Hey y'all. IDK what is going on with this fic tbh. It's a lot of little scenes I guess? If that makes sense. Time jumps of weeks or months. I just felt like I had to write it sooo here it is *shrug* Not sure it turned out how I wanted exactly but whatever. Hope you enjoy. I don't own power rangers, sadly. Thanks to Amy for being my fic buddy and letting me ramble about these ideas XD
The rangers gathered around when they noticed Colonel Truman enter the garage.
"Dad, what are you doing here?"
"Scott, give this to Dr. K. It's orders to allow a new roommate for you all," he handed him a paper, "Don't worry though he won't be a ranger."
"Roommate?" Summer raised an eyebrow.
"He's a new resident to Corinth, but he's underage with no parents. To avoid him going to an orphanage he'll be staying here," Truman replied.
"We have to take care of a little one? Sounds like babysitting," Flynn answered.
"He's not that young, but this was the best place we could bring him. He'll be here in a few minutes."
Dillon rolled his eyes at Ziggy who walked back into the kitchen to continue making their food. The whole team turned toward the door when they heard it open. A teen with dark brown hair and brown eyes entered the garage holding just a duffle bag. The room had grown quiet but they all looked up when they heard a clatter from the kitchen.
They heard Ziggy mutter to himself.
"When they told me I'd be staying with the Power Rangers, I never would have expected to see you," the boy commented.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Now get your ass over here," Ziggy ordered.
The group looked around at each other confused.
The teen walked toward the green ranger and sat his bag down before Ziggy wrapped him in a hug. "Colonel Truman said you have no parents…"
"Venjix," he replied quietly.
Ziggy took a deep breath, "At least you are alive, right?" He glanced up at Dillon who was still staring in confusion.
"Oh, yeah. So this is Dillon," he pointed out the others, "Summer, Flynn, and Scott. There's also Dr. K but she likes to stay in the lab."
"I'm Zach," he gave a small wave.
"Hi, Zach. Welcome to the garage," Scott voiced.
Summer smiled, "Glad to have you here."
"Can one of you show him an empty room please?" Ziggy questioned. Summer nodded in response. Ziggy ruffled Zach's hair, "I just need some air, ok?"
Ziggy headed outside and collapsed against the building. Dillon soon followed, "Are you ok?"
"Not at all, but I'll have to be. I just should have been there, Dillon."
Dillon sat down, "should have been where?"
"Home," Ziggy admitted. "Zach was 12 when he was coming home from school one day. He made a wrong turn and witnessed a murder. They were going to kill him but I found him in time. I offered myself so they'd let him go. This led me having to leave home to join the cartel. I was going to go home again once I left Corinth, but then I ran into you and here we are." He paused, "I don't blame you. I am so glad that I am where I am especially having you here, it's just, I wonder if I could have saved my parents if I had gotten back to them."
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Ziggy spoke up, "Guess I should go back in and figure out how to act like a responsible guardian. You know I can barely take care of myself, and now I have to raise my brother."
Dillon put his hand on Ziggy's shoulder, "I'll be right there with you. I'm sure the rest of the team will too. How old is he?"
"He's 16. At least he's not a little kid anymore, but we have 4 years to catch up on…"
Dillon and Ziggy went back inside.
"He seems pretty nice," Summer commented, "He's unpacking his bag right now."
"Care to tell us why you didn't mention having a little brother?" Flynn accused.
"Unless it comes up as a threat like the mob, I didn't think it would be important," Ziggy shrugged as he headed up the stairs.
Ziggy leaned in the doorway, "Hey."
"Hey," Zach responded as he plopped on the bed.
"Can we talk?"
Zach nodded so Ziggy entered and sat on the desk. "So what happened? How did you get here?"
Zach recounted a tale of a Venjix attack, the survivors crowding onto a bus and fighting for their lives through the wasteland. By the time he was done, Ziggy was leaning down with his face in his hands. Though he was upset, no tears came to him.
"I'm sorry. If I could bring them back I would, but I can't," Ziggy admitted, "I know I'm not them but you know I care about you. We'll figure this out together."
"You have a funny way of showing you care," Zach bit back.
"Excuse me?"
"You straight up leave the family with no notes, no goodbyes, no promises of coming back. You send no letters telling us how you are. We assumed you had died. You broke their hearts."
Ziggy looked exasperated, "You do know I left to save your ass right? The cartel members were going to kill you, but I agreed to work for them to let you go. I thought you understood how dangerous the cartels were."
"We could have hidden together. You could have not gone with them. You could have left them sooner."
"Maybe you don't remember, you were only 12, but we were trailed all the way home. They knew where we lived and kept an eye to make sure I went through with leaving. I thought you would have told mom and dad why I left." Ziggy sighed, "I finally did escape them and planned to come home, but then I ran into Dillon and got roped into fighting Venjix."
"You could have at least tried to contact us. But you seem to have made a whole new life here. Lots of friends. It must be nice."
Ziggy snapped in response to the anger in Zach's voice, "Yeah nice. I have a hit on me from all of the cartels in Corinth; I am fighting Venjix daily, risking my life to defend the city, knowing I wasn't supposed to become a ranger in the first place and that they could have someone so much better; I constantly worry about our family, not knowing what's happened the past 4 years; and the one person who I've really connected with here is slowly losing himself to the Venjix virus. But no, it's nice. It's fabulous, fucking fabulous. I wish things were different but if I had to go back I'd save you again. I wanted to give you a chance at a good life, Zach. I'll try to not be a burden to you too much the next couple years." He turned out of the room and avoided the looks he was getting as he headed toward the exit.
Dillon finally got a text from Ziggy around 2 am. "Are u akwae?"
"Yea?"
"Can get me plz?"
