Reaching Out

They found him in the practice room, as they often did when he went off by himself. But instead of running through his training courses as he normally would, the other Danger Rangers found Burble simply sitting on the floor across the room, tuning up a bike that, from where they stood, looked to be in perfect condition.

And that worried them a bit, because they all knew Burble well enough to recognize when something was wrong.

"Uh, hey…" Fallbot said in an unusually soft voice, the first to break the silence. "Is Burble okay?"

Four of the Rangers exchanged worried glances before looking back at their sullen friend. "Poor Burble," Kitty said. "He must still be thinking about what happened during the mission."

"The one in New York?" Gabrielle questioned. She had read the report of what happened, but the team hadn't had time to go into more detail about the incident as of yet.

"Yeah…" Sully sighed, folding his arms across his torso. "But we went over this already. What happened with Rusty wasn't his fault."

"You know how Burble is, though," Kitty reminded him. "When he isn't able to help someone, he still feels responsible."

"Tsk, yeah," Squeaky muttered, shaking his head. "The Big Guy has always been a real big softie."

Kitty fixed him with a warning look. "Don't be so hard on him."

Squeaky frowned and said nothing, which did not go unnoticed by Gabrielle. Observing the mouse, the chief of operations had a feeling that he didn't quite mean his words the way they sounded. Squeaky didn't disapprove of Burble's profuse kindness, nor was he complaining about it. Instead, Squeaky's words stemmed from his worry that Burble's concern for others – something that they all loved about the polar bear – would later come to hurt him somehow.

And seeing moments like now, Gabrielle could understand how Squeaky felt.

"One of us should probably talk to him," Sully suggested. "Try to cheer him up a bit."

"I'll do it!" Fallbot volunteered, waving his arms excitedly. "I'm good at cheering people up…!" As he spoke, however, he tripped over his feet, crashing to the ground with a resounding clunk. "Ow! Who put that there?"

The Danger Rangers flinched, nervously looking in Burble's direction to see if Burble finally caught them. But seeing the polar bear still sitting with his back to them, completely unaware of their presence, they grew even more concerned.

"Maybe you should talk to him, GB," Burt spoke up.

Gabrielle glanced at him, recognizing the thoughtful expression in his eyes. There was a reason for his idea, and she considered it for a moment. She hadn't been with the Rangers, having stayed behind when they answered the alert in New York. But even then, even surrounded by the others' company, Burble hadn't explained to them what was bothering him…hadn't told them all the missing details of what happened during the mission.

Maybe, since they had all been present for a majority of the event, their opinions would be more influenced by what they had already seen, and it would be harder for them to understand why the incident bothered him. So perhaps, since Gabrielle hadn't been as involved in the issue – since she hadn't been there – Burble could open up more to her about the event than he could with the others.

With a nod, she answered, "All right. Why don't you all take a quick inventory of the materials you used during the assignment, and I'll see what I can do."

The others responded in agreement, and Gabrielle hopped off Kitty's shoulder, hovering in the air as they headed down the hall to give her and Burble some privacy.

Once she was sure they were all out of earshot, she flew into the room and landed on the handlebars of Burble's bike. Even then, though, he didn't seem to notice her.

"Burble," she said gently, wanting to get his attention.

At long last, Burble was drawn out from his thoughts; his eyes blinked, clearing the distant look in them as he glanced down at her. But he still seemed a bit distracted as he said, "Hm…? Oh, hey, GB."

She frowned as she watched him, the concern never leaving her. "Are you all right?"

Burble hesitated for a moment, avoiding her eyes. "I guess," he replied slowly. "I just…I can't stop thinking about what happened."

"With Rusty?" she asked.

He flinched slightly, glancing away from her. Putting the kickstand on his bike down, he then sat back with a weary sigh.

Still perched on the handlebars, Gabrielle moved closer towards him. "From what I heard and read about the mission, it wasn't your fault."

"I…I know," Burble replied, looking down at his hands. "And I know that…Rusty was just trying to trick me and everything, but…"

Gabrielle regarded his words curiously; according to the other Rangers' reports, there was a moment when Burble had gone to confront Rusty on his own, but none of them knew what was said between them. Apparently, the conversation had quite an impact on him. And, judging by the disheartened expression on his face, she believed that there was something more, something deeper, bothering Burble.

"But what?" she prompted softly.

The polar bear suddenly looked uncomfortable as he ran fingers through the fur on his head. "It's just… some of the things Rusty said…I can't help but wonder if there was a part of him that actually meant it. Because it's true, y'know…?"

Gabrielle waited patiently for him to elaborate, watching him as he shifted nervously in his seat. When he didn't say anything further, however, she asked again, "What is, Burble?"

He hesitated, trying to think of exactly what he wanted to say before sighing once more. "It's hard…to do the right thing…when no one shows you how."

