A little over half an hour later, Nick and Madison stood patiently on the doorstep of a friendly looking home, Nick knocking the door for the third time. When he didn't receive an answer yet again, he gave Maddie a sideward glance that told her not to worry.

"Probably caught up in some Tribal Council," he muttered affectionately, preparing to knock again.

"What's that mean?" Maddie asked, a tad confused by his comment.

"Well, she's kind of got this weird thing for Survivor. You wouldn't believe how caught up she can get in the drama sometimes. She's probably stressing over a Tribal Council that she's seen twelve times."

"So you actually think she's home?"

"Yeah. The tv's probably sucked her in. Or," he added as an afterthought, "she's tearing out a row of crocheting. That takes forever and drives her nuts."

Maddie gave her boyfriend a cute smile, loving the fondness he was showing for his grandmother. Not a lot of guys could be that easygoing about being close to their grandmas like that. He looked at her for a minute, forgoing a fifth knock and just taking in how gorgeous she looked in the blue polo. Of course, he thought she looked gorgeous in anything. She'd probably look great in red ...

Forcing his mind away from any thoughts that could branch from that one, he bent down and planted a kiss on her forehead, letting his lips linger. Neither of them seemed to notice the older woman leaning quietly in the doorframe.

"Hello, Nickolaus," she said after a second more of silent watching. She was quite interested in what her grandson was doing with this girl she'd never met.

Both teens jumped, startled by her presence and blushing furiously.

"Hi, Grandma," Nick said, quickly recovering and pulling the woman into a hug.

"So who is this?" she asked as she pulled apart from her grandson, looking at Maddie a bit closer than she first had. The girl only smiled back shyly. As confident as she had become being with Nick, she still wasn't great with meeting new people, especially Nick's family.

"This is Madison," he replied, adding hastily, "my girlfriend." There. It was out in the open now. He'd been nervous about telling his grandma about Maddie, seeing how the woman had always teased him for not staying with any girl long enough to call her a girlfriend. But he couldn't help it if all the wrong girls threw themselves at him.

"Well, it's about time you had a girlfriend," she berated in a motherly way, turning to Maddie and smiling warmly. "I'm Lydia. It's great to meet you. My little Nick has been alone for far too long," she added with a wink, moving out of the doorway and motioning inside. "Now come on in and sit down." She ushered the teens into the living room, closing the door behind them.

Nick tossed his jacket onto a nearby chair, falling easily back into the habits he'd had during the long periods of time he'd lived here. In fact, he'd lived here almost as much as he'd lived in his parents' house, and he definitely felt more at home here. His parents weren't around enough to make their place feel like a real home.

Flopping onto a couch, Nick smiled as Maddie sat down gracefully next to him, Lydia smiling at the two of them.

"So where's Grandpa?" Nick asked after a moment, looking around for the older man that should've shown up by now.

"You know your grandfather, always finding something to work on around the house," she said with faux exasperation. "Today he went down to Home Depot to get some more PVC piping."

"For what? Don't tell me he's still working on the downstairs bathroom," Nick said with a groan. "He's been working on that for nearly four years!"

Lydia just shook her head sadly and said, "It's true. But you know him - he can't finish a project all at once. He can't just finish something and let it be done. So," she added, voice a bit sharper than before, "is this just a regular visit, or are you here for a reason? Not that I don't love seeing you, or that you're not allowed to give your old grandma a surprise visit, but somehow I think that you've got a reason to visit me."

Nick leaned forward, suddenly serious. "Actually, we are here for a reason. I need to ask you something." Lydia put on her best poker face, having a feeling that she knew what he was going to ask about. She'd known that this might come around eventually, what with Nick being openly adopted. He had never really questioned it as a child, just accepting it and moving on when they'd told him. But Lydia had always suspected that someday, Nick was going to want some answers.

"Shoot," the older woman said calmly. Nick took a deep breath and felt Maddie's hand give his a squeeze. Funny. He hadn't even noticed when her fingers had entwined themselves with his, too caught up in how to ask his question. Just acknowledging their presence gave him a boost of confidence that was much needed.

"How much do you actually know about my adoption?"

"Why do you ask?" she shot back. She wanted to know how much he knew before she gave away anything.

