Thank you for all the reviews and words of encouragement. I'm sorry I can't update more often. Hope you like this chapter.

Chapter 14

It had been a week since Pamela had been benched. Her knee was slowly getting better, but the headaches and intense dreams wouldn't stop. She kept seeing her mom every night, and sometimes her dad. Occasionally she'd wake up with tears streaming down her face, and her body covered in sweat.

Pamela hated it. Hated the fragments in her head that reminded her of everything she'd lost, before and after Venjix. And she spent too much time, far, far too much time reliving the memory of her house being destroyed and her aunt almost dying.

Mom and dad's graves! She'd completely forgotten about that. Her parents had been buried in the Kemingdale cemetery. She'd spent so many hours in there, bringing flowers and speaking to them about her life.

Life. Was there anything to life other than sorrow? Everything around her was a fight, a challenge. Venjix, attack bots, grinders, Tenaya.

I'm so tired of thinking. I want the voices to go away.

Summer was a heavy sleeper, so she didn't notice when Pamela left the room that night to go to the kitchen to get some water.

She felt so incompetent next to the other rangers. They wouldn't say anything, but she could tell they were worried she might screw up again. Ziggy had been kind enough to not point out her failure while he finished telling her the 'Dr. K saved him' story. He was a little firecracker; always full of energy and never backing down despite his bad luck.

"Nice flowers."

Pamela's whole face flushed when Dillon appeared in the kitchen. He went to the fridge to get something, and she looked down at her pajamas, feeling embarrassed. His timing sucks. Her night outfit was a white camisole and a white pair of shorts, both covered in pink flowers. Summer had suggested her that it would be better to sleep dressed in case Venjix attacked during the night, but since Pamela was injured, she'd figured that wasn't important for now. Dillon met her eyes after he finished drinking a glass of juice, and she bit her lip.

"What are you doing up?"

"I don't really sleep." Dillon replied, sitting next to her. He was wearing his daily clothes; black shirt and jeans, and was holding the same pocket watch Pamela had seen him with when he convinced her to stay.

"Pretty watch."

"Yeah... it plays a tune, but I don't really remember what it means." He seemed sad for a moment, and Pamela wanted to hold his hand. Actually, she wanted to do a lot more than that, but wouldn't say it out loud. Why does he have to be so pretty? Why? I'm a terrible person for thinking about sex right now when...

"How's your knee?" Dillon asked, interrupting Pamela's inappropriate thoughts.

"It's getting better. Dr. K said I could get back on the field in a couple of days. She told me I should be more careful next time."

"She's a handful, isn't she?"

"The word I was thinking of was 'difficult', but you're right." They both chuckled and stared at each other. Pamela looked down at his lips. She wanted to kiss them, and bite them, and explore his mouth with her tongue. Dillon seemed to be analyzing her pajamas. Damn him. I better listen to Summer's advice next time. She stood up, painfully aware that she was barely dressed.

"I'm going back to bed. Good night."

"Good night" Dillon said, looking back at his watch. I wish I knew what he was thinking.

The next day, Scott and Ziggy went to the park to take care of a group of grinders that were threatening civilians. The others were entangled in their usual activities; Dr. K was on the ranger room working on a project, and Dillon, Summer, and Flynn were working on their vehicles. Pamela was awfully bored, so she went back to her room after breakfast and began working on new sketches. She had missed drawing, but with all the chaos of the apocalypse, Robin's 'death', meeting new people, becoming a Power Ranger, and fighting evil robots, there hadn't been any time for it. Even with her injury these past few days, she had been distracted by Ziggy and his tales, and her now undeniable attraction towards Dillon.

It felt weird for her to admit this to herself, but she liked him. Pamela felt stupid for it. She barely knew Dillon, hell, he barely knew himself. But he flustered her, and his whole persona intrigued her. But what was she supposed to do? I don't even know if he feels the same way...

Pamela didn't have any friends to talk about this right now. There was Summer, but she didn't know if she could even consider her a friend yet. The blonde was kind, and helped her with everything she needed, but Pamela wasn't sure if the whole thing was out of friendship or duty. She could call Robin, but her aunt would only encourage her to pursue Dillon and she didn't want to. She didn't want to get close to him, or any of the other members of the team. But how long could she avoid that, when they were saving the world together and living together? She missed her old friends, and she missed her mother more than anything.

