FRIDAY - FEBRUARY 1st

Kira arrived at school early. Dr. O was only working with her every other day while Jenny was gone. She was determined to talk to Jenny today. Every other attempt was brushed off with Jenny treating her like any other student. She sat down outside Jenny's classroom and waited, pulling out her English paper to reread while she waited.

The girl jumped when a voice spoke nearby. "Loitering in the halls, Miss Ford?"

"No, Principal Randall. I'm waiting to see Mrs. Allen about my English paper. I have some questions about the formatting and some of the phrasing I'm using."

"This class shouldn't be an issue for you" the principal sneered "since you fancy yourself a songwriter."

Kira's tone was even. "Oh, I am a songwriter, but there's always room for improvement."

"Are you disrespecting me?"

"Of course not, Principal Randall." Kira put on a surprised look. "I was agreeing with you."

"I don't think you were" the woman snarled. "Perhaps detention will change your tune."

"That's enough, Randall" Jenny said from down the hall. "She hasn't done anything wrong so leave her alone."

Kira and Principal Randall turned and looked at the newcomer as she approached. Kira frowned. Jenny looked almost - sickly, fragile. Randall spoke first. "Not looking too well these days, Mrs. Allen. Perhaps you should take some time off from defending students that don't deserve it."

Jenny's words were clipped. "With all due respect, maybe you should mind your own business."

The dark haired woman's tone was full of mock concern. "But the well being of the students and faculty is my business." She crossed the three steps between them. "All the students and faculty."

Jenny was in no mood for this. "Step back, Randall."

"Or what? Are you threatening me?" she mocked. "I doubt you could take out a fly right now."

"Nobody made any threats, Elise. I'm just in no mood for your games today."

She pouted. "But I like to play games. And today, I'm in the mood to play Destroy the English Teacher." Her hands shot out and caught Jenny in the shoulders. There was a energy blast when they connected, throwing Jenny back into the nearby lockers. She'd forgotten about the young girl that was watching.

"Jenny, no!" Kira was shocked.

Randall turned on her. "Your mentor is useless, Yellow Ranger, as are you." She turned and headed rapidly for the doors.

Jenny scrambled to her feet, still feeling the sting in her shoulders. Realizing that the halls were still deserted, she barked at Kira, "Call the others! I'm going after her!"

"Jenny, wait!"

"No time!" she answered back. She hurried after Randall, catching up with her in front of the school. She called after the woman, "Running, you coward?"

Elise spun around. "Well, if you're going to be so persistent as to chase me, perhaps it's time to fight this out - once and for all."

Out of the corner of her eye, Jenny could see the students arriving for the day. She returned her full attention to the woman in front of her as Randall launched an attack. Jenny was on the defensive. She could hear the murmurs of the students around them, commenting that it was about time someone took down the principal and what was she thinking and other assorted remarks.

Finally, Elise got tired of it. She flipped over Jenny, transforming into Elsa as she did. Elsa threw a last second kick that caught Jenny between the shoulders and knocked her to the ground. Jenny quickly regained her feet as the nearby students fled. "Abandoning the students, Principal?"

"Former principal. Tell the school board I resign" she sneered. She opened a portal and disappeared.

The Rangers hurried over to her, Kira from the front and Tommy and the boys from behind. They all spoke at once, asking if she was all right. She nodded. "A little sore, but I'm fine. Tommy, you need to talk to the school board and let them know what happened. With the panic that's going on, there won't be school today. Everybody get going."

She headed into the school to get her briefcase. The other Rangers all traded looks. Finally, Kira spoke. "I think you should go see her before you go, Dr. O. I don't know how good a look you got while she was fighting, but, well, it's not good."

Without another word, Tommy headed into the school and for her classroom. She was standing looking out the window when he came in. His voice was soft. "Baby, are you okay?"

"Like I said, a little sore but I'm fine. You need to deal with the school board."

He crossed the room to stand behind her. "We haven't seen each other all week. The school board can wait. I miss you."

She sighed heavily. "I miss you too, but-"

"Give me five minutes before you have to disappear again."

"It's hard enough to stay away from you. It'll just make it harder for me to go again."

He reached out and gently stroked his hand over her hair. "I know, sweetheart. I'm sorry, but I needed to see you."

