Sector 17, H.E.A.L.T.H
Metro City, Canada
April 4th, 2019
5:59 PM

"Riley Bishop"

It had been seven months since the last Crusader attack. None of us understood why they let up. Despite the unexpected peace, we went out and patrolled for any signs of trouble each and every night but found nothing.

That's why when they FINALLY attacked us again, it hit us by surprise. Maybe that's exactly what Astrid was hoping for, I have to give her credit there. She sent an agent with powers so deadly that not even our ranger powers could protect us from them.

And now I'm sitting by Rachel's side in the hospital. Can I just point out that being a Power Ranger was a lot more fun when we weren't getting hospitalized or seriously injured every other day? Well, technically I can't say that anymore, considering they waited for nearly a year in for this latest attack.

Priya and Yuna have a theory that Astrid didn't just wait so long to keep us guessing, but maybe it was also to give the agent time to build up his powers. I don't know for sure, and it doesn't really matter now.

Rachel opened her eyes gradually and squeezed my hand when she saw me and realized that I was still here. Where else would I be? There are still five other rangers that can spring into action should the need arise.

"Riley?" moaned Rachel weakly, "You're still here?"

"You can't get rid of me that easily." I said.

"Go home," she moaned, "Get some sleep. Do something."

"I tried," I said, my voice breaking, "But I just can't bring myself to leave."

"Do the doctors know what's wrong with me?" she asked, sitting up in bed.

This broke me. It was hard enough for me to tell Rachel that because I wished for Smithton Art Gallery to be available for our wedding and then they had a cancellation. But because we defeated Loki all those months ago, whatever the wishing well changed or created was undone.

I covered my face with my hands and broke down. I didn't want Rachel to see me like this, so I scurried out of the room into the hallway just in time for Michelle to walk over.

During the 5-month gap, Michelle had a miscarriage and lost the baby. Sawyer was very quiet for a while, but with support from everyone, they both moved on very quickly.

"I know its hard," she said, putting her hand on my shoulder, "But she deserves to know."

"I-I-I c-c-c-c-can't do it…" I sobbed.

"You have to," said Michelle, "Come on. We'll do it together."

She gave me a minute to regain my composure. I wiped my eyes using my sleeve, not caring about etiquette or hygiene right now. I haven't even showered or shaved since Rachel was admitted earlier this week.

"Ready?" asked Michelle, patting me on the back.

"Define ready." I said.

Michelle brought me in for a one-armed hug.

"It's like a band-aid," she said, "Let's just rip it off and be done with it."

"Alright," I nodded, "It's probably not even a big deal because the symptoms are linked to the agent that caused them, right?"

"That's how it been for all the other cases I've been involved with," said Michelle, "But I don't like giving people false hope."

"How do you sleep at night?" I asked her, incredulously, "Having to give people bad news every day? I could never do it."

"There's a whole section for that in medical school," said Michelle, "But for me, it helps if I tell myself that I'm doing my best to help people."

"I could never do it." I repeated, freeing myself from the hug.

Michelle led us inside Rachel's patient room. When she saw us, she looked up at us and mustered a weak smile. At least she's trying.

"Michelle?" asked Rachel, looking at her.

"There's no easy way to say this, Rachel…" began Michelle.

"It's cancer…" I said, finishing her sentence.

"No, you don't!" piped up Michelle, "At least now I know why Riley looked so depressed out in the hallway, he's jumping the gun."

"Phew!" I sighed.

"Right now, you only have radiation sickness, which isn't always fatal," said Michelle, "However, the dosage of radiation you received is extremely high. Radiation is a carcinogen, meaning that it promotes carcinogenesis, the formation of cancer."

"Wow!" I chuckled, "Here I was thinking she was on her deathbed."

"Honey, please tell me you're celebrating because I don't have cancer and not because I'm bedridden with radiation sickness." said Rachel.

"I'm shocked you needed clarification." I said with a massive grin on my face.

I walked over to Rachel's bed and gently fell tilted myself back until I fell on her. She groaned weakly, but I think that was just her playing along, pretending that I weighed more than I did.

"Get off me!" she laughed weakly.

"I can't! gravity is increasing on me!" I called playfully.

