Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers.

Chapter 15

All she'd wanted to do was go out and think. Ashley gave another fruitless tug on the cuffs binding her wrists together and sighed, slumping over against the cold wall of her small cell. The cuffs were holding strong and she knew it was useless to try the door.

She'd been relieved to find Andros gone upon waking up. She'd meant every word when she'd told him that it wasn't his fault... but crawling into bed with him had still been one of the scariest things she'd ever done. Andros would never hurt her--but for a few moments the day before, Andros hadn't been Andros, and Ashley knew that's all the time that it would take.

Going home for the day had seemed like the best option. She could see her family and have plenty of time to decide what to do about Andros. It had been a good plan up until the part where the Psychos grabbed her half a block from her home. She'd fought them of course, but when she couldn't even hold off one of them, she didn't stand a chance against three.

Ashley kicked at the wall. Surprisingly, it helped. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, trying to think. She had to find out where she was and what they wanted with her. Well... Ashley decided she didn't want to know what they wanted with her.

"Yellow ranger."

Ashley's head snapped up. "How did you get in here?"

Lyra sighed. "Magic, remember?"

Ashley didn't respond to that. "What do you want?" she asked finally. Lyra just standing there watching her was beginning to get on her nerves.

She shrugged. "I was bored. I thought visiting you might prove entertaining."

"So sorry to disappoint you," Ashley said sarcastically.

"You haven't." Lyra smirked. "You know, I'm sure your friends have noticed that you're gone by now. They'll be worried. Especially Andros."

"They wouldn't be worried if you just let me go," Ashley pointed out.

Lyra raised an eyebrow. "I don't think so."

Ashley shrugged bravely. She didn't feel as scared as she thought she should. Andros had been vague with the details, but the way his expression would darken every time he mentioned Zeah should have been enough to make her terrified of what was coming.

"Andros would do anything for you," Lyra said quietly, studying her intently. "He'd do anything that I told him to in order to get you back."

Ashley felt sick. Lyra was right about that, and Ashley didn't want to know what she'd just cost Andros. "He won't need to," she retorted. "I don't need him to save me."

Lyra's smile looked almost genuine. "No," she agreed, amused. "He needs you to save him."

Ashley kept quiet, knowing that anything she said in response to that would only make her situation worse. Lyra was only half right--Andros did someone to fight at his side and watch out for him, but so did the rest of them. No one of them could do it alone.

"Does he know you love him?" Lyra asked suddenly.

"That's none of your business."

"Probably not. But I'd hate to kill you if he doesn't know."

"How kind of you," Ashley muttered. "But you'd still kill me?"

"Yes." Lyra smirked. "But I'd hate to."

Ashley hesitated. "I don't think you would," she informed her, feeling her heart pound. "Andros would have killed me yesterday if you hadn't stopped him."

"I wanted the pleasure for myself," Lyra replied smoothly. "It's just not fair if Andros gets to kill you, too."

"You should have killed her," Ashley said softly, suddenly not afraid. She was angry now, furious that Lyra had the nerve to talk this way. "You should have killed her!"

"I know."

Ashley waited, but Lyra didn't say anymore. "Then why didn't you?" she demanded. "Why did you make him do it?"

Lyra was smirking again. "Would you believe that it seemed like a good idea at the time?"

"No," Ashley growled. "You wanted to hurt him."

"Why not?" Lyra shrugged. "It's fun."

"He doesn't think so." Ashley's fists were clenched as she tried not to scream. "You've taken too many people away from him."

"But they were fun for me," Lyra said cheerfully. "Most things I've done to him are fun."

Ashley let out a very slow breath. "If you ever hurt him again--"

"You'll kill me?" Lyra raised an eyebrow. "You don't have it in you, yellow ranger--and you won't be around to follow through with it."

She was probably right about the first part. Ashley sighed inwardly. It was one thing to take down Quantrons, destroying metal circuitry. Taking another human life, even if it was Lyra's, wasn't something Ashley was sure that she could do.

But Ashley had no intention of sticking around long enough for either the Psychos or Lyra herself to kill her. Somehow, she was going to get out of here.

