Author's note: Dominic, what would I do without you? My most faithful reviewer…that part you asked me for is being written, and will appear. I promise.

Just to clarify; at this point, the Rangers know who Animus is. This takes place just before Monitoring Earth; so they know who he is, but he hasn't done that climatic showdown thing. (Sorry, I saw all these episodes out of order, so I know what happened but not when…damn work!)

Chapter Five: Warnings

"Cole?"

Cole took a minute to answer. "Yeah, Alyssa."

The dull tone was still in his voice, and Alyssa winced slightly. "Do you think they'll find us?"

He shrugged. "Tara can track you to where you vanished. They'll figure out where we are. I just don't know if they'll be able to get here."

"Cole." she whispered. "I'm sorry."

"You said that."

"I meant it. I really am. I don't know what…I wasn't thinking, I'm…"

"Alyssa." He sat up, cutting her off in mid-sentence. "Don't worry about it. I'm not blaming you."

"Has he brought food, Cole?"

"I haven't been hungry."

Alyssa stared at him. "It's been two days. You haven't been hungry at all?"

"No. Or thirsty, or tired. It doesn't seem to matter here."

"I don't…" she frowned. "I don't see how that would work."

"It does, though." He shrugged again. "I guess he doesn't want us dying before he gets to do it."

"Cole…" Alyssa moved as close to the bars as she dared. "Don't give up. The others will find us. OK?"

"Never give up." Cole muttered, repeating Danny's phrase.

"Yeah." Alyssa nodded firmly. "Never give up."

"This is it." Tara wrapped her arms around herself. "She vanished from here."

"Was she alone?" Cole asked, taking a few steps forward.

"I don't sense anyone, but I think not."

"Why?" Merrick asked, watching Cole prowl the area.

"Because someone had to trigger the opening. If it was tuned to Rangers, Cole would have fallen through by now. And I doubt the Orgs waited patiently for her to happen through this area, since it's not even on her way."

"What's wrong?" Taylor asked quietly. Tara shook her head.

"It's nothing…at least, it's nothing you can do anything about. Don't worry about it." Raising her voice, she called, "Cole? Find anything?"

"Nothing. I can't find anything." Taylor winced at the frustration in his voice.

"We know where she is…sort of. Let's go back to the Animarium. Maybe Princess Shayla will be able to think of something." Tara suggested. Merrick looked at her sharply; she knew as well as he did Shayla wouldn't be able to help here.

"What? We can't just leave!" Cole protested.

"We can't do anything from here, Cole. Let's go back." Taylor urged. "Come on." She tugged lightly at his arm. Cole finally nodded, following her away from the others.

Merrick watched until they were out of range before asking quietly, "You still think something's wrong?"

"Other than the obvious? Yeah…he feels weird, somehow. I can't pin it down." She leaned absently against the nearest tree. "He's just…off."

"So you said." Merrick agreed. "I don't see it."

"Maybe we're…" she trailed off.

"Tara?" Merrick frowned.

"Nothing."

"It's not nothing." Merrick sighed. "Why do you do that?"

"Why do you?" Without letting him answer, she went on, "It's nothing important. As soon as we leave here I'll be fine."

"What. Is. It?" Merrick asked very pointedly. Tara sighed and pushed herself upright again.

"See over there?" She pointed. "There's gravel in the grass. It's not part of Earth."

"How is that…" Merrick trailed off, picking up a piece of the gravel. "The pocket dimension."

"Yeah. Must have fallen out. It's…distracting." She shook her head. "Let's just go, OK?"

Merrick nodded, absently rolling the gravel in his hand. "Sure. Let's find the others."

The others were arguing loudly in the middle of the park when Tara and Merrick caught back up. They edged around the fight to where Shayla was standing, looking from Taylor to Cole and back again.

"Princess Shayla. What's going on?" Merrick asked.

"Cole is…upset." Shayla said carefully. "I had to tell him I don't know how to get to a pocket dimension." Tara winced slightly.

"Obviously he enjoyed that…" she trailed off, watching them. Taylor was trying to calm Cole down; it wasn't working very well. Danny and Max were standing helplessly, looking from one to the other.

A faint movement caught Merrick's eye, and when he looked he saw Kite standing nearby.

"Princess Shayla." he murmured. "Kite."

"Where?" She followed his gaze and saw the boy half-hidden behind a tree. "Animus…"

"What do you suppose he wants?" Tara muttered. She flinched as Taylor touched Cole's arm and he threw her off. "OK. Getting sick of this now." She darted forward, sliding neatly in between the two.

"Tara." Cole said very softly. "What are you doing?"

"Calming you down." She shook her head at him. "We know you're worried, Cole. We're all worried. Blowing up at your friends won't help. We're trying to help, OK? Calm down."

The Rangers gathered around the Princess and Merrick, watching as Cole struggled. Tara waited patiently until he looked back up at her. "OK now?" she asked softly.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Good. Kite's over there." She tilted her head slightly to one side.

"What?"

"Kite." She was studying him carefully. "He's probably looking for you…he doesn't talk to any of the rest of us, really."

"Sure." Cole shook his head slightly. "Kite. Right." He turned toward the younger boy, but when Kite saw him coming he scrambled away.

"Kite!" Cole called after him.

"Animus!" Shayla added, and at that Kite paused.

"One here is not what they seem." He looked from one to another of the group. "Beware treachery from within, Rangers."

"What are you talking about?" Cole took another step towards him, but Animus lifted one hand, freezing him in place. The rest of the team was likewise frozen; only Tara and Princess Shayla were free.

"Princess." Animus said softly, and both inclined their heads. Then he faded away and the team collectively jerked as they were freed.

"He didn't freeze Tara because he can't." Merrick said for the nth time. "And he didn't freeze the Princess out of…" he hesitated.

"Respect." Taylor filled in. "It doesn't mean anything. It could still be anyone."

"Why wouldn't he tell us?" Cole asked. "Animus must know who it is."

"Maybe he doesn't." Tara leaned back, resting her weight on her hands.

The group was sitting on the Animarium. After Animus' pronouncement, Merrick and Shayla had hustled them all back before allowing any discussion. Cole had very nearly refused to leave the park, but the other Rangers had brought him around and now they were discussing Animus' message.

"He should have told us." Taylor muttered.

"He mightn't know." Tara sat forward again. "Even Animus isn't all-powerful." Taylor glared at her.

"This isn't helping Alyssa." Cole pointed out.

"This is important." Taylor snapped. "We can't help Alyssa if one of us is an Org."

"It might not be an Org." Danny said. Everyone turned to look at him. "Animus only said we weren't who we seemed."

"No…" Max said slowly. "He said we weren't what we seemed."

"That's only semantics." Tara rose to her feet, wandering towards the fountain. "When was the last attack?"

"Two days ago." Taylor said. "But we all fought together then."

"No we didn't." Max reminded her. Everyone turned to look at Cole, who was on his feet.

"This is stupid." he spat. "You think I'm an Org?"

"Calm down, Cole." Shayla said. "No one said that."

"We should be trying to find Alyssa." he said again, settling into a sitting position.

"We will." Shayla promised.

"How?"

"I don't know yet." Shayla admitted. "But we will, Cole. I promise."

"We'll figure it out." Taylor added.

"Never give up." Danny put in. Cole nodded slowly.

"Right. Never give up."