Disclaimer: I make no money from this. Disney owns the Power Rangers now.

Chapter 9

He waited only a moment after recalling the Quantrons before terminating the connection and watching the viewing screen fade to black. He really had no desire to watch the yellow ranger comfort his sorry excuse for a brother. His fingers gave the console before him an idle tap as he fumed silently, considering what he should do next.

His mind made up, Cosmos stood and stormed off of the bridge, heading for his quarters. Lyra glanced up when the door slid open, her loose hair spilling over her shoulders as she lounged across their bed. A datapad lay next to her, but somehow he thought that it hadn't been touched in a long while.

"There you are," she greeted him. "Nice thinking with the Quantrons; they'll be wondering all day what that was about."

"Oh, I just... Thanks." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I couldn't stand watching them any longer."

That was true, and she nodded her head in whole-hearted agreement. "Needy, isn't he?"

"She never let go of his hand." Cosmos paused, and then just blurted out, "You kissed him?"

"Remind me about it, will you?" she grumbled, rolling over the rest of the way to lay sprawled out across the bed on her back. "Not that you can really call it kissing with him..."

He considered that, and finally nodded unhappily. "Fine." There was nothing else that he could say.

"Of course it is," she murmured. "You know I love you, and only you. Anything else is just an act."

Cosmos did know that. Most of the time, anyway. And even when he didn't, he knew that she wouldn't lie to him. "Glad to hear it," he said forced lightness, and he leaned over to kiss her. Lyra laughed softly, but pushed him away with a look of regret.

"We'll have company any minute," she reminded him as she sat up.

"Right," he agreed reluctantly, but brightened a moment later. "But at least those idiots won't be running around the universe with Zordon any longer... It's a miracle they didn't find him on Hercuron."

"Dark Spectre's thinking exactly," Lyra said with a self-satisfied smirk. "He wants the damned wizard here, where he's safe. Pity we can't take care of Divatox and those fools once and for all--and her nephew. Definitely her nephew."

"Elgar will be the first to go," Cosmos promised her. He looked forward to the day that they finally did away with Dark Spectre and the useless fools that served him. "Now, I suppose we're supposed to meet her?"

"Obviously." She paused, a devilish smile forming on her lips. "You know... if they have time to stroll around on the beach holding hands, the rangers don't have nearly enough to do."

"I agree." Cosmos chuckled darkly. "It's a little earlier than we planned, but they're just about ready to go..."

"I say we go for it," she agreed. "We'll never get anything productive done with Divatox around, anyway."

"What say we test them out first?" he suggested with a devious grin. "We'll send them to Darkonda. If anything goes wrong, we can override even from here, and it'll keep the rangers away for at least a day."

Lyra nodded, a grimace crossing her features when the intership comm chimed. "We're coming," she snapped, cutting the connection before whoever was on the other end could say a word. "You ready?"

"Ready," he sighed. "Let's go."

---

"Ready?" Andros yawned sleepily and looked up from his final stretches to see Ashley's hand hovering in his face. His right wrist had healed quickly overnight, not feeling even twinging when he reached up and let her pull him to his feet.

"Ready." He nodded, unable to resist pressing a quick kiss to her lips. Ashley smiled at him before she dropped down into a defensive crouch, arms raised to counter whatever move he threw. He supposed that meant he was expected to make the first move.

The first kick was slow, giving them both the chance to warm themselves up completely. Her arm came up to block automatically, and she deflected the blow easily. His right foot touched ground again as he stepped back and spun, just in time to catch ahold of her fist.

Ashley twisted away before he could throw her, ducking to let his hurricane whiz by harmlessly over her head. She returned the attack and he countered, the two of them dancing back and forth for several more minutes. It wasn't long before Ashley stopped thinking, trusting her instincts completely, and she knew that Andros was doing the same.

