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He finds her in the middle of the night, sitting in front of the displays.
“Hey,” he says. “How are you doing?”
Solon is fixing something outside. Everyone else is asleep. It’s a familiar scene, he thinks. Most often, it was Jason or Tommy. They all stayed at the base, or he was coming by to work on some tech with Alpha, and he saw them. Staring up at Zordon, or the viewing globe. Rarely saying much, growing silent when they saw him.
What can I do better? Why did I let them get hurt?
He remembers asking Trini how he could help, and she just said he couldn’t. That being a leader was a difficult role, and pointing out the cracks before they showed might not help. Support, always. Proving they can handle themselves and trust their leader. Their friends.
Amelia isn’t exactly his friend. Or his leader.
(That name still belongs to Jason and Tommy and in a way Zordon.)
Which he imagines is part of the problem.
“Hey,” he says. “Deliberating and over analyzing the problem will just drive you to exhaustion.”
“I know,” Amelia says. “Of course I know that. But I worry anyways. It’s my job to, now.”
She’s a Red, and she is indeed a leader, but she wasn’t always. That must be hard. His role never truly changed - even going from Blue to tech was as natural as breathing.
But now he’s a mentor, and he doesn’t know what to do.
Some of the others talked about it, right? Group calls where Tommy sat, head in hands, saying kids kids were so good, but they were so young, how could he ask them to fight. Trini clinging to him one day, when he visited, whispering that Minh just turned 14, and she didn’t realize he was that young when they were fighting monsters. Saying she hopes her daughter wouldn’t have to fight. Mick talking about playing games to teach his kids lessons, so they could still be kids. Wasn’t much other options when Brody was a prisoner, and they learned. Adam talking about Carlos or Overdrive or the space police…
They’re all back on earth, now, most of them. Billy tries not to think about it.
“It’s not your job to worry, actually,” Billy says. “I think it’s mine.”
“We’ll see that’s not fair, either,” Amelia says. “Because you and Solon are busy, making this base a ship, and making our tech, and so I have to find a way to save Earth, and the universe, and Ollie.”
Another thing that never gets easier.
“And you will,” Billy says. “But not as moonpeak.”
“…I’m tired,” Amelia says. She’s turned away from him. He can see her hands shaking. He could see theirs, too. “I wanna go home.”
Billy puts a hand on her shoulder. Her hand covers his and runs over the blue fabric. He knows what she means by home. A whole team, together.
“You will,” he says. “You’ve done so well.”
“I just don’t know what to do next,” Amelia says. “Earth hasn’t had it this bad since I was a teenager.”
“The Armada?”
“Yes.”
Amelia sighs, wilts.
“Do you think we’ll get him back?”
“I think it’s likely,” Billy says. “Does that help?”
“…I don’t know.”
“Go to bed, Amelia.”
“…I’ll try.”
She wakes up smiling, asking about fruitcakes and slotting back into place.
That hurts more, he thinks. He sees the others realize, but not fully.
Looking back, he wonders. Moments like Jason spiraling when he failed. Did they miss more?
Looking forward, he sees her relax anyways, tension fading. Zayto pulls her aside, they speak in whispers and glances. She hugs him.
Zack with his arm around Jason. Kimberly taking Tommy’s hand and whispering in his ear. Trini offering to stay behind with Jason, and Adam sharing a Look with Tommy like see? I’m not giving up, and the rest of them pretending to ignore it, he suspects.
Billy sitting next to Tommy while he studies - he was always looking into something, to be a better ranger. Offering suggestions helped, then.
This team has it handled, he thinks. And they need a guiding hand.
And he gets to watch.