It was a sad day at the SPD academy. Dashel Jackson the 3rd, aka the Red Ranger, had been murdered. Killed in cold blood. It wasn't fair. This couldn't be happening. How could this have happened? He was so close to retiring from Ranger squad. He had his whole life ahead of him. He had many more years left with SPD. Dash had already planned to remain on with SPD to continue being a top commander. He loved SPD, he loved helping people. This was his life. How could someone have killed Dash? He was so young, so much to look forward to. Who was going to take care of his young widow, now? Who was going to be there for those three beautiful boys? They weren't even in school yet, four years old and already they had learned first hand just how cruel life can be.

Maybe if he had gotten there sooner, then maybe this wouldn't be happening. His leader, his teammate, his friend would still be here. Tanner, like his teammates, felt like he was reliving history all over again. It was Wes's death all over again. Like Dash, Wes had died young, recently married, had a young son, and so much to look forward to. But life isn't always fair, even to the good ones who sacrifice so much for others. He had heard a saying once: only the good die young.

Tanner, along with his teammates, Commander Cruger and Dr. Manx, had watched the security video several times over, but had been unable to make much sense of anything. The picture was dark and shadowy; you could barely make out if anyone was there.

Cruger sighed heavily as stopped the video knowing they all needed a break. "That's enough for today." He turned to the Rangers knowing this was a very difficult time for them. They had lost their team leader, they're friend, someone they had all cared for very much. "I want you four to take the rest of the week off, get some rest," he told them his voice full of companion. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

The Rangers didn't answer, just smiled faintly and turned and headed out of the command base, nearly running right into Dru, as if they intended to, like they blamed him or felt that somehow he was responsible. The only reason they found out that it had been Dru in the video, moments before Dash ever entered the scene, was because someone had reported seeing him come from the garage elevator, heading towards the dorms way after curfew. They knew he hadn't been the one to kill Dash, but felt thst he knew something even though he claimed to know nothing about what happened to Dash.

Dru thought of fighting back at their hard stares, but decided not to. He was already in enough hot water as it was. And he had a pretty good idea who had gotten him in trouble. He walked up to Cruger promptly. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes. I wanted you to tell me again," announced Cruger eyeing the young cadet carefully. He knew that Dru could be very clever and cuniving. And had it not been for his grades and score, he likely would have been expelled from the academy a long time ago. "What were doing out of your dorm after curfew?"

Dru looked at him honestly. "I told you, sir. I was meeting a girl."

"Yes, a girl." Cruger eyed him closely, as if trying to see right through him, catch him in a lie. But try as he might he saw no indication that Dru was lying to him. It would not be the first time cadets had snuck out of their dorms and fraternized. "And who is this girl?"

Dru smiled and chuckled lightly as he played it cool. "I'd really rather not say. I don't want to get her in any trouble."

"Why?" Cruger asked sharply. "Because she killed Lieutenant Jackson?"

"No! No sir, nothing like that." Dru knew he had to come up with something quick. And cleverness happened to be one of his strong points. He had been able to fool everyone for years. No one at the academy knew his true intentions. Not Sky. Not any of the cadets in his squad. Not even Charlie and the others. This would be a piece of cake, at least that's what he hoped for. "It's kind of hard to explain."

"Enlighten me," answered Cruger already losing his patience.

"She's a little older, sir." He shrugged his shoulders. "We sort of had this thing."

"Thing?" he roared. "As in a physical relationship?"

"Yes sir."

"You know this is against code, on academy grounds," exclaimed Cruger angrily. "I should have you both expelled from the academy!"

"Yes," Dru nodded his head. "And that's why I met with her to end it."

"I see." Cruger looked Dru right in the eyes as if he were once again trying to tell if Dru was being trueful with him. "And then you both went your separate ways?"

"Yes sir." Dru nodded his head. "That's correct."

"And you saw nothing out of the ordinary?" he questioned.

Dru shook his head. "No, everything seemed fine." Dru waited for a moment, looking Cruger right in the eyes, trying to tell whether the Commander was buying his story or not. In the back of his mind he was cursing Charlie and the others for getting him into this mess. He knew he was going to need something more then a story about him and a girl. "Sir, I didn't want to say this before…"

"Yes, what is it?" asked Cruger hopeful.

