Disclaimer: 29 chapters later. Still not mine. Still Saban's.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Teaming Up
"Joel! Quit feeding our child onion rings."
Angela Rawlings turned to Kelsey. "Under the heading, 'Things I Never Thought I'd Say," she muttered under her breath, and Kelsey tried not to smile as Angela glared at her husband from across the table. Joel deftly plucked the fried food from his ten-month-old son's grasp and replaced it with a jelly teething ring.
"Same thing," Joel said, pointing to the ring, then pointing to the onion ring.
"Except one is for when he actually has teeth," Chad teased.
The team was reunited for the first time in months at the Pink Cadillac. They'd commandeered a u-shaped booth in the back of the 50s themed diner and were waiting for their actual food to show up while eating appetizers. Between Angela and Joel's little guy and the impending arrival of Dana and Carter's, along with Kelsey's training, hers and Ryan's wedding planning and everyone's jobs, they hadn't gotten together in months, so it was about time.
"So how are you feeling, Dana?" Rachel asked her.
Dana sighed. "Big," she said, and Carter immediately responded with, "You're not 'big'."
Joel raised an eyebrow. "Dude, she's got you trained."
"The shock collar works wonders," Dana said dryly.
"Ah," Kelsey said with a grin at Ryan, "so that's how it works." She bumped him with her shoulder. Ryan glared at his sister. "Thanks, Dana," he said.
"Anytime, little brother," Dana replied.
"Do you have names picked out yet?" Angela asked her.
Dana and Carter looked at each other. "A couple," Carter said finally. "But we're still trying them out so we're not telling anybody. Last thing I wanna do is offend someone by not giving our kid their name."
"So he's not gonna be Joel Grayson?" Joel put a hand over his heart. "I'm crushed."
"That was the first one crossed off the list," Dana shrugged. The group laughed. No one noticed Anton Rawlings lose the jelly ring and awkwardly pick up an onion ring to start gumming.
"I can't wait to be an aunt," Kelsey gushed.
"Let me see that thing again," Angela said, and Kelsey proudly showed off her engagement ring, now on her proper hand. "God, that's beautiful. Ryan, you've got good taste."
Ryan smiled. "And it's unbreakable. Unlike her."
Kelsey stuck her tongue out, and the waitress chose that moment to come by with their food. Angela turned to feed her son and was greeted with a spit-covered onion ring. "Joel!"
"Ooooh..." the guys chorused as Joel took his SKy Cowboy hat and pulled it over his eyes.
"We better tip her good for putting up with us," Dana whispered to Rachel, and Rachel nodded in agreement.
Halfway into his bacon cheeseburger, Carter asked Chad, "How's the dojo coming along?"
Chad said, "Oh, it's going okay," as he stirred a french fry in a container of ranch. Rachel hit him. "It's going a lot better than 'okay,'" she explained. "Chad's got a full class now-that's fifteen students. I think he's going to have to hire another instructor-we have almost that many on a waiting list." She smiled at her boyfriend. "He's just modest."
"That's awesome. Maybe we should sign Anton up for lessons," Joel told Angela.
His wife rolled her eyes. "Honey, how about we wait until he can actually take more than two steps without falling on his butt?"
"Joel must be teaching him to walk, huh?" Ryan teased, and Joel responded by tossing a cherry tomato at him from his chicken salad.
"Congrats, man. I know how much you wanted this," Carter told Chad, and Chad smiled.
"You wanna come be an instructor, Carter?" Chad asked. "You took to those boxing lessons pretty well back in Lightspeed."
"Nope, I'm perfectly happy being on the arson squad," Carter replied quickly. Carter had moved to a job working under Keith in Arson which was a fairly regular 8-5 job, and the best part was that he didn't have to see a fire until the day after it was put out. He put an arm around his wife and broke off a piece of bacon with his free hand. "And my wife likes it better too. I can't get hurt behind a desk."
"Except for those nasty papercuts," Joel said.
Carter nodded seriously. "They're the devil."
