Second verse, same as the first… This was written as a companion piece to Starhawk's First Saga. In a rough alternate timeline, sometime after First Love's Four. I don't think I have to remind you guys that I don't own the Power Rangers. Never have, and unless I find myself in some kind of alternate reality of my own, never will.

Porthole

Written by PaperKat

"What are they trying to do again?" Karone asked as she leaned over the railing overlooking the zord hanger.

Ashley shrugged her shoulders and hopped up on the railing. Andros felt his heart skip a beat when she did so. It was over twenty feet to the ground, Ranger or no, it was still a long drop. Zhane caught his attention and gave him a mischievous grin. Without saying a word, the next time Ashley glanced back over her shoulder to the hanger floor Zhane placed his hand on her knee and pushed down.

Her equilibrium thrown off, Ashley threw her arms forward with a shriek. She landed harmlessly on her feet on the catwalk, but not before drawing every eye to her. She turned bright red and punched Zhane in the shoulder.

"Jerk." She said simply, turning away and sliding closer to Karone and adopting her stance.

"I think that they're trying to install some kind of interdimensional door stop." Ty chimed in from Karone's other side also looking over the railing to the activity below.

"Essentially, yes. It's an ID barrier." Andros agreed. "If it works it shouldn't be possible for anyone to use interdimensional space to teleport in."

"Well, what good will that do?" Zhane asked, his serious look was only for Andros to see. "I mean, unless Ashley decides to start sleeping in her zord, they're just going to teleport in anywhere that she's at."

Andros knew what Zhane was implying. No matter what, the fight would always be centered around Ashley. Even if this experiment did work it would require Ashley to stay within the field to be safe. It was hard enough keeping Ashley confined to the Ranger Complex, Andros couldn't imagine what it would take to keep her in the hanger. As of yet there was no way to create a barrier of this type without the massive generators they were setting up in the hanger, so making it portable was out of the question.

Maybe one of us should start sleeping with her. Andros suggested absently. He heard Zhane's mental chuckle.

I'm glad I'm the only one that heard that. Zhane replied with a grin. Andros suddenly realized what he had just said and stiffened his spine. He hadn't meant for it to come out sounding like that, and he refused to blush because of it.

I'm all for it. It least I won't be cold at night. Andros glared at his friend, letting him know that his attempt at levity was not appreciated.

Andros, I'm sure that Astrea won't mind having a roommate again. Zhane told him seriously, but there was a hint of disappointment mixed in.

Maybe one of you would like to ask Astrea or Ashley if they want to be roommates again? Karone's voice broke in startling both of them.

They looked over and Karone smiled indulgently at the two of them before returning her attention to the hanger. It was sometimes easy to forget how capable Karone's telepathy was.

"I think they're going to do something."

"How can you tell?" Ashley asked Ty.

"You see that little guy over there? He always hides behind that blast shield when we try out new equipment."

"All personal out of the test area." An unfamiliar voice commanded over the hanger comm system.

Andros pushed thoughts of Ashley's new threat from his mind and focused on the experiment being conducted below. Earlier the team had moved the cats outside, just in case something predictably unexpected happened.

A single siren blast was the last warning given before the hanger lights were turned up all the way and the generators turned on. There was an electric hum in the air strong enough to lift the hair on his arms and if he concentrated, Andros could just make out the faint blue bubble of the barrier.

"Will the test subject please enter the test area." The same voice from earlier requested.

"Well, it's been nice knowing you." Ashley quipped as she patted Karone's shoulder.

Andros jaw tightened at her joke, but he said nothing as she brushed past him to the stairs. Zhane stepped up to the spot she had just vacated and nudged Karone's arm.

"Astrea…"

"I've got her, don't worry."

For the first time Andros noticed that his sister was unusually intent on Ashley's decent down the steps. Slightly mollified that at least Zhane and Karone had thought of a contingency plan, Andros took a spot next to Zhane.

The outer edges of the sphere started to shimmer the closer that Ashley got to it. She stopped just short of the bubble and looked up at them. Ty gave her a 'thumbs up' and she smiled. Her eyes slid over to his and only the tightness of her shoulders betrayed how nervous she was. He wanted to smile and show her it was all right, but he just couldn't force it.

I'll be fine, Andros.

He didn't have time to process her statement when she reached out into the barrier. The sphere seemed to solidify and the faint blue tinge he had seen before was now easy to spot. A mental gasp registered in his mind a fraction before Karone disappeared and reappeared at Ashley's side.

