Disclaimers: In part one.
Author's note: Thanks to Nalanzu for betareading this part. Any mistakes are mine, not hers.
Another Time and Place
by Smittysgirl
part 5
Cassidy rapped lightly on the hatch leading up from Dino Ops, jerking Kira out of her revere. "Hey. I heard you come in. Would you like to talk?"
Kira sniffled again. "I can't believe those two. Or at least Conner."
Cass sat down in the chair opposite her, and took the smaller girl's hands. "You have to remember that isn't the Conner we know. That's ... the thing Mesogog put in Conner's head talking. Conner especially needs to remember that."
"We're lucky, day to day, if Conner remembers who he is," Kira said sharply. "And Trent... don't get me started with Trent."
Cassidy let out a deep breath, staring at her feet for a moment. "I don't know how you do it, truthfully. Devin and I have been a part of this for such a short time, and it's already been the most taxing thing in my life."
"It isn't much easier at this point, either. I mean, I accepted being a Ranger. It's not like I really had a choice in the matter, anyway. But you just live. Somehow."
Cass bit her lip, again avoiding Kira's gaze. The smaller girl wondered what had gotten into her.
"I haven't been much of a friend to you, have I?" she finally asked.
"You've been a great friend... at least the last month or so. And Devin... it's nice that he can wear the armor."
"I'm just so sorry," she mumbled. "Sorry I didn't see it sooner, sorry I couldn't take the burden off of you. Sorry ... sorry if I took Ethan from you. I know he's the only real friend you've had lately."
"I wish I'd seen him first," Kira joked weakly.
Cass laughed gently. "It seems to me you had seven months."
"Yeah, well, you never notice your teammates," Kira said ruefully. "I don't think I'd have even noticed Trent if he'd gotten his powers the same time the rest of us had."
"Do you ever worry about how it's going to end between Trent and Conner?" she asked abruptly. "They've both made you such a part of this."
"Hopefully without either one dismembering the other," Kira said.
Cass sighed, slumping forward. Kira could feel the other girl's hands drenching hers, and sensed this was awkward territory for her.
"How does it make you feel to have been thrown in all this?"
"Like an object," Kira admitted. "Like for all I feel for them both, neither really thinks about me as a person. I'm another status symbol between them. Like nobody loves Kira for who Kira is."
"I think they do," Cass said, "It's just that... well, they're guys, and both of them have mental disorders, that's all."
Kira laughed without a trace of humor. "I sure know how to pick a horse, don't I?"
She gestured to her guitar case, strewn on one of Dr. Smitty's other chairs. "You know I spent most of the time wandering around the ranch trying to come up with a song about all this? Figured I might as well get some material out of my misery. Kept going back to my favorite song as a girl."
"Oooh?" Cassidy said, her eyes lighting up.
Kira picked up the guitar. "Now I see I'm up to no good, and I wanna start again, can't remember when I felt good baby, no I can't remember when...."
Cassidy clapped softly as the song ended. "That was beautiful," she said. Kira could tell that wasn't false praise, and the song had really touched the other girl.
Kira looked away, slightly embarassed. "Thanks. My mom used to be part of Debbie Gibson's road crew, so I heard that song a lot."
"Your mom was...."
"Yep. That's how I learned to play the guitar. I wanted to be part of the world my mom's boss was a part of."
Cass smiled weakly, clearly uncomfortable with comforting another person. Kira had to admire her effort.
"Shame the song doesn't give you any guideposts, huh?" she finally volunteered.
Kira gave her a wry grin. "Yeah."
Cassidy looked at the lamp on the table. "Devin and I are going soon... want me to give you a ride?"
Kira nodded. "I'd really appreciate that. Do you have to be home soon, or would you like to stay with me for a while? My parents always make too much food."
"Food sounds good. Devin eats enough for the both of us, though."
Kira laughed. "My parents use buffet style dining - old quirk of my dad's. We have a big house. They might love him."
Cassidy grinned. "That's great! Let's get out of here."
.
.
.
"Zeltrax," Mesogog rumbled, "Let uss talk about your... suicidal streak as of late."
"My master," the cyborg bowed. "There is no excuse for my behavior. My desire to destroy Dr. Smith has clouded me to your wisdom. I seek nothing less than repentance."
Mesogog drummed the arm of his throne. "I would hope ssooo. While destroying Dr. Smith and his children would be... most enjoyable, I would seek to destroy them from within."
Zeltrax did not avert his gaze from the mutant's feet. "As is the most prudent course of action, sire. I leave myself at your mercy to do with as you wish."
Mesogog hissed, and bared one claw, striking out at Zeltrax. "You are... fortunate that I need a skilled warrior with some sense of tactics."
