Can't Let Go

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers.

Pinkrangerfan: Yay the psychos are gone! Let's hope they can handle everything else.

JasonLeeScottFan: I'm glad they're gone too. Carlos doesn't really have a choice in this. If you hadn't noticed, I tend to pick on him a lot. Lol!

CJS: Don't worry, there's gonna be a sequel, I've pretty much made up my mind on that. The next few chapters and going to be a mixture of what happened on the show and my own writing. I think you'll like it.

Chapter 19: Chaos and Calm

Megaship

"What do we do now?" Cassie asked as she and the others stared at the viewing screen.

"What we always do." Zhane responded.

"Are we really ready for this?" Carlos asked.

"What choice do we have?" Ashley looked at Andros and squeezed his hand.

Andros squeezed hers in return then moved to the center of the room and looked at his team. "I'm not gonna lie, this won't be easy. But win or lose…we fight. Are you guys with me?"

The rangers stood one by one. Ashley spoke. "We're with you." Always. She added to him.

He nodded. "Okay. Let's Rocket!"

Dark Fortress

Astronema watched the viewing screen as chaos ensued on Earth and other planets throughout the universe when the alarms sounded. She turned to Ecliptor when he entered the bridge. "What's happened?"

"Darkonda has stolen The Destroyer." Ecliptor hissed.

"Take the velocifighters and find him." She ordered. "And when you do, make sure there's nothing left."

Darkonda

I will have the glory. Darkonda thought as he piloted The Destroyer through space towards an unsuspecting Dark Specter. He took aim as his target came into sight and fired.

Dark Specter roared and swatted at the vessel, but Darkonda easily maneuvered out of the evil overlord's reach. Dark Specter was weakened, and was barely able to fight off Darkonda's attack.

Darkonda's laughter filled the vessel until The Destroyer shook violently as it was fired upon. The assault didn't come from Dark Specter, but from the dozens of velocifightes closing in on him. Darkonda tried to maneuver around them, but there were too many of them and they were too fast for him.

The monster saw his plan crash and burn as he went soaring into Dark Specter, successfully killing the overlord…and himself.

Angel Grove

As soon as the rangers teleported to Earth, they were met by hundreds if not thousands of quantrons. Though they fought their hardest, the rangers were obviously in a losing battle.

Carlos fell to the ground, demorphing in the process. TJ who was already demorphed rushed to his friend's side. "Carlos, are you okay?"

The black ranger grabbed his abdomen and shook his head. "I don't know how much more of this we can take."

"We need to find the others." TJ helped Carlos to his feet. While the battle ensued, the rangers had become separated from each other.

Elsewhere...

The sun was setting as Cassie cautiously moved through the tattered city. The majority of the quantrons had been called back, but there were still plenty there, guarding the people they captured. She had to find the others, but most importantly, she needed to find Carlos. He shouldn't have been out here fighting in the first place.

She nearly screamed when someone pulled her behind a pillar and covered her mouth. Zhane put a finger to his lips then peeked out from behind the pillar. Cassie followed his line of sight and saw the four quantrons walk past them. "Thanks." She breathed a sigh of relief when the quantrons were well past them.

"No problem." He smiled a little.

"Have you seen Carlos or the others?" She asked hopefully.

"No, but I'm sure they're okay." He added when he saw the worry on her face. He put a hand to his head and frowned. "Hold on. Ashley and Andros are trying to reach me." Okay one at a time please. My brain can only handle so much panic. He thought to his friends.

Sorry. Ashley responded first. Is everything okay with you, Zhane?

Yeah. Cassie's here with me. Zhane answered. Have you guys seen Carlos and TJ?

They're safe. Andros responded. I just left them in an abandoned building in the warehouse district. The quantrons haven't been there. I left to find you guys.

How do we get there? Zhane asked. Andros quickly filled them in.

I know where that is. Ashley headed in that direction. Just tell Cassie where it is Zhane, she'll know. I'll see you guys there.

Right. Zhane turned to Cassie and told her the conversation he, Andros and Ashley just had. "So do you know how to get there?"

"Yeah." She looked over his shoulder. "It's that way. Not too far down."

"Okay, let's go." Just as they were about to move from behind the pillar, a tremendous explosion lit the nearly night sky.

"What was that?" Cassie exclaimed.

Before Zhane could respond, movement in the sky caught his attention. Fire seemed to be raining from the sky, and coming right towards them. "Oh shit! Run!"

Andros

The explosion had left his ears ringing. The falling flames had him a few seconds from panic. He ran to the nearest warehouse and took cover. Ashley, Zhane where are you? He called out with his mind.

Cassie and I found shelter on the way. Zhane responded.

Ashley, answer me! Andros called, his fear growing. He could feel her panic which only added to his own, but he could sense that she was close. He ran to the door and saw her running towards the building, dodging fireballs as she moved. "Ashley hurry!" He called.

