What Was Lost: The Return Home

by superdory57

When life happens people change and time can pull apart even the closest friends. That doesn't stop the rangers from coming together when the world needs them. Will the original rangers be able to come together to save each other from themselves? Will the rest of the rangers be able to keep them safe from a threat unknown? And what does Jason's wife have to do with it?

1. Chapter 1 Missing

Hi, so after 9 years we are back. This story has been one of many we have been working on but the only one we finsihed to the point of sharing. So yes it is finsihed and will be uplaoded in it's entirety. This story was started back in 2019 and lots happened. When Jason David Frank died we debated on letting it drop, but decided that we wanted to finsih and let the character live on as we have done for others. This is a little different then our normal story but we enjoyed writing it. As always please feel free to leave comments we love feedback but know we will be changing nothing that is already written. If you decide you don't like how we write someone then I understand but please don't try and talk us into changing it the story is done. If you don't like it sorry but don't finsih. If you have suggestions for next time we would be glad to hear them, but please be kind in your constructive criticism. This is just fun for us so we hope you find it fun to read. It's gonna be a long one so hold on for all the twists and turns.

We do not owe the Power Rangers we just like to write.

There will be talk of mental health issues, medication, nonconsentual drug use, medical issues and divorce. Nothing is overly graphic but it is realistic so if that bothers you please keep that in mind.

Tuesday March 20th, 2018 Reefside, California

"JJ, I thought I told you not to leave your bike here!" Tommy called into the house. He leaned down to move the bike out of the way of the door, shifting his backpack further up on his shoulder as he did. "Sorry, dad!" he heard JJ shout from inside. Tommy chuckled and shook his head as he picked up the bike. They needed to get to school, so he wasn't going to worry about it right now. But he knew this wasn't going to be the last time he was picking up his son's bike.
"It's ok, kiddo," he said as he started to reach for the door. "Hello, Tommy Oliver," an unfamiliar voice said behind him. Tommy spun in surprise, dropping the bike. He barely had time to register the open portal and monster facing him before he was swarmed by robots. Having managed to take him by surprise while his guard was down, the robots grabbed hold of Tommy. Dragging him off the porch, they forced him to the ground as he struggled. Tommy glared up at the figure standing over him—one he unfortunately recognized. "Draven," Tommy spat, continuing to try and break free. "What do you want?"
He was trying not to show the panic rushing through him. JJ was still in the house. Tommy couldn't protect him while he was trapped. All he could do right now was hope JJ didn't come outside yet.
"An army," Draven laughed. "And you will help me create it."
"I won't help you," Tommy snapped. "I would never help you."
Then the front door opened. "Dad, what are you doing? I thought you—" JJ froze a few steps outside the door. He stared in shock, his gaze moving between Draven and Tommy pinned by the robots. "JJ—run!" Tommy cried, doubling his efforts to get free. "Get out of here now!" JJ didn't respond, still frozen in place on the porch. His backpack had slipped from his fingers and landed on the porch. Draven was now watching the boy with interest. "JJ! GO!" Tommy shouted, managing to free one of his arms. "Call mom!"
Tommy's voice finally broke through JJ's fear and the ten-year-old turned to run back into the house. But he didn't make it through the door. Draven was suddenly in front of him. JJ stumbled backward, panic written across his face as he frantically looked for somewhere to run. "Leave him alone!" Tommy snarled, using his free hand to hit another robot. "It's me you want!"
Draven ignored Tommy and caught JJ, pinning him under one arm. "Dad!" JJ cried. "Help me!"
"Let him go!" "Or what?" Draven laughed. "He will ensure your cooperation. Let's go."
He looked at his robots, gesturing toward the portal. More of them swarmed Tommy, bringing him under control again. JJ was frozen in Draven's grasp, his terrified gaze fixed on his father. With his son in Draven's grasp, Tommy stopped fighting. He wasn't about to risk JJ getting hurt. "You won't succeed," Tommy hissed. "The others will stop you."
"By the time they realize what is going on, it will be too late," Draven laughed. He struck Tommy in the head with his bow to ensure he wouldn't escape. JJ screamed as Tommy lost consciousness, slumping in the grasp of the robots. Draven and the robots took Tommy and JJ back through the portal and it closed behind them.

Hanging up and making sure her phone was on vibrate, Kat stuck it in her pocket and hurried into her classroom. Her student and their parents would be there any minute for an early morning meeting and she wanted to be ready. That's why Tommy was taking JJ to school that morning. After the meeting, Kat dove right into the school day. Busy all morning, she ignored her phone the few times it vibrated in her pocket. They would call her on the school phone if it was school related or an emergency. So, it wasn't until she sat down in her office to eat lunch that Kat finally looked at her phone. She had several missed calls from the school office, which was weird because they knew her schedule. And a couple from the high school. Frowning, Kat listened to the voicemails while she ate. "JJ didn't make it to school?" she muttered after listening to the ones from the school office. "And why wouldn't they just come find me and ask? What on earth is Tommy doing today?"
She listened quickly to the voicemail from the high school, which only made her more concerned. Tommy also hadn't shown up for class that morning without any warning. Fortunately, Anton had been in town and able to sub, but Ellen was concerned that Tommy hadn't communicated his absence to them. So was Kat. And Anton, based on the texts she had from him. Kat sighed and hit the speed dial for Tommy's phone. "I swear I'm going to kill him if he decided to take off somewhere with JJ for the day without telling me," she grumbled. "He's supposed to talk to me first."
Tommy didn't answer his phone. That wasn't completely unusual, so Kat left a voicemail telling him to call her back immediately. She wanted answers. Going back to her lunch, Kat scrolled back through her text history with Tommy to see if she had forgotten something. But Tommy hadn't said anything that morning either, so she really didn't think she had. The rest of the school day passed with no return call from Tommy and neither he nor JJ had shown up at school. The no-contact was starting to worry her. It wasn't necessarily unusual for Tommy to drop out of contact for short periods, but he had never involved their son before. Something felt wrong. As Kat walked out of the school toward her car, she made another phone call. "Hi, Kat," Hayley answered absently after a few rings. "Hayley, have you heard from Tommy at all today?"
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. "Actually, no," Hayley answered. "Which has been a little weird since I'm at the base working on the new project. Usually, he at least texts me for updates. But I haven't had a call or a text all day and he hasn't answered any of mine. The only one I've heard from is Ethan."
Kat sighed as she climbed into her car and headed straight for home.
"Tommy didn't show up for school today. And he didn't tell them he wasn't coming in, either. He was supposed to drop JJ off, too, and the school says JJ never made it to class. I'm a little worried that he won't answer any of my calls."
"Maybe he left his personal phone at home again," Hayley suggested. "You could try calling the ranger one. But give me a few minutes to finish up the program I'm running and I'll get a location on his communicator."
"That would be wonderful," Kat said. "I'm on my way home right now and I'm going to call Rocky and Adam after I get there to see if either of them know what's going on. If it's ranger related, he most likely told them."
"It would be nice if he would have told us here, too," Hayley muttered. "Let me or Billy know once you find something. If you need anything else I have my phone."
"Thanks, Hayley," Kat said gratefully. Kat hung up and made the rest of the drive as quickly as she could. The first thing Kat noticed was that Tommy's truck was parked in the driveway. "Well, they can't have gone too far," Kat muttered as she parked. "Maybe JJ was sick? But then why didn't Tommy call? I know he had his phone this morning. He was talking to me on it when he got home. So how did he lose it between the truck and the house?"
Climbing out of the car, Kat looked around with some caution as she headed toward the house. Even though nothing seemed out of place—besides the radio silence from her husband—something still just felt off. Kat stopped on the porch in surprise when she saw JJ's backpack abandoned there with his bike. Instinctively she reached down to pick it up, but quickly decided against it. If something was wrong, she wanted both of her hands free to react. The backpack would be fine where it was for the moment. Everything looked fine when she walked into the house, but Kat didn't hear anyone else. "Tommy! JJ!" Kat called, pausing in the front hall. There was no answer. So, Kat moved through the house, occasionally calling out their names as she searched the rooms with no success. She even tried the lab. But there was no sign of Tommy or their son. Getting frustrated, and a lot more anxious, Kat stopped in the hall again and started to pull out her phone. Then the front door opened. Kat spun and then relaxed. "Oh, thank goodness," she said, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw who was standing in the doorway. "Tommy."
She rushed to him, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her in response. "Why haven't you been answering my calls?" Kat demanded, looking up at him. "You can't do that without some kind of warning. And where is JJ?"
"Oh, he's fine," he answered, a little dismissively. Kat frowned. "Then where is he?" she repeated, trying to take a step back. His grip on her tightened. "The same place you're going to," he grinned.
Kat's eyes widened in shock as she realized she wasn't looking at the real Tommy. She tried again to break free of his grasp, but his arms just tightened around her as he dragged her back outside. "Let me go!" Kat exclaimed, struggling. The Tommy-copy ignored her, dragging her through the portal in the yard before she could break free.

Mariner Bay, CA

"Kat, now is not a good time to stop answering your phone, too," Hayley muttered as the phone went to voicemail for the third time. "Billy, she's still not answering, and I can't find Tommy."
She turned to look at Billy who was currently on the phone with Rocky. Billy had been helping her try to locate Tommy by texting Adam and Rocky to ask if they had heard from him. Rocky, currently on shift at the firehouse, had called back to see what was going on. "Hayley says Kat is no longer answering her phone," Billy told Rocky. "And Tommy still has not answered any calls on either of the phones or even his communicator. Adam also said he has not heard from Tommy today."
"I'll head toward Reefside," Rocky said. "I have a favor I can call in to cover the rest of my shift—I'll just tell them it's a family emergency. Plus, I start my off days tomorrow and I don't mind making the trip. I'll just crash at their place for a couple of nights. Would rather be paranoid at this point and have it be nothing. It's not like Tommy to just drop out of contact with everyone without warning. He always at least gets a message to one of us."
"Agreed," Billy said. "Hayley and I will continue to try and locate both of them in the meantime."
"Keep me updated."
Billy agreed and then disconnected the call. "Any luck?" he asked Hayley. "Still nothing," she sighed. "I'm going to call Trent and ask him to take a look. He's already in Reefside so he can get there faster than Rocky. There is always a chance there could be a problem with the communication system in Reefside, but like Rocky I'd rather be paranoid…"

Reefside, CA

Trent pulled into the driveway and parked his car next to Tommy's truck. Seeing both Kat's car and Tommy's truck made him even more concerned than Hayley's phone call. Hayley had called a short time before to ask if he had heard from either of them and then told him they had now both fallen out of contact. He had quickly volunteered to go investigate—before Hayley could even ask. Sending a quick text to let Hayley know he was there and both Kat and Tommy's vehicles were present, Trent stepped out of his car. Continuing to watch his surroundings, Trent summoned his morpher so he could be ready to react if something happened. Cautiously he strode toward the house. He paused on the porch, frowning at the backpack lying on the ground next to JJ's bike.
"JJ's backpack?" he muttered. "Why is it out here? This is weird."
Glancing around one more time, Trent moved to the door. The door was unlocked, but that wasn't necessarily unusual. Stepping inside, Trent shut the door behind him so he'd hear if anyone else followed him inside. He paced silently through the house, looking for any sign of Tommy, Kat, or JJ. But the house was quiet. Trent was heading back to Tommy's office to check the lab when he heard a noise in the hall behind him. He spun, ready to morph in case it was an enemy who had actually broken into the house. "Dr. O?" Trent said, surprised. "Where have you been?"
Tommy was standing in the doorway watching him. Trent relaxed, letting his morpher disappear as he pulled his phone out. "Hayley has been looking everywhere for you," Trent said, shaking his head as he sent a quick text to tell Hayley he'd found Tommy. "Really?" Tommy asked as he walked toward Trent. "Well, I'm right here."
"Any particular reason you aren't answering your phone today?" Trent asked, putting his own phone away. "You're worrying people."
"I dropped it," Tommy shrugged, still moving down the hall. Trent frowned as he watched Tommy approach. Something didn't feel right. "Where?" Trent asked suspiciously. "And why wouldn't you just use the ranger phone or your communicator to at least tell Kat that? And where are Kat and JJ?"
Tommy didn't answer, he just smirked. Trent took a step back as his instincts screamed warnings at him, raising his wrist to summon his morpher again. But he was too slow to react. Tommy leapt forward and caught his wrist to keep Trent from acting. The two men struggled for a few minutes, fighting in the hallway as Trent tried to get free. They crashed into a hall table, knocking several things off of it before Tommy slammed Trent into the wall and managed to get him in a headlock. Several pictures fell, crashing to the ground.
As Trent struggled to keep upright and fought to get loose, he was dragged outside. In the yard, several rangers were waiting. Trent knew the black ranger without hesitation and guessed at the pink one based on pictures he'd seen. They were standing next to a portal. He glared at the copies as he tried to break free of Tommy's—the one he guessed was another copy—grip on him. "Who are you?" Trent hissed. "And what did you do with the real Dr. O?"
"You'll see him soon enough," the copy laughed, dragging Trent through the portal. On the other side of the portal, Trent got a glimpse of a room full of machines. Two very familiar figures were strapped to two of them, their eyes closed. He'd found the real Tommy and Kat. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do about it. Trent watched in horror as the machine turned robots into copies of Tommy and Kat's ranger forms. Then he was being forced onto another of the machines, strapped in by metal restraints. Everything went dark as the machine hummed to life.

"Finally," Rocky sighed, turning into Tommy's driveway. "I knew I should have gotten something to eat before I left Angel Grove."
Pulling up behind Tommy's truck, Rocky frowned. He could see Kat and Trent's cars, too. "Well, it would have been nice to know they were all here and found Tommy," he grumbled as he parked and climbed out. "Thanks for the phone call, guys." He stretched, glancing around the yard. Grabbing his duffle bag out of the backseat, Rocky headed into the house. Walking up the porch steps, the backpack on the ground caught his eye. "That's probably JJ's," he chuckled to himself. Scooping it up, he held it with his duffle as he opened the door and walked inside. "You owe me dinner, Tommy!" he shouted as he closed the door behind him, dropping the two bags just inside the door and shutting it behind him. "I drove all the way here for no reas—"
Rocky froze as he turned around and actually looked at the hallway. There were definite signs of a struggle. Pictures were knocked askew, and things were on the floor. Rocky's guard went up as he glanced around for any sign of the participants of the struggle. He didn't hear anything in the house. "Tommy! Kat!" he shouted, stepping cautiously down the hallway. "Trent! Is anyone here?"
There was initially no answer. Rocky paused before going any further into the house. "I should update Hayley," he muttered, his eyes still moving as he listened for any sign of movement. "She can tell Cart—"
The front door opened, and a familiar figure stumbled in, falling to one knee just inside the door. He stayed there, panting as he looked at Rocky. "Tommy!" Rocky exclaimed, rushing toward him. "What happened? Are you alright? What's going on?"
"I'm alright," Tommy said, shaking his head. "But we were ambushed. They took Kat and Trent."
"Who?" Rocky asked, reaching down to pull Tommy to his feet. "I don't know," he answered, shaking his head. "We'll figure it out," Rocky said, pulling out his phone. "I'll call Billy and get help."
Rocky glanced away for a moment to pull up Billy's number. He didn't get to dial, interrupted by Tommy trying to grab him and knock his feet out from under him. Dropping his phone, Rocky managed to keep on his feet and fought back.
"You're not Tommy," he snarled. "No, I'm better," the copy laughed. They struggled for a few moments and then Rocky threw the imposter away from himself and down the hall. "Definitely not Tommy," he muttered as he turned and bolted outside. "Because Tommy wouldn't have let me do that."
He needed room to fight—or run if that became necessary. Outside, however, Rocky ran straight into an ambush and was quickly surrounded by rangers. Rangers in uniforms he definitely recognized. "Great—clones," he groaned. Rocky steeled himself for a fight as they rushed toward him. He wasn't going to get out of this easily. As he clashed with the first couple, he realized very quickly that whatever cloning process had been used had given the copies ranger powers—not just their costumes. Outmatched, Rocky reached for his own morpher to try and level out the playing field. Before he could grab it, however, he was hit from behind by a blaster. Hitting the ground, Rocky tried to roll and get back to his feet. But the clones swarmed him and stopped him from getting up or reaching his morpher. Struggling to get up from where he was pinned to the ground, Rocky watched the clone of Tommy approach him with a smirk.
"This would have been easier if you had just cooperated, Rocky," he smirked. "You aren't going to succeed in whatever this is," Rocky snapped, trying again to throw the clones off. "The other rangers will stop you."
"I don't think so," the Tommy clone laughed as he stood over Rocky. The clone kicked Rocky in the head. There was a flash of pain and then everything went dark as he lost consciousness.

