Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers.

Chapter 29

Worried, Andros studied Deca's footage of their latest battle, TJ at his side. They fought well together as a team, but--he winced as he watched himself stagger back, the wind knocked out of him--their teamwork didn't seem to be a match for the strength of the Psycho Rangers.

"Man." TJ let out a low whistle as the screen went black. "That was brutal."

From somewhere behind him, Carlos grunted his agreement. When Andros turned, he saw Carlos shoulder to shoulder with Ashley, both looking as they belonged in bed. He pressed his lips into a thin line to keep himself from ordering them off of the Bridge; he probably looked the same, and they could last another few minutes.

"They have to have a weakness somewhere," he insisted. "We'll find it."

"Ashley's rubbing off on you," Zhane observed silently, the hint of a smile fading as he continued. "You guys could hardly stand up when I found you," he reminded them. "What do we do about that?"

Andros resisted the temptation to rub his sore ribs, instead sinking down into his seat with a groan. He didn't have an answer--they were physically outmatched, there was no question about it, and he yet hadn't had the time to analyze their strategy for a weakness in the way the Psychos worked as a team.

"It was like they read my mind," Ashley said. She hugged both arms to her chest, frowning. "When she grabbed my head..."

That odd feeling in the pit of his stomach returned, intensifying as all the others nodded slowly. It hadn't been just him, then. "We have to assume that they know all of our moves, then," he said grimly. "All of our attacks were useless."

"What do we do now?" Cassie asked.

"We need a new strategy." Andros rubbed his forehead with a sigh, wincing slightly as he shifted. "Everyone get some rest. We'll meet on the Simudeck in two hours."


"Hey, Ash?" Cassie paused midway through the oddly therapeutic motions of twisting her hair into tiny braids, frowning thoughtfully at her best friend. "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course." Ashley stretched her legs out in front of her, wiggling her newly red-painted toes as she leaned back against the side of Cassie's bed. "What's up?"

She was, Cassie decided, never going to be able to get over how easy it was to be fighting monsters one moment and chatting casually the next. "It's about TJ."

"Oh?" Ashley arched an eyebrow, grinning slyly. "Tell!"

"Well..." She quickly filled her in on what had happened earlier that morning, pointedly ignoring Ashley's knowing smirk. "Don't look at me like that!"

"Like what?" Ashley's smile was as innocent as her voice, and she laughed quietly. "Well, you like them both, don't you?"

"Yeah," Cassie sighed. "That's the problem."

"Hmm." Ashley capped the bottle of nail polish, hesitating. "Cass... Arietis, do you really like him? Or is it just a crush from when we were Turbo Rangers?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I really thought that we had some sort of... connection. But since he's been gone... I don't know."

"Did you ever talk to him?"

"No..." Cassie said slowly, and glanced down at her wrist with a sigh. "I know I could have called him," she said. "I was just sort of hoping..."

"That he'd call you," Ashley finished, nodding. "And TJ?"

"I don't know." She twisted her hair around her finger, frowning. "He's one of my best friends, Ash. I think... that the friendship means more. But... I don't know!"

Ashley made a sympathetic face. "That's how it was with me and Carlos," she said. "We make better friends than a couple... but if you wanted to, I think you and Teej could work it out."

"Yeah..." Cassie blew out her breath, and shook her head. "How're things with Andros?"

Ashley looked down quickly, and Cassie raised an eyebrow. "What?" she demanded. "I want to hear this."

"Well... I--I think I almost had sex with him," Ashley confessed.

"You think?" Cassie repeated. She leaned forward, fixing her friend with a shocked look. "When?"

"Um..." Ashley's cheeks took on a decidedly reddish tint. "About two hours ago."

"Two--what happened?"

"We were just kissing," Ashley defended herself. "That was all we were doing, and then... you know... we got a little carried away."

"A little carried away?" She fixed her friend with a skeptical look. "Well, what happened?"

"We talked." Ashley shrugged her shoulders, rearranging her legs before she spoke again. "I told him that I wanted to, and he said he wasn't ready. I told him I'd wait until he was. I love him so much, Cass," she added softly. "It's hard for him to let go sometimes, but... I just want to be with him. That's all I want."

