Dee didn't even remember how they got to Thomas' house. Suddenly he was just walking up to Thomas' front door, Ranger suit off and dried tears on his face. Dee felt Remus' arm around him and decided to bury himself into the feeling. Remus looked like he was in a similar state as Dee, confused, scared, and unable to fully understand anything that was going on. In front of the two Thomas had walked up to the front door and was trying to unlock it with his key. He kept fumbling with it, rushing to get inside. Finally he got it unlocked and opened the door, Thomas ran inside and immediately went down the hallway to Emile's room.

"Emile?" He called.

Dee and Remus walked inside and sat down on the couch, still folded into each other. Roman joined the two on the furniture, he grabbed one of the throw pillows and gripped it harshly, almost using it as a shield, though Dee didn't know what from. Logan closed the door behind him and started pacing. No part of him was still. He was mouthing words, shaking his hands or running them through his hair, his breathing was uneven, and he couldn't keep looking in the same place for more than a moment.

Sniffling that broke the deathly silent room and Dee turned to his right. Remus let out a jittery breath and his tears began to fall. He was shaking violently, breathing erratically, and his grip on Dee became slightly painful. Dee turned to his boyfriend and began wiping at his tears to stop the flow, but he only succeeded in making himself cry once again.

"He's gone." Remus cried quietly. "He's-he's-god Dee he's-go-gon-"

"Don't." Dee shook his head. "No, no, don't do that."

"He's right." Logan said behind Dee.

Dee turned around and looked at Logan. The boy's expression was deadly sharp, but it over compensated. Logan was vulnerable and he didn't want anyone to know.

"Logan, I-I know he's right but right now-"

"Right now we need to be realists and in reality Pa-he is gone." Logan told him harshly, but his waver over Patton's name betrayed him.

"Logan sto-" Roman sighed.

"No!" Logan snapped. "No, no, no, don't tell me to stop. Don't you dare! He is gone and we need to accept that! We don't have any clue how to get him back or-or if-"

Logan didn't need to finish, the 'if he can come back' was well implied.

"You're doing it again." Roman said softly.

"Emile?" Thomas's quiet voice asked from down the hall.

"Doing what?" Logan sneered.

"Trying to speed up the grieving process so that it hurts less. You did the exact same thing when your grandma died." Roman told him. "It's not good for you. You know that."

"That's not what I'm doing." Logan denied.

"Yes you are." Roman wouldn't look up. "You're trying to rush to the acceptance stage when there's no point. He's not de-he'll come back. We'll get him back so don't act like he's-" Roman stopped himself. "Logan, you're trying to get past this so fast so it doesn't hurt. You do remember what happened last time right?"

"This is nothing like last time Roman!" Logan yelled.

"Yes it is." Roman cried quietly. "You're moving on so fast and acting like this doesn't affect you and everyone else is being erratic, but you know the second you're alone everything's gonna come crashing down and you're gonna spiral, and everything is gonna go to shit again!"

"It's already gone to shit Roman!!" Logan shouted. "He's been kidnapped! That's pretty shitty if you ask me!! Dwelling on the 'grieving process' isn't going to bring him back nor is it productive!!"

Dee watched Remus' reaction as Logan and Roman continued yelling. Every last word was met with a wince and it only made the tears fall faster. Remus had never looked more afraid. Dee could tell his boyfriend wasn't with them exactly. He was thinking of something else entirely and he was spiralling down a dangerous path. Dee didn't know what but he knew the yelling was only making it worse.

"Logan." Dee stood and spoke with a hard tone-he just needed Logan to stop.

Thomas walked out of the hallway and started down to the basement. "Emile?"

"Shut up Dee! Don't talk to me!!" Logan huffed. "This is your fault anyway!!"

That got them all to shut up.

"What?" Dee asked, feeling the anger build in his throat.

"You heard me!! This was yours and Remus' plan and I never liked it from the beginning!! It put him in immediate danger and I knew something bad would come of it but did any of you listen to me?!?! No!!!" Logan told him. "This is your fault!!!"

"He agreed to it." Dee defended himself. "He could have not gone through with the plan, he could have said no, but he believed in it! There was no way any of us could have known that something like this would-"

"Patton knew something was off from the beginning, but you and Remus convinced him that this plan was foolproof when clearly it wasn't!! And now he's paid the price for your mistake!! This is your fault!!" Logan exclaimed. "If you all had just listened to me, we could have improved the plan tremendously or, better yet, not gone through with the plan at all and kept him here!!!"

