Summer, Dillon and Tenaya gaped at the two people in front of them. There was no way that it was possible. Dr. K? Ziggy? A daughter? Together? Somehow those words didn't seem to form a plausible sentence.
"Candy these are Mommy and Daddy's friends, Summer, Dillon and Tenaya." Ziggy said.
"The ones from the watch?" she asked holding up the watch.
"Yes exactly the ones from the watch." Ziggy replied.
"It's very nice to meet you. My name is Candy." she smiled and held out a hand.
"It's nice to meet you too Candy." Summer smiled and shook the little girl's hand, Dillon and Tenaya following suit.
"Thank you for the music watch." she said holding up the battered silver timepiece.
"You're welcome." Tenaya said looking from Dillon and back to Candy.
"Daddy can I go play now?" she asked looking at Ziggy.
"Sure sweetheart." Ziggy said and set her down.
"No experiments though." Dr. K warned.
"Aww!" Candy frowned.
"No whining. Now go play." Dr. K said.
"Okay." Candy said a little more defeated than before.
Once Candy was out of the room Dillon turned to look at his friends.
"A kid? W-When did you have a kid?"
"Nearly 4 years ago." Ziggy smiled.
"Three years, eleven months and four days actually." Dr. K replied.
"Anyone care to explain?" Summer asked.
"Agreed. Please do." Tenaya replied.
"Candy is the result of a short lived relationship between the two of us." Dr. K replied.
"Exactly. Very short. Miniscule." Ziggy replied.
"Indeed. During the process we participated in a few brief nights of passion and the result was the conceiving of a child. 9 months later Candy was born." Dr. K said.
"Hey! They weren't that brief." Ziggy said looking a little offended.
Dr. K gave him a look and turned back to the others, "Though Ziggy and I may no longer be an item we are both thoroughly committed to raising our daughter together."
"I just want to know HOW you two got together. When we left the two of you were just on a first name basis! We were under the impression that the only reason that you addressed him as Ziggy at all was because you couldn't call him Series Operator Green anymore! I know 5 years is a long time but…" Dillon trailed off.
"Dillon if we knew how it happened we would gladly tell you. The truth is we don't know just how it happened just that one day…it happened." Ziggy shrugged.
"As improbable as that sounds it's quite true." Dr. K replied.
"Aye…we looked up one day they were a couple. It was quite odd to be honest." Flynn replied.
"It was." Gemma nodded.
"They were kissing and touching and stuff." Gem shuddered.
"Wow. I can honestly say that I expected some things to have changed but I did NOT expect this." Summer laughed.
"I don't think any of us did." Dillon said shaking his head.
"Well now that we've gotten that bit of information out of the way feel free to head upstairs and refresh yourselves before Scott arrives. I am sure that he will want to catch up and will be arriving soon. Summer your old room is empty and you and Tenaya may stay in there. You know where to find your sheets and things." Dr. K said.
"Alright. Thanks Doc." Tenaya said and they headed for the Fury.
Dillon popped the trunk and began to pull out their bags; a army green rucksack for him, a yellow duffle for Summer and a dark purple duffle for Tenaya. Grabbing their things they headed upstairs.
Dr. K had said that he would be crashing with Gem so he headed towards the former Gold Ranger's room. There were three beds in the room, one done meticulously with clean white sheets and a black blanket, another messily covered with green sheets and a black blanket and finally a bare mattress.
Judging by the green sheets Dillon guessed that Ziggy would be his roommate as well so he threw his bag onto the empty bed, sinking into the familiarly lumpy mattress that was standard in the Garage. After being on the move for so long it was nice to stop and settle down into familiar surroundings. The smells, the feeling, the noises all were familiar and comforting.
There was a knock on the door and Dillon looked up to see Summer standing in the doorway with a stack of black sheets along with a black blanket and bare pillow. A similar sack of yellow was under the black.
"Black okay?" she smiled walking in.
"Well I was thinking of something more along the lines of pink but if black is all you have I guess I'll have to take it." he grinned.
Summer sat the sheets at the foot of the bed before sitting down beside Dillon, resting her head on his shoulder.
"It feels good to be back doesn't it?" she sighed.
"It does. You know when I first came to Corinth I never thought I'd find anything worth caring about. I didn't know who I was or where I was from but being here gave me a handle on that. I'm Dillon and I'm from Corinth City. I have a sister named Tenaya, friends named Ziggy, Flynn, Gem, Gemma and Dr. K when she feels like being my friend. And most importantly of all I have a beautiful girlfriend." He smiled and brushed a strand of blonde hair from Summer's face, kissing her softly.
"I love you." Summer smiled at him.
"I love you too." he smiled and once again pressed his lips to hers.
"You know this is the first time in a long time we won't be sharing a bed?" Summer asked as they sat on the bed.
