Title – Remembering
Summary – Dillon was attacked by a Venjix attackbot. His memories start returning to him. What does he remember? A complete one-shot.
Warning – Dillon is kind of OOC in this story. Then again everyone is…
Disclaimer - Me no owny this story. But I do own May and Grandma!
Dillon sat up. His fever dream replayed in his head.
She smiled and stretched out her hand to him, teasing him. He reached out to grab her hand before it disappeared into the darkness. Venjix's face was the last thing he remembered seeing before everything faded into the oblivion.
"Are you okay?" Summer asked. Dillon looked around him and noticed that he was lying on the couch in the rec room. He just shook his head and said "I'm fine." Everyone else was looking at him. Scott, Flynn, Summer, Ziggy, Gem and Gemma and Tenaya wore identical expressions of concern.
"I'm going to take a ride." Dillon said and he started walking towards his car. "Not in that condition." Tenaya said. "I'm fine" Dillon replied as he got into the car and he started the engine. "Let him go." Summer said. "He'll tell us what's bothering him in his own time."
The other rangers were worried. The fight with Venjix hadn't gone well today. Dillon had taken quite a few hits. The rangers had barely managed to take down the Venjix attack bot. Something had definitely been bothering Dillon and that worried the rangers as well.
Dillon drove his car to a secluded spot in the desert. The vent at station 19 had always been a good way to exit the city. He removed his pocket watch and put the keys in it. The familiar tune started playing again. As the tune continued he had a flashback.
They were running in a dark alleyway. "Dillon, you need to leave now!" she shouted. He was not going to leave her alone. "Not without you!" he yelled back. They hid in a small store in one of the alley ways. "Look at me. Go away from here. Go to Corinth. I'll cover for you. Take Tenaya and run. If we can make it out of here by midnight tomorrow then we will have a good head start on these attack bots." She concluded. He could see her determination in her eyes. He was determined too. He was not leaving her alone.
"You have to come with us." He said. She struggled briefly with her thoughts. "Fine" she relented. "I'll come with you. But we will have to leave tonight. Three people running away won't be as easy to hide tomorrow as it would be today." He smiled briefly. She peeped out to check the alley before saying "It's clear." They came out into the deep alleyway. "Go get Tenaya and meet me at eight by the old warehouse near the old railway station on the outskirts of the city. I'll get some supplies and meet you there." He nodded. On an impulse, he pulled her into his arms. "Be careful" he whispered into her ears and he gently kissed her forehead. She nodded and they parted ways in the dark alley.
His mind fast forwarded his memories to that of that night.
He helped Tenaya get into the old warehouse silently. She was already waiting for them. They were some supplies kept in the left hand corner of the room. A small bulb was hanging over a table. There was a map of the city spread over it. She hugged him and Tenaya and said "Thank God, you guys are safe. Did you run into any trouble?" Tenaya shook her head and she sighed with relief.
"Okay, here's the plan. The Venjix barricade hasn't completely been completed. Five miles south from here, there's a big gap that had an accident during the construction. The repair work doesn't resume until day after tomorrow because they are waiting for people to be caught and brought here. At around midnight there is a change in guards. If we are quiet enough, we can sneak by then." She finished confident of her plan.
He didn't want to sound negative but there was one aspect of the plan she hadn't considered yet. "What if we get attacked on the way?" he asked her. "That's why I have this." She pointed towards a bulky looking blanket kept with the supplies. She went over and unwrapped it. The contents inside shocked him. "What are they?" Tenaya asked as she couldn't see.
"Bombs and other kind of ammunition. I found these and took them along just in case. I brought lots of food, water, clothes, gas and some money too. Just in case. I even have a map of the route we can follow to reach Corinth. All in all this should keep us covered for a month and a half and we can get more on the way." She said. He nodded. That covered everything. He didn't like having to see this side of her. Then again, they didn't have a choice in those circumstances.
She put on a bright smile and asked, "Who wants Chinese for dinner?" he smiled. She loved Chinese. There were some things about her that hadn't changed. For now that would be more than enough.
Dillon couldn't keep a track of his thoughts. Whoever this girl was, she had been helping Tenaya and Dillon escape. She had been planning to escape with them. What had happened next? What had happened to her? His memories fast forwarded to later that night.