Wednesday March 21st, 2018 Panorama City, Japan

"I'm running out for a bit," Antonio called over his shoulder as he walked out of the temple. "Going fishing. Eat lunch without me."
Jogging out of the gates with his fishing gear in hand, Antonio stopped in surprise when he saw someone waiting for him. "Tommy?" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Jayden didn't say you were coming to the temple."
"I didn't tell him," Tommy said with a shrug. "Did you just get here?"
Tommy nodded. "Oh, well, Jayden is in the temple if you are looking for him," Antonio offered. "I'm actually heading out right now."
He held up his pole and tackle box to show where he was going.
"I'll walk with you," Tommy said. Antonio looked at him in surprise but didn't argue. They walked in silence for a few minutes. "So, what are you doing here?" Antonio asked, breaking the silence. "I had some business to take care of."
"Oh, alright…" Antonio said slowly. "Isn't this interrupting, then?"
"No."
Antonio turned to ask Tommy another question when they were suddenly surrounded by unfamiliar rangers. He immediately dropped his fishing gear so he had his hands free to react. "Who are they?" Antonio exclaimed, looking around in surprise. "And why are there doubles?"
Tommy didn't answer, watching the rangers silently. The rangers attacked without further warning. Antonio fought back, Tommy behind him. But they were outnumbered. Then Antonio took a hit to the back of the head. Dropping to the ground, the last thing he heard was someone laughing before his vision went dark.

Thursday March 22nd, 2018 Harwood County, CA

"Hello?" Gia said, grabbing her phone and answering it when she saw the name on the caller ID. "Tommy—what's going on?"
Jake, sitting across the table, looked at Gia in surprise. She just shook her head. It was Thursday afternoon, and they were out for an early dinner date. "Sure, I can do that. When?"
Gia hesitated, looking at Jake. He smiled back, shaking his head. "Do what you need to," he assured her. "If Tommy is calling, it's important. Go."
"I'll be there as soon as I can," she said.
Hanging up, Gia stuck her phone back in her pocket and stood up. "I'm sorry, Jake," she said. "But Tommy said he needs my help with something. He's going to explain when I get there."
"Don't worry about it," he said. "Again—he wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. Just be careful and stay in touch."
"Always," she smiled. Turning, she darted out of the restaurant. A little while later she was jogging into the park and looking around for Tommy. Finally, she spotted him leaning against a tree. Gia headed straight for him. "Tommy, what's going on?" she asked. "Did something happen?"
"I just need your help," he answered. "Ok, what with?"
Before he could answer, Gia realized they were surrounded by rangers. They barely gave her time to register their presence before they attacked. She fought back, trying to get to her morpher so she could fight on an even playing field, but they weren't giving her a chance to reach it. Gia had lost sight of Tommy, but she assumed he was fighting nearby. One of the rangers managed to knock her off her feet and Gia hit the ground hard. She started to scramble back to her feet and ended up in the path of a kick. Flying back into a tree, she cracked her head and slid to the ground as she lost consciousness.

Friday March 23rd, 2018 Harwood County, CA

Jake strode into Brain Freeze and glanced around. Seeing Emma sitting with Troy, Noah, and Orion, he hurried over to join them. "Hey guys," he said, dropping into a seat and immediately turning to Emma. "Emma, have you heard anything from Gia? She isn't answering my texts or calls and I'm worried. I haven't heard from her since she left dinner yesterday to go meet with Tommy."
Emma shook her head. "I haven't heard anything either," she admitted. "Which is kind of weird."
"Maybe Tommy took her on a mission?" Troy suggested. "There may not be time for her to call or text. And if she isn't on planet or in this dimension…"
He shrugged. Jake shook his head. "Tommy wouldn't just take her without telling anyone," he pointed out. "He knows we would worry."
"Have you tried calling Tommy?" Orion asked. "Yeah, he didn't answer the phone," Jake sighed. "I left a message this morning, but he hasn't called me back either."
The rest of the rangers exchanged looks. "I'll just call Andros," Troy said. "If there is something going on, SPD and Lightspeed are going to know about it. Andros is next on the call list, and he's bound to know something at least."
Jake nodded. "Thanks, Troy," he said. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I'm worried."
Troy stood and the rest followed. The group slipped out of Brain Freeze to go make the call somewhere more private.

Panorama City, Japan

Jayden paced back and forth in the courtyard. Antonio had gone fishing two mornings before and still hadn't come back to the temple. Losing track of time while fishing wasn't unusual for the gold ranger, but this was a little extreme. What was more concerning was they'd found his fishing gear on the ground in the forest. "Jayden, you need to relax," Lauren said, watching her brother. She was sitting on the steps watching him pace back and forth. "Something isn't right, Lauren," Jayden said, pausing to look at her. "Antonio doesn't just disappear like this. Come home super late because he zoned out by the river? Yes. Be gone for more than two days after abandoning his gear? Not a chance. Something happened to him."
"So, call his communicator," she suggested. "I've tried that. Multiple times. He doesn't answer that or his phone. What if Xandred or one of his minions came back and took him?"
Jayden started pacing again. Lauren sighed. "I'm pretty sure we would have noticed something by now," she pointed out. "But if you're worried, call Tommy. He almost always knows if something weird is going on. And if there is and it involves Antonio, I'm sure he'll tell you."
Jayden stopped pacing to look at his sister again. "Ok, I didn't think of that," he admitted sheepishly. She just sighed and rolled her eyes. "Then go call him," she ordered. "Before you walk a trench into the courtyard."

Astro Megaship, above Angel Grove, CA

"No, Aisha," Andros sighed. "I haven't heard from Rocky yet. We're working on it. But the more you interrupt the longer finding him is going to take."
He paused to listen for a moment. "I understand you are worried," he said. "But I promise I will call you as soon as I know anything, ok?"
Finally getting off the phone, Andros leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk as he rubbed his temples. He had been getting phone calls all morning from rangers worried about missing teammates. It had started with Jayden from the Samurais calling around 6p the night before to tell him Antonio was missing and they couldn't get ahold of Tommy. Andros had reassured them he would look into it and had tried contacting Tommy himself without much success. He hadn't answered his communicator or the ranger phone, though he had sent a quick text response from his personal phone telling Andros he was in the middle of something. After that Andros had called Carter to ask if he knew what was going on. Carter—and Cruger—had been just as confused that anything was happening at all. After touching base with a few others, Andros had talked to Hayley and Billy working at Lightspeed and learned Tommy had been mostly out of contact since the beginning of the week. Hayley had sent Trent and Rocky to check up on him and Trent had sent a message confirming he had found Tommy. That hadn't helped him locate Antonio, but he messaged Jayden to say he would update him once he had something and started digging into the disappearance. This morning, however, things had quickly descended into chaos. Aisha had woken him up essentially demanding answers and making him regret agreeing to be next on the call list when he was in range of Earth. Rocky hadn't come home from Reefside Thursday night like he was supposed to, and Aisha was trying to keep his coworkers from being suspicious. She'd made up an explanation for the family emergency Rocky had mentioned when he left work on Tuesday. He apparently wasn't answering her calls and now it was Friday and there was still no word from him. Assuring Aisha he'd look into it, Andros had barely gotten her off the phone when Kira called. She had gotten back from an out-of-state concert the night before to find out Trent hadn't been home in days and was extremely concerned. She had already heard from Hayley that he had met up with Tommy but was understandably worried that no one had heard from him since. So, after a third call, this one from Megaforce regarding Gia, Andros had contacted Carter at Lightspeed and Cruger at SPD to tell them they were potentially missing rangers and might have a problem. Now all three of them, with help from Hayley and Billy, were attempting to locate the four missing rangers and trying to figure out why Tommy still wasn't answering calls. Andros kept getting calls and messages asking for updates and interrupting. It was making it very hard to concentrate. Just as he returned to looking at his computer, the phone rang again. Andros took a deep breath before he answered. "Hello?" he said. "Andros, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have some more information I think you'll want to know," Hayley said quickly. "I already told Carter and Cruger."
"What is it?" Andros frowned, leaning back in his chair. "Mack called," she said. "And unintentionally brought up a good point. Tommy hasn't been answering the ranger phone at all. Just texts on his personal phone. And I just tried again. I still can't get a lock on any of his devices to verify his location. So, with two of the missing rangers last seen in the vicinity of his house—"
"You think something originated in the area?" Andros interrupted. "But wouldn't the sensors you and Tommy have spread all over Reefside have caught something?"
"Not necessarily," Hayley said. "If someone took them and left the area there is a chance we wouldn't have been alerted. There is too much ground to cover to account for everything."
Andros sighed. "Then how do we find them?" he asked. "That's where it gets challenging. If someone did take them, it seems like they've caused some kind of anomaly around the area of Tommy's house. Most of the equipment appears to be functioning normally but I can't get a GPS lock. So, either something is blocking, or it effected any devices in the area directly. Which would explain why we are struggling to get ahold of Tommy and Kat."
"So, why don't we send someone to talk to him in person?"
"I don't want to risk someone else disappearing trying to get to Tommy," Hayley said immediately. "Like Trent. Carter recruited Wes and Eric to start an actual hunt for the four missing rangers while we try and figure out what's happening in Reefside from a distance. I already told Kira not to go to the house. She's agreed for the moment—if only reluctantly."
"That's probably best right now," Andros agreed, reluctant himself. "Where are Wes and Eric starting?"
"Eric is going to talk to Megaforce and the Samurais to get some more information from them and check out the areas," she said. "And Wes is actually going to check in on the other dimensions to see if anything weird is happening there, too, or if it's just us. Plus, if they've been pulled into another dimension he should be able to pick up their locations while he's there."
"Alright, keep me updated," Andros said. "I'll keep fielding calls until we have actual answers."
Not long after he got off the phone with Hayley, TJ poked his head into the room. "Hey, I'm going planet side," he said. "Got a message from Tommy that he needs my help with something."
Andros turned to look at him. "You aren't going to Reefside, are you?" he asked. TJ shook his head. "Nah. Tommy said to meet him in Angel Grove. We're closer to there right now anyways."
"What phone did he use?" Andros frowned. "His cell," TJ answered. "I texted him earlier and he's finally answered. Sounds like he may have some ideas about the missing rangers so I figure it's worth the trip. Didn't say much, but he probably doesn't want to risk it on his personal phone. I'll call once I know something."
"Just be careful," Andros said. "Don't do anything stupid. And ask Tommy what on earth he did to the ranger phone while you're down there. We would all like to know."
TJ grinned. "Me do stupid things? Now why would you worry about that?"
Andros just rolled his eyes as TJ laughed and left the room.

New York City, NY

Trini glanced up from her papers when her phone rang. She sighed, recognizing the ringtone. Setting her papers down, she answered the phone. "You would call while I'm trying to get ready for a meeting, wouldn't you?" she said. "I'm sorry, but it's important," Carter said. "We may have a situation here…"
Trini frowned, sitting up straighter. "What kind of situation?" she asked quickly. "Well, we were hoping it was nothing, which is why we haven't called before now, but…" "Carter, what happened?" Trini said sharply. She got up and went to the door of her office. Shutting the door, she locked it before she moved back to her desk. "We have four rangers who are potentially missing," he said after a moment. "Potentially? Carter, either they are missing, or you know where they are. They can't be both."
"Alright—we have no idea where they are," he admitted. "And two of them were last seen or spoken to on Tuesday…"
Trini grimaced, pinching the bridge of her nose as she responded slowly, trying not to snap. "It's Friday. How are you just now noticing?"
"A lot of reasons boiling down to everyone thought they were with someone else until they weren't where they were supposed to be anymore. We've done everything possible on our end to find them with no luck."
"That's just great," Trini muttered. "What is Tommy doing? I would have expected him to have called me."
Carter hesitated again. "That's the other problem. Tommy is being a little weird. He's answering some texts, but he hasn't really reached out to help. None of us have been able to get an actual answer out of him at all. Either Trent or Rocky were the last one to see him in person—now both of them have disappeared."
"You're telling me two of Tommy's closest friends are missing and Tommy isn't involved?"
"Not unless he is running solo," Carter confirmed. "Hayley is running on the theory that this started in Reefside—whatever it is. So, there is a potential Tommy isn't able to help us if he is trapped there by whatever is going on."
"But it's still weird."
Trini sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Alright, who is actually missing?" she asked after a moment. "And what have you already done?"
Carter quickly got Trini caught up on what had been going on. He told her what they knew of when the four rangers were last seen and that they had touched base with all of the teams. "I have all of the reds accounting for their teammates," Carter said. "So far no one else is missing, but those with missing teammates are getting antsy."
"We need to keep this under the radar," Trini said, shaking her head. "I know they are worried, but I really don't want anyone outside of the rangers to get wind of this situation until we have it under control. The last thing we need is someone trying to get involved."
"I'll let you explain that to Conner, Jayden, and Troy," Carter said drily. "All three of them are ready to go charging in and we don't even know who is responsible yet—or where to go charging to."
Trini sighed. "Reds," she muttered. "Has anyone checked on the rest of my team?"
"No direct contact," Carter admitted. "It would normally be Tommy. But I could have Billy call them."
"I'll handle it," Trini said. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure any of them know Billy is actually living on Earth. We don't talk much these days and when we do, he doesn't come up."
"But wouldn't they have seen him during the battle a couple years ago?"
"Yes, but he wasn't able to stay afterward—none of us were—and I distinctly remember Kim saying something about him living so far away when we were saying goodbyes."
Carter chuckled. "I guess that would be a bit of a shock right now, then."
A knock on her door had Trini finishing the conversation quickly. "I have a meeting," she sighed. "But I'll reach out to the others as soon as it's done. Keep me updated if anything changes. And keep trying to get an answer from Tommy—we need to know if he's been pulled into this somehow and what he's doing."
Carter assured her he would, and Trini hung up as she walked over to unlock her door.

Astro Megaship, above Angel Grove, CA

Later that afternoon, Andros was on the phone with Aisha again when Hayley video called him. He answered, pointing to the phone by his ear to indicate he needed a moment. "Aisha, I have another call," Andros said. "I'm sorry I still don't know anything about Rocky, but I promise we are doing everything we can to locate him right now."
As he listened to her answer, the door opened and Cassie walked in. "Andros, have you seen TJ?" she asked, not seeing the phone in his hand right away. "He missed lunch and isn't answering his phone. Oh! Sorry."
Andros shook his head. "He went to meet with Tommy this morning," Andros frowned as he answered her. "He should be back—"
"Tell him to have Tommy send Rocky home!" Aisha interrupted in his ear. "Aisha, I'm working on it," Andros sighed. "I need to go but I'll call you later."
Not giving the determined yellow ranger a chance to argue, he hung up and turned to Cassie. "Is he really not back?" he asked in concern. "He's not on the ship," she confirmed. "And he didn't answer when I called his phone or communicator."
"Great," Andros muttered. "Now I have to go get TJ. I'll find him, Cass. Just let me talk to Hayley real quick."
Cassie nodded and ducked back out of the room. Andros turned to the video screen. "Sorry, Hayley," he said. "I know I haven't been much help today."
"You've helped plenty," she assured him. "Someone needs to run interference with the rest of the rangers. If it wasn't you, one of us would be doing it anyways. Now—TJ?"
Andros shook his head. "He got a call from Tommy earlier about something and went to meet him."
"In Reefside?" Hayley asked, raising an eyebrow as her fingers flew over her keyboard.
"No, Angel Grove," Andros said. "I thought it was a little weird, but TJ said he actually talked to Tommy so I didn't stop him. I'm going to go see if I can figure out where he got sidetracked once we're done."
"Don't," Hayley said sharply. Andros looked at her in surprise. "I can't find TJ's location anymore," she said. "He's dropped off the map. I've been tracking all of the rangers since this morning and he's gone. Something is seriously wrong, Andros—don't leave the ship and don't let any of the others leave the ship either. I don't care who calls you. I need to tell Carter and warn Eric and Wes. They could be in danger, too."
Hayley disappeared without another word. Andros stared at the computer for a few minutes, trying to wrap his head around what Hayley had said—and what she didn't say. This problem was growing bigger by the minute. And now he had to tell Cassie TJ was missing.

