Accident

Humming to himself as he worked on his new project, Kayden occasionally murmured lyrics to the song stuck in his head. Turning away from the computer, he lifted the tablet where his notes were saved, reading them as he continued to hum.

"Why not just play music in here?" he glanced around and grinned to Spencer as the young man walked in.

"I have a great singing voice, how dare you," the young man looked offended. Spencer shot him a droll stare that made his friend laugh. "Okay, what's up?" he asked.

"Just wondering how your project is going," the Gold SPD Ranger looked to the screen, and whistled at all the information that was there. "I thought you were a mechanics guy?" he laughed, in awe of the work Kayden was putting in.

"I am, but you work with Kat long enough, you get good at a lot more," Kayden grinned, happy with Spencer's response.

"Right," Spencer nodded. "So this will really pick up on our Ranger signals?" he asked curiously.

"In theory yeah. Think of it this way," Kayden set the table down and turned to his old friend. "The Morphin' Grid is an energy source, and Rangers use that energy source for their powers. It's bound to create an output, I just need to figure out how to detect it," he explained.

"That...makes a lot of sense," Spencer hummed, nodding.

"Good, cause I'm starting to think I'm going mad," Kayden sighed heavily, revealing how tired he was. Spencer clapped a hand to his shoulder, offering an encouraging smile.

"Keep at it dude, you'll get there," he told him.

"Thanks, I hope so," Kayden then grinned. "And I can count on you as a test subject, yeah?" he winked.

"Annie's more durable than me," Spencer told him simply, walking back to the doors and letting them slide open.

"Yeah, but Annie's also scarier than you," Kayden called over his shoulder, making Spencer snort. That was definitely true. The doors closed, and Kayden sighed, returning to his work. His humming continued almost immediately, and he immersed himself in his work.

First an idea that had come to Kayden when he'd come to the conclusion that he'd be better suited in the tech support than out in the field, Kayden had started building the program in his free time, talking about it with Kat and mostly keeping it to himself. Even after Z and the others had talked him out of his slump, Kayden had continued to work on it. He wasn't a Ranger yet, so he wanted to make himself useful in whatever way he could.

The doors slid open again, but he didn't look around. "Hey Z," he greeted as the young woman opened her mouth to say hello.

"I hate when you guys do that," the Yellow Ranger complained, and Kayden chuckled. "Got some notes for Kat here," she told him, and Kayden turned around.

"Oh, they must be the ones she was getting for me. Awesome," he took them from her, his fingers brushing and making them both jump. Barely keeping a grip on the things that Z had brought, Kayden cleared his throat and quickly backed away. "Thanks Z, sorry they're making you an errand girl," he said, turning back to the screen as he looked between it and the papers.

"This is your secret project, isn't it?" Z accused as she walked over.

"Is that what everyone's calling it?" Kayden asked idly.

"Mostly Spencer and Annie when we asked them what you were up to," Z replied, making Kayden smile in amusement. Of course those two had to make it sound more dramatic than it really was.

"It's not some evil plans to build a secret base in a volcano with sharks or anything," he shrugged.

"While that thought didn't occur to me, I'm a little disappointed that it's not," Z grinned back at him. Kayden laughed, and her smile widened. She liked when he laughed. He was an easy going guy most of the time, and it helped keep her - not to mention the other Rangers - grounded when they weren't battling Grumm's forces to protect the world. "So, what is it?" she pressed, nudging him.

"Hopefully, if it works, it'll be a way to track a Power Ranger's signal," Kayden explained, and Z tilted her head.

"I thought we already had tech like that," she commented, but he shook his head.

"We have tech that tracks your Morphers," he tapped the Morpher attached to her hip. "This tracks the Rangers themselves, detecting the energy that they receive from the Morphin' Grid," Kayden explained patiently, and Z looked up at the program on the screen. It looked like gibberish to her. "It means that if something were to happen and your Morpher is broken or lost, we can track your whereabouts," he continued, and Z's eyes lit up.

"That's incredible! Do you think you'd be able to find A-Squad?" she asked. Kayden shrugged, looking a little hesitant.

"This is still a work in progress, I've not even reached a point where we can test it," he admitted. "And if we even get that far, I don't know how far I'll be able to expand the search, let alone search the galaxy for them, as much as I'd want to," he sighed.

"You know, for someone who is really good with pep-talks, you really don't have much faith in yourself," Z's blunt words startled a laugh from him. "You're doing something amazing, and between you and Kat, I'm sure you'll do great with it," she said confidently. "So believe in your work," she told him.

"That sounds like an order," Kayden commented, but turned back to the screens as the Yellow Ranger arched an eyebrow at him. "Thanks Z. I know I have you guys at my back. I can do this," he said the last part to himself, and Z smiled again.

"Good," she nodded her approval, and suddenly reached up to kiss his cheek. Feeling her movements, Kayden turned his head, wondering what she was doing, and froze as her lips touched his. Z drew back immediately, eyes as wide as his. "S-sorry," without waiting, Z turned on her heel and rushed out. Kayden was slow to respond, his finger touching his tingling lips, still feeling her light kiss.

"Oh, to hell with it," shaking his head, Kayden abandoned his work and followed her out.

I realised I never quite showed a moment between Kayden and Z like this, so this was fun to write.

Hope you liked it!