Halidenari (hal i den r i; noun, Eltarean. Broken, colloquially, broken team.)
Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers.
A/N: One shot in the Rainbow Brotherhood, ep tag post True Blue to the Rescue. I've been toying with the idea of this for some time. I explored it a bit in Wayward Son, but it's a part of Justin in the Brotherhood as well.
Andros looked at his… his teammates for a long moment. They were waving as the Blue Turbo Ranger, Justin, and Storm Blaster vanished down the road. Ashley turned to look at him, and her smile vanished, "Andros?" She asked.
"I have never, ever been so ashamed," he said coldly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"What are you talking about?" TJ asked.
"Why didn't you tell me he was still alive?" Andros snapped. "Don't you have any idea what you've done? What I've done?"
"No," Ashley said slowly.
Andros stared at them, unable to believe they couldn't possibly know. "He's halidenari now." He said slowly. "Because I gave you the Astro morphers and broke the Turbo team."
"I don't understand," Cassie said, "we lost our powers when the Power Chamber blew up."
Andros shook his head, "It doesn't work like that. You would have still been the Turbo Rangers, even if you couldn't morph. When I gave you the Astro morphers, the Turbo Rangers became broken." Unable to see any realization, Andros continued gently, "If I had known about Justin before I gave you the morphers, we could have made it possible for Justin to form the Turbo Rangers again. It's too late now. As far as I know, Justin won't be able to be on another Ranger team without destroying his morpher. He's a team of one."
"No he's not," Ashley said fiercely, "he's our teammate. And he's got Tommy, Kat, Tanya and Adam as well."
"You may feel that way," Andros said, "but the Power won't recognize it." He looked at each of them for a moment, "When people, other Rangers, learn of Justin, we'll be treated differently. I gave you the morphers without asking questions, and you accepted them. You didn't know, and for some people that will be a mitigating factor, but it doesn't change what happened."
The Rangers looked appropriately sober now, although Carlos looked a little confused, "Why did you think Justin was dead?" He asked finally.
"You told me you were the Turbo Rangers, I knew the Turbo team had a Blue Ranger, but he wasn't with you. You didn't talk about him much, if at all," he glanced at Cassie. "I assumed that he died in the Power Chamber explosion when you lost your power."
"And that's different?" Ashley said.
"Of course it is!" Andros said, "Accepting new powers after losing a Ranger isn't without precedent any more than giving the morpher of a fallen Ranger to a new Ranger to preserve a team." He hesitated a moment, "You all carry a morpher like that." They all looked at their wrists, then back at Andros. "My team died fighting Dark Spector," he said quietly. "They would be honored to know that you were the new team."
Ashley shifted forward tentatively, "Would you tell us about them?"
Andros nodded, "I will."
