OOOPS! Forgot the disclaimer here! I don't own these characters btw! Don't want to get sued!

"Ram the Blade Ship"

"What the-man? Do you have a death wish?" Marco asked, not joking.

"An order is an order, DO IT!" Jake barked.

"Aye-aye sir!" "Yes sir!" Jeanne and Santorelli replied, as any lower-ranking officer would do.

"Well, I'm not going to get myself killed in one of your psycho vendettas. Not this time. I followed you out here, away from my cars, my women, and my show-You've been my boy all my life man, but I just can't do this anymore.I'm going to the escape pod. Whoever wants to live join me, otherwise, stay here and die."

Jake stared down Marco. Tobias, Santorelli, Menderash, and Jeanne watched both men. Neither backed down from the other.

Menderash broke the uncomfortable silence.

"We've locked onto the Blade Ship. One minute before impact."

"I'm outta here," Marco nearly spat into his friend's face, "I'm too young, and famous, to die." He went downstairs to the emergency shuttle. Santorelli and Jeanne looked at each other, looked at Jake, and then followed Marco.

The only ones left on deck were Tobias, Menderash, and Jake. Jake wondered why innocents had to suffer along with him. Both had suffered enough already. Even though Ax was Tobias's Shorm, and Menderash would do anything for a fellow Andalite, Jake got the eerie sense that they did not belong here.

"Menderash. Tobias. Go to the shuttle with Marco."

Jake wh-

"Prince Ja-"

"No Questions. GO!"

They left. He, Jake Berenson, would be the last casualty in this war against evil.

"10 seconds until impact!" The computer said.

-9

Jake thought about the good times in his life.

-8

Finally winning a game of one-on-one against Tom

-7

Riding Thermals with the gang

-6

Having a relaxing day at the beach with Marco and Homer

-5

Playing, and getting beat at Sega by Marco

-4

Teaching his cadets how to morph

-3

Cuddling Cassie in his arms at the North Pole

-2

Kissing Cassie on the Iskoort home world.

-1

"Oh God Cassie, what have I done?"

The Rachel hit the Blade Ship, and the force of the impact sent Jake flying.

            _________________________________________________________

Flying away, Marco had little thought of remorse.

"Let that cocky son of a gun get what he deserves…I'm not going to my death for him agai-oh Dear God!"

Marco saw the impact of The Rachel on the Blade Ship.

"Menderash, turn this ship around, we've got to save Jake."

"But Marco, Prince Jake could very well be dead. You would be risking your own life. If the oxygen-"

"I don't give a damn about the oxygen! We've been friends since birth. I am not, will not, let my best friend die alone."

"As you will, Marco."

Menderash turned the ship around, and Marco persuaded Santorelli and Jeanne to come with him. They entered Rachel through the docking bay and immediately went in search of Jake. Sparks were flying all around and the ship itself was crumbling.

"Vere is he?" Jeanne asked "How could-?"

They were helped out by a guttural groan in the direction of the cockpit.

"Oh man! Jake!" Marco cried.

Jake was lying in a pool of his own blood. It appeared that his right eye was missing. His arms were twitching, but his legs were not.

"Uhhh" he moaned

"Everybody, pick him up SLOWLY, and get him out of here!" Santorelli exclaimed

"Jake man, TALK TO ME!" Marco yelled. He slapped Jake's face.

"Ugh….so…cold"

"Jake, listen to me buddy. Concentrate on my voice. We're getting back to Earth. And when we do, I'm going to get you to my house. We'll chill in the hot tub, and you'll have all the ladies you want. We'll sip Cristal…man STAY WITH ME!"

"It's…cold...Marco..."

Marco, Santorelli, and Jeanne got back to the bay, where the escape pod was waiting. They all somehow managed to fit inside.

"Menderash! We need help now! Flash the distress signal, and get a  ship, any ship stat!"

They managed to get out of Rachel's bay and flew far, far, away from the Rachel, which soon exploded.

Jake was spitting up blood, and his pulse was weakening rapidly.

"I don't think he's going to make it..." Santorelli said solemnly.

Take his shirt off, the blood seems his bleeding seems to be coming from his back. Wrap the shirt around the wound to stop the blood from flowing. Tobias added.

"If it's internal, we don't have much time-" Santorelli said.
"Attention!" The radio blared, "This is USS William J. Clinton! A/N (That's for you Jinako-Chan) We've picked up your signal, do you have a man down?"

Marco grabbed the radio.

"No, we were joking because we wore out our DVD of the Springer movie…of COURSE we have a man down!"

"Stay vith us sir," Jeanne squeezed Jake's hand.

"We're overhead, opening our hatch. Fly up and we'll have a team of doctors standing by." The voice on the radio said.

Menderash, propel us upward. Tobias demanded.

Menderash propelled the ship upward and docked. The Doctors rushed Jake out of the shuttle, with Marco by his side.

"Marco," Jake coughed "If I, I…tell Cassie ...Iskoort…."

Jake saw his friend, and then everything went black.

"He's out!" said one of the doctors. "Proceed directly to the OR!"
Tobias morphed to human, and put a hand on Marco's shoulder. Marco just stared at his friend's blood, all over his hands. Santorelli, Jeanne, and Menderash looked equally forlorn as they watched their leader on the brink of death.

