Disclaimer: Not mine

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: This part you haven't read:P And since I have issues writing just a normal, straightforward story, see if you can figure out what I did. You might need the next chapter for that, though. :P

Jenny: Yeah, that's pretty much it, and there's kind more to it. I'm starting to think that this was a much better idea in my head, but too late now. And you're supposed to hate Calan.

JDPhoenix: Thanks, I'll get back to Ashley pretty soon, don't worry.

DizneeDol: Thanks, here's some more.

timeforce101: If you're reading this, thanks. :P

Chapter 5

"He's not doing as well as I'd hoped," Alana murmured out of the corner of her mouth. Beside her, Calan made no reply other than to shrug his shoulders. They were standing side by side in a corner of the ranger's small training arena, where Andros was sparring against Blaze. The black ranger was clearly putting little effort or thought into his moves, yet he took Andros by surprise every time. The red ranger stumbled back after a slow kick, and fell. He sat up slowly, shoving his hair roughly out of his eyes as he caught his breath.

"That was much better," Blaze said encouragingly, shooting Calan and Alana helpless glances.

"Good try," Alana added, rolling her eyes at Blaze. The black ranger was the only one with the patience to try and force some life back into the red ranger. In the last ten days, though he had spent most of his time training, Andros had been getting worse.

Blaze shrugged at her, and offered Andros a hand up. Not surprisingly, he refused, and continued to sit in the middle of the floor with his shoulders hunched. Irritated, Alana turned to Calan. "Did he depend on her that much?"

"Apparently so," the blue ranger agreed. His tone was somewhere between curiosity and amusement. "That's interesting..."

"It's already gotten too complicated," Alana muttered warningly. "Leave the yellow ranger out of the situation for now."

"I agree," Calan concurred after a moment of tense silence between them. "But he could use some motivation."

"No," Alana said firmly, more loudly than she'd intended, and Blaze spared them an annoyed glare. "All right, we'll go somewhere else," she said. "Come on... Calan," she said loudly, yanking him out of the room.

"Is he gone now?" Andros muttered, refusing to stand until the blue ranger was gone from the room.

"They both are," Blaze said. He sighed, and sat down alongside Andros. "Look, I know you hate Calan, and I understand. You have reason to hate him, but you have to realize that if that hate consumes you, you have no chance of succeeding. Arrow will win, and you'll never get your yellow ranger back."

"You have to understand that I don't care if we win or lose," Andros said bluntly. "I couldn't care less if all of you live or die. All I care about is saving Ashley. Nothing else, and I will do whatever I have to do in order to get her back."

"I do understand," Blaze said after a long pause. "But sitting here crying over her isn't going to save her. Get up and focus."

Andros sighed, and nodded. Drowninng in guilt didn't help either him or Ashley. "I'll try," he muttered.

"That's all we're asking of you," Blaze said.

"You don't have any right to ask anything of me," Andros snapped. "It was the three of you who had Killian and Arrow bring us here."

"Then it's all you should ask of yourself." Blaze ammended his statement, unfazed. "Now, let's try it again."

Andros nodded silently. He stood up, pulling his hair back into a neat ponytail. Taking a deep breath, he did as he had been trained to do, and blocked everything else out of his mind but his opponent. Blaze came at him, and kicked. Andros' arm snapped up to block, and he returned the attack.

"Much better," Blaze said, relieved. Andros didn't answer, and they didn't speak again until the fight was over. Blaze had won again, but Andros had held out longer, and put up something that at least resembled a fight.

"That's more like it," Alana said, satisfied, as she walked back into the room. "Here."

She held out her arm to Andros, something clasped in her palm. When he didn't reach for it, she rolled her eyes at Blaze and took his hand, forcing him to take it. "Your morpher."

Andros stared at it for a second, then strapped it over his wrist. It was much bulkier than his Astromorpher had been, and much heavier also. Unaccustomed to the weight, his entire body felt off-balance.

"Morph by saying 'Red Defender, power up'," Alana instructed.

"Defender?" Andros repeated flatly.

"We are the defenders," Alana said softly. "There is no one else."

They were no defenders; they were vigilantes.

These rangers worked in a completely different fashion from any that he had ever met before. For one, the team managed to function quite well loathing each other the majority of the time. There were only three of them, but they made up for it in their ruthlessness. Arrow did not command robotic footsoldiers; he commanded human beings, and these rangers took human lives, a fact that did not bother them in the least.

It bothered him; he had been trained to defend humanity, not to destroy it. He wouldn't spare Arrow his life, but he didn't feel the need to slaughter the soldiers, most of whom had probably been coerced into joining in the first place, maybe the same way that he had been blackmailed into joining this team.

"Happy now?" he asked, meeting their eyes defiantly for the first time in days. Alana was smiling darkly at him, but Blaze looked tremendously bothered.

"Very," the pink ranger said, giving the black ranger an unreadable look as she turned and strode from the room.

"What?" Andros asked suspiciously, very aware that a silent conversation had taken place between the two other rangers, one that was undoubtedly about him. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Blaze said hastily. "Morph. We have to keep practicing. We attack tomorrow."

Andros nodded, more out of habit than anything else. Though he still felt more numb than anything else, he was acutely aware that this time tomorrow, he would be leading three people into battle, a battle that he wished would never come.

You have to, he reminded himself. For Ashley.

Andros groaned softly. He didn't want to do this, and Ashley wouldn't want him to do this, but here he was doing it, and while there was nothing that he wouldn't do to get Ashley back, he hated himself for it.