Bright Skies (Multi - Season Crossover/Power Rangers, prompt #89: Fall, T)
No time to be amusing. Writing.
Author/: Tsukino Akume
Fandom/: Power Rangers Time Force moving into S.P.D., multiple Rangers from each season
Characters/: Wes (Time Force), multiple Rangers from other teams (Literally too many to list)
Pairings/: Post - Wes/Eric, Rocky/Adam, Shane/Dustin, Hunter/Cam, Carter/Dana, Andros/Ashley, Zhane/Karone, Carlos/Ronny, Jason/Taylor, Conner/Ethan, Justin/Rose, Tommy/Kimberly, Tyzonn/Mack, Cassie/OC, Nick/Maddison, Zack/Aisha, Trent/Kira, Post - Billy/Cestria. Future Ryan/Carter and Billy/Hayley. More couples will most likely be mentioned, but not shown.
prompt/: #89: Fall
Rating/: T (For non - graphic mentions of people having babies and being violent with one another)
Disclaimer/: I don't own the Power Rangers, but if Disney's hiring any new writers I volunteer.
Summary/: When Wes' life starts to fall apart, an accident gives him a chance at a fresh start in New Tech City, with Space Patrol Delta. But even a new life has its ups and downs - and weird friends. Meanwhile, Eric tries to move on.
Warnings/: A mentally handicapped person living in a medical facility, angst, male and female slash, non-cemented couples (In otherwords, pairings that will be separated), children created by scientific means, character death
Author's Notes/: -Mops her forehead- The first part of my huge, climactic battle. This is the longest chapter I have yet for Bright Skies, and the next one might be worse. Chaos and confusion ahead, folks.
Once again, Sara is pronounced ‘Saw-ra’.
"How could this have happened?" Ashley murmured in stunned disbelief as they stared at the security feed playing on repeat over the center monitor of the war room table.
"Obviously they weren't who you thought they were," Jack informed them all.
Sky punched him in the shoulder - hard. When Jack turned to stare at him, he glared furiously. "You don't know the A Squad, Jack," he snapped. "Whatever's happened, this isn't them. So just shut your mouth, okay?"
"What, and you do?" Jack demanded.
Sky's glare turned glacial. "Charlie was one of my best friends from F Squad through D Squad. I've known Sara since I was six years old and he'd just joined the academy. He coached me for half of my S.P.D. career. Ran is a Ranger Kid, from S.P.D. Japan - Aunt Cassie and Aunt Ko-lin's daughter. She used to send us snacks from Japan just because we liked them. Sara introduced me to James, and he used to sneak me his old notes from courses he'd already taken, so I wouldn't have to study so hard. Michael transferred in a couple years ago, and he's always helped me out when I've been in trouble." He stared down at the table for a moment, taking a deep breath. "You're the one who doesn't know, Jack," he said at last. "And don't assume you do."
There was a long silence.
Wes looked at Zhane. "You never answered my question," he reminded him quietly.
Zhane sighed, looking up from where he'd been idly drawing patterns on the table with his finger. "I think something happened that they weren't telling us," he said at last. "I know that's A Squad - Ash confirmed it down to their dental records. They're not fakes, they're not a stand ins, they're not Psycho Rangers. That *is* A Squad."
"Brainwashed?" Jason asked, leaning forward to brace his elbows on the table.
"No," Ashley answered softly. "I scanned for altered brainwaves or magical residue, too. That's really them."
"You said Ran had nightmares." Justin eyed Zhane as he spoke. "Do you remember what they were about?"
"She was screaming she was sorry." It was Andros who spoke, his eyes haunted. "She would scream over and over that she didn't mean it. That she didn't want to do it anymore." He looked up. "I knew something was off when I saw them. Charlie's never been afraid to talk to me before. I thought that maybe if we got them home, where they could finally relax instead of being on edge all the time ... " He shrugged helplessly.
"We all agreed with you, Andros," Tommy reminded him. "This isn't anyone's fault." He hesitated. "Can you think of anything else they might have said or done that stood out to you?"
