Another chapter down enjoy all!

"Adam?" Tanya said as she turned off the lights and climbed into bed.

He was already in bed, eyes closed and half asleep.

"Hmm?" he mumbled.

"Have you noticed anything going on between Tommy and Kim?" she asked, snuggling close to him.

"Like what?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her.

Tanya sighed.

"I don't know…" she said. "I mean, she's constantly hovering…"

"That's just Kim," Adam muttered. "Tommy's hurt, so she's fussing."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Tanya said. "It's probably nothing…"

Adam didn't answer. He'd fallen asleep. Comfortable and sleepy, Tanya left it alone and closed her own eyes.

Jason closed the door quietly behind him before turning and padding silently down the hallway to his own room. Mark had woken up briefly when they changed him into his pajamas, but a short bedtime story had remedied that. He was now fast asleep in his own bed. Trini was in the bathroom when Jason walked into his room, so he grabbed his pajamas to change.

"Well that didn't take long," Trini smiled as she walked out.

"He was tired," Jason shrugged. "I didn't even make it through the whole story before he was out."

"We'll have to thank Tommy again tomorrow," Trini said, climbing into bed.

Jason joined her, nodding in agreement.

"Mark really likes him," he said. "It'll be great once he's recovered. Maybe he'll watch Mark for a weekend and give us a chance to have some quiet time."

Trini laughed, reaching over and turning off her lamp.

"Maybe," she said. "But I think he's still got a ways to go before he'll be back to all of his normal activities. That last fight of theirs was pretty brutal."

"Yeah…" Jason sighed. "I'm just glad they're all alright. The kids are keeping up well, though."

"Were they surprised about the time capsule?" Trini asked.

"Yep," he answered. "Though I think they believed we were crazy for a moment, until they realized the chances of anyone finding that capsule anytime soon."

Shifting, Trini found a comfortable position, her head on Jason's shoulder.

"We're going to have to keep a closer eye on Tommy for the rest of the week," she mumbled. "Because he is determined to keep up with the rest of us as though nothing is wrong. Like picking up Mark this afternoon. He's trying to hide it, but I know his back is hurting him."

"That's nothing unusual," Jason muttered. "He's done that since high school. The whole fiasco with losing the green ranger powers…But I don't think we'll have to worry too much, between Kim and Hayley he's not going to get another chance. And as long as he doesn't go too far, we'll let him think he's hiding it."

"So Hayley was talking to me on the trail today," Kim said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"About what?" Ken yawned, walking back into the room.

"Tommy," she said.

Ken frowned.

"What about Tommy?" he asked.

Kim sighed, falling back on the bed.

"Hayley wants me to help keep an eye on him," she said. "You know how Tommy is. His back is bothering him a lot more than he's letting on, but he doesn't want everyone making a big fuss. I mean, some of the others wouldn't let him do anything if they knew how bad it really is. Jason, especially."

Ken sat down next to her.

"Well that's fine with me," he said. "And I'll help out where I can. I'm probably better than some of the rangers anyways. At least I won't go overboard on the protective thing."

He grinned down at her. Laughing, Kim swatted at him.

"What are you implying?" she asked.

"Nothing bad," he said. "But I think we'd better get some sleep. Especially if you're going to spend the rest of the week babysitting Tommy."

Rolling over, Kim grabbed a pillow and smacked Ken with it.

"Now lay down, Soph," Rocky sighed. "It's time for sleep."

She giggled, but stayed lying down. Taking a deep breath, Rocky straightened up and rejoined Aisha in their bed. It had been his turn to try and get Sophia to sleep. They'd been trying since they got back to the hotel, but the little girl just didn't want to sleep.

"So has Tommy said anything about his students?" Aisha asked as he climbed back under the covers. "Like why he brought them?"

"I don't know," Rocky said. "I didn't ask and no one said anything to me. I guess Adam and I just figured they wanted to see the festival."

Aisha sighed.

"But then why couldn't they just come on their own?" she said, half talking to herself now. "We can't speak freely around them. Or Hayley for that matter."

"But we're still having fun," Rocky said, pulling her closer. "So it doesn't really matter. And if we need to we can always ditch them somewhere for a while."

Aisha opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by a crash. Sophia was up again. Grumbling, Rocky threw back the blankets and went to take care of her.

"I still can't believe we haven't done this before," Zach mumbled, toothbrush in his mouth.

