Disclaimer: The Power Rangers are not mine.

Chapter 3

"There." Zhane stepped back, and Andros heard him crumple bandage wrappers in his hand. "You should be fine in a couple of days."

"How bad is it?" Andros asked dully. "I haven't looked."

"It's not so bad," Zhane assured him, forced lightness in his tone. "No infection, and some of the scarring will be light."

Andros sighed, a slight twinge of pain shooting down his spine as his shoulders slumped. "That's good," he muttered, starting badly when Zhane tapped his left shoulder lightly.

"You know I'd do something about that if I could," he said quietly, passing Andros his shirt back.

"I know." Andros shrugged back into his shirt and hugged his arms against his chest. "But it's permanent."

"Maybe," Zhane agreed, "but you don't have anything to worry about here. That mark doesn't really look like anything unless you know what it's supposed to be."

"Does it matter?" Andros glanced away, carefully studying the deck beneath his feet. "I know it's there, and I know what it means."

"You're not--"

"I know," Andros cut him off. "I can't be both a slave and the Red Ranger, remember?"

Zhane shot him a sharp look, then smiled faintly. "I remember," he said, and reached into his pocket. "Oh," he added casually, "Deca said you left these behind. I thought you might want them back."

Andros's eyes lit up when he saw what it was that Zhane held in his hands. His fingers clenched over the locket as he lowered the chain over his head, hiding it safely beneath his shirt.

"I looked for her," Zhane told him quietly. "Nothing. I'm sorry."

"Thank you," he whispered, carefully fastening his morpher back onto his wrist. "It's enough that you tried."

"It's not," Zhane objected, "but you know you'll find her."

"Yeah." Andros smiled unconvincingly. "I know."

"You will," Zhane insisted. He took a step forward and hugged his friend hard, careful of Andros's injuries as he squeezed his shoulders. "You will," he repeated firmly.

"I know," Andros said again, his voice slightly less toneless now.

Zhane decided that was good enough for now. "Now, you should go rest, unless you want to talk with the other Rangers."

"I..." Andros suddenly looked uneasy. "I..." He didn't finish, and Zhane shrugged.

"You'll have to talk to them sooner or later," he pointed out. "Go rest; I'll fill you in later."

"Thank you," Andros murmured, and for the first time in months, fell asleep in his own bed.


"What I want to know," TJ declared, "is how he fits into all this."

"I'd think it would be obvious," Phantom commented. "The Red Ranger is, traditionally, the team leader."

Cassie just shook her head, troubled. "But Teej has always been our leader."

"And Andros has always been our leader," Zhane interjected when Ashley and Carlos murmured their agreement. Unlike the rest of them, the Silver Ranger remained standing, braced against one of support structures of the Bridge. His arms crossed over his chest as he surveyed the others.

"Our?" Cassie inquired. "As in, more than just you and him?"

Damn. Zhane grimaced slightly, but explained, "There were three others. Blue, Pink, and Black."

"No Yellow?" Ashley wanted to know, and he shook his head.

"The girl chosen to be Yellow Ranger left KO-35 with her family before Dark Spectre ever attacked. There was never anyone else to take her place."

"More importantly," Carlos spoke up, "where are those other three?"

"They're dead," Zhane replied quietly. "Last stand of KO-35." And that was all he was saying.

"Oh." Heavy silence filled the room before Carlos said, "I'm sorry."

Zhane smiled thinly. "Can we get back to the matter at hand, please?"

"Are you all opposed to Andros, then?" Phantom continued as though the last few exchanges hadn't occured.

"Well..." Cassie squirmed uncomfortably. "We can always use more Rangers," she said finally. "And we'd never refuse to be his friend. But, well, I mean--"

"He didn't want us around," Carlos continued for her, and she nodded. "He told us we weren't good enough for him, and then he abandoned us on that planet."

"We aren't Rangers because he gave us these morphers," TJ concluded. "Alpha and Deca were the ones that came back for us, and if they'd been half a second later, Astronema would have killed us--all thanks to him."

"Hey," Zhane protested, indignant on his friend's behalf. "You can't say that."

"Okay, I'm sorry." TJ held up his hands in a silent apology. "But you've got to understand that to us, that's what it looks like."

"Fair enough," Zhane conceded reluctantly, silently cursing his friend. "Andros can be a stubborn ass. But he's also a good leader, and you'll see that if you just give him a chance."

TJ didn't look happy. "That's all we're giving him."

"One chance," Cassie agreed.

"And you two?" Zhane looked to Carlos and Ashley. Neither spoke, but they both nodded. "Good," he declared, relieved. "Oh, and if none of you mentioned to Andros that this conversation ever happened, that'd be really great."

"Are you sure that's such a--" Ashley began, but Zhane cut her off.

"I'm sure. He doesn't need to know this. He's got enough to worry about as it is."

