Chapter Ninety-eight

A Few Bad Seeds

Kira wasn't sure what to expect from her first—and hopefully last—time in a holding cell, but in the short time it took the speeding police car to reach the station, her imagination had come up with many scenarios, most involving tattooed, burly women with mullets in orange jumpsuits leering at her. By the time she found herself being escorted to a holding cell, she was repeated "I'm an ex-Ranger" to herself over and over, using the mantra to avoid thinking about all the prison horror stories she'd ever heard, about what might happen to Zack, about what her parents would say, about poor Dr. O and Kimberly still trapped in the Secret Chamber, about how dirty her feet were getting from wandering around barefoot, about—

I'm an ex-Ranger. I'm an ex-Ranger!

Yes. An ex-Ranger. She'd be fine. Even if she was, currently, an ex-Ranger. She just hoped they didn't hurt her Dino Gem; they'd taken her morphing bracelet. At least she'd thought to ask for a lawyer right off the bat, so she hadn't been questioned. She knew that, ex-Ranger or not, she'd have cracked and spilled her life story in three seconds flat.

"Here you are."

Kira stared into the holding cell as the door slid open. The good news was, neither of the two women sitting inside were tattooed or burly. The bad news was, one of them was wearing a bloodstained wedding dress.

"Hi," said the bloody bride, in a cheerful tone that Kira found rather inappropriate, given the circumstances.

"Hey," Kira muttered as the door slid shut behind her.

The woman on her left—a little old lady who looked utterly harmless—smiled gently at her. "What's your name, dear?" she asked kindly.

Kira thought about lying, but figured there wasn't much point. "Kira," she said, trying to sound brave. That was all the cops knew about her so far, too; she'd refused to give them anything, including her last name. She went and sat down, facing the door, where she could keep the two women in sight, though she was fairly certain she could take either of them and only the bloody bride would have a shot of getting near her anyway.

"I'm Ethel," the elderly woman said.

"Kristy," said the bride. "What are you in for?"

Kira opened her mouth, then closed it. She wasn't actually all that sure. She'd been in shock throughout most of the booking process. She was probably in for vandalism, given all that merchandise she crashed into… resisting arrest for sure… maybe assault, what with the dental floss… theft? Suspicious behavior? Did they have a charge for that? Criminal mischief or something?

Kira grinned in spite of herself. She was tempted to tell the whole story just to see what they'd think. "I'm in here because I was trying to buy a chainsaw to spring my hapless science teacher out of a reinforced closet and I somehow ended up fleeing law enforcement on a bicycle in Wal-Mart." Hell, they probably wouldn't even believe her. She was better off keeping it simple.

Then again, it might be a good idea to come up with something juicy. Just in case a burly tattooed woman got thrown in here with them. She didn't want to be the bicycle thief. That was something eleven-year-olds did. Not tough girls you didn't want to mess with.

"Me and my… boyfriend… um, stole… a car. Really nice car. And then we got in a high-speed chase with the police, but we escaped." Neither Ethel nor Kristy looked too impressed. Kira frowned and thought for a moment. "We escaped into the woods, but, um, there was this sinkhole and… we ended up accidentally breaking into someone's basement. And… in the basement, there were these… gems. Uh, diamonds. So we grabbed a bunch, figured we'd sell 'em. But, uh, as we were leaving, we stumbled on this… gang. Really scary gang. They attacked us, and we had to, um, beat the crap out of them."

"You poor thing," Ethel said sympathetically.

"Um, right…" Kira said, confused. "So, anyway, we were trying to sell the diamonds and my boyfriend was stupid enough to tell our fence about the gang fight, so he turned us in to the cops. So… um, what are you… uh… in for?"

"Shoplifting," Kristy replied.

Kira stared at her. Part of her really wanted to ask how you got in a bloody wedding dress while shoplifting, but she told herself it must be some sort of bizarre costume. For Halloween or something. …Only in June. Deciding not to think on it, she looked at Ethel. "And you?"

