Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

These things were always stifling - the too-tight dresses, the full glamour, the crush of people glad-handing her at every turn - but that was kind of the point, wasn't it? Look good, drum up excitement, rub elbows, all that industry jazz that still drove her a little nuts after all these years.

"Fucking hate these things," Nick muttered into his drink, flashing her a sly look when she elbowed him. Always vocalizing what was on her mind. Why did she even bring him? "Because I look good in a suit and you hate being here alone."

"Okay, at least pretend you don't know everything I'm thinking in front of the regular people," Maddie sighed, but she knew the smile on her face and how much it betrayed. As always, he cleaned up nice when she got him out of the shop - tailored black suit, a simple design save for the subtle red shimmer running through the fabric. Hair short again, but beard still close-cropped and dark. It lined his jaw in a way that always made her want to run her fingers along it, but she was very familiar with how much that was courting danger, especially at an event like this.

At least this one wasn’t too serious. Nature of the beast, almost literally - the Hydra Worm movies always brought a different sort of industry crowd than docudramas and the ‘serious’ stuff she usually worked on, but what could she say? She had a soft spot for creature features and Chip came up with a thousand ideas a minute, so here they were, premiering movie number five (or was it six?) in their series. These parties were thankfully a little looser, more character actors and monster-makers in the crowd, not to mention–

"Looks like Dax got Chip cornered again. Or maybe vice versa," Nick laughed. “Xan’s gonna have to cut another check for damages at the end of the night if we don’t break those two up soon.”

All these years on and the way his eyes lit up at the mere potential for mayhem still sent shivers down her spine. There he was, jacket vanished somewhere, sleeves rolled to the elbows to show off his strong forearms, sipping at a whiskey and eying the Blue and Yellow Rangers like he wasn’t sure if he should preemptively break it up or join in. Gods, he was a dream, the uncompromising other half to her cosmic being forged into flesh and bone and sideways grins that always made her lose herself, just a bit.

The party was well underway. She already made all the important stops, between all the executives and producers and hangers-on they dragged around. No one was looking for her who couldn’t wait until tomorrow. Maybe they could sneak off, not for long, just long enough to–

"Miss Rocca?"

A voice, young, higher pitched, somehow familiar, brought her back down to earth. She found herself face to face with two people, couldn't be more than 20, maybe 21, and part of her knew she wasn't that much older, technically, but gods, they were babies. Bright-eyed, the both of them, all nervous smiles and tightly clasped hands. The guy, baby-faced, with glasses and a gold jacquard suit jacket, and the girl, curly blonde tresses falling over a strapless yellow gown. Almost matching. Pretty cute, the way they nearly slanted together.

"That's me," she smiled, offering her hand without thinking. Decades of knowing Chip, of enduring fans and conventions should’ve inured her to it, but somehow the way their faces lit up even more still startled her, eyes wide and exchanging a crazed look before they both dove in for her hand, laughed nervously, offered it to the other, and somehow turned it into a game of politeness chicken.

As she watched on helplessly, the Nick beside her was silent, taking a smug sip from his drink, but the Nick inside her head was laughing, begging her to put them out of their misery, and as usual, she agreed. There was still time to make some casual chit-chat and then find an abandoned green room, if she made the decision herself.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said, taking the blonde’s hand and shaking her best Hollywood handshake, definitive but gentle. The girl’s eyebrows shot up, mouth forming a little O for just a second before she started shaking back; her grip was strong, enthusiasm overflowing on her skin as she smiled, so bright it could almost light up the room.

There was a buzz in that smile, something familiar, just left of center that pulled at the back of Maddie’s mind, so much so that she almost missed the young woman’s zealous, “The pleasure is all mine, really. I love your movies so much, I’ve watched All Monsters Must Die so many times, I think I have it memorized.”

“You do,” the guy responded, quick to jump in and just as enthusiastic. “Seriously, Zoey, your Vampire Princess Mea impression is so good. I can’t wait to see your cosplay when it’s done.”

