Sarah and Bella burst inside the house, carrying a badly injured Derek Reese over their shoulders. He had been shot in the side of the chest and was bleeding out fast. John and Cameron followed them in soon after, closing the door behind them.
Sarah swiped all the contents that were on the counter, onto the floor, including the only cereal bowl, and eased Derek onto the table top. Everybody gathered around Derek, figuring out what to do. "Don't let that thing touch me," He demanded.
"We have to stop your bleeding," Sarah told him, gathering towels and cloths together.
"Get away from me," he called again, trying to sit up with the blood now in the scruff of his cheeks and neck, crusting as it dried.
"Please don't move," Cameron said calmly, resting her hands above the wound. "You're increasing your blood loss." His head fell back onto the table as he harshly breathed and her hands went over the wound. "I can't fix it."
"You took a bullet out of me," Sarah reminded her, speaking through her teeth.
"He has internal damage," she told her, lifting her eyes as if it would help her cause to meet them. "He needs medical attention, or he's going to die. Sarah ran out of the kitchen with a confused John following her. Sarah entered her room, grabbed a small rucksack under the bed, and pulled out a small taser.
"Mom!" John raised his voice. He was confused as to what she was doing this time. "A stun gun?" He inquired. "What are you doing!?"
"He won't last much longer without help. He needs a doctor!" Sarah argued. She was about to leave when her son suddenly blocked her path.
"So what? You're gonna go and kidnap one?" John asked.
"There's an ER a mile down the road." Sarah said.
"Mom, this is crazy! Even for you!" John shouted in frustration. "You don't even know this guy!"
"He's your uncle!" Sarah exclaimed unintentionally. She wasn't planning on telling John just yet, but she needed for him to understand.
"He doesn't know." Sarah explained simply.
Bella nodded to John and he turned and ran out the room, and out the front door unexpectedly. "John!" She shouted, trying to gain his attention. But it was too late. He was gone. Sarah wanted to chase after him, but Derek needed all the help he could get.
A bit later as if right on cue. John bursted through the door with a familiar someone behind him. Sarah immediately recognized the man.
Charlie Dixon.
Charlie stared at Sarah in disbelief for a moment, with her staring back at him.
"Hello? Are you gonna help or just stand there?" Bella sarcastically spoke, breaking the two from the stare down. Charlie ran up and took Sarah's place, and started to assess the wound.
"What's the cause of the wound?" Charlie asked no one in particular.
"Gunshot," Sarah answered. Charlie nodded in acceptance and continued to examine Derek.
"Bullet nicked his left lung. I got a fragment lodged in the tissue," Charlie informed. "I can get it out, but will someone tell me what the hell is going on here? Huh?"
"S-she's a machine!" Derek shouted deliriously at Cameron. He didn't trust metal whatsoever. Charlie looked at Cameron for a brief moment, not knowing what exactly he was ranting on about. "She's a liar, she's a liar!" He continued.
"Sedative in my bag!" Charlie asked in a commanding tone. John quickly grabbed a syringe from the bag, only to have Cameron snatch it from his hands.
"Everything she says is a lie, don't listen to her!" Derek continued to rant, with him moving more and more violently. If he moved anymore, it could have devastating consequences. Cameron neared Derek, with the syringe, ready to inject him with the sedative, until Derek started pushing everyone away. "Don't, don't, don't! Get that bitch away from me!"
"Do you want him to die?" Charlie demanded, speaking over his yelling as he pressed the point into the man's arm and disappearing into the blood flushed skin.
"If I wanted him to die ...," Cameron started conversationally, so out of place in the sound and blood.
"Cameron!" Sarah warned in a yell and Cameron went quiet, obeying the silent order and stepping back.
"What do you want me to do?" John asked. After finding out Derek was his uncle, he wanted to help save his life. He had so many questions, and he wanted some answers to them.
"I need the manual aspirator to drain the lung, okay? It's in the back of my truck. Do you remember what it looks like?" Charlie asked John.
"Yeah I remember," John nodded, and ran out the front door yet again.
"Oh, my god. Gunshots, punctures, burns, some broken bones. Second grade medical treatment if anything at all. Sarah?" Charlie gazed at her. "I need more light." Sarah nodded and grabbed a lamp from. Behind the microwave and shined it above Derek. John returned a moment later carrying Charlie's bag, and placed it near the sink.
~Later~
"I stopped the bleeding," Charlie said, walking into the other room. "I drained his lungs. But your guy lost a lot of blood. And he needs a transfusion."
"Sarah's o-negative. The universal donor, so is Bella." Cameron said methodically.
