Okay, so I have been wanting to do a Jungle Fury fic for a while and then was attacked by this plot bunny when I wasn't expecting it. But the venom from the plot bunny spread and this fic is the result of it. LOL. This is my first RJ/Lilly fic and I know it's not a popular pairing but it's grown on me..

Please be kind and don't flame me.

Lastly, I don't own Power Rangers... *sigh* if I had...Oh the changes I would make...

Enjoy!

It had been a long day for the workers of Jungle Karma Pizza. But really none of them were complaining. With Dai Shi vanquished and the world back to normal they were finally free to pursue their dreams. With Dom and Fran out back packing the pizza place had become quiet, really quiet.

Okay, so it had become really boring. But RJ didn't really mind too much. After battling Dai Shi and his gruesome army of darkness, it was nice to sit back and relax. As he sat in his favorite chair in the den, he gazed around at his students turned masters. Casey and Lily were getting their groove on and Theo…well he had turned in for the night. Earlier he had told Lily how he felt…and it had not gone well, all this time, Lily had only seen him as her best friend and didn't want to mess that up.

RJ really felt bad for the blue ranger who was at the moment nursing his wounded heart. RJ could relate. In one night he had met a woman, gotten drunk, slept with her and then woke up the next morning alone. Angel was her name, but shiny innocent she wasn't. By the next night she had moved on to the next lucky bastard and acted like he didn't exist. Since that night, he had never taken another woman. Ever. But many a night had he lain in bed dreaming of another woman…

Across the room, that woman of his dreams was dancing with her other best friend and feeling guilty as hell. She'd known Theo was in love with her…and at one time she'd returned his feelings…but those feelings had disappeared the moment she'd stepped through the door of Jungle Karma Pizza and seen the handsome guy who had become her mentor, teacher, and hell the man whom she couldn't stop dreaming about…it was forbidden for a student to fall in love with a Pai Zhuq master,…but now he was no longer her teacher…but a fellow master. And in her mind he was no longer off limits…many times she had danced with Casey and pretended it was RJ dancing with her. Not that she'd ever tell him…

Just then their thoughts were interrupted by an alert on the monitor telling him that there was someone at the front door. He sat up in his chair and looked to see two shadowy figures under the light. RJ furrowed his brow and got up to go answer it. Behind him Casey and Lily stopped dancing and followed their former teacher down to the resturant.

RJ wasn't planning for the visitors that showed up. And when he answered the door and saw who was standing there, his eyes widened.

"Angel, I wasn't planning to see you here…ever. What are you two doing here?"

The tall gorgeous woman with long black hair sneered. "Returning what's yours." Having said that she reached behind her and pushed a shivering little girl towards him.

RJ looked down at his daughter. "Adriana?" he looked at her and then up at her mother. "What are you talking about? She's your daughter too!"

From behind him Casey and Lily gawked…since when did RJ have a kid?

"Not anymore, she is of no use to me. She can't win a pageant to save her life and I don't want her anymore…I will not spend another dime on her."

Theo had come down behind him and was now listening intently…rarely did the Pai Zhuq master lose his temper….but the master that stood at the door was practicly shaking with silent fury as he stepped toward the little girl gently pushing her behind him…and approaching the woman. "Lily, would you please take my little girl to the kitchen? I have something to discuss…with this…woman."

The little girl with look brown hair looked up at the teens with fearful eyes…she was extremely thin and scared looking. Lily carefully approached the little girl and then scooped her up in her arms and walked away…with a silent look at her teammates she told them to stay behind…they couldn't run the pizza parlor with RJ in jail.

"What the hell are talking about? I sent 1,000 dollars to you every month to take care of her! Where did all the money go?"

"That money went to me…though it wasn't nearly enough payment to take care of that little wretch. She's lazy, can't do a thing on her own and frankly I'm sick of caring for her. She's your responsibility now."

"She's 5! She's not supposed to be involved in pagents. She's supposed to be playing with all the other little girls. My resturant has been in the red because I sent you money to take care of my little girl.. not to take care of yourself. You don't deserve to be her mother. The only good thing that came of that night was that she was created."

