Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

Chapter 8 – Beneath the Surface

With Tommy joining the team, Mesogog had his work cut out for him. Every monster he sent was defeated with relative ease and it was only Kim, Tommy and Kira's assurance that Mesogog would eventually up his game that kept Connor and Ethan from getting too complacent. October wore on with little change in their routine and even Kira began to relax a little, even though she still kept her guard up and never took an easy monster battle for granted. It was a good thing too, for in true arch-enemy fashion, Mesogog waited until he knew the Rangers' guards were at their lowest before he played his ace card. A major attack was launched on the city, but it wasn't the monster that caused all the destruction, for there was no monster in sight.

"What's going on?" Kira asked. "Where's the goon?"

"I don't know."

"I'm not seeing anything." The boys answered.

"Look harder." Came an ominous voice. The Rangers whipped around and came face to face with another Power Ranger, a White Ranger.

"Who is that?"

"Dr. O you didn't tell us there was another Dino Gem."

"I didn't know there was." Tommy replied as he eyed this new Ranger, just knowing that something wasn't right.

"Well it's another Ranger!" Connor cried happily. "Let's go!"

"Connor no!" Kira and Tommy both cried at once as Connor ran forwards. The White Ranger merely scoffed and pulled out his weapon before waving it in a complicated fashion and conjuring laser arrows, which he shot at Connor who was blasted backwards, landing near Kira.

"You idiot!" Kira yelled. "After everything you've learned, after hearing about dad's time as an evil Power Ranger, you just go charging towards an unknown entity like he's an old friend?! Just because he's a Power Ranger doesn't mean he's on our side!"

"That's enough Kira, I think he gets your point." Tommy said as he helped Connor up. Without further ado, the White Ranger launched on the attack, proving himself on par with his predecessors by laying waste to the Rangers.

"Alright, what's the deal?" Connor asked as he forced himself onto his feet. "We try to be nice, just extending a little Ranger love, and this is what we get?"

"I'm not here to make friends." The White Ranger replied.

"Then what is it?! What do you want?"

"That isn't something you need to know. All that's important right now is that there are four Rangers too many and I'm here to change that."

"Then go for it!" Ethan snarled as they all geared up for another battle. It was still relatively one sided, the evil Rangers always seeming to have the upper hand, but eventually the Rangers reached their breaking point and snapped, turning the tide enough in their favour to force the White Ranger to retreat.

"Let's get back to the Dino Lab." Tommy muttered as he led the way home. Kim was waiting for them when they arrived, having their extensive first aid kit at the ready, though none of them seemed to be truly hurt, more just battered and exhausted.

"Man, now I know how you guys felt when I was evil." Tommy mumbled. He had never faced an evil Ranger before, he didn't count his fight against Tom for they'd both been using the Green Ranger powers, nor the fight against Jason and Kim on Muiranthias for it'd been too short and they hadn't been morphed. Fighting against a true evil Ranger was indeed an eye opener for him.

"Yeah, well, let's just hope he's not as vicious as you were and we turn him back quickly." Kim said.

"Turn him back?" Ethan asked. "What do you mean?"

"Ranger powers can't be evil." Kira answered. "They can only be used by an evil being. Except that to be able to use Ranger powers you can't truly be evil, The Power would never let a being like Mesogog, for example, be a Power Ranger. Which means whoever's inside the suit has been turned evil."

"And it's our job to bring him back." Ethan concluded. Kira nodded.

"But how do we do that when we can't even get near him?" Asked Connor.

"We wait until he appears again." Said Tommy. "Hayley should then be able to get a reading on him, and his powers, so we can find the source of his evil and reverse it. If Hayley can't then Alpha will. The Command Centre is far more equipped, with far more advanced technology. Either way, we'll get that reading and find out what we have to do to bring him back."

-C/K-

Tommy's plan was a sound one, not least of all because no one else could come up with something better. However, days passed and the White Ranger never made a re-appearance, nor, for that matter, had any of Mesogog's goons. While disconcerting to say the least, the Rangers couldn't deny the reprieve was welcomed. If they had to face off against the White Ranger again so soon and got their asses handed to them again, it wouldn't be long before they truly got hurt. The weekend arrived, still with no sign of the White Ranger. Having decided not to lay low in fear of an attack, the Rangers got on with their lives and Saturday found them at the beach. Kira had stuck to her word and taught Connor how to swim, at least enough so that he wasn't afraid to go in the water. He'd never be a star swimmer, but at least he wouldn't drown. Ethan had brought his Gameboy to the beach and had claimed a spot in the shade of an umbrella, not really being one for most beach activities, though he did go in the water once or twice. After a couple hours where he didn't move from his spot in the shade, Kim decided he'd been still long enough and had forced him up and into a game of beach volleyball with some other people who needed a few more players. Kira had not been invited to play for it was intended to be a true game of volleyball and the strangers they were playing with thought her nothing but a ten-year-old kid. Tommy was the last to join the game and he only did so when Connor said he'd stay back with Kira.

