Author's Note: Just a lil' fun fanfic I've been talking about with my friends and threw together for them. I apologize if my writing is terrible or my plots are ridiculous.
Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or any related media or characters. The story idea is my own but the rest isn't. Everything is copyrighted to its respective owners.
If you review, it'll make me smile and I'll try to respond to positive ones or questions here.
WARNING!: This fic will contain slash, femslash and possibly even some het (le gasp). Nothing m-rated, mind you, but it will contain pairings. Please keep this in mind. Pairings included are Dillon/Ziggy, Flynn/Gemma, Scott/Summer, Tenaya/Dr. K.
WARNING 2!: Contains some spoilers for certain plot points in the series, and is slightly AU. I won't be following the series exactly at some points so you have been warned.
Debriefing had been hell, Scott thought, slumping onto the couch in the Garage. First his father and then an irate Dr. K, did no one trust him to lead the team efficiently anymore? The good doctor frequently informed Scott that decisions were his call because he was team leader, and yet she would tear him down about those decisions later. The other rangers could be just as bad too – Dillon did whatever he felt like and often mocked Scott's position as leader, and Ziggy was a headache for the Red Ranger to keep in line. Could no one just sit back and be proud and thankful that Scott had not only done his job right, but he'd done it pretty damn well too.
The mission was a complete success, tons of civilians having been rescued from the Venjix bases they'd hit, all of which they managed to blow up before the virus became too aware of just what was going on. They'd kept their morphers off to keep them from being easily detected, and it'd worked brilliantly, for which Scott was glad. When he and Flynn had come up with the idea, both had been a bit worried that removing their morphers like that would cause them to need a reset each time, but Ziggy had been able to vouch for that not being the case. His explanation for how he knew hadn't been clear, but it was enough for them to trust the method for this.
Scott sighed a bit, brushing the sweat away from his face a bit as he tried to get comfortable. The dome's interior weather and temperatures were made to mimic the seasons, including the blistering heat of the summer months. As Scott started to mumble something about hating the summer, a cold drink was pressed against his cheek.
"I'd hope you don't hate me, Scott. That'd make working together awkward." the blonde woman standing over him commented with an amused smirk on her face. She was holding a refrigerated bottle of water in each hand, one of which she was offering to the frazzled team leader.
"Summer! When'd you get in?" the man asked, sitting up quickly to take the offered drink with a smile.
The ranger in question snorted, taking a seat lightly on the arm of the couch her companion had just leaned up from, "I got in while you were in with Dr. K. I came down to check on you after I had a shower. I thought you'd need someone to talk to."
The Red Ranger nodded, looking irritable, "You'd think she'd trust me by now to not screw up something this big! But oh no, Doc K couldn't wait to start laying into me about how we should have found a way to report back, how it was foolish and out of line for me to have you all keep your morphers off!"
Summer shook her head a little, placing a consoling hand on Scott's shoulder, "It's just her way of saying she was worried and we scared her, that's all."
It took just as much patience to deal with Dr. K some days as it took to deal with Ziggy. Their mentor meant well and her heart was in the right place, but social interaction would never be one of her strong suits, and they all knew that. Some days, it was just very hard for someone with a temperament like Scott's to keep from wanting to throttle her. At least he didn't give the poor girl as much lip as Dillon did, Summer thought with a smile.
"I really don't know how you do it, Summer." he grumbled, lightly slumping against his teammate's thigh, and letting her pet his hair lightly. No one was allowed to touch Scott's hair without permission – well, no one except Summer. She just generally was more polite than to touch it when he didn't want her to.
The woman shook her head a bit, smiling and deciding to change the subject, "You know Flynn'll kick us all out of the kitchen and insist on making smoothies for hours soon as he's in. It'll be the first time he'll be able to make a good one without interruption for a while."
Scott chuckled, shaking his head, "With one of those stupid parasols behind his ear the whole time too." he agreed, "How can he do that without feeling awkward about it, I'll never know."
"He's probably just...secure in his masculinity." Summer managed to say that with such a straight face, that they both burst out in laughter afterward.
They sat there, relaxing and chattering about the weather and their teammates, till the sounds of a car pulling into the Garage were heard nearby. Scott would have ignored it in favor of continuing to lament the heat, but then he spotted just what Dillon had brought into their base.
