Just a bunch of Spenser/Solana one-shots that I kind of put together on a timeline and made into a story. Some of them are connected and some aren't, but I figured I'd go ahead and put this out there. I rather like how it turned out. Some of it is my personal take on scenes of the game and I drew out the Go Rock Squad threat to a couple of months.

Anyway, if there's anything I need to fix, let me know. Happy holidays, everyone!

(1)

When she meets Spenser, she knows that she's found her home.

(He offered it to her, why shouldn't she take it and run?)

The first thing she notices about the good-natured Ringtown leader is that he walks around with his hands in his pockets a lot. She doesn't know whether to take this as a sign of confidence or a sign of laziness, but he puts rest to that question fairly soon.

(All one has to do is look at the giant pile of paperwork on his desk.)

He also inspires her. She had heard so much about him, it's a little scary to finally meet him. She wants to be considered his equal and maybe, just maybe, if she tries hard enough, she can rival his legend.

(That was why she sent her letter after all, right? To create a legend.)

She looks at him and says, "Why not me?"

(She still wonders why Joel laughs so much when she asks why he thinks she and Spenser are so similar.)

(2)

When she meets Lunick, she knows that she found a best friend.

The first night she stays at Ringtown, there's a thunderstorm. Murph's snoring his head off and Solana's twisting and turning, unable to sleep. Lunick throws tiny rolled-up pieces of paper at her head until he finally hits her and causes her to turn and look at him.

She turns questioningly.

"Hey, I can't sleep and it sounds like you neither," he explains, face adorably indecisive. "Wanna do something?"

She likes the sound of it, but isn't sure exactly what he means. "Like what?"

He looks thoughtful. "Build a blanket fort?"

(Yup, they're best friends already.)

As they're sitting under their newly formed blanket fort (named Fort Solunick because Solana thought Fort Ringtown was too boring), Lunick asks her what she thinks of their base.

"I think," she starts to say, "I think it will feel like home very soon."

(She makes a point never to say things that she doesn't mean.)

(3)

It's her third dinner at Ringtown and one of the principal items on the menu is one of Solana's most hated foods.

(Spenser failed to mention in his letters what a health nut he was and Solana starts to crave meat before long.)

"Solana, I see your green beans are looking rather lonely over there."

Everyone at the table looks up at Spenser as he mentions this, and then sends their eyes to the opposite end of the table, where Solana is sitting primly. The opposing sides' eyes meet.

(And in a moment of reflection, she wonders if this is the first time she's tried to face him as an equal. She finds herself somewhat disappointed that this confrontation is over food.)

"Yes. I suppose they do," is Solana's airy answer. The challenge is laid down. Will he dare to take it further with the new girl? And will the new girl really put up a fight against their esteemed leader?

Against his better judgment and due to his health nut nature, Spenser continues. "Cause I think you might want to eat those."

Putting her fork down delicately, the teal-haired ranger pushes back a strand of her hair. "And why is that?"

"Because they're very good for you," the blue-green-haired leader explains, putting down his fork as well. "And they provide you with a good source of vitamins."

"Hm," Solana answers, pursing her lips. "Unfortunately, I see that our opinions happen to differ on this subject. I simply do not see a favorable trend for the cost-benefit analysis of eating green beans. The taste is simply not worth the benefit."

(She finds herself particularly proud of that little speech- If he wants debate club, he'll get it.)

Spenser's eyebrows raise briefly, but he quickly composes himself. "Really? Well, I think you should reconsider that thought. Perhaps the way they are seasoned will change your mind?"

She shakes her head firmly. "No. I don't think so."

"Perhaps you should read some nutritional facts about green beans and you may be persuaded by hard data."

"No, I really don't think that will help."

"Perhaps you could-"

"Leader, for Suicune's sake, she's not eating the green beans," Lunick cuts in dryly, feeling frustrated by the topic of conversation.

Disgruntled, the leader acquiesces.

(These originally civil arguments evolve into full-fledged yelling matches as time progresses.)

(4)

The first time she meets Joel, she knows that she's found a partner-in-crime.

(Any friend/enemy of Spenser's is a friend of hers, if that makes any sense.)

"We hated each other in Ranger School," the bespectacled leader laughs, reminiscing. "We still do, really, we've just realized that we're better as best friends than enemies. He's a real pain in the ass, isn't he?"

Solana grins. "Especially when he does that overprotective thing where he asks if you remembered sunscreen or bug spray or something equally unimportant when you leave for a mission."

