Carlos' startled exclamation echoed the only word TJ was capable of uttering, so he said nothing as "the Phantom Ranger" reached for Saryn's ruby. In a flicker of light the armor dissolved, and Cassie stood before them in jeans shorts and a pink t-shirt.

She ignored their confusion, taking Saryn's hand in hers and wrapping his fingers around the ruby. "Come on, Saryn..." Her whisper was audible to the entire room, but her concerned gaze was only for him.

TJ swallowed his own questions and watched intently as a faint crimson glow seemed to flare through Saryn's fingers. The dark-haired Ranger didn't stir, but his eyes opened slowly--not squinting, but not focusing on anything yet either--until Cassie lifted their joined hands and hugged them close to her chest.

Saryn turned his head in her direction, and TJ thought he sighed a little. "Cassie," he murmured, and she smiled.

"Stop doing this to me," she scolded gently. "What is it with the dying every other week?"

Saryn actually smiled faintly. As he struggled to sit up, Cassie rolled her eyes but went to help him anyway. "I will endeavor not to cause you so much trouble in the future," he told her, as she put a supporting arm around him and sat down beside him.

"You do that," she replied. "I can't keep rescuing you, you know. It's bad for the Phantom Ranger's image."

He gave her an odd look at that, and seemed to hesitate before answering. Just as TJ was about to jump in, Saryn said at last, "I think not. Unless I am gravely mistaken, you have taken care of that."

Cassie flushed, shooting a guilty look around the room. TJ took that as his cue. "You're not mistaken--want to tell us how long you've been the Phantom Ranger, Cassie?"

"Just since this morning," she muttered. "Honest. Kerone brought the ruby back from Ecliptor, and... it seemed like the best way to protect Saryn's identity."

"The cameras in the holding cells," Kerone said, her tone one of satisfaction and approval. "They showed the Phantom Ranger coming to rescue Saryn of Elisia--no one will know what to make of that."

Cassie shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. "I'm hoping they *will* know what to make of it--that Saryn isn't the Phantom Ranger, and Phantom's identity is still a mystery."

"But they saw me demorph," Saryn protested.

"*Quantrons* saw you demorph," Kerone corrected. "Quantrons are easily fooled. No one will be able to dispute the evidence provided by the battleship's security cameras."

TJ hoped this wasn't going to sound as offensive as he thought it might. "I hate to say this, but--was it really that big of a deal?"

As soon as the words were out, he winced. It sounded just as bad out loud as it had in his head. "I mean," he hurried to add, "I know you don't want anyone to know who you are, Saryn. I swore I wouldn't tell, and I won't--but why is it so important?"

Saryn looked away. Cassie grimaced in TJ's direction, and he tried not to sigh. *Excuse me for not being able to read his mind,* he thought, in the privacy of his own mind. *Unlike other people I could mention.*

It was Billy who broke the silence. "Eltarans are... valuable hostages," he said, giving Saryn a quick look. "Eltare was the center of the League for hundreds of years, and its people wielded a tremendous amount of influence. And more than any other planet, it needed the appearance of strength and invincibility as a counter to the forces of evil.

"It's like on Earth," the Blue Aquitian Ranger explained, seeing their bewildered expressions. "If a US citizen is taken prisoner by another country, the United States will take extreme measures to get them back--because it can't afford to be seen as too weak to protect its own.

"Eltare was the same way, only more so. To have an Eltaran prisoner was to show that, in some way, you were stronger than the strongest force in the League. I think there were only two Eltarans ever *taken* prisoner by evil, and both were rescued by massive retaliatory strikes."

Saryn shifted on the patient bed, still staring toward the windows that lined one side of the Medical bay. "We were strong together," he muttered. "Alone, any of us is as vulnerable as any other League member."

Billy nodded. "Eltare's reputation didn't fade with its fall. Saryn fights alone often enough to make him an easy target, if anyone knew who the Phantom Ranger really was."