He and Billy were getting ready for bed down in the basement at Jason and Trini's house. Zach was currently wandering around while brushing his teeth, giving Billy a chance to use the sink.

"I mean, it's not like there haven't been plenty of chances," he continued, moving back into the bathroom once Billy moved. "Most of us have been in the area for at least the last few years. Except you. You've been on another planet."

"I do live there now," Billy said pointedly. "Where else did you expect me to be?"

Zach shrugged, rinsing his mouth out quickly and putting his toothbrush away.

"Who knows?" he said. "But we've got to do this again. It's great having everyone in the same place. And maybe we could go somewhere else next time. Can we come visit you?"

Billy shook his head as he walked toward the couch.

"I do not believe a visit to my home would be plausible for all of you," he said. "Particularly for Jason, Trini, Aisha, and Rocky. Mark and Sophia would not adjust well to being in space or living on Aquatar and it would not be practical to leave them with family, and unable to contact their parents, for such a long period of time."

"Yeah…I guess," Zach mumbled, following suit. "So when are you coming back again?"

"I have not planned my next visit to Earth," Billy answered, climbing into his side of the fold-out couch bed. "Perhaps in a few years I will return. It is too long a journey to make every year, and it would not suit my body to need to re-acclimate to the various planetary structures multiple times in such a short period."

Zach didn't say anything for a moment, trying to follow what Billy had said. Shaking his head, he frowned as he climbed into his side and grabbed his blanket off of the floor before wrapping it around himself.

"Uh huh…" he finally said. "But we should do this again."

Sighing, Billy reached over and clicked off the lamp as both men settled in for the night. It was silent for a few moments.

"Wait a minute!" Zach exclaimed, breaking the silence. "Was Jason calling me fat, earlier? You know, when he said they could even fit me into the dune buggy?"

Billy groaned, rolling over.

Sighing, Kat rolled over again, trying to get comfortable.

"I hate sleeping in big beds like this by myself," Kat muttered as she shifted. "It feels so empty… And it's so quiet in here…"

Pulling the blanket up higher, she rolled over again.

"How is it that I'm the only one sleeping in a room all by myself?" she grumbled, then sighed again. "Don't be stupid, Kat—you know why…"

Groaning, Kat gave up on trying to get comfortable and rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling.

"Alright, enough is enough," she said to the empty room. "You know who you want to be with right now, so do something about it—you can't expect him to just come back to you on a whim. Work for it."

Taking a deep breath, Kat nodded to herself.

"And starting tomorrow, I'm going to," she said firmly. "I'm going to get him back."

Closing the door carefully behind her, Hayley smiled when she saw Tommy stretched out in the bed.

"Are they all asleep?" he mumbled as she clicked off the light.

"Just about," she answered, shaking her head and moving toward the bed. "Conner was the last one up. He took that box of granola bars to bed with him. I think he may have fallen asleep with one in his mouth."

"As long as he doesn't choke…" Tommy muttered.

Hayley laughed quietly as she climbed into the bed, snuggling up to Tommy.

"Ethan is right there," she said. "If Conner chokes he'll wake up—well, I hope he will…"

Tommy chuckled, wrapping his arms around Hayley and pulling her closer.

"And shouldn't you be asleep?" she asked, not protesting.

"I sleep better when you're here," he mumbled into her neck.

"Mmm hmm…" she said. "Go to sleep."

The next morning, Tommy woke up and looked over to see Hayley still fast asleep. He smiled, brushing some hair out of her face before carefully climbing out of the bed. She didn't stir. The last few days of being the first to rise and the last to sleep, plus having to constantly keep an eye on the team, were starting to get to her. So Tommy slipped silently out of the room without waking her up.

"I'll wake her up after the kids are ready to go," he said quietly to himself.

Out in the main room, the first thing he noticed was the box of granola bars on the floor by the couch bed. It had tipped over, spilling some of its contents across the floor. Sighing, Tommy walked over and leaned down to pick it up.

"Mmm…" he groaned, wincing as he straightened up.

Then he paused, staring at the scene on the bed. Conner had indeed fallen asleep with the box on the couch. As proof, there were empty wrappers and few still-wrapped granola bars scattered all over the bed. Most of the wrappers were stuck to either Conner or Ethan. Conner also had a partially eaten granola bar stuck to the side of his face, his mouth hanging wide open as he snored. Shaking his head, Tommy pulled his phone out of his pocket. He'd grabbed in on the way out of the bedroom.

