Billy did not remember falling asleep but he did remember the sound of beeping permeating into his dreams and waking up to a whole lot of feathers in his face. He was still on the ground, leaned over the bed, and both plates that once held sandwiches just out of arms length. Trying to move to get up he felt more feathers brush against him and realized after a moment's thought that yes Tsuki had wrapped her uninjured wing around him at some point, giving him a feathery blanket. Also she was indeed real; the winged girl was still fast asleep on the bed and when he got free of her offered appendage it pulled back to her body, folding in again and she made a soft whining noise. Still she slept and he almost smiled at at the sight of her there.

But then his communicator went off again and Billy nearly jumped, startled by it; putting a hand over it as if to muffle its sound, he made his way out of the room and into the living room. Then he answered, "Yes?"

"Billy?" The voice sounded like Trini but Billy had to wonder what was the reason for this call; she continued, "Oh god we were so worried. We thought something might have happened to you."

Billy frowned a bit. "Why is that?"

"You're not here yet, that's why," she said and she seemed to be chuckling, "Hurry up; we're waiting for you at the park."

It hit him him then why; he'd had plans, with Trini and his friends of course. It would seem, looking at the nearest clock, that last night's fiasco had caused him to oversleep and it was now well past noon. Somehow he felt more than a little relieved and with a smile he spoke, "Alright I will be there as soon as I can be. I apologize."

"Don't worry about it, we were just worried." With that communication was cut off; Billy sighed in relief and went to his room to grab some clean clothes; the idea he should probably take a shower crossed his mind and he looked into the guest room. Tsuki was still asleep it seemed and he realized he might want to tell her where he was going. And that he needs to tell the others about it; it was the right thing to do, it was his duty probably as a Power Ranger to alert them to weird events and strange people. What if she was one of Rita's?

Yet why did it make him uncomfortable to think of telling the others of her? He walked into his room and looked through his clothes for something to wear as he thought about it. It wasn't like he was especially attached to her, he just met her, and he still had no idea what she was; telling the others was the smart thing, the right thing. He was supposed to do the smart thing right, being the smart one. But he didn't feel right about it for some reason; he reasoned that perhaps it was because she was hurt. Even if she was one of Rita's monsters, she couldn't do much while injured and it would be cruel to try to destroy her or bother her while she's recovering. Even if this would be the easiest time to do it, when she was least likely to be able to fight back.

"A Power Ranger doesn't do that," he spoke aloud and grabbed a t-shirt and overalls, "Its not honorable, hitting an enemy while down..."

Maybe he should wait a bit longer, until he knows more about her. Let her recover, let him do some tests, it would be better in the long run. Then even if she did prove to be a danger they would know what kind and how to deal with her properly. But Billy doubted still, refused really, to think she could really be dangerous to them; she didn't even know who she was right now and she was injured. What could she do to them right now, flap her other wing at them?

Billy walked back to the guest room, checking in to see her still fast asleep; though he'd rather tell her in person he supposed he could settle for leaving a note for her. He walked in, quietly, and grabbing a pencil and paper he left her quick little explanation of where he was and that he'll be back as soon as he could and not to leave the house. Not that he thought she would but better safe than sorry he supposed. He then left it on the desk in the room and spared one last look to her, finding himself unable to resist a light smile before slipping away and leaving for the park. His friends were waiting for him after all.

By the time the genius blue ranger arrived his friends seemed to be in the middle of a game; it was a lovely day, the sun high in the sky and not a cloud in the sky but not insanely hot as it could be in California. A game of Frisbee seemed to going on and as of yet he seemed to have gone unnoticed; this was not terribly uncommon. Though he was rarely late Billy knew that when everyone was caught up in something they could be a bit blind to everything else around them.

"Hey!" He called out with a smile and waved a hand; Trini was the one to turn to him first, quickly followed by the other members of his inner circle.

The Frisbee came his way and he ran for it, trying and succeeding in catching it; the other five Rangers ran over to him.

"There you are, Billy," Jason the red ranger and leader said, a friendly smile filling his handsome face.

"We were worried about you," commented the black ranger Zack, coming over and smacking Billy's back gently with his usual jovialness.

"You're not usually late," Kimberly spoke, the pink ranger and just the type to worry over her friends.

"Not without telling us first normally," Trini said smiling lightly; of the group the yellow ranger was probably Billy's best friend, able to understand his techno speak with ease.

"So what happened?" The last voice and question belonged to the last and newest ranger and Billy found his attention turned on the tall form of Tommy Oliver, the formerly-evil green ranger. The boy was smiling too, trying to be friendly and Billy smiled too through it was slightly strained.

