Disclaimer: Concepts and some characters are not mine. The concept of “The Tomorrow People” belongs variously to Roger Damon Price, Nickelodeon, Thames Television, and Tetra Films. The concepts and characters of “Power Rangers” belongs to Saban.
The characters of Teresa, Forrest, Lucas, Ian, Cecelia, Elise Creswell, and any others that obviously don’t belong to Saban belong to me. This includes characters that have appeared in other stories in this serial. I ask that they not be borrowed without my permission.
Notes: This story deals majorly with both the TP and the Rangers, although you might not see very many TP in here. There is some mild violence in here, due to the nature of the shows I’m crossing over. PR fans might notice some minor discrepancies between this and PR canon.
Thanks to: Mandi Ohlin, for betareading and providing me with the idea for how to end this thing, Michele Mason for betareading as well as for putting up with me carping about uncooperative characters who kept messing up my plot, Mike Escutia and Caroline Fales for also listening to me moan about this at great length, Ellen Brand for the influence, and Julia H., whose second generation Rangers inspired my own.
Expected Changes
by EstiRose
“It’s been far too quiet,” Lucas said.
Teresa nodded. She knew that Lucas wasn’t referring to the weather, although it had stopped raining about an hour before. None of Regina’s forces had attacked in the last two months, no soldiers, no monsters, nothing. Dimitria and Alpha had confirmed that Regina was there, but she wasn’t doing anything.
“I’d bet she’s waiting for something,” Forrest said. He tossed his stylus down.
The stylus bounced to the floor. Teresa retrieved it. She didn’t blame any of her teammates for being frustrated. Even the normally easygoing Forrest seemed affected. Delays usually meant something rather nasty.
“But for what?” Lucas asked. It was a rhetorical question. Everybody on the team knew that. It wasn’t a matter of if Regina would attack, but when.
Cecelia sniffled and blew her nose. Teresa sympathized. Her headaches were getting really bad. Hers didn’t seem to be from a cold, though, but stress. Of course, given what she was, her headaches could be from another source, but she didn’t think she had to worry about that. That wouldn’t come until she had given up or lost the Power.
Ian slid into the seat beside her. “What’s up?” he asked.
“The usual,” Teresa responded, cracking a smile. Ian was practically bouncing. “How’d your date with Olivia go?”
“Great,” Ian responded with enthusiasm. “We went over to this place in Brisbane that she knew about. The food was great. And there’s this nice park near the university there.”
Teresa had to smile at that. She didn’t know how Ian had met Olivia, but the two of them were a terrific pair. And it had helped Ian as well. He, of all the Rangers, wasn’t drowning in nervous energy. In fact, it seemed that he had become the spirit of the team. In his own, quiet way of course. Ian didn’t do loud. “Which Brisbane?”
“The one in Australia, of course,” Ian responded.
“Of course,” Teresa echoed. Ian, of course, teleported frequently, but it was good for him to get used to the way the Tomorrow People worked, especially if he ended up marrying Olivia.
“You sure are quiet,” Rocky DeSantos said to his daughter. Teresa was picking at her food. Rocky was worried about Teresa. Sure, she didn’t have his appetite, but even Iz normally ate more than Teresa was doing tonight. He’d have to talk to Iz about it when she got back from her conference.
“I have a headache. A stress headache. I’ve taken aspirin for it, but it hasn’t gone away and it’s ruining my appetite. And the cause isn’t helping.”
Rocky nodded. He, too, had noticed the lack of attacks, but he’d also noticed the continuing presence of the communicator around Teresa’s wrist. However, since it was so quiet, maybe he could take her out of town for a day or two and give her a chance to relax and forget. Dimitria surely wouldn’t object. Teresa’s communicator had been modified to work at long distances, as Regina sometimes liked to attack when Teresa was with a friend on the other side of the globe. “You’ll pull through, honey.”
Teresa sniffled. “Sorry, Dad, sometimes this is so hard!”
Rocky got up, came around the dining table, and hugged his daughter. She leaned against him. He wondered if he’d have to sing her to sleep again. “I know. Sometimes being a Ranger is hard. But you have to persevere. And you’ll find the energy to do it, too.”
“Thanks, Dad. I just wish I didn’t have this headache. The only thing I know is that it’s not a break out one, thank goodness. I don’t think I could handle that, especially right now.”
Rocky pulled his daughter closer, remembering a conversation in his living room not so long ago. He hoped that Alpha and Dimitria were very wrong. He didn’t think that Teresa could cope with breaking out at this point, either. “Come on, let’s see if we can find something to eradicate that headache.”
Teresa looked up, smiling weakly.
By the morning, Teresa’s headache had subsided to a dull roar. Probably the maximum strength stuff that her Dad had found her had actually helped. She hoped that the headache would go away.
At least it was Thursday. In two days, she would go on that picnic with Cheryl and Toby and have a chance to forget that she was an on-call superhero. Just a normal kid again, or as normal as one got when one’s father and friends could teleport. She shifted her stuff around to find her notes for debate, her first class. She was still looking for her notes when the bell rang.
Cursing under her breath, she ran for class.
Teresa slowly made her way back to her debate teacher’s classroom. She was not looking forward to explaining why she didn’t have her notes for what was a major part of her grade.
Actually, the whole day had gone badly, not just debate. She’d fouled up a spelling quiz, flunked a history pop quiz, and almost fouled up a chemistry hands-on assignment. Good thing Lucas was paying more attention than she was.
She paused at the door of the classroom. Surely her debate teacher would not mind a few minutes for her to compose herself. She leaned against the wall, fished out a kleenex, and tried to compose herself. She’d rather be anywhere else but there at the moment.
A second later, she let out a cry as she splashed into the water.
“Great,” Teresa muttered. “First my debate notes, then the rest of my day, now this! What else can go wrong?”
As if in answer, her communicator beeped. “I should have guessed,” she sighed, and activated her communicator. “Teresa here.”
“Yo, Teresa, where are you?” Alpha asked.
“Long explanation. What’s up?”
“Lucas and Forrest are fighting Regina’s troops, and they need help. You got to get over there as soon as possible!”
