Summer sat, her arms folded around her defensively on the couch as the others stared at her. She had been sedated, and so had calmed down enough to realise that she was among friends, and didn't need to defend herself, though that only made the situation now more painful.
She couldn't look at them, she had been so immersed in the visions in her head she hadn't noticed that the man she attacked was Ziggy, one of her team mates. She had tried to kill one of her friends in her panic. Her terror had blinded her to the fact that she was safe.
She fidgeted uneasily with the bracelets around her left wrist as she looked around at them. There was no judgement in their expressions. Ziggy looked a little angry and scared, but that was understandable. She had tried to strangle him. If anything they looked on her with sorrow. She would have thought the worst thing that could happen was if they hated her. Now though, she felt so much worse. They felt sorry for her.
"What's the story Summer?" Scott asked her.
"I haven't been able to sleep properly since I got home from the prison." She admitted in a whisper.
"It's more than that isn't it?" Scott pressed on. Dillon couldn't say anything. He wanted to step in and help, but they needed to know what was going on in her mind if they were going to figure out why she attacked Ziggy, and as much as they still clashed heads, he knew Scott had known her a lot longer than he had. Summer nodded sadly and wiped away a tear.
"I've been having nightmares." She told them. "I've been having nightmares ever since Ronan killed himself."
Dillon and Ziggy looked at each other uneasily. They'd known that something wasn't right with Summer, but they wouldn't have pictured something like this.
"I haven't been able to stop thinking about him since it happened." She sniffed as her tears began again. She held a hand over her eyes and hid her face from them as much as she could. "I've tried to put it behind me, but it just won't stop. I can't get him out of my head."
Dillon turned into the wall, resting his forehead on it, and Ziggy placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He knew that this was painful for the Black Ranger. Ronan had done so much damage to her, but Dillon could do nothing about it. He couldn't even exact vengeance; her tormentor was beyond his reach. He had blown his own brains out in preference to facing justice for his actions. In some ways, it was the cruellest thing he could do. He wanted nothing more than to hurt him, to exchange every minute of pain he'd inflicted on Summer for an hour of his own. Of course, now he couldn't. Ronan was dead, safe from repercussions for his actions. Now Dillon had to watch the woman he'd grown to love suffering and he could do nothing about it.
"Ziggy, I'm sorry." She sobbed as she looked up at the Green Ranger. "I'd never hurt any of you. You know that right?"
Seeing the hopeful look in her eyes he nodded. Despite everything, he understood that she had to be going through hell if she was willing to choke the life out of him with her bare hands. Besides Dillon, she had been the one that reached out to him. He knew that she still looked down on him as the others did since he was the weakest member of the team, but she made an effort to prepare him for his role as a Ranger. More than that, she actually treated him as something other than a joke, something that was a unique feeling to him. Almost everyone treated him as a joke, but Summer and Dillon saw him as a person. Summer smiled a little as she realised that Ziggy didn't hold the attack against her.
"Why didn't you talk to us?" Scott asked her, sitting on the couch with her and putting an arm around her shoulders. She shrugged it off quickly in a reflex, and quickly regretted it. Scott said nothing about the slight. "We're your friends, why didn't you talk to us?"
"You've all had to save me once." She told him. "Your dad saved me before. I didn't want you to think I was weak."
She looked at the floor, unable to look the man she almost thought of as a brother in the eyes. She wiped her eyes with her wrist.
"I thought you wouldn't respect me anymore." She admitted.
"Summer, we've known each other since we were kids." He said reassuringly. "You're like a sister to me. You couldn't do anything that would make me lose respect for you."
"I was just sure you would kick me out." She wailed as she wept into her hands. "I thought if I needed to see a shrink you'd have no confidence in me when the chips were down."
"Why would I think that?" He asked her. "I saw a psychologist, and I'm alright."
Summer looked up at him as he admitted this. She didn't know he had seen a therapist. He smiled at her.
"When my brother died I had a hard time dealing with it." He told her. "Admitting you need help isn't a sign of weakness; it's a sign that you're human."
As he tried to hug her, she threw his arms off again in her panic, but she immediately hated herself for it. Of all the people in the world, she knew that Scott and Dillon would never betray her trust; she just couldn't control her instinct to defend herself.
"I'm sorry Scott." She murmured as her chin found her chest. "I've been having problems letting people hold me. Any time someone holds me, I can't breathe. I just remember the attack and I can't help myself. I just lash out."
"This is about the assault?" Dillon asked her. She tried to look away, but he cradled her chin with his hand and turned her face towards him. She nodded.
"I love you Dillon, I want you to hold me, really I do but any time I feel someone holding me I just feel trapped." She told him regretfully. "I want to take things further; I just can't get over that image in my head. I can't just let myself be vulnerable like that."
