I'm So sorry this has taken so long. I didn't really know where i was going to go with this once I made Dustin a ranger and i had to focus my thoughts; but good news to all my fans while I was planning the storyline i managed to make room for a smaller squeal that i shall begin once I've finished this fic. Now thank you to all my fans and loyal readers you are the reason i continue to write without you I would not be taking this as far as it as gone.
Chapter 10
When a person loses a part of themselves they can feel that loss like a gaping hole for the rest of their lives unless they manage to get that part of them back. Dustin knew this...he'd lived it more than once: once when he thought Hunter and Blake had used him and his friendship and then once more when his family was killed. But both times he had been able to pull himself up and live on: when Hunter had dragged himself to his house in the middle of the night to explain and apologies with Blake not far behind he had felt the betrayal disappear and the gaping hole he'd felt fill again. His parents had never fully healed but he found the hole not really even a hole anymore more like a pin prick that Tommy was helping heal with every fatherly action he did.
But as he watched Conner who was once so full of confidence doubt himself and his action he knew that he had to help the boy, but at the same time he knew that the same old lecture and story was going to help the boy because what he was feeling was completely different to anything he had felt simply because he had never been the red ranger before. He could see it clearer than the young Tyranno ranger was giving him credit for, but he could see Conner doubting his orders and his leadership, he didn't know if it was because he thought of himself as unworthy because of what he'd felt and still felt for Trent or because he and Tommy were on the team but he knew Conner didn't think he was a good leader.
Watching as Conner sat off to the side throwing his soccer ball in his hands just looking at his team with a fond smile but making no move to join them made Dustin's heart break. No red ranger should be like that, he could still remember how in control and involved Shane had been as the leader. The air ninja had always been helping or doing something and he and Conner had always shared that trait and he had always known that his red ranger friend was in trouble or was upset when he holed himself away from the team just as his dino ranger counterpart was doing at that moment.
Trent seemed to have noticed as well-bless his heart-because the reformed ranger was now moving to sit next to his leader. They weren't saying anything just sitting there but from what he could see Conner still appreciated the fact his white ranger was there, the two of them still hadn't confessed their feelings and considering the state the red ranger was in at that moment it wouldn't surprise Dustin if Conner thought that Trent's feelings had been made up from the evil obsession the white had with his red.
The green ranger looked over at Tommy-who was still morphed!-and gave him a concerned smile, he knew the great ranger would have sensed that something was off with his leader but knowing his mentor the black ranger wouldn't want to cause any confrontation until he knew what he was really trying to fix...well he wasn't going to wait, he didn't have the patience.
"Hey I'm going free styling who wants to watch?" he said suddenly as he got an idea.
The yellow and blue ranger shook their heads but Conner was on his feet in seconds with an equally excited Trent only a few steps behind him. One thing he had learnt a few days after Trent had been turned good again was that despite not being able to do the tricks themselves, both the red and white ranger had a hidden passion for his favorite past time and he always offered for them to come watch as a bonding thing between the three of them-well he offered the team but it was always the two of them that took him up on his offers.
After changing into his gear and assuring Tommy that they would return the raptor cycles after returning the three of them were on their way to the ramps. After finding out his dangerous past time Haley had built him special ramps so he could do it with at least some safe passage. It wasn't all that far from the labs so within a few minutes of riding then reached his favorite spot. The two hid the cycles while he took his position on the ramp and took off at top speeds.
Clearing everything from his minds Dustin let his bike fly through the air and then lifted himself from the seat and hooked his feet under the handle bars and let go so he was hanging on only with his feet. Hanging there for a few seconds he pulled himself back so that he pulled himself into his seat just in time to land perfectly eliciting loud cheers from Trent and Conner. It sometimes made him smile at how awed they were by him performing such a simple trick after all it was the first one he'd learnt.
