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Author's Note: Okay, technically this is gen. Two characters are revealed to be homosexual, so if that's not your thing, don't read.

Author's Note Squared: Thanks to Kikos and Aoife for the beta. You girls rock!

When Carter was a kid - back before the fire - he used to hate it when the movies would fade out. He would drive his various foster parents nuts, always asking 'what happened after'. It wasn't even about the big stuff, like if the hero married his girl. Just the little stupid things; like how the hero moved to the new city, or how they got off that island.

Then Carter grew up and learned just how boring those stupid details could be.

It was a switch, going from a battle with an actual demon to spending the next few hours doing paperwork. Carter leaned back against the Rescue Rover, idly rubbing the slight cramp in his hand. Now if the others would hurry up.

Chad was the first one out, shrugging into his jacket as he walked up to the Rover. He gave Carter a small smile. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Kelsey bounding in.

"It's cool that we get to take the Rover for this, hunh?" she said, grinning and slinging an arm around Chad's shoulders.

Chad gave her a startled look, like he couldn't figure out where Kelsey had come from.

Carter suppressed a smile and said, "Well, it is official Ranger business."

"So let's get this show on the road," said Joel as he walked in, adjusting the cowboy hat on his head.

"How are we going to do this?" asked Dana as she came in, fussing with her jacket.

"We could drop everyone off at work first, then apartments?" suggested Carter.

"I live a few blocks from the Marina," said Chad, giving Carter an earnest look. "I can just walk over."

"And I can just grab a ride from my manager." Joel rolled his eyes. "Al's gonna want more time to talk me out of this anyways."

Dana shrugged. "I just need to go to St. Michael's." She glanced at Chad, "that's not too far from you, is it? I could help you pack."

Chad nodded, "That would be great."

Carter looked over at Kelsey, "Kelsey?"

Kelsey gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm gonna need a ride. I just transferred to the Search and Rescue station on Maryland."

Oh! So Kelsey was the new girl. "I know it," said Carter. "It's by my station."

"So what are we waiting for?" said Joel, making shooing motions at the rest of them. "Let's go!"

Kelsey looked at Dana curiously while climbing into the Rover. "Dana? I thought you already lived on the Aquabase?"

"I do," said Dana, nodding. "But I still work as a paramedic at St. Michael's."

Chad blinked. "I thought you looked familiar."

Everyone looked at Chad while doing up their seatbelts.

He looked a little surprised by the attention, but kept talking. "Two months ago, when Anders fell into the dolphin tank."

"The broken collarbone," said Dana, her face brightening with recognition. "How's he doing?"

Chad smiled. "Good. He's giving the kid tours right now."

Carter turned the Rover on, hitting the lights as the platform lowered to the exit tunnel. He had just started the Rover down the long tunnel, when Kelsey picked up the conversation again.

"Hey, Dana?" she said. "You grew up in Lightspeed, right?"

Dana nodded, twisting around in her seat to look at Kelsey. "Yeah, why?"

"So how come you didn't know there were five morphers?"

Carter glanced at Dana's face before focusing back on the road. He'd been wondering that himself.

"Oh," said Dana. "I knew there were five morphers. But Father only gave me four recruitment folders. I thought that meant the fifth Ranger wasn't ready yet. I just, hadn't realized he'd picked me."

Carter smiled at the touch of awe in Dana's voice. "It's not like you could have recruited yourself."

The others laughed.

"What I'm curious about," said Carter, "is why Joel and Chad. I mean - you guys were amazing out there. But, I'm a firefighter, Dana's a paramedic, and Kelsey's search and rescue. You guys..." Carter trailed off, trying to think of a nice way of saying it.

"The air show works with search and rescue," said Joel. "We rotate the acts over the year. Two acts will take off four months to do straight volunteer duty for air rescues, searches and stuff. The rest of us take a part of our show profits to help support them, pay the bills and stuff."

"This isn't going to mess up the schedules, is it?" asked Dana worriedly.

