Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm not sure whose they are right now, but they're definitely not mine.

If you've read Unexpected Ally and Visitor, (hint hint) you know that I'm not really big on action. It tends to stay in the background of my stories. Well, that's equally true in this one. Angst and smaltz…that's what I write. If you don't like it, read the story anyway.

Chapter 1 Problems

Merrick stumbled backwards, catching himself on the very edge of the cliff. Before he could catch his balance again, another blast landed directly in front of him, sending him head over heels down the slope. Landing hard, he lay for a moment simply trying to breathe.

Rubble crashed around him and he pushed himself to his feet, braced to meet the Putrids. Black spots danced in front of his eyes and he blinked, trying to force them away.

"Merrick?" Alyssa. Not Putrids. "Are you all right?"

"No." He swallowed. "I cannot see."

And an hour earlier everything was normal. Merrick had gone into Turtle Cove to get some things for Willie; he'd been passing through a construction site when he heard a scream. Following it—as all good Power Rangers do—he'd found an Org terrorizing three or four civilians, and had engaged it to allow them to get away. He hadn't time to morph or call the other Rangers, but he wasn't particularly worried; Princess Shayla would be watching, and if she wasn't Tara certainly would be.

Then the Org had attacked, pushing him over the lip of a small quarry…

"You hit your head pretty hard." Alyssa said. He could hear the sounds of battle nearby—the other Rangers must all have come. "Here…" Her hand was on his arm, guiding him backwards until he touched rock. Something pressed against his hand, and he gripped it automatically…Alyssa's Deer Clencher. "Anything comes near you without saying…" she trailed off and he nodded.

"I will fight." She squeezed his arm once and left.

It was nearly impossible to track a battle by noise alone, he discovered. He could hear the Rangers yelling, he could hear explosions and taunts from Laserorg, but he couldn't follow what they meant. After a couple of minutes all the Rangers yelled, though he couldn't pick out words; then someone came towards him. Merrick swung the weapon up.

"Merrick?" Cole. Merrick powered down the weapon and held it out; someone took it from him.

"You really can't see?" Max sounded—almost scared.

"No."

"It's probably temporary." Cole sounded falsely hearty. "We'll go to the Animarium and…"

"No." Merrick jerked away from him, banging against the cliff behind him. "We will not go to the Animarium."

"Merrick, Princess Shayla might be able to help you."

"No. She cannot." He turned towards Cole. "Take me to Willie's."

"Merrick…" Cole's voice was on his left. Silently cursing, he turned in that direction.

"Cole." There was a moment of silence.

"All right."

"Cole!" Alyssa protested.

"We can't make him go anywhere, Alyssa." Cole was making some effort to keep his voice down. "Go and tell the Princess what's happened. I'll take him to Willie's."

"Don't talk about me as though I'm not here." Merrick ground out.

"Sorry." Cole said. A hand touched his arm. "Come on."

**********************************************

Tara's voice greeted them when they entered Willie's.

"I thought you'd gotten lost."

"Tara." Cole said in surprise. Merrick had long since stopped being surprised at anything she did and merely tipped his head towards her. "What are you doing here?" Cole went on.

"I told Willie what happened. He says not to worry about anything." Her voice turned grim. "You weren't the only one affected."

"What?" Cole demanded.

"The people you were protecting, Merrick."

"But they were not affected." Merrick protested. "They ran away—they could see perfectly well."

"It took a while to kick in. Either it's targeted at Rangers, or…were you hit more than once?" Merrick nodded stiffly, not liking either possibility.

"Were you tracking him? The Org?" Cole asked.

"I lost him a while ago." Tara replied.

Merrick pushed himself to his feet and moved carefully towards the door.

"Merrick?" Cole asked uncertainly.

"I am going outside." he said calmly. There was a pause, and then Tara said, "Merrick…"

Her voice was close—too close, and he instinctively jerked away. He hit a chair and caught it before either he or it fell, but the move left him disoriented.

"You're not trying, Merrick." Tara said disapprovingly. "I've seen you cross this room without looking." She must have turned away, because her voice wasn't as clear when she added, "Taylor's coming."

He could hear Cole hesitating. "Go. See what she wants, Cole."

"I don't have to."

"She's calling you, Cole." Tara murmured.

"Go, both of you." Merrick said firmly.

Tara was either frowning or smirking when she went on, "She's not calling me. Go on, Cole." Smirking. Definitely smirking.

"You do not need to stay." Merrick said coldly, listening as Cole left.

"I don't have anything better to do."

"You should be in work. How did you even know?"

"You were in a quarry, Merrick. Of course I knew."

He grunted. "And work?"

"Day off."

"Convenient." He could feel her amusement.

"I do occasionally get days off, Merrick."

"I'm not disputing that. Just saying it's convenient."

"Cynic. Are you actually going outside?"

"Yes." She didn't move, and he hesitated for a moment before carefully making his way to the door.

"Told you you could do it."

"I didn't doubt it." he retorted, moving away from the door to let her out. "Where is Willie?"

"I'm not sure. He said he had 'things to do'."

"I see."

"He's a good man, Merrick."

"I know." They stood in silence for a few minutes. "You don't have to stay, Tara."

"I know."