Chapter four

Author's notes: This is the fourth part in the series "Rhapsody in Pink". I recommend reading the other parts first to avoid confusion. Everything else I have to say can wait for the footnotes.

Rhapsody in Pink

Chapter IV-A New Hope

"He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how."-F. Nietzcshe

"Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul-

And sings the tune without words

And never stops - at all."

-Emily Dickenson

Carter stood in the doorway, watching his friends. He never ceased to be amazed at the level of seamless cooperation that they had achieved in such a short amount of time. Sometimes he found it hard to believe that he had been a Ranger for a little less than six months.

And I have lived a lifetime in those six months, he thought, we all have. But in that short period of time, he had grown closer to Chad, Joel, Kelsey, and Dana than anyone, including his family. He had little choice. In order to trust the others with his life and vice versa, he had to get to know them, to know that they would be there to back him up. They were a team, and like the Rangers before them, had formed bonds that were stronger than friends, than family. Each would gladly give their life for any of the others, and they all knew it. A fact that Dana had only served to underline the seriousness of their responsibilities as Rangers. Like the others, Carter had, until now, managed not to think about how dangerous, how utterly deadly, being a Ranger involved. It had always been there, in the corner of his mind, but he believed, because he wanted to, that no matter what happened, they would all return to the Aqua Base, with a few scrapes and bruises perhaps, but whole.

Dana's death had shaken him to the core, not only because he had come to love her, as a friend, as a fellow ranger, as... something else, but because she reminded him that they were mortal and to a certain degree expendable, not a pleasant discovery for anyone, especially a human teenager. He and the others could afford to be reckless because they possessed the belief that they were somehow immortal. His confidence, and the others' as well, had been dealt a serious blow.

Which was why he was glad for the distraction that training provided now. The four remaining rangers were spending their days in rigorous, arduous training that left them little time to think or feel. Captain Mitchell had not been exaggerating when he proclaimed they would work. He had barely enough energy at the end of the day to stumble into the shower and bed. After eight hours of thankfully deep, dreamless sleep, he would rise to the prospect of more training. The other Rangers were determined to stay and offer what help they could, so they spent their days patrolling the Bay or, in Kendrix's case, working with Miss Fairweather and the rest of the technicians. All in all, it was a schedule that left him very little time to really think, and he suspected that was partially Captain Mitchell's intent. Not that the Captain worked any less hard than his team.

The man seemed to have aged twenty years. He rarely smiled, and only spoke when absolutely necessary. Carter personally believed that the only thing keeping him sane was his work. Captain Mitchell was seemed driven to find his daughter's murderers. He lurked in the control center day and night, looking over the other's work and analyzing data. Carter secretly wondered when, or if, the man slept.

There was one other thing. Captain Mitchell had not brought up the search for a new pink ranger since the Galaxy Rangers had arrived. Everyone was relieved on that, because no one was really prepared to admit that Dana was not coming back. Carter suspected that the denial would last for a long time. He himself was no exception. Every time he walked into the mess hall, he expected to see Dana sitting quietly, her head buried in the latest medical journal. He still automatically expected her to say something during the course of conversation.

"Hey, Carter!" He looked up to see Leo beckoning him over to the table. The others were already there, eating and talking. He grabbed his tray and joined them. Maya and Kelsey were deep in their whispered conversation. He smiled. It was good to see Kelsey so animated. Although she wasn't back to her normal, perky self, at least she was no longer so distant and withdrawn.

As he took a seat, Leo slapped him between the shoulder blades. Carter winced involuntarily. Even he hadn't been prepared for the three hours of rope climbing. His shoulders and arms would be sore a long time. Leo grinned in sympathy.

"Hard day?"

"You could say that." Carter looked around the table and noticed more empty seats than usual. "Where is everyone?"

Leo concentrated. "Well, let's see. Mike is off somewhere in the middle of the desert. The Captain sent him there to track down someone named Ryan. And Kendrix has become permanently attached to the diagnostic console in the control room. I don't think she's seen daylight in at least a day. Maya's given up trying to pry her away long enough for such trivial matters as eating and sleeping."

Carter frowned. Dana had had the same sort of relentless dedication. Maybe it was a pink ranger thing. "What's so important?"