Dillon rolled his eyes, "Are you drunk?"
"…"
"Alright, on my way," he got off the couch and climbed into his car.
He pulled up to the address Ziggy sent.
Ziggy was standing outside, specks of blood on his face and shirt and a huge growing bruise on his face. He climbed into the car and leaned his head against the window.
"What happened?"
"Can I tell you when I feel less nauseous?"
Dillon nodded and drove them home. The next morning, they awoke to Flynn yelling up the stairs that breakfast was ready.
Zach left his room and was about to knock on Ziggy's door when he heard talking.
"I'm sorry about last night."
"What happened?"
"I went for a walk and blew off some steam. Then I decided to get a drink. I know the bartender so it's a safe place. I drank a bit too much and the shock wore off. I was in a corner by myself and I guess I broke down. Some guy came up and called me a pussy for crying and well, then I got angry and started fighting him. I didn't even have any weapons on me but I guess I did enough damage that he got taken away on an ambulance." Zach heard silence for a minute before Ziggy started speaking again, "I'm scared Dillon, what if they report it and I end up back in jail? If they were cartel it would never make it that far but if they aren't…"
"You know the deal, if you go back then I go back too."
"What about Zach though? He'd end up at the orphanage probably. Though I'm sure they'd do a much better job watching him than I would."
"It's going to be fine Zig. He seems like a good kid. Like you said, it's been 4 years, neither of you are the same people you were back then. It's going to take some adjusting. Not just you two with each other but him and his new surroundings. Just give it some time, it'll work out."
"He's right though, I should have done more."
"Make up for it now then. I'll be with you every step of the way. Plus, you can teach me how to be a brother so I'm ready when we rescue Tenaya."
"I guess," Ziggy sighed, "How bad do I look?"
"Like you got into a bar fight. Still cute though."
"Thanks. Guess I'll go make sure Zach at least gets something to eat."
Zach went to head down the stairs but Ziggy swung the door open in front of him. They bumped into each other.
"Sorry, I was just coming to check on you," Ziggy mumbled.
"You look like you need to be checked on," Zach responded.
Ziggy sighed, "I know."
"Flynn said something about making waffles. Are those still your favorite?"
Ziggy raised an eyebrow, "I'm surprised you remember that," he smiled, "You still like pancakes better?"
Zach chuckled, "You know it."
Dillon walked to the door and smirked, "Come on, you're blocking the way."
Once they got to the kitchen Flynn looked at Ziggy, "Get in another mob fight?"
Ziggy shook his head, "Bar fight."
"You know Dr. K says no drinking," Scott scolded.
Summer put her hand on Ziggy's shoulder, "Even I break that rule sometimes," she analyzed his face, "put an ice pack on that after breakfast."
Ziggy groaned and pulled up a chair. He pulled some waffles toward himself but Zach stole them off the plate. He stuck out his tongue after Ziggy shot him a look, "You don't want your baby brother to starve do you?"
Ziggy rolled his eyes but chuckled. He waited on the next batch and went to grab some but then Dillon stole them. He shot Dillon the same look but Dillon shrugged, "You don't want your best friend to starve do you?"
Zach and the rest of the group started laughing.
"You're supposed to be on my side Dillon," Ziggy nudged.
Dillon held out his fork and let Ziggy take a bite. By the time the next batch was done and Ziggy finally got his own, both Dillon and Zach were done.
Ziggy managed to scarf his down by the time the alarms went off.
"Zach, stay here. Don't get into trouble. We'll be back soon," Ziggy ordered as he climbed into the passenger seat of Dillon's car.
Twenty minutes later Zach appeared, swinging in to attack some Venjix bots.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Ziggy hissed as he knocked one down.
"Helping."
"I told you to stay at the garage!"
"I fought some of these bots outside the city."
"That doesn't mean you should be fighting them now."
Zach took two down, "See I can handle myself."
Ziggy attacked a few more bots before he heard an explosion behind him. He saw the side of a building start to collapse and Zach right in its trajectory. He knew he was too far away to reach him in time so he teleported himself next to him. Ziggy winced as the building crumbled around him trying his best to prevent his brother from harm. He was holding a large slab on his back but the rest of the rubble settled in around them.
"Are you ok?" Ziggy tried to keep a protective bubble around the boy.
"I'm sorry," Zach sobbed.
Ziggy groaned against the weight, "Everything is going to be ok," he assured. "Dr. K can I teleport again?"
"Give me just a minute, Ranger Green."
"I thought if I came to fight it might make up for how I've been acting."
"I shouldn't have snapped at you like I did," Ziggy took a few deep breaths.
"I shouldn't have been so selfish. You've done so much."
"Let's stop blaming ourselves, alright? We'll be a team and work through all this together," He shifted a little, the best he could with the weight on him, "Though that doesn't mean you can come fight Venjix. I don't want you hurt. You are still my little brother; I have to protect you."
Zach started coughing as more dust fell toward him.
"Dr. K?"
"3, 2, 1. Ready."
Ziggy grabbed onto Zach and focused on the lab. After he collapsed and unmorphed he rolled onto his back, "Are you alright?"
He was surprised when Zach tackled him in a hug, "I'm sorry."
"Hey, it's ok. We have a lot to get used to. As long as you are safe I'm happy." He wanted to get up and check on the others but he didn't want to push Zach away. A few minutes later though, they heard the cars pulling in.
Zach watched as Ziggy pushed himself up, favoring his leg. Ziggy rushed to Dillon's car when he noticed Summer step out of the driver seat.
"What happened?"
"They ganged up on him, he doesn't seem terribly hurt but I couldn't get him up."
"Let's get him checked out," Scott ordered.
Later, Summer joined Zach who was staring into the medical room.
