Disclaimer: The Power Rangers are not mine.

Chapter 16

"Useless failures." Lyra kicked at Psycho Pink in frustration. "Can't anyone do anything right around here?"

"We were the ones that captured her," Psycho Pink retorted. "We're the ones that do all the work. We should have gotten her."

"You work for us," Cosmos snapped at her. "If we say to capture a ranger, then you capture a ranger--but you don't do as you'd like with the ranger."

"Shouldn't that be for us to decide?" Psycho Blue growled. "You need us, and there's more of us than there are of you."

"But we're stronger than you," Cosmos reminded them. "So you'll do as we say."

"Stronger than us?" Psycho Red stepped forward. "I don't think so."

Cosmos glanced at Lyra warily. She smirked slightly and nodded, drawing one hand back. He turned his head to the side and closed his eyes, the intense golden light still penetrating his closed eyelids.

"We created you," she said coldly to the fallen Psychos. "You're second to us when it comes to power, and you'll do well to remember that. Now, get up and get to work."

"I don't think so." Psycho Black struggled back to his feet. "We don't work for you anymore."

"Well, then," Lyra said slowly. There was only one thing to do now, but it seemed such a shame after the work they had put into this plan seemingly guaranteed to take down both Dark Spectre and the Power Rangers. "We have no further use for you."

---

"Look," Andros sighed. "I know I should have told you sooner, but we were all distracted. I know now that I can't fight it off, and I'm not stupid enough to try. Until I know what triggers this and how to fix it, I won't even think about morphing."

"Okay," Karone agreed. She sighed and smiled sadly. "I'm sorry."

"So am I," Andros muttered, then shook his head. "I'll be fine."

"Hey, don't worry about any of this," Carlos spoke up before Karone could disagree. "You'll be back in no time."

Andros smiled faintly and shrugged. "Deca's been running tests for the last several hours. It'll probably be days before there's anything I can do about it."

"Lucky you," TJ teased him. "You can relax while we're out saving the world from total destruction."

"Thanks, you guys," Andros said quietly, their less than subtle efforts to cheer him up greatly appreciated even if they weren't greatly effective. "And really, I'll be fine."

"If you say so," Karone relented. "But if you even start to feel--"

"I'll go see Deca," he assured his sister. "Really, I will."

Karone shot him a suspicious look, but Carlos spoke up before she could say anymore. "I just want to ask one thing," he told Andros. "You don't have to answer."

"What is it?" Andros shifted around uneasily.

"Yesterday," Carlos said, "with Ash--did you know what you were doing?"

Andros glanced away. "Yeah," he muttered. "I did. I knew what I was doing, but I couldn't stop it..."

"You would have," Carlos surprised him by saying. "You wouldn't have hurt her."

Andros smiled thinly. "You don't know that."

"You don't know that you wouldn't have, either," Carlos retorted, and Andros decided to let the subject drop. This was the same person who not so long ago had told him that Ashley was "one of us," after all. He'd take what he could get.

"Thanks," he said softly. He would have said more, but the loud protests he heard down the hall distracted him.

"I'm fine," Ashley's voice was insisting. "They didn't touch me, and I don't need to stay in the med bay!"

Andros looked at them questioningly, and Carlos nodded. "She's fine."

He hid a smile. "She always is."

Ashley appeared in the doorway, glaring around the room until her eyes landed on him. "Andros," she whined, "tell them I'm fine!"

Andros rolled his eyes. "Deca?"

"She is unharmed," Deca confirmed, "but I believe she should be resting."

"I don't need--"

"Ash, you were captured by the Psycho Rangers," Cassie broke in as she entered the room. "Just lie down for awhile?"

"I'll walk you to your room," Andros offered before Ashley could protest again. "I want to talk to you."

"Fine," Ashley agreed reluctantly. She let him wrap an arm around her shoulders and lead her off of the bridge. If nothing else, she did love to have him close.

Andros didn't speak until they were nearly at her door, just walking with one arm holding her close to his side. When they rounded the final corner, he slowed his pace slightly, turning to look at her.

"I was worried about you," he told her softly.

"I know." Ashley's arms slid around him in a sideways hug. "You're sweet."

"I'm serious," he insisted. He stopped walking entirely in order to hug her back. "I was really worried about you."

"I know." Ashley turned her head to the side, resting her cheek on his shoulder. "You're sweet," she repeated, nuzzling his neck with her lips. "And I love you."

"I love you too," he murmured. He held onto her for a moment longer, smiling faintly when he released her. "Go get some rest."

"Is that an order?" she inquired mildly.

"Yes," Andros answered without thinking. "I mean, no," he corrected himself when Ashley arched an eyebrow at him, and sighed ruefully. "If it was an order, would you take it?"

"I asked first." Ashley's eyes sparkled at him challengingly. "Is that an order?"

Andros hesitated. "Yes," he decided, realizing he'd get himself into trouble no matter what he answered. "It's an order."

