Disclaimer: Saban owns the Rangers and all related characters. Darn it. *grin* "It's A Wonderful Life" is from Republic Pictures, and was directed by Frank Capra. "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" is by Billy Joel from his album, Billy Joel: Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II.

Timeline: immediately after "Always A Chance", and going behind the scenes into the next ep, "The Secret Of The Locket".

Author's Note: this is in answer to a challenge made by Silver Galaxy at the YC Challenge MB, so thanks. :) She challenged someone to cross over PRiS with "It's A Wonderful Life". And since it's my favorite movie, I had to do this. *grin* If you haven't seen the movie, then *please* do. It's worth it. :) If you have seen it, then you'll see what fun I had with this. *grin* The PHANTOM Ranger you'll find in this fic is borrowed from my series, "Forgotten, But Not Gone". To know more about him, look there. *grin* Thanks to TJ for again withstanding my barrage of questions. And thanks as always to Starhawk for the proof and her friendship. :)

The sky was clear, the sun bright, and the day annoyingly cheerful. None of that fit his mood, which was cloudy, dark, and gloomy.

Zhane was lying on his back, staring up at the sky through the treetops in a secluded part of Angel Grove Forest. He was wearing his usual black and silver shipboard uniform, and to make matters worse, his Galaxy Glider hovered nearby. The Earth members of the AstroTeam had reminded him repeatedly not to do such things in public. But right then he was beyond caring.

He had wanted to go somewhere to think and so he had stopped at a quiet place he liked. This was the clearing where he had taken Astronema, the clearing where she had arranged their date. From his jacket pocket he pulled some rose petals, the only things that remained from the scorched bouquet he had bought for Astronema. He looked at them for a moment, then shoved them back in his pocket with a sigh. That day seemed like so very long ago, when in actuality he had only been awake for less than a month. He liked coming to that clearing because regardless of how badly that date had soured, just being there brought back memories of a time when he had felt needed. Which was exactly how he didn't feel now.

Only a week had passed since he had left the AstroTeam to protect the rebels from KO-35 during their relocation. He had called Andros and the others several times in that week, but they had always been too busy to talk. So when he had gotten the chance, he had come to see them only to find them gone, the MegaShip empty.

Thinking they were in a battle, he had been ready to rush off to help. That was until DECA had informed him that they were at the Surf Spot visiting with an ex-Ranger from Earth, Adam, which translated to 'having fun without him'. It seemed the perfect capper to a horrible week. A week that had only helped to prove to him that things had irrevocably changed since he had returned to the living.

Two years ago, Andros and he had been a team. Inseparable and undefeatable, they had fought side-by-side throughout their entire career as Rangers. Till that day that had changed it all, the day Zhane had saved Andros' life and had nearly lost his in the process.

"Not that anyone would have cared if I had died," he muttered. Absently he pulled at the grass by his side and threw it away from him. The small blades did not travel far, and soon fell to the ground. He thought back on his two years in the hypersleep healing chamber, two years during which his entire world had changed with him powerless to have a say in any of it.

Andros and he were no longer the team they once were. The friendship, the bond between the two was still as strong and as unflappable as it had been before Zhane's 'death'. But Andros had a new team now, and try as they might to accept him, Zhane could not help but feel excluded.

And they did try, he knew they did, but he still felt like he was coming in on the tail end of something that full-entry and acceptance into would be impossible. The new AstroRangers were some of the nicest people he had ever met and he was proud to call them friends, but he couldn't help feeling that they only tolerated him because he was Andros' best friend.

And what of Andros? The two had sworn to always fight together, to never let anything split them up. And yet as soon as Zhane had awoken, Andros had accused him of trying to steal Ashley, Andros' at the time would-be girlfriend. It was obvious Andros had moved on. Not that Zhane had expected him to mourn for him for two years, but things had changed that he couldn't get past.

Zhane had woken up after what seemed like only seconds to him to find that two years had passed and that he had essentially been replaced. Andros had a new team now, new friends he relied on. Zhane felt like he was in the way all the time, which made leaving to help the rebels a convenient way out. He had hoped the others would miss him, but it was obvious that they hadn't. It looked like Andros and his days of 'fighting together forever' were over. Andros didn't need Zhane the way he had needed him before. If he even needed him at all…

"It would have been better if I had never woken up," he muttered, again to no one, never expecting a response.

"You mustn't say things like that. Someone might hear you, someone who could make it happen."

Zhane shot up, looking about wildly to find the source of the voice. And he found it, sitting, of all places, on Zhane's Galaxy Glider. A very short man sat there, his legs dangling off the side as the Glider hovered a foot or so off the ground. Wearing jeans and a T-shirt, he looked perfectly at ease, as if it were normal for him to appear out of nowhere and sit on hovering hyperspace transports. At Zhane's stunned expression the man remarked, "I just love doing that to you Rangers. You're so predictable."

"Who are you?" Zhane finally said.

"Who am I, he asks. Well, since I'm not in the mood for the usual theatrics, I'll just hit you with the truth. The name's Quagmire. I'm sort of an extradimenional therapist for Rangers. That means I get the oh so fun job of hopping from dimension to dimension, through time and space, to help out you little whiners whenever you have a problem." He added sarcastically, "In case you can't tell, you caught me at the end of a bad year. Your tough luck."

Zhane squinted at the man in disbelief. "How come I've never heard of you before?"

Quagmire laughed, "Do you really think people are going to admit to having seen me? Be serious! Besides, usually everyone gets the whole show, strange costumes and I only speak in rhymes. You know, a few riddles to make them think about the answers they need. Who would think they were sane after that? But like I said, I've been having a pretty hectic year when you called me. And I was on my vacation, so I'm not in the mood for theatrics."

"Well, I never called you," Zhane said, settling back in the grass. "So you can go away."

" 'Fraid not mister. You got troubles and unfortunately it's my job to see they get resolved."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm fine."

"You're fine, huh? Wasn't it you who just wished he had died?" Quagmire rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, you sound great to me! Not one problem here!"

"Well it's true!" Zhane found himself saying, even though he immediately regretted speaking up. "If I weren't here, everyone would be a lot happier. Andros could go on with his new team, and they wouldn't have to try so hard to include me. Everyone would just be better off."

"Do you really believe that? That the universe would be a better place if you had died two years ago?"

"Yes! Okay!" he yelled, refusing to look over at the man. "I should be dead! Are you happy?"

Quagmire shrugged, looking at his watch. "Makes no difference to me. But you really mustn't say things like that."

"Why not?!" Zhane had been about to say more when a blinding flash of lightning caused him to shut and cover his eyes. The accompanying clap of thunder drowned out whatever he would have said and deafened him momentarily. When he moved his hand to open his eyes, the clear sky was gone. In its place was a dark and cloudy one, so black it could easily be mistaken for night. No sun was shining which made the forest quite suddenly very dark. Zhane sat up, confused by the inexplicable and immediate change in weather.

"What happened?" he turned to Quagmire, looking for answers, only to find the man gone, his Galaxy Glider empty. "Quagmire?" he called, wondering where the man could have gone. But another clap of thunder made him reconsider sticking around. Forget this, he thought, morphing and hopping on his Glider to head back to the MegaShip. There's no way I'm getting caught in this storm. It sounds like a doozy and being struck by lightning once in my lifetime was enough for me, thanks.

The trip through hyperspace was quick and uneventful, as usual. But the reception he received on the MegaShip was anything but normal. He demorphed upon arrival in the holding bay and was immediately greeted by clamoring sirens.

"DECA! What's wrong?" he shouted.

But the computer, his friend, refused to answer. The only response was her simple statement, "Intruder Alert", which she repeated over and over.

Zhane ducked into the hallway just as the holding bay door slammed shut behind him. She never closes that door!, he thought. "DECA, where's the intruder?" he shouted above the noise.

"Intruder has left the holding bay," she reported impassively as the sirens continued.

Left the holding bay? I was the only person in the holding bay. It didn't make any sense at all, but he quickly realized that DECA thought he was an intruder. "DECA! It's me, Zhane, the Silver Ranger!"

"That is impossible," the computer replied. "The Silver Ranger is dead and no one currently holds the Silver Powers."

Zhane threw up his hands in frustration, "DECA, I'm not dead! And I hold the Silver Powers! I woke up from hypersleep a few weeks ago. And what do you call this?" he asked, and he began digging through his pockets for his DigiMorpher. But it wasn't there. He was sure it had been there just a minute ago. It had to have been for him to have morphed. But his frantic search turned up nothing. It was gone.

The camera blinked, and Zhane doubted she was convinced. "The hypersleep chamber is no longer operational. The Silver Ranger's DigiMorpher is in the Power Vault," she answered, basically telling Zhane she thought he was an imposter.

Determined to prove himself, Zhane ran into the engine room just before DECA slammed that door shut too. She was trying to simultaneously shut him, the 'intruder', out of the important areas while also trying to contain him. But Zhane knew the layout of the MegaShip, his home, like the back of his hand, and he had just barely beaten her to the engine room. Opening a small panel in an unlit corner and typing in a code once known only to him and Andros, he watched as the secret door slid open.

