Part II

"Place the subject on the table."

A young blond haired boy about thirteen years old was dragged out into a large laboratory by two soldiers and placed on an upright lab table. He was shirtless and wearing only a pair of army pants that looked too big for him. He didn't put up a fight as they strapped him in by his arms and neck.

"Commence with the test."

The boy started to scream in agony as a strange purple beam hit him. "Increase the dosage. I want to see how much his bio defenses can handle it."

Waves of agony overcame the boy. Then just as suddenly it stopped.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" A younger Max Sawyer burst into the room. He had shut off the machine and was undoing the restraints. "I TOLD YOU I WOULDN'T ALLOW THIS TYPE OF BARBARISM IN MY LAB!"

"You work for us Sawyer," Senator Wheiner stepped into the light with two other men. "You will do whatever we say and this test is necessary to test this Trooper's bio-defenses! To see if he can take it."

"He's a boy!" Max shouted as he helped the boy down.

"He is a weapon and we need to make sure that he works properly," Another Senator said. "He like all of his kind are made only to serve us."

"They are people you sadistic son of a bitch!" Max shouted. "Not playthings for you to break apart whenever you feel like it!"

"Commander Walsh will hear about your interference, Sawyer," Wheiner growled. "I always thought you were a bad influence, coddling these creatures."

"It's called compassion, Wheiner," Max shouted. "You should try it sometime!"

"Max," A younger looking Commander Walsh walked in.

"You know this is wrong Walsh! We have to stop them!" Max shouted. "We can't continue to let them treat the Supertroopers like this! We created them to help humanity! Not for humanity to enslave them!"

"And what are you going to do about it?" Wheiner challenged.

"I'll go to the media! I'll tell everyone what you're doing," Max growled. "I'll expose the entire Supertrooper Project if that's what it takes to save them."

"You try that and I'll ruin you," Wheiner snarled.

"Max listen to me…"Walsh began. "Before you do anything rash think what you're doing. What you're throwing away…"

"Max please…" The boy whimpered. "Don't do it. I can take it. Don't worry about me."

"It's all right," Max said to the boy. "I'm not going to let them hurt you any more. I'll get you and the others out of Wolf Den if I have to. But this ends now!"

"That's it! I've had it! Guards! Arrest that man!" Wheiner shouted.

"Come here you!" The guards grabbed Max and pulled him away from the boy.

"NO! Leave Max alone!" The boy tried to strike at the senator but in his weakened condition was stopped by the guards. "MAX!"

"This should teach you some manners freak!" A soldier mercilessly kicked the boy to the ground.

"SHANE!" Max yelled as he tried to get to the boy. "Don't hurt him!"

"Put that thing in it's cage," Wheiner snarled as he pointed at the boy. The boy was ruthlessly thrown inside a cell.

"MAX!" The boy shouted as his friend was dragged away. All the boy could do was lie helplessly in the cell and watch. "MAX!"

"Ahhh!" Doc sat up screaming in his apartment. Instantly all the computers and anything electronic in his room activated.

"What the…?" Groggily Doc looked around. "I don't remember leaving anything on before I went to bed."

Before he realized it he waved his hand and the computers and other equipment turned off. "Okay…That's never happened before."

Doc wasn't the only one affected. Niko woke up screaming as well.

Three feet off her bed.

"What the…?" Niko gasped as she fell back on her bed. Then she remembered the dream. "SHANE!"

Without thinking she ran out of her apartment in her pajamas, down the halls towards Zach and Eliza's apartment. She saw Doc running toward her. "You too?" He asked.

Niko nodded and quickly pressed the buzzer when they reached the door. Zach answered the door. The look on his face said it all. "You saw it too didn't you?" Doc said softly.

"Yeah," Zach sighed. "And so did Eliza. I think it's time we got some answers."

"Don't provoke him," Niko said sharply. "You know how wound up he can get."

"Boy do I ever," Zach grumbled.

"What's going on?" Zach Jr. asked. Jessica was with him.

"Goose had a bad dream," Niko said honestly.

"Just go to bed, we'll talk about this in the morning," Zach ordered in a voice that made his children obey him.