Leo shrugged. "Beats me. She muttered something about an anomaly in the power grid. I guess they're having trouble with the pink ranger powers." He craned his head. "You just missed Chad and Kai. They left a little while ago, I think to spar or something. I guess Kai got tired of wiping the floor with us."

"And Joel and Damon?"

"Joel conned him into tinkering with the Lightspeed Cycles. Not that Damon resisted much. Once a mechanic..." They laughed. Leo studied Carter carefully. "How are you holding up?"

Carter sighed. "Okay, I guess. I've been too busy to think about, you know..."

"You can say her name, you know." Leo grasped his shoulder in sympathy.

"It's hard, you know. It's like I'm walking around and this is a bad dream, and I think I'll wake up and she be there."

"It gets easier with time. Right now, your head knows she's gone, but your heart is still in denial. For the first few weeks after Kendrix vanished, I felt like I was walking around in a haze. But as time went by, I started to come out of it. Life went on."

"It's not fair. I mean, I barely knew her. But lately, she'd been opening up to us, letting down her barriers. And now, she's gone. There were so many things I wanted to tell her."

"Like what?"

Carter squirmed a little. "Like how great she was. Of all of us, she knew what she was getting into. She had reason to hesitate. But she was always the first to jump in and help someone." He looked down at the table absentmindedly. "She had a poise, a self-assurance I admired. I wish I could have told her that."

"Sounds like you cared about her a great deal."

"I had to. We were a team. If we didn't get each other's backs, who would? I only wish I hadn't let her down."

"I could waste my breath telling you that you didn't, but I know better. The guilt is something you have to work through on your own."

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Tell me something. Did you love her?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the way Karone looks at Zhane, and Andros at his Ashley."

"I - I'm not sure. I barely knew her. We were just friends." He looked suspiciously at Leo. "Why? Have you been talking to Kelsey?"

Leo shook his head. "Let me put it this way. Was there ever a possibility, however remote, that you two could have gotten together?"

"Maybe." Carter hesitated. Had he been so busy denying that possibility to Kelsey that he was in denial himself? He shook his head. Now that the question had been raised, he would have to work it out.

"Right." Leo looked at him skeptically. He leaned forward. "Take some advice from someone who's been down that road before. Whatever feelings you may have had for her didn't die with her. You're going to have to deal with them, because hiding them inside you is only going to hurt you." He stood up and collected his tray. "And at the very least, they'll distract you from the task at hand. We both know how deadly that can be." He deposited his tray and strode out of the mess hall, leaving Carter staring at his silverware thoughtfully.

* * *

Dana picked herself up from the floor of her cell where she'd been thrown after Olympious's latest interrogation. She winced as the dirt rubbed into her raw skin. At least he hadn't yet resorted to physical torture. Yet being the key word. A spell of lightheadedness came over her as she straightened up. Her head spun, and she had to grasp the cold bars for support until the spell passed.

She sat down in the corner as the familiar headache began to spread. Her stomach rumbled, and she sighed. Reaching into the bucket of water at her left, she soaked the piece of cloth she'd torn off her sleeve and pressed it to her forehead. The headache abated, but the pain in her stomach only increased. She sighed, cupped some water in her shaking hands, and drank, letting the cold liquid slide down her throat. It wasn't much, but at least the hunger pains diminished.

That had been Olympious's original plan: to starve her until she folded. Luckily, part of her training in the service had been learning to go without food for long periods of time, and it was only a matter of mind over body. Though the scents of the food that awaited her in her interrogation room grew more tantalizing every time. She smiled, remembering the anger and frustration in the demon's voice as he asked her question after question, promising her a feast. The latest session had actually been quite shorter than the previous ones, and had ended with him throwing her down in disgust. She smiled again, imagining the pressure he must be under, both from Banshira and the other demons.

Her thoughts strayed, as they often did when she was alone in the dark, to the others, and she wondered for the umpteenth time if her father was still grieving for her. She had no way of measuring the minutes or hours in her tiny cell, but she did feel that a fair amount of time had passed. Enough to heal the wounds she had incurred, enough for the lining in her throat to have recovered. She had even gotten most of her wind back, although she still had to be careful not to breathe too deeply.

She wondered if they had found anyone to replace her in her ranger duties yet, for she had drafted that contingency plan with her father and harbored no illusions about the future. It made sense for him to replace her, despite what she guessed would have been some strong objections from her teammates. Carter especially.