Suddenly, she spun and threw herself against his chest, arms wrapping tightly around his waist. Tommy closed his arms around her, holding her for long minutes. Finally, she eased back out of his arms, head down. "You need to go, Dr. Oliver."

"Don't do that, please, not now." He reached out and gently raised her chin to see her face. She closed her eyes. He studied her face, seeing the dark circles under her eyes that her make up couldn't quite hide and the lines of misery etched around her mouth. He knew that he hadn't been sleeping well since she had left, but Jenny obviously wasn't getting even that much. She was pale and looked thin and almost breakable. His heart ached as he said, "Oh, sweetheart."

He released her and stepped back. He turned for the door. His voice was firm as he said, "I'll deal with the school board now. Tell your bodyguards that I want to have a talk with them later."

"Why?"

"Because I want to." He wasn't surprised when he heard her snatch up her briefcase and follow him out. He made his way toward his car and tossed his briefcase in when he reached it.

Before either of them could say any more, a black Trans-Am screeched to a halt next to them, Michael at the wheel. The passenger door sprang open. "Jenny, get in! Now!"

She hesitated briefly. Tommy's adrenaline spiked at the tone in the other man's voice. He pushed her toward the car. "Go!"

Jenny jumped in the car and the door slammed shut. 'Be careful. I love you' she thought to him as the car launched out of the lot.

"You too, honey. You too." He quickly got into his own car and left, intent on his own mission.

HOURS LATER

Tommy was in the kitchen with the other Rangers. They were talking about the day's events. He told them that he and Jenny knew that Elise Randall was Elsa, but had decided not to reveal it until necessary. There was a knock at the door. Tommy crossed to it, calling out, "Who is it?"

"Mac and Michael."

He threw open the door. The two men entered and Tommy closed the door behind them. He led them to the kitchen and addressed the teens. "Why don't you guys go ahead and go?"

The teens exchanged looks. Kira spoke up. "What's wrong with Jenny, Dr. O? What's going on?"

Seeing that the other Rangers weren't leaving any time soon without some answers, Tommy turned his attention to the men. "Good questions. I'm hoping you have answers."

Mac and Michael exchanged looks. They had both noticed Kira's use of Jenny's first name. Mac folded his arms and looked at them. "Now why would four kids be this worried about their English teacher? And call her by her first name, no less?"

Kira winced at her slip and looked to Tommy, who answered. "Jenny also trains Kira in martial arts. This is our student group. It's less formal than a classroom setting."

Michael smirked. "So they call you Tommy?"

"No. I was their teacher first and they'd already shortened my name to Dr. O. Jenny started helping with the group and then became their teacher, so they got used to calling her by her first name. Besides, she asked them to."

The pair exchanged looks again and Mac shrugged. Michael said, "What do you know about what's going on?"

"She didn't tell me a lot. She seemed to think that I'd - we'd be safer the less we knew. There's something going on at the company and she's in danger."

"That's the long and the short of it" Mac agreed. "The organizations we work for sent us to help out."

"So why does she look like something the cat dragged in?" asked Conner.

"She keeps saying she's fine, but I think she's a little homesick" Mac answered.

"A little homesick?" Ethan said. "Sorry, guys, but I think this goes beyond a little."

Kira nodded. "She's been looking worse and worse all week."

"We're doing what we can, but we can't make her eat or sleep."

Tommy's protective instincts kicked in and he growled at them, every inch of him Alpha male. "Then this isn't the best thing for her, now is it, if she's not eating or sleeping?"

"Better that than dead. And we're hoping to finish this over the weekend."

Just then, Michael's comlink beeped. He sighed. "Go ahead."

"Michael, I think you need to get back here. There are some suspicious people converging on the building at a high rate of speed."

"We're on our way. Alert Jenny."

"Already done, Michael." The two men were already moving rapidly for the door.

The door had barely closed behind them when Conner said, "So what are we waiting for? Let's go."

"Where?" Kira asked. "We don't know where she is!"

"Well, we can't just sit here and do nothing! She's our teammate!"

"I don't even know where she is" Tommy said.

Conner leveled a look at him. It was a look that Tommy had given him more than once. "And you have no way to find her? Even so, we could just teleport her out. If these people are attacking the building she's in, then we get her out."

