Ashley held her breath as the clock counted down from ten. "I hope this
works." She thought as she waited for the explosion. When the clock hit
zero, there was a loud explosion and then she found herself on the bridge
of the mega ship. There was a throbbing in her left shoulder where the
fire from the bomb had broken through her suit, she didn't know the
severity of it, but ignored the pain as she focused on the next part of the
mission.
"It worked." Alpha cried excited as he ran over to see if Ashley was okay.
"I'm fine Alpha, really. Now let's finish off this beast so we can rescue the others." She teleported back down to the warehouse where the flames and smoke finally cleared, revealing the still body of the yellow power ranger. The villains couldn't believe their luck. "We did it! The destruction of the yellow ranger is complete." They shouted, celebrating their victory. Ashley only shook her head at their premature victory dance.
"Go in and check to make sure she's dead." Raven commanded his tow slaves. "She seems dead to me." Triton said as he knelt down to check for a pulse.
"Seems dead?" Raven roared. "IF you want anything done right, you've got to do it yourself." He muttered as he entered the cage, unaware that Ashley was outside the door. As he leaned over to determine if she was dead, he heard the loud slam of the cage behind him. Shocked he turned to see the yellow ranger standing outside.
"How dumb do you think I am?" She asked, her hands on her hips.
"How did you, what in the world?" The monster stuttered in disbelief. He was so close to destroying the power rangers.
Ashley spoke into her communicator. "Deca, three for transport." The ship's computer teleported the three villains to a deserted planet for immediate destruction. As she watched them disappear, she set off across the street to the abandoned bank. "Now to get the others."
"I just wish she hadn't died alone." Andros admitted to the other rangers who were still as in shock as he was.
Carlos could not grasp the fact that his best friend was dead. "How did she fall for that trap?" He asked in disbelief, wondering how she could have missed the obvious. Ashley smiled as she heard his question. Turning the vault wheel to the left three times, and right four times, the large steel door swung open. The four captured rangers held their breath as they waited for Raven to appear in the doorway. Much to their shock and delight, instead of Dark Spectre's evil villain, stood the yellow ranger.
"Ashley!" Carlos yelled in surprise. The four piled out of the vault and plowed right into the yellow ranger who just laughed in delight. "How dumb do you think I am?" she asked directly to Carlos who hadn't realized she had heard his comment but turned bright red at her question.
"How did you escape? We thought you were dead." Andros admitted quietly.
"I had Deca teleport me out when the explosion went off, and we placed a dummy to take my place in the cage, thusly drawing the villains in to make sure I was dead. "Ashley declared. TJ was the next to respond.
"Thanks for getting us out of there Ash." He thanked her as he playfully slapped her left arm. Ashley flinched as she reminded of the pain that was still shooting through her left arm. Ashley's movement had not gone unnoticed by the others.
"Ashley, you're hurt." Andros exclaimed, moving closer to his girlfriend. "We better get you to the med bay." He decided before contacting Deca. "Deca, five to teleport." The five rangers reappeared on the bridge.
"Good to have you back rangers." Alpha greeted them cheerfully.
"Good to be back Alpha." Cassie echoed the robot, as the pink, blue, and black rangers checked the scanners for any signs of danger. Satisfied that there was no imminent danger, they relaxed.
"Power down." Andros commanded and the five crossed their arms in front of their chests and flung them outward, their suits disappearing in five streams of colored light.
Ashley's left arm hung limply as she held it still close to her body with her good arm. Andros put his arm around her waist and escorted her to the med bay, where the other rangers let them have some alone time as the three of them headed off the synthetron for a well-deserved dinner.
"I thought I'd lost you." Andros admitted to Ashley as she sat on the patient bed while Alpha ran a bone scanner over her left arm. He brushed the hair out of her face and allowed his fingers to gently caress her slightly burned cheeks.
"It'll take more than a dumb trap to get rid of me." Ashley joked as Alpha wrapped her injured left arm in a sling.
"I'm glad." Andros said. His words caused Ashley to look up at her boyfriend in surprise. "When I thought you were gone, I realized I should have told you before how much I love you."
"Really?" she whispered as she flashed her bright smile at him. He couldn't resist smiling back. "Really." He replied as he bent down to kiss her gently on her lips.
1am
"NO! Please Daddy, don't let her hurt us anymore!" Ashley screamed in the midst of another nightmare. Though they couldn't hear her words, her teammates could hear the terror in her voice as they raced to her side. Four doors opened simultaneously as the four rangers poured out of their rooms and took off to the yellow ranger's room.
