Chapter Eight: Fair Break

"They might!" Hayley argued for the sixteenth time, arms folded and her face completely serious. Tommy, who'd been counting, just groaned and glanced over at Kim to see that she was being no help as she was trying not to laugh.

"Hayley, after the defeat that Kim and the raptors gave them, I doubt they're going to try anything like that again. Not on my house, not on the lab, and not on the café," Tommy tried to reason with her once again. "More than likely, they won't touch the café. While there is a chance that they might know you're connected to us, they probably don't know that the café has anything backed up and it's of no real strategic importance. There is no reason for them to attack it. Just like they haven't attacked the school."

"They could know. They knew about the lab," she fought back. Tommy just turned and looked at Kim for help, which she finally did.

"Hayley, the lab was easier to find. It was under Tommy's house. They know about Tommy, the house is in the directory, and he was stupid enough to build it underneath… like Batman. Remember how the Riddler and Two-Face tore apart the Batcave once they figured out that Bruce Wayne was Batman? It's the same philosophy," she explained as Tommy glared at her. Hayley nodded and then looked at her.

"I never pegged you for a Batman fan, Kim," she said and Kim looked a little embarrassed.

"I watched it for Val Kilmer. Mmm… Val Kilmer," she answered, closing her eyes and looking immensely happy.

"Okay, enough of that," Tommy said cutting in. Hayley shrugged.

"So, we should go back to your stupidity in building your lab underneath your house like an American icon does?" Hayley asked and Tommy groaned.

"I hate you both," he muttered. Kim finally took pity on him and stopped the teasing, turning her attention to the woman next to her. She wrapped an arm around Hayley, giving her a sympathetic look. The other woman looked just as distressed as she had been when she first realized that her café was in danger.

"If something does happen, then we'll help you clean it up and we'll get Zack to refinance it. I promise," she said, holding up her fingers in a girl scout promise. Hayley nodded a bit and relaxed, sitting back down in the chair near the computer.

"When did life get so complicated?" She asked. Kim shrugged.

"Somewhere after graduation. We should really warn the kids. Tell them to find a way never to grow up," Kim answered, grinning as she did so. Hayley laughed and even Tommy chuckled a bit. "Come on, life isn't that bad! Black is listening to Tommy now, the raptors are the ultimate form of lab protection, and other than a bruised wrist, I'm fine."

"That's true. Alright, we need to figure out exactly how intelligent they are," Hayley said.

"I'll agree with that," Tommy said and Kim shrugged.

"As long as it doesn't hurt them," she agreed and then paused. "How?"

Tommy shrugged and looked at Hayley. "How?"

"What are you, six?" Hayley asked with a laugh at Tommy's handling of the situation. He just gave her a look and she held up her hands. "We'll just have to ask them to do things and the like. After all, they don't speak our language."

"They don't speak, Hayley. They chirp," he muttered and Hayley shrugged.

"A wise man said 'The ability to speak does not make you intelligent' so we can't assume that just because they chirp, the raptors aren't intelligent," she said and Kim looked at her, hands on her hips.

"And who was that wise man?" She asked and Hayley looked sheepish.

"Does it really matter? The point is we can't judge on that," she said changing the subject back to its original topic. "Tell you guys what, I'll start to test them and you two come up with a relaxation plan for the team. I think we all need it."

"Hayley's right," Kim quickly agreed, dropping the previous subject. "After the lab's attack, we could all use a break."

"The fair is in town," Tommy mentioned. "We could take them there. Offer to buy their tickets, buy them lunch."

"Sounds good to me. Let's go finish planning. You in, Hayley?" Kim asked.

"I make it a rule not to miss out on fairs," she answered. "It's fun talking about the physics of the rides and getting people to run."

"That's true," Tommy agreed. "She did manage to get us on a lot of rides in half the time last time we went."

"Okay, Hayley, we'll plan, you test," Kim said and dragged Tommy upstairs. Hayley chuckled and called the four raptors over. While he didn't want her on his back, Red had no problem with Hayley and happily obeyed her request. She smiled as he stopped in front of her, the others following. "Okay, guys, here is what I need you to do…"

Red relaxed as Hayley finished her last test. Blue and Yellow ran off while Black continued to follow Hayley over to the computer and looked over her shoulder for a moment. Red turned away from Blue and Yellow, less than interested about the entire thing, though he did grab Black by the tail after a minute to drag him away from Hayley so that the younger raptor wasn't bothering her. Black chirped in protest and jumped on Red, who easily threw him off, though not into anything. Enough had been broken from the fight for the lab. "Well, guys, I don't know if it was the DNA, the cyberelectronics, or a mix, but you four are a lot smarter than the Zords."

