Angel Grove, CA
When they arrived in Angel Grove just under an hour after leaving the base, Conner followed Jason's directions to the street his wife was supposed to be stranded on. He had been texting her the entire ride for updates and Christine kept saying she was still waiting. Conner parked along the curb of the street she had given. There weren't any people around and the only business open was a bar at the far end of the street.
"So, where is she?" Conner asked.
There were several cars parked in the spots along the curb on both sides of the street.
"I have no idea," Jason sighed, not immediately seeing the car. "But I'll call her and figure it out."
He climbed out of the car with Zach following. Conner picked up his phone and dialed.
"Hey, Cami," he said with a grin as the other two men shut the doors.
"Is that really necessary?" Cam asked irritably on the other end of the line.
"That was for Zach," Conner snickered, watching the two men standing on the sidewalk. "He thinks I wanted to sneak in a call to a girl. But Jason is trying to track down his wife right now. Where are you guys?"
"Around," Cam answered. "It helped that you managed to text us the street name to let us get here first."
"So have you seen a woman hiding in her car then?" Conner asked.
"No," Cam said. "But we are trying to keep our distance. It isn't stealth if people see us."
Conner nodded, frowning as he glanced out the window again. Jason and Zach had wandered further down the street. Jason was clearly frustrated from the look on his face. Leaning forward over his steering wheel, Conner took a look around the street. Jason and Zach weren't really paying attention to their surroundings, too busy with the phone call. The feeling that something wasn't right was worse than it had been.
"Where is she?" Conner muttered. "She could at least get out of the car now."
"Is something wrong?" Cam asked, still on the phone.
"I don't know yet…" Conner said slowly. "But they are moving further down the street. I'm going to follow them. Keep your communicators handy. If something happens, I'll call you on mine—I've got it set to your frequency."
"We'll be listening," Cam assured him.
Conner hung up and stuck his phone in his pocket. Climbing out, he shut and locked his car and then pocketed his keys as he jogged off after the other two men. They had stopped moving and were standing under a streetlight as Jason argued with Christine. Conner couldn't hear him clearly, but he was obviously not happy. Then Conner saw something that had all of his instincts screaming danger.
A small group of men he could only describe as thugs had walked out of the alley behind Jason and Zach and neither of them had noticed. Realizing quickly that the men were heading straight for Jason and Zach, Conner picked up his pace. He did not trust their intentions, because even distracted, Jason did not look like an easy target. Zach had noticed them now and was watching them in suspicion and trying to get Jason's attention.
Using his gem to put on a burst of speed, Conner put himself between the thugs and the other two rangers.
"Can we help you?" Conner asked shortly, crossing his arms. "This is a private conversation."
"Get out of the way, kid," one of the thugs snapped, looking a little surprised by his sudden appearance. "This doesn't involve you."
"How about you just get out of here instead?" Conner suggested, not moving.
"Then remember you asked for this," the thug answered. "For sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."
Conner frowned, but before he could ask what that meant the thug reached behind his back and pulled out a gun. Conner froze for a moment in shock—he hadn't been expecting to face down a gunman. Instinct kicked in and he tapped into his speed ability to try and get out of the way. But as Conner started to move, he remembered Jason and Zach were right behind him and he hesitated.
The gun went off with a crack.
Conner cried out in pain as the bullet ripped through his left shoulder, dropping him to his knees. The gunman stepped around him as Conner managed to grab his communicator with his right hand since he couldn't move his left arm.
"Problem!" he gasped out, collapsing the rest of the way to the ground as he clutched his shoulder.
When the gunshot went off, Jason spun and dropped his phone. He saw Conner hit the ground—he hadn't even noticed Conner join them. Then he realized the gun was now pointing at him and Zach.
"What are you doing?" Zach was shouting at the gunman.
Acting on instinct, Jason turned and pushed Zach out of the way as the gun went off three more times, one right after the other.
All three shots struck Jason.
The first shot hit his shoulder, causing him to stumble away. Second shot sliced across his side followed by a third shot straight to the gut. Jason dropped to the ground in shock.
A few feet away, Zach scrambled to try and get his feet back under him as the gunman turned his attention to him. The gun was pointing straight at Zach now. But the gun didn't go off again.
Instead, they were suddenly surrounded by six very angry figures in uniforms and facemasks, causing the gunman to hesitate in surprise. Zach recognized them as the rangers he had been introduced to at JJ's party earlier that day. They'd been showing the kids their uniforms. And then they burst into motion.
The Ninjas were leaning casually against the wall of a nearby building, hidden in the shadows out of sight, when the first gunshot went off.
"Was that—" Dustin started to ask, straightening up.
He was interrupted by Conner's voice on the communicator.
"Problem!"Conner gasped before falling silent.
"Go!" Shane exclaimed.
All six were instantly in motion even as three more gunshots went off. They surrounded the three rangers and the men attacking them. Without a word, they jumped into the fight.
Hunter and Blake went straight for the thug holding the gun. Neither one hesitated, knowing he was currently the biggest danger. Hunter's first strike hit the hand holding the gun, forcing the man to drop it without firing again. He quickly kicked it away, making sure it was well out of reach. Blake followed with a direct attack on the thug, dropping him to the ground unconscious before he had a chance to fight back.
Cam went straight to Conner, dropping to his knees next to him. His eyes were closed and his breathing heavy—he was clearly in pain.
"Conner," Cam said, trying to get his attention. "Conner!"
Conner's eyes opened briefly. Blood had already soaked his shirt, noticeable even though he was wearing his usual red.
"Cam—Jason—" he mumbled.
"I've got to try and slow the bleeding," Cam warned. "I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt."
He pressed down on the wound in Conner's shoulder, using pressure to try and slow the bleeding. Conner cried out in pain again, his eyes flying open. Cam apologized again but didn't let up.
Tori went to Zach, trusting Blake and Hunter to make sure she wasn't going to be a target since she was essentially walking right into the path of the gun. Zach stared up at her in surprise, still sitting on the ground where he had fallen when Jason pushed him out of the way.
"Are you hurt?" she asked, still keeping an eye on what was happening with the fight.
Zach shook his head. Tori reached a hand down to help him to his feet.
Shane had gone straight to Jason's side, dropping to the ground next to him. He had passed out when he collapsed and was bleeding in multiple places. Muttering to himself, Shane ignored Jason's shoulder and side in favor of trying to slow the bleeding from his stomach as he glanced over his shoulder to see how his team was faring.
Dustin had gone straight for the other four men. Appearing in the middle of them, he dropped one of them before they had a chance to move. He spun, dropping a second man before he could get his hands up. Blake and Hunter, done with the gunman, leapt to help Dustin. The last two thugs stumbled backward and then turned and ran. The Ninjas started to follow but Shane yelled for them to come back.
"Forget them," Shane ordered. "Dustin, get back to base right now and find Angela or Dana—wake them up if you have to."
Dustin didn't hesitate. He used his communicator to teleport back to Lightspeed ahead of the others. Zach was on his feet now, looking back and forth between Jason and Conner in shock as he tried to process everything that had happened in the last couple of minutes. Hunter and Blake were trying to help with Jason, but none of the Ninjas had any actual medical training. All they could do was help Shane try and slow the bleeding down. Only minutes had passed, but all of them knew they had to get help as soon as possible. The longer they waited the worse it would get.
"Can we safely teleport them?" Blake asked, looking at Shane.
"I have no idea," Shane answered. "I'm not a doctor, Blake. But if we try and call 911 I think it's going to be too late for Jason—they can get him help faster at Lightspeed. Cam and Tori, are you ready?"
"Yes," they both answered.
