.:10:.

Crumbling Walls


"These are your new Lightspeed Cycles," Miss. Fairweather said, waving her hand over the rainbow colored motorcycles parked alongside the Rescue Rover. She glanced at Captain Mitchell, who stood aside, hands clasped behind his back. He gave her an encouraging nod and she smiled back. Her eyes swept over the rangers, landing on Joel for a moment, and she pressed her glasses up her nose. "They're capable of supersonic speeds and have the most advanced weaponry system."

"It should be what you need the next time you come across Vypra and the rest of her monsters," Captain Mitchell added. "They're only going to get stronger and continue to test you to the length of your abilities. So far, the monsters you've come up against are nothing compared to what you're going to go up against later. Is that understood."

"Yes, sir!" Came the unanimous reply, with Joel going so far a to do an exaggerated yell complete wht a salute and stomping his feet together. Carter, Dana, Kelsey, and Chad all tried to keep from laughing. Miss. Fairweather brought her finger up to cover her mouth as her shoulders shook.

Joel's grin widened towards Miss. Fairweather and her chees reddened, making her laugh harder. It wasn't until Captain Mitchell turned her way with raised eyebrows that she abruptly stopped and turned away, fiddling with her glasses. Then Captain Mitchell turned his gaze to Joel and his smile immediately dropped from his face. He widened his eyes innocently and looked around the hangar, leaning back and forth.

"Did you hear that echo?" He asked.

Kelsey snorted, Chad squeezed his eyes shut, and Carter and Dana looked towards the ceiling to keep themselves from bursting out into hysterical laughter. Captain Mitchell must've bene having a good day for instead of reaming Joel out for his insolence, he said calmly, "Joel, how often do you clean your planes? For your stunting?"

Joel scratched the back of his head then puffed out his chest proudly. "As often as I need to. Nothing is more important than having a clean plane to impress the crowd."

"I'm glad you said that." Captain Mitchell walked over to the Rescue Rover and leaned into the passenger seat. He pulled up the top of the console and pressed a button on the inside. A door on the side of the vehicle opened to reveal buckets and rags. He picked up a bucket, filled it with rags, chams, and a bottle of soap. Turning around, he held it out to Joel. "Because for your little stunt back there, you're going to clean every vehicle in this hangar."

Joel's smile immediately dropped from his face while his friends and teammates finally burst out into hysterical laughter. He held out his hands and took the bucket Captain Mitchell handed to him. "I'm guessing there's no way to get out of this…?"

"You'd be right." Captain Mitchell patted Joel on the shoulder. "And please take your time, I want to see them sparkle by the time I come back. You do take pride in your work as I understand. Let's hope you put as much pride into this." He nodded to the others. "Dismissed."

"Hey, hope you know that thee cleaning chemical can be pretty harsh on your hands," Dana teased. "You may want to put lotion on when you're done." She pointed to the soap. "That stuff is especially strong."

"Yeah, and the good news is, you don't have to worry about having missed your workout this morning." Carter snickered. "All of that buffing and polishing is really going to work out your arms."

"Have fun," Kelsey trilled, finger waving to him.

"Yeah, looks like it'll be a blast," Chad agreed.

"You know, you can join me on this fun," Joel said, holding out his arms to plead to his friends. "It'll be a blast if we're all working on this together."

Miss. Fairweather stepped up to Joel's side, her hands clasped together behind her back. "Captain Mitchell gave you an order and he expects you to do it the way he asked." She gave him a sly smile. "And trust me, he's thought of every excuse in the book you could come up with to not do it. I'll be back to check on you later."

"Or you can just stay here and keep me company," Joel suggested.

"I have too much work to do on your zords," Miss. Fairweather said. "There's always something that gets damaged when you're in battle." She looked over at him and nodded. "Otherwise, I'd love to." With that, she swished out of the hangar leaving Joel with a hanging mouth and wide eyes behind her.

Joel's eyes shifted over to his friends, who were slowly leaving the hangar as well, pushing each other around as they went. "You saw that, right?" He asked. "Someone, please tell me you saw that?"

"Saw what?" Kelsey asked, twisting around to look at him. Her face contorted into an expression of confusion when Joel groaned, dropping his bucket of supplies to put his face in his hands. "What's up with him?" She asked the others.