"Ziggy ignore me when I told him to get his leg checked out. What's wrong with Dillon?"
"He has some cybernetic implants and has no memory before Venjix captured him and his sister. Sometimes when he gets hurt the implants cause some complications. He's going to be fine. But, if Dillon is hurt Ziggy won't leave his side. Same with Dillon not leaving Ziggy."
"So… are they a thing?" Zach asked awkwardly.
Summer smirked, "I think they are the only two who don't realize it."
Summer entered the room and whispered, "Hey, Ziggy. Are you doing ok?"
He looked up sleepily, "my leg hurts but I'm fine."
She sighed, "as soon as Dillon wakes up we need to get an X-ray on it."
He shrugged, "I've taken care of worse than this, I just need to wrap it up and go easy for a few days."
"You've taken an anti-inflammatory, right?"
He nodded.
"Alright, I'll tell Flynn to bring you some food."
Before he headed off to bed, Zach glanced in again and noticed Ziggy was curled up in the chair using his jacket as a blanket.
Fast forward through the next few weeks. Dillon wakes up fine the next day, Ziggy's leg heals, everyone is adjusting to their new roommate, while Ziggy and Zach try to catch up and mend their relationship. Dr. K takes an interest in Zach after he shows some ability with technology so he's been spending some time helping her out as an assistant. Soon Gem and Gemma show up and Zach ends up spending time watching them.
"Ok, so don't forget, this is a secret for Zach, but we are also hiding it from Gem and Gemma," Ziggy reminded, "I don't want them blowing anything up..."
"It'll be fine, man," Scott nodded. He and Dillon were in charge of getting and putting up decorations.
Flynn added, "We have all the ingredients so the cake will be fine," he agreed to help Ziggy bake the cake.
"He already asked me to take him to the arcade so that'll get him out of the garage," Summer shrugged.
"I'm glad he's started hanging with you guys," Ziggy admitted.
"Don't worry, we'll make sure he has a great birthday," Dillon assured.
Zach (and the twins) were surprised by the group when he and Summer arrived back.
He smiled as he opened presents from all of them, movies from Flynn, clothes from Summer, CD's from Scott, a giftcard from Dillon, and finally a game from Ziggy. The twins promised to make him something which would probably explode and Dr. K said she'd show him some formula she was working on.
Overall, he had a lot of fun, but he was most surprised that they remembered.
A couple weeks later:
Ziggy started pacing when he noticed the time. Half an hour since Zach should have gotten home. He kept glancing at his watch, seeing the minutes tick by.
"Sit down, I'm sure he's fine. He probably had to do something at school," Dillon rolled out from under his car.
"It is getting a bit late, did you call him?" Summer wondered.
Ziggy nodded.
"Maybe we should go looking for him," Scott finally decided.
Ziggy's phone started ringing in his pocket. "Where have you been?"
The others watched his face clear of emotion as he heard, "Grover. If you want to free your brother you'll bring us our money."
"What if I don't?"
"Then it's your life or his. You have one hour; who's brains will get splattered tonight?"
"I'll be right there."
The call dropped and a text popped up with the address.
He looked at the team staring at him before he muttered, "I have to go pick Zach up." He was out the door before anyone could respond.
Dillon rushed after him, "What's going on? You aren't doing something reckless, are you?" After Ziggy didn't answer and kept walking, Dillon ran after him and grabbed his arm. "What's going on?" His mind went blank as Ziggy spun around, pulled down, and gave him a rushed kiss.
"I have to go," Ziggy pulled his arm away and ran off. It took a few more seconds for Dillon to process what just happened. He ran to his car and jumped in.
Ziggy arrived to the address and walked in. He saw 5 men surrounding his brother.
"Didn't think you'd have the guts to show," one of them commented.
Ziggy slowly approached Zach who looked frightened. He hugged him while reaching around to untie his wrists. Ziggy backed up looked Zach in the eyes, "It's going to be ok. Just get out of here, alright?"
Zach nodded in worry but listened to the command. Ziggy watched as Zach left, as he tightened the rope in his hands and prepared to fight.
Dillon knew Ziggy couldn't have gotten too far, so he followed the direction Ziggy had left in. It took him longer than he expected but finally he spotted Zach.
"It was the mob, they have him," Zach informed as Dillon stepped out of his car.
Dillon threw his jacket at Zach, "Get in the back seat and hide under this in case they come out." He ran the way Zach pointed. By the time he got there, Ziggy was against the wall and the five men were sprawled out on the floor. Dillon approached his friend, "Ziggy?" After no response he felt a pulse and shook his arm, "Ziggy, wake up."
Ziggy mumbled but Dillon couldn't understand.
"Come on, get up. I can't believe you took on five guys by yourself. We should get going before they wake up."
"They won't be waking up. Neither will I," Ziggy blinked slowly.
"You're going to be fine. What's hurting?"
"I don't know anymore."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
Ziggy closed his eyes but Dillon snapped him back, "Stay awake."
Ziggy gave a small grin, "Did you know… cocaine has numbing effects?"
"You took cocaine!?"
"One of the guys had it on him when I checked their pockets. Not the first time I've had it, you know."
"Isn't it a stimulant, you should be staying awake, right? Tell me about it on the way home," Dillon pulled Ziggy's hand. He stumbled as the green ranger fell against him. His eyes went wide as he noticed a pool of blood where Ziggy had been, "What happened?"
"I dunno." Dillon struggled to keep Ziggy standing so he picked him up and headed to the car.
Ziggy was quiet for a few moments before he started fighting Dillon's grip, "have to find Zach."
"I found him, he's safe," Ziggy slowed his movements. By the time Dillon got to the car, Ziggy was unconscious.
Ziggy bolted up when he heard the alarms going off. He looked around confused, tugging out his iv drip. He made it to the door of the medical room before Zach turned around the corner to enter.
