AN/BN: Sorry for the long wait, I know we've kept you all on the edge of your seats This chapter starts fluffy and ends dramatic. Oh and it's longer than usual - enjoy
"Feeling better?" Kira asked Conner as she got back into the car.
"Of course, I feel like I could do anything in the world…now that I'm with you." Conner grinned as he gazed over at Kira.
"You know how corny that was, Mr. McKnight?" Kira asked, laughing her new boyfriend.
"Well, it's not my fault that I just got together with the smartest, most beautiful girl in the world."
"Oh, really? Who would that be?"
"You don't know her," he smirked.
"So why don't you tell me about her?"
"Hmm…alright…well you take every romantic movie, song and poem and you combine them all together. Then you add those cheesy Disney movies, and you wouldn't even come close to how breathtaking this girl is." He whispered, taking her hand.
"Wow," Kira blushed lightly. "She must be some girl."
"She's so much more then just some girl."
Kira laughed, smiling at her boyfriend. "When did you become to so sweet?"
He looked into her eyes, smiled and said "The moment I looked into your eyes, after you told me that you cared…Something happened that moment. I can't really explain it, but it was….magical." He told her, pulling back a little in slight embarrassment, hardly being able to believe the things he was saying.
"Well," Kira gave him a slightly seductive smile. "I like the sweet side of you." She leaned over and gave him a gentle kiss.
"I can get use to that." Conner said with a wide smile as he put the keys into the car.
"So can I, so can I." Kira slipped back into her own seat, smiling contentedly as they drove.
"No, Kira...Kira, no...Don't come to the hospital. That's right. Yeah, just meet us at the Hayley's."
"Are you sure, Jason?" He heard her speak into the phone.
"Yes I am. They're letting Alex out and then we're heading over. There's no point in you coming here. Everything is fine I promise."
Kira sighed. "If you say so, boss."
"I do. Plus I have something to tell you."
"What is it?"
Jason smiled as he heard the worry enter the young girl's voice. "I'm going to tell you at Hayley's. Stop worrying, it's not big deal."
"And this supposed no-big-deal is something that you can't tell me over the phone?"
"Well, what's the fun in that?"
"Funny, real funny." Kira rolled her eyes, yet smiled at Jason's antics. She sometimes wondered who the adults were and who the immature teenagers in their group were.
"What's funny?" Jason heard Conner asking Kira.
"Nothing, Conner." Kira answered, batting him away. "Eyes on the road!"
Jason laughed as he heard Conner sigh obnoxiously. "So how is Conner?" Jason asked, slightly concerned after hearing what the other rangers told them when they got to the hospital.
"Conner is fine." Kira happily told him.
"Conner is awesome." Conner yelled into the phone.
"Alright then Kira and Awesome Conner, I'll see you both soon." Jason answered back laughing.
"Bye Jason," Kira laughed back.
"Wait, don't hang up!" Conner input quickly.
"Hold on, Jase." Kira said into the phone and then looked at Conner, "What's up, Con?"
"I…just wanted to know" Conner pulled the car over and looked at Kira. "…if I could talk to Alex."
"Did you get that?" Kira asked into the phone.
"Yea, tell him to hold on." Was Jason's reply.
"Who was that?" Alex asked, glancing up as Jason walked back into the room.
"Kira and Conner. Kira says hi and Conner wants to talk to you" Jason passed the phone to Alex before leaving the room to give the boys privacy.
"Hey, Conner." Alex said.
"Hey, buddy. How are you holding up?" Conner asked, worry hidden underneath a confident voice.
"I'm fine. I just can't wait to get out of here." Alex laughed softly.
"That's good; you're too cool to be in a hospital room anyway."
Alex rolled his eyes but laughed along with Conner. "Thanks."
"So…you swear everything is ok?" The red ranger repeated, just to make sure.
"Yes, Conner, everything is fine. I swear." Alex smiled, hearing the worry in Conner's voice.
"So, I'll see you at Hayley's?"
"Yup."
"Do you need anything that I can stop and pick up or something?"
Alex rolled his eyes. "No, Daddy, I'm ok. I'll see you soon."
"See ya." Conner hung up the phone and handed it back to Kira with a grin, glad that Alex was ok.
"You know that you could have waited till you saw him to tell him that right?" Kira asked Conner, slipping her cell phone back into her pocket.
"I know….but…I wanted to make sure he's ok." Conner said as he turned on the car and got back onto the road.
"Conner," Kira glanced over at him. "You know that him getting hurt isn't your fault right?"
"I know," He sighed. "But part of me can't help but feeling guilty. I let my friend down. I'm supposed to be watching over him and I didn't. Alex and me, we've…"
"Alex and I" Kira corrected automatically..
