Mud clung to her uniform as Nicole pulled herself through the muck. She was determined, because so much rode on this singular moment. Two months of training, in addition to her schooling and other duties. Given the relative calm that followed the Battle of Anoka as it had become known, she had needed something to distract herself.

  Hence throwing herself into the training to be a firefighter. Carlos was back in New York, but he had stuck around for a few weeks following the battle and helped her get a leg up on some of the training required. She appreciated that especially now that she was prepared to put it to good use.

  She stood, pulling herself from the muck even as it fell from her in clumps and sprinted the dozen feet before she vaulted through the window. Nicole landed in a sparsely decorated living room where she grabbed the hose from the clip on her hip and put water on the fire.

  Normally the gear that they wore would slow someone down, but she wasn’t an ordinary person. No, Nicole was a Ranger, and she would prove to all of them that she could lead the way even without her powers. Flames licked at her, but she was determined.

  The flames died down as she adjusted the flow until they died out. Next, Nicole ran forward, kicking the door open only for a blast of flame to wash over her. That had been expected, and Nicole put more water on the flames within. Once doused, she turned to the closet door and threw it open. Inside was a bundle of blankets with a small figure huddled within.

  She picked them up and tossed them over her shoulder, pulling the hose with her as she exited. More water was applied to the reignited flames, but she wasn’t as concerned about that. Getting the child out was the priority, and she was going to do just that.

  This time, she exited through the front door, where three others were waiting in full gear. She hurried over to them and set the child down, pulling her mask off as she did. Nicole was sweating profusely from the heat despite the protective gear. One of the others helped her get the child laid out, and performed a quick check.

  “She’s not breathing,” the man said.

  Nicole immediately adjusted the child’s head, preparing her for CPR. She knew she couldn’t apply her full strength, not to an adult, much less a child. That meant that she’d needed all the practice she could get to make sure she didn’t accidentally crush their sternum into their heart.

  She counted off each compression, then delivered two rescue breaths, making sure her head was tilted correctly to keep the airway clear, then resumed compressions. Three rounds of that ensued before the other man put a hand on her shoulder.

  “She’s breathing, good job.”

  Nicole grinned, breathing heavily as she did. “Does that mean…”

  Her instructor pulled off their mask, and Carlos smiled back. “You passed. Congratulations, and welcome to the team, officially.”

  She couldn’t help herself, she squealed and jumped up, pulling the man into a hug as she spun him around. Carlos was another Ranger who had been something of a mentor to her, visiting from New York to help the Minneapolis team learn the ropes. The cheeky bastard had apologized for missing her final exam profusely just the night before, yet had made the trip regardless. Next to him, another took off their mask, and Nicole’s breath hitched.

  Grace looked back, smiling shyly. “Surprise?”

  Nicole let go of Carlos, practically dropping the man as she ripped off her own mask, red braids falling loose as skipped over to her girlfriend, sweeping her off her feet as she did. Grace giggled, then they met with a passionate kiss, and Nicole’s legs promptly gave out and they both fell to the dirt below.

  Resounding laughter came from all around them, the other firefighters all joining in, including the ones responsible for making sure the training course was properly extinguished. Sure, it was largely a concrete structure with propane fueled flame jets, but safety was still their primary concern.

  Nicole pulled back, looking down at her girlfriend with hungry eyes. Grace bit her lip in response. Before anything could progress, Carlos cleared his throat and Nicole jumped away, her face now on fire. Right, it was all too easy to lose herself in Grace’s gorgeous chocolate eyes.

  Nicole reared back, then flipped back to her feet with a quick kip-up. That act was as simple as breathing to her. As a former gymnast, she was quite agile even without the transformation. Nicole was fairly certain that the entire team had figured out who she was, or rather, used to be. Grace as well, though she was only a volunteer while Nicole had gone all in with the training to become a full firefighter.

  Having her morpher damaged during the battle with Commander Bartran of the Sylan Empire had stung, but she was making the most of it despite the brush with death. Her physical enhancements were intact and she was learning to push herself further each and every day. Between the combat training with her team and the work she was now doing with the Gymnastics department as an assistant, she was keeping quite busy.

  Actually, was there even a purpose to keeping their identities concealed given Xavier all but confirming that the government knew about their identities as Rangers? He certainly knew before the whole nearly dying thing. Thinking on that, what reason was there to keep it concealed from the people that would be trusting her to have their backs?

