Calculated Risk

Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers.

Chapter 1: When RJ Met Fran

A jeep calmly wove its way through the noontime traffic on the streets of Ocean Bluff. Within minutes, it stopped at its destination, Pembroke University. Though modest in its prestige, the school was rather nice to look at. The jeep wasn't parked in front of the main building, but the library, the college's oldest building. A two story edifice that was made of stone and held aloft by marble pillars, the library honestly looked like something straight out of the pages of either a history text or a fairytale. This thought was reinforced by the twining vines that cascaded down from the building's roof and the presence of at least three stain glass windows.

"I'm surprised there's no moat or drawbridge," the jeep's driver murmured as he hopped out of the vehicle. He snickered at the thought that the building was secretly a tiny castle with a dragon or some other mythical creature awaiting him. Reaching back into his truck, the driver pulled out two pizza boxes. Balancing them on one hand, he closed the jeep's door and sauntered his way into the library.

After asking for directions to the library staff room, the young man headed toward the back of the main floor. As he walked, he took note of the bookshelves that were filled to the brim with books and catalogues, grinning as he noted that they weren't stringently filed away but rather were haphazardly piled here and there. The delivery man also took note that not all of the students were actually buried in their books. Paper airplanes were thrown about to his left while to his right; there was a ring of students playing hackey sack. And was that his imagination or did he see a soccer ball go by?

He may not have had a traditional upbringing, but he was fairly certain that colleges weren't supposed to be so lax. Then again, he considered, it was May. Finals were happening this month that much he knew. He just didn't expect to see this level of goofing off happening in a library of all places.

Shaking his head, but not bothering to judge, he knocked on the glass door of one of the library's offices and pasted on his best customer service smile. After a two minute exchange of food and payment plus a tip, the young man whistled as he pocketed the cash and headed back toward the front of the library. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the hackey sack went wild, too far away from him to catch. He winced as he saw it hit a poor young woman on the side of her head as she balanced precariously on a rolling ladder.

She shrieked and completely lost her balance, her body twisting to the side and falling to the ground. Without a second thought, the young man shot forward and caught her securely in his arms, breathing a sigh of relief that he had made it and that they were far away enough from the tables that she hadn't hit her head on the way down.

He looked down at the girl he held and grinned. "Having fun?" He asked her lightly.

"Oh yeah," she huffed. "A real blast."

"I can see that." Setting his rescue on her feet, he held out a hand. "I'm RJ."

Shaking his hand she replied, "Fran." Smiling sheepishly and gesturing to the ladder she had just been knocked off of, she said, "Thank you for the save there."

"No problem," RJ grinned. "Glad to have been in the right place and at the right time."

"Yeah me too," Fran laughed.

A tall blonde male freshman came rushing over to the pair. "Oh my gosh, Fran, are you alright? I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to kick so hard!"

Fran waved him off before spotting the offensive hackey sack. She scooped it up and dropped it into the horrified boy's hand. "I'm okay, Paul." She nodded toward RJ. "Luckily RJ here had my back. You might want to consider taking your game outside though. You know how protective Mrs. Jones gets over the stain glass windows and your group was standing awfully close to one of them."

Blanching, Paul could only nod before running back toward his friends, all but beginning to haul them toward the library exit.

RJ lightly nudged Fran's arm. "Big woman on campus?"

She snorted. "Hardly. I'm one of the TAs for the English department as I go after my master's in library science." She tilted her head as she studied her new acquaintance thoughtfully. "I don't think I've seen you on campus before. Are you new here?"

"Actually I'm not a student," RJ said. "I'm actually just dropping off a couple of pizzas that were ordered a little while ago. I own this new restaurant called Jungle Karma Pizza."

"Oh yeah!" Fran brightened at the name of the pizzeria. "I've been meaning to check it out."

"Really?"

Fran blushed. "I'm not sure if this counts as an Italian stereotype or not because that's my heritage but I really love pizza. Plus the name just sounds so cool so I was certain that the restaurant must be just as great on the inside, food included."

RJ tried not to grin too widely at that, wanting to maintain some semblance of being humble. "I like to think so."

Fran laughed but there was no mockery in the sound. "I'm sure you do." She grew slightly concerned. "I'm not holding you up from any potential customers, am I?"

"Nah," RJ replied with a shake of his head. "It was practically dead in there. Like I said, the place is really new and I'm not that great at getting the word out." He rubbed the back of his head, giving a wild look to his already shaggy hair. "Gonna have to work on that, really."

He shrugged, adding, "At least I didn't leave the oven on this time…" his sea green eyes widened as he considered the possibility that he hadn't actually done that. "I think. Better go and check that out." He smiled awkwardly at Fran. "I'll see you there one day?"

"Definitely," Fran affirmed.

"Looking forward to it," RJ replied sincerely as he began to back away. Once she was out of his sight, RJ spun around and sped out of the library at a just respectful enough pace that the librarians whom were actually paying attention to the goings on within the library wouldn't humiliate him with a loud scolding.

