Disclaimer: Not mine. Never was, never will be. Get over it.

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: Well, they got out. Everyone can yell at him next chapter. :D

Star Fata: Ashley won't hit him for being suicidal. I'll leave that for someone else. :D

JDPhoenix: You guessed right--Andros has some problems with the morpher. Of course Ashley rescued him! No one else would be quite as fun. Hehe.

the-power-of-love: He's the red ranger now...

C.C.C: Ash saving him is the best part of writing Andros with stupid suicidal tendencies. :P

Mz. Daydream: It was supposed to be around chapter 20 or something, but I got way sidetracked. Hehe.

Chapter 35

Nothing happened. Andros stood frozen on the spot, staring down expectantly at his wrist. Nothing happened. He swallowed against the lump rapidly forming in his throat as it dawned on him that it had all been for nothing. It wasn't working, and he'd gotten both himself and Ashley killed for nothing.

"Andros!" Ashley screamed out a warning that he heard just in time.

He threw himself out of the way when Cosmos lunged for him, ducking when Lyra came at him from his other side. It didn't work. Cosmos swung at him and he caught his fist, twisting around and throwing Cosmos forward over his shoulder. Why won't it work?

"Try it again," Ashley encouraged him, blocking Lyra when she went to attack him from behind. "Hurry!"

Andros was already doubting that he would ever feel the Power respond to him again but he nodded nonetheless, not knowing what else he could do. "Let's rocket!" he shouted another time, closing his eyes and waiting.

For an instant, he thought he felt it spark within him and caught his breath, not daring to move just in case it really was there. He knew that Ashley was covering for him and sighed, knowing that he should just give up for now and help her out already when he felt it again, stronger this time and he was certain that it was there.

"Come on," he muttered, wincing when he heard Ashley cry out in pain. "Hurry..."

Fire shot through his veins and he heard himself cry out, stumbling back into the wall. It had never done that before, but before he had the chance to wonder what Cosmos had done to the Power, his vision flared bright red. Dazed, he blinked and tried to clear his head, wondering why the room seemed darker now.

"Andros!" Ashley yelped when Cosmos tossed her back into the wall. "I could use some help here..."

"Help?" he repeated slowly. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth, the words fuzzy as they emerged. Why was he so sluggish?

"Andros!"

"Oh! Right!" He snapped back into motion when she shouted again, jumping between Cosmos and Ashley as his arms came up to block automatically. He was completely on instinct now, his mind somewhere else and refusing to operate properly.

"Spiral Saber," he muttered absently, flattening himself to the ground as Lyra's hurricane kick whizzed by overhead. The words left his mouth unconsciously and he silently kicked himself for calling on the weapon when his morph wouldn't even appear...

He leapt back up to block her next kick and it was then that it dawned on him that his fingers were gripping something. He glanced over at his hand curiously, blinking in confusion when he saw a white-gloved fist wrapped around what was unmistakably the handle of his Spiral Saber. Andros looked down at himself and felt his eyes widen in disbelief when he saw the five colored blocks across his chest. His feet were in white boots as well, and he distinctly remembered slipping into his black uniform boots.

It worked... It worked! And he was just standing there staring at himself, he realized, while Ashley was struggling to hold her own against both Cosmos and Lyra, as well as the occasional Quantron wandering in from the hall. Shaking off the last of his sluggishness, Andros raised his saber and fell into a fighting stance at her side, covering her as the Star Slinger left her back wide open to attack.

"We've got to get out of here!" Ashley shouted, kneeing Lyra hard in the stomach and throwing her back into Cosmos. "This place will fill up with Quantrons in a minute!"

She was right; he was surprised that the cell wasn't already swarming with them. There had been a good half dozen outside the door a moment before, but clearly she had destroyed them and if she had been quiet enough when sneaking in, there was still a chance that they could escape without fighting their way there.

"Let's go!" He grabbed her arm as they ran out of the door and pushed her through first, his free hand reaching for his Astroblaster. "Spiral Saber booster mode," he muttered, firing once into the cell. He didn't bother to look back and see whether he had hit either of them, instead hoping that he'd bought them just enough time to get away.

"Come on." Ashley tugged at his arm, pulling him along. "I think we can get out the way I came in if we hurry."

He nodded and followed her at a run, tensed to fight. Ashley veered off to the side, pulling him away from the main hall. Andros stared at her in surprise when she dropped out of sight down an access ladder but followed without a second thought, his mind barely registering that the hall behind them had been clear. They might make it out alive after all...

Ashley had paused to wait for him, her Star Slinger gone but her Astroblaster ready to fire. "This way," she hissed, motioning with her arm. "We don't have much time before they find us. Hurry."

Andros nodded and took off after her, everything around them strangely quiet. He expected at any moment to be ambushed by Quantrons, or worse, Ecliptor and Darkonda, but the lower levels of the ship were almost completely deserted and Ashley appeared to know exactly where she was going. What little backtracking they had to do was due to nearly stumbling across small groups of Quantrons marching through the halls, clearly searching but not alert enough to catch them without stumbling across them accidentally.

Ashley ducked into a dark alcove off from the path they were on, dragging him down into the shadows with her. "Almost there," she murmured, jerking her head over to the right. "The door are open for the Velocifighters; we'll get out through there." She paused, a frown in her voice when she asked, "Will your glider come when you call it?"

"I think so," he whispered back, frowning himself. The Power was answering grudgingly at best, but it was definitely responding. "It summoned my saber at least..."

"Well, you've got nothing to lose by trying," Ashley reasoned. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." His heart was pounding wildly--if they made it just past the Velocifighters, they would be free and he would be a ranger again. "I'm ready."

"Okay." He heard Ashley take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Let's go."