The moment the girl stopped shaking Maddie’s hand, the guy was ready to swoop in, and the exuberance from his end wasn’t lacking either. “Seriously, your movies were my favorites when I was a kid. But not just as a kid. I love them now too. Really, they hold up, and the effects? The way you–” His eyes shot open, comically wide. “Oh my gosh I’m so sorry, I didn’t even introduce myself! I’m Nate, I promise I’m not a maniac!” That sort of felt like a lie, when what he actually felt was about ready to explode; Maddie had to choke down the empathic response with a practiced smile.

“I’m so glad you enjoy them, Nate,” she said. “You’ll have to tag me in your cosplay post when you’re done. If you’re comfortable posting publicly, of course.” A quick glance up revealed Chip and Dax devolving into some sort of nerd debate that was leaving them red-faced; she really wished they got to slip out before she saw that, because now there was no way she could in good conscience walk away. The practiced smile tightened over her lips. “You’ll definitely have to tag Chip too, he really loves that stuff.”

Almost in unison, their eyes followed her gaze and very nearly popped out of their skulls.

“Chip Thorn? The screenwriter?” the guy exclaimed, just as the girl - Zoey, apparently - said, “Stunt director Dax Lo?”(Wow, they really do like the movies, Nick echoed at the base of her skull.) The sunshine-y pair turned to each other, exchanging silent screams and clasped hands for a short second before turning back to Maddie, nearly vibrating out of their skin.

“You know them? Like really know them?” Zoey asked. When Maddie nodded, she smiled a smile Maddie thought might split her face as she said, “We love their work too!” Madison wanted to say of course she knew them, one was sort of her brother-in-law and more than that, they were her teammates, once and forever, but just thinking that and looking into Zoey’s wide eyes hit her with an overwhelming understanding: an overflowing aura of Yellow-ness, shades of Chip, the younger and the current. And Nate, when she glanced at him, with his bright face and relentless enthusiasm? Gold, gold, gold, through and through, less familiar than yellow but still an energy she’d know anywhere.

Of course they were familiar. They were basically family.

This whole great wide world of theirs - population in the billions on Earth alone, and even greater out beyond the stars - and somehow two more of Earth’s few dozen Rangers were here, at her latest movie’s afterparty.

She almost laughed at how hard the feeling slammed into her, a cruise missile of recognition that rippled into Nick’s skin, made him snort and shake his head.

“Of course,” he muttered; with an incredulous smirk, he polished off his drink. The younger pair gave him a look, but he didn’t make them wait long; he gestured back to Chip and Dax and said, “Yeah, we know them, and so do you.” Blunt and opaque all at once; she loved him so much.

“We do?” the guy asked, brow furrowed up behind his thick glasses. Maddie nodded and leaned in a little closer, conspiratorially. The pair leaned in with her, magnetic, while Nick watched, his amusement humming in her skin.

With a curved little grin along her lips, she whispered, “C’mon, Nate, you can’t tell? They’re Rangers too.”

The pair blinked owlishly, only for a second before shooting up ramrod straight and exchanging a glance that screamed nothing less than abject panic. Both of their mouths worked soundlessly, fish-like, and then they were looking Nick and Maddie over thoroughly, like they were really only now seeing them. Turning on a dime, they did the same with Chip and Dax.

(Oh gods, there was a third guy talking to them now, younger by maybe a decade and dressed to the nines in a silver suit that threatened to tear off his body the moment he did a backflip to the enthusiastic cheers of both Rangers.)

Awestruck, Zoey grabbed Nate’s arm with a death grip and murmured, “Oh my gosh, Steel loves Dax’s work. He is going to flip.”

“I think he just did,” Nick deadpanned.

Madison exhaled a laugh - couldn't encourage him too much - and rolled her eyes as she said, “My husband thinks he's funny.”