"Logan-"

"No!! He would still be here if all of you had just listened to me!!! God dammit!! He would be right here but no!! You and Remus convinced him this was a good idea!!!" Logan yelled at Dee.

"We didn't do shit Logan!!!" Dee retorted. "We all came up with it together!! This wasn't just mine or Remus' plan, this was all of ours and you sure as hell could have added in your own ideas but we couldn't trust that!! Your crush on him meant you wouldn't take any risks with him and we couldn't have that!!! We took a risk and it didn't go as planned!!! I'm sorry okay!! I'm sorry!! But this yelling and shit isn't helping anyone!!!"

"Don't even try to blame him-"

"I'm not blaming anyone Logan!!! I'm not blaming anyone for him getting taken!!! But I am sure as hell blaming you for standing here and acting like you're better than us and telling me everything is my fault!!! I won't let you do that bullshit when instead we could be dealing with this like mature freaking people and start working on a way to get him back!!!"

"Oh maybe our new plan should also involve sacrificing one of our team members!!!" Logan shouted.

"God dammit Logan!!! Don't even-"

"Guys." Remus stopped them, grabbing Dee's arm and pulling on him for attention.Dee and Logan both stopped and turned to Remus.

"Oh my god, Thomas." Roman exclaimed racing over to said man who stood in the basement doorway. "Thomas what-"

Dee looked to Thomas and Roman, seeing the tears that streamed down Thomas' face and raced over to the two along with Logan and Remus.

"Emile's gone." He told them.

"Thomas."

"He isn't here! I don't know where he is!!" Thomas cried. "He's not here and he won't answer me on the phone!"

"Shit." Remus said quietly before striding off to Emile's room.

"He's not there Remus I checked I-" Thomas choked out.

Dee comforted the man as he heard Remus open Emile's door and then some quiet before Remus called them to come to the room. The group shuffled over to the room, being careful of Thomas' state. When they got there, Dee saw the room looked very similar to when he'd last seen it, save for the lack of broken items in the corner. He did however notice that Remus was currently tapping away at Emile's laptop. He went over to see what Remus was doing and saw that he was trying to guess Emile's password.

"Remus stop, that's his personal stu-"

Logan moved to Remus and Dee ushering them both aside before quickly typing in a password and gaining access.

"Shit." Logan said.

"What?" Roman asked.

"He was watching live news. He saw everything." Logan stated, his voice beginning to shake.

"Oh god." Dee looked to Thomas.

"Look at his desk." Remus said. Dee did. "Everything is off and the window is open."

"He went out the window then." Logan looked away, before pointing to Thomas. "Remy. Emile's alone in his home, why doesn't he just go out the front?"

"Remy isn't really allowed at our house. Renette doesn't want him to be seen around us because of government business. He always goes to Emile's window or the backdoor." Thomas explained between sobs.

"Okay, Emile's with Remy. That's something." Roman said. "We know who he's with. Do you know where Remy and Emile go when they sneak off?"

"No." Thomas admitted. "I-I don't really think I need to. He's really open about everything so I don't need him to tell me where he and Remy go. I-I trust him and-"

"Hey, hey, it's okay."Roman soothed. "I doubt Renette trusts Remy as much as Emile. Call her, and ask her if she knows where Remy is, yeah?"

"O-okay." Thomas nodded, pulling his phone out. The boys waited as Thomas pulled up Renette's contact and called, getting an answer immediately and putting his phone on speaker.

"Thomas? Thomas I'm on my way right now, we have to-"

"Renette, Emile's gone." Thomas said.

"What?!" Rennette exclaimed.

"We're pretty sure he's with Remy." Logan told her.

"With Remy." Renette trailed off. "Hang on." They heard some shuffling and then a second phone ringing before it was answered by another woman though her voice was a little harder to make out.

"Nettie?" The woman asked.

"Renae, I need you to find Remy. I don't think he's at home." Renette told her frantically.

"What?" Renae asked. "No he's home, he's just in his room."

"Check!" Renette exclaimed.

"Okay, I'm going." She replied. It was quiet for a moment. "Oh shiiiiiit. Yeah he's not here."

"Dammit!" Renette stated. "Okay, thanks baby, don't worry we'll find him, just sit tight and tell Roland what's going on."

"Okay." Renae responded. "Stay safe. Love you."

