Chapter Twenty-five

Strange Relations

There was a mad scramble to get ready in the morning. Billy awoke the guys a little before eight, and Jason woke the girls while Tommy roused Conner, Ethan and Trent. Despite the fact that they had three bathrooms and three bedrooms between them, it was difficult to get everyone out of the door in time; they barely had time to snag donuts from the continental breakfast downstairs before rushing to Zack and Tommy's cars.

They made it to Billy's old house by five minutes to ten, but only because Zack was following Tommy and Tommy was using his skills as a former race car driver to make it there in time. The ten ex-Rangers stumbled shakily from the two cars and they all followed a nervous Billy up onto the porch (well, as many of them would fit on the porch).

Mr. Cranston flung open the door the moment Billy pushed the doorbell. "Billy! Oh, it's so good to see you, son!" he exclaimed, giving Billy a warm hug before turning to Trini. "And little Trini, look at you, all grown up… and Jason, married, so I hear… good grief, Tommy, you look so different without all that hair! Zack, good to see you again… and little Kimberly, still as well-dressed as ever… and Rocky…" Conner, who as a tall brunette in a red T-shirt was presumed to be Rocky, hugged Mr. Cranston back without bothering to correct him, and Mr. Cranston turned to Trent with open arms. "And …" He paused, slightly confused. "Wait a second," he said, squinting at Trent. "You're not Adam."

"They're the friends of Tommy's I told you about, Dad," Billy said, shooting Trent and Conner an apologetic look. "That's Trent, and that's Kira. Ethan's the one in blue, and the one in red is Conner. Not Rocky."

"Oh! Terribly sorry."

Conner shrugged. "No prob."

"Come on in," Mr. Cranston said, gesturing towards the front door; by now he'd moved off onto the lawn. "I've made lemonade. Wouldn't drink it, if I was you—anyone want a soda or coffee?"

Thankfully, Billy's father had two L-shaped couches, so they were all able to sit down, though it was a close thing and they were pretty squished. Billy's father sat across from Billy, next to Trini, after retrieving their drinks. "So what brings you back into town, son?" he asked.

"Oh, no real reason in particular," Billy said uncomfortably. "I was just way past due for a visit."

"And you all came back into town at the same time?" Mr. Cranston asked, nodding at Tommy, Kimberly and Zack.

"Well… once we heard Billy was coming…" Kimberly said, tucking her hair behind her ear to give herself an excuse to look down, away from Mr. Cranston's shrewd gaze.

"You see," Trini spoke up quickly, "I told Tommy about Power Rangers Day this Saturday, and he has summer vacation, and I told Billy that Tommy was coming into town, and Zack had some time off too…"

"I see. And how do you four know Tommy?" Mr. Cranston asked the teenagers.

In the hotel the night before, Trini had brought up the subject of explaining the Dino Rangers' relationship to Tommy, and the group had worked out an feasible cover story—Tommy was friends with Trent's father, and the plan was for both Tommy and Anton to come, along with Trent's girlfriend and two of their friends… but Anton had been forced to cancel at the last minute. It was very plausible, much more so than saying they were Tommy's science students and had somehow become close enough to him to hang out regularly. Unfortunately, they'd forgotten to tell the Dino Rangers the plan.

"He's our science teacher," Conner said promptly.

"Your… science teacher."

"Yep. Well, ex-science teacher, really; we just graduated. Anyway, we really wanted to go to Power Rangers Day and he finally agreed to take us. It's gonna be so awesome to see the original Rangers!" Conner said, for all the world as though he hadn't spent the past several days hanging out with the original Rangers.

"Pinch him for me," Kira hissed at Ethan. She couldn't reach him without it being conspicuous.

"What?" Ethan whispered back, having missed what she'd said. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"They're my best students," Tommy said, shifting uncomfortably. "And I've been teaching them martial arts, too."