The Red, Silver and Black Rangers somehow found a way for all of them to run down the stairs at the same time, however when they reached Karone she stopped them.

"She's alright, for now."

"Somebody shut that damn thing off!" Zhane yelled over the scurry of the scientists.

Andros reached out to touch Ashley, but his sister grabbed his wrist. "It might disrupt the connection."

"Don't we want that? To get her out of there?" Ty asked anxiously.

"Not if she's somewhere in-between."

"In-between where?" Andros demanded feeling helpless and angry. He should have know better than to allow Ashley to participate in this before they had any proof it might work.

Karone answered by tilting her head towards the barrier. The Rangers looked past their immobile teammate and into the clear faint blue bubble. Inside were semi transparent images of half unpacked traveling boxes, much like the ones they had used when they had first moved in. Then Andros caught sight of something else that shouldn't be there.

"The cats." He whispered.

"What?"

"There." Andros directed Zhane to the right. "Aren't those the legs of your Zord?"

"I think you're right, but they're outside."

"That isn't your Zord." Karone said softly, her attention was to the left. "I think it's his."

From the direction that Karone was looking was Zhane… or a Zhane. He looked exactly like the Zhane that was standing next to Andros, but the Red Ranger could see that while his Kerovan uniform was similar it wasn't exactly the same.

The Zhane inside the bubble turned in their direction and smiled. "There you are. I was wondering when you'd finally show up."

Ty, Zhane and Andros exchanged confused glances, but the other Zhane didn't seem to notice them. He walked over, reached out and grasped Ashley's hand. As the duplicate pulled Ashley towards him and through the surface of the bubble her appearance changed.

Her tan uniform melted away and in its place was a lightly armored black flight suit that was eerily familiar, though Andros couldn't place how. Ashley's hair had been pulled up in ponytail, but now it was in a style that she seldom wore because it took so long for her to make all the long curls.

"What is the purpose of this exercise again?" Ashley asked the Zhane that was holding her hand.

Andros immediately noticed that her bearing was different than a few moments ago. She walked smoothly and precisely, her head was held high and her shoulders square and straight. Even when she had spoke she had an air of superiority about her that his Ashley had never shown.

"This isn't an exercise and there is no purpose, that's the point." The other Zhane told her exasperated as he pulled her sharply making her miss a step.

"Should we, I don't know, stop them or something?" Ty asked.

"No." Andros responded tightly, clenching his hands until they hurt. "We don't know what has caused this and we don't want to make it any worse by blundering in." No matter how much I want to.

"Then why am I here?" Ashley fairly demanded of her escort.

"Because I asked you to come?" He replied brightly, and Ashley turned to leave. His Zhane had the nerve to snicker.

"What?" the Zhane beside him asked, as if he didn't know why he was being glared at.

"Would you just stop that!?" The other Zhane exclaimed, grabbing Ashley's shoulders and turning her back around. Ashley grinned.

"You smirked!" The small smile on her face vanished, and if it was possible she looked even haughtier than before.

"I did no such thing."

"Yes, you did I saw it!" Her Zhane cried pointing at her accusingly. Ashley crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.

"Now you have become delusional. I should inform Andros."

"He's known that for years. You wouldn't be telling him anything new." He told her cheerfully. Ashley laughed softly, the sound made her sound more like their Ashley.

"Nice to see some things don't change." Ty quipped and Andros transferred his glare from his Zhane to him.

"Wow, you actually know how to get a joke." The other Zhane said, pulling Andros' attention back to inside the bubble

"What made you think that I could not?" Ashley asked seemingly genuinely curious.

"Oh, maybe it's the fact you smile even less than Saryn."

"Saryn understands the wisdom of emotional control."

"Emotional constipation is more like it." Her Zhane muttered.

"This coming from Andros' lover?" She asked amusement clear in her tone.

Andros found himself blushing despite the seriousness of the situation. Was there not a universe out there that he actually knew was he was doing?

"Hey, what's with the Andros bashing! I thought the two of you came to an understanding!" Zhane cried with obviously exaggerated anger.

"Yes we did." She told him, lifting her chin. "Unless called into battle we should avoid each other at all costs."

That got everyone's attention Andros thought bitterly. He tightened his jaw when his fellow Rangers leaned in as if it would help them to hear better.

"I don't get you two." The other Zhane said, shaking his head. "I know that you'd get along if you gave it half a chance and stopped all this posturing." He told her, waving his hand in circles at her stiffly held frame. "The two of you are so alike in some ways. You both like me after all."