  Nicole took a few steps back, looking over the men and women around her, and took a breath. She couldn’t morph, not without her watch, but she could reveal herself all the same, especially with her plan to continue the fight despite her lack of powers. Those in the department deserved to know why she might not be available at all times.

  “I’ll be right back,” Nicole said.

  Carlos raised an eyebrow, but Grace just grinned as she nodded. They’d discussed the possibility, and Grace confirmed that if she made the choice they would do so together. Nicole grabbed her duffel on the way to the changing room and pulled out the first piece of her new gear. Xavier Sinclair might be a mysterious asshole that was absolutely involved in some shady shit, but he had come through time and again when it came to helping.

  It wasn’t Ranger grade gear, but it was a fair bit better than what she had when she first fought the machines. Having to physically change was a pain in the ass, but there was one thing that the fire department had going for it, she learned how to suit up damn fast. She pulled the outfit on, fastening things into place in a few short seconds.

  Her mask was pulled up, then she settled the helmet gifted to her in place, taking a deep breath through the rebreather. It was a pale imitation of a Ranger’s uniform, but it was hers and she would own it until her morpher was working again. Looking in the mirror, she was clad in black, armored gauntlets and shoulder pads set over a loose yet flexible material. She had a waist cloth set along her belt that was almost a skirt, and a hooded cloak that hung over her shoulders.

  Nicole stepped out a moment later, her nerves playing havoc with her stomach. There hadn’t been any Sylan attacks since the Commander was injured, which meant she hadn’t been seen in her new uniform by the public even once. The moment she came into sight of the crew, they stared at her in confusion.

  “So, I sort of lost my ability to morph after kicking the Sylan leadership’s ass,” Nicole said, sounding far more timid than she would have liked.

  The news had gotten better footage of the whole thing than she expected, which meant that the Minneapolis Black Ranger was now considered one of the big names in the Ranger game. That was especially true now that the attacks had all halted. Two months without a single incursion, yet the ships remained in orbit, ready to resume at some unknown signal.

  A few murmurs picked up between the rest of the crew, though the two captains that had first welcomed them simply nodded in acceptance. That brought a smile to Nicole’s face as she returned the nod. Natalie and Chelsea Dunlap were some of the first people to support Nicole when she signed up, and put her through her paces the moment she was cleared to resume her work following her hospitalization at Sinclair’s shady underground medclinic.

  Unfortunately it didn’t appear that everyone believed her, which was somewhat fair given she couldn’t just morph and prove herself, yet it still stung. Nicole’s work as a Ranger was one of the few things in her life that she had taken true pride in.

  “Roll the Dice.”

  Brilliant red swept over everyone, and in Grace’s place stood the Red Ranger. Her outfit was almost entirely shades of red, from the overcoat to her boots. The part that stood out was the black pirate hat that sat atop her helmet. To the casual viewer it appeared that it could easily be pulled away, yet it was firmly affixed to the helmet.

  The other firefighters stood there for a moment, staring blankly in surprise or confusion, then roughly half of them cursed and started reaching into their pockets while the other half laughed and held out their hands. Luckily Nicole’s new helmet hid from them how her right eye was twitching.

  “You bet on if I was a Ranger?” Nicole asked almost incredulously.

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  “Not quite,” one of the victorious said. “About half of us bet on which Ranger you both were. The other half had bets on who would reveal themselves first and if it would be before or during a crisis. I won on all counts.”

  Nicole pulled her helmet off, red braid falling free, then stuck her tongue out at the man. That just set the group to laughing even harder.

  “Yeah, Ranger identities really aren’t all that secret, are they?” Nicole said with a heavy sigh. “Hey Grace, how many of our classmates do you think figured it out?”

  “Less than you think, more than we would like,” the Red Ranger said with a shrug. “At least we don’t have fan clubs… I hope.”

  Nicole frowned. She would need to ask Colin about that, because odds were that Rebecca would either fib about them, or be running one herself. She hoped her best friend wasn’t doing that behind her back, but Nicole wasn’t holding her breath. Becca was certainly the type to jump into something like that if it was already off the ground and running.

  “Funny as that is,” Carlos said with a smirk. “You’re officially a firefighter, how do you feel?”

