Charlie had remained silent throughout the journey back to the power chamber. Not even the occasional, reassuring nudge from Gwen could improve her sour mood. The black ranger leapt out of the elevator as soon as its doors had opened. She briefly caught a glimpse of the concerned looks on her team mate's faces but she ignored them. Walking alone through the corridors of the power chamber.

Pushing open the dull grey double doors Charlie was relieved to see a vending machine, pouring herself the strongest, blackest coffee the machine could manage. The beverages from this contraption usually tasted like warmed up mud but it was better than nothing.

The Black ranger took a seat in the middle of the room, wrapping her cold hands around the warm coffee cup. Her thoughts were too preoccupied with family matters to be overly concerned with her past at SPD. Charlie had been aware for a very long time that some of her family's business hadn't been legitimate. You didn't acquire the wealth that the Matthews family did without bending a few rules along the way.

She had been introduced to numerous 'Uncle's' when she was younger, the most prominent being Uncle Bob from the neighbouring city of Corinth. Bob had been a smooth talker and always came with a treat for the young Charlie. It was only when she got older that Charlie realised 'Uncle Bob' was a notorious gangster , the head of the Scorpion Cartel. She had been eleven when Bob got into trouble in his native city and had been driven into hiding, it had been all over the national news. That was probably the initial crack in the relationship with her family. That wedge only got bigger until Charlie left home at eighteen.

Throughout her career at SPD she had tried to shake off the shadow of her family's money. The rumours of her getting an easy path to the top never seemed to go away. Charlie was nowhere near as wealthy as she had been during her childhood. She had been able to siphon off some of her trust fund before her father cut her off. That still sat largely untouched in a high interest account and at no time had she flashed her money to get an easier ride through the SPD Academy. It didn't matter to anyone that Commander Cruger was as straight as an arrow and would never accept a bribe. But if The Gangler's were to be believed, there was someone within SPD who was. The knowledge that her impressive career could be one big lie was burning away at Charlie's soul.

Time passed quickly for Charlie and her coffee remained untouched. She barely even registered Gwen's arrival, "Cruger's waiting for us", the blue ranger said softly. She had changed and her hair was still damp from the shower. Charlie's legs were reluctant to comply with her request to move and it wasn't until Gwen gently grasped her hand that her focus finally returned to the present. The touch of the blue ranger's hand filled her with warmth and the reassuring smile drew her gently out of her funk.

Charlie stood up, the chair scraping on the floor. To her surprise Gwen didn't realise the grip on her hand and the pair walked hand in hand towards the chamber. The blue ranger kept a firm grip on Charlie's hand, tracing her thumb over the back of the black ranger's palm. Without thinking Charlie rested her head on Gwen's shoulder and to her joy the blue ranger didn't shrug her off. If anything she could feel Gwen relax into the touch.

The pair could've stayed like that forever but their arrival at the chamber. They instantly separated, straightening out their clothes in the process, "You'll be fine", Gwen attempted to reassure her. Charlie appreciated the attempt but it would take a miracle to escape confinement.

The two rangers entered the Power chamber where Jack, Spock , Faith and Command Cruger were waiting. " Good job Rangers", Cruger announced, "the Gangler's have been successfully neutralised and their network will struggle to recover from this".

"I would also like to extend my thanks on behalf of Supreme Command", Kat added, "Supreme Commander in particular was extremely happy with the outcome of the mission". Her gaze shifted to Jack, "He was particularly impressed with your command decisions Captain Harkness" Jack's eyes widen at the praise from the Spd lab technician.

"A full debriefing will follow another time", Cruger continued, "until then you're all dismissed" Charlie frowned for a moment, surely she wasn't going to get away with her disobedience that easily. She was just about to leave when Cruger barked, "Not you Matthews, we need to have a talk about your behaviour today". The other rangers looked apologetically at their black ranger, none more so that Gwen. Reluctantly the quartet shuffled out the room.

The doors shut behind them and for almost a minute, Cruger stared impassively at the black ranger. Charlie could feel the intense glare of the Command burning into her but decided to wait until the Sirian spoke, "Well?" he began, "I'm waiting for an explanation Officer Matthews".

"If you want an apology you're not going to get one. Knowing the team were facing those odds it was the right thing to do. I'm sure you would've done the same thing too".

"We're not talking about me", Cruger snapped irritably. The Sirian rubbed his eyes, probably attempting to stave off an oncoming headache, "What am I going to do with your Charlie?"

"If I might interject", A voice spoke up, Charlie was surprised that someone else was in the room, "from what I understand Officer Matthews contributed significantly to the success of this assignment.". Cruger grunted under his breath, reluctantly conceding the Figure's point, "Your orders still apply, in fact now we know there is a confirmed connection between the Gangler and Matthews family, her presence is even more important".

"Is it true what he said?" Charlie asked, "has my family been secretly feeding money into SPD to ensure my success?"