He smiled as she finished. He had been so hurt when she pulled away from him. He had been terrified that she didn't love him as much as he loved her. Now though, he knew the truth. She wasn't rejecting him personally; she just couldn't let anyone hold her. Scott was like family to her, if she couldn't let him touch her, it was obvious she had problems. He leant in, kissing her softly, taking care not to put his hands around her in any way.
"Summer, I love you." He told her. "I won't do anything that you don't want."
"Dillon, I want to take things further, I really do." She told him, touching his cheek gently. "I just can't right now. I just can't."
"Summer, the team needs to be at full strength, and it can't while you're like this." Dr. K stated. Summer looked up at her. She didn't have anything against her really, but she had always prided herself on being the only girl on the team. It was part of her self-image that she was the only girl that could make it in this selective world. When Dr. K had stepped out of the shadows and revealed herself to be a woman, she had lost that identity. She didn't really hate Dr. K, but she did have a small level of resentment towards her.
"Is this the part where you ask me to hand back my morpher?" Summer asked her with a little venom in her voice.
"Far from it." Dr. K assured her. "The reason I chose you to become the Yellow Ranger was your courage. You've shown that every time I've needed you to do battle."
"But you think I'm a coward now." Summer replied, wiping her tears away again. "I'm scared of a dead man and...."
"I don't think you're a coward." Dr. K interrupted her. "Courage isn't the absence of fear; it's the ability to do what's right even when you are afraid. You've never lost that, not once. Even when you were facing your worst nightmare, you tried to help Mouse." She knelt by the Yellow Ranger and placed a hand on her knee.
"I think you need help." She told Summer sympathetically. "You should see a psychologist."
"None of us would think any less of you." Scott stated flatly, holding her hand. She looked to Dillon, who just smiled at her with the same smile that she had been drawn to in the beginning.
"I'll wait as long as you need." He said as he looked at her. "I love you, and I want you to be happy. Take as long as you need."
Meanwhile, Tenaya 7 was pacing impatiently as she waited for the Blue Ranger to arrive. Just as she had predicted, he cared for Sam, and was willing to risk his own like to come and face her. There was only one thing that bothered her. Sam had told her she hoped he wouldn't come alone. That he would bring the others, even though he had been told that if he did so, she would be killed.
She knew something of love. As an infiltration unit, she had been made largely with an understanding of human emotions. It made it easier for her to manipulate them.
She knew that sometimes humans felt a bond to others. Sometimes that bond was stronger than mere friendship; sometimes it caused them to share their lives. It seemed that the Blue Ranger had such a bond with Sam.
She had seen them together outside the lab where she worked. She had seen them and their body language was very intimate. She understood physical boundaries in humans, and she knew that within a foot of each other was the zone of intimacy, ordinarily they would not allow someone within that area, it left them vulnerable. Of course that was different when they were in love.
However, she had since found out that there was more to this bond than merely wishing to protect the other. Apparently it was so strong it could over ride the survival instinct.
This was the thing that bothered her that she couldn't understand. Being largely human, she had a survival instinct, unlike her purely mechanical comrades. While they would willingly march to their own destruction without a second thought, she would always seek to escape with her life, even if it meant defying Venjix. She had already fought for her own survival against Venjix when it ordered her destruction. It had since reconsidered and kept her around, but she was under no false impressions that the situation could change.
She had been under the impression that the survival instinct was the human's most basic instinct. She was willing to defy Venjix if her survival instinct came into direct conflict with its orders. So she couldn't understand why Sam would express being willing to sacrifice her own life if it meant the Blue Ranger would survive.
She went back into the main room, finding Sam still sitting there, unable to escape as a result of having her legs restrained. Tenaya came over to her, crouching near her and looking at her curiously.
"I don't understand you." She stated flatly, brushing some hair from her face. "You really would prefer to die than have the Blue Ranger put himself in danger wouldn't you?"
"His name is Flynn." Sam corrected her. "Yes."
"But you know the only chance you have of getting out of this alive is if he does as I say." Tenaya responded. "Is that love?"
"Yes." Sam informed her. "It's because I love him that I don't want him to risk himself for me."
Tenaya pulled closer, uncomfortably close to Sam. She still wanted to understand what this feeling of love was. She could remember seeing how they interacted with each other. She held Sam's head and pulled her into a long kiss. Sam could only stare at her in disbelief as she released her. Tenaya looked into her eyes, but seemed no less confused. If anything, she seemed to be frustrated that she was no closer to figuring out what Sam was talking about.
"I feel no different." Tenaya told her. "I did exactly what the Blue Ranger...What I saw Flynn doing earlier."
"You can't just kiss someone and understand love." Sam told her. "You don't love someone because you kiss them; you kiss them because you love them."