"I'm ignoring it," Ashley informed him cheerfully. "Unless, of course, I had some company," she added.

She smiled mischievously, and he had to laugh. "Well..."

"I'll take that as a yes," Ashley decided, and tugged on his arms until he followed her into her room.

He settled himself on her bed while she disappeared into the bathroom to change into something clean. A soft crunching sound across the room caught his attention and his eyes landed on Oddball a moment later, noisily enjoying his lunch. He watched the cat for a while longer, until Ashley appeared again.

Andros had his arms around her the moment she dropped down beside him on her bed. Ashley squirmed around just enough to face him, pressing a kiss to his lips. "Andros," she said softly. "Did you really want to talk?"

"We could talk if you wanted to." He shrugged. "I just wanted to be with you."

Ashley caught herself just before telling him again how sweet he was. Instead she just snuggled up to him and closed her eyes, letting him hold onto her as long as he wanted to. Or needed to. She'd tried to make light of his words a few moments before, but Ashley knew that Andros had been understating his feelings when he said that he had been worried.

"Hey, it's okay," she murmured into his neck. "I'm okay."

"Yeah," he said sheepishly, his arms around her loosening slightly. "Sorry. I just couldn't stop thinking about you this morning..."

"I couldn't stop thinking about you, either." Ashley giggled suddenly, though it really wasn't funny. "I thought I heard your voice a few times."

"You... what?" There was an odd note in his voice that made her look up at him.

"I thought I heard you," she repeated. "Why, what's wrong?"

"Ashley..." She heard his voice loud and clear, though his lips hadn't moved.

"Okay," she said slowly. "How did you do that?"

"Telepathy," he explained, speaking aloud now. "I didn't know if you could hear me or not."

"Wait... I'm telepathic?"

He nodded slowly and she nuzzled close again, pillowing her head on his shoulder. "Cool."

"Cool?" He repeated, laughing. "That's all you have to say?"

"I've gotten used to strange things." She grinned up at him. "Can you teach me?"

"Of course I will. But later," he told her. "You'll exhaust yourself quickly when you're just learning to control it, and you're already tired enough right now."

"I'm not--"

"You are," Andros interrupted, kissing her cheek. "Even if you don't think so, you're tired. It can be dangerous to strain yourself too much when you're learning to control your telepathy."

"You sure know how to take the fun out of everything," she complained good-naturedly. "Are you sure it's worth it?"

"Sorry." Andros shrugged at her, smiling. "And yes, it's worth it."

"I was kidding, you know."

"Oh." Andros paused, then added quickly, "I knew that."

Ashley burst out in giggles. "You are so cute sometimes," she said through her laughter. "You have no idea."

Andros glared at her indignantly, though he was smiling. Ashley giggled again, and he glanced down just in time to see Oddball hop up onto Ashley's lap.

"You're cute too," she informed the kitten. Oddball purred and licked her hand, and Ashley rolled her eyes. "I'll play with you in a minute. Go eat some more."

Oddball didn't, and Andros jumped as the kitten hopped over into his lap. "He has sharp claws," he complained, wincing as Oddball kneaded into the skin just above his knee. "That hurts."

"Take him off of your lap, then." Ashley laughed at him, but her voice was serious when she spoke. "Andros? Has Deca found out any way to reverse the Power again?"

"No," he said quietly, not taking his eyes off of Oddball. "She hasn't."

"She will," Ashley assured him, sliding an arm around his shoulders. "You know it'll be okay."

"Yeah," he said, his voice no louder than before. "I know."

"Cosmos and Lyra have appeared in Angel Grove," Deca broke in, and both their head snapped up in alarm. "They are both in civilian form."

"That... is not good," Ashley muttered, scrambling to her feet. "We're on our way."

---

Andros had refused to stay behind this time, and no one had even attempted to talk him out accompanying them. They weren't headed into battle after all, not unless they were provoked into it. Which was likely, but catching up to Cosmos and Lyra and figuring out what they were up to wasn't guaranteed to end in a fight.

They weren't difficult to find. It took them all of ten minutes to catch up to them, and that was only because the discreet location that the rangers teleported down to was halfway across town.

The two of them were seated at a park bench when the rangers burst into sight, almost lounging. Cosmos caught sight of them first, glancing up when the rangers emerged from behind the trees.

Lyra turned around when Cosmos tapped her on the shoulder, a smirk spreading across her face. "So nice to see you again, rangers."

"Enough of that," Andros snapped, pushing his way to the front of the group. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, there's plenty to choose from," Lyra said airily. "Movies, shopping, picnics, take your pick."

"We didn't come here to fight with you," Cosmos added.

"You expect us to believe you're just here on a date?" TJ demanded.

"You can if you want to--"

"We came here to talk to you," Cosmos informed them, and Lyra finally grew serious.

"Yes," she agreed, her eyes almost troubled. "We have a proposition for you."