"Yeah. Now you'll be sharing a room with my sister and Gemma." Dillon replied.
"Nope…there are only two beds in Tenaya and I's room. However I did happen to see a pair of silver sneakers sticking out from under Flynn's bed." Summer smiled.
"Flynn and Gemma?" Dillon asked.
Summer nodded, "I think so. Don't say anything though. They probably want to tell us themselves."
"Gotcha." Dillon said.
"Well I'm going to go put my bed together. Scott will probably be here sooner rather than later." Summer said standing up.
Dillon watched her separate the yellow sheets from the black and walk out leaving him alone again. Standing up Dillon began to make his bed. Once was happy with it he headed out of his room when he heard the tinkle of the familiar tune coming from the end of the hall. With a smile he followed the music.
At the end of the hall was his and Ziggy's old room however it didn't look like they had ever stayed there at all. The walls were painted a light lavender color and the floor had white carpet. Flowers and bunnies dotted the walls and toys were scatted along the floor. In one corner a white wooden bed with light pink sheets sat, stuffed animals covering the bed.
"Hi Dillon. Would you like to color?" Candy asked when she saw Dillon standing in the door way. She held up a crayon.
"Um…sure." Dillon replied.
"You sit there." she said pointing to a small pink chair on the other side of the table.
"I don't know if I can fit on that chair." Dillon laughed.
"Uncle Flynn does." Candy replied.
"Well I'll try then." Dillon replied and sat down on the small chair which surprisingly held.
"Here…you can color on this piece of paper." Candy said and laid a blank sheet of paper in front of him.
Dillon picked up a crayon and began to draw a car. He had been around a few kids in the time that they were outside Corinth but it had mostly been Summer that had dealt with them. He had handled the heavy stuff like building and such. Usually he was a little awkward around kids but he seemed right at ease with Candy.
"Daddy and Mommy told me about you." Candy said looking up at Dillon.
"Really? What did they tell you?" he asked.
"That you were Series Operator Black. They also told me that you were a bot-human hybrid and that you have Generation 7 caliber technology installed in your body that allows your abilities to surpass that of an average human. Oh and that you were Daddy's best friend." Candy replied her face serious.
Dillon stared at the small girl sitting across from him. He was mildly shocked that a 3 year old would know most of the words she just used. However he soon reminded himself that he was looking at the offspring of Dr. K and even if she was half Ziggy's there was no way that she wouldn't be brilliant.
"I was, I do and I guess so." Dillon replied looking at her.
"Can I see the technology?" she asked looking at him.
"Well it's under my skin so you can't really see it." he replied.
She nodded as if she accepted this but a moment later stood up and walked over to him. She stood beside him for a second before looking at him.
"Take off your jacket please." she said.
He looked at her for a moment but removed the leather jacket that was a constant staple in his daily wardrobe and put it on the floor next to him. No sooner had he done so than Candy pushed his sleeve up and began to prod his arm.
"Interesting." she replied before pulling his sleeve back down and returning to her seat.
Dillon smiled and went back to coloring his picture. Every so often the watch that sat on the table between them would stop and Candy would pick it up and wind it again.
"Hey…did you know that the watch plays more than one song?" he asked looking at Candy.
"Really?! Can you show me how?" she asked.
Dillon reached into his pocket and pulled out Tenaya's key. When they had left he hadn't realized that he had the second key. Reaching forward he took the key from around Candy's neck and inserted the smaller key into the larger one and handed it to her.
Excitedly Candy put the key into the hole and wound the watch. After a second it began to play the tune that Tenaya had once whistled before she attacked.
"I like it." Candy said listening to it.
Dillon smiled, "Then you can keep the key." he replied.
"Thank you!" she grinned and threw her arms around him in a hug.
"You're welcome." Dillon smiled.
"Well it looks like you two are getting along well."
Dillon turned and saw Ziggy leaning against the door.
"Daddy! Dillon gave me another key for the watch!" she grinned, running over to show Ziggy the key.
"Wow! So now it plays two songs right?" he asked.
"Uh-huh!" she beamed.
"That's great sweetheart. But hey I need to borrow Dillon. Uncle Scott is here and we want to all hang out and talk. I'll call you down when dinner is ready okay?" he asked.
"Okay Daddy." Candy smiled and walked back over to the table and sat down.
Dillon pulled himself up from the tiny chair and grabbed his coat, "Bye Candy."
"Bye-Bye Dillon." Candy waved and went back to drawing.
"So she takes after Doc K a lot huh?" Dillon said and he and Ziggy headed downstairs.
"How long did it take you realize that?" Ziggy asked.
"Oh not long…about the time she started talking about the caliber of the technology installed in my body." Dillon replied.
"Yeah she's really into stuff like that. I think she may even be smarter than K." Ziggy said with a smile.
