Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.
"This is against my rights! I know that y'all don't think I have rights, but that constitution says I do!"
Mia glares at her cellmate and quietly pleads, "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
"Y'all already charged me with public indecency! That's double jeopardy!" the woman wallows.
"I hate that blasted detective!" Mia murmurs, "This is going to kill me!"
"Ms. Watanabe," a voice calls, "You have been released." Mia excitedly rolls over to the exit of the cell, only to roll back to the corner when she sees a tall woman with a detective's badge on her hip looming over her.
"I lied," she stammers, "This is going to kill me." She manages a small smile and whimpers, "Hi, mom!"
The woman opens the cell and ushers her daughter out. She then grabs the handles on Mia's chair and pushes her out of the precinct. As they pass several empty holding cells, Mia curses the detective under her breath. When they get outside her mother whips Mia's chair around and look her in the eyes with fury on her face.
"What were you thinking?" she screamed, "Assaulting an officer! You think you're life is tough now? Try adding a record to that chair and then see how tough your life is! You are lucky I was able to talk that detective into dropping the charges."
"Mom."
"No, don't 'Mom' me! You are smarter than this!" she nags, "Mia, I raised you better than this!"
"Mom!" Mia interrupts, "They were trying to lock up an innocent man."
"What?"
"Or woman," she continues, "It didn't matter to them. That dirty detective wanted a closed case, and Mrs. MacIntire wanted closure. They were going to make Sammy pick some random person just so they could have a suspect."
Detective Watanabe thinks this over for a moment, then asks,"Is that all?"
Mia sighs, "When I debated them, they said that because I'm in a wheelchair, I'm not 'mentally fit' to be a witness."
Detective Watanabe laughs, "Did you tell them that you broke you back, not your head?"
"Yeah, that's exactly what I said, but that detective just brushed me off," Mia explains, "I am tired of this, Mom. The bus driver is too lazy to lower the ramp, I worked for months to get better and get back in the game as a ranger, and even though I am capable, they won't let me, and now I have people questioning my intelligence?"
"That doesn't give you the right to roll over people's feet," her mom interjects.
"I know," Mia sighs, "for the past six months it's been like I'm fighting an uphill battle, but I keep falling down and I can't do anything about it." Detective Watanabe crouches down, eye level to her daughter.
"I know this is tough," she begins, "but you have to keep a level head. So you can't be a ranger right now, let's do something you can do." She opens her car door and pulls a file out of the front seat. Placing it on her daughter's lap she explains, "I looked into your description of your guy and found several cold cases matching this description. That's why I was here. How about you help me look into it?"
Mia gives her mom a giant bearhug and rolls over to the side of her mom's car. She then transfers into the passenger's seat. Detective Watanabe smiles and after putting the chair in the backseat, she hops in the car and they drive to a coffee shop where they can look over the evidence. Detective Watanabe orders the coffee while Mia finds a small table in the corner. She spreads out the different case files and examines each one.
October 28, 2008, 9:45 am, Reefside, Sterling Joseph, age seven, walking to the bus, kidnapped, 6'5" male, scarred face
November 25, 2010, 10:27 am, Amber Beach, Samantha Riggins, age six, Running errands with mother. kidnapped. 6'7" male. Possible facial burns.
August 4, 2012. 8:07 am. Briarwood. Lindsay McBride. Age six. Field trip. Kidnapped. 6'5" male. Facial deformities.
As she continues, a terrifying thought creeps its way into Mia's mind. Justin Smith. Thuong Le. Newton Noshimuri. Miku Gonzales. Nate Abbott. Her mother arrives with their coffees, but she ignores her as she flips through more files. Morgan MacElhaney. Carmen Adamson. Ian Spisak. Juan Wolter.
"Earth to Mia," her mom jokes as she slides into the seat across from Mia.
Mia looks up at her mom in shock and stammers, "You said you found a few cold cases! These are enough kids to fill a small classroom!"
"I know," she replies, "When I brought this up to my superiors back in Angel Grove, they reminded me that half of these cases are far out of my jurisdiction. They did not want to put time and resources towards a bunch of cold cases. They did not want to hear what I think."
"And that is?" Mia asks.
"I think we have a serial kidnapper on our hands."
A/N: Dun dun dun! What will happen next? Write your thoughts in Mr. Answerbox bellow. I have been known to PM spoilers to those who ask...