Dedication: To Hazel, who told me to write about Crown & Punishment.
I Want You to Know
Flurious was gone; the world was safe at last. Ronny threw her arms around Rose, whose mind was on her red ranger. Why hadn't he run back to them, cheering and hugging like the rest of the team?
And then Rose's eyes fell on Mack. He was lying on the ground some twenty feet away, looking broken. A jolt of purple electricity passed over him. "Mack," she choked out.
She was at his side in an instant, the others at her heels. She shook him, hoping against hope that he would wake up. 'Please, Mack. Please. I need you.'
"We'll take him home," Ronny said from somewhere behind Rose. "Will, Ty?" she asked, gesturing to Mack's body.
But Rose wouldn't let them. She picked Mack up, staggering under his weight, and brought him to the jeep.
Then she tried to get into the driver's seat of the jeep, but Tyzonn stopped her. "Rose, you're too upset to drive," he told the pink ranger kindly. "Sit in the back with Mack. I will take us home. Go on."
Rose nodded and did as the Mercury ranger had instructed, perching on the very edge of the seat and holding Mack's cold, lifeless hand tightly. "Oh God, Mack, why do you do stuff like this to me? Why?"
Tyzonn started the jeep and followed Will, Ronny and Dax out of the quarry towards the Hartford estate. Rose's eyes never left Mack, hard as it was to look at him like this. What if this was her last memory of the red ranger, of her darling, sweetheart Mack?
Because Rose had the terrible feeling that he was never going to wake up. Maybe Mr. Hartford wouldn't be able to fix Mack. He would never tease her again. He would never hug her again. He would never call her Rosie again. He would never wish her sweet dreams and kiss her cheek again.
Her heart ached.
Tears exploded down her face.
"Mack. Oh God, Mack… I never told you. I never told you and now it's too late. I think you should know, though… I want you to know that I love you. I always have, Mack, and I always will. It never mattered to me, you being an android. All that ever mattered to me was that you were my Mack. And you always were. Always. I want you to know that."