The cyborg did not flinch, taking the blow. "I am fortunate, master. I will not disobey you again, on my life."
"You had better not!"
Zeltrax was dismissed, clattering into the hallway before Mesogog could inflict further damage to his person. Elsa, leaning against a support beam, looked at him oddly.
"What's your game, Payne? Why the masochistic streak with Lord Mesogog?"
"I only seek to please our lord," Zeltrax intoned. "After all, it is he who saved me from death."
Elsa rolled her eyes. "You're like a puppy, you know that? It's pathetic. And just like a puppy, you keep making accidents all over the place that we're left to clean up."
"I did not mean to inconvenience you, my lady."
Elsa sashayed over to him, waggling her finger underneath his chin. "If you intend to kill yourself with this vendetta, just get it over with for all our sakes. If you intend to be Mesogog's lapdog, start shaping up. It's that simple."
"You would do the same for any man who had wronged you."
Elsa crossed her arms. "And what do you know of those who have wronged me, Zeltrax? Do you know their names at all? Do I define myself by those things?"
"I presume you have destroyed all in your path, my lady." Zeltrax bowed. "Now, if you do not mind, I must recharge. I am sure Lord Mesogog will seek my redemption soon."
Elsa grunted acknowledgment, returning to her perch.
.
;
.
"Something's bothering me about Conner's meds," Hayley said to Terrance after all the kids had gone.
"What do you mean?" Terrance asked, looking up from one of his notebooks. He felt exhausted, like all of the emotion had been bled out of him by the day's unending stream of crises. "He skipped a dose, probably by accident."
"This isn't the first time, Terrance. The only reason he hasn't had more of these... incidents is that I double-check at the cafe. As it is, I wasn't there at the start, when he was throwing Trent around and trying to strangle him. I was lucky to get in when we did, because Trent wasn't struggling that much."
Terrance rubbed his temples, trying to process the new information. He understood why Hayley would keep this from him, but that didn't mean he had to like it. "Gah, something else to consider - Mercer messing up the dosage."
"That's what I was thinking," Hayley said neutrally.
Terrance took off his glasses and slid beside his girlfriend. "You're omitting something. What's the matter?"
"Mercer wasn't there when Conner took his medication."
"Ugh," Terrance said sourly. "No time for him to have made a change prior? No, likely not... he'd have to replace it after."
"He has first-period science with Anton Mercer, and then he doesn't see him for the rest of the day."
"Do you have any ideas?" Terrance asked.
"Not a one," Hayley said. "Either Conner's imagining taking the meds, or something weird is going on. I know he's told me once the principal meets him on the way there, because she checks on the nurse at that time of day."
"You have a better relationship with the principal than I do," he allowed, remembering the skirmish the Black Ranger and principal had gotten into over the Dimetrozord Egg after a field trip of Mercer's uncovered it.
"Not really," Hayley said. "I think she's an arrogant bitch on a power trip."
"Yes, but you're a more naturally forgiving person," he said, slipping an arm around her waist and grinning roguishly.
"Only to handsome palentologists and clumsy patrons," Hayley pointed out.
"Then I suppose it's a good thing Anton's an evil mutant."
Hayley grinned. "Yeah, it is." She rubbed an imaginary speck of dirt off his cheek. "Poor Trent."
"He said he'd consider moving here, at least. I consider that a rousing victory after the last couple weeks."
"That is good... for Trent," Hayley said. "You sure you can handle a ravenous teenage boy in all this?"
"I think I don't have a choice," Terrance smiled. "Trent needs a family, and this house was starting to feel too big again, wasn't it?"
Hayley smiled and leaned against him. "I was thinking more along the lines of how much Trent packs away in food at work."
"We could always dip into the raptor feed," he ventured. "I mean, we'd need to kill and grill the meat first."
Hayley snorted. "At least he's not getting chubby, thanks to the exercise. Of course, from all the Rangers I've seen in the archive footage, none of them are chubby, either."
Terrance nodded, rubbing the back of his head. "There's so much we don't understand about these powers, besides what Anton's company managed to salvage from those wrecked Zords. I wish we knew a way to contact the other teams, or request assistance or something."
"It would make our lives easier, having someone with experience," Hayley agreed. "But Ranger teams aren't usually listed in the phone book."
"Well, besides the one, but I don't have deep enough pockets to call Bio Lab myself."
Hayley nodded bleakly. "So much for help on that end."
She leaned into his embrace, her face resting in the crook of his neck. "We'll work something out, Hale. I mean it. We'll find a way to stop Mesogog."
"I know we will," Hayley said drowsily.