"Oh no. No, no, NO, Dillon! What the HELL are you thinking, man?" Scott demanded to know, immediately jumping up from the couch and storming over to his subordinate, watching in fury and horror as Gem and Gemma escorted a struggling Tenaya Fifteen out of Dillon's car.
The black ranger gave one of his trademark infuriating grins as he addressed Scott's questions, "Good to see you too, glad to see you managed to get a new stick to shove up your ass. For a while there you almost seemed like a decent human being." Dillon promptly pat the other man's arm and brushed past him towards the ranger room after Gem and Gemma, waving at Summer as he went.
"You can't just bring her here, Dillon! You're out of line and you know it!" Ranger Red's throat was starting to become hoarse from all the yelling and his face had taken on a dark flush from both his anger and the heat.
This time, Dillon's response was much more serious, turning to glare at the team captain, "And why the hell not? She's my sister, in case you forgot." the taller man snarled, looking down at his teammate with venom in his gaze.
"Why? Because she's still got that damn virus in her, Dillon. Get it through your damn skull! Doc K may have been able to finally get it out of you, but you haven't been pretty much living with Venjix this whole time! Her antidote may not be strong enough to get rid of it in Tenaya, especially with all he's done to keep her under control!" Scott hollered, grabbing his friend by the collar to try and get his point across.
"We still have to try!" Dillon snarled back through gritted teeth.
Things probably would have continued in this vein, had Flynn not taken that moment to enter the room and stare at the two, shaking his head. "Now, ah dunno abou' you two, bu' ah've always though' it kinda rude to star' flir'in' with anotha' guy while ya girlfrien's sittin' righ' there laddy."
Scott turned to give the blue ranger a flabbergasted look, quite possibly too speechless to say the comment he was thinking about Flynn's pink parasols and frequent smoothie making. His mouth worked a few times before Dillon saved him with a witty comeback and a smirk, "Where else would Summer get her entertainment? Gemma wouldn't share you, and Ziggy and Gem just aren't his type."
Did he think save? No, Dillon was just a horrible person, Scott decided as the black ranger gave him a wink and headed off to check on his sister.
The red ranger grumbled something about weirdos and shook his head, going to sit by Summer once more. "How are you both so cool with this?" he asked, looking between his teammates as they settled down from their laughter at his expense.
Summer shook her head, patting Scott's shoulder again. "There's not much we can do about it now, and if anyone can help Tenaya get back to normal, it's Dr. K. We just have to trust in her and hope for the best."
"I wish it were that simple." the team captain sighed, resting his head against his girlfriend's thigh once more, and looking at Flynn with a bemused expression.
The Scotsman shrugged, "Well, whatever happens, we'll mee'it in the en'. Now, iffya don' min', ah'ma go make m'self summa' cold to drink. Iffya see Gemma, tell her ah'm in the kitchen."
Scott was about to make a snarky comment to that effect before thinking better of it. Flynn was almost through the door before the other ranger leaned up off the couch to call, "Hey, if you're making smoothies, we'll take a couple!" To which he got a handwave that almost always meant yes.
–
Dr. K didn't call them into the lab for a full debriefing till the following afternoon. She'd just been too tired to do more than yell at Scott when he'd first come in – seriously, who let Ziggy come alone to talk to her first? - and the girl just hadn't been in the mood then to deal with giving congratulations or explaining that this merely left Venjix handicapped for a short while. The genius might have called her team in after she was calmed down, but then Gem and Gemma had appeared with Tenaya Fifteen and things had spiraled down from there. She'd spent the rest of the day attempting to keep Tenaya restrained and sedated long enough to give the other female a good dose of the Venjix antidote she'd developed and after that...? Well, let's just say they had some catching up to do before telling Dillon that it had worked.
When they finally were all together, K was able to give them a solid congratulations on a job well done. Looking about, it was easier to see the damage the long mission had done to her team, whether they all tried to show it or not. Ziggy was his usual cheery self, but he was sporting a ton of bruises and a black eye that had come from him falling asleep in the shower and hitting his head on the faucet, improbable as that explanation may have been; Summer was rather calm but seemed to get noticeably worried about the rest of the team's well-being, and a tad worn out; Flynn had been enjoying his 'creature comforts' a bit too much, drinking a ton of smoothies soon as he was in and going for chinese food with Gemma as soon as possible, complaining when asked that the food in the Wastes had just left him off kilter; Dillon was agitated and excessively protective of Tenaya as she hovered awkwardly at the back of the group, trying not to draw too much attention to herself; Scott was grouchy, as K had noticed earlier; And the twins? Well, they were happy to bounce around and scribble in their journals (or awesome diaries) but there was that haunted look that showed up in their eyes now and then when the doc looked hard enough.