A few hours later after he was too tired to do anything more than jump the damn ramps Dustin had lead the two other rangers back to the dino lair where he made them look over both the white dino ATV and the red raptor cycle before he freed them to go off on their own. That of course wasn't the case for Trent though because Dr O called him off to go on a little mission to search for something that he and the black ranger had been secretly searching for. It disturbed him that even with his connection with earth-despite it being dulled with him leaving the academy-he hadn't been able to find the ancient relic.
"Hey Conner" he called as he tried to catch up with Conner who was wandering through the halls of the dino lair alone. The red ranger stopped and looked up and gave him a curious glance making him smile a little, "Dr O wants you and I to go out for a bit"
Conner gave him a confuse look which he just smile innocently at-he might be the green ranger but he could still pull of the yellow charm better than anyone!-and nodded "Yeah I know it's weird right" he said like he was just as confused as the red ranger "But I think we should go morphed"
"Okay if you think so" Conner said nodding heading for the raptor cycle again.
Dustin watched the red ranger walk off and sighed sadly, he just hoped that his plan worked because he didn't think he would be able to keep pretending with act he was putting on fro Conner's benefit. Walking towards the cycle room he check to make sure the Velocity Cycle-named after the Velocaraptor-of course-was in working order before he began the morphing process.
"Dino Thunder Power up: Ha!"
"Rapto Power: Unleash!"
Once they were morphed and ready Dustin lead Conner out onto a barely used trail and hoped that once the red ranger felt the power awaiting him where they were going that he would take over. Considering the damn shield was for him the red ranger should damn well take over. Luckily about ten minutes after they rode Conner began to sneak forward and Dustin grinned inside his helmet and slowly let up on the accelerator on his bike so he fell behind the team leader and let the red ranger lead him where they need to go.
Only following Conner with half consciousness Dustin allowed his thoughts to finally go back to one of the conversations he had shared with Cam two weeks earlier when the samurai green ranger had helped him free the black ranger. It had been a little surprising to say the least especially considering it was Cam-the ranger who had been so afraid to kiss Shane that he had to make out with him before hand-that had bought it up.
Sometimes Dustin didn't know why he ever bothered to learn anything about technology when it seemed to hate him so much. For the last fifty minutes he had been working with Cam to create a stupid ray that would free Tommy and for the last fifty minutes all the two of them had been doing is hitting brick walls-although the chatting was cool.
"So ah...did you like say goodbye to Hunter before you left" Cam suddenly asked and when Dustin looked up in surprise he saw that the old green ranger had bit his lip in fear-or maybe he had slipped that question out?
Shaking his head Dustin let his hands go limp in his lamp as he remembered his 'goodbye' to Hunter "Not exactly...I gave him a letter" he said simply before picking up the piece of machinery again maybe if he looked busy Cam would drop the subject.
Cam nodded and then stopped what he was doing and gave him his full attention-guess hoping the great stubborn Cam would give something up was too much to ask-"Go on" he pressed and Dustin shrugged he didn't know what Cam wanted him to say.
"I didn't exactly leave with much notice" He explained softly "So I wrote Hunter a letter explaining why I left blue bay...why I left him" he whispered as tears pricked his eyes.
Cam must have noticed because he patted him on the back softly making him chuckle a little-yeah so not helping Cam but thanks anyway. "I wasn't going to leave him with nothing. Not after he and I promise each other we'd tell each other everything. But sometimes I regret writing that letter" he mumbled, because now Hunter knew he loved him and now he would never be able to talk to the crimson ninja ever again.
"I don't think you should tell Hunter that" Cam said slowly as if he was being careful how to word his statement "Ever since you left I don't think he's let that letter out of his sight"
"You're kidding!" Dustin gasped, why the hell would a piece of paper be that damn important to him, he had wrote that letter in like half an hour and yet he had kept it for a good six months why in the world would he have done that. He might have understood if Cam said he'd kept it but the fact that he said Hunter never lets it out of his sight was a little strange.