"Okay." TJ decided for all of them. "We won't tell him."


"Andros? You awake?"

He sighed and sat up. "Deca, let him in."

"I brought you some lunch," Zhane announced, almost dropping a tray into his lap.

Andros inspected the plate and cup, recognizing nothing. "What isthis?"

"Earth food," Zhane informed him, pointing out each item in turn. "Hamburger. French fries. Soda. Trust me, it's almost better than Karovan food."

Andros rolled his eyes, but took a tentative bite out of a fry. "Thanks," he said softly.

Zhane helped himself to a few fries in answer. "You'll have to come to the Surf Spot with us sometime. Adelle's a much better cook than Deca. No offense," he added, glancing warily at the camera mounted across the room.

Andros couldn't help but smile slightly. "Surf Spot?" he repeated.

"It's a restaurant," Zhane clarified. "We go there all the time for lunch."

"Oh." Andros nodded, trying not to let on how much Zhane's use of "we" bothered him. Five years ago, he had been a newcomer to an already established team. Apparently, not much had changed.

It shouldn't be like this, he thought angrily. The morphers, the Megaship--everything they relied on was his.

"Are you gonna eat that?" Zhane wanted to know. "Because I'm still hungry."

Andros wasn't. "Here." He nearly upset the soda as he shoved the tray towards Zhane. Once free of it, he leaned back against his pillow and stretched, wincing slightly.

Zhane didn't miss his expression. "Give yourself another day or two," he warned. "I did what I could, but some of those cuts were pretty nasty. You should have had them looked at as soon as you landed on Meisia."

"I know," Andros said quietly. "Thanks," he murmured again, and sighed. "How much did you tell them?"

"Well, I had to do some explaining." Zhane set the tray down on the floor and looked at him seriously. "But as far as they're concerned, you had the misfortune of running into Darkonda, who then took you prisoner. You escaped four months later, and Phantom Ranger picked you up in his ship. End of story."

Andros let out a deep breath. "So they don't know about Viton."

"Never heard of it," Zhane promised. "And they won't until you tell them yourself--but it won't bother them, I can promise you that."

"It bothered you," Andros reminded him, and changed the subject. "Tell me about them."

"They're great, all of them." Zhane shrugged. "There's not much else I can say; you'll have to talk to them yourself."

"I--I..." Andros stuttered, suddenly fascinated with a stray thread on his blanket. "I didn't make such a good impression on them."

"I've heard." Zhane laughed and shook his head. "They didn't believe me when I said you were being friendly."

Andros didn't find it nearly as amusing. "I'm serious," he insisted. "If I'm supposed to lead this team, I need them to like me."

"Don't take this the wrong way," Zhane began. "But you could try being likable."

"Zhane..."

"Hey, I'm being serious!"

"I know." Andros glanced away. "I'm not like you."

"And I'm not saying that you have to be. Just--don't take everything so personally."

Andros shot him a sour look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"See?" Zhane laughed. "You're doing it already."

Andros threw the pillow at him.


"Are you really okay with this?" Ashley wanted to know, arms folded across her chest as she watched TJ. Zhane and Phantom were gone now, leaving only the four ex-Turbo Rangers on the Bridge.

"I don't seem to have much choice, do I?"

"There's more of us than there are of them," Carlos argued.

"Yeah, but we still need them." TJ shook his head. "We can't just walk off with the morphers and start our own team somewhere else."

"Deca?" Cassie glanced up at the nearest camera. "What do you think?"

"TJ is correct." Deca answered immediately. If Ashley didn't know any better, she'd have thought that the AI was just waiting for the chance to speak. "Were the team to split up, the results would be disastrous."

"You know that for a fact?" Carlos wanted to know.

The red light blinked once. "I have seen it happen and there are many more cases in recorded history."

"Really?" Cassie asked. "When?"

"That information is classified."

"Why is everything on this ship classified?" Cassie complained.

"That information is classified."

"Okay, okay, we get it."

"This is going nowhere," Ashley groaned. "Have we even decided anything?"

"We're giving Andros the chance to prove that he's the leader Zhane says he is," TJ said firmly. "I like it less than any of you, but keeping Earth safe has to take top priority."

"We know you're right." Carlos sighed. "So now what?"

"We should talk to him," Ashley suggested.

"At the very least, welcome him home," Cassie added.

"No," Carlos argued. "Let's give him some space. He's been through a lot."

"Yeah..." Ashley looked torn. "But... maybe we just say hi and then leave him alone? It couldn't hurt, right?"

"I guess not," Carlos relented. "But don't push him, Ash."

Ashley wrinkled her nose at him. "I do know that he needs time, Carlos. I'm not going to push him."

"Okay," TJ headed off an argument. "Let's go say hi."


