Kevin hadn't wanted to fall asleep, but Mia insisted he did. He had pushed his body well beyond its limits, and she knew he should have been long dead. Right now he needed rest. His body would fight to keep him alive, and she had done what she could to help him.

She was cleaning up the first aid kit – or what was left of it. She had used up almost everything inside on Kevin. He looked like a mummy from ancient Egypt, but at least she knew he would be okay, even if it took a long time for him to get there.

The door to the house swung open as Serena and James rushed in. Mia hadn't called them, too busy with Kevin, but she was sure Ji, Jayden, or Antonio had. She was sure they knew exactly what had happened.

"Where is she?" Serena asked as she ran into the living room, looking for Emily. Then she saw Kevin, laid up on the couch. Unaware this was the real Kevin, she looked to Mia furiously.

Mia shook her head, "The other Kevin is a Nighlok. We got the wrong one."

"Mia…"

"I know what this sounds like," Mia said, "I didn't believe him at first either, but it's true. He's not the Nighlok."

"You defeated the Nighlok," Serena turned to James and he nodded his head.

"We saw them die."

"Not Mike's and Kevin's," Mia reminded him, "They strayed, they got confused, Mike trusted the wrong Kevin," Mia stood protectively before her Kevin, though Serena and James both seemed to be backing down. They were starting to believe her, "Please… please guys…"

"I'll believe you," Serena nodded. She could see how badly beaten Kevin was, and couldn't imagine how much worse it looked under all the bandages. The Nighlok would go to any length to take the Rangers out, but even this seemed too far. "Just tell me where my sister is."

"Upstairs," Mia whispered and Serena bolted away to find her sister. Mia turned back to the couch and took Kevin's hand, sinking down to her knees. James approached her from behind and knelt with her. He wrapped his arms around her.

"What happened?"

"He says Octoroo kidnapped him. He wanted to know the Sealing Symbol."

"The Sealing…" James sighed, "That's starting to be more trouble than it's worth."

"Octoroo's good," Mia whispered, "But he underestimated Kevin's strength and loyalty."

Mia placed her hand on Kevin's chest, where the seal that was keeping him alive was hidden under the bandages, "He should be dead."

"He's not. We're lucky he's not."

"We're not lucky," Mia shook her head, "Octoroo doesn't want him dead. There's a seal keeping him alive. It's on him, right here. If we take it off… he might die."

"Then we don't take it off," James wrapped his arms around Mia and gave her a little squeeze, "We wait until his body is strong enough to fight on its own. We won't let anything happen to him. You're not going to lose him."

-Samurai-

Upstairs, Serena was leaning over Emily, trying to pull her away from Mike's body. It was obvious now he was dead, and there was nothing anyone could do for him. Emily, though, seemed to be clinging onto him like he still had a chance if she was holding him.

"Emy…"

"NO!" she screamed loudly and shrugged her sister's hands away from her shoulders.

"He's gone, Emy…"

"He's not," Emily held on a little tighter, "He can't be. He's Mike! He's tricking us! It's a joke. It's funny! Wake up now, Mike. We all fell for it. Wake up!"

"Emily," Ji knelt beside her. Emily hugged Mike tight and refused to look at her mentor. She knew what he was going to say. Ji didn't say it, though. He tried to gently separate her from Mike, but then had to force them apart. Emily screamed loudly and Serena was forced to watch slowly as her baby sister was torn away from the one person she loved more than anything. As soon as contact between Emily and Mike was broken, the screaming stopped. Emily's mouth closed but her tear ducts opened wide. She got to her feet and stormed out of the room. Serena jumped up and went after her.

Antonio fell next to Mike's body, "He can't be gone. There needs to be a way…"

"Unfortunately, there's nothing anyone can do," Ji sighed. He gently lifted Mike's body off the floor and set him down in the bed. It was a little more comfortable.

"But Mentor, he can't just…" Antonio trailed off when Jayden's hand touched his shoulder. He turned around and saw his boyfriend nodding his head. Antonio shook his, like it would change the truth, "No, he can't. We're Power Rangers. We don't die."

