The race back to Tommy's house took less time than their walk out to the museum to meet Mystic Force. With Jason still in the lead, all ten of the rangers hurried up from the lab into the actual house. But Jason was the only one who continued up the stairs. Heading straight for Tommy's room, the angry red ranger swung the door open and stalked toward the bed. Without hesitation, he jerked the covers off of the sleeping ranger and yanked Tommy out of bed.

"Wha'?" Tommy mumbled, stumbling on his feet. "Jase? What happened? 's everything alright?"

Hayley, who had been asleep before Jason burst into the room, had jerked upright when Jason yanked the blanket back. She was now staring at him in confusion.

"Jason, what are you doing?" she demanded, stifling a yawn as he dragged her husband out of the room. "Jason!"

But Jason didn't stop, towing the protesting and half-asleep Tommy after him down the stairs. The rest of the rangers were waiting impatiently, crowded into the hallway. They had also been joined by the Dino Thunder rangers who were watching the group in confusion. Conner and Kira were each holding one of the babies, resolutely refusing to hand them over to any of the originals until they knew what was going on.

"Jason, have you lost your mind?" Tommy exclaimed, trying to free himself from his friend's grasp. "What are you doing?"

"Let him go!" Hayley demanded, hurrying down after them. "I told you that you could use the lab, not invade my house!"

Jason ignored both of them, continuing to pull Tommy after him toward the lab as the other ranger protested. The rest of the originals followed them down, the Dino Thunder rangers trailing after in confusion.

"Come on, bro," Tommy said. "What is going on? Would you please answer me?"

Jason still didn't answer, towing Tommy straight over to the computers and shoving him into one of the chairs by the medical equipment. Tommy tried to stand back up, but Jason pushed him back down. Rocky and Zach moved over to help Jason strap him in to keep Tommy from getting up again. Aisha, Kat, and Kim were stopping a fuming Hayley from interfering.

"Jason, knock it off!" Tommy snapped, turning to Trini. "Trini, did he hit his head or something?"

"Don't even start with me," she snapped back, crossing her arms as she glared at him.

Tommy looked at her in surprise, finally glancing at the other rangers. All of them were clearly upset, and it all appeared to be directed toward him.

"Ok, seriously," he said, looking around. "What is going on?"

"Just stay there," Jason growled. "Ethan, scan him."

Ethan's eyes widened in surprise as everyone turned to look at him. Frozen in place, he glanced quickly between Tommy, Jason, Hayley, and the original rangers.

"Uh—what?" he stammered.

"Scan him," Jason snapped again.

"Jason, what is going—" Ethan started to ask, still hesitating.

"Fine," Jason interrupted. "Billy?"

Billy didn't hesitate. Stepping over to the computer, his fingers started flying over the keyboard as he started up the scanner.

"Jason, I swear if you don't tell me what is going on right now I will lock us all in this lab and no one will leave until I have the answers I want," Hayley snapped. "Now explain!"

Jason whipped around to look at her.

"I don't owe you any explanation," he countered. "At least not until you give me one."

He glared at Tommy again as he spoke. Tommy sighed.

"Alright, Jase," he said. "I'm sorry, ok? I admit it. I called your mother and told her about the babies before I told you I was back…"

Jason paused, frowning.

"That's not—you know what? We'll talk about that later," he said, shaking his head. "She's not even your mother!"

He took a deep breath, still scowling at Tommy.

"But that's not what I was talking about," he growled.

Tommy groaned.

"Jason, would you please just tell me what's going on?" he asked. "I was finally sleeping and then you drag me out of my bed. And why did you leave your sisters wandering around in the woods?"

"I left them at the museum," Jason answered shortly.

Tommy shook his head slowly, looking at something behind Jason.

"Doesn't look like it," he said.

Jason just crossed his arms, not taking his eyes off of Tommy.

"Jason, it would appear he is correct," Billy said, looking at the same place as Tommy. "It seems they are indeed wandering in the woods."

Turning his head, Jason caught sight of his sisters and their teammates on one of the security cameras. They were wandering around, looking confused as they searched for something. He took a deep breath, rubbing a hand over his face.

"I'll deal with them later," he muttered. "This is more important right now."

"Ummm… Jason?" Ethan said hesitantly. "You might not want to do that…"

"What?" Jason asked shortly.

"Because we let the raptors out," Conner answered.

"They needed exercise," Kira added. "And they don't like strangers…"

"Plus, Conner may have shown them a few pictures of some of them in an attempt to teach Spot to headbutt Nick…" Trent said.

Jason groaned, but didn't move.

"Alright," he snapped. "Would someone please go get them? I am not leaving right now."

"No one is leaving!" Hayley half shouted, glaring daggers at Jason. "Not until I know why you felt the need to wake us up and drag Tommy out of bed and strap him into the scanner."

"Because I know about Rita, that's why!" Jason snarled, clenching his fists.

Tommy grimaced and Hayley rolled her eyes.

"Thank you," she said shortly. "That's all I needed to know."

"Why didn't you tell anyone, Tommy?" Jason demanded, crossing his arms again. "That kind of thing shouldn't be a secret."

"But I did—" Tommy started to protest, glancing toward the younger Dino Thunder rangers.

He cut off, deciding against what he'd been about to say. But it was too late. Jason's eyes narrowed as he turned to look at the four rangers. They looked at him nervously.

"You four knew?" he said slowly.

"I'm gonna go get your sisters," Ethan said quickly, not answering the question as he scooted for the door to the tunnels.

"And I'm going with him," Trent said, bolting after him.

Kira and Conner, each still holding a baby, exchanged looks.

"Ummm… It's diaper change time," Conner said, backing toward the stairs.

"Same for me," Kira added.

They bolted for the stairs, disappearing up into the house.

"Traitors!" Tommy shouted after the four, slumping back into the chair.

"Well now," Hayley said, yawning. "Now that I know what's going on, I'm going to bed."

"Hayley!" Tommy exclaimed. "You should be helping me."

"You're the one who decided not to tell them," she said, shaking her head as she turned back toward the stairs. "Now you get to deal with the consequences. Come join me when you're done."

