Disclaimer: Not mine, please don't sue me, I have no money anyway.

Jenny: I miss them too, but if I used them, there is no way this story would work.

Juzblue: Yeah, it's confusing. I'll work on that.

Alexis: Thanks. You're the first person who hasn't mentioned being confused.

Chapter 2: Return of the Hunter

Andros wandered into the Glider holding bay, still not used to the fact that there were other people on the Megaship. They looked up expectantly at him, as they had every morning for the past six weeks, and he glared back at them, as he had done every morning for the past six weeks.

"Morning," Ashley said brightly. "How are you?"

"Fine," he growled. He stalked to the Synthetron, ordered his food, and slammed it down on the table.

"Not a morning person?" Aria asked dryly. "Don't worry, we'll leave you alone for the next few hours."

Andros looked up at her, startled. She grinned. He looked away. Andros couldn't decide what to make of the two girls on his team. Aria was generally sweet and had an odd sense of humor, but she was tempermental, sarcastic and stubborn, not unlike himself. Ashley was seemingly always bubbly and happy, and eternally optimistic. She had a seemingly unlimited supply of energy that was contagious. Whatever mood she was in spread to the others, even himself, although he did his best to hide it.

Gabriel got up and dumped his dishes into the Synthetron.

"Where're you going?" Justin asked.

"I'm going to go see Mom," Gabriel said. "You know, that lady who let us go off in a shuttle and you are going to call today?"

"All right, all right, I'll do it," Justin snapped. "Leave me alone."

"As long as you do it," Gabriel said, and left.

Andros couldn't decide what to make of the two guys on his team, either. Justin, Gabriel, and Aria seemed to be part of a happily dysfunctional family. Justin was stubborn to the point where he could be a liability, and he was moody, and as far as Andros could tell, Justin had taken an instant dislike to him. Gabriel was generally quiet and serious, but he was also very sweet to his sister and tolerating with his brother.

"Wait, I'm coming with you," Aria called. "Justin, wanna come?"

"If you'll leave me alone," Justin said. He got up and stormed after Aria and Gabriel.

Andros had not managed to figure out how Aria and Justin were related. He suspected that they were twins; they were the same age, and looked very similar, but he hadn't wanted to evoke Justin's hostility by asking.

"So . . . what are you doing today?" Ashley asked as the other rangers vanished from sight.

"I have work to do," Andros said, surprised how close his voice was from wavering. He knew it was time to start searching again, but he dreaded doing so because he always yeilded failure.

"Andros?" Ashley was watching him. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Nothing's wrong!" Andros snapped. "I'm fine! I don't need you to worry about me, okay? I can take care of myself."

Hurt flashed across Ashley's face. "I'm sorry," she said, and left quickly.

Andros sighed. It was going to be a long day. "Deca, bring up the files on Karone."

Ashley spent much of the day in her room. She strongly suspected that Andros wasn't so much angry as he was trying to cover up what he was feeling inside, but it did little to make her feel better. She hadn't meant to upset him, but for a moment, he'd looked like he was about to cry.

She sighed. "Deca, where's Andros?"

"Andros is on the bridge," Deca replied. "Do you want to speak with him?"

"Thanks, Deca, but I'll tell him myself," Ashley said quickly. She was afraid that if Deca warned him, Andros would be gone by the time she got there.

Andros was on the bridge, sitting in his usual chair, bent forward with his shoulders hunched, and his face resting in his hands.

"Andros?" she asked, and he jumped.

"How long have you been here?" he demanded.

"I just got here," Ashley said.

"What do you want?" he snapped. "I'm busy."

"I just came to apologize if I upset you this morning," Ashley said, her expression unreadable. "But I guess you're too busy to hear it."

Andros felt a twinge of guilt. He had hurt her without meaning to, and she was apologizing to him. He sighed. "It's nothing that you did."

Ashley didn't reply, but walked across the room, and took a seat in the chair next to him, and turned to face him. She was waiting for him to say something, he realized. He wasn't sure what, but he supposed he should apologize to her.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't meant to yell at you."

"It's okay," Ashley said. "You're not used to people. It's fine."

"That's not what I meant-" Andros said, then stopped. Now he was going to have to explain.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ashley asked gently. "You seem sad right now."

Andros shook his head. "I don't talk."

"I'll leave you alone, then," Ashley said, and left. Andros watched her leave and sighed. Whenever Ashley was around, he couldn't think straight. Deca's light blinked at him, and Andros looked at her questioningly.

"What do you wish me to do?" Deca asked.

"Continue scanning," Andros ordered. "If there's any trace of my sister out there, find it."

"Mom?" Gabriel called, entering his house. "We're back! Are you here?"

"I'll see if she's sleeping," Aria said, heading to the back of the house. Gabriel headed to the kitchen, and Justin stood sullenly in to doorway. His scowl turned into alarm when Aria screamed. Justin and Gabriel hurried into their mother's bedroom

Their mother was slumped on the floor, still breathing, but undeniably unconscious.

"Call 911!" Gabriel ordered, handing the phone to Justin. He knelt beside Aria, who was crouched on the floor. Something was clenched in her hand. "What is it?"

Aria checked to make sure that Justin wasn't watching them before turning to Gabriel and dropping the slip of paper into his hand. Gabriel sucked in his breath sharply at the sight of it. It was drawn in gold ink on a crimson slip of paper.

The Hunter had returned.

A/N: It's kind of a cliffhanger, but that's just so you read the next chapter. Don't worry about their mother, she's not going to die, but I just needed them to not be able to talk to her for awhile, and having her run off on a cruise didn't seem believable. I'll explain that in the next chapter, but that might be a few days. I have to go pretend that I like writing essays and answering 300 questions on a book I didn't like.