Hey guys! I know I've been gone for a bit this month, but the reasons I was gone were pretty much unavoidable (I was sick and then my computer had issues) so I hope you're not too broken up on that! Anyways, about this chapter, I will say in advance that Tori and Autumn's relationship is probably not going to take a turn like you'd expect (or enjoy), but I'll explain below about it.
Also, even though I have a new ranger in this chapter, there will be no new cover photo or video yet, since the next ranger is coming in a few chapters and I decided to have them together.
Moran is portrayed by Ashley Greene
Silas sat in his office chair, waiting for the person he had hired to join him in his office. Belladonna was also waiting beside him, dressed only in a skimpy robe and looking extremely impatient.
He thought to himself that he would be impatient too, if it weren't for the various bags laying on his desk in front of him. They were large, tightly packed bags of various kinds of drugs from simple weed to heavy duty heroin all stored separately from each other and ready to be sold, permitting that his seller would arrive to do so.
The mere idea so how much money he would be making once his seller smuggled the drugs out of the country and distributed them was enough to keep Silas content and patiently waiting for a while.
It wasn't enough for Belladonna, however, who was glaring daggers at the back of his head.
"Yes?" Silas asked with a sigh.
"How much longer do we have to wait for this?" Belladonna hissed, crossing her arms tightly. "I'm not waiting around for you forever, Silas. Why not let Thorn handle this?"
Silas nearly laughed out loud. "Thorn?" He asked incredulously. "I don't trust Thorn enough for this. He's an imbecile!"
"Okay," She rolled her eyes. "What about Bones, then? He never does much."
He frowned, turning back to her with a hard look. "Do not underestimate Bones, Belladonna. I trust him more than anyone else on this Earth, but given his inability to speak, I don't believe it would be a good idea to let him make a deal with someone."
Belladonna raised an eyebrow with intrigue. "He's done more than this before."
"Yes, before," Silas pointed out. "Not now. I wouldn't ask that of him."
She chuckled. "Are you afraid he's gonna get hurt?"
"That is none of your concern." Silas growled, his fists clenching in a way that made even Belladonna flinch away from him, though she was incredibly curious about this. She had no idea that Silas was close with any of his men, so this was interesting news.
Before she could respond back, the door opened loudly and an older man was shoved ungracefully into the room. He was short with graying hair and looked to be in his late 40s. Belladonna smirked a bit at this man, finding it amusing that this was the man Silas had chosen to smuggle and sell drugs for him.
On the other hand, Silas seemed immensely pleased when the man came into the room, his face lighting up like a child on Christmas morning.
The crime lord stood quickly, walking around his desk to look him up and down, before nodding at him. "Harold, it's nice to finally see you again after so long."
Harold nodded back once. "Yeah, it has been a long time, hasn't it? The last time I saw you, you were a just a kid working for your dad, and now you've risen up to be even better than he was. I'm proud of you,"
"Thank you," Silas cleared his throat uncomfortably, just as Harold noticed Belladonna. "This is Belladonna Letford," He turned to her. "Belladonna, this is Harold Corbin, an old accomplice of mine."
"Pleasure, I'm sure," Belladonna said, watching Harold closely as he eyed her.
"She's quite something, Silas." Harold commented. "Good luck with that one."
Silas chuckled. "I'll need it." He turned and picked up the bags of drugs, lifting them into a suitcase, before zipping it up and handing it off to Harold. "I would make sure you know what you're doing, but I know you already do. You'll let me know as soon as you get back?"
He gave a sly look. "Jeez, kid, it's like you don't even know me. Of course," He clapped Silas on the back, before grabbing the suitcase and rolling it out of the room.
"So," Belladonna spoke up after Harold was gone. "You were just a kid working for his dad, huh?"
"Don't start," Silas warned, turning back to her with an even more deadly look than earlier. "Are we gonna do this or not? Because my patience is running thin."
Belladonna walked up to him, giving him a passionate kiss, before pulling away and rubbing her hand down his chest. "Alright, but that doesn't mean I'll forget this," She told him, stalking seductively past him. "I'll be in the bedroom."
