Disclaimer: 'Power Rangers' (all incarnations) are property of 'Saban', who are in some strange way related to Disney, who run the show on ABC. No infringement is intended.

ROARING ON THE WIND

By Etcetera Kit

Chapter Four: Life Is Like A Hurricane

Eric looked at his watch for what felt like the umpteenth time. Wes had gone down to the rental car place in the Reefside Airport to get them a car and reserve a car for Carter and Cole. He was standing at the barrier between the terminals and the main part of the airport waiting for Leo and Jason. Their flight was supposed to get in half an hour after theirs and it was running late according to the monitors. Eric suppressed a growl. He hated airports and airplanes. They never seemed to be able to run on time, no matter what happened. If he had thought it would have helped, he would have had Wes slip the pilot some money, but that didn't guarantee anything.

He grinned. How many times over the years had he called Wes 'Oliver Warbucks, Jr.'? Too many times to count. The description was apt, but he didn't imagine that Wes appreciated it overmuch. Still, it was handy to have a friend who was the son of a millionaire in situations like this. Getting everyone plane tickets and rental cars then became the least of their worries. Wes had purposely put them on a later flight to coincide with Jason and Leo's flight so that they could minimize the number of cars parked at Tommy's house.

"Hey! Eric!"

He glanced around the crowd before focusing in on Leo. He and Jason were walking briskly towards him. He grinned. Finally.

"You guys check any bags?" he asked as they approached him.

"Nope," Leo replied, shifting the duffel bag from one should to the other. Eric noticed that the black duffel bag had 'Kendrix' embroidered in pink on one side.

"Is that Kendrix's bag?" Eric asked in a cajoling tone. Leo glared at him with a face that clearly said 'do not even think about going there.'

"So where do we find Wes?" Jason took over the conversation.

"He's down at the rental car kiosk getting us a car and reserving one for Carter and Cole when they get here later this afternoon."

"Can you do that?" Jason asked.

"If you have enough money, you can do anything," Eric replied as they started to make their way towards the escalators and down to where Wes was.

"So who's driving?" Jason questioned idly as they were going down the escalator. Eric turned back towards him. Leo looked like he'd rather not get into this discussion with Jason at this point in time.

"I'd imagine Wes," Eric replied. "Since the car is under his name and stuff." He paused. "This would be so much easier if we had Cole here, because that kid hates driving."

"Well, he was part of the power team that was against pollution," Leo reminded them.

"Captain Planet!" Jason said dryly.

They laughed as they approached Wes, who was waiting for them with the keys to the rental car. Eric smiled to himself. It was good to be back with these guys. The last time they had all gotten together was when Andros' son, Brian had been born. That had also been more of TJ deciding that Andros needed the moral support, especially of someone like Carter who had already been through that experience. Of course, the rest of them had goofed around and made the couple smile. Sitting around the waiting room at three o'clock in the morning playing 'Go Fish' because everyone was too tired to play something more complicated. That had been compounded by the fact that Cole was so slaphappy with exhaustion that whenever he had to go fish he said, 'Looks like Cole's going fishing.' The nurses almost threw them out for being so noisy. Then Andros panicked and the nurses let them stay.

They all threw their bags into the trunk of the car and piled into the car, Jason calling shotgun of course. TJ and Andros would already be there when they arrived. Eric couldn't help but think of this as a kind of homecoming—everyone was coming home, so to speak, to where they belonged. They might try to fit in somewhere else, but they were always Power Rangers first. Everything else came after that in some order unique to the individual. He smiled again. Being a Power Ranger was like being in the Mafia, once you're in, you're in and there is no getting out.

Tommy looked at the three stunned faces standing in front of him. He had tried to explain why he had activated the distress signal, but they had been preoccupied with the daunting task of getting him out of his suit. Not that the reaction surprised him. Soon enough they would realize that it was time and effort wasted and would come around to the help that he truly needed. He also had not expected Billy to show up at the same time as Andros and TJ. And Ashley had come along with Andros because she was going to have the baby any day now. How could Tommy have forgotten that Ashley was pregnant? Ashley was upstairs with Hayley at this particular moment in time.

