Standard disclaimers apply - don't own the Power Rangers...not even an action figure.
Kira sat inside the circle of Ethan's arm trying to get a handle on herself and everything that had happened. She kept her eyes glued on Conner's face waiting to see any indication that he was waking up. Anytime Carter shifted and blocked Conner from her view, Kira shifted as well. She felt that it was important that she be able to see him. So much of the stuff that had happened during the battle she didn't see, and she had latched onto the idea that that's why it affected her so much. So in her head, it made perfect sense – if she could keep an eye on Conner, continue to see him, nothing else would happen; well, nothing worse.
It didn't occur to Kira that the logic in her thinking didn't make sense. She saw everything that happened to Blake; seeing it didn't stop it from happening. Being so close to Blake only made it worse. Kira had been in a number of battles as a Ranger, but the injuries she and the boys sustained were mostly bad bruising. All of the bad guys they destroyed were either consumed in a ball of fire or exploded. They weren't real – they didn't count. And…they didn't bleed.
Kira shuddered slightly recalling the blood that saturated Blake's shirt. But the image that was worse than the spear through Blake's chest was the pink-tinged water that cascaded over the fountain after he fell. And the worst thing was that she never even saw that. By the time Blake had fallen, Kira was curled up in a ball on the ground. From what she could figure out that memory and the intense anguish attached to it was Cam's.
Now that things were relatively quiet, and it was just Ethan, Conner and Carter in the room, Kira had started to sort some things out. She went back in her mind to figure out what had caused her to freak out; it disturbed her to realize that seeing Blake impaled by the Tyranodrone wasn't what caused her the most pain, it was Hunter's reaction to it. She'd been completely unprepared to deal with the onslaught of Hunter's emotions. She'd never felt anything like that before. It was completely and utterly overwhelming; and it frightened Kira more than anything ever had before.
Once Hunter had lost control and crushed Kira's emotional barriers she was open to feeling everything from all of the others. Cam, Conner and Ethan all fed into the jumble of conflicting emotions to the point where Kira could barely distinguish where she began and ended. Blake didn't factor in at all – that in itself was terrifying. It wasn't until Ethan had scooped her up and brought her into the coffee kiosk that she felt connected to reality. And since that moment, she'd been trying to sort out what feelings were hers and block out the feelings that weren't. It was hard and exhausting work, and proximity to Hunter made the task far more difficult. But as time moved forward, Kira found more and more of herself, and felt more confident in her boundaries.
Kira snuggled a little closer to Ethan; he reflexively held her tighter. She closed her eyes and said a little prayer of thanks for having a friend like Ethan. She did not know what she would do without him. In the storm, in the ambulance, and now in the hospital, Ethan was a buffer for her – holding enough of everyone else away, so Kira could rediscover her own boundaries. His presence was unexpectedly solid and comforting. It wasn't that she couldn't feel emotions from him, but his mind was working so fast that he wasn't concentrating on them. There were large flashes of worry and anxiety, and Kira could tell they were mostly focused on Conner, but they weren't long lasting or overwhelming.
Kira brought her gaze back to Conner. A little pang pulled at her heart. Now that was unexpected. It took Kira a moment to realize that the pang was all hers and no one else's. She backtracked slightly to figure out what had set her off, but it wasn't hard to determine. In the midst of attempting to unweave her own feelings free from the tapestry of all of the feelings around her, she would have to acknowledge them first; and she could finally admit, even if it was only to herself; that Conner meant much more to her then just a friend or teammate.
Ethan was solid in the friend and teammate category, so it was easy to compare the way Ethan did or didn't make her feel to the way Conner did. Ethan didn't make her smile with goofy attempts at being gallant. After a battle when Ethan asked "Are you okay?" she didn't get the little flutter in her gut that the same question from Conner would cause. And she didn't daydream about what it might feel like if Ethan unexpectedly caught his hand in hers while they were walking.
