.:20:.

Isolating

"You're not coming with us?" Joel looked at Carter as if he'd grown a second head. So much so that he took a step back and looked Carter up and down before reaching out his hand.

Carter immediately ducked. It was his turn to look like Joel had grown a second head out of his neck. "What are you doing?" The red ranger demanded.

"Checking to see you don't have a fever. Or some sort of monster taking you over." Joel planted his hands on his hips. "What idiot doesn't decide to take the day off to actually take the day off? I don't know if you've noticed, Carter, but this is the only moment of freedom we've ever had from Captain Mitchell."

"But it doesn't give me the day off from being a fire fighter," Carter pointed out. "Or from my training. There's more to life than enjoying the beach."

"Not much," Kelsey pointed out, poking her head into the boys' sleeping chambers. She took a cursory glance around to be sure none of them were in the middle of dressing—not that it'd slow her down very much—before stepping in. "Believe me, Carter, when you see how much fun we're going to have, you'll be jealous you didn't come with us." She folded her arms, smiling smugly. "There's more to life than being a stick in the mud."

Carter rolled his eyes. "I'm not a stick in the mud." He turned to Chad, who sat calmly on the end of his bed, tying his shoe laces together. "Am I?"

"Uhhh…" Chad leaned back on his hands, dropping his feet to the floor. "It is a little weird that you're not coming with us. I mean, we're supposed to be a team and—"

"—I don't think it's a team activity to go to the beach," Carter said dryly. Honestly, had he known it would cause so much of an issue to decide that he wanted to get some more training in, he would've kept his mouth shut. Joel could be a bit of a drama queen at times, but he didn't think Kelsey and Chad—well, he didn't think Chad would get on his case, too. "And besides, I don't like sand."

Kelsey snorted, still holding her arms firmly across her chest. "You'll throw your life on the line in some of the most dangerous situations and suffer through some of the hottest temperatures you can ever feel and you don't like sand?"

"Well, when you say it like that it sounds—"

"—Stupid?" Joel broke in.

Carter glared at him, making Joel's grin widen. He shook his head and turned on his heel. "Look, people treat days off differently. You like to go run in the sand and I like to get some work outs in that I don't usually have the time for."

"So, you admit it? You're a stick in the mud."

Joel burst out laughing as Carter rolled his eyes once more, throwing his hands in the air. Chad and Kelsey, having a bit more tact, laughed quietly to themselves.

Joel then looked over when Dana poked her head into the doorway. "Is everything alright?" She asked. "Aren't we going to the beach?" She stepped up next to Kelsey, adjusting the sarong tied around her hips.

"Yes, we're going to the beach," Joel said pointedly. "But our fearless leader here thinks that it's better suited to keep working at the fire department today."

Dana gave Joel a blank look. "Well, being a firefighter is really important, Joel," she pointed out. She made a grand gesture with her hand. "I mean, if your plane were to suddenly fall from the sky and take a nosedive, crash to the ground and burst into flames, who would you want to come to your rescue?"

Carter grinned.

Joel scowled at her. "Now, why do you have to go and make sense like that?" He threw his hands into the air. "Here I am, trying to shame Carter into coming to the beach with us and you singlehanded ruin my plans with logic."

Dana smiled serenely. "Well, Joel." She stepped forward, placed her hand on Joel's shoulder. "It's not that hard." She adjusted her towel in her arms and changed focused. "It's just too bad you're not coming with us, Carter. It's the best day to go in a long while and Kelsey really wants us to get to know her friend."

"Yeah!" Kelsey agreed. "I think you all would really like this guy! And we have to socialize more than just with each other and all the other soldiers here."

There was a moment of silence as Carter didn't answer, seemingly too dazed to respond. Joel's eyebrows furrowed. He leaned over, followed Carter's gaze, then smirked to himself when he leaned back. Joel caught Chad's eye and the two did their best not to burst out laughing. Though, looking at Kelsey once more proved she had noticed the same thing.

It was too bad, Joel realized, that Carter wasn't going to the beach with them. It'd been too funny to watch the red ranger become increasingly flustered as he spent the day with the pink ranger in her—what Joel had to admit—flattering bathing suit. Who knew the pink ranger had a body to show under all her staunch button downs and rigorous work-minded attire.

