Alex gnawed on the coffee table, desperate for some food. He knew very well that he could simply go out to a restaurant or somewhere else and purchase food, but he had been waiting for Kelly to get home. He expected her back hours ago, but she still hadn't shown. His stomach was growling in protest, but he knew he needed to wait.

Libby watched him curiously, "Is it actually made out of coffee?"

"Sadly, no," Alex answered. He pulled his mouth away from the table. It was then he heard a click from the front door before it opened up. He jumped up, "Finally!"

"I'm home!" Hunter called. He set his jacket on the coat rack and walked straight to the kitchen, "RJ didn't need us for the full day, thankfully. JKP is really coming along. So what is there to eat?"

He opened the friends and reached inside to grab anything but caught only air. Confused, he reached in again with the same results.

"Did you guys eat all the food?" he asked the two teenagers. Alex shook his head before going back to munching on the coffee table.

"We haven't had anything to eat all day," Libby answered Hunter. "Kelly never came home."

"She…?" worry filled Hunter. He walked back to the front door and checked the bowl for Kelly's keys. They were still missing.

"She's not home?" Hunter asked. "Did she call or anything? Leave a message?"

"The phone never rang," Alex shrugged. "Besides, why would she call? It's not like Corinth gave us free cell phones yet."

Hunter rushed over to the phone and picked up the receiver. He started dialling his friends' numbers, hoping they knew where Kelly was. It was unlike her to leave anyone starving for hours, never mind the kids.

"What's a phone?" Libby asked Alex while Hunter tried to figure out why the phone wasn't ringing at all after he entered in Dustin's phone number.

"It's a communication device. It's so that you can talk to people without looking at them. Or so you can call and explain why you're letting two teenagers starve to…"

"Who unplugged the phone?" Hunter called as he held the cord for the phone up in the air. Alex turned to Libby and pointed.

"She was exploring!"

"Alex," Hunter growled. He plugged the phone back into the wall. "You're supposed to keep an eye on her."

"Hungry!" Alex frowned.

"Did I do something wrong?" Libby asked. Hunter pressed the phone to his ear, hoping he could maybe recover any messages that he been left when the phone was unplugged.

"No, don't worry Libs, it's…" Hunter trailed off. The phone had taken messages while it had been unplugged and there was one message from Tori regarding Kelly. He didn't listen to the entire thing. He only needed to hear a few key words to understand something was wrong. He slammed the phone back down on the table and ran to the door. He grabbed his jacket, as well as Alex' and Kelly's for Libby. He tossed the coats to the teens. "Hurry up!"

"What's going on?" Libby asked as she held up the jacket and tried to figure out how it worked. It looked like the sweater Summer had given her. Maybe it would go on the same way.

"Something happened," Hunter stated. "Kelly's in the hospital."

"What?" Alex asked. He grabbed the jacket from Libby and draped it over her shoulders, "No time for that! Just hurry up!"

-Fight-Flight-

Kelly laid peacefully in the hospital bed, still unconscious. This worried Dustin greatly. He had been called to the hospital by Tori shortly after she and the Rangers returned from the Wastelands with Kelly. Tori told him he couldn't get a hold of Hunter or the kids and needed him to be with her while she and the Rangers talked with Dr. K and the Colonel about what had happened.

At first Kelly seemed fine. She had been awake when she was first found in the wastelands but quickly and suddenly slipped into unconsciousness. The doctors were still going over the needle that had been found beside her. It was safe to believe that whatever was in the needle had been injected into Kelly's body. Until they figured that out, they couldn't give Kelly anymore drugs.

Dustin was also worried about her injuries. Until Kelly woke up, she couldn't tell anyone how she had gotten them. The best thing they could do was guess that she had obtained them while trying to escape from the Grinders and Kilobyte, but that was it. The doctors were doing the best they could to keep her comfortable until they could really get a good luck at her and figure out what had happened.

Out in the waiting room, Tori and the Rangers were sitting close together in the seats. There was a laptop on Tori's lap with both a video image of the Colonel and Dr. K's regular screen. After going over how they had found Kelly, and in what condition, they were making assumptions on what could have happened.

