A loud crash shook the foundations of several buildings in downtown Aaronsdale, enough to break the glass of two skyscrapers. On the ground, the Jet Force Megazord was showered by falling glass, its arms flailing like a punch-drunk boxer, "I'm gettin' real sick of that thing," Harley grunted. The black ranger pushed down hard on his control stick just in time to allow the Megazord to avoid a scaly ball.
"The Vyglass have really upped their monster making game," Rachel reluctantly conceded, "it's skin was tough enough to beat the first time."
The giant monster in question unrolled, standing victoriously near the Jet Force Megazord. It had an armoured shell and general appearance similar to an armadillo. Its most unique feature was a huge searchlight moulded to the middle of its chest. It attempted to use this weapon against the Megazord, sending a bright beam of light towards the giant mech. The Megazord dodged out the way but the beam hit the building behind, shattering any remaining windows that were still intact.
"At this rate, the city's gonna charge us to rebuild," Ricky grumbled, "shields are at sixty three percent and holding." The monster jumped and curled into a ball, launching itself towards the Megazord, "Look out, it's attacking again," he called.
"Jet Sabre," Mark cried and the Megazord's sword appeared in its hand. The red ranger turned his control stick and the Megazord attempted to swipe at the spherical monster. It succeeded in blocking the attack but the sword deflected out of their grasp and slammed point first into the road below, "Not my best idea," the red ranger grumbled.
"We're trashing more of the city than the monster is," Stevie cried at the destruction, "we need a power boost."
"Agreed," Mark said and activated the radio, "Major, prepare to launch the Garuda Megazord."
At the Air Base, Major Earhardt was watching the unfolding battle. She gently rubbed her chin and considered the red ranger's request, "Stand by Mark," she responded into the radio. She turned to Jazz who was seated at her usual desk, "Can you give the Megazord any more power?" she asked the Scot.
"I'll give it a try," Jazz responded, "don't they know this is my first day back," she attempted to joke.
"Unfortunately not," Taylor gave her a half smile, "how are the hands holding up?"
Jazz flexed her fingers, the thick bandages had come off but there was still tender skin underneath. The Scot had plastered them up but also protected her palms with a pair of fingerless gloves. She joked they weren't for protection, more of a fashion statement, "Still a little stiff, they haven't had a workout like this in a few weeks."
"Do what you can," Taylor winced slightly as the armadillo monster crashed against the Megazord, "power's down below fifty percent I see," the Major commented after looking at a screen.
"I'm feeling redundant," Jazz smiled, "you learned how to read the monitors."
"Don't sound so surprised," Taylor shrugged, "I might not like technology but I can get by if needed."
"Well let's show you what a pro can do," Jazz typed away furiously on her keyboard, "one question, why didn't you just launch the Garuda Megazord?"
Taylor sighed, "We can't just break out our strongest weapon every time, eventually the Vyglass will work out its weaknesses and make it less effective."
"Makes sense I guess," Jazz continued to type, "I'm not one for tactics, if I had a powerful weapon I'd use it any time I could."
"Which is why I'm the Major and you're not," Taylor replied impatiently, "I don't want to push you-"
"Which means you do want to push me," Jazz interrupted and pushed a red button on her console, "try that, I've boosted power from the Morphing Grid directly into the Megazord."
On the monitors the pair watched as the armadillo monster continued to batter the Megazord. The mecha wasn't quick enough to keep up with the speed of the rolling monster, "Major, any time now with the Garuda Megazord," Mark said through the radio.
"Stand by," Taylor replied and turned to Jazz, "anything else you can do?"
Jazz chewed her lower lip, "Maybe but this would be it," she took a deep breath and looked at her hands. A small crackle of green energy arced between her fingertips. She hovered her palms over the keyboard and slowly exhaled.
"Jazz?" Taylor asked curiously with her back to the young programmer, "whatever you're doing you'd better make it quick."
