Disclaimer: Saban owns the Power Rangers, all of them, regardless of season. Garth Brooks sings “What She’s Doing Now”, and it’s from his album,Ropin’ The Wind. That’s it.

Author’s Note: Just some thank you’s this time. :) Thanks to Jeremy Ray for salvaging this from the jaws of my vicious computer. Thanks to T.J.335 for putting up with my harassment, uh, questions as to the height of certain Rangers. And thanks to Starhawk for the proof, and for being the only other person who understands PHANTOM, and understands why I like him, root of “All Things Dull And Ugly” though he is. *Grin* This is for Blue. Come back soon. We miss you buddy. :)

He piloted his small craft past yet another of the numerous moons that orbited the nearby planet. His mind was not on the space around him, but elsewhere and else when, drifting back to another time and place. He switched the ship to autopilot and let his mind wander.

“Don't worry Cassie... I'll be O.K. Don't forget me... I'll see you soon.”

He shook his head. Why had he said that if he had not meant it? Well of course he had meant it, but he had not followed through. He had not come back. Duty had kept him away from her once again. Another lie told, another promise broken... so what else was new? He wondered why Cassie had ever trusted him to begin with, let alone why she trusted him now.

But then, she did not trust him now, did she? Was that why he could not find her? Why she had disappeared without a trace? Why, when he had opened his heart, mind, and soul to her once again, there had been no response? The chilling silence he felt and heard as he had searched for her had torn at his heart. But he knew he deserved it, for he had made her feel even worse. Every promise he had ever made to her, and then broken, lined up before him. Each of them was just one more reason for her to forget she had ever met the loner with no face and no name.

He had looked for her. As soon as the war was over, he had started in the direction of Earth. But duty had required him to make many stops along the way. “I go where I am needed -- and stay for as long as I am needed.” How he had come to hate that statement, his duty. That was what had kept him away from what he needed most, her.

When he had finally reached Earth, Cassie was nowhere to be found. The MegaShip had been sitting in the middle of Angel Grove and had been swarming with humans. He had searched the entire ship, undeterred by the humans because of his invisibility. And yet he had found no sign that the Rangers had ever lived there. Their droid, Alpha, had not even been on board. But that did not stop him in his search. He had gone to their school and to their homes, finding nothing and no one every time. It was as if the entire team and their families had dropped off the face of the Earth. In despair and frustration he had left Earth, thinking that perhaps the Rangers had left the planet by some other means than the MegaShip. He did not know where to look, but he would not stop until he found her.

There was a sudden beeping from the console as his small fighter abruptly changed course. Broken out of his reverie by the ship’s sudden change, he checked the scanners to see what had caused it. Somewhere beyond the multiple moons he was passing was the planet they were revolving around. And somewhere on it was the MegaShip.

Long ago he had programmed his navicomm to be on the lookout for the MegaShip, and if he should ever be in range, it was to take him to it. He had forgotten he had programmed it that way. The fact that the MegaShip was there was hard to believe. The last time he had seen it, it was on Earth, being turned into a museum.

A momentary flash of fear almost made him change course, but he did nothing. He knew he had hurt her and he deserved whatever she said to him, even if she never wanted to see him again. But he had to see her just one last time. Somewhere on the planet below was whom he was seeking... the part of him that had been missing... Cassie. Finally he had found her. He would have one last chance to make it up to her. And he would not blow it this time with broken promises.

He took control of his ship back from the computer autopilot and hurried his approach to the planet. His descent through the atmosphere could not go fast enough for him, as he impatiently waited for the ship to reach the ground. Tiring quickly with even this speedy process, he turned the autopilot back on and, purely out of habit, engaged the ship’s invisibility before he teleported to the surface of the planet. It occurred to him momentarily to wonder why he was in such a hurry to talk to her now, when he had neglected sharing his feelings with her for so long. He pushed the thoughts aside as he materialized on the planet.

