Bill felt his stomach knot. He was going to be sick. He had been sick, in fact. Unfortunately, this wasn't something a little Pepto-Bismol would fix.
He had been given an impossible choice. If Oedius has her way, harm would come to one of the Ranger's family. While he had managed to get Dane and Mr. and Mrs. Tien out of harm's way, there was little he could do for Calvin's and Hayley's parents. Oedius had made Bill decide who would be her target, otherwise, she would go after his wife.
He couldn't put Sarah through the pain of losing her mother. Not now. However, it pained him to know that he would be the reason one of her friends would suffer.
"I had to do it," he whispered to himself. "They'll have to understand. It was an impossible choice."
"What's that?" Jenny asked, turning away from the TV for just a moment. The TV was the source of Bill's malaise. As a distraction, Oedius has sent a monster for the Rangers to fight while she would do the dirty work of attacking the chosen parent. The fight happening on the news now meant Oedius was in the process of permanently ruining a family.
"It's hard to watch," Bill said, hoping Jenny had been so focused on the TV that she wouldn't have heard what he initially said. "I can't believe you can stomach this."
"I can't," Jenny said. "I just know a winning fight from a losing one, by now. If the Rangers keep up what they're doing, they'll take the win here, no problem."
Bill knew that was true, though the monster on the battlefield didn't. Oedius was twisted. She didn't want to hurt the Rangers directly, but rather revelled in the thought of them surrendering to her. She wanted them to admit she was more powerful – that she was in control. She wanted them to hand over their Power Stars in an act of admittance of defeat. Taking them was primitive. She was far too intelligent for that. The monster was no match for the Rangers. However, for the distraction to work, Oedius needed her monster to believe she had faith in him when he only needed to be strong enough for her to complete her plan.
As the monster's strength started to fail him, Bill's face turned green. He knew Oedius had planned this out down to the second. If the monster was about to lose, Oedius was probably already headed back to her ship.
"I had no choice," Bill whispered and again, Jenny took her eye off the TV to look at him.
"Huh?" she asked, prompting him to repeat himself, but instead he didn't answer. He did look pale, though. Sickly even. Jenny noticed the way he played with his hands – a nervous tick of sorts. He had almost rubbed his hands raw the days leading up to the marriage proposal. He was worried about something. Jenny turned back to the TV, nervous that the battle might just turn, but this looked like it was a sure-fire win for the Rangers. There was no way they could lose. She looked back to her husband, "Do you know something I don't?" she asked.
"Huh?" he turned to her, but couldn't answer. He couldn't lie – not when he was already feeling this guilty. She would see right through him. He knew she and the Rangers were already suspicious he was part of Oedius' plan. If he lied, and if she knew he was lying, he might lose their trust completely.
Suddenly, he couldn't keep the contents of his stomach down. He barely excused himself as he raced off to the washroom. Jenny checked the TV, seeing the Rangers had, in fact, won, then followed her husband.
This wasn't the first fight he had witnessed. Since his return, the Rangers had been in battle a few times and Jenny always made sure to follow the news. If anything happened to Sarah, or the other Rangers, she wanted to be ready to help when they returned. She wanted to be exactly where she would be most helpful.
There had been much harder fights that Bill had been able to stomach. Jenny couldn't help but wonder why a battle that seemed so sure for the Rangers left him so sick.
"Bill," she said from the bathroom door as he flushed the toilet and started to wash his hands. He didn't look at her, even through the mirror. He kept his eyes low – a look of shame. "Do you know something I don't?"
"Jenny…"
"Did the Rangers say something?" Jenny asked. "Did Sarah say something."
"Sarah's fine," Bill assured her. "Nothing's going to happen to her. They won, right?"
"If you know that, why are you so sick?" Jenny frowned. "She's fine. All the Rangers are fine."
Bill spent a lot of time at the towel, drying his hands – trying to mask the fact that he was playing with them again – masking his nervous tick. Jenny saw right through him though.
"Is this a poisonous monster? Is one of the Rangers going to be sick later?"
"How would I know?" Bill asked. He was still drying his hands. He was still looking away.
"You work for Oedius, don't you?" Jenny felt it was time to come out and ask. So far, no one had asked Bill and he hadn't said anything about it. However, his behaviour was beyond suspicious and Jenny needed a straight answer.
"Jen…"
"What's happening, Bill," Jenny said. "Are the Rangers…"
"They'll be fine," Bill said.
"You're not actually him, are you?" Jenny asked and took a step back. She was fearful. Bill say it in her eyes when he looked up.
"I am, Jenny. I swear, it's me."
"You're lying."
"It's me," Bill insisted, and his nervousness seemed to go away. His hands were still, he could look straight at her. This was true.
