Wednesday June 27th, 2018
Mariner Bay, CA
Billy sighed, rolling over to look at the time. He looked around in confusion for a moment before remembering they slept in the Command suite instead of their usual room in the Mighty Morphin suite. And it was definitely too early to be awake. Yawning, Billy rolled over to move closer to Hayley. And then he stopped.
She wasn't in their bed.
Frowning again, Billy rolled over and doubled checked the time thinking maybe it was later than he thought. But it was definitely still 5:30a.
"She must have woken up early," Billy muttered to himself. "But I do not remember her coming to bed, either…"
He sighed.
"I hope she was not up all night. Again…"
Standing, he stretched and headed out into the living room to see if he could find her. Hayley was sitting at the kitchen table staring at her computer screen. Shaking his head, Billy walked over to the kitchen. Hayley didn't react as he walked around her and got in the fridge. Pouring a glass of juice for himself and one for her, he closed the fridge and turned to join her at the table. She still hadn't noticed.
"Hayley?" he said, setting the glass of juice down next to her.
She jumped, looking at him in surprise.
"Oh, Billy," she said.
"Are you alright?" he asked, sitting down next to her. "What time did you get up?"
"I've been up since 6a," she said absently, going back to her computer.
"That is not possible," Billy said slowly. "It is only just past 5:30a…"
Hayley glanced over sheepishly.
"Oh, it's possible…" she admitted.
"You were up all night…" Billy sighed.
Hayley nodded.
"Yes," she said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I just got caught up…"
Billy shook his head.
"It is fine," he assured her. "It happens. I was simply concerned when I could not remember you coming to bed last night."
"I'm trying to figure this out, Billy," Hayley sighed, gesturing at her computer. "There's something I'm missing and I know it has to be right in front of my face but I can't figure it out!"
She grumbled in frustration.
"How can I help?" Billy asked.
"I don't know…" Hayley mumbled. "It just doesn't make sense. There has to be a connection but I can't find it…"
"A connection?" Billy repeated. "Between…?"
"Between what happened to Tommy and what happened to Rocky and Adam," she said. "It can't be a coincidence. There is no way it can be."
"Are you sure—"
"Absolutely," she said firmly, starting into a small rant. "It can't. And there is no way a stranger could have pulled it off. They couldn't have gotten Tommy at the dojo and Adam and Rocky at a gas station with random snacks. That means it has to have been the food Jason gave them—and Jason was at the party when Tommy got poisoned… but why would Jason want to hurt any of them? It doesn't make any sense!"
Billy frowned.
"I thought that the lunch originally came from Christine," he said.
"Well, yes," Hayley said. "But that doesn't make sense either. And Tommy never interacted with her directly at the party. The only connection I can find is Jason. But it doesn't make sense!"
Billy sighed.
"Hayley, you need to take a break," he said.
"No, I need to figure this out," she said shortly. "It's important."
"And I will keep looking," Billy said firmly, gently tugging the computer away from her. "You are never going to figure it out if you do not give your mind a chance to rest, Hayley."
"Billy!" Hayley protested, trying to catch her computer.
"Just a few hours," he insisted. "Sleep for a few hours and I will go over everything you have compiled."
Hayley hesitated.
"I give you my word I will wake you no later than 8a," Billy said. "You simply need to take a few hours to reset."
"Alright," Hayley finally, reluctantly, agreed.
Standing, she yawned and headed toward their bedroom. Billy sighed in relief. Once the door had closed behind her, Billy stood. If he was going to spend the next couple of hours pouring over Hayley's work, he wanted breakfast to go with it.
A little while later, however, Billy was nearly as frustrated as Hayley had been. He'd started by just reading through her very thorough notes and then he'd actually looked at all of the files and information she and Ethan had compiled. Now he was watching through some of the security footage Hayley had pulled from various places.
"There has to be something missing," Billy muttered. "But what?"
Like Hayley, Billy agreed that there was something suspicious about everything going on. There was too many similarities between the two poisonings for it to be a coincidence. And the shooting Saturday night wasn't any better. Billy didn't know how she managed to get security footage of that, but he wasn't going to ask. He just hoped she'd erased it after she made a copy. Someone else investigating that was the last thing they needed—especially with Conner's face visible on camera. Someone would recognize him. And he hadn't exactly been moving at normal human speed when he inserted himself into the situation.