Andros and TJ hadn't changed much from the last time he saw them… but Billy had changed from a neat, orderly genius to a kind of eccentric genius. His hair had gotten long and was tied back and he had gone back to wearing glasses instead of contact lenses. And this had to be the first time that he had seen him not wearing predominantly blue. He supposed that old habits died hard. Right now, Billy looked thoughtful.

"Do the Dino-Gems tie into the original Morphing Grid?"

Tommy shook his head. "Hayley designed a Morphing Grid just for these so that there was no potential confusion about power sources."

Billy smiled. "Just like Hayley. What kind of access to the power sources did she put in the grid?"

He shrugged. "Just to see who's powered up and who's powered down." He paused. "Is there any reason to put anything else in there?"

"I can think of a couple reasons," Andros muttered.

"Zordon and Alpha had more things programmed into the original Morphing Grid for our safety. They could power us down or up from the computer and could monitor where we went when morphed. They could also monitor where we teleported and whatnot."

"I didn't know that."

"I was the only one who did," Billy replied sharply. He motioned to the computer. "May I?" Tommy shrugged and Billy sat down in front of the computer. He brought up so many system programs that Tommy was amazed he was keeping track of what he was looking at. "This just needs to be rewired to include the stuff I mentioned," he said after a few minutes.

"How is that going to help Tommy?" TJ asked.

Billy turned to face the Red Turbo Ranger. "If I am correct, he cannot power down on his own like the other Dino Thunder Rangers. Therefore, an outside source is needed to power him down. Since he is linked to the computer when morphed to a certain degree, it is logical to assume that if the computer were rewired to include powering down of rangers then we could power Tommy down from the computer."

"Okay," TJ replied, obviously not wanting to argue with Billy.

"Do you have pliers and electric tape?" Billy asked Tommy. The Dino Thunder Black Ranger nodded and opened a drawer to reveal a variety of tools. Billy nodded. "Good." He picked up the pliers and turned off the computer system. Tommy watched as he dove under the desk and took off a panel revealing much of the wiring for the computer system. "Good God!" they heard Billy muttered from under the desk somewhere. "This has all been done the complicated way! Who did this?"

"Hayley," Tommy replied.

"Remind me to speak with her," Billy said.

Andros exchanged a glance with TJ as they watched Billy work. Obviously, the man knew what he was doing because he was saying very little, just asking them to hand him various tools as he required them. Andros knew more about ship maintenance than computer maintenance. Granted, if something malfunctioned with a computer, he could normally temporarily repair it until someone more experienced came along. He had fixed Alpha when the Turbo Rangers had run into him and eventually revealed that they had a slowly deteriorating robot on their hands. Robots were more like space ships and cars—much more mechanical than electrical, the kind of repair work that Andros liked.

"Okay, that should be it. Let's turn on the computer and see," Billy said as he reappeared, pair of pliers in hand. "Of course, I'll still have to do some programming, but as long as it reads the changes, we'll be good to go." He looked around. "Where did Tommy get to?"

"He disappeared into the zord bay about half an hour ago," TJ replied. "Want me to go get him?"

"Since all this rewiring was done on account of him, yes," Billy replied rolling his eyes and sitting down at the control panel for the computer. Andros sat in the other chair, watching the computer systems boot up.

"Where did you learn all this?"

Billy laughed. "I've always loved computers. When I was a ranger, I made it a point to know everything I could about the systems in the Command Center. A lot of this knowledge comes from working with Alpha on repairs back in the day." He paused. "I was president of the computer club in high school for a while."

Andros shook his head. "I've never been over fond of computer repairs. There's a reason I started out as a mechanic back on KO 35."

Billy turned sharply and looked at him. "You're not from Earth?"

"No."

A smile cracked the genius' face. "Ever been to Aquitar?"

"Actually, yes. A number of times."

"I lived there for three years."

Andros nearly choked. "How did you manage that?"

"Rita and Zedd turned us—my power team—into kids and the Rangers from Aquitar agreed to come and help us out until we could get ourselves back to the proper age." He paused. "I went there once to get help with the Zeo powers. A few months later, there was an incident where I aged rapidly and went to Aquitar so they could reverse the problem. I ended up staying."

