Title: The True Meaning of Hero
Author: DemonicangelGREED
Summary: After watching his mentor and best friend die, Ziggy ran out into the Wastes where he met a old survivor who taught him what love and family were truly about. After a terrible accident Ziggy meets Dillon and goes back to the city he ran from.
Warnings: Slash fic, will eventually be Dillon/Ziggy, cage fighting and murder.
Pairings: Dillon/Ziggy
Chapter 6
A scary man in a face mask with a bright white lab coat hovered of him: he was scared of this man: this man did bad things to him, this man hurt him.
"It'll be okay Ziggy, we're just gonna help you" the man said ruffling his hair ruffling making him whimper.
Suddenly his eyes were shoved wide open and held there by some clamps. "No I don't want to!" he cried out.
The man in the lab coat clicked his tongue and shoved a mouth guard in his jaw and ssshed him "Nurse is everything ready?" he asked and patted Ziggy in a move that was supposed to comfort him when all it really did was make him whimper again "I think our patient is getting a little restless"
The woman who always accompanied the bad man nodded and handed him a scalpel "We are rearing and ready to go sir" she said brightly
Suddenly the scalpel was nearing his eye "NO!" he shouted but was muffled by the mouth guard, but luckily the man stopped all the same.
"Ziggy, were going to help you" the man said sadly "You need better eye sight, and we're going to give it to you" he said and then straighten his shoulders "You thank me later"
Then it was too late, the scalpel was digging into his eyes and all he felt was pain and he let out an inhuman scream.
"NO!" Ziggy screamed as he shot up in his bed.
A few minutes passed and the green ranger held and hand up to his eye, the one that had been stabbed during his dream and let out a shaky breath. He was getting extremely tired of these damn dreams. Nearly every night he would get a dream of the same place and the same man was doing something to him, but since he'd left the cartels a few weeks earlier and re-joined the rangers the dreams had been getting worse.
Sighing the young ranger pushed him off his bed and out of the room where the rested his head against his metal door before he let out a shuddering breath. Ziggy froze when he heard the soft footsteps coming towards him, considering the time of night Ziggy knew it could only be one person: Dillon.
"Hello Dillon" Ziggy whispered softly.
The hybrid sighed and placed a very soft hand on his friends shoulder and gave him a sad look "Ziggy you should be sleeping" he said in a strange voice.
The younger man spun around and gave him an annoyed look "You think I don't know that! You think I like having nightmares, nightmares about things I can't remember happening to me!" he said glaring at the black ranger.
"Ziggy don't lash out at me, I know how you feel" Dillon said holding up his hands "You feel lost and confused and that no one can help you, but Zig you have me" he said holding out his hand.
The green ranger stared at it for a moment before he glared at its owner darkly "You have no idea how I feel" he hissed taking a step away from his friend who caught his arm as he tried to run away.
Dillon looked into Ziggy's dark brown eyes and saw how tired they were and felt his heart break "Ziggy you don't have to be strong with me" he whispered trying to get through to his partner.
The Green ranger looked down and then glared at the floor, "No your wrong" he whispered and then looked up at Dillon with hard stare "I have to be strong with you most of all"
At the shock of that statement Dillon's grip of Ziggy's arm fell away and he stared at his friend as he bounded down the hall. What did he mean he had to be strong around him? The black ranger stared at his hands and then wandered into his room. Dillon looked over at his table where his only picture was and smiled sadly.
It was of him and Ziggy two days after he had become the green ranger, Summer had taken it for them saying that considering the two of them would be partners on the battle field from now on, that the two of them had to consolidate their friendship by having a picture.
Dillon ran a hand over the image and smiled, Summer had captured Ziggy mid laugh so the light was hitting him just right and his head was thrown back in laughter, Dillon himself was leaning forward and had a slight smirk of his face as he watched his friend, neither focused on the camera.
"Ziggy what's going on with you" Dillon whispered as he stared at the happy picture of his friend.
