Disclaimer: Everything you recognise belongs to Haim Saban/Disney

Failure after failure after failure. To say his Master was displeased was an understatement of massive proportions. As it was, Pleance was furious. Those Rangers. And Dayton. Especially Dayton. Millenias had he waited for his chance to kill the despicable being – only for his precious phoenix to once more resurrect him. Stupid to have not thought of that possibility – except the human girl had shown no indication she had any ability to tap into her gift. Obviously, he had been mistaken.

His Master hated mistakes. Especially mistakes as foolish as the ones he had been making.

But what to do? Throwing monster after monster at them obviously did not stop them. He had gone after their family – with near disastrous results. He should have just killed the simpering female and her male while he had had the chance. Instead, his Frissons had let them go. His rage – and his punishment – had been terrible.

Beaten, time and time again by children barely old enough to fight properly. It mattered not that they were rangers, with powers gifted to them by the souls of the hated Life Spirits. His ego would not let him admit – would never let him admit – them to be adversaries worthy of his attention.

But he had a plan. His first great one had not worked, but his second plan would not – he would not allow it to – fail. It was a simple matter, really. All he needed was time…

Homework. The bane of every teen's life, ranger or not. And, right now, David was buried up to his elbows in it. Living a triple life – as a normal teen, a ninja student and a ranger – made it difficult to keep up with all his homework assignments. Luckily Pleance hadn't attacked this week – yet.

Actually, come to think of it, Pleance had been rather quiet for the past couple of weeks. It made David twitchy whenever there was a long period of silence from their enemy – because it was usually followed by a harrowing plan that they managed to prevent only by the skin of their teeth. Dayton was still working on the location of Pleance's lair – when David had last asked him how he was going about it, he'd said something about the residues of evil and tracing them back to perhaps a portal that led to an alternate dimension or, better yet, something in this dimension, but probably hidden through magical means. David had quickly learnt not to ask him again.

Jeanie, Eva and Ris were off doing 'girl' things – as Jay referred to it. Apparently, Jeanie had a big date with Eric this weekend. David was, quite frankly, surprised the couple had lasted this long, considering how many times Jeanie had had to disappear without explanation. The boy must have the patience of…Dayton, really. Actually, he'd have to have Dayton's patience to deal with Jeanie full stop. David grinned at the thought.

Jay, too, was sequestered in his room, doing homework. Aunt Jasmine had, apparently, threatened bodily harm if Jay didn't get his homework done by the day's end. Knowing Aunt Jasmine, David didn't doubt it.

Trev had – being Trev and annoyingly efficient and clever – somehow managed to finish his homework during the week, in between their ninja classes and ranger training. Of course, he'd probably been doing it when David and Jay had been slacking off skateboarding and surfing and the such but that was besides the point. The point was that Trev had managed to free up his whole weekend to help his dad re-configure the controls in Ninja Ops so that if ever anything like the debacle of last week happened again, they wouldn't be so ill-prepared.

David thumped his head against his history homework, wondering why he needed to know about what some long dead dude had done centuries ago with tea and Boston when there was a millenias old…thing – he still wasn't quite sure what Pleance was – running around, causing havoc and pretty much trying to destroy him and his friends.

"Mum! David's sleeping!"

At Mary Ann's voice – loud and piercing and right outside his now open bedroom door – David jolted upright, grabbing the pen he'd dropped. "Am not! Shut up you little sneak."

Mary Ann smirked, stuck her tongue out at him and bopped away. Shaking his head and wondering where the sweet little girl who'd followed him everywhere had gone, David stared down at his barely started essay, scratched out a few more words before he lost interest and threw his pen down again. Maybe doing maths would get his brain working.

An hour later, David was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, homework abandoned. He was booored. He half wanted Pleance to send out another monster just for something to do. Something other than homework that is.

Flopping onto his belly, he reached out, grabbed his phone. Maybe Aunt Jasmine would let Jay take a break.

"'lo?"

"Hey. Jay. Free?"

There was something that sounded like paper rustling, a book dropping then Jay cursed. "What? No, man. Got to get all this done or mum'll have my hide. Hey, have you done Denver's thing?"

"Denver gave us a thing? What'd he give us?"

"That thing. On esters and carboxylic acids and stuff."

"Oh. That thing. That's not due 'till Tuesday."

"I know but mum says I have to do everything today. Oh, crap. Here she comes. Gotta go. Talk to you later man." Jay hung up before David could say anything else.

Sighing, David put the receiver back, then buried his head in his pillow and kicked at his sheets. Man, he was so bored out of his skull he felt like screaming just for something to do.

"Wow. Temper tantrum. Should I come back later?"

David jerked his head up, stared at Eva standing in his doorway, looking at him with a half smile on his face. "Eva! I – uh." Smooth, Bradley. Smooth. Already flushing and feeling even more stupid for it, David sat up, hugging his pillow to his chest as he did. "I thought you were doing something with Jeanie and Ris."

Eva's half smile turned into a full smile as she walked into the room, took his desk's chair. "She's all set. Just have to get there an hour before seven-thirty to help her get ready."

"Jeanie needs help and an hour to get ready for a date?"

"Hey, it's a big date. Nice, fancy restaurant. You know, the kind you have to reserve to get in. I heard it's really good."

"Hmm," David replied, feeling kind of uncomfortable though he couldn't – wouldn't – say why. Stupid Eric. "So where're they now?"

"Jeanie's at home, relaxing. I think she's doing coding. Don't know how that's relaxing but," Eva shrugged. "It's Jeanie. Ris said something about helping Kelly at Storm Chargers."

