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?

32. Chapter 32 Friends new and old

Tuesday June 26th, 2018

Mariner Bay, CA

Even without kids, Rocky was still up not long after 7a. He tried to go back to sleep for a while before he gave up and sat up. It had already taken him forever to fall asleep because of how upset he was and now that he was awake there was no going back to sleep. Sighing, he swung his legs around the side of the bed intending to get up and let Aisha sleep longer without him bothering her.

"Rocky?" Aisha mumbled, opening her eyes a little. "Where are you going?"

"I can't sleep anymore…" he said. "Go back to sleep. I'll wake you up for breakfast in a little while."

Instead of closing her eyes again, however, Aisha stretched and sat up. Shifting closer, she wrapped her arms around Rocky from behind and leaned her head against his back.

"Feeling better this morning?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," he said. "And no…"

He sighed.

"I'm still annoyed…" he admitted.

Rocky was in a bad mood and he knew it. He'd already been a little on edge before the fight because of his concern for Adam. The fight with Carter and the concern that Tommy was now mad at him had just made it that much worse. Taking a deep breath, Rocky stood and got up. While he used the bathroom, Aisha got clothes out for both of them and then traded places with him. When she came out he was dressed and sitting on the bed again, glaring at his phone.

"Rocky?" she asked. "What are you doing?"

"Tommy is mad at me and it's all Carter's fault," he said irritably. "He isn't answering his phone…"

Sighing, Aisha sat down next to him.

"First of all, it's not even eight 'o clock," she pointed out. "With how stressed he's been he wasn't sleeping, so if he finally fell asleep he may not be up yet."

Rocky grunted, still glaring at his phone.

"Second, give him time," Aisha continued, taking the phone out of his hands. "Tommy will forgive you."

"But what if he doesn't?" Rocky asked quietly, dropping his head in his hands as he leaned on his knees. "We always say that, Aisha. But he doesn't have to. What if this time he doesn't? What if this is the thing that pushes him too far away?"

"Rocky, it will work itself out," Aisha said soothingly. "It always does."

"No, it doesn't," Rocky snapped, looking up at her. "Look at Tommy and Jason. They went more than twenty years with barely a few words between them—and those were all on missions—because of one fight. And if Kim hadn't started meddling they might still not be talking to each other! Kim meddling can only be so effective…"

"I will make it happen," Aisha said firmly. "Tommy isn't going to just stop talking to you. You've been friends for far too long to let something like this end your friendship. He's not going to let it either."

Rocky took a deep breath and let it out. There was more to his concerns than he could share with Aisha without actually betraying Tommy's trust. After what had been said the night before, he truly was concerned Tommy wouldn't want to talk to him again.

"That's not the point," he said irritably. "And I'm annoyed that it even happened at all. It shouldn't have happened and I don't want someone else to have to fix something that shouldn't have happened!"

"Rocky," Aisha said firmly, taking his hands to draw his attention to her. "It will be ok."

He sighed but didn't argue.

"Now," Aisha said. "Before we do anything else…"

"What?" Rocky muttered.

"I want you to remember this conversation," Aisha said with a grin. "For the next time I just want to talk to you and not have you fix the problem for me."

"Aisha…" Rocky sighed, though he did smile a little.

She stood, tugging him up after her.

"Now come on," she said. "We'll eat breakfast and then go find Tommy and see what's going on—ok?"

Nodding, Rocky followed her out to the kitchen. They got breakfast together silently.

"Breakfast is a lot quieter without the kids," Rocky commented as they sat down.

"Everything is quieter without our kids," Aisha said drily.

Rocky chuckled. He still wasn't really happy, but he was a lot calmer than he had been when he woke up.

"Speaking of our kids," Rocky said. "How have you been with them? I'm sorry you've been stuck with them so much by yourself. I really have been absent a lot in the last week…"

"It's fine," Aisha assured him. "It's no different than if some catastrophic event occurred in Angel Grove and you got stuck at work again for three days straight."

"But—"

"Nope," Aisha interrupted. "Rocky, I love our life the way it is, and I would never hold anything like this against you."

He eyed her hesitantly.

"Yes, our kids can be a handful," she admitted. "But we have friends who are always happy to support us and help out when needed. And I'm not afraid to ask for help when I feel like I can't handle them. Alright?"

Rocky nodded, though he still looked a little guilty. Aisha just shook her head.

"Alright," she sighed. "Finish eating so you can talk to Tommy. Because you aren't going to be happy until you can fix things with him."

Rocky didn't have an argument for that, so he went back to his breakfast.

"What time is it?" Carter yawned, walking out of the bedroom. "Our alarm clock disappeared."

Dana glanced up from their kitchen table. She was holding a cup of coffee and reading. An empty plate sat in front of her.

"8:30," she answered. "And I'm pretty sure Ryan stole it at dad's request before we got up here to make sure you'd sleep. But you had to have been tired to sleep this late even without an alarm."

Carter nodded his head, yawning again.

"I probably could go back to sleep, too," he sighed. "But I have things to do…"

He sighed, joining Dana at the table. She stood and gave him a kiss before grabbing him coffee and some of the food she had warming on the stove.

"How are you feeling this morning?" she asked.

Setting down the plate and a mug of coffee in front of him, she sat back down in her own seat.

"I am feeling a lot better now that I've had some real sleep," Carter admitted.

Dana nodded.

"See?" she said. "Things can run without you."

"No, they can't," Carter sighed, shaking his head. "I'm in charge of the rangers right now—remember? It never stops…"

Dana raised an eyebrow as she took a sip of her coffee. Carter picked at his food, taking a few bites before he spoke again.

"I guess I always thought Tommy's position was more oversight than anything," he admitted after a moment. "Making final decisions, signing reports—keeping the wild ones under control."

Dana chuckled at his last comment. Carter was shaking his head.

"The truth is it's so much more," he said. "He has to be able to control the ones who want to be out of control without actually being controlling—and at the same time calling out the ones trying to be too controlling…He's a support system to the ones that need a little extra confidence or just a listening ear when they're frustrated and need a safe outlet so they don't take it out on each other. They all need him for different things that I never expected."

He looked at Dana.

"Did you know they call him for advice in their personal lives on the ranger phone and he actually answers?" he asked. "Found that out while I've had the phone. He's even given some of them his personal number so they don't tie up the ranger line."

He sighed. Dana continued to listen silently, letting him get it all out.

"I understood what the paperwork would mean," he continued. "At least most of it. But I had no idea that I'd be taking on the responsibility of essentially being the rangers' emotional support system. That was not something I was prepared for…"

He trailed off, staring at his food. Dana stood, walking over to wrap her arms around him. Leaning her head on his shoulder, she hugged him tightly.

"Maybe you should start meeting with a counselor if you're feeling that overwhelmed," she suggested.

"I'm not opposed," Carter said. "But that's not going to make the current problem go away…"

Sighing again, he glanced at the time.

"I should go get the phone from dad," he said. "People are going to be waking up and he has the kids. And I'm sure at least one of the group from either London or Japan woke him up last night."

Dana nodded.

"Finish eating first," she scolded gently.

Then she paused.

"Carter?" she said.

"Hmm?"

"You know I fully support you, right?" she said. "And I will help you through this in any way I can. And we will get through this."

Carter smiled faintly at her, nodding as he hurried to finish eating so he could get back to work.

"Make sure you eat everything," Dana said. "I need to go relieve Angela so she can get some sleep. I'll see you later."

Giving him a quick kiss, Dana went to finish getting ready so she could get up to the medical floor.

Angela yawned as she let herself into her family's apartment. Joel was already awake and eating breakfast with Amelia. The sixteen-year-old had been one of the few Captain Mitchell had given an actual choice to in regard to the sleepover. She'd been invited, but she had been given a choice rather than told she was going. Amelia had declined in favor of staying in her own room.

"Good morning," she said, walking over to the table to give her husband and daughter a hug and kiss. "Did you both sleep alright?"

"Yes," Amelia answered. "But you look tired."

"That happens when you stay up all night," Angela said, shaking her head.

"How was the night?" Joel asked curiously.

"They slept," Angela sighed happily. "They finally slept. Both of them. And that's all I wanted."

"That's great, mom," Amelia said with a smile as she looked at the time. "Oh! I've got to go. I'm supposed to check on something for Billy this morning. I'll see you both later."

Moving quickly, Amelia was up and out the door after giving her parents a quick kiss. They just let her go. Joel looked back at Angela as she sat down to eat a couple of pieces of toast before she went to get some sleep.

"Carter is trying, you know," Joel said.

Angela scowled.

"I don't want to talk about Carter," she said shortly. "He's been a large part of the problem."

Joel opened his mouth to protest but Angela held up a hand.

"I understand why he made the choices he made," she said. "But how everything happened is an entirely different story. He could have approached things so much better than he did and people wouldn't be so angry with him."

Joel frowned.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Because I don't think they were ever going to be happy about this."

"For starters, he could have spoken with Tommy directly before he made any decisions," she pointed out. "And actually ask him if he could handle everything while he was recovering or if he needed some extra help. Carter should have talked to them, not at them, Joel."

Joel rubbed the back of his head.

"I think the rest of us may be partially responsible for that," he admitted sheepishly. "We may have encouraged some of his decisions without thinking through the process of getting there…"

Angela sighed in irritation as she stood to take care of her plate.

"Joel, I love you," she said, turning back to him with arms crossed. "But you need to not be so impulsive. It only gets you in trouble. I've already had this conversation with Dana about Carter and she is on the same page."

Joel sighed.

"I'm sorry…" he said. "You're right—as usual."

Angela just shook her head.

"Now," she said. "You need to go work on making things right and I need to get some sleep."

"What am I supposed to do?" Joel frowned.

"That's your job to figure out," Angela answered as she headed for their bedroom. "Again, I'm going to sleep."

Joel sighed as she shut the door behind her.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Jake said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Time to get up."

Kim sighed and rolled over, yawning as she stretched and opened her eyes. To her surprise, Jake was holding a plate in his hands as he smiled at her.

"Breakfast in bed this morning," he said as she sat up.

"What's this for?" Kim asked.

She got comfortable before she took the plate of food.

"Well, I know it's been a long, hard, and stressful week with everything going on and I wanted to do something nice for you," Jake said. "It isn't much, but—"

"No, I love it," Kim smiled. "And you even put in the effort to make my omelet egg whites only."

Leaning over, she gave him kiss before she started eating.

A little while later, after Kim had eaten and gotten dressed, the couple headed out into the living room of the suite. Zach was the only other one there, sitting at the kitchen table with the remnants of his own breakfast.

"Where is everyone else?" Kim asked as they joined him.

