Chapter seventeen of "Psycho Tale". Funny. Fifteen people has this story on alert and I only from seven or eight of 'em. :-)

I keep uploading chappies and stories 'cause I really haven't had much else to do lately. We all know that that happens sometimes. (shrugs)

Anyway, on with the story. I've kinda sped things up once again.

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(May- 2nd Week)

(Friday)

It was now three months later and all was still happy and relatively calm as far as the former rangers were concerned. Tanya was five months pregnant, Zack and Trini had become Mr. and Mrs. Taylor a month earlier and Kat and Billy'd gotten engaged a week earlier. Kim and Aisha were thrilled to be planning yet another wedding so soon.

Anyway, on this particular evening, Jason and Kim were in his apartment- playing video games! They'd wanted to stay in and have mindless, silly fun. Once a week, they played video games together and/or board games and, sometimes, cards. Anyhow, at the moment, they were playing a racing game.

"Better watch it, Scott! I'm gaining on ya!" Kim said happily, leaning forward.

"Don't get too excited, Hart! I've got this game in the bag," Jason said, grinning.

"Keep that confidence. It makes you even cuter," Kim said, her eyes dancing. There was once a time when no one could get her near a video game. But, she was actually okay with them now. And she really liked playing them with Jason.

"Hilarious. Take up comedy," he said dryly. "Wait a sec. Uh-uh. No way am I losing to a girl."

She giggled. "Victory's gonna be so sweet!"

"Yeah. I'm gonna love the taste of it," he said, nodding.

"Face it, Rex. You're going down," she said, a determined expression on her pretty face. "We're about to see who's the greatest around here."

"It's good to have dreams, Pinky. Shoot for the stars," he said.

"Now who's the comedian?" she said wryly.

Several minutes later, Jason won the game- but just barely. Kim smirked at her boyfriend.

"I decided to let you have it since I'm such a sweetheart of a girl," she said.

"If that helps ya sleep at night, then, I'm all for it," he said. "Now, as my reward for winning..." He pulled her to him and began tickling her mercilessly. She instantly began shrieking with laughter. The former pink ranger tried desperately to "escape."

"Jase! Stop it! If you don't cut it out right now, I'm gonna..." her voice trailed off into giggles.

"Gonna what, Firebird? Whatcha gonna do? Huh, huh, huh?" he said in a mock taunting tone as he continued to tickle his girlfriend. Tears of laughter sprang to her eyes as she squirmed and writhed frantically.

Jason ended the torment a couple minutes later and watched as Kim- who was laying back in his arms- wiped away the tears. A smile curved his mouth.

"What are you grinning about? You better not start tickling me again. I'm warning you," she said in a mock threatening tone.

He laughed and shook his head. "Don't worry. You're safe from the tickle monster. I was just... thinking of how I landed the most beautiful woman in the universe," he said, looking into her eyes.

Kim grinned as tingles danced joyfully up her spine. "You will just never stop getting sweeter and sweeter, will you?"

"Nope, I'm cursed," he quipped- causing her to laugh. "I'm a little thirsty. You want anything, angel?"

"No, thanks, I'm good," she said, sitting up straight. "Wait. I take that back. I do want something."

"Name it," he said, looking at her.

In reply, she leaned in and kissed him deeply.

He cleared his throat when it ended and nodded. "Yeah. Feel free to get one of those whenever you want," he said.

"Count on it," she said huskily with a sexy wink.

Jason swallowed hard. "I better get outta this room while I can," he said- causing her to giggle. He stood and headed for the kitchen.

Kim stood and headed over to the TV. The brunette began scanning the DVDs. "How 'bout we pop in a movie?" she called.

"Cool," Jason replied when he re-entered the room a few moments later. "What are you in the mood for, babe?"

"Hmm... let's see. I think I'll go for... a romantic comedy. Is that okay with you?" she asked.

"Does it matter?" he joked.

"Nope," she quipped. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Whatever you want is fine by me, baby," he said, smiling at her. She grinned and retrieved the desired DVD.