"Sit down," Zach ordered.
"I have to help," Ziggy coughed.
"You are in no condition to go fight right now. They'll handle it," he noticed the blood dripping from the IV site on Ziggy's hand and took to cleaning it.
Ziggy's eyes scanned his brother, "Are you alright?"
"You could have died."
Ziggy wanted to respond that he hadn't expected to make it out alive but thought that probably wasn't what Zach wanted to hear. "I'm sorry. I just worry about you. And it's my fault the cartels are mad at me, so it's my fault you were taken."
"It's my fault you had to join the cartels in the first place."
"You're my little brother, it's my job to protect you."
"Well someone has to protect you."
Ziggy sighed, "Remember when I said let's quit blaming ourselves? We are doing it again," he was quiet for another minute as Zach finished bandaging his hand. "So what's the damage?"
"You lost a lot of blood after getting shot. Your heart rate was crazy but they said you should be fine now. You've been out a while."
Ziggy nodded as he yawned.
"Dillon wouldn't tell me exactly what happened," Zach admitted, "but we've both been here watching you. He only left because of the attack bot."
Ziggy tried to move to lay back down but was hit with a wave of pain.
Zach hated seeing his brother in pain but slightly chuckled, "I was surprised you made it off the bed by yourself," he helped him get into a more comfortable position. "You'll have to have your IV put back in soon, it was helping with the pain."
Ziggy soon fell back to sleep. When he next awoke the room was dark. He smirked recognizing his roommate's snores.
He turned his head to glance at Dillon who was sprawled on the floor.
He slowly sat up and noticed his phone on the table next to him. He grabbed it and scrolled through his notifications. He couldn't believe how long he had been out.
After hearing Dillon's snoring stop and it sounded like his breathing picked up a bit Ziggy whispered, "Hey, Dil. It might be comfier in your bed than the floor."
Dillon rolled over and groaned before realizing what he heard. He stretched himself out and climbed up into the chair, "Hey."
"Morning," Ziggy answered back.
Dillon glanced at the clock, "How long have you been up?"
"Not long, just been checking my phone. Still feel exhausted."
"You will for a while. Zach mentioned when you woke up before, you know you were shot?"
Ziggy nodded, "I still can't believe I took them all out."
"You're a lot better than you give yourself credit for. Colonel Truman wrote it off as self-defense so you need to worry about being in trouble."
"Just because it's written off doesn't mean it didn't happen. I've killed people, Dillon. And unfortunately, those five weren't the first."
"It's going to be fine, Zig. I know you're a good person. Zach does too."
Ziggy scoffed, "At least he has the rest of the team here, because I'm pretty sure a murdering druggie mob member isn't the best guardian for him."
"Yeah, about that," Dillon smirked, "Why did you think it was a good idea to do cocaine after getting shot?"
"I didn't know I was shot. Everything just hurt. And, well, I found it when I was going through their wallets and knew it'd make me feel better. I figured I was going to die anyway, so why not?"
Dillon chuckled, "Stealing from dead people, huh? You do have a big chunk of cash in your wallet now. Also, you said it wasn't the first time you'd done drugs."
"Right… well, like you know, I went through a lot with the cartels. Not that I was ever a heavy user but I did my fair share. I'd been clean for over a year though, I swear."
Dillon brushed a strand of Ziggy's hair from his face, "Ok. One more question: Why did you kiss me?"
"Oh," Ziggy's face turned bright red, "uh, well…"
Dillon smiled as he reached forward and placed a small kiss on Ziggy's forehead, "Goodnight, Zig."
"Night, Dillon."
The next day Ziggy was allowed to leave the medical room and start sleeping in his own room again, just no straining himself, no fighting, and no chores.
"I feel useless," he muttered as Flynn dusted the room.
"You'll be up in no time. Then you'll have a lot of chores to make up for," Flynn smirked.
"It has been pretty quiet, except for the twins blowing things up..." Summer admitted. "We have been taking turns walking Zach to school though and making sure he's getting his homework done."
"Thank you," Ziggy yawned as he curled into the couch.
"They said you'll be extra tired for a few more weeks," Scott informed, "but soon you'll be able to start training again."
"Good, I hate this."
"Hey bro, good to see you up," Zach said as he stepped out of Dillon's car.
"Have you been keeping out of trouble?"
"You know I'm always good," Zach threw his bag down.
"I know for a fact when you were younger you got suspended for two days for sticking gum in a girl's hair and one day for getting in a fight. Don't forget who hid that from mom."
Zach looked sad for a few seconds before answering, "I've been good lately at least."
Ziggy noticed the change in Zach's demeanor, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned her."
"It's fine," Zach sat next to Ziggy, "you lost our parents too."
Ziggy sat up, "Come here."
Zach rolled his eyes, "I'm not a kid anymore."
"Zachary James Grover, you will always be my kid brother. I don't care if you think you are too old, come here."
Zach scooted closer so Ziggy could wrap his arms around him.
"You were still so small when I left. I can't believe you've outgrown me," he leaned his head on his brother's shoulder. He soon started humming.
"Mom didn't sing that song since you left."
Ziggy paused for moment like he wanted to say something but he thought otherwise and resumed humming. The group grew quiet as they noticed the humming get softer. Eventually it stopped and they realized both brothers had fallen asleep.
Eventually Zach woke up and noticed Ziggy had slouched down a bit. He escaped his grip and laid a blanket on his older brother.
A few hours later Ziggy heard: "It's time to wake up." "Flynn made dinner."
He scrunched his eyes at the volume and realized it was the twins. He blinked his eyes open to see their excited faces inches from his. He winced as he tried to back up but realized he had no room to move.