"I know that I'm definitely not from around here, and that my red blanket did not come from the adoption agency."

Lydia was startled by the forcefulness of his voice. He seemed to crave answers desperately, even if he wouldn't show it. Unfortunately, she had very few answers to give him.

"Honestly, I don't know that much. You were a strange child, I'll give you that," she said, nostalgia evident in her wistful eyes. "You know, the day we found you was a weird day. Little things kept happening, unexplainable things, like family pictures laying around in places they shouldn't be, or the big thunderstorm that rolled in without a cloud in the sky. About nine-thirty, there's this big thunderclap and at the same moment, the doorbell rang. Nearly scared me out of my chair. Your grandfather - John," she added for Madison's benefit, "answered it. On our doorstep there was a rain-soaked man, well, at least I think he was a man. He had this scraggly beard and big pointy fangs -"

"Phineas," Maddie whispered, eyes wide. When Lydia turned to look at the previously quiet girl, she could only blush.

"We know him," Nick said, jumping in quickly. "At least, it sounds like him."

"Really?" Lydia asked back in an interested tone before getting back to her story. "Anyway, there he was, holding you, so small and wrapped in that little red blanket. He told us that you'd lost your parents and you needed a home, that you were a special child and we were the best family to take you in. As soon as I had you in my arms, he just disappeared, right off our doorstep. I couldn-"

"You just saw him disappear into thin air?" Nick asked, astounded that Phineas could even do that kind of magic.

Lydia nodded back curtly, not used the being interrupted twice during a story nor enjoying it. "As I was saying, I couldn't believe what had just happened. John and I were so freaked out, and he just wanted to call the authorities and hand you over to the state. But when I looked down into your little green eyes, there was no way I was going to let you go. Your mom and dad wanted a little boy so badly, and somehow I felt like you were already theirs. We gave you to them and they started the process of adopting you. They refused to give up on you even when things got hard in the legal process. You were theirs through and through. Heck, you even looked like them. Finally, though, they got their little boy and everything was the way it should be." She smiled and visibly relaxed in her chair, but Maddie detected a lack of finality in her story.

"So that's all?" she asked, careful not to ask too pointedly. Lydia seemed like a great grandma, and Maddie wanted to stay on her good side. Somehow, she guessed that being quick to anger was a family trait of sorts. "I mean, it's got to bother you how that woman just disappeared. Don't you ever wonder about that?"

"No, not really. I believed in magic since I was a little girl, and having Nick only cemented that belief. How could I not believe in an unseen force with such a weird world around me? And he was such a strange child," she added, lost in memories yet again. "Weird things always happened around him - floating toys, appliances turning off on their own. It happened often on for a few years, and we just adjusted to it. Eventually, it only happened when he got angry, especially a few years back. It happened a lot back then, and he hardly realized what he was doing." Nick stared down at him feet, ashamed and embarrassed over his lack of control, but his shame only earned a motherly smack on the back of his head from his grandmother.

"Don't mope like that. You couldn't control it then, and it doesn't matter now. I doubt you could even control it now."

"So wait, you know that I can use magic? And you think that I can't even control it now?" Nick asked his grandmother incredulously, rubbing the back of his head gently. Noticing the look in Nick's eyes, Maddie knew something was coming.

"I think you can," she said to her boyfriend, challenge in her voice placed to spur him on. "I know I can."

Lydia looked at the young woman, interest clear in her features. "You can do magic too?"

"A little, but not much without my wand."

"A wand? You've got to be yanking my chain," Lydia said with a bemused smile.

"No, they're actually real, Grandma," Nick replied, pulling his out of the holster on his belt and flipping it open. "It's a cell phone and a wand," he added, seeing her questioning look. Stowing it back in it's place, he looked between her and Madison with their challenges burning in his eyes. "I can control my magic, too. Watch." He held up a hand and snapped his fingers, a tiny flame sparking into life. It fell into his palm, growing larger until he stopped it as a small fireball, hovering and crackling hungrily.

Lydia could only look on in amazement as Madison pointed a finger at the fireball and extinguished it with a stream of water. The elder woman barely restrained the sheer astonishment she felt at seeing the supernatural feats performed with such ease

"You can - can ... you have magic, too?" she managed to stammer.