"Just gimme a second," Jazz said irritably, however, a split second later the gentle crackle of energy turned into a full fledge blast aimed directly into her computer. Immediately power went out in the control room and all over the base.
It took a few moments for the emergency backup generator for the control room to kick in. As the monitors came back to life, Taylor spotted that the power outage wasn't just confined to the Base, "The Jet Force Megazord is offline," she said to Jazz, "what the hell did you do?"
"I have no idea but I can fix it," Jazz replied frantically, she went to type into her keyboard but the same flare of green energy erupted, blowing out her screen with a shower of hot plastic and glass.
The Scot shook her hands like they had been burned as Taylor gaped wide mouthed, "Major we're offline," Mark cried desperately into the radio, "one hit and we're done."
"I'm launching the Garuda Megazord now," Taylor said, keeping her gaze on Jazz, "abandon the Jet Force Megazord, I'm recalling it to base."
"Copy that," Mark said, sounding relieved, "why did it go offline?"
"I'm investigating now," Taylor responded, "I'll get back to you." She crossed her arms across her chest and glared sternly at Jazz, "Care to explain?"
Jazz wringed her fingers together, "Something strange happened after my accident," she said nervously.
Taylor opened her mouth but quickly closed it, allowing herself a couple of extra seconds to choose her words carefully, "I'm going to need a little more than that Jazz."
"I've been able to control computers and gadgets," Jazz sighed, "well, control is maybe stretching it a bit." Taylor growled impatiently, "I made a TV and other appliances switch themselves on without touching them." She glanced away from the Major before adding, "These powers also let me complete the Megazord coding in a fraction of the time."
Taylor perched on the edge of her desk and pinched the bridge of her nose, "So in summary, you got zapped on an interdimensional spaceship and now you have abilities that you can't control. Abilities that you tried to use, untested, on the Megazord."
"Sounds bad when you put it like that," Jazz muttered meakly.
"Do you know why it sounds bad?" Taylor snapped, "because it is bad, what the hell were you thinking?" Jazz offered nothing in defence, glancing towards the floor like a scolded schoolgirl, "For the rest of this battle, don't touch anything."
With the introduction of the Garuda Megazord, the battle quickly swung in the direction of the Power Rangers. It's claws severely damaged the armadillo monster's tough outer shell and a blast of its blue energy ball quickly turned the monster into dust, "Monster defeated Major, sending the Garuda Megazord back to the hangar," Mark said over the radio.
"Hey Jazz, don't forget you're meant to be helping me at the High School this afternoon," Stevie added over the comm.
"Jazz and I need to debrief," Taylor replied firmly, "she'll join you when she can."
"Oh, OK," Stevie sighed and switched off the radio, allowing the Garuda Megazord to return to base.
Taylor grabbed her chair and pulled it closer to Jazz, "We need to get you checked out but until then, I can't have you on the base."
"But Major Earhardt, I'm needed here," Jazz pleaded.
"You are needed but I can't have you blowing power to the base or the Ranger arsenal," Taylor tried to sound sympathetic. Her cell phone began to ring, she checked the call ID but immediately declined the call when she saw who it was, "General Harkness, probably wanting to know why the Megazord went down."
"What are you going to tell him," Jazz said quietly.
"That I don't know what happened," Taylor replied, "I assume you don't know what you did?" Jazz shook her head, "I'll put it down to a mysterious power surge that we're investigating."
"Do you think he'll buy that?" Jazz asked.
Taylor sighed, "No idea but I'm not giving him another opportunity to talk up Project Neo." She stood up and placed a hand on Jazz's shoulder, "Go home, get some rest and no working on anything Ranger related until I say so." Her phone began to ring again, "Harkness is impatient today," she grumbled, "I mean it, go see Stevie at the High School or something, don't make me revoke your credentials. Maybe leave your laptop here, avoid temptation."
