Disclaimer: Still don't own 'em. Stories not for profit.

Chapter 19

Andros heard himself scream and clenched his fists, waiting for the next blow with tears of pain smarting in his eyes. Through the haze that clouded his mind, he heard the alarm blare again, and he raised his head hopefully. Darkonda wouldn't ignore that three times.

He didn't. Andros heard an angry snarl from Darkonda, and then a hand was on his shoulder, dragging him out of the room. A few tears escaped his eyes as Andros stumbled along, struggling just to keep from collapsing. His back burned with each step he took on shaky legs. He swiped at his eyes furiously, blinking back the rest of his tears. He knew it was only going to get worse.

"Computer, what's happening?" Darkonda demanded impatiently.

"We are being attacked," came the calm reply, and Andros sighed quietly, hoping Darkonda wouldn't notice.

The AI sounded so much like Deca... He wondered if the Megaship had managed to get away. Not for the first time, his thoughts drifted to the four humans he had almost gone back for. They showed up sometimes to rescue him in his dreams, but that was all that they were. They would have no clue where to start looking for him, and even if they did, he knew that they would never find him. He would have to save himself this time.

"I know we're being attacked," Darkonda growled. "Do something about it."

"Returning fire," the AI replied. "Enemy spacecraft has taken evasive action."

Darkonda swore loudly, and Andros smiled. If he wasn't on the ship as well, he would have enjoyed this. Then he decided he preferred death over slavery and thought that it might not be such a tragedy after all if they were blown to bits.

"Target hit," the ship's computer announced, and for the first time, Andros caught a glimpse of the ship that they were attacking. It was of Eltaran design, and his heart sank when it took another nearly crippling blow. Some of the Karovans had evacuated to Eltare before it too had fallen...

"Target entering hyperspace," the AI announced and Darkonda laughed darkly. Ships stalled in the seconds before entering hyperspace, leaving them virtually unable to defend themselves.

"Excellent," Darkonda muttered, reaching for the controls to fire himself.

Andros swallowed hard as he stared at the ship on the viewing screen. They were so close... He had no choice--he was supposed to save lives. Knowing that this was likely to cost him his own, Andros lunged for Darkonda.

"Target has entered hyperspace."

Andros let out a sigh of relief that was short lived. The ship was safe, but Darkonda was likely to kill him for that. For someone who had decided a moment before that death was better than the life he had now, he was very, very scared to die.

He lurched up in bed with a scream, panting and sweaty as he fell back against the pillows. His heart still racing, Andros ran a hand through his damp hair and drew his knees up close to his chest. What he wouldn't give to sleep through one night.

Exhaling slowly, he uncurled himself and reached over to turn the lights up. He rolled over again to face the wall, unable to keep himself from remembering. Darkonda hadn't had the chance to do anything but growl before he'd shoved Andros off of the Bridge to fix a malfunction elsewhere on the ship. Of course, it had only been a delay...

He bit his lip with a sigh. It had eventually worked out in his favor--he'd been only half-conscious when Darkonda had handed him over to Divatox, and she'd shoved him into a room with only a few Piranhatrons to guard him. A few hours of sleep had replenished his strength enough for him to overpower them, and he'd thrown himself into the nearest escape pod without a backwards glance.

And probably just in time--from what he'd overheard Divatox say to Rygog, she'd had no intentions of giving him back. The thought of Divatox and Darkonda fighting over who owned him was enough to make his stomach churn, and he tried to just be thankful that he'd gotten away when he had.

Andros closed his eyes, forcing himself to think of something else. That part of his life was over, and he hated to dwell on it--nothing productive ever came from it. It only made him feel sorry for himself, or bring back the overwhelming shame and pain that he doubted would ever truly fade. Accepting what had happened didn't make it any less painful to remember, and it was best that he just didn't think about it.

Except that he couldn't seem to help it, and he thought of Ashley with a sinking heart. Sooner or later, he knew that she was going to ask him some questions that he wouldn't want to answer. She already had. He deplored the idea of lying to her only slightly more than refusing to answer, but he couldn't be certain that he would feel the same with Ashley watching him expectantly, waiting for an answer.

He wondered what Ashley would think of him if--when, he corrected himself firmly--she knew the entire truth. He'd never told a soul the entire story of his life, but if he intended to have a relationship with her, then he was going to have to be honest with her. He was almost sure that he could do that.

No. Andros closed his eyes and ran a hand through his sweaty hair. It wasn't fair to Ashley to lie to her, not when she'd promised him from the beginning that whatever he could give was enough. He either could do this or he couldn't, and if he couldn't, then he shouldn't have let things get this far. Maybe he didn't have to tell her now, but if she'd promised not to push him, then the least he owed her in return was to try as hard as he could to learn to trust her.


Colors swirled around in circles, all blurring together as the ball spun faster. She giggled happily at the sight, her outstretched hands falling back as she lost herself in just watching.

Too late she realized that her concentration had slipped, and the ball drifted away. Andros ran after it while she stayed crouched on the ground, watching him disappear into the trees.

He laughed and she thought she saw him turn around. Movement coming towards her from the side had her turning towards it--and she screamed. Something unhuman charged at her, snatching her up before she could run. She kicked, clawing at it with her fingers. It didn't notice, and she shouted out desperately for the only person who could hear her.

"ANDROS!"

For a moment, she didn't hear a thing. She screamed his name again and then again, and just as she was starting to lose hope that he would come after her, she heard his voice.

"Karone?"

Astronema's eyes snapped open. Karone... The name echoed in her mind, unfading.

"Are you Karone?" Andros had asked her. She bit her lip, on the verge of finding her answer. This was a memory; she was sure of it. Not even the Rangers could have created this--and it felt oddly familiar...