"It's Joel, what do you expect?" Chad joked.

They went to the door to leave the hangar then stopped short when Carter threw out his arm. He bit his lower lip, as if torn, seeing Captain Mitchell standing calmly at the end of the hallway. He'd just stopped short from running into Avalon, who rounded the corner so fast she nearly barged into him. Behind her was a teenage boy the others didn't recognize.

"Who do you think you are?" Avalon demanded before Captain Mitchell could speak.

Nevertheless, his eyes narrowed into angry slits and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Avalon, I'd be careful of the way out speak to—"

"You gave up the right to demand any respect from me the moment you gave up your parental rights," Avalon spat back. She jabbed her finger at him. "What else are you going to do? Throw me into a fiery pit the moment you get the chance?" Behind her, the teenage boy winced, as if she'd said something hurtful to him. "Or are you just going to continue to find ways to lie to me." She folded her arms. "What did you really bring me and Bay out here for?"

Captain Mitchell pressed his lips together, his mustache twitching. The only thing that gave away his anger was the way his shoulders hunched. "Avalon, I'd like to speak with you in my office—"

"No, you're not going to run away from this. We're going to talk about it now." Avalon's eyes flashed. "Ever since you gave me and Bay up, you've done nothing but try to act like the father you've never been. No matter where I go you somehow try to control me. And now I found out that these new powers you've created has been worked on by one of my friends and you weren't going to tell me? The very same powers that you exposed me to ages ago?"

Captain Mitchell held up his hands. "Avalon, I'm not going to speak with you like this."

"You're a fucking coward!" She started to turn away then stopped and turned back. "No, you're selfish! And you don't care about anyone but yourself! You've been bloody selfish your entire life. You cheated on her mum," she motioned to Dana, "and kept me and Bay a secret all because you wanted to make sure your precious image and your fucking career were intact. And now that you're in this government position you treat us like we're soldiers rather than people, rather than your own children. I'm sick of it and I'm sick of having to answer to you. You're as lousy a leader as you are a father."

With that, she turned on her heel and stormed back up the hallway. The young man tried to grab her arm but she shrugged him off, continuing without him. He looked after her then turned back to Captain Mitchell. "Hello, sir, I don't know if you remember me—"

"—Yes, you're Jason Scott, I've heard a lot about you," Captain Mitchell said. He held out his hand for Jason to shake. "I'm sorry that our meeting has to be under difficult situations."

"Yeah." Jason reached out and shook Captain Mitchell's hand. "I'm sorry for the way Avalon spoke to you, but—"

"—But she's hurt and is being honest with what she's feeling," Captain Mitchell said. "That has never been a problem for her." He looked over at the rangers, noticing they were staring at him. "Would you like to speak with me in my office?"

"Yes, sir."

Captain Mitchell regarded the rangers once more. "You're dismissed. Fall out." With that, he turned on his heel and led Jason up to his office, leaving the rangers to stare at each other in surprise. Then they looked at Dana, who stared at the floor.

Kelsey reached out to put her hand on Dana's shoulder. "Dana—"

Dana shoved Kelsey's hand off and quickly walked away from her friends, her gaze on the ground as she went. She didn't look back at her friends.


Chad gently drifted through the water a multiple schools of fish darted around him. He moved in a lazy circle then turned around to watch Bailey as she slowly moved behind him. He smiled around the regulator in his mouth, making sure water didn't seep in. He could see behind her face mask that her eyes were wide with wonder as she moved along the tank that housed the animals. He pointed ahead to a sea turtle that drifted nearby and the two went over to slide their hands along its shell.

Silvery bubbles erupted from their tanks as they did so, slowly moving to the top of the tank. They turned on their backs and continued to drift backwards. The water gently buoyed them as they went. Chad stretched his arms above his head, sliding his hands through the water like a knife slicing through bread. How much time did he spend in the water? Much more time than on land, that was for sure.

The water was his home away from home and a place that made it easy for him to leave his worrying thoughts behind. No one knew how hard it was, to suddenly be thrust into the spotlight as a Power Rangers. As someone who was working to save the city in more ways than what was readily accepted. Chad had gone from someone who worked at an aquarium to someone who little kids looked up to with wide eyes of wonder and silently stared and pointed when he went by.