He slipped up for only a second, but it was all the time Ashley needed. She caught his arm and pulled hard enough to tug him off-balance. He stumbled, just a tiny bit, but the small advantage was just enough. Twisting herself around, she threw him forward over her shoulder. She didn't release her hold on him and they both tumbled to the ground with her on top. Remembering how their only other sparring match had ended, she didn't pin his arms against his chest this time, but held his hands out over his head.

"I win," she declared, and he shot her a mock glare. She knew that he probably could have turned the tables on her if he'd wanted to but he didn't even try, just staring up at her and panting for breath.

Adrenaline still flooding through her, she leaned down and kissed him harder than she'd intended, but he certainly wasn't complaining. He kissed back eagerly and she relaxed on top of him, releasing his wrists so he could wrap his arms around her.

His hands slid across her back to rest on her waist, his fingers toying with the hem of her sweatshirt but not slipping beneath it. Some part of her mind--the rational part--reminded her of where they were and tried to tell her that they were going too fast, but the rest of her didn't really seem to care when the kiss deepened and Andros pulled her closer up against him, his arms snug around her waist.

She didn't protest against that either, and he hesitated. It wasn't serious--yet--and he didn't want to end this in the least, but something inside of him was screaming for more, and he couldn't seem to ignore it any longer. Ashley's fingers buried into his hair and Andros groaned aloud, hands clenching. His conscience pricked at him, warring briefly with the rest of him before winning, forcing him to turn his head to the side and pull away before he did something he would regret later.

"Andros?"

It took him longer than it should to realize that his eyes were closed. He blinked, unsurprised to find himself drowning in her eyes. Forgetting completely why he'd pulled away in the first place, Andros reached up and pulled her head down for one more kiss.

"Your presence is requested on the bridge."

He jumped when Deca's voice intruded and Ashley let out a sigh, but she rolled off of him and sat up. He felt her move away, probably in search of her shoes, but he just lay there for a moment longer and tried to catch his breath. His head fell back against the mats to let his brain catch up with his body. All he wanted to do was kiss her...

"Andros?"

He opened his eyes, confused, as Ashley dropped down beside him again. She watched him expectantly, and it slowly dawned on him that she was waiting. Shaking his head, Andros pushed himself up, pulled on his shoes, and stood.

"Stop simulation," he muttered without looking at her, and their sparring arena vanished. "We're coming, Deca."

He offered Ashley a hand up, pulling her to her feet easily as the green gridlines faded away. Still hand in hand, the two left the Simudeck quickly, not knowing what they were wanted for on the bridge.

"We're here; what's so important?" Ashley demanded cheerfully as they emerged from the Megalift just in time to see the comm screen fade to black. "Who was that?"

"They've found Auriga," Karone informed them grimly, and Ashley's smile faded as she shot an automatic glance at Andros. After evacuating Centaur B, the Karovan refugees had found shelter on Auriga, an equally harsh world not far from Eltar. Apparently, they hadn't been as careful as they'd thought.

"We're on the way," Andros decided instantly. "Set a course for Auriga. Hyperrush Nine."

His orders were followed without question, the four Earth-born rangers rushing to their stations without a second thought. Never mind the fact that they were supposed to be at school in less than an hour. Their duties as rangers came first.

"Course locked on," TJ reported barely a minute later, and Ashley watched Andros let out a deep breath.

"Hyperrush Nine," Carlos acknowledged, the sudden change in velocity sensible only moments later. "Estimated arrival time... four hours."

Andros only nodded, anxiously toying with the strings on his sweatshirt. Four hours... He knew only too well the kind of damage that could be done in that amount of time, and his people were more defenseless now than they had ever been.

"I have to go," he said suddenly, and stood. There was really no reason that any of them had to be there; Deca was perfectly capable of flying the ship without them.

"Andros, wait--" Zhane protested, and he thought he heard Ashley call after him, but he ignored them all and fled the bridge without another word.

---

"Andros?" Ashley rapped her knuckles against his door, waiting a good five minutes before calling his name more loudly. "Andros!"