Tori had a hand on Zach's shoulder, ready to teleport him with her. Cam was still using both hands to keep pressure on Conner's shoulder, so Hunter ran over to him so he could initiate the teleport. Blake was doing the same for Shane and Jason.
"Let's get out of here," Shane said as confirmation.
Mariner Bay, CA
Moments later they were on the floor in an empty room in the medical bay on the treatment half of the floor. It had been set aside as an emergency transport point. Teleporting into that room set off alerts that would go straight to Dana, Angela, and the medical staff—helped in this case by sending Dustin ahead. So, they didn't have to wait long before the door flew open.
Angela came running in with Dustin. She stopped just inside, looking around the group in surprise.
"What happened?" she exclaimed.
She ran to Jason who was closer, dropping down to the floor next to Shane and Blake to see what was going on.
"They were shot," Shane answered grimly.
"Dana is on her way with help," Angela said, glancing briefly at Jason's shoulder. "Let me see, Shane."
Shane sat back out of the way, watching Angela as she inspected the wound in Jason's stomach.
The door opened again, and Dana rushed in with several orderlies. They had brought gurneys with them. Carter and Joel followed, though they stayed out of the way.
"We're going to need the surgical teams," Angela said, shooting a look in Carter's direction. "Now. We'll get him prepped, but he can't wait."
Carter immediately pulled out his phone and made the call. Two of the nurses came running over with a gurney, lowering it down so they wouldn't have to lift Jason far. Angela gave directions, having Shane, Blake, and Dustin help her and the nurses lift Jason up. As soon as he was settled on the gurney they took off.
Since Angela was with Jason when she came in, Dana had gone straight to Conner, dropping to her knees next to him.
"Conner, how are you doing?" Dana asked, shooing Cam out of the way.
Conner's eyes flickered open.
"Dana?" he mumbled.
"Well, you recognized me," she said. "Just stay with me—alright? I want you to stay awake."
He muttered something incoherent in response as his eyes started to close again.
"Conner—awake!" Dana snapped.
"Sorry…" he said, grimacing as she examined his shoulder. "Dana?"
"Yes, Conner?" she said, not looking up.
"I didn't move…" he said, his eyes closing again.
"Didn't move?" Dana repeated, frowning. "Conner? Conner!"
He had passed out.
"Help me get him up," she said to Cam and Hunter as she reapplied pressure to his shoulder. "He's lost a lot of blood. I know it didn't hit an artery—or he would have bled out already—but the bullet could have hit the subclavian vein. I need to get him to surgery now, too, before he bleeds out."
They got Conner up on the second gurney and Dana took off in the same direction Angela had gone moments before, snapping directions about x-rays. The Ninjas and Zach were left alone with Carter and Joel. No one said anything for a few moments.
Zach hadn't moved since they got there. He was just staring in the direction Dana and Angela had taken Jason and Conner in. Tori was still next to him, her hand on his shoulder in a small gesture of comfort. The other five had moved closer to each other, all of them trying to process everything.
Cam, Shane, Hunter, and Blake all had blood on their hands and clothing from helping Jason and Conner. Dustin had some blood on him, too, from helping lift Jason. Carter studied them for a minute before he spoke.
"What happened?" Carter finally said, his arms crossed as he looked around at the group. "Where were you?"
They all turned to look at Carter, hesitating.
"None of you are leaving this room until I get answers," Carter said sternly. "Now what happened? Why are Jason and Conner on their way to the operating room?"
"I don't know," Shane finally answered. "Conner asked us to follow them—he never explained the whole story. Something to do with helping Jason's wife. It was supposed to be an emergency. We weren't with them when the shooting started…"
Carter took a deep breath, rubbing a hand over his face.
"Zach?" he said expectantly. "I'm assuming you know more."
"What?" Zach said, snapping out of his stare at the sound of his name.
"What happened?" Carter repeated. "Why were you off this base? I thought I locked it down."
"Conner let us out," Zach said quietly. "Christine—Jason's wife—was stranded in a bad part of town and there was no one else to help her…"
He trailed off and Carter looked at him expectantly. Little by little, with a lot of prodding, Zach walked through what had happened that evening. He was clearly in shock over the incident. The Ninjas all filled in little bits here and there of what they knew or had helped with. Finally, Carter had heard enough.
"Alright, that's enough for now," he sighed. "Zach, there's an empty room down the hall. I think it's best if you stay in the med bay for the rest of the night."
Zach nodded numbly, not speaking anymore.
"Come on, Zach," Joel said, walking over and putting an arm around his shoulders. "Sleep will help you process."
He led Zach out of the room, leaving Carter with the Ninjas.
"We should go tell Dr. O," Shane said, looking at his teammates. "He's going to want to know…"
They all nodded in agreement.
"Not right now," Carter said.
The Ninjas looked at him in surprise.
"What?" Blake frowned. "Why not? He should know—they all should."
"And they will," Carter said. "I will handle it. I just want to make sure I have something to actually tell them first."
"You do!" Dustin exclaimed. "Conner and Jason were just shot. What else do they need to know right now?"
"Waking them up to have them come sit and wait down here isn't necessary," Carter said, shaking his head. "Tommy is still recovering. He needs to sleep. Everyone does. Once they are out of surgery, I will call them myself."
The Ninjas scowled at him.
"So, what are we supposed to do?" Tori asked, crossing her arms. "Just pretend it didn't happen?"
"I didn't say that," Carter said shortly. "But right now the best thing you can do is go back to your rooms. Get cleaned up and try and get some sleep. I will handle everything else."
"Carter—" Shane started to argue.
"Go," Carter repeated. "And don't talk to anyone about this until I've had a chance to inform them—understand? The last thing we need is rumors flying through the network."
They glared at Carter, still not agreeing with him.
"Please don't make me give you an order," he sighed.
"You may as well," Cam said evenly. "As that is the only way we are going to listen at this point. Per Dr. O's request that we be respectful on your base, of course."
"Alright then," Carter said irritably. "Don't talk about this until further notice. I will handle notifying the appropriate people. Now go back to your rooms and get cleaned up—stay there until I call you."
He looked at them expectantly. They looked at each other, trying to decide if they should listen or just completely ignore Carter.
"Fine," Shane finally conceded. "But if you haven't told them by time they wake up in the morning, we will do it for you."
Carter sighed but agreed. Reluctantly, the Ninjas filed out of the room and to the elevator to return to the residential level. Tori was opening the doors to keep the blood from getting everywhere. Once they were gone, Carter went down the hall to where Joel had taken Zach. Zach was sitting on the bed with his head in his hands.
"Joel," Carter said, gesturing for him to come closer.
Joel jogged over.
"What do you need?" he asked.
"We're going to have to do some cleanup," Carter said quickly. "I'd like you or Chad to go. Take an officer and some cadets. Make sure none of them left anything behind—like their cars. Someone is going to notice eventually if they haven't already, and we don't want anything left behind that we'll have to explain."
Joel nodded.
"I'll take care of it," he said. "Zach isn't going anywhere for a while. But keep an eye on him. He wasn't hurt physically but witnessing something like that is a whole other kind of hurt. Especially when they are your friends."
Carter nodded and Joel strode off down the hallway to coordinate a cleanup team. When Joel was gone, he glanced at the time on his watch before heading toward the medical office to wait for news from Dana or Angela.
"2300…" he muttered. "We should all be getting ready for bed…"
Sunday June 24th, 2018
Mariner Bay, CA
Krista reached for the ringing phone without opening her eyes. Finally finding it, she opened her eyes enough to answer the call.
"Hello?" she yawned.
"Krista? It's Carter."
"Carter?" she repeated. "Hold on—I'll get Conner."
Pulling the phone away from her ear without waiting for an answer, Krista rolled over to shake Conner awake. She stopped, frowning when she just touched the cold bed instead of her husband. Sitting up, Krista looked around the room. There was no sign of Conner.
"Carter, he's not here," she said, putting the phone back to her ear.
"I know," Carter said patiently. "That's why I called you and not him."
"Wait," Krista said, shaking her head and stifling another yawn. "How do you know he's not here?"
She paused as what she just said clicked in her own head.
"Carter—how do you know he's not here?" she said again, more seriously this time. "Where is he?"
"I need you to come to the med bay," Carter answered. "I will explain once you are here."
"Did something happen to Dr. O?" Krista exclaimed, throwing back her blanket and scrambling out of bed.
She looked down at herself in her shorts and tank top and decided she should probably put something else on.
"Tommy is fine," Carter assured her. "As far as I am aware he is still in his room sleeping."
"Then what is going on?" she asked, grabbing a pair of Conner's track pants and a sweatshirt he had left on a chair. "Did something happen to Conner?"
"I will explain when you get here," Carter said. "I'll be in the office."
Krista nearly lost her balance trying to pull the long pants on without dropping her phone.
"Do I need to wake up the others?" she asked, finally getting them pulled up.
"No," Carter answered. "I'm taking care of that."
"Ok…" Krista said, frowning as she started to pull on Conner's sweatshirt. "I'll be right there."
Setting her phone down, Krista pulled the hoodie on over her head. Turning around, she fished under the bed for the slippers she knew were there somewhere and stuck them on her feet. In a hurry, concerned there was something seriously wrong, she grabbed a ponytail off the dresser and rushed out the door, forgetting to pick her phone back up. The lights were off in the living room. Tripping over the long pants she was wearing, Krista tried to navigate quickly across the dark room.
"Ouch," she hissed, tripping over a pair of shoes that had been left in the middle of the floor.
She tried to catch herself on the wall but bumped into the bench where they had stacked JJ's gifts after the party. JJ hadn't taken everything to his room and the collision knocked several things to the floor with a thump. Krista winced, hesitating for just a brief moment to quickly toss everything back on the bench so they didn't get stepped on. Then she turned and continued out the door.
Ethan woke up with a start at the sound of a loud thud. He sat up, looking around and trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. Still hearing noises out in the living room, he climbed out of bed to figure out what was going on.
He walked out into the living room and fumbled for the light. Before he found it, the hall door opened and he saw someone rushing out.
"Conner!" he hissed, recognizing the track pants and sweatshirt. "Why? It's like midnight!"
But the door shut, leaving him in the dark again. Continuing to grumble to himself, Ethan gave up on the light switch and used the light from his phone to navigate to the couch. He sat down, getting comfortable to wait for Conner to come back. Ethan figured he was going to the cafeteria for a snack and would be back soon and he was going to wait to yell at him for waking him up.
Yawning, he played on his phone for a little while before he eventually fell asleep with his phone in his hands.
Shane stared at his phone in his hands. His leg bounced impatiently as he stared, hoping it would ring with an update. All six of the Ninjas were gathered in their living room. After getting back to their suite they had showered and changed and then came back out to wait for news since none of them felt like sleeping. It was now nearly one in the morning.
"Ok, that's enough," Tori snapped. "You are not helping."
She snatched the phone out of his hand before he could stop her.
"What am I supposed to do, Tori?" Shane snapped back, trying to take his phone back. "Carter is supposed to call with an update."
"Well, maybe he doesn't know anything yet," she said, tossing his phone to Blake who caught it in surprise.
Shane scowled at Blake who promptly dropped the phone on the coffee table. Standing abruptly, Shane stalked over to retrieve it.
"It's been hours, Tori," Shane said. "How can they not know anything yet?"
"I don't know," she retorted. "I've never been shot before!"
"Any chance no news is good news could apply to this?" Dustin inserted hesitantly. "They would have told us if one of them—if one of them was dead, right?"
There was silence for a moment and then Hunter sighed.
"Not necessarily…" he said. "They would tell their wives, first, I think. And then their teammates. And they would probably want to tell them in person so it would take longer. Especially since Jason's wife isn't even here. They might tell the rest of Mighty Morphin while they waited? Maybe? We'd probably be the last ones on base to find out. They'd eventually send someone down to talk to us—"
"Ok, you are not making this better, Hunter!" Tori snapped, spinning to glare at him.
"Hunter, seriously?" Blake scowled at his brother, getting up to pull Tori into a hug.
"What?" Hunter protested. "I'm just being honest…"
Blake shook his head, hugging Tori tightly as she leaned against him.
"You guys don't really think Conner or Jason might actually be dead, right?" Dustin said anxiously, looking around at his teammates. "Right? We got them back fast enough. Right?"
No one answered for a moment and Dustin sank back into his chair.
"I think we all need to look on the positive side until we have a reason to do otherwise," Cam finally said. "Remember, they are getting the best medical care possible on this planet. Maybe they haven't contacted us with an update because they want to keep their focus on their health and not messaging us."
"Or that, too…" Hunter said quietly.
"Still not helping," Tori muttered.
"I'm trying, Tori," Hunter snapped. "But this isn't exactly something any of us deal with on a daily basis."
"So, stop offering suggestions when you don't have any idea of what's going on!" Tori snapped back, pulling away from Blake.
"Neither of you are helping now," Blake said, looking between his brother and his wife.
Shane had started pacing around the room as he tried to ignore their arguing.
"Shane, would you just sit still for two minutes," Tori exclaimed.
"I—" he started to protest.
He was interrupted by all of their phones going off. There was a short pause and then they were all scrambling to grab their phones and read the message.
Ethan: Hey! What's going on with Conner? He's not home and isn't answering his phone. We know you went with him.
They all stared at the message. That was not what they had hoped to see.
"So, what are we supposed to say?" Dustin asked, looking up at his teammates. "Carter told us not to say anything—do we just ignore him?"
Cam immediately shook his head as the rest hesitated.
"No, that's not going to work," he said. "At least not for long. It's Ethan. If we ignore him for too long on something this important, he'll set off something we can't ignore."
They all winced, remembering the last time they had ignored him.
"So, answer him," Blake said.
Shane shook his head.
"We can't," he sighed. "We agreed a long time ago to listen orders from Carter on base. He's never abused that position to we have no reason not to trust his order. He must have a good reason for asking us to keep quiet…even if we think it's stupid."
"Then what are we supposed to do?" Hunter asked. "We have to say something. I don't particularly want my phone to turn into a banshee like last time we ignored him."
They all grimaced again.
"We can't lie about it, either," Tori said. "They'd only be mad at us later."
Dustin, who had been shaking his head as he listened to the rest, finally just typed an answer and sent it back in the group chat. Everyone turned to look at him in surprise—and annoyance—when it came through on their phones.
Dustin: We aren't supposed to say
"Seriously, Dustin?" Shane exclaimed. "You don't think that's suspicious?"
"What?" Dustin protested as Ethan responded. "What else can we say?"
Ethan: What is that supposed to mean?
Dustin: It means we aren't supposed to answer you
Ethan: Why?
"This is not helping," Tori muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to make her growing headache go away.
Hunter: Carter said
"Hunter!" Shane exclaimed.
"What?" Hunter said. "Maybe he'll go ask Carter now—or not…"
Their phones had just gone off again.
Ethan: Carter? What does Carter have to do with anything?
Shane sighed and typed his own message.
Shane: Carter said to let him handle it.
"Seriously, Shane?" Tori sighed. "Guys, I think you're only making it worse… yep."
Ethan: HANDLE WHAT?
"I was right," Tori muttered. "Can we stop now?"
"I don't think so," Blake answered. "Pretty sure we're invested now."
Dustin: we can't tell you
Ethan: !
Seriously, guys. Dr. O is awake and he knows we can't find Conner. If you know something you better spill.
They all stared at the message about Tommy for a moment.
"Umm… so now what?" Dustin asked. "Cause I don't think Dr. O is going to take 'we can't tell you' as an acceptable answer…"
"Nope," the rest of the Ninjas agreed.
Ethan: Why can't you give me a straight answer?
"No one answer that," Cam said quickly. "I have an idea."
He typed quickly, sending his response. The other five waited to see what the response would be. When it went through, they read it in surprise.
Cam: Carter told us not to talk to anyone about anything until he had all of the necessary information.
Ethan: INFORMATION ON WHAT?! I need real answers! Where is Conner?
"Cam—" Shane started to say.
"Just give it a minute," Cam said, shaking his head. "Really, Shane…?"
Shane: CARTER told us we can't talk to anyone about it.
"I'm just emphasizing the point you already made," Shane said.
All six of them waited anxiously for a few minutes, but there was no further message from Ethan. Or anyone else.
"I think Dr. O got the message," Cam said.
They all nodded in agreement. Several of them were stifling yawns now.
"Alright," Shane sighed. "Maybe we should try and get some sleep?"
The other five looked at him with various expressions—none of which agreed with his statement.
"Ok, no sleep," he muttered. "Coffee?"
Tommy sighed, staring at the ceiling. He had slept for a few hours after going to bed, but then something happened in the living room that woke him up and now he couldn't fall back asleep. Giving up on sleeping, he threw the blanket off himself—being very careful not to wake up Kat. Grabbing his cane, he slowly stood up from the bed. Standing up too quickly still made him dizzy. He reached into his backpack which was sitting on the chair next to the bed and grabbed the tablet out. Tablet in one hand and still holding his cane in the other, he made his way out of the room.
"May as well be productive," he muttered to himself, shutting the bedroom door quietly behind him.
He stepped carefully across the room, not wanting to turn the main light on. It took him a few minutes in the dark. Reaching the couch, he turned on the lamp and then stopped in surprise. Ethan was asleep on the couch.
"Ethan, what are you doing?" Tommy asked quietly.
Ethan shot up, looking around and then stopping when he saw Tommy.
"Dr. O?" he said sleepily. "What are you doing up? Is it morning?"
Tommy chuckled a little, shaking his head.
"No, it's not morning," he said. "Or at least not morning enough that people are expected to be awake. I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd at least be productive."
He held up the tablet.
"Oh," Ethan yawned, sitting up so Tommy could sit next to him.
Tommy lowered himself carefully onto the couch, leaning back and taking a few breaths.
"Why are you out here and not in your bed?" Tommy asked, looking over at Ethan.
"What?" Ethan said again. "Oh—Conner woke me up. I was waiting for him to come back so I could yell at him."
Tommy frowned, looking at the time.
"Was that who made the noise?" he asked. "I thought I heard you yell at him. But that was almost an hour ago. Where is he?"
"An hour?" Ethan said, looking at his phone. "Oh. I guess I fell back asleep… I thought he was just going to the cafeteria for a late-night snack. But an hour is a long time…"
Tommy nodded in agreement.
"Maybe he snuck in while I was asleep," Ethan yawned, standing up and stretching. "I'll go check."
"Maybe," Tommy said slowly. "But I've been awake, and I didn't hear anyone. He would have had to be very quiet."
Ethan shrugged and walked over to Conner's room which was next to Tommy's. He didn't knock, not wanting to wake up Krista. Opening the door just enough, he stuck his head in. Then he swung the door wide open and clicked on the light, standing in the doorway in surprise.
"Ethan!" Tommy hissed. "What are you doing?"
"There's no one in here," Ethan said, turning back to look at Tommy.
Tommy frowned.
"Where's Krista?" he asked.
Ethan shrugged.
"I have no idea," he said, pulling out his phone. "And Conner should have been back by now."
"Back?" Tommy said, raising an eyebrow. "Back from where?"
Ethan didn't answer, looking through his texts instead.
"He didn't text me," he muttered. "So, that's weird."
Walking two doors down, Ethan knocked on Trent and Kira's door.
"Quiet," Tommy said quickly. "I don't want to wake up Kat or the boys."
"Sorry," Ethan muttered.
Trent opened the door a moment later and glared at Ethan. Wearing just his pajama bottoms, he had clearly been woken up by the knock. Tommy started getting off the couch, still wanting an answer to his earlier question.
"What?" Trent asked irritably. "I'd like to sleep at least one night without interruption."
"Did Conner text you?" Ethan asked.
"What? No," Trent said. "Why would he text me while I'm sleeping?"
"Because he was supposed to text us when he got back—remember?" Ethan said quietly. "And he hasn't texted me."
Trent frowned.
"Hold on," he sighed, disappearing back into his room.
Kira was sitting up in their bed, the blanket still pulled up over her lap as she yawned. Trent came back to the door with his phone.
"He didn't text me," he said. "Maybe he forgot?"
"He isn't in his room," Ethan said, shaking his head. "And neither is Krista. But her phone is sitting on the dresser."
"Back from where?" Tommy repeated right behind Ethan.
Ethan jumped, turning to look at Tommy.
"That's not ok, Dr. O!" he exclaimed quietly. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
Tommy rolled his eyes.
"Ethan, I'm using a cane to get around and moving at probably a quarter of my normal speed," he said drily. "If I can sneak up on you then you need to pay more attention to your surroundings. Now what is going on? I thought Conner went to bed not long after I did. Why are you two talking about him not being back?"
Ethan and Trent both hesitated, exchanging looks. Tommy just waited.
"Conner may have left the base after the party…" Ethan finally admitted.
"What?" Tommy frowned. "Why so late?"
"We aren't really sure?" Ethan said, rubbing the back of his head. "He just sent us all a text. Something about an emergency and they'd be back in a few hours. The Ninjas went with them—whoever them was."
Ethan held out his phone to show Tommy the text.
"He didn't answer when I asked him what was going on," Ethan shrugged. "But I figured since he went with the Ninjas it was fine and they could handle whatever it was. And I swear I saw him leaving the room earlier… but maybe I was just imagining things? He isn't answering the text I just sent."
Tommy shook his head, handing back the phone.
"Was there an emergency with Krista's family?" he asked. "That could explain why she isn't here. I did go to bed before all of you."
Ethan and Trent both shook their heads.
"Krista went to bed when we did," Trent said. "Conner left when the Ninjas did right after the party—without her."
"Something doesn't feel right about this," Tommy said slowly. "If he didn't leave with Krista, then who did he leave with? His text said the Ninjas 'are going to shadow us'."
"We didn't talk to him before he left," Ethan said. "We didn't even see him leave because he was running trash when we left the gym. And he never came back up here. So, all we know is what's in that text. He sent the same one to all of us. Including Krista."
"Text the Ninjas," Tommy said. "If they followed him, they have to know something."
Ethan nodded, quickly typing out a group text message to the Ninjas.
Hey! What's going on with Conner? He's not home and isn't answering his phone. We know you went with him.
"I'm going to get dressed," Trent said, glancing over his shoulder at Kira. "Or at least put on a shirt. We'll be out in a minute to help figure it out."
He shut the door, but Ethan didn't notice. He was staring at his phone waiting for a response.
"Answer," he muttered.
"I'll be right back," Tommy said. "I'm going to go put on actual clothes. I'll text Hayley, too."
Ethan glanced up.
"Hayley?" he said.
"She can track his phone or communicator—unless you'd like to try?" Tommy said, pausing. "I figured it would be faster if I asked Hayley."