The crowds at his job was even bigger than before, and there were more people who were coming up to him for autographs afterwards. It was a humbling experience, especially when his family called to ask about his saves for the day, asking about the new threats that had just been announced on the news. He tried to smile and act as if nothing new was going on, but it was hard to keep from getting a big head every now and then.

It was going to work with the marine animals that helped him out a lot. Their lives depending on him and his work and it was something he greatly enjoyed. But how was he going to continue to do the job when Vypra and the other monsters were continuously attacking the city on a daily basis. How many days would he be able to skip or run off with no excuse before his boss fired him?

Chad shook his head, focusing on the fish and turtles in front of him once more. That's what was important. He had to remember that. Had to make sure he kept his life as balanced as he did with his martial arts training. There were enough stressors for him to think about it taking over his life.

Feeling a tug on his leg, Chad turned to see Bailey gently floating beside him. She tugged his ankle once more then motioned to the gauge that sat on the side of her line. Chad reached over and grabbed onto it, he nodded when he read it, seeing the needle was starting to lower towards the end. They needed to resurface. Lifting a hand, Chad gave the thumbs up sign and the two slowly started to ascend from the tank, stopping every few feet until they reached the surface. With one hand, Chad removed his mask and regulator before reaching over to help Bailey remove hers as well.

She gasped for air once everything was set aside. "I've been scuba diving before," she said. "But that really took a lot out of me."

"It can be really difficult to get back into if you've stopped for a while," Chad said. "Otherwise, it always takes some time to get acclimated to." He pulled himself up onto the edge of the tank before grasping Bailey's hands to help her up as well. "We may have risen too fast for your body to get used to."

Bailey nodded but continued to stay silent. Chad looked at her, struggling to figure out what to say. Rumors and whispers had already started to spread around about how Avalon had confronted their father that day and Bailey had been very quiet since hearing it. Chad couldn't even help but notice she was doing her best to avoid Avalon throughout the day. Flinching nearly every time a door opened nearby, as if expecting to be yelled at.

Chad realized she needed as much time away from the AquaBase to relax if she was going to keep from jumping too much when there were enough loud noises. Even Dana was affected by what had gone on, not leaving her room since she had left her friends after Avalon's and Captain Mitchell's fight. He certainly wasn't the only one who needed some time away.

"Things are going to be okay, Bailey," Chad reassured her. He gently swished his legs back and forth in the water. "It's all hectic right now, but everything will be okay."

Bailey snorted. "You don't know my family. It's always been messed up."

"How so?"

She paused. "I reckon there's a lot I can't say. Av was telling the truth when she said our dad gave up his parental rights to us. Av's been the best mum and dad I could have but…" she ran a hand through her hair. "We've been through a lot and…sometimes I wish she would've asked for help. But I understand why she didn't. Seeing dad try to act like nothing happened…it's so…" she clenched her hands into fists so hard they violently shook. When she opened her hands, Chad saw cuts in her palms, a small trickle of blood coming out of the puncture wounds.

"And you were a ranger, too," Chad added. "That must've been hard."

A sad smile came to Bailey's lips. "It wasn't hard, it was one of the best things that's ever happened to me."

"Why'd you give it up?"

"Because I wanted to try to balance both parts of my life. But it's like they always say, you don't know what you've got until it's gone."

"I'm sure a lot of people can agree with that sentiment," Chad agreed. He was certainly one of them. He hadn't known how much of his quiet life he enjoyed until he was thrust into the spotlight. And, honestly, was starting to wonder if it was something that would go on forever.


Dana lifted her hand from her palm as there was a knock on the door to her room. She hesitated for a moment, trying to decide whether or not to answer. She didn't think it'd be her father, he was never one to come to her room, she had to go to his office. If it were Kelsey, she would've jut barged in, it was her room too. Joel was still too busy to be able to stop and come to her for help—though he did try multiple calls through their communicators—Chad had immediately gone to work, Avalon was certainly too angry to want to talk to her…

The knock came again.

"Come in," Dana finally called.

She turned in her seat to find the door to her room open and Carter stand in the doorway. He held his hands in the pockets of his slacks, shoulders hunched as he took a tentative step into her room. Dana smiled a little. Carter, she had seen, was the sort of person that followed every rule to the letter. The idea of going into the bedroom of someone of the opposite sex was probably more than he could bear. Or else the idea of comforting her was something he wasn't very used to, either.