Carter. The name stuck in her mind, was something to cling to when she was so hungry she would have eaten Joel's cooking. (Though no one had ever called it cooking.) When she felt like curling up into a tight ball and giving up. Call it a sense of competition or whatever, but she always kept going, determined to act as Carter would. He wouldn't give up, and therefore, neither would she. He had become her rallying cry, and she wasn't sure she liked that.

The cold ate into her bones, and she stood and paced, flexing her arms and legs. Here she was, in what probably qualified as the worst mess she'd ever gotten herself into, and all she could think of was Carter. The sound of his voice when he spoke to her, the way his eyes seemed to shine when he laughed. How he'd never teased her, even in a friendly way, about her single-minded devotion to the service.

She shook her head. Now was not the time. But a little treacherous voice inside her whispered that there was always later. Then she heard the familiar footsteps that signaled she wasn't going to be alone for long, and she steeled herself, all her focus on the here and now. Her feelings for Carter, however confused, were going to have to wait.

* * *

Kendrix sat at her station in the control center, a worried frown creasing her brow. Circles under her eyes indicated how much, or in her case how little, sleep she had gotten in the last few days. A sandwich sat unnoticed next to her, Maya's latest attempt to make her eat something. But for Kendrix, the rumbling of her stomach and the lack of sleep were easy to ignore in the face of her latest challenge. She noticed that the control center was deserted, save for a night watch technician. Miss Fairweather must have finally left to get some sleep.

A beep on the panel in front of her indicated that the latest series of diagnostics had been completed. Kendrix groaned as she read the results. The strange anomaly in the power grid had still not been accounted for, as well as the power drain. She rubbed her eyes wearily. Back to square one. She needed to reinitialize the pink power grid, she needed to find what exactly was causing the power drain. So far, all she had determined was that the power drain was somehow linked to the anomaly. Past that, it was like trying to catch a kite in the wind. Every diagnostic she had run had only reinforced what she already knew. And the myriad of programs she had used to fix the grid had been unsuccessful.

"Think, Kendrix." She told her self. "Why would there be a power drain if no one is using the powers, the morpher?" She paused, her hands frozen over the keyboard. An idea began to sneak into her mind. "There wouldn't. So, therefore, the pink ranger powers are being used." Her hands flew over the keyboard, inputting data and setting up equations that would have made her calculus teacher wince. "And if the powers are still in use, that would explain the anomaly as well." She wiped her forehead and waited for the computer to run her program. "So, the question is, who or what is using the powers without the morpher?"

"Is it even possible?" She looked at the readouts. "In order to draw power from the power grid without the morpher, one would have to be familiar with the grid, and have a strong connection. So, it would have to be someone with previous ranger experience." She swallowed as the consequences of her hypothesis became apparent. Her hands shook slightly as she input one final equation. After what seemed like an eternity, she got an answer. The blood drained from her face. The only answer available to her was so unlikely that she was tempted to recheck her numbers. But she knew that the data was right. "Eliminate the impossible, and whatever remains must be the solution, no matter how unprobable," she muttered. She looked at her watch.

"This definitely merits waking everyone at three in the morning." With that, she left to rouse the others to tell them of her theory.

* * *

"My apologies, my Queen, but this can not wait." In Queen Banshira's throne room, Diabolico strode forward and kneeled at his queen's feet. His eyes glinted dangerously as he awaited his queen's pleasure. It was not long in coming.

"You have something to report?" She studied the warrior before her. Beside her, on a lower dais, Olympius glared at the kneeling warrior.

Diabolico refused to rise to the silent challenge in Olympious' eyes and forced himself to nod. "Yes, your highness." He looked up, requesting permission to stand. A small nod reassured him. "I have been watching the Rangers closely, and I believe I have found a way to keep them from disrupting our plans." He did not turn as whispers and snorts of disbelief rustled through the court.

Banshira smiled. "A most daring claim." She leaned back in her throne and waited. "And what exactly did you have in mind?" She flicked her claws out and ran them across the armrest, scratching the stone. "For your sake, I hope it's good."

"Yes, my queen." He took the time to smile at Olympious before he continued. "In observing the Rangers, I have noticed that they have a set pattern of behavior."

"Anyone could have seen that!" Olympious snorted derisively.

"And yet no one has made any serious attempt to exploit this weakness." Diabolico was pleased to see Olympious narrow his eyes and clench his fists. It signified a loss of control, of composure, no matter how small. "And with our current plan, everyone will agree that we can't afford for the Rangers to interfere again. It would mean utter failure."