Tommy groaned and let his head fall back against the chair as his wife disappeared up the stairs.

"Great," he muttered. "Just great."

For a moment, no one said anything. Tommy sighed, muttering under his breath.

"Tommy, why didn't you just tell us?" Kim asked.

"Because you didn't need to know," he said shortly. "Everything is under control. I'm fine. All of this is completely unnecessary."

Jason scoffed.

"If everything was fine you wouldn't have felt the need to hide it from us," he retorted. "This is serious, Tommy."

Tommy closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. He was already tired and this wasn't helping his level of irritation.

"I am aware of the situation, Jason," he said irritably. "I was there when it happened. And I'm telling you, I'm fine. Now please let me out of this chair so I can go back to bed."

"Not until the scan is done," Jason growled, crossing his arms.

Tommy groaned, turning to the other rangers.

"Guys, come on," he pleaded. "Would someone just let me out? I promise this isn't necessary."

But they all shook their heads.

"Sorry, man," Rocky said. "But we're with Jason on this one. Rita's done too much damage to take a chance on it."

"Fine," Tommy muttered. "Then someone wake me up when you're done so I can go back to my bed."

Closing his eyes again, he leaned his head back against the chair. But it wasn't long before the sound of the tunnel door opening drew all of their attention. Trent and Ethan walked back in, followed by the five Mystic Force rangers.

"This is awesome!" Chip exclaimed in excitement. "Is this really your lair?"

"You bet," Ethan grinned. "New and improved, of course. Dr. O finished repairs end of last summer. Took a while to reinforce some of the tunnels."

"Repairs?" Nick said, frowning.

"One of our enemies, Zeltrax, blew it up," Trent answered with a shrug.

Catching sight of what was going on in the lab, Mystic Force stopped in surprise. Madison and Vida exchanged looks.

"What are you doing, big brother?" Vida asked, crossing her arms. "You yelled at us for hurting him and now you have Tommy strapped to a chair."

"If he'd stay put on his own I wouldn't have to strap him in," Jason countered.

Vida rolled her eyes.

"The scan is complete, Jason," Billy said quietly. "Though it will be several minutes before we have the results."

Jason turned to him, nodding.

"Thanks, Billy," he said.

"Does that mean I can go now?" Tommy asked, opening his eyes to look at Jason.

"Are you going to take off?" Jason asked suspiciously.

Now Tommy rolled his eyes.

"Jase, I just want to go to bed," he said shortly. "Now either let me out of this chair or shut up so I can sleep."

Jason scowled at him, but didn't move to let Tommy out of the straps.

"Well, if he's not going to let you out then I will," Madison said boldly, ducking around the other rangers. "I don't know what's going on, but I don't care. I didn't stop it the last time and I'm not letting it go again."

Before Jason could stop her, Madison released Tommy from the chair. He quickly stood, moving away from the chair as he rubbed his wrists.

"And now I'm going to bed," he announced, stalking away from his friends. "You guys can let yourselves out when you're done."

Jason leapt after him.

"I don't think so, bro," he said, catching Tommy's arm. "You aren't going anywhere until we see what's going on."

"Jason, let go," Tommy snapped, yanking his arm away. "I'm not doing this right now."

He stormed up the stairs with Jason on his heels and Rocky, Zach, and Adam hurrying after. Trent and Ethan followed, too, with Mystic Force behind them. The women stayed with Billy, having a good guess of where the argument would end up and more concerned with the scan results than1 listening to the two men argue. All five of them trusted Jason to keep Tommy from going far.

"We wouldn't have to do this if you had told us about this months ago!" Jason snapped back as they emerged in the office.

"You didn't need to know!" Tommy exclaimed, stopping and spinning to face Jason again. "I had, and have, everything under control."

"I've heard that before," Jason scoffed, glowering at the other ranger. "And we all know how that went."

Tommy's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, we do," he said shortly. "But this isn't then. I know what I'm doing."

He spun, stalking away toward the stairs. But Jason jumped in the way, blocking him from going up to his room. Irritated, Tommy spun and headed toward the backdoor instead.

"You still shouldn't be keeping things from us," Jason argued, continuing to follow him. "Not things like this."

Tommy groaned.

"I already told you, you didn't need to know!" he exclaimed, pushing the door open and stalking out of the house.

"And what if something had happened?" Jason demanded. "We still don't know what she did to you!"

"Because it doesn't matter!" Tommy snapped, spinning to look at Jason again as the group following them spilled out into the yard. "Jason, you aren't the only one watching my back anymore. The kids were watching just in case. You had enough on your plate and I wasn't adding to your stress."

"No, you'll just save it for later," Jason scowled. "We had a right to know when it happened—not six months later!"

Everyone who had followed the pair was watching in silence, not really wanting to interfere in the argument. Zach, Rocky, and Adam because they had all seen the pair get into fights before. Trent and Ethan because they weren't about to get in their mentor's way when he was this angry. And Mystic Force because they really weren't sure what the problem was and they didn't want the focus back on them.

"We aren't in high school anymore, Jason!" Tommy shouted, clenching his fists. "I don't need you constantly hovering and trying to take care of me. The kids are perfectly capable of handling any problem that arises—not to mention that I can take care of myself! I am an adult, you know."

Jason took a step closer, getting in Tommy's face now.

"You are the one who made us promise!" he snarled, jabbing a finger at Tommy. "You are the one who insisted every single one of us swear that, should anyone ever take you under their control again, that we wouldn't hesitate. So that means you have no right to keep these kinds of situations from us!"

"It's my life, Jason!" Tommy countered, not backing down. "I had a backup plan and that's all you need to know."

"And if something had happened?" Jason snapped. "What did you think would happen, Tommy? It would have killed all of us to have to take you down. If you had told us from the beginning we could have helped make sure it never reached that point!"

"Agh!" Tommy exclaimed. "You aren't listening! I had help. It just wasn't you. Anton knew what to watch for and had the kids on speed dial. All four of them were ready to intervene if they needed to—up to and including calling you if it really reached that point. Jason, you had enough on your plate with your sisters and everything going on with them. I had everything under control."

