Chapter 10: Healing Broken Wings
"Doctor Cranston, remind us why we are out here?" asked Miles as he, Chloe, Beth, and J.T hiked along with pathway with their teacher.
For Beth's detention hour, Billy had decided that the kids needed to do more with their training, and that they needed to be in a more open environment. Hiking along the trail leading to the woods, Billy thoroughly prepared to put them through something more rigorous. Add to that, he'd asked Ashley to meet them there, along with Eric Meyers and his wife Taylor.
Billy had asked Taylor and Eric for their assistance, mostly because he knew of Eric's history. He felt that Eric would be able to have a kinship with Chloe and Beth, given where he came from and what he suffered through. Add to that, Billy also hoped that Taylor would be able to help Chloe with building more self-esteem. He'd only told them suspicions, but it was enough for them to want to come. Unfortunately, it wasn't a guarantee, because Taylor was dealing with a sexual assault lawsuit and didn't know how long the trial was going to be.
"You're out here, because you must learn in an environment that is more open. You could be caught off guard anywhere, and what I want is to teach you how to use your environment to your greatest advantage. If you know how to utilize your surroundings, the better chances you have at survival," Billy said to them. "And I requested for someone to meet us here; a former Ranger who has had the advantage of being part of two Ranger teams."
"And why do we have to hike?" asked Beth.
"To stay in the best possible shape you can be in," Billy said. "I also requested another former Ranger to be here, with his wife. But I am not sure whether or not they will be able to make it given the shortcomings that they are currently facing."
The hike was arduous as they made their way uphill, Chloe took a long sip of her water bottle as she stayed near Beth and Miles.
"So, Beth, how are you going to keep this from your folks?" asked J.T.
"I have no idea. Part of my agreement is that I am on probation, and what comes with that isn't putting my hands on anyone, even in self-defense," Beth said, shaking her head.
"Well, if you want the God's honest, truthful opinion from me, some rules are meant to be bent," Miles said. "And in your case, Beth, I saw you when knocked Hadlock's teeth out. It was pretty badass."
"Don't encourage her," J.T said. "That's just giving her ideas. And from my observation, Miles, that's just stupid."
"Quite frankly I would have to agree," Billy said with a smile.
The kids shared a round of laughter as they continued uphill, until they finally reached a clearing that was surrounded by boulders, trees, and open land.
"Alright, everyone. Here we are, at almost the edge of the world," Billy said.
"It's gorgeous up here," whispered Chloe, taking a photo with her cellphone.
"It is quite scenic," Billy said in agreement as they heard someone else climbing up the cliff.
"I swear, Billy, if this is your idea of training –!" a voice started to say as the sight of Eric and Taylor Meyers came into view.
"I thought you were busy with a lawsuit," Billy said.
"We won," Taylor said with a shrug. "He pled guilty. Apparently, he couldn't live with himself for what he did to that nine-year-old."
"Well, I am pleased that you are here," Billy said.
"You're also lucky we found a sitter," Taylor said with a grin as she stepped into the embrace Billy offered. Eric just stuck with a simple handshake. He only allowed a few people in his life to give him full-on physical contact, and that was Taylor, as well as Wes Collins.
"Taylor, Eric, this is my team," Billy said, gesturing to the kids.
"Taylor Earnhardt-Myers, yellow Wild Force Ranger," Taylor said.
"I'm Eric, her husband the Quantum Ranger from Time Force," Eric said, eyeing each member of Billy's team. He noticed Chloe stood off to the side, wearing long-sleeves and heavy bracelets. Billy had said that the girl self-harmed. Clearly, this was her way of hiding it. He noticed the ankle monitor that Beth was keeping hidden underneath her jeans. That was when Ashley made her appearance known.
"Wait, Coach Hammond?" asked Beth is surprise.
"Yellow Turbo and Space Ranger," Billy said with a nod. "It was quite humbling to be able to pass the baton down to that team especially since I gave my powers to Rocky, who gave them to Justin Stewart, the youngest to ever be a Ranger."
"And last time I saw you, you were biting Andros' head off for the Moon mission," quipped Taylor with a smile.
"I think all the women did," Ashley said. "And Billy you know what this means, right?"
"Precisely . . . no more secret missions or creating morphers with Andros on the side," Billy muttered, his face turning red.
"So, what do you want us to teach them Billy?" asked Taylor.
"I want you to direct them on how to get off a wall and how to get out of chokeholds," Billy said, his eyes holding a stern look. "And also, how to utilize their environment to their full advantage."
Chloe's face blanched at hearing the word "chokehold." As Eric looked at the Pink Ranger, he could see the undercurrent fear in the girl's eyes. It was a fear that he was all too familiar with, given his experience and what he had gone through.