"So he's done that to you already?" Joel laughs again, leaning back in his chair. "Arceus, he always did know how to break in those new rangers. I'll tell you a secret. The reason for that? He was always the kid who left without it. He used to leave without his styler, this kid. Reckless, impatient, and rushing everywhere. That's rookie Spenser."

(Hearing that is so weird for Solana. Spenser as a rookie?)

"Really? I would never have known," she comments, thinking about that for a moment.

"Yup. His reckless side will still show itself, every once in a while, so warn me if he wants to do anything stupid. That guy thinks he can do anything."

(That doesn't surprise her though. He was so concerned and protective of his rangers that she got the impression he would try anything to protect them, no matter how desperate it may be.)

"Even with all the mellowing he's done," Joel comments, forming a headrest by lacing his fingers behind his head. "I doubt he'll even really settle down. He'll never retire- Spense isn't the kind to do that."

(Funny. She feels the same way about her own career.)

(5)

One day, after coming back from a particularly trying mission, she hears a faint humming.

She follows it and grins.

She's found her almighty leader reduced to base chores (mopping the hallway) while singing faintly under his breath. He has a terrible singing voice, but that's not the point.

(How human he is.)

Not that it means something, but she finds it endearing. However, it's an endearing just like anyone else's endearing would be. He hasn't gotten a hold of her yet.

She doesn't say anything, but retreats to the kitchen.

(She's hungry anyway.)

(6)

The Go-Rock Squad starts showing up places and there's an underlying sense of fear in the air as Spenser readies himself for the Ranger Union meeting he must go to. Solana bites her nails nervously. Lunick makes a grilled cheese. Murph is hurriedly scribbling things down on a scrap piece of paper.

(Probably a theme song or something.)

She's not scared. She tells herself that, but she doesn't know what to expect. She's been thrown into this with not even a month of training and it had been her to find out about the organization. It had been her fault that the Super Styler got stolen. She doesn't know how to feel or react to her screw-up because she just didn't know. Spenser told her not to worry about it. Lunick insists that it's not her fault. How could it be I'm still new to this and I didn't know what to do.

But she wants to hear everything from the leader.

Because he's tense, but is trying not to show it. He laughs at Murph's jokes and comments on Lunick's slightly charred grilled cheese and tells Solana to stop looking so worried, but she can feel the unrest. She thinks Lunick can too. (Not Murph, he doesn't really notice much.)

(Like a frightened fawn, she wants to hear the reassurance.)

Words whisper like the grass in the breeze and she looks at him as if she wants something from him, but he looks away. He's not ready. She understands.

(She's left turning the pages of a book with an uncertain ending.)

(7)

He's in better control now. Everything seemed calmer after he came back from the Ranger Union meeting. She watches him closely for cracks in his veneer. They can't have him cracking under the pressure. But the tension is gone now.

It's because she doesn't understand that she watches him so closely. When she first met him, it seemed as if he could take anything into stride. And then he showed his weak spot, although she couldn't tell what it was.

She's too new to bring it up, so he does.

"You've been quieter around me, Hinata," he says, being a bit formal with the last name, but playful all the same. "I don't bite, you know."

Solana grins ruefully. "I know, Leader, but all the same. I haven't wanted to get in your way. Not after my mess-up at Krokka Tunnel."

The leader sighs. "So that's what's been bothering you."

She doesn't say anything, only meets his eyes quietly.

(He sits back in his chair now, looking thoughtful. The way he runs a hand through his hair reminds her of his weakness that rarely manifests itself. He only does that when he's frustrated.)

"I know I've been on edge the past few days-"

(She wonders if he cuts himself off because he's not saying things right or because he is and doesn't want to expose himself to her quite yet.)

"It's not about you, Solana," he starts, and then chuckles, "Well, not exactly. I take that back. It's about you, but not in the way you think."

"Leader?"

He's trailed off and she wants to know what he means.

"I worry about you guys," he finally answers, eyebrows drawn down. "More than I should. I worry about you and Lunick and Murph and those at the other bases that I can't protect. And that makes me remember how little power I actually have."

She's at a loss for words and she didn't expect that to happen.

His jaw tenses. "And I don't like that very much."

(This is the moment that she realizes that whoever ends up getting Spenser Hayate is a lucky girl indeed.)

(9)

Whenever she's away from base, she misses his presence. He makes everything seem simpler. But that's all she misses.

(The funny thing is, she seems to miss it more the better she gets to know him.)

Months go by and the exponential trend increases.

(10)

The first time that their interactions truly make her think is when she comes back from a mission with a cut across her cheek. It's bleeding a bit, but besides that is perfectly harmless.

(Personally, she thinks a scar there would look particularly bad-ass, but that's just her.)

