(Flashback)

Astronema was always planning something. Unlike the previous supposed conquerors of Earth, she did not send monsters down in a fit of rage. Astronema had bigger plans on her mind. Every battle had a purpose whether it was to gather information, tire the rangers out or distract them. When the quantrons she sent down that afternoon were being easily beaten, the rangers knew something was up. They faced them unmorphed, but kept their eyes open for traps.

In the midst of the chaotic battle, Andros somersaulted over Zhane knocking back a quantron on his way to the ground. Grabbing another one, he sent it careening over to the Silver Ranger to deal with before looking around to see if any of his other friends needed help. He was about to join TJ who was facing off more quantrons then the rest when he was grabbed from behind. He immediately tried to get loose, but metal fingers dug into his shoulders and forced him down. The air was knocked out of his lungs as he was shoved onto the pavement. He felt more hands grab hold of him. Looking up from his position on the ground, he saw the heads of five quantrons. The one who had pushed him down had a hold of his shoulders while the others each had hold of an arm or a leg. Andros grimaced and began to wriggle away, but just as he was about to knock two of them off, he felt cold metal bands being slammed onto his wrists. The cold quickly turned to fire as his arms began to burn. He ceased fighting as his arms spasmed and his body went limp.

By the time, his wrists had stopped burning and he was once again aware of the outside world, he heard the crunch of metal. He looked up to find Ashley had kicked another quantron into the ones holding him knocking three of them over. Regaining his strength, he double punched the one holding his shoulders while Ashley dealt with the last one with a high kick.

"Are you alright?" asked Ashley, kneeling next to him on the ground.

Sitting up, Andros glanced down at his wrists, but though they were still sore, the metal bands were no longer there. A quick look around showed that the quantrons were also no longer surrounding them. Ashley put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a worried look. He gave a little smile to reassure her; then rubbing his wrists, stood up.

"I'm fine," he told Ashley, not wanting her to worry.

"Sure?" she asked concerned, her hand still resting on his shoulder.

Andros smiled again and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "You rescued me just in time."

*How come I never get a kiss when I rescue you*, teased Zhane mentally. Andros turned to scowl at his best friend, missing the blush that crept over Ashley's face as she touched her cheek. 

The other rangers had finished off the quantrons and were heading towards them. All of them appeared to have come through the battle unscathed. Zhane looked over Andros checking mentally and physically for any injuries. Andros self-consciously pulled down the sleeves of his shirt over his wrists. Zhane frowned but said nothing.

TJ slapped his hand on Andros' back. "Let's head back to the Surf Spot. Hopefully, Adelle still has our food waiting for us."

****

That evening Andros took a detour to the medical bay on his way to bed making sure the others didn't notice. If any of the other rangers had noticed the way, he kept rubbing his wrists that evening, they hadn't mentioned it and Andros didn't plan to tell them. He didn't want them to worry. Andros didn't think it was anything serious, but he was curious as to why the pain hadn't receded much after the battle. Pulling up his sleeves to look, Andros was shocked. Strange symbols had been branded into the skin around his wrists.

He slumped onto a one of the medical beds and stared numbly at the burnt skin. The ever-watchful Deca grew concerned.

"Is something the matter, Andros?" the computer queried.

"I don't know," he said.

****