Shane knew it was wrong to want to kick his own teammates, especially since they didn't know the truth about Navy, but that didn't stop him from wanting to knock Hunter and Blake's heads together. They didn't know the spell over Navy had been broken and had done what they normally would have done and taken the perfect opportunity to take out an enemy, but if they had succeeded they might have destroyed a valuable ally. He knew he shouldn't be mad at them for not knowing, but he still found himself getting angry. Still, it was Psycho Yellow that ended up getting hurt, much to everyone's surprise. He wondered if there was more he should be looking into about Psycho Yellow as well.

"One more Psycho Ranger out of our hair for a while." Hunter said triumphantly, sharing a high five with Blake.

"I still don't understand why Yellow would jump in front of the attack like that." Tori said. "Yellow and Navy always seem ready to beat the crap out of each other."

"I think it's safe to say there's more to the Psycho Rangers than you see." Cam stated, glancing over his shoulder at the gathered rangers. "They're human after all."

The rangers were silent for a moment as they all thought about that. Shane wasn't sure he liked the idea of enemies with depth. It made them unpredictable and made fighting them that much harder. He longed for the days of monsters with no depth to them that presented no real challenge. He knew being a ranger was going to be hard, but he never imagined it would get this bad or this confusing. Even after everything the Psychos had done he found it hard to want to fight them to the finish, knowing they were human and that the finish could mean death. Nothing seemed right anymore.

"Sensei, I know this is a long shot, but since the Psychos are probably licking their wounds can we please leave Ninja Ops for a little while?" Dustin asked. "We need to check in with our parents and I could seriously do with some pizza."

"Pizza." Shane and Tori echoed as if it was something to be cherished.

Sensei knew that if he confined the rangers much longer they were going to start going stir crazy. They needed fresh air and to be a part of the world again in a situation that didn't include them saving it. Most of all they needed to be teenagers again, if only for a few hours.

"Go, but be careful." Sensei said.

"Pizza first, then parents." Dustin suggested as the trio turned to leave. He stopped short and looked over his shoulder at the two thunder brothers. "Coming?"

Blake didn't hesitate, but Hunter stayed behind. He wasn't sure he was ready to hang out with the others. His emotions were still too raw. He needed to get them under control before he could be in a social setting with...him.

"You guys go. I want to talk to Kale about some things." Hunter lied. It wasn't a complete lie, he did want to learn more from Kale about other rangers and such, but that wasn't what he was going to do.

Blake gave his brother a knowing look. He knew Hunter wasn't going to talk to Kale and he knew why his brother didn't want to go with them. "You'll share what you learn with me right?"

"Always." Hunter promised, sending Blake a grateful look.

"Your loss." Dustin said, turning and following the others out of Ninja Ops.

Hunter sighed. "You have no idea."

ZzZzZ

"Just when I think you couldn't disappoint me any more you somehow manage to do it." Kalix growled, pacing in front of Psycho Navy. He stopped and stared through the visor to Navy's eyes. "Yet somehow, it pleases me that Psycho Yellow would even consider risking his life for yours. It shows an improvement of your teamwork, even if it ended up with him seriously injured. Whatever you two are doing keep it up. Maybe it will start to show in your fighting as well." He looked like he wanted to say more, but stopped. "You're dismissed."

Navy immediately turned and left the command room, heading straight for the infirmary. Dr. Radkee was bustling around the infirmary, mumbling in his thick accent that Navy found incredibly soothing. There was something about Dr. Radkee that was soothing in and of itself. He was a wholly good person, a normal human being, serving as the only doctor to an absolutely evil being. It almost made no sense to him, but he was thankful for the doctor's presence just the same.

"Damn bloody idiot." Navy heard Radkee mutter.

"Yeah, he's definitely an idiot." Navy spoke up.

Dr. Radkee stopped what he was doing and looked over his shoulder at Navy, who stared right back. "Oh aye, but one you should be grateful for."

"I am." Navy replied. He looked at Zadan's pale form. "Will he be alright?"

"Eventually." Radkee said. "His suit absorbed most of the energy, but a good amount got through and gave his body quite a shock. I'll wager he'll be up and annoying everyone relatively soon."

"Looking forward to it." Navy said sincerely.

"Y'know lad, he came to for a few moments and he asked for you."

Navy looked at his teammate, his surprise evident in his body language. "He's just full of surprises lately. What in the dark depths of space made him jump in front of me like that?"