"Then why did you run?" Jason growled, jabbing a finger at Tommy again. "You ran, Tommy. Without warning. Without explanation. You were just gone!"

He connected with Tommy's shoulder this time as he tried to emphasize his point. Tommy's eyes narrowed in response.

"Because I didn't want to put any of you through that panic!" Tommy shouted, shoving Jason back with one hand. "Is that what you want to hear? I was scared that something had happened and I didn't want to scare any of you until I knew what was going on. I've been in that position too many times to want to put any of you in it again."

"That's not just your decision!" Jason shouted back. "You made us swear—so don't keep us in the dark!"

They were shoving each other back and forth now as they shouted, their argument escalating quickly. And then, without any of the others really knowing who started it, Tommy and Jason had moved past shoving to actual fighting. Not pulling any punches, they were going all out as they wrestled and fought with each other, though they were no longer shouting.

"Oh, good," Zach muttered, watching them. "So they're going to kill each other and we'll have run the scan for no reason."

"Nah," Ethan said, shaking his head. "They won't kill each other. Bruise, injure, maim? Probably. Kill? Not likely."

Zach and Rocky both snorted, shaking their heads as they continued to watch the sparring match. Mystic Force, on the other hand, were all staring in shock. Even Vida and Madison, who had grown up watching the pair spar with each other, had never seen them going at it like this. Both men were using everything they had against the other. Evenly matched, neither seemed to be getting the upper hand in the fight.

"You really weren't kidding," Nick said to the girls, not taking his eyes off of the fight. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone fight like them."

"Not even your dad and Daggeron," Xander agreed.

Madison and Vida nodded mutely.

"They don't fight like this very often," Adam commented quietly. "It's dangerous to go all out like this. If they weren't so evenly matched one of them could get seriously hurt doing this."

"They won't hurt each other, will they?" Madison asked nervously, concern written all over her face.

Zach immediately started shaking his head.

"Not a chance," he said. "They've fought together too long to do that. And neither one of them has the advantage anymore. Unless they tap into ranger powers. But Jason doesn't really have any special abilities and Tommy's too tired so I think we're ok."

"Worst that happens is Tommy streaks out of Jason's reach and Jason falls on his face," Rocky snorted. "He definitely doesn't have the energy for anything else right now."

Mystic Force exchanged confused looks, but didn't press the issue as they continued watching Tommy and Jason. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the impromptu sparring match ended in a short wrestling match on the ground. Finally both men fell back in the grass, panting as they stared up at the sky.

"You're an idiot, Jase," Tommy muttered, eyes closed.

"You're not any better," Jason retorted. "You can't do things like this to us. You're going to give us all heart attacks."

Tommy snorted. Anger and frustration spent, he was concentrating on catching his breath.

"And when did you learn that kick?" Jason asked, wincing as he shifted, half sitting up. "That's going to bruise…"

He was gingerly touching a spot on his leg. Tommy chuckled.

"Learned it years ago, bro," he said. "Just haven't had a reason to use it on you. The Tyrannodrones on the other hand—they were always fair game."

Ethan and Trent shook their heads, smirking. The back door of the house opened and Trini came walking out. Seeing her husband and his best friend lying in the grass, she shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"If you two Neanderthals are done beating on each other," she said, crossing her arms. "The scan results are done, Jason."

He immediately sat the rest of the way up, wincing a little as he moved.

"Definitely going to have bruises," he muttered, climbing to his feet.

Brushing the dirt and grass off of himself, he looked down at Tommy expectantly.

"Are you going to stay there all day?" he asked.

"I might," Tommy mumbled.

Jason snorted, shaking his head.

"Come on, bro," he said, leaning over and holding out a hand. "I want to see those scans."

Tommy sighed, opening his eyes.

"Don't suppose I have a choice, do I?" he asked.

"Nope," Jason answered. "Either come back down with me or I'm sending Kim back out here to get you."

Grimacing, Tommy took Jason's hand. Jason laughed as he hauled Tommy up.

"I don't want to know what she'd do to me right now," Tommy grumbled. "Cause I know she has the energy to use her ninja training. I wouldn't know what hit me…"

With Jason and some of the others still laughing, they all started heading back into the house.

"You're problem, Falcon," Jason smirked. "You know how she is."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Tommy muttered. "Shut up, Rex."

Madison and Vida exchanged surprised looks.

"Rex?" said Vida.

"Falcon?" said Madison.

"Yes?" Tommy and Jason said, pausing to look back at the girls.

The twins groaned.

"How stupid can we be?" Vida muttered. "How did we miss that?"

"Miss what?" Jason frowned, pulling open the door.

"The names," Madison said. "We should have caught those ages ago. It's not like this is the first time we heard them…"

Tommy chuckled, shaking his head as they all moved inside.

"Maybe not," he said. "But we've always been careful not to use those nicknames around anything power ranger related—or too often in general with non rangers. Besides, you can't feel too bad."

"We missed an obvious clue," Vida pointed out.

"Maybe," Zach said. "But would you ever have pegged your big brother and his best friend as rangers without them telling you?"

The girls looked at each other and then shook their heads.

"Not a chance," they answered.

"Oh, thanks," Jason grumbled.

"Sorry, big brother," Vida grinned as the group moved down the stairs of the lab. "But I never would have thought you could pull it off."

Madison nodded.

"Though, looking back," she said thoughtfully. "You both left so many obvious hints… You weren't really trying to hide it, were you?"

Jason and Tommy both smirked, exchanging looks.

"Nope," Tommy said. "We were actually hoping you'd figure it out on your own so we wouldn't have to tell you."

"Would have made our lives so much easier," Jason muttered.

"But we didn't figure it out…" Chip said sheepishly.

Jason snorted.

"No kidding," he said drily. "Even with the four of them doing just about everything short of using their abilities."

He jerked his head toward Trent and Ethan. The boys just grinned.

"Yeah, we weren't exactly being subtle," Ethan said. "I mean, come on. We even told you we were going to visit the other power rangers so Trent could get their favorite battles for his comic series."