"I doubt they would want to kill their prisoners, Colonel," Tori stated after the Colonel suggested that it was useless to worry about people who were possibly already dead. "Aside from a few worrisome injuries, Kelly seems to be okay physically, and I doubt Venjix has the patience to wait to kill hundreds of people from the inside out."

"I think he wanted them for something more," Flynn suggested.

"That's what Kilobyte told me," Tori nodded. She looked at the screen, "When I was fighting him at the store, he told me he needed them to build a perfect robot… or something like that. We just need to figure out what that means…"

"Sir!" the Rangers and Dr. K heard a voice coming from the Colonel's end of the conversation. On his screen they could see a soldier approaching Truman.

"Make it quick, son. This is important."

"Corporal Hicks and Vasquez haven't shown up, sir," the soldier announced. "We can't…"

"Is that it?" the Colonel asked. "Deal with them when they get back. There are more important things right now."

"Yes, sir," the soldier saluted before walking off. The Colonel let out a long sigh.

"Sorry about that," he said. "Where were we?"

"Venjix using humans as test subjects," Tori said.

"Colonel… I don't mean to poke my nose into your business or anything…" Summer frowned, "but, um… is it possible that maybe your two soldiers were abducted as well?"

"Do you think I know?" the Colonel frowned. Half the city just went missing. Why the hell was everyone at the grocery store anyways?"

"Buy one, get one free," Dr. K answered. "Apparently it's a very popular sale. People would rather spend their days getting twice as much for half the cost, even if the city is still paying for their necessities."

"What do we know so far about the abductions?" the Colonel asked. "Aside from Venjix possibly needing the humans alive."

"That's it, Colonel," Tori sighed. "Until Kelly wakes up, that's all I can tell you. If she remembers anything. Who knows what the Grinders really did to her."

"When she wakes up let me know," the Colonel said. "I'll have a word with her…"

"Sorry, Colonel," Scott shook his head, "You're not exactly the calm, soothing voice she might want to hear when she wakes up."

"Excuse me?" the Colonel frowned as he narrowed his eyes at his son. Scott looked at his father.

"We'll take care of this. You just worry about your soldiers," Scott said. He closed the laptop on both the Colonel and Dr. K. Tori looked to him.

"I know you have issues with your father, but…"

"We're here already and Kelly's your friend. She'll probably tell you more than she'll tell my father. Isn't that what we need? As much information as possible?"

"I guess," Tori shrugged. She put the laptop back in its bag and when she looked back up she saw Hunter, Alex and Libby rushing into the room. She waved them over.

"Where is she?" Hunter demanded.

"Where were you?" Tori asked. "I called you first but no one answered."

"Libby was exploring," Alex answered. "It's my fault, really. Never let a hungry Libby roam."

"At least I wasn't eating the table," Libby whispered.

"Cafeteria's that way," Tori pointed down the hallway with a strange look. After that comment, she could only assume that the teens were hungry.

Alex led Libby away. He hadn't had much chance to roam around the hospital when he had been a patient, but he did remember the way to the cafeteria.

Hunter looked at Tori. He needed his question about Kelly answered. He needed to see her and figure out what the hell had happened to her. If she was here, things were bad and he wanted to be by her side.

"Tori…"

"Kelly Holloway?" a doctor called as he stepped into the waiting room. Hunter shoved Tori aside and rushed over to the doctor.

"Where is she?" he asked. Tori walked up behind him. The doctor would recognise her as the face that brought Kelly in.

"Miss Holloway is awake now," the doctor answered. "The drug inside the needle was simply propofol and it has worn off. She'll be a little out of it for the next little while, but it shouldn't do any damage to her body."

"Thank goodness," Hunter sighed. He didn't care about the drugs. All he cared about was if his girlfriend was okay."

"What about her injuries?" Tori asked. "Have you found anything…?"

"A concussion, so far," the doctor answered quickly.

"A concussion?" Hunter frowned.