"It doesn't matter; he needs at least three units of his own type, AB-negative," Charlie sighed, sounding more than just physically tired and the latex of his gloves snapping as he tugged them off. "Bad news is, only one half of one percent of the population are potential donors. We don't find one, you're going to have a serious problem."
"Then we take him to the emergency room," Sarah said calmly, hands in her pockets and rocking back and forth. "Drop him off anonymously."
"He's still wanted for Andy Goode's murder," Cameron reminded them. "And for escaping federal custody. We should let him die."
"Test my blood," John said standing up.
"You heard the odds, John," Charlie said, probably catching on that he hadn't yet been given my name. "200 to 1."
"Then at least we can say we tried," Bella shrugged.
~That night~
Now John was trying to sleep but couldn't. His mind was racing a thousand miles per hour. He had just learned he had an uncle. There were days where he had wished he had a real family, where it wasn't just him and his mother hiding in a house day and night, waiting for the inevitable bombs to drop.
John still set dizzy from at the blood that he had given Derek. He needed some time to recover as well, to regain his strength.
John got up off the floor, from his sleeping back and slowly crept to the door where he opened it.
The hallway was dark. There was usually Cameron stalking about the house, late at night but her footsteps weren't present.
John just shrugged that thought, thinking that maybe she was patrolling the block or something, and walked downstairs, into the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, John turned on the light and opened the fridge. He pondered on what to actually take out; Water, or apple juice. He decided to go with the water and pulled out a water bottle. John took a swig and favored the cooling liquid as refreshing. Afterwards, he screwed back on the lid and was about to turn, when he saw Cameron standing right in front of him.
"Oh jeez!" John jumped surprise. For how many times she has snuck up on him, it never got old.
"Six times," Cameron stated, still staring back at John with a blank expression.
"What?" John asked, groggily rubbing his eyes, it was too late for wordplay.
"I thought you were gonna ask how many times I snuck up on you." Cameron explained, John just nodded in agreement. John did however notice something on her neck. He set down his water bottle on the counter and curiously grabbed the object around her neck.
"Why are you wearing this?" John asked.
"I don't know. I found it," Cameron replied.
John opened the locket only to find a picture of him inside. "Uh huh, then why is there a picture of me inside of it?" John asked.
"I found the locket and put a picture of you inside it," Cameron stated the obvious.
"I can see that, but why did you put a picture of me inside of it?" John persisted.
"I don't know." Cameron repeated. John just rolled his eyes, knowing that she would probably never tell him.
John just turned on his heels and walked off, back to his room.
"It's my heart." Cameron muttered to herself. John stopped, barely even hearing what she said, but it was enough.
"Your heart?" John then asked.
Cameron was silent for a brief moment before she spoke again. "Yes, my heart. Sarah calls me Tin Miss, like the Tin Man from 'The Wizard of Oz,' published by L. Frank Baum in"
"I get that, but why do you need one?" John persisted with asking. "You know the ending of the story for the Tin Man right?"
"Yes, he had a heart all along." Cameron answered.
"Then why do you need a physical one if you're relating yourself with the story?" John continued.
"I… don't feel like I have one. I only have a nuclear fusion reactor instead of a physical heart. You could relate it to a physical heart in terms of how it powers my body, but It doesn't make me more human." Cameron responded. Her face still had a stoic expression, but her eyes seemed to have a slight glimmer. Something she never displayed before.
"So what're you saying?" John asked curiously. For some reason he had hope that she would say she had feelings. 'She did say she was different from other machines back in New Mexico, so maybe she had emotions or something similar to that?'
"That this," Cameron pointed at the locket "Is my heart." She repeated.
John was at a loss for words. What could he say to his cyborg protector, that wouldn't hurt her? 'Right, she's a machine.' No matter how much he wanted to believe she had feelings, he had been drilled by his mother that they couldn't. 'They weren't capable of feeling. They were cold blooded killing machines. Nothing more, nothing less.'
Then why was he having doubts? Especially after she told him that this locket was her heart?
"I-im gonna go back to bed," John sheepishly said, rubbing the back of his neck. "We'll talk more tomorrow." John then added before walking out of the room, and turning off the light on his way out.
Cameron stood in the dark, with the locket still in her palm, as she studied it closely. Honestly she didn't know why she had his picture in the locket. In a way, it made her feel… wait, feel? That was something that made Cameron ponder on. 'My systems must be glitching. I will have to do a full reboot later.'
"Or maybe you two are in love." Bella said.
~Morning~
It was another day, but still with the problem between Summer and her parents. They're forcing her to get married. What kind of parents do that to their child, especially their only child? That made Bella boil with anger. Summer is her friend, and the first one Bella made since she got to Corinth. Bella didn't want Summer to do something she didn't like. Unfortunately, Bella could do nothing about it.