Angel sniffed. "It wasn't my fault you couldn't pull out in time…from your groans and moans I had assumed that you were enjoying yourself…"

RJ rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you were pretty good…but had I known that you were the village bicycle I would never have climbed on…besides, when alcohol is involved its hard to tell the mountains from mole hills."

The two teens behind him flinched when the woman nailed him between the legs but to his credit RJ didn't fall to the ground holding himself…but he did look like he was in pain.

That was enough for Casey to go into ranger mode and he stepped protectively in front of the wolf ranger while Theo helped the master to a nearby chair.

"That's enough. I won't have you violate this place anymore with presence. You dropped the little cub off, there's no reason for you to stay here anymore. Get lost."

The woman was already pissed off and the anger gleamed in her eye. "What are you gonna do about it? You don't have the balls to hit me."

A snarl was heard from behind him and everyone turned to look at Lily who had just come in. She had seen the damage done to the little girl and was now ready to take down the woman who had dared harm the cub. To any normal person she would have looked like a really pissed off teenager…to the Jungle Fury rangers, the spirit of the cheetah was shining out from her and the look on her face was that of a mother cat defending her cub…and it was terrifying. Even Casey stepped back as she walked passed him.

"No he knows better then to hit a woman…But, I don't …and I would have no problem taking you out where you stand. I've seen what you have done to that little girl, and right now it's taking all the self control I have to not beat you down like the bitch you are. You'd better leave."

The woman sized her up. "Oh, you must be RJ's bed warmer…tell me, did you need a magnifying glass to find-"

A loud growl was heard followd by a shriek and the next thing everyone knew Angel was on the floor with claw marks on her face and Lily was standing over her…and she was still snarling. "Leave. Now."

The woman looked shocked and stared up at her from her seat on the floor. "You will regret this."

Lily growled and her eyes flashed yellow with the spirit of the cheetah but in the next second RJ had a hand on her shoulder. "Easy Girl. I can take it from here."

Lily was still shaking with anger but didn't move from her spot as RJ stepped in front of her.

"You forget one thing Angel. So far tonight, you've commited three crimes that could be brought up against you. One, you assaulted me. Two, you degraded a child and if I find out that you have done more then parade her around like a porcilen doll and degrade her, I can bring you up on child abuse charges, and three, you have come into this resturant and then refused to leave when you are clearly not wanted here and that would of course be trespassing. If you don't want me to take you to court…I suggest you leave."

Lily snarled again and that was enough to make Angel get to her feet and walk out the door a little faster then she came in. RJ turned to look at Lily who was only just growling softly.

"It's okay Lily, you did what you had to. I need you to relax... Breathe."

Lily looked into his eyes and then closed them taking several deep breaths and then a few seconds later she opened them again looking much calmer.

Lily then blushed and looked away before walking to the kitchen. With her anger gone, she remembered being accused of sleeping with RJ…not that she hadn't thought about it a few times…but to have it blasted in her face…

She didn't know if she'd have the courage to look at him in the eyes ever again.

With the doors closed again they all headed to the kitchen to see the new arrival. When they got there, they found Adriana sitting on a stool next to the counter with the pizza in front of her…she had barely picked at it.

RJ walked up behind her being careful to not frighten her. "Adriana, aren't you hungry?"

The little girl shook her head. "Angel said that I can't have pizza. It'll make me fat."

RJ was quiet as he looked at Lily and then at his little girl again. What had Angel done to her?

"But Angel isn't here anymore, I'm your dad. And You have my permission to eat pizza. He reached out to gently smooth the bangs off her face only to have her flinch as if…

RJ was quiet and Casey and Theo could see the anger in his eyes. They all knew what the child's actions meant…

They all looked at the wolf ranger and saw him visibly working to calm himself. He approached his daughter again this time keeping his distance so as not to upset her.

"You will never see Angel again. I'm your dad and you're my cub. You're perfectly safe with us." He paused for a moment before looking at her lovingly. "Now how about we warm up this pizza and get you some more milk to drink?"

Adriana looked unconvinced and a little nervous..but eventually she nodded and took a bite of her pizza…and then another…and another and soon she was slice was gone. But her stomach still growled and she looked like she wanted more.

RJ looked at his child and gave her another piece. "Eat slowly Adriana, we have a lot of food here. Your never going to starve again."

