The next few days went by quietly, very quietly. The Rangers doubted it was out of any form of sentimentality that Vrak opted not to attack following the attack on Jordan's home. More likely, he just wanted to let it all set in, to let them all really think about what had happened and process it. He wanted them to see what had happened as a warning.

In the early morning, Jordan was in the Burrows family gym. Mr Burrows had always dreamed of owning his own gym, and had finally managed to secure funding for a property at the beginning of the year. The Burrows had agreed to take Jordan in for the short term while they figured out what to do in the long term following the news.

Mr Burrows came into the room, finding Jordan working out. He was only too happy to let him use the gym, he clearly knew what he was doing, and it gave him a distraction that he had a feeling he would really need. For obvious reasons, he hadn't been to school since the attack. He came over to the heavy bag, where Jordan was working.

"Jordan." He said to him, but Jordan didn't seem to register he had said anything as he continued to work out. "Jordan, it's almost time."

Jordan didn't say anything, instead continuing with his workout. Mr Burrows came around in front of him, trying to get his attention.

Mr Burrows wasn't an especially big man all things considered. He had a decent build on him, as many would expect from a personal trainer, and had short, black hair. He looked a lot like Troy in many ways, though he had a few wrinkles that betrayed his age. He also moved a little more gingerly. His reason for moving into training was that his original career athletics career had been cut short. He had been a running back, with high hopes of making it big in the NFL. That had changed when he suffered a crushing injury that left many of the vertebrae in his neck and back irreparably damaged. He had been told outright by his doctor that his spine would no longer be able to withstand the heavy impact it would be subjected to in a pro game and that if he didn't retire, the odds were he could end up quadriplegic.

"Jordan, you need to get ready." He reiterated. "It's almost time for the funeral. You need to get cleaned up."

He just looked at Mr Burrows, before grabbing his towel and starting to walk away. Mr Burrows put a hand on his shoulder.

"Jordan, I'm not going to claim I know what you're going through." He told him. "But you need to talk to someone."

"What is there to talk about?" Jordan asked him.

"Jordan, you weren't there to plan any of the funeral." He reminded him.

"The army dealt with that." Jordan answered, starting to dry himself off. "They didn't need me to arrange it. They're doing their own thing."

"Jordan, he might have been a big deal to them, but what you want is important too." He told him. "Isn't there anything you want? Any songs or anyone to speak?"

"It's being taken care of. Everything's being taken care of." Jordan replied. "I'm turning 18 in January, so I just need a home until then..."

"Jordan, that's not what I meant. You can stay as long as you want." Mr Burrows told him. "It's just..."

As Jordan brushed past him, heading for the stairs, Mr Burrows just sighed. Troy was just coming in, wearing his suit, and carrying a black tie in his hand.

"Dad, is Jordan...?"

"He's just going to get cleaned up." He replied. "Here, let me help you with your tie."

Over in the Goodall house, Eric was just getting ready for the funeral. Although he and the General didn't get on, he knew the girls would want to be there for Jordan.

As he headed up to the girls' room, he heard the usual abrupt stop in the conversation. He had begun to notice it a lot recently. They would hurriedly stop whatever they were talking about whenever he came into the room, and he was sure they would change the subject.

"Gia, your mom's waiting in the car." He told her. Gia looked to Emma, before nodding and heading out of the room. Eric stood aside to let her pass, looking to his daughter as he came across to the bed.

"This brings back memories doesn't it?" He asked her. Emma just nodded her head in response. As he sat down next to her and put his arm around her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Emma just shook her head. One of the things she hated from day one about her tenure as a Ranger was the amount of time she spent lying to her dad. They had always been told it was essential that they keep their identities a secret, but that didn't make it feel right. It wasn't the first time one of their enemies had targeted people they cared about, and at times Emma had questioned how much it really protected their loved ones to be kept in the dark at times. With the death of General Edwards, she was once again starting to worry about how much the secrets affected her relationship with her father. Did it protect him? Or did the lies and deceit just keep him ignorant to the danger he could be in?

"Jordan's going to need his friends." He told her. "And as difficult as it might be, I think that you might be one of the ones he needs the most. You more than anyone know what it's like."

Emma couldn't help feeling worse as he said this. She knew her dad was only trying to help, but she couldn't help feeling like he already knew something was amiss, and he was just desperate for her to tell him what it was. As she was about to say something, she was interrupted as Eric got a call on his cell phone. He checked the ID, finding that it was Wayne.

