So here is chapter 1 of my 5+1 Stinger/Hammie fic! Hope you all enjoy reading it and feel free to leave a comment, feedback is always appreciated XD
Enjoy!
The first incident occurred shortly after Stinger had joined the team in the liberation of earth. It was supposedly going to be a routine battle, the five chosen; Lucky, Garu, Hammie, Raptor and Stinger were tasked with bringing down one of the many Magistrate's that resided on earth. It should have been a simple in and out mission there was no secondary goal to be completed first just a straightforward direct battle but of course, nothing ever went according to plan with these missions. However, this time a completely unexpected and unanticipated turn took place.
The battle had been going well, the invaders were falling like flies around the Kyurangers as they all steadily made their way through the seemingly endless wave of them as the Invaders that kept coming one after another relentlessly. Stinger found himself amidst a particularly dense group but was dismantling them easily with swift and devasting attacks curtesy of both his tail and spear. He could hear Lucky, Garu and Raptor engaging with the Magistrate as well as Hammie's distinct battle cry as she dealt with the other portion on the Invaders.
Soon enough the Invaders numbers had dwindled significantly enough to cause the few remaining to retreat leaving the five Kyurangers to engage the Magistrate together. Stinger nodded briefly at Hammie as the two took off into a run to join their teammates who appeared to be struggling slightly due the Magistrate's ability to make a copy of himself to act as a substitute whilst he would attack from another angle. It was evident that like most Jark Matter members he liked to play dirty as he singled out Garu whilst himself, Lucky and Raptor were distracted with the duplicate causing him to go crashing to the ground.
"Man, this guy's tough" Garu complained picking himself up again as Stinger and Hammie deflected another oncoming attack giving him time to take a quick breather. Lucky and Raptor joined the three moving into a defensive stance with their weapons poised.
"You alright Garu?" Lucky inquired placing a hand on his back briefly for support. Garu nodded vigorously.
"I'm fine, this guy can't keep me down for long!" He reassured adamantly taking up his own defensive stance claws raised threateningly. The five Kyurangers charged together with the aim of catching the Magistrate off guard and it appeared to work for a time, each of them managing to land some very damaging hits. Just as they were preparing 'All Star Crash' it happened.
The sound of several shots being fired rang out followed by the others desperate and warning cries of "STINGER!".
Stinger whirled around but had little time to react, he was glued in place unable to do anything but raise his spear in a feeble attempt to block the oncoming blast. Instead of a feeling of overwhelming pain there was a flash of green as Hammie appeared in front of him accompanied by a deep guttural cry that ripped through Stinger's throat as she took the hit head on.
Time slowed for Stinger. Hammie unmorphed right before his disbelieving eyes her body marred in a number of ugly gashes and purple bruises. Before she could even begin to fall Stinger instinctively wrapped his tail around Hammie and gently moved her into his outstretched arms cradling her close to his chest protectively as he sunk to his knees to support her. He hardly acknowledged the others outraged yells as they leapt in front of him and turned their morphers in the direction from which the shots had come from.
"All Star Crash!"
Stinger cared not for the Magistrate's disbelief as he was defeated, cared even less as Lucky called on Naga and Balance to form Kyuren-Oh. All that mattered in that moment was Hammie. The two of them had barely exchanged words in passing yet she'd protected him without a second thought. The desperate feeling that had settled in Stinger's gut was foreign to him but he didn't dwell on it. All he cared for was ensuring the safety of the unconscious girl that was nestled in his arms.
Getting to the Orion was a blur of movement as Stinger rushed towards the ship's infirmary unaware that he'd almost stung Spada who'd attempted to help. Only once Stinger had carefully deposited Hammie on the awaiting bed did the haze clear a little. Spada who had been following behind tentatively with Champ despite the risk of Stinger attacking them leapt into action as soon as Stinger had stepped away.
"Champ I need you to get Bandages, we've got to stop the bleeding" "Stinger if you could get some ice so we can combat the more serious bruises." He demanded.