"Oh come now, you're not really that thick are ya?" Radkee replied, too busy writing down readings to notice Navy looking at him. "It's been obvious to me since the first time you two stumbled into the infirmary all busted up and laughing at your failed attempts at riding a gorath."

Navy smiled despite himself at the memory. It had been foolish and stupid, but when they saw the gorath during training they'd both got the bright idea of coming back later to try and ride it. The massive hoofed animal had been armed with tusks as well as an impressive set of antlers and had NOT been amused with them trying to ride it. Navy had walked, well…stumbled away with a concussion and sprained wrist while Yellow had broken his arm and half of his ribs. The thought of their injuries brought him back to the present and what the doctor had said.

"What do you mean obvious? What's obvious?" Navy demanded.

Dr. Radkee smiled, his hazel eyes shining. "Well, your obliviousness is quite obvious for one. Zadan wouldn't take a shot like that for just anyone lad."

"I'm not going to try and fool myself Dr. Radkee. We lost our friendship on Jaldia along with anything more that could have been." Navy said, sadness tinting his voice.

"To the dark depths of space with that bloody Jaldia. I'd blow it to pieces if I weren't worried about who I might hurt in the process." Radkee grumbled. "The four of you were inseparable before you went there and Aurias was reaching out to Dariv. What happened on that god forsaken planet that tore you apart so horribly?"

"A lot of broken trust, some betrayal, and a lot of hateful words no one meant but can't take back." Navy replied.

"Well, you might have your chance to change things lad. Zadan is sending you a clear message." Radkee said, motioning toward the unconscious Psycho. "Don't let this chance pass ya up."

"How'd a good guy like you come to be in the service of a scumbag like Kalix?" Navy asked. Dr. Radkee was the one person on the ship he knew he could trust to be himself.

Dr. Radkee frowned, eyes darting to the floor. "That's a long story, not particularly one I care to think about."

"You used to be a ranger, didn't you?" Navy asked, plowing on anyway.

"Aye, I was the Chief Medical Officer and the Blue Battle Ranger." Radkee said. "Kalix captured me and used me to test his power draining machine. Took the Power Ranger right out of me."

"Then why are you working for him?"

"I don't really have much of a choice lad. He's got my morpher stowed away somewhere and I've nowhere to go even if I did manage to get it and get away. Above all that he has two of my teammates locked away in his holding cells." The doctor replied. He looked at his hands for a moment, hazel eyes brimming with emotions he had tried to hide. When he looked up again his features were carefully schooled again. "Niko, you have to be careful. It'll not take much for them to catch on."

Navy was slightly surprised by the statement, but it quickly passed. Dr. Radkee was a very observant man and he knew that the doctor had probably known the spell was broken from the moment he stepped into the infirmary. It made him appreciate the doctor that much more.

"I'm being careful." Navy assured him. He glanced briefly at Zadan, and then back at Radkee again. "Let me know when he wakes up."

"Aye, you'll be the first to know."

ZzZzZ

"So wait a minute, Hunter was really mad at you?" Dustin asked, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice. "He gave you the cold shoulder?"

"Actually, he gave me the cold shoulder until I tried to talk to him. Then things just got out of control." Shane replied. "It took me taking an attack meant for him before he forgave me."

"It wasn't his place to be mad at you in the first place." Dustin said. "You know I don't blame you, right? It was my choice to jump in front of you. If you had pushed me out of the way it would have defeated the purpose of my heroic act."

Heroic act? Now that was an opening if Shane had ever heard one. "Oh, so you take one little blast meant for me and now you're a hero?"

"I also took out Psycho Blue."

"Not all by yourself." Tori spoke up. "I seem to recall playing some part even if it was mostly just lying on the ground in pain."

Blake smiled as he listened to the three Winds playfully tease one another. It was so good to see them acting normal again. He knew things were far from being over and that they were just getting a short break from the Psychos, but it was enough. Their good mood just seemed infectious and it made Blake all the more glad Dustin was awake. He was so much more important to the team than he would probably ever know. At first Blake had wondered how such a goof had become not only a ninja but a ranger as well. It had taken him a little while to really see the vital role Dustin played within the group, but now that he saw it he respected Dustin more than ever.

"Okay, so I'm still curious. Blake, why was Hunter so made at Shane?" Dustin asked, catching Blake off guard.

Blake floundered for a moment as he tried to figure out what to say to that. He couldn't very well betray his brother's feelings, but at the same time he didn't want to lie to his friend. He hated being put in the middle.

