Disclaimer: I do not own Super Sentai or anything associated with it.

Rating: K+

A/N: You know, when I started this story, it was just going to be 7 chapters of about 800 words each. Then Joe's chapter happened. Then Ahim's (which wasn't as bad as Joe's, but still about twice as long as I intended). Then this … you'll see what I mean. So much for uniformity.

A/N2: I can't believe I actually completed this story! Huzzah! Miracles really DO happen! Let me know what you think of it! I did my usual ratty thing and left it kinda open-ended in some regards. You'll see what I mean :-p

AFTERMATH

Pirates for Hire

"I'm taking the Gokai Jet," she told him quietly, sneaking a glace around the room to see if anyone had heard. No, they were all too involved in their own miserable conversations. "Don't tell Joe."

"Eh?" he exclaimed loudly.

She clamped her hand down over his mouth and gave him her famous death glare. "Hakase!" she hissed. She cast another worried glance around, but if the others had heard Doc, they ignored him.

"Sorry," he whispered sheepishly. "Why?"

"I need to see Cain," she responded, stopping when she saw the glint in Doc's eyes.

"I thought you said you'd given up on that for now?" Doc asked more than a little pathetically, wondering how he could have misunderstood.

"I'm not staying away for ever," she said, smiling slightly. "I'll be back before you know it. I just want to see how our project is coming along."

"Our project?" Doc asked, frowning.

"Don't let the others know 'til I'm gone. I'm counting on you, Hakase," she smiled, gripping his shoulder tightly as she got to her feet. That settled it for Doc. He would keep her secret. For the whole two and a half minutes it took for the others to figure out where she'd gone.

"What was that?" Marvelous asked as the sudden heavy machinery noises came from the depths of the ship. The Galleon lurched, then lurched again as the sound of a retreating engine could be heard.

"Hakase, what is happening to my ship?" Marvelous demanded, pulling the mechanic up by his collar and dragging him to the computer control panel. "Fix it!"

Doc didn't know what to do. He couldn't give Luka away yet. Joe—or worse still, Marvelous—could still catch her. And so, Doc did what he did best: went into a panicked tizz.

"Now look what you've done," Joe droned, crossing his arms over his chest. "Do you always need to be so rough with him, Marvelous?"

"I didn't do anything!" Marvelous protested, glaring at Doc in disgust.

"Marvelous-san is right," Gai said hesitantly. "That's a bit pathetic, even by Hakase's standards."

Ahim glanced around the room, then asked, "Where's Luka-san?"

Everyone snapped their heads in Ahim's direction, then proceeded to search around the room themselves.

"Luka!" Gai sung out loud as he traipsed across the cabin. He popped up to the crows' nest to search for her while Ahim wandered down to the private cabins. Marvelous and Joe exchanged unimpressed glances and then rounded on Doc.

"Speak," Marvelous said.

"What are you talking about?" Doc stammered out. Marvelous looked at Joe and nodded. Joe cracked his knuckles. "Okay, okay! I'll talk." Joe looked slightly put out.

"Where's Luka? And what was that crash?" Marvelous asked in dangerous tones.

"Luka may have taken the Gokai Jet to go and see Cain," Doc rushed in a tiny voice.

"What?" Marvelous and Joe both exclaimed for different reasons. Joe cracked his knuckles again and started mumbling to himself. Marvelous gave Doc a hard look and asked. "Does she plan to come back?"

"Yes. Soon, Marvelous. She just wanted to check up on how their plan to buy and set up a planet was coming along."

"Does she even know where he is?" Marvelous demanded.

"It's Luka," Joe pointed out. "She'll find a way."

"Don't go getting any ideas!" Marvelous called out, directing his comment past Joe and Doc. They turned around to see Ahim hovering near the staircase.

"Marvelous-san, what do you mean?" Ahim asked all too innocently.

"The other machines are off limits. I'll get Nav'i to power them down completely," Marvelous said. "Hakase! Get Nav'i to shut down the other vehicles. Now! You," he turned to Ahim once more. "Stay where I can see you."

"I was just on my way to make some tea, Marvelous-san," Ahim said, excusing herself from the room. Marvelous watched her retreat with narrowed eyes.

"Hakase!" Marvelous called. "Get back here and bring Luka up on the screen!"

As Doc hurried back in and tried to get the Galleon to link with the Jet, Joe stepped up beside Marvelous as the latter glared at the blank screen. The men, brothers in trust more than any men could ever be in blood, stood side by side in identical poses. Facing the screen, arms crossed, legs apart.

Joe spoke.

"If she goes, I go too."

"Eh?" Marvelous exclaimed, masking his wound in an outrage Joe couldn't determine as mock or authentic. "What happened to loyalty? What happened to staying with me beyond my dream? What happened to gratitude?"

