Fic: An Unexpected Mission: Chapter 8 (Power Rangers)
Title: An Unexpected Mission
Authors: rivulet027 and moonlite_n_rose
Fandom: Power Rangers with an AU ending for the Operation Overdrive Team-up.
Pairings: Billy/Trini, Tommy/Hayley, Kira/Dustin with eventual slash and het.
Rating: Pg-15
Summery: The Once A Ranger vets team continue in Angel Grove with a new set of villains. Wherein Adam gains a team, gets a girl, a couple of tattoos and might just lose his sanity in the process.
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Power Rangers, neither does MnR. We’re just playing in their toy box and we promise to put everyone away when we’re finished. We also don't own anything to do with 'The Exorcist'.
A/N: Please don't worry about Trent, he will eventually redeem himself. Also, sorry this update took so long.
Chapter 8:
Dustin woke up slowly, first noticing that he wasn’t under the covers and then realizing that he was being snuggled. He blinked, took in the yellow and realized he’d let himself fall asleep in Kira’s room, with Kira wrapped around him. It’d been one thing to cuddle with her during a movie, but this was probably crossing a line, even if she did no longer have a boyfriend.
He wet his lips, waiting for the guilt to kick in and was surprised when it didn’t. He’d been comforting her. Trent had been a jerk and it wasn’t his fault that they’d both been exhausted and fallen asleep, had it?
He looked down at her. Her curls were illuminated by the sun just starting to peek through the window. She looked so serene with her arms wrapped around him tightly. He even liked the way his arms looked wrapped around her.
He closed his eyes, now was not the right time to be developing feelings for his friend, his teammate. She’d just broken up with her boyfriend last night, you didn’t go liking someone right after that!
He needed a morning run to clear his thoughts, to figure out what in the world he thought he was doing. She shifted, and tightened her grip on him. He suddenly remembered how grouchy she was in the morning and Kat saying something about Adam getting smacked for waking up another yellow too early.
He wasn’t about to risk getting smacked, he reasoned. Besides he was very comfortable here, with Kira wrapped around him. That decided he leaned down awkwardly and gave the top of her head a quick kiss, before he settled back and let himself sleep in for the first time in a long time.
A few hours later, Kira finally gave into the sun glaring down into her room. She grumbled as she turned over and…whoa, there's a body there, her sleep-addled mind informed her. She opened her eyes tentatively and smiled as she saw Dustin curled up against her.
She licked her lips and took a few moments to study him. He looked so calm in his sleep, a far cry from his bouncy personality. She propped herself up on her elbow and watched him sleep.
"Thanks for staying," she whispered softly, not wanting to wake him up, not even sure she wanted him to hear that.
Movement woke Dustin up. He groaned and opened his eyes, tense because he wasn’t used to waking up next to someone and wasn’t sure it wasn’t an attack. He blinked up at Kira, a bit stunned at how beautiful she looked with the sun illuminating her.
“Morning,” he greeted, voice thick with sleep.
"Closer to afternoon actually," she said with a smile. The clock on the wall read eleven thirty. "But good morning all the same," she replied, running a hand through her hair and making a face. "A tangled mess," she sighed. She took a moment to look over Dustin again, now that he was awake. Just woke up was a good look for him, she decided after a moment.
“S’pretty,” he mumbled sleepily as he closed his eyes. He didn’t want to move. He felt awful. He knew it was because he’d missed his morning run, he always felt miserable when he did, but there was nothing he could do about it. Wait, did she say it was almost noon?
Did he just say she was pretty? Kira fought the urge to say ‘What?’ That would make it the second time in less than twenty-four hours he'd complemented her like that. She felt her cheeks heat up at the idea that he found her attractive.
Dustin’s eyes flew open, “Dude, did we miss training?”
Kira was jolted out of her thoughts by Dustin's question. "Holy crap… we totally missed training," she said sitting up all the way. "Adam's gonna kill us," she groaned. How had they missed training, she thought wildly. Why hadn't anyone come to wake them up?
He should get up, he should be panicking and running down the stairs, but he felt like he was weighed down. He ran a hand over his face and struggled to keep his eyes opened. “Would’ve woken us like up if they were gonna be pissed,” he slurred before snuggling into her comforter, “Don’t wanna move, can’t we just go back to sleep?”
"No! It's almost noon. Even if they aren't pissed, if you don't wake up now, you'll be up all night," Kira said shaking him gently. Yes, she wanted to cuddle with him more, but they did need to get up. When she got no response she sighed, "Don't make me dump your sweet butt outta bed Dustin." She shook him again.
Sweet butt…had she just said that? “Huh? Wha?” he blinked at her, “Okay.” He rolled out of bed, forcing himself to stand and shook himself. Oh dude, he hated sleeping in. “Do you want breakfast? We should go get breakfast. Or would it be lunch?” he asked before he yawned and stretched.
"Brunch maybe?" Kira stood up, locked her arms behind her back and bent forward as she stretched herself awake fully. "I need to take a shower first though, and tackle this mess," she said tugging at her hair. A shower would also give her time to process everything running through her head.
Dustin blinked as Kira stretched. What was with him and wanting to check out girls lately? “Brunch sounds good. I think I’ll like go downstairs and get food. I’ll take a shower after the training Adam’s sure to um make us do,” he nodded, then hesitated. He stepped towards her and pulled her into a quick hug and told her, “I hope you’re okay.”
He didn’t wait for her to reply, he was too embarrassed by trying not to check her out earlier. Dude, what was with him?
Kira bit her lip and smiled as Dustin darted from her room after that hug. He was so sweet. She sighed contently from the warm feeling his hug had left her with and headed to her closet to pick out clothes for the day.
Dustin padded down the stairs and into the kitchen. He stared at it a moment before he gave up and flopped down at the breakfast bar. He buried his head in his arms, he had no energy.
Adam came into the kitchen to see an interesting sight, Dustin flopped over the breakfast bar. "Bout time you woke up," he commented as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
Dustin slowly brought his head up to blink at Adam. Dustin groaned, Adam looked entirely too cheerful. “Dude, sleeping in sucks,” he complained before he rested his chin on his arms, “I should go running. I’d feel better if I went running, but I like so don’t have the energy.”
"You gotta do something to get motivated," Adam pointed out.
Tori walked in. "Dustin's a downer when he doesn't get in his morning run. It's like he needs endorphins to function properly," she informed Adam.
"I can see where getting out of your routine would make you feel awful," Adam reasoned as he took a seat at the table. He reached a foot out to the stool Dustin was perched on and kicked it, "You… go do something. Move."
Dustin’s response was to groan and bury his head into his arms. He knew Adam was right, but moving required well moving. He tilted his head to the side, still pillowed on his arms and told him, “Can’t move, heads too full.” He closed his eyes hoping his confusion about these sudden feelings towards Kira would go away. They wouldn’t, he knew, not until he’d sorted himself out and got in his daily run. No, he wasn’t going to move, it felt too good to stay here with his eyes closed. “Tor,” he groaned, “I don’t understand.”
"Don't understand what?" She asked, walking behind him and rubbing his shoulders. “You gotta move Dustin. Come on, let’s go for a run. You can explain to me what you don't understand while moving," she said poking him in the sides until he got up.
Adam smiled at the way she took charge of Dustin and headed back outside to see how Kat was doing with Xander.
