"So Ellen tells me you've decided to remain on as the high school science teacher," Anton said.
He and Tommy were sitting in the hotel courtyard at one of the tables. They'd been sitting there for a while now, relaxing and talking in the sunshine. Tommy chuckled, nodding.
"Yeah," he said. "I figured I might as well. It's not like I'm going anywhere—and it'll be so much easier now that no one is trying to kill me."
Anton chuckled.
"I have to admit I'm a bit jealous," Anton said.
Tommy raised an eyebrow.
"Oh," he said. "So you want to be in a classroom everyday teaching high schoolers how not to blow themselves up in a chem lab? Or grading their papers?"
"No," Anton said, shaking his head. "I want you. There's a reason you went straight from being an intern to my partner."
"Ah," Tommy said. "Well, I'm sure Ellen will share me once in a while—I do get vacation occasionally. Unless she is still going to count that two month stretch when I was stuck in morph against me…"
"I think she could be persuaded to let that slide," Anton said drily. "Considering the circumstances."
Tommy laughed, nodding. Then something behind Anton's shoulder caught his attention and he froze.
"Crap," he muttered, looking for his crutches, which had fallen on the ground. "Just great…"
"Tommy?" Anton said, frowning. "Is everything alright?"
"They saw me," Tommy sighed, shaking his head.
Anton glanced over his shoulder to see Kat, Tanya, and Aisha making their way across the courtyard. Kat's foot was apparently bothering her because she was limping more than normal with the walking cast.
"Aren't they your friends?" he asked, looking back at Tommy.
"Yeah, they are," Tommy said, running a hand through his hair. "And I really do like seeing them again—but having all of them here, all the time, is starting to drive me nuts."
Anton nodded in understanding as the three women reached them.
"Tommy!" Kat exclaimed, smiling at him. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," he said. "Just talking with a friend."
"Oh," she said, turning to Anton. "Kat Hillard."
She smiled, holding out a hand to shake his.
"Anton Mercer," he said pleasantly, shaking her hand.
"As in Mercer Industries?" Aisha exclaimed.
"The same," Anton nodded.
"Aisha DeSantos," Aisha said. "And this is Tanya Park."
Anton nodded, shaking each of their hands as well.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said.
"So, how did you and Tommy meet?" Tanya asked curiously.
"I was an intern on a project," Tommy said. "And then his partner—until he blew me up."
Anton shook his head.
"Must you introduce me like that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're going to scare people away from me. And, to be fair, you blew me up, too."
Tommy smirked.
"Actually," he said. "I didn't blow you up—but you did kidnap me."
Anton sighed, shaking his head.
"You're going to ruin my good name speaking like that," he muttered. "Anyways, it was a pleasure to meet you three ladies, but if you'll excuse us, Tommy and I are going to be late for an appointment if we don't hurry."
Tommy glanced at Anton in confusion, but didn't argue. The three women exchanged disappointed looks.
"What kind of appointment?" Aisha asked. "Will you be gone long?"
"We were hoping to have lunch with you," Kat added hopefully.
"Unfortunately I will be keeping Tommy away for most of the day," Anton said, shaking his head as he stood up. "I have several things I need him to work on—tedious work, but it must get done."
"Oh, alright," Kat sighed. "It was nice to meet you."
"Tommy?" Anton said. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah," Tommy said. "Just let me grab—oh. Thanks."
He'd started leaning over to grab his crutches, but Tanya beat him to them. Smiling in thanks, Tommy got himself up and started moving toward the car.
"Bye, Tommy," Kat said. "Let us know if you get back early and maybe we can have dinner. We'll be around."
"Sure," Tommy said, nodding as he kept moving toward the car with Anton. "I'll be sure to do that."
Leaving the girls in the courtyard, Anton and Tommy walked out to Anton's limo. Once they were inside with the doors closed, Tommy sighed in relief.
"So, what appointment is it we're going to?" Tommy asked. "I'm grateful to be out, but I wasn't aware of any meetings today."
Anton grinned.
"I thought we could go to the museum," he said. "If you're up for it. There are several displays I would love to have your opinion on. And I happen to know that an extremely comfortable chair has been moved into my office, perfect for sitting in to work in peace and quiet for several hours."
"Sounds great to me," Tommy said. "But I should probably tell Hayley I'm going to be gone."
As Tommy texted Hayley to let her know where he was going to be, Anton told the driver where they were going.
"So, are your friends always so—attentive?" Anton asked after a moment.
"You mean obnoxious?" Tommy said, running a hand through his hair. "No, not usually. I think they're just being a little overprotective right now since it's been so long since they've seen me and then all of a sudden I'm in the hospital… But after not talking to most of them for six years—well, let's just say I love having them back, but not the constant attention. Especially not all of them at one time. It went from none of them talking to me to no one will leave me alone… And somehow everything seems to get out of control so much faster… It's like they egg each other on without ever intending to."
Tommy sighed.
"I can handle them in smaller doses," he continued. "It's the full dose that's driving me nuts right now…It'll be better once I'm back to normal. Then I can just beat up whoever is annoying me. I can't do that right now…"
Anton laughed, shaking his head.
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," he said. "It seems to be a common solution—one I've seen Trent and the rest of the kids employ on multiple occasions."
"It's a ranger thing," Tommy shrugged. "So, what displays are we looking at?"
"Tommy!" Hayley called, walking into the hotel room. "Are you ready to go?"
