Notes: Inspired by a scene near the end of Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan, but this takes place long before that movie.

Joe realized something was strange the second time he became Gokai Blue. The first time, his mind and body were so caught up in the transformation and the knowledge and powers being downloaded into him, nothing else registered.

The second time, as the Gormin rounded a corner unexpectedly and he and Marvelous both transformed, there was something new going on. It was a little like having a spare set of eyes and a little like new instincts and a lot like having fucking Marvelous in his head urging him to get out of the way and admiring his ass at the same time.

As he ducked and rolled, Joe could feel Marvelous' smirk, even if he couldn't see it.

For the rest of the battle, he repeated the most obnoxious children's rhyme he could think of, trying to remember everything he'd ever learned about blocking telepathy.

Marvelous strolled into the galleon's main cabin, lack of concern in every line of his body. Joe realized with some surprise that Marvelous' body language was perfect, but it wasn't enough to fool him. Joe could feel, somewhere in his mind, the fear that was driving Marvelous right now.

Marvelous was terrified he would leave, afraid Joe would be so angry that he'd abandon him. It wasn't words and it wasn't exactly feelings, just...knowledge. Joe put aside for the moment the realization that he could feel it even though neither of them of was transformed and, breathing deeply, he visualized a wall between them and felt Marvelous' mind fade away.

As Marvelous dropped into his chair, the very embodiment of relaxation, Joe strolled over and sat on the couch.

Crossing his arms, Joe caught Marvelous' eye. "So?" Joe asked.

"Handy, isn't it?"

"I suppose."

"Coordination that can't be tapped by the Zangyack."

"Mmm. You might have told me beforehand."

There it was...the tiniest twitch of Marvelous' finger betraying his anxiety. Joe stood, walking leisurely toward Marvelous, sure now he could keep Marvelous from reading him if he wanted to. Looming over the captain's chair, he allowed his mental control to slip and his mouth to quirk in the tiniest smile.

Marvelous' eyes widened and he swallowed sharply. "You..."

"If you wanted a better look at my ass, it would have been easier just to ask." Joe kissed Marvelous before he could come up with a response, but his chest was filled with joy so strong he couldn't tell who it belonged to.

Marvelous' mind was like a maze, where you could wander for hours and never find the same thing twice. Even when he was slumped in his chair, his mind was always in motion, planning, plotting, or just thinking about dinner.

Being psychically tied to Marvelous was exhausting, exhilarating, and exasperating in equal parts.

It felt like coming home.

Joe shouldn't have been surprised when Marvelous offered Luka a place on the crew. If he'd been in the habit of reading the captain, he'd have seen it coming, he supposed, but he tried not to invade his privacy too often when they weren't either in bed or on the battlefield.

Besides, in retrospect, wasn't it obvious that the man who'd rescued an escaping Zangyack soldier on a whim would decide to do the same thing for a mouthy thief?

Joe didn't object, but he took Luka aside as soon as he could. Before he could speak, she'd crossed her arms and glared up at him, totally unafraid. "I don't care if you don't want me on the crew. I'm coming anyway."

He sighed. "I wanted to warn you, actually."

"Warn me?" She stiffened and took a step back, her eyes narrowing. "Is he, I mean, Marvelous, does he-"

"No!" Joe shook his head sharply. "That's not what I meant. It's about using the mobirates. It's not as simple as he makes it sound." He paused, searching for the right words.

She scowled at him. "Out with it."

He rubbed his temple, wishing he could trust Marvelous to have this conversation with her instead. "When you change...it changes you. And it links us together. At least, I know it will link you and Marvelous together. There hasn't been a third before, so I'm not sure if it will happen to us as well."

"Link?"

"Our minds. Not reading your thoughts, exactly. Well, most of the time." He groaned. "I'm not explaining this well."

"No, you're not."

"To allow us to fight as a team, the mobirates connects us, but the connection doesn't go away completely even when the battle is over." He resisted the urge to shuffle his feet. "It's stronger when we're fighting, but we can sense each other's emotions, know what the other person is going to do and what we need to do. There are ways to block it, but..."

