Finally Allison was back with the Texas Rangers and was very relieved to be with them again. A month into her being home (she had ultimately spent two weeks at the EDC base because just as she was getting ready to return to her apartment her landlord sent a message saying that it would be uninhabitable because of a combination of water damage and pest control) her and a small group of Texas Rangers from across the state were in the northern part of the country as chaperons with a field trip and they were visiting some civil war sites including Gettysburg
"The civil war was an ugly war, in a way though things could have been worse"
"How so?"
"The Cybertronians, they could have been woken in that time and considering their situation at the time..."
"Yeah, guess that wouldn't have been a pleasant aspect"
As the guide continued explaining the reasons behind the war and the aftereffects Allison's mind wandered to her time in the past
Past
Allison and her group were in camp after a not so good day in a town and Allison gave out a heavy sigh
"I hate post civil war conditions, I forgot about how much I hate it, and the way people think of women in this day and age isn't helping matters, if not for the Lone Ranger..."
"I know, the Sheriff wouldn't have listened at all to you, for two reasons, first you're a women and second you're still a kid"
"Exactly, that's two out of three strikes against me already"
"Well in any case we're stuck here for a bit, and have to deal with the tension that's been left behind in the aftermath of said civil war"
"Exactly, most of the people aren't happy with a Sheriff who was in the Confederate army, some aren't happy with what they call nester's either which also complicates matters"
"So what's the plan then Kerenai?"
"Help in whatever way we can and be prepared for an explosion if possible"
"Figurative or literal?"
"Semi-literal, the town will have a riot if it comes to it most likely"
"Good point, let's just hope nothing actually happens"
"No kidding, but we'll be ready if something does"
"Powers or not Kerenai?"
"None, we can't risk discovery and you know it guys, we made that agreement from the start"
"More like you ordered such an agreement"
"Actually I didn't, I gave orders that we prevent being discovered as outsiders by getting equipment and clothing that matches this day and age except if we ever come across our enemies. I also gave orders regarding how things are to work unless I absolutely need to pull rank, I never gave orders about agreeing whether or not to hide my powers"
The group thought about it for a moment and realized that Allison was correct, they had actually had a discussion and everyone was agreed that it was safer for Kerenai if she didn't use her special abilities except at need and she made her own rule that it was to be against EDC enemies period the end of it
"Right, well in any case we'll be around town in the case of an emergency, but we'll be subtle about it, one or two people at the most at any given time"
"What about if something happens, how will we know when to gang up on everyone?"
"That's...actually a good question Parker seeing as how someone has banned modern technology except against EDC enemies"
"Hey you know as well as I do that it's for our own safety that I gave that order, it's too dangerous to be noticed as different, Tonto gets into enough trouble as it is and you know it"
"Yeah but Kerenai..."
"No but Kerenai's my word is final, those were direct orders and you know the rules"
(Sighs) "I hate it when you remind us about your status sometimes but you also have a point about safety issues so...we still need to figure out contact if things get out of hand"
They think about it and then while he was doing his standard supply check Carl just happened to drop one of the few signal mirrors that they had brought with them, but had yet to bring out or use for the simple fact that they were mainly together in one group or if they weren't it was quick trips into town
"Well I have the daytime solution, the signal mirrors, but nighttime is still a bit problematic"
"Hm...you're right nighttime is a bit problematic, if not for the problems it would most likely cause I'd suggest our signal flares"
The group thinks about it and they can't come up with a solution immediately but they hoped to have one before it was needed
"You know the rules in this situation, follow them to the letter, we're foreigners in this time period which makes it dangerous for us, even though we've learned a lot since we suddenly wound up here"
"Will do"
"And guys, we're doing rotations, I'm not because of the situation in town but the rest of you are going to rotate, every two days a new group goes in"
"Why not every day or every other day?"
"I have my reasons guys,don't question my orders"
"Got it"
The group kept an eye on things for a week by themselves when suddenly the Lone Ranger and Tonto returned
"Hey, last I knew you guys were hunting along with the Sheriff, though he didn't go nearly as far as you guys, we've been keeping an eye on the town because of all the tension that's been going on"
"What tension?"
Allison quickly gave the Lone Ranger what information they knew and had gleaned discreetly
"I wish I had known about that sooner, I would have left Tonto with you guys and gone hunting alone"
"That...would have helped actually, we still have no means of contacting people at night, daytime is covered but nighttime..."
"Right, I'll tell Tonto and we'll integrate with your plan, which is..."
"Daytime we use what's called signal mirrors, and then like I said nighttime we got nothing"
"What's so important about mirrors?"
"Everyone who's an EDC officer is required to know Morse code, I also need to know Morse code for the reasons that you were told when we finally talked in depth about things"
"Right, that works well in the daytime but like you said it won't work in the nighttime"
"Exactly, so how exactly can you guys help?"
"Tonto can act as a runner"
"Okay then that should work"
"But what I'm wondering is why there hasn't been any trouble with the information that you've given me"
"Yeah we're a bit surprised too that things haven't exploded yet, but we're keeping an eye on things and are actually expecting things to happen at any moment"
"You're not in town yourself because..."
"The Sheriff, it took you to get any cooperation with me in the first place because of the double strike I have in this time period"
"Double strike?"
"Female and a kid, in my time being a kid is still a mild disadvantage depending on several factors but being female is technically no longer a disadvantage, doesn't mean it can't be if people are stupid but because of laws women have equal rights and job opportunities in my time"
"But in this time you're back to square one"
"Exactly"
"Well for now I'll send Tonto into town so that when it gets to be nighttime he can warn of us trouble where your group can't, how many are in town anyways?"