As usual, he panics and rushes her to the base infirmary, getting out the first aid supplies as if she was going to drop dead any moment. As he's cleaning out her cut, she absent-mindedly surveys the intensity of his face and the brightness of his blue eyes.

"Why must you always be the first one to get hurt?" He grumbles, turning away to rummage around in the drawers for a bandage.

"Like you should be talking," she rolls her eyes. "Mr. Put Myself in Danger At All Times."

He scowls at her good-naturedly, but reaches to place the bandage on her cheek. "Well, then, I guess we have that in common."

A silence settles and she thinks of something else. She puts herself in danger for a reason.

"Do you know why I became a ranger?" She suddenly asks and then wonders why she did.

"Why?" He asks her, smiling wryly.

(Sure, she told him something in those letters that she had written him, but it wasn't the truth. She wouldn't share that.)

"To have a real home."

That wry grin stays on Spenser Hayate's face. "Funny, that's why I did too."

And their eyes meet for a moment that makes Solana Hinata reconsider her previous notion that there was nothing between them.

(11)

But that peaceful lull didn't stay for long. Because, as much as they pretend, Go Rock Squad is still out there.

And the base is collapsing around them.

"You have to get out. You have to find Gordor."

His words are so calm and she doesn't understand. Doesn't he get it? Doesn't he see that the whole base is collapsing around them? How could he be so calm? Just like always, he has his goddamn hands in his pockets.

(She forgets that this really should be a comforting fact because it's just so him.)

"So go through that portal and get out. You hear me?"

Lunick nods while she just stands there, throat dry. He turns to leave, his broad shoulders facing her and she feels her heart jump into her throat.

(She lets out a breath before the plunge, then realizes that she's doing it all wrong.)

"Spenser!"

She grabs his arm and he half-turns in surprise. She searches his eyes for something, wanting to tell him to leave and get out with them too, but she knows that isn't her place. He can do anything, remember?

But he can't. And it was going to get him into trouble someday.

Her grip on his arm loosens as she chooses her words carefully. "Be careful."

But she knows her boundaries and she wouldn't dare cross them. He smiles crookedly, almost painfully. "You too, Solana."

She lets go and he walks away. She watches.

"Hey, Solana?" The leader calls back without even turning around, raising a hand to acknowledge a goodbye. Dust and particles of rock are falling around them, the byproducts of a destroyed system, but Spenser's walking through them all as if none of it mattered. "Kick Gordor's ass."

(And for a moment, she sees his true persona: a myth-wielder, dragon-slayer, who doesn't realize his boundaries until he's overstepped them.)

And so, on the way out, she calls Joel to come to help him.

(12)

Cameras flash at her.

She's done it.

She's the center of attention- the object of everyone's gushing congratulations and adulation. Lunick's beside her, her ever present, loyal best friend, and they were the returning victors, their swords (stylers) still bloodied from their battle. They had won. They were heroes.

(So this is the feeling of creating your own legend, she thinks.)

But there's still something- someone, missing.

She remembers the feeling of her heart in her throat when she sees Spenser walking up the steps of the Fiore Temple, looking as solid as ever. He never showed the slightest sign of weakness, not to her, anyway.

She remembers the way she clutched his arm as he stayed in the destruction of the Go Rock base and then, recalling her place, released it with a murmured apology. He seemed to understand though. Just as he always did. She worries about him- more than she should- and he knows it because he does the same thing for her.

(Of course, she can't think about her own legend without thinking about him.)

There's another flash in her face.

It doesn't blind her from seeing him as he walks toward his boyhood friend, who greets him with a grin and a clasped handshake. And he may think that she's not looking, but she catches the limp in his step that he hid before. His face is hidden from her, but she imagines that there's a wince of pain and a hint of exhaustion there that he had swept under the rug for her. She wishes that he didn't do that. He doesn't have to be invincible for her.

(Why were they taking pictures of her when his job had been just as heroic?)

She makes a decision. Leaving Lunick's side, she approaches her leader from behind, fighting her way through the press and camera flashes. "Leader! Leader! Spense!"

Her hand catches his in an innocent way, but he turns, astounded anyway.

"Come stand with us," she pleads, tugging his hand (this was the purpose for which she grabbed it, obviously). "You did just as much as we did. For Arceus' sake, you walked back into a self-destructing base of your own free will. You saved all the pokemon in it. You could have taken on the Go Rock Squad, but you chose not to. You wanted to make sure Lunick and I got out safely."

He looks her in the face, sees the honest earnest, and shakes his head. There were so many things he wanted to tell her, but he settled with the short answer. "'Lana, you underestimate your own abilities. No, it's your day. Yours and Lunick's."

