Disclaimer: Power Rangers and its characters, as always, do not belong to me.

Author's note: here's something I've been tinkering with for awhile. What if something happened to Conner, and the Rangers needed another teammate, and fast? Who could possibly fill that spot? Trent/Kira, Conner/Krista, with a few surprises down the line.

Conner McKnight was a fearless leader, the Red Power Ranger, who employed shrewd battle tactics and always put himself in the line of fire in the name of his team.

Conner McKnight was snoring loudly.

His head was buried in his folded arms, and he was spread out across the workstation in the science classroom that doubled as his homeroom.

Kira Ford reached over and gave him a sharp poke between the shoulder blades. "Conner. Wake up."

"Unnh," the boy murmured, sitting up, his brown hair falling messily into his face. He huffed a breath out of the corner of his mouth, and the loose strands fluttered out of the way. "What's going on. Trouble?"

"No, idiot. First period is about to start, and you're sleeping. What's up?"

"I'm just tired, is all," he yawned.

"Give him a break, Kira," commented Ethan James, on Conner's left. "The kid pulls in triple duty, with school and soccer and the other thing. He's allowed to be tired."

"Yeah, but Mesogog hasn't attacked in a week," pointed out Trent Fernandez, on Kira's right. He kept his voice low as he elaborated on the 'other thing' aspect of their lives. "So Conner's leading the life of a normal student these days."

"My bro's coming in at the end of the week," said Conner. "Mom's totally going psycho. Mr. Clean has nothing on her. I feel like I haven't slept right in ages."

"Well, go and take a nap straight after practice," said Kira. "We need you out there, Con, and you can't be falling down on the job."

"When have I ever fallen down on the job?" he said. "I take it seriously, Kira."

"I never said you didn't," she said gently, rolling her eyes. Dr. O. came in the room before she could say anything further, and with a slight groan, Conner sat up straight and made an effort to pay attention—or at least look like he was.

At lunch a few days later, Conner fell unceremoniously into his seat fifteen minutes into the period. Kira raised her eyebrows. "In the entire time I've known you, you've never been late for lunch," she said.

"Dude, have you guys seen Krista at all today?" said Conner.

"Why would you be looking for Krista?" said Ethan suspiciously.

"It's nothing," he said, waving aside the comment. "School thing. I just wanted to ask her a question. Was she in math, dude?" he asked Trent.

"Didn't you know?" said Trent. "Krista's out with mono."

Conner paled a little. "Mono?"

"Yeah." Trent took a bite of his salad, unconcerned, but Conner was looking a little panicky.

"Con? Is everything okay, dude?" said Ethan.

"Mono's...catching. Right?"

Kira smirked, elbowing Trent with a secret look. "The kissing disease," she proclaimed.

With his two other friends flirting, Ethan had the chance to study Conner. He was definitely looking a little disturbed. "No," Ethan realized. Conner cast him a horrified look.

"Ethe? What?" said Kira, looking over.

"Dude, were you planning on at least telling us?" said Ethan.

"What, you kept Cassidy a secret from me as long as you possibly could," said Conner hotly. "I mean, you told Kira."

"That was different," Ethan said, but his voice faltered, because he knew it was pretty much the same.

"Wait...you and Krista?" said Kira. Conner looked at her guiltily. "But you two have absolutely nothing in common...she doesn't even like you."

"She likes some parts of him," muttered Ethan.

Conner flushed. "Ethe—"

"How often?" asked Trent. They all turned and stared at him, wide-eyed. "I mean, so we know how great the risk is," he said hastily. "We need to get you to a doctor and have you checked out."

"I really don't—" coughed Conner, floundering under their sharp stares. "A couple times a week," he admitted. "More like, well, five."

"Five times a week?" said Ethan incredulously.

"In between classes. We're both busy on weekends."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Awhile..." he said weakly.

"I can't believe you've been keeping this from us," said Kira. "We don't keep secrets from each other, Conner. Remember?"

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" he said, a little desperately. "Can we just let it go?" But he had the feeling it wouldn't be dropped that easily.

That Friday afternoon, Kira, Ethan, and Trent were visiting Conner in his bedroom. He was lying underneath a thick red comforter, a television perched at the end of his bed, with a soccer game paused. "Great, Conner, just great. You're watching old Man U games?" said Ethan, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not supposed to get out of bed, dude," Conner defended himself.

"So it's definitely mono then, isn't it," said Kira resignedly, taking a seat in Conner's desk chair, tossing the jersey on the back of it to the floor in disgust.

"Yeah."

"Thanks so much, McKnight," said Ethan. "You're going to be out of commission for a couple of weeks, at least. What are we supposed to do?"

"You guys are totally good," the boy in bed insisted. "You'll be fine on your own."

"Conner, don't be crazy. We need you," said Trent. "We can't operate the Megazord without Tyrannosaurus, you know that. You and Ethan can form a half-Zord of your own, but Kira and Ethan can't."

"Just have Dr. O. put Brachio into battle," said Conner with a shrug. "That thing's bigger than the Megazord."

"But it's not an offensive vehicle," said Trent. "We might be able to handle ourselves in hand-to-hand, Conner, but when it comes to the big guns, we need you out there."

"Thanks, guys. But if going to school is too much, then I'm pretty sure that saving the world isn't going to make the cut," said Conner.

"Well what exactly are we supposed to do?" said Ethan. "We need a Red Ranger."

Downstairs, the front door slammed. "Hey, Mom! Dorkwad! I'm here!"

In the chair, Kira smiled slightly. "I think we've just solved our problem."