Disclaimer: I do not own any characters related to Power Rangers they are owned by Saban/Disney et. al

I do however own all things Tanzetti and reserve the right to reuse them as I please.

Billy knocked on the door and it flew open almost immediately. Marcy stood behind the door smiling.

"Hi!" she said, then bit her lip in hesitation. "There's a little problem."

"Is he here?" called a voice from inside. The door was pulled aside and a woman about Marcy's age, but with almost black hair that was tied into a complicated knot on top of her head appeared behind Marcy. "Oh good," she said. "Come in."

She grabbed Billy by the arm and led him into the apartment. The woman, who was easily a head shorter than Billy, but had at least thirty pounds on him, pulled him across the room as if he were no more than a child being dragged to time out. She set him on the couch in the small living room and stood over him. The television was tuned to a news only station and there was a third woman, a skinny blonde with a long hooked nose and thick black rimmed glasses sitting in an overstuffed chair peering into a very thick textbook. She didn't look up when Billy was tossed unceremoniously onto the couch.

"Now, you sit here and I'll be right back." The dark-haired woman turned then and strode away to the kitchen.

Marcy appeared in front of him and came around to sit next to him on the couch. "I'm so sorry about this. I know we were supposed to see a movie, but Sarah told me this morning that she hasn't finished her final project for her cooking school and needed people to stay around and help."

"What do you mean help?" Billy asked suddenly nervous. He had made it clear on several occasions that his culinary skills stopped at pouring milk on cereal.

"Tasting."

As if by cue Sarah appeared again, this time holding a large dessert cup filled with white and brown swirls. A long dessert spoon was held in the other hand.

"I need a man's opinion," Sarah said, thrusting the concoction in his face.

He took the dish carefully and then the spoon. She stood over him, hands on hips, waiting and he realized this was expected to do this in front of an audience. Even the blonde roommate, whom he hadn't met, was watching, peering over her dark glasses at him.

Billy took a deep breath and dipped the spoon into the cup. It was smooth, like pudding, but not too thick. He could already smell the sweetness of the chocolate. He took the first bite and the rich taste of the cocoa filled his mouth, with just a hint of tart raspberry. The texture was light and airy, more like a mousse that a pudding and when he closed his mouth around the spoon he could feel the tiny air bubbles explode, tickling the roof of his mouth.

Before he even finished swallowing he was nodding his approval. "It's good," he said.

"It's not too sweet?" Sarah asked.

"No," he said. "But I like sweeter chocolate."

She ignored his comment and was already bustling to the kitchen. "Okay," she said over her shoulder. "You enjoy that, I'll be back with the hors devours."

Marcy shifted beside him. "Hello, other hungry tasters out here."

"I'll have more for you in a second!" Was the response from the kitchen.

"I love her chocolate soufflé," Marcy said.

"Me too."

The blonde roommate was starring full out at him now, textbook forgotten in her lap.

The door opened and closed with a slam, making Billy jump. A third woman, Devon, Billy remembered from a previous, but short meeting. She was tall and heavy built and her hair was a long silky brown. She tossed her backpack to the side and began pulling off a long red and pink silk scarf that she'd elaborately wrapped around her shoulders. Kimberly would have died over that scarf.

"Sorry I'm late," Devon said. Then she spied Billy, or rather, Billy's treat and she sank into the chair next to him.

"Is that the new raspberry mousse? How is it?"

Devon leaned in at him and he felt Marcy shift on the couch next to him. At this point it occurred to Billy that he was in a room full of hungry women and he was the one holding the chocolate. There was surly a plethora of fantasies that began this way but the reality was, he was very scared he might lose his life over the little dessert cup on his hands.

He was never more grateful to hear his communicator go off.

He sat the dessert on the coffee table. "I, uh, I have a thing, this afternoon. I should go."

"You're leaving?"

Sarah materialized again behind him as he stood up.

"You can't go," she said. "I have four casseroles in the oven and I haven't even started the quiche."

"If he needs to go, he needs go," Marcy spoke up. Billy looked at her and smiled, grateful for the support. He'd agreed not to lie to her about his secret life, but he didn't want to ask her to lie to her friends.

"I'll come back," he said helpfully. "Maybe in a few hours?"

Sara was brandishing a large wooden spoon at him. "You better," she said. "And bring friends. This is my final grade, it has to be perfect."

"Okay," Billy agreed. Marcy was on her feet and walked him to the door.

"Be careful," she said softly as he stepped out the door. She stepped out the door and kissed him softly on the lips. She slipped her hand in his and squeezed gently. This had become tradition somehow. He would take his hand as he was leaving, and hold it until the last second. For a second he seriously considered going back in the apartment with her, chocolate death or no, but he knew he had to leave.

"I will," he said finally. He stepped back, his hand still holding hers, pulling the hand along with him until she could reach no farther and was forced to let his hand slide away.

He turned then and headed down the hall. When he reached the second story landing he stopped, looking around. He'd heard the door to the upstairs close and there was no other movement in the halls above or below him.