"I'm sorry, Antonio."

"No," Antonio continued to shake his head, "There's a way. We defeat the Nighlok or use a symbol or…"

"Even the strongest symbols can't bring the dead back to life," Jayden whispered. He pulled Antonio in for a hug, "I'm sorry."

-Samurai-

Serena watched her little sister with tears in her eyes. Emily was holding her breath. She would make herself dizzy and would pass out if she was really determined to go all the way, but she wouldn't kill herself. Serena was sure she wanted to, though.

"Emy, please…"

Emily shook her head. Her face was red; her body was shaking and begging for her to breathe in. Finally, she couldn't hold it in any longer. She gasped for breath.

"It's hard, I know…"

Emily crawled onto her bed and buried herself under the blankets. Serena sat down beside her and tried to pull the blankets off.

"Emily…"

Emily pushed her off the bed and retreated back under the blankets. Serena got back up and returned to the bed. She wrapped her arms around the bundle of blankets that was her sister.

"I'm sorry."

She hugged her sister until Emily's sobs stopped. Then she pulled the blankets away from her face and saw she was sleeping. She double checked her breathing, just to make sure she actually was just sleeping. When she was sure she tucked her sister in and headed downstairs. Mia was in the kitchen making a meal for when Kevin woke up. She was sure he was hungry and his body would need the energy. She would do anything to see him heal up quickly.

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you Nighlok Kevin needs to be stopped," Serena whispered and Mia nodded her head.

"I've been thinking about that," she said, "and I have a plan."

The boys were on their way down the stairs when they heard this, "Nighlok Kevin?"

Serena and Mia nodded and explained quickly. It was hard for the boys to understand at first, but the more they thought about the strange things going on since the doubles had turned up, the more it made sense.

"So what's your plan?" Ji asked Mia. She turned off the heat on the stove, leaving her meal in the pan to be reheated later when Kevin woke up. She sat down at the table, "I'm going to go out and look for him."

"No," Serena shook her head. Mia insisted.

"He might think you're onto him. You did kick him out. Emily will know to stay away from him. And if you boys choose him, he might think something's up. Serena surely would have spread her suspicions about him by now. I'm the hopelessly in love idiot."

"It might work," James took a seat beside Mia and wrapped his arm around her. He had been downstairs with her and they had discussed the plan. He tried to think of an alternative one, but this seemed to be the plan with the best chance of success. "Kevin thinks Mia trusts him. Even after the hiccup with Serena kicking him out, if Mia runs back to him first chance she gets, he might think he's got some level of control over her."

"So where does that bring us?" Serena asked and slammed her fist into the table as she glared at Mia, "I am not letting you go to that son of a bitch just to get hit again."

"I'll convince him to come back here," Mia said. "I'll tell him I can change your minds."

"He beat up my little sister," Serena shook her head, "I'm not letting him near this house. Period."

"We'll say she never came home," James said and looked up the stairs, "Odds are she'll be locked up there for a while anyways. We'll say she never came home and we think she's still out with Mike."

"Only one problem," Serena growled, "I'm not letting him near my house!"

"Serena, look at me," James reached across the table and took her hands, "I know you want him to stay away, but we need to try this. If Mia can lure him in, you can beat him to death. I'll actually let you kill this one."

She was tempted. Her heart screamed yes, her head said no. Logically, it was stupid bringing Nighlok Kevin back to the house after he had succeeded in killing Mike, beating up Emily, and reducing Mia to a fearful mess. The team needed a break.

But she wanted him dead. She needed him dead. For the safety of her friends and family, and for her own satisfaction, she wanted to see him die.

"Fine," Serena whispered and crossed her arms over her chest, "But if he hurts anyone…"

"He's dead," James assured her. Serena breathed a heavy sigh and then gave Mia a nod. Faster than anyone had ever seen before, Mia ran out to start searching.