"Go on." Queen Banshira looked bored, but Diabolico saw how rigid her posture was, how bright her eyes were.

"In order to put this very delicate plan in the final stages, the Rangers - all of them - must be sufficiently distracted."

"And how do you intend to do this? That tactic has been tried before."

"Half-heartedly. A monster here, a few worthless batwings there." Diabolico waved that away. "No, we've always underestimated the Rangers before. A serious distraction that would take advantage of the Rangers' universal weakness: their commitment to the innocent populations they all swear to protect." He leaned forward, pitching his voice so that it rang through the room. "If we give them enough to do to protect the mortals, our plan will go unnoticed."

"Says you." Olympious turned to plead to his mother. "We can't believe him, he's failed too many times before."

"Be quiet, or be gone." Banshira rounded on her son, furious. "Your words are influenced by anger and jealousy. As long as you persist in this foolish rivalry, I can not accept your words as anything more that a childish temper tantrum." She then addressed Diabolico. "The entire operation rests on your shoulders. If anything should happen, it is you that I will punish. Is that clear?"

"Yes, my queen."

"Good. Carry on. I want my palace restored to its rightful place, or you will wish you never existed."

* * *

"I'm beginning to wish I never existed," Dana told herself as she crouched in a corner of her cell, shivering. "I mean, at least then I wouldn't be here." She was trying to stretch her legs, but the cold stone seemed to sap all the energy and warmth from her. She would have given her eyeteeth for a cup of soothing tea and a bowl of soup right then. "Yeah, right. File that under never, Dana." She giggled at the thought of one of the demons standing over a stove, wearing an apron.

Her pleasant picture vanished as she was joined by Olympious. Thankfully, the demon made no move take her anywhere and, by the lack of footsteps, was merely standing there. Dana forced herself to stand and walk confidently forward until her fingers brushed the bars.

"Are you lost, Olympious? The demon-reject center is two caves down. But then, I'm sure you know the way." She smiled sweetly.

"One of these days, mortal, there won't be anything between us. Then you will live just long enough to regret your insolence." His voice was shaking slightly, and Dana was glad to know she had had some effect on him.

"The only thing I'll regret is having wasted my time with you when I could be facing a real opponent, not some spoiled, overgrown child." She sniffed in disdain. "That is, if the others don't utterly humiliate you first."

"Others? You mean those pathetic mortals who believe you dead? They're too easily fooled. Very soon now, my mother's palace will be risen and your friends won't be able to stop it."

"More empty threats?"
"Hardly empty. As we speak, a plan is unfolding that will be unstoppable."

"Let me guess, you're going to send yet another demon to trash the city and then get soundly defeated."

"Wrong again."

"You're too stupid and arrogant to come up with a plan that will actually work. Tell the truth, it was all Diabolico's idea, wasn't it?"

"Him? He couldn't even destroy one ranger."

"And you have a better track record? Face it, the Rangers will wipe the floor with you, as usual." Dana put as much contempt as she could muster into her voice. As she hoped, Olympious became furious.

"Your friends will be a little too busy to interfere. My plan will succeed."

"Oh, really? And what exactly is your great plan?"

"Simple. The chemicals we obtained are even now fusing into an explosive mixture powerful enough to destroy everything in a hundred-mile radius."

"That's your plan? One lousy bomb?"

"Oh, but I haven't told you the best part yet. In the greatest of all ironies, the detonator will be keyed to your morphers. When your friends morph to fight, the bomb will detonate." He laughed.

Dana wanted to scream, to go through the bars and release her anger and pain and shock on her captor. Instead, she deliberately sat down and chuckled.

"Right. Even if you could access our morphers, what makes you think the others won't find out what you're doing and stop you?"

"Because, my dear, they'll be too busy elsewhere. Distractions that will ensure that we can proceed at will."

"Forgive me if I'm not impressed."

"It doesn't matter, you will be. You know, I was going to destroy you now that I don't need you, but I think I'll keep you around for the sheer amusement of watching your face when your friends are gone and your city had fallen. My own living trophy." Still chuckling, he walked away, leaving Dana to her own worries, which had substantially increased.

