Title: Freedom One Revisited
Author: LongTimeFan
Rating: All ages
Disclaimer: The following is a work of fan fiction based on the television series, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future. It is in no way intended to infringe on the copyrights of Landmark Entertainment Corporation or anyone else who may have legal rights to the characters and settings. I don't own the characters. Only using them for a short time and will return them in relatively the same shape as when borrowed. As always, any errors or inconsistencies are of my doing.
Author Note: The episode, Freedom One, left a huge storyline hanging in my opinion, one that I could not resist. This picks up at the end of the episode and events in the episode provide a great opportunity to look at Jon and Jennifer's relationship and the change that is occurring between them.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Shutting down the sky bike, Corporal Jennifer "Pilot" Chase bit back the groan that threatened to escape her lips as she sat upright. From the empty bay, she knew she was the first one who had made it back from the mission. Pausing, she shook her head in confusion when she could not recall what that had been.
Jennifer eased herself off the bike, pressing the panel on her chest. Obediently, the suit transformed itself from armor to an inert body-forming undergarment. "Man," Jennifer breathed in pain, slowing putting her arm down. "I'm hope someone got the number of that bus," she muttered, borrowing a phrase she had heard from the others.
Moving slowly out of the bay, Chase limped to her quarters. Although standard procedure was for her to go to the command center to monitor activity, she could not bring herself to get that far. Easing onto her bunk, she ran a shaky hand over her now sweaty face. During the mission, the adrenaline had forced any feeling of the battering her body had taken from her consciousness.
Now that she was safely home and the adrenaline had worn off, she was miserable. Pain coursed through her body.
"Guess that's what you get for playing hero," Jennifer muttered, giving up on trying to figure out where she had been and laying her tired form down. 'Just need a few minutes,' she tried to convince herself as she slipped off into the darkness calling her.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Nodding to the two men who returned to the base, Captain Jonathon Power breathed a silent prayer of thanks. He and his oldest friend and advisor, Major Matthew "Hawk" Masterson, had returned only a few minutes prior to their arrival. From the skybike sitting close by, he knew that Pilot had made it back earlier. Once again, all of his team had returned from a mission.
"Any problems?" Power asked as Sergeant Robert "Scout" Baker and Lieutenant Michael "Tank" Ellis both powered down their suits.
"Piece of cake," Scout announced, grinning at his leader. "Did you hear him? Freedom Two! Gotta hand it to him," he spouted, referring to Elzer's daring move to take the transmitter and continue to broadcast news of the resistance efforts to others.
"We heard," Matt answered. "Let's just hope he proves to be better than the first one."
"Wonder if Pilot's started dinner," Tank said, heading to door. "I'm starving."
"You're always hungry," Scout countered, following him.
Grinning, Matt looked from the exiting duo to Jon. He sobered when he saw the serious look on the younger man's face. "What's wrong?"
"We got lucky," Jon said quietly. "If Dread would have succeeded…."
"But he didn't," Matt interjected. "You can't let what ifs eat at you Jon."
"I just can't believe she fooled all of us," Power mused, starting down the hallway toward the command center. "Dread's getting smarter in his old age. He knows he can't beat us in a head on battle so he's going to greater lengths to set traps."
"We can still beat him," Hawk assured him. "We'll just have to be on our toes and be a little more wary of strangers bearing gifts."
Entering the empty command center, Power and Hawk shared a surprised look. They had expected to see Chase there.
"Captain," Tank called coming into the area. "No sign of Pilot in the kitchen area."
"And I'd say she hasn't been here either," Matt said, checking the log on the computer. "Monitor is still on automatic."
"Skybike was in the bay," Jon stated, frowning. Flipping the switch to the base communication system, he called out. "This is Power. Pilot, come in." When silence met is request, he shared a look with Matt. "Pilot, acknowledge."
His uneasiness growing with Pilot's lack of response, Jon snapped, "Tank, find Scout and the two of you check the bay again, then head over to the east corridors and the mountain access. Hawk, check the power room and arsenal. I'll check her quarters and the med bay. And be careful. We can't be sure someone else hasn't gotten in here and taken her out."