There was a pause, and Andros' eyes narrowed suddenly. "I told Charlie that I was proud of her for keeping her team safe, and she said 'we do what we have to'."
"'We do what we have to'?" Taylor repeated, raising her eyebrows.
He nodded solemnly.
"But what do we do in the meantime?" Z demanded. "I mean, we can't just leave Commander Cruger."
"We're not leaving anybody, Z," Kimberly promised her as Tommy gave them both an odd look. "But it helps if we understand what's going through A Squad's heads right now."
"Sergeant - I mean, Commander Oliver," Kat spoke up, frowning as she completely ignored her slip. "We have a message." She hesitated. "It's for B Squad."
"Put it on screen, Kat," Kimberly and Tommy said in unison. They glanced at one another, him looking startled and her bemused.
Everyone tensed as Charlie appeared above the table. "You want us B Squad? Come and get us. We're waiting."
Jack looked around, exchanging glances with the rest of his Squad. "Let's go," he commanded, rising to his feet. "Not you, Sam." he added when Omega Ranger moved to join them.
"But - " Omega protested.
Jack just shook his head. "This one's on us. Keep an eye on things around here, would you?"
Kat stared at them in shock. "Rangers, you can't go. It's a trap."
"We know," Jack returned, not even bothering to look back at her as they headed for the door.
"Be careful, Rangers," Kimberly called softly.
There was a pause as Syd glanced over her shoulder and Jack saluted, but within moments they were gone.
"You were right, Wes," Jason said quietly. "They have made me proud."
"More than you know, Jase," Zack informed him, patting his friend's shoulder.
Kimberly took a deep breath. "Okay, everyone. Cruger's missing, and our Rangers have gone to fight. We need a contingency plan; we *cannot* lose this base," she reminded them sternly.
"I say we team up anybody with a morpher and prepare to defend our home," Justin informed her bluntly.
She nodded. "How many Rangers do we have right now with active morphers?"
"Eighteen," Karone supplied. "Eight Mighty Morphin, four Astro Rangers, two Lightspeed, the three Newtech Rangers, and Omega Ranger."
Tommy was already shaking his head. "That's not enough for a real defensive stand. I mean, it's something, but this base is huge."
"It's what we have," Hayley reminded him.
"Actually ... it isn't," Nerina spoke up hesitantly, her voice soft.
Everyone looked at her in surprise, but before anyone had a chance to ask, Boom burst through the doors. "B Squad's getting pulverized!" he cried desperately.
"Kat - " Kimberly began.
But Kat was already putting the life feed of the battle site on the center screen.
It took a moment for Wes to sort through all the explosions to figure out what was going on. A Squad was winning, but so far B Squad was holding their own. He frowned to himself as he wondered why they hadn't gone to S.W.A.T. mode yet.
"Isn't there something we can do?" Boom persisted despairingly.
Kat was frowning worriedly at the screen, shaking her head as she ran something through a console. "The A Squad has had much more training and experience. They're in a different league."
Eric raised his eyebrows. "What fight are you two watching?" he asked skeptically. "'Cause it doesn't look like B Squad is down yet to me."
Wes smiled a little. "We're Power Rangers, Kat. We're at our best when the odds are hopeless," he reminded her.
The room shuddered, and everyone scrambled to brace themselves.
"What was that?" Tommy demanded.
"Give me a moment and I'll tell you," Vanessa snapped back, grabbing a computer screen next to Kat's.
There was a long pause, and at last Kat breathed out a soft "Oh, no."
"What is it?" Carter asked sharply.
"We've been attacked." Vanessa returned shortly. "It's large, heavy, and blunt, and it just breached the outer wall. We're being invaded."
Wes sucked in a breath, closing his eyes for a moment with a sigh. Well, there was his bad feeling, then.
"How do you *do* that?" Justin demanded, glaring at him.
"Security Breech in Sector 9B. Security Breech in Sector 9B."
"Everybody with a morpher, grab a Squad and get out there," Tommy commanded.
"Are you kidding me?" Kimberly demanded, glaring at him as she caught his arm. "We're not going out there without a plan!"
