ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀɪɴ ᴡɪᴛʜɪɴ / ʀᴘᴍ

4. ꜰᴀᴅᴇ ᴛᴏ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ (3)

although the girls managed to convince the guys about recruiting dillon, they were still nervous about the outcome of the situation. meaning, they already convinced the guys, but they're worried about what dillon will say about it.

whether he'll want to consider being a power ranger or not, but realizing that thought when crossing the threshold of the dimly-lit area, it sent a new wave of anxiousness over them. it was almost daunting how close they were to either beating venjix or succumbing to his violent network of terror.

all because of a simple request the team were gonna propose him.

nevertheless, summer and cameron reenter the tiny cell with flynn and scott following closely behind them. at the moment, dillon was sitting soundly in front of that same desk, multiple layers of chains keeping him secured in that same chair.

a few guards were standing around the silent prisoner, their large blasters aiming right at him, despite the layers of chains (and unnoticeable heavy duty handcuffs on both wrists and ankles) literally keeping him immobile.

obviously, they were ordered by the higher-ups to keep a close watch on dillon, but to them, there was a wandering thought that dillon could try something (or realistically, accidentally make a false move) while on duty. hence, the extra, yet unnecessary, security measures they put him in.

and it didn't make him look like a normal prisoner, but a wanted criminal in solitary confinement.

weirdly enough, if the situation itself didn't sound so funny to cameron, she would probably be shitting bricks at the mere sight of him.

"love the interior decorating," she jokes, looking between dillon and the military officers with amusement, "who's the designer? you still got her card?"

"very funny," he grimly says, briefly forming a thin-lipped smile, before his eyes naturally avert to summer's. cameron grins in response, unknowingly causing flynn to raise an eyebrow at her demeanor around him.

and for a minute, he wondered what she and summer were really talking about with dillon, while he and scott were still at the garage, but he decided to let it go, and ask cameron about it later. right now wasn't a very good time for added interrogation.

god knows that dillon has had enough of that.

"dillon," summer starts, immediately smiling at him, despite the topic they were about to discuss, "this is scott. . ."

"scott truman, team leader," he continues for her, his usual smile resting on his face.

then, summer gestures over to flynn. "and this is—"

"flynn," he simply answers, "just plain flynn."

she smiles slightly, before continuing. "and on the far left is—"

cameron opens her mouth to introduce herself, but gets immediately cut off by a knowing dillon, who surprises everybody with his answer. "cameron, i know."

summer deeply furrows her brows, as flynn and scott share a confused look. even cameron was a little shocked by him knowing her name, since she never had a chance to introduce herself earlier.

she truly believed that he was only wrapped up in summer, and how fast he could get himself out of prison without detection.

"it doesn't matter anyway," he dismisses, refocusing his attention on summer. "why are you all here?"

summer blinks for a moment or so, before quickly getting her mind back on topic.

"well, there is one more person i'd like you to meet," she continues, watching as flynn opens a laptop, and places it on the table, "the man behind all the ranger technology you see."

flynn pushes the monitor right in front of dillon, right as the scientist's logo appears on the small screen. "greetings, dillon. my name is doctor k."

he scoffs, not knowing if he should be annoyed or amused. "man, i thought i was weird. you guys beat me by a mile," he jokes, looking at the four rangers in disbelief.

immediately, cameron places a hand over the left side of her chest, internally sighing in relief. she was grateful she wasn't the only one who reacted similarly at first introductions.

it didn't go unnoticed by summer, though, but she decided to let it slide just for once.

meanwhile, scott and flynn just stare at dillon, visibly offended by his reaction. "doctor k?" he repeats, trying to wrap his head around the concept of a talking computer, "that's too much, you guys are just. . ."

". . .the only chance you have of ever getting out of this place," scott smirks, crouching at eye-level with him.

dillon snidely grins back. "and what do i have to do?" he asks, like it wasn't the most obvious thing ever.

cameron decides to interject. "well, get out of jail, first of all—" she abruptly stops when flynn jabs her in the ribcage, right as scott shoots her a glare to shut her up.

dillon shakes his head, before continuing. "and what else? by taking in your little freakshow?"

flynn snorts, despite the irritated look on his face. "not exactly."

that's when summer leans forward, her face suddenly turning neutral. "you have to join us," she says in a serious tone, prompting cameron to nod in agreement.

dillon looks away for a moment, now actually considering the idea of joining the rangers, before his brief silence was broken by scott.

"so, what's it gonna be, dillon?" he asks, successfully bringing his attention back to him. the others wait in anticipation for the prisoner's response. "are you in," scott says, "or are you out?"

dillon takes one final look at all of them, not missing cameron's hopeful smile, before he answers. "well, now, that all depends."

he glances at the many officers keeping their blasters pointed at him, and the many layers of chains restraining him from doing anything but breathe cautiously.

and judging by the position he was in, he most likely made his decision already, and just waited for an opportunity to escape.

and that couldn't be more obvious than the answer he gives them. "do i get to pick my own color?"

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(last edited: 02/17/2024)