Moving quickly, the men scattered to their respective assignments. Stepping inside the medical ward, Power quickly scanned the area. While the possibility of an intruder was ever present, he also knew that Jennifer had been banged up on the mission. Although she had given no indication of any serious injury at the time, he was beginning to wonder if he had missed something.
Picking up his pace, Power headed quickly down the hallway to Jennifer's quarters. Pausing outside her door, he listened for any sound of movement inside before knocking. "Pilot?"
Receiving no answer, he pounded on the door again. "Pilot? Jennifer?" he yelled, before triggering the door and stepping inside.
"Pilot!" Jon called anxiously, darting to the sleeping chamber. "Jennifer?" Jon called again, shaking her shoulder. Her lack of response raised his level of concern even higher.
Reaching above Pilot's still form, Power triggered the base intercom. "I've got her. Hawk, meet me at the Med bay. Pilot's hurt."
Reaching the medical bay at the same time as their Captain, the three other men of the team stepped aside as Power swept into the room with Pilot in his arms.
"Anybody know what happened to her out there?" Hawk snapped, starting up the medical monitors.
"Only thing she said was that they had been sent into an ambush," Jonathon barked, easing her onto the gurney.
"Must have been a quite an ambush," Tank observed. "Her suit was powered down when she got to the meeting place."
"Hawk?" Power snapped, watching the older man.
"Pulse, breathing, in normal range. I'll have to get her suit off before Mentor can do a full scan," Matt snapped back tersely, reaching for the buttons on her shirt. Pausing he looked at the others in the room. "She's not gonna be happy if she finds out you all stood around watching me undress her," he observed dryly.
"Keep us informed, will ya?" Scout asked as he and Tank moved towards the door.
Indicating he would, Matt turned his eyes to Power. "Jon," he called gently. "Give me a few minutes and then I'll have more information to tell you."
Reluctantly, Jon nodded. As much as he hated to leave, he respected her too much to stay. "Let me know as soon as you can," he stated, not taking his eyes from Pilot.
"Okay, kid," Matt said to Jennifer after watching Jon leave. "Let's see about getting' you better."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Coming into the command center, tension and worry radiated from the Captain. "Scout," he snapped at the communications expert. "See if you can get a hold of Polaski. Find out what happened to Pilot out there."
"Tank," Power turned to the large man. "You get on the monitor and check activity. We've been out of touch for awhile now and I want to know what's going on."
Satisfied that he could at least give the other two something to take their minds off of Pilot, Jon wished he could find something to do. Pretending to read a few intelligence reports, he finally gave up and pushed himself away from the monitor.
"I'll be in med bay," Jon announced, heading out of the command area. Stopping outside of the medical bay door, he leaned against the wall to wait. Silently, he berated himself for not inquiring more if Chase had been injured. The vision of her standing there with her arm across Polaski's shoulders popped into his mind.
Leave it to Pilot to show up just when Power had needed her. Freedom One had caught him off guard and had him in her gun sights. Jon had no doubt she would have tried to kill him if Chase hadn't shot the gun from her hand. 'Corporal Chase reporting, sir,' she had said as a matter of fact. A smile once again erupted on Jon's face at the finely honed dry tone she had used.
Now, looking back, Jon kicked himself for not seeing the obvious signs. Jennifer would never have allowed someone she didn't know to assist her unless she had been really hurting. Still, when he had asked her if she could manage to get the resistance leaders out of harms way, she had not hesitated to accept the assignment. It didn't surprise him.
She had come so far since her days with the Dread youth. She had not only learned the lessons of what it meant to be human, she had embraced them into her heart and soul. She had even been known to use them against Power himself if need be. He remembered the time she had wanted to sneak into a Dread facility to steal medical supplies to combat a virus sweeping through the Passages. "What's the first thing you taught me when you freed me from the Dread Youth?" she had challenged when he was reluctant to let her go.
As irritated as he had been with her at that moment, he had also never been prouder. It made sense, as much as he hated to admit it, that she would have done whatever was necessary to protect others around her, even if it meant she got hurt or ignored her own well being.
The door beside him opening brought Jon from his reverie.
"Figured you'd be close," Matt stated, moving back towards the gurney.
