Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I write stories for the fun of it.
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Now, on with the story!
"Hey guys," Kim greeted Jason, Zack, and Billy as they returned to the sleeping quarters, with only Billy looking exhausted. Jason and Zack had managed to get a few moments of sleep during the night, but Billy was still refusing to acknowledge the fact that he was even tired.
"Hey," Zack said, with a sleepy smile and a yawn. "Any news?"
"Yeah, there actually has been some," Kim said, very hesitantly and found herself avoiding eye contact with Billy. She didn't want to tell him this, especially considering everything else that was going on.
"What's the news?" Billy asked, coming out of a trance like state, as he heard what they said.
"I don't exactly know how to say this," Kim said wringing her hands, as Billy walked the remaining distance in two long strides.
"Don't bull shit with me, Kim. What's happened to her?" Billy asked, putting his hands on Kim's shoulders and seeing her shake at the reality of it all.
"They are draining her powers, Billy," Tommy said, walking up behind Kim, which made Billy look at him instead of Kimberly. He could tell that she was not comfortable telling him this and he didn't like it either, but Kim had already had it rough enough without disappointing Billy. "We can barely get a read on her anymore."
"So they're making Trini untraceable?" Billy asked, as his voiced cracked, for the first time since this had all started. "Have they moved her any?"
"No and we've plotted her position, but they may be smart enough to move her before we arrive," Adam said jumping into the conversation as well.
"Nicarni-Aso is not that smart," Billy said, adamantly, as they could tell he was only hoping that was the truth. "Tell me the moment that her signal stops completely. She'll only be able to survive there so long without her powers.
"We'll do that," Rocky said, as Billy walked up the steps to get some more fresh air.
"Do you think someone should try and talk to him?" Kim asked, as she couldn't help but worry about him.
"Give him sometime Kim, then you can try talking to him," Tommy said, as he knew that he was not the most receptive person to any type of conversation when she had been captured. "But he may not be in the mood to talk to anyone."
"You can't say we didn't try though," Kim said, with a sigh, resolving herself to stay downstairs for a few more minutes.
'This can't be happening again' Billy thought, barely able to keep himself together anymore. No one knew how he felt at this moment. The only one who could possibly come close was Tommy and he was four years removed from his ordeal. He then found himself thinking about how much this relationship meant to him.
Trini and Billy's relationship had changed Billy in many ways. Two years ago, he would have been upset, but not to this degree. It was on a fateful day in March, two years before; that they had ran into each other, literally. Trini, who had decided to major in accounting, had been working at TransAm for about a month. Billy had gone into Aeronautical Engineering, which had kept him in Stanford for the past three years without a break.
He finally got his first break and decided that he wanted to go visit Angel Grove for the weekend. Trini, after a busy day at work, had been rushing home to relax. Billy, as fate would have it, was enjoying a walk through the Angel Grove business district. He had found out that all of the others had moved away, so he had nothing better to do on this unusually cool March day. Then, he bumped into a woman with long black hair, who fell to the ground from the shock. When he went to help her up, Billy soon found himself face to face with one of his best friends.
Talk about being shocked, neither one could believe that they had bumped into the other. Billy noticed how much Trini had changed over the past three years and she made the same observation in him, as well. They, were no longer teens, and did not feel as if there was anyone left to judge the two of them. That night, they went out to dinner and that is where it started for Billy.
It seems crazy, doesn't it? For Trini and Billy, it wasn't as crazy as it appears to the rest of the world. Billy started doing some things that he hadn't done since high school. One example is that he actually started working out again and he found himself making a point to return to Angel Grove more often. He tried lying to himself at first; saying he missed the atmosphere, but Billy slowly began to realize what was bringing him back home. Trini, she was bringing him back home; she was becoming much more essential to his life.
When Nicarni-Aso and her cronies took Trini, Billy knew what it must have been like for Tommy all those years ago. He now knows what it feels like to have the one person that makes you feel complete gone, with the possibility of never seeing them again.
"Billy," Kim said walking up behind him and seeing that he was obviously distressed and very much in his own imaginary world. "Do you want to talk?"
"Oh, hey Kim," Billy said bringing himself out of his thoughts and looking over to see the look on his friend's face.
"I've never seen you like this before, Billy," Kim said, full of concern for her longtime friend and fellow ranger. "You have never been one to show much emotion, you sure you don't want to talk about it?"
"I don't really want to, there's not much to talk about," Billy said, trying to pull himself together. He knew that this was a lie, but it was easier to lie than have to face the reality of what could happen.
"Alright, have it your way, but all of us are here if you need us," Kim said, giving Billy a pat on the back before returning downstairs.
"Thanks," Billy said, continuing to look at nothing in particular, as he barely heard her leave.
"What did he say?" Tommy asked looking up to see Kim coming back downstairs.
