Bailey looked at her watch then moved to the register to begin the process of clocking out. She moved quickly, entering her employee number with greater speeds than ever before. It was habitual, how many times she had to poke at the screen, how many times she had to type on the keyboard that she hardly had to look at the screen to do anything.
She watched as Jayden—funny how he hadn't given her his last name, ignoring the fact she hadn't given him his either—walked out the coffee shop at a normal speed, fi not at a fast-paced walk. Then the second he was out the door he took off running down the street.
A news flash will come up in a few seconds, Bailey thought, looking toward the TV screen that sat in the corner of the screen. Just as she thought, there was a news break that flashed across the TV screen. Some sort of a monster that had a fan of some sort, destroying the buildings around them. And, of course, the crowd of screaming people…Bailey closed the door to the register at the same time the first of the crowds of screaming residents ran past the front of the coffee shop.
At least, those that didn't decide to barge through the front door of the restaurant, nearly knocking donw tables that were in their way. Bailey grinned to herself. She took off her apron and tossed it aside.
"Hey, I'm gonna go, yeah?" she called to Max, her co-worker who stood at the next register over.
"Did Ass Face get to you already?" Max asked, wiping down the counter. He lifted his chin and grinned at her. "Or are you finally going to do something and stop drooling over him like a lost puppy?"
Bailey waved her hand back at him. "I don't drool over him."
"You better not." Max nodded towards the door. "Guys like that are nothing but trouble. I know how girls like you operate with guys like that."
"Girls like me, huh?" Bailey planted her hands on her hips. "What does that mean? And what do you mean about blokes like him."
"Blokes like him," Max said, mimicking her accent. "Are just projects to you girls. You like to take bad boy who's sort of rough around the edges and work on him until he's the perfect guy that you all fantasize about but doesn't exist. And then you'll be sorely disappointed and all I can do is sit back and say 'I told you so'. Take it from me, Ass Face is bad news."
"Well, you're not going to because I'm not going to work on him as a project," Bailey said. She stuck her nose in the air, her glasses sliding back up her nose. "And his name's not Ass Face—"
"—Right, it's Sad Guy. You're too nice, Bay."
"I am. But his name is Jayden. Hoo roo." Bailey waved to Max then left the coffee shop at a pace that rivaled Jayden's. But the second she turned the corner around the side of the coffee shop, she ducked into an alleyway and found herself alone.
She looked around for a moment before pressing her fingers into the sides of the communicator on her wrist. In a bright blast of purple light, she teleported from the alleyway back to her house. A nice, modern style apartment on the outskirts of panorama city. The second she arrived, she burst into her apartment.
"You won't believe what I found out!" She cried, moving through her place like a purple whirlwind. "You. Won't believe. What I found out."
"Whoa, careful Bay, your mouth's moving at warp speed," Avalon Mitchell commented, turning from the kitchen counter where she wiped it down with a rag. Behind her, Billy Cranston stood with a skillet in his hand. "I don't think I've seen you this excited since you first got your powers and, believe me, sis, I wish you would've shut up then."
"Thanks, Av," Bailey said with a roll of her eyes. "But, you're not going to believe this." She turned to the TV and jabbed it on with a push of her thumb into the power button. "Watch." She pointed to the TV as the news flash she'd seen before came up, but this time showing off a team of rainbow-wearing heroes in spandex flying across screen to fight the monster.
"So there's more power rangers here, so what?" Avalon folded her arms.
"The chances of there being another ranger team in the city is about a million to one," Billy commented. "However, considering the fact that we've managed to find one in each city we've moved to since leaving Reefside—"
"—Angel Grove—" Avalon broke in.
"That does pose some consistencies that can be difficult to ignore," Billy continued, as if Avalon hadn't even spoken.
Bailey tilted her head back, groaning towards the ceiling. "You're not seeing the big picture here," she pointed out.
"Neither are you, Bay, you're looking at the ceiling."
Bailey made a face and pointed towards the TV screen once more. She waited for another shot of the ranger team and freeze-framed the picture. Moving closer to the screen, she pointed at the red ranger. "I met him today," She explained.
At that, Billy and Avalon both raised their eyebrows. Almost skeptically. Still, Bailey couldn't help but notice Billy slowly lower his skillet. He turned off the burners on the stove and moved to stand next to Bailey, copying her stance with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Are you sure?" Avalon asked. She snorted. "Do you know how many times Bulk and Skull wondered who we were?" She gestured between herself and Billy. "Apparently a lot longer than when you and I first got to Angel Grove."
"Well, Bulk and Skull weren't exactly the brightest bulbs in the lamp," Billy pointed out. He rubbed his chin. "And you were the one who morphed in front of them and Lt. Stone if you don't remember."
"I remember, Smurf." Avalon eyed her boyfriend with disdain. "'You don't need to remind me."
Billy grinned.
"Can we get back to the important topic at hand, please?" Bailey huffed. She pointed towards the TV screen once more. Spoke slower, as if talking to a kindergartner. "I met the red ranger today."
"Are you sure it was him?" Billy asked.
"How many other people do you know who wear the same color every day of their lives?" Bailey shot back, making Billy and Avalon look down at their own blue and orange clothes. Despite not having been official rangers in a while, they still found themselves unable to stay away from imprints of their official ranger colors on their clothes. "And how many people do you know suddenly run off with no explanation what so ever? This is even obvious that Bulk and Skull could see it now."
"So you met this guy," Avalon remarked, lowering her chin. "Who is it?"
Bailey beamed. "That guy from the coffee shop."
"You mean Ass Face?" Avalon's face screwed up in confusion.
"Ass Face?" Billy repeated, looking towards Avalon, who waved her hand, brushing off the question.
"No, I mean, Sad Guy—"
"—Oh! That guy you fancy!"
"I don't fancy him," Bailey said quickly. "I've been watching him because, like I said, I thought he was a ranger and he is and I bloody proved it." She pointed with her index fingers towards her sister. "And you thought I was crazy!"
"So what are you going to do now?" Billy asked. He watched Bailey carefully, blue eyes shifting over her face. Almost as if he were worried. "There's a ranger team here, they've been protecting the city well. What is it going to do to their and your situation that you know his identity? You know it's to be kept a secret, we kept ours a secret for years."
Bailey lifted an eyebrow. "And look how we all ended up," she pointed out. "Friendless except for those that were rangers. We hardly see our families anymore, we have to constantly move to not be found out…" she lifted up her arm and motioned to her communicator. "And there's constantly been monsters coming around since we first started out. This isn't anything that's going to end soon. We need to help them as much as we can."
"I agree with you, Bay, but I still don't get how you plan on doing that," Avalon said slowly.
"Easy." Bailey planted her hands on her hips. "I'm going to get him to admit to me that he's a ranger."
Billy looked at her with a tilt of his head. He thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully before saying, "You know we can't stay in our morphed forms very long," he pointed out. "Tommy nearly got destroyed when-"
"I know," Bailey interrupted. A lump formed in her throat at the memory of their fight against Mesogog. Of what happened with Connor, Kira, Ethan, and Trent and what forced Tommy to nearly sacrifice himself. And the others...Bailey scratched the back of her head and watched the TV screen once more. Watched as the new ranger team, boasting the colors of red, blue, yellow, green, and pink all moved into their victory pose, the monster blowing up behind them. Distantly, she heard the sound of the explosion outside the house, probably ten miles away if she had to guess. "That's why I have to be very careful."
A/N: Second part is a little shorter than the first, but I hope you guys liked it anyway. I definitely had some fun making a bit of fun of the power rangers lore along with it.
~Av