapsed in bed. She didn't even want to acknowledge the existence of her cell phone. Sunday when they finally woke up they decided to take the rest of the day to themselves. She had no inclination of turning on her cell phone. Anybody she really wanted to talk to knew how to reach her otherwise.
So it wasn't until Monday that Carri actually acknowledged the outside world. Not because she wanted to, but because she had to. She had calls to return and work to take care of before she got on her father's jet on Tuesday to be there for the meetings that encompassed pretty much the entire day today.
The first set of voicemails was from Kat, wondering what happened, where she was, and why she was neglecting to call her back. Against her better judgment, Carri called her back first thing in the morning and they promptly got into an argument. Kat was fuming that Carri picked up and left the restaurant, leaving Kat looking like an idiot with two plates of food growing cold. She finally paid and left right before she heard the monster alarm go off. She informed Carri that if she didn't want to continue their lunch she could've said so instead of using the rangers as an excuse to stick her with the bill.
Carri was livid and the two cousins proceeded to argue for the next half hour. Carri had tried to explain that she had other ranger duties that involved more than just monster fighting and that's what the page was about. She told her cousin that she was sorry she didn't call and tell her she wouldn't make it back, she was kind of more concerned saving the world and stopping Callisto. And if Kat was so upset about paying the extra money for her lunch she'd be happy to send her a check.
Of course Carri's explaining and apologizing when her temper was high didn't come across as the least bit meaningful and Kat continued to argue back. Kat was insulted that Carri thought she had to send her money. She was pissed off that Carri couldn't take the two seconds to send her an "emergency won't make it sorry" text message. And she also reminded her that ranger duties didn't always involve things other than fighting and that she was part of a generation that had Zordon to take care of everything else so in situations like Saturday's her cousin should keep her in the loop.
From there it snowballed and by the end of the conversation Carri had a murderous look in her eye that Mollie couldn't help but notice when she walked in to tell her that one of her crew members was there to see her. Fortunately for that poor sap Mollie sent him away until later. But it didn't matter what time he returned, Carri's day was pretty much soured from there.
She was glad to get on that plane and leave Angel Grove for a while, even if it meant she was going to be in New York. The change of scenery would be good, it would give her a chance to clear her mind. It could be nearly impossible to get off of Kat's bad side, where Carri had been firmly rooted for the last few years. She would have to talk to her sometime after she got back and try to get them to be civil with each other again. Maybe once they both had time to think about it they could talk calmly about it and move on.
At the very least she didn't want to have to endure another lecture from her mother like she'd gotten the previous night about playing nice with her family. Of course she didn't know what exactly gave her mother the right to give that particular lecture. She wasn't exactly friendly to all the family who was "beneath her" now. Although her mother did like Kat as she was considered the polite, sweet, stable one of the Hillard children. Carri couldn't even defend herself. The rangers were her key point and she certainly couldn't stress that to her mother.
At least she hadn't had to see her mother all day. She'd spent her day in and out of meetings with her father and some high end executives that he wanted her to meet face to face with. The majority of it was about Traveling In Style. She was meeting with some of the executives from the network who wanted to talk about the second half of her season coming up. She also spent some time meeting with executives from her main sponsor, as well as a group from another company who wanted to jump in on the rest of her season. It was amazing to see some of the positive response her show was getting.
Eventually she got some alone time with her father where they touched briefly on what would happen if the show got picked up for a second full season. Then they discussed some other projects, ideas Carri had bounced around in the little bit of spare time she had. Her father was excited at some of what she came up with. He wanted to filter through them and see what was doable, see what, at some point, they should work on. Carri was so busy with her show but she was excited about the opportunity work on other projects in the future.
The last thing she had meetings on was the movie her company was technically helming. She wasn't lying when she told Jason that her father would make damn sure his book would be a summer blockbuster. There were a lot of things to be discussed about the beginnings of putting a movie together. Carri still had plenty of stuff to do on her end. The more her dad talked the more she was glad Callisto was gone. That was one less threat she had to worry about interrupting her.
Of course she had never done a movie before, and she was well aware that it was going to be different than her television show. She had a lot of stuff she needed to get started on and her father elected to send Josh to California in the next week or two to get her pointed in the right direction. It was going to be nice to have her brother there. If he could help get her organized and pushed forward with what she needed to be worrying about with the movie that would be one less thing she had to think about.
Now that she was officially done with her meetings she wanted nothing more than to board the plane and return home to Rocky, who had been stuck in Angel Grove with work of his own to do. But she couldn't, not yet. Her mother wouldn't allow her to. Perhaps allow is a poor word. Carri hadn't asked her mother's permission to do anything since before they moved to New York. Carri simply didn't want to deal with the consequences should she not adhere to her mother's request.
Her mother's request was simple. Her daughter was to come to her annual Halloween party that night, dressed in costume. And she made a point that it had to be a real costume, and that California girl did not count. Carri didn't know why she wanted her there. Perhaps she thought she could make her rub elbows with high society and she'd fall in love with it and want to be like them. Maybe her mother even picked her out a replacement boyfriend.
