Ooo, shut up and drive
THE END
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Disclaimer: Saban owns a bunch of characters, and we borrow them. "Shut Up And Drive" is sung by Chely Wright from her album Let Me In.
Author's Note: This would be the "losin'" part of "Leavin', Losin', and Lookin'". The rest area's dog walk is really one I saw in my travels across the United States. If you're curious to see it, go looking for it. *grin* Thanks to Blue for teaching me what I couldn't figure out about html. :) Thanks to Starhawk for proofing and trading. :) Oh yeah and, "It's not my fault!" :)
TJ had been muttering discontentedly the morning of their second day on the road. And it had taken a threat from Cassie to quiet him.
That morning Ashley had made a casual comment admiring Anastasia's hair now that it was long, and how she wished hers was that length. Anya, as they had taken to calling her for short, had offered to magick Ashley's hair to make it the length she desired, the way she had her own. And while Ashley was saying that she just might take her up on that, TJ had begun his tirade on how no one on the team appreciated the advantages of short (or no) hair except him and Zhane. The others had laughed him off, and while he was joking around, he wasn't stopping. Cassie had taken every opportunity to argue against TJ's point, just to see if she could keep him going. So when TJ got his chance to take aim at Cassie, he did so readily.
Carlos had asked if Cassie wanted to drive that morning, and she had jumped at the chance. But instead of hopping into the front seat, she stopped to take the time to pull her long, loose hair into a braid. She had left it free that morning, hanging long down her back, and TJ had noticed its beauty, as he always did.
"Ha! Why aren't you leaving it down if you think long hair is better?" he sniggered as he took the passenger seat.
"Because as great as 'feeling the wind in your hair' sounds, driving a convertible with long hair that isn't restrained isn't advisable. Or would you rather I crashed the car 'cause I couldn't see?" she asked pointedly with a smile on her face as she tied the end of the braid.
"No!" Carlos answered before TJ could, protectively guarding his precious Camaro from his place in the backseat with Jetson.
TJ laughed at him before responding to Cassie with, "That just sounds like one more argument against long hair to me, Cassie."
She seemed to consider that, then sat down quickly in the driver's seat and fixed him with a stare. And with the straightest face possible she said, "If you really feel that way TJ, I'll cut it all off just for you."
TJ stared back, stunned. He knew Cassie, and she would never cut her hair off! But then, he also knew how stubborn she was, and she just might do anything to spite him. That brought about a swift change of tune on his part. The last thing he wanted was for Cassie to cut her beautiful hair that he admired so much. He had never intended for his joke to turn into this. And now that her hair was 'restrained' and no longer hiding her face, he could see the seriousness with which she had made the offer. "Nevermind," he forfeited, turning away.
Cassie smirked at him before looking up in the rearview mirror at Carlos. "And that is how women win arguments, Carlos. Remember that."
"What, with psychotic threats?" Carlos asked, barely able to keep from laughing at the glare TJ threw him.
"Did it work?" Cassie asked. At Carlos' nod, Cassie gave a self-satisfied smile and said, "Then don't question it."
"Cassie?" TJ interrupted.
"Yes TJ?" she smiled at him sweetly, putting the key in the ignition.
"Shut up and drive," he grinned. She returned it with one of her own as she started the car. For once, her thoughts of Phantom were the furthest thing from her mind.
'Shut up and drive' quickly became their favorite running joke of the day. The three teens took every opportunity to say it to each other, even though Cassie was doing all the driving. They were in playful moods, and baiting each other seemed to be lifting their spirits to some degree.
Cassie took her shot at Carlos through the power of the driver's seat. From the day she had first met him, he had laid down the law of his car: whoever drove chose the music. And since Carlos had abdicated his throne to her for the day, she was taking full advantage of it. She turned the radio to a country station just because she knew Carlos wasn't fond of it. As they drove along and the station would go out of range, she would start scanning the dial till she found another country station. Carlos knew what she was doing and tried mightily not to let his irritation show. He was unsuccessful. For when she started singing along, he finally made his comment.
"Cassie? Shut up and drive."
She made a face at him in the rearview mirror as TJ jumped to her defense.
"What? Don't you like the great Ms. Chan's singing?" he feigned shock.
"What I don't like is what she's singing. And she knows it," Carlos responded and made a face back at Cassie.
"Give it up, Carlos," TJ grinned. "Didn't you learn anything from me earlier? You can't win." Cassie shook her head as if to say, "That's right."
"TJ? Shut up and drive," was Carlos' only response before he stretched out across the backseat, feet propped up, hanging over the side of the car. Jetson didn't take kindly to being upended from his seat, and let Carlos know it by sitting down on his chest. Carlos' muffled protests only brought on more laughs from the front seat.
"There's a rest area up ahead. Maybe we should take a break," TJ suggested, pointing to the sign showing one more mile till the stop.
"Yeah Cassie, hurry," Carlos urged as he tried to push Jetson to the side and sit up. "I think Jetson here needs a walk."
"Wouldn't want him soiling your precious car, huh Carlos?" she grinned up into the rearview mirror, winking at him. She turned off the highway, letting the car coast down the long road to the rest area. She reached the fork in the road and headed to the right; the left fork going to the 'semi truck and camper side' and the right going to the 'car side' of the rest area. She pulled smoothly into a parking spot, with Ashley's car coming in beside her. The rest area was mercifully empty, allowing them some privacy.
They piled out of the cars, pushing and shoving, anxious to exhaust their pent up energy after such a long ride. Zhane stretched lazily and observed Ashley once again trying to talk to Andros. Well, at least Andros is better than he was, Zhane thought. When they had first learned of their Power problems, Andros had refused to talk to anyone but Zhane. He had closed himself off so entirely that Ashley and Anya were understandably worried about him. No one knew how to help him, and it had begun to hurt the others.
Several weeks ago, Zhane had become nervous when he hadn't seen Anya all day. He found her in her room on the MegaShip, barely conscious. She had been trying to create a spell that would drain off the excess energy so the Power would return, and had nearly exhausted herself in the process. She hated seeing her brother hurting when she knew she was partially responsible for his pain, and she was determined to help him and the other Rangers. Zhane had made her promise that if she was going to work on such powerful spells like that, that she would take better care of herself, saying that Andros would only feel worse if he knew she hurt herself trying to help him.
Zhane had been concentrating on trying to draw Andros out. Andros had never been an outgoing person, but since he had met the Earth Rangers, he had changed. He had become more open and friendly. So seeing him withdraw inside his shell again had them all worried. And while Zhane had finally gotten him to rejoin their group, nothing Zhane said convinced Andros that things would ever be the same again, that his Powers would ever return.
There wasn't much he could say to convince him. Zhane had seen the same test results that Andros had. And while the other Rangers' Powers would probably return in a matter of months, for Andros the odds of the Power returning were much worse.
He turned his attention back to Andros and Ashley, standing on the curb not far from him. Ashley had managed to make Andros laugh, but he still wouldn't look at her. Ashley briefly caught Zhane's eye and rolled her eyes in Andros' direction while she grinned. Something was bothering Andros again. Zhane gave a dramatic sigh and winked at Ashley as he grabbed Andros' arm and started to pull him way toward the vending machine building. "C'mon Andros. We have to talk."
Ashley giggled as Andros tried to protest Zhane's dragging him away. Now that she finally had a minute to herself, she turned to look for Cassie. She had been wanting to talk to her friend since they had left Angel Grove, but had not had the chance. She spotted Cassie headed toward the dog walk with Jetson, plastic bag in hand. Ashley paused only long enough to grab Anya before the girls ran over to talk to Cassie.
Cassie walked quickly along as Jetson practically pulled her down the dog walk. As he sniffed out his chosen spot, Cassie followed along behind, holding his leash and stepping her bare feet carefully around the 'presents' left behind by other dogs that their owners had neglected to clean up.
Jetson stopped suddenly, and stood perfectly still, ears lifting just a little at something Cassie assumed only he could hear. He was staring at the woods just beyond the large field at the other side of the rest area. TJ and Carlos were walking through the field, frisbee in hand, but Cassie somehow knew it wasn't them he was looking at. From out of nowhere Jetson let out a howl, long and low. The strange moment ended as quickly as it had begun, and Jetson continued on his search for the proper place to leave his mark. Cassie shook her head in confused amusement and moved on.
It was definitely an interesting rest area. Along the dog walk were a fire hydrant and a tree log. The hydrant was too far from any road to be of any real use in a fire. Behind each of them was a metal highway sign. The sign behind the fire hydrant said, "City Dogs", designating it as for use by city dogs. The sign behind the tree log said "Country Dogs", designating it as for use by country dogs. How cute, Cassie thought, and watched Jetson make his choice, feeling sure he would pick the hydrant. She had only a moment to be surprised that he picked the log before Ashley and Anya ran up and interrupted her musings.
"Hey guys," she answered her friends' greeting.
"So, what's up?" Ashley asked as they fell into step beside Cassie.
Cassie looked around suspiciously, "Nothing. Why?"
"Just curious," Ashley answered. "You've been so quiet since we left Angel Grove. I was just wondering if, well... if you were sorry you left."
"Of course not, you know I hated the constant attention as much as the rest of you."
"Then there's nothing you regret?" Ashley asked, causing both Cassie and Anya give her curious glances.
"No," Cassie lied. With each mile that took them further from Angel Grove, she regretted that she had no way to tell Phantom where she was going. But she wasn't going to say that and she wondered just where exactly was Ashley headed with her questioning. "Look, just what are you getting at, Ashley?"
"We just wondered if you regretted leaving him." The emphasize she put on the pronoun made it more than obvious whom she was referring to.
For a moment, Cassie couldn't speak. She had no idea what to say. Finally she managed, "What are you talking about? It's not like he was here for me to leave. And what do you mean 'we'?"
"Yeah, but Angel Grove was the only place he knew to look for you," Ashley countered. "And I mean 'we' as in your friends. We're worried about you."
"Why would you be worried about me?"
Ashley stopped walking and finally looked at Cassie. "I just don't want you to get hurt waiting for someone who isn't coming back."
Cassie flinched and stopped to stare at Ashley incredulously. Anya had stopped as well, and looked as if she was going to argue the point, but stayed silent. Jetson pulled on the leash, bringing Cassie out of her shock. She started walking again, trying to regain her composure instead of yelling at her friend, which was what she dearly wanted to do.
Finding her voice again, Cassie said calmly, "First off, thanks for caring about me and all, but who or even if I 'wait' for someone, is my business, not the rest of the team's. And secondly, how do you know he won't come back?"
"He never has before," Ashley answered immediately and wished she hadn't. Seeing her friend's face, she felt sure she had offended Cassie. "I'm sorry Cassie," she said quickly. "I know it's none of our business. But we were just concerned about you. I mean, it's been three months since the final battle and we haven't heard from him since Hercuron. How do we know he even survived his injuries?"
"Ashley," Anya finally spoke up, cutting her off. She looked about to say something else, then took a deep breath as if changing her mind on what it was. "He's alive," was her slightly altered statement.
"How do you know?" Ashley asked, curious.
Anya raised her head and said defiantly, "I know because he was fighting against my forces on Tatooine during the final battle!" She appeared to be just as upset as Cassie by the conversation.
Ashley stared at her and realized again just how easy it was to forget that this petite girl was once the Queen of Evil, terrorizing the galaxy. She shook her head and looked away. "I'm sorry guys, really. I didn't mean to upset anyone. I just wanted you to know we cared."
Cassie transferred Jetson's leash to her other hand, and put her free arm around Ashley's shoulders. "I've always known you cared Ash," she said, and looked off into the distance. "But everyone's just going to have to trust me on this and let me handle it the way I need to."
Ashley followed her gaze to up to the clear mountain skies and nodded. When she looked back at Cassie, her friend was smiling at her. Thankful that things were still good between them, Ashley smiled as well.
"Zhane," Andros sighed as he shrugged off his friend's hand. "Nothing's wrong." He had reluctantly let Zhane drag him to the vending machine building. But he knew what Zhane wanted, and it wasn't snacks.
"Yes, something is wrong Andros," Zhane started, checking out the vending machines' offerings as he spoke. "And the sooner you admit it, the better."
"It's just that...," Andros paused and shot Zhane a helpless look as he floundered for the words to describe what they were going through.
"I know," Zhane responded with a sympathetic smile. He could no more readily identify his present feelings than Andros could.
