Twisted
by Starhawk

*Damn blue eyes.* She could feel them watching her every move. She was starting to hate those eyes, as much as she hated the forcefield that held her captive in this tiny room.

At least, she was trying to hate them. He was a Ranger, after all, the essence of everything good and honorable--everything she was not. She wanted nothing to do with him. But every time she tried to glance scathingly in his direction, that pretty sapphire gaze would pull her in, and she would have to jerk her own eyes away.

*Stupid Ranger,* she thought disgustedly. What was he thinking to demorph like that, anyway? He could have just let the forcefield knock her unconscious, but instead he had let it hurt *him* in an effort to get her to stop.

He still loved her. She could feel it as clearly as her own scorn, and she was careful to keep the feelings separate. She knew everything he felt through this link of theirs, and as ridiculous as it was, he still cared about her. *That* was what had made him demorph and let the forcefield shock him, and it was what kept him just outside her cell now, watching her.

She frowned to herself. He should have been the easiest one of all of them to destroy, for she knew he wouldn't defend himself against her. But to her dismay, he had been right when he told her that she couldn't do it. She *couldn't* fire on him, any more than he had been able to watch her hurt herself.

She stopped pacing abruptly, turning a glare on the dark Ranger who sat slumped against the wall on the other side of the forcefield. This time she wouldn't be distracted--she was going to stare at him until she figured out what this link was, and how to stop it.

He looked up as her footsteps ceased, and she saw him blink once. Surprised and forgetting to glare, she peered more closely at him. Had he actually been--sleeping?

Only a fool would sleep in a prisoner cellblock. A fool or a prisoner, of course. But if he had been asleep, he had awoken as soon as she stopped moving, and now she couldn't tell. His eyes were as alert as always, but she couldn't help noticing the shadows that dimmed their usual brilliance--

*Damn blue eyes,* she thought again, yanking her gaze away furiously. No matter how hard she tried to hate them, she couldn't ignore the effect they had on her. All it took was one look and she found herself suppressing memories that she didn't want.

She dropped to the floor, putting her chin on her fist and staring hard at the opposite wall. There had to be some way around the obstacle that was *him*. Even assuming she could get out of here, there was no way she would be able to get past him, and she had already had it proven to her that she couldn't hurt him.

He didn't seem inclined to leave anytime soon, either. So she was stuck with a Ranger who wouldn't take his eyes off her, and a forcefield she couldn't disable from inside--

*But *he* could.* The thought caught her unaware, and she lowered her head so he wouldn't see the expression of smug delight on her face. She was going about this all wrong. Why fight him when he could help her?

Stifling a yawn, she glanced covertly in his direction. This time she caught him with his eyes closed, and she tried to make as little noise as possible as she settled back against the wall and closed her own eyes.

She would allow him to sleep thinking that she despised him. But when morning came, it would be time for a change of tactics.

***

He started awake, shaking violently as the dream images crystallized instead of fading from his conscious mind. The nightmare wrapped cold fingers around his heart, and it was with added dismay that he recognized his surroundings.

That was far from the first memory-turned-nightmare he had had of his old team, but it was the first in several weeks. The first since Cassie had told him she loved him… But Cassie had been in the dream herself, this time--the second love he had not been able to give enough of himself to, and the second love he had ultimately failed.

As with Jenna, he had let his responsibilities put barriers between the two of them. He had let his duty separate them, and though Jenna had finally beaten some sense into him, he had forgotten what she taught him and had repeated his mistakes with Cassie. *And now it's too late,* he thought miserably, staring through the forcefield at the sleeping form on the other side.

"You never knew how much you meant to me," he whispered, wishing those dream words hadn't burned themselves into his mind. "You failed us, Saryn…"

He had never told her how difficult she made it for him to stay morphed all the time, or how hard it was to leave her every morning before she woke. She hadn't known how close he had come, sometimes, to demorphing just to kiss her when she wandered through the control room at odd intervals.

"Cassie," he murmured hopelessly, remembering how happy it had made her that one time he *did* demorph when she came in. She had felt so good in his arms, and it had been harder than he had ever imagined to morph again after that.

