17Staying Alive
Summary: Rachel the red ranger lives to protect the helpless. Rachel the assassin kills to stay alive. Two different worlds, same person. When the hero gone missing, the killer was summoned to her world by accident. What will she do? Why was she here? What joke was fate playing on her this time?
Disclaimer: Damn. I forgot this the last few chapters. Oh well. I don't own power rangers, blah blah. You know the drill. :)
Chapter 3 - ...Yet You Linger
A plate of sandwich slammed on his desk.
"Eat."
Silver looked up and saw Luc, with a unusual frown that seemed alien on his face. He shifted his gaze to the ham sandwich, an Earth food he'd become quite familiar with. His eyes found their way back to the screen. "Thank you. I'll get to it."
"When was the last time you left this chair?"
Two hours? Five? He shook his head, his eyes scanning the data again. He could almost memorize it by now. The Gate of Scath, a magical portal used by sorcerers of the dark to summon infernal armies or-
Luc grabbed his shoulders and forced him to face the younger male. "Working yourself to death isn't going to bring Rae back! So snap out of it!"
He glared. And looked away when he saw the unshed tears that were too, shinning in the blue ranger's eyes. Luc let go, probably seeing the same thing.
"I'm sorry," Luc paused and sat on his desk without invitation. "But don't do this to yourself. Erika hadn't been eating much the last two days. Ian kept to himself. Kendra's hurting, and even more when she sees them – you, us – like this. Can't you see? Rae wouldn't want to see this. She would be mad if she knew."
"Red isn't gone yet," he returned to his screen yet again, fingers flying across the keyboard and heart beating so fast that he could feel it in his ears. "She's still out there, Blue, I know it. She could be suffering. Or hurting."
Luc let out an exasperated sigh. "What is it with you and names, huh? You've been living with us for three months now and colors are the best you can do? I know your name's 'Silver' and all-"
"Blue-"
"See? Maybe it's some alien code I don't know, but here on Earth, we call people by their names."
"Will you just-"
"Especially among friends. Why are we even friends if you can't even say our names?" The blue ranger looked away, "I might be making a big deal out of this but – do you know how much Rae wanted you to call us – and her – by our names?"
He knew this was Blue's way of dealing with the los– situation, but he couldn't help feeling guilty. His throat felt dry and he did not know how to answer.
Luc went on, "She knows it makes us uncomfortable, she knows it was annoying – really annoying, at times. And she knew, as the leader, she should do something about it." Luc gave a humorless snort. "Silly girl. Thinks she's responsible for everything 'cause of a color she's stuck with.
"Silly..."
The words on the screen had blurred, slurring together into a neat, meaningless pile of sanity. Silver only saw Red's – Rachel's, he corrected himself absently – face, her shy smile, her infectious laugh, her determined eyes. And then he saw himself, the famed Silver Knight, fumbling and stumbling in an ash-covered square on a backwater planet, looking desperately for a short little human girl. Searching and searching and searching...
Kendra paused at the doorway, frowning sadly at the sight of Ian working on the scanners, again. Said person then paused, and scratched the bridge of his nose tiredly. Her heart ached. Quietly, she walked to him and hugged him from behind, hushing when he started in surprise. "Get some rest, will you? Don't do this to me."
Ian rubbed her hands absently, but it was comforting nonetheless. "I'll rest later. Promise. I only have some more-"
"Ian..."
He sighed. He kept quiet for a while. "She's not gone yet. She couldn't be."
"I know." Kendra held on to him, forcing back the tears that threatened to break through. She hadn't told anyone yet, even two days after, about the feeling – the horrible, horrible sensation – when Rachel was cut off from her. She felt like she lost a part of herself, feeling cold and incomplete.
Ian gently lifted her hands and turned around to face her, kissing her forehead lightly. "We'll find her. Don't worry."
She let out a sob. She couldn't take it anymore. "You don't understand, Ian... I... I can't..." Her eyes widen and she shut up, suddenly realizing what she had almost done. Rachel was like a little sister to him, and he was already this upset, how could she – she, of all people – do this to him? She choked back a sob, and took deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down.
"Kendra...?"
"I-I'm fine. Just ... tired, I guess."
Ian eyed her with suspicious narrowed eyes. He sighed and ran a hand through her dark hair gently, "Ken-"
"Guys!" Erika burst into the room, panting and a wild look in her bloodshot eyes. "I found it! I found a way to bring Rae back!"
Slowly, she came around. Weak and exhausted. As her senses recovered, she opened her mouth to let out a silent scream. It hurts. Everywhere.
She was kneeling, she realized, her arms tied to something high above. She stirred, and cried out in pain. Whatever that binds her arms had thorns all over it, and only now she felt the layer of dried blood that must have covered her arms, refreshed by the blood caused by her movement.
Opening her eyes brought tears to them, yet through her blurred sight, she only saw a vast of nothingness. Tiny speckles of silver glittered and shone, but they never last. She looked as hard as she could.
Where... am I?
A/N:I have good news and bad news. Bad thing is, updates might take even longer than this from now on because school has been unexpectedly mean to me. :pouts: All the homework... sigh.
Good news is, Chinese New Year's coming, I'll probably have some free time next week. I'll see what I can do.
(And yeah, I'm Chinese. :P)
Review:D