When he was sure there wasn't anyone around he touched the controls on his communicator.

"I'm here, Zordon," he said quietly.

"Billy, you must teleport to the command center at once, the other rangers are already here."

"I'm on my way."

When Billy hit the floor of the Command Center two hours later he was exhausted. He could barely keep from collapsing against the counter of one of the control stations. Everyone else looked similarly haggard. It had been a hard battle. Their powers usually prevented too much fatigue after a battle, but a longer struggle like this was bound to have some repercussions.

"Man, that was tough," Rocky said finally, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Tommy agreed. "Zedd and Rita get more brutal every day."

"That may be the case," Zordon spoke up. "But you have once again defeated them and for that you should be proud of yourselves. You should all go home now and rest, you will need it."

"Yeah, man, I'm starving," Rocky said standing up a little straighter in anticipation of teleporting.

But his words reminded Billy of something. "Hey guys," he said before they teleported away. "I have an idea."

"Billy, dis is the besth idea you ever havf," Rocky said through his full mouth.

They were all seated around Sarah's miniscule dining room table with a spread that could easily feed an army laid out in front of them. Next to each plate was a small note pad and pen next to their plate for writing comments. Rocky was seated at the head of the table and his notepad already had five full pages of writing on it.

"Yeah, you're pretty lucky to have a girlfriend who can feed you so well," Tommy spoke up.

"Hey, I can cook," Kimberly interjected from Tommy's right.

"Yes you can, and that's why I love you," Tommy said quickly following it up with a quick kiss.

Billy felt Marcy's hand on his thigh. He was crammed into the middle of the table between her and Adam. Aisha and Marcy's other two roommates Ashley and Devon were seated on Marcy's other side.

"It's not my doing," Marcy said. "I'm lucky I have such a talented roommate like Sarah."

They all looked up a Sarah entered the room again carrying yet another dish, this one bearing a steaming sliced roast.

"I want your completely honest opinions," she said. "Be as detailed as possible. Even if you don't like it, still write something, okay?" She looked across the table at her tasting team, smiling. Her eyes landed on Billy.

"Billy, I wanted to thank you again for bringing your friends over like this. You have no idea how much this is going to help me."

"No problem," Billy said.

"Yeah," Kimberly agreed. "We're happy to help."

The conversation was broken by the sound of Rocky flipping over a fifth sheet of paper on his notepad and beginning a sixth, scribbling furiously. Sarah smiled and walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, slow down," she said. "You still have to get through dessert."

Rocky shook his head, but relaxed his writing a little. "I can't help it," he said. "It's so good." He pointed at the half eaten quiche on his plate. "You put saffron in this?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"You can taste it. My mom makes this dish with sausage and pasta in cream and red wine sauce. You would die for it."

"I have a recipe similar to that," Sara said. "Mine had eggplant."

Rocky gasped dramatically. "Why didn't you make that now?"

Sarah cringed a little. "Oh, that's more of a homey dish; I wanted to do a gourmet spread."

"Well, then you have to make it for me some other time," Rocky said smiling. "I have to try it. I love eggplant."

Sarah smiled brightly. "Me too. But I never get to make it. My boyfriend hates it. He won't eat hardly anything I cook. He says it's too fancy."

"Jasper is a horse's ass," Marcy said suddenly drawing everyone's attention. Billy saw her hid her face behind her glass of red wine, her eyes cold and looking straight ahead. When he turned back to Sarah her face was sad and downcast, but then she regained herself suddenly and went back to Rocky.

"I'll write the recipe down for you so you're mom can try it," she said.

"Okay," Rocky said cautiously. Marcy's sudden outburst had put a level of tension on the room and no one was sure what to say after that. But Sarah went on as if it never happened. She stepped back from the table and waved her arms at the full spread.

"Okay, this is pretty much it for the entrees so finish up, write your notes and I'll go get the desserts ready." With that she flew back into the kitchen.

Marcy drained her wine glass and set it on the table with a clink. Everyone was silent now, not sure what she meant by her last comment. But she was smiling too, just like Sarah, she'd tucked away whatever tension existed there as if it never happened.

"You guys are going to love Sarah's desserts," she said with a smile.

"Yeah," Ashley spoke up. "She makes her own chocolate, buys this special cocoa shipped in from L.A. It is like…chocolate orgasm."

"Absolutely," Marcy said.

Tommy began coughing at the sudden shift in dinner conversation.

"You all right there, Tommy?" Marcy asked. She refilled her wine glass sipped at it again. It was only her second glass of wine but Billy found himself feeling nervous all the same.

"Fine," Tommy said weakly. "Just never heard of it referred to in quite that way."

"Dude," Rocky spoke up. "You've never had a chocolate orgasm?"

This time it was Marcy's turn to choke on her drink. When she finally recovered she was laughing. "And you have?"

Rocky's face was stone cold. "My dad owns a bakery. Chocolate is his specialty."

Marcy smiled and raised her glass. "To chocolate orgasms."

Everyone at the table raised their glasses and repeated the toast.

"Fuckin' A," Rocky said.