"We don't have time for a plan!" Tommy insisted, scowling back. "We're under attack *right now*!"
"Which is why we need a plan," she retorted. She looked around the room, eyes narrowing. "Dustin, Taylor. Make sure all the Zords are available and stash whatever you have time to move in the underground Zord bay. Vanessa, call anybody you can get a hold of at S.P.D. Japan and ask them to send reinforcements yesterday. Sam, get all the Squad leaders you can find and have them round up their Squads. Kat, Boom, I want you two in the Command Center. I need you to monitor the Rangers and the base itself. Whatever happens, do *not* let anyone in that room," she ordered. She turned to Nerina expectantly. "You have an idea?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Wes could see Tommy, Jason, and Billy gaping at Kimberly as if they'd never seen her before. Ashley, Zhane, and Hayley were openly amused, while Andros just seemed puzzled. But then, none of them had dealt with Acting Ranger Commander Sergeant Oliver before.
Nerina hesitated for only an instant. "There are five available morphers sitting in the vault," she stated quietly, her eyes serious. "And while I may not have known them all as well as you, I don't believe Tori would want to see her morpher lying unused when it could have helped saved lives."
Kimberly stared at her for a long moment. "I agree," she said softly. "Respecting the ones we lost is one thing, but I can't believe they'd want us to ignore any help we have. Go get them, Nerina." She reached out to squeeze the young woman's arm. "And be *careful*," she warned her.
Nerina paused only long enough to give her a warm, shy smile, before she bolted out of the room and down the hall.
Then Kimberly was all business again, turning to frown at them all. "We still need to protect the main entrances, the hanger, and the prisoner vaults."
"And the labs," Taylor put in. "Weapons, Zords, and the general labs all have too much that we don't want in enemy hands."
Kimberly nodded swiftly. "First thing's first. We've got to cover that main entrance. Newtech Rangers, that's your job."
Wes swiftly saluted her, feeling Eric and Justin do the same on either side of him. "Yes, Ma'am."
He glanced back at them both and nodded swiftly. "Time for, Time Force!"
"Shift into Turbo! Mountain Blaster Turbo Power!"
"Quantum Power!"
"Let's go!" Red Time Force shouted as the three of them raced down the halls. "Turbo! Can you get Storm Blaster to help from the outside?"
"You got it, Time!"
The moment he saw the entrance, he knew there was no possibly way the three of them could ever be enough.
Krybots were *everywhere*. More than he could see even out of the corners of his eyes, and still more pouring in through the hole in the wall. And leading them, cackling delightedly and crowing at his own brilliance ...
"Broodwing," he snarled under his breath, pure, black hatred surging through him. "Chrono Sabers!"
"Turbo Hand Blasters!"
"Quantum Defender!"
And then it was nothing but fighting, striking, slashing, ducking, spinning to avoid blows and falling back when a lucky blow made its way in. He didn't know how long they worked. He could hear the angry rev of Storm Blaster from outside, the sound of blaster fire and flashes of Blue and Red on either side of him. There was no time for thank yous when Blue Turbo took down a Krybot that would have caught him from behind, or your welcomes when he cut another pair out from under the Quantum Ranger. At one point he saw a flash of Yellow, and he could have sworn he saw Blue on opposite sides of the room at the same time, but he couldn't summon the time or effort to care.
He thought he heard Omega giving a rally call, and there seemed to be even more people fighting beside him. A Bluehead nearly dragged him down, but someone in gray was pulling it off, freeing him just in time to slash another Krybot out of the way. But the cadets weren't Rangers, which only became more obvious when he was forced to protect one of them from what could have been a lethal sword strike. They were doing their best, but they were in the way almost as much as they helped.
"Wes! Duck!" someone shouted.
He dove for the floor moments before a cry of "Drive Vortex!" echoed through the air. The voice was strangely familiar, but he didn't have time to figure out who'd claimed Dax's morpher, because the Krybots never seemed to end.
And then the floor was beginning to move, and he realized in horror what was happening. "Everyone to a safety zone!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs. He sprinted for one of the side hallways, praying that the others had heard him or at least realized what was happening themselves.