"Double homicide," Ethel said with a sigh. Kira blanched. "And it doesn't look good this time."

"Aw, cheer up," Kristy said consolingly. She pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her bodice, holding them out to Kira. Kira shook her head, and Kristy lit up before turning back to Ethel. "You said your lawyer's really good, right?"

"Sure is," Ethel said, forcing a smile. "I'm just a little too old to be pleading to manslaughter, is all. You need you a lawyer, Kira, dear?"

"Uh… nah. They provide me with one, right?"

"Sure do," Ethel said. "My first three lawyers was public defenders. Nice boys, they was. My grandson Jeffy, he says, 'Grandma, them public defenders don't care about your case,' but that's not true at all. They care quite a bit, you see. Cuz they're all hoping to get good jobs with nice big firms one day, so they're trying to do the best they can, and a lot of them really does care, believes in what they're doing and all. Most of them fancy lawyers got their start as public defenders anyway, you know. I trust them over most of them fancy lawyers any day. Mine was a public defender for a long time. I'd get me a public defender if I could, but they won't give them to you if you can afford it."

Kira stared at Ethel with an increasingly incredulous expression before finally shaking her head and turning back to Kristy. "Are you getting a public defender?"

She shook her head, politely turning her head away before exhaling a lungful of smoke. "Nah. My husband's a lawyer."

"Oh, that's… nice," Kira said lamely. "Uh… have you been married long?"

Kristy thought for a moment. "It's, what, five or six in the morning?" Kira shrugged. "Then about seventeen or eighteen hours, give or take."

"Ah. I… I see." Well, there went the costume theory.

"Relax, dearie," Ethel said soothingly. "First time in jail?"

Kira looked up at her, wide-eyed. "Um… yeah… I mean, I've had a few close calls before, but I'm usually way better about not getting caught."

Ethel smiled encouragingly. "Don't worry, dear. You get used to it."

"Heh. Yeah," Kira replied, praying that Ethel was wrong.

"So you just… poof? A couple words and the suit just appears?"

"Well, it's a little more complicated than that. I mean, yeah, that's the basic gist, but you kind of… summon the power. It's hard to explain. When we're morphing—and not cramped in a car—there are usually hand gestures. And you have to be touching your morpher and you have to say a specific phrase, but… well, that's pretty much it," Rocky finished.

Carrie had asked endless questions, once Adam had reminded the sleepy Rocky of who Carrie was and confirmed the fact that Carrie was cool with the secret. Rocky was now much more awake, thanks to a trip to a drive-thru for some coffee and lots of stimulating chatter with Carrie. He and Carrie seemed to get along great, which left Adam to strategize in the back seat.

"We're almost there," Adam said. "Better morph."

"Um… right," Rocky said. He and Adam both ducked down as low as they could in Carrie's car. "It's morphin time—Zeo Ranger Three, Blue!"

"Zeo Ranger Four, Green!"

They both sat back up. Carrie was staring in open-mouthed amazement at the blue suit now covering Rocky's body—which meant she was forgetting to watch the road. "LOOK OUT!" Rocky bellowed.

Carrie turned back around as the car bumped over the curb; she jerked the wheel just in time to avoid a collision with a row of news stands. "Whew. Thanks."

"It's pretty cool, isn't it," Rocky said, a tad smug.

"It's incredible," she agreed. "What's it feel like?"

"Power," Rocky and Adam said in unison. "It's… hard to explain," Adam added apologetically.

Carrie sighed. "I wish I could write something about it. I haven't even typed a single word about your identities—don't want anyone to stumble over it—but the things the world could learn about you guys…"

"Sorry," Rocky said apologetically, patting her consolingly on the shoulder. Carrie shivered a bit. Rocky smirked behind his helmet.

"We really appreciate what you're doing for us, Carrie," Adam said. "We're not all that used to visiting public areas in the suits, and—"

"It's no trouble. I was heading this way anyway, and I got to see you guys morph. I'm never going to forget that." Carrie pulled the car into an empty parking space not far from the police station entrance. "What now?"

