02

"So, can I go to the cabin, too? Or am I going to be left out again?"

Billy smiled over at Avalon's little sister, Bailey, as she leaned against the counter in his lab. She stuck out her lower lip sullenly and blinked up at the blue ranger, hoping to sway him. Billy chuckled and dropped the prescription goggles he wore over his eyes, up onto his forehead, making his hair stick up. "Of course the invitation is extended to you," Billy said. "I'm just not sure if you'd have any fun while you're there. There'd be lots of older people there and—"

"—So?" Bailey interrupted. She pushed herself upright and crossed her arms. "I hang out with you lot all the time. And I'm the one who almost single-handedly keeps our zords and weapons going while you're out on the field." Billy gave her a stern look, making her blush and lower her gaze. "I said almost," she murmured, not wanting to take away from Billy's technical advisor status while simultaneously being a ranger.

Billy then smiled once more. Credit where credit was do, Bailey really did help him out when he was in the lab, she looked at the problems with their zords and weapons from another POV. A more childlike and innocent view that he wouldn't have been able to see from time to time. Her smarts nearly rivaled his, but she certainly had a somewhat naive view of the world that Billy still wished he had. He remembered first learning different concepts within science and technology and hoping that the world would react the same way.

How quickly he had been disheartened when he was bullied and verbally beaten down with his interests. Bailey's confidence was much stronger than his had been when he was that age and it was something he hoped would never be taken away.

"We'd love to have you around, Bay, we always do," Billy reassured her. "I'm just looking out for your well-being."

"I thought that was my job, mate," Avalon announced her presence, walking into the lab. She hopped up onto a stool next to Billy and glanced at him. Her eyebrows twitched as she gave him a once over before smiling. "You should style our hair like that more often, Smurf, it looks really good, yeah?"

"Yeah," Bailey agreed. She smiled, resting her chin in her hands. "I think it looks great."

Billy felt his face flush completely. He cleared his throat and almost self-consciously lowered his goggles around his neck. "Don't start," he said to Bailey. She lifted an inquisitive eyebrow and he said, "I can easily ascertain that you're trying to flatter me to put you in the good graces to come along on our trip and—"

"—That's not happening," Avalon interrupted Billy to point at her little sister, who pouted even further. "You don't want to go to that kind of party, Bay." Then she looked at Billy and added, almost as an afterthought, "And she doesn't need to flatter you about your hairstyle, it really does look good, mate."

Billy felt his face flush even further, if it were possible. Had he had been wearing his goggles or even an older pair of his glasses, he was sure they would've fogged up. As it was, he tried to pull at the color of his shirt, unsure of how to respond. Internally, he turned back into the nerdy science boy, losing all the confidence he'd learned over the past few years. Coughing, Billy dropped his hands to his lap and mumbled a "Thank you."

"Anyway, I came in here to tell you that the others are waiting in the living room to figure out about our trip," Avalon explained. If she had any idea of how uncomfortable she was making him, even in a good way, she didn't let it show. "And your dad said he'd stay out of the way."

Billy nodded. Ever since his mother's death, his father tended to keep things to himself. Often it felt that Billy lost his father the same day. The warm, inviting man had turned into a shell of his former self, working long into the night on his lesson plans for his college classes. Billy hardly remembered the last time he'd left the house to meet up with anyone other than his students or colleagues. Everyone works through grief at their own pace, Billy reminded himself.

"Alright, let me just finish setting this up," Billy said. He turned his attention back to the beakers set up in front of him and put a few droplets of different solutions in each beaker before taking off his gloves with a loud snap. "Okay, come on."

"There's nothing else you need to do?" Avalon asked, looking over it in wonder. Science and technology weren't her forte. There were many things that had to be explained to her multiple times, much like with the other rangers when Trini wasn't around to translate, but Billy's patience ran steady. When Bailey wasn't around to help him out in the lab or in the Command Center, Avalon was the first one to lend a helping hand.

Though, if he were being honest, Billy wasn't sure if it was that she truly wanted to help or if it were because she was avoiding going somewhere and doing something with the Vipers. All he knew was that with the speed at which she agreed to go on the trip and how excited she looked at the prospect, she was excited to get out of Angel Grove for a little while and relax.