  “Accomplished,” Nicole said truthfully. Her Ranger capabilities weren’t always a benefit to the training, and it helped her learn control when it mattered. For that, Nicole would be ever grateful. “It’s funny, all that money on college, and I can’t help but feel I’ll come to appreciate this work far more than anything I learn in school.”

  “Say that again after you scrape a motorcyclist off the freeway,” one of the men muttered.

  She scowled at him. “I’ve seen a child cleaved in two right in front of me. I was there at the Renaissance slaughter, it’s where I first came into the power, if you forgot. I know what I’m signing up for.”

  Several of the firefighters recoiled at her words, as well as the grizzly reminder that she was far from some innocent new recruit. Nicole had seen death in ways that few others had, and would continue to do so until the duty claimed her.

  Carlos sighed. “An unfortunate truth. Firefighters see things most don’t, and the same holds true for Rangers. This isn’t a life for the faint of heart, and I can promise all of you, Nicole has heart to spare.”

  “It’s on loan though,” Grace cut in with a cheeky grin. “Since she’s promised it to me and all.”

  That brought the mood back to something resembling cheerful and finally Grace dropped the morph, now back in her heavy uniform. It was strange how clothes could do that with the Ranger transformation, and now that she had to carry her outfit with her, she missed it all the more. No doubt Sinclair was researching that somewhere in the depths of his lab, but it wasn’t helping her at present.

  “So, how are we celebrating?” Nicole asked, glancing between Carlos and Grace. “You can’t tell me that you two didn’t plan all this out in advance.”

  The pair glanced at one another then grinned.

  “How does prime rib sound?”

  Nicole turned, finding Fire Chief Grayson standing there with the rest of her team, all helping set out a spread of food that would make anyone envious. Flicking her eyes between each of them, Devon looked away, Kayla grinned and Jeff was already popping a meatball into his mouth. And just like that, Nicole’s stomach let out a growl of betrayal. Because holy hell did that sound really good after the workout she had just had.

  “Well, it would seem we aren’t standing on ceremony,” Kayla said, brushing a bit of her black hair out of her face with a casual flick of the wrist before she leaned over. Jeff blinked as she kissed his cheek. “Congratulations Nicole, we knew you had it in ya!”

  Jeff moved to say something but it came out muffled due to his mouth being full, getting a round of laughter out of everyone present. Devon pat the poor guy on the back then stepped over. His eyes glanced over everyone present before he let out a sigh.

  “Guess Anita couldn’t make it,” Grace said softly.

  “Seems that way,” Devon said dejectedly.

  Nicole wasn’t sure what was going on between the Silver and Yellow Ranger, but she couldn’t help but worry about it. Anita worked for the Sinclair Institute as one of their own private Rangers, collecting every scrap of Sylan technology they could get their hands on. Nicole didn’t trust them, but Anita had pledged to help once the attacks resumed.

  “Well, at least there’s good food,” Nicole said, offering a soft smile.

  Devon chuckled, looking away. “Yeah, there’s that.”

  “Is it actually working?” Grace asked.

  Once upon a time, Nicole might have struggled to hear that question over the din of the conversations around her, but her senses were sharper than most, and she could listen in on any singular person within the fire house, which helped greatly when she wanted to focus on her girlfriend.

  Nicole nodded, waving a forkful of cheesecake. “Yeah, I was surprised too. Never thought that I could light a fire under so many asses just by half-assing things.”

  “Never underestimate the power of spite as a motivator,” Kayla said.

  The gymnastics team hadn’t appreciated her being brought in as a guest instructor, right up until they saw her perform. Tanya had been grinning viciously by the end of the routine and inside of a month the improvements shown by the team were astonishing.

  Yet, that again presented a problem.

  Nicole was finding it difficult to justify caring about keeping her identity hidden, especially around people that might be around when she needs to morph in a hurry. The question of what might happen if there was a fire emergency and they needed a Ranger to go in and get someone was half the reason she wanted to reveal herself to them. She wasn’t going to dance around things while trying to justify to everyone that she needed to duck out because of a Sylan attack, or explain why Grace went missing in the middle of a major emergency.

