Memories: The Orange Ranger Story

by angellwings

Epilogue: What Lies Ahead

December 23, 2006

She sighed as she pulled up at the back of a small comic book shop in Blue bay Harbor. This was her last personal delivery, and her last issue of Guardian Angel and Power Rangers. From now on they would be Trent's responsibility. She had the utmost faith that he would be amazingly successful.

Suddenly a group of three people burst out the back door. "Maurhee!"

She laughed and stepped out of the van, "Hey guys."

Dustin engulfed her in a huge hug, "I can't believe this is the last time you're going to delivery your comics to me."

She laughed, "You'll still be getting them. Trent is going to deliver them."

"Yeah, but it's not the same . . ." He whined. A cry was heard from the van behind her.

"Oh, hang on baby." Maurhee said as she broke out of Dustin's hug and slid the van door open. She picked up a tiny bundle in a pale orange blanket, and rocked her gently.

"Where's the other one?" Shane asked as he tried to look into the van.

"Rocky's got him. He got Brandon an appointment with Dr. Manx and Dr. Felix in New Tech." She told them as she continued to calm the baby.

"How's the New Tech situation by the way?" Tori asked as she admired the baby girl.

"Coming along really well. The base is set to open in March, and Rocky and I just got word that he's been named Commander." She said excitedly with a huge smile.

"Hey, that's great!" Dustin said with huge hyper hand gestures, "Did you hear back about . . ."

"Yes, and apparently I'm back in the game. Galactic Command has recruited me for A-squad. That's why Trent's taking over the comic book" She babbled quickly. It felt good to know she was going to be protecting people again. After the encounter with Ooze she and Rocky realized they could never be civilians. It just wasn't in them.

"I'm so happy for you guys." Tori said as she hugged Maurhee delicately to keep from crushing the baby, "Can I hold her?"

"Yeah, go ahead, just be careful and don't jostle her too much, she tends to spit up occasionally." Maurhee said as she carefully placed her daughter in Tori's arms.

"Tammi Ashton DeSantos, geez, even her name is cute." Tori said with a bright smile as she observed the baby in her arms.

Dustin and Shane grabbed some of the boxes in the back of the van.

"Oh no, Tor, don't get mushy on us now." Shane whined.

"Leave her alone, there is nothing wrong with being mushy." Maurhee said as she slapped Shane lightly across the arm.

"Yeah, yeah." He complained as he walked on in to the store.

"Hey, Dustin, where's your dad?" She asked.

"He left me in charge for the next two weeks, he and mom are on a cruise." Dustin said as he made his way through the door.

Tori rolled her eyes, "But guess who's done the majority of the work?"

She laughed, "What would that boy do with out you?"

"I'm scared to find out." Tori said as she turned her eyes back to the baby, "How's Hayley?"

"Scared out of her mind. The last three SPD employees who were pregnant miscarried, and well, Hayley was in plenty of risk of that before." Tammi said sadly with a sigh.

"Have they found out what's causing it?"

"No, but several of the older babies are starting to show signs of special abilities." Tammi told her reluctantly.

"Is that why Brandon's . . ."

"Yeah, he's been having severe headaches lately, and things levitate around the room when he cries . . ." She shook her head, "I'm so scared for him, and for Tammi . . ."

"Hey, I want to hold the baby!" Shane announced has bounded back into the room. Tori looked to Maurhee for a decision.

"Yes, but be careful." She said with a nod at Tori.

Tori hugged the older woman, "Everything will be fine, Maurhee."

She nodded silently as Tori left to pick up some boxes.

"So, have you met anyone else on the team you're going to be working with?" He asked as he leaned against the side of the van and cradled Tammi against his chest.

"Umm, yes, Robert Tate. Rocky knows him from the Sirius base. He's got a wife and a son Brandon's age." She said with a sigh.

"So what are they using to power the morphers?"

"Kat is basing them on the Time Force morpher that Wes had."

"Kat?" Shane asked in surprise.

"Sorry, um, Dr. Manx, I meant."