They went into the guest bedroom and found Shane sitting in almost a fetal position with his arms tightly around his knees. Eliza was gently rubbing his back and stroking his hair in order to comfort him.

"It's okay Goose," Eliza said gently. "You're safe. And your friends are here."

Zach and the others were stunned. They had never seen Shane like this and weren't used to it. He looked so vulnerable and frightened.

One look told Shane everything. "You saw it too didn't you? I never meant for you to…" He stopped and shivered. "I'm sorry. You weren't supposed to…No one was supposed to know."

"Those treason charges against Max Sawyer were false weren't they?" Doc said gently. "They just made them up so…"

Shane let up a choked snarl. "So they could do whatever the hell they wanted to us and no one could stop them."

"Why didn't you tell us about this?" Zach asked.

"He was afraid," Niko admitted. "He didn't want you getting involved."

"Yeah like that was going to happen," Doc snorted rolling his eyes.

"You knew about this?" Zach looked at Niko.

"Not all the details but yeah…" Niko absently ran her fingers through her hair. "This is my fault."

"Your fault?" Zach said.

"During the battle with the Queen we were all psychically bonded," Niko sighed. "I must have made some kind of connection with my powers between the five of us and now we're linked."

"So every time one of us has a bad dream the others can sense it?" Zach was stunned.

"Hold it, I've had a few dreams since I came back. Have any of you seen them?" Eliza asked.

"No…I don't think I saw any of your dreams," Doc said. "And I know for a fact I haven't experienced any dreams but my own until now."

"Maybe it's a delayed reaction?" Niko said.

"Or maybe not. I'm not so sure it was all you Niko," Doc frowned. "Did anyone else experience a weird power boost or something odd just now?"

"Now that you mention it, I found myself floating above my bed," Niko said.

"Uh I accidentally wrecked the wall in our bedroom when I heard Shane scream," Zach winced. "I didn't shoot off a major thunderbolt. Just made a little hole.

"I thought so…" Doc frowned. "When I woke up I could…Well let me show you." He concentrated at the nearby computer in the room. It turned on for a brief second.

"That's different," Shane blinked.

"That's not all," Doc said. "I did that without my badge. And I bet all of you did the same as well."

"He's right," Zach realized. "What's going on with us?"

"I have a theory," Doc closed his eyes. "Our Series Five implants do bring out our natural talents. They could be instigating some kind of evolutionary process in our bodies."

"But we've had them for a long time and this hasn't happened before," Niko said. "I mean I've noticed my gifts getting stronger over time but a boost like this…"

"Yes a power surge as quick and rapid as this had to have had a catalyst," Doc looked at Shane.

"Why are you looking at me?" Shane asked.

"Because I think when you healed us, you also somehow accidentally triggered something between our implant and our genes," Doc said simply.

"How could I have done that?" Shane yelled.

"I'm not sure but it's your nightmare that triggered our recent power surge," Doc said. "I think on some level you also made a connection with the rest of us. More so with Zach, Niko and myself because you healed our bodies. Eliza was connected only because of Niko's powers. But it was your dream that set off this chain reaction in our powers at the same time."

"Wait, Goose healed us using the energy emitted from his bio-defenses," Zach tried to get a handle on things. "Maybe that energy was stronger than any of us realized?"

"And that coupled with my psychic powers and our implants intensified the link," Niko added.

"So you're saying I did this," Shane said.

"It's the only explanation that makes sense," Doc shrugged.

"This is nuts!" Shane snapped. "I can't handle this! This is way over my head!"

"I think it's time you got some of that therapy Walsh wants you to get," Niko thought aloud. "And I know the right person to do it."

"We're talking Ariel aren't we?" Zach asked.

"Who's Ariel?" Eliza asked.

"My mentor," Niko told her. "She raised me on Xanadu."

"Can she help us too?" Zach asked. "If we need it or something?"

"I don't see why not," Niko said.

"There is one other little thing," Doc let out a breath. "With the exception of Ariel I don't want this information about our powers to leak out of this room."

"Why?" Zach asked.