“On my way. Teresa out.” Teresa removed her finger from the transmit button and looked around. What she really wanted to sit down and bawl her eyes out. Better yet, she wanted to go to her Dad and have him hold her while she bawled her eyes out. But duty called. “Besides,” she muttered to herself, “I get to go out fighting!”
She summoned her morphers, morphed, and teleported out.
When she landed, she noticed that the others had arrived, and Forrest and Lucas had had a chance to morph. Alpha hadn’t mentioned a monster. Perhaps it had arrived while she was in transit.
It turned its attention towards her. “Ah, Yellow Ranger. How good for you to join us. But are you so sure you want to fight?”
Something about the thing’s attitude ticked Teresa off. It was as if Regina knew about Teresa’s change, even before anybody else besides Teresa did. Probably had been monitoring her to see if the change would take place and then used it to her advantage. “Oh, if you want a fight, you’ve got one, buddy!”
As she engaged the monster, she heard Forrest mutter, “what’s going on? What are they talking about?”
“Something that wasn’t supposed to happen, Forrest,” she commented as she kicked the monster.
Various mutterings assured her that not only had the rest of the team comprehended the situation, but were rather unhappy with it. The monster suddenly flew sideways as Lucas rammed into it. “Don’t mess with my teammate!” he yelled.
Lucas’ words suddenly buoyed Teresa up. At the moment, she was still a part of the team, and she had the rest of the team to back her up. “Let’s send him back to Regina!”
“You got it,” Lucas answered. Teresa could almost see his grin, hidden as it was by his helmet. They converged on the monster and Lucas quickly finished it.
Teresa dropped to the ground. Now that the euphoria and adrenaline from the fight were wearing off, she was feeling tired. She still wanted to go someplace and cry. Then she remembered that she still had a teacher to get to. “I’ll be right back, you guys,” she said. “I need to talk to Ms. Roberts about my work.”
She demorphed and used the teleport mechanism on her communicator to teleport back to school. She didn’t trust her teleporting ability quite yet.
Lucas was waiting outside Ms. Roberts’ door when she finally got through discussing things with her debate teacher. “What are you doing here? Oh, yeah, I need a replacement. To find a replacement, I mean. I don’t really feel like it, but it has to be done.”
“Yeah, but mainly I’m here for you,” Lucas said with utter sincerity. “You look like you’re about to break down and cry.”
“That’s because that’s what I want to do, really, but we really don’t have time for that. Besides, I would have a hard time explaining why I was crying this hard.”
“Come on,” Lucas said. “Let’s get back to the others before they start wondering what happened to us.”
It hadn’t been easy going to the others, but it had to be done. There was unfinished business to take care of that only she could do. So she bravely stood there and hoped she didn’t shake too much.
Lucas’ arm was around her shoulder, as if he was holding her up. Well, he was, in his own way. She dreaded having to do this. It was a good thing that she had a replacement in mind. “Elise. She’s on the archery team, she knows how to fight, she’s a really nice person.”
“Sounds good to me,” Lucas said. The rest of the team echoed him. “I’ll go get her,” he added.
He morphed and teleported out. Soon, he returned with Elise. “So, what is this about?” Elise asked the morphed Lucas.
“Turn around,” he said. Elise turned around, her bobbed hair swinging.
“Teresa?” she asked. “Wait a minute, you’re a Ranger?”
“Yeah. I’m a Ranger. And I need your help.”
Elise’s eyes widened. Teresa knew that Elise was a fan of the Rangers. “What can I do?”
“Something came up, and I can no longer be a Ranger. I know you’d be a good Ranger, so I had you brought here so that I could ask if you wanted to be one. You’ll be in a lot of danger, a lot of fights, and so on, and there are a couple of downsides, but I think you’ll handle them well. What do you say?”
Elise blinked. “Wow. I mean, sure! I’m honoured you chose me. What do I need to do?”
Lucas responded. “Alpha can swear you in while Teresa gets ready.”
“Alpha?” Elise asked.
“Yo,” Alpha responded. As he led Elise through the rules, Teresa looked at her communicator one last time, and tried to hold the tears in. Suddenly, she was aware of Alpha, Elise, and the rest of the team staring at her expectantly. Stifling a sniffle, she twisted her wrists to summon her morphers.
“Elise Cresswell, I give you the power of the Yellow Ranger,” she said, trying to inject some formality into the proceedings so that she could drive her feelings away. Not a good time to break into tears. She unstrapped the morphers from her wrists. “Put them on,” she continued.
Elise did so, and the morphers disappeared from her wrists. “Thanks,” Teresa said. She had to get out of there.
“Come on, let me make you some fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” Lucas said, slipping his arm around her. “They’ll make you feel better.”
Teresa shuddered. She had wondered what could be worse than the events of that day. Lucas’ idea of gourmet had to be the worst. Still, she really didn’t want to be alone.
She didn’t protest as Lucas teleported them both out.
They were at Lucas’ house. Lucas was rummaging through the cabinets in the kitchen, no doubt looking for where he’d put the peanut butter. She was mildly shocked when he gathered stuff that had nothing to do with peanut butter sandwiches. He must have see the look on her face, for he responded, “I figured you really didn’t want the peanut butter and jelly.”
Teresa smiled. “Not really. So, what do you have in mind?”
“You, me, a picnic in the park…”
Lucas was smiling adorably, which meant he was up to something. “You make this sound like a date.”
“Nah, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t alone. ‘Sides, I wanted to talk to you.”
“I’m not going to get out of this, am I?”
Lucas grinned. “What do you think?”
“I had to ask. Well, big brother, let’s off.”
“Are you okay?”
“What do you think, Lucas?”
“I had to ask.”
Teresa lay down on the blanket. “Upset. Confused. Lucas, this wasn’t supposed to happen!”
“I know,” Lucas said, resting his hands on his chin. “I hoped it wouldn’t.”
Teresa did some mental cartwheels trying to figure out what he meant. “Do you know something I don’t, Lucas?”
Lucas looked down. “Promise me you won’t get mad?”
Teresa blinked. Lucas sounded like he had when they were both in fourth grade and he’d forgotten their joint project. “I’ll try. Now, what is this about?”