"Ashley, wake up." Carlos said as he stopped her from flailing about.
"I'm sorry Shannon. So sorry." Ashley sobbed as the memories from her past flooded her sleepy state. Carlos looked at the others worried.
"Who's Shannon?" Cassie asked in surprise. Andros knelt down next to his girlfriend and gently touched her face. "It's okay, Ash. Wake up." His gentle voice pierced through her fear and she gradually opened her eyes to see her teammates gathered in her room. Sitting up she allowed Andros to take her in his arms and she sobbed out all the pain her nightmares had released.
"What is it Ash?" TJ wanted to know. Andros suggested they all leave the room. Deciding she would be okay, Carlos, TJ, and Cassie leaving Andros and Ashley alone.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Andros inquired softly as he continued to hold his distraught girlfriend.
"Not really Andros. I just want to try to go to sleep." Ashley admitted, and laid herself back in her bed. Andros pulled the covers over her and settled in her chair to make sure she didn't have any more nightmares.
Ashley woke up a few hours later and smiled when she saw Andros asleep in her chair. She quickly showered and changed without him knowing. She gave him a gentle kiss on his cheek before leaving the ship.
"Anyone seen Ashley this morning?" Cassie asked, she wanted to know what was going on with her friend. Never before had she or anyone else seen Ashley so terrified as she was last night in the middle of her nightmare.
"She was gone before I even woke up." Andros confessed as he sat down for breakfast. Thinking, he looked up at the computer. "Deca, do you know where Ashley is?" he questioned.
"Yes I do Andros." Deca replied, not knowing if she should tell them.
Andros rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Well, where is she?" He demanded finally. Deca responded at last, deciding that Ashley might have been a bit too stubborn in no telling the other rangers her situation. "She's at the cemetery." Her statement caused the rangers to stop eating and look up at her in surprise.
"The cemetery?" TJ repeated in shock. "This can't be good." Carlos declared as he jumped out of his seat. "Whoa! Where are you going?" Cassie demanded of the black ranger.
"I'm going to go find Ashley. I want an explanation." Carlos spoke determinedly. "Maybe she doesn't want us to find her." TJ explained, trying to make sure Carlos do anything in haste. "I don't care. She might not want us to find her, but she needs us." Carlos decided firmly. "If she won't come to us, then we go to her." "You're right Carlos. I'm coming too." Andros agreed wholeheartedly. He had never seen Ashley so depressed, it worried him to no end that he was hurting. Cassie and TJ finally agreed to go along, and the four teleported to the Angel Grove Park, outside the cemetery, leave their breakfasts behind.
The four rangers watched silently from outside the gates. Ashley was laying on the ground between two gravesites, fresh flowers on both, sobbing her heart out. Andros's heart went out to her and he made the first move, walking into the cemetery and over to the grieving yellow ranger. He sat down, pulling her into his chest and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. When she didn't struggle against the intrusion, the others came in and gathered around their friend. Cassie looked away from her friend to read the gravestones.
"Andrea Joy Hammond
Beloved wife and Mother"
1951-1983
"Ashley's mother." Cassie concluded. All the times she complained about her mother, and Ashley had never said a word. And here her friend was still grieving over the mother she never knew. "How did Ashley put up with me?" The pink ranger wondered in amazement. Then she remembered the other gravestone. It stood nearby, a small angel engraved above the writing.
"Shannon Joy Hammond
Beautiful daughter and sister
She will never be forgotten"
1985-1988
"I didn't know Ashley had a sister." Carlos thought to himself as he too read the gravestones. Doing the math in his head, he felt sick when he realized that her sister had died when she was only three years old. Recalling her nightmares last night, Carlos decided that she hadn't died naturally, otherwise why would Ashley be so upset?
"Shannon would be thirteen years old today." Ashley's voice drew their attention away from the gravestones and back to the yellow ranger. "I come here every year on her birthday." She admitted as tears continued to flow freely from her eyes.
Andros just held her tightly to him. "She is so brave." He thought, as he recalled all the time she encouraged him to keep looking for his sister. She must have thought of her sister all those times when he would talk about Karone.
"Um guys?" They all looked over at her. "I promised Mrs. Reitsma I would do something tonight. I was wondering if you guys would come? I could really use your support, and you'll understand why I've been really sad and distant lately." Ashley broke the silence.
"Sure Ash. What time? And where?" TJ asked kindly as they all wondered what was going on.
"7pm at the community center. It's a fundraiser." Ashley informed them. She glanced down at her watch; she was going to be late meeting her dad and Jeff. "I've got to go meet my dad and Jeff so I'll see you guys later tonight then, ok?" Her teammates nodded in agreement as they watched her leave.