Up on the roof Ziggy stared out at the city, he had taken to this spot when he had first come to the garage: it was his sanctuary, a place where not even Dillon disturbed him. Ziggy looked down at the roof and frowned slightly, he knew it was cold out and he knew he should be shivering considering he had forgotten his jacket in his room but strangely he didn't feel it at all.
The green ranger looked at his hand and sighed, he missed the days when he simply took care of the others, the days when he would do nothing more than cook for the rangers, he didn't want to have the city's expectations on his shoulders anymore.
"Come little Children I'll take Thee away" Ziggy whispered the old children's lullaby which he could barely remember. In fact he couldn't really remember anything about his childhood, it was as if the time in between nine to thirteen was just gone and it didn't happen.
Humming the rest of the song Ziggy didn't notice Tenaya Seven who was watching him from a nearby roof with a smug grin her face. The green ranger was unique and she knew why and with the information she had gathered from watching him she was going to crush him mind and spirit until there was nothing left but the beast she's encountered in her last fight with the younger man.
"Oh the things I have planned for you little ranger" She whispered and then began to walk back towards the wastes all the while whistling Farmer in the dell.
When the sun finally rose, Ziggy already was half way through making breakfast. He had started early as he needed something to do, something to take his mind off everything. Unknowingly he was still humming the same tune he had been when he had secluded himself on the rooftop.
"Pretty Song there Lad" Flynn said from the door way.
Ziggy turned around and shot the blue ranger a bright smile, something that had shocked the rangers was how close Ziggy and the Scotsmen were. The two of them were close-not as close as the green ranger was to Dillon but close enough for it to matter.
"Yeah wish I could remember where I heard it though" Ziggy said and then sighed in frustration.
Flynn leant on the bench next to the younger man and gave him a sympathetic smile "Still got those memory problems then?" he asked as the green ranger began dishing out the fruit onto a plate.
Ziggy nodded and then turned back to the pancakes he was making "Yeah it's as if I don't have four years of my life, it's...frustrating" he said slowly.
The Blue ranger nodded and then laced his fingers together "Well that's why we have the future right lad? To make new memories" he said and then gave the younger ranger a bright happy grin.
Ziggy smiled brightly and then nodded unaware of the dark eyes observing them from the catwalk. Dillon stood silently above the two rangers in the kitchen who were laughing and joking and couldn't stop the wave of jealousy that flowed through him. Why did Ziggy turn to Flynn and not him? Wasn't he the younger man's best friend?
Sighing Dillon pulled himself up and then went to wake up the other rangers, knowing that Ziggy was almost finished breakfast he knew the red and yellow ranger would appreciate getting it fresh instead of cold or re-heated.
Once the two other rangers had stumbled down the stairs with Dillon coming up the rear with a smirk on his face Ziggy and Flynn had set the table and were waiting for them. The black ranger went to go sit by Scott thinking that Ziggy wanted to sit by the blue ranger only to have the younger man grab his wrist and pull him into the seat next to him.
'Sit next to me?" he asked shyly.
Dillon grinned and nodded, he may not be the one Ziggy confided his nightmares in, but he knew that at the end-or in this case start-of the day, it was him who Ziggy would fight next to. "Of course"
Ziggy beamed up to him and then threw himself into the conversation that was going on between Summer and Flynn about what was better a bike or car-he backed Summer up.
It was almost midday when the alarms went off, it turned out that Tenaya had decided that it was time to fight the rangers again and had bought a whole army of grinders with her. This of course spurred the rangers into action and Ziggy into an enthusiastic mood, he hadn't been able to fight the attack bot since she had found him in the cage and she had kicked his butt, he wanted pay-back.
"You're in a good mood considering what we're about to head into" Dillon commented as Ziggy threw himself into the Fury with a bright grin.
The green ranger nodded and then rubbed his hands together like a little kid on Christmas "I haven't had a real fight since I came back, I'm ready to go" he said and then gave Dillon a bright smile making the black ranger smile back at him.
As soon as the doors to the garage were open Dillon threw the car into action and they sped out of the building towards the area that Dr K had told them about. Just like his younger friend he was ready, and the best thing was he got to fight with his green ranger again. As they sped across the city Dillon smirked when he saw Scott coming up the rear, he knew that the toy car was no match for his beauty.