"She is right," he sighed, opening another video file. "Something does not make sense. No one could have done this without having access to the rangers—and I will not believe Jason is responsible…"
He took a sip of his coffee as he played the next video. It was another file from the dojo's security cameras. Adam had a few cameras scattered around after a break-in and vandalism incident years before. He'd let Hayley install them so he wouldn't have to worry about anyone else potentially gaining access in case they used the dojo for anything ranger related. In the footage he had opened, Hayley had cropped the video to focus on Tommy and Jason. Glancing at the timestamp, Billy realized this was from shortly before Tommy started acting erratically.
"I wonder what they are talking about," Billy murmured. "And Rae—"
"That's me playing spy!"
Billy jumped, nearly spilling his coffee as he spun. Rae was standing next to his chair, peeking up over the table.
"Rachel!" Billy exclaimed, double checking to make sure he hadn't gotten coffee on any of the electronics in front of him. "Where did you come from?"
"Next door," she said.
Billy sighed as he turned back to her.
"Why did you leave the sleepover?" he asked. "Did you tell someone you were leaving?"
Rae shook her head.
"They were all still sleeping and I was hungry," she said, climbing into his lap. "I wanted breakfast. So, I came for breakfast."
Getting comfortable, she looked at his plate. He'd only eaten part of it since he'd quickly been distracted by the research. Billy sighed but smiled and pulled it closer to let her eat it. With her still on his lap, Billy restarted the video since he had missed the rest.
"Why were you playing spy, Rae?" he asked, moving his coffee out of her reach.
"Uncle Tommy asked me to," she answered, munching on a piece of toast.
"So, you were playing a game?"
Rae frowned.
"Uncle Tommy said it was a game," she said. "But he only wanted me to watch the creepy lady and her mean brother."
"Ah," Billy nodded, eyes still on the video. "So, he was just assuring himself that you were away from them."
He'd made it further in the video this time, watching Tommy walk away from Jason and chug his drink. Billy frowned. That was unusual.
"No," Rae said in answer. "Uncle Tommy didn't want her to see him take the drink."
Billy looked down at her in surprise.
"What drink?" he asked.
"The drink that Jason had," Rae said.
"What?" Billy said again.
"The drink that Jason had," Rae explained. "Jason had the red cup that the cranky lady gave him and she kept telling him to drink but he didn't want to but if she was worried about him spilling she should give it to him when he's sitting. Like you and mommy do with me and Izzy."
Billy nodded, playing the video again and watching more closely this time.
"So, Tommy took the drink from Jason?" he asked. "What did he do with it?"
"He drank it," Rae shrugged as she continued to eat. "And Jason drank Uncle Tommy's—oh!"
Billy looked down at her.
"He made a funny face, daddy!" she giggled. "And I got a video! Wanna see it?"
"You have a video?" Billy repeated in surprise.
"Yep!" Rae said, scrambling off his lap. "I left my phone by my bed!"
Once on the floor, Rae darted for the door.
"Rae, wait—or not…" Billy sighed.
She was already out the door and on her way back to the Mighty Morphin' suite next door. Billy just shook his head and went back to the video. He watched it again, looking for details as he waited for his youngest to come back.
"I'm back, daddy!" she announced when she skipped back into the room a couple of minutes later. "And I didn't wake anyone up and I locked the door."
Proud of herself, Rae climbed back up into Billy's lap. She fiddled with her phone for a minute and then played a video, holding the phone so Billy could watch it with her. The phone wasn't facing Tommy and Jason when Rae started recording, but Billy could hear them. Rae had started taking a video of something one of the other kids was doing.
"Rae, is she watching?" Tommy asked.
All he could see for a moment was a blur and then the floor between Tommy and Jason.
"Nope," Rae answered. "The mean lady isn't looking."
The phone came back up and now Billy could see Jason. He was frowning in Tommy's direction.
"Here," Tommy said.
Tommy switched cups with Jason who looked surprised.
"How is this going to help?" Jason asked as he stared at the cup.