"Of course you will," Silas muttered as he followed closely behind her, stepping over her robe as she dropped it on the floor on the way in the room.
- Cue Opening -
Early the next morning, a young woman was walking quietly down the hall of her police station in Riverview, the town right next to Waverly, holding tightly onto the leash of her dog, Katie, who was trotting happily beside her. She was walking alone, besides for her dog, and was generally not talking to anyone she was walking past, even if she knew them.
She gave an occasionally smile or wave, but didn't speak up or greet anyone outside of that.
The young woman was dressed in a standard police uniform, with her name tag reading BLUE in bold letters and sign saying K-9 unit on it. She stood at about 5'5 and had long brown hair, gray eyes, and light tan skin. She also had a slim, but still muscular figure and a beautiful face.
As she walked into the main area as usual, she heard a whistle from the side and turned her head to see her boss gesture for her to come in his office. She nodded and followed him in, sitting down silently in one of the chairs across from his desk.
"Officer Blue, I have some news for you," The sheriff announced, moving around some papers on his desk. "You're being transferred to the Emergency Responders base in Waverly. I've spoken to Lia Carter, the lieutenant base's captain, and she'd like you to join her unit. I've agreed to have you moved - it'll be the best thing for you."
"What?" She responded, not knowing what else to say.
He nodded. "Yep. This'll be the best career move you'll make, alright? They've already got a job and are ready for your presence today as they move in to handle it."
"Is this necessary?" Officer Blue asked nervously.
"I'm afraid so, but I think you'll enjoy it once you've settled in. Look, Moran, I know you're shy and it's probably gonna be hard at first, but you'll meet some great people there and will be paid much more than you will be here." The sheriff told her. "I promise it's a good move."
Can I come with you, Moran? Katie looked questioningly up at Moran, who looked down instantly at the sound.
The sheriff gave her a look, silently asking Moran to reiterate what Katie had said to her. "Umm.. is Katie coming with me?"
"Of course." He chuckled. "You think I'd send you off without her? No way. Besides, you're the only one I know who can communicate with her, so it only makes sense."
Moran smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Sheriff."
"No problem," The sheriff nodded at her. "Now get going, and make us all proud."
"Of course." She assured him, standing up. "Come on, Katie." She waved at the sheriff one last time, before exiting his office and making her way to leave.
- PRER -
Autumn sat awkwardly on Tori's couch at her apartment, looking around and unaware of what to do. Tori had been released from the hospital the day before, but was still weak and unable to do much, so Autumn had offered to look after her a bit, especially since she was the only other one off of work.
It had taken some prodding to get Tori to allow Autumn to do so, but after realizing how worn she still was from the incident, Tori had eventually given in to Autumn's care, though had claimed she was only okay with it because Autumn was a paramedic who knew what she was doing.
Besides that, the two hadn't really talked about what happened during the attack or between them.
Actually, it was the only thing the two hadn't talked about. Tori had made conversation with Autumn since then, mostly because she was the only one who was there the whole time, as everyone else had work, and Autumn had spoken to her a lot too, but not as much as usual.
In fact, Tori was quite surprised that Autumn wasn't lively nor had mentioned what happened yet, though she never said anything. Autumn could tell, however, that Tori wanted to ask but didn't.
The thought that perhaps Tori had read her mind instead of asking crossed her mind briefly, but she dismissed that rapidly. If Tori had read her mind, she wouldn't still be giving Autumn that slightly concerned look that was not very well concealed by other expressions.
Along with that, Autumn trusted Tori not to betray her trust like that. It was one thing to read a criminal's mind, but a whole other thing to read a friend's without their permission, and she was sure that Tori wouldn't do that to her.
Now, after having spent the night on Tori's couch, Autumn wasn't sure what she was going to do. Tori was most likely still fast asleep in the other room, needing more rest with the injuries she sustained and was still recovering from.
Autumn, on the other hand, had already physically recovered and didn't need that extra rest. She figured that since she was still off of work, due to Lia's insistence that she still needed time, to which Autumn agreed with, she definitely should get more sleep if she could.
