Greetings Everyone!

I apoligize most profusely for the lull between chapters as i have begun working on the Asam/Tyler side story.

But here is the next chapter!

you know the drill so i will not be bothering with disclaimers. you know what's mine and what isn't

Read on!

Kim had been sitting in a chair on the bridge for a while now. She never thought she would find herself on the bridge of a space ship. Not to mention the Astro Megaship mark 2.

She like the rest of the world had watched coverage of the final showdown between the space ranges and the forces of Dark Specter .

But to Actually be around fellow rangers again. She had to admit that she wished she could have joined the fight. And she would have, had she known she still possessed the Crane powers.

But she knew that at the time her kids were barely a year old. And she was still hiding from that bastard Demetrius. And now here she was hiding once more while her friends and the father of their children took him down.

The warrior in her growled in frustration. She knew that she wanted to be in the action. Surely if she showed up, Demetrius would come after her.

The thought hit her like proverbial lightning.

She would be the ultimate bait. If she showed up, He would be sure to materialize.

As soon as the thought hit her she knew that it would be a bad idea. All the others had sacrificed much to keep her safe and she did not want all that trouble to be for nothing.

And that meant that she needed to stay safe.

I stopped being a ranger long ago. The second I handed my power coin to Kat I stopped being a hero.

Grimacing, she got up and left the bridge to check on the kids.

She walked through the corridors till she got to the Simudeck.

"D.E.C.A, please freeze the program."

"Program frozen."

She opened the door to see her Daughter and Tyler looking at her.

"What's up mom? Terra said as she turned from the putty that was hanging in mid air.

"Checking up on you." she smiled at the other boy in the room. "Hi Tyler."

"Hi Miss Hart."

Kimberly looked around the room. "Where's your brother?" she asked her daughter.

"He said he wanted to take a nap. He's in our quarters."

Kim's eyes narrowed. Since when has my son ever needed a nap in the middle of the day?

"Okay then. Just be careful guys."

She walked out of the doors. "D.E.C.A. please resume the program."

"Resuming program."


Kim headed right for her quarters. When she opened the doors she frowned. Her son was lying on the bed having discarded his crutches on the floor. His foot was propped up on some pillows.

"Honey? Are you awake?"

"Yeah mom. I'm awake."

Kimberly sat on the bed and kissed her son on the forehead. "Since when does my son need a nap in the middle of the day?"

"Since I became a useless cripple."

Kim shot her son daggers. "You, Mr. Hart are not a useless cripple. And no son of mine is gonna believe such nonsense. From what I heard you are a hero."

TJ turned his head to look at his mother. "Mom. I got sloppy. I should have known that ninja would pull a stunt like that. Uncle Mike was always warning me against using my round house kick so much. And I used it anyway. And now I get to pay for my mistake by sitting here with my stupid leg in a stupid cast."

"Sloppy or not, the three of you managed to hold off a large troupe of foot soldiers and only Billy had powers. You and your sister held them off without power and that is nothing less than amazing."

She affectionately tickled her son's stomach. "You my dear are hardly useless."

"Awe Mom." he gasped between laughter. 'That's not fair. I'm crippled."

Kim furrowed her brow. "Cripple? Where? I don't see a cripple. All I see is a strong young boy who shouldn't be laying here in bed and should be sharing a mega large double chocolate chip sundae with me in the in the kitchen."

TJ's eyes danced. "You really mean it? Double chocolate chip?" Kim laughed. "I thought you'd like that. Now come on!" She pulled her son up and helped him with his crutches.


Back on the Simudeck

Terra and Tyler finished off the last of the putties and collapsed on the floor completely out of breathe. They both lay there for a few minutes. Recovering from the battle. Finally after several minutes Tyler slowly sat up and looked down at Terra.

"That was totally wicked. I have never trained that hard. My dad has told me all about the foot soldiers that he and the other rangers used to fight. I wouldn't dare try to fight them. I know I'm not that good."

Terra cocked her head. "How long have you known that your dad was a ranger?"

Tyler shrugged. "It's been about a year and a half. I heard uncle rocky yelling at your dad and Jason about not including him. And that he was a red ranger once and should have been allowed to go. Then Dad butted in and pointed out that when he switched colors he wasn't a red ranger anymore."

"I thought it was so cool! I asked my dad about it later that night. He wasn't happy with me for 'eavesdropping' on private business. He told me that as rangers they weren't supposed to tell anyone that they were rangers."

Tyler smiled at her. "It must have been cool being a ranger. Fighting monsters that were bigger than the sears tower in giant robots! And getting to go to other planets! That is sooo wicked!"

Terra had to agree with him. The fact that her parents were both rangers was beyond awesome not to mention the fact that her dad was a legendary ranger.

"I wish we could still get to see them. The Zords. Dad told me that some of the zords are intact." continued Tyler.

Terra's eyes sparkled. "I remember TJ telling me that the green ranger had a giant Dragonzord. He said that it never blew up or was destroyed. So it must still be in the lake!" she said excitedly.

"Well your dad was the green ranger. Maybe he can take us to go see it!" It's worth asking. I bet when they get back from kicking that guy's butt they can take us to see it."

Terra frowned. "I hope they're okay. I don't want to lose my dad. I hope he's okay."

Tyler smiled at her. "Your dad's the legendary ranger." he can handle anything. And plus my dad's with him! They'll be fine!"


At the condo

Billy sat back in his chair. It had been about 6 hours since the first team left for the dojo. From his makeshift command center he had set up in the kitchen he had been listening to all the communications.