He looked at his immediate surroundings, observing the dense jungle around him, and searching for signs of life. He had teleported to the general vicinity--not of the MegaShip, but of where his scanners had been picking up a concentration of power... Rangers’ power. Suddenly he spotted a flash of color. In a small, distant clearing there seemed to be a battle taking place. As he started toward the clearing he saw five bright flashes of color standing out against the thick, green background of the jungle. Even then he knew something was not right. The colors were wrong. But the Earth Rangers had changed colors and powers before, why not again? As he approached he opened his mind and heart, searching for Cassie and found no response. Something was not right. Had she closed herself off to him, given up on him entirely? Or was she simply, not there? Of course she was there, he thought, who else would have the MegaShip? But the nearer he got, the more certain he was that Cassie was not among these Rangers.

The brightly colored warriors were fighting some mindless flunkies, the kind that evil rulers were so fond of employing. He knew not how or where the flunkies had come from, but it seemed that not all evil had been destroyed by Zordon’s sacrifice.

For some reason, though he had enabled his ship’s invisibility, he had neglected to enable his own. Maybe it was the distraction of the prospect of seeing Cassie again, he didn’t know, but even as his hope faded, he remained visible. The bee-like flunkies recognized his presence as a Ranger and attacked him accordingly. He dispatched them with ease, hardly breaking stride as he headed toward the clearing and the mysterious Ranger team. With each step he became more sure that Cassie was not among them, but surely they would have answers to his questions since they were in possession of the MegaShip.

He reached the clearing just as the Pink Ranger was set upon by several of the flunkies. As they knocked her sword from her grasp, Phantom reacted on instinct. “Cassie!” he shouted, and ran to the Pink Ranger’s aid. The Rangers looked up, startled at the new unknown presence. Phantom threw the flunkies off of the Pink Ranger. Then, as faint-hearted flunkies often do when they realize there is someone there who could really hurt them, they all disappeared, teleporting to cowardly safety.

Phantom retrieved the Pink Ranger’s sword and offered her a hand up. She hesitantly accepted it. He quickly stepped back as the Blue and Red Rangers put themselves between him and the Pink Ranger. The Red Ranger grabbed her sword from Phantom and handed it back to her. These two were obviously very protective of her. Cassie would not have let someone else fight her battles for her. But he continued to stare at her, noticing all the little differences that proved that the woman behind the mask was not the woman he loved.

This Pink Ranger was taller, and though she certainly was brave, she did not carry herself with the same confidence that Cassie did. He looked from Ranger to Ranger noting the differences in costume as he had earlier noticed the differences in fighting technique. Their helmets bore the resemblance of animals and the uniforms themselves had white chest plates with a zigzagging black line running horizontally across it. He saw that they were eyeing him as well. The silence was broken when the Red Ranger spoke.

“Who are you and what do you want?”

Phantom looked at him, hoping that they held the answers he needed. But as they did not know or trust him, why should they tell him anything? “I am seeking someone,” he paused as he looked again at the Pink Ranger. “You are not she.”

“What do mean?” The Red Ranger appeared to do most of the talking for the group.

Phantom continued, stating simply, “I seek the Rangers of Earth.”

“We’re from Earth.” This comment earned him a hard elbow in the ribs from the Yellow Ranger. “Well, most of us anyway.”

“Wait,” the Blue Ranger spoke up, “do you mean the Earth Rangers who saved the galaxy from Dark Spectre and Astronema?”

Phantom started. Maybe they did know something that could help him in his search.

Since Phantom did not answer, the Blue Ranger continued to speak. “Soon after the war ended the Rangers just... disappeared. I guess they didn’t want to deal with their sudden worldwide popularity. The press was hounding them night and day. People just couldn’t hear enough about them, now that everyone finally knew the identities of the Power Rangers.”

Phantom again just stood in silence. These children could not help him. Time to move on, continue his search. But there was one question that they could answer. “You are not them. But you have their ship.”

The Rangers glanced at each other quickly. The Green Ranger finally spoke up, saying rather sheepishly, “Well, we sorta ‘borrowed’ it. I don’t know if they even know it’s gone.”

Phantom just stated in his usual cold tone, “Then perhaps you should return it. It is likely they will need it in the future.” He had nothing else to say to them, so as was his rather rude habit, he activated his invisibility and turned to leave. The Rangers gasped as he started to vanish, surrounded by the ripples of the fold he disappeared into.

“Wait! We don’t even know your name.” The Pink Ranger called to him, and Phantom flinched, thankful he was invisible. So similar was that simple statement to what Cassie had said to him so long ago. He started quickly away before he said something he would regret.

He traveled through the jungle more slowly than he had the first time. He was again without a clue as to her whereabouts and was unsure as to where to start again. Earth seemed the logical choice, but where? He came upon his ship, and though it was invisible, he knew it was sitting just beyond the MegaShip, right where the navicomm had been programmed to land it. He quickened his pace as he started past the MegaShip, trying not to look and hoping not to remember.

The MegaShip’s dock doors were open and standing on the ramp was Alpha VI. Obviously the droid had returned to the ship at some point since Phantom had searched it on Earth so long ago. Alpha was impossibly looking straight at Phantom, and purposefully walked down the ramp and placed himself between the invisible Phantom and his invisible ship.

“Phantom Ranger? I know you are here. Show yourself.” Alpha said quietly.

Phantom knew not how Alpha knew where he was, but he did not wish to speak to the droid. He was afraid of the memories that might surface, and started to walk around the droid.

Alpha then played his trump card. “Cassie left a message for you.”

Phantom stopped short, totally losing his concentration and becoming fully visible. For the first time he noticed that Alpha held something in his hands. He felt sure if the droid had been able, Alpha would have been scowling at him. It appeared that Alpha did not care for the terminally absent Ranger who so callously broke Cassie’s heart.

Alpha held out his hands to reveal a video message recorder, just like the one Phantom had used to leave Cassie that message what seemed like an eternity ago. It had been the last time he had seen her, other than in his dreams, when he had made her yet another promise that he had not kept. Phantom tentatively took the recorder, turning it over in his hands. Here it was, his chance to see her again, even if it was only a recording, but he feared what it held. Did she hate him? Were they truly over even before they had begun? If so, it was all his fault. He had to watch, regardless of what the message held.

He placed the recorder on the ground and activated its playback function. It sprang to life suddenly with an image of Cassie, looking as beautiful as he had remembered her, dressed in pink shorts and tank top. She turned toward him, her eyes seeming to find him and pull him in. She said simply,

“Don't worry Phantom... I'll be O.K. Don't forget me... I'll see you soon.”

She seemed to smirk at him, and the transmission ended as abruptly as it had begun. Phantom almost laughed. How fitting a message, he thought. So final... just as his had been when he had left it for her. He had gotten her hopes up and left her wanting. Now she had done the same to him.

Phantom picked up the recorder and stood, turning toward Alpha again. “Thank you for delivering this.”

Alpha merely shrugged. “A friend asked me for a favor.” And Phantom got the distinct impression that if Cassie had not asked him to do so, Alpha would have been glad to never see him again. The droid left without another word and shuffled off back to the MegaShip, leaving Phantom alone in the jungle.

He stared down at the recorder in his hands, until he heard the new Rangers approaching loudly through the brush. Shaking his head, he again activated his invisibility and boarded his ship.

He started the engines, taking control of the ship as it left the planet’s atmosphere. He laid in a new course, back to Earth. He smiled and turned the recorder over again in his hand. The recording was not a total loss. Cassie was certainly very clever. She had gotten her revenge, hurting him as he had hurt her, but she had also left him another message. There was one main difference between the recording he had left and hers. His recording had only been of him. Her recording had included the background around her. And it was something he had recognized, the Rocky Mountains of Earth. It was a message of hope, a hint that he could find her if he wished. And he so wished. More than anything he wished to stay beside her forever.

As the ship began the long journey back to Earth, he set the recorder on the console and pushed ‘play’ again, just to see her beautiful face. Duty be damned, he thought, he would not leave her again.