Curiosity Killed the Ape

Summary – Rocky walks in on something he shouldn't have and he quickly learns the repercussions. Billy/Avalon, with mentions of Tommy/Kim and Rocky/Aisha.


Rocky really should've been minding his own business.

It would've saved him from the grief that managed to follow him for the next couple of days. Not only did it make it so that he learned more about his friends than he would've liked to know—despite his nosiness—but also had some of his secrets spilled as well.

Not that they outright embarrassed him, but even the thought of it getting back to his mother was downright terrifying. (She didn't need to know those things in his private life). But there was something else that terrified him; Aisha being mad at him because of having to reveal those secrets, Kim grinning suggestively at him like she always did whenever she got gossip about the status of her friend's relationships, but because he didn't want to suffer the fate that Avalon would have on him.

Yeah, he really should've minded his own business.

But he couldn't help it.

He needed to know the answer to a question that he hadn't had answered since Billy had become their tech advisor once they received the Zeo Powers; what did he do all day when working at the Command Center? He couldn't possibly spend the entire day working on their zords or tinkering with their weapons. Sure, when they came back from battle it was needed. But they didn't fight the Machine Empire every day and as far as Rocky knew, Billy hadn't moved into the Command Center. And yet, he spent all of his time there.

So, what did he do?

One day Rocky decided that he was going to find out. And he announced it to the guys as they got changed to go to their football practice. Tommy's eyebrows rose, listening to Rocky's explanation. "You know, I kind of wondered that myself? What could he possibly do to entertain himself all day?"

Adam frowned. "Is he really there all day? I figured he'd a least use his lab at home or go to a movie, or the bookstore, or something."

Rocky held up a finger. "Maybe that's what he wants us to think. Maybe he's working on college applications, maybe he's purposefully making our weapons and zords weak so he had something else ot keep working on. Or maybe," he dramatically lowered his finger. "He's hanging out with other friends."

Adam snorted. "Really?"

"You never know. He could be cheating on us."

"Rocky, I don't think Billy would be hanging out with other people, not when there's so many people that could be in danger if they came too close to our identities," Tommy said.

Rocky thought for a moment. Okay, yeah. That was a good point. It didn't have to be the truth, but it was a good point. "So, maybe he's not hanging out with other people. But there has to be something that he's doing that we don't know about. What would you do if you were in the Command Center all day while the rest of us were in school and out rangering?"

Tommy shrugged. "I'd work on my martial arts."

"Yeah, me too," Adam agreed.

Those were boring answers.

Rocky wouldn't do that. He'd probably explore around the Power Chamber and figure out everything that Zordon and Alpha could've been hiding. They hid the White Ranger that they were working on before revealing him—which, of course, turned out to be Tommy—but that was a possibility. And there were plenty others; maybe there were new zords being made, maybe he was going off to college without telling anyone until he was gone, or, even worse, maybe he was working on planning their demise.

That one was far-fetched, but Rocky's mind was going a million miles at once with increasingly outlandish ideas. He asked Kat and Tanya. Kat said with a smile, "I don't think there's anything weird about him spending a lot of time in the Power Chamber. He's our tech advisor."

"Yeah, Zordon and Alpha may be giving him some background on our powers and the Zeo Crystal, or maybe he's using the time to himself," Tanya agreed. "I mean, we're together all the time."

Those were lame answers, too.

Clearly only he cared about this.

Tommy, Adam, Kat, and Tanya had all suggested he ask Avalon or her little sister Bailey what Billy was doing. Yes. That made sense. Avalon was Billy's girlfriend so she probably would know, and she and Bailey did live with him. But that wasn't fun and one of the things he lived for was fun. And figuring out mysteries.

And this was going to satisfy both parts of his life.

So, when he had a free period at school, Rocky teleported to the Power Chamber. It was quiet. Zordon's energy tube was empty and Alpha sat quietly in the corner. Okay, so they were doing their monthly sleeps, so he couldn't ask them. But Billy had to be around there somewhere, he wouldn't leave things unwatched and unattended while Zordon and Alpha slept.

It's not like we wouldn't know if a monster was attacking, Rocky reminded himself. We'd hear them before seeing them. Still, the extra level of awareness was good. So, Billy was slipping on his duties. I'm going to have to have a talk with him about his irresponsible actions.