"Now we get out, act like perfect strangers hitching a ride, and go our separate ways," Rocky said. "But—hey. There's a party tomorrow; are you free?"

"I could get free," she said eagerly.

"At Adam's house in L.A. The address is—"

"I know the address. I've been researching you all like crazy since Tuesday night."

"Ah. Well, it's pretty much for every Ranger on the planet. Um, universe. Whatever. We're all getting together, and you can come if you want. It's at seven, right, Adam?"

"Uh, Rocky, I don't know if the others will… you know," he said, nodding at Carrie. From what he knew, she only knew their identities, not everyone else's. Much as he liked her, he didn't want to upset the Rangers.

"What? You mean the whole secret-identity thing? Bro, she's coming to Power Rangers Day. We'll all be there. And we're pretty obvious, once you know what to look for. We'll be hanging out and all… besides, she's done a great job of explaining our suspicious behavior. This way, she'll know whose suspicious behavior she needs to explain."

Carrie chuckled. "Thanks. But I understand if—"

"No, Rocky has a point. Come. We actually like it when we get a new civilian stumbling onto the secret. Remember when Hayley found out?" Adam added to Rocky.

"Oh, yeah. That was awesome. See, Tommy and Hayley—"

"Rocky, we're in a parked vehicle in morph in front of the police station. We should probably go save Zack and Kira before they're arraigned."

"Right. Right. Another time," Rocky told Carrie. He and Adam popped their door handles. "Thanks for the lift, ma'am!" he called loudly, for the benefit of the handful of people now staring wide-eyed at the two Power Rangers.

"No problem!" she called cheerfully, winking at Rocky as he waved before climbing out of the car herself. She let them get a head start up the stairs to the building, then followed them inside.

"…but as far as I can tell, they weren't axe murderers," Zack finished.

"Wow," Bone Crusher said, shaking his head. "So you're in here for digging holes in the park? That's stupid."

"Oh, no. That was Rocky. Plus we didn't even get caught for that one. I'm only up to Wednesday. But I'm talking too much. What are you in here for?"

"Trespassing at the Angel Grove Inn."

"Seriously? Man, that place just loves to ban people."

"You, too?"

"Well, sort of. The night manager did throw some office supplies at me, but I don't think I've technically been banned yet. My buddy Conner has, though."

"Conner from the park?"

"Yeah. And my boy Billy avoids that place like the plague. But you were banned?"

"Yeah. On Wednesday, actually. Some punk clocked me with a bottle of Red Pop and they kicked me out, said they'd call the cops if I ever came back. But I wasn't about to let that punk get away, you know? I don't stand for no disrespect."

"Right on, my man!" Zack agreed, tapping knuckles with him and privately thanking God for making him forget to mention the part of his story where Billy got in a fight with a biker in the Angel Grove lobby over a flying bottle of Red Pop.

"Zack?"

Zack looked up. The Blue and Green Zeo Rangers were standing in front of the cell, with two police officers—the guy who'd locked Zack in the holding cell, and a forty-something man whose badge identified him as Captain J. Stone.

"Oh, hey," Zack said. "How's it going?"

"Don't worry, Mr. Taylor," Captain Stone said as the jailor unlocked the door. "The Power Rangers here have explained everything."

"About time," Zack said, mock-indignantly. He turned to his new friend. "Bone Crusher, my man, good talking to you."

"You too, buddy," Bone Crusher said, pulling him in for a hug. "Good luck out there."

"Good luck in here," Zack replied, heading for the door. "How's Kira?" he asked Adam and Rocky.

"We're on our way to get her now," Adam said.

"Yes, follow me," Captain Stone said, grinning broadly. "The Power Rangers. It's so great to see you guys again."

"Thank you," Rocky said.

"So you're the ones who passed your powers on to T.J. Johnson and the other Turbo Rangers?"

