Chapter 13: Finding Trouble

"You're wrong," Conner told his companions as he struggled to get away from them. "There is no way I am ever going to need to do this as a Ranger."

"You don't know that," Kira disagreed as she helped Ethan drag their leader. Considering that Conner had dug his heels into the ground, it was easier said than done. "Besides, if Mesagog ever finds out…"

"Don't you two have fears? Big fears?" He asked and Ethan shrugged.

"Maybe, but it's not as outward as yours, Conner," he answered. He looked over at Kira. "You know, if we would have told Doctor O about it or even Jason, they probably could have done this a lot easier."

"Remember when we had that talk about dignity?" Kira asked. Ethan looked at her funny.

"We never had a talk on dignity," he answered, sounding more than a bit confused. Kira paused only for a second.

"Oh. We're having one now then. Conner has dignity. Not a lot, but it's still there. Getting dragged by two of his classmates is a lot less embarrassing that being dragged by two older guys, one of which being his science teacher," she said. Ethan grumbled.

"Maybe, but I bet he would have ran for the water," Ethan muttered. Conner looked at both of them as he put even more weight into staying put.

"Guys! I'm still here!" He reminded them. They shrugged and pulled harder, knocking all of them to the ground. Fortunately, it didn't hurt too much since they'd landed on a mix of sand and grass, but they still felt ridiculous as they scrambled over each other to try to get up. To make matters worse, they heard laughter and looked up to see Derrick, one of Conner's soccer teammates as well as some others laughing at them. Conner immediately got to his feet, helping Kira and Ethan up as well as they tried to save what was left of their dignity.

"See what hanging around geeks and freaks gets you, McKnight?" He asked and Conner gave him a fake smile. Both Kira and Ethan moved to protest, but Conner gently stopped them and stood in front of them.

"I've seen you play, Derek, and I think that the 'geek' could score better than you and the 'freak' would actually pass. I think I'll spend time with people who actual contribute to society instead of a loser who flunks classes and sponges of my talent," he answered. He was actually quite proud of himself for the wording. Of course, he realized that it was probably from listening to the other members of his group and he was pretty sure that Ethan and Kira had both used some of those insults against him before, but all in all he was still proud. That pride is probably why he didn't see Derrick's fist until it connected with his face and Conner went down hard.

Ethan's temper boiled over at he headed at the jock with Kira not too far behind, but Conner quickly got up and stopped them, dragging them away from the bully. Both were protesting as Conner ignored them. Once they were far enough away, Ethan pulled away and glared at his leader. "What the hell? He deserved to get his ass beat!"

"Ethan's right, Conner!" Kira agreed. "I mean, he started it."

Conner sighed and nodded, but lifted his wrist. "Ethan, dude, your skin gets hard when your get angry and when you fight. And Kira? When was the last time you willingly participated in a sport? Do you think they'll really believe that you've been taking martial arts for years?"

"So, we pummel them a little. So what?" Ethan asked still furious, but Kira was calm enough to see Conner's point.

"The Ranger code, remember?" Conner whispered, looking around as he said it. "We're not allowed to use our power for personal gain or reveal our identities. Do you want to explain to Kim and Doctor O that we broke those two rules in one day?"

Ethan looked at Kira and both of them shared a nervous look. Kira gave Conner a thankful look. "Good thinking," she told him and then put her hands on her hips giving him a mock stern look. "When did you get responsible?"

"Uh… lucky day?" Conner suggested with a wink and she smiled back at him.

"Guys, we've got a problem," Ethan said, calling them out of their flirting. They both turned to look at him and he pointed to Conner without saying a word. Kira's eyes widened as she realized what Ethan had realized and both of them look more than a little nervous. Conner looked at both of them and then at himself as he tried to see if he was turning into some sort of monster or worse: a science teacher, but he couldn't find anything wrong with him.

"What's wrong?" He finally asked and Kira reached up and touched where Derrick had hit him.

"Does that hurt?" She asked and he shook his head. He'd gone through worse. "Conner, you're healing, right?"

"Yeah, part of being a Ranger, Kira," he said keeping his voice down.

"I know. So, how are you going to explain it being completely gone by tomorrow?" She asked worriedly. Conner looked at her, she looked at Ethan, and Ethan looked at Conner. They paused only for a moment before racing past Derrick and the others to the car that was nearby, ignoring anything they called out at the trio. Conner had covered his eye by this point so that no one could see the healing that had already taken place. He tossed the keys to Ethan, claiming to Kira that Ethan might actually be able to help rebuild it if he crashed it, and jumped in the front seat while Kira got in back.