"So you're working for her?" Jenny asked and just like that, his honesty was gone. His hands twisted together, and his eyes shot down to the floor. Jenny felt rage build up inside of her and she shoved him. "If you hurt her…"
Bill hit the floor and looked up at his wife, shaking his head, "I'd never hurt Sarah. You need to know that. I'd never do anything to hurt you and Sarah."
"What did you do?" Jenny asked.
"It was an impossible choice," Bill said. "If I didn't make it, she'd come after you. They'll understand that, right?"
"What was the choice, Bill?" his silence allowed the TV to announce breaking news as a reported told of a second monster attack happening in the city.
"It was you or her," Bill said as Jenny turned away from him to walk back to the living room. There, on her TV, was Mr. Foster. His eyes were red and puffy and he could barely speak as he tried to tell the reporter what happened.
"It was so fast," he said. "We heard about the battle downtown and… We took cover at home, like everyone else. W-We locked the doors… followed the attack on TV… She just burst through. It was over before it started."
"Did she give a reason for this attack?" the reporter asked him.
"No reason," he said. "She just…"
"Sir, are you coming or following?" a paramedic called from the background.
"Coming!" Mr. Foster answered, then turned back to the camera quickly. "She just said to thank the imposter."
"What does that mean?" the reported asked, but Mr. Foster shook his head.
"I don't know. I have to go. I have to be with my wife," he said, then rushed to the ambulance. Jenny turned off the TV, knowing now it would just be speculation. She turned to Bill, who was standing behind her, still looking ill."
"Oedius said if it didn't hurt, she'd kill you too," he whispered. "That if this didn't leave the Rangers crippled, she'd go again, and again and… Hayley's parents are Kelly's parents too and… something happening to them would also hurt Calvin and… this was the most pain for the least number of casualties and… Jenny, it was an impossible choice."
"You ordered this?" Jenny asked. Suddenly her phone rang. Bill dropped to the floor, holding his head in his hands as Jenny answered it.
"Jenny, thank god! Did you see the news?" Mick asked on the other end.
"I did."
"Is he with you?" Mick asked. "We can only assume that by imposter, Oedius meant…"
"He is," Jenny said with a growl.
"You need to get out there. We'll find somewhere safe for you. I've already contacted the Rangers. They should be on their way to the Romero farm. Don't worry about packing up, just get out of there."
"I'll be there soon," Jenny promised, then hung up. She looked to Bill, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"She would have killed you," Bill said.
"What happened to Anne?"
"She wouldn't say," Bill answered. "Jenny… if it wasn't her, it was you."
"You should have said something! The Rangers could have…"
"All six needed to be at that fight."
"Dane could have gone. He could have stopped Oedius…"
"Then she would have known I told and she would have come here."
"I could have hidden!"
"She'd kill Sarah," Bill shook his head. "She'd turn up at that fight and it'd be Sarah's funeral we'd be attending."
"Funeral?" Jenny asked. "Wait… She killed her?"
"I…"
"Anne's dead?"
"She made me choose!" Bill said. "If I didn't choose anyone else, she'd have killed you. My hands were tied."
"There's always a way out," Jenny told him right before hearing a loud bang as Sarah tore through the house. When she saw her father on the floor she grabbed him by the shirt, lifted him up and slammed him into the wall.
"Sarah…"
"You murdering snake!" she yelled and slammed her father into the wall once more for good measure. "I knew it was too good to be true!"
"Sarah, let him go," Jenny said.
"She took Kelly in without a second thought!" Sarah yelled at her father. "She was a good person, a good mother and you just let her die!"
"I had to choose someone…"
"You let it happen!" Sarah shouted. "I trusted you!"
"It was her or your mother…"
"It should have been neither!" Sarah said and slammed her father into the wall one last time before she let him drop. She turned to her mother, "Mom…"
"Go be with Kelly. I'll be right behind you," Jenny promised. Sarah didn't look like she wanted to leave, and Jenny couldn't blame her. She had just learned her father was responsible for the death of her best friend and her girlfriend's mother. She had no reason to trust he wouldn't hurt her own mother. "Sarah, go. I'll be fine."
"She so much as screams, I'll rip your heart out," Sarah growled to her father before storming off. Jenny knew she wouldn't be far. Sarah would stay within earshot, even if she was out of sight, so she made sure to whisper very softly to her husband.
"Well, at least Sarah's not hurt, huh? Glad to see that worked out, at least…"
"Jen…"
"You could have done something…"
"My hands were tied. I couldn't do anything. Just let me explain…"
"It doesn't look like you can convince yourself you did the right thing," Jenny told him. "What makes you think you can convince me? Or her?"
"Don't go near her, Bill. Don't look at her, don't talk to her. I don't want contact."
"I can explain. I'll tell you everything…"
"Convince me, first," Jenny growled. "You won't see your daughter again until you do."
"Jen…"
"You could have done something," Jenny said. "Keep the house. I won't be back."