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.
Writer's note two: This starts in the Ninjetti season, for those who know the show, before Aisha goes to Africa, and the whole Zeo season starts. Also, I have nothing against Tanya, and I hope I haven't made her out to be something she's not.
Psuedo Echo, Walk Away
"What, does she have spies in Angel Grove?" Maggie demanded, glaring over the coffee table at Aisha.
"I don't know, Maggie." Aisha tried to calm her friend down. "I haven't talked to her, and I don't think Rocky did. I KNOW Reva didn't. Kat, maybe? Tommy? Justin? There are just so many people within the circle who could have told her he took you out. And then there are those outside of it. For all we know, Bulk told Skull and he told her." She paused. "Are you sure that's why she came back?"
Maggie sighed, wincing in frustration at the twinge in her side. "No. It's just so frustrating," she growled. "There's nothing I can really do, short of using her tactics, and I don't want that kind of pressure on him. He doesn't need it. But it's just too much of a coincidence."
"Have you called him?"
"No... What am I going to say? 'Hi Adam, have you decided?' Again, pressure he doesn't need."
"Have you been on a walk lately?"
"No. I haven't been able to...." She paused. "No. I wonder...."
"There. Now you have a reason to call him." She grinned wryly at Maggie. "Besides, if you ignore him, he'll think you've decided he wasn't worth the wait. Let him know you're still interested. For all that he's a little more outgoing, he hasn't changed all that much from the incredibly shy guy I got to know in grade school."
"I feel like I'm in high school again!" Maggie said, but was beginning to feel better. Her arm was free of the cast, her foot in a walking cast. This could work.
Aisha grinned mischievously. "I'll dial, you speak."
Maggie smiled. "All right. Wait. Does he have caller ID?"
Aisha paused, thinking. "I don't know, but you're right, it will look funny if he does and you call from here."
They said their good byes a while later, and Billy drove her home. He didn't say anything to her, and she was glad; she didn't think she could take an interrogation right then. She was nervous enough, thank you. Once inside, she stared at the phone for a while before picking it up and dialing Adam's number. It made her feel like she was in high school again. At least, this time it didn't take her as long to call as it had back then.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Adam." However, the butterflies in her stomach had tripled.
"Maggie! How are you?" He sounded happy to hear from her.
"I got a walking cast on my foot. You busy for the next hour or so?"
There was a pause, and Maggie nearly held her breath. "No, not really, why?"
"Because I thought... I'd like to go for a walk in the park again. With you. Now that I can. Walk, I mean. Without crutches." She could feel herself blushing and was really glad he wasn't there to see it.
He laughed, and she stifled her sigh of relief. "I'd love to. Shall I pick you up?"
"No, I'll meet you there in about..." She stopped, trying to calculate. "About twenty minutes?"
"I'll see you then."
"Great. Thanks, Adam."
"Of course," he said, and they rang off. Maggie grabbed her jacket and her keys, scribbled a note to Tabitha she hoped her friend would be able to read, and started for the park.
He got there before she did; she could see him waiting, dressed casually in black and white, a pleasant reminder of the first times she'd seen him. And he still looked fantastic. What would she do without him? "Good evening," she said as soon as she was in range. He turned to face her and smiled.
"Hello. You look nice." She glanced down, having forgotten what she was wearing, then smiled.
"Oh. Thank you. You look very... frog-like." She tried so hard to keep her smile hidden, but at his confused look, she burst into giggles, all of which hurt. He waited until she had control of herself again. "Kat said something about it once," she told him, a little breathless.
"Frog-like?" He wasn't angry, which was good.
"Yes. You were wearing an outfit almost exactly like that one when I first saw you, walking down the hall with Rocky and Aisha to where Kat and Tommy were waiting, on my first day at Angel Grove high."
"You remember that?" he asked, offering his arm. She took it, and they began to follow the path in front of them.
"Oh, yeah, I do. I remember watching you later that afternoon, walking off to Ernie's because I told you I was going to wait for Kat and Tommy. I stood there and mumbled 'I can't get involved, I just can't', because I knew I'd be leaving soon. We always moved pretty quickly."
"But you didn't move."