“Your husband knows he's funny,” he countered. He deposited his empty glass back onto the bar and pushed off, offering a hand to Zoey. She shook it, almost idly, wide eyes still pinned on the escalating antics in the corner. (With a third goober in the mix, they really were going to have to cut this short soon.) If Nick was worried, he didn’t let on, just exchanged Zoey’s hand for Nate’s as he said, “Nick Russell, by the way. The director's private escort for the night.”

Her snorting laugh at the stupid joke wasn’t as easy to hide as she stepped to Nate’s side; the look Nick shot her behind their backs was pure trouble, something she couldn’t begin to entertain right now. (Even if she was the one to start it.) Instead, she said, “You’re the Morph-X guys, right?”

Absently, Zoey nodded, while Nate said, “Yeah, we’re, uh– That’s my brother. Steel Silva.” He pointed straight at the guy in silver, the one who did the flip, who looked some sort of familiar not just because he was one of her supporting actors, but because his aura was suddenly, overwhelmingly shining, bright and polished like his namesake.

“He’s a Ranger too, isn’t he?” she asked, fully rhetorical when she trusted what she saw, and every single sense was telling her that as unshakeable truth.

“The Silver Ranger,” Zoey confirmed.

“His name is Steel Silva and he’s the Silver Ranger?” Nick repeated, in a flat tone that made Maddie choke back a laugh while flying right over the Grid Battleforce Rangers’ currently preoccupied heads. Neither of them could tear their eyes away from the trio, and Maddie didn’t blame them one bit.

At that exact moment, Steel was goading Chip and Dax into showing off a series of increasingly complex pro wrestling moves, ones that Madison couldn’t even begin to name but knew from experience were nothing but trouble, in any setting. But here, at an already-chaotic industry party, with two Rangers she knew were trouble, and an overwhelmingly fearless silver energy emanating from the third?

She didn’t need to see the future to know where this was going.

Which was of course the exact moment that Nick barked out his own laugh, because the universe loved to shake up her predictions with an even more unhinged version of reality, and in this case, that came in the form of Vida sliding up next to them all, a bottle of champagne and four flutes in hand. Pair that with the exact look in her eyes that Madison knew so well: a storm was coming, lean in or get swept away.

This felt like some sort of cosmic retribution for thinking these parties were too stifling. Trading the claustrophobic industry well-wishing for whatever lawlessness those four could get up to after a few drinks, that was definitely some greater force laughing at her.

They couldn’t avoid it altogether, but…

Her eyes met Nick’s, but she already knew he was with her.

“Listen,” she said, trying to sound calm, even as she watched the bottle pass between the other guys, and Nick bit his tongue so hard she could feel it, “I think this party has just about run its course–”

“If we don’t want to spend the night locked up in county,” Nick interjected. When Zoey and Nate looked between Nick and Maddie, and then each other, with dawning panic, she just held up a placating hand and pretended Nick didn’t say a thing. (Even if she did relish the intended effect.)

“So if you don’t mind moving on, I think we can drum up our own little Rangers-only afterparty.”

Zoey blinked at her, a thousand times, rapidly. Nate didn’t blink at all. Nick waited a beat and then said, “Alright, that’s a yes then. I’ll round up the rowdies.” And just like that, snatching his jacket off the back of a chair, he strided across the room and inserted himself neatly into the line-up. Vida offered him a glass, which he took but didn’t drink - not yet - and Maddie watched as he sold the others on the change of plans. Even from here, she got the gist of what he was selling; after all, who didn’t want to go party at a secret Ranger base?

It wasn’t until after they said their passing goodbyes, herded their sudden cadre of buzzing Rangers outside, and loaded them up into their massive limo did Maddie get a second to breathe. Cool night air settled across her shoulders; Nick leaned into her space as easy as anything, a lightness in his touch that made her feel 17 again.

He didn’t say anything, just watched as Vida and Chip tried to organize the ungainly mass of limbs collapsing across the seats while also balancing a fresh bottle of champagne and trading surprise kisses. Madison took a second to look at him, framed by the venue’s lights.