"Kelly had a few of those before," Tori told the doctor. It was a rather common injury in the extreme sports world. Even with helmets and protective gear people were still hurt. "It's not bad, is it?"

"We would like to keep an eye on her for the next few days while we do a few more tests," the doctor said. "However, at this point, she is awake and there is nothing of great concern. We will inform you, though if we find anything."

"Thank you," Tori nodded before letting the doctor get back to his job. She looked at Hunter, "She'll be fine."

"What happened to her?" Hunter asked.

"Grinders invaded the grocery store," Scott said. "Apparently one grabbed Kelly and tried to take her with the rest of the kidnapped citizens. She's the only one who escaped."

"Where is she?" Hunter asked.

"I'll take you," Tori said.

She led Hunter down the hallways until they reached Kelly's room. She told him to wait outside while she talked to Dustin. She figured the Crimson Ranger would want a little time alone with Kelly. She convinced Dustin to leave the room before allowing Hunter to come inside. Before leaving, she told Hunter that she would be back in a few hours. She still had questions she needed to ask Kelly, but it was best to wait until the drugs wore off.

Hunter took the seat that Dustin had placed beside the bed. He took Kelly's hand as she rolled over to look at him. He chuckled, "Where are the groceries?"

"Shut up," Kelly whispered.

"How are you feeling?" Hunter asked her.

Kelly shifted slightly, "Everything hurts."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Kind of," Kelly nodded. "Groceries, Grinders, truck and then… nothing, really."

"Hopefully when you wake up a little more you'll be able to remember," Hunter said. "If it involves Grinders, Tori and the Rangers are going to want to know as much as possible."

"I think I jumped out of a truck," Kelly frowned. Hunter chuckled.

"You jumped out of a truck?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Where are the kids?"

"Cafeteria," Hunter told her. "They were really hungry when I got home."

"You didn't get them anything to eat?"

"I went out. I thought you were coming home," Hunter said. He squeezed her hand gently, "Don't worry about it. Alex seemed perfectly fine munching on the coffee table."

There was a knock on the door before a nurse stepped in, carrying a tray with medical equipment. She looked at Hunter and Kelly.

"Now that we know what drug is in her system the doctor has given the okay to administer some pain killers."

"Good," Hunter nodded. "She's hurting."

"I know that," the nurse said. She looked at Kelly as she administered the drugs, "Aside from the pain how are you feeling?"

"Tired," Kelly whispered.

"That's normal," the doctor said once she finished with Kelly and the pain killers and pulled off her gloves. She smiled softly, "The pain should start to disappear in a little while. But if there's anything else you need just push that little button on the side of your bed. Someone will be here to help you."

Hunter thanked the nurse as she walked off, leaving the two alone. He leaned in closer to the bed and brushed away Kelly's red locks from her face before he kissed her forehead.

"You had me scared for a minute, there," he told her.

"Only a minute?" Kelly teased.

"Libby somehow unplugged the phone," Hunter said. "Tori tried calling, but couldn't get through."

"Tori?" Kelly frowned. She had been out of it when Tori had been taking care of her. The first time she had truly seen Tori was when she had taken Dustin out of the room. "Does she want to know about the Grinders?"

"Yes, but not right now."

"But there are other people…"

"Kelly, you can't even remember if you jumped out of a truck," Hunter said. "Though that would explain your scars, it might not be real. She's going to wait a little while before asking you questions. You know, once your mind is… not as shaken up."

"But…"

"It'll only be a few more hours," Hunter assured her. "If Venjix wanted that many people dead, he wouldn't have bothered transporting them across the Wastelands to kill them. He would have done it in the store."

There was another knock at the door before Alex and Libby walked in. Hunter smiled at Kelly.

"Don't worry about it, okay?" he told her as the two teenagers walked over. Alex sat on the end of the bed while Libby kept her distance, unsure of what to do. She had been told by Alex that the hospital was for sick people, but he never explained to her what sick was.

"I heard you were pretty lucky," Alex said. "The entire grocery store was abducted, save a few souls, and you're the only person who made it back inside the city."