"I told my Dad I didn't want to. And I told him there was a guy here I wanted to date." She wondered briefly if her cheeks were turning red. "He was so excited, I'm half convinced that's why he didn't try to move. The other part is that he would have had to go without me, and I think he knew it."
"Someone you wanted to date?" Adam asked softly.
"Well, yeah. This really hot guy... half Korean...." She knew her cheeks were flaming by now, and she looked down, letting her hair cover her face.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"You were so shy, it was painful. I didn't want to scare you. And then you went loopy for Tanya..."
"Loopy?" he asked, and the tone in his voice made her look at him. He was stunned.
"Loopy. Um.... To translate into Angel Grove-ese, you were crazy about her."
"I was not!"
"Adam." Maggie could barely hold back her laughter, but she managed somehow. "A lot of our tutoring sessions were ended because you couldn't keep your mind off her - those that didn't end with your 'watch' going off. I was glad you were trying to stop being shy, it was neat to watch. You were so crazy about her."
He suddenly laughed. "I was that obvious?"
She smiled. "Incredibly. I don't think anyone was surprised when you two started dating, least of all me." She shook her head. "Your relationship with her was good, in that respect. I mean, you were beginning to be unshy already, because it's hard, I suspect, to do what you did and be shy, but she...." Maggie ground her teeth to keep from adding 'she ripped your heart to pieces countless times, and I wasn't there to help you'. "She seemed to make you bloom."
"Until we chose our heirs," he said softly. Maggie slowly shook her head.
"It was before that," she said softly. "Like, before I left, in fact. I must be one heck of a threat to her." That's all I can figure out. And if I knew how she'd known about our dates.... She stopped abruptly, suddenly so jealous she didn't know what to do.
"Maggie?" His voice was gentle, as was his touch on her arm. "Maggie, you're shaking."
"I'm furious," she ground out. I can't tell you what I'm really feeling, she thought. "This is not what I imagined this walk would be like. I'm sorry. I didn't want to focus on Tanya, I'm trying to forget her." She tried to find her center, but the anger didn't just go away. They walked on in silence. Finally, she shook her head. "I'm really sorry about that." She still wasn't calm, and the jealously she was feeling made her feel positively filthy. After a minute, she sighed. "This is not working. I just...."
Her voice trailed off as he stopped her, turning her to face him. "Maggie. Why does she bother you so much?"
She looked at him and was surprised to find herself nearly in tears. "I... She... What she did to you," she finally got out. "I mean, the whole thing just as I was leaving Chicago, and I couldn't be there. Reva said it was really bad for you, that she...." Maggie shook her head. "How did she know you took me out?"
"What?"
"Her timing is just... too good, Adam." She looked down. "I'm rather useless to talk to right now, I think. I can't... I can't be fair to her, or to you, really. I'd better just go home." She started to walk away, only to have his arm encircle her waist and hold her there.
"Hang on a minute," he said softly. She found herself held rather tightly against him. She slipped her arms around his waist and lay her head on his shoulder. To her surprise, calm radiated from him, and helped ease the jealousy she felt. And the familiar, subtle shock of his power made her feel a lot better. Slowly, she relaxed, the tension draining out of her. "You've been strung taut for a while, now," he said. "I decided this was a good way to make you relax."
"Okay," she said softly, enjoying the sound of his voice. "I'm not going to argue with you."
"I'm going up to Rocky's cabin this weekend," he told her. "By myself. I have to think, I have to get away from both of you." He chuckled. "Rocky's making himself go bald faster than before. You were a passive distraction, Tanya..." he paused. "Well. Hey, relax," he said as her muscles tightened up again. "I promise not to bring her up again."
Maggie didn't think she could get out of his grip if she wanted - which she didn't. "Hm.... Okay." They stood there for a while until an urgent meowing caught Maggie's attention. She looked down to see Tabby, and gently extracted herself from Adam. "What's the matter?" she asked, going down on one knee to pick the cat up. As soon as she stood up again, Adam slipped an arm around her waist. What was up with this? Not that she minded, of course.
Tabby kept looking in one direction, off to Maggie's left, and she turned to follow the cat's gaze. "She gave you the heebie jeebies?" she asked, keeping her voice down. Tabby meowed, and Maggie leaned wearily against Adam. "That's Tanya." She decided then she was going to have to have a good, hard cry, no matter how it hurt. She just couldn't keep this up. The cat jumped from her arms and stalked towards the dark-skinned woman, tail lashing back and forth.