She didn't even know why her mother had these parties. She supposed she liked any opportunity to show off to Manhattan while getting drunk. Carri crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. This was going to be a long night. She let out a small sigh as the cabbie pulled up to her hotel, giving him some cash before dragging inside to prepare for the party.
Rhianna teleported herself to Angel Grove. Giving her hair one last tug, she nervously walked out into a crowd. Although she still looked different than them, she wasn't paid much attention to. The mild goth look she was supporting was accepted, unlike the way she dressed on a normal day to day.
She moved slowly at first, always on the lookout for the rangers. She had checked before she left. Two of them were comfortably at home while two were at work and the last one was in New York. The chances that she would run into them here were slim. Still she couldn't help but be a little bit nervous, especially with the destination she had in mind.
She chose her first Earth adventure based on a place she'd seen the rangers visit on multiple occasions. They seemed to have a good time there so she thought she'd see what the appeal was. Approaching the building she was looking for she was relieved to see that it wasn't too crowded. She was glad that her timing was right.
Rhianna had chosen to have a somewhat late lunch at Bulkmeier's that afternoon. She thought it sounded like a good idea. She'd get to watch humans interact with each other and be forced to interact with her, without running and screaming. And she'd get to try some of this food that the humans were so fond of.
Heading into the front door, she was immediately greeted by a man. She flashed him a smile as she returned his enthusiastic greeting. "Hello."
Skull looked the woman over who was standing in front of him. His best guess was that she was a few years younger than him. But she was legal. At least she looked legal. Which meant he could enjoy how good she looked. "How many today?" He asked as she looked at him confused. "How many eating?"
"Oh." Rhianna said as she blushed, having no idea how simple Earth rituals such as going to a restaurant worked. "Just me."
Skull grabbed one menu and gestured for her to follow him. "So no boyfriend tagging along today?" It was a joke, but it was also the quickest way to probe and see if she was alone or not.
Rhianna quickly blushed again. The company of a male was not something that had ever crossed her mind. She was too busy with the desire for revenge, for ruling the world. Watching the female rangers, it seemed as though that despite the arguments, having boyfriends seemed to make them happier. It was something she'd be open to trying. "No, there's no boyfriend."
They arrived at the table and Skull motioned for her to sit down. As she did he put the menu in front of her. "Your server should be right here." As he walked off he noticed the hostess had returned to her post. Instead of disappearing completely he stayed close by for a moment so he could peek at her.
Rhianna was too busy being overwhelmed by the menu to notice Skull. She quickly realized she had no clue what most of this was. The food she'd grown up on was a bit different. The waitress approached her table and introduced herself. Rhianna looked up as she was asking what she wanted to drink. She stuttered for a moment, it wasn't like things she was used to were served here. Deciding to pick something human to try, she went with the first carbonated beverage on the menu. "Pepsi."
"Great. I'll be right back with that." The waitress said as she turned and left.
Rhianna went back to combing over the menu. She really didn't know what any of this was. Sure she'd had sandwiches before, but none of them sounded like what they'd served. And steak and chicken were not the meats she grew up with, and she'd never had pasta before in her life although the picture reminded her of a stringy substance they mixed in with certain meats.
A few minutes later the waitress returned with her drink and asked her if she was ready to order. For the most part Rhianna was still busy trying to decipher the menu. She looked up and started to stutter, not sure how to answer her. It was embarrassing, all the power she had and she couldn't figure out how to pick something to eat. As she let out a sigh the man who showed her where to sit slid into the booth across from her.
"First time here?" Skull asked. He'd seen her struggling to order. He figured rescuing her was a good a way as any to try and strike up a conversation.
"Yes." She replied, relived that he had stepped in and she was no longer making a fool of herself.
"You should try one of Bulkie's gourmet burgers. Everybody in town swears by them." Skull suggested. Half the people who came in here for lunch did so just for one of Bulk's burgers.
"Yes that sounds good. A burger please." Rhianna said, recalling that the burgers were the meat of the cow, placed on bread with various toppings.
"What kind of burger?" the waitress asked, glancing between the customer and one of the restaurant's owners.
"She'll have the bacon cheddar. With fries." Skull ordered for her as Rhianna glanced curiously at him. "Trust me you won't be disappointed."
"Alright. I'll go put that in." the waitress replied as she scurried off.
As the waitress disappeared, Rhianna found herself staring at the man in front of her. He had yet to leave, and she was wondering if he was there to do more than just place her order. It was actually kind of pleasing. He was good looking and she wouldn't mind his company. Besides, having a one on one conversation with a human would be a great way to experience Earth.
"So." Skull said, turning his full attention toward the woman sitting in front of him. "I'm Eugene Skullovitch. But everybody calls me Skull." He said, pausing so she could introduce herself. When she said nothing he encouraged her. "And you are?"
"Regina." Rhianna replied. She had thought a lot about it in the event that anybody asked. She wasn't about to give her real name and she thought Regina sounded cool.
"Gina. I like that." Skull replied flashing her a smile.
Rhianna grinned, letting out a small laugh. One might think she'd rip his head off for shortening her name like that. But coming from him it seemed ok. Besides, Gina wasn't that bad. "So do you visit everyone's table like this?" She asked, trying to carry on some sort of conversation.
"Just the special people." Skull replied. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about the way she presented herself intrigued him.
