Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Ninja Steel

The sunrise was closer than the sunset, but Brody was still out in his field, keeping up with his training. It had been all evening and now all night since he had been training, but he wasn't ready to stop.

He didn't have his Power Star. He needed to ensure he was ready for anything. Training was the only way he could do that.

He didn't regret giving up his Power Star. It needed to be done. Aiden was strangling Sarah with a ribbon, and it all happened so quickly, Brody didn't have time to come up with another way to help her. He'd give up the Power Star all over again if he had to. He wouldn't change his response.

What he would change, and what he did regret, was the events leading up to the strangulation. If he had just put more faith in Sarah and less in his brother, he never would have been in a position to give up his Power Star. Sarah had tried to warn him that Aiden couldn't be trusted but Brody hadn't heeded her warning. He thought he knew better. He thought, since Aiden was his brother, that there was no need to question what he had done.

He thought, no matter what, he could depend on his older brother. Aiden had always been there for him when they were younger. Brody thought it would all be the same.

"Brody! Brody, stop it!" Preston shouted as he rushed out of the house and grabbed Brody, pulling him away from the punching bag that he was beating hard. "Brody, calm down!"

Every muscle in his body was crying out for him to stop. He had pushed himself so hard that he felt like he was going to collapse, but he didn't. He stood, fists clenched as he glared at Preston.

"Let me go!"

"Brody, you've been out all night," Preston said and pointed to the horizon, where some sunlight was creeping its way out. At first glance, Brody thought that was what was left from the sunset, but when he saw Preston was in his pyjamas, he realized it was the beginning of the sunrise. "This isn't healthy, you have to stop."

Brody shook his head. He couldn't stop. He didn't have his Power Star, so he didn't have his Ranger powers. If Galvanax attacked, or if Aiden showed up again, he needed to be ready. He wasn't about to let his team down. His mind flashed back to that moment at the ribbon tree, with the ribbon wrapped tightly around Sarah's neck as her face turned red and her lips turned purple.

He'd never let that happen again.

"Get out of my way," Brody shoved Preston aside and turned to his punching bag. It was barely in any condition to be used, but Brody didn't have another and so it would have to do. As he was about to throw a punch, Preston jumped in the way. "Move!"

"You're going to make yourself sick," Preston stated. "You're not help to anyone!"

"Are you trying to be tough, now?" Brody growled. "The whole reason you're here is because you can't stand up to your own parents!"

Preston knew it was the fatigue speaking. Brody had been training all night long. He wasn't thinking straight. He ignored the statement as he remained planted firmly between Brody and the punching bag.

"You're exhausted. You need to rest."

"I need to be ready."

"You think you're ready? Ready for what?" Preston challenged. "Tell me, if Aiden were to come back, right now, you'd have it in you to take him on."

Brody pointed to his punching bag. Preston shook his head.

"You'd lose control," he said. "You're going to get one of us killed, or you'll get yourself killed."

"I won't let that happen!" Brody shouted. "I'd never let my friends get hurt!"

"I'm not saying you'll let it happen," Preston said. "But if you don't rest, right now…"

"He played me!" Brody screamed. "My brother played me and that's not going to happen again!"

"Brody…"

"Because of me, they have two Power Stars!" Brody growled. "Because of me, we're down two Rangers. I'm not letting him get away with this! He's going to see that only makes us stronger."

"Not like this it doesn't," Preston shook his head. "Brody, a gentle breeze is going to knock you right out!"

"I'm fine!"

"I don't want to have to do it," Preston said. "But you need to rest, and if you're not going to do it yourself…"

"I said I'm fine!" Brody shouted, so Preston flicked his wrist, casting a spell to put the red Ranger to sleep. Brody crumbled as his body shut down for some rest. Preston breathed a sigh of relief, then looks to his teammate on the ground.

"Great, now how do I get you all the way to bed?"

-Ninja-Steel-

That morning, Kelly's very first stop was the hospital.

