(A.N. Chapter 18, here we go. It's clear how much Wes cares about his friends – especially in this episode – he has so much concern for all of them but especially Jen. It was sweet to watch how he looked after her, taking a little more care with her. The way he helped her lay back down when she tried to get up, how softly he spoke to her and how he helped her drink the serum - I refuse to believe that he didn't love her. Also, credit where credit due, Eric was better in this episode than he has been lately. His character arc is kind of coming finally. Anyway, I won't make this author note too long, I hope you enjoy the story and please feel free to let me know what you think :) )

Frax's Fury

No one would voluntarily ask to be poisoned, but if it meant that Wes didn't have to watch helplessly as his friends were in pain then he'd have taken those four bites from Venomark in a heartbeat. Lucas was barely able to stand while Katie and Trip only just managed to kneel off the ground. But his heart broke when he looked over at Jen, the girl lying on her side, curled inwards and unable to move. The red ranger helped the yellow and green rangers to stand, looking at the trio before asking. "Do you think you guys will make it back to the clock tower?"

They nodded and he walked over to Jen, kneeling beside her as he placed his hand under her head. She could barely open her eyes as she whimpered. "Wes?"

"I'm here, Sweetheart." He reassured as he lifted her into his arms, holding her as one would a baby or a bride. "Come on, let's get you home."

The rangers struggled but soon enough, they found their way back inside the clock tower and Wes had them all tucked into bed. Circuit summed it up so perfectly as they watched the four rangers writhe in pain: they felt so helpless. Wes rushed back into the room with two ice packs, placing one on Trip's forehead as he told him. "Trip, put this on your head." He brought the other one to Katie, putting it on her head as she groaned in pain. "Katie, you have to lay down." He turned in time to see Jen, struggling to sit up. "Jen!" His hand came to the back of her head, helping to support her as she looked at him desperately.

"We've gotta stop that mutant."

"Shh, I'll handle it." He quietly soothed as he helped her lay back down. He held her wrist as he looked down at her, feeling powerless as he watched her in pain. "Shh, you need to rest." Her breathing was shallow and her eyes could barely stay open. He'd never seen her like this and he never wanted to again.

Once Wes was assured that they were all resting, he tuned into the news story and had an idea. He knew what could save them – and the city – and he wasted no time in getting to work.

He sped from Bio-Lab back to the Clock Tower, taking the steps three at a time to get up to the rangers faster. He placed the case on the table to open it before he pulled out two tubes, handing the first one to the green ranger. "Trip, drink all of this." He then repeated the same action with the blue ranger. "Lucas here, you have to finish this." Grabbing the two remaining tubes, he walked to the yellow ranger's bed and handed her one. "Katie, drink all this." With the final tube, he knelt down beside Jen, his hand under her head once more as he supported her to drink the blue serum. "There you go. You gotta drink all of this."

The rangers all finished the serum and he laid her head back down as her face scrunched in pain. His hand brushed over her hair and the side of her face as he watched until the bite from Venomark disappeared. Only then could he sigh in relief, as he watched the other rangers pull themselves up. They were cured. Jen reached her hand up to feel her neck as she looked up to see all of her friends crowding around her bed. She launched herself at Wes, hugging him and felt as his arm wrapped around her shoulders, squeezing her gently. "Let's go save the city."

And they did just that. After defeating Venomark and returning him into containment, the rangers helped the Silver Guardians hand out the serum to save the people of Silver Hills. After helping up the lady that they'd just cured, Jen looked at Wes with a soft smile as he held out her hand – one of the few gestures they could do without giving away their relationship. He shook her hand before putting his other one over hers, holding both of them tightly as she told him. "Everyone's gonna be ok... thanks to you."

He only smiled at her in response before he glanced up at Eric, offering him a thumbs up whilst still keeping both of Jen's hands in his. Once Eric had gone back to his task and it seemed that all the other rangers were busy as well, the red ranger tugged on her hand and pulled her away. They hid themselves in a small alcove beside the hospital and as soon as they stopped moving, Wes pulled her into a tight hug, checking her over to reassure himself that she was alright. Her hands covered his as they cupped her cheeks – stilling his movement – as she looked at him softly. He didn't trust his voice so he whispered. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

His forehead fell against her, his eyes shut tightly as he admitted. "I was so scared, Jen, I felt so useless. You were in pain and you were hurting, and there was nothing I could do."

"But you did do something, Wes, you did everything. You saved us and the whole city."