"Nah. I wasn't up for another four months. Chico Page was doing his last show today before he was off and the Dragon and Phoenix Racers left yesterday."

"The Dragon and Phoenix Racers?" said Chad.

While waiting for the tunnel gate to open, Carter glanced back to see Joel nodding.

"They're a two pilot act," said Joel. "Jason Scott and Kim Hart. They do this really cool two plane stunt run for the first half. Then Kim, who used to be a Pan-Global gymnast, does wing riding stunts on Jason's plane."

"Cool," said Kelsey.

"What about you, Chad?" asked Carter.

"Me? Oh, I volunteer in the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Mostly during the off-season at the Marina."

Carter nodded. "That makes a lot more sense now." He squinted at the road sign. "Joel? This is your stop."

He stopped the Rover by the main entrance for the air show and turned to look at Joel. "How long do you think you'll be?"

Joel scratched his chin. "Gimme at least three hours."

"Three hours?" said Dana, turning in her seat.

Joel grinned. "I need time to say goodbye to my fans. What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't break it gently to the ladies?" he said, with a wink.

Carter suppressed a snort, though he noticed that Chad looked impressed.

Joel hopped out of the back and tipped his hat to the rest of them.

Carter shook his head and gave Joel a little wave before pulling out into traffic again. He noticed they were driving by the scene of the fight and he remembered something he'd wanted to ask.

"Hey, Chad? Dana?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, Carter?"

"You guys were really amazing during the fight and I was wondering..." Carter hesitated, focusing on the turn he needed to make.

"You were wondering what?" said Dana.

"Could you guys teach me how to fight?" Carter gripped the wheel a little tighter and tried not to squirm. He could almost hear them blinking in surprise. He opened his mouth to take it back, but Dana spoke up.

"But Carter, I saw you out there. You were..."

Carter smiled self-depreciatingly. "Barely surviving?"

"I think something in what makes us Power Rangers helps us," said Kelsey, leaning forward. "I mean, I know some martial arts, but I'm not that good. Hey! Could you guys teach me too?"

"Of course," said Dana.

Carter pulled into St. Michael's parking lot and stopped near the entrance. He glanced over at Dana, feeling a bit relieved. "Really?"

Chad nodded, leaning forward. "I can show you guys a few basic katas tomorrow morning."

"We should probably work on some blocks too," said Dana as she finished unbuckling her seatbelt. She got out of the Rover, then spun quickly. She pointed at Carter but looked at Chad while saying, "And kicks for Carter."

Carter shared a confused look with Kelsey, while Chad nodded again.

"Why just Carter?" asked Kelsey.

"He's tall," said Chad, undoing his seatbelt. "He can use his reach as an advantage until he's used to fighting."

Carter blinked as he watched Chad hop out of the Rover too. "Chad? I can still drive you to the Marina."

"I know," said Chad, smiling. "But this way Dana and I can go over the main things we want to start training you guys on."

"Okay, so I'll pick you both up at Chad's-" Carter could hear Kelsey unbuckling her seatbelt and he twisted around in his seat to get a better look. "You're leaving too?" he asked, starting to feel a little abandoned.

Kelsey gave him a bright grin. "Nope," she said, crawling over the seats and dropping down onto Dana's empty one. "Shotgun."

Carter smiled. He waved to Dana and Chad, and once Kelsey had her seatbelt on, he headed towards Maryland.

Glancing at Kelsey out of the corner of his eye, Carter said, "So, I can drop you off at Search and Rescue first and then pick you up when I'm done at the fire station."

"It won't take you that long, will it?"

"Well, I was on shift when Dana recruited me," said Carter, shrugging a shoulder. "I'll have to pack up the clothes and stuff that I brought."

"Well, it'll only take me about two minutes to talk to Perry. Why not just wait for me? Then I can help at your station. And we can help each other pack! What do you say, Carter?" Kelsey gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "Is it a date?"

Carter stopped at the stop sign and glanced uncertainly at Kelsey. Was that a joke? "Kelsey, uh," he said, shifting in his seat. What if she was serious? How the hell could he get out of this without hurting her feelings? They still had to work together!