"Well, it's almost 9a," Zach said. "So, Trini has meetings apparently. Billy left with her and I haven't seen Hayley all morning."

He saw the plate Jake put in the sink and frowned.

"Hey, you got breakfast in bed," Zach said. "What about me?"

"You have your own breakfast," Jake retorted. "And as much as I like you, you aren't the one I want to kiss me."

"Fair enough," Zach laughed. "Kim, he's definitely a keeper."

"Well, I hope so," Kim retorted as Jake sat down next to her. "We have been married for a long time now. It seems silly to give him back at this point."

Jake chuckled and Kim glanced at the time.

"Well, I think I want to head up and check on Tommy," Kim said. "I still can't believe Carter last night…"

"I still can't believe you managed to hide it from Hayley," Jake said.

"She was a little distracted last night," Kim said. "So, I hid in our room…"

Zach frowned, looking between them.

"What happened last night that we are hiding something from Hayley?" he asked slowly.

"There was a blowup in the med bay over something between Carter, Tommy, and Rocky," Kim said. "I didn't get all the details cause Rocky was already agitated when I went to help Aisha with the kids, but I guess Carter said something he shouldn't have and it got messy… I want to make sure Tommy is ok."

"And we didn't tell Hayley because she probably would have tried to go kill Carter again," Jake added. "Though I'd wager she probably knows at this point."

"Shall we go then?" Kim asked, looking at Jake.

"Go where?" he said.

Kim sighed.

"Med bay?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, no," he said as he glanced at the time. "The message said to wait."

"Message?" Kim asked.

"The message from Kat?" Jake frowned. "It was on your—oh. Right. I'm sorry. I read your text message and forgot to show you when you woke up."

He handed Kim her phone out of his pocket, grinning sheepishly. She rolled her eyes as she read the message. She frowned as she read it.

"Oh…" she said. "I guess Tommy took something to help him sleep so she wants to make sure no one bothers him too early… she says at least 10a, but she'll let us know when he's awake. And if he's up for visitors…"

She sighed, pouting a little.

"Come on, Kimmy," Zach said, shaking his head. "Tommy will be fine and whatever happened last night will get worked out. Relax for a little while. Or, if you really want some stress relief for yourself, I saw some archery stuff in the gym on Saturday."

Kim looked at him in surprise.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yep," he grinned.

Kim looked over at Jake.

"Do you want to go down there?" he asked. "You did say it had been a long time."

Kim hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

"Let's go," she smiled.

Tanya shifted in the chair, curling her legs further up underneath her as she glanced up from her phone to look at Adam. He was still asleep and she intended to let him stay that way as long as possible. When the door slid open, she looked to see who it was. Dana had already been by.

"Good morning," Aisha smiled. "I brought a change of clothes for you both."

"And I've got breakfast," Rocky added, holding up a tray.

"Since we figured you hadn't left the room since you got up," Aisha said.

"Thank you," Tanya said gratefully.

She gestured for Aisha to drop the bag next to the bed and took the food tray from Rocky. They grabbed chairs to sit with her, making sure to stay quiet so Adam could sleep. Tanya started eating.

"So how is he doing this morning?" Rocky asked quietly.

"He's fine," Tanya said, looking over at Adam with a smile. "He got a good night's sleep and there were no more changes or seizures. Dana was by to check on him a little while ago."

"Hopefully that means they have the right balance in the meds this time," Rocky said.

Tanya looked at Rocky.

"And how are you after the fight last night?" she asked.

Rocky sighed, shaking his head.

"He's still a little upset," Aisha said.

"Annoyed," Rocky corrected with a scowl. "It's different."

Aisha rolled her eyes but didn't argue.

"Carter made it sound like I was one of the ones who agreed with him on this stupid clause!" Rocky exclaimed quietly. "That I was all for making sure Tommy took a break whether he wanted one or not. That went over as well as you'd expect with Tommy—and now he isn't answering my calls or text messages."

Tanya and Aisha exchanged a look.

"Rocky, you know he won't hold a grudge once you actually explain your side of the story," Tanya said.

"That means he has to let me," Rocky muttered.

"Just go to his and Jason's room and talk to him," Aisha sighed.

"What if that makes it worse?" Rocky mumbled.

Aisha rolled her eyes again.

"We are all adults, Rocky," she said. "So, go talk to him and work it out."

"But—"

Aisha raised an eyebrow and Rocky sighed.

"Alright, I'm going," he said, standing up.

He left the room as Tanya and Aisha exchanged amused looks.

"Is he really that concerned that Tommy isn't going to forgive him?" Tanya asked, taking a sip of the coffee they had brought her.

Aisha sighed, nodding.

"He was really upset last night, Tanya," she said. "None of us have talked to Tommy, but from what Rocky told me it wasn't good. He's pretty sure Tommy thinks he betrayed his trust…"

"They'll figure it out, Aisha," Tanya said. "They've been friends for too long to let this come between them—especially when it was a misunderstanding."

The door open and Rocky rushed back in.

"Tommy is gone!" he exclaimed, still trying to stay quiet despite some panic.

"What?" Aisha frowned.

"He isn't in the room," Rocky said. "Just Jason in the cryo chamber. And Tommy has made it very clear he doesn't like Jason being alone—he wouldn't have just left him!"

Tanya and Aisha exchanged a look.

"He has been obsessed with staying with Jason…" Tanya agreed.

"Well, he isn't there," Rocky said.

"Rocky, he was probably in the bathroom," Aisha sighed.

"He wasn't there," he insisted.

Sighing, both women stood.

"We'll go check with you," Aisha said.

All three of them headed next door to try and locate Tommy. He wasn't in the room when they walked in.

"See!" Rocky exclaimed. "He's gone!"

"I'm going to call Kat…" Tanya said slowly, pulling out her phone.

"No wait!" Shane exclaimed, scrambling out of the fort. "Don't do that!"

Rocky, Tanya, and Aisha stared in surprise as Shane, Tori, and Dustin tumbled out of the fort the boys had built.

"What are you three doing here?" Aisha asked.

"Watching a movie," Dustin answered.

Tori rolled her eyes.

"Hayley sent us to keep an eye on Jason so Dr. O would get some sleep," she corrected.

"So he went back to his suite?" Rocky asked, relieved.

"Not exactly," Shane answered.

"Then where is he?" Tanya asked.

"He's next door," Shane explained.

"Why?" Aisha said, raising an eyebrow.

"All we got was something about Conner," Dustin shrugged. "And that we'd be relieved in the morning by Dr. O or someone else."

"But why were you all in the boys' fort?" Rocky asked. "And why didn't you say something when I came in the first time?"

"Watching a movie," Dustin said again. "Ethan left the stuff all set up in there."

"I poked my head out and saw it was you, but you were already leaving," Shane shrugged. "I didn't see the point in chasing you."

Rocky sighed.

"I nearly had a heart attack thinking something else had happened to Tommy…" he muttered.

"Sorry," the Ninjas chorused sheepishly.

"So how long are you going to be here?" Tanya asked.

"Til someone comes to take our place," Shane said. "Hayley said Jason was not to be left alone under any circumstances—under threat of I didn't want to ask what…so we'll be waiting for however long is necessary."

Aisha shrugged and turned back to Rocky.

"Let's go next door," Aisha said, taking Rocky by the arm. "Tommy is probably awake and just hasn't gotten moving yet."

Hauling him out of the room, Aisha and Tanya led the way to Conner's room next door. When they walked in it was quiet and Trent was leaning back in a chair between the two beds. Seeing them, he quickly leapt to his feet and gestured for them to be quiet. The three stared at him but he just shoved them back out into the hallway.

"Conner and Dr. O are both still asleep," he said as soon as the door shut behind them. "And they need it."

"Oh, well, Rocky just needed to talk to Tommy," Aisha frowned. "Should he still be—"

"It'll have to wait," Trent interrupted, crossing his arms as he stayed planted in front of the door. "No one is waking them up."

Rocky, Tanya, and Aisha exchanged a look but conceded. They all knew how badly the two needed sleep. They were still standing in the hallway talking with Trent a minute later when Ethan, Krista, and Kira showed up with a few trays of food.

"Good morning," Kira smiled, walking over to hand Trent the tray she was carrying. "How did you sleep?"

"In a chair," he grumbled, though he gave her a quick kiss. "And Angela or a nurse make hourly stops…"

"So, pretty much not at all," she said. "Well, eat and then go get some real sleep."

Trent nodded, yawning.

"They're both still sleeping," he said. "So don't wake them up."

"We won't," Krista assured him. "Not after they're finally asleep."

Trent started to head down the hall toward the elevator with his food and then paused.

"Oh, I put Dr. O's phone on silent," he said. "It should still be sitting on the side table. It kept buzzing and didn't want it to wake him up."

"Sorry…" Rocky muttered.

Trent raised an eyebrow as everyone looked at Rocky.

"At 2a?" he asked. "Really?"

"Oh, no," Rocky said quickly.

"I didn't think so," Trent said. "Because I was pretty sure I only saw Mack's name on the caller ID. I just texted him to tell him Dr. O was asleep so he wouldn't call again. Then it started again a couple hours ago and just kept going—so I put it on silent."

He eyed Rocky as he spoke.

"Yeah, that was me…" Rocky mumbled. "My bad…"

Aisha sighed.

"Come on," she said, grabbing Rocky's arm again. "We'll go sit with Adam while we wait for Tommy to wake up."

Aisha, Rocky, and Tanya headed back to Adam's room while Krista, Ethan, and Kira headed into Conner's. Trent continued toward the elevator with his breakfast so he could get some sleep.

Inside the room, Krista, Kira, and Ethan quietly got comfortable. They hadn't been there long when Dana popped in again.

"Good morning," she said quietly. "Has either one of them moved?"

They shook their heads.

"We just got here, but it seems like they're both still sound asleep," Ethan said.

Dana smiled, nodding as she checked on both of the sleeping rangers.

"Conner will probably wake up soon," she told them before she left. "The IV drip is over so it will wear off pretty quickly at this point. I hope that's for him?"

Krista nodded, showing Dana what she had brought Conner for breakfast.

"I'm hoping he'll eat this morning," she said. "At least a little bit…"

"Let me know if he does," Dana said. "Because if he continues to refuse to eat…"

She sighed, shaking her head as the other three grimaced.

"We'll cross that bridge if we need to," she said. "I'll be by again later."

She left them alone again in the quiet room. It wasn't long after Dana left that Conner began to stir. He mumbled in his sleep and the other three exchanged looks as he started to sound agitated.

"Should I?" Krista whispered in concern.

Kira and Ethan both shook their heads.

"That might make it worse," Ethan admitted.