Taylor answered the phone and quickly left the room to speak to General Harkness, leaving Jazz alone in the control room. She grabbed her bag and was halfway through removing her laptop when she stopped. After pausing to check Major Earhardt wasn't returning, she stuffed it back into her and quickly left the room.
About an hour later, Stevie was standing in the infield of the athletics track which had been converted into a stage and seating area for the graduation ceremony next week. She stood between the first and second rows of seating, leaning on the back of the chair in front. Her blank gaze was fixed on the podium that was being removed by the school janitorial team. The blue ranger was so lost in thought that she didn't see Coach Newton approaching, "Away with the fairies Chang," she called.
"Just thinking," Stevie sighed, "can't believe High School's nearly over."
Coach Newton moved to stand beside Stevie, "Any thoughts about what you want to do next? Principal Guest said you had a few options but nothing concrete."
"Yeah but I'm thinking about a gap year," Stevie shrugged, "I'm really involved in something at the moment and I don't know when I'll be finished."
"Ah yes, the top secret project," Coach Newton smiled, "really split the faculty that one. Half of them think you're using it to skip class, the rest think you're a secret agent."
"Which one do you think it is?" Stevie asked.
The Coach chuckled, "Your grades have been the best they've been for nearly two years so whatever this project is, it's clearly having a positive impact." Stevie smiled gratefully that the Coach, "I've got an offer for you, if you do take a year out why don't you return here as an assistant coach." The blue ranger frowned with thought, "It'll give you some real world experience, that's if you could stomach coming back here," she added with a laugh.
"That's a generous offer," Stevie replied, "could I think about it."
"No rush but I would need to know by the end of summer," Coach Newton stated. Her attention turned to another approaching student, "Ah Gomez, how's the Captain of the State Champion Athletics team doing today."
Mel Gomez blushed at the praise from the Coach, "It was a team effort coach, we all played our part, especially the 800 meter champion here," she pointed towards Stevie.
"Hell of a time it was too, maybe you should add pro athlete to your options Chang," Coach smiled at Stevie, "well I won't keep you, you must be working hard with final rehearsals for graduation."
As the Coach departed, Mel said to Stevie, "Think that's the nicest conversation we've had with Coach Newton."
"Probably the huge Nationals trophy sitting in her office has something to do with that," Stevie joked, "she offered me a job as her assistant for next year."
"No way," Mel nudged the blue ranger on the arm, she soon frowned at Stevie's unhappy expression, "something wrong?"
Stevie sighed, "It's hard to make plans when you're a Power Ranger," she said with a whisper, "I can't leave the city and I can't rely on getting special treatment when I inevitably disappear on short notice."
"Have you discussed this with Major Earhardt?" Stevie shook her head, "I'm sure she wouldn't want you to put your future on hold."
"She did, basically went AWOL when she was a Ranger," Stevie spotted the shocked look on Mel's face, "I hadn't told you that, had I?"
"Nope, something else for me to keep a secret?" Mel asked.
Stevie nodded, "Maybe we should get to rehearsing your performance before I say something else," she looked around, "has Jazz shown up yet?"
Mel shook her head, "I thought she would've come with you, after the battle and all," she added the last part with a whisper.
"No she had to stay behind at the base but she messaged me half an hour ago to say she was on her way," Stevie frowned.
"I really should stop picking musical partners who are involved in the superhero business," Mel sighed, "I just hope a monster doesn't steal my voice again."
"No, that monster was thoroughly destroyed," Stevie shook her head, "Jazz isn't me, she reliable and punctual but lately she's been acting funny."
"She did get injured," Mel reminded the blue ranger, "maybe I should just perform solo."
"She was the one who offered," Stevie grumbled, she tried to call Jazz's cell phone, "Straight to voicemail," she sighed, "let's check out her place, maybe she got caught up in something."
The pair left the field and made their way to the parking lot, jumping into Stevie's car and driving away. The pair were passing through the industrial district about halfway to Jazz's house when the blue ranger spotted something in her mirrors. She slammed on the brakes and pulled the car into a side street, "What the hell Stevie?" Mel snapped.