"Love you too." Renette ended the other call. "Thomas do you have 'find my phone' on Emile's phone? Life 360? Any of those tracking apps?"

"No, no I don't." Thomas told her.

"Damn your son for being a trustful little prick." Renette cursed.

"What about you with Remy's phone?" Roman asked.

"He doesn't have his phone." Renette explained. "He snuck out a while ago and he won't get his phone back for another couple days."

"God." Dee sighed. "Okay, do either of you know anywhere that those two may be?"

"No." The two parents said at the same time.

"Okay, how about, we get in my Jeep, and drive around town looking for them." Roman suggested.

"That's not a bad idea." Logan said. "Going out to look for them will increase our chances of finding the two. However, Thomas you should stay here."

"What? No." Thomas looked at Logan confused. "No I have to go with you."

"No, you should stay here. Your state could only worsen while we're out looking, plus if they come back here we don't want them to find an empty home." Logan told him calmly. "Not to mention Roman doesn't have enough room in his car."

"I-" Thomas looked like he wanted to protest but instead he shook his head before nodding and beginning to leave the room. "I'll wait here."

"Thank you." Logan and Roman helped him walk to the couch before they left for the driveway and got into Roman's Jeep.

"Wait." Thomas stopped Remus and Dee. "Tell Emile that he's not in trouble. I'm not mad or anything, I just want him home."

"We will." Dee told Thomas with the best smile he could manage before grasping Remus gently and pulling him along.

He looked at his boyfriend's face and found him to be utterly broken by what Thomas had said. Dee and Remus got in the back of the jeep while Logan and Roman sat in the front. Roman started the car and began driving off. Dee carefully reached over and took Remus' hand. He held his boyfriend gently until Remus gripped his hand harder and looked Dee in the eyes.

"Don't do that." Remus said. "I'm not going to break. Don't be all gentle with me."

"Remus, a lot is happening right now." Dee tried to reason. "I just don't want to overwhelm-"

"Do either of you have any ideas as to where they might be?" Logan asked, clearly not paying attention to the scene behind him.

"No." Dee told him, seething slightly.

"I'm waiting for a text back but I may have something from our group chat." Remus told him.

"Group chat?" Roman asked.

"Yeah." Remus said, as if that was all the explanation that was needed.

"What group chat Remus?" Logan urged.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Dee, you remember that drill we had where we got trapped in a room with no teacher and a bunch of freshmen?"

"Yeah." Dee told him, not entirely sure of where this was going.

"Well, turns out, a lot of those kids were Emile's friends. Seems like most of the freshmen class is friends with Emile. Anyway, Emile introduced me to a few of them and now I have a group on Snapchat of like twenty freshmen."

"What on Earth is it for?" Roman asked, very concerned.

"I just help them out with stuff." Remus shrugged.

"Like what?"

"You know, parents, friends, where to get food, where to get cheap clothes, getting them tutors, coming out, how to shoplift, that kind of thing." Remus told him. "They call me their uncle."

"You teach children how to shoplift?"

"Chill out, they're like fourteen or fifteen okay." Remus waved him off. "Besides, it's not illegal."

"Shoplifting is illegal." Logan said.

"Only if you get caught."

"No." Logan told Remus. "No."

"Whatever. Look, I just texted them asking if they might know where Emile is." Remus said. "At least I'm helping."

"Any response?" Dee asked.

"Not yet, I'll check again though." Remus pulled his phone out of his back pocket with some shuffling and began checking. "Uhm, a few options. They could either be at that weird cafe you like Roman, by the train tracks, or with their friend Monique."

"Alright." Roman got into the right turn lane and signaled he was turning right. "Let's check the cafe first, it's just down the street here."

Roman only had to drive a little bit further before parking the car and having everyone hop out and enter the cafe. They checked around the mostly empty place. However, one thing was clear when Dee entered. Everyone in there was scared. They weren't scared of the boys, but they were scared of something. The air was tense and the people were whispering or talking lowly. As he passed a small group he caught the words 'Pink' and the question 'What's going to happen?'. It was unnerving to say the least. The whole time Dee wanted out. Roman went up to the counter and asked the workers if they'd seen Emile but none of them had. Dee could tell he wasn't the only one of the group that wanted out of there.

When the group convened by the door and all came up empty they decided to go back to Roman's car and start off for the train tracks. However, as they got halfway to the car Remus was startled and grabbed his phone answering it quickly.