"Ok, I'm up. I'm up."
He joined the group in the kitchen and took a seat between Dillon and Zach. He listened to the group joking around and realized how they'd become their own makeshift family.
A few months went by and Christmas was soon approaching.
"I wonder if we used to celebrate Christmas," Dillon muttered, slightly annoyed at the rush of people at the mall.
"By next year, you'll have Tenaya back and can celebrate with her," Ziggy informed, "It's been a while since I've actually gotten to celebrate."
"Christmas hasn't been very exciting the last few years," Zach added.
"Cause you finally found out about Santa?"
Zach rolled his eyes, "You know it's because you left."
"Lighten up, I know it'll be rough this year, but let's try to focus on the good things," Ziggy stopped at a small food stand, "like candy canes."
It was Dillon's turn to roll his eyes, "Let's just get our shopping done and get out of here."
Ziggy looked sad for a second but then focused on the subject, "Scott, Flynn, and Summer are visiting their families on Christmas day. I think Gem and Gemma said something about stealing Dr. K for some weird Alphabet Soup tradition… so it'll just be the three of us. But we are having Christmas Eve at the garage. We need to figure out what to make. Preferably something we can cook in advance because I know the kitchen will be crazy between Flynn and Summer. We can stop at the grocery store after this. I just want to get a little something for everyone."
"I want to get something to thank everyone. I know none of you wanted to become a fulltime babysitter."
"Do you even have money?"
"Uhh, you do?" Zach winked.
Ziggy rolled his eyes, "Let's get this over with."
Shopping done and groceries bought, they finally made their way home.
"Good news is, with everyone being gone, we'll have all of the Christmas eve leftovers to ourselves!" Ziggy laughed as he put away their cold purchases.
They made brownies the night before Christmas Eve and enjoyed the party. Christmas day, everyone was gone by the time Dillon, Ziggy, and Zach woke up.
"Ziggy!" Zach prodded.
"Hmm?"
"Wake up! I made you something!"
"5 more minutes," Ziggy begged.
Dillon moaned from his bed, "Why are you being so loud?"
"It's Christmas guys, come on."
Ziggy finally stretched, "Ok, ok. I'm up. I'll be down in a sec."
Zach nodded and headed back down stairs. When Ziggy and Dillon finally arrived Ziggy ran to the counter, "Are these what I think they are?"
"Mhm, Mom taught me how to make them."
"Oh it's been so long," Ziggy popped a doughball in his mouth. After he swallowed he explained, "We only had these for Christmas and we'd wake up to them and our presents from Santa."
Dillon eyed them but ate one anyway.
"Speaking of presents, I got you both something!" Zach smiled as he picked a few packages up from under the tree.
Dillon opened a new tool kit (his old ones were getting too rusty).
"Your present is special," Zach informed as he handed Ziggy a small package. Ziggy's eyes widened as he opened it. "All of our special stuff was in a bag so I ended up with them."
"Are you sure you want me to have these?" Ziggy looked at the two rings resting on a chain.
"Yeah, I've not been able to bring myself to wear them anyway. I'm sure mom and dad would want you to have them."
Ziggy pulled the chain around his neck and rested the rings safely in his shirt.
"I got you something special too," Ziggy held out a slightly larger package.
Zach opened it, "Grampa Z's pocketwatch?!"
"I knew you always wanted it," Ziggy smiled. After they pulled away from a hug, he suggested, "Christmas movies?"
"Of course. You joining our marathon, Dillon?"
Dillon rolled his eyes, "It's not like I have anything else to do."
After a couple movies they headed outside to watch the snow and look at the large tree that was put up in town. They came back, heated up some leftovers, made hotchocolate and settled in for another round of movies. By the time the others got back, Zach was leaning on one side of the couch asleep, Dillon was on the other arm asleep, and Ziggy was in the middle using Dillon as a pillow. The others were trying to let them sleep but Flynn accidently dropped a plate in the kitchen, alerting them to their presence.
After seeing how everyone's days went, they all headed up to their rooms.
"Oh, I forgot, I have a present for you. If you want it…" Ziggy pulled a box out of his drawer. He watched as Dillon opened it, "I know we've talked about it before and we don't want to date right now, but I guess think of this as a promise thing. It's not like I'm going to fall for anyone else. If you are into that kind of thing…"
Dillon put on the bracelet, "Stop rambling. I love it."
"Really?"
"Yeah, Zig. I couldn't figure out what to get you, so I was going to take you on a date. Your pick."
"I thought we weren't dating?"
"We don't have to be a couple to go on a date, do we?"
Ziggy smiled, "Alright. Where do we want to go?"
"Like I said, your pick."
Ziggy rolled his eyes but stepped forward to hug Dillon, "As long as I'm with you it doesn't matter."
A few months later, Zach approaches Ziggy.
"Is there any chance you would have a suit?"
"What for?
"Prom."
Ziggy sat up smiling, "it's already time for senior prom? Yeah, I should have something. Do you have a date?" he smirked.
"She's just a friend," Zach admitted.
"You know, it hasn't come up… have you ever even had a girlfriend? I mean a real one, not your kindergarten girl."
"A couple. Do you remember Jess? We ended up dating for a while."
"The Jess you had a crush on since elementary school?"
Zach nodded, "How about you? You dated anyone since 'Blow Job' Miller?"
Dillon, who had been scanning a magazine, looked up and raised an eyebrow in question.
The brothers chuckled.
"His name was BJ, and being one of the only few gay kids in the school, he was an easy target for name calling," Ziggy informed, "and no, I haven't." He sighed, "I know you say you two are just friends, but take protection just in case."
"Wow… definitely not going to go there," Zach shook his head.
Ziggy scrunched his eyebrows, "What? Have you not done that yet? I know you've had the talk."
