A/N: So, after breaking my foot and having surgery and dealing with far too many pain pills, I'm in Hockey Town and inspired to write, so I present to you the next chapter of Return to Childhood. This has been ghosting in between me and a friend for a while and part of this was written during a stint where we joked about Rocky and Adam throwing over everyone and running away together. Also, look for more from me because I'm, like, bed bound for the most part until the end of the year. Dr. Mom's orders, no getting up unless I can't hold it or I'm going to the doctor's office. I'm just writing this for fun, and I may seguey this into a sequal, but I don't know yet.
Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or any affiliated items, nor am I affiliated with any branch of Intellegence or related government agencies.
Angel Grove, California August 30, 2007
Aisha was tickled pink, well, yellow, with the way that Andy handled Rocky. When they dropped him off at the hotel, however, Aisha found a different side of Rocky, "Why didn't you tell us about your boyfriend?" Rocky demanded.
Aisha shrugged, "We haven't been dating that long, and the flying out together was a literally last minute decision. Besides he's younger than I am, so I thought that it would be better not to mention it too soon." She tapped her fingers on the door frame.
"What do you know about him?" Rocky asked, "Can you trust him?"
Aisha snarled, "Rocky get off my back, I love you like a brother, but seriously, he's just a guy I'm dating, I'm not sure I could even say love of my life. We're not sleeping together so you don't have to go all big brother on him. Drew is a sweet, charming young man who can actually spar with me, which is better than some of the men I dated. He doesn't own an axe and he has a teddy bear he sleeps with on road trips. He's always been a total sweetheart and a gentleman."
Rocky sighed, "I'm sorry, Aisha, I just worry about you. Like you said, I feel like you're my sister, and I want to make sure you're not going to get hurt."
"If he hurts me, I'll hurt him," Aisha replied quietly. "He knows I can, and that I will, so he's very careful about our relationship. Not to mention how nervous he was when he realized that he's younger than I am. This flying together was spur of the moment, his grandmother needed him and the only flight he could get was mine. He's actually terrified of you guys, because I said that you were as good as or better than I am. Back off, Rocky, your help is not needed this time."
Rocky turned into his driveway and parked the truck, "I'm sorry, Aisha. I won't mention your new friend."
Aisha smiled, "Thank you. So, who's for taking over the Surf Spot later and building a fake crime scene?"
"We'll think about it." Rocky said. The two climbed out of the truck as a flood of Power Rangers surrounded them. In moments the two found that neither had to take anything of Aisha's, as Jason, Tommy and Zack each claimed a bag and brought them in. Aisha was in the middle of a group hug with Tanya, Kat and Kim before she knew it, all of them laughing and talking at once. They headed for the house when Aisha saw Adam and she shrieked and leapt to pull him into a Katie-style hug. He hugged her back just as tightly, "Rocky said you were back, but I don't believe it," Aisha murmured.
"I was in Russia, not on Eltare," Adam replied, "I'm not going to miss being here for anything."
Aisha stepped back, "Good, you're going to help me with the crime scene."
Adam smiled, "It's always something, right?"
"Always," Aisha agreed, dragging him into the house, "did Tommy bring the kids?"
"Hailey took them to the park to run off some energy. Those four are on a permanent sugar high, I swear," Adam said. He wasn't as shy as he'd once been, but he wasn't as outgoing as Rocky.
"Stealing my boyfriend again," Rocky teased as he appeared to put an arm around Adam's waist.
"Just catching up," Aisha replied, "I didn't know you got that sex change?"
"Huh?" Rocky asked.
"Remember, you told Anya that you'd date Adam when you got a sex change." Aisha said, grinning, "I don't know who blushed harder, Adam or Anya."
Tanya, a step behind him, added, "Is there something I need to know about, Rocky?"
Rocky swallowed and stepped away from Adam, "Nope. Just joking," he beat a hasty retreat towards his back yard while everyone else laughed.
Making sure the door to the back yard was closed, Adam kissed Tanya, "I love the fact that he's scared of you, it keeps him chained."
"We need to find him a girlfriend," Kat offered, "that'll keep him from his jokes." The guys all glanced at each other and headed out to the back yard, clearly not wanting to take part in a matchmaking scheme.
"Remember Kaylee? That's not the brightest idea," Kim said as the girls walked into the living room, "Besides; it's hard to find a girl who isn't a joker to live with one who is. Then there's the secret, how long would it take for that to come between them?"
They settled around the table, "So we get him a Ranger girl," Aisha shrugged, when they looked at her she shook her head, "You don't want me. I'm not looking to date right now, well; actually, I have someone to date right now."
"Do tell!" Kim said, interested in a heart beat.
