“Kendrix, I’ve been thinking,” Quinn said.
“What about?” the Pink Galaxy Ranger asked.
“I think that its time we took our relationship a step further,” Quinn answered.
Kendrix caught on to his meaning immediately. “I don’t know, Quinn,” she murmured, “What if something happened, and I got pregnant?”
“I think we should take that chance,” Quinn replied, “What do you say?”
“I say we should wait,” Kendrix said.
“Well, that’s too bad,” Quinn said. He roughly pulled Kendrix close and gave her a forced kiss.
Kendrix was barely able to pull away. “What are you doing?” she asked, getting up and backing away from Quinn.
“You little tease,” Quinn answered, “You want this, admit it. You’re just playing hard to get.” He lunged at her, but Kendrix was barely able to get out of the way. He grabbed at her again, and this time, Kendrix wasn’t able to move away.
“No!!!” Kendrix exclaimed, struggling. She was surprised when Quinn reared back and slapped her. When she started crying, he slapped her again. She tried fighting back, but he punched her a couple of times.
It was then that Kendrix’s Ranger honed instincts kicked in. She brought her knee up, hard, and nailed Quinn right between the legs. Quinn just laughed. “I’ve had worse groin shots,” he said, “But you will pay for that.”
Quinn punched her one last time. Her head rocked back and Kendrix felt kind of dizzy. Quinn threw her onto the bed. “And now, to take what is rightfully mine, namely you.”
Quinn walked over to Kendrix, unbuckling his jeans. Suddenly, Kendrix saw a baseball bat near her hand, between the wall and the bed. Picking it up, she then nailed Quinn between the legs. This time, he went down with a howl of pain. Kendrix stood up and fled.
***
Leo was roused out of sleep by the constant buzzing of his door chime. He sat up groggily and got to his feet. “I’m coming,” he called out sleepily, heading for the door of his quarters. After an argument with Damon, Kai, and even Mike, Leo had moved into one of the quarters aboard the Megaship.
When Leo opened the door, Kendrix fell into his arms, sobbing. When he saw the terrible shape his teammate was in, he immediately helped her over to the couch. “Kendrix, what happened?” he asked, “Who did this to you?”
“Quinn beat and almost raped me,” Kendrix replied between sobs, “I was barely able to get out of there before he could finish the job, and didn’t know who else to turn to. I’m sorry if I woke you up.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Leo responded. He sat the Pink Ranger down and asessed the damage. One eye was completely swollen shut, and she was sporting a black eye on the other one, as well as several big bruises on her face, a split lip, and when he touched her looking for broken bones, Leo also noticed that her sides were tender, meaning she had a few bruised ribs, but nothing really major. “Oh man, am I ever going to kill that son of a....”
“Leo, don’t,” Kendrix sobbed, “Please don’t retaliate. I don’t want you getting sent away for this.”
“All right,” Leo replied, “But I’m calling security.”
“No!!!” Kendrix exclaimed, “Quinn is the head of R & D, remember? His word will carry more weight than yours and mine. Promise me you won’t do anything, or I’m leaving right now.”
“All right, all right, I won’t,” Leo said. He stood up and got her an ice pack to put on her eye. When he sat back down next to Kendrix, he handed it to her. “But if he ever does this again, I will kill him.”
“Understood, and thanks,” Kendrix replied, putting the ice pack on the eye that was swollen shut.
“I think you should stay here tonight, Kendrix,” Leo said, “You’re in no shape to be finding your way back to your quarters.”
“I don’t want Maya to ask questions, either,” Kendrix agreed.
“Then it’s settled,” Leo replied, “You can sleep in the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“Nonsense,” Kendrix responded, “This couch is too small for you. I’ll sleep on it. Besides, its your quarters.”
“But you’re in bad shape,” Leo pointed out, “You’re taking the bed, so quit arguing.”
Kendrix sighed, defeated. Leo stood up and started walking away, but she caught his arm. “Please don’t leave me,” she whispered.
