Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Ninja Steel.

For the most part, the city of Summer Cove had recovered from Galvanax's attack. Sarah could still remember seeing eight of the brute beast towering over the city, destroying everything within their reach.

Monster attacks were no longer uncommon in this part of the country. In fact, they were pretty much expected. The State always had money set aside to help cover the costs of damages and to help with repairs. Some would argue the monsters were good for the economy, as they kept people working around the clock to fix up the destruction they caused.

Those people, clearly, never lost a loved one in an attack.

Sarah sat outside what had been her father's office building. Unlike eight other locations across the city, this one had barely been touched. It had been close to the site of one of the Galvanaxs, so people had fled in terror and the damage was mostly a result of that. Still, it hadn't been long before the company was back up and running, going through their day as usual. However, they were at least one employee short.

Though Sarah had learned to accept her father's absence in her life, it was still just that: an absence. Despite what the news reports said, and despite what the mayor, the senators and even the president said, not everyone had been found. Sarah still had no idea what happened to her father in the attack. All she knew for certain was that he hadn't come home.

She knew an absence this long after an attack of that magnitude meant it was safe to assume death, and for simplicity sake, Sarah called it that, but without a body, without any proof of what happened to him, Sarah was left with a ton of questions.

Brody had found his brother. After ten long years and a torturous game by Madam Oedius, Brody managed to find the one person out of seven billion that he was looking for. Despite the odds, the Romero brothers were reunited and as happy as Sarah was for both, she was angry.

It had been a couple weeks since the truth came out and the Romero brothers were already behaving like brothers. They hung out together all the time. They lived together. They fought like brothers. They had each other's backs, like brothers.

Sarah knew this was two different circumstances. Aiden, now Levi, had run away from an attack to survive. He found a family that kept him safe and fate happened to bring the brothers back together. This had nothing to do with her and her father. This was not Brody rubbing her face in his happy ending, or life giving her the middle finger.

But she needed answers. As a student of math and science, as a daughter, and as a person, she needed answers.

What could have happened to her father that would keep him from coming home?

Why hadn't his body been found? Especially since damage to his building had been minimal?

If he was dead, why did no one find him? If he was alive, why hadn't he already come home?

"Do you need help?" a man in a suit asked as he stepped out of the building. Sarah snapped out of her thoughts and looked to him, shaking her head. He approached her. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Uh… no," she answered.

"Interested in business?" he asked. "School's been out a couple weeks, and summer's barely started. You know, you could intern here, over the summer. Looks good for college."

"Thanks, but I'm not really… business-minded."

"Well, you're staring at an office building," the man chuckled. "Are you lost?"

"No, I…"

"Hey, wait a minute," the man glanced over her shoulder, looking to her bag. "Holy smokes, this whole time I thought the bastard was making that up."

"Huh?"

"You're Bill Thompson's kid, aren't you?" the man smiled, then pointed to her bag. "Is that really a hoverboard?"

Sarah glanced at her bag, which was carrying her hoverboard and then she nodded her head. "Uh, yeah. I am and it is."

"Your father said you were smart. That I could believe but a working hoverboard? Damn, I owe Joan fifty bucks now. You know, never bet against her."

"I won't," Sarah answered. The man chuckled as he shook his head, still in disbelief about her hoverboard. This only lasted a moment. When he saw Sarah was still focused on the building, and looking lost, he realized Bill Thompson's kid likely wasn't here to show off her hoverboard. Gently, he took her by the arm and walked her over to a nearby bus stop, where they sat down on the bench.

"I'm Matt, by the way. I worked with your dad in accounting," he introduced himself. "Met him the day he transferred here from Amber Beach. He was a good guy."

"Thanks."

"It's a real shame what happened," Matt told her. "I guess fate has a funny way of… well, not funny, I mean, but… Fate sucks sometimes."

"Fate?"

"You didn't know?" Matt seemed puzzled for a moment, then shook his head, "Right, I mean, I guess you don't. That makes sense."

"Know what?"

