Disclaimer: Not mine, never was, never will be.
TrueRomantic: BB might stick around a little longer than I'd planned, but he won't be in most of the chapters. You'll find out why Andros doesn't morph anymore in hopefully three or four more chapters, but I'm not sure when I'll work in the rest of it.
Funky In Fishnet: I love writing them all this way, so I guess it shows. :P I loved Unbreakable, you should write more Space fics.
hmmart: Here's another chapter...
C.C.C: Cosmos and Lyra are in the same position Astronema was in the canon PRIS, and aside from that, they both are directly responsible for a lot of Andros being who he is, and they will keep being important for the rest of the series.
DV2: Thanks, here's more.
Jenny: Yeah, Karone is the purple ranger. I thought I mentioned that somewhere... oops. :P Zeah and Zyanya were the yellow and pink Karovan rangers. I'm not saying anything about Kadri yet. :P
Mel: You can have Ben once Ashley breaks up with him. :P Lyra challenged him for a reason, and you find out about that later.
Chapter 8
"Hey, Andros."
"Hi, Ashley."
He didn't glance up as she slipped into the seat at his right, but then, she hadn't expected him to. It was enough that he'd returned the greeting, and civilly. Ashley watched him out of the corner of her eye for a moment or two, before sighing silently.
"Sorry I'm a little late," she added as an afterthought. "I was out with Ben..."
"It's all right," Andros said quietly, his gaze never leaving the console directly before him. "Next time be on time."
Ashley nodded. "Anything happen in the last ten minutes?"
"No."
"Oh." Ashley paused. "That's good."
Andros nodded briefly, his head bobbing up and then down, but he didn't speak. The awkward silence bore down heavily on Ashley and she sighed loudly, unable to think of anything to say that could possibly interest him. She had many questions, but doubted very much that they would receive answers.
"Where's everyone else?" she finally asked, unable to stand the quiet any longer.
Andros shrugged. "Deca?"
"Cassie and Karone are at the mall and Carlos is at his home," Deca replied, her tone distinctly amused as she added, "TJ and Zhane have detention."
"How'd he managed that?" Ashley demanded of no one in particular. "He doesn't even go to the school!"
"Zhane has a special talent for causing chaos," Andros informed her, his mouth quirking.
Ashley laughed. "I never would have guessed."
"Oh, he does," he assured her, completely missing her tone. "But because he had been chosen to be a ranger, he was never punished."
Ashley grinned. "Must have been nice, getting away with everything."
"Zhane was the only one who could manage it," Andros said, the look on his face stating clearly that he was still miffed about the fact. "The rest of us couldn't talk our way out of everything the way he could."
"You and Karone, you mean?" Ashley asked, deliberately keeping her tone light, casually adding, "Or were there more of you?"
"There were more of us," Andros said quietly after a small but very noticeable pause.
"Yellow, pink, blue, black, silver, purple, and red?"
He nodded. "Yes."
Ashley bit her lip to keep herself from blurting out a question she knew he wouldn't like. Andros chose that moment to glance over at her. He caught her expression and turned away from her, sighing.
"You want to know what happened."
It wasn't a question, but Ashley nodded just the same. "Yeah. I do."
"I don't want to talk about it," he said firmly, though his expression was uncertain.
"I'm not asking you to," she said quickly. "I was just curious, that's all."
"I think Zhane and Karone would tell you, if you asked them."
Ashley regarded him thoughtfully for a moment. "But you'd rather I didn't."
Andros nodded wordlessly.
"I won't ask them, then," she decided. "If it bothers you that much."
He turned to her then, his surprise evident in his eyes. "You have no reason to care what I feel," he said slowly. "If they will tell you, I wouldn't try to stop them."
"That's not the point," she told him, catching his eye for one of the first times. "It's not only that I want to know what happened to KO-35. I want to hear it from you."
"Why?"
"Because..." Ashley hesitated, taking her time as she thought up the right words. "Because I could ask Zhane and Karone what happened on KO-35, but they wouldn't be able to tell me why you sneak onto the Simudeck at night. They wouldn't be able to tell me why you think about that last battle most hours of the day. They don't know that you do, do they?"
"No," he admitted, visibly shaken, though his voice was cold when he continued. "And it's none of your business, either."