Krista sighed. But it didn't matter because Conner's eyes flew open as he woke up. He sat partially upright with a jerk, hissing in pain as he jostled his shoulder. He fell backward again, his eyes closing.

"Conner, it's ok," Krista said quickly. "Take it easy."

He grimaced, keeping his eyes closed as he nodded and just focused on breathing for a moment. When he opened his eyes, he glanced around the room and saw Tommy still sleeping.

"What time is it?" Conner asked, yawning.

"Almost 9a," Krista answered. "Do you want to sit up?"

"Yeah," he sighed.

She helped him move the bed to the seated position and then plopped the tray with his breakfast on his lap. Her hope was to get him to start eating while he was still a little sleepy.

"Breakfast," she said brightly. "Oatmeal with honey and peaches."

Conner eyed it hesitantly.

"Just a couple of bites at least, please?" Krista pleaded, handing him the spoon.

Taking the spoon, Conner poked at the oatmeal for a moment before finally scooping some up. Kira and Ethan stayed quiet and out of the way as Krista watched him expectantly. Sighing, Conner stuck the spoon in his mouth to take the bite of oatmeal. Krista beamed. She coaxed him into taking a few more bites before he put the spoon back down.

"Aren't you going to finish it?" Krista asked, a little disappointed he was done already.

"I'm not really that hungry…" he said, shaking his head. "And my stomach isn't feeling the greatest. Maybe later…"

Krista sighed and took the tray as Ethan and Kira exchanged a concerned look. They had all been hoping a few bites would trigger his appetite, but it hadn't worked.

Glancing at the time, Kat decided she'd let the boys sleep long enough. If they didn't get up now, they'd only be up late again. Walking over to JJ's room, she knocked softly on the door before letting herself in. Both boys were still sound asleep. JJ in his bed and Marc on the extra mattress they had brought in and put on the floor. Kat smiled and then turned on the light.

"Time to get up, boys," she said. "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

Both of them grumbled but didn't get up. Marc pulled his blanket up over his head while JJ just rolled over and buried his face in his pillow. Kat shook her head in amusement.

"The faster the two of you get up and eat, the faster we can go up to the med bay this morning," she said.

That got a reaction—at least out of JJ.

"What?" he mumbled, shooting upright.

"Get dressed," Kat said. "Marc, let's go."

He grumbled incoherently as JJ yawned. Trusting that they would get up, Kat left the room to get breakfast ready for them. They both stumbled out, still yawning, a few minutes later.

"Come eat," Kat said. "And try to stay quiet so we don't wake up Trent. He stayed the night with Conner and your dad last night and just came back a little bit ago."

"K, mom…" JJ mumbled.

Shaking her head, Kat sat down with them while they ate.

"I'll wait out here," Joel said, opening the door. "Take as long as you need."

Christine and Will walked into Jason and Tommy's room. They weren't surprised to see people in the room. However, they were not expecting the people who were there.

Shane, Tori, and Dustin all looked up when the door opened. Seeing who it was, they exchanged looks but immediately went back to what they were doing. Still waiting for Tommy to come back, they'd been quietly entertaining themselves.

"Who are you?" Christine demanded, glaring at them. "And why are you in my husband's room?"

"We're waiting for Dr. O to get back," Shane said.

"Who?" she frowned.

"Uh, Dr. O?" Dustin repeated. "You know—Tommy? The other guy staying in this room?"

"Oh, him," she scowled.

"But who are you?" Will added, eying the three of them.

His gaze lingered on Tori, and she narrowed her eyes at him. He just smirked.

"Friends," Shane shrugged.

"Well, you need to get out," Christine ordered. "I don't know you and since that man isn't here, there is no reason for you to be either. So, leave."

The three Ninjas exchanged an amused look. They weren't going anywhere until Tommy got back. They'd given him their word. However, they'd be perfectly happy to let her think they were. For a few minutes anyways. Shane leaned closer to the other two.

"Ten minutes?" he said quietly so only they could hear him.

Tori and Dustin nodded in agreement.

"Ten minutes," they agreed.

"Stop whispering and get out!" Christine demanded.

"Alright, alright," Shane said quickly, standing up. "Chill. We're going. Just give us a few minutes to collect our stuff."

Christine huffed but didn't argue. She took a seat by the cryo chamber, watching the Ninjas. They slowly started picking up the few things they had brought with them. Making sure to pack them extra carefully into the small bags they were each carrying. Much to the irritation of the siblings, the stuff the three were collecting seemed to be scattered all over the room. None of them were being careful about moving around the room, either. They kept getting in Will and Christine's way or bumping against their seats as they grabbed things one at a time.

"Would you just get out!" Will finally snapped.

"Chill out," Tori said, pausing and raising an eyebrow. "We're working on it."

"And you're taking forever," he said irritably. "So, get out before I throw you out."

He took a step toward her, but Tori didn't move. She just crossed her arms as she stood her ground.

"That's cute," she said, raising an eyebrow as she looked him up and down. "But work on it. Because if you want to be scary you need to be able to back up the bark. Any of us could knock you out with minimal effort."

Will scowled.

"I'll show you—" he started to threaten.

But Tori had turned away, showing she wasn't threatened by him in the slightest.

"Besides," she said, throwing a glance over her shoulder. "Dustin is still looking for his things."

Walking away, she stuck the book she was carrying in her bag and sat down. Shane was already sitting in his chair waiting. His phone was out and it looked like he was focused on that, but his eyes never left Will and Christine. Will scowled after Tori, his fists clenched after her blatant dismissal.

"What else could he possibly be looking for?" Christine exclaimed, getting annoyed now.

"Probably his coloring book," Tori shrugged absently.

She had pulled out a nail file and was pretending to examine her nails. Christine sputtered as Dustin popped out from under Tommy's bed.

"No, I found that," he said. "I'm looking for the rest of my crayons. I have my red-orange by I need my orange-red or I'm never going to be able to finish my picture—"

"That's enough!" Will shouted. "Get out!"

"Match point," Shane said quietly to Tori, a smirk on his face.

The door opened and Joel, who had heard Will shouting, rushed in. He stopped in surprise when he saw the Ninjas there. Dustin had wandered back over to stand behind Tori and Shane, leaning on the back of their chairs.

"What is going on in here?" he asked. "What are you three doing in here?"

"I want them out!" Christine demanded, not letting them speak. "They are purposefully disturbing us and I want them gone!"

"Umm… ok…" Joel said slowly, turning to the Ninjas. "Guys?"

"We're comfy here," Shane shrugged, leaning back in his chair.

His phone had disappeared, and he put both hands behind his head, looking to most people like he was just relaxing. Joel eyed him hesitantly and glanced at the other two. Dustin was leaning casually on the back of the two chairs, but Joel knew from experience he could be anywhere in the room in an instant. And Tori playing with the nail file made him a little nervous.

"Are they really being a problem?" he asked, turning back to the siblings.

"Yes!" Christine hissed. "Throw them out!"

"If they don't want to—" Joel started to explain.

"Just toss them out," Will snapped. "It's not that hard. So, either you do it or I will!"

He started to walk toward the Ninjas. Joel quickly moved in between them before anything could happen.

"No one needs to die today," Joel said quickly. "Including me. If they say they're staying, then there's nothing I can do about it."

The Ninjas smirked as Will and Christine both protested loudly.

"This is your base!" Christine practically shrieked at him.

"And…?" Joel sighed. "It's also theirs. And this is ranger space—remember?"

"I don't care who they are!" Christine snarled. "This is my husband's room and I want them out! Will!"

She looked at him expectantly and he crossed his arms as he faced off with Joel.

"They're causing a problem," he said. "So, throw them out before I solve it myself."

"Yeah, that's not happening," Joel said. "Because if I let you try to handle it, I'm going to be filling out way more paperwork than I feel like dealing with today. After I have to explain to Carter and Captain Mitchell why I just let it happen. So, how about everyone settles down and keeps their hands to themselves and we can all be happy? Ok?"

"We aren't doing anything," Tori shrugged. "Just waiting for Dr. O."

"Are you seriously going to let them ignore you on your base?" Will demanded. "Just make them leave!"

Joel sighed. They were clearly missing the point about the Ninjas being rangers.

"Again—also theirs," Joel pointed out. "They're rangers, too. And frankly dangerous even without tapping into the Power. I'm not even going to try catching them to throw them out because, even if I could lay hands on one of them, it would not end well for me. My expertise is not hand to hand combat."

"That's—"

"Mr. Harrison," Joel interrupted. "Either sit down with your sister or leave. You do not have the authority to order rangers around and I am not going to interfere with them as long as they are not actively trying to be disruptive. So, sit."

Will scowled at him and Christine huffed. She stood abruptly.

"Let's go," she said stiffly. "My visit has already been ruined."

The siblings stalked out of the room. Joel sighed and started to follow.

"Sorry, Joel," Shane called after him.

Joel just waved him off and disappeared out the door. Which opened again a moment later. Cam, Blake, and Hunter walked in.

"Oh, perfect!" Dustin exclaimed. "Breakfast!"

He was gone immediately as the rest of them rolled their eyes. Tori paused to give Blake a kiss good morning before she and Shane followed at a slower pace.

Carter walked down the hall of the medical bay with Dana. He had the ranger phone again and was talking on it as he walked.

"Everything is fine, Gia," he said, trying to assure her. "They all are doing good."

"Then why do you still have the phone?" she countered. "Tommy isn't answering his personal cell, either. Plus, why would you need to take over if everyone was alright? What aren't you telling us, Carter?"

Carter sighed. He'd already had this discussion in various forms with most of the rest of the teams in some form already. Including Troy, Gia's red.

"There is nothing wrong with Tommy," he repeated firmly. "He is recovering just like he is supposed to. And we aren't hiding anything. I'm only giving him the opportunity to take a break while he's recovering, and we are figuring out what happened."

He and Dana paused outside of Conner's room. She had already told him Tommy had spent the night in there to convince Conner to get some sleep. Something she had been extremely pleased to learn when she took over from Angela earlier.

"So, you still don't know what happened?" she questioned. "Carter, it's been almost a week. Someone nearly killed him—not to mention Adam and Rocky—and you still don't have answers?"

"We are working on it," Carter sighed. "Look, would it make you feel better if I let you talk to Tommy? I'm on my way to meet him anyways."

He opened the door and stepped inside with Dana. Conner, Ethan, Krista, and Kira immediately turned to see who it was.

"Shh!" Ethan hissed, pointing toward the other bed.

Carter and Dana looked in surprise to see Tommy was still sleeping. Dana had expected he would wake up not long after the younger rangers had arrived.

"We are not waking him up," Dana said quietly, ushering Carter back out of the room.