The problem was that she couldn't.
Since their kidnapping, Autumn had been unable to get a full night's sleep except when she had been in the hospital for the first night. Besides that, it had been sleepless nights and nightmares that plagued her.
And it was really taking it's toll. She felt like she was running herself ragged when she wasn't doing anything at all.
It was awful.
Despite Autumn's knowledge of medicine, she had no idea what to do about it. She wasn't an expert on sleeping patterns, or psychology, so she was at a loss.
She thought about bringing it up to someone, but decided against it before she could do so. Autumn didn't want any attention brought on her for this, and was just hoping for it to go away on it's own.
Rubbing a hand over her face and sighing, she stood and walked towards the hall, peering into Tori's room. The red chief was still asleep, like Autumn had figured, so she left her alone and walked towards the bathroom instead.
Looking at herself in the mirror that morning, Autumn could completely see why Lia told her she still needed time. She looked worn and unlike herself - it wasn't often that she ever saw herself like this, let alone have others see her like this.
In fact, the only people that ever saw her like this were very close friends who she could lean on for support when she was going through hard times, which was very much appreciated.
Unlike most of the others, Autumn had always had a very normal life. She was an only child and always had her parents standing beside her through everything in life. Now that she was older, she didn't want to go back to her parents when she was having a bad day, and instead turned to one of her good friends.
Since she had become a ranger, however, she didn't really have many of those confidants anymore. Sure, she was close to all of the others, but none of them were people she talked to about tough times.
The only person she could really think of to do that with was Tori, but she doubted that would go anywhere.
It was strange not having a person like that anymore. All of her life, Autumn had had someone she could lean on when she needed it, and now that she didn't, it felt like a part of her was ripped away.
Not only that, but it also felt like she couldn't really handle her problems nowadays. She had never really learned how to deal with her problems just by herself and being alone now was chilling, to say the least.
"You're still here?" A voice startled her out of her thoughts, and she turned suddenly to see Tori leaning lightly against the door frame, eyeing her with mild amusement. "I never took you for the slacker type."
Autumn raised an eyebrow, hoping she didn't look as beat as she thought she did. "What?"
"Well, you're not back at work," Tori pointed out. "I didn't think you were the type to slack off like that. I always figured Owen to be more like that,"
"I'm not allowed to go back yet." Autumn muttered, yawning briefly. "Lia won't let me."
Tori looked her over, a questioning look coming over her features. "I can see why. You look burnt out, no offense."
"Oh," Autumn waved it off, embarrassed. "No, I'm fine. Besides, you're the one that got shot, you know,"
She nodded. "I see. So, just because someone else is hurt, that means your pain automatically doesn't matter." Tori concluded, making Autumn blush in embarrassment once more. "Look, I won't make you tell me what's wrong, but if you want to talk about it, I have nothing better to do."
The red lieutenant rubbed her arm awkwardly. "Umm.. do you, maybe, want some breakfast or something? I could make something, or go out and get something if you prefer."
"You don't think I'm..." Tori trailed off, looking at Autumn again. She was going to make a snide remark, but Autumn just looked so depressed, as she had been looking since the incident. She wouldn't talk about it, and Tori wouldn't make her, but she really wanted to. She couldn't stand to see her look as sad as she did. "That would be nice. Do you know how to cook?"
Autumn gave a small smile, "Of course. What do you like?"
Tori shrugged. "Anything, really. I like fruit and.. you know what I haven't had in a while? Pancakes. Think you could do that? Maybe with blueberries or strawberries?"
She looked down, almost guiltily. "Well, I can't actually use strawberries - I'm allergic, which I realize is probably very strange, but I can definitely do blueberries."
"Yeah, that's fine." Tori chuckled. "Mind if I take a shower while you do that?"
"No, go ahead. I don't mind," Autumn said, not realizing she was standing in the way.
The red chief smirked, amused. "You're blocking my way,"
"What? Oh!" Autumn immediately moved out of the bathroom, her hand brushing lightly against Tori's, who moved away awkwardly. "Sorry."