"I see," Mr. Cranston said, though he still looked very suspicious. "And you're living in Reefside, I hear?" Billy had been keeping his father up to date on his friends' lives, not only because Mr. Cranston had known them well but because it filled the gaps in the conversation when Billy couldn't talk about his job, where he lived, or his alien girlfriend. Unfortunately, it looked rather bad that Tommy, who'd moved to Angel Grove right when the Green Ranger showed up and stayed until right before the Rangers disappeared, now lived in another Power Ranger city.

"Um, yeah. Just started teaching last September. My friend runs a café there, and she knew the superintendent and was able to get me a job interview."

"That's great. I hear Reefside's got Power Rangers, too?"

"Um, yeah. Five of them. From what I understand, they beat the evil villain, though. No one's seen them in weeks."

"Hmm. Were they as incredible as Angel Grove's Power Rangers?"

Tommy couldn't resist. "Nope. Not even half as cool." He grinned at the wounded looks on Conner, Kira, Ethan and Trent's faces as they fought with themselves not to respond.

"So you came back for Power Rangers Day, specifically?" Mr. Cranston asked.

"No, no, that's just why the gang tagged along," Tommy said hastily, gesturing vaguely at Conner, Kira, Ethan and Trent in a somewhat threatening manner. "I told them about it and they wouldn't leave me alone."

"I see. Five Power Rangers in Reefside, did you say?"

Tommy struggled not to make a frightened noise in his throat. It was much easier to come up with Ranger-business-related excuses when he knew that he was about to run off into the sunset and fight something, thus ending the conversation as quickly as possible. Mr. Cranston's plane wasn't leaving for a good long while.

"Yeah, there were five," Trini said casually. "Tommy told us a bit about them, but they were only there for a year, not—what was it here? Five?"

"Something like that," Jason said uncomfortably.

There was a long pause, and then finally Mr. Cranston sighed and looked Billy straight in the eye. "You want to tell me what's really going on, son?"

"What?" Billy asked, feeling the beginnings of panic fill him. "What do you mean?"

"You know, I've been a college professor for a very long time now. But before that, as I'm sure you remember, I taught high school. And I always said you got much better interaction between students and teachers in college. I've had coffee with my students and discussions with my students and every time I do I've thought to myself, 'You just can't do this with high school kids.' Not only do teens put less effort into their academics in high school, but the line between student and instructor is far more defined. Even though I've met with students after class, I've never had one in my home, much less traveled with four of them."

"Oh, Mr. Cranston, that's not nearly as weird as you're thinking," Zack said quickly.

"Yeah, um, Tommy's friends with Trent's father, Anton Mercer," Trini added, "and Mercer was going to come and bring along the kids but then he had to cancel and Tommy figured that—"

"Trini, please," Mr. Cranston interrupted sternly, though his expression was gentle. "I'd rather hear it from my son. He, unlike you, is a terrible liar."

"Excuse me?" Trini spluttered, horrified to hear Mr. Cranston, whom she'd always adored, refer to her as a liar.

"Do you honestly think it didn't escape my attention that it was always you who explained everything away?" Mr. Cranston asked with a knowing smile. "When Billy started coming home bruised, bloody on occasion, often late? You always made some excuse for him, because on the rare occasions that he dropped by alone, I could tell he was lying about where he'd been. You were the one who explained why he kept running off at odd moments, why he was suddenly becoming so athletic, why he would sometimes vanish for hours, even days, without so much as leaving a note."

"I wasn't making—"

"Oh, yes, you were. I'm not sure if that hogwash worked on your parents, but it didn't work on me. Now Billy can't say a thing about his job, or where he lives, or just about anything to do with his life, and government employee or not, he should be able to. Just about every government worker could at least talk about their neighbors and their coworkers, and if he were that top secret, he should at least have a few false things to tell me. Now all I get is 'Washington's fine, Dad, but I can't talk about it.'" Mr. Cranston looked at Billy sadly. "You honestly didn't expect me to take your coming back as a coincidence, did you, son?"