"And what makes me special?" Unless he knew who she really was, she wasn't special. At least she didn't think so. It seemed odd that he would find her special.
"You're hotter than any other chick in here." Skull said, half joking and half serious. He laughed a little bit as Rhianna blushed.
"Thank you." She certainly hadn't expected to attract any male attention while she was on Earth. But she kind of liked it. She could certainly see the appeal.
"Anyway." Skull said. His mind was made up. He couldn't sit here any longer as he had work to do. But this woman was intriguing and he wanted to know more about her. And what better way to do that than to ask her out. "I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me tonight?"
"Like on a date?" Rhianna questioned. She was quite intrigued. She had never been on a date before and it might be a lot of fun. Especially one with Skull.
"No… well yeah. Only if you want to. There's this kickin' Halloween costume party downtown and I thought it would be awesome to go together." Skull quickly explained. He hoped that a date was ok. He hoped she was interested. And that she didn't have plans. After all, it was quite last minute.
Rhianna thought for a moment, recalling what that would entail. Out of all the holiday's she'd studied, Halloween was actually her favorite. And they dressed up in costumes, the most popular for female being a witch. She giggled as she realized in that case she could go as herself, although she could definitely get more creative. "I'd love to go."
"Great. I'll pick you up around seven at your place?" Skull suggested. He was excited. If he was reading her right, they were going to have a blast.
"How about we just meet here?" Rhianna questioned. She couldn't think of any place she'd want him to try to pick her up on Earth. It would be much simpler to meet at the restaurant.
"That's fine. We'll meet up front at seven then." Skull replied. Why he couldn't pick her up at home he didn't know, but that wasn't something worth worrying about on the first date. He glanced over to see a few stragglers coming into the restaurant and he realized he had some work to do. "So I'll see you then?"
"Yeah. See you at seven." Rhianna watched as he stood and went back to work. She was quite pleased with the turnout of this excursion. For her first day of trying to be human, things were going pretty good.
That evening Kim pulled into an open parking spot in her complex somewhat relieved. She had finally finished her project for Sandy and had even got to spend some time starting to work on stuff for Ashley. Enjoying the accomplished feeling, Kim sat in her seat for a few moments where it was nice and peaceful. She noticed that there were a few kids dressed in costume starting to filter through the complex and knock on doors. Kim sighed as she realized she hadn't even thought about candy to hand out. She supposed the neighborhood children would just have to suffer. It wasn't like they wouldn't get enough of a sugar high already.
Climbing out of her car she started walking toward the front door, dodging a few goblins on the way. When she finally reached her front door she let herself in and found Tommy sitting on the couch watching the news.
"Hey." She greeted him as she walked over and gave him a quick kiss before sinking into the spot next to him.
Tommy leaned back and put his arm around her as he returned her greeting. He was glad she was home at a decent hour as he'd had something on his mind since Saturday. Sunday he'd just been too out of it to have a legitimate conversation with her and the last two nights she ended up working late. But now she was home with him. Deciding it was best to ease her into it, he elected to open with an easy conversation. "How was work today?"
"Work was good." Kim said as a Cheshire cat-like smile slowly spread across her face. "Actually it was more than good."
Tommy found himself somewhat surprised. Not that work wasn't good as Kim usually had good days. Even with Sandy being a constant thorn in Kim's side she still completed quality work that Ashley adored and that was good enough for her. But she seemed genuinely excited about something and that was unusual. "What happened?" he questioned as he turned his attention fully toward her.
"I had a meeting with Ashley today and despite protests from Sandy," she paused to roll her eyes, "I've been given a raise. Apparently the fall marketing campaign went exceedingly well."
"Kim that's great!" Tommy exclaimed as he put his arms around her and half hugged her.
"Yeah I'm really excited. It comes with a bit more responsibility which makes me nervous." As soon as she had finished reading Ashley's documents she thought about declining. She didn't want to disappoint Ashley by taking on more responsibilities than she could handle with Rhianna lurking around. But Ashley had insisted that everything would be alright and that she had already thought about that. "I do feel like I slack more than others since I have all those other duties."
"Ashley knows about all the ranger stuff. And she knows that it comes first and that won't change." Tommy replied. Rangers take care of each other. Sometimes they're the only ones who can. They know the real reasons for unexplained absences, gaps in someone's timeline, and other parts of life that have been touched by being a ranger. He was thrilled to hear that Ashley hired Kim, especially as the rangers were starting to go full force again. He knew she'd have to have a more than understanding boss.
Kim didn't reply, she simply nodded and tucked her head into Tommy's shoulder. Although Tommy was enjoying the closeness, he knew this was a good opportunity to go into what he wanted to talk about. "Speaking of your other duties, there is something I wanted to talk to you about."
"What's up? Did we hear anything about Rhianna?" Kim questioned. She had no idea what Tommy wanted to talk to her about that was ranger related. She was kind of hoping Rhianna was it. She found herself with the sudden fear Tommy knew she had spent some time talking to Elemi on Sunday and warranted or not his jealousy was about to kick into overdrive.