"You should have played." She said. "I know you want to. I'd be fine on my own."

"Naw, it's alright. Volleyball's not really my sport."

"Oh, so you'd ditch me if it was soccer."

"Pretty much, yeah." He joked, earning a handful of sand being thrown at him. Kira had decided to make a sand castle, having had enough water for the time being, and Connor reluctantly agreed to make one with her, believing himself 'too cool' to play in the sand. They were nearly finished when two girls approached them, their bikini clad bodies gaining Connor's attention. His eyes eventually made it up to their faces and he recognized them as girls from his class, girls he'd previously hung out and flirted shamelessly with.

"Hi Connor." Said the brunette on the right.

"Anna." He greeted with a smile reserved specifically for the ladies. "How's it going?"

"Oh, we're real good." The blonde on the left said.

"I'm glad to hear that Gwen."

"You were really good at the game on Thursday. You certainly are the talk of the school. They say you're going to lead us to a back-to-back championship."

"I do try." The girls giggled loudly as if he'd said the funniest thing they'd ever heard and Kira rolled her eyes and continued to work on the sand castle, thoroughly disgusted by the display the girls were making, and how Connor was falling for it hook, line and sinker.

"Listen, there's a party at Andrew's tonight, you're gonna be there, right? I mean it's not a party without the star of the soccer team."

"Of course ladies, I can't disappoint-" Connor cut off as he remembered he'd promised to watch a movie with Kira tonight. "What I mean is, I'm going to have to disappoint you. I'm babysitting tonight."

"Oh." They said as their eyes landed on Kira who steadfastly ignored them. "You can't get out of it?"

"No…I'm sorry but I can't. Next party though."

"Yeah, sure." They replied noncommittally before walking off. Connor sighed as he sunk down into the sand and reached for the nearest pail to continue helping with the sand castle.

"You should have said yes." Kira said after a few moments. "Those girls were all over you, and you seemed to enjoy it. I'm sure they would have been at the party too."

"Are you jealous?" he asked quietly. Neither of them had looked at the other since the girls had arrived and neither felt the inclination to do so now.

"Why would I be jealous? I'm ten. As far as I'm concerned boys still have cooties." Connor didn't reply and instead fell into that feeling he'd gotten when he'd nearly said yes to those girls. He was undoubtedly attracted to them, and had this interaction happened a couple months ago he'd have said yes in a heartbeat, but now things were different. There was a part of him, deep down, that felt like spending yet another night watching yet another movie with his mate was far better then going to a party, getting drunk and hopefully lucky. Yet that word 'mate' brought on a whole new set of feelings. She was his mate, he knew that without a doubt, but she was also still only ten-years-old and he'd never thought on what that age difference actually meant, though if that feeling deep down was anything to go by, it apparently meant he was going to go without a date for many years to come.

-C/K-

For the rest of the weekend Connor's thoughts spiralled as he contemplated what having such a young mate meant for him. Years of celibacy was apparently only the tip of it. College applications were due in a few months and Connor realized he couldn't go. Reefside didn't have a college and the nearest one was California State and still a near two-hour drive away and living in residence wasn't an option for he couldn't move away from his mate. His dream of playing pro-soccer was also out due to the long hours of training and time spent away from home for games. As he thought about it he realized he was pretty much stuck. Stuck with her, stuck in Reefside…just stuck. One simple act of stopping her from falling had taken his future from him and the realization of it left behind a bitter feeling.