Michelle looked at Rachel and then at me. She went back and forth a few times.

"You two are so cute!" she squealed.

"Yeah, we get that a lot," said Rachel, "Seriously though, honey, get off."

I hopped off the bed and back into the chair I had been sitting in earlier.

"I feel I should tell you," said Michelle, "There is a chance that you could develop cancer."

"Didn't you just say I have radiation sickness?" asked Rachel.

"No, what I said was RIGHT NOW that's all you have," said Michelle, "Anytime anyone gets exposed to radiation, they always get sick, but they don't always get cancer."

"What do we do if that happens?" I asked.

"I can't really answer that right now," said Michelle, "I don't know exactly how much radiation you were hit with, or what kind it was or anything that we could normally use to make a rough estimate."

"Then what can we do?" asked Rachel.

"Nothing," said Michelle, "Just get some rest."

Michelle turned and left the room. I watched her walk down the hallway until I couldn't see her anymore.

"Riley, there's something I want to tell you." said Rachel.

I pulled the chair as close to the bed as I could so that I could rest my head on her chest.

"In case I don't make it through this, you should-" she began.

"Hey!" I snapped, squeezing her hand which was back in my hands, "Don't talk like that. The others are already scouring the city for that damn agent and once we find it and destroy it, you'll be fit as a fiddle."

"Please, just listen to me for a second," said Rachel, "I don't want to die, but I'm not scared of it either. If this is the end for me, fine. But just in case it is…"

"Alright." I said softly.

"Yuna is our daughter," she said, looking me right in the eye, "Our future daughter."

She probably thought this would come as a total shock, but to it didn't. I heard the words come out of her mouth, but instead of being new information, it felt like a simple confirmation.

"I know," I said, "I think somewhere deep down, I've always known."

"Remember when Yuna's medallion short circuited and showed me the future she came from?"

"Yeah?"

"I saw everything," said Rachel, "The night we found out I was pregnant. The night of the party where we told everyone. The day she was born. Even the day we said to goodbye to her before the fight with the Crusaders that we lost."

"Does that mean you know exactly when and where she was conceived?"

"Well, in the alternate future, it was during our honeymoon," said Rachel, "But after everything that's happened and with Yuna's help, we're changing the future."

"Right," I said, "Which means that what you saw might be completely different to how things will happen now, in this timeline."

"The Yuna that we know will be an entirely different person to the one we'll end up having," said Rachel, "We might not even have girl. And we might name the baby something else instead because of our Yuna."

"See?" I asked, "Listen to us, planning for the future."

"Yeah." said Rachel, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Um," I said, "Is that happy crying or scared you might die crying?"

"I don't really know." she sniffled.

I heard my Digitizer beep. Silver or one of the other rangers was trying to contact me.

"Answer that." said Rachel.

"I'm the leader," I said, "I don't have to if I don't want to."

"I don't care," said Rachel, "I'm your fiancée and I say that they could probably use your help with that agent. Or have you forgotten that he emits radiation?"

"But I want to be here for you."

"You can't always get what you want." she said.

"Really?" I asked, running my hand through my hair, "Quoting the Rolling Stones?"

I let go of Rachel's hand and stood up. I took off my Digitizer while Rachel was sleeping. It was sitting on the table on the far end of the room. I went over to it and put it back on my wrist.

"This is Riley." I said into it.

"We found the agent. He's in Sector 2," said Priya, "But Silver says not to go until he can figure out a way to block the radiation."

"What if Sawyer, Chloe and Oz were to activate their Burst Modes?" I asked, "Would that protect them?"

"Riley, I know that Rachel is sick," came Silver's voice, "But your team needs their leader."

"Alright," I sighed, "I'll be right there."

I ended the call and looked longingly at Rachel.

"Go on," she said, coughing, "Duty calls."

I nodded at her as I pressed and held the two small buttons on my Digitizer. I felt the familiar tingle as I was reconfigured into a flurry of binary that flew up through the ceiling and out into the evening sky. Seconds later, I touched down on the floor of headquarters.

"How's Rachel?" asked Chloe.

"Fine for now," I said, "A simple case of radiation sickness."