"Hello?!" He asked frantically. "Oh my god. Wait, wait, wait, let me put you on speaker." Remus did as he said he would and gathered the group. "Okay guys, this is Monique." They gave some greetings.

"Hi." She said. "Uh, so Remus I know where Emile and Remy are." Monique told them, clearly hushed.

"Thank god." Dee sighed.

"Are they with you?" Logan asked.

"Yes." She told them.

"Okay, we're on ou-"

"Monique." Roman stopped his twin. "Is it okay if we come and get them. Their parents are worried and want the two home."

It was quiet on the other end.

"Okay." She finally said. "You can come get them. I'll text Remus the address."

"Thank you." Roman almost laughed in relief and joy. "Thank you so much."

The others also gave their thanks.

"Of course. Just, be gentle." She told them. "And uh, I'm gonna send a list of things to bring with you okay?"

"Of course, we'll get anything you guys need." Roman told her.

The call ended after that and they clamored into the car. When Remus received the address he told Logan who put it into his own phone so he could give Roman directions.

"And the list of things we need to bring?" Roman asked.

"Hang on, she's still typing." Remus put a finger up. "Okay, wow, uhm, so stop at the next gas station."

"Okay." Roman nodded. It was quiet until they got into the gas station parking lot, where Remus began relaying the items they needed to buy.

"Four cans of Razzleberry Peace Tea, two cans of Just Peachy Peace Tea, two cans of Hello Mango Peace Tea, one can of Snoberry Peace Tea, band-aids but the ones with the characters on them, four bags of Smartfood White Cheddar popcorn, and pretzel M&Ms." Remus said, holding back some form of laughter.

"You've gotta be kidding." Roman sighed.

"Hey, you're the one that told the children they could get whatever they wanted." Dee chuckled. "Alright let's go."

The group got in and out of the gas station with their items and a few strange looks from the worker, and were on their way to Monique's. They were quiet, save for the rustling of the car itself. Dee gripped Remus' hand as usual, happy to see the appreciation in his boyfriend's eyes. When they entered the exceedingly fancy looking neighborhood Dee was reminded of how fancy and high class Remus' own neighborhood was. Roman pulled into one of the identical looking houses and turned off the car. They all waited, not sure, until a girl Dee recognized from one of his AP classes stepped out to greet them.

Remus got out quickly and rushed over to her, giving her a quick hug.

"How are you?" He asked.

"I'm good." She told him, her voice familiar enough for Dee to note that this was Monique. "They're inside. They know you're all here. Just, like I said, be patient."

"We will." Dee told her.

Monique led the group up the porch and into her home. Roman and Logan carrying the bags from the convenience store behind them, Remus and Dee entered the living room to find both Remy, Emile, and another girl lounging around in silence. None of the children paid them any attention.

"Emmy is it them?" Remy asked.

"Yeah." Emile told him. Dee tried to pick up the tone he had used but he said it so quickly it was hard to discern.

"Sweet, hand me the stuff!" Remy reached a grabby hand out. "Gimme the popcorn and a Razzleberry. Oh, and give Emile one of the peach ones."

Roman nodded and reached in his bag for the items before reaching into Logan's bag for the popcorn. He walked over to the kids and handed them over. Lilith and Monique went over to Roman and Logan's bags and started grabbing their own snacks. Emile opened his and Remy's tea, handed it to Remy, then took a sip of his own. He continued to sip at it frequently whereas Remy started chugging it swiftly.

"Hey you two." Roman said softly to Emile and Remy. "We've uh, gotta get you home."

It was quiet for a beat.

"Emile, your dad wants you to know that he's not mad. You're not in trouble. He just-he just wants you home." Dee told the freshman.

Emile's already puffy pink eyes watered, he looked up at Dee for something, and Dee's own expression had apparently given it. Emile wiped at his eyes with his palm and sunk further into himself. He took a few longer sips of his drink.

"Please Emile." Roman took a few steps towards the kid. "We-we're-we'll find a way. I promise we'll get him back to you. I know that this is a lot but your dad needs you and you need him. Just come with us back to your place. Renette is already on her way there and we're going to come up with a plan to get him home."

"Can you say his name?" Emile asked.

"What?" Roman looked taken aback.

"Any of you? Have any of you been able to say his name?" Emile looked at the Rangers, almost accusingly. None of them responded. "I can. Patton. Patton is his name. Patton. And he's gone. He was taken away. Patton's gone. How am I supposed to believe that any of you can save him when none of you have even said his name!"

