Disclaimer: Power Rangers is Saban's world, not mine. Title comes from the song "Here With Me" is by Dido and I don't own that either. So please don't sue the broke college student, there's nothing here of worth!

I apologize for the long time between postings, and that's one of the reasons why I have reposted the previous sections. That, and I've taken down the song lyrics originally posted in the beginning of each section.

Reviews and constructive criticism, as always, are greatly appreciated.

Here With Me Part Four

2003-2006 by Amie Martin

-- Jason --

There were a lot worse odds than two on five.

Unfortunately, right now it didn't feel like it.

I was far from thrilled about the idea of Aimee in the midst of a heated battle, letting her stubbornness get the best of her. She was young, naïve, inexperienced, and had absolutely no idea what she had gotten herself into. This fight was way over her head, and I knew I would spend more time worrying about whether or not she was all right than about the battle itself.

Damn big brother complex. Or was it something more...

Shaking my head, I tried to push my doubts aside and was only somewhat successful. My plan, if I could even call it that, was basically me trying to draw the two warriors with bladed lances away from Aimee, not only because I stood a better chance against them, but I also because I knew I couldn't handle seeing them hurt Aimee. Even though I knew she'd resent me for it, I had to protect her somehow.

"AJ," I whispered in her ear, praying that the warriors didn't have ultra- sensitive hearing, "I'll take the two with lances, you go for the unarmed three."

"I'm tempted to think you're taking the two easy ones for yourself." In spite of the situation, I realized with a start that Aimee was teasing me. It must have been her way of easing the tension.

"I think the odds are against us as it is," I reminded her, trying to be serious.

She made a tsking sound under her breath. "Don't get all pessimistic on me, Jase, that's my job." Aimee paused. "Good luck."

"You too." My voice caught in my throat, but I couldn't explain why. "Don't do anything stupid out there."

The grin that lit up her face was confident and cocky, typical Aimee. "I don't know if I can promise you that," she said, "but for you, Jase, I can give it a try." Winking, she turned away from me and made her way towards the waiting warriors. I watched her go, part of me admiring her courage and determination, another part of me cursing her stubbornness.

Pressing my lips together in a firm line, I turned my attention to the warriors. It was now or never, and I wasn't going down without a fight. Throwing my shoulders back, I strode confidently out of the ruins, refusing to be daunted. I was, after all, a former Ranger.

"Hey!" I shouted, my voice carrying much farther than I had expected. "Hey, you with the poles!"

Two of the warriors, the two holding the silvery blades, hissed as their heads snapped in my direction. Now that I was standing closer to them, I could see sinister mouths grinning behind the silvery black skull-like masks. I swallowed hard, but refused to let my fear show in my face.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you!" I beckoned them towards me with a flick of my hand. "I got something for you, so come over here and get it!"

Willingly, the two warriors practically galloped to meet me. Almost too willingly, I realized. Aimee and I had truly gotten ourselves in over our heads, and I found myself cursing her for insisting that we should fight them.

My mind entered battle mode as the first of the warriors met me. Even this close to them, I still couldn't tell if they were male, female, or if there was even a distinction between the two. The first warrior lashed out at me, holding the lance away as the other fist barrelled towards my face. I caught the punch with my left hand and countered with the other, a low jab to the stomach.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as the warrior began to rotate the lance rapidly, arching sharply towards my head. Reacting quickly, I snapped a side kick, pushing the blade away from me and letting the sole of my shoe take the brunt force of the blade. The warrior seemed unfazed by the act, using the moment's opportunity to land a quick kick to my knee. Losing my balance, I stumbled backward, struggling to stay on my feet.

It was then that I felt the presence of the second warrior as I walked into the armored chest. The blade was pressed into my back, and the first warrior stepped forward, holding the blade against my throat. To the untrained eye, it would seem as if I was trapped, with no conceivable way out. But having trained for years in the martial arts, I knew I was never without a weapon, and my years as a Ranger had taught me never to give up.

