Disclaimer: Don't own Power Rangers.

Hey all! Thanks so much for the reviews...and the threatening messages...I promise to finish:-) Exams are over and break has started, so I managed to get up another chapter. There are only a few chapters left, and the end is basically written - then again, I have a tendency to change my mind several times, so I cannot confirm the safety of any character accept for Cindy Sunshine and Cadet #3. For now, please enjoy...


Seven Minutes in Hell

C-squad had just arrived at Grumm's ship and successfully gotten on-board without notice. Mathew Lee, the yellow ranger, and Heather Johnson, the pink ranger, had stayed behind on the ship, in case of an attack or the need for a hasty departure.

Meanwhile Trinity, Melanie, and Tom searched the ship. Matt had hacked into Grumm's computer from their shuttle, and it was through his directions that they managed to get to the dungeons without any trouble. The first room they entered was filled with amoragan tanks, some empty, some not, but none containing the missing rangers.

In the next room, the cages were filled with prisoners, but again, none were the rangers. About to give up hope, the C-squad passed through the last set of doors into the last section. It was empty. Trinity sighed, "C'mon, guys. There's nothing down this way. Let's get back to the…" There was a noise at the end of the hallway, like someone crying or coughing. It was enough to send them running.

The rangers reached the very last prison cell and gaped. A thin, dirty, shadow of a man was barely standing, using the bars of the cell for support as he coughed blood onto the grimy stone in front of him. The blood was muddy, too green to be a healthy human's. The man was looking away from them, coughing into a corner. Once he stopped choking he fell to his knees and dragged his body to a girl who was lying on the floor unconscious. Only the uneven movement of her chest indicated that she was still alive. The man brushed some hair away from her forehead, soaked in sweat, and whispered, "God help us…"

Finally, Melanie managed to free herself from the stupor of seeing any humans so poorly treated. "Hang on!" she said, loud enough for him to hear but not enough to attract any unwanted attention.

The man turned. "Rangers? But how…who…?" he whispered, going to the bars.

Trinity asked, "Are you Schuyler Tate?" He nodded while Tom and Melanie fired their lasers at the bars. "We're the C-squad; Cruger sent us to rescue you. Don't worry; we'll have you free in no time. Um, is that Elizabeth Delgado?"

Sky nodded, "Her name is Z."

Trinity helped her teammates remove the door and helped Sky to his feet. "Hurry, we need to get the two of you back to SPD." She put Sky's arm over her shoulder and started down the hall. Any other time, Sky would have protested the help, but he was too tired and sick to argue. "Tom, take Delgado; Mel, you check ahead in case of trouble." The rangers followed her orders without question. Before they reached the next room, Trinity felt a dead weight on her arm. She shifted Sky's weight to her arms. "I had a feeling you wouldn't be walking very far," she told the unconscious man. With a nod to her team, they took off down the halls.

"Yellow and Pink, please respond," Mel whispered over her communicator as they made their way back to their shuttle.

"This is Yellow," Matt responded. "What do ya' need, Mel? Er, I mean, go ahead, Blue…"

Melanie rolled her eyes and continued, "We've found the two B-squad MIA, but they're in very poor condition. Have any medical equipment on the ship ready, and notify SPD."

"Will do, Blue. Yellow out."

Only one krybot intercepted their progress, and Melanie destroyed it before it could sound the alarm. As they ran onto their own ship, Matt and Heather hit the thruster. The ship was immediately launched for Earth, although the C-squad rangers wondered if 'immediately' was still too late.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Mrs. Tate?" a young man dressed in a nurse's uniform asked as he entered the rec room where Jennifer sat with the B-squad.

"Yes?" Jen answered. Her voice was steady, but her hands refused to remain still.

The man gave her a smile. "My name is Marcus Grayson, I work with Dr. Felix in the infirmary, and he sent me to find you. The C-squad's brought back your son; he's alive!"

Jen sprang up with a youthful energy and hugged the nurse. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you…" she exclaimed over and over, tears in her eyes.

"Mrs. Tate, I can't breathe!" he gasped. She released him, mumbling an apology. Marcus smiled, and escorted her out of the room with an apologetic look back at the rangers; he had worked with the B-Squad rangers on numerous occasions when they came back from a fight and hated that he was unable to take them to see their teammate as well. After the door had closed, he spoke quietly to Jen, relaying everything he knew as they walked. "Dr. Felix told me to let you know that you shouldn't freak out when you see him…it looks worse than it is. He isn't clear yet, though. Sky has been very sick, and we're going to have to give you the antidote, too, if you want to see him."

"Of course," Jen eagerly agreed. "I don't care what it takes, I just want to see him, and tell him that I love him and…oh, don't let him know I said that in front of you."

Marcus grinned, "No, I wouldn't dare. Let's see, what else can I tell you? Oh, we gave him five stitches because he had a pretty nasty cut on his forehead. He was starving a dehydrated, but we've got him hooked up to an IV so he should be okay in that respect. They also put him under a medically induced coma, so he will be asleep for a few days. Um, Felix plans to keep him in the infirmary for a while, to make sure everything heals properly and that all traces of the poison are gone."