She sighed softly when there was no reply. She'd leave him alone if that's what he wanted. That was why she'd taken a long shower first, and then fed Oddball his breakfast before seeking out Andros; she didn't want to push him too hard.

Ashley knew that he needed some space. But if he wanted to be left alone, he was going to have to tell her so first.

"Andros, can I come in?" she asked, waiting (almost) patiently for a reply. "Just for a minute?"

"It's not locked," he shouted back to her finally, and she took that as a yes. Quickly, not wanting him to change his mind, she keyed his door open and stepped inside. With all of the lights off, his room was almost completely dark, but she could still see him sitting on his bed, still in his workout uniform, his shoulders hunched and his hands clutching something in his lap. With a sad sigh, she crossed the floor to settle herself alongside him and wrap a careful arm around his shoulders.

"You feel like talking?" she ventured. He shook his head no, but he did seem to appreciate the hug. She slid her other arm around him and pulled him close, holding him silently. He let out a deep breath, and she felt her heart break; it was so hard to watch him hurt, she realized. Ashley hugged him harder, simply hating to see him sad.

"Ashley?" His soft voice caught her by surprise. "Close your eyes for a minute," he warned her, and she almost smiled. A soft click was audible as he flicked on the small lamp that stood on his dresser, and as her eyes adjusted quickly to the brightness she caught a glimpse of the picture that was gripped tightly in his hands.

"Your team?" she asked gently. With a heavy sigh, Andros nodded wordlessly. Ashley looked up in surprise when he passed her the picture, but she took it from him eagerly. They couldn't have been more than fourteen in this picture, she thought sadly as she studied the images of his long-dead friends with a sorrowful smile.

With his hairstyle, Andros was recognizable anywhere, and she didn't need to look at the suit colors to pick out Zhane and Karone, either. The one in yellow was obviously Lyra, and Ashley couldn't help the rush of disgust that her powers had once belonged to the tall redhead with the innocent smile. One arm was flung across Andros's shoulders, and Ashley quickly turned her attention to the remaining three rangers as she tried to suppress her irritation. She wracked her brain to remember the names of the other three; she was sure that Zhane had mentioned them, but the only name that she could recall belonged to someone that hadn't been on this team anyway.

"Who's who?" she finally had to ask, more than anything just wanting to know these people that had meant so much to him.

"Kir's next to Karone," he told her without so much as glancing at the picture, and her eyes fell to the serious-looking boy in the black ranger suit. "Renn was blue," he continued, "and Zyanya was pink."

Ashley nodded and stared hard at their faces, trying to picture them as they would have been. The glint in Renn's green eyes was strangely reminiscent of Zhane, and the way they stood with their arms around each others shoulders suggested that they'd been close friends and partners in wreaking havoc. Zyanya's dark hair fell across her face, almost hiding her expression, but her smile was obvious as she stood between Andros and Lyra, an arm around each of them.

"How old were all of you?" Ashley knew that she should stop questioning him, but she truly wanted to know and as long as he would answer, she couldn't help herself from asking.

"Karone and K--Lyra and I were fourteen when that picture was taken," he said after a brief pause. "Zhane and Zyanya would have been fifteen, and Kir and Renn were sixteen." He sighed. "They were dead six months later."

Ashley opened her mouth and then closed it again. No matter how true it was, saying 'I'm sorry' wasn't going to take his pain away, so she said nothing. He hugged her back this time when she wrapped her arms around him, his shoulders trembling slightly as he forced back the emotions threatening to overwhelm him.

"I miss them," he whispered, and she held him closer.

"I know you do," she murmured, stroking his hair soothingly.

Andros drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, fighting for his composure back. Ashley released him the moment he straightened up again, watching sadly as he quickly wiped away the few tears that had escaped his control. He glanced back at her as though he were going to speak but changed his mind.