They were the only Rangers KO-35 had ever had, or needed apparently. When Dark Spectre's attacks had begun, the colony had searched for those who would bear the Power. The Red and Silver Powers chose Andros and Zhane respectively, despite their incredibly young age. The other four colors were never claimed. The Power rejected everyone who tried to use them.
The leaders of the colony hated to send two inexperienced children into battle for them, but they were apparently all KO-35 had and all the Power felt they needed. And Andros and Zhane were both more than happy to join the fight. Both orphaned by the war, they knew the Power was their chance to make a difference. And Andros knew it was an opportunity for him to search for his kidnapped sister.
That had been so long ago that as the two best friends looked at each other now, neither could remember a time when they couldn't feel the Power coursing within them. But Zhane could still feel the Power. He could feel it distantly, just on the edge of his consciousness, just beyond his reaching. It was a fuzzy feeling, an unclear connection that he knew would become clearer in time. But he could feel it. And he was willing to bet the others could too. If they couldn't, he thought for sure someone would have said something after that final battle.
Andros and he had held the Power the longest, were the most in tune with it. Theirs would come back before anyone else's. They should have a much clearer feeling as to when it would return. So why had Andros been so upset since the final battle? Zhane thought surely Andros could sense the Power the way he could. It was like the connection was there, but they weren't receiving the signal. Could that be why Andros believed his Power was gone? Did Andros believe that he had absorbed so much of Zordon's energy that his connection snapped? It didn't seem possible.
Andros had spoken to Zhane about it all, but he would never admit to whatever had upset him so. He wouldn't say what had made him believe that his Power was gone. Just because he had absorbed that much energy, that didn't mean it was impossible for Andros' Power to come back. There was always a chance, Zhane believed, admittedly a very slim chance, but it was still a chance. And knowing his best friend the way he did, he knew Andros was not someone who gave up so easily. His search for his sister that had consumed his childhood proved that.
Zhane decided to finally do the one thing that he had been avoiding. He would show Andros how he knew the Power was still there, what the sickly connection felt like so Andros would know, on some slim chance that Andros was just missing it since his connection was probably the weakest among the Rangers now. Zhane had avoided it because he knew his connection to the Power was stronger than the others. He had been afraid that if Andros knew the strength of Zhane's connection, he would automatically think the worst if his was not as strong. But Andros needed help. He was drawing inside himself, instead of letting the others help him. Zhane knew he had to do something to see if Andros would let him in, to see just how bad Andros' situation really was.
*Andros,* Zhane's telepathic call drew Andros' attention away from his shoes. Zhane closed his eyes and concentrated, opening his mind and through the link they shared, showed Andros what it was he could sense, that the Power was still there. Andros sighed, and his eyes closed as well as he in turn showed Zhane what it was he saw, what he had been seeing since that final battle.
The girls passed by the building, totally unnoticed by the two young men so deep in thought. Ashley looked at Anya who nodded in confirmation. The two Kerovans were communicating in the way that came so easily to them. It would have seemed a strange picture to anyone else who walked past, the two silently standing, facing each other, eyes closed, heads down. Brows knitted in concentration as they were, Ashley thought nothing could disturb them. But something did.
Carlos' voice interrupted them all as he called everyone to join the frisbee game. Ashley shot him a look, as if she could somehow stop him from unintentionally interfering with the silent communication between Andros and Zhane. She hoped that Zhane would finally discover what was bothering Andros. She was convinced that it was more than just the Power loss.
But Andros' head came up at the sound of Carlos' voice, his eyes open. He paused only for a moment before shouting his answer that they were coming. He looked up at Zhane to see him standing there, quite still. Zhane finally lifted his head, blinking quickly, searching for Andros. He met his friend's gaze remorsefully. Andros laid his hand on Zhane's shoulder, and for a moment Ashley thought she could feel the thoughts passing between them as their eyes locked. Then it was gone as Andros turned away. Spotting her, he walked up and offered her his hand. She took it eagerly and her face lit up when he smiled.
Zhane was a few steps behind him, shaking his head as if trying to clear a bad dream. As Andros and she started to walk away, Ashley gave him inquiring glance. He could only shake his head at her in response, unable or just unwilling to share what he had learned. Anya laid her hand on his arm, offering some support. He gave her a small smile as they too joined the frisbee game forming in the large field to the side of the rest area's main building.