"So…so he was the one who was poisoned?" Jen gasped.

Marcus shifted uncomfortably, "Er, yes and no. They were both poisoned, and um…Felix thinks your son caught it from Z because the poison had spread further in her body. But she also said that they managed to take pretty good care of each other. There were signs that Sky's shoulder had been dislocated, but somebody fixed it and wrapped in…well, we think it might've been a shirt at some point. Z had a couple broken ribs and Dr. Felix said they were wrapped, too. They never would have survived the poisoning at this level for this long if they hadn't helped each other through, because of…"

"Paranoia," Jen finished with a solemn nod. "I remember that; they say it's enough to make you commit suicide. Is…is the other ranger alright?" Jen asked.

Marcus hesitated. "She's alive, if that's what you mean. I am afraid that I do not know much about her. I was working with your son and Dr. Felix did not want anyone to bring any extra bacteria anywhere near Z, so no one but Felix and the two nurses who were working only with her were allowed to go in Z's room. That's why I'm only taking you to your son; the rangers would want to see her, too, and they can't."

Jen dropped her head, "I'm sorry to hear that. Thank you, for being such a big help to me."

"You're welcome," he replied. "Ah, here we are." He opened the door to the hospital wing of SPD. Marcus led Sky's mother down a corridor filled with rushing doctors and nurses, staff casually talking to patients, and cadets visiting friends. A few who recognized Mrs. Tate greeted her, but she refused to slow down for anyone. Finally, they stopped in front of a white door, 218. Marcus knocked twice; when no one answered he plugged in the access code and opened the door for Jennifer.

She walked in and gasped. Her son was lying on the white hospital bed, unconscious. He had several different tubes plugged into his arms, which were covered in bruises and cuts. His left shoulder was wrapped in a white bandage – she assumed that was the one that had been dislocated – and an ugly gash closed with stitches ran across his forehead. Jennifer ran to her son, but suddenly stopped at the edge of his bed. "You can hug him," Marcus explained, "just don't knock anything loose."

Jen wrapped her arms gently around Sky and kissed the gash on her son's head. Marcus pulled over a chair, which Jennifer gratefully accepted. Seated next to Sky, her hand hanging onto his, Jen started to cry. "Mrs. Tate?" asked Marcus. "Is there anything I can do?"

Jen looked up at him and smiled, "Do you think I could I talk to the C-squad? I want to thank them personally."

"I don't see why not. Let me see if I find them."

"Tha…thank you," Jen whispered, turning her attention back to Sky. "Please wake up soon, baby, I want to know that you're alright, I want you to know I'm here. Oh Schuyler…" Jen was still crying several minutes later when someone knocked on the door. She wiped her eyes and called, "Come in!"

Three girls and two boys entered solemnly, lining up like they would for Cruger, only with less formality in the small space. An Asian female with long black hair dressed in a red-striped uniform saluted, "C-squad, at your service ma'am. Marcus said you wanted to see…oof!"

Jen didn't let her finish. She enveloped as many of the team members as she could in a teary hug. "You saved my son's life! I don't know how I'll ever repay you! Thank you so much, I don't know what I would have done if…oh thank you!"

Heather smiled gently, patting Mrs. Tate's back. "You're quite welcome, Mrs. Tate, but it's a part of our job."

"Besides," Tom put in, "it's the least we could do; your son and his team have saved so many other people."

Jen released them, and wiped away a few of her tears. "Thank you," she repeated. "This means so much to me."

"Is there anything else we can do for you?" asked Heather.

"No, no; you've already done so much. I just want you five to know, if you ever need any help in any way, don't hesitate to ask Sky…when he wakes up. Tell him his mother told you to, and he'll do whatever you ask," said Jen.

Trinity smiled, "Of course, Mrs. Tate. Thank you. We do need to head out, though; we have a meeting with the commander and Dr. Manx in a few minutes."

"Tell your son we're glad he made it," Matt added. "For a minute there…we weren't sure either of them would."

"That reminds me," Jen said, "do you know anything about the girl? I…I don't even know her name, and it seems like I owe her a lot, too."

"Oh, um…I'm not sure what we're allowed to say," Trinity mumbled. "Well, her name is Elizabeth Delgado, but most people just call her Z. She's the yellow ranger. I don't know much more than that about her…"

Jen cocked her head, a memory resurfacing. "Delgado? As in the daughter of Daniel and Kendall Delgado? Do they know about all of this?"

The squad shifted uncomfortably. "You knew her parents?" asked Matt.

"Yes, they were good friends of mine until they resigned from their positions as researchers at SPD. We lost contact quickly, everyone was so busy. Sky was only a baby, and they…oh my, Kendall was pregnant last time I talked to her! Elizabeth must be theirs! Are they here? I would love to talk with them again!"

Again, the squad looked away from her. Melanie broke the silence, "Mrs. Tate, I'm really sorry to have to tell you this, but according to her files Cadet Delgado is an orphan. We only found out when we were trying to contact her family, since we noticed Cruger hadn't called anyone for her. Of course, he doesn't know we hacked into those files, but now we know why he didn't contact anyone…"

More tears fell from Jen's eyes. "So much death…" she whispered. "When will this cycle end?"