He stood and placed returned the photo gently to its place on his dresser. When he turned back to her, there was another, smaller picture in his hands. He handed it to her silently, and she couldn't but smile at what she saw. Andros, Karone, and a girl who bore a striking resemblance to he first pink ranger were squashed together on the couch in the Observatory, Andros in the middle with the arms of the two girls wrapped around him. Strangely, she wasn't irked to see Andros in someone else's arms this time; she almost wanted to laugh, and she probably would have if she hadn't been worried that she would hurt him by doing so.

"That's her?" she questioned gently.

"Yeah." He surprised her by speaking instead of merely nodding. "That's Zeah. And I'm not as angry as I look there," he added, this time glancing over her shoulder to stare at the picture himself. "It's Zhane's fault."

Ashley giggled before she could help herself. "I'm sure it was."

"It was," he insisted, and sighed. "I didn't want to be in the picture. But it's the only photo I have of her."

She stared hard at the picture, smiling as she contrasted Andros's sullen expression to the joy on Zeah's face. Looking more closely, the way that Zeah and Karone had their arms around Andros made Ashley think that they were holding him still long enough for Zhane to snap the picture.

"I keep forgetting what she looks like," he confessed, and Ashley looked up. "The others, too... even my parents. I can't remember-- not what they looked like or how they acted, not without thinking about it."

Ashley nodded sympathetically and reached for his hands. "My grandma and grandpa on my mom's side of the family died when I was seven and eight," she told him, sliding her fingers through his. "It's not really the same, but I know what you mean... I know that I loved them, but I only remember these strange little things about them. But my brother, it's almost scary how he remembers everything about them."

Andros almost looked relieved. "It's not just me, then?" He kicked at the floor when she appeared surprised at the outburst, mumbling, "Zhane and Karone haven't forgotten."

"How do you know?" she asked him gently. "Have you ever talked to them?"

He shook his head. "Sometimes they'll say something that reminds me of them, that's all," he muttered. "They never would have given up," he told her abruptly, his eyes flicking towards the first picture as he set he second back where it belonged. "Sometimes... I used to think that it's the only reason we're still here," he admitted. "We have to keep fighting, for them."

"You've done a better job of it than anyone has the right to expect of any of you," she promised him, scooting closer to hug him again. "Are you going to be okay?"

"If we can get to Auriga before what's left of the colony is completely destroyed," he said, and sighed. "They'll have to move again."

"I know," Ashley agreed. "And we'll help them. Now," she continued, turning to face him, "you weren't planning on spending the next three hours all alone in here, were you?"

Andros sighed heavily. "Ash..."

"Hey, if you want me to leave, all you have to do is say so," she hastened to add, and he relaxed a little. "Do you want me to go?"

He was silent for several minutes before he finally said, "No. But I don't want to talk about this anymore, either," he continued, and Ashley nodded her head.

"Then we won't," she agreed. "Anything else you'd rather do?"

"I..." Andros looked away when his mind, rather inexplicably as far as he was concerned, flashed back to the two of them on the Simudeck only an hour before. He swallowed, his throat very dry. All he wanted to do was kiss her... Suddenly annoyed with his train of thoughts, he shook his head and glanced back at her. "What do you want to do?"

"Well..." Ashley hesitated. "At breakfast yesterday, you said you'd teach me telekinesis?"

"I said I'd try," he corrected her, but smiled faintly. It pleased him to no end that she even wanted to learn, regardless of whether or not she could. He tilted his head at her, suddenly hoping very much that she really would be able to learn, and not just telekinesis. Empathy was inborn as far as he knew--not to mention that he wasn't empathic himself, but telepathy could be taught...

"Do you want to start now?"

Ashley smiled at him and nodded eagerly. "You're the best," she beamed at him. He smiled back at her; a tiny smile, true, but it was still a smile, and somehow that made her far happier than she felt she should be.

Andros slid closer to her, one arm wrapping around her waist from the front and pulling her up straight. His other hand held hers, steadying her arm. "Start like this," he said in her ear, his breath warm against her skin. "All you have to do is relax," he continued. "Just concentrate..."