"Yeah, I do," Maddie replied with a nod, "and we're not the only ones. There's a whole other world full of magic."

When Lydia was silent for longer than Nick had expected, even with the shock, he took it upon himself to get her out of the stupor. He leaned across to her chair and poked her on the shoulder. This seemed to pull her out of the shock, causing her to blink several times and look the two teens over.

"You okay, Grandma?" Nick asked, only a little bit freaked out by his grandmother's actions, or lack thereof. She wasn't the kind of person to just space out like that.

"Sorry," she replied quickly, giving the couple a tiny smile. "I was just a little stunned by all this. You have to admit, it is a lot to take in. I mean, magic, wizards, even a whole other world?"

"Sorry," the young wizard said sheepishly, grinning at how obviously strange the older woman's words made it all sound. "I didn't come here meaning to tell you all that. I just wanted some answers."

Lydia, having regained most of her composure, brushed it off. "Oh, it's fine, honey. It's just a tad bit weird having my magical beliefs confirmed so openly by my own grandson." She shook her head, almost in disbelief, and looked at the two sitting across from her. "So is that everything? I think you got most of the answers you came looking for."

"Actually, I still have a question," Maddie interjected before Nick could say anything. "How did you come up with the name Nickolaus? I know that it is kind of common, but the way you spell it really isn't."

"Honestly? I guess this won't seem so weird compared to what you guys have just told me, but it came to me in a dream," she said, leaning in toward the couple conspiratorially. "I saw this young couple holding you, and one of them called you Nickolaus. I don't know how I did it, but somehow I got how to spell it through the dream, and the next day, you were Nickolaus. It just fit you so perfectly, and it stuck." She relaxed back into her chair and smiled. "Is that all?"

"No, not yet. There's still something else I'd like to know about," Maddie said, a devilish grin spreading across her face. "You see, the other day, Nick and I and our other friends were talking and somehow we ended up on the subject of preschool. Nick started to mention something about a boy named Rich Sampson, but then he clammed up when we asked him anything else. Care to shed some light on the subject?" Nick, feeling a blush rise to his cheeks, sent the girl a glare, but it didn't prevent his grandmother from starting the old story.

"Well, it actually started on their first day," she said, wry smile forming on her lips. "Rich tried to take a box of Legos from Nick and instead of telling the teacher, our feisty little boy just decided to punch Rich in the face. Earned himself a week in the corner for that little mishap, and after all that, they were mortal enemies. It went on that way all through elementary and middle school, until Rich moved away during their freshman year."

Nick could only sigh as his grandmother began to tell another story, spurred on by Madison's interest in the subject. The floodgates were officially open. Once Lydia started to talk about nick, it was hard to stop her. It's not that she liked him more than any other grandchild, just that he had done some strange, impulsive stuff in his lifetime, and she loved to embarrass him.

"So how long did Nick live here?" Maddie asked, jarring Nick's thoughts. He looked up at his girlfriend, and saw a quiet sadness in her eyes, as if she understood the oddity that was being bumped between houses and relatives.

"All the way up through his sophomore year, at least when his parents were working abroad. Their house is actually just a few minutes from here. Once he hit sixteen and got his own motorcycle, we couldn't keep him anywhere for too long. He liked traveling, and relatives liked to see him. He'd hang around for school, but disappear on weekends. During the summer, it was hard to keep track of him. Come a few weeks back, though, he decided that he wanted to spend his senior year in Briarwood with his sister Gracey. We couldn't say no, because he loves his sister so much, so we just let him go. We made Gracey promise to help him register at the high school there and to make sure that he wasn't traveling around too much. Truthfully, I was kind of hoping that he'd come back, because it's kind of lonely around here sometimes. I guess he's found something that'll keep him there, though. You do live in Briarwood, right?"

"Lived there my whole life. Vida and Chip, too."

"If you don't mind me asking, who are they?"

"They're our friends. Well, technically, Vida's my twin sister, but sometimes she feels more like a best friend who just happens to live with me. Chip's an old friend. We've known him since grade school. Xander's our other friend, but he moved here from Penrith, I think, when he was ten."

