Chapter 10: Observations

Ky woke up with a start, feeling something stir in his hands. Jen's hand was still a tad warmer than normal, and he frowned as he watched her stir in her sleep. The fever that ensued following the injection of the antidote last night was to be expected, according to VIKI. The only thing that assured him it was true was his memory of Aly's recovery – her fever seemed to be worse then for some reason. Still, it was still not pleasant to watch her suffer through the experience. If the antidote turned out to be ineffective, he would make sure that no one touch Jen again.

He stood up to change the cloth on Jen's forehead, grimacing at the memory of what Aly did. He did not understand why things had turned out so horribly. He must not have been thinking straight – he only remembered the anger, fear, desperation and sadness that had gripped him in turn as he stared at his grown-up sister.

Now that he Jen was safe and sound in front of him in the med bay – VIKI said that there was no more reason for her to be in the containment cell – he was starting to realize in horror what he had said and done. Rationally, he knew that Aly had only done what she had to do, to save not only Jen but the rest of the prisoners as well. If he had been completely honest with himself, he knew that it was what he himself should have done.

He buried his face in his hands, feeling guilt and shame flooding his mind and everything else. He knew he had problems with his temper ever since he quit Ranger training, but seeing his sister again must have been too much of a shock for the little control that he had. He would have one hell of an apology to make, no matter the outcome of this.

"Ky?"

He looked up in surprise. Jen was awake and smiling at him. "Good morning."

He smiled back, adjusting the controls such that front of the bed rose up a little, making it easier for them to talk. "Good morning. How are you feeling?"

Jen looked around the room, curiosity evident in her eyes. "The same. Where am I?"

"This is the med bay."

She turned back to him, a slight look of alarm on her face. "But I'm supposed to be at the containment cell. You don't know when Metigor will summon me—"

He abandoned the chair, choosing to sit by the side of the bed instead. His heart went out to her for putting others' safety beyond her own comfort and dignity, and he pulled her into a tight embrace. "He won't ever summon you again. We cleared the poison from your body."

There was a muffled gasp, and Ky let go to grin at her shocked expression. "But — how? Everyone knows there is no cure."

"We found one," He reassured her, silently thanking Aly for having the sense to ignore him. "You're free from him now."

He watched as the fact slowly sunk in, and tears started gathering in her eyes. "You're not humoring me, are you? I've spent years dreaming of this…"

His own vision began to blur with tears. "I'm very serious about this. You are free."

With a sound that could either be a sob or laugher, she buried her head in his chest again, and hugged him tightly. He returned the hug with equal feeling, remembering just in time to hold back his Ranger strength.

Yes, he had one hell of an apology to make.

Xadrin heard the chatter in the mess hall, and quickened her pace. When she reached the door she nearly skipped into the room, stopping in front of the table with a flourish. "Good morning!"

Cody grinned. "I see someone is finally walking properly again."

"Bouncing, more like," Shawn quipped in between mouthful of toasts.

"Well, with good reason," Aly added, smiling. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." She grinned back, making her way to the synthetron with a mixture of side steps, light jumping and finished with a little twirl in front of the machine. "You have no idea how good it feels to be rid of that thing."

Cody chuckled. "We are getting a good idea."

"We have to go somewhere today." Xadrin announced later when she set down the tray at the table and sat down next to Aly. "Anywhere. I've been stuck on the ship for almost two weeks! No offense, VIKI."

She caught a camera blinking at her. "None taken. It will be good for you to spend some time off the ship."

If Xadrin was not in such a good mood she might think that the A.I could be looking for a reason to kick her off the ship. But she was feeling the happiest she had felt in a while, so she just grinned at the camera. "I'll take your 'professional advice' to heart."

"I will feel more gratified if your decision to follow my advice is not so selective."

Cody and Shawn both laughed, and Aly caught her eye and chuckled. Xadrin could not suppress her own grin, but just when she was about to say something, someone else appeared at the door.

"Are we late to the party?" Ky asked, smiling as he nudged Jen into the hall.