As he chuckled, lines deepened around his eyes, filled with emerald starlight. Under the club’s neon, his skin shone unearthly bronze. An ease settled around him, one she knew could turn on a dime, if she called it from the depths, but one that looked good, easy even, on him now. She reached up and ran a hand through the close-crop of his beard, courting danger.

“Glad we got out of there,” he said, with a sharp dart of thrill to her gut, and then in a single gulp, threw back his near-forgotten pour of champagne. His head tilted so he could look at her, cheek leaning into her touch, carrying every single thing she thought about him in his grin as he said, “C’mon, there’s still time.”

That was all the invitation she needed.

With a grin, she slipped her hand around his and pulled him into the limo.

—

That night, when the afterparty’s afterparty finally started to taper off, with the sun threatening to rise and everyone settling bleary-eyed into Root Core’s many spare rooms, Madison finally got to show Nick just how much she appreciated how he looked in his suit.

Chapter Text

Finding moments of peace were rare in Nick’s life. Even with their own war long over - fifteen years, where did the time go? -, life still marched on, and there weren’t many quiet moments to himself when he was a husband, a father, a boss, and a figurehead for a whole realm and its adjoining Earth city. Peace was fleeting, especially last night; getting the Mystics drunk was no easy feat these days, but if ever it was going to happen, it was with Chip’s special mead reserves and a cadre of Rangers exploring the Mystics’ base for the first time.

Which was why he was deliberately cherishing this morning. Root Core, full of noise and chaos most days and especially a few hours before, was finally silent; Udonna and Leanbow were out with Ava, while the invading partiers were spread between the base’s many bedrooms, all completely knocked out. (Even Maddie, who would probably complain that he left her alone in bed, again, but he didn’t want to wake her up when she was out cold on one of their rare child-free mornings.)

Reclined around the old table in Root Core’s main hall - the one that almost felt like an extension of himself after every meal, every stitch, every revelation that dropped in this exact place -, Nick sipped at his coffee and scrolled idly through his phone. The shop was in Sery’s hands this morning; the elf picked up human tech scarily fast, and her no-nonsense attitude kept things running tighter than he could ever manage. At this point, he was more worried about a hostile takeover than he was about things going to shit with her at the helm.

“Hey, uh, sorry to ask, but…”

Nick glanced up and was immediately met with the biggest puppy-dog eyes he’d seen in years, which was pretty impressive considering he had an eight-year-old. Somehow Zoey managed to sneak up on him, and now hovered a few feet away, clutching her phone in her hands and looking at him like she was about to ask how much fire was too much fire, no reason why, don’t worry. (Once again, the joys of an eight-year-old.)

He really hoped it wasn’t that dire, since he was having a good morning so far, but he was ready to deal with whatever came, so he tried to smile and not feel like a total dad as he said, “Morning. Everything good?”

The blonde blinked, a lot, and then smiled back, inching a little closer while still gripping her phone like she might explode if she let go even one bit. “Oh my gosh, yeah, yeah. Everything’s fine. Great, actually.” She glanced around with so much wonder in her eyes, Nick instantly understood how Madison clocked her as a Yellow Ranger so easily. Not that every Yellow was the same, but with Chip as his number one reference point? Yeah, not so hard to imagine.

“Great,” he echoed, easy enough to snap her attention back to him, to whatever the matter at hand was. “So what’s up, Zoey?” Sipping at his mug, he arched his eyebrows, hopefully a clear enough prompt to get her to keep explaining whatever had her so wound-up.

“Oh, yeah!” she exclaimed, like she just remembered she was here for an actual reason and not just to chat him up with a white-knuckle grip on her phone. Shuffling forward a few more inches, she adjusted her hold on the device and said, “So, I know a Ranger’s base is a big secret and I’d never want to betray that trust, but when we were… hanging out–”

“One way to put it,” he muttered. This was the start of a ramble, he could feel it, and so she only plowed on.

“–last night, I took some pictures and I wouldn’t ever dream of sending them to anyone who wasn’t a Ranger, and don’t worry, our phones are super secure, Nate made sure of it, so no worries about anything getting hacked and leaked, but I was just hoping, if it was okay with you, if I could send a few to the other guys on our team. Pictures, that is. I think they’d freak.”

