Disclaimer: If I haven't said it's mine, then it's Saban's or Disney's or whoever's.

Mz. Daydream: Yeah, Ashley's nice. Andros would have done it too, though, I think. They're reunited here.

the-power-of-love: Thanks, here's more.

Jenny: Andros and Ashley were captured before anyone besides Karone knew.

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: Wow, you must be psychic. :P

C.C.C: I know, I love protective Andros too. :P

Chapter 28

"You and Tempest will go together," Ximena said, gesturing to Andros and the yellow ranger. "Skylar and I will take the west end, you two take the east."

Andros nodded, not protesting Ximena's leadership. He was too exhausted to be thinking straight, and the fact that his twin daughters were now only nine years younger than himself wasn't exactly helping matters.

He sighed tiredly, running a hand over his face in an attempt to clear his head. It was all going to be all right, he told himself sternly. In just a few moments, he'd have Ashley in his arms once again.

"What's the matter?" Skylar demanded as he suddenly went rigid, his eyes widening in horror.

"Ashley," he whispered tersely. "Something's wrong."

"Where is she?"

Closing his eyes, he searched frantically for her presence, alarmed as he felt her slipping away from him. "Ash?"

"A-an-"

The difficulty Ashley had even thinking his name was not at all reassuring. If he hadn't forced himself to feel nothing, Andros was sure he would have been sick with fear.

"We have to go now," he snapped, snatching desperately at Ashley's telepathic presence in his mind, knowing only that if he were to let her slip away from him, the chances of her coming back were very slim. "Ashley, can you hear me?"

"Help me," he heard her pleading suddenly, nearly causing him to burst into tears. "It hurts so much."

"What does?" he demanded, not bothering to keep his rage at bay. Ashley was struggling to keep him from feeling how much pain she was in and doing a poor job of it. "Where are you?"

A cry of pain was his only answer. Andros swore loudly in frustration, wincing as he realized that the sound would carry. Ximena motioned for him and Tempest to take off as she and Skylar headed in the opposite direction.

"Ash, where are you?" He tried again, his heart racing as he felt her growing steadily weaker. "Ashley, answer me!"

"I..."

Her mindvoice trailed off, and Andros skidded to a halt, struggling not to cry. "I can't feel her anymore," he whispered. "She's just... gone."

"There's still time," Tempest said urgently, tugging on his arm to get him moving again. "She's not dead yet."

"She can't be," he muttered, trying hard not to picture the rest of his life without the one woman he had ever loved.

"Then hurry up," she snapped. "Keep moving before the guards come around... Do you have any idea where we're going?"

"No," he said, his heart sinking. Elon might be an extremely small planetoid, but the chances of finding Ashley in the next few minutes were growing steadily smaller, especially if she wasn't conscious.

Tempest paused suddenly, wincing as the air suddenly snapped loudly. "Do you hear that?"

"It sounds like... someone being beaten," he said, his stomach churning at the sound of leather striking against human flesh. "No."

"If that's her, it's very likely she passed out," Tempest said. Andros was already moving in the direction of the awful noise, the expression on his face almost enough to make her pity whoever was unfortunate to be nearby with a whip in hand.

For a split second after he spotted Ashley, Andros could only stare, frozen with horror. Two guards, a man and a woman, held her body, propping her up as a second man cracked a whip against her back repeatedly, not caring that she wasn't even twitching.

Then Andros saw the look of cruel satisfaction on the man's face as he contiued lashing his unconscious victim and whatever had once held his temper in check snapped and he flew at the man beating his wife, his uppercut landing squarely on the guard's jaw. His other hand caught him in the back of the neck, and the man slumped over, stunned.

Resisting the temptation to continue attacking now helpless man, as he had been doing to Ashley, Andros moved to help Tempest drive back the other two guards. The male guard had shoved Ashley's body at his partner the instant Tempest had morphed, and now he was slowly backing away, too terrified to take his eyes off of the yellow ranger.

Andros reached out and pulled Ashley free of the woman's grasp, leaving Tempest free to attack at will, without worrying about catching her mother in the crossfire. Slowly lowering Ashley to the ground, he dropped down beside her, his hands searching for her pulse. He found it quickly enough, and sighed with relief, the sigh becoming a choked sob as he cradled her in his arms, burying his face in her hair.

"Ash, please wake up," he whispered, his tears falling freely now as he realized that he was truly holding her in his arms. "Ashley, open your eyes."

Ashley didn't stir as he continued pleading with her, but Andros refused to move an inch from her side. Tempest was holding her own, and he was dimly aware that Skylar and Ximena had joined her. There was no need for him in the fight, while Ashley needed him now possibly more than she ever had before.

"Ash," he cried out, trading in verbal words for telepathic ones. "I know you can hear me, Ashley, and I need you to answer me."