I grasped the handle of the lance in front of me and pushed the warrior away from me. While the warrior was disoriented, I launched a spinning kick to its hands, sending the lance flying. As soon as I landed, I dropped to the ground in anticipation of the second warrior's retaliation. Its lance arched harmlessly above me, and I rolled out of reach, trying to buy myself some time to think.

Suddenly, my odds were starting to improve greatly. Now I only had one blade to worry about, and a normal warrior I could easily handle. But Aimee... I had a sinking feeling that her odds were not as good as mine.

Tearing my eyes away from the warriors, I scanned the ridge looking for Aimee. It was a dangerous move, leaving myself open to attack for those brief few seconds, but I had to make sure she was all right. I would never forgive myself if something had happened to her...

What I saw nearly caused my heart to stop beating. Two of the warriors held Aimee by her arms while the third was coming towards her. The look on her face was grim and determined, by no means did she let her fear show. In a flash I imagined Tommy in the same situation, as if his fierce focus was shining through her. Aimee was tough--there was no doubt about that. But I didn't know if she knew how to handle the fight, if she could handle it at all...

It surprised me how quick and fluid her movements could be. I had forgotten about the years she spent dancing and how its grace had spread into all facets of her life. Even when Aimee fought, she looked like she was dancing.

Her legs swung upward at the warrior coming towards her, catching the warrior in the shoulder. The warrior, losing its balance, stumbled into the warrior to Aimee's right, freeing one of her arms as the two fell together to the ground. As Aimee landed, she quickly spun around and lashed out at the last remaining warrior, grasping firmly to her left arm. Catching the warrior behind the knee, she yanked her arm free in the midst of the distraction.

Aimee was free--for the moment. But I knew it wouldn't last for long.

"Aimee!" I shouted, trying to get her attention. I wanted to keep her close to me, as if by doing so I could prevent any harm from coming to her.

Her head snapped up at the sound of my voice, and she scanned the area looking for me. As her eyes met mine, Aimee shouted back, "Jase!" The way she said my nickname, so quick and so sharp... I thought she was relieved to see that I was all right. It was her way of reassuring me, with that one simple word.

Something to my left snarled and streaked across my eyes, headed in Aimee's direction. It was a moment before I fully realized what had happened--the one remaining warrior with the lance was going after Aimee, having noticed the exchange between us. The warrior knew which one of us was stronger and which one of us would be the easier fight...

"Oh, no, you don't," I hissed under my breath, scrambling back to my feet. I moved to chase the warrior down, to keep it from getting near Aimee, but something grabbed the back of my jacket and threw me down onto the ground.

The other warrior stared down at me, something of sneer hidden behind that skull mask, as if the warrior was taunting me. Anger flooded my veins, something I didn't allow to happen very often. Gritting my teeth together, I thought to myself, No more Mr. Nice Guy.

Kicking upwards, I caught the warrior in the chest, pushing it away from me. I used the moment's distraction to jump back onto my feet, only to be confronted a millisecond later by a flurry of punches. This presented no real threat; the warrior was disoriented, its movements sporadic. All I needed was the right opening...

My foot lashed upward, seeing the perfect opportunity to catch the warrior in the head. I caught it just beneath the chin, and I could have sworn I heard something snap as the warrior stumbled backwards. As the warrior fell to the ground, its body transformed into little black specks, each of which dissipated into the air.

Suddenly it dawned on me: a strong enough blow to the head would kill the warriors. I watched the specks for a few seconds before turning around and running towards Aimee.

"The head, AJ!" I shouted to her. "The head is the weak spot!"

She nodded once, and it was then that I noticed that Aimee had retrieved the fallen lance and was using it to fend off the warriors. The blade swung from side to side in her hands, and I watched as she took out the warrior behind her in one swift movement. The girl was lethal, I had to give her that much.

Rushing to Aimee's side, I said, "Let me take care of the guy with the blade."

"I got it." Aimee's voice was tense as she blocked another blow from the bladed warrior. "Just get the other ones off my back."

I grimaced, blocking a punch and countering with my own. "Aimee--"

"Don't argue with me, just do it!" She spun away from me then, out of my line of vision. Cursing her under my breath, I gritted my teeth together and continued fighting.