Billy sighed. "I was hoping you would."

"For crying out loud, Billy, you can tell me anything, you know that. So tell me."

"It's not just about me, Dad. It's… it's complicated. It's…"

"It's you're back in town for Power Rangers Day and Tommy lives in Reefside."

There was a sudden, oppressive silence. Trini looked ready to cry. Billy felt terrible. It wasn't just his secret to tell; it was the team's secret.

"Keep your identity secret. No one must know you are a Power Ranger."

Zordon's words. Three rules. Obey them, or risk losing the protection of the power.

"You already know, don't you," Jason said to Mr. Cranston quietly. "You've known all along."

Mr. Cranston smiled. "You tell me."

Billy swallowed. "I don't work for the government. At least, not the United States government."

Mr. Cranston's eyebrows shot up, apparently not expecting this. "What?"

"Dude, you're a Russian spy?" Conner asked Billy incredulously.

Billy ignored him. "I live on an alien planet called 'Aquitar.' I have become a renowned scientist and diplomat, handling numerous problems with the planets' technology and acting as a delegate to other planets, primarily the ones who threaten war."

"What?" Mr. Cranston repeated.

"That time, right after I graduated, when I asked if I could go on vacation for a few days?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with any—"

"I was recruited by Cestro, the Blue Aquitian Power Ranger, to help build a device to fight off a warring race. I've been living there all this time, and it's difficult to travel between planets. That's why I haven't told you anything."

Mr. Cranston stared at him, stunned. "Are you… are you serious?"

Billy nodded. "I've made a life for myself there. I'm respected, well-known, famous even. I'm also involved with a very wonderful Aquitian woman named Cestria."

"You're dating an alien?" his father repeated loudly.

"Came as a bit of a shock to me, too," Trini said, patting Mr. Cranston on the shoulder.

"But… but… why are you back now?" Mr. Cranston asked.

Billy sighed. "It was just a good time to come back. I had a bit of free time. Needed a vacation. And the teleportation system is much safer than it used to be. It used to be pretty dangerous, which was the main reason I didn't come back. That, and I don't have any money or clothing common to Earth. I've been staying with Jason and Trini. My friends have been lending me their clothes and paying for my meals."

Billy stopped, waiting for it to all take effect. Mr. Cranston could see that Billy was serious, but it isn't easy to accept that your son is living on another planet.

"Wait, hang on. You've been calling me, you couldn't have done that if you weren't on Earth…"

"There's a communication device in our basement that Trini connected to some sort of ghost cell phone," Jason added. "She's been fielding your calls for the past—what is it now? Seven, eight years?"

Mr. Cranston looked at him sharply. Billy realized with a sinking feeling that while he'd almost convinced his father that Aquitar, not Power Rangers, was behind his odd behavior, any points he might have scored with his father were about to be taken away. "He told you?" Mr. Cranston demanded. "Why tell you, if it's supposed to be some sort of big secret?"

"I was there when Billy left," Jason said. "Me and Tommy were. Right before he officially moved out, Tommy and I told you we were taking Billy hiking in the mountains because he'd seemed a little down lately. In all actuality, he'd gotten sick and the Aquitians had taken him to their planet to help him. While he was being treated, he decided to stay."

Mr. Cranston stared at Jason for a moment, then at Tommy, then Trini, before finally turning to stare at Billy. Billy prayed that his father would accept this explanation, this half-truth, without delving further. His father had always believed in aliens; with any luck, Mr. Cranston would simply demand that Billy tell him all about Aquitar and leave it at that.

"Do you remember," he asked Billy slowly, "back before your mother died, when she used to run the observatory?"

"Yeah, of course," Billy replied cautiously, not sure where his father was going with this.

"We used to talk about aliens all the time. You always said you hoped you got to meet one some day, and I agreed." Mr. Cranston shook his head. "Do you really expect me to believe that you wouldn't tell me when you did?"

