Author's Note: I just realized that I'm losing reviewers on this story. So I am going to really make an effort to update more. Hopefully the lack of reviewers doesn't mean a lack of readers. Thanks to Purple Strobe for reviewing the last chapter!
"What were you thinking grabbing me like that, you scared me half to death," Kat said once she was inside the car.
"Really because the way you've been acting lately, I thought you were fearless," Will retorted.
"Did you really have to be so dramatic and grab me like that?" Kat questioned.
"Sorry I didn't have time to think, I just needed to get your attention," he replied.
"Well you've got it, so what's so important that you had to resort to kidnapping me," Kat asked.
"Actually, I think you're the one whose should be answering the questions here," he told her.
"What do you mean?" Kat questioned.
"Just how long have you know the power rangers' identities and why are you following Anton Mercer's son?" Will inquired. "I want the truth Katherine."
"Ok, I'll tell you everything, just not here," Kat replied as Will started up the car and they drove off.
Will drove the car to their apartment building and led Kat up the stairs towards her apartment. Kat reached inside her pocket for her keys but then hesitated.
"I think it'd be better if we talked in your apartment," Kat informed him.
"Why do you think you've been compromised?" he wanted to know.
"I'll explain later, do you want to know about the rangers or not," Kat said.
"Fine one thing at a time," he said as he opened his apartment door and stepped aside to let her walk in first.
"I discovered the rangers' identities by accident, it was right after Nikki Valentina arrived in town, I went downtown where the Tyrannodrones were attacking," Kat began.
"I remember you running off, I didn't think it was a good idea but who am I to stand in the way of an ex-ranger," Will said.
"When I got there, I saw three teens fighting them off and watching them I realized that their fighting skills seemed familiar, like someone had trained them the same way he helped train me," Kat continued.
"You're talking about Tommy Oliver," Will stated.
"Yes, before I knew it, they were morphing into the red, blue and yellow power rangers and I guessed that Tommy was probably their mentor," Kat explained.
"So why didn't you tell me any of this, afraid I couldn't keep a secret," Will replied.
"It's not that I didn't trust you, it just didn't seem like relevant information at the time," Kat told him.
"If it wasn't that important, then why did you continue to follow them?" Will questioned.
"I don't know, I guess because of what I discovered next, Tommy wasn't simply their mentor, he was also the black ranger and I guess I couldn't help but want to be a part of it somehow," Kat answered.
"So all these times that you were sneaking off, it was to follow you're former boyfriend and his rangers," Will surmised.
"Yes, I'm sorry for being so secretive about it," Kat replied.
"Wait a minute, that still doesn't explain what Trent Mercer has to do with all of this," Will said.
"Actually, his last name is Fernandez, he's adopted and my investigation of him was really nothing more than curiosity at first," Kat replied.
"Care to explain that," Will said.
"It started after Trent began acting really strange, like he was weak and disoriented, I saw him getting into a heated conversation in the park with Conner, the red ranger, who was only trying to help but Trent was really defensive, Conner started following him and I in turn decided to follow them both, that's when we ended up in the middle of the woods," Kat explained.
"Then what happened," Will said.
"I lost Trent and then the white ranger attacked Conner, I stayed there until the blue ranger Ethan arrived to help him and then I set off to find Trent who led me to the warehouse district, I was just about to find out what he was up to when you called and I lost him, I headed inside a warehouse only to find it deserted and that's when I found Tommy," Kat replied.
"So Tommy knows that you know about him and the other rangers," Will deducted.
"No, he doesn't have a clue, when I got inside the warehouse, I found Tommy morphed as the black ranger but he was fossilized in amber, I couldn't do anything to help him and the other rangers showed up so I left, but that's when I became suspicious of Trent because he was the last one seen around the warehouse, so that's when I started following him," Kat explained.
"What about all the equipment you've been borrowing from Glenn?" Will asked.
Kat then went on to explain about finding the ranger's headquarters in Tommy's house and bugging the computer system. She also told him that Tommy had stopped his experiments with Anton Mercer once he believed Anton to be dead.
"That's good news for Dr. Oliver, it means he has nothing to do with whatever Mercer's been up to these last few years," Will replied.
"There's more, the reason I'm still following Trent is because he's the evil white ranger," Kat told him.
"Don't you think that's something the power rangers should be dealing with," Will said.
"I know you're right but before I was a ranger I was an evil mercenary for Rita Repulsa, I know what Trent's going through and I just thought if I could gain his trust that I might be able to use that to find out more about his father," she replied.
"I saw you talking to him, so I assume that Trent is very aware that you know about his identity," Will said.
"Yes, he knows I've been following him and he knows I'm investigating his father's company," Kat replied.
"I don't really like it, but right now Trent is our only link to Mercer, if you think you can get him to trust you then we might finally have a way to break this case," Will commented.
"What about Tommy, did they ever get him out of that amber?" Will asked.
"Yes, Hayley's quite the genius, only now he's stuck in his ranger suit," Kat replied.
"Ok, since obviously all of these things are connected, I think we have to keep monitoring the ranger's activities," Will told her.
"What do you mean we?" Kat asked.
"I'm not letting you continue this alone, we do this together or I get someone else on the case," Will decided.
The next day, Kat sat in I.D. headquarters, along with Will as they listened to the bug in Tommy's lab.
"This is nuts, we've been at this all morning and so far all we've heard is Hayley and Tommy trying to figure out a way to demorph him," Will said.
"Yeah, maybe we should wait until the next monster attack," Kat replied as she started to shut down her computer but stopped as she heard Kira's voice.
