Troy held his head down as he stepped into the hospital. He was about to do something he wish he didn't have to do.

As leader, it was up to him to keep his teammates – his friends – safe from danger on the battlefield. Vrak kidnapping him, Jake, and Gia was already enough to bruise his ego. The torture they suffered still haunted him. Gia's death… Troy couldn't live with himself knowing he let that happen, knowing there was something he could have done to help her, to stop it, to prevent it.

He found her room and knocked gently on the door before walking in. He wasn't surprised to see Gia asleep in bed, she usually was when he came to visit, but he hadn't been expecting Jordan and Emma to be cuddling in bed with her. He cleared his throat, grabbing their attention. Jordan seemed the most surprised.

"We were just…"

"I don't want to know," Troy shook his head.

Jordan got off the bed and muttered something about getting a snack from the cafeteria. Emma slipped off the bed and took a seat in the chair. She looked to Troy.

"I wasn't feeling well. They were just trying to help."

"Are you feeling better?"

"Reassured," Emma nodded. "Gia's alive, and Jordan's a good guy. I'm really lucky."

"We're all pretty lucky," Troy said as he looked at Gia, "Things could have been a lot worse."

"You don't have to tell me," Emma muttered. Troy let out a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry."

She turned to him, "Huh?"

"I asked Gia to come with me to get the parts," Troy said. "If she hadn't of done that…"

"It's not your fault," Emma shook her head. "Troy, someone should have gone with you. It was smart to take three…"

"Maybe, but Gia as one of those three?" Troy shook his head. "I know her history with Vrak. I know she hates him. I know he likes to mess with her. I should have thought more about what would happen if we did get caught. I never should have asked her to come."

"It's not your fault, Troy. I never thought to blame you," Emma offered him a smile. "You made a call, they can't all be right."

"I'm the leader. Your safety is…"

"In your hands, yeah, but we've all got brains of our own. We knew the risks of you three going back to the palace. We knew that meant Vrak could capture you or worse. Gia still agreed to go. She could have said no."

"I take my job seriously, Emma. I don't want to see you getting hurt. Can I talk with her? Just for a few minutes?"

"I'll go see if Jordan wants to go out for lunch," Emma nodded her head. "Just promise me you won't leave her until I come back, or Vanessa stops by. She said she was dropping off some resumes and then would be over."

"She won't be alone," Troy nodded his head. He switched places with Emma, taking her seat by the bed while she got up and left.

Troy then heard an impressive sigh, "Wow, you got her to leave the building."

"Gia?" he saw she was awake in bed and was a little surprised. She looked like she had been fast asleep seconds before.

"Emma hasn't left this hospital since she found out I wasn't dead," Gia slowly started to sit up. Seeing she needed a bit of a hand, Troy quickly offered his help. He looked to her sadly as she rested her back against her pillows and hissed from the pain the pressure caused her back.

"About what happened…"

"It's not your fault," Gia shook her head. "Troy…"

"It should have been me."

"Trust me, you should be glad it's not you," Gia sighed. "Emma's worried enough as it is, and I don't want Jake to feel like he has to be here all the time, so you can't tell them how much this still fucking hurts."

"I shouldn't have asked you to come," Troy said. "I should have known that you would have been Vrak's first target if he caught us."

"You were right to ask me to come," Gia looked to Troy in confusion. "Why wouldn't you ask me? Noah had to stay behind to build the time machine, and you needed more people to come with you."

"I'm supposed to make decisions that protect us all. Gia, that last one almost got you killed!"

"Vrak's blaster almost got me killed," Gia shook her head and then looked Troy right in the eyes, "You may get the final say, but if you make a decision I don't agree with, I'm going to call you out on it then and there. Gosei never directly stated I was second in command, but I think we all agree that's my job. Whenever you're not around, the others all turn to me."

"Yeah, but…"

"What that means is that we're a team. You and me," Gia said. "If you make a call, and I go along with it, I'm just as responsible for what happens as you are."

"Gia…"

"I don't blame you, Troy."

"But Gia…"

"Don't even say it," Gia shook her head, "You made all the right calls. Noah needed those pieces we collected from Vrak. We had to go in or else there would have been no time machine and we wouldn't even be here. You had to pick the strongest team to go in in case we did face Vrak. Noah knows he's not the muscle, and I wouldn't have asked Emma to take mine or Jake's place. I can handle the abuse. I know she can't."

"Yeah, but…"

"All the calls were right for getting in and getting out. Vrak got a lucky shot in. End of story."

"But…"

"I'll give you something to worry about, Burrows, if you don't shut up," Gia said and then took his hand and squeezed it gently; "We're a team. We work together. You're the leader and you make calls, but we still have a choice on whether or not to follow those calls. I went into that palace knowing I could get hurt – knowing I might never come out. It's okay, Troy."

"I am sorry,"

"I know," Gia nodded her head.