TJ glanced around at the others, wondering if he was the only one who had missed a vital part of this explanation. He felt like he was standing here, taking in every word of a story about someone else entirely. "But Saryn *isn't* Eltaran," he said finally.

The statement was greeted by nothing but silence, and he raised an eyebrow in Saryn's direction. "Are you?"

Saryn swallowed, but didn't answer. Cassie kept her eyes downcast, and none of the Aquitians seemed inclined to answer for him. TJ tried not to roll his eyes. *A simple "yes" or "no" would be enough,* he thought, but managed not to say it aloud.

"Elisia was *of* Eltare," Saryn said at last, his voice even. "It was the first colony ever established by Eltaran... empaths."

TJ caught Ashley's eye, and she shrugged minutely. He couldn't help feeling relieved that he wasn't the only one not understanding. *In other words, "yes",* he told himself. *That's all I was asking.*

He wasn't sure if the beep of the Astro Rangers' communicators made the situation more or less tense, but he was grateful for the distraction. Andros didn't even bother to separate himself from the Aquitians before touching his communicator. "What is it, DECA?"

"Two Barox are on an intercept course with Earth," the computer replied, her calm inflection at odds with the news she presented.

"We'll be right there," Andros said, dropping his wrist and gathering up his teammates with a glance.

"The Barox again," Aura commented, as they caught each other's eye. "Their increasing numbers trouble me."

"Join the club," Carlos told her wryly, as TJ reached for his morpher. "These two are the second pair we've seen this week."

"You're not coming," Cassie said firmly, her voice making the entire team hesitate.

Saryn was getting to his feet at her side, clearly intending to follow them to the Megaship. "I will come," he said, as though he hadn't heard her.

"You won't," she repeated. "You just got your ruby back after twelve hours without it--you're not up to combat."

"I have been without it for longer periods," he said calmly. "I'm coming."

"We don't have time for this," Andros broke in. "Saryn, you're coming--let's go."

A smart move on Andros' part, TJ thought with amusement, since Saryn was obviously determined to join them no matter what anyone said. But Cassie paused again, glancing at Cestria. "Tell Linnse," she said quickly. "She should know he's all right."

"She'll be notified," Cestria agreed, and Andros motioned impatiently.

Cassie reached for her morpher as he did, and the rest of the team followed suit. Sapphire swirled around TJ, dropping him onto the Megaship's Bridge and leaving him feeling more alert for the Power's brief manifestation.

The return journey to Earth was a tense one, for DECA informed them that the Barox would arrive at their planet almost a full minute ahead of the Astro team. *We can't keep counting on the Megaship to get us back in time,* TJ thought, knowing it was on everyone's mind. With Dark Spectre's forces in their galaxy, they had to start being more careful.

"The Barox have reached Earth," DECA announced finally, and the seconds until the Megaship dropped out of hyperspace ticked by agonizingly slowly.

Finally the ethereal patterns of hyperrush faded from the main screen, and the stars flickered into view as the Megaship dove towards Earth. "DECA, locate the Barox," Andros snapped.

"The Barox have teleported offship already," Ashley said, before DECA could reply. "They're in Angel Grove."

"Surprise, surprise," TJ heard Carlos mutter.

Andros was already on his feet. "Where?"

"The lake," Ashley answered, doing something to her console.

TJ almost swore. The lake. They had planned to meet at the lake later that morning, just before lunch. Tessa and Karen were supposed to be there too--and it would be just like Tessa to arrive early.

Then Ashley stood too, and TJ wasted no time in going for his morpher. They wouldn't be gliding, not with Kerone and Saryn with them, so he punched in the morphing code without hesitation. He saw holographic gold flashing across the Bridge before blue light flared around him, and his morpher, preprogrammed with the lake coordinates, took him immediately to the lakeshore.

"Andros! Get down!"

TJ would never understand how the Kerovan Rangers seemed to get everywhere faster than the others, but he saw Andros diving out of the way of a Barox fireball even as the world reformed around him. Zhane already had his Super Silverizer out, and was bombarding the Barox with a hail of energy blasts.

