Calculated Risk

Disclaimer: I don't own the Rangers.

A/N: Ohhh gosh, guys I am so sorry. I really didn't mean to take this long and I can't even blame it on work. Well, sorta. Maybe not the job that I'm being paid for, but there's a convention coming near where I live and I'm just churning out fan art for it left and right which is taking up a huge chunk of my time. Then there's the fact that I briefly fell down a Harry Potter rabbit hole...whoops! ^^' Fanfiction, mind you. I in no way shape or form condone supporting such a terrible person. That being said, the convention is around the corner so I'm going to be largely focusing on preparations for that. Chances are the the next update won't be until at least mid-September. I hope you guys can forgive me.

Chapter 14: Francesca Rossi's Day Off part one

Fran walked at a casual pace as she made her way around the dining room, engaging in light conversation with several of the customers, checking in with them to see how their experience with the restaurant was. It was the period of calm after the lunch rush and Fran was pleased to take note that none of the guests had any qualms save with needing a refill or that the bathroom needed hand soap restocking. Easy fixes to say the least.

She was in the midst of another customer check in, this time with a group of regulars who worked in a nearby office and often took their lunch breaks at Jungle Karma when she was startled by the sound of her friends all yelling at one another. Well, almost all of them. She couldn't discern RJ's voice and figured that her boyfriend was still up in the loft, tinkering on the latest invention for the Rangers' arsenal.

Aiming a sweet yet apologetic smile at the regulars, Fran quickly excused herself and made her way toward the kitchen. Slipping past the door, she was greeted with a fiery scene of all three students yelling at the top of their lungs at one another. Honestly, Fran was shocked by Lily's involvement, snapping at the boys, going so far as to slam the order she held back down onto the counter in emphasis of whatever point she was hammering home, the food on the tray flying upward and landing in disarray.

Casey seemed more concerned with yelling at Theo and when the latter jabbed his finger in the Tiger Ranger's face, he retaliated by tossing a handful of flour at him.

Glancing out of the window behind her, Fran inwardly winced as she took in the curious gazes of the customers who were trying to peek into the kitchen and see what was going on, the dining room suddenly being held in a rapt silence. She had to end this fight. Immediately.

Fran moved fluidly through the kitchen, unnoticed by the others. With one swift motion, she unhooked the industrial kitchen hose, pivoted and aimed it at all three of them, unleashing a powerful spray of cold water. She swept it back and forth for a few seconds, enough time to soak all of them, cutting off their growing tirades with startled shrieks.

The trio stared at her, wide-eyed and in shock.

"Are you done?" She asked them evenly.

They all nodded wordlessly.

"That was quite a show you were putting on there," she deadpanned before nodding toward the door. "Enough so that you were gathering an audience at that."

Smirking inwardly at their chagrin, Fran replaced the hose onto its hook. She crossed her arms and continued to stare hard at them. "Mind telling me what the hell what that was all about?"

Right off the bat, all three of them tried answering her at once. "Well, Casey was—"

"Theo can't seem to just—"

"Both of them wouldn't stop being—"

Fran held up a hand, wordlessly demanding silence. "One at time should do, thanks." She nodded at Casey. "What happened?"

Casey sighed heavily before shooting an annoyed glare at Theo. "I was filling orders like you asked me to and I was getting ready to put in a couple of the pies when Mr. Can't-Mind-His-Own-Business here sailed into the kitchen and told me I was doing it wrong when I know for a fact that I wasn't."

"You were," Theo insisted as he took his turn to explain to Fran why everything had descended into chaos. "Ultimate Barbecue does not get bacon on it unless the customer asks for it, I checked the ticket and there wasn't a request for it."

"You could have been thinking of Mega Meathead," Fran suggested. "They're kinda similar in terms of recipes."

"That's what I was trying to tell him," Lily pointed out. "But then they both turned on me and honestly Frannie, I was just sick and tired of their consistent petty arguments, so I-I blew up…"

"This was a pretty petty thing to be fighting over boys," Fran agreed as her hands settled onto her hips. "I mean, unless there was an allergy or religious belief issue that prevented the use of certain ingredients, it's fine if some of your pizzas aren't literal replicas of RJ's original recipes. I mean, you're working for someone who actively encourages creativity. He puts banana on pizza for crying out loud and it's one of his most popular options!"

