Hey guys, here's the next one! I got all of the police code information from a Google search, so I may be wrong in some of them, just to let you guys know. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

After recovering for quite some time, Joey was more than happy to be back at work and out in the field. He was paired with Nat to do a security check around the perimeter of the ground around the NSHT building, waiting for any suspicious activity. While they did this, Tori was back at ER looking into the case more with Masters, and Taz was taking days off to be with Sean, who was still in the psychiatric ward at the hospital.

Originally, the lieutenants were given the case to look into, but after finding more information than they thought, especially since the information they found was confusing, it was decided that the chiefs would take over the investigation.

What they had originally perceived as an attack on the building was muddled by unreliable facts and information that made no sense, so now both of the teams were stumped as to what they should do about this situation.

Despite the lack of and confusing information, the chiefs were still looking into everything they could and had sent Nat and Joey to do a perimeter check. As they were doing so, Joey would periodically look over at Nat and then turn back to looking ahead before she caught him. When he did it once more, however, she looked straight back at him.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Nat asked, raising an eyebrow and stopping in her walk, making him stop as well. "You keep looking over at me like you're waiting for something."

"I'm not waiting for anything, I'm just looking over at your because I think you're beautiful," Joey said, smoothly. "I know we've been out on a date, as friends, and you've taken care of me in the hospital and after, so I guess if I am waiting for something, it would be an answer as to what we are,"

Nat bit her lip. She had thought a lot about that question as well, since they had clicked but never actually done anything about it. "I don't know, honestly."

"Well, if I like you and you like me, which I hope you do, then I don't see why we're sitting around like two kids that have a schoolyard crush on each other," Joey told her. "I'm not trying to rush you, but you know I'm a guy that takes risks and does things in the moment, because life's too short. That being said, I would wait around for you."

"Really?" Nat smiled softly, flattered. "That sweet. And I know what you're saying, and I do like you, but there's a lot of things I have to think about when it comes to stuff like this. I have a lot of responsibilities and obligations involved in my life."

"I completely understand," Joey assured her. "Whatever you need, I'm here for you."

She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."

Before the two could get back to their job, Joey saw someone walking around the building, seemingly scoping it out. He also had his hand in his jacket in a way that was implying that he had a weapon on him.

"Nat," He nudged her. "That guy over there looks suspicious, and I think he has a weapon."

"What?" Nat turned around and peered over at the man, nodding at Joey when she saw what he did. "Yeah, I think so too. We should call it in." She told him, about to get her cellphone out. Because the two didn't want to discourage any attempts on the places, as they wanted to catch someone in the act, they had a squad car sitting just around the corner that would come out and take anyone suspicious in.

Joey stopped her. "Wait, why don't we go handle it? If that car shows up, he could just go off with whatever he has."

"I don't know, Joey." Nat frowned. "Wouldn't that be breaking our protocol?"

"No, I don't think so." Joey responded. "Especially not if we cuff him first and then call the guys over, just to make sure everyone is safe."

"Okay," She responded, after a moment of sighing.

The yellow chief gestured for her to stay put while he went over there. He approached the man casually, trying to smile. "Hey, man. What are you doing around here?"

"None of your business," The man brushed him off roughly. "I don't even know you, man."

"Well, I'm sure you know that this is security enforced property, and the public isn't allowed to be loitering around here during work hours," Joey pointed out. When the man rolled his eyes, Joey pulled out his badge. "I'm sure you know what this is too,"

Immediately, the man grew frantic. As Joey put his badge back in his pocket, the man shoved Joey back and took off running. Nat left her post and sprinted after the man, Joey running just after her.

Using her ability, Nat concentrated a small distance ahead of the man and teleported in front of him. He jumped in shock when he saw her in front of him and ran straight into her, taking his object out of his jacket and shoving it at her, making her fall to the ground before he was tackled by the other officers, who saw them running.

"You got him?" Joey asked the other officers, not realizing the situation with Nat just yet. That was, until he looked down and saw her still lying on the ground, clutching a hand over her stomach breathing heavily. "He got you good, huh? Did he hit you with his gun?"

One of the other officers stood up, looking over at Joey with wide eyes. "Joey, he didn't have a gun."

"What are you..." Joey trailed off as he looked over at the officer, seeing a bloody knife in his possession. "Oh my God." His heart raced as he fell to his knees beside Nat, seeing the blood pooling from her injury. "Shit, Nat." He put his morpher up to his mouth, "417A, officer down. I repeat, officer down. We need a bus to this location."