"Hayley's gonna want to see this," he chuckled as he snapped a picture.

He took a quick look to make sure it had come out and then stuck the phone back in his pocket. Taking a few steps back, Tommy took a deep breath.

"Conner!" he barked.

Conner immediately bolted upright, looking around wildly.

"I didn't fall asleep during the test!" he protested as Tommy started laughing. "I—Dr. O! Why did you wake me up? And what's thi—aww man…"

As Tommy continued to laugh, Conner grumbled and removed the granola bar from his face, trying to wipe the sticky mess off. Next to him, Ethan muttered something unintelligible and whipped around a pillow, hitting Conner in the back of the head.

"Hey!" Conner exclaimed, now trying to remove all of the wrappers from his arms.

"Alright, come on, Ethan," Tommy said, still chuckling. "Time to get up."

"Fine," Ethan muttered, rolling over.

Wrappers crinkled underneath him and Ethan frowned, sitting up as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"Aww man…" he groaned, peeling a couple of wrappers off of himself. "Conner!"

But Conner wasn't listening.

"I need a shower," Conner grumbled, climbing out of bed.

"Uh uh," said Tommy, shaking his head. "Ethan first."

"But—" Conner protested.

"Well, maybe next time you won't sleep with a box of food," Tommy said, raising an eyebrow.

"Thanks, Dr. O!" Ethan grinned, jumping out of bed.

He bolted for the bathroom, leaving Conner grumbling on the bed.

"What's going on?" Trent muttered from behind the couch, sitting up on his cot.

As an answer, Tommy walked over and held out his phone with the picture. Trent burst out laughing, falling backward on the cot and holding his rib cage.

"Ow—That hurts…" he groaned as he tried to stop laughing. "Don't make me laugh like that!"

"Sorry," Tommy said. "But the picture was a far better answer. Time to get up."

Trent nodded as he took slow breaths. Walking away, Tommy paused by the door to Kira's room and knocked.

"Kira," he said. "Time to get up."

Trusting that she'd get moving, Tommy headed back to his own room to wait for a turn in the shower.

Despite the slightly chaotic start to the morning, the Dino rangers were still the first ones at the street fair. As they waited for the rest of the rangers, they lounged on a couple of benches. Jason and the crew from his house showed up next.

"For the last time, Zach," Jason snapped as they all walked up. "I was not calling you fat!"

"Then what was that comment supposed to mean?" Zach demanded. "Saying even me?"

Jason sighed, rolling his eyes.

"I meant we could put up with having you," Jason said.

"Oh, so now you're calling me annoying?" Zach said.

"Ahh!" Jason exclaimed in frustration, throwing his hands up.

"Annoying?" Mark repeated, tugging Jason's pant leg.

"Yes, Mark," Trini sighed. "Uncle Zach is annoying."

Cocking his head, Mark looked up at Zach.

"What's annoying?" he asked.

Zach immediately looked at Trini and Jason.

"How do you explain annoying to a four-year-old?" he asked, slightly panicked.

"Like this," Jason smirked, crouching down next to this son. "Mark, we'll tell you when you're older."

Mark studied Jason for a moment, and then he saw Tommy and the Dino rangers walking over.

"Uncle Tommy!" he cried, running over and hugging Tommy's leg.

"Well that worked," Zach said. "Really effective."

"He's four," Trini said drily. "His attention span is not his strong suit."

Tommy laughed, ruffling Mark's hair.

"Kind of like someone else I know," he said.

"Hey!" Zach exclaimed.

"Wasn't talking about you, Zach," Tommy said, shaking his head. "I was talking about Conner."

"Hey!" Conner exclaimed. "That is so not cool, Dr. O! I can pay atten—Oh! What's that?"

One of the food booths had caught his attention.

"Case in point," Hayley said, tucking her arm into Tommy's.

"His lack of attention span creates quite a dilemma," Billy mused. "It does indicate that he is highly aware of his surroundings while at the same time proving a lack of focus that could be detrimental in certain situations."

"No kidding," Tommy muttered.

"You understood that?" Zach asked, leaning closer to Tommy.

"I got used to it with Hayley," Tommy answered.

Zach nodded in acknowledgement.

"That's alright," Ken chuckled, his arm around Kim's shoulders. "I think most of us were like that at some point. He's bound to get it under control at some point."

"I don't know about that," Kim said, shaking her head. "Look at Rocky."

