"Are you going to be all right?"

Saryn looked up when Linnse put a hand on his shoulder. She glanced at the picture he had set out on the desk beside him and smiled slightly, but said nothing while she waited for his answer. She knew perfectly well who those tiny children were.

"I will be well," he said, "assuming that I never awaken from this dream of victory."

Her smiled widened, and she leaned back against the desk. For a moment he thought she might actually sit on the corner, as Cassandra would have, but she just folded her arms and shook her head. "No one's going to wake up," she told him. "Being here should be enough to remind anyone."

"That this dream came too late for so many?" Saryn sighed, glancing Linnse's office in the medical wing. "I assure you, I need no reminder."

Her tone softened. "I didn't mean it that way."

"Go," he told her, just as gently. "You deserve to be a part of this celebration."

"I hope you're not implying that you don't," Linnse said, straightening. He had volunteered to take her shift that night so she could join the revelry outside. It was too much for him, and if it came down to a choice of hiding places, he might as well pick one where he could do some good.

"I would be foolish to say such a thing where the head of the medical facility could overhear me," he pointed out. He smiled at the way her eyes narrowed, and he added, "It is no punishment for me to be here, Linnse. Truly, I consider it more of a reward than anything else."

She patted his shoulder again before stepping around the desk. "I'll make one last round before I head out," she told him. "If you need anything, call me, all right?"

He nodded once, but even as he opened his mouth to reply he felt the constant presence in his mind strengthening with sudden proximity. He looked toward the door automatically, and Linnse frowned. She followed his gaze, but of course there was no one there. Yet.

"I will do so," he assured her. Perhaps she would leave before Cassandra arrived. She wouldn't finish her tour of the wing, but they might have a few moments of privacy.

Unfortunately, Linnse's sharp gaze missed nothing. "Cassandra's coming, isn't she."

Saryn leaned back in his chair, regarding her with exasperated amusement. "You may excuse yourself at any time," he informed her.

She smiled. "I think I'll make my tour a little more thorough," she mused. "So that when she convinces you to join in the celebration, you'll still have someone here to turn the office over to."

"It is not so much that I plan to leave," he remarked, "as it is that I plan for her to stay. Making your continued presence somewhat... superfluous."

"Ever polite," Linnse teased. "You forget, though. I've met Cassandra. She isn't going to stay here."

"We'll see." He reached out to move the picture he had left on the desk, laying it flat instead of leaving it propped up. Now it could be more easily seen from the other side of the room, and Linnse laughed at him.

"Suck up," she said, but her tone was approving. "At least you're right about that. Appealing to her maternal instincts will definitely give you an edge."

Saryn eyed her. "Surely you have somewhere else to be."

Cassandra was getting out of the lift now, and he knew it was too late. Linnse was about to have more information about his love life than he would have chosen to reveal, were it up to him alone. But then, when hadn't that been true?

"Fine," Linnse was saying. "I know when I'm in the way." She seemed to be laboring under the misapprehension that he had forgotten every interaction they'd ever had.

He didn't have time to reply, though, because Cassandra knew exactly where he was and the open door did nothing to slow her down. She breezed into the office with a carefree confidence that probably said more about her mood than any certainties she might have about who he was with. At least she held herself to the far side of the desk, which was more than he'd expected.

"Ready?" she declared, as though it was a foregone conclusion. She put both hands on the desk and flashed a blinding smile at him as she leaned forward. "Time to go!"

He heard Linnse stifle a laugh as he mirrored her position from his side of the desk. "I think not," he told her. "I'm quite content here." Moreso now that she was here, but she already knew that.

"Don't be silly," she admonished. "There aren't any babies here! Let's go get them!"

He wondered if the stunned look on his face was even close to the shock he was feeling. "Excuse me?"

"Carynn and Fletcher!" she exclaimed, hopping up on the other side of the desk and grabbing the picture he had left there. She showed it to him as though he might have forgotten. "They're being released back into my custody! I want you to come with me when I pick them up!"

He stared at her, beginning to make sense of the elation coming off of her in waves. "You're drunk," he said, inexplicably surprised by the revelation.

"Well, yeah!" Cassandra seemed to find the observation amusing. "What's that got to do with it?"

"Maybe you should pick them up tomorrow," he suggested, as casually as possible. Telling her to do something would invariably make her do the opposite, after all. "Surely they will be easier to deal with after a regular night's sleep, rather than just before it."

"Can't," she said, setting the picture down and leaning in for a quick kiss. He met her eagerly as soon as he realized her intent, but she drew back after just a brush of her lips against his and her words sent a chill down her spine. "We're leaving tomorrow."

"Excuse me?" he repeated, dumbfounded.

"Going home!" She tugged at the front of her t-shirt to emphasize the glittering letters there: the word "Earth" sparkled across her chest and did interesting things to her figure when she distorted it with her tugging. "Hello, where have you been! We've all been cleared to stand down and bust out! Kerova, Calijyt, Sol, Elisia; Eltare's the only team staying behind, and that's like, obviously!"

They had been cleared, yes, and he knew the Calijyt Rangers were scheduled to depart next rotation. The last he'd heard, though, the Astro Rangers hadn't announced any such plans, and it wasn't as though he and Jenna had anywhere else to go. He understood that logically, tonight's festivities were as much a farewell party as they were a victory celebration. But he hadn't been prepared for what that actually meant.

"Come on!" She was off the desk and around it before he realized what she was doing, taking his hands and trying to forcibly haul him to his feet.