"I'm on it Spada!" Champ called giving Stinger a sideways glance, as the latter just moved robotically to retrieve the requested items, never moving his gaze from Hammie for more than a few moments watching apprehensively as Spada cleaned and wrapped the almost never-ending cuts and gashes littered all over Hammie's body. She'd never looked as small as she did in that moment to Stinger as he attempted to come to grips with the storm of emotions he was experiencing, concern, guilt and anger being the most prominent. Why had she shielded him? Why would she when they'd hardly spoken since he'd come aboard? Why did he feel so torn up about it?
Stinger remained in the infirmary even after Spada had finished treating Hammie hardly noticing as the others trickled in and out of the room to check on her themselves. However, a hand resting on his shoulder snapped Stinger out of his stupor, he tensed and whipped his head around to meet the gaze of none other than Lucky.
"She'll be okay Stinger. Hammie's a lot tougher than she looks." He said softly.
"I don't understand" Stinger replied angrily a pained expression settling on his features. "Why, I hardly know her-hardly know any of you. So why, why would she protect me!" Lucky shook his head and smiled.
"That doesn't matter to her, you're her teammate she's doing for you what any of us would do for each other." Lucky stated. Stinger clenched his fists and inhaled sharply.
"She shouldn't have done it for me." He spat bitterly. Lucky sighed squeezing Stinger's shoulder before slipping out of the room as quietly as he'd come in leaving Stinger alone with his thoughts once more. Stinger let out a long exhale as he digested what Lucky had said. It was going to take some time to get used to this team that was a certainty but it wasn't an unwelcome notion. He'd just have to make sure when the time came, he could take down Scorpio alone so the others wouldn't do the same as Hammie. He let his gaze wonder back to his green teammate as she rested peacefully, the guilt was still eating at him but less so now that he knew she'd recover fully given time, his anger and concern subsiding also though not entirely disappearing.
Stinger made to leave when he caught sight of Hammie's tattered jacket resting on the chair beside the infirmary's bed. Without a second thought he strode over and picked up the jacket resting it on his arm and exited quietly, fixing her jacket was least he could do after all.
When Hammie awoke the next day, she was greeted by the sight of Spada and Raptor waiting anxiously by her bedside. Hammie groaned softly causing the two to leap into action.
"Hammie!" They exclaimed relieved. Raptor immediately went to inform the others of her conscious state whilst Spada helped her to slowly stand up.
"How are you feeling." He inquired once she was steady on her feet.
"I'm fine just a little sore." She reassured before hastily asking. "Stinger wasn't hurt to bad was he."
"Stinger didn't have a scratch on him thanks to you" Spada chuckled before continuing "But I think he felt quite guilty, he carried you here and waited here for the longest time." Hammie nodded thoughtfully not quite sure what to say, she hadn't expected Stinger to do that for her but she appreciated it none the less.
"Talk about Lucky! Glad to see you up and about Hammie!" Lucky happily exclaimed as he entered the room, Garu not far behind. Hammie beamed at the two.
"It's good to be up and about!" She told them happily. "Hey Lucky could you pass my jacket over please?"
"Sure thing!" Lucky replied plucking it up from where it lay on the chair. "Talk about lucky! Hammie your jackets still in tip top shape!" Hammie cheered.
"Thank goodness, I was worried it'd be all ripped up!" Spada furrowed his brow in thought, strange he could have sworn that Hammie's jacket had been torn in at least a few places. Maybe one of the others had stitched it up for her but he didn't think anyone on board was so adept at sewing that they could repair it without it being noticeable. Spada was brought out of his thoughts as Naga and Balance pranced in.
"Welcome back Hammie" Naga stated attempting to smile.
"It's good to see you well again Hammie!" Balance joyously remarked as he jumped around the room. Hammie thanked the two laughing along with the others as Balance grabbed a startled and unwilling Naga and began jumping around again. No one noticed Stinger stopping at the entrance and smiling slightly at the sight of Hammie in her newly repaired jacket before swiftly turning back the way he came.