"Uh, sorry, Gia," Carter said, shaking his head as the door slid shut again. "But you won't be able to talk to him right now—"

"What do you mean?" she demanded. "I thought you said he was alright. What happened?"

"He's fine," Carter said quickly. "He's just sleeping still."

"Carter, it's going on 10a," Gia said shortly. "I may not be nearly as close to Tommy as some of the other rangers, but even I know he never sleeps that late."

Carter sighed as he started walking away down the hall. He knew he wasn't going to get to talk to Tommy until he woke up so there was no point in hanging around when he had work to do.

"He's tired, ok?" Carter said. "He was poisoned along with two of his best friends and then this weekend—the point is, he needs the sleep."

"What happened this weekend, Carter?" Gia asked. "I've been hearing rumors from some of the others—"

Carter groaned.

"What do you mean you've been hearing things?" he asked. "What things?"

"All sorts of things," she answered. "Ranging from Tommy is actually dead and you're trying to cover to you've trapped them there or arrested them—"

"Tommy is fine!" Carter said shortly, stepping into the elevator when it opened. "No one is trapped or arrested—"

"That's not what Antonio said—"

"I don't care what you heard from Antonio!" Carter snapped as the elevator door shut.

Dana who had stayed in the hall as he walked away, shook her head.

"We need to make a formal announcement about Jason and Conner before the rumors get out of control," she muttered.

She stepped back into Conner's room to check on him. She was pleased to see the bowl of oatmeal on the tray.

"Oh, are you eating breakfast?" she asked hopefully.

"He took a couple of bites…" Krista said. "But he says he feels nauseous again, so he stopped…"

Dana sighed.

"I'm going to see dad," Marc announced.

Kat and the two boys had just reached the medical floor. When she nodded in permission, Marc darted to Jason's room and headed straight inside. Kat led the way into Conner's room.

"Good morn—" Kat started to say.

"Shh!" the four others in the room hissed, pointing over to Tommy's bed.

She stopped in the doorway and blinked in surprise to see Tommy still lying down with his eyes closed.

"Why are we being quiet?" JJ asked behind her.

"Your dad is still asleep," Kat said quietly, moving the rest of the way into the room.

"What?" JJ said in surprise, looking in Tommy's direction. "But he never sleeps this late—unless he's sick. But he's never sick."

"Well, let him sleep," Kat said.

JJ sighed but didn't argue. Between Kat and Ethan, he managed to stay distracted for the next hour as Tommy continued to sleep. But JJ finally got bored and wandered over to Tommy's bed. Sitting in the chair by the bed, he leaned forward on his knees to stare at Tommy. After a few minutes, Tommy stirred and briefly opened his eyes to see JJ in front of him.

"If the TV is bothering you just turn it off," Tommy mumbled, closing his eyes.

"You aren't on our couch, dad," JJ snickered.

Tommy frowned, opening his eyes again to look around.

"Right…" he sighed.

Grimacing a little as he moved, Tommy hit the button to move the bed and sat up. Kat walked over to say good morning. She gave him a kiss and he smiled before yawning again.

"What time is it?" he asked. "How long have I been asleep?"

"It's after 11a," Kat answered. "So, based on when you took the meds—around thirteen hours?"

"No wonder my head is fuzzy…" Tommy muttered.

"It's not normal," JJ nodded.

"It is when he takes medications that make him groggy, honey," Kat corrected, looking at Tommy in amusement. "And it makes for some interesting moments—right, sweetheart?"

"Kat…" Tommy muttered. "Do you have to?"

"I think she should," Ethan grinned.

Tommy shot a scowl in his direction.

"Maybe later, Ethan," Kat said, shaking her head. "Have you had breakfast?"

"Kat, I just woke up," Tommy yawned.

"Not you," Kat sighed. "Them."

"Yeah, we ate," Ethan confirmed. "We brought Dr. O food, too—"

He frowned at the tray and then looked at the time.

"Actually, maybe don't eat that," he said slowly.

Kat shook her head.

"I think maybe I should get him something edible," she said drily. "And it's almost lunchtime anyways."

"I'll come help," Ethan offered. "We can just grab lunch for everyone while we're down there."

Tucking his tablet away, he hopped out of his chair. Kira stood up, too, and grabbed the tray with Conner's oatmeal.

"I'll come, too," she said.

The three of them left. When they came back a while later, Tommy had moved from his bed to sit in a chair by Conner and Krista. JJ was sitting on the floor leaning against his chair, playing on his phone. Kat, Ethan, and Kira passed out food and then grabbed seats for themselves. While everyone else started eating, Conner just poked at his. Tommy let it happen for a while as Krista sighed in frustration.

"You going to eat it or just play with it?" Tommy finally commented.

Conner looked over and sighed.

"I still don't feel the greatest, Dr. O," he said. "I don't want to eat and feel worse…"

"If you don't eat you won't get better," Tommy pointed out. "You know that."

"I know…" Conner mumbled, still poking at his food.

The rest of the group stayed out of the conversation. They'd all tried with no success to get Conner to eat a meal.

"Conner, you need the nutrients," Tommy said firmly. "That's what is going to help your shoulder heal. Science, remember?"

Conner rolled his eyes.

"I don't need a science lesson," he retorted.

Tommy just smirked in response.

"Then eat," he said. "Because I can keep going. Or I can call Izzy and she can come explain—she won't leave out any details."

Conner scowled at Tommy and then at his plate.

"Fine," he muttered. "I hate when you fight with logic—and kids."

He hesitated again, then took a bite. Tommy went back to his own lunch as he kept an eye on Conner. No one else commented as Conner continued to slowly pick at his lunch.

Billy looked around after he walked into the cafeteria. It was a little crowded with just about everyone there for lunch. Captain Mitchell had brought the kids to meet their parents and they were all talking excitedly about the surprise sleepover the night before. Spotting Hayley sitting with their daughters at a table away from most of the group, Billy walked over and sat down with them.

"Oh, there you are," Hayley said absently, glancing up from the tablet on the table in front of her.

"What time did you get up this morning?" Billy asked, eying her. "You were already gone when I woke up to help Trini prepare for her meetings. You did sleep?"

"For a few hours," Hayley said. "And when I woke up I had an idea and I had to run with it."

Billy sighed.

"There's a pattern, Billy," Hayley said. "They see Christine and they get sick."

Billy raised an eyebrow.

"But they had all seen her previously and did not fall ill," he pointed out. "So why now? What changed?"

"I'm still working on it…" Hayley admitted.

"If they get sick when they see her they should stay away," Izzy offered helpfully. "Or she should wash her hands better so she does not spread germs."

Billy chuckled as Hayley shook her head.

"Oops!" Rae exclaimed, followed by several shouts of surprise.

Billy and Hayley turned to look. Rae was holding a spoon and staring toward the closest table where she had just flung a blob of chocolate pudding—directly at the three Ninjas eating breakfast. It had landed in the middle of them and splattered.

"Rae, what are you doing?" Billy sighed.

"I made a fulcrum," she said. "It went further than I thought…"

Shaking his head, Billy stood to grab some more napkins to give Shane, Tori, and Dustin so they could clean up. Returning to Hayley and the girls, he sat down next to Rae.

"Rachel," he said sternly. "Why did you do that?"

"It was an experiment…" she mumbled.

"And experiments are supposed to happen where…?" Billy asked.

"In controlled environments…" she answered.

"Exactly," Billy said. "The cafeteria is not a controlled environment. There are too many people here—"

"And they are not wearing goggles…" Rae sighed.

"You are correct," Billy said. "So go apologize and then come finish your lunch."

"Yes, daddy," Rae agreed, climbing out of her seat.

While Rae went to apologize to the Ninjas, Billy turned to Hayley.

"Perhaps I should watch the girls for the day," he suggested. "So that you may concentrate on your work. You are rather absorbed."

"I'm sorry," Hayley said sheepishly.

Billy smiled and shook his head.

"It is fine," he said. "Figuring out what happened is important—I can take care of them. Amelia is helping watch my project."

Hayley nodded.

"Thank you," she said, collecting her tablet. "I'm sorry again…"

Taking the tablet, Hayley hurried off. Billy made sure the girls were settled and then went to get his own lunch.

Carter looked up at the knock on his office door. Sighing, he glanced down. Charlie was curled up under his desk again, reading a book. It was one of his favorite places to just sit and read on the base. And Carter didn't hate having the company.

"Headphones on, Charlie," Carter said.

Charlie glanced up and nodded. He reached into his backpack and dug out a set of noise-canceling headphones and put them on, turning on some music to listen to. This was their agreement in case whoever was coming in needed to talk to Carter about something Charlie wasn't supposed to overhear.

"Come in," Carter said, looking up.

The door opened and Kelsey poked her head in.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Carter, but—" she said.

"Move!" Christine demanded, shoving in past Kelsey.

Will followed and Kelsey sighed, following them in and shutting the door behind them. Christine stalked to one of the chairs in front of Carter's desk and sat down with Will standing behind her. Carter was a little surprised to see them—especially on the command level. He gave Kelsey a look and she just sighed.

"What can I do for you?" Carter asked, turning to Christine.

"You need to tell your people to stop stalking my brother and I immediately," Christine snapped. "They follow us everywhere we go and I'm sick of it. My husband is in the hospital and I don't need this aggravation. If this keeps going, I'm going to sue all of you for harassment!"

"Ma'am, they aren't stalking you," Carter said. "They are there to—"

"I want them to leave me alone!" she snapped. "And, while you're at that, I want that menace out of my husband's room. I cannot relax around him."

Carter sighed.

"If you don't want our assistance around the base any longer, then I will stop that service as requested," Carter said.

Behind them Kelsey sighed in relief, and he didn't miss the look on her face.

"As for Tommy—" he started to continue.

"I want him out," Christine repeated.

"Ma'am, I cannot force him to leave," Carter said firmly. "He is also a patient in our hospital and that is currently his assigned room. He has not been released by a doctor and therefore is required to be in the hospital."

Christine started to sputter out a protest, but Carter held up a hand.

"I will, however," he continued. "See if he would be willing to transfer rooms. Is that acceptable?"

Christine scowled, huffing.

"Fine," she spat.

He nodded.

"Kelsey, if you could escort them—"

"You said you were calling off your watchdogs," Will scowled, moving around Christine and placing both hands on the desk as he leaned toward Carter.

Carter stood, looking Will in the eye as he crossed his arms.

"I have agreed to remove your escorts as you say neither of you wishes our services," Carter said firmly. "However, this is a functioning ranger base and there are still places neither of you is allowed to be—especially unescorted. Kelsey should not have brought you up here in the first place. This level is supposed to be off limits to anyone outside of the rangers or base personnel."