Lethargic Dustin stumbled to his feet. He swayed there for a moment doing his best to give Tori a pout. He shook himself, he could move. He could go for a run if he went and got his shoes which were…where were his shoes? He groaned. If he went to his room to get his shoes he wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t crawl into bed. He wrapped his arms around Tori and buried his face in her shoulder, “Do I have to do the moving first? Can’t you do the explaining first?”
Tori sighed and poked him in the side. "Stay standing. Don't move. I'll go get your shoes," she trotted towards the stairs.
He turned and considered the chair again, how nice it would be to just sit down.
"And Dustin," she leaned her head over the railing, "If you sit back down before I come back… I will use a wave to push you right out the patio doors."
Dustin blinked at her for a moment before nodding his understanding. He’d almost finished stretching before she came back with his shoes. He finished, mumbled a ‘thank you’ and took his shoes.
"Now put them on, no explaining until we're outside," she ordered. She wasn't going to put up with a lethargic Dustin. The easiest way to get him back to normal was to poke and prod him until he was up and moving. Dustin padded outside and winced at the brightness. “T,” he complained before he sighed. He knew she was right, but in a last ditch effort to flop to the ground he pointed out, “We’re outside.”
"I've got a tidal wave with your name on it Waldo," Tori threatened, raising an eyebrow, a sure sign she was at her limit of listening to Dustin’s whining. "Run, now," she pushed him towards the sidewalk, "Then tell me what you don't understand."
He nodded, gave her a quick brotherly peck on the cheek and began to run. This was better, he was better when he was moving. “Thanks T,” he smiled as he felt himself begin to get back to normal.
"Anytime," she said running next to him. After they’d run about a mile from the house she ventured, “So, what exactly don’t you understand?”
“Um, girls are pretty?” he tried, as his pace picked up, a sure sign that he was agitated or confused about something, “I mean I like know that you’re pretty. And hey I know Kat’s pretty. And I knew that Kira was pretty, but, dude, why am I noticing now that she is pretty? I like shouldn’t be noticing. She’s my teammate and she…she like has a boyfriend.” He sighed. What was wrong with him?
Tori picked up her speed to keep up with him, "Dustin, what part of that massive blow out did you miss last night? Kira doesn't have a boyfriend anymore. I don't think she'll take Trent back, it's not the first time Trent's pulled the jealousy bit, and I think the fact he did it on a fellow ranger and insinuated that she would cheat put her over the edge."
“Yeah, she said she wasn’t going to,” he agreed.
"As for the first part," she continued, "You're now noticing that she's 'pretty' because she's moved from the unavailable to the available, when it comes to girls.”
Okay, that like made sense, Dustin thought.
“And maybe because she's noticed that you're not exactly unattractive yourself," she added slyly, subtly hinting that Kira had been checking him out as well.
He almost stopped at that. “T,” he laughed, “Cute, maybe. Airheaded, yes. Attractive? I’m like not so sure about that one.” He paused and pointed out, “Come on, the last two people I dated only wanted to date me after they’d eaten food I cooked.”
"Yeah and the last two people you've dated were total and complete jerks," she pointed out in response. "You are cute… and maybe a bit airheaded, but you're also attractive, don't argue me on that one," she added to cut off any more protests.
“Okay, okay. Dude I like so know better than to argue with you,” he told her before he teased, “Especially when you start sounding like Marah.”
Tori looked over at him in disbelief. "You did not just say that. I didn’t sound like Marah," she said bumping into him as they ran. She didn't, really. The upside was Dustin was sounding like Dustin again. She thought about that, rather than thinking about whether what Dustin said was true or not.
Dustin laughed, “Well okay, not the sounding the same, but dude she’s so said the same thing to me, but then she was doing her ‘I used to be evil’ bit and threatening to kick the ass of the next person I dated if they were as lame as the like the last person I dated. It was kinda like scary.”
"Marah in protective mode is kinda scary," Tori admitted. "But that isn't the point. The point was Kira noticing you're attractive," she reminded him. She looked up at the sky and estimated that they'd been running for nearly an hour.
"We should probably head back," she commented.
“Okay,” Dustin agreed as he slowed, preparing to start cooling down. Then he processed the rest of her words, “Wait, what? She…when did…dude.”
Tori laughed. "What? She did, and that's all I'm going to say about the subject," she slowed down to a light jog as they headed back towards the house.
After getting back to the house, Dustin took a shower and in a much better mood bounced down the stairs. He froze when he entered the kitchen and took in the tension radiating off everyone. He rubbed the back of his head, “Ahh, dude, what’d I miss?”
Kat looked up from her post behind Adam's chair, where she was rubbing his shoulders. "Well…"
"Next time I see Trent… I have a few things I'd like to say to him," Adam interrupted hotly. He was fuming. "He couldn't leave things alone… he had to call Kira today, and rub salt in the wounds…. he…"
"Hush," Kat squeezed his shoulders, then explained, "Trent called Kira, I don't know exactly what he said to her, but she was furious with him. She didn't even bother hanging up. She launched her phone at the wall and stormed out of the house. Only Adam's reflexes kept it from shattering against the wall."
"How can he be such an idiot?" Tori sighed. Yes, Trent had some jealousy issues, but he was a good guy, she didn't understand why he was being such a prick.
Dustin shook his head, hardly believing things had gotten worse. Yes, Kira had broken up with Trent and she had said she wasn’t getting back together with him, but Dustin figured Trent would’ve realized he’d been wrong in pissing her off and things would work out for them. He hadn’t thought Trent would just make the situation worse.
Dustin dropped down into the nearest chair, “Dude.” He wanted to ask if they thought Kira’d be okay, but he knew she would be. She was tough. With that thought he pushed himself out of his chair, started some tea and began to fix himself lunch. “Okay, so like I know like none of you are thinking about food right now, but if I don’t eat then well I’ll throw my whole day off more than well I already did. So anyone want some like food?” He wasn’t thinking about wanting to have a few words with Trent, he really wasn’t, he tried telling himself. He hoped Kira got back soon.
"I do. I haven't eaten since before training," Tori said as she took the seat Dustin vacated.
"So do we know where Kira went?" She asked Kat and Adam. She was a little worried about Kira going off on her own. Kira being alone while they were waiting for their first battle left her with an uneasy feeling.
"No, she didn't say anything to us, just stormed out of here, looking ready to kill," Kat replied as she took a seat next to Adam. "I'd think she probably went for a walk to cool off."
Dustin began on a sandwich for Tori before he frowned, “I hope she comes back soon. The not knowing how she is like the worst part.” He pulled out a bag of chips, putting it and the sandwiches on the table before he busied himself with making tea for everyone. “I hope she’s okay.”
"I'm sure she is," Kat walked over to where Dustin was making tea and got out the tea mugs. "She can handle herself," she patted his shoulder. Dustin gave her a grateful smile.
A short time later, Kira opened the front door and dragged herself towards the kitchen. She had leaves in her hair, scratches on her arms, and bruises dappled her legs.
"Adam, Billy really needs to get us communicators," she said collapsing into the free chair.
"Kira what happened?" Adam exclaimed, as he got up and knelt down in front of her chair to check her injuries.
"A squad of foot soldiers found me in the park," she said folding her arms on the table and using them to pillow her head. "I fended them off the best I could," she mumbled through her hands.
"I knew something was going to happen," Tori got up and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge, handing it to Kira. "Here…" she said rubbing her back.