"Uh, no, I'm good," Ethan said. "But that's a little weird that Hayley can just track our phones with minimal effort…I expect the communicator. The phone not so much."
Tommy shrugged, grimacing a little. He kept forgetting that motion still hurt his ribs.
"She created some kind of 'find-a-friend' program specifically for our team," he said. "It can track our phones and morphers or communicators. Apparently, she doesn't trust us to not disappear anymore after that last one."
"Doesn't really make it less creepy, but if it helps us find Conner…" Ethan shrugged and went back to staring at his phone. "I think they might be asleep, Dr. O."
"Then wake them up," Tommy said shortly. "Something isn't right, and I want to know what it is."
Ethan nodded as Tommy shuffled away to go change into something a little easier to move around in.
Guys, seriously! What is going on? You left before 9p and now it's almost 1a. That's more than a couple hours.
He wandered over to the couch to sit and wait for an answer. Just as he was considering calling, his phone dinged with a response.
Dustin: We aren't supposed to say
Ethan: What is that supposed to mean?
Dustin: It means we aren't supposed to answer you
Ethan: Why?
Hunter: Carter said
Ethan: Carter? What does Carter have to do with anything?
Shane: Carter said to let him handle it.
Ethan: HANDLE WHAT?
Dustin: we can't tell you
Ethan: !
Seriously, guys. Dr. O is awake and he knows we can't find Conner. If you know something you better spill.
Trent and Kira had walked out at this point and were leaning over the back of the couch watching Ethan's conversation with the Ninjas. Trent still had his pajama pants on, but he'd grabbed a shirt and socks in case he needed to put shoes on. Kira had put on leggings and was wearing one of Trent's sweatshirts.
"Why can't they tell us?" Kira asked, frowning.
Ethan just shook his head, his fingers still flying over the screen.
Ethan: Why can't you give me a straight answer?
Cam: Carter told us not to talk to anyone about anything until he had all of the necessary the information.
Ethan: INFORMATION ON WHAT?! I need real answers! Where is Conner?
"Did they tell you what's going on?" Tommy asked.
He had just come out of his room, quietly shutting the door behind him.
"Not exactly," Trent said, glancing over his shoulders. "Ethan is kind of going in circles with them."
Tommy frowned, moving as quickly as he could over to the couch.
Shane: CARTER told us we can't talk to anyone about it.
Ethan glared at his phone.
"What is going on?" Tommy asked, leaning on the back of the couch.
"I have no idea," Ethan muttered. "They just keep telling me they can't tell me. And they keep talking about Carter and I have no idea what they are talking about."
"Let me see," Tommy said, holding out his hand.
Ethan handed Tommy his phone again and Tommy quickly scrolled through the conversation.
"I have an idea of what it means," Tommy said grimly, handing the phone back. "Let's go."
"Go where?" Ethan said, scrambling off the couch.
"To find Carter," Tommy said. "Because it sounds like there is something he hasn't shared with us and it involves Conner. Shane and the others wouldn't withhold information unless they had been ordered to—and Carter is currently the only one on base who can issue a silence order that they would follow."
Ethan, Trent, and Kira followed Tommy out the door without an argument. Out in the corridor, Hayley was rushing toward them from the Mighty Morphin' suite with her tablet in her hands.
"I found his communicator," she said quickly. "He's on base—best guess is the med bay based on elevation. I can narrow the location down as we get closer."
"Med bay?" Ethan, Kira, and Trent repeated in surprise.
"Elevator," Tommy said. "Kira and Trent, you go with Hayley. Let me know the moment you find him. Ethan, you are coming with me to find Carter."
"It's after 1a," Ethan said as they all headed toward the closest elevator. "How are we supposed to find him?"
"Because he's probably right where I would be if something was happening—in his office where he can keep track of everything and concentrate," Tommy said without pausing.
They reached the elevator and Ethan jumped ahead to open them, placing his hand against the scanner. Nothing happened.
"Well, that's weird," Ethan frowned. "Is it broken?"
"Try your other hand," Tommy said, trying to catch his breath.
Ethan tried his other hand with the same result. Trent tried with the same result. They were all exchanging confused looks. Hayley frowned, tapping at the panel.
"He locked us into the residential level," Tommy growled.
Trent phased partially through the doors to make sure the elevator was actually on their level and then disappeared for a moment. He came back through, shaking his head.
"I can't override it from inside, either," he said. "We're stuck here."
"Oh, not for long," Hayley muttered, unlocking her tablet.
"Leave it, Hayley," Tommy snapped, reaching into his pocket. "Trent?"
He pulled out his master morpher and indicated for Trent to do the same. Trent followed his lead and called his morpher, not sure what they were going to do. Tommy placed his morpher on the hand scanner and the elevator opened. The three younger rangers stared in surprise for a moment.
"Yours will do the same if you need it again," Tommy said.
Trent nodded, keeping it in his hand.
"Wait a minute!" Ethan exclaimed. "How come Trent's can do that and mine can't?"
"It can," Tommy said shortly. "All of them can. It's an emergency only override meant to make sure no one can trap us in here."
"And apparently this constitutes enough of an emergency that we can't wait for me to just go around the system," Hayley said, raising an eyebrow at Tommy.
Tommy ignored her, moving forward into the elevator.
"Oh, he is mad," Ethan muttered to Trent and Kira. "He didn't get snarky back with Hayley."
"Ethan, let's go," Tommy snapped.
Ethan quickly joined Tommy in the elevator and the other three followed. Tommy pushed the button for the Medical Floor and then the Command level and then placed his morpher on the scanner again to get the elevator moving. He leaned against the wall as the doors shut. They were all silent as the elevator moved up to the next floor.
When it stopped, Trent used his morpher to open the door so Tommy didn't have to and he, Kira, and Hayley got out. The doors shut again, and the elevator moved up again to the Command level. Ethan fidgeted with his phone. When the elevator stopped, Tommy opened the door with his morpher and led the way down the hall.
He let himself into Carter's office without pausing, Ethan following right on his heels.
When the door opened, Carter's head shot up from what he was reading on his computer. He looked at Tommy and Ethan in surprise.
"Tommy?" Carter said, a little shocked to see him. "How did you get up here?"
Tommy just held up his master morpher in response. Carter grimaced.
"I didn't know you had that back yet," he muttered.
"I've had it since I woke up early Friday morning," Tommy said shortly. "Conner gave it back to me. Speaking of—where is Conner?"
"Conner is going to be—" Carter started to answer.
"Where is he?" Tommy interrupted.
"He didn't come home last night," Ethan added, standing next to Tommy. "And as irresponsible as Conner can be when it doesn't matter, he would never just forget to tell us he was alright after taking off like he did. And now Krista is gone…"
Both men looked at Carter expectantly. He sighed.
"I was going to come update you soon," he said. "I didn't think I needed to wake all of you up that late when there was nothing you could do at the time. We took care of everything, and they are going to be fine. It wouldn't have helped having thirteen extra people—without counting kids—crowding the med bay to wait for answers."
"Thirteen?" Tommy frowned. "Where do you get thirteen? There's only six of us—not that the others wouldn't care if something happened, but..."
Carter hesitated, realizing Tommy hadn't figured out the whole story yet.
"That's not what I—" Carter said, trying to backtrack.
"With everyone it should be sixteen," Tommy said slowly. "And you said 'they'. Carter—who was involved in whatever happened?"
Ethan's phone went off and he quickly looked at the message. Hayley, Kira, and Trent had found Conner.
"He was shot?" Ethan yelped, blurting out the contents of the message as he looked up at Carter in shock.
"What?" Tommy exclaimed, paling a little as he whipped his head around to look at Ethan.
