[Title] Have A Little Faith In Me
[Author] Alexandra Oliver
[E-Mail] crazyrangerfan@yahoo.com
[Genre] Drama
[Rating] PG or PG-13
[Timeline] Right after the previous chapter
[Disclaimer] I do NOT own Power Rangers or any of the characters except for Paige Adams. I also do not own the song Fell In Love With A Boy by Joss Stone.
[Summary] Marah's betrayal has a lasting effect on the Yellow Wind Ranger. Will an old friend of the Bradleys be able to break through the walls Dustin built around his heart and prove herself worthy of his trust?
[Author's Note] All About Beevil is my favorite episode of Power Rangers Ninja Storm and I've seen it plenty of times. Dustin is my favorite Ranger too. Hmmm, yeah! I decided to write like a crazy madwoman so enjoy!
*****NO flames, just constructive criticism, please. I'm always open to suggestions but I ignore senseless bashing. I believe writing is an art and should be respected no matter what.
[Chapter 5] Getting To Know You
Blake and Tori were sitting on the beach, contemplating the fate of their best friends. They were very concerned that Paige and Dustin would end up killing each other before the weekend was done.
"I think Dustin's still creeped out about Paige's Talent," Tori told Blake, "I'm not sure it's a good idea for them to spend a weekend together just the two of them."
"Hunter told me about his last conversation with Paige," Blake said, "I think her powers are getting a bit unstable. Her telempathy's messing with her head. If she doesn't get a good hold on it, Dustin could suffer the aftereffects of her random projections."
"Are you saying she could inadvertantly control Dustin's emotions?" Tori looked shocked at Blake's revelation.
"She would never purposely use her Talent for her own personal gain or to harm anyone," Blake told her, "It's just that it seems as though Dustin has an effect on her that she can't explain, at least according to Hunter."
"Do you think they'll be all right for the weekend?" Tori asked.
"Honestly, I'm not all that sure," Blake answered, "I guess it all depends on Paige's ability to get a firm grip on her Talent."
Tori smiled faintly as she stood up and went to catch a few waves. Blake hoped that for her sake and Dustin's, Paige would manage to get her Talent in check and keep it that way.
~*~_*_~*~
With the moon roof opened and the stereo pumped up with her favorite music, Paige drove while Dustin sat back on the passenger's seat, relaxing as he looked out the window, grinning at Paige's singing from time to time.
"Fell in love with a boy...fell in love once and almost completely...he's in love with the world...and sometimes these feelings can be so misleading...he turns, he says 'are you all right?'...oh I must fine 'coz my heart's still beating...come and kiss me by the riverside...Sarah says it's cool, she don't consider it cheating..."
Dustin interrupted Paige's singing and said, "That's cute."
"Thank you," Paige said politely, "If you must know, I am the karaoke queen of the Adams family."
"The Adams family started when..."
With one hand on the steering wheel, Paige swung her right hand at Dustin and nailed his shoulder before he could finished the line of the song that Paige was all too familiar with.
"Ow...I guess I had that one coming!"
Chuckling, Paige just put her right hand back on the steering wheel. For a while the car grew silent as Joss Stone's voice faded away. The redhead turned the radio off and continued to drive.
"Thanks for being honest with me earlier," Paige said quietly, "I thought it was a bad idea for you to come with me...but I was wrong."
"I have to admit, I was a bit weirded out by the idea that you have the power to control people's emotions...but now that I took the chance to get to know you, I'm starting to see that that the Talent is only as scary as the person who has it."
"Well, thank you! I'm glad you think I'm scary!"
"That's not what I meant, Paige..."
"I know...I'm just playing with you."
"So you and Blake...are you guys really close?"
"He and I are close friends, practically like siblings, I assure you. I'm single if that's what you want to know."
"Good..."
"Why do you wanna know?"
"I shouldn't say but...Tori kinda has a crush on Blake."
Paige kept her eyes straight ahead on the road so that Dustin wouldn't be able to see the look of disappointment in her eyes. She stopped speaking for a moment.
"Hey, what's on your mind?" Dustin's voice broke through her thoughts, "Was it something I said?"
Paige shook her head. "Nothing you should worry about."
~*~_*_~*~
Shane and Hunter were sitting on the couch in the lounge at Storm Chargers. Shane was watching a skateboarding video while Hunter had his nose behind a motocross magazine.
"You're kinda quiet," Shane commented.