The next fireball barely missed Ashley, but hit close enough to send her flying over an embankment. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as she pushed herself up to her hands and knees. For a second, the only thing she could hear was the sound of her heart pulsing in her ears. She looked up just in time to see another fireball coming straight at her.

In the next moment, strong arms encircled her and rolled her away from danger, shielding her from the impact of the flames.

"Ashley we need to move!" Andros knew she was disoriented, but he needed her to move with him.

"Andros!" She called finally coming to her senses.

"Let's go!" He wrapped his arm around her waist and they both ran for the safety of the abandoned warehouse.

Carlos and TJ – Abandoned Building

The fire had finally stopped raining from the sky. Most people would have been relieved, but TJ and Carlos were consumed with worry for their teammates. TJ paced back and forth in front of the door, while Carlos sat at a window watching for any signs of the others. The only visible light in the night sky came from the stars and the unnerving glow from the Dark Fortress.

"This is driving me crazy!" TJ finally stopped pacing and looked at Carlos. "We can't just sit here and do nothing. We have to find them."

"They're okay TJ. They have to be." Carlos stated. He didn't know what he would do if anything ever happened to Cassie.

"We don't know that for sure." He sat down beside Carlos.

He and TJ had been friends for years and he knew when something was going on with him. "TJ, what's wrong?"

He should have figured Carlos would see it; he couldn't get anything past him. "I feel like the others are okay." TJ started. "I'm worried about Kate."

"Kate?" Carlos remembered her from school.

"Yeah. She and I have been dating for the past couple of weeks. I really care about her." He sighed. "And I have no idea if she's alright or not."

"I'm sorry Teej. I'm sure she's fine." Carlos tried to convince his friend.

"I hope so." TJ whispered.

TJ and Carlos both turned their attention to the door when it creaked open. "Hi guys." Zhane called happily as he, Cassie, Ashley, and Andros entered the building. TJ and Carlos immediately stood and embraced their friends.

"I was so worried about you." Carlos said to Cassie as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I was worried about you too." Cassie breathed a sigh of relief being in Carlos's arms again.

"Are you guys okay?" TJ asked the others since Cassie and Carlos wondered off together.

"As good as can be expected." Ashley responded.

Andros kept his arm around Ashley. "I still wanna know what happened out there. The raining fire thing didn't seem like an attack."

"I know." Zhane began. "But what could have caused an explosion like that?"

"I have no idea." TJ commented and ended on a yawn.

"We all should get some sleep." Andros suggested. "We'll talk strategy in the morning."

Ashley and Andros – Later that night.

Luckily, the building they were in had only closed recently and had been used to sell fabric and bedding materials, so the rangers all found things that were packed away to sleep on.

Ashley and Andros lay facing each other on their pallet. Andros couldn't help but stare at her and think about how close he came to losing her today. Once they won this fight, he vowed to never let her go again. He took her hand in his. "Ash, I need to talk to you about something."

"What's wrong?" Worry showed on her face.

"It's not bad." He paused and frowned. "At least I don't think it is."

"Andros you're scaring me." She complied when and Andros sat up and pulled her up with him.

"I don't mean to." He looked at her hands in his and looked back at her.

He was nervous and she could feel it, but he wouldn't let her see his thoughts. "What is it?"

There was no point in holding back. "I love you, Ashley. I've never loved anyone the way I love you. And I don't think I ever will again."

"I feel the same way Andros." She tried to control her breathing and convince herself that he wasn't about to do what she thought he was about to do. As much as she wanted it, she couldn't get her hopes up. But then he smiled, and Ashley couldn't think anymore.

All the nerves went away. He probably should have blocked her thoughts too but he couldn't help himself. So he answered the question poised in her mind. "Yes, Ashley. I want you to marry me."

She knew it was dumb to ask but she couldn't stop it from coming out. "Really?"

He laughed. "Really. After all this is over, and we win. I want you and me to get married. If you want to that is." He added teasingly.

Ashley threw herself into his arms. "Yes, yes, yes. A thousand times yes." She grinned and kissed him. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." Andros held her. The sound of applause and catcalls had them both rolling their eyes. "Were you guys listening the whole time?" Andros called.

"Basically." Cassie called.

"I thought you guys were asleep." Ashley responded, still smiling.

"We were." TJ answered, obviously amused.

"But then Zhane woke us up saying that Andros was about to propose." Carlos finished.

Zhane finally spoke. "You cut your thoughts off from Ashley but you forgot about me." He said to Andros. "And you know I can't keep anything to myself."

It was nice to have something positive happen in the mist of all the chaos. The rangers went to sleep content and excited, because they knew that tomorrow would only bring new troubles. So for now, they held on to the happiness.

(A/N: Yay for Ashley and Andros! You gotta love those two. Hope you liked it! Let me know what you think. Sorry for the delay. School work is piling up. No Man's Land might not be updated until I finish this story. Sorry.)