Red glanced over at her. He wasn't quite sure was 'smart' meant, but he knew he was whatever it was. After all, it sounded like a good thing. He guessed it was like instincts. He just chirped something in her direction for an answer and turned his attention back to Black. Finished with the job, she figured that she could go check on the other two. Hayley looked at the head raptor. "You know the routine, Red. Watch the lab."

She headed upstairs to where the two were sitting, writing things now and discussing the carnival. Kim glanced up. "Hi Hayley," she said, waving at her friend.

"You're not done yet?" Hayley asked, completely surprised. It had been a couple of hours after all. She glanced over and saw a sheet that read 'Carnival Plan' with ticket prices and estimated food prices written on it. Under that, they'd wrote down the price of tickets and two books next to everyone's name. The price of the tickets, the food, and the entry fee added up to a pretty good sum of money. She looked at the two of them incredulously. "You're a teacher and you work for me! How on earth are you going to pay for that?"

Neither looked up from what they were working on, but answered at the same time. "Zack."

"Doesn't Zack get tired of paying for the two of you?" She asked exasperatedly and both of the other two shook their heads.

"Nope," Kim answered. "He wants to help too and since he can't physically come here yet because of work, he makes up for it by giving us money. Lots and lots of money."

Hayley shook her head. "So, Zack is supplying the two of you with money to give to the kids. And we're not worried about spoiling them?"

"Nope," Kim answered again. "Not when it means I get extra cotton candy."

"I want to play the games," Tommy agreed, completely serious. Hayley threw up her hands.

"Are you two even listening to yourselves?" She asked and Kim grabbed the sheet with the figures, erased something and handed it back to her. Under Hayley's name, the number of ticket books increased from two books to four. Hayley looked at it, looked at her two companions, and smiled. "Remind me to thank Uncle Zack later."

Kim finally looked up at the other two adults. "So, who wants to tell the kids?"

"Seriously, Doctor O, you can tell us. We won't tell anyone," Conner promised to the continued amusement of both Kim and Hayley. Tommy groaned as they headed toward the entrance of the carnival. Kira and Ethan were discussing various aspects of the games and rides, but Conner had taken another topic up.

"Conner, I promise you," he started, keeping his voice down. "I do not use my Ranger powers to blackmail, rob, beg, or anything to get extra spending money. I am not connected to the mafia. I am not stealing dogs in order to collect the reward money. I am not a secret agent in my lack of free time. Conner, it's legal. I promise."

"Then how can you afford it?" Conner asked for the umpteenth time. Tommy looked at Kim who shrugged.

"I wanted to tell him," she reminded her boyfriend. "You were the one who thought it would be better not too. Something about constant begging."

"Fine," Tommy snapped. "Then you tell them."

"Okay," she said and Tommy groaned as she called his bluff. "Ethan, Kira, come here please. Thank you. Alright, we're paying for you guys to get in, for the equivalent of two packets of tickets, and lunch which includes a dessert. Games, extra food, and extra tickets are your own responsibility. Zack, former Black, wanted to help out and this is his way of doing it since he can't get here. If you want, I can give you his address and you can send him a thank you card later. For now, let's go relax."

Tommy glared at her. "You know they're going to beg us for stuff now, right?"

Kim gave him a peck on the lips. "You worry too much," was her answer. "Six, please."

They headed in and bought the tickets, handing each teen their correct amount. Tommy looked at them. "Be back at around one, okay? That way, we can get lunch."

"I'm going on rides!" Conner said, having not heard their teacher.

"I'm playing some games!" Neither had Ethan.

"I'm going to go listen to the band!" Nor Kira.

"Guys. Guys!" Tommy called out, but the trio were already gone. Kim and Hayley looked at each other.

"I'm going on the roller coaster," Hayley decided, running off to Tommy's chagrin. Kim grinned at him.

"I want cotton candy!" She finished and put her arm in his. "Let them have fun, Handsome. They deserve it."

