That night, Hayden was asked to babysit her brother so her parents and Summer could go out. Kaylee was trying to make sure she spent time with all her kids, and Summer was no exception.
Seeing as Samantha had yet to return from the spirit world, Hayden was the only one left to babysit the little two year old.
He was running around, as usual, playing with a little toy rocket ship he had gotten on his night out with the parents. It was zooming around the house, blasting aliens (cookies) and saving humans (cheerios) from peril.
"Mayden, look, is big alien!" Christian giggled, showing Hayden a large cookie. Hayden smiled, bringing Christian's pyjamas down from his room so he could get ready for bed.
"Whoa, that's a huge alien. Do you think you can destroy it with one shot?" Hayden laughed.
Christian nodded, stuffing the cookie in his mouth, "Yep!"
"How about you save some more people, then I'll put on your Spiderman pyjamas?" Hayden suggested. Christian smiled, eating some cereal. When Hayden was satisfied, she picked him up and carried him over to the couch, making rocket ship noise.
"And Rocket Christian is landing in the docking station as America blesses him as a true hero for destroying all the evil aliens," Hayden laughed. "Now he's gotta change his paint and refuel for tomorrow!"
"Spiderman!" Christian smiled, throwing on his pyjamas shirt and pants. Hayden helped him into it.
She pulled up his pants and tickled his stomach before getting back up. The world started to spin again as it faded to black. Hayden held her head for a moment and shut her eyes tight.
Christian saw she was distracted, so he took off into the kitchen to get more aliens. When Hayden's vision recovered and she saw he was gone, she groaned.
"Christian, c'mon, you promised me you would go to bed if you had one extra cookie," Hayden called.
Christian stepped out of the kitchen with a handful of cookies. Hayden shook her head, taking them from him and putting them in the jar.
When she was in the kitchen, something tickled the back of her throat. She began coughing and quickly found that she couldn't stop.
"Mayden, you 'kay?" Christian asked. Hayden nodded and pointed to the stairs.
"Get in bed... I'll be up soon to say goodnight," she told him. Christian nodded and bolted for the stairs. He went into his room and turned off the light. He knew Hayden was going to turn on the nightlight when she came in, and he was going to settle for the hall light until then.
He crawled into bed and grabbed his stuffed monkey tight as he waited for his sister to come.
Downstairs, Hayden had stopped coughing and was getting a glass of cold water to help her throat. As she picked up the glass, she saw it was shaking in her hand.
"We don't own vibrating cups," Hayden frowned, a little worried something was wrong with her. She filled the glass with water and tried to drink it.
By now, she was shaking so much that she couldn't get her mouth. The water spilt everywhere.
Hayden's vision started acting up again. She watched the kitchen dance in front of her, causing her to lose her footing. She stumbled for a few seconds, trying to catch herself, before she fell over.
-----RPM-----
"No, Summer, I swear to God I've always loved you more than your mother has," Kaylee assured the eighteen year old girl. "I've told you this a million times since the day you were born."
"She's right," Dustin laughed, kissing Kaylee on the head as he stepped up to the front door of the house. "I didn't keep count, but I was there... every single time."
"See, when she wanted to potty train you, she bought you these cool pull up things, but I said, 'Kira, no, Summer's already a big kid and she doesn't need fancy diapers to know that. Throw her in underwear and see how she does!'," Kaylee grinned.
"Did I soil them?" Summer asked.
"Actually, not once," Kaylee giggled. "You're my little potty queen!"
Summer laughed and rolled her eyes at her Aunt's antics. She was slightly embarrassed, but no one else was with them.
"Sammy on the other hand had lots of problems... even with the pull ups!" Kaylee frowned. Summer put her hands to her ears. She didn't want to hear this.
The three stepped inside the house and put their stuff away before Kaylee's hears picked up loud screaming from upstairs.
This wasn't normal. Christian never screamed this loudly unless someone was ignoring him at bedtime. The crying was obvious to everyone in the house, so Hayden should have heard and should have been up there with him. And if she was up there, his crying wouldn't be this loud.
"MAYDEN!" Christian screamed, calling for his sister. Kaylee ran for the stairs, almost flying up them to get to Christian's room.
Dustin and Summer exchanged wondering what was wrong. Kaylee finally came back, holding little Christian in her arms. He was clinging onto her for dear life, refusing to let go.