The girl in the cell twitched a little in her sleep, muttering something he couldn't hear, and he closed his eyes. If only he *hadn't* morphed then… He couldn't help thinking things might have been different. She might not have left, might not have gone with Billy to join the fighter wing--and she might be with him now, heart and soul still those of the woman he had fallen in love with.

Another sound caught his attention, and he realized he had been dozing off again as his eyes snapped open. Cassie turned in her sleep, and he frowned as he saw her shiver. The Aquitian climate always felt a little cool to him, but she had never complained.

*She's sleeping,* his mind reasoned. *Not generating enough heat anymore…*

His mind knew that this wasn't Cassie, that for all intents and purposes it was someone else's personality inhabiting her body. But his heart still refused to believe it, and he found himself climbing slowly to his feet and walking over to the forcefield controls.

His hand hesitated over the control panel, but she was obviously asleep. He deactivated the forcefield and knelt down at her side, pulling off the overshirt he had been wearing on top of his tunic. With trembling hands, he laid it over her upper body, trying not to disturb her.

She moved a little, and his eyes went wide as she murmured his name. "Cassie?" he whispered, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

His hand froze as he realized what he was doing, and he squeezed his eyes shut. *It isn't Cassie!* his mind shouted at him. He *knew* that--and yet, as long as he could see her, she would never be truly dead to him. And worse, he knew he would never stop caring about this person who *wasn't* her anymore…

He tried to force his hand away from her, but his eyes opened involuntarily as she shifted yet again. She couldn't seem to stay still--but this time, her movement dislodged her loose hair enough that his gaze caught on a tiny metal disc just beneath her right ear.

He leaned forward, touching the metal dot gingerly, and he felt her jerk awake. Rolling away, she came up in a sitting position and glared at him suspiciously. Cassie never came awake that quickly, and he thought suddenly that she might not have been as asleep as she had seemed a moment ago.

Her hand went to the miniature disc on her neck, and her eyes narrowed at him. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," he said softly, wishing the anger and suspicion in her expression didn't hurt so much. *It isn't Cassie,* his mind reminded him again, and he was torn between belief and denial. It *wasn't* Cassie, but to admit that to himself would be to admit that she was gone forever…

"Then what's this?" she demanded.

He shook his head. "I don't--I don't know. I think…" He hesitated, remembering something the healer had said about monitoring her brain waves. "I think the Aquitians put it there."

She reached up to touch it, and he saw her wince. "Stupid thing shocked me," she muttered under her breath. She reached up again, and this time he heard the tiny zap of electricity. She yelped, glaring at him as though it was his fault. But when she reached for it a third time, obviously determined to get rid of it no matter how much it hurt, he made an involuntary movement forward.

"No," he said urgently, then stopped, knowing she had no reason to listen to him.

She just looked at him, her glare gone. "I want it off," she said matter-of-factly. "I don't particularly care what it takes."

He swallowed, not wanting to know how far she would go. "Then--" His voice dropped to a near-whisper as he said, "Let me."

She showed no sign of surprise, only continued to look at him a moment longer. Finally, she gave a short nod and turned sideways, pulling her hair away from her neck.

Moving closer, he stared at the minuscule device, trying to find any kind of deactivation sequence. But it seemed to have none, and the longer he looked at it, the more he saw only the gentle curve of her neck. His fingers trembled as he lifted his hand, and he hoped fervently that she wouldn't recognize his hesitation--or its cause.

It didn't shock him when he tugged at it, and it came off with little resistance. She turned her head, trying to see the device he held in his hand, and he froze, knowing he should pull away but unable to make his body respond.

Her eyes flickered to his, and with their faces only centimeters apart he could see exactly when she realized what was on his mind. She didn't move, and he fought the overwhelming urge to lean just a little forward and kiss her, just once…

He wondered if she was closer than she had been a second before, and then her lips were sweet against his and nothing else in the universe mattered. For one blissful moment, Cassie was his again, and he would have done absolutely anything to keep her.

Then that nagging voice was back. *It isn't Cassie!* the voice insisted belligerently, as it had been doing ever since he woke up. He tried to ignore it, but it was too late--he found himself scrambling back, unable to meet her eyes and trying desperately to make his heart stop pounding so hard.

He saw her withdraw as well, pulling her knees up to her chest. "Stupid memories," he heard her whisper.

"But they're not," he pleaded quietly, feeling a flicker of hope. "They're who you *are*, Cassie; they're not stupid. Please… can't you listen to those memories?"

"I'm trying not to," she muttered.

"Why *not*?" he whispered. "I need you, Cassie…"

"No," she said through clenched teeth. "You need *her*."

He could feel the faintest whisper of sorrow through their link, and he leaned a little forward. "You *are* her--you can be. Remember who you are, Cassie, please…"

"I--" She stopped, glancing up at him from underneath her eyelashes. "It isn't that simple," she said at last. He thought he saw a pale green glow flare in her eyes, but it was gone too quickly for him to be sure.

"Even if I could, somehow, be her…" She stared down at the ground. After a moment, she murmured, "I'll never know. They'll kill me, you know."

His heart clenched, and he stared at her in shock. "The Aquitians?" he choked. "No…" Aquitar had not executed anyone in more than a century. They wouldn't start with a Ranger.

"Them, or your friends," she said softly. "I'm evil. They have to get rid of me somehow. Do you think they're going to keep me here forever?"

He shook his head wordlessly. Of course she couldn't stay here--but to actually… kill her? He could barely even think the word. She couldn't die. She just couldn't--he didn't care who she was now, she had once been Cassie. And he couldn't let anything happen to her.

He got to his feet slowly, his mind racing. He looked around the room, realizing only then that the forcefield had been down this whole time. She had done nothing to try to escape. And she had all of Cassie's memories…

He reached for the ruby that hung around his neck, and the flash of fear on her face tore at his heart. "It's all right," he murmured, as his armor faded into place around him.

Not looking at her, he drew his blaster and stared down at it for a moment. If he did this, he was turning his back on everything he had ever believed. But if he didn't… the price would surely haunt him for the rest of his life.

He lifted his weapon and blasted the security camera in her cell to pieces. From where he stood, he couldn't quite get the one by the entry chamber, and he stepped forward, turning and firing in one smooth motion.

Behind him, Cassie was still crouched on the floor, her eyes wide as she gazed at him. "Come on," he said roughly, holding out his hand.

She took it immediately and scrambled to her feet, still staring at him. "Demorph," she ordered suddenly, and he frowned warily.

"Why--"

She didn't let him finish the sentence. He saw her move, knew what she was going for, and with anyone else he would have been prepared. But his reflexes didn't function properly when it came to her, and she grabbed his ruby before he could think.

As the datafeed from his visor was replaced by his own vision once more, he felt her press her body close and crush her lips against his. He couldn't think, he couldn't question; all he knew was the pounding of his heart and the irresistible feel of *Cassie*.

Then she pulled away, whispering "Thank you," and placed the crimson stone back in his hand. He curled his fingers around it automatically, but what he really wanted to do was to reach for her again and never let her go.

"Let's go," she murmured impatiently, and he was once more hit with the realization that this was not the person he wanted so much to believe it was. But he remembered her hesitation earlier, and he knew that if there was the slightest chance she might ever be that person again, he had to help her.

Slipping the gold chain back over his head, he morphed again. This time he was grateful for the armor, for it distanced him from her touch enough that he could concentrate. Letting the door scanners verify his own Power source, he reprogrammed them to allow her to pass, and he nodded to her when he was done.

She stepped through hesitantly, looking a little surprised when the forcefield didn't protest. He followed, taking her morpher from the table and gesturing her toward the next forcefield. He "reprogrammed" that one as well, glad he had had time to learn his way around Aquitian computer systems--but he grabbed her arm before she could step through.

"There are more cameras in the hallway," he said quietly.

"So blast them," she whispered back.

"That will only give anyone who is looking a trail to follow," he pointed out, trying to overlook the callous tone of her voice.

"You have a better idea?" she asked skeptically.

Through his visor's datafeed, he saw her eyes widen as his cloak powered up. "But I can't--"

He held out his hand, knowing she would be aware of the gesture whether she could see it or not. Sure enough, her hand found his without effort, and she gasped as light started to bend around her. Jerking her hand back, she whispered indignantly, "I can't see that way!"

"That's the way it works," he replied. "You are invisible--you neither reflect nor absorb visible light. As a consequence, your eyes perceive nothing."

"But *you* can see," she said, looking a little suspicious.

"My visor can pick up light in different parts of the spectrum," he told her, still holding out his hand. "You--" He gazed steadily at her. "You will have to trust me."

She stared at him for a moment. "Give me my morpher, then," she said at last. "Trust for trust."

He hesitated. But he had no intention of letting her out of his sight, and he thought he could stop her if she seemed about to try something foolish. Without a word, he passed the Pink astromorpher to her, and she fastened it around her wrist.

She nodded to him and took his hand once again. He saw her square her shoulders as visible light started to ignore her once more, and he felt an involuntary flash of admiration for her courage. He suppressed it as best he could and stepped forward, tugging gently on her hand to make her follow.

***

She hated this. She hated it; hated having to trust him, and worse, she hated the fact that she *did* trust him. No matter how much her mind told her not to, her instincts kept remembering all those dozens of times she had counted on him and had not been let down. Even when she could suppress the memories, the feelings were still there, and it was getting harder to separate them from his.

Especially in this absolute darkness. There was no light, nothing to *see*, only the impression of movement as she followed him blindly through the Aquitian command center. They were surrounded by an eerie silence, as though her hearing had stopped working along with her vision, and all she had for company was his hand wrapped around hers and the feeling of him in her mind.

*Damn blue eyes,* she thought half-heartedly, knowing it wasn't his eyes that had talked her into this. She had agreed of her own accord--because she had nothing to lose. Wherever he was leading her, it had to be better than that cell, and as soon as she could see again she would be able to assess the situation for herself.

The comforting weight of her morpher rested on her left wrist, and she smiled a little. He had no idea what a mistake that had been. "Trust for trust" she had told him, but he had obviously not stopped to think. She *had* to trust him; there was no choice involved. It was that or imprisonment. But he had willingly relinquished the one device that would guarantee her escape…

She twisted her arm a little, satisfying herself that it was still there. No matter what happened, she would not be going back to the cellblock. She could teleport now at any time, take a starfighter and be gone before anyone could catch her.

Instead she waited, more secure with the knowledge that she would not be a prisoner again, to see where this Ranger would take her. On her own, she would have to evade Aquitians in both the launch bay and in the atmosphere above their planet, and she knew unconsciously that she would have a better chance with him there to run interference for her.

She felt his pace slow, and he tugged her a little to the side. She thought at first that they were getting out of the way of passersby in the hallway, but then the world faded back into view around her.

They were just around a corner from what must be the hallway they had been traversing moments before, and he was standing between her and the main corridor. As she blinked, readjusting to her vision again, he stepped back, his visor turning toward her. "Are you all right?" he asked quietly.

She nodded, puzzled as to why he'd stopped. "Where are we going?"

"The launch bay," he answered. "Teleporting will trigger an alert in the control room."

She tried not to roll her eyes. Why was he trying to be so subtle? "So?" she demanded.

"The longer it takes them to realize you are gone--" He broke off abruptly, stiffening. She tensed too, glancing toward the empty hallway.

"Cestria is signaling me," he murmured. She watched him warily, ready to reach for her morpher if she needed to. Instead, he shook his head and grabbed her hand, his cloak sliding into place around the two of them. "She wants you--come on."

She tried to wrench her hand away, but his grip was too strong. "No!" she protested, bracing herself to fight if she had to. "Saryn--"

The darkness disappeared, and she saw his head whip around. She stumbled a little as he let go of her, falling back against the wall and feeling his shock slip through her mind. She tried frantically to push it away, to concentrate only on escape, but he was in every thought she had and she couldn't get him out of her mind--

"Cassie?" His whisper barely reached her ears, but the sound of her name on his lips brought the walls crumbling down, and she saw a flicker of light as he demorphed. She almost threw herself at him, wanting his kiss more than anything in the world.

