It was always quiet after Cammy went to bed. Chase sat on the couch in the Fisher house, twirling his thumbs, feeling a little uncomfortable by the silence. Often, he enjoyed it. After a day of looking after the little girl it was nice to finally hear nothing. Cammy, even by herself, could make a lot of noise.

This silence was uncomfortable though because Chase knew he had to break it with an explanation. His teammates already believed his story that Heckyl had taken over his body; forcing him to pressure Kendall emotionally and then later hurt her. He was lucky in that sense. Where his luck ran out was afterwards. His friends wanted to know why he thought it would be best to leave. They wanted to know why, if he was innocent, he would run.

"I guess I was mad at myself," he opened with, suddenly finding this explanation was as much for himself as it was for his teammates. He hadn't exactly thought the decision through at the time.

"It was my idea," Shelby jumped in quickly. "I thought putting a little bit of time between what happened and explaining would help everyone calm down a bit."

She looked to Koda as she said this. Chase shook his head.

"Shelby suggested it, but I went along with it."

"Why?" Jeremy asked, arms crossed. He was the newest member of the team, and it did occur to him that there was a lot about his enemies that he still had to learn. Of course, he did know Heckyl was bad, and that he was capable of doing despicable deeds, but it didn't sit right with the silver Ranger that Chase would run if he truly was innocent. "It's simple really. If you didn't do anything wrong, why take off for days? With my little sister, on top of it all."

"It's not simple," Chase shrugged. "I mean... You're right, I didn't do anything wrong but..."

"So then why take off?"

"Jeremy," Kendall scolded, looking to her brother with a frown. She wanted to defend Chase. She had never known him to act out of malice. He had disappointed her from time to time in the past, but never when it counted. And his disappointments were never intentional. He had a good heart and he always wanted to do what was right. It was why the black energem had chosen him.

But seeing Jeremy get defensive reminded Kendall of when she was first reunited with her brother. Jeremy had really let her have it after taking off from the family after high school. She remembered being in Chase's position, and being made to feel like crap even beyond how she already felt about the situation.

She was sure Chase was already beating himself up about all his mistakes, even the ones caused by Heckyl's actions. Jeremy, though his intentions were also well meaning, was doing nothing to help.

"I just want to understand," Jeremy argued. "I'll let you beating up my little sister go, only because the others really seem to believe it was all Heckyl..."

"I must defend Chase here," Ivan spoke up and Chase looked to his gold friend, smiling a little when he heard him. "We know Heckyl is capable of manipulating our thoughts and actions. Please forgive me for bringing this up, Lady Kendall, but he has gotten a lot of information from you without your consent or knowledge. I don't find it a stretch to believe that Heckyl was capable of completely taking over Chase's voice and actions."

"Thank you," Chase whispered to the gold Ranger. Ivan gave a little nod his way. He felt he understood better than the others, having been trapped inside Fury for several hundred years. He had been helpless to do anything until he was freed. He could only imagine it was the same with Chase, only with more guilt. Fury's actions, at the very least, were associated with the beast, and not Ivan. Fury had kept his own body, his own mind, and Ivan was simply along for the ride. In Chase's case, Heckyl had taken control, but he used Chase's body to do it. Until the end of time, Chase would have to live with the memory of seeing his own hands hurting the person he cared for most. He didn't need more guilt added to that.

"Which I'm willing to believe," Jeremy said. "But you just took off after that. Innocent people don't run."

"They do all the time when people are accusing them of stuff they didn't do," Shelby spoke up, also quick to defend Chase. "You're the one who broke up the fight, and I appreciate that Ms. Morgan is your sister and you want to look out for her, but if Chase had tried to explain himself, you weren't going to listen."

"I... well, not at the time, but if Chase had given me a little space to think..."

"That's what we did," Shelby said.

"I didn't know where my sister was," Jeremy argued. "My parents tried to put their faith in you, but without an explanation, without knowing where you and she were, we had no idea if she was safe or not. Kendall even..."

"Don't speak for me," Kendall shook her head at her brother. "You were worried. Jon and Bella were worried."

"You were worried too," Jeremy told her. He glanced to all his new teammates, "Look, I'd be the first to defend Tracey if the roles were reversed or whatever. I'd put my faith in her too. So I don't blame you for wanting to believe him."

"I do believe in him."

"Kendall..."

"Can we talk outside?" Kendall asked her brother in a tone that suggested she didn't expect to hear a protest from him. Jeremy grumbled, but got up from his seat and followed his sister to the backyard. Though Kendall's request had obviously been for a little privacy from the Rangers, everyone rushed to the back of the house and watched from the window.

Outside, Kendall glared at her brother, "I thought we talked about this."

"We did."

"I trust Chase."

"And I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt."

"By making him feel worse?"

"Kendall, he took off with Cammy."

"I trust him with her. I trust Shelby with her."

"You were worried sick at the time."

"I was," Kendall admitted. "I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know what happened to Chase, or where Shelby had taken Cammy. I was upset about Keeper, about my lab, about it all."

"And that changes now that you know?"

"Yes," Kendall answered firmly. "Now that we know what happened and why, we can move on."

"I..."

"Questioning every little thing that happens is only going to tear us apart. Heckyl tried to pull one over on us, but it didn't work. If we're going to come back as a team, we need to trust each other. You need to trust the others."

"That's not as easy as you think it is," Jeremy said, rubbing the back of his neck. Kendall looked to him.

"You've never had trouble trusting others before. They're not going to let you down, Jeremy. These are good people."