The small room was dark, as always. Only minimal lighting was ever turned on in that room. Who needed light when they were asleep? He took several hurried steps into the blackness before he stopped, staring at the wreckage in front of him.

What remained of the hypersleep pod was hardly recognizable. The misshapen hunk of metal and plastic resembled the pod only as a vague form. "What happened here?" he whispered into the darkness.

"Well, you died. That would seem to be the big event that happened here. But you meant what happened to the pod, didn't you?" The voice came from the far, dark corner of the room, but Zhane knew it was Quagmire. "Did I mention that you really mustn't say things like that?"

"That's the third time you've said that! Why do you keep repeating it?"

" 'Someone might hear you, someone who could make it happen'," Quagmire continued, repeating his words from earlier as he stepped from the shadows. "You said you should be dead. So…," and he held his hands aloft, presenting the destroyed pod as if he were a gameshow hostess, "you got your wish."

"What are you talking about?! I'm not dead!" Zhane said incredulously.

"You've passed on. You are no more. You've ceased to be. You've expired and …," Quagmire's voice trailed off at Zhane's blank stare. "But you're from another planet, so I assume any Monty Python reference will be lost on you."

Zhane just shook his head. "You're lying. What are you, some kind of monster sent by Ecliptor or something? Where am I really?"

"Hey, I'm who I said I was, and you're exactly where you wanted to be, on the MegaShip. But what you really want to know is how this happened, isn't it? Okay, so here's how it went down." Quagmire almost looked excited as he prepared to tell the story. "Two years ago there was a great battle on KO-35. Many of the inhabitants survived that day only because of the heroic efforts of the planet's two Rangers."

"I sorta know this part. I was there," Zhane interrupted impatiently.

"Are you going to let me tell this story my way, or not?" Zhane stopped his complaints then so Quagmire went on.

"Thank you. Now where was I? Oh yeah, you-dead. Got it," he said, motioning from the pod to Zhane. "So this monster had the drop on Andros and you ran over to intervene. You couldn't get a shot off in time, not from the angle you were at. To you, it looked like the only way to save your best friend was to take the blow for yourself. So you did. How noble of you." He grinned and then continued totally serious, "Between the fatal blow you took that was meant for Andros and the explosion of the dying monster you were grappling with, you didn't stand a chance."

"But I survived!" Zhane countered. "I lived!"

"Well sure you did. Long enough for Andros to get you back here anyway," Quagmire agreed, nodding toward the room in question. "And just as before, Andros spent many long days at your side. But this time things just didn't work out. Your injuries were just too severe to be healed. And well, you died." Zhane didn't comment. He just shook his head, refusing to believe.

"Andros was away in a battle and came back to find you gone. Not only did he blame himself for your injuries, but he hated himself for not being there when you died," he paused. "He didn't take it well."

The silence of the room was deafening as Zhane motioned toward the remains of the pod, "Then what happened here?"

"Andros buried you beside your parents on KO-35, then he took his anger out on the pod. I would have thought that part was obvious," he added, rolling his eyes.

Stepping closer to the pod, Zhane could see the distinctive marks made by Andros' legendary Spiral Sabre. Along with the sabre damage he saw imprints that could only have been left by a fist. He knew that even morphed Andros had to have hurt his hands inflicting that kind of punishment on the hard, unyielding metal of the pod.

"This is impossible," he said. "Andros doesn't have that kind of anger inside him."

"Not the Andros you knew, no. But he was suddenly alone in the universe. He lost his sister and then his parents. His friendship with you had been the only thing keeping him grounded in this world. At least when you were comatose in the pod he had some hope. But when you died, he blamed himself just as he had blamed himself for his sister and parents being gone. He couldn't take the guilt he put upon himself for what he thought he had done. He even lost hope of finding his sister. He felt he didn't deserve happiness, so he just stopped caring. His life became nothing more than a rage-filled war against evil."

"It isn't true. It's all a lie," Zhane offered weakly, his hand running over the all-too-real sabre imprint in the pod's control systems.

"I'm afraid it is true," Quagmire said, ignoring Zhane's denials. "You've been given a very special gift; a chance to see what the world would have be like without you."

"No!" he shouted. "It's NOT true! If I was dead, how could I be standing here now?"

"Ah, that's an easy one. You're kind of a non-entity now. You have no name, no identity, nothing to prove who you think you are." When he saw Zhane suddenly digging into his jacket pocket, he added, "They're not there either."

"What?" Zhane asked, stopping momentarily in his search to stare at the man.

