Getting Back To Business

Summary: The eleven finally find out what is expected of them.

Rating/Disclaimer: Same as before. I don't own Christina Aguilera's 'What a Girl Wants' either. I ran into someone claiming to be her on a chatroom once...I don't think she liked me.

Author's Notes/Thank You's: It's taken me ages to think of what to do with this situation, so I hope it works out okay. I haven't had a lot of time because of my job, but I should be writing more next week once the rush dies down. Hopefully.

*Sitka Bau Colony, New Mexico*
*September 23, 2001*

Looking around the area where they had been teleported to, Katherine realised what Kim had meant when she said that everything was white. All the electronic equipment that stood around them was white, and the black-suited man looked out of place as he stood among them.

"Wait here for further instructions," he said in a toneless voice, and swept out of the room via an automatic door. No-one spoke once he was gone for a few seconds, then Rocky broke the silence.

"Do you guys recognise this place?" he asked Jason.

"Yeah, this is where we were first taken before," Jason said. "Although every other room we were in looked pretty much the same."

"At least we know now things are going to begin," Zack said. "I don't think it would have been bearable if we had to hang around for a month, going over and over what might and might not happen."

"I'd prefer it if none of this was happening at all," Adam said. "But I get your meaning."

Their conversation of sorts was interrupted by the quiet whoosing of the automatic doors once again. The man who had followed Kat and Kim had returned, accompanied by two other agents, one male, one female. All three were expressionless, giving away no clues as to what would happen next.

"We brought you here early to give you the best chance possible to eliminate those who are a threat to the Earth's wellbeing," the second man informed them. "My name is Agent Wiltord, and I will be the agent who primarily deals with you, along with Agent Cresswell here, and I believe you have already met Agent Evans" he said, gesturing to the first man. "We would like to take the little time we have before sundown to interview you all. To make sure that we know your strengths. Your weaknesses. What your limitations are. Tomorrow you will receive further instructions from me as to why you are here, what is expected of you, and the inevitable risks involved."

Agent Cresswell stepped forward. "Could Aisha Campbell please follow us."

Aisha reluctantly walked towards her, she had already guessed that the interviewing would be done in alphabetical order. She was led out of the room by Cresswell and Wiltord, and Evans sat down at one of the room's many computers.

*Sitka Bau Interogation Room*
*September 23, 2001*

"You are Aisha Campbell, born November 14th 1978. Lived in Stone Canyon till 1995, became a Power ranger in the beginning of that year. Relinquished your powers when travelled to Africa in search of a crystal to give you new powers. Those powers were given to Tanya Childes. Am I correct so far?"

Aisha nodded. Wiltord's snappy interviewing style was not endearing him to her, and Cresswell's icy cold stare...these guys meant business.

"Lived in Africa till 1999, when you returned to attend Angel Grove University at the beginning of your second year. When the ex-Rangers contacted you, you were in Portland visiting an old relative." She nodded again.

"What we need to know is how comfortable you are with dealing with other humans. They will try to deny what they have done. They will try to tell you that this is all a lie, that we are making it up to capture them. But it's not true. These six people made deals with Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa while you were a Ranger, Ms Campbell. We believe it was towards the end of your having held the powers when the actual deals took place. Three couples, when threatened with death, gave in, and turned all control of their lives over to the side of evil. They hd no strength of character." Agent Wiltord was becoming more and more agitated as he went on. "You were not a Ranger for very long, Aisha. We have doubts as to whether you, and others, have the tenacity to cope with this strenous mission."

Aisha could only sit in her uncomfortable seat, stunned. In all her time as a Ranger she had never been placed under the influence of evil, and even when others had it had never been by choice. And so she hadn't served for very long, so what?

Agent Cresswell terminated the interview. "Prove us wrong, Ms Campbell. Show us, and in turn the world, that you are one of the elite, that you have the character to take out these people who were so weak." She sat back in her chair, and surveyed the twenty two year old. "You and the others will be given more information tomorrow morning. For now, that will be all."

Agent Evans stood up, and said, "Follow me back to the holding room. Agent Cresswell, I shall return with our next candidate."

He and Aisha retraced their steps in silence. Who knew what was going on in the FBI supremo's head, and Aisha was too furious with him to talk. Surely the fact that she had known when to quit meant something? It sure didn't seem like it, and although she hadn't served for long, she had always been true.

They soon reached the 'holding room' as Evans had called it, and he paused only to say "Prove us wrong, Ms Campbell," before opening the doors and saying, "Tanya Childes, please."

Tanya walked past Aisha, looking as nervous as Aisha imagined she had done just five short minutes ago. As soon as Evans and Tanya left the room, Aisha was bombarded with questions.