"Look bro, you might not have to worry about getting someone pregnant, but I do, so it's best not to even risk it."
Ziggy shrugged, "I knew you were a smart kid. I just know you're almost an adult and I'm not mom and dad, I won't tell you not to do that kind of stuff, I just want you to be safe."
"Thanks, but I'm not going to get caught doing stuff in the restroom during prom, like some people."
Ziggy turned red, "You heard about that?"
"It was brought up by someone every year during prom time," Zach laughed, "at least most people from our old school don't go here."
Ziggy quickly changed the subject, "I'll find a couple suits for you to try on, and if you need anything else, let me know."
"Thanks."
Once Zach got up and left Dillon asked Ziggy, "A restroom, huh?"
Ziggy rolled his eyes, "at least I was having fun. Apparently I can get loud," he smirked.
Ziggy brought some suits to Zach who was in his room working on homework, "Try these on. I can also alter them if you need."
Zach looked at the pile his brother threw on the bed, "Hey, about our conversation earlier…"
"Uhh, which part?" Ziggy wondered.
"Relationships," Ziggy nodded and his slight panic eased. He really didn't want to have anything close to the talk with his brother.
"Right. What about it?"
"You and Dillon seem closer than friends… why aren't you two dating?"
The smile faded from his face, "It's complicated…"
"You seem to like him, he seems to like you. You two flirt like crazy. I don't know why it would be complicated," Zach admitted. "I know it's not really my place but you're all I have left, I want to see you happy."
Ziggy sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed. He stared at the wall and tried to hide the emotion behind his voice, "Being rangers…our lives are in danger. Having the cartel after me puts me in danger. Having the Venjix virus puts him in danger. If one of us were to die, it'd be easier on the other losing just a friend. Once Venjix is gone, Tenaya is safe, and we can leave Corinth, we can maybe be more."
"Even if you two aren't together, the feelings are still there. Losing the other would hurt just as bad, dating or not. You don't seem to be preventing pain, just causing more in the short term."
Ziggy stood up and avoided eye contact, "Let me know what suit you want and if I need to adjust it." He left the room leaving Zach feeling guilty.
A few hours later Zach finished his homework and picked a suit. He went to find his brother but he wasn't in the garage.
"Have you seen Ziggy?" he asked the twins.
"He said he was going for a walk, but that was a while ago," they answered.
Zach bent down near Dillon who was working under his car, "Have you heard from Ziggy?"
Dillon rolled out, "I might be his friend and roommate, but I don't track where he goes 24/7." After seeing Zach's expression, he lightened up, "What's up?"
"We were talking earlier and I think I upset him…I'm not sure though."
"Generally when he's upset he ends up at the park. If he's not back in an hour, we'll go look for him, alright?" he waited for Zach to nod, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"It's probably better if I didn't."
"Ok, but I'm here for you if you need me. I may not be related but you've become my little brother too."
Zach helped hand Dillon tools for a while until they heard a knock on the door. Scott opened the door and let in the visitor. Once Dillon saw who it was he said, "I'll be right back, just hang out here a second."
"I'm guessing if you're here it's with bad news," Dillon greeted the man who was one of Ziggy's trusted friends who he had only met a handful of times.
"He called and said he wanted to meet up, but he never showed. I called a few times with no answer. If the cartels got him, I would have heard something."
Dillon nodded, "I'll look into it."
Dr. K couldn't find any tracking data on Ziggy's morpher. The rangers searched for a few hours before deciding to regroup.
"Don't worry, Zach. I'm sure he's fine," Summer comforted.
"He swore he wouldn't leave you again so he wouldn't have disappeared willingly," Flynn added.
"What was he upset about? It could be some kind of clue to where he'd have gone."
Zach sighed and looked slightly embarrassed, "Nothing he should have disappeared over."
The next morning, they resumed their search.
"There's an army of grinders in the shopping district," Dr. K announced, cutting their search short.
When they arrived they saw Ziggy standing next to Tenaya.
"What are you doing Ziggy?"
"He doesn't know that name anymore. He is M-86 a new generation 8 attack bot," Tenaya informed, "We spent all night perfecting his upgrades."
Dillon growled, "What did you do to him?"
"Why don't we just show you?" Tenaya smirked, "Get him M-86."
Ziggy's face was emotionless as he went after Dillon. Grinders attacked the twins and Summer while Flynn and Scott went after Tenaya.
"Ziggy, I know you're in there," Dillon dodged. "Zach has been worried."
Dillon morphed but then so did Ziggy. Their speed and strength were almost an even match. Scott moved from Tenaya to help Dillon take Ziggy down. They finally got Ziggy down and unmorphed but Tenaya quickly grabbed him, "Guess we need to give you a few more upgrades."
Grinders flooded the rangers so they missed the direction Tenaya and Ziggy went.
"I swear, once we get him back, I'm not allowing Ziggy to go anywhere by himself," Dillon growled, "I don't know how one person can get himself into so much trouble." He noticed Zach come down the stairs, still looking worried. Dillon explained the situation, "We're going to bring him home. I'll make sure of it."
"If I hadn't upset him, he might not have gone out."
"Doesn't he have a rule that you two aren't supposed to blame each other?"
Zach rolled his eyes, "I just don't want to lose him."
A few days later, Dr. K announced, "I've created an antivirus. It's been uploaded to Ranger Green's uniform. Once he morphs it'll shock his system. Hopefully, it'll bring him back to normal."
It was another few days before Venjix sent another attack. It wasn't long until Ziggy morphed. He had been fighting Dillon, and once he morphed he fell on his knees holding his head. He demorphed and muttered, "What's going on?"
"Ziggy?" Dillon knelt down and grabbed him by the shoulders.
