Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers.

Chapter 5

There was no way around it; he had to leave his room. Andros sighed and sat up, telekinetically gathering up the clothes he'd worn the day before and dumping them into the bathroom hamper. He pulled on his boots and jacket, brushed his hair and then pulled it back.

"Change your sheets," Deca reminded him as he turned to go.

Andros glared up at her red eye. "Didn't you used to say good morning?"

"Good morning, Andros." Deca paused. "Change your sheets."

Sighing, Andros turned back around and stripped the sheets off of his bed. "Thank you," Deca said, her voice unusually satisfied.

Andros didn't answer. He put fresh sheets on the bed and shoved his pillow into a clean pillowcase. Still sullen, he tossed the blanket onto the bed and left it there.

"Make your bed."

"Deca..." Andros started, and then sighed. He knew he wouldn't win. "Okay. What did I do this time?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Make your bed."

As quickly as he could, Andros spread the blanket out across his bed and smoothed it down. "Can I go now?" he asked sarcastically. "Or is there anything else I need to do?"

Deca didn't answer, and Andros finally left his room. Much of his irritation abated during the walk to the holding bay, but his temper flared up again when he saw the other Rangers huddled around the table conversing in low tones. Andros glanced up at Deca suspiciously.

"Oh, hey, Andros," Cassie greeted him, and everyone whirled around.

"Morning," Ashley and Carlos said simultaneously.

"How are you?" TJ wanted to know.

Andros sighed. "Good morning, everyone," he muttered. "I'm fine."

To his relief, no one questioned that and Deca gave him the food he ordered the first time he ordered it. The table was less crowded now, with Zhane nowhere in sight, so Andros was able to sit an almost comfortable distance away from everyone else.

"Be on the Simudeck tonight for a training session," Andros ordered his plate. "We'll have a scheduled time for training. I understand that you're busy."

"Um... okay," Cassie said, and he thought the others nodded their agreement.

"Good." Andros didn't look up. "Be there at seven."

"Okay." TJ sounded as though he were going to say more but thought better of it. "We'll be there."

They weren't. At seven, Andros found himself alone on the Simudeck glaring at the doors. He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"Deca, where's Zhane?" he demanded. "Actually, where are all of them?"

"Zhane is with the other Rangers," Deca informed him. "They are all currently at the high school."

"Oh." Andros didn't know what else to say. Why the hell is Zhane at a school?

"If I remember correctly," Deca began, "and I do, you never seemed bothered by the fact that Zhane was never less than ten minutes late for training."

"Yeah, well," Andros muttered, "that was different. That was one person. This is five."

"They are only three minutes late," she pointed out. "Is that really so much?"

"Yes," he insisted stubbornly. "It is."

"I will contact them if you wish," Deca offered, but Andros shook his head.

"No, don't do that." That was the last thing he wanted. Andros bit his lip nervously, hating how indecisive he was. What he really wanted to do was hunt them down and drag them to the Simudeck, but given how well that had backfired on him... He sighed. How was he supposed to lead this team if they wouldn't even show up for training?

"You're late," he scowled at his second, unsurprised when Reya glared straight back at him.

"I had something to take care of," she informed him coldly. "It couldn't wait."

"This is the first training session you've shown up to in a week," Andros stated.

"I know." Reya smirked, and Andros stared at her suspiciously. While relations between him and the Blue Ranger had been growing increasingly chilly, Reya had always put some effort into hiding her disdain. It worried him that she had ceased to do so now.

The two glared daggers at each other, neither willing to break first and speak. Had no one intervened, the silence could have stretched on into nightfall. As it turned out, Aerynn looked up from her warm-up stretches then and deeming the situation worthy of her attention, hurried over to step between them.

"What's going on?"

Reya's eyes slid away from Andros for a few moments. "I have news."

Andros bit his tongue to keep himself from demanding an explanation and let Aerynn question Reya for him. "Really?" she squealed. "Did you..."

The Blue Ranger nodded her head. "Yep."

It looked like he was going to have to ask for himself, after all. Andros slowly unclenched his jaw. "What's going on?"