"He said Hayden didn't come to say goodnight," Kaylee explained to the two. "She told him she would, then never showed."
"Why didn't she go up with you, Buddy?" Dustin asked his son.
"Toughin'," Christian answered. "Lots and lots."
Kaylee frowned. Hayden rarely coughed. Only when something tickled her throat. She wouldn't let that stop Christian's bedtime routine.
Summer knew something wasn't right. Earlier, when she and Hayden were at the park with the boys, Hayden seemed dizzy and klutzy. Now Christian was telling them she was coughing, and a lot.
"Where was she?" Summer asked, using a tone that was beginning to scare her aunt and uncle. That tone was her protective one, and it only came out when she thought something was wrong.
"Stealing my cookies," Christian frowned.
Summer knew that meant the kitchen so she walked over to it. Thankfully she kept her shoes on, because as soon as her feet hit the tiles, she felt something crunch under them. She stepped off and saw glass.
The glass was covering the floor from the start of the tiles and disappeared around the island in front of the fridge. Summer followed the trail and gasped when she saw her cousin laying on the floor.
Dustin was by her side in an instant, trying to wake Hayden. He could feel the young's girl body was burning up and was starting to panic. There was also some shards of glass stuck in her hand, and when Summer removed them, nothing happened.
Dustin did the one thing he never thought he would have to do when it came to his daughter. He looked up at Kaylee with a scared look as he forced the words out of his mouth, "Call an ambulance."
Kaylee did as she was told, and the ambulance was on its way. Knowing there was nothing she would be able to do to help; she walked over to the couch and sat down. Christian was in her lap, slowly falling asleep.
Summer sat on the ground in the living room, where she could see the kitchen. She felt horrible for letting this happen. She knew the rivals had something to do with it and she should have kept an eye on her cousin.
"How could this have happened?" Kaylee muttered. Summer looked up. Kaylee deserved to know the truth. And anyways, she was sure the rivals weren't going to stop there.
"Alex, Nathan Chloe and Zack are back," she whispered. Kaylee turned her head to her niece and frowned.
"Excuse me?"
"They came to the garage while you were in your room and they swore revenge... especially on Hayden. I think they made her sick..."
"How?" Kaylee asked. "How the hell do you make Hayden sick?"
"I don't know," Summer breathed, the feeling of guilt coming back and growing. "They never touched her..."
"Summer... what happened after they showed up?" Kaylee growled.
"We went to the park and Hayden was beating up a punching. She was fine... until..."
"Until?" Kaylee pressed.
"She took a drink of water, then started swaying... kinda like what you do when you get up too fast," Summer explained. "She... she said she was okay but..."
"And you believed her?" Kaylee yelled. Summer coward away from her aunt. She knew Kaylee's anger was directed at her, but it was being taken out on her. "Summer, I've told you endlessly the story of how I almost lost Hayden because of my dizziness! Did that never click in your head? Did you ever think of telling me she wasn't feeling right?"
"I'm sorry," Summer lowered her head in shame. Kaylee took a breath to calm down.
"So am I, Sum... I'm just... scared," Kaylee said. "So, it started at the park?"
"Yeah," Summer nodded. "She took a sip of water... well it was more than a sip but..."
Summer paused, looking over at the backpack she left in the front hall. Hayden's water bottle was hopefully still inside. She ran over, snatching her bag and pulling out the pink bottle.
"THIS!" she smiled. "This was her bottle! It might be able to help."
The paramedics ran into the house at this time and Summer quickly directed them into the kitchen. Dustin gave them the information he could as they put her on the stretcher. While they carried her away, Kaylee and Dustin had to watch the sight that scared them deeply.
Summer took the water bottle and looked up to the sky. She knew someone was going to have to analyse it to see if there was something inside that would make Hayden ill, and there was no way she could use the phone or e-mail to contact Leanne (who was the only person Summer was ready to trust with this). Any form of electronic communication, especially if it crossed over the wastelands, would be picked up by Venjix and he would know that Hayden was at risk. He would definitely use that against the Rangers.
"Sammy," she called, throwing the bottle into the air. A light pink glow appeared, snatching the bottle from the air, then disappeared.
Dustin ran over to the two girls and took Christian from his wife.
