A/N: Hey, I'm really sorry that this is so late, but I've been really busy with other things in my life. Enjoy, and I'll hopefully update soon!!

"…": characters talking to each other

'…': characters talking to themselves

(…): extra facts about something in the story

(Set after "Gatekeeper, Part 2")

Theme 3: Take My Hand

Rock Porium, November 12, 2006, 5:00 PM – Briarwood, CA, USA

Xander and Vida were the only ones left in Rock Porium, as Toby had decided to leave the two of them in charge while he gave his other employees the day off. Xander and Vida hadn't been happy about this turn of events; after all, it just gave them more work to do. It also meant that Vida had less time than usual to operate her DJ table and produce quality music, while Xander had less time to do his skateboard stunts to pull in customers. The rangers were all still recovering from their fight against Morticon a few days ago, their energy supply slowly building back up to normal. Xander and Vida weren't happy with Toby; they were just as tired as Nick, Madison, and Chip, and yet they were stuck manning the store.

"Guys, where are all the customers?" Toby questioned as he ran out of his office, forms in one hand and what appeared to be a bundle of pens in his other hand. His short light brown hair was unruly as usual, and his normally placid dark gray eyes were full of anger.

"What customers, boss?" Xander wearily asked, leaning on the counter that had the register on top, yawning widely after he finished giving Toby an answer to his question.

"My point exactly!" Toby exclaimed, walking up to Xander and, after depositing his work on the counter glared at his head employee. "Vida usually draws in customers with her music and you do some skateboard tricks out front and post fliers up over town; why are you here?!"

Xander stared back at Toby and replied, "Don't you remember, boss? You gave Nick, Chip, and Maddie the day off and left Vida and me in charge of the store, which means that she and I have to handle stocking all the arrivals, manning the register, helping any stray customers that wander in, and so on; tasks that are usually divided up between the five of us. That means that Vida and I can't play our music or do skateboard tricks out front because there would be no one to do all the inside work." He watched Toby warily, looking for any sign of understanding from his Jimmy Hendrix-obsessed boss, but on seeing nothing groaned, putting a hand to his forehead.

"You mean that there aren't any customers because you and Vida are stuck inside doing other tasks instead of doing your regular duties?" Toby slowly asked, a hand rubbing his chin as he thought about the current situation. Xander looked up from glaring at the forms on the counter and stared in disbelief at his boss; had he actually understood what Xander had told him?

After a few minutes of silence, Toby shook his head no and continued, "Naw; can't be. You and Vida can handle everything; after all, you two are the best employees I have. Now, get to work!!" With these words, Toby gathered up the forms and pens he had put on the counter and walked over to his office with the pens somehow balancing on his head; something only Toby could pull off. Xander once more groaned and slammed his head onto the counter, this time coming up in pain as he realized that his action was probably not the best one to take.

"What was that for, Xander?" Vida asked as she came from the back of the store, where she had been putting away the arrival of packages.

"Oh, let's just say that Toby's really starting to grate on my nerves…" Xander wearily mumbled, rubbing his temples in a vain attempt to take care of the headache that had formed when he had slammed his head on the counter.

"How come? Oh, let me guess: he said that because you and I are the best employees he's ever had we could handle everything, including drawing in customers; right?" Vida sarcastically asked, earning a withering glare from Xander.

"Exactly," Xander darkly replied, murderous thoughts of what he could do to Toby in the future running through his mind. After a few minutes, with the two of them looking at anything but each other Xander suddenly snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "Got it!"

Vida stared at him and, lifting one eyebrow, asked, "Got what, exactly?"

"The answer to our problem," Xander confidently replied, moving out from behind the counter to face his fellow ranger. "We just need to convince Toby to do some of the work while we supervise."

"And just how do you think that we can pull that off?" Vida questioned, her eyes showing that she loved the idea but the frown on her face showing her doubts about the plan.

"We need to fool Toby into thinking something's happening with us, making him so worried about his star employees that he will offer to do our work. We then protest, but he insists that the person whom the other's concerned about should supervise the other while he does all of the work. Then, when the work's done we can go back to our usual jobs and draw in the customers. Sound like a good plan?" Xander explained, leaving the decision up to Vida.

Vida's frown deepened as she thought about the idea, wondering whether it was plausible, and after reflecting on it nodded and, smiling at Xander, said, "Yep; I think we can pull this plan off, no problem."

Xander flashed her one of his best smiles and Vida found herself blushing a little. 'Damn, why in the hell am I blushing?! This isn't normal; not at all!'