* * *

"This isn't my idea of a joke, Kendrix," Carter informed her. All the rangers, plus Captain Mitchel and Miss Fairweather, had gathered at Kendrix's request in the briefing room. The yawning and weariness had vanished in the wake of her explanation. Shock, disbelief, and the tiniest glimmer of hope were all making the rounds on the others' faces. Carter, however, was the first to speak.

"It's no joke. It's true."

"Then Dana's alive?" Kelsey was staring wide-eyed at Kendrix. Her voice was so low they had to strain to hear her.

"I believe she is. It's the only explanation."

"How? Where is she, then?" Captain Mitchel had sat down heavily upon hearing the news. Kendrix guessed he was in a state of shock.

"I don't know." She wished she could tell them more, but she had no more to tell.

"I don't understand. If she survived, why didn't she come back here?" Joel was the one who voiced that question.

Kendrix sighed. It was something she had thought about, and the answer she had found was not going to make them any happier. "Maybe she couldn't."

"So where is she, then?" Carter repeated the captain's earlier question.

"I looked over the data from the explosion. Just before it happened, I found a faint energy pulse that was consistent with teleportation." She took a deep breath and plunged forward, not waiting for the shock to die down. "Further analysis revealed that the energy signature was consistent with that of the demons' capability."

The silence in the room was ended as the others gasped in reaction. Kendrix watched in sympathy. It was something she had felt a short time earlier, and she was still having a hard time accepting it.

"You mean Diabolico has her?" Chad was calm, but there was a glint in his eyes she had seen all too often.

"That would be the logical assumption."

"Where?" Kelsey looked up, hope brimming in her eyes.

"I can't tell." Kendrix sighed in frustration. "I've tried to triangulate based on the energy signature, but I can't pin it down. I think, as does Miss Fairweather, that it's because she's in another dimension."

"If we don't know where she is, how can we go after her?" Carter asked.

"I don't know." Kendrix ran her hands over her eyes, wondering how long it had been since she'd slept.

"But we can't just leave her there!" Joel was adamant, a feeling shared by the others.

"There has to be a way." Kelsey threw in desperately.

"There is." Carter paused, his forehead wrinkled in thought. "But we're going to need some help."

"What, two groups of Rangers aren't enough?" Leo asked, jokingly.

"Not for this." Carter let his gaze rest upon Dana's father. The older man was frozen, barely breathing. Carter cleared his throat, and Captain Mitchel jumped guiltily. "Let's hope Mike's supernatural luck has held out."

* * *

Dana was flung back into her cell so hard she hit the back wall with a dull thud. Feigning unconsciousness, she waited until her captor's footsteps receded into nothingness before she sat up, wincing. Although she had a fresh set of bruises, nothing seemed broken.

"Perfect," she muttered, "just perfect! How come there are never any bad guys whose HQ is on say, a sunny tropical island and whose idea of torture is boring you to death with their talking? But no, we had to get the queen of the demons and her evil lackeys. Just my luck." She choked on the last word and began to cough again. Once the spasm was over and she could breathe, she stood up and began pacing her small cell. "Think, Dana," she commanded herself. "There has to be a way out of here. You have to find it!" A part of her wondered if she was merely providing herself with a diversion in order to avoid thinking about her fate at the hands of Olympious. "Enough!" If she let herself, she would panic and that would do her no good. "Think! That is, after all, what you're good at."

Her contemplation was interrupted when her cell door was thrown open. Berating herself for letting her mind wander, Dana stood as tall as she could, determined not to show any fear or weakness.

"Come with me." Diabolico's voice was low. She shook her head and crossed her arms defiantly.

"What if I won't?"

"Then I summon the others and they drag you. This way, you get to keep your dignity." She tried not to let her surprise show on her face.

"And what do you care about my dignity."

He paused."Though you are my enemy, you have shown yourself to be honorable and loyal. As a fellow warrior, I respect that."

She nodded."Fine." They left the cell and walked slowly down a long, gently curving corridor. She could tell the corridor was gradually sloping down. Diabolico kept one hand on her shoulder, restraining her. She was oddly grateful, for it kept her from having to grope along the wall. The sense of going further underground was reinforced as the air grew colder. Shivering slightly, she discreetly flexed her fingers, trying to maintain feeling in them. "Tell me, why does your integrity not extend to kidnapping and the corruption of children?" She was deliberately taunting him.