"She really doesn't like her, does she."
For some reason, Adam's voice startled her and she jumped. "No. She saw her the other day, and it really spooked her. Tabitha didn't know who she was at the time, and she said it really bothered her. She has a sense about things like that. I don't think it was Tanya so much as it was how she was going to affect her." And me, she added silently.
"And by extension, you."
Maggie sighed. "Do you read her mind, too?"
He looked at her in confusion. "Why?"
"Because I swear you can read mine. Ever since you showed me that clearing, with Rocky and Aisha. It was eerie. I just wondered if you do that with everyone, or if I'm some sort of special case."
He grimaced. "You make it sound so... clinical."
She smiled and glanced around to find Tabby. "Hm. The cat has vanished." Tanya, however, hadn't, and she was headed in their direction. Maggie gave Adam a gentle squeeze, then stepped out of his arms, towards her. "Tanya! Hi!" she said.
Tanya smiled, perhaps a bit forced, and hugged her. "Hi. How are you?" She, too, still held power, but not as strongly as Adam, and no where near as strong as Aisha. Maggie forced herself away from the questions in her mind to focus on the one Tanya had asked her. She was going to have to ask someone about this.
"Doing great. Well, recovering." She indicated her foot. "I hear your career is going well."
"Yes!" Some measure of emotion finally entered her voice. "It's been a fascinating experience, and the album should be out soon."
"Well, if the rest of the songs are as good as "Stick Together", it'll be a hit."
Tanya looked at her in surprise. "Thank you." She turned to Adam. "Do you have plans for this evening?" she asked.
He glanced at Maggie, then shrugged. "Actually, I have some stuff I need to get done. I'd planned on spending the rest of the evening alone."
"I'd better get back," Maggie said, acutely aware of how uncomfortable he was, and feeling rather out of place herself. "I left a note for Tabitha, and I don't know if she could even read it." She smiled. "It takes longer than twenty minutes to get here with this." She gestured at her cast. "It was good to see you again, Tanya. Good luck on your album." Amazingly enough, it was an honest wish. She touched Adam's arm. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" He nodded, and she walked away, pausing only once to lift the cat that had followed her. She looked back at the same time to see them talking earnestly, but she was too far away to tell what kind of conversation they were having. She had to set the cat down a couple of minutes later; too much pressure on her ribs. She hated it.
"That's Tanya," Tabitha said next to her a few minutes later. "She's pretty." Her tone was non-committal.
"Yes. Very. Strong willed, too." Maggie smiled. Which was good, she supposed, as far as being a Power Ranger went.
"I still don't like her."
Maggie grinned. "You haven't even talked to her."
Tabitha smiled slightly. "I don't have to."
Dream Theater, Surrounded
"I'll be fine," Maggie said, pushing Tabitha towards the pet store. "Go, look, find something you like! I'm not an invalid. I just have injured ribs."
Tabitha took a hesitant step forward, then turned back. "I feel stupid!"
Maggie barely managed not to laugh. "No one will know you picked out the scratching post, except maybe Adam, and he won't care. Just go!"
"Where are you going?"
"I don't know. Over to Musicland, maybe." She wanted to be alone and think. Adam had left last Saturday, and today was Tuesday. She was trying to keep her mind off of him, and the decision he was hopefully making in her favor. "Or the book store. Check both places when you're done." She limped off, her leg still in a cast, then turned back. "Just... make it easy to carry, if you can."
"Oh, very funny," Tabitha grinned, and finally vanished into the store. Maggie sighed in relief, wincing at the twinge in her ribs.
"Hi," a voice said, and she turned to smile at Tanya. Is there no chance for solitude? she wondered.
"Hi. How are you?"
"Good." Her response was unemotional.
"Looking for anything specific?" Maggie asked. Goddess, Lady, please help me out of this!
"No, I just haven't been here in a long time. Since Kat went to London, in fact."
Maggie nodded. "Good memories, then?"
Tanya finally smiled, a little. "Yes. Very good ones."
"Good. How long are you planning to stay?" It came out sort of unplanned, and Maggie flushed. "Sorry. That didn't sound very good, did it."