"The rose petals. Astronema's rose petals. You were looking for them, weren't you? They never existed, just like you don't anymore," he said, squelching Zhane's hope. Determined, Zhane pulled his pockets inside out to find them empty, just as Quagmire said they would be. Looking up in horror he heard Quagmire go on, "No one who knew you recognizes you as Zhane or as the Silver Ranger, as DECA proved."

Quagmire had a point. DECA hadn't recognized him. And he had known DECA most of his life. "I don't know what you've done to DECA, but I'll prove you wrong! The others will know me! Andros will know me!"

Quagmire shrugged, "Then prove it. DECA has shut down teleportation to stop the 'intruder', but that won't affect you. You're moving outside the normal Power stream now. Your friends are at the Surf Spot, aren't they? Do you know where it is?"

"Of course I know where it is! There's not a lot I'm sure of any more, but I can find my way out of your trick!" With his morpher gone, he put his faith in whatever had allowed him to morph before, and angrily he morphed, teleporting straight to his Galaxy Glider.

Left in the darkness of the barely lit room, Quagmire half-sighed, half-laughed. "He isn't going to like this." Then he blinked out, leaving the room to the deathly quiet stillness that had existed there for two years.

Zhane's Galaxy Glider unerringly took him through hyperspace to where he wanted to go, the Surf Spot. But upon exiting hyperspace, he was not greeted by the friendly visage of the local teen hangout. Zhane looked around quickly to get his bearings as he instead found himself in the middle of a graveyard.

"This can't be right! Where's the Surf Spot? Where is everyone?" he asked, staring out across the rubble-strewn field, now filled with tombstones jutting haphazardly out of the scorched earth. The storm still raged overhead, dark skies still threatening.

"This is the right place," he heard behind him, and he knew that Quagmire had arrived. "The Surf Spot was destroyed in one of Dark Spectre's first attacks on Earth. With no Rangers to defend it, the planet has been taking quite a beating."

"What? Of course Earth has Rangers! The AstroRangers defend Earth!"

"If you were alive they would. Too bad there aren't any AstroRangers. Oh, and your friends are here," Quagmire said, looking out across the field.

"You're kidding, right?" he asked, trying not to laugh. "What would they be doing here?"

The serious look on Quagmire's face strangely contradicted his almost humorous tone as he answered, "Being dead, the same thing everyone else is doing here."

Zhane shook his head in disbelief, "But they can't be dead! They're AstroRangers. And Rangers never die. You never break up the team." He recited what he had always foolishly believed, even though he of all people knew Rangers were as mortal as anyone else.

"But you died," he pointed at Zhane accusingly. "You broke up the team." Turning, he then pointed to a row of headstones, "And they were never AstroRangers."

The tombstones bore all too familiar names, but he refused to believe it. "No. It's not true. I know the story. DECA pulled their shuttle into the MegaShip and Alpha talked Andros into giving them the AstroPowers. He needs them. They're his team now… like I used to be."

Quagmire only shrugged. "Sure, he needs them. Like he needed you too. But when you died, his heart hardened and he refused to let anyone else close. He never wanted another team, and this time he stuck by his decision. He lost his sister and his parents, but losing you was the final straw. He couldn't take anymore. After watching his entire family taken from him, he vowed to never again let anyone close enough to hurt him by leaving."

"But Alpha talked him into it," Zhane said again feebly.

"No, Andros refused to listen. He never turned the MegaShip around when he left them on that planet. Astronema's quantrons attacked the Powerless ex-Turbo Rangers before they could board their shuttle. They never stood a chance, and Andros never looked back."

Pointing to the first headstone, he continued, "TJ died that day on that far away planet. He covered the others while they ran for their shuttle. The only reason any of them survived was because the Phantom Ranger arrived. His starfighter ran off Astronema's quantrons and he escorted the shuttle back to Earth."

"Then how did…," Zhane's question trailed off, almost afraid to ask as he looked to the other headstones.

"After he saw them back to Earth, Phantom chose to rebel against his masters and stayed on Earth with Cassie. He loved her, and her planet no longer had any Rangers to defend it."

"Wait, now I know you're lying. The Phantom Ranger has masters? No one tells him what to do! He's a Ranger!"

"He was a Ranger who worked against his will for a force of good with questionable methods. They kept him in line only by threatening Cassie's life. And when he rebelled, well…," he gestured to a tombstone bearing the name, 'Cassie Chan', and dates that had too few years in between. "They made good on their threat."

"But…," Zhane had had no idea that Cassie and Phantom even knew of each other, let alone that they were in love. "You said he loved her. He never would have let her die."