Four Earth-hours later…

"You know, this could be a scene out of ER, if it weren't for us floating in the middle of nowhere. And look, here comes Dr. Benson…" Marco was trying to joke. But no one was laughing. A tall black doctor walked out of the OR towards the waiting room.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Smith. You folks must be Berenson's crew. Here's the good news about his condition. We managed to stabilize him, even though his vitals are low. "

"The bad news is, he lost a great deal of blood and one of his lungs collapsed when he was injured in the collision. He also injured his right eye. But those are not the most serious conditions. The impact of the collision sent him flying, and crushed some of the vertebra in his back. The crushed vertebra severed his spinal cord. He's paralyzed from the waist down. If he survives, he'll be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

"NO!" Marco screamed. He pounded his fist against the wall. Jake had lost so much in the war. His cousin. His brother. His sanity. When did it end for him?

What do you mean 'If ', doctor? Tobias asked

"In his condition, we only give a 35% chance of survival. I'm sorry, but if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to the OR."

Dr. Smith turned and went back inside the Operation Room.

"35%. We might as well order his coffin now." Marco sulked.

But that does not mean Prince Jake is dead, a familiar voice said in thought speak……

            ______________________________________________

Ax! Tobias screamed in thought-speak, But, how?

A/N :( can you scream in thought speak?)

When Prince Jake hit the Blade Ship, the resulting mechanical force, converted into electro-magnetic and thermal energy-

"You, lay off the techno-speak. It's good to see you again!" Marco said, giving Ax the closest thing he could muster to a hug.

Now, how is Prince Jake's condition? From the way your frontal eyes look, it appears that you, as a collective group, are discouraged. I know that 35% is slightly over one third, so does that mean two thirds of Prince Jake's body is fighting against the oxygen supply?

Everyone just stared at him.

Sort of. It's a little more complicated than that...Tobias went to explain Jake's condition in private though-speak to Ax.

I did not realize that his situation was so critical. What will Prince Jake do without the use of his two legs? I thought Humans were limited with two, but to have none?

"Ve don't knoo, we just vant CPT Berenson to make it through the next feu hours." Jeanne sighed.

Earth hours or-

Ax was cut off by the sound of sirens blaring throughout the ship.

"Code Blue, Code blue! Everyone to the OR!"

"I ain't no doc, but I've seen enough battle to know that a "Code Blue" is cardiac arrest!" Santorelli looked as pale as death when he spoke.

            _________________________________________________________     

"We got him back folks! Good Job! Martinez put the paddles away. Stabilize him and hook him up to a ventilator, part of that lung is as good as gone…" The command surgeon barked.

Dr. Smith, the original doctor who greeted the crew, then came out again.

"Your friend, Berenson, is a VERY lucky fellow. He expired, but, some how; we were able to revive him. He is in recovery, but is hooked up to several life-support systems. Not many people survive a near-death experience. We will have to take him back to Earth to perform more lung and back surgeries."

"How long will that take?" asked Marco.

"If we can break through to Z-Space, we're looking at a three week minimum."

That's still a long time. Will he survive? Tobias inquired

"He will, but not for long. He needs more care than we can give him."

"Can ve see him?"

"Yes, but don't be shocked when you see him. He's in a deep coma."

________________________________________________________

They all filed into the recovery room.

"Oh man…"Marco put a hand to his mouth. Jake was deathly pale. The ventilator was doing all his breathing for him. Bandages covered his head and eye. His strong, muscular chest was wrapped in more bandages, and all sorts of things were sticking out of it. More machines were hooked up around his body.

His situation looked hopeless.

"Look Jake, you gotta come back to us. Don't take the easy way out. I don't want to tell Cassie…tell her yourself. We've lost enough already. Just don't…"

Marco broke down in tears.

"I can't lose my best friend…please. Wake up."

Jake couldn't see his friend's pain; he was reliving another's sorrow.

            _______________________________________________________

Even though it had been three weeks, Jake was still unresponsive. The doctors were seriously considering taking him off life support.

Then a miracle happened.

They were out of Z-Space, back in Earth's solar system. Groggily, Jake opened his good eye.

"Wha….what..?"

Everyone snapped around to look at him.

"Jake! You're alive!" Marco ran over to his bed.

Jake sucked in a deep breath. "Mar-co, you"

"Saved you? Yep. Don't worry about it bud. I owed you one. Especially for mouthing off to you before the collision." He joked.

"D, don't worry...about it," It was obvious that he was having a tough time breathing.

Suddenly, his face became a mask of pain. He reached up to his right eye.

"Marco...my eye...blurry..." he scratched at the bandages.

"No bud, don't take those off...Let me go get a nurse.."

"Ugh." Jake put his hands down and sucked in another breath. "So tired..."

"I know you're tired, Jake, everything is going to be alright...Just let me-"

Jake tried to sit up, but then a wave of fear washed over his face.

"Marco, my legs."

Marco turned around.

"It's like they aren't there, My god, Marco, I can't feel my legs, I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS! What's wrong with me?!?!" He started to shake "WHAT'S WRONG WTIH ME!"