A/N: This story was copied from my Tumblr and was a way to get my emotions out about James Navarro in the only way I knew how; using my favourite Power Ranger as a voice. Warning: Contains spoilers for Operation Overdrive and Dino Supercharge. Also, I do not own either of these stories. That being said, thanks for reading.
xxx
It was almost 10 years since Operation Overdrive first formed, 10 years since that wacky adventure had occurred, and Mack knew that being back home (and additionally, human) would be rather difficult. Of course, still living with his father, as technically a 30-year-old, allowed that to still be seen as training. However, he did miss the ranger life, so he had met up with a few teams along the way... And today was no exception.
Mack had been reading a few of his old adventure novels in the lounge room, in spite of actually going on these adventures himself, he loved reading the fictionalized adventurers and mocking the inaccuracies. He still wore a red t-shirt, a holdover from his Overdrive days, in memory of his role as the Red Ranger. Even though he didn't have his super strength, he still had access to the Drive Lance, and was able to use it to his advantage while he and his dad were out exploring. Of course, he thought today was a 'free' day, a day to relax and just get away from it all.
"Mack!" His father called from his study, "Check this out."
Mack sighed and got to his feet. "Coming, Dad!" He'd only recently gotten back to calling his Dad 'Dad', he'd been calling him 'Mr Hartford' even after he'd gotten over the betrayal of his trust ten years ago. He will admit that it took him longer than he'd hoped to get back to even considering his father a relative. But even then, he sighed and retreated to his father's study room.
Andrew still didn't look anything like Mack, one thing the Corona Aurora making Mack human couldn't fix, but Mack would admit that the pair had a few similar habits. Most notably, Andrew and he often stayed separate, him with his books and Andrew with his research. It wasn't anything malicious, just something the pair respected about each other. But there was another thing they had in common; their curiosity. And it was quite clear when Mack recognised the name on the laptop's screen. He bent in to read it.
"James Navarro?" He asked, cocking his head slightly, "Wasn't that the friend of yours who apparently went missing while in Amber Beach?"
His father nodded. "Yes. I thought he died... Good God, what about his son?"
Mack paused. "Hang on, what son?"
His father swallowed, awkwardly turning the chair around and dramatically moving his eyeglasses. He looked up at Mack, before getting up slowly, so the pair were almost the same height. He cleared his throat.
"Mack, I know things to do with... Absent fathers are a bit personal for you," He sighed, looking down, "I will admit it's my fault, but... James would put me to shame. His son, Tyler, was only just 7 years old when I had begun to build you."
Mack nodded.
"And... That was also when he disappeared. A few weeks before Tyler's eighth birthday."
Mack's eyes widened. "Where is he?"
"What?"
"I said, where is he? I want to pay him a visit."
xxx
The Dino Bite cafe was abuzz with new activity upstairs, but downstairs, something new was happening. Tyler Navarro was excitedly chatting with his Dad, a man he thought had been missing for 10 years, who returned to him in a flash of glory as the Aqua Ranger. The rest of the group were keeping their distance, allowing Tyler and his father to regain those 10 years of lost time.
Of course, James was hiding some secrets. And those secrets were big and hard to keep, but he didn't want to hurt Tyler. Tyler was now the red ranger, a very important role in this team. And he knew this from the stories he had seen about his old business partner, Andrew Hartford, and his android son, Mack. He didn't need to add any extra stress on the poor boy.
Meanwhile, above the rangers hideout, Chase, and Riley were just chilling out in front of the door. They left Shelby on waitressing duty, and Ivan and Koda on cooking duty, so that way they could just have a good old-fashioned talk, like bros. Well, it was kind of a talk, as in Riley sitting down and looking at Chase as he skateboarded around the place. That was pretty much their talks, especially since they became teammates, but Riley was used to it by now. What he wasn't used to was the newcomer who seemingly walked right past them and up to the entrance to the hideout.
Immediately Riley stood up and in front of the hideout's door.
"Woah, woah, woah, Mister," He said, "There's nothing to see here. You can... Move along to the rest of the museum."
The man flashed him a toothy grin, and Riley suddenly became aware of something on the belt loop of his jeans. It appeared like some sort of flip phone, the only difference was that the screen was flipped outwards, instead of being covered by a protective case. Riley blinked.
"Is that a-"
"Yes. It is a morpher, if that's what you're asking," The man commented, "Now, if you excuse me, I need to go in."
Chase stopped skating and paused for a few minutes.
"Why?"
The man looked at him and rolled his eyes. "Black ranger, right? Anyway, I'm a... Friend of James Navarro. I need to talk to him about stuff."
Chase appeared perplexed. "How did you know I was a ranger?"
The man raised a hand. "You don't need to know." He sighed. "Look, can we skip the chat? I need to go in."
Immediately, Riley pressed the button. "Oh, alright... Just don't touch anything."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
xxx
A few seconds of wandering around, talking and just being genuine to each other was all Tyler and James needed. But it was interrupted by a flash of red, a small groan, and a thump that hit the floor of the hideout. The stranger got up, short, messy brown hair, bright blue-green eyes, a red t-shirt under a faded green flannel shirt, blue jeans and white shoes with red stripes on the side. He folded his arms. Immediately James looked worried. The stranger glared at James. James ran.
"Dad!" Tyler called as James found himself hiding behind the desk in the centre of the room. The stranger followed him and grabbed him by the shirt collar, before facing James towards him.
"Seems you still recognise me."
Tyler blinked. "Dad, you know him?"
James nodded as the stranger glared, before looking over at Tyler apologetically.
"Sorry about this, Tyler. I mean... I technically didn't exist when this ungrateful little-" He paused, gesturing to James. "Whatever, went missing. But I found you're back on the grid. And the morphing grid at that, so can I ask you, what happened?"
James looked up. "Y-You're the Machine Automated Coordinate Kinematic unit, right? Mack?"
He nodded. "Yes, sir. But enough about me. Why'd you go missing for 10 years?"
James looked at him in surprise.
"I said, why?"
James cleared his throat. "Okay, I found the energem in a cave, became the Aqua Ranger, and didn't want to put my son in danger-"
"Tyler." Mack turned to Tyler now. "What have you been doing for the last 10 years until this moment."
Tyler cleared his throat, now, "Well... I'd been looking for my Dad based off his journal."
"And that put you in a lot of danger, right?"
Tyler nodded. Mack grimaced, his mouth held in a sharped tooth grind.
"Tyler, cover your ears." Mack said. Tyler did so. Finally, Mack let out all his rage in a swear-filled rant that all of the Power Rangers heard. A few minutes past until every single one of the rangers was in the hideout, looking incredibly confused.
"-And don't fucking tell me you were doing this 'for his safety', I barely knew who I was until my head ended up on a table! He was literally searching the world for you, and you barely showed your face! He was only a kid, you asshole, and you left him behind!"
The other rangers looked shocked and appalled. Immediately, Kendal recognised him.
"Mr Hartford, I-"
"Not now, Kendal, I have important business to get to." He let go of James' shoulders, as he rubbed them slightly, muttering about how strong this kid was. Mack walked to the exit and turned back to James.
"Mainly, telling my father how much of a coward you are."
xxx