"He could hardly stop them. They are very good at their job, as was he. And without her, he no longer cared for anything save for revenge on his former masters." He paused for a moment as he walked over to stand behind the tombstone next to Cassie's. It had no name, but it bore a single date that it shared with Cassie's headstone. "Mad with grief, he did not last long against them."

A flash of teleportation caused Zhane to jump, breaking him out of his trance. Without knowing why, he ducked behind a nearby tree and watched as the individual approached the three graves. But his startled exclamation nearly gave him away.

"The Phantom Ranger?! But you said he was dead!" Zhane turned to see he was alone. Or so he thought, till he heard the voice above him.

Perched on a low branch, Quagmire went on with his story. "He did die. But his masters could hardly let themselves go without a lackey to do their bidding. They have a baby they are raising, much the same way as they did with the Phantom you knew. The child would be someone to take his place should they ever have to replace their present warrior. But the child is not ready, and they needed someone who could do the job in the meantime. Someone with experience, who knew how to use the Power, someone they could easily dispose of in a few years when their new Phantom was ready. And while they were on Earth dealing with Cassie and then Phantom, they noticed that they had two perfect candidates right in front of them in two former Turbo Rangers."

"No," was all Zhane could say, as he watched the 'Phantom Ranger' kneeling at the graves. Carlos? They had forced Carlos to be their new Phantom? They must have threatened Ashley's life the same way they had Cassie's! He looked up at Quagmire who had pulled loose a dead branch and was fiddling with the stick as if the present situation no longer concerned him. Turning back, Zhane now saw the Phantom Ranger's helmet was off, and as 'Phantom's' light brown hair fell across the armor, he knew he had made the wrong assumption.

"Ashley?"

Upon hearing the name, Zhane turned even as Phantom did to see its source. Carlos stood a few paces away, looking around warily, as if he was expecting to be spied on. The helmet hit the ground as Ashley, the Phantom Ranger, threw it aside and rushed to Carlos' waiting arms.

"Carlos! I'm so sorry. I know I shouldn't be here, but I had to see you," her words poured out in a rush. It appeared they were used to having hurried conversations in stolen moments. "I wish I could stay--"

"But you can't, I know," he finished for her, hugging her hard. "Just don't get caught coming here."

"I have a new mission and I just had to see you first," she said, pulling away.

"What's wrong?"

"Remember those rebels hiding out on that desert planet?" When Carlos nodded, she continued. "Well they're gone now. Dark Spectre discovered them and sent Darkonda to infiltrate them. Darkonda had a monster turning the rebels into coral, and when they were at their weakest, Darkonda killed whomever was left." She turned away, her frustration at not being allowed to intervene and help the rebels before it was too late was clear on her face. "So now that Dark Spectre's forces are gone, I have to go on an information recovery mission, to see if either side left behind anything that could be of use."

"It didn't happen like that!" Zhane hissed at Quagmire. "We saved the rebels and they moved to a new planet! Everyone's fine!"

"No, everyone's dead. There were no AstroRangers to help them defeat the coral monster. And you were not there to defeat Darkonda or to stay with the rebels to protect them. The only person who could have helped them was Andros, and just as before, he had lost contact with the rebels and didn't know where they were." Quagmire shrugged again as if it were so simple, "He probably wouldn't have cared if he had known. There isn't a lot he cares about anymore."

"But Ashley… Andros cares about her. He --," and then Zhane stopped. He knew none of this could be real. Andros loved Ashley; he never would have turned his back on her. But something about the intimacy of Carlos and Ashley's whispered conversation made him wonder if there was something else going on there.

Quagmire shook his head. "You're not catching on, are you? And you didn't know that Carlos and Ashley dated, huh? Okay, I'll speak slowly, so do try to keep up this time." He began his story again, using hand motions to mimic his words, and to annoy Zhane.

"Andros left Ashley and the others on that planet and has never seen them again. Ashley felt the immediate attraction to Andros, but it could never go anywhere considering he left them to sink or swim on their own. As a result, the relationship that had existed between Carlos and Ashley never failed as it had before; it only got stronger."

"So something good did come of the whole mess," Zhane remarked sourly.

"Quite the contrary. Because Carlos is still with Ashley, he will never meet the woman of his dreams who's waiting out there for him. And Ashley, well, she met the man of her dreams, and he left her to die. Now all she feels when she thinks of that stranger on the MegaShip is resentment and hatred, for she blames him for her friends' deaths."

Their attention returned to Carlos and Ashley as she pushed away from him. "I have to go. I've been here too long. They'll start looking for me."

"They track her movements?" Zhane asked.