"That's to be expected," said Jenna, "Radiation exposure is measured in millisieverts; The average person receives around 3 mSv of exposure per year from naturally occurring background radiation."

"Sounds like someone has been reading." I said to her.

"By our estimations, Rachel received a dosage equivalent to roughly 30 times that," said Silver, "And that was just from the agent squeezing her leg for a few seconds."

"Michelle texted me earlier," said Sawyer, "According to her, it takes about 400 mSv of radiation to kill someone."

"Hopefully it won't come to that," I said, "We all know that Rachel's best hope is for us to destroy that agent, but if we can't even protect ourselves, everybody loses."

"I've got it!" announced Oz, "We need a fridge!"

"This is no time for eating," said Yuna, "Rachel is in danger!"

"No, I mean we use a fridge for protection," said Oz, "Remember when Indiana survived a nuke by hiding in a fridge?"

"That's just a movie, Oz," I said, "Plus, scientists worldwide have analyzed that scene and determined that there's no way he could have survived that."

"He might be on to something though," said Silver, "In the movie, that fridge was lead-lined. Lead is one of the best materials for blocking radiation."

"So now the question becomes, where can we find lead?" I asked the room at large.

"Have you forgotten that I'm a multi-billionaire?" asked Silver, "All I need to do is make a few calls and I can get some within an hour."

"Awesome," I said, "You do that. Once the lead gets here, call me and I'll come help with the next step. But until then…"

"You're going back to Rachel?" asked Jenna.

I nodded.

"She's lucky to have someone like you." said Jenna, winking with a warm smile.

"Michelle Masters, MD"

I finished with a patient and had an opening on my docket, so I walked over to Rachel's room to see how she was doing… But when I got there, I saw that the bed was empty. A red beam of 0s and 1s flew down from the ceiling and landed in the now empty room. Riley was back, he took one look around the room and could already tell that something was amiss.

"Where is she?" he asked.

"I don't know," I gasped, "I just came in to check on her and she was gone!"

I ran over to nearest intercom device and punched in my code. I put the receiver to my ear and spoke into the microphone:

"This is a code yellow! Missing persons. I repeat, code yellow!"

I turned around to look at Riley, but he was already gone. If anyone would know where Rachel would run off to, it would be him.

"Riley Bishop"

I went back to headquarters, because I didn't have time to search for Rachel the normal way. If she's doing what I think she's doing, I need to find her before she can do it.

"Rachel is missing." I announced to room.

"No she isn't," said Sawyer, tapping me on the shoulder and pointing to the Sector 2 surveillance monitor, "We were just about to call you."

I stared deeply at the monitor. Rachel must have overheard my conversation with Priya and now she's going after the agent on her own, even though she's still sick from her last altercation with it.

"I'm going after her." I said.

"We'll come with you." said Yuna.

"No, Silver will need your help once the lead gets here," I said, "Even if its against her will, I'm bringing Rach back to the hospital."

I wasted no time and immediately teleported up through the ceiling of headquarters. I flew through the ever-darkening sky and arrived in Sector 2 instantaneously.

"RACHEL?" I hollered, "I'M TAKING YOU BACK TO H.E.A.L.T.H!"

"I'm over here!" came Rachel's voice.

She still sounded sick, but there was also a tone of confidence and determination in her voice that I've only heard her use on a few occasions.

I followed her voice into an alley. It was a dead end, I found Rachel leaning against the brick wall, clutching at her chest. She was still wearing her hospital gown and nothing else.

"Before you pull rank on me," she panted, "Hear me out."

I nodded at her.

"I'm already sick, so until Silver comes up with a way to block out the radiation, I figured I could try fighting him again," she said, "I never got a chance to use my Burst Mode or anything."

"I get where you're coming from," I said, "Really, I do. But you're in no condition to fight. Especially against the agent that did this to you in the first place."

"Well, I can't just sit around either!" she snapped stubbornly.

"I know it's hard," I said, "But you're not thinking clearly."

"Is that so?" said Rachel, breaking into a coughing fit.

"Just because you're already sick doesn't mean you can't get worse," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder, remember what Michelle said?"

"Yeah, okay…" she sputtered, "Take me back."

"Atta girl."