Fran took a breath both to center herself and to shake off any lingering feelings of ire toward her friends. "I think we should turn this into a learning opportunity." At the trio's wary looks, she grinned and continued. "As I said, RJ encourages creativity, and you know what? So do I. We're going to have a competition to see who comes up with a new unique pizza that is best received by the customers. Whoever wins will have their pizza added to the menu."

All three of her friends looked thrilled at her declaration. "That's going to be so much fun!" Lily enthused.

"I think I can handle that," Theo agreed with a small grin on his face.

"I do have a couple of ideas," Casey admitted thoughtfully as he looked at the pizza he had been working on.

Fran held up a finger before the three of them could go off and start experimenting. "However, we're currently still open and there are orders that still need taking care of. That being said, Lily, clean up the mess that you made please; Theo, take over for Casey on the orders that need attention. Casey, place that pie in the oven and then get changed before heading out to the dining area and helping me with tables." She winced before continuing, "I didn't mean to soak you that hard, sorry."

Casey grinned sheepishly as he gingerly wrung out some of the cold water that had seeped into his uniform top. "It's not like it wasn't deserved," the red Ranger admitted. "We did need to…cool down after all."

Fran snorted at his words and began walking toward the door intent on fetching the mop so she could clean away her mess which was more of a hazard now than anything else. "You guys can work on pizza recipes after hours, but I think it's for the best that we debut them for customer opinion one at a time. Sound like a plan?" After receiving a round of nods, Fran grinned at them and left the kitchen.

As soon as their manager was out of the area, silence permeated the room for a moment before Casey broke it. "Gonna kick both your butts and win that competition."

"That's what you think," Lily scoffed as she examined the tray before her, wondering if any of the food was worth salvaging.

"If anything, I'll be the one whose creation is added to the menu." Theo casually put in as he started going over orders waiting to be worked on.

Rather than rise to the challenge that his friends and teammates' words evoked, more so out of a desire to not get hosed down a second time rather than from a moment of maturity, Casey rolled his eyes as he slipped the pizza he had been focused on into the oven before heading toward the back staircase that would lead to the loft. "We'll see," was all he offered in a blithe tone while starting up the staircase.

Meanwhile Fran returned to quickly mop up the puddle of water she had created when she aimed the kitchen sink hose at Lily, Casey and Theo. As she worked, the mop latched onto a slightly soggy order ticket. Picking it up, Fran carefully examined it, squinting to make sense of the smudged ink. It was an Ultimate Barbecue, just like the one that had caused the fight. Printed within the additional toppings section was a request for bacon. The time stamp also indicated that was an order that had been put in earlier than Theo's entry into the kitchen.

Casey had been right all along.

Fran gently placed the ticket on top of the finished orders pile hoping that it would dry quickly. Not that she would be bringing it up any time soon mind you. For all she knew, that would inflate egos and ignite another fight.

Although…Fran wasn't exactly above hosing them down again if need be. It was a rather effective method of getting three hormonal and somewhat hotheaded teenagers to shut up.

That would be something better left unsaid if she were being completely honest.

RJ whistled a tune from a show set in the eighties as he careful twisted a screw into his latest weapon for his students' Ranger battles, an upgrade to the Claw Cannon. He glanced up at the sound of footsteps making their way up into their loft, no matter who showed up, be it his students or his girlfriend, the mentor was eager to show off his work. However, the sight of Casey looking rather soaked had him raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Did the sprinkler system malfunction again?"

Casey jolted at the sound of his Master's voice, whipping toward the source before looking down, an embarrassed grin making its way across his face. "Not…exactly."

"Oh?"

Casey rocked back onto his heels, face heating further. "Um…so…there was a bit of a disagreement between the three of us," he admitted, gesturing as if he were indicating his teammates. "We got too loud, so Fran used the kitchen hose to ah, cool us down."

RJ bit down hard on his lower lip to hide any sort of grin, forcing back the laughter that threatened to bubble forth. Once his mirth was under a semblance of control, he asked, "Did she now?"

Casey nodded. "Y-yeah…I took the brunt of it, so she sent me up here to get changed before helping her out with customers."

"I see," RJ gave a sagacious nod of his own. "Did the three of you clear up whatever sort of argument you had?"

"We did."

"What was it about?"

To his slight surprise, Casey huffed in exasperation. "No offense, RJ, but I feel like if I talk about it again, it's just gonna annoy me all over."

RJ held up his hands in surrender. "As long as there's peace in the restaurant, I guess that's all I can ask for."

"Yep," Casey turned toward his room but then remembered something and faced RJ once again. "You know…Fran did come up with something that's actually pretty cool."

"Which is?"

Casey grinned. "A pizza making contest. Whichever of the three of us can create a pizza that's the most popular with the customers, it'll be added to the menu."

He tilted his head in slight concern. "Is it okay that she didn't run that by you? At least, I don't think she did, she seemed to have come up with that on the spot."

RJ shrugged. "I don't see anything wrong with that. Sounds fun as a matter of fact."

"I think it will be," Casey agreed. His grin grew wider. "I plan to win." A beat passed before he plucked at the sodden uniform top that clung to his skin. "As soon as I get dried off of course."

RJ shooed his student away and once he was sure Casey was out of earshot, he dissolved into giggles, shaking his head at his girlfriend's antics. Idly he wondered if he was somehow becoming a bad influence on her because of that step she had taken with the hose wasn't exactly out of the realm of possibilities for him.

He then shook off the notion. Fran had always had a fire burning within her, it just took a little to see anything hotter than her usual warm glow.

Still, an original pizza-making contest did sound exciting, and RJ found himself rather eager to see just how creative his students could express themselves to be. He then pouted when he realized that as the original creator of the Jungle Karma menu, he probably wouldn't be eligible to participate.

Totally not fair.

Right after closing for the day and just before Fran headed home to do some long-delayed homework, RJ approached his employees with a saccharine grin on his lips and a glint in his eyes that held just the slightest hint of mischief. It was enough to send most of the group on edge. Fran was the only one who returned his smile with one of her own. "Yes, RJ?" she asked.

"I had an idea based on the…events of today," he announced and immediately everyone knew what he was referring to. Fran had the grace to blush, but RJ didn't scold her, rather he winked at his girlfriend before addressing the room at large. "We're going to shake things up starting tomorrow morning. Fran, I'm giving you the day off, Casey, you're taking over as the manager for the day."

Casey stared at his mentor in disbelief. "You want me to be in charge of things here? Why not you? You're the owner, aren't you?"

"I think it'd be good for you to get some new perspective in leadership, see what it takes to manage things and apply that to life both on and off the battlefield," RJ replied. "That is, if you think you can handle it."

Casey narrowed his eyes at RJ's nonchalant use of reverse psychology and found himself rising to the bait. "We'll be fine without Fran for a day." He then turned to his manager and friend. "That is, if you don't mind being replaced for an entire workday?"

Fran snorted at his words. "Do I mind being granted a random day off, you mean?" She asked grinningly. "Absolutely not." She gently patted Casey on the shoulder. "I believe in you and if it'll make you feel better, I'll stick around here in case things go south for some reason or if Dai Shi decides to make an appearance."

Casey smiled at her gratefully. "Well, that does make being in charge a bit more appealing."

"But you should only rely on Fran's help in case of an emergency," RJ interjected. "Otherwise, she's not here and you should just act like she isn't."

Casey nodded. "Yeah, okay."

Lily placed her hands on her hips as she regarded her mentor with mischief in her eyes. "This isn't just your way of trying to steal your girlfriend away for a date, is it?"

RJ stuck his tongue out at her. "No. I don't need to steal Fran away for anything." His gaze flicked over to Fran. "But…if you wanted to hang out a little tomorrow, I wouldn't say no."

Fran pretended to think over his offer. "I guess I can find time in my super busy schedule."