Tommy's expression softened and he nodded, sighing. "How about we get some cotton candy and I win you a stuffed animal?"

"I like that plan," she agreed and they wandered off toward the cotton candy.

Having used up over half his tickets already, Conner wandered off in search of Ethan or Kira. He still felt a little weird about being friends with them since they'd never been friends before nor had they even really talked to each other before, and now they were close. However, things had changed and they had changed from being the people they were. Besides, he did enjoying handing out with them. He looked around the music area for Kira first, but eventually gave up and headed toward the games. Fortunately, Ethan was still there and while it wasn't his normal type of games, he still seemed to be enjoying it. "Ethan, dude, you win anything?"

Ethan motioned over to a pile of stuffed animals, pictures, and other assorted items on the ground. "Yep."

"Dude, what are you going to do with all of that?" He asked. Ethan paused and looked at Conner.

"I don't know," came his answer. "Do you think Kira would like it?"

"Probably. You could give some to Hayley and Kim too," he suggested, leaning against the booth next to his friend. Ethan nodded.

"Good idea," he answered and grinned. "Must have hurt."

"Shut up," Conner fought back good naturedly. "I'm almost out of tickets, but I thought I'd find you and Kira. See if you guys wanted to go on anything."

Ethan looked at the plethora of items in front of him and shrugged. "Sure. Where's Kira?"

"I was hoping you knew," Conner said honestly. "I looked over by the music, but she wasn't there."

"Maybe she's near the animals. Girls like animals, right?" Ethan suggested and Conner shrugged.

"Most girls do, but Kira isn't like most girls," he answered. "Worth a shot."

The two teens ran off in the direction of where the animals were being kept. Conner made sure to keep at a pace that Ethan could keep up with while Ethan did his best not to slow Conner down too much. It didn't help that each of them were carrying half of the items Ethan had won. "Dude, we are so dumping this stuff in the cars once we find Kira."

"Oh yeah," agreed Ethan. "Hey! There's Hayley. Maybe she's seen Kira."

"Yeah and we can give her some of this," Conner added. "'Cause I'm sick of carrying it."

Ethan nodded quickly. "Hayley! Hey! Hayley!"

The woman turned and walked toward them smiling. "Hey guys. Enjoying yourselves?"

"Yep," answered Conner cheerfully. "Have you seen Kira?"

"I think she was over there, with the rabbits. Why?" Hayley asked.

"We're just looking for her," Ethan said, shrugging. "Oh yeah, I won a few things for you. Here."

He handed her half of what he was carrying before she could protest. Conner handed some of what he was carrying to Ethan and they both just smiled and thanked Hayley before she could say anything as they ran off. The woman just shook her head and went in the direction of the car to dump the items there. "Teenagers," she muttered.

Kira leaned against the gate looking down at a well-groomed sheep lying on the ground, having moved on to a different animal by this point. It wasn't even bothering to look at her, but she was relaxed enough not to care. It was nice to know that even while being a Ranger, she was able to enjoy normal activities without worrying about it too much. She was broken out of her thoughts by a loud "Kira!" coming at her. She turned around and was face to face with a stuffed turtle. "Uh… guys?"

"Ethan won a whole bunch of stuff," Conner explained as the one who was holding it up to her face. "And most of it wouldn't work for us, so we thought we'd give it to you."

Ethan nodded. "Besides, consider it a 'Thanks for putting up with Conner' present."

"Yeah… wait! Hey! I'm not that bad," Conner pouted and both of his friends laughed. Kira took the turtle and looked at the other prizes.

"Thanks, guys, but I'm not carrying all of that all the way back to the car," she told them and Conner managed to look insulted.

"Wasn't planning on asking you to, Kira," he promised her. "We just wanted to give it to you."

Ethan nodded in agreement and Kira shook her head. "You're both insane."

"And yet, you still stick around," Conner reminded her. "What's that say about you?"

"I enjoy free entertainment?" She bantered back. After they glared at her for a minute, they all busted out laughing on their way to drop the prizes off. They threw everything in the back seat and wandered back off toward the fair. "So, what are we doing now?"

"Conner wanted to go on some rides with us before he uses up all of his tickets," Ethan explained to her and Conner nodded.

"Sounds cool," Kira agreed. "Which one?"