Dustin froze at the sight of the wreck Kira was. He couldn’t move for a moment. After the horrible day she’d already had to be attacked by putties? Dude, that was just so wrong. Dustin placed his own mug of tea in front of her, and pushed his sandwich towards her. Then he took a step back, feeling useless and not knowing how to help further. He wanted to hug her. He wanted those putties to show up so he could take them on for messing with her, even though he was sure several of them were merely clay thanks to her hands. Finally he managed words, “Dude. Are you like okay?”
Kira lifted her head up from her hands just enough to meet his eyes. She looked about ready to cry, “No." That being said, she buried her face back into her arms. She hurt everywhere. She knew that she'd been lucky, that the baddies had just been toying with her. If they'd been serious about taking her out, she probably wouldn't have stood a chance unless she morphed, and they'd rushed her so quickly she hadn't had the time to even touch her morpher.
Adam stood up after checking her injuries, "Her bumps and bruises aren't serious, she got worked over, but it’s all minor. She'll be okay." Adam put a hand on her back as he added softly, "You need to get cleaned up."
"Don't want to move," came the muffled reply from Kira.
She sounded so broken it scared Dustin. So he did what Tori had done for him, he reached out to motivate her. He helped her to her feet and pulled her into a careful hug.
He gave her a smile, “I’m like sure you did good, fighting them cause hey you’re here and like yeah a little worse for wear but you’re here. So let’s like go get you cleaned up. I’ll walk you upstairs. I’ll even wait for you to get back out of the shower. Then we’ll like get some food in you.”
He gave her his best encouraging look. She needed to get cleaned up, she needed her scratches tended too and she probably hadn’t eaten yet. Adam had said her injuries were minor, but just in case she passed out he’d wait near the bathroom door for her. Not sure if she’d agree he asked, “Okay?”
"Fine," Kira hugged him back tightly, too tired to even respond to his encouragements about her fighting prowess. She pulled away and headed for the stairs carefully. Every inch of her body ached with fatigue. She gripped the rail tightly as she walked up the stairs, fearful that she would either lose her grip, or her shaky legs would give out on her.
Worried Adam watched Dustin follow her up the stairs. "I'm going to call Billy, see if maybe he and Bridge can get the communicators working ASAP. We need them, and we need them now," he got up and headed for the living room, where he'd left his cell phone.
Kat looked at Tori, "Well I'm going to clean up, why don't you go let Xander know what happened."
Tori nodded, "He outside in the garden?"
At Kat's affirmation she headed for the patio doors.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
After a fairly lengthy shower, Kira opened the bathroom door to find that true to his word, Dustin was sitting in the hallway across from the door.
"Ooh… I didn't expect you to actually be right there," the surprise was evident in her voice. She pulled her robe shut a little closer, and tied it tighter.
Now that she had the grime and dirt cleared off her, it was more than obvious that she was worse for wear. The small scratches that were hidden by the dirt were now a bright and angry red, and the larger gashes were surrounded by purple bruising that looked all too painful.
Dustin felt his face flush as he caught sight of her. He ducked his head, “Just in case you fainted, have to be careful.” He looked back up at her, cheeks still red, “Why don’t you like get dressed and I’ll go get the first aid kit and then we’ll look you over?” That said he rose to his feet and walked away. He ran a hand though his hair trying not to think about how she’d looked stepping out of the bathroom. Resolutely he set about getting the first aid kit.
"Right," she said biting her lip. She saw Dustin's reaction to her 'outfit' and had to suppress a smile. The urge quickly faded a she moved and pain ripped through her legs. "Meet me in my room," she said as he headed to look for the first aid kit. Once in her room, she'd changed into a pair of shorts, and a tank top, making sure that most of her injuries were visible to be treated. She laid back on the bed and tried to relax as she waited for Dustin to come in with the first aid kit.
Dustin paused in the doorway, giving in to the urge to look her over for only a moment as he tried to tell himself it was so he could access her injuries. He sat down carefully beside her and began to clean her up. He gave her a smile, “You wouldn’t believe the number of times I ended up with a concussion and Sensei wouldn’t let one of the other guys let me out of their sight.”
Kira laughed softly. "Sensei's smart. Conner wound up with one after a harsh battle; we had to keep him awake… a task easier said than done, oww!" she yelped when Dustin cleaned a rather nasty scratch on her leg, her leg jerking involuntarily. "That hurt."
Dustin winced when he hurt Kira. He hadn't meant to hurt her, "Sorry, dude, sorry.”
“Don't call me dude," Kira teased, to let him know it was cool, that she knew he didn't mean to hurt her.
"Dude, I like call everyone dude."
More carefully he finished the scratch on her leg and moved onto the next. In an attempt to distracted her he asked, "So like what'd you guys do to keep Conner awake?"
She pushed herself up on her elbows before continuing, "Ethan kept poking him, and when that didn't work, I dumped ice down the front of his pants." She had a satisfied smile on her face. "Conner screams like a girl," she informed him.
Dustin shuddered at the thought, "Down his pants? I'd scream like a girl too."
Kira giggled, "Hey, it worked. He stayed up all night." She watched him tending to the rest of her injuries. I really want to kiss him; she thought to herself and groaned, laying her head back against the bed. I can't do that, besides… what if he wasn't interested? She was so caught up in her introspection, she didn't even notice she'd groaned aloud.
Dustin froze when she groaned. Had he hurt her? He didn’t think so, that didn’t sound like a painful groan. He wet his lips. He’d been wrong earlier when he’d told Tori she was pretty. Kira was more than pretty, she was beautiful. And she’d only just broken up with Trent, he shouldn’t be thinking this way. He sat back and began putting the supplies away. Still concerned he asked, “Are you okay?”
"What?" She asked pushing herself back up. It was then she realized she must have groaned aloud. "Oooh, I'm fine," she smiled at him as she finished sitting up all the way, "I was just thinking about things. I should probably be more upset about the fact I'm not with Trent anymore…I mean… I should be heartbroken… but I'm not. I was… a little bit last night, but right now, I'm more hurt that he'd think of me that way, not what I lost.” She paused for a moment then asked him, “Is that weird?"
They were sitting so close their legs were pressed against each other. It took Dustin a moment to process what she said and without thinking he said, “Maybe it wasn’t a good relationship.”
Dustin froze. He probably shouldn’t have said that. “Dude, I’m sorry. I like have no right to like say anything about your relationships I was just like um well when I got out of some relationships I realized that they weren’t really like good ones when I wasn’t very like upset afterward. I…well the last person I dated was a relief to get rid of. I think Marah wanted to kill her, and Tori and Shane. I’m holding out on the hope that Cam didn’t have an opinion,” he paused to give her a smile hoping that he’d repaired any damage he might have done, that he might have taken back the insult of saying she wasn’t in a good relationship.
Kira bumped his arm and smiled back at him, "It's okay Dustin. You're probably right. I was in New York… he was out here in California, maybe we just drifted apart. It still doesn't excuse how he acted," she added with a huff. She was still upset about that. "I should sic Hayley on him," she smirked at the thought of Hayley's temper, and the image she had of her blowing up at Trent.
“Oh dude, he’d be in so much like trouble not that he already isn’t in trouble but dude…she’d like…I don’t even think she’d leave any of him for Dr. O to be mad at.”
"Good, because we always said that if we broke up, we were still gonna be friends, and right now… I don't want to be friends with him, not till he apologizes for being a jackass," she said crossing her arms.
“Hey,” he attempted to sooth as he wrapped his arms around her, “just no going off while you’re angry, because we don’t need the bad guys taking advantage of that again.”