"Good point," Ken conceded. "But even Rocky can keep focused when he really tries."

"Try what?" Rocky interrupted, yawning.

The rest of the rangers had arrived in time to hear the end of the conversation.

"Try to focus," Ken answered.

"On what?" Rocky asked, frowning as he looked around.

Ken started to say something else, but Kim just shook her head.

"Don't," she said. "He's still half asleep. You'll just go in circles."

"She's right, though, Rocky," Jason commented. "You look like you're sleepwalking."

"Sophia kept us up all night," Aisha sighed, shifting her daughter to the other hip. "She wouldn't sleep at all…"

The two-year-old was fussing in her arms, crying and clinging to Aisha. Trini immediately looked away, trying to keep comments to herself.

"Hungry!" Mark declared, tugging on Tommy's pant leg.

"Didn't you eat breakfast at home?" Tommy asked.

"Yes," he answered. "But I'm hungry."

"So am I," Conner agreed.

Jason snorted.

"Geez, Tommy," he said. "Didn't you feed your kids?"

"Yes," said Tommy. "Conner twice."

"What?" said Conner, putting up his hands.

"And he slept with a box of granola bars," Hayley said. "The only box."

"Sorry…" Conner muttered.

"Don't worry, Hayley," Tommy said. "I rescued some of them. The ones that weren't half-melted and smashed or stuck to Conner and Ethan along with the wrappers."

"I found one in my pajama pants," Ethan muttered. "No idea how it got there…"

Conner immediately threw his hands up in the air.

"I did not do it," he said defensively. "It was not me."

Hayley sighed.

"Please tell me you threw that one in the trash…" she said.

"I don't know," Tommy said, shaking his head. "I was already back in the bedroom by that point."

"Don't worry, I did," Ethan reassured her.

"But you should see the picture Dr. O got of them," Trent grinned. "It's great."

Kira smirked, nodding in agreement as she leaned against Trent.

"I'm thinking about making it my new screensaver," Hayley said.

"Hey!" Conner and Ethan exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Ethan," Hayley said. "I'll cut you out of that one since you were the victim. It's going to replace the one of you two cleaning the lab."

"I like that one," Tommy commented.

"So do I," Hayley said. "Maybe I'll just make it a slide show. I've got enough pictures by this point."

"Hayley!" Conner exclaimed as she laughed.

"Come on," she said. "Let's find you a snack."

She stepped away with Conner and Mark to find something they could both munch on.

"Lab?" Adam asked.

"Yeah," Tommy sighed. "They were goofing around and Conner had his soccer ball—well, they knocked something over and it spilled everywhere. I didn't want it getting on anyone or anything else, especially with all the traffic going through there on a daily basis, so I made them clean it up instead of waiting for it to evaporate."

"Well, if they make the mess then they should be responsible for cleaning it," Tanya said. "It was the right thing to do."

Tommy shrugged. The group started moving down the sidewalk. Kat, who had been standing silently toward the back of the group, took the moment to move closer to Tommy.

"How's your back this morning?" she asked, taking his arm and leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Oh," he said, surprised at the attention. "Hi, Kat. Umm…It's fine…"

"That's great!" she exclaimed, giggling as she smiled up at him.

By the lunch time, the rangers were all starting to slow down, especially the group that had been walking the day before, other than Kim and Hayley. Trini, even though she'd paced herself with them, was sore, too, just not as sore as the other hikers. Even Kira, who was still limping, was moving faster than they were. Kat was still holding Tommy's arm. She'd been talking with him almost nonstop since the group had first started walking.

"Why do you keep touching Uncle Tommy?" Mark asked, looking up at her as they all paused next to a booth.

Kat looked down at him in surprise, letting go of Tommy and blushing as she tried to come up with an answer.

"Cause she's my friend, Mark," Tommy answered for her, ruffling the little boy's hair. "Just like you."

"Oh!" Mark exclaimed. "Ok!"

He hugged Tommy's leg again, laughing.

"You know, it's harder to walk when you're attached," Tommy smiled, looking down at him.

But Mark just giggled.

"My turn!" Kim announced, slipping in between Kat and Tommy before Kat could take his arm again.

She didn't give Kat a chance to argue, attaching herself to Tommy's arm with a smile.

"Kim," Tommy sighed. "Am I ever going to get a chance to walk with anyone else? Or just by myself?"

"You don't like walking with me?" Kim pouted as they started moving again, leaving Kat staring after them.