Hunter put his magazine down on his lap and replied, "Well, you know how Dustin is around Paige. I'm just worried about them taking a trip together."
"You know more than you're telling." Shane raised his left eyebrow at Hunter.
"It's nothing to be too concerned about," Hunter told him, "It's just that..."
"What? C'mon, Hunter! Out with it!" Shane prompted his friend, "What's going on?"
"I have a feeling that there's more going on with Paige's Talent but I'm not sure what exactly," Hunter explained, "It's more of a vibe than anything."
Shane nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I'm worried about Dustin too. You think they'll kill each other before they get back?"
"Hopefully, Paige won't go off the deep end," Hunter replied with a smirk.
Shane glanced at his morpher when it beeped and said, "C'mon, let's go!"
Hunter led Shane out of Storm Chargers through the back door and hid by the back entrance behind the delivery truck.
"Go for Shane!" Shane said into his morpher, "What's up?"
"We have a situation downtown," Cam said, "I've already told Blake and Tori. I'll see you guys there."
"Right!" Hunter said.
Shane nodded at Hunter then they took off.
~*~_*_~*~
"Hey, park over there; you look like you could use a break."
After four hours of driving, Paige wasn't tired at all but she humored Dustin and parked in the parking lot by an empty beach. "Okay, why did I park here?"
Dustin grinned at Paige and said, "We're taking a break from the road. C'mon, Sensei said we had the weekend so let's make the best of it. We could hang out on the beach and get to know each other better..."
"Okay, what's with the sudden turnaround, Dustin?" Paige asked with a slight smile, "I thought there were still some trust issues..."
"Maybe your energy's just so contaigious," Dustin replied, "That and I decided you were worth taking a chance on. You seem cool..."
"Okay, I'll bite," Paige told him, "We'll chill out here for a bit...but we gotta get out there tonight and set up camp."
"Cool," Dustin said as he got out of the car.
Paige watched as her curly-haired companion took his yellow t-shirt off to reveal a slightly tanned chest. She got out of the car as he took his shirt and put it in the trunk.
"Are you ready for a swim?" Dustin said with a mischivious sparkle in his eyes as he pulled out a towel from his bag.
As she pulled out her own towel, Paige told him jokingly, "I'm sorry but I'm not the kind of girl that'll get undressed at the drop of a hat."
"Too bad," Dustin said playfully as he walked towards the beach, "I thought you were the carefree one!"
Paige slammed the trunk shut and followed Dustin.
"Well? Are you going to join me for a swim?" Dustin asked once they had chosen a spot on the sand to put their towels down on. Paige went to take off her shirt but Dustin stopped her. "Whoa! I never asked you to..."
"Get naked? Nah, I've got a suit underneath." Paige chuckled as she put her yellow tank top on her towel and took off her white flowery skirt to reveal her tight yellow tankini bathing suit.
"Always ready for whatever, huh?" Dustin commented, shaking his head.
"I always am," Paige replied.
Dustin headed towards the water but stopped when he realized that Paige hadn't followed him. He went back to where she was still standing on her towel, a little dazed.
"Are you okay?" Dustin asked her, concerned.
The pain was so intense that Paige couldn't answer. She nodded as she buried her face into her hands to hide her expression of sheer agony.
"No, you're not...is this from when you took that hit for me? Were you badly hurt?" Dustin asked.
Paige shook her head but when Dustin pulled her hands off her face, he could clearly she was in a bit of pain. Dustin wrapped his arms around Paige in an attempt to comfort her.
Paige had never experienced pain that intense in her life. She tried to reassure Dustin that she was okay but not a single sound could come out. Before she knew it, she felt her legs give in.
Dustin caught Paige before she hit the sand. He sat down and held the redhead in his arms, waiting for her to wake up.
About five minutes later, Paige opened her green eyes and focused in on Dustin's hazel eyes.
"Are you okay?" Dustin asked as he helped Paige sit up.
Paige nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine...we should really go."
"No, I'm not gonna let you drive until I know you're all right."
"I'm fine...we need to get out to the Cave Of Destiny before dark." By using a serious tone of voice, Paige hoped that Dustin would get the message.
Dustin's expression was filled with worry but he didn't argue with her. "As long as you feel you're up to it. I just wish I could drive so that you could relax a little more."
"Don't worry about," Paige said, flashing Dustin a bright confident smile, "I can make it the rest of the way through. Trust me, all right?"
"For the first time since our first encounter, I might actually just do that," Dustin replied, smiling back at Paige.