"It's no problem, okay?" Tori assured her, waiting for her to nod before she closed the bathroom door, leaving Autumn alone in the hallway.
- PRER -
Moran walked down the hall of ER awkwardly, looking at signs on the wall to determine where to go rather than asking the various employees and students roaming through the halls around her. Katie was walking obediently beside her, wearing her K-9 unit harness so people knew why she was there.
She kept her head straight, and avoiding making any real eye contact with anyone, knowing that the people working here could be very serious and very tough, especially with outsiders or threats.
It also crossed her mind that it was possible that ER didn't have a K-9 unit, which could explain some of the questioning looks she was getting. Regardless, she tried to ignore them as she walked Katie to the lieutenant base.
Entering the lieutenant base, Moran was thoroughly impressed. There was a lot of highly advanced equipment and the room was very well kept, leaving her in a state of awe.
"Excuse me," A hand touched her shoulder, and she turned immediately to face the young woman behind her. "Are you supposed to be here? Do you need help finding your way somewhere?"
"Umm..." Moran stared at her, not knowing what to say.
Another young woman cleared her throat, "Sophie, that's K-9 Unit Officer Moran Blue," The blonde woman replied, coming up to them. "Lia requested her to be transferred to work with us."
Sophie raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You're the new lieutenant?"
"Uh.. yes, I suppose," Moran nodded, standing between them awkwardly.
"Oh, well, I'm so sorry. I'm Sophie Wilkson," She shook Moran's hand. "I'm an intern here, as well as a paramedic. This is my partner, Andromeda Grace, but you can call her Andi."
"Nice to meet you." Moran smiled as she looked between the two.
There was a small pause, before Andi gestured to a small group of people on the other side of the room. "Those are the other lieutenants," She told her. "Hey, Lia, your new recruit is here!"
Lia and the three lieutenants perked up at this, all looking over at Moran, who blushed shyly. Lia gestured for her to come over, which she did slowly. "Rangers, this is Officer Moran Blue. She's going to be joining us from now on." She briefly looked down at Katie and sniffled. "And you brought your dog, how funny."
Moran rubbed her arm uneasily, worried she had done something wrong. "Well, I am in the K-9 unit."
"Yeah, of course." Lia nodded. "I'm just mildly allergic to dogs, but that's fine - it's nothing to worry about. Anyways, as said, Moran is in the K-9 unit, which means she's a police officer with a trained dog, like this one. She also has the ability to speak with animals, which is why she was chosen for her job, correct?"
She nodded. "Yes," Moran looked down at Katie, who was looking questioningly up at her. This is where we work now. Moran told her, and while Katie didn't verbally respond, she made it clear she was aware.
"Moran, these are three of the four current lieutenant rangers," Lia explained, gesturing to them, "This is forensics scientist and blue ranger Jason Johston, detective and yellow ranger Nicole Keegan, and fireman and green ranger Owen Lalley."
"It's nice to meet you," Nikki smiled brightly. "And you can call me Nikki, if you want."
"Okay," Moran looked around at them. "It'll be nice to get to know you guys."
Lia held up a folder. "You'll have time for that later. We would've given you more time to get adjusted but we needed you as soon as possible for our new case," She opened the folder and showed them a picture of a middle aged man. "This is Harold Corbin, a drug smuggler. We've been tipped off that he's leaving the country today with a shipment from Silas himself."
Owen raised a skeptical eyebrow. "He's just gonna get on a plane with pounds of drugs and think no one's gonna say anything?"
"Actually, he has a private plane," Lia responded, giving him a look. "He's not that stupid, and he's been doing this for a long time. You guys need to catch him at the airport, and Moran's dog will, hopefully, sniff out the drugs."
Nikki looked down at Katie, before looking to Moran. "What's her name?"
Moran smiled, "It's Katie."
"That's a sweet name," Nikki held her hand out to Katie, who smelled it before allowing Nikki to pet her. "She's a nice dog."
"Yeah, she was trained very well," Moran nodded.
"Enough chit chat." Lia interrupted them, handing Jason the photo. "You should get the to airport now and stake out. I don't know when he'll get there, but you need to be ready when he does."