He kicked a Krybot as he ran, stopping only once he knew he'd crossed the safety line. A hand grabbed his shoulder, and he clutched it instinctively, whirling for a throw.
Instead he found a vaguely familiar Yellow helmet that it took him a moment to place. "Tanya?" he gasped out, lungs burning from exertion.
"Sorry - try again," returned a disturbingly cheerful but equally breathless voice.
He stared incredulously. "*Mystic*?"
"That's me," Yellow Zeo answered, leaning forward to brace his hands on his knees. "Wow, I am *so* not as young as I used to be," he remarked.
"Shut up," he retorted automatically, because Chip was barely forty, and he had almost nine years on him. "What - how - what are you *doing* here?"
Running footsteps were coming in their direction, and he tensed automatically for another fight. Beside him, Yellow Zeo straightened just enough to slide into a defensive stance.
Blue Overdrive and Yellow Lightspeed rounded the corner, bare seconds before the walls began to shift. Neither one stopped running until he found his arms full of Blue Overdrive, and he steadied whoever it was instinctively. Behind them, he watched numbly as a trio of Krybots tumbled over the gap and prayed reverently that Eric and Justin had heard him.
"Thanks, Wes," Blue Overdrive wheezed, and he froze in horror as the voice finally registered.
"Vanessa?!" he demanded. "What the - Who in their right might gave you a morpher?!"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she snorted, shoving him away as she tried to straighten up. She wobbled for a moment, but recovered herself. "And who said anyone gave me anything?"
"Please don't tell me you stole it," he groaned.
"Who else were they going to give it to? Some random cadet in the hallway?" she returned irritably. She shook her head, only to put a hand to her helmet a moment later. "I cannot believe you all do this everyday," she muttered. "Let alone on *purpose*. You have to be a special kind of twisted to enjoy this."
"Normally you get used to the disorientation pretty fast," Yellow Lightspeed informed her, putting a steadying hand on her shoulder. "You got thrown into a bigger battle than you'd normally get at first. Not to mention your uniform team isn't here, which means the Power's confused if this is where you're supposed to be."
Blue Overdrive sighed. "I used to be able to call you all weirdoes for treating the Power like a living entity, you know," she grumbled.
The other woman snorted. "Becoming a Ranger changes your perspective on things."
"Taylor?" he asked warily, and tried not to sigh at the answering nod Yellow Lightspeed gave him. "What are both of you doing down here? Shouldn't you be protecting the labs?" He glanced at Yellow Zeo. "And how'd you get Tanya's morpher? For that matter, what are *you* doing here?"
Yellow Lightspeed held up a hand. "One question at a time, Wes," she told him pointedly.
"And is this really the time for this?" Blue Overdrive put in.
He sighed, sliding down the wall behind him to sit. "We don't know how long we're going to be stuck in here," he pointed out. "Until someone can transform the Megazord back, we're trapped in here."
There was a pause.
"I hate it when you're right," Blue Overdrive griped before finding a seat herself. She sighed too. "Fine. I'm here because ... Well, I honestly don't know. I grabbed this morpher when no one was looking and tried to use it. When all the blue lights faded, I just found myself running here." She paused as the rest of them stared at her. "What? I'm serious!" she insisted irritably.
Slowly Yellow Lightspeed nodded. "Same here. Well, Kim actually *handed* me the morpher, but I came here because this is where I needed to be."
"I had the feeling that I needed to be here a few days ago, actually," Yellow Zeo explained. "Tanya found me while I was on my way. She said she heard through Xander that I was coming, and she wanted me to have her Zeonizers." He shrugged, his voice softening a little. "She said she couldn't use them anymore, and she didn't want to see them go to waste."
"I don't understand," Blue Overdrive spoke up after a pause. "Why aren't any of you weirded out by this ... 'I needed to be here' thing."
"Because it's the Power," Red Time Force told her. He sighed, because if it hadn't been for Delphine, none of the Newtech Rangers would have ever understood. "Normally, teams are identified by wearing the same uniform, right? Well, sometimes - very rarely - things change, and we have to figure out how to fight with what Rangers we have. If those Rangers form a ... bond, I guess you'd say, the Power begins to recognize them as a team." He sighed again, looking at Yellow Zeo. "I'm not explaining this very well, am I?"