Serena flicked her thumb to the living room, where Kevin was asleep, "Hide him too. We won't be convincing if we have the real Kevin lurking around."

Jayden and Antonio gave her a little nod and then started to work on getting the real Kevin upstairs.

James scooted around the table and sat down beside Serena. He hugged her warmly and could see she was on the edge of losing it. Everyone had been through a lot recently, but he knew she had a habit of putting things on her shoulders, especially when her sister was involved."

"You just focus on acting," he kissed her cheek, "Everything will fall into place, I know it will."

"Lies," Serena shook her head, "Mike's dead."

Serena got up and walked over to the couch. If she felt this badly for Mike's passing, she couldn't imagine how her sister felt. She could barely breathe. It was no wonder Emily tried to suffocate herself.

James sat down beside Serena and pulled her into his arms, "It's going to hurt for a really, really long time. But we'll never forget him. We'll keep going. Mike would want that for us."

-Samurai-

Mia had no idea where to look for Kevin, but she was a Samurai and he was a Nighlok – he would be able to find her. Nighlok always found the Samurai they were looking for.

"What did you tell her?" Mia jumped out of her skin when she heard his voice and felt his hand grab her arm. She spun around, he didn't look happy.

"N-nothing," she sounded pathetic, she knew she did.

"So Serena just snaps at me for no reason?" Kevin asked. "I guess it's all over now…"

"No, no, never," Mia insisted as she shook her head, "I talked to her. I… if you just come home and…"

"You want me back there?" Kevin looked to her strangely, "They'll let me come home?"

"I'll stand up for you, I promise," Mia nodded. "You hit your head pretty hard the other day. I know you're better than this. We'll get you the help you need. Help at home. I can convince the others you just need a little support."

"Why would they take me back?" Kevin thought this was strange. He had seen Emily get away, and that had been after he had been kicked out of the house. Surely her story would convince the other Samurai to kick his ass, not that he thought they could, but this wasn't adding up.

Mia knew he didn't believe her, and he wasn't asking questions about Emily or Mike. She needed to somehow get them in there, without making it obvious she knew he would be thinking of them.

"Well, I'll have to convince Mike and Emily when they get home. But if we talk to Serena and the guys first, they'll be easier to…"

"Mike and Emily?"

Mia nodded, "They went out to lunch. The guys said you found Mike's note for Emily. They haven't come back yet, but knowing them they'll be out all night. Maybe even well into tomorrow."

"And so you think you can convince Serena and the boys to let me back into the house? After all the trouble I've caused?"

Mia nodded her head, "You haven't been causing trouble. You just need a little help. Head injuries can be pretty serious. I can convince them that deep down, you're still the same, wonderful Kevin they knew."

"How will you convince them of that? Serena seems to have her mind made up…"

"I see who you really are. I know you, Kevin. Please," she touched his arm, "Come home with me. I won't let them hurt you. I won't let them kick you out…"

"It's getting late," Kevin looked up at the sky. Stars were starting to pop out. "Farm work is pretty tiring. Why don't we head home tomorrow? Everyone will be more… equipped to deal with whatever's been going on."

Mia shook her head, "We should head home…"

Kevin slapped her cheek, "I said we're going home tomorrow," he watched and waited for her reaction. This was too good to be true. He should have been found out by now, and yet here Mia was, begging for him to come back, insisting he was still a good person and he just needed a kind hand from the Samurai.

Mia held her cheek with her hand and looked up at Kevin hurt, "Please, don't do that, Kevin," she begged him, "You're better than this."

Kevin looked to her curiously. It seemed she really did believe in him.

"You're not listening to me," he shook his head and grabbed her roughly by the back of the neck, "We'll find somewhere else to stay tonight. The others are probably tired," he smacked her again, this time on the back of the head, "Stop being so selfish."

"Sorry," she whispered. Still with his hand on her neck, he pushed her forward and held her head down, so she was forced to look at the ground as she walked. He led her back to the mountains, where he would find a place for them to spend the night. In the morning he would figure out what he wanted to do – if he really wanted to risk going back home.