[Fic] Aftermath: Dealing With Reality, Rated T, Season: OO, Ship: MR
Aftermath: Dealing With Reality
By: Pink-Green-White-4ever
Last Revised: September 17, 2007
Summary: The Overdrive Pink Ranger must deal with the aftermath of the episode Things Not Said.
Rated: T for language
Ship: Rose/Mack
AUTHOR’S NOTES: SPOILERS for Episodes Ronny On Empty and Things Not Said for Operation Overdrive (2007). YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
--
For once, the mansion was utterly silent. Mr. Hartford was still in the Command Center, probably trying to keep busy so he didn’t think about what had transpired that very afternoon that had left them all a little shaken. Ronny and Will were spending some quality time together in Ronny’s room, probably listening to some music or watching a movie. Every since Ronny had nearly been killed a week or so before Will had been sticking pretty close to the charismatic Yellow Ranger. She had to smile at that thought of the Black and Yellow Rangers together. She’d caught the two of them holding hands and stealing kisses not too long ago while on a walk around the grounds. Dax and Ty had dragged Mack to the movies. Poor Mack had needed a distraction more than any of them, and who better than those two to provide it. Spencer, bless his soul, was off doing whatever it was he did when the team wasn’t in need of him. Which left her all alone to entertain herself. She was sitting on the couch in the game room and found it particularly soothing at the moment, or at least that’s what she’d set out to let it do. Right now she was sitting in silence and brooding about things that just were becoming entirely too complicated.
If she were honest with herself, she’d admit she was still beyond shocked at the information they’d been given that afternoon. Mack was not all they’d thought him to be. In fact, he was less in some ways and more in others. Their Red Ranger was not human, no, their Mack was an Android.
The idea wasn’t completely foreign to her, she was, after all, a robotics genius, but to put that idea in the same thought with Mack was just incomprehensible. This was Mack she was talking about after all; Mack, always raring to go fight the bad guys; Mack who kept the team grounded and in touch with the reason they were Rangers; Mack the Red Ranger who led their team with a confidence that was just beginning to take hold; Mack, the heart and soul of their team; Mack, the man she’d fall hard and fast for, the first man she could honestly say she was in love with.
But that was the problem, he wasn’t physically a man, he was a robot, a machine created by Andrew Hartford. Everything she knew about him was a lie. The others had accepted the new reality without a problem, but somehow, she couldn’t seem to get past it, and she knew why - unlike the others, she was in love with him, in love with the Mack she’d come to know so well these past few months. To accept that he wasn’t even a real person was a hard, bitter pill to swallow for her.
“Ms. Rose?” Spencer’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “What’s wrong? Why the tears and long face?” he asked softly. Her hand shook as she brought it up to her face, her fingertips suddenly wet after touching her cheeks. She hadn’t realized she was crying until Spencer had mentioned it. “Rose?” His voice was firmer this time, the tone telling her he expected her to answer him now.
“Oh Spencer,” she cried softly, leaning her head against his shoulder when he sat down on the couch next to her.
“Ms. Rose, you have to tell me what’s wrong. I can’t help if I don’t know the problem.”
“Everything’s falling apart!” she uttered in anguish.
Spencer looked confused until it dawned on him why she’d feel that way. “I thought you were awfully quiet earlier,” he murmured, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “Want to talk about it?”
She fairly flew to her feet, a horrible expression on her face. “What is there to talk about? Everything that’s happened between us is a lie!” The ever patience Spencer sat while she raged. He could see that the truth behind Mack’s life had hurt her tremendously, but he knew he had to get to the root of the problem before he could fix it. “Spencer, I fell in love with someone who doesn’t exist!”
The aging butler and emotional mentor of the Overdrive Rangers raised an eyebrow. “I beg to differ, Ms. Rose. He very much exists.”
She glared at him. “You know what I mean! He’s not human!” she all but yelled.
“Neither is Master Tyzonn, but you don’t seem to have any problem with him,” Spencer calmly pointed out.
“Ty is alien, yes, but still humanoid!” she all but growled.
Spencer seemed to just sit there and sigh. “Call me old, or maybe I just do not understand, but you have always been the most sensible and level-headed member of the group. Why should Master Mack’s lack of biological existence, if you will, suddenly make a difference in how you feel about him?”
“Because!” she huffed.
“I simply do not understand. He is still the same person you have always known.”
She shook her head. “No, he’s not. Everything’s changed!” she insisted.
Spencer’s face revealed a mixture of disappointment and disbelief. “Ms. Rose, Master Adam told me that Pink Rangers have always been the glue that holds the Ranger teams together. If you can’t get passed this new stunning revelation, you’re going to make me wonder if he was lying to me.”