"You speak of your brother?" She nodded, unable to trust her voice. "Kidnapping is hardly the term I'd use. I would call it rescued. Without my intervention, not only him, but you, as well, would have died." She spun around, brushing away his arm.

"Rescued? You took him away from us, from me." Her voice broke, and she stopped to steady it. "You stole what was left of his childhood and poisoned him with your lies. Because of you, he grew up filled with hatred." He gripped her arm.

"It was because of me that he grew up at all!" Giving her a small but forceful shove, they continued walking. "And they may have been lies to you, but to him they were the only truths worth learning." They stopped in front of a doorway. Despite her resolve, she trembled at what might await her on the other side. Throwing her shoulders back, she kept her chin up, determined to keep her dignity. She didn't see Diabolico's eyes, watching her every move. Something akin to respect showed on his face. The she was sent stumbling through the doorway, which sealed itself behind her.

* * *

Mike stopped as he crested a dune, wiping his face with an equally grimy sleeve. The sun shone above, searing his skin and roasting him as he stood. His feet felt as if they were two sizes too big for his boots, and as sore as if he just completed a triathlon. He just about had, and would have preferred the triathlon if only for the chance to plunge into a cool ocean. It was slowly coming back to him exactly why he'd joined the service in the first place: he much preferred the deathly cold of space to this infernal heat.

He allowed himself a few swallows from his canteen before setting off again, sliding in the loose sand. In the distance, the wavy shapes of distant dunes seemed to dance in the hot air. He glanced ruefully at his communicator as he trudged along. It seemed that he was always having to do all the dirty work while Leo got all the perks. Like now. While he was trekking through the desert looking for someone who probably didn't want to be found, Leo was back with the others, relaxing. Well, not relaxing, really, but compared to this...

Mike smiled grimly. One of these days, Leo was going to reconcile that particular debt. He wondered if Kendrix would consent to taking pictures. He shook his head ruefully. Later...

Ahead, something flashed on the sand, blinding him momentarily. Mike shaded his hands and peered across the barren land, squinting. The light was bright, but he thought he saw a small shadow cast out. Despite the sand in his shoes and the blisters he'd tried to ignore, Mike managed to quicken his pace until he was cresting the last dune. A figure emerged from the small tent as he approached, silhouetted by the setting sun.

"What do you want?" The figure spoke. Mike grinned as he got closer. The young man, no more than a boy, really, fit the description Captain Mitchel had given him. Mike realized he was grinning like an idiot, but he was too tired to care.

"To find you, Ryan Mitchel." Mike ignored the dumbfounded expression and settled himself onto one of the low chairs, sighing as he took his weight off his weary feet. "Yes, I know who you are." He loosened the laces off his boots and pulled them off, dumping a good deal of sand out in the process.

"How - what do you want?" Ryan made no move to come closer and instead glared at Mike. Mike saw the flash of panic that Ryan just as quickly hid. "Who are you?"

"My name is Mike, and your father sent me." Mike sighed as he peeled off his socks and let the marvelously cool dusk air flow over his feet. "We need your help."

"We?" Ryan stiffened. "Are you a Ranger?"

"No, and it's a long story." Mike sighed. "One we don't have time for. The others need your help."

"Why me?" Ryan had turned away, his face in shadow, but Mike heard the agony behind the question.

"Because, frankly, you're the only one with the knowledge and experience we need." Mike stood, wincing, and dared to touch the other's shoulder lightly. "A lot has happened in the last week."

"I left for a reason, you know. I very nearly killed them. I very nearly killed my own sister. What could you possibly tell me that is worth that risk?"

"Plenty." Mike sighed again, trying to find an easy way to break the news. "Like I said, a lot has happened. And right now, you're the last hope Dana has."

That got his attention. Ryan spun around and grabbed Mike's shoulders. "What? What do you mean?"

"Sit down." Mike gently freed himself and pointed to the chair. "This is complicated, and you're not going to like it." To his amazement, Ryan complied, silently and without protest. Mike took the opposite chair and took a sip to wet his mouth. "Dana's been missing for the last week. In fact, up till this morning, we thought she was dead."

"Dead? Is she hurt? Where is she?" Ryan looked ready to take off then and there.

"Alive, we think, but we don't know much more than that." Mike went on, explaining in as much detail as he could the events of the last week, including the jubilant conversation he'd had with Carter and Kendrix that morning.