"Where do we go next?" He asked her. She replied "we need to head south from here. But I think it's better if we go west a bit first. It'll keep them confused. Drive straight for ten miles or so and then we can turn." "Are you guys okay back there?" he asked again. "Yeah. A little shaken but okay." Tenaya replied. "Who would have thought you're brother's driving would be scarier than the Grinders?" she joked. Tenaya laughed and Dillon rolled his eyes. She turned back to check if they were being followed. "I think we are out of danger." She declared. (So they must have cleared the barricade, he thought)
"You should get some sleep." She told Tenaya. Tenaya nodded and pretty soon she was sound asleep. "You too." She said looking at Dillon. Dillon looked at her through his rearview mirror. "Relax a bit. I'll drive. I know the way better too." She said. He reluctantly stopped the car in the middle of nowhere and they exchanged places.
She started the car and accelerated into the middle of nowhere. "Are you sure you're not tired?" he asked her. "Nope" she said cheerfully. "Yeah right. You took out ten grinders single handedly and you aren't even tired after all that fighting?" "There's no way I am giving up the chance to drive your car." She replied cheerfully. Dillon rolled his eyes.
Something kept in the back caught his eye. "No way!" he said. "What's wrong?" she asked alerted. "There's enough lollipops here to feed an entire army of hungry people." He said incredulously. "It's just one bag." She replied shyly. "I bet you got the jumbo one." He could see through the rearview mirror that she was blushing. He smiled.
"Get some sleep. There's no point in both of us being tired at the same time." She said, turning back to check behind them. "Everything will be okay." She said slowly. "We are together now. We'll make it okay." She said slowly, reassuring him. He simply nodded and slowly he fell asleep.
So they had made it out okay. Apparently there had been lot of fighting involved as well. He pressed his mind to know more.
They stopped outside an old run down house. "Finally, I was getting sore from sitting for such a long time." Tenaya said. "We have been driving for seven days together now." she said surprised. "I'm sore too." Dillon agreed.
They found the door open. The house looked like it had been occupied recently. There were signs of a struggle. "Grinders" she said echoing his thoughts. He moved to help Tenaya go upstairs. "We should get some sleep while its still night. We can go searching for supplies tomorrow. There must be some bedrooms upstairs." She said.
There were two bedrooms upstairs. "You guys should get some sleep. I'll take first watch." She said. He wanted to protest but she cut him off. "You didn't sleep at all last night and I am pretty sure Tenaya wants to sleep in a bed for once. So no arguing." She ushered them into their room and closed the door herself. Dillon lay in his bed. He couldn't get sleep at first. But slowly his eyes drooped and he fell asleep.
The morning light woke him up. He smelt something being cooked in the kitchen. He warily got up, dressed himself and trudged down stairs. He heard Tenaya and her laugh and he relaxed visibly. "Morning sleeping beauty" Tenaya said as he walked into the kitchen. "Good morning" she greeted him cheerfully as she looked up from the frying pan. She was making pancakes. "Morning" Dillon said as he stretched himself. He still felt a little sore.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" he asked as he sat down on the table. "You looked real cute when you were sleeping and I didn't feel sleepy so I didn't wake you up." She replied simply as she sat gave him his breakfast. He smiled. Her pancakes were the best in the world. He kissed her forehead gently. She smiled. "I'll catch a few winks now. You think you could go look for supplies today?" she asked. Dillon nodded. "Thanks."
They must have been traveling for a long time then... He closed his eyes to concentrate better on his memories.
It was later that evening. The supplies had been gathered and they had made sure that there were no Grinders roaming about the area. He helped Tenaya go up to her room. He came back down to find her sitting on the couch in the living room. He sat down next to her and she sighed. He put his arms round her and she rested her head on his shoulder.
"You know, if this house wasn't wrecked so badly, I'm sure this would be the kind of house we lived in after we were married." Dillon looked at her. She was smiling and looking at the windows. "We would have lovely cream colored walls with dark chocolate colored curtains. That's where the kitchen would be. And there would be large French window in there which would lead to the backyard." She stood up and pointed to where things could have been as she spoke. "We could have had a pet dog. I wonder what his name would have been…"
He humored her by answering "we could name him Riley." She paused for a second and continued. "Riley would be a good name. So we would have a pet dog named Riley. I bet the twins would love to play with him." "Twins?" he asked smiling. "Yup, twins. I couldn't decided on a boy or a girl so I decided why not both?"