Ethan smacked him in the back of the head. "And we take a chance on exposing ourselves as Rangers. They obviously have some kind of surveillance going on. What happens when she just disappears? Never mind if they can track the energy signature."

"It's a good thought, Conner, just not really workable" Trent said.

"I know how you feel, Conner" Kira said. "I don't like the idea that there's nothing we can do either."

"Plus, if she left to protect all of us, I think she'd be pretty mad if we put ourselves in harms way" Ethan added.

"But she's doing it again!" Conner protested.

"No, she's not. Not this time" Tommy said. "She is getting help this time, just not ours."

"But doesn't more help mean better odds?"

"Or just more people in the way" Trent pointed out. "I'm guessing that this is what these guys do and we're just going to have to trust them with our Green Ranger."

Silence fell for a moment. "Dr. O?" Kira asked hesitantly "Do you think they'll let us know when everything is over? I mean, let us know that she's all right?"

"I hope so, Kira" he answered "but I don't know. If you guys want to hang for a while and see if we hear, you can."

TWO HOURS LATER

The Rangers were getting ready to go home, still having heard nothing. They were startled when there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" Tommy challenged.

"MacGyver." Tommy opened the door and Mac entered quickly and closed the door behind him. "Have you seen Jenny?"

Tommy replied, "No."

"What happened?" Conner demanded.

Mac was surprised by the boy's aggressiveness, but answered him. "Before we got to the building, Jenny took off on her motorcycle. Apparently, she waited until they were all in the building and then made a run for it. We've managed to round up most of the people involved. Two of them got away, but we lost Jenny and we don't even know where to start looking since she's not here."

Before anyone could comment, Mac's phone rang. "Hello? Where are you? No, we got most of them. Yeah, I'm there now. No. Five. You need to come in, Jen. Oh, he does? But you- Who is it? No, I can't. Michael can't do it alone. You can't be sure you're safe where you are. I can do that. If you won't come in so we can protect you, stay hidden and we'll have them find you when it's over. We will and you be careful too."

Mac turned to the people in front of him. "She says that she's fine, she's safe and she knows who's after her. She also said that she's in the safest place she could think of and that Tommy has a couple of ways to find her. Jenny also said that she's been training Kira to think her way and that Kira could probably find her too, but that nobody should look for her until we find the others and it's safe. I have to go, but we will be in touch."

He left quickly, leaving puzzled Rangers in his wake. "So how can you two find her?" Trent asked.

Kira said, "Apparently, I'm supposed to think like her. I don't know how Dr. O is supposed to find her."

"Duh" Conner drawled. Everyone looked at him. "The falcon, of course."

Tommy nodded. "Either that or the homing device on her bike. That should at least get me close. Probably the homing device and the telepathy."

"But she was very clear that we wait until it's safe" Ethan remarked. "That could be hours or it could be days. Since we don't know where she is, we don't know if she might need anything - like food or water or even a blanket."

Silence set in as they all became absorbed in their thoughts. Kira was focused on the puzzle that she'd been presented with. She had to think like Jenny. Her eyes roamed the room. This was home. Her eyes wandered to Dr. O. That was her fiancé - the man that she loved and wanted to keep safe. She'd want to stay close enough to insure his safety and far enough so as not to endanger him with her presence. Close enough to handle Ranger business if necessary. If Kira herself had to hide, where would she go? Where would she feel safest - assuming home wasn't an option? Suddenly, she knew the answer, she was sure.

Tommy was startled when Kira started to laugh. Great big laughs easing down to giggles and then back again as she wiped her eyes. All the males looked at her, concerned.

"Kira? Are you okay?" Tommy asked cautiously. The question set her off on another round of laughter.

When she finally calmed down a little, she choked out, "You're her fiancé! You should be able to figure out where she's hiding just as well as I did!"

"I don't think like she does…" His voice trailed off as he realized what she'd said. "Did? You know where she is?"

The girl smirked. "And so should you."

He thought for several minutes but was drawing a blank. Finally, he shook his head. "I don't know, Kira. It's probably obvious to you, but I have no idea how she thinks."

"That's obvious" Kira shook her head with a sigh.