Kira let herself be hugged and leaned into his embrace, "That was kinda stupid wasn't it?" She sighed. "I just needed to get out of the house, I didn't want to snap at anybody, and I would have… and it probably would have been you, and you so don't deserve that because you've been nothing but a complete and total sweetheart," she said looking up at him.
Dustin laughed, “You like keep saying that. I’m the airhead, remember?”
"What? Just cause you're an 'airhead' you can't be a sweetheart?" Kira asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, um maybe? Nah, no, like not sure dude?” he teased with a smile.
Kira poked him, "Don't argue, you're a sweetheart, end of discussion."
“Okay. You like Tori and Cam always win,” he smiled, “I’m just hapless against your logic.” That said he tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.
"Damn straight," she bit her lip and looked down, not wanting Dustin to see her cheeks flushing slightly. He keeps this up, I am going to kiss him, she thought to herself.
Her eyes had met him for a brief moment before she looked down. It was then he realized how close they were sitting, that…that…his brain was about to completely shut off and if he didn’t get up right now he’d probably do something stupid like kiss her. “Dude,” he managed before he forced himself to step away and tell her, “Maybe we should try and get some food. Have you even like eaten anything yet? Cause I like so haven’t.”
Kira sighed internally. So close, she mourned before shaking that thought away. "I haven't eaten yet either, I am kinda hungry," she admitted as she stood up. "Let's go grab some food," she said heading for her door.
“I’ll just put this way first,” he said indicating the First Aid Kit.
"I'll meet you downstairs," she said heading out of the room and bouncing down the stairs. Working her legs was less painful that taking it slow.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
After Kira and Dustin headed upstairs, Adam grabbed his phone and dialed Billy's number. "Come on… pick up…pick up… pick up," he muttered pacing in the living room.
Trini sighed when Billy's cell phone went off, he was down in the lab with Bridge. "Why does he never remember his phone," she muttered. She grabbed it, "Hello?"
"Trini, it's Adam, I need to talk to Billy, now."
"Lemme take the phone downstairs." She quickly headed down the stairs, Adam sounded troubled, and that usually meant something bad had happened. "Billy!" She rapped on the door of the lab, "Adam's on the phone, it's important!"
"It's unlocked!" Billy called not looking up from where he and Bridge were going over the Zords. He pushed his pencil at Bridge, "Why don't you work on the calculations and I'll answer the phone."
He met Trini and gave her a kiss on the cheek before he gave her a bemused look, "Scatterbrained though I may be lately, at least I remembered my lap top this time."
He thanked her for her assistance and took the phone, "Salutations, just the person I was considering calling. I'd figured out how to combine what will be Kira's Zord to Xander’s, however I hit a snag when it came to yours. Thankfully a certain leader, who will go unnamed at the moment, already had someone of tech quality on their team and Bridge had an idea which might prove invaluable."
"Like I could figure out Bridge was a tech genius through all the Bridge-babble," Adam retorted. "That's not the point. How are you on communicators for all of us? We need them…now," he said urgently, his thoughts still on Kira, and getting attacked alone in the park. That shouldn't have happened, he should have at least made her take her phone, that way at least she could have called them. "Kira went out for a walk and got attacked by those wanna be Putties," Adam's voice was tight with a multitude of emotions. "She pretty much got her ass handed to her before they took off." He stared out the front window contemplatively before continuing, "If she'd had a communicator, she could have called for help."
Billy sat down, "Is she okay?"
"Yeah, no serious injuries," Adam sighed. "Dustin is upstairs taking care of her. It's mostly bumps, bruises and scratches. I think they were sent to toy with her," he added thoughtfully. "But either way, we need to get those communicators working."
“Still shouldn’t have happened,” Billy acknowledged before he noticed Bridge hovering.
“Hang on,” he told Adam before he sat Bridge down and explained the situation to him.
“Several of the morphers already have communication devices in them,” Bridge pointed out.
“Unfortunately none of them are connected to each other and if for some reason one of you weren’t able to access your morpher…” Billy pointed out.
“Or if they were broken,” Bridge cut in with a shudder, then continued, “Therefore we should make a separate communication device that allows all of us access to each other.”
“Precisely,” Billy agreed before he settled the phone back against his ear, “Adam, what are your feelings regarding my replicating our old communicators for your team?”
"I love our old communicators, we all do, most of us still wear ours," Adam pointed out to his friend. "Is that what you're planning? Make a set of communicators like the originals?"
“It would seem the most obvious thing to do, no need to mess with a design that’s proven it works,” Billy nodded, “I’ll have Bridge finish the zord calculations while I begin working on your communication devices. I’d also appreciated it if you sent Alpha over again to help. Also how many do we need? Obviously enough for each member of your team, one for myself in case there are problems with the zords that need a quick readjustment and then also Kat. Anyone else at this point?”
Adam thought about that for a moment, since Billy had already mentioned himself, "Trini will be heartbroken if you don't make her one too, plus she'll do in a pinch of you're unavailable. You might want to make one for Cam too, since he created half the Zords, and Hayley too, as back up," he finally decided. "I think that will cover everybody and I’ll let Alpha know you’d like his help again.”
“Thank you. Trini wouldn’t have been please with me. If I’m making Hayley one then Tommy has to get one because if I give his wife one and not him I’ll never hear the end of it. And if I’m giving Tommy one I might as well give Jason one too because you never know he might be nearby if those putties attack and he’d be able to help with that. I’d hate to give Tommy who’s not even in town one and not give Jason one. Aisha’s in Stone Canyon I don’t think she can think up an excuse to be angry with me if I don’t make her one, but if she requests one I will. Wait, that’s quite a few…your team comes first and then everyone else.”
"Billy… Stone Canyon is not even five minutes from downtown Angel Grove," Adam reminded. "I think if you are making Jase and Tommy one, you'd better make Aisha one too, she's worse than Trini when it comes to the wrath of yellows."
“Aisha’s yellow…Z’s yellow and Z would not be happy,” Bridge pointed out from where he was working.
“Considering I just had you and Bridge point out the same thing. Aisha gets one too…anyone else…want me to give one to Rocky?” Billy ended in an attempt to tease.
"Well, now that you mention it," Adam joked. He then stopped to actually think about that. "Ya know… when Rocky, and Tanya and Justin and Kimberly find out that you made everybody else communicators, they are gonna feel left out," he said with all seriousness. "I think you may have to bite the bullet and just make each of us one. In waves of course," he added, "considering our team actually needs them."
“Your team comes first, then Kat, then the techs, then everyone involved with the techs then everyone else. I’m gonna consider Trini a tech because she’s my wife and I said so.”
Adam laughed, "No arguments there man, besides Trini's on par with you guys, so she's definitely considered a tech."
"Exactly."
"Well, I'm going to let you go so you can get back to work, don't let Bridge forget to be home for dinner, we're going to attempt a team dinner tonight," Adam replied, heading for the kitchen. "I will talk to you later man."
“I’ll set a timer or I’ll forget. I’ll see what we can come up with by his curfew,” Billy laughed, “Bye Adam.”
"Later Billy," Adam said before hanging up. "That's taken care of," he said to Kat, who was relaxing at the kitchen table.
"I'm getting a communicator right?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
"Of course you are, like you have to ask," Adam retorted.
"Good," she smiled. "Now sit down and relax."
"Relax… what's that?"
"Let me show you," she said getting up and shoving him into a seat.
"Oooh… this is what it is?" he joked.
