If you haven't read chapter 10 of 'Code of a Ranger' you might not understand Tommy's reaction to the appearance of a certain someone in this chapter. But, that doesn't mean you won't understand what is going on...I hope that makes sense...now on with the, very overdue, chapter. :)

The fork collided with a loud 'chink' as Tommy ruthlessly stabbed at an innocent potato. He heard Kim sigh from across the table, but he refused to look up and meet her questioning gaze. Some things were just better left unsaid, and tonight he was not in the mood to talk. In fact all he wanted to do was strangle his extremely unwelcome house guest, but there were laws against murder in California and despite his long and arduous stint as a Power Ranger, Tommy didn't believe that he would last very long in jail.

"Is it really that bad," asked Kim, finally caving in and breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over the table.

Tommy glowered at his plate. "No," he said, his voice snappy and gruff. He glanced up to see Kimberly's eyes widen slightly in shock and hastily tried to correct his mistake. "No, I'm just….preoccupied." He said, trying to smooth over any feathers that he might have ruffled.

"Oh," was all that his wife said as her eyes fell back to her own plate.

Oh hell, he thought bitterly. Now she's mad too.

It seemed that no matter where he turned these days he just could not get a break, and with the arrival of another unwanted house guest he was even more on edge than usual…and at that precise moment his new 'guest' chose to make his grand entrance into the kitchen and it happened so suddenly that all Tommy saw was a flash of orange and a black. His glass of water fell off the table and landed in his lap before he could say a word, but as his numb brain began to function properly and the power of speech returned to him, he though of quite a few choice words he could use.

"Conner!"

His red ranger visible shrank in his chair as Tommy turned his seething gaze upon him. Tommy leveled a finger at him and proceeded to say the words that had come to his mind when Frank the Wonder Cat had arrived at the dinner table, famished and innocent looking as ever. The problem was that there was nothing remotely innocent about the damn thing.

"I have told you, that THING has to go!"

Conner wrapped a protective arm around Frank," but Dr. O, he doesn't mean any harm, he's just…."

"Hungry," said Tommy finishing his sentence, "I know! You two are going to eat me out of house and home!"

"But!" Conner tried to protest but Tommy raised a hand to stopped him.

"I agreed that you could stay here until your parents came home, but I did NOT say that your cat could stay here!" He stood and walked over to where Conner sat. "Trust me," he said in a low voice. "This will hurt you more that it hurts me." He pried a seething Frank from his master's arms and carried him to the door where he nonchalantly dumped him into the garage before slammed the door shut. In the shocked silence that followed, only a faint scratching noise could be heard coming from the garage as Frank tried desperately to claw his way through the door back into the house.

Tommy glanced at his dinner and realized that he was no longer hungry. "I'm going to bed," he declared. "And you had better not ring that damn bell or let that cat back into my house," he said with a pointed look at Conner.

Conner nodded, knowing full well that pissing off Tommy would result in him taking the bell away again. He waited until Tommy's footsteps had completely faded away before risking a glance at the garage door.

"Don't even think about it," Kimberly warned from the sink.

The red ranger sank lower into his seat. "Sorry, "he muttered to Tommy's empty seat.

"Don't be sorry," said Kim as she cleared the table of the dinner dishes and placed a piece of cake in front of Conner. "Just try harder from now on."

Conner nodded and Kim gave him a genuine smile. "I heard that you and Tommy had an interesting time at the doctor's office today. Want to tell me about it…"

361. Don't take your new team member for granted. It only serves to piss them off and they will leave you high and dry on the battle field. (SPD this one is for you. I hope you learned your lesson. – Shadow Ranger)

362. Stop asking the tech support to 'Beam you up'; it really annoys the hell out of them.

363. Stop making Narnia references about Mystic Force. (Udonna is not the White Witch and the Mystic Lion is not Aslan.)

364. 'Never have I ever' is NEVER to be played with any ranger ever again! (NO good ever comes out of this and we usually learn things that would be best kept...under wraps.)

365. When fighting the bad guy make sure that you've recharged your blaster before hand. (It's really embarrassing to have the low battery light blink at you in the middle of a battle...)

366. "Before He Cheats" is not, I repeat NOT allowed to be played around Tommy OR Katherine. (She was being NICE people! Get over it!)

367. Stop playing with your action figures, what are you five? (Chip!)

368. Drinking is a privilege, not a right. If you abuse this privilege, the Rangers reserve the right to mock you for all eternity. (Tommy!)

369. NEVER assume a villain you defeated went back to wherever he or she came from. The only reason they left was to get reinforcements. (Adam! Never assume!)

370. If you're going to say you love someone at least kiss them before going back to your own time period. You know you wanted to. (Ahem, JEN!)

371. DON'T go joy riding with the Megaship, nearly destroy it, and then brag about it. (Andros is still pissed at Kai for that stunt...)

372. When your lab partner disappears at the same time that the 'Evil Bad' guy turns up on the remote island that only the two of you know about, chances are he's the bad guy (Tommy the rest of us saw that one coming a mile away.)

373. Things that are now banned during a battle: LECTURES. (Before and after battles are fine but during is not. Rangers are too busy fighting off monsters to listen or care.)

374. Xander, you are not allowed to use magic to get girls. (They will still turn you down and V might hurt you.)

375. The moon is not a parking lot. (Will Andros and all the evil villains in spaceships please remove their vehicles from it immediately! NASA is starting to get suspicious!)

376. You should never make fun of the Thunder Rangers colors - they will get you and it will hurt, badly...

377. If one of your teammates says that they don't trust the person who seems to do everything perfectly, ESPECIALLY any type of fighting techniques, BELIEVE THEM! (I don't CARE if they're jealous! 9 times out of 10 they're RIGHT!!).

378. Zack, learn some new moves okay, Angela and the rest of us are getting tired of all the old ones...

379. Do not give sugary sweets or muffins to crazy evil ninjas. They are hyper enough already. (Seriously Conner, put down the donut and step away from Shane.)

380. 'Too Sexy for My Shirt' is never to be sung in any way, shape, or form around Sky (it was funny the first time, but the fan girls are starting to make it his anthem and it looks like he's going to SNAP).

Conner shook his head with a small smile. "No, I don't think so." He shoveled a forkful of the chocolate cake into his mouth and unconsciously rubbed at his nonexistent eyebrows in frustration.

Kim refilled his glass of soda before stretching and stifling a yawn. "OK, then. Is there anything else you need before I turn in?"

Conner shook his head again and pushed the empty plate aside. "No thanks Kim, but dinner was fantastic."

Kim took the plate and playfully ruffled Conner's hair as if he was a five year old.

"Hey!" he protested.

"Good night, Conner," she said, ignoring his half hearted attempt at anger. "I'll put an extra blanket on the couch for you." She stopped in the hallway and turned back to Conner. "Tomorrow, I want to hear all about your, um, interesting trip to the doctor and how Tommy ended up with that black eye he was sporting at dinner."

Conner grinned as he thought about the story behind that one. "Sure Kim, definitely."

Sorry guys but my muses have been mutinous lately. They fled on an unplanned vacation to the tropics, but hopefully they are back now. :) I know this isn't my best chapter, but at least it's an update, right? So, don't forget to hit that pretty little button before you leave and, as always, suggestion are loved.