Conner laughed. "Fine, Alex and I...we've gotten close since he's come here. We aren't best friends or anything, but we connect. We can talk about stuff, ya know? We can talk about our parents, like I tell him about my parent's divorce and he talks about parent's deaths. He tells me about his girl problems, I tell him about mine. I have no clue, why he even talks to me, I mean the kid is way smarter then I'll ever be." Conner laughed again. "But, for some reason, he trusts me. He's like the little brother I never had. I mean, not counting my brother, Eric, since he's all the way in Harbor Bay with my dad. I only see him a few times a year. But, Alex, he's right here and I feel like it's my job to look out for him…it's my job and I failed! I feel like I let him down. He got hurt because I wasn't watching him. I hate feeling like this, it just sucks." He sighed as he finished, looking over at her, eyes like those of a helpless puppy.
Kira reached her hand over, giving his shoulder a gentle massage. "Before I say anything else, Conner, I first have to say that I think that that is the most I have ever heard you say." She said causing them both to smile. "Second, I don't think Alex feels like you let him down and right now just be there for him whenever he needs it. I'm sure that's all he wants. You didn't let him down."
"I guess," Conner said, sounding unsure.
"You want to know something else?"
"What?" Conner looked over at his girlfriend.
"That was really sweet. The call and what you just said. It was kinda cute."
"Not as cute as you." Conner said, trying to hold down a blush.
Kira gave him a mockingly suspicious look. "Are you sure that you're not someone else pretending to be Conner McKnight? I mean, what happened to the stupid jock that I once knew?"
"I'm still a stupid jock!" Conner said defensively, not thinking before he spoke. "Wait…that's not what I meant…I'm not…you know what…nevermind."
"Conner McKnight, you are one of a kind." Kira told him in between her laughs.
Conner smirked, giving her cheek a kiss. "And proud of it, babe."
"Conner, how many times have I told you not to call me that?"
"They were worried about you." Jason said causing Alex to smile. It felt nice to have people worrying about him, as bad as that sounded.
"Well, I don't really blame them. I would worry about me too." Alex joked, flashing a cocky smile.
"Sounds like someone is feeling all better." Ethan piped in from where he was sitting in Alex's room. The group was all set to go; they were just waiting for Hayley and Kelly to come back from the bathroom. For some reason, that the men could not fathom, girls always went to the bathroom together.
"Speaking of how you're feeling…um…how are you feeling?" Trent asked, still worried.
"Fine. Not liking the cuts and bruises, but I think I'll live." Alex smiled at Trent, causing the other boy to smile back. "But to make sure that I'll live, Jason can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what's up?" Jason asked curiously.
"Can you give me give me marital arts lessons? I know that your dojo isn't going to open up for a few months, but I would like them soon, you know, if you can." Alex eyes moving from Jason to his folded hands. "It's just…I want to be prepared…in case…it happens….again." Alex added, half scared and half worried.
"Of coarse it's ok. We'll get started as soon as you want to." Jason smiled at the boy.
"Hi, I'm here to pick up, Julie Scott." Tommy said to the receptionist at Happy Smiles Daycare.
"And you are? Not anyone can just come and pick up a child, you know." The college student asked rudely.
"Thomas Oliver, I should be on the pick up form." He answered, still holding in place his smile, not wanting to be rude.
She sighed and popped her bubblegum. "Ok, let me check the files." She said walking very slowly to the file cabinet.
"Just take your sweet time." Tommy muttered, forcing himself not to tap his foot impatiently.
"You're right." She sounded annoyed by this fact. "Your name is the list; you may go in and pick up your child." She added, emotionlessly.
"Ohh, thanks." Tommy turned and walked into the next room.
An instant after he entered he heard, "TOMMY!"
He looked down and laughed at the little girl who had attacked his legs once he had walked in. "Hey, Julies." He said, leaning down. "Ready to go home?"
She nodded excitedly, pigtails bouncing as she ran over to get her things together. Tommy smiled and waited silently at the door, glancing around the room. His smile took on a wistful quality as he watched the little children playing in their groups. The vision blurred as he became lost in his own world. As he thought of his future, of being married and being a father to a bunch of children.
His daydream was interrupted by a tugging at his pant leg. "Tommy, I'm ready." Julie said proudly, a small pink book bag now on her back.
"Then off we go!" Tommy said, picking her up in a quick fluid motion that drew giggles out of the little girl.
"Well, he looks much better." Ethan commented as he walked into Hayley's and saw his best friend.
"Better? Was something wrong with him before?" Alex wondered as he came in behind Trent and Ethan.