They nodded and followed Jason out, passing by the chief base on the way out. Joey peered out of the doorway, spotting Moran going with them, and turned back to Sean and Taz with a confused look. "Hey, how come the lieutenants have someone filling in for Autumn but we don't have anyone for Tori?"
"They don't have someone filling in for Autumn," Sean replied, making a face. "Not that I know of. Taz?"
"I haven't heard anything." Taz shook her head.
Sera turned in her chair, peering back at them, "Moran isn't a fill in, she's the new lieutenant,"
"New lieutenant?" Sean asked, a bit shocked. "Why would they be getting a new ranger?"
She shrugged. "She has experience on the field, and they need her for the drug bust they're doing today. Does it bother you or something?"
Joey looked off to the side, "No, but if they're getting a new ranger, then shouldn't we? I mean, it's only fair."
The intern gave them a contemplative look. "Well, if they're lower ranked than you guys, them getting a new ranger would only put them on the same level as you, not higher, so I don't know if you should really be too worried."
"Hey, I love the lieutenants, don't get me wrong," Taz started. "But, we don't want them to be on the same level as us, if we're being honest."
"She's right. We're the chiefs for a reason and, while we have no problems with the lieutenants, it's not like we want them to show us up," Sean explained.
Logan glanced at them from his chair, "Even if that's the case, I'm pretty sure we'll have a new chief soon too,"
"And this," Masters' voice traveled into the room as he and Nat walked in. "Is the chief base. I know you've been around here before, but I didn't know if you had seen it before, and since you're working with one of the lieutenants, I figured it was only fair that you meet the chiefs as well,"
Nat looked around, before looking to the chiefs, "Hi." She smiled, a bit shyly.
Masters smiled as well, "Chiefs, this is paramedic Natasha Porter. Nat, you know of Sean and Taz, correct?" Nat nodded. "And this is yellow ranger and fireman Joseph Dixon. He's a bit newer than them."
"It's nice to meet you," Nat stepped forward to shake his hand.
Joey shook her hand, smiling boldly. "You too. You can call me Joey, by the way." He looked her over, and chuckled a bit when he noticed her do the same to him. "See something you like?"
She blushed at being caught. "Do you?" She shot back, smirking nonchalantly.
At this small flirtation, Sean wrapped his arm around Taz, both with knowing looks on their faces, Sera and Logan exchanged glances, and Masters rolled his eyes. "Alright, you two can calm down, especially considering that Nat is going to be working with us for a while, just to see how she fits."
"Really?" Nat nearly exclaimed. "No way! That's everything I've wanted since I got here!"
Masters cleared his throat, and she calmed herself a bit. "It'll just be as a part time intern, until we can figure out what works for you."
"Okay, that's fine." Nat nodded excitedly. "I'd do anything to work with you guys. This is amazing!"
"I'm glad you see it that way, Nat," Masters clapped her on the shoulder, before looking at Sera pointedly. "Can you give her something to do to get her started?"
Sera stood immediately. "Of course. Come on, I'll show you the ropes." Sera gestured for her to follow, and Nat did so happily.
The chiefs watched Masters nod to himself a bit at Nat's presence, before exiting the room and leaving them to themselves.
- PRER -
Owen and Nikki were walking alone together, having split up with Moran and Jason to cover more ground. When the idea was suggested, Jason looked a bit chagrined at not being able to go with Nikki, but didn't put up a fight against it when she insisted on going with Owen.
She looked slightly lost in thought, and Owen was about to say something about it, until she spoke up before him, "Why do you think Jason wanted to go with me?"
"What?" Owen looked to her as they walked through the airport slowly.
"Well, he didn't say anything, but I could feel that he was kinda upset that I wanted to go with you," Nikki explained. "I could tell, with my empathy. I mean, I feel a little bad for reading his emotions without his permission, but I just needed to know."
He looked away, thinking of how to respond. "Well, I mean, maybe he's.. into you. You didn't hear it from me, though."
Nikki nodded, "I figured."