"Two at any given time, we rotate every two days"
"Got it"
It turned out that things finally boiled over that night and over half the town tried to kill the Sheriff and a few farmers who they called nester's as well. Allison did what she could but didn't get far, fortunately the Lone Ranger, Tonto and the EDC officers did get to do what she couldn't
"Okay, now that we have that situation settled what now?"
"Now we stay and help rebuild"
(Groans) "I'm still stuck here then, even in my time we have age restrictions when someone can do more than hold nails on weekends, there are laws regarding child labor"
"And you're way too young for any real work"
"Exactly"
"We'll do what we can to allow you to help Kerenai, any specific orders for us regarding the rebuilding?"
"Don't show advanced skill knowledge, especially you Patrick"
"Understood"
"Well hopefully the damage won't be so bad as to force us to hide our skills"
"I'm prepared for the worst guys and you know it"
"We do indeed know that Kerenai"
"Well, I'll stay at camp, make sure that you're properly fed at least every morning and evening"
"The townsfolk will make sure of that Kerenai"
"Nope, we have different nutritional requirements in our time Lone Ranger, especially people like us who are very, very active"
"And are exposed to unique chemicals on a regular basis"
"Thus creating a unique diet, even with us having been separated from those specific chemicals since our coming here we still need our special dietary requirements we've found out, Kerenai's the worst of it though, excluding her onion allergy, but the nutrients in onions she can get from other foods so the allergy is negligible in regards to her health, unless she's accidentally exposed to it"
"And accidental exposure is almost impossible because we've seen her around uncooked onion before"
"Yeah, we just had to be at a farm at the time because of needing to find you guys and the onion wasn't cooked in the meal yet"
"It warned you against eating at least"
"True enough, but still it's an annoying symptom to have with uncooked onions, anyways now do you see why I need to feed them myself at least twice a day?"
"Indeed I do, they won't have the energy otherwise will they?"
"Nope, two days before we're weaker than those who come down with fever, without actually being ill"
"We'll keep an eye on you guys as well, we normally don't stay but considering the current situation..."
"Thanks, fruits and vegetables do help slightly, but they're only a temporary measure in all honesty"
"Full meals even if they either don't have the necessary nutrients or the right amount work better, but we're still not at full strength, we just don't show the effects as quickly as otherwise and it will perk us up ever so slightly, enough at least to get us back to camp"
"Not always and you know it, however it works more often than not...okay slight order modifications, if needed somehow get your supplements in your meals, even if it's blatantly obvious you're taking supplements take them you know full well I can't afford you guys weakened too long"
Suddenly Allison takes a closer look at one of the people and speaks up in a somewhat calm voice
"Carlos, are you coming down with a cold or similar illness?"
"Might, just started feeling run down over the past day or so, thought it mental exhaustion from trying to stay alert for so long to protect the town, but now..."
"You're staying in camp until we can determine for sure what's going on, if you're sick you're out and you know it"
"Yeah I know, if it's influenza..."
"That's my biggest concern, colds aren't pleasant in this time either in all honesty"
"In any case you're stuck here until we know what's up"
"I know, I know, better safe than sorry"
"Oh, one more thing that I would think is obvious but might not actually be is to not let your politics, especially regarding the civil war, show, you've been doing fine so far but with everything that's happened recently in the town..."
"Right, we'll keep our mouths shut"
"Good"
Eventually the town was rebuilt and the two groups left the town, as for Carlos it turned out that he had come really close to coming down with pneumonia, fortunately they caught the illness in the very early stages as such it was just a severe chest cold he dealt with, but all of them agreed that it was way too close a call and that they would keep a closer eye on their health, Tonto also taught them Native American remedies that would also help should they get sick
Present
Allison was brought back to the present when the reenactment of the battle of Gettysburg started, it had been explained that only part of the battle would be reenacted due to just how long the actual fighting had lasted. She liked the reenactment in that it showed the realities of war but hated that the civil war happened in the first place
"Wow, they make it so real"
"Yes, you're seeing the horrors of war first hand, battles that can last for days on end, deaths and permanent disability, PTSD risks and so much more that reenactments don't show you...I...I...I'll be back guys"
Allison suddenly runs off and sees a bathroom where she gets sick for a few moments because unfortunately she was in a PTSD episode and was flashing back to a really bad battle during one of her Reserve deployments where almost an entire base was wiped out, and that included most of her unit, this was one of the rare times that she and Tonto had been split up for the good of the military, Dan, Tonto and the Lone Ranger had helped her cope with things but she still had the occasional flashback
"I hate it when that happens, that wasn't a very pleasant flashback at all, time to get back after I finish composing myself"
The people in charge of Gettysburg had noticed Allison's distress and had checked up on her, she let them know that she was okay, just dealing with a mild PTSD episode
"You want cold water?"
"No, that...that actually makes things worse, instead...that will work"
Allison goes over to where there were flowers, but these were very special flowers, they had been cultivated by the EDC and sent to specific locations where there was a high possibility of military veterans being there at any given time. These flowers were created to help snap people, especially those that had military service backgrounds out of a PTSD episode as long as it wasn't too severe, they gave off a scent that was deliberately as different as they could think of that didn't involve the battlefield. Once she was near the flowers she took in ten very deep breaths so as to make sure that the scent of the flowers was stronger than the memories that were threatening to overwhelm her in the back of her mind
"You good now?"
"Yeah, the flowers did their job, I can go back to the last of the reenactment now"