"I'm sorry…" Kelsey sighed.

"As such," Carter continued, waving his hand at her apology. "You will need to be escorted back down to the appropriate levels. At that time, Kelsey will leave you. Understand?"

Will scowled but nodded. Christine huffed as she stood and Kelsey opened the door. They walked out and Kelsey followed, shutting the door behind them. Sighing, Carter dropped back into his seat and shook his head. But he hadn't even had a chance to tell Charlie he could take off his headphones when the door opened again and Trini walked in. She was on her phone.

"Just go ahead and forward all of that to my email," she was saying. "I'll look over it while I'm eating my lunch."

She paused as she took the seat Christine had vacated only a few minutes before.

"No, I don't know when I'll be back in office," she sighed. "But I can set up a video conference for later."

She nodded, listening to whoever she was talking to.

"Well, that sounds like a question for the ranger currently in charge," Trini said, looking at Carter. "I will make sure he is there."

Hanging up, Trini looked at Carter expectantly. He groaned.

"Trini, I don't have time for—"

"You will make time," she interrupted. "Now…"

She dropped a piece of paper on the desk in front of him.

"I need all of these for my afternoon meetings," she said. "I will also have to explain that our green ranger is currently preoccupied with a family emergency—which is why you are temporarily filling in."

Carter frowned. Tommy didn't attend a lot of meetings, but some required his attention when people had specific types of concerns to address. He hadn't been aware Tommy was supposed to appear this week.

"Unless you would like to tell them the real reason Tommy won't be there?" Trini asked, raising an eyebrow. "And answer all of the questions that will follow?"

Carter sighed, looking at the list.

"How am I supposed to have time—"

"You will make it," she said firmly. "Tommy always makes time."

"Tommy doesn't have a base to run," Carter countered.

"Maybe not," Trini agreed. "But he has the resort, his work with Anton, a family and friends who want to spend time with him, and he's a high school teacher—and that's all while keeping his ranger life completely under wraps. Also, I believe you are the one who put yourself in this position. So, if you really aren't capable of keeping up with it, maybe it should be someone else."

Carter scowled but Trini wasn't done.

"Now, I need all of those reports and you in the conference room ready to go by 2p," she said, standing. "Thank you."

Spinning, she stalked out of the room. Carter groaned again and dropped his head into his hands.

Rocky paced back and forth across Adam's room. He'd come back up to sit with Adam after eating lunch with Aisha and their kids. It was early afternoon and he still hadn't heard back from Tommy though he'd sent multiple texts and called a few more times.

"Rocky, sit down," Adam sighed. "You're just stressing yourself out more."

"Why hasn't he answered?" Rocky exclaimed, pausing for only a moment. "Not even to tell me to leave him alone."

He started pacing again.

"Adam, he never just ignores me like this—even when he's mad at me," Rocky said agitatedly. "I think—"

He stopped, dropping into a chair. Leaning forward on his knees, he shook his head.

"What Carter said—I don't think Tommy's going to forgive me this time, Adam…" he said quietly. "He doesn't even want to give me a chance to explain...he really thinks I betrayed him."

Adam sighed.

"Rocky, go talk to him," he said firmly. "Talk to him and find out for sure before it kills you. All you're doing right now is stressing yourself out. Go talk to him."

Rocky took a deep breath. Standing abruptly, he stalked out of Adam's room and headed two doors down to Conner's room. He took another breath and then walked inside.

In the room, Tommy was sitting in a chair next to Conner's bed. Ethan had spread himself out on the second bed with his computer and tablet and was working intently. Kira and Krista were talking quietly with Kat a little ways away from Conner and Tommy. All of them glanced over when Rocky walked in.

Rocky stopped, hurt flashing across his face as he realized Tommy was up and around—and hadn't answered any of his messages or phone calls.

"Oh," Rocky muttered. "Sorry. I guess I'm interrupting."

"Did you need something?" Tommy asked.

"I was just stopping to see if you got my message but—"

"Message?" Tommy repeated.

Ethan's eyes went wide as Tommy frowned, checking his pockets.

"It's fine," Rocky said. "I'll just go…"

He started to turn as Ethan jumped up.

"Sorry, Dr. O," he said quicky. "Trent told us he put your phone on silent and we kind of forgot…"

He'd grabbed the cell phone and hurried across the room to hand it to Tommy. Rocky paused, looking hesitantly at Tommy again.

"Oh," Tommy said, taking it.

He grimaced when he saw how many missed calls and texts he had. Tommy also looked at the time and sighed.

"I'll deal with it later," he said, shaking his head. "Right now, though…What did you need, Rocky?"

"I—I just needed to talk to you," Rocky said. "But it's fi—"

Tommy had grabbed his cane and was getting to his feet.

"Alright," he said with a shrug. "Then walk and talk. I need to get back to Jason and let the Ninjas go."

Rocky waited as Tommy made his way across the room, eying him hesitantly. Tommy didn't sound mad, but he also hadn't looked that thrilled to see him either. He followed Tommy back to the next room, trying to decide what he wanted to say.

"Tommy, listen—" Rocky finally started as they walked inside.

"Hold that thought, Rocky," Tommy interrupted. "You three out."

Cam, Blake, and Hunter looked up in surprise but didn't argue. Grabbing their things, they started heading toward the door as Tommy headed for his usual seat.

"Take Marc with you," he said. "Make sure he eats lunch before he comes back."

"Got it, Dr. O," Hunter nodded. "Come on, kid."

They tugged Marc out the door with them. Tommy sat back down and looked over at Rocky. He was still standing by the door.

"You coming in?" Tommy asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Right…" Rocky said, walking over and grabbing a chair.

"So, what did you want?" Tommy asked, a little shortly.

Rocky hesitated.

"I wanted to talk to you about yesterday," Rocky said after a moment.

"Oh, that," Tommy said stiffly. "You're entitled to your opinion."

Rocky immediately shook his head.

"No," he said quickly. "Tommy, let me explain—please?"

Tommy just shrugged, scrolling through his phone now.

"I wasn't part of whatever meeting Carter had to decide to invoke that clause, Tommy," Rocky said. "I swear. I would never have been part of that and if Carter had tried to pull me in I would have told you."

"Mmhmm…" Tommy said, still looking at his phone.

"The conversation he was talking about happened months ago," Rocky continued. "And it had absolutely nothing to do with all of this…"

Rocky sighed.

"It was after that red meeting," he said. "Everyone was just a little concerned about you after you got so upset… And the conversation turned to the last time you took a vacation. All I was saying was I wished you could have more time to just spend with your family without worrying about anything else. Especially after everything that had just happened… That was all."

Tommy didn't say anything and Rocky pressed on.

"Yes, I said what Carter said I did," he admitted. "Because I was trying to make the point that, for a long time, your focus has always been keeping the rest of us alive. That's why you never took breaks—because you afraid you might lose one of us. So, we returned the favor by keeping an eye on you so you wouldn't kill yourself."

Tommy glanced up finally from his phone.

"I never thought you needed to be forced to step down," Rocky continued. "I swear—"

"Rocky…" Tommy sighed.

Rocky shook his head.

"I would never betray your trust, Tommy," he said. "I swear. I especially would never go behind your back and plot something like this… you have to believe me. You just needed time to process what happened after Draven. I've never doubted your ability to be our leader and—"

"Rocky," Tommy said again. "It's fine."

"But—"

"It's fine," Tommy repeated, shaking his head. "Rocky, I believe you."

Rocky looked at him in surprise.

"What?" he said.

"I believe you," Tommy said, chuckling a little at the look on Rocky's face. "Why do you look so surprised?"

Rocky sighed.

"You were so upset last night…" Rocky said. "I saw the look on your face and…"

He trailed off, shaking his head. Tommy sighed.

"I was upset last night," he admitted. "Not knowing who actually met with Carter—"

"It wasn't me," Rocky reiterated.

"I know…" Tommy said. "And I should have known, but…"

He shrugged.

"The point is," Tommy said. "I got some sleep and I've had time to think about it. And I know you would have come to talk to me before ever agreeing to anything like that. I should haven't gotten mad at you."

Rocky finally relaxed back into the chair. Tommy studied him for a moment.

"You've been stressing about this all day, haven't you?" Tommy asked.

"Maybe…" Rocky muttered. "Actually, more like since last night. But you weren't answering anything… you never just ignore me. Even if you are mad at me. So, I kind of thought you were just done with me…"

"Blame the kids," Tommy sighed. "I'm sorry…"

"I'm sorry, too…" Rocky said.

He paused.

"But in all seriousness," Rocky said. "I'm glad you aren't actually mad at me."

"Well, I did apparently take a thirteen-hour nap," Tommy said, shaking his head. "So that helped."

"Wait, you seriously slept for that long?" Rocky said in surprise.

Tommy nodded.

"And Angela only gave me half a dose," he said sheepishly.

Then he sighed again as Rocky laughed.

"You weren't completely wrong to be worried though," Tommy admitted after a moment. "I have been overworking myself a little and I know it… but we are so close, Rocky."

Rocky just nodded, serious again. They had noticed. But like he had told Carter, they trusted him to ask for help. Or to let them help in smaller ways without protesting.

"We are so close to having everything together with the rangers and SPD," Tommy continued. "To having an organization that is ready to protect Earth. There just isn't someone ready to catch the balls if I drop them now—so, I can't…"

"I guess that's fair," Rocky admitted. "As much as I—or even Adam—would like to say we could do it…"

He shook his head.

"We aren't you," Rocky shrugged. "We would do our best, but frankly neither of us can inspire the other rangers like you can. You're a symbol to a lot of them—something neither of us could replace. So, I understand what you're saying…not that I'll stop being concerned."

"I appreciate the concern," Tommy said. "And I will try to ask for help more often."

"Sure," Rocky snorted. "But, if it helps, you know Adam and I will back you until the end without hesitation."

Tommy shook his head.

"Thanks, Rocky," he said. "But I don't need someone who will follow me without question. I need people who will trust me—but not hesitate to take me out if I do actually get turned against the rangers again."

Rocky nodded, eying Tommy.

"Can I use a blaster?" he asked with a grin. "I don't know that I'd want to get that close to you—"

He yelped and then started laughing as Tommy smacked him in the ankle with his cane. But Tommy started laughing, too.

The two men were still talking a little while later when Carter walked in followed by Dana and Angela. Tommy and Rocky looked up. Seeing who had come in, Tommy just sighed but Rocky scowled at Carter.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked, looking at them.

"Tommy, a request has been made that you transfer rooms," Carter said. "So, I came to ask you—"

"No," Tommy said, not letting Carter finish.