Even the smile on her face was much more relaxed and casual than the almost disparaging look she gave everyone while she was busy with work. Joel twisted his mouth to the side, suddenly annoyed. He would've enjoyed spending the whole day making fun of Carter for his not-so-secret infatuation with the pink ranger—honestly, he wondered how Carter managed to not know the rest of them were starting to give him the side eye.

"Carter?" Dana waved her hand in front of the red ranger's face. "Are you alright?"

He jerked his head back and cleared his throat. "Yes, I'm fine," he replied. Then he nodded to the others. "I'll have to catch up with you later."

"Well, if you're sure," Chad said, finally standing up. "We'll just see you later." He patted Carter on the shoulder as he passed, making the red ranger nod in agreement. Joel simply shrugged and followed Chad, Kelsey, and Dana out of the boys' room.

He looked over as Avalon and Bailey walked up, both dressed simply in a hooded jacket, swimsuits, shorts, and water shoes. "You lot ready to go?" Avalon asked.

Joel couldn't help but blurt out. "You're actually coming with us?"

Avalon lifted an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't we? We all have the day off, right?"

Joel gave her a 'duh' look. "Maybe because since you got here you've done nothing but isolate yourselves. Half the time I wouldn't know what you look like since you're always so far gone." Then he waved a hand with Bailey. "I don't like her face. I see it enough from the way she grins evilly at me after we do time trials." Bailey simply smiled once more. "See! Like that!"

"Okay, okay, okay, let's get going before we all decide to stick around and get some training done," Kelsey said, waving her hands. She then briskly rubbed her palms together. "I'm ready to hit the beach and hit some waves."

Avalon's eyes immediately lit up. "Now you're speaking me language," she remarked.

Carter looked behind him, watching as Hunter and Andrews slowly made their way up the hill, following his footsteps. They gasped for air as they went, slowly coming up to Carter's side, who silently jogged in place. Once they reached his side, Carter nodded and said, "Okay, let's keep going."

"Keep going?" Hunter repeated. "I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, it's not every day we all get to have super powers that makes us more fit," Andrews added. He stretched out on the patch of grass beside them, prompting Carter to stop jogging, placing his hands on his hips. Andrews closed his eyes, bringing his hands up to rest on his chest. "Is that how it works? I've heard that's how it works."

Carter shrugged.

He wasn't quite sure, if he were being honest. Not to mention there were more than enough reasons for it to be true. Once Carter morphed for the first time, her certainly did feel there was something different in him, something coursing through his veins that hadn't been there before. And since then, they did nothing more than continue to improve with pushing their bodies to the max.

Looking at his time trials from before morphing and after, it was unmistakable. Something made him stronger. And while it was something extraordinary, Carter wasn't going to rely on that power. He needed to keep his mind as strong as his body and if that meant extra training, so be it. But Hunter and Andrews probably hadn't expected things to be so difficult.

"I don't think about it, too much," he said.

Hunter looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You have a set of powers that some people would kill to be able to have, but you don't think about it? What about when you're actually out there, fighting?"

"Then I'm thinking that I need to keep the city safe," Carter pointed out. "Just as I do when I'm working in the firehouse with you guys."

"But you're never at the firehouse." Andrews opened his eyes and stuck out his hand. Hunter grabbed it, hauling Andrews to his feet. He noticed Carter's gaze and shook his head. "You can't say you work each job evenly. You're at that base more than you're at the fire house. I'm surprised Chief Lawson hasn't fired you yet."

Andrews nudged Hunter on the arm, making the two chuckle. Carter, on the other hand, folded his arms and pursed his lips. Licked them. Looked away. Then he looked at his shoes for a long moment, before turning his gaze back to his friends.

"Oh, come on, Grayson, you know we're just joking," Hunter said, noticing the apprehension that radiated off the red ranger. "Chief Lawson would never fire you."

"Thanks," Carter replied flatly. "That gives me great comfort." But he couldn't keep the thoughts from his mind as he moved to catch his breath. There were more than enough troubles he thought of, having to work through his tenure as a ranger and as a fire fighter. Especially considering it certainly cut down on any social life he may have had. Not that he had much of a social life, if he were being honest.