Coming into the med bay, Jon's eyes were drawn to the small, sheet draped form in the middle of the room. "What did you find?" he asked.
"Mentor, report," Matt called out.
"Working," the disembodied voice of Stuart Power replied from the wall speaker. "Scans indicated Corporal Chase has deep bone bruises over sixty percent of her body, two cracked ribs, and a concussion."
"From the sound of it, she took quite a beating out there," Matt intoned quietly, brushing his hand over her forehead.
"Scout's trying to raise Elzer to find out," Jon replied, picking up Jennifer's hand in his. "Mentor, what's causing her to be unconscious?"
"Scans indicate normal brain function. Her unconsciousness is likely a combination of the concussion and the pain of her other injuries. I am monitoring for any abnormal brain patterns and will alert you immediately if any are detected," Mentor explained. "There is also a high probability that she is in considerable discomfort given the extent of her injuries."
"I've given her something to make her more comfortable," Matt assured the younger man seeing a troubled frown cross his face at the news. "She just needs to rest and let the medical machines do their thing, that's all."
"I'm not sure how she made it back to the base like that," Power murmured in awe, stroking his thumb across her hand. "By the time she landed, she had to be feeling pretty rough."
"That's our girl. A fighter for sure," Matt said, pride and tenderness in his voice. Jon's lack of response caused him to once again focus his attention on the younger man. "What's wrong?"
"Sometimes I just wonder if we did the right thing, letting her become part of the team," Power intoned softly. "She's so small…," he added, drifting off.
Pursing his lips, Matt turned away a moment and pretended to check the monitors before responding. He had been waiting for this for quite some time. He wasn't blind to the growing closeness between the two young people. While they had never allowed their mutual attraction to interfere in a mission, he had noticed Jon's protectiveness of her becoming more obvious. He had to do something here or this incident could send Jon into full-blown mother hen mode and he'd try to stop her from going on missions.
"What?" Hawk challenged, a tinge of derision in his voice. "You think that we could have stopped her from fighting Dread? Once we opened her eyes to it all, there was no way she was going to just passively sit back. Besides, she's knows in a way that we never could the damage that man has done."
Seeing objections form in Jon's eyes, Hawk continued. "Yes, it's true we have each lost too much, see too much death, have too many scars from Dread. But she," Hawk paused to gently lay his hand on Jennifer's head, "she had her very humanity stripped from her. Don't you think that entitles her to be just a little pissed now? Don't you think she has as much right as you or I to do whatever she can to fight that monster and everything he stands for?"
Seeing a slow resignation settled on Jon, Hawk pushed on. "And how long do you think she would survive doing that if she wasn't part of this team? Didn't have this suit," Hawk picked up Pilot's powersuit and shoved it towards Jon for emphasis, "to protect her from the worse of it?"
"Not long," Power breathed, sorrow reflecting in his eyes at the thought of what would have happened to Jennifer if she had not been wearing the suit in her last battle.
"That's right. Not long," Hawked repeated huskily. "How many friends have we lost along the way because they didn't have the same edge as you or I or Tank or Scout or her?" Tossing the suit back onto the counter, he shook his head. "I thank God everyday she is part of this team. Because everyday she is, that's one more day I don't have to grieve for her loss."
Silence settled in the room after Hawk's outburst. Judging that he had gotten through to the Captain, Matt let out a long breath as the anger left his body. "You stay with her and I'll let Scout and Tank know she'll be okay."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Consciousness came slowly back to Jennifer. It started as an awareness of a low throbbing pain in every part of her body. The second realization was of the fact that she was lying on a gurney, no longer in her uniform or powersuit. From the feel of the bed beneath her, she guessed it was a medical one. Silently, she prayed that when she opened her eyes she would not find it to be a Dread installation.
The rustle of material next to her and the feel of hand touching her shoulder caused Jennifer to open her eyes. Spinning her head toward the source of the touch, a shaky breath of relief left her lips when she realized who it was. "Jon."
"Welcome back," Power greeted her, as he brushed back the hair that had fallen in her face by the sudden move. "How you feeling?"
"Been better," Pilot answered, easing her head back down. Frowning, she asked, "What happened to me?"
