Always a Frog, Never a Prince
On the outside he appeared to be just like everyone else, an eighteen year old teen whose only worries were women and college. Boy was that so not the case. The rangers reunion was a once a year tradition, well it wasn't really a tradition since this was the first year of it being created but they had decided to make it a tradition. They were at the beach, and he hated the beach. Adam Park sat on one of the available deckchairs and watched as the other rangers played around, reminisced about old times or just went for a swim. But not Adam, he'd always do this kind of thing, he didn't know why he did but he felt like he had to do it, whenever any of the rangers went out or even on a mission Adam would always lag behind or be the one to stay behind or just the one to not bother joining in. And he was doing it again, as he sat and read his poetry book he could hear the laughter of the other rangers and he'd occasionally look up to see what was going on. Adam knew all the rangers thought that he was just a shy guy but they were definitely wrong about that, before he became a ranger Adam had been a bigmouth and got into trouble often because of it. Problems at home had caused that reaction but when he became a ranger he had something he wanted to do and was dedicated about doing. That was then…and this was now, the other rangers (especially Rocky) would think he was crazy but he missed being a power ranger, ever since Zedd and Rita left they hadn't been needed and that put the black ranger back to where he was when he started…alone.
"Hey Adam, wotcha reading?" glancing upwards he noticed Kimberly standing before him with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face.
"Stuff," he replied.
"What kinda stuff?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Because I'm interested."
"You mean nosy?"
Kimberly gave him a shocked expression, "Adam Park how dare you," he couldn't help but smile, "I am not nosy, I'm just…intuitive," he raised an eyebrow, "just tell me what your reading."
"Just some poetry," he expected a laugh or some other mockery that Rocky often did but instead she asked instead.
"Any good?" all he could do was nod dumbly slightly taken aback from her reply, "I never thought of you as someone who read poetry?"
"Why not?" she shrugged, god she looked beautiful today, her chestnut hair was let loose and blowing in the sea breeze, denim shorts and a pink shirt completed the set, 'stop it' his mind yelled at him, 'she's out of your league' it continued.
"Anything wrong?" the old pink ranger had a concerned look on her face, he shook his head, Kimberly didn't believe him but decided to let it drop, "Listen we've got uneven teams on football and the guys asked me to come over and ask you because apparently you used to have a thing for me," Adam shot Rocky a death look but the red ranger seemed to find something very interesting to do with the sky. She laughed, "Come on Adam, what'd you say…one game of football?"
The black ranger sighed, "I suppose it couldn't hurt," placing his book to one side he got up and made his way over to the rangers.
"Listen Adam, it's shirts and skins and you're on the skins team so come on…off with the shirt," Jason called.
Panic filled his eyes as Rocky glanced at him extremely nervous, "Uh…do you mind if I'm on the shirts team, I'm kinda cold."
Billy laughed, "Your kidding right, it's boiling out here now stop stalling."
"Y…you don't understand I'd really rather be on the shirts team," Adam replied, he could feel himself sweating and that just made it worse as the others except Rocky all wore confused expressions.
"Ok Adam, here you can swap with me," Tommy offered as they switched sides, "ok…play ball."
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The black ranger stood in front of his mirror in his one roomed dorm, when they asked him whether he'd rather a one roomer or two he immediately said one. The young man had been standing there staring at himself for close to ten minutes now and the others were waiting for him. Sighing he grabbed a clean shirt and clutched it tightly before finally slipping the one he had on off, jamming his eyes shut Adam fought back the tears at the sight of the scars that wracked his entire body. Cigarette burns, scars from where he'd been cut with blades, and a dark red patch over his ribcage where he'd been hit with a tazer blast. Quickly yanking his shirt on he made his way out of the apartment and back towards Rocky's truck.
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Kimberly averted her attention from the wing mirror as she saw Tommy and Kat share a loving kiss in the front seat of Tommy's car that was parked directly behind Trini's. She watched as Adam emerged from his dorm and climbed into the truck before pulling off heading for Tommy and Kats place.
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To say that Tommy had a big apartment didn't do it justice, "Fucking hell," Rocky exclaimed once he'd walked in through the front door, "how the hell do you pay rent for this man?" he turned to Tommy automatically assuming that he paid the bill.