"Jen!" Xadrin called, walking over to pull the slightly hesitant Jen to the seat next to her. "How are you feeling? Do you want to eat something?"

Jen grinned at her enthusiasm, and gave her hand a squeeze. "I feel better than I had in forever! But I'm quite hungry, to be honest."

"That can be easily settled." Ky said as he made his way to the synthetron.

"Have you tried food from Earth?" Cody asked. They had met only briefly last night, but Xadrin was glad that he was making the effort to make her feel welcome.

Jen shook her head, but she looked excited. "That's your planet, isn't it? Can I visit?"

Xadrin laughed, feeling glad that some things never changed.

"Sure," Shawn said, "Xadrin was just saying we should go somewhere today. Let's just go down to Earth for the day."

Cody nodded. "We will show you around."

"Really?" Jen said, looking like she was on the verge of jumping out of her seat. "That would be great!"

As Ky returned with a large tray of food and Jen started asking about the different items, Xadrin settled back down in her seat, noting suddenly that Aly had been quiet. Xadrin gave her a good look, and noticed the dark circles under her eyes and the slow manner she was taking her breakfast.

Xadrin gave her a gentle nudge. "Are you all right?" She asked quietly, not wanting to draw attention to her. "You looked really tired."

Aly met her eyes with a smile. "I'm fine. Just didn't get enough sleep last night, that's all."

"Why not?" Xadrin frowned a little, and snuck a glance at Ky and Jen, still talking enthusiastically about food and the visit to Earth. Ky was the one who stayed over at the med bay last night after they administered the antidote. Aly and Shawn never joined them like they said they would. What could she be doing?

Aly followed her gaze, and shrugged.

Before Xadrin could probe further, a sudden quiet at the other side of the table drew her attention. She found the rest of the team quiet, and Jen's expression serious.

"What did I miss?" Xadrin asked, wondering what could cause such a mood change in a few seconds.

"I remember Metigor's weapon." Jen said simply, and Xadrin's eyes widened. "I didn't think about it before, but when they told me about Earth, I remember Metigor was preparing a weapon for it."

"What kind of?" Aly asked from her right.

"Some sort of machine that's supposed to poison thousands of people at once."

Xadrin felt an involuntary chill. Thousands at once.

"How long before it's ready?" Shawn leaned forward in his seat, his fists clenched tight.

Jen shook her head. "I don't know. I only know that a prototype is almost ready. He has plans to make more of them. You need to stop him before he does."

"We will." Shawn said firmly, his eyes determined. "With Xadrin off the leg support, we're almost ready to strike."

"We need a better plan." Cody muttered.

"We can," Aly suddenly said, and the rest turned to her. "Jen, you must be more familiar with Metigor's ship than I am. We can combine our knowledge of the ship later and make sure we catch Metigor off guard."

"Yes, that'll work!" Jen agreed enthusiastically, mirroring Xadrin's own excitement. "We could do that right after breakfast! Then we will stop Metigor before he does anything, and Ky and I can go home!"

Xadrin had been smiling at Jen's excitement, but her smile fell when she mentioned going home. She snuck a look at Cody, and realized with a start that once everything was done, she, too, would be going home. She could have sworn that was the one thing she wanted badly many times over the past weeks, but suddenly the idea of leaving her team, leaving Cody, seemed too horrible to bear.

"— slow down," Ky was telling Jen fondly when Xadrin dragged her focus back to the table, "You still have a mild fever from this morning. And you wanted to visit Earth, remember?"

"Yeah," Cody said with a smile, "I think we can afford a few hours of fun. Besides, if we don't let Xadrin spend some time off the ship she might just go crazy." He finished, winking at her.

Xadrin wanted to glare at him, but she suspected that the effect was ruined by the grin she could not hide.