"Okay," Eric said. "Taylor, you want to demonstrate?"
Taylor nodded and proceeded to step in front of her husband, whose arm went around her throat. Taylor dropped her weight down into a squatting position and grabbed Eric's fingers, shoving his right arm off her neck and then pushing her upper body strength to roll him off her shoulder and onto the grass, but not before aiming a solid crane kick to his jaw area.
"Well that's one way of doing it," Eric said to her. "But what about the other way around?"
Taylor smirked and went down to Eric on the ground level, moving to get her hands around his throat, but Eric pushed her hands off before he rose to his feet.
"Trust me when I say how easy it is to avoid getting choked out," Taylor said. "And what this is, this isn't traditional karate. This is street fighting technique. I wish that I learned this when I had been in the air force."
"As do all of us," said Ashley. "You want to practice this?"
The kids nodded. However, Eric noticed the way Chloe seemed reluctant. He could tell by glancing at her eyes that the girl was near tears. He looked at his wife, silently telling her that maybe, Chloe would feel more comfortable practicing this exercise with a woman. As tough and mean as he was used to acting, he couldn't help but feel a connection to the newest Pink Ranger. He could tell that she didn't want to be touched specifically by males in a way that was threatening.
Taylor nodded. She knew the signs of someone being abused. She could see the terror that was residing in Chloe's eyes as she approached her. However, glancing down, she could see something through Chloe's flannel sleeve. She could see a deep, purple bruise that looked fresh, and she could tell the girl had tried covering it with makeup. It looked to be fingermarks on the girl's arm.
Taylor felt sick, especially as she moved to stand in front of Chloe to do the chokehold. The last thing that she wanted was for the girl to feel as though she was about to get hurt. However, as Taylor moved to put her hands on Chloe's throat, the girl was already backing away and starting to shake.
Chloe could feel her throat constricting as she slowly backed away and Taylor put her hands down. When she'd arrived home the previous night, Chloe's father had grabbed her arm hard enough to bruise and he had cracked a few of her ribs. Her mother had been at her night classes, and hadn't noticed at all.
Eric noticed Chloe's fear radiating off of her as he moved to stand near Miles to practice the chokehold. He could see her body shaking and how she was trying to stop herself from crying. He swallowed hard. For him, it was a sight that was unbearable to look at.
"Taylor, back away now," Eric said as Miles went over to Chloe to try and see what was wrong. Eric could also see that Beth had a look of extreme guilt on her features. Why she looked guilty, he did not know.
Miles moved to stand in front of Chloe along with Billy, blocking everyone else's view of her. As she glanced up at him, Chloe could see the genuine kindness and concern there in his eyes. She could feel him grabbing her hand in his and she could feel Billy touching her shoulder, softly. She could sense their gazes of worry burning into her. Never once had anyone bothered to care. As far as she knew, Miles was one of the few to notice anything that was wrong. She could feel Billy and Miles steering her away to talk some place more private, and Taylor and Eric following. J.T, Beth, and Ashley lingered behind. They didn't know the situation.
Once they were in a more wooded area, Chloe could feel Miles' arms coming around her as she sunk to the ground, more tears filling her eyes as she began crying. Eric had to peel his eyes away. He knew what the signs were. He knew Chloe was being abused by somebody. Someone had done this to her to make her feel worthless and weak. He knew how she felt due to he having suffered through beatings at the hands of his own father.
Chloe broke into a violent fit of sobs, her hands moving to grasp the sides of her head as Miles kept her wrapped firmly in his arms. She was choking, unable to breathe as she shuddered. Billy knelt next to her, trying to offer what comfort he could. Taylor and Eric stood off to the side, leaned against a tree.
Taylor turned her head up to her husband. She could see he was trying to hold back tears as a look of disgust filled his eyes, as well as anger. He knew. It was no longer him just assuming based on what Billy had said in an Email. He knew it was the truth.
Finally, Eric broke the silence, unable to take the sounds of Chloe's cries. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Chloe shook her head as she felt his presence moving towards her. "N – No . . . no!"
"Chloe, no one here is going to hurt you," Taylor said, moving closer.
The girl once again shook her head as Eric knelt next to her. "I – I c-can't s-say it."
"Why not?" asked Billy.
"B-Because i – if I – I do he'll j-just k-keep h-hurting me! He already . . . he already hurts me every night," Chloe choked.
Taylor closed her eyes as Eric asked the next question. "Who hurts you?" he asked her.
Miles closed his eyes as his arms tightened around his teammate. "I know her father verbally abuses her and her mother."
"Why do you know that?" asked Eric.
"Because I hear it, day in, day out," Miles said. "There's been times the cops had been called because it would get so bad. I heard it last night. I heard her dad say something along the lines to her of, "How about I go live in a cardboard box and burn this house to the ground?" He added in, to her, "Go live wherever you like. I don't care"."