"You've fallen way too hard," Cassie said, a smile on her face.

"Haven't I?" Ashley grinned back at her. "But he's worth it."

Cassie just rolled her eyes and laughed, but Ashley's words stuck with her. When she was alone again, she rolled over onto her back and drew the communicator he had left her up close to her mouth, letting out a deep breath as she tapped the buttons.

The device beeped quietly a moment later, and she hesitated only a moment before speaking. "Arietis?" she said softly. "Are you there?"


Andros lay stretched out on his bed, one arm behind his head and the other pressing an ice pack to his ribs. His eyes were closed but she saw him smile as she approached, the hand on his ribs rising in greeting. She sat beside him on the bed and reached for him, resting her fingers lightly on his.

"Hey," she murmured. "How are you?"

"Sore." He lifted his head, groaned, then dropped his head back down. "You?"

"Just a little bruised," she said. "I'll be fine."

Andros opened his eyes and smiled at her, scooting closer to the wall. Ashley shifted to sit closer to him, leaning down to kiss his cheek. His smile widened and she kissed his lips as she straightened, stroking his hair absently as she leaned back against the wall.

"Andros, what do we do?"

He was silent for a few moments, then she heard him sigh. "I don't even know what we're up against," he admitted. "I've never seen anything like them before."

That worried her more than it probably should have, and Ashley let out a deep breath. She couldn't expect him to have encountered everything there was to see in the universe. Besides, Deca had seemed confident earlier that they were facing robots.

"There has to be a way to beat them, though," she said, relieved when he nodded in agreement. "There has to be."

Andros nodded his head once more and switched the ice pack to his other side. He rubbed gingerly where the pack had just been and inhaled sharply, groaning quietly as he exhaled.

Ashley watched him with a frown. "How bad is it?" she wanted to know. She combed her fingers through his soft hair while she waited for him to answer, worried when he didn't. "Andros?"

"Just bruises," he muttered. "You can look if you want."

He turned himself carefully onto one side when she nodded, allowing her to push up his tank top. The entire area over his ribcage was purpling, and Ashley swallowed as she straightened his shirt. He rolled over onto his back again and sighed when he saw her face, shaking his head.

"Nothing's broken," he said. "It looks worse than it is."

That didn't mean he wasn't in pain. Ashley nodded reluctantly, knowing that Deca would never have let him out of the med bay if he was truly injured. "I'm glad you're okay," she said softly, and bent down to kiss him. "Stay that way."

"You too," he said softly. "I don't want to see you hurt."

She smiled and kissed him again, softly. "I'll be careful."

"You should see yourself fight," he said dryly.

Ashley shook her head with a soft laugh, warm inside as she reached to clasp his hand. She didn't want him worrying over her, but at the same time--she was pleased that he did.

His hand tightened over hers as he painfully started to push himself up. He groaned and Ashley sighed, her arm beneath his shoulders to help him. Once sitting, he leaned back with the ice pack back on his left side, wincing as he tried to get comfortable.

"I can get you some more ice," she offered. "And if you're hungry, something to eat."

He considered that for a few moments, his face relaxing into a smile. "That'd be nice," he admitted. "Thank you."

"Of course." She kissed him quickly before she went off, stopping at the med bay for another ice pack before heading to the Synthetron for some lunch. It felt it could be bedtime, she decided, but it was really hardly noon.

She grinned to herself as she ordered enough food for them both, tossing some chopsticks onto the tray on top of the napkins. She'd been meaning to get him to try Chinese food again, but he hadn't seemed eager to repeat that first date.

"Hope you're hungry," she said brightly, as she entered his room. "I've got lunch."

Andros took the ice pack from her gratefully and held it to his ribs. Ashley settled herself cross-legged beside him, the tray carefully balanced on her lap. She offered him the chopsticks with a hopeful smile, giggling softly when she saw him blush.

"Please?" She pouted when he shook his head, her fingers curling around his wrist before he could reach the fork. "Just once," she insisted. "At least try it."

With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, he allowed her to arrange to chopsticks in his hand. With painstaking care, he managed to capture a piece of chicken and slowly lifted it from the plate. It slipped out of his grasp halfway to his mouth, and he shook his head. Without a word, Andros passed her the chopsticks and reached for the fork.