Joe said nothing, so Marvelous continued while Doc was still busily working away in the background. "Does Ahim know she's acquired a new bodyguard for Famille?"

"I didn't say I was going with her," Joe said bitterly. "Just that if she left, I'm gone too. I don't want to stay around."

"You're an idiot," Marvelous pointed out. He stepped forward then as Luka's face appeared on screen. "You're dead meat."

"What do you mean?" Luka asked innocently, smiling broadly at the captain.

"Explain yourself."

Joe didn't stay around to hear the rest of it. He didn't head to the crow's nest, or to the kitchen or private cabins. He headed down to Earth. Out to the forest that was his favourite training ground. The trees were witness to and victim of the rage, frustration and despair that he had been holing up for too long now. His sword—and Doc's, not that Doc knew—got its first use in over a week, scratching, at best, and amputating, at worst, all the bamboo trees unfortunate enough to be in his vicinity.

He trained. He trained hard until the sun set, and then kept going. Some hours later, he found he could not hold up his swords anymore. His aching arms released them in a clatter to the ground. He collapsed to his knees, panting, almost sobbing from the effort. And other things. The salt from his eyes mixed with the salt from his skin and he stayed there. Unmoving.

At last the sun rose again, and he stiffly got to his feet. It was time to go back. As he made his way from the depths of the bamboo forest towards the ship, he saw a splash of pink out the corner of his eye. Heading in that direction, he recognised it as the pink belonging to a very familiar coat. Picking up his pace, he saw she was curled in a ball, asleep under the canopy of trees.

"Ahim!" he exclaimed, running to her side. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and the girl began to stir. As her eyes fluttered open, he pulled his hand away, resting it in a fist on his crouching leg.

"Joe-san?"

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Looking for you," she said. "Marvelous-san was concerned you might have left us."

"So he sent you to do his dirty work?" Joe said as he helped her to her feet. Stepping back, he realised he was holding his breath.

"No," she said simply, gently. He smiled the faintest of faint smiles. Good answer.

When they returned to the ship, Marvelous was sprawled across his newly repaired chair, munching on an apple.

"About time you two got back," he said lazily. "I was considering sending out a search party, only I didn't have enough people left for a party. So I was considering sending out Gai."

"What about Hakase-san?" Ahim asked as she hung her coat back on the rack. Marvelous just looked at her blankly, as if to say, is that even a real question?

"Luka checked in while you were out, wanting to speak to you, Ahim," Marvelous said, pointing lazily at the screen. "She'll be back in a few days, she's already tracked down Cain."

"She must be so happy," Ahim said, smiling.

Marvelous continued to look at her. After a moment, he continued, saying, "Then we can take you to Famille, if you'd like."

"Thank-you, that would be lovely," Ahim said, as though it would be anything but. The others didn't pick up on her tone however, and collectively looked away. Doc followed Ahim to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Joe, though exhausted and in desperate need of sleep, made his way slowly over to his incline bench to begin a set of sit-ups. Marvelous stayed exactly where he was and sulked.

What was the point of all this if they couldn't stay together?

It was cold in the crow's nest that night. And without her usual companion, lonely. But that was good, in a way. Peace. Quiet. Time to think. About what, though? What more was there to think about? Instead, she tried counting the shooting stars, but failed miserably. Where Luka's eyes were well-trained after years of practice, Ahim's eyes failed to detect anything unusual.

She heard a quiet but familiar tread approaching. Her silence was ruined.

"It's strange," she began, speaking to the newcomer. "When I look at the sky, I merely think of stars. But that's a whole universe we can see. And somewhere out there is Famille."

"Maybe," he said gruffly.

She turned to face him, eyebrows drawn in confusion.

"It's not a planet anymore, Ahim," he said earnestly. "It's just a dead rock. Zatsurig made sure of that. Of all people, I'd know. The Zangyack army never did things by halves."

They both gazed silently out at the night sky, thinking. About nothing and everything and how it came to this. A chilly breeze swept by, eliciting an involuntarily shudder from her. He made half a move toward his jacket, before stopping himself.

"We should head back down," he said, voice not giving anything away.

"Joe-san," she began quietly, earnestly, biting her lip as her gaze dropped down somewhere between them both. "How sure are you?"

"From all the reports we heard, it truly sounded as though nothing was left, Ahim. Marvelous, Luka and I have seen other planets Zatsurig got a hold of. There will be nothing to go back to."

Ahim shook her head, smiling sadly at his understandable misunderstanding. "What I meant to say was how sure are you that they'd prefer their new life?"

He met her firm gaze, searching for the right answer to give. There was only one answer, he was sure. "Ahim, their homes are gone. Family and friends killed by the Zangyack. They've already had to relocate and start again once, they won't want to do it again. And they probably can't, anyway."