"Well, your dad and I usually ate lunch together in the break room. You know, complained about the boss together, moaned about our wives, guys stuff, basically."

"I get it," Sarah nodded. Her Ranger team was dominated by boys, who sometimes forgot she, Kelly, and Hayley were in the room when they spoke. So much so, in fact, that girl talk often revolved around guy talk.

"Anyways, there was this big opportunity for your dad coming up. I'm not sure what it was but the branch was expanding and the boss wanted to talk to him. She seemed upbeat so Bill wasn't sure how to feel, you know, since you guys just moved and he was worried you might have to move again, but he thought he'd hear her out. You know, know his options."

"Okay…"

"She took him out to lunch," Matt said. "You know, when those monsters attacked. They must have been in the heart of it."

Sarah's eyes started to water, hearing this. She knew the story wouldn't have a happy ending. Anything short of her father being home was nothing more than a tragedy, but that didn't stop the answers from hurting.

"I thought you might want to know," Matt said. "Especially since… you know, he was never found."

"Thanks," Sarah whispered, though she wasn't feeling very thankful at all. The way Matt spoke about her father, it seemed they were good friends, but he was still just a stranger to her. A stranger who did give her some answers, but the answers weren't what she wanted to hear.

"I really am sorry about… well, everything. It's got to be tough. For what it's worth, he really, really loved you."

"Thanks," she muttered again, but Matt shook his head.

"No, no, I really… I'm serious. I've got two kids at home and they're my life and my heart but… damn, the look in his eyes Bill had whenever he said your name, or even just whenever you came to mind; you were his whole world. I really, really hope you knew that."

He gave Sarah's shoulder a squeeze. He wasn't sure what to do anymore but he could tell she was getting emotional and he didn't think it would be appropriate to stick around any longer.

"The phone number's the same. I assume you have it for the building, right?" when Sarah nodded, he smiled, "Great. Well, my extension is 645. If you have anymore questions or just want to talk or maybe you just want to see where your dad worked, or, anything, really. Anything you need, at all, just give me a call and I will make it happen."

Sarah didn't give him an answer, but he had done all he could for her. He walked off, leaving her with her thoughts.

"So, you're leaving me?" she heard Kelly say just minutes later, but didn't glance up. Kelly limped her way over and sat down next to her on the bus seat, holding a bag of groceries. "I'm a big girl, you know. You could have just broken up with me. No need to catch a bus out of town."

She was teasing, and she knew Sarah would know that too, but when the pink Ranger didn't laugh, Kelly started to worry. She lifted the bag of groceries, "So, I don't know why you insisted on coming across town to get this stuff. They don't have anything here they didn't have down the block from your place. It is a grocery chain, so I don't know why I believed you in the first place. On me, I guess."

Sarah still didn't respond one way or another, so Kelly leaned forward to get a look at her face and saw Sarah in tears. She dropped the grocery bag and moved in front of her girlfriend, "Sarah? Sarah is everything okay?"

Sarah covered her face with her hands and her body started to tremble. Kelly put her hands on Sarah's legs, "Hey, come on, talk to me. What happened? Are you hurt?"

Sarah didn't answer but started to sob. Kelly looked her over quickly, checking for blood or signs of injury, but Sarah was just as she left her.

"Come on, talk to me," Kelly pleaded with her as she reached into her pocket for her phone. "It's going to be okay, Sarah. Maybe I can help or… Sarah, please, say something. Let me know you're okay or what's going on or something."

As she tried to beg Sarah to say or do anything, she called Jenny's phone. When the step-mother picked up, Kelly stepped away, though always keeping an eye on Sarah as she did.

"Uh, Jenny, I think we need you to come pick us up. Sarah's hurt and… No! No, sorry, not like hurt, hurt. She's hurting and I don't know what's wrong or what to do and… okay. We're outside Fresh Foods. You know the one across from Summer Cove Digital Marketing Company?... Great! We're right there. I'll keep an eye on her until you get here but please make it fast. Thanks."