Author's Note: It's been awhile. I'm pretty sure I know how I'm gonna end this story. The 'n' key on my keyboard doesn't work well. There may be typos because of that.
Chapter 15
Saturday, Nov. 30, 2001
11:32 AM
Command Center
The commotion woke Trini from her blessedly deep sleep. If there hadn't been yelling and a crash or two, she might actually have been a little pissed that someone woke her up from such a good sleep, as sleep was few and far between these days. As it was, she was out of the bed and had jeans pulled over her hips in less than a minute, and was out the door before Billy, sleeping in the bed next to her, had even stumbled into his own jeans (blasted man could sleep through anything, which wasn't even an exaggeration). Trini barely even had time to register the fact that Zach's bed, which was on Billy's other side, was empty before she bolted down the hallway.
She came to a sliding, confused halt in the entrance to the main portion of the Command Center, Billy about thirty seconds behind her. A woman was kneeling on the floor before Zordon's tube, and Jason, Zach and Zhane were in front of her, yelling. Well, more like Jason was standing in front of her, Zach was yelling, and Zhane was looking upset about something from his place a little behind and to the side of Zach.
"Move," a hard voice demanded from behind Trini and Billy, and Trini blurred around to glare and snap at him that he was in her home, to be more polite and shove it, would'ya, until a softer voice – Ashley's – came from behind him. "Please? He's worried about his friend."
Trini didn't get a chance to respond before the former Prince of Evil pushed past her, striding hurriedly towards the woman whose head was now lifted to watch the preceding yelling match between the red and black rangers. Andros knelt beside her, Ashley still at his back. Trini moved closer to get an ear in on the conversation. "...did you come to arrive here? And may I inquire as to why?"
The blonde woman, hair spilling all over her face and bags under her eyes, smiling without actually smiling. It was a depressing look, especially on someone who looked so breakable. "Everyone has their secrets, my friend." The woman shot a glance at Jason, then moved her hand down to her stomach. "Some have more than one."
"You're pregnant?" Ashley's voice rang out over the room, and it was just one of those moments – the yelling had dimmed and it seemed like the air was dead the moment the words left her mouth.
The blonde stood up, reaching out the grasp Jason's forearms. He stepped back from Zach and pulled her up, stepping behind her and turning her half into him, but so that everyone could still see them both. "Yes, she is, and yes, the baby is mine. Any more questions?" Jason's chin went up defiantly, his eyes slicing across the room.
Silence, then, "What the actual fuck, Jason? You've been having an affair with the enemy!" Zach burst out.
Zordon finally seemed to have had enough, "SILENCE!" And, low and behold, there was silence, "Zach, please hold your own counsel until you've heard the entire story. If you would all, in fact, return to your beds so that I may speak to Katherine and Jason alone?"
"No, please. They deserve to hear this." Katherine, because that was apparently her name, spoke for the second time. She also put a powerful looking elbow into Jason's stomach and gave him a glare. "They are Jason's friends and teammates, and it will honestly be easier to explain it merely once."
Trini spoke, because it seemed like no one else either wanted to, or would just resort to yelling. "So tell us what happened, then, and make it fast, before I personally boot your and Jason's asses out for a while."
Katherine blinked at her, then inclined her head, "Fearsome, yellow rangers. If no one would mind, though, may I have a seat? It is a rather long story, and between my pregnancy and my exhaustion, I may collapse."
Ashley nodded, "I'll be right back," and left the room at a fast walk. It wouldn't take her long, maybe two minutes, to find a chair that wasn't bolted down, but in the meantime, it left the room in suspenseful pause.
"If it would help, you can all refer to me as Kat." Katherine tried, only to receive an astounded look from everyone but Jason, Zordon, and Andros. "Or not." She muttered.
Ashley rushed back into the room, dragging a metal chair with a plain cloth cushion, which Andros promptly picked up and placed near Katherine. The young woman sat down, Jason still at her side, looking torn and, strangely enough, relieved.
"My name is Katherine Hillard, and you may not remember me, but I remember you." She pushed hair back and settled her hands in her lap, looking annoyingly regal. "Around the time the Green Ranger experiment failed, Rita decided she needed a spy on the inside. I happened to be an Australian who'd recently moved to America after a tragedy, so I was perfect. We didn't know, at the time, that the Pink Power was outside Zordon's control, and Rita had it in her mind that I was to infiltrate the Power Rangers as the Pink Power Ranger. When it became obvious that wasn't going to work, Rita changed my mission...to seducing and destroying the red ranger."
Katherine's hand drifted up and grasped Jason's as his closed over her shoulder, and no one said a thing. It was obvious Jason knew everything, and so something in Katherine's mission must have changed. "Then things...changed. Even Rita's magic is no match for true love; there wasn't a way that I could physically kill Jason. Thankfully, or maybe not, thinking back, the then renegade rangers decided it was time for Rita's spell to go away, and it did. They broke the spell that kept me bound to the moon witch – the only price was my freedom. I have to – had to – serve them in the magical capacity, taking Rita's powers into myself."