Ashley didn't respond, but her breathing grew steadier, and he breathed a little easier himself. Encouraged, he continued calling her. Careful not to add to her already agonizing injuries, he lifted her completely into his arms, grimacing as he felt warm, wet blood on his arms. Trying not to look at the deep gashes that covered her back, he swallowed hard and kept trying to wake her.

"Ashley, I love you," he tried, his tears washing her dusty face. "I know you're in pain, but you have to fight, Ash, you have to. Our children need you. I need you. Please, just open your eyes, Ash, please."

"I love you too," a weak voice whispered, and Andros's teary hazel eyes snapped open to meet Ashley's dazed brown ones.

"Ashley?"

She tried to smile. "You don't have to sound so surprised."

Andros tried to smile back, but found himself sobbing harder into Ashley's hair as tears started to flow out of her own eyes. She tried to lift her arms and wrap them around his neck, but her body screamed in protest as she attempted the motion and she moaned softly in pain.

"Ashley, don't move," Andros ordered her. Slowly and carefully, he worked his way to his feet, still holding her. "Can you walk?"

"I... don't know," she muttered. Truthfully, the answer was definitely a no; she was having enough problems staying awake to even think about walking. Andros wordlessly readjusted his hold on her, and she sighed gratefully, relieved to finally be off of her feet.

"Let's get you out of here, all right?" he said soothingly in her ear. "You'll be fine, Ash, I promise. As soon as you're cleaned up and in bed, you'll be okay."

Ashley nodded her head against his shoulder, more than happy to let him think for the both of them for the next day or so. Feeling the familiar warmth of his body pressing against her, she closed her eyes, opening them again in annoyance when he jostled her slightly.

"Stay awake, Ash," he murmured. "Only a little longer, I promise."

Too weary to do anything but trust his every word, she nodded again, forcing herself to concentrate on the sound of his voice. When she heard the frighteningly familiar snap of a whip, Ashley whimpered in pain and fear as Andros cried out in pain, stumbling forward and nearly dropping her. It was then that he realized that the first guard had recovered.

"Go," Skylar shouted at them, unsheathing her sword, eyes glittering dangerously. The guard refused to retreat at her stare, and drew his blaster, aiming it squarely at her.

Rolling her eyes, Skylar dodged the laser fire easily, knocking both the blaster and the whip from his hands as Ximena and Tempest closed in on him from the sides. The guard glared at them all defiantly, raising his fists to continue the fight.

"Joll won't be happy to hear you stole his slave," he informed them, the reslove in his eyes slowly weakening as the three of them met his glare calmly.

"Then you can tell Joll that my mother does not belong to him," Tempest said evenly, her fingers twitching on the trigger to her Star Slinger.

"He paid for her," he said indignantly. "She belongs to him."

"We disagree," Skylar snapped. "Think of it this way. If we hadn't gotten here when we did, she'd be dead by now anyway, so you lose nothing."

"I wasn't gonna kill her," he protested, beginning to realize that he was in more danger than he'd originally thought. "Look, I didn't wanna do it in the first place, but I've gotta follow orders."

"Maybe," Ximena said. "But there are some orders that shouldn't be followed."

"You're... you're gonna kill me now, aren't you?" The guard glanced at each of them in resignation and fear.

"We should," Ximena growled.

She might have followed through, but at that moment, distant fire reached their ears, coming from the direction in which they'd hidden the shuttle.

"Not hidden enough, apparently," Skylar muttered. "Let's go."

Wasting no more time, they took off, sprinting as quickly as they could in the direction of the battle. When they reached the area three minutes later, all was silent, and the ground was littered with bodies, all clad in the uniform of a guard.

Andros stood in the shuttle's open hatch, one arm supporting Ashley, his free hand clutching an Astroblaster. The fingers of Ashley's right hand were clenched around her own blaster, and from the shaken expression on her face, it was clear that several of her shots had hit home.

"Let's get out of here," Ximena said unnecessarily the instant the shuttle hatch slid shut. "Skylar, you drive."

Skylar rolled her eyes at her twin. "I'd better, if you want to get out of here alive."

As soon as the shuttle lifted off, Andros lowered Ashley to the ground, carefully peeling off what remained of her shirt, wincing as he saw how deep the gashes went. Suppressing his rage, he sighed heavily and reached for the first aid kit Tempest had handed him.

Ashley moaned softly as he started to clean her wounds, biting her lip to muffle the sound, but Andros heard it clearly. Muttering an apology, he continued working, taking care not to cause her any more pain than was absolutely necessary.

"That's as much as I can do, Ash," he said a few moments later, tugging off his own shirt and slipping it over her head. "We'll do more when we get back to the Megaship."

"Megaship?" Ashley mumbled, unable to keep her eyes open any longer.

Andros nodded, slowly shifting her into his lap, letting her pillow her head against his shoulder, pressing a gentle kiss to her temple. "You can rest now, Ash. Don't worry, we're almost home."