A quick kick here, a punch there. My body was like a fighting machine, attacking anything and everything that came near me. The other two warriors proved to be weaker than I had expected, and my earlier decision to leave these warriors with Aimee proved to be a good one. As the last of the two warriors turned to dust, I looked in time to see Aimee's blade slice neatly into the final warrior's neck, sending black particles into the air.

Satisfied, Aimee turned to face me, her green eyes shining in the sunlight. "So, what was that about me not knowing how to fight?" she asked, a little too smugly.

"Don't pick a fight with me, AJ, I'm not in the mood." I looked her up and down, noticing the slash on her forearm, the small river of blood trickling down the black leather of her jacket. Covering the wound with my hand to stem the blood flow, I stepped closer to her and said gently, "You should have told me that you were hurt."

Pain flashed through her eyes, but it lasted only a brief second. "It's nothing," Aimee answered, covering my hand with her own. "Bastards managed to ruin one of my favorite jackets."

I managed a small smile, knowing that her comment was her way of shifting the focus from herself, trying to get me not to worry about her. It didn't really work, of course, but I found the effort touching. "But at least you made them pay."

"Oh, yeah." She shook her head, but she didn't move her hand. "These things"--she motioned to the blade in her other hand--"are just like these baton thingies we did a routine with when I was--14, maybe? Most of the moves came in pretty handy."

"Still, we should have that looked at, or bandaged, or something..." My voice trailed off, and I rested my other hand on Aimee's shoulder. "Maybe we should head back to my house."

"I was about to ask what we should do next." Dropping the blade, Aimee rested her head on my chest; I had forgotten how little she actually was. "I don't know what the hell those guys were, but I'm not sure I want to be here when they get back," she said as she pulled away.

Shrugging, I said, "You're the one who wanted to get involved. But we'll head back to my house for now, take care of that arm, and we'll decide what to do from there."

"Sounds good to me."

Together, we turned away from the ruins of the Command Center, away from what remained of my childhood. Taking Aimee's hand, I led her up the last few steps of the ridge overlooking the entire area, heading back towards my motorcycle. The idea of those warriors here, at the old Command Center, did not sit well with me--the Ranger within itched to find out why. But I knew I couldn't let Aimee continue this pursuit; I wasn't a Ranger anymore, and all I could do, really, was protect the people I cared for.

At the top of the ridge, I froze in place, my eyes growing wide with shock. Beside me, I heard Aimee whisper, "Holy shit," her hand tightening in mine.

Below us was an entire legion of warriors, almost like foot soldiers preparing to invade. All of the warriors carried lances like the predecessors, held upright in stiff formation. Behind the soldiers was a chair carried by four warriors, its occupant hidden by a myriad of rich blood red curtains swaying in the slight breeze.

I took a step back form the ridge, as if doing so might buy me some time to think.

"I take it we're not getting back to the bike that way," Aimee muttered, low and under her breath. "Anyway we can go around them?"

"What you don't want to fight them? AJ, you surprise me," I shot back, more sarcastic than I had originally intended. Shaking my head, I added, more softly, "There's no way that they won't catch us if we try to sneak past them--the area's too open for that."

Aimee grimaced, biting her bottom lip. "You're the former Ranger here," she finally said. "Your thoughts on this are probably more... logical than mine."

"Logical, right." Shaking my head, I sighed. "I think we're screwed, AJ. We can't fight all of them, they blocked our exit, and we can't hide from them forever."

"I asked for your ideas, not your cynicism."

"Like you would have said any different."

In spite of the situation, Aimee managed a small laugh. "Lighten up a bit, Jase. The world hasn't come to an end." She glanced down at the warriors below us and shrugged. "At least, not yet."

I stared at her incredulously, my eyes growing large and my jaw practically dropping to the ground. "Aimee-Jean Marie Oliver, now is not the time--"

An explosion rocked the ground beneath our feet, cutting off my sentence and causing Aimee to stumble a step backward. Grabbing her hand, I dragged her away from the ridge and back into the ruins of the Command Center. We could seek shelter in the remnants of the thick outer walls, and hopefully buy ourselves a little more time.