She stubbornly refuses to let go of his hand. "No. You deserve to be up here."

(Why must their legacies be separate?)

When he smiles, it's almost regretful, a touch bitter, but still happy. "Let's face it, I'm a footnote here. A side story." It's a tone that makes her wonder if maybe he doesn't despise her a tiny bit for taking his spot as Fiore's protector- for becoming better than him. She doesn't like to think of this, but she suppose that it does hurt him a bit what everyone is saying about her and Lunick- that they are the most skilled rangers in all of Fiore. However, she knows that it's not true. Spenser and Joel and Elita and even Cameron are all just as skilled as she and Lunick are. She and Lunick were just in the right place at the right time.

(If this is the result of her success, she doesn't want it. She doesn't deserve it.)

When her face protests, he nods toward the swarm of press around them, apparently having recovered. "Let's go. The photographers want to see your pretty smile."

She grins wickedly. "As opposed to my ugly one?"

He laughs. "Exactly."

He sees that she is starting to accept his wishes. She lets go of his hand. "I'll see you later?"

He glances wryly around the swarm of people. "If you get out alive."

"Very funny," she cracks.

"I'm a very funny guy."

"Funny-looking."

"Oooh, bringing out the juvenile insults, are you? How harsh."

"Hey, play hard or go home."

A camera flashes to the right of them and a voice calls out. "Spenser, let's get a picture of you and your protégé."

Instead of excusing himself and making a retreat (like she expects, for all the fuss he's making over it), he turns, puts a friendly arm around his ranger, and smiles.

She smiles too. Maybe a small part of him hates her. She can deal with that. That's called human nature.

(Because she thinks maybe, just maybe, a bigger part of him loves her.)

(13)

When it finally happens, it doesn't happen because of Joel's sly comments or Lunick's blatant match-making attempts (although that certainly adds some humor). It happens about three years later, when the two of them are on a patrol in Lyra Forest. She's running her hand through the meadow grass and swishing through it, grinning in the sunlight.

(They're committed to each other and they both know it. It's the beauty of what they have.)

She looks at him, takes in all his posture, his stature, the way he walks with his hands in his pocket and his shoulders broad, just like he did when she first met him, and she smiles. Reaching down to pick a flower, she flicks her eyes up to look at him again, while he surveys the forest.

"You know that I love you, right, Spenser?"

He grins ruefully, not seeming to be surprised by this statement. "I had a feeling."

She doesn't need his reply. She already knows what it would be.

He takes her hand and squeezes it briefly. It's enough for the both of them. She remembers the days of hearing that Spenser would never retire, never give up his base, and when she was only focused on equaling him. How long ago that was and how different things turned out to be.

(Her legacy isn't turning out into quite how she thought it would.)

"You know what the only down side is?"

Solana looks over at him curiously.

"I hate proving Joel right."

(And this is the man that she loves.)

(14)

Several years later, he's a teacher at the Ranger School and she's a Ranger Union advisor. They call her from time-to-time for advice about situations and she'll write them up a report, but for the most part she's stuck with the little ones.

The first one's a girl, as precocious as her parents and with her father's hair and eyes. She's Spenser's weak spot and Joel exploits the hell out of that. He's allowed- he is her godfather. He takes her out ice-skating and ice-cream until he becomes affectionately known as "Uncle Joel".

(Spenser always laughs at that and tells her about how they always had talked about having nice houses right next to each other with picket fences and a grill between them.)

The second is a boy, the rebellious middle child. It's no wonder his godfather is Top Ranger Jack Walker, Spenser's rebellious boyhood friend who comes around from time to time. The boy is all flame and no caution.

(Reminds her of Spenser in his rookie days, although he'll never admit it.)

Lunick frequents the house a lot as well, mostly to tell them how Ringtown fares now that he's leader. Solana know he'd make a good leader, but she also knows that his heart is elsewhere. But he does his duty, like he knows how, just as his counterpart does hers as leader of Fall City. Aria never was the romantic type and Lunick always knew that the people came first. They never were meant to be. But they've promised him doting privileges over the next child and he can't resist the idea. He's happy.

But now, as she sits in their house in Chicole Village with their third child in the cradle and a phone to her ear as she talks to the new Chairperson Joel about the latest ranger catastrophe, Solana Hinata knows what happiness feels like. Spenser is raising new rangers (what he always was best at) and so is she (although in a way I never expected, she thinks, as she looks over at their little girl sleeping peacefully). They're creating a whole new future.

(He offered it to her, she took it. Her legend and his, intertwined.)

Why are there fourteen? Because it's my favorite number. Yeah.