Reya's face softened some. "Look, Andros, you're a good kid. But that's all you are--a kid. With some more training and experience, who knows, but the way things are now... we need a change."

His stomach flipped at those words. "W--what kind of change?"

"We want you to consider letting Reya take over as leader of the team," Leyton said from somewhere behind him. "You'd still be Red, but she would be our functioning leader."

Andros reacted before he fully understood the meaning of the words. "No."

"We thought you'd say that," Aerynn informed him. "So we planned for it."

He just stared at her for a minute. "What?" he finally was able to force out.

"There's a building in the Kanith district," Reya said quietly. "It's been equipped for you and Zhane to continue your training there. Temporary replacement Rangers will be chosen until you're old enough for the responsibility."

"But..." Andros let his voice trail off, then his face hardened. "No. If you want to leave, then leave. I'm not going to, and neither is Zhane."

"Everything a Ranger relies on is here on the Megaship." Leyton shook his head regretfully. "We'll need your morphers."

Andros closed a hand over his wrist reflexively. They expected him to just give this up? Being a Ranger had given him something to believe in, had made him feel that he was worth more than what Darkonda had sold him for years ago.

Reya held out her hand and Andros stepped back, shaking his head defiantly. "No."

"I'll fight you for it," Reya offered. "Ten Craterites for each of us, whoever has the fastest time wins."

He considered that, a long, painful silence stretching over them. "If I win, Zhane and I keep the Megaship and the Ranger Dome," he proposed finally, the guilt weighing heavily on him. What right did he have to drag Zhane into this when he wasn't even there?

"If I win, you and Zhane hand over your morphers, and move to the facility in Kanith." Reya paused. "Deal?"

Andros gulped. "Deal."

"The Rangers have gone into active battle on Earth," Deca's voice broke into his thoughts. "Astronema has sent Quantrons."

Andros took a deep breath to fortify himself, releasing it slowly as he scrambled to his feet. "Let's rocket!" he shouted, regaining complete control over his composure as the Power sharpened his focus. "Deca, get me down there."

He found himself in the midst of the battle before the words had left his mouth. Acting on instinct alone, he threw one Quantron forward over his shoulder, kicking another hard in the chest and then calling on his Spiral Saber. Quick slashes took down three more, and Andros glanced around for his teammates without pausing.

Ashley and Carlos fought back to back, as did TJ and Cassie. Zhane darted between both pairs and Andros tried to do the same, quickly bringing down several more of the robots.

He didn't heed Ashley's warning quickly enough and nearly had his legs kicked out from under him. Almost stumbling into Carlos, Andros pulled himself back up and whirled around to return the blow--only to find Astronema standing there in place of the Quantron.

"You," he gasped, quickly taking several steps backwards.

"Red Ranger," Astronema replied curtly. "I've heard some interesting rumors about you lately."

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear," Andros said coldly, raising up his Spiral Saber. "Let's go."

Astronema didn't hesitate, and the two were soon fighting fiercely. Andros ducked and retaliated, she parried. The speed of their battle increased as they moved away from the other Rangers, quicker and deadlier.

"Just give it up, Red Ranger," Astronema hissed. "If you've lost to Darkonda, you don't stand a chance against me."

"Never," he growled. He cringed inwardly at the mention of Darkonda and then pushed the thought away in annoyance. He couldn't afford to become distracted with that right now.

Astronema swung her staff forward and Andros couldn't dodge quickly enough. The explosion of purple lightning all around him dazed him, and as he kneeled over there was another blast. This one missed him, and he managed to roll out of the way of the next attack.

"Astronema..." Andros groaned as he scrambled back to his feet. "You'll pay for that."

Astromena smirked at him, and he flew at her another time. She lunged at the same moment that he did, each of their blades missing by a hair. Andros was sure that he felt the tip of her staff graze the white neck of his collar, and he would have sworn that his Spiral Saber had caught her too.

Maybe he had; Astronema gasped and clutched her neck, and he just stared at her, frozen. She growled furiously as she glanced down at herself, shoving him out of the way and abandoning their fight completely as she searched for whatever it was that she had lost.