"Yes, we do appear to share the same character flaw." Ashley agreed with a smirk.

It was Karone's turn to snicker and Zhane elbowed her. Andros just wished that they would take this whole situation a little more seriously.

"Three smiles in one day. I'm a lucky man."

"Yes, you are an extraordinarily lucky man, Zhane." The wistfulness in her voice vanished as if it had never been there when she addressed him again. "What was your purposeless point in bringing me here again?"

"Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me." He said, seemingly shaking himself into action. "Since you don't know when your birthday is exactly I decided that it would be today!"

"Kerovans don't celebrate birthdays." Ashley told him suspiciously and Andros didn't blame her. Zhane in any dimension was dangerous when it came to surprise presents.

"But, Earthers do, and you're from Earth, or at least originally you were so you have to have a birthday." Her Zhane told her. When she continued to look at him dubiously he sighed. "Actually I wanted to give you something and I didn't think you'd take it if I didn't have an excuse."

That seemed to be something she would believe because she nodded slightly.

"Since when have you ever needed to have an excuse for anything that you do? I seem to remember being trapped into a Power quest for no better reason than you wanted someone with fashion sense there with you."

"Well, would you have come if I told you it was because the Power told me you had to be there?" The other Zhane asked her seriously. Neither one moved and Andros briefly wondered if they were taking about the same quest that he had been on.

"Look, no matter what Andros or… " The other Zhane paused and then put great emphasis on his next word, "…anyone else thinks, you were meant to be here and to be a Ranger."

Ashley gave no indication that his speech touched her but that didn't seem bother him. "Ok, enough with the mushy stuff I want to show you your present."

The Zhane on the other side of the barrier bounded over to a cloth covered pile. Andros wondered what had happened in that world that he and Ashley were so at odds. What could have occurred to make him not want her to be a ranger? With a pause that Andros was sure was for effect, the other Zhane whipped off the cover and revealed a hover bike.

"Andros is going to kill you for this you know?" Ashley said clearly delighted by the gift. "Weren't these band from KO-35?"

"Yes." Andros answered out loud in a huff, even though he knew that they couldn't hear him.

Hover bikes had been band because of their tendency to flip and kill their riders. His Zhane had been quite fond of them before their outlaw.

The other Zhane hopped up, straddling the dormant cycle backwards and leaned back so that his shoulders rested on the handlebars.

"Who says we have to ride it here?" He answered her with a shrug then he smirked at her. "You do know how to 'ride', don't you?" He asked suggestively, locking his hands behind his head and raising his eyebrows.

Ashley didn't answer but walked slowly and deliberately over to him. Andros had seen that walk before but it had only been used for his benefit. The other Zhane didn't seem too concerned until she threw her leg over the bike seat and Zhane's legs and then settled herself in. Andros felt as uncomfortable as her Zhane looked as she gazed down at him.

"I have 'ridden' enough to know that I could teach you a thing or two."

The Zhane beside Andros coughed the same time the other swallowed. Ashley leaned forward, resting one forearm across her Zhane's chest while her other hand stroked the side of his panicked face with her fingertips.

"You know, you really shouldn't tempt someone that is willing and more than… capable of taking you up on your bluff."

The other Zhane saw the amusement in her eyes at the same time that it registered with Andros. "You're teasing me!"

Ashley threw her head back and laughed. Not a giggle or a chuckle but a full throaty laugh that suggested that she didn't do it often. Her Zhane shook his head and sat up, forcing Ashley to straighten as well. The two of them smiled in amusement at each other. Ashley suddenly wrapped her arm around the other Zhane's shoulders and threw them both to the side just as a bolt of purple energy streaked through where they had been sitting.

Karone gasped and took a step forward, but the barrier wouldn't let her through.

"I think that becoming a Ranger has made you soft Ashley. You should have been able to tell I was here the moment I teleported in."

Out from the shadows of the room stepped a figure that could only be Astronema. Her outfit was identical to the one that Karone had once worn, her hair an unnatural shade of blue. Her customary wraith staff was pointed in Ashley's direction.

"Who said that I did not?" Ashley demanded as she stood. Her head was held high and her body drawn tight. She stalked towards Astronema and then dropped to one knee before her.

"My Queen." Ashley said reverently.