Carter sighed. Dana and Angela exchanged a look.

"You can share with Adam," Carter said. "He's right next door and—"

"No," Tommy said again. "And you can't force me to move rooms."

"Tommy, I'm just trying—"

"No, Carter," Tommy said firmly. "And if you are going to continue to push the issue, I'll just leave. And I'm don't mean the med bay, Carter. I will leave this base."

"Tommy, no," Dana immediately protested. "You just passed out yesterday!"

"I don't care," Tommy said shortly. "I'm not catering to Christine and her insane demands. I am not in anyone's way being in here. There is no reason I should have to move. So, if you are going to continue to insist that I not be in here…?"

Tommy shrugged.

"Then that's fine," he continued. "I'll take all of my teams and leave Mariner Bay. All of them. Every single teammate."

Dana and Angela both started to protest but Carter beat them to it.

"You can't leave, Tommy," Carter said shortly. "It's against the—"

"Actually, I can," Tommy interrupted, crossing his arms. "Because, despite you taking control with that clause, you don't actually have the authority to keep any of us here unless you arrest us."

"You're under the protection of my team!" Carter protested. "Per the clause—"

"That only requires we be locked down on a registered ranger base with a secondary team to act as guardians," Tommy countered. "And my house is a registered base—even if it isn't a public one. It might be a tight fit and I'd have to get creative, but I could fit all fifteen of my teammates with their kids and spouses in. And both the Ninjas and Mystic Force would be willing and qualified to take on guard duty without hesitation."

"Carter," Dana hissed at her husband. "They need medical attention still."

He waved her off.

"You can't take Jason to your house in the cryo machine, Tommy," Carter said. "So, he would still be here."

Tommy raised an eyebrow.

"You're right," he said. "But I can have him transferred to the Megaship where he would be even safer than he is here at Lightspeed. And there are no non-ranger or ranger-attached visitors allowed on the ship—period. So, you would either have to convince Christine and her brother to go home or you would be stuck with them until Jason actually wakes up and decides what he wants so you could order them out."

"This is ridiculous, Tommy," Carter snapped. "You're being paranoid. Moving rooms isn't going to hurt anything. And you can't just start moving everyone around just because you aren't happy with me. Jason is under our care."

"Actually, he can," Angela sighed. "And I can't believe you woke me up to have this conversation."

Carter looked at her in surprise, but Dana was nodding in agreement, too.

"He's right, Carter," Angela said again. "And you should know this. With Jason unconscious and unable to make decisions, Tommy can claim leadership of all three teams involved in the protection clause. Especially since Jason has technically still not taken back his position as head of Mighty Morphin'. Which means, as long as it isn't going to put them in immediate medical danger, he is able to move them into the care of other ranger facilities without our approval… and the Megaship has a qualified facility on board…"

Carter tried to protest again but Tommy shook his head.

"You aren't winning this one, Carter," he said shortly. "I am Zordon's white ranger. They are my teammates. That means I am responsible for them—even if I'm not leading the rangers right now. Even if we're under forced protection. So that means you can't force me to leave this room or stop me from taking them off this base unless you actually arrest me. And I'm pretty sure if you try to do that without just cause…"

"I'd like to see him try," Rocky growled. "There'd be a riot."

Carter glared at Tommy for a moment and then threw his hands up.

"Fine," he muttered. "Stay."

Spinning, he stalked out of the room. Dana and Angela followed after him.

Hayley stopped in the hall, watching Carter storm away from Tommy and Jason's room with an amused smirk. She'd have to ask Tommy about it later. Turning, she headed into Conner's room in search of Ethan. He was sitting in the second bed, his computer in front of him and tablet in his lap.

"There you are," Hayley said.

"Oh, hey, Hayley," Ethan said, glancing up.

She walked over, stopping next to the bed and leaning over to see what he was working on.

"Find anything else?" she asked quietly.

He sighed, shaking his head.

"Just more of the same," he answered.

Hayley nodded.

"I have one more thing I need you to look into," she said.

Ethan nodded.

"Ok," he said. "What is it?"

"Look into Will," she said, still keeping her voice low.

"What?" Ethan frowned.

"I need you to look into his history," Hayley said. "Any records he has. His friends and contacts—especially those with criminal records. Specifically drug related."

"Why?" Ethan asked slowly, looking at Hayley with some suspicion.

"Just trust me," Hayley said, shaking her head. "And send me what you find."

"Alright," Ethan conceded. "I'll see what I can do."

Satisfied, Hayley spun and walked away to talk to Conner for a moment.

Taking a deep breath, Carter knocked on the door and waited for an answer. He didn't have long before he had to meet Trini, but he wanted to talk to Christine and Will before he got stuck in meetings for the rest of the day. The door slid open and Christine looked at him expectantly.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I came with an update, ma'am," he said.

"And…?" she said impatiently.

"The order to remove your escorts will stand," he said. "And you will continue to have access to the areas that were already granted. However, I can't get your husband a private room."

"What?" Christine exclaimed. "But—"

"I'm sorry," Carter said. "However, I need you to understand that I am only conceding to your first request in order to keep the peace. And you can't sue me because I have the authority on the base to make decisions regarding the safety and privacy of the rangers. If I feel that you are trying to violate either of those things, your escorts will be reinstated."

"If you're in charge then why can't you get my husband a private room?" Christine scoffed.

Carter sighed. He couldn't exactly tell Christine it was because Tommy's status as team leader overrode Carter's authority when it came to Jason. She still had no idea her husband was a ranger.

"Unfortunately, there are some things even I can't change without permission," he said. "And Tommy is not one of my rangers so I can't order him to change rooms. And I can't just move Jason because we can't move the chamber while it's in use…"

"So, who has final say if someone who isn't a ranger is involved?" Christine demanded. "Because my husband shouldn't be forced to share with that man while he's unconscious! There has to be someone who can do something."

Carter hesitated. Because technically that was him. But he knew she was actually asking who had final say over Jason—she just didn't know to ask it that way. And the answer to that question wasn't him. It was still Tommy.

"The only one who can override the current order is Zordon's White Ranger," Carter said finally. "So, it is what it is at this point. Tommy isn't moving unless ordered by him and he is currently unavailable."

Christine started to protest but Carter held up a hand.

"I apologize, ma'am," he said. "But I can't discuss this any further right now. I have a meeting shortly and I can't be late. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to let our staff know."

Without waiting for an answer, Carter spun and headed toward the elevator.

"Damien!" Karly shouted. "Damien, where are you?"

She sighed, looking around the cafeteria. After some reassurance from Billy that the kids really couldn't get into anywhere they weren't supposed to be, the other parents had let the kids go down to the gym by themselves to run around and play for a while. But Damien had wandered off while they were playing so now Karly was looking for him.

"Damien!" she yelled again.

Karly had ducked under a table to look for her brother when the door opened. She started to stand up and then she recognized the voices. She stayed under the table as Christine and Will walked into the cafeteria.

"What am I supposed to do, Will?" Christine snapped. "I thought it was just these Lightspeed morons we were dealing with. Now I'm being told there's a whole other person actually in charge and I have no idea who they are."

"We'll figure it out," Will said soothingly.

"We're running out of time," Christine scoffed. "He's going to wake up eventually—how does this stupid thing work?"

Karly peeked out to see them standing in front of the order screen. Will shook his head and took over, poking at the buttons.

"And we'll deal with it then," Will said.

"Jason can't wake up, Will," Christine said irritably. "We have to get rid of him before that. Because once he wakes up—"

"I know, I know," Will sighed. "We will have lost our shot. But Tommy is still a problem."

"So, we'll just get rid of him, too," Christine shrugged as they moved over to the pickup window. "There has to be a way."

"I'd take care of him myself given the chance," Will muttered.

They got their food and started walking back toward the door.

"But we have to get him alone," Christine sighed. "And there is almost always someone popping in on him. How do we get rid of Tommy without raising suspicions?"

"I'll come up with something—" Will was saying as the door closed behind them.

Karly stayed frozen in place for a few minutes. When they didn't immediately come back, Karly crawled out from under the table and snuck over to the door. No one was in the hallway. Sniffling, now, she ran toward the elevator.

"So, what has Carter all in a huff again?" Hayley asked, smirking as she walked into the room. "I saw him leaving a little while ago."

She'd just come from Conner's room after visiting with them for a bit. Tommy just rolled his eyes.

"He wants me to move rooms," he muttered.

"Like that's going to happen," Hayley scoffed. "Hi, Rocky."

"Hey, Hayley," Rocky said.

Grabbing another chair, Hayley sat down with them.

"I'm assuming you told him no," Hayley said, looking at Tommy.

"Is that actually a question?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I came up to talk to Ethan," she said. "And check in on Conner. I was glad to hear he ate something today."

"Did he?" Rocky asked.

"Not nearly as much as he should," Tommy said. "But yes."

Hayley paused and Tommy frowned at the look on her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Conner isn't feeling good again…" Hayley sighed. "Krista was going to get Dana. He was warm and might be developing a fever…"

Tommy and Rocky exchange a concerned look.

"It's probably nothing," Hayley said. "But…"

"But it could be something," Tommy sighed.

Hayley nodded.

"I told Ethan to keep us updated," she said. "Kat left to go check on Marc and JJ—apparently they're doing something with the Ninjas and she was a little concerned about it."

Tommy nodded. The door opened, drawing all of their attention, and Karly came in. Seeing Rocky sitting in the chair, she ran to him as she burst into tears.

"Karly, what's wrong?" Rocky asked, quickly picking her up and holding her close.

She just started crying harder. Rocky hugged her tightly as he looked over her head at Tommy and Hayley. They both shook their heads.

"Come on, honey," Rocky said soothingly. "What's going on?"

"I don't want Uncle Tommy to leave!" she managed to get out between her sobs.

Rocky frowned, looking at Tommy again.

"Karly, he's right here," Rocky said. "And he's going to be fine. I know it's scary that he's in the hospital, but—"

"No!" she wailed. "They said they have to get rid of him because he's in the way. Why don't they like him?"

"Shh… no one is getting rid of him," Rocky assured her. "I need you to calm down so I can understand what happened—can you try for me?"

He kept talking to her for a few minutes until her tears were under control. Shifting her on his lap, Rocky took the Kleenex Hayley offered so Karly could blow her nose.

"Now, what happened?" he asked.

"I was looking for Damien because he was hiding," Karly sniffed. "And I was under a table and they came in and said they had to do something to Marc's dad but that Uncle Tommy is always in the way so he needs to go away so he can't stop them. They want to hurt him, daddy!"

Rocky frowned.

"Who said that?" he asked.