But Adriana was barely listening still intent on devouring the food. In truth Angel had never given her anything to eat…as punsishment for stumbling and falling on the walk way…she had been so weak from the imposed diet that she couldn't think of anything else but food…

A gentle hand was on her back rubbing it. She stopped eating and looked up fearfully. RJ had left with the boys leaving just Lily. She looked at the blonde girl and then back at her food.

Lily wasn't sure what had come over her…and why she felt the maternal instinct…but as she and the little girl locked eyes something passed between them and a second later the little girl was clinging to her and sobbing. Lily held the little girl close to her and knew that the little one would not be eating anymore tonight and so she picked her up and walked out of the kitchen and up to the loft with the little girl curled up in her arms.

When she got to the loft she sat down on the couch and held the little girl in her arms and patiently waitedfor the tears subside.

Down in the restaurant, RJ sat across from his comrades discussing the situation that had developed.

"When were you planning to tell us you had a daughter?" Casey asked giving his former teacher a confused look.

"I've known about Adriana since she was three when Angel came to demand child support from me. I knew that I wasn't the only man she'd ever slept with…seeing as how the night after the party I saw her out with someone else…so of course I demanded a paternity test. It came back positive. I couldn't bare the thought of my cub being around all those strange men…but Angel said that she had grown attached to her and wanted to keep her…we butted heads again and again until we came to an agreement, we decided that Adriana would stay with her mom if she wouldn't sleep around and I would pay her 1000 dollars a month plus any doctor bills and I would get to see her any time I wanted to make sure she was okay."

"Around the time Jarrod let Dai Shi escape I found out that Angel had broken her word. I confronted her again and demanded custody…but then Master Mao contacted me saying that you guys would come and that the world was in danger." RJ sighed. "I couldn't bear the thought of my daughter being used as leverage against me so I let Angel keep Adriana and kept paying support to her."

"Even with her far away, I was still worried for her safety so I asked Dom and the masters to keep an eye on her. With the war over I was planning to go get my daughter…I was going to get her a bed and whatever else a little girl needs...I really wasn't planning for her to show up tonight." RJ sighed again and then he got a look of determination on his face. "But now that my cub is here and is completely in my care I can be the dad she needs me to be…the dad I should have been." This last part was said quietly as he looked down at his hands.

The men were quiet not sure how to help their friend.

"What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know…I am totally unprepared for this. I think the first thing I am going to do would be to let her sleep. Then tomorrow, she's gonna need some clothing. No daughter of mine is gonna be paraded around in designer clothes…she deserves better then the life she's had. I've got a long way to go before she even begins to trust me…you saw how she flinched in there. I hate it that she's scared of me and I have no idea what she's had to endure."

"Lily's doing great so far." Casey said. "I've never seen her so riled up…not even when facing Camille."

Theo sighed looking at his lap reminding them all of the heart break the blue ranger had gone through earlier. "It'll be okay. There's plenty of girls at the school." RJ said, "You'll find someone."

Theo shrugged sadly. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you all in the morning." The other two watched him leave before getting up themselves and heading to bed. It had been an eventful evening and they were all exhausted.

As RJ walked into the loft he saw Lily on the couch asleep with Adriana cuddled up to her…he couldn't deny the warm feeling in his heart when he saw his cub curled up protectively in the yellow ranger's arms. He knew that his daughter would never come to harm with her around…

He smiled before draping a blanket over the both of them and allowed himself to gently stroke the side of his baby girl's cheek. She sighed contentedly and slept on.

As he climbed into bed he knew that his life would never be the same, he had a long way to go where his daughter was concerned and he resolved to win her over to him. Then he thought of the yellow ranger again…when Lily had gone after the…bitch he had silently cheered her on and for a split second he had imagined what it would be like to have her as his cub's mother…

But as soon as that thought presented itself, he rejected it…he was way too old for her and wanted her to find someone who could devote his free time to her and only her…but then he also couldn't deny that he felt a little lonely these days…and he would also love to find a mom for his daughter…

But as soon as that thought came he dismissed it…

No, he would not burden her with such a responsibility…unless she wanted it…

He turned over on his side and fell asleep.

Well, what do you think? Let me know!