Andros spotted it first and scrambled to retrieve whatever it was before she did. He recognized it instantly as a locket and stared in surprise, wondering how he had never noticed before that Astronema wore one. It wasn't so different than his own, really... Curiousity got the better of him, and he flipped it open just as Astronema shouted at him.

He didn't hear her words. His body had seized up the moment he laid eyes on the two portraits inside, his blood running cold. But...

"W-w-where did you get this?" he stammered, only watching as she tore the locket from his slack fingers. Could she... Karone?

"I've always had it," Astronema snapped, and then she was gone, just vanished into thin air.

"Wait," he shouted after her, too late for her to hear. "Karone..."

"Andros! Hey, Andros!" Zhane popped up at his side, slinging an arm around his shoulders. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," he mumbled, shrugging away from his friend. He needed to get back to the Megaship. Now. "I'll see you later--"

"Not this time, you won't," Zhane said cheerfully as the other Rangers gathered round. "This just about takes care of our workout for tonight--so, we're going out. All of us. As a team.

"You," he added pointedly. "Half an hour away from the Megaship won't kill you."

"But..." Andros quashed the protest before it was all the way out.

If he refused and Zhane demanded an explanation, then he would have no choice but to tell about Karone and he couldn't do that. It lead to far too many other questions that he couldn't answer. On KO-35, there had been an unmistakable stigma that went along with that mark on his shoulder. Andros couldn't be sure that Earth was any different and until he was, he was taking no chances. Being overwhelmed with the friendliness of the other Rangers he could handle--sometimes--but being ostracized would be just too much.

"Much better," Zhane said, satisfied when Andros quieted. "C'mon, let's get going."


Zhane was trying too hard, yet Andros didn't seem to have a clue. If he hadn't been shoving the guy at her, Ashley would have been amused by the entire situation. No matter how the Silver Ranger prodded his best friend, Andros wouldn't so much as glance up from his plate.

"Oh, come on," he needled, jabbing Andros lightly with an elbow. "Tell them about that one battle with Ecliptor. Y'know, the one in the middle of the night during the thunderstorm--Ashley, you'd like to hear that story, wouldn't you?"

"You tell it best," Andros muttered before she could answer. "You tell it."

He poked at the coleslaw left on his plate with his fork. They'd insisted he try it, telling him that it went great with hot dogs. Ashley had watched him shift the food around on his plate, though he had yet to take a bite out of anything.

"It's not really worth telling," Zhane admitted, and sighed. "Hey, tell Ashley--"

"Not now, Zhane." Andros's voice was soft, but sharp enough that even Zhane looked at him oddly.

"Hey," Carlos ventured from over to her left. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine."

He certainly didn't look fine, Ashley thought to herself. His hair fell loose across his face, but beneath it she could see that his expression was tired and drawn. His eyes were downcast, filled with horrible pain and sorrow. He was completely miserable, she realized, suddenly wanting nothing more than to just wrap him up in her arms until that look was gone from his face.

"You sure?" she asked quietly. He glared at her, and she couldn't say that she was surprised.

"I'm going back to the Megaship," Andros announced.

No one said a word as the Red Ranger shoved back his seat and all but fled the Surf Spot. The silence held out a moment longer, broken by Zhane's heavy sigh.

"I should have seen it," he muttered, more to himself than the rest of them. "But I thought he was just being..."

"Hey, that wasn't your fault," Cassie said softly. "He needs time. We understand."

"But he doesn't." Zhane tore his eyes away from the door. "He hasn't been this bad since he was first--since I first met him."

Zhane winced slightly, and Ashley eyed him curiously. She saw the others doing the same but none of them asked. He was protecting his friend, and none of them were going to question that. It was no less than they would and did do for each other.

But her eyes strayed towards the doors that Andros had disappeared out of and she let out a small sigh at the remembered pain in his eyes. There was something about him that drew her in, made her want to know him, to really know him. This wasn't about a crush any longer, it didn't matter how gorgeous he was, she just wanted to know who he was and Ashley Hammond didn't take no for an answer.