Troy let go of Gia's hand and leaned back in his seat. He didn't know what to say now. Gia had practically shot down every attempt he would have made at taking the blame, refusing to let him believe he should. Now he had made a promise to Emma not to leave Gia alone until she or Mrs. Moran came back. He didn't have much else to say.

"What was it like?" Troy asked. Gia looked to him.

"What?"

"Dying?"

"Why does everyone want to know?"

"No one's died before," Troy shrugged. Gia rolled her eyes and was about to say something but Troy cut her off, "No one I've known has died and lived to tell us about it. What's it like?"

"I don't remember much," Gia shrugged. "Just the kids, us trying to escape, a fight with Vrak, and then fire."

"There was an explosion before you disappeared," Troy nodded. Gia sighed.

"I have nightmares about it. I always get nightmares."

"You wake up in a cold sweat?" Troy asked her. "You know it's not real, but you can't get what happened out of your head? It's like it really happened."

"Are your dreams like that?"

"Most of them. I see battles and wars. So many people die."

"It's the future, though, right?"

"Hopefully not," Troy shook his head. "But some are dreams of the past. Not my past, though. I see into the lives of other Rangers, especially the ones we've met."

"But you do mostly see the future?"

"I have dreams of a war," Troy nodded. "Most of the time, it's a war. We're caught in the middle of it, and all the other Rangers are there, fighting with us. I don't know who we're really fighting against, what we're fighting for, or what happens."

"I get nightmares of what's happened," Gia looked down at her blankets, "They started when Cliff first hurt me. I didn't tell anyone about them back then. After he left, they got worse. Just when they started to settle, after Vrak killed him and I learned to move on, dad died. Now I have nightmares of that. I dream I'm killing dad, or Vrak is, or I'm the one who finds my father… or that he blames me. I have dreams where he comes back to life, just for a moment, just to tell me how disappointed he is, and how much he hates me. He tells me I deserve what Cliff did to me, and he hopes Vrak kills me too."

"They're just nightmares, Gia."

"Mom and Emma say the same thing," Gia looked over to Troy, "You know they aren't always just nightmares."

"That one is. You're feeling guilty. When Ryan died…"

"Ryan?"

"A kid who saved me from a bully once," Troy said. "He killed himself later because the bullies started to pick on him. When he died, I had those dreams too. Him crying out to me and blaming me or asking me why I couldn't stand up for him. It's just your guilt, talking."

Gia let out a breath, "I have more dreams, now. Dreams about dying, I guess. There's a room that's on fire, someone's standing over me, laughing. I know it's Vrak. I'm calling for help, and for the longest time, no one's showed up."

"We couldn't do anything when you died," Troy said. "We wanted to, but you were gone."

"I know," Gia said. "My last dream, though, I heard a voice. Someone was helping me. He wanted me to get out of the fire. I'm positive it was Jordan. He had something to do with my rescue, I just know it."

"You and I both need to listen a little more to our dreams, I guess."

"You're lucky," Gia whispered. "If Vrak's little stunt showed us anything, we can change the future. Your dreams, the bad ones at least, don't have to happen. Not if we can find a way to stop them. Mine have happened. Cliff, my dad, Vrak… listening to my dreams can't undo it."

"You can grow from them," Troy said. "My dreams warn me. I'm always training to keep the worst from happening. I'm getting stronger because of it. And with the exception of last time, I can keep bad things from happening by making decisions based on what I've seen. You can get stronger too."

"How?"

"Listen to your dreams. Maybe I can help."

"You can help me? In my dreams?"

"Hey, I've got magic dream powers that haven't really done much for me yet. Maybe I can use them to help you. Make up for… this."

"Troy…"

"I can be with you, in that fire dream. We can see who it is who is trying to save you. Maybe we'll get some answers…"

"I'm alive, Troy. The team isn't hurt; Emma and Jordan are still okay after everything. I trust my gut feeling when I say I think Jordan saved me. I don't really care who that voice is in my dreams," Gia shook her head. "If you're going to help me with a dream…"

"Cliff?"

"My dad," Gia looked down at the blanket again, "I don't care what Cliff says. His opinion means nothing to me anymore. And I know he can't hurt me. The dreams about my dad, the things I do, what he says about me… I want answers for that. I want to know… if it's real."

"I can help, then," Troy said. "It's the least I can do after…"

"You didn't do this, Troy…"

"It's still the least I can do," Troy smiled. "Just… close your eyes, try and get some sleep. Think of your dad and… we'll see what happens."

"You'll be here, right?"

"Yeah," Troy nodded his head and took a hold of Gia's hand as she settled into bed and tried to get some sleep. He didn't know how he was going to help her. He wasn't even sure it was possible he could, but he had to give it a shot. Gia may not have blamed him for what happened. It seemed no one did. He still blamed himself, though, and he would continue to feel guilty until he could do something to help.