He started typing in programming codes to accommodate the new wiring. Andros watched him work, amazed that he knew so much about computers. "Did you go to the University of Hawaii?" he asked softly.

Billy smiled. "Yes, to get my Ph.D. I was already living and working there. It was convenient."

Andros thought back to the brief conversation that Billy had with Ashley when they all first arrived. He looked at Billy. He couldn't be more than thirty. If one of his daughters was fourteen, then he had to have been about sixteen when she was born, unless she was adopted. He seriously doubted that. The man had to have been in high school at any rate. He thought of Brian who was only eighteen months old. He couldn't imagine having a child when he was still in high school. And if he was a widower, then how did he manage Ph.D. work, a job and two daughters with his wife dead? There seemed to be a lot of mysteries surrounding Billy Cranston and Andros was not sure that any of it was very happy.

"You rang?"

Billy was bringing up a screen that indicated who was morphed and whatnot as TJ reappeared with Tommy. "Yes," Billy said idly. Andros looked at the screen. It was indicating five power sources in use—four powered down and one powered up. Except now there were options under each name on the screen—power up, power down, teleport etc. etc. Billy switched from the keyboard to using the mouse and clicked 'power down' under Tommy's name.

Everyone in the basement lab turned around to watch Tommy and see what would happen. There was a flash of black light and Tommy appeared in civilian form. His clothes were wrinkled and he smelt pretty bad from not being able to bath for so long.

"Billy, you did it!" Tommy crowed with delight. He approached Billy, but Billy wisely held up a hand.

"Do not even think about approaching any of us until you've taken a shower!"

Tommy grinned and bolted up the stairs two at a time. They could hear noises of disgust from Hayley and Ashley as he pasted them.

"We need a self-cleaning mechanism in the suits," Andros muttered.

"I'll work on it," Billy promised as the three of them walked up the stairs into the main part of the house. Hayley and Ashley were sitting in the kitchen. They clustered around the table to join them.

"I see you had success," Hayley said.

Billy nodded. "I still haven't gotten what I came here for, but it can wait."

"You guys want something to drink?" Hayley asked them in general. "I think there's water, coffee, beer… there might be some soda around here somewhere." She paused. "On account of the kids," she added as an afterthought.

Andros sat down next to Ashley and wrapped an arm around her lower back. She leaned into his embrace. He knew that she was tired of being pregnant and just wanted to have the baby before too much longer. He hoped that they could get home before the baby was born, but he wasn't sure how long this would take, wasn't sure of the entire scope of what Tommy wanted them to accomplish. He rubbed Ashley's lower back. Once the others arrived, they would have to make arrangements for the night. There was no way Ashley could handle sleeping wherever like he and the others could.

They all indicated to Hayley that coffee was fine and she began rummaging through Tommy's cupboards looking for mugs. She opened the fridge to try and find some milk for people that might want it and groaned.

"What?" TJ asked.

Hayley emerged with a container of creamer and shut the fridge. "That thing is full of Conner-food. You can tell he's been here a lot recently."

"Conner?" Andros questioned.

Hayley rolled her eyes. "The Dino Thunder Red Ranger. He's been coming over to help me repair his raptor-cycle. The kids have taken to stocking whatever food they want in the fridge since Tommy has been stuck in his suit. He's going to flip when he sees it."

"Or he'll love it," TJ muttered.

"Looks like food to me," Billy shrugged, ignoring the scathing glance from Hayley.

"At any rate," Hayley continued putting the creamer on the table. "I'm sure you guys will get to meet the kids before the end of your stay here. In fact, Conner has a soccer game tomorrow afternoon that I'm sure he would love for all you to attend." She paused. "He already conned me and the others kids into coming."

"I think that requires a group consensus," Andros replied.

"When are the others getting here?" Ashley asked him, suddenly.

Andros looked down at his watch. It was almost two. Wes had said that he and Eric would arrive at the airport around one-thirty, but were waiting for Leo and Jason before they left the airport to minimize the number of rental cars at Tommy's house. He had said that Jason and Leo's flight was getting in at two, but it would still take them some time to get the rental car situation taken care of and get luggage if anyone checked anything. On top of that, it was still a good forty minute drive from the airport to Tommy's house. They probably wouldn't get in until three. Carter and Cole's flight was supposed to have left at eleven a.m., Reefside time, but they had a good four hour flight and the drive from the airport so it would be safe not to expect them until four or later. That was not accounting for the fact that flights were late.