There were still so many things she didn't know nor understand. How did Dillon get Venjix technology inside his body? How did a guy like Ziggy end up working for mobsters? Where did Dr. K come from and how come she knew so much? Could Venjix actually be defeated? Was there a point in fighting when nearly the entire world had been destroyed? And the most important question of all: were Jenny, Harriet, and Alex still alive?

Dillon's face was fresh in her mind, so she sketched it. His hair, the intensity of his eyes, those lips she wanted so badly to kiss. She couldn't help but draw him. It's like he's my muse.

After finishing drawing Dillon, she decided Ziggy was next. His hair was a spiky mess, and he had the friendliest face she'd ever seen. Summer was a lot more difficult, with her golden locks and doe-like eyes. Her hand grew tired from sketching so much, so she decided to draw Scott, Flynn, and Dr. K some other time.

When Pamela left her room, the others were nowhere to be seen. She'd figured they went to help out Scott and Ziggy with the grinders, or maybe deal with a new attack bot. She wandered around the kitchen for a few minutes until she entered the ranger room to check on Dr. K. Not that the young doctor needed any help, though. What kind of name is Dr. K anyway? Sounds like a character from a sci-fi novel.

There she was, all in white, sitting on the computer. "Ranger Pink, I was sure you were still resting."

"I am resting. But where are the others?"

"Allowing the target to escape. This Venjix attack bot might be the most dangerous one yet."

"Well, is there anything I can do? I'm willing to fight again if they need my help."

"Negative, Ranger Pink. I've informed the other rangers that they need to return, while I stay here trying to uncover the cause of the Croc Carrier's catastrophic malfunction. The zord went rogue and nearly destroyed the city."

Damn it. I should have been there with them.

"You can leave now." Dr. K said as she typed. "I have work to do."

Pamela sighed. Attempting to make small talk with the doctor was harder than fighting attack bots. "Okay." She limped heavily as she left the ranger room, accidentally bumping into someone.

"Hey, Pamela." It was Ziggy. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, thanks." She nodded. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help."

"Don't worry." Ziggy said softly. "It got pretty crazy, but we handled it. I got you this from the store after Scott and I saved a baby." He took out something from his jacket pocket, and Pamela's eyes widened when she saw what it was.

"A toy capsule! I haven't seen one of these in years."

"Well, it's yours now." Ziggy grinned, handing it to her.

"Thank you so much!" Pamela said, smiling brightly. The capsule contained a necklace and a bracelet, both pink. The shiny, brightly colored beads were alternated with larger beads of other colors, and the necklace had a big bow on the side.

"I wanted to get the one that had the little green car, but no luck. Since this one had pink stuff inside, I thought you should have it." He told her.

"Thanks." Pamela whispered. "You're very sweet."

Ziggy nodded, blushing. Pamela left his gift in her room, and went to sit down with the others to listen to Dr. K's instructions regarding the Croc Carrier. Pamela tried to pay attention to what she was saying, but her vocabulary was too difficult to follow. Ziggy had fallen asleep; his head resting in a bowl of doritos.

"Rangers. You must now that I miscalculated the required energy levels needed to properly power the remote carrier. The energy-to-size ratio makes it impossible to power the Croc Carrier without an independently operating bio-entity aboard." Dr. K explained.

"Doc, you said the whole unmanned-zord thing would work." Dillon reminded her.

"Theoretically."

"But you said we'd be near." Flynn said, confused.

"We will."

Flynn hissed. "Then how do you possibly expect us..."

"Just relax, guys." Summer interjected. "If it were really impossible, she wouldn't be telling us. My guess is it's just not gonna be easy." Where does she get all that optimism?

"Correct." Dr. K nodded. "It will require a remote flux overthruster core reactor." Some weird looking device appeared on the screen, and Pamela wished she'd spent less time ogling Mrs. Davidson and more time paying attention during science class. She had no clue of what they were talking about. It was hard to keep track of such a brainy conversation.

Scott seemed taken aback by what Dr. K had shown them, taking slow steps towards the screen.

"I'm not sure we can find this kind of technology in the city." Summer pointed out.

"We're not gonna find one in the city, and we're not gonna build one, either." Dr. K replied. How can she be so calm? She's basically saying we're doomed!

"Look doc, the suspense is just killing me here." Dillon said, clearly annoyed and frustrated. "Do you know where we can get one of those things or not?"

"Nope." Dr. K turned to Scott, who was still staring at the device on the computer. "But he does."

