Thanks to all my awesome reviewers! I admit, I was a little wary of what you might think, but I'm glad no-one's flamed me, as they always bring me down. You are all welcome to tell me what you didn't like about my story so I can improve it. Now, on with the story!

This is an alternate universe story. It revolves around the SPD rangers, but has appearances from Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder. None of the rangers are rangers in this story, if that makes any sense at all, except Jack and Sam (Omega Sam, older Sam, etc), who are both part of SPD. This story is T rated for mild swearing and mild sexual references. I've tried my best to work out pairings, but of course not all of them you'll be happy with. I've also now decided that Cam, Trent and the Thunder Rangers will make an appearance later on in the story.

Full Summary: Z Degaldo is hired by Tommy and Hailey Oliver to move into their huge townhouse and manage their kids, thirteen year old skater Shane, ten year old warrior pixie Tori and shy hole-in-the-head Dustin, aged eight. Z puts her relationship with her perfect on paper boyfriend of three years, Bridge Carson, on hold to take the job, but when Tommy's eldest son Sky turns up, Z finds herself torn between them and SPD ranger Jack Landors. Can she get herself out of this mess, with help from her new best friend, Sydney Drew, and with none whatsoever from her childhood friend Kira Ford, and her boyfriend Conner McKnight? Read on to find out!

The Nanny

By Jnr Cpl Scarlett

Chapter 2 – Goodbye For Now

Everything was packed. Her room had been turned upside down in the past two hours. Her parents were shocked, yet supportive. Z couldn't believe she'd be leaving her home town and heading for the busy New Tech City is less than an hour. Her suitcase was packed to the brim, bulging at the seams. Z gave a morose sigh and she slumped onto her bed, pulling her duvet close. Her teddy she was given at the age of two fell into her grasp. She held it close.

"Z, dear, you need to get to the station!" came a voice from downstairs. She heard footfalls on the stairs and the door pushed open, revealing her mother.

"Hey, mom," she muttered. Hilda sat down beside her daughter and wrapped her arms around her.

"Sweetheart, dad's ready to go. Are you?"

"Yeah." Z sat up and grabbed two more teddies, shoving them into her second suitcase. "I'm not going without them," she said forcefully, causing Hilda to smile warmly.

"Come on, Z, let's get your things in the car."

---

Bill, Hilda and Z arrived at the station with minutes to spare. The train was already there. Bridge and Conner stood on the platform, their faces brightening as Z and her parents rushed over to meet them. Conner took Z's bags from her and carried them onto the train. Bill and Hilda stepped back from Bridge and Z.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," whispered Z. Bridge took her hands in his.

"Never," he replied softly as he bought his lips to hers. They broke apart. "I love you, Z."

"I love you too. I'll be back."

Z embraced Conner and her parents.

"Take care, Elizabeth," Bill stuttered sadly.

"I will, dad. Love you."

Z boarded the train and sat in her window seat. She jumped as Bridge appeared on the other side of the glass. He pressed his hand against the window.

"I love you," he mouthed.

Z began to cry, but she put her hand on the glass, parallel with his. The train began to move. Bridge walked along with it, his hand still on the glass. As it picked up speed, the train left Bridge behind. He stopped at the end of the platform and stared after it. Z sat back in her seat and sighed.

It's not fair. Why do I have to leave him behind? Maybe it'll work out for the best. Maybe we're just not meant to be…

Z pushed a lock of her dark hair behind her ear, and decided to leave all her thoughts about Bridge behind. She was moving on; she needed a new life.

---

A few hours later, the train pulled into New Tech City Station. It was dark, raining slightly and chilly. Z pulled on her coat and gathered her luggage and stepped onto the wet platform. She stared around for a few minutes, trying to make out some of the figures in the dark.

"Are you Elizabeth Degaldo?" came a warm voice near in front of her.

"Yeah, that's me!" she called to the darkness. "Who are you?"

The figure strode towards her. A handsome, well built man with short, spiked hair in his mid-thirties shook her hand.

"I'm Tommy Oliver, your new employer, and your taxi driver for this evening." He grinned. He picked one of her suitcases and ushered her to follow him. He led her to a classy black sports car.

"You're not really a taxi driver, are you?" Z pondered with a small smile.

