"Have you heard anything from them?" Carrie asked as she walked through the ranger quarters and the boys shook their heads. "Oh for Pete's sake. We need to know. We deserve to know."
"I am sure we'll find out as soon as they get back. We know that he hadn't asked by the time they had to get pulled back for that fight," Grant said as Carrie glared over at him and he just shook his head. "I just hope they had a good trip- it's been a lot lately."
"We had a great trip," Julia said as she bounded into the room and Carrie held up her hands in question. Axel walked in behind her and Carrie glared at him. Had he really taken her on this amazing trip and they had just gone on a trip? Julia then held up her left hand and Carrie let out a squeal.
"Oh you did good," Carrie remarked towards Axel as she looked at the ring and he gave her a smile but was still watching Julia. He glanced around at the guys and saw Grant let out a sigh.
"You good?" Axel asked as Grant shook his head but gave him a handshake. "What's gone on?"
"We'll fill you in on that tomorrow- it's more that anyone we date is now gonna expect that kind of ring," Brandon said as Axel gave them confused looks.
"It's his grandmother's," Julia said as the guys looked over at her. "Really though- are there things that we need to get spun up on?"
"Not tonight," Cameron said as he gave her a hug and she pulled back to look into his eyes. His smile didn't quite meet his eyes and she knew that he had to be thinking about Shelby. "You two deserve this."
"What did your families say?" Patrick asked as Julia exchanged a look with Axel and he nodded firmly. "Oh."
"It's just my parents. They don't like my current path," Julia said as they all stared at her and she moved away from Cameron. Their parents had all been surprised to find out they were the current Power Rangers, but none of them had been outwardly upset. "My dad had an expectation that I would become a diplomat as well and that is hardly the path that I am on."
"Enough of that- champagne!" Carrie cheered as she held up a couple of bottles and they stared at her. "We do not get to celebrate enough in this place and I definitely think that this is worth celebrating."
"You okay?" Axel asked as he walked into the kitchen for breakfast the next morning and found Cameron steadily typing away on his laptop.
"This is hard. Abdalon has found an alternate place for me to live once Kimberly and Tommy are back. I just need the space," Cameron stated as Axel just nodded. They had spent quite a bit of time talking about how to best be kind to Cameron while they were on vacation. Axel had given Cameron a heads up on his plans before they left, but he knew it was going to be hard to see them taking this step when Cameron had been so close to the same with Shelby. "But I am really happy for the two of you. I'm glad that you aren't letting being a ranger control your life."
"It doesn't have to control yours either," Axel said as he started pulling out ingredients for pancakes and Cameron gave him a sideways look. "It's the only thing she's eaten for breakfast for the last week."
"Is she…" Cameron trailed off as Axel shrugged and he stared at him. How could he possibly be so nonchalant about this? "Dude."
"I'm not telling her to go take a pregnancy test. She went through a phase where all she ate was yogurt and granola for breakfast, it's probably just that," Axel said as Cameron fixed him with a stare and Axel glanced away first. "I'm going to let her come to that conclusion on her own. It's better for everyone that way."
"She's going to kill you," Brandon said as they turned around to see him pulling on a t-shirt as he shook his head at Axel.
"I will for sure be dead if the both of you keep saying things like that," Axel stated as he continued making pancakes while ignoring the stares he was getting from Cameron and Brandon. "Can you please act like I haven't grown a second head?"
"Who grew a second head?" Patrick grumbled as he rubbed his eyes and pulled up a chair next to Cameron. "Where's our girl?"
"She's hit snooze twice and asked for breakfast the last time before rolling over," Axel said with a laugh as the others shook their heads at him. They had seen some of this from Dr. O, but it was different to watch one of their friends fall more and more in love with one of their other friends. "I get it guys, I do. Remember though-I'll get payback some day."
"He has a point," Brandon muttered as Cameron and Patrick nodded. "You need help?"
"You're likely to set the entire kitchen on fire- so thank you, but no," Axel stated as Brandon glared at him, but Patrick and Cameron roared. They were never going to let him live down the pizza incident.
"Axe! Axel!" Julia yelled as she watched Skyster approaching him from behind and continued to try to fight her way to him. This was their third battle in a week and the second one where Skyster had shown up. They had gotten separated from the others as Axel had taken on the monster and she had tried to stay reasonably close him.
"Pretty pink ranger," Skyster whispered in her ear as he suddenly teleported next to her and she let out a shriek. He wrapped his arms around her and she struggled against him as he lifted her off her feet. She immediately went limp which shocked Skyster enough to drop her and she pulled out her blaster and shot him as she scrambled backwards towards where she had last seen Axel. Skyster sent out a blast which threw her back several yards and she landed with a thump.