"Copy that," The voice on the other end replied, though Joey wasn't too concerned with that as he turned back to Nat, who seemed to be going into shock already.

He put his hand over her's and pressed down, trying to stem the blood flow as much as possible. "You're gonna be okay," He reassured her, trying to smile as well as he could for her sake. "I promise." She looked up at him and weakly smiled back, before twisting her face in pain and tensing up. "Where is that damn ambulance?" He muttered under his breath.

Suddenly, before any of them could react, two gunshots went off nearby, startling all of them, including Nat, who jolted and winced from the movement. Joey peered back, but was unable to see anything, so instead turned back and remained focused on Nat, who was losing her battle to stay conscious.

In the background, he briefly heard the other officers yelling, "10-71! 10-71!" into their radios as he waited for an ambulance.

- Cue Opening 2 -

Back at ER, Lia made her way into Masters' office, approaching his desk and offering a file over to him. He looked at her over the rim of his computer, also noting the grim look that rested on her face.

Raising an eyebrow, Masters took the file. "Is there something you'd like to tell me, Lia?" He drawled, giving her an impatient look.

"Actually, there is," Lia nodded. She paused, looking around as she tried to figure out how to say what she needed to say. "The NSHT case has become much more complicated. Today, while Joey and Nat were on patrol, the two went to pursue a man, and he stabbed Nat before being apprehended."

"What?" Masters stared up at her in shock, before running a hand over his face. "How is she?"

Lia sighed. "Serious, but not critical. There's no other information being released at this time," She explained. "Not only that, but the son of Arthur Wright was shot at this morning, just minutes after the stabbing occurred."

"Was he hit?"

"Grazed in the upper arm," Lia responded, making Masters breathe out in relief. "But one of his bodyguards was shot and killed,"

"Is that what Silas was planning? To kill the CEO's son?" Masters frowned. "It seems too simple, almost."

She shrugged. "I don't know, maybe he was planning to throw us off so he could kill him."

"But why would he want to? As far as we know, the son is completely clean and Silas wouldn't really have a motive to kill him." Masters pointed out. "Especially not one that he would make up a convoluted plan to throw us off of it's trail."

"Maybe there's something we don't know," Lia suggested.

Masters nodded. "That's the only thing I can think of. There's obviously something we're missing, but what would that be?"

Gesturing to the file, Lia spoke up, "That's why I brought you the file. I figured you would be the best person to ask in finding something that's missing,"

He made a move to open the folder, when the door opened. Sera poked her head in, smiling awkwardly at interrupting. "Masters, Joey's here."

"I didn't ask for Joey," Masters frowned.

"Yeah, but Mr. Skomal requested you speak to him about his actions. He was the one who suggested taking the man on, despite their undercover status." Sera responded, making Masters sigh deeply.

"Alright, send him in," He told her, before turning to Lia. "I know your main job is running the lieutenant base, but you're still a detective. I'd like you to go talk to the son, while I get my two remaining chiefs to talk to Arthur."

Lia took a deep breath, and nodded. "Okay, I'm on it." She left the room as Joey walked in, looking disheveled and nervous.

"Masters, let me explain," Joey started, sitting down in a chair across from him. "I swear, I just thought..."

A hand was held up, and Joey stopped talking. "No, Joey, you didn't think. That was what got you hurt, and that was what got Nat hurt. You have to know that."

Joey looked as if Masters had slapped him. "It wasn't on purpose. I would never get Nat hurt intentionally, things got..."

"I only have two rangers on this team now, because of you!" Masters yelled, standing up and slamming a hand down on his desk. "My superior even knew about your actions! You need to slow down and think before you act. You had a job to do, and you failed."

"But..."

"No!" Masters growled. "There is no room for discussion. The CEO of NSHT's son was shot at today - his bodyguard was killed! If you had done your job, none of this would've happened." He ran a hand through his hair, calming himself down. "I want you to go down to NSHT and talk to Mr. Wright about this, and I want Tori to wait outside in case something happens. You are only going to ask questions, and not do anything else. Heavy lifting will be for her, got it?"

He looked down, ashamed. "Yes, sir. We'll report back to you as soon as we can."

"You'd better," Masters shook his head, "Now get out of my sight." When he said this, Joey stood and made his way out of the room, leaving Masters to himself.