“You promise you won’t get mad?”
“Lucas, you know better than to ask me that.”
“Okay, will you try not to fly off the handle at anyone when I tell you?”
“I think I can certainly try. Now, what’s this about?”
“I knew this might happen.”
Lucas sounded so down in the dumps and sorry that she almost wasn’t mad at him. Almost. “And you didn’t tell me? I assume you thought you had a good reason.”
“I did have a good reason. Do you really think you would have been able to fight if you knew that you might break out?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Wasn’t today any evidence that I would have? Lucas, I’ve known that I would possibly break out when I learned what Dad was and was old enough to understand. Yeah, I would have been unhappy, but I would have fought all that much harder.”
Lucas rested his chin on his fists once again. “Be honest. Wouldn’t that have depressed you, knowing that you would break out, Ranger powers or no? Would you really have been able to fight, knowing that that lay in store?”
“What have you been doing, Lucas? Receiving Malgrath’s brain waves? I thought he was dense about some things. I’m both. I can’t be one or the other. As a Ranger, I’ve also always been a Tomorrow Person. As a Tomorrow Person, I’ll still be a Ranger. Never fully one or the other.”
A tear escaped her. She really wanted to cry. Why couldn’t anyone understand? If she could reliably teleport, she’d be home in an instant. She felt Lucas’ arms around her. “Go on, cry. I may not be able to understand, but at least I make a good pillow.”
She laughed, but it didn’t come out well, so she just started crying. Lucas was right, he did make a good pillow. After a few minutes she stopped. “Lucas, you’re really dense about some things, but I love you.”
“Thanks. I think. I am sorry. Maybe you’re right. I just didn’t think you could handle it.”
Lucas held her tight, and she found that she was relaxing. How had she not noticed this before? Lucas the stubborn was getting mushy. she kind of liked it. His eyes were closed, and she thought she could see tears brimming at the corners of his eyes. “Yeah. I’m sorry too. Even if you were a little dense.”
“I guess I should tell you that I hoped that this wouldn’t happen.”
“That makes two of us,” Teresa sighed. “How long have you known? And did anybody else know that this might happen?”
“About two months ago, and not very many people knew. Just me, Ian, your Dad, Melissa, and Olivia.”
Teresa silently counted them off, and then stopped. “Regina obviously knew, too. How long before she went silent did you talk about it?”
Lucas’s face contorted with concentration. “Not long. I remember having one attack after that, but then she went off until today.”
“Great. Just great. Tell me everything that happened, from the beginning,” Teresa ordered. She knew it wasn’t Lucas’ fault, or Ian’s, or her Dad’s, that this had happened. It was Regina’s. But that didn’t make her feel any better. Anger flared within her.
Lucas sighed. “About two months ago, Ian was looking at some scan records. Something was happening to yours, and he and Alpha couldn’t pin them down, so he dug into the archives and picked up some of your father’s scans, the ones during his time as a Rangers. He discovered some similarities between you father and you, but yours were different. It’s like the process had started with him, but stayed at a steady level, until he left the Rangers. When he came back, he had what was apparently the standard readings for a Tomorrow Person. With yours, it was like you were changing slowly, so slowly that you might not notice it. Regina must have found a way to accelerate it somehow.”
“Or just let nature take its course,” Teresa muttered.
“Hmmm?”
“I’m not my Dad, Lucas,” she said firmly. “I grew up in a different environment, where telepaths and telepathy were normal. Dad didn’t. There’s evidence that belief is a strong factor in how people are. People who become sick because they want to, even if they don’t know that they want to. With me, I grew up with the fact that I might be a telepath - I’ve had it drilled into my head for longer than I can remember. Plus, I define myself as a Tomorrow Person, where Dad didn’t know he was going to become one. Somehow, Regina must have figured that given enough quiet time, I might break out, Powers or no Powers.”
“That could be it. Anyway, It worried Ian, so he called me, and I was worried about it, so we went and visited your Dad to talk to him about it. And then he thought that some of your friends might be able to help out, so we ended up with Melissa and Olivia.”
Teresa laughed. She couldn’t help it. Lucas and Melissa in the same room? And Lucas hadn’t strangled Melissa? Wow. This was certainly making some odd bedfellows.
“What’s so funny?” Lucas demanded.
“You and Missa in the same room and neither of you strangling each other, that’s what,” Teresa replied.
Lucas shrugged. “Hey, it was a good idea. You’re always reminding us that you’re culturally a telepath, might as well talk to someone who knew you at that end.”
Teresa’s thoughts wandered off on a tangent. “Speaking of which, was that when Ian met Olivia?”
“Yeah. Those two just somehow connected. I don’t mind. Olivia is probably the only one of your generation of TP that I get along with.”
Teresa grinned. “Well, now I’m another one,” she said, snuggling closer to him.
He reacted by holding her closer. “Yeah. I guess I should get used to that now. Right now, I can’t get my mind around the subject, though.”
She shook her head. “Somehow, I don’t blame you. I have a hard time, and it happened to me.”
They just sat there for quite a while before Teresa got up out of his arms. “I should go home. It’s going to be a long evening, even without having to tell Dad what happened.”
“Teresa?”
“Yeah?” she asked, turning around.
“Don’t tell him.”
Teresa frowned. “Why in the heck shouldn’t I? He has a right to know. He’s my Dad.”
“He’s a telepath,” Lucas said.
Her temper flared at him. There he sat, looking so earnest and adorable. She wanted to hit him. He had sounded like he finally understood her. “So am I now, if you haven’t noticed, Lucas.”
“Wait. Hear me out,” he said in a pleading voice.
“I’m waiting,” she replied.
“I did a lot of talking that day with your Dad and your friends, learning what it might be like to be a telepath, and what the telepathic community was like. Actually, I think I had a pretty good idea about it before that. But anyway, if anybody, even your Dad, finds out that you’re a telepath, the entire population knows you’re a telepath. I’m not saying that your Dad can’t keep a secret, I’m just saying that maybe the information might leak somehow, like through his emotions or something.”