"Just a second!" he yelled from the bathroom.
Sighing, Hayley rolled her eyes and sat down on the end of the bed. It was Friday morning and they were planning to be out for the day. After a few minutes the door to the bathroom opened and Tommy walked out on the crutches.
"Ready," he said, grinning at Hayley.
"Then let's go, slowpoke," she said. "I've got a café to open and a concert to get ready for."
They took the elevator to the lobby and headed out to the car. After helping Tommy into the car, Hayley hopped in the driver's seat and took off toward downtown. When they got to the café, Trent was already there and getting things ready to open for the day.
"Hey, Hayley," he said, glancing up from behind the counter. "Dr. O. Excited to be back here?"
"You have no idea," Tommy said. "I am so sick of staring at the same places for days on end."
Trent grinned.
"Yeah," he said. "Sitting still is not your forte, is it? I'll be glad when you can spar again. I get so much more practice against you than anyone else. Though Jason is fun."
Tommy laughed, moving over to the couch and taking a seat. Hayley glanced at her watch and then flipped the sign on the door to open. It would be a little while before they had a crowd, but that gave them a chance to eat something and relax before any of the students swarmed Tommy. He hadn't been to town since the accident and a lot of his students had been asking after him.
"Have you called Jason yet?" Tommy asked. "Or told the others about the concert?"
"No," Hayley answered, glancing over at him. "I wasn't sure who you wanted here."
Tommy shrugged.
"They can't really drive me too insane here," he said. "Not when it's going to be crowded with teenagers. Besides, there're a certain few people who really should see Kira's performance."
Hayley and Trent exchanged smiles as Tommy pulled out his phone.
"I've got some phone calls to make," he said.
Swallowing a bite of cereal, Jason grabbed his phone out of his pocket as it started ringing. He and Trini were eating breakfast at the hotel, waiting for the rest of the rangers to join them.
"Hello?" he said. "Hey, Tommy. What's up?"
"Hey, bro," Tommy said. "Just wanted to give you a heads up. I'll be at the café all day today since the concert is tonight. Do me a favor and pass that on to the others. Everyone is welcome to come."
Jason nodded.
"Alright," he said. "I'll pass on the invite. Need any company in the meantime?"
"No," Tommy answered. "Hayley and Trent are here right now and everyone else will join us later. Besides, the café will be full of teenagers by midmorning. Do you really want to spend the day surrounded by them?"
"Yeah, I'll pass," Jason said, shaking his head. "I'll see you later—Mark!"
Mark has just grabbed Jason's milk and tried pouring more in his cereal, spilling it all over the table in the process.
"Aww…" Jason muttered.
"What happened?" Tommy asked.
"Mark just spilled milk all over the table," Jason grumbled.
Tommy chuckled.
"Oh, laugh it up, bro," Jason said as he helped Trini mop up the milk. "You'll be dealing with it soon enough yourself. And I'm going to laugh hysterically if you have twins."
"You're going to be waiting a while for that, bro," Tommy said.
"Maybe sooner than you think," Jason retorted.
"Uh huh…" Tommy said slowly. "Anyways, good luck with the milk. I'll see you guys tonight."
Hanging up, Jason chuckled and stood up to throw away a handful of wet napkins.
"I really don't know how he does it sometimes," he said, looking at Trini. "He can't stand a few grown women fussing over him, but a café full of noisy teenagers? No problem."
Trini shrugged, smiling as she took another bite of her waffle.
"That's Tommy for you," she said. "He doesn't always make sense."
Laughing, Jason went back to his breakfast.
"Are they coming?" Hayley asked as Tommy hung up the phone.
"I hope so," Tommy said. "I told Jason everyone was welcome. He'll pass on the news. Though I should probably call Zach now. If I don't he won't make it from L.A. in time."
Hayley nodded in agreement as Tommy put the phone to his ear again. He waited a moment for Zach to answer.
"Hey, Zach," Tommy said once he had picked up. "How's it going?"
"Things are great," Zach said. "How's it going in Reefside?"
"I'm officially out of the hospital," Tommy grinned. "I'm actually calling to invite you back tonight."
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment.
"Zach?" Tommy said. "Are you still there?"
"Yeah," he said slowly. "Are you sure, man? I mean, what about our deal?"
Tommy rolled his eyes.
"Zach, I'm inviting you," Tommy said. "Kira's got a concert tonight and I thought you'd like to come. Everyone else is already here anyways…"
"And I had nothing to do with it!" Zach exclaimed.
"Zach," Tommy sighed. "I know. Now would you get your butt over here? We're waiting."
"Alright, alright," Zach said. "I'm on my way."
"Great," Tommy said. "Oh—why don't you bring your pookie with you?"
"NO!" Zach exclaimed. "And you promised."
"But Zach," Tommy laughed. "Don't you want everyone to meet your schmoopsie poo?"
The line going dead gave Tommy his answer. Chuckling, he stuck his phone back in his pocket. Trent and Hayley were staring at him.
"Tommy," Hayley said. "What—actually. I don't want to know."
He just laughed harder, shaking his head.
By later that evening, Tommy was completely relaxed. The café was full of teens laughing and talking over one another. They'd all been excited to see Tommy, everyone asking the same questions over and over. He'd taken it all in stride, answering each of them with a smile as he laughed with the students. But by the time the concert was approaching, they still hadn't seen any of the rangers. Conner and Ethan had shown up hours before to help with the crazy rush. Then, about twenty minutes before it started, Jason and Trini showed up followed by Zach and Billy. Kim wasn't far behind. Mark was with them, holding Trini's hand.