Gabrielle frowned, not entirely understanding his words. Burble seemed to notice this, as he struggled to explain, "When I was talking to Rusty, he said things that…that made me realize that he had grown up on the streets…like I did. We're the same that way, because we were both left on our own…alone."

Gabrielle smiled with sad understanding, finally recognizing just how personal the event had been for Burble. "You two are not the same, though," she pointed out. "If you both were put in a situation, you two would make very different choices. You choose to help people; he chose to put others and himself in danger."

Burble nodded, but it lacked real conviction. "Rusty made some bad choices…But if things had turned out differently, I could have easily turned out the same way he had."

"What do you mean?"

Unable to meet her gaze any longer, Burble glanced away. "The biggest difference between Rusty and me is that I didn't stay the way he had. Eventually someone came along…someone who helped me, someone who cared enough to reach out to me when I needed it, and gave me a chance for something better. And it's…" He closed his eyes, sighing once more. "It's not fair to think that no one cared that way about Rusty when he needed it."

Gabrielle watched Burble's shoulders slump under the weight of his grief, and her heart went out to him. Growing up alone on the streets as a child, then in an orphanage had been difficult on him, more than he made it out to be. The constant fear and the feeling of abandonment as he grew up on his own had been strong for a good portion of his life, and it was hard for Gabrielle to imagine what that must have been like for him.

Yet seeing the cheerful, easy-going polar bear now made it easy to forget the hardships he had faced. The other Rangers, in fact, never suspected the trouble Burble had in his life, despite knowing of his past. Even Gabrielle would never have thought that Burble once suffered so much if he hadn't confided in her about it; when she first considered him to join the team of Rangers she was assembling, she had learned about the kinds of struggles he'd been forced to live through for most of his childhood.

And while Burble had talked to her about the difficulties he'd lived through, she also discovered just how those trials had affected him for the better. Because Burble then told her about the people in his life, the ones who helped him through such dark times, and she could clearly see how much he appreciated them. It was because of those people, the ones who reached out and took the time to care, who taught him compassion, and inspired him to reach out and help others who needed it.

When Burble joined the Danger Rangers, it was because of his desire to be there for other people, especially children. He wanted to help and protect people, to show others that there were people who did care, even in the most hopeless of situations.

And not being able to help someone – especially someone who he could understand because of similar history, like Rusty – was truly devastating for such a compassionate individual like Burble.

"But what could you do?" Gabrielle wondered; she wasn't so much asking him as she was voicing her own thoughts. "You're not responsible for the way Rusty grew up."

"Yeah, I know…" Burble shook his head. "But…but things could've been different. If someone had been there for him…"

Gabrielle hopped off the bike, her wings fluttering until she landed on Burble's knee. "Maybe," she replied gently, "but we can't dwell on the 'what ifs' and 'what could have beens'. Perhaps no one had been there to help him before, but you tried to offer him help this time…and he refused your assistance, right?"

Burble hesitated. "Yeah…"

The chief of operations looked up at him with a gentle expression in her eyes. "You did what you could for him, Burble. You offered him help, but we can only help those who want our help. And even if no one taught him as a child, this time he knew what he was doing was wrong. He consciously chose something that put himself and others in danger. If you and the others hadn't stopped him, who knows what would have happened?"

Burble's mind drifted back to the three children they had saved, the ones who had been trying to follow Rusty and his gang, and winced. "Nothing good, I'm sure."

Gabrielle nodded. "Right. By stopping him, you prevented a lot of children from making the same mistake." She smiled reassuringly. "You may not have helped Rusty…but instead, you helped so many others."

Burble frowned deeply, and for a moment he looked as though he might argue. Instead, he nodded. "You're right, you're right. But I…I wouldn't feel right if I didn't keep trying to do something for him…"

Gabrielle granted him a warm expression. One of Burble's best qualities was his belief in the good of others, and his unwillingness to give up on anyone.

"No one's asking you not to help him," she replied. "But you have to be careful; some people refuse help even if they need it, simply because they don't like to admit they need help…or they won't take it if it's pushed on them too much."

Burble sighed. "Right."

"Give it time. Who knows? Things could be different next time. People do change." Fluttering her wings, Gabrielle hovered in the air. "In the meantime, there are many others out in the world who still need someone to reach out to them. There are kids out there who still need your help, Ranger Burble."

Hearing her address him by his title, Burble smiled for the first time since their conversation began. "All right, I get it…" Rising to his feet, he glanced at her. "Thanks, GB."

She smiled in reply. She knew there would still be more moments like this – moments when Burble, one of the others, or even herself would feel uncertain or upset. But she wasn't worried; she was certain that, with the Rangers all supporting each other, things would turn out for the better.

It was what they do, after all. They helped those who needed their help…especially one of their own.