Tenaya just snorted in her disgust and stood up, stepping away from her. She couldn't contain her frustration that she didn't understand the bond between them. She was so lost in her frustration that she hadn't noticed Flynn entering the foundry. He levelled his Turbo Cannon in her direction.
"You got what you wanted, I'm here." He told her. "Let Sam go, she means nothing to you."
"You're not match for me Blue Ranger." She sneered as she lowered her face guard. "Now, how about lowering the weapon? We both know you can't risk firing it in here. You'll be putting her life in danger."
"Let her go." He yelled, powering up the cannon. "It's me you want."
"Flynn, I can't leave." Sam informed him, gesturing to the steel rod securing her legs together. "I can't walk."
"It looks like your girlfriend's staying for the show." Tenaya taunted him. "Now, how about we get this started?"
Flynn set down the Turbo Cannon and pulled out his Nitro Sword, beginning to circle her. Tenaya was right about one thing, he couldn't risk using the Turbo Cannon inside the building, it was so powerful, he would risk the building collapsing, and he couldn't take that chance while Sam was there. He let out a huge cry and charged the cyborg, throwing himself into the battle with a passion. He needed to take her down, since Sam couldn't leave; he was under no false impressions that Tenaya almost certainly had no intention of releasing her. The only way Sam would get out of this alive was if he could defeat her.
Scott and Dr. K left Summer's room, finding Ziggy and Dillon sitting in the main garage. Ziggy was busy comforting Dillon. It was unbearable for him that he could do nothing for her at this time. He looked up as they returned to the room.
"I've given her something that should prevent her going into REM sleep." Dr. K assured him. "It'll stop her having another nightmare. We can sort out an appointment with a psychologist tomorrow."
"It's a start." Scott told them. "She's sleeping now; hopefully getting a decent rest should help things along."
"So we're just going to drug her?" Dillon asked them a little sceptically. "That doesn't really sound like a long-term solution."
"We can use medication to block out the nightmares until the therapy sessions take effect." Scott answered. "She'll need to sort through the nightmares herself."
"I still can't believe that bastard's still screwing with her head even now." Dillon said, the anger in his voice obvious. "I never expected her to get over it in a week, but I can't believe he's done this to her."
"Hey, she's really strong." Scott reminded him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It'll take time, but I'm sure she'll get through this."
"We're all going to be there for her." Ziggy assured him. "You aren't the only one who cares about her."
"Thanks, but I think it's Summer that needs the help." He responded.
"Hey, we all have an investment in this." Scott reminded him. "We're all upset about this. We'll get her through this together."
Meanwhile, back at the foundry, Dillon was thrown across the main room, slamming hard into the wall.
"Flynn!" Sam screeched as she saw him slump to the floor. He looked over to her, and willed himself back to his feet. He got up, facing down his opponent. Tenaya made her way over to his Turbo Cannon, picking it up off the ground.
"Well this had been fun, but I really think it's time to end this." She told him, pointing the cannon at the ceiling. "Goodbye Blue Ranger."
He looked between Tenaya and Sam, and he realised that he would never make it to her in time to stop her firing the cannon. He sprinted as quickly as he could towards the woman he loved, throwing himself on top of her protectively as Tenaya fired.
The building collapsed all around them, throwing debris and dust in all directions. Tenaya 7 dragged herself out of the debris, dusting herself off. Her right arm hung uselessly at her side, completely shattered. An ache in her side informed her that at least one of her ribs was broken. If she had been a human, she would almost certainly have been in no state to walk. She made her way over to Flynn, finding him on the ground unconscious. The building collapse had used the last of the suit's protective energy, leaving him unmorphed and unconscious. She scanned him quickly, finding that his vitals were weak. It was unlikely he would survive without medical attention.
She kicked him over, finding Sam lying unconscious beneath him. He had used his own body to protect her. Just like Flynn, her vitals were bottoming out. She'd almost certainly be dead already if it hadn't been for Flynn's sacrifice.
Tenaya threw aside the Turbo Cannon and looked down over them with a sense of accomplishment. She had taken care of the Blue Ranger as she had intended. She turned and walked away. She still didn't understand why the Blue Ranger had risked everything for this woman; of course it didn't really matter much.
Dillon and Ziggy were sitting up late that night, united in their concern for Summer's wellbeing. Ziggy knew how much Dillon loved her, and he wished there was more he could do to make him feel better.
"You don't need to spend the whole night with me Ziggy." Dillon stated, seeing that the Green Ranger was on the verge of falling asleep. "I don't sleep remember."
"It's alright." He yawned, checking his watch and seeing that it was now 3 AM. "I kind of needed the company anyway."
Scott came back into the room, his expression one of disbelief.
"Guys, that was dad." He told them. "Sam and Flynn were involved in a battle at the other side of the dome. They're both in the hospital."