Day 1 can be provided upon request. (On personal website)
Days 2 and 3 may become part of something large so will not be hosted in this story.

Day 4
Title: Loss
Rating: PG-13
Primary characters/ship: Casey, implied/past Rasey.
Genere: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Disclaimer: Don't own the series. Saana and Malthus are mine, though.
Summary: He couldn't understand why this was happening, but something was gone that could never be replaced...Can Lily help Casey in time for him to comfort another mourning soul.
Author's Note: WARNING! Character Death.

They filed into the old Pizza shop, heads heavy

They filed into the old Pizza shop, heads heavy. Being here felt wrong. It wasn't the same. It never could be. The furnishings had barely changed since that day seven years ago when three students of the Order of the Claw stepped into it. The backspace training area and home had some refurnishing, but no great remodeling.

This beloved shelter that had seen so many comings and goings, celebrations, and sorrows, now was covered in shadow. Breaking past the storefront into the home area Fran rushed up to the group, chattering nervously. She didn't have to open her mouth. The long looks on their faces told her all she needed. Her heart sank slowly, her eyes searching for a particular member of the team.

Casey shuffled behind all of them. His entire body felt weighted down. Why had they let their guard down? Why had they become so slack after Dai Shi had been put back in his place? Why had they ever gone their separate ways? They had lost the strength they had created as a team. If only they had stayed together. None of this would have happened, none of it.

But who was able to predict shadows? Wasn't that why they were such a threat? Blindly he ignored all the concerned looks he was getting. He couldn't meet their eyes. They couldn't logically blame him for any of this. But in the back of their hearts he could swear he heard their internalized glares. He felt every stab as sharply as a thousand blades. As far as the red ranger was concerned, he deserved every one of them.

In middle of the floor his legs failed him. He sunk to his knees. Cries of concern filled his ears, but they seemed so distant, so far away. He looked down at his uniform. It was filthy. Dried blood covered the front. Not his. No, his he could deal with. Picking at the cloth he raised it up, his jaw hardening.

For once, he didn't care how he looked.

"Casey…" He heard Lily whisper in his ear. She had sunk down to his level after having shooed out the others. "Casey look at me."

Somehow, he obeyed. This was Lily after all. She had always been there. She had always been looking out for him. He could trust her even when he couldn't himself.

"It wasn't you're fault. You have to know that. It wasn't your fault." Her words were soft, too soft. "No one saw it coming. We tried to save him—"

"But we didn't!" He exclaimed. "We couldn't save him! I should have seen it, I could have seen it. You didn't have to. I did. But no. I was blind, I was fucking blind and look what happened!"

"He's gone, Lil'! He. is. gone. And I…I…" Casey froze, his hands gripping the blood stained shirt. Shaking he clawed at it until he could rip it off his body.

"I killed him." His voice quivered. His hands trembled. Reality hit hard.

...

"Casey, please… you have to. I can't keep this up." A ragged voice struggled to keep steady. "He's winning. I can't keep him back. If he breaks through… No one will be safe. You have to."

"NO! I can't!"

"…Yes…" the already injured man reached down to pull the red ranger close. "You have to. You know it."

"There has to be another way!" Casey pleaded, trying to find a different solution.

"…Love, please. I can't hold out for the others… I don't want to fail you, them, Saana…" For the first time, Casey saw tears in his mate's eyes. It broke him. Regretfully he swung the finishing attack into the heavily protected container that suspended the body of the man he loved.

Freed, the ragged body fell towards the floor. Casey lunged to catch the figure. Life barely sparkled in too familiar eyes. For the first time since the discovery they weren't clouded by the sheen of yellow.

"Love you…" he heard a ragged whisper of words not often exchanged between the two.

"I know." He forced a smile, leaning down to kiss his mate one final time.

...

"He asked and… and I did. I killed him. I just couldn't--"

"Oh Casey!" Lily sighed, pulling her friend into a tight hug. "You saved him. You know that."

Her words went unheard.

"I couldn't watch him like that. He was so desperate, Lil'. He, he didn't want to live. But I shouldn't have done it! There still was a chance! We could have found a way to separate him from—What have I done? Oh god, what have I done?" Casey's voice strained as he tried not to cry and failed. His sobs shook his back and dampened the shoulder of Lily's uniform.

"He didn't want to live if it meant he could only cause pain. You heard what they said. As long as the host lived, so would the spirit of Malthus. No matter how weak, it would remain. He didn't want to bring that darkness into your life. He fought just as hard as us, but he lost. He lost so that we could have a future." The cheetah tried to place a perspective on this situation.