"Um… pretty much," Rocky said uncomfortably.

"It must be great, being a Power Ranger," Zack gushed, wide-eyed. Adam and Rocky glared at him from behind their helmets. Zack fought the urge to grin.

They could hear Kira talking as they approached the women's holding cell. "Yellow and white," Kira was saying, nodding solemnly. "Yellow roses, white tablecloths."

"That would've looked nice," Kristy agreed. "I went with lavender and teal."

"I had lavender and baby blue for my second wedding," Ethel said. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"Lavender and baby blue would've looked good together," Kira said.

"Oh, sure. I meant the husband. But if it hadn't been for his… accident, I wouldn't have met my third husband."

"How many have you had?" Kira asked.

"Oh, just the six. The last one's still alive somewhere, last I heard. My oldest daughter just refuses to pull the plug. Sentimental fool!"

"Me and Jimmy are forever," Kristy said dreamily. "I'd do anything for him."

"That's sweet," Kira commented.

"Mm-hmm. I felt the same way about husbands one, three and four," Ethel agreed.

"Kira?" Adam called as they came to a stop in front of the cell.

Kira looked up. "Oh, um… hi."

"Guess what, Kira? The Power Rangers told them all about what happened. We're free to go!" Zack said, for all the world as if they had actually been involved in some sort of top-secret mission.

"Oh, darn," Kira said. "I was having so much fun, too." She stood up. "Well, guys…"

"I'd hug you, but I don't want to stain your outfit," Kristy said.

Kira clasped her hand. "Have a great honeymoon, Kristy."

Ethel actually did hug her. "Good luck with that gang war, dear."

"Thanks, Ethel." Kira smiled at them both and then stepped through the door. "Bye, guys!"

"I see you made friends," Zack teased Kira as they were led back through the halls.

"I'm never shopping with you again," Kira growled playfully. Zack just laughed.

"Thanks again, Carrie!" Rocky called, waving along with Adam, Zack and Kira as Carrie backed out of the driveway. She grinned and waved back before driving off.

Zack turned to Kira. "All right. Let me have it."

Kira shrugged. "Whatever."

"Seriously? No screaming fit?"

"Guess I'm already repressing," Kira said. "All I really care right now is washing my feet."

"I'm sorry, by the way," Zack said. "Things just… got out of hand."

Kira nodded graciously. "It's okay. Besides, if I yell at you, I have to yell at Trini for telling me to go with you, and Conner for getting Dr. O stuck in the closet, and probably half a dozen other people. Although I do reserve the right to scream at you later."

"That's fair," Zack said, shrugging. "Come on. We should probably check in with the guys, and then I'll drive you two back to the Mercedes."

Rocky yawned as they headed for the porch. "At this point, I'm about ready to just crash on Jason's floor."

"Yeah, me too," Adam said. "Maybe we should morph a while longer. Let the energy wake us up."

"Then we won't get back to sleep. And we've got the Rangers-only kegger tonight, remember?"

"Huh. They got the door fixed," Kira said as they stepped onto the porch. The door was open just a sliver, possibly to prevent any more damage so soon after the patch job. Kira pushed it open. "Hello? Anybody home?"

"Down here," came Jason's voice. "Still."

"How'd Tommy and Kim get trapped in there, anyway?" Rocky asked curiously.

"Long story," Kira muttered.

"It was great," Zack said with relish. "Although—future reference? Never give Conner a pair of fuzzy handcuffs."

Adam frowned. "One would think that'd already be implied." Kira nodded in agreement.

They reached the bottom of the stairs. Trent was sitting on an exercise mat, dozing off against the wall. Ethan was listening curiously to Trini, who was holding Conner's arm and speaking into his morphing bracelet. Hayley was talking to Billy, writing something down on a notepad. Jason smiled wearily as Adam, Rocky, Zack and Kira entered. "Where's Carrie?" he asked. "I thought she was giving you a ride."