"They won't let me down," Jeremy nodded. "It's just... People let you down."

Kendall furrowed her brows, a little confused by her brother's statement. He let out a deep breath before he started to clarify.

"I know this sounds a little... hypocritical. I've been trying to help you see that people aren't always out to hurt you. But... you don't exactly have the best of luck with this stuff. I mean, your parents, Heckyl..."

"Chase isn't like them. In a way, he's the one who helped me get close to you."

Jeremy nodded his head as he reached for the energem around his neck, taking it in his hand.

"You know what I was thinking about when I first saw the energem?" he asked her. Kendall shook her head.

"Titanosaurus?"

"You," he answered with a little smile. "Since this whole Ranger thing came up, it's just been you. Keeping you safe, making sure you'd be okay. I stayed in town to train in secret, hoping I could do something to protect you, even something small. I pushed myself in physio to get better as soon as possible so I could protect you. This energem, I swear, it chose me for that. It chose me to keep you safe."

"You're protective," Kendall told him, reaching out and touching his energem. "You've always been protective. You defend the people you care for from those who wish them harm."

"Sure, but... Kendall, that's you," he looked to her. "I mean, of course, I love Tracey and Anna with all my heart, and as much as it kills me, I'm sending them back home to keep them safe from this war stuff. I'm doing this for them too, but... this is for you. I want to keep you safe. I don't know much about the energems. I certainly don't know as much as you, but I have a feeling I'm right about this. I was chosen to protect you."

"That's... a little daunting."

"You think?" Jeremy chuckled then smiled at Kendall. "Look, I like Chase. When I first met the guy, I saw what you see in him now. He'll look after you, maybe better than me. But when you open yourself up to people, they become your weak points. And I don't want to scare you off being open and trusting but that's just the way it is. Chase may not have meant any harm but he's Heckyl's way in."

Kendall looked to the window where all her friends were watching and Jeremy could see she was a little put off by what he had said. He touched her arm.

"I'm being tough on Chase for that reason," he said. "It's for his own good as much as yours. He can't go running off like he did. He can't take Cammy with him. He can't even go after Heckyl by himself."

Kendall nodded to show she understood what her brother was saying, but Jeremy could see his words were starting to do more harm than good and he could understand why. Kendall had grown up believing her mother's words. If she let people into her heart, they would only break it. It didn't need to be intentional, but that would be the end result. She had only recently started moving away from that way of thinking. She had only recently started allowing herself to trust her family and the people who showed her they cared.

Now, his words were only confirming what her mother had always said. By letting Chase in, she was opening herself up to heartbreak. She was making herself vulnerable and Heckyl, or anyone, could exploit that.

It terrified her.

Jeremy pulled her into his arms, "Hey, I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen. We're all here to make sure it doesn't happen. If I were in Chase's shoes, I know the others would be giving me hell for it. I'd want them too. It's how we keep each other safe. I trust Chase, alright. He didn't want to hurt you. I know that."

"I let this happen," Kendall said, shaking her head as she pulled out of her brother's arms suddenly. Jeremy frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Keeper chose me because I was focused," Kendall told her brother. "He chose me because he knew I would put my job first."

"Yeah, a long time ago. People grow..."

"Heckyl let Snide into our base twice," Kendall told her brother. "The first time, he attacked Cammy. He almost killed her."

"But Kendall..."

"The second time, he killed Keeper."

"Kendall..."

"He knew how to get into the base because I let him in. Because I let myself trust someone. Because I lost focus."

"I think we're moving backwards here," Jeremy frowned a little uneasily. "I didn't mean..."

"If I hadn't opened myself up to Heckyl, if I hadn't tried to be friendly and just stuck to the job I accepted, none of this would have happened. Keeper would be alive; Cammy never would have gotten hurt. Maybe we'd have found the energems sooner."

As Kendall went on, Jeremy waved at the window, calling the other Rangers out. He shrugged his shoulders as they stepped into the backyard.

"She's rambling. I don't... I think I may have said the wrong thing."

"I have to get to work," Kendall said, pushing her way past the Rangers to head back inside the house while they gave Jeremy a curious look.

"What exactly did you say?" Tyler asked as he recognized the determined look in Kendall's eyes. She always had one, especially when she wanted to be focused on her work, but this one looked eerily similar to the one she wore when he first met her. It was harsher and closed off.

"I'm not sure. I... I'm usually pretty good with her."

"Maybe I can talk to her," Chase suggested hesitantly, looking to Jeremy to see the older brother's reaction. Jeremy nodded his head.

"If you can help."

"I talk to her," Koda insisted to Chase, looking to the black Ranger confidently. "I... how you say, cut through Kendall crap."

"What?" Jeremy frowned and Tyler chuckled. Chase looked to the silver Ranger bashfully.

"That's out of context."

"I mean," Koda turned to Jeremy, "Kendall think a lot. Chase not want to put up with it, so he have me take care of Kendall."

Jeremy crossed his arms over his chest hearing this. Chase chuckled nervously.

"It's really for her own good," he insisted. Koda leaned into him.

"Did I get you in trouble?"

"A little bit, mate."

"Sorry."

"Just... go help with Kendall, alright. I'll clean this one up," Chase pat Koda gently on the shoulder before he let him go inside. The black Ranger then smiled at Jeremy. "Come on, don't you sometimes let Tracey's best friend deal with her crap instead of you?"

"I don't put it that way," Jeremy said.

"Good point," Chase nodded.