Andros groaned when he heard the knock. Zhane had left maybe ten minutes ago and Andros had been thankful. As relieved as he was to find his friend alive... he didn't feel much like being around him. "Tell him to get lost."

"It is the other Rangers." Deca paused briefly. "But I will still tell Zhane if you wish."

"No." Andros sighed. "Could you tell them I'm asleep?"

"Yes, Andros." Deca didn't say anymore but there wasn't another knock.

Andros sighed and rolled over, burying his face into his pillow. He knew that he would have to face the other Rangers sooner or later, but he just couldn't bring himself to do so. He didn't want to know what they thought of him.

"You could try being likeable." Andros heard Zhane's voice again and sighed again. He couldn't afford to let this team fall apart the way the Karovan team had. He had been so stupid then. Zhane had tried to reason with him, but Andros hadn't listened and it had cost Reya, Aerynn, and Leyton their lives.

He vowed silently that he would not make that mistake again. Remembering that he was supposed to be asleep, he waited a good half hour before crawling out of bed. Andros pulled his hair back into a neat ponytail and shrugged into his jacket, hoping that he at least looked like a Red Ranger.

"Deca, where are they?"

"The other Rangers are in the holding bay," Deca replied.

"All of them?"

"All of them."

"Thanks, Deca." Andros swallowed hard and left the safety of his room.

Sure enough, Andros found them in the holding bay. Phantom Ranger was there too, somewhat to his surprise. Andros found himself wishing that there were far fewer people in the room when all eyes turned on him and silence fell. Reminding himself sternly that these were his teammates, Andros walked bravely into the room.

"Hey," one of the girls ventured, Andros wasn't sure which. He didn't know their voices and it was hard to tell when he was staring at the floor. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," he muttered, moving quickly to the Synthetron. He wasn't hungry, which was a strange enough feeling in itself, but it gave him something to do to distract him from their staring.

The table had seemed far too large with only him to fill it. Now it was too cramped, seven people sitting at a table meant for five or six. Andros was able to snag a spot between Zhane and Phantom, the two people who seemed the least interested in him.

He stared hard at his food and ate in slow, measured bites. Everyone was still staring at him. Andros swallowed. It was still quiet. His fingers clenched over his fork as he tried to chew without making too much noise.

He swallowed another mouthful and finally looked up. Everyone promptly looked away but the moment he lowered his gaze, Andros felt their eyes on him again.

Be likeable. Say something. "I..." The eyes were back on him again, and Andros felt his face flush. "I, um..." What the hell was he supposed to say now?

"If you guys thought I was tough," Zhane came to his rescue, "you haven't seen anything yet. It's almost impossible to take Andros down."

"Yeah?" the Black Ranger--Carlos--challeneged. "Well, we'll see about that won't we, Teej?"

"You bet we will," the Blue Ranger agreed. They both smiled at him, unmistakably friendly smiles.

Andros tried to smile back. "When do you train?" It was a stupid question, but it was better than trying to stammer through a reply.

"Whenever we have time," Cassie answered. "Between school and our real lives, we're lucky if we can get in a half hour every other day."

"School?" Andros repeated after a brief pause. He decided accusing them of not taking their duty seriously enough wouldn't work well in his favor. And a lot of good all those hours on the Simudeck did you. He'd still ended up a slave. Again, his mind added viciously. He bit down on his tongue.

"Oh, right, you graduate at fifteen," Ashley said, explaining, "Zhane didn't get it, either. Here, we go to school until seventeen or eighteen."

"Oh..." Andros couldn't think of anything else to say. Ashley smiled at him warmly and he glanced down at his plate quickly.

Something about her made him uncomfortable. He couldn't place it, but instinctively he felt that he should avoid her until he figured out what it was.

"You'll have to come down to Earth with us sometime," Ashley said, and Andros forced himself to listen. "Zhane says it's not so different than KO-35."

That wasn't much of an incentive but Andros kept his mouth shut. She was only trying to be friendly, after all. He shouldn't tell her that he didn't want her friendship, even if it was true. That hadn't worked out at all well the last time he'd said that.

"We're going out tomorrow night," Ashley continued. "You should come with us."

"Yeah, we'll show you around Angel Grove," Carlos nodded.

"It'll be fun," Cassie agreed. "Do you want to come?"

Andros just shook his head. He didn't know how else to reply.

"Oh..." Ashley shrugged, but he thought she slumped a little before smiling brightly again. "Maybe next time, then."

"I have to go," Andros mumbled. He stood and returned his half-empty plate to the Synthetron and then walking calmly out of the holding bay.

He kept on walking calmly until he'd reached his room. Once safely inside, he locked the door and kicked off his boots. Andros crawled into his bunk and drew the sheet up over his head, eyes closed as he tried to calm the pounding of his heart.

He couldn't, and just lay there until sleep claimed him.