"She said she had to go. Needed to meet her deadline and catch some Zs," Rocky explained. "She says hi, though. Nice girl."

Jason nodded. "So. No-go on the chainsaw?"

"That's for damned sure," Kira grumbled. "I thought you guys got Trini's back or something."

Jason's expression darkened. "We did. That bastard Mr. Greenlee broke it. Trini was crushed." He sighed. "Of course, now Trent found out the key was under the dog's dish the whole time, so at worst they'll only be in there until two or three o'clock, when the system resets. Trini's been using Conner's communicator to try and walk Tommy through the security measures, see if she can get them off before then, but they've been working on it for almost three hours now. But Kimberly stopped crying, so that's good, and Hayley and Billy fixed the doors upstairs. Oh, Hayley's taking breakfast orders. She's gonna run out and get us some fast food."

"I left my wallet in Stone Canyon," Rocky grumbled. "Adam dragged me out of the house pretty fast to go save these two criminals." He jerked his thumb at Zack and Kira.

"Oh, Tommy's buying. Or, well, Anton is. Soon as Hayley mentioned paying for it, Tommy started ranting incoherently about Anton enabling the chaos or whatever and told her he'd get a cash advance on Anton's card to pay her back."

"Free breakfast?" Rocky looked hopefully at Adam. "Dude, they have free breakfast."

"As long as they have free caffeine too, I don't mind staying a while," Adam said. "I'd kind of like to hear the whole story."

Kira made a face. "I'll be over there, then. Pretending this never happened."

"Ah, Tommy's taught you well," Zack joked.

"Uh-huh. Shut up." Kira told Hayley what she'd like for breakfast, then headed for Trent. She sat down beside him and he opened his eyes. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"S'okay," Trent said. "I've only been out a few minutes. I couldn't relax until they told me you were definitely gonna be okay."

"Aw, thanks," Kira said, smiling at him.

Trent slid an arm around her. "So how was jail?"

"Surprisingly? Not that bad. I met a newlywed kleptomaniac and this nice old mass-murderer named Ethel," Kira replied. Then she frowned. "Did I just say that?" Trent chuckled and she sighed. "Anyway, Jason said you found the key. Good job saving the day and all."

"Thanks," he said. "I just hope the rest of my day is a little less hectic."

"I just hope the rest of my life is a little less hectic." With that, Kira curled up against Trent and the two of them dozed off.

Hayley, Billy and Ethan made the food run, and once they returned with ungodly amounts of food, coffee, and juice, everyone began to cheer considerably. Zack cracked them all up with what he was now calling The Great Bicycle Chainsaw Caper, and Rocky and Adam launched into detail about their bizarre cover story for the police. Trini couldn't hold Conner's arm still and eat at the same time, so she slipped the bracelet onto her own wrist, allowing her to eat and save Tommy simultaneously. Conner was soon huddled in a corner with Ethan, arguing quietly and drawing all over the large dry erase board Trini had brought down to help them brainstorm.

Somewhere in the middle of breakfast, a few minutes before eight a.m., a loud metallic scraping sound echoed throughout the basement. Everyone stopped dead and stared at the door.

"Did it work?" Tommy asked suspiciously a moment later.

"Nobody move!" Trini commanded, standing up and slowly approaching the closet, the key in her hand. The others held their breath. Trini slipped the key into the lock, turned it, listened to the soft click as the deadbolt released. A moment later, the door swung open.

Kimberly sat in full view of the door, her eyes red from crying and lack of sleep, her/Tommy's shirt still missing. She blinked against the sudden brightness—they never had found the light switch—then stared up at them. Jason, Trini, Billy, Zack, Rocky, Adam, Hayley, Conner, Kira, Ethan and Trent returned her startled gaze for a long while. Then Tommy's head popped around the door, breaking their line of sight, and he stared around at them in amazement.

"I'm free," Tommy said dazedly.

"Uh-oh," Conner muttered, climbing hastily to his feet.