"I was caught up in the meteor shower last night and found myself delayed by recording my observations and one of my experiments," Billy said, lying far easier than he expected; it was a very believable lie, and only really half a lie, from the scientifically minded Billy, "I apologize."

Jason waved it off, dismissing the issue and believing the lie. "Don't worry about it; you got here, you're safe, that's all that matters. Did you fix my communicator yet by the way?"

"I have not found the fault yet but I should be able to get it to you soon," Billy said rubbing his head.

"Don't worry about it," said Jason shaking his head, "No hurry; Rita seems to be taking a break so so should we. Anyway we should eat; we were waiting on you before we would."

An embarrassed blush covered Billy's face and he murmured an apology to which he got another dismissal of blame; they understood how it could be with him. Science was his first love and he couldn't help getting caught up in it, even if he wasn't actually caught up with it.

His repentance though was to go buy the food for the group, a reasonable thing to his mind and one he agreed to without complaint. It was only right after all, after leaving them to worry over him.

The genius started off to find the hot dog vendor who normally wandered the park in search of patrons. His mind was on whether or not Bulk and Skull would be there, wondering if they already paid off their debt from last time, when he noticed someone come up beside him. He knew of course that it was likely one of his friends, come to join him and keep him company, but he didn't realize who until they spoke, "So an experiment?"

"Affirmative." That came out, he realized after it left him, a bit too curtly. He did not mean it to sound so short honestly, Billy didn't want to be rude, but he sometimes found it hard not to be a bit stiff with Tommy.

It had been over two months since the incident that brought the other teenager into their lives, when he became the Green Ranger, and Billy wondered sometimes if he was the only one still unsure about it. Rita Repulsa had tried to fight fire with fire, Ranger with Ranger, and in the process dragged the new student Tommy into her darkness. And though they broke the spell, and every logical part of his brain told him that Tommy was not really to blame, he did everything under her power, it was hard to change that every time he looked at Tommy he remembered the fear that filled his chest when they found Zordon gone. The work he put into fixing Alpha Five their robot friend. The time he spent on trying to bring the command center back online, to bring back their mentor and find out why and how. Tommy was not to blame, he knew this, and he tried to trust in him like Jason and the others did, to treat him as a friend like Jason and the others did, but something kept him at arms length, always a bit too unwilling.

Even now, as they walked, looking for the stand together, Billy felt that uncomfortable feeling bubble up again. Whether Tommy noticed it or not was unclear, Billy hoped not; the green clad teen smiled at his would-be friend and continued, "What on, though I guess I probably won't understand, techno speak and all."

He was trying, he seemed to be actually trying to be friendly; Billy tried too, smiling some, making up a quick lie, "The density and mass requirements of a set of test projectiles in specific atmospheric and environmental situations to cause a varying grade of impact upon a surface."

"Okay," Tommy said and laughed a bit.

Billy did not understand why people laughed after he explained things to them, reasoning perhaps it was their way of trying to process the information he gives. It didn't really bother him, just a bit confusing.

There was silence for a moment after, the two just walking before once again Tommy spoke first, "Hey Billy?"

"Yes Tommy?" He answered glancing over.

"I...i know we're not the best of friends," he started, making Billy feel a bit bad, "I just arrived in town a few months ago after all and then there was that stuff with Rita..."

"Don't concern yourself with that," Billy said, shaking his head, "It was not your fault."

Tommy nodded but his expression didn't change, looking bothered still. Billy looked him, reasoning that couldn't be all Tommy wanted to say. It seemed off to be everything.

"Anyway," Tommy indeed continued and rubbed his head, "I was wondering if I could get your help with something."

"Yes?"

"I'm a bit behind since I transferred so late and I was hoping, if you don't mind, you could help me get caught up?" So basically help with schoolwork; it seemed logical to Billy. Though none of the Rangers were slackers, all pretty much good students, Billy was the best. At schoolwork or things of an academic and scientific nature at least. Coming to him made sense, especially when he already tutored people anyway.

Billy took a moment to think over it and then nodded, deciding it was fine. Might help him get over some of the residual bad feeling he had. "Alright then Tommy, I would be glad to assist you."

"Really?" Tommy said seeming happy, "Awesome."

Billy nodded once more. "How about tomorrow, you can come to my house around one and I can see what areas of study you need the most assistance in."

"Sounds great," the green ranger said and smiled at Billy, "Thanks Billy."