RJ snorted. "Thanks, Fran."

She smiled at him with a theatrically sweet grin. "Anything for you, hun."

"Alright, before this gets any sillier or sappier," Theo cut in. "I'm going upstairs, my mom sent me an email I've been meaning to get back to."

"I'll go with you," Lily volunteered. "Should call my dad, his birthday's this week."

"Why not just call him on his birthday?" RJ asked.

"My dad's in England on business," Lily explained. "Between the time difference and random attacks on the city, it's a little hard to get that phone call to line up just right. Besides, he's usually pretty hard to get a hold of when he's busy so I figured I'd try my luck right now."

"Hope it works out then," Fran told her, RJ nodding in agreement.

"Thanks," Lily beamed before stepping forward to hug Fran. "Good night, Fran! Kinda hoping you don't need to rescue us tomorrow, but it would be nice to see you anyway."

Fran laughed as she returned the hug. "I have faith in Casey and you and Theo as well," she assured the girl. "But I have a feeling I'll be stopping by."

"Because of RJ?" Casey asked.

Fran grinned wickedly and shook her head. "Nah, I'm here for the pizza. He's just a bonus."

"Feeling very loved here," RJ remarked with mock sarcasm.

"I do love you," Fran confirmed as she kissed him on the cheek.

RJ wrapped an arm around her waist. "I love you too."

The trio pretended to give them looks of disgust as if they were witnessing this sappy scene from their own parents rather than two of their friends before they all made their way to the stairs that led into the loft. "I'm going to walk Fran home!" RJ called out to his students. "Someone make sure that the cats are fed before I come back, please!"

"On it!" Came Lily and Theo's response.

"Thanks!" Keeping his arm around Fran, RJ led his girlfriend out of the restaurant, back toward her apartment.

Fran awoke bright and early the next morning, her body moving on autopilot even though she had been given the day off. She flopped back against her pillows with a sigh, closing her eyes. It had been two weeks since she had last conversed with what she now knew to be the realm of animal spirits. So far, they had kept their word that she would have her nightly rest. On the one hand, it was a little frustrating that she couldn't even contact them because she still had so many questions that she didn't even know how to begin to seek the answers to.

On the other hand…

It was mid-April and within the month it would be time for finals once again. She could also use all the rest she could get before exams.

With that thought in mind, Fran flopped back onto her mattress and snuggled into her pillows once more. She could always check on her friends later.

Much to Fran's dismay, she found herself wide awake an hour later. Blowing out a long sigh, she sat up and stretched. 'Well,' she thought to herself. 'Guess I'm getting up whether I want to or not.'

She glanced at her cell phone, toying with the idea of calling RJ and seeing if he wanted to do breakfast, even if he just let her cook in the loft. He would be up, he was an early riser, awake at dawn and doing yoga at sunrise. Unless it was raining of course, if the sun wasn't up at seven in the morning, then neither was her boyfriend.

'Rain makes for a sleepy Wolf,' Fran mused with a slight smile. Coming to a decision, Fran grabbed her cell phone out of its charger and called RJ.

He answered on the second ring.

"You're up early," he greeted her in an amused tone.

"I tried sleeping in, but my body said no," she remarked sourly.

"Ooof, bummer."

"Tell me about it."

"I ah, take it that you didn't call just to complain about your inability to sleep in?"

Fran pretended to be shocked. "You mean I can't do just that?"

RJ laughed. "Of course, you can princess. You're just a little more straightforward than that."

"True enough," Fran conceded. "I was just wondering if you wanted to do breakfast with me. Even if it's just in the loft?"

"Sounds good to me." Fran could hear the pause on RJ's end before in continued in a thoughtful tone. "You know…I don't think we've ever cooked together before not really. Pizza lessons don't count in my book."

"Noted," Fran laughed. "Tell you what, you provide the stove and the eggs, and I'll bring the fixings for pancakes and omelets."

"I can throw in orange juice and bacon too."

"Deal!"

"What time do you think you'll be here? I might need to sneak down and check on the gang. See how Casey's handling things as the temporary manager."