Teresa took a deep breath. “It’s possible,” she conceded. “But it really doesn’t matter in any event. There’s no reason to hide the fact that I’ve become TP. I’m a member of the community now. Besides, I need to be taught how to use my new powers before they become annoying.”
“Surely you can wait a day, or two, or three?” Lucas asked.
“Lucas, why do you want me to wait? Other than to not have to think of me as a Tomorrow Person, of course. I’ve got news for you: I am one. Nothing’s going to change that.”
Teresa turned away. Lucas put a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off. He put it back on again. “How about a chance to rest and readjust before you have to worry about it? You just left being a Ranger. How about a chance to think about where you’ve been and where you’re going before you have to face it fully. Give yourself a chance to get used to the idea before your friends descend upon you joyfully.”
She turned to face him again. He actually made sense. Lucas could be a stubborn idiot, but he sometimes came up with good ideas. “A day of rest. Okay, if only for both our sanities. We could both use it.”
“Two?” Lucas asked. “You might want more than one. When I was seeing what impact this would have, I had a word with Dad. He told me what it felt like to give up your powers, since he’d done it twice. It takes a couple of days to adjust to not having the Power, and for the first day or two you tend to tire out because your body is still expecting the extra energy. I think he thought I was worried about myself, because he told me that he’d support me staying home the first day after it happened.”
Teresa smiled slightly. “Okay, two. Dad might understand.”
“Yeah. And remember to wear your communicator. You’ll want to do that anyway, in case Regina decides to go after you. Oh, and no matter how awful yellow looks to you, wear it for a few more days to complete the illusion.”
“Yes, mother,” Teresa said, grinning. Lucas swatted at her, and then settled back on the blanket.
“Teresa?”
“Yeah?” she replied. Lucas’ smile had been replaced with what could only be described as a contemplative look.
“What’s it like, being a telepath? I don’t think I’ve ever asked about that.”
“I don’t think I’ve really had a chance to notice, really,” Teresa said thoughtfully. “I’ve been a Tomorrow Person for maybe a full hour, and I’ve had other things on my mind. Plus, I’ve always had really strong shields.”
“Shields?” Lucas asked.
Teresa sighed, and then reminded herself that Lucas wasn’t really always up on telepathic things. She thought she’d explained it to him once. Maybe he’d forgotten. “You know, the mental barriers that prevent telepaths from going crazy from having everybody’s thoughts pour into their heads? Most telepaths develop them as they’re gearing up to break out. Some non-telepaths develop shields too. I’ve always had a strong shield as long as I can remember. Most people can’t ‘read’ me at all. Toby’s Dad thinks it’s because I may have accidentally had my telepathic circuts turned on for a short time when I was a baby, and I reacted by heavily shielding my mind. Other popular theories have to do with me picking up Dad’s unhappiness at being a TP. Dad and I think it’s just because I’ve always been stubborn. Ever since I became a Ranger, I’ve been hearing a lot about anything I’ve shown that might indicate that I was going to become a TP, from people trying to convince me that being a Ranger was not a good idea.”
“I’m amazed you were still friends with all of that,” Lucas said quietly. Teresa nodded bitterly. No matter how much she liked her TP friends, the whole Ranger issue had nearly torn her from them at the start. It had stopped for a while when her Dad had gotten on everyone’s case.
“Compared to how they acted sometimes, you were an absolute angel, Lucas,” she said. “Being hard to read sometimes has its disadvantages as well… they couldn’t tell how badly this was affecting me. They thought I was just doing it to spite everyone.”
“Nobody can read you?” Lucas asked. “Nobody could tell?”
“Dad could,” Teresa replied sadly. “After I became a Ranger, it became fairly easy for him to read me. Power calls to Power, after all. Something about me becoming a Ranger opened a bond that neither of us understood. Still don’t understand. He was able to convey some of it, knock sense into a couple of heads, and hold off the worst of it. Even if most of my friends weren’t convinced this was the wisest course of action, they apologized to me. I’m surprised that Melissa never mentioned your meeting- she was one of the worst of the bunch.”
Lucas shrugged. “I out-stubborned her.”
Teresa broke out in giggles, then started laughing. Normally, Lucas’ statement wouldn’t be so mirth- inducing, but it had been a very long day.
Lucas grinned. “Go on, get home. Before you get in trouble.”
“Thanks, Luc,” Teresa replied. She ran off.
Rocky felt his daughter before he heard her quietly close the door. Her emotions were flaring to the point where any telepath in Southern California would probably pick them up, and probably get confused. There was anger in there, and sadness, but it was mixed in with kind of a euphoric love. He wondered if she was dating, and he’d never known it.
No, Teresa didn’t act that way, and besides, he would have known. He wondered what had happened. “Hello, bonita. What’s wrong?”
His daughter’s face peeked around the doorframe. “Sorry, Dad. Didn’t mean to bother you.”
“You were projecting loud enough for people in England to hear you. So, what’s wrong?”
“School.”
Rocky waited patiently, hoping that Teresa was not going to hold out. She didn’t. “I forgot my notes for the big debate in debate class. I was so worried that the rest of the day was a total waste. Lucas ended up taking me for a milkshake. Dad, when did Lucas get so handsome and so wonderful?”
Teresa sat down in the room, a faraway look on her face. So, that’s why she was so euphoric. His little girl had fallen in love. Although he was surprised that it was Lucas that she’d fallen in love with. Those two had acted like they were siblings ever since they were practically out of diapers. He smiled at her. “Things like that happen. And I’m not too worried about your grades. You’re apparently doing well enough in school, considering.”
Teresa smiled. “Thanks, Dad,” she said. Rocky smiled back at her. Quite a bit of her anger was fading away, and so was the sadness. The euphoria remained. Not all of the bad emotions were gone, however, and there was something she wasn’t talking about. He didn’t want to press her. He knew she’d tell him about it in her own time. He just hoped it wasn’t sex, even though that wasn’t likely it. Teresa and Lucas had grown far too responsible for that.
“If you want to talk about anything, I’m here,” Rocky said.
His daughter launched from her chair and enveloped him in a fierce hug. “Thanks, Dad. I really mean it.”
The next day, Teresa made her way to debate, with her notes. She was glad that Ms. Roberts had let her make up her assignment. She’d worked hard last night to prepare, knowing that she’d not be interrupted by the chime of her communicator.