"I don't know, maybe you should talk to him about that Dustin." Blake finally managed to reply. He mentally patted himself on the back for coming up with a neutral response.

"Talk to Hunter about his feelings? Am I the only one who thinks that's a death sentence?" Dustin asked, looking at his other two friends.

Blake frowned. "You're exaggerating. Hunter's a private person, but I think if you want the answers to your questions you're going to have to ask him."

ZzZzZ

"I'm not staying here and you can't make me." Zadan growled. His reddish-brown eyes glared daggers at Dr. Radkee as the other man pinned him quite easily with one hand.

"Well lad, I think you're wrong about both. You are staying here, at least until you're strong enough that I can't pin ya with one hand." Dr. Radkee replied. "So, relax and make yourself comfortable."

"Damnit, you suck." Zadan huffed childishly.

Dr. Radkee smirked slightly. "Aye, sometimes, but really, do you think it wise to insult someone who can save you from a lot of pain?"

"I'm not in pain."

"Aye, at the moment." There was a teasing tone to the voice, yet also a slight bit of a threat. "You've caused me enough pain in the past lad, don't push your luck."

"You're a doctor, you wouldn't be able to sit back and watch me suffer." Zadan retorted.

Radkee's eyes glinted slightly. "Maybe then I've been around you lot too long."

"You're an evil man."

"You'd better hope not."

That silenced Zadan and he watched the doctor checking his readings. He hated being in the infirmary. The pain he could take, the suffering he was used to, but being confined to a bed was worse than anything else. He was young and had way too much pent up energy to be laying in a bed for any length of time. Unless it was a serious injury he never wanted to be in the infirmary, but obviously someone either didn't know that or thought he had been hurt seriously enough to warrant a visit to the good doctor.

"Niko was in to see you earlier." Radkee commented, breaking the silence.

Zadan looked over at the doctor. "He was? What'd he say? Was he worried about me?"

"Oh aye, he was worried about ya. He wouldn't have been here if he wasn't." Radkee replied. "I'm sorry to say neither Dariv or Terik has come to check on you."

"I didn't expect them to." Zadan replied, though deep down he really was hurt. It just added to his reasons for hating the two older Psychos.

Radkee sighed and lowered his handheld data pad. "Look, you don't have to play tough with me. I've seen you at your most vulnerable moments. I don't have any expectations of you or want you to be something you're not. I think it would do you a world of good to be yourself for a few minutes."

"When did you become a psychiatrist?" Zadan grumbled.

"On my planet we recognized the connection between psychological wellbeing and physical wellbeing." Radkee replied. "All doctors were trained in both areas."

"I don't like anyone playing with my head."

"I'm not playing with your bloody head. I just want you to do yourself some bloody good for once." Radkee ranted. "I can't do everything for you, y'know. A lot of your physical improvement will depend on your mental wellbeing."

"You're giving me a headache."

Zadan hid his grin as his statement sent the usually well-tempered doctor into a rage. He counted it as pay back for how gleefully Dr. Radkee had given him the shot in the ass when he'd contracted the RX-232 virus on one of the team's training missions. He owed him for a lot more and he was going to start cashing in. Besides, it made him feel better and that is what the good doctor wanted. He smirked as Radkee stomped off to check on Aurias.

"How is she?" Zadan asked. Not that he really cared. At least, that's what he tried to convince himself.

"Better. I wager she'll wake within the next few days." Radkee answered. "That's if there isn't a psychological aspect to what happened."

"Why would that keep her from waking up?"

Radkee gave him an annoyed glare. "Has everything I've said gone in one ear and out the other? There's always a mental aspect to everything. Talking to you is little better than those bloody lizards."

"Now I'm insulted."

"Oh just go back to sleep." Radkee groaned. "You're so much easier to deal with that way."

"You're the one keeping me here doc." Zadan reminded him, happy to throw that back at him.

Radkee gave him a tired look. "Do you really think you're in any condition to withstand Kalix's ire? He's not a bit happy by what happened lad. I'm keeping you here for your own safety."

Zadan opened his mouth to argue that he could take whatever Kalix gave him, but caught himself. He was getting too arrogant if that thought was crossing his mind. He had no doubt Kalix could come up with creative and painful punishments they hadn't seen yet. Instantly he became grateful for the doctor's care and thoughtfulness. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to stay in the infirmary a little while.

