Kate's hands trembled as she sat on her bed in her cell, waiting for something to happen. The police had turned up at the Shiba House and had broken in. Fortunately, the Rangers had gotten out on time, but Kate and Ji hadn't been so lucky. They had been tackled to the ground by armed forces and brought to the jail cells where they would be held until the prison was rebuilt. The jail wasn't built to hold the Rangers. Had they been here they could have escaped. A patch job in the wall made escape even easier, but if Kate was going to give the Rangers time to escape and come up with a plan to turn this around, she needed to stay in jail and keep the city focused on her and Ji.

They were being interrogated like there was no tomorrow, and the investigators held nothing back. Given the age, the body shape, the height and weight, neither Kate nor Ji were believed to be Rangers, but they knew something and that was enough for everyone.

Next door, Kate saw Ji being shoved roughly into his cell and it looked like he had a couple of bruises on his face. Some people were more upset than others with the Rangers, having lost a lot more in the final war, and they couldn't control their anger. Kate, for the most part, was spared physical abuse, but Ji wasn't so fortunate. Jumping up from the bed, Kate rushed over and looked through the cell to Ji.

"Are you okay?"

"They cannot hurt me," Ji was staying strong. A slap to the face wasn't enough to hurt him or break his spirit. He was a Samurai mentor, after all, and had taken much worse hits. He had the scars to prove it. He looked to Kate softly, putting her a little at ease, "You?"

"Fine, but I'm scared. I heard them talking about families. My dad, my brother, Ellie, and Jack are all in trouble, and Emily and Serena are…"

"Fine," Ji promised her. Unlike Kate, no one could trace his family. He had cut his ties with them when he took up his duties as mentor, and he had done so again after his father had taken orders from Dr. Harada and endangered the Samurai Ji saw as his children.

"What about your contacts?" Kate asked. "Shouldn't they have done something by now?"

"They are hard at work, I promise," Ji reached through the bars and touched Kate's cheek gently, "I think, if this is truly to end, we need to give it time. The city is angry, and rightfully so. They have lost a lot. We need to let this happen."

"Ji, we're not Samurai!" Kate cried and shook her head. "We're not Samurai and they're doing this to us! What are they going to do to the kids if they find them? They've been through enough. We can't let this…"

"I am willing to take the heat for them," Ji said. "I will ride this out, our names will be cleared, and the Samurai will not have to suffer. No one else will have to suffer. These people are scared, they are angry, and they are hurt, and we must let them work through this. I can take it."

Kate nodded her head. Ji was right. A lot of people were angry, and denying them the chance to work through their emotions and pin the blame on someone would only led to more anger and a lot of frustration. It wasn't going to be easy, and by the look of things it was going to hurt, but it was going to be worth it.

"I love you so much," she whispered and leaned in, giving Ji a kiss.

"We're going to be okay," he promised.

"Enough of that!" a loud bang broke them apart as the guards finally returned with two meal trays: one for Ji and one for Kate. He shoved the trays through the cell bars, spilling the food to the floor, "Eat what you can. See if I give a damn."

-Samurai-

The talk went better than expected. Not well, but at least the Samurai were still talking to her. Serena needed to take a moment, and the Samurai needed to process the news. In a way, they were right. Running away and hiding was bound to happen at some point and Serena had just sped up the process, but she could have, and should have told the team what she was doing. She could have kept them informed so they were more prepared to handle the consequences when they did show up. Now, because she had been reckless, they had more on their plate to clean up. It wasn't just their Samurai lives in danger, but their personal lives.

Mia, Kevin, and Lauren had joined the talk mid-way through after bringing home a more than exhausted Riley who had fallen asleep in Kevin's arms after her swimming lesson with him. By the looks on their faces, the lessons went well, but that changed when they got caught up on the meeting.

As it turned out, Mia and Kevin had a confession to make. Shortly before Serena had gone and gotten herself arrested, they had handed Sabrina Clarkson a list of the Samurai's names, phone numbers, and addresses, and the Shiba House had been included on that because it was the place of residence of Riley's godmother. Serena felt a little better knowing the blame wasn't all on her, but she still had played a huge role in the city finding out about the Rangers. If only she had given a fake name. No one would be in trouble then. The list wouldn't have even mattered if she had just given a fake name.