"Really?" Lydia asked rhetorically. "Well, I'm surprised. Usually Nick doesn't make friends that quickly. He was usually too busy brooding in his room, blaring music and reading motorcycle magazines. Never really was that social. I remember once back in middle school ... "

Nick zoned out around that point, mentally retreating into his happy place. Every other thought that passed through his mind involved the wish that his grandmother wouldn't embarrass him too much, even if he knew that the wish probably wouldn't come to pass.

The two women talked for over an hour about Nick, Briarwood, work, school and any other tangents that came up. Finally, Lydia glanced at the clock and realized that she needed to start dinner, offering to let the couple stay. They politely refused, Maddie claiming that her family was expecting her for dinner.

After many hugs and promises to return, the pair was left alone on the front porch.

"Well, milady?" Nick said in a faux British accent, holding out his arm and smiling uncontrollably. "Shall we ride?"

Madison grinned. She liked it when he was random like this. It reminded her of Chip with a less serious air to it all. And that was beside the fact that he was almost never this odd. He was usually a little more serious, although there was that time when Chip had his moat up at work ...

"Certainly, your lordship," she said, imitating his accent and taking his arm. He led her regally to his bike, where he helped her put on her jacket and passed her a helmet, already wearing his. When he threw his leg of the cycle, she followed suit and wrapped her arms around his waist. Sure that she was secure, he started the engine and roared away.

They'd only just passed a sign telling you how far it was to Briarwood when Koragg's voice boomed in Nick's head again.

'Why keep going? Why continue with these Rangers? They will only hurt you. They don't even trust you. I am the only one who will take you. You know you will come to me eventually, my son.' And it was gone, leaving the faint echoes of that growling voice resonating in his mind. Opening the eyes he hadn't even realized he'd shut, Nick was glad to see that he'd managed to stay on the road, though they'd slowed down considerably. Even though he couldn't see her face, he could feel Maddie's questioning gaze on the back of his head. He brushed it off and sped up again, wanting to get back to Briarwood as quickly as possible.

Nick parked his bike in its usual place across from the Rock Porium, taking off his helmet slowly. He knew what was coming next.

"It was Koragg again, right?" Maddie asked, hopping off the bike and pulling off her helmet. Nick sighed and got off the bike himself, putting his helmet in its usual place on the back of his bike.

"Yeah, it was," he replied, running a hand through his hair.

"And did he say anything new?"

"Not much. Just the usual stuff, and that I'd come to him eventually. And," he added," he called me son. Again." A wince crossed his face as he said the last word, exasperation evident in his voice.

"Again?" Maddie asked with an arched eyebrow. "Again, as in he's called you son before?" Nick nodded slowly. Hopefully the twins didn't share the temper that Vida had. "Any reason you didn't tell me?" she asked, calm and cool, unlike Vida's 'threaten first, ask questions later' way of reacting.

"It's only happened a few times, okay? And I'm telling you now. Can't that be enough?"

Maddie kept an icy glare on him for a moment before looking away and backing down.

"You're right. I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "It's just ... Sometimes I get a little carried away by how strong I feel when I'm with you. I guess I'm more like Vida than I'd like to think when you're here. That makes sense, right?" she asked, a cute grin playing on her lips.

"Yeah," he said, returning her grin. "And it's okay. I think it's cute when you're like that, at least when you're not threatening to kill me using your eyes." He paused, the playfulness falling away from his handsome features, replaced by a look of thoughtful curiosity. "So what do we do from here?"

The Blue Ranger bit her lip thoughtfully, then reluctantly said, "I think we just need to wait it out. Unless he contacts you again, just do what you normally do. We can't let this phase you, or he'll know that he's getting to you. And tell me if he talks to you again," she added, a fierce look in her eyes. Nick only nodded in response, happy enough to be acting normal, and bent down to inspect a scratch on his cycle.

"So do you want me to take you home?" he asked after a few silent moments, glancing up at the young woman. She shook her head gracefully.

"I think V's shift ends in a few minutes, and she'll be wondering what I was doing all day. Wouldn't want her to worry too much, so I think I'll just wait for her."

"Don't tell her too much, okay? I don't want the guys to know yet," he said.

She nodded back knowingly, not phased by the warning glance he sent at her, and added, "You know you'll have to tell them eventually."