I held out my hand for her to take, but as she reached for it, the nuclear agent dropped down in between us. He thrust out his arms and a massive orb of energy encircled him, sending me flying out the alley and knocking the wind out of me.

"Rachel! Run!" I choked, trying to stand up.

I watched in horror as the agent grabbed Rachel's left leg again and sneered menacingly. His whole arm started glowing and I heard Rachel scream in agony.

"NO! RACHEL!"

There was an enormous explosion of red binary that created a gigantic pillar of light. It was so bright that it was almost blinding. Even though I didn't morph, I knew that I was now in ranger form.

"Riley, this is called Burst Mode," said my codec, "It was locked away deep inside me, but you activated it by demonstrating your unwavering devotion."

"Devotion?" I asked.

"Your devotion to your friends and loved ones is what first drew me to you," said my codec, "Burst Mode doubles your power in ranger form. The initial explosion can also turn the tide in a tough battle."

"Hopefully it will also protect me from that asshole's radiation." I said.

"It will, but only for as long as you can maintain Burst Mode." said my codec.

A flurry of pink binary materialized beside me. It was Priya.

"Get her to the hospital" I shouted, "NOW!"

Once Priya reached Rachel and grabbed her hand, they teleported away, leaving me to deal with the agent.

"What did you do to her!?" I snarled, "TELL ME!"

"I was only trying to finish what I started," he snickered, "Last time I was interrupted before I could really dose her. But now she's as good as dead."

"No…" I whimpered, "Sh-sh-she can't be."

"It's all part of the commander's brilliant plan!" jeered the agent, "Inject me with pure plutonium and let it seep into my core for five months."

"So that's why she left us alone for so long," I said, "To give you a chance to maximize your powers."

"Yes," said the agent, "And judging on how long I was in contact with her, I'd say that touch was more than 5 times stronger than last time."

"That's at least 500 mSv…" I thought out loud, "And according to Jenna, 400 mSv is a lethal dose…"

"Like I said, she's as good as dead." said the agent.

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" I roared, holding out my hand.

My katana appeared my hand.

"Riley, try using the energy from Burst Mode to do an ultimate upgrade." said Silver.

"CYBER KATANA! ULTIMATE UPGRADE!" I announced.

I put both hands on my katana and I felt all the extra power drain away from me and transfer into my weapon. The katana doubled and then tripled in size. It grew bigger and bigger as more and more power flowed into it.

"FULLY CHARGED!" I shouted, then I waited five seconds, "ATTACK!"

I threw my giant katana. It flew right towards the agent and lodged itself right in his chest. Then it popped out and stabbed the agent again and again until it exploded into red binary. When the smoke cleared, the agent was gone. But I did see a small glowing gizmo about the size of a baseball.

I would have investigated further, but I was exhausted and too busy worrying about Rachel. I collapsed to me knees, gasping for breath. My suit returned to normal only to disintegrate a few seconds later.

"Hang in there, Rach!" I panted, "I'm coming!"

"Michelle Masters, MD"

Sawyer called me at the hospital and told me that Riley found Rachel, but that she got an even bigger dose of radiation than last time. Something about how they saw the whole thing on the surveillance system.

"Doctor!" called Priya, cradling Rachel in her arms as she sprinted into the ER.

"Dear God," I said, "I've never seen cancer develop this quickly."

A pillar of red 0s and 1s touched down right in the middle of the waiting room. Riley was back again. He also took one look at Rachel and burst into tears.

"What's wrong with her?" he sobbed.

"Normally in a case like this, patients develop a kind of cancer called soft tissue sarcoma," I said, "It's different from carcinomas because they happen in different kinds of tissue. Sarcomas grow in cells that connect or support other kinds of tissue in your body; like bones, muscles and tendons of your arms and legs."

"And in Rachel's case?" asked Riley.

Two orderlies arrived pushing a stretcher. Priya gently put Rachel down on the gurney and then stepped back to give them room. They were about to start pushing when I stopped them.

On Rachel's left leg, which I could see plain as day because she was still wearing her gown, was a second degree burn in the shape of a hand. But instead of being red like a usual burn, it was black.

"Riley," I said, doing my best to maintain my composure, "I don't think Rachel has cancer, I think she's way past that now."