Andros nodded once and let her lead the way, still not exactly sure where he was himself. Ashley took off at as fast a run he had ever seen from her and the moment he emerged in the cavernous bay used for docking the Velocifighters, he understood why. Dozens of Quantrons crowded the room, and though they had been strolling around almost casually, the moment they caught sight of the two rangers tearing through the docking bay, they fell into attack stances.

He didn't stop running to fight them, simply blasting them out of the way with his powered-up Spiral Saber. Ashley was running sideways, covering their backs. They were so close...

"Just a little farther," Ashley said aloud, and he smiled without meaning to at the encouragement. "Ready?"

He nodded, turning to help her force back the Quantrons still on their heels. "Galaxy glider--hang ten!" they shouted together. Neither glider appeared for a moment and Andros shot at the Quantrons without stopping, hearing the thud of his heart in his ears. He hadn't gotten this far just to be captured now.

He caught a twin flashes of red and yellow out of the corner of his eye, sneaking a glance over his shoulder without turning his head. Sure enough, the two gliders were side-by-side and hurtling towards them. Ashley didn't wait a moment longer and threw herself into a forward flip, landing neatly on her glider an instant later. Andros followed suit, launching himself into the air and feeling his feet touch down on his glider a half second later.

"Let's get out of here!" Ashley called over his shoulder, already accelerating. He nodded, whole-heartedly in agreement, and took off after her, the last sound he heard before space swallowed up all noise being Velocifighters firing up.

"They're coming after us," he warned, speaking into the comm link between them. "We've got to hurry."

"The Megaship's not too far away," Ashley informed him. He watched her body tilt forward to gain speed and frowned, clearly recalling the order he had given Deca to take the Megaship out of enemy space.

"It shouldn't be this close," he mused, sparing a glance over his shoulder and regretting it the moment he saw the Velocifighters rapidly gaining on them. "I told Deca to--"

"I heard what you told her," Ashley cut in, and he wondered if he was imagining the annoyance in her tone. "I told her to bring us closer before I left. There's no way we'd make it back otherwise. We're in hyperspace and they're still gaining on us!"

Another glance over his shoulder confirmed that she was right. The Velocifighters had closed in on them too quickly and were preparing to fire. He shouted a warning to Ashley, breathing a sigh of relief when she expertly maneuvered around the red streak of laser fire. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite so lucky, realizing too late that his glider wasn't responding to his commands as quickly as it used to.

"Andros!"

Ashley's voice screaming his name was the only thing he was aware of as his glider flipped. For what seemed like a very long time, he was suspended in space, just floating in nothingness. Then he saw his glider below him but rapidly slipping away and lunged forward with all the energy he had left in him, his fingers grasping the very edge of the surface and just barely hanging on.

"Andros!" Ashley shouted again, wheeling around and heading back for him. "Hold on!"

He didn't answer, his eyes fixed on the three Velocifighters coming up fast and the several more just behind those, knowing that there was no way he'd survive if they managed to hit him. Then he was being yanked down and laser fire was streaking by over his head--just where he had been a moment ago.

"You okay?"

He nodded briefly before letting Ashley step around in front of him. Her glider sped up once again, somehow managing to successfully dodge the laser fire from the Velocifighters. Andros almost relaxed, now fully confident that Ashley could get them both back to the Megaship safely. She'd managed to get them both off of the Dark Fortress, after all, and he knew that had been no easy task.

"Thank you," he said quietly, breaking the heavy silence between them.

"You're welcome," Ashley replied after a moment, and he couldn't mistake the satisfaction in her tone. "But we're not safe yet."

"No," he agreed, glancing over his shoulder instinctively. As he'd expected, he saw Velocifighters. "Ash..."

"How many?"

"Just one that I can see," he said nervously, not at all liking how quickly it was approaching. "Can we go any faster?"

"I can try," Ashley said doubtfully. "But with both of us, I'm not sure... Hold on."

Andros took her at her word, leaning forward and slipping both of his arms around her waist. He'd half expected her to protest, but strangely, he thought he felt her relax. Surprised, but not about to complain, he hugged her closer, feeling the warmth of her body against his. The sensation was almost frighteningly comforting; they were alone in deep space and being chased by Velocifighters, but somehow that was less alarming because she was here with him.

He felt Ashley sigh and glanced past her, catching his breath when he saw the Megaship looming in front of them. They'd actually done it! Blinking in disbelief, Andros just stared, hearing Ashley's shouted command to Deca only distantly. The chilly depths of space vanished without warning, replaced by the holding bay of the Megaship.

Andros saw the flash of yellow signaling that Ashley had demorphed, but he couldn't do anything but stare down at himself, not daring to demorph himself for fear that the next time he tried to morph he would find that the Power was gone again, and for good this time.

"Andros?" Ashley's hand appeared on his arm and he started, jumping visibly and almost tripping across one of the stools. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he whispered shakily. He was still staring down at himself with a sense of wonder that was quickly being replaced by elation. "I--I--I'm not dreaming this time."

"No," Ashley agreed, and he was suddenly grateful that she couldn't see his face as he realized that he'd spoken aloud. "This is real."

"Power down," he muttered, watching his suit brighten and then vanish, but knowing that it would be there the next time he called for it. This was real. Without thinking, he stepped forward and gathered Ashley into his arms, holding her tight as an uncontainable grin spread across his face. This was real.

"Thank you," he whispered in her ear.

"Glad to help." Ashley laughed softly in his ear, and the sound took the edge off of the exasperation he'd heard in her voice. "But don't ever do that again!"

"Andros?"

His euphoria dimmed a bit as he heard Zhane's voice from behind him. Reluctantly releasing Ashley, he stepped back to see the rest of the rangers gathered in the doorway, Zhane and Karone in the lead, and none of them looking at all pleased.