A/N: Trigger warning, Justin talks about his suicide attempt. Also Carlos is a dork. Enjoy!
It started with a phone call that sent Justin running for the most soundproof room in the house to answer. Laura was mostly busy supervising Derek and his chemistry lab partner, Wren Livingston, in the kitchen as they attempted to complete a series of take home science labs. She was mostly busy, because every so often, Derek would notice her filming their attempts and would chase after her to get the phone and delete the video.
Derek still hadn't managed to understand the concept of 'instant upload', and the flour explosion was topping two thousand hits on YouTube.
Laura was far too busy tossing Derek into the brick backing on the fire place to catch Wren's look at first, but when she returned to the kitchen to claim the last bottle of root beer in the fridge, Laura noticed Wren's expression.
"What?" She asked in challenge.
"Why do you throw him around like that? Derek could get really hurt," Wren said, meeting Laura's eyes.
Laura repressed her natural urge to growl or flash her eyes at the challenge. "Just because your family has different styles of interaction than mine does not give you the right to judge how we live. Derek and I grew up in a house where self defense, strenuous rough housing, and physical interactions were the norm. If Derek were hurt, he would tell me and I would stop. The possibility of injury is a risk we agree to, and while neither of us wishes to be hurt, we will not allow that risk to deny us activities we both enjoy."
"Don't worry about it, Wren," Derek said as he settled beside the girl, pulling her attention away from Laura. "I didn't even get a scratch. She didn't throw me as hard as it looked. Uncle Peter used to do worse."
Laura snorted, "That's not as comforting as you might think, Derek." She grabbed the pen and wrote 'root beer' on the grocery list. "I'm going grocery shopping on Sunday; make sure you've put everything you wanted on the list."
"Yes ma'am," Derek muttered.
"Hey Laura," Justin said, sticking his head in the kitchen. "Can I possibly pull you away from torturing Derek for a moment?"
"Sure," Laura said, she glanced at Derek, "don't blow anything up, I like our kitchen."
Derek stuck his tongue out at her before passing Wren the baking powder.
Justin led Laura into the study and pushed the door closed. "Is everything okay?" Laura asked.
"Yeah," Justin said slowly. "That was Zhane on the phone, you know, my brother."
"It's taken him long enough," Laura said, crossing her arms. "I thought you said Lightspeed contacted him three weeks ago."
Justin sighed, "Yeah, but he was working." He crossed his arms as well, "He's trying to track down information about… well, he's trying to find a mole. It's not going well. He was traveling in a really bad sector of space with just his wits and charm to protect him. The fact that Zhane contacted me at all could be considered a miracle."
"What did he want then?" Laura asked, not fully mollified. If she had been contacted about Derek attempting to kill himself, she would have been on her way to her brother's side in seconds.
"He's coming to Earth," Justin said, "Well him and all the Astro Rangers. They want to come see me, but I didn't want to just invite some of the most famous Power Rangers onto your territory without permission."
Laura reached out to grip Justin's shoulder, "Of course they're welcome, Justin. Just because we're a pack doesn't mean you have to let go of your family. Not unless you choose to."
Justin's face hardened for a moment and he stepped back, "The Astros aren't my family Laura; except Zhane. They're just friends, that's all."
"Sorry," Laura said, "they're still welcome."
Justin nodded, and stared at the floor for a long moment while Laura tried not to fidget. "I want to tell Zhane."
"Okay," Laura said slowly.
Justin looked up at her, "Look, Zhane's my brother, well half-brother. My dad's human, but Zhane's mom? She wasn't. She looked human, and Zhane said once she lived on Earth for a while with Dad, but she wasn't genetically human. Zhane knows about being half human, and he grew up on KO-35. It's not exactly the center of galactic society, but even before Dark Spector took over, KO-35 was a huge mining colony; they had a lot of traffic. Zhane won't blink when he finds out that werewolves are a thing." After a moment, Justin stared at the ground again. "I just don't want to lie to Zhane; he's the only family I have any more."
Laura bit her lip and considered it. She wanted to tell Justin no, because keeping the secret from people was her first instinct. They had fought too hard to keep hidden to let some newly bitten beta blab about it to someone. Then she considered whom Justin was talking about telling. Laura had followed the Rangers just like every other kid in her class, she'd wondered if the Rangers would ever fight in Beacon Hills, and would she make a good Ranger. It was something every school kid did at some point. Everyone knew you could trust the Power Rangers, and that they protected everyone from the aliens who wanted Earth for their own reasons.
"Just Zhane," Laura said finally. "I understand that you feel that the Astros are trustworthy, but there are too many of us to risk an unwary comment. We don't want to become science experiments."
Justin grinned gleefully, "Yes! Thanks, Laura." He bounced on his toes, "I need to call Zhane back." He headed for the door.
"Justin," Laura said, catching his arm. Justin stilled, frowning at her in confusion. Laura pulled him into a hug. "You're welcome, and he's not the only family you have. You have us."
Justin hugged her awkwardly, letting go as soon as she let him. "Right," he said quietly, "I'm still getting used to that." Then he vanished out the door. Laura sighed, wondering if she'd ever get through to him. Then a crash in the kitchen called her back to her brother.
"We're okay," Derek shouted, "don't worry about it."
"Too late," Laura called back as she headed for the kitchen. This ought to be entertaining.