“I was just going to get a shirt of mine for you to sleep in,” Leo replied.
“You can do that later,” Kendrix responded quietly, “For now, just hold me.”
Leo sat back down on the couch. “All right,” he murmured softly, opening his arms. Kendrix allowed herself to be enfolded in his arms, and she started crying again, even harder this time.
Leo let Kendrix cry herself out. “Will you be all right for a few minutes, so I can go get that shirt?” he asked. Kendrix nodded, and Leo stood up again. He went into his bedroom and grabbed a shirt of his from the closet.
When Leo turned back around, Kendrix was in the doorway, watching him through her black eye. “Here you go, Kendrix,” he said, tossing her the shirt. She caught it easily with her free hand.
“Thanks, Leo,” Kendrix replied. Leo turned his back so she could have some privacy while changing into the night shirt. Kendrix quickly changed. “You can turn back around, Leo.”
Leo turned back to her. “Are you going to be okay?” he asked.
Kendrix smiled slightly at Leo’s big brother behavior as she nodded. “I think so,” she murmured.
“Well, you should get to bed,” Leo said, “I’m going to go fix up the couch.”
Kendrix moved aside, and he went out into the hallway. Once the door shut behind him, the Pink Ranger sighed. ‘Leo’s just so caring,’ she thought, ‘I come here, in the middle of the night, and wake him up, and he takes me in for the night, without any hesitation.’
As she slipped into Leo’s bed, Kendrix thought back to the first time she had met the Red Galaxy Ranger, though that wasn’t what he had been when they first met. He had been a stowaway, running from security. He had knocked her down and had graciously helped her back up before having to go back on the run again.
But in the few seconds after Leo helped Kendrix up and before he took off, their eyes had met and sparks started flying like crazy. Kai, apparently a bit jealous, had shaken them out of their reverie that time, but not before Kendrix had felt something she hadn’t felt before then, something akin to true love.
Kendrix sighed as she put the ice pack she had on her eye on Leo’s night stand and turned off the lights. It didn’t take her too long to fall asleep. She woke the next morning, to see Leo peering down at her. She smiled up at him. “Good morning, Leo,” she murmured sleepily.
“Good morning? Kendrix, it’s almost one thirty in the afternoon,” Leo replied, “I thought you needed the rest, so I let you sleep in a bit. I called Mike and asked him to put you down for a sick day.”
“I was thinking about calling in sick anyway,” Kendrix said. Leo touched her face, with a gentleness that surprised her. Her reaction was immediate, as well as a bit frightening. “What are you doing?”
“Hmm? Oh, just checking the bruises on your face,” Leo answered, “The swelling is gone, as you’ve probably noticed, and the black eye seems to have gone away as well, but you might want to go see Alpha in the infirmary about those ribs, and to look for any serious injuries. I don’t think you have any, but you need to make sure.”
“I can’t,” Kendrix replied, “He’ll ask too many questions about what happened, and I can’t tell him.”
“I’m telling you, Kendrix,” Leo said, “You need to have someone patch up those ribs. If I have to, I’ll drag you to the infirmary, kicking and screaming. Which would you rather do?”
Kendrix sighed. She knew from experience that it was futile to try to talk Leo out of anything. He was just too stubborn. “All right, I’ll go myself,” she said. ‘He is just looking after me, after all,’ she mused. “But first, I’ve got to get to my quarters, and shower and get changed.”
Leo nodded. “And I have to meet Mike at the Comet Cafe,” he replied, “But I’m going to be checking with Alpha in...” He glanced at his watch. “Thirty five minutes should be long enough. And if you’re not with him, in the infirmary, then I’m going to go looking for you.”
“Understood,” Kendrix responded. Leo stood up and headed for the door. “Oh, and Leo?” He turned back around. “Thanks for listening to me and letting me stay here last night. I really appreciate it.”
Leo gave her his usual goofy grin. “It was no problem at all, Kendrix,” he replied, “You’d do the same for me, if I needed a place to stay and a shoulder to cry on.” Kendrix smiled back and Leo left.