She continued "and we would have three bedrooms upstairs. One of them would be Tenaya's room, one of them would our room and the other one would belong to our kids. They could have a cradle that both of us could build together." She sighed and sat next to him again. "Tell me more about our kids." He egged her on.
"We would have fraternal twins. A boy and a girl. Our son would have your hair and my eyes. And I bet he would be as good looking as you. Our daughter would have my hair and your eyes. And she would be the most beautiful thing in this world. I bet they would have your eyes too. I wonder if they would be as stubborn as we are right now. I bet they would love lollipops as much as we do." They ended up laughing. "So that's why you brought so many lollipops." He said wisely. She smiled.
"But that was all a dream." She waved off. She started to get up but he pulled her closer to him. "We can still make that happen." He said silently. They looked into each other's eyes. She had the most beautiful eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her passionately. He didn't care that they were alone in the dark in the middle of nowhere. He was with her and that's all that mattered.
A stray tear fell down Dillon's cheeks. He had loved her so much. He looked at his pocket watch. It had stopped playing the tune. He went into flashback again.
"Omega City looks grand even now." She said as she stepped out of the car. They were in Omega City now. Dillon helped Tenaya out. They had decided to stop outside the city for a while. Going head on into a large city was not safe. "I'll go ahead and check everything out. You should stay with Tenaya." He said and for once she agreed with him. "Be careful." She warned him. He went on ahead.
Omega city was just like he had remembered. He knew the streets and how to get around sneakily. He decided to check out the city first. After an hour or so of searching he found that the city was safe. There was no one left behind but he did find plenty of supplies. That would have been enough for today.
He turned around at a corner. He noticed his car coming at him at a great speed. He immediately realized that there was danger. The car stopped right in front of him and she yelled at him to get in right now. Dillon wasted no time. He got in quickly and slammed the door behind him. She accelerated as soon as the door was closed.
"Grinders. Many of them. Most probably a patrol. We need to get out soon." She said hurriedly. She turned sharply at a corner. "Maybe we can get out at the west end." She said and she headed that way. Unfortunately it didn't work out for them. The west gate was closed.
"Dillon take the wheel." She said and she got out of the car. "Where are you going?" he yelled as he managed to get into the passenger seat. She was headed towards the gate. She tried different combinations on the lock present there. None of them worked. Dillon could hear the Grinders coming closer to them.
She ran back to them. She spoke directly to Dillon without wasting any time. "I may have to blast that gate open. But that's going to take a lot of time. Dillon listen to me. If I can't make it in time to the car, just keep driving on okay? Don't come back." "There's no way I am leaving you here." He said angrily. "Please don't be foolish Dillon. We have worked so hard to escape them and I am not going to waste everything we have done by allowing you to that. What's the point of everything if we ultimately get caught?" she pleaded. "Let me go instead." He suggested. "No you don't know how to operate that stuff. Besides, Tenaya needs you. You can't just abandon her."
The Grinders would close in on them any time soon. "Don't worry about me. I know a way out of here. You take Tenaya and run. Follow the map go to Corinth. I'll meet you there. Remember 11th August Dillon? It's the day we first met. I'll meet you in that old graveyard on the outskirts of Corinth on the same day. Just promise me that you will be safe. Okay? When the door blasts open. Drive straight through the smoke. Now go." He nodded. He silently protested the plan. But she didn't listen to him. She kissed him for the last time. Then everything happened too quickly.
The Grinders started too appear at the intersection. She took the bomb and set it up at the gate. With a last wave she disappeared. The explosion startled the Grinders. Dillon kept his word and he drove straight through the smoke and emerged at the other side of the west gate. He knew he couldn't go back, so he kept driving straight through. His eyes started to glisten. His heart was screaming at him for leaving her behind without any way of knowing if she was safe or not. He was pretty sure he heard Tenaya silently crying in the back. Only one word kept repeating his heart. 'May'
They hadn't been able to get very far from the city. They were ultimately captured a few miles from Omega City. His eyes became wet again. He had failed in keeping his promise. He had not been able to protect Tenaya or May. He hit the bonnet of his car in frustration.