Bella is wearing a plain pink shirt, her RPM leather jacket, cyan skinny jeans, and black high heel ankle boots.. Right now, Bella was with the team fighting against Grinders near a market. They weren't morphed though. Bella hated the fact that Ziggy and Flynn wanted Summer to go through with the wedding. At least Scott and Dillon are in her side.
"So, let me get this straight. Summer promised her parents she'd get married?" Scott asked as he pushed away some Grinders.
"If they'd leave her alone for one year, forget that she's the heir to the fabulous Landsdown fortune, and let her live her life." Flynn said as he threw two Grinders backwards.
"Here's what I don't get- why on Earth would you agree to marry some stiff that your mom and dad picked out for you?" Dillon asked.
"She's got to marry a rich guy. It's what rich people do." Flynn said.
"That's like selling someone as a sex slave to the highest bidder." Bella said. She let out some of her anger on the Grinders. Sometimes Dillon gripped her shoulder or said some words to help Bella calm down. Bella really didn't want to see Summer get married or sold to someone she doesn't love.
"Besides, her parents were planning to marry Summer off to Chaz since she was 5 years old." Flynn said. Scott and Dillon looked at each other.
"Chaz?" Scott and Dillon said with big mocking smiles on their face. They both laughed a bit. Bella looked confused.
"Who's Chaz?" Bella asked.
"Chaz Winchester IV. Heir to the entire Winchester fortune. Their family is even more loaded than Summer's." Ziggy said as he fought Grinders with a plastic chair.
"'Cause there's nothing I love better than than a proper wedding reception, right?" Flynn asked. Scott laughed. Bella curled her hand to fists and took deep breathes. She loathes arranged marriages. Dillon noticed and gripped Bella's arm. Bella looked at him and smiled. Dillon smiled back. He always knew how to help her.
"Sorry, Flynn, I hate to disappoint you." Summer came out of nowhere in her Ranger suit and her Nitro Sword at hand. She began fighting the Grinders alone.
"But there isn't gonna be a wedding." Summer said. That brought up Bella's hopes up a bit. "Thank you." She said. Everyone took out their morphers and did the usual drill. They put in their disk, yelled out 'RPM. Get in Gear' and they morphed into their suits. They took out their Nitro Swords and went to help Summer with the Grinders.
"I already told my parents I'm not going through with any wedding." Summer said.
"But, Summer, have you thought this through? I mean- With that much money, you could afford to be pretty generous to, you know- your closest friends." Ziggy said.
"Oh aye. And you could afford to throw a pretty grand wedding reception, as well- hors d'oeuvres, a live band, dancing till the wee hours." Flynn said.
"Would you quit it already?" Bella asked. She fought side by side with Dillon. Not only because they care deeply about each other, but Dillon knew that Bella loathed arranges marriages and she could go a little overboard on her temper.
"Come on, guys. Give it a rest." Scott said.
"Besides, money can't buy everything, right, Summer?" Dillon asked.
"Yeah, right." Summer said. She looked like she was going through another flashback as she found more Grinders.
"I know because it worked with you, didn't it?" Dillon asked Bella quietly. She giggled.
"Charmer." Bella teased. Dillon laughed. After fighting for a while more, the Grinders were defeated and they all headed back to the Garage. Summer had to talk to her parents again while everyone else did their own thing. Dillon and Bella went into Bella's room.
He gently pushed Bella against the wall and leaned in. He placed sweet gentle kisses on her lips. Bella wrapped her arms around Dillon's neck and Dillon wrapped his arms around her waist. They stayed that way for some time. As much as they didn't want this moment to end, they had to do it.
"We should really go down. They might be looking for us." Bella said.
"Alright." Dillon said. They let each other go and headed to the door. Just when Bella was about to touch the knob, Dillon grabbed her arm. He spun her so she was facing him. After pulling her into a quick sweet kiss, he grabbed the knob and opened the door. Bella turned around and watched Dillon leave with a smirk in his face.
"I'm gonna get you back for this." Bella said as she left her room and closed the door. Dillon walked down the stairs.
"Can't wait." Dillon said. Bella walked down the stairs behind him.
~Later~
"How did things get to this?" Bella asked. She was dressed formally for a wedding. Summer's wedding, to be precise. Bella is wearing an ice blue dress and pink high heel sandals. She braided her hair into a side ponytail. For accessories, she has on a simple silver necklace with a crescent and a dangling star and matching earrings.