She sat up and pushed her long hair back from her face. Shoving back the covers, she dressed quickly and tiptoed out of the room. She wasn't quite sure of the time, but Deca had turned the hall lights low, and the ship was eerily silent. Astronema headed for the Bridge, wondering what the odds were that Deca would let her in. Andros had tried to convince his teammates to give her access to the entire ship, but she doubted he'd been successful.

She really couldn't blame his teammates for not trusting him. It made her question his judgement that he would trust her so easily, but if their places had been reversed, if Ecliptor hadn't told her time and again that her brother was dead by the Red Ranger's hand... Andros must have been desperate to find the last living member of his family.

Strangely, Deca didn't lock her out of the databases, and she sat there for hours just pouring through all the information she could find. From the reports detailing their kidnapping to vague rumors that placed her all over the universe, Andros had analyzed everything tirelessly. He'd searched for her endlessly these last five years, and Astronema fought back a wave of emotion. It was only clouding her mind, and she needed to make this decision rationally.

But she couldn't, and now she understood why Andros had taken a chance. What she wasn't sure of was why his teammates had, but that didn't concern her. She knew now why she hadn't left him to die, why she had waited two weeks on the Megaship. Something in her had recognized him for who he was--not the Red Ranger, not her enemy, but her brother.

Six minutes older, he'd said he was. She hadn't known that. Astronema closed her eyes, straining to remember anything besides the hazy images she had seen in her dreams. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, she thought, and slammed one fist angrily against the console.

"We were supposed to grow up together," she murmured. "Andros..."

Tears stung her eyes, and she blinked them away. Numbly, she raised one hand to brush at her eyelids, slowly releasing a shaky breath. Her features hardening, she forced back her tears. She had no time to waste on tears. Darkonda would pay for what he had done. She would see to it.


His laughter echoed all around her as he slid into the cool water, ripples running across the surface as he pushed forward to join her. She shrieked when he cupped water in his hands and let it all trickle down the back of her neck, flinging a handful of water into his face as revenge.

Sputtering, he wrinkled his nose at her. She just giggled and splashed him again, jumping backwards out of his reach. That didn't stop him for long, and he chased after her, splashing water at her as he went.

"Not fair!" She pouted at him when he caught her square in the face, glaring at him through a curtain of wet hair. "You started it!"

He smiled at her innocently and laughed, reaching to pull her into his arms. She went willingly, closing her eyes as she tucked her head against his neck. He jumped in surprise when her lips touched his skin and she grinned, very slowly trailing her kisses up his neck.

"Ash..." His fingers tightened on her shoulders, and she giggled. "Look at me."

She had just stepped out of his arms when he pulled her back to him, his lips meeting hers. Ashley closed her eyes as the kiss deepened, her arms tightening around his neck as his teeth nipped gently at her bottom lip. She started in surprise when he turned his head to kiss her cheek, her jaw, his lips lightly touching her eyebrows.

She smiled at his caresses, leaning in to kiss him again. "I love you."

A slightly smug look touched his face, fading as he enfolded her completely in his arms. "I love you too..."

Ashley opened her eyes slowly, still half-lost in her dream. Yawning, she rolled over onto her stomach and buried her face into her pillow, trying in vain to keep the vision from fading away. It was lost, and she let out a sigh. It had been such a good dream, too... Okay, so almost anything that had to do with Andros was good, and she was almost positive that Andros had been there.

She arched her back, stretching, rolling over again when that didn't seem to make her any more comfortable. Ashley felt the strangest urge to go find Andros, quashing it when she realized what time it was. He was definitely asleep, and she doubted he'd appreciate her barging into his room just because she couldn't sleep.

Ashley groaned when she turned over another time. She closed her eyes and Andros's face popped up into her mind, bringing a smile to her lips. She remembered how he'd looked on their picnic a few days before, his hair loose and framing his face while he smiled at her... A dreamy sigh passed through her lips, and she finally relaxed.

She didn't know what it was about him that made her feel warm all over. She just couldn't help wanting to fling her arms around his neck and squeeze him whenever he walked into the room, just wanting to hold him and have him hold her.

Her smile faded some. Andros wasn't nearly as affectionate as she was, and she couldn't pretend that it didn't bother her just a little. He never protested anything that she did, but he was rarely ever the one to kiss her first. She knew he wasn't used to being in a relationship, and she knew that he was uncomfortable sometimes, but... Ashley couldn't keep from wishing that he would open up just a little more.

She bit her lip as she hid her face against the pillow. It was a selfish wish and she knew it. She'd told him that she wasn't expecting more than he could give, and she wasn't--she was just wanting it, and somehow that made her feel worse. She loved him and she shouldn't... Ashley opened one eye. She loved him?

Ashley closed her eyes again and tried to think straight. Did she love Andros? Of course she did, she realized instantly--she loved all her friends, and that didn't help her any. Andros was definitely more than a friend, but how much more? And how was she supposed to tell him? She didn't want to scare him off, and she couldn't help thinking that telling him she'd fallen in love with him would be a good way to do that.

Groaning, she drew the covers up over her head. She'd never had this problem before. Everyone else had wanted to hear those words as much as she'd wanted to say them, and until they fell out of love, Ashley would feel like she was floating on air. She didn't have that feeling with Andros.

Not that she wasn't happy with him--she was, and almost completely. She just felt... grounded, like she was seeing who he really was instead of who she thought he was. Ashley sighed. That was probably a good thing, especially with Andros, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing something.

She suddenly felt very tired. Ashley closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, but Andros kept drifting through her mind. When she finally managed to doze off, her dreams were filled with him standing in front of her, that smile on his face. He was talking to her but she wasn't listening, too lost in just watching him. He didn't seem to care and hugged her tight, and somehow that made everything all right.