Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the Power Rangers TV show; the concept and everything belongs to Saban.
Writer's note: I took some liberties with the story line of Power Rangers, although I did try to stick with it as much as possible. I also don't know much about magic or Wicca, so I'm pretty much treading in dark waters there. If something's wrong, I apologize for that, and please realize that I'm trying to do the best I can with the little that I know. Margery and Tabitha are the brain child of myself and a friend in Texas (I have moved WAY too much for one person!). Please don't take them.
New Kids on the Block, Call It What You Want
"Ugh, did you have to call everyone?" Maggie demanded, staring as Tabitha wheeled her out of the hospital. She was checked out and ready to go home, and a huge group of friends were standing in the parking lot. "Tabitha, tell me this was not your idea."
"Actually, I didn't tell anyone but Adam," Tabitha said. "I suspect they've been calling the hospital about it, though."
Maggie could see Aisha and Billy, Tommy, Kat, Adam, Rocky and Reva, and Jason, all of whom seemed to be waiting for her. "They know I just want to go home and go to bed, right?"
"Yes, we know that," Kat said as they all came to surround her. "But we wanted to see you come out of the hospital; most of us saw you go in." She glanced around, then whispered "Adam, thankfully, missed it."
"I'm glad of that," Maggie said, then the subject of the exchange put a hand on her shoulder.
"You look like you're going to fall asleep any minute now," he said softly. "Let's get you home, okay?"
"Please?" she asked, looking up at him.
"You know, I get the impression that has become a very private conversation," Tabitha said to Kat in a stage whisper, and Maggie flushed.
"Well, he's had the best idea all day; he offered to take me home," she said in defense.
"Your home or his?" Rocky asked, that familiar knowing grin lighting his face. The others around him laughed.
"As if I could get up the stairs at his place," Maggie mumbled, glaring at him, causing more laughter. "Now, I am going to take him up on his offer. You coming?" she asked Tabitha, who smiled.
"Oh, I wouldn't miss this," she grinned, and she and Adam helped Maggie into the car.
When they got home, Adam very carefully carried her into the house and set her on the bed. "You'll be okay here?"
She relaxed, closing her eyes. "Ah, my own bed. I'll be great." She ignored the pain in her ribs as well as she could.
He sat down next to her. "So... Did they say when you'd be mobile again?"
"I'm pretty mobile," she said. "Just slow."
"Good. Can I take you to dinner tomorrow night?"
Maggie's eyes widened. A date? He was finally asking her... "Yes, please. That would be fun."
"Great. I'll go and let you get some rest, and I'll be here tomorrow around five to pick you up. Okay?"
"Okay," she said a little plaintively. He patted her shoulder with a sympathetic smile.
"Get some rest." He stood and walked out the door, and she heard him say goodbye to Tabitha before the door closed.
"So?" Tabitha asked. Maggie laughed, wincing as her ribs jabbed her. She had to remember not to do that!
"So, what?"
"What did he say?"
"To get some rest. And that we were going out to dinner tomorrow night."
"He doesn't work fast, does he?" Tabitha asked.
"No." Maggie grinned. "It's the whole group, I think. I haven't found out what took Tommy and Kat so long, but Rocky took almost a year, I don't know the story behind Aisha and Billy," I have to remedy that, she thought, "and even Kim is taking forever. I just don't get it." She shook her head. "Even Tanya doesn't seem to be moving very fast."
"Tanya." Tabitha looked at her, her face squinted up in concentration. "Oh. The letter that came just before we left Chicago."
"Right."
"So, what's the story between them?" Tabitha shook her head. "Never mind. You sleep."
"I think I will," Maggie said, extremely glad that she didn't have to answer that question. She wasn't actually sure she could. She closed her eyes, and felt the cat snuggle up to her unbroken ribs. She fell asleep to the gentle purring.
Tabby was gone when Maggie woke up again, sore and in pain. Struggling a little, she got out of bed and into the wheelchair, and motored into the kitchen. "It just occurred to me," she announced to her friend, "that going out to dinner is a dumb idea, unless he wants to feed me." She looked in frustration at the brace on her right arm. "But I'm not going to tell him that," she added quickly.
Tabitha laughed. "How long have you been waiting for this date?"
"Oh..." Maggie leaned back and thought a minute. "Somewhere around eleven years, I think. Rocky seemed to think that Adam knew not to get that close because of... well, the last ten years." She scowled. "I still would have liked a date."
"But?"
"But he had a girlfriend."
"So?"
"She didn't even like it when he was tutoring me in geometry. She didn't like when he tutored Tommy, so I was much more of a... an insult, I guess. Tommy definitely wasn't a threat."
Tabitha laughed. "Oh, I hope not." Then she sobered. "Let me guess. The infamous Tanya."
Maggie nodded. "And I'm thankful there is only one."