"Smug bastard aren't you" Ziggy said laughing the wind whipping his already messy hair into an unrecognizable form. Dillon didn't say anything and just smirked and gunned the engine once more sending them speeding towards the check point.
Once they arrived at ground zero, Ziggy flipped out of the car and the two of them faced off against Tenaya who smirked and waved at Ziggy who caught a glimpse of silver in her hand, it was a strange shape it looked like...a whistle.
When the other rangers arrived Scott nodded and the two of them and Ziggy grinned at Dillon and started to Morph "RPM Get in Gear" they called along with the others.
Tenaya smirked when Ziggy was fully garbed in his ranger suit and then cleared her throat "Green ranger, it's good to see you" She called out "But I'm afraid you won't be in fighting form for much longer"
The other rangers stared at Ziggy who himself acted puzzled, as far as he knew he felt find, what did the attack bot mean by that. Tenaya just smiled and with a quick flick of her hand the grinder launched forward to attack the rangers. Ziggy grinned to himself as he performed a mid air double kick taking out two grinders at once, his training sessions with Summer were paying off.
Tenaya lifted the long silver whistle to her lips and grinned once more before blowing. All the rangers heard was a slight piercing sound like a high pitch whistle, but when the noise reached Ziggy, it was as if the sound was amplified tenfold and with a cry he was down clutching his head in pain.
"Rangers, that whistle is a dog whistle you need to get it off Tenaya before it kills Ziggy!" Dr K snapped over the Com.
Scott jumped into action and began making his way towards Tenaya who was only paying attention to the downed Green ranger whose suit was flickering in and out of existence thanks to the physical strain his body was under thanks to the whistle.
"I'll be taking that" He snapped and snatched the long whistle out of the attack-bots hands making her growl and jump back.
Ziggy sighed in relief and collapsed, his suit finally disappearing from view. Dillon rushed over to his fallen friends side and glare at Tenaya who was smirking happily. "What did you do to him" He demanded.
"I merely played to his weakness's" She mocked and then her eyes zeroed in on something making her smirk larger, "and look like I did some damage too"
Dillon looked down at to the young man in his arms and his face turned pale when he saw the blood dribbling out of Ziggy's ears, the younger boy's breathing was shallow and his eyes flickered beneath the eye lids.
"Dillon get him back to Doc, we'll deal with things here" Summer said when she got a good look at Ziggy as well.
The black ranger nodded and hoisted the younger man into his arms and raced towards the fury. Once they got inside Dillon gunned the engine and he sped off from the battlefield towards the Garage. When he arrived Dr K was waiting by the entrance with a stern look on her face.
"To the lab, NOW!" she snapped, the black ranger needed no other prompting and headed straight to the ranger room where he laid the younger man on the metal table carefully. As Ziggy lay still and unmoving on the metal examination table Dillon couldn't stop himself when he brushed the stray hairs off the younger man's face and stared at his face.
"Series Black: I need you to leave" K said in a soft voice.
The older ranger stared at Ziggy for a moment and then nodded slowly, his eyes not leaving the younger form for even a second. Dr K watched as the black ranger left her lab and then turned her pain filled eyes to where Ziggy was laid on the table. "I can't do anything Series Green, it's all up to you" she whispered.
Fernso had made the Chauffeur drive us for a long time, I wonder where we are. Rion looks just as surprised as me, didn't he know about this either?
"Now Ziggy, this place will make you all better" Fernso said addressing me "Do you understand?"
I nodded and smiled weakly "Yes sir"
Fernso grinned and stared out of the window while Rion stared at him in confusion, what was wrong, didn't he want me to get better:, Jak was sad when he found out I was leaving but Jak as always sad when we weren't together but Fernso assured him that I'd be back soon.
"Sir not to long until we reach the checkpoint" The driver called back.
Fernso grinned and clapped his hands before motioning me over to him "Look Ziggy, this is Thronille, this'll be your home for the next month or so" he said pointing at the large facility outside the window.