"I know, I know. I'm just - Speak of the devil," he replied with a grin, standing up as the three other Rangers approached the couple. "What's up guys?" The trio looked especially solemn, not responding to Nick's greeting.

"We need to talk," Xander stated matter-of-factly. "There's a thousand dollars missing from the store." Nick just stared for a minute, letting the pieces click into place.

"Oh, I get it," he said, smiling sadly. "The new guy charms his way into your lives just to con you, is that it?"

"Yeah, that's what we were thinking," Chip replied, shifting uncomfortably.

"That's nice, really nice," Nick said, voice laced with a sharp, cool anger, a complete one-eighty from his attitude moments before. "Some friends you are. I can't believe I trusted you guys." As he fought to keep his anger from boiling over, a bed of flowers behind him spontaneously burst into flames. Maddie, she herself trying not to explode at her lifelong friends, saw this immediately and extinguished the small fire, but not before the other three noticed.

"Did you do that?" asked Vida pointedly, a harsh fury building up in her eyes.

"So what if I did?" Nick nearly shouted, rage let loose by the girl's comment. "You've already turned me into the bad guy, so why would I need to answer to you anymore? I can't believe I trusted you guys! I thought you guys were my friends. I just - I'm leaving. It's obvious that I'm not wanted here." He grabbed his helmet and turned to Madison, his expression now soft.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I wish I could stay, but I can't, I just can't, not when this is all that's here for me besides you. This doesn't mean I don't love you, though. Just call for me and I'll be there, okay?" She nodded and he gave her one last gentle kiss before he jumped on his bike, helmet sliding on smoothly.

"Have a nice life," he growled at the trio, voice dripping with malice. Stealing one last fleeting glance at Madison, he tore off down the road, leaving the four teens in an uncomfortable silence. Xander was the first to break it, letting out an amazed whistle.

"Can you believe him? Didn't even deny it. What nerve." Maddie stepped toward him, a fierce glare in her eyes like nothing the Aussie had even seen in her before. Tears rolled down her flushed cheeks, but her face told of more than sadness as the powerful, clashing emotions broke the dam they rested behind and spilled everywhere around them.

"Believe him? I can't believe you, you arrogant ass," she said, voice overtaken by a sudden upsurge in hatred for her old friend. "What proof do you have that it was even him?" He tried to stammer out an answer, but the rampaging girl cut him off. "Stop. You are wrong. Nick would never steal, especially not from Toby. I know that this is quite a stretch for you, being wrong, but you are. Your ego just won't let you think any differently."

"But he didn't deny it, and this morning he said that he could use that kind of money."

"And so did you. I guess that means that you stole it, right?"

"Me?" Xander asked incredulously. "Why would I steal from Toby?"

"You wouldn't!" she nearly screamed. "And neither would Nick! He's as honest as they come."

"Maddie," Vida said soothingly, placing a hand on her sister's arm. "Don't you think that maybe your feelings for him are clouding your judgement?" Madison only jerked her arm out of the other girl's grasp and glared at her.

"Not, they're not. I know Nick. He would never do that."

"Fine, okay," Vida ceded slowly, like you would talk to a belligerent child. "Let's just go home now. C'mon." She started toward her jeep, but Maddie stood firm in her place.

"No. I'm going to look for him. Tell mom and dad I'll be home by nine." She marched away without another word, vanishing into a tree. The trio could only exchange weary glances before reluctantly heading off in their own directions.

A/N - Finally, a new chapter. Sorry for the time in between, but I've had a crazy week and a few new facts on the show messed up the backstory a bit (okay, a lot), so it took me a few days to finally polish the enhanced, much more complicated, backstory. Believe me, it was hard. I like to stick as close to canon as possible, so it was difficult trying to decide whether or not to make this really AU or just a little bit. Fortunately, both routes didn't mean reworking on the chapter too much. I'm just going to have to change a few future chaps some, and do a little editing in previous chaps. Nothing too major, though.

And I know I said that this part of the story would only have to be two chaps last time, but I realized how long my adaptation of Whispering Lies was, so it's three chaps now. Hopefully. If it's four, I might aneurysm.

On a side note, I'm totally psyched for the Dark Wish arc, even if it is only three episodes edited together like a tv movie and presented in widescreen. The promo and episode description make it look kickass. I hope it lives up to the hype.