Disclaimer: Buena Vista owns the Power Rangers. "Mobile" is by Avril Lavigne from her album, Let Go.
Timeline: right before the end of "A Gem Of A Day".
Author's Note: surprise! getting near the end now. only 2 episodes left after this. thanks TJ (who can't read this right now), Red, Sugarplum, and Starhawk. :)
by Adrienne Sekitou
Went back home again
This sucks, gotta pack up and leave again
Say goodbye to all my friends
Can't say when I'll be there again
It's time now to turn around
Turn my back on everything
Everything…
Nothing was the same anymore. It was all different. Not that it'd been simple or ordinary before. But everything had changed, and he didn't know what to do about it.
Marah was gone. Her puppy, Waldo, left behind for Dustin to care for. But he had no idea when or if… no, when, she'd be coming back. She had to come back he figured. She just had to.
And it hadn't been easy. Explaining away the sudden appearance of a dog. Though he'd tried. But that wasn't his only problem.
Waldo liked Dustin a lot, but Marah just up and leaving him had thrown the young dog for a loop. He was suffering from a case of separation anxiety. Dustin hadn't wanted to leave him alone, so he'd taken him to the beach when he went to meet Tori and Shane. Waldo was a big hit. But the questions weren't exactly the easiest to answer.
"I'm just dogsitting for a friend."
"Dude, I know all your friends. And I've never seen that dog," Shane had answered.
"So, like doesn't that prove that you don't know all my friends?"
"Actually all it means is that he doesn't know all your friends' dogs," Tori explained.
"Whatever," Shane countered, with a wave of his hand. He had acted like he'd let it go, but he hadn't. Off and on for the rest of the morning he'd kept guessing whose dog Waldo was. Not that Dustin'd wanted to tell them the dog's name either.
"Waldo? His name is Waldo?" Shane had been completely disbelieving.
"What's wrong with Waldo?" Dustin had asked defensively.
Tori laughed, "Now you sound like your dad."
"Don't you think it's a little strange that this mysterious friend of yours has a dog named after you?"
"He's not named after me. He's just got the same name. That's like totally different." But he wasn't sure Shane was buying that either. Tori had taken pity on him though, and had successfully changed the subject.
It wasn't much later that they'd gotten the call from Cam. Dustin'd ninja streaked Waldo back to his house, then met the others at NinjaOps.
Then Cam had told them. And shown them. Zurgane was dead. That fishydude, Vexacus, had killed him. With a fan, no less. And Dustin had said something stupid.
"Isn't that a good thing? I mean, maybe they'll just keep fighting each other until no one's left."
There were times when he said things that he meant but didn't mean. Like, he meant them but not the way that people took them. People didn't understand him a lot of times.
'Cause to him, no one being left meant that Marah wouldn't feel like she had to stay anymore. Not that there would literally be no one left. Of course since the others didn't know about Marah and him, they would just assume he had meant everyone. Which he hadn't.
Zurgane was dead? That was like, kinda hard to believe. Even after he'd seen the tape. And here just days ago Dustin'd been thinking about how much he didn't want to fight him again. Guess he wouldn't have to, huh?
Sensei had said they needed to rescue the ninja students, and Dustin kept thinking that it would be great if they could get Marah and Kapri out too. And then Hunter had taken off. They found out later it was to get the shards of the Gem Of Souls.
After Hunter left, Dustin had asked Cam when it had happened. Zurgane dying that is. He had suspicions, but he needed to know for sure. Cam had looked at him strangely, but told him anyway. It was the day they'd fought Zurgane in the Zords.
Which was the day Marah had dropped off Waldo at his house.
And the last time he'd seen her.
And he didn't just mean their little private meetings. He meant at all. She hadn't shown up at any of the battles. And he was really worried.
He knew things were bad. Bad enough that she would send her puppy away to protect him. But she had refused to leave without Kapri. She'd also said she had no place else to go. Which was completely untrue. In his eyes anyway.
He knew he'd screwed up. He knew he shouldn't have pushed her to choose. But he couldn't help it. He wanted to know she was okay. And right now he just had no idea.
She wasn't answering any of his messages. He'd pinged her PAM several times the first few days after she left. Wanting to apologize, to see if he could help. Then he realized that maybe that wasn't such a good idea. If her PAM was going off all the time, it could be way suspicious. He didn't know how much trouble she would get in if they figured out she was in contact with him. But he knew it wouldn't be good.
So he was worried. He tried not to think about it. But yeah, okay, he did think about it. And he didn't know what else he could do.
So Cam had used the shards of the Gem Of Souls to go to Lothor's ship. But he hadn't been able to rescue the ninja students. Vexacus' monster had seen to that. Cam had to come back and help them in the Zord battle. Plus up on the ship there'd been the convenient attack by Lothor and several dozen kelzaks. Cam had needed back up, and with them in a losing Zord battle, they hadn't been able to give it. So he'd left and helped them instead.
Cam was back and safe. And he'd told them of finding the ninja students. But Dustin couldn't help but wonder what else, or who else, he might have seen while he was there.
They hadn't rescued the ninja students, but they could always try again when the DragonForce vehicle was repaired. Everyone had gone their separate ways then, Hunter stalking off, moody as ever, muttering about going for a ride.
Dustin had been the last to leave. Other than Cam at the mainframe, who was opening up the surveillance programs before he left himself. Headed slowly toward the steps, Dustin wondered if he dared to ask Cam what was on his mind. But he didn't have to.
"I didn't see her," Cam said suddenly, just as Dustin was about to leave. He was at the stairs when he heard him. But he was halfway up before he realized just what Cam had said.
He stopped and turned, but he could only see the base of the computer chair. He hesitantly stumbled back down a few steps till he could see Cam's face again, not quite sure he'd heard correctly. "What?"
"I didn't see her," he repeated. "I didn't see a lot of the ship though. So she could have been anywhere."
For months Dustin had wondered if Cam knew about Marah. He'd decided that he didn't. There was no way he could know about their friendship. But Dustin suspected that Cam more than anyone else saw just how 'hung up' he still was on Marah. Whether Cam chalked it up to Dustin's enduringly trusting nature or what, he just knew that Cam knew he cared.
And Cam was trying to help him. To put his mind at ease. Of course Cam would have noticed the sisters' recent absences from battles as well. And he had known Dustin would be worried. There was so much more to sarcastic, computer geek Cam than everyone thought.
He stared at Cam for several moments. Not sure what his answer would reveal. But he was going to say it anyway.
"Thanks."
He turned and left then, a small hopeful smile on his face. Headed for home and the anxious puppy waiting for him.
Life's a mobile
Spinning 'round with mixed feelings
Crazy and wild
Sometimes I wanna scream out loud
Everything's changing
Everywhere I go
All out of my control
TBC