"What do you mean?" Pamela asked, touching Ziggy's back to wake him up. He needed to be part of the conversation. The Green Ranger yawned, and Dr. K sent him a murderous glare.

"I know this device because my brother used it on his fighter plane." Scott turned to them. "It can increase speed and maneuverability."

Scott has a brother? Pamela had barely spoken to him since they'd met. She didn't know anything about the Red Ranger other than he was their leader, his father was a Colonel, and Summer had helped him get inside the dome.

"I'll ask my father to give me Eagle Squad's last known radar position." Scott said firmly. "It's the only way to get the remote." He rushed out of the room, and Pamela couldn't help the question that came out of her mouth.

"Where is his brother?"

Summer's gaze was soft. "He passed away during the Battle of Corinth." The Yellow Ranger whispered. "Scott survived, and that's when I found him. I didn't mention it before out of respect. He and his father are still in mourning."

No one knew what to say to that, and even Dr. K looked upset. I need to keep reminding myself that I'm not the only one who has lost someone. She felt awful for Scott, and wished she could erase all the terrible things Venjix had done.

Pamela managed to get a few hours of sleep without nightmares. Unfortunately, the alarms woke her up, and that's when she knew her free days were over. She changed out of her pyjamas like a speedster, and ran down the stairs.

"Sensors tracking movement." Dillon said, checking the screen. "Locking location."

"I was having an amazing dream." Flynn lamented, shaking his head.

"I was having no dreams." Pamela commented.

"Wait, where's Scott?" Summer wondered, looking around. Their leader wasn't with them.

"The signal's outbound." Dillon confirmed.

A door suddenly opened, and Dr. K appeared. Pamela was willing to bet she hadn't gone to sleep at all. "You'll find that the location of the mystery signal and the coordinates of Ranger Red's morpher are one and the same. Ranger Red left two hours ago on a mission to recover the flux overthruster."

"And you just let him go?" Dillon asked, furious. "All by himself?"

Pamela stood between him and Dr. K. "Easy, Dillon."

"He's team leader." Dr. K said, unbothered by Dillon's attitude. "It was his call."

"I know that." Dillon snapped. "But why are we standing around? We have to go after him."

"If you leave the dome now, you only run the risk of alerting Venjix and increasing Ranger Red's chances of being detected and terminated." Dr. K said as she headed towards the computer, and inserted a disk on it. They all followed her, exchanging anxious looks. Their team leader was MIA, and their mentor had no tact.

Mentor. It felt odd to think of a little girl as a mentor, but Dr. K was undeniably smart. Probably the smartest person left in the world. Who the hell raised this girl?

"Scott. His name is Scott." Dillon scowled at Dr. K defiantly. I can't exactly blame him. She's kind of insensitive.

"And why are you saying terminated?" Pamela added. "You can just say killed. We can't let that happen."

Dr. K ignored their remarks. Voices could now be heard coming from the computer.

"What is that?" Summer asked.

"Air defense radio transmissions from the Battle of Corinth." Dr. K replied.

"Eagle 1, we are taking fire!" A man's voice yelled. He sounded terrified.

"That's Marcus." Summer blurted out. "Scott's brother. He was Eagle 1."

Damn it. Scott's brother died horribly. Alone and scared. Venjix has to be destroyed.

"Doc, what is the point of this?" Dillon growled. "Shouldn't we be trying to find a way to help Scott?"

"I am trying to help Ranger Red." Dr. K objected as she typed. "I've informed Colonel Truman that our leader has been compromised. I'm sure the Colonel will bring him back to safety." She turned to Summer and Flynn. "Rangers Yellow and Blue, go out there and wait for Ranger Red. You'll deal with the attack bot."

"Right!" Summer and Flynn replied in unison, both excited to go back to the action. They disappeared from the room in a flash.

"What about us, doctor?" Ziggy questioned. "I mean, you can't expect us to do nothing..."

Dr. K continued to type, not paying any mind to Ziggy's ranting. Pamela glanced at Dillon's impatient face. He's so cute when he's angry. Ugh, stop it, Pamela! We're on a mission. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at herself for being so inadequate.

"Dr. K!" Colonel Truman's voice intervened. Corporal Hicks was with him, holding the remote.

"What happened to Scott?" Dillon inquired.

"He's fine. Out there fighting with the other rangers." The Colonel replied. I'm sorry about your son. Pamela wanted to say tell him, but knew it wasn't the time nor the place.

Hicks handed Dr. K the device, and she began to work. The thing looked like a piece of junk, covered in a mass of cables.