Dee felt the world had stopped in its tracks. The blood drained from his face as he took in just how real that statement felt.

"Em." Remy broke the silence. "That-that's really not fair to say."

"Oh it's not?!" Emile snapped. "It's not fair to say huh? What would you know about fair Remy? How in the world am I supposed to believe that they can save Patton, the one and only true constant in my life that was just ripped away from me and there was nothing I could do about it! None of them can summon their zords, none of them were able to save him then, they know nothing but we're supposed to blindly trust them to protect us? I'm sick of it! I've lived in a constant state of fear that my dad would be gone in an instant because he's a Power Ranger! I watched as Patton's parents, and Thomas' friends, and my friend's were taken away from us! Then, Patton becomes a ranger, the one person who understood what it felt like, became yet another reason I can't sleep! And apparently rightfully so because now, he's gone!!"

Emile was breathing strangely by the time he stopped, tears cascaded down his face and Dee felt helpless to stop it. He knew Emile, and he had a right to be angry, but he knew Emile would feel bad about this later so Dee didn't take the scathing remarks to heart. The pain that Dee felt in his chest came from watching Emile cry and being unable to truly help him.

"Oh no." Remy said. "Em, Emmy, hey. Em, please you need to breathe. Lilith his inhaler!"

The girl Dee guessed must have been Lilith rushed out of the room and returned with a bag that she began to dig through until pulling out an inhaler and quickly handing it to Emile. The freshman put it up to his mouth and tried to steady his breathing, pressing the button on the top.

"Emmy you've had a lot of those drugs today, you gotta stop doing this to yourself." Remy told his friend a little quieter.

"Not very easy to control Remy." Emile replied, still not fully back to normal.

"I know." Remy rubbed soothing circles on his friend's hand. "Look, Em, you have to deal with a lot of tough shit, but you're strong. You're so strong and that's how you'll get through this."

"I don't want to be strong." Emile said. "I don't want to be strong and just be the happy little kid that brightens everyone's bad days with some comment or some cute thing. I don't want everyone relying on me. I just want to cry and be upset and not have everyone relying on me to stay the happy little kid!"

"Well, Em, then you don't have to. Don't be that person. Go through this the way you want to, and the way you need to. Just, as long as it's healthy." Remy told his friend.

Emile didn't respond with words, he just sank into Remy's side and cried some more. Lilith and Monique walked over to the two and wrapped their arms comfortingly around the pair, soon to be followed by Roman and Remus. Dee watched the scene unfold with a heartwarming feeling, but he knew this really was just the beginning of the hardships they would all face over however long Patton was gone.

"Dee." Logan got his attention. "I'm sorry for what I said. I was angry and sad and I lashed out at all of you, but what I said to you and Remus was not fair."

"It's okay Logan." Dee told him. "Really, I get it. I-I know how you feel about Patton, but I didn't feel that way about anyone until Remus. I love him and if something like that ever happened to him I-" Dee stopped himself from choking up further and cleared his throat. "I would've probably had an even worse reaction."

"Okay." Emile piped up, now giving everyone a watery smile. "I think I'm ready to go home."

The others pulled away from him and gave their encouraging words. Emile helped Remy up and handed him his cane. The two said exhausted goodbyes to Monique and Lilith and started out the door, being sure to grab more peace tea. Roman's car, having the strangest interior for a Jeep, was able to fit them all because of the bench seat in the front and back. Roman, Logan, and Dee all got in the front so Remus could sit in the back with the freshmen. No one spoke during the drive save for the faint whispers that Emile and Remy exchanged between sips of their drinks.

Once arriving at Thomas' home Dee saw the familiar black car that belonged to Renette. Emile finished off his tea and hopped out. Dee watched while he too was exiting the car as Thomas ran out of the house with Renette and he wrapped his son in his arms. Emile practically jumped for his dad. Wrapped his arm around him tightly and visibly sobbing. Remy had joined the scene and stood facing the slightly wrong way before his mother pulled her own son into a hug. Dee was standing in front of the Jeep, smiling slightly, but not able to really appreciate what was happening. Patton's kidnapping loomed over them all. He was however slightly distracted by it when Remus walked behind him and put his arms around Dee's waist. Dee smiled at the feeling and placed his hands over Remus'.

"I love you too." Remus said softly.