Ethan managed to keep to the speed limit beyond his panic, though that was mostly because Conner was begging him not to crash his car and Kira was screaming about not wanting to die in a fiery crash. All of them piled out of the car, Conner and Kira nearly falling over each other to get inside the café where Tommy and Kim were staying until the house and lair was rebuilt. Kim and Tommy both looked up from what they were doing when the three raced into the spare room that Hayley had set up for them. Tommy was up quicker as the two saw their panic while Kim was pulling herself up a little more slowly as she headed over.

"What is it?" Tommy demanded.

"What's wrong?" Kim asked more gently, but with just as much worry. Ethan and Kira both looked at Conner who moved his hand so that they could see the black eye. "What happened?"

"You got in a fight?" Tommy added and Conner held up his hands defensively.

"I didn't mean to! I was using words. He decided to use fist…" Conner started to say when Tommy cut him off.

"That doesn't mean you could get in fight, Conner! Your abilities are part of you!" Tommy reprimanded him. Conner looked over at Ethan and Kira for help and they both came to the defense.

"He didn't…" Kira started.

"That's not why we're here…" Ethan tried to explain. Conner was starting to look just as red as his shirt at Tommy's accusations. He had tried to be responsible, but apparently, that got him nothing here.

"You can't fight!" Tommy argued.

"I wasn't fighting! I never said I was fighting! God, Doctor O! Why don't you ever listen to me?!" Conner demanded.

"Grow up and maybe I will!" Tommy argued. The four of them, without waiting for others to finish, continued to argue until an extremely loud whistle broke them out of it. They all turned to see Kim standing there, hands on her hips, glaring at all four.

"That is enough!" She told them. "We are in the café. You can't make that kind of racket. Now, Conner, tell us what happened."

"You know what? It's no big," Conner muttered. "I can handle this on my own."

Ethan and Kira both looked over at him and exchanged glances. Ethan spoke up first. "Hey, uh, we'll come with you."

"Yeah," Kira added. "We can help."

"Yeah, fine, whatever," Conner said as he headed out the door with the other two on his heels. Kim just sighed and looked at Tommy.

"I don't think you alienated them enough," she quipped. "Now go chase them down and find a reason to blame Kira and Ethan too."

"Kim," he sighed. She didn't yell, she didn't run out of the room, but she did just look at him with her arms folded. He closed his eyes. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"Yes. We'll find out what happened later. For now, we're going to let them blow off some steam," she told him. "And you might as well do that too."

Tommy sighed, but nodded. "You're right."

"So, what made you go off this time?" She asked and, by his body language, he looked a little embarrassed over the whole thing. "I mean, Conner has his moments, but Ethan seems to have a worse temper than him. We don't know what happened and unless it was with Trent, I don't see Conner getting into a fight."

"It's not that…" he muttered and Kim just looked at him. He wrapped his arms around her from behind holding her to him. "You're not the only one we almost lost."

Kim couldn't help but to start laughing. "You went off on him because you were worried?"

"Yes," he grumbled, not wanting to admit it. Kim turned around and tried to stop laughing, though the absurdity of the statement caused her to break out in laughter again after a minute. Though she couldn't see it, she could feel the scowl. "Thanks for making me feel better."

"I'm sorry," she laughed. "I just… wow. Well, more than likely someone will catch up with them. If not Hayley and Billy with the way they ran through the café, then Jason and Trini. Either man will beep me when they're ready to come back."

"I know I'm going to regret this, but how do you know that?" He asked and she grinned.

"Because we set up 'Operation Falconer' just in case something like this happened. You know, over protective or just overly angry so that the kids wouldn't get on the fastest bus out of here," she answered cheerfully. "It was Jason's idea, but I named it. He wanted to call it Dragonslayer, but that would imply death and we didn't like that. Nothing went with tigers and your spirit guide is a falcon, so I thought that 'Falconer' was the perfect name for it."

"Do they have one for you?" He asked in annoyance and she thought for a moment and nodded.

"Yep. 'Operation Mother Hen'. They made it after yours using the Crane since we already used the falcon. The guys named that one, though I believe it was Zack who gave them the idea," she answered. "We were going to tell you, but I thought you finding out this way would be funnier."