New York City, NY

"Why on earth would Andros let TJ take off like that?" Trini snapped. "Someone else should have gone, too."
Carter had just called to tell her TJ had joined the growing list of missing rangers. "I've already sent out alerts," Carter sighed. "Everyone is supposed to be seeking a safe space to lay low until further notice. Andros is kicking himself for letting TJ leave the Megaship. But it was Tommy… it should have been safe."
"Clearly not," Trini said agitatedly as she paced around her office. "I'm getting a plane to California right now."
"No," Carter said sharply. "It's not safe right now. It's bad enough I can't send someone to protect you. I don't want to risk you out in public. Please tell me you have your security nearby."
"Right outside as always. Carter, I can't help from here. What about Adam?"
"He and Tanya are with Aisha and the kids. And I'm not pulling him away. So, you would have to bring your entourage and explain a sudden need to fly to California without alerting anyone."
Trini sighed. She knew he was right but that didn't mean she had to like it. "Which would be counterproductive to keeping it to ourselves," she muttered. "Fine. But I want constant updates. I have already canceled my meetings for the afternoon under the premise of a migraine."
"Have you gotten ahold of the rest of yours?" Carter asked, changing the subject. "I was getting ready to call them when you called back," Trini explained. "I was in meetings all through lunch and I didn't have a reason to blow them off without raising suspicion. You know how they are."
She paused, shaking her head as she dropped into her chair. "Carter, if any of them has been taken too I'm coming back whether you like it or not," she warned. "I wouldn't dare argue," Carter sighed. "I'll even see if we can send someone to get you. Maybe Eric or Wes. They're done running around the state talking to the teams in person."
They quickly wrapped up their conversation so Carter could go get an update from Cruger. SPD was helping try and locate the missing rangers, too. Their sources had all struck out so far. Once she was off the phone, Trini immediately called Zach. It rang a long time, and she was starting to think she was going to get his answering machine when he finally picked up. "Trini?" Zach said, sounding surprised. "Long time no talk—what's going on?"
"Not much," Trini said, relieved to hear him. "Just calling for a quick chat to see how you've been."
She tried to keep the concern she was feeling over the situation out of her voice. There was no need to panic Zach unnecessarily. Especially since he'd had so little contact with the ranger world since high school. "A little random, but alright," he said. "I've mostly just been busy with work—"
"Have you noticed anything weird going on?" Trini interrupted. "Or that's not really what you wanted. What's going on, Trini? What kind of weird are you talking about? I do live in LA."
Trini hesitated for a moment. She knew her phone was a secure line, but Zach's probably wasn't. "Think high school weird," she said after a moment. "High school?" Zach repeated. "Nope. And I don't want to do that again. None of that. That thing a couple years ago was bad enough. Obviously, I'll help in an emergency, but high school was a long time ago."
"And there's no reason it can't stay that way," Trini quickly assured him. "I can't explain much right now. I just want you to be careful and call me immediately if anything weird happens. Don't trust anyone right now."
Zach groaned. "That just makes it worse," he muttered. "If I get abducted and dragged into the middle of something I blame you. I may sleep in the studio tonight just so I can hide where no one will look for me."
"I'm sorry," Trini apologized. "I just want you to be safe and we really don't know what's going on for sure."
Zach sighed. "I appreciate it," he admitted. "And you will be the first one I call if something does happen."
"Actually," Trini said slowly as she realized something. "I'm going to text you a number. If anything related to high school happens call that number first. Tell them your name and where they can find you. They'll be closer and can help faster."
"Does the number come with a name?" "Not right now," Trini said. "But maybe later. I'm hoping you won't need to use it."
They talked for a few more minutes. Then Trini excused herself. She still had two more calls to make. Once she had hung up with Zach, she texted him Andros' number and then called Jason. His phone did go to voicemail—which wasn't necessarily unusual. She'd only spoken to him a couple of times over the last several years and each of those times had been him calling her back after she left a message citing an emergency situation. So, she left a message to say she was just checking in to make sure everything was alright and to call if he needed anything. Not long after she left the message she got a text back. Busy at work right now. Maybe we can talk later?
Trini sighed but responded saying that would be nice. But she knew he wouldn't set up a time to talk unless it was an emergency—and she wasn't ready to explain their current emergency with how little they knew. Deciding the texts would have to be enough for now, Trini called Kim next. "Trini!" Kim exclaimed, answering after just one ring. "I haven't talked to you in ages! What's going on?"
"Kim, we talked just a few weeks ago," Trini chuckled. "Where are you at right now?"
Trini never knew exactly where Kim was since she bounced around all over the US and overseas following her husband. "We're in France right now," Kim said. "Oh, good. Then you're still awake."
"But definitely in my jammies," Kim laughed. "It is after 8p, after all. We aren't going out tonight so I'm comfy. So, what's going on? You don't usually call without some warning—or a reason."
"I just wanted to check in. Make sure nothing weird was going on."
"Weird?" Kim said slowly. "Weird how, Trini?"
Trini sighed. "High school weird."
"What?" Kim exclaimed. "What happened? Is everyone alright?"
"I don't have a lot of answers right now," Trini said quickly. "I just want you to be careful. Like lay low and trust no one—things or even people may not be as they appear."
Kim was silent for a moment and Trini waited for her to say something. "Trini, what's going on?" Kim asked. "I know I don't ever ask questions. I didn't even ask during the war. But you've never called me telling me to essentially hide."
"There are some things that can't be explained over the phone," Trini said hesitantly. "I just want to make sure you are safe."
"If you can't tell me on the phone then I'll come to New York. Jake! We need to call the airport. I have to get to New York."
"Kim, no," Trini groaned. "If you haven't heard or seen anything weird yet then you are safer where you are."
"But someone could be in danger, and you can't give me answers?"
"Not like this. It's too risky—especially for you. This conversation is already stretching things. We do have enemies, Kim."
"Then I'm coming to you," Kim said determinedly. "I want to help if I can."
Trini sighed. She knew from experience that there was no point in arguing with Kim at this point. "Just be careful and call me when you land," Trini said. "I'll meet you at my house and we can talk."

"Who was this you were texting? And why were they calling you?" Jason glanced up from making dinner to see Christine holding his phone. He frowned, confused by the question. "What text are you talking about?" he asked. "'Busy at work right now. Maybe we can talk later?'" she read. "They called you, too. Trini?"
"Oh, Trini," Jason said. "She's a friend from high school. She just checks in once in a while to see how I'm doing."
Christine scoffed, dropping Jason's phone on the table. "Oh really?" she said, shaking her head. "Which friend is this again? Have I met her?"
Jason looked up from dinner again. "I don't think so," he answered, frowning as he tried to remember. "I haven't seen her in years. Umm… she's really smart and does some kind of work with the government now. I don't remember what offhand."
"Oh, so the really nosy one who always asks what you are doing?" Jason sighed. "She isn't nosy…" he said. Christine shrugged as she walked over to stand closer to Jason. "Of course not, sweetheart," she said. "Anyways, I'm heading out to the mall."
"Dinner is going to be done in an hour," he said. "I won't be gone long," she said. "But I do need some cash."
She traced a finger up and down his arm as she looked at him and smiled. Jason glanced over at her and hesitated.
"I don't know what I have right now," Jason said. "How much do you need? I'm trying to make sure we have enough money to cover our moving expenses."
Christine sighed, pouting a little. "I just need a new dress for this charity event," she said. "I want to make sure I look nice—it is in your grandfather's honor after all."
Jason nodded slowly. "Oh—your suit still fits, right?" she asked, looking him up and down. "Or do you need to lose a little weight again? Not that you don't look good of course."
"Give me a second to see what I have," Jason said, shaking his head as he walked over to grab his wallet. While Jason was checking his wallet to see what cash he had on hand, Will sauntered into the room. Jason briefly glanced up at his brother-in-law as he pulled the cash out of his wallet. He was dressed up like he was going to a party. "Going somewhere?" Jason asked, eyeing what Will was wearing. "Meeting some friends at that new club," Will shrugged. "There's a party tonight. I'll be out late."
Jason handed some cash to Christine. "Will that be enough?" he asked. "I guess it will do," she sighed. "Will and I are going to share a cab on the way and I'm meeting some friends there to help me pick out the perfect dress. So, I'll be home later."
"Have fun," Jason said, giving her a kiss. "Oh, I will," she smiled. Turning, she headed out of the kitchen. Will followed, pausing by Jason to pluck the rest of the cash out of his hand. "For the cab," he grinned before following his sister.
Jason just sighed as he watched them go. Hearing the apartment door shut behind them, Jason turned back to look at the dinner on the stove. "Guess it's just Marc and I for dinner."

Saturday March 24th, 2018 Mariner Bay, CA

"Billy, did you get ahold of Wes?" Hayley asked, looking at Carter as he paced back and forth across the room. After she had spoken to Andros and found out TJ had disappeared, too, Hayley had gone straight to Carter who issued an alert to all of the ranger teams to be on guard and lay low. Someone was hunting them. They had also called Trini to tell her this was a much bigger emergency than they thought. They had spent the rest of the night trying to figure out who it could be and where they possibly could have taken the other rangers. Eric, who had already been halfway to Japan, had elected to finish the trip and check in with the Samurais before he came back. Now it was morning again and they were back at it. Not that they had slept much the night before. "Interdimensional communications are challenging," Billy said in answer to her question. "But yes. He finally received the message. Hopefully he will bring us news of the others."
"I'm hoping he found them," Carter muttered. "Or at least some sign of them."
The door slid open as Carter was talking and Wes walked in followed by Gemma and Koda. All three were wearing cloaks, a simple way to hide their identities as they moved through the dimensions—and around Lightspeed since they were using portals. Arrival portals had to open outside, and they didn't want to advertise that Koda and Gemma were on the base. Right now, since they were inside the ranger only areas, they had the hoods thrown back and they were unmorphed. Carter, Hayley, and Billy all turned to look at the three rangers. "Not in any of the dimensions we've been in," Wes interrupted. "But I did get a message from my team. They can't give me details, but apparently it's critical we figure it out—and quickly."
Carter and Andros both grimaced. If Time Force was sending them any kind of message then it couldn't be a good thing going on. "Did they say anything about what's going on with Tommy?" Carter asked. Wes shook his head. "Just that we would need his help," he said. "So, we're going to go touch base with Super Ninja Steel and see if they can help us locate him. I already sent them a message. Active ranger teams have a tendency to attract the bad guys—and the people they need help from."
He grinned and shrugged as Carter shook his head. "Just don't get them in trouble," Carter said drily. "Or I'm going to let you deal with their problems for them."
"Don't worry, we've got this," Wes said. "I'll let you know if we find anything."
The three rangers morphed and pulled their cloaks around them. Then Wes opened a portal and they disappeared.

New York City, New York

When the doorbell went off, Trini grabbed her phone to check with her camera to see who it was. Seeing Kim on her porch, Trini smiled and went to answer the door. Kim was there with her husband, Jake. "Trini!" Kim squealed, throwing her arms around her. Trini hugged her back. "Come on in," she said after a moment. "It's good to see you again, Jake."
"Oh!" Kim exclaimed. "You remember Trini, right, Jake? She's one of my best friends and stood up in our wedding."
Jake nodded, saying hello as they moved into the house and Trini led the way to her living room. Setting the bags down, they all took a seat.
"How was your flight?" Trini asked. "Did you leave last night? I didn't really expect you to be here so quickly."
"Oh, we left as soon as we could after we got off the phone," Kim laughed. "Now, what's going on?"
Trini didn't answer immediately. Raising an eyebrow, she looked at Jake and then back at Kim. Kim followed Trini's gaze, quickly realizing what the look her friend was giving her was for. "Actually, first where are we going to be sleeping?" Kim asked. "We should put our stuff in the room."
"Upstairs, first room on the left," Trini answered. "Great, I'll take our bags up," Jake said immediately, standing up and grabbing the bags. "Why don't you two take the time to catch up? I know you don't get to see each other very often. I have a few phone calls to make anyways."
Trini just watched, a little surprised, as Jake grabbed his and Kim's luggage and disappeared up the stairs without an argument of any kind. "Well, that's convenient."
Kim shrugged, smiling as she watched him go, and then turned back to Trini. "Now—what on earth is going on?" she demanded. "Is everyone alright?"
Trini took a deep breath and started telling Kim everything she knew about what was currently going on.