  Better to just be open about it and not worry, especially when lives were on the line. It wasn’t like her identity wasn’t known to the Sylans either. Eventually the gymnastics team would put the clues together as well. Everyone of consequence knew who she was already, and if the media found out, she would own that too.

  It was almost funny how quickly her opinions had shifted following the battle and her recovery. She wasn’t dropping out of school, but Nicole was no longer stressing as much about it all, she no longer felt that she had to attend out of some obligation to her deceased parents.

  That admission alone was rather liberating, not having an obligation she could never live up to hanging over her head was freeing in a way that Nicole hadn’t expected, and it led to her enjoying life for the first time in years. She had a girlfriend, a bunch of friends, and a team at her back. It was everything she hoped gymnastics would have been back when she started in high school, but this was real and tangible.

  “When Devon slipped and fell into the pool!” Jeff exclaimed, getting a round of laughter for his story.

  Even Nicole found herself giggling along. “Then, when Kayla tried to help him out…”

  Said girl flipped her off. “Yeah, yeah. He ended up pulling me into the pool with him. I remember full well, because I was there. All of us were, so no need to dig it back up.”

  “To be fair,” Carlos said, hiding his smile behind a glass, “I was not, so I appreciate being caught back up on things.”

  “You sticking around?” Jeff asked. “I know you have obligations in New York, but we’ve sort of missed having you around.”

  Carlos chuckled, gesturing with his drink. “For a few days, it’s a nice break from the chaos that New York brings with it.”

  “Less Ranger teams too,” Devon said. “Didn’t a fourth pop up last month?”

  “Given there have been no Sylan attacks, no. It was a group of theater kids dressing up for some viral stunt,” Carlos said with a sigh. “We probably lucked out that they weren’t a real Ranger team. I don’t think the city could handle that level of drama.”

  Grace snickered, covering her mouth as she did. “I am so glad that wasn’t us. Could you imagine how toxic that might get?”

  “Says the LARPer,” Carlos teased.

  Grace flipped him off even as Nicole straightened up. “Hey, she’s an apprentice blacksmith. That deserves some respect.”

  “Fair enough, I’ve seen her crush a Sylan machine with her thighs, I know that’s an argument I would lose.”

  “Speaking of,” Nicole said, doing her best to not blush at the memory. Having THAT moment go viral had turned Grace into an overnight meme. The worst part was that Nicole missed it because she was busy fighting the giant worm bastard. “Has there been any sightings of Maraline or Guiana since our last major battle?”

  “None,” Carlos said, frowning. “Not one attack that we’ve uncovered anywhere in the world for that matter. Some of the senior Rangers are even speculating that the General might have succumbed to his injuries and the invaders are scrambling to figure out what happens next.”

  There was no way they would get that lucky. No, the alien was simply recovering, and preparing for whatever was to come. The invasion would likely pick up in intensity from there and the world would suffer for it.

  Screaming had all of their attention in an instant, Nicole jumped to her feet and was already moving before most of the others in the fire house looked more than confused. The crew stepped aside at the sight of the Ranger running with determination. She still had to shove aside some of those that seemed to be frozen in place, but once she did she saw what had them so spooked.

  Nicole felt her stomach drop at the sight of two dozen automatons waiting for them. Worse, each of them bore the orange band that signified they weren’t something to mess with casually. People were running away, screaming, but her team formed up and stood firm behind her. She couldn’t help but grimace as she looked over her shoulder as everyone else brought up their watches. With a firm nod, Nicole pulled her helmet on and made sure it was secure.

  “Roll the Dice.”

  A kaleidoscope of colors washed over the parking lot, and soon five Rangers and whatever Nicole counted as, stood defiant in the face of the danger before them. A few of the fleeing people froze, and soon they were cheering for the now present team of Rangers. Turning back to face her team, Nicole couldn’t help but strike a commanding pose.

  “Looks like the vacation is over, Rangers,” she said. “Let’s scrap these rust buckets.”

  Grace coughed, and the others laughed, a brief moment of levity before facing down the murderous machines that for once weren’t trying to kill every person that twitched. That alone was concerning, but each passing second was more time for others to get away.

  A blue flash briefly blinded the Rangers, but Nicole already knew what that signaled. Pulling her arm away, she glared across the way to the newly arrived Sylan.

  “Maraline.”

  The invader smiled. “Hello, my dearest friend. It has been too long.”

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