It was getting late. He decided to get back into the city before the gates closed for the night. He drove towards the garage silently. The other rangers sensed his mood and decided not to trouble him. Dr. K however had other plans.
"Ranger Operator Series Black, I am afraid we need to conduct some tests to gauge the damage done in the earlier fight with Venjix." Dillon agreed to the tests without any protests. This surprised the rangers. "Something is seriously wrong with him. Maybe he will talk to me." Tenaya said. "Maybe right now isn't exactly the best time. You could talk to him after the tests." Flynn offered. Tenaya nodded I agreement. He had a point.
Half an hour later, Tenaya walked in to find a shocked looking Dr. K and surprised Dillon. "What's wrong?" she asked. "The Venjix virus that was spreading inside Dillon has been permanently arrested." Dr. K said in a rather surprised tone. "That's a good thing, right?" Ziggy asked from behind Tenaya. "Yes perhaps the attack from the attackbot had a reverse effect on the machinery in Dillon's body. One attack caused the virus to become active and the other rendered it inactive." Dr. K hypothesized. "My memories have started returning too." Dillon said slowly. "Whoa, that's like awesome news." Ziggy said. "We should mark this date down for you. Let's see 10th August. A day going down in history for Dillon." Ziggy said as he added a reminder on the digital calendar in the lab.
Something struck Dillon. "What's today's date again?" he asked. "10th August." Ziggy replied. "Now that we have a good reason to celebrate, lets have a partay! Of course, I would gladly lend my awesome cooking skills to the shindig." Dr. K stared at Ziggy disbelievingly. Dillon stared at the calendar disbelievingly.
"What's wrong?" Tenaya asked noting Dillon's expression. "Tomorrow's eleventh august." He said slowly. He may be a whole year late but was there any chance she would still be there waiting for him? He suppressed his new found hope. "Nothing" he replied. He didn't want to raise everyone's hopes just yet.
Meanwhile one of the rangers outside had other plans too. "Summer can I talk to you outside for a sec?" Scott asked. "Yeah" Summer replied. They slipped out without any of the rangers noticing. They stood out of the garage for quite sometime. Scott decided to break the awkward silence between them.
"It's been real quiet today hasn't it?" he asked. "Yeah, ever since the attack, it's been real quite in there." Summer replied sadly. "I really don't know how to do this. No experience but uhmm…" he kneeled down in front of Summer. "Summer Landsdown, after all this fighting is over, will you do me the honor of being my girlfriend and go out with me on dinner sometime?" he asked. "I know it's dangerous" he continued, "and I don't know what the rest of the team will react but – "Summer cut him off with a kiss. "I'll take that as a yes." He said weakly. "Come on, let's go in and tell everyone the good news." Summer said with a smile.
Ziggy heard a roar of applause in the rec room. "I haven't even given the good news yet!" he said as he walked in. He saw Summer and Scott holding hands. "Oh wow" was all he could say. "Took you guys long enough!" Tenaya said as she appeared behind Ziggy. Scott ran his hands through his hair and everyone else laughed.
"You had more good news?" Flynn asked. "Yup" Ziggy said. "Dillon's memories came back." Tenaya announced. "And that's two good reasons to party!" Ziggy exclaimed. "A party…""….sounds nice!" Gem and Gemma exclaimed. "Not today." Dr. K said as she entered the room. "All of you need some rest after all the excitement. You can have a party tomorrow after some proper planning." The rangers reluctantly agreed. Dr. K had a point. They hadn't realized how tired they were. Everyone decided to go to sleep. Summer kissed Scott goodnight. Dillon watched them. He remembered the night in that run down house in the middle of nowhere and the kiss he had shared with May. He couldn't wait for tomorrow.
Dillon woke up early the next morning. He got dressed hurriedly and went down to the kitchen. No one was up yet. He grabbed a glass of orange juice and gulped it down in one go. He turned to go towards his car. He found Tenaya standing a few steps behind him. "You're in a hurry." She remarked. "I have to go somewhere. I might be gone the whole day" he said hurriedly and he walked past Tenaya hurriedly. "Okay, be back in time for the party!" she said as she watched him get into his car. "I will." He said as he accelerated and drove out of the garage.