Quagmire nodded, "They tell her where to go and what to do, with the rule that she never come to Earth." At Zhane's surprised look he added, "They're enforcing their control over her. As long as she's loyal, Carlos lives. And both of them know they'll make good on that threat." At that, Zhane's eyes couldn't help but stray back to the nearby row of headstones. Phantom's helmet lay against one of them, and Ashley bent down to pick it up.

"But she'll be free soon, right?" he asked, as he watched Carlos and Ashley's tearful good-bye. "As soon as their new warrior is ready, she'll get her life back."

"Sorta."

Zhane turned sharply, staring up at Quagmire. "What do you mean 'sorta'?! What happens?"

"For anyone to fully use the ruby's Power, their life force must be joined with the ruby. And when their warrior is ready, they will take the ruby from her to give it to their new warrior. But since she won't be able to live without it-"

"Ashley will die…," Zhane finished for him. Ashley replaced her helmet and with a sad wave to Carlos, she disappeared in the strangest combination of yellow and black light Zhane had ever seen.

"Yeah, something like that," he said, laying back to lounge on the branch.

"How can you be so calm about this?! Doesn't any of this bother you at all?"

"Hey, none of this is my fault! I'm not the one who wished he was dead!" Quagmire shot back. "And how do you expect me to act? I deal with this stuff everyday. Day in, day out, I have to help neurotic Rangers through personal problems that baffle the mind!"

"A lot of Rangers have it worse off then you do, you know!" And he started mimicking something so well, that it must have been something he had heard dozens of times. " 'My dad is an evil overlord, my mom's a demon, I just found out that my girlfriend is my sister, and my lunch is trying to kill me!' And all you have wrong is you feel like you're not needed anymore?" He shook his head saying, "I don't see what you're complaining about. You got your wish, now live with it!" And if that tirade hadn't shocked Zhane, the fact that Quagmire started laughing did. "Oh, that's right. You can't live with it, considering you're dead."

Zhane really didn't like this man, and he really wanted to wipe that smile off of his face, but he didn't move. This can't be happening, he told himself over and over, but nothing changed. He was still there in the graveyard, still staring at Carlos kneeling at the graves of his former teammates. Seeing Carlos so alone abruptly reminded him of something. He remembered a name, someone he had never met but had heard a lot about. Carlos had talked about the fifth member of their Turbo team, and how he hadn't come with them into space to rescue Zordon. "What happened to Justin?"

"Interesting story that," Quagmire remarked, twirling the stick in his hand. "Seems he had made friends with this sentient car, Storm Blaster, during his time as a Turbo Ranger. When the Turbo Rangers fell to Divatox, Storm Blaster and another sentient car, Lightning Cruiser, were captured. Storm Blaster escaped and returned to Earth with a mysterious set of Turbo Powers for Justin."

"Justin ended up leaving Earth with Storm Blaster that day and saved Andros from one of Astronema's monsters. He asked for Andros' help to rescue Lightning Cruiser, but of course Andros refused and left without so much as a thank you. Ungrateful little…," he caught himself, coughed, and continued. "So Justin set off to take on Divatox's army by himself. Needless to say he was unsuccessful."

He paused and regarded the peeling bark on the stick, and started to pull some of it off. He glanced down at Zhane who was impatiently waiting for the end of the story. Finally he sighed, "Justin's father has no idea what happened to his son. He thinks Justin's missing in all the fighting on Earth and is still looking for him. With the chaos of the continuous attacks from Dark Spectre's forces, missing persons are a common event, and not one the police have a lot of time to devote to. The attacks also make it hard to travel, thus the reason Carlos buried his friends here. Taking TJ's and Cassie's bodies home to their families would be nearly impossible." He shook his head and laughed, "Man, you really screwed things up."

It was all Zhane could do not to yell at Quagmire and argue with him right there. But a graveyard was not the place to do it, and Zhane didn't want to cause Carlos anymore grief than he was already in. He couldn't stand how causal Quagmire was about it all, as if he were reciting a history lesson and not extolling the deaths of Zhane's teammates and friends.

Still refusing to believe even with all the evidence before him, Zhane just couldn't listen anymore. It was all a dream, or a trick, or a monster's illusion. He had to find his way back to reality. There was only one person he knew he could turn to, one person who could explain everything and make the nightmare end, one person he trusted with more than his life.

Gritting his teeth, he turned from Quagmire, "You're a very strange man," he finally said. "And I don't trust you." He started off in the opposite direction, leaving Carlos and Quagmire behind.

Even though he was a good distance away, he could still hear Quagmire clearly. "You still don't believe me? You got what you wanted. What's the big deal?" He suddenly appeared in front of Zhane on the trail. When Zhane brushed past him, he baited him again. "Andros can't help you."