"How about the Tilt-A-Whirl? It's something we can all go on together," Ethan suggested and Conner nodded.

"Cool," he agreed. "You in, Kira?"

"Of course. Let's go," she agreed, grabbing both boys and dragging them to it.

"Conner? Should we be letting her drag us anywhere?" Ethan asked.

"Dude, when a hot girl drags you, you go," Conner answered, though Kira hit him over the head for his troubles, temporarily letting go of Ethan. "Right, no more complimenting Kira."

"I think it's how you do it," Ethan teased. "Does that actually work?"

"On every other girl on the planet," Conner answered and looked a little disappointed. "Damn. I'm going to have to think up some specific ones for Kira."

"So that she's flattered?" Ethan asked.

"So I don't get hit," Conner answered. Kira gave both of them a look and rolled her eyes as they got in line.

"Boys."

Kim pulled off another piece of her cotton candy. "So, is your goal to beat every game here?" She asked, teasing her boyfriend a bit.

"No, just the ones that are possible to win at," he answered, throwing another dart. Kim just nodded.

"Uh huh. Sure," she teased. She leaned back and watched him finish the game before leaning into him a bit. He handed her a stuffed tiger which she accepted and kissed him. He leaned into it enjoying the feeling. He wrapped his arms around her, just holding her for a minute before she pulled away and pointed to her cotton candy which was nearly gone. "I need more candy."

"You're not the only one," he teased and she smacked him in the arm.

"Tommy!" She scolded, but she joined in with his laughter. "And we should probably get some lunch."

Tommy groaned. "Which means the kids will be back soon to beg for money," he whined. Kim just patted his arm.

"Tommy, Kim, I need more money," a voice came from behind them and Hayley stood there looking at them sheepishly. Kim gave her a mock parenting look.

"You used up all of your tickets already, young lady…? And why is there no one in line for the roller coaster?" Kim asked, looking at her friend suspiciously.

"It was a long line and yes," Hayley answered. Kim burst out laughing and grabbed Tommy.

"I thought we were getting food," Tommy mentioned as Kim grabbed Hayley too.

"Are you nuts? Hayley's scared everyone off it already! We need to go now before they come back to their senses. Or lose them again. Whichever." It took them less than five minutes to get on the ride. It would have taken even less time, but when Hayley started to talk about it, Tommy put his hand over her mouth to make sure that she didn't make matters worse. Of course, that led to her biting him and a mock-stern lecture from Kim about how to treat women, but he had to admit that at least the ride was enjoyable, even if the women he was with were insane.

"Women."

The day ended eventually after three hyper teens nearly tackled their teacher to the ground in order to get money for food which was promptly used to buy as much junk food as they could afford; one genius café owner was banned from the roller coaster and other various rides after she scared half of the population of Reefside away from them and convinced other science wizards to back her up; one former ranger ate so much cotton candy that she made herself sick and then complained about how she wasn't able to eat more to her long-suffering boyfriend who proceeded to buy three more bags to take home just so he didn't have to listen to her; and one current science teacher Ranger who won too many items and had to hunt down various fair staff in order to buy some rope to tie the larger stuffed animals to the roof of the jeep and Conner's car.

"So, did you guys have a good day?" Kim asked as they were relaxing in the lab, trying to get over the day. They were all tired, but there were resounding yes answers to the question which amused Kim to no end. To the complaints of the teens, she was sitting in Tommy's lap as she asked them, closing her eyes every so often from being so worn out. It was late by this point, they were going to have to send the kids home soon, but it had been a good day.

Author's Notes:

Yay! I had some free time! Not my best chapter, but I needed to write something light between the last chapter and the next chapter. I was able to finish this one before next week and since my family doesn't come up until tomorrow, I figured I'd get it posted. The next chapter does introduce the evil white Ranger, so it's going to be darker again. The one after it will probably be darker too, but then I'll do a lighter chapter again.

Two items in this story are actually things some of my friends do: the roller coaster one and the giving away prizes one. Yes, I do have friends that use physics as a weapon, though it doesn't work as well as it does in the story. It does, however, get some people out of the line.

And Conner/Kira wins! It might actually work better for me like that since I like Conner more than Trent anyway. I'll change the first page that has the pairings when I have time.

And thank you for the reviews again. I appreciate them so much!