*NO!* She struggled violently against the tide of emotions that threatened to tear her mind apart. That was *his* surprise at the sound of *his* name, *his* longing for her that was burying all her other thoughts.

*He is a *Ranger*,* she thought viciously, reminding herself of everything she hated about him. *He is *nothing* but a lovesick fool, who can't see past his own feelings!* "Get out of my head," she hissed, trying to hold onto her disgust.

He flinched back, and she did her best to ignore his hurt. His presence was fading a little, back to more manageable levels, and she resolved to think about what she was calling him next time. As she calmed down, she knew she had to fix this somehow.

"I… I can't think," she whispered, putting her hands against her temples and trying to sound as confused as possible. She pouted a little, and she saw his expression soften. "Is it--you feeling this, or--or me?"

"Maybe it's both," he replied softly, and it was all she could do to keep a smug smile off her face. He was unbelievable. He was falling for it as readily as he had before--she could tell him the world had turned upside-down and he might believe it.

Then he winced, reaching for his ruby again. "Cestria again," he muttered. "We have to go."

This time she understood. He wasn't taking her *to* the Aquitians, he was trying to avoid them. She put her hand in his without question and let him lead her into the darkness.

***

Twin streaks of silver and yellow appeared in the control room, and Zhane strode over to where Cetaci stood by the comm console. "What do you mean, she escaped?" he demanded. "How do you escape from a containment cell?"

"With help," Billy interrupted, pointing at something on the console in front of him.

Cetaci glanced at Zhane, and he backed up enough to let her join Billy. "The cameras in the containment area were destroyed," Billy said. "But they're set up to feed all of their data into a secondary storage system as they record, so that in the event they *are* destroyed we can still retrieve the information."

Zhane peered over his shoulder, and Billy stepped slightly to one side to let him see. A video readout had been called up on the small monitor built into the console, and it clearly showed Saryn firing on the camera a split-second before it went black.

"He… broke her out?" Ashley murmured from behind them, and Zhane turned instinctively. His heart went out to her at the lost look on her face and he found himself torn between sympathy for her confusion, and anger at Saryn for making everything more complicated than it had already been.

Cetaci cocked her head at the colloquialism, but Billy nodded. "It looks that way," he agreed.

"And there's no way of tracking them?" Zhane couldn't believe they could just vanish like that.

"Cassie was wearing a medical tag," Billy offered. "But according to the medical bay, it's still in the containment area."

"And the command center scanners detect no life forms there," Cetaci said, as though they needed to have the obvious reiterated. "Clearly, Phantom removed it and left it there."

"Wait," Ashley said quietly, her tone bewildered. "Isn't anyone surprised? Why would--Phantom do that?"

Billy glanced at Cetaci, then motioned Ashley over to the monitor he had been using. He rewound the camera's video output, then let it play without a word. Zhane watched too, and saw Saryn lower the forcefield and kneel at Cassie's side. The images blurred briefly as Billy sped through what was probably only a couple of minutes, and suddenly Cassie was kissing Saryn. He wasn't doing anything to stop her, and when the readout skipped forward once more, he got to his feet and drew his blaster, aiming at the camera.

"We should have known he could not be trusted," Cetaci muttered under her breath.

Zhane was inclined to agree, but Billy did not look convinced. "It's not entirely his fault," he argued, punching a sequence of commands into the console. "They *are* empathically bound--she's influencing him to some degree, probably without him knowing it."

A gasp from behind them stole Zhane's attention again, and he turned to see Ashley looking suddenly pale. "What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"Are you *sure* you can't hear that?" she whispered, looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Andros?" he murmured, reaching out to take her elbow. She nodded wordlessly as he guided her over to a chair. "No," he answered quietly, troubled. "I'm sorry, Ash; I can't."

"Of course!" he heard Billy exclaim. "Where else would they go?"