She stared at him for a long moment, most likely trying to decide if he was a) insane or b) lying. He spent that time thinking about the things that led a young woman to steal valuable goods from the Zangyack and deciding that he almost hoped she stayed.

"It doesn't bother you, this link?"

He shook his head. "I promised Marvelous I would be with him to his dream and beyond, so no, it doesn't bother me."

"His dream...the greatest treasure in the universe."

"Yes."

"I guess I'll take the chance. I'm not sure if I'm crazy or desperate."

Joe chuckled softly. "Welcome to the Gokai Galleon."

Luka fit in fine. Her mind felt like beams of light, never stopping, always looking for the next shiny. She caught on to the blocking technique almost immediately, which helped.

But Joe touched her mind often enough that he never complained about her apparent greed. He knew better.

Joe and Luka sat silently as Marvelous shoved the mobirates and key into Doc's hands and told him they were "gear to help you seize your dreams." Not being stupid, they'd seen it coming since approximately a minute after Marvelous had watched Doc fix the Galleon.

After Marvelous left the befuddled mechanic and stalked off to his room, Joe and Luka stared at each other over the table, fighting a silent battle over who would talk to the poor guy.

Interrupting their debate, Doc cleared his throat. "Er, not to disturb you, but, um..."

Joe glared at Luka as she bounced out of her seat, punched Doc on the arm (he flinched), and said "Joe will explain." She laughed as he sent a particularly strong burst of annoyance at her.

Joe turned to look at Doc, who visibly shrank back. Sighing, Joe closed his eyes and schooled his expression. "I don't bite." (At least out of bed, he thought, and two minds caught a hint of his amusement, bouncing it back.)

"O-okay. It's just that I didn't really intend to become a pirate."

Joe nodded.

Encouraged, Doc went on, bounding forward to put the mobirates and key on the table. "And, um, maybe we could just turn around and put me back. It wasn't a very exciting planet, but I had my own shack and-"

Joe put up a hand and Doc stopped so quickly, his teeth snapped together. "I know this was very fast, but perhaps you might give us a chance." He couldn't believe he was saying this, but Marvelous was right that having a mechanic on board would be an incredible advantage. It was the other part that was crazy.

Doc stuck his hands in his pockets. "A chance?"

"Perhaps 8 days? If you don't want to stay, I'll make the captain turn around and take you back."

"Truly?" His eyes widened.

"Yes." Although it would be incredibly difficult, he thought with a sigh. "You have my word."

Doc frowned. "Can I take a pirate's word?"

"You can take the word of anyone on this ship," Joe snapped.

"Oh." Doc took a step back, bowing low. "I'm sorry."

Joe reined in his temper. "There's one more thing." He pointed to the mobirates. "About accepting that."

"I didn't. He just handed it to me."

"You didn't give it back."

"Well..." Doc stared at it, part of him obviously itching to take it apart and see how it worked.

"It will change you. Make you one of us. A pirate."

Doc stared at him. "But I'm not...you're..." He waved his hands. "I can't fight!"

"You can once you've activated it. It won't make you a swordsman like me, but it will make you...more. Stronger. Better."

Doc's hand crept toward the mobirates for a second, but he pulled it back.

"That's the upside."

"What's the downside?"

Joe sighed. "Maybe you should sit down for this."

Doc's eyes widened impossibly further.

Doc should never have fit in as smoothly as he did. Joe wondered if they were just lucky, or if Reds were somehow gifted with an extra ability to know who would fit with the team.

Doc's mind was a disciplined contrast to the rest of them, not to mention a contrast to his outward appearance and actions. Joe found his mind rather restful, in fact. It was pleasant to do pushups while Doc cooked or repaired the Galleon, his whole being focused on his task like a laser beam.

Once they'd picked up the princess, Joe knew Marvelous was insane, but clearly his captain had the luck of the 15 gods watching over him.

