A/N: Sorry, everyone! RL grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go. Hopefully, I can post more updates for this story a little faster. Thanks to everyone who has stuck around! Oh, yeah - the usual disclaimers apply.
ON EARTH - TWO DAYS LATER
KIRA
I have no idea how it happened, but I'm fighting all alone. I called for help, but the other guys are fighting their battles in other parts of town. I'm doing my best, but I'm getting tired. God, I wish that Dr. O could help us. Suddenly, my communicator goes off.
I kick back a Tyrannodrone and answer, "Go ahead."
Hayley answers. "Retreat back to the lair. I'm sending your Raptor cycle to you."
I dodge a kick and a punch before I reply. "Understood. Kira out."
Fortunately, I'm already morphed so when I hear the whine of the Raptor Cycle, I jump up into the air and land on it without missing a beat. I fire the bike's lasers to clear my path and take off. Five minutes later, I'm in the lair with the others. I'm kind of surprised to see Hayley here. Usually she's at the hospital with Dr. O. Fortunately, she answers my unspoken question.
"He's mad at me again. He's going to rehab tomorrow. I guess he didn't think it'd be so soon." I nod. Maybe I'll go and see him later. I return my attention to Hayley as she speaks again. "Mesagog seems to be trying to keep you guys split up so you can't help each other. We can't let them do that again."
Conner speaks up. "What difference does it make? We were all together and they took Dr. O. out." I wince. So not the way to go right now Connor.
Hayley moves with surprising speed. She stops a couple of inches away from him looking far more dangerous then Dr. O ever did. "That's why we can't let them separate you! Why make it easier for them? And stop talking like they killed him!" Right and Hayley is running on far too little sleep, food, and patience, having given all of the above up to stay with Dr. O as much as she could these past few days.
About to try and calm her, Trent speaks quietly, unfortunately beating me to it. "But to all intents and purposes, he is dead as a Ranger - at least for now." Great, she's going to kill my first boyfriend.
Not surprisingly, Hayley turns on him with even more ferociousness then she had Connor. "What, so you can't function without him? I realize that you've never had to, but they have! Once thanks to you!"
I step in at the look on Trent's face, knowing that this has to stop before we all start killing each other. I know she's stressed out, but so are we damn it. "Hayley, stop. That's enough. We're all worried about him, but that doesn't mean that you get to take it out on us. Now I'm sorry we're struggling, but in case you forgot - we're kids." Giving Connor a look as he opens his mouth to protest, I only continue when it's shut just as fast. "Dr. O was our leader and mentor. Without him here, we are faltering. It's going to happen - no matter what. You just have to give us time to readjust."
The look on her face tells me that she realized what she said as well as my own speech. She turns back to Trent sorrow clearly evident in her eyes. "I'm sorry. That was out of line."
Trent nods, traces of hurt still on his face. We all know that he was under the influence, so to speak, when he trapped Dr. O in the amber. Apparently not all of us got over that. I speak again, changing the subject. "So he starts rehab tomorrow? Can we go with to take him there?"
Hayley shakes her head. "I have to drop him off while you're at school. I researched this place to death, though. We should be able to visit him in a week or two."
Silence falls thick in the lair as we all stare at her. Ethan sounds as stunned as I feel as he says, "A week or two? You have got to be kidding me."
Hayley shakes her head again. "They said that, in their experience, a reluctant patient like Tommy will adjust faster if we don't see him for a while. He'll get into the routine of rehab and will be more driven to work harder."
I'm slightly disgusted by the mental image I get from her words. "Like a dog getting a treat for doing tricks."
She frowns. "That's what I said, but they said it's more like rewarding a child for doing their homework. Many of their brain damaged patients are not much above the level of children."
Conner says, "I don't like it, but if those are the rules, I guess we'll have to follow them."
Something in his voice seems off and I look at him. There's a gleam in his eye that makes me a little nervous. Hayley responds to him with, "And don't you dare break the rules, Conner. Do you really want to be at fault if his recovery is slowed or stopped because you do?"
I watch the light leave his eyes as her words sink in. I realize that it's the kind of thing that he would do, go and see Dr. O against the rules. He's far too impulsive sometimes, but - and I have to admit it - the temptation is a big one.
Hayley draws in a breath. "Now, something even less pleasant to discuss." Because talking about our mentor in rehab is so much fun. "I ran a few tests of my own. I have reason to believe that - for now at least - the Ranger powers have abandoned our Black Ranger."
I feel my mouth fall open, but I can't do anything about it. First, she's saying that Dr. O doesn't have his powers anymore - which means that he's not going to heal right. Second, she's not even calling him by his right name? I get the feeling that this is potentially more serious than she's leading us to believe.
Trent finds his voice first. "That's why you wanted my help with those tests. You were trying to see if he even had powers anymore." Sorry, what tests?
"The first time I saw him in the hospital, the gem on his bracelet seemed - dull, I guess. When I took it off of him, it flashed for a moment."
"You took his gem from him?" Good question, Conner. I bite my tongue for a minute so I don't bite her head off and Ethan turns to Conner.
"She would have had to. The last thing we need is for the hospital staff to put it with his other things. Or for some dishonest person to steal it. If the power has actually left him, then we don't need it to fall into someone else's hands. We need it here - just in case."
Hayley nods. "It may come to the point that we might need to find a temporary Black Ranger. I hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does, I have a few ideas."
"Oh yeah? Like who?" Wow, another good question, Conner. Who would have thought it?
"If it becomes necessary, I'll contact some of the other former Rangers and see if they can take the power. There are a few who would be only too glad to help. As it is, I had a hard enough time explaining to them that they didn't need to come here because it wouldn't do any good."
I finally speak up. "How do you know? Maybe that's what he needs - the support of old friends."
Hayley looks at me tiredly. "Which will be fine when we're able to see him. But we can't right now so there's no point in it. You guys should all go home. Just be careful."
We all nod and leave - a very subdued group. On the way home, lyrics start to write themselves and I'm suddenly anxious to get them on paper before I forget them.