"Wow." Cassie said finally. No one else said a word, they were too shocked.
"It worked." Alpha cried excited as he ran over to see if Ashley was okay.
"I'm fine Alpha, really. Now let's finish off this beast so we can rescue the others." She teleported back down to the warehouse where the flames and smoke finally cleared, revealing the still body of the yellow power ranger. The villains couldn't believe their luck. "We did it! The destruction of the yellow ranger is complete." They shouted, celebrating their victory. Ashley only shook her head at their premature victory dance.
"Go in and check to make sure she's dead." Raven commanded his tow slaves. "She seems dead to me." Triton said as he knelt down to check for a pulse.
"Seems dead?" Raven roared. "IF you want anything done right, you've got to do it yourself." He muttered as he entered the cage, unaware that Ashley was outside the door. As he leaned over to determine if she was dead, he heard the loud slam of the cage behind him. Shocked he turned to see the yellow ranger standing outside.
"How dumb do you think I am?" She asked, her hands on her hips.
"How did you, what in the world?" The monster stuttered in disbelief. He was so close to destroying the power rangers.
Ashley spoke into her communicator. "Deca, three for transport." The ship's computer teleported the three villains to a deserted planet for immediate destruction. As she watched them disappear, she set off across the street to the abandoned bank. "Now to get the others."
"I just wish she hadn't died alone." Andros admitted to the other rangers who were still as in shock as he was.
Carlos could not grasp the fact that his best friend was dead. "How did she fall for that trap?" He asked in disbelief, wondering how she could have missed the obvious. Ashley smiled as she heard his question. Turning the vault wheel to the left three times, and right four times, the large steel door swung open. The four captured rangers held their breath as they waited for Raven to appear in the doorway. Much to their shock and delight, instead of Dark Spectre's evil villain, stood the yellow ranger.
"Ashley!" Carlos yelled in surprise. The four piled out of the vault and plowed right into the yellow ranger who just laughed in delight. "How dumb do you think I am?" she asked directly to Carlos who hadn't realized she had heard his comment but turned bright red at her question.
"How did you escape? We thought you were dead." Andros admitted quietly.
"I had Deca teleport me out when the explosion went off, and we placed a dummy to take my place in the cage, thusly drawing the villains in to make sure I was dead. "Ashley declared. TJ was the next to respond.
"Thanks for getting us out of there Ash." He thanked her as he playfully slapped her left arm. Ashley flinched as she reminded of the pain that was still shooting through her left arm. Ashley's movement had not gone unnoticed by the others.
"Ashley, you're hurt." Andros exclaimed, moving closer to his girlfriend. "We better get you to the med bay." He decided before contacting Deca. "Deca, five to teleport." The five rangers reappeared on the bridge.
"Good to have you back rangers." Alpha greeted them cheerfully.
"Good to be back Alpha." Cassie echoed the robot, as the pink, blue, and black rangers checked the scanners for any signs of danger. Satisfied that there was no imminent danger, they relaxed.
"Power down." Andros commanded and the five crossed their arms in front of their chests and flung them outward, their suits disappearing in five streams of colored light.
Ashley's left arm hung limply as she held it still close to her body with her good arm. Andros put his arm around her waist and escorted her to the med bay, where the other rangers let them have some alone time as the three of them headed off the synthetron for a well-deserved dinner.
"I thought I'd lost you." Andros admitted to Ashley as she sat on the patient bed while Alpha ran a bone scanner over her left arm. He brushed the hair out of her face and allowed his fingers to gently caress her slightly burned cheeks.
"It'll take more than a dumb trap to get rid of me." Ashley joked as Alpha wrapped her injured left arm in a sling.
"I'm glad." Andros said. His words caused Ashley to look up at her boyfriend in surprise. "When I thought you were gone, I realized I should have told you before how much I love you."
"Really?" she whispered as she flashed her bright smile at him. He couldn't resist smiling back. "Really." He replied as he bent down to kiss her gently on her lips.
1am
"NO! Please Daddy, don't let her hurt us anymore!" Ashley screamed in the midst of another nightmare. Though they couldn't hear her words, her teammates could hear the terror in her voice as they raced to her side. Four doors opened simultaneously as the four rangers poured out of their rooms and took off to the yellow ranger's room.
"Ashley, wake up." Carlos said as he stopped her from flailing about.
"I'm sorry Shannon. So sorry." Ashley sobbed as the memories from her past flooded her sleepy state. Carlos looked at the others worried.