"Not to mention talking about reds," Trent pointed out. "And the whole debate with Conner over having proven ourselves."

"Wait a minute," Chip said suddenly, glancing at Tommy. "Is that why you wouldn't show us the picture?"

Tommy frowned for a moment and then realized what the yellow ranger was talking about.

"Oh, right," he said. "Partially. We still hadn't reached the point at which we were going to straight out tell you who we were. Had you figured it out on your own, we would have explained everything then and there. However, showing you the picture would have given too much away. It's not supposed to be that easy, after all."

The rangers nodded in understanding as they headed through Tommy's office, opening the door to the lab.

"But how did all of you know so much about us, then?" Nick asked, glancing around. "Does everyone know who we are?"

The rangers laughed, nodding.

"Kid, we've known who you were since Jason came back the first time," Zach said. "Same thing happens every time there is a new ranger team confirmed."

"Which is what?" Xander asked.

"Jason or Tommy—depending on who has the time—makes the final confirmation based on observations of others," Adam explained. "Once identities have been confirmed, they pull together basic bios on the rangers and send them out to the network. It keeps us all on the same page."

"And from putting ourselves in a situation we don't want to be in," Rocky added. "Kind of like Jason and Tommy."

He grinned as he shot a look at them. They both glowered back, but he just laughed. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, they all crowded into the lab. The rest of the women were waiting for them along with Billy.

"And this time we had really entertaining pictures for most of you," Ethan grinned, glancing at the Mystic Force rangers. "It helps when the red in charge has access to any and all childhood photos of a majority of the team. The only one with a basic head shot was Nick."

Madison and Vida whipped around to look at Jason in surprise.

"Jason!" they exclaimed.

He just smirked and shrugged.

"Don't worry," Tommy said. "We have better pictures of Nick now. I updated his a while ago. Just like I update the rest of them periodically to keep photos up-to-date."

"I've gotta see this!" Ethan exclaimed with a grin, heading for the computer.

That brought Jason back around to what they were doing down in the lab.

"Don't touch that computer, Ethan," Jason snapped, stopping the blue ranger in his tracks. "Not until we're done with it. Billy, bring up the scan."

Nodding, Billy turned back to the computer and pulled up the scan image on his computer. Jason studied it for a moment, frowning. The rest of the originals were looking at it, too, all of them looking a little confused.

"Well, it looks the same as it did at Rootcore," Nick commented, breaking the silence. "Green, white, red, black."

Jason started shaking his head.

"It's not the same," he said slowly. "Something is—not wrong, but it's too…It's too—too normal."

Tommy raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as he leaned against the column behind him.

"Thanks, Rex," he said drily.

"That's not what I mean," Jason said. "It's just that the last time I saw a scan of your core—not counting the one the kids forced from you—it was a lot more chaotic…"

"I told you I had everything under control," Tommy said. "So see? I'm fine."

Jason glared at him.

"I'm not going to believe that until Billy says you're fine," he growled. "I've heard those words from you way too many times to just take your word for it."

Behind him Billy sighed and turned away from the computer.

"He's fine, Jason," he said.

Jason frowned, but didn't argue. Tommy rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath. Billy, on the other hand, ignored them both as he continued.

"The scan shows that Tommy's core is actually far more stable than it has been in years," Billy explained. "The bands of color are the result of years of working to be able to center himself in an attempt to contain the dark magic, the source of any chaos or abnormalities within his core."

"But I don't even see the dark magic anymore," Jason said slowly. "Does that mean…"

He trailed off, turning to look at Tommy. But Tommy shook his head.

"It's not gone, Jase," he said quietly. "It will never be completely gone. It's just—contained."

Jason frowned again, looking to Billy for confirmation.

"He is correct," Billy said, nodding. "As we determined many years ago, there is no way—either through magic or science—to disentangle the magic from his life force. To remove the magic is to kill him. There is no way around that fact."

He paused as several of his teammates flinched. There had been too many close calls over the years for their liking.

"Then why can't we see it?" Trini asked. "If it's still there, why isn't it visible?"

"It's there," Tommy said. "Hayley already proved that. It's in the center, there."

He pointed to a small spot of darker green in the very center of his core.

"But it's contained," he said. "Completely and entirely contained and beyond my reach."

That caught all of their attention and everyone turned to look at him. The only ones who didn't seem surprised by the statement were Ethan and Trent, but that was because Tommy had already told Dino Thunder everything he and Hayley had discovered.

"You can't touch it?" Kim asked in surprise.

Tommy shook his head.

"No, I can't," he said simply. "I cannot access the power of the green ranger anymore without the coin."

His friends all exchanged surprised looks. They had not been expecting that.

"But if you can't touch the magic anymore," Kat said slowly. "Then does that mean what I hope it does?"

She was looking at him hopefully, as were most of the others now. Tommy smiled faintly, nodding.

"Yes, it does," he said. "I can't touch it anymore, so there is no way for me to become addicted to it ever again."

Smiles broke out all over the room as many of the rangers laughed in relief. Kim threw her arms around Tommy in a tight hug.

"That's wonderful!" she exclaimed.

"Told you I was fine," he grumbled.

But he hugged her back. But, while all of the originals were excited, most of them crowding around Tommy in celebration, the Mystic Force rangers were exchanging confused looks.

"Wait a minute," Nick said after a few moments. "I don't understand."

"Don't understand what, rookie?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned to look at him.

"How could he have been addicted to magic?" Nick asked. "It's not possible."

Now everyone was looking at the young team, most of them with irritated yet amused looks on their faces.

"Oh, it's possible," Jason said, crossing his arms.

"But how?" Vida asked, frowning. "We're around magic all the time now and we've never heard of anyone having that problem."

Tommy sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"It's possible," he said quietly. "As I well know. It's something I've struggled with for years."

The young rangers turned their attention to Tommy, not sure what to think.

"What do you mean?" Madison asked hesitantly.

"Let me put it this way," he said. "You guys use magic every day, right?"

Mystic Force exchanged looks, and then nodded as they turned back.

