Fic: Is and Was

[estirise]

This is to celebrate tptigger's recent good news.

Title: Is and Was
Author: Estirose
Fandom/serial: Opposites Attract (PR/TP crossover universe)
Rating: 8+
Disclaimer: Teresa and Lucas (OC, not the TF Ranger) belong to me, everybody else belongs to either BVE/VRP, Saban, or Tetra/Thames.
Summary: Lucas wants what can't be had.


If nothing else, Teresa DeSantos thought, it was a perfect day. The weather was sunny, but not hot, not the humid temperatures of California at the moment. The beach in Oregon was perfect, secluded, somewhere where they wouldn't be bothered. And, after all, their parents trusted them not to do anything... funny.

But that was okay. She didn't want to be a teenage mother, and Lucas had rather important things to do, saving the world being just one of them. Besides, she might have been out of the fight, but Elise was a more than competent replacement; she wasn't too worried.

And if Regina happened to attack, well, Teresa could defend herself, thank you very much. She wasn't going to be defenseless, teleporting or no teleporting. And if Lucas was needed, even if he hadn't been a communicator call away, they had ways of making sure everybody kept in touch.

She watched Lucas take a sip of the punch, the recycleable paper cup denting slightly in his hands.

"Yen for your thoughts?" she asked lightly.

"I'd say that you didn't need to ask... but I know better." Lucas' expression suddenly turned moody, the same thing it did anytime he was thinking about the team, and her, and what she'd had to give up. She'd gotten used to it.

She doubted he ever had.

"What's bothering you?" she asked. "I hope not Ranger stuff. I brought us up here to not worry about that."

He looked at her. "Actually...."

She'd been right. "Lucas. I can't fight."

"Can't kill," he corrected gently, "Not can't fight."

"Right," she said, feeling slightly ashamed that her boyfriend understood her limitations better than she did sometimes.

"I want you to be a Ranger again," he said.

"And that's not possible," she said evenly. "Dad's told you the stories. You know what happens when my Dad tried. It's impossible!"

"I don't believe that," Lucas said. "There has to be a way. I just know it."

"Face, meet palm," she muttered. "Lucas, there were tradeoffs to not needing a telephone to talk to my Dad or my best friends - the other best friends."

"Yeah," he said, "But you didn't choose them. You chose with your heart to be a Ranger. I'm working with some scientists off-planet, see if we can get you back on board."

"Lucas...." Teresa paused. "If I was able to kill, I wouldn't be a Tomorrow Person anymore. It's not gonna happen."

"It will, if we try hard enough!" Lucas proclaimed.

Teresa sighed. "Are you sure?"

"I'm not willing to give up hope," Lucas said, taking her hand. "I mean, there has to be more to life than being a fantastic being that can teleport."

"And save the world," Teresa reminded him. "Don't forget that."

"Right," he said. "But we need you more. There are a lot of Tomorrow People, and only six Rangers."

"I'm not a Ranger anymore," she said. "I've switched teams."

"But you're not playing for the other side," Lucas said. "You're still a good guy." He lay back on the blanket. "You remember Halloween one year, when you dressed up as a fairy? I think Dad said that you were going to grant peace and happiness to the whole world."

"That," Teresa said, "Was when I was six. And things have changed now; I'm not longer what I was. I can't be who I was before."

"You'd be surprised," Lucas said softly. "You'd be surprised."

"Lucas, just drop it, okay?" Teresa asked. "Love me as I am, not what I once was."

"And can be again," Lucas said. He ran a hand through his hair. "At least that's what I hope, someday."

"Hope's fine," Teresa said, "But it isn't going to happen. Please, get used to it."

"I'll try," he promised. But she saw the glint in his eyes, the one that said he wasn't going to give up.

She leaned against him. "I know," she said, acknowledging both the spoken and unspoken thoughts. "I know."