Karone seemed to shake where she stood as Astronema threw the other Zhane a condescending smile before touching her staff to Ashley's shoulder causing her to rise. Andros couldn't imagine what it must be like for his sister to see herself like this.

"There is urgent business to be taken care of and I will require your assistance." Astronema told her subject simply as she started to move away, clearly expecting Ashley to follow.

"Of course Astronema." Ashley told her, placing her fist over her heart in salute. "I will only be a moment." She added.

Astronema whirled around and anger fairly glowed in her eyes.

"Uh, oh." The Zhane beside him whispered and Andros silently agreed.

Ashley didn't back down or even flinch when Astronema walked to her, each step of her heels sounding like hammer blows. The blue haired queen stopped beside her and looked deep into her eyes. Astronema then whipped her head around to look at the other Zhane, whom was standing only a few feet away, looking ready to fight.

"Very well, I will return in five minutes."

With that she was gone. Andros felt his three other teammates relax at Astronema's departure, but the two inside the barrier did not.

"You are not leaving with her." The other Zhane told Ashley heatedly.

"But I must. She is my Queen." She said quietly, almost shyly, not looking in his direction.

"No she's not Ashley!" Her Zhane all but yelled. He quickly covered the small space between them and grabbed her shoulders. "Not anymore. You are a Ranger now." He told her with a shake. When she didn't seem to respond he let her go and turned away.

"Hell, you're a citizen of KO-35 now. You don't have to take orders from her anymore!"

"I'm not doing this because she orders me to, Zhane." Ashley said catching her Zhane's eye. "She needs me and I'm going to help her."

"Help her?!" He demanded, throwing his hands up. "The last time you 'helped her' you came back half dead!"

Ashley stiffened at the accusation.

"As I told you before that was not Astronema's fault."

"Not her fault? Every time she comes around you go running after her without question."

"Isn't that what friends do?" Ashley demanded angrily. "Wasn't it you that told me that friends are there for each other no matter what?" She asked poking a finger into his chest. When the other Zhane didn't respond, Ashley flattened her hand against his chest and looked up into his eyes.

"I know that you don't believe me, but Astronema is my friend and… so much more that I can't even begin to explain." The last she said in a whisper seemingly lost in her own thoughts for a moment.

"There are things you don't know about her, things that I am just beginning to realize that may change everything. You'll see Zhane. Things worth having are worth fighting for."

Andros had no doubt that it was Astronema's true identity that Ashley was speaking of.

"Just come back in one piece."

The other Zhane held out his arm to her, a somber expression making him seem older than before. Ashley responded by clasping his elbow with her hand and grasped hers. Suddenly Ashley seemed to soften. The composed air that she had about her drifted away and a warm, loving smile brightened her face. That was the Ashley Andros knew.

Neither one seemed to notice Astronema's return and Andros wished he could warn them, but the Queen of Evil just glowered at them from a distance. Ashley leaned her head toward her Zhane's and the Silver Ranger looked puzzled. Astronema took a step forward, her face fixed in a scowl that reminded Andros too much of his own.

"Come here." Ashley said with a nod and Zhane leaned his head forward also.

In one smooth movement Ashley slid her hand from the other Zhane's elbow to the inside of his upper arm, stepped forward and rested her temple against his. After a moment, her Zhane seemed to get over his surprise and do the same. Ashley murmured something too quietly for Andros to hear, but Astronema must have because her hand tightened on her staff and bolts of purple fire flared between her fingers.

"It is time to go." Astronema told them tersely and with a movement of her staff a violet portal opened on the other side of the two embracing.

Karone turned pale at the sight.

"Karone, what is it?" Zhane asked reaching out to grasp her shoulders.

"She's not going to let her go." His sister choked out, a tear slipped down her face.

Andros started to panic. What was Astronema going to do to Ashley? Danger or no, he had to stop this. He moved forward, but just as it had for Astronema the barrier stopped him.

Ashley drew herself up to her full height and without a backwards glance walked to the oval of light. Astronema followed, but stopped briefly by the Zhane within the barrier.

"Remember this Ranger." She hissed at him without bothering to turn his way. "She was mine long before she was yours."

The treat was very clear and completely ignored by the other Zhane. "The big word there being 'was'."

This did make Astronema look at him and the glare she gave him should have melted stone, but it slid off of him without effect. With her shoulders straight and her head held high, Astronema continued forward. The instant that Ashley entered the portal the bubble collapsed and Ashley reappeared in front of them.

"That was too weird." She whispered before she slid unconscious into his arms.

End Porthole