Ziggy looked at the large white buildings and couldn't stop the feeling of dread that overcame him when he gazed at the building. That feeling only grew when he saw the man standing at the entrance with a pretty woman by his side, both beaming at the oncoming car.
"I think this is going to be good for you Ziggy" Fernso said in a happy voice and then the door was opened.
Ziggy shot up from the metal bench gasping for air, the last thing he remembered was facing Tenaya before she blew the whistle then it all went black and he was dreaming of him as a nine year old again.
"Series green...you've awoken!" Dr K said in surprise and then raced to his side checking his vitals "You've been sleeping for a very long time" she murmured sadly and then gazed up at him sadly "We were afraid you weren't going to wake up"
Ziggy gazed at the girl in front of him and smiled kindly "Nah not gonna happen, I got nine lives, I'm like the most annoying cat you've ever met"
Dr K rolled her eyes and then allowed the boy to sit up slowly "So what was going on in your head to make you sleep so long" she asked not looking up from her charts.
The green ranger looked at his hands in shock as he replayed his dream over and over "I remember something" he whispered in shock.
Dr K looked over at him in shock "What?" she asked
Ziggy nodded and then looked up at the girl who was steadily becoming his closest confident "In my dream I remember this Lab...Thronille" he said and looked up at her with hopeful eyes.
The young genius looked at her youngest ranger and then sighed; she knew what he was asking without even him having to say anything. "Ranger green even if I did know where this lab was, how would you get there"
"His bike"
At the sound of the Scottish accent both Ziggy and Dr K looked to the door way where Flynn was leaning against the door frame in a relaxed fashion. "His bike?" Dr K asked raising an eyebrow.
Ziggy grinned at Flynn who chucked him a pair of keys, "It's all ready?" he asked bouncing where he sat.
The blue ranger nodded and then turned to Dr K who was still staring at them with a raised eyebrow "Zig and I have been making him a Nitro bike, a mode of transportation" he said clapping his hands.
"Yeah it makes Summer's bike look weak" Ziggy said the excitement clear in his voice.
Dr k sighed and then looked at Ziggy and his hopeful face and then nodded "Fine, go get ready, I'll have your coordinates when you're done" she said and waved him away.
The young ranger jumped off the metal table and ran up to his room where he slammed the door closed. Flynn chuckled and turned back to Dr K who was staring at him with dark eyes. "You are aware that the program isn't finished?" she said in an icy voice.
The blue ranger nodded and then gave her a tired look "I know Lass, but we can't keep him from the truth" he said and rubbed his forehead "And I'm sure the kid would appreciate this"
K sighed and then nodded "I hope your right Series Blue" she said before turning back to her computers.
Up in his room Ziggy stared at the goggles in his hands and then grinned when he slipped it on happily, he was already. Taking one last look around the room the green ranger bounced back towards the lab where just as promised K was holding the address and coordinates to Thronille
"Now according to those directions you should take no longer than one day to get there and spend a few hours there and come back" Dr K said as he strapped the device to his wrist.
The young ranger nodded and then snuck out of the ranger room and into the main area where his bright green bike was sitting innocently. Grinning Ziggy mounted it and sighed at the familiar feel of leather. He loved this type of bike and the fact that Flynn had allowed him to remake one with him made losing Cid's bike less hard.
"Right" Ziggy said nodding and then turned the key of the bike and then smirked at the loud rev of the engine.
The other rangers noticed the noise and ran to investigate. But when they reached the entrance of the garage all they saw was Ziggy pulling a green helmet over his head. "Ziggy?" Dillon called.
But the green ranger just revved the engine again and then he shot of towards his secret exit to the wastes. The others turned to face Dr K and Flynn who were standing side by side with matching expressions on their faces.
"Explain!" Scott growled out.
The wastes were exactly as Ziggy remembered it: hot and sandy, but as he raced through the sand he couldn't help but smile as his memories flooded back of his time in the sandy death land.
The ride towards the lab was uneventful and Ziggy couldn't stop the nerves that caused him to freeze when the weathered sign: Thronille Genetic Facility was right in front of him. Ziggy took a deep breath and parked his bike before pulling his helmet off and laying it against the bike softly.