"No." Tommy said, thinking briefly how he wished they had. He spent some time with Billy that afternoon and they were trying to see if there was any information about Rhianna to be found. It worried him that they couldn't come across anything and that all seemed quiet on the moon. Something was bound to be happening soon. "Actually I wanted to talk to you about what happened on Saturday."
"About the fight?" Kim questioned. That seemed kind of odd. She didn't think that there was anything to talk about regarding the fight.
"Not the fight about you." Tommy said quickly. "You told me you'd keep me informed when there was progress with your powers that I should know and I've gotten the feeling that I'm way out of the loop."
Kim quickly sat up. "What are you talking about?" she asked getting defensive. "I've kept you as informed as I told you I would." She hadn't mastered any new powers and she was pretty sure the agreement was she'd tell him about things as she mastered them.
About all Tommy knew she could do was teleport herself, which apparently she had been doing a lot of lately. Past that he didn't know anything, including how she did everything that helped them win Saturday's battle. "What about Saturday? The orb? The fact that you helped put a coin together? Bending time?"
"I told you I could move through time. Bending was part of it. As for the rest of it, I didn't know I could do any of that either." Kim said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I still have no clue how my powers activate the orb. I'm not even sure K knows how she did it, and as for the plan itself I was just guessing. And in case I wasn't clear before, Ninjor made the coin. My sole purpose was to channel my powers into helping connect it."
Tommy did recall her mentioning moving through time but the bending time concept never even crossed his mind. Either way he supposed he'd let that slide. "But you can use the orb and you can make coins." Tommy said matter-of-factly as he looked sternly at her. He was aware that there were people out there with these types of abilities, or at least that there had been. It surprised him to know that Kim had the abilities to do things that were reserved for masters. It also brought back up his worries about her powers. Teleporting was one thing but she was learning skills he'd never dream of.
"K can." Kim said pointedly. "Which means I have the ability to. I don't know how to expand my knowledge on the containment orbs. But I do want to learn how to make coins. Ninjor showed me some of what to do. But not enough. I really want to work with him some if he's willing."
Tommy nodded slowly. He couldn't help but wonder how much she had been working with K. He suspected Kim had a really good idea of what she would be able to do that she wasn't divulging. He had only heard of a fraction of what K had been able to dip in to during the brief time he spent in her world. It frightened him that there was so much that these powers could allow her to do.
What he did know that it appeared as though she hadn't broken her word. She hadn't developed anything new that she didn't tell him about, she was just guessing. "I was under the impression you knew more than you did. Saturday was… hectic. And you seemed to have these endless powers and were running off good idea or not on every turn to use them to assist us."
That was the polite way for Tommy to get to what was really bothering him, the one thing that was nagging at him more than the powers themselves. He was the leader of this team and he felt thrown out of the loop as she ran off to do her own thing. She hadn't listened to his opinion on either issue, she'd just taken things into her own hands. And he would admit that things worked out for the best, but he wished she would respect his authority on that team. He knew she was a leader as well, but the other reds on Earth were better at listening to him than she was.
"I'm sorry." Kim apologized. Memories of the hurt look on Tommy's face crossed her mind and she knew she owed him an apology. Did she step on his toes as a leader? Probably. But she got the feeling that he had a hard time accepting her as a red. She was as much a leader as he was and she had more information than he had to make a better decision. Time was of the essence and she wasn't going to waste it arguing it with him. "I realize that I didn't give you a chance to discuss what I wanted to do but I knew enough to make an informed decision, one that had to be made quickly. I know you are the leader on this team and I will try to respect that."
Tommy thought carefully about her response. He could tell that she was sorry. But at the same time he got the feeling that she would do it again. He was going to have to try and be more firm in ranger situations. "I feel responsible for this team and I want to make sure everything we do is the best course of action. You obviously have a new knowledge base that I don't, but since you can bend time we can talk for a minute before you rush off."
"Fine." Kim replied. She didn't want to argue with him about it. She was going to do what was best as well and she was hoping their definitions of best would coincide. "I'll give you as much as I know and you can give me your opinion next time before I take off."
"Fine." Tommy replied, feeling as though they were at a stalemate.
Kim stood, not wanting to debate the issue further. She didn't think either of them was completely satisfied but she'd try her best to remember to respect him as a leader and she hoped he'd do the same for her. That way they wouldn't have to have this conversation again. With a sigh she headed into the kitchen. "I'm going to make dinner." She said as she disappeared. Maybe some food would lighten the mood and they could enjoy the rest of their evening.
Rocky pulled into the driveway of his family home. His mother had been, for weeks, trying to get him to come over for dinner. But between work and rangering he simply hadn't had the time. With Carri out of town he knew he could slip out of work early and not have any other plans. He figured that Halloween was a good a night as any to sit down and have dinner with his family.
He had a feeling that his mother wanted to sit him down and discuss things. He hadn't really spoken to her since she came across that tabloid article that painted a less than flattering picture of what his fiancé was up to in her spare time. Of course when the article came out she was only his girlfriend, and since then he had proposed and he had to assume his mother had a million questions for him that she didn't want to dive into over the phone.