ZzZzZ

Finding Hunter was easy enough. The Crimson Thunder Ranger hadn't made it very far from Ninja Ops. Hunter was sitting with his back to a tree, his eyes closed as if meditating. Dustin didn't want to disturb the Thunder's peacefulness, but he registered the slight tensing in his teammate's body and knew Hunter sensed him. He thought about backing off, but something told him he wouldn't be able to rest until he found the answers to his questions.

"Are you just going to stand there and stare?" Hunter's voice seemed to crackle through the silence. One piercing blue eye opened half way. "What do you want?"

Dustin stumbled for a minute, before he gathered his courage. "Why were you so mad at Shane?"

Both of Hunter's eyes snapped open at the question. For a moment unchecked emotions raged in the blue depths before he controlled them again. Oh he had not prepared for this at all. He hadn't expected Dustin to confront him so soon, he was hardly ready to deal with his emotions let alone admit anything. He knew his best bet was to tell a half-truth and see if it got him anywhere.

"He froze up. It made me mad." Hunter replied. "You got hurt because he froze up."

"I got hurt because I placed myself in front of him." Dustin replied. He was deadly serious, showing the intelligence he tended to hide. He moved just a little bit closer as he continued. "It would have defeated the whole purpose of me jumping in front of him if he had pushed me out of the way."

"You were already hurt from that Yellow jerk. He could have taken that hit better than you. It put you in a coma." Hunter argued.

"Which brings me back to my point that it was not your place to be angry at Shane." Dustin said. He eyed Hunter, knowing there was more than what his friend was admitting. "Besides, since when are you angry on my behalf?"

Since I realized I liked you as more than a friend. Hunter thought, but didn't dare to say it. "Since you weren't conscious to be angry for yourself."

"That didn't give you the right to make my best friend suffer more than he already was." Dustin chided. "God only knows how much he was beating himself up without you adding your own bashing in."

"Look," Hunter ground out. "I already apologized to Shane. We're cool. What's the big deal?"

"Tori, Shane, and myself are best friends. I can understand Tori being mad at Shane, but she wasn't. I could understand Blake being mad because I think I'm closer to him than you. But you were the one mad and I can't understand it." Dustin mused. He wasn't angry anymore. He was curious. "We're not that close. You've pretty much kept yourself distanced from everyone except Blake. I just don't understand why you were so mad."

"You're my teammate, that gives me a right to care."

"I never doubted you cared Hunter. Teammates care about each other." The Earth ninja sighed. "But from what I hear you were borderline hostile with Shane and that seems like more than just teammate behavior."

"We're friends too, right?"

Dustin stared at Hunter as if he'd said the stupidest thing ever. He moved to sit just in front of Hunter so that they could see eye to eye. "Duh. What gave you the idea that we're not?"

"Well, you've been making it sound that we're nothing but teammates. I thought we were friends and friends have a right to be mad." Hunter went on. He hoped Dustin accepted that and let it go. They were coming close to touching on deeper feelings than he was ready to talk about.

Dustin eyed his friend again. He thought he caught the hint of hidden emotions, ones he easily recognized. "Actually, your behavior sounded more like a mad boyfriend."

Oh crap! Hunter thought, looking up at Dustin with a clearly alarmed expression. How had he become so easy to read? He quickly schooled his features back to impassive and locked his feelings behind his wall. There was no hiding the way he had reacted. He knew Dustin had seen the truth then and was surprised the Earth ninja wasn't running away.

"Alright, I was mad because I thought Shane had pretty much stood by and watched you almost get yourself killed. I was angry because...I realized I really liked you and I was scared of losing you." Hunter was nearly rambling, though his expression remained as neutral as he could make it.

Dustin was nodding as if he had expected that the whole time. He'd had his suspicion before ever coming to speak with Hunter, but as soon as they started talking he knew the truth without Hunter coming out and saying it. "I can understand that, I guess. Not the whole really liking me part, but the part about being mad at Shane for that reason."

"You're not mad?"

"Why? Because you might like me as more than a friend?" Dustin asked with a raised eyebrow. "Dude, I am so not close minded like that."

"Oh." Hunter hesitated. "Do you..."

"Feel the same? I can't really say yes or no." Dustin answered. He stopped to think about that. He'd come to terms with being bisexual already, so it was nothing new or frightening to have feelings towards a guy. He thought Hunter was good looking and the whole "pissed off at the world" thing kind of worked for him. But Dustin knew that neither of them was ready for any kind of commitment, at least not while the Psychos were still around. "How about we just go with the flow and see what happens?"