"If papercuts are the only thing we have to worry about, then I think we're doing just fine," Dana cut in. She tugged on her husband's shirt. "The baby just kicked," she whispered to her husband. Carter's hand drifted from his plate to her stomach, and she slid it over to her left side. "Right...there," she said, and Carter felt the pressure of a little foot. He grinned. "That's awesome."
"Geez, get a room," Joel teased.
"No way, that's how I ended up an uncle in the first place!" Ryan told him, and everybody laughed.
Carter Grayson's phone rang at an unreasonably early hour on his day off. It took him a few moments to figure out what the ringing in his ears was. When he figured out it was his phone, he rolled over and snagged it off his nightstand. "Hello?" he said, half-asleep.
"Carter Grayson?" a voice asked. The voice sounded familiar, but Carter couldn't place it.
"Yeah, speaking." Carter said, rubbing his eyes. "Who's this?"
"Carter…this is Wes. Wes Collins."
Carter's eyes popped open. He sat up so fast the room spun. "Wes?" he asked, recognizing the voice and the name as belonging to the former Red Ranger from Silver Hills. "Hi," he said, more awake now. "What's up?"
"Carter….we have a situation," the Silver Guardian said grimly. "Someone's called together all available former Red Rangers for a mission."
"A Ranger mission?" Carter's hand drifted to his wrist. "What's going on?"
"I don't have all specifics. Eric and I are on our way to Angel Grove right now. We're wondering if you could pick up another ranger on your way this direction?"
Carter glanced at the clock. "Who's that?"
"File says his name is Cole Evans," Wes told him, and Carter could hear him flipping through paper on the other end of the phone. "He and his team are active in Turtle Cove."
"Right," Carter said. "We've been hearing the news." He paused for a moment. Dana was gone, at the hospital on light duty. Seven months into the pregnancy and she was doing wonderfully. Her reminder to not get into trouble echoed in his ears. Somehow I don't think this qualifies as 'staying out of trouble,' he thought to himself.
"Carter?" Wes's voice asked. "You still there?"
Carter nodded mutely. "Yeah. I'm here."
"Look, you don't have to go," Wes told him. "I swear. I mean, we could use the firepower, but I can tell Tommy Oliver you've got a baby on the way…I'm sure he'd understand."
"How did you-"
He heard Wes chuckle. "Your father in law knows my dad, remember? Apparently he's been passing around your ultrasound picture."
Carter sighed. "Thanks, Bill," he said.
"Look, man, I don't want to sway you one way or the other," Wes began, "but….Tommy sounded kinda panicked. And you know him, the man does not panic unless it's really warranted."
"I know," Carter said. He'd met the Zeo Ranger at a conference Bill had held involving the Lightspeed tech. Tommy was apparently in college again, this time for a degree in paleontology, but was minoring in robotics and engineering based on his love of cars and Zords.
Carter ran a hand through his hair. "I can be in Angel Grove in about two hours."
"Great," Wes said. "After you pick up Evans, meet us at the NASADA launch facility in Angel Grove. Your morpher will get you in the gate."
"Morpher." Carter realized he'd have to call Bill Mitchell. He had no idea where the Rescue Morphers were, but he knew that Bill would have them in a safe place. "Right. Will do." He sighed. "My wife will be thrilled," he said. Dana would be less than thrilled-she'd be furious. "But I'll be there."
"It'll be good to see you again," Wes said. "Wish it was under better circumstances."
"Yeah, no kidding," Carter said. "See you in two hours." If he pushed the Rover he could be there in about that time. He hung up the phone and stuck it in his jeans pocket, then reached into his closet for a shirt, pulling out a longsleeve red t-shirt. Fitting, he thought. He grabbed a granola bar from the counter and his keys. Ryan could watch his truck. He wanted the Rover for this. As if somehow, the big yellow Hummer would keep him out of trouble. He tugged on his steel-toe boots and was out the door.