"Wes said that he, Eric, Jason and Leo would be here at about three. Carter and Cole won't be in until four or later."

Ashley nodded. She looked exhausted. Hayley must have noticed it too. "Tommy has a guest room upstairs if you want to lie down," Hayley said to her.

She nodded gratefully and leaned heavily on Andros to stand up. Hayley told him which room and he helped Ashley upstairs. He found the room easily. It was simply decorated and had the look of a room that had not been used in a long time. It also had a small adjoining bathroom that also looked like it had not been used in a long time. He just pulled down the covers on the bed and sighed as Ashley sat down heavily, kicking off her sandals. He gently tucked her in as she lay down and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Andros?" she murmured sleepily.

"Yes, Ash?" he answered. She took his hand. He smiled at her and sat down beside her on the bed.

"Wake me up before the others get here, okay?" Her eyes drooped shut.

He smiled. "Okay. I'll be right downstairs if you need anything." She nodded and snuggled into the blankets. He kissed her forehead again. "I love you so much, Ashley," he whispered before heading back downstairs.

Tommy had not realized how much he missed taking a shower, until just now. As he stood under the warm water, letting it wash away the tension and dirt of the past few months, he felt ten times better than he had when stuck in that suit. All too soon, the water turned cold. Damn small water heater. He got out of the shower, toweled off, brushed his teeth and shaved quickly. He padded into his bedroom to find some clothes. Most everything in here was the way he had left it. He found a black wife beater and army green cargo shorts.

He went out in the hallway just in time to catch Andros leaving the guest room. "Ashley's sleeping," he explained.

"When's she due?" Tommy asked.

"Any day now," Andros replied. "I didn't want to leave her alone with Brian."

"Understandable. Where's Brian?"

"With her mother." Andros rolled his eyes. "He loves it."

Tommy laughed as they walked downstairs and joined Billy, TJ and Hayley in the kitchen. He went to his fridge to find something to eat and blanched at the contents. "What is all this junk?" he asked in the general direction of Hayley.

She shrugged. "The kids decided to stock what they wanted in there when you got stuck in your suit. Most of it is courtesy of Conner." She paused. "I think he has some Bagel Bites in the freezer. Those are edible."

He groaned and located the Bagel Bites in the freezer. Luckily enough for him, they were cheese and not any weird pepperoni or meat thing that Conner normally would have eaten. He looked at Billy, Andros and TJ. "You guys want anything to eat?"

"No," Andros replied.

"We ate lunch on the way up here," TJ added.

"I'm good," Billy stated.

Tommy nodded and ripped the wrapping off the Bagel Bites, shoving them in the microwave. Well, frozen imitation Conner-food was better than nothing at all. He had a feeling he wouldn't be getting anything else to eat until the other red rangers showed up. He also had a feeling that Conner would be wondering where his Bagel Bites got to.

"Take a left up here."

Wes steered the car down a dirt road, per Leo's instructions. Leo was in the back seat of the car with the map and had been unofficially declared the navigator. His last experience with Eric as the navigator had turned out disastrous and Leo had made noises about Jason not being to find his head if it wasn't attached to his shoulders. Wes was inclined to believe the same thing about Leo, but handed him the road map and MapQuest directions anyways. So far they appeared to be on the correct path.

The dirt road he had just turned onto (from another dirt road) had led him down a twisting drive until a smallish house came into view. There were four cars parked in front of the place. Wes recognized two of them as TJ and Andros' cars and assumed that at least one of the others belonged to Tommy if not both.

They all got out of the car and walked in silence to the front porch. There was a picnic table with some rocks on it. Wes glanced at them and watched as Jason rang the doorbell. There were some footsteps from in the house and the sound of several voices before a familiar face opened the door.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews and the sweet comments! I'm not going to do review responses for this chapter-- homework, the necessary evil that demands so much attention. I'll try to do review responses for upcoming chapters though, so keep your eyes peeled.