"I'm telling the truth, Dad."

"Oh, I know you are. I don't doubt for a second that in a world with Power Rangers and monsters and villains like Rita Repulsa, there are aliens. I also don't doubt that you've met them. But you've yet to explain why. You've yet to explain why you didn't tell me. You've yet to explain to me why Tommy's traveling with his students from Reefside. You've yet to explain what you're doing here now."

Billy opened his mouth to tell him that Tommy was friends with Trent's father, that he'd just heard Tommy was coming into town and decided to come back as well, that he was just intrigued by the thought of an alien civilization. But there was only one reason why he wouldn't tell his father where he was going—because his involvement with Aquitar was directly linked to his involvement with the Power Rangers.

Suddenly, Billy just couldn't do it. He had lied to his father enough, lost too much time with his father. His father was getting old, missing Billy terribly, and he already knew. Billy couldn't lie to him again. And suddenly, Billy knew Zordon would understand.

"It's simple, really," Billy said. "I'm a Power Ranger."

The silence that filled the room seemed to echo, his final words etching horror and panic on his friends' faces as his father simply stared at him. Then—

"Ha, ha, ha!" Kimberly fairly screamed. "That's a good one, Billy."

"He's just kidding," Zack added. "Billy's not a Power Ranger. He would have told us."

"Give it up, guys," Trini muttered, looking a tad miserable. "He knows. He always knew." She laughed hollowly. "He always did look at me funny when I came up with an excuse for Billy."

Mr. Cranston smiled. "It really was quite a tip-off when Billy magically became athletic. He could barely walk in a straight line before the Power Rangers showed up. Afterwards, he was suddenly on the football team."

"I'm sorry, Dad," Billy said. "We agreed not to tell anyone, and moving to an alien planet was part of being a Ranger, so I had to keep that quiet, too, and—"

"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" Kira interrupted worriedly.

Mr. Cranston looked incredibly startled. "Tell anyone? Me? Good heavens, no! You have no idea how serious this town takes its Power Rangers. The reporters of Angel Grove would be begging Billy for interviews as soon as they figured out how to make phone calls to this—what did you call it? Aquitar?" He leaned towards the Dino Rangers conspiratorially. "You know, when Billy was a teenager, people somehow got it into their heads that he was the Red Ranger. Wouldn't leave him alone for weeks. He about had a nervous breakdown."

The ten Rangers shot each other looks of suppressed mirth.

"Anyway," Mr. Cranston said, turning back to Billy, an eager expression on his face, "which one were you, son? Blue?"

"Yes," Billy said. He looked down at his clothes. "I guess it's a tad obvious."

"Well, not really, no. I began to notice that you all never went very long without wearing certain colors, but the trouble was plenty of people wear one of those six colors, and you all wore a lot of other colors. Particularly Tommy."

"Uh," Tommy said, shifting uncomfortably.

Jason laughed. "Yeah, Tommy was definitely the best at that."

"But when you all left town—Rocky, Adam, Aisha…"

"Yeah, they took over. And Kat took over for Kim," Billy said. "And Tanya for Aisha."

"And Justin for Rocky, and T.J. for me, and Ashley for Tanya, and Cassie for Kat, and Carlos for Adam," Tommy finished.

"I was so confused when those four were revealed to be the Rangers," Mr. Cranston said, shaking his head. Ever since their return to Earth, and the world-famous battle involving the citizens of Angel Grove against Divatox's army, T.J., Cassie, Carlos, Ashley, Zhane and Andros had been something of celebrities. T.J. had particularly relished the fame; he'd given dozens of interviews and even written a book about his battles as a Ranger (of course, the other Rangers claimed the book was embellished). They had, of course, never released the names of Tommy, Rocky, Adam, Kat, Tanya and Justin, though they admitted that they weren't the original Rangers.