Crouching behind a huge slab of molded granite, I closed my eyes and rested my head against the rock, trying to ignore the soldiers prepared to destroy us. Vainly, I wished I had powers still--the Red Ranger, the Gold Ranger, anything to get us out of this situation. I wasn't the leader anymore, and it tore me up inside, knowing I didn't have the answers I needed.

"Jason." Aimee's voice was gentle, her use of my full name catching my attention. I could feel her next to me, her hand on my shoulder, her presence almost merging with my own. "Jase... I just want you to know... I'm not afraid."

Opening my eyes, all I could do was stare at her. I had always known Aimee as the rebel, the fighter, the one who always went with her emotions. She hadn't changed that much, in the three years since I'd last seen her. But in her eyes I saw a little bit of Tommy as well, Tommy when he was stripped of his Green Ranger powers. A Tommy who knew when anger and determination was not going to save him.

She met my eyes, a hint of a smile gracing her lips. Aimee was calm, and she was waiting--waiting for me to decide our next move. It was her silent admission that I was the leader, and for the moment, she was prepared to follow. While I couldn't predict exactly how long Aimee would listen to me-- she was notorious for changing her mind at a moment's notice--I did know that she didn't follow just anyone. A warmth spread through my chest at the thought.

I moved to say something, but the words wouldn't come. All I could do was hold her gaze, my mouth going dry, and I had a vague sense that time was standing still. The threat presented by the soldiers was but a distant thought in my mind...

Over Aimee's shoulder, I watched as five flashing columns of light touched the ground, one read, blue, black, pink, and yellow. Startled, I jumped to my feet, almost knocking Aimee over in the process.

"What is it, Jase?" Aimee asked as she stood, brushing stray dust off her leather pants.

"Come on," I said, grabbing her hand and dashing towards the light, where five humans had just emerged. "We've got to get over there."

"Who are they?" Aimee ran alongside me, her fingers lacing with mine.

"Rangers." I wasn't completely sure in my belief, but the five people were also running towards us, and I would rather take my chances with them than with the advancing soldiers.

We met in the center of the Command Center ruins, and for a moment we just looked at each other. There were two girls in the group, a young Asian woman dressed in pink, standing next to a smiling girl in yellow, whose light brown hair was blowing in the breeze. A tall black man in blue was next to a man in black with dark curly hair. In front of all of them was a man in red, his dirty blond hair streaked with platinum, his eyes narrowing as we approached them. It was clear that the man in red was their leader, their spokesman.

For a moment the man in red and I stared at each other. I wasn't sure exactly what to make of them, but I had been a Red Ranger once too, and I knew he must share the same doubts I did. "Jason Scott," I introduced, and on a whim I added, "Former Red Ranger."

The man nodded once in acknowledgement. "Andros," he said. "We... didn't expect to find you here."

"We didn't expect to be here." I gestured to the dunes behind us, at the army of soldiers poised to attack. "You guys are Rangers, right? Do you know what's going on here?"

"It's a long story, and we should move to a safer location." Andros gazed out over the ruins of the Command Center. "We need your help, and we can't stay here."

I stepped forward to join them, but Aimee pulled on my hand, holding me back. "Jase, are you sure about this?" she whispered. "I mean, normally I'm up for anything, but trusting people I don't know..."

"You don't trust anybody, AJ. What else is new?" I shook my head, looking back at Aimee. "They're Rangers. And unless you'd rather take your chances with those warriors back there, we're going with them. Besides, I thought you said you weren't afraid."

"I never said I was afraid," she said sullenly, pulling her hand away from mine and crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Good. Then we're going with them." I turned back to Andros. "Lead the way."

Andros nodded, and together the seven of us were wisked away from the ruins of the Command Center. As the familiar tingle of the transportation energy beams filled my body, I couldn't help the foreboding feeling that a big change was headed for Aimee and I, one I knew we couldn't possibly be ready for.