At the same time, Cetaci said, "They *are* still in the command center dome."

"What's going on?" Zhane demanded.

"I'm tracking Phantom's ruby," Billy answered. "Anything that gives off that much Power is bound to be traceable, same as our morphers. It's three levels up, moving toward the diver launch bays."

"I am bringing up a visual of the location now," Cetaci said, fingers flying across the console.

Zhane looked automatically toward the monitor, where an image did appear--of a completely deserted hallway. "Invisible," Billy muttered. "Cestria?"

Off to one side, the Yellow Aquitian Ranger was seated by an auxiliary console, watching them work with a far-off look in her eyes. "I've *been* trying," she answered softly. "He won't acknowledge anything I say."

"Can Cassie be with him, if he is invisible?" Cetaci asked, glancing from one to the other.

Billy shrugged, and Cestria shook her head. "I do not know," she admitted. "But he is hiding *something*."

"We will have to go after him," Cetaci said, straightening up from her console. "Billy, with me. Cestria, notify the other Rangers of the situation."

"I'm coming with you," Zhane said, putting a hand on Ashley's shoulder. "Wait here, all right?" he asked gently.

She nodded mutely, and he joined Cetaci and Billy. Before he could ask for the coordinates, Billy reached out to tap the console, and the world flared silver as the glow of computer-guided teleportation enveloped him.

The reappeared in an apparently empty corridor, and Cetaci stepped forward. "Phantom," she called urgently, but there was no answer.

She glanced at Billy, and he nodded. "Intruder protocol level three, initiate," he ordered, and Zhane saw a forcefield snap into place at the end of the hallway. Glancing over his shoulder, he could just make out the shimmering outline of a similar field behind them.

For a moment, nothing happened, and he wondered if Phantom had moved faster than they had anticipated. The seconds stretched out as he strained his eyes for some hint of motion from the other end of the corridor.

Then Cassie was there, Phantom's weapon in her hand as she sited down the barrel toward them. "Down!" Cetaci shouted, pushing Billy out of the way as she dove for the floor. Zhane threw himself in the other direction, seeing Phantom fade into existence at Cassie's side out of the corner of his eye.

The armored Ranger grabbed for her arm and the shot went wide, hitting the forcefield at the other end of the hall and dissipating harmlessly into the power grid. "White Aquitar Ranger power!" Cetaci yelled from the floor, and a brilliant light flashed around her form.

Zhane fumbled for his digimorpher, realizing with dismay that it was still in Andros's room on the Megaship. In his distress he had left it there this morning, and it had never occurred to him since to go back for it

"Zhane!" Billy gestured to him from the other side of the hall, even as Cetaci rolled to her feet and drew her own weapon. He scrambled across the hall, ducking instinctively as a shot hit the ceiling nearly overhead.

"Disable the safety on that before Cetaci uses her blaster," Billy ordered, tossing an Aquitian stunner in his direction.

Zhane did as he was told, not asking what Billy was doing to the wall. "Cetaci!" Billy shouted, seeing Zhane hold up the stunner. "Catch!"

Zhane tossed it in her direction, and the White Ranger turned enough to snatch it out of the air. She turned back toward the struggle taking place at the other end of the hall, lifting the stunner and firing just as Phantom jerked the blaster out of Cassie's grasp, making her stumble backward a step.

"No!" Cassie yelled, as Cetaci fired. Zhane wasn't quite sure what happened next--whether Cassie tripped, or went for Phantom out of revenge--but he knew that Cetaci's shot would have hit the wrong target if Cassie hadn't lunged back into the line of fire.

Phantom's arms went around her as she slumped against him, and he lifted his head to stare down the hall at them. His gaze seemed somehow accusatory as the ripples of his invisibility cloak started to surround the two of them once more, and as their forms became transparent Zhane thought he saw Phantom lift Cassie and start to turn away.

Then they were gone, and Cetaci stepped involuntarily forward before catching herself. "Billy?" she asked, shooting a glance in his direction.

A soft sigh was the only sign of frustration from the Blue Ranger. "I've got it now, but he had plenty of time to teleport out. I couldn't get the locks into place quickly enough."