"Nope," the other man returned pleasantly. He turned to look at Blue Overdrive. "Okay, look at it this way. You'd say you're close friends with Wes and Eric, right?"
She nodded reluctantly. "If I have to."
Red Time Force glared at her through his helmet and kicked her foot. He tried to dodge as she kicked him back.
"Well, the Power knows that somehow. So even though your morpher is different, it can tell that you're close to them. So it makes you a team with them, instead of making you one of the Overdrive Rangers. It doesn't always work that way," he added. "But in our case, knowing that something is wrong with our team is just another part of being a Newtech Ranger."
Yellow Lightspeed sighed. "Great. Now I've gotta get used to *another* group of idiots. Except for you, obviously," she continued just as Blue Overdrive began to fold her arms indignantly. "But you're the exception."
There was a long silence as they all contemplated their situation.
"Anyone have guesses on how much longer we'll be here?" Yellow Zeo asked finally.
Red Time Force shook his head. "Until someone stops the Delta Command Megazord, I guess."
The tiny area rocked wildly and without warning, and he found himself bracing Blue Overdrive as she was flung against him. He glanced down, sighing quietly and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Hang in there, Nes," he said softly, squeezing her a little. "The kids'll get us out of here soon."
"You have a lot of faith in them," she murmured back, but there was no malice in it as she leaned into him.
He smiled faintly beneath his helmet. "Comes with being a Power Ranger. You'll get used to it."
"Oh, I hope not," she sighed reverently.
It was hard to say how long they waited before the ground shuddered, and the corridor slid open again. The moment it was open they were on their feet again, all pulling weapons. "Careful, everyone," he cautioned, slipping out to the front of the group as he crept forward to the end of the hall.
The Krybots were nothing more than a pile of scrap metal. The main doors were open, outside he could see what looked like someone fighting with -
Broodwing.
"Let's go!" he ordered, waving a hand forward.
Yellow Zeo was right on his heels, Yellow Lightspeed and Blue Overdrive only seconds behind. He burst through the door and stared as Blue Turbo exchanged blows with the giant bat, Quantum Ranger hovering nearby as he waited for the right moment to switch.
He didn't bother to wait, snarling "Chrono Sabers!" as he charged forward. Blue Turbo ducked back as he swung for Broodwing's stomach. Blocked, he spun for another slash, and then more one right after another without giving the alien a chance to recover.
He drove him back into the Quantum Ranger, who pushed him against Yellow Lightspeed. She passed him off to Blue Overdrive, and a blast of the Drive Vortex sent him crashing at Yellow Zeo's feet. Another round of sparring, and Broodwing was stumbling, making sloppy mistakes and struggling for breath as they refused to let up on him.
"Give it up, Broodwing!" Blue Turbo taunted.
"You've finally met your judgment day," Red Time Force agreed. "And this time, there's no escape."
"So here's something I've always wanted to try, especially now," Blue Overdrive commented, "And now you've given me the perfect opportunity."
She hit something on her morpher, and barking could be heard in the distance, charging straight for them.
"R.I.C.!" she commanded, tossing the artificial bone in the air.
All of them watched as R.I.C. transformed, instinctively moving into positions they shouldn't have known. Yellow Zeo and Blue Turbo knelt on the ground to support the base of the cannon, each with their female color counterparts behind them to help steady it. And the two Red Rangers moved behind, Wes with his hand on the trigger, and Eric with a hand beside his.
"But - how can you - you can't even use that thing!" Broodwing protested.
"Somehow, I think you're about to find out we can, the hard way," Quantum Ranger returned darkly.
"I'm sure we can come to some agreement!" he tried.
"Canine Cannon!" Red Time Force shouted, feeling somehow like it was something he'd done a hundred times already.
And somewhat to his own amazement, R.I.C. obediently began to power up.
Broodwing quaked in fear.
"Fire!" he ordered.
