Dare

Author: Angel17712

Date: 12/15/06

Disclaimer: I don't own them, the show, etc.

A/N- this one is set in between Code Busters and Rock Solid. Enjoy!

Nick looked at the wall behind the counter. 'Great, four more hours of work. You can do this, Nick.' He looked around the store to see what everyone was doing. Vida was doing her thing on the DJ tables, Madison was straightening things up, Leelee was there, looking around, and Xander and Chip were over in a corner, whispering amongst themselves. Nick shook his head. Those two were total opposites, yet they were best friends. 'Maybe there's hope for us to become friends just yet,' he mused. Nick stopped working when Xander and Chip came up to him.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" said Nick as he turned to face them.

"Chip and I have been talking," said Xander with an evil grin.

"Why does that not sound good?" said Nick worriedly.

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad, mate," Xander reassured his friend. "I just got one question for you."

"What's that?" Nick asked, his curiosity piqued.

"How daring are you?" Chip asked mischievously.

"I don't know," Nick shook his head. "I guess I'm pretty daring, seeing as how I fight soulless mutants on a day-to-day basis and I save the world. Why?" he asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Well then, our esteemed leader, Chip and I dare you to go and be nice to little miss Leelee over," said Xander as he pointed Leelee out.

Nick looked over at the blonde girl that Xander was pointing to. While Leelee was a pretty girl, Nick wasn't interested in her. 'No, you're interested in a certain Blue ranger,' he said to himself inwardly. There was also the fact that said blonde gave him the creeps. There was just something about her that didn't quite fit. He turned back to his friends. "Are you guys crazy? She gives me the creeps."

"She's not so bad," said Chip.

Nick sighed. If he didn't do it, Xander and Chip would probably call him a wuss. And he didn't want to think about what might happen in any other situation. "So that's it? All I have to do is be nice to her? And if I do it, what do I get?"

Xander and Chip looked at each other. "What do you mean?" asked Xander.

"Well, you guys dared me to be nice to her. So if I should accept the dare and complete it, what do I get in return?" asked Nick with a grin.

Xander and Chip looked at each other once more. They hadn't discussed that, not thinking that Nick might even consider taking on their dare. "We'll come up with something," Chip recovered.

"All right, then," Nick nodded. He shook both of their hands. He turned around towards Leelee and sighed. It was now or never.

He walked up to Leelee, and after thinking it over for a minute, he tapped her on the shoulder. "What do you want? Oh, it's you," said Leelee, her tone laced with regret.

'Yeah, it's me. I just thought that I'd come over here and see how you were doing, if you needed any help," said Nick.

"Oh, thanks. I'm doing great, and thanks for the offer to help, but I'm good," Leelee winked at him suggestively.

Nick inwardly cringed. If he didn't do something soon, this would quickly turn the wrong way. He definitely did not need that happening.

"So anyway, I was wondering if you might want to go out sometime," asked Leelee.

"Umm, no thanks. I'm not really interested in anyone right now," he said. 'I am interested in someone, you're just not her.' Nick spied said girl nearby, rearranging the music and cleaning things up. Nick caught Madison's eyes and mouthed 'Help me!' Madison looked at him and smiled, shaking her head. Chip and Xander observed from afar, stifling their laughs.

"Ohh, ok," said Leelee, looking a little crestfallen. She heard her favorite song come on over the speaker system. "I love this song! Hey Nick, do you want to-"

Madison knew that Leelee was going to ask Nick to dance before she did it. She quickly walked over to the pair, stopping anything before it could happen. "Hey Nick, do you want to dance?" asked Madison.

Nick sighed inwardly with relief. "Okay, sure. Thanks." He turned to Leelee and said with as much regret in his voice as he could muster, "Maybe some other time, Leelee."

The blonde girl stalked off and stood furiously in a corner. Nick sighed. "So, shall we?" he asked, holding out his hand to take one of Madison's. Madison looked around and saw that they had a small audience of their friends and Leelee.

"Sure." Maddy placed her hand in Nick's and put her right hand on his left shoulder. He reciprocated the movement by taking her hand and placing his left hand on her right hip. They danced together, both of them feeling as if they were the only two people in the room, but neither of them said a word, both just enjoying the moment.

"We could dance closer together if you want," said Nick.

"Are you sure?" asked Maddy. "We don't have to if you don't want to," she said, unsure of herself. Dancing closely together was something that lovers did, not friends.

"Yes, I'm sure. I want to," he said strongly. Maddy nodded and they both moved closer together. She put her arms around his neck and he put both of his hands around her, with them resting on her lower back. They swayed together, just enjoying the moment.

"Thanks for the help," Nick whispered in her ear. "But why did you decide to help? I thought you weren't going to."

"I wasn't going to, but then I saw that Leelee was going to ask you to dance, so I decided that it was time to help, so I did," Madison whispered back. 'I didn't want you dancing with Leelee, and I wanted to dance with you.'

Nick smiled. "Well, I'm glad that you did. I would have danced with you before Leelee any dad. And, I kind of wanted to dance with you," he admitted with a bit of a blush in his cheeks.

Madison looked up at him in surprise. "Me, too," she said, as her face was covered in red.

"Maybe we can do this again sometime soon," said Nick, hinting that he wanted to dance with Madison again.

"Maybe," said Madison. She didn't know if they would actually dance together again, but she knew that she wanted to more than anything. She had felt as if they were the only two people in the room, and she had never felt safer than when she was in his arms. She was glad that it all happened just because of a dare.

A/N- Thank you to all those who have read and reviewed! Keep them coming and I will too! (grins evilly)