"Hey guys!" Tommy called, waving to them from the couch.
He'd been in that spot most of the day since it was the most comfortable for him. A few of the students had even helped move it into a better place for the concert. Ethan and Conner were sitting at the counter, talking to Hayley as she got orders ready. Seeing Tommy, Mark ran over and climbed up on the couch with him.
"Find a seat," Tommy said, waving to the chairs as he got Mark settle in his lap. "If you don't claim one soon you'll end up standing in the back."
"Trent!" Zach called, waving as he grabbed a seat. "Smoothie!"
"Hold your horses, Zach," Trent called back. "I've got my hands full!"
He hurried past with a tray of smoothies and some fries, heading for a table full of teenagers. Zach just grinned, making himself comfortable. The other four sat down as well, Kim plopping onto the couch next to Tommy.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"I'm just fine," Tommy answered. "Where's everyone else?"
She shrugged.
"No idea," she said. "I haven't seen Kat, Tanya, or Aisha at all today and the last time I saw Rocky and Adam they were heading for the pool. I thought Adam and Tanya at least would want to be here."
Tommy sighed.
"Well, they're coming one way or another," he muttered, pulling out his phone.
He started texting, smirking as he did so.
"Tommy," Trini said. "What are you telling them?"
"Oh, not much," he said. "Just that I need them at the café ASAP."
Jason snorted.
"Oh, they'll be here quick," he said. "Probably thinking they need to take you back to the hospital."
Tommy shrugged, putting his phone away.
"Hey," he said. "It gets them here."
As the others laughed, Trent came over with another tray of smoothies. He passed them out to a chorus of 'thank yous'. They were all talking and laughing when Tanya, Aisha, and Kat rushed in, followed by Adam and Rocky, who was holding Sophia.
"Tommy!" Kat exclaimed. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"
"Sit down," Tommy said, glancing at his watch.
"What?" Aisha said, looking around. "What's going on?"
"Just sit down," Tommy repeated. "We saved you seats."
He gestured to five seats next to the other rangers.
"But—" Kat started to protest.
"Down in the front row," Zach said. "The concert is about to start."
"What concert?" Tanya said.
Tommy frowned, looking over at Jason.
"Jase, I thought you were going to pass on the invite," he said.
"I did," Jason replied. "I talked to Adam and Rocky hours ago."
"And I sent Tanya a text," Adam said. "I just never got a reply."
She blushed, pulling her phone out to check it.
"Oops," Tanya said. "I guess I didn't hear it…"
"Well, sit down anyways," Tommy insisted. "This is Kira's last performance before the end of the summer. She's been practicing for weeks, so I'm surprising her with you."
Tanya looked uncertainly at Tommy, forcing a smile on her face.
"Oh, great," she said.
Sighing, she leaned over to Adam.
"Wonderful," she muttered. "Another audition…"
Adam shrugged.
"I'm sure it won't be that bad," he said quietly. "Let's humor them."
Tommy, knowing full well what they were whispering about, rolled his eyes. Hayley came hurrying over, followed by Trent with a bowl of popcorn, which Zach promptly snatched out of his hands.
"Hey!" Trent protested.
Zach just grinned, so Trent sighed and turned to go back to the kitchen for more.
"Take your seats," Hayley said. "We're about to start."
With some more prodding from those already sitting, the rest of the rangers took their seats as Hayley grabbed the microphone to introduce Kira.
"Alright, everyone," she said, smiling at the crowd. "Last concert of the summer. So everyone put your hands together for our very own, Kira Ford!"
Everyone in the café started cheering and clapping as Kira walked out onto the stage followed by the band. Tanya, Adam, Rocky, Aisha, and Kat clapped, though less enthusiastically than the others. Kira took the microphone from Hayley, who took a seat at the counter.
"Thanks, guys," Kira said with a smile. "I've got a couple of new pieces for you tonight and some old favorites. So let's get started."
She glanced over at Tommy and the others as she put the mic back on the stand. Seeing Tanya and Adam sitting there, she froze for a moment. But Tommy and Hayley just smiled encouragingly. The moment Kira started singing, Tanya and Adam's eyes flew open wide. They hadn't been expecting her to be more than local talent. When they glanced back at Tommy, he just grinned and nodded. By the end of the concert, they were whispering quietly with each other as they watched Kira.
"Thanks everyone!" she said after the last song. "It's been great playing for you and I'll miss—well, I'll miss most of you."
The crowd laughed as she set her guitar down on the stand and made her way off stage. Making a beeline through the crowd, Kira headed straight for Tommy and the other rangers.
"You were great tonight, Kira," Hayley said, stopping her as she passed. "I'm going to miss your concerts."
"Thanks, Hayley," Kira smiled, giving her a hug.
"Now go on," Hayley said, shooing her. "There are some more people waiting to talk to you."
Kira grinned, spinning and heading toward the couch Tommy was on.
"Great job," he said as she came hurrying over. "Best concert to date."
The others were smiling, nodding in agreement.
"Thanks, Dr. O!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe you got them to come! And they listened to the whole thing—oh my gosh I was so nervous… but I made it through the whole thing—do you think they liked the concert? I mean—ooo…"
Tommy laughed, nodding behind her.
