Reaching Out, by scifislasher, Kai/Leo
Title: Reaching Out
Author: scifislasher
Rating: PG-13
List of 22: Loss
Tag to 'The Power of Pink'
Leo walked heavily into the room he shared with Kai and Damon, numb and exhausted, both physically and emotionally. It was hard to believe that Kendrix was really gone and he couldn’t quite get his head round it. Over and over all he could see was Kendrix fighting her way through the swirling vortex, trying to reach Psycho Pink before she could destroy the planet, Cassie screaming both in agony as her power was ripped out of her and desperation as she tried to stop Kendrix sacrificing herself. In vain. He could have told her it wouldn’t work, when Kendrix set her mind to something there was very little that could stop her.
As the lights came on in the room he found Kai sitting on one of the chairs, staring into empty space. He sat down next to his boyfriend, his fingers brushing against the other man’s, but there was no reaction. Kai’s expression was blank but his eyes were suspiciously red-rimmed and it wasn’t hard to see how badly Kai was taking this, now that the adrenaline of the day had worn off. He and Kendrix went back a long way, they’d gone through GSA training together and they were pretty close, despite both of them being reserved people and her sacrifice had hit him hard.
He shifted slightly so that he could drape an arm around Kai’s shoulders, curling his legs up under him as he did so. At first there was no more reaction than before, then Kai shuddered a little and leant into him. Resting his head against Kai’s, Leo joined the other man in staring into empty space.
***
Damon tiredly stepped into his quarters. Trying to bury himself in work hadn’t helped. Kendrix had been a friend, more than that really, and the loss cut deeply. He didn’t think there were any words that could describe the connections between his team-mates - ‘friends’ didn’t really cover it and nothing else even came close, except maybe family - they were a part of him, and losing one of them was like losing part of himself. He’d tried going to engineering, tried to lose himself in repair work, things he could fix, but the normally oblivious-to-anything-that’s-not-mechanical chief mechanic had chosen today of all days to get perceptive and had sent him home.
He’d stopped off along the way to see how Maya was doing, she had been Kendrix’s best friend after all, but he needn’t have bothered. Mike was there already and he didn’t want to intrude so he’d left. Except it seemed he was intruding here as well. Kai and Leo were curled around each other on one of the chairs, seemingly asleep, although not sleeping well if their expressions were anything to go by.
He sighed and trudged over to his bed, kicking his boots off, then pulling himself up and collapsing on the mattress, staring at the ceiling. He supposed that now he could stop pretending he hadn’t noticed they were seeing each other, especially considering how protectively Leo’s arm had curled around Kai, and how easily Kai’s head rested against Leo’s shoulder. He sighed again in frustration, turning over so he was facing the wall, trying not to feel as alone as he did.
***
When he woke the next morning, it was to find Kai and Leo moving slowly around their quarters, practically on autopilot. They looked like he felt, dark smudges under their eyes and a heaviness to their movement that mirrored his own. No doubt if the circumstances had been different they would have tried to explain away being curled around each other last night, but right now it seemed that neither of them had the energy and he didn’t feel like being a jerk and making a big deal of it, so he just grunted a ‘morning’ in their general direction and slumped over the table.
A bowl of cereal was placed just under his nose and he studied it for a moment before using the spoon that had been placed in his hand. He smiled tiredly at Kai, both of them trying to make the morning routines as normal as possible. Kai gave him a half-smile back then turned away, shoving another bowl into Leo’s hands, the other man murmuring a quiet ‘thank you’ in response. He dragged the coffee pot over and poured himself a mugful. Today was going to require lots and lots of coffee. He didn’t need Maya’s intuition to tell him that.
They ate in silence, an unusual feat for them, because Leo was normally very cheerful in the mornings - one of those people who actually liked mornings - and usually the bouncy cheerfulness was catching, well, for him anyway. Kai somehow managed to stay out of it mostly, except when he chimed in with a dry comment on whatever it was he and Leo were debating this time. That wasn’t the case this morning though, none of them saying anything, not willing to risk bringing up Kendrix’s name. As if not mentioning her made her less dead, less gone. Less like a piece of them had been ripped away.