She was wearing one of her favourite outfits, her most comfortable blue jeans topped by a soft yellow T- Shirt and a yellow-and-white striped sweater. Lucas had been right. She’d had to fight with her instincts in order to wear a colour that she’d been wearing for months.
“How’d debate go?” Lucas asked. He and the rest of the gang had joined her for lunch. She wasn’t sure if she could use the company, but she’d welcomed them anyway.
“I think I impressed Ms. Roberts,” she said. She wasn’t lying. The teacher had been very happy with her performance. She could feel it when she’d handed her teacher the data file containing her notes. It was a little bit odd, picking up emotions. She hoped it would stop feeling strange soon.
“Good,” Lucas said, and she could feel how happy he was. How happy they all were, actually, but especially with Lucas. “How are you holding up?”
“Better, actually. A bit tired, but if you’re right, that’s to be expected. I just hope that it doesn’t mess up archery practice. I think Dad knows that something’s happened, but he hasn’t pressed me about it.”
“I can cover you on archery practice today, if you get really tired,” Elise offered. Teresa’s replacement on the team was dressed all in yellow as well, and there was a communicator on her wrist. Teresa was happy for her, although like a lot of things today, it felt kind of odd.
Teresa smiled. “Thanks, Elise, but I think I’ll make it. It’s a bit tiring without the power, but I think that other factors are helping.”
Elise shrugged. “Okay, just let me know if changes.”
“Hey, Teresa, my sibs and I are going to make some homemade ice cream this afternoon. Want to join us for a feast?” Forrest asked.
Teresa’s smile became a grin. Forrest knew she loved homemade chocolate ice cream. Besides, she needed to talk to him. Some things that she could talk to only him about. Like Lucas. “I’d love to, after practice.”
Just then, everybody’s communicators beeped. Except for hers, of course. Lucas frowned, and Teresa could feel the mounting anger in him. He’d wanted to talk to her more. The rest of the gang excused themselves, leaving her alone to wait.
Teresa winced as another imaginary pain shot through her. Actually, not imaginary at all, just not hers. It was Lucas’ pain. She could feel him, feel his feelings as he fought against Regina’s latest monster. It was weird, but kind of comforting in a way, to be feeling that way. He was fighting hard. She could feel his anger, his determination, and his pain.
She wished she could be there. She’d been forced to send a complete novice into battle, and knowing that the Ranger powers would protect her successor didn’t help her much. She should be there, not Elise. She was a DeSantos. She didn’t run away from battle. No, they just turned into telepaths that couldn’t kill.
A happy feeling pushed the bitterness away. Again not hers. Lucas was celebrating. The team was celebrating.
The monster alert quieted, the all-clear sounded, and a minute later, the warning bell rang.
The monster alert had started again. Twice in one day. Regina must be trying to get the Rangers while Elise was still inexperienced. This time, Teresa could feel how tired Lucas was. But, like before, the Rangers defeated the monster.
As soon as the all-clear sounded, Teresa went to the where the school’s archery team was setting up for practice. Had been, anyway. The others emerged from the gym. Elise wasn’t there, but then Teresa wasn’t expecting her to be. It occurred to her that she might have to cover for Elise if she was late getting back. Luckily, she didn’t.
Elise came up to her after practice. The Junior had acted happy all throughout practice, and even now it was hard to tell that she was actually quite shaken inside. Teresa couldn’t tell how the rest of the team was feeling, but she could detect Elise’s true feelings, just as she could the rest of the Rangers’. Right now, her teammate needed to be able to drop the facade and talk. Teresa looked around and noticed most of the team was gone, and the few left were out of earshot. “You okay?”
The Junior shook her head. “My body feels like one giant bruise. I’m just so bad at fighting. I can’t believe you picked me for a Ranger! I can’t fight at all.”
Teresa gave a short laugh. “Neither could most of us. You should have seen us in our first unmorphed fight. We were awful. At least when we were morphed, we got all the knowledge on how to fight. We spent the afternoon wondering if we could cover up all the bruises before our parents wondered if we’d gotten in a school fight.”
Elise shrugged. “I noticed how easy it seemed after I’d morphed. But I still didn’t feel like I was pulling my fair share. Last night, I pulled that documentary that I taped and watched you guys fight. You actually were one of the main fighters in all the fights I saw. When I fought today, Lucas and Ian kept having to protect me.”
Teresa patted her on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Everybody’s pretty bad the first time they fight. My fight wasn’t exactly what I would call terrific. It just all comes down to lots of practice. Have one of the others teach you to fight. Any of them would be glad to. Soon, you won’t have a problem at all.”
Elise sighed. “I could never fight as well as you.”
Teresa swung the other woman around to face her. “Elise, you think I would have chosen you if I didn’t think you could do the job. I’ve seen you, you can! What you’re talking about is inexperience, not inability. All you have to do is the best you can and not beat yourself up for not being able to do more.”
“I guess so,” Elise said. Teresa could tell she didn’t believe her. Well, maybe she’d sic Lucas and Forrest on Elise. Maybe at the same time, too.
They parted ways.
“Yeah, she sounds like she needs cheering up,” Forrest declared. He, Teresa, and Ian were sitting in Forrest’s kitchen, the twins having grabbed their ice cream and taken it elsewhere. “I’ll talk to her when I have a chance. You might want to tell Lucas, too. Might make a difference if her team leader reassured her that she’s not an awful teammate.”
“I’ll be glad to teach her,” Ian said quietly. “If she’ll let me.”
“I’m sure she won’t have a problem, Ian,” she said. “And if you’re worried about asking her, maybe Lucas can drop a hint and she can come and ask you instead.”
“Thanks,” he said, sounding relieved. Teresa stifled a laugh.
“So, how’re you taking it?” Forrest asked. “Being off the team and being a TP, I mean.”
“It’s not as bad as I thought, actually,” Teresa said. “I miss the team and the fighting, but some things are making it better for me.”
Ian raised an eyebrow. “Oh?” he asked in a very curious tone.