"Conner was shot…" Ethan repeated slowly, looking at Tommy with wide eyes.
His phone went off again.
"Trent says they found Dana in the room with him and are interrogating her," Ethan continued, not taking his eyes off his phone. "He's still sleeping because of the medication—I guess his metabolism is burning it off way quicker than a normal person so Dana had to up the dose because he kept waking up in pain and was really out of it…"
"What happened?" Tommy asked roughly, gripping his cane tightly.
Ethan shook his head.
"Dana didn't know that part," he said. "She just took care of them when they got back. She's been helping in surgery for the last four hours."
"Four hours?" Tommy repeated, still looking at Ethan and ignoring Carter. "How bad is it?"
"He was shot in the left shoulder…" Ethan said slowly, still trying to catch up to the bursts of messages he was getting now. "The—bullet—shattered part of his clavicle and they had to reconstruct and also repair part of the muscle…Dr. O—it hit a major vein. It wasn't an artery, but he still could have bled out if they hadn't gotten him back as fast as they did…"
Ethan looked up from his phone, his face pale. He took a shaky breath before continuing.
"It was Krista I saw running out," Ethan said. "She was with Conner when they found him. She has his sweatshirt and sweats on…"
Tommy took a deep breath, ignoring the pain for the moment as he finally turned back to Carter.
"Why not the rest of us, Carter?" Tommy demanded. "We had a right to know something like this had happened. Who else was involved?"
Through the initial shock of the news now, Tommy was angry and so was Ethan. Carter sighed.
"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head. "But there was nothing any of you could have done for them at that point. Waking everyone up just to sit and wait—"
"Wasn't your choice to make," Tommy interrupted. "You should have called me the moment someone came back injured. Especially an injury that required surgery! Now who else was with Conner?"
"Alright, alright," Carter conceded. "It was Jason and Zach. And—before you ask—both of them are going to be fine."
"How bad?" Tommy asked shortly, holding an arm against his aching ribs to try and support them.
"Zach is just in shock," Carter answered. "I put him in one of the rooms to process and sleep. We've been checking on him frequently."
"And Jason?"
Carter took a deep breath, hesitating as he tried to decide exactly how to answer Tommy.
"Carter," Tommy snapped, taking a step closer to the other red ranger.
Ethan started to reach toward Tommy to help but stopped himself. He wasn't going to try and stop him this time—he was just as mad that they didn't know any of this.
"Jason was shot three times," Carter finally said. "Tommy, would you please sit down?"
Tommy's grip tightened on the cane he was still holding, and he just glared in response with his other arm still pressed against his ribs.
"Ok—He is out of surgery now," Carter assured Tommy. "Our surgeon says it went as well as it could. But Dana has decided to put him in a cryo chamber for the moment—just as a precaution."
Tommy shook his head, silent again for a brief moment as he took in that information. Ethan was quiet as well, though he was still texting on his phone.
"What happened?" Tommy asked after a moment.
"I was going to tell everyone together," Carter started to say.
Tommy's eyes narrowed.
"I will call them right now," he snapped. "It will only take a couple of minutes for them to get up here."
"That's not necessary," Carter said quickly.
"Oh, I think it is," Tommy said. "In fact…"
To the surprise of both Carter and Ethan, Tommy actually sat down in the chair next to him.
"Since you are so concerned about my well-being, Carter," Tommy said. "I will sit right here and wait for everyone to join us. Ethan?"
Carter groaned as Ethan looked at Tommy.
"Yes, Dr. O?" Ethan said hesitantly.
"Message everyone," he said without looking away from Carter. "Tell them it's an emergency and to meet in Carter's office. Include the Ninjas. I know they know something. Use an emergency alert so it will wake them up."
"Tommy—" Carter tried to protest.
"And if they are locked on residential, too, just tell them how to override it," Tommy continued, still watching Carter.
"No," Carter said, shaking his head now. "They are not all supposed to know about that—it's for emergencies only! We all agreed to that."
"But this is an emergency," Tommy said. "You were the one who said you wanted to tell us all together."
"That's not what I meant—"
"Then explain—now," Tommy snapped. "You wanted to be in charge—so take responsibility and tell us what happened. We're already trapped here against our will. I think we have a right to know what's going on while we're here."
"You aren't being held against your will," Carter groaned. "Billy agreed—remember?"
"That was before you invoked that stupid clause and then locked us on the residential level," Tommy snarled. "And now you're keeping secrets from us about our teammates! Now tell me what happened or Ethan is sending that message."
"Alright, fine," Carter conceded. "Just, give me a moment."
Pausing for just a moment as he tried to decide where to start, Carter explained everything he knew of what had happened that evening. It was pieced together from what he had learned from Zach and the Ninjas and obviously had some holes in it. Tommy didn't interrupt, letting Carter get through what he knew before he spoke again.
"But why would Conner have taken them to Angel Grove?" Tommy asked, shaking his head. "It doesn't make sense."
"That's one of the answers I can't give you," Carter said. "Because I don't actually know the answer. All Zach said was Conner wanted to make a phone call in private. Something about a girl?"
"Krista was already here," Tommy said shortly.
"I didn't say it made sense," Carter said. "But half the things the younger rangers do are like that—they don't always care about the rules. Conner may not have had a real reason."
Ethan glared at Carter for the comment. He didn't appreciate the insinuation that that his team was out of control.
"I don't think so," Tommy said, scowling at Carter. "Yes—they like to buck the rules when they can. We all have at some point. But Conner would never chance putting someone else in danger without a good reason."
"But he did, Tommy," Carter said, leaning back in his chair. "They couldn't have left the base without Conner. I had already locked everyone into the Command level and below that morning. And Jason and Zach didn't know about the override. They couldn't have gotten up to the garage and off base without his help."
Tommy shook his head.
"But he had to have a reason," he insisted. "Conner would never have snuck them out without a reason. Ethan?"
"Yeah?" Ethan said.
"You said Conner was waking up, right?" Tommy asked.
"Uh, hold on," Ethan said, quickly sending a text message. "Hayley said they were having trouble keeping him asleep but…"
His phone dinged in response a moment later.
"Sorry, Dr. O," he said, shaking his head. "Dana knocked him out again. She wants him to sleep through the rest of the night while she tries to figure out pain management for him…"
Tommy groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.
"Tommy, I'm investigating what happened," Carter said. "I'll figure it out eventually."
"But you aren't thinking like Conner," Tommy said. "He always has a reason—but he doesn't always get there like you or I would. Conner could have skipped three steps in the process and come to the correct answer anyways. Trust me. I spent a whole year grading his homework. Right answer, no work to follow."
"Sometimes he found a backdoor," Ethan added. "Or a window—sometimes there's a roof hatch. Or a hole!"
"We get the point, Ethan," Tommy said, shooting him a look.
"Sorry," Ethan said sheepishly. "But I'm pretty sure that's half the reason he kept having to redo all his homework. With my help…"
Tommy rolled his eyes and didn't respond.
"Well, until we can talk to him you aren't going to have that answer," Carter said, shaking his head. "But someone is after you, Tommy. Look at who got hurt tonight. Jason, Zach…"
Tommy frowned.
"And Conner," he said. "Who isn't part of that group."
"No, but he's close to you," Carter said. "And if someone figured out who you were—would it really be that big a leap to figure the four of them out? A few of the right questions to the right people and they would know exactly who you spent the most time around. It is possible that someone figured out your identities."
"No one knows, Carter," Tommy sighed.
"You can't know that Tommy," Carter said. "Not everyone is as clueless as Bulk and Skull."