-C/K-

Monday came still with no sign of the White Ranger and the Rangers were beginning to feel on edge, though they supposed that's what he wanted. Kira and Connor had barely spoken since Saturday, and it was obvious to all that Connor was angry about something, though as their bond was not fully developed, not even Kira knew what was wrong. It was previously said that Connor's time at the Olivers was spent as if there was nowhere else he'd rather be. These past few days, however, they got the impression that he'd rather be anywhere but here, yet he forced himself, or the bond forced him, to spend time around his mate. To top it all off, Kira came down with a cold and each day that passed Tommy and Kim noticed her getting paler, though that was the only sign that her cold was getting worse. Kira was not a good patient when sick, she was grumpy and moody, and could never hide it when she wasn't well so her near normal attitude had Tommy and Kim suspecting nothing was amiss. It was at this time, with one Ranger not at the top of their game physically, that the White Ranger attacked.

"How do they always know when we're not at 100%?" Kira grumbled as they returned from battle bruised and sore.

"I swear they have some kind of finely tuned radar." Tommy grumbled right along with her. "Kind of like how we always know when danger's near."

"Yeah, well, there's nothing we can do about it." Connor said. "I'm heading home. Call me if he attacks again." The five occupants of the Dino Lab watched in confusion and exasperation as Connor walked up through the secret staircase without a backwards glance.

"His attitude's really starting to annoy me." Hayley said as she set the main computer to scan mode, looking for any sign of the White Ranger or Mesogog's goons.

"Tell me about it." Muttered Ethan.

"Do you have any idea what's wrong?" Kim asked her daughter. Kira shook her head.

"No. I can feel his emotions, but you don't need our bond to know something's wrong. We can't communicate telepathically like you can so I don't know what he's thinking, and he doesn't talk to me anymore." Her words ended in a cough and Tommy placed a hand on her forehead, feeling the return of her fever.

"Bed." He ordered.

"But the family's coming over tonight!" she cried, not wanting to miss out on time with her numerous aunts and uncles. They were all coming up to celebrate Tommy's twenty-seventh birthday and Jason's twenty-sixth, which were both next week, the two sharing an October 20th birthday. The timing of their actual birthday just didn't work out for them all and so a celebration had been declared for this week with everyone coming up to Reefside given the current situation with their enemies. It was to be a celebration with their Ranger family, that this time didn't include Ethan and Connor, largely because of Connor's attitude, though Kim said they'd have a small party on the 20th with just the Dino team. The celebration was not meant to be anything big, no one was staying the night but merely coming for dinner, though given the sheer number of them no one had any doubt that it would be big. Ashley and Andros had found a babysitter and so left the twins at home, and as this was not officially a Ranger related gathering, but rather most of the people just happened to be Rangers, Angela and Marissa, as well as Bulk and Skull, would also be in attendance.

"And if you want to be there you'll go get some rest. Otherwise you're confined to your bed." Kim added, completely agreeing with Tommy's assessment.

"Fine." Kira grumbled as she did as instructed and went upstairs to get some sleep. A few hours later dinner was nearly ready and the family had arrived, the increase in noise awakening Kira who came downstairs rather put out with her parents for not waking her sooner.

"You were sleeping so peacefully." Kim said as explanation, to which Kira rolled her eyes before heading over to Jason.

"Happy birthday Uncle Jason!" she said giving him a hug.

"Thanks sweetie." He replied wrapping his arms around her in return. After a moment they pulled apart and Jason looked down on her with a startled expression.

"Are you ok?!" He practically demanded. He'd seen her sick before, and knew she was sick now, but she looked terrible and he swore that he'd never seen her this sick before.

"I'm fine. Just a little sick."

"A little?" he growled. "Tri, does this look like a little sick to you?" he asked his wife who was chatting with some of the girls. All of them turned around at his words, worried expressions forming on their faces the moment they laid eyes on their niece.

"Uh uh." Was Trini's only reply before she dashed off to where Kim and Tommy were.

"You said Kira was a little sick. That is not a little sick." She accused angrily, not liking being lied to about her goddaughter's health.

"We didn't lie to you, Tri." Kim said, reading her best friend like a book. "She is a little sick…at least from what we can tell. She's coughing, she has a low grade fever, but she hasn't thrown up, her fever hasn't spiked and she has no other symptoms."

"Except for looking like shit." Tommy added. "We've been keeping an eye on her and there's not much more we can do right now. If it stays for too much longer though we'll call Dana." Dana had become the unofficial doctor for every Power Ranger around. Given the kinds of injuries they sustained in battle, their accelerated healing, and the traces left behind in them by The Power, it was often too risky for them to go to a normal doctor or hospital. They'd ask too many questions or worse, they wouldn't know how to help them because normal treatments often didn't work on them. So it was much safer and faster to go through Dana if something happened that they couldn't deal with themselves.