"Dillon?" Ziggy groaned.
"What do you remember?"
"I don't know…everything is fuzzy."
"He's coming with me," Tenaya pushed Dillon away. As soon as she put her hand on Ziggy he snapped up and attacked her. The team, who had just finished fighting a pack of grinders, turned to watch the commotion. He moved quickly and pinned her to the ground. He pulled her arm back and unscrewed her hand. He removed a chip from her arm and replaced the hand. She groaned as he let go of her arm.
Ziggy stumbled and almost fell but Dillon caught him.
"We have an opportunity. We have to take out Venjix," Ziggy mumbled.
"Calm down, let's get you checked out first," Dillon whispered before Summer took ahold of him.
Dillon knelt down and helped Tenaya sit up. When he realized she wasn't attacking he asked, "Are you ok?"
She looked up confused and stayed silent, accepting the hug Dillon wrapped her in.
A few hours later Ziggy sat alone in the lab waiting for Dr. K to get done analyzing Tenaya.
"It looks like you are fine physically, if you count being full of metal. I'm surprised at how Venjix has quickened the healing process, everything looks good. Your mind on the other hand is a different matter. I'm no psychiatrist. You obviously remember some things but you are forgetting a lot of details. The only people I have to compare you to is Dillon and Tenaya and their memories were completely wiped. You might start remembering more or you might just stay the same. The good thing is though, with having some memories it's easier to rebuild your mind," she informed after coming into the room, "My question is though, how did you know to remove that chip from Tenaya?"
Ziggy thought for a moment, "I remembered seeing a file. Pictures of upgrades, and in all of them this chip stuck out."
"It seems to be what Venjix uses to control people. Granted, the three of you still have the Venjix virus in your bodies and could very well be taken over again, but it'll be harder without the chip."
"Thanks Doc, very reassuring."
She rolled her eyes, "Let me know if you notice any changes, but for now you are done."
He nodded and left the room.
"How are you feeling?" Summer looked up from her book.
He shrugged, "confused. But I think that's my new state of life, so I just have to get used to it."
"It'll get better, and we're here to help you. We all have to get used to changes now, especially with Tenaya being here."
Ziggy just nodded and headed up the stairs. He glanced into the first room he came to and noticed Zach doing homework.
"How's it going, Baby Z?"
Zach turned around, "You haven't called me that since I was 6."
"I haven't?"
He shook his head, "They did say you forgot some things."
"Some things are clear and others are completely blank," Ziggy admitted.
"Ok. Well I'm Zach, your brother. I'm almost 18 and until then you're my guardian."
"Right," Ziggy nodded, "Wasn't I helping you with something?"
"Oh yeah!" Zach smiled, "You were helping me with a prom suit. I'll admit, I tried to shorten a pair of pants because I didn't know when you'd be back. I totally screwed them up, so if you want to help me still, prom is in a few days."
"Have you been going to school?"
"Summer made it clear that things had to stay as normal as possible whether you were here or not, so she's been making sure I get to school and finish my homework. Scott and Flynn helped me with my science and math homework. Dillon's been checking on me too."
"Good. Well, I'll help with the suit in a little bit, and if I forget just come and remind me."
Ziggy went to his room and glanced around. He found some pictures and a journal in his drawer so he started with those to help regain the details he'd forgotten.
The next few days went by the same, Dillon spent most of his time in Tenaya's new room. Ziggy noticed how Dillon seemed to be avoiding him. He was training at different times, only showing up in their room long after Ziggy had fallen asleep, and he'd taken to eating with Tenaya in her room.
Ziggy was in the kitchen making a sandwhich when Dillon approached.
"How's Tenaya been?"
"Good," Dillon nodded, "She's adjusting. She agreed to go shopping with Summer to get some new clothes."
"That's great. Do you want me to make you a sandwich while I have the stuff out?"
"No, I'm not really hungry," he grabbed a drink out of the fridge and walked off.
Ziggy had been trying to give Dillon some time with Tenaya but he didn't understand why he was brushing him off so much.
Ziggy headed to Zach's room and noticed him getting ready for the dance. "Scott is still driving you there, right?"
"Yeah, we are picking Alyssa up at 8."
"Ok. I'm not going to do the whole parental take-a-million-pictures thing but just make sure you get a few good ones to remember it."
"Speaking of remembering, how are you doing?"
"Everything has been a lot clearer the last few days. If I'm forgetting something it must not be terribly important." He grabbed Zach's tie and unknotted the mess it had become. "Though, do you know if Dillon and I had some kind of fight? I feel like he's been avoiding me."
Zach shrugged, "Not that I know of. And sorry about the tie… Dad promised he'd teach me how to tie it but we never got to that… I tried looking online but obviously I went wrong somewhere."
Ziggy smirked as he threw the tie back around Zach's neck. Zach sat at his desk as Ziggy stepped behind him, "I'll do it this way so you can see it the way you'd do it next time." He tried to go slowly so Zach would be able to follow his movements. Once he was done he stepped around and finished straightening it. "Now you're a grown up."
Zach rolled his eyes, "Graduation is next month. I'm lined up to intern with Dr. K and to help Colonel Truman with technical support. If they ever finish the university they started building, I might go there."
"You'll keep living here then?"
"As long as they let me. But Flynn is taking me to get my license in a couple weeks and then I'll look into cheap cars. That way I can be self-sufficient."
"Summer taking you to school, Scott taking you to the dance, Flynn taking you for your license. I'm really not on top of this guardian thing, am I?"
Zach chuckled, "Apparently they all adopted me." He paused for a moment, "You're doing fine Zig. You have a lot going on right now anyway. I didn't know where I'd end up after Venjix attacked so I'm just glad to be back with you. You aren't mom and dad, I don't expect you to fully fill their roles. You're doing great at being my brother."
