Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Disney and the like, which I am not affliated with.
"She needs to be taken to the emergency room," Kira said tiredly, waving at Elsa's prone form. With a deep sigh, she said, "Power down," and returned to Conner's beside, casting the Blue Ranger a worried look.
The crowd flooded into the room, hospital personnel going to take care of Elsa, while some remained to fix Conner's IV. Kira ignored all of this, staring at Conner's chest, rising and falling with a steady rhythm that she perceived as a good sign. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up.
"You saved him," Eric said with a smile.
She returned it hesitantly. "This time."
"Thank you, Kira," Mrs. McKnight said, she and her ex-husband coming up behind their son.
"We owe you a lot," Mr. McKnight agreed. Kira just nodded, feeling very drained, but feeling better all the same.
"Miss, miss!" a flurry of voices began calling, and Kira saw past Conner's family to the other people now attempting to flag her down, most of whom were bearing cameras. Flashes popped in front of her eyes. "You're the Yellow Ranger!" "Can we get your name?" "What can you tell us about the other Rangers?" "Who's your friend here?"
"I--" Kira said, staring blankly at the sea of hungry reporters.
"You should all leave now," Ethan said in his most authoritative voice, stepping in front of Conner's bed to block their view of Conner and Kira, still in Blue Ranger guise.
"Your name's Ethan, isn't it?" someone in the crowd said. "I heard her calling you Ethan."
"I saw him morph!" said someone else. "Some black dude."
"Okay, that's it, everybody out of my son's room now," Mrs. McKnight commanded in such a tone that Kira understood why Conner was so afraid of his mom. The masses were taken by surprise, but they grudgingly complied, if only for the reason that there was a fully morphed Power Ranger in their midst.
When only Conner, his friends and family remained, Ethan looked to Kira. "You said they already know?"
She nodded. "I told them everything."
He powered down, offering the McKnights a sheepish smile. "Hi. I'm Ethan." He cast Kira a worried glance. "That was a stupid move, Kira."
"I'm taking a leaf out of Conner's book," she retorted. But it wasn't nearly as funny aloud. "I'm sorry. It was a ridiculous move, but...if he doesn't make it..."
"He will make it," Ethan said.
"But if he doesn't. I wanted them to know."
"Unfortunately, now everyone knows. They all saw you without the helmet."
"I had to do it."
"No one's blaming you, Kira," Ethan said gently. "It was a shrewd battle move. I would've done it, too."
"She was going to kill him."
"Hey. You don't have to defend yourself. I know. I was there. But you stopped her, and you saved him. He's going to make it, Kira, you know he will. He's Conner."
"I shouldn't have--I broke the cardinal rule. We're screwed."
"We'll fix it," he promised.
"We should call Dr. O. and Hayley."
"Hey...we freed Dr. O."
"You reversed the brainwashing?" she asked, her eyes lighting up as she straightened slightly with the good news.
"Well, we thought we did," he said. "But he was faking it so we would release him. Then he tried to attack Hayley. So I shot him."
"You shot him?"
"You revealed your secret identity!" he countered, his voice rising with anxiety. The tension evaporated in that moment, and they smiled at each other, laughing nervously before Ethan continued. "Anyway, I shot him in the leg so he'd let Hayley go, and then she fired up the machine thingy she made when we first used the meteor rock to melt Dr. O.'s amber, and it reversed the molecular bond on the gem, and had the added bonus of reversing the brainwashing. Of course, he doesn't remember anything that happened after Mesogog kidnapped us, so Hayley has to fill him in."
"Wait, what did you use in the machine?" she asked, frowning.
"A chunk from the meteor rock," he said.
"And where'd you get that? I thought the rock was fried."
Ethan coughed. "Well...Trent had a piece."
"Trent saved some of the meteor?" Something flashed in her eyes, and Ethan glanced at Conner while Kira stared at her lap. "That means he wanted to try and save himself," she reasoned. "He wanted to..." She looked up at Ethan, clearly pained. "He wanted to change. He wasn't completely evil."
"He wasn't when he took the rock," Ethan said cautiously. "But he changed."
"Ethan--"
Conner coughed, interrupting both Rangers' trains of thought. Kira's gaze immediately shot to Conner, watering slightly, loaded with concern. Ethan frowned. "Forget Trent for now," he said softly. "Is there something going on between you and Conner?"
Kira suddenly became aware of not only Ethan's eyes on her, but the eyes of Conner's family. She'd forgotten they were in the room, sitting quietly, watching Conner's friends act as sentry over their son.