The next day she found it harder to move. Determined, in spite of the stiffness in her side that made even breathing painful, she got ready for her date and was waiting in the living room when there was a knock on the door. Tabitha came running into the room and opened the door, and Maggie stared in disbelief at Billy, who waved at her. "Ready?" he asked Tabitha.
"Yeah, give me a minute. Maggie, I'll see you later tonight, okay?"
Maggie blinked at her. "Okay. But where are you going?"
"Billy and Aisha invited me to dinner. Have a good time." She waved, closing the door behind her, and Maggie just stared at the door in disbelief, feeling completely confused. The next knock on the door she moved over to answer, only to have it open just before she reached it. Adam looked in and grinned at her.
"Hi. Can I come in?"
She blinked and straightened her thoughts. "Yes, please. I'd like that."
He stepped in, hands behind his back, and closed the door. "How are you feeling?"
She tried a deep breath, and winced in pain. "Mostly, I hurt," she said.
Adam nodded. "I thought about that." One hand came out from behind his back and handed her a white rose. Maggie stared at it, and she reached for it with the arm in the brace. She stopped abruptly at the pain in her side, and he stepped closer to press the rose into her hand. "Sorry. I've forgotten what it's like to have injured ribs." It was the first clue that they ever got injured... although it wasn't necessarily a Ranger related injury, she corrected herself. "I thought, after I left, that you might not really want to go out for dinner, so I brought it in. It's a little cliche', but it was the best I could think of." His other hand appeared, a bag from a take out Chinese place in it. "I know, it'll be hard, but I'll help," he added as she opened her mouth to protest. She scowled at him. How does he do that?
"Well, shall we eat in the kitchen, then?" she asked, trading the scowl for a smile.
"Best place I can think of," he said, set the bag in her lap, and pushed her into the kitchen.
Maggie stared. Tabitha had set it up very nicely, with a table cloth, her best dishes, and even a bottle of sparkling cider in an ice bucket. She caught Adam out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at him. He smiled at her. "You should see your face."
"Oh, I don't doubt it," she said, grinning. "I don't doubt it."
They ate, at first rather awkwardly, then better as she worked some of the stiffness out of her muscles. But the pain in her side remained, lurking for the perfect moment to strike, usually when she was drinking something. It got really frustrating. Finally, she gave up and sat back.
"Enough? Or too much pain," he asked gently. "I'm afraid I didn't plan this well at all, the best thing would have been soup or something."
"No." It was too fast, too vehement, and fire shot through her side. "It's okay, really." She wanted to take his hand but knew she couldn't reach that far. "How long have Billy and Aisha been back?"
A wary look crossed his face and he leaned back in his chair. "Why?"
"Because you didn't say anything in your letters. Or was it my fault, for not writing you back?"
Emotions flashed across his face, and Maggie had to smile. It was a most enlightening experience, and she wondered if her emotions had done the same when she'd had to tell him she was leaving. "Billy came back before then, but only for a while. He went to Africa to get her. I guess they had been writing - how, I have no idea, he was off planet - and he finally decided he'd had enough. He came back with her just after I sent the last letter."
Maggie blinked. "Wow. I think that's the fastest I've heard of the Ranger's moving, as far as romance goes."
"What does that mean?" he asked, curious.
"It means, Adam, that you have waited ten years, and I told you not to. That Kim has taken this long to get married. Jason still isn't, and as far as I can tell, he isn't even dating anyone. Rocky and Reva took six years, Tanya is still single, and I can't even tell you about your heirs." She stopped suddenly, gasping for breath and trying to ease the pain in her side. "I really hate this," she growled.
He was laughing at her, and when she glared at him he only laughed harder. "What is so funny?" she asked.
He leaned over and gently hugged her. "You, Maggie, are really funny. I didn't realize you were keeping track of us."
"It's all I did during High School, until you went and used that... crystal thing. Suddenly I didn't know what you guys were doing, and you avoided me like the plague." Then she shook her head. "No, I'm not going to go there, and neither are you." She grinned suddenly. "I think we have something in the fridge for dessert, too."
His eyes brightened. "Like what?" She was glad she'd dropped the subject then; he hadn't wanted to talk about it then, either. But they were going to have to. Some time.
"I don't know. Take a look and see what's in there."
Angel, Bad Time
The phone rang, startling Maggie out of her book, her childhood favorite called The Power of Three, and she stared at it until it rang again. "Hello?"
"Maggie, this is Reva. You and Tabitha are still coming over tonight, correct?" She sounded a little flustered.
"Yes, of course."
"Good. I'm sending Rocky for you now."
"Now?" Maggie dropped her book. "What's wrong, Reva?"
There was a silence on the other end. "We may have bad news, and we want you here." The phone had changed hands, and Rocky didn't sound any happier than Reva had. "Is Tabitha there?"