Fran was unable to keep the concern from her voice as she offered, "Fingers crossed."

"It'll be fine," RJ replied though his girlfriend could discern the tight smile in his tone.

"Got the fire extinguisher on standby?" she teased.

When RJ didn't reply right away, Fran frowned. "You do have the fire extinguisher within their reach, right?"

"I'm just…I'm just gonna go make sure that yes, it is within reach and that it's working."

"A working fire extinguisher is definitely a plus…"

"Exactamundo," RJ decided to wrap up the conversation. "See you soon, princess?"

"Give me like an hour or two and I'll be there.

"The restaurant should still be standing when you get here."

"You're hilarious, rogue," Fran deadpanned.

"Everything will be fine and harmonious," RJ promised her. "As soon as I find that fire extinguisher and make sure the ovens are on the correct temperature setting. I'll see you soon. I love you."

At that, she smiled. "I love you too."

"Wish me luck?"

She blew a kiss toward the phone receiver. "Good luck!"

Unfortunately, luck was not on the Rangers' side. When Fran arrived at Jungle Karma, she was greeted with the sight of chaos descending upon the restaurant. There was a large dough explosion that plastered itself against the kitchen portholes, the fire alarms were wailing, and the student Rangers were seconds away from physically fighting one another.

Fran quickly located her boyfriend, an exasperated expression painted on his face. RJ was standing in front of the lockbox, fighting with the switches in an attempt to shut off the fire alarms. With a growl, he finally slapped his hand against all of the levers which miraculously stopped the alarms. Silence rang in the restaurant as RJ slumped against Fran, burying his face in her shoulder with a weary groan.

Smiling sympathetically, Fran wrapped her arms around him and gently stroked his hair. "It's not even ten o'clock yet babe," she began in a light yet teasing tone. "What the heck happened?"

Straightening, RJ fixed his girlfriend with a grave stare. He took her hands in his. "Fran, babe, light of my life…you don't wanna know."

Biting down on a laugh, Fran instead asked him, "Do you want me to go clock in?"

He shook his head resolutely. "We'll get this cleaned up. You head on upstairs, and I'll help you with the pancakes."

At his words, Lily poked her head around the corner. "Pancakes?" The Cheetah Ranger asked, with interest alight in her eyes.

Her mentor favored her with a flat stare. "Pancakes aren't for instigators, Miss-Can't-Be-Bothered-To-Help-Reign-In-My-Teammates."

Lily pouted at his words. "Okay, one," she held up a finger. "They're eighteen and nineteen respectively! You would think that they shouldn't need reigning in."

"Historically, they've proven that point false multiple times," RJ deadpanned as he resolutely ignored the boys' protests.

"Two," Lily went on, ignoring RJ's point. "I did nothing to instigate anything!"

"You insinuated that we needed to be babysat!" Theo snapped from his place by the kitchen door where he was hard at work to scrape the sticky dough from the windows.

"RJ was the one to say that, not me!"

"I said no such thing! I asked you to go help them."

"You asked Lily to keep an eye on us, RJ," Casey pointed out as he offered Theo a wet rag to combat the dough with.

"So another food fight wouldn't be started," RJ replied firmly.

"Wasn't Lily the one who started that?" Casey asked.

"Wasn't that you?" she shot back.

"Enough!" RJ barked. "It doesn't matter who started what, not now in any case. Lily, go help the boys with the dough explosion and if you three get the kitchen looking decent before we open, maybe you'll get pancakes. Right now, please, stop fighting and let's get ready for our first orders."

Lily huffed as she stomped off to go help the boys, knowing in the back of her mind that RJ was right and getting temperamental wasn't going to help anything. Especially when Fran wasn't going to be running the show that day. Casey was.

Casey, the reluctant red Ranger who wanted absolutely nothing to do with the managerial position.

RJ sighed heavily as the matter of his students was sorted. He turned back to Fran only to find that his girlfriend was more than halfway up the stairs that led into the loft. He snorted as he realized that she probably fled to escape the arguing, most likely not wanting to have to deal with it, her day off or not. Clever girl.

It was going to be a long day…