"Exactly," she said smacking him lightly upside the head.
Authors: rivulet027 and moonlite_n_rose
Fandom: Power Rangers with an AU ending for the Operation Overdrive Team-up.
Pairings: Billy/Trini, Tommy/Hayley, Kira/Dustin with eventual slash and het.
Rating: Pg-15
Summery: The Once A Ranger vets team continue in Angel Grove with a new set of villains. Wherein Adam gains a team, gets a girl, a couple of tattoos and might just lose his sanity in the process.
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Power Rangers, neither does MnR. We’re just playing in their toy box and we promise to put everyone away when we’re finished. We also don't own anything to do with 'The Exorcist'.
A/N: Please don't worry about Trent, he will eventually redeem himself. Also, sorry this update took so long.
Chapter 8:
Dustin woke up slowly, first noticing that he wasn’t under the covers and then realizing that he was being snuggled. He blinked, took in the yellow and realized he’d let himself fall asleep in Kira’s room, with Kira wrapped around him. It’d been one thing to cuddle with her during a movie, but this was probably crossing a line, even if she did no longer have a boyfriend.
He wet his lips, waiting for the guilt to kick in and was surprised when it didn’t. He’d been comforting her. Trent had been a jerk and it wasn’t his fault that they’d both been exhausted and fallen asleep, had it?
He looked down at her. Her curls were illuminated by the sun just starting to peek through the window. She looked so serene with her arms wrapped around him tightly. He even liked the way his arms looked wrapped around her.
He closed his eyes, now was not the right time to be developing feelings for his friend, his teammate. She’d just broken up with her boyfriend last night, you didn’t go liking someone right after that!
He needed a morning run to clear his thoughts, to figure out what in the world he thought he was doing. She shifted, and tightened her grip on him. He suddenly remembered how grouchy she was in the morning and Kat saying something about Adam getting smacked for waking up another yellow too early.
He wasn’t about to risk getting smacked, he reasoned. Besides he was very comfortable here, with Kira wrapped around him. That decided he leaned down awkwardly and gave the top of her head a quick kiss, before he settled back and let himself sleep in for the first time in a long time.
A few hours later, Kira finally gave into the sun glaring down into her room. She grumbled as she turned over and…whoa, there's a body there, her sleep-addled mind informed her. She opened her eyes tentatively and smiled as she saw Dustin curled up against her.
She licked her lips and took a few moments to study him. He looked so calm in his sleep, a far cry from his bouncy personality. She propped herself up on her elbow and watched him sleep.
"Thanks for staying," she whispered softly, not wanting to wake him up, not even sure she wanted him to hear that.
Movement woke Dustin up. He groaned and opened his eyes, tense because he wasn’t used to waking up next to someone and wasn’t sure it wasn’t an attack. He blinked up at Kira, a bit stunned at how beautiful she looked with the sun illuminating her.
“Morning,” he greeted, voice thick with sleep.
"Closer to afternoon actually," she said with a smile. The clock on the wall read eleven thirty. "But good morning all the same," she replied, running a hand through her hair and making a face. "A tangled mess," she sighed. She took a moment to look over Dustin again, now that he was awake. Just woke up was a good look for him, she decided after a moment.
“S’pretty,” he mumbled sleepily as he closed his eyes. He didn’t want to move. He felt awful. He knew it was because he’d missed his morning run, he always felt miserable when he did, but there was nothing he could do about it. Wait, did she say it was almost noon?
Did he just say she was pretty? Kira fought the urge to say ‘What?’ That would make it the second time in less than twenty-four hours he'd complemented her like that. She felt her cheeks heat up at the idea that he found her attractive.
Dustin’s eyes flew open, “Dude, did we miss training?”
Kira was jolted out of her thoughts by Dustin's question. "Holy crap… we totally missed training," she said sitting up all the way. "Adam's gonna kill us," she groaned. How had they missed training, she thought wildly. Why hadn't anyone come to wake them up?
He should get up, he should be panicking and running down the stairs, but he felt like he was weighed down. He ran a hand over his face and struggled to keep his eyes opened. “Would’ve woken us like up if they were gonna be pissed,” he slurred before snuggling into her comforter, “Don’t wanna move, can’t we just go back to sleep?”
"No! It's almost noon. Even if they aren't pissed, if you don't wake up now, you'll be up all night," Kira said shaking him gently. Yes, she wanted to cuddle with him more, but they did need to get up. When she got no response she sighed, "Don't make me dump your sweet butt outta bed Dustin." She shook him again.
Sweet butt…had she just said that? “Huh? Wha?” he blinked at her, “Okay.” He rolled out of bed, forcing himself to stand and shook himself. Oh dude, he hated sleeping in. “Do you want breakfast? We should go get breakfast. Or would it be lunch?” he asked before he yawned and stretched.
"Brunch maybe?" Kira stood up, locked her arms behind her back and bent forward as she stretched herself awake fully. "I need to take a shower first though, and tackle this mess," she said tugging at her hair. A shower would also give her time to process everything running through her head.
Dustin blinked as Kira stretched. What was with him and wanting to check out girls lately? “Brunch sounds good. I think I’ll like go downstairs and get food. I’ll take a shower after the training Adam’s sure to um make us do,” he nodded, then hesitated. He stepped towards her and pulled her into a quick hug and told her, “I hope you’re okay.”
He didn’t wait for her to reply, he was too embarrassed by trying not to check her out earlier. Dude, what was with him?
Kira bit her lip and smiled as Dustin darted from her room after that hug. He was so sweet. She sighed contently from the warm feeling his hug had left her with and headed to her closet to pick out clothes for the day.
Dustin padded down the stairs and into the kitchen. He stared at it a moment before he gave up and flopped down at the breakfast bar. He buried his head in his arms, he had no energy.
Adam came into the kitchen to see an interesting sight, Dustin flopped over the breakfast bar. "Bout time you woke up," he commented as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
Dustin slowly brought his head up to blink at Adam. Dustin groaned, Adam looked entirely too cheerful. “Dude, sleeping in sucks,” he complained before he rested his chin on his arms, “I should go running. I’d feel better if I went running, but I like so don’t have the energy.”
"You gotta do something to get motivated," Adam pointed out.
Tori walked in. "Dustin's a downer when he doesn't get in his morning run. It's like he needs endorphins to function properly," she informed Adam.
"I can see where getting out of your routine would make you feel awful," Adam reasoned as he took a seat at the table. He reached a foot out to the stool Dustin was perched on and kicked it, "You… go do something. Move."
Dustin’s response was to groan and bury his head into his arms. He knew Adam was right, but moving required well moving. He tilted his head to the side, still pillowed on his arms and told him, “Can’t move, heads too full.” He closed his eyes hoping his confusion about these sudden feelings towards Kira would go away. They wouldn’t, he knew, not until he’d sorted himself out and got in his daily run. No, he wasn’t going to move, it felt too good to stay here with his eyes closed. “Tor,” he groaned, “I don’t understand.”
"Don't understand what?" She asked, walking behind him and rubbing his shoulders. “You gotta move Dustin. Come on, let’s go for a run. You can explain to me what you don't understand while moving," she said poking him in the sides until he got up.
Adam smiled at the way she took charge of Dustin and headed back outside to see how Kat was doing with Xander.