He exhaled sharply as he pulled her back into his arms, resting his head on top of hers. "I never want to go through that again, I never want to have to see you hurt like that again."

She hugged him back, letting him take what he seemed to so desperately need from the embrace. She knew he wasn't lying or exaggerating because she could feel the rapid beat of his heart against her. Enjoying the embrace for a few more moments, she reluctantly pulled herself back and moved her hands to rest on the sides of his neck. "As much as I'd love to stay here like this, we should probably get back." He frowned and she leaned up to give him a quick kiss. "I promise we'll do this later, even if we have to sneak away."

He nodded with a sigh, kissing her once more before they walked back out as if nothing happened so they could continue to help the people of Silver Hills, after all that was one of their main duties.

Much to the dismay of both the red and pink ranger, Jen and Katie had been hired for an odd job that evening - one that didn't have them finishing until 10:00pm. As soon as they walked out the door and started making their way home, the yellow ranger sighed. "Thank God that's over."

"I'm with you." A comfortable silence filled the air between them before Jen finally decided to bite the bullet. "So it's just us... I'm guessing this is the part where you tell me about how stupid I was yesterday."

"I really wanted to, Jen, and a part of me still does. I want to tell you how stupid it was of you to do that yesterday. How reckless it was that you went off on your own without telling us and without your morpher. How thoughtless it was because anything could've happened. How you could've been hurt or killed and we'd never have known until Steelix or Ransik taunted us with it. About how much worry you put us through and how you hurt Wes by going off on your own... But I can't." Despite having been looking down as Katie was speaking, the pink ranger's eyes shot up at the last three words. "I can't because I know you, Jen, and I know how you think. You thought it was your fault that he was attacking and you didn't want anyone to get hurt including us. Your intentions were pure and your heart was in the right place but things didn't quite go as planned. But I can speak for all four of us when I say that we never want you to blindside us like that again and whenever we have to fight, – whether it's a mutant or a robot or whatever – we do it as a team. No more secrets, Jen."

The girl nodded. "I promise, no more secrets... I'm really sorry, Katie."

The yellow ranger pulled her into a hug as they walked. "I know you are Honey."

"I thought you were going to lecture me."

"Yeah I was going to but you can thank your boy for that." Jen looked at her confused, so she explained. "He told me that you guys talked last night and though I know he wouldn't have yelled or lectured you, I figure you didn't need to hear it from me."

Now that they'd covered that topic, they made their way home talking about anything and everything. When they made it back to the clock tower, they noticed all the lights out and assumed that the boys had gone to bed. They hung up their odd jobs uniforms and got into their pyjamas before they climbed up onto their beds, only for them to freeze. They looked down to see Wes asleep in a rather uncomfortable position, lying next to Jen's bed. Katie placed her hand on her friend's shoulder, telling her. "He's so smitten with you... You cannot tell me that that boy doesn't love you."

The pink ranger shook her head. "No, it's too soon."

Katie rolled her eyes. "There's no timeline for love, Jen. With the right person, sometimes you can instantaneously feel what it took years to build with someone else." She left it at that as she climbed into bed and left Jen to her thoughts but she'd be lying if she said she didn't eavesdrop to hear what would happen next between her two leaders.

Jen sat frozen for a few seconds before she shook herself from her thoughts. She climbed into bed, which caused Wes to stir. She placed her hand on his cheek, soothing. "Shh, it's just me, go back to sleep."

"Jen?" He asked, sleep lacing his voice as his hand covered hers.

She pulled him up onto the bed beside her so he'd be more comfortable. "I'm here."

"What-"

"Shh, it's late." She hushed. "We'll talk in the morning."

He nodded sleepily and she was scared the admit to herself that those three words were on the edge of her tongue. She wanted to curse Katie for bringing up that conversation as she turned onto her stomach - the only position she could sleep in.

She felt Wes shift closer, his arm wrapping protectively over her back as he whispered. "Good night."

The action made her swallow hard and she turned over to face him, moving his hand on her back up by her pillow to a comfortable position between them, her hand holding his. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze before she leaned over to kiss his cheek and whispered. "Good night Sweetheart."

She stared blankly into the space beside her head as she drowned in her thoughts. Did Wes love her? Did she love him? She didn't want to let herself fall too deeply into this rabbit hole because if she did and if she realised that she loved him, it would be even harder to leave him than it already was and so much more heartbreaking. How do you survive loving someone when you're doomed from the start?