Trent glanced behind him at Alex. "He sort of freaked out when you got hurt."
"He did?" Alex's eyes widened in slight shock. To him, Conner McKnight was the type of guy that didn't get scared. It was so strange to think that Conner had been worried. Even more so, that he, Alex, was the reason.
"Don't look so surprised, kiddo." Kelly him put her hand on his shoulder, causing Alex to jump, forgetting she was behind him.
"I'm…not" Alex replied weakly, looking up at her before looking back to Conner.
"Come on, slow pokes!" Trent said with a laugh as he pushed Kelly and Alex towards Conner and Kira, Ethan following with a grin. The four of them walked over to the table laughing the entire way. They reached the table without Conner or Kira noticing their existence. Ethan smirked as he let a loud coughing sound to get their attention.
The pair jumped and spun around. "Oh, hey!" Conner said sheepishly. "How long have you been standing there?" he asked, looking up at his friends.
"Oh, not that long. Just like the past hour or so." Ethan joked.
"Ha ha ha, very funny, Ethan." Kira glared at the blue ranger.
"Why, thank you, very much." He replied, complete with a bow and imitation of Elvis' voice. The combination caused everyone to laugh.
As the laughing died down and the group took their seats, Alex looked at Kelly and asked "Are you sure they aren't going out?" in a semi-whisper that everyone could hear.
"Yes, I'm sure. Conner and Kira are not going out." Kelly sighed, tired of answering this same question every day at school from various classmates.
At her words, Conner and Kira looked at each other and broke into laughter. The others sent confused glances to their team mates before looking back to the laughing couple.
"It's not that funny, you guys. Are the two of you ok?" Trent asked, slightly confused.
"Oh, I think that they are just fine." Jason said, walking in the room with a knowing look on his face.
"And how do you know?" Kelly asked, a curious sparkle in her eyes.
"Well, for one, the fact that the two of them are holding hands." Conner and Kira looked down at their hands on the table realizing that they never let go. They quickly let go and started to turn redder than Conner's power ranger suit.
"So Jason, when did you get here?" Kira asked, pointedly ignoring his comment.
"Just now." Jason began. "I would've been here sooner but I was parking the car. The problem was that I couldn't find a parking space. So I had to park all the way at the end of the street. Did you know that it's really cold outside? I felt like I was going to freeze walking here. But I guess you wouldn't know, since apparently, it's much hotter in here." He smirked, resulting in the rest of the, still confused, teens to laugh.
"So….what's goin on you two?" Trent asked the couple, clearly wanting to know what was going between the two of them. His eyebrow arched as a smirk began to make its way onto his face.
"Well..." Conner started, glancing at his girlfriend.
"Conner and I…we're…" Kira continued slowly.
Kelly gasped and leapt from her seat. "Oh my god!"
Kira blushed and laughed as Kelly ran over and grabbed her hands.
"You mean..." Kelly began.
Kira nodded. "Yea!"
"So you guys..."
"We are."
"After..."
"I know!"
"Can you..."
"No I can't!"
"This is..."
"Awesome, I know!"
Kelly let out an excited squeal before pouncing on Kira and giving her a tight hug. Kira laughed, hugging her friend back.
Ethan cleared his throat. "Well...since I don't speak girl very well-"
"Yeah, you only speak geek." Conner interrupted with a smirk.
"Haha." Ethan rolled his eyes, smiling at his friend. "Funny, Red. But enough about me, more about you…and your…girlfriend?" He asked.
Conner took Kira's hand and nodded. "Yup, that's right boys – she's off the market, she's mine."
Laughter and congratulations followed his words, along with Jason muttering "finally!"
Alex laughed at Jason's words before looking at the couple. "So...how did it happen?" He wondered. As he looked at them Alex felt some hope enter him. He had watched his friends flirt and date and find love and he always felt a little left out, why couldn't he have that? But now that these two had finally found each other, Alex felt like maybe that could be him in a while.
Aside from feeling hope he also felt happy, happy for Conner. He had never told anyone, but he looked up to Conner. He hadn't even told Conner, but he thought of the red ranger as a big brother. The others were great as well, of course! Ethan was a good friend who Alex could always joke around with. Trent was a good friend too, ignoring their little spat at their first meeting. Kira and Kelly were great, but they were girls. Just watching them giggle, more so from Kelly, and whisper now had him confident that he couldn't ever talk about boy stuff with either of them. But with Conner, there was something special. Even if the soccer player was an airhead at times, Alex felt like he could look up to the older boy because Conner was always there to listen.
Conner shrugged. "It just sort of did." He said with a laugh. "One minute we're talking and looking at the sunset."