The second incident occurred a few short weeks later just after Kotaro had joined them. Once again, the Kyurangers were on earth attempting to defeat another Magistrate. Hammie and Spada were leading the civilians to safety whilst Lucky, Stinger and Champ were keeping the Magistrate busy. The evacuation was taking longer than normal as the Magistrate had attacked whilst they unsuspecting Kyurangers were amongst a large crowd of people in a town square all of whom panicked when the vile monster appeared.
Lucky, Stinger and Champ were remaining on the defensive to prevent any would-be wayward attacks from injuring the people. They instead focused on containing the Magistrate's wide range attacks into a small area in an effort to give Hammie and Spada who remained unmorphed room to manoeuvre the large groups of frightened civilians to shelter on the other side of the square. The two unfortunately had their work cut out for them as were constantly bombarded with questions and demands by the hysterical crowds.
"Where's my son! I can't find him!"
"You need to go back for my brother!"
"My husbands still over there! You've got to help him!"
The two tried in vain to reassure everyone as they worked tirelessly to ensure everyone was getting out as quickly as possible.
"It's okay don't worry we're going back for your loved ones, we won't let any harm come to them." Hammie consoled her mouth set in a determined smile as she ushered people towards Spada who was by the escape route's exit.
"Your loved ones may already have gotten out of the Square so if all of you could please follow me. Graize!" He placated the still fretful people as he led them out.
Meanwhile Hammie rushed back pointing people to Spada's location as she went, wanting to ensure that everyone had gotten out of the immediate danger zone. To her horror there was still a big enough group that were at risk of being seriously hurt. Not thinking twice, she raced over to them being mindful not to impede on the others efforts and quickly began to usher them towards Spada. All was going well until a sharp cry caught Hammie's attention, she whipped around looking for the source and discovered a young girl only a little way away from the Magistrate, who thankfully hadn't seemed to notice her presence as he was too caught up with attacking Lucky, Champ and Stinger. She turned to the crowd who was behind her.
"Spada is close by keep going straight he'll show you how to get out!" She urged.
Once she was certain the group was close enough to Spada for him to takeover Hammie broke into a sprint beelining for the little girl taking care not to draw the Magistrate's attention. As she passed by Champ and Stinger who were about join Lucky on the offensive, Hammie subtly signalled to the girl's location not stopping to see if they fully understood, the safety of the girl taking immediate priority in her mind. As she drew closer to where Lucky had begun to engage with the Magistrate, Hammie camouflaged herself in order to avoid detection and putting the young girl in unnecessary danger. Hammie reappeared a short distance away from the poor girl who at this point was shaking in terror so as not to frighten her further and spoke in a soft tender voice.
"It's okay no need to cry, I'll get you to safety." The girl still trembling nodded tearfully as Hammie stretched out a hand for her to take and grasped it tightly. Hammie carefully pulled the girl to her feet and made to get her to safety when a chilling laugh resounded through the square.
"Fools I knew one of you self-sacrificing twits would attempt to retrieve the girl, now you can choose your life or the girls!" The Magistrate declared cruelly, as he shoved Lucky, Champ, Stinger and the now morphed Spada to the ground and unleashed his attack in the direction of Hammie and the girl. Without thinking Hammie pushed the girl behind her fully prepared to take the brunt of it even though she was unmorphed and would not have the time to morph in order to give herself a little protection.
"Hammie!" Lucky and Spada cried desperately as Champ roared angrily.
However, in a blink of an eye Stinger was there shielding both Hammie and the girl with his own body taking the full force of the devastating attack himself.
"Stinger!" Hammie exclaimed shocked as the Orange Kyuranger demorphed and fell to one knee in front of them clutching his side in agony. Hammie was at his side in an instant helping him stand and supporting his injured side whilst taking the girl's hand once more and made her way towards the square's exit, intent of getting the girl to safety and Stinger away from the battle. As they reached the exit the girl released Hammie's hand and ran towards frantic looking woman who was edging her way back towards the square.
"Mama!" The girl cried happily.
"Keiko! Thank goodness!"