It wasn't something he considered very often; he had his fire fighter buddies to have a drink with after work and when he was on his 48-off. But that was before answering the call of duty and becoming the leader of the power rangers. Before his 48-off meant 48-on of being a ranger and vice-versa. And the monsters didn't give him a chance to take a break.

They came up every day. The days blending in together as monsters continued to attack Mariner Bay. And now, here he was with a day to do whatever they wanted and he wanted to take some time to make sure he was up to date on all of his training. There was nothing wrong with that. It meant he was disciplined. It meant he was diligent.

It meant he was able to bring his friends into a life they wouldn't otherwise know.

"But I do have to say that you're a bit crazy considering you gave up a day at the beach to drag our asses all around the park," Hunter continued, making the boys laugh again.

This time, Carter joined in on their laughter. "Well, you're right about me dragging you," he pointed out. "You guys are seriously slowing me down." With that, he started to run once more, grinning to himself when he heard his friends' footsteps behind him. "Come on, guys. Let's see if you have what it takes to take on a power ranger!"

And they continued running along the path through the park, going two more times before Carter finally allowed them a reprieve. The three stopped at a grassy knoll and while Andrews and hunter bent over, placing their hands on their knees to catch their breath, Carter put his hands on his hips, looking out over the city. Mariner Bay was calm now, but, chances were, it wouldn't' take too long before things managed to blow up in their faces once more.

Monster attacks were a daily part of life.

So was the tension that continuously rested in Carter's shoulders and backs. So was the feeling of being unable to get a good night's rest due to keeping himself from the precipice of falling in a deep sleep. If he gave into the fatigue, he wouldn't be ready to go at a moment's notice. He had to be at the top of his game.

He had to be—

"I thought I gave you direct orders to take the day off." The voice behind him made Carter's shoulders tense almost immediately. They relaxed when Carter turned around and found Captain Mitchell standing behind him. Relaxed even further when he saw how casually dressed his boss was from having seen him hours before.

"Sir," Carter replied quickly. He brought his hand up to the side of his head in a salute. Captain Mitchell paused for a moment before doing the same. They dropped their hands at the same time, allowing Carter to step back and introduce his friends. "This is Hunter and Andrews. They work with me at the firehouse."

"I've heard a lot about you," Captain Mitchell said, shaking their hands.

Carter eyed him carefully. He couldn't remember the last time he'd mentioned his friends to Captain Mitchell. Then thought better of it. Not that he didn't imagine he'd told his boss, but due to the information Dana had on him when they first met. There was more than enough information on him that they'd have. They probably knew everything they knew about the people he socialized with, to make sure he was a good fit for it.

A good background check.

"You have?" Hunter looked apprehensive. "Well." He looked to Andrews, who also appeared uneasy. "Then I hope you know that as candidates in the firehouse, there were times when we had to do some less than stellar—"

Hunter broke off when Captain Mitchell held up his hand. "No need to explain, son, I understand." Captain Mitchell then turned his gaze back to Carter. "What I don't understand is breaking a direct order that your officer has given you."

Carter blinked once. "Sir?"

"Everyone else has gone to the beach. Even Avalon and Bailey have decided to attend. And…as well as that very spirited young man that Kelsey has decided to bring along to the Aqua Base."

"Wait!" Andrews held up his hand. He slapped it to Carter's shoulder, shaking his shoulder firmly. "Someone else got to see the AquaBase and you haven't shown us yet? Where's the love, man?"

Carter hesitated. He shot a look towards Captain Mitchell. Truth be told, he wasn't sure he liked the idea of merging his two lives together. He didn't know what he'd do if he had to work along with the fire house while acting as a ranger. Or vice versa. They had the same goals in saving people and protecting the city but to have to switch his mind back and forth with it.

"We'd be glad to meet your co-workers," Captain Mitchell agreed. "You do have a more important life to lead than that of being a ranger and a firefighter."

"Can you say that again, but louder?" Hunter asked with a small smile. "We keep telling Carter he needs to get a life, but so far it hasn't been working out."

The side of Captain Mitchell's mouth turned up at the corner. "There's more to life than our professions," he agreed. "But that still doesn't explain what you're doing here…" his eyes shifted over Hunter and Andrews. "Or why you seem to be torturing them."