"Hold it!" she said. Her nine friends immediately paused, and Aisha said only, "Watch out for both of them. They don't hold back," before sitting down next to Rocky.

"What do you mean, they don't hold back?" Jason demanded. Having been unofficially confirmed as the ex-Ranger in charge of them all, he needed to know which was the best way to proceed. Aisha rolled her eyes and said,

"I mean, they're deliberately trying to get us angry, or at least that's what they did with me. They told me that they had their doubts about whether some of the Rangers that didn't serve for very long had the...tenacity to go through with the mission."

"That's absolute crap!" Tommy said. "Why would they say something like that?"

"They're trying to get the ones who are normally reserved to go for this mission with everything that they have," Billy said quietly. "That was, if I'm not mistaken, to get you so annoyed that you'll want to prove them wrong when this mission gets underway. I'd be very surprised if it was anything different."

They were again silent for a few minutes, until Tanya re-appeared, with the same angry expression as Aisha had previously held. She was about to open her mouth when Adam said quickly, "Don't worry, Tanya, we know what they're doing."

"Billy Cranston, please," Agent Evans said. Billy walked up, not afraid in the slightest. He had enough experience of people who needed the best out of their people to have a pretty good idea of what approach they'd try with William Cranston, genius.

*Sitka Bau Interrogation Room*

"Billy, we know about your sky-high IQ. With such a high intellect, it's pointless to try and hide anything from you," Agent Cresswell said. "You will take one of the highest positions when we assign you and your friends tomorrow morning. We want you to take the position that entails the highest responsibilties. You will be working with me and Agent Evans to tery and figure out what kind of defences these people will use to keep us away."

"You mean you don't know yet?" Billy asked. "Why call us in if you have no idea of what they could, and will, do?"

"We have ideas. Just no definite truth," Agent Cresswell said. "When you take up your position, you will be working with some of the most experienced agents in the field of tracking. We have faith in you, Billy, we know that you are one of the only Rangers who can be depended on not to let us down."

"Is that all?" Agent Evans demanded. "It is almost sundown, and these people will be tired."

Agent Cresswell's eyes danced, and she said, "Yes, if you must, Evans. I will speak more with you tomorrow, Billy." Agent Evans stood up and brusquely slammed the door open. Billy looked surprised, but followed him out. Once the door was closed, Evans said to him,

"I hope you will understand this operation...Agent Cresswell believes that she has it all under her control but I am not so sure. We need your expertise to figure out what their next move will be. This operation is more dangerous than she is letting on to you, and I feel, as her second-in-command, that it is my duty to let you know this. Do you understand me?"

Billy nodded, knowing that he could not be seen to show a moment of weakness against this man. However, this discussion was leaving him unsettled as to whether the ex-Rangers could succeed in taking the six enemies out. So far no mention had been made about what specific threat the six posed, but he thought it must be serious if agents were going against each other, albeit privately.

Without another word, the two continued along the passageway, finally arriving back at the holding room. Agent Evans' parting words were "Remember what I said," before they entered and he asked for "Rocky DeSantos, follow me."

Rocky reluctantly got up and went with the agent, leaving Billy behind to be mobbed by his friends.

"What did they say?"

"Where they really horrible?"

"Did they tell you anything more?"

"They were okay, told me that I'd have a pretty big role to play when it came to figuring out what to do," Billy said quietly once the tirade had calmed down. "That was pretty much it," he finished with, not wanting to divulge in front of Wiltord what had been divulged at the end. He looked at Tanya. "What did they say to you?"

She looked calmer than she had done when he had left. "Pretty much the same as they did to Aisha. That I was the last Ranger on the team, and the last in would be the last out, that sort of thing." Adam looked at Wiltord as though he was the one to blame for the whole operation, but the FBI agent was absorbed in his computer screen and did not catch the looks of death Adam was shooting his way.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they played on Rocky's seeming inabilities to take anything seriously," Billy murmured.

"What about the rest of us, can you think what tactics they'd use?" Jason asked urgently. "We need all the help that we can get to not let them see that they're getting to us in any way."

Billy thought for a moment. "Jason, they'll bring up the fact that you used to be leader. Zack, I can imagine that they'll be nice to you, you were never really turned evil in your time as a Ranger. Trini-" and he turned to look at his girlfriend, "They may try to play it with me as some part of it. Don't get caught up in it, okay?"

Trini knew in her heart of hearts that Billy loved her, and she loved him, which is why there was no hesitation in her voice when she said, "I know you would never turn against me, Billy."

Billy held her hand, and then said, "Kim, I-"

But he was interrupted from beginning his hypothesis by the door opening and Rocky, surprisingly with a peaceful expression on his face, walked in along with the ever-present Agent Evans. "Kimberly Hart, please."

