Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers in Space or any of the characters depicted if in the series.

Author's Note: WhiteZeo, you've gotten me hooked on Andros and Cassie again. Now I can't get them out of my mind! So this kinda focuses on them. If you're a Andros/Ashley shipper, then I would suggest you stay away. Don't leave me reviews going, "Make it Andros/Ashley!" because it's not going to head that way, but I invite you to read. Might change your mind about A/A ;-)
This is going to be part of the Road to Completion trilogy exploring the Andros and Cassie relationship. This is just book one.
Much thanks to WhiteZeo for her encouragement.

Timeline in PRiS Universe: Right after the first season and before the second season starts.

New Theories
Part one: Confusion
By: stargazer_1017

"I'm leaving--and I'm going to be great," Cassie Chan spat out, her eyes narrowed.

"You think you'll do better? You know nothing about being an adult, Cassandra," the older woman shot back at her.

Cassie shook her head, tears stinging her eyes. "You've never really had much faith in me," she muttered bitterly. "Ever since I was young, it's always been 'You'll never live up to this, Cassie' or 'Music will do nothing for your future'. There has never been a word of confidence from you. Not one!"

The older woman's expression softened just a tiny bit. "Cassie, I've never said those words to you," she countered.

"Oh yeah? Want me to ask Missy Donahue for her video tape from the talent contest?" Cassie argued. She shook her head and put her backpack on. "If Daddy was here, he would never put me down. He would let me know how proud he was of me and how--"

Cassie's words were cut short when her mother slapped her across the face. Cassie's head reeled to the right, and she immediately put her hand to the side of her mouth. She glared at her mother out of the corner of her eyes and saw her mother's horrified expression. "Cassie--"

Cassie never stayed to hear the rest. She turned and ran out the door into the cold, dark night.

"Cassie?"

Cassie looked up at the person who spoke to her and turned over the picture she held in her right hand. "Andros, hey," she greeted him as she picked up her spoon with her left hand. When he didn't reply back and didn't move, Cassie looked up and saw his gaze fixed on her. "Something I can help you with?" she offered.

"You okay?" Andros asked, still not moving from his position.

"Me?" Cassie asked, forcing a smile on her face. "I'm fine," she replied, moving her hand in an easy gesture. "Just having breakfast."

Andros' eyes looked down at the picture Cassie had turned over with her hand when he had spoken up. "You sure? I mean, you looked like something was wrong."

Cassie started tapping her fingers on the table. "I don't really want to talk about it, okay Andros?" she said impatiently.

"Okay, fine," Andros replied just as quick. He put his hands up. "I don't want to get into an argument with you, again."

Cassie sighed. "Look," she said quietly, "I know you're only trying to help. . .but this is something I've gotta deal with on my own."

Alone. . .she sounds like me. Andros nodded, but said nothing. Instead, he turned around and headed for the bridge. There, he was met by T.J., who was busy doing system checks. Andros nodded to acknowledge his presence and moved into Carlos' usual position at the controls. He pressed a couple of buttons on the console and looked up at the monitor. "Everything seems to be quiet," he said aloud.

"And that's a bad thing?" T.J. asked, his voice slightly distracted.

Andros turned to look at him. "For Astronema, it's very bad," he replied. T.J. looked up from typing from his electronic clipboard and shook his head. He looked down at the clipboard again and continued his work. "DECA, do a long-range scan," Andros called out.

"Long-range scan, initializing," DECA replied. Andros turned to look down at the console and waited for DECA to complete the scan. "Velocifighters, detected," the onboard computer suddenly called out.

Andros looked up at the screen. "Where are they at?" he asked.

"In the vicinity of Centron B-2," DECA replied.

T.J. frowned. "That's far off," he remarked. "I wonder what they'd be doing there."

"Are there any signs of the Astronema?" Andros asked.

"Scanning confirms ten velocifighters, but no sign of the Dark Fortress," DECA confirmed. Andros frowned. Velocifighters. . .and no Astronema?

"I'm going to check it out," Andros announced and turned around. T.J. put down the clipboard and got to Andros before he reached the doors.

"Wait a minute, why don't we just check it out with the Megaship?" T.J. asked.

"Astronema's up to something. I'm going to check out what those Velocifighters are doing on their own. If the Velocifighters even detect the Megaship on their scanners, they're going to be suspicious and stop whatever they're planning. If I go on my Galaxy Glider, I have the chance of surprising them."

T.J. frowned. "Andros--"

"T.J., watch the bridge," Andros replied before T.J. finished. "If I need help, I'll call for it." T.J. still had the frown on his face, but he nodded. Andros turned around and ran out of the bridge.

***

Now where are they. . .

Andros put his hand on his helmet and scanned the area. The planet Centron B-2 loomed under his Galaxy Glider as he floated above its atmosphere. "They're supposed to be here," Andros muttered. I don't understand. . .

He gave a frustrated groan and clenched his fist. We must have scared them off, somehow. Andros lifted his left arm. "T.J., I don't see anything. I'm heading back to the Megaship."

"I read you, Andros. We'll be awaiting your arrival," T.J. confirmed.

Andros nodded and shook his head. Steering the Galaxy Glider with his legs, he turned and headed towards the Megaship and looked down on the planet below. Shaking his head again, he leaned forward and headed back.