Carter could feel himself starting to panic. "Um, Kelsey-" Damnit. Wasn't it supposed to be easier when you weren't interested in women?

Kelsey rolled her eyes and pointed at something to Carter's left. Carter looked over to see a young couple walking along the street. "That's a lucky guy," said Kelsey. "She's really hot."

Okay, what? Carter stared at the couple in confusion, then looked over at Kelsey. She gave him a hard stare. Oh. Wait. So that meant. "O-oh? Wait, so you're-"

Kelsey nodded.

Oh! Okay, that made things a lot easier. Carter jumped as a horn honked behind him. He quickly put the Rover into gear, feeling his face heat up as Kelsey giggled.

"So," said Kelsey knowingly. "What did you think of the guy?"

Carter could feeling his ears growing warm to match his face. Was he that obvious? "I'm not a big fan of facial hair," he said, shrugging a shoulder in apology. "But he was kind of cute."

"I knew it!" said Kelsey, laughing. "I can always tell."

"Am I that obvious?"

"No," said Kelsey, her voice gentle. "I'm just really good at noticing."

Okay, that wasn't so bad then.

"It's not like the others would mind," she said.

Carter blinked. "How do you know for sure?"

"Because they chose me to be Yellow."

"What does that have to do with being gay?" said Carter, glancing quickly at Kelsey before returning his attention to the road.

"They want us to work as a team, right?"

Carter nodded.

"So, that's not going to work if the others are homophobic."

"Good point," said Carter, as he turned onto Maryland. He stopped in front of the Search and Rescue station.

"Okay," said Kelsey, wriggling out of her seatbelt. "Five minutes!"

Carter idly watched her run into the building then sat back. He looked over the dashboard of the Rover. Lots of useful buttons, no radio. He made a mental note to get a stereo.

He glanced around the area, trying to find something else to focus on. Anything to take his mind off the little voice of doubt in the back of his head. Just because straight guys tended to accept lesbians better than they did gay men, that didn't mean Chad or Joel would have a problem following Carter.

Carter sighed in frustration, thumping his head on the back of his seat. Not like it mattered right now. He hadn't dated since Ben dumped him four months ago.

"Done!"

Carter jumped, snapping his gaze to the passenger side of the Rover. "Kelsey!" he said reproachfully.

"What?" she said, giving him a curious look.

Carter shook his head, feeling like an idiot. "Nevermind." He watched her buckle back into the Rover. "Ready?"

"Yup!" she said, giving him a bright grin.

Carter found himself smiling back as he put the Rover into drive.

"I can never remember," said Kelsey. "You guys have weird shifts. You stay at the fire station for like a week, right?"

Carter shook his head. "Twenty four hours. Then I've got two days at home, but I'm still on call if it's a major fire."

"Wow," said Kelsey. "All we get is beepers."

Carter snorted as he pulled to a stop in front of the fire station.

He led the way into the station, trying not to squirm when Peter spotted him and shouted, "Carter!" Which quickly brought in the rest of his unit that was on shift.

Kim punched him on the arm. "We thought the EMTs had kidnapped you to be one of their own," he said.

Kelsey giggled.

The giggle pretty much gained her the spotlight. They looked from Kelsey to Carter with varying degrees of shock and surprise on their faces. Carter hoped he wasn't blushing as he held up his left arm, letting them see the morpher.

This got him looks of a kind of awe. Lightspeed had already issued an announcement through Channel 5's news program. Everyone knew what they were looking at.

Carter really hoped he wasn't blushing. "Is Captain Murdock in the office?" he asked Peter.

Peter nodded, eyes still on Carter's morpher.

Carter tried not to squirm. If he could just think of a way to just slip around everyone and head back to the office. One that wouldn't make the rest of the unit think he was insane or that he thought he was better than them. Maybe spontaneous teleportation?

"Wow, you guys have a nice station," said Kelsey, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Can you show me around?"