- PRER -

On the other side of town, Silas sat in his office, leaning back in his large chair and rapping his fingers together when Belladonna slipped in through the large double doors. At first, she startled when she noticed him staring at her, before taking a deep breath and walking over to him.

"You scared me," She quipped, leaning forward seductively against his desk. "Maybe you could make it up to me."

"Or, perhaps you could tell me why an unidentified female assailant attempted to shoot the son of the CEO of NSHT," Silas responded, leaning forward as well, though his expression was malicious. "I suppose you probably know something about that."

Belladonna pulled back and stared down at him, her expression turning dark. "Why would you accuse me of something like that?"

"Who else would've done it?" Silas asked, his glare hard. "No one else had motive - in fact, I don't even know what your motive was, considering we were gonna lay low on this until we had a chance."

"If you don't know why I would have motive, then you shouldn't even go there," Belladonna retorted, her hands on her hips. "It wasn't me."

"I don't believe you," Silas hissed, standing up from his seat, and moving around his table to stand face to face with her. "Why did you do it?"

She stood her ground, "I didn't, but even if I did, isn't that a good thing for us?"

Silas grabbed her by the neck and shoved her hard into the wall behind her. "How in the hell would this be good for us?"

"They'll think that's why we were messing around NSHT," Belladonna responded, shoving him off of her, something that made him raise an eyebrow in surprise. "Maybe they'll get off of our backs now,"

He huffed, chuckling slightly. "I'm sorry, but did you just admit to the crime and shove me? Huh, you're brave,"

"More so than you," Belladonna crossed her arms. "All you do is sit in this office and give out orders because you think no one will stand up to you. You're wrong, because I'm right here."

"You..." Silas waved his finger at her, before pushing her against the wall once more. This time, however, he started to passionately kiss her. After a few moments, he pulled away and traced a hand over her cheek. "Are the woman of my dreams."

After he said that, he lifted her up, allowing her to wrap her legs around his hips. Kissing her once more before smiling, he carried her out of the room and towards his bedroom, where he closed the door firmly behind him.

- PRER -

Meanwhile, Tori and Joey made their way up to the top floor of the NSHT building, and walked down the hall towards the CEO's office. Luckily, since his son had only been grazed by the bullet, he hadn't left to go to the hospital with him since he had come back only an hour or so later.

Tori gestured down the other way. "I heard the son is in a room over there with Lia," She told him. "I'm gonna walk the floors to make sure no one's here, and then I'm gonna go see if I can hear anything."

"Alright," Joey shrugged, allowing her to go off while he took a deep breath and paused outside of the office.

The talk he had with Masters had shaken him, and he felt like his confidence had taken a real blow. In a sense, he knew Masters was right. Joey should've been more careful and thought it through more, but on the other hand, he was talking about changing Joey's whole philosophy.

Shoot first, ask questions later was something Joey could relate to. He was always acting before he thought, and he usually never got hurt or hurt anyone else too badly. If anything, it was him that was usually getting bashed for doing something without making sure it was okay.

At the very least, he knew he could take responsibility for his actions, but at the very worst, he was getting people hurt. People like Nat, who he really cared about.

Shaking his head to stop himself from getting distracted, Joey composed himself in a serious manner. He opened the door and walked into the officer, taking out his badge and laying it on the table in front of Arthur, who had yet to look up at him.

"Mr. Wright, I'm Chief Joseph Dixon," He said firmly, making Arthur look up at him suddenly. When the two made eye contact, Arthur went pale, almost like he recognized Joey. "Is something wrong?"

"You're..." Arthur trailed off, staring at Joey. "Do you know who I am?"

For a strange moment, Joey felt like he did recognize Arthur on a personal level, though it was unclear why. "I don't know, do we know each other?"

"Oh, no, probably not," Arthur shook his head, standing up to walk around the table and address him. "Probably just mistaking you for someone else. I'm Arthur Wright," He held his hand out to Joey.

"Nice to meet you, sir," Joey took his hand and shook it, making Arthur smile at him. Joey found his behavior a bit odd, but ignored it. "I'm here to discuss what happened to your son, Anthony Wright."

"Yes, have you met with him?" He asked, carefully.

Joey pursed his lips. "No, not yet, but hopefully I will soon. I was one of the officers here this morning when he was shot at, but I was unable to meet him after my partner was stabbed by a man we presume to have distracted us for the real assailant."

"I see," Arthur seemed disappointed, but didn't relay why. "Would you like to have a seat?"