"Not much," Kim said sitting down beside Tommy and reaching out for his hand. "Were you like this?"
"Yeah, only much worse," Adam said, as Tommy shot him a 'go to hell' look, which Kim couldn't help but notice. "We got a lot of looks like that one and he wouldn't talk to any of us. At least Billy will talk to us some."
"So I have it bad, we all know that by now," Tommy said, turning slightly red.
"Still embarrassed to admit it, aren't you?" Jason asked with a laugh.
"Jason," Tommy said, warningly as all of the others watched on, as they knew whatever happened would be hilarious.
"Gosh, I've got some of the funniest stories to tell you, Kim. Like the time when Tommy won a race and…" Jason suddenly had a hand over his mouth, threatening to smother him if he so much as attempted to finish this story.
"I think that is my business to tell," Tommy said, still holding his hand over Jason's mouth, while the rest of the Power Rangers were rolling on the floor with laughter.
"Um-hmm," Jason mumbled as Tommy released him from his death grip and he stumbled for a few steps, as he walked away from Tommy. "You've got to lighten up some."
"That wasn't a very wise thing to say, Jase," Kim said as Tommy picked Jason up and toted him outside.
"Give us a little while. I've got some things I need to straighten out with my dear friend here," Tommy said, indicating Jason, who he had thrown over his shoulder.
"Don't hurt him, Tommy," Kim said, trying to hide a smile.
"I won't," Tommy said, as Jason and he exited the room.
"Jason is going to be dead," Kim said smiling and then suddenly burst into laughter.
"What's so funny?" Adam asked, bewildered at how they were acting.
"Let's just say that this has happened before," Zack said, between laughs of his own.
Adam, Rocky, and Aisha's Shift"Do you really see the use in us doing this tonight?" Aisha asked, having become frustrated over the last two days. This trip was just taking too long and Trini could really be in trouble by now.
"Yeah, because our luck would be that we'd get attacked if we didn't do this," Rocky said, jokingly. "How are you and Zack doing?"
"Same as usual," Aisha said, with a sigh. "He's not ready to settle down and I am, to say the least."
"Don't worry about it," Adam said, putting an arm around her and feeling her move closer to him. "Sometimes it takes guys a little while longer to figure out what they want. Look at Tommy and Kim."
"That's different Adam. We've never questioned if the two of them were meant to be together," Aisha said, as he couldn't help but agree with her on that one. "I guess it'll work itself out, even if it does not turn out how I want it to."
"Yeah it will," Rocky said, as he had been through this too many times before and couldn't help but think about Tanya. "Do you ever feel out of place with the other six of them?"
"Of course," Aisha said, looking up at Rocky, wondering where he was going with this, "most of them have known each other since they were toddlers. We're the new kids on the block; we've been that for years."
"It is more than that," Rocky said, looking at them, in all seriousness, "we weren't there when everything began."
"But Zordon thought that we were supposed to help them here and we are. It's a no questions asked situation, we are meant to be here. We would have never gotten our powers if we weren't supposed to be here," Aisha said, as Zack walked around the corner.
"What's going on?" Zack asked, as Adam removed his arm from Aisha's shoulder, almost without thinking about it.
"Not much," Adam said, as he caught how Zack was looking at him. "Are they still able to trace Trini?"
"No, that's what I came up here to tell you," Zack said, as he watched Aisha, cover her eyes for a brief moment before looking back up at him. "We lost her signal a few minutes ago. Watch out for Billy, he may be walking around some."
"Poor Billy," Aisha said, full of sympathy for the fellow ranger, in his time of need.
"He'll be alright, it is not like she's gone forever. We've had things like this happen before," Zack said.
"But she could be and it is rough knowing all of that," Aisha said, sounding as if she had experience in this area, although she did not. "Well at least it seems like it would be like that."
"Call us if anything shows up," Zack said retreating back downstairs, as he was not sure if he needed to stayup there anymore.
"We will," Aisha said sullenly.
"Why do you do this to yourself?" Adam asked having seen this occur more often lately. "Why do you not move on and find someone who wants to love you?"
"It is not that easy, Adam. I liked Zack for a long time before anything happened and I don't want to give up on it so easily," Aisha said, biting her lip, in an attempt to control her emotions. "I don't know if I could go back to being just friends."
"Come here," Rocky said, as Aisha had distanced herself from the other two.
"Yes, Rocky," Aisha said walking towards him.
"Whatever happens next, you need to have everything straightened out with those you care about. It's not a good time to leave things unsaid and unfinished," Rocky said, looking into Aisha's eyes, as she understood exactly what he was saying. "It may cause you pain, but it is best for everything to be out on the table with no regrets going into something like this."
"But Rocky…" Aisha said and Rocky put one finger over her lips, silencing any objections.
"No buts, Aisha. You have to do what needs to be done," Rocky said.
AN: That's all for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading and feel free to review!