“He’s an android, Spencer!” she cried. “How can I love him now? We won’t have any chance of a future! No kids, no family, no happily ever after!”
“He’s still Mack, and you don’t know what the future holds. You loved him when you thought he was human, how can you say you don’t love him now? The only changes in him are that he isn’t a living being and that he must now follow a long path to rediscover who he is.” She stood in the center of the room, arms wrapped around her waist, looking much more fragile and hurt than she’d have ever liked. “Do you love HIM? Not what or who he is, BUT HIM?”
“Y-y-yes!” she stuttered.
Spencer smiled. “Then nothing else matters. He needs you now, more than every, so that he can recover some semblance of a life.”
She stood there and realized suddenly how stupid she was being. It was okay to be afraid but Spencer was right - Mack was still Mack and she loved him. What’s more, he was going to need all the love and support he could get to get through this new phase of his life.
“Hey Spencer!” Mack’s voice echoed from the front door. “Have you seen my wallet? I was going to pay for our movie tickets but I can’t find it,” he finished, walking into the room. Once look at her face had him frowning. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Spencer told him. “Ms. Rose was just confiding something to me. Master Mack, your wallet is probably on your nightstand.” That said, Spencer nodded to her and headed from the room.
“Rose, are you alright?”
She couldn’t stop the new trickle of tears nor could she find the strength to protest when he hurried over and wrapped his arms around her. “Rosie?”
“I’m fine,” she murmured, winding her arms around his waist and laying her head on his chest. He felt just as warm as he always had and she felt just as safe as she always did in his arms. The protective cocoon he always managed to weave around her drown our everything else. Spencer was right, Mack was still Mack, and she wasn’t psychic; she couldn’t see the future anymore than she could rid herself of the feelings she had for the courageous Red Ranger. “Got room for one more in the car?” she softly asked, pulling back to look up at him.
Mack just grinned. “For you? Always. Let me go grab my wallet.”
She squeezed his hand as he moved away from her. Just before they let go, she called out to him. “Mack?”
“Yeah?” he asked, turning back to face her.
“I love you,” she whispered.
The smile on his face lifted everything inside of her. Carefully, he brought her hand to his lips, kissing it gently. “Rose?”
“Hmm?”
“I love you too.”
She smiled at him. “Come on, let’s go to the movies.” Mack nodded at her comment and the pair headed to his room for his wallet.
By: Pink-Green-White-4ever
Last Revised: September 17, 2007
Summary: The Overdrive Pink Ranger must deal with the aftermath of the episode Things Not Said.
Rated: T for language
Ship: Rose/Mack
AUTHOR’S NOTES: SPOILERS for Episodes Ronny On Empty and Things Not Said for Operation Overdrive (2007). YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
--
For once, the mansion was utterly silent. Mr. Hartford was still in the Command Center, probably trying to keep busy so he didn’t think about what had transpired that very afternoon that had left them all a little shaken. Ronny and Will were spending some quality time together in Ronny’s room, probably listening to some music or watching a movie. Every since Ronny had nearly been killed a week or so before Will had been sticking pretty close to the charismatic Yellow Ranger. She had to smile at that thought of the Black and Yellow Rangers together. She’d caught the two of them holding hands and stealing kisses not too long ago while on a walk around the grounds. Dax and Ty had dragged Mack to the movies. Poor Mack had needed a distraction more than any of them, and who better than those two to provide it. Spencer, bless his soul, was off doing whatever it was he did when the team wasn’t in need of him. Which left her all alone to entertain herself. She was sitting on the couch in the game room and found it particularly soothing at the moment, or at least that’s what she’d set out to let it do. Right now she was sitting in silence and brooding about things that just were becoming entirely too complicated.
If she were honest with herself, she’d admit she was still beyond shocked at the information they’d been given that afternoon. Mack was not all they’d thought him to be. In fact, he was less in some ways and more in others. Their Red Ranger was not human, no, their Mack was an Android.
The idea wasn’t completely foreign to her, she was, after all, a robotics genius, but to put that idea in the same thought with Mack was just incomprehensible. This was Mack she was talking about after all; Mack, always raring to go fight the bad guys; Mack who kept the team grounded and in touch with the reason they were Rangers; Mack the Red Ranger who led their team with a confidence that was just beginning to take hold; Mack, the heart and soul of their team; Mack, the man she’d fall hard and fast for, the first man she could honestly say she was in love with.
But that was the problem, he wasn’t physically a man, he was a robot, a machine created by Andrew Hartford. Everything she knew about him was a lie. The others had accepted the new reality without a problem, but somehow, she couldn’t seem to get past it, and she knew why - unlike the others, she was in love with him, in love with the Mack she’d come to know so well these past few months. To accept that he wasn’t even a real person was a hard, bitter pill to swallow for her.