"Sure, thank you." Joey nodded, sitting down to speak with Arthur.

Out in the hallway, Tori was walking around carefully, until she came around the room she knew Lia and Mr. Wright's son were in. She was surprised to not see any security hanging around outside of the room, but counted it as her blessing.

Looking both ways to make sure no one was watching her, Tori leaned against the door and listened in.

"I'd have to think about it," Lia's voice spoke. "I have been watching you since I found out that you were a private eye, but after what happened today and the possibility that Silas has an eye on you, I'm not sure if this is a good idea."

A sigh was heard. "I understand where you're coming from, Ms. Carter, but you have to understand how long I've wanted this. I'm the first person that wants to be safe in a situation, but it's time that I break away from my guarded life and guard myself for once."

"Well, you need to know that this is a bit odd for me," Lia responded. "While I have been looking into you, you also probably know that you bear an uncanny resemblance to our yellow chief, Joey."

"Yes, I am aware," He responded. "That's another reason I want to become a ranger, actually. I wanna know who he is, and why we look so alike. Besides that, I have a lot of drive and I take many precautions before running into a situation. I never do anything unprepared and..."

Tori pulled away from the door, a bit shocked. She remembered hearing about how there were going to be three new rangers, and there were only two currently, but she didn't realize it was coming so soon and from such a close resource.

She noticed someone coming and left to go back towards the office, trying not to think about what she had just heard.

- PRER -

Later that day, when Lia had gotten back to the lieutenant base, she found it mostly empty, save for Sophie and Andi. Since the chiefs had taken over the NSHT case, the lieutenants didn't have anything substantial to do that day, and were sent home early.

While Lia was grateful that they would get some time to themselves, she also found herself irritated by it. That meant that the chiefs were back on top with Nat joining them, and the lieutenants were no longer considered equal to them.

Instead of them getting an equal amount of cases like they were, now they were practically getting none. Before, even though the difference in the material of the cases that they were getting was glaring, they were glad to have cases that actually had substance to work at.

Now, it felt like they were dealing with traffic infractions and minor harassment cases. Lia was sure that they would get something new, but that was only because three of the chiefs were out - two on medical, and one using vacation days to take care of the other.

It made her feel increasingly bitter about the way the two teams were divided and viewed, despite them not even being that much different. In fact, the only difference was public opinion due to a bias from the higher-ups of ER.

That didn't mean there was anything she could do about it, but it still made her rather upset.

Sighing to herself, she walked over to a small compartment in the wall and put in a password, opening it to reveal another morpher, which was hooked up to various wires and such.

"Is this thing up to full speed yet?" Lia asked, peering over at Sophie.

"No," She shook her head. "Well, it is, but it's currently in the same state as the other two,"

Lia cursed under her breath. "This isn't good. The other two are already operational, and this one's about to be. Once they're attached, they can't just be removed that easily."

"Do they know?" Andi turned around in her seat to face Lia. "About the defect, I mean."

"I haven't told them, because I don't think it'll ever come up." Lia replied. "The chances of the defect coming up randomly and on it's own is practically one in million."

"But what if it does?" Sophie asked, worriedly. "They could..."

She was cut off by Lia, "That won't happen - I'm almost positive. If it does, and that's a big if, we will handle it accordingly. It's too late now, anyways."

Andi gestured to the device, "Not for this morpher,"

"Yes, and I will try to make sure it's ready by then. For now, let's just keep this between us, Masters, and the chief interns, alright?" Lia said, making them both nod. "Good." She turned back to the other morpher, staring at it for a moment before closing up the compartment and leaving it for another day.

- PRER -

At the hospital, Joey quietly made his way down the hall and into Nat's room. After having surgery earlier, Nat had been moved to her own room and was said to be resting and recovering well. He was still extremely worried about her, given the damage that could've been done, and was grateful that he was allowed in to see her.

Opening the door, he was greeted with a seemingly sleeping Nat, who had wires, monitors, and oxygen hooked up to her, though she was propped upright by the bed. Joey couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt in his chest when he saw her, and moved to sit in the empty chair next to her bed.

Carefully, he took her hand. "Nat, I'm so sorry this happened to you," Joey whispered, not wanting to wake her. "This is all my fault, and if anything ever happened to you, I don't know what I'd do with myself. I know that might sound creepy, but it's true. I care about you a lot, and I really want you to get better," He bowed his head, and lightly kissed her hand.