"Thanks for trying," she said sheepishly. "It takes practice."

Andros watched her eat with ease, and shook his head once more. "I don't understand how you do it."

"It gets easier," she said. On a whim, she took the chopsticks and snagged a piece of meat, offering it to him. To her surprise, he opened his mouth and let her feed him not only that mouthful but the next several, a smile on his face as he swallowed. She grinned and passed him a napkin, and then leaned back against his pillow to enjoy her lunch.

Andros ate more slowly than she did, and from his silence she could tell that he was worrying again. Not that she could blame him--the Psychos had tossed them around like rag dolls, and they had hardly been able to so much as throw a punch of their own.

"We'll find a way," she promised him, hoping that she at least sounded confident. "We've found a way with everyone else."

He nodded slowly, more in acknowledgment of her words than anything else. He certainly didn't look like he believed her, and Ashley sighed. She set the tray on his dresser and then moved closer to him, gently tapping his knee.

A small smile formed. "Ash," he sighed. "This won't be easy."

"I know." She rubbed his knee idly. For an instant, the Power Chamber flashed before her eyes and she was back to back with Cassie again, preparing to fight as the ceiling caved in... Ashley bit her lip and forced back the memory of the only battle that they'd ever lost, unable to ignore the uneasiness the memory brought with it. "But we'll do it."

Andros laid his hand on hers. He gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb while he thought for a few moments, quietly sighing. "They have the upper hand," he admitted grudgingly. "We have to work around that."

"How?" She did her very best not to sound despondent. "I mean, they know all our moves..."

"I don't know." Andros rubbed his forehead, frustrated as he looked back at her. "I don't like this," he muttered. "We don't have enough control over the situation."

That was when it hit her, and Ashley just stared at him for a moment. Her mouth opened and closed as each time she started to speak, she thought better of the words in her mouth. How had she not seen it?

"That's what you're scared of, isn't it?" she said finally. The words sounded harsher aloud than they had in her head, and she winced. "Not being in control, I mean."

He looked confused for a moment, not quite sure what she was talking about. Then he lowered his eyes and shook his head, tucking hair behind his ears with a soft sigh. "I--I'm not sure."

"Not sure?" she repeated.

"Yeah." He shrugged, awkward and uncomfortable. "It's not that I don't want to."

"Oh," she said slowly, sheepishly lowering her eyes. "Sorry," she murmured. "I shouldn't have--"

"It's fine," he said, but he wasn't quite looking at her. "I need some more time."

"I know." She reached and gripped his fingers hard, leaning closer to kiss his cheek.

"I don't know how else to explain it," he muttered. "I--I want to, just--not yet."

"You're doing fine," she promised him. Her thumb ran lightly over his knuckles and she saw him smile. Softly adding, "I love you," she shifted to hug him hard, her arms tight around his middle until she heard him groan.

Having completely forgotten about the nasty bruises on his ribs, she released him instantly. "I'm sorry," she said quickly, her face flushing guiltily. "I--are you all right?"

"I'm fine." He nodded with a small smile. "Just don't do that again."

"Deal," she said sheepishly. Andros slid his arm around her, and so she figured that he wasn't too upset. Ashley leaned her head on his shoulder with a content smile, only to open her eyes a moment later when something beeped. "What's that?"

"Two hours are almost up," he said, and sighed. "We should get to the Simudeck."

She slid out of bed with a sigh of her own. Andros waited a moment before he stood, his hand pressed to his ribs. Ashley frowned at him, concerned, but he shook his head. Still worried, she reached for his hand, her fingers laced tightly with his as they left his room.


Author's Note: I'd meant to have two chapters posted by last Thursday and obviously that didn't happen... so, sorry about that. Real life got in the way for a bit and then I rediscovered some of my attempts at original fiction... fanfiction is so much more fun! Hehe.

I do have large chunks of this last story arc written so I should probably be able to update more than... once a month, or whatever I've been doing, if school doesn't get in the way. I did write half of the next chapter sometime last spring, so maybe an update next week. Thank you all so much for being patient with this story, and for all your feedback. You're the best! I hope this was worth the wait.