Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers.
A/N: There seems to be a pattern here, oddly enough...that was not planned.
Chad was torn, on the one hand, he was the Lightspeed Blue Ranger, and on the other, he was in the midst of his doctoral studies in marine biology. He loved both jobs and they were the fulfillment of several childhood dreams, but he'd never thought he'd have to choose. With Queen Bansheera and the Demons long gone, it was time for Lightspeed to fulfill its secondary mission, to assist the emergency services around the city in times of need, study the underwater life and maintain a Ranger presence on Earth to honor their treaty with the APG. It was a worthy job, one that only an idiot would pass up, or a man torn between two dreams.
Angela Fairweather found him a solution, even if she hadn't originally intended to do so. She found him in the mess hall one evening, with pamphlets from various universities offering doctoral studies in marine biology and a stack of books and such about the Aquabase. "You could do both," Ms. Fairweather offered after looking over Chad's reading material.
"How?" Chad asked, "The college here doesn't offer doctoral studies."
"Maybe not," Ms. Fairweather agreed, "however, the base is filled with scientists, even marine biologists. In fact; we just had another marine biologist quit. You've got your masters, and you hold the Rescue Morpher, you have job for the asking right here."
Chad wanted his doctorate, but not so badly that he couldn't see the golden opportunity before him. So he formally joined the Aquabase workforce as a scientist, and if he did, on occasion, have to go out and save the world, well, the fish understood, and the nicknames died down after a while. Even the mermaids who came to visit were slowly accepted as common place. Especially after Joel took his side of things after one too many calls for 'mermaid boy'; even the chem. techs back down after Joel showed that he had off planet connections and wasn't afraid to use them.
Or as one rather persistent tech had said in his surrender statement, "Pink is not a good look for me."
In time, the other Rangers married, and everyone welcomed new members of the Lightspeed family in the form of baby William Grayson and baby Thomas Zachary Rowling. Ryan disappeared again, but beyond some vague hoping that he'd come back safe, or at least write some letters for a change, Chad found he trusted their Titanium Ranger to be all right. Kelsey seemed to have settled down with an astronaut that they had saved, shocking Dana, Carter and Joel when they found out she was a girl. Chad had only shrugged, it wasn't any of his business, and Kelsey was a good Ranger and willing to test out any of the projects that Angela came up with as well.
When word came to Lightspeed that Ryan had become a father, Chad was startled to realize he'd been a part of the project for nearly six years, and he was the only one of his teammates to be single, or childless. Kelsey's adoption of a little boy only emphasized his loneliness, and for a while he was sent on many blind dates by his friends. At least they cared. Then Billy Cranston, former blue ranger and scientist, came with a small group of Aquitians to consult on some of the things come out of Lightspeed. Among the group was a girl who was clearly not Aquitian, but also not entirely human.
Her name was Niraki, and she was part of a cultural exchange between Aquitar and her home of Liana. She was possessed of black hair that fell in waves down her back with braids worked into it that had been dyed various shades of blue, like the ocean, and her dark eyes had a ring of blue around their pupil that fascinated him.
The Aquitians stayed for six months and when they left, a beautiful woman with ocean hair stayed behind, hands resting on her slightly swollen belly.