"Because it's not alcohol," Tommy answered. "So, you drink that, and I'll drink yours. Christine didn't see us switch cups, so she will still think you drank what she brought you. She'll be happy and you don't have to worry about having a reaction—problem solved."
Billy frowned. He wasn't sure what reaction Tommy was talking about, but a few things were starting to fit together and he didn't like where it was going.
"Thanks, Falcon," Jason said. "But… what is this?"
He was staring in the cup Tommy had given him. Billy had a good guess of what it contained based on past experience with Tommy.
"It's juice," Tommy said. "But I'd drink it quickly before she gets a look in your cup. And sorry about the taste."
"The taste?" Jason said. "What does that mean?"
"It means the juice is nutritious—not that it tastes good," Tommy said. "It's a bit of an acquired taste. Watch him, Rae. He'll probably make a funny face on the first drink."
The camera, which had slowly been drifting, probably because of Rae moving around on Tommy's shoulders, went back to facing Jason.
"Ok," she giggled as Jason frowned at the cup again.
The camera shifted but stayed mostly on Jason.
"She's coming, Uncle Tommy," Rae warned.
"Go on, Jase," Tommy said. "Drink up while she can see you."
Billy couldn't help but chuckle as Jason took a drink and choked. He could barely hear what Tommy said next over the sound of Rae's laughter.
"I warned you," Tommy said.
"Why are you drinking this?" Jason sputtered.
"Again—it's healthy," Tommy said. "Finish it up. I'm going to get Rae food before Hayley comes to hunt us down."
The camera turned as Tommy turned away from Jason and shifted so it faced down toward the floor again. But it caught the cup in Tommy's hand and the motion of him lifting it to drink. He coughed after.
"Are you ok?" Rae asked, leaning closer again.
"I'm fine," Tommy answered, tossing the cup in the trash. "I just should have drank that a litt—"
The video cut off at that point. Rae looked up at Billy, but for a moment he didn't say anything. He just stared at the phone.
"Did you see his face, daddy?" Rae giggled. "I took a screenshot too so I could show Uncle Tommy his face."
"I did," Billy nodded. "Rae, will you send that to me? The video, please."
The pieces were all coming together, and Billy wasn't sure whether he should have expected this answer or not. But it made more sense why they were having trouble fitting in that last piece—because none of them would have ever thought it of any person. No matter how much they disliked them.
"Yep!" Rae said, typing on her phone.
She paused, tilting her head to look up at Billy again.
"Will mommy want it for the archive?" she asked.
Billy nodded absently. Hayley had a growing collection of videos and photos taken by their daughters.
"Probably," he said. "Send it to her, too."
Once it came through to his phone, Billy watched it again to make sure he was seeing and hearing right.
"Where did Jason get the drink?" he asked Rae again, just to make sure he was clear.
"The nasty lady," she said, playing on her phone.
She'd finished his breakfast. Billy nodded and glanced at the time. It was just before 7:30a and he'd wanted Hayley to sleep until 8a.
"I figured it out," he muttered to himself. "But it is not yet 8a…however, she will be angry with me if I do not wake her up immediately…"
He sighed.
"I am going to have to wake her up," he said reluctantly.
"Yep," Rae agreed. "Mommy doesn't like waiting."
Billy chuckled. He couldn't argue with that. Standing, he set Rae down in his chair and grabbed her a glass of juice. Walking into the bedroom, Billy sat down on the bed.
"Hayley," he said quietly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hayley, I figured it out."
He shook her gently and Hayley jumped, shooting upright and looking around.
"What?" she mumbled, her eyes still half closed. "Is it morning?"
Billy smiled in amusement.
"Hayley, I figured out what you were missing," he repeated.
"What I was—" she started to ask, yawning.
Then her eyes flew open and she spun to look at Billy.
"What was I missing?" she demanded.
"Rae gave me this," Billy answered, handing her his phone.
He pressed the play button and waited as Hayley watched the video. Hayley sighed as it finished, handing the phone back to Billy.
"Ok, I'm not sure how that helped," she said. "So, Tommy pranked Jason with his nasty drink—and is apparently a lightweight now because he used to be a lot better drinker than that."
"That was not the important part," Billy said, shaking his head. "The drink Tommy took from Jason came directly from Christine—"
"What?" Hayley exclaimed, her head shooting up to look at Billy.
"Listen to what Tommy says in the video," Billy nodded. "And Rae confirmed that she heard Jason tell Tommy this."
She watched it again, paying more attention this time. When it was done, with Billy's phone still in hand, Hayley quickly scrambled out of bed.
"I have so much I need to do," she muttered as she grabbed clothes to get dressed. "I need to double check everything but this makes so much more sense—although I guess I still don't have an actual motive…"
She paused, her brow furrowed.
"I mean, I can make some guesses…" she said. "But Ethan was the one really looking into Christine and Will."
"Why was he looking at them?" Billy asked curiously.
"Because Tommy is paranoid and thought Christine was going to do something to Jason," Hayley shrugged as she started moving again. "Though I'm pretty sure he was thinking take the house and all of Jason's money and then leave him to fend for himself rather than anything along these lines."
Dressed, Hayley flew out the door and back to her computer. Billy followed at a slower pace.
Jake stretched and rolled over to look at the time. Realizing that the kids were going to start waking up soon—if they weren't awake already—he pushed the blanket back and swung his legs around. Kim stirred but didn't wake up.
"I'll let her sleep while I start breakfast," he said quietly to himself.
Standing, he made his way out of their room. The seven kids in the living room were still asleep, sprawled across all of the furniture. Smiling, Jake went into the kitchen and made himself coffee as he started browsing through the options available for breakfast in their little kitchenette. Unlike the Command suite next door, they weren't fully stocked. And he'd forgotten about planning for breakfast for twelve kids.
"I guess I can feed them all a poptart to start," he said, seeing a couple of boxes in the cupboard. "And then—"
"Poptarts are not breakfast," a voice said behind him. "They are a snack."
Jumping, Jake spun. Izzy was looking at him in disapproval. He hadn't even heard her come out of her room.
"Well, it could be breakfast today," Jake said. "We don't have to tell your mom and dad."
"Well, I guess not…" Izzy said thoughtfully. "It is a sleepover. And Rae is the one who would blab."
"We'll just convince her," Jake grinned.
"We do not have to," Izzy answered. "She is not here."
He stared at Izzy.
"I'm sorry—what?" he said.
"Rae is not here," she repeated.
"Well, where is she?" Jake asked, quickly heading toward the girls' room to check for himself. "She's just in bed, right?"
Izzy trailed behind him.
"No," she said. "When I woke up, she was not in our room."
Jake opened the door and took a look for himself. Izzy was right. Rae was not in her bed or in their room at all. He groaned and turned back to Izzy.
"Where did she go, Izzy?" he asked.
"I do not know," she shrugged. "I was sleeping."
Taking a deep breath, Jake looked around.
"Make sure the rest are here first," he muttered to himself.
He quickly poked his head into Marc and Jason's room and was relieved to see the three older boys still passed out in bed. Shutting the door quietly, he strode out to the living room and did a headcount out there. Satisfied that the only one missing was Rae, he left them to sleep as he checked everywhere he could think of. When he couldn't find Rae anywhere, he finally went to wake up Kim.
"Kim, wake up," Jake said urgently.
"It's too early," Kim mumbled.
"You need to wake up," Jake repeated, shaking her gently. "We're missing one of the kids—Rae is gone."
Kim shot upright.
"What?" she demanded.
"Rae isn't in her room and Izzy doesn't know where she went," Jake repeated.
Kim was out of bed in an instant, bolting out the door to check on the kids herself. Jake followed quickly. Izzy watched curiously as Kim ran for the girls' bedroom to look for Rae. Coming back out a moment later, Kim checked on Marc, JJ, and Trevor—and she wasn't quite as quiet about it as Jake had been. When Kim came out to check on all of the kids in the living room, the three boys stumbled out after her.
"This is the worst sleepover ever," JJ mumbled. "What happened to the sleep?"
"It's late enough," Jake chuckled. "Now come help us figure out where Rae went."
Kim was counting the kids in the living room now, gently starting to wake them up since they'd need breakfast anyways.
"Jake, she isn't here," Kim said in a panic. "Rae isn't here."
JJ sighed.
"Is that why you woke us up?" he asked, yawning. "I'm going back to bed…"
He turned to try and go back to the bedroom, but Jake caught him.
"Nope," Jake said. "We need to find Rae."
"Aww…" JJ groaned. "But she's impossible to find. Did you at least set boundaries for hide 'n seek first?"
"We didn't start a game, we were sleeping," Jake answered.
JJ snorted.
"Well, that sucks," he said.
"We have to find her!" Kim exclaimed.
The other kids were looking around sleepily now. Izzy just shrugged. She didn't seem at all concerned that her sister was gone.
"Do not worry," she said. "She always comes back. Even when I do not want her to."
Jake frowned at her and then turned back to Kim.
"I checked the door," he said. "It's locked."
"Then she has to be here somewhere—right?" Kim asked. "No one could have come in, either."
Jake nodded but JJ shook his head.
"Except anyone with permissions," he pointed out. "Like everyone who lives here? Including Rae? Both of you. Marc. Trini, Zach, and Ja—"
He paused, glancing at Marc who just shifted in place.
"Plus, Uncle Billy and Aunt Hayley," he continued. "Mom. Izzy. Probably Adam, Rocky, Aisha, and Tanya—"
"JJ, I don't think—" Jake tried to interrupt.
"Oh! And base staff in an emergency," JJ continued.
He frowned.
"But dad said if anyone uses the emergency override it's supposed to set off an alarm, so it probably wasn't any of them," he shrugged.
"That is not helping, JJ," Kim exclaimed.
Izzy sighed.
"I will go find her," she said, heading for the door.
Kim caught her and plopped her on the couch bed with the other kids.
"You are going to stay right here," she said firmly. "I'm going to give Billy back at least one of his children."
Izzy frowned, pouting as she crossed her arms.
"But I am the good one," she argued. "I would not disappear. I am just going to go find Rae. She does this all the time."
"Izzy's right," JJ pointed out.
More doors opened and Trini and Zach came out to investigate what all the fuss was about.
"I don't care," Kim scolded. "No one else is taking off on their own."
Hearing the other two adults, Kim spun.
"Trini, Zach—help," she pleaded. "Rae is gone."
They both looked at her in surprise, glancing around the room. But then Trini just kept heading toward the kitchen while Zach shook his head.
"You lost the kid?" Zach asked. "You get to explain that to Billy—and Hayley. I'm not responsible."
Kim glared at him.
"Relax, Kim," Trini said, getting herself some coffee. "We'll find her eventually and it'll be fine. Izzy isn't wrong and she knows her sister best. Besides, I've heard plenty of stories from Billy about the things Rae does."
She paused, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Now, before we panic too much, let's just take a closer look around the suite to make sure she didn't hide and fall asleep in a corner," Trini continued. "And if we can't find her, I will call Billy myself. Ok?"
With some reluctant help from the sleepy kids, Zach, and Trini, Kim and Jake started another sweep of the suite. They were partway done when Billy walked in holding Rae's hand. He stopped, looking around in confusion.
"What is going on?" he asked.
Devin, wandering by, stopped to answer.
"We are looking for Rae…" she sighed. "Oh! I found her! I found Rae!"
Kim and Jake both came running.
"Thank goodness—Billy!" Kim exclaimed, freezing in place. "Umm… good morning."
"Good morning," Billy said, looking at her with some amusement.
"Ok, before you get upset let me explain," Kim said quickly. "I am so sorry but I didn't even know she was gone until Izzy said something—I thought she was sleeping!—and how does she even know how to get past a locked door—"
"It's just a button," Rae frowned. "And I locked it for you after I left the second time."
"Second time?" Kim sputtered.
"Yes," Billy said, still amused. "She has come and gone at least twice now."
"Rae, why?" Kim cried.
"I was hungry and I knew daddy would have breakfast," Rae answered. "And I'm not supposed to wake people up without permission."
Kim started apologizing to Billy again even though he was trying to tell her it was fine. Jake was shaking his head.
"I think I've changed my mind," Jake muttered. "I never want kids. I don't think I've ever been more terrified in my life."
Trini and Zach both laughed.
"Relax," Trini assured him. "You were fine. And most kids aren't going to be like Rae—or Izzy. They're an exception to the normal."