"I thought I saw some Gougers going into that building," Stevie replied, "stay in the car and don't move." She pulled out her cell phone and handed it to Mel, "If I don't come out in five minutes call Mark Atkins and tell him everything." Mel protested but Stevie ignored her and jumped out the car.
The door of the building had been forced open, Stevie was able to enter without any difficulty. The building was a former factory, the entrance opened to a flight of stairs which took her to a group of office room. She looked inside and spotted a couple of sleeping bags, "Someone's swatting here," Stevie muttered to herself.
Just then she heard a loud banging from down the corridor, the blue ranger charged off in the direction of the sound. The corridor quickly ended on a gantry which was raised above the factory floor. Most of the machinery was still in place and the only light came through broken windows or missing panels in the roof. Amongst the shadows, she could just about make out a group of Gougers surrounding two people.
Wasting no time, she climbed onto the railing of the gantry and jumped to the ground below, relying on her Avian power to protect her from the fall. Sprinting towards the melee, her footsteps soon caught the attention of the Gouger, "Hey uglies," she called, "picking on civilians now."
She ducked under a swing from a Gouger, kicking it into a rusty machine. Grabbing the arm of her next attacker, she threw the creature hard over her shoulder onto the concrete floor. She could barely make out the two civilians in the gloom, they were both dressed in black with hoods pulled up. Strangely, the pair were both wearing respirators over their mouths and nose, "You two should get outta here," she called to the strangers.
They either couldn't understand Stevie or chose to ignore her as they continued to fight off the Gougers. They were decent fighters, the larger of the two fought similarly to Harley, relying on power and strength. The smaller one was quicker, using their agility to avoid the footsoldiers and leaving the attacking to their partner.
Seeing the pair weren't going to leave, Stevie sighed and continued her attack. Flipping away from a pair of Gouger, she grabbed a discarded chain and wrapped it around the legs of her attackers. She jumped and stomped on their heads, immobilising them permanently. Another Gouger was immediately coming towards her, she ducked and spotted a workbench nearby. Hopping her feet onto the bench, she backflipped and took down the Gouger in midair before gracefully landing on her feet.
Out the corner of her eye, she spotted the smaller stranger grabbing two discarded axes from the Gougers. Stevie wasn't sure but she thought she saw them joining the two handles together but couldn't see how they managed to do that without any tools. They threw the projectile in Stevie's direction, initially the blue ranger thought it was aimed at her but it passed harmlessly by and cut through two Gougers sneaking up from behind, "Thanks," she said in appreciation,
The larger figure managed to find a piece of pipe and clobbered the final Gougers, "You two are pretty good," she said. To her surprise, the larger figure stalked towards her menacingly, "You gotta weird way of saying thank you buddy," she warned. She just about managed to dodge a blow from the pipe, "I just saved your butts and now you're trying to cave my head it."
She avoided another blow by dropping to the ground, "I'm warning you, I'm getting pretty pissed off." There was a clang as the pipe impacted somewhere near her head, "Fine, you asked for it," she hissed. She waited for the stranger to be nearly on top of her before viciously kicking him between the legs. The stranger let out a howl of pain as Stevie leapt to her feet, "Final chance, next time I cut them off."
Someone grabbed her arm, Stevie was about to attack when she realised it from her attackers partner. They pulled their hood down, showing off their blonde hair which was long on one side and closely shaved on the other. Two things caught Stevie's attention, the vivid blue eyes of this woman and the pink bandana which held the long side of her hair away from her face.
The woman's eyes were pleading, she was trying to say something but the respirator blocked her words. Stevie could hear her ragged and heavy breathing, "Are you hurt?" Stevie asked but the woman shook her head, "you don't sound so good."