"Is it true that Rocky's the one that convinced SPD to use that Triforian card prison thing?" Dustin asked as he ran a hand through his hair.

She grinned, "You mean the card containment system? Yeah, that was him. He'd been working on that since our encounter with Ooze."

"Oh yeah, I heard that was rough . . ." Shane said as he continued to stare at the child he was holding.

What was her daughter doing to these kids? She thought as she laughed inwardly. Tori had handled her in a way that showed a completely different side of her. She loved Tori as is she were her little sister, but sometimes she worried that the girl was so used to 'being one of the guys' that she would never find anything more than that. That's what happened with her and Blake.

And now Shane looked as if he were seriously contemplating something. He couldn't look away from the infant that he held in his arms. To be honest she couldn't blame him. Tammi hit her tiny little fists against Shane's chest, and laughed hardily. She did that to Rocky quite often. As a matter of fact she did that to most men that held her.

"What's she doing?" He asked with a light laugh.

"Testing what you can take I guess. I'm not sure she's done that to Rocky, my dad, and any other male that has ever held her. She finds it very entertaining." Maurhee said with a proud smile.

"Yeah, well she's pretty strong for a baby. You think we got another ranger on our hands?"

"Rocky hopes so." Maurhee said with a chuckle.

"What about you?" Dustin asked as he grabbed two more boxes.

"I don't know. It would be nice to have her follow in our footsteps, but at the same time I don't want her to follow exactly in my footsteps, if you know what I mean?" She said darkly. She never wanted either one of her children to be tortured as much as she had been.

They finished unpacking the van, and headed inside. Dustin now held Tammi, and not surprisingly he was very good with kids. She started to cry and he made faces and told ridiculous jokes until she began laughing. They all sat around a fold out table in the break room and nursed cups of coffee.

"She looks like you with Rocky's eyes." Dustin said as he studied the little girls features. Tammi laughed loudly and grasped one of her feet.

"She's beautiful . . ." Dustin said in quiet awe.

Maurhee laughed, "I don't get you three. You've seen her a million times before . . ."

"Not with out Tommy or Kimberly getting in the way." Tori said with an arched eyebrow.

"Okay, so you're right. The others do tend to be baby hogs."

"You think?" Shane said as he stood up and looked at Tammi over Dustin's shoulder.

"Well, I suppose the three of you will just have to move to New Tech then." Tammi told them with an amused smile.

"What are you talking about?" Tori asked with confusion.

"Rocky and SPD, want you three on the team." Tammi told them with a wink.

"They what?" Dustin asked in shock.

"Sensei and Cam recommended the three of you for the remaining ranger spots." She said slowly and clearly, "Rocky thought it would be best if I asked you . . . so are you in?"

"Are you kidding? I've been waiting for a chance to be a ranger again since that fight with the Dino Rangers." Shane said enthusiastically.

Tori smiled and nodded slowly in agreement, "Definitely"

"Dude, really?" Dustin asked. He looked slightly dumb founded as he yelled, "Yeah!"

Maurhee laughed and shook her head, "I hoped you would react this way."

"But I don't understand, why didn't they transfer officers from other bases?" Shane asked with merged eyebrows.

"Most of their other officers are of alien races. How do you think society would react if they found out they were going to be defended by aliens? Considering that they've spent the last 11 or 12 years being afraid of them." Maurhee asked them with brutal honesty, "The plan is to ease the country and the world into it, to slowly get them used to planetary interaction first. According to Rocky, and Commander Cruger of the Sirius base you three our the best candidates."

"Yeah, I mean no doubt we're in. It's just a little strange that they were asking us." Dustin said as he handed Maurhee back her daughter.

"Well, welcome to the team, guys." Maurhee said as she stood her daughter on her thighs and looked her in her beautiful chocolate brown eyes.

"Hey," Rocky whispered in Maurhee's ear as he leaned over the back of the couch. She jerked her head up from her light nap. And groaned softly.