"You never take a day off training, sir," Carter agreed. "I just asked if they'd like to come with me."

"More like, dragged us," Andrews muttered.

"I didn't put a gun to your head."

"You may as well have. You're a power ranger, dude, we don't know whether or not you have some sort of a pocket dimension that can hold all your little gadgets and gizmos." Captain Mitchell laughed at the joke, making Carter smile a little.

"Well, if you insist on getting some training done, don't let me stop you." Captain Mitchell took a few steps back. He shed himself of his track jacket and held out his hand. "As a matte of fact, let me help you."

Carter looked at Captain Mitchell's extended hand and back up to his boss's eyes. He saw nothing but challenge in his boss's eyes. Friendly change. A change from the harsh, scrutinizing stare as he watched the rangers through all of their training. "You want to train with me?"

"I do."

Carter glanced at his friends, who both lifted their hands and took three large steps back to safety. Thanks a lot, guys, Carter thought, rolling his eyes to them. Carter brought up a hand to scratch his bare chest, mulling it over. Then, he nodded and moved forward to shake Captain Mitchell's hand.

Captain Mitchell squeezed Carter's hand, then suddenly squeezed Carter's fingers together. The sudden shock of pain stunned Carter before he found himself flipped off his feet and onto his back in the grass. Captain Mitchell dropped Carter's hand and took a step back, watching as Carter lay stunned on the ground, staring up at the sky.

"First rule of sparring; always expect the unexpected," Captain Mitchell explained. "I thought I taught you better than that."

Carter rolled onto his stomach and pulled himself back to his feet. He watched his boss for a moment, nodding to himself. He should've known Captain Mitchell was going to make an example out of the first move. He really should've seen it coming. Shouldn't have expected things to be easy at first. Just because he was the man who called the shots…

"Come one, Carter," Captain Mitchell said. "Don't go easy on me."

Carter tilted his head. Felt challenge coming to the muscles in his body. He certainly wouldn't' go easy on him. Carter brought back his fist and plunged it forward, striking towards Captain Mitchell's face. Once. Twice. Three times. Each time, Captain Mitchell backed his head out of the path of the punch.

Just so much that Carter extended his arms the whole way. Threw himself forward. Put everything into the punch, but pulled back. Enough so that Captain Mitchell could see he meant business, could see he was going to give him a fair fight, but without potentially injuring his boss.

Captain Mitchell watched Carter's movements carefully. Nodded as he brought up his hands to block the punch that Carter tried to twist aside to use the flat of his arm to throw Captain Mitchell off-balance. When that didn't work, Carter took a step back and pressed his back foot to the ground. In the next second, he used the power off his back leg and pushed forward, launching himself into the air in a hard twist.

A scissor kick that, along with a kiai, Carter launched himself toward Captain Mitchell. Captain Mitchell turned his body aside, rolling across the ground so that Carter didn't come close to hitting him. When Carter landed on the ground, Captain Mitchell shot out his foot and caught Carter in the ankle, sending him to the ground.

Carter gasped, all the air blowing out of him. He blew his hair from his face and looked back up at Captain Mitchell, who smiled back at him, mustache twitching. "How is it that I can take a roundtrip flight and still be able to defeat you?"

Andrews and Hunter, who sat nearby, arms resting around their knees, laughed to themselves. Carter pushed himself to his knees, dusting his palms off on his shorts. "I'm just going easy on you, Captain."

"Don't go easy on me."

"Okay." Carter flipped himself to his feet in an impressive show of strength, going from his knees, flipping his feet from behind him and over his head, and back to his feet. Did a high spinning kick towards Captain Mitchell, who almost didn't allow himself to get out the way in time.

Carter sent a flurry of kicks and punches toward Captain Mitchell, who continued to block Carter as he did so, before he turned the tables and started to attack Carter. At first, Carter was stunned when he saw the power Captain Mitchell shot back toward him.

For someone who usually stood aside and watched the rangers work, he hid a lot more power than Carter thought he would've had. As it was, he broke a sweat while blocking the attacks Captain Mitchell sent his way, working his body to the limit. Captain Mitchell didn't know a lot of martial arts, neither did Carter, but the explosive force couldn't be duplicated.