“I should go,” Kai said into the silence. “My shift starts soon.”
He and Leo nodded in unison. “You be alright?” Leo asked quietly and Kai grimaced slightly.
“I’ll have to be,” Kai replied. “See you guys later.” He stood and walked out the room, the doors hissing shut behind him.
Leo stared at the door before turning back to the room, the direct gaze studying him carefully for a moment, until Damon felt like demanding Leo just say what he had to already. “Look, Damon, we--”
“It’s cool, man,” he said, waving a hand in Leo’s direction. “It’s not like I didn’t know anyway.”
Leo blinked in surprise. “You did?”
Damon gave him a wry look. “Leo, we share quarters. I’m not that oblivious.”
“Oh. Okay, then. It doesn’t bother you?”
He snorted softly. “Faulty parts bother me. Shoddy repair work bothers me. You and Kai getting together… not exactly up there on ‘bothering me’.”
Leo gave him a crooked half-smile. “Good. I mean, we just don’t want you to feel--”
Damon waved his hand in dismissal before downing what was left of his coffee. “Not my business.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “I should be getting ready, too,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of stuff to catch up on.” If he wasn’t sent home again for looking too wrecked, that is.
Leo nodded. “Okay.”
Heading for the shower, when he came out it was to find Leo putting everything away, scrubbing at the food counters with a vehemence he usually reserved for those of Scorpius’ or Trakeena’s flunkies who had really pissed him off, like Furio when he’d still been around. “See you later,” he offered hesitantly, but Leo looked across almost immediately.
“Yeah, sure. Later.”
***
Leo stared across the clearing that housed the Galactabeasts. The Wildcat was curled up in a ball, and even the tentative attempts of the other Galactabeasts didn’t seem to be reaching her. It seemed that the connection between the Galactabeasts and their rangers went a lot deeper than they’d thought, and the Pink Wildcat was mourning her ranger.
That prompted a series of uneasy questions, questions none of them had wanted to face yet. Would they still be able to form the Megazord if they needed to? Would the Wildcat still fight with them, even though her ranger was gone? With Kendrix gone, the Lights of Orion were lost to them as well and that left them at a distinct disadvantage the next time one of Trakeena’s monsters attacked the colony. He sighed heavily. What were they going to do?
“Here you are,” came the voice behind him and he looked around to find Kai standing behind him. “I had to ask Alpha where you’d gone.”
He smiled a little. “I needed some space.”
Kai sat down next to him. “Wildcat’s not looking so good,” he noted quietly and Leo nodded.
“I know.” He paused for a moment, hesitant to ask. “Did Kendrix have any family?”
Kai shrugged. “Back on Earth? I think so. Here? No.”
“No-one else to tell then,” Leo said with a curious sense of relief.
Kai shook his head. “I already informed the head of the lab she worked in. And I added her to the list.”
Leo flinched. The List. The list of all those who’d died on the voyage so far, due to first Scorpius, then Trakeena. All the people they’d failed to save. It was an irony to end all irony that Kendrix was now on that list. Another casualty.
“What brings you out here?” he asked instead. “I didn’t think your shift was over yet.” It shouldn’t be anyway. He knew Kai’s schedule by heart by now. Normally he wouldn’t be finished for another three hours.
Kai shrugged. “The Commander sent me home. I think he heard about Kendrix and decided I shouldn’t really be on duty. Not if I’m not concentrating properly on my job. Besides,” he added, “there’s plenty of other people who can cover the helm of the ship.”
“But not as good as you,” Leo pointed out quickly. “And Commander Stanton knows that.”
He was treated to a wry smile. “My ego thanks you,” Kai replied dryly.
A flash of yellow caught their attention as Maya stepped hesitantly into the clearing. “Am I interrupting?” she asked cautiously, but the two men shook their heads and she sank to the ground gracefully next to Kai. “The Galactabeasts are mourning Kendrix,” she said quietly.
