Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own the Power Rangers, but Shade, his minions, his ship, and anything else you don't recognize from the show is mine.

Charmedfan90: It'll be very soon, like next chapter soon...hopefully. :)

Sajabi88: I feel great that you reviewed my chapter even right after I posted it and proceeded to retell it in your review. :P Thought you ought to know, lol.

bRaInWaVe: I'm glad you liked the chapter. Sorry it wasn't as soon as you would have liked, but I hope you'll enjoy this one!

Mita427: Yeah, sorry I have been really busy ever since school started, it's hard to find time to write. I hope you like the update!

Phantom Rogue: Dying! No that would be horrible, I'm not that evil...well, maybe I am.

ZenPotter: Glad you like it so far. Ecliptor will make an appearance in upcoming chapters but the story won't be told from his point of view. You'll most likely only see him if the rangers or Astronema are interacting with him.

Alexandra Khayman: It's totally fine, I know that everybody's busy with school. So really, don't worry about it, I'm just happy that you're still enjoying it. :D

Behind the Mask

Chapter 10: The Next Morning

Andros woke up abruptly thinking that he was back on Shade's ship. He was having a hard time sleeping on the megaship, even though he hadn't been gone for long. Rolling over on his side, he asked, "Deca, what time is it?"

Deca's light promptly flashed on as she answered, "It is currently 5:14 AM on Earth in Angel Grove."

With a groan, Andros decided to just get up, he wouldn't get much more sleep anyway. He rolled out of bed and took a quick shower, then dressed and headed for the work bay to get something to eat. As he passed Ashley's door though, he stopped, wondering if she was awake and if she was having as much trouble sleeping as he did. He decided that if she was asleep, he wasn't going to risk waking her, depriving her of the few hours that she had left to sleep. They had a big day ahead of them and he didn't want her getting hurt just because he wanted to ease his conscience. She already had one injury, she didn't need another.

He continued walking to the work bay. When he arrived, he went straight to the Synthetron, punching buttons to get a hot chocolate. Ashley had introduced him to the wonderful drink shortly after the Earth rangers came to the megaship and it had instantly become one of his favorites. He always drank it in the morning when he got up cause it seemed to help him wake up easier.

Ashley once showed him what a lot of people on Earth drank in the morning to wake up. It looked a lot like hot chocolate so he had tasted it, thinking it would be just as good. Boy was he wrong! It was one of the most awful drinks that he had ever tasted. Ashley had laughed at the face that he made and didn't hesitate to remind him of it every now and then, doing her own reenactment of his face. How anyone could drink that in the morning, he still didn't understand.

He took his hot chocolate and sat down at the table, trying to think up a plan of how exactly they were going to rescue Astra. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't even notice when someone else entered the work bay.

"Wow, I thought I was the first up." Andros looked up abruptly, startled out of his thoughts.

Ashley was standing in the doorway, leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed, a friendly smile on her face. Noticing Andros' slight jump, her smile sobered a little. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Andros shook his head at her, "Nah, I just didn't see you there."

Ashley uncrossed her arms and walked over to the Synthetron with only a slight limp. She pushed a few buttons, then turned to face him while she waited. "Why are you up so early anyway?"

Andros had watched her limp across the room and had a look of concern on his face. "How's your foot?" he asked not answering her question.

Ashley glanced down at her foot and answered, "It's feeling a lot better, should be good as new by tomorrow." She grabbed her food out of the Synthetron and made her way over to the table, sitting down in front of Andros. He still had a worried look on his face and looked like he wanted to say more, but for some reason, just didn't. Ashley sighed, "Andros, I'm alright."

Somehow, that reassured him a little and he gave her a slight grin. "I'm glad you're okay...but..." his grin faltered and he trailed off looking down. Ashley reached across the table and put her hand on his arm. "But what?" she asked sincerely.

He raised his eyes back to hers and she saw a forlorn look reflected in them. "Yesterday, when I saw the crash, I was so scared that you had been hurt. I...I've never been so scared before."

Ashley was surprised to see unshed tears in his eyes and reached up to wipe them before they fell. "Hey, it's alright. I'm okay, Carlos is okay, we're all okay. We made it, we're safe now," she told him with a caring smile.

Andros reached for her hand, which was still on his cheek, and gently pulled it away grasping it in his own. He seemed to be at a loss for words so Ashley kept quiet, just being there for him and waiting for him to break the silence. After a few minutes, he whispered, "When I said I've never been so scared before, that wasn't entirely true. I've been that scared twice in my life; when Karone was kidnapped and when I thought I'd lost Zhane. When I thought I could have lost you I...I..."he trailed off.

Taking a deep breath, he continued. "When I thought I could have lost you, it was different from Karone and Zhane." He paused and looked into her eyes, "I thought I'd lose my heart."