"I was hoping you could tell us that," Jon countered, reaching for a glass of water. "Here, small sips," he said, helping her to take a few swallows.
Sitting the glass down, Power asked, "What do you remember?"
Concentrating, Pilot frowned. "We were in the command center, listening to the radio," she said, looking towards Jon for some sign of reaction. "Freedom One was talking about hope."
"That was over ten hours ago," Jon offered, not surprised by the gap.
"Ten hours?" Pilot repeated in disbelief.
"Tell me about it," Jon retorted, slowly rising from the stool he had been sitting on for hours. "After the broadcast, Freedom One sent an encoded message of her whereabouts and we went to meet her."
"Did Dread track her before we could get there?" Jennifer asked concerned.
"No, we got to her," Power assured her, a look of anger and disgust flashing over his face.
"I don't understand," Jennifer stated, confused by Jon's reaction.
"She convinced us to bring all the resistance leaders to a meeting. You went to get Goondar but turns out he was killed so you brought his replacement, Elzer. Trouble was, he knew she was an over-unit."
Jennifer gasped at the revelation. "She was loyal to Dread?"
Nodding Power continued. "Somehow she knew Elzer was with you and sent you both into an ambush," Jon took a moment to walk around the bed so that he could hide any emotion on his face as he said it. "You made it back to the rest of us and we got them all out."
Relief at Jon's words rushed through Pilot. She knew that if Dread's plan had succeeded, the resistance would have been wiped out. As Jon stayed quiet, Chase prompted him. "So, what happened? How'd I get hurt?"
"As I said, we were hoping you could tell us," Jon replied, smiling softly. "All we know is that your power suit was pretty much drained when you reached us but you were still mobile. We split up and you took Cypher home. You beat the rest of us here. It wasn't until we showed up that we found you out cold."
"That had to be a little disconcerting," Jennifer said dryly, hoping to ease the tension radiating from Power's body. "It was my turn to cook today, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was," Jon answered, sobering. Picking up Jennifer's hand, he looked her in the eye to make sure she knew he was not talking about the missed chore. "It's something I don't want to ever have to repeat."
Squeezing the hand holding hers, Jennifer tried to hide the tears that had jumped into her eyes at the pain in his voice. "I'm sorry, Jon. I didn't mean to worry you."
"Well, I do," Jon confessed. "I don't know…."
"Is sleeping beauty finally awake?"
At the sound of Hawk's voice, Jon tore his gaze from Pilot. "She's awake. Doesn't remember much though."
"That's not surprising, given that she went toe to toe with Blastarr," Hawk announced, referring to the large Bio-Dread Pilot had fought as he moved to the bed. "How ya feelin' kid?"
"Better than I should from the sound of it," Pilot replied, smiling up at the man who was the only father figure she had ever known.
"Scout reached Elzer," Power said, surmising it from Hawk's statement.
"Talked to him on tight beam," Matt shared. "He said that when they landed, Blastarr showed up and after a short dance with our little fighter here, brought down a building on them. Pilot covered Elzer from the worse of the damage."
"Maybe it's a good thing I don't remember it," Chase retorted, starting to shift but stopped when the pain in her back flared.
"Still hurting?" Hawk asked, catching the signs of discomfort pass over the young woman's face.
"Little," Pilot said, between clenched teeth. While she was a master of hiding her emotions while in the Dread Youth, she had purposely allowed that skill to deteriorate since escaping her earlier life. At this moment, however, she regretted the decision to do this as she knew that neither man was convinced by her statement.
"Uh huh," Matt droned, catching Jon's eye and seeing the same doubt on the Captain's face. "I think more than a little," he countered, moving towards the drug cabinet. "It'll be at least twelve hours before the regenerator is finished, and even then you're gonna be sore for a few days."
"I'll be okay for awhile yet," Pilot countered, not wanting to go back to sleep just yet. "I need to find out the rest of what happened."
"That'll wait," Jon countered. "You need to rest and let the regenerator work on you."
"But…" Jennifer tried again to object.
"But nothing," Jon chided, nodding at Hawk to administer the sedative he'd retrieved. "You'll feel better and heal quicker if you don't fight it." Pulling the stool back to the side of the bed, he sat down and laid his hand on her arm and ran his thumb in a circle over her skin. "Someone will be here when you wake up to answer your questions," he added as she continued to fight the effect of the shot.