She slowly stepped away from Stevie and lifted her partner off the floor. His hood had fallen back to reveal stringy, brown hair and a pained look in his eyes from Stevie's blow, "Hey I'm one of the good guys," the blue ranger said defensively, "next time don't try and bash my head in." The female raised her hands in apology and dragged her partner away, Stevie tried to follow but they had disappeared amongst the dark passageways.
Stevie jogged after them but the abandoned machines and lack of light made the area a treacherous maze. The blue ranger accidentally found herself back at the stairs leading up to the entry gantry without catching sight of the strangers again. Shrugging her shoulders, she climbed the stairs and made her way to the main door.
Immediately upon stepping into the light, she was greeted with a plank of wood heading towards her face. She put her hands up defensively but the weapon stopped a few feet from her head, "Stevie!" Mel exclaimed, "I could've taken your head off."
Once the shock wore off, the blue ranger grunted in annoyance, "What part of stay in the car didn't you understand. I could've been a Gouger or a Vyglass monster."
"I thought you could use some back up," Mel replied defensively, "did you find anything?"
"Just some Gougers making trouble for a couple of squatters," Stevie shrugged, "no idea why they were so interested in them." She checked the time on her watch quickly, "We cleared them out so let's just carry onto Jazz's place, we'll let her know what we found."
The teens climbed back back into the car and drove until they reached the house Jazz shared with Ricky. As she turned off the engine, Stevie frowned, "That's strange, doesn't look like anyone's home," she pointed at the dark house with curtains fully closed.
"There's a car on the driveway," Mel pointed out, "someone's home."
"Must be Jazz's cause Ricky doesn't drive," Stevie snorted, "still uses his bike to get around, probably why he's always late to training." She unbuckled her seatbelt and crossed the scruffy grass leading up to the front door. She banged on the door a couple of times but no one answered, "I don't like this," Stevie pulled out her phone and began to call Jazz.
"Hear that," Mel pointed out a faint ringing coming from inside. She paused and sniffed the air, "Do you smell that?" she asked the blue ranger in alarm.
"That smoky, burning smell," Stevie replied wide eyed. She nudged Mel to one side and kicked the door near the handle, it flew open in a shower of wooden splinters. Immediately, the teens were met with a smoky haze, "Quickly, we need to find her," Stevie cried. Mel nodded and the pair jumped into the smoking building without hesitation.
They quickly found thickest smoke coming from a room at the far end of the house. Stevie pushed it open and found Jazz lying on the floor of her bedroom, tangled amongst a fallen chair. There was smoke and flames pouring from something on her desk, "Is that a laptop?" Mel coughed through the smoke, "never seen one catch fire like that."
"Ricky's workshop's downstairs," Stevie directed her friend, "he's bound to have a fire extinguisher down there." Needing no further instructions, Mel charged to the door Stevie was pointing to. The blue ranger ignored the flames, which were beginning to ignite the papers and objects around the desk, rushing immediately to Jazz's aide. She tossed the chair away and grabbed Jazz underneath the arms.
She was dragging Jazz out the room just as Mel returned with a fire extinguisher. The athletics captain sprayed foam all over the fire, dampening the flames down. Satisfied the fire was no longer an immediate danger, she dropped the extinguisher and grabbed the unconscious Jazz by the ankles, "Let's get her into the fresh air," she said. Stevie nodded and the pair carried the Scot out into the street.
Once Jazz was laid down on the grass, Mel reached for her phone, "I'll call 911, I think the fire's out but best to be sure."
Stevie agreed, "I'd better call the Major, first the Gougers now a fire at Jazz and Ricky's place, can't be a coincidence." She reached for her Ranger communicator, "Probably means I'll have to tell her you know our secret," she added hesitantly.
"Probably had to come out eventually," Mel sighed, "we'll deal with that later, Jazz's health is much more important."
A few hours later, Stevie and Mel at Aaronsdale hospital standing outside Jazz's private room. Down the quiet corridor, they could see Major Earhardt talking to a doctor along with the Fire Chief who had attended the fire at Jazz's home. They couldn't hear their conversation but the Fire Chief didn't seem too happy at having to hand over Jazz's melted laptop to the Major.