Hammie watched as the two embraced and left then quickly reverted her attention back to Stinger who was panting heavily. She walked him over to a wall and propped him up against it then crouched beside him and gently pried his hand away from his side to inspect the wound. It was a large enough gash but thankfully not all that deep. Hesitantly she reached up for the scarf around his neck.
"May I?" She asked tentatively. Stinger nodded briefly at her still breathing rather irregularly. Hammie gripped the scarf and unwound it from around Stinger's neck and placed one end near his gash and wrapped it tightly around the still bleeding gash. Stinger winced and let out a small gasp of pain as she finished tying the scarf and Hammie blinked at him sympathetically. Satisfied with her work she contacted the others.
"Do you guys need me to act as backup" She inquired hurriedly, half hoping they'd say no as she didn't want to leave Stinger.
"We're fine Hammie, get Stinger back to the Orion, Garu and Raptor are lending a hand." Lucky reassured her.
"Got it." Hammie responded and moved to help Stinger up.
"I'm fine, I can get up myself." He mumbled fiercely batting away Hammie's outstretched hand.
"Nonsense, let me help you Stinger." Hammie insisted reaching to grab his arm to allow him to lean on her. Stinger sighed didn't resist again gratefully leaning his injured side on Hammie. "Thank you, Stinger, but you shouldn't have done that." Hammie admonished quietly. Stinger chuckled wryly.
"I seem to recall you doing something similar only a few weeks ago." He stated.
"That- that was different! You didn't know the attack was coming I couldn't let you get hurt! You're my teammate!" Hammie spluttered indignantly. Stinger cocked an eyebrow at her.
"How is what I did any different to that. Like you said, you're my teammate, I couldn't let you get hurt." Stinger retorted firmly his tone leaving no room for argument. Hammie huffed frustrated.
"Well be more careful next time, you shouldn't get hurt on my behalf."
"I can manage that so long as you do the same." He bargained insistently. Hammie sighed exasperatedly but allowed for a small smile to grace her lips.
"Alright, alright, I will." She agreed.
"Good." Stinger affirmed allowing the smallest of smiles to creep into his voice.
When the two arrived back on the Orion they were greeted by a worried Kotaro.
"Stinger! You're not hurt too bad, are you?" He worriedly asked. Stinger shook his head and used his free hand to gently pat Kotaro's head.
"I'll be fine Kotaro, just need to rest up that's all." He reassured.
"Rest and redress the wound you mean." Hammie interjected. "You can't walk around your scarf acting as a bandage." This time Stinger sighed stubbornly.
"It'll be fine like this." He said dismissively.
"No, it will not be! We're going to put a proper bandage on it right now." Hammie ordered leaving no room to protest as she near dragged Stinger towards the infirmary. Once they had arrived Hammie deposited him on the bed and went about gathering the appropriate items.
"You're quite the stubborn one." Stinger commented offhandedly resigning himself to his fate.
"No, I'm not!" Hammie heatedly denied. Stinger merely quirked his eyebrow and gave her a look akin to 'are you kidding me'. Hammie rolled her eyes and spoke again. "You're hurt because of me the least I can do is make sure your injuries are tended too. Besides you brought me here when I was injured and at least I didn't almost attack Kotaro like you did Spada." She teased slyly a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Stinger denied scowling a little as a slight redness crawling up his neck. Hammie laughed outright as she untied his scarf and began to apply the bandages in much the same way she had done with the scarf earlier gesturing for Stinger to raise his shirt up a little.
"No need to deny it Stinger, it's nice to know you're adapting to being on a team despite being a solo act for so long." Hammie stated kindly as she finished up. "There all done!" She announced sounding quite pleased with herself. "I'll leave you to get some rest now." She added as she made her way towards the door.
"Thank you, Hammie" Stinger said softly just as she reached it. Hammie turned back to face him and smiled brilliantly.
"No problem Stinger."
Hope you all enjoyed chapter 1, I aim to have the next chapter up in a couple of days and if I'm lucky chapter 3 as well! Don't forget to comment feedback is welcome and appreciated especially construcitve critiscim, I'm always looking to improve!
Darkblaze15