Chapter 9: Nate + Zoey
Nate was finishing up his latest project in his lab. He wanted to get done with the part he was working on so he could get cleaned up before he goes out with Zoey for Valentine's Day. He has loved dating Zoey for the past couple of years. For a while, while they were fighting Evox, they thought that it would be impossible for them to be able to date. They probably wouldn't have been able to date if it wasn't for Steel's persistence in getting them together once he found out that they liked each other because of the rule at the time that forbade rangers dating other rangers. Steel forced them to work together to protect who they believed to be the real Mayor Daniels at the time, although later they would find out that that was really Evox in Mayor Daniels's body. That mission caused everyone to find out how Nate and Zoey really felt about each other. Later, Commander Shaw, who would later become General Shaw, gave them permission to date when they showed that their feelings for each other made them a more effective team. They have been dating since that day and have enjoyed every minute of it. Everyone thought that they were perfect for each other.
"Don't you need to get ready for your date?" Nate heard his, now human, brother ask.
"I will in a minute, Steel," Nate responded. "I'm just finishing up."
Steel came closer to get a better look at what Nate was working on. He saw that it was the same universal antivirus that Nate had been working on since they defeated Evox. Everyone knew that Nate was working on this because he felt guilty for creating Evox. "Nate, you don't need to keep working on this so much. No one blames you for what happened. You were just a kid when you accidentally created him. You didn't know what you were doing."
"It is my fault, Steel!" Nate snapped and turned towards Steel. "He might be gone, but that doesn't mean that all the damage he did has been erased! He almost destroyed Coral Harbor! I almost lost you!" Nate took a deep breath to try to calm himself down. "I need a way to make sure that that never happens again."
"I understand," Steel said softly. "But you can enjoy one night. Your work will be here when you come back." Nate nodded. "You don't have to be constantly working on this by yourself either. Zoey and I are always willing to help you out." Nate just nodded again. "Go get ready for your date."
"Ok," Nate agreed and went to get ready.
A few minutes later, Zoey walked into Nate's lab at Grid Battleforce and saw Steel there. "Hi Steel," Zoey said. "Where's Nate?"
"He's getting ready," Steel responded.
Zoey looked at the table and saw what Nate had been working on...again. "You pulled him away."
"He needs to take a break. He's constantly working on it day and night. He has barely slept and barely ate in days. Maybe you can talk some sense into him."
"I can try."
They had all been worried about Nate. For the first year after they defeated Evox, he seemed fine. He spent a lot of time with Steel and Zoey and even worked with Zoey on using wind as a new power source for Coral Harbor. Little did they know that he had secretly started working on the universal antivirus. Shortly after Steel's first birthday, they found out about Nate's project and Nate slowly became more invested in it. Seeing him overwork himself became common and everyone has since become worried about Nate's wellbeing.
Nate came back and saw Zoey there. In his opinion, she looked as beautiful as ever. He loved her. There was no doubt about that, but he didn't want her to see the inner turmoil that he was going through. He didn't want anyone to know, but he's pretty sure everyone knows that something is wrong. "Zoey, you look amazing," Nate said.
"Thanks," Zoey said. "You look pretty great yourself."
"Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah."
The two left Grid Battleforce and went to a nice restaurant for dinner. They sat down and a waitress came over and took their order. Nate was going to just get a salad, but Zoey convinced him to order more. Zoey was trying to think of a way to approach the subject that she had discussed with Steel earlier. It was important to approach it with care. It worried her that Steel said Nate had barely slept and ate in days. That was why Zoey persuaded Nate to order more food to eat. "So, how has everything been going?" Zoey asked. She figured that the best course of action would be to start by trying to have a casual conversation.
"It's been ok," Nate lied. "I've just been working a lot."
"Creating a universal antivirus?"
"Yeah."
"You've been working on that a lot lately."
"I need to finish it as soon as possible. I have to make sure that no other virus has a chance to try to destroy the Earth."
Zoey knew why this was so important to Nate, but she also couldn't let him go on like this. She reached across the table and grabbed his hand. "You don't need to blame yourself for what happened," she told him. "How would you have known that Venjix was hiding in that RPM morpher?"
"I still shouldn't have done it," Nate said.
"But if you didn't, you never would've been able to combine human and animal DNA to make us rangers. Some of the amazing things you were able to do were because of that experiment. Yes, it did create Evox, but we probably wouldn't have met if didn't do that experiment."
Nate nodded. "You're right."
"I like the idea of a universal antivirus. It would be very useful, but you don't need to overwork yourself to get it done."
Nate gave Zoey a small smile which she happily returned. "You have a point. Maybe I was pushing myself too hard."
"From now on, when you're working on it, have me or Steel with you just so one of us can make sure you don't overwork yourself anymore."
Nate nodded again. "Ok. I can do that."
They continued the rest of their dinner talking about happier topics. Zoey knew that wouldn't be completely ok for a while, but she would be there to help him through it. No matter what.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed!