I have been waiting for this weekend. Between classes, homework, and the last few days of my trial run with Lightspeed, I am thisclose to burn out. Maybe I'll get Carter to let me have some of the team's alcohol I know they've got stashed somewhere. (Or Joel. No way Carter will let me get to that stuff.) Speaking of which...
"Morning, kid." Our Red Ranger stands in the kitchen, chowing down on a bowl of cereal. Reeses Puffs, his favorite, as I've come to learn over these past few weeks.
Honestly, I know more about these people than I would like. It comes with living with them, but I also wish it wasn't a factor. Because the more I've learned, the more I've wanted to stay.
I'd also be lying if I said Carter isn't one of the most attractive people I've ever laid eyes on. Because dear lord, he is.
"G'morning." I hide a yawn behind my hand. "We don't happen to have any more of that, do we?"
A blush tinges his cheeks, and I can't help but stare. "Nah. Sorry." Apologizing for nothing, a classic Carter Grayson fatal flaw. I shake my head, offer a smile, and rummage through the fridge. For a moment, I'm back home, the morning news playing softly from the television, the warm scent of coffee floating through the air, the clink of spoons against bowls...
Guess a protein shake will have to do. (I'm never quite sure who buys these, since it rotates between Chad, Kelsey, and occasionally Dana-) "Please tell me you're gonna eat more than that." God. Another of his fatal flaws. Thankfully, he'd left his bowl on the table when he turned to face me, muscular arms crossed over his chest... Before I can stare for any longer than I already have, I dart around him and stuff a spoonful of cold Reeses Puffs into my mouth. Carter's jaw drops, and I nearly spit out the bite I'd taken in favor of laughing in his face.
"You shouldn't have left the opportunity." His eyes search my face, blue depths alight with laughter-
A door down the hallway creaks open and I step away from him, uncapping the chocolate protein drink just in time to see Dana emerge, bedhead a giant mess. Appearance aside- girl could literally be a model, even now- I note the way her eyes dart between us. "She stole my cereal!"
She crosses her arms and sits into her hip in such a way, I'm reminded of a midwest soccer mom. "Knowing you, you probably gave her the opportunity."
The giggles finally burst out, but Carter doesn't join me and Dana in our moment of stupidity. Instead, his eyes remain transfixed on the television screen. "Ally." Not a question.
A warning.
My phone rings.
———
When I step into Leon's hospital room, my parents are already there. But they're not focused on him, at least not anymore. "I tried to keep it a secret," my older brother mutters, voice crackly from disuse. He's probably been sleeping, since he rubs at his eyes and then points to the small television screen.
It's running a nearly identical story to the one I saw back at Aqua Base: Brother of regional superhero caught up in art heist.
"Is there any chance we can talk about this later?" Gone is the fearless superhero like the one the newscaster drones on about. In the face of both my parents' furies, I'm nothing but a little girl again.
My mother- Clara- sighs, dark circles under her eyes as she gazes at me. "We need you to reconsider."
"And I need to make sure people stay safe," I retort, "So that things like what happened at the art heist never happen again."
My dad- Scott- chuckles. "That's exactly what we figured you'd say, kiddo."
"Dad, I'm twenty years old. My GPA's never been higher, I have new friends-"
"You also risk your life every time you step out of your door," my mom interrupts. "Please. Think about it."
I glance at Leon for the backup I'm so used to receiving, but he's silent. Letting me fight my own battles? Or letting me reap the consequences of the choice I made?
How do I explain to them that thinking about it is all I've been doing? I've hardly gotten more than four hours of sleep any day these past two weeks, either because of missions, assignments, or straight up insomnia.
"Leon, you made the choice to tackle the robber, did you not?"
He nods. "And I would do it again in a heartbeat." Now I know he's on my side for sure.
"Mom, dad. Give me some time." I feel like time is all I've been asking for recently.
Before either of them can reply, though, my phone rings once more.
———
I don't know what will kill me first: Diabolico and his demons, jet lag, or this unbearable heat. It's damn near three AM, and yet I'm sweating as I step through the door to our quarters. And just as I expected, two of my teammates jolt up into wakefulness. "How is he?" Dana asks, squinting over at where I stand in the entryway.
"I'm surprised he's not worse. Glad he isn't, though." She nods, standing, a faraway look glimmers in her eyes. Memories shimmer in her gaze, ones she may prefer to forget. I don't press. Our lives are hard enough as it is.
"Glad to hear it. I'm gonna get some sleep before our assignment tomorrow." Aka the thing I was called back for. "You should too." That's not a suggestion, at least not coming from Dana. I offer her a salute and she sticks her tongue out at me before trodding down the hallway.
Carter yawns and sets the book he was reading onto the kitchen counter. "How are you doing, Ally?"
My bottom lip wobbles and I suck in a breath, willing the tears away, but suddenly my bag is so heavy and my chest hurts- He gets up so quickly that I take a step back, the intensity of his energy reminiscent of the fires I know he's fought. "My parents found out."
Carter stiffens, and I know his heart's fallen in dread. "What did they say?"
The first tear falls. I wipe it away, but he's already seen it. "To reconsider." His stare burns me, and I heft my bag higher onto my shoulder, moving to step past him and go to my room.
"And have you?" There it is. The question I asked myself all the way back here. It's weird. It really is: the idea that I'd been reluctant to take up this title, this power, but now that I'm so close to a future where I can't continue on, helping the people who need it most, I hesitate to give it up... "Alyssa."
I don't want a leader right now. I want a friend. And Carter Grayson has always been the former, at least to me. Maybe he sees me as a kid, as he'd said yesterday morning. Someone that needs protection as much as the people we protect. "I'm going to sleep."
"We need you."
"Goodnight, Carter." Maybe I'll regret this in the morning, but for now, I just need rest. So before Carter can ramble on, I open my door and all but collapse into my bed.
———
I'm pretty sure everyone can tell that something happened between me and Carter. When each of us eventually trudges out into the kitchen for breakfast, it's chatter as usual, except for the two of us. Kelsey, Joel, Dana and Chad all console me in their individual ways, then glance at Carter, frown (or make faces, in Kelsey's case), and head out for the day.
Now, we're seated in the conference room as I struggle to stay awake. "As jet-lagged as you might be, Alyssa," God, why did Captain Mitchell have to call me out like that? "This one's high-profile." He clicks onto the next slide. "We need you all to help our Doctor Hansen transport a fuel cell to Aqua Base safely. It's extremely sensitive to high heat, not to mention incredibly powerful. A few minutes of exposure..." Yeah. He doesn't need to continue.
At least he hasn't mentioned the palpable tension that's taken over the entire team. "Understood, sir," Carter replies curtly, "Nothing will happen to that fuel cell." With a nod of his head, he urges the rest of us up and out into the hallway. Once he's sure Captain Mitchell won't hear, he turns, nearly blocking me against the wall. He doesn't scare me, though. I lift my chin to stare into his eyes. "Are you in?"
"Oh, you of little faith," I bite back. "Why don't you just-"
"Dana." I'd know that tone anywhere. Glancing back into the conference room, I spot Captain Mitchell with his arms folded, waiting for his daughter to turn back around. "I have a different assignment for you." Confusion flickers in her gaze as she glances at us, and I shrug, nodding to her dad. Nothing good will come from not listening.
"She'll be okay," Chad reassures us, "We should go."
———
Thankfully, Chad's right: Dana's okay, if only in the physical sense. Not sure about emotionally or mentally. I glance over at the right side of my helmet's display, reading her texts again. (Since it made sense, I'm taking my Street Rescue while Doctor Hansen sits in the Rover just in front of me. I'm telling myself that it's not because Carter's mad at me.)
"Wait, what's she doing?" Kelsey asks, and even over coms, her incredulity is clear.
"She says she's, uh, taking her dad's friend fishing." Yikes. Not sure what she did to earn that end of the stick. It's sort of hard to believe she'd even get in trouble at all, let alone the kind to get that harsh of a consequence. "Did something happen while-"
"Eyes up, folks," Carter cuts in. (It's just because there wasn't enough space. It's just because there wasn't enough space.) "There's no telling what'll come after this fuel-" Right on cue, lasers blast down from the sky, and I swerve around the potholes they create. (As if this city didn't have enough of them already.) The others screech to a halt in front of me, and I do the same, scrambling off my bike and forming up in front of the Doctor.
Unsurprisingly, a swarm of bats floats down, coalescing together into the shape of a brand new monster. It raises a too-pale hand at us, at the box containing the weapon. "Give me that fuel cell, and no one gets hurt."
"Since it's ending up with Diabolico, I'm sure that'll still happen," Kelsey retorts.
"Well, if you won't hand it over, I'll just take it!"
Carter glances over his shoulder at us, and I lower my chin in a barely perceptible nod. "Lightspeed, Rescue!"
———
One of the main reasons why I don't think I can reconsider is this. This power. This strength. Everything I've learned, every ounce of self-defense training, is amplified ten-fold, perhaps even more. "Keep Doctor Hansen back!" Carter orders, and I make the dumb decision to look over my shoulder at the Rescue Rover.
Kelsey's already there, which is great, but now that I'm distracted, I'm an easy target. One of the Battlings surrounding me lands a strike to my midsection, flickering out of existence before I can recover. Another shoves me the other way as I stumble, and I can barely right myself in order to swing my baton and send it back to its shadowy dimension.
I didn't think it would be this hard without our sixth, but here we are. "D," I radio in, leaping above a well-timed kick and launching my own back. The Battling dissolved into black goo. "You almost wrapped up over there?"
"Yes. I'm on my way." I'm grateful for the moment to breathe, but at the same time, not really. The Battlings that were surrounding me are strictly focused on Chad now. He fights to rid himself of the crowd of our opponents, and I try to force my way there, but nothing works. I'm knocked to the ground, tasting blood.
"Dana, hur-"
"Negative, Dana." Well, that's just fucking awesome. Especially since the last time Captain Mitchell and Carter disagreed on something, it took a pep talk to snap our leader out of his funk. "Return to the Aqua Base." There's the telltale click of them transferring over to a private comms channel, and I leap to my feet, ignoring the burning in my muscles. Guess help's not coming, which doesn't bode well for us: our enemy has the box with the fuel cell inside, and before he can pull out the weapon, Carter growls and snaps his baton back into its gun form. "Let's go-"
"You've been tricked, Rangers. That box is empty." I risk a glance down, only to see that for once, the monster is telling the truth.
So who the fuck is this "Doctor Hansen"? What have we been doing this whole time?
The monster raises his bladed hand at us. "Last chance. Where is the fuel cell?"
"Even if I knew, no way in hell I'd tell you," Carter spits.
"Then you five idiots can say-" The thing tilts its head, and if I didn't know any better, frowns. "Five. Fun. Until I can get the fuel cell from the Pink Ranger, this city will burn."
———
Turns out our opponent wasn't kidding. After we hop out of the Rover, we're greeted by crowds of people, all nearly collapsed due to the heat. "Let's get these people into the shade," Carter orders, and I nod, letting a businesswoman put nearly all of her weight against me, leading her to sit with her back against the wall under an awning. Kelsey rushes back to the car to grab the emergency water we keep there, and I do the same with my Street Rescue's storage.
"Here." I bend, offering the woman and the people around her bottles of ice cold water. The relief shining in her gaze is so palpable, I nearly stumble. I have an effect on these people. I save lives.
How could I even think about- The woman's gaze shifts from relief to terror, and I spin, following it and spotting a... no fucking way. "You guys ever burn ants under a magnifying glass as kids?"
Chad stands up from where he's kneeling after depositing the last civilian. "Uh... no?"
"Yeah, totally," Kelsey replies, "Why..." Her glance follows my gesturing arm, and I know for a fact her jaw's dropped upon seeing the giant magnifying lens in the sky. Then, the first fire blast rains down. "Never mind!"
"We need to lead the attack away from the civilians, let's go!" Try as we might, though, we can't outrun the fireballs. Each attack strikes closer and closer, until the last one throws us off our feet. I hit the ground hard, skidding a few feet, already knowing exactly where the strawberries will be once I demorph.
It would be so easy to lay here. To change my mind about all of this.
But then I remember the couple from the first fight, their child. The grateful woman from earlier.
"I'll see if I can find him," Chad suggests, and I note the twinkling in his helmet's visor as he surveys the rooftops. And just like earlier today, Carter steps over, offers a hand as I try to stand.
"You okay?" His tone is strained, but warm. Concerned. He may still be wondering where my heart's at, but at least I know he's still looking out for it all the same. I take his hand, letting him help me up.
"Think so-"
"Found him." Carter and I lurch apart, glaring up at where Chad's pinged for us on our city maps. "On that rooftop I marked."
Joel lets out a whistle. "Let's hope the elevator's working."
———
The elevator is not, in fact, working. But at least our visors are. In the time it takes for us to trudge up those flights of stairs, Miss Fairweather's reported back with the name of our opponent, as well as some of his potential weaknesses. "Fireor!" The thing spins, eyes widening, if only slightly. "Stop with the city. If it's us you want, here we are."
"Oh, but I'm having so much fun. Battlings!"
I'm certain that Kelsey's scowling under her mask. "Don't know if this is fun." With that, we charge. Shadowy wings outstretch towards me from every direction, so I dart around, scaling the gate in a few seconds and balancing there, firing a few lasers down. My opponents drop, and I take careful aim at Fireor as he prepares to launch another attack. A fireball forms in his hand, so that's what I hit first, before moving my arm slightly and landing a headshot.
He barely flinches, and goes to dive for the first person he sees: Joel. "Cowboy, watch-" My warning comes too late, and he's knocked over the edge of the building, back hitting the ground unceremoniously. "Shit."
"Language!" I'm pretty sure Carter just has it out for me, but I ignore the sass bubbling in my gut in favor of leaping down, landing in front of Joel.
"I'm not letting my teammate here take all the credit," I shout, "That was a pretty good shot, wasn't it?"
Fireor lets out a growl and extends its arm, and I watch as the fiery tendrils wrap into a blade once more. "Don't get arrogant, Ranger!" He charges, and I hear four more pairs of feet hit the ground behind me, ready to back me up. But even with the backup, between Fireor's hefty magic attacks and his swordsmanship... Without our sixth, we're fucked.
———
I honestly don't remember the last time I was this beat up. I'm sure that once I demorph, my bruises, cuts, burns and other wounds will be endless. But for now, I just have to focus on getting up. Protecting myself, these people, and this city. (And the world. That too.) Unfortunately, getting up gets harder and harder to do each time I'm knocked down.
Carter hits the ground hard, and unlike all the other times he has, he doesn't immediately leap to his feet. So, I do the sensible thing and step in front of him. "Alyssa." An order. Of course. "Don't."
I risk a glance over my shoulder at him. "Since when have I ever listened to you?"
Fireor laughs loud enough to hurt my eardrums (the only part of me that wasn't already hurting, if I'm honest). "You two are adorable." He lifts his palm, a fireball within it. "Too bad there'll only be one of you left-"
A laser blasts out from around a corner, striking his hand and forcing the attack to dissipate. I was wondering where our sixth was. "Learn how to count next time, dumbass."
God, I love Dana.
———
The second I get back to Aqua Base, I start a FaceTime call with Leon. And the first thing my still injured older brother does is apologize profusely. "Lee, it's not your fault," I reiterate for the seventh time in the past half hour. (Pain in my ass, really.) "Word woulda come out sooner or later."
"Wish it'd been later," he scoffs, readjusting the ice pack on his neck. He'd hurt it tackling the art thief. "How'd your team take it?" I think of Carter's attitude, the strange tension between the whole team today-
"Not well." Speaking of... "I'm sorry for what happened to you, Mr. Sakamichi," Carter apologizes, sliding into the seat next to me. Everyone else is dead asleep.
Leon narrows his eyes, leaning forward on the couch. "Mr. Sakamichi's my dad. Call me Leon."
"Well, Leon," Carter begins, "I was an asshole, earlier. I doubted your sister's allegiance to her team, to this cause."
My brother's narrowed eyes melt into a glare. "In that case, you don't know her at all."
Carter nods. "Maybe I don't. But I hope I get the chance to do so."
Leon matches him with a curt tilt of his chin. "I'm... going to go let you two sort this out. Good night, kiddo. Get rest." With that, my phone screen's back to the FaceTime launch view, and I sigh.
"Looks like it's already been sorted out." Carter turns, facing me. "You're right. You were an ass."
There's that gorgeous light in his eyes once more. "So you've decided?"
Well. He's not going to like this very much. "This decision will change my life, Carter." His face falls, and my heart sinks. "But I'm not going to make it lightly. Just promise you'll give me time."
He stands, and I immediately wish we were side-by-side again. "A month. You have a month."
Without so much as a goodnight, he heads back to his room.