Antiverse

They're in danger! Wake up NOW!
Tommy shot upright—or at least tried to—as he snapped out of the nightmare that had ended with him facing off against himself as the green ranger. Who had just shouted a rather cryptic warning at him. His heart was pounding as he registered several things—the first being that he was strapped to a table of some kind. Tommy glanced around quickly to try and figure out where he was as he tried to figure out the last thing he remembered besides the nightmare. He quickly realized he wasn't alone in the room. There were other rangers with him. To his right could see a woman he recognized as Gia, Megaforce's yellow. Rocky and Trent were next to her. They were all unconscious, strapped to machines he didn't recognize. He assumed he was strapped to the same thing. It was looking the other way, however, that really made him panic for a brief moment. Kat was attached to the machine next to him. He briefly registered that TJ and Antonio, the Samurai team's gold, were next to Kat as he remembered what had happened before he ended up here. JJ. Draven attacked him and then took JJ hostage. But JJ wasn't in the room with the rangers. That meant Draven was holding him somewhere else in whatever place they were in. Tommy let his head fall back against the table and he closed his eyes as he forced himself to take slow, even breaths so he could think. He didn't want to leave Kat, or any of the others, trapped here. But Tommy was afraid that, after freeing himself, if he took the time to free the other six rangers it would give Draven time to get JJ from wherever he had stashed him. Then he heard voices, including one that sounded familiar and not in a good way. Opening his eyes just enough to see, Tommy confirmed that he had indeed heard a clone of himself speaking.
"Did you miss me, Antonio?" Tommy clenched his fists as he heard the clone speak to the unconscious gold ranger. Risking another quick look, Tommy saw the machines activate. He grimaced as his own scanned his body, pulling at his connection to the Power and creating another copy. But he also realized that Draven was copying their powers into robots—he didn't have the ability to completely copy them. Which meant the other him had to be a robot. Knowing he needed to break free now, before the robot Tommy saw he had regained consciousness, Tommy took a breath and quickly made a decision. His morpher had been in his backpack, so he was going to have to improvise until he could find out what happened to it. Drawing on his long unused Ninjetti powers and his strong connection to the morphing grid, Tommy did several things very quickly. He broke free of the restraints on his wrists and flung himself off the table, turning invisible as he did so. Tommy also grabbed a blaster from the closest robot and started shooting. He was invisible and could probably slip away unnoticed, but he wanted to make sure they couldn't keep using the machine he had been attached to and cause as much chaos as possible as he escaped. RoboTommy started shouting as Tommy fired off more shots from the blaster. Seeing the transportal device his copy had clipped to his belt, Tommy hit the copy with a few blasts and zipped over to grab it before bolting out of the room with a boost from his Ninjetti abilities. Robot rangers gave chase, but he quickly lost them now that he wasn't actively shooting. It was hard to follow someone who was invisible and quick.
Moving through the halls, Tommy searched quickly for JJ. He knew once Draven found out he escaped JJ would be in more danger than he already was. Tommy was counting on his robot self to search for him first before informing his master something had happened. It took a few minutes, but Tommy finally found what he guessed was the room. A robot ranger was on guard outside. He took it down quickly and without warning, clearing the way into the room. Inside, JJ was lying on a table similar to the machines he and the other rangers had been hooked up to. But this one wasn't making copies, it was just keeping JJ asleep. He wasn't even strapped down besides the piece across his forehead to keep him unconscious. Probably to keep him out of Draven's way while making sure he remained a bargaining chip to be used against Tommy should he wake up and break out. Tommy took a deep breath and slipped the rest of the way into the room. He was surprised and relieved to see his backpack sitting on the ground next to the table where JJ was sleeping. He didn't remember dropping it when he was attacked but was still surprised it had made the trip with him. Letting his invisibility fall away, Tommy set down the transportal device and the blaster on the table so he could pick up JJ. He couldn't make JJ invisible anyways, so he was going to have to rely on other means to remain undetected. JJ didn't move as Tommy picked him up and hugged him to his chest. Tommy breathed a momentary sigh of relief that his son was alright.
But he couldn't stay there long. He needed to get JJ back to safety and he still didn't have a plan for getting back in to actually get the others out. They would be watching now. And even if he had temporarily stopped the creation of ranger robots, he wasn't sure that was going to slow Draven's plan down. Tommy had no idea how long he had been unconscious or how many ranger robots Draven had already created. Still holding JJ tightly, Tommy reached down and picked up his backpack. He slung it over one shoulder and looked at the blaster and transportal device. Holding JJ now, he wasn't going to be able to carry both. Tommy only hesitated for a moment though before grabbing the transportal device. JJ didn't move as Tommy activated the device, breathing evenly with his head resting against Tommy's shoulder. It wasn't one he was extremely familiar with, but after fiddling with it for a moment Tommy figured it out and entered some coordinates. But it wasn't their house the portal opened into. Tommy glanced around quickly as he shut the portal behind them. Immediately Tommy started moving. "Anton!" Tommy shouted, striding off through the house. Having a good guess of where his long-time friend and business partner would be if he was home, Tommy headed straight to Anton's office as he called for him again. Anton met Tommy at the door to his office, having heard the shouts. "Tommy, what's going on?" he asked, looking at JJ in Tommy's arms. "What happened to JJ?"
"I don't have time to explain right now," Tommy said quickly, striding into the office. Tommy placed JJ gently in an armchair as Anton watched him in surprise. "I need you to keep him safe for me while I go back for the others," Tommy said, dropping his backpack on the ground and reaching into it as he spoke. "I can't promise they won't have followed me, so you need to get somewhere safe as quickly as possible. There is a chance they can trace the portal I used. I'll come find you as soon as I can."
He straightened up, his morpher in his hand now. "If something happened, then let me call Kira," Anton said. "She's home and can go with you."
Tommy shook his head as he picked the transportal device back up. "Keep her with you," he said. "She can help protect you and JJ. I can sneak back in unseen to free the others, she can't."
Anton sighed but didn't argue as he looked at Tommy hesitantly. "Is Trent—" he started to ask. "I'll get him out," Tommy interrupted. "I promise. Just please keep JJ safe for me. Call Hayley—she can help."
"I will," Anton promised. Tommy hesitated for a moment as he looked at JJ asleep in in the chair. He knew what he had to do, but it was still hard leaving JJ here without knowing for sure nothing else was going to happen. Shaking himself, Tommy took a step back away from Anton. Turning, Tommy morphed into the black Dino Thunder ranger and stepped through the portal. The moment it closed behind Tommy, Anton spun and started moving. He first checked JJ for any obvious injuries. JJ looked like he was fine, just sound asleep. Moving over to his desk, Anton closed his laptop and picked up his phone. The door to his office opened again and his head shot up. "Was that Dr. O I heard shouting a minute ago?" Kira asked, rushing in. "Is Trent with h—JJ?"
She stopped in surprise when she saw the boy unconscious in the chair. "Tommy left him here and went back for the others," Anton said grimly. "I don't know who else he was talking about, but I know Trent was one of them."
"Where are they?" Kira said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. Anton shook his head. "I have no idea," he answered. "Tommy didn't have time to explain anything. He just asked me to get JJ somewhere safe in case someone followed him back here."
Kira quickly glanced around. She hadn't realized that was a potential danger. "Normally I'd say the lab," she said. "But the house has to be where they grabbed Trent—and maybe Dr. O—from. Too risky til we know it isn't compromised."
"I thought we'd take him to the base," Anton said, carefully picking up JJ before he walked to the door.
"The base?" Kira repeated. "That's not a bad idea. If we can get there without problems, there is no way anyone will get near JJ. Let's go."
Kira led the way, her morpher out and ready to go in case someone had followed Tommy and was waiting to ambush them. When they reached the garage, Anton quickly got JJ settled into the backseat and made sure he was buckled in and comfortable. Climbing into the driver's seat, he made a phone call as Kira climbed into the passenger seat. "Hayley, what's going on?" Anton asked when it was picked up. "You are going to need to be a lot more specific than that, Anton," Hayley said. "There is a lot going on right now and I know you're worried about Trent but I don't exactly have—"
"Tommy just walked into my office—through a portal of some kind—with his son and then left him with me saying he needed to go rescue the others," Anton interrupted. "Including my son. Then he disappeared back through the same portal. What is going on?"
"Well, that eliminates Tommy going evil again as a potential problem," Hayley said with relief. "But we have had at least five missing rangers—six if Tommy was with them—go missing in the last five days. Where are you?"
"Kira and I are bringing JJ to the base," Anton said, pulling out of the garage. "We'll call you if we run into any problems along the way."
"Be careful," Hayley warned. "We still don't know who is behind this—or if they are done taking rangers. Make sure Kira has her morpher and is ready for anything. If they really did take Tommy, then whoever is responsible managed to take six—potentially seven—veteran rangers without leaving a trace. And they didn't take JJ for fun. They knew they could use him against Tommy. Keep your eyes peeled."
She disconnected the call as Anton drove out of Reefside.

Mariner Bay, CA

As soon as Hayley was off the phone with Anton, she practically sprinted back into Carter's office. Carter, Andros, and Billy were all sitting around the desk discussing options. Since Wes left to enlist the help of Ninja Steel, the four of them had been brainstorming possible culprits. Unfortunately, that also meant entertaining the possibility of Tommy having gone evil again—especially since contact with him had been sporadic over the last week. They'd been avoiding saying it out loud, but all of them had been thinking of it as a possibility. Hayley had just stepped out for a moment when Anton called. "They took Tommy, too," she said. "It's been confirmed. Which means we can take him going evil off the table. I know that doesn't help us figure out who is actually responsible, but Anton says Tommy just appeared in his house. He left JJ with him and then disappeared back through a portal with his morpher. If he was evil, he wouldn't have bothered with JJ. He likely would have been after Kira, instead, since she was in the house."
All three men were now staring at her in surprise. "JJ?" Andros repeated. "Why was JJ with Tommy?"
"Anton didn't get that answer," Hayley said grimly. "But I can make a guess and I don't like the answer."
Carter and Andros both grimaced. "What kind of portal was it?" Carter asked. Hayley rolled her eyes. "I didn't see it, Carter," she said shortly. "I can't identify it if I didn't see it."
Billy reached over and placed a hand on her arm. Hayley paused, taking a deep breath. "I think we can safely assume Tommy went after the other six missing rangers," she continued. "Especially since he told Anton as much. I don't know if Wes and the others have found them yet, though. So, he may be trying to rescue them alone…"
"Six?" Carter said, frowning at the number Hayley listed. "It was only five if we don't include Tommy."
"Kat," Hayley said. "She hasn't been answering anything either and Tommy wouldn't have brought JJ to Anton if he was safe with Kat somewhere."
They were silent for a moment, none of the men had an argument for that. "I think there is another question we should be asking," Billy pointed out. "Who would have been contacting us with Tommy's phone if it was not Tommy? Mack drew some attention to this issue the other day, however…"
He trailed off as Carter, Andros, and Hayley all turned to look as they processed his statement. Though they had all thought there was a potential Tommy had been turned evil again, none of them had thought about someone else taking his place. "The phone," Hayley said slowly. "The connection was Tommy's phone. Of course, whoever had it wouldn't be able to use the ranger phone. They wouldn't be able to use it without a connected morpher and obviously they couldn't find Tommy's—not without his help. That's why the ranger phone has been silent but Tommy's personal one has been in use."
She ran back to her computer and started typing furiously. The three men didn't interrupt, knowing she'd share the rest of her thought process once she confirmed her guess. After a few moments Hayley turned back to them. "We've been trying to link them, but we've been going about it the wrong way," she finally said, staring at her computer screen. "I'm guessing Kat, Trent, and Rocky got caught because they got too close to the house—or Tommy. It had to be for them to disappear so easily. But the other three? They had all called Tommy on his personal phone in the days before his disappearance. I mean, so did Kat, Rocky, and Trent. But that's normal."
"Why that phone?" Carter frowned. "And what does that have to do with anything?"
Hayley sighed. "Someone else has been actively using his phone," she said. "At least to an extent. And only a few of the rangers outside of close friends have that number. He gives it to them if they need advice or help on non-ranger matters that need a longer conversation, so it doesn't tie up the emergency line. I've told him not to but…"
She shrugged. "The point is, I think that's how Gia and Antonio got pulled into this," she said hurriedly. "And probably TJ based on the phone call from yesterday. They are all on his recent call history. So, whoever really has his phone used that to find them or lure them into a trap."
"But they wouldn't have just walked up to a random person if Tommy called them," Carter pointed out. "It's Tommy they trust. But you just told us Tommy was captured. So, either someone was controlling him, and he broke free or—"
"It is a clone," Billy groaned, his head dropping into his hands. "It has to be. Someone cloned Tommy—again…Why is it always him?"
"It makes the most sense…" Hayley reluctantly agreed. "Though we won't know for sure until they get back…"
She trailed off and the room fell silent for a few minutes. "Now what?" Carter finally sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "Now we wait," Andros said. "And hope Tommy can get them out on his own or that Wes finds them in time."
"And we call Trini," Hayley pointed out. "She needs to know something has happened."
"I am already messaging her," Billy said, his phone in hand.

New York City, NY

Trini quickly grabbed her phone when it went off, reading the text that had been sent with some relief. Kim leaned over to take a look. They were both sitting on Trini's couch where they had been waiting all morning for more news. Jake was sitting in an armchair reading the newspaper. MMB: Falcon has not gone evil. Or at least is not any longer? I am not sure if we can rule out him being evil temporarily at this point. We have an in person sighting by AM but Falcon is gone again. He said he was going back for the rest.
Both women breathed a sigh of relief as they read the text message. "Trini, who is MMB?" Kim asked quietly. "And AM? And evil—seriously?"
Trini hesitated, glancing at Jake who hadn't looked up from his paper. Her phone went off a second time before she could say anything. There is a chance Falcon has a clone… Evidence points strongly in that direction. One of us will call soon with more information. We are trying to put it all together right now. Trini and Kim stared at each other with wide eyes. "Trini, a—"
Trini shook her head, interrupting as her eyes flashed to Jake again. He was watching them now. Seeing the look on Trini's face, Jake folded up the newspaper and stood. "Anyone hungry?" he asked. "I can make us something to eat."
"That would be great, sweetheart," Kim smiled. "Take your time."
Jake walked out of the room and disappeared into the kitchen. A moment later they could hear cupboards opening and closing and pots and pans clanging. Trini turned to give Kim a look. "When all of this is over, you and I are going to make time to have a long talk about him," Trini said. "Don't worry, Trini," Kim laughed. "He doesn't really know anything—just enough to know not to ask when weird things happen."
Trini shook her head as Kim went back to serious. "Now… a clone? Can we really handle another Tommy clone running around?" Kim asked. "At least I'm assuming that's who Falcon is. Trini—the first one was bad enough…"
"Well, hopefully we won't have to," Trini sighed. "Tommy should be able to handle it with the help that was sent for him—if they can find him."
"We should go help," Kim said. "We've been through this before and—"
"No, not yet," Trini interrupted firmly. "First of all—any true clone of Tommy is going to be a lot more dangerous than the last time we fought one and you are not prepared for that. A lot has happened since then that you don't know yet. Second, we don't actually know where they are."
"We should still go to California to help. Jake can have a plane ready for us within the hour."
Trini shook her head. "If we are called to assist, we won't need to worry about a plane," she assured Kim. "We have much more efficient ways of travel for emergencies. But, for right now, we need to wait and let others handle it."
Kim sighed. "Alright," she conceded. "But I'm going to tell Jake we may take off to go shopping at some point today, so he doesn't worry if we disappear."
Hopping off the couch, she disappeared into the kitchen. Trini took the opportunity to make a phone call. As she waited for them to answer, she headed to her home office and shut the door, locking it behind her. There were still some things she couldn't tell Kim until she knew the pink ranger was ready to be fully involved again. "Details, please," she said when they picked up.

On the road to Mariner Bay

Kira and Anton sat in silence as they drove toward Mariner Bay. They had left Reefside a short time before. While Anton drove, Kira had her phone out and was texting back and forth quickly with several people. Her morpher was still visible on her wrist, ready for immediate use if anyone tried to stop them. JJ was asleep in the backseat. "Do we need to get Conner or Ethan?" Anton asked, glancing over at Kira. "No," she said, shaking her head. "Hayley talked them into staying where they are—after Carter ordered the same thing. We still don't know where Dr. O actually went, so we are all supposed to just be ready to move from where we are at. If we all gather in one spot that could make us an easier target."
A noise in the backseat had Kira spinning in her seat to see what was going on. JJ was shifting around. "JJ?" Kira said, quickly hiding her morpher as she reached into the back to touch his shoulder. "JJ—are you awake?"
He blinked his eyes open, yawning as he looked at her and then Anton with surprise. "Kira?" he said. "Uncle Anton?"
"Hello sleepyhead," Kira said with a smile. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm ok," he answered, looking around. "Umm… where are we going? I don't remember getting in the car."
Kira hesitated, glancing over at Anton. "Your dad dropped you off earlier," she said after a moment. "And will be meeting us where we are going."
"Oh. Ok."
JJ frowned, but accepted what Kira said without an argument as he yawned. Then his stomach growled. "Umm… are we going to eat when we meet dad?" he asked sheepishly. "We can get something now I think," Anton answered. "Kira?"
She nodded, pulling her phone back out to see what was nearby. "I'll find a drive-thru," she said. "I don't want to get out of the car if we don't absolutely have to."
"Why not?" JJ asked, yawning. "Because it would just slow us down," Kira answered quickly. She wasn't about to tell JJ it was because they were worried about someone hunting them. Tommy hadn't given Anton a lot of details, so Kira was determined to err on the side of paranoid. With so few details as to what was happening, she didn't want to chance putting JJ in danger—even with something as simple as sitting down to eat at a restaurant. "Take this exit," Kira said after a moment. "JJ—how do burgers sound?"

Antiverse

The Ninja Steel rangers, along with Wes, Koda, Gemma, and Tommy, watched in horror as Draven fired the first arrow. They were too far away to even try to stop it. Tommy had just saved them a few moments before from Draven's minions armed with cannons. Wes had confirmed it was the real Tommy for the rest of them as Tommy explained how he had escaped and that the other rangers were still being held captive. Now they were trying to decide what to do next. "We'll find the chest," Brody said, glancing around at his team. "That's where the last two arrows will be."
"And I'll lead you to the dungeons so we can rescue the other rangers," Tommy added. "Wes, your team is with me."
The rangers took off running and split up. Tommy led Wes, Gemma, and Koda into Draven's fortress. "I'm glad you keep the invisibility thing to yourself as much as possible," Wes said to Tommy as they ran. "Otherwise, we may have thought you were a robot."
"The robot wouldn't have rescued you," Tommy retorted. "It would have taken you prisoner like the others. Or let them shoot you with the cannons. Now hurry up—I already left the others alone too long."