Eric was witnessing the whole thing with considerable interest, looking so much like his brother that it was painful. Mr. McKnight was sitting in a chair, leaning forward slightly as he tried to take it all in. But it was Mrs. McKnight that flashed Kira a sympathetic smile. "I think you three need some team time," she said slowly. "We'll be going."
"Joanna, I want to be here when my boy wakes up," Mr. McKnight protested, but she cast him a glare.
"Let the kids be alone, Roger," she said sharply.
"Mrs. McKnight, I can't let you guys go out there," Kira said. "They're waiting, I'm sure of it, and there are going to be a lot of questions..."
"Well, there aren't going to be any answers, you can be sure of that," she said with a firm nod. "If they ask --they will ask," she amended, "I'll just tell them that Conner was injured in the attack on Reefside, and the Rangers came to pay their respects. It's not like Conner has ever brought you two home, so as far as anyone is concerned, I don't know you. And they wouldn't dare come in the room, because why on earth would they want to disturb a comatose boy?" She smiled at the two Rangers. "You two have enough to worry about. Let me deal with something as simple as this."
Kira doubted that Mrs. McKnight was fully aware of how simple this situation was not, but really, in comparison to everything the Rangers went through on a daily basis, a couple reporters were nothing. Everything was relative, after all. And Conner's relatives were top-notch.
"Thank you," she breathed, and Ethan put his hand on Kira's shoulder, flashing Conner's family a grateful smile.
"All I ask for in return is that you two come over for dinner once Conner's better, so that we can all be properly introduced."
"And you're welcome to come visit Blue Bay with Conner anytime," Mr. McKnight added, not wanting to be outdone.
Eric, however, opted to express his gratitude in a much more physical way, coming over and patting Ethan on the back, embracing Kira tightly. "He's in good hands with you two," he said loudly and proudly, and as he squeezed Kira, he leaned by her ear to whisper, "He loves you, too." He pulled away. "We'll be back," he said, again at a normal volume, and the three McKnights went into the hallway. Instantly, there was the roar of a cacophony of intrusive questions, and some bulbs flashing as the reporters attempted to get a glimpse in the room. Kira thought she saw a uniformed security guard pull the door shut behind Conner's family, setting them back into silence.
"Conner is so his dad's kid," Ethan observed with a tiny smirk, and Kira smiled back, but Ethan's expression melted quickly into a serious one. "What's going on with you and Conner," he repeated. "The last time we were all really together, you two were sniping at each other, and I seem to remember that when you and I walked home from Dr. O.'s, you were ranting and raving about how you couldn't stand that 'megalomaniacal jackass with a soccer ball for a head.' And now you're fawning all over the dude, risking your life for him--risking a hell of a lot more for him, I might add."
"I thought we agreed to drop that," she said. "I can't take it back now, and I wouldn't even, if it meant that Conner was safe."
"Is this whole 'Conner must be safe' agenda coming from a teammate perspective, or a friend perspective, or something more?" he pressed.
"Ethan, not now," she pleaded weakly.
"Do you love him?"
She looked up quickly. "What?"
"What happened when you guys were on the island?" he said, this time a little more gently.
Kira sighed, looking down at her hands. "We kissed. A few times."
"A few times?" he repeated, sounding a little too surprised at the prospect.
Kira sat back down, watching Conner sleep. The words hung over the three of them before she finally met Ethan's penetrating stare. "Yeah. A few times." She blew her bangs off her forehead. "He told me he loves me. On any number of occasions since this whole thing started, actually," she said with a rueful laugh.
"Do you love him?"
"Maybe. I don't know. That's a weird question."
"Not so weird."
"I know that I'd do anything to make sure he was safe," she said carefully.
"You already sort of have," he pointed out.
Kira laughed despite herself, but it was one without much humor. "Yeah, tell me about it. But...I just want him to be okay, and I'd do anything to make sure that happened." She frowned, thinking about what she'd sacrificed to get to this point, to ensure his protection. "Is that love? I don't know. If it is, then yes, I love him." Something shifted in her posture, though she didn't move at all, and she stared at Conner, realization striking her. "I love him," she repeated, her voice carrying a mixture of awe and fear. She reached over and touched his hair, holding the pose for a tender fraction of a second before jerking away.
Before she could say anything else, the door opened, and in walked Dr. O., Hayley, and Trent.
Dr. O. glanced at the crowd amassed outside of Conner's room, and he met Kira's eyes with discontent reflected in his. "I think you two owe us an explanation," he said.