"Yes," Vida said.

"And could you ever imagine being told you couldn't use it again?" he asked. "Having someone tell you that you weren't allowed to use magic?"

They all shook their heads.

"No, of course not," Xander said. "That's why all of us are still training. It's part of who we are."

"Exactly," Tommy said. "And there's nothing wrong with that. I felt the same way except—well, my magic was killing me…"

They gasped as the originals winced. Even Trent and Ethan exchanged uncomfortable looks. They hadn't been there when it had happened, but both boys knew they wouldn't be where they were without Tommy.

"It was killing you?" Madison stammered. "But—how?"

Tommy took a deep breath.

"The power of the green ranger was once tied to a powerful source of magic," he explained. "But, after the Green Candle stole most of the coin's power, that tie was broken."

Jason flinched, guilt flashing across his face. Giving him a knowing look, Trini sidled up to her husband and slipped an arm through his, leaning against him for comfort.

"I gave up the coin for a time," Tommy continued. "But then took it back up again to help my friends. Eventually the power drained completely, nearly killing me in the process. After that is when I was given the power of the white ranger—and we discovered that we had inadvertently tied the power of the green coin directly to my life force."

"How is that even possible?" Chip asked, frowning.

Tommy shrugged, shaking his head.

"We aren't entirely sure," he said. "But it happened when our mentor, Zordan, recharged the coin. And there is no way to reverse it. But the point is, the coin did not die as we thought it had. The power recharged, slowly, over time, and after a while I could feel it again. And I wanted to use it…"

"But if it was tied to your life force," Nick said slowly.

Tommy nodded.

"That was the problem," he said. "However, with Zordon's help I learned to contain the magic in the center of my core and, with the power of other ranger abilities, I was able to keep it under control and it had no ill effect on me. Until I gave up the Turbo Powers to TJ and retired as a ranger…"

He paused, trying to decide what to say next.

"Not long after I gave up the powers, I was in a bad racing accident," he continued after a moment.

"I remember that," Vida said, shooting a glance at her sister. "We visited you in the hospital."

Madison nodded in agreement as Tommy smiled faintly at them.

"Yes, you did," he said. "But what you didn't know is that as soon as the hospital released me I started carrying a morpher again for a while. Just to make sure I could still start college on time. And I did. And the first few months were fine. Until the green magic, which had long lain dormant, started waking up again now that I no longer had the direct strength of the morphing grid to keep it contained…"

"And if it was waking up again," Xander said slowly.

Tommy nodded.

"I started using it again," he sighed. "Not a lot. Just for little things here and there. Everyday tasks—things the five of you probably wouldn't think about twice these days."

"Probably not," Vida said ruefully, glancing at her teammates. "We do try and only use magic when it's appropriate, but we do take shortcuts sometimes."

They nodded in agreement.

"When Jason and the others found out," Tommy continued, glancing at his friends. "They reminded me I needed to stop and just how dangerous playing with that magic was for me. I promised to stop. And, for a while, I did. But then I broke that promise and everything spiraled out of control…"

"Wait a minute," Madison frowned, glancing at her twin. "But if that was your freshman year in college, wasn't that when…"

She trailed off, looking expectantly at Tommy. He nodded.

"It was," he said. "By the time I was partway through the second semester I was completely addicted. I couldn't not use the magic—and it was killing me a little at a time."

His friends and teammates grimaced at the memory.

"You have to understand," he said. "As I said already, the Power will recharge over time. But it is slow and, because it's tied to my life force, that time just isn't enough. It was draining me faster than it could recharge itself…"

"But mom said you were addicted to painkillers," Vida frowned. "Our mom and yours nearly had a meltdown over that pill bottle that we found in the duffle bag."

Jason snorted, interrupted.

"Like we were going to tell them what was really going on," he said, shaking his head. "They didn't know about us then and don't know about us now. We had to come up with a cover of some kind to explain Tommy's erratic behavior—and why I was suddenly moving in with him. It was Hayley's idea—and the best one we could come up with, so we made it work as best we could."

Tommy nodded, stifling a yawn as he continued to lean against the column. Jason shot a look at him and sighed.

"Tommy, go to bed," he said.

The other ranger looked up in surprise.

"What?" he said.

"Go to bed," Jason repeated. "You were right. You're fine. So go to bed."

Tommy raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

"What was that?" he asked.

Jason glared at him.

"Go to bed," he said again.

"The other part, Jase," Tommy said. "What was the other part?"

Jason didn't answer for a moment as Tommy smirked at him.

"You were right," Jason finally grumbled. "You're fine and I'm sorry I dragged you out of bed…"

"Thank you," Tommy said, yawning. "Now don't make a mess in my lab or my house, they're already bad enough. I'm going to bed, you all know the way out."

Turning, Tommy headed toward the stairs.

"I need to find a clean shirt," he muttered to himself, looking down at his shirt. "I don't think I have any…"

But he didn't make it to the stairs because someone was already coming down. Kira and Conner, babies cradled in their arms, came walking into the lab to see what was going on.

"Hey, Dr. O," Conner said. "Everything alright down here? We just wanted to make sure Jason didn't kill you."

Tommy snorted.

"Some help you'd have been," he grumbled. "We've been down here for at least a half an hour. They could have killed me long before now."

Conner shrugged as Kira rolled her eyes.

"We're pretty sure Ethan or Trent would have called us," Kira said drily.

Kim and Kat, seeing the babies with Kira and Conner, immediately started crowding them and cooing over the twin girls.

"Oh!" Madison exclaimed. "They're so cute."

She smiled, looking at Tommy. He smiled back, trying to stifle another yawn as he turned to look at his daughters.

"This is Jacquelyn," Kira said, looking down at the dark-haired baby in her arms. "And Conner has Kimberly."

Kim and Kat were fussing over them now. Frowning, Tommy walked over to take baby Kimberly from Conner before Kim could.

"Nope," he said, holding his daughter close. "You're not allowed to."

Kim looked at him in surprise.

"Tommy!" she exclaimed. "You aren't allowed to tell me 'no' about holding them, too."