Mariner Bay, CA

Hayley strode back into Carter's office with her phone out, answering a text message from Kira. She had just gotten the message that JJ was awake, and they were taking a detour for food. In the office, all three men were on their phones with different people. Hayley stopped just inside the door, listening to them in amusement for a moment. "I'm sorry, Troy," Carter was saying. "I still don't have any answers to give you. I promise we are doing everything we can to find Gia and bring her home—no. That would not be helpful. As I told you before, we haven't been able to track her morpher or anything else. I—Jake, I'm not repeating myself just because you took the phone from Troy. He can explain what I already said."
Andros was on the phone with Jayden.
"Why are you even awake right now?" he sighed. "Isn't it somewhere around 3a there? You need to sleep—yes. You do. Depriving yourself of sleep isn't going to bring Antonio home any faster…As soon as we know anything concrete, I will call you—no, I don't have anything new to tell you. It's the same thing—we are looking for them."
Billy was having the same argument with Aisha. "Aisha, we are—no, we still do not have answ—Aisha… I am sorry. I wish I had something else to tell you but—Aisha, you know we are just as worried about Rocky, but you need to give us time—"
Billy flinched, Aisha probably shouting in his ear. All three men were actively trying to end the conversations they were having. They didn't want to tell anyone that Tommy had been seen because they still couldn't confirm what was actually going on or where he had even gone after leaving JJ. All they knew was what Hayley had heard from Anton. They didn't want to get anyone's hopes up that they had found the missing rangers when they didn't know who Tommy had gone back for—he hadn't given Anton anything solid besides the mention of Trent. And Wes hadn't checked back in since he left to meet up with Ninja Steel. "I know how long it has been…" Billy sighed. Hayley decided enough was enough and cleared her throat to get all of their attention. "Hang up," she said. "We know they are frustrated—we all are. But your conversations aren't going anywhere, and we still don't have real answers. So, tell them you are sorry, you'll call them back, and then hang up. We have things we need to do—like get ready to react to a call for help in case it's more than Tommy, Wes, and the others can handle alone. Though at that point I think that means it's bad enough we'll be sending in all our forces, so let's hope that doesn't become necessary."
All three men nodded. Carter and Andros both quickly got off the phone, assuring Jayden and Troy they'd call back as soon as they could. Billy had more trouble hanging up on a close friend worried about her husband. Hayley watched him for a moment, knowing he probably felt guilty thinking about just hanging up on Aisha while she was this stressed. So, Hayley walked over and plucked the phone out of her husband's hands. "Aisha, it's Hayley," she said. "I know you are stressed and worried and I would feel exactly the same way if it was Billy missing in Rocky's place. So, I promise you will be one of the first calls once we know something real or find them. Now go check on Damien, Liam, and Karly. They need you right now as much as you need them."
Without waiting for an answer, Hayley hung up and handed the phone back to Billy. He gave her a grateful look as he put it away. "No more answering phone calls from any of them," Hayley scolded gently, looking around the room. "I'm not answering calls from Conner, Ethan, or Kira, either. And they are all just as worried about our missing teammates."
She paused, considering her answer. "Ok, maybe Kira since she has JJ."
"How are the girls?" Billy asked. Hayley had left a while before to go check on their daughters who were currently under the supervision of Carter and Dana's thirteen-year-old. "They haven't destroyed anything important," Hayley said with a smile. "But you may need a new ice cream machine for the ranger cafeteria, Carter. The staff may have let the girls help—they got a little overexcited pushing buttons. I'm not entirely sure why Trevor thought it was a good idea to take them in there, but…"
Carter sighed and shook his head. "Now," Hayley said, clapping her hands together. "We need to get ready."
"Ready for what?" Andros asked. "We can't prepare any further for a call for help."
"Well, with how chaotic this whole thing has been—and how many rangers are involved—Tommy is probably going to bring them back here once they have resolved the situation," Hayley pointed out. "That means they can debrief as a group to explain what on earth happened. We'll need to get a room ready and call Cruger back over here."
"That's a good point," Carter agreed. "We can use the ranger conference room since we won't need to video call anyone this time—"
"Oh, so you plan on leaving Trini out of the meeting?" Hayley asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or were you going to go get her? She is going to need to know what happened so she can run interference on her end."
The conference room Carter was referring to wasn't normally set up to field video calls. It was meant for in person meetings with visiting ranger teams. They normally used the council room with the reds so those like Leo and Aurico didn't have to travel. "I didn't think about that," Carter admitted. "I'll call her and see what she wants to do. We can always just set up a screen for just her."
"Perfect," Hayley said. "Andros, why don't you call Cruger? Billy and I will start getting stuff together for the debriefing. And has anyone heard from Eric? Is he back from Japan yet?"
Carter was already walking away on the phone. But Andros nodded as he pulled out his own.
"He just landed a little while ago," he said. "He should be here any time now."
Turning, Andros followed Carter out of the room. Billy and Hayley weren't far behind them. An hour or so later, Billy, Hayley, Carter, Andros, and Cruger were all gathered in the council room trying to keep busy while they waited for news of any kind. Andros was talking about teleporting back up to the Megaship for a little while when alarms started blaring. All five of them froze for a moment. "What now?" Hayley exclaimed, darting over to her tablet. "Stay here," Carter ordered in response. "Billy, stay with her. If the enemy was actually bold enough to attack this base, I don't want Hayley alone. Be ready to call for help and don't worry about the kids—Trevor knows where to take them. Andros, let's go."
Without waiting for a response, Carter turned and sprinted out of the room with Andros on his heels. Cruger headed out and in the other direction to get to where he could communicate with the SPD cadets who would be responding to the alarms going off.

Tommy grabbed Kat's hand and together they ran through the portal Wes had opened a few moments before. The rest of the veteran rangers had gone ahead of them, leaving Ninja Steel to follow before they could close the portal. Koda and Gemma had already returned to their own dimensions directly from the Antiverse. Stepping through the portal, Tommy pulled Kat into a tight hug as he quickly glanced around. Wes had brought them back to Lightspeed—which is what Tommy had expected. What he hadn't expected, however, was to hear alarms blaring or armed soldiers running toward them. "Uh, what's going on?" TJ asked, looking around in surprise. "Because I'm pretty sure that's not to welcome us home."
Behind them, Ninja Steel finished coming through the portal and Wes allowed it to close. Tommy sighed, loosening his hold on Kat as he realized what was going on. "It's the portal," he said irritably. "We came from the Antiverse and the system registered it as unwelcome. No one move. Keep your heads down and don't make eye contact."
Wes was the only one who ignored Tommy's direction, moving through the other rangers to the front of the group. The fourteen rangers were surrounded now by SPD cadets and officers armed with blasters and Lightspeed cadets and officers armed with guns. "Stand down, everyone," Wes ordered, striding out from the group. "There's no threat."
"I don't know about that. You seem pretty suspicious."
Eric walked through the cadets and stopped in front of them, a grin on his face as he crossed his arms and looked at Wes. The red Time Force ranger rolled his eyes at his partner. "Not the time, Eric," Tommy growled, glaring at him. Tommy had taken Kat's hand again. Eric wasn't fazed by Tommy's glare. He just raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure we're allowed to be at least a little suspicious since all evidence points to someone cloning you—much to the displeasure of some of your teammates."
"Can we go inside?" Tommy snapped, holding up his morpher for Eric to see. "Or are you going to insist on more proof first?"
Eric's grin disappeared. Tommy didn't usually snap at him—even if he was being obnoxious. "Alright, stand down," Eric said. "Everyone back to their positions."
With Eric confirming Wes' order—and by doing so assuring everyone that the people in front of them were indeed who they looked like—the cadets and officers all holstered their weapons and started moving away to allow the rangers to move. Tommy immediately took off past Eric towing Kat behind him. The rest of the rangers followed behind the couple with Wes and Eric bringing up the rear. Ninja Steel stared around in surprise as they tried to figure out where they were. They were approaching the main building when Carter and Andros came running out. Seeing Tommy leading the group toward them, they both slowed down as looks of relief crossed their faces. "You have no idea how glad we are to see all of you," Carter said as he and Andros walked up to the group. Tommy didn't stop moving, so Carter and Andros just fell into step with him and Kat. "We have the council room set up," Carter continued. "Hayley and Billy are waiting there."
"I'll let Cruger know we're coming back down," Andros said. Tommy just nodded as he walked determinedly inside. Heading straight to the large elevator, he waited impatiently next to the control panel for the rest of the group to catch up. Kat leaned against him, still holding tightly to his hand. Once all of the rangers were crowded inside, Tommy placed his hand on the scanner and then pressed the button that would take them to the command level of the ranger portion of the building. The elevator immediately started moving. "So, where are we?" Preston asked, looking around. "Because I'm pretty sure this isn't Reefside—right?"
Carter and several of the other veteran rangers chuckled. "I'm sorry," Carter said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Carter Grayson—"
"Lightspeed Red, right?" Sarah asked. "Yes," Carter confirmed. "Welcome to Mariner Bay, Ninja Steel rangers—and Lightspeed's base of operations. It's the base for the rangers in general as well and—temporarily—SPD. I'll try and answer some of your questions once we get settled."
The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Carter and Andros took the lead to show the group which room they were set up in. Inside the conference room, Hayley and Billy both looked up when the door opened. They both had the same relieved look as Carter and Andros earlier when they saw the group coming in. Seeing Hayley, Tommy rushed straight to her with Kat still next to him. "Hayley—where is Anton?" he demanded. "Well, it's nice to see you, too," she retorted. "It's not like I've been trying to get ahold of you for days now."
"Hayley. Where is he?"
"He's on his way here," she said evenly, pulling out her phone. "Kira is with them."
She glanced at Trent as she said that. He had joined them when he heard Tommy say his father's name. Unlocking her phone, Hayley hit the button to call Anton before handing it straight to Tommy. He took it, waiting impatiently for an answer. Kat was watching him—a little confused. "Tommy, what's going on?" she asked. Anton answered before Tommy could say anything. "I'm sorry, Hayley," Anton sighed. "We had to make another stop. Bathroom break and more food. I promise we are moving as quickly as we can but he's ten and it's not a short drive."
"It's Tommy," Tommy interrupted. "How is JJ?"
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Dad?" JJ said. All of the tension drained from Tommy as he breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry, Tommy," Anton said. "Kira's hands were full, so I had to answer with the car on speaker—I didn't know it was you calling."
"It's fine," Tommy said. "JJ, how are you doing, kiddo?"
"I'm fine. Uncle Anton and Kira said we're coming to meet you—but they won't tell me where. They did get me a burger though. And fries. And a soda! And now we are getting tacos!"
Tommy chuckled as he listened to JJ chatter for a moment, relaxing a little hearing his son's voice. Kat was still watching Tommy and trying to figure out what was going on. Carter was working on getting everyone else settled while Tommy was on the phone, taking the time to quietly answer some of Ninja Steel's questions. "Sorry, Dr. O," Kira apologized. "He was really sleepy, and I didn't want him to fall asleep again—now he's very awake."
"It's fine, Kira," Tommy assured her. "I'd recommend no soda with the tacos, but I mean you are the ones trapped in a car with him, so that's up to you."
"We already vetoed that. And we'll be moving again as soon as they give us the food."
"Dad, where are we meeting you?" JJ asked. Tommy hesitated, trying to decide how to explain. "Tacos!" JJ exclaimed, momentarily distracted. "We're on the move again," Anton said a moment later. "We are still a little over an hour away, though."
Tommy glanced at the clock on the wall. "So where are we going?" JJ asked again. Tommy sighed. "Alright, kiddo," he said. "So, you know how sometimes I have to go away for business trips? And that I can't talk about them because it's for important people who like their privacy?"
"Uh-huh," JJ mumbled in response, sounding like he had food in his mouth. "Well, Anton and Kira are bringing you to the place I meet them—Lightspeed Rescue's base in Mariner Bay."
"Power Rangers?" JJ immediately exclaimed. "We're going to a Power Ranger base?"
"Yes," Tommy chuckled. Kat, Hayley, Billy, Trent, and several others who were closer now were looking at Tommy in surprise. They couldn't hear the other half of the conversation, but they knew who Tommy was talking to. "JJ, do you remember anything weird happening?" Tommy asked, his voice serious now. "Weird?" JJ repeated. "Not really. I don't remember you dropping me off at Uncle Anton's, though. Kira said I was sleeping when you left me there. Why couldn't I just ride with you or mom?"
"I'll explain more when you get here," Tommy said, not answering the question. "How about you say hi to your mom and then I need to talk to Kira, ok?"
Tommy handed the phone to Kat. She took it without hesitation. "JJ, how are you sweetheart?" she asked. Tommy took a deep breath as he leaned against the table, watching Kat on the phone with their son. Hayley, her arms crossed in front of her, looked at him expectantly. "He's going to be fine," she said. "Kira and Anton have both assured me of that. Though I think an explanation is probably in order."
"I'll explain after I talk to Kira," Tommy said. Kat said goodbye to JJ and handed the phone back to Tommy. "Kira, take me off speaker for a moment," he said.
He paused for a moment, waiting for her to switch the phone off speaker. "What is it, Dr. O?" Kira asked quietly. "Has he said anything about what happened before I brought him to the house?" Tommy asked. "Anything at all?"
"No. Nothing. I asked him a few things when he first woke up, but I didn't want to push… Do I need to be worried?"
"I don't know," Tommy admitted. "But if he does remember it's probably not going to be good."
Kat frowned, looking at Tommy. "Dr. O, what happened?" Kira asked. "Not now. But I will explain later. Just keep an eye on him and text me on Hayley's phone when you get here—I'll meet you in the garage. Ok?"
"I will," Kira promised. "We'll be there as soon as we can."
Hanging up, Tommy started to hand the phone back to Hayley. "Hold onto it for the moment," she said, shaking her head. "That way I don't have to watch it for you. We should probably get started anyways. Carter has stalled the Ninjas as long as he can."
"Ninjas?" Tommy frowned, looking around. "Oh, right. Those Ninjas. Not the other ones."
"Though those ones would be here if Sensei hadn't practically locked them in at the academy," Hayley sighed. "You're lucky Conner isn't here."
Tommy grimaced and nodded. Most of the rangers were sitting around the table now, waiting somewhat patiently. Carter had introduced Ninja Steel to Cruger and explained a little of what was going on with SPD, but now he was waiting for Tommy. "Alright," Tommy said, taking a deep breath and looking around. "Is Trini joining us?"
He frowned as he realized he didn't see their ambassador. "Video call," Andros answered. "We all agreed it was safer if Trini stayed where she was until we knew what was going on. But that's why we switched to this room instead of one of the normal ones. We needed video capabilities—but we all agreed using the UN room was overkill. There is enough room in here for all of us and we can have Trini conference in. She has—guests."
Tommy raised an eyebrow at Andros' statement but didn't push the issue when the red Space ranger shot a quick glance toward Ninja Steel and shook his head. Instead, he moved around the table to sit next to Cruger at the head of the table. Kat quickly took the seat next to him before Carter could. The red ranger didn't protest, he just took the next seat. He wasn't going to argue with Kat right now. In a few minutes everyone was seated and comfortable. Billy opened the laptop he had been holding and started typing. A moment later, Trini appeared on the screen on the wall opposite Tommy. "Oh, thank the Power," she said in relief as she took in the group at the table. "Tommy, you're supposed to be done with this kind of thing. All seven of you are."
She glanced around at the seven veteran rangers who had been kidnapped. "Despite what everyone seems to think, I don't plan these things," Tommy said drily. "But it's good to see you, too. Where are your visitors?"
"At my house," Trini said. "I've gone to my office at the embassy to avoid a certain nosy someone in pink—who is very upset with you, by the way. I'd expect a phone call as soon as she gets ahold of your number. I don't think she's realized she doesn't have it yet, though."
Tommy sighed but didn't say anything. Instead, he turned his attention to Carter. The red Lightspeed ranger nodded. "Alright," Carter said, looking around the room. "Let's get started. Tommy, care to explain where on earth the seven of you have been for the last week?"
"Week?" Tommy repeated. "What day is it?"
"Saturday," Billy supplied. "Alright, it has been close to a week," Tommy muttered. "Because last I knew it was Tuesday…"
He sighed, glancing over at Kat and taking her hand. "Long story short, it was Draven," Tommy started. "He was trying to tear down the barriers between the dimensions so he could invade with his army."
"Draven has an army?" Andros frowned. "But how?"
"He created it," Wes inserted. "Using them."
Wes gestured at the seven rangers who had been kidnapped. "I think most of us understand that Tommy and the others can be dangerous," Trini interrupted. "But they are hardly an army on their own."
"Clones, Trini," Tommy sighed. "They were cloning our ranger powers into robots. That's why they took us. Draven was creating an army of robot rangers."
Trini and Billy both flinched at the mention of a clone, though they quickly recovered. "Well, that answers some questions," Hayley commented. "But what I'd like to know is how they managed to take you, Tommy, without you managing to alert us in any fashion. We would have started looking for you a lot sooner—and maybe I wouldn't have sent Trent and Rocky to your house and probably right into Draven's clutches."
"It wasn't Draven who took me," Rocky said. "Not exactly anyways."
He glanced at Tommy who grimaced. "Draven took me first for a reason," Tommy said. "So, he could use me against the rest of you…"
He paused, shaking his head and looking at Kat again. "He caught me at home," Tommy continued slowly, going back to Hayley's question. "I'd just gotten back from the dojo and was going to take JJ to school. Kat had already left."
Kat nodded. She knew that part. She had been on the phone with him when he got home. "I was heading inside to change for school and make sure JJ was ready when Draven and his robots attacked me out of nowhere. I didn't even hear the portal open. They had me pinned before I really had a chance to fight back."
Everyone was listening quietly as Tommy spoke. Those who knew him best had expected a lot more fight—and at least an attempt at an SOS since Tommy always had at least a communicator on him. Hayley had some suspicions, but she had only shared those with Billy, Carter, and Andros after the call from Anton that morning. "I tried to get free at first," Tommy continued slowly, glancing around the room. "But I was outnumbered…"
He trailed off and took a deep breath. "Then JJ walked out of the house looking for me," Tommy said as he looked at Kat again. Kat froze, her breath catching as she gasped and gripped Tommy's arm tightly. "I was still pinned, and Draven grabbed him. I—I couldn't fight back. There was too much risk of him getting hurt…"
"They took him?" Kat managed to get out. "They had JJ? Did they—is he ok?"
"I don't think they hurt him," Tommy said quickly, grabbing both her hands and squeezing gently. "He was sleeping when I found him. Draven only used him to force my cooperation—he didn't need to do anything other than take him. But we can have Dana check him as soon as he gets here, ok?"
Kat bit her lip, nodding as she still held tightly to Tommy's hands. "Who's JJ?" Brody whispered. He leaned over to Trent who was sitting next to him. "Their son," Trent answered quietly. "He's ten…"
The Ninjas exchanged surprised looks. At the other end of the table, Tommy was turning back to the group so they could continue the conversation.