"It's not fair." Casey ignored the childish statement that came from his lips.

"No, no it's not." She agreed.

"Why me? Why did he have to ask me?" He choked, his grip remaining constant.

"Because if he had to leave this world, he wanted his last memory to be of the person he trusted, the one he loved. He knew how strong you are, Casey. He knew that if any of us had, we would have lost not only him, but we'd never be able to make it up to you…I…I know how selfish that sounds, but it's the truth. It had to be you."

The two former teammates stayed like that for a while. When Casey's breath slowed, Lily pulled back. Sorrow still hung heavily on his shoulders. She couldn't expect anything else. She wouldn't.

"You did what none of us could, what even he couldn't. I know it hurts, it hurts us all, but you've got to be strong now. You're needed here, more than ever." She tried to encourage him.

Before he could respond a loud yawn came to their attention. Casey shot to attention, looking to his left. A little girl rubbed her sleepy eye as she clung to a little wolf plushie with her free hand. Seeing Casey sitting in the room a smile spread brightly across her face. All fatigue forgotten she giggled and ran to him, dropping her plushie, and flung her lithe little arms around him. He hugged her back instinctually.

"Daddy!"

"Saana!" he exclaimed to the wiggling four year old. "What are you doing up?"

"I wanted a drink!" She said simply, snuggling into his shoulder. "Is Da' home yet? You said you'd bring him back!" she said defiantly.

Lily froze, looking at Casey. He slowly brushed the messy flop of dark brown hair behind the child's ear. She was so young. So fragile. He had been so selfish. How had he been able to forget that he would have to do this?

"Sa'…Da's…he's…" He took a deep breath when the child looked up at him with confusion. "He can't come back."

"Are the bad guys still out there?" She tried to reason.

"Not right now, sweetie. There was a really bad guy; he was going to hurt a lot of people, even you and me. But Da' wouldn't let that happen. Neither could we. "

"Because you're the heroes!" She said brightly, always having compared her parents and "aunts" and "uncles" to the gallant princes and brave women warriors of her bedtime stories.

"Exactly." Casey smiled, choking back the urge to cry. Not yet, not now. "Sweetie…the only way for this really dangerous guy to go away was for Da' to go away too."

The little girl's face fell. "I don't like this story! Da' can't go away! We need him here!" She began trembling.

The tears he had been trying to hold back fell past his barrier. He pulled Saana close, hugging her tightly as she cried against him. He whispered to her, joining her tears with his own. Lily was right. He had to be strong for the light that did remain here for him.

"I don't like it either, baby. But do you think Da' would ever really leave us?" He asked. She looked up at him, not understanding any of this.

"As long as we remember him, He'll always be here…" He pointed to her forehead. "And right here." He placed a finger on her heart.

"…But he's not HERE." She emphasized.

"No, maybe not. But," He smiled genuinely for the first time that night. "You can't just get rid of a Master. Even though they might not be right here all the time, you never know when they could pop in. So Da's still got his eyes on us. So we better keep our rooms nice and clean, right?"

Saana contemplated this for a moment. She still frowned, how could she not? But she nodded before continuing to snuggle into Casey's embrace.

"I know I'm a big girl…" Saana whispered. "But can I sleep sleep with you tonight?" It was a frequent habit her parents had tried to lessen.

"Of course, Sa'." Casey rubbed her back.

Saana paused for a minute before pulling back and running back in the direction she came from. Before Casey could say anything, she was back with the plushie she had dropped.

"Here!" She exclaimed. "You can have him."

"Saana?" Lily and Casey exchanged looks. The little gray squishy wolf was one of Saana's most prized possessions. It was to the pride of their former master and the dread of the girl's grandfather.

"I have you cuddle! But Daddy doesn't have Da'. You'll be lonely!" She said, in perfect childlike reasoning.

"But I have you!" Casey certainly didn't want to take his daughter's favorite toy away.

"But Wolfie makes me brave and strong. Da' made you that way." She was really too smart for her age.

"You do make me strong, baby." He chuckled through the heaviness. She wrinkled her nose, clearly not liking his stubbornness. "Tell you what. You hold on to Wolfie for me. And when I need him, I'll ask if I can take him for a while."

"Deal!" She grinned from ear to ear, thrusting the toy at him. "You get him tonight!"

Lily watched the two silently. If nothing else, at least they still had each other. She knew they could pull each other through. She slowly slipped away to leave them alone. Exiting into the night air she took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy. But they could do it.

"Don't worry, R.J." She whispered to the night sky with a solemn promise. "We'll keep them on their feet. You'll be so proud of them! Just wait!"