"Why don't you ask them?" he grinned. "What do you think Adam? Tanya?"
Kira spun around, her eyes wide as she realized they were standing right behind her.
"I think we need to talk about a demo," Adam said, smiling at Kira. "What do you think, Tanya?"
"I think you were wonderful, Kira," Tanya said. "We would love to have you at the studio."
Practically bouncing in excitement, Kira spun back around.
"They want to do a demo!" she cried. "Thank you so much, Dr. O! This is the best present ever!"
Leaning over, she gave him a hug. Tommy hugged her back, glad to see her so excited.
"Just remember our deal," he said as she straightened up. "You've got to keep taking classes. And keep those grades up. School comes first."
"I will," Kira reassured him, glancing back at Adam and Tanya. "I'm already signed up for classes online and my books will be here any day. I won't let you down."
"I know you won't," Tommy said. "Besides, Adam would let me know the minute you started falling behind."
Adam nodded in agreement.
"We'll talk more in a little while," Adam said. "As I think there are more people who want to talk to you right now."
"Alright," Kira agreed. "Thank you so much!"
The rest of the rangers crowded in, congratulating her. Trent put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. Conner and Ethan, exchanging glances, came from either side and caught her in a surprise group hug. She let out a squeak as the others laughed.
"Here we are," Hayley said, glancing over at Tommy. "You're finally home."
He smiled at her, a relieved look on his face as they stopped in front of the house. It was Saturday afternoon and the rest of the rangers were already there, their cars out front as they waited. Tommy was supposed to be the first one inside. Parking, Hayley hopped out and hurried around to help him out of the car.
"I am so glad to be home," he muttered, heading toward the front door.
Pausing at the door, Tommy balanced on his crutches as he reached to unlock it. Sticking the key back in his pocket, he pushed open the door and started to walk inside. But Mark darted past him, laughing.
"Whoa!" Tommy said, shifting out of the way as best he could.
"Someday you're going to be getting that a lot," Jason commented behind him, grinning. "Maybe sooner than you think."
"Umm… I don't think so, Jase," Tommy said, shaking his head.
As Jason chuckled behind him, Tommy walked into the house. The rest of the rangers followed, Kat, Tanya, and Aisha bringing up the rear. They were smiling at each other in excitement. Reaching over, Tommy flicked on the lights. He stared around, a look of shock and horror on his face as he walked a few more steps in.
"What happened?" he sputtered, turning to look at Ken.
Ken's eyes were wide as he looked around. When the group reached the door to the living room, Tommy let out a strangled cry.
"I have no idea," Ken said, shaking his head. "This was not part of my plan."
The interior of the house looked nothing like it had the last time any of the rangers had set foot in the house. Walls that had been painted in neutral shades before were now painted in greens, reds, and white. The furniture they could see was over the top and out of place and most of the decorations looked like they had come from someone's hunting lodge.
"My house," Tommy muttered, shaking his head.
"What happened?" Hayley exclaimed, spinning to glare at Ken and the others. "Who is responsible for this?"
Ken started shaking his head again.
"This was not in the plan I left," he protested. "I swear."
"Oh, we changed that," Kat said, beaming. "What do you think, Tommy? Isn't it wonderful?"
Everyone turned to look at Kat, Aisha, and Tanya in surprise.
"We wanted to surprise you," Aisha said. "And it's so much more masculine this way."
Tommy didn't say a word. He was still in shock, shaking his head as he stared around. The sound of a door down the hall and then footsteps drew some of their attention.
"Umm… Hayley?" Ethan said as the kids came hurrying from Tommy's office. "I think someone screwed something up in Dr. O's office…Either that or they replaced it with someone else's. I mean—umm… what is that?"
He pointed toward the floor of the living room.
"I don't know," Conner said. "But it has teeth…"
"It's a bearskin rug," Kat said defensively. "And it's a very masculine thing to have."
"Sure," Ethan snickered. "If you're a wild game hunter."
"And why did you take all of the books out of Dr. O's office?" Trent asked. "It's practically empty in there…"
That caught Tommy's attention. His head whipped around to look at Trent.
"What?" Tommy exclaimed. "My books are gone? Where are they? And—oh no. Hayley. Where are my fossils?"
He was spinning in a circle now as best he could, trying to find something he recognized. Hayley took him by the shoulders, getting him to stop.
"Tommy, breathe," she said. "You need to relax, ok? We're going to get this fixed, right?"
She directed the last part at Ken, glaring at him.
"Oh, we're getting it fixed," he said shortly.
"Good," Hayley said. "And while the lot of you fix the house, I want the four of you to find everything of Tommy's that is missing."
She looked at the four kids, who immediately nodded.
"Ethan," she said. "You know where to find the lists and how to track everything if necessary. Trent—call your dad to help with the fossils."
He gave her a thumbs up, the phone already to his ear.
"Now Tommy," she said, taking his arm and starting to guide him toward the door. "We're going to go find a hotel for a couple of days and by time we get back everything will be the way it's supposed to be."
"But my fossils!" he protested again.
"The kids are going to look for them," she said reassuringly.
He groaned.
"Don't worry," she said. "Anton is going to help them. Now out you go."
Getting him out the door, she paused to glare back at the rangers.