Kim looked desperately at Billy, who just shrugged and said, "Use your initiative."

She rolled her eyes and followed Evans out of the room.

"Why do you look so calm?" Zack asked.

"Because they didn't say anything to rile me," Rocky answered, leaning on the top of one of the computer screens. Agent Wiltord looked over, and said in an icy voice,

"Don't touch that, it's fragile." Rocky removed his elbow from the beige surface, and continued,

"No, they were just saying how my enthusiasm would work in our favour because they needed someone who would give themselves whole-heartedly to their cause," Rocky said.

"What were you going to say about Kim?" Aisha asked. "Talk about bad timing."

Billy had a furrowed look on his face. "I'm not at all sure where they're going to go with her. There are so many directions...they could do the same as Rocky and go for getting them on her good side, or get her angry like they did with Aisha and Tanya."

"And which do you think?" Tommy asked urgently.

"I have no clue."

"We'll just have to wait and see," Zack said with his usual laidback manner coming into play. "There isn't exactly anything that we can do."


*Sitka Bau Interrogation Room*

"Miss Hart, you are one of the most complex people that we are having to deal with," Agent Cresswell began. Kim stared at her dubiously, but knew better than to comment. "When under the influence of evil, you were so bad, and when you are a normal person, you are so good. But there are things that no-one should be forced to share, aren't there?"

"I don't know what you mean," Kim said calmly. Ever since she had seen what they had done to Aisha, she had known what approach they would take with her. It didn't take Billy to work it out, but she was determined not to give in to their pressure.

"Oh, I think you do," Agent Evans said. "We know about the sacrifices you made to keep another member of this group happy, even though you knew it would break your heart."

"There's no way you got all of this from a disc," Kim said, her voice wavering ever so slightly. Even though she'd been prepared for it, the blow still hurt, even more so than it should have done.

She had only done it because she knew that if she hadn't, he would have betrayed her. So she gave them the chance to find out if they were meant to be.

'They say if you love something, let it go, if it comes back it's yours, and that's how you know it's for keeps'

Well, he hadn't come back yet, even though it didn't outwardly look as though he and Kat were involved. So it was just another day.

Yeah right.

"We never claimed to base all our information solely on the contents of the disc that we found," Agent Evans said. "We did as much research on all of you that we could before we were forced to make our move. One of your friends is very forthcoming when she believes she is talking to you on the phone."

"What?" Kim demanded. "Where the hell do you guys get off pretending to be me?"

"That's enough of the secret-spilling, Evans," Agent Cresswell said sharply. "We can give you the chance to get him back, but you have to impress."

"And why would you want to do that?" Kim said. "The first day we saw you- practically the only thing you said was that we would be killed if we couldn't get the rest in. Now you're trying to help me sort out my screwed-up life?"

"We need to get the best out of all of you," Cresswell said calmly. "If that means sorting out your life, then so be it. This mission is too important- the six hold too many cards to make us anything less than meticulous in what we do."

"Well, you should have thought about the fact that maybe I'm not ready yet to tell him about what I did, and maybe that for some strange reason I wouldn't want to discuss my personal life with FBI agents who have managed to ruin it for me," Kim said. "Can you get me out of here?"

Evans rolled his eyes and stood up. "Follow me, Ms Hart."

Cresswell followed the pair with her eyes until the door slammed at the other end of the long room.

Her superiors believed that she was getting too involved in the Ranger's personal lives. But Emma Cresswell had been 22 once, and she knew that if they had the promise of good things happening to them whilst on this mission, then it would increase their chances of co-operating. But this would only work on some, and she knew that. Billy and Rocky were prime candidates for her personal approach, whereas Aisha and Tanya needed a little kicking into gear before they benefited.

Her real problems were with Kim and Tommy. The limited research that they had done on the couple hadn't seemed to have worked in Kim's case, although her friend thought that she was ready to tell him, she thought otherwise. And Tommy was naturally the most apprehensive of the whole bunch, he wouln't be easy to convince.

She sighed, and looked at a document beside her elbow. It documented where the six enemies had been in the last six months. They had met up twice, once in Tucson and once in New York. The FBI agents who had tailed them only managed to realise one thing, that they weren't going to start anything soon. But there had been rumours of abnormal activities in the states where the three couples were living, Arizona, Michigan and California. They had had to start moving.

Kat Hilliard would be the next person to enter the room... and Agent Emma Cresswell wanted this woman on her side.


*Holding Room*

If Kim could have slammed open the automatic doors, she would have done so. As it was, she had to settle for stalking through, ignoring all the questions directed her way, and sit herself as far away from the others as was possible in the overfull room.

Eyes followed her, but she didn't see them.

The uneasy tension in the room was broken by Katherine walking out, destined for the interrogation room.