Taylor put the fire damaged device into a plastic bag and sealed it up. She turned towards the teens and began walking their way, "She doesn't look happy," Mel whispered.
"She has a mean resting bitch face," Stevie mumbled back, hoping her words were too quiet for the Major to hear.
Taylor paused, calmly put the bag on the ground before crossing her arms across her chest, "She going to be fine," she began slowly, "bit of smoke inhalation but no lasting damage." The teens nodded nervously, "So, you know," she said directly to Mel, "for how long?"
"Since a monster stole my voice, Sir," she shook her head, "or Ma'am, whatever the correct way to address you is," Mel chattered nervously.
"For that long," she said coolly, side eying Stevie, "you were very brave, charging into a burning building."
"Thank you?" Mel stuttered nervously, "Does that mean I'm not going to be sent to a military prison?"
"You've kept the Rangers secret and showed exceptional bravery, something the rest of the team could learn from," Taylor added the last part whilst looked directly at Stevie. "Your parents are outside waiting, we'll talk more another day." Mel recognised a dismissal when she heard one, mouthing an apology at Stevie she hurried away with a brisk walk.
Stevie and Taylor stood awkwardly in the corridor in silence for a few moments until the blue ranger spoke up, "Its not completely my fault," she began, "my morph failed and she caught the whole thing on camera, what was I supposed to do?"
"Tell me," Taylor snapped, "I'm responsible for the team, I need to know things like this."
"But you would've sent her away, like you threatened to do with Sabrina," Stevie countered, referencing Ricky's friend who also stumbled into the Ranger's secret.
Taylor chuckled humourlessly, "I'm not a total ogre Stevie, Mel and Sabrina aren't the first people to learn a Ranger's secret identity and I doubt they'll be the last." Stevie visibly deflated at Taylor's words, "I have security protocols for Sabrina and I would've done the same for Mel. What would've happened if the Vyglass found out about her?"
"When you put it like that," Stevie sighed, her voice trailing off.
Taylor's body language relaxed slightly, "I'm not angry Stevie, more disappointed that you didn't feel comfortable reaching out to me," she sighed, "clearly I still have things to learn about being a mentor." She checked her watch, "Go home Stevie, we'll talk about this more tomorrow."
The blue ranger nodded, "What about the Gouger attack, did you find out anything about that?"
Taylor shook her head, "I haven't had time to investigate fully but that old factory shouldn't contain anything important. Maybe those people were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Stevie smiled weakly and shuffled down the hospital corridor.
With a heavy sigh she grabbed the discarded laptop from the floor and pushed open the door to Jazz's room. She pulled up a chair and took a seat at Jazz's bedside, "You're making a habit of this," she said.
The Scot's eyes fluttered open, "I don't mean to," she said weakly, "going to hospital wasn't in my plans for today."
"You should thank Stevie and Mel, they risked their lives pulling you to safety," Taylor replied.
"Stevie told you that Mel knows our secret didn't she?" Jazz asked.
"She did but I'm not upset about that," Taylor dropped the melted laptop on the bed, "you tried to use your new powers on this didn't you?" Jazz sighed and shifted uncomfortably in the bed, "Between your mission at the church, the trip to the Vyglass ship and now this, I'm beginning to think you've got a death wish."
Jazz chewed on her top lip, her eyes began to moisten, "I told you to leave this at the base," Taylor continued sternly, "not only did you disobey that order but you tried to use a dangerous power that you can't control and nearly cooked yourself, again." Taylor shook her head and sank back in her chair, "Why?" she asked.
"I don't know," Jazz sniffed, "seemed like a good idea at the time."
Taylor broke her gaze from the Scot and looked out the window, "The laptop had all of Doctor Neuer's coded research notes on it," she began, "did you create any backup copies," Jazz shook her head, "not even anything written down?"