"We will be back in two days," she said shortly. "That's how long you have to fix this mess before I really get angry. Tommy and I are going to go to a hotel until then—and no, I won't tell you where. So fix this!"
Stalking out the door, she shut it firmly behind her. The moment the door was closed, Kira whirled to look at Kat, Tanya, and Aisha.
"What did you do with Dr. O's fossils?" she asked.
"Well, most of them looked like they were just replicas," Tanya said, wringing her hands. "So we—well, we donated them to a second hand shop…"
Kira winced, glancing at Trent who was relaying the information to his dad.
"Conner, go get the car," she said. "Ethan, do you have the list yet?"
"Almost done," Ethan answered as Conner darted out the door. "I'll be ready by the time he pulls up."
Kira nodded and started towing him out of the door as he typed on his phone. She paused, turning around.
"Billy, wanna help?" she asked.
"Of course," he answered.
He followed her outside. The door shut behind them and the rest of the rangers turned to look at Ken. Kat, Tanya, and Aisha were all looking extremely put out, having expected a better reaction.
"Alright," Ken said, taking charge. "This is how this is going to work—and there is not going to be any arguing. Kat, Tanya, and Aisha—grab paintbrushes and primer and start painting. All of these walls need to be done tonight."
They started to protest, but Jason silenced them with a glare and they stalked out of the room.
"Rocky and Adam," Ken continued. "You two need to get rid of this—furniture. I don't care where it goes right now, it just needs to go."
They nodded, heading into the living room to start moving things out. Rocky left Sophia with Trini and Mark. Taking a deep breath, Ken turned to look at Kim.
"Kim," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "I am going to tell you something I have never told you before. Go shopping. And take Trini with you. We need everything delivered by tomorrow afternoon."
"We're on it," she said. "Trini, let's grab the car seats. We'll take the kids, too."
Kids in tow, they darted out the door.
"What about me?" Zach asked, still standing in the hallway. "And the two of you?"
"You text Hayley for a list of Tommy's books," Ken said. "I'm assuming they're still up in the attic, but you can double check with Hayley. I'll send some guys to help you move them in a little while."
Zach nodded and pulled out his phone, heading toward the office as he texted.
"Jason, you're driving," Ken finished up, pulling out his own phone. "We're going to get paint. But I've got some phone calls to make about how on earth this happened."
Muttering to himself, Zach finally found the light up in the attic. He froze in shock at the amount of boxes.
"These had better not all be books," he grumbled.
Sighing, he pulled out his phone to text Hayley.
Hayley, how many boxes of books are we talking?
Attaching a picture of the boxes, he sent the text. While he waited, he started poking around in some of the boxes. After a few minutes he got a text back.
Just the twenty-ish boxes in the front. I've attached a list of all of Tommy's books as well as mine. Just make sure they're all in there.
Zach frowned and pulled up the list. He was going through it when his phone went off again. It was another text from Hayley.
Oh. Please make sure Tommy's books are put back in order—it's really the only good way to keep track of them all. Thanks!
"What order?" Zach exclaimed, shaking his head.
Sending the question to Hayley, Zach started pulling some of the boxes closer to the exit so they could be moved downstairs. He'd just set down a box when the phone started ringing.
"Hello?" he said, answering.
"Zach," Hayley sighed. "The order is the same as the list I sent you. Start from the bookshelf on the left side of the room and go top to bottom and then start again on the next shelf. Ok?"
"Oh, ok," he said. "I think I can handle that. What about yours?"
"I'll leave that up to you," she said. "I'm generally less concerned about where mine are."
"Alright," Zach said. "Thanks. Bye."
Putting his phone away, Zach headed back downstairs to look for help with the boxes.
"Jason," Kat said, catching his attention as he passed the living room. "Is it time to go home yet?"
The rangers had worked all afternoon, only stopping to eat a quick dinner. There had been a lot of work to do in that short time. All of the walls had to be primed so they could be repainted, which meant moving anything in the way, including anything that was actually staying in the house. Kim and Trini hadn't come back to the house after shopping. After finishing at the store and making sure everything would be delivered the next day, they'd gone back to the hotel with Mark and Sophia to keep them out of the way. The teens had been coming and going all afternoon, disappearing with armfuls of fossils and other things that had to be rescued. They'd taken everything up to the guest bedroom because one of the missing items had been the model that opened the lab door, which meant they couldn't get inside from the house until Hayley reconnected it. Adam and Rocky had removed all of the unnecessary furniture and were helping the girls with painting while Jason and Ken floated from job to job, just making sure everything was getting done correctly.
"Are you done priming?" he asked, frowning as he glanced into the room.
"No," Aisha said. "But it's midnight!"
He raised an eyebrow as he looked at the three women. They were all covered in large splashes of white, which made him glad they'd laid down plastic around the rooms. It looked as though they'd gotten into a paint fight.
"And all of the priming has to be done tonight," he said firmly. "We're going to start painting first thing in the morning. That's got to be done by time the furniture gets here tomorrow afternoon. So keep going. It looks like you're almost done."
Turning, Jason kept going to check on Rocky and Adam as the girls sighed and went back to painting.
The next morning, almost everyone was yawning as they stumbled into the house. They'd finally left around 2am. Jason had handled the wake-up calls that morning himself. Conner, Ethan, Kira, and Trent were already in the kitchen, yawning as waited for the rest of the rangers. They'd gone home earlier than the older rangers, but they'd still had a pretty late night trying to make sure they had everything.