"Any excuse to be at Storm Chargers," David said with a grin. Kelly and Ris got along like fire and oil.

"So…" Eva said after a few moments' silence. "Any reason for the tantrum I interrupted or did you just feel like acting like a three year old?"

David let out a short laugh. "I was bored."

"So you decided to have a tantrum?"

"It wasn't a tantrum. It was…releasing excess energy."

Eva snorted. "Call it what you will; it still looked like a temper tantrum."

David laughed and chucked his pillow at her. She caught it easily, hugging it to her chest. "Well, bored boy, what shall we do?"

David thought about it, head cocked slightly. Then he grinned. "Feel like surfing?"

Emerging from the cool shadows that was Ninja Ops, Trev paused, blinking to adjust his sight to the bright sun. Walking up behind him, Cam nearly walked into his son. "Whoa." He put his hand on Trev's shoulder. "Sorry."

Trev shrugged. "S'all right. My fault anyway."

Cam couldn't stop the half smile tugging up his lips. It was often said Trev was a carbon copy of his dad – right down to his reticent personality. Indeed, it was mostly true; Trev was quiet, more often than not observing than participating, as in love with technology and its intricacies as Cam was. But he had fire – or thunder – that was all Leanne.

"Mm. You have everything you need to give this Dayton?"

Trev patted his pocket, nodded. "Got it."

Cam nodded and they walked in silence across the mostly empty Ninja Academy – mostly empty but for the teachers and students that lived in boarding. Cam nodded to each he passed. Trev did too after Cam nudged him for ignoring the first few.

"Dad, I was wondering…"

Cam paused at the edge of the pool. Opposite them, the illusion of a waterfall fell. "Yes?" He asked when Trev didn't continue.

"How'd you get mum to go out with you?"

"Eh?" Cam blinked. Trev wasn't looking at him – was staring stoically at the waterfall actually – and there was just a hint of colour high in his cheeks. "How did I get your mum to go out with me?"

Trev nodded.

"Uh…"

"I mean," Trev rushed out. "You knew her quite a while before you guys went out right? Because she was Uncle Hunter's and Uncle Blake's friend and she was there for Uncle Blake's and Aunt Tori's wedding but you knew her way before that right?"

Cam blinked slowly and wondered what his son was getting at. "Well, yes. Whenever your grandfather Omino came over to the Wind Ninja academy, your mum used to accompany him."

"You met when you were really young then?"

"I was about eight, yes."

"So you've, like, pretty much known her all your life, right?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Then how'd you get her to go out with you?"

Cam stared at Trev then, slowly, smiled. Ah. Of course. "I asked her."

"What?" Trev turned, eyes jerking to meet his dad's. "Just that?"

Cam nodded, still smiling. "Just that."

"But what…uh…how did you know she wasn't, you know, seeing someone else?"

Cam had to work hard not to laugh. "I did some research before hand, of course. Made sure she wasn't seeing anyone."

"Oh. Of course," Trev echoed. He shifted back and forth, rocking on his heels.

Cam stifled another laugh and moved forward, onto the water. He paused, halfway across the pool, to look at his fidgeting son. "Coming?"

"What?" Trev's head jerked up, then he hurried across. "Yeah. Course."

They made it through the waterfall and walked to the waiting car in silence. Trev was reaching for the front passenger side's handle when there was a strange tune. Cam's head went up. "What was…"

He trailed off, watching as Trev lifted his wrist, pressed his fingers to the thick green lined silver bracelet he always wore. "Yes Dayton?"

"Trevor." The voice that came from somewhere on the bracelet, was familiar. The voice, full of calm, that had instructed him, step by step, on how to open a portal to an underground chamber he'd never seen or known about. "There is a monster in the…what is that place where all the people in the – suits is it? – go?"

"The business district."

"Yes. That is where they have appeared."

"Are there Frissons with it?"

"Yes, several."

"The others?"

"They are all on their way."

"All right. I'll be right there."

It was sort of scary, Cam thought, to watch his seventeen year old son's face transform, from being so vulnerably young and embarrassed to calm and warrior hard. He looked so grown up and a memory suddenly flashed; Trev, six years old, sitting on the floor and surrounded by the remains of a cell phone, looking up at him with wide innocent eyes. He'd held up his hands, holding the phone's battery, and had spoken in a solemn voice, "This isn't the only thing that makes mummy's phone work."

Trev was looking at him, Cam realised, with a question in his eyes. Cam nodded, managed a smile. "Go. I'll cover for you."

He grinned. "Thanks dad."

He shifted his stance, feet moving to shoulder width, his morpher hand lifting up across his chest. The silver and green bracelet wrapped loosely around his wrist suddenly disappeared in a flash of bright green light. It faded away to reveal his morpher.

"Centaur Rider, Ranger Form!"

Cam raised his hand when bright green lights suddenly appeared above his son's head. They circled over Trev, slowly circled down, so bright he couldn't bear to look at them directly. When the lights faded, where once stood a boy who'd looked so embarrassed only moments before was a ranger, suited in green, with white bonds circled around his wrists and the top of his boots. The ranger saluted him, quick and cocky, then turned and ran.

Cam stared after his quickly retreating figure silently. There was a time that had been him. Now he was a parent and he held far more fear than when he'd faced his own monsters. He remembered what his dad had once told him, long after he'd put down his morpher for another team. "It's hardest for those on the sidelines, to watch their loved ones fight and know the only thing you can do is wait and pray for the best."

He was, as always, right.

A/N: I have no idea how long it's been between episodes but I know it's been ages and I have to apologize profusely for my inability to update this series in a reasonable time. I'm made of fail . So, again, I apologize and I hope those who read this will enjoy it.