"I don't like the sound of that." said Riley.

"See how her skin is black here?" I asked, pointing at the hand print, "When skin turns black like that, it means they're necrotic."

"As in necromancy?" he sputtered.

"In a way," I said, wiping a tear from my eye, "Basically, her leg is dying. That black hand print is an infection that will literally eat away at her skin."

I heard the same beep that David's ranger thingy makes.

"Rangers?" came Silver's voice, "The agent is back. Somehow it survived."

"Stay with Rachel," said Priya to Riley, "I'll go help them."

Riley nodded at her but couldn't muster a smile. I looked down at Rachel's leg again and gasped. The hand print was gone, and the black skin was noticeably larger.

"Riley," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder, "Look at her leg."

He saw what I saw now.

"What can we do?" he asked.

"In most cases, necrosis can be stopped dead in it's tracks by surgically removing the infected area." I said.

"Do it," said Riley, leaning forward and kissing Rachel on the lips, "I'm her medical proxy, do whatever you have to do to save her."

"Are you sure?" I asked, "Riley, you need to understand. Whatever the radiation did to Rachel, it's spreading faster than anything I've ever seen."

He looked at me apprehensively.

"If surgery doesn't work," I continued, "We might have to amputate her leg. Otherwise the infection could spread across her whole body and kill her."

Riley cupped his hand over his mouth and then nodded.

"Please Michelle," he pleaded, "Just save her… I can't lose her."

"Yuna Murphy"

"Since not all of you have unlocked Burst Mode yet," said Silver, "Before you go after that agent, I need to use this lead to make you protective vests or aprons."

"How could that agent survive an attack like that? asked Chloe.

"I don't know," said Sawyer, "A few hours ago, I thought it was impossible."

"Maybe there's something special about it?" suggested Oz, "Like maybe it will come back to life unless you hit its weak point?"

I wasn't really listening. I was thinking about poor Rachel. Riley must be a mess. I never really had a family or friends growing up in 2041. The only parents I remember were the Murphy's, but they died a few months after the Power Rangers.

After that, it was just me and Arthur, the Murphy's biological son. We would wander the Aftermath, gathering whatever supplies we could find. I don't know how we survived for so long, but somehow, we managed it.

"Alright," said Silver, "This goes in here and now all we do is wait."

I watched as he dropped all the components of the protective vests into his inventing machine or whatever he calls it. It made a lot of noise, but after a few minutes, it spat out one lead lined vest.

"There's one," said Silver, "Yuna come here."

I nodded obediently but kept staring at the floor. Even though I was sad, it actually felt good to be able to feel sad for someone. I haven't had a reason to worry for someone since I arrived in 2018.

"Morph and then see if this fits over your ranger outfit," instructed Silver, "If it does, I'll get started on the other vests."

"But we don't even know if they'll work yet." said Priya.

"How could we test them here?" asked Jenna, "Even if we had a machine that could imitate that agent's radiation, we don't know what kind it is. It might not even exist on Earth."

"Relax," said Silver, "We'll be watching you the whole time. If the vests don't work, we'll just bring you all back before you get hit again."

"You're not instilling us with a load of confidence." said Chloe.

"That's because he isn't trying to." said Jenna.

"Green Ranger! CYBER POWER!" I shouted.

When I pushed the button on my Digitizer, I could see a swirling tornado of 0s and 1s come from out of the codec and encircle me.

It kept swirling faster and faster becoming more and more narrow as it did so until it collided with me in a small explosion. I had a green ranger suit on now. I leapt high into the air, rotating slightly as I rose.

By the time I reached the height of my jump, I had my helmet on too. During my descent, the strange dimension faded from around me until I landed back on the floor.

"I will never get tired of that." I said, grinning.

Silver took the vest from the conveyor belt on his machine and brought it over to me. He opened it and held it for me. Once I put my arms through the holes, Silver let go of it.

"How does it feel?" asked Jenna.

"It's not very heavy." I said.

"That's because it's lead-lined, not made of lead." said Priya.

"Oh." I said.

"Does it make it harder to move around?" asked Silver.

"No," I said, "I can't even tell it's there."

"Good," said Silver, "That's what we want."