"So what's the plan today?" Ethan asked, yawning.
"Lots of painting," Ken answered. "We'll need everyone working on that."
"But what about Mark and Sophia?" Aisha asked hopefully. "Someone will need to watch them."
"I think the teens can handle that," Ken answered. "Right?"
The teens nodded, grinning at the two little kids.
"Great," Ken said. "Just keep them out of the way. We'll worry about lunch when we get there."
Nodding, the four teens hopped up and headed toward the backyard with the two kids.
"Alright," said Ken. "Everyone else grab a paintbrush and get to work. The paint for each room is already there, so there shouldn't be any confusion. Paint fast because I want it dry before we move furniture in this afternoon, but still make sure it looks nice. Any questions?"
No one said anything. As they started scattering, Jason paused and frowned.
"Where's Zach?" he said, realizing they were missing a ranger.
Ken shrugged.
"I haven't seen him since last night," he said. "We were moving books downstairs. Did he go straight back to the office when we got here?"
"No idea," Jason said. "Guess I'd better go check."
Both men headed back toward Tommy's office. Opening the door, they stopped in surprise. Zach was in the office. He was on the floor draped across several empty cardboard boxes and was fast asleep.
"Zach?" Jason said, walking over and poking at him with his foot. "Zach, wake up. Were you here all night?"
Jerking up, Zach blinked and yawned as he looked up at Jason.
"I got it done," he mumbled. "They're all where they're supposed to be—I had to start over a couple of times because I grabbed the wrong box. And the first time I started on the wrong side of the room…"
Ken and Jason looked around. All of Tommy and Hayley's books were back on the shelf.
"Umm… Zach?" Jason said. "I hate to break it to you—but we still have to actually paint in here. It's primed but…"
Zach groaned.
"But I finished," he protested. "I don' wanna to start over…"
"Don't worry, Zach," Ken chuckled. "We'll get some plastic and cover up the shelves. It'll be just fine."
"Oh, good," he yawned. "I'll be—hmm…"
He blinked sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he tried to wake himself up.
"Alright, come on," Jason sighed, hauling Zach to his feet. "You're going to take a nap for a few hours up in the guest bedroom. Billy isn't using it and I don't trust you with a paintbrush right now…"
By lunchtime they had most of the rooms painted, leaving just the hallway and the office to finish. When they were done eating, the teens took the kids back outside along with some extra paint and a bunch of paper. They were going to paint pictures for Tommy and Hayley while the paint inside dried. By the time Jason came out to check on them, there was paint everywhere. Even Billy, who had been out there to supervise, was covered in paint.
"Looks like you guys are having fun," he said. "Are you painting pictures or yourselves?"
"A little of both," Ethan answered. "Wanna join?"
"How about I just get a picture of you guys?" Jason countered. "Everyone together. I think that'll help cheer Tommy up."
"As long as he knows we're painting pictures and not the house," Kira said.
Jason chuckled as they shifted together for a picture. Conner grabbed Mark, who was waving around a paintbrush and the others gathered around them. Ethan was to Conner's right. Billy was next to him. Kira took Conner's left, holding Sophia, while Trent stood on the other side of her.
"Everyone smile," Jason said, holding up his phone to take the picture.
Just before he snapped the picture, Ethan whipped out a paintbrush he'd been holding behind his back and painted a large streak of blue paint down Conner's face. Conner froze in shock as the picture snapped. Looking at the actual picture, Jason started laughing. Mark, standing in front of Conner, was laughing and waving at the camera, paint streaked all over him. Kira was getting Sophia to wave at the camera, both of them smiling with yellow and white paint on their faces and on their clothes. Trent was smiling next to them, a large splatter of green paint on his shirt. Billy was laughing at Ethan and Conner, large splotches of blue paint all over his shirt and arms. Ethan was laughing hysterically, a paintbrush in hand and blue paint all over him. The look on Conner's face was complete shock. There was a large streak of blue paint down half of his face that was starting to drip onto his shirt.
"Oh, I'm definitely sending that straight to Tommy," Jason snickered. "Wonder what he thinks of the color blue? And he's going to have lots of these soon, all over the walls and fridge."
Conner was now chasing Ethan around the yard, the bucket of red paint in his hand, as the others laughed. Kira and Trent caught Jason's comment, exchanging confused glances. Deciding to make his escape before a full on paint fight started, Jason headed into the house.
"Make sure you hose yourselves down before you come inside!" he yelled behind him.
"Ready to try again?" Hayley asked as she parked in front of the house.
Tommy sighed, nodding.
"If it's not right this time," he said. "Then I'm going to go redecorate Ken's house…Or maybe I'll pick someone else's."
Laughing, Hayley helped him out of the car and they headed inside. Tommy sighed in relief when he saw what it looked like now.
"Now this I'm ok with," he said, looking around.
The walls had all been repainted in neutral earth tones, a few touches of blacks scattered throughout. All of the over-the-top furniture was gone, replaced by simpler pieces. Kim and Trini had also picked out drapes in a deep red to go in the living room. Hayley smiled as she looked around with Tommy, the rangers waiting in the kitchen for his reaction.
"Yes," she agreed. "This is much better."
"Plus it has great retail value," Jason grinned. "You know, in case you ever feel like upgrading."
"Yeah, I'm not even going to talk about that right now," Tommy muttered, shooting a glare at Jason.