"Got him!" Patrick yelled as he sprinted past her and slammed into Skyster as she groaned before pushing herself back to her feet. She glanced around to see that Axel had nearly defeated the monster and she let out a sigh. There was a sudden rumbling and they watched as the monster grew and the five of them stared up and then exchanged a glance with each other. They had seen their zords, but they had never had to use them before.
"Roberto," Axel called into his communicator, hoping for some kind of guidance.
"Zords are on their way- be ready to jump in," Roberto's voice rang out and they all exchanged glances before they saw the large machines speeding into view. They each started moving before they felt themselves being launched into the animal-like machines. "Jules- you're our only flyer- keep that monster in the tightest perimeter that you can. Light him up. The guys should be able to take care of the rest."
"How the hell am I supposed to pilot this thing?" Julia yelled as she grabbed the controls, but she found that going with her gut seemed to be working. After a few heart stopping drops, she finally felt that she had some control and started circling and firing as quickly as she could. "Guys…"
"See it Jules," Cameron's voice rang as his zord headed to block the way for some oncoming traffic that hadn't realized there was a Power Ranger battle in downtown. They continued to fire, pummel and otherwise beat the monster into submission before it exploded into millions of pieces- sending their zords flying and crashing into buildings as well.
"Everyone okay?" Axel's voice rang as they were ejected from their zords. "Rangers."
"A little stuck at the moment," Julia's voice strained as she tried to push a metal beam off of her pinned cape. The cape ripped as she scrambled away and she watched the building fully collapse.
"Jules!" Axel yelled as he saw the building come down and then felt himself being teleported out back to the Command Center. "Julia?"
"Behind you," Julia whispered as he walked over and pulled off her helmet, needing to see her eyes. "I'm okay- just a few bumps and bruises."
"How many buildings did we just take out?" Cameron asked as Roberto surveyed the damage and grimaced. "That bad?"
"In the past…Angel Grove was not nearly as populated as New York City. Neither was Reefside or many of the other locations the monsters have chosen in the past. This was bound to happen and will continue to happen. Luckily, we may be able to put you in some better zords that will make it easier to move the monsters out of crowded areas," Roberto stated as he pulled out a box and they all looked between him and it. "We were in discussions on if you would need to change powers or not soon, this may have forced our hand."
"There…there are six coins," Cameron said as they peered into the box and he looked up at Roberto. "Who would be the sixth?"
"Not sure. I can guess that it's probably one of the older cadets, but we can't be sure," Roberto said as they looked between each other before each of them nodded in turn. "Reach in and we'll see what we get."
The room filled with bright light as the powers pummeled each of the rangers and they struggled to stay on their feet. Julia and Axel let out pain filled cries while the others grunted their way through the pain. When the light settled, the six rangers slowly pulled themselves to their feet and glanced down at the new suits. The armor was vastly improved and they each reached up to take off their helmets, unsure of who was who.
"Where am I?" a voice asked and they spun around to see a petite red head had joined their midst. "I was in the middle of teaching a karate class in…in…Axel?"
"Hannah?" Axel asked as they stared at each other for a moment before Julia walked over to him and nudged him before nodding towards her. "We trained together at Rocky's dojo growing up."
"Hi, I'm Julia. The silent ones are Cameron, Patrick, and Brandon," Julia said as she pointed to each of them in turn. "Why did he have a color change?"
"White rangers are pretty rare, but it let us know the leadership change was a good decision," Robero stated as Axel glanced over at Cameron, who was staring down at his blue gloved hands. Brandon had slid into the red ranger spot and the new female was now sporting yellow. "De-morph and go take care of yourselves. I'll get Hannah up to speed and let her make a choice if she wants in."
"Want in to what?" Hannah asked as Axel gave her a 'come on, use your brain' look and she glanced down at the suit once again. "Be a Power Ranger. Me? Be a Power Ranger?"
"Yeah, it takes a minute for it to sink in that this is even real life. Once you make a decision, you can come grab dinner with us," Julia offered as Hannah glanced between her and Axel. "Am I missing something?"
"You don't know?" Hannah asked as Julia felt panic ripple through her as Axel gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "You never told her?"