"I saw some of you in her too Zig. She's a great kid." Dillon said.
"Thanks Dil. That means a lot. We're both just trying to give her what neither of us had, a family." Ziggy said with a soft smile as they walked over to their friends.
"Dude what took you two so long?" Scott asked as they joined the others at the bar.
"I had to drag him away from coloring with Candy." Ziggy replied as he walked to the stove to work on dinner.
"Ah so that little lass grabbed hold of your heart too eh?" Flynn asked.
"She is a cute kid." Dillon nodded.
"And she's so smart!" Gem said.
"She's like a mini K!" Gemma added.
"Speaking of kids, how is the school going Ziggy?" Summer asked.
"It's going great. The kids love cooking and a lot of them are coming along on their shadows puppets." Ziggy smiled.
"And how about Dr. K's classes?" Dillon asked.
"There are a few kids who are really progressing. It's surprising how many kids actually care about bio-field physics." Ziggy replied.
"Where is she by the way? And where is Tenaya?" Scott asked.
"Dr. K is checking out the implants in her eyes to make sure they're still functioning normally as well as giving her a mechanical check up. Oh and she told me to tell you that you're next Dillon." Summer replied smiling at her boyfriend.
"Ohh! Flynn! Can I tell them now?! Can I please?!" Gemma asked suddenly turning to Flynn.
Flynn sighed and smiled, "If you want."
"Flynn and I are engaged!" Gemma grinned.
"Are you serious? Engaged?!" Summer asked spinning around to look at Gemma.
"Mhmm." Gemma smiled and from inside of her shirt she pulled out a ring on a chain.
"We were waiting to tell you guys until this weekend but we thought that since everyone was here we should just do it now." Flynn grinned lacing his fingers through Gemma's.
"Wow. That is amazing guys. I am totally happy for you." Scott smiled and hugged both of his friends, the others following suit.
"So now I think it's time we hear what you three have been up to." Scott said looking at Summer and Dillon.
"And you can do it over dinner because food is ready." Ziggy said.
"Great because I am starving." Flynn replied patting his stomach.
"I'll go get Tenaya and Dr. K." Gem said and headed off in the direction of the testing room.
"Candy? Dinner!" Ziggy called up the stairs and a minute later the little girl came walking down the stairs.
"I want to sit by Dillon and Summer." she said as she walked towards the table.
"I don't see how that could be a problem." Summer said and helped Candy up into a chair.
Ziggy dealt out plates of food once everyone had taken their seats and everyone turned to Tenaya, Summer and Dillon to hear about their adventures outside of Corinth.
"Well a lot of what we did was helping people start to rebuild." Summer said.
"We probably ended up helping out seven or eight different cites. A lot of them are doing really well now." Dillon replied.
"Yeah they're like actual thriving cities. Some are on their way to being as big as Corinth." Tenaya replied.
The three of them began to talk about random places they'd been and the people they'd met while outside the dome. Everyone listened intently, especially Candy who was enthralled with every word that came from Summer, Tenaya and Dillon's mouths.
Soon 9 plates sat in the sink and Flynn and Gem teamed up do wash the dishes. Everyone else ended up around the pool table recounting memories from before Venjix had been defeated. Sometime during the conversation Candy climbed into the backseat of Flynn's hummer and fell asleep.
"We'll I'd better put her to bed." Dr. K said and despite her small stature picked up the 3 year old with ease, carrying her upstairs to bed.
"So Zig how do you like being a Dad?" Dillon asked leaning on the cue in his hands.
"It's great. There's this little person who loves you no matter what. Her first word was Dada you know." Ziggy grinned.
"Really?" Tenaya asked.
"No…it was quadrilateral but her second one was Dada." Ziggy replied.
"Leave it to Doc K's kid to have their first word be a math word." Scott smirked.
Suddenly the door of the Garage opened up making everyone turn. A moment later Colonel Truman walked in, Hicks and Vasquez flanking him along with a couple of other solders that no one knew the names of.
"Ah Dillon, Summer, Tenaya…I heard that you had returned to Corinth. Welcome back." Colonel Truman smiled.
"It's nice to be back." Summer smiled.
"So Dad what's up? I mean I really doubt that you came here just to welcome Dillon, Tenaya and Summer back to the city." Scott said looking at his father.
"Candy isn't awake is she?" he asked looking around for the little girl.
"No…I just put her to bed. What do we owe your visit to Colonel Truman?" Dr. K said coming down the steps.
Colonel Truman sighed, "I'm glad that all of you are together and Candy is in bed. It is best if I only say this once and not in front of young ears no matter how intelligent."
"Colonel what's going on?" Flynn asked.
Colonel Truman looked around at all of the former Rangers, "We are all in serious trouble."
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