"The medics said we could follow, but I think we should drop Christian off with someone," Dustin suggested. Kaylee nodded.
"We'll go to your sister's house," she said. "Sierra hasn't seen Christian in a while and told me she was always willing to help."
"You don't want to go to your sister's?" Dustin frowned.
"Tori's got three kids to worry about," Kaylee sighed. "When I tell her the news, but I don't think she'll want to deal with Christian... especially when she tells her kids."
Dustin nodded. He grabbed his keys and walked to his car.
"I'll meet you guys at the hospital," he said.
Kaylee took her car and Summer went with her.
-----RPM-----
Doc had obviously been called to the hospital when the other doctors got news that Hayden had powers. None of them were trained to work with superhumans, so they needed David to lead them through everything.
He walked into the waiting room and saw Kaylee and Dustin waiting for him. Summer had started dozing off, and he wasn't sure she was still all there.
"So?" Dustin asked, getting to his feet. Kaylee stayed in her seat. She wasn't sure she would be able to stand through the news. Well, and Summer was using her as a pillow.
"I'm not going to lie... it's not looking good," David started. "She's got a high fever and her body's not doing anything to fight it off."
"It's not doing anything?" Kaylee asked.
"Whatever made her sick is stopping her body from functioning normally. Her powers can't work unless her body does."
"Will she be okay?"
"I hope so," Doc nodded.
"Hope?" Dustin frowned. Doc looked over at the parents.
"We're trying to find out what's made her sick, but nothing's coming up," David pulled off his glasses and took a seat beside them. "We're all going to work hard to help her out and hopefully something will come up."
"I sent her bottle to Leanne," Summer yawned. "Hayden drank out of it before getting sick. Maybe she can figure this out."
From the corner of her eyes, Summer spotted the four rivals peeking around the corner. She slowly got up and made her way to that corner. If anyone would have answers, they would.
The four grabbed her and slammed her into the wall.
"One down, three to go," Alex smirked, shoving a black and white picture of Hayden into Summer's hand. Summer crumbled it up and threw it to the ground.
"What the hell did you do to her?" she growled.
"We put a little bit of, what we like to call, Deathcode," Zack smiled, holding up a little plastic bag filled with white powder.
"Deathcode?" Summer frowned.
"Yep. A name we came up. This stuff was made to shut down Hayden's regeneration abilities. As long as it's in her system, she's never going to heal."
"And if she can't heal..." Summer started.
"It's never going to get out," Zack smiled.
"You son of a bitch," Summer growled. "You've just made an attempt at murder!"
"So?" Zack grinned. "We're just kids, what's going to happen to us? Corinth only cares about machine infiltrations and adult criminals. A bunch of teenagers..."
"A bunch of teenagers trying to murder the RPM Series Pink Power Ranger?" Summer smirked. "One of the nine defenders of one of the final cities left on Earth?"
Nathan leaned over, "We didn't think of that part..."
"It doesn't matter," Chloe grinned. "if we take down RPM, then nothing else could possibly stand in our way!"
"You really think you can take us down?" Summer frowned. "We have a year of Ranger training under our belt! You guys are just a bunch of pathetic sore losers!"
"We are not sore losers," Alex growled.
"Yahuh," Summer rolled her eyes and pointed to the sack of powder.
"RPM will fall, Summer McKnight," Nathan grinned. "And you and your little family will be the first to go."
"I've got a boyfriend who would like to test that theory," Summer smirked.
"A boyfriend willing to do anything to protect his friends? Even if that means staying out of our way?"
"Like hell we'll stay out of your way!"
"There is no cure to this, Summer," Zack said, holding up the bag once more. "Hayden's going to fall. Kaylee will be devastated. This team is as good as done."
"My aunt will never give up..."
"Call Leanne and tell her to cancel her research on the Deathcode," Alex demanded. "There's no way she'll find the cure. Zack already told you, there is none, and only we know how to flush it out."
"Tell me, then," Summer smiled.
"Why would we?" Nathan laughed.
"Because, you're afraid my aunt might figure this all out," Summer grinned. "That's the only reason you want her to stop searching."
"She'll never figure it out."
"I'll take my chances with Leanne," Summer said. "I don't trust you guys at all, and no matter what happens to me, or my cousins, I will never give up RPM to you guys."