Saryn pulled her into his lap instead. In self-defense as much as anything else, he told himself. "You're not going anywhere like this," he told her. "Even I would not turn over children to you in this condition."

That was a lie, but the way she pouted at his reproach was worth it. She didn't take him seriously, and he wasn't sure he should be glad but he was. "Tell me what time you leave tomorrow," he continued, "and you may be sure that I will accompany you on your mission prior to that."

She poked him in the chest. "But when will you pack?"

He lifted his gaze to Linnse, who had drifted quietly toward the door, and her gaze was full of sympathy. Clearly, Cassandra's mind was too full of children to be bothered with details like the fate of his planet. He nodded when Linnse jerked her head toward the rest of the wing, and the former Eltaran Ranger disappeared on her promised round.

"Cassandra," he said gently. "I will not be leaving Eltare for some time."

"Why not?" She glared up at him with more force than the declaration deserved. "I thought you wanted to be free."

That was an odd rejoinder, but he let it go. "I have no home to return to," he said bluntly. "Surely you remember this."

"Surely I don't!" she countered indignantly. "You have a family and children and me, which are all sort of the same thing but that's my whole point! You said you wanted us!"

Saryn blinked. He wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but it sounded true. "I do," he said, confused. "Of course I... want you."

"Then why won't you come with us?" she demanded. "You have a home on Earth, at least as much as any of us still do, because we'll be there. Me and Carynn and Fletcher. And we want you, too."

He had no idea what to say to that. He was afraid that the most touching thing someone had ever said to him would turn out to be a drunken declaration that was forgotten by morning. If it was, though, he supposed he'd better enjoy it now.

"I would follow you anywhere I am welcome--" He swallowed, and it was more difficult than he'd expected to get the words out. "If you wish me with you... there is nothing I would like more."

She actually scoffed, apparently unaware of how emotional the thought was for him. "If I wish?" she repeated. "Did you know we have children together? Were you even there for that?"

She wasn't angry with him, he thought distantly. She sounded angry, but she didn't feel it. She was impatient and uninhibited, but not--

Cassandra slapped him. It was no easy task for a person sitting in another person's lap, but she managed. The shock of it almost made him laugh. Her voice only escalated as she continued, "I love you, you crazy man! Where have you been!"

Her ability to articulate diminished with alcohol, he decided, cupping her face to hold her still while he kissed her. Her energy, on the other hand, stayed perfectly steady at what was probably the highest possible level any Ranger under siege could maintain. He couldn't help but wonder if she had been even more intense before the shadow of war fell over them all.

"I love you too," Saryn whispered, burying his fingers in her hair. "Crazy woman that you are."

"You promise you'll come with me?" she murmured. She lifted her face for more kissing, and he was happy to oblige. To come with her: here, tomorrow, anywhere, it didn't matter.

"I'll come with you," he promised, moments later.

She jerked away, surprising him, but her brilliant smile caught him with its warmth. "Great! To the party with us!"

He stared at her. Then, as she tried to get up, he realized that she would be free momentarily and his advantage would be gone. "Give me your ID," he said firmly, holding her in place.

She stopped tugging long enough to squirm in a completely different way, and he was just as happy to wait. When she finally dug out her ID, he wondered if there was anything else he could ask her to get. But she turned it over with a happy smile, and he decided not to push it.

"Thank you." He pocketed the ID with one hand and released his grip on her with the other. "You may go anywhere in the building, but I don't want to hear tomorrow that you used your teleportal access to harass our children's foster parents."

"You won't," she said cheerfully. "Since you're coming with me!"

Cassandra seemed untroubled by the fact that he had just dictated the limits of her activities for the night. That was strange enough that he found himself almost ready to respond to her cajoling. Luckily, he remembered why that would be a very bad idea just before he got out of the chair.

"I'm not going out there," he told her. "You know what it will be like."

She did know, too. She had caught him in the midst of celebration before, only barely in control and occasionally unresponsive when his efforts to contain the emotion faltered. He didn't handle the calmest crowds well. If Cassandra was any indication, there were no calm individuals out there tonight, let alone calm crowds.

"I know you'll be happy," she said, pulling him to his feet. "You've taken everyone's worry and fear for years, Saryn. You deserve their happiness too."

"I am accustomed to their worry," he countered, still startled that she had gotten him on his feet. Rangers were always surprising him. Her more than most, he admitted, if only to himself. "I do not lose myself in it the way I will in this."

"I'll be with you." She linked her arm through his and pressed up against his side, and indeed, it was suddenly hard to imagine anything she couldn't protect him from. Even himself.

"Plus," Cassandra continued, "no one will mind you being happy, and the worst that happens is you project some of it back on them, right? Anyone who notices will thank you for it!"

"I can't," he said with a sigh. He wanted to, if only because she wanted him to, but he couldn't. There was a certain amount of responsibility associated with being an empath, after all.

"Saryn." She smiled up at him, a knowing smile that saw right through him and reminded him, for the first time in a long time, what it meant to be alive. "Tonight you can do anything."

If anyone could say that and make him believe it, it would be her.

Ashley made a mental note never to get stuck outside a quarantine again. At least, not one that she wanted to be inside of. Undercover operatives were allowed back in only with extensive testing and a vaccination that even Rangers had a hard time getting on short notice. Luckily--or not, depending on one's point of view--she'd spent a lot of time on the wrong side of the law in the past year, and she'd learned a few things.

Fresh out of decontamination, she was allowed direct teleportal access to Eltare, and she didn't regret the bribing she'd had to do to get it. In recognition of her suspended UC status, the capitol issued her a new Ranger ID on arrival. From there, it was only one more portal to Co-Op and a well-meaning if ultimately futile effort to locate and report to JT.

Co-Op was the center of chaos that might once have been an organized celebration. Or it might not. By the time she got there, it was hard to tell. Someone threw a yellow t-shirt at her, someone else pressed a bottle into her free hand, and she gave up asking for JT and just escaped back into the hallway. She was laughing to herself as she went, but god, she wasn't up for that kind of party right now.

She took the teleportal home, and she wasn't too surprised to find the ground floor of her building in pretty much the same state as Co-Op. She looked for her teammates as much as she could, but she didn't really expect to be able to find them here even if they were present. She scanned the crowd on her way to the lift, ducking congratulations and dodging people with more drinks and hoping someone would have told her if the Kerovan Rangers were gone.

She shouldn't have worried. Zhane met her outside the lift on their floor, shouting and picking her up and she shrieked in surprise and glee and for a moment she thought they were going to fall down. But then her feet were back on the ground and he kissed her and yanked the yellow t-shirt out of her hands, holding it up for a split second before tossing it over his shoulder.

"Wrong planet!" he was yelling happily, waving at the rest of the hall which was strangely full of people. "Someone get this girl a marker!"

"A what?" She had been so ready to hear him say "a drink" that she had a protest all ready, and then he didn't. But before he could answer she caught sight of his partner and it was her turn to shout. "Andros!"

His t-shirt registered where Zhane's hadn't, because it was so odd to see him wearing something so flamboyant. It was bright red with "KO-35" scrawled across it in sparkling letters and numbers, so glittering that she was afraid to hug him lest it rub off on her. Andros obviously wasn't worried, though, because he wrapped her in a hug just as strong and warm as Zhane's and maybe a little more serious because he didn't let go for a long time.

"I missed you," she heard him whisper in his ear, and she buried her face in his neck and smiled against his skin.

"I missed you too." He might have heard her or he might not, but he had to expect her answer so it didn't really matter either way.

She held onto him, wondering why none of the rest of her teammates were quite as easy to hug as Andros. He was exactly the right height, the right softness, the right something. She had never told him how much she liked to hold him, but he always hugged her back and Zhane had never complained, so--

Had Zhane kissed her, before? When she stepped out of the lift? Smiling at the thought, she turned her head on Andros' shoulder without loosening her embrace. He hugged her harder and she let him as she searched the hall with her eyes.

It was full of neighbors and animals and balloons, because someone had balloons and why hadn't she known that until now? There were chairs, actual furniture that people had dragged out of their apartments and set up in the hallway, and that had to be a fire hazard. Someone was even... cooking? She definitely smelled food, and she didn't think it was coming from behind someone's closed door.

Of course, a lot of the doors were locked open. There was music coming from someone's apartment, quiet enough that it was hard to hear over the talking and the calling for dogs or food or whatever they were doing. An indoor block party, she decided. And maybe it was just because she knew these people, but it was so much quieter than what was going on downstairs that she thought she might actually be up to it. For a little while, at least.

"I'll take this!" Zhane must have snuck up on them from the other direction, because she didn't see him coming until he was right behind Andros, tugging the bottle she'd been given out of her hand. She felt Andros squeeze her tighter just before he let go, then all of a sudden another pair of arms wrapped around them both and she felt a kiss on her head.

For some reason, that made Andros laugh, and he pulled away just as Zhane let them both go. "I can't believe you actually get more affectionate when you're drunk," Andros teased. "It doesn't seem possible."

"You know you love it," Zhane declared cheerfully.

Andros put a hand behind his head and pulled him close for a kiss. "Too much for your own good," he agreed, mussing Zhane's hair before he let him go.

Zhane beamed at him, then turned on Ashley. "I brought you a present!" he crowed. He wasn't wearing his silver shirt, she realized, seconds before he grabbed it from the recliner he'd dropped it in to hug them. "Arms over your head!"

She blinked, but she did as he asked, and she couldn't help giggling as he tugged his t-shirt on over what was left of her field uniform. He was surprisingly coordinated, at least if Andros was right and he really was drunk. He wasn't acting much differently than he usually did when he was excited, so she wouldn't have been convinced herself, but she didn't doubt that Andros would know.

"Perfect!" Zhane exclaimed, grinning when he stepped back to look at her.

She looked down, and sure enough, "KO-35" sparkled across the front of the silver shirt. "What are these?" she asked, laughing at his obvious delight. He was wearing a gaping sleeveless shirt now, presumably because what he'd done to her was exactly what had been done to him--someone was passing out these shirts for Rangers to put on over whatever they happened to be wearing at the time.

"Party favors!" Zhane declared, spinning away to pick something up. Her yellow shirt, she realized, when he turned back toward them and held it up. It said "Earth" across the front, and he waved it like a flag. "They obviously got yours wrong!"

"Do you still want to come with us?" Andros asked. He was studying her with more seriousness than Zhane, who seemed to take for granted that she wasn't even from Earth anymore.

She laughed, sliding up against him and hooking her arm around his waist easily. His arm went around her like it was automatic, and he was so relaxed that she wondered if maybe he'd been drinking too. Andros wasn't big on public displays of emotion.

"You know I do," she said, squeezing him gently. "Why else am I here? You think I came all the way out of occupied territory into the heart of the Free Systems just to turn around and go back again?"

Zhane had collapsed in the recliner, apparently paying no attention to them as he laid her yellow shirt across his lap and took a marker to it. He'd gotten his marker, she realized belatedly. But where?

Glancing around, Ashley decided she should have been more surprised if he hadn't found one. No one was swarming them--which made a welcome change from everywhere else she'd been on the planet--but people were watching and talking and there seemed to be more stuff in the hallway than could possibly have fit into all these little apartments.

"We weren't sure you'd come back at all," Andros admitted. "But I kept this for you because I hoped you would."

She looked over at him in surprise as he pulled away from her. He needed the arm she'd had around him, she realized, when she saw what he held. Her eyes widened as he fastened the Yellow astromorpher to her wrist.

She lifted her gaze to his and found him smiling shyly at her. "It's yours now," he said. "Not just in defense of the Free Systems, but to represent the Kerovan system."

They had always known that if they survived the war they would give up the Power that had been on loan to them all this time. But it had seemed such a remote possibility that she hadn't spend much time wondering what that might mean for her, returning to KO-35 with them. And until now, she hadn't spent any time at all wondering what his former teammate might think.

"What about Kerone?" she blurted out. As soon as she heard the words aloud she wished she hadn't said them.

Andros tried to answer anyway. "If Kerone comes back..." He stopped and tried again. "If we get her back--"

"She'll just have to settle for pink," Zhane interrupted carelessly. Bouncing to his feet again, he held up her yellow t-shirt for inspection. "What do you think?"

She clapped her hand over her mouth, muffling her giggle. Under the glittering word "Earth," Zhane had written "+ KO-35." At her reaction, he whirled the shirt around, and now she didn't bother to hide her delight. There hadn't been anything on the back of the shirt before, but now it read "Sai Kung" in big bold letters. The last free town on KO-35... and now the first to re-establish an independent government, thanks mostly to their counterparts from Justin's dimension.

"I love it," she informed him, holding out her hands.

He pulled the t-shirt back, though, pointing toward the open door behind him. "Promise to change," he teased. "The only reason I went to all this trouble is because I know your t-shirt will fit you better than mine does!"

"You said it was a party favor," she reminded him, rolling her eyes. "How well can it fit?"

Andros cleared his throat. "You obviously haven't seen many Rangers tonight."

"I came right here from the capitol." She eyed him suspiciously. "Are you kidding?"

A smile threatened at the edges of Andros' expression, and Ashley grabbed the t-shirt away from Zhane and knocked on the open door. "Can I come in?" she called. Whose apartment was this? She should know, but with the way the hall had been reorganized and everything was everywhere she couldn't remember off the top of her head.

When no one answered, she ducked inside and yanked Zhane's t-shirt off over her head. Like anyone would care if they caught her shirtless. It just wasn't that kind of night, she thought, pulling off her uniform top and dropping it on top of Zhane's silver shirt. When she pulled the yellow "Earth" shirt over her head and it stretched, she started to understand what they'd meant.

Amused, she swung back out into the hall and tossed Zhane's silver shirt back at him. "Isn't this sexism?" she demanded. "Why do the boys get regular t-shirts and the girls get these?"

Andros shrugged innocently, but Zhane ratted him out. "The team leaders picked them," he told her. "Supposedly so everyone got the right planet of origin, but teams that have girls in charge? You should see what the guys are wearing."

He sounded positively gleeful about the whole situation, and she supposed he had reason to be. If it were up to him, the male Astro Rangers would probably be in muscle shirts. Which was maybe one reason among several that Andros had made sure they weren't.

"Thanks a lot," she told Andros, smirking at him so he'd know she was kidding. "Your choice, and it still says 'Earth' on it? Why is that?"

"Well," he said defensively. "Karen still had your morpher until a few hours ago."

Ashley blinked, looking around. "Where is she? She doesn't get a shirt?"

"She went back to Earth," Zhane offered. "Whatever magic you worked to get back here on your own--and by the way we would have come for you, no matter what Andros says--Carlos wasn't as determined. So she went to him."

She had known Carlos wasn't coming back. He had stayed on Earth after Aquitar's forces retreated, and although she had told him she was on her way back to Eltare today she hadn't bothered to ask if he wanted to come along. He was deep in the ninja resistance now. But as hard as it was to get off of Earth--

"How did Karen get back there?" Ashley demanded. "You guys know there's a quarantine in effect, right? I can't believe Eltare sent a shuttle just for her."

"Nope," Zhane agreed. "Aquitar did. Funny planet," he added fondly, like he was talking about a nephew or niece and Ashley really didn't know where that came from. The alcohol, maybe. Although he hadn't touched the bottle he'd taken from her.

"Aquitar?" she repeated, glancing at Andros.

He shrugged. "Apparently they owe Carlos."

"Big time," Zhane put in. "That little thing where they helped free Earth? They say that was in payment of their planet's debt. Then they each have personal debt because Carlos' double saved their team leader or something."

"They have kind of a complicated code of honor," Andros murmured.

She just stared at him for a moment. "I guess," she said at last. At this rate, they could be paying Carlos back for the rest of his life. Then she remembered something, and she poked Andros. "Hey, about that quarantine! You couldn't have mentioned that at some point? I had a lot of trouble getting through!"

"You couldn't have mentioned that you were coming at some point?" Andros retorted. "I could have taken care of all of it for you!"

For some reason, that made Zhane laugh. "Yeah, and he could have, too! As far as anyone around here is concerned, Andros won the war all by himself!"

Andros sighed. "I just meant that it would have been a lot easier to get an operative through the quarantine if we'd had advance notice."

"Not according to Jenkarta!" Zhane gloated. "He wanted to ban UCs from coming back at all! There's a waiting list as long as the solar system! I can't believe you just walked in!"

"It wasn't easy," Ashley informed him. "And it's been a really long day, so I'd rather not talk about it right now."

"Hungry?" Andros offered quickly. "Zhane cooked, Bgoua's cooking now, and I think Amanda saved you something from yesterday. It's not our first party," he explained, in response to her inquiring look.

"It's Andros' first party," Zhane corrected.

Andros didn't so much as blink. "First and last," he agreed. "We said we'd stick around to see everyone from Earth off tomorrow..."

"And we made them promise to send word from you," Zhane added. "We figured we'd hear from you by tomorrow night. And if we didn't, well, either way," he said with a shrug. "Last night on Eltare."

"I was worried I'd miss you," Ashley admitted. "I mean, that you'd already be gone when I got here."

"We'd have come for you," Andros told her. "Zhane wasn't kidding about that."

"And Andros can do it," Zhane said with a grin. "He can get anything he wants right now. Might want to take advantage of it while it lasts."

She smiled at Andros' expression, reaching for Zhane as she leaned up against his partner, perfectly content that they would let her hug them both at the same time. "All I want is you," she told them. "And also, some food."

"You've got it," Zhane promised, wrapping an arm around her even as Andros did the same on her other side.

"All of it," Andros added quietly.

He still had family on Earth. TJ was sure of that, at least, and it was more than he could say for some members of his team. Or some members of Andros' team. Were they his team again, now that they were bound for Earth? Or were they not even a team at all, without morphers or a Power to call their own?

Ashley had sent him as much information as she had on the ninja resistance--relevant and not--including the identities of the most recent Earth Rangers. It was quite a list, especially when she included zord pilots, backup pilots, and field coordinators. Even just the six people with morphers made quite a list when Ashley was the one feeding the information.

Shane Clarke, Tori Hanson, and Dustin Brooks all held Wind morphers, fresh off the street and with no prior ninja training at all. Which didn't bother TJ in the slightest, considering his own history, but apparently it had caused some controversy within the resistance. From what Ashley said, Shane handled the critics while Tori and Dustin were under loose and mostly ineffectual orders not to speak when authority figures were present.

Hunter Bradley, Blake Bradley, and Cameron Watanabe held the other three morphers--Thunder morphers, although TJ wasn't too clear on the difference--and that caused its own problems. Mainly because, from what TJ understood, Cameron was the resident techie and nobody except Cameron himself and Ashley, who seemed to have considerable sway, wanted him risking his life more than absolutely necessary. And secondarily, because Cameron was involved with Hunter and the two of them tended to be a volatile combination.

Ashley wrote detailed reports, TJ reflected ruefully. She actually included anecdotes when she felt they served to illustrate the situation. And in all fairness, these people represented the major power on his home planet right now, and he probably couldn't know too much about them. But he did have to wonder if the people she'd been working with had any idea how well-informed he and his team would be coming back.

The sound of the door chime made him glance at the clock. Not that late, at least by his schedule, but certainly time to finish getting ready for tomorrow's departure. He'd already read everything that Ashley had sent ahead twice, and according to traffic logs that put her exit from the teleportal system in the Kerovan Rangers' building, he wouldn't be getting any more information out of her tonight.

He might not be getting any more information from her tomorrow, either. TJ knew that she'd made a commitment to return to KO-35 with Andros and Zhane if it ever become possible, but like many people in the Free Systems, he'd had trouble envisioning that day. In all honesty, he'd thought that Andros would die in defense of his teammates any number of times over the past three years. The idea that the Red Astro Ranger would ever return to liberate KO-35 had seemed wildly improbable.

Yet he was going. The Kerovan Rangers' departure time was now listed as the day after tomorrow, and sure enough, it wasn't just Andros and Zhane's names that were on the board. TJ stared at the name "Ashley Hammond" posted alongside theirs for several seconds, wondering when exactly she planned to say goodbye.

Then he realized someone at the door still wanted his attention, and further, that it wasn't just anyone standing out there in the hallway. The chimes all had a Ranger override that broadcast their guests' team affiliation if they so chose, and right now, this one so chose. So, in the moments following the second chime, the word "Elisia" filled the silence.

TJ scowled. He couldn't help it. They worked together during the day, they avoided each other at night. Those were the terms of their unspoken but completely mutual agreement. Which meant that the person at the door had no business being at his apartment.

He answered it anyway. Habits of war were ingrained, and he supposed they might never fade. He blinked at the face that greeted him, scowl melting into surprise, and Jenna smiled wryly in return.

"Surprise," she said. "Sorry to disturb you."

"Nah, not a problem." It was automatic, a polite dismissal that bought him extra seconds to consider this totally unexpected situation. What his brain came up with wasn't perfect, but it was true, so he went with it. "I'm not used to seeing you in pink."

"Yeah?" Jenna held her arms out to her sides and looked down, as though she was still getting used to it herself. "Elisia" was emblazoned across the front of her pink t-shirt, and it was far and away the brightest thing he had ever seen her wear.

"I guess that's fair," she added, when she looked up. She was still smiling. "I'm not used to seeing you in red."

There must have been something instinctive about her reaction, because he found himself looking down too. His equally eye-catching red shirt had "Earth" scrawled across the chest, and he shrugged a little. "Andros picked the colors," he offered. The red had caught him by surprise, but he appreciated the gesture.

"Yeah," Jenna repeated, and her smile lost something. "Saryn asked for black, but someone must have overruled him. I got pink, he got red. He won't even wear his."

"Everyone lost someone," TJ said neutrally.

"I respect his decision," she replied, and her tone was just as even. "We all mourn differently."

There wasn't really anything he could say to that, so he didn't try.

Jenna hesitated, and his resolve softened. She was just another Ranger, after all. Just another survivor in the wake of a war that wasn't over--and when it was, what would they do? Were any of them good for anything but fighting anymore?

He wasn't sure any of them had expected to make it out of this alive. Now it suddenly seemed possible. Possible, uncertain, and strangely frightening. All they had had to get them through this war was each other. And maybe, now, it was all they still had.

"Want to come in?" TJ offered. He even managed a smile as he stepped aside, because Ashley always said that a little bit of warmth went a long way. And there was no arguing that Ashley had gone farther than any of them.

"I actually came by to invite you out," Jenna said, and her wry smile was back. "You're leaving tomorrow, aren't you? It doesn't seem right that you spend your last night here alone."

He kept his mouth shut for as long as it took to not say anything cruel. It didn't take as much time as he'd thought. "I've been reviewing the intelligence from Earth," he said at last, in lieu of anything more personal.

"I've been moping," Jenna said bluntly. "I'm tired of it, but I don't feel like crashing a party alone. I was hoping you'd come with me."

He opened his mouth, then changed his mind at the last second. "Come in," he said again. "I'll just turn stuff off here and then we can go."

He saw a real smile on her face for the first time, and he decided that he liked it.

"You live alone?" Jenna asked, peering around as she waited for him just inside the door. "I'm sorry if that's a tactless question," she added quickly. "If you're coming with me on condition of avoided topics, you'll have to tell me what they are."

Her honesty actually made him chuckle as he shut down the systems he'd been using and dimmed the lights. "No conditions," he said firmly. "As long as you don't expect me to answer, you can ask me anything you want."

"Okay." Jenna leaned back against the door for just a second. "I don't know where they are. If we run into them, is that going to be a problem?"

"If he doesn't talk to me, I won't talk to him," TJ answered. "Ready?"

She straightened up, and he figured this was the moment. If she was here for something more than company, they weren't gong to leave this apartment. He wasn't sure he was lonely enough to agree. But he was still angry enough to listen.

Jenna just stepped out of the way, and they headed outside together. He couldn't decide between disappointed and relieved, but he was leaning toward relieved. Cassandra would say that it would do him good to get out. She was usually right. He just didn't listen to her as well as he used to.

"Yeah," TJ said abruptly. It might be an uncomfortable topic, but it was better than grim silence. "I do live alone. I guess neither of us were ready for roommates."

"I still live with Saryn," Jenna remarked, staring straight ahead. "At least until tomorrow."

TJ's expression twisted. "He's coming with us." He wasn't looking forward to the trip to Earth.

"I'm staying," Jenna said quietly. "I don't imagine I'll be ready for a roommate after this, either."

"How'd you live with him for so long?" TJ wanted to know. If she could ask anything, so could he. She didn't have to answer.

Her reply wasn't what he'd expected. "How could I not?"

He gave her a sideways look, and she must have caught it.

"I love him," she said, shrugging it off like it was nothing. "He loves me. It was enough to get us through the war."

"He slept with my fiancee," TJ said harshly.

"She makes him smile," Jenna said softly. "Do you know, I heard him laugh yesterday? It was something she said. It wasn't even funny, but he just... laughed."

You don't have to sleep with someone because they make you laugh, TJ wanted to say, but he didn't. He wasn't sure why he didn't, except that Jenna hadn't done anything to him and she wasn't trying to tell him what to think about anything and somehow that made her easier to listen to. She was right, after all. He didn't really want to be alone tonight, either.

"He used to laugh all the time," Jenna murmured. "He made me laugh. Before the war, he was funny and charming. I just wish... I just want to see him like that again."

"Cassandra showed me pictures of the twins," TJ blurted out. Why were they talking about this? How weird was it that they were just wandering the city on what had to be the biggest party night the planet had ever seen, talking about their exes?

"I saw the one she gave Saryn," Jenna agreed wistfully, like it wasn't weird at all. "He carries it with him wherever he goes."

"I don't know if I'm going to be able to see them together without going crazy," TJ said. He had been afraid to say it, but now he was just glad that it was out. And with that confession he realized why they were talking to each other at all: they couldn't talk to anyone else.

"I don't know if I'll be able to not see them," Jenna whispered, and he heard the waver in her voice. He put a hand on her shoulder instinctively, and she leaned into him without another word. She didn't stop, though.

After a moment, they managed to coordinate their steps and he slid an arm around her shoulder, figuring the comfort was worth the awkwardness. In a strange way, they understood each other. So they shared what they could, bore what they couldn't, and they walked on.

He was drunk. Andros was right about that, even if Ashley obviously didn't believe him, and Zhane figured that was a good thing. He needed to be drunk for tonight, or he would never have the courage to do what he'd already decided that he had to do.

It might help his cause a little if the others had a few drinks too. Unfortunately, Andros didn't associate drinking with celebration, and he would know something was up if Zhane pushed him. He knew from experience that Ashley could be cajoled into drinking with a minimum of resistance and no hard feelings--but if Andros thought she was drunk, it might negate the entire point of the exercise. Zhane couldn't risk it.

So it was up to him to sit back, finally locked away from the rest of the world for a while, and watch Andros let Ashley write on the back of his t-shirt with the marker Zhane had stolen while he plotted. Because he could see perfectly well what was going on, but according to everything Saryn said about empathy, it wasn't everyone else in the world that was slow--it was him that was quick. Which meant, sadly, the fact that he could see it didn't mean anyone else would be having an epiphany anytime soon.

Not without a little help, anyway.

Ashley's delighted laugh made him grin, and he raised his glass to her in a mock-toast as Andros modeled his newly decorated shirt in the privacy of their apartment. The name "Sai Kung" now adorned the back of his red t-shirt, just as it did Ashley's. Only his looked like it was supposed to be that way, because Ashley had the best lettering when she put her mind to it.

"I think it's your turn," Andros declared, plucking the marker out of Ashley's hand. And it was so obvious, Zhane didn't know how they could not see it. Andros had been too close to Ashley, he'd had to sit still and be patient while she had her hands all over him, and now he wanted to do the same thing to Zhane. Just to remind everyone where his loyalties lay.

To remind himself, Zhane thought.

Andros wouldn't forget himself with Ashley as long as Zhane was around. Personal code of honor. Zhane knew it well, he knew what it took to overcome it, and he'd been working on it for months. Ever since he'd realized they really did have a chance of getting out of this thing alive.

As long as they were at war, even the slightest hesitation could get someone killed. The smallest uncertainty, a newly recognized doubt... Saryn and Cassandra had thrown more than just their own teams into tumult, and Zhane wasn't going to bring all that down on their heads again. If nothing else, he and Andros were Ashley's one true faith in this whole struggle, and there was no way he would make her question that when she didn't have anything else.

"I think I'd rather have Ashley do it," Zhane drawled, keeping his tone as cheerful and innocent as he could manage. What he'd really rather have was Andros watching him and Ashley together. "She has better handwriting."

Now he needed her to question them. Not because he didn't love Andros, because he did. But he could love more than just his partner, and Andros already did. Whether he knew it or not, Andros had fallen for Ashley Hammond a long time ago. And if it weren't for his relationship with Zhane, he'd be with her right now.

Andros was pouting. That was easily the funniest thing Zhane had seen all day, and maybe it had something to do with the number of drinks he'd finished off and maybe it didn't, but it made him laugh. "Don't worry," he teased. "I still love you."

"You could just take your shirt off," Ashley pointed out, retrieving the marker from Andros. "It's win-win: Andros gets to see you without it, and I don't have to watch him sulk the whole time."

Except that then Andros would get to pretend that all he wanted was Zhane, and Ashley would buy it because that was the sort of girl she was, and she would leave them alone and they would go to bed and nothing would change. "Win-win" was double-sided, sure... but there were three of them.

"I prefer win-win-win," Zhane said, feeling inspired. "Andros gets his own marker, you can work together to make my shirt the best around, and I don't even have to move. What do you say?"

"I think you're just too lazy to sit up," Ashley retorted. Predictably, though, she humored him, and he rolled over on his stomach when she came over to sit down next to him.

Ranger heaved a sigh at the loss of his napping partner, and Ashley leaned over Zhane to comfort him. "Don't worry," she promised the dog. "He's not going anywhere."

Shows how much you know, Zhane thought, amused.

"Neither is Andros," he mused aloud, resting his chin on his fists as he wondered what his partner's expression looked like. "Got something better to do?"

"I'll let you know," Andros answer cryptically.

Then, just like that, he heard Andros' voice in his head. *What are you doing?* It sounded more curious than accusatory, which was good, because Zhane wasn't really in the mood for accusatory. And it was also bad, because he could manipulate Andros, he really could. He just couldn't usually do it without Andros noticing.

Andros was noticing now. It remained to be seen whether he would object or not. But Saryn had given Zhane some tips on empathy in exchange for a sympathetic ear a while back, and he was absolutely sure that he knew how the calming vibe worked. He didn't really need alcohol to loosen them up after all--as long as he was relaxed, he could make them feel it too.

*I just want her to feel included,* Zhane said silently. *She's coming back home with us, Andros. I don't want her to feel like she's just along for the ride. I want her to be part of things... part of us.*

He would have liked to know what Andros thought of that, but Ashley poked him gently in the shoulder. "Are you talking about me?" she wanted to know. She was still drawing on his back, but she was clearly aware of their telepathic conversation. "If you want to be alone, you could just say so."

"No," Zhane said quickly. "Stay."

"Just the opposite," Andros added. "I just wanted to know what was so bad about my handwriting, and Zhane was saying he didn't want you to feel left out."

With his usual mix of honesty and innocence, Andros managed to be as adorably tactless as he was in any personal interaction. Give the man a stage and he could lead the world, but give him a second look and he started to stammer. Which Ashley would hopefully learn firsthand before the night was over.

Luckily, she was plenty used to him already, and she just laughed as his clumsy solicitousness. "I see how it is," she teased, patting Zhane's shoulder with her free hand. "Is that why you kissed me, before?"

He brightened even though she couldn't see it. "No," he said blithely. "I just think there should be more kissing in the world."

Ashley didn't let him down. "I totally agree," she informed him. "I think you're doing all of us a service."

"Yes," he confirmed. "Now if you could convince Andros of that for me, I'd owe you forever."

"Andros!" Ashley exclaimed, as though something had just occurred to her. Her pretended innocence was ruined by her giggle, but Zhane thought it added charm. "C'mere!"

"Yeah, come on," Zhane agreed. "This is a philosophy that requires practice."