The samurai shook his head and then looked down at his oily hands "No, I once saw him reading it, and when his eyes got to this one line, I saw his eyes re-read that part like ten times. He isn't even that into Blake's letters when he sends them" He said softly and looked into his eyes with a stern gaze "What did you write Dustin?"
The earth ninja didn't want to say it, he wanted to keep it a secret but gazing into his friends eyes, gazing into the eyes of the one who had trusted him with his secrets and fears Dustin felt his own walls crumbling and when he spoke he actually felt better than when he had wrote them down "I wrote that I loved him"
Dustin couldn't stop the smile that formed when he remembered his friends reaction, Cam had go so red and then started to stutter about why Hunter was so protective of the paper making him laugh and miss most of it. When that was over the two of them had gone back to talking about Tori who was waiting for a visit from Blake who was due home in a month or so and Shane who was entering more skate competitions than normal.
This of course lead back to him and motorcross which he had told Cam he had won two freestyle competitions in the last few months and went on to mention he never raced anymore saying it just didn't give him that thrill anymore-then he had to hit the damn guy because he had smirked at him and arched an eyebrow. But then they had started to get somewhere and all talk kind of stopped, glancing at the red ranger in front of him Dustin began to slow when he noticed Conner easing up when they entered a rocky ravine.
"Hey Conner you okay?" He asked driving up alongside him now that the track allowed for it.
The red ranger looked around and nodded but at the same time killed the engine of his bike, something was distracting him big time "Yeah...it's just...something I need to find" he whispered and Dustin was glad you couldn't see his face behind his helmet because then Conner would be able to see the full blown grin that he knew he was sporting.
Nodding and gesturing for the red ranger to take the lead Dustin was glad he'd shut off the comm. Lines in Conner's helmet because the insistent binging that Kira was harassing him with was giving him a hell of a headache. He knew it was probably important but so was this, and he wasn't going to let this mission be interrupted by some stupid monster. As the two of them walked further into the rocky ravine and through the hollowed clearings Dustin began to believe he had left the comms open because he was starting to hear explosions and screams that sounded a lot like Kira. When he checked to make sure the comms were closed Dustin felt his eyes widened when he noticed that the damn things weren't: they were going towards the damn battle.
Grabbing Conner's wrist he stomped towards the battle ignoring all of the red ranger's protests and lead him straight towards the clearing until they were standing at the entrance to the main clearing. The beast inside was throwing around the other rangers like they were nothing and Zeltrax seemed to be beating Tommy but mostly because the black ranger was protecting a old fossil shield of some sort, spotting the artefact Dustin felt relief wash over him now he could do two things in one go and it would be a lot more effective.
Hearing Trent yell in pain Dustin felt Conner tense beside him and rolled his eyes once again thankful of his helmet: he knew he had danced around Hunter for almost two years and he hoped he hadn't been as obvious as the white and red rangers were because watching the white and red rangers do their little mating dance was getting very irritating. "You're not going to help them" he asked crossing his arms.
Conner's head whipped to the side to stare at him but Dustin knew he had the picture of indifference down pat. He had mastered it when he had been interrogated when he was with the earth ninja's-they hadn't really like him the first few years always being late and all that-and he had never lost that ability, being in the Rapto Ranger suit actually gave his look a bigger effect: he thinks it's the helmet-it was scary dude!
"What do you mean 'me'?" the red ranger asked in a shaky voice and it was at that moment that Dustin realised just how scared and frightened the red ranger was. It was a huge difference to the cocky and charming Tyranno ranger he had met only a few months ago.
But he couldn't falter, this would help him he had to believe that, he couldn't be Conner's hero anymore and hopefully Tommy would catch on to what he was trying to do and wouldn't give him such a big lecture when they got back to lair-yeah right. "Because I think I'm going to sit this one out" he said strolling into the clearing but heading for the rocks that would give him a good view of the battle below.