After an hour of driving, Dillon finally arrived at the old graveyard on the outskirts of Corinth. He raced through the old graveyard. His heart, if possible, was racing faster than he was. He searched for half an hour or so, but he didn't find anyone. 'Maybe I'm too early' he thought. He decided to sit down on a bench.
He saw an old lady coming towards him in a distance. He decided to help her. He walked towards the old lady. "Do you want me to help you with that?" he asked her. "Thank you, my child." She said and gracefully accepted his help. "Where do you have to go to?" he asked her. "Oh, just around the corner dear. The first grave on the right." She replied sweetly. He helped her till there.
She laid the flowers on the grave. "A relative of yours?" he asked. "He was my husband." The old lady reminisced as they walked towards a bench. "We met when we were very young. We were married for fifty long blissful years." "I'm sorry." Dillon said earnestly. "Don't be. He was a good man." She joked. He smiled and shook his head. "I had a long happy life with him. For a while back then we were afraid we wouldn't survive the attack. But thanks to that young girl who helped us we managed to make it here." She said. "Young girl?" Dillon asked. She looked at Dillon with a funny look. He felt kind of embarrassed. "Yes. A young girl. She's about your age. She comes to visit me sometimes. I think her name is…"
A frantic but familiar voice cut off Grandma's story. "Grandma! Do you have any idea how long I have been searching for you. I was about to file a missing person's report! I–" Dillon couldn't believe what he saw. His heart was ready to come out of chest and jump with joy. Standing in front of him was the very woman he had seen in his memories just yesterday.
May looked even more beautiful now. Not that that had been possible when he had last seen her. She was wearing a white sundress. She was staring at him too. Grandma didn't take long to piece everything together. "You must be the young man who she told me about" she said. May nodded. She couldn't tear his eyes off him. "Now that I'm not needed here anymore, I think I'll go home." Grandma said. Both of them moved to help her. "No, no. you both have a lot of catching up to do." She winked and she started to walk towards the exit.
They couldn't tear their eyes away from each other. The hope that they had been harboring had finally given way. Finding himself speechless, Dillon did something that didn't require words. He took her in his arms and kissed her. (Grandma silently muttered a prayer of thanks to God) "Do you have any idea how long I have been waiting to do that?" May said slowly. "I know." Dillon replied simply. May smiled. "Come on. We have a lot of catching up to do." He said. "Okay" she replied. They walked towards where Dillon's car was parked. "Hey Dillon?" she asked. "Hmm?" "Can I drive?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye. "Uhh…" He was still unsure. "You're too late, that's a yes!" she took the keys from him and sat in the driver's seat. He couldn't believe how easily she made him forget the fact that they had been apart for so long. That moment right there, made him feel as if she had been with him all along.
He gave her directions towards the garage. They filled each other in on their stories on the way. Dillon went first. "A power ranger, huh? You were always my hero." She said brightly. "Everything is turning for the better now. Everyone's back together. We are all safe." She sighed. "What about you? What happened in the past two years?" he asked her.
"I didn't get to have as much as excitement as you did." She pouted as she turned a corner. "After I ran from the Grinders in omega city, I found a group of people who were hiding underground. I stayed with them for a long time. We had to move slowly because we had many old people in our group. But we made it back safe to Corinth. I found a job working as a helper in an old age home and I have been there ever since." She said with a smile. "Is that it?" she asked as the garage came in sight. "Yeah. You can park inside" he said.
The rangers had the place decorated for a party. " Looks like I am gate crashing. Are you guys celebrating something?" she asked. "Yeah. My memories coming back and Scott and Summer getting together." Dillon replied. "Scott is the red ranger and Summer is yellow right?" she asked as she carefully parked the car. "Brace yourself." Dillon said as he got out of the car. May followed suite.
