Everything was a blur of fire and smoke as Krayonder held his zapper high, running through the rubble. What had once probably been a pretty little town was now a battlefield, as the robots began to close in on the rangers. He searched franticly for a glimpse of hazel eyes, a flash of auburn hair. Specs had been right behind him a second ago, but he'd lost track of her. He almost wanted to punch himself; he'd promised that he would watch over her, make sure that nothing hurt her.

"Krayonder!"

He turned, and there she was, her hair slightly singed and dirt all over her freckled cheeks. Even in the heat of battle, (actually, especially in the heat of battle.) she looked… wow.

She grabbed his arm, dragging him off toward some building. As they ran, he noticed that there was a large gash on her arm. It was pretty deep, and bleeding a lot. Some loud explosions shook the ground as they ran through some church doors.

The small church seemed to be removed from all the violence, the explosions becoming a rumble in the background. Light streamed in through the stain glass windows as Specs sat her zapper down in one of the pews. She took out a water bottle from her backpack and took a large gulp.

"You want any?"

He nodded, still trying to catch his breath. She tossed the bottle to him. The water was icy cold as it ran down his throat, and he know knew that her would never, ever, take water for granted again.

"Your arm-" he rushed over to her.

"I'm fine, Krayonder. I can handle it."

She began to get bandages out of her backpack, when her head suddenly snapped up. Her eyes grew wide.

"Krayonder, move right now."

"What?"

"NOW!"

She pushed him roughly into the closet behind him. It was small and full of mops and brooms, with only enough room for one person to stand. Panic flashing across her face, she quickly shut the door.

Boom! A loud explosion rattled the room, followed by the crash of glass breaking. He franticly jiggled to door knob, but it refused to open.

"Specs!" he cried out, busting open the door with his foot. "Specs! Where are you?"

The dust began to settle, and he noticed an odd lump crumpled on the floor. "Kray-… Krayonder…"

She was curled up, clutching at her waist. As he knelt down beside her, he saw blood dripping onto the marble floor, staining it a crimson red.

"Oh my god… Oh, Specs…"

"Krayonder…" she gasped, coughing and sputtering as she desperately grabbed his hand.

He scooped her up in his arms and stood. He caught a glimpse of something shiny; a gigantic shard of stain glass stuck in her side.

He needed to get her somewhere safe, away from the fighting. There was some medical supplies in the drop pod they had come down in, and there she would be able to rest. The only problem would be getting her there without getting shot.

"Shh, shh… Don't worry, baby. I'm gonna protect you."

She smiled weakly and curled into his chest. It was so endearing how she almost completely melted into him, but now was not the time to be sentimental.

He ran out the doors, one of which was now just barely hanging on by it's hinges. Outside, the battle raged on, as if the most precious things to ever come into his life wasn't dying in his arms. He could feel zapper-fire just narrowly missing his head, singeing the hair on the back of his neck.

"Don't worry, Specs, you're gonna be ok, you're gonna be ok…" he repeated it over and over, like a mantra. He began to wonder if he was doing it to reassure her, or himself. Please, please. He wasn't sure who he was praying to, if god was dead. Let her live. Do whatever you want, take me instead. Just don't let her die.

It seemed like years before he reached the drop-pod, and by then, Specs had begun to look so pale. There was so much blood all over the both of them, and the metallic scent hung in the air like a disease.

There was a bench inside that he set her down on. He wished that he could lay her on the softest bed with warm, fluffy pillows, but he didn't really have that option. Right above was a cabinet for medical supplies, but when he looked inside, only a few bandages and an ice pack was left. Someone must have been there before him and used up all the supplies.

"Shit."

She lifted her head slightly. "W-what's wrong?"

"Uh, nothing, nothing…" he picked up the bandages. "Can you sit up at all?"

She let out a gasp as she strained with all her might to get up. Seeing that this was too much for her, he rushed over and let her rest her head in his lap.

As he began to unroll the bandages, she looked up at him with the sweetest tiny smile, tears starting to fall silently down her cheeks. She grabbed onto his shirt and whispered "I love you Krayonder."

He rolled her shirt up so he could get a better look at where the glass was stuck in; it was bad, really bad. Not only was there a lot of glass, but it looked like it was stuck in really deep. It would be extremely hard to pull out without seriously hurting her. That plus the amount of blood she had already lost…

She didn't have much time; Krayonder may not have been smart, but that much he could tell. He knew that she probably knew that too.

"Krayonder." her bright hazel eyes looked glassy. "I love you. And I need to know if you love me too."

He squeezed her hand gently. "I do, man. I have for who knows how long now. And I swear, as soon as this is over-"

"I'm dying."

"Not today."

He took a Swiss army knife out of his pocket; it was the one his dad had given him when he was eleven. He had told him to always keep it around, that it could one day save his life.

His dad was freaking physic.

He pulled out the tiny tweezers. In all honest truth, he had no idea what he was doing. He had just about as much medical knowledge as the average middle-schooler.

"Specs… Ok, don't freak out, but I need you to tell me what to do."

"I-" she winced. "I don't think it's hit an artery, otherwise there'd be a lot more blood. You can just pull it out and stitch it. The only problem is that we don't have any of the proper supplies for a blood transfusion…"

He nodded. "We can get what we need once we get back to the ship."

"If I live that long."

Krayonder had no idea what it was that came over him; he had always been a live-in-the-moment kinda guy though. He cupped her chin and brought his lips down to hers, kissing her as if it was their last. Knowing his luck, it probably was.

They parted, looking deep into each other's eyes. Krayonder was crying, and Specs' eyes sure weren't dry either.

"I'm not going to let you die, man."

He straightened up. "Alright, I'm going to pull the glass out. If it starts to hurt, uh… Just grab onto my shirt."

She squeezed her eyes shut. "Do it quickly."

Words could not describe how hard this was for him. He did not want to be the one to cause her any pain, even if it was going to save her. "I'm sorry, Specs."

He grabbed onto the glass with his tweezers and pulled. She let out a loud, ear-piercing scream, so he stopped.

"No…" she panted. "Don't… Don't stop."

Biting his lip, he tugged even harder. Blood spilled out onto the tweezers and all over his hand. It almost killed him to see the pain in her face, but seeing her dead would kill him even more.

When he finally got all the glass out, he placed it on the floor. It was a beautiful piece of stained glass with a blue bird painted on it. It was scary how something as innocent-looking as that could kill.

He began to bandage to wound; they didn't have the right supplies for stitches. It was another thing that would have to wait for when they got back to the ship.

If she lived that long.

When he was done, she grabbed onto his arm. "Krayonder… why does everything feel so cold?"

He pulled her so she was curled up into his lap. "I'll keep you warm."

"Thank you… thank you for holding me and kissing me and… I love you."

"I love you too. I love you so much, I want to hold you forever and not let anything hurt you…" realization suddenly dawned across his face. "Oh god."

"What?"

"This is all my fault. You pushed me into that closet, I could've shielded you!"

She put a hand on his cheek. "I did what I did because I love you. I would die for you a million times over. If you really wanted to make it up to me, there's one thing you can do."

"What?"

"Hold me and never let go."

He pulled his arms tighter around her, resting his forehead on hers. It sounded like each breath she took was taking up so much energy. It was killing her.

"I've always dreamed of dying in your arms."

"You're not going to die."

She left a sweet, sweet kiss on his forehead, several of her tears landing on his cheek. "I love you, with every last breath I take."