Cassie watched her friends gathering in the field, joking and teasing. She was trying to forget what Ashley had said, but it was hard not to think about it. It bothered her to know that they had been talking about her, even though she knew they had only done it out of concern. Yes, she had been glad to leave Phantom behind, but the more she thought about him, the more he lingered on her mind, she knew she did not want it to end this way. She knew she had to find a way to leave a message for him, just some way to let him know she was okay. Whether her love could stand the wait or not, she at least wanted a chance to say good-bye.
Jetson was eager to join the others and more than willing to chase the frisbee. She looked around at the still empty rest area and figuring it was safe, bent down and took Jetson's leash off of the pink bandanna still around his neck. He took off running toward the brightly colored disk that was flying through the air. She giggled and ran to catch up.
With Jetson running at whoever had the frisbee, seemingly hellbent on taking it from them, it quickly became a game of getting rid of the frisbee as quickly as possible. But not everyone's attention was fully in the game however, as Zhane was talking to Anya. Whether he was talking about Andros or not was unclear, and no one, even Anya, would know for sure. For with his back turned to the game, he never saw the frisbee that Andros loosed in his direction.
"Zhane!" Andros called out his vocal and mental warning but it was too late as the frisbee smacked Zhane in the back.
"What was that for?" he yelped while Anya giggled at him.
The others were laughing too, and as Andros tried to apologize, TJ was heard shouting, "Tag! You're It!"
"I'm what?" Zhane asked as he watched the Earth Rangers start to back warily away from him.
"Oh joy," Ashley smirked. "Another violent Earth game we get to teach them. Next thing you know we'll be playing Red Rover!"
"And what's wrong with Red Rover?" Carlos asked pointedly.
"Nothing. It's just a lot easier for someone to get hurt playing it when you're older. That's all." Ashley replied, and stuck her tongue out at Carlos when he waved off her explanation.
Andros didn't miss the exchange and had to ask, "What's Red Rover?"
Ashley pondered the idea of telling him until she realized just how good the three Kerovans would be at the game, considering their telekinesis. "A game you'd be way too good at. Someone will get hurt. I'll explain it later."
Any further inquiries on his part were lost as TJ was yelling out how to play Tag, even as he moved as far away from Zhane as possible. He was explaining that Zhane was now 'It'. And Zhane of course immediately went after the person who had made him It, Andros.
When Ashley saw that Andros didn't know to move, she gave him a quick, helping shove before taking off herself. "For heaven's sake Andros, run!"
Andros started running as he saw Zhane barreling at him. He remembered playing a game similar to this as a child on KO-35, only they had called it something different. Zhane seemed to remember it too, and was pursuing him with earnest. Andros glanced around and saw that Anya had indeed remembered the game also, or she had been listening to TJ's explanation that Andros had ignored, for she was running with the others.
Carlos was not trying very hard to avoid Zhane, as if purposely making himself an easy target. Zhane made a slight change of direction and went after him instead. When he saw he had Zhane's attention, Carlos took off at top speed and positioned himself to run behind Cassie, intending to pay her back for the country music she had played in the car.
"Carlos! What are you doing?" Cassie laughed as she tried to ditch both Carlos and his pursuer.
"Just playing the game Cassie," he replied innocently as he let Zhane draw dangerously close. Zhane was about to flat-out tackle him and Carlos saw it coming. As soon as Zhane launched himself, Carlos turned sharply and Zhane crashed into Cassie, knocking her to the ground.
Zhane immediately realized his mistake, but he was laughing as he picked himself up off of her, saying, "Sorry Cassie. He's right, just playing the game, and you're It." His laughter trailed off when she didn't answer. "Cassie?" he asked hesitantly and reached out to touch her as she lay where she fell, unmoving and face down in the grass. Jetson was beside him in a instant, poking her head with his nose and whining nervously.
Carlos had been doubled over in a fit of laughter after Zhane had slammed into Cassie. But he finally straightened himself to walk over to them. "C'mon Cassie, no pouting. You're It." The smile started to fall off his face when Zhane quickly looked up at him, his face frozen with fear. The others had been wary, considering the game they were playing, but they were beginning to realize something was wrong and were running over.