“Yeah. Weirdly enough, I’ve been picking up you guys’ emotions. Especially Lucas’. It was kinda weird, but also kinda wonderful, although I kinda wondered that every time he got hit.”
“Ouch,” Ian said. “So, why are you picking up Lucas better?”
Teresa shook her head. “I think it’s because I’ve forged some kind of bond with him. That’s what I’ve figured, anyway. Y’see, I realized I was in love with him yesterday, and that he was in love with me,” she said. She noticed the other two were exchanging grins. “What?”
“We were wondering when you’d notice that,” Forrest said. “It isn’t like he hasn’t been trying to get your attention for the last year and a half. I swear, Teresa, sometimes you’re so dense about these things!”
Teresa felt her cheeks redden. “Okay. Is there anyone else that I should know about that I’ve obviously missed? Do I have guys following me around that I should know about?”
Forrest and Ian exchanged glances again, and for once, Teresa wished she could read their minds to find out what was so funny. “There have been a couple,” Forrest said.
Teresa nodded. She’d pry it out of the two of them later. “Ah.”
“So, you’re really in love with Lucas?” Ian asked shyly.
“Yeah. One minute I was bawling my eyes out, the next I realized that he was, well, someone that I was in love with.”
“‘Bout time you two got together,” Forrest said.
“We’ve been best friends since first grade. Or Kindergarten, even. I’m allowed to be a little dense over this kind of thing,” Teresa replied in a defensive tone.
“Teresa, there’s something I think you should know,” Ian said. His tone had turned grim.
“What?” Teresa asked.
“Well, you remember when Regina sent that scorpion-woman to capture me and take me back as her consort? The one who took one look at my Dad and figured he would make a better one?”
“Yeah, I especially remember we nearly lost your Dad to that one. Why?” Teresa asked.
“I did a lot of research after that happened, and I pulled a lot of background on Regina. Seems like she was various peoples’ marriage-aranger. When she actually went into her own as a bad guy, her old habits stayed with her. Apparently, one of her favorite tricks is to marry the members of the team opposing her to anyone that she can find, preferably evil. That’s why she tried to marry you, Cecelia and me off. And you and Lucas pairing up will certainly piss her off. She regards retired Rangers much the same as Rangers, and she certainly doesn’t like two warriors of good pairing up.”
“Great,” Teresa said. “Why hasn’t she gone after Olivia yet?”
“Olivia’s not a warrior of good,” Ian said. “She’s a nobody to Regina unless she gets in the way or something. Regina’s more interested in us and our parents. I doubt she would have had a problem if that scorpion-woman had taken off with Dad. She would have preferred to get rid of me, of course, but she would have been okay with that.”
“So, what is she likely to do?” Teresa asked. She hoped that it wouldn’t be more attempts at marriage.
“Either destroy you, or try marrying the two of you off,” Ian said. “I mean, to different people. She might be more inclined to destroy you now, but who knows.”
“Great,” Teresa said, following it by a sigh. “That really brightens up my day.”
Forrest put his bowl of ice cream down and kneeled by her. “She won’t marry you off or destroy you, Teresa. We’ll all make sure of that.”
“Thanks, Forrest,” Teresa said gratefully. She shook her head. “Man, would you have thought a year ago that we’d be worrying about things like this?”
“I wouldn’t,” Ian said. “But I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.”
“Me neither,” Forrest replied. “I never thought I’d be following in my Dad’s footsteps in much of anything, but suddenly, I’m a Ranger, just like he was. The only thing that would make it more weird was if he’d ever been Blue, but as far as I know he’s never had that color.”
“I felt weird at first being Green like my father,” Ian said, but I got used to it.”
“Dad never held yellow, obviously,” Teresa said. “But it definitely felt weird the first few days of being a Ranger. When I talked to Dad, he had that feeling too, since he’d known about the realities of the Rangers a few months before he became one.”
“Dad told me much the same thing the first time we talked after he found out I was a Ranger,” Ian said. “We had a very long talk that day, starting with apologizing to me about assuming I’d been going astray.”
“Dad was pretty cool about me being a Ranger when he found out,” Forrest said. “It was pretty neat to hear how he became a Ranger. Guess that ‘random acts of kindness’ thing sometimes leads to pretty interesting situations.”
“Cecelia said that her father makes her work out a lot more nowadays,” Teresa said. “It shows, although I do sometimes feel kinda sorry for her. She wanted to be a fighter like her Dad- well, she’s getting it in spades now. Guess Mr. Oliver’s kind of worried about his daughter.”
“I caught Dad and Mom sitting in the living room anxiously staring at the radio when I came home once,” Ian said quietly. “I think they’re really worried but don’t want to show it.”
“My Dad’s been really good about not doing that,” Forrest said. “But he seems to want to spend more time with me more, so I guess he’s kind of worried, too.”
“Well, it is dangerous,” Ian said. “We knew the risks when we signed on. We knew we could be wounded or killed. Didn’t stop us.”
“I wouldn’t have passed up the opportunity for anything,” Teresa replied. “I wanted the chance to defend the Earth as my father did, and make up for him breaking out, kinda. It was kind of an honor thing. Even now I feel like I’ve let him and the family down on that.”
“It’s not your fault you broke out, Teresa,” Ian said. “You didn’t leave because you were afraid to fight.”
“I left because I stood a good chance of getting the rest of you killed if I stayed on,” Teresa replied. “Dad almost learned that the hard way. But it still feels so awful.”
Forrest placed his hand on her shoulder. “Teresa, none of this is your fault! Get it though your thick skull. It’s not your fault. You fought the best you could. Didn’t you just tell Elise this afternoon that you just have to do your best? Apply it to yourself.”
“It’s a little hard to do that,” Teresa said, realizing that Forrest was right. “This is a lot harder than her situation. I feel so… off-balance. That’s as best I can describe it. It’s not something that anybody else can understand, even Dad. Hard to believe, right?”
She was attempting to smile, but she knew as she looked at Forrest and Ian that she wasn’t doing well. “You’ll figure it out, Teresa. I know you will,” Ian said.
“Thanks, Ian,” she felt. This time her smile was genuine.