To her surprise, Tanya laughed. "I had forgotten you blush so easily. It's a nice surprise to find someone who is embarrassed and shows it."
"Don't see many like that in LA?"
"No. And let me tell you, Skull is just impossible sometimes." She smiled. "What are you looking for?"
"Actually," Maggie grinned, "I was looking for some good music. Care to help me out there?"
As she'd hoped, Tanya brightened. "Sure. I can do that." They walked slowly towards Musicland. "I can only stay until the end of the week, actually," she added after a minute. "I really needed a break."
"Huh. I bet it is busy there."
"Hectic." She leaned closer. "There are days that are busier than some of the ones we had with our 'extra-curricular activities'. But there are some that are just heavenly."
"Do you miss being here?" Maggie asked, and winced again. That's it, bring up all the bad stuff....
"Yes. I was really disappointed that I couldn't make it for Aisha's wedding." She opened her mouth as if to explain, then waved it off. "It was just impossible." She did sound disappointed.
"It was lovely," Maggie said. "I only made it out of pure... coincidence." She grinned at Tanya, who grinned back with a knowing look in her eyes.
"Coincidence," she said, and chuckled.
They spent the next twenty minutes talking music, exchanging ideas, and picking over the selection of cd's. Tanya checked her watch and said something about having to meet someone to go back to her hotel, and they parted on friendly terms, at least as far as Maggie was concerned. She hoped Tanya felt the same way. She remained there, a few cd's in her hands, looking over the selection of classical music when a familiar, old song started.
You need to give it up
Had about enough
It's not hard to see
The boy is mine....
I'm sorry that you
Seem to be confused
It's not hard to see
The boy is mine...
She tried to hold in the laughter, but by the second half of the chorus, she was laughing, in spite of how much it hurt. The pain didn't go away; finally, she dropped the cd's on the rack, not trying to catch them as they fell, and lowered herself to the floor. She leaned against the rack, but that didn't help either, and breathing was getting difficult. Finally, she got control and was about to answer the worried questions of the staff, when another line caught her attention:
What makes you think
That he wants you....
Suddenly, she was crying, not sure at first if it was the pain in her ribs or the whole emotional turmoil she'd been experiencing, then not caring as she sobbed into her friend's shoulder. She heard Tabitha talking to someone, and not long after that, she was lifted gently and carried from the store. She buried her face in whoever's shoulder it was, but couldn't stop crying. She was set into a car, handed off to someone else, and as they drove off, she began to regain control. She recognized Aisha's car before she closed her eyes and slept.
When she woke up, she was sore, too sore to even think about moving. The bed wasn't familiar, and there was no cat purring at her side. Finally, knowing it was going to hurt, she opened her eyes.
They burned from the tears, but focused easily on... nothing familiar. Nothing? There was a plaque on the wall, something about William Cranston. So that was who Tabitha had called. She sighed gently, and even that slight movement made her gasp in pain. "I hope I didn't do any damage," she mumbled, and struggled to get up.
It took her a long time, but she finally made it, and started for the door. Every step hurt, but she tried to focus past it, forcing her mind to think of other things, anything but the pain and the song she knew was running through her head.
"Are you okay?" Aisha asked gently from behind her, and Maggie had to keep herself from turning to look at her.
"Yeah, except for the head ache." And the heart ache, and my ribs hurt.... "I could do with about forty aspirin, to make the pain go away."
Aisha moved swiftly around her, concern in her dark eyes, and Maggie heard what she'd said. "Oh, no, that's not what I meant," she stuttered in horror, and gasped at the fire that burned through her ribs. "I mean, just to get rid of the outer hurts, the ribs and the head and the leg sometimes, too. For the inner hurts I have you guys." It hurt, talking so fast, and she tried to ease her breathing.
Aisha sighed in relief. "Okay. Aspirin I can give you, but not quite that many, if that's okay."
Maggie smiled. "No, about four ought to do it."
"Are you hungry?" Her voice echoed in the bathroom, and Maggie finally got her bearings straight.
"Yes, actually."
"Good." She reappeared and handed four small tablets to Maggie. "Let's get you something to eat."