"I saw Lieutenant Jackson earlier that day, and he seemed distressed."

"Distressed?" Cruger's face became concerned and alarmed.

"Yes." Dru nodded his head. "He looked like he had a lot on his shoulders." Dru put on the best honest and sympathetic look he could pull off. "Sir, you don't think it's possible that Lieutenant Jackson took his own life, do you?"

Cruger's eyes widened. "What!" he roared getting right into Dru's face looking as if he were about to strike the young cadet. "How dare you!"

"Doggie!" Kat pulled him back, knowing if she didn't, he would have hit Dru. "I'm sure Dru didn't mean anything by it." She looked to him. "Did you, Dru?"

"No ma'am." He looked back to Cruger. "No sir. That's why I didn't really want to say it." He looked at both of them compassionately. "I am heartbroken just as much as you both are; Lieutenant Jackson was a great man and ranger." He was clever; he had to give himself credit, but would it be enough or was it too much? He couldn't tell what was going on inside Cruger's head, but one thing was for sure. He wasn't off the hook, not yet.

Cruger took a deep breath, trying to calm himself from Dru's supposed theory; a theory which he hoped was not true. "Yes he was."

"Is there anything else, sir?" Dru asked after a moment. "I promised Sky I'd meet him in the gym for training."

"That's all for now, but we will talk about this relationship you had later." Cruger answered as he scratched his chin.

"Of course, sir," smiled Dru as he saluted Cruger and exited the command center to go meet up with Sk.

"Did you believe him?" Cruger turned to Kat once Dru was out of sight.

"Dru does well in all of his classes, stays on top and has managed to hold of the record from target shooting to hand to hand combat," stated Kat.

"Yes." Cruger agreed. "He's one of the best cadets here."

"But…"

"But I don't know if I believe him," Cruger admitted. Something just felt off with Dru, but he hadn't ever had anything to call him on. "I may not be able to charge him with Dash's murder, but I can transfer him somewhere else." He turned and started to head out. "A change of scenery might do his cocky boyish attitude some good."

Kat looked at him, concerned. "He's Sky's best friend, you sure you really want to break them up?" She knew the change would not come easy to Sky. Dru was the first cadet to welcome Sky with open arms and they had been glued at the hip ever since.

"He'll have new best friends," replied Cruger, looking over his shoulder as he headed out. He couldn't worry about Sky feeling about Dru leaving, he was more concerned with any negative infulance Dru had on Sky. The last thing he wanted was Dru doing anything that would jeopardize his plans for Sky.

On his way towards the gym, Dru ran right into Charlie, as if it was intentional. "Fancy meeting you here, Cadet Harrington." She smirked. "I would have thought they'd have you in shackles by now."

Dru crossed his arms against his chest. "Well, I guess I know who to thank for my problems with Cruger," he replied harshly, knowing all to well she was the one who put him on Cruger radar.

Charlie snickered. "Well, you were out after curfew. It was only fair." She walked past him, brushing against his shoulder and then slightly turned around. "And like you said, you're only the messenger," she announced as she started walking away. "You're dispensable." He always had been.

Dru clenched his fists feeling his anger flow though his veins. How dare she call him dispensable! When it was him doing all the work getting the top secret information and codes. When all she was doing was working herself in, and playing nice with the cadets and top ranking officers. "What makes you think I won't tell Cruger what really happened?" He eyed her sharply. "Like who really killed Commander Jackson." It was a bold move, but it was the only one he had.

Charlie smiled. The kid had guts, she had to give him that, but she knew better. Dru would never sell her or the others out. "Because you won't. You know there are things far worse than Cruger." She winked at him. "I'll be seeing you rookie."

She was right, as much as he hated to admit it, she was right. There were worst things than Cruger, and he happened already to be playing right into their dirty hands. "Yeah. I'm sure you will."

Dru and Sky had been in the gym for the last half hour, sparring against each other. They were two of the best fighters out of all the C squad cadets and were improving each and every day. "You're getting better," announced Dru, as Sky blocked his punches and kicks. Sky had improved a lot over the last two years and that's saying a lot, because Sky was an exceptional fighter when he first came to the academy.