Ziggy pulled him in for a hug, "thanks." He straightened back up, "Are you all ready then?"
"I think so."
"Alright, I lied, just one picture?"
Zach smiled as he watched Ziggy pull out his phone. They took a quick selfie before Ziggy pushed him out the door, "Don't be late."
Zach climbed into Scott's car.
"Thanks for taking him," Ziggy offered.
"No problem," Scott smiled. He could see the caring in Ziggy's eyes, "You know, coming from someone who was a little brother once, I think you're doing a great job given the situation."
Ziggy nodded, "Thanks, man."
Ziggy gave one last wave as he headed up the stairs. He laid on his bed and zoned out while tossing a hacky sack up and down. Soon, Dillon came in, fresh out of an after training shower. He had pants on already but he rummaged through his drawers for a shirt.
"Hey," Ziggy sat up a little too excitedly.
"Hey," Dillon threw on his shirt and started walking out the door.
"You are avoiding me then," Ziggy accused.
"What?"
"You've been avoiding me," Ziggy repeated.
"No, I haven't."
"I understand you spending time with your sister, but you've barely said more than a few words to me a day since I came back. Did we have a fight that I don't remember? Did I do something offensive? If you need to avoid me, fine, but at least let me know why."
Dillon leaned against the door frame, "I've not been avoiding you. Part of it, I guess, is I have been focused on Tenaya. But I'm also trying to give you some space. You lost memories and you're learning what Venjix put in you and how to deal with it, I figured you'd want some space to figure things out."
"I thought we were a team, Dillon. I might be trying to figure stuff out, but if I remember correctly, best friends are there to help each other when shit happens," Ziggy huffed, "I want to help you help Tenaya adjust, I want to help you figure out how to be a brother, I want you to be able to talk to me about stuff, if you'd let me. You could help me train and test my abilities, seeing as you have Venjix implants too, and to be honest I'm a little afraid of my strength after I punched straight through a punching bag…" He took a breath, "You could help remind me of things I've forgotten. But I don't know, maybe I'm just not remembering correctly what best friends do. I mean maybe I'd know if someone told me! Even the others have been way more helpful than you, filling me in on things I missed and reminding me of things I really should know. I know I haven't forgotten how I feel about you. But like I said, just tell me if you don't want me around you, I can stay away, I'd just like to know." Ziggy pushed past Dillon and headed down the stairs.
An hour later Ziggy heard Dillon's car pull up.
"Hey," Dillon greeted as he climbed up next to Ziggy who was at the top of a play area at an abandoned park.
"Hey. Tenaya and Summer still shopping?"
"Yeah. How late does Zach's dance go?"
"It started at 8, I think it goes until midnight? But there was also something about an after party at the bowling alley across from the dance hall. He's supposed to text me when he heads over there and then Scott when it's time to get picked up."
"Did he show you the mess of pants he tried to shorten?"
"Yeah," Ziggy chuckled, "they had to be thrown away. I fixed this one up quickly though."
"I told him I had no idea about that kind of thing but assured him we'd get you back soon. He wanted to try anyway so you wouldn't have to worry about it but then realized he screwed up."
"I'm proud of him, though."
They were quiet for a few minutes until Ziggy spoke up again. "I'm sorry about earlier. You have your own stuff going on, I shouldn't have expected any of your attention."
"I'm sorry too," Dillon admitted. "You've been through a lot and I should be there helping you, not making you fend for yourself."
"The cartels taught me how to fend for myself, but not how to deal with becoming half robot and not knowing what is going on," Ziggy sighed, "It's fine though, I've accepted that I won't be able to fill in all the blanks and am trying to move on from there."
"It's not fine, Zig. I'm going to be here from now on. Especially, since I know you better than the rest of the team."
"Oh that does remind me," Ziggy remembered, "I know I have a friend from the cartels but I can't remember his name. I've been staring at my phone contacts unsure who is a friend, cartel member, or drug dealer… I guess that can wait until later though, sorry."
Dillon laughed and stood up, "Come on, want to get some dinner?"
"You buying?"
"We'll see." Dillon pulled Ziggy up and watched as he jumped down. "Want to go to Marco's?"
Ziggy looked up at Dillon who was still on the play area, "Am I remembering correctly? Isn't that one of the fanciest places in Corinth?"
"It might be."
"Is this a date?"
"Do you want it to be?" Dillon jumped down.
"You do know there's a good chance to run into the higher up mob members there."
"You scared? Pretty sure we can take them," He headed toward the car.
Ziggy smirked, "Just don't want a mob brawl to ruin our date."
Dillon rolled his eyes but smiled as he climbed into the car.
Dillon and Ziggy didn't pull into the garage until well after three in the morning.
"You two were out late," Zach accused as he looked back from the couch, "Everyone else is asleep already. Scott picked me up an hour ago."
Ziggy giggled, "How was prom?"
"It was fun. Loud."
"You should probably be getting to bed."
"So should you."
Ziggy yawned, "Yeah. It's been a long day," he laughed. "Night."
Dillon and Ziggy got to their room and changed into their pajamas. Ziggy sat on the end of his bed, "Are you sure you really want us to be a couple? I mean, we did have a lot of reasons to put it off in the first place."
Dillon shrugged, "Half of those reasons aren't a problem anymore, and like you said, we are a team, we've been through a lot as is, we can get through whatever comes at us." He clicked off the light.
Ziggy crawled under his covered and stretched out. "You know I love you, right?"
"Yeah, Zig. I love you too," Dillon mumbled as he drifted to sleep.
WELP. I have more ideas but who knows if I'll ever get to them… sooo that's it for now! Hope you enjoyed this series of scene type things and yet another background story for Ziggy XD