He was calm, he believed in this, and he was still a little surprised when Andros actually came over. Turning his head to one side, he was just in time to see Andros sit down and kiss Ashley on the cheek before he offered her three new markers. "Different color?"

"Why thank you," Ashley said, and Zhane didn't miss her sudden giddiness, even hidden as it was behind her pretended solemnity. "Zhane," she added, "does it count if he only kisses me on the cheek?"

Zhane cheered silently. This wasn't going to be impossible after all. They wanted each other, it was so obvious, all they needed was a little push in the right direction and they would be... he really hoped he knew what he was doing.

"No," he declared, not about to change his mind now. "Both mouths must be involved for it to be a real kiss. Come on," he added, not sure he was telling the truth anymore. "It's not like I mind. I started it!"

"Yeah, you don't want Zhane to feel left out, now, do you?" Ashley teased. She was totally focused on Andros now, open marker forgotten in her hand and the other three on the floor between them.

Andros held her gaze and Zhane barely dared to breath as he leaned in, more slowly than anyone did for a casual kiss, even someone kissing his roommate in front of his partner for the first time. And when they came together it was gentle and sweet and nothing would ever be the same again, because that kiss lingered. Ashley closed her eyes, Andros didn't, and Zhane knew exactly when he understood.

*Are you mad at me?* Andros asked in his mind. He was already turning toward Zhane as he pulled away, and Zhane could sense his confusion as clearly as his dread. Not quite how one wanted to feel after a kiss that was undeniably romantic, but Andros was more on top of the empathy thing than Zhane had realized because Andros knew that Zhane had already known.

Are you mad at me became why did you make me kiss her in Zhane's mind. Andros wasn't asking if Zhane knew what he felt, Andros took for granted that Zhane had been there before him. He was asking why Zhane had told him like that.

"I'm sorry," Ashley blurted out, looking from one of them to the other. "Did I do something wrong? What are you talking about?"

"Andros asked if I'm mad at him." Zhane pushed himself up on one elbow and smiled at her reassuringly, including Andros in his glance. "I said I don't mind," he reminded them both. "And I don't. Really."

Andros didn't look comforted, and Ashley was frowning. "Why don't you mind?" she asked, scooting closer to him as he sat up. "You kissed me. You told me to kiss Andros. I'm not complaining," she hurried to add, "but why? What's going on?"

Zhane looked from her to Andros and saw the same question on his face. They were onto him, no question. But they were also as close as they'd been all evening, the three of them, and they were still asking questions instead of apologizing--mostly--so that seemed like a good sign. Maybe he couldn't make this decision for them. Maybe he couldn't even make it for himself. But maybe they were all willing to at least consider it, now.

"We're leaving," Zhane said at last. "All of us," he added, when he saw Ashley's alarmed expression. "All three of us, we're going back to KO-35, we're going home. Together. We're going to be as close as we were here, maybe closer, and look--"

He looked from one of them to the other, and he felt his own calm all around them. Strengthened, somehow, by the way they turned to him for answers. Not shutting him out, not at all, not falling into each other after all... not without him.

"This is going to happen," he said quietly. "I just think we should all know what we're getting into, that's all."

Ashley looked at Andros, and Andros looked at him. "If this is a choice," he said at last. Awkwardly. Uncertainly, like he thought maybe there was a game here that he just wasn't getting.

"No one's choosing anyone unless they choose everyone," Zhane said firmly. "I'm sorry, but I can see what's between you and I can't live with it any other way. I can't."

That was it. He'd just laid down the law, for himself and for everyone else. They could choose each other, without him, but neither of them would and he knew it perfectly well. So if they chose him, they had to choose each other, too. There was no going back now.

Ashley's eyes were very wide as she stared at him, and he thought maybe she was caught somewhere between crying and smiling. There were definitely tears in her eyes, but she shook her head and her voice was completely even. "You guys are my model for love," she told them. "You know that, I've told you that--"

Not so even after all, when she swallowed. "I would never, ever turn down a chance to be a part of that," she said, more softly. She looked away from Zhane at last, finding Andros' worried gaze. "But I don't think I can live with it if you're just doing it because you think you have to."

Zhane looked at Andros too. He was just sitting there, frowning a little, obviously scaring Ashley. Zhane was about to whack him on the shoulder when Andros glanced over at him in surprise, like he'd heard what Zhane was thinking.

"I'm trying to remember," Andros said slowly, "the last time anyone accused me of doing something because I thought I had to."

Ashley looked startled as Zhane let out a whoop of laughter. He tackled Andros, one hand behind his head to keep him from banging it as he shoved him to the floor. "You're crazy," he informed his partner. "Every time I start to think--"

"Maybe I'm just this normal guy," Andros said with a grin. It was what Zhane had said to him when they first met. "Maybe I just happened to get stuck with responsibility for the entire world."

"You go and pull something like this!" Zhane finished triumphantly. "You're crazy!"

Andros was totally relaxed underneath him, and he rolled his head to one side to grin at Ashley. "He used to say that to me," he explained. "Back on KO-35. I want you with us," he added, with nothing to smooth the transition from one topic to another.

"Me too," Zhane said, reaching out for her. "Come on and be crazy with us. Please."

Ashley laughed at them, like she'd finally figured out that it was okay, and she grabbed his hand and let him pull her close. She didn't stop when she was right beside him, either, leaning in to kiss him and dropping her free hand to Andros'. Without turning his head, Zhane could see Andros lift her hand to his lips.

"Okay," Ashley murmured, cuddling up against them. "Me three."