Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers.

Chapter 21

Cassie left the med bay to take a quick break, and Ashley let out a heavy sigh. There still hadn't been word from TJ and Carlos. She wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or not. They knew that the Mega Winger was beyond salvageable, but as for its two pilots... Andros twitched, and Ashley hurried across the room to grab his hand. For his sake, she prayed that they were both still alive.

Andros groaned quietly, his eyes opening as he stirred. Her palm resting against his shoulder didn't keep him from trying to sit up, but she just pushed him back down and leaned her head down towards his.

"Hey," she murmured, lightly kissing his cheek. "You're going to want to hold still--you've got another concussion."

"I--I couldn't have guessed." His voice was strained with pain, but it brought a smile to her face.

Andros paused for breath, before asking through obviously grit teeth, "Ash... what happened?"

Ashley took a deep breath. "We were battling the Psychos," she said tentatively. "You remember?"

"Some," he mumbled after a moment of thought. Andros squeezed his eyes shut against the light, dim as it was. "Karone... Zhane...

Ashley swallowed. She truly didn't want to be the one to tell him--but not telling him could be worse. "TJ and Carlos went out to look for them. They haven't come back yet."

With an obvious effort, Andros opened his eyes and squinted at her. "What?"

"The Mega Winger is trashed," she told him gently. "The two Psychos are gone, but we can't find Zhane and Karone."

"No." Andros shook his head, then immediately cried out and pressed his hands to his temples. "No," he repeated, his heavy breathing almost drowning out the word. "T--they're not... They're not. They can't be."

"I'm sure they're fine," Ashley lied. "They're both fighters."

She stroked his cheek, and added, "Worry about yourself for awhile, okay? I'll get you a pain reliever."

He closed his eyes again. Ashley returned with the pain reliever as quickly as she could, and helped him sit up slowly. He gagged as he swallowed the clear liquid, but he managed to keep it down. Andros stayed like that for awhlie longer, Ashley just standing there holding him in a one-armed hug.

"You think you can stand up?" she ventured, when he trembled slightly. Ashley wasn't sure if it was due to pain or emotion, or both, but she wanted to get him out of the med bay before TJ and Carlos returned. "You should get some rest."

Andros was silent. "Yeah," he muttered finally. "I can."

He almost couldn't. Ashley caught him when he swayed, steadying him as he glanced over at Deca's nearest eye. "Could you--Thanks," she finished, as she found them both in Andros's bedroom. "C'mon, you'll feel better if you sleep this off."

Andros let her get him into bed but refused to lay down. He wasn't going to sleep until he knew where Zhane and Karone were, he said. Ashley half-heartedly threatened to sedate him, but then slid into the bed beside him and slipped her arm around his shoulders.

"You could at least lie down, you know," she said, keeping her voice soft enough that it wouldn't aggravate his headache. "You'd be more comfortable, and your head would probably hurt less."

That it didn't take anything more to convince him told her just how much pain he was in. Slowly, he settled himself on his side and rested his head against her hip. He fumbled around to find her hand, and Ashley hid a smile as she squeezed his fingers; hiss eyes were already closing.

She touched his hair carefully and bent down to kiss his cheek, straightening up slowly to wait for news of Zhane and Karone.

---

The Power still healed him. Andros opened his eyes and sighed in relief when his head only twinged to move. His headache was still there, but he was too relieved that it no longer felt as though someone had trampled across his brain with the Megazord to care.

He looked to the side and frowned, seeing that Ashley was gone again. He knew that she'd been there; he remembered her waking him up several times, but now she was just gone.

"Deca?" he asked groggily. "Where's Ashley?"

"Ashley is in the infirmary," Deca replied, and Andros pushed back the covers.

"Where are Karone and Zhane?" he demanded, determinedly ignoring the queasy feeling in his stomach.

"They are also in the infirmary."

Andros froze. "They're not..."

"They will both be fine," Deca assured him, and he exhaled slowly.

"I have to see them," he murmured, more to himself than her. He paused when he climbed to his feet, glancing back at Deca. "How long was I asleep?"

"Seven hours, fifty-five minutes, and--"

"Okay," he broke in. "So I should be fine."

"I would recommend--"

"I'm fine, Deca," he insisted. Andros shoved his feet into his boots and grabbed his jacket, heading straight for the med bay.

The moment light hit his eyes, he knew it had been a mistake. The pounding in his head, reduced to a faint throb, suddenly intensified and he thought he cried out. He had the oddest sensation of floating; then his knees hit the floor hard and pain stabbed sharply through his brain.

Nausea swept over him. Andros clenched his fists and squeezed his eyes shut, breathing heavily through his nose. He really should go back to bed, he knew, but even more than that, he needed to know where his sister was.

Carefully, he picked himself up. Andros had no idea how he kept on his feet, but it wasn't something he was going to question just now. Slowly, he continued towards the med bay, thinking that maybe he'd get himself another pain reliever while he was at it.

He stopped cold in the doorway. His eyes were drawn to the two beds in the room, where Zhane and Karone both lay, motionless. Bandages covered much of their faces and both of Karone's arms. Zhane's left arm was in a cast, and while Andros couldn't see their lower bodies, he had a sickening suspicion that it wasn't just their upper bodies that were injured.

Andros took a stumbling step forward into the room, the panicked rush of blood in his ears deafening him. His sister, his twin sister--all that was left of his family--was just lying there, unmoving, barely breathing. He swallowed hard, not sure that he wasn't imagining the rise and fall of her chest.