Lethargic Dustin stumbled to his feet. He swayed there for a moment doing his best to give Tori a pout. He shook himself, he could move. He could go for a run if he went and got his shoes which were…where were his shoes? He groaned. If he went to his room to get his shoes he wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t crawl into bed. He wrapped his arms around Tori and buried his face in her shoulder, “Do I have to do the moving first? Can’t you do the explaining first?”
Tori sighed and poked him in the side. "Stay standing. Don't move. I'll go get your shoes," she trotted towards the stairs.
He turned and considered the chair again, how nice it would be to just sit down.
"And Dustin," she leaned her head over the railing, "If you sit back down before I come back… I will use a wave to push you right out the patio doors."
Dustin blinked at her for a moment before nodding his understanding. He’d almost finished stretching before she came back with his shoes. He finished, mumbled a ‘thank you’ and took his shoes.
"Now put them on, no explaining until we're outside," she ordered. She wasn't going to put up with a lethargic Dustin. The easiest way to get him back to normal was to poke and prod him until he was up and moving. Dustin padded outside and winced at the brightness. “T,” he complained before he sighed. He knew she was right, but in a last ditch effort to flop to the ground he pointed out, “We’re outside.”
"I've got a tidal wave with your name on it Waldo," Tori threatened, raising an eyebrow, a sure sign she was at her limit of listening to Dustin’s whining. "Run, now," she pushed him towards the sidewalk, "Then tell me what you don't understand."
He nodded, gave her a quick brotherly peck on the cheek and began to run. This was better, he was better when he was moving. “Thanks T,” he smiled as he felt himself begin to get back to normal.
"Anytime," she said running next to him. After they’d run about a mile from the house she ventured, “So, what exactly don’t you understand?”
“Um, girls are pretty?” he tried, as his pace picked up, a sure sign that he was agitated or confused about something, “I mean I like know that you’re pretty. And hey I know Kat’s pretty. And I knew that Kira was pretty, but, dude, why am I noticing now that she is pretty? I like shouldn’t be noticing. She’s my teammate and she…she like has a boyfriend.” He sighed. What was wrong with him?
Tori picked up her speed to keep up with him, "Dustin, what part of that massive blow out did you miss last night? Kira doesn't have a boyfriend anymore. I don't think she'll take Trent back, it's not the first time Trent's pulled the jealousy bit, and I think the fact he did it on a fellow ranger and insinuated that she would cheat put her over the edge."
“Yeah, she said she wasn’t going to,” he agreed.
"As for the first part," she continued, "You're now noticing that she's 'pretty' because she's moved from the unavailable to the available, when it comes to girls.”
Okay, that like made sense, Dustin thought.
“And maybe because she's noticed that you're not exactly unattractive yourself," she added slyly, subtly hinting that Kira had been checking him out as well.
He almost stopped at that. “T,” he laughed, “Cute, maybe. Airheaded, yes. Attractive? I’m like not so sure about that one.” He paused and pointed out, “Come on, the last two people I dated only wanted to date me after they’d eaten food I cooked.”
"Yeah and the last two people you've dated were total and complete jerks," she pointed out in response. "You are cute… and maybe a bit airheaded, but you're also attractive, don't argue me on that one," she added to cut off any more protests.
“Okay, okay. Dude I like so know better than to argue with you,” he told her before he teased, “Especially when you start sounding like Marah.”
Tori looked over at him in disbelief. "You did not just say that. I didn’t sound like Marah," she said bumping into him as they ran. She didn't, really. The upside was Dustin was sounding like Dustin again. She thought about that, rather than thinking about whether what Dustin said was true or not.
Dustin laughed, “Well okay, not the sounding the same, but dude she’s so said the same thing to me, but then she was doing her ‘I used to be evil’ bit and threatening to kick the ass of the next person I dated if they were as lame as the like the last person I dated. It was kinda like scary.”
"Marah in protective mode is kinda scary," Tori admitted. "But that isn't the point. The point was Kira noticing you're attractive," she reminded him. She looked up at the sky and estimated that they'd been running for nearly an hour.
"We should probably head back," she commented.
“Okay,” Dustin agreed as he slowed, preparing to start cooling down. Then he processed the rest of her words, “Wait, what? She…when did…dude.”
Tori laughed. "What? She did, and that's all I'm going to say about the subject," she slowed down to a light jog as they headed back towards the house.
After getting back to the house, Dustin took a shower and in a much better mood bounced down the stairs. He froze when he entered the kitchen and took in the tension radiating off everyone. He rubbed the back of his head, “Ahh, dude, what’d I miss?”
Kat looked up from her post behind Adam's chair, where she was rubbing his shoulders. "Well…"
"Next time I see Trent… I have a few things I'd like to say to him," Adam interrupted hotly. He was fuming. "He couldn't leave things alone… he had to call Kira today, and rub salt in the wounds…. he…"
"Hush," Kat squeezed his shoulders, then explained, "Trent called Kira, I don't know exactly what he said to her, but she was furious with him. She didn't even bother hanging up. She launched her phone at the wall and stormed out of the house. Only Adam's reflexes kept it from shattering against the wall."
"How can he be such an idiot?" Tori sighed. Yes, Trent had some jealousy issues, but he was a good guy, she didn't understand why he was being such a prick.
Dustin shook his head, hardly believing things had gotten worse. Yes, Kira had broken up with Trent and she had said she wasn’t getting back together with him, but Dustin figured Trent would’ve realized he’d been wrong in pissing her off and things would work out for them. He hadn’t thought Trent would just make the situation worse.
Dustin dropped down into the nearest chair, “Dude.” He wanted to ask if they thought Kira’d be okay, but he knew she would be. She was tough. With that thought he pushed himself out of his chair, started some tea and began to fix himself lunch. “Okay, so like I know like none of you are thinking about food right now, but if I don’t eat then well I’ll throw my whole day off more than well I already did. So anyone want some like food?” He wasn’t thinking about wanting to have a few words with Trent, he really wasn’t, he tried telling himself. He hoped Kira got back soon.
"I do. I haven't eaten since before training," Tori said as she took the seat Dustin vacated.
"So do we know where Kira went?" She asked Kat and Adam. She was a little worried about Kira going off on her own. Kira being alone while they were waiting for their first battle left her with an uneasy feeling.
"No, she didn't say anything to us, just stormed out of here, looking ready to kill," Kat replied as she took a seat next to Adam. "I'd think she probably went for a walk to cool off."
Dustin began on a sandwich for Tori before he frowned, “I hope she comes back soon. The not knowing how she is like the worst part.” He pulled out a bag of chips, putting it and the sandwiches on the table before he busied himself with making tea for everyone. “I hope she’s okay.”
"I'm sure she is," Kat walked over to where Dustin was making tea and got out the tea mugs. "She can handle herself," she patted his shoulder. Dustin gave her a grateful smile.
A short time later, Kira opened the front door and dragged herself towards the kitchen. She had leaves in her hair, scratches on her arms, and bruises dappled her legs.
"Adam, Billy really needs to get us communicators," she said collapsing into the free chair.
"Kira what happened?" Adam exclaimed, as he got up and knelt down in front of her chair to check her injuries.
"A squad of foot soldiers found me in the park," she said folding her arms on the table and using them to pillow her head. "I fended them off the best I could," she mumbled through her hands.
"I knew something was going to happen," Tori got up and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge, handing it to Kira. "Here…" she said rubbing her back.