"Flux overthruster is online." The doctor verified.

"Black, Green, Pink, you are go for Croc Carrier sequencing." Scott called out.

"Ranger Pink, are you positive you're in condition to pilot the zord?" Dr. K asked Pamela.

"I am more than positive." Pamela nodded, trying to sound tough. It was a bit of a lie; her knee still hurt, and driving a zord will probably always freak her out, but there was no backing down for this. I have to be brave. Mom would want me to be brave.

Pamela, Dillon, and Ziggy headed towards the streets. "RPM, GET IN GEAR!" The giant attack bot was wrecking havoc, and attacking her teammates. I hate these things. They called in their zords, and Pamela gulped once she was inside her Turtle Jeep. She could feel her knuckles turning white as she gripped the steering wheel. This is crazy. It's like I'm driving a fucking Transformer.

"We're on the scene!" Dillon shouted.

"Guys! Venjix drones at 3 o'clock." Scott warned them, his voice echoing in the cockpit.

"3 o'clock?" Pamela could hear Ziggy chuckle. "That's past their bedtime!" I admire his confidence. They fired shots at the drones, taking them out.

"Let's finish this!" Dillon commanded. "Initiate transformation!"

Pamela braced herself when she felt her zord was starting to move. Her Turtle Jeep joined the Croc Carrier, along with Dillon's Wolf Cruiser and Ziggy's Tail Spinner.

"ValveMax Megazord!" They yelled together. "Fire!" The zord's powers were incredible; destroying the attack bot almost immediately with its laser beams.

"We're almost done!" Ziggy said cheerfully. "Tailspin, go!" His zord caused the attack bot to fly away, spinning around. When it came back, they struck one more time. Pamela was amazed by how her suit allowed her to know which buttons to press or levers to push.

The attack bot burst into pieces as the Croc Carrier slew it. "Power Rangers RPM!" The rangers cheered.

Another monster down. Pamela was happy that the robot had been defeated, but she knew it was far from over. Venjix was getting more and more creative with his attack bots, and Tenaya was still out there. The Pink Ranger ended up on with her face against the floor after demorphing and jumping out of the zord.

"Pamela! Are you okay?" Ziggy's concerned voice sounded louder than it actually was. Pamela tried to stand up, but failed miserably. Her head was aching and her eyes were foggy. Ziggy offered her a hand, and so did Dillon. She took them both and got up.

"Thanks, guys."

"You feel a little dizzy, don't you?" Ziggy asked her while they walked back to the garage. We really should have taken Dillon's car. My legs are killing me!

"Yeah, I can't help it." Pamela replied. "Driving a zord freaks me out."

"You're not alone on that." Ziggy patted her arm. "It's really scary! Fun, but scary."

"That was a close call, guys." Summer said. "I don't know what would have happened if Scott hadn't gotten the remote."

"Yeah, but what were you thinking about going on that mission alone, chief?" Flynn asked him.

"I'm sorry, guys." Scott shrugged. "But it was something I had to do by myself."

Pamela stared at him for a moment. His eyes were filled with melancholy, something that she'd seen a million times on her own reflection. They made it back to the garage in a few minutes, and found that Dr. K had fallen asleep in her chair.

"I can't believe she's sleeping on the job!" Ziggy laughed.

"Quiet, Ziggy!" Summer sushed him.

"I'll go get her a blanket." Flynn whispered, heading towards his room.

"I'm tired too." Ziggy mumbled. "I'm going to sleep."

"I'm going to the kitchen to get a sandwich." Summer said quietly. "I'm starving."

"Me too." Dillon agreed, following her.

Pamela was left alone with Scott, who was now staring at his brother's power source, which was still on the table.

"I'm sorry about your brother." She told him soothingly. "I know I'm not the best ranger, but I can promise you I'll help you get justice for him."

"He chose me." His voice was scratchy, and Pamela was sure he was trying to hold back tears. "For the position of second squad leader. I found the envelope with his recommendation... and he chose me."

Pamela squeezed his arm. "I'm sure he'd be proud of you."

"Thank you." Scott mumbled, turning away. "Good night." He nearly knocked against Flynn when he returned with his blanket for Dr. K. The Blue Ranger gave him a sympathetic nod, which Scott returned.

These people... I can't help it, but I care for them. I didn't want to care, but I do.

Next time: Summer reunites with her parents, Tenaya returns, and Pamela starts to notice something.