"Do you think our parents figured it out, too?" Zack wondered aloud. "If Billy's dad…"

"I don't think so," Mr. Cranston said. "Personally, I think Billy was probably the most obvious. His sudden athleticism, determinedly enrolling in Jason's fighting classes when he'd never shown much interest, the increase of explosions in the garage…"

"And Billy was absent more than the rest of us," Trini added. "He was in the Command Center helping out more."

"If my parents noticed anything odd, they probably just chalked it up to the divorce," Kimberly said thoughtfully.

"We were busy even without Ranger duties, more than Billy," Jason agreed. "Classes and school sports and clubs…"

"All I had was a few science clubs," Billy said. "You guys were always off playing basketball and volleyball and practicing martial arts or gymnastics or dance or what have you. I was just the newly athletic geek." He smiled self-deprecatingly.

"You know," Trini said, "maybe we should give Billy and his dad some time alone. They've got a lot of catching up to do."

Mr. Cranston blinked. "But… but I want to hear everything! Every battle, every alien, every experience! How do you teleport, exactly? Oh, the physics must be advanced beyond belief! And tell me, would it be possible for me to get a hold of the plans for one of those giant robots? It could advance Earth's technology by decades! Centuries, even!"

Trini looked askance at Billy. He nodded slightly. She stood up, pulling Jason with her. "Billy's the one to tell you that, not us," she said quietly. "But we'll catch up. We'll come by and see you after you get back in town." She handed Billy her cell phone. "Call Jason when you want us to come get you, okay?" She shook Mr. Cranston's hand. "I'll be back by, Mr. Cranston. I want to catch up, as well. But for now—well, I think you two should have some time to yourselves."

Mr. Cranston bit his lip. "I feel sort of silly, inviting you over only to have you leave within a half hour."

Trini smiled. "Don't worry. We need to go outside, have a few panic attacks, and then think up subtle ways to ask our own parents if they know. Besides, we'll be back. I promise."

"Good," he said. "Don't be a stranger, Trini." He squinted at her. "You were Yellow, right?"

She nodded. "I was. Jason was Red, and later Gold. Kim was Pink, Zack was Black, and Tommy was Green, then White, and then he became Red shortly before Billy graduated."

He smiled and looked over at the teens, pointing at Conner, Kira, Ethan and Trent in turn. "Black, Yellow, White, Blue?" he asked hopefully.

Conner looked down at his black shorts.

Ethan looked down at his white T-shirt.

Trent looked down at his blue jeans.

"Well, you got me right," said Kira.

"I was Black," Tommy said. "Conner was Red, Trent was White, and Ethan was Blue."

"Ah," Mr. Cranston said, scrutinizing Tommy's multicolored outfit.

With a chorus of goodbyes, they all filed out, leaving Billy alone with his father. Billy stared numbly into the blank space Trini had vacated. He was alone with his father. And he had absolutely no game plan.

"OH MY GOD HE KNOWS!"

Billy jumped. Ah, yes. The first of the panic attacks. Trini was frighteningly accurate about certain things.

"Do you think they all know? They can't all know!"

"My mom can't know!"

"Guys, don't freak! I mean, none of us are even you-know-what anymore—"

"Easy for you to say, Mr. Able to Be Honest with Dad Cuz He Used to Try to Kill Us!"

"THEY KNOW!"

"They can't! They don't!"

"I'm really glad I didn't beat up Derrick now. Or join the football team."

"My dad's gonna freak!"

"He doesn't know! They don't know! They can't know!"

"SHH! Guys, the neighbors!"

"Who cares about the neighbors? EVERYONE KNOWS!"

"I take it telling the parents is a fairly uncommon concept amongst Power Rangers?" Mr. Cranston asked wryly.

End Notes: I'm not too keen on this chapter, mostly because it's more of a plot point than a… well, than the usual bit where any plot is interwoven with funny parts where Freyja and I get to torture the characters. So I'm posting two chapters at once. Please review!