Bill Mitchell was already up for the day when someone knocked on his door. He grabbed his coffee mug and went to the front door to see his son-in-law standing outside. "Carter?" He frowned. "What's going on?"
"Morning, Bill. You wouldn't happen to know where my morpher is, would you?" Carter asked.
Bill's eyes narrowed. "The Red Rescue Morpher?" he clarified, and Carter nodded. "At Lightspeed, in my safe. What's going on?"
"I don't know the specifics," Carter echoed Wes. "All I know is someone is recruiting Red Rangers for a mission, and I need to be in Angel Grove ASAP."
"I'll get it for you," Bill said, brushing past Carter as he went upstairs. "You'll want the keys to the Rover too," he added as he came back down, pulling on a sweatshirt. "I've got those. The Rover is in the garage at Lightspeed."
"Thanks," Carter said, but his mind wasn't really focused on his father-in-law, and Bill caught it.
"Does Dana know?"
Carter shook his head. "No. She's at the hospital working." He sighed. "I'm hoping this doesn't take more than a day and I can use the excuse of going somewhere with Wes Collins to cover it up."
"Lying to my daughter, Carter?" Bill frowned.
"I have to pick the lesser of two evils, sir," Carter pointed out. "Either I tell her I'm putting on a morpher and putting myself in harm's way again, or I don't tell her about it and deal with it when she gets back." He sighed. "I don't know which one's less stressful, but I don't want to do anything to jeopardize the pregnancy." He frowned. "Or our marriage."
Bill was tense as he followed Carter to his truck and climbed in the passenger seat. "I'd say you're damned if you don't and damned if you do," he told Carter honestly.
"I know," Carter said grimly. "You always see it in the movies, right, the whole 'save the many or save the one' scenario?" He gunned the engine. "Now it's me, and my marriage, and my son and my wife against the lives of everybody on the planet."
"You need to do what you think is right," Bill said, "and I know that sounds cheesy."
"That sounds like the world's greatest catch-22," Carter said. "I go on the mission and risk my marriage, or I stay home and risk the world." He stared straight ahead. "They wouldn't have called me if they didn't need me, right? I mean, this isn't like some red ranger road trip or something…"
"I seriously doubt it," Bill replied. "Whoever put this together had to have known he or she is calling back young men who are out of the game, have been for a while. Who probably have families and jobs and lives…"
"Or a kid who's hardly had a morpher for six months," Carter added, thinking of Cole Evans.
"Or that," Bill agreed. Carter pulled into the parking lot of Lightspeed and they got out of the truck. Bill punched in his personal code and the keypad blinked green. He opened the door and let Carter go in ahead of him. Bill went into his office and punched in another code on the wall safe. He pulled out the all-too-familiar silver case and popped it open. Then, he turned and held it out to Carter. Carter pulled Rescue Morpher 1 from the case and slipped it on his wrist. He felt it hum. Then, Bill handed him a set of keys and walked with him to the garage. The Rescue Rover sat inside. Carter ran a hand over the hood. "Hello, beautiful," he told it. "We're back."
"Carter…." Bill said. Carter turned. "I need you to know, if my daughter asks where you are…I can't lie to her."
"I'm hoping she won't ask," Carter said. "But if she does…don't lie to her. I'll talk to her when I get home."
"You better come home," Bill pointed out, and Carter nodded. "I will," he said. With a short wave, he waited for the garage door to open, and rolled out into the early morning sunrise. He pulled out his cell phone and left a message for his wife that he was going to spend the day with Wes and Eric in Silver Hills. Hopefully, she wouldn't call anybody else for more details.
He was going to be with a bunch of red rangers. How bad could it be?
Author's Note:I realize that it's sort of implied in this chapter that Carter already knows who a few of his predecessors are. I couldn't think of anywhere in here to fit in a Red Ranger Reunion. Maybe I'll write a one shot down the road where there's a ranger reunion or something :) Also, the timeline gets a little funky from here on out as I'm pushing to have this line up with Megaforce and well...I have a lotta years to cover.