"Hey, babe." She mumbled to him sleepily, "How did it go? What did they say?"

He sat down beside of her, "They want to keep him over night so they can observe him properly . . ."

"Overnight?" She asked as she suddenly snapped awake, "Rocky, he's not even two yet. He'll be scared to death. He's has enough nightmares when he sleeps in between us . . ."

"He'll be fine, Rhee, don't worry . . ."

"How can you possibly know that, Rocky? How can you possibly know?" She said frantically.

"Shh, shh, honey. Kat and Dr. Felix will take care of him." He whispered into her hair as he hugged her to him.

She nodded and calmed herself down.

"Did you talk to Shane and the others?" He asked her softly.

"Yes, they're in." She said with a shaky voice. This was Brandon's first night away from them, and she didn't like it. "Are Viv and Rob coming over to play cards tonight?"

"Yeah, I thought I would make us some Chili to eat for dinner." He said with a wicked grin.

"How spicy are you going to make it this time?" She asked with a half of a grin.

"Five alarm." He laughed evilly as he got off the couch and walked toward the kitchen.

"Viv is gonna kill you."

"Don't I know it." and the grin never left his face.

He compiled all of his ingredients on the counter while Maurhee watched. She loved to watch him cook. Honestly, Rocky was last person she would think of to cook dinner, but he loved it. He told her in his mother's house "if you ate a lot you cooked a lot and that's just how it was."

"So, what did you and Tammi do today?" He asked as he prepared a huge silver pot for the chili.

"Well, I made my last delivery to the Brooke's shop today, of course, and Tammi was a huge hit. Those three held her the entire time, they couldn't keep their eyes off of her. It was really adorable."

"Of course, she's adorable." Rocky told her with a wink.

"Then Kat, Kim, and I took Lilly, Tammi, and Charlie shopping, and we bought Hayley her shower presents."

"How much did you spend?" He asked her cautiously.

She laughed, "I controlled myself, don't worry."

"Last time you said that I got a humongous credit card bill." He told her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, but that time I went shopping for myself not for Tammi, and it seems I won't be wearing anything other than my SPD uniform from now on. So, there is no need to shop for myself." She told him with a sarcastic smile.

"It's not my fault Commander Birdie loves uniforms so much." Rocky said good-naturedly before an awkward pause filled the room, "Are you ok? With SPD I mean?"

"Yeah, I have been since this whole thing started five years ago. I'm just worried that's all. I've got this nagging feeling that something big is about to happen." She stated as she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

He sighed, and contemplated something before he spoke, "We've been getting reports of a new enemy, named Grumm."

"I knew it."

"He's edging his way inward, we think his next target is Sirius."

"We?"

"Cruger and I." Rocky sighed again, "When we start training the team we'll be training them to help Cruger. He's going to need as much back up as possible."

"I see." She said as worry filled her voice.

"Rhee, we can do this . . . we've done it before. And no matter what happens, I love you and I will always be here for you . . . Tammi . . . and Brandon." Rocky said as he stopped cooking and caught her eye.

She smiled softly, "I know, and I love you too. We can handle it, this guy can't be as bad as Ooze, right?"

"Right." He said confidently as he leaned toward her and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. She leaned back against the counter and sighed happily.

A loud cry sounded from the baby monitor on the kitchen table.

"I'm coming, baby!" Maurhee called to Tammi as she sprinted into the tiny pink room.

She gently lifted her daughter out of the crib, and cradled her against her chest.

"Mommy's here, honey, mommy's here." She whispered softly against Tammi's softly skinned head.

Maurhee closed her eyes and listened patiently to her daughter's tears. Could she sense something the rest of them couldn't?

No, surely not.

What did you guys think? I love epilogues! That's why it is so long, lol. If you want to read more check out The Return. It's a continuance of this story.

Thanks to everyone who ever reviewed this story! It feels so weird to have it finished. This story has been a part of the last two years of my life, and I truly love the character of Maurhee.

That's why I'm not quite done with her yet.

Enjoy!

angellwings