Kat cleared her throat causing the red ranger to look at her, "Actually my mother owns this entire apartment complex so we get to stay here rent free."
"Sweet deal," Aisha cut in while the other rangers unloaded the barbeque equipment off the truck and up the stairs, she watched as Adam headed straight for the fridge and got himself a beer. Dropping the things out on the balcony the yellow ranger decided to confront her friend, "Adam!" he turned to face her, "what's wrong."
"Nothing," his voice was void of all emotion as he turned away and started to admire the stereo, she tapped him on the shoulder, "what?"
This was surprising, Adam snapped at her, but Adam never snaps at anyone, in fact Aisha didn't think that she'd even seen him angry before, "Okay now I know there's something wrong now tell me what," he stared at her and opened his mouth to speak when Zack called.
"Hey Adam, you know how to set this thing up right, coz I'm lost bro."
The black ranger laughed, "Sure thing," he looked back to his longtime friend, "excuse me," she did and he moved off and onto the balcony where he started to help Zack with the barbeque.
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Tanya laughed as Jason discussed the time when Billy and Kimberly had their bodies switched a few years ago, meanwhile Trini and Billy were talking about college, Zack and Adam about football and the others were milling around and seemed to be having a good time. Kimberly felt the couch sink as she was joined on it, looking up she saw Tommy, "Hi," was all she managed to muster.
He could see her nervousness, "Hey…you…look great."
She was relieved to see that he was nervous too, "Thanks."
"I've got to tell you something before I tell everyone else…is that ok by you?" she nodded as he leaned closer, "Kat and I are getting married, I thought you should know," this was one of the most painful experiences in his life as he watched Kim swallow a lump the size of California down her throat and force a smile.
"That's great, I'm so happy for you," it was a lie and they both knew it, "excuse me," Tommy watched Kimberly stand and make her way towards the kitchen.
Closing the door she quickly opened the back one but heard a voice ask, "Leaving huh?" she turned to see Adam sitting on the counter cradling a beer in his hands, nodding dumbly he smiled, "go ahead, I'll tell everyone that you had a headache," he whispered the last part and she smiled.
One foot was out of the door when her body started to work on its own, "Hey…you want to take a walk?" her mouth too it seemed, she could see him studying her expression, "I'll just…"
"No," he hopped off the counter, "I'd love to take a walk," nodding her acceptance Kimberly closed the door making sure not to make a sound as her and Adam left the building.
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"What're you thinking about?" Kimberly asked as Adam and her walked around the now empty park, it was 1am so everywhere was more or less deserted at the moment.
"Nothing," he replied simply before finishing off his beer and dumping the bottle in a nearby trashcan, the pink ranger studied his face carefully, she had to admit Adam did have a sort of rugged handsomeness about him and what was more he was smart, sensitive, brave and also had an air of mystery around him. But she shook the thoughts from her head, it was probably just the beer talking…but still.
"What are you staring at?" he asked gently touching his face to check that he had nothing on it.
"Why do you do it Adam?"
"Do what?"
"Distance yourself from everyone, in fact I think the only person I've seen you get close to is Rocky…why is that?" he seemed nervous and was rubbing his hands together, "continually you shy away from the group and another thing you keep doing is…"
"I don't want to talk about it," he interrupted a tone of finality in his voice.
"Why not? What I mean is if you talk about it then maybe I can…"
"Look do I question you about Tommy?" he immediately regretted that statement at the sight of her crestfallen face.
"I'm sorry Adam," she whispered, "I didn't realize…"
"No I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," there was an uncomfortable silence between the two, "listen I'm just going to head home…you're flying out tomorrow right?" Kimberly nodded, "I'll see you next time you're in town right?" another nod, "ok I'll see you," turning he broke into a sprint down the park.
"Yeah…I'll see ya," sighing Kimberly turned around and made her way towards the exit and back to the party.
To Be Continued
By Boulder
Okay now I've never tried anything quite like this before so be nice in your reviews. This is something I've been thinking of doing for a while involving my two favorite rangers.