---

"Any sign of her?" Andros leaned over Karone's shoulder, trying to glimpse the results of the scan.

"Sorry." She sighed and shook her head. "Deca, you can tell the guys that they can stop searching for the time being. I'm not picking up any trace of her."

His face fell. "The Dark Fortress."

"You don't know that," Karone was quick to assure him. "And even if she is that doesn't mean... We don't even know if she was captured."

Andros glared at her. "Her glider is here, she's not answering her communicator, and Deca can't find her signal on Earth. Where else would she be?"

Karone didn't answer.

"Is the Dark Fortress the only place that they'd take her?" Cassie wanted to know. "I mean, you guys keep escaping from there."

Karone smiled faintly. "I doubt she's on the Dark Fortress. Lyra's smarter than that; she knows that's the first place we'd look."

Andros growled softly and kicked at his chair in frustration. "I have to find her."

"Hey, calm down," Cassie said sharply, laying a hand on his shoulder. "You're not helping her any like this."

He slumped slightly when she gave his shoulder a slight squeeze. "I have to find her," he repeated, not protesting when Cassie pulled him into a hug. "I have to."

"We'll find her," she assured him quietly. "Don't worry about that."

"I am worried," he retorted. That was something of an understatement, actually; he felt a moment away from being sick. "And I'm going to feel that way until we find her."

"Andros," Karone began, and he rounded on her.

"Don't tell me to calm down," he snapped. "You of all people know what she's capable of."

He felt Cassie stiffen. "I forgot about that," she whispered. "Lyra, she was the one who--"

"No," Andros muttered. "I was the one who killed her. Lyra only made it necessary."

"Lyra killed her," Karone snapped at him and he saw Cassie nod her agreement. "If you ask anyone else, they'll tell you the same."

"No, Karone," he said quietly. "I killed her and I accept that. That she was dying anyway doesn't change the fact that I killed Zeah, and that I couldn't--" He stopped, realizing too late that he shouldn't tell them that.

"That you couldn't what, Andros?" Karone met his eyes calmly and he glanced away.

"That I couldn't control myself yesterday doesn't change the fact that I almost killed Ashley," he said much more calmly than he felt. Karone's eyes widened and Cassie stepped away from him slightly.

"Were you planning on telling us this?" Karone demanded, glaring at him.

"Of course I was," he defended himself. "I thought that's what you wanted me on the bridge for this morning, actually. I was going to tell you, but with Ashley gone..."

"You still should have told us," Karone insisted, but her anger was muted now.

"Andros, you don't think it's possible that Ashley left because of that?" Cassie asked him.

He shook his head. "No. She was there when I woke up last night and she was still there when I woke up again this morning. She kept telling me that I wasn't the one who had tried to hurt her and wouldn't listen to anything else I tried to say."

"Okay," Cassie said slowly. "I'll take your word for it--but as soon as we find Ashley, we're all going to have a long talk with you."

Andros couldn't say that was surprising. "Can we get back to looking for her, then?"

Cassie nodded. "I think that would be a good idea."

Andros closed his eyes. Where are you, Ash? He tensed suddenly, wondering if maybe... "Ashley? Can you hear me?"

---

"Andros?" Hearing his voice startled her, and she looked around for him. The Psychos didn't seem to notice, still arguing amongst themselves. No sooner had Lyra left than three of them had appeared, each feeling that they were entitled to her life force.

Naturally, Ashley disagreed, but they didn't seem to be much interested in her opinion. Gripping the wall with her hands, she slowly pulled herself to her feet. She was going to get out of here.

"Andros?" she called again, but there was no answer. Great, now she was hallucinating.

Ashley sighed, her eyes widening when she saw that the Psychos had left the cell door open behind them. "Hey," she shouted, loudly enough to catch their attention. "You're not going to kill me."

"Yes, we are," Psycho Yellow corrected her almost absentmindedly. "She's my ranger," she whined to the other two. "Get your own."

"We helped you capture her," Psycho Violet snapped back. "We're all entitled to her equally."

"We did most of the work," Psycho Pink agreed. "We should get her."

"I should get her."