Cutting the engine off, he glanced around at the neighborhood children running around in costume. He couldn't help but think about when he was growing up. He remembered running down this same street in costume, hitting up every house in the neighborhood and begging for candy. His mother used to tell him he was going to rot his teeth out if he ate it all. Then overnight he was too old for trick-or-treating anymore and he started taking his siblings out, a tradition that continued until he got into college and his younger brother took over.
Rocky stepped out of the car and headed toward the front door. He was surprised as he entered to find all of his siblings under the same roof at the same time. It was a rare sight, in fact as far as he knew Christmas and Easter had been the only times they'd all been there together since Matt and Christina went to college. He was somewhat surprised to find Matt's girlfriend and Christina's best friend sitting around his mother's oversized table as well.
"Rocky, it's good to see you." His mother greeted him enthusiastically as she spotted him. She walked over and gave her oldest son a hug. She couldn't believe that she'd managed to get all her children together for dinner. Although Matt had insisted on bringing Jamie and Christina said that she and Marie would drop by for a quick bite before they ran off to a Halloween party. Although the younger children wanted to go party as well, they still lived under her roof and she had a little bit more control over how long they would have to stay at the table. "Come, sit, we were just about to eat."
Rocky watched his mother scurry off to gather the remaining dishes for dinner as he went to sit with his siblings. His siblings greeted him with hellos, with Jamie giving him an enthusiastic wave with the hand not attached to his brother and Marie smiling and giving him a cute wave and bat of the eyelashes.
"Where's your girlfriend?" Thomas asked as he looked over at his older brother. Matthew had dragged his girlfriend along and he'd half expected Rocky to do the same.
"In New York on business." He replied quickly. He knew he should bring her by for dinner sometime to see the kids. Although his mother still had her doubts he knew his brothers and sisters would love to see her, especially the younger ones as she'd babysat them a few times during their senior year.
"She's not his girlfriend anymore she's his fiancé now." Jamie corrected as Matt rolled his eyes. She realized that the men in the room probably could care less about the difference in terminology.
"Oh yeah." Lizzie said, eyes lighting up. "I can't wait until you guys get married and we get to wear the dresses and get our hair done and"
"That's enough." Isabelle said, setting the final dinner plate down as she quieted her daughter. Although she did want to address her son's getting married. She still wasn't convinced it was the right thing to do. Despite what he had said before, she continued to read the tabloids to see what Carri had been up to and although they weren't horrible, she still wasn't convinced she wouldn't break his heart again. There was a moment of silence as she took her seat at the table and said grace, before clattering was heard throughout the table as the kids started filling their plates was food.
"Thank you momma." Rocky said as he piled his plate high. It was nice, it had been a long time since he'd had a real home cooked meal. Carri's idea of cooking was usually Bulkmeier's or something along those lines, and occasionally they'd grill out or he'd cook something but it wasn't the same.
"You're welcome." She replied as she looked over at her son. As her children started scarfing food down, she decided it was a good time for a little small talk. "So Carri is in New York?"
"She took off yesterday and she'll be back tomorrow." Rocky replied casually. He was curious as to what his mother was thinking. She was probably getting to the real reasons she wanted to see him.
"And you didn't go with her?" Isabelle questioned her son. It sounded quite odd to her. She was having trouble trusting Carri and it bothered her that she ran off to New York without the man she was engaged to.
"I've got work to do here and she just flew up go have a business meeting with her father and to see the rest of her family." Rocky explained. He had wanted to go but it was last minute and he had too much of his own stuff to attend to.
"And you trust her in New York? There is a lot that goes on there." She was trying not to bluntly ask the question in front of his siblings. But Carri had already proven that she would break his heart and despite Rocky's assurances she constantly worried that Carri would cheat as so many of the tabloids she read had indicated. She doubted the girl in high school would but now she was afraid that Carri had been corrupted by the world she worked in.
"Of course I do. I know there has been a lot of reading of the tabloids around here and I know they still aren't sure if she's capable of being faithful or not but I promise you there isn't a grain of truth in them. Ask any one of our friends." Rocky spoke quickly. He really didn't want to have this discussion at dinner. He should have said Carri was working late instead of in New York. "We love each other and we're getting married. That's the most important thing."
Isabelle said nothing. Her son was not going to budge on that issue. She had been well aware of it from the start, but she wanted to bring it up anyway. She couldn't stand the thought of him getting his heart broken. She glanced over at Marie and realized that if she could have gotten him to wonder exactly what his fiancé did in New York without him, that maybe he'd give her a second glance. Marie came from a similar family background and she thought she was better suited to Rocky. But she wasn't the one he was madly in love with, and without solid proof she wouldn't interfere. She could ask questions though. Like the one that had been bouncing through her head since two Sunday's ago. "Are you getting married at our church? I heard you haven't reserved anything yet. You need to look into it soon, it's a popular for weddings."
Rocky cringed at the sudden change of topics. He had yet to tell his mother that he'd given in to Carri's request for a beach wedding. So far that was the only thing she'd been adamant about, and although she claimed it had to do with Kim he got the feeling that it had a whole lot to do with her as well. And although the Kim point was persuasive, he knew she'd be miserable doing what she needed to do in order to go through with the Catholic wedding and he didn't want to push her into it. Besides he was afraid that she'd back out of the whole thing if he tried and although a Catholic wedding was important to him, it wasn't as important as marrying her. "We're not getting married at the church."