"That works for me." Hunter said and he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Now, I really should go talk to my mom." Dustin said.

"Have fun."

"Probably not." Dustin mumbled. He pushed to his feet."See ya soon."

"Bye."

ZzZzZ

"Back off." Navy growled, as Crimson tried to corner him outside the infirmary. Dr. Radkee had informed him of Psycho Yellow's awakening. "I'm not scared of you Terik. You can't intimidate me."

"You're becoming a liability runt." Crimson taunted. "Instead of just getting yourself hurt you're getting your teammates hurt too."

"Not that you care, right?" Navy retorted. "You only care about yourself, you self-serving asshole. At least I care that my friend is hurt because of me."

Crimson let the insult slide and focused on the one word he hadn't expected to hear. "Friend? Since when are you friends? Last time I checked you hated each other."

"Since when are you any good at paying attention to anything other than yourself?" Navy sneered. "You've only looked out for yourself from the very beginning."

"That's bull and you know it." Crimson snarled. "I have a tattoo on my arm that says otherwise."

"You have a tattoo on your face too, but does that mean anything?"

"You're avoiding my question." Crimson said, diverting the focus back on Navy. "You and Zadan haven't been friends since Jaldia when whatever happened between you two."

Navy stared at his teammate. "You don't even remember what happened? I talked you about it."

"Was that before you stabbed me in the back?" Crimson growled, his anger back. "Are you surprised I forgot after what you did?"

"I only did what Dariv told me to do. He was the leader, remember?"

"You're a gutless worm with no backbone to stand up for what you believe in." Crimson sneered. "You could have stood up to him and supported your friend, but instead you folded and betrayed me."

"You were wrong Terik and we were in a position that failure meant death." Navy reasoned. "If we had supported you we would all be dead."

"That's not the point."

"I'm not sure there is a point." Dr. Radkee spoke up. "But you two are going to have to take your argument away from my infirmary."

Crimson growled and shoved past Navy, storming down the hall. Navy watched him go, feeling a little pain at his teammate's hurtful jabs. He shoved it away along with the painful memories and turned to follow Radkee into the lab. He was a little surprised to find the doctor watching him carefully, a thoughtful look on his face. He knew what Radkee wanted to know. He wanted to know what exactly he and Crimson had been arguing about.

"Niko."

"Not now, please." Navy cut off the doctor off.

Radkee nodded, wisely backing off. "Whenever you're ready lad."

"Come to gloat that you're walking around while I'm stuck in bed?" Zadan's voice killed whatever response Navy might have had toward Radkee's offer.

Navy turned to look at his injured teammate and took a few steps toward the bed. "Of course not."

"Oh." Zadan sounded slightly disappointed. "That would have been much easier to deal with."

"Do you want to fight?" Navy asked. "Because I don't."

"Of course I don't want to fight." Zadan grumbled. "But it's more familiar now. More comfortable."

"More comfortable than talking like friends?"

"Are we friends?"

There was a moment of silence and the hesitation killed Zadan. He felt his heart sink a little. He was tired of the hateful world he found himself in and he really just needed one person he could have a positive relationship with, friends or otherwise. He had hoped that person would be Niko, even after everything they had been through and the hateful things they'd spewed at each other on Jaldia and in the times after. He really just wanted to move on, forget and forgive, and have his best friend back.

"Why did you jump in front of me?" Navy asked and for a moment Zadan was thrown off by the question, but he recovered quick.

"Why do you think? You're not completely oblivious are you?"

Navy shot a glare over his shoulder at Dr. Radkee as the older man snorted. He then turned his attention back to Zadan. "How can you be ready to forgive and forget so easily?"

"Believe me it's not easy." Zadan retorted. "We've both said some pretty ugly things, but I can't live like this anymore. I can't pretend to hate you when despite everything you've done I still l."

Navy looked at him, his helmet hiding his shock. No, Zadan wasn't about to say the L-word. There was no way. Too much had been said, too much had been done, there was no way those feelings survived everything. He realized by the horror filled look on Zadan's face that he'd said something, or almost said something, he hadn't meant to. Painful silence filled the infirmary.

"Zadan."

"Forget I said anything." Zadan snapped quickly. He didn't want the pain of rejection. "I'm tired."

Navy started to argue, but stopped himself. Zadan was closing back up again and if he said anything else he might close up completely. Instead he simply nodded sadly and turned to leave. He caught Dr. Radkee shaking his head at them before he left the infirmary.

"Bloody idiots."