"The rest of you, ranger up and line up." said Jenna.

I watched as they arranged themselves into a 4-person formation.

"Ready?" asked Oz.

"Ready!" said the others.

"Yellow Ranger! CYBER POWER!" shouted Oz.

"Orange Ranger! CYBER POWER!" shouted Chloe.

"Purple Ranger! CYBER POWER!" shouted Sawyer.

"Pink Ranger! CYBER POWER!" shouted Priya.

I went to stand by them after they morphed. We waited for a few minutes while Silver's machine did whatever it does to produce his various inventions. It kept making that strange noise until eventually there were four more vests.

Silver even seemed to take our varying sizes into consideration, because I could tell just by looking at them that they were all different sizes than the one he had me try on.

"This should be all you need," said Silver as he handed out the vests, "But don't dally. Go in there and destroy that agent again quickly."

"Yeah, and hopefully he'll stay dead this time." I said.

"Let's go guys." said Yellow.

After arranging ourselves into the 5-person formation, we all teleported to Sector 2 again. The agent came back to life from the very spot that Riley seemingly obliterated him. We touched down in Sector 2 moments later.

"Anyone see anything?" asked Pink.

"Nothing but busybodies bustling around." I said.

Sector 2 is the fashion district of Metro City. This is where most headquarters for the city's self-contained brands are housed. As Chloe once told me, things like Prada or Gucci don't exist here because they would have to be imported from outside.

Chloe also told me that if I could somehow stay here after we defeat the Crusaders that I had the body to be a model. I didn't know what that was until she explained it to me. I'm still not sure I understood her right, because I can't imagine that there are girls that get paid a lot of money to wear clothes and have people take pictures of them in those clothes.

"Rangers! You've come back!" sneered the unmistakable voice of the agent, "I knew you couldn't stay away."

We could hear him, but we couldn't see him.

"Don't flatter yourself!" shouted Orange.

"If you think you're so tough, come out and face us!" jeered Yellow.

There was a high-pitched beeping sound and then he faded into existence. It was almost like he had been there the whole time, invisible or something.

"Rangers!" called Silver into the comm system, "I forgot to tell you that I installed a Geiger counter into those vests."

"A Geiger what now?" I asked.

"Geiger counters measure ionized radiation," said Jenna, "So if you ever hear a high-pitched beep, that means the agent is using highly radioactive attacks."

"Did anyone else hear a beep when he revealed himself?" I asked them,

"As a matter of fact, yes," said Purple, "I thought it was just me."

"No, that was probably your vests," said Silver, "Since we have no way of testing those vests, try and avoid as many of his attacks as you can."

"Roger that." said Orange.

I looked at the agent and saw something green glowing in his chest. This triggered a memory from earlier. I chose to use a phrase that I heard Chloe and the others use.

"Déjà vu," I said, "Um… Did I use that right?"

"You did," said Purple, "Good job."

"Remember when Riley destroyed him the first time?" I asked, "There was that weird green thing left behind on the ground?"

"Yeah." said Pink.

"The agent even came back to life near where Riley destroyed him." I said.

"My name is GAMMA!" barked the agent, "Stop calling me agent!"

"No one cares, Gamma," said Yellow, "I think you might be on to something, Green."

"I'll bet you anything the reason he came back is because of that green thing." I said.

"Only one way to find out." said Purple.

We pressed the appropriate buttons on our Digitizers to summon the VR. We don't need to have our weapons out first to do it. Five different streams of colours combined, reshaped and solidified into the Virus Reaper.

"Virus Reaper, online!" we announced in unison.

I grabbed one of the handles as we took aim. The familiar laser sight showed us the path the bolt would follow once we pulled the trigger.

"Four…" said Purple.

"Three…" said Orange.

"Two…" said Pink.

"One…" said Yellow.

"FIRE!" I shouted.

With an electronic twanging sound, the VR shot the bolt. There was a loud boom as the bolt broke the sound barrier. It flew straight towards Gamma, we made sure to aim for that weird green thing in his chest.

When the bolt made contact, Gamma screamed in agony. His body disintegrated, but the green thing stayed where it was, suspended in the air. After a while, the bolt pierced through the green thing and then returned to us like a boomerang.