"Who's Shannon?" Cassie asked in surprise. Andros knelt down next to his girlfriend and gently touched her face. "It's okay, Ash. Wake up." His gentle voice pierced through her fear and she gradually opened her eyes to see her teammates gathered in her room. Sitting up she allowed Andros to take her in his arms and she sobbed out all the pain her nightmares had released.
"What is it Ash?" TJ wanted to know. Andros suggested they all leave the room. Deciding she would be okay, Carlos, TJ, and Cassie leaving Andros and Ashley alone.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Andros inquired softly as he continued to hold his distraught girlfriend.
"Not really Andros. I just want to try to go to sleep." Ashley admitted, and laid herself back in her bed. Andros pulled the covers over her and settled in her chair to make sure she didn't have any more nightmares.
Ashley woke up a few hours later and smiled when she saw Andros asleep in her chair. She quickly showered and changed without him knowing. She gave him a gentle kiss on his cheek before leaving the ship.
"Anyone seen Ashley this morning?" Cassie asked, she wanted to know what was going on with her friend. Never before had she or anyone else seen Ashley so terrified as she was last night in the middle of her nightmare.
"She was gone before I even woke up." Andros confessed as he sat down for breakfast. Thinking, he looked up at the computer. "Deca, do you know where Ashley is?" he questioned.
"Yes I do Andros." Deca replied, not knowing if she should tell them.
Andros rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Well, where is she?" He demanded finally. Deca responded at last, deciding that Ashley might have been a bit too stubborn in no telling the other rangers her situation. "She's at the cemetery." Her statement caused the rangers to stop eating and look up at her in surprise.
"The cemetery?" TJ repeated in shock. "This can't be good." Carlos declared as he jumped out of his seat. "Whoa! Where are you going?" Cassie demanded of the black ranger.
"I'm going to go find Ashley. I want an explanation." Carlos spoke determinedly. "Maybe she doesn't want us to find her." TJ explained, trying to make sure Carlos do anything in haste. "I don't care. She might not want us to find her, but she needs us." Carlos decided firmly. "If she won't come to us, then we go to her." "You're right Carlos. I'm coming too." Andros agreed wholeheartedly. He had never seen Ashley so depressed, it worried him to no end that he was hurting. Cassie and TJ finally agreed to go along, and the four teleported to the Angel Grove Park, outside the cemetery, leave their breakfasts behind.
The four rangers watched silently from outside the gates. Ashley was laying on the ground between two gravesites, fresh flowers on both, sobbing her heart out. Andros's heart went out to her and he made the first move, walking into the cemetery and over to the grieving yellow ranger. He sat down, pulling her into his chest and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. When she didn't struggle against the intrusion, the others came in and gathered around their friend. Cassie looked away from her friend to read the gravestones.
"Andrea Joy Hammond
Beloved wife and Mother"
1951-1983
"Ashley's mother." Cassie concluded. All the times she complained about her mother, and Ashley had never said a word. And here her friend was still grieving over the mother she never knew. "How did Ashley put up with me?" The pink ranger wondered in amazement. Then she remembered the other gravestone. It stood nearby, a small angel engraved above the writing.
"Shannon Joy Hammond
Beautiful daughter and sister
She will never be forgotten"
1985-1988
"I didn't know Ashley had a sister." Carlos thought to himself as he too read the gravestones. Doing the math in his head, he felt sick when he realized that her sister had died when she was only three years old. Recalling her nightmares last night, Carlos decided that she hadn't died naturally, otherwise why would Ashley be so upset?
"Shannon would be thirteen years old today." Ashley's voice drew their attention away from the gravestones and back to the yellow ranger. "I come here every year on her birthday." She admitted as tears continued to flow freely from her eyes.
Andros just held her tightly to him. "She is so brave." He thought, as he recalled all the time she encouraged him to keep looking for his sister. She must have thought of her sister all those times when he would talk about Karone.
"Um guys?" They all looked over at her. "I promised Mrs. Reitsma I would do something tonight. I was wondering if you guys would come? I could really use your support, and you'll understand why I've been really sad and distant lately." Ashley broke the silence.
"Sure Ash. What time? And where?" TJ asked kindly as they all wondered what was going on.
"7pm at the community center. It's a fundraiser." Ashley informed them. She glanced down at her watch; she was going to be late meeting her dad and Jeff. "I've got to go meet my dad and Jeff so I'll see you guys later tonight then, ok?" Her teammates nodded in agreement as they watched her leave.
"Wow." Cassie said finally. No one else said a word, they were too shocked.