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estinoseThink I've figured out where this is going and how it will end. Hopefully.
Walking into Danger with Eyes Wide
Part 7: Battle Wound
For a base, there weren't a huge amount of extra rooms - storerooms, Doctor K's lab, the testing and training areas, and his small classroom - which he suspected had been a small storeroom before it had been converted. The bathrooms, bedrooms, rec room, and kitchen/dining areas rounded things out. Everything there was in use, one way or another. Not a whole lot of the space lent itself to private discussions, so Ziggy chose to talk to his parents in the room that served as his classroom.
"So, what do you want to talk to us about?" his mother asked, leaning forward at the table that Doctor K reserved for herself when she was teaching Ziggy. Thanks to the twins occasionally playing substitute teachers, there were enough seats for the three of them.
At least he had this time to talk about such a thing with his parents. While they'd only had to fend off a few invasions so far, it was only a matter of time before Venjix would become powerful enough to escalate the war. Ziggy had tried to be an adult and not seem freaked out about the fact that he was running into danger instead of away, admittedly with the rest of the team. But he was sure everybody knew that he was, given the sympathetic looks he was given every time they finished a battle. So far it had been mostly Grinders and an AttackBot or two, with Doctor K, Gem, and Gemma trying some things that had helped last time to locate Venjix's bases in order to make sure Venjix never got back to the level of technology it had gotten to before they'd shut it down. They didn't want the villain to nearly win again.
It was so not a life he would have chosen for himself. He was finding that he hated battles, and the only thing that kept him going was that if he didn't help out, didn't participate, it would weaken the team and humanity's chances of surviving Venjix a second time. And the morpher was his, and he was, in body, a war hero. So he just pretended that it didn't bother him to be a soldier in a war.
He'd also sworn to know more about Ziggy Grover, in hopes that he'd get to understand what had led the man to become a Ranger, and in turn, survive the war he was in. Which was why he and his parents were there. He supposed it wouldn't have been such a big deal if he hadn't run across Dillon and the video, or have been asked to do what he had to do, but maybe if he understood his original's courage, he'd be a better Ranger too.
"Ziggy. Well, um. You know. Him. And Dillon." That wasn't the most coherent sentence he'd ever gotten out. "A few nights ago, I had insomnia, and Dillon was watching a video. I didn't disturb him, because I didn't think he wanted to be disturbed, but I know he was in it." He took a deep breath. "I need to know how to approach him. He's the link I need to my past. Or at least one of them. The important one." There were others, of course, his other teammates, and Benny, who had known Ziggy from before.
"We can talk to him, Ziggy, but you've got to understand, it pains him to see you." His mother's tone was sympathetic. "It always take him a while to warm up to people and it's worse because you're you."
"In fact, we have," his father added. "Numerous times. He's stubborn. Always was. He thought orders were for flouting, not obeying. Mine and Doctor K's."
"To be fair, Scott, we all had moments where we went AWOL," Ziggy's mother said gently, putting a hand on ZIggy's father's arm. "We should see if Dillon would give us copies of those videos, though. I'll talk to him. I bet most of them were before Ziggy bonded, though. You remember seeing that video camera of his after that, Scott?"
"Not really," his father answered thoughtfully. "I think he stopped doing that. He was too busy training."
"That makes sense," his mother agreed. "He had a lot of spare time before that. He was the only one there that wasn't on a training schedule." She smiled at Ziggy. "We'll see what we can do."
"Thanks." That's all he needed. And even if Dillon didn't want to deal with him, he might do it to get Ziggy and his parents off his back.
"We've been meaning to ask you-" his mother said, as the alarms went off. "But that can hold."
Ziggy tensed and prepared to follow his parents to battle.
* * *
Whatever they'd been planning to ask him, it wasn't brought up when they came back to the base. Ziggy was slightly bugged by it, but planned to let them ask in their own time when they were ready.
That time didn't come, most probably because of team debriefing time, plus his schooling and his parents' training time. By the time they weren't all busy, it was dinnertime and time to relax. The team liked to have movie nights, and he snuck out to do his homework. Gem and Gemma were way too fond of action movies with lots of explosions, and that was not his thing.
Besides, he thought as he stood in the rec room's hallway, looking at the bruise caused by an opportunistic Grinder, it might not hurt to see Doctor K and make sure that he wasn't bruised too badly. He hadn't brought it up during debriefing because he didn't want to make a fuss. Tapping it gently, he winced, and straightened up, leaning one hand against the wall as he took a deep breath, mentally preparing to face Doctor K. Who wasn't that keen on her team failing to promptly report injuries after battle.
Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind, and Ziggy automatically twisted and aimed an elbow in his attacker's direction. As he looked, he realized who his attacker was.
It was Dillon.
Walking into Danger with Eyes Wide
Part 7: Battle Wound
For a base, there weren't a huge amount of extra rooms - storerooms, Doctor K's lab, the testing and training areas, and his small classroom - which he suspected had been a small storeroom before it had been converted. The bathrooms, bedrooms, rec room, and kitchen/dining areas rounded things out. Everything there was in use, one way or another. Not a whole lot of the space lent itself to private discussions, so Ziggy chose to talk to his parents in the room that served as his classroom.
"So, what do you want to talk to us about?" his mother asked, leaning forward at the table that Doctor K reserved for herself when she was teaching Ziggy. Thanks to the twins occasionally playing substitute teachers, there were enough seats for the three of them.
At least he had this time to talk about such a thing with his parents. While they'd only had to fend off a few invasions so far, it was only a matter of time before Venjix would become powerful enough to escalate the war. Ziggy had tried to be an adult and not seem freaked out about the fact that he was running into danger instead of away, admittedly with the rest of the team. But he was sure everybody knew that he was, given the sympathetic looks he was given every time they finished a battle. So far it had been mostly Grinders and an AttackBot or two, with Doctor K, Gem, and Gemma trying some things that had helped last time to locate Venjix's bases in order to make sure Venjix never got back to the level of technology it had gotten to before they'd shut it down. They didn't want the villain to nearly win again.
It was so not a life he would have chosen for himself. He was finding that he hated battles, and the only thing that kept him going was that if he didn't help out, didn't participate, it would weaken the team and humanity's chances of surviving Venjix a second time. And the morpher was his, and he was, in body, a war hero. So he just pretended that it didn't bother him to be a soldier in a war.
He'd also sworn to know more about Ziggy Grover, in hopes that he'd get to understand what had led the man to become a Ranger, and in turn, survive the war he was in. Which was why he and his parents were there. He supposed it wouldn't have been such a big deal if he hadn't run across Dillon and the video, or have been asked to do what he had to do, but maybe if he understood his original's courage, he'd be a better Ranger too.
"Ziggy. Well, um. You know. Him. And Dillon." That wasn't the most coherent sentence he'd ever gotten out. "A few nights ago, I had insomnia, and Dillon was watching a video. I didn't disturb him, because I didn't think he wanted to be disturbed, but I know he was in it." He took a deep breath. "I need to know how to approach him. He's the link I need to my past. Or at least one of them. The important one." There were others, of course, his other teammates, and Benny, who had known Ziggy from before.
"We can talk to him, Ziggy, but you've got to understand, it pains him to see you." His mother's tone was sympathetic. "It always take him a while to warm up to people and it's worse because you're you."
"In fact, we have," his father added. "Numerous times. He's stubborn. Always was. He thought orders were for flouting, not obeying. Mine and Doctor K's."
"To be fair, Scott, we all had moments where we went AWOL," Ziggy's mother said gently, putting a hand on ZIggy's father's arm. "We should see if Dillon would give us copies of those videos, though. I'll talk to him. I bet most of them were before Ziggy bonded, though. You remember seeing that video camera of his after that, Scott?"
"Not really," his father answered thoughtfully. "I think he stopped doing that. He was too busy training."
"That makes sense," his mother agreed. "He had a lot of spare time before that. He was the only one there that wasn't on a training schedule." She smiled at Ziggy. "We'll see what we can do."
"Thanks." That's all he needed. And even if Dillon didn't want to deal with him, he might do it to get Ziggy and his parents off his back.
"We've been meaning to ask you-" his mother said, as the alarms went off. "But that can hold."
Ziggy tensed and prepared to follow his parents to battle.
* * *
Whatever they'd been planning to ask him, it wasn't brought up when they came back to the base. Ziggy was slightly bugged by it, but planned to let them ask in their own time when they were ready.
That time didn't come, most probably because of team debriefing time, plus his schooling and his parents' training time. By the time they weren't all busy, it was dinnertime and time to relax. The team liked to have movie nights, and he snuck out to do his homework. Gem and Gemma were way too fond of action movies with lots of explosions, and that was not his thing.
Besides, he thought as he stood in the rec room's hallway, looking at the bruise caused by an opportunistic Grinder, it might not hurt to see Doctor K and make sure that he wasn't bruised too badly. He hadn't brought it up during debriefing because he didn't want to make a fuss. Tapping it gently, he winced, and straightened up, leaning one hand against the wall as he took a deep breath, mentally preparing to face Doctor K. Who wasn't that keen on her team failing to promptly report injuries after battle.
Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind, and Ziggy automatically twisted and aimed an elbow in his attacker's direction. As he looked, he realized who his attacker was.
It was Dillon.
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