Jen could not bring herself to disagree, and they settled for Cody's plan. Breakfast continued with more questions from Jen about Earth, from the climate to people and everything else, with Cody and Shawn taking turns to explain. Both Xadrin and Ky learned more than they did over the past few days. Xadrin couldn't help but smile at Jen's curiosity and energy. In so many other ways Jen has changed, but with this, it felt like she was still the eleven-year-old that they thought they had lost.

When they were all returning their trays and preparing to teleport down to Earth, Aly surprised them by saying, "You guys go ahead. I feel like staying on the ship."

The group paused, and Xadrin exchanged glances with Cody. "Are you sure?" Cody asked.

Aly grinned at their reactions. "Yes. It's not like I've never seen Earth before. Go on, I'm just going to catch up on some sleep."

Ky took a step forward towards her. "Aly, I-"

Aly focused on him, her grin intact. "We have plenty of time to talk later. Go ahead. I know you haven't seen Earth properly as well."

Xadrin did not think that it was as simple as it seemed; Aly's grin looked a little forced. But she did look like she needed the sleep, and the longer they stall the more they would make her uncomfortable.

And so Xadrin took Jen by the shoulders, and pretended to herd her and the rest of the group to the door. "Come on, she's kicking us out. We better go before she gets serious." She turned back, and caught Aly's grateful smile.

"I'll meet you in the park," Shawn was saying when she passed by the door, and she saw him going back. Xadrin raised an enquiring eyebrow at Cody, who merely shrugged.

Jen's shoulders moved out of her grip, and Xadrin turned to see her to the same to Ky in front. Laughing, she hurried to get back in position, forming a short human train. She recalled with delight that it was a game they had played when they were young, and it seemed like Jen remembered.

When another pair of hands touched her shoulders from behind, she turned back to see Cody grinning at her, forming the last of their human train. She laughed again, already starting to enjoy the short break they had.

Aly had not yet moved from her earlier spot when Shawn went back to the mess hall. She did not even look up until Shawn was almost right in front of her.

"Aren't you going with the rest of them?" She asked, frowning a little.

Shawn crossed his arms. "I'm going to make sure you get some sleep this time. Did you stay up after I left last night?"

He tried to think what time it was when he and Aly finally left the mess hall last night. The only thing he could come up with was 'late'. When the others went to administer the antidote on Jen, Aly had immediately asked VIKI for an analysis of the blood sample and antidote. What followed was an intense discussion of the probability of producing the antidote in such a short time. Shawn did not understand all of it, but he got the gist that it was highly unusual to actually produce a workable antidote within a day of getting the blood sample. If he was right, even VIKI sounded surprised, and had informed them of the few extra tests she repeated. When Shawn yawned, Aly seemed to have caught it and called off the discussion. Now, it seemed like she had continued with it herself, until god knows what time.

"I was just doing some reading." Aly said, her eyes troubled. "Did you notice anything unusual with Jen just now?"

He blinked at the sudden change of topic. He tried to recall their conversation at breakfast. "She seemed… normal. Quite remarkable, actually, after what she's been through."

"Don't you find that strange?"

He frowned. "Well, it's not impossible. And you said it yourself that she was stronger than the other prisoners. That she's still keeping her fighting spirit."

Aly turned back to sit down at the bench again, facing outwards. "That's true. But what if I was wrong then? There's something wrong with how she's behaving."

Shawn sat down next to her with a sigh. "Care to explain?"

"Remember when I mentioned that she would know Metigor's ship better than I did?"

Shawn nodded; that had given him some hope that they would stand a higher chance of succeeding.

But Aly grimaced. "She shouldn't. Or at least, it contradicted what she told me earlier back at the ship. She told me then that the prisoners were all not 'awake' when they were summoned out for the day's work, and they would only wake up at their cells again."

"So she shouldn't know anything about Metigor's ship at all other than the cells they were in." Shawn finished the train of thought, frowning. "But why would she said she did?"

"Three possibilities," Aly muttered, "One, she lied to me then. Two, she lied to us just now. Three, she's been lying the whole time."

Shawn tried not to wince at the implications. "Maybe she just got herself confused."