“We know,” Leo replied. “I don’t think any of us realised how closely connected we are with them. Except you,” he added with a slight smile.
Maya smiled sadly. “I don’t think even I’d realised.”
The conversation drifted away from the uncomfortable topic until a fourth figure joined them. “Is this a private party or can anyone join in?” Damon asked, tired but still trying to muster some cheerfulness.
“Pull up some grass,” Kai replied in kind.
The conversation resumed, only now when Kendrix’s name came up it wasn’t immediately shied away from, all of them sharing their memories of the pink ranger, remembering her as she was instead of how she’d died. They still grieved their loss, but it was no longer eating away at them and when they separated a few hours later, simulated dusk just beginning to set in, it was with lighter hearts than before.
***
Maya sank back in her hammock and stared at the ceiling. On their way back to their quarters Damon had suddenly remembered some repairs that absolutely had to be done, but she thought he’d made good his escape so he wasn’t caught in the middle of anything Kai and Leo wanted to do, pretty sure that he would most likely be in the way - something that would only make things uncomfortable for everyone concerned. She smiled sadly. Too bad Kendrix never got to see them open about being together, even if she’d known anyway.
She glanced over at the photo on the stand, a photo Leo had taken of her and Kendrix a few months back. The idea of capturing images like that had been something incredibly new for her and at first she’d been wary, but after Leo had taken a few, mostly of Damon doing stupid things, she’d relaxed and eventually that photo had come out. She’d been so pleased with it that Kendrix had gotten it framed and it had sat on the side ever since.
Passing into sleep, her dreams were full of Kendrix: the day the photograph had been taken; the first major fight they’d had; the time Trakeena’s monster had pretended to be her childhood friend Shandra and Kendrix tried so hard to get her to see the truth. Eventually though, another image of Kendrix appeared, more ghostly, more ethereal.
“Maya, protect my Quasar Sabre.”
The urgency broke through the layers of sleep, finally permeating her mind with the need to find the Pink Quasar Sabre before it fell into the wrong hands. Maybe once they’d gotten it back, Kendrix would be able to rest easily.
Author: scifislasher
Rating: PG-13
List of 22: Loss
Tag to 'The Power of Pink'
Leo walked heavily into the room he shared with Kai and Damon, numb and exhausted, both physically and emotionally. It was hard to believe that Kendrix was really gone and he couldn’t quite get his head round it. Over and over all he could see was Kendrix fighting her way through the swirling vortex, trying to reach Psycho Pink before she could destroy the planet, Cassie screaming both in agony as her power was ripped out of her and desperation as she tried to stop Kendrix sacrificing herself. In vain. He could have told her it wouldn’t work, when Kendrix set her mind to something there was very little that could stop her.
As the lights came on in the room he found Kai sitting on one of the chairs, staring into empty space. He sat down next to his boyfriend, his fingers brushing against the other man’s, but there was no reaction. Kai’s expression was blank but his eyes were suspiciously red-rimmed and it wasn’t hard to see how badly Kai was taking this, now that the adrenaline of the day had worn off. He and Kendrix went back a long way, they’d gone through GSA training together and they were pretty close, despite both of them being reserved people and her sacrifice had hit him hard.
He shifted slightly so that he could drape an arm around Kai’s shoulders, curling his legs up under him as he did so. At first there was no more reaction than before, then Kai shuddered a little and leant into him. Resting his head against Kai’s, Leo joined the other man in staring into empty space.
***
Damon tiredly stepped into his quarters. Trying to bury himself in work hadn’t helped. Kendrix had been a friend, more than that really, and the loss cut deeply. He didn’t think there were any words that could describe the connections between his team-mates - ‘friends’ didn’t really cover it and nothing else even came close, except maybe family - they were a part of him, and losing one of them was like losing part of himself. He’d tried going to engineering, tried to lose himself in repair work, things he could fix, but the normally oblivious-to-anything-that’s-not-mechanical chief mechanic had chosen today of all days to get perceptive and had sent him home.