"So you see," he finished as the last rays of the sun touched his cheek, "they need your help. You're the only one who has any knowledge of Banshira's lair, any way we can find her, let alone get to her."

Ryan sat in silence, his face hidden by his hair. When he spoke, Mike had to lean in to hear him. "I hated her, you know?" Mike nodded. "Growing up, they told me that he'd chosen her over me. All I could think of when I'd gotten the Titanium morpher was how I finally had a chance to make her pay. I'd managed to forget how she used to look up to me when we were little, how she turned to me when Mom died. We were so close, back then. Dad used to say we were his twins, because we used to finish each other's sentences. And all it took was ten years for me to forget everything."

"It's easy to forget, given the right circumstances, and motivation." Mike had to drag himself out of his own torment. "You were only a child. No one blamed you then, nor do they now." He paused to breathe. "Just breaking through all those years of brainwashing shows that you have extraordinary courage and strength of will. And from what Carter's told me, it's a family trait."

As he'd hoped, that elicited a chuckle from Ryan. The blond stared at Mike, until Mike was fidgeting uncomfortably, then signaled his acceptance with a slight nod.

"She told me before I left that no matter what, I'd always be her big brother" Ryan let the last dying rays shine on his face, and Mike was struck by the determination he saw there. "I'd say it's time to show Diabolico and the rest what they get when they mess with my little sister."

* * *

It was a council of war that convened in the large briefing room the next afternoon. Carter slid into his seat at the far end of the table and studied the assembled people. Both groups of rangers were there, as well as the Captian and Miss Fairweather. Mike and Ryan had arrived early that morning. They'd managed to get a few hours of sleep since, but Carter personally thought that Mike looked like he could use a few more. Ah, well. Sleep deprivation was something every Ranger had experienced.

He had slept little upon hearing Kendrix's announcement. He seemed to have gone from a numb stupor to a hyperactive daze. He found it difficult to sit still even now, knowing that Kendrix was alive. Knowing that she was in the hands of Diabolico. Knowing if she was injured or, and he hesitated to think, worse. It puzzled him. He had leared early on that reckless action often got him burned, both in the literal and figurative sense. He knew they needed a plan, needed a careful, methodical course of action. And still he chafed, unable to concentrate on anything except Dana. Knowing, hoping that he would see her soon. See her clear blue eyes, and her dazzling smile that left his stomach tying knots in itself. He frowned. Leo had a point after all.

His attention was dragged back to reality when Captian Mitchel cleared his throat. The others looked as tense as he felt, but they, too, calmed enough to listen.

"Miss Fairweather and Kendrix have been working since dawn to find a way to get to Dana. Our problem is two-fold. The first part is that we need a way to cross the dimensional barrier. After much debate and work, they've assured me that is an obstacle we can overcome." He nodded gratefully at the two. Kendrix blushed in embarrassment.

"The second part is going to be a bit more difficult. Once we get to the demon's lair, we'll need to know where Dana is being held. That's where Ryan comes is. His knowledge of the layout of the place will be invaluable to getting to her and getting everyone out safely." He nodded to his eldest son. Ryan looked pale, but managed a shaky smile.

"I've been thinking hard about this, and I think I can get in there and out again undetected." Ryan began. "I know how to get around, and where she'll be."

"We'll go with you-" Joel began, but Ryan shook his head.

"No. I know the kind of barriers, both magical and physical, they have. With stealth, one person can get in, but not four."

"What about two?" Carter leaned forward earnestly.

Ryan studied him silently. "Maybe," he answered reluctantly. "But I'd prefer to go alone."

"Too bad." Carter faced him. "You'll need someone to watch your back. And if Dana can't walk, you can't carry her and return fire at the same time."

"I wasn't planning on having to shoot," Ryan declared. "They'll outnumber me a hundred to one. Stealth, not firepower, is what will get Dana out." He held Carter's gaze, refusing to so much as blink.

"Enough." Captian Mitchel put a hand on Carter's shoulder. "Carter's right in that you'll need company. And Ryan's right it that subltlety is the way to go." He thought for a moment. "You both will go."

Ryan looked ready to protest, but his father glared until he subsided. "Ryan, you're going to have enough to do. Carter has proven that he can be an invaluable asset. He knows how to creep, and he'll provide the extra firepower in case anything goes wrong." He glanced at Miss Fairweather. "You'll go first thing in the morning."