Kendrix slipped out of the soft warm bed and changed into her clothes. She headed out into the living room part of Leo’s quarters and was about to leave, when the door chime went off. “Come in,” she called out.
The door opened, to reveal Maya. “Where were you last night, Kendrix?” she asked, “I’ve been worried.”
“Quinn and I got into a fight,” Kendrix lied, “I needed a place to stay where there wouldn’t be a lot of questions asked, and Leo let me stay here. He let me sleep in, so that’s why you haven’t seen me today.”
Maya grinned. “You and Leo sure seem to be getting along well,” she teased.
Kendrix rolled her eyes. “We’re just friends, Maya,” she replied.
“Sure,” Maya said, a bit sarcastically.
Maya’s comment made Kendrix pause and think about the gentle and caring way Leo had been treating her, and not just that morning or the night before. He had always been gentle and caring towards her. ‘And he is gorgeous,’ she thought, ‘But I don’t know if Quinn’s going to be so willing to let me go anytime soon.”
“Earth to Kendrix,” Maya said, waving her hand in front of her teammates face. “Come in, Kendrix.”
Kendrix shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she said, “What did you say, Maya?”
“I said what happened to your face,” Maya said, “It looks a bit puffy.”
Kendrix looked at herself in a nearby mirror. The swelling hadn’t gone down completely. “Oh, that,” she said, “I fell out of Leo’s bed sometime during the night and hit my eye on the corner of his night stand.”
Maya looked skeptical, but allowed herself to take the excuse at face value. “So, what do you have planned for today?” she asked.
“Nothing, really,” Kendrix replied, “Why?”
“I thought we’d spar a bit,” Maya said.
“Maybe later,” Kendrix replied, “Kai might be able to now, though.”
“I’ll go check,” Maya said, “Thanks, Kendrix.”
“No problem, Maya,” Kendrix said, as Maya left their quarters. Kendrix jumped into the shower. But no matter how hard she scrubbed, she couldn’t seem to wash away the feeling of Quinn’s hands all over her.
After a twenty five minute shower, Kendrix hopped out and changed into some fresh clothes. Seeing that she only had five minutes left, the Pink Galaxy Ranger decided to teleport to the Megaship.
Once there, Kendrix had Alpha patch up her ribs. Once he did, Alpha warned her that they would still be tender and be more fragile than normal. Machines couldn’t heal body parts that thoroughly.
Thanking Alpha, Kendrix left the infirmary and the Megaship, heading for the spot Leo and Mike usually liked to hang out, sparring mostly. When she got there, the Pink Ranger found her teammates going through a kata together.
When Kendrix saw Leo, her heart started beating more rapidly. Oddly enough, it was the same feeling that she had felt when they had first met. ‘Am I falling in love with him again?’ she thought. Then she realized something. “No, it isn’t that. I just realized that I never quit loving him.’
Kendrix was so intent on watching the Corbett brothers, that she didn’t notice Quinn coming up from behind until it was too late. When he spun her around, Kendrix screamed. “No use screaming, baby,” Quinn said, “Lover boy down there is too wrapped up in that kata to hear.”
“Leave me alone!!!” Kendrix exclaimed, trying to push away from the man who had nearly raped her the night before. Quinn was too strong, and grabbed hold of her hair to get a better advantage. Kendrix gasped from the pain shooting from her skull, as Quinn forced her to her knees. “What do you want?”
“Why, I want you, of course,” Quinn replied, “And I’ll have you, or I will kill you. If I can’t have you, nobody will.” With his free hand, he started tugging on his belt, trying to get his pants off.
Kendrix started going wild, trying to break his grip on the back of her head. “No!!!” Kendrix cried out, trying to struggle. Quinn reached back, and was about to slap her, when someone caught his arm.
Quinn cried out and tried to struggle, but the arm was wrenched behind his back. “You struggle any more, and I’ll break your arm, understand?” Mike demanded. Quinn nodded, glaring at Kendrix.