When Galvanax had sent a monster to shake up the city, the earthquake caused the school to collapse. Kelly was sure the plan was to crush the Rangers, but instead, the building only fell on Levi and Kelly as they were discussing one of Kelly's tests in his office. Levi only had some bruising and scratches, but Kelly's leg had been crushed under a piece of concrete.

Her doctor had saved her leg. It didn't need to be amputated, but she was stuck in a heavy cast for a few weeks while it healed up. I had been a couple of weeks already, and so the doctor had scheduled a follow-up, just to see how progress was going. Kelly was waiting for the results of that now, hoping for the best, but dreading the worst. Her injury had been very severe.

Sarah had come with her. Kelly was glad to have her girlfriend there. No matter the news, she knew she could lean on Sarah if she needed it.

The doctor walked in, holding the x-rays. He set them on the screen to show Kelly, though she had no idea what she was looking at. When she felt Sarah squeeze her hand, she hoped it was from excitement.

"Right now, everything is looking good," the doctor said. "You're healing better than we expected, in fact."

"I am?" Kelly asked and looked to her foot. It still hurt a lot, especially between doses of pain killers, so it was a surprise to hear that she was exceeding expectations.

"You are young," the doctor nodded. "That always helps, especially if you've been following our orders well."

"She has been," Sarah told him and Kelly knew this was true. She was resting and icing her leg as much as possible, and keeping it elevated anytime she didn't need to move around. She wasn't pushing herself anymore than she needed and her friends had all been willing to help out, making her recovery a lot easier.

"We are going to put you in a new cast," the doctor explained. "It'll still be a bit bulky, but you'll feel a difference in weight. In a few more weeks, we'll check in and hopefully the cast can come off."

"So I'll be better?"

"Well, there is still going to be some physiotherapy needed," the doctor explained. "Unfortunately, since you haven't been using your foot, the muscles will have atrophied a considerable amount. You'll need to build up their strength again, but since you are still young, you should see some progress quickly."

"I've done a lot of physio," Sarah told her girlfriend with a smile. "I can help you through it."

"Right now, we're looking good," the doctor said. "Keep up what you're doing and in our next visit, it should be more good news."

"Thank you," Kelly smiled. The doctor gave her a little nod and then headed out. Kelly pulled herself up using her crutches and turned to Sarah, who was grabbing both their bags. "That was better than I expected."

"Thinking the worst?"

"It's hard not to when it's your foot," Kelly nodded. "I thought for sure he would tell me it was dead and he would have to cut it off."

"It's not dead," Sarah shook her head.

"Then why can't I move my toes yet?"

"Because your freaking foot was crushed by a building," Sarah laughed. "It's still going to take some time, you know. You're not a Power Ranger."

"Thank goodness," Kelly nodded. "Could you imagine me as a Ranger?"

"Kicking ass and taking names?"

"More like getting my ass kicked and taking names so you could beat them up for me," Kelly chuckled.

"You'll do better than you think."

"Really?" Kelly asked. "I'm barely qualified to pass gym class, and you think I'm good enough to be a superhero. You just want to see me in spandex, don't you?"

"None of us are qualified to be superheroes."

Kelly stopped walking and looked to her girlfriend knowingly. Sarah glanced back and frowned.

"What?"

"Remind me again how much you can bench-press? Or, how fast you can run? Or wait, is that a six-pack or an eight-pack hiding under that shirt?"

"Kelly!"

"All you're missing to be superman is the glasses," Kelly smirked. "Meanwhile, I'm over here wondering how many cookies is too many?"

"No such thing," Sarah shook her head.

"You were a superhero before you got the Power Star," Kelly said. "You just didn't have the costume."

"Or the glasses, apparently," Sarah reminded her with a little laugh.

Kelly nodded her head. "Exactly! Let's just say, between the two of us, I'm glad that Power Star chose you, instead of me. I think everyone's glad."

"Well, I think you'd make a great Ranger," Sarah said with a smile.

"Uh-huh," Kelly frowned. "Galvanax is going to run in terror when he sees my cast and crutches."

"You never know. Aliens have phobias too."