Doc stammered when Ahim looked in his direction and Luka raised an eyebrow that clearly said he was on his own. With a sigh, Joe took Ahim aside for the conversation that never seemed to get easier.

"Please do not try to dissuade me," Ahim said.

Her words were polite, but Joe could hear the steel behind them and thought that just maybe, she might survive. "I'm not. I just want to make sure you understand exactly what is being offered."

The way she was studying him, it felt as if she could already read his mind. "Go on," she said.

He held up his mobirates. "These are more complicated than you think. Using one will give you more strength, more endurance, but you're still going to have to learn the basics of fighting."

"I will learn. For the sake of my people, I can learn."

"Er..." He really hated this part. "It also...links you to the rest of us. Connects our minds."

"I see. How interesting." It was clear that she didn't entirely believe him, but she was much too polite to say so.

It took Ahim time to allow them in, even during fighting. But once she did, she slotted in as neatly as any of the others.

Ahim's mind was a cool river, especially in comparison to the volatile Luka. She didn't require teaching in order to shield her mind, although she curtsied prettily when Joe offered.

She soothed where Marvelous aggravated, her psychic presence a balm to all their minds, which was all the more amazing once Joe realized what she had seen.

Gai...they should have felt him before he appeared, Joe thought. But however the mobirates worked, his mind was nowhere to be seen until the moment when he transformed in front of them. It was like being hit by a bolt of silver lightning and with the ease of practice, they automatically shut him out to protect themselves.

It was all wrong, Joe thought. Marvelous was right to take away the stranger's mobirates and key until they'd figured things out. He was supposed to choose the members of their team, not some phantoms in a dream world.

They sat in the main cabin, each lost in their own thoughts, until Ahim let out a little shriek. "He's in danger!"

They reached for her mind, knowing they needed a faster explanation, simultaneously realizing she'd been reading Gai. They all felt Gai race into danger without his mobirates.

"Idiot," Marvelous muttered, closing his eyes and clenching the silver key tighter.

"Our kind of idiot," Joe said.

Doc was already heading for the console, feeling Marvelous' determination to help the idiot in question no matter what he said aloud.

And when they reached Gai, they were overwhelmed by his joy at seeing them. Silver lightning, indeed, but lightning that was on their side until the end.

It took longer than anyone for Gai to learn to block. The problem, Joe thought, was that he simply wasn't made to push anyone away.

Everyone had a lot of headaches for the first few days, but eventually Gai learned how not to project quite so loudly. Within a week, it was as if he'd always been there on the edge of their consciousness, showing them the wonders of the Earth and the Super Sentai.

It took Joe a surprisingly long time to realize how much he loved each of his teammates and how much better he felt when their minds were connected at a certain level.

Constant attacks and danger and Basco and chasing down the previous sentai teams...all of it kept him so busy, it was months before he realized they didn't keep full barriers up all the time as they once had.

It seemed that their minds and mobirates had come to a kind of agreement and they could touch each other's minds without accidentally reading every stray emotion. When Joe asked, Doc had a theory, but it was so complex and technical that Joe stopped listening after a minute or so.

Gai had a theory that was less technical and more a tedious explanation of how all the previous sentai teams must have handled it, which (as far as Joe could tell) was complete and total speculation.

Marvelous shrugged when Joe mentioned it to him. "It works," is all he would say as he threw another dart.

Luka didn't even bother to look up from counting her treasures. "Yeah, so?"

Ahim patted his cheek and smiled. "Don't worry so much. Everything will work out for the best, you'll see."

And that, it seemed, was that.

But that night, instead of going to bed, they all cuddled on the couch; even Marvelous joined them, somehow worming his way to the most comfortable center position. Joe leaned back between Marvelous' legs, feeling someone's hand stroke his hair, and decided Ahim was right. Maybe he shouldn't worry so much about it.

After all, the connection had kept them alive so far and that was no small feat.

All around him, busy minds drifted into sleep, bringing a sense of contentment. Joe smiled, closing his eyes and letting the feeling lull him to sleep as well.

-end-