"Have you found a new church?" she questioned. He hadn't been attending services as regularly as he should and although most of her older children were, much to her disappointment, simply skipping, it was possible that Rocky had found another place to go. Although she would admit to being disappointed if they didn't wed in the church their family had been going to since before Rocky was born.
"No." Rocky replied with a sigh. He was going to have to tell her. It might as well be now. "We're not getting married in a church. Carri and I have decided to get married on the beach."
"What?" his mother questioned harshly, silencing any conversation going on around the table. There were a lot of things she thought he'd say but that wasn't it. "You cannot get married outside of the church, I won't allow it. And"
"Mom." Rocky cut her off. He certainly didn't want to argue this here. The decision was made and they weren't going to change it. "It was our decision and it's what we want to do. We are still going to get someone from the church to preside over the ceremony." Although it wouldn't be from the Catholic Church as that was simply not allowed.
"You were born and raised Catholic and if you are going to get married you have to do it properly, in the Catholic Church." She paused, thinking back for a moment. That was one of the things she was never thrilled about with Carri that she wasn't Catholic and if she remembered correctly she hardly went to church at all. This had to have been Carri's idea. Her boy would not go against his religion like that. "I know this was her choice and I will not let you give up your religious beliefs for that heathen"
Rocky slapped his hand down onto the table, cutting his mother off. He knew she was not going to be happy about the church issue but he was not going to let her sit there and address Carri like that. They would have to have this conversation sometime between the two of them, when they could be more civilized. "Thank you for dinner." He said as he stood, his plate half full. "But I need to get back to work for one of my students."
He said a quick goodbye to all of his siblings, most of who were gaping between himself and his mother. He could tell that his mother had a lot more to say but before he gave her a chance to utter another word he told her goodbye and made a beeline for the front door. When he was safely sitting behind the wheel of his car he let out the breath he'd been holding. He knew this would be a major issue for his mother and he had to figure something out. He hated arguing with her. Hopefully she'd think about it and they could talk about it without her slandering Carri. With a sigh he started the engine and headed home.
Carri found herself riding up the elevator to her parent's floor. She was late, mainly because she didn't want to be there in the first place. She was already agitated and she hadn't even made it up to the party yet. She spent an hour hunting down a costume. This late in the day witch was all she could find. She was a sexy witch, she'd give it that much. But the costume was tight leather with high heels and a hat to match. It was uncomfortable and one look in the mirror made her feel as though she was fighting on the wrong side.
Already grumpy about the costume, when she arrived in her parents building she was told that to even be allowed onto the elevator to go to her parent's place she had to be on the approved guest list. Of course her mother hadn't bothered to add her name in as she was a last minute addition and Carri's temper was going to explode right then and there. She lived there for three friggin' years, she still had a room and clothes and stuff but yet she had to wait fifteen minutes for someone to get a hold of her father so she'd have permission to enter.
When the elevator doors opened the first person she spotted was her mother and she had a hard time resisting the urge to march over there and tell her exactly what was on her mind. Instead she calmly walked up to her mother, who was standing in the center of a circle of friends martini in hand, and plastered a fake smile across her face. "Hello mother."
"Carri." Rebecca said, glancing her daughter over. She was glad that she had shown up, and in costume as she had been instructed. With Carri she never quite knew what to expect. "I am glad you could make it."
"Thank you." Carri said, ignoring the fact that she wasn't really given an option. "Although I didn't think I was expected, I wasn't even on the guest list."
Rebecca gave her daughter somewhat of a smile. She hadn't intentionally left her off the guest list. But she had been quite busy making sure everything was perfect for her party and as far as she was concerned her daughter would have to get over it. "I am so sorry about the mix up." She overemphasized the apology for the crowd. "But you're here now and that's what counts. You should mingle some."
"Of course. I have to go say hello to everyone." Carri said politely as she walked away. Not that there was anyone there she cared to say hello to. The few people she knew in the short time she lived there had contributed to her running away from the city screaming, and everyone else were her mother's new friends who helped her to become the woman she was today.
With a sigh Carri headed over to the beverage table. It was well past time for a beer. She waited for her cold beverage to be handed to her, then she took one large gulp. She couldn't help but wish that it was enough to make the entire evening disappear. She shook her head as she turned around and almost ran smack into someone who was dressed for the seventies.
The man she almost hit grabbed her by the shoulders in some sort of effort to steady her before gently pushing her back. "Carri, hey, it's so good to see you."
Carri looked down at the beer in her hand. She wasn't one to get drunk, but right now she really felt as though she needed five more of those to make it through the night. "David, how are you, it's been a while." Not long enough.
"Yeah I don't think I've seen you since, well since I was in California all those years ago. I've heard you've been busy." David replied as he grinned at her.
Carri resisted the urge to groan. She had forgotten how David's mother became part of her mother's social circle. Her mother tried to tell her about him and she wouldn't listen. She was sure he ate up every tidbit his mother came home with. "Spend most of my days working on my show now. It's a lot of fun. I'm thrilled to be able to do something like that out in Angel Grove." He couldn't possibly still be after her to move back to New York but she thought she'd put it out there that she was firmly rooted in California before the conversation got started.