He’d stopped off along the way to see how Maya was doing, she had been Kendrix’s best friend after all, but he needn’t have bothered. Mike was there already and he didn’t want to intrude so he’d left. Except it seemed he was intruding here as well. Kai and Leo were curled around each other on one of the chairs, seemingly asleep, although not sleeping well if their expressions were anything to go by.
He sighed and trudged over to his bed, kicking his boots off, then pulling himself up and collapsing on the mattress, staring at the ceiling. He supposed that now he could stop pretending he hadn’t noticed they were seeing each other, especially considering how protectively Leo’s arm had curled around Kai, and how easily Kai’s head rested against Leo’s shoulder. He sighed again in frustration, turning over so he was facing the wall, trying not to feel as alone as he did.
***
When he woke the next morning, it was to find Kai and Leo moving slowly around their quarters, practically on autopilot. They looked like he felt, dark smudges under their eyes and a heaviness to their movement that mirrored his own. No doubt if the circumstances had been different they would have tried to explain away being curled around each other last night, but right now it seemed that neither of them had the energy and he didn’t feel like being a jerk and making a big deal of it, so he just grunted a ‘morning’ in their general direction and slumped over the table.
A bowl of cereal was placed just under his nose and he studied it for a moment before using the spoon that had been placed in his hand. He smiled tiredly at Kai, both of them trying to make the morning routines as normal as possible. Kai gave him a half-smile back then turned away, shoving another bowl into Leo’s hands, the other man murmuring a quiet ‘thank you’ in response. He dragged the coffee pot over and poured himself a mugful. Today was going to require lots and lots of coffee. He didn’t need Maya’s intuition to tell him that.
They ate in silence, an unusual feat for them, because Leo was normally very cheerful in the mornings - one of those people who actually liked mornings - and usually the bouncy cheerfulness was catching, well, for him anyway. Kai somehow managed to stay out of it mostly, except when he chimed in with a dry comment on whatever it was he and Leo were debating this time. That wasn’t the case this morning though, none of them saying anything, not willing to risk bringing up Kendrix’s name. As if not mentioning her made her less dead, less gone. Less like a piece of them had been ripped away.
“I should go,” Kai said into the silence. “My shift starts soon.”
He and Leo nodded in unison. “You be alright?” Leo asked quietly and Kai grimaced slightly.
“I’ll have to be,” Kai replied. “See you guys later.” He stood and walked out the room, the doors hissing shut behind him.
Leo stared at the door before turning back to the room, the direct gaze studying him carefully for a moment, until Damon felt like demanding Leo just say what he had to already. “Look, Damon, we--”
“It’s cool, man,” he said, waving a hand in Leo’s direction. “It’s not like I didn’t know anyway.”
Leo blinked in surprise. “You did?”
Damon gave him a wry look. “Leo, we share quarters. I’m not that oblivious.”
“Oh. Okay, then. It doesn’t bother you?”
He snorted softly. “Faulty parts bother me. Shoddy repair work bothers me. You and Kai getting together… not exactly up there on ‘bothering me’.”
Leo gave him a crooked half-smile. “Good. I mean, we just don’t want you to feel--”
Damon waved his hand in dismissal before downing what was left of his coffee. “Not my business.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “I should be getting ready, too,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of stuff to catch up on.” If he wasn’t sent home again for looking too wrecked, that is.
Leo nodded. “Okay.”
Heading for the shower, when he came out it was to find Leo putting everything away, scrubbing at the food counters with a vehemence he usually reserved for those of Scorpius’ or Trakeena’s flunkies who had really pissed him off, like Furio when he’d still been around. “See you later,” he offered hesitantly, but Leo looked across almost immediately.
“Yeah, sure. Later.”
***
Leo stared across the clearing that housed the Galactabeasts. The Wildcat was curled up in a ball, and even the tentative attempts of the other Galactabeasts didn’t seem to be reaching her. It seemed that the connection between the Galactabeasts and their rangers went a lot deeper than they’d thought, and the Pink Wildcat was mourning her ranger.