"Marc's mom," Karly answered. "And his uncle…"

Rocky looked at her in surprise as Hayley and Tommy exchanged grim looks.

"I'm sure they didn't mean that," Rocky said. "You probably misunderstood."

"No, I didn't!" Karly protested.

He stood up, still holding her as she sniffled.

"I'm gonna take her back to the suite," he said. "Sorry…"

Still talking quietly with his daughter, Rocky headed out of the room. Hayley had taken out her phone and was typing a quick note in it. She was quiet for a few minutes and Tommy didn't interrupt. He was still thinking over what Karly had said.

"So, you seem calmer today," Hayley commented when she looked up. "And so did Rocky."

"We got to talk," Tommy said. "We talked about it—and I know he wasn't involved in this thing with Carter."

Hayley just shrugged.

"Oh, I knew that already," she said dismissively. "I know who Carter spoke with about that."

Tommy frowned.

"I'm sorry—what?' he said.

"I know who it was that approved the clause with Carter," Hayley repeated.

"How do you know that?" Tommy asked, looking at her with some suspicion. "Carter hasn't told anyone."

"Is that important?" she smirked.

"Hayley…" Tommy sighed.

"What?" she said. "I was just running some basic security tests. I have the clearance—and it is part of my job."

Tommy groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Hayley, what did you do?" he asked.

"I didn't mess with anything, if that's what you're concerned about," she said, crossing her arms. "All I did was check through the communication logs while I was running tests on the call systems. I didn't hack in—I still have access. Including the phones on the Command level… like Carter's office?"

Tommy didn't say anything, hesitating over the question. Hayley just shook her head.

"I'll save you the guilt of asking because I'm telling you either way," she said with a shrug. "And I can tell you for sure that no one currently on this base was part of it. Carter placed three outgoing calls that morning. One didn't connect, but the other two did—off planet."

Tommy frowned.

"Two?" he said. "Hayley, that's not enough. So, someone else had to be here with him to make the minimum of three outside of the one initiating. It doesn't make sense otherwise."

"It does when one has two," Hayley retorted.

Tommy shook his head.

"You've lost me," he sighed. "There are only two groups with two reds. One of them is the Ninjas—and they were already here. Or almost here depending on the time. And I doubt Carter would have called them. And Eric and Wes were already here. So, then it wasn't them."

He paused.

"And based on the last day or so, I'm pretty sure Eric would have called him an idiot and dragged Wes right back out," he muttered.

Hayley sighed.

"Tommy, I said off planet," she pointed out.

"I'm sorry, my head is still a little fuzzy…" he said, then he paused. "But two reds? Wait… Andros and TJ?"

Hayley nodded and Tommy sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Really?" he asked quietly.

"I'm sorry…" Hayley said, seeing the hurt on his face.

He just shook his head.

"Who was the third?" he asked.

"Again—off planet," Hayley said.

"Ok, so Aurico or Leo—"

Hayley blinked.

"Oh, I forgot about Aurico," she said sheepishly.

"So Leo…" Tommy shook his head. "That one I can see if given the right justifications… But why would Andros and TJ…?"

"I don't have that answer," Hayley said. "You would have to ask them. But I guess it all depends on how Carter made his argument. Andros is a very logical thinker, after all, so if Carter approached it in the right fashion…"

Tommy sighed again, nodding.

"And if the other three were all in agreement, they'd be able to convince TJ to go along with it, too," he muttered.

Hayley just nodded. For a few minutes neither one spoke. Finally, Tommy looked up at her.

"I appreciate you telling me," he said. "But…"

"I'll leave you alone," Hayley said quietly, standing up. "You need some time to process."

Tommy nodded and she headed toward the door.

"Hayley?" he said.

She paused and looked back.

"Keep an eye on Conner," he said.

"I will," she promised before walking out the door.

"Daddy, your phone is ringing," Karly announced.

"I hear it," Rocky said.

He grabbed it, answering without looking. He'd been back in the suite for a little while with Karly. She was much calmer now, curled up on the couch with him. Aisha was getting them a snack to help distract and cheer their eldest up.

"Hello?"

"Rocky? Rocky, I can't see."

Rocky pulled the phone away from his ear in surprise. The call he had answered was a video call. And he was now talking to his mother, one of his brothers, his brother's wife, and he could see at least two kids crowded in.

"Oh," he grimaced.

"Rocky!" his mother exclaimed, beaming. "How are you feeling?"

"Uh, hey, mom," he said. "I'm feeling pretty good. Umm…so, what's up?"

"I'm calling to check on you since you haven't been keeping me updated. Are you feeling any better?"

He nodded, shifting on the couch. He could see Aisha eyeing him from the kitchen.

"I am," he said. "No idea how much longer I'll be here, though. They're still monitoring since Adam had some pretty bad reactions. The doctor wants to make sure everything is completely out of my system before they release me. But I really am doing fine."

"Uh huh, sure," his brother said doubtfully. "Then why can't we come see you?"

"Because I'm not in Angel Grove?" Rocky answered. "I told you Adam and I got airlifted somewhere else. It's not like I'm just down the road."

"I'm up for a road trip," his brother countered. "Just need an address."

"Uh, I'm not sure," Rocky stammered. "I was unconscious when I arrived and I haven't been outside or anything."

"And you haven't asked?" his mother frowned.

"Well, no. It didn't seem important."

"So, ask," his brother suggested.

"No one here right now," Rocky said quickly, shifting again.

His brother shook his head. He was eyeing Rocky suspiciously now.

"You know, I can't see a lot," he said slowly. "But the room you are in doesn't seem like much of hospital room."

"It is," Rocky protested. "But it's a private hospital. Fancy rooms."

"Yeah…I don't think I believe that. Mom, I'm pretty sure he's in a hotel somewhere with Aisha and doesn't want to get caught."

"Daniel!" she exclaimed, smacking his shoulder. "How could you say that? You talked to Henry, too. Your brother nearly died!"

Still shaking her head, she turned her attention back to Rocky.

"How are you really feeling, sweetheart?" she pressed.

Rocky sighed.

"Mom, I'm seriously feeling fine," he assured her. "Tommy and Adam had it worse, but we're all going to be fine. Just lots of observation and testing right now."

"Still seems pretty swanky for a hospital, bro."

This time it was Daniel's wife who hit him.

"Your brother is sick!" she exclaimed. "Would you be nice?"

"I'm just saying!" he protested. "It's pretty nice considering…"

Rocky sighed.

"I'm here because I had the same thing as Tommy," he pointed out. "His wife picked it out. Private hospital and all that comes with it. He's rich enough."

Aisha was rolling her eyes at him.

"So, where is Tommy?" his mother asked.

"In his room. He was way worse off than I was. So, he's still stuck in a normal hospital room. Jason has been staying with him."

"How is he doing? And Adam? There have been hardly any updates."

"Really?"

Rocky frowned. He knew he hadn't been in touch with his family much, but he thought Adam and Tommy would have been better about it. Apparently, he was wrong.

"Tommy's mother hasn't heard from him in days," his mother said. "He talked to her Friday and hasn't called since. She didn't even get to tell JJ happy birthday."

Rocky grimaced, realizing Tommy probably hadn't called because of everything that had happened over the weekend. Between Carter pulling crap and the last incident in Angel Grove, things had been a lot chaotic.

"Well, he's been awake," Rocky said, rubbing the back of his head. "But…well…"

"Then why hasn't he called? I expect it from you, but Tommy is usually really good at talking to his mother."

"Ouch, mom," Rocky grumbled. "But he's fine. He's just been…busy. Tests, therapy—"

"About time one of you had some," Daniel inserted with a grin.

Rocky scowled at him.

"You're lucky I can't hit you from here."

"But I can," Daniel's wife said, elbowing her husband.

Daniel grunted.

"And that's why you're my favorite," Rocky laughed.

Chuckling, he shook his head.

"But I do need to go now," he said. "I'll talk to you later. Promise I'll be better and I'll let you know as soon as we're heading home."

"Alright, but take it easy," his mom insisted. "I'm going to call Tommy's mother. I love you!"

"Love you, too, mom," Rocky said. "Bye."

Hanging up, he flopped back on the couch with a groan.

"Why on earth did you answer that?" Aisha demanded. "A video call in here of all places? Really? Rocky, you know better!"

"I didn't realize it was a video call!" Rocky protested. "I didn't do it on purpose!"

Karly, who had listened quietly the whole time, patted his knee.

"It's ok, daddy," she said. "We all do stupid things sometimes. That's what mommy says."

"Yeah, yeah," Rocky grumbled, ruffling her hair. "And now she's going to talk to Tommy's mom. I wish him luck…"

"So, where's Kim?" Zach asked, picking up his tray.

He and Jake were waiting for their food. Both had gotten caught up with some work stuff and, now that it was nearly 3p, they were finally getting lunch. And they weren't the only ones in the cafeteria. Rocky was there with his three kids and the twins. He was attempting to eat—since he hadn't earlier while he was upset about Tommy—and control all five kids at the same time. They all had a snack in front of them. Hayley and Billy were sitting at the next table with their girls and Trent and Kira. Rae and Izzy were giggling over their own snack. Eric and Wes were sitting and eating their own late lunch at the next table. Taylor was at the order screen with Devin who was having a hard time deciding what she wanted. Taylor was very patiently entering and deleting options.

"She's somewhere with Kat, Aisha, and Tanya," Jake answered, grabbing his own tray. "I heard her say something about hunting down Trini. Though I want to say Trini is in some kind of work meeting, so that plan probably got shot down."

Zach chuckled.

"Probably," he agreed. "I'm sure the other three will slow her down."

Jake laughed as they headed toward the tables. At the tables, Eric nudged Wes with his elbow when he saw Jake and Zach coming back to sit down.

"Hey, check it out," he said quietly. "Time to prank the newbies."

"Newbies?" Wes repeated. "Eric, they aren't here. And pretty sure they need a couple of days after the Halloween Court to—"

"Not those ones," Eric said. "Those ones."

He pointed to Zach and Jake.

"Like new to the base…?"

"Oh! Right," Wes grinned. "Got it."

"Hey, Zach! Jake!" Eric called, waving.

The other two men paused, giving them a surprised look.

"What do you want?" Zach asked, sounding suspicious.

"More civilized company than him," Eric answered, jerking a thumb toward Wes. "Come sit."

"Oh, well, alright," Jake nodded, heading to sit across from the other two men.

He paused by the seat, seeing Zach hadn't followed.

"You going to come sit?" Jake asked.

"Nah, you go ahead," Zach answered, shaking his head. "I'm gonna sit with Billy. Catch you later."

He turned and headed to sit with Billy, Hayley, and their girls while Jake sat with Eric and Wes.

