Upset

Nora was pulled from sleep with a gasp, her hand raising as red magical energy surrounded it. As the heat woke her, she gasped again and cancelled her spell before she set fire to her room.

"Damn...damn..." she hissed, shaking as adrenaline rushed through her. She yanked her blanket, which was tangled around her legs, off and shoved her pillow away, getting to her feet.

Still breathing heavily, she grabbed her hoody and left her room, going down the stairs. It was still dark, and the garage was silent. Barely making a sound, Nora went into the lab and looked around. Dr. K wasn't around, leaving her alone in the lab. Her nightmare still clear in her mind, she went to one of the computers and brought up an image of the most recent threat to Corinth, and tensed out of reflex.

Kilobyte. That's what she'd been told his name was. His glowing red eyes and laughter would haunt her forever. Nora took a ragged breath. She thought she was rid of him after reaching Corinth, and now he was here too. The General who had laid waste to Briarwood and captured her and others, was back. He'd almost killed Teddie's parents, he'd helped kill the young man who had helped Nora escape.

It took the Fire Witch a moment to realise that the tears were rolling down her face. Hitting the computer hard, she turned off the screen and left, unable to control her breathing.

She stepped outside into the cool air, and moved to a wall, sliding down and burying her face in her knees. Her dreams lingered in her mind, of Kilobyte killing prisoners in front of her, of the young man who'd protected her and given her a way to Corinth.

"Nora?" Ziggy called as he stepped outside, spotting her curled into herself. Dr. K had noticed her erratic behaviour, and irritably called on the Green Ranger to reign her in before she broke something. Again.

"Leave me alone," she bit, her voice muffled as she didn't move. When they first met, Ziggy would have been happy to keep his distance, especially when she spoke like that, but now, he approached her, and took a seat beside her.

"Nightmares?" he guessed.

"I don't want to talk about it," she growled. To her frustration, Ziggy didn't move, just sitting beside her quietly. But, she found, with him there, her breathing slowed and her muscles started to relax. Nora let out a sigh. "Sorry," she muttered, feeling guilty for snapping at him. The Green Ranger just edged closer to her, pressing into her. It worked, and she finally lifted her head.

"Your nightmares have been getting worse since Kilobyte showed up," he accused, watching her. Nora sighed, finally leaning into him.

"He terrifies me, Ziggy," she said honestly, the tears still coming. "He beat Xander and Ari. He nearly killed them. He destroyed my home. Because of him, I lost my family," she sniffed. "I miss them so much," she put her hands to her eyes as the shaking started again. "He killed those defenseless people," she whispered as he listened to her admit her feelings on the robot. "And now he's here. What if he..." she trailed off, and Ziggy pulled her into his arms.

"Hey, remember," he grinned down at her. "We're the good guys. We can't lose," he told her, and Nora choked on her laugh, remembering his insistence on them being unbeatable because of that.

"You're such an idiot," she whispered.

"Yup," he confirmed. "But you know I'm right. Our team backs each other up. We're unbeatable," Ziggy told her confidently. More confident that he believed himself to be. But right now all he wanted to do was soothe Nora's worries and fears about the robot who haunted her.

"You better be," she pressed her fist to his chest, sniffing. He nodded, and when she lifted her head, he kissed her. Her tears made it wet and salty, but she clung to him like a lifeline, desperate to believe his words. She didn't know what she would do if they lost. They were her family now, and she couldn't lose them. She was scared, and her heart hurt from all the death and destruction they'd faced so far, but his embrace, and his gentle kiss soothed her, and finally her tears started to stop. When Nora pulled away, she sniffed and leaned into him again. "Thanks," she whispered.

"You want to go back inside?" he asked, seeing that she was feeling better. Nora shook her head, and he put his arm around her, making her smile slightly. Right now, she couldn't help but believe he was right, and that they would win.

She just hoped the cost wasn't too high.

For the last few I kinda wanted to repeat pairings, so I wanted one more from Nora's side. And an even deeper look into RPM and what I have planned ;)

Hope you liked it!