"There's a whole swarm of them on your butt, Andros!"

Andros tensed and briefly turned to look behind him. His heart pounded slightly as he turned back and leaned even more forward on his Galaxy Glider. "Damnit, where did they come from?" Andros muttered, confirming T.J.'s suspicions about the Velocifighters. "T.J.--I'm going to take them out."

"You're still far away, Andros. We can't provide back-up."

"I've got it," Andros replied. He reached to his right side and pulled out his blaster. He extended his left hand and his Spiral Sabre appeared and he hastily attached the blaster to his saber. "Whoa!" he called out when laser blasts buzzed past him. He quickly took a dive and turned around, heading towards the Velocifighters.

Carefully dodging the closely aimed blasts, he came up from under a Velocifighter and took a shot at it. The force of the blast from the velocifighter shoved him to the left for a moment, but he quickly leaned to his right and regained control. "Damn," he cursed as the other nine velocifighters suddenly appeared all over him.

"Andros? Hang on, we're coming!" Ashley's voice sounded in his helmet.

"I'm trying," Andros replied, gritting his teeth. "There's way too many to deal with!" He dove down with his Galaxy Glider to avoid the blasts from the remaining Velocifighters. Suddenly, an idea came to Andros' mind. Withdrawing his weapons to their places, he headed back towards Centron B-2 and went as fast as he could. I hope this works. . .

He sped towards the planet and went around to the other side of the planet, away from the Velocifighters. He opened his left hand and his morpher appeared on his wrist. He quickly punched a few buttons on his morpher and brought out his Spiral Saber again and narrowed his eyes. It was now or nothing.

Another laser blast shot past him and he moved upwards. "Spiral Saber, power up!" Andros called out. Just as he planned, his Spiral Saber started glowing a red light. He turned back towards the remaining Velocifighters and struck all of them in a row with his saber.

One by one, they all exploded. Andros jabbed his arm into the air and gave a whoop. "Yeah!" he called out, cheering his victory. Then his eyes widened as a blast shot over him and everything blacked out.

***

"Augh," Andros groaned, coughing. What the hell. . .

He realized he wasn't on the Megaship, and wasn't familiar with where he was or what he was doing. He opened his eyes and looked around. "Whoa!" He gasped, fidgeting slightly. I'm floating in the middle of space! He looked around his body and saw that he was, thankfully, still morphed.

Andros looked around for something that was familiar--anything. About five feet away from him was his Galaxy Glider. "Galaxy Glider," he called out and the device obeyed his order and moved closer to him. Andros grabbed onto it and jumped on. He scanned the area using his helmet and saw the Megaship within a hundred feet. He leaned forward and headed towards the Megaship. Weird, he thought as he sped towards the ship.

After arriving through the jump tubes and landing in the ship, he saw Cassie, standing in front of her locker in her Pink Ranger outfit. She was removing her helmet and shook her head slightly to straighten her hair.

"Cassie?" Andros called out.

Cassie turned towards him and her eyes brightened. "Andros, what are you doing here?" she asked, a smile on her face. "I thought you were on the bridge monitoring everything."

"Huh?" Andros asked.

"I didn't find anything out there, so nothing's wrong," Cassie said, giving him a smile. She put her helmet into her locker and closed it. "I told you--you're just being paranoid about everything," she said, moving forward and giving him a hug.

Whoa. . .Andros stiffened slightly at the gesture Cassie made. Cassie obviously felt his tension when she hugged him and pulled back immediately. "What's wrong, Andros?" she asked.

"I--" Andros started, but couldn't complete his comment. Cassie just hugged him. Cassie just hugged him? What was going on?

It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the her hugging him. After all, he and Cassie were on slightly tense terms for about a week now, ever since he inquired about the photograph he always saw her carrying. A hug basically meant she had forgiven him. And he had never known what it was like to be in her arms. . .

Cassie gave him a sympathetic look. "I told you not to worry about me out there," she said, grinning. "Geez, I told you I'd be okay," she said, grabbing his hand and putting a serious look on her face. "Now come on, we've gotta check out the scanners again. You said the scanners picked up something out there, right?"

"Well actually, T.J. was the one who saw it," Andros replied, confusion apparent in his voice. He allowed Cassie to drag him as they headed towards the bridge.

Cassie frowned as she moved towards the controls. "T.J.? What are you talking about, Andros. T.J. went with Carlos to Earth to get some supplies, remember?" she asked. Andros frowned as he moved to stand next to her. After pressing a couple of buttons on the console, she turned back to Andros. "You okay?" she asked softly.

Andros turned his head to look at her and saw Cassie gazing at him with genuine concern on her face. She's concerned for me, he thought with slight confusion. He shook his head and was about to respond when he felt something on his back.

"Don't move," a voice spoke behind him. Andros tensed and kept still. Beside him, Cassie had turned to look at the intruder with a shocked look on her face. She gasped.

"Now, turn around slowly," the voice ordered. Something about the voice was familiar to Andros, but he couldn't place who it was. He complied to the voice as he thought about how to protect him and Cassie from the intruder. Then his own eyes widened when he realized who it was that spoke and had the blaster pointed at him.

"What the. . ."

It was himself!

To be continued. . .