"I had some notes on my desk at home but they've probably burned in the fire," Jazz said quietly.
"So everything on the Ranger powers and the Avian Waves is gone," she pointed at the laptop, "because I doubt anything survived that," she added grumpily.
"I'm not sure," Jazz replied slowly, "I think, the data transferred into me."
Taylor frowned and leaned forward, "What?" she muttered.
"I'm recalling things that I shouldn't know," Jazz began quietly, "like, I think Doctor Neuer was a Vyglass traitor."
That got Taylor's attention, "You better explain everything and quickly."
"I can't," Jazz hissed, a tear running down her face, "it's all jumbled in my head but it would explain why I couldn't decode his data. Everything was written in a language that's not native to this planet. When the laptop began to smoke I panicked, that's when my head got bombarded with flashes that I haven't worked out yet. Next I remember I'm laying in the front garden with Stevie and her friend looking over me."
Taylor rubbed her cheeks and rested her elbows on her knees. After a long silence she finally spoke, "I really don't know what to do," she sighed, "I can't believe I'm going to say this but I think Toxica was right. She warned me that you were struggling but I just didn't see it."
Jazz wiped away a tear, "I just want to help, I thought if I could use these powers to decipher the data-"
"I know why you did it," Taylor interrupted with a sigh, "but how you went about it was all wrong. If you'd asked me, I could've found someone to help you control your power first." She reached over and grabbed Jazz's hand, "The burden of beating the Vyglass is not yours alone, we're a team, we do this together."
"Does this mean I'm not getting fired," Jazz joked weakly, wiping her face.
"The opposite in fact, as you've absorbed all of Neuer's data you're now our most valuable intelligence asset," Taylor replied, "congratulations, you get to move onto the base full time where I can keep an eye on you."
Jazz nodded stiffly, "So, what happens next?"
"We need to work on getting you better, physically and mentally," Taylor responded, "I know some people who can help, I'll speak to them in the morning," Jazz nodded solemnly, "good," Taylor replied, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Are you OK Major?" Jazz asked, noticing the deflated expression on the blonde's face.
Taylor didn't answer immediately, her lips moved but no sound came out for a long time, "Am I a monster Jazz," she eventually said, "someone who people can't approach with their problems."
"You can be kinda scary," Jazz answered, the blank expression on Taylor's face giving nothing away, "but you're always there for us when we need you."
"I'm just trying to understand why you couldn't come to me with this straight away," Taylor replied, "or why Stevie felt the need to keep Mel a secret from me."
"I can't speak for Stevie," Jazz began hesitantly, "but I was worried I'd end up in Area 51 or something, getting probed for having freaky alien powers."
"I'd never let that happen to any of you," Taylor said firmly.
"I know but there was always that small voice in my head, you're military, you'd have to report this eventually," Jazz sighed.
"I'm more than this uniform," Taylor responded pointedly, "my loyalty is to you and the other Rangers first and if I haven't made that clear before then I apologise."
Jazz looked into the blazing eyes of the former yellow ranger, fierce yet strangely fragile at this moment. She shimmed up in her bed and opened her arms, "I think we both need this," she said softly. The blonde looked hesitant for a moment, "Please, Taylor," she added warmly.
Taylor chuckled and accepted the hug from the Scot, "Is that the first time you've used my actual name?" she asked.
"Possibly, my brain's still too scrambled to remember," Jazz joked. She felt a damp patch forming on her shoulder, she couldn't see Taylor's face but she knew what was causing it, "Maybe this will be a new start for all of us," the Scot continued.
"I'm still not sure I'm a hugging person though," Taylor sniffed, "always thought it was a sneaky way of hiding your thoughts."
"This can be our secret," Jazz said with a smile, her first genuine smile for what felt like a very long time.
A/N – Realised during writing this that I've been calling General Harkness as General Harmon by mistake. I'll go back and correct that at some point.