"Kim…"

"Yes?" She asked, giving him the sweetest look she could. He groaned and headed away from her as Kim just grinned.

"Conner?" Kira gently pushed. "We know you're mad, but we should still get some help."

Conner just glared at her and she glanced over at Ethan who gently, but firmly grabbed his arm. "Conner, man, we don't want to mess this up. We'll go to Jason and Trini. They're still in town."

Conner paused and then nodded, allowing his friends to drag him off to the hotel where Jason and Trini were staying. Kira knocked politely on the door while Ethan and Conner stood behind her. After a moment, Trini opened the door and did a quick take on the situation before ushering them in. "Jason, the teens are here," she called and Jason came out, looking them over and frowning when he saw Conner.

"Are you alright?" He asked, looking Conner's eye over.

"Yeah," Conner answered, pulling away self-consciously. "Look, Jason, it's healing… and we don't know how to handle it."

Jason nodded and looked at Trini, motioning for her to handle it. "You're better at this, Honey," he reminded her and she nodded.

"You're not going to be overly happy with the solution," she told Conner sympathetically. "But it's the best that we were able to come up with."

Conner looked over at Jason who mouthed 'make-up' and Conner shook his head. "No thanks. I'll, uh, figure something else out."

Conner wasn't sure how it happened, but all he knew was that somehow Ethan and Kira had managed to hold him down while Trini applied it. Jason just winced, obviously having gone through the same thing before. Conner looked in the mirror afterward, looking at the stage makeup that Trini had applied and had to admit that it looked real even if he didn't like how it had gotten there. Trini stood behind him as he looked. "Well?"

"Alright, alright. It looks real enough," he admitted. "So, how long do I have to do this?"

"About one week," Trini answered. "Though over the course of it, we will have to lessen the 'bruise.'"

Conner groaned and both of his friends tried to look sympathetic though they both looked like they were trying not to laugh at his fit. Jason set a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "It could be worse and we've all been through it. I have, Rocky has, Tommy has… and it always seems like it's harder for the Reds."

Conner just nodded. "Yeah, well, not the worse part of my day, I guess," he muttered. Jason motioned for him to sit down. While he didn't tell them to, both Ethan and Kira did as well on opposite sides of Conner while Jason sat in front of him.

"What happened?" Jason asked. His fiancé sat down next to him as Conner's face darkened a little.

"He didn't listen to me," Conner answered. Jason didn't need to ask who as he put his head in hand. He glanced at Trini who nodded and picked up her cell-phone. Conner looked confused at it and Jason smiled.

"She's doing some clean up," he said with a grin, but it quickly turned serious again after a moment. "Look, I know he's an idiot sometimes, you've heard the stories, but it's his way of caring. He's scared."

Of all the things Conner had expected to hear, that was not one of them. "He's what?"

"Scared. Of losing you," Jason answered calmly. "I'm sure he's worried about Kim as well, but none of us are as worried about each other anymore. When the house collapsed, he wasn't there. Kim was, but she's not active right now. You are, but there was only one of you with less experience. So, he's feeling guilty and scared that next time you might not be so lucky."

"So… how come you're not worried about it?" Conner asked. Jason shrugged.

"You can handle it," he answered. You're all capable," he told him. "And it's not that he doesn't think you're capable, but he worries and when he's worried, sometimes he gets a little angry and the rest of us need to rein him in."

Kira glanced over at Trini. "Is that what she's doing?"

Jason nodded. "Close enough anyway. With everything that's been going on, do you think you can forgive and forget, Conner? If he apologizes?"

"If he apologizes," Conner agreed, relaxing a bit. Jason pulled out his cell-phone and handed it to Conner who took it and dialed the number. Trini was hanging up at about the same time. He waited and heard Tommy's voice on the other end. "Doctor O?"

"Conner, look I…" Tommy started, but Conner cut him off, deciding he didn't really need it to be said.

"Yeah, I know. No worries."

"So, Doctor O and Jason are doing what?" Kira asked. Ethan was sitting on the couch, computer in front of him, but he too was paying attention to their excited leader.

"Taking me out in the woods. Just the three of us, a Red trip," he answered as he downed his smoothie. "It's going to be great."

"Do you even like the woods?" Kira asked and Conner shrugged.