Tears welled up in Ashley's eyes. Not letting go of Andros' hand, she stood up and walked around the table to stand in front of him. Andros stood as well, about to say that she shouldn't be walking on her foot so much when Ashley engulfed him in hug. They stood there like that for what seemed like an eternity, just lost in each other's embrace. When they finally pulled away from each other, Andros wiped away her tears and tucked a few stray hairs behind her ears.

Ashley finally found her words. "Andros, you mean so much to me and I...I feel the same way. I...I think...no," she paused, shaking her head, "I know...that I love you," she finished.

Andros could see her feelings mirrored in her eyes and knew that he felt the same way. Looking deep into her eyes, he replied, "I love you, too. I think I've known it for a while, I just never knew how to tell you."

Grinning through her tears, Ashley hugged him again. After the hug, they sat back down, Ashley now sitting next to him instead of going back to the other side of the table. For a few minutes, neither of them said anything, Ashley went back to her breakfast and Andros to his hot chocolate, which was now cold. Then, Ashley playfully elbowed Andros in the side. "You never answered my question."

"Hmm," Andros said holding his side.

"What are you doing up so early?"

"Oh," he said, remembering that she had asked him but he had been side-tracked at the time worrying about her foot. "I couldn't sleep. Kept waking up thinking I was on Shade's ship so I finally just got up."

"Me too," Ashley replied. "You know, you don't notice how much we take the megaship's safety for granted, until you don't have it any more."

Andros looked over at her. "I've never thought about it that way before, but I think you're right."

Ashley grinned at him then looked at the entryway where Carlos was approaching from the hallway. "Morning," he called to the other two as he saw them look up at him.

"Morning," Ashley replied. Andros grinned and nodded his head in welcome. Carlos got his breakfast, a simple bowl of cereal and an orange juice, and joined the them at the table. "So, how about you, have trouble sleeping last night?" Ashley asked.

Carlos gave her a confused look that faded to realization when he understood how she would know that. "Actually, yeah, I did. You guys too?"

"Yeah, just insecure about where we are, until we realize that we're on the megaship and not still on Shade's ship," Ashley replied. Andros nodded in agreement.

Minutes later, Cassie and TJ made their way to the work bay.

"How is it that the three of you are the first up when you were the ones that were captured?" TJ asked as he sat down at the table with his plate of food, which consisted of pancakes, bacon, and eggs.

"Insecurity," Andros answered simply.

TJ nodded as he reached for the ketchup, then promptly smothered his eggs with it.

Cassie shook her head at TJ as she sat down at the end of the table. "So Andros, what's the plan?" she said looking at their leader. Everyone else also paused and looked toward Andros, awaiting his answer.

Looking at Cassie, then all the others, Andros replied, "Well, Zhane and I are going to take the Shadow Fighter since it's the only way to track Shade's ship and you guys are going to follow on the megaship. Once we find it, Zhane and I will land the fighter in the flight bay on Shade's ship and TJ and Cassie will teleport in while we land. After that, we'll have to find our way from there."

"Wait," Carlos interrupted, "what about me and Ashley?"

Ashley stayed silent, knowing what Andros was about to say. "You two will stay on the megaship and help us when we need to get out."

"But you guys are gonna need all the help you can get," Carlos interjected.

"You two are recovering from injuries, you'll be more help to us here," came Zhane's voice from the doorway. Everyone looked up as he walked over to them and casually sat down at the only free spot at the table.

Glancing around the table at the others, Carlos saw that they agreed and knew that he and Ashley wouldn't be stepping off the ship today. Finally, he nodded, giving in.

------

Astra struggled to stand upright in the arms of her captors. Ever since the rangers had left, Shade had been interrogating her about her identity. It had been hours since then and he was determined to get an answer. Every time he asked and didn't get the answer he wanted, he would press a button which controlled the ring on her head and a sharp unbearable pain would course through not only her head, but her body as well.

"Now, I'll ask you again," Shade said grabbing Astra's chin and forcing her to look at him. "Who are you and where do I know you from...cause you're certainly very familiar to me."

Astra kept a defiant glare on her face and stared straight ahead not answering. "Fine then," Shade said roughly letting her chin go and pushing the button. She let out a scream of anguish as her body writhed in agony, causing the guards' grip to falter momentarily as they countered to hold her weight. Finally, Shade released the button and Astra collapsed limply in the hands of her captors. 'I sure hope you meant what you said Ashley,' Astra thought to herself before passing out.

A/N: Ten! I made it to chapter ten! Woo hoo! Huge thing for me since this is my first story:D So, I had planned on the rescue happening in this chapter but I ended up getting hooked on the A/A scene (as you can probably tell :P), so it should be in the next chapter. Sorry, sorry for the long wait, but this is probably how updates will go at least until Christmas. I hope that you'll keep reading though, and please review!

Also, I told a friend that I'd promote her story. It's called Remember Me by Angel of the Stars and it's awesome! So go over and read it and leave her bunches of comments!