"Really?" Owen raised an eyebrow in surprise. "How?"
"He's not the best at hiding it, you know." Nikki pointed out. "I don't know why he likes me so much, anyways. Most people, especially quiet ones like Jason, think I'm annoying or too much. That's actually a reason I'm different around the chiefs."
"What do you mean?" Owen asked.
She shrugged, "Well, I've known them since I started working here, and Tori, Sean, and Taz all thought I was the most obnoxious person they've ever met. I know I shouldn't care what they think, but ever since I found that out, I toned it down around them. With you guys, it's different - Autumn's upbeat too, Jason loves everybody, and you.. I don't know, you've just always accepted me as is, without question. I appreciate that, a lot."
Owen took in a deep breath, "I know what it's like to care a lot about what others think, and I was so hung up on it that I would act different for anyone. Then, I realized that was stupid and I started being my true self, and I made sure I would never make anyone else feel the way I felt. It's important to me that the people around me know that I care."
"You are something else, you know that?" Nikki said, adoringly. "I mean it. Ever since I met you, you've always been very genuine and.. sweet. You care so much about others, and I love that about you."
He chuckled, "You mean underneath all of my immature, sarcastic banter and irresponsibility?" He joked.
Nikki nudged him playfully. "What about mine?" She laughed. "I'm the same way, if you were unaware."
"I don't know," Owen looked at her, a tone of admiration in his voice. "I think you're great just the way you are, and that's not just because I try to accept everyone. I mean, I do do that, but that doesn't necessarily mean I like everyone I meet, it just means I take them for who they are."
She looked down, blushing lightly. "And what do you take me as?"
"Amazing." Owen told her, candidly. "Beautiful, inside and out." When she looked to the side, he pursed his lips and shook his head. "I'm sorry, that's probably crossing the line."
"No, it's fine." Nikki turned back to him, her face full of emotion. "I always get afraid when people are so open like that with me because I worry that they might be lying, but I can read your emotions, and you're telling the truth." She nearly choked up. "I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything." Owen assured her. "All I want is for you to know how amazing you are. As long as that's there, I don't need anything else."
Nikki grabbed him suddenly and put her hands on his face, staring at him for a moment before kissing him passionately, her arms wrapping around the back of his neck. Because of the height difference, Owen had to bend down slightly, but he didn't complain as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.
Meanwhile, Jason and Moran were walking around the airport in mostly silence. There were a few words spoken between them here and there but nothing much or of particular importance. This was likely due to Jason's shy and awkward personality, and Moran's quiet one. Besides that, they also hadn't seen anything they thought was suspicious yet.
Katie didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary either, and was happily trotting along side them, though she knew she was on duty in case of anything. The German Sheppard could always tell she was on duty by Moran's attitude and the things they were doing.
Jason stopped suddenly when he saw something up ahead, making Moran and Katie do the same, looking around to see what he saw. After a few moments, Moran cleared her throat softly. "Umm.. do you see Harold?"
"Actually, I see something else." Jason responded, feeling deflated. "Something I didn't need to see."
Moran frowned, following his line of vision until she saw Owen and Nikki up ahead, kissing deeply. She raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling she was intruding, but didn't say so to Jason, who watched as they pulled apart. "Is she your girlfriend?" Moran asked after a few moments.
He shook his head. "No, but you don't know how many times I wished she was. Nikki have been friends for a long time, but I've always thought more of her... She's never thought the same." Jason looked down, guiltily. "I shouldn't feel upset like this, but I do. At least she doesn't know that I like her."
"Yeah, that would be hard to swallow." Moran agreed. She watched Jason act like he didn't notice, in case the two saw them, just as Katie perked up. Moran looked down at her, Is something wrong?
He's here, Katie reported back, tugging on the leash.
Moran tapped Jason on the shoulder. "Katie's got something,"
"What?" Jason frowned, forgetting the case for a moment. "Oh shit! Okay, take this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a morpher exactly like his. She stared at it, and he elaborated. "Lia wanted you to have this. Come on, you didn't think we recruited you for nothing, did you?"