"You're making a stupid mistake," Alex tried to warn Summer. She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked like the devil. She knew better than to give the rivals what they wanted.
"Get lost," she told them. "Everyone will believe me when I tell them you guys are behind all this. You'll be wanted in all of Corinth and NewTech once my mother hears what you've done. There will be no escaping punishment. The military will claw the cure out of you guys then leave you to rot in prison."
Suddenly, the red emergency lights turned on; alerting all the doctors that one patient was on the brink of death. The five teenagers all knew who was causing the alarms to go off.
Before the rivals left, Chloe held the bag in front of Summer, "Convince your Aunt to give us Project Ranger and full control over the surviving Rangers, and I'll tell your doctor uncle how to cure your precious cousin."
"Like hell," Summer frowned.
"Think about it, Sunshine," Nathan smiled. "What's the worse the military can do to us? After all, they need us alive and well to remember what the cure is, and I highly doubt they'll kill us to get it."
Summer turned away. She knew they were right, but she didn't want them to see that she was slowly starting to agree with them.
They had hit the RPM team right where it would hurt. Of course, if any member were dying it would be a tragic case, and everyone would be willing to do anything to save them, but Hayden was the daughter of the founder of the team. She was the cousin of not one or two, but three of the Rangers on the team. She was the girlfriend of another and best friend of the rest.
She was one of the hearts of the team that would keep them together. If she was gone, Summer knew that would spell disaster.
The red lights stopped flashing, and one green one shone for a few seconds. This meant the patient was still alive, but Summer knew Hayden wasn't close to recovering.
She turned into the hall leading to her cousin's room. She passed by her aunt and uncle on the way there. They looked truly scared.
Summer stepped into Hayden's room and saw her cousin lying on her bed. She was hooked up to several machines keeping track of her vitals.
"Mayday?" she called, hoping Hayden would be awake.
"No calling me that," came a weak reply. Summer smiled and walked over to her cousin.
"How are you feeling, squirt?" she asked.
"Remember when I was four, and you spun me around on the tires at the playground?" Hayden smiled. Summer nodded. Hayden had gotten so dizzy she couldn't walk straight for an hour. She had also thrown up a couple of times at the park. "I kinda feel like that, except in so much more pain."
"I know who did this to you, Hayden," Summer whispered. "Nathan and the other jerks... they said there was no cure."
"Of course," Hayden yelled, slamming her fists on the side of the bed.
"You're not going to die, though," Summer smiled, taking her cousin's hand. "I won't let it."
"How?"
"I don't know... they're making me choose between you and project Ranger. If I get your mom to hand it over to them, they'll tell me how to help you... but I'll figure it out, and I'll keep project Ranger safe. Don't worry."
Hayden took a deep breath, "If you have to choose..."
"I'm not going too," Summer interrupted. She knew what Hayden was going to say, and she refused to hear it, but Hayden continued anyway.
"If you have to choose, keep the city safe."
"But then I lose you... we all lose you..."
"Yeah, but it's lose me or lose project Ranger, and who knows, maybe you'll lose everyone else."
"Aunt Leah will find some way to save you, and you'll be okay! I promise Hayden, nothing's going to happen."
"I believe you, Summer, you know I do... but..."
The TV in the room turned on, like it always did when there was breaking news in Corinth. The news anchor started her report, informing the citizens of Corinth that their Pink Ranger had fallen ill.
"Well, now everyone knows... great," Summer groaned.
"Summer, choose the city if you have too, I'll be okay. I can live in the spirit world with Grandma Eva, Aunt Guinn and my grandparents."
"Are you sure, kiddo?"
Hayden nodded, "Positive. Just... protect yourself and Mike. I'm sure you guys are going to be targeted at some point. I don't need you to all land in this boat with me."
"I will," Summer smiled.
"I'm serious," Hayden let out a small smirk, "I'm in a one person boat. If you two hop in I'm pretty sure it's going to sink faster than that the Titanic."
"Get some sleep," Summer laughed, kissing her cousin on the forehead. "Don't worry about the rest of us, okay? You focus on getting better."
"How?"
"I don't know, you're the healer," Summer smiled. She got up and turned to the door, but Hayden pulled on her hand, turning her back around.
"Remember, Summer, save the city. Don't listen to your momma bear voice."
"I'll do what's right," Summer smiled, "I promise."