"So, how's it going?" Wes asked.

"Same as it has been," Jake shrugged. "Just finished up some work stuff in the lounge so Zach and I figured we should eat."

"Oh yeah? What are you working on?"

Jake answered and the two were quickly involved in a business discussion. Eric listened, waiting for an opportunity while Wes had Jake distracted. This had to happen before Taylor and Devin finished getting their food. Letting them go a couple of minutes, Eric reached as if to pick up his glass and knocked it over instead. Water went everywhere.

"Oh, shoot," he muttered, grabbing the one napkin.

Wes tossed him another one.

"Hey, Jake, can you grab some more napkins?" Wes asked, trying to help Eric mop up the mess.

"Sure."

Jake immediately hopped up and headed to grab some more napkins. The moment Jake's back was turned, Eric grabbed the saltshaker and Jake's glass.

"I got one better," Wes grinned.

Eric glanced over to see Wes holding the bottle of hot sauce. Chuckling, Eric nodded. Working quickly, Wes dumped hot sauce on the burger while Eric dumped salt into his water and stirred it up. By the time Jake came back a moment later, both were back to mopping up water. No one else had noticed, distracted by the kids and their own conversations. Jake handed over the napkins and helped finish cleaning up the water.

"Thanks," Eric nodded.

"No problem," Jake said, taking his seat again.

Settling back down, they started back into conversations. Eric looked over at Wes.

"Did you get a chance to look over those training programs for the new cadets?" he asked.

Wes snorted.

"You know I didn't," he said.

"You didn't get a chance or you just didn't do it?" Eric countered. "Because you've had all day."

"Don't start with that," Wes retorted, shaking his head.

Taylor and Devin joined them finally as Jake was still just munching on his fries.

"We have decided on pizza," Taylor announced as she sat down their food. "Finally."

"It's not pizza, momma," Devin frowned, crawling onto the bench. "It's a cracker with ketchup and cheese."

Taylor sighed, sitting next to her daughter.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "We decided on a cracker with ketchup and cheese."

Jake, who had just picked up his burger, paused and raised an eyebrow. Eric shrugged, watching him.

"We choose our battles," he said, sharing a look with Taylor. "Names of food is not one of them."

"That's for sure," Wes chuckled.

"Like your youngest is any better," Eric shot back.

Shaking his head in amusement as the two men bickered, Jake took a bite of his burger. Eric and Wes both smirked slightly as they waited. Jake chewed for a minute and then froze. Choking, he dropped his burger and scrambled for a napkin. Spitting it out, he started sputtering.

"What happened to my burger?" he managed to choke out, still coughing.

"No idea," Eric said.

He pushed Jake's water closer. Grabbing it, Jake took a big drink of water—only to spit it right back out. It sprayed across the table.

"My cracker!" Devin wailed.

"Jake!" Taylor exclaimed.

Choking out an apology, Jake jumped up to run and get something else to drink. Taylor frowned, reaching across the table to pick up his glass. Everyone was staring now. Zach was looking directly at Eric and Wes with a scowl. The two men had burst out laughing.

"That turned out way better than I thought," Eric laughed.

Taylor took a tentative sip of Jake's water, Devin crying next to her.

"Seriously?" she demanded, turning to look at her husband. "Salt water? And what did you do to his burger?"

She picked it up, taking a close look.

"Hot sauce," she said flatly. "Was it really necessary?"

"What?' Eric protested.

"Come on, it was funny, Taylor," Wes said.

"Oh, was it now?" she scowled. "Well, now you two are in charge of getting Devin something else for dinner."

The six-year-old was still sniffling.

"It's ruined…" she pouted.

Eric and Wes exchanged slightly guilty looks. They hadn't intended for their prank to interrupt Devin's lunch. Eric picked her up.

"It's ok, sweetheart," he said. "I'll get you a new cracker."

"I don't want a cracker now!"

Eric blinked and then looked at Taylor.

"Yeah," she said, crossing her arms. "Go on. Have fun."

Sighing, Eric didn't argue. Wes snickered.

"Oh, no," Taylor said. "You, too, Uncle Wes. And take this mess with you."

She shoved Jake's abandoned food and drink into his hands. Both men stood, still snickering a little. Taylor scowled at them.

"Oh, come on, Taylor," Wes said. "It's not like we went that far. Right?"

"Nah," Eric said, shaking his head. "He didn't cry."

"Oh, is that the limit?" Wes asked. "I thought it was wetting his pants—"

"March!" Taylor ordered, chasing them away from the table.

At the other two tables, the adults were shaking their heads. Zach was glad he hadn't sat with them now. Rocky, sighing, reached over to take Damien's glass before he could start spitting water across the table himself.

Tommy sighed, reaching over to pick up his phone. He wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone, but he also knew ignoring his mother wasn't going to go over well, either. Taking a deep breath, he answered the phone.

"Hey, mom," he said. "What's—"

"Thomas Oliver! Why haven't you been calling me?"

He blinked in surprise.

"Mom, I'm sorry, but I've—wait. I don't know how I should actually be answering, mom. I've been in the hospital. What are you expecting?"

"Exactly!" she exclaimed. "What have you been doing that you haven't had time to call your mother with updates? Rocky says you've been awake and doing much better."

"Oh, Rocky says," Tommy said. "Does he now?"

"Yes, he spoke with his family earlier this afternoon," she said. "Over a video call. Why won't you answer any of mine…?"

Tommy sighed. He was going to give Rocky a hard time about this later.

"Sorry, mom…" he said. "But first of all, the reception isn't that great. It would be grainy and you know I hate video calls anyways. Second, I dropped my phone again. The screen is busted and I don't think the camera even works anymore. Can't exactly get it fixed in a hospital."

Mrs. Oliver huffed.

"Well, fine…" she grumbled. "But how much longer before you can come home? I want to see you myself."

"Not sure…" Tommy sighed. "I have to stay until I test clean of all toxins. They want to ensure there are no relapses."

Settling into his chair, Tommy continued chatting with his mother as he tried to relax.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Tanya burst out.

Kim, Kat, and Aisha looked over at her in surprise. The four women were currently relaxing in the Mighty Morphin' suite for a little while. Rocky had taken the younger kids and JJ and Marc were running around on their own. Tanya had just stepped out to answer a phone call not long after they'd been interrupted by Jake and Zach coming back to the suite. Kim was still trying to pry out of her husband what had happened in the cafeteria.

"Do about what?" Kat asked.

"That phone call," Tanya scowled, dropping back into her seat. "Apparently, I'm now responsible for providing six dozen cupcakes for the bake sale. On Saturday. I didn't even know there was a bake sale. And how am I supposed to do that from here? I have bigger things to worry about than a PTA fundraiser for a group my children aren't even part of!"

Aisha sighed. She had a good guess on exactly who had been on the other end of that phone call. Kat patted Tanya's arm.

"It's ok," she said. "We'll—"

"No, it isn't," Tanya interrupted. "She knows we're dealing with a family emergency, but she still pulls this crap!"

"Jennifer's mom?" Aisha sighed.

Tanya nodded. Kim had her phone out, dropping her conversation with Jake for a moment.

"Where is the bake sale?" she asked.

Tanya sighed.

"The school gym," she muttered. "They're supposed to be for the summer carnival. Part of the cheerleading fundraiser. But again, it doesn't matter. I'm not leaving."

"Six dozen?"

"Yes, Kim…"

"What kind?"

"I don't know!" Tanya said in exasperation. "Why—"

"Well, what do you think would sell? Chocolate? Vanilla? Or how about cookies and cream?"

Tanya looked over at her, frowning.

"Sure…?" she said hesitantly. "But what…?"

"What about red velvet?" Kat suggested, looking over Kim's shoulder.

"Good choice," Kim nodded. "How about lemon?"

"Select audience, but maybe a few," Kat nodded.

"Perfect," Kim beamed. "Then…done! They'll be delivered to the school Saturday morning."

Tanya stared at her.

"What?"

"The cupcakes," Kim said. "They'll be delivered to the school Saturday morning. I put your name on them."

"But, how…?" Tanya asked. "Unless you're trying to tell me you have magical elves that live in a tree that you haven't told me about?"

Kim laughed.

"Tanya, I placed an order with a bakery," she laughed.

Tanya blinked at her in surprise.

"Umm…how?" she asked again. "Kim, that's less than a week away. The local bakery can't provide that many cupcakes in that timeframe. They're too busy. For that large of an order I'd need at least a two weeks' notice."

"Local?" Kim repeated. "Oh. I didn't even think about that. They're being delivered from LA…Hold on!"

The other three women, plus the two men, just shook their heads in amusement as Kim quickly ordered a couple of simple cakes from the local bakery. Leaving a rather excessive tip with the order.

"Kim, seriously?" Tanya exclaimed. "You can't buy my way out of problems."

Kim rolled her eyes.

"Some of them I can," she countered. "And we can all go back to fighting over the check as soon as we go home. But until we leave, delivery is about the only option we have."

Tanya scowled but didn't argue.

"Fine," she agreed. "But once we get home I am taking you out to somewhere of my choice and I will be taking the check. And if you try to take it from me I will throw your purse out of the window on the way home."

Kim stared at her, not sure how to respond to that threat. Aisha and Kat were laughing. Jake and Zach were looking at Tanya in surprise.

"Oh, she's serious," Kat chuckled. "I lost a purse once that way."

"Wait—seriously?" Kim sputtered.

"Oh, don't worry," Kat assured her. "Tommy found it before anything happened to it. He had to walk along the highway, but he found it."

"Alright," Kim said slowly. "Note to self. Purse will go out the window."

Tanya smirked at her. Zach snickered, leaning on his hands.

"Ah… true friendship," he said. "When you can threaten to slap them without repercussion. Or, alternatively, throw their purse out a window."

Jake laughed, elbowing Zach.

"So, why aren't you offering to buy things for me?" he asked.

"Meh, guys are different," Zach said. "We just poke at each other until someone gets mad and says to suck it up."

"Oh, sure," Jake retorted.

"It's true," Zach said. "Want to play poker?"

"Fine, but I'm not fronting you anything," Jake said, standing up.

Zach followed.

"That's fine," he shrugged, a grin on his face. "I'll just take it out of your wallet."

Zach held up a wallet and started to walk away. Jake stared and then quickly checked his pockets.

"Hold on!" he protested. "How did you even get that out of my pocket?"

Zach just laughed and took off running. Jake chased after him and both men disappeared from the suite.

"Should we be worried?" Aisha asked.

None of the women had moved from the table.

"Nope," Kim said. "Because I have the credit cards. He might have $500 in cash. It'll be fine."

All four women burst out laughing.