Walking into the living room, Tommy walked straight over to the couch and sat down. Letting his crutches fall on the floor, he fell backward on the couch and stretched out.
"Hey Dr. O!" Conner said as he and Ethan walked in. "We fixed your house!"
Hayley raised an eyebrow at them.
"Ok, so all we did was find stuff and watch the kids," Conner muttered. "But it helped."
"It looks great, guys," Tommy said, looking over at them. "Now I've got a job for you."
Conner and Ethan exchanged looks as Tommy reached into his pocket. He pulled out his wallet for a moment and held something up.
"Now," he said. "I've got eighty bucks here for you to divide up as you see fit—if you get everyone over the age of twenty out of the house. The only people I want to see when I wake up from my nap are people who belong here."
Hayley started laughing.
"Oh, this will be fun," she said, heading toward the kitchen.
"Define who belongs here," Ethan said as Tommy waited for an answer. "Do we belong here?"
"That all depends on how well you defend the territory," Tommy yawned. "Because all I want right now is to relax and take a nap in my own house. That means everyone needs to go home."
The two boys shrugged and Conner darted forward to grab the bribe out of Tommy's hand.
"We're on it!" he said.
Both of them turned and sped out of the living room toward the kitchen. Hayley was already there, sitting at the table with Mark and Sophia. The rangers were all lounging, waiting for Tommy to come in. Ethan and Conner glanced at the rangers and then at each other, having a silent conversation about where to start. Nodding, they came to an agreement. Without saying a word, Conner grabbed Kim and Kat each by the arm while Ethan grabbed Tanya and Aisha. They started hauling the shocked women toward the front door, Conner steadying Kat when she stumbled with her walking cast.
"What are you two doing?" Kim exclaimed as they were escorted toward the porch.
"Let go!" Kat cried, trying to tug her arm away from Conner.
"Dr. O wants some peace and quiet," Conner answered, letting go of Kat just long enough to open the front door. "So that means everyone gets to leave now."
With the walking cast still on her foot, Kat wasn't moving very fast. So Conner got Kim out the door and then spun to grab Kat again while Ethan put Aisha and Tanya outside.
"This is ridiculous!" Aisha exclaimed, trying to walk around the boys.
But Ethan just grinned and shut the door, locking it, muffling the protests of the women outside. When they turned around, the rest of the rangers had followed them out into the hallway. Jason, Zach, Rocky, Adam, and Trini were staring at them in surprise. Ken was there, too, chuckling as he shook his head.
"I'm guessing Tommy wants the house cleared?" he said, looking at Ethan and Conner.
"You got it," Ethan answered.
"Alright," Ken said with a shrug. "Why don't you two come with me and calm down your wives?"
Stepping behind Rocky and Adam, he started pushing them toward the door. When Rocky started to protest, Conner and Ethan joined in. Ken waved before they shut the door again. That left Jason, Zach, and Trini.
"So are you three gonna come quietly?" Conner asked.
Jason crossed his arms and didn't move. Zach glanced at Jason and then toward the living room before looking back at the boys.
"I'm out of here," he said. "Jase, let's go."
"I'm not going," Jason said.
Conner and Ethan shrugged. After another brief, silent conversation, Ethan darted forward and grabbed Trini, who squeaked in protest as he pushed her toward the door. Conner grabbed Jason and started trying to push him. Zach started helping after a moment. After Ethan got Trini out the door, he turned to help Zach and Conner with Jason. It took a minute, but they finally got him out the door, Zach laughing the whole time. As Conner shut the door in Jason's face, he saw Billy standing on the porch looking very surprised.
"Umm…Billy's back from the store," he said.
Ethan frowned.
"Just a sec," he said.
Darting over to the living room, Ethan poked his head in.
"Does Billy belong here?" he asked.
"Considering most of his things are in the guest room," Tommy answered without opening his eyes. "Yes."
"Ok," Ethan said.
Spinning around, he ran back to the front door and nodded to Conner. Whipping the front door open, Conner darted outside and grabbed Billy. Before any of the other rangers could react, he pulled Billy inside and Ethan slammed the door again.
"Don't manhandle my guests!" Tommy yelled from the living room.
"Whoops," Conner said. "Sorry, Billy."
"That's quite alright," Billy said, glancing back at the door. "May I enquire as to what is happening?"
"Dr. O wants peace and quiet," Ethan said.
Billy nodded and started walking toward the kitchen.
Outside, the rangers were loudly protesting. Jason started pounding on the door trying to get someone to open up. Rocky had just left to try the backdoor.
"What are those kids thinking?" Aisha cried. "They have no right to kick us out."
"Open the door!" Jason demanded.
The windows on either side of the door went up and Conner and Ethan poked their heads out.
"If you guys can't keep it down so Dr. O can nap," Conner said. "We'll be forced to take drastic measures."
"Let us back in," Kat replied.
But the windows just went back down again. The rangers spun when they heard shouting and Rocky came bolting from the backyard.
"There's something back there!" he yelled. "And it's huge!"
"I thought we told you guys to quiet down," Ethan said, sliding the window up again.
"There's a monster in the backyard!" Rocky cried.
"Rocky, relax," Aisha sighed. "It's probably just Tommy's dog."
"But Tommy never said anything about having a dog," Kim pointed out.
Ethan and Conner exchanged looks from the windows.
"Dr. O doesn't have a dog," they snickered.