We watched with baited breath as whatever that green thing was exploded, sending a wave of energy flying towards us. The counters in our vests emitted that high-pitched beep again.

"I'd say that went well," I said, "He almost seemed weaker this time."

"Maybe each time he comes back to life, he loses power?" suggested Orange.

"I think that thing was like the core of a nuclear power plant," said Purple, "Until you destroy the core, the power plant will keep working."

"Let's stick around in case Astrid decides to make Gamma bigger." said Pink.

"There's no point waiting," said Yellow, "She might decide to wait again."

"No," I said, "Priya and I were with the Militia. We know first hand that the Crusaders only have a small window if they want to make their agents bigger. If she's going to do it, it'll be within a few seconds."

We waited again. One minute went by, then a second.

"Alright then," I said, "That's the end of that."

"Power down." we said together.

"Great job, Rangers!" called Silver delightedly, "With Gamma destroyed, Rachel should right as rain."

"Let's all rendezvous at H.E.A.L.T.H." said Jenna.

"Michelle Masters, MD"

I walked out of Rachel's patient room into the hallway. David texted me saying that they had defeated the agent for good and were coming to visit Rachel. Riley was staying behind in the room, holding Rachel's hand.

When I reached the waiting room, I saw David, Oz, Chloe, Priya, Yuna, Silver and Jenna all waiting for someone to meet them. David was holding an adorable 'get well soon' balloon and Yuna was carrying a bouquet of flowers.

"How is she?" asked Chloe.

"She'll be fine," I said, unable to muster a smile.

David saw this and handed the balloon to Oz to hold. He ran over to me and threw his arms around me.

"What's wrong?" he whispered in my ear.

"Sometimes my job really sucks," I whimpered, "Normally when I have to give bad news, its to people that I don't know. But now I have to do it to some of my best friends."

"I don't get it," whispered David, "I thought you said she'll be fine?"

I took a deep calming breath as he wrapped his arms around my waist. With David standing there, holding me tightly, I felt safe and mustered up my courage. I raised my head to look at them.

"We tried operating to remove the infected area," I said, "But it spread so fast!"

"Michelle?" asked Chloe.

"We had no choice but to amputate her leg." I said, a few tears forming in my eyes.

Everyone gasped and covered their mouths with their hands.

"But we beat the agent…" said Yuna glumly.

"I know," I said, "I don't think anyone will blame you. That agent really did a number on her. We had to act fast to stop the infection from spreading."

"I guess we need to look on the bright side," said Oz, "At least she's still alive."

I noticed that Silver was gone. He didn't say anything, he just slipped away when I wasn't looking. The only one that seemed to be aware of this was Jenna.

"Can we see her?" asked Chloe.

"Sure. She's in room 10 down the hall on the left," I said, "She's still sleeping. Riley's with her now."

After they left, David pinned me up against the wall and kissed me passionately on the lips. I wasn't expecting it, so he caught me off guard.

"What was that for?" I asked him.

"Emotional release," he said, "Well that and because your lips are just so kissable."

"You're really weird sometimes." I giggled.

"Weird good though, right?" he asked.

I nodded at him and leaned in for another kiss.

"Riley Bishop"

I looked up when I saw everyone sans Michelle, Sawyer and Silver at the doorway.

"Come on in." I said.

"Is it true?" asked Chloe, "About her leg?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding, "Michelle warned me when they took her in for surgery."

"How are you holding up?" asked Oz.

"Guys, I'm fine," I said, squeezing Rachel's hand, "I was afraid she'd die."

"We destroyed the agent… Again," said Yuna, "But we were too late."

"I'm not angry at any of you," I said, "But I am a little angry with myself. I didn't finish the job. If I had, the agent would have destroyed the first time and whatever he did to Rachel would've been undone."

"It's not your fault either." said Jenna.

"Does Rachel know?" asked Priya.

"Not yet," I said, "She's been asleep since you brought her here."

"Are you worried how she'll react?" asked Jenna.

"Maybe a little," I said, "But I am her medical proxy, but we never got a chance to talk about what she would want. So, I just did what I thought she would want."

"Give yourself some credit," said Oz, "You know her better than anyone."

