He dragged the limp, little body towards the cell before dropping it. He kicked the bars, pulling Kendall from whatever state she was in: somewhere between dead and asleep, but still alive enough to know what was going on. If only she would eat the soup he served her willingly.

"I make good on my promises," he said, pointing to the little body. Kendall's eyes opened. It took her a minute to focus her vision but when she did, she suddenly found renewed strength.

She sat up, whispering, "Cammy..."

"I assure you, it was far from painless," he said, pointing to the multiple cuts, burns and visible bone breaks on her body. "Now, tell me..."

"I can't," Kendall couldn't even bring herself to cry. She had no energy left to do anything, though inside she was torn to pieces.

"Still?" Heckyl asked, his hands turning blue but Kendall couldn't feel him inside her head. He was getting ready to do something else.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, but her eyes were focused on Cammy. Heckyl growled. Since capturing her, he had gotten nowhere. He had expected her to have more information: more pull on the Rangers. Yet, only two of them were actively searching for her, the rest were just getting updates and being worried from wherever they were in the country. He knew she hadn't disappeared for too long from them, but the way Fury and Sledge had made the Rangers out, they were a tight-knit bunch. Hurting one should have forced the others' hands. He knew getting to Kendall once had earned Fury six energems. Why wasn't he getting the same results? By now, he should have had them all. He should have known all.

"Fine," he growled and his hands glowed a lighter blue. Finally, Kendall felt him in her head. Heckyl watched her grow weaker before him, first unable to hold her head up, then unable to keep her eyes open. Finally, he pulled his face from her mind. She would now never be able to tell anyone who had hurt her. However, he would disappear. The human brain was a tricky thing. There was no telling whether or not she would recognize him if she saw him again. But he would never be far. Just because he wouldn't be seen, didn't mean he would be gone completely.

Finally, he dumped her and the energem somewhere he was sure the Rangers would find her: her lab. He didn't want one energem. He wanted them all.

-Dino-Charge-

"We'll turn on her scans and see if we can't find the purple energem," Ivan explained on the elevator ride down to the Dino Lab. He was feeling pressed for time. Kendall hadn't been missing a full day, but as Koda insisted, this wasn't like her. She was never one to take off without telling the other Rangers, especially if she planned on being gone a long time. There was no reason to believe anything bad would happen to her since all the known aliens were gone, but Ivan wasn't going to take any chances.

When the doors opened, Ivan and Koda rushed out, ready to get to work. However, they were stopped when, slumped over in her chair, seemingly passed out, with her energem on the desk right next to her head was Kendall. Koda sniffed the air, looking for signs of someone else having trespassed into the Dino Lab while Ivan rushed to Kendall's side, checking for injuries. There were no visible signs of damage and Kendall was conscious, but barely. She responded with a groan when he touched her arm, but nothing more.

"She seems fine," Ivan assured Koda, using the word loosely as the caveman did his own workup of the scientist. "Tired, but, fine."

"Kendall, wake up," Koda called, but she couldn't open her eyes. He took her in his arms, feeling she was lighter than before. He couldn't understand it: she hadn't been gone a full day, there were no clear cut signs of trauma, yet Kendall couldn't hold herself up in the slightest. She hung limp in Koda's arms, practically begging to be reunited with the floor.

"She may need water," Ivan suggested, but Koda wanted more for her.

"Doctor," he insisted. Ivan, who was already picking up a bottle of water turned to him. In the corner of his eye he saw the energem on the table, away from Kendall's neck. Unless Kendall was using the energem for an experiment, the Rangers had been told never to remove their energems. They were safest when they were around their hosts' necks. It wasn't a farfetched idea that Kendall had passed out while working on her energem. However, Ivan knew there had to be more to the story.

"Doctor, yes," he told Koda. "But no. She's got the technology here. We better use it."

"Not know how," Koda shrugged. He only knew the basics, like running scans for energems and tracking monsters. He knew needles could deliver medicine and they were pointy, but not much else. He wasn't exactly the team doctor.

"Keeper?" Ivan called, glancing around the lab for the only alien he had learned to trust. Surely Keeper had to know enough to help Kendall recover. Surely the alien wouldn't let anything happen to her.

"Right here," Keeper announced, startling Ivan and Koda with his presence as usual. He was standing by a cot, his staff in hand, ready to look Kendall over to the best of his abilities. Not knowing what else to do, Koda brought Kendall over and let Keeper work his magic.

-Dino-Charge-

"You're leaving?" Chloe asked, looking to her big brother as he once again started to pack his bags. "But you just got home."

"I know," Chase nodded, unable to look his sister in the eyes. He had come home just after Christmas and had intended on staying a long time before visiting the other side of the world once more. He had been away a long time and knew his family expected him to stay with them to make up for it. But once he heard from Ivan and Koda that Kendall hadn't come back from a lunch date, he knew he had to see for himself what had happened. It wasn't like Kendall to just disappear and when she did, it was never good. "A friend back home needs me."