"How romantic." Kelly whispered to Kira.
"And," Conner continued, not having heard anything. "The next thing we knew…we were kissing..."
"It was… Perfect." Kira put in, having no other way to explain the fairytale moment.
Trent smiled, he too was happy for the couple. It may seem weird to some, that he was happy that his ex-girlfriend and his friend were dating. But he was. He cared about them both so much and had watched them flirting with each other for way too long. It was about time they got together. "I'm so happy for you guys." The white ranger finally said, running his fingers through his hair before setting his hand down on Kelly's shoulder, now that she was seated next to Kira. The two shared a brief look before smiling and looking away. "We all are." He added confidently.
Ethan nodded, leaning back in his chair. "So while all of us were in the hospital visiting the poor beaten Alex..."
"Hey!" Alex interjected indignantly, folding his arms and pouting mockingly.
Ethan smirked and continued, ignoring the comment. "So as I was saying, while we were visiting the poor beaten Alex, you two were off conoddling and being David Beckham and - "
Kira glared daggers at Ethan. "If you finish that sentence I swear, Ethan, I'll..."
The group burst into laughter, cutting off Kira's threat to the blue ranger.
Kelly stood up. "I have to go to the bathroom. You coming, Kira?"
"Yea, sure." Kira stood up, giving Conner's hair a playful tug before she went off with the pink ranger towards the girl's room.
Conner sighed softly, a dreamy look on his face as he watched his girl go off.
"See ya, Posh!" Ethan shouted, earning a dirty look from Kira before Kelly dragged her into the bathroom.
"Oh you will pay for that, Ethan." Conner told his best friend.
Ethan laughed. "Please, you are gonna make me pay Mister," He batted his eye lashes and took on a girly voice. " 'It was magical!' "
Conner gave Ethan's arm a punch. "No." He said with a gentle glare. "But that sexy and beautiful girlfriend of mine will." He added with a smirk.
"Traitor." Ethan hissed, rubbing his arm.
"Whipped traitor." Jason added, earning a blush and a glare from the red ranger.
"I am not whipped." Conner muttered.
Jason laughed, looking over to the door. "I wonder what Kira's telling Kelly about you."
"Huh?" Conner's face screamed confusion.
Jason cracked up laughing. "You didn't think they actually had to pee did you? Oh, Conner. You have so much to learn." Conner still looked bemused, after all why would someone go to the bathroom if they didn't have to pee?
The group laughed until they were interrupted by Hayley coming in through the back door, carrying a bunch of boxes. Trent stood up quickly, unable to stop his gentleman instincts. "I'm gonna go give her a hand before she hurts herself." He said with a smile before walking over to his boss.
Conner nodded and watched the white ranger take off. Conner loved that about his friend, how willing Trent always was to help anyone in need.
"It's 6:45." Alex's words interrupted Conner's thoughts. "Jay, I thought you were going to meet Kim?" He asked in confusion.
"Oh...right...that…um." Jason stood up. "Yeah, I'm not going….Anyone else want something to drink? No. Well I need a root beer." With that Jason took off and slipped behind the counter to get himself a drink.
"Hey!" Ethan got up and chased down the former ranger, Alex moved to follow but Conner grabbed his arm.
"Alex wait.." Conner began. "Don't think I forgot about you." He motioned for Alex to take the seat across from him.
"Forgot?" Alex took the seat, looking confused.
"You know…you passing out…the pier…getting attacked…that stuff..."
"Oh...that." Alex looked down, cheeks reddening.
"Alex, no, don't be ashamed. It wasn't your fault. Those things are crazy strong! And there were like a gazillion of them! I even had trouble fighting them all off." Conner admitted honestly.
"Conner…it is pretty embarrassing…when all of you guys could handle things and I was the only one who couldn't." Alex sighed, head hung low.
"Alex..." At times like these Conner hated hiding his secret. It would be so much easier to just say 'well we're the power rangers, we deal with this every day!' rather than making up other things to say. "We've all had some physical training before. I've done soccer since I could walk. Kira did karate when she was younger, something about her parents wanting her to socialize with someone her age. Ethan was being bullied so he had personal lessons from Dr. O and Jason. When Kelly found out she decided it would be fun to learn too. Kim's a World Famous Gymnast. And Trent's just crazy!" He added, giving an insane edge to his voice when he said the last bit, earning a laugh from Alex. Conner smiled and continued. "Even with all that, we wouldn't have lasted too much longer if those Power Rangers hadn't shown up. So don't think that any of us think any less of you. If anything, we're proud of you and we all look up to you for putting up a good fight. I promise."