Rocky started to walk the halls of the Power Chamber, looking for Billy, quietly whistling the Mission Impossible theme as he went. He probably should've dressed up in black to go on this mission, or else have morphed into his Zeo Ranger suit to add to the ambiance. It only took a few minutes until Rocky found a room that had the lights on, compared to the rest of the Power Chamber that was darkened.

It was the medical bay.

Okay, that was boring too.

If all he does is take inventory, Rocky thought, his disappointment already starting to roll in his stomach. Well, that might've been interesting to know how much it takes to patch up the rangers each time they got back from a fight. They didn't get hurt so easily but when they did it was could be very debilitating.

Rocky walked closer to the medical bay and, turning the corner, opened his mouth to greet Billy then stopped short.

Oh.

Oh.

Okay, maybe this was a bad idea.

Still, Rocky couldn't help but stare at the sight before him. Mostly because he had never seen it before. Billy was a private person, Rocky knew that. Avalon was just the same, though more private about her past than anything else. They must've been on the same page for this though.

The tech advisor and the orange ranger were completely lost in themselves, locked in a warm embrace. Screw that, they were making out. Like, really making out. Avalon had her arms around Billy's shoulders, alternately running her fingers through his hair, dragging her fingers and palms over his neck and shoulders, and tracing her fingernails up and down his back. His bare back, because his shirt was on the counter next to Avalon. Next to her and her shirt rather.

Billy gently rested his hands on Avalon's waist, his thumbs pressing into the skin of her hips, rubbing circles on them when he didn't move them to gently run up and down her back, making Avalon arch closer to him. Clearly, they were blissfully unaware of Rocky's presence as their kisses continued, heads bobbing and weaving back and forth, their breaths coming out in heavy gasps and sighs.

Rocky's eyes narrowed for a second and he couldn't help but blurt out, "So wasn't expecting that!"

Billy and Avalon broke apart and looked over at Rocky. Avalon let out a huff of annoyance and pulled her bra strap up her shoulder—which Rocky couldn't help but notice was black and not orange—then reached for her shirt beside her. "God, Rocky, don't you know how to bloody knock?"

"S-sorry," Rocky stammered. His eyes moved over to Billy, who just looked back at him. His eyes flashed with a calmer sense of frustration. "It's…I just…what are you doing?"

"What does it fucking look like?" Avalon snapped.

Rocky winced. Her Australian accent had gotten thicker, which only happened when she was really angry. He looked to Billy for help and he shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest and said, "Even I have moments of wanting to indulge in my more intimate desires."

Translation = he was as hormonal as any other teenager.

Rocky reached up and scratched the back of his head, pointing to Avalon. "Don't you have class?"

Avalon gave him a 'duh' look. "I have free period with you, Rocky."

Oh yeah. They were the only ones of their friends that had free period then because they were the only ones who were taking an art class for their elective. Kat and Tanya were in a sewing class, and Tommy and Adam were taking a health and fitness class.

"Oh yeah." Rocky swallowed hard. He was having a hard time wrapping his head around this. He didn't know Billy had it in him. But he knew now wasn't the right time to smile and tease him about it. "But, uh—"

Avalon sighed patiently. "Sometimes when I have a free period I teleport from school to meet up with Billy so we can hang out. With me in school and him already having graduated we don't have a lot of time to spend with each other, yeah?" Billy nodded in agreement. "Especially with our rangering getting in the way."

"But you live together."

"And we don't get a lot of privacy at home with Bay and his dad being there."

Now Billy spoke up. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Rocky twiddled his thumbs. "Well, I wondered what you did all day when you were here in the Power Chamber. I asked the others and they said you'd probably be working on our zords or our tech or something.

"That's generally what I do," Billy concurred. "Working on the zords can take some time depending on the damage they've received in battle. Sometimes it can take most of the day to work on one. I'm sure you've noticed at times your zords aren't up to 100%. Other times I'm working on making sure the accuracy and power levels of your weapons are up to speed. I may be well versed in tech and the sciences, but I'm not a miracle worker."