Watching the pair from the other side of the room, Hawk's heart clenched at the sight of Jon comforting Jennifer. "You know with that concussion, she probably won't remember anything we just told her," he said softly, coming up behind Power to ensure that Pilot had finally succumb to the medicine.
"I know," Jon answered. "That's why I don't want her to be alone when she wakes up. She's likely to get up and hurt herself again."
"Is that the only reason?" Matt challenged. When silence met his query, Matt sighed. "You know, if you and she quit dancing around this thing between you, it could get messy."
"How so?" Jon asked, tossing a glance back at his friend, neither confirming nor denying that there was anything changing between the two of them.
"I know you Jon. The closer you get, the more you'll want to protect her, no matter the cost. And the more you try to shield her… hold her back from danger…. the more she will fight you, until one of two things happen: either you put saving her over saving someone else and it costs us dearly or it drives a wedge between you. Either way, it will eventually destroy you both."
"And if I tell you that I think it's worth the risk?" Jon challenged, spinning to lock eyes with his friend. "None of us have any guarantee that we'll be here tomorrow or next week or in an hour for that. Don't we deserve to hang on to any bit of happiness… any bit of humanity … that we are lucky enough to find? Even if it's only for a short time before it all goes away?"
"Sometimes the price is too high," Matt intoned. "Jonathon, you're like a son to me. And she," tearing his eyes from Jon to look at Jennifer's, "a daughter. And if the world had any sense of normalcy to it, I'd be the first one pushing you through that door. But," Hawk turned hardened eyes back toward Jon, and when he continued, his voice held an edge. "It doesn't. And because of that, sacrifices have to be made. Sacrifices that sometimes means the greater good has to come before our own personal wants and desires."
"And the "greater good" as you put it is that she and I continue our little dance of denial so we can keep fighting Dread and all he stands for?" Jon asked, bitterness lacing his words. "And at what cost? That we become no better than the machines we're fighting against? That we push down our emotions, forcing them to stay hidden, until we no longer know how to feel? Until all we have left are the remnants of some forgotten ideals that come out as twisted, meaningless platitudes?"
Turning away from Hawk, Jon refocused his attention onto the sleeping woman. "Nothings worth that, Matt," he added tiredly. Reaching up, he stroked Pilot's head to soothe her apparent agitation at the sound of the strident voices around her. "She can hear us," he said softly as a warning.
Matt ran a hand over his face, the fatigue and worry of the day catching up with him. Dropping his hand, he admitted, "I just don't want to see either of you hurt."
"There's no guarantee that won't happen regardless of what we do," Jon whispered, remember the worry and fear that had swept through him when she had been late returning to the team.
"No, there aren't. But let me ask you this. There's a very real chance that someday, you are going to have to live with the fact that you gave her an order to do something that ultimately lead to her death," Matt stated. "Can you still do that if you admit you love each other?"
A sad, mirthless smile pulled at Jon's lips as he turned around and locked eyes with Matt. "Do you honestly think telling or not telling Jennifer I love her will make any difference when that day comes? Would it have made any difference for you?"
Matt sighed, recalling his own devastation when his wife and children had died. "No," he admitted, "I suppose not."
"No," Power reiterated softly, turning back around. "It won't." Silently, he wondered if it would be worse if he failed to give their relationship a chance by continuing to ignore his feelings.
Silence descended after Jon's words, each man locked in their own thoughts. After a few minutes, Hawk laid a hand on Jon's shoulder. "It's after midnight. Why don't you grab some shuteye. I'll stay with her and wake you up if anything changes."
"That's okay," Power refused. "You go ahead. If I get tired, I'll grab some down time on the other bed."
Reluctantly, Hawk relented. "If you're sure, and Jon?" pausing until Power looked at him. "I do want it to work for you and her. You both deserve that happiness."
Jon's face softened at Hawk's blessing. "Thanks, Matt."
Nodding, Hawk squeezed Jon's shoulder before leaving.
Turning back around, Jonathon took Jennifer's hand in his and waited.
The End.
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