"Really? You promise?" Alex looked over at his friend, his mentor.
Conner smiled and nodded. "Yup I promise…besides." He looked away. "If this is anyone's fault…it was my fault. I should have watched out for you…I'm so sorry."
Alex shook his head violently. "No, Conner. This wasn't your fault at all. It wasn't anyone's fault. You were busy defending yourself."
Conner opened his mouth to say how it was his job to protect others not himself when Alex reached over and hit him over the head. "Ow!" Conner looked up in surprise and grabbed his head.
Alex sighed. "I'm sorry but you needed that. This wasn't anyone's fault, especially not yours."
Conner smiled. "Ok. So...we're good now?"
Alex laughed. "We were never bad."
Conner stood up, ruffling Alex's hair. "Come on, let's go find out what Jason has planned." The red ranger turned and Alex followed as they walked over and took a stool each at the bar where Jason and Ethan were talking.
"So what did you mean, you're not meeting Kim?" Conner asked.
"You're not meeting Kim?" Kelly and Kira asked in union as they approached the bar.
Jason sighed and shook his head. "Well….no" He smiled as he saw each teen hanging on his every word. "I felt bad that your plan was ruined, so...I came up with my own." The teens smiled approvingly. "Kim's going to meet me Tommy's house, which she believes is my house. The thing is that I won't be there...but Tommy will." A few gasps sounded from the group. "It could be either really good or really bad; we'll have to wait to find out."
Kelly looked ready to hug Jason. "That's so sneaky!" She exclaimed, obvious pride in her eyes.
Jason laughed, turning as Trent walked in and asked, "Wait...so you aren't going back at all?" He apparently had been listening from the back.
"Oh I'll go back," Jason assured. "Around midnight." He added with a grin.
Kira shook her head. "They are going to kill you."
Jason smirked. "And you're all going down with me."
Tommy hummed softly, scooping out vanilla ice cream into a Disney princess bowl for Julie. He lifted his head, hearing the soft 'ding-dong' of the doorbell. "Julie," He called out softy. "Go ask who it is, but don't open the door. Just tell them I'll be right there."
Julie, who had been quietly watching cartoons in the other room, got up and nodded. She skipped happily into the hall, pausing when she noticed the open door and the confused woman standing in the doorway. "Hi!" She piped up in a perky voice. "I'm Julie, who are you? I think I know you but I don't know your name."
The woman smiled, reaching out to shake the little girl's hand. "Hey Julie, my name is Kimberly, but you can call me Kim. You met me once before, but you probably don't remember, you were only three years old at the time and look at you now, such a lovely young lady."
The young girl smiled. "Thank you, Miss Kim….Oh!" She suddenly looked very excited. "I saw you in a picture!"
"Your daddy has a picture of me?" Kim asked with a smile.
Julie shook her head. "No, not my daddy-" She opened her mouth to reveal the name when she was interrupted.
"Julie, good lord, how many times have I told you?" Tommy said, walking into the hall, sounding slightly stern. "You don't open the door for anyone, that's just plain dangerous. It's like getting into a car with a stranger."
The young girl rolled her eyes. "But Uncle Tommy, the door was already open!" She insisted.
"Tommy." Kim whispered, gasping softly as she looked at the man in front of her.
The man in question looked at their guest for the first time and stumbled backwards. "Kim..."
For a while the two just stood like that, frozen in time, staring blankly at each other. Their breaths were silent, yet their hearts were beating a hundred miles an hour. Julie cleared her throat to break the awkward silence. "So...can Miss Kim stay for ice cream?"
AN: So this is my 1st chapter in like 2 years. I'm so sorry that it took so long. It got lost in the many things that happened in my life. I will finish this. I promise, if it's the last thing I do. So, I don't know own Power Rangers. Disney does. The Beckman quote is from a PRDT episode. I hope you liked this chapter. I love the Kira/Conner part. I decided to give Conner and Alex a brother-type relationship I have no clue why. I guess it felt right after he freaked out last chapter. It would explain more about it and I wanted to show more of Conner in a caring light, that didn't have to do with Kira. Preview for next chapter: Tommy&Kim, Jason&Ethan comparing notes, definitely a Trent/Kelly scene, Conner&Devon talk and Hayley&Alex reflect that day (Cause the past chapters And the next one have all been the same day.) Wow, I'm writing a lot. Let me stop now.
BN: Here we are Sorry for the wait, I think this chapter is worth it. Then again I'm biased. To our reviewers thank you to LightTigher86, redandblack4eva, Silver Warrior, dude..where my car, magicgirl45852, and DTDragonRanger. Keep reviewing; it encourages us to trudge on.