"And you do a great job with our tech, man," Rocky agreed. He started to back out of the room, pointing over his shoulder. "I'm just, going to leave you alone now. And, uh, go back to school. I'll see you later." He kept his face as stoic as possible, only smiling when he started to turn.

Wait until he told the others.

"Hang on a tick!"

Avalon's voice made him freeze with a foot in the air. He lowered it back to the ground then turned back around to face her, looking as innocently as possible. Avalon's eyes narrowed, walking towards him. She was only a little taller than five feet but looking at her now she couldn't been seven feet tall and every bit intimidating.

"You're not going to tell the others what you saw, are you?"

Rocky hoped his innocent look was perfected. "Me? No. Why would I do that?"

"You can be every bit of a gossip as Kimberly and Aisha could be," Billy pointed out. Rocky looked offended but knew it was true. So he liked to know what was going on with everyone, was that so bad? It helped that Aisha told him everything he needed to know after one of hers and Kimberly's gab fests. "And, I'm not sure Tommy would be so happy to know about this."

Right, because his parents adopted Avalon and Bailey and now they were his sisters and…damn, Rocky really screwed up this time.

"Besides," a wicked gleam came to Avalon's eye as she regarded the blue ranger. "I'm sure there are plenty things about you and Aisha that you wouldn't want to get to the others."

Rocky's eyes narrowed back. That was different. His relationship with Aisha was off-limits. They weren't allowed to go there. Okay, he brought it on himself but fair was never always fair. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I reckon she told me and Kim some things about you guys…some things I'm sure you wouldn't be too keen to have Tommy and Adam know, yeah?"

Rocky's eyes narrowed even further. "Like what?"

Avalon smirked. "Like the time that your brothers and sisters interrupted you when you were—"

"—Okay!" Rocky held up his hands. He then held up a finger. "But that only happened one time." He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "And it wasn't that bad, we weren't really doing anything."

"I'm not sure your mum would feel the same way, mate," Avalon said.

Rocky huffed.

Damn.

Now that he had this information there was nothing to do with it. That wasn't fun.

Billy smiled as he watched the exchange.

Avalon continued with, "Though, in reality, it's probably better than anything you could walk in on with Tommy and Kim. I've made that mistake once."

"Same here," Rocky said.

"I have to agree," Billy added. "For the amount of times they've ever been interrupted you think they would've learned to be a little more discreet."

"Well, Tommy's not the brightest bulb in the lamp," Rocky pointed out. He's forgetful about a lot of things but even he should remember that a locked door is a dude's best friend. He snapped back to the conversation and started to back away again. "So, I'm just going to go. I have some stuff to do. I'll just leave you to this." He waved his hands towards them. "Sorry, again. Please don't kill me."

Rocky brought up his communicator and teleported out of the Power Chamber.

Billy turned and amused glance to his girlfriend. "Would you have really told his mom about that?"

"No, but I knew it'd scare him badly enough," Avalon replied.

"I didn't know they all wondered what I did around here so much," Billy said. He scratched his head. "It's really not hat glamorous, I just work on the zords and stuff. Wonder what could help you guys out in battle…"

"Yeah, well, let them keep thinking that and we probably won't be interrupted again," Avalon said.

Billy smiled. "You're still going to make his life hell aren't you?"

"Only for a couple of days. When he starts to realize that I don't really know that much about him and Aisha is when I'll stop. But I think his paranoia will get to him first."


Rocky teleported back into the school and went to the senior lounge to get some of his homework done before the next class started. Then the bell rang and he gathered his things together to go to English class, where the rest of his friends were waiting.

"So, did you go to the Power Chamber?" Adam asked as soon as he sat down.

"Yeah, what'd you find out?" Tommy hugged the back of his chair as he leaned towards Rocky. Rocky gulped, looking over at Kat and Tanya to find them waiting eagerly as well. He wanted to tell them but knew he had no choice. "Nothing, he just works on the zords and stuff."

And as far as the others—and the rest of his life—was concerned, it was the truth.


THE END


A/N: I hope you guys liked it! There's more like this where this came from, it was really fun to write. But I'll do them of other pairings too, not just Billy/Av so if there's a certain scenario you want to see in particular, or a couple let me know! I will write things rated 'M'/exlicit things, too.

~Av