"No, and I don't know when to expect her. But she knows where you live, and I'll leave her a note." She noticed distantly that she was still operating in 'alert' mode, and wondered if it would ever go away. Even on crutches, she was pretty much able to go somewhere at a moment's notice. Just not very quickly.
"I'll be there in 15 minutes, then."
It was really only about an hour early, Maggie thought, but still... it had the feel of something gone drastically wrong. She started to pick up the book, but the protest her not-yet healed ribs gave her stopped that activity. She got up on her one crutch to get ready to go, giving thanks one more time that she didn't have to deal with the wheelchair anymore.
Tabitha came in with Rocky, gathered what she'd need quickly, and they all piled back into his jeep. Maggie watched her friends, curious. Tabitha seemed quite solemn, and Rocky was downright depressed. "Did you tell Tabitha already?" she finally asked, just to break the silence that had gotten suffocating.
Rocky shook his head. "No."
Maggie nodded and turned to look at Tabitha, who was sitting in the back seat behind Rocky, hissing in pain as it aggravated her ribs. "So, what's up with you?" she asked, facing forward again.
"I saw a woman that gave me the heebie jeebies," she said. "I can't explain it, and I'm sure part of it is that I've been hanging around you too much, but I just had a feeling she was bad news." Tabitha shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think she even has anything to do.... No," she corrected herself. "Every time I've had this feeling, it's had something to do with us."
Maggie sighed. "Well, it's not enough for the Lady to warn me about, so hopefully it's nothing major."
"Unless this is your warning," Tabitha said. Maggie nodded.
"Not much of a warning," Rocky mumbled.
"We've worked with less," Maggie said, and gently touched his arm. So have you, she thought, remembering the day that had repeated itself three or four times, and the only indication they'd had was Tommy's weird feeling of deja-vu. When they'd told her, it had really bother her. "It's not fun or easy, but it's possible." He glanced at her, then nodded.
They arrived at Rocky's then, and Maggie smiled to see Adam's black Mustang in the driveway. Could they have invited him, too? "Great," Rocky mumbled, and the smile fell from her face. No, that wasn't it. He helped her out of the car, then Reva came to meet them.
"He saw her. He's a nervous wreck," she said.
Realization hit Maggie. "Tanya came back, didn't she," she said, a sinking feeling in her stomach. Reva nodded.
"Yes."
Maggie took a deep breath and forced her feelings into control. She could fall apart later. "Let's go in and see if we can help."
Reva's statement was true; Adam was pacing the length of the living room and didn't even see them until Reva took his arm. "Calm down," she said. Maggie wondered how many times he'd heard that since he'd arrived.
"I can't," he protested, then his eyes met Maggie's. She smiled at him. He grew still for a minute, then walked over to her and just held her, not too tightly, but he seemed to be drawing strength and calm from her. She was so glad she'd managed to get some feelings under control. She kept the pain of her ribs to herself. She watched with some amusement as the others discretely vanished from the room, and resolved to thank them later.
"Are you okay?" she asked after a minute.
"No." He spoke into her hair, his breath tickling her neck.
"Want to talk about it?"
He didn't answer, and the sinking feeling increased. I don't want to lose you, she thought softly, but I want you happy. "I don't know if talking will help." He gave a laugh that sounded closer to tears. "I don't know if I can find the words." She waited in silence, focusing love, acceptance, and calm in his direction.
Finally, he took a deep breath. "I bet you'd like to sit down," he said, and his grip on her loosened.
"Oh, I don't know...." She broke off; now was not the time for stupid quips. Or was it? He probably could use a chuckle. "I rather liked you holding me."
He flushed slightly and looked away. Her heart sank further. "I'm sorry. That was the wrong thing to say. I even thought it was and ignored it. Not that it wasn't true, mind you, but the timing was way off. I'm sorry," she finished lamely, wincing.
He gave her a half smile. "You're cute when you're flustered." Keeping an arm around her waist, he led her to the couch and helped her sit down, then sat next to her.
"Adam, what's wrong?" Actually, she thought she knew what was wrong, but it was a place to start, at least.
"Rocky told you Tanya was back in town?"
"Well, Reva did."
He stared out the window for a minute, hands clasped together. "I thought this was done with," he mumbled. She waited, one hand on his arm, trying not to intrude too much. "Tanya... I thought Tanya was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me. The confidence I could feel when she smiled at me was... so enlightening, I could do anything." He paused. "It was like there was a world out there suddenly that didn't think I was cool because I could... could beat up on it. Or because I could save it. And she wasn't stingy about smiling, either." His hands twisted. Maggie finally gave in to the insistence in her side and leaned back against the couch, sighing softly in relief as the pain eased a little. "Then she broke up with me, and it was like the world went black." He sighed. "It was weird. And she went to LA, and I thought everything would be fine, but she's back now...."