To Be Continued...
Author's note: Thanks to Nalanzu for betareading this part. Any mistakes are mine, not hers.
Another Time and Place
by Smittysgirl
part 5
Cassidy rapped lightly on the hatch leading up from Dino Ops, jerking Kira out of her revere. "Hey. I heard you come in. Would you like to talk?"
Kira sniffled again. "I can't believe those two. Or at least Conner."
Cass sat down in the chair opposite her, and took the smaller girl's hands. "You have to remember that isn't the Conner we know. That's ... the thing Mesogog put in Conner's head talking. Conner especially needs to remember that."
"We're lucky, day to day, if Conner remembers who he is," Kira said sharply. "And Trent... don't get me started with Trent."
Cassidy let out a deep breath, staring at her feet for a moment. "I don't know how you do it, truthfully. Devin and I have been a part of this for such a short time, and it's already been the most taxing thing in my life."
"It isn't much easier at this point, either. I mean, I accepted being a Ranger. It's not like I really had a choice in the matter, anyway. But you just live. Somehow."
Cass bit her lip, again avoiding Kira's gaze. The smaller girl wondered what had gotten into her.
"I haven't been much of a friend to you, have I?" she finally asked.
"You've been a great friend... at least the last month or so. And Devin... it's nice that he can wear the armor."
"I'm just so sorry," she mumbled. "Sorry I didn't see it sooner, sorry I couldn't take the burden off of you. Sorry ... sorry if I took Ethan from you. I know he's the only real friend you've had lately."
"I wish I'd seen him first," Kira joked weakly.
Cass laughed gently. "It seems to me you had seven months."
"Yeah, well, you never notice your teammates," Kira said ruefully. "I don't think I'd have even noticed Trent if he'd gotten his powers the same time the rest of us had."
"Do you ever worry about how it's going to end between Trent and Conner?" she asked abruptly. "They've both made you such a part of this."
"Hopefully without either one dismembering the other," Kira said.
Cass sighed, slumping forward. Kira could feel the other girl's hands drenching hers, and sensed this was awkward territory for her.
"How does it make you feel to have been thrown in all this?"
"Like an object," Kira admitted. "Like for all I feel for them both, neither really thinks about me as a person. I'm another status symbol between them. Like nobody loves Kira for who Kira is."
"I think they do," Cass said, "It's just that... well, they're guys, and both of them have mental disorders, that's all."
Kira laughed without a trace of humor. "I sure know how to pick a horse, don't I?"
She gestured to her guitar case, strewn on one of Dr. Smitty's other chairs. "You know I spent most of the time wandering around the ranch trying to come up with a song about all this? Figured I might as well get some material out of my misery. Kept going back to my favorite song as a girl."
"Oooh?" Cassidy said, her eyes lighting up.
Kira picked up the guitar. "Now I see I'm up to no good, and I wanna start again, can't remember when I felt good baby, no I can't remember when...."
Cassidy clapped softly as the song ended. "That was beautiful," she said. Kira could tell that wasn't false praise, and the song had really touched the other girl.
Kira looked away, slightly embarassed. "Thanks. My mom used to be part of Debbie Gibson's road crew, so I heard that song a lot."
"Your mom was...."
"Yep. That's how I learned to play the guitar. I wanted to be part of the world my mom's boss was a part of."
Cass smiled weakly, clearly uncomfortable with comforting another person. Kira had to admire her effort.
"Shame the song doesn't give you any guideposts, huh?" she finally volunteered.
Kira gave her a wry grin. "Yeah."
Cassidy looked at the lamp on the table. "Devin and I are going soon... want me to give you a ride?"
Kira nodded. "I'd really appreciate that. Do you have to be home soon, or would you like to stay with me for a while? My parents always make too much food."
"Food sounds good. Devin eats enough for the both of us, though."
Kira laughed. "My parents use buffet style dining - old quirk of my dad's. We have a big house. They might love him."
Cassidy grinned. "That's great! Let's get out of here."
.
.
.
"Zeltrax," Mesogog rumbled, "Let uss talk about your... suicidal streak as of late."
"My master," the cyborg bowed. "There is no excuse for my behavior. My desire to destroy Dr. Smith has clouded me to your wisdom. I seek nothing less than repentance."
Mesogog drummed the arm of his throne. "I would hope ssooo. While destroying Dr. Smith and his children would be... most enjoyable, I would seek to destroy them from within."
Zeltrax did not avert his gaze from the mutant's feet. "As is the most prudent course of action, sire. I leave myself at your mercy to do with as you wish."
Mesogog hissed, and bared one claw, striking out at Zeltrax. "You are... fortunate that I need a skilled warrior with some sense of tactics."