That prompted a series of uneasy questions, questions none of them had wanted to face yet. Would they still be able to form the Megazord if they needed to? Would the Wildcat still fight with them, even though her ranger was gone? With Kendrix gone, the Lights of Orion were lost to them as well and that left them at a distinct disadvantage the next time one of Trakeena’s monsters attacked the colony. He sighed heavily. What were they going to do?
“Here you are,” came the voice behind him and he looked around to find Kai standing behind him. “I had to ask Alpha where you’d gone.”
He smiled a little. “I needed some space.”
Kai sat down next to him. “Wildcat’s not looking so good,” he noted quietly and Leo nodded.
“I know.” He paused for a moment, hesitant to ask. “Did Kendrix have any family?”
Kai shrugged. “Back on Earth? I think so. Here? No.”
“No-one else to tell then,” Leo said with a curious sense of relief.
Kai shook his head. “I already informed the head of the lab she worked in. And I added her to the list.”
Leo flinched. The List. The list of all those who’d died on the voyage so far, due to first Scorpius, then Trakeena. All the people they’d failed to save. It was an irony to end all irony that Kendrix was now on that list. Another casualty.
“What brings you out here?” he asked instead. “I didn’t think your shift was over yet.” It shouldn’t be anyway. He knew Kai’s schedule by heart by now. Normally he wouldn’t be finished for another three hours.
Kai shrugged. “The Commander sent me home. I think he heard about Kendrix and decided I shouldn’t really be on duty. Not if I’m not concentrating properly on my job. Besides,” he added, “there’s plenty of other people who can cover the helm of the ship.”
“But not as good as you,” Leo pointed out quickly. “And Commander Stanton knows that.”
He was treated to a wry smile. “My ego thanks you,” Kai replied dryly.
A flash of yellow caught their attention as Maya stepped hesitantly into the clearing. “Am I interrupting?” she asked cautiously, but the two men shook their heads and she sank to the ground gracefully next to Kai. “The Galactabeasts are mourning Kendrix,” she said quietly.
“We know,” Leo replied. “I don’t think any of us realised how closely connected we are with them. Except you,” he added with a slight smile.
Maya smiled sadly. “I don’t think even I’d realised.”
The conversation drifted away from the uncomfortable topic until a fourth figure joined them. “Is this a private party or can anyone join in?” Damon asked, tired but still trying to muster some cheerfulness.
“Pull up some grass,” Kai replied in kind.
The conversation resumed, only now when Kendrix’s name came up it wasn’t immediately shied away from, all of them sharing their memories of the pink ranger, remembering her as she was instead of how she’d died. They still grieved their loss, but it was no longer eating away at them and when they separated a few hours later, simulated dusk just beginning to set in, it was with lighter hearts than before.
***
Maya sank back in her hammock and stared at the ceiling. On their way back to their quarters Damon had suddenly remembered some repairs that absolutely had to be done, but she thought he’d made good his escape so he wasn’t caught in the middle of anything Kai and Leo wanted to do, pretty sure that he would most likely be in the way - something that would only make things uncomfortable for everyone concerned. She smiled sadly. Too bad Kendrix never got to see them open about being together, even if she’d known anyway.
She glanced over at the photo on the stand, a photo Leo had taken of her and Kendrix a few months back. The idea of capturing images like that had been something incredibly new for her and at first she’d been wary, but after Leo had taken a few, mostly of Damon doing stupid things, she’d relaxed and eventually that photo had come out. She’d been so pleased with it that Kendrix had gotten it framed and it had sat on the side ever since.
Passing into sleep, her dreams were full of Kendrix: the day the photograph had been taken; the first major fight they’d had; the time Trakeena’s monster had pretended to be her childhood friend Shandra and Kendrix tried so hard to get her to see the truth. Eventually though, another image of Kendrix appeared, more ghostly, more ethereal.
“Maya, protect my Quasar Sabre.”
The urgency broke through the layers of sleep, finally permeating her mind with the need to find the Pink Quasar Sabre before it fell into the wrong hands. Maybe once they’d gotten it back, Kendrix would be able to rest easily.