"Because it might not be the healthiest thing for us if the Board of Leaders found out our powers were getting stronger," Shane growled. "They're nervous enough as it is about me and this whole healing thing. They'd consider us all a threat if we just got stronger and more powerful. It would be like Wolf Den all over again and I won't let that happen!"

"He's right," Niko said. "I hate to say this but he has a very good point."

"Okay. If anything goes wrong we can always say our implants are malfunctioning," Zach agreed. "I think right now we should all go back to sleep. We'll think clearer in the morning and talk a little more about this."

"Good idea," Niko sighed.

Shane absently clutched Niko's hand. "Don't…" He stopped what he was going to say, feeling ridiculous.

"You want me to stay?" Niko asked softly. Shane nodded weakly. "All right. Is that okay Zachery?"

"Why not? You can't do any worse than what Bubblehead did in the freezer," Zach grumbled.

"What did he…Never mind, I'm going back to bed," Doc yawned. "Good night guys."

"Good night you two…" Eliza smiled as they left the room and went back to theirs.

"Eliza…" Zach sighed as they went back to bed. "Look I know things are going to get a little hairy for a while so…"

"I know what you are going to ask Zachery and forget it," Eliza gave him a look. "Just because I don't have a series five implant I am in this as much as the rest of you."

"Eliza I just got you back! You can't just…"

"No," Eliza narrowed her eyes. "No way. Goose risked everything to free me. And now it's my turn to do everything in my power to free him!"

"Eliza…" Zach was stunned.

"I don't care, Zachery," Eliza gave him a hard look. "I know you've been jumpy even if I go out of the apartment for half an hour but I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself. If I can survive nearly three years being a slaver lord…I can survive anything. Ironically out of all of us I think I'm the only one of us who has a clue of what Shane's life was like. So don't even think of trying to talk me out of it!"

Eliza looked sad. "Shane's not the only one with nightmares about his past. But if I can help him, maybe just maybe some of my nightmares will go away."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Feel better?" Niko asked as the two rangers held each other.

"It's still embarrassing," Shane grumbled. "I'm just…Not used to this…Needing to be taken care of. Having people look out for me. It's not what I was trained for or anything."

"The really weird part is…" Shane admitted as Niko gently stroked his hair. "I kind of like it. What if I…? What if I get used to it?"

"You mean get used to people caring about you?" Niko asked. "Looking out for you? Loving you?"

"Yeah…" Shane said softly. "If I get used to it…I'm scared that when it's taken away…"

"It's not going to be taken away," Niko stopped him.

"But it will," Shane said in a fearful tone.

"No it won't," Niko shook her head. "Not this time. We won't let it happen."

"This is just like Wolf Den all over again ," Shane repeated.

"This is nothing like Wolf Den! We're in control and we're sane! They won't hurt us or you. I know we can make it."

"But how do you…" Shane began.

"Shhh…" Niko gently put her finger on his lips. "You just have to trust us, Shane. I know it's not what you're used to but you have to. You, me, Doc, Zach…Even Eliza and the kids…We all have a bond that's stronger than anything. Everything will be fine. You'll see."

"I don't know," Shane said. "Things like that…don't usually work out for me."

"They will now," Niko told him. "Move over." She got under the covers with him. "You want me to hold you until you go to sleep?"

Shane made a noise to indicate an affirmative answer. He snuggled closer to her and let her hold him. "You've never been afraid of any challenge, Shane," Niko told him. "Why should something as simple as love frighten you?"

"I don't know," Shane told her. "It just…does."

"Well that's the beauty of love," Niko kissed his forehead. "You don't deal with it alone. That's the point of it. Why don't you try to go back to sleep now?"

"Feel kind of silly…" Shane admitted. "I mean…This is all new to me."

"I know," Niko allowed Shane to snuggle close to her.

"Just…Just be a little patient okay?" He asked softly. "I...I love you."

"I know," Niko gave him a coy smile and a gentle kiss. "Go to sleep Shane."

Shane smiled and closed his eyes. Both of them fell asleep in each other's arms.

Next: Here comes Ariel!