Right now, she was in the Ranger Lab with Summer, Scott, and Dillon. Summer was preparing herself for her 'big day.' She's wearing a beautiful wedding dress that was a bit poofy with a veil a little longer than her curled hair. Scott wore a tuxedo with a white flower in his tux pocket. Dillon wore a white button up long sleeve shirt with his RPM jacket.
"This is my mother and father we're talking about." Summer said as she put on make-up.
"They are blackmailing you into marrying this guy so we can keep the diamond away from Venjix." Dillon said.
"Just back off, all right? This is between her and them. It's a family thing." Scott said.
"But, Scott, this isn't right." Bella said.
"And I suppose you know what that's like." Dillon said. Bella felt a bit hurt, even though it wasn't directed at her.
"Yeah, And I suppose that both of you don't!" Scott said. In that moment, Bella felt like crying.
"I'm sorry, Summer, but I won't be attending your wedding." Bella said. She walked out of the lab. Dillon knew why Bella reacted like that. It was partly his fault too and he felt guilty. Summer turned to look at them.
"Guys, do me a favor, save this dance for the reception, ok? And both of you, apologize to Bella. You hurt her feelings. You know she came to Corinth with almost no family. Go, now!" Summer said. Dillon immediately walked out of the lab to find Ava. Scott was right behind him.
"Dillon, I wanna apologize to you first. I said the same thing to Bella to you too, and it wasn't right. I'm sorry." Scott said. Dillon turned around.
"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gone so far as to say what I said." Dillon said
"Apology accepted. So, where do we find Bella?" Scott asked
"Her room would be the first place I'd look." Dillon said. They both walked up the stairs to Bella's door. Dillon knocked on the door.
"Bella, are you there?" Dillon asked. There was a moment of silence. Dillon started to get worried. Then a voice was heard.
"Come in." The voice sounded so small and fragile. Scott felt guilty too. Dillon opened the door. The two men saw Bella lying down on her bed facing the wall.
"Ava, we're really sorry. We were acting like jerks and we weren't thinking straight." Scott said.
"Yeah. It wasn't right for us to bring up the subject. We're really sorry." Dillon said. Another moment of silence came. Just as they were about to leave, Bella turned her body to look at them and sat up.
"It's ok. You two were just letting words fly. Anyone could've made that mistake." Bella said. Scott and Dillon smiled, thankful that Bella forgave them.
"Well, it's almost time for Summer's wedding. We should go." Scott said.
"One, it's funeral, and two, I'll be right down." Bella said. Scott and Dillon laughed and headed out the door. Dillon stopped and watched Scott leave. He turned around and walked to Bella.
"What would I do without you?" Dillon asked as he cupped her cheek. Ava leaned into his touch.
"Keep on bickering with Scott like a whiny child." Bella said. Dillon smiled and leaned in. He gave her a sweet sincere kiss.
"Let's go." Dillon said. He got off the bed and held out his hand. Bella gladly took his hand and got off the bed as well. They let go of each other, left the room, and went down the stairs. They sat next to each other.
Then the bridal music started.
The Ranger Lab doors opened to reveal Summer with her veil covering her face and... in a different wedding dress? The dress wasn't poofy at all and looked like silk.
'That isn't Summer. And where is Dr. K?' Bella thought. She then put two and two together. When 'Summer' got to the front, everyone sat down and Summer's father spoke.
"Before we begin the celebration of the marriage vows, I would also like to invite you to join me in celebrating the return to us of our daughter. I'm pleased to announce the old Summer is back." Summer's father said. Bella looked around and saw that her friends didn't like that one bit. Bella didn't like it either. Summer changed into an amazing person and a caring friend.
"Sir..." Scott stood up from his chair.
'What's he doing?' Bella thought.
"Before we welcome back the old Summer, I'd just like to talk to you about the new one." Scott said. Bella felt a smile form on her face. Scott talked about the time Summer saved him. She chose to help him rather than stay inside the dome. She chose humanity over her status. That is why Summer is a power ranger.
Because she cares.
"That was the day she gave this to me." Summer's father said as he held up the diamond. Suddenly, the unexpected happened.
"What a coincidence." A certain someone crashed the party.
"Today's the day I'm going to take it from you." That someone is Tenaya. She hit all the rangers and they fell to the floor. Tenaya grabbed the diamond and threw Summer's father to the chairs where Summer's mother was. The coward Chaz hid behind 'Summer.' Right then, the garage doors opened and a bunch of Grinders and a new Attack Bot came in.
"The Landsdown Diamond is ours. And now your city is doomed to the ashes of extinction." Tenaya said holding up the diamond. She turned to 'Summer.'
"Oh, by the way, love the dress, Ranger Yellow." Tenaya ripped off the front of the veil to reveal Dr. K. Tenaya was shocked by these turn of events.