A slight movement from Carter caught Kira's attention. Conner looked exactly the same – frighteningly pale and still. Kira desperately wished she had the courage to get up from where she was sitting to reach out to hold his hand or touch his hair, but she was afraid that all of the hard won equilibrium she'd gained would be lost and she'd be no better off than she'd been out in the storm. She'd be no use to anyone as a weeping, quaking mess.
Noise and movement from the hallway got both Kira and Ethan's attention. Moments later the doorway was filled with the last person they expected to see. Simultaneously they both exclaimed, "Dr. O.!" and as one they jumped up and ran to embrace Tommy. With a solid "thunk" the three came together as the younger Rangers nearly knocked Tommy off his feet. Support from those incoming from the hallway kept the trio from falling over. Kira didn't mind being overwhelmed with the joy and relief emanating from the three of them; in fact, she reveled in it. She could also pick up traces of the other's joy as they watched the sweet reunion.
In a flash, the joy was overshadowed with a bolt of grief, and Kira had to pull away before Tommy's pain could unbalance her. Ethan stepped back too and Kira resumed her position safe inside his protective presence. Carter had risen from his place by the bed when the others had entered the room. He stood facing the group, but made room for Tommy and Jason to approach the bed. Kira bit back a whimper and clung more tightly to Ethan; Tommy with Conner was almost as bad as Hunter with Blake. Suddenly a soothing, calming barrier was between Kira and Tommy as Kim took up a position on her other side. Kim absently rubbed her back; Kira sighed in relief.
For a moment no one was willing to break the silence. Carter had moved over toward the equipment monitoring Conner's vital signs. Tommy had taken Carter's place on Conner's right side; Jason was supporting him on his left. Rocky, Aisha and Billy moved into the room until they along with Kira, Ethan and Kim formed a semi-circle in front of the doorway. Kira heard the rush of a group of people as they passed by and moved into the room next door. The intense emotional backwash made it clear that Hunter and Blake were close by. Kira turned to look even though she knew she wouldn't see anything, and she saw Kim looking too. Before their gazes turned back into the room their eyes met and Kira read a promise from Kim – I'll help you deal with all of this, Kira. It comforted Kira more than she could express.
A movement from the bed caught Kira's eye again. Tommy's knees had given out, and though he was still conscious, he was being supported by Jason and Carter. They moved him over toward the stretcher that Ethan and Kira had vacated. That movement seemed to have broken the stillness in the room. Rocky moved forward, not to Conner's side, but closer to the foot of the bed. He twitched the blankets aside so he could have access to Conner's leg and gently grasped his ankle. The gesture reminded Kira strongly of Sensei Kanoi, and it made her heart feel glad.
It wasn't until that moment that Kira realized that Adam wasn't with the group that had joined them – suddenly Rocky and Aisha's lost looking expressions registered with Kira. Kira quickly glanced around thinking that in the midst of everything somehow she had missed Adam coming in. Kira did a quick head count around the room. It struck her as very wrong to see Aisha standing all alone near the door. Even when Billy came to put an arm around her shoulder, it just didn't seem right to Kira. She felt her anxiety increase as she realized that she hadn't been wrong; Adam was missing. Kira turned to Kim in inquiry, but Kim's attention was on Tommy.
Tommy had lost all color in his face and was shaking under Jason's supporting arm. He looked to Kira to be as close to passing out as anyone could be without actually fainting. Carter was checking Tommy's pulse and breathing. Jason was encouraging him to breathe deeply. Tommy was mumbling something Kira couldn't make out until he repeated it more loudly.
"Carter, get Dana. I have to tell her."
Carter jumped up from his position but before he made it two steps to the door Dana appeared. She seemed ready to share some information with them, but whatever she'd been about to say went out the window when she got a look at Tommy. Instead of heading over to the stretcher like Kira thought she would, Dana turned on her heel and went back into the hallway. The only one who wasn't surprised by the move was Carter.