Billy wanted to say it was nothing, that Tommy didn't need to thank him, but in that moment they found the vendor and Tommy ran on ahead to start ordering for the group. Billy was left following behind, watching their newest friend and thinking to himself about his agreement. Something felt weird about it but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Shrugging a bit Billy sped up his own approach to join Tommy at the vendor; he could worry about it, whatever it was, later.

About an hour later found the two boys, and the rest of their friends, relaxing on the grass in the park; their admittedly unhealthy lunch of hot dogs and chips was long since consumed and the group was just relaxing for a bit, enjoying a nice day for being nice and not moving. Tommy sat by Kim and not so secretly there seemed to be some wish in them both to be even closer; Billy had of course noticed it before, back when they first met Tommy. Love at first sight, a strange occurrence and one he thought of as perhaps no more than fairy tales, or something much less admittedly sweet as what sat before him. Kimberly had liked him since the moment she saw him and Tommy seemed to feel the same yet two months later there were mostly just stolen looks and occasional touches that led nowhere.

Of course they were not the only ones; this thinking of love and affection made him think of the others. Zack had found a girl for he seemed completely smitten with though the progress of that had been slowed by her utter disinterest and seeming disgust for Zack. It was really sad to watch, mostly for how much he truthfully seemed to care for her but Billy knew sooner or later either she'd like him for who he was or his dancing friend would find another to give his heart to. With Jason and Trini it seemed to him as if the other two didn't really care for their own love lives, if they had one at all, encouraging the others; they always seemed to be pushing the others along, whether it was teasing Zack, nudging Tommy and Kim closer or even trying to get Billy to at least try to associate with more girls. Somehow Billy doubted the others really noticed, wrapped up in their own things but then again observing and analyzing was what he did best; when the others practiced their martial arts and gymnastics, he sat back and people watched. He by far did not understand everything and everyone but he liked to think he understood his friends.

Then, of course, was himself. But he always stopped himself before starting on self-analysis; that could only lead to trouble. He could find something in him he never wanted to, or worse yet be wrong. He preferred others to introspective, much simpler and that was saying something.

But maybe that was why he was alone; Kim and Tommy and Trini and Jason and Zack, they were all either not interested or actively pursuing. It wasn't that they weren't attractive enough. Honestly though he doubted he really was the kind girls might want, and after Marge...

He shook his head and someone spoke, "What's on your mind, Bill?"

Billy looked over to see Zack looking at him, leaned forward slightly with his arms on his knees. The others it turned out were staring at him too and he found himself unexpectedly, and mostly unwantedly, the center of attention.

He did not wish to share and smiled some. "Nothing of importance I assure you. Just the normal."

"Science stuff?" Zack asked laughing a bit.

Billy continued to smile and nod, watching as that seemed to reassure Zack and Trini. Tommy and Jason exchanged a look but ultimately seemed to just decide to believe him; only Kim continued to look unconvinced for a moment, something Billy both expected and was a bit concerned about. His friends were all perceptive, maybe it had to do with being a Ranger, maybe that was why they got chosen, but either way they noticed things. Though Billy could reassure them he had no doubt part of them was still curious and wasn't really fooled, and of them, when to came to him especially, Kimberly Hart was not easy to fool. And it wasn't because she was the Pink Ranger, heart of their team, and it wasn't because she was always so caring and kind; it was because she alone had known his mind, body switched by a fault in an experiment, and she could read him now. She could see past the lies, at least most of the time; he was pretty sure his half lie got past her but then again, maybe not. Kim was perhaps the trickiest of all.

He tried to give her a reassuring smile and Tommy said something to her, Billy wasn't really listening but it pulled her attention and quickly enough he found himself no longer of as much interest as the attractive Green Ranger. A blessing, he supposed, and he could have sworn he saw Tommy glance over with a small smile at him. But if so it was gone in the blink of an eye and like this was how the six rangers continued for a little longer.

Before going their separate ways, to go home, go train, to do whatever they did when they were individuals instead of part of the whole, they decided to have one more game. Maybe it was because Billy came in late to their last one, maybe it was because it was just such a beautiful day and it would be a pity not to enjoy it more, but quickly enough they found themselves involved in another round of Frisbee, running around and jumping to try and catch the elusive disc. It wasn't terribly strenuous, exactly how Billy liked it; he was getting better and he had already learn some helpful stuff when it came to fighting, both from Jason and from Trini's uncle Howard, but still he wasn't terribly big on physical exercise and wasn't, in his opinion at least, really all that built for it.