"I want to believe that." Aly said quietly. "But she was clear enough when she asked about the way things work on Earth. And," She said quickly before he could cut in, "I know those are innocent questions. But look at it another way – it could also be useful when you want to conquer a planet."

Shawn let out a breath slowly, running through the list of questions that Jen had asked. He had no counterargument for that. "So what are you saying? Jen is helping Metigor?"

Aly leaned back, resting her elbows on the table behind. "I don't know. I hope not. But – VIKI, do you think it's possible that Metigor's control has gotten more sophisticated?"

The camera nearest to them blinked once. "You are implying that Metigor could take over his victims' personality and memories, and exert influence over their actions in a way that is consistent with their personalities. There is no evidence to imply that it could not be done. However, it is far more sophisticated than his earlier type of control."

"In short, possible." Shawn muttered to himself, hoping very much that it was not true. That is a far scarier scenario than fighting unthinking zombies.

"We have to make sure," Aly said, "Before we carry out any mission with Jen's help. Or we could walk right into a trap."

Shawn turned to look at her. "You want to test her."

She nodded. "We have to find a way to do it. And we cannot let Xadrin or Ky know —"

"Why not?"

Aly narrowed her eyes at him as if he just said something stupid. "Because they don't want to see it. Ky will never agree to it."

Shawn held her gaze. "But we're a team. We shouldn't hide things from each other. Didn't you just promise Cody this yesterday?"

Aly looked away. "That was a smaller issue."

"All the more reason why we have to tell them, because this is much bigger." Shawn retorted. "And it's not about the matter at hand anyway. It's about what kind of team you want this to be."

Aly frowned. "It will never work. Ky will never agree to this."

"You should know, I suppose," Shawn said, starting to feel impatient. Aly could be very stubborn when she wanted to. "You're acting just like him."

Aly turned to him in shock. "I'm not!"

"You are. He doesn't trust the team to treat Jen with respect and care. And you don't trust the team to put the big picture first."

Aly stared at him, speechless. A few moments later, she chuckled, rubbing her face with one hand, as if trying to rub away the tiredness she must be feeling. "Damn. You're right."

Shawn smiled lightly. "You don't have to sound so reluctant about it."

She grinned, punching his shoulder lightly. "You better treasure this moment when you're right. They don't come often."

He returned the punch good-naturedly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She gave him a smug grin, but when she looked away, her face was serious again. "You're right. We have to tell the others. I can talk to Ky."

Shawn raised his eyebrow, surprised that she chose Ky after the fight between them. But then he remembered the way Ky stepped forward this morning, the apologetic look on his face. Perhaps Ky had wanted to apologize, and Aly knew.

So he nodded. "I'll talk to Cody then. And…" He recalled the subtle looks that Cody had been giving Xadrin, and what that might mean. "Cody can talk to Xadrin."

Aly raised an eyebrow at that, but did not comment. Instead, she sat up straight. "Right. You better get going. They must be wondering where you are."

He got up, and offered a hand for Aly. "And you better get some sleep before you talk to Ky. Why didn't you just sleep in anyway?"

She took his hand and got up. "I wanted to see how Jen was doing. I'm glad I did."

Shawn sighed. So she had planned this. "Why am I not surprised," he muttered to himself as they made their way to the door.

He saw Aly glance his way at that comment, but anything that she wanted to say was taken over by a yawn.

He rolled his eyes. "Go on, off to bed!"

"Yes, mother," She said with a grin, and disappeared down the corridor before he could say anything else.

He chuckled, shaking his head.

Ky sighed as he leaned back in his chair, smiling when Jen punched a fist into the air.

"We're done!" She said happily.

There were a few chuckles from the team sitting on the various mismatched furniture around them, but most were too tired after hours of discussion and planning to match Jen's energy. It had been a long day.

After the short trip to Crystal Falls, the city where the other Rangers were currently based, they had dived right into talking about their plan to infiltrate and take down Metigor's ship. Jen had listened intently to their discussion, offering information where she could, and confirming or correcting Aly's memory of the ship layout. Ky was proud of her for contributing as much to the discussion.