"Sure I can," he retorted, rocking Kimberly in his arms. "These ones are mine."

She put her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

"Tommy, that's not fair," she complained. "Besides, didn't you already say godparents have high priority for getting to hold the babies? That's why you wouldn't let us hold Rose."

"Sorry, Kim," Tommy yawned. "You're not her godmother."

"What?" Kim exclaimed in surprise. "What do you mean? She is named after me, after all."

"Hayley got to pick godmothers," Tommy sighed. "And you didn't get picked. And she's not named after you. Kimberly is named after Hayley's grandmother and Jacquelyn is named after my sister."

"Hmph," Kim grumbled, crossing her arms. "Then who are the godmothers?"

"Them," Tommy answered, pointing toward Vida and Madison.

The twins looked back at him in surprise, just as shocked as everyone else to hear that news.

"What?" Kim exclaimed, dropping her arms.

Some of the other girls looked a little put out, too, that they had been passed over.

"Oh," Trini said. "Well that's good, I guess."

She was trying to be happy for the twins, but it wasn't quite working.

"Sorry, Trini," Tommy said, shaking his head. "But there were two of them. If it makes you feel any better, you were Hayley's next choice."

Trini nodded, feeling a little better now.

"But what about me?" Kim demanded. "You've known me just as long as Trini. Would you have picked me if you were making the decision?"

"I got to pick the godfathers," Tommy said, ignoring Kim's question and changing the subject.

She glared at him, muttering to herself.

"Well then when are you going to ask them?" Rocky asked, grinning.

Tommy glanced at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Already did," he said.

Rocky frowned.

"But you didn't ask me," he said. "Wait a minute, please tell me you didn't pick any of them."

He gestured toward Conner, Ethan, and Trent. But all three immediately shook their heads.

"Nope," Conner grumbled. "Not that we didn't try…"

Tommy snorted.

"Graduate college first," he said. "Then I'll think about it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Conner sighed.

Jason smirked.

"Well, if godparents get first shot at holding the new babies," he said, walking over to Tommy. "Then my turn."

Tommy didn't protest as Jason carefully took Kimberly out of his arms.

"Hi, sweetheart," he said, smiling down at the little girl.

"You picked Jason?" Rocky said, sounding a little surprised.

Aisha rolled her eyes.

"Of course I picked Jason," Tommy muttered. "Why does that surprise you?"

Rocky paused for a moment.

"Well, then who is Jacquelyn's godfather?" he asked.

"I am," Adam said, briefly holding up a hand.

"You skipped me?" Rocky exclaimed.

Tommy shrugged.

"Not really," he said. "Billy was my second choice, but he lives off planet now. Zach was perfectly alright with someone else taking the responsibility—"

"I'd much rather just be the fun uncle who spoils them once in a while," Zach agreed, grinning.

"And Adam called me back first," Tommy finished. "So I asked him."

Rocky frowned and Aisha sighed.

"I told you that you should have called him back sooner," she said. "But you were insistent that he'd be sleeping."

"That's because any normal person would have been," Rocky argued.

Aisha raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, honey," she sighed. "Since when has Tommy ever been normal?"

Rocky paused, thinking about that for a moment and then sighed.

"Yeah, you're right," he muttered.

The other rangers laughed. Madison and Vida, however, were still staring at Tommy in shock—not sure whether to believe what he had just said or not. Jason shook his head at them.

"Apparently your godmothers need help wrapping their heads around this," he murmured to Kimberly as he walked over to his sisters. "So you're going to—"

He paused, frowning as he looked at Kimberly and then at his sisters.

"Hey, Tommy?" he said, glancing over his shoulder. "Which one is which baby's godmother?"

"What?" Tommy frowned, looking over. "Oh! Umm…"

He paused, thinking about the question for a moment.

"Madison is Kimberly's," he said after a moment. "And Vida is Jacquelyn's. I think… No, that should be right…"

He frowned again, trailing off. Jason rolled his eyes and carefully handed Kimberly to a still-surprised Madison.

"Here," he said. "Hold your goddaughter. We'll double check with Hayley later to make sure he got it right."

Kira came walking over, too, to let Vida hold Jacquelyn. Tommy was leaning against a column again, fighting to keep his eyes open as he watched his friends holding his daughters. Shaking his head, Jason walked over and put a hand on Tommy's shoulder.

"Tommy, go get some sleep," he said quietly. "We've got this. Your girls are safe with us here to watch them."

For a moment it looked like Tommy was going to refuse, but then he sighed and nodded as he straightened up.

"Alright," he said reluctantly. "Just watch them."

He gestured to the women in general.

"I don't want them corrupting my children with things like the color pink," he finished.

"Now, Tommy," Kat said. "What if they decide they like the color pink?"

He shook his head.

"They are not allowed to make that decision until they are at least five years old," he said.

Kim and Kat exchanged glances.

"So what are you going to dress them in, then?" Kim asked. "Green, white, red, and black?"

"Purple," Tommy countered. "Or orange."

"But those aren't ranger colors," Tanya pointed out.

"Exactly," Tommy retorted.

"Aww… Come on, Tommy," Zach grinned. "Don't you want your girls growing up to carry on your legacy?"

"No!" Tommy exclaimed. "Not a chance. I've tried long enough to get away from it. I don't want them getting pulled in, too."

Most of his friends were snickering, now.

"Good luck with that, man," Rocky laughed. "Especially with your track record."

Tommy scowled at him, but Jason intervened.

"Go to bed, Falcon," he said firmly. "No one is going to make your daughters rangers today. Get some sleep and you can beat Rocky after you wake up."

Relenting, Tommy nodded as he yawned again.

"Just watch them," he muttered to Jason as he turned toward the stairs.

He headed up to the house without another word. Once they heard the trapdoor shut behind Tommy, Jason turned back toward Mystic Force with his arms crossed. Madison and Vida were each cooing over the baby they were holding as the boys stood near them, still a little uncomfortable.

"Well," Nick said slowly, rubbing a hand on the back of his head. "I guess we'll get out of your hair now… We should probably make sure the others have gotten Clare's problem under control…"

"Don't move," Jason snapped.