*Tessa...* TJ spun, trying to find the other Barox or his girlfriend, whichever appeared first.

"Star Slinger!"

He drew his Astro blaster, hearing Ashley yell for her weapon and turning automatically in that direction. There was the second Barox, squaring off against Ashley and Cassie, and for a split-second TJ felt relief that Tessa hadn't come early after all.

Then he saw her, sunlight on her flyaway blond hair as she stared at the battle in stunned amazement from the water's edge--not six meters from where the second Barox stood.

"Galaxy Glider--hang ten!" His Glider was there in less time than it took to call it, and TJ leapt onto it and swept toward Tessa without a thought. She saw him coming and her eyes, if it was possible, got even wider as he reached down and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"You shouldn't be here," he told her, holding her tightly as the Glider swerved away from the fight and zipped a little ways down the shore.

"It's a free beach!" she answered--indignant, if a little breathless, and he would have smiled if he wasn't so worried.

"Stay here," he said, setting her down gently on the sand.

Shaking her hair out of her face, she nodded quickly. He was already turning away when he heard, "Thanks, T--Blue Ranger."

His head whipped around, and he stared at her. "What did you say?"

She gave him her most innocent look. "Nothing..." Then her green eyes widened again, and she yelped, "Behind you!"

He threw himself out of the way without question, hitting the sand and hearing a detonation far too close behind him. One of the Barox had somehow gotten across the beach in seconds, without him even noticing, and a fireball had exploded on the ground where TJ's Glider had been a moment before.

He looked for Tessa first, found her safe as he scrambled to his feet. "Astro Axe!" The roar of Zhane's Silver Cycle almost drowned out TJ's cry, but the Power didn't care. His weapon appeared on his hand, and Zhane's Cycle sprayed sand in all directions as it slid to a halt behind the Barox.

TJ almost laughed as *Astronema* climbed off the bike behind Zhane. Kerone had very nicely solved a problem he hadn't even thought of--how to hide her identity without a Ranger uniform to disappear behind. Although how they were going to explain why the former villainess was now working with the Rangers, he had no idea.

There was no time to wonder, however--he could keep the Barox from firing again, for a time. But his Axe was meant for delivering the final blows, not taking out an enemy all by itself, and when Zhane yelled for him to move, he *moved*.

Conveniently, he moved in Tessa's direction. He didn't want to draw the Barox's attention to her, but he also didn't want to leave her undefended, and she seemed perfectly willing to remain still and inconspicuous at his side.

Astronema, wrath staff in hand, was anything but--both her staff and Zhane's Silverizer worked over long distances, and they had gone in different directions while TJ distracted the Barox. They were at an angle to each other now, catching the Barox in a deadly crossfire with every shot they let loose.

The Barox wouldn't go without a fight, of course, and TJ stared as a fireball meant for Zhane simply disappeared before it could reach him. No more than a foot away from the Silver Ranger, the fire exploded into an apparently harmless flash of purple energy, dissipating before it even touched Zhane's uniform.

The Barox stumbled, and Astronema's wrath staff crackled with energy as Zhane's Silverizer shifted to blade mode. Leaping forward, the Silver Ranger slashed the Barox across its chest. The air seemed to ripple and distort as the alien bounty hunter fell to its knees, and Zhane spun away as the Barox exploded behind him.

Another luminescent flare caught TJ's eye from farther down the beach, where the other Barox was still on its feet. Andros, Ashley, and Carlos had it surrounded, but the brilliant light wasn't coming from any of them. Instead, the glow burst away from Cassie and Saryn, enveloping the second Barox in a massive flash of heat and flame.

There was nothing left of the hunter when the air cleared, and TJ saw Zhane and Astronema exchange glances. "What was *that*?" he could hear Zhane mutter, but there was no answer.

"Are you all right?" TJ asked, suddenly remembering the girl at his side.

"Yeah," she assured him, tearing her eyes away from the scene she had been watching with as much interest as he. "I'm fine. You'd better get going--your teammates are waiting."

Actually, Zhane and Astronema didn't seem concerned with him at all, but it gave him the perfect way out. "Sorry," he said, though as the Blue Ranger he knew he had nothing to apologize for.

It was her stammer earlier that was bothering him. As TJ, he would have a *lot* of explaining to do if her hesitation had been what he thought it was. He barely kept from promising to "see you soon"--she only nodded to him, and lifted her hand a little as he left to join the others.

***

"What *was* that?" Carlos demanded, even as the afterimage of the explosion faded from Cassie's vision.

"Are you okay?" Andros added immediately.

She turned a concerned look on Saryn, who had not moved since the explosion. He still clasped her hand, but there was no way she could see his expression behind his visor. "*Are* you okay?" she asked, worried. As Cestria had pointed out, using their combined Power could only be expected to drain him.

But he tilted his head toward her at the sound of her voice, and asked calmly, "Are *you*?"

They stared at each other for a long moment, until Ashley threw up her hands in disgust. "Well, someone answer the question!"

The hum of Zhane's Cycle overrode any possible answer, and TJ's Glider drew even with the group at exactly the same time. "Can we get out of here?" he asked, without preamble. "I need to talk to Tessa."

"She's right there," Zhane said, gesturing over his shoulder.

TJ threw an irritated look in his direction, taking the attempt at humor more seriously than it had been intended. "Unmorphed. And I'm not demorphing here."

"Let's go," Andros agreed, reaching for his morpher.

As the other Rangers vanished into a rain of sparkles, and Astronema into her shimmering violet silhouette, Cassie shot another uneasy look at Saryn. "You didn't answer the question," she said quietly.

"Neither did you," he said, amusement in his tone. "We should go; they'll wonder what happened to us."

She squeezed his fingers, trying to keep her worry--and her temper--under control. "I'm all right. Are you?"

He just looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "I am."

She tried not to sigh. He was hiding something, but he was also right--the others would wonder, and they couldn't just stand here at the lake morphed for the rest of the morning. "Let's go," she said, resigned to his silence for now, but vowing to figure it out later.

The world went crimson before she could touch her morpher, and her eyes widened as the Megaship's Bridge appeared around them. *Crimson...* His teleportation was subtly more red every time she saw it. What if *that* was part of the problem--

"There you are," Andros said, oblivious to her musing. "What happened down there?"

TJ was already gone, she noted distractedly. The others remained, though--Astronema was once more an innocent looking blonde teenager, and the Rangers had demorphed. Cassie let go of Saryn's hand to fling her arms out to the side, following their example. "Power down!"

Saryn, to her surprise, did not. It only worried her further, but when he volunteered an answer to Andros' question, she couldn't interrupt.

"Cassie and I have the ability to share Power," he said, as though it was nothing out of the ordinary. "We seem to have been able to combine it in this instance into a force greater than either of our weapons alone."

" 'Seem to'?" Carlos repeated. "You didn't know that was going to happen?"

Saryn turned his head, and Cassie glanced back at him. It was disconcerting to be staring at his visor, and she had to fight not to snatch his ruby away from him impatiently. It was childish, but she couldn't help feeling that he was once again hiding from her.

"No," she said at last, when he didn't answer. "I still don't know *what* happened. Your guess is as good as ours."

"But you did *something*," Andros insisted, and she tried not to sigh.

"We did what we had to. We didn't plan it, it just... happened." *Like saving him after the detonator exploded on Aquitar,* she thought, shooting another glance in his direction. It scared her sometimes that these things just seemed to *happen* around him, unpredictable and uncontrollable.

"Well, it's a good thing it did," Ashley put in. "We were having a hard enough time just containing that Barox, let alone destroying it."

"Who got the other one?" Cassie asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Zhane and Kerone," Carlos told her, and Ashley nodded.

"The power of magic," Zhane informed them lightly, and Cassie studied him more closely. He and Kerone weren't standing *too* close, but there was something about the way he leaned on the console beside her--leaning toward her, rather than away. And she smiled faintly at his words... an inside joke?

"The power of hunger," Ashley corrected, when Cassie didn't reply. "Are we ever going to have our picnic, or should I just give in and go to the Synthetron myself?"

Cassie smiled, and Zhane laughed at Ashley's mock-indignation. "I say we have the picnic," he declared.

"I'll second that," Andros put in, and Zhane reached out to cross wrists with his best friend. Andros grinned and returned the gesture, but Cassie turned her attention back to Saryn.

"You're going to the Medical bay," she said softly.

Not softly enough. "What's wrong?" Carlos asked.

Trying not to glare, she replied, "He won't *tell* me."

"There is nothing wrong," Saryn put in. "But if it will make you feel better to have DECA's opinion, I will go to the Medical bay."

That in and of itself worried her. Under normal circumstances, he never would have agreed to visit the Medical bay. But she pressed her opportunity. "Right--we'll meet you guys at the lake in a few minutes, then."

Ashley gave her one of those "you'd better tell me what's going on later" looks, but she led the others off to raid the Synthetron. Kerone, to Cassie's surprise, gave her a sympathetic look as she passed. Carlos clapped her shoulder on his way out, and Cassie saw Saryn shift.

*Good,* she thought. *They know exactly how stubborn you are, and yes, we're "taking care of you".* She didn't care if he knew it at this point.

He stepped into the lift of his own accord, and she followed, but neither of them said anything until they reached the Medical bay. She because she was trying to out-stubborn him, and he... she didn't know why he said nothing, but she rather thought he was sulking.

"Demorph," she told him, as soon as they were inside the Medical bay. He just looked at her.

"Saryn, I mean it. You always demorph around us--I know something's wrong, so stop trying to hide it!"

"Am I nothing more to you than someone to be taken care of?" he asked quietly. There was an odd note in his voice.

She stared at him. Saryn was pulling away from her. The one person she had known beyond a doubt she could still trust--spending so much time on Aquitar was putting distance between her and her teammates, and seeing Zhane and Kerone together this morning made her realize exactly how much she was missing.

She had no idea what things were like between Andros' sister and the Silver Ranger, or how things were going for Ashley and Andros... she couldn't even remember the last time she'd heard Carlos mention Karen. And what about TJ's sudden insistence that he had to talk to Tessa? What was that about?

And now Saryn? Was he upset about last night? What if her mother was right--was she nothing more than a child to him, one he was growing tired of at last?

She swallowed hard, turning away so he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. "Cassie?" she heard him ask, and his hand was on her shoulder. Still morphed...

At his touch, she squeezed her eyes shut and felt a single tear leak through. "I don't know who anyone is anymore!" she burst out, ashamed to cry in front of him again but unable to help it.

Suddenly both his hands were on her shoulders, and she could feel the warmth of his skin through her t-shirt as he turned her around. He had demorphed, and she let him pull her close against him, wanting nothing more than to hide in his arms forever.

"It's all right," she heard him whisper. "Everything will be all right, Cassie."

She tried to take a deep breath--she choked on it, and she felt him rub her back soothingly. She gave up any pretense of not crying and buried her face in his chest, grateful just to feel him holding her again.

He said nothing more, letting her cry until the tears stopped coming, and then holding her still. She stood there, listening to him breathe, slower than her, and calmer, and tried to feel what he was feeling.

The noise was blissfully absent now, but in place of it she felt nothing. She drew in a deep breath at last, feeling her hopelessness abate further, and it was only then that she realized what she *was* feeling from him. It wasn't nothing--it was peace, a quiet calm that was so subtle she had almost missed it.

But it wasn't what he was *feeling*... she turned her head up to search his expression. His bright eyes stared back at her, and she could feel that peace seeping into her. He wasn't feeling the calmness, he was only *projecting* it--onto her.

Behind the intensity of his gaze, she could see the concern and turmoil of his own feelings; feelings he was blocking, for her sake. She hadn't known he could do that.

"Thank you," she whispered, and the ghost of a smile flickered across his face.

"You must forgive me," he murmured. "Please understand that I have not done this in almost four years... it is a hard skill to relearn, and Cestria tells me I am too strong for my own good."

"Just strong enough for *my* good," she said, meaning it, and he smiled again.

"Will you--tell me what is wrong?" he asked hesitantly, and she drew back enough to give him a sharp look.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong with *you*?"

He sighed, but he did not look away. "Truly, I do not know."

"So something *is* wrong," she pressed.

"Possibly," he admitted. "I--am more tired than I can account for, of late. Unable to focus, sometimes, except when you are near."

"Except when I'm around," she repeated. "A problem with your Power, then." The idea triggered by his teleportation was back, and she wondered what Andros would say if she snuck into his room without permission.

"So I assumed," he agreed. "But--until today--I have done nothing to put strain on my crystal. There should *be* no problem."

His hands were still on her shoulders, and she thought he might not be supporting *her* so much as letting her support *him*. "Saryn," she said slowly. "On Elisia, did you ever have--Zhane calls it 'color withdrawal'..."

She didn't know how else to explain, but he cocked his head at her without puzzlement. "Power withdrawal, yes. The withdrawal your body goes through when the Power leaves it. You minimize the effects by wearing the color that chose you, thus giving the Power a conduit to you even when unmorphed."

"That's what I mean," she agreed. She waited for him to see what she was suggesting, but he didn't seem to understand. Finally, she pointed out the obvious herself. "You're wearing black."

His expression went stony. "Black is my color now."

She bit her lip, worried by how quickly he had closed off. "But red is the color that chose you," she said softly. "You can't just pick a new color, Saryn; it doesn't work that way."

"I did not choose it." He wasn't stepping away, and that was the only thing that reassured her now. "I did not deserve the color that chose me, thus I accept the absence of color as my only rank as a Ranger."

"There was no Black Ranger on you team," she guessed. Somehow, she didn't think Carlos would take kindly to hearing his color described that way.

Saryn shook his head. "I mean no disrespect to Carlos," he added, more quietly. "But I wear black because I am not worthy of red."

"That," Cassie said calmly, "is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

He stared at her in surprise.

"You were *chosen* red," she insisted, putting her hands on his arms. "Nothing changes that, and the Power doesn't pick people who aren't 'worthy'. You may have been able to change your uniform, but you can't change the Power--your crystal's still red."

"Maybe the Power doesn't know everything," he murmured, but his gaze was locked with hers and the pleading look in his blue eyes said that he *wanted* to believe.

"The Power knows," she told him firmly. "It knows better than us. Linnse tried to call me a traitor this morning, but even she couldn't deny that the Power doesn't *pick* traitors. It chooses people who *deserve* it, and will do good with it."

"Linnse *what*?" His eyes narrowed, and his fingers tightened on her shoulders. "What did you just say?"

She sighed, but didn't answer. She shouldn't have told him that. "It's not important. What matters--"

"It *is* important," he countered. "I have told you what is wrong with me..." He must have realized how tightly he was holding onto her, for his grip relaxed a little and he reached up to stroke her cheek gently. "Please do no less in return."

She hesitated, not wanting to bother him with it.

"It bothers me not to know," he retorted, and she blinked.

"Did you..." She paused. *Just read my mind?*

He stared back at her, an unreadable expression on his face. But she couldn't quite tell if he was actually hiding something, or if he was just waiting for her to speak.

She sighed, looking away. If she was going crazy, now was as good a time as any to do it. "It *is* Linnse," she said finally. "And it's my mom. And you. It's just--everything's happening at once, and I feel like I have no control over anything anymore..."

"You have control," he said softly. "More than you know. You need only *say* something."

She sighed again, inadvertently. "I can't control my mother. Or Linnse. Or you, for that matter." She knew that sounded strange, but it wasn't *him* she wanted control of, so much as some aspect of their relationship that she wasn't even sure she recognized herself.

He actually chuckled. "You have control of me, Cassie. In everything you say and do, you control me. I don't understand how you can not see this... I only wish it was as easy for me to reach *your* heart as it is for you to reach mine."

"You wish..." she stared at him, unable to finish repeating what he had said. "You *are* my heart," she said, suddenly finding her own words. "Why do you think I keep coming after you when you pull this 'make everyone think I'm dead' routine? I can't live without you--how can you not know that?"

"And yet you so rarely tell me what you feel," he told her quietly. "How am I to know?"

*What else is empathy good for?* she wondered wryly, but didn't say so aloud.

He smiled anyway, and she gave him a suspicious look. Deliberately, she thought, *You *are* reading my mind.*

"I'm not," he replied immediately.

Cassie smirked. *You are.*

His eyes widened as he realized what she was doing.

*How long have you been doing that?* she demanded. *And why didn't you tell me?*

He shook his head ruefully. "Too fast," he admitted. "I do not know what you said."

"I didn't *say* anything," she reminded him pointedly. "I wondered how long you've been reading my mind, and why you didn't tell me."

"Not long," he muttered. "I am not entirely sure when it started."

"But you have *some* idea," she persisted. "Today? Yesterday, last week?"

"Today, maybe," he conceded. "Or the day before yesterday, when you were last on Aquitar. I remember... knowing things before you said them, even then. It is hard to differentiate--to know when it went from feelings to actual words."

Somewhat mollified to know that he hadn't been keeping this secret for more than a day or two, she couldn't keep from asking, "When were you going to tell me?"

"When I understood it," he said quietly. "When I realized it was happening again--I told you, it is not so easy to notice the shift from just emotion to thoughts as well. And your thoughts are so clear..."

He sounded almost wistful. "You might as well have been speaking aloud," he whispered, touching her face gently.

She swallowed, trying not to let his attention distract her. "Happening again?" she repeated. "What do you mean?"

He paused for a moment, and when he answered, it wasn't at all what she expected. "You have done it again," he said, and his tone sounded almost accusatory.

She blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"You distracted me." He gave her a stern look. "We were talking about you. We never talk about you, because you always change the subject before you say anything. I do not wish you to continue diverting me like this."

She folded her arms, closing her mouth and staring at him. *I'm not saying anything,* she thought slowly, *until you tell me how you're reading my mind.*

His hands were still on her shoulders, though he lifted one hand to brush his hair carelessly away from his face. *Then--* He gazed down at her, his expression no less determined than her own. *We will be here for a very long time.*

She gasped, startled beyond words to hear his resonant voice, complete with alien inflection and unyielding tone, speaking inside her head. It was nothing like hearing Cestria, or even Aura, who always sounded as though they were speaking from somewhere far away, sending the words to her from a distant place. Saryn sounded like he was... inside her mind.

"How did you--" She completely forgot her promise not to speak, watching his stern expression breathlessly for any change. "You talked to me! You're not supposed to be able to do that!"

His expression didn't so much as flicker. *You are changing the subject again.*

Her eyes widened. His mental "voice" was both frightening in its strength and addictive in its very presence--she wasn't sure if she wanted to clap her hands over her ears or beg him to keep talking... Was this what Ashley felt when Andros "spoke" to her? No wonder she always went dreamy-eyed on them!

"Cassie?" Saryn asked softly, his real voice suddenly quiet and distant after the reverberation in her mind. "Is it--troubling?"

"No!" she assured him hastily. "It's..." She didn't know what words to use. "I don't even know; it's--strange, but in a good way."

He smiled a little, but there was no putting him off this time. "Then tell me what *does* trouble you," he told her. "I am not leaving this room until I know."