Tearing through traffic and making back home without getting a ticket by the skin of his teeth, RJ ran into his new restaurant, greatly relieved that there was no smoke filling the dining room and as he darted into the kitchen, he saw that the oven was indeed off.

"Karma's still good," he muttered to himself as he leaned against the counter, catching his breath. His restaurant wasn't burning to the ground, he'd gotten a nice tip at the library, and even better—he had a potential new friend who was both cute and rather sassy.

RJ hoped that Fran would visit Jungle Karma Pizza soon.

Fran bit her lip as she hesitated near the entrance of Jungle Karma Pizza. It had been nearly a week since RJ had saved her from a humiliating fall and she had yet to go in. The reason for her hesitation was the small cream colored box she clutched in her hands. It contained homemade cannoli Fran intended to give to RJ as a thank you for catching her. Baking was one of the few creative outlets Fran had and in the back of her mind she could remember her grandmother standing in her kitchen in the countryside of Florence swearing up and down to a young Fran every summer that there was nothing like a box of baked goods made from scratch to help forge the bonds of friendship.

Still as Fran continued to dither in front of JKP, she worried that RJ would think she was silly. That was why she hadn't shown up until today. She shook her head as soon as the thought floated through her mind. Granted she only knew the guy for five minutes but Fran was certain that RJ wouldn't tease her over the pastries. Okay, so he wouldn't tease her much, she amended as she recalled more of their introductory interaction.

Steeling herself, Fran marched into Jungle Karma Pizza and began casually looking around for a mane of light brown hair and a carefree, charismatic grin.

She jumped when a loud, excited voice proclaimed, "There you are!"

Whirling around, Fran saw a beaming RJ quickly making his way to her side. "I thought you weren't ever going to show up!"

She wrapped her tattered dignity about her like a cloak and gave a light sniff. "Finals are coming up and I am a TA." She looked up at him coyly. "Did you forget?"

RJ laughed sheepishly. "Maybe a little," he admitted.

"I'll forgive you," Fran winked. "Just this once."

"I'll take it." He eyed the box in her hands. "Ooh, what do you have there?"

Fran looked down at the box, blushing before shoving it into his hands. "A thank you for saving me."

RJ was touched. "Aw, you didn't have to get me anything for helping you." Removing the lid, his eyes widened in delight. "You got me cannoli?" He examined the box when the lid didn't provide him with the name of a bakery. "Where did you get them from? There's no label, not even from the supermarket."

Fran moved her gaze to her shoes as she clasped her fingers together, betraying her nervousness. "I made them," she replied shyly.

RJ looked at her in astonishment and slight awe. "These are homemade? From scratch?"

She glanced up at him, bemused. "I don't suppose you know of a box mix for cannoli?"

"I do not," he admitted with a growing smile. "This is sweet of you. But like I said, you didn't have to get or make me anything."

Her nerves getting the best of her, Fran's explanation came tumbling from her lips. "I-I just really wanted to thank you for helping me last week and I meant to come here much sooner but I've been really bogged down with helping students and my own homework what with finals coming up and all. N-not that I don't love learning or tutoring but then when almost a week had passed my nerves got the best of me and suddenly I didn't want to come here empty handed and so I—"

RJ placed a hand on her shoulder. "Breathe, Fran," he told her gently, a concerned look in his eye. "You're getting yourself all worked up."

She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Her shoulders relaxed and a calm came over her. She became aware that RJ was still touching her shoulder, the look in his eyes now kind. "Feel better?"

Fran nodded, a shy smile on her face. "My grandma used to tell me that homemade baked goods were a strong foundation for a friendship."

Reopening the box and taking out a cannoli, RJ took a large bite, eating nearly half of the pastry. He groaned as the sweet flavor of the chocolate mixed with the tangy bite of mascarpone blended with ricotta. Not the traditional recipe for cannoli, but it was how Fran learned it. She blushed as she heard his reaction, biting her lip to hide a giggle as she looked at him. "I take it you like it?"

"Definitely." RJ forced himself to close the box as he gestured for Fran to follow him. He led her up to the bar, closest to the kitchen. He waved toward an empty stool. "You sit here so we can talk while I work."

He headed over to the other side of the bar, paused when he realized something and spun in place to face her again. "Unless you need to get going? This is a weekday after all and it's still early in the afternoon."

"Nope!" Fran replied with a grin as she took a seat. "I don't have class until six o'clock tonight."

"Great!" RJ enthused as he opened his gift box once more and took out another cannoli. He then held out the box toward her, silently indicating that he wanted her to take one. After a minute's hesitation, Fran did so, watching RJ curiously as he continued on his planned trek to the other side of the bar. He held his cannoli up to her in a toast.

"Here's to the start of a beautiful friendship."

Fran beamed and gently knocked her pastry against RJ's. "Cheers!"

I also don't own When Harry Met Sally which this title is a play off of. We're going to take things a tad slow. Friendship first, then their relationship begins and then the Rangers arrive!