Tenaya and Ziggy couldn't believe what they were seeing. "You brought a girl home?" Ziggy asked in awe. "You let her drive your car?" Tenaya asked shocked. "She is kind of hard to say no to." Dillon said and May smiled. "I believe we are being rude." Ziggy started. "Oh right, May this is Ziggy and Tenaya and the rest of the ranger team. Everyone this is May." Dillon said as he introduced everyone. "Why don't I take a wild guess who is who?" May asked. "Knock yourself out." Dillon said. "That's Scott, Summer, Gem and Gemma, Flynn and Dr. K right?" she asked as she pointed to the right people. "How did you know who was who when you haven't met us before?" Dr. K asked. "Easy" she replied, "Everyone was wearing their ranger color and you were the only person in a lab coat here. Didn't take a genius to piece it out."
"Smart. I'll give you that. So how exactly are you related to Dillon, May?" Scott asked. "I'm an old friend of his." She said simply. "She is the love of my life." Dillon replied. Ziggy whistled and May blushed deeply. Dillon smiled and pulled her into a hug. "Details. Right now!" Summer said. "Let's go in first." Dillon suggested.
Once inside, Dillon started telling his story. "May was an old friend of Tenaya and my girlfriend. She helped us escape Grinders and run towards Corinth. But we eventually got separated at Omega City. I didn't remember her till yesterday when all my memories came back." "That gives us another reason to party!" Ziggy said. "We have almost everything ready except for the food." Flynn said. "I can help you with that!" May said brightly. "That's a good idea. Her cooking is the best in the world." Dillon said. Scott shook his head. "What?" Dillon asked. "You are such a lovesick puppy, you know that?" Scott said before running for his life. Dillon chased him around the garage as everyone else laughed. Luckily May intervened and settled the fight down.
May and Flynn started to cook in the kitchen. Dillon decided to fill Tenaya in on everything. In his excitement, he had forgotten that Tenaya hadn't remembered much from her past yet. After a long talk with Tenaya, Dillon came into the kitchen looking for some water. He found May, Gemma and Dr. K discussing something excitedly in hushed whispers. "What are you guys up to? " He asked as he passed them to get some water. "Planning something for the happy couple. But don't tell anyone anything yet." Dr. K said. "For us? You shouldn't have!" Dillon said in a fake touched voice. May punched his arm playfully and said "Not for us silly! It's for Scott and Summer." "I knew that." Dillon said as he gave her a one arm hug. May just shook her head.
The party started on a happy note. Everyone loved May's cooking. They loved everything about her. She fit right in with the team. After lunch, she surprised everyone with an announcement. "Okay everyone! Let's start dancing!" The lights of the room dimmed and a small disco ball came down from the roof. "I got Gem and Gemma to trick that out." She said guiltily as she came to stand next to him. A slow song started playing and everyone partnered up for the dance. Ziggy astonishingly got Dr. K to dance with him. Tenaya was dancing with Gem and they were right next to Gemma and Flynn. Scott and Summer were dancing in the center. That only left May and Dillon.
"Wanna dance?" he asked. She nodded. They found a spot on the dance floor and started a slow dance. "You should move in here." Dillon said suddenly. "I couldn't." May said modestly. "You can and you will. We live too far away from each other. I would rather have you next to me than across town every morning." Dillon said. They looked into each other's eyes. "What would I do here anyways? And what about the others, won't they mind?" she asked. "Only one way to find out." Dillon was about to raise his voice and ask it aloud but May guessed his intention and shushed him. She pointed towards Scott and Summer.
They were looking into each other's eyes and dancing closely with each other, oblivious to their environment. The other rangers started leaving one by one to give them some privacy. Dillon and May quietly slipped out of the Garage. "11th august. It's the day we met first isn't it." May said. "And we found each other again today." Dillon said. He pulled her into a hug. "It's so hard to stay away from you, you know that?" he said lovingly. "If it's so hard to stay away from me, maybe you should marry me." May joked. Dillon looked at her with all the seriousness in the world. "I was kidding?" she said.
"I don't have a ring. But…" he knelt down. "May, will you marry me? Once Venjix is taken care of, we would settle down here. It's going to be hard and it may take a long time but…" "You are worth the wait." May finished for him. Dillon smiled. "Let's just keep it our little secret. I think everyone will burst from the excitement given today." May said. She was smiling too. He kissed her. "A kiss to seal the deal." May said animatedly as the kiss ended. Dillon rolled his eyes. The two of them stared into the programmed sunset. Tomorrow would be a new day. Dillon could only imagine everyone's reactions. But it definitely would be happy for everyone.