The conversation in the kitchen stopped as they appeared in the doorway. "She's fine," Aisha grinned at the two sitting there. Maggie sat gingerly in a chair as Aisha found her something to eat, then she couldn't stand the looks she was getting from Tabitha. "I'm okay," she said, but not as forcefully as she would have liked. That would hurt too much. "I'm sore, but I'm okay."
"What happened?" Billy asked, concerned.
"Oh...." Maggie took a drink of water, then leaned back. "I met Tanya at the mall." She caught the multitude of exchanged glances and smiled. "No, she didn't beat me up," she said. "We actually had a good time together, and even shared an inside joke. She was really sorry she missed your wedding."
"Yes. She wrote," Billy said.
"Anyway, we went into the music store, because I knew I could get her to talk to me about music, and she helped me choose some. Then she had to leave. Just after she did, an old song came on, one of my favorites. It was rather appropriate, and I started laughing."
"Oops," Tabitha said.
"What song was it?" Aisha asked.
"From about ten or nine years ago, the duet by Brandy and Monica." She took a bite of her sandwich in order to distract herself a little. She didn't dare say the name of the song.
"The Boy is Mine?" Aisha asked, and her eyes widened. A giggle escaped her, and she covered her mouth with both hands. Tabitha groaned.
"Oh, great."
"Exactly. So, I started laughing, because it just couldn't get any better, and then Tabitha came in... And I've needed a good cry for a while, so I had one."
"In Musicland, in the mall," Tabitha added dryly.
"It's been waiting to happen," Maggie said a little defensively. "It was a little over the pain from laughing, but mostly over Adam." Tabitha touched her arm, and Maggie shifted uncomfortably. "Then I guess Tabitha called you guys, and I can only guess that Billy carried me out, because neither of you are strong enough. And I woke up in this bedroom I have never been in, and made Aisha think I wanted to commit suicide." She grinned at Aisha. "Sorry about that. I really wasn't thinking very clearly."
Aisha smiled. "That's okay. As long as it was a false alarm."
"It was, believe me." She took a drink of water. "Now it's time to move on, and find a car. Anyone got any ideas?"
Before anyone could answer, the phone rang. Aisha reached over and grabbed it. "Hello?" She froze, glanced around the room, then seemed to break out of the spell that held her. "Just a minute." She put the caller on hold, and hung up. "I'm going into the other room. Do not listen, or I will kill one and all of you." Then she left, almost at a run.
Billy leaned over and touched the Caller ID box, and grimaced. "She answered it too soon. I keep telling her to let it ring at least one more time," he muttered. Maggie smiled.
"You sound married."
"I am married," he protested, grinning, and Maggie opened her mouth to ask him how he and Aisha had kept in touch. Then she remembered Tabitha and closed it again.
"Yes. And it seems to fit you." She glanced around the kitchen, then thought of a question she could ask. "How did she like Africa?"
"Well enough, I think, but she prefers it here."
"Aisha was in Africa?" Tabitha asked.
"Yes. She moved there during our Senior year," Billy said with a haunted look in his eyes. "It was something she felt she had to do, and she did a lot of good. There was a huge problem; the animals were sick, and it had reached plague proportions. She helped find a cure for them."
"How long did it take her?"
"It took them almost fifteen years to find it, and she helped for the last six or so, I think she said. Then she just stayed, because she felt at home there."
"And you went and got her," Tabitha said.
Billy grinned. "Yes. We kept in touch, and I finally got too lonely and went and got her. It didn't take too much convincing for her to come back here; it was more of a battle to get her to let me get the Caller-ID she doesn't use because she doesn't let the phone ring long enough."
The subject of the conversation poked her head in the door. "I'm going for a walk. By myself." She looked and sounded angry. "I'll be back soon." She left before they could ask her anything, and Billy sighed.
"That is a bad sign," he said softly.
"How bad?" Maggie asked.
"She's angry at someone, I can only guess the person who called, doesn't want to talk about it, and has to get over the anger before she can face anyone." He smiled. "She can be cranky as a bear, sometimes."
"How cranky can bears get?" Tabitha asked, and Maggie grinned.
"If Aisha is any indication, very cranky," Billy said. "You'll let me know when you want to go home?"
Maggie nodded. "I think I'd better. I need some more sleep. I just hope I didn't damage these stupid ribs."
Billy nodded. "All right. Let me leave her a note, and I'll take you home."