Disclaimer: Buena Vista owns the Power Rangers. "Losing Grip" is by Avril Lavigne from her album, Let Go.
Timeline: after "Eye Of The Storm".
Author's Note: story! :) isn't it great to actually write something instead of just talking about it? thanks TJ, Red, Sugarplum, and Starhawk. :)
by Adrienne Sekitou
Everything wasn't okay
I was left to cry there
Waiting outside there
Grinning with a lost stare
That's when I decided…
Why should I care
'Cause you weren't there
When I was scared
I was so alone
He wasn't going to let Lothor get to him. He wasn't.
And he wasn't scared. Really.
Okay, he was scared. And he was ticked that Lothor's monster had made him admit it.
He'd done a good job of covering up his fear of falling before this. Or he thought he had. It had yet to make him too scared to try a jump. He'd been seriously freaked out before and after a jump. But it hadn't stopped him.
Yet. He didn't have the option of practicing with a foampit like professionals. So you know, falling kinda sucked. And hurt. A lot. But he loved freestyle too much to let his fear stop him for long.
So after all that fun today with the eyemonsterdude, he knew he shouldn't dwell or anything. He should get back out there and practice. And practice.
And practice. 'Till he couldn't remember the monster. Or that terrifying feeling of freefall. That feeling of knowing he would sooner rather than later hit the ground, probably with his bike on top of him.
And practice. 'Till he couldn't still hear Tori saying, "That's low. Even for Lothor."
'Cause it was low. Things had been getting way serious lately. Not like they hadn't been before. But now… Ever since that fishdude, Vexacus, had arrived really. Fights were way tougher now. And Marah had gotten quieter.
That probably bothered him the most. It was just very weird. Even as Marah and he got closer, it felt like she was hiding more. They still sought each other out all the time. And they talked about all sortsa things. But where in past they would occasionally joke about battles, now they hardly talked about them at all.
It had never been important to their relationship. That whole good and evil thing. But at least they could talk about it if they wanted. But now Marah had made it obvious that she so didn't want to talk about whatever went on on Lothor's ship. And it worried him.
But she wouldn't talk, he couldn't help, and he didn't have a clue what to do about it.
But he did know he had to get Lothor's monster out of his head. Which had led to where he was now. Sitting on his bike, staring at the dirt ramp in front of him. He'd been sitting there for like, close to an hour, and hadn't moved. Not even an inch closer to the ramp. It loomed over him, taunting. A few minutes ago he had actually started his bike. He'd made it that far.
So he just revved his engine. Again. It was getting late. Like now or never time if he was going to even jump at all.
He saw the movement before he heard anything. It was kinda hard to hear barking over his bike. Waldo was jumping around over in the grass at the bottom of a nearby hill.
He turned his head slightly, and sure enough, Marah was there. She wasn't looking at him. Or up. Or well, at anything really.
But she was there. Which was odd. She hadn't called him. And he hadn't contacted her. He hadn't known what to say. Even more than usual.
'Cause he just kept hearing Tori. "That's low. Even for Lothor." And he had been too busy repeating to himself, "It was Lothor's monster. It wasn't Marah's fault."
He turned away from Marah and gunned the engine. He could do this.
He took a deep breath and let go. And the bike took off, speeding for the ramp.
And up. And airborne.
As smoothly as he could, he brought his legs up between and through his arms, still clutching the handlebars tightly. He stretched his legs out wide, then quickly back together and back through his arms.
As he rediscovered his seat, his bike hit the ramp on the other side. He flew down it and hit level ground. He planted a foot and his bike fishtailed spectacularly, the back tire kicking up an impressive spray of dirt. Score.
He picked up his foot and rode slowly back to the first ramp. He glanced over at Marah. She hadn't moved.
He hadn't been showing off for her or anything. He'd been proving something to himself. But she was just sitting there. And something seemed very wrong.
He turned off his bike, telling himself that he really should go talk to her. He needed to talk to her. They weren't about good and evil. He wasn't going to take out his pain on her. She wasn't to blame for today's not-funness. It was Lothor's monster. It wasn't Marah's fault, he thought for the forty-seventh time that day. He knew. He'd counted.
He walked over to her, taking off his gloves as he went. Waldo greeted him enthusiastically as he neared. The puppy was getting bigger everyday. And he really liked Dustin. A lot. He transferred his gloves to one hand, and ruffled the dog's ears with the other. Waldo seemed content with that. He woofed at him, picked up his stuffed kelzac, and romped away, spinning around, thrashing the much-abused toy about in his mouth.
Marah still wasn't looking up. She just sat there, legs pulled up to her chest, chin on her knees, and arms wrapped around her legs. He sat down beside her, pulling off his helmet and setting it upside down at his feet. He threw his gloves in it one at a time, causing the helmet to tilt first one way, then the other.
He glanced her way, but no reaction.
She hadn't called. How'd she known he was there? He wondered how many of their usual places she had tried, or if she'd just come straight to the track. Was she even there to see him? Or just picking a place to mope? He just didn't know. 'Cause she looked sad, she wasn't talking, and he didn't know why she'd come.
"You look like your day sucked," he offered, reaching down and pulling caked-on mud off his boot.
Her eyes turned his way briefly. "It totally did. How about yours?"
It was Lothor's monster. It wasn't Marah's fault. Forty-eight. He shrugged. "I've had way better ones." He paused as he decided to try yet again to get her to tell him what was wrong up in space. 'Cause it looked like it was getting worse.
"Do you wanna talk about it?"
She shook her head, but contradicted herself with her words. "Dustin, you wouldn't ever laugh at someone, would you? Like they were the butt of some huge joke and they so didn't know?"
He had no idea where that had come from, but he answered as honestly as he could. "No way, dude. I've been there before, you know? And it's no fun."
But it seemed to satisfy her kinda, because she shook her head again and turned toward him, changing the subject before he could ask her what that was all about.
"How are you? I mean really? I totally missed the fight today, and I was worried about you when I heard about it."
"You missed it?" he asked, very concerned and slightly confused.
She lowered her head again, and he thought she might stop talking. But she took a breath and answered.
"Yeah. Kapri and I volunteered to help Uncle. But it turned out he just wanted someone to try out Eyesac's powers on-"
"He used that eyecreep on you?!" he exclaimed. It was Lothor's monster. It really wasn't Marah's fault. Forty-nine. He kicked himself immediately for his reaction. 'Cause from the way she jumped, she must have taken his reaction as anger at her.
"He didn't hurt you, did he?" she turned fearful eyes back to him.
"Uh, no," he stuttered. Not physically anyway. "He did kinda eat Hunter and Blake. But Tori and I got them back."
He reached out for her, and was happy that she didn't pull away. "Marah, are you really okay?"
His arm was around her shoulders as she shrugged. "Not really. But I will be." She hesitated and asked, "Can you stay a while?"
It was getting dark. He should have been home by now, and his parents would be wondering where he was.
"Of course. I'm not going anywhere."
They leaned back against the grassy hill, and she sighed, laying her head on his shoulder. It was silent for several minutes before she spoke again.
"Kapri's afraid of spiders."
"Really? So's Shane. They should talk."
"Somehow I don't think that's going to happen."
"Too bad."
Waldo ran up, dropping his stuffed kelzac. He sniffed them both then ran off again.
"He's not going to pee on my bike, is he?"
"Probably not," she said, then amended. "Maybe."
The stars were starting to come out. He was gonna be really late. And he was so gonna be in trouble. But he'd worry about that later.
'Cause he finally knew why'd she come. She didn't want to be alone tonight.
And neither did he.
I'm starting to slip
I'm losing my grip
And I'm in this thing alone
TBC