Carlos dropped to his knees, calling her name. "Cassie? Cassie, answer me please." He glanced at Zhane, feeling just as scared as the former Silver Ranger looked.
As Carlos reached out to turn her over, he had a sudden sense of deja vu as he remembered when Havok had kidnapped Cassie during their Turbo Ranger days. For as he turned her over, it was with the same unexpectedness that she mirrored her (or rather Havok's) moves from that day. He jumped as her closed eyes snapped open and her hand snaked out to latch on to his arm.
"No, Carlos. I believe you're It," she snickered. He almost felt like Phantom was behind him, shaking his head at him for falling into the same trap he had almost two years ago. Cassie scrambled to her feet and took off running before either Carlos or Zhane had a chance to react.
Zhane had pretty much lost it, falling onto his back laughing so hard at Carlos that he couldn't speak. And while he made an easy target to tag, Carlos' gaze shifted to the flash of pink that was disappearing across the field. He took off after her, only to find Jetson chasing him.
"Cassie?!" he shrieked as Jetson came close to really biting him. "What is this?!"
"He's just trying to defend me Carlos," she grinned, but called him off anyway. "Here Jetson," she called, and he answered, sort of. Instead of chasing Carlos, now he ran interference, doing everything he could to keep Carlos from advancing on Cassie till she made it safely to the large oak tree that had somehow in the chaos been designated as 'home'.
She paused there to catch her breath and found Anya lurking behind the tree doing the same. She regarded Cassie quietly for a moment before speaking.
"He'll come back."
"What?" Cassie asked, not quite sure she understood and wondering if this was what Anya had wanted to say earlier.
"He'll come back," Anya repeated simply, as if it should make perfect sense. She shook her head at Cassie's confusion and continued. "If there is one thing I learned from fighting against the Phantom Ranger, it is that he is a very determined young man. I always believed he was fighting more than just against evil. It was as if he was trying to protect someone. I admit, I didn't understand that then," she said, casting a glance at Zhane. He was backing quietly toward the oak, eyes on Carlos chasing targets, but his concentration was still elsewhere. Whatever Andros had shown him had him rattled. "But I understand it now," she said as she looked fondly at the former Silver Ranger. "He'll come back to you."
Cassie was shocked by Anya's statement. She so seldom spoke of her years as Astronema beyond generalizations, as if there were parts of it she did not like remembering. It had never occurred to her before that Anya might not only know Phantom, but know more about him than they did. Floundering with this new information, she sputtered out the one thing she could think of, what was bothering her the most. "But how? He has no idea where we're going!"
Looking back at the troubled girl, Anya smiled. "He will. You should know that he doesn't give up. Have faith in him and he will find you." Turning from her then, Anya snuck up behind Zhane as he reached the oak. She laid her hands on his sides and squeezed. To her immense delight, he practically screamed as he jumped. He whirled to see his girlfriend standing there, and his face fell into an expression so close to relief that Cassie could not help laughing at the pair. Grabbing Anya's hand, Zhane grinned and took off across the field.
Sinking to sit on the ground behind her tree, Cassie briefly wondered just what Andros had told Zhane that had him just as jumpy and upset as their leader was. But Anya's reassurances about Phantom preoccupied her thoughts. Her hair was coming loose from her exertions and fell in her eyes as she dropped her head. "He'll come back to you."
"Cassie!" she was startled by the sudden exclamation, as her imagination tried to make her think that it wasn't Ashley she heard calling her name.
"C'mon! No fair hiding at 'home'. Time limits and all that," Ashley grinned as she grabbed Cassie's hand. Cassie let her pull her to her feet and shaking her hair away from her face, she ran after Ashley to rejoin the game. "Have faith in him and he will find you."
"Jetson!"
"Jetso-o-o-on!"
It was really too dark to see anymore, but they hadn't stopped their search. The impromptu game of tag had lasted for another half an hour before they had all collapsed on the ground, feeling too exhausted to even move. Through mutual agreement, they had decided it was time to get back on the road. As they picked themselves up from where they had fallen, Cassie had started to look around for Jetson. But he wasn't there. Inquiry quickly became panic as she jumped up, screaming his name. Soon the others realized he was gone and joined her search.
The field was surrounded by a thick wooded area and bordered on a National Park. If he had gone in there, there was no telling where he was now. There was a fence that lined the edges of the field, but it was patchy at best and even a dog of Jetson's size would have had no trouble slipping through it. After discovering nothing in their search of the rest area, the former Rangers had jumped the fence as well, splitting up and searching the woods as deeply as they dared without having the proper supplies.
Now it getting late and far too dark. The former Rangers slowly straggled back, exiting the woods one at a time from different directions, each unsuccessful in their search. Cassie's hope faded a little more as each one of them returned alone. She couldn't understand it. Where could he be? She knew he had been there only a minute ago. He had been a very active part of their tag game. At one point Ashley had been It, and he had acted like a tag team partner for her, helping her corner her target. And now, he was just... gone? She turned back to the woods, screaming his name and planning to set out searching again in the pitch black woods.
"Cassie," TJ called softly, trying to get her attention. The others stood a good distance away, waiting to see what was going to happen. "Cassie," he said again, and she stopped, her hair whipping in the wind. The loosening braid had not been able to stand up to the punishment she had given it running, searching through the woods. A great deal of her hair flew free around her, hiding her face and her intentions. She had been about to step over the fence and she froze as TJ told her what she didn't want to hear. "We're not going to find him now." She stayed standing there, not wanting to turn around, because turning around meant giving up.
"We're just not prepared for a search. We don't even have flashlights. And... we can't stay here any longer anyway. It's illegal to spend the night at rest areas here." He hated to do this, but someone had to. Cassie was just a moment away from running straight into the woods and most likely getting lost herself.
She sniffled, trying to hold back the tears that she had refused to let fall since Jetson had disappeared. TJ walked up beside her and hesitantly put his arm around her. With his other hand he tried to smooth the hair out of her face, but she shook it back, not wanting him to see how close to tears she was. "Andros talked to the park rangers. They're going to tell all the rangers to look for him. Do you have a picture of him that they can post?" She nodded quietly, not wanting to chance speaking. If only she hadn't lost his stupid tags...
"Cassie," he started, "you're tired, everyone's tired. We'll get to where we're going and you and I will come back with the supplies for an all-out search, okay? It'll be just like the old days; you and me, out hiking, only this time Elgar won't be shoving boulders at us."
She tried to laugh at his attempt to cheer her up, but she just couldn't. She hated the idea of leaving Jetson behind. She had lost everything that meant anything to her. She just couldn't lose him too. "Thank you TJ," she finally muttered, but she was still unable to tear her eyes from the woods.
"C'mon," he urged, starting to guide her back to the cars. Reluctantly she let him turn her away. She finally just shut her eyes, remembering the last time she had seen Jetson as he had harassed Andros till Ashley was able to tag him. She felt her breath catch as she stifled a sob. She lowered her head and let her hair fully hide her face. She could hear the others fall into step behind them as they headed toward the cars.
Information exchanged and pictures given, there was little else the former Rangers could do. What had started out as only an hour rest stop had turned into an eleven hour search. The joking and teasing that had accompanied their arrival at the rest area were missing from their departure, as the two cars pulled out of the parking lot and back down the road to the highway.
"It's going to be okay Cassie," Carlos started to say, only to have TJ cut him off with a hand on his shoulder.
"Carlos... shut up and drive," was TJ's short and to the point response.
Surprised, Carlos turned to look at TJ, knowing that TJ's words had to be a joke to the conversation earlier in the day, but his tone had been so serious. He saw TJ looking into the backseat. As the car neared the stop sign at the end of the road back to the highway, Carlos slowed the car enough to hazard a glance over his shoulder at Cassie.
She sat sideways with her back to them, her arms propped up on the seatback with her head resting on them. Her hair was once again loose as the night air blew it around her shoulders and into her face, but not quite hiding the tears that were streaming from her eyes.
As he turned back around, Carlos caught TJ's eye, quietly agreeing that Cassie would rather be by herself right then, that platitudes were the last things she wanted to hear. He looked to make sure the way was clear and pulled out onto the highway.
Cassie still stared back as the rest area faded away into the darkness, feeling the pain as once again another part of her was left behind.
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