Dustin froze at the sight of the wreck Kira was. He couldn’t move for a moment. After the horrible day she’d already had to be attacked by putties? Dude, that was just so wrong. Dustin placed his own mug of tea in front of her, and pushed his sandwich towards her. Then he took a step back, feeling useless and not knowing how to help further. He wanted to hug her. He wanted those putties to show up so he could take them on for messing with her, even though he was sure several of them were merely clay thanks to her hands. Finally he managed words, “Dude. Are you like okay?”
Kira lifted her head up from her hands just enough to meet his eyes. She looked about ready to cry, “No." That being said, she buried her face back into her arms. She hurt everywhere. She knew that she'd been lucky, that the baddies had just been toying with her. If they'd been serious about taking her out, she probably wouldn't have stood a chance unless she morphed, and they'd rushed her so quickly she hadn't had the time to even touch her morpher.
Adam stood up after checking her injuries, "Her bumps and bruises aren't serious, she got worked over, but it’s all minor. She'll be okay." Adam put a hand on her back as he added softly, "You need to get cleaned up."
"Don't want to move," came the muffled reply from Kira.
She sounded so broken it scared Dustin. So he did what Tori had done for him, he reached out to motivate her. He helped her to her feet and pulled her into a careful hug.
He gave her a smile, “I’m like sure you did good, fighting them cause hey you’re here and like yeah a little worse for wear but you’re here. So let’s like go get you cleaned up. I’ll walk you upstairs. I’ll even wait for you to get back out of the shower. Then we’ll like get some food in you.”
He gave her his best encouraging look. She needed to get cleaned up, she needed her scratches tended too and she probably hadn’t eaten yet. Adam had said her injuries were minor, but just in case she passed out he’d wait near the bathroom door for her. Not sure if she’d agree he asked, “Okay?”
"Fine," Kira hugged him back tightly, too tired to even respond to his encouragements about her fighting prowess. She pulled away and headed for the stairs carefully. Every inch of her body ached with fatigue. She gripped the rail tightly as she walked up the stairs, fearful that she would either lose her grip, or her shaky legs would give out on her.
Worried Adam watched Dustin follow her up the stairs. "I'm going to call Billy, see if maybe he and Bridge can get the communicators working ASAP. We need them, and we need them now," he got up and headed for the living room, where he'd left his cell phone.
Kat looked at Tori, "Well I'm going to clean up, why don't you go let Xander know what happened."
Tori nodded, "He outside in the garden?"
At Kat's affirmation she headed for the patio doors.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
After a fairly lengthy shower, Kira opened the bathroom door to find that true to his word, Dustin was sitting in the hallway across from the door.
"Ooh… I didn't expect you to actually be right there," the surprise was evident in her voice. She pulled her robe shut a little closer, and tied it tighter.
Now that she had the grime and dirt cleared off her, it was more than obvious that she was worse for wear. The small scratches that were hidden by the dirt were now a bright and angry red, and the larger gashes were surrounded by purple bruising that looked all too painful.
Dustin felt his face flush as he caught sight of her. He ducked his head, “Just in case you fainted, have to be careful.” He looked back up at her, cheeks still red, “Why don’t you like get dressed and I’ll go get the first aid kit and then we’ll look you over?” That said he rose to his feet and walked away. He ran a hand though his hair trying not to think about how she’d looked stepping out of the bathroom. Resolutely he set about getting the first aid kit.
"Right," she said biting her lip. She saw Dustin's reaction to her 'outfit' and had to suppress a smile. The urge quickly faded a she moved and pain ripped through her legs. "Meet me in my room," she said as he headed to look for the first aid kit. Once in her room, she'd changed into a pair of shorts, and a tank top, making sure that most of her injuries were visible to be treated. She laid back on the bed and tried to relax as she waited for Dustin to come in with the first aid kit.
Dustin paused in the doorway, giving in to the urge to look her over for only a moment as he tried to tell himself it was so he could access her injuries. He sat down carefully beside her and began to clean her up. He gave her a smile, “You wouldn’t believe the number of times I ended up with a concussion and Sensei wouldn’t let one of the other guys let me out of their sight.”
Kira laughed softly. "Sensei's smart. Conner wound up with one after a harsh battle; we had to keep him awake… a task easier said than done, oww!" she yelped when Dustin cleaned a rather nasty scratch on her leg, her leg jerking involuntarily. "That hurt."
Dustin winced when he hurt Kira. He hadn't meant to hurt her, "Sorry, dude, sorry.”
“Don't call me dude," Kira teased, to let him know it was cool, that she knew he didn't mean to hurt her.
"Dude, I like call everyone dude."
More carefully he finished the scratch on her leg and moved onto the next. In an attempt to distracted her he asked, "So like what'd you guys do to keep Conner awake?"
She pushed herself up on her elbows before continuing, "Ethan kept poking him, and when that didn't work, I dumped ice down the front of his pants." She had a satisfied smile on her face. "Conner screams like a girl," she informed him.
Dustin shuddered at the thought, "Down his pants? I'd scream like a girl too."
Kira giggled, "Hey, it worked. He stayed up all night." She watched him tending to the rest of her injuries. I really want to kiss him; she thought to herself and groaned, laying her head back against the bed. I can't do that, besides… what if he wasn't interested? She was so caught up in her introspection, she didn't even notice she'd groaned aloud.
Dustin froze when she groaned. Had he hurt her? He didn’t think so, that didn’t sound like a painful groan. He wet his lips. He’d been wrong earlier when he’d told Tori she was pretty. Kira was more than pretty, she was beautiful. And she’d only just broken up with Trent, he shouldn’t be thinking this way. He sat back and began putting the supplies away. Still concerned he asked, “Are you okay?”
"What?" She asked pushing herself back up. It was then she realized she must have groaned aloud. "Oooh, I'm fine," she smiled at him as she finished sitting up all the way, "I was just thinking about things. I should probably be more upset about the fact I'm not with Trent anymore…I mean… I should be heartbroken… but I'm not. I was… a little bit last night, but right now, I'm more hurt that he'd think of me that way, not what I lost.” She paused for a moment then asked him, “Is that weird?"
They were sitting so close their legs were pressed against each other. It took Dustin a moment to process what she said and without thinking he said, “Maybe it wasn’t a good relationship.”
Dustin froze. He probably shouldn’t have said that. “Dude, I’m sorry. I like have no right to like say anything about your relationships I was just like um well when I got out of some relationships I realized that they weren’t really like good ones when I wasn’t very like upset afterward. I…well the last person I dated was a relief to get rid of. I think Marah wanted to kill her, and Tori and Shane. I’m holding out on the hope that Cam didn’t have an opinion,” he paused to give her a smile hoping that he’d repaired any damage he might have done, that he might have taken back the insult of saying she wasn’t in a good relationship.
Kira bumped his arm and smiled back at him, "It's okay Dustin. You're probably right. I was in New York… he was out here in California, maybe we just drifted apart. It still doesn't excuse how he acted," she added with a huff. She was still upset about that. "I should sic Hayley on him," she smirked at the thought of Hayley's temper, and the image she had of her blowing up at Trent.
“Oh dude, he’d be in so much like trouble not that he already isn’t in trouble but dude…she’d like…I don’t even think she’d leave any of him for Dr. O to be mad at.”
"Good, because we always said that if we broke up, we were still gonna be friends, and right now… I don't want to be friends with him, not till he apologizes for being a jackass," she said crossing her arms.
“Hey,” he attempted to sooth as he wrapped his arms around her, “just no going off while you’re angry, because we don’t need the bad guys taking advantage of that again.”