"Never told me what?" Julia whispered as Axel let out a sigh and then rubbed his face before he turned to face her. He saw the hurt and fear in her eyes and he closed his own. How did he even begin to tell her this? "Axe…"
"She never got over what you did," Hannah stated as Julia looked over at her and then shook her head as she backed away from Axel. No. No he couldn't be like all of the others. Why would her soulmate be the same?
"Jules- it's not what you think," Axel said as he grabbed her arm and she tensed before jerking away from him and sprinting out of the room. He let out a shaky breath as he turned to face Hannah. Her ambiguity might just cost him. "Great, she thinks that I abused an ex-girlfriend now."
"What? Why would she think that?" Hannah asked as Axel gave her a droll glare and her mouth dropped open. "Oh no. I'll explain it to her, I promise Jacob."
"It's okay, Hannah. It was foolish of me to think that this wouldn't catch up with me sometime," Axel said as he let out a sigh before he walked over to the medical supplies and grabbed a couple of things for Julia. She had sprinted off before taking care of any of her wounds. "If I'm not back in 30 minutes- come make sure she hasn't killed me."
"Isn't this something we should all know- Jacob," Cameron said, pointedly, as Axel's lips pressed into a thin line and he looked over at Hannah. He had never wanted to hear that name again in his lifetime. "She can tell us?"
"She knows as well as I do- we both escaped the same cult," Axel said as he walked off and the rangers stared at Hannah for a moment before glancing to where Axel had been.
"No. No. No," Julia muttered to herself as she threw her clothes into a large suitcase. Her engagement ring caught her eye and she played with it for a moment, trying to decide if she should still wear it. If she could still wear it. She heard the door open to their bedroom and she stilled in the closet before climbing behind the suitcase and covering herself in clothes. How could she have been so stupid?
She heard Axel walk into the closet and prayed that he would just leave. That he would ignore how obvious her hiding spot was and just let her leave him in peace. She felt him sit down beside her, but he didn't make any moves to uncover her. Instead she felt him arrange her camouflage a bit better before he let out a sigh.
"My birth parents were part of the Santa Payne cult. I was able to go into town to the dojo because I showed promise and they valued fighting skills. When I was ten, I went to the dojo one day and I told Rocky everything that was happening at Santa Payne and I begged him to not make me go back. He took me to the police station and I told them all of the same things I told him. How my friends were being married to the prophet. How all of us were beaten multiple times a week. How…how…they called the FBI. The FBI sent a group out to Santa Payne that evening- only twenty children and three adults made it out. My mom was one of the adults, but she only left to convince me that I had been wrong to betray them that way. Rocky helped me find a foster home and they eventually adopted me- I couldn't go back to my mom. She never got over me betraying them and she died two years ago. Hannah's parents also left- I found out later that they were disillusioned with what was happening and wanted to save their children. They kept in touch with my mom. Hannah's mom always told me that my mom would come around- she never did. I told them she never would, I guess I was right," Axel said as he stared at the other side of the closet. He felt a small hand grasp his and he ran circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. "I didn't tell you because it is something I don't talk about. I haven't talked about it since I was 10 and I changed my name to Axel. I left that life Jules and I helped others get out too, but I don't like reliving it. I didn't think I would have to, I moved this far away to never have to face it again."
Julia moved the pile of clothes that was between them and scooted closer to him. She glanced up at him and saw the tears streaming down his face. She had never seen him cry and it was a punch in the gut that he had been through all of that as a child. She laid her head on his shoulder and felt him wrap his arm around her to pull her in closer.
"I will never hurt someone the way that I was hurt, Julia. But I also never…I never wanted to relive this again," Axel whispered as she nodded against his chest and he tilted her head up to look at him. "I know what Hannah said scared you and I understand you wanting to get away, but please believe me."
"I do, Axe. And I'm so sorry," Julia whispered as she reached up and wiped away his tears. "Who was your father?"
"Joseph Trite, the cult leader. There's a reason I changed my name when I was adopted- I am not my father," Axel stated as Julia stared at him and he gulped. "I turned my own father in, Jules. I couldn't…I knew it was wrong. I also promised myself that I would never become him. So, you see, we both have a dark past we're running away from."
"Yeah, I'm not really glad that we have that in common," Julia whispered, trying to find some way to lighten the mood, but failing. Instead, she just leaned in to him and they sat there in silence. Each trying to run away from their demons and consistently realizing that they were now able to run to each other.
AN: With this latest cluster from this weekend- I wanted to remind all of you that my stories are also available under the same penname on AO3. I plan to publish on both sites until it is no longer feasible to publish here, however, this latest incident does not make me hopeful that this will continue to be semi-stable for much longer.