“Morning, Mom,” Teresa said as she rounded the corner into the kitchen. Her mother was sipping a cup of coffee and absentmindedly pushing some scrambled eggs around on her plate. She’d already seen her mom’s computer that morning. Her mom had obviously started her backlog this morning, which meant that the rest of the family might not see much of her over the next two days. It was a miracle that she hadn’t started on it soon after she arrived. Teresa guessed that the fact that Dad had stuffed dinner into her and then hauled her into the bedroom had something to do with that. They hadn’t emerged from the bedroom when she’d gone to bed.
“Morning, Teresa,” her mother said. Her father was making breakfast.
“Morning, Dad. What’s for breakfast?”
Her father smiled. “You have to ask?”
She smiled back as he heaped scrambled eggs and hash browns onto her plate. She just hoped her stomach was as big as her eyes, as it all smelled good and she was hungry. She set into her food eagerly, not missing her parents trading smiles.
“So, what are you doing today?” her mother asked. “Will we see you at all?”
“I’m meeting the gang at the Juice Bar this morning, and Toby and Cheryl this evening for a picnic dinner. I’ll be back between then, though, because there’s something I want to talk about with Dad.”
“There is?” her mother asked, looking slightly startled. “This has something to do with Lucas?”
Obviously her Dad had caught her Mom up on her lovelife. “Partially. It’s to do with the Rangers.”
Teresa saw her mother try not to frown. Her Dad had always been supportive of her being a Ranger, but her mother, once she found out, had disapproved. She tried to hide it nowadays, but she wasn’t usually successful. The only reason it wasn’t a worse problem was that her mom knew that she knew how to fight.
“I’ve got two classes at the dojo today,” Dad said, “but I should be home by early afternoon. Unless it’s a big crisis.”
“No, just something that I need to talk to you about,” Teresa said airily. Her father frowned, presumably picking up that it wasn’t as light a matter as it sounded, but didn’t comment.
“Do you need me to take you there, honey?” her mother asked.
“No, I’m going to jog over,” Teresa replied, just before she shoveled another forkful into her mouth.
Teresa stopped at the sidewalk as she noticed two other joggers coming her way. Cecelia waved, slowing down as she came nearer. Her Dad, right behind her, slowed down too. “Hey, Teresa! We’re jogging to the Juice Bar. Wanta join us?”
Teresa grinned. “Sure, I was heading that way anyway, and I’ll be glad of the company.”
The trio jogged along, chatting about random things, until they reached the Juice Bar. “I think I need a drink,” Cecelia said. She headed into the Juice Bar. Teresa was about to stop her, when Mr. Oliver put a hand on her shoulder. “Teresa, are you okay?”
She blinked in confusion. “Yeah. Why?”
He sat down on a nearby bench and motioned for her to join him. “Me and Kat were watching the news last night, and Zeo Ranger II has developed a distinctly different fighting style. We figured something was wrong.”
“I broke out,” Teresa said flatly. “We have a new yellow Ranger, and it was her luck that Regina attacked twice yesterday.”
“Probably she wanted to get the drop on you guys while you were down a Ranger,” Mr. Oliver said. “That new one has potential, though.”
Teresa smiled. “That’s what we’ve been telling her.”
“So, you and your Dad been handling it okay?” Mr. Oliver asked gently.
“He doesn’t know.”
“He doesn’t know?” Mr. Oliver replied, sounding incredulous. “You haven’t told him?”
“I needed some time to think and adjust. Nobody knows, except for the rest of the team, and I want to have some time to adjust. I’m going to tell him this afternoon, anyway. I think I’m ready now.”
She looked up at him, surprised to see understanding instead of condemnation on his face. “I know the feeling. We all do, all of us who have given up the power. Something about it makes you want to stay away from those who can understand and help. You could ask Kat or Jase or Adam, and they could tell you the same thing. It’s not an easy thing to live through.”
“Does it always make you feel…empty?” Teresa asked, delighted to talk to someone who understood somewhat of what she was feeling.
“Yeah. For a while, it’s like having a missing apendage…something that’s not there, but you can remember it being there. It fades over time, but not completely. Believe me, none of us would turn down the chance to fight again.”
Teresa smiled. “I’d love to do it too…not much chance though now, is there?”
“Hey, I learned long ago that being a Tomorrow Person didn’t stop your Dad from being a warrior. It won’t stop you either.”
“Thanks.”
“I’d better go now. Just remember, if you don’t feel comfortable talking to your Dad about some of these things that there are a bunch of us retired Rangers in the area. We’ll all be happy to help you with this.”
“Thanks, Mr. Oliver,” she replied. Mr. Oliver smiled, and jogged off.
Cecelia was waiting for her at the door. “Dad wanted to talk to you for a bit, eh?”
“Yeah,” Teresa said. She was still smiling, but it became a little wider. “He kinda reminded me that I have more people than I normally think of to turn to.”
“That’s good,” Cecelia told her. “It’s good to have one Oliver that can give advice. I can’t think of anything to tell you, and that’s very awkward.”
“That’s okay. I think I’ll have enough advice for quite a while that no advice will be a relief.”
They headed into the Juice Bar together.
Lucas and Teresa were walking in the park. “So, how are things going?” Lucas asked. “How do you feel?”
“Better, now,” Teresa replied. “I’m telling Dad this afternoon. It’s been two days, and I think that the rest and the time to think has helped.”
“Great-“ Lucas started to say, but was interrupted by the arrival of Regina’s soldiers. The two of them fought valiantly, but they were both subdued and teleported out.
Teresa woke up in a barren metal room. She guessed she was on Regina’s base. Near her, Lucas groaned. She went to help him, and found a forcefield in her way.
“I see my guests are awake,” a woman’s voice came from behind her. Teresa turned around.
“Who in the heck are you?” she asked.
The woman looked bemused. “I’m Regina. I’ve brought you here because I have an offer for you, Teresa DeSantos.”
Teresa laughed. “Yeah. Right. Why would I want to take any offer from you?”
“Because I can restore your happiness.”
“I am happy,” Teresa countered.
“As a weakling, unable to fight? Because that’s what you’ve become, girl. You’ve dreaded this change throughout your life, and now you’re going to simply sit there and accept it because your culture says you should. You’re a warrior! You’re already unhappy there. Let me give you a way to be as you were meant to be- a warrior!”