She hesitantly reached out and touched it, before putting it on her wrist. Almost immediately, it locked around her wrist and flashed purple for a moment, signalling that it was finally on. Moran felt a strange energy wash over her, but barely had enough time to register it as Jason was already gesturing her to follow along.
They met up with Nikki and Owen, and they all followed in the direction Katie was pulling them in. They were taken out a side door and brought out onto the air field, where they saw Harold walking with two body guards towards a private jet.
"Let's morph," Jason told them, making them nod. "Ready?"
"Ready," They responded, Moran having to let go of Katie's leash to be able to morph.
"Emergency Responders, Get Into Action!"
"Blue Lieutenant Ranger!"
"Yellow Lieutenant Ranger!"
"Green Lieutenant Ranger!"
Moran followed their lead, calling out, "Purple Lieutenant Ranger!" She morphed into a suit that was identical to Autumn and Nikki's suits, except it was purple in color. Looking down at herself, Moran smiled in awe.
She kneeled down to Katie, holding her back by her harness, Hey, you can't come into the field with us, okay?
I will if you need help, Katie replied back. But I'll stay here for now.
The purple ranger sighed, before eventually nodding and standing back up to pull out her blaster with the other rangers. Jason gestured for them to be quiet for a few moments, before nodding.
They all rushed onto the scene, quickly surrounding the three men and pointing their blasters at them.
"Waverly Emergency Responders!" Jason announced to them. "Stop right there!"
Nikki stepped forward slightly. "Drop the bags, now!"
Harold chuckled faintly. "Do you kids know how many times I've been almost arrested, and gotten off Scot-free? Nice try, though."
"This is your final warning." Owen growled out. "Drop the bags!"
The criminal smirked. "And if I don't? You'll shoot me with those little toys, huh?" He shook his head. "I'd like to see you try."
Suddenly, before any of the rangers could do anything, he put his arms out to the side and a large blast suddenly overtook the area, knocking everyone, including his body guards, to the ground.
Owen and Jason were quick to regain their footing and pin the body guards down, cuffing them before they could get back up and defend Harold.
Nikki was next to get up and she took out her nightstick, and used it to attempt to knock the man down. Harold growled low in his throat and put an arm up, making a forcefield pop up to block her attack.
She grimaced in frustration and continued to hit the forcefield as hard as she could with the nightstick, hoping it would eventually break it down. Harold, however, was very strong and had been practicing with his powers for years, so this didn't seem like much of a bother to him outside of some pressure every time she hit it.
Moran also got up quickly and pulled out a blaster, standing behind him as Nikki continued to try to break down the energy barrier. He wasn't paying attention to Moran, however, and only had the forcefield up around his front.
Taking a chance, Moran shot the blaster at his back. Not expecting it, Harold fell forward, his forcefield shattering just as Nikki got ready to take another blow. When she saw him fall, she stopped herself before the weapon came down again and watched as Moran ran forward, pulling her handcuffs out and holding him down while she made sure they were tight on his wrist.
He struggled against the bonds, but was unable to get out. Harold watched as Nikki opened his suitcase, finding the bags of drugs that he was taking out of the country. She turned back to him, nodding to herself. "Yeah, you're going away for a while, Harold."
"You're under arrest for drug possession and smuggling," Moran told him as she hauled him to his feet. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used..."
"I already know them all, Officer," Harold sneered. "Just take me to jail, don't subject me to torture."
Moran rolled her eyes and began walking him back to the police cars with the others.
- PRER -
Autumn and Tori sat at the kitchen table in Tori's apartment, eating the breakfast Autumn had made in mostly silence. Autumn was keeping her head down as she ate, avoiding eye contact with Tori, while the red chief was carefully watching her.
After a few more painful moments of silence, Tori loudly put her fork down against her plate. The loud CLANK that resulted made Autumn jump, having been quiet the whole time.
She looked up hesitantly, looking absolutely sorrowful when her gaze finally reached Tori's. "Did you drop your...?"
"No." Tori interrupted, in a no-nonsense tone. "What is wrong with you?"
"What do you mean?" Autumn looked away, embarrassed.