He knew the red ranger was staring at him, probably with something like shock if he was correct, he had just said he was abandoning the team when they needed them so...yeah that would make me kinda confused as well. Using his enhanced powers the suit gave him so that he was able to jump up onto the flat surface of the outcrop he turned around with his arms crossed and looked back down at Conner who was standing at the entrance watching the battle helplessly. "Are you going to help your team red ranger" he growled out his voice being affected by the raptor DNA streaming through his veins at that time.
"Why aren't you helping?" Conner yelled back and Dustin felt a small smile find its way onto his face: the old Conner was slowly making its way back to him.
Instead of explaining to him why he cockyed his head to the side and relaxed his shoulders making it look like he was observing a street performance making Conner growl and stomp towards the battle. But when the red ranger noticed Trent about to be blasted again he used his super speed and rushing over to stand in front of the white ranger just in time to be blasted in the chest. Dustin winced and rubbed his chest a little as he imagined just how much that would have hurt; he remembered when Hunter had struck him with a thunder bolt when he was still evil: the damn thing, it had hurt like a bloody mother!
Conner could honestly say he hated Dustin at that point; the damn green ranger was standing off to the side while he and his team were being blasted around by this...thing and he wasn't doing a damn thing to help them. To make matters worse the buzzing that had started earlier in the morning when Dustin had started them off that morning had gotten worse and was making his hits distracted and sloppy-he was going to get a lecture when they got back to the lair about proper training and all that jazz. Pulling himself back to his feet Conner shook away the pain.
He couldn't do this! He was a power ranger, he was the red power ranger: he was the team leader, and that meant he wasn't going to let this ugly thing destroy Reefside just because he had been to hurt to continue. He was the last stand and he wasn't going to fall! Looking over at the other rangers Conner smiled sadly when he saw how spent and injured they were, they had fought hard and now he was going to help them.
A green blur rushed past him and Conner smiled when he saw Dustin standing over Dr O who was at Zeltrax's mercy with his own blades drawn at the ready okay so maybe he didn't hate the guy-ticked of maybe hate no. The black ranger pushed this weird old thing into Dustin's hands and the two of them had a hushed comment when the green ranger helped their mentor to his feet before turning and moving towards him.
"Dustin what's going on!" he demanded weakly-damn that thing had a strong blast.
The green ranger looked down at the shield and pushed it towards him making the buzzing inside his head ease a little: this must have been what he was looking for! "This Conner is the Triassic Shield" Dustin explained and made him take the thing "It is a weapon that chose its own warriors: it has chosen you and only you"
Conner looked down at the shield in his hands and saw the front of it filling in with a bright red making him laugh, Dustin held out a hand and rested it on the artifact and began to glow a little and the horns on the shield turned a bright emerald green Conner gasped when he felt an unknown power flush into him and looked into Dustin's visor and realized when the green ranger was going for him: Dustin was giving him is power.
A white hand slid past and rested on the shield as well and Conner looked over at Trent and felt tears prick to his eyes as Trent followed suit and gave him all he could he wanted to say something to the white ranger: wanted to tell him how much this meant to him and how much he cared for him: but at that moment, no words could be said. Kira followed next supported by Ethan and the two of them gave him their powers together and Conner felt their trust and support through their power and smiled happily. When Dr O laid his own hand on the shield Conner looked around and felt the change inside of him: he wasn't going to let them all down.
Dustin lifted his hand and clapped a hand on his shoulder and gave him a firm nod "You are our Triassic Warrior: Conner" he said in a clear voice and suddenly everything the green ranger had down made sense "It was always going to be yours"
Trent slumped a little as he let go of the shield and used Dustin's shoulder for support just as Kira and Ethan were doing to each other. The three younger rangers had given all they could given and were barely hanging onto morph while Dustin and Dr O were okay as they had been through the power draining process before. "Go get them Tyranno" Dr O said and took a step back handing over the protection of the team to the one who it belonged to.
The battle hadn't been quick but it had been victorious and when he let the strange power of his comrade's drain out of him Conner felt all his power go with it and moments after he de-morphed his eyes rolled into the back of his head and everything went black. Dustin held back Trent while Tommy caught his red ranger and smiled within his helmet: yep the power draining affected no one differently always did the same thing.