On the road to Mariner Bay, CA

After Tommy hung up, JJ dug eagerly into his food as Anton quickly got back on the freeway and headed straight for Lightspeed. JJ chatted excitedly about where they were going. "Do you think we'll get to meet power rangers?" he asked a little while later, in between bites. "We are going to their base. That would be amazing."
"Maybe," Kira answered, exchanging an amused smile with Anton. "I guess you'll have to wait and see."
JJ grinned and took another bite of his taco. "The power rangers are awesome," he continued. "They do all sorts of stuff. Like saving people and fighting monsters and—"
He fell silent, but neither Kira nor Anton thought anything of it right away. They figured he had taken another bite of food. When he didn't continue talking again after a few moments, however, Kira twisted in her seat to look at him. JJ had dropped his food on his lap and was staring blankly ahead of him. "JJ?" Kira said in concern. "JJ honey, are you ok?"
JJ's head shot up and he looked at her with complete panic on his face. "The monsters!" he cried. "They took dad! They—they hurt him!"
Kira immediately unbuckled and crawled into the backseat with JJ. "Honey, you just talked to him," she said soothingly. "Your dad is fine."
JJ shook his head. "I saw it," he said, panicked. "They had him and he told me to run, and I didn't, and the monster hurt him. He wasn't moving and there was a hole in the air!"
Kira moved the food out of the way as she continued to talk soothingly to the ten-year-old. "Everything is going to be just fine," she assured him. "Your dad is waiting for us in Mariner Bay and I'm sure he's just fine. He can take care of himself."
JJ was crying now, mumbling incoherently to himself. Kira pulled him into a hug as she got out her phone so she could text Hayley's phone. He sobbed against her, shaking. Dr. O, he remembered something. He thinks you're hurt. Are you alright?
There was a pause as she waited for Tommy to answer. Anton kept glancing at them in the rearview mirror. He had picked up his speed a little but didn't want to risk getting pulled over with JJ freaking out in the backseat. Tommy: I'm fine. I'll explain more after you get here, but JJ saw Draven's robots capture me and Draven knocked me out. I was hoping he wouldn't remember… how close are you?
Kira: Probably another 30-45 minutes. I'll let you know when we reach the gate. Tommy: Thanks. Just keep telling JJ I'm fine. I know it probably won't help but keep trying. "It's ok, JJ," Kira said quietly, rubbing his back. "Your dad just texted me and said he's alright. He's waiting for us right now."
"How do you know?" JJ sniffed. "I saw it happen. He was hurt!"
Kira sighed and continued to reassure him as best she could as they continued toward Lightspeed.

Mariner Bay, CA

Tommy put the phone back in his pocket and tried to concentrate on the debriefing. Kat was explaining how she'd spent the day trying to get ahold of Tommy with no luck and that she'd called Hayley for assistance. "When I got home I saw the truck but no one was in the house," Kat continued. "Then he—the robot walked in the front door. I thought it was Tommy…So I ran straight to him without hesitating. I didn't even question him even after everything being weird…"
She glanced at Tommy with a guilty look. He put an arm around her shoulders to pull her against him and she flinched a little. Tommy looked at her in surprise, but Kat just shook her head. "It was over at that point," she finished. "I couldn't get free, and it dragged me through the portal. I was hooked up to a machine and unconscious before I could even really register what was going on…"
"It was pretty much the same for me," Trent shrugged as Kat finished. "When Hayley couldn't get ahold of Dr. O or Kat, she asked me to stop by the house. Rocky was already on the way, too. I was told to be careful, so I went in ready to fight—until I saw the robot come in and let my guard down. I let it get too close while I texted Hayley that everything was fine…"
Trent sighed. "We struggled, but it had me in a headlock and I couldn't get leverage before it dragged me through the portal. I saw Dr. O and Kat on the tables before I was strapped down…But the worst part was I had told Hayley everything was fine. If I hadn't…"
Trent trailed off, shaking his head. "This was not your fault, Trent," Tommy said firmly. "He's right, kid," Rocky agreed. "We all fell for it. That robot played injured with me. I walked right up to it just like Kat because I thought someone had hurt Tommy. Adam is never going to let me hear the end of it when he finds out. Though I did force the thing to knock me out to get me through the portal."
Tommy shook his head as he listened to what had happened at his house. "It was in our house," he muttered to himself. "Going to need to up security…"
Gia, Antonio, and TJ all quickly explained how they ended up in Draven's clutches before Wes took over for a little while. He explained for the benefit of the rangers who had been captured what he had been doing on their end looking for them. Carter, Andros, and Billy chimed in as well. Hayley stayed quiet, her fingers flying over the keyboard of her laptop as she took notes. "Tommy, how did you manage to get free?" Trini asked. "Because from everything I've heard over the last few days, that was one of the only reasons we were finally able to find you all."
Tommy glanced up at Trini. Nodding, he started explaining how he was woken by his ranger self and connection to the Power. While he was explaining his decision to get JJ out first, Kat stood and squeezed his shoulder before she started to walk away. She was heading toward the table on the side of the room to grab a bottle of water. Kat had only taken a couple of steps away from the table when she stumbled and nearly fell. Tommy, who had turned to watch as she walked away—without pausing his explanation—was immediately on his feet. He caught her, keeping her upright. "Kat are you alright?" he asked in concern. "What's wrong?" Everyone was watching in concern as Tommy helped Kat back to her chair. "I'm fine," she said. "Just a little lightheaded. I'm ok."
Trent was up and grabbing the water bottle Kat had been going for. He handed it to Tommy who was crouched in front of Kat. She was leaning forward, her elbows resting on her knees as she worked through the dizziness that had nearly dropped her to the floor. Tommy opened the bottle and handed it to his wife. Kat took it with a grateful smile, taking a drink. "Tommy," Billy said, catching his attention. "Did any of you eat anything after you escaped?"
Tommy glanced over at Billy and shook his head. "We came straight here when it was over," he said, frowning. "And we've been with you since. Why?"
"That means some of you have not eaten anything in days, Tommy. Kat, Trent, Rocky, and yourself were kidnapped five days ago and have been kept unconscious with a machine pulling on your energy. The other three are the same, if only for a shorter period of time. Add your fight into the mix—all of you need to eat something."
Billy trailed off as Tommy grimaced. Standing, Tommy kissed Kat's forehead. "I'll go get some food from the kitchen," he said. "Relax for a few minutes."
"Tommy, wait," Carter said as Tommy turned to leave the room. "I'll call the base kitchen and have them bring down food for everyone. It will be faster than you going down to the ranger kitchen, waiting for it, and then having to bring it back up. And they can bring enough for everyone at one time."
Tommy hesitated, but Carter was already calling so he sat back down next to Kat. "It's Carter," Carter said as he walked away from the table for a moment. "How much food do you have ready to go right now."
"Well, we have leftovers from lunch that could be reheated quickly and we've started preparing dinner. How much food did you need, sir?"
Carter asked a few more questions, trying to decide what to have them bring down.
"You know what, just bring it all," he finally decided. "Everything you can have ready to go right now."
"All of it, sir?" "Yes, everything that's not required to feed the crew and cadets dinner. Bring it down to the Command level. I'll have someone meet you in the hallway to show you which room."
Carter waited for a moment for an answer. "Of course, sir," they finally answered. "We will be down as quickly as possible."
"Thank you," Carter said. "Andros, can you go meet them?"
Assured that food was coming, the rangers settled back down a little bit and tried to get back to what they were talking about. Andros headed out of the room to go meet the crew bringing down the food. Tommy kept going, a little more distracted as he kept looking at Kat and the others with some concern. He finished as Andros came back pushing a cart of food. The conversation broke up again as several of the rangers jumped up to help. TJ followed Andros back out into the hall to bring in a few more carts. The food was quickly passed out around the room. Tommy, who had been checking Hayley's phone again for another message from Kira, was up the moment Andros brought in the first cart. He brought food to Kat first and then turned his attention to making sure the rest of the rangers got something to eat. "Tommy, you need to eat, too," Kat said a few minutes later, catching his hand as he hovered. "Go get a plate for yourself and sit—everyone else is already eating."
Tommy hesitated, glancing around the room. "Either you get it or I'm going to get it for you," Kat said firmly, looking up at him. "Alright, I'll get food," Tommy conceded, not wanting her to get up yet. A little reluctant, Tommy went and grabbed a plate of food for himself and sat back down next to Kat. When he didn't immediately start eating, she paused her own meal to give him a look. He took a bite to make her happy. "So, where were we?" Trini asked, drawing everyone's attention. "Wes—I think it's probably your turn. Or Brody."
Brody looked up at Trini in surprise. They hadn't done actual introductions, though Carter had warned the Ninjas that their ambassador would be joining them via video call, so they'd have some idea of who she was. That she knew his name surprised him a little. "Go ahead, Brody," Wes grinned. "Don't be fazed by her—Trini knows a lot more than you think she does."
Brody slowly started explaining Ninja Steel's part of the rescue while everyone ate. A little while later, Hayley phone buzzed on the table in front of Tommy. He quickly grabbed it, dropping his fork on the plate of food that was still almost full. Kira: We're passing the gate.
Standing abruptly and interrupting Brody and Wes starting to explain the battle, Tommy grabbed Kat's hand and carefully pulled her to her feet. Without pausing for an explanation, Tommy hurried out of the room pulling Kat with him. Everyone else hesitated for a moment and then they were all moving after him. "I guess the meeting is over for the moment, Trini," Carter said quickly. "I'll let you know if I manage to corral them again."
Trini just waved and ended the call as Carter followed the group out of the room. Tommy didn't wait for the other rangers when he reached the elevator. Once he and Kat were both inside, he closed the door and pressed the button for the garage level one floor up. "Tommy, what's going on?" Kat asked. "They're here," he said. Kat's eyes widened as she realized what he meant, her grip on his hand tightening. Tommy was texting with his free hand as he waited for the elevator to stop. When the doors opened, Tommy strode out into the garage and then stopped. The couple watched in silence as they waited for Anton's car to pull in. They didn't have to wait long. The car pulled in and parked. But it had barely stopped when the backdoor flew open. JJ practically fell out of the car, bolting across the space between himself and his parents. Without hesitation, JJ threw himself at Tommy who caught the ten-year-old in a tight hug. JJ clung to him, sobbing into his shirt. Kat hugged them both, squeezing JJ between his parents. Anton and Kira climbed out of the car a little slower as the rest of the rangers came striding out of the elevator. Most of the group stopped in surprise as they looked at Tommy, Kat, and JJ. Trent made a beeline for Kira and his father. Seeing him coming, Kira ran straight to him and threw her arms around him. Trent hugged her tightly. Anton followed her, placing a hand on his son's shoulder and squeezing as Trent smiled at him. TJ, seeing what was going on, immediately started shooing most of the rangers back into the elevator. "No emergency here," he said. "Let's give them some space. They'll come in when they're ready."
Rocky, Hayley, and Billy stayed behind as everyone else crowded back into the elevator to go back to the conference room. "Hey, Billy," Rocky said quietly as they watched the reunions happening. "Can I borrow your phone?"
Billy didn't hesitate to hand it over. "We did send out messages when we were informed of your return," he told Rocky. "However, I am certain Aisha would rather hear you saying you are safe than trust my message."
"Thanks," Rocky said gratefully as he took the phone. Opening it, Rocky quickly dialed and put the phone to his ear as he walked away. "Aisha, it's me," he said when she picked up. "I'm alright and I'll be home as soon as I can."
By the time Rocky came back, giving Billy back his phone, Tommy had managed to calm JJ down. The boy was still clinging tightly to Tommy, but he wasn't sobbing anymore. Kira and Trent were whispering quietly with each other, Anton still standing nearby. Glancing around the group, Tommy brushed some hair out of JJ's face and then turned to the elevator. "Let's go back in," he said. The rest of the group followed him. But when the elevator stopped at the Command level, Tommy didn't follow them off. He stayed in the elevator and Kat stayed with him. "Tommy?" Rocky said, frowning as he paused in the hallway. "We'll be back up in a bit," Tommy said evenly. "Tell them to finish up without me. I don't have anything else to add that someone else doesn't already know."
Rocky nodded. "I'll have Carter message Dana," he said. "That way you don't have to hunt for her."
"Thanks, Rocky," Tommy said with a faint smile as the doors shut. The elevator took the Olivers down another level. Tommy stepped out and headed down the hallway. Partway down the hall, Dana stepped out of her office to meet them. "Carter told me," she said with a smile as she gestured to the room across the hall. "We can use this room."
Tommy nodded and followed her inside. Walking over to the chairs on the side of the room, he tried to set JJ down. "Don't leave," JJ cried, not letting go of Tommy. "I'm not going to leave," Tommy said quietly. "I'm going to sit right here next to you the whole time. Ok?"
Kat sat down in one of the other chairs to support Tommy's point. JJ hesitated, but finally loosened his grip as Tommy moved to sit him down again. Tommy immediately sat down in the chair next to him and JJ grabbed his arm, holding onto it tightly. "Hi, JJ," Dana said brightly, crouching in front of him. "My name is Dana. If it's ok with you, I'm just going to do a quick check up on you to make sure everything is alright."
JJ stared at her without answering, his grip on Tommy tightening. "I promise she doesn't bite," Tommy assured JJ. "She's a friend."
Dana raised an eyebrow at Tommy as Kat tried to hide a smile. JJ was still hesitating, though, so Tommy sighed. "How about this," Tommy said, glancing at Dana and then back at JJ. "How about Dana starts with me and then you take a turn? Is that alright?"
JJ didn't answer right away, looking between his father and the doctor crouched in front of him. Dana looked at Tommy in surprise when he made the suggestion, though she quickly covered the look with another comforting smile for JJ. "Ok," he said quietly. Dana straightened and looked at Tommy who just nodded. "Go ahead," he said. Dana immediately got to work. For each part of the check-up, she started with Tommy and then would do the same thing with JJ. Seeing his father sit calmly through it kept JJ calm, too. Kat watched with some amusement. "Don't worry, Kat," Dana said after a little while, catching the look on her face. "You're next. I'm not letting any of the seven of you off this base until you've seen me."
"I wasn't planning on running from you, Dana," Kat said, shaking her head. "I'm never the one you have to corner."