Tori scoffed. "You've been quiet and miserable since what happened," She said, leaving no room for argument. "You look like I kicked your puppy. What's going on? And I want to know, now."
"I've just... I've never been through something like that before, okay? It's hard to adjust." Autumn said, forlorn. "Do you.. remember what happened?"
"You mean something specifically?" Tori asked, her expression hardening.
Autumn nodded. "We talked about something really important to me - to us, I hope. I don't know if you remember, you lost a lot of blood."
"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" She agreed. "I really don't remember anything."
"You..." Autumn trailed off, looking even more devastated than before. "You don't? Do you want me to tell you?"
"No, I really don't." Tori said quickly. "Can we talk about something else?"
The red lieutenant shook her head, standing up from breakfast and moving away from the table to grab her bag off of the floor nearby. "Actually, I think I should leave. I don't feel very well."
Tori opened her mouth to say something when Autumn walked towards the door and opened it, seeming almost frantic to get out of there. When she opened it, they were both surprised to see Sean standing at the door, looking awkwardly between the two.
"Hey, Autumn," Sean greeted. She nodded shortly at him, before slipping by without another word. Sean looked to Tori with a raised eyebrow as he shut the door behind him. "So, you don't remember anything, huh?"
She glared up at him. "You were eavesdropping?"
Sean shrugged. "Not on purpose. I was about to knock when I heard you guys talking from inside." He walked over to the table and pulled out a chair. "So you really don't remember?"
"Isn't that a good thing?" Tori crossed her arms, defensively.
"It would be," Sean nodded. "If you were telling the truth."
Tori rolled her eyes. "So what, you're the mind reader now?" She shot back. "What makes you think I'm lying?"
"Because I know you." Sean replied, simply. "As much as you may deny it, I do. Specifically, I know that you don't like opening up and getting close to people, which is probably why you lied. You did something or said something important that you freaks you out, and you don't want to admit it."
She looked away. "What do you know?" Tori said, still a sliver of defiance in her tone.
He gave her a pointed look. "Enough." Sean responded. "So, do you actually remember?"
"I..." Tori paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Yes. I remember everything."
Next time on Power Rangers Emergency Responders: Taz worries about taking a physical test like the rest of the chiefs, while Sean worries about her health.
Next Chapter Title: Nutrition
Like I said, their relationship is very complicated and isn't coming together just yet. I thought about having them get together in this chapter, but then I decided against it since Tori is more of the stoic and tough type, and wouldn't just open up to Autumn like that. Besides that, Autumn is going to have some deep struggles with a bit of PTSD from the kidnapping, and I didn't think a relationship would be right for her at the time. Nevertheless, this is not the end for them! Just wait on it - I promise it'll be great!
Also, what did you guys think of Owen and Nikki? I know I've had them flirt a bit, but I really liked them together! Jason will have his time to shine, don't worry, just with another character. Let me know what you thought of Moran too!
So, because of all the issues that have occurred since around the 4th of July, I have, unfortunately, had to readjust my August 4th plan. The 5th anniversary chapter WILL be going up, without fail, but I will not be able to finish PRGG like I wanted to and release my 10th series on that day. I believe I'll be able to finish PRRF and maybe release a chapter of my 9th, but I doubt I'll be able to get to my tenth by then.
That being said, my 10th series, known as Power Rangers: Mythic Destinies (PRMD), will be released as soon as possible and for sure will be within the next couple of months. It will not be an OC contest (neither will my 9th), but I will have an OC contest for the SEQUEL to this series! Yes, PRER will have a sequel when it is finished, and I'll likely post that a few chapters before this is over! Hope you guys are excited!
Anyways, sorry for the super long author's note! Here's the lineup for the next five chapters!
Ep 16: Decision - Jason focused chapter.
Ep 17: Pink Chief - Nat focused chapter.
Ep 18: Animals - Moran focused chapter.
Ep 19: Mood - Sean focused chapter.
Ep 20: Rush - Joey focused chapter.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you guys back with the next one!
© Copyrighted by Charlotte 'Charlie' Hartley