"Dr. O, you will never believe who Principal Randall got to cover your classes," Kira said as she entered the lab.
"Who is it?" Tommy asked.
"Anton Mercer," Kira said in disgust.
"That's great," Tommy told her.
"How can you think that's great?" Kira questioned.
"I know you think Anton is a little strange, but he's brilliant and he taught me a lot of what I know, he really is an amazing person once you get to know him," Tommy told her.
"Tommy certainly thinks highly of Mercer," Will said once they stopped the connection.
"Yeah, he does, I think I'm going to pay Reefside High a little visit," Kat told him.
"Ok, I'll stay here and monitor the rangers, be careful," Will told her.
Kat entered Reefside High School and began to walk around the hallways searching for the main office.
"Can I help you?" a woman asked and Kat turned around to greet her.
"Yes, I was looking for the office," Kat said.
"I'm Principal Randall, what can I help you with?" she asked.
"Katherine Hillard, I'm a friend of Dr. Oliver's and I was just wondering where his classroom was," Kat told her.
"Dr. Oliver is on a temporary leave of absence, but if you'd still like to see his classroom it's room 208, perhaps his replacement is still around," Randall said as she turned to leave. That's what I'm hoping. Kat thought.
"Dr. Hillard, this is a surprise, I didn't think the E.P.A. cared so much about the environment of a school building, with all the big companies there are to shut down," Anton said as she entered the room.
"The E.P.A. cares about all environments, big or small, actually I was hoping to talk to Tommy but it seems he's unavailable, actually I'm a little surprised to see you here, I didn't know you had a love for teaching," Kat replied.
"Well, Tommy's an old acquaintance of mine, so when I heard it was his class they needed a teacher for, I just couldn't refuse," he told her.
"How nice of you, so how'd your first day go?" Kat asked.
"I think it went rather well, I'm taking the kids on a field trip to the museum that I own and it should be quite an adventure," he answered.
"I'm sure it will be, it was nice seeing you again," Kat said as she left.
The next day, Will and Katherine arrived at the museum which was owned by Anton Mercer.
"I don't see any school buses, so I'd say we've arrived just in time," Will said as he parked the car.
"We better get into position," Kat said. She and Will quickly made their way to the side of the building and looked for a way inside.
"I hope this gadget of Glenn's works," Will said as he stuck it to a door marked "Private." The key pad beeped and Will pulled the door open.
"We're in," Kat said as they hurried inside. Katherine was dressed like a janitor and had on a black wig and glasses, while Will was dressed as a security guard.
"I guess we should split up now, I'm going to go see if I can find the main control room, remember I'm only a radio away," Will said.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine, it's not like this is my first time," Kat said as she headed down the hallway and looked for a maintenance closet. Once there, she opened the door and got out a mop and bucket and set about pretending to clean the floors.
"Kat, Mercer just arrived with the students," Will announced in her earpiece.
Anton led the students through the museum. He walked right by Katherine but seeing that it was only a janitor he barely acknowledged her presence. Kat watched as all the teens continued with the tour, except for Kira who seemed to have heard a noise and started to wander away. Cassidy soon follows but is caught by Anton who makes her rejoin the group.
Kat followed in the direction that Kira wandered off too and watched as Kira snuck inside a storage room.
"Will, I need you to look at one of the security cameras and see if you can find Kira, she inside a storage room," Kat radioed to him.
"Sorry Kat, I can't find the channel, there must not be cameras in there," Will reported back.
"I don't like this," Kat said and was about to go after Kira herself when the door opened and the teen stepped out. Kat followed her as she rejoined her class.
"Kira, where'd you run off to," Conner asked as she rejoined them.
"I got lost that's all," Kira replied.
After the field trip, Kat followed the teens to Hayley cyberspace.
"Hey guys, I heard about Tommy's class, I can't believe they're letting Anton Mercer teach," Hayley remarked to them.
"Dr. Mercer is a great teacher," Kira snapped.
"Kira, do you realize what you just said?" Conner asked.
"Yeah, I mean this is Trent's dad we're talking about," Ethan added.
"Why don't you boys just grow up, I'm sick of being the only mature one," Kira snapped again and this time she stormed out.
Kat left the Cyberspace and immediately went to the office where she found Will listening in on the rangers.
"What's going on?" Kat asked as Will was furiously writing down notes.
"It seems there's a very important bone missing from Tommy's lab," he told her.
"What kind of bone?" Kat inquired.
"It seems Tommy and Anton tried to create a dinosaur with the power of mind control," Will explained.
"Let me guess, all a part of the project they were hired for by the U.S. government," Kat said.
"We can get into that later, the monster proved to be far too dangerous with those kind of powers so they took it a part and the only way to make it come alive is with this main support bone," Will informed her.
"And now the bone is missing, any idea who could have taken it," Kat wondered.
"Tommy suspects Kira since she was the only one to have seen where he locked it up," Will replied.
"This makes perfect since, I'll bet that creature got a hold of her somehow and now it's only a matter of time before that creature attacks the city," Kat responded.
"I guess we have to leave the rest up to the power rangers then," Will told her.
"I didn't want to believe it but I think Anton Mercer isn't quite the upstanding guy that Tommy thinks he is, I mean he knew the danger of this creature and yet he still kept it stored in his museum," Kat said.
"Exactly, now do you see why it's so important we learn what happened to him all those years ago," Will replied.
"I'm got to get closer to him, I think it's time I got to know Anton Mercer more personally," Kat decided.
Author's Note: Not exactly the way I wanted this chapter to go but I promise the next one will be better. Please review anyway and tell me what you think.