Carter could have kissed her. He slipped around Mike and headed towards the office. He dimly heard Kelsey asking about fire poles as he knocked on the office door.

"Come in."

"Captain?" he said, opening the door.

"Carter," said Captain Murdock, looking up. "I hear you're leaving us."

"Yes, sir." He held out his forms, trying to smile around his nervousness.

Captain Murdock scanned the forms, before looking up and giving Carter a warm smile. "We're going to miss you, son."

"Thank you, sir. I'll miss you too," said Carter, mentally kicking himself because he knew he was sounding stiff and formal.

Captain Murdock stood up, giving Carter a fond look. He held out his hand. "Don't you be a stranger now."

"No, sir." Carter returned the handshake. He looked at Captain Murdock's face and for half a second he couldn't help wondering if Captain Murdock was the one who- No, he'd joined a year too late for that, and Carter knew it. He smiled faintly. "I should go pack and rescue Kelsey."

"Kelsey?"

"My teammate. Yellow Ranger," said Carter.

"Ah."

With a final nod, Carter slipped out of the office and started searching for Kelsey. He found her in the sleep area, sitting on the bed he'd been using this shift.

"Hey Carter!" she said, smiling. "Jess was telling me about what you guys do to keep busy around here."

Carter looked around to see Jess leaning on the night table and he gave her a smile. "Hi Jess."

Jess smiled. "So, you really are leaving us, Grayson?" she said.

"Sorry," said Carter, nodding.

The alarm went off.

"Shit," said Jess, jumping up. "Hey Kelsey? Take care of him."

"No worries," said Kelsey.

Carter watched Jess run for the truck; it felt weird not to be following.

"So where's your stuff?" said Kelsey.

"Hm? Oh, you're sitting on it." Carter pulled his bag out from under the bed. Opening it up, he pulled open the drawers of the dresser by the end of the bed. He quickly stuffed his underwear into the bag, before Kelsey could see it.

Kelsey giggled. "I saw that."

Carter felt his face heat up again. "Can you grab my book?"

"Sure, which is it?" said Kelsey, rifling through the books on the nightstand.

"The one by William Gibson."

"Got it!" Kelsey tossed it to him.

Carter looked around and nodded. "I just need my shower stuff."

It only took a few seconds to grab his kit and toss it into the bag. And then they were on their way out.

Carter stowed his bag in the back of the Rover while Kelsey buckled into the passenger seat. Once Carter was all buckled in himself, he glanced over at Kelsey. "Okay, where do you live?"

"I'm at the Morris Hotel on Kelly."

Wait. "Hotel?" he said, pulling onto the street.

"Yup! Me and some friends were going to be going to go climb Mont Blanc in like a month."

"Climb what?"

"Mont Blanc. It's one of the mountains in the Alps, right on the France and Italy border."

"Cool. But why are you staying at a hotel now?" he said, glancing over quickly and seeing Kelsey shrug.

"Well, I lived on the other side of the city. I was going to have to move anyways, but I figured it would be easier to hunt for a place after I got back."

Carter nodded. That made sense. After a few minutes, he spotted the hotel's sign, and pulled into the parking lot.

"It won't take me that long," said Kelsey as she led the way. "I just checked in a couple of days ago, so I barely unpacked."

Carter smiled. "It shouldn't take me that long either. I'll just grab some clothes for now."

Kelsey unlocked the door and ushered him in.

Carter glanced around curiously. It was neater than he'd been expecting.

"Can you carry these to the Rover for me?" said Kelsey, handing Carter a pair of rollerblades and a skateboard.

Carter shifted the stuff around so he wouldn't drop it. "Sure." He watched Kelsey bustle around the room, tossing things onto the bed.

"Hey," she said, looking up. "Do you rollerblade?"

He shook his head. "No. The last time I tried rollerblading, I broke my arm."

Kelsey gave him a sympathetic look. "When you were a kid?"

"No," said Carter, feeling like a dork. "Two years ago."