"Fine." Trini acquiesced, though somewhat grudgingly. Not long after everyone sat down to dinner, all of them yelling to be heard above the noise, which was typical for when they all gathered. Afterwards, the cake was brought out and thoroughly enjoyed before Trini and Jason stood up, clearly excited about something.

"We wanted to tell you when we were all together." Jason started, but Trini interrupted him, practically beaming.

"I'm pregnant!" Silence reigned for less then a second before the girls converged around Trini offering congratulations and reaching out to touch her belly while the guys patted Jason on the back before switching.

"How far along are you?" Ashley asked once things had calmed down slightly.

"Nine weeks."

"That's great Tri, I'm so happy for you and Jason!" Said Kim with tears in her eyes.

"This was planned, right bro?" Tommy quietly asked Jason who shot him a dirty look.

"Yes." He answered in a clipped voice.

"Hey after the surprise of Kim's pregnancy it's a fair question! Besides you've never really spoken of having kids in more then just a passing comment."

"Tommy, you were sixteen when Kim got pregnant, of course it was a surprise. But we're not teenagers anymore, so that argument is void. Though I will give you the last one. Trini and I kind of just decided one day and we didn't wanna say anything until it happened."

"Fair enough." Tommy conceded. "And I'm happy for you. Really I am. Besides now I get to be Uncle Tommy and corrupt your child."

"Hey I never corrupted Kira! Right?" He asked his goddaughter who pretended to think about it.

"Well…."

"Oh ha ha very funny." Suddenly the joyous moment was cut off as the alarms blared throughout the house, signalling an attack.

"It never fails." Tommy groaned as he and Kira raced down the secret staircase. The others weren't far behind them, none of them willing to stay and pretend nothing was happening when they could be keeping an eye on things from Tommy's command centre, most of them ready to step in if needed.

"It's the White Ranger again." Said Kira unnecessarily.

"Connor, Ethan, the White Ranger's attacking downtown." Tommy said into his communicator.

"Meet you there Dr. O!" came Ethan's immediate reply, Connor's following not far behind him.

"Right, let's do it." Said Kira as she activated her Morpher.

"Wait-" Jason said but he went unheard.

"Dino Thunder, Power Up!" Father and daughter cried as one, morphing quickly before jumping onto their Raptor Cycle and ATV and speeding out of the cavern command centre.

"Are you sure she should be fighting?" Jason asked Kim.

"No. But she'd never go for staying home." Kim answered. "She's stubborn like her dad. She'd find a way out."

"You mean stubborn like her mom." Trini corrected Kim, who had no come back. As the cave door closed, they all turned to the computer screen and watched the Rangers arrive on scene, engaging the White Ranger in battle. They fought well, having a better time of it now that they more or less knew what to expect from him, but he still managed to get in a few hard hits. One of them hit Kira dead on but wasn't enough to fell her. She got back up and raised her Ptera Grips, flying back into the fray, though her movements were sluggish and it was obvious she was weakening, and fast.

"Kira you get out of there." Kim cried over the comm. "You're in no condition to continue fighting!"

"I'm fine!" she cried back, not letting up on her attacks.

"Like I said, stubborn like her mom." Kim shot Trini a dirty look before turning her attention back to the screen in time to see Kira falter mid-step, her breathing laboured.

"Kira…" she gasped. "Tommy!"

"I know!" he called back as he made his way to his daughter. He wasn't quick enough, however, and the White Ranger got another hit in, this one sending Kira flying. She lost her morph in mid air and her body rolled when it hit the ground, coming to a stop a few feet away, her eyes closed and completely still. An anguished cry left Connor when he saw his mate lying there unconscious, vulnerable to any and all attacks. He felt that power well up inside him, like every time before when he needed to defend his mate, but this time instead of exploding out of him, it tapped into his Gem and unlocked a new power.

"Super Dino Mode!" he cried. Launching himself into the air, Connor felt The Power wash over him and when he landed in front of Kira the spikes on his suit had grown and he felt completely energized. The White Ranger didn't stand a change against this new power, and the power of the bond, as both surged through Connor. The White Ranger retreated again, though this time it wasn't a strategic retreat to toy with the Rangers, but rather one made out of necessity. Once the threat was gone, Connor wasted no time in powering down and taking Kira into his arms.

"Kim, teleport us home." Tommy mumbled, his worried eyes never leaving his daughter's prone form. Her own eyes not leaving her daughter, Kim hit a few buttons and three beams of light disappeared from the street and re-appeared seconds later in the Dino Lab.