"Does it matter?" He asked. "I get to go with them!"

"Give it up, Kira," Ethan suggested. "He's been at it for about an hour now."

"Look who's talking. How many times did I have to hear about how Billy asked you to come with?" Conner teased and then paused. "We all tend to get that way, don't we?"

"Yeah. I think it's the hero worship thing," Kira answered. "Kim and Trini promised to do the same with me. Kim and I are going to work on music, but in a relaxed way and Trini is going to show me some moves that you guys don't know."

"They seem to enjoy it," Ethan said with a shrug. "I mean, Billy talks to me without dumbing anything down and he seemed happy that I was keeping up."

"Yeah. Kinda makes you feel for Zack though. I mean, Doctor O is the black one, so who does he impart words of wisdom on?" Kira asked. Conner thought for a moment and shrugged.

"All of us? I mean, that's what he did anyway," Conner decided. "So, we exchange stories when we get back, right?"

Ethan nodded. "Definitely."

Kira agreed as well, but glanced at the door. "Well, Jason and Doctor O are here. Have a good time, Conner," she said, kissing his cheek. He grinned at her.

"You too," he told her and looked at Ethan. "And you, though how you can have fun like that…"

"Like kicking a ball around or traipsing around in the woods is more fun?" Ethan asked, but both boys grinned at each other before Conner ran off. "Maybe they'll get him to go swimming."

"And maybe Trent will turn good in five minutes," Kira answered sardonically. Ethan just laughed.

They were finally sitting down, relaxing from the hike that they'd gone on. Conner and Jason had both been talking while Tommy joined in every once in a while. Jason had informed their young companion not to take it personally since Tommy mostly kept to himself from everyone. Conner glanced up from the food he was eating. "So, what are we really doing up here?"

Jason looked a little surprised while Tommy just laughed. "Caught us, Conner?"

"Yeah. Not that I'm not enjoying myself, but you guys tend to have a reason for doing stuff," he explained.

Jason looked at Tommy who looked right back at his friend. Shrugging, Jason took the lead. "It's about Kira."

"What about Kira?" Conner asked anxiously. "She's okay, right?"

"She's fine," Jason assured him. "We noticed the kiss and, well, if you're not already, then you two will probably end up in a relationship."

Conner's face paled. He began to hope feverishly that they weren't about to give him a sex talk. He'd already clumsily gone through that with his father and he didn't want to do it again. He glanced over at Tommy who noticed his panic and shook his head quickly. "We don't want to talk to you about that. God, I never want to have that talk with anyone. No, we just know how different it is to date as a Ranger."

"Different?" Conner asked. "How different can it be? I mean, obviously dating a non-Ranger is different now, but at least with another Ranger, there isn't that secret."

"You're right," Jason agreed. "Dating someone who isn't a Ranger is hard as hell because you can't explain it all to them and they begin to feel cheated. I've been there. But no matter how hard it got for me, I still think Tommy had it worse."

"Doctor O?" Conner asked in confusion. "Why?"

Tommy took a breath and after a few seconds, stood up. "Two reasons. The first is that there is worry from both sides. Look at how Kim and I get. We've had experience, but I've dated two Rangers and it doesn't get easier. The closer you get, the more you're going to want to protect her. The more she's going to worry about you. To make matters worse, you might accidentally start to alienate Ethan by doing that. Just try to remember that she is a Ranger too and she agreed to it. Make sure that Ethan feels included. And whatever you do, don't follow my example on this one."

"He's terrible," Jason agreed. "Kim could whimper or break a nail and he was off like a shot to save her."

"Exaggerating, Jason, but pretty close," Tommy reluctantly admitted. "The second is that eventually we may find a way to release you from the gem. If one of you quits, it gets harder. Part of why Kim and I broke up was because of the change. She left, I didn't. Just try to make it work and if it doesn't, make sure you break up on good terms."

"So, you couldn't have explained this back at Reefside?" Conner asked, folding his arms.

"We thought you might like the trip," Jason answered, grinning. "Male bonding."

"Especially since you guys tend to like to do 'Older color, younger color' stuff and we enjoy doing it," Tommy added. "Now come on! We still have more ground to cover."

"So, like this?" Kira asked as she tried to do what Trini had just done.

"Not quite. Your hands aren't positioned correctly," Trini told her. "Like this."

Kira watched as Trini performed the move again slowly and tried to take in everything that she'd done. Kim was watching from nearby, resting on the sand while trying to make sure that none of the sand got on the paper they'd been writing on. Both Kira and Kim's guitars were in their cases next to the former pink Ranger. Kira tried again and looked at Trini. The large smile proved to Kira she'd done it right this time.

"Good job, Kira," Trini told her. Kira grinned.

"Yay! She got it! Food now," Kim said and Trini laughed.

"Am I going to have to start to call you 'Rocky', Kim? Besides, you could have started without us," Trini teased. Kim scowled.

"And feel like a pig? No thank you," Kim snorted as they joined her at the blanket. Kim had already set the food out so that they could grab what they wanted. Two seconds after they sat down, she began to grab various items. "So, Kira. We wanted to talk to you about something."

"Okay," Kira answered. "What is it?"

"We noticed you and Conner kissing," Kim said bluntly, making herself a sandwich. "So, we figured we talked to you about the difference between Ranger dating and regular dating before it got too far and one of you ends up writing a note to break up that hurts the other and he ends up crying for two weeks."

"She's blunt today," Trini mentioned and Kira laughed. "Still, she's right."

"So, Conner is talking to Doctor O and Jason. What about Ethan? Just a 'hide our intentions' sort of a thing?" Kira asked and Trini shook her head.

"No. Any romantic involvements affect not only Conner and you, but Ethan as well. He may feel left out if you aren't careful, but he also needs to be able to set you or Conner straight if something goes wrong with the other. Aisha did it with Kim, but Tommy never bonded to anyone like he did Jason. Billy tried, but…"

"Never worked?" Kira offered and Trini nodded.

"Exactly. So, after a while, he became dependent on saving Kim just as Kim got dependent on him saving her. She was capable, but there was a certain need for him to be the White Knight," Trini explained. "Jason could have stopped it, but Billy wasn't sure how to address it. They were friends, good friends, but it wasn't the same."

"So, basically, I should listen to Ethan when he tells me I'm acting stupid," Kira said and shrugged. "Okay, fair enough. Ethan usually knows what he's talking about. But, Kim and Doctor O had two different people."

"There's only three of you," Kim answered. "So, the three of you are closer because of it. You're each others best friends. Jason was like my big brother, but I didn't want to talk to him about things like that. Aisha and Tommy were friends, but he wouldn't feel comfortable talking to her. The three of you are close and I don't think it would bother you as much to talk to each other."

"Okay," Kira answered. "Fair enough. Anything else?"

Trini looked at Kim who looked right back at her. Kim sighed. "Women are often the ones who keep the team together. Pinks are normally the heart and Yellows play the mediator. In a way, you're both."

"So, don't let the team go to pieces just 'cause Conner and I date? No problem," Kira answered. Both women grinned at her. Kim just nodded.

"I didn't think it would be a problem," Kim answered. "Food now, music next!"

"You're doing it wrong," Hayley mentioned as Billy worked. The former blue Ranger glanced up over the computer at her with a scowl.

"I most certainly am not," he answered. "I am merely improving your work."

"If improving means making things worse remind me not to improve anything," Hayley quipped, rolling her eyes. "Besides, who has been on Earth for a longer period of time? Oh right. Me."

"You are still incorrect," Billy answered. "I cannot help it if you are wrong."

"Guys?" Ethan called out as they argued. "Guys? Nevermind. I got it."

The youngest member quickly used the knowledge that he had and worked to make the computer function. With that, they were back in business. Billy glanced over and saw it working. He blinked a few times and glanced at Hayley who shrugged. "Ethan… what?"

"I fixed it," he answered. "What are we working on now?"

Both of the adults looked at each other and laughed, their anger gone. Billy shrugged. "That is all of the technology for Tommy. We could work on the merging of Trini and my work."

Hayley nodded. "Sounds like fun. You in, Ethan?"

"Yep. You might need me," he said arrogantly and paused. "Okay, seriously, why are we all arrogant about this stuff?"

Billy sighed. "I believe it has to do with the lack of true geniuses. Normally, we are apart from others so we're the most intelligent in a group. Unfortunately, it tends to make us more egotistical due to our abilities later."

"Got it," Ethan answered. "So, you mentioned earlier you wanted to talk to me about something? It's probably a good place to take a break for it, right?"