"I don't think that's a fair comparison," Tommy said, shaking his head. "They aren't as clueless as you think—"
"The point is, you are too close to this, Tommy," Carter interrupted. "Someone is after you and they aren't afraid to hurt people to get to you."
"Wait—me?" Tommy said in surprise, finally realizing what Carter had been getting at. "When did this become about me? Yesterday you were insisting someone was after Mighty Morphin'."
"Not all of them, just you," Carter said, shaking his head. "Last night narrowed it down, Tommy…Remember, Zach said Conner was the first one shot last night."
Ethan flinched and Tommy's grip tightened on his cane again.
"What is your point?" Tommy asked shortly.
"If they were after Jason and Zach they would have gone after them first—not risk letting them escape," Carter said. "But they went after Conner first. Your teammate—not theirs. But you were a teammate to all three of them."
Tommy shook his head.
"That still doesn't make sense," Tommy said. "I was the first one to get hurt—why wouldn't they just finish it while I was defenseless? And why lure them all the way back to Angel Grove? They just had to get them past the gate. Let me take a look at what you've got so far. Maybe I can see something you missed."
Carter started shaking his head.
"I can't risk you influencing the investigation," he said. "And it isn't safe for you right now. You need to rest and relax, Tommy. You're still recovering from being poisoned. This is the whole reason I took charge in the first place."
Tommy narrowed his eyes, glaring at Carter for the implication that he wasn't capable of helping at that moment. But Carter wasn't backing down this time. Ethan just watched the two reds in silence.
"You know what, fine," Tommy snapped after a few moments of silence. "But if that's how you want to be, then don't expect any help from me."
"Tommy—"
"No," Tommy said. "I'll keep mine in line. I'm Mighty Morphin's white, Zeo's red and mentor for the others—who's red is hurt. You aren't wrong that something weird is happening and I don't want anyone else getting hurt while we don't know what's going on."
"Thank you," Carter said, thinking he'd finally gotten Tommy on his side.
"But the rest on base and off are your problem," Tommy said as he carefully got back to his feet. "Wes and Eric? Good luck. Ninjas? Not my problem. Oh. And this is yours now."
Tommy pulled the ranger phone out of his pocket and set it on the desk in front of Carter. He looked at it in surprise.
"Tommy, why—"
"You're in charge," Tommy said. "Just like you wanted. And all the teams that don't belong to me are your problem now."
The phone started ringing.
"You better answer that," Tommy said, glancing at his watch. "And given that it's going on 3a, it's probably Mack—and if you don't answer he'll think something is wrong. He's been calling more often since that week I didn't answer. He's worried—so he calls randomly throughout the day just to check in on everyone."
"Tommy!" Carter protested.
But Tommy had already turned to leave the office.
"Come on, Ethan," Tommy said. "We're going to see Conner and Jason."
Ethan immediately followed Tommy, glancing back over his shoulder as Carter scrambled to answer the phone before it went to voicemail. They moved slowly down the hall toward the elevator. When they reached it, they had to override the elevator again to get down to the med bay. On the way down to the next floor, Tommy leaned against the wall by the control panel with his eyes closed. He had his arm pressed into his chest again. Ethan started to ask if he was alright but stopped himself.
"I'm sure they're both fine, Ethan," Tommy said, not opening his eyes. "Dana wouldn't tell Carter they were if it wasn't true. And I'll be alright."
The elevator stopped and Tommy straightened, touching his morpher to the panel so the door would open. He put it in his pocket as they stepped out into the med bay.
"Which room?" Tommy asked, looking at Ethan.
"This way," Ethan answered after checking his phone.
He led the way down the hall, making sure not to get too far ahead of Tommy. When they reached the room—which wasn't far from the west elevator, Ethan pressed the button to slide the door open and stuck his head inside before walking in. Tommy followed close behind him.
Krista was sitting in a chair next to Conner's bed, leaning on the bed sound asleep with her head cradled in her arms. Hayley had pulled a chair up on the other side of the bed and was texting. She glanced over when the door opened. Kira and Trent were next to Hayley, squished into an armchair they had dragged out of a corner and also asleep.
Whatever Dana had given Conner still had him out cold. With Trent, Kira, and Krista also asleep the only sound in the room beside their footsteps was the beeping of the heart monitor and other machines. Conner's entire left shoulder was wrapped in a bandage, his arm secured in place by a sling so he couldn't move his arm and jar his injury.
"How is he?" Tommy asked Hayley quietly when they got a little closer.
"Dana says he is as well as can be expected given the circumstances," she said. "He lost a lot of blood. If the Ninjas hadn't gotten them all back so quickly…"
She trailed off, shaking her head. Tommy and Ethan both flinched at the implication.
"The other problem is they've never had to handle someone like him before," Hayley continued after a moment, sighing as she looked at Conner. "His body processes everything they give him so much faster than a normal person. She said they had a hard time keeping him under during surgery and now she's having a hard time keeping him comfortable enough to give him a full night's rest."
Tommy shook his head.
"He would find a way to be a problem even when he's unconscious," Tommy muttered. "Did you get to talk to him at all?"
"No," Hayley said. "He was still mostly asleep when we found him. Dana is still trying to balance pain over drowsiness, but she says right now it's more important he be comfortable than awake."
Conner mumbled something and they all turned to look at him. His eyes were still closed, but his brow was furrowed like he was hurting. Hayley glanced at the time.
"It's probably starting to wear off again," she sighed. "Dana said she's had to give him more almost hourly—he's going to hit his limit before too long. Then he'll have to tolerate it until she can give him more…"
Tommy grimaced. That wasn't going to be fun for any of them.
"Hayley, do you know what room Jason is in?" Tommy asked. "Because I'm assuming Ethan was texting you updates while I was talking to Carter."
Ethan nodded, still watching Conner to see if he was waking up.
"He's actually next door," Hayley said. "Dana said it's easier when they are closer. And Zach is across the hall from the teleportation room at the end of the hall. No one wanted to make him move since he finally fell asleep."
Tommy nodded.
"I'm going to see Jason," he said. "If Conner wakes up and Dana doesn't knock him back out, let me know."
As Tommy started for the door, Ethan followed. He kept glancing back over his shoulder, clearly wanting to stay with his best friend but torn by the need to take care of their mentor. Hayley sighed.
"Ethan, sit," she said, standing up from her chair. "I'll go next door with Tommy."
Ethan hesitated, looking between Conner and Tommy.
"It's fine, Ethan," Tommy said with an amused smile. "Stay with Conner. Hayley isn't going to let me do anything I shouldn't. You should be here right now."
"Thanks, Dr. O, Hayley," Ethan said gratefully, dropping into the chair Hayley had vacated.
Hayley grabbed the door for Tommy and the two of them went next door. Dana was in the room, checking the settings on the cryo machine. Seeing it, Tommy grimaced. He'd been hoping they hadn't actually decided to use it.
Glancing up when the door opened, Dana saw the look on Tommy's face and frowned.
"You better not be overdoing it, Tommy," she said sternly.
"That look was for the cryo chamber, not myself," Tommy retorted. "Is that thing really necessary?"
Dana sighed, looking at the machine. Its functions were similar to the one the Space Rangers had on their ship, but it was more compact and portable so they didn't have to have a specific room for it. They could just roll it into the appropriate room. Jason was asleep inside, the clear cover slightly frosted over.
"Given the circumstances I thought it the best option," she said. "I only plan to keep him in it for a few days. Just to give him time to heal a little so pain will be manageable. Honestly, if I had a second one on hand I'd probably put Conner in it, too. At least it would keep him asleep…"
"So how is he?" Tommy asked, walking toward the chair by Jason's bed so he could sit for a minute.
"He'll be alright," Dana said.