"Take her upstairs." Kim told Connor. "I'll call Dana." Connor nodded, not registering anything beyond getting his mate comfortable and warm. He practically sprinted up the stairs to her bedroom before laying her down and pulling the covers over her before pulling her desk chair over and doing a double take at the cat that had suddenly appeared.

"Jefferson…" Connor muttered, used to the cat and its obvious love of Kira, though still not used to how it got around so quickly and silently. As he took a seat beside Kira's bed, Connor's thoughts turned to her injuries. The one thing about being morphed was that it protected against most basic injuries so bruises were all that showed on their bodies unless the suit got torn; so apart from a few bruises, and scratches from hitting the ground un-morphed, the battle itself didn't show on Kira, yet she was still unconscious. Connor sat there unable to stop his near panic over his mate's condition, though his recent bitterness was strong enough to register that he had no choice in how worried he was. If things were different, he knew he'd be concerned for his teammate and teacher's daughter, but he wouldn't be distraught. It was another thing taken away from him, control over his feelings, and while he sat there worried out of his mind, he also felt bitter towards the girl who'd caused all this. What was barely five minutes later, though seemed a lot longer to Connor, three pairs of footsteps were heard on the stairs and Tommy and Kim entered with a blonde female wearing a red jacket with 'Lightspeed Rescue' emblazoned on the back.

"What happened?" Dana asked. When Kim had called frantically, her tears nearly making her plea for help incomprehensible, Dana had not wasted time with questions but had immediately grabbed Joel who'd flown her over in Aero Rescue III, his Zord's supersonic speed making the raising of the Train Bay a far longer trip then the flight from Mariner Bay.

"She's been feeling sick lately, it was just a cough, a low fever and a general feeling of crappiness, but she's been getting really pale. Then in tonight's battle she seemed, weak, and the White Ranger hit her hard twice, the second time she de-morphed and fell unconscious. We brought her home and called you." Tommy related.

"Besides tonight has she sustained any other injuries in battle? Any hits directly to the head, heart or lower abdomen?" Dana asked as she shoved Jefferson aside, who promptly jumped onto Connor's lap, and pulled back the covers, taking out a scanner and beginning to run it over Kira.

"No…I mean she's a Ranger, you know how it is, we get hit all the time, but she hasn't been hit hard enough to force her to de-morph and nothing else sticks out as abnormal." Dana made a noncommittal noise as she waited for the scanner's results. The visual check of Kira revealed a few bruises and scratches that were already healing over thanks to their accelerated healing, but like Tommy said, nothing abnormal. The scanner beeped and Dana turned her attention to the small screen, her brow creasing together in confusion at what she read.

"What is it?" Kim asked, speaking for the first time since Dana arrived. Her fellow Pink Ranger didn't answer her but ran the scanner over her daughter once more.

"Impossible." Dana muttered upon seeing the results yet again. She then put the scanner down and manually began to look Kira over, pressing down on and feeling different parts of her body, searching for any broken bones, internal bleeding, swollen or abnormally shaped organs and anything else she could look for on an external exam without the patient being conscious. Her findings concurred with the results of the scanner and Dana stood motioning for Tommy and Kim to follow her, the three completely ignoring Connor's presence, though he appeared not to have heard them for he hadn't taken his eyes off Kira.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Kim asked frantically.

"Nothing…" She said. "And yet everything."

"What?" Tommy asked. "How can it be nothing and everything? How does that even make sense?!"

"It doesn't make sense." Dana said. "I thought I was reading the scanner wrong, but the results were the same twice. And my manual examination revealed nothing to suggest the scanner's wrong."

"And what did the scanner say?" Dana was silent for a moment, looking between the two parents who seemed to be seconds away from a break down. Sighing, Dana knew she had no choice but to tell them the truth.

"Her body is shutting down."

"W-what…?" Tommy breathed as silent tears began to stream down his and Kim's faces.

"There seems to be no cause for it, she has sustained no irreparable injuries, she is free of viruses, diseases…I don't know why she was sick. Every part of her body has no reason to not be functioning normally, and yet she has complete organ failure."

"Organ failure? She's…she's dying?" Dana hesitantly nodded before turning to look back at Kira.

"Yes…she's dying. But I have no idea why."

A/N - And you shall learn why in the next chapter which will be up this weekend!

Review please!