Authors Note: First of all, thank you to those who have been following my story. It means a lot. Second of all, would you readers please review what I have written thus far. I'd like to know what your thoughts were. Also, for you guys who are new to this series, please read Revelations and Truth and Lies to understand what's happened thus far.

Episode III

Husband and Wife

Chapter One

Rocky blinked twice. Had his helmet been off, he would have scratched his head. Instead, he clicked his tongue and put his hands on his hips.

What just happened here? he thought to himself. He cocked his head at Adam, who was beside him. Adam looked at Rocky at almost the same time.

"Did that make any sense to you?" Rocky asked his lover.

Adam shook his head. "None," he said, returning his gaze to the place Jason had been. "He just left w—"

"Kim!" Billy said sharply, his eyes hitting on Kimberly's limp body behind Tommy. Demorphing, he crossed and knelt beside her in one stride.

"Is she okay?" Tommy asked, spinning 180 degrees. Having teleported in front of the door, Tommy had not seen Kimberly. However, he cracked a smile at upon seeing Kimberly rising onto her elbows as he knelt in front of her. "Kim? That looks nasty."

He pointed at the three inch wide hole that had been punctured into her helmet along the upper right side of her cranium. Blood leaked from the gash carved into her scalp.

"I think I'm okay…" Kimberly began, rocking her head, her eyes unfocused. She couldn't feel the gash, only the throbbing of her capillaries as blood raced to her head. The affect resulted in a continuous head rush. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Sean contacted me," Billy said, examining her wound.

"How—how did he know?" she asked unable to meet his eyes. It hurt too much for her to lift them.

"He didn't say," Billy said. "My guess, he was doing reconnaissance. It's what he does."

"Why did he not help?" Kimberly wheezed.

Suddenly, an idea popped through Tommy's mind. He tapped Billy on the shoulder. "Billy," Tommy whispered. "If you're right, she has a point. Where is he?"

"I don't know, Tommy," Billy whispered back. "I wish I did."

Suspicion was not on Tommy's list right now. Despite his altercations with Sean, Tommy had no real evidence to suggest Sean was treacherous. Tommy was more concerned than anything. He did not know what Jason was capable of and Sean had not looked well when they had parted. Those thoughts made him uneasy. Regardless of his doubts, Sean was a power ranger. That cleared his name in Tommy's book. And right now, they needed him— along with the rest of his team.

He darted his head around the room. "Kimberly," Tommy said softly, bending his head towards her. "Where's Zack?"

Kimberly lifted her eyes at Tommy. "I don't know—Trini!" She pushed herself up, but sat down immediately with an enormous groan. Her throbbing head began pounding excruciating. She shut her eyes with a wince and a moan.

"Hey, take it easy," Tommy said, placing his hands upon her shoulders. He looked at her firmly, even though she could not see his face behind his mask. However, she yielded. Tommy turned his head around. "How is she guys?"

Rocky, who was closest to the bed, knelt beside Trini. "Trini…?" he asked, searching her with his eyes.

She shot a glance at him, and then with a rough shiver, she inched away from him.

"It's probably the color," Adam supplied, placing a hand on Rocky's upper arm.

Rocky glanced at Adam, nodded, and took off his helmet. He did not yet know how to demorph by will. The last time he had demorphed was by reflex. "Trini, are you still afraid of me?" he asked, his face a whirlpool of compassion and worry. "It's me: Rocky."

In the back of his mind, Rocky grimaced. Adam had always been the better of the two at hiding his feelings. He should be doing this, he thought.

Trini held a wide-eyed stare with Rocky. Yet unlike Rocky's face, hers constantly trembled. Her pupils darted at various parts of Rocky's face. Still trembling, she opened her mouth. "Get out!" she whispered, pressing her eyebrows together even though her eyes were still wide open.

The rest of them froze. Even Kimberly heard Trini's command, yet she was too stunned and woozy to move.

Rocky gawked. He stammered incoherently, fishing for something to say, yet nothing came to mind.

"Get… out!" Trini repeated with a stonier face.

"But—"

"GET OUT!" Trini roared, venom spewing with her words. "GET OUT! GET! OUT!"

Standing up, Rocky shuffled backwards a few feet, still locked in eye contact with Trini. His mouth hung open in amazement.

A hand tugged at Rocky's shoulder. "Rocky, move!" Adam hissed in Rocky's ear. Reluctantly, Rocky followed Adam's sway.

"Can you stand, Kim?" Adam asked as they got nearer to her.

"I don't know," Kimberly began, taking Billy's outstretched hand. "Maybe…"

"GET OUT!" Trini snarled.

Billy and Tommy's heads snapped toward Trini. Kimberly craned her eyes at the bed post. The words stabbed them at their cores. It was unthinkable for them to hear such agony, hostility, and pleading from Trini. None of them had seen her in this state before. Indeed, they hardly recognized her. Rocky and Adam flicked their gaze from their friends and Trini, unsure of what to say.

"Did you not hear me?!" Trini spat. "I said 'get out'—" Reaching behind her, she hurled one of her pillows at them. "NOW!!!" she added in a voice cracking shriek.

"Hey!" Rocky cried indignantly, deflecting the pillow.

Trini screamed in response—a scream injected with a wail. It pierced her chest and her skull with ungodly anguish. She arched her back backward, her arms cradling her torso and legs as if she did not want to loose any other part of her body. Her core was gone; all she had was her body—but no. Jason had robbed that from her also. Not even her mind was her own possession. She crumbled to her side in a fit of tears and sobs, her hands drifting from her torso.

Kill me… kill me…!

The others looked on with horror and pity on their faces. Even Kimberly was able to partially forget her wound.

Agony… suffering… torture….

Those were only words to the others. What they saw was true pain from the soul. Jason had invaded this house—this room—and violated her body while she was still in a state of woe and confusion.

"Let her be, rangers," Sean called from down the hall. His voice was weak but compelling enough to draw their attention.

The others turned, Billy assisting Kimberly.

There, no more than ten feet from them, stood Zack holding Sean up with an arm around the Green Ranger's waist. Sean stood, half hanging with his arm around Zack's shoulders.

"Do what?" Kimberly asked.

"Leave her alone," Sean said. His face was worn, stretched, and old. Every worry line and sag in his face was pronounced even more. "She must mourn. You can do nothing for her now."

Some of them turned their heads back at Trini.

Billy kept his eyes on Sean. He had caught the remorse seeping through Sean's words. Though Billy had had suspicions already, this proved that this day had taken its toll on Sean in more ways than one.

To say that Sean looked like hell would have been an understatement. His clothes were soaked and half covered in mud along with half of his face. His hair was rumpled and held in place by congealed mud. The strength that he had presented hours ago at Rocky and Adam's Academy was almost completely gone, leaving only a shadow of what he had been. Yet despite his physical discomforts, Sean still beckoned them with a mastery and discipline of his spirit that emphasized a deeper inner strength which shined through the shell of his body.

Billy was impressed, and silently commended his friend and mentor. Sean had never been this fatigued while with Billy, and yet, Billy got the impression that if Sean had needed to defend himself, he would be able to with ease. His body was exhausted, not his spirit. However, it was clear that his heart was in pain for his whole body cried at hearing Trini's wails and screams.

"Please," Sean said. "She doesn't want people around her. And people are not what she needs now."

"Guys, listen to him," Zack interjected.

"Then what does she need?" Tommy asked, uncertain if his heart could stand more strain.

Sean took a deep breath and shut his eyes. It was a great effort for him to open his eyes.

"Time, White Ranger," Sean answered. "Only time."