Carter resumed his kneeling position by Tommy and started to rub his arm with an alcohol pad from a nearby drawer. "Dana's going to get you something for the pain, Tommy. Just hold on a few more seconds. You're going to be fine." Tommy tried to ineffectively bat Carter away. Dana returned quickly with a syringe and a bottle of clear liquid. She expertly filled the syringe as she walked across the room. Tommy tried harder to get out of Carter's grip, and when he was unsuccessful, he turned to Jason. He pleaded, "Jase…"
"Wait." Jason held up a warning hand in front of Tommy blocking Dana's access to him. Kira marveled at the way Jason could make something so simple sound like a command without being obnoxious about it. Dana paused. Tommy leaned into Jason while pulling his left arm away from Carter and pressing his hand to his head. It was clear that it took an extraordinary amount of effort for Tommy to pull himself together.
"Mesogog's attack…" Tommy spat out. Kira flinched as a wave of pain, fear and despair washed over her. Her stomach dropped and her heart was in her throat as she caught the residual memories flooding from Tommy. She knew Kim and Aisha felt it too because both of them gasped. Kira clung a little tighter to Ethan.
"All mental…I had no defenses…Kanoi opened my mind …no time to regroup before Mesogog attacked." Tommy shuddered; everyone in the room listened in rapt fascination to his choked recital. "Mesogog wanted to cause pain…I could feel…his joy at my pain." Tommy's expression of revulsion was echoed by all the Rangers in the room. He continued to shudder in pain, whether remembered or new. Tommy curled into Jason, and Carter had reclaimed a hold on his left arm, not to restrain him, but to give him support. Tommy closed his eyes as he continued to force himself to talk. "Nowhere to run…Mesogog forced his way into my mind…it was fun for him…pain…pain everywhere." Tommy seemed to lose his train of thought. Dana moved in closer ready to administer the sedative and pain killer; by this time Tommy was fully curled up in Jason's lap.
Tommy sensed her approach. Dana knelt in front of the stretcher and Tommy's eyes opened; his gaze met hers. He knew he wouldn't be conscious much longer. "Please help Conner." he begged. "Please…Zeltrax did the same thing to him…"
Dana reached over and injected Tommy with the drugs she'd assembled. Then she gently caressed his head as she said soothingly, "We'll help Conner. I promise. You did great, Tommy. You told us everything we needed to know. Just rest now. You're going to be okay." Between reassurances from Dana and Jason, Tommy let himself relax and escape the pain. Jason and Carter repositioned him on the stretcher, and Jason took a position near his feet, much like Rocky had with Conner. Kira felt stunned and battered by the revelation of punishment Tommy had endured at Mesogog's hands; it was clear from the expressions of those around her, she wasn't alone in her feelings.
A movement behind them alerted Kira to new arrivals in the room. Cam and Hunter stood like solemn ghosts in the doorway. Both were draped in the ubiquitous hospital blankets. It was clear that whatever the next step was going to be, it would have to take place in this room. No one was willing to leave. Dana seemed to have reached that conclusion as well.
"Alright, it's time to talk. But if we all just stand around we'll have more people passing out. Carter, round up some chairs. I'll go grab some food. Everyone else, get yourselves settled. It's going to be a long day."
Thanks so much to everyone for your continued support. You guys are the best!
Jenna Summers – I hope this chapter explained a little more about why the DT Rangers didn't get closer to Conner. I got the "Christmas Tree Ranger" idea from BashfulC – I thought it was hysterical
Pink-Green-White-4Ever – I'm glad you liked Dana's kick-butt attitude! Someone needed to take charge!
Caitlin, EK, Ben Skywalker, siruslydeceased – I'm glad you liked the Ranger code. I was cracking myself up when I came up with it. Figuring out a red, yellow and blue fruit wasn't hard, but I wanted something goofy for the green, hence Cam as a kiwi!
Funky in Fishnet – I always kind of had the feeling that Dana and Carter would end up married, I like them as a pair.
MzDany – I do draw pictures! In particular I've got a layout of Tommy's basement, the courtyard/fountain, and the hospital. It helps.
Ben Skywalker – thanks for the cookie :winks: - Thanks for the nod on Recognition too. I like writing Bridge and Sky with that brother vibe, it really appeals to me.