Another deep breath, another pause. "Jason had no idea that I was working for Rita until the rangers freed me, and all Jason knew was that the spell was broken, but I had absorbed Rita's magic. He had no idea how or why - "
"I'd assumed the spell was broken when Rita and Zedd were defeated," Jason broke in, shrugging. "It wasn't that hard to make the jump, and I honestly didn't think too hard about it. I was just glad she was able to be with me."
"Up until I told him that I had to leave for magical training. It wasn't a true lie, but it was a lie of omission. I wasn't just receiving training; I was upholding order on planets, completing missions," and here Katherine exchanged a look with Andros, "and ultimately doing whatever the new evil monarchs demanded. I came back to Earth the same time they did, and Jason and I resumed our romance. It would have ended on the battlefield, most likely, until Andros decided to buck the monarchs and proved that fate could be won from those who hold it. When I found out that I carried Jason and mine's child, I knew I had to follow that example."
"Don't worry, though – I don't come empty handed. I come baring information that the Emperor and Empress would destroy – have destroyed – worlds for." She took a deep breath, "For exchange for amnesty for my crime, in this world and all worlds, and the same for both my child and Jason, I will trade information about how to reach Phaedos."
Saturday, Nov. 30, 2001
1:03 PM
Command Center
"I can't believe Zordon kicked us out!" Zach growled, still pacing, his eyes full of anger and frustration. "I can't believe Jason's been sleeping with the enemy!"
"Actually, Zach, it appears that Jason has been more than sleeping with Katherine. It appears he's been falling in love with her, and she with him." Billy pointed out, and Trini internally groaned. This was going to be a mess.
"APPEARS IS THE OPERATIVE WORD!" Zach yelled, then stopped and took a deep breath, hands braced on the foot rail of the bed in front of him. "She's probably lying to get close to us. Andros is probably in on it, too. I mean, two enemies, jumping ship?" Zach snorted, "That just doesn't happen. No one has a change of heart like that!"
"It sounds like she didn't have much of a choice," Trini pointed out, hating that she was playing the devil's advocate. She didn't want to trust this Katherine any more than Zach apparently did, but she had to point out that maybe Katherine was really here to help. "It sounds like her 'change of heart' was all to do with her unborn child. Remember what they say about a mother's love, Zach."
"She helped destroy planets, Trini. She isn't capable of love! She's manipulating us all, and she might not even be pregnant, and this whole Phaedos thing? It's gotta be a lie! Remember what Zordon said, of all people? It's probably a myth, he basically told us." Zach argued back, running a hand through his hair. "And I still can't get over Jason lying to us."
Yeah, neither could Trini. Out of everything that had ever happened, well, at least they'd had each other. Now, they find out there were evil Power Rangers, that one of their own had turned their back, and even their leader was lying to them? It would take awhile for that wound to heal and for the trust to return, if it ever did.
"I get that, Zach, but...give her a chance. We're the Power Rangers. We're proof of amazing things, and even more, we're supposed to be a beacon of hope and goodness. If Katherine actually turns out to be pregnant, we can't exactly leave her at the mercy of the monarchs of evil, can we?"
"No, no, I suppose you're right." Zach muttered, finally plopping himself on the bed he'd been using. "But...it's just..."
Trini moved to sit next to him, hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, Zach, I know. God, do I know."
Billy moved to sit on her other side, still abnormally quiet. He got like that when things like this (things like betrayal, pain, secrets) happened – quiet and introspective, wondering if he missed if, coulda caught it, was it his fault, how could he fix it. It hurt Trini, and even more, pissed her off that their team leader, their best friend, had done this.
Yeah, it was gonna take a helluva long time for this wound to heal, she thought.
Saturday, Nov. 30, 2001
1:03 PM
Command Center
"Let me get this straight." Karone said slowly, feeling out the words as she stirred the soup with absolutely no interest. "Tommy is an evil ranger that kidnapped Kim, a good ranger turned evil, and they killed the Emperor of Evil and took over. They then freed a young woman from Earth who'd been under Rita's spell, gave the girl Rita's powers, trained her and Andros to be pawns of their Empire. The woman, meanwhile, has been having a love affair with the epitome of good on Earth, got pregnant, and then, following Andros's example, jumped ship...and give us the most important information available in this war?"
Zhane nodded, picking up the spare spoon and shoving the soup in Karone's mouth. "Yep, basically. You gonna finish that sandwich, by the way? I've been too busy watching the Young and the Restless: Power Rangers Edition to eat today."
"How the fuck is this my life?" Karone wondered, staring at the ceiling.
