Chapter 3

Tommy walked back into the Youth Center after teleporting into an empty area of the parking lot. He spotted his large group in a corner, so he made his way over to them and sat down. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Kim, Jason, Zack, Rocky, Adam, Tanya, Aisha, and Kat said their hellos before Aisha spoke up.

"Hey, Tommy... Where's Andy? I thought she was with you."

Tommy grew quiet for a moment before responding. "Command Center. Billy's back."

The group grew silent. Only Kimberly and Zack looked confused.

"What's up with Billy and Andy?" Kim asked innocently.

Jason took a deep breath before explaining. "Shortly after you left for the Pan-Global games, Billy and Andrea started dating. They dated for a little over a year... The relationship had gotten pretty serious; Billy even mentioned marriage to me at one point."

"So... what happened?" Zack asked, curious as to what broke apart the two technical advisors.

"Well, Billy started to age as a side effect from his regenerator, so the Alien Rangers took him to Aquitar to cure him." Jason paused. "After he was cured, he sent back a transmission saying that he was staying on Aquitar; that Cestria was the only one who ever truly understood him."

Kim put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my gosh, poor Andy!"

"Yeah, she stuck around for a little while longer and then took off." Tommy finished. "She just couldn't take it anymore."

"How could Billy do that?!" Zack asked incredulously.

"I dunno, man... But there has to be a reason... a good one." Tommy looked at his friends as they nodded in agreement.

MEANWHILE, SOMEWHERE IN THE COMMAND CENTER...

"Andy! Where are you going?" Billy shouted as he followed her through the dark corridors.

Andy was silent as she opened a door that led to a medical exam room. She entered the room and flipped on the lights.

Billy followed her in. "Hey, I heard you decided to go to college..." he said, trying to start a conversation.

Andrea just nodded as she reached into a medicine cabinet and withdrew a vial of toradol and a syringe.

"Why'd you leave Angel Grove?" he asked, curious.

She glanced at him and then back to the drugs. "Why'd you come back?" she shot back.

"Why did you?" he retorted.

"I asked you, first..." she muttered, drawing the liquid into the syringe and putting the cap back over the needle.

"Oh yeah, real mature." Billy rolled his eyes.

Andy slammed the vial down on the counter, causing it to shatter. "You think you can just come back here after being gone for nearly a decade and expect things to be the same as they were before you left?!" she shouted at him. "You can't do that, Billy! It doesn't work that way!"

"Andrea…" The sadness in Billy's voice was quite evident as he braced himself against the counter. "I… OW!..." the former ranger drew his hand back in pain.

"Are you okay?!" Andrea was immediately at his side.

"Yeah…" Billy sucked on the jagged cut on his finger.

"No, you're not. Let me see it." She took his hand and examined the cut. "I'll clean that up for you, if you'd like."

"Only if you let me give you that injection." He smiled a little.

Andrea smiled back. "Deal. Now, sit." She pointed to a nearby exam bed.

"Yes ma'am." Billy joked.

"William…" Andrea started in a warning tone as she gathered the necessary supplies.

Billy sat up straight, trying to behave himself

"Okay," Andy pulled up a stool and sat in front of him. "This may sting a little." She gently began to cleanse the wound with an alcohol pad.

Billy winced in pain. "You said 'a little'…"

She looked up at him, unable to hold back a smile. "Baby."

Their eyes locked; the tension in the room was almost unbearable.

It took everything Andrea had to break the gaze. "Well… it's not deep enough to need stitches…" she trailed off.

He nodded silently, still looking at her.

She cleared her throat and covered the cut with a small band-aid.

Billy held up his newly bandaged finger. "SpongeBob, huh?" he smirked.

"You got a problem with that, Blue Boy?" Andrea grinned.

"Not at all." Billy stood up. "Now it's your turn. Sit."

Andy grumbled and sat down, watching as he placed the syringe she had carefully drawn up on bed and then carefully removed her sling.

"How did you do this?" Billy asked, keeping his voice soft and his hands gentle as he examined her badly bruised arm.

"I was, um, repairing Titanus."

"Oh, that's right. Titanus and Tor still lie dormant." Billy said, wiping a small area of Andrea's lower arm with an alcohol pad. He knew she was lying, but he would let her tell him the truth when she was ready to. Picking up the syringe, he looked into her eyes. "You still hate needles?"

Andy smiled and nodded sheepishly.

He uncapped the needle. "That's alright," he smiled at her. "I promise you won't feel a thing."

Andrea smiled at him again.

"Alright, close your eyes, sweetheart..." Billy said in a soothing voice, holding her arm with one hand and the syringe in the other. "Good... Now take a deep breath..."

Andy did as she was told and Billy skillfully slid the needle into her arm.

A few seconds later, she peered out of one eye to see what he was doing.

Billy laughed as he capped the needle once more. "It's over, Andy. You can relax now." He threw the empty syringe into the nearby Sharps box. "And to think you were going to inject that yourself," he grinned and sat back down beside her.

"How did you get so good at that?" Andrea asked.

"Practice," he continued to grin. "Med. School makes you do that, you know."

"You went to med. school?!" she asked incredulously, slipping her sling back on.

He laughed. "Yeah, in Chicago."

"So, you've been back on Earth for..." Andy trailed off.

"A few years now. But I couldn't come back to Angel Grove until now. They would've found me. Also, you weren't here, so there really wasn't a point."

She smiled and blushed for a moment before looking him in the eyes. "Who's 'they'?"

Billy smiled back and sighed. "It's a long story."

Andy smirked. "I'm listening, Dr. Billy."

"Uh huh," he grinned, pulling her into his arms and laying back on the exam bed. "Tell you what... I'll tell you exactly what happened if you promise you'll stay in my arms throughout the entire story."

"I promise," she replied.

"Now, it's a long story... Are you sure?" Billy joked.

"Yeah, I don't think it will be a problem..." she flashed him a big smile. She had forgotten how good it felt to be in his arms.

"Good," he winked, knowing that it drove her crazy when he did that.

Andy blushed and snuggled closer to him.

Billy held her close, took in a deep breath, and began to tell his story.