"His name is Andrew, we call him Drew." Aisha smiled, "He's a few years younger, but an absolute sweetheart. He's studied the martial arts, so we spar sometimes, and he's terrified of meeting Rocky and Adam ever since I mentioned they were better than I am." She paused, "He's here in Angel Grove, actually. He's from Brazil, but lived in northern California for a while before starting at the Company. His grandmother lives here in town and she's not well, so he came out to see her. The only flight with seats left was mine, so he rode out with me."
"And you didn't bring him here?" Kat demanded.
"No, he wanted to see his grandmother first," Aisha replied, "besides, he was half afraid of Rocky the whole ride to the hotel. Rocky was playing 'big brother'."
"Aw," Kim said, "a family man, good catch, Aisha."
"Eh," Aisha shrugged, "he's not 'the one', but he's a good guy. He loves to skate, and it's cool to watch him do stunts. He used to do some competing, but he hasn't since he moved east. In fact, when he was showing me some of his stuff, he has a picture of himself with Shane Clarke, the Red Wind Ranger. They've been to a lot of the same events, although Shane skateboards and Drew skates. They're sort of friends, although their e-mails consist of calling each other loser and poser all the time."
"So he's pre-vetted by a Ranger," Tanya said, "that's a good thing."
"I told Drew we'd probably do something like build a fake crime scene at the Surf Spot," Aisha said, "who's in?"
"Me!" Kim said, laughing, "That sounds like fun."
"Hey everyone," Kira said from the entrance to the living room.
"Hey Kira," Aisha said, waving, spotting Hailey over Kira's shoulder, she grinned, "Hailey, come help! Actually, both of you come help. We're going to commit a crime at the Surf Spot."
"Did they break out the alcohol already?" Kira murmured to Hailey as they joined the girls in the living room.
"Nope," Kat said, giggling. "Just catching up is all."
"So what's the plan?" Hailey asked.
"We were just to the point of finding out who wanted to build the crime scene," Aisha said.
"Adele's going to kill us this time," Kat said, she shrugged, "I'm in."
"I'm in," Tanya said.
"I'm in," Kira said.
"I'm in," Hailey said. "Now then, how are we going to get the boys in?"
"I'll get Trent, Conner and Ethan," Kira said, she grinned, "they'll jump before I finish telling them how high."
"I've got Rocky," Aisha said, "I'll guilt trip him over Drew."
"Adam," Tanya said, "he won't want to sleep on the couch for the next few months."
"Jason," Kat said, at everyone's surprised looks, she grinned, "We've been trying to get our schedules to mesh, because we're dating."
"I'll get Zack, Billy and Tommy," Kim said, confidently.
"Actually," Aisha said, "I wanted to talk to Zack anyway, let me convince him."
"Ok," Kim said.
The girls all turned to Kat, "Now spill," Aisha ordered.
"Well," Kat said, "Jason and I seem to have a habit of winding up the odd men out at celebrations and stuff, so we just started traveling together. Then we started to do stuff together, things that aren't fun to do alone, like random dinners and movies, then last Christmas, he came to Australia on business and rescued me from Grandma Hillard and her 'lovely young men' parade, and we just, well, we realized that we like each other, and Tommy gave us his blessing and, well, we're trying."
"Do you love him?" Kim asked quietly.
Kat hesitated, "I don't know," she answered, "I mean, I care for him, and I think I could love him, but I haven't really thought about it."
Jason shut the sliding door, and turned to find five men staring at him solemnly, "And when," Zack said, "were we supposed to find out about you and Kat?"
Jason looked hopeful, "Now?"
"Try again," Billy said.
Jason sighed, "Look, I haven't said anything because I wasn't sure if Kat wanted to. We did talk to Tommy because she felt we should."
They all turned to Tommy, who coughed, "I, uh, had problems of my own at the time, so I just said it didn't bother me and then realized that it didn't. Kat and I were, great, together, but we did better without each other; except for the whole exploding island thing, of course."
Everyone laughed for a moment, then Rocky said, "Seriously, Jason, you and Kat?"
Jason shrugged, "We're working on it. Our schedules aren't exactly identical."
"Hey Dr O," Conner said, bounding on the deck, tired and sweaty from the Frisbee war he'd been having with Ethan and Trent, "We're hungry."
"Go out to eat," Tommy told him, "You're old enough to take care of yourself."
"Yeah," Ethan said, "but Hailey told us someone was doing BBQ tonight."
Rocky laughed, "That would be me, why don't you guys go ask the girls if they're going to help, ok? That way Aisha won't hit me for trying to grill without supervision."
"On it," Conner said, and bounded into the house, followed by Ethan and Trent.