She was practically vibrating by the end of it. Nick gave her a second to inhale, and himself a second to wonder why he was the one to get asked. Outside of the obvious - he was the only one up and findable in Root Core currently - was it being the Red Ranger? Did she somehow ken to this kind of being his home too? How much did she know about his role in the magical world?

Whatever, he’d probably drive himself crazy thinking about it. Just easier to give the ask some space, make sure she was really done, then shrug and say, “Yeah, I don’t see why not. We’re all Rangers.”

With a high-pitched squeal, she jumped up and down, grinning ear to ear, and said, “Thank you thank you thank you! Oh gosh, Ravi and Devon are going to be so jealous.”

Nick nearly choked on his coffee - what an embarrassing way to die, after everything they’d been through - but he managed to school himself before Zoey noticed. (Or if she did, she was too polite to say something.)

It was probably a coincidence. There were a lot of Ravis in the world. Even in California. Even in–

“Ugh, it won’t send.” A little line appeared between Zoey’s eyes as she leaned closer to her phone, tapping away at something. Nick swigged back the rest of his coffee and stood, just in time for her to look at him, beseeching. “Are there, uh… I don’t know, I’m not good at magic.” She looked apologetic, like she thought he’d take offense to her not knowing magic. “Are there, uh, charms out here? Or something that messes up signals. It’s just, my messages won’t send.”

Now was Nick’s turn to blink at her. It had been years since anyone came into Root Core with a non-magical phone, he almost forgot how bad reception could get out here.

“Not too far off,” he said, mug abandoned on the table as he nodded toward her phone. “If you want, I can…”

There was a half-second for her to process, and then her eyes were wide, bright, and she was offering her phone up without question. (Trusting, she was so trusting. Was it because they were both Rangers, or was she always like this?)

Gingerly, he took it, not that he even needed to hold it to cast the spell; pushing a little bit of magic into the device to boost her signal through the dimensional haze was easy enough, barely a sliver of influence from the vast wellspring of magic in him, and in the world. Really, taking it at all was a bad idea, not because he was dangerous or untrustworthy, but…

Well, okay, maybe a little untrustworthy, because his curiosity did possess him, just for a second; as he cleared the pathway for her phone to communicate, he glanced down at the open messaging app and looked at the recipients.

Nate and Steel, faces he knew instantly from the night before.

Devon, a young black guy with a big smile and a fade, with a picture that looked like Zoey caught him mid-laugh.

And Ravi. Ravi, the kid who took the responsibility of setting the table at dinner with military-grade weight. Ravi, the kid who cried when his mom said they couldn’t keep the cat they found. Ravi, the kid who never treated Nick like he was weird, even after he became a wizard and objectively was.

Ravi, the kid cousin that was also on Zoey’s ‘Beastie Babes’ chat with at least two other confirmed Rangers.

Trying not to fall clean off the Earth, Nick looked up at Zoey, who watched him with her big, trusting eyes, and said, “How do you know Ravi Shaw?”

Maybe he was just support or something. Maybe she misspoke when she said she was sending pictures to the other Grid Battleforce Rangers.

“Oh, he’s our blue!”

Maybe Nick really could just fall off the Earth right now.

Perky, so perky for this morning, Zoey leaned forward as he offered her phone back to her, and said, “So how do you know Ravi?”

Nick didn’t bother answering; he was already reaching for his phone, thumbing in his cousin’s number. How did he not put two and two together? His aunt was a general with Grid Battleforce. Ravi followed her there, and did something there that was so super top secret that he couldn’t disclose anything more during family events.

“Hey, Nick, it’s been a whi–” Of course Ravi picked up instantly.

“You’re a Ranger.” Of course Nick went straight for it.

“...who told you?” Of course Ravi was a Ranger.

Nick collapsed back into his seat and let out a long groan.

Another Ranger in the family.

There went his peace for the morning.