~*~_*_~*~
As the day turned to night, Hunter and Blake plopped onto the ground while Shane and Tori sat the table and Cam sat on the leather chair at the computer, facing his teammates.
"Man, Lothor doesn't know when to give up!" Shane exclaimed.
With a mischivious smile, Blake said, "Hey, you think we could use the supercomputer to spy on Dustin and Paige?"
"Yes, but we can't use the supercomputer for our own personal entertainment," Cam said sternly, "Besides, even if we did see the two of them in trouble, we couldn't go save them. Paige has to save the Eagle Zord on her own. Besides, she's got Dustin watching her back. She'll be fine."
"You're right, but don't you wanna take a little peek?" Tori asked Cam, "Are you the least bit curious?"
Without saying another word, Cam turned his chair around, activated the supercomputer and traced Dustin's signal. The other Rangers gathered around Cam to see what he managed to get on-screen, which was a picture of Paige and Dustin sitting in her Mini Cooper, their seats fully reclined and the moon roof completely opened. They had been watching the sunset.
"They seem to be getting along," Hunter commented.
"She looks sane to me," Shane chimed in.
"How about getting some sound?" Blake asked Cam.
"Sorry, I can't, it's only a visual signal," Cam said.
Tori grinned. "Is it just me or is Dustin shirtless?"
"You think...?" Blake began to say.
"Nah!" the other four Rangers said in unison.
Cam turned off the visual as Paige tossed a yellow t-shirt at Dustin. "Okay, that's enough, you guys. Go home."
The Wind and Thunder Rangers walked out of Ninja Ops, talking about Dustin and Paige. As soon as the coast was clear, Cam reactivated the visual.
"I always had a thing for reality TV," the Green Samurai Ranger thought to himself as he watched Paige driving with Dustin next to her.
~*~_*_~*~
Hours later, Paige parked the car right before the path leading towards Mount Kawasaki.
"Looks like we gotta walk the rest of the way," Paige said with a smile, "According to the map, it's about a mile from here."
"You think we could use our Ninja powers?" Dustin suggested.
Paige nodded. She counted down from 3 to 1 and streaked off, followed by Dustin. They ended up right at their destination. They dropped their bags and began to set up camp.
"You think I'm ready for what's inside that cave?" Paige asked after they had settled in and were sitting around the fire.
As Dustin roasted the marshmallow at the end of his stick, he replied, "Yeah, I don't just think you're ready, I know you're ready."
Paige smiled as Dustin put a S'more together and handed it to her. "Thanks."
"I used the chocolate you gave me," Dustin explained.
Paige grinned as she ate. Dustin had changed in the past two days and she was thrilled. She sensed he was still a little nervous but for the first time, she felt they could get past anything.
"So, tell me, Dustin, what's your deepest darkest secret?"
Dustin smiled. "Oh wouldn't you like to know?" he said teasingly.
"Actually, I would," Paige said firmly, "C'mon...you say you trust me but...a part of you's still afraid. You said you'd tell me what's going on so tell me."
"But that's...please don't make me do this..."
Paige scooted over and put her left hand on his right leg. "It's just the two of us...c'mon, tell me...what's going on? What can I do to help you? I know you're in pain."
"Listen, you're the one who needs my help right now. Can we talk about this later?"
"Listen, I care...a lot...so talk to me."
"Why are you insisting on me talking right now?"
Paige replied, "I don't know...I have this weird feeling that you're in trouble...or that you will be soon..."
"I'm a Power Ranger, I can handle it," Dustin said, "Trust me."
After spending some time talking to each other about family, friends and life in general, Paige glanced at her watch. "10 o'clock already? I think I'm gonna turn in."
Dustin nodded. "I'll just put out the fire and I'll be right in." After a few minutes sitting by the fire, he put it out and went into the tent.
Inside the tent, Dustin unrolled his sleeping bag and got settled in. He glanced at the back of Paige's head and gently ran his finger through her red hair. Whether she was asleep or not, he couldn't tell because she was lying on her side but he decided not to find out. Instead, he listened to the sounds of the breathing filling the tent.
Paige a light gentle touch go from the ends of her hair all the way to the roots. She didn't move. She also listened to the breathing in the tent and she thought back to the first time they had stopped on the trip. It had been Dustin's idea to stop on an empty beach to go for a swim and she felt up to it until the intense headache took over. She replayed the event over and over in her head until her eyelids closed in on her and all she saw was black.