Kira let herself be hugged and leaned into his embrace, "That was kinda stupid wasn't it?" She sighed. "I just needed to get out of the house, I didn't want to snap at anybody, and I would have… and it probably would have been you, and you so don't deserve that because you've been nothing but a complete and total sweetheart," she said looking up at him.
Dustin laughed, “You like keep saying that. I’m the airhead, remember?”
"What? Just cause you're an 'airhead' you can't be a sweetheart?" Kira asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, um maybe? Nah, no, like not sure dude?” he teased with a smile.
Kira poked him, "Don't argue, you're a sweetheart, end of discussion."
“Okay. You like Tori and Cam always win,” he smiled, “I’m just hapless against your logic.” That said he tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.
"Damn straight," she bit her lip and looked down, not wanting Dustin to see her cheeks flushing slightly. He keeps this up, I am going to kiss him, she thought to herself.
Her eyes had met him for a brief moment before she looked down. It was then he realized how close they were sitting, that…that…his brain was about to completely shut off and if he didn’t get up right now he’d probably do something stupid like kiss her. “Dude,” he managed before he forced himself to step away and tell her, “Maybe we should try and get some food. Have you even like eaten anything yet? Cause I like so haven’t.”
Kira sighed internally. So close, she mourned before shaking that thought away. "I haven't eaten yet either, I am kinda hungry," she admitted as she stood up. "Let's go grab some food," she said heading for her door.
“I’ll just put this way first,” he said indicating the First Aid Kit.
"I'll meet you downstairs," she said heading out of the room and bouncing down the stairs. Working her legs was less painful that taking it slow.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
After Kira and Dustin headed upstairs, Adam grabbed his phone and dialed Billy's number. "Come on… pick up…pick up… pick up," he muttered pacing in the living room.
Trini sighed when Billy's cell phone went off, he was down in the lab with Bridge. "Why does he never remember his phone," she muttered. She grabbed it, "Hello?"
"Trini, it's Adam, I need to talk to Billy, now."
"Lemme take the phone downstairs." She quickly headed down the stairs, Adam sounded troubled, and that usually meant something bad had happened. "Billy!" She rapped on the door of the lab, "Adam's on the phone, it's important!"
"It's unlocked!" Billy called not looking up from where he and Bridge were going over the Zords. He pushed his pencil at Bridge, "Why don't you work on the calculations and I'll answer the phone."
He met Trini and gave her a kiss on the cheek before he gave her a bemused look, "Scatterbrained though I may be lately, at least I remembered my lap top this time."
He thanked her for her assistance and took the phone, "Salutations, just the person I was considering calling. I'd figured out how to combine what will be Kira's Zord to Xander’s, however I hit a snag when it came to yours. Thankfully a certain leader, who will go unnamed at the moment, already had someone of tech quality on their team and Bridge had an idea which might prove invaluable."
"Like I could figure out Bridge was a tech genius through all the Bridge-babble," Adam retorted. "That's not the point. How are you on communicators for all of us? We need them…now," he said urgently, his thoughts still on Kira, and getting attacked alone in the park. That shouldn't have happened, he should have at least made her take her phone, that way at least she could have called them. "Kira went out for a walk and got attacked by those wanna be Putties," Adam's voice was tight with a multitude of emotions. "She pretty much got her ass handed to her before they took off." He stared out the front window contemplatively before continuing, "If she'd had a communicator, she could have called for help."
Billy sat down, "Is she okay?"
"Yeah, no serious injuries," Adam sighed. "Dustin is upstairs taking care of her. It's mostly bumps, bruises and scratches. I think they were sent to toy with her," he added thoughtfully. "But either way, we need to get those communicators working."
“Still shouldn’t have happened,” Billy acknowledged before he noticed Bridge hovering.
“Hang on,” he told Adam before he sat Bridge down and explained the situation to him.
“Several of the morphers already have communication devices in them,” Bridge pointed out.
“Unfortunately none of them are connected to each other and if for some reason one of you weren’t able to access your morpher…” Billy pointed out.
“Or if they were broken,” Bridge cut in with a shudder, then continued, “Therefore we should make a separate communication device that allows all of us access to each other.”
“Precisely,” Billy agreed before he settled the phone back against his ear, “Adam, what are your feelings regarding my replicating our old communicators for your team?”
"I love our old communicators, we all do, most of us still wear ours," Adam pointed out to his friend. "Is that what you're planning? Make a set of communicators like the originals?"
“It would seem the most obvious thing to do, no need to mess with a design that’s proven it works,” Billy nodded, “I’ll have Bridge finish the zord calculations while I begin working on your communication devices. I’d also appreciated it if you sent Alpha over again to help. Also how many do we need? Obviously enough for each member of your team, one for myself in case there are problems with the zords that need a quick readjustment and then also Kat. Anyone else at this point?”
Adam thought about that for a moment, since Billy had already mentioned himself, "Trini will be heartbroken if you don't make her one too, plus she'll do in a pinch of you're unavailable. You might want to make one for Cam too, since he created half the Zords, and Hayley too, as back up," he finally decided. "I think that will cover everybody and I’ll let Alpha know you’d like his help again.”
“Thank you. Trini wouldn’t have been please with me. If I’m making Hayley one then Tommy has to get one because if I give his wife one and not him I’ll never hear the end of it. And if I’m giving Tommy one I might as well give Jason one too because you never know he might be nearby if those putties attack and he’d be able to help with that. I’d hate to give Tommy who’s not even in town one and not give Jason one. Aisha’s in Stone Canyon I don’t think she can think up an excuse to be angry with me if I don’t make her one, but if she requests one I will. Wait, that’s quite a few…your team comes first and then everyone else.”
"Billy… Stone Canyon is not even five minutes from downtown Angel Grove," Adam reminded. "I think if you are making Jase and Tommy one, you'd better make Aisha one too, she's worse than Trini when it comes to the wrath of yellows."
“Aisha’s yellow…Z’s yellow and Z would not be happy,” Bridge pointed out from where he was working.
“Considering I just had you and Bridge point out the same thing. Aisha gets one too…anyone else…want me to give one to Rocky?” Billy ended in an attempt to tease.
"Well, now that you mention it," Adam joked. He then stopped to actually think about that. "Ya know… when Rocky, and Tanya and Justin and Kimberly find out that you made everybody else communicators, they are gonna feel left out," he said with all seriousness. "I think you may have to bite the bullet and just make each of us one. In waves of course," he added, "considering our team actually needs them."
“Your team comes first, then Kat, then the techs, then everyone involved with the techs then everyone else. I’m gonna consider Trini a tech because she’s my wife and I said so.”
Adam laughed, "No arguments there man, besides Trini's on par with you guys, so she's definitely considered a tech."
"Exactly."
"Well, I'm going to let you go so you can get back to work, don't let Bridge forget to be home for dinner, we're going to attempt a team dinner tonight," Adam replied, heading for the kitchen. "I will talk to you later man."
“I’ll set a timer or I’ll forget. I’ll see what we can come up with by his curfew,” Billy laughed, “Bye Adam.”
"Later Billy," Adam said before hanging up. "That's taken care of," he said to Kat, who was relaxing at the kitchen table.
"I'm getting a communicator right?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
"Of course you are, like you have to ask," Adam retorted.
"Good," she smiled. "Now sit down and relax."
"Relax… what's that?"
"Let me show you," she said getting up and shoving him into a seat.
"Oooh… this is what it is?" he joked.
"Exactly," she said smacking him lightly upside the head.