They all looked at him in surprise, the twins looking up from the babies.

"Jason, what now?" Madison frowned.

"I wasn't going to say anything in front of Tommy," Jason growled. "At least not yet. But I'm not letting any of you leave until we've run scans on all of you—not after you admitted to the source of your power being Rita."

Vida rolled her eyes.

"Jason, nothing is wrong with us," she said. "Mystic Mother would never hurt us."

"Be that as it may," he scowled. "Rita would. Now who is going first?"

He gestured to the chair, looking at them expectantly.

"We don't need scans," Nick said firmly. "If anything was wrong our mentors would have found out long ago. There is nothing wrong."

"Well, forgive us if we aren't ready to believe them," Kim said drily. "They have a connection to Rita, too. So humor us and then we'll all feel better."

"Besides," Zach said, leaning against the tunnel door. "I'd love to see the five of you get past the twelve of us."

The five Mystic Force rangers glanced around the room. While they had been focused on Tommy leaving, the rest of the originals, Ethan, and Trent had all taken a cue from Jason and spread to block the exits. All of them were watching the five newest rangers now, waiting expectantly for them to do something. Kira and Conner walked over to take the babies back from Madison and Vida, moving to stand out of the way.

"And don't think those wands of yours are going to help," Jason said. "There are six rangers in here that will have them out of your hands before you can blink. Now who is going to go first?"

His sisters and their friends scowled at him, but none of them tried to leave.

"No one is leaving until you've all been scanned," he said. "And, since it's summer, most of us have quite a while to wait."

"Alright, Jason," Madison sighed. "I'll go first."

"Maddy, you don't—" Nick started to protest.

She shook her head.

"It's fine, Nick," she said. "We know nothing is wrong, so let them have the scans. It'll make everyone feel better and then we can put this whole big mess behind us."

Walking over to the computer, she took the chair Tommy had occupied not an hour before.

"Alright," she said, taking a deep breath. "Let's get this over with."

Nodding, Jason turned to Billy who began the scan. Once all five Mystic Force rangers had been scanned, the rest of the rangers relaxed. They were still waiting on the results, but those wouldn't take long. Before anyone could try and leave, however, Trini called everyone's attention.

"Alright, guys," she said. "As you all saw, Tommy and Hayley are completely exhausted with the twins and their house is a disaster. Before they wake up, I'd like to help get everything back in order so that they can just relax a bit. That being said…"

She trailed off, looking around the room again. Everyone, including the Mystic Force rangers, was waiting for her to tell them what to do.

"Kat is taking care of laundry," she continued. "But she'll need help sorting and getting it all done. Who do you want to help you, Kat?"

Kat started to point at Madison, but Trini discreetly shook her head and glanced at Jason. Kat paused, studying the young rangers.

"I'll just take him," Kat said, pointing at Xander. "They need supervision right now anyways to make sure they don't take off, so we can just split them up among us."

Xander looked at her in surprise, but stepped hesitantly forward when Trini beckoned.

"Umm… I don't think you want his help…" Madison said slowly.

"And why not?" Kat asked. "He's perfectly capable of at least carrying baskets for me."

"Because the last time we let him touch anyone's laundry he turned it all pink," Nick snorted. "And not just Vida's stuff—we mean everything."

"Oh," Kat said, eying Xander again. "Well—then I'll take Chip instead. You can do laundry correctly, right?"

He nodded and she smiled.

"Then let's go," she said.

She turned and left, Trini shooing Chip after her as he glanced over his shoulder at his teammates. Nick just shrugged, so Chip went along with it and followed Kat to the laundry room. Trini turned back to the rest of the group to start passing out the rest of the assignments.

"Aisha and Tanya," she said. "You two take the kitchen. I'm sure the fridge needs to be cleaned out—as do the dishes…"

The two other yellow rangers nodded and headed toward the kitchen, already discussing the best way to tackle the assignment.

"Adam and Rocky, can you start by emptying all of the trash cans in the house and get it outside?" Trini asked. "Make sure to get the lab, too."

"On it," Adam nodded. "Let's go, Rocky."

The two men headed for the kitchen, planning to start there.

"Ethan," Trini started to say.

"I'll take him," he grinned, pointing at Xander. "We're going to go corral the raptors and feed them before they get too antsy."

Xander paled, but Trini nodded.

"Go ahead," she said.

"Wait, are you talking about those giant creatures in the woods?" Xander exclaimed, eyes wide.

"You bet," Ethan smirked.

Still grinning, Ethan grabbed Xander and towed him after him toward the exit still protesting.

"Ok," Trini said, glancing around at who was left. "Kira and Trent, you're on babysitting duty for now. Try to keep them quiet so Tommy and Hayley can sleep."

Kira and Trent nodded. Conner looked disappointed that he wasn't babysitting, but didn't protest when Trent took baby Jaquelyn. The pair headed upstairs with the babies as Trini continued assigning jobs.

"Kim and Billy," Trini continued. "You're on dusting and sweeping all of the rooms you can."

"They should vacuum, too," Zach suggested.

"Which would wake up Tommy and Hayley," Trini said drily, her hands on her hips. "Which would ruin the entire point of this plan."

"Oh, right," Zach mumbled. "Ignore me. Bad idea."

Rolling her eyes, Trini moved on.

"Now that we've established that noise is a bad thing," she said. "Zach, why don't you take Nick and go catch up on some of the yard work? Rocky and Adam can come help when they're done with the trash."

"I can handle that," Zach grinned. "Let's go, rookie."

Nick took a deep breath, nodding.

"Alright," he said. "Where do we start?"

Zach smiled and started going over what they needed to check on as they headed out the backdoor.

"Now Conner," Trini said. "I need the you to go around the house and put anything that is in the wrong place back where it belongs. I know you can do it quickly and accurately, since you spend so much time here. Make sure you're quiet if you go upstairs."

"Got it, Trini," Conner grinned. "The house'll be clean in no time."

He sped off without another word.