"No, this solution will take time to work itself out," Billy explained as he stood up. He tossed his goggles aside, carefully making sure they landed on the side of the working desk, far enough away from the beakers so not to disturb them. "Plenty of time to have things worked out for the party." He led the way out of the garage and went to the living room, where Zack was pacing back and forth, hands locked behind his back.

Jason, Trini, Tommy, and Kimberly sat on the floor, leaning against the couch with the boys' arms around their girlfriends' shoulders, watching the black ranger pace. When the blue, orange, and purple rangers appeared, Zack stopped walking and threw his hands into the air. "Finally!" Zack cried. He tapped his fingers across his communicator. "Do you know how long we've been waiting?"

"What?" The rangers heard Alpha's squeaky voice say in response. "Is that you, Zack?"

"Not now, Alpha," Zack replied, and sheepishly removed his hands from his communicator. Then he turned his attention back to Billy, placing his hands on his hips. "Well?"

Avalon was the first to speak. She raised her hand, stepping into the living room to lay out on the couch. "Relax, mate, it's only been a few minutes," she reassured him.

"A few minutes are a lifetime when you're planning a major ranger," Zack insisted. He placed his hand on his chest and grinned. "Luckily, you're in the presence of royalty and I know everything about throwing a party and having a good time. And a good time always starts out with some rocking tunes. It sets things out on a high note." He turned to his backpack and pulled out a notebook that should've been used to take notes in class judging by the word 'History' written on the front.

But Billy had sat next to Zack in class for years and knew the way Zack's mind worked. Sitting in class and taking notes was not the best way he studied. He was an auditory learner and remembered most things just by it being said to him over and over. Taking notes merely slowly him down, or was a good distraction if things managed to go off course. How many times had Billy seen Zack write down some attack formations against putties in class that ended up helping them later? Enough times that he'd stopped giving Zack a disapproving glance when he saw he wasn't taking any notes.

"So, I've already got a list of tunes to play on our drive up, but I'm taking requests for the kind of music to play when we're throwing the party," Zack said. He uncapped his pen and started to write. "Have to have a lot of the upbeat stuff to keep people going."

"How about something slow and romantic?" Kimberly asked. "To break up all of the fast-paced music. Something like Richard Marx?"

"Who actually listens to Richard Max?" Bailey asked, her nose wrinkling.

"I do!" Kimberly defended herself. She clasped her hands together and sighed dreamily. "I'd love to go see him in concert one day. His voice is so amazing."

"And very likely to put you to sleep," Zack commented.

Jason quickly came to the pink ranger's defense. "Think of it like this, Zack. You put on a couple of slow tunes and you and Angela can get some slow dancing in." He grinned, clapping his best friend on the shoulder. "Some time to get to know here better. You can impress her with those moves as well as your fast ones."

Zack thought for a moment, tapping his pen against his chin before he lowered his head and started to write once more. "I guess we can do Richard Marx," he mumbled. Billy smiled and shook his head. Zack couldn't fool him, as soon as Angela was mentioned, anything Zack was against was something he was very excited for. She could probably talk him into sticking his hand into a nest of spiders if she ever wanted him to. Angela always had that spell over him, much stronger than anything that Rita and Zedd could come up with.

"What about some of that new Latin stuff that's come out?" Trini asked. "To put in some international flair to the list?"

"Can we do Pearl Jam, too?" Avalon asked.

"You can't dance to Pearl Jam," Tommy pointed out.

Avalon looked offended. "Who said anything about dancing? It's just another option instead of all of that slow crap, yeah?" She crossed her knees and sat up straight. "If we can't play it at the party, then I'd at least like to listen to it on the drive up."

"Who's driving, anyway?" Bailey asked innocently. She mimicked her sister's stance by sitting cross-legged, but quietly pulled at the laces on her shoes. "You can't fit everyone in your truck, Billy."

"And I don't trust Kim with her convertible around mountain roads," Avalon added. She rested her chin in her hand, smirking. "Though I think it would blend in with all of the others."

Kimberly pouted, folding her arms over her chest. She made a show of sticking her nose in the air. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to drive a car that you enjoy."

"There is when it sticks out like a sore thumb and is better equipped with shopping bags than the mountain terrain, yeah?" Avalon screamed with laughter when Kimberly bounced up off the floor and leaned over her friend to attack her with pillows she grabbed off the couch.

"Don't worry about driving," Tommy reassured Bailey. "We've got Billy's truck to take a lot of the supplies then I'll follow him in my mom's car with everyone else. We'll have to stop at the grocery store along the way, but it'll be better to get it right when we get there."