The sound of explosions and screaming was heaven, and distantly he thought he heard Broodwing shrieking "You can't do this to me!"
Music to his ears, he thought fondly, even as he felt R.I.C. transforming back into dog form beneath his hands. He knelt down for a moment to give him a pat. "Thanks, R.I.C.," he told him sincerely. He had no idea why the robotic dog had chosen to help them considering he was B Squad's, but he was grateful all the same.
R.I.C. barked in response, wagging his tail happily.
"I can't believe we did it," Blue Overdrive breathed. "I mean ... Broodwing's gone ... right?"
Blue Turbo crouched down for a moment on the pavement, finally raising a small silver card. "He's in my hand," he said almost wonderingly. "After all these years, and I've got him *sitting in my hand*." He shook his head in disbelief.
"Can I hold him?" Yellow Zeo asked tentatively. "I mean ... Just to make sure it's real?"
Blue Turbo passed him over without question, and Red Time Force rose slowly to his feet. "Broodwing is out of our lives for good," he said softly, hoping saying the words out loud would make it feel more real. He smiled a little as he still felt numb. "He can never come after us or hurt our kids again." There were tears in his eyes, and he blinked them away rapidly.
A hand settled on his shoulder, and he looked up at Quantum Ranger with a faint smile. There was something in the way the other Ranger looked at him that he could tell even through the helmet, and he found himself laughing, hugging his husband and leaning into his shoulder. Because he knew. He knew what Eric was thinking, and he knew that Eric could tell he felt the same way.
"We have really got to work on our timing for these decisions," he chuckled.
"Us? Timing?" Quantum Ranger snorted, even as a hand came up to touch his back.
"This is Turbo - I mean, Justin," he heard the other man say ruefully. He turned to watch him with a smile, leaning against Quantum Ranger. "The Newtech Rangers are accounted for, and we have a containment card in hand with the galaxy's ugliest bat inside."
"Go for Shane. Lab areas are secure. Zeo team is all here."
"Carter. Lightspeed has the hanger bay secured."
"Andros. Astro team is accounted for, and the prisoner vaults are safe."
"This is Jason. We've got all the weapons we started with, and a whole lot of scrap metal over here."
"Tommy. More scrap metal, and a few dents in a couple of Zords, but otherwise we're all right. Great job, everyone."
"This is Kat. The Command Center is once again secure."
"Let's meet up in the war room," came Kimberly's voice, and the moment she spoke it was obvious there was something wrong. "Kimberly out."
Red Time Force looked up at his team. "Let's go, guys," he said solemnly.
****
The war room was a riot of color, and he stood back against a wall with his team because he couldn't be sure who was who anymore. There were more Rangers than there should have been, and some of them were taller or shorter than he remembered. He stared as he saw Red Turbo leaning perched on the table, because he knew for a fact that T.J. did not have breasts.
"Everybody quiet down!" someone shouted, and instinctively they all stopped talking.
Pink Mighty Morphin Ranger stepped forward, reaching up to remove her helmet and shake her hair free. She glanced around and sighed. "Will everyone please go to standby mode? I can't keep anyone straight like this."
The sound of helmets being unbuckled was painfully loud, and he glanced around automatically to see who was who.
The Zeo team Shane had spoken for apparently consisted of himself in Red, Dustin in Blue, and was that Blake Bradley in Green? What was he doing here? *When* did he get here for that matter? Beside Dustin, Nerina clutched Blue Wind’s helmet awkwardly, looking nervous.
Carter's Lightspeed team wasn't exactly anyone unexpected, although the sight of Karone in Green was a little odd. Hayley wore Blue like she'd been made for it, with an annoyed expression as she tried to figure out a place to put down her helmet so she wouldn't have to hold it. Ryan had an arm wrapped around Carter as he scowled at him, while Carter was favoring his left foot and trying to pretend he wasn't.
The Astro team wasn't anything unusual except for the presence of Red Turbo beside them, and he laughed when he saw Litania trying to untangle all her curls the moment her helmet came off. T.J. gave her a fondly exasperated look, moving to help, while Ashley giggled at them. Zhane looked up as he watched, smiling faintly before aiming a thumb back pointedly at his right shoulder, to the tiny silver S.P.D. badge he still wore. They nodded to each other in silent acknowledgement that no matter where Zhane stood, his heart would never settle for one group of friends.