Hayley watched as Billy tried to figure out exactly how to do this and rolled her eyes. "Conner and Kira. They're together. We need you to make sure that they don't screw up."

Ethan paused and then nodded. "Make sure they don't act like a younger version of our mentors? No problem. That it?"

Billy nodded, though tentatively, and Hayley smiled. "That's it!"

"Cool. Let's get to work on the new stuff," he said, picking up some of what Billy had set down for them to look at. Hayley glanced over at Billy.

"You still with us?" She asked and he snapped himself out of it, glaring at the woman.

"Affirmative."

Before too long, they had all joined up at the beach to finish off the day and just relax. Hayley and Billy were both still working on something or another, though Ethan had long abandoned them. Trini and Jason were both relaxing next to each other in the sand. Billy had managed to find a way to cloak Tommy so that he was invisible for the moment by using the crystal so that he was unseen as he splashed in the water along with Kim and two of his students. With the racket and splashing, no one really would notice that some of the water seemed to stop in the air or come up out of the water on its own.

Kim laughed as the two worked together to knock down their invisible teacher who dragged them down with him. Kira squealed as Ethan knocked her down next and headed after Kim who was splashing at the teen to keep him away from her. Conner was sitting on the beach, just laughing and watching as the others messed around.

"You're going to miss out on all of it," Jason warned him and Conner shrugged.

"I just think I'll watch from here," he answered, trying to put as much bravado as he could into the statement. "You know, make sure that nothing goes wrong."

"It's alright to be afraid, Conner," Trini told him softly. "We all get a little scared sometimes."

Conner just kept watching. "I'm not scared."

Trini sighed and went back to watching as well knowing she wasn't going to be able to convince him right now. Jason's eyes flickered away from the trio when he caught sight of something in his peripheral vision. He stood up and Trini quickly followed her husband's example. Conner got to his feet just as quickly as the rest of the people enjoying the day ran off in various directions as blind terror took over. The others were on guard by this point as well, which was helpful considering that Zeltrax and Elsa made their appearance shortly afterward.

Jason and Trini stood ready together, while Conner had morphed and stood in front. Kim, Tommy, and the two other Rangers came barreling out of the water to help while Billy stood up in front of Hayley, ready to go if the two got past the others. The female genius eagerly let him do it without complaint since she didn't have any experience and living tended to be more important than her ego. The Tyrannodrones followed their commanders in and soon there was only a huge, fighting mess.

Kira looked up at Ethan. "Hey! You seen Trent? I would have guessed he'd be around here somewhere!"

"Nope!" Ethan said. "Conner, you see Trent?"

"No… wait! Yeah. Can you guys hold these guys off?" The red Ranger requested, seeing the white Ranger talking further off to what he was guessing was a child. He pushed away from the drones.

"Yeah," Ethan answered, but Conner was already gone.

Dante kicked the sand, his little arms folded. This was the third time in a row that Mommy had forgotten him during a monster attack. Other mommies grabbed their kids, but not his. She ran the other way before he even knew something was wrong. He looked off to make sure that the monsters were far away from him and threw himself down in the sand. His teacher had told him that if he got lost he should stay in one place so that someone could find him and the five-year-old tended to listen to his teacher.

"Hey you. You lost?" Dante looked up to see a white helmet glancing down at him. Dante looked at it for a minute before standing up. The white helmet cocked to the side. "You okay?"

"You're a Power Ranger," Dante informed him. The white Ranger took a few steps back before nodding.

"That's right. I am," he answered. "Where's your Mommy?"

Dante thought for a moment. He wasn't supposed to talk to strangers, but Power Rangers were good. They helped people and made sure they didn't get hurt. Miss Rice said that you should look for a police officer when you were lost, but he didn't see any around and Power Rangers were like police officers because they stopped bad guys. Making the decision, he looked up again. "I'm not sure. Can you help me find her?"

"Sure," the white Ranger said and took the boy's hand. They didn't get too far before a red color obstructed his view. He glanced up and saw the red Ranger, arms crossed, looking at the white Ranger. The white Ranger stayed calm. "Hello, red Ranger."

"White Ranger," the other said, less than pleased. Unlike the white Ranger, the red one had a younger voice though it was definitely not happy. Dante looked a little confused at that. Was he mad that the white Ranger was helping him? "What are you doing?"

"Helping me find my mommy!" Dante supplied helpfully.