She turned away, sitting down gingerly on the edge of the patient bed. "But your Power..." she gestured helplessly. "It must be affecting you more now, because you're demorphed all the time. Maybe you should--"

"I will be fine, as long as I am with you," he said firmly. "I will consider what you said about my Power later. Right now I wish you to tell me what led you to cry just now--so that I may do everything I can to fix it."

She sighed. "It isn't that easy..."

"Tell me," he repeated, sitting down beside her.

***

"Tess!"

She was sitting down by the water, some distance from where the fight with the Barox had taken place only a few minutes before. She looked over her shoulder at his shout, and she smiled back at him.

TJ jogged over to her, sitting down in the sand beside her without hesitation. "Hey," he said, with as bright a smile as he could manage. "I heard there was some excitement here earlier."

"Yeah," she agreed, turning her gaze back to the water. "Some bad guys showed up; the Power Rangers came and blew them away. The story of Angel Grove."

"I guess it is," he agreed, following her gaze nervously. She didn't sound upset, but he had a sinking feeling that the worst was yet to come. "I'm glad you're all right."

"Thanks," she said simply.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, listening to the breeze stir the leaves of the trees lining the lakeshore. The breeze gradually increased, until he realized he was hearing the chatter of picnic enthusiasts over the wind. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw most of the team headed in his and Tessa's direction.

With a jerk of his head and a quick wave to the side, he managed to redirect them. As if it had been their intent all along, the group turned and walked along the water's edge, finally throwing themselves down in the sun-dappled shade beneath the trees.

"Tessa," TJ began, turning back to her. Not quite sure what he was going to say, he was almost relieved when she interrupted--until her words sank in.

"Your color-coded friends are here," she said with a smile. "Shall we go join them?"

"Color-coded?" he repeated, knowing how stupid it sounded but unable to come up with something else.

She glanced pointedly at his outfit. "Nice blue shirt, TJ. Do you own any other colors?"

He sighed. "You know." It was not a question.

"Of *course* we know," Tessa replied. She sounded, if anything, amused. "I thought *you* knew we knew, until today."

" 'We'?"

"Stop repeating everything I say," she said, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. "Me and Karen. We've known who you are for two or three weeks now."

"But how?" He had to ask, though he knew he wasn't racking up any points for elegance with his one and two word sentences.

"Your 'watches'," she said, holding up two fingers of either hand to make little quotation symbols. "You're not very careful about when they go off, or who's around when you talk to them, you know. And the fact that they don't actually tell time? That was sort of a tipoff."

He couldn't help cracking a smile at that, relieved that she still didn't seem upset. "Plus the 'color-coded friends'?" he teased tentatively.

"Plus the color-coded friends," she agreed, returning his smile. "And--you might want to tell Zhane to stop yelling his friend's name in the middle of battles. 'Andros' isn't really that common."

TJ rolled his eyes. "I'll mention it to him, but it probably won't do any good. He's notoriously 'forgetful'." He mimicked her finger quotation marks, and she grinned.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you," he offered, studying her expression. "I would have, you know... but there was this silly rule we had--"

"I know," she said, her grin widening. "Carlos told Karen last night."

She laughed outright at his chagrinned expression. "It wasn't on purpose. He goofed when he was trying to explain how everyone knew Cassie was all right, even though you didn't know where she was."

"I thought Carlos was quicker on his feet than that," TJ muttered.

Tessa cleared her throat. "I'm sure he is--normally." She shot him a suggestive glance, which he tried to take only in the spirit it was intended.

"I see," he said, forcing a wide smile.

"Of course, the fact that Karen was already convinced of who he was didn't help his case," Tessa admitted.

This time, his grin came naturally. "I'm sure it didn't. Too bad we didn't know you were smarter than us all along--it would have saved us a lot of grief."

"Oh, but TJ," she said, smirking mischievously at him. "You should have remembered rule number one in the Relationship Book of Rules."

He raised an eyebrow at her, perfectly aware he was being set up. "Which is?"

"Girls are born smarter than guys, and the difference only increases the older you get."

She shrieked with laughter as he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her, tickling her mercilessly.