"Feelings like that just don't go away," she whispered, when he didn't continue. "And you were feeling everything really intensely. All of you were. Something about putting your life on the line, and with someone else." She smiled. "There's a pretty strong bond between me and Tabitha, too, but not the same thing."
He choked out a laugh. "I hope not. I don't think I could take that heartache."
Maggie stared at him in surprise. "I'm always careful with hearts given to me, as careful as I know how to be. If that were the case, I would have told you right after you kissed me in the park that first day."
He leaned back and took her hand. "I don't know what I did to deserve you."
"You don't think saving the world from aliens was a qualifier?" She said it lightly, then grew serious. "I'm sure that's part of it, in fact. My father never understood my mother."
"Why?"
"She did the same thing I do. He'd never been a soldier, nothing. He didn't understand the danger, or the reasoning behind what she did." She paused to gather her thoughts. "I'm not saying we're meant to be together - like married - in a predetermined kind of way, or anything cheesy like that. I just don't think Mom ever found someone she could talk to about her experiences. I have a bunch of friends who understand at least a little of where I'm coming from. In that sense, we are meant to be together, sort of as a support group. I'm sure of it." She had to turn, so she could look at him without straining her ribs. She didn't want to go on, but she knew she had to. Looking him in the face was probably the hardest thing she'd done so far. "Tanya understands you better than I ever will. I saw what you did from the news, and heard some stories from you, Rocky, Kat and Tommy, and even a few from Aisha and Billy. It's not the same. Tanya was right there with you for almost a whole year, experiencing the same things, doing the same thing. You might find...."
His fingers touched her lips and she quieted. "What do you want?"
"What do I want?" She paused, her mind spinning. "I want a couple of things.... no, I can say it in one. I want you to be happy. I'm hoping like anything that you'll be happy with me, but I love you a lot..." She blushed, but refused to let it distract her. "You have to make the decision. And I don't want you to have to live with regrets." She took a deep breath, which immediately caused her to hyperventilate as she tried to keep the pain at bay again. Her ribs burned. Finally, she got herself back under control and gave him a wry grin, which he gave back to her, but it didn't hide the worry in his eyes. She went on before he could interrupt. "I don't play with hearts, and I have no patience for those who play with mine. You have to decide soon, Adam, or we will simply become good friends, like when you helped me with math." And it will be better than nothing, she thought to herself, but it had the tone of trying to convince herself.
He looked at her in surprise, and she had to look down, away from him. She had never seen such anguish in anyone's face. Then he sighed. "I guess it's only fair." His grip around her tightened briefly, then he gently let her go and stood up. "Tell Rocky I'll talk to him later, okay?"
She nodded, but didn't manage to get herself in control until he was at the door. She looked up and he smiled at her, then left and closed the door gently behind him. She got to her feet, chilled without his arms around her. "Rocky? Tabitha?"
"In the kitchen," Reva told her from the door, and looked around. "Where's Adam?"
Maggie started towards her, keeping the tears inside by pure strength of will. "He left."
Reva stopped her, one hand on her shoulder. "Good left or bad left?"
Maggie chuckled, and heard the desperation in it. "I don't know," she said honestly, still fighting tears. "I don't know. At least he knows where I stand on the whole situation. I'll be happy for him if he stays with her, but...." She swallowed hard and fixed her eyes on the carpet. "But I'll be awfully sad for me." She managed a smile and looked up, without meeting Reva's eyes. "Pretty selfish, isn't it?" she asked.
"No," she said softly. "I don't think so. Come on into the kitchen and eat. Unless you'd rather not?"
"Actually, I'd better," Maggie said with a short sigh. "I don't want to face me if I don't." She started slowly for the kitchen. "I'm not likely to be very good company, though."
Reva smiled. "Between you and me, neither is Rocky. But we'll live with you two for tonight."
Maggie stopped. "Did I ever tell you how lucky Rocky was to find you?"
Reva looked at her, surprised. "No. Why do you think so?"
Maggie shook her head. "Because you seem to be the perfect match. I'm glad, you know. He was one of my best friends, and I always hoped he'd find someone that fit him. He's more serious now, which is good...." She smiled at some of the antics he'd pulled, then shook her head again. "Anyway, I'm glad he found you, and thank you for letting me be a part of your life."
Reva smiled. "Well, he's happy, and when he's happy, I'm happy, too."
"And vice versa, I'm sure."
"Hey, are you guys coming?" Rocky asked, appearing in the doorway. They both turned to look at him, and Maggie nearly burst into tears at the look of despair on his face.
"You just ruined a good get-to-know-you chat," she griped at him with a smile and a voice that trembled, starting towards the kitchen. "You have the worst timing sometimes."
"Yeah, well, I'm not the only one." He helped her to sit down, turning to pull Reva into a hug before seating her as well. No, Maggie thought, you aren't the only one.