"Stay out of this," Psycho Yellow growled at Psycho Violet. "You didn't do anything."

Ashley couldn't help rolling her eyes at them. "Do you think Lyra will be happy if you kill me? She wants to do that herself."

"We don't need her anymore," Psycho Pink informed her. "We don't care what she thinks."

That wasn't good to hear. Ashley swallowed hard, eyeing the door once again. If they didn't need her to deliver to Lyra, then she had to act fast. Taking a deep breath, she ran.

---

"I've got her!" Zhane shouted excitedly. "Come on, you guys, let's get down there."

Andros had his morpher open before he caught himself. "I can't," he said softly, clenching his fists in frustration. "You guys hurry up."

"Andros--"

"We'll explain on the way," Cassie told TJ. "Let's go."

Andros heaved a heavy sigh as the five other rangers left the bridge. This was worse than having no morpher at all, having to watch helplessly while they fought without him.

"Deca, main viewing screen," he ordered. He had to know what was happening.

Deca complied, and his heart almost stopped when he saw Ashley. She was running, staggering slightly. Her hands were cuffed in front of her but she was still morphed, and he took that as a good sign.

His heart started pounding when three streaks of light--pink, yellow, and violet--flashed by. The Psycho Rangers landed in front of her and Ashley fell back into what looked like a defensive stance as best she could. Andros almost smiled; she would never just surrender to them. Even if she died, she would die fighting.

He just hoped with all his heart that she wouldn't die. Ashley managed to dodge the first few shots the Psychos threw at her, but she couldn't evade them forever. Andros stopped breathing when she took a shot to the chest, forcing himself to relax when Ashley staggered back to her feet.

"Ash," he muttered. "Deca, teleport me down there." He didn't care that he couldn't morph. The others were nowhere in sight, and he couldn't stand just watching a moment longer. "Deca!"

The AI didn't respond. Andros glared briefly at Deca's eye, his eyes widening as he turned back to the viewing screen. He'd missed something important; Psycho Violet now held Ashley as a human shield and Psycho Yellow had collapsed to her knees. Psycho Pink must have been the one to attack, he figured, seeing her outstretched hand.

"Deca, you have to get me down there," he insisted. "I have to help her."

"You are not needed," Deca told him gently. "The other rangers have arrived."

He glanced at the screen again and saw that she was right. The rest of the team ran into view, Cassie and Zhane hurrying over to support Ashley while TJ cut the cuffs from her wrists. Andros relaxed slightly, knowing that she could defend herself now.

Psycho Pink and Psycho Violet vanished, abandoning the weakened Psycho Yellow. Andros did smile now as he watched the rangers line up and draw their weapons, Ashley in the lead. She was angry and it showed, but it wasn't hindering her.

It was working for her. Ashley leapt into the air with Carlos not far behind, the to of them teaming up to attack. Ashley fired while still in mid-air, Carlos slashing Psycho Yellow across the chest while she was still reeling from Ashley's shot.

TJ and Cassie were next, attacking from both sides while Ashley and Carlos turned to fire again. The blow from TJ's Astro Ax sent her stumbling sideways, directly into Cassie's line of fire. Psycho Yellow groaned, and Andros relaxed a little more.

Zhane and Karone went last, moving in from the front. Their moves mirrored each other right down to the moment Psycho Yellow flew backwards and landed sprawled across the grass.

Ashley drew her blaster and the other rangers did likewise, firing as one the moment Psycho Yellow was on her feet again. The smoke from the resulting explosion was all that he could see for the next minute but the moment he could see again, Andros was sure that Psycho Yellow was gone.

"We did it!" someone shouted from behind him, and Andros whirled around. "One down!"

That was certainly something to celebrate, but Andros wasn't paying much attention to Zhane's antics. Ashley demorphed, golden sparkles fading to reveal her slightly battered and bruised but otherwise uninjured. Weak with relief, Andros stepped forward and gathered her into his arms.

"Ash..." He couldn't think of anything else to say, but it didn't matter. He held her to him, the strength of her grip convincing him that she was all right.

"Don't worry," she insisted, hugging his neck a little harder. "I'm okay."