Status: Complete
Pairings: Tommy Oliver/Kimberly Hart, Billy Cranston/Original Female Character
Category: Alternate Universe
Genre: Action, Adventure
Rating: Teen
Summary: The Zeo Crystal has been destroyed. Now, former Rangers have been called to retake up the mantel to protect Earth.
Notes: Set in Zeo Season
Series/Sequels: Immortal Evanescence
Chapter Twelve: Feeling Realized
The Rangers watched dejectedly as another monster went down, bursting in an explosion of light and fire. The Ryders were different from the Zords they had piloted in the past. All of them were humanoid and bigger than any of the Mega Zords even though they were solitary vehicles. The Malie Ryder was a humanoid Komodo Dragon, sturdy yet agile, decked out in Silvery-Grey and Red.
"Billy should be coming back soon." Jason said, as the news went to another story.
It had been over a week since the Zeo Crystal had been destroyed. The Sentinels had come to Zordon, asking if he could design their Ryders as they didn't have any colossal assault vehicles. Zordon in turn had asked Billy to help in the designing and construction. Then, Zordon had struck a blow. All of the ex-Rangers had been banned from going to the Power Chamber. Billy was not even allowed to speak of the activities happening within the grey walls.
"Hey, guys." A tired Billy dropped into the only available spot at the large table. Zack handed him a smoothie. "Thanks." Before he could take a sip, he yawned.
"Billy, have you been getting any sleep?" Trini asked, concern showing on her features.
"Some." He let out another yawn. "Lucky for me, I designed the Ryders with self-repair systems."
"Get a glimpse of the Sentinels?" Rocky asked.
"If you say a word that I'm a Sentinel, Rocky, I will hurt you." Billy warned, remembering how the ex-Blue Zeo Ranger had been obsessed with the identity of the Gold Ranger. He had then begun thinking that Billy was the mysterious Gold Ranger.
Rocky held up his hands. "Don't worry, I learned my lesson. So did you?"
"No. Every time they appear in the Power Chamber, they wear their uniforms. I think Zordon knows them though."
"Incoming, guys." Tommy alerted as a brown-haired girl walked up to their table.
Billy turned around, eyes widening as his gaze fell on her. "Rebekkah, what are you doing here."
A blush started over her cheeks, her grey-blue eyes falling slightly before meeting him head on. "I wanted to talk to you, Billy." She looked at his friends. "Privately."
Zack gave Billy a nudge in the ribs. "Hey, man, have you been breaking woman hearts lately?"
Billy rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Zack." He stood up. "I'll be back, guys." He left to jeers and whistles. Rebekkah led him outside of the Juice Bar to one of the benches outside in the cool shade of the trees, hidden from prying eyes.
"What did you want to talk about, Beck?"
She scuffed the ground with her tennis shoes, unsure how to start the conversation. "Remember the accident over a week ago in the Power Chamber while we were practicing?" Billy nodded. "Did you have any feelings?"
A blush started to appear on his cheeks, his face flaming from the memories. "You want the truth?"
"I would appreciate it."
"I haven't been able to stop thinking about it." He confessed in a whisper. Billy looked over her shoulder. He started when he felt her hand on his warm cheek. Before he could do anything, she captured his lips in a kiss. Instinctively, he placed his arm around her waist, drawing her in against his body, the other going to the back of her neck. She shifted, sliding in more on his lap. They drew back. Billy licked his lips. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm definitely sure." She came back, kissing him once more. The kiss grew deeper. A cough behind them caused them to draw back. Billy looked over her shoulder to see the other Rangers peeking out from the corner of the building, some with smiles and others with amused or shocked expressions.
"Can a guy have some privacy?" He asked, feeling the blush coming back even stronger. Beck pulled back, sliding from his lap back onto the bench.
"You've been gone for over twenty minutes." Zack said, a smile consuming his face. "Never knew you had it in you."
Kim gave him a nudge. "I told you he was fine. Plus it was sweet."
"Nice catch." Tommy said conspiringly, giving Billy a wink.
"What is this? Tommy gets a girl and no one bats an eyelash. Yet, when I get one, you guys follow me around." Billy protested. He stood up, helping Beck from the bench and walking over to his friends. They headed back to the Juice Bar.
"We just care about you, bro." Jason said pulling his chair over so Beck could sit next to Billy.
"How did you meet the Brainster over here?" Zack asked. A lot had changed. When he had left for the Conference, Billy was still like the boy he had first met over eight years ago. Now, he had a lot more confidence and was more assertive than Zack had seen him in the time they knew each other.
"Want anything to eat?" Rocky ordered another triple sundae.
"No, I'm fine. To answer your question, my mother thought I needed a tutor for physics. I went to Mrs. Appleby to see what tutor recommended and she said Billy was a good tutor. Needless to say, my dad was kind of wary of having a boy tutor in the house. We were studying at the library when I accidentally fell. He caught me and the rest is history."
"Wow, talk about falling into your future boyfriend's arms." Rocky murmured as he dug into his sundae.
"Seems like a romance plot." Aisha said.
Billy snorted. "I think we'd better leave before you guys start planning out how I'm going to spend my time with her."
"Oh, come on. We're not that bad." Zack replied.
"Nice talking with you." Beck said as she followed Billy out the door. Once they were out of distance, she started laughing. "Are they always like that?"
"No."
"They just care about you." She smiled when he took her hand in his. "What do you want to do?"
"Some where it's private and there are no Sentinels or Rangers around." They headed for Angel Grove Park.
"I noticed that Tanya, Katherine, Adam, Tommy, and others seem kind of down."
"The Power loss is getting to them. The others are trying to help them through it." Billy answered. "I was like that when I gave up the Powers after the Power Coins were destroyed. That's why I need to see if I can do anything with the remnants of the Zeo Crystal."
"It doesn't mean you have to work yourself to the death." Beck turned him around so she could stare into his eyes. "I noticed that you're spending too much time in the Power Chamber. You need to take better care of yourself."
He ducked his head. "You're right but I guess I kind of feel guilty that I'm the only one with Powers and the others don't know about it. But now that we have the Borrach Crystal, we should be able to calibrate the Zeo Crystal again."
"What kind of Powers does the Borrach Crystal have?"
"From the initial scans, the Crystal has Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Black. I was thinking of modeling them after military and civilian rescue vehicles."
"What do you have in mind?"
"The Red will carry the F-22 Raptor which is still in prototype mode; the Yellow will model after the fire emergency vehicle; the Green will be after the Black Hawk helicopter. The Blue will hold the Abrams Tank and the Black will hold the Heavy SUV Police Cruiser."
"What about the Zeo Crystal?"
"I was planning on keeping the same models for them. I'm just going to update them; that's all." They sat at a bench. "So what made you come after me today?"
"The battles." Beck looked at her hands. "I keep thinking that life's too short. If it hadn't been for Dayleen, I would have died in battle today."
"Hey, hey. You never know that." Billy was starting to get frightened. "Nap Hat would have never been able to penetrate Tua's armor."
"I'm scared." Beck whispered. She was immediately encased in Billy's arms. "My dad used to be in the military. My childhood was filled with stories of wars that my grandfather had gone through, including my great-grandfather in World War Two. I just keep seeing images of dead bodies and soldiers crying out in pain."
"That's not going to happen, Beck." Billy said fiercely. "I won't let that happen to any of you."
"You can't promise that, Billy. We're fighting against wanna-be terminators. They want to kill us."
"I can sure as hell try." Billy said. As he hugged her, he looked out at Angel Grove Lake. He came to a decision. He will be heading into battle tomorrow; time for the appearance of the Sentinel Commander.