A couple hours later, Kim had fallen asleep on Jason's lap. Jason sighed deeply, grabbed the remote and stopped the DVD player. Then, he gently shook his girlfriend.

"Wake up, baby," he whispered.

She moaned and stirred. He continued to shake her and her eyes finally fluttered open. She blinked a few times, then, turned and looked up at the former ranger leader. She narrowed her eyes and punched him on the arm.

"Whoa!" he said with a laugh. "What was that for?"

"I was having a really great dream! You ruined it," she said, giving him a look of mock disapproval.

"My bad," he said with a chuckle. "What were you dreaming about?"

"You really don't deserve to know since you interrupted. But I'll tell you anyway 'cause ya got a nice smile," she said, sitting up. "We were stranded on this really beautiful island and we decided to just live there. You woke me up when it started getting really good."

Her emphasis on the word "really" made his dark eyebrows shoot up. "Is that right? Naughty little girl. What am I gonna do with you?"

She gave him a wicked grin. "I've got a fantastic way to answer that question, Red Dragon..."

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(Saturday)

The next morning, Jason and Kim were having breakfast in his bed and reminiscing- something they never got tired of doing.

Kim looked around the room and sighed contentedly. "I love when it's like this. You know, just you and me."

"Our own private world," he said, nodding.

"I wish I could stay in bed with you like this all day, but, the girls and I are getting together a little later for some shopping and more wedding planning," Kim said.

"Yeah. The guys and I are getting together to shoot some hoops in Reefside," Jason said.

Kim grinned at the thought of a possibly shirtless Jason glistening with sweat. Giddiness surged through her. She felt like giggling her head off. 'I'm like a teenybopper!' she thought, rolling her eyes. But she didn't care. She was damn proud to have a sexy boyfriend. Who was she hurting anyway?

She looked over at him and squeezed his hand. "I love you."

"I love you, too, angel," he said.

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(Somewhere in California)

Dawn's jaw clenched as the two kids ran around the house, shrieking and yelling. They were playing some stupid game. Anyway, Dawn had returned to California a couple months ago and she'd chosen to become nanny. Yep, a nanny. A live-in nanny. A job and a place to live. She felt she was killing two birds with one stone.

Yeah, she'd managed to fool Harold and Annette McCoy into hiring her. Her sanity had surprisingly risen to surface... temporarily. She was still plotting revenge against "Lana".

Dawn narrowed her eyes and sat back on the couch. Was the man-stealing witch really Lana? Or was it someone else? Dawn had a feeling it was someone else. It was in the back of her dark, dreary mind... .

'Well, I don't give a damn what her name is. I just know she's gonna be done for when I finally get ahold of her,' she thought darkly. She did know for sure that the woman lived in California.

Why give up? It was stupid to give up on true love. She'd seen many people make that mistake. She'd vowed never to become one.

Just then, the kids she was in charge of, Sean and Ross- who were eight-year-old twins- came running up to her. She gritted her teeth as they sat down on either side of her. She hated kids. Little brats... .

"Dawn, can we go to the park today?" Sean asked, leaning against her.

"Maybe," she said coolly.

"Can we have peanut butter and jelly?" Ross asked.

"In a minute," she said tightly.

"What's wrong with you, Dawn? You sound weird," Sean said.

"She always sounds weird. You're really weird, Dawn," Ross said with a laugh. He had no idea... .

Dawn just pasted a phony smile on her face. She couldn't mess this up. She had to pretend to give a flying crap about these two little runts. This was a cushy job. Free room and board was an added bonus.

Just then, the twin boys decided to start up their little game again and her eyes blazed. She gripped the cushion tightly. It was either that or their necks... .

She closed her eyes and began slowly counting to five. Then, she opened her eyes and smiled at the boys. "How 'bout those sandwiches now?"

They hopped up and eagerly hurried for the kitchen.

Dawn stood and thoughts of the brown-haired witch entered her mind once again. Hatred filled her eyes.

'Soon... soon,' she thought as she slowly headed for the kitchen.

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Hope ya enjoyed. Cya.