"Or you're getting slower," laughed Sky, as he moved quickly and flipped Dru over his back.

"Oh, you're funny," laughed Dru as Sky helped him up. They got into their fighting stances, when the bell rang, signaling everyone to take a break. Exhausted, both of them dropped down on the mat, each drinking from their water bottles and wiping the sweat away from their faces.

"So how'd it go with Cruger?" asked Sky as he took a sip of his water.

"It's Cruger, what do you think?"

Sky grinned. "Yeah." He punched Dru on the arm. "I guess that will teach you about going after girls late at night, player."

"Yeah," he laughed. "Hey, I got you something." Dru dug into his gym bag and pulled out a silver bracelet, and handed it to Sky.

Sky eyed recognizeing it as being the same bracelet that was on Dru's wrist. "Hey, it looks just like yours."

"Yeah. It is," answered Dru. "Where I come from, giving a Tangarian bracelet is a symbol of friendship. And who better to give it to than my best friend?"

"Really, me?" Sky was happy to have a good friend like Dru in his life. "Thanks man, it's great." He put it on his wrist and then clanged it against Dru's. "Awesome!"

"You wanted to see me, sir?" asked Tanner as he walked into the command base. He hadn't left with the others, not even when Heather, his girlfriend, insisted that he come home with her. But he declined. He just couldn't bring himself to leave, as if it meant he was giving up. He wanted to find the person who was responsible for Dash's death. He wanted them to pay, make them pay for what they had done to Dash's family.

"Yes, I did." Cruger sighed heavily. Although it was good news, in the same way it was sad because once he did this it really would mean that Dash was gone and he wasn't going to be coming back, but it had to be done. He needed someone to be promoted team leader of the Ranger squad. "I'm promoting you to leader for your duration, as a Ranger," announced Cruger. "You will be responsible for making the final decisions as to which cadets will take your place."

Tanner had been expecting this for the last couple of days. He was honored that Cruger felt him worthy, but at the same time he felt guilty, maybe even responsible in some way. He nodded his head reluctantly and smiled faintly accepting the promotion. "Any new leads?" he asked. He and his teammates had been taken off the case, due to the fact that they would be too emotionally involved.

Cruger shook his head sadly. "No. I'm sorry."

"What about Cadet Dru Harrington?" he asked. It wasn't that he wanted Cadet Harrington to be guilty. He just wanted whomever was responsible for his friend's death to be held accountable. He wanted Dash to have the justice he deserved.

"He was seen coming out of the elevator during the time Dash was killed," Cruger sighed. "He couldn't have killed him."

"What was he doing down there pass curfew?"

"He said he was meeting one of the older female cadets." He started walking around. "Apparently they had a relationship with each other."

"What?" Tanner found it hard to believe that one of the older cadets would risk jeopardizing her place at SPD. It just didn't seem to make much sense, but then again, things like this had been known to happen. "Did he see anything?"

"No. Everything seemed normal to him." Cruger sighed, as much as he hated to say it, they had to consider all possibilities. "However, he did say that earlier in the day he had seen Dash, and felt that Dash seemed distressed."

"Distressed?" And then Tanner saw where this was going. "You're not saying he took his own life, are you?" That was crazy. Sure Dash had a lot on his shoulders and they had bad days, but he would have never done anything like this. He couldn't have, not when he had a wife he loved more than anything, not when he had three boys who he was crazy about. It just wouldn't be like him.

"No." He shook his head. "But we have to consider all possibilities." He saw Tanner's face fall and quickly gripped his shoulder. "We'll get to the bottom of this. I promise."

He smiled faintly and nodded. "I know." It was just a matter of when.

"This isn't your fault, Tanner. The doctors said he died instantly, even if you had gotten there right when he contacted you it wouldn't have made a difference."

Tanner bit his lips. "I could have been there for him. No one should have to die alone." He couldn't even imagine what it must have felt like for Dash, knowing that he was going to die. He imagined it must have been very similar to how Wes must have felt, knowing that he was going to die.

Cruger didn't answer, just patted Tanner on the back. He knew all too well, he too had wished several times over that he had been there for Andros, the other rangers, and his wife, when they had died. Been there for them, held their hands, or died along with them.