The sudden movement drew Tommy's gaze, which darkened at the sight of Conner. "I'm free," Tommy repeated blackly.

That was all it took; Conner bolted, taking the dry erase board with him. He was up the stairs in an instant, moving almost as fast as he had with his Dino Power. A moment later, they could all hear the guestroom door slam, accompanied by the sound of heavy furniture sliding across carpet.

Tommy was slightly disappointed that Conner had managed to barricade himself into a secure location so fast, but as he was Conner's ride back to Reefside, he decided that Conner couldn't avoid him forever. Besides which, he had larger concerns at the moment.

"Coffee?" he asked hopefully, moving around the door and out into the basement. His newly recaptured shirt was tied firmly around his waist.

Hayley held out a large paper cup. "Four sugars, two creams. Should still be warm."

Tommy sighed happily and took a long gulp. Kira, meanwhile, cleared her throat and called, "Kim?"

"Yeah," Kimberly said listlessly, pushing past Tommy and out into the basement. "I'm okay."

"You sure?" Trini asked sympathetically.

Kimberly nodded. "Look, if it's all the same to you guys, I just wanna go back to the hotel and sleep."

"Sure, Kim," Kira said. "Let me just finish my orange juice—"

Kimberly shook her head. "Actually, I could use some time alone. Mind riding back with one of the others?"

"Sure," Kira said uncomfortably. She forced a smile. "Zack owes me a favor anyway."

Kimberly nodded curtly and headed for the stairs. They watched her go uncertainly.

"Food," Tommy groaned.

"Sausage, egg and cheese on croissants," Hayley replied promptly, holding out a bag. "Hash browns and cinnamon rolls."

"I love you," Tommy announced.

Hayley rolled her eyes, but she smiled. "I swear, Tommy… we should really take you to a voodoo priest or something. Someone must have put a hex on you."

Tommy's eyes narrowed. "Rita, probably."

"Come on, guys," Zack said to Rocky and Adam. "I'll give you a ride back to the Mercedes."

"I guess we're riding with you, Dr. O," Ethan said.

"Sure. If you want to get strangled," Tommy growled.

"Um, we're riding with Zack," Ethan said. He nodded at Kira and Trent. "Come on, guys."

"Yes, yes, all of you, shoo," Jason said, suddenly recalling his original plans for the night. "We'll meet back here at two. And be careful; Jenny's probably still on the clock."

"I better shut down the computer," Trini said, handing the key to Jason.

"Hurry up," Jason said impatiently. "Don't want anything else going wrong. No, sir." Zack, following Rocky, Adam and the remaining teenagers upstairs, muttered something about "just like the Peace Conference."

Trini looked at Billy and Hayley. "Do you guys wanna see—?"

"No, they don't," Jason said sharply. "They do not want to play nerd for three hours. They want to go upstairs and fall asleep. Possibly after booby-trapping the guestroom door so Conner can't get out."

"C'mon, Billy," Hayley said, shaking her head. "Let's—"

"My experiments!" Trini wailed from inside the Chamber. "They've broken three of them!"

Jason sighed. "My life sucks."

"Trini," Billy said gently, "we're all very tired. Why don't I help you repair them once we've all recovered from this ordeal?"

"I'll help, too," Hayley offered. "I'd actually love to see some of the new ones."

"Yes, yes, busy day ahead of us," Jason added. "Experiments to fix, keg parties to attend, probably new psychotic events to survive—we'd better go get some sleep, Trini."

"Tommy, there's two more coffees for you on the weight bench," Hayley said. "I'm going to go turn in."

Tommy nodded, giving her a quick hug. "Thank you, Hayley. For everything."

"I'd say 'anytime,' but I'm hoping for a six-or-seven hour lapse in your chaos," she teased.

Tommy snorted. "Four hours. Tops."

Author's Notes: Sorry this took so long. Life happens, and sometimes it's like the jaws of a pit bull that you have to pry open with a crowbar to make it let go of your throat, you know?