Note: One more, for Scott and Dr. K, before I start posting the next fic in the series.

Policies and Procedures
by Estirose
c 2011

Scott pinched the bridge of his nose. He and Dr. K had been going over the policies and procedures they'd adopted when his team had first formed, looking for something that would help them deal with the current situation.

Of course, nobody had anticipated a suicidal Ranger, mostly because those supposedly chosen for the task were strong fighters with sound minds, or supposedly so. Or at least the morphers were not supposed to bond with anybody who wasn't. "How was he able to bond with the morpher anyway?" he wondered out loud.

Dr. K was silent for a moment before replying, "I'm not sure, Ranger Red. The morpher should have prevented the bond, instead of accepting him. The experience he described during his debriefing accurately described a bond prompt, which was intended to prompt the Operator-to-be that the device is ready to bond. It might have unintentionally spurred his decision to activate the morpher, as he was in danger at that time."

Scott pinched his nose. "Well, at least it's not in Tenaya Seven's hands, I guess." That had given Scott the shivers, the fact that Tenaya had nearly gotten the morpher. It still didn't explain why the morpher had accepted Ziggy Grover, but at least she hadn't gotten it. "Was it damaged in any way?"

"No, Ranger Red," Dr. K said, with only a brief pause. "That was what puzzled me. Ranger Green's morpher seems to be in perfect operating condition."

Perfect operating condition. And yet, it had bonded with Ziggy.

He didn't want Ziggy to be a Ranger, and he'd wished that the morpher would spontaneously debond, even though he knew it wasn't technically possible. Ziggy Grover's DNA would be matched to it for the rest of Ziggy's life.

Apparently Ziggy had been as thrilled with this as Scott had, and much better at realizing how to free up the morpher than Scott had been. Scott's wish had been idle dislike; Ziggy's had been a fairly solid suicide plan that had only been foiled by Dr. K's technical skills and Dillon's friendship. And Ziggy's desire to have breakfast.

The will to live, the will to keep continuing, had temporarily won out the desire to die, in Ziggy's case.

"Ranger Red?" Dr. K asked, and he realized he'd fallen into his own thoughts.

"I remember wishing that there had been some way to free the morpher," he said simply.

"I had that desire, too, Ranger Red, and yet I knew it was a technical impossibility. That's why I instituted such an intense training program. For whatever reason, we do have a Ranger Operator Series Green, and he must be trained up to the default level."

Dr. K's tone was crisp, and Scott found himself nodding. "I think he can do it." Suicide was not being brave, but Ziggy had to have a strong will if he'd been willing to die. Strength was sometimes found in the most unusual places.

"What are you considering?"

"I'm thinking of what we have to do to keep him from trying to kill himself again."

"I've been scanning the literature on what to do, and it appears that we must… support the fact that he is important, listen to him, and help him develop steps to take should he ever consider taking his own life again." He sounded like he was reading off of a page, or something.

Support the fact that Ziggy was important. Scott wasn't sure how he was supposed to do that, but he suspected that having a long talk with Ziggy about how he had a team to support him, just as he was expected to support them. He'd talk more with Flynn and Summer, coordinate with them on what they could do to convince Ziggy his life was worth living. Try to work on whatever he'd done to make Ziggy convinced that he was unwanted and try to kill himself.

The doctors might be able to help with some of that, but he had a feeling that he and the others were important, and accepting Ziggy even with his quirks even more so.

"Got it." He stood up. He was the first one to handle Ziggy in the morning, and he had no clue how. Time to talk to his teammates, coordinate things, make things work. Because even as he was in command, they were still a team, and together, they would get this worked out.