"Rangers, you set out eight days ago on a secret mission. Yesterday you returned, successful. You have all performed admirably, though questionably, and I thank you for that. I'm very proud of you all and think you all have more than earned this temporary respite. However, do not let yourselves be unguarded during this time. Venjix is neither gone, nor defeated, merely severely injured. We have not only taken many of his slaves but destroyed some of his most important bases and took one of his more valued generals. It will take him some time to regain the ground we lost him, but this only means we need to work harder to become better, as well as keep ourselves in good health." Dr. K attempted to keep her speech short and sweet, but knew she was getting a bit long-winded. It was a habit the young woman claimed to have picked up from Ziggy with his constant rambling, but Gem and Gemma confided in the team that she'd always been like that when she got too nervous and confused with stuff like this, and they were highly inclined to believe her.
"So you want us to hang around and just train till he comes back with another Attackbot?" Dillon growled from where he sat, causing Tenaya to flinch a little.
Dr. K raised a brow, "Of course not. That would be ridiculous. I do understand the need for you all to retain your mental as well as physical health, and at a time like this you can almost afford it."
"What will you be doing while we're off relaxing then?" Scott inquired, wondering vaguely just what kind of trouble the Doc was going to get herself into. Though, he had to admit to being a little curious and hopeful that it was on the memory retriever. The whole team were eager to see that complete and see Dillon return to being whole in mind. And with Tenaya here, there was even more reason to be interested in its completion.
The dark haired doctor sighed and shook her head, "Working, as you already know. You all have been insisting on my creating a new suit, and finding a way to get Ranger Black and his sister their memories back – and I intend to try and make progress on that. Now, you are dismissed. I have things to do."
A sigh of relief seemed to circulate the room and the team slowly sidled out. Ziggy and Tenaya hung around after the others before Dillon came back to nudge his sister out of the room. The younger male was about to say something to his best friend but thought better of it, noticing the black ranger's lack of notice for him. Usually Dillon'd have at least tried to nudge his friend out of Dr. K's way too, but today he seemed only concerned with his sister, something the young doctor noticed with interest. How odd.
Ziggy rolled his eyes and shrugged, heading back into the room to sit by Dr. K's table and grin at her. "Guy's acting like she's made of glass, amirite?" he joked, a sad little glimmer to his eyes.
The genius's eyes furrowed at that, "If I recall right, weren't you the one sent with him on this last mission, Ranger Green? Maybe he's just presently sick of your company, as I am increasingly becoming?"
The curly haired young man waved a hand, ignoring her cut at him, since K did that all the time out of habit, "Nah, Dillon barely noticed I was there the whole time. He was kinda preoccupied the whole time we were working. You know he's out of it when I'M picking up on HIS mistakes."
Dr. K's eyebrows hit her hairline at that, "I find that hard to believe, Series Green. He's not THAT thick headed."
A small snicker escaped her companion as he shook his head, "You never noticed did you? Well, I guess you wouldn't what with you being you." Ziggy commented, shaking his head and continuing at seeing the confusion that remained on the Doc's face, "Dillon's got a big brother complex bigger than Venjix's palace – he's been worried about saving 'Aya since he learned who she was. This was just his first chance to make a serious attempt at rescuing her without everyone jumping on him."
The girl rolled her eyes at that, remembering Tenaya grumbling something about that when she'd first been freed too – she loved her brother very much and was glad to be free of Venjix, but he did act a bit overprotective at times. It was then that K realized just who was telling her this. "How exactly do you know any of this, Ranger Green?"
Ziggy looked like he was about to make a cheerful and quick reply to that when he stopped, and now it was his turn to look confused, his brow furrowing and mouth working as if trying to find an answer that just wasn't there but should be. "I...have absolutely no idea." the young man admitted with a shrug, rolling his eyes again – this time a lot less seriously than he had at Dillon – and leaning over to look at what K was working on. "So, need any help?" A question which was only answered with an exasperated sigh.
Thanks to all who favved this! Reviews are loved, and suggestions are welcome. I have a pretty solid plan for this story but if anyone wants to offer some help, I am open. :3 Love you all!