Saturday, Nov. 30, 2001
1:03 PM
Command Center
"Why, exactly, are you polluting the air with that foul stench?" Andros asked, coming out of the shower, towel rapped around his waist, water dripping from his hair and down his lovely, lovely chest...not that Ashley was looking. "And why are you putting it on your fingers? Is that safe?"
He really did have spectacular muscles, she thought, head tilted to the side. She'd never really seen an actual eight pack until he'd first pulled off his shirt, and the expression 'biceps as big as her head' had always seemed like a hyperbole...yeah, but not not. Wait, had he said something? "Wait, what?"
Andros smirked at her, then motioned at her half painted nails. "I asked you what you were doing in a very impolite manner. Would you like me to repeat the exact words, or would you just like to stare some more?"
She'd also never thought she'd meet a man so arrogant (or charming, but only when he wanted to be). Instead of saying that aloud, though, she rolled her eyes and went back to painting her nails. It was pain-staking, because she was doing lines of red across a yellow base. "I'm painting my nails. It's for looks - aesthetics. See?" She held out her toenails, which were already done. She'd done her toenails yesterday, while Andros was healing.
He frowned down at her foot, then smiled. "I approve of the color, though not of the stench." He glanced at the pair of leather pants in the corner, and it floated towards him, much to Ashley's delight (and not just because he was gonna wear a pair of leather pants, either). She loved the whole telekinesis thing. In fact, she'd meant to ask him to teach her.
"I'm glad you approve." She mocked him, then carefully capped the polish. Her last nail was finished, so she just had to wait for them to dry. "I was gonna ask you about Kat, but I kinda don't really care at the moment. Zordon hasn't even made a choice on whether she can stray or not, though we all know he's gonna let her stay." Ashley rolled her eyes and modestly looked away while Andros slid into his pants (far too gracefully, because leather? Hard to slide into, should be illegal to be done gracefully, really (not that she'd been watching)).
"And what brings you to that conclusion, my star?" Andros asked silkily, sliding onto the bed behind to her. His arms went to either side of her as he popped his head over shoulder, his wet hair slick against her bared arm.
"Hey! Don't get water on my new nails!" She protested, mostly because he was really close and that hadn't really even kissed, and it was making the room too freakin' hot to bare. "And because Zordon is a good guy, really. Plus, Kat's pregnant, Jason's the father – kid of an original ranger leader and a sorceress? If that child was raised to be evil...No, it'd be easier to keep an eye on the child, and raise the child a certain way, if Kat was here and indebted to Zordon."
Andros was quiet, his body warm against what skin was bared by Ashley's tank top. "I was expecting you to stop at the fact that Zordon is a good being. I am used to women your age being more naïve – that, because good is good, those who are good must act in accordance with what is thought of as always good. Instead, you looked at the more...underhanded of thinking."
"I may be young, Andros," She said after a second, smile small and sad, "But the naïvity left me long ago. I can no longer afford that innocence."
A hand turned her chin gently, and Ashley's eyes met Andros's. "When I find the person who put those shadows in your eyes, little star," he murmured, brushing a gentle kiss over her lips, "I will tear their heart from their chest and crush it into nothing but a paste."
It showed how much darkness was in her, Ashley thought, that she felt flattered, not freaked out, by that declaration. Still, she pushed him away with her shoulder and smiled. "Stop being so melodramatic and teach me how to do that mind thing now!" She demanded, lighting the mood.
To her delight, he laughed back and started to explain.
Saturday, Nov. 30, 2001
4:00 PM
Moon Palace
"Where. Is. My. Witch?" Kimberly asked, nails digging into the solider-spy's jaw, blood flowing from where skin was punctured.
"Gone. Betrayed...us." The man whispered, unable to say more through his partially crushed throat.
Kimberly's eyes went wide with rage, the pink glowing brighter. A shriek erupted from her, and she twisted the man up and threw him against the wall, the crack resounding throughout the room. She didn't bother to check if he were dead – she knew, with the strength of the twist, that his neck was snapped.
Instead, she swirled around to meet her husband, her gauzy pink skirt trailing blood on the marble of the throne room floor. "I want her heart! I want to suck the marrow from her bones and to bath in her blood!"
Responding to her rage like a man who'd known and loved her far more than human mind could fathom, Tommy gave a sick smile and opened his hands, cupped together. A glowing white ball became visible, in which Katherine Hillard and Jason Lee Scott moaned and rolled together, naked and slick with sweat, looking like animals (glorious animals, but animals nonetheless). "Would you care for a bit of subterfuge, instead?" He stood and stared down at his evil lover, "Would you care to let the one live...while the other two perished?"
"Two?" Kimberly asked, then her face slowly moved into a smile as her bloodstained claws reached out to stroke the bubble. "Oh dear, dear, dear. You have been reckless, indeed, missy Katherine. Very reckless, indeed."