So far everyone had checked in. Andros had seen that classes were in session. But for some reason that Keiser kid wasn't heading up the classes.

That fact made him more than a little uneasy. He had told Andros to be careful. That had been hours ago.

Then not even a few minutes later the rest of teams began checking in. So far nothing. Had this been any other situation he would have thought that no news is good news. But in this current crisis he wished that son of a bitch would show himself.

Billy headed to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of coke and began to sip it. Then he heard a beep. "This is Zhane calling in. We have spotted Demetrius."

Billy set his drink on the counter. "Billy here. What have you got?"

"Demetrius is walking this way. His entourage including that Keiser kid is following him."

Billy leaned closer. "Has he targeted any of the girls?"

"No but the girls are…doing their jobs. If I weren't so in love with Karone, these girls would have gotten my attention immediately."

Zhane, please spare me the details. Just let me know if he takes interest in any of the girls.

There was silence for about 5 minutes.

"Billy, this is Zack. Come in."

"I hear you. What's going on."

As Billy listened to the transmission, he heard Kat come in and lean on the counter beside him.

"He's talking to Tanya. And that side kick of his is talking to Cassie."

"Alright. Keep your distance but keep an eye on them. Billy out."

Billy frowned. Adam was not going to like this. A part of him had hoped that Tanya would not be chosen. But she did choose to do this.

"Why could he not have chosen Aisha. At least she has powers if things get ugly." he said as Kat held him close.

"Tanya chose this." his wife answered soothingly. "She knows what she's doing. Besides. She has the other rangers watching out for her. All we can do is go on with the plan."

Billy turned and gave his wife a gentle kiss. "I know Kat. But Adam is gonna flip when he hears this."

Kat sighed. "There's a reason why Tommy and Jason split up the couples. All we can do is-"

"Tommy to Billy. Come in."

"Billy here."

"The guy's not here. Have the others checked in?"

Billy swallowed. "Affirmative. Demetrius and his sidekick have been spotted at the beach."

"And?"

"Tanya and Cassie. He's taken the bait."

Tommy was silent.

"Alright keep me posted."

Billy grimaced. "Affirmative. Billy out."


Zack threw the frisbee to Zhane who threw it to Jason. It had not taken the silver ranger to get the hang of this game. But he could tell that none of them were enjoying themselves.

Jason's lips were pursed in quiet anger. But he didn't stop the game. Zhane was only paying enough attention to keep the flying disk going between them.

Aisha lay back on her blanket, pretending to bask in the sun but behind her sunglasses she was watching the action not even twenty feet away from her.

The man called Demetrius was sitting cross legged from Tanya in a pair of swimming trunks. They seemed to be talking amiably. And even laughing.

Inwardly cringing she watched as he briefly touched her leg and tanya swatted his hand away. She was so glad Adam couldn't see this.

Not even two feet from her she saw Cassie chatting it up with the younger kid no older than 20. He had blonde hair and if he wasn't the evil jerk she knew him to be he could even be considered hot.

Right. Even Rocky's hotter than he is.

She smiled at the thought of him in a set of swimming trunks. He was very athletic. Focus Girl, you are here for surveillance. Not to dream of Rocky.

Zack glanced at the Zhane and made a subtle gesture and then did the same to Jason. After tossing the frisbee he walked away. Doing what he could to look as casual as possible, he sauntered over to Aisha and gave her what he hoped looked like a flirtatious grin.

"Hey gorgeous is there enough room for two on this blanket?"

She looked him up and down…I guess so." she knew he was trying to keep up appearances but she cringed…feeling like she was betraying Rocky…even though they weren't 'together'.

But still, she knew she needed to keep up appearances.

"So, what's the real reason for you bothering me?"

Zack grinned like she had told a funny joke. "I just needed to borrow some sun block though I may get a sunburn just sitting next to you."

Aisha rolled her eyes. She opened her beach bag still keeping an eye on the other two. And nonchalantly handed it over to her 'admirer'

Zack made to reach over and instead he put his lips near her ear. "It's almost time to head to the clubs. You know what we need to do…oh and please don't tell Rocky. He'll kick my ass if he thought I was trying to get cozy with you."

He pulled away. "Well thank you for letting me share your blanket but the guys and I have places to be."

Then he got up and walked away. He turned and flashed her the 'call me sign' and ran back to the guys.

As they walked away, Aisha got up and began to gather her things. She glanced at the other girls. She still hated the fact that Tanya and Cassie had become the targets.


Back at the condo Billy spoke into the communicator. "It's all set up Trini. I have gotten word from Aisha. Demetrius has asked her to join him at Club Rivera tomorrow night. You can proceed to that safe haven you set up last night."

Right. We're heading out that way now. There was silence on the line. 'Take care of Adam. He'll be devastated when he finds out." she added in a quiet voice.

Billy felt the gravity of her words. "I don't know that anything we try will help him."

"Trini out."

Billy signed off and shared a look of sadness with his wife. Then they walked into the living room.

Kim closed her eyes and sat back in the chair. She was glad that the kids were busy having dinner. She wanted more than anything to go down there and take Tanya's place. But the plan was set in motion now. All any of them could do now was play this hand out. Thankfully there were more than enough rangers with active powers in the mix now. Still she could just feel that something was going to go wrong.

"Be careful Tanya." she said quietly

So, the wheels are set in motions. It will be one hell of a ride!

thank you for the reivews! I can't believe i passed the 100th review marker! thank you all so much!

For all you readers who were interested in the Tyler/Adam side story..i have posted the first two chapters!

If you have time feel free to check out my Adam/Tanya one shot!

see you next chapter!