"He's just a little tired" Tommy declared after a moment "when you get a new power it takes a toll on the body: we just saw what it did to Conner" He said as he hiked the taller red ranger up onto his back "Come on let's go back.
The trip back to the dino lair was spent in total silence and when Dustin had checked on the rangers he had found Kira and Ethan barely awake and knew they would crash once they were at the lair. True enough once checking in with a frantic Haley the blue and yellow rangers disappeared into the bedroom and were asleep in moments. Conner on the other hand was still out cold so Dr O put him in the Med bay on one of the beds in there.
Dustin had ordered Trent into one of them as well because the white ranger refused to leave his leader's side-wanted Conner to wake up with someone there and within minutes the white ranger was also asleep. Tommy sighed and rubbed his lower back turning to Dustin who had finally de-morphed, the green ranger braced himself for a lecture but was shocked when he felt Tommy's arms wrap around him in a warm hug. Despite being initially shocked and surprised with his mentor's sudden act of affection Dustin hugged the black ranger back with as much love as the other was giving him.
"Thank you Dustin" He heard Tommy whispered and squeezed Tommy back affectionately "You did what I was too afraid of"
The green ranger smiled at his senior ranger and shook his head, didn't Tommy get it, he had done it for the team, he would die for the dino's just as he would have died for the Wind and Thunders ninja s, he had been a yellow to start off with but Dustin couldn't help but chuckle: maybe he'd always been a green at heart: Kind hearted, misunderstood and shoulders everything for the team. That sounded like him now. "Tommy I'd do anything for you and the others...that's who I am"
The Brachio ranger laughed and let go of his eldest student and patted him on the shoulders "Yeah I know" Dustin noticed just how tired the other looked and pushed him out of the med bay assuring him that yes he would look after Conner and then slumped in the seat next to the red ranger.
He might not be as heavily affected as the new rangers but unlike Tommy who had his powers changed like four times and had learned to cope with the aching tiredness that settled in your bones afterwards, he had only lost his powers once and he was being affected a lot more than the legendary Tommy Oliver was. Rubbing his forehead with his one hand Dustin froze when he felt a weak touch on the hand he'd left resting on Conner's bed and when he looked up he saw the tired eyes of the Tyranno ranger looking up at him.
"Hey there Rex" he whispered being aware that Conner probably had a huge headache thanks to his new powers and the beat down he'd gotten before he'd gotten the shield "I know this is a stupid question but: how ya feeling?"
Conner cracked him a grin and Dustin felt a lot of his fears settle when he saw that "Did Tyranno sit on me by any chance?" the red ranger asked making Dustin laugh, "No seriously!"
Shaking his head Dustin patted the leader's hand and gave him a proud smile, Conner had gotten himself back, he had his trust back in the team and from what he could tell he had his confidence back-although he might wait and see if that was true after he was up and ready to go "No but you did beat the bad guy" he said happily "All on your own"
"No I didn't" Conner said not breaking his gaze from his own and Dustin could see the powerful emotion in the others eyes that took his breath away slightly. "I had you all with me...fighting with me" he whispered and Dustin gave Conner's hand a quick squeeze.
The two of them did say anything for a moment but Dustin was going to apologize until he heard Conner's weak voice say something first "Dustin...thank you for what you did today" the red ranger said seriously. When Dustin gave him a look of alarm and shock the leader was quick to explain "When you refused to help me, you made me take charge and protect my team. I had to stop relying on you and Dr O and live up to the Red Ranger legacy"
Dustin smiled and pushed the red ranger down "You can thank me later" he whispered as he moved the sheets into a comfortable position. "For now you need a rest: you've had a big day today" Dustin smiled when Conner nodded and yawned, everything was going to be okay.
Right well that was my take on Conner's Battleizer...wow i was really off Canon..*Shrugs*
Read and Review please.