A/N: So, I'm supposed to be working on Billy's New Team…a Power Ranger story, but my mind is at a blank for it. On the bright side, we're at the part in the story where they go house hunting! And we all know how well that ends!

Disclaimer: I own Nothing! Except for any OC name drops that MIGHT happen!

Chapter One: A house-hunting we go.

I woke up to bright sunlight blazing in my face. Groaning, I rolled over, burying my face into my pillow. "Why didn't anyone wake me when it was time to get up?"

"Zane said something about you having some nightmare last night…one that might have to do with your family." Cole's voice sliced through the air suddenly, causing me to snap my head up.

The black ninja was crouching next to the campfire, stirring something in a pot. My stomach turned as I vaguely wondered if he was actually cooking, or if he was just keeping the food warm for someone else. "Who did the actual cooking?" I quickly held my hand up, shooting him my sternest look. "I want an honest answer."

Cole threw his head back as a bark of laughter escaped him suddenly. "Dude, relax. Jay cooked breakfast. I just volunteered to keep it warm for you while the others go help with repairing the city, oh! Sensei is looking for a real estate agent." Cole scooped the still questionable goop into a bowl for me. "Something about how we need a roof over our heads."

I rolled my eyes at him as I accepted the bowl, quickly gagging down the mystery goop. Don't get me wrong, Jay was still a better cook than Cole…just, he was rather unpredictable when it comes to choice in ingredients. Today's combination was not one of his best ideas. "Thank you, Cole. Do I want to know what he put in this?"

Cole immediately wrinkled his nose. "No, you don't. Come on, we have a city to clean up still."

I grimaced at that thought, recalling how the last three days had been spent cleaning the city. "Right… did Zane or Lloyd say anything else?"

Cole shot me a sympathizing look, a hint of amusement dancing in his eyes which really ruined the moment. "Lloyd tried asking us for details on the Great Chocolate Incident…but Zane said your actions last night hinted you really don't want him to know about it." I groaned at that, burying my head into my hands. Cole quickly placed a hand on my shoulder. "Cheer up Kai. It could have happened to any of us."

I shook my head ruefully at him. "Right. But it had to happen to me. The only plus side is that Sensei and Zane knew what to do before I was claimed by death by Chocolate."

Cole smiled wanly at me, knowing that the Great Chocolate Incident still gave me nightmares occasionally. "Come on. Everyone's waiting for us. Let's go clean up an entire city!" Cole tried to sound ecstatic about it, but he was clearly getting tired of always cleaning the city.

…

As it turns out, we weren't cleaning the city today. Sensei had found a real estate agent by the name of Patty Keys. The first place she took us was an old apartment that only had one bedroom and one half bathroom; with no lighting. The neighborhood it was located in was full of lowlifes waiting to mug passerbys. Shivering, I turned my attention to the crowded living room that we were standing in. And that was it was like without furniture. A frowned crossed my face as I realize that this was place was even smaller than my childhood home. Which is saying something, seeing as it only has the one bedroom, the store front and a small kitchen. Jay must have felt the same thing as me, since he suddenly spoke up.

"We can't train Lloyd here! There's not enough room!" Jay dramatically flung himself down to the floor.

I rolled my eyes at him, even though personally I agreed with him. Turning to face Patty Keys, I inclined my head to my overly dramatic brother. "I agree with him. We don't have enough space here to do what we need to get done."

Patty pressed her lips tightly together, annoyance flaring up briefly in her eyes. "I'm sorry but this is the only available space within your budget."

A soft oh dear escaped Sensei as he looked over the tiny area. Cole rubbed the back of his head, uncertainty flashing briefly in his eyes. "Well… I know that Sensei told you what we are looking for in a house. Do you have anything that falls under those requirements?"

Patty looked to him for a few minutes, clearly pondering what he asked. I felt annoyance flare inside me for this entire ordeal. Back home, one just lived on land that has been passed down for generations. Finally, Patty spoke up again. "We have one. It's called the Hero Suite."

We looked to each other for five seconds, before nodding our heads. Sensei took one step forward. "Show us please."

…

The Hero Suite was perfect, several bedrooms, two full-sized bathrooms, a kitchen, dining room, and living room, there even was a training area built into the apartment. We kinda may have talked Sensei into get that one instead of the other apartment. We each announced that we could take on jobs to help pay for rent. Sensei reluctantly agreed to our plan, before announcing that he was going with Nya to find new parts for the Ultra Sonic Raider. After he left, we bid Lloyd bye…and ordered him to stay inside where it is safe. Then we stepped outside and split up to go locate paying jobs.

…

I grimaced as I glanced around the room. The second I noticed a sign announcing that the lady who worked here was hiring, I had knocked on the door. I had not expected that she would yank me inside, dumping me into a room full of snotty nosed kids. It didn't help the fact that she had yelled 'your hired' when she did that. Honestly, I still didn't know what I was supposed to do. She looked frazzled though…must be desperate for help if she wasn't even going to double check that I was capable to do the task. I took a deep breath, calming my nerves quickly. I have watched my neighbors kids multiple times before, how hard could it be?

…

Groaning, I collapsed onto the couch, my muscles aching as if I didn't exercise vigorously everyday for a living. I wasn't the only one that was exhausted either. Cole was rubbing his feet, grumbling about them aching. Zane was rubbing his wrist, exhaustion flooding his eyes, while Jay had almost fallen asleep the second he sat down. The only thing keeping him awake was Lloyd poking him frequently.

"We still don't have enough for rent. Maybe if I take a double shift tomorrow?" Zane mentally counted up the amount we had made today.

"I can do a double shift too." Jay cut in, struggling to stay awake.

Cole nodded, his eyes trying to close themselves. "Same here. It should help."

I didn't like the idea that my brothers were desperate enough to work double what they already were working. "I'm not sure about this. We're already tired from one shift, what's to say that we will fall asleep during one of our shifts?" I took a deep breath, crossing my fingers that they would listen to me, just this once. "Maybe we should talk to our bosses, try to get arranged that at least three of us is with Lloyd at all times…" I glanced up to see that they had already fallen asleep on the different couches.

Shaking my head, I glanced over at the kid. Lloyd noticed, and immediately waved me off. "Go ahead and sleep, Kai. I'm fine."

I sighed before closing my eyes. Within seconds, sleep overtook me, sending me into a dreamless rest.

…

I tried to pull the two kids apart, wondering why anyone wanted to do this for a living. Not even Min had been this difficult whenever Old Joe couldn't watch her and he had me take care of her. Maybe they just needed to go outside to run some energy out or something like that. Min did enjoyed helping me with my chores. Before I could succeed at breaking the fight off, I spotted Cole sprinting across the street, headed towards the subway station. Alarmed, and knowing he should be guarding the bank vaults, I abandoned my post to go see what was wrong.

My boss sprinted after me, yelling for me to come back. When I didn't, she fired me as loudly as she could. Zane quickly joined me, worry creasing his brow. "I am afraid that I mixed up and flipped an egg onto a small child's head. My boss has fired me."

I gave him the smallest smile possible. "Join the club. I'm taking it you noticed Cole too."

Zane curtly nodded, before picking up speed. Soon, we had cut up with Cole. He glanced at us for three seconds, before turning back to the abandoned subway station. "The serpentine robbed the bank while I was duty. I… I was tired. I fell asleep on duty. They got away with thousands of dollars. My boss fired me for sleeping on the job." Cole turned bright red at this last comment.

I shook my head wryly, wondering if Jay at least still had his job. "Come on. We have serpentine to catch! And again…welcome to the club."

Cole yelped in surprise, staring at us in pure shock. "You two were fired too?!"

We both nodded our heads in confirmation. Cole shook his heads at us, before leading the way down to the subway station. We quickly followed him. Once down there, we found out that the serpentine had taken command of an old subway train, and was pulling out of the station. Leaping forward, we leaped onto it in hopes of stopping them. Not until we did that did I remember that we didn't have our weapons with us at the moment.

…

"This is really bad!" Cole stared first out the window, then back to the train's controls.

The serpentine had escaped, though not without laughing in our faces and telling us that the whole thing was to distract us from Lloyd. Now we were on a train barreling down an abandoned track, ready to crash into the upcoming wall…oh! And Jay was tied up on the tracks between us and the wall. I vaguely wondered how he got there in the first place…but frankly more concerned about stopping the train before it reaches him. Jay had somehow managed to wiggle up into a standing position, and was rapidly hopping as fast as he can to escape the train. Zane and Cole both were standing at the controls trying to figure out how to stop the train. I stared at the controls, sending the image to Nya. Seconds later, the back of my head started tingling. Quickly, I reached out to see what Nya had to say.

Well?

Ok…depends on what you want to do Kai.

Stop the train before it runs over Jay.

Kai!

What? It's true!

Kai! I'm gonna kill you…later. This is what you have to do…

…

Jay threw the door open as we charged into our apartment.

"Lloyd?!" We yelled as we scanned the apartment for the kid.

Cole slumped against the wall, sorrow flooding his continence. "We're too late. The kid's gone."

"No, he is not. My nephew is right here." Sensei suddenly stepped out of the shadows, his hand on Lloyd's shoulder.

Nya was of to the side, eyes narrowing as she glares straight at me. I immediately swallowed, my heart thudding loudly. Maybe I shouldn't have been too blunt with her about our situation.

"A lesson has been learned while I was away. Am I correct?" Sensei asked as he tapped his staff against the floor.

Zane bowed his head in shame. "Yes Sensei. We do not need this big apartment. We just need each other."

"Good. Come, let us move to the other apartment immediately." Sensei started to walk away from us.

A question quickly popped in my head, on that needed answered. "What happened to Scales?"

"He was thrown into jail, but swore he would come back for revenge."

Great. Just what we needed. Never let anyone tell you that the life of a ninja is easy. It is the exact opposite of that.

A/N: Done! Ok, so I hadn't gone very far on this chapter when it hit me. I should have my Power Ranger team play fetch with my Silver Ranger's pet dog…while morphed! It is awesome if you ask me.

Till next time!

SkyTalon