"And I will start picking up down here," Trini said, glancing around the room. "That way the trash will be ready for Adam and Rocky when they come back down. Tommy will have to pick another punishment for Justin whenever he gets back from KO-35."

Jason frowned, glancing around. It was just the four of them—him, Trini, Madison and Vida—and Trini hadn't given them anything to do.

"Trini, you forgot us," he said, looking at her expectantly.

"Oh, right," she said. "The three of you shoo—go outside. I want you out of my way."

"What?" Jason said.

"Go," she repeated. "You'll just be in the way here, so outside the three of you go."

Jason glowered at her, but she just raised an eyebrow and nodded toward his sisters. Sighing, he relented.

"Alright," he muttered. "Come on."

Looking at his sisters, he jerked his head toward the stairs. Glancing at each other, they reluctantly followed him down the hall and out of the house. Nodding in satisfaction, Trini went to find trash bags and a broom. Outside, Jason walked a few yards from the house before stopping and the girls followed. On the far side of the yard they could see Zach and Nick pulling a few things out of the shed. For a few moments, none of them said anything. Vida was pointedly looking at anything but her brother, while Madison couldn't take her eyes off of him. Biting her lip, she kept acting as though she was going to say something but couldn't figure out what. Jason stood with his arms crossed, staring off toward the trees.

"We're sorry!" Madison finally burst out, starting to cry again as she threw her arms around her brother.

Jason looked down at her in surprise as she buried her face against him, hugging him tightly and sobbing. Then he looked up at Vida.

"She's really been stuck on this today, hasn't she?" he asked, not quite sure how he wanted to react.

Vida nodded, finally looking up at him.

"It's been a—an emotional day," she said hesitantly, eying her brother.

"You're telling me," he muttered, glancing down at Madison again.

She was still sobbing and apologizing.

"We were so wrong," she cried, holding tightly to his shirt. "We disappointed you and—and hurt you and Tommy and everyone else… and we did—didn't listen…we're horrible sisters and I know you—you hate us but we're so sorry…"

Vida was nodding solemnly in agreement, staring at the ground again.

"Maddy," Jason said, shaking his head as he tried to get her to look up at him. "Maddy, please stop crying."

She kept sobbing and continued to apologize over and over again. Jason sighed.

"Maddy, no," he said firmly. "I don't hate you—either of you. I've never hated you."

She finally looked up at him, tears streaming down her face.

"But we almost kill—I almost killed Tommy," she sobbed. "How can you not hate me?"

He took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around his little sister, hugging her back.

"I've never hated you," he said again. "You both drive me crazy—sometimes more than others—and I hate some of the things you've done, but I never have and never will hate you. I promise."

"Even after everything we did wrong?" Vida asked quietly, still standing a few feet away.

"Even after all of that," he said. "Come here."

She hesitated for a moment and then hurried over to hug him. After a moment she let go, stepping back a little. Madison continued to lean on Jason, clinging to him as though afraid he would walk away again.

"Can you ever forgive us?" Madison asked, trying not to sound too hopeful as she looked up at Jason. "I know we messed up big time, but…"

She trailed off as Jason sighed.

"Hey," he said. "I think that if I can forgive Tommy for nearly killing me—and then invite him to join the team without a second thought—that I can forgive the two of you."

The twins looked at each other in surprise.

"You invited him to fight with you?" Vida said, looking at Jason.

He nodded.

"Of course," he said. "He was meant to be with us, even if he did have a bit of a rough start. And I've never regretted that decision. We've had our moments, but he's always been my best friend. And you two are always going to be my little sisters—even if I do want to kill you sometimes."

They both smiled faintly.

"The bigger question is," he said, looking between the two of them. "Can you two ever forgive me?"

They frowned.

"For what?" Vida asked.

"Well, I didn't exactly help the situation," Jason said. "Keeping information from you, yelling at you when I should have been more patient—all the things Tommy has been on my case about since the whole thing blew up. Man does he stick to something once he's on it… stubborn…"

"You did keep a lot from us," Madison said.

"I know…" he sighed. "That was never my intention. I just—I wanted to give you a chance to figure things out on your own. And then everything fell apart so quickly…"

"We know…" Vida mumbled.

He shook his head.

"You two aren't little kids anymore," he said seriously. "You've got to think about what you're doing, especially as rangers. That kind of power is a big responsibility and when you mess up there are big consequences. And now that you've sworn to the Code, you risk a lot more to yourselves than just a few bruises if you lose the fight."

"What do you mean?" Madison asked hesitantly.

"We aren't kidding when we say that to break the Code means risking losing the protection of the Power," he said. "If you break from it badly enough, you just won't be rangers anymore. You'll be stripped of your powers and be left with no way to defend yourselves—and I don't want that to happen to you. So you've got to keep your heads on straight no matter what happens."

They both nodded fervently.

"We'll try," they promised.

"Good," he said. "Because I don't want to have to come rescue you the next time you do something stupid."

"Hey, we can take care of ourselves, big brother," Vida said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, well, I'm always going to be your overprotective big brother," he said, reaching over to ruffle her hair. "I know I can't protect you from everything, but I'm always going to try."

Vida smacked his hand away, but Jason retaliated by catching her around the waist and tickling her. Squealing in surprise, Vida kicked back as she tried to get away.

"Let me go!" she demanded, squirming in his grasp. "Maddy, help!"

Madison was watching them with an amused look on her face.

"Not a chance, sis," she said, shaking her head. "You got yourself into it. Now you're on your own."

As Jason chuckled, Vida continued to struggle to get away, prying at his hands and kicking. She finally managed to land a hard kick to his shin and he winced, nearly dropping her. Madison snorted, laughing at the look on his face.

"Oh, so you think that's funny?" he growled, turning toward her with vida still tightly in his grasp. "Get over here."

Madison's eyes widened and she started backing away.

"No!" she exclaimed. "Jason—no! Don't you dare!"

But he just grinned at her and shifted Vida into a better position without letting go. As Jason tossed her twin up on his shoulder, Madison bolted away. He took off after her, Vida laughing and holding on for dear life as her twin ran for hers.