He's a firefighter, Dana, she reminded herself. He has to be able to comfort people, it's part of his job. She waited for him to say something then lifted her eyebrows when he was still silent. "Yes, Carter? What can I do for you?"

Carter's gaze slid to her. "I was wondering how you were doing," he said.

Dana's lips pulled back at the corners. Just as she thought. "I hate to break it to you, Carter, but your bedside manner could use some work." She tapped her pen against her notebook. "I have some book for you to read on the very subject if you're interested."

"It seems to me it's something you may need to look at yourself," Carter said. At Dana's glare he added, lifting a hand, "I mean, after what happened today and with your improved relationship with the Captain, I feel it's something that may be difficult to talk about."

Dana rolled her eyes. "My dad has done may things in life that are difficult to talk about," she said. "And other things that we can't talk about at all or else he'd have to kill me. Sometimes I wish he'd just go ahead and do that."

"You can't be serious."

Dana gave him a wry smile. "I'm entirely serious. My life has been nothing but serious. You have no idea what it's like to have grown up around all of this." She gestured towards the room. "And when I have try to move on…my past keeps pulling me back."

"I can understand that," Carter agreed with a nod. He took a hesitant step forward. Dana almost laughed out loud. If he were any more uncomfortable, his head would explode. "Everyone has a past they want to move on from."

"What about you?"

"Excuse me?" The question seemed to catch Carter off-guard.

Dana folded her arms. "You say everyone has a past they want to move on from, what about you? What are you trying to move on from?"

"There's not much I'm trying to hide."

"Oh, because you're so perfect?" All of a sudden the image of Carter shirtless, as they had first met, entered her head. Perfect. Right. His body certainly was well maintained from all of his hard work. She couldn't help but notice. It's your job to notice things, Dana reassured herself. A skill you've always had. It's nothing anything you'd particularly paid attention to.

Carter shrugged then glanced towards the ceiling, thinking. "I didn't do so well in school."

Dana made a face. "Excuse me?"

"I didn't do so well in school. For a while. On tests and papers…"

Dana feigned shock, pressing her hands to her cheeks. "The red ranger didn't do well in school? He's not perfect? That's a surprise."

Carter mimicked her stance, folding her arms as he gave her a look. "I didn't do so well in school because, for a while, I didn't like school. So I didn't try. And my grades suffered when I got caught cheating a few times." Dana's eyes widened. "Yes, I cheated on my tests when I was younger. It's not that surprising."

"For you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

For a moment, Dana wondered if he were offended. But then he saw the smile that was starting to work its way to his lips and recognized the teasing lift in his voice. She soon found herself smiling as well. "Nothing, just…you're so straight laced."

"And you're not?" Carter started to count on his fingers. "You make sure all of your supplies are alphabetical, you're the first to get to every one of our trainings, the last to leave, you do all the paperwork…you don't really have fun."

Now Dana's mouth dropped open. "I do, too, have fun!" Carter lifted an eyebrow. "Just because I don't want to throw myself off a cliff like Kelsey doesn't mean I don't know how to have fun." Carter continued to smirk at her. "Okay, what about you? When was the last time you didn't run yourself ragged working out and making sure you got top marks on all of our tests?"

"Mmm." Carter thought about it.

Dana laughed. "That's pathetic."

"Maybe." Carter turned back towards the door. "I was just heading out into town. I just…stopped by to see if you were okay."

"Thank you." Dana suddenly felt very self-conscious, rubbing her arms. "I…really appreciate it." Carter nodded and left her room. He sat back at her desk and picked up her pen to start writing again. But soon found after a few seconds that she was tapping her pen more than she was writing again.

And that only happened when she was distracted.

The first time, she was trying to push off the embarrassment of her family life being thrown out there.

Now…Dana pressed her lips together. She was still distracted, but at least she wasn't as angry.


A/N: And, finally, we're starting Diabolicco's plot of the story in the next chapter. It took me a bit longer than I anticipated to get there but there were some other things that needed to come up first.

For those of you that read The Wounded Hart, it'll be updated soon.

Thanks to ChibiDawn23, Son of Whitebeard, and Adela for reviewing.

~Av