Captain Mitchell had some sort of training in something, he wasn't just someone who barked out orders. Finally, Carter found his opening. He aimed towards Captain Mitchell's head then quickly turned his back to his boss, elbowing Captain Mitchell in his chest.

The force knocked Captain Mitchell on to his back, tumbling feet over head before he came to a stop on his back, arms stretched above him. Carter grinned. Using the back of his arm, he wiped sweat off his forehead, watching as Captain Mitchell worked to catch his breath.

"So, how're you doing, Captain?" He asked, enjoying the teasing lilt to his voice.

"Just fine," Captain Mitchell replied. He slowly sat up, running his hands over his balding hair.

"I can slow down a little for you, if you want."

Captain Mitchell shook his head. His voice mimicked Carter's, making the smile immediately wiped off the red ranger's face. "No, you're already going too slow for me."

"Well, you're right about one thing, sir," Hunter called over to the two. "You still got it. I don't think I've ever seen Carter get beat like that before."

"Look at him," Andrews agreed. "His face is turning red!"

"You can't underestimate your opponents," Hunter continued to tease, making Carter glare at his friends. "And you can't underestimate what you may get yourself into. You're the one who keeps telling all the new candidates that."

"Don't remind me," Carter murmured.

"And I assure you that Carter is just making this look easy," Captain Mitchell agreed. "And…whatever I had, I think I left it right at the start."

Carter held his hand out to his boss, offering him a way back to his feet. "Maybe I should call Dana with her ambulance." Mentioning Dana's name made Carter suddenly stiffen. A pang of…resentment? Guilt? It struck him suddenly. Wishing he was at the beach along with the rest of his team. The rest of his…friends?

He wasn't quite sure he felt they were friends yet. They threw themselves into the line of fire just as he did with the rest of the fire fighters. But…he'd gone through years of grueling challenges of the fire academy and being a candidate, rather than being thrust straight into the fire.

But going to the beach…

Laughing along with his friends…

He certainly wasn't thinking of Dana in her bathing suit earlier. There were more important things to think about. Carter snapped to attention when he heard Captain Mitchell clear this throat and moved closer to the older man to held him up off the ground. He caught Captain Mitchell's eyes and, horrifically, felt himself start to blush, it looked as if Captain Mitchell could read his mind.

Thankfully, Captain Mitchell merely said, "Laugh it up, rookie," as he was hauled to his feet. "When I was your age, I would've left you in the dust." Carter lifted a skeptical eyebrow. "Believe it or not, I used to train like you. But even I took a day off every now and then." He looked at Carter closely. "Listen, Carter. I've never seen anyone so driven. Why is that?"

"Every drop of sweat is…is to make myself the best," Carter said. He pressed his lips together, seeing Hunter and Andrews exchange a glance out the corner of his eye. They knew the real reason why, but Carter didn't want to go into it. The more people that knew of his story, the more they said it was a 'miracle', that it was 'a great goal to move toward'. That it was amazing.

That wasn't what Carter wanted. He didn't want the glory. Didn't want the notoriety to go along with it. He simply wanted to be as good as he was. That was it.

Captain Mitchell took in a deep breath through his nose, chest swelling. He placed his hands on his hips and said, "Well, you need to remember, Carter…even heroes are only human." The last of his words were drowned out by a sudden, deafening, roaring sound.

At the same time, Carter and Captain Mitchell craned their necks toward the sky. Carter brought up his hand and shielded his face from the sun and watched as a glowing yellow light streaked from a suddenly formed gray cloud. It crashed to the ground, imploding on impact.

Hunter followed the streak of smoke with his eyes up to the sky. He turned back to his companions. "What was that?"

"Whatever it was landed near the power plant," Andrews said.

"We need to check it out," Carter said. He looked to Captain Mitchell, Andrews, and Hunter, who all nodded before taking off at a run.

A/N: I love Carter. He's just so very disciplined but there's a lot to unpack with him. And, yes, you'll see more of what happened with Captain Mitchell and Billy, I didn't forget that. Chapters will get longer, I'm excited to be back with this one.

Thanks to Adela, ChibiDawn23, and Guest for reviewing.