Cetaci hesitated, then said, "Cestria has sealed the launch bays. But if they teleported out of the command center dome entirely…"

"We should be able to find them from the control room," Billy said, climbing to his feet and offering Zhane a hand.

Cetaci nodded. "Let's go."

As she disappeared into white light, Billy teleported both of them back to the control room. Delphinius had joined Cestria, but Aura was nowhere to be seen. Glancing around, Zhane frowned suddenly. "Where's Ashley?" he wanted to know.

"She returned to the Astro Megaship," Cestria said over her shoulder. "She seemed quite distressed, and I thought it wiser to let her go."

"Yeah," Zhane said, worried. "Thanks, Cestria."

"Orbital Station two reports an unscheduled launch," Delphinius said suddenly, and Cetaci was suddenly at his side.

Peering over his shoulder, she ordered, "Open a comm link with that ship."

Delphinius nodded, his fingers playing across the comm console, but a moment later he reported, "There is no response."

"Wait," Zhane said suddenly, feeling rather foolish for not thinking of this before. What, after all, was the one thing that would get Phantom to turn around? "Cestria, can you make Phantom hear you?"

She hesitated. "Yes," she said at last, glancing at Cetaci. "But--"

Zhane didn't wait for her to finish. "Then tell him we can help Cassie. Tell him we can make her good again without losing the person she was."

Cestria's eyes widened, as though something so simple as telling him *why* they wanted Cassie had never occurred to her. Her gaze lost its focus, and within seconds Delphinius announced, "Incoming transmission."

Without being told--at least not that Zhane could hear--the Black Ranger opened a link and switched the transmission over to the main screen. Phantom stared out at them as Zhane turned, his voice expressionless as he said, "Cestria tells me you can help Cassie."

Zhane nodded, feeling Cetaci move forward to stand at his side. It was up to him to explain, though, and he knew it. He knew, too, that Phantom might not entirely approve of this plan, and he tried to come up with some way to word what he had in mind.

"Not all sorcerers who know evil magic would be unwilling to help a Ranger," he said finally. "One who had reformed, for example…"

Phantom tilted his head, looking at something out of range of the visual pickup. "And you know of someone like this."

Zhane nodded, knowing he was stretching the truth but equally aware that Phantom was perfectly capable of vanishing from all scanners with Cassie, never to be seen again, if he wasn't stopped. "Yes."

For a moment, Phantom did not respond, apparently considering that. Then at last, he seemed to look directly at the screen behind his visor. "If you are lying," he said calmly, his voice quiet, "I will make certain you regret it."

Zhane's eyes widened, but the comm link cut off before he could retort. **I'll* regret it?* he fumed. *I'm not the one who let someone so obviously evil out of her cell just because she kissed me!*

"He is not himself," Cestria observed quietly, but Zhane couldn't tell if the comment was directed at him or just at the room in general.

"Oh, I don't know," he couldn't help muttering. "Sounded like himself to me."

The control room was silent until Delphinius announced, "Orbital Station two is accepting the ship's return."

Zhane reached for the old Earth communicator on his wrist, trying not to remember the time Andros had given it to him. "DECA, one to teleport."

He realized as the Megaship's Bridge reappeared around him that he had not even said goodbye, but he couldn't very well change that now. They were Rangers--they would understand.

A dark crimson flash announced Phantom's arrival, cradling Cassie in his arms, and Zhane put the Aquitians out of his mind as he headed for the pilot's station. He ignored the other Ranger deliberately, setting the course without a word. He spared a thought for Ashley, probably down in Andros's room again, but there was nothing she could do here that he couldn't do himself.

*She needs the time to herself,* he thought, hearing Phantom moving about behind him. *I certainly wasn't helping her. Maybe she can figure some of this out on her own…* He hoped fervently that if she did, she would tell him how.

Shoving the engine controls forward, he tried to keep his focus on Earth--the person they were to meet there, and the teammate she would hopefully help. But he couldn't help thinking that the rain of stars streaking across the screen looked a little too much like tears for comfort.