Billy nodded in agreement. "There's a grocery store near the base of the mountain and we can get things from there. I'm more afraid of the perishables we get earlier wouldn't make it there. And Ava is right, the terrain on the way up the mountain can be treacherous at this time of year. I wouldn't like to be driving it when it's too late. The roads narrow out and the turns are hard to see in the dark. Unless you're used to it, you won't know what to do. So, I don't mind doing the bulk of the driving."

Jason lifted a finger. "You said there's some skiing and snowboarding up there right?"

"At this time of year?" Bailey asked, tilting her head to the side. Her eyes shifted back and forth. "Isn't the weather too warm for it?"

"It is, but they generate more snow up there," Billy explained. "At the ski resort they use fake snow as much as they use real snow when the climate works for them. At this time of year, they tend to use more of the fake snow, but the higher altitude should provide sufficient weather for us to get some skiing done while we're up there." He looked over the wary expressions on each of his friends' faces. "We do have a week," he reminded them. "Plenty of time to go hiking, fishing and swimming."

"Alright!" Zack punched the air like he had done in class. "This is all really coming together. The rest of the things we need to figure out are the kinds of games we're bringing. Card games, board games, things to entertain us."

"I don't think that will be a problem," James said with a knowing grin, making Tommy laugh and Kimberly and Trini to both roll their eyes. Trini went so far as to elbow the red ranger in the ribs, making him wrap his arms around his wait to fend any of her next attacks off. "What? I'm just saying there's a chance there's going to be some monster attacks or something."

Billy smirked. Jason was so lying. He tried to keep an innocent expression on his face, but Billy had known the red ranger—and the rest of his friends—long enough to know when there were hidden meanings in their words. How many times did Kimberly and Tommy think that Kim's 'going to check on something' and Tommy's 'going to check on Kim' wasn't a code that they were going to spend some time making out? Or that the sly looks that Jason would send Trini over the table when they were studying or at Ernie's wasn't some sort of a code

"Yeah, that's exactly what you meant," Bailey teased as the rest of the rangers broke out into laughter. Then she frowned. "But he's right, there's always the risk of monster attacks coming up. I don't remember the last time that Rita and Zedd gave us some time off."

"All the more to be diligent in our practices while we're gone," Billy agreed. "Continuing to spar, work out, get as much training in as possible—"

"You really don't know how to have fun do you?" Zack and Avalon asked in unison. Billy smiled and shook his head. He didn't take it personally, he was the one that typically made sure every possibility was thought of, every outcome avoided if needed.

Maybe you do need to relax a little, Billy thought. If anything goes on, it's not like we can't teleport back in a few seconds. Zordon and Alpha will let us know if there's anything that needs our attention and for a while we'll be on our own. It's not like we have to worry too much about anyone else being there. Billy slowly felt himself starting to relax.

Besides, what could go wrong?

Zack whistled to himself as he walked back to his house. He and his friends had figured out who was going to be driving when, what they were all going to bring, and what sort of things they'd do once they got to the snow cabin. And he couldn't do anything but grin as he went.

His tests were done, his grades would be in soon, and he was going to have the best-looking girl in school on his arm for the party. He could hardly believe she said 'yes' when he asked her to go with him. Feeling good about Ms. Appleby's test, Zack practically skipped out of the classroom and headed to the senior wing to find Angela.

He found her at her locker, looking fine in her cheerleading uniform, and sauntered over with the utmost confidence he could muster. The moment she turned to face him, noticing him coming, Zack felt a bit of his confidence peter out. Why did she have to look so good?

Relax, you've gone out with her a few times already, don't worry about it. He took a deep breath and flashed on his best smile. "Hey, Angela, how's it going?"

"Everything's going fine, Zack," Angela replied with a warm smile. She clasped her books to her chest and smiled back at him. "How're you? How'd your last exams go?"

"Fine, fine," Zack said quickly. He cleared his throat and lifted his arm, resting it against the bay of lockers, using it to hold himself up as he crossed his legs. "Pretty great, actually. I think I'm going to get some good grades. And get this, I've got the hookup for a pretty good party coming up soon."

Angela's eyes widened in excitement. So much so that her entire face lit up, making Zack's smile widen. Nothing was a better sign than a girl completely lighting up. "Really? What sort of party?"