Kelsey walked over and gave him a hug. Which was a surprise. That was not the reaction Carter was used to getting when he told people that. Not that he was complaining, he decided, doing his best to hug her back while his arms were still full.

Kelsey pulled back and glanced at the stuff on her bed. "That's all of it," she said, as she started stuffing things into her bags.

"I can put everything into the Rover while you check out," said Carter.

"Great," said Kelsey, slinging her bag onto her shoulder.

In less time than Carter thought it would take, they were on their way to his apartment.

Out of the corner of his eye, Carter could see Kelsey shifting around, taking in the neighbourhood.

"This is nice!" she said. "Maybe I can find a place around here when our mission's done."

Carter tried to picture having Kelsey as a neighbour. "That would be fun."

By the time they got up to his apartment, Carter was feeling a little nervous. "It's kind of messy," he said, as he swung open the door.

Kelsey walked into the apartment, looking around curiously. She spotted the pillows and blankets on his couch and raised her eyebrows at him.

Carter shrugged, embarrassed. "I kept falling asleep while reading. And, I should grab some clothes."

Kelsey followed him into the bedroom, hopping onto the bed and opening up the bag he placed there.

Carter turned to his closet and started pulling out shirts.

"Hey," said Kelsey. "Who's this?"

Carter closed his eyes as he mentally kicked himself. He kept forgetting about that damn picture. He turned around to look at Kelsey, and to confirm that it was the picture he thought she'd found. She was holding the right picture frame alright.

"That's my ex." Carter sighed.

Kelsey looked at him. "Should I ask?"

"He dumped me." Carter made a face. "I keep meaning to get rid the picture. Just, I'm always at the station or on the couch. I only come in here for clothes."

Kelsey jumped up and gave him another hug. She pulled back enough to look up at him and gave him a mischievous grin. "If you want, I could take him rock climbing and push him off a cliff for you."

Carter laughed.

Kelsey glanced at his closet. "Hey, cool!" She darted forward and grabbed his beach shirt. She held it up and grinned at him. "I have a swimsuit with this pattern. See? We were totally destined to be friends!"

Carter couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed this much.

It didn't take them much longer to get Carter packed, and soon they were on their way to pick up Chad and Dana. It took some back and forth directions through the morphers, but pretty soon Carter knew where he was going.

He spotted them in front of Chad's building. Dana waved as they pulled up.

"Did you guys have fun?" said Dana, as she helped Chad settle his bags into the back.

"Yup," said Kelsey, as she climbed into her seat behind Carter. "Hey, did you know firefighters can't have fire poles anymore? For safety issues."

"Really?" said Chad, looking at Carter.

Carter nodded. "Yeah, it-"

A car started honking as it drove up. The passenger door opened almost as soon as the car stopped. "Guys!" said Joel, as he hopped out and jogged over.

"Hey Joel!" said Kelsey.

"Joel!" cried the driver as she climbed out of the car.

Joel froze mid-step, looking like a kid caught doing something bad. He braced himself and turned around, "Al, we went over this. I can't turn this down."

Al came up, fussing over Joel's clothes, brushing off dust and straightening his hat. "I know, I know! I've resigned myself to your fate. You will be careful, won't you?"

"Don't worry, we'll take care of him," said Chad, smiling reassuringly.

Al reached over and pinched Chad's cheek. "Aren't you just a darling?"

Carter swallowed a laugh, while Kelsey and Dana shared an amused look.

"Al!" said Joel. "I'll be fine!"

As soon as Al's attention focused on Joel, Chad quickly stepped behind Dana, rubbing his cheek.

Joel made some shooing motions towards Al. "Please tell everyone I'll come visit."

"Alright. Alright," said Al. She pointed at the rest of the team. "I want him back in one piece."

Carter smiled at her. "Yes, ma'am."

Chad and Dana climbed into the Rover, while Joel gave Al a hug and settled his bag into the back. He hopped in himself.

Carter glanced over his new team. "Everyone got their seatbelts on?"

"Yup!" said Joel. "Let's go home."

Carter smiled and put the Rover into gear.

The Beginning.

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