P.S. Reviews are always appreciated
On the outside he appeared to be just like everyone else, an eighteen year old teen whose only worries were women and college. Boy was that so not the case. The rangers reunion was a once a year tradition, well it wasn't really a tradition since this was the first year of it being created but they had decided to make it a tradition. They were at the beach, and he hated the beach. Adam Park sat on one of the available deckchairs and watched as the other rangers played around, reminisced about old times or just went for a swim. But not Adam, he'd always do this kind of thing, he didn't know why he did but he felt like he had to do it, whenever any of the rangers went out or even on a mission Adam would always lag behind or be the one to stay behind or just the one to not bother joining in. And he was doing it again, as he sat and read his poetry book he could hear the laughter of the other rangers and he'd occasionally look up to see what was going on. Adam knew all the rangers thought that he was just a shy guy but they were definitely wrong about that, before he became a ranger Adam had been a bigmouth and got into trouble often because of it. Problems at home had caused that reaction but when he became a ranger he had something he wanted to do and was dedicated about doing. That was then…and this was now, the other rangers (especially Rocky) would think he was crazy but he missed being a power ranger, ever since Zedd and Rita left they hadn't been needed and that put the black ranger back to where he was when he started…alone.
"Hey Adam, wotcha reading?" glancing upwards he noticed Kimberly standing before him with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face.
"Stuff," he replied.
"What kinda stuff?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Because I'm interested."
"You mean nosy?"
Kimberly gave him a shocked expression, "Adam Park how dare you," he couldn't help but smile, "I am not nosy, I'm just…intuitive," he raised an eyebrow, "just tell me what your reading."
"Just some poetry," he expected a laugh or some other mockery that Rocky often did but instead she asked instead.
"Any good?" all he could do was nod dumbly slightly taken aback from her reply, "I never thought of you as someone who read poetry?"
"Why not?" she shrugged, god she looked beautiful today, her chestnut hair was let loose and blowing in the sea breeze, denim shorts and a pink shirt completed the set, 'stop it' his mind yelled at him, 'she's out of your league' it continued.
"Anything wrong?" the old pink ranger had a concerned look on her face, he shook his head, Kimberly didn't believe him but decided to let it drop, "Listen we've got uneven teams on football and the guys asked me to come over and ask you because apparently you used to have a thing for me," Adam shot Rocky a death look but the red ranger seemed to find something very interesting to do with the sky. She laughed, "Come on Adam, what'd you say…one game of football?"
The black ranger sighed, "I suppose it couldn't hurt," placing his book to one side he got up and made his way over to the rangers.
"Listen Adam, it's shirts and skins and you're on the skins team so come on…off with the shirt," Jason called.
Panic filled his eyes as Rocky glanced at him extremely nervous, "Uh…do you mind if I'm on the shirts team, I'm kinda cold."
Billy laughed, "Your kidding right, it's boiling out here now stop stalling."
"Y…you don't understand I'd really rather be on the shirts team," Adam replied, he could feel himself sweating and that just made it worse as the others except Rocky all wore confused expressions.
"Ok Adam, here you can swap with me," Tommy offered as they switched sides, "ok…play ball."
---------------------------------------
The black ranger stood in front of his mirror in his one roomed dorm, when they asked him whether he'd rather a one roomer or two he immediately said one. The young man had been standing there staring at himself for close to ten minutes now and the others were waiting for him. Sighing he grabbed a clean shirt and clutched it tightly before finally slipping the one he had on off, jamming his eyes shut Adam fought back the tears at the sight of the scars that wracked his entire body. Cigarette burns, scars from where he'd been cut with blades, and a dark red patch over his ribcage where he'd been hit with a tazer blast. Quickly yanking his shirt on he made his way out of the apartment and back towards Rocky's truck.
---------------------------------------
Kimberly averted her attention from the wing mirror as she saw Tommy and Kat share a loving kiss in the front seat of Tommy's car that was parked directly behind Trini's. She watched as Adam emerged from his dorm and climbed into the truck before pulling off heading for Tommy and Kats place.
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To say that Tommy had a big apartment didn't do it justice, "Fucking hell," Rocky exclaimed once he'd walked in through the front door, "how the hell do you pay rent for this man?" he turned to Tommy automatically assuming that he paid the bill.