"I didn't say that!" Tommy protested, walking with Mark still attached to his leg.

"Good," Kim said.

Tommy sighed and just kept going. Kat watched them for a moment and then dropped back to talk to Aisha and Tanya.

"Can you believe her?" Kat grumbled. "That's so inappropriate."

"You said it, girl," Aisha agreed. "She should be spending time with Ken, not hanging on Tommy. She lost that chance a long time ago and there's no going back for her."

She was taking a break from carrying around Sophia, who was currently getting a piggyback ride from Rocky.

"Did you notice the glares you were getting from Hayley?" Tanya commented.

"Yeah," Kat sighed. "But I kind of expected that…I mean, the last time we spoke she did tell me to stay away from Tommy. It's actually a little surprising that she hasn't said anything. The looks I was getting from Kira were unexpected, though."

"I noticed those, too," Tanya said. "I wonder what those are about…"

"I don't know," Aisha said, frowning.

A shout from a short distance away caught their attention, along with the rest of the rangers and all of the people in the immediate area.

"Would you leave me alone?" Conner yelled. "Why are you following me? You're being creepy."

He was standing in the middle of the pathway, glaring at a mime that had been wandering the fairgrounds. The mime had latched on to their group when he saw Conner's initial reaction and had been following them since, making faces and doing funny things when Conner wasn't looking and then acting innocent when he turned around.

"Well that was rude," Trent said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry," Conner protested. "But I—well, I don't like mimes…they're weird…"

Ethan, Trent, and Kira started snickering.

"Geez, Conner," Ethan said. "First you have a problem with swimming, now it's mimes. What's it going to be next? Bunny rabbits?"

"They do have teeth," Conner muttered as an answer. "And they're sharp."

The mime looked at him in surprise as the other three teens started laughing harder. Ethan started coughing again and had to walk away to catch his breath. Tommy and Hayley both sighed as the rest of the rangers stared. Shaking her head, Hayley walked over to the mime.

"Alright," she said. "I know you're just doing your job, but—"

She glanced over her shoulder at Conner, who had just scooted around her, and had to suppress a laugh. Taking a deep breath, she held up a hand to the mime, signaling to give her a moment. Turning back around, she almost made it back to Tommy before she lost it. He just raised an eyebrow.

"I can't," she sputtered. "I just can't…"

Groaning, Tommy walked over to the mime and started having a quiet, albeit one-sided, conversation with him. He left Mark and Kim standing next to Hayley.

"Well we know how to freak out Conner, now," Jason commented, joining Kim and Hayley, who was still trying not to laugh at Conner.

"Daddy!" they heard Mark exclaim. "He looks like you!"

Jason spun around in shock to find Mark pointing at a costumed actor who was dressed as the original red ranger, and surrounded by other actors in ranger costumes.

"Jason!" Kim hissed, smacking his arm as all of the rangers stared in horror.

"Oh boy," Jason muttered, rushing over to grab Mark.

He scooped his son up quickly, muttering an apology to the costumed person.

"No, no, Mark," Jason said hurriedly as he moved away from the group of actors. "I'm right here. I know I'm wearing red today, but I'm not dressed as a power ranger. The red in my clothes is the only similarity."

"But daddy—" Mark started to protest.

Jason quickly clapped a hand over the four-year-old's mouth to stop him from saying anything else he shouldn't. Tommy, who had just finished talking to the mime, turned around and looked at Jason.

"Please tell me I didn't just hear that, bro," he muttered, grabbing Jason's arm as he came over.

"Oh, you did," Jason said. "We should probably get out of here. People are staring…"

"Daddy?" Mark said. "Why did you grab me?"

"I'll explain later, Mark," Jason sighed.

"But you're right, Jase," Tommy said. "We need to get out of here. Why don't we go back to the hotel and spend the afternoon by the pool?"

"Great idea!" Jason exclaimed. "Alright everyone, back to the cars and get your swimsuits, we're going to spend the afternoon at the hotel pool."

The rest of the rangers looked at him in surprise, but as there were still people staring at them suspiciously so no one argued as he started shooing them toward the cars. Trini had Mark now while Jason was busy with the rangers.

"We're going to go swimming, sweetheart," she said, trying to distract him. "You get to play in the pool."

"Swimming?" said Mark, perking up and losing interest in the costumed actors.

Trini laughed, nodding in relief. Reaching the cars, everyone loaded up and headed out before they could draw any more attention to themselves.

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