"Just being a good citizen," the white Ranger added. The red one looked down at Dante. He didn't say anything at first, but Dante had the feeling that he wasn't happy about something.

"I know it's a lot to ask, but can you go stand over there. By the tree? It's a little dangerous to find your mom right now," the red Ranger asked. He wasn't begging, but Dante recognized different tones and his sounded worried. The white Ranger firmly kept hold of Dante who was starting to get nervous as the Ranger wasn't acting quite right. Why would the Rangers be fighting and what was wrong with waiting? He often waited. The red Ranger looked back up at the white one. "Let him go."

"You don't want me to do that," the white Ranger answered and Dante heard the menace start to creep in at this point. He struggled against the grip, but the white Ranger didn't let go.

"Now!" The red Ranger demanded. The white one shrugged.

"If you insist," he chuckled. Dante screamed as he was thrown into the water. He kicked and splashed, but his legs couldn't touch the bottom. Then he went under.

Conner yelled along with the child as Trent had picked the child up and literally thrown him in the water which had 'let him go'. He glanced back at the white Ranger who was laughing. "I told you. You didn't want me to do that."

Conner wasn't listening to Trent at this point. He raced to the edge of the water and stopped, backing up a bit. He didn't know how to swim, he was afraid of the water, and he wasn't sure if he could physically save the kid. It was only for a moment before he knew he had to try. He took a breath and walked in through the water, hoping that the kid wasn't too far out. That's when the boy had gone under. Conner hurried as fast as he could through the water and held his breath when he had to look under for the child, yet no water came in due to the helmet

He was guessing that he had one more gulp of air before he was out since no more oxygen was able to get in. Not that it mattered since the water wasn't too deep for him. He looked around and found the kid, grabbing him and standing back up. He made his way to the shore against the water, holding the child firmly so he didn't drop him. He listened and heard the kid cough a bit, which calmed Conner down. That meant that he could breathe at the very least. He set the kid down and looked in Trent's direction. "You!"

"We've been through this… twice now? Who always wins?" Trent asked lazily and Conner shrugged.

"Don't care. You son of a… seabiscuit," Conner said, changing the final word quickly since the kid was nearby. "A kid?!"

"Well, you were supposed to drown, but I didn't throw him far enough. Should I try again?" Trent asked calmly. He headed toward the kid, but Conner quickly got in the way. "Well, then."

Trent pushed at Conner and they both fell past the kid and into the water. Conner kicked Trent away and tried to get back to shore, but the white Ranger would have none of it. Trent grabbed his leg and dragged him deeper into the water where Conner couldn't touch the bottom any more. He panicked.

Trent kicked away from him at that point and headed back to shore to deal with the little brat, but the kid was missing. He glanced back to see Conner struggling and shrugged. He'd gotten rid of the red Ranger. He headed off leaving the rest of the fight in Zeltrax's hands.

Dante watched in terror as the white Ranger dragged the red one with him. He wasn't sure why the red Ranger couldn't swim at first, but on The Land Before Time cartoon that he really liked, they'd gotten rid of the Tyrannosaurus by drowning him because he couldn't swim. The red Ranger had a Tyrannosaurus Rex, so maybe that's why he couldn't swim either. Dante raced over to where the others where and looked between them. There were lots of adults, but most of them were busy and the other Rangers were really busy. He looked over and saw a lady standing away from it, but still watching. He raced over to her and pulled on her shirt. "Excuse me!"

The woman looked down at him and looked shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"My mommy left me. The red Ranger is drowning," he informed her. The woman's eyes raced over to where the red Ranger was losing the battle of staying afloat and she gasped.

"Oh god," she whispered. She raced off, leaving Dante behind, though he followed her to the edge, and she leapt into the water, dragging Conner back. The red Ranger did his best not to fight against her and after he calmed down a bit, he looked nearly like dead weight. She dragged him to the beach and laid him down. "Red Ranger? Are you alright?"

"H-Hayley?" He asked, coughing a bit and quickly sat up before falling back over. "The kid!"

The woman, Hayley, looked over at Dante before looking back at the red Ranger. "He's fine. He came and got me."

Dante's eyes opened wide at Hayley. "You know the red Ranger?"

Hayley looked panicked for just a second. He knew what panicked looked like because his mommy usually looked panicked when things like this happened and she went running the other way. The red Ranger put his hand on Hayley's shoulder. "I've saved her before."