"I know." Ashley sighed, his torn expression sending waves of guilt through her. "I'm sorry if I seem nosy, it's just... I like to know who I'm friends with."
Andros finally turned to face her completely, clearly startled. "Is that what we are?"
"Friends? Why not?"
"But..." He stared at her face blankly for a long minute. "We don't know each other."
Ashley shrugged. "We can fix that."
"I..." Andros appeared both perplexed and indecisive, although when he finally spoke, his voice was firm. "I can't be friends with you."
"Can't be friends with me?" Ashley fixed him with a knowing look. "Or can't be friends with anybody?"
"I..." Andros glared at her. "Don't do that."
"Do what?" she asked quietly. "Stop telling you what you're thinking?"
He nodded. "Please," he whispered. "Please stop."
"I'm sorry," she said softly, taken aback by the pleading desperation of his voice. "I didn't know I was bothering you that much."
"Well, you were," he said harshly. "You are."
"I'm sorry," Ashley repeated slowly, waiting until the wild and scared look at left his eyes before opening her mouth again. "Do you want me to go?"
"You're the ranger," he snapped. "You're the one with watch duty."
Ashley sighed silently and swiveled her chair to face the front once again. The Andros she had caught a glimpse of these last few days was gone now, replaced once again by the cold, imposing figure she'd met her first day on the Megaship.
I shouldn't have pushed him, she thought glumly, catching his glare out of the corner of her eye. I didn't mean to scare him away...
Settling back into her seat, Ashley watched the blank scanner with one eye and Andros fidgeting with the other. He was fiddling absently with the controls directly before him, which just happened to be the the vertical thrusters and the accelerator. Ashley let the Megaship bob up and down for several minutes on end, but when the ship was suddenly jolted forward, she'd had enough.
"Will you stop that?" she exclaimed, hit with a new wave of guilt as he jumped. "Andros, I can't help thinking that you're trying to kill me here."
Andros froze, his hands stilling on the controls. "Is this better?" he asked tonelessly, his face expressionless.
"Much," she said, eyeing him warily. Her face softened a moment later, and she sighed, catching herself just as she reached out to him. "Hey, I didn't mean to startle you... I just didn't want you to crash us."
"I understand," he distantly, his hands sliding down from the control panel to his lap. His head bowed, giving almost the impression that he was praying.
"What did I say?"
"What?"
"I know I said something wrong," she explained patiently. "What was it?"
"Nothing," he insisted, not facing her. "You didn't say anything that you shouldn't have."
"Maybe not," she agreed. "But Andros, it bothered you."
"And why should you care?" he challenged. Ashley could practically see him bristling defensively. "It's not as if you care about me."
"Maybe I do," she retorted. "Just because I don't know you as well as Zhane and Karone do doesn't mean I don't care about you."
"You have no reason to care," he insisted.
"That doesn't mean I don't." Ashley sighed. "Andros..."
"Don't," he snapped. "I don't want your pity, and I don't need your friendship. You wouldn't care if - "
He froze, wincing, and Ashley was certain she heard him groan, quiet as it was. It was obvious that Andros had said more than he'd meant to, and now, though his expression dared her to ask, his hazel eyes were so full of anguish and sorrow she couldn't bring herself to.
"Maybe I'd better go," she said quietly.
"You should go," Andros agreed, slowly tearing his gaze from hers. "Please go."
"I'll see you later," Ashley said just as softly, standing slowly. "And Andros? If you ever change your mind... come talk to me."
"Just go," he said loudly, the pain doubling as she walked away.
It wasn't my fault, he protested weakly, though he knew it was. Her ability to read him so easily, so... naturally had frightened him, but what was worse, he found himself aching for the friendship he'd so quickly refused.
I had to, he told himself firmly. I couldn't let her. It would end just like it did before.
"Incoming transmission," Deca reported, the red eye that had watched him and Ashley solemnly suddenly flickering.
"Display it," he ordered, his voice betraying no trace of the inner turmoil his heart grappled with.
"Andros?"
He froze, feeling as though his brain actually ceased to function for a split second or two as his eyes focused on the couple staring back at him.
"Mom?" he whispered, his breath hitching. "Dad?"