The Mighty Morphin Rangers were a bit discerning is only for the fact that there were two Reds and two Black Rangers among them, which became considerably less confusing once they all removed their helmets. It was strange to see Tommy wearing White, but none of his teammates seemed to think anything of it. Billy had tried to explain it to him once, about how in death, Zordon had somehow reactivated all of the old Power Coins, Zeonizers, and Turbo Keys, but it had gone over his head almost instantly.
"Do we have everyone here?" Kimberly spoke up, glancing around. Nods went around the room, and she sighed in relief, shoulders relaxing. Then she braced herself, looking up at them all. "B Squad has been captured," she informed them. "We're not sure exactly when or how. Charlie's pretty sure it has something to do with Piggy."
"Wait - *Charlie*?" Shane said incredulously.
Something shifted in a corner of the room, and Wes stared as he recognized the A Squad. All of them looked exhausted, but strangely defiant. Charlie stepped forward, lifting her chin. "Piggy's been working all *three* sides of the war," she informed them all. "Grumm and Broodwing have been threatening him, and he's pretended to still be loyal to - " She paused, swallowing. "Cadets Landers and Delgado."
"What's going on here?" Taylor demanded. "Aren't you the ones who turned Cruger over to Grumm?"
Charlie visibly flinched, and Andros moved to squeeze her shoulder. "They didn't have a choice, Taylor," he told her quietly.
Charlie took a deep breath, and Wes noticed the way that she didn't actively meet anyone's eyes. "We were shot down in the Helix Nebula," she began, her voice firm and strong. Her eyes on the other hand, begged for forgiveness and understanding. "We nearly - we almost didn't make it. We were ... " She swallowed again, and Sara stepped forward to rest a hand on her arm. "One of Grumm’s ships found us," she said at last. "He offered us a chance to survive, and all we had to do was give him Commander Cruger. Ran was sick, James had an infection - " She broke off, shuddering for a moment, before forcing herself to look up again. Tears shone in her eyes. “There was no other way for us to survive. And I gave him my word as a Ranger that I would keep my promise."
Sara squeezed her arm again, and James said solemnly "I promise we *all* made."
And a Ranger *never* went back on their word, Wes remembered numbly, staring at them all. It was a matter of honor - Jen had drilled that into his head years ago. And a Ranger without honor wasn't a Ranger at all.
"And the fight against B Squad?" Carter asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.
For some reason, that actually made Charlie smile a little. "Sky doesn't work hard enough if he's not pushed," she informed them all. "We needed to know B Squad would be strong enough to go after Cruger." She shrugged. "But after Broodwing stole the Delta Command Megazord, our obligations were over. We promised Grumm Cruger - we didn't say *anything* about S.P.D."
"That's when you turned the Delta Megazord to help B Squad?" Tommy asked, but he seemed curious rather than angry.
"We didn't spend months fighting so hard to come home just to lose it to Broodwing," Michael said fiercely.
There was a pause as A Squad glanced at each other. "And now we want to go after B Squad and the commander," Charlie said abruptly.
Behind him, Wes felt Eric and Justin tensing, and he reached back to hold them both in place.
Kimberly was the one who came to meet Charlie's gaze, her own calm and unassuming. "Why should we believe that you'll really bring them back?" she asked quietly.
"We owe them," Sara spoke up.
"Because B Squad is family," Ran spoke up from behind her teammates, moving to look at Kimberly directly. "And we don't abandon family."
"You have my word as a Ranger," Charlie added solemnly. "We won't come back with without B Squad and the Commander."
"And mine," James put in.
"My word," Sara agreed.
"My word," Michael promised.
"My word as a Ranger," Ran said quietly.
Kimberly reached out to squeeze Ran's hands. "Be careful," she requested softly. "I want *all* of you home safe, where you belong."
"Ma'am," they chorused, sliding into a salute.