Kendrix, who had closed her eyes in anticipation of the slap that would knock her senseless, felt gentle arms wrap around her instead. She opened up her eyes, to find Leo hugging her close.
Kendrix couldn’t help but burst into tears as she fiercely returned the embrace. “It’s all right, Kendrix,” Leo said, “Quinn won’t hurt you anymore. We heard the whole thing.”
“That’s right,” Mike said, “You’re going to jail, Quinn.”
Quinn laughed. “Oh, that’s rich,” he said, “But I’m afraid it won’t work. You don’t have anything concrete against me, and I have ties that reach right into the council that run this space colony.”
“Oh, but we do have proof,” Leo replied. Gently letting go of Kendrix and standing up, the Red Galaxy Ranger then took out a small tape recorder and pushed play. What happened next was exactly everything that Quinn had said. “Not even your tie into the council will help you this time.”
“NO!!!” Quinn screamed, suddenly breaking away from Mike and lunging for Leo, apparently intent on destroying the tape, as well as the Red Galaxy Ranger. Halfway through the air, however, something caught Quinn and pushed him downwards, into the ground.
It was Kendrix, who turned him over and started beating him with her small fists, crying all the time. “I won’t let you hurt him!!!” she cried, “You’ve hurt me, but I’ll be damned if you hurt the man I love!!!”
Leo’s eyes went wide with Kendrix’s admission. Despite what he wanted with all of his heart, he had thought that the only thing that him and Kendrix would ever be was friends.
Mike waited until Kendrix fully vented out her anger, knocking Quinn out while she was at it, before pulling the Pink Ranger away from the unconscious would be rapist. He then motioned to a couple of security guards, who were standing nearby. They came and hauled Quinn away.
As Mike was helping the guards with Quinn, Kendrix went back over to Leo, who wordlessly wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry, Kendrix,” he said, “I had to tell Mike about what happened.
“Mike had started to suspect Quinn of something of the sort, so he believed me when I told him about him attacking and almost raping you,” Leo continued. Everything was leaving his mouth in one big rush.
“Leo, it’s all right,” Kendrix said, “I kind of thought you’d tell him. I’m just glad that it’s all over. I just hope that Quinn’s going away for a long time, and that he never bothers me again.”
“Don’t worry about that, Kendrix,” Leo replied softly, “If he ever comes near you again, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.” Kendrix looked up into Leo’s eyes and saw the malice in them, and knew that he was telling the truth. But instead of feeling frightened, she couldn’t help but feel safer than she ever would or could be.
Suddenly, what Kendrix had said when she had been pounding away on Quinn came to the Pink Rangers mind. While she had meant it, she hadn’t meant to scream it out like that. She had just lost control. “Leo, about what I said...” she started.
“Don’t worry about it, Kendrix,” Leo said, “We can talk about it later, when we’re both calmed down.” Kendrix nodded, and wrapped her arms around him again, feeling safe and warm.
***
It only took a few hours for the council to decide on Quinn’s fate. He would be taken from the position of head of R & D and be put into the rather small prison Terra Venture had. He would stay there for no less than thirty years.
Meanwhile, Kendrix was offered the now vacant position. She turned it down, saying that, if she was going to be head of the department, she was going to earn it, not let it be handed to her. The council understood, and started a search for someone to take over the spot.
After the council meeting, Kendrix went for a walk. It had been the first time she had been alone, because Leo was determined to not let her out of his sight for a second. But Kendrix had surprisingly out stubborned the Red Ranger, and he let her go for a private walk for Kendrix to collect her thoughts.
“But I am going to have Alpha keep an eye on you, just in case,” Leo had stubbornly insisted. Kendrix had quit arguing at that point. Anything to get away from everybody so she could think.
‘It’s just all happened so fast,’ Kendrix thought, as she sat down in the park. It was late, and the park was empty. ‘The attempted rape last night, the attack on the hill, my admitting that I love Leo... I can’t handle all of this.’
“Kendrix?” Kendrix spun around, to see Kai watching her. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“No,” Kendrix replied. She sighed miserably. “My life is just so screwed up.”