Cruger and the figure looked at each other, "Yes and no", the Commander replied, "we've been tracking suspicious payments from your family's account since your first weeks in the Academy". Charlie's shoulders slumped in defeat, "Having said that, your performance warranted your position on merit. There was no pressure on me to promote you prematurely".

Charlie was slightly surprised by the Commander's statement, why would her family pump money into SPD if not to ensure her promotion? "We do suspect that the payments ensured the removal of obstacles in your path and in the path of others", the figure continued, "the injury to former A Squad leader Jonny Peters in particular. We suspect that someone deliberately botched the mission that led to his injury". The figure paused for a moment to allow that information to sink, "That's why im here today im the Doctor by the way."

Now Charlie was genuinely intrigued and angry, Jonny was her mentor and knowing that someone could've deliberately put him out of commission just to ensure her promotion really made her blood boil, "What do I need to do?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"You're assuming that I'm not going to throw your ass back into prison for deliberately going against my orders", Cruger growled.

"With all due respect Doggie, your orders sucked", The Doctor snorted. Charlie had to admire the bravery of the young officer, being the Doctor gave you some leeway but calling out Commander Cruger probably crossed a line.

"Did you ever think my maybe my orders had a purpose Doctor ?" Cruger grunted in response.

It took Charlie a couple of moments to put the pieces together from Cruger's veiled statement, "This was all a test wasn't it", Charlie grumbled, "one of Doggie Cruger's infamous 'let's give some ridiculous order and see how they react' jobs". Now it all made sense to Charlie, the last few weeks had been one big test to see where Charlie's loyalties lay. The combative attitude aimed in her direction from Cruger had also solidified the team around Charlie. She had admire the willingness of Cruger to do whatever it took for the team to accept her, even if she was unhappy with the way he went about it.

"Would I do such a thing?" Cruger asked with a tone of innocence, "you still disobeyed a direct order Matthews, however your not part of SPD". Charlie nodded solemnly, "Perhaps this will give you a chance to dig into your family tree, see who would want to damage SPD in this way".

"Thank you Sir", Charlie felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She wasn't going back into a containment card.

"I'll be watching you carefully from now on though, try to be a little more respectful", Cruger sighed in exasperation.

Charlie nodded and gave the Commander a firm salute, exiting the room before he could change his mind, "Hey Charlie wait up", she heard The Doctor call out. The Timelord jogged down the corridor after her, "This might give you a few leads", he handed over a data stick to the black ranger. "I'm hearing some good stuff about you".

"Yeah probably until about a year ago", Charlie snorted.

The doctor gave her a half smile in return, "Try not to be too hard on yourself" he patted the black ranger on the shoulder, "I'm sure you know the story of Karone?" Charlie nodded, what ranger didn't know the story and history of the famous Pink Galaxy Ranger. "Don't let this eat away at you", he continued, "despite the claims remember Hexagon", his voice trailed off.

Charlie took on the wisdom of the Legendary Timelord, maybe there was still a chance for her. The descent in the elevator was quiet and soon they reached the main entrance. The rest of Rangers were waiting patiently, eager for some news of their team mate, "You've got a good people around you", The doctor smiled, "especially that girlfriend of yours, she's a really cutie".

"You mean Gwen?" Charlie stumbled over her words, "no, no she's not my girlfriend", she said defensively.

The doctor simply smirked in response, "Give it time", he extended his hand to the black ranger, "good to meet you Charlie, I'm sure we'll be see much more of each other in the future". Charlie nodded, returning the shake enthusiastically. As she approached The rangers Charlie thought about What the doctor had said, she liked Gwen but did the blue ranger feel the same way? The optimistic smile on Gwen's face as Charlie approached gave some clue.

"Still here?" Jack said in a dry tone, "and I see youve met the Doctor".

"You'd missed me and you know it Tate", Charlie smirked, "but yes I did ", she added.

"Well it's better than nothing", Faith smiled and threw her arm around her new team mate, "now it did come to our attention that you haven't been fully initiated".

"An initiation ceremony, can't be as bad as the one A Squad put me through when I made pink ranger", Charlie shrugged.

"Faith is going to feed you warm toast-", Jack began.

"Warm buttery toast", the yellow ranger corrected.

"Yes whatever", Jack snapped, "Faith will feed you warm buttery toast whilst Spock talks you through the finer points of co-ordinating your techniques".

Charlie blinked for a couple of seconds with a blank expression, "I stand corrected, that sounds horrific". A look of annoyance flashed over the white ranger's face before she aimed a playful slap at Jack's arm.

"Don't worry about them", Gwen interlocked her arm with Charlie's, "I protect you from those nasty people".

"My hero", Charlie said warmly, drawing a deep blush from the blue ranger, "already lead the way but I warn you, I have a very high tolerance for toast". Gwen and the rangers led her away towards their quarters and a broad smile flashed over Charlie's face. For the first time in years she had finally found a place to call home and a family.