That made Zhane stop. He turned to stare at the man, who was grinning so calmly at him. "How did I know? Please, of course you'd go look for Andros. You think Andros will tell you that none of this is real and everything is fine. But he can't help you." Before Zhane could deny anything, he added, "He can't even hear you. Or have you even tried that yet?" He tapped his temple, making it clear to Zhane what he meant. "Up here, have you tried? Probably not, because you know I'm right."

Zhane turned away, refusing to look at Quagmire's smug expression. He was right in part; Zhane hadn't tried to contact Andros. Because until then, he had believed that it was all a trick somehow. He could still feel Andros, the same way he always could. His best friend was alive, but his thoughts were dark and closed-off, in such a way Zhane had never known him to be. He had been too scared to try, scared that Quagmire was right. If he were really dead, Andros would not hear him; Andros wouldn't feel the link that they had always shared because to him it had been severed two years ago.

"So, what's the verdict? Are you going to call him?" Quagmire asked, rocking back on his heels.

Zhane didn't answer; he was already trying. Swallowing his fear he reached out and called to Andros… and was met with total silence. In desperation he tried again, screaming his best friend's name again and again, but no answer came back, no familiar mind touch, no sign of recognition at all from the stubborn and hardheaded friend Zhane knew would never ignore him.

Terrified now as belief was starting to dig its claws into him, he whispered, "Andros? Where's Andros?" He turned to Quagmire and demanded, "Tell me where he is!"

"Me?" he asked, putting a hand on his chest. "You're the one with the big, bad telepathic connection. You figure out where he is!"

Closing his eyes Zhane tried to calm himself and clear his thoughts. He could feel Andros, even if Andros couldn't feel him. Reaching out he got a vague impression of a place and teleported there without a second thought.

He found himself in the middle of a small square surrounded by shops and stores. This was Earth; he knew it. He had passed this place several times when he had been on Earth with his friends. Quagmire appeared then and answered his unasked question. "Yes, it's Earth. Andros may not single this planet out for protection, but he goes where Astronema does."

Staring out across the square, Zhane saw a great battle had taken place there. Malfunctioning or destroyed quantrons lay everywhere, Andros' handiwork he was sure. Zhane knew his partner's methods too well. At the opposite end of the square at the top of a large set of stairs stood Astronema, her long hair, now blue, flew in the harsh storm-spawned wind. "Astronema," he whispered. He hadn't seen her since their date and he was again taken with her beauty.

"That's her. Quite a knock-out, isn't she?" Quagmire grinned. "But she's not the woman you knew. You were never there to show her any kindness, to show her that Rangers aren't evil and that maybe she isn't either. She's known no love in her life, only the hatred that pushes her to destroy all Power Rangers, the murderers of her family. Too bad she'll never know the truth."

"What truth?" Zhane asked, but Quagmire was gone again. Raised voices halted his search for the man as he turned back to the square.

At the foot of the stairs stood the most welcome sight Zhane had ever seen. Andros was standing there, unmorphed, shaking with rage and holding something too small for Zhane to distinguish in his hand. He was talking to Astronema, but Zhane couldn't hear him. What he could feel though was Andros' anger and disbelief at whatever he and the Princess of Evil were discussing.

Whatever Andros said Astronema must not have liked. Her face darkened and she scowled at the Red Ranger, shouting, "Liar!" She pointed her Staff at Andros so swiftly that he had no time to react.

"NO!!" Zhane was screaming, running toward Andros even before his body hit the ground. Falling to his knees, he slid the last few feet over to Andros, repeating his name and knowing he was too late.

"Zhane?" was Andros' shaky last word as he gasped for air, his hand opening to reveal Astronema's necklace. Zhane could feel Andros, hear his thoughts, and his friend was suddenly content, ready to give up fighting.

"It's me, Andros. I'm here. Hold on." But Andros wasn't listening, and Zhane was at a loss to explain his friend's surrender.

"He isn't seeing you," Quagmire's voice came from nowhere and everywhere, but the man was gone and Zhane knew he was right again. Andros thinks I'm a ghost! he thought. The sight of Zhane had comforted Andros that he would be reunited with his friend soon.

He felt the light that was Andros slowly slip from his mind till it was extinguished. It was a loneliness unlike any he had ever known, making everything he had felt in the last week seem so petty and small. Instantly he felt guilty for how he had acted lately, knowing he had done this very thing to Andros, that Andros had had to endure this indescribable loss for two years.