"That was—vague," Tommy said, sinking down into the chair.
"Well, I really don't want to have to repeat myself all night," Dana said, shaking her head. "So, I am going to wait until his wife gets here—then I will tell you both what's going on."
Tommy turned to look at Dana in surprise.
"His wife?" Tommy said with a frown. "Why is she coming here? Who called her?"
Dana frowned, putting her hands on her hips.
"Of course, she is coming, Tommy," Dana said. "Carter called her over an hour ago and Eric and Wes left to pick her up not long after. She should be here in about an hour."
Tommy shook his head.
"Dana, she shouldn't be here," he said.
"Why not?" Dana said, looking at Tommy with surprise. "I'd want to be here if it was Carter. And we would have called Kat for you."
"It's not the same, Dana," Tommy sighed, running a hand through his hair. "First of all—Christine has no idea about any of this. Not Jason, not us—nothing."
"Well, that's inconvenient but it will be fine," Dana said, shaking her head. "She's still his wife. She would want to be here."
Tommy groaned, his head falling back against the back of the chair.
"I really don't think Jason would want her here," he muttered.
"What was that?" Dana asked, looking at Tommy.
"Jason and Christine… let's just say they aren't in the best place right now," Tommy sighed.
"Are they getting divorced?" Dana frowned.
"No," Tommy said reluctantly.
"Not yet," Hayley inserted.
Dana looked between the two of them.
"Would you like to come up with one answer between you?" she asked.
"Not really," Hayley said, shrugging.
"Well, it doesn't matter anyways," Dana said. "She will already be on her way here and we will deal with it then. How was Conner?"
"I think it was starting to wear off again," Hayley sighed. "You were right—it doesn't affect him very long…."
Dana sighed, looking at her watch.
"Well, I'll wait a bit longer and see if he is able to stay asleep on his own," she said. "If not, I'll have to give him another dose. I just want to get him through the first couple of days…"
Shaking her head, Dana hurried out of the room to check in next door.
"Tommy, why didn't you just tell Dana everything?" Hayley asked, crossing her arms as she looked at him. "You could have at least told her about the restraining order."
Tommy shook his head.
"I've made the mistake of interfering once before, Hayley," Tommy said. "And then he didn't talk to me for more than twenty years. So, I will give him a place to hide and help him kick her out if that's what he decides he wants—but I am not going to try and talk him into it or get in the way if he changes his mind. Or make decisions for him, even if he is unconscious. It's his life and his choice. But I will make sure she stays away from Marc unless he wants to see her."
Hayley rolled her eyes but didn't argue with him.
"I'm going to stay here, though," Tommy said. "I don't want her alone with him until he's awake and able to make his own decisions. Can you keep an eye on the kids?"
"I'll take care of them," she said. "And when Conner wakes up, I'll send one of them right over here to get you."
"Thanks, Hayley," Tommy said gratefully, shifting as he tried to get comfortable.
After she left him alone with Jason, Tommy took out his phone to text Kat. He didn't want her to wake up and panic when she wasn't in their room. Especially with all the kids gone, too.
Sorry I didn't wake you up. I'm fine. Call me when you wake up.
Sending the text, Tommy shifted around to try and get more comfortable in the chair. He didn't want to fall asleep, but he also didn't want to feel like he couldn't breathe either. The phone ringing surprised Tommy and he pulled it back out of his pocket.
"Where are you?" Kat demanded.
"Kat?" Tommy said. "It's almost 3a—why are you awake?"
"Why aren't you in bed?" she countered.
"I'm sorry," Tommy sighed. "I was in bed—but something came up and I didn't want to wake you up until I knew what was going on…If only because I didn't know what was going on at first."
"Are you alright?" she asked. "Where are you at right now? And where are the kids—they aren't in their rooms. What is going on?"
Tommy hesitated.
"I'm in the med bay," he said. "But not for me."
He quickly added the last part to reinforce that he was fine.
"Then for who?" Kat exclaimed. "What happened? Is it Adam or Rocky again?"
"No, I believe they are both still in their beds," he said. "At least, I haven't seen them up here and Dana didn't say anything."
"Then what happened, Tommy?" Kat asked shortly.
Tommy sighed. If Jason or Conner had still been in surgery, he would have told her and had her bring everyone now. But with them both out and Dana assuring him they would recover, he didn't want to panic anyone unnecessarily.
"I really don't want to tell you the details over the phone," he said. "But everyone is going to be alright."
"That's not an answer."
"Kat…"
"Tommy, what is going on?" she demanded. "Who is hurt?"
"Alright, alright," he said. "I'm with Jason…"
There was silence for a moment on the other end of the phone.
"What—what happened?" Kat asked. "Is he going to be alright?"
"He's going to be fine," Tommy reassured her.
He paused, hesitating.
"But he wasn't alone," he admitted. "Conner was with him."
"So that's where the kids are," she said quietly. "He's alright, too—right?"
"He is. Everyone is going to be alright, and I'll tell you everything when you come down with the boys later this morning."
"Oh my gosh," Kat gasped. "The boys. Should I wake them up? Marc should know his dad is in the hospital."
"Let them sleep, Kat," Tommy sighed. "They'll be awake soon enough at this point. And once they are up get them dressed and feed them and bring them down. I'll tell them what happened."
Kat sighed.
"Oh, alright… But this isn't fair. There's no way I'm going back to sleep now…"
"I'm sorry…"
The door opened and Hayley walked back in holding a pillow. Tommy gave her a grateful look as he took it from her. She was also rolling in a small, padded stool.
"Hayley, what's that for?" Tommy asked, briefly covering the mouthpiece.
She didn't answer. Instead, Hayley just grabbed his leg and dropped his foot on it.
"Oh! Thanks," he smiled, putting his other leg up.
"Do I need to tell the others?" Kat asked. "Tommy?"
"Uh…maybe?" Tommy said slowly. "It depends on if Hayley woke up Billy or just ran out when I called her earlier. Hayley?"
"He's up to date," Hayley said shortly. "I've been texting him. I just warned him not to bring anyone up until after Hurricane Christine goes through—because we don't need that kind of drama this early in the morning. But he is going to wake them up now if he can manage it without disturbing kids."
Tommy eyed her, not sure why she sounded so annoyed at the mention of her husband. But he wasn't going to worry about it right at that moment.
"Thanks," Tommy said. "Kat, Billy already knows, and he'll pass it on to Trini, Kim, and Jake. I'll make sure he goes over to Zeo and tells those four, too."
Kat didn't answer right away.
"What about Zach?" she asked.
Tommy winced.
"Right," he said. "Zach was with Conner and Jason—but he's perfectly fine. He was just in shock so they gave him a bed so he could get some sleep."
"I popped in on him while I was out," Hayley said. "He's still asleep. Just a few Band-Aids."
Tommy gave her a grateful look.
"Hayley says he's still sleeping and all they did was slap a few Band-Aids on him," he said to Kat. "So, he's fine."
She sighed.
"Alright," she said. "I don't like this… but I'm sure there's no point in arguing with you..."
"Oh! Kat—can you bring the ranger tablet with you?" Tommy asked. "I left it on the couch."
"Tommy…"
"It's not for me. I need to give it to Carter since he still insists that I need to take a break and that he is in charge and has everything under control."
"Umm… do I want to know? Or is that part of what you are going to tell me later?"
"Well, that's not a conversation for the boys—but I will tell you later. Has more to do with yesterday's situation. Just bring it down and be happy that you won't have to stress about me doing paperwork for a while."
"Alright," she said. "I'll see you in a few hours. I love you."
"I love you, too," Tommy smiled.
Hanging up, he put his phone down and started shifting to get the pillow in a comfortable position.