The cyborg did not flinch, taking the blow. "I am fortunate, master. I will not disobey you again, on my life."
"You had better not!"
Zeltrax was dismissed, clattering into the hallway before Mesogog could inflict further damage to his person. Elsa, leaning against a support beam, looked at him oddly.
"What's your game, Payne? Why the masochistic streak with Lord Mesogog?"
"I only seek to please our lord," Zeltrax intoned. "After all, it is he who saved me from death."
Elsa rolled her eyes. "You're like a puppy, you know that? It's pathetic. And just like a puppy, you keep making accidents all over the place that we're left to clean up."
"I did not mean to inconvenience you, my lady."
Elsa sashayed over to him, waggling her finger underneath his chin. "If you intend to kill yourself with this vendetta, just get it over with for all our sakes. If you intend to be Mesogog's lapdog, start shaping up. It's that simple."
"You would do the same for any man who had wronged you."
Elsa crossed her arms. "And what do you know of those who have wronged me, Zeltrax? Do you know their names at all? Do I define myself by those things?"
"I presume you have destroyed all in your path, my lady." Zeltrax bowed. "Now, if you do not mind, I must recharge. I am sure Lord Mesogog will seek my redemption soon."
Elsa grunted acknowledgment, returning to her perch.
.
;
.
"Something's bothering me about Conner's meds," Hayley said to Terrance after all the kids had gone.
"What do you mean?" Terrance asked, looking up from one of his notebooks. He felt exhausted, like all of the emotion had been bled out of him by the day's unending stream of crises. "He skipped a dose, probably by accident."
"This isn't the first time, Terrance. The only reason he hasn't had more of these... incidents is that I double-check at the cafe. As it is, I wasn't there at the start, when he was throwing Trent around and trying to strangle him. I was lucky to get in when we did, because Trent wasn't struggling that much."
Terrance rubbed his temples, trying to process the new information. He understood why Hayley would keep this from him, but that didn't mean he had to like it. "Gah, something else to consider - Mercer messing up the dosage."
"That's what I was thinking," Hayley said neutrally.
Terrance took off his glasses and slid beside his girlfriend. "You're omitting something. What's the matter?"
"Mercer wasn't there when Conner took his medication."
"Ugh," Terrance said sourly. "No time for him to have made a change prior? No, likely not... he'd have to replace it after."
"He has first-period science with Anton Mercer, and then he doesn't see him for the rest of the day."
"Do you have any ideas?" Terrance asked.
"Not a one," Hayley said. "Either Conner's imagining taking the meds, or something weird is going on. I know he's told me once the principal meets him on the way there, because she checks on the nurse at that time of day."
"You have a better relationship with the principal than I do," he allowed, remembering the skirmish the Black Ranger and principal had gotten into over the Dimetrozord Egg after a field trip of Mercer's uncovered it.
"Not really," Hayley said. "I think she's an arrogant bitch on a power trip."
"Yes, but you're a more naturally forgiving person," he said, slipping an arm around her waist and grinning roguishly.
"Only to handsome palentologists and clumsy patrons," Hayley pointed out.
"Then I suppose it's a good thing Anton's an evil mutant."
Hayley grinned. "Yeah, it is." She rubbed an imaginary speck of dirt off his cheek. "Poor Trent."
"He said he'd consider moving here, at least. I consider that a rousing victory after the last couple weeks."
"That is good... for Trent," Hayley said. "You sure you can handle a ravenous teenage boy in all this?"
"I think I don't have a choice," Terrance smiled. "Trent needs a family, and this house was starting to feel too big again, wasn't it?"
Hayley smiled and leaned against him. "I was thinking more along the lines of how much Trent packs away in food at work."
"We could always dip into the raptor feed," he ventured. "I mean, we'd need to kill and grill the meat first."
Hayley snorted. "At least he's not getting chubby, thanks to the exercise. Of course, from all the Rangers I've seen in the archive footage, none of them are chubby, either."
Terrance nodded, rubbing the back of his head. "There's so much we don't understand about these powers, besides what Anton's company managed to salvage from those wrecked Zords. I wish we knew a way to contact the other teams, or request assistance or something."
"It would make our lives easier, having someone with experience," Hayley agreed. "But Ranger teams aren't usually listed in the phone book."
"Well, besides the one, but I don't have deep enough pockets to call Bio Lab myself."
Hayley nodded bleakly. "So much for help on that end."
She leaned into his embrace, her face resting in the crook of his neck. "We'll work something out, Hale. I mean it. We'll find a way to stop Mesogog."
"I know we will," Hayley said drowsily.
To Be Continued...