She nodded in agreement but Dante frowned. If he'd saved her before, then why did she look so worried? He shrugged it off. "'Kay."

The red Ranger looked at Hayley. "Can you…?"

"I got him. Go." The red Ranger quickly obeyed.

Hayley managed to keep the child's mind off of the fight while they finished it up. The former Rangers had wisely stayed away from Hayley and split off it hide themselves as well so that the kid didn't recognize any of them. It was bad enough he recognized Hayley, but at least she was surrounded by people due to the café. "So, what's your name?"

"Dante Perron," the child answered. "And my phone number is 555-4332. Mommy won't be there yet."

"Does this happen often?" Hayley asked incredulously and Dante shrugged.

"She gets scared. Lots of people get scared," he answered, looking at the fight. "I thought the robot dinosaurs would be bigger."

Hayley glanced over, trying to keep up with the child's subject change. "They're huge."

"Yeah, but I still thought they'd be bigger. Who's winning? The good guys or the bad guys?"

"The good guys. See?" Hayley answered, pointing it out. "You can still make out part of the dinosaurs."

"Oh."

"Aren't you happy about that?" Hayley asked and the boy nodded.

"Yeah. I just wish they'd stay dinosaurs longer. Do you think that the red Ranger would let me play in the big Tyrannosaurus?" Dante asked hopefully.

Yes. He'd think it was great. "No."

"Why not?" Dante asked.

"Because it's dangerous. Look, the fight's over," Hayley answered. "So, how about we try to find your mom?"

"Okay," Dante said. Hayley had to hand it to the kid. He was definitely easygoing. She was relieved when she found his mother and handed the kid off promising to let the red Ranger know that he said thank you. She shook her head and reminded herself to keep an eye on the child from now on.

The others were picking up everything when she got back. Conner raced over to her, no longer powered up. He glanced around to see that the kid wasn't with her. "Hayley! Where's the kid?"

"Your littlest fan? Back with his mother," Hayley answered. "He thinks the Zords should have been bigger."

"I agree," Conner said happily and looked a little disappointed. "I didn't really get to thank him for helping me out."

"Conner, I think he knew," Hayley said calmly. "Besides, you saved him."

"Yeah. But that's my job," he reminded her. Hayley shook her head and walked away back toward the others. Kira and Ethan came over and stood beside him.

"You saved a kid," Kira told him and he nodded.

"You got in water too," Ethan added. He nodded again. "We're proud of you."

"Thanks, guys," he said sincerely as they headed off. "Hey Doctor O? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Tommy hung back and looked at him. Conner looked a little uncomfortable, but he managed to look at his mentor. "I wanted to say I'm sorry."

Tommy looked a little surprised at that. "For what?"

"Getting so angry. I think I know why you were so freaked out now," Conner answered. "It sucks when there's a problem and you can't solve it easily."

"Yeah. It's worse when you get there too late," Tommy agreed.

"That's what I was thinking about. You thought you did get there too late for Kim and me. Today, I was so freaked that kid was going to die. Trent knew what he was doing. He knew how to hurt me and that means he knows how to hurt all of us," Conner said solemnly. Tommy nodded.

"Being an adult doesn't mean you don't get scared. It means that you work past it which you did today. Twice. You're growing up, Conner."

"So are you, Doctor O."

"Conner!"

Author's Note:

I am so sorry this is so late. I was gone all weekend helping my friends out and spent the rest of this week burned to a crisp so I didn't feel much like moving or typing. My schedule is a little off now, so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out. Probably by next week end, but possibly before that. Sorry, guys!

I wanted to address Conner's fear of swimming and water without him getting completely better from it. So, this was my answer to it. I tried to figure out a way to get him in there using characters I already had, but they all knew how to swim so I needed to create a character who couldn't. Dante popped into my mind after that.

I also wanted to address Tommy's attitude toward Conner since he seems to be hard on him. I wanted Conner to understand it, even if it was just a bit. I think I accomplished that.

The conversations between the elder Rangers and the younger worked to make sure that there wasn't another Kim/Tommy drama and I didn't want them ignoring Ethan either. So, the chapter served to make sure that it didn't go in those directions.

The problem with Derrick will be readdressed, by the way. It just didn't happen in this chapter.

Thank you again for all of your reviews during this story so far. I appreciate it so much.