I felt Rachel squeeze my hand again. I turned to look at her. The others saw this and knew it meant that she was waking up. They all gathered around the foot of the bed. Yuna held up her bouquet of flowers, and Oz pulled the balloon that had floated up to the ceiling.

Rachel opened her right eye first and then her left one. She yawned and stretched, but then without even saying anything, she looked confused. She reached down and pulled her blanket away, revealing her missing leg.

"Riley!?" she sobbed, "W-w-what happened!?"

"They had no choice, Rach," I said gently, "The agent gave you a flesh-eating infection on your leg. Michelle tried to save it, but the infection was spreading too fast."

"My leg…" she whimpered.

"I just did what I thought you'd want," I said, "If they didn't amputate, the infection would have spread throughout your entire body and killed you."

"Yeah…" she said, "Good choice. I'd rather be alive than have two legs."

Rachel reached down and touched the stump curiously.

"What does it feel like?" asked Yuna.

"It doesn't feel like anything." said Rachel.

"Michelle told me that they have some really good prosthetics these days."

"Aw…" said Rachel, "I was kinda hoping I could get a peg leg."

"You're making jokes," I said, "You're back to your old self again."

"Well, except for my leg," she said, "This will definitely take some getting used to."

Silver appeared in the doorway. He was carrying a rectangular box that was so long it didn't fit through the doorway; he had to rotate it 90° to get it inside the room. A few seconds later, Sawyer and Michelle came into the room as well. They both looked very giddy considering the somber nature of Rachel's condition.

"What are you two grinning about?" I asked.

"You'll see soon enough." said Michelle.

"Riley, can I borrow that chair for a minute or two?" asked Silver.

"Sure."

I stood up and walked around to the other side of the bed. Rachel grabbed my hand this time, instead of the other way around. Silver sat down and put his hand on Rachel's shoulder.

"I heard about your leg." he said.

Rachel looked at him. She seemed to be feeling a mixture between confusion and apprehension.

"Since you were injured on active duty," said Silver, "I feel partially responsible. If I hadn't asked you to be a ranger again, you wouldn't be in this situation."

"I don't blame you, Silver," said Rachel, "I blame that agent."

"Yeah, we killed him by the way," said Oz, "Just not in time to save your leg."

"It's not your fault, Silver." said Rachel.

"I know that, but I still feel bad," he said, "Don't take this the wrong way, but the Crusaders are still up there. You're no good to me like this."

Silver placed the cardboard box on Rachel's lap, minus the missing leg.

"Open it." he said.

The box wasn't really sealed. There was a lone piece of tape holding it closed. Rachel pulled on the tape. For a brief period, she had a look of youthful curiosity on her face.

Once Rachel opened the box, Silver grabbed one end of it and tilted it towards her. From inside it, what looked like a human leg rolled out of it.

"Please tell me that's not a human leg." said Rachel, sounding disgusted.

"No silly," chuckled Silver, "This is was the Yuna-Bot's left leg. Remember how I saved all the parts? Well, I made a few modifications…"

It seemed to take Rachel a moment to understand what this meant. But when she did, she grinned and then tears formed in her eyes.

"Thanks, Silver!" she giggled, leaning over to hug him.

"Rachel," said Michelle, "H.E.A.L.T.H has some of the physical therapists in the country. I can schedule your first appointment as soon as you're ready."

Rachel picked up the leg and examined it closely.

"It looks SO real," she said, "When I'm wearing it, people will think I have two normal legs."

Rachel looked at me suspiciously.

"Did you have anything to do with this?" she asked.

"Me? No." I said.

"Because if it was you," said Rachel, "On one hand, I'd be happy because this thing will make me feel normal again, like this never happened. But on the other hand, I might be a little disgusted that you don't want a one-legged bride."

I cracked up laughing and leaned onto her shoulder.

"I love you no matter how many legs you have." I said.

"Good answer." said Rachel.

"We'll leave you two alone for a while," said Silver, getting up from the chair, "We'll be out in the waiting room."

Everyone turned to leave and headed towards the door.

"Michelle?" called Rachel.

She turned on her heel and looked at us.

"Yes?" she said.

"I'm ready," said Rachel, "Book me an appointment."