"What did you feed her for lunch?" Aly asked the team with a smile from her seat almost directly opposite him. "How is she still so energetic?"

Shawn snickered, "Aren't you always the one too excited to sleep after a strategy session?"

Ky missed whatever retort Aly gave as he just stared at her. She had joined them here when they returned to the ship, and she seemed to have been studiously avoiding his eyes in the past few hours. He even directed a few comments at her during the discussion, but she would just keep staring at the layout plan instead of meeting his eyes. He had a feeling that he screwed this up very badly.

Then she, and the rest of the team, started standing up, and Ky scrambled to his feet, wondering what he had missed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cody pulled Xadrin back, and announced that they will meet them here again later. Ky was confused for a moment until he realized that the team would regroup to the other side of the room for dinner in half an hour's time.

"Ky, are you going back to your room?" Jen tugged his sleeve, and he had to smile at that familiar gesture.

But his eyes lingered on Aly, who was yawning and stretching as she talked to Shawn. He needed to get this right.

"Maybe not," He told Jen, hoping that she would not mind. "There is something I have to do here. Would you mind giving me a few minutes?"

Instead of looking disappointed, Jen glanced at Aly briefly, and gave him a mischievous smile. "Sure. Good luck."

Taken aback that Jen seemed to know more than she let on, he did not manage to reply before Jen bounced over to Shawn, and tugged him away from Aly with whatever excuse she must have just came up with. Aly seemed mildly amused that she had lost her companion so quickly.

She looked around the room, and her gazing pausing briefly at the kitchen area where Cody and Xadrin were talking quietly. Absently, her gaze caught his, and her smile faded as she turned around to leave.

"Aly," he strode over, and caught her hand before she could walk further. "I'm sorry."

She paused, and reluctantly turned to face him. She kept her expression cold and neutral, and did not say a word.

Ky knew a chance when he saw one. "I was a big idiot. I have been very, very stupid and said many stupid things. I'm very sorry."

She crossed her arms. "It's not stupid things." She said, her voice cold and steady. "You know those words would hurt. I trusted you with my weakness and you used them against me."

He winced, but knew that it was true. Years of surviving on his own without the help or protection of Ranger influence had taught him how to protect himself effectively. His instincts had been honed to hurt.

"I don't deny that," He said finally, shamefully. "I will not find any excuses for what I have done. I know it was terrible and I'm … I'm ashamed of it. If there is anything that I can do to make it up for you, please let me know."

Aly's cold gaze pierced right through his heart. But he knew he deserved it.

Finally, Aly looked away with a sigh. "I know you were worried about Jen. But you have to learn how to control your emotions, Ky. If you lose it in the middle of a battle, it could get you killed."

His heart quickened with the hope that Aly might actually forgive him. Had she not just express concern for him?

"Will you… forgive me?"

To his delight, Aly nodded, even smiling a little. He grinned, enveloping her in a big hug before he knew what he was doing. For a moment, Aly leaned in, but all too soon she was pushing his chest lightly away.

He let go quickly, mildly embarrassed. "Sorry. I was just-"

Aly shook her head. "Don't. It's just that… we promised not now, remember?" She said, denting his high spirits a little. "This is not the time for this. After all this is over…" she trailed off with a smile, a sense of promise in her words.

"After." He agreed firmly, taking a deep breath and trying to drink in this moment.

"For now we are teammates." Aly said, even taking a small step back to emphasize her point.

"Can we at least be friends as well?" He asked lightly. He missed being close to her already, but understood and respected her decision.

"Only if you trust me." She said, her eyes suddenly serious.

"Of course I do."

"Really?"

He started to worry that he had hurt her more than she let on. "With my heart. And you can trust me as well. I know my best is probably not enough, but trust that I will never mean you any harm."

"Good." She nodded, but looked away for a moment. Ky followed her gaze, catching just in time the nod that Cody was directing her way.

She met his eyes again. "I need to ask you a favor."