"Here we go" he whispered and then strode through the broken gates.
Taking a small look around Ziggy couldn't stop the frown that spread across his face as he felt the nagging sensation run through him that the place was very familiar. Shaking the thought away Ziggy walked through the labs until he reached what seemed to be the bedroom compartments.
Suddenly the numbers 645 flashed through his mind and without prompting the green ranger walked down the halls until he reached the room marked 645-Lupine experimentation. Taking a deep breath Ziggy pushed his way into the room and as he gazed around the wrecked room he gasped as a memory hit him at full force.
"I can't believe he's still lucid" The bad man said as they carried him through the halls, "This is very good, I could mean big things" he said to the nurse who was starring into his eyes in awe.
'I know to stay conscious and aware of his surroundings after the gene transfer is unheard of" she said and then took his hand. "Ziggy you are a special little boy"
I moan: I don't want to hear this, these two caused me pain, they did something to me and now I feel all weird. But I can't get myself to say anything, I feel heavy, but not tired.
"We'll put him in room 645" the man said as they stopped outside a heavily locked room, 'he needs the most surveillance, Fernso Bob has offered us a lot of funding if we managed to sure this little kid"
I'm confused why did they talk about Fernso, when he left me here he said that he didn't know the two mean people but the way they talk about him, it's as if they were good friends. Groaning at the pounding in my head I look around the room that they are lying me in and then felt my body tense even further-this wasn't a room, it was a cell.
"Have a good rest Ziggy" the doctor said and the nurse leant over to kiss his forehead.
Gripping his head Ziggy breathed harshly as the pounding in his head slowly faded along with the memory. Looking around the destroyed room once more Ziggy couldn't stop the shudder that ran up his back, this room had been his when he had stayed here, he was sure of that now.
Shakily exiting the room, Ziggy walked to the end of the hall and then froze as his body tried to turn right. Letting his feet lead him where they wanted the Green ranger soon found himself in a gym of sort, complete with Gym mats and what looked like targets for archery.
"What in the world" The young man breathed as he walked through the gym and stopped by one of the targets and fingered one of the holes that was caused by an arrow and could feel the pounding rise again but not to the intensity as before and ignored it.
Stopping at the gym mats Ziggy frowned, he knew he had some memory stored in this room, he just couldn't figure out which one. Bending down to run a hand over the broken mat Ziggy was enveloped by the pounding force once again as soon as his fingers touched the plastic covering.
The woman is watching me silently, I don't like it. But I'll do what they want, bad things happen to me if I don't. Sighing I let go of the arrow and watch as it landed in the bulls eye. The woman cheers and claps happily and I feel relief fill me. I made the woman happy that meant I might not get in trouble today.
"Ziggy that was amazing" she told me as she led me over to the gym mats where a scarred man was waiting for me.
"Who are you" I asked in a small voice. I don't like it when they introduce new people to me, they always hurt me.
The woman smiled at me and I have to stop the shudder that runs through me at sight of the evil grin "Ziggy this will be your trainer, his name is Kai" she said before she took a step back and nodded to the man.
I yelp when suddenly the man grabbed me and flipped me mid air where I landed painfully on my back. This man wanted to hurt me. I pull myself to my feet and watch as the man rushed me again. Fighting back the fear that fill me, I flip backwards and land crouched on my hands and feet, I let out a little snarl because it feels normal making the man grin.
"Come on ya little freak" he taunted.
I growl low in my throat making me seem much older than I should, I don't know what's going on with me, I feel so angry, I want to hurt this man, I want to make him bleed and I don't have a reasonable excuse why.
'Fine then I'll come to you" he said and then ran forward and tried to kick me.
I jump and then throw myself and then man and wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze. This man tried to hurt me, this man wanted me to attack, why wasn't he fighting back anymore?
"Ziggy let go" I freeze that was the bad man's voice.