“Ms. Rose?” Spencer’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “What’s wrong? Why the tears and long face?” he asked softly. Her hand shook as she brought it up to her face, her fingertips suddenly wet after touching her cheeks. She hadn’t realized she was crying until Spencer had mentioned it. “Rose?” His voice was firmer this time, the tone telling her he expected her to answer him now.
“Oh Spencer,” she cried softly, leaning her head against his shoulder when he sat down on the couch next to her.
“Ms. Rose, you have to tell me what’s wrong. I can’t help if I don’t know the problem.”
“Everything’s falling apart!” she uttered in anguish.
Spencer looked confused until it dawned on him why she’d feel that way. “I thought you were awfully quiet earlier,” he murmured, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “Want to talk about it?”
She fairly flew to her feet, a horrible expression on her face. “What is there to talk about? Everything that’s happened between us is a lie!” The ever patience Spencer sat while she raged. He could see that the truth behind Mack’s life had hurt her tremendously, but he knew he had to get to the root of the problem before he could fix it. “Spencer, I fell in love with someone who doesn’t exist!”
The aging butler and emotional mentor of the Overdrive Rangers raised an eyebrow. “I beg to differ, Ms. Rose. He very much exists.”
She glared at him. “You know what I mean! He’s not human!” she all but yelled.
“Neither is Master Tyzonn, but you don’t seem to have any problem with him,” Spencer calmly pointed out.
“Ty is alien, yes, but still humanoid!” she all but growled.
Spencer seemed to just sit there and sigh. “Call me old, or maybe I just do not understand, but you have always been the most sensible and level-headed member of the group. Why should Master Mack’s lack of biological existence, if you will, suddenly make a difference in how you feel about him?”
“Because!” she huffed.
“I simply do not understand. He is still the same person you have always known.”
She shook her head. “No, he’s not. Everything’s changed!” she insisted.
Spencer’s face revealed a mixture of disappointment and disbelief. “Ms. Rose, Master Adam told me that Pink Rangers have always been the glue that holds the Ranger teams together. If you can’t get passed this new stunning revelation, you’re going to make me wonder if he was lying to me.”
“He’s an android, Spencer!” she cried. “How can I love him now? We won’t have any chance of a future! No kids, no family, no happily ever after!”
“He’s still Mack, and you don’t know what the future holds. You loved him when you thought he was human, how can you say you don’t love him now? The only changes in him are that he isn’t a living being and that he must now follow a long path to rediscover who he is.” She stood in the center of the room, arms wrapped around her waist, looking much more fragile and hurt than she’d have ever liked. “Do you love HIM? Not what or who he is, BUT HIM?”
“Y-y-yes!” she stuttered.
Spencer smiled. “Then nothing else matters. He needs you now, more than every, so that he can recover some semblance of a life.”
She stood there and realized suddenly how stupid she was being. It was okay to be afraid but Spencer was right - Mack was still Mack and she loved him. What’s more, he was going to need all the love and support he could get to get through this new phase of his life.
“Hey Spencer!” Mack’s voice echoed from the front door. “Have you seen my wallet? I was going to pay for our movie tickets but I can’t find it,” he finished, walking into the room. Once look at her face had him frowning. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Spencer told him. “Ms. Rose was just confiding something to me. Master Mack, your wallet is probably on your nightstand.” That said, Spencer nodded to her and headed from the room.
“Rose, are you alright?”
She couldn’t stop the new trickle of tears nor could she find the strength to protest when he hurried over and wrapped his arms around her. “Rosie?”
“I’m fine,” she murmured, winding her arms around his waist and laying her head on his chest. He felt just as warm as he always had and she felt just as safe as she always did in his arms. The protective cocoon he always managed to weave around her drown our everything else. Spencer was right, Mack was still Mack, and she wasn’t psychic; she couldn’t see the future anymore than she could rid herself of the feelings she had for the courageous Red Ranger. “Got room for one more in the car?” she softly asked, pulling back to look up at him.
Mack just grinned. “For you? Always. Let me go grab my wallet.”
She squeezed his hand as he moved away from her. Just before they let go, she called out to him. “Mack?”
“Yeah?” he asked, turning back to face her.
“I love you,” she whispered.
The smile on his face lifted everything inside of her. Carefully, he brought her hand to his lips, kissing it gently. “Rose?”
“Hmm?”
“I love you too.”
She smiled at him. “Come on, let’s go to the movies.” Mack nodded at her comment and the pair headed to his room for his wallet.