"A party my friends and I are throwing," Zack explained. He licked his lips and leaned toward her, lowering his voice. "But it's very hush-hush. On the down low, not many people know about it yet." He pressed his finger to his lips to drive the point home. "But you're special, so I'm telling you about it first."

Angela giggled. She reached out and grabbed onto Zack's arm. "Don't leave me in suspense, what's going on?"

"Well, my friends and I are going to be hanging out at Billy's parent's chalet for a week. Up in the mountains. And they said that I can invite anyone I want. But, there's going to be a major party at the end. A total blowout. We're going to start inviting everyone over soon, but I wanted you to be the first to know." He grabbed her hand, gently swinging it back and forth between them. "So, what do you say? Would you be my date?"

Angela's smile widened. She stood up straight, leaning into Zack's side. "Well, that depends," She said slowly. "What are we going to be doing? I mean, you said we have the whole week, right?"

"We can do whatever you want," Zack said quickly. He had no idea what she'd be interested in, but he wasn't going to question it. There was no way he was going to mess this up. He was a good guy but had moments of being a bad boy every now and then. He needed to keep up with her mystery somehow. "Just say the word."

With a light laugh, Angela took a step back from Zack and placed finished putting her books away. She looked through the books inside and started to painstakingly exchange them with the ones in her cross-body bag. Zack waited patiently, his resolve slowly breaking as the seconds passed.

"Well, okay," Angela finally replied. She closed her locker behind her and leaned against it, grinning at Zack. "It sounds like fun. But, I'm going to bring my own party favors, okay? Because I want to make sure we have some fun." She leaned in and gave Zack a peck on the lips. He felt his heart exploding like a bright firework. "You're cute, Zack, but sometimes you need to live a little."

With that, Angela walked away with an extra swish in her hips that made Zack collapse back against the lockers, watching her go. Now everything had been planned out. There wasn't anything he and his friends hadn't figured out to the smallest detail. They were going to have a great time.

"Hey mom," Zack greeted as he headed into his house via the door that lead to the kitchen. He went to his mother and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Hey, pop!" He patted his father on the shoulder, who grinned, turning away from his newspaper, looking at his watch.

"Zachary Taylor in time for dinner, never thought I'd see the day," Mr. Taylor teased. "Normally we can't drag you away from your friends."

"Normally, I'd agree with you, but I've got some packing I need to do," Zack said. He leaned over his mother's shoulder to look at what she was preparing—homemade pulled pork and fries. Yes. "But I will definitely be down for dinner when you call."

"Oh, but sweetie, do you need to pack now?" Mrs. Taylor asked, frowning at her son. She gestured towards her husband with a pair of tongs before resting her hand on her hip. "There's something your father and I wanted to talk to you about. We know you're excited to go on your trip but—"

"More than excited, mom," Zack interrupted. He backed towards the stairs, knowing if he got caught he would never hear the end of it. His mother would speak a lecture when she got into 'wanting to talk' to him about something. "That's why I need to go pack."

"Son, this is very important," Mr. Taylor insisted. He put his newspaper down and Zack paused. His father always meant business if he could be torn away from his daily reading of he newspaper. Zack always told him that the internet was a thing, but there he was everyone morning, flipping through the sports section to start. "We know that there's not going to be any supervision and us parents have talked and believe we can trust you all without anyone being there."

"And we'll call you if there's an emergency," Zack insisted. He continued to take small steps backward. His father's steely gaze on him made him pause then walk further into the kitchen. "Pop, I know what you're going to say. 'Make good choices', 'Don't get way in over your head'…'Be smart'…"

"You're getting older now and there are more important things to speak about," Mr. Taylor insisted. "Like experimenting. Sex and drugs and—"

"—We already got this from Ms. Appleby, pop," Zack interrupted. "We know how to be careful and everything." He held up his hands. "And besides, I think you're a bit late on the sex-talk, we did have Sex-Ed in school." He hurried from the room, calling over his shoulder. "Call me when dinner's ready, we can talk then!"

Everything was going to be perfect.

A/N: Finally! I've been trying to have this updated for a week! I'm so sorry with the wait on it, but I'm sure all you guys have problems with the document manager as well recently. Thank you all for being so patient. Chapters will get longer after this one, just like they increased with Powerless I, I'm Home, and The Wounded Hart.

I hope you guys enjoyed it.

~Av