"Kim, what did they say?" Trini asked her quietly.

"Things that they should have learned to leave well alone," was Kim's only muffled reply. And although she rejoined the group a few minutes later, she refused to tell anyone what had been said.

If the truth be told, she couldn't face it coming out.

Looking back, it seemed like cowardice. But then, it had seemed like the right thing to do, and so she had done it. Simple as that.

For another half an hour there were comings and goings. Trini, Kat and Zack had been sweetened up, but Jason, Tommy and Adam all returned from their interviews with thunderous faces. When Zack, who had been the last, returned, it was with Agent Cresswell in tow.

"Okay people, here is your itinerary."

"I wasn't aware we were at some perverted version of summer camp," Adam mumbled, but shut up after being on the receiving end of Tanya's glare. "You will go to bed now, and sleep until we wake you. You will breakfast, after which you will all be given your roles in the whole operation. Then it is merely a matter of time before the real work begins." She snapped her fingers, and Agent Wiltord stood up, Agent Evans also straightened his posture slightly. "Show them to their dormitories."

"Dormitories?" Trini mumbled in Billy's ear as they stood up, bones creaking slightly. "I think Adam was right, this is summer camp for adults."

"Without the added element of fun," he agreed, and gave her a kiss. "I'll see you in the morning then."

The girls and Agent Cresswell went down one passageway, the guys and Agents Wiltord and Evans the other.

*Dormitory 3, Sitka Bau*

"Good night, girls. You'll find everything you need in the closets beside your beds. Be prepared for an early wake up call."

"My god, she sounded almost human," Kat said after the door was safely shut. "Although she was nice to me."

"Lucky you," Tanya said, wincing as she remembered what had happened. "I'm not exactly feeling charitable towards her at the moment."

"Join the club," Aisha said, opening the closet beside the bed she had chosen. "Wow, she wasn't wrong when she said that they had everything we needed. There's enough toiletries in here to last us all several lifetimes."

"Shows how long they plan to continue messing with our minds, doesn't it," Kim said tonelessly, and flopped down on a springless bed without feeling the dulled pain. Trini sat next to her, and said soothingly,

"What exactly did they say to you?"

"Leave it, Trini. Maybe tomorrow." Kim said, and Trini had to admit defeat, her best friend could out-stubborn her even on a bad day. She opened her mouth to say something else, but was distracted by Aisha's comment of

"Do you think they can see in here?"

Kat got up and started searching the room for hidden cameras. "I can't see anything, but in a place like this it hardly seems likely that they wouldn't have any way of making sure that we're here."

"At least we know where we all stand with our superiors," Tanya said bitterly. "Some are chosen to be the favourites, and some are obviosuly going to be their little lapdogs, forced to perform tricks day and night."

Not much sleep was to be had in Dormitory 3 that night. The five girls lay awake until well into the night, discussing possible plans that the agents had for them. All would be revealed in morning.


*Dormitory 12*
*September 24, 2001*

"I officially hate my life," Adam said. "That cow told me that I shouldn't trust Tanya as much as I do, that no-one in life can be fully trusted. Has she been living my life for the past four years since Tanya and I have been going out? I don't think so. She has no right to tell me what my girlfriend thinks and feels."

"It's better than being told that someone here is keeping a secret from you, and then not giving a single clue as to what it is," Tommy said tiredly as the digital clock in the room turned from 1:08 to 1:09. "This is really starting to piss me off, their personal approach, and the whole thing in general."

"I was very surprised by their personal approach, I have to admit," Billy said, staring unseeingly into the darkness. "But I have a feeling that it's nothing to do with personal likes and dislikes, in fact I'm sure of it."

"How do you mean?" Zack asked curiously.

"Like they didn't take an instant disliking to Adam, Tommy and me and decide to play with our heads," Jason guessed. "It's all for a reason."

"Yeah," Billy said. "Like trying to get the best work out of people. Rocky, Zack and I work best when complimented, we want to prove people right. You, Adam and Tommy work best when you've been put down or confused or whatever, you want to prove people wrong."

"That makes sense, but..." Tommy paused for a moment. "There's absloutely no way that they got all this info from a disc," he finally said, coming to the same correct conclusion that his ex-girlfriend had earlier. "They must have been suspicious of us before this to know how we respond to different approaches."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," Jason said heavily. "There's been too much waiting in this game, sooner or later someone's going to have to start playing..."

*I never thought I would finish this...and if I think I have problems with this, I have even bigger ones with Stolen E-Mails! (Anyone want to help, give me a huge yell, and soon!) Please r/r with your opinions, whether good or bad, although I do prefer constructive critics instead of just 'this sucks' as I have had from someone. Take note!*