"Kendall?" Chloe asked, rolling her eyes a little bit. Since Chase had come home, all he could talk about was Kendall. It was easy for the ten year old and her mother to pick up on the fact that Chase was madly in love.

"Yes, Kendall."

"Can't she take care of herself?"

"Most of the time," Chase nodded his head. "But she gets into a bit of trouble now and then."

"So?"

"Paleontology is dangerous work," Chase said, but his sister rolled her eyes again.

"I thought she owned a museum."

"Both."

Chloe didn't believe him, despite it being true. Kendall was a paleontologist and she did own a museum. The only lie was what brought the danger to her job. Chase couldn't bring himself to tell anyone in his family what he was really up to in the United States.

"You'll be back soon? For real this time?"

"Depends on how long she needs me."

"What about me?" Chloe asked. "You promised you would stay home for a few months at least! Chase..."

Chase got down on his knee, held his sister gently by the arms and looked her in the eyes, "They need me back there. Kendall needs me. If she didn't, you know I'd be right here with you."

"So all that stuff you said when you came back..."

"I meant it. Chloe, you're still my favourite girl."

"Kendall is," Chloe sighed. "All you had to do was stay home for the summer. You can't even do that."

Chase sighed. His sister wanted him to stay. It was understandable. He couldn't blame her for being mad. He was letting her down big time. However, the situation with Kendall was possibly life or death. Despite wanting to stay at home with his sister and his mother, Chase knew he was needed in Amber Beach. Even if Kendall turned up alive and well after going off on a walk and forgot to tell Koda and Ivan, Chase needed to be there. If it was anything less than that, and something had happened, Chase would never forgive himself.

"I love you," he said, kissing the top of her head. "I'll send you post cards and emails and we'll talk, all the time. And if it works out, I won't be gone long."

"That's what you said last time."

"Chloe..."

"Just go," she turned away from him, arms crossed, face twisted into a sad pout. Chase ruffled her hair then made his way to the front door where his mother was waiting. She too seemed disappointed, but she had a more understanding look on her face.

"She'll understand when she's older," she assured him. "Boys are still a little icky to her now."

"Mum, really, it's an emergency."

"With the woman you love, it always is," she chuckled and kissed his cheek. "For your sake, and hers, I'm hoping you're flying over there for no reason."

"I wouldn't be going if I thought there was no reason. She needs me, mum."

"I get it," his mother smiled. "Just make sure, when you do come home, you bring her with you. I'm excited to meet the woman who is finally getting you to settle down. Even if it is on the other side of the world."

Chase sighed. At least his mother understood. Being back in New Zealand was great. He loved being with his family in the home he grew up in. He loved that he no longer stood out as the outsider because of the way he spoke. However, something had been missing from the moment he left the Ranger Christmas Party.

"You'll explain to Chloe?" he asked. She nodded her head.

"I will," she promised. "No, go. Make sure Kendall's alright."

-Dino-Charge-

"Come on, mom. Time for bed," Kendall announced softly, taking the bottle of wine out of her mother's hands before she could pour herself another glass.

"You don't tell me what to do, young lady," her mother said, reaching for the bottle but she was so drunk she couldn't see straight. This was when it was easiest for Kendall to put her mother to bed. When she couldn't get the bottle, she would grumble in disappointment. Kendall would promise to bring it upstairs to her room if she went to bed. Her mother, with her help, would make her way to the bed, lay down, and then before Kendall could leave the room she would pass out.

It was the same thing that night. Kendall tucked her mother in, wished her a good night then tip-toed out to the sound of heavy snoring. Kendall was getting really sick of the routine, but so was her mother. More and more she talked about putting an end to it. Fourteen year old Kendall was hopeful that meant her mother would stop drinking soon; unaware her mother had another idea in mind.

Once her mother was asleep, Kendall began her own bedtime routine. She made herself a snack then looked through the trash. Every day she mailed letters to the father who had left her eight years before. On a regular basis, she would get letters in the mail. To date, they had all been hers, returned, unopened, but Kendall held onto hope that one day, her father would read her letter and come back into her life. She had long since given up on the idea of her parents getting together. Now, she just wanted to see him. She just wanted to know he cared.

She found a couple of letters in the trash and pulled them out. One was covered in spaghetti sauce, but that didn't cover up the fact that the letter, like all the others so far, had been returned unopened. Kendall would have thought by now she would have been numb to her father's rejection, but it still hurt every time. She finished her snack with tears in her eyes, then brushed her teeth and tucked herself into bed.

"It's what people do," she said, repeating the words her mother said on almost a daily basis. "They break your heart. I shouldn't get upset over it."

No matter how many times she told herself she shouldn't be upset, she still felt the ache in her heart. Every night a letter was returned unopened, Kendall softly cried herself to sleep, wishing she had no one in her life that could disappoint her.