They were all startled by a loud banging on the door. "Open up!" a voice from outside demanded.

"Who is it?" Tommy called out.

"Open the damn door!" the voice demanded again.

Tommy signaled to the Rangers to head for the kitchen. Quietly, they left the room, Tommy behind them. He spoke very quietly. "We need to get out of here."

Conner pointed at the door to the deck. Tommy nodded, crossed the room and quietly opened the door. He scanned the yard before cautiously leaning out. A gunshot had him jerking back in and closing and locking the door quickly. Thinking quickly, he led the teens to the garage. He spoke quietly. "You guys hide in here. If they force their way into the house, sneak out the side door and get away as fast as you can."

"Dr. O, come with us!" Kira pleaded as they moved into the garage.

"I can't, Kira. I have to make sure they don't find the lair. And if they ransack the house, they might."

The young Rangers exchanged looks. Conner spoke for the group. "If you're staying, then so are we."

"No! If Kira does actually know where Jenny is, you guys might need to get to her and tell her to call her friends and get them here."

"Even if they do get into the lair, Dr. O, the raptors are down there. They'll protect their territory, won't they?" Ethan asked.

"Probably, Ethan, but these guys might just shoot them." The sound of a body colliding with the front door reached them. "Guys, go now!"

Before they could react, he pulled the door shut and locked it. He went upstairs to where Jenny kept some of her spare knives. He wasn't as good as she was, but he could hurt these bastards if he had to. He thought, 'Sweetheart, I don't know if you can hear me, but they're here and trying to get in. Get your friends here if you can. I love you. Stay safe.'

He barely heard her reply. 'Hide. They'll be too busy looking for you or me to pay attention to anything else. Plus, they're too stupid. Michael and Mac are on their way. Hide and hang on - for me.'

Where to hide though? It sounded like the front door would give any minute so he probably wouldn't be able to make it to the garage with the kids. He left the bedroom and headed for the only other hiding place he could think of in the house.

Long minutes passed. Where Tommy was hiding, he could hear a commotion outside, but couldn't see anything. He eased open the trap door and listened carefully. Suddenly, everything stopped and then the swearing started. Slowly and carefully, he lowered himself down from the attic crawlspace. He landed almost soundlessly and cautiously made his way downstairs. He was halfway down the stairs when someone pounded at the door. "Tommy! It's Michael!"

Tommy hurried down the rest of the stairs. "Is everything okay?"

"We got them. Are you guys okay?"

Tommy unlocked the garage door on his way to the front door. He called out to the teens, "Come on out guys! It's okay!"

He opened the front door and let the dark haired man in, Mac right behind him. Mac spoke first. "Can you come look at these guys and see if you know them?"

Tommy nodded. He headed outside, followed by both men and the Rangers. He looked at the two men in custody. "You!" he said, stunned.

"Do you know them?" Michael asked.

"Who are they, Dr. O?" Trent asked.

Tommy's hands clenched into fists. "They're Jenny's ex-husband and her brother in law." He directed his next comment to them. "You didn't learn the last time?"

"The last time?" Mac asked.

"They've come after Jenny before. They were arrested, but somebody bailed them out. We haven't been able to find out who."

Michael triggered his comlink. "KITT, see what you can find out. These guys didn't come up with this on their own. There's a boss behind this. Find him."

"On it, Michael."

Michael turned his attention to Tommy. "Odds are, Jenny'd be safe to come out of hiding."

Conner spoke before Tommy could. "Not necessarily. Their boss could be nearby and waiting for a call from them. That means that she needs to stay hidden or be bait. Neither one is a good option."

Tommy sighed. "I don't like either one. Like Ethan pointed out earlier, we don't know where she is. We don't know if she even has things she needs for basic survival."

Kira moved in front of Tommy. "Do you trust me, Dr. O?"

"What?"

"Do you trust me?" the girl repeated. "Would you trust me to get Jenny the things she needs without giving away where she is?"

"Kira, you aren't even sure you know where she is. Are you?"

She considered the question. "I'd say better than ninety eight percent sure. If you think you can trust me, get a bag of things together for her. Just stuff for tonight. I'll get it to her and we'll figure out what to do tomorrow about keeping her supplied."