"You're the sweetest," Nat mumbled from the bed, opening her eyes and smiling softly at him.

"Shit, did I wake you?" Joey asked, worriedly.

She shook her head slightly. "No, I was just resting, not sleeping." She squeezed his hand and gave him an admiring look. "You came to visit me,"

"Of course," Joey nodded. "I was really concerned about you, and I felt awful. This is all my fault; if I didn't suggest going after that guy in the first place, this never would've happened."

"And he might've hurt someone else." Nat pointed out. "You're too sweet for you're own good. You can't beat yourself up over this."

Joey sighed, "How can I not?"

Nat chuckled lightly. "Because if you had really screwed me over, I would be beating you up myself." She quipped, making him smile. "By the way, I know what we are,"

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You're my boyfriend," Nat told him, using her grip on his hand to pull him towards her and make him sit on the bed. When he did so, Nat wrapped her free arm around his waist. "And I'm your girlfriend. That's what we are."

"Are you sure?" Joey asked. "Not that I'm complaining, but you said..."

The pink chief waved him off. "I know what I said, but I don't care. You were right when you said life's too short to wait around for things to happen, and I realized that today. I could've died, but I didn't, and it makes me wanna do things I've been waiting around for."

"This is probably the best news I've heard all day," Joey told her, smiling.

"I'm sure it is," She said, cheekily. "Now kiss me, for real this time."

"I would love to." He leaned forward, kissing her softly as he thought about how well his day had turned around.

- PRER -

That evening, Tony was at his father's house, trying to look around to see if he could find anything as to why he and Joey looked so alike. Normally, he supposed someone in his position would probably just write it off as a coincidence, but he couldn't help but think otherwise.

Especially damning to this being something suspicious was that Tony had never met his mother, meaning she could have another child, which he supposed could be Joey. Then again, they looked so alike, it would be hard to believe they were only half-brothers.

Not only that, but Tony had looked into Joey some, and discovered they actually shared the same birthday, including the year. Despite not knowing Joey, he knew that it was highly unlikely to just be a coincidence.

He rummaged through drawers in Arthur's office, looking for anything about it. Soon, he opened one drawer, and while he was looking through the files, he accidentally touched the bottom of the drawer. When he did, he noticed that it was soft, when it should be hard.

Concluding that it was a false bottom, Tony pulled everything out of the drawer, before pulling the bottom out. Inside was a black box, and Tony pulled it out immediately and opened it.

Inside, he found something that shocked him. Pictures of a woman he could only assume was his mother, as well as a picture of Joey, even with his name on it.

"What the hell?" Tony whispered as he picked up a picture of two babies - twins, in fact. He turned it over, seeing his and Joey's names scribbled on the back in his father's handwriting.

Before he could look any further, the door opened and his father entered, looking startled to find Tony looking through the box. "Tony, what are you...?" He trailed off, shocked.

Tony held up the picture. "I've had a twin my whole life, and you've hid this from me?"

"Just let me explain," Arthur held his hands up in surrender. "Alright? I'll tell you everything you wanna know."

Next time on Power Rangers Emergency Responders: After everything, Tony makes a move to become a ranger and finally meet Joey.

Next Chapter Title: White Lieutenant

Wow, a lot happened in this chapter! First, I should mention that Silas and Belladonna are starting to go down a road that you probably won't see coming, and not just in the sense of their plan for NSHT. I really love writing them, since they're probably my favorite villains out of all that I've written, with Jetta from PRRF coming to a close second.

Second, I know it's probably been obvious that Tony's gonna be the next ranger, but now he's really making strides towards that goal. Also, you may have already guessed it, but it's official that he and Joey are related, and are twins! It's definitely about to get complicated on that.

Also, what about what Lia, Sophie, and Andi were talking about? I don't want to say anything on that because I don't want to give anything away, but I'd love to hear your guys' thought on what that might be!

Tumblr Update (charliehartley-writer): Deleted scene from this chapter with Autumn and Lia.

Here's the lineup for the next five chapters!

Ep 22: Brothers - Tony and Joey focused chapter.

Special: Origins Part I - Tori and Autumn focused chapter.

Special: Origins Part II - Sean and Jason focused chapter.

Special: Origins Part III - Taz and Nikki focused chapter.

Special: Origins Part IV - Joey and Owen focused chapter.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you guys back with the next one!

© Copyrighted by Charlotte 'Charlie' Hartley