Teresa almost groaned. She should have expected this. “I am one. My change hasn’t taken away my ability to fight, just my ability to kill. Not a great loss.”
“Your inability to kill has made you leave something precious to you,” Regina countered. “I could bring that back to you, make you a full warrior again, a Ranger. I could destroy that which has incapacitated you. You don’t have to worry about being a telepath ever again. You can be a warrior, known throughout star systems. You can have anything you desire. Even him.”
Regina was pointing at Lucas. Teresa drew in a breath. Regina’s purpose was clear, to recruit her as an evil warrior and then, true to life, pair her with Lucas. “I understand you’re attracted towards each other. In this way, you can be together, and I won’t have problems with the pairing.”
“I would,” Lucas said, speaking up.
“I didn’t ask you!” Regina snapped. “What will it be, dear, end your days as a shadow of yourself, or allow me to help you become as you truly are?”
Teresa looked at Lucas, who had his hands up against the invisible forcefield. It would be nice to not worry about Regina messing up her lovelife, and she would like to fight again. However, she doubted she would be able to pay the price. And her father wouldn’t like it.
She wouldn’t like it, either, she reminded herself. She was a warrior, yes, and sometimes she had dreaded actually becoming a Tomorrow Person, yes, but she could not leave her Tomorrow People heritage aside to become a warrior. “No. I am who I am. If you see me as a weakling for that, so be it. I am who I’m supposed to be.”
Regina frowned. “So be it. As a favor to a fellow warrior, I’ll give you the merciful death you deserve- right after you see your beloved married to someone else. I have just the person in mind.”
Regina smiled at her, and then left the room with her soldiers.
Teresa felt around the walls of her force cage. After a few minutes, she realized that Lucas was looking at her. She turned around to find him looking at her, smiling. “Thanks,” he said.
“Not a problem. Not my fault that Regina got my motivations wrong. Close, no cigar.”
“Now I have to worry about her marrying me off.”
Teresa shrugged. “Hey, she’d already tried it with me, Cecelia, and Ian. I guess she had to get to you eventually. It’s her style.”
“Huh?” Lucas looked confused.
“Marriage. Never mind. Talk to Ian when we get back.”
Lucas nodded. “I will. But how are we going to get back, anyway? It’s not like she’s going to have us fight and choose between us, and I doubt we can teleport out.”
Teresa blinked. “I can, duh.”
“Oh, yeah. Can you get us out of here?”
Teresa shook her head. “I can get me out of here, I’ll end up in the Pacific Ocean, you’ll still be here. I can’t do that.”
“You’ve got to,” Lucas said stubbornly.
“I won’t.”
“Teresa, that is a direct order. From your leader. Get out of here, now!”
“Ah, Lucas, hate to break it to you, but I’m not under your command anymore. So, if you’ll shut up for ten, I might be able to recall how to teleport out of here. With you.”
Lucas responded by folding his arms and glaring at her. She ignored him, trying to remember any times where anybody was instructing a new TP on how to teleport. She finally remembered one, and smiled. “Think of where you’re going, and not being here…” she murmured, concentrating on teleporting onto Lucas’ lap.
She did, and ignored the small “oof!” that came from Lucas, wrapping her arms around him and concentrating on her living room. She materialized there, and the first thing she saw was her dad’s foot. She looked up. “Hi, Dad!”
“Teresa,” her father said, and she found herself in a tight hug, both from him and from Lucas.
It was a week since Regina had kidnapped Lucas and Teresa, and things had returned mostly to normal. Teresa was with Forrest and Ian and a picnic lunch. Cecelia was on a day trip with her parents, and Lucas was giving Elise a pep talk. Lucas and Elise would join them later.
Teresa was grateful for the lack of company, however. She’d spent the entire week hanging around many of her friends on the TP end. As Lucas predicted, they had descended joyfully. The only good part of the whole thing was that she could control and use her powers now. The only good thing about all their attention was that they’d refrained from ‘I told you so’, probably due to the fact that her shields had gotten a slight bit less high. They were still pretty high for a Tomorrow Person, though, but people respected that. It had actually turned out to be less of a problem than it seemed. The whole thing was less of a problem than she’d thought it would be, actually. Part of it was on her end. A lot of it was on her end. She may be a Tomorrow Person, but that had yet to stop her being what she was before.
Lucas had sent along fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the occasion. Forrest was cheerfully munching on one. He’d always liked them. She’d wrinkled her nose when she’d seen them, and Ian wasn’t touching them either.
“You okay?” Ian asked.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
“How’s it going with Lucas?”
“Fine. I don’t know if Melissa’s going to take well to seeing Lucas regularly, but she’ll have to survive.”
Ian laughed, and Forrest joined in. Forrest said, “I’m glad you’re still with us.”
Teresa shrugged. She knew what Forrest was talking about. “It was tempting, I admit that. But I don’t think I could have ever taken it. At least Regina inadvertently provided the solution for my problems, even if it wasn’t the solution she preferred.”
“What was that?” Forrest asked. “You never told us.”
“It was something that I kind of forgot right after I became a TP. I’ve been talking so long about the balance I have to strike between the Rangers and the TP, right? Well, right after I broke out, I didn’t feel balanced. I’d tipped too far to one side in a very short time. Regina brought me back to reality in reminding me that I was both. What she would have done would have, among other things, broken my balance completely. I would have turned into a raving lunatic.”
“That would have been a problem.”
“Yeah. Too bad she didn’t realize it. She almost had me figured out, but I guess she forgot something that wasn’t important to her. It’s really too bad. She’d been planning this for months.”
“We’re just glad to have you back,” Ian said.
“I’m glad to be back,” Teresa said. “I’m glad to be with my friends.”
“Thanks,” Ian and Forrest said, almost simultaneously. Forrest continued with, “we’ll miss you, though.”
“Did I say I was going away?” Teresa smiled. “Once a Ranger, always a Ranger. I’m not going to forget that, and neither should you. Regina should be very afraid.”
Her two friends smiled at her. “Welcome back,” Forrest said.
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