She nodded in understanding, but said nothing. He watched her for a moment more. Then the words came out without his bidding. "Maybe you like your new life better, too," he said with more than just a hint of hope in his voice.

He was alarmed to see tears spring to Ahim's eyes. She scrunched her skirt up in her fists, and then, with a sudden sob, exclaimed, "I don't want to leave!"

Joe's arms hung awkwardly, uselessly by his side. Almost moving but then being stopped by sheer strength of will and an archaic sense of propriety. He replied with an earnestness almost too eager, "Then don't."

"I'm gone five days," Luka sighed as she shook her head in disbelief. The scene that greeted her when she returned was far from the one she envisioned. Well, except for Doc. He was as cheerful and scared of her as ever. Gai's enthusiasm was expected, but so strong had been his hug she suspected she may have a broken rib. It was okay, though, he definitely had one after the swift elbow she gave him as thanks. Ahim gave her an affectionate hug and a cup of tea.

Okay, okay. So maybe that was to all be expected. Her interest lay in the fact it was such a complete turnaround from the mood she'd left them in. Marvelous and Joe were the real surprises. Marvelous, happy not to be losing any of his crew, had not only not shouted at her, but he'd clapped her on the shoulder quite happily.

And Joe … well, she couldn't quite believe it. She been prepared for his wrath. No one touched the Jet except for Joe. She'd stolen it from under his nose. However, when she returned, she saw Joe do something she'd never in a million years thought she'd see.

Smile.

An actual, genuine smile. Not just a smirk. It didn't take her long to figure out the good mood was due to the fact Ahim had decided, after much consideration and subtle persuasion from a man in blue (and not so subtle persuasion from a man in red), to remain where she was. On the Gokai Galleon.

This was the reason for the ridiculous amount of food Marvelous had demanded Doc cook, and the balloons which Ahim and Gai (and Joe, momentarily, before he remembered who he was) had blown up and scattered around the cabin.

At last, they were celebrating. It was long overdue.

Gai provided his own music after the meal, singing and dancing to what he said were Super Sentai themes. He even managed to get each of the girls and Doc up and dancing with him at one point, though that pursuit was brought to an abrupt end when he tried to dance with Marvelous.

"So what now?" Doc asked. All excited chatter fell away in an instant. Doc flushed red as he realised he'd done it again. Only this time, he noticed the others were not sad, but seriously thinking about their next move.

"I was thinking," Marvelous began, all heads turning abruptly in his direction. "We're pretty good at what we've been doing."

"Looking for treasure?" Doc asked in confusion.

"Fighting," Joe corrected.

Marvelous nodded once at Joe. "And even though the Zangyack are meant to have disbanded their army and retreated, I'm not buying it."

"They'll be reluctant to give up all the planets they've taken over," Luka agreed.

"The SPD are onto it," Gai looked up, proud to be able to contribute. "But there's only so much they can do at one time."

"So you think we should help them out?" Ahim asked, directing her question at Marvelous.

"No," Marvelous grinned. "Not exactly. I was thinking we could start a business. Use the Super Sentai powers to go and deal with the Zangyack who haven't buggered off yet."

"Eh? Like, 'Pirates for Hire'?" Luka asked in confusion.

"Exactly," Marvelous said. "When we hear reports of a planet the Zangyack are still occupying, we'll go free them."

"And it's as simple as that?" Joe scoffed. He didn't trust Marvelous' smirk.

"Yes," Marvelous said confidently. "For a small fee, of course."

"And by 'small', you mean?" Joe asked.

"Exorbitantly high," Marvelous grinned.

"Ah," Joe said. That'd be it.

"Marvelous-san!" Ahim scolded, but she too was laughing.

Gai was the only one who did not join in the laughter. If they were going out into the galaxy, he would not go with them. He knew that already. He'd told them. Seeing Gai's look, and in a rare moment of understanding, Marvelous said, "You can join us anytime you'd like."

Gai smiled sadly. "I should stay here. I can't go disappearing off into space. Gokai Silver is Earth's protector."

"But we'll be based on Earth," Marvelous added. "It's home, after all."

"Marvelous!" Gai exclaimed sentimentally, tears springing to his eyes as he embraced the captain.

"Oi! Get off!" Marvelous yelled uncomfortably. Ahim, Luka and Doc laughed together, while Joe smirked.

Yes. This was how it was meant to be.

This chapter is dedicated to the Gokai Jet, the Gokai Marine, the Gokai Racer and the Gokai Trailer, all of which have not had any screen time for the longest, longest time. How I do miss them.

How I shall miss everything to do with this show in just a few weeks!

I hope the last few episodes are satisfying for everyone!

Happy viewing,

Little Goose