I snatch my hands back and scramble of the man's chest and lock gazes with the bad man who was grinning at him smugly. 'Ziggy" he began and I stopped myself at wincing at the man's tone when he drawled my name "You did excellent"
As the memory stopped Ziggy jumped from the mat and held a hand to his chest to try to stop his heart from beating so fast. Groaning at the physical stress his body was going through Ziggy threaded his hands into his hair and let out a shuddering breath, before he slowly walked out of the gym.
Looking out a broken window Ziggy noticed that the sun was descending in the sky, he knew he should be heading back soon but he knew in his heart that he wasn't done here; he had to find out what was making him have nightmares of this place every other night. Turning away from the window the green ranger walked aimless hoping his feet would once again take control of things.
When he reached the east wings Ziggy was once again taken over by the feeling of déjà vu and let him be lead into an operating room. Gasping at the pure strength of the memories resounding from this room Ziggy crumpled to the floor and gripped his head in his hands as his new memory hit him with the force of a Mack truck.
The bad man cut into my eye with the scalpel making me cry out in pain, why he just couldn't go to sleep like the other kids who came into this room. But he came in here every other day and the man did something to him.
"He's blood flow is amazing, unless something goes wrong there is no way he'll have any problems after surgery' the nurse said as the bad man injected something into my pupil.
The man grinned and then pulled the scalpel from my eye and continued to inject something in my eye making him whimper. "You're doing amazing Ziggy. I've never had such a brilliant patient before" he said in a happy voice.
I let out a small whimper of relief when the man removed the needle as well, that was until I saw the scalpel descending to his other eye. 'NO!" he cried out.
But it was too late; the bad man was already cutting into me. I don't know how it happened by sometime between me getting an injection and the bad man removing the scalpel I faded out of reality and just let the men do things to me.
It wasn't until they were bandaging my eyes that I snapped back into reality and realized that I had once again survived something that the other kids would haven't. All I could see was darkness, I knew that one day I would be able to see again but at the moment I was thankful, at least now I didn't have to look at the bad men.
Ziggy whimpered and clutched his head tighter and buried his head in his knees as the pain began to overwhelm him. He made a mistake, he didn't want this, he wanted to go home, back to the garage, he wanted...Dillon.
"No I can't" he whispered "I'm a bad boy, I ran away, I left this place" he muttered gripping his hair tighter.
Shaking his head slightly Ziggy tried to block out everything that he learnt today, he had left he shouldn't have, he was safe here, the bad man liked him, had big plans for him. But he left and the bad man punished him by making him forget and now he was hurting others because of this.
"I don't want to hurt anyone else" he whispered and began to tug his hair by the strains when suddenly he felt a warm hand cover his.
"Don't do that Zig" a strong voice said kindly making him feel warm and protected.
Lifting the head up, Ziggy felt his heart stop when he saw Dillon kneeling in front of him gazing at him with protective eyes. "Dillon he said as his eyes teared up "You came for me"
The black ranger smiled and nodded "Always Zig" he said softly and then suddenly sound himself with an armful of crying Ziggy.
Hugging the crying ranger to him Dillon glared at the room around him that made his friend look so frail and broken, "It's okay Zig, I got you, I got you" he said and then buried his face in Ziggy's unruly chestnut locks.
It turned out that three hours after Ziggy had departed the garage Dillon had managed to get Flynn to squeal and then got the blue ranger to lead him to the lab. When they arrived Dillon had gotten Flynn to head back to the city on Ziggy's bike while he tracked down the wayward green ranger.
That was why Ziggy was now curled up in the passenger seat of the Fury hugging his knees to his chest. Starring out the window blankly. Dillon looked over at his friend and felt his heart break at the emptiness in his eyes. When he found out what Ziggy had run off to do he hadn't even hesitated, he had thrown Flynn into his car and drove like the north wind to follow the green ranger, but looking at him now he couldn't help but feel that he might have been too late.
"Ziggy what did you see" He whispered.
The younger ranger looked up at him and then shook his head sadly "I should have never gone digging" he whispered and then rested his cheek on his knees.
It was in this moments, diving towards the domed city and their home, that Dillon realized how much Ziggy truly meant to him, it was staring at his broken form that Dillon realized he loved him and this realization did to Dillon what an army of Venjix's creation couldn't: it terrified him.