It wasn't until after Dana had finished with Kat as well that she finally released them. Tommy didn't pick JJ back up as they made their way back to the elevator, but he kept his hands on JJ's shoulders and guided him from behind. The maintained contact continued to reassure JJ that Tommy wasn't going anywhere—just like the check-up with Dana had helped assure him that his father was actually alright after the attack days before. "Where are we going, dad?" JJ asked once they were in the elevator. "To see some—friends," Tommy answered slowly. He was still trying to decide exactly how much to tell JJ. "What friends?" JJ said, twisting around to look up at Tommy. Tommy sighed and glanced over at Kat. She just shrugged hesitantly. "You started this," she pointed out. "You remember what I told you when we talked on the phone?" Tommy said. "That I sometimes worked with important people who like their privacy?"
JJ nodded, a little excitement coming back into his expression as the elevator doors opened. "Well, you're going to meet some of them," Tommy said.
"Are they Power Rangers?" JJ asked, bouncing a little now. "We're at a Power Ranger base."
They stepped out of the elevator and Tommy started walking down the hall, directing JJ in front of him. "Some of them might be," Tommy chuckled. "But you aren't allowed to ask that question."
"Why?" JJ said, turning to look over his shoulder again. "Because they value privacy, remember?" Kat scolded gently. "If they are ok with you knowing who they are, they will tell you."
"And in order to meet them you have to respect that," Tommy added. "Can you do that for me?"
He stopped moving for a moment, looking down at JJ. The ten-year-old hesitated for a moment and then nodded his head quickly. "Ok, kiddo," Tommy said. "Then we're going to go inside this room and you are going to meet some of the people I have—who helped rescue me. Remember, I know you are excited, but you aren't going to get answers to every question you have. I will tell you what I can, ok?"
JJ nodded eagerly again, and Tommy reached around him to place his hand on the scanner. The door lock clicked, and he pushed the door open. The conversation inside fell quiet as everyone turned to see who had come in. "There they are," Hayley said with a smile as she walked over to meet them. "Aunt Hayley?" JJ said, staring at her in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Working," Hayley laughed. "Did you really think I just ran a café?"
JJ shook his head. Behind him, Tommy rolled his eyes at Hayley. "I always thought you worked for the FBI or CIA or something," JJ admitted. "But this is even better!"
"They wish I worked with them," Hayley smirked. "Though I will freelance for them occasionally when I'm in the mood."
Tommy snorted and Kat elbowed him. JJ was looking around the room now, his eyes wide as he took in all of the people looking in their direction. Before he could ask anything, however, he was temporarily distracted by the door opening behind them. Andros, Carter, and Billy walked in to join the group. "Good, you're back," Carter said. He paused when he saw JJ standing in front of Tommy. "Is everything good?" Carter asked. Tommy nodded. JJ was staring at the three men who had just come in. "Dana says he's fine. No lasting physical harm done."
"Glad to hear that," Andros said. "Hello, JJ. I'm Andros."
"You're the red Space ranger," JJ breathed. Then he quickly looked back at Tommy, unsure now whether he was allowed to say that. "Everyone knows who Andros is," Tommy said in amusement, shaking his head. "That's not a secret you have to worry about. They don't have the luxury of secrets anymore."
"And it's all their own fault," Rocky snorted. Tommy shot him a look, but JJ's attention was still on Andros and Carter. "Welcome to Lightspeed, JJ. I'm Carter, Lightspeed Rescue red."
"Hi!" JJ said excitedly. Then he finally registered who had come in with the two red rangers. "Uncle Billy?" he said in surprise. "Hello, JJ," Billy said with a smile. "I am glad to see you are unharmed."
"Uncle Billy, did you always know Aunt Hayley works with Power Rangers?" JJ asked eagerly. Billy laughed, nodding. "Yes, I did," he said. "She is quite talented at what she does."
Hayley smiled back at him. "Dad?" JJ said, suddenly turning to look at Tommy again. "Is Aunt Hayley the reason you know Power Rangers? Did they help you because she asked?"
Rocky, who had been taking a drink of water, choked and started coughing. JJ turned to look at the sudden noise and realized there were other people he knew in the room, too. "Not exactly, kiddo," Tommy said, shaking his head. JJ frowned, turning his head to look at Tommy again. "Then why did they help you?" JJ asked. "Because we're Power Rangers, kid," TJ inserted with a grin. "It's what we do—we help people."
Tommy shot TJ a look over JJ's head, but the blue Space ranger just smirked. "Did the—did the monster take you because you work with the Power Rangers?" JJ asked hesitantly, stumbling over his question. "And then they had to come help you? And why are Rocky and Trent here, too?"
Tommy squeezed his shoulders reassuringly as he tried to decide the best way to answer that question. JJ turned around to look up at his father, waiting for an answer. "Well…" Tommy said slowly, fumbling a little. "That's not exactly—I…"
Kat crouched down in front of JJ, taking one of his hands. "JJ, sweetheart," she said, catching his attention. "You know your dad is really good at fighting—right?"
JJ nodded, glancing up at Tommy and then back at his mother. "Well, he's always been this good," Kat continued. "Ok—maybe not this good, but definitely good for his age. And, when your dad was a little older than you are now—during his first year of high school—a bad person tried to take advantage of his fighting skills."
"What does that mean?" JJ frowned.
"What your mom means, kiddo," Tommy jumped in, giving Kat a grateful look, "is that I was kidnapped by someone who wanted to use me to hurt other people."
JJ looked up at Tommy again with wide eyes. "I was forced to fight against the Power Rangers," Tommy continued. "But they rescued me and saved me from the person forcing me to do bad things. So, I swore to help protect them with my own life in return."
"A promise you have fulfilled many times over," Andros said quietly. Others around the room were nodding silently in agreement, but JJ didn't notice with his attention still fixed on his father. "Part of that promise has always been keeping their secrets," Tommy said, glancing around the room. "And sometimes the bad guys want to try and use me against the rangers—like this week. Unfortunately, sometimes others get caught up in it. People I'm close to."
"Like mom?" JJ asked, his gaze darting to Kat. Tommy flinched. "Yes," he sighed. "Like your mom. Or like Rocky and Trent."
Kat straightened, putting her arm around Tommy's waist and leaning against him. "But when he is in trouble, the rangers always come to his aid," Andros inserted.
"So, you protect dad?" JJ asked, turning to look at Andros now. "Of course," Andros smiled. "If someone does try and use him, we step in to stop it from happening. Or rescue him if necessary. But we would much rather stop it before it happens. Whether that means stopping the bad guys before they can do anything—or we could take him somewhere safe until the danger is past."
At the mention of taking his father away, JJ paled and backed up against Tommy. "You're gonna take him away?" JJ said, panic audible in his voice. "We would never take him away," Carter said quickly as Andros realized what he had said. Tommy put his hands back on JJ's shoulders, pressing down just a little as an assurance of his presence. "Your father actually has a safe room here at this base," Carter continued. "And if anything were to ever happen where we needed to hide him to keep him safe, we would bring him here with you and your mom to make sure all of you stayed safe. Even some of his friends if we thought they were in danger, too."
"Really?" JJ said, looking at Carter with some suspicion. "Yes, really," Tommy said behind JJ. "The rangers know that part of keeping me safe is keeping my family safe—they would never purposefully separate us, JJ."
JJ let out a sigh of relief, visibly relaxing again. But he didn't move away from Tommy. "Hey, Carter?" Brody said hesitantly. "I don't mean to interrupt, but Mick is asking when we are coming back. He says he'd rather not handle—our issues—without us there. I'd rather he didn't either, to be honest."
The rangers, and JJ, all turned to look at Brody and the rest of his team. They were all standing in a group trying to be patient, but they were clearly a little antsy. "It's just… Madame Odius…" Brody said with a shrug. "Especially after everything that just happened. We really should get back to Summer Cove…"
"No, you're right," Carter said, shaking his head. "We do need to get you home. And the rest of you, too."
He turned to look at Wes. "I kind of left my car in Reefside," Wes said sheepishly. "We took the portal to look for Tommy, not the car. I was focused on finding him—not on how we were getting home…"
Carter rolled his eyes and sighed. "Alright, I'll message Joel," Carter said. "The six of you head on up to the garage and I'll have him meet you there."
"Carter, we haven't put them in the system yet," Hayley smirked. "They can't run the elevators."
"Right," Carter sighed. "Hayley, can you—"
"I'll take them up to the garage and work on it while we're in the elevator," she laughed, holding up her tablet. "Come on. All of you to the elevator."
Hayley ushered the six Ninja Steel rangers out the door. Dana walked in as they were walking out. "I see everyone is starting to leave?" Dana said. "Rocky, Trent, Gia, TJ, and Antonio—you aren't allowed to leave without seeing me. So, who wants to go first?"
The five rangers exchanged looks while Dana waited patiently for an answer. "Alright, I'm coming," Rocky sighed, standing up. "Carter—you're going to figure out rides for all of us?"
"I'll handle it," Carter assured him. "Why don't all five of you go with Dana and by time you are back up I'll have everything figured out. No obvious injuries means none of you should be long."
Rocky nodded and looked at the other four. They all stood and followed Dana out of the room. Kira followed behind Trent. That left Tommy, Kat, JJ, and Anton in the room with Carter, Andros, Wes, and Billy. "Alright," Carter said, getting back to the vehicle situation. "So, Ninja Steel are on their way home. TJ doesn't need a ride and neither does Trent."
"Hayley and I can take Tommy, Kat, and JJ," Billy offered. "There is more space in our van than there will be in Anton's car. We need to return to Reefside as well."
"That would be helpful," Anton said. "I wasn't planning on extra passengers when I left. I was just trying to get JJ here."
"Thank you, Anton, I know it was a bit of a surprise. The ride would be great, Billy," Tommy said, nodding. "That leaves Gia, Rocky, and Antonio," Carter said. "We'll have to arrange a flight for Antonio to get him back to Japan."
"I believe I can help with that," Anton said. "I can arrange for a flight and get him to the airport as well."
Carter nodded. Tommy took a moment to move JJ over to a chair, convincing him to sit down while they were finishing up. Kat sat down next to JJ while Tommy stayed standing behind them. The door slid open again and Eric walked in. "Are you ready to go, Wes?" Eric asked. "I sent a message to the Guardians to have someone go get your car. Or do you still need him, To—Carter?"
Eric realized JJ was sitting in the room as he spoke and quickly turned from Tommy to Carter. "We're done," Carter said. "But are you up for a detour on your way back to Silver Hills?"
"Where to?" Eric asked, looking at Carter a little suspiciously. "Angel Grove and Harwood County. You'll pass both and can drop Rocky and Gia off at home."
"Oh, sure," Eric said. "Where are they?"
"With Dana," Andros said. "They'll be back up soon."
It didn't take long for the rangers to start wandering back up. Within the hour, all five rangers had returned to the conference room and Carter had explained who was riding with who. "I need to go get Izzy and Rae," Hayley said after she packed up her computers and tablet. "Billy, you still have the keys?"
"I do," he confirmed. "So, if you get the girls, I will take Tommy, Kat, and JJ to our van."
The rest of the group had already started to say their goodbyes and head to the elevator to head up to the garage. Wes and Eric with Rocky and Gia in tow were the first to head out. Anton, Kira, Trent, and Antonio weren't far behind them. Antonio was still trying to insist he could get his own flight home while Anton was refusing to take no for an answer. "Ready to go, TJ?" Andros asked. "Cassie won't stop texting me asking where we are. She wants us home for dinner with the kids. Also—why is she texting me and not you?"
"It's probably because my phone died," TJ sighed, pulling it out of his pocket and holding it up. "We really should invest in phones that don't react negatively to traveling between dimensions."
"Why? Do you plan on making this a habit?" Andros asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because I think Cassie will object strenuously. DECA, we're ready."
"That is not what I mea—" TJ's protest was cut off as the two men disappeared in a flash of light. JJ jumped and stared at where they had been standing a moment before. "Where did they go?" he asked, looking around nervously. "It's alright, kiddo," Tommy assured him, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Andros and TJ just teleported back to their ship where the rest of their team is waiting for them. That's how they move from place to place most of the time."
"Oh. Well, that's cool. Who's DECA?"
"The AI that controls their ship," Billy supplied. "Tommy, are you three ready to go? Hayley will not be long collecting our girls."
Besides Carter, they were the last ones in the room. Tommy nodded. "Let's go home," he said.

New York City, NY

"And you are sure they are all alright?" Kim asked again. "Yes, Kim," Trini assured her. "Everyone made it back just fine."
Trini had just gotten back from her office a short time before. Kim had been annoyed with her for sneaking off without telling her but forgave Trini once she explained where she had gone—and told Kim that the missing rangers had been found and rescued. With Jake still floating around the house Trini had kept the details to a minimum, but Kim was just relieved their friends were alright. Now they were sitting at Trini's kitchen table relaxing. "So, what's your plan now?" Trini asked. "Are you going to stick around for a while, or do you need to leave right away?"
"I think we can stay for a little longer," Kim answered. "But Jake has a company event at the beginning of next week. He was a little nervous he might have to miss it if our situation wasn't resolved… We'll be there for a few days at least. Maybe a week or more."
Trini nodded, taking a sip from her glass. "Oh, I need to call Zach," Trini said. "He needs to know it's safe."
Kim shook her head as Trini pulled out one of her cellphones and dialed a number. It rang a couple of times before Zach finally answered. "Trini? Did something happen?" he asked quickly. "It's all over," Trini said. "You can relax."
Zach breathed a sigh of relief. "That means I can sleep at home tonight."
Trini raised an eyebrow and shot a glance toward Kim. "Where did you sleep last night, then?" she asked slowly. "I told you I was going to sleep at the studio," Zach answered. "I wasn't kidding. I just stayed in my office. I'm here late often enough no one noticed I didn't go home."
Trini rolled her eyes. "Zach, you could have gone home," she sighed. "You would have been safe as long as you didn't let anyone in."
"And do you really think if someone wanted to take me a door was going to stop them?" Zach retorted. "Doors don't deter the kind of beings I'd be concerned about in that kind of situation. At least staying at the studio would have thrown them off. Though I guess I don't even know who they were this time around…"
"Not something I can explain right now," Trini said. "I just wanted you to know everything is resolved and it's safe again. Also… if you are at the studio so much that no one noticed you never left, then I think you really need to take a vacation."
Zach laughed. "I know," he admitted. "And I will… eventually."
"Somehow I don't believe that," Trini said drily. They chatted for a few more minutes while Kim listened in amusement. After they said goodbye, Trini set her phone down on the table. Kim frowned. "Shouldn't you call Jason, too?" she asked. "I thought you mentioned warning him yesterday."
Trini shook her head. "No," she sighed. "There isn't much of a point."
"Why not? He's got to be worried, too."
"Because I never actually spoke with him," Trini explained. "I called and he didn't answer. Just sent me a text saying he was busy."
"Are you sure he's alright, then?" Kim asked in concern. "Why wouldn't he answer? Tommy wasn't answering and he wasn't ok—"
"Kim, he never answers," Trini interrupted. "That's normal for Jason. Sometimes I get a text back when I call him, but that's it."
"That's ridiculous," Kim said. "I'll call him."
She grabbed her own phone and then stopped. "I don't have his number…" she realized. "He changed it a few years ago and I never got the new number…"
Trini shrugged. "Kim, he's fine," she said. "He just has his own life. The only time we ever hear from him is in a—"
Trini stopped and glanced around. "Jake is upstairs on a conference call," Kim said, waving a hand. "He will be wearing his headset and I doubt he would even notice if we set off the fire alarms."
"We only hear from Jason in absolute ranger emergencies," Trini continued. "And we still have to leave him a message with where to meet. There have only been three occasions that required us to call on him in the last 16 years…Two times he just showed up without actually telling us he got the message. And then left right after. The other time was when we lost Zordon…that was the one time we insisted he call back immediately…"
Kim flinched at the reminder as Trini sighed again. "I try calling him every so often," Trini admitted. "Just to catch up. But he doesn't answer those calls either—and he never calls back."
"So why don't you go visit him?" Kim asked. "Doesn't he still live here in New York?"
Trini nodded. "He does. But I can't just show up at his front door. People would ask questions."
"Why?" Kim asked. "You're his friend. It's just a visit."
"A friend he hasn't spoken to since we left for college," Trini said softly. "We fell out of contact, Kim. And now because of my position I'd have to take security with me. It would be weird to just show up at his door with them in tow."
"Well, I can just show up," Kim said adamantly. "And I think maybe I'll do just that. He can't ignore me if I'm at his front door."
Trini raised an eyebrow, smiling in amusement at Kim's frustration. "I'll go tomorrow," Kim continued. "I don't want to put it off since we are only here a few more days. Do you have his address?"
"Technically yes," Trini answered hesitantly. "But I can't give it to you."
"Great! I'll—wait, what?"
Kim stared at Trini in surprise. Trini just leaned back in her chair. "I can't give it to you, Kim," Trini repeated, taking another sip of her drink. "But why?"
"Privacy—I can't share information not freely given. Part of my job as the ranger ambassador is knowing where all of the rangers are and how to get ahold of them in an emergency. But that's exactly what that information is for—emergencies. I'm not supposed to access it for any other reason. Jason hasn't technically given me his phone number or address—so I can't give them to you."
"But you said you called him," Kim protested. "I did," Trini agreed. "From my work phone. The one that has all of that information. It's actually the same one I called you from—because the last time you got a new phone number you forgot to share it with me for three months." Kim stared at Trini in surprise for a moment. Trini just continued to watch her in silence as she let Kim process the information. "Is that why I haven't heard from you as often in the last couple of months?" Kim finally asked.
Trini nodded. "My work phone isn't for personal use," she shrugged. "I figured you'd call or text me eventually to actually give me the new number. But I also didn't want you to think I was ignoring you or mad at you, so I may have cheated a little…"
"But wait, if I didn't give it to you then how did you get it?" Kim frowned. "And how am I supposed to get Jason's?"
"The rangers have a lot of resources," Trini said vaguely. "And if you want to get in touch with Jason, I'd recommend starting with his mother. She's a great source of information on Jason."
Kim grumbled to herself as she scrolled through her contacts to look for Mrs. Scott's information. "What about Tommy or Zach?" Kim asked. "Or Kat?"
Trini shook her head. "Work phone," she said. "Same reasons. Well, mostly same reasons."
Kim sighed and went back to her phone.