"Yeah, lucky," Kelly frowned. She shifted in bed slightly, hoping to get a little more comfortable.

"Kelly, are you sick?" Libby asked.

"Not exactly," she answered.

"Then why are you here?" Libby asked. "Alex said the hospital was for sick people."

"You can come here when you hurt yourself too," Hunter told Libby. She held up her finger with the paper cut.

"I hurt myself," she said. "I hurt myself a lot today. Should I be here too?"

"You're okay, Libs," Hunter assured her.

"Why am I okay? Why isn't Kelly okay?"

"Kelly hurt herself really badly," Hunter explained. "She thinks she jumped out of a truck. If that's true, she's got a bit of a problem, if it's not, she's either got a problem, or she was dreaming."

"You jumped out of a truck?" Alex asked with excitement in his voice. He turned to Kelly but saw her eyes were closed. He tapped her leg, "Um, Kel?"

"Shh," Kelly shushed him quietly.

"It's probably the pain killers setting in," Hunter said to the boy. "Kelly will be fine."

Hunter felt pretty confident when he said that. There were a few machines hooked up to Kelly. If there was anything wrong, they would surely pick up on it and a doctor would be in here before anyone could wonder what was happening.

"Is she coming home after she wakes up?" Libby asked. Hunter shook his head.

"No, she won't. She'll be staying here for a few days."

"Why can't she come home?" Libby asked. "She has a bed at home, right? Can't she stay there?"

"Not yet…"

"Can we stay here?"

"We're going to go home to sleep, but we'll be back here first thing in the morning…"

"Who's going to help me get dressed?" Libby asked. "Who's going to put me to bed?"

"I can…"

"Kelly does it," Libby interrupted. "Kelly helps me with everything. Kelly helps me, Alex teaches me and you just make jokes!"

"Libby, for a little while you're going to have to get used to Kelly not…"

"But if Kelly's going to be fine, why can't she come home with us?" Libby asked. It was obvious at this point that she was getting distressed. She didn't understand the concept behind hospitals yet, and it wasn't like medicine was Hunter's area of expertise. As far as Libby knew a hospital was just a big building with a lot of beds. She couldn't understand why Kelly couldn't sleep in her own bed at home and be with her. She was behaving like a child, but as far as Hunter and Alex were concerned, Libby was a child. She was a child who depended on other people to help her out.

"Kelly's going to be fine," Hunter assured Libby. He got up and placed his hands on her shoulders, "But she's just going to stay here while the doctors make sure."

"Can they make sure now?" Libby asked. "I want Kelly to come home."

"Maybe in a few days…"

"NOW!" Libby shouted. She stomped her feet on the ground. "I want Kelly home now!"

For a third time there was a knock at the door. Much to Hunter's relief it was Summer who walked in next. Hopefully, being the third person Libby trusted without a second though, Summer could get the girl to calm down.

"Tori just wants to know if you guys need anything," Summer asked.

Libby stomped her feet again, "I want Kelly home!"

Summer looked at the blonde and then at the bed where Kelly was sleeping. She shook her head.

"She can't come home, Libby," she explained. "She got really hurt and the doctors need to make sure she's going to be okay. When they know for sure, they'll let her go home with you, okay?"

"They need to know now!" Libby demanded. "I need Kelly. They don't!"

"But Kelly needs them," Summer said. "You can make it a few days without Kelly. You'll have Hunter and Alex to help you, and if you need me, I'll only be a phone call away."

"Maybe Fran or Lily can help out too," Alex suggested. "I don't know about you, Hunter, but I'm not comfortable helping Libby get dressed and stuff or… what if it's her time of month? Has anyone thought of that, yet?"

"I'll call the kittens," Hunter sighed. He looked at Alex, "Stay here with Kelly."

"Can't you stay with me?" Libby asked Summer. "I like you."

"I'm going to help you in another way," Summer said. "I'm going to find out who hurt Kelly, and I'm going to make sure they never do it again. That way Kelly never has to leave you again, okay?"

"Okay," Libby nodded.