Tommy exchanged looks with the other men. Finally, he spoke. "Fine, but I'm going with you."

She shook her head. "One person is dangerous enough." She grinned at him. "Besides, if I need help, I can scream. Someone will hear me. And anyway, Jenny's trained me better than that."

Tommy sighed and gave in. Thirty minutes later, Tommy had his hiking pack loaded and ready to go. He helped the girl adjust the straps. Kira headed for the back door. "Kira, tell her-"

"I know. Be careful, stay safe, hang on, you love her, etcetera. I got it. I'll be back." The girl slipped out the door, down the steps, across the yard and into the trees. Tommy and the others took turns pacing as they waited for her to return.

An hour later, there was a soft knock at the front door. "It's Kira." Tommy threw the front door open and the girl scurried in. "God, that's creepy in the dark! I should have let you go with me, Dr. O."

Mac asked, "Is everything okay though?"

She nodded firmly. "Jenny's okay, she's very glad to hear that everybody's okay and she understands that she needs to stay put a little while longer."

Michael's comlink chirped at him. "Go ahead, buddy."

"I've traced the bail payments as you asked, Michael. I find it difficult to believe that Jennifer couldn't find this information on her own."

"She might not have had time or just not asked the right questions, KITT. So who paid the bail and where are they?"

"It wasn't paid locally. It was paid in another state through a branch of a local bail bondsman." Tommy had a bad feeling creep over him. "It was paid in Illinois by a Mr. John Bradley."

Tommy sat down and swore. All eyes in the room turned to him curiously. Before he could speak, KITT continued. "If my information is correct, this is the same John Bradley that used to own Future Tech Industries and is responsible for Rachel's death."

"Jenny mentioned that he's been doing less and less with the company and now we know why" Michael commented.

"Planning his revenge" Mac nodded.

Michael spoke into his comlink again. "KITT, any word on his whereabouts?"

"According to his credit card records, he bought a plane ticket to California. The flight leaves in less than an hour."

Mac commented, "Well, I think it would be very rude for there not to be a welcoming committee there to meet him, don't you, Michael?"

"Oh, yeah. Let's go." Just before he headed out the door, he turned to Tommy. "We'll let you know how it goes. Be extra careful just in case he gets away. The kids should probably get home before he gets here. Since all his henchmen have been rounded up, there should be no danger of them being followed."

The two men left and Tommy turned to the kids. "He's right. You guys need to go home. Besides, your parents will be looking for you soon."

The teens all exchanged looks. "If it's okay, Dr. O, we'll be back in the morning."

Tommy shook his head. "Call first. If he does get away, I won't have you guys becoming targets by showing up." Reluctantly, the other Rangers agreed and left.

Tommy kept two of Jenny's knives close by as he settled on the couch to wait for word from the men. He flipped through channels on T.V. but couldn't settle on anything. Finally, to distract himself, he put in a movie. He didn't even make it halfway through before he dozed off.

LATER

Tommy woke up, his heart pounding. Something woke him, but he wasn't sure what. He held very still, listening, barely breathing. Then he heard something outside. He wasn't sure if it was animal or human or monster - friend or foe. Carefully, he slid his hand under the pillow and around the hilt of the knife that rested there. Outside, he heard the howl of a coyote - so close it almost sounded like it was on the porch - and an answer a few seconds later from farther away. He'd forgotten that there were coyotes in the area and hoped that Jenny wasn't outside somewhere.

This idea brought him fully awake. Where was she? A glance at the clock told him that he'd been asleep for a couple of hours. He remembered that the flight between Illinois and California took almost four hours and, when the other men left, it wasn't due to take off for almost an hour. So if he caught the flight and if it wasn't delayed, it would be another three hours or so before John Bradley arrived - roughly two in the morning.

He knew that he should get some more rest while he could, but now he was wide awake. Another howl returned his focus to Jenny. He knew that coyote attacks were rare, but they did happen. Helpless to do anything, he began pacing.

His mind kept returning to the question of where she was. He knew it couldn't be that far since Kira had only been gone an hour. He pondered all the possibilities as he paced. He discarded several locations as impractical. Finally, he sat down at the table in the kitchen. Tommy folded his arms on the table and rested his head on them - just for a minute.