Kat cleared her throat causing the red ranger to look at her, "Actually my mother owns this entire apartment complex so we get to stay here rent free."
"Sweet deal," Aisha cut in while the other rangers unloaded the barbeque equipment off the truck and up the stairs, she watched as Adam headed straight for the fridge and got himself a beer. Dropping the things out on the balcony the yellow ranger decided to confront her friend, "Adam!" he turned to face her, "what's wrong."
"Nothing," his voice was void of all emotion as he turned away and started to admire the stereo, she tapped him on the shoulder, "what?"
This was surprising, Adam snapped at her, but Adam never snaps at anyone, in fact Aisha didn't think that she'd even seen him angry before, "Okay now I know there's something wrong now tell me what," he stared at her and opened his mouth to speak when Zack called.
"Hey Adam, you know how to set this thing up right, coz I'm lost bro."
The black ranger laughed, "Sure thing," he looked back to his longtime friend, "excuse me," she did and he moved off and onto the balcony where he started to help Zack with the barbeque.
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Tanya laughed as Jason discussed the time when Billy and Kimberly had their bodies switched a few years ago, meanwhile Trini and Billy were talking about college, Zack and Adam about football and the others were milling around and seemed to be having a good time. Kimberly felt the couch sink as she was joined on it, looking up she saw Tommy, "Hi," was all she managed to muster.
He could see her nervousness, "Hey…you…look great."
She was relieved to see that he was nervous too, "Thanks."
"I've got to tell you something before I tell everyone else…is that ok by you?" she nodded as he leaned closer, "Kat and I are getting married, I thought you should know," this was one of the most painful experiences in his life as he watched Kim swallow a lump the size of California down her throat and force a smile.
"That's great, I'm so happy for you," it was a lie and they both knew it, "excuse me," Tommy watched Kimberly stand and make her way towards the kitchen.
Closing the door she quickly opened the back one but heard a voice ask, "Leaving huh?" she turned to see Adam sitting on the counter cradling a beer in his hands, nodding dumbly he smiled, "go ahead, I'll tell everyone that you had a headache," he whispered the last part and she smiled.
One foot was out of the door when her body started to work on its own, "Hey…you want to take a walk?" her mouth too it seemed, she could see him studying her expression, "I'll just…"
"No," he hopped off the counter, "I'd love to take a walk," nodding her acceptance Kimberly closed the door making sure not to make a sound as her and Adam left the building.
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"What're you thinking about?" Kimberly asked as Adam and her walked around the now empty park, it was 1am so everywhere was more or less deserted at the moment.
"Nothing," he replied simply before finishing off his beer and dumping the bottle in a nearby trashcan, the pink ranger studied his face carefully, she had to admit Adam did have a sort of rugged handsomeness about him and what was more he was smart, sensitive, brave and also had an air of mystery around him. But she shook the thoughts from her head, it was probably just the beer talking…but still.
"What are you staring at?" he asked gently touching his face to check that he had nothing on it.
"Why do you do it Adam?"
"Do what?"
"Distance yourself from everyone, in fact I think the only person I've seen you get close to is Rocky…why is that?" he seemed nervous and was rubbing his hands together, "continually you shy away from the group and another thing you keep doing is…"
"I don't want to talk about it," he interrupted a tone of finality in his voice.
"Why not? What I mean is if you talk about it then maybe I can…"
"Look do I question you about Tommy?" he immediately regretted that statement at the sight of her crestfallen face.
"I'm sorry Adam," she whispered, "I didn't realize…"
"No I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," there was an uncomfortable silence between the two, "listen I'm just going to head home…you're flying out tomorrow right?" Kimberly nodded, "I'll see you next time you're in town right?" another nod, "ok I'll see you," turning he broke into a sprint down the park.
"Yeah…I'll see ya," sighing Kimberly turned around and made her way towards the exit and back to the party.
To Be Continued
By Boulder
Okay now I've never tried anything quite like this before so be nice in your reviews. This is something I've been thinking of doing for a while involving my two favorite rangers.
P.S. Reviews are always appreciated