"Tenaya has appeared with an attack bot," Dr. K informed, rushing the team out the door.
The team went and began fighting, trying to take down the enemy. The attack bot shot out at the team, most of them dodging. Ziggy, however, went down, unmorphed. Dillon tried to protect him but a horde of grinders pulled him away. Tenaya grabbed Ziggy up and disappeared.
Ziggy tried to fight against Tenaya but he was pretty weak.
"Don't fight. I'm saving you."
"Saving me? You just want to turn me into a cyborg or something!"
"You'll see what I mean soon enough." Tenaya shoved him into a cell. There was a bed and Ziggy slowly got into it and passed out.
He woke to hear the cell door open. "I brought you some food."
Ziggy frowned, "It's probably poisoned.."
"No, it's just food. Figured you'd be hungry."
"The others will be here soon."
"They don't care enough about you to rescue you. I, on the other hand, do care about you. You've been stuck with a team who pretends they like you just because they need you. But you're free now. You'll soon see that we all care about you here."
Ziggy stared, tears slightly filling his eyes. He argued, "Dillon cares.."
"Does he? Or was he just using you to try to get me back?" Tenaya asked softly.
Ziggy sighed and began picking at the food.
Tenaya left the cell quietly.
The next couple weeks, Tenaya visited daily, bringing food to Ziggy.
"They really aren't coming after me, are they?" Ziggy finally asked.
"I told you, I'm here for you."
"All you do is keep me in this cell."
"I'll show you around, if you'd like?"
Ziggy looked up in surprise but nodded.
Tenaya waited for Ziggy to finish eating before opening the cell door to allow him out.
Ziggy stepped out nervously, looking around quickly.
"No one here will hurt you." Tenaya assured.
Ziggy began exploring, Tenaya following close behind and giving him information when possible.
"You're free here," Tenaya smiled.
Ziggy nodded slowly.
Over the next month or so, Tenaya and Ziggy became friends. She actually acted like she cared and listened to him. He finally met with Venjix who told his side of the story. Wanting to be wanted, Ziggy agreed to stay.
One day he was watching the cameras, noticing Tenaya fighting the others. He hated seeing them, but once Tenaya went down, he knew he had to help.
He rushed to town, jumping in front of Tenaya.
"Z..Zig?!" Dillon looked shocked.
"Don't look so surprised." Ziggy answered, lifting Tenaya and turning away.
"We saw you die!" Summer exclaimed.
Ziggy paused, confusion in his eyes. "You never rescued me.."
"We would have if we thought you were alive!" Flynn said quickly.
"You only want me because I have a rev morpher!" Ziggy answered back.
"Ziggy.. you're my best friend. She's been messing with your head." Dillon said softly.
Ziggy shook his head, laying Tenaya down. He backed away from all of them before running off.
It took Dillon hours but he finally found Ziggy sitting on a bridge. He approached the green ranger slowly, noticing how confused the other man looked.
"I.. I thought you were my friend," Ziggy said quietly.
"I am."
"Then why didn't you rescue me?"
"We saw a video of you dying.. Tenaya must have faked it."
"She.. she seems so nice."
"She just wanted to use you."
"That's what she says about you! How do I know who to trust?"
Dillon sighed and looked out at the water. "I don't know."
"I don't know what to do or who to trust anymore.."
"We would have saved you if we knew you were alive.. And not just because you're a ranger, but because you're a friend." Dillon paused, "It's been so hard since you left. Knowing I'd never see you again... I almost left the team. I couldn't function without you."
Ziggy raised an eyebrow, "You care that much? I'm just one person. Barely a whole person."
"You're so much more than that to us, but especially to me.." Dillon turned to Ziggy, looking a bit nervous. He took a deep breath before reaching forward and pressing his lips to Ziggy's.
Ziggy's eyes widened in shock.
"Sorry.." Dillon pulled away. "I just... didn't realize how I felt until you were gone. I love you, Zig."
Ziggy stared for a moment, "I never thought.. I always liked you but I never thought you'd like me back."
"Well, I do. And I'm going to spend forever proving it if you'll let me."
Ziggy nodded slowly, "Alright. I can't promise I'll be back to how I was, but I'll try."
"Just be yourself as you are. Take as long as you need." He gently took Ziggy's hand and kissed his cheek. "Let's go home."
Ziggy nodded, looking out at the water one last time before following Dillon away.