She sat outside Ninja Ops by a little stream. She was tossing rocks into it and waiting for the cooler heads from the others. They weren't shutting her out, but they needed time and Serena was more than happy to give it to them.

"Serena?" she turned around, hearing her name and smiled as the four Senseis came over to her. She had a bit of a rocky relationship with Shane, Dustin, Tori, and Cam, but had forgiven them for what had happened the last time she had been on Ninja soil. They had been grieving, they hadn't been thinking straight, and though it was a preventable accident, they had never intended for Dayu to attack her, and for her to be paralyzed. The looks on their faces as they walked up to her told her they still felt very guilty and very ashamed. They were good people who had let something terrible happen. It was no wonder they still looked very hurt and very scared.

"It's okay, guys. We're cool. Even if I wasn't walking again, I'd forgive you."

Tori was the first to take a seat beside Serena and passed her a newspaper, "Leanne's been making a lot of calls, and some Ninjas have gone to Panorama City to try and get in touch with Ji's friends. They're working hard to fix this mess, but I think there's something you need to see.

"Ji and Kate are in jail?" Serena asked after reading the headline on the paper, "Dammit…"

"They haven't said anything about you guys," Cam said, "I think we can use this to our advantage. A couple of our Ninjas have put themselves in the police squad and… Panorama isn't exactly using conventional methods for interrogations."

"I'm not surprised," Serena shook her head, "You guys didn't see the city. Lauren's Symbol fixed it up pretty quickly, but it was hell."

"I think," Shane said, "You need to… come out. A few of you Samurai might need to open yourselves up to the city. Maybe not reveal who you are but sympathize with the people. A lot of the stories in this paper are from the survivors who do nothing more than put down the Rangers, saying it's because of you that they've lost everything and all the ones they love. We know firsthand being a Ranger involves sacrifice but from the outside, the job looks fun. You kick ass, you wield power, you destroy things, bask in the glory, and then everyone else picks up the pieces."

"That's not true!" Serena cried, "You get your ass kicked! You work your ass of for years for an ounce of power that sometimes kicks your ass! Things try to destroy you! There is no basking in the glory because there's always some new end of the world plan threatening to take you out! And at the end of the day, we've got so many things left to do still! We've got our own shit to take care of! Our own mess to clean up! I've lost an entire wardrobe to blood stains. Everyone I love has almost, or has died on me!"

"The city doesn't know that," Cam put his hand on Serena's shoulder to calm her down a little. He knew exactly what she meant. He had lived through it. He had feared for his life and the life of his friends and family so many times in the past it had driven him to madness. But no one could understand the sacrifice unless they lived it.

"I almost lost my family, my son, my husband… Scruffy died to protect me. Mia's father died. My niece… They don't know."

"Tell them," Cam, Shane, Dustin, and Tori reached into their pockets and pulled out all eight Samuraizers, "We got this from the Ninjas. They found them. I think you just need a few of you to share with the people and they might let this go."

"You think?"

"Do you have anything to lose?" Tori asked and put the white Samuraizer in Serena's hands, "All you've got to do is convince a few. It just takes one voice to make a difference."

"You think it's enough?"

"Just trust us. Anyways, we owe you," Dustin smiled. "You do your part. Don't worry, everything's going to be okay."

"I'll talk to the others. Are you sure…?"

"Positive. You'll be home before you know it," Cam said and opened the door to Ninja Ops for Serena. She gave the Ninjas a smile, took the Samuraizers from them and raced down into the hideout. Cam closed the door behind her and looked to Shane, "You've got the bus tickets, right?"

"Of course I've got the bus tickets," Shane pulled four stubs of paper from his pocket.

"Dude, how long is the drive again?" Dustin asked, "And do you think they've got a burger place? I'm getting hungry."

"You're always hungry," Tori rolled her eyes. "But we're not going there to eat. We're going to…"

"Yeah, I know, but does that mean I can't…"

"No. Just go. And remember, be friendly," Tori shoved the former yellow Ranger down the path and groaned.

"How can I be friendly when I'm starving?"