"I-It's l-like I'm n-nothing I – I just c-can't do this!" Chloe half-sobbed, half-yelled.
"What about your mom?" Billy asked her.
"She-She's a-already g-got enough shit to – to deal with I can't burden her. She's – She's g-going to – to school and she's w-working d-double. M-My dad doesn't work . . ."
"He'd rather sit around and yell and complain, than step up and do the right thing," Miles said, shaking his head.
"Did he ever hit you?" Taylor whispered.
Chloe didn't answer to that. But her silence made it real. Eric could feel the bile rising in his throat as he watched Chloe sob harder in Miles' arms. He moved forward to and try and pry the girl out of the Red Ranger's arms so he could hold her. But Billy had already beaten him to the punch, pulling the girl against his chest and closing his eyes. Eric just stuck to grabbing the girl's hand into his. He lifted her shirt to see the bruises from cracked ribs. He winced silently.
"God," he whispered, gently touching the bruises with his fingers. He tried to get to Chloe's eye level. "You need to report this."
"A-And g-go w-where?" Chloe choked. "W-Where w-would I-I g-go?"
Eric closed his eyes at that realization. Chloe didn't have too many places she could run to. It reminded him too much of how his high school years had been. Until Wes' father had adopted him as a second son well into his twenties, he didn't have any place to go.
"I – I h-have n-nothing else," Chloe gasped out. "I – I j-just . . . I need to – to w-wait until – until I g-graduate, and I – I can do b-better things w-with m-my life, like g-get the f-fuck out o-of that house!"
Taylor sighed heavily as she glanced at Billy. "And wait until something else happens?" she asked.
"You should have gone to a hospital," Miles whispered as he examined Chloe's ribs. "And you should have at least iced those."
"S-Stop a-acting l-like y-you know h-how I – I f-feel!" Chloe gasped. "Y-You j-just d-don't u-understand p-parents and – and the pressure they put on you."
Miles was taken aback by those words. It was like someone had punched him in the stomach and knocked the air out of him. "If you don't think that I understand pressure, Chloe, then fuck you! Fuck you!"
The tears flooded his eyes as his face went into his hands. "Do you think . . . for one damn second, that I enjoy wrestling? I - I only do it to please my father. If I had a choice I wouldn't do it!"
"Did you ever consider telling him that you're unhappy?" asked Taylor.
"He's too pig-headed to see anybody else's point of view on anything." Miles got up from the ground and began pacing. "He-He's been that way ever since my mom passed."
Eric closed his eyes once more. "Okay," he said with a sigh, running a hand through his hair.
"Chloe, you need to tell somebody about this. You need to go to the cops, a hospital, anywhere," Taylor insisted.
"N-No! No you can't tell!" Chloe choked out. "Please, promise me. Promise me!"
They could hear the begging in her tone. She was suffering so deeply and she was in great pain, but somehow, it was almost as though she felt she deserved it. Billy ran his hands down her back as Miles paced back and forth, swallowing. Eric shared a deep look with his wife. He knew they had to get Chloe out of this before it got worse. But at the same time, they knew Chloe didn't have any place she could go, or at least it seemed that way. It was a situation that was delicate. Add to that, her mother was being abused just as badly. It was complicated, to say the least.
As much as Billy hated it, as much as the evidence was there before his eyes, looking at his student, he knew he could not let this go. He knew Chloe didn't have many options, and neither did her mother. He knew he needed to make sure that they were both somewhere safe. He needed to make sure that they got out of that house and someplace where they would no longer need to deal with such abuse.
"Billy? Should we call in a favor from Carter and Dana?" asked Taylor.
"What could they possibly do?" asked Billy.
"Last we spoke to Carter, Dana has been spending her free time volunteering at a women's shelter in Mariner Bay," Taylor explained. "She's been providing medical care to people there, with Carter and Ryan. If I'm not mistaken, Mariner Bay is ten minutes away from here with no traffic. I'm sure she and Carter wouldn't mind helping with this."
"Call her," Billy said in agreement. "And get a warrant. I've seen enough."
Taylor nodded. "You can count on it," she said.
"Appreciations, Taylor," Billy said.
"Don't thank us yet, Billy," said Eric. "Thank us after we've won."
Suddenly, that was when they could hear a signal going off on Billy's cellphone. Glancing down, he could see that it was a signal coming from his basement.
"We must get back to my house. It looks as though Lucius and his accomplices are unleashing a monster attack upon the city," he said.
"Talk about crap timing," Miles said, leaning over to help Chloe to her feet.
"It's never good timing," Taylor said. "Go."
Be sure to REVIEW! I . . . NEED . . . REVIEWS!