"Andros," Carlos was the first to notice him. "You should be in bed, man."

"I--I... I'm fine." Hardly hearing him, Andros couldn't tear his eyes away from Zhane and Karone. "Will they... I mean..."

"They'll be fine," Cassie said gently. "They just need rest--as do you."

He shook his head firmly, not even noticing how much pain accompanied the motion. "No. I need to be here."

"You need to rest," Carlos informed him. "They're going to be fine."

"But--"

"We'll tell you the moment anything changes," TJ added. "They're healing just fine. And you will heal faster with rest."

"I'm fine," Andros insisted. Though it didn't at all, he added, "My head feels fine."

"That's the pain reliever," Carlos corrected. "You need at least a day for the Power to heal you, and it works faster if you're asleep."

"I know that," he said irritably. "But I feel well enough to think, and we need a plan. The Psychos--"

"We're working on it," Cassie assured him. "But you still need your sleep."

"I don't care," he almost shouted. "I want to be here with them."

"Hey, you shouldn't be shouting in here--Andros, what are you doing out of bed?" Ashley demanded, as she entered the med bay. "You're supposed to be sleeping."

"I don't care," he snapped at her. "I'm not leaving until they wake up."

"Andros, they're going to be fine," she promised him. "They're just asleep."

"I'm not leaving them," he insisted. Softly, he added, "Please, Ash... I can't run away this time."

Understanding softened her face, and she sighed. "Will it make you feel better?"

Andros nodded his head yes--and winced. His head throbbed, making him reach for his temples before he thought to try and hide the pain. Ashley reached out and wrapped a steadying arm around his waist, pressing the cup that Cassie passed her into his hand.

"Drink," she ordered. "The pain reliever's gone; you're going back to bed."

He did as he was told. His headache seemed to have faded by the time they reached his room again, but Ashley ignored that and pushed him towards his bunk. Andros started to protest, but when she curled up with him, he really couldn't.

"You're not leaving this room for at least another twelve hours," she told him. "And I don't care what you say, I'll tie you down if I have to. Got it?"

He nodded his head slowly. "Good. And also," she continued, "Zhane and Karone are not dying. They're banged up pretty badly, but they'll be completely fine."

"Thank you." Andros smiled faintly. "And you're not leaving either."

"Oh really?" Ashley poked a finger into his chest. "And why's that?"

"Because I'm not letting you go," he informed her, and the arm draped over her shoulders hugged her a little closer. "I love you."

"Love you too," she murmured, and kissed him.

He kissed her back, letting the feel of her lips against his soothe him, reassuring him that everything would be okay. His eyes closed as her lips trailed softly all across his face, tickling his ear just a little bit. Andros groaned softly when she kissed just beneath his jaw, opening his eyes in disappointment when she pulled away.

"Rest," she murmured, brushing her lips over his forehead once more. "I'll tell you the moment anything changes. They'll be fine--all three of you have thick heads."

Andros tried, but couldn't quite manage, to smile. "I have to see them," he mumbled. His eyes were suddenly anywhere but on her. "I need to apologize--"

"You don't," Ashley said sharply, her voice still thankfully soft. "Zhane was the one that blew up the zord, wasn't he?"

"My fault," he insisted. "I--"

"How exactly was it your fault?" she demanded. "The Megaship was still damaged--and don't you dare try to tell me that it's your fault we were attacked like that. You did the best that you could."

"But--"

"No buts," Ashley said firmly. "I don't want to hear it."

"But--"

Ashley pressed her fingers to his lips, silencing him. "I said, I don't want to hear it."

She felt him sigh. He kissed her fingers, and she pulled her hand away, smiling at him. "Much better."

"Ash... it just seems like there was something more that I should have done," he said quietly. "That's all."

"It always does," she agreed. She touched his cheek with a sigh. "But that doesn't mean that you didn't do everything that you could have done."

"It's not that easy," he protested.

"Sure it is," she told him. "It's not your fault, and you need to believe that."

Andros sighed. "Ash..."

"C'mon," she coaxed. "Say it."

He glared at her for a minute, then closed his eyes. He muttered something under his breath that Ashley couldn't hear, and she smiled. Careful not to disturb him, she tweaked a few strands of his hair between her fingers and kissed his forehead.

"What was that?" she prodded. "I couldn't hear you."

He expelled his breath in a sigh but kept his eyes closed. Ashley realized then that he really was tired. She knew she really should let him rest, but to her surprise, he opened his mouth and mumbled tiredly, "Not my fault."

"Good boy," she whispered teasingly. "Now get some rest."

Ashley tucked her head against his shoulder carefully when his eyes closed, just resting there with him for a few moments. Andros's breathing was already deepening, and she contemplated just drifting off herself. She hadn't realized how tired she was...

Andros shifted slightly, and she heard him chuckle quietly. Ashley cracked one eye open and couldn't help laughing herself. Quickly, she reached up and pulled her cat off of the pillow, where he was happily butting against Andros's nose in hope of attention.

"You," Andros sighed, poking a finger at the furball Ashley cuddled, quietly giggling, against her cheek. "What did you want?"

Oddball purred and batted at his finger. Andros couldn't help smiling slightly as Oddball squirmed out of Ashley's grasp and pounced on his wrist, before deciding it was as good a place of any for a nap.

"Aww, look how cute," Ashley giggled at him. "See, he's making sure you can't go anywhere, either."

Andros wrinkled his nose at her. "You're still not allowed to leave."

"No," Ashley murmured and snuggled closer. "I know."