Her long time friend nodded. “Leo told me some of what happened when he called and asked me to look for you,” Kai said, “I can see how you could think that. But it’s not screwed up. You’re a beautiful, healthy young woman that is lucky enough to be in love and have someone that loves her.”
Kendrix looked at Kai. “What?”
“Leo loves you, Kendrix,” Kai said, “He has since the first day he saw you. He admitted it to me, and himself, just the other day, in fact. He said, and quote, ‘Freeing Kendrix was the driving force for me to battle through Skelecron’s warriors and shatter the mirrors. I love her so much, that it hurts sometimes, especially when I see her with Quinn’.”
Kendrix felt on the verge of crying again and didn’t resist the urge, this time crying happy tears. She had hoped that Leo loved her as much as she did him, but to have her wish confirmed... it was a dream come true. “I feel so silly now,” she murmured, laughing. “I guess I’d better go find Leo.”
“I’d say that would be best,” Kai replied.
Kendrix gave Kai a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks, Kai,” she murmured.
“You’re welcome,” Kai responded, blushing.
Kendrix stood up and started walking towards the Megaship, where she quickly found her way to Leo’s quarters. She punched the door chime. She heard movement on the other side and a sleepy “coming!!!” and tried to keep from laughing. She glanced at her watch, and saw that it was almost midnight.
When the door opened, Leo was standing before her in nothing but boxer shorts. Kendrix barely kept her eyes from drifting down to his bare chest. “I seem to have a knack for waking you, don’t I?” she asked.
“I should have known it was you,” Leo muttered, rubbing his eyes. He moved out of the doorway and gestured Kendrix in. She stepped into his quarters, having the oddest feeling of deja vu. “Why don’t you sit down, while I get a shirt on, at least?”
“All right,” Kendrix replied. Leo disappeared into his room, while she went over to the couch and sat down.
“So, why did you come over?” Leo asked, as he re-entered the living room part of his quarters.
“I needed to talk to you, that’s why,” Kendrix answered, “About what I said when I started attacking Quinn.”
“Oh,” Leo said, “Look, I understand that you probably said it in anger, and might not have meant it. I mean, we did decide to be just friends. And...” Kendrix stopped his babbling by placing a finger on his lips.
“I meant what I said to Quinn, Leo,” Kendrix replied, “My biggest mistake was letting you go under the delusion that I only thought of you as just a friend, instead of telling you that I love you, with all of my heart. I know you probably don’t feel the same way. You’d probably like to stay friends, and I respect that. I...”
This time, it was Leo who cut Kendrix off, this time pulling her close and giving her a kiss. “I love you too, Kendrix,” he murmured, when they came up for air. “I’ve loved you since the day I first saw you, and haven’t quit loving you since.”
An estatic Kendrix pulled the Red Galaxy Ranger close, this time initiating her own, passionate kiss. “Leo, make love to me,” she whispered.
Leo hesitated. “I don’t know,” he replied softly, “I’d feel like I was taking advantage of you or something.”
“You won’t be,” Kendrix assured him. Leo hesitated again, but Kendrix felt that it was about something else. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I don’t know how to...” Leo tried to explain, “I mean, I’m a...”
Kendrix laughed softly. “So am I, Leo,” she murmured softly. That helped Leo make up his mind, as he pulled her close once again and gave her a passionate kiss. Kendrix squealed with surprise, when he stood up and swept her into his arms. Leo then carried her into the bedroom.
***
As Kendrix snuggled closer to Leo, she kissed his bare chest. The Red Ranger barely stirred. Once again, Kendrix felt safer with Leo than she ever had. She knew that they were in the starting blocks of a solid relationship.
Kendrix also knew that there would be rocky times ahead, but that
she
could get through them, as long as she had Leo. But, in the back of
her
mind, she had the oddest feeling, one that told her that something was
going
to happen soon, and that not even her newfound love could stop.
Banishing
the thought, Kendrix fell into an uneasy sleep.