There was a knock on the door, and Dr. Felix entered. "We should go," Tom muttered. "Good-bye Mrs. Tate!"

"Yes, thank you again!" Jen gave a weak smiled as C-squad filed out. "Hello, Lyon."

"Jennifer," Felix greeted. "I'm sorry about all of this, Jen, I know how hard it must be for you. But I promise that Sky will be fine; I'm actually here to take some of those tubes out."

"Of course," Jen nodded, backing up to give him some room to move. "Lyon?"

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't anyone tell me earlier?"

Felix stopped what he was doing and looked seriously at his old friend. "It was the commander's decision, although I did not agree. He was afraid you would get so upset you would make yourself sick, or that you would try to go after him yourself."

Jen crossed her arms. "So why didn't anyone tell me that the Delgados died? Why didn't anyone tell us about Mirloc? What other secrets are they keeping from me?! I'm not a child, I can handle things like this! Lyon, you must have known some of this! You and I use to be such good friends, back when we all worked together."

Felix sighed, "No one knew that anything had happened to the Delgado family until Z came to us. Like all new cadets, we had to give her a physical to make sure she was healthy enough to fight. When I asked about family history, she told me that her mother, Kendall, died of some sort of cancer – lung, as I found out later – when Z was about six years old, and that Danny was killed in a car accident barely a year later. As for Mirloc – I was not involved with the case, so I'm afraid you will need to take it up with Doggie. I am sorry, Jen, that so much has happened to you and your friends. But that's about all the classified information I have access to. As far as I know, you're up to speed now."

"No, I'm not," Jen said. "I want to know everything this time. I want to know where Z and my son were held, what happened to them, and I want to know why no one will talk about Z." Felix looked away and did not speak. "She's dead, isn't she?" said Jen.

Lyon turned his gaze back to Jen. "No, but she may be close to it. Her condition was much worse than your son's. I have been trying to rid her blood stream of any trace of armoragan, but it is not easy. She lost a lot of blood while she was in that – that place, and what was left of it was completely infected. Because of their…unique genetic structure, all of the B-squad rangers have problems with transfusions. They don't accept normal blood so we have to use the blood of their teammates, which is structured similarly. But…"

"But you still have to use the correct blood type?" Jen finished.

"Precisely. Z has an O negative blood type, meaning, as I'm sure you know, she could only receive blood from another genetically altered human with O, preferably negative. There are plenty of people with O positive, which, in a normal case, would be okay, and I have plenty of O negative, too, although it is a lot harder to find in humans. Unfortunately, there are only five other people in the entire universe with the genetically alteredtype she needs. Of those five there is, by some miracle, one other person with type O blood. By yet another, crueler twist of fate, that person happens to be…"

"…Sky…" Jen whispered.

Felix nodded. "Yes. However, he cannot spare any blood if he is going to survive. He did not lose nearly as much as she did, and not all of it was infected. That's what all of these tubes are for; to artificially give him the appropriate type until his body can make enough on its own."

"Couldn't you do that for Z?"

"Well, we are for now, but just enough to keep her alive. But no human can survive on entirely artificial blood as we have yet to perfect it for your species, and Z needs a full transfusion if she's going to survive until next week. Because we could not take away all of the infected blood without killing her, the poison continues to spread to the artificial blood," Felix explained. "I am afraid that the options are limited, and it is very likely that Z will die."

For a moment, Jen could only stare at her son's bruised face, her mind racing. This could not be possible…not again, not another dead ranger. It was too much to lose, as much as it might be nice for Z to see her parents again. Jen sighed. 'Kat's wrong; there used to be two others who could have saved Z, or at least one. Danny or Kendall…one of them must have had her blood type, she's their daughter! And because they were the ones working here at SPD, their genes were changed too, they could have…' Jen's eyes widened. "LYON!"

Felix hissed, his ears flattened, and he jumped on top of a nearby chair. After a moment spent trying to get his ears back into their normal position, he sighed and put his feet back on the floor. "Jennifer, please refrain from such outbursts. My people react well to surprises."

"But Lyon, I think I know a way to save Z!" Jen exclaimed. "Kendall and Daniel Delgado – at least one of them had to have the same blood type as Z does, right?"

"As long as they were her biological parents, yes…"

"Well, their blood had been changed genetically too, right?"

Felix's whiskers twitched. "Yes…what is your point?"

"Sky inherited his blood type from his mother! Lyon, I can save her! I worked here when the accident happened, my genes were changed! I swear I've never been healthier!" Jen explained, practically knocking the doctor over in her excitement.

Felix grinned, "Jennifer, that is brilliant! I can't believe I never thought of asking…but are you sure? You hate needles, and it will require several visits."

"If I can save a life, I'll deal with the needles. Could you replace the infected blood with some of mine, and then keep up the extra she needs with the artificial? I'll give as much as I can!"

"I think it would work, but we have to take it slowly. If for some reason this is wrong…we might not even need to wait another week," Felix warned.