"Did anything bite you?" Ethan asked.
Rocky's eyes went wider than they had been.
"No!" he exclaimed.
"Then it wasn't Melody," Ethan said. "And he's still conscious, so it wasn't RAM."
"Guess it was Spot," Conner said. "He's probably hungry again."
Without any further explanation, they shut the windows. The rangers were exchanging shocked looks. Ken sighed, shaking his head.
"Guys," he said. "It wasn't a dog. It was—"
"Just a minute, Ken," Jason interrupted. "Let us in!"
He started pounding on the door again as Ken shrugged and headed off the porch to wait. For a moment nothing happened. Then the windows flew up again and they saw a paintball gun emerge from each one. Before the rangers could scatter, Ethan and Conner open fired.
"Agh!" Jason exclaimed, stumbling backward as they kept firing.
Yelping in pain, the rangers scrambled off of the porch and tried to get out of range. But once they were all clear of the porch the shooting stopped and the windows closed again. The only one who had managed to avoid being hit by the paintballs was Ken, who had already been off of the porch.
"Well this is great," Kat muttered, looking down at herself.
Jason shook his head, muttering under his breath.
"Alright, guys," he said. "We're gonna have to try something else. Now, maybe if we head into town we can come around the back way and sneak in through the—"
"Jason," Trini interrupted, looking around. "Where's Mark?"
Jason, along with Rocky and Aisha, froze.
"Sophia!" Aisha cried, looking around in shock.
Taking a deep breath, Jason strode back toward the house and right up to the front door. Rocky wasn't far behind him.
"Give me back my kid!" he yelled, pounding on the door again.
One of the windows went up.
"Whoops, sorry," Ethan said. "Give us a sec."
The window closed again as Jason glared. A couple of minutes later the front door opened and Hayley escorted Mark and Sophia out the door. Each was holding a Popsicle and bouncing in place excitedly.
"Have fun," Hayley smirked, shutting the door and leaving the two little kids with their fathers.
"Ok, they're practically vibrating," Jason muttered as he took Mark's hand and led him away from the house. "Mark, where did you get that Popsicle?"
"Auntie Hayley gave it to me," he smiled, evidence of the Popsicle all over his face. "And she gave us candy and ice cream and she let us try pop."
Jason groaned, crouching down next to Mark. Rocky and Aisha were trying to get Sophia to stay still as the other rangers watched in amusement.
"Did Aunt Hayley say why she gave all of that to you?" he asked.
"Umm…" Mark said, thinking. "She said it was—payback! I like payback."
"Of course you do," Jason sighed. "This is going to be a long car ride…"
"Bu'erfly!" Sophia exclaimed, taking off across the yard.
"Don't go back there!" Rocky yelled, chasing after her.
While they were trying to corral the hyped up kids, another car pulled into the driveway. Trent and Kira climbed out, looking around in surprise.
"What happened to you guys?" Kira asked. "I thought you finished painting yesterday."
"We did," Tanya answered. "Ethan and Conner had paintball guns."
Kira and Trent exchanged glances.
"And now we're locked out, too," Kat added.
"Don't any of you have a key?" Trent asked.
"Someone snatched them when we were pushed out of the house," Jason muttered, turning Mark away from the driveway again.
"Well, we have one," Kira said as she and Trent walked toward the house.
Jason grinned.
"Great," he said, handing Mark off to Trini.
Kira paused while Trent dug out his key. He'd barely unlocked the door when it flew open and Conner and Ethan pulled them into the house, slamming the door in Jason's face again.
"Conner!" Kira exclaimed. "What are you doing?"
"Dr. O paid us eighty bucks to get them out," he said. "We're working on getting them out of the yard still."
"Oh," Kira said, smirking as she glanced back toward the door. "Give me twenty and I'll get them to go."
She held out a hand expectantly.
"You gotta deliver first," Conner grinned.
"Fine," Kira said. "I'll be right back."
Instead of heading toward the front door, though, she headed out the back. Slipping quietly around the house, Kira waited until everyone was fixated on the kids. And that didn't take long because both of them were running around in circles. Once she was sure no one was watching, Kira stepped silently over to the car parked furthest back in the group. Tommy and Hayley had parked out of the way on the side of the house, which is also where Kira and Trent had parked. All of the rest had parked in a group in front.
"Yes," she muttered quietly when she found it unlocked.
Quietly opening the door, Kira climbed in and quickly shifted the car into neutral. Carefully climbing back out, she glanced around to make sure she still hadn't been noticed. Then she gave the car, which belonged to Kat, a push. With a light slope to the driveway, it didn't take a lot of effort for the car to start rolling backward. Grinning, Kira darted away toward the backyard before anyone saw her. Back inside, Conner and Ethan were laughing so hard they were holding on to the walls and each other. Trent was laughing, too, just not as hard.
"Ok, that was so worth it," Conner snorted, holding out twenty dollars. "They're chasing her car down the driveway right now."
Taking the twenty from Conner, Kira peered out the window. Kat, along with several of the guys, had just managed to stop her car. Trini and Aisha were getting the kids in their cars with the help of the other girls. By the time Hayley came out of the kitchen fifteen minutes later, all of the rangers had cleared out.
"Mission accomplished," Conner grinned as they all turned to face her.
"Good job, guys," she laughed. "Now come get something to eat."
Still laughing, they all trooped in to the kitchen for lunch.