"That's good. I've seen your show, it's really good." David complimented her. "And I hear you're getting married? To that guy I met?"
The tone in his voice suggested that he didn't approve of her getting married and that made Carri all the more eager to rub it in. "I'm marrying Rocky, the guy you kind of met the day Josh hit you on the beach. We've been together for most of the last ten years. He's the only man I've ever loved." She paused to watch the look on his face before she asked him a question. "What about you? Married? Have a girlfriend?"
David was a little angry by the insinuation that she didn't love him but he shook it off. "Yeah I've been married three years now. I would introduce you but Missy is home sick with the flu."
"Too bad." Carri said, thrilled he wasn't here to hit on her. Now she could concentrate on worming her way out of this conversation. "Anyway, there's a ton of other people here I should converse with so"
David put his hands on her arms gently, letting them fall down to her wrists as he grabbed them a bit roughly and smiled at her. "You look smoking hot in that costume." He ignored the look she gave him and continued. "I was thinking, Missy isn't here, Rocky isn't here, maybe we could head upstairs for a while for old time's sake."
Carri was speechless. Although she supposed she shouldn't have been surprised, she knew the crowd he ran with, knew a lot of them weren't exactly faithful. But she was pretty clear that she was happily with someone else, something she thought she beat into his head a long time ago. She didn't know what she wanted to say. Well she did, but she was really leaning toward crunching his nose worse than she did Jessica's.
Before she got the opportunity to make that decision they were interrupted. "Who's this hot chic? I thought I knew all the sexy ones."
Carri turned just in time to catch a glimpse of her brother, dressed as though he'd just come from the Renaissance Faire. Josh walked up to them and grabbed his sister's wrists, pulling them out of David's hands. "If you'll excuse me I need to borrow the witch for a moment."
"Thank you." Carri said as they were walking away. "I was three seconds from ruining mom's party."
"Yeah but I bet it would have been fun to watch." Josh replied with a grin. He was pretty sure she didn't care as much about the fact that David was chummy with her mother than she did when she was in college.
"Oh yeah. Blood everywhere. A grown man crying. It would have been quite the show." Carri replied. It was the best and most direct response she had come up with.
Josh laughed out loud. His sister could defend herself, he knew that, and the thought that she would have taken her wrath out on David made him want to go find the bastard and bring him to her. He glanced back, pretty confident that David had gone elsewhere as he turned back toward his sister. "So I hear I'm helping you with the movie."
"Yes. Dad said you could fly out sometime soon to get me pointed in the right direction with the movie." Carri gave him the real simple version of what she and her father had discussed earlier in the day.
"I can do that." Josh replied, giving his sister a look. He had to ask the question. "How in the world did you score the Luke Kirk book in the first place?" That thing had been all over the news, he knew several people that read it and couldn't stop talking about it, and he had to imagine that every major company was fighting to get their hands on it. Yet his sister's brand new company with merely one successful show under its belt got the rights to turn the book into a movie, along with the rights for his other books.
Carri grinned up at her brother who couldn't help but notice the mischievous look in her eye. "I have my resources."
"What you're sleeping with Luke Kirk?" Josh questioned, half joking half serious. It would make perfect sense.
Carri scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "No I am not sleeping with Luke Kirk." That was absurd. Besides the fact that she was not a cheater, she didn't think she could have that kind of relationship with Jason any more than she could with Josh, she'd spent too many years loving him like a brother.
"Fine." Josh replied with a chuckle. He doubted she was anyway, but he just had to ask. "So when do you want me to fly out there?"
"I'll have to check." Carri replied. She hadn't really given it any thought seeing as how it was just brought up that afternoon.
"And I can stay with you?" Josh questioned. He was almost positive that no one lived in her spare bedroom, not since Kim moved out. He smiled to himself as he thought about the last time he was in that bedroom. The sex was pretty amazing. He had to admit, he had been disappointed that Kim wanted to have a monogamous relationship with someone else. Of course he had moved on pretty quickly and as far as he knew Kim was happy so he wasn't inclined to push the issue.
"Of course. I'll have the princess room prepped and ready." Carri said with a grin, referring to the fact that her grandmother always called that set her princess furniture.
"Can't wait." Josh replied as he smiled over at his sister.
Before Carri could make another comment, someone else decided to join their conversation. "There you two are." Jonathan said as he approached his children. "I've been looking for you." He knew Carri had finally arrived, he'd had to approve her entry into the party. Josh had been there early, drinking and flirting with whoever crossed his path.
"Yup. Just chatting." Carri said smiling at her father.
"There are some people who want to see you and meet you." Jonathan said, glancing first toward his son before looking over at his daughter.
Josh's response was drowned out by Carri's sarcastic "oh yay!" as she took another swig of beer. She was not in the meet and greet mood but she had no choice as she followed her father off. This night just keeps getting better and better.
It was dinnertime in Angel Grove and Jason found himself sitting with Emily at the bar they usually went to. They were having dinner for the first time since Rhianna's attack and Emily was going to stick around for a few drinks before she had to head home to get ready for work. It was just as well, the bar was having a Halloween costume contest and party that started in a few hours. There was a DJ setting up and already a few customers in costume were wondering in. Jason would be happy to get out of there before the craziness began.