"Thanks. I would say I look positively radiant." Dr. K said.
'I knew it.' Bella thought. Everyone looked up to see Summer swinging down from a hanging lamp, in her wedding dress. She kicked Tenaya hard enough that Tenaya flew back into a stone object. Everyone was glad to see Summer here.
"No caterer would put the cake next to a recycled motor-oil bin." Summer said. The Attack Bot and the Grinders to decided to attack. Summer took her battle stance. The rangers got off the floor and joined the fight.
Everyone had their own little group of Grinders to fight. Ava found it funny that Flynn was saving the cake as he fought with his group of Grinders. Ziggy was onstage as he fought his Grinders. Dillon literally flipped over a table to knock down Grinders. Summer used Chaz's sword to fight against Grinders. She fights really good in a dress. Dr. K simply walks away calmly because she knows that the rangers can handle this. Scott was fighting as he normally does. Bella didn't have her own group of Grinders. She got the Attack Bot.
"Alright, Bot, let's dance." Bella said. She immediately started with her kicks. Bella did a crescent kick, then cut kicks. She threw in some simple kicks like roundhouse kicks and side kicks. Then Bella added in punches like uppercut punches and hook punches. Those are primary punches. Simple, but powerful against rusty machines.
Bella took a quick glance to see how everyone was doing. Summer was being held by Tenaya. Unfortunately, Bella was thrown to the ground. The Attack Bot went to Tenaya and sort of took pictures of or ate the diamond. The Attack Bot ran out of the garage and grew bigger.
"You're too late. The Camera Bot's primary weapon is now operational." Tenaya said. Summer seemed to get a tiny bit pissed, so she got out of Tenaya's grasp and kicked Tenaya. She flew once again and hit the floor hard. Summer's parents looked shocked and impressed. The team regrouped.
"Summer, you look, uh..." Scott seem to be at a lost for words.
"Well, you look..." Still couldn't get it out.
"Radiant?" Both Summer and Bella asked.
"Yes. Yeah." Scott said. Summer took out her morpher.
"Ready?" She was ready to morph. Bella immediately got ready to morph too, but the guys were slower. It was unexpected, but it shouldn't be because there was an enlarged Attack Bot outside.
"Ready." Bella spoke for the boys. They seemed to be a bit off, but they got back on track.
"RPM! Get in gear!" Everyone morphed into their signature armor. When they got outside, they quickly combined their Zords into two separate Megazords. Scott, Summer, and Flynn went inside the High Octane Megazord. Dillon, Bella, and Ziggy went inside the ValveMax Megazord.
The Camera Bot was ready to attack them with its diamond powered camera. The rangers jumped in front of the sun to blind the Bot.
"Now it's my turn." Dillon said. He aimed and fired two laser blasts at the Camera Bot.
"ValveMax Megazord charging up." Dillon, Bella, and Ziggy got ready to defeat the Bot for good. They slashed the Bot with one purple slicer, a green slicer, a lighter purple slicer, and a monstrous chomp with Croc teeth. The others finished it off.
"Initiate Super Saber." Scott said. The High Octane Megazord charged at the Bot with the saber in its hands. With three slashes, the Bot was destroyed and the day was once again saved. When everyone de-morphed and returned to the garage, Tenaya managed to run away. And what luck, the wedding is canceled. Of course, the Winchesters didn't like this.
"Kung fu, swordplay- What kind of Landsdown is that daughter of yours?" Mrs. Winchester asked. Bella didn't like them insulting Summer one bit, but due to today's events, Summer's parents had a change of heart and defended her.
"She's a new kind, a better kind." Summer's father said.
"The kind we're very proud of." Summer's mother said. Summer's parents were about to leave to spend some quality time with their daughter.
"Where do you think you're going?" Mrs. Winchester asked. She stopped the happy family.
"You still have to go through with the wedding. We know about you. You're broke. You need our money. What will you do without it? How will you survive?" Mrs. Winchester is making a big fuss over stupid things.
"I believe it's called a job." Summer's mother smartly replied. She took Summer's bouquet and threw it. Summer's friend stood up.
"The bouquet! I got it! I got it! I got it!" Summer's friend turned around and fell face first into the cake.
"Aw, what a waste of good cake!" Flynn whined. Suddenly, the bouquet landed in Bella's arms. Everyone stared at her.
"Uh, is this really happening?" Bella asked. She looked at the bouquet front and back and all around.
"Apparently it is." Dillon said. They shared a quick loving glance. Bella thought about a future without Venjix, and with Dillon.
'There is a chance for a better tomorrow. We just have to keep fighting for it.'