Case in point of the group he seemed to be the only one really managing to fail at catching the Frisbee, more than once having to chase it down as it ran from him. His friends didn't seem to mind at all, they never did; the others always encouraged him, always pushed him forward and didn't judge him. He was glad for them, having them as his friends, but he couldn't help but notice the difference between them, a valley of skill that, as he jumped up and caught the Frisbee, throwing it back, had him thinking yet again about his real worth as a ranger. He tried not to dwell on it, tried to push it from his mind, focusing on his friends, on playing and having fun with them.

He found himself laughing some, smiling as the Frisbee flew towards Jason and Zack and in true comedic two stooges fashion the dancer and the martial artist both tried to grab for it only to collide and stumble away, letting it escape. Trini bit back her own laughter and Kim put a hand over her mouth to hide her giggles; Tommy smirked and shook his head as the black and red rangers recovered from their accidental head-butt. "You two okay?"

"Yeah, just spinning from smacking my poor head against that rock Jason calls a skull," Zack said a little dramatically.

"Dude, if my head's a rock, yours is definitely some kind of super rock; twice the density and twice the pain," Jason replied, rubbing his head.

"There is actually no solid categorized as a 'super rock'," Billy interjected, still smiling, "Though diamond is considered the hardest geological mineral and would thus be harder than common slate or quartz."

"So you're saying my head is a diamond." There was a second of contemplation on the idea of Zack's head being made of diamond before everyone started laughing again. The Frisbee lay forgotten a few feet away as the game was abandoned in favor at trying to imagine the Black Ranger's head being a big diamond. It was pretty comical, or maybe they were just a bit hyperactive.

Jason grabbed the Frisbee and the group ended up saying their goodbyes for the day with that last image. Tommy walked Kim home, perhaps as part of an attempt to get some alone time, and Jason did the same with Trini; Zack was still chuckling as he walked off, leaving Billy alone. The genius sighed a bit before starting his own trek home; his mind started moving again, settling down from the silly moment and returning to other things.

His trepidation about Tommy coming over to study the next day was high on his list. He supposed it was that he was uncomfortable with him, though part of this was to help with that, but it felt like it was more than that. Much more.

His mind moved onto issue two, Tsuki at his house, and the click came. He wasn't too sure how he could have forgotten about the winged girl currently convalescing in his guest room but it struck him, like a truck head on going eighty miles an hour, that her being there and Tommy coming over might become a problem.

If he was the swearing type he might have; instead he cursed his mind for forgetting such an important thing. Now to try and deal with it; how to at least try and keep down the damage that was likely to ensue? Tommy was sure to notice her and realize Billy had been, half, lying to his friends about what he had been up to last night and of course the Green Ranger had no reason to keep Billy's secret. They barely knew each other after all. Billy supposed he could at least try to keep her hidden; if he did as he usually did with tutoring, restricting it mostly to the garage area, and Tsuki being injured stayed just to her room, then it was possible but unlikely; Tommy would be suspicious if Billy forbid him to enter the rest of the house and if he was anything like Jason, which they both knew he was, he'd probably go exploring anyway out of curiosity. Confining Tsuki herself shouldn't be too hard considering it seemed last night at least she couldn't move easily with her wing hurt so it all came down to how to keep Tommy from stumbling upon the strange guest in Billy's house.

Nothing had really come to him by the time he got back to his home; the best he had was not letting Tommy out of his sight and keep Tsuki quiet in the guest room, hopefully without making her feel bad for even being there. He didn't really want to do that.

He opened the front door and noticed first the strange noises; they seemed, after a moment of thought, to be originating from the kitchen. His mind skipped to a whole menagerie of ideas of what was going on but of course, walking into said kitchen, Occam's Razor came into play.

Tsuki was standing before one counter top, her injured wing somehow folded in enough to fit in the room; she didn't seem to notice him yet and was instead humming as she continued what she was doing. He stopped for a moment to watch, stare in confusion before shaking his head to try and clear it and speak, "Tsuki?"

She jumped and her wing ruffled, looking ready to unfold violently but it appeared she maintained enough control to keep from doing so; she did turn though, eyes wide as she looked at him, like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. In her hand was a spatula and just beyond her on the counter Billy could now make out the bowl full of something that apparently she had been stirring. She blinked. "Billy!"

"Tsuki, what are you doing?" he asked, furrowing his brow as he walked over, "Should you be moving about? How is your injury? How did you extract yourself from the room with your appendage expanded as it is?"

"Oh um," she said and bit her lip, looking away and at the bowl, "Well I was bored and hungry and you were gone and I thought maybe..."