"So." Emily stated with a smile. They were past the small talk for the night and it was time to shift the conversation elsewhere. This was their second official date, with the first one having gone exceedingly well. They had a nice dinner, a good talk, followed by an amazing couple of drinks in the hot tub. She was so glad that they were back on the right foot. She wished she could stay longer tonight but she had to be up early in the morning. "I'm glad we could do this again. I had a lot of fun Friday night."
"Me too." Jason agreed. He was glad they were going out as a couple again. Although he was slightly disappointed that this date wasn't going to end in the hot tub. Or anywhere else in his house that they could be alone together.
"I hate that the rest of the weekend was such a bust." Emily said with a frown. She had wanted to see him again Saturday night, but he was recuperating through Sunday night, the night she already had plans with her girlfriends. The last two nights she worked late and this was the first time they had the opportunity to see each other.
"Well it happens." Jason wasn't thrilled with the fact that they got their ass's kicked so bad Saturday that it ruined the rest of the weekend but it was part of the job. "We've got to save the world and all."
"Yeah." Emily said quietly as she thought about his statement. Up until Saturday she'd forgotten how hard it was to date a ranger. Being on the outside, sitting there plastered to the television watching as the attacks were going on. And Saturday was particularly rough as for the most part she watched him and his friends get shot at and tossed around like they were play toys. Worst of all she didn't hear from him until well after the battle. He'd had some injuries that needed healing, and even after he called her he still didn't have the energy to do much besides sleep.
"What's wrong?" Jason asked. He picked up on the sad tone in her voice. Him being a ranger had put a major strain on their relationship all those years ago. He knew she had been uncomfortable with him putting his life on the line everyday as he ran out to be a hero. And it was hard for her to understand that it was who he was. He loved her but he wouldn't, he couldn't change that.
He thought this time around would be different. After all, the last time they dated she spent the first year not knowing he was a power ranger. She may have never known if he hadn't gotten attacked while with her, his choices being to morph or die. He realized that being a ranger was a big secret to keep from someone, and that it was probably hard to process a year into a relationship. But this time there were no secrets. She knew well before they went out that he was a ranger again. And he was hoping that she'd have a better grip on it this time.
"Nothing." Emily replied as Jason gave her a look. She sighed and elaborated. "Saturday was kind of hard to watch on TV that's all. You guys weren't doing very well."
Jason couldn't help but snort. "That's an understatement." They had been really lucky on Saturday to all make it out in one piece. He glanced at her as she still seemed deep in thought and he continued. "But you're ok with what I'm doing? Because if this thing between us has a shot, you have to accept my second job."
"Yes. Well, as ok as I'm going to be. I know that's important to you. It doesn't make it any easier to watch." Emily replied. They had yet to discuss his being a ranger in terms of their relationship but she figured now was as good of a time as any. "I'm not going to tell you to quit, or get angry with you when you have to take off. That's part of who you are, and it's a part that neither I nor any other woman will ever change. You wouldn't give it up and I won't ask you to. That doesn't make it easy for me to sit there on days like Saturday and watch the news, watch you get hurt and get up slowly while praying you'll make it out ok."
Jason found himself somewhat surprised. That was the answer he wanted to hear but it wasn't the answer he thought she would give. He was glad that she was going to be alright with him being a ranger. "I appreciate that. I can't say I know how you feel, but I do know that it's hard to be there and watch my friends take a beating like that. I can only imagine that it's worse to not have any idea what's going on."
"Just a little bit." Emily said with a smile as she reached out and clasped his hand in hers. Sometimes it felt impossible to be in that position but she cared about him enough to do it.
Jason was a bit startled at first, but then he looked up and smiled back at her. Their moment was interrupted as a group of rowdy college kids from the community college came into the bar in costume ready to party. "Next time we want a quiet dinner we should try Bulkmeier's." This was the first time that it hit him that now that his friends knew about Emily he could take her to the restaurant without worrying over running into them and, well, having the girls explode like they did in the bar.
"Isn't that where all your friends go?" Emily questioned as the corners of her face tweaked up into a slight smile. He had mentioned it before and she knew that was where the rest of his team hung out, the ones who had condemned her for life after what she had done to Jason. She hadn't really blamed them for not wanting anything to do with her. For a while she hadn't wanted anything to do with herself.
"They do eat dinner there quite often." Jason said as he thought about it. Emily used to be such good friends with Carri, and she had even gotten to know Kim pretty well on the weekends they were both in Angel Grove together. They seemed to be ok with them going out again, maybe they'd give her another chance. Maybe he could gather the rest of his team and they could all have dinner together. "Maybe we'll meet them there sometime."
"Maybe we can." Emily said with a smile. It would be nice to talk to them again, although she wasn't sure they were ready to talk to her. But if Jason thought that they were she would certainly trust his opinion.
Jason looked up at her and smiled. His life over the last few years had changed so much. But this year everything felt as though it was falling back into place again. And with him finally having a girlfriend he could talk to, he felt as though things were close to complete. Although he never thought that girl would be Emily. But after everything they went through, they were back together again, and this time they might just have a chance.