"V, you okay? You look a bit flushed," Xander asked, concern taking over his confident persona as he came closer to Vida and placed a hand on her forehead, checking to see if she was hot. "You don't seem to have a fever…" he muttered, not liking the fact that Vida could be sick and he hadn't even noticed it.

"I'm fine, Xander; take your hand off my forehead," Vida grumbled, not liking the fact that she now had Xander fawning over her, checking to make sure she wasn't sick. "Wait a minute, don't."

At Xander's incredulous look she continued, "I mean, don't remove your hand; this is how we're going to fool Toby. I'll pretend I'm sick, and you'll be so concerned about me that Toby will have to all our chores while we sit down and relax; me especially. Those boxes I was lugging in the back were as heavy as a Hidiac!" At this Xander quietly chuckled, his deep laugh causing Vida to blush a bit more, a detail that, luckily for her, Xander failed to pick up on.

With a nod, the two of them got into position, with Vida leaning against the counter, her back to Xander, and Xander resuming is previous position.

"All right, one, two, three…" Xander muttered, and when he reached three Vida nodded and, using the acting skills she had picked up from a drama class in school stumbled forward, holding a hand to her forehead.

"V, what's wrong?" Xander demanded while making sure his voice was loud enough that Toby heard it, and sure enough he came running out of his office, now only having the collection of pens in his hands.

"What's wrong?" Toby demanded, his eyes taking in what he saw. Vida was on her knees, holding her head as if she was in pain, and Xander was beside her, checking her face with his hands to see if she had a fever, considering her face was red.

"I don't know boss; Vida and I were talking when she suddenly stumbled, and I shot out from behind the counter to see if she was okay," Xander replied, having finished checking Vida to see if she was sick and, gently taking her hands off her head told her, "Take my hand, V."

"No, I'm… I'm okay," Vida muttered, not wanting to show weakness, even if she was faking being sick.

"V, you're obviously not feeling well and it seemed to me like you couldn't keep your balance; take my hand," Xander firmly said, leaving no room in his voice for argument. Vida glared at him and, acting like she was too weak to protest, placed her hand in Xander's and he helped her to her feet and over to his "supervising" chair, both ignoring the small shock that had occurred the moment contact had been made. Toby followed worriedly, the pens having slipped from his hands to the floor where they lay forgotten.

"Is she okay?" Toby asked Xander fearfully; afraid that he would get hit with a lawsuit from Vida's very overprotective father. Xander didn't answer until he had gotten a pillow to support Vida's head and her feet propped up with an empty record carton.

"She'll be fine, boss. I think it's just something like the 24 hour bug," Xander replied, looking over his shoulder in concern as Vida moaned and leaned further back into the pillow. Toby looked from Vida to Xander, a concerned expression plastered across his face. "I'll still work, boss. I'll do both V's and my chores so you can concentrate on your stuff in your office."

Toby stared at Xander and said, "Absolutely no way am I going to leave Vida unattended; I'm afraid she'll wake up and hurl all over my floor, resulting in a mess that someone'll have to clean up, which will most likely be me. Tell you what: I'll do all of your chores so you can stay with Vida and make sure that she doesn't go and faint on us." Xander looked about to protest but Toby held up a hand and added, "No; I insist."

Xander shrugged and nodded, moving to pull up a stool next to Vida, appearing as if he was going to take Toby's advice and watch over Vida. Toby shook his head in amazement at the amount of concern Xander was showing for his friend; sure he showed concern for Madison, Chip, and Nick, but to Toby it seemed as if Xander cared for Vida as more than a friend.

'After all,' Toby thought, 'Xander's insistence that he help Vida up and the way they seemed to become closer just by them taking each other's hands seems to indicate that there might be something below the surface…' Toby then moved to finish Vida's job in the back room, but having forgotten about the pens on the ground slipped on them with a yell and ended up on his back, the pens spread out over the floor in various directions, all at least five feet away from him. He slowly got up, not seriously hurt and, mumbling about his bad luck, moved to begin his employees' chores along with gathering up the pens and placing them in his office where they belonged.

Xander and Vida looked over at Toby as he fell, his yelp of pain and surprise causing them to look at each other and stifle back a laugh. For the rest of the day Xander sat beside Vida, both of them talking, but when they heard Toby coming their way Vida would pretend to be sick, and Xander would be concerned over her well-being, taking her hand in his and rubbing it, hoping to give the appearance that he was comforting Vida. They didn't do any more work for the rest of the day, and although there were a few customers that day Toby managed to get all of the chores that Xander and Vida had been scheduled to complete before he sent the two teenagers home.