"Maybe?"

"Maybe...it would be nice...if I made you something?" she said giving a weak sort of smile, obviously hoping it would turn out as something good in his mind too and not a nusiance. The weakness betrayed her own fears, an insecurity that honestly touched him and once more he found himself assured, even just to himself, that there was no way she could be a monster.

He smiled back at her after a moment, a way to tell her that no, it was not bad, and he looked to the bowl and it's unknown form within. "What is it then?"

"Oh cookies," she said and her smile grew some, her feathers fluttering again as she spoke, "I don't know why but they were the first thing that came to mind."

"Cookies." Billy had as much of a sweet tooth as anyone honestly and he found himself wondering when last it was that he had had home baked cookies. A closer look told him little of what kind; he didn't bake or cook, his last attempt causing Kim to scold him greatly, admittedly for failing so badly while pretending to be her. Still it made him chuckle a little and feel warmed at her consideration.

"Can you effectively maneuver to operate the oven?" With her wing the way it was it had to be difficult to move about, not to mention bend down enough to be able to put cookies into the oven. It occurred to him she still had not answered his inquiry on how he got out of the room.

She thought for a moment, tilting her head. "I don't know. I mean it was not too difficult getting out here; my wing isn't in such a bad state that I can't move it about so I just moved it so I could get through the door and hallway to here. But I will admit that it may be difficult to actually put these into the oven..."

Tsuki looked disappointed and her wings even seemed to droop some. Billy couldn't resist feeling a bit bad about it and tried to cheer her up some. "No worries, Tsuki. How about you work on the creation of formation of the baked confectioneries and I will assist you by handling the actual transportation and placement into the heating receptacle?"

She blinked at him again but livened up quickly enough and smiled, nodding. "Sure Billy, thanks~"

He smiled in return and watched as she returned to stirring; he was fascinated honestly, he always was in this sort of situation. He could barely handle sandwiches, and while he could create new complex chemical bonds, he could build a car that could fly, he could make a machine that could switch minds, he couldn't get how to make cookies properly, how to put together a casserole, to cook. But she seemed able to; she hummed again and he had a sensation come over him, like an old memory. Someone else standing in that kitchen and cooking and it filled him with nostalgia, and sadness. He felt sad remembering and he tried not to look away, his eyes tracking as Tsuki grabbed a spoon and started to spoon out balls of dough onto a cookie sheet, carefully placing each, methodical, perfect. And she looked up at him, red and blue meeting again before she smiled and spoke, "First batch ready for the oven."

He blinked, taking a second to remember what he had promised only seconds before then nodded, grabbing the sheet carefully and opening the oven with one hand, glad to find it already preheated. All he need do was put it in and closing the door after he stood up straight again to look at her, finding her smiling at him, watching him too. Tommy crossed his mind again, and what was to happen the next day, and he wondered if this was really going to be okay and what to do and whether it would be better to hide her or not, to hope to keep Tommy to one area of the house or trap Tsuki in her room instead. He felt conflicted and worried and here she was making him cookies while he was thinking of forcing her to stay in one room for what would be likely more than a few hours.

"I apologize for leaving you to awaken from your slumber alone," he spoke finally, not on what he really wanted to but on something that did also minorly worry him; she had to have felt confused, awakening in the strange place without him.

Tsuki looked concerned for a moment then shook her head, smiling; her wings fluttered again as she spoke, "It's alright Billy, you left me a note after all so I wasn't too worried about you. I'm just thankful for your help last night; I never could have gotten anywhere on my own in as much pain as I was."

He smiled in relief. "Good to hear. Not that you were incapable of solitary movement without assistance, rather that I am relieved to know you were not concerned or frightened."

"Of course, I trusted you to do what you thought was right after all," Tsuki told him and smiled brightly at him.

Guilt stabbed at his heart and he furrowed his brow. "Right...what I thought was right..."

"Billy?" She noticed the strangeness in his response and her expression turned concerned, not for herself but him; she was worried about him. How sweet.

"Um...I do believe that we are in need of a talk, Tsuki." He walked over to the dining room table, taking a seat and waiting for her to do the same.

The winged girl tilted her head again then followed, struggling slightly but finally managing to sit with her wings still partially unfolded. Billy took a deep breath, deciding he should; he had to tell her, to try and get her to understand his mistake and maybe, just maybe, get some advice on what to do next. After all he realized, even if she did trust him to make the right choice, he was not so certain in his own being. And a little advice goes a long way.