"Andros! Don't leave me!" he cried out selfishly, cradling his best friend's body.

"Who are you?!"

Who knows how long he would have sat there if he hadn't heard those words, so evil and calculating. He turned to find Astronema staring down at him, totally unfazed at having just killed someone. She didn't even seem happy to have just destroyed one of her main enemies, a thorn in hers and Dark Spectre's side. She looked as if she didn't care, as if the Red Ranger had been beneath her notice, a minor pawn in her conquest of the galaxy.

"Astronema, you're not like this! How could you?" he stuttered, his mind filled with visions of the woman he loved, the woman whose seldom-heard laugh had warmed his heart when she had giggled over marshmallows.

"Of course I'm like this! How else would I be? I'm the Princess of Evil!" she snapped as she snatched her necklace. She tossed her hair behind her shoulders and addressed him again. "And you annoy me. Who are you? A Ranger?" But before Zhane could respond she waved his answer aside, "Like I care anyway." And she raised her staff again, intending to do to him what she had done to Andros with just as little thought or caring.

Instinct took over then. As his mind had shut down his body reacted, jumping on his hastily appearing Galaxy Glider. He tried to think coherently, trying not only to process and deal with what was happening but also figure a way out of it. Grasping at straws he headed his Glider back to where it had all started, hoping against hope that it could all be undone.

He flew straight into the forest, knowing that somehow Astronema was in pursuit. She would kill him if she caught him. That he was already technically dead wouldn't matter to her, only that the Ranger death toll rose.

"Quagmire! Help me, Quagmire!" he shouted blindly as he sped through the forest. "Get me back! I don't care what happens to me! I can't let this happen to everyone!" Reaching the clearing, he was paying little attention to guiding his Glider through the storm-darkened forest. It flew too close to a low tree branch that knocked him unceremoniously to the ground.

Unmorphed, he hit the ground hard, rolling to a stop. "Please Quagmire! I want to live again. I want to live again." Eyes closed, he repeated those words, again and again till he heard footsteps behind him.

"Zhane?"

He froze. Almost too scared to turn around, he gathered his courage, opening his eyes and glancing over his shoulder to see Astronema standing there, sunlight shining on her blue hair, sunlight that hadn't been there only a moment ago. "Are you okay?" she asked, moving toward him.

Not meaning to, he flinched back. "You know me?"

"Of course I know you! What's going on?" she asked, looking irritated at him and worried for him at the same time.

Realization struck and he thrust his hand into his pocket, feeling the rose petals there once again. "I'm alive!" he shouted.

"Not for long if you keep flying your Glider like that," she muttered. Then it was her turn to jump back in surprise as Zhane leapt up and hugged her, still cheering. She pushed him away roughly, but at his sheepish and apologetic look her face softened. "Are you okay?" she asked again.

"Yeah, I guess so," he smiled thankfully, looking down. But after what he had been through he couldn't help but be a little defensive. "What are you doing here? You said you didn't want to see me again."

"I was wrong," she said simply. "I came hoping you would be here. I had to tell you something." She stopped then, and when he looked up at her he was shocked to see the vulnerable look on the Princess of Evil's face as she tried to decide how to say what she wanted to.

"There have been a lot of changes lately. And I've found out some things that I'm going to have to think about," she turned back to him saying, "But I know one thing. I was wrong before, and I would like to see you again."

Hardly able to believe what he was hearing, he couldn't help breaking out in a grin from ear-to-ear. "I would love to see you too."

She leaned forward and kissed him, totally wiping the grin off his face. Smiling at his stunned expression she waved and disappeared in a burst of purple light.

Laughing he threw himself back to land in the soft grass, once again seeing the beautiful summer sky that had been there earlier that day, as if it had never left. Things would be okay, he knew it. He knew he was needed, appreciated, and loved. And he knew he could go on, content that his small contributions to this life had some impact in the grand scheme of things.

"Thanks, Quagmire," he sighed, and sat up, looking over at his Glider and was surprised not to find the man sitting there. Instead there was a small piece of paper. It was a business card, and printed on it in a handsome script were the words, "Quagmire, Extradimensional Ranger Therapist". Below that was a scrawled message that made Zhane chuckle. "Any time. Just let me enjoy my vacation for once! I don't get many."

Still laughing he stood and stretched, immensely tired but wanting to see his friends, to see Andros. Instead he morphed and jumped on his Glider, starting the journey back to the planet where the rebels were working. The Zord they were building would be done soon. He would rejoin his friends then. Maybe he'd even tell them about Astronema and him.

As his Glider entered hyperspace he knew it could wait. He had his entire life ahead of him. And it was a wonderful one.