"You should probably get that." She told him as he looked to her. He leaned in and kissed her forehead, before heading out to take his call. Emma just held her head in her hands. Wayne was yet another casualty of a war he didn't even know he was a part of. The war had its casualties, she didn't doubt that would be the case, but now she was starting to wonder why there had to be so many innocent casualties.

At the graveyard, Jake was pacing, talking on his phone as Noah sat on a bench, waiting for the others.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jake stated. "I just...I just really needed to hear your voice. I needed to know you were alright."

Noah looked to him as he said this. Jake just took a deep breath.

"Yeah, this thing's shaken me up too." He told her. "I love you too."

As he hung up the phone, Noah just gestured to the phone.

"Allison?" He guessed. Jake just nodded.

"She's been great." Jake told him.

"Quinn's been really understanding too." Noah replied as he shifted over to let Jake get a seat. It was then that a car arrived, and they saw Jordan getting out, followed by Troy, closely followed by Mr and Mrs Burrows. As he approached, Jake shook his hand. He just stood, not really saying anything. There wasn't really anything anyone could say.

"Well, I guess we should get this over with." He stated as they headed through the huge iron gates into the graveyard.

The funeral was quite something to see. General Edwards, although he was on sabbatical at the time of his death, was quite a big deal in the military. He had made a lot of friends, many of whom were very important. With the Honour Guard standing by the side of the grave, and numerous highly decorated officers taking seats, the whole affair looked like something more appropriate to Arlington National Park than Harwood Graveyard. A hornblower played as the pallbearers, all Marines that General Edwards had served with, carried him to his final resting place, setting him down on the mechanism that would lower him into the grave.

Jordan wasn't listening to anything that was being said, he could only stare at the coffin. He felt Emma's arm around him, but it didn't stir him from his thoughts. Ever since the attack, everyone had been asking him to talk, to tell them what he thought, what he felt...the truth was, even he didn't know. Looking around, he recognised some of the faces as people he had met, but he didn't really know any of them. They were all the men his dad had made friends with on his quest to the top. They were friends with the man that they knew. A few of them looked sad, some like they might genuinely care that he was gone, but for a lot of them, Jordan couldn't help feeling like they were there to be seen. The whole scene made him feel ill. Only he could see how false it all was.

"A friend, a loyal comrade, and a fierce patriot, he will be missed by all that knew him. The country is a much worse off place without him." The man reading the eulogy concluded. "It was announced by the office of the president, that for his services to his country that General Edwards will be honoured for his years of dedicated service to the nation, he is to be honoured posthumously with the Silver Star."

As the trumpet played again, Jordan watched the man set the medal on the General's coffin as they started to fold up the flag. As they started to lower the coffin into the ground, he looked up only as the flag was offered to him. He looked around, realising that people probably expected him to speak, but what was there to say? The man they knew, the man being buried was not his father. His whole life, their entire relationship, everything Jordan knew was just...for nothing. He took the flag and turned, walking away. Troy just looked to the others.

"I'll go." He told them as he followed him.

Jordan's unexpected departure left the funeral running slightly short, and no one really sure what to do. The group started to offer each other handshakes and greetings before heading off, wanting to leave the scene behind them.

"Well that was...awkward." Jake stated, unable to stop himself staring into the grave. "So...um...what do we do now?"

"I really want to get to the Command Centre to check on Tensou." Noah told them. "He might not have been out long, but he did completely power down. I'd like to see how much of his memory bank is damaged."

"I really want to call Cat." Gia told them. "I know she was planning on coming down for Thanksgiving, but now...I'm seriously thinking of telling her not to come."

They all nodded in understanding, knowing how Gia felt. It was tough being in a long distance relationship, but the one benefit was that Gia knew in LA Cat was comparatively safe. She wouldn't get caught up in the battles they faced.

"Say, what do you think's going on there?" Noah asked as he pointed down the path. They saw Wayne arriving, dressed in jeans and a jersey. Eric approached him.

"Wayne, what's...what are you doing here?" Eric asked him. Wayne just handed him an envelope. Eric started to tear it open. "What's...?"

"I've thought about this a lot Eric." Wayne told him. "I'm having Mikey moved to a secure unit in Colorado. I'm heading out there."

"Wayne..."

"This city, everything that's happened...it's just not worth it anymore." Wayne told him. "I'm doing what's right by my family. I've given in my notice, and I've given you first refusal on my shares in Cerberus. It's a fair price..."