"Nah, I'm a scientist. I also do a tad of karate classes from time to time," he answered as he thrust Z's luggage into the boot. After starting the ignition, it took barely fifteen minutes to find Tommy's house.

Z stepped out of the car and felt her jaw drop. The house was huge. It looked like a small mansion. It had a turret and a balcony, windows the size of blackboards and a front door with a large brass knocker in the shape of a lion.

"Don't be too intimidated," Tommy said in his deep voice, "you'll find it has its perks."

Z nodded in a zombie-like fashion and followed him inside, still awe-struck by the sight.

The front hall was amazing. A huge mirror hung from the ceiling down to the floor, the floor was a light pine, the walls were white, and a spectacular chandelier hung from the ceiling, lighting the place up like a Christmas tree.

"This is fantastic!" Z exclaimed excitedly. A woman walked up to. She had wavy dark red hair and a good-natured face.

"Hello, Z, so nice to finally meet you," she said, shaking her hand, just like her husband did. She began to lead her into an enormous living room, complete with widescreen TV.

"I'm Hailey Oliver, and welcome to our home. I'm sure you'll find everything to your satisfaction. I promised the kids that as soon as you met them, they'd go to bed, so thank goodness you arrived before ten!"

Two children came hurrying into the room. One was male, with slightly darker skin than his father, and short cropped black hair. The other, obviously younger was female, with a sheet of blonde hair flying behind her. After them came a smaller boy with short brunette curls, sliding nervously along the floor.

"Kids, I'd like to present your new nanny, Z," introduced Tommy, pushing her forwards slightly.

Z took a good look at Tommy and Hailey's children. The eldest looked slightly moody, and the youngest looked shy. The only female looked rather vicious. She leapt forwards.

"Hi, I'm Tori," she declared. "I'm ten. I know I don't look it. Mommy says I look old for my age."

"I agree!" Z replied nervously. "You look at least thirteen."

"No, I'm thirteen," said the eldest in a harsh voice. "My name's Shane."

"Nice to meet you Shane. Tori; is that short for Victoria?"

Tori came in even closer.

"Never, ever, EVER call me Victoria or I swear I'll make your life hell!" she spat. Z took a step backwards.

"Now, now, Tori; where are your manners?" said Tommy through narrowed eyes. "Sorry about that. Now, this is Dustin, our youngest. He's eight. Say hello to your new nanny, Dustin."

The eight year old boy had large round puppy dog brown eyes.

"Hello," he whispered.

"Well, that's quite enough of that," Hailey cut in. "Kids, up to bed please. We need to show Z to her room."

The children, led by Tori ran upstairs as loudly as a herd of elephants.

"Come, Z, your room is up here."

Tommy and Hailey led Z up two flights of stairs, and then up a spiral staircase. Tommy opened a door, and they pushed her into the room.

It was furnished in a comfy, relaxing pale red and orange, complete with a widescreen TV with DVD and VHS, a flat screen PC, a double bed and an en suite. Z was gob smacked.

"This is…" she began, "…wow…"

"I'm glad you like it," grinned Tommy. "Right, your routine: You'll need to take the kids to school in the morning. We'll be giving you your own car, parked downstairs. They'll need breakfast, lunch and dinner when you pick them up. During the day there will be various chores to do, but nothing too exhausting. There's a shopping list taped to the fridge. Saturday will be your day off, but you will be on call in case anything comes up. We'll all be in church on Sunday. Evenings, after you've put the kids to bed, are yours, unless of course Hailey and I are out. Is that okay?"

"Yes, yes, that's fine, absolutely fine," Z gushed. "One question: the turret is split by a wall. Who lives on the other side?"

"Oh, we rent it out from time to time, but it's mostly a spare room for family," answered Hailey.

Z attempted to take all of this in and sat on her new bed, furnished in soft cotton. She gazed around the room and found the window. Walking gracefully over to it, she pulled back the curtain and looked outside.

She could see New Tech City, in all its Technicolor glory lit up against the black of the night. The view was breath-taking.

"Come on, dear, let's let Z get some sleep," said Tommy, leading his wife out of the room. They snapped the door silently shut behind them.

After a few moments in awe, Z fell back onto her bed, and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep, with Bridge still nagging at the corner of her mind.

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