"What about the rest of us, sir?" Chad broke his silence. "I mean, isn't there something we can do?"

Captain Mitchel smiled gratefully. "I'm going to need Kendrix here, and the rest of you are going to full alert. If we have trouble, we're already two rangers down."

* * *

The next morning found them all gathered in the park. It was early enough to still be deserted, for which Carter was eternally grateful. He wiped sweaty palms on his pants and tried to concentrate on what Miss Fairweather was saying.

"The only way to get through the dimensional barrier is through the power grid, and the morphers."

Carter looked down at the small device on his wrist.

"We'll send a burst of raw power through the grid, and down through your morphers."

"Won't they overload?" That came from Ryan, who looked as uncomfortable as Carter felt. "I thought that's what happened to Dana."

"Not quite the same." She was quick to reassure him. "We've figured out how to bypass those circuits. Instead of overloading, the power will be used to send you through the dimensional barrier. Not unlike teleportation."

"I thought the morphers weren't designed to teleport." Carter was confused.

"They aren't." Miss Fairweather sighed. "And believe me, it wasn't for lack of trying. We honestly don't know how the process works."

"But the other groups of Rangers..." Kelsey protested.

"Had powers that were created by Zordon long before they were born. Just as you," She pointed to Leo and his friends, "Came into powers that were created by who knows what. The Lightspeed powers were created from scratch, with the most modern technology at our disposal. Which doesn't include the secrets of teleportation."

"Fine. You zap us to another dimension. How exactly do we get back?" Ryan broke in impatiently.

"That's where the morphers come in." She handed Ryan the pink morpher. "Dana has to be wearing this for us to get a lock on her. We'll bring you back by reversing the polarity of the morphing energy. That should, in theory, suck you back into our dimension."

"In theory?" Carter had been about to ask the same question, but Joel had beaten him to it.

Another sigh. "We haven't any means of testing it, since the morphers are linked to your bioenergy. But both Kendrix and I agree that the math is sound."

"Great. Carter and Ryan are going to risk their lives on whether or not you forgot a decimal point." Joel groaned.

"That's enough, Joel." Captain Mitchel walked over to them and clasped each by the shoulder. Ryan didn't quite flinch, but Carter saw him stiffen. "Are you two ready?" The both nodded warily. "Then, go." He stepped back, and what he didn't say was as loud as what he did. Bring her back. Carter was afraid to ask for the what else.

He and Ryan stood still, hearts pounding, as Miss Fairweather pushed some buttons on the small portable console. They'd had to leave from the park because she was afraid there was too much interference from the Aqua Base. Carter stored the sight of the peaceful shade trees in his memory, praying he'd see them again.

"All systems green, initiating the charge now." Energy coursed through Carter, sending the hair on his body standing straight up. The morpher seemed to grow warmer on his arm. The energy grew stronger, setting his nerves on fire, searing it's way through his body. Carter felt like he was testing the Titanium morpher again, only with more pain. Just when he was sure he would pass out, there was a flash, and he felt as if he was being propelled forward. Then his world went black.

* * *

Heh-heh. Don't you just love cliffhangers? Anyway, that's all for the moment. Don't fret, I plan on finishing this, and as soon as possible. Now that I only have one job...

I'd like to thank everyone who bothered to review this. You've been incredibly supportive, not to mention patient. I only hope it was worth the wait. And as the saying goes, do I have a story for you...

A number of things have happened in the last few months. I found a roomate. I managed to resurrect my parents' old Centris, and am writing this to you in Works 3.0.It doesn't even have a modem, so if I take a while answering e-mail, it's because I have to go to work to do so.

You may be asking, "Even so, what took her so long?" In addition to class and two jobs and student teaching, I just wasn't happy with the way the story was progressing. It got to the point that I didn't know what to write next. Talk about writer's block. Thankfully, I hit my head on the safe at work and was struck by inspiration, along with a few other things, including a rather massive cash drawer. Three stitches and a bottle of painkillers later, I managed to set this down. Now you know the rest of the story...

If things go according to plan, I should have this thing wrapped up in one or two more chapters. So if you have any suggestions or comments, be sure to send them in. This is, after all, a work in progress.

As usual, this is © 2001 by me. It may not be reproduced, either digitally or otherwise, without my say-so. Archivers, just ask me first. Unless there's a decent reason otherwise, I'll say yes.