"Wayne...this is way less than they're worth." Eric stammered. "What's this about? Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"I just can't risk my family being out here anymore." He replied as Emma and Gia came to see what was going on. He could only look at Emma, barely capable of keeping his anger in check. He'd known her almost since she was born, but now that he knew who she was, that she was part of the war that had destroyed his family, he couldn't help resenting her. "Don't try and talk me out of it, my mind's made up."

"But Wayne, we can..."

"I said my mind's made up." Wayne told him. "I'm sorry."

With that, he started to head back towards his car. Emma ran after him, grabbing his arm.

"Wayne..."

"Leave it alone Emma." He told her abruptly.

"But you and dad, you're friends!" Emma pleaded with him. "If there's something..."

"Can you bring back my son's sanity?" He asked her. "Can you get that guy in the black armour to give my son his mind back?"

"I...I don't..."

"I know Emma, I saw you and Gia with the others on the film set!" He told her under his breath. Emma just backed up a little. She looked straight at him.

"I...we...um..."

"I know you're the Rangers!" He stated flat-out. "I also know that it was getting involved with you and your friends that left my son in a mental institution."

"I had nothing to do with..."

"I have to do what's right by my family Emma." He said, looking at her with disgust. "Your dad's a good man, and a good friend. I hate to do this to him, but I have to do right by my family."

"Please, let me explain..."

"There's nothing else to say!" Wayne snapped at her. He looked over to where Eric was still clearly confused and upset, talking to Louise. "You've done enough harm to my family Emma. Maybe it's time you decided when enough harm's been done."

As he got into the car, seeding off, Emma just wiped away a tear. Gia was quickly by her side.

"Emma, what did he say?" Gia asked her. Emma just looked to her.

"Nothing I didn't already know." Emma told her. "Come on, there's something we need to talk about."

Elsewhere, Troy found Jordan standing at the edge of the Graveyard, holding the flag in his hands. He was just staring down at it. Troy approached him.

"Jordan, I know this is hard..."

"Hard?" Jordan asked him. "Actually, things have never been simpler."

"I don't understand." Troy stated as Jordan looked to him.

"You know, all those years, I always wondered why dad and I didn't get on, why we were never that close." Jordan said as he tried to make sense of it all. "We were never close, no matter what happened...now I finally get it."

"I'm afraid you're going to have to explain it for me." Troy told him.

"Isn't it obvious?" Jordan asked him. "My dad wasn't my dad...and I think he knew all along."

"Jordan..."

"He asked my mom when they found out she was pregnant. They'd had problems having kids." Jordan told him. "She denied it, but obviously that was a lie."

"Jordan, I don't know..."

"My dad wasn't my dad, and he knew it." Jordan told him. "Instead, he was stuck looking after the kid my mom had with another man, and that ultimately killed her."

He looked to the flag, and then back to Troy.

"No wonder he hated me. I destroyed everything, just like I always do." Jordan told him, before throwing the flag into a trash can.

Meanwhile, in her underwater Base, Metal Alice was just putting the finishing touches to the systems, before powering up the machines. She marvelled at her creation. She went to the communications centre and punched some keys, getting Vrak on the line.

"It is ready Lord Vrak." She announced. "The time of machines is finally at hand!"

When they got back home, Emma and Gia had gone to their room for some quiet time. Gia was on a Skype chat to Cat as Emma just sat, going over in her mind what Wayne had said to her.

"But Gia, I've already bought the ticket." Cat whined in a disappointed tone as Gia tried to explain why she wanted her to stay in LA for Thanksgiving. It was a trip they'd been arranging for a while, and both of them had been looking forward to it. "I've spent weeks babysitting for my neighbours to pay for it."

"Cat, things are just really messed up here." Gia told her. "I really want to see you too, but not if that psycho is still running around."

"But I promise to be careful." She told her. Gia was agonising over the decision. She only wanted Cat to be safe.

"I know, I really want to see you too." She responded. "It's just...please don't make this any harder than it already is..."

Emma had finally heard enough, and in a snap decision took her morpher from her bag. Gia only just caught a glimpse of it as Emma headed out the door.

"Emma, what are you...?" She started to say. "Um...Cat, I'm going to have to call you back."

Emma though, was already in the Living Room, where Eric was talking with Louise.

"Dad, there's something important I need to tell you." Emma told him.

"Emma, whatever it is..."

"Go Go Megaforce!" She called out, slamming her power card into the morpher before Gia could stop her. As they light in the room dissipated, Eric and Louise could only stare, seeing the Pink Ranger where Emma had once stood.

Fin