Angel Grove, CA

Eric pulled into the driveway and parked. Rocky climbed out of the backseat. "Thanks for the ride," he said, pausing for a moment. "And thanks for coming after us, Wes. The help was appreciated."
"Anytime," Wes grinned. "Though I think Tommy probably would have gotten you all out just fine on his own given a little more time. Let's still not repeat this again anytime soon."
"Agreed," Rocky laughed. The front door of his house flew open. Rocky turned and saw Aisha sprinting down the steps toward him. Shutting the car door, Rocky hurried to go meet her. Aisha didn't slow down, throwing herself straight into Rocky's arms. He caught her, but her momentum knocked him off balance and they both fell over. Rocky hit the ground first, Aisha landing on top of him as he grunted in surprise. On the porch, Adam and Tanya were watching in amusement. "Are you alright?" Aisha exclaimed. She shifted so she could look at Rocky but didn't let him up. "I thought you'd catch me…" she mumbled sheepishly. "I'm fine, Aisha," he assured her. "Just a little weak—nothing food and some sleep won't cure."
Aisha frowned but moved so Rocky could sit up. She stayed sitting next to him on the ground. "What's wrong?" she asked, a little panic creeping into her voice. "Nothing is wrong," Rocky said quickly, pulling her into a hug. "It's just that I've only had one meal in the last five days—and I may have been strapped to a cloning machine for that entire time, too."
"Cloning machine!" Aisha exclaimed, her head shooting up. Adam and Tanya, who had been walking over to join their friends, exchanged concerned looks. "We handled it and I'm fine," Rocky repeated. "I promise. Dana says so, too."
Aisha stared at him for a moment, trying to decide if she believed him or not. "I won't be mad if you call her," he sighed after a moment. Aisha blushed as he paused. "Do I have to work tomorrow?"
Aisha shook her head. "You have the next week off due to a family emergency," she mumbled. "Family emergency?" Rocky frowned. "You explained me missing as a family emergency and no one asked questions? Nearly a week is lot different than half a shift."
"Oh, they asked questions," Aisha said sheepishly. "I may have told them there was an accident… and that at least four of your family were involved. And nearly killed."
Rocky groaned, falling back in the grass. "Great," he muttered. "Please tell me you didn't say they had actually died…"
"No—just nearly," Aisha mumbled. "I panicked."
"Well, at least when I go back to work I can say they are recovering instead of spending the rest of our lives pretending they're dead," he said, shaking his head at Aisha. "That could have gotten a little complicated later. I was off the last four days anyways. I could have just gone back to work tomorrow."
"Again—I panicked," Aisha huffed. "You disappeared into thin air with no warning, and no one knew where you were. If I had told them that they would have involved the police. That would have been complicated."
"She's not wrong," Adam grinned, interrupting them. Adam and Tanya were standing just a few feet away now, watching Aisha and Rocky still sitting on the ground. "At least you gave me a week to get my story straight," Rocky said, shaking his head. "For us to get the story straight," Aisha countered. "Because you aren't leaving my sight until I have to let you go back to work."
"Aisha…" Rocky sighed. "You may as well get used to it, man," Adam chuckled, holding out a hand. "You really had us all worried."
Rocky took the offered hand and Adam hauled him to his feet. The two men shared a quick hug as Tanya helped Aisha up. "Guess it's just as well," Rocky said, putting an arm around Aisha. "I don't have a car… it's in Reefside…"
Adam and Tanya laughed. "It serves you right," Aisha said, smacking Rocky on the arm. "You aren't supposed to just disappear like that anymore. You aren't an active ranger, remember?"
She'd now gone from just relieved to scolding. Pulling away, Aisha rounded on Rocky, waving a finger at him as she scolded him. In the car in the driveway, Eric, Wes, and Gia watched in amusement as Aisha rounded on Rocky. They hadn't left yet, wanting to make sure everything was settled, and he didn't need anything else before they drove away. "So… should we help him?" Gia snickered. "He's never going to make it inside at this rate."
"Nope," Eric said, shaking his head. "Aisha appears to have everything under control. Not getting in her way. Adam will make sure she doesn't actually hurt Rocky—I think."
"At least not permanently," Wes laughed. Rocky was protesting as Aisha continued to scold him, hitting his arm again. Eric backed out of the driveway. "Let's get you home before yours start demanding to know what we did with you," he said to Gia.
In the driveway, Rocky caught Aisha's hands and pulled her into a hug. Her scolding had quickly turned to tears. "I'm alright," Rocky said soothingly. "I'm sorry for scaring you…"
Aisha nodded, leaning against him with her face buried in his shirt. "Tanya and I will go get your car tomorrow," Adam said, his arm around his wife. "I'm sure Tommy probably wants it out of his driveway."
"Now come on," Tanya said, nodding in agreement with Adam. "Dinner is waiting, and it isn't going to take much longer for the kids to notice we all came outside."
As she spoke, the front door opened, and a head peered out. They all turned to look. Seeing who it was, Aisha sighed. "Damien, you know you are not allowed to open the front door," she scolded. The little boy ignored her, his full attention was on Rocky. "Daddy!" he shouted. Leaving the door wide open, the three-year-old stumbled down the steps and ran toward Rocky who caught him in a hug. Hearing Damien's shout, their other two kids came running, too. Seven-year-old Karly and five-year-old Liam ran straight into Rocky's legs, knocking him off his feet again.

Harwood County, CA

Next stop for Wes and Eric was Harwood County to drop Gia off with her team. As they pulled up, the rest of Megaforce came tumbling out of Ernie's to meet the car. "Thanks for the ride," Gia said as she opened the door. "Let's not do that again—at least without some warning."
Eric and Wes both chuckled as she shut the door and ran to meet her team. Gia almost immediately disappeared into the middle of the group. Troy, Emma, Jake, Noah, and Orion were all hugging their yellow ranger as they talked excitedly over each other. "Should we help before they smother her?" Wes grinned, glancing at Eric. "Nah, I'm sure she'll be fine," Eric said, shaking his head. Eric put the car in gear. As he started to pull away, Gia managed to free herself enough to wave goodbye.

Reefside, CA

The drive back to Reefside was fairly quiet. Antonio rode up front with Anton while Trent and Kira took the backseat. The first part of the drive was spent with Trent and Antonio explaining to Kira and Anton what had happened in the Antiverse—after they assured Antonio that it was safe to talk Ranger business with Anton present. Once Kira and Anton had run out of questions, however, things quieted down. Antonio and Trent were both tired, dozing the rest of the way to the airport. Anton pulled into the private airport and parked. "Well, this wasn't what I was expecting when you said you were taking me to the airport," Antonio said slowly as they all climbed out of the car. "Where are we?"
"This is where dad keeps one of his corporate planes," Trent grinned, leaning against the car. "Did you really think we were just going to drop you off at an airport and wave goodbye?"
"Do you even have your passport?" Kira added. "Or your ID?"
Antonio started to protest and then froze. He quickly checked his pockets and grimaced. "No… I guess I don't," he admitted. "I was leaving to go fishing when the robot took me…"
"Then let me help," Anton said with a smile. "I have enough connections I can get you back to Japan without questions—and then your team can take it from there. I had my staff arrange a flight plan already and once we are in the air you can call your team to tell them when to expect us."
Antonio nodded. "Thank you," he said gratefully. "Wait—we?"
"Oh, I'm going with you," Anton said with a shrug. "Much easier to explain everything—or not have to explain at all—if I'm there in person."
Turning to Trent and Kira, Anton hugged both of them and handed Kira the keys. "I'm going to take care of a few business things while I'm already there," he said. "But I'll be back in a few days. Call me as soon as you make it home. I'm assuming Trent is going to join you on the road, Kira?"
"I'm pretty sure I don't have a choice at this point, dad," Trent said drily, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Nope," she retorted. "He gets to play security guard now. Because then I'll know where he is all the time."
Trent sighed but didn't protest as Anton chuckled. "Alright, come on Antonio," Anton said. "We have an airplane waiting for us."
Anton and Antonio headed inside while Kira and Trent turned to get in the car. Kira climbed into the driver's seat while Trent climbed into the passenger. They didn't wait for the other two to make it inside before they took off. Trent leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. Kira didn't say anything, she just smiled and kept her focus on driving. When they finally arrived home a little while later, Kira pulled into the garage and parked. She unbuckled and turned to look at Trent. He was fast asleep in his seat. Kira smiled as she pulled out her phone. She snapped a quick picture and added a message. He's safe and we are finally home. It only took a moment to get a response. Conner: You really should have wiped the drool first. Now I've got blackmail for later. Thanks! Oh! You saw dr O too right? He isn't answering my texts.
Kira: He doesn't have a phone right now, Conner. Probably still somewhere in the Antiverse. But he's fine. I'll call later when Trent's more awake and we can explain what happened. Ethan: I'm gonna make this my new screensaver and see how long it takes him to notice. 😊
Don't forget to include me in the call. Kira rolled her eyes and put her phone away. She knew they were both relieved that Trent and Tommy were safe. Leaning over, Kira kissed Trent on the cheek. "Wake up, sweetheart," she said. "We're home."
Trent jerked a little and his eyes shot open. He turned to look at Kira as she laughed. "Come on," she said, turning to climb out of the car. "Something else to eat and then sleep for a while. Conner and Ethan are expecting an explanation at some point tonight."
"You mean they aren't waiting here to ambush us?" he asked, unbuckling. "Hayley threatened them into staying where they were," Kira laughed. "Now come on."
Yawning, Trent climbed out of the car and followed Kira into the house.

Hayley pulled into the driveway and parked. There had been some debate at the beginning of the ride of whether they were going to go straight to the Oliver house or if they would just go to the Cranston house for the night because of how late it was. In the end, Tommy and Kat had both agreed that it was better to just go home and face it now rather than putting it off. So that's where they were. The driveway was crowded with two extra vehicles taking up space. Turning off the car, Hayley turned to look in the back. Rae and Izzy were both asleep in their seats. In the backseat, JJ was asleep sprawled across the seat and both of his parents. Kat yawned and then smiled fondly as she looked at her son and then her husband. Tommy was also passed out, one arm draped over JJ. "I think I'm going to need some assistance," Kat said, shaking her head. "I'd like to not wake JJ up if I don't have to…"
With JJ's legs on her lap, Kat couldn't get out without waking him up. Billy, who had also woken up when Hayley stopped the car, opened his door. Hayley climbed out, too. "We will assist," Billy said, chuckling as he opened the back door. "Hayley?"
Leaning into the van, Billy unbuckled Rae and picked her up. Turning, he handed the sleeping four-year-old to Hayley who cuddled her close as she moved out of the way. Kat unbuckled JJ as Billy leaned back into the car. He helped Kat shift JJ, grunting a little with the effort of picking up the ten-year-old. With help from Kat, he carefully backed out of the car with JJ held against him. JJ mumbled, shifting a little, but didn't wake up. With JJ out of the way, Kat leaned over and placed a hand gently on Tommy's cheek. He jerked awake, grabbing her wrist before catching himself. He blinked as he quickly looked around. "We're home," Kat said soothingly. "Right," Tommy said, stifling a yawn. Kat climbed out of the van as Tommy unbuckled himself. He followed her. Outside, Tommy immediately took JJ from Billy, who was glad to hand over the ten-year-old. "You make it look easy," Billy said quietly, shaking his head. "He is not so little any longer."
Tommy shook his head. "No, he isn't," he chuckled faintly. "Do you need anything before we go, Tommy?" Hayley asked as she put Rae back in her car seat. Tommy shook his head, shifting JJ a little as he glanced at Kat and then the front door. "No," he said. "But you will be my first call if that changes."
He paused, grimacing. "Right—except I don't have a phone…" he said. Hayley frowned. "Don't you have the—"
Tommy shook his head. "It's in my backpack," he sighed. "I was at the dojo, remember? The only reason I had my—the other thing was because I knew I was going to need it to get everyone out. The phone wasn't going to help me in another dimension. So, I left it in the backpack at Anton's…"
"Don't worry," Kat said quickly, reaching into her pocket. "I still have mine. It's dead, but I can plug it in when we get inside. I'm sure Trent can bring your backpack when he picks up his car. Plus, we both have communicators."
"I'll send Kira a message—she'll pass it on," Hayley said. Tommy nodded. "Thanks," he sighed. "Will you check on the others, too? I want to make sure they all made it home safely."
Hayley nodded. "I will," she promised. "Now get him to bed. We're going to take ours home."
Hayley and Billy said their goodbyes as they climbed back in their van and headed home. Tommy and Kat took deep breaths and turned to head into the house. JJ mumbled again, shifting in Tommy's arms as his head rested on his father's shoulder. Walking up the stairs, they paused on the porch. The door was standing partially open. On the porch, JJ's bike had been kicked out of the way by someone at some point during the struggles that had occurred at the house. Tommy looked at it for a moment before turning back to the front door. Pushing the door open the rest of the way, he led the way into the house. Inside was more evidence of fighting. Pictures had been knocked off the wall and a small table knocked over. Kat bit her lip, looking around and shaking her head. "There's glass on the floor…" she said quietly, looking at some of the broken picture frames. "That's a problem for tomorrow," Tommy said, shaking his head. "Right now, let's get JJ to bed and try and get some sleep."
Kat nodded. Shutting the door behind them and locking it, they headed upstairs to get ready for bed. They put JJ in his bed first. For a few minutes they both stood in the doorway and watched. "Come on, Kat," Tommy said quietly. "You need to sleep, too."
She turned to look at him. "So do you," she said, raising an eyebrow. Tommy nodded and they both headed to their room. When Kat came out of the bathroom a little while later Tommy was rolling a sleeping bag out on the floor by their bed. "What's that for?" she asked as she climbed into bed. "Hopefully nothing," Tommy said. "But I don't think we can expect JJ to stay in his bed all night tonight…"
Kat sighed but didn't argue. She knew he was probably right. With a space for JJ ready to go, Tommy climbed into bed next to Kat. Putting his arms around her, he pulled her close and rested her forehead against his chest. She tensed but didn't pull away, relaxing after a few moments as she took some deep breaths.
"Sleep," he said as she yawned.
Both of them closed their eyes to try and get some sleep. But it wasn't long after that the door to their bedroom opened. JJ stood in the doorway hugging his pillow.
"Dad?" JJ whispered. Tommy sighed and sat up. "I'm right here, kiddo," he said. "Can't sleep?"
JJ shook his head. "Can I sleep in here tonight?" he asked quietly.
Tommy nodded. "There's a spot for you over here," he answered, pointing out the sleeping bag. "Come on."
JJ shut the door and scrambled over to the sleeping bag. He quickly got comfortable, just in case his parents suddenly changed their minds. "Go to sleep," Tommy said quietly once JJ was settled. "I'll be right here."
Yawning, JJ nodded and closed his eyes as he nestled into the sleeping bag. Tommy put an arm around Kat and closed his own eyes again.