"Besides, you only lost one of… what?" Zach snickered. "Twelve? You still had eleven. So, you're still doing pretty good."
Jake scowled at him, as did Kim who overheard the last comment. Izzy was frowning at her sister now.
"Rae, why did you not wake me up?" she asked. "I want breakfast, too…"
"Yes, because that's just what I needed," Kim muttered. "Both of you missing… Billy, I am so sorry—"
"Kim, it is fine," he said firmly. "Rae knows her way around this base better than most of the adults—including Lightspeed. And probably has more access than she should… I would not have been concerned even if she was not with me."
"Mommy says I'm special," Rae grinned.
"Me, too!" Izzy added. "Uncle Tommy made mommy give us special access so they could control what we touch."
"Is that a good thing?" Zach asked, a little concerned now.
Billy sighed.
"I do not believe 'good' is the correct term," he admitted. "Now, what is the plan for breakfast?"
Eric strode down the hall in determination. He hadn't been able to pry anything else out of Tommy that morning no matter what he tried. But he was still going to do what he could to make sure nothing happened again. Once Kat had come up in the morning, Eric had excused himself. He knew Kat would be there at least long enough for him to put his plan in motion. Stopping in front of one of the suite doors, Eric knocked and waited for an answer.
"Eric?" Cam said in surprise when the door slid open. "What's going on?"
"I need to talk to you," Eric said. "All of you."
Cam nodded and stepped aside to let him in.
"I'm the only one currently awake," Cam said.
"I will drag them out of bed if I need to," Eric threatened.
"By all means," Cam laughed, gesturing toward the bedroom doors.
Cam dropped into a recliner in their living room, a mug of tea in his hands, while Eric strode over and started pounding on doors.
"Get up!" Eric ordered. "We need to talk. Now."
There was no immediate response. Eric scowled at the doors.
"Up now!" he repeated. "It's important. And it's about Tommy."
Cam frowned at the mention of Tommy, but that was also what finally got a response. A moment later doors started opening as the rest of the Ninjas stumbled out of their rooms in their pajamas. Eric gestured for them to join Cam in the living room before he would answer any of their demands to explain.
"What's going on, Eric?" Shane yawned, falling into a chair.
Blake and Tori curled up in one corner of the couch while Hunter had grabbed the other. Dustin hadn't bothered with a chair. He was just lying on the floor with his eyes closed.
"Is Dr. O alright?" Tori asked.
"As fine as he can be after last night," Eric answered shortly.
"What happened last night?" Hunter asked, raising an eyebrow.
Eric shook his head.
"I don't know where it started," he said. "But I was stepping out for a few minutes last night to go find a toy Devin left somewhere when Amelia quite literally ran into me. She was upset and said there was some kind of confrontation happening between Will and Tommy in her defense."
The Ninjas exchanged looks. They'd all been warned about what Will had done to Kat.
"So, I went to see what was going on," Eric continued. "And when I got in the room, Will was standing over Tommy on the ground."
"What?" all of the Ninjas exclaimed.
Dustin wasn't laying down anymore. He'd shot upright to sit, looking at Eric in shock like the rest of his teammates.
"Is he alright?" Hunter demanded.
"We'll kill him if he hurt Dr. O," Blake snarled.
"I intervened before anything serious happened," Eric said. "But Tommy won't talk about it. He says it would just cause more problems for Jason in the long run."
"Did you tell anyone else?" Cam asked.
Eric scowled, shaking his head. The Ninjas exchanged looks again.
"No," Eric admitted. "I would talk to Wes, but he has a hang up and thinks I just don't like them because they're 'rich snobs'. And if I told the Dinos what happened—"
"They would go off the deep end," Hunter muttered. "Completely lose their minds."
"Exactly," Eric said. "And I have no proof to take to anyone else. They already think Tommy is just paranoid so…"
He shrugged.
"So where do we come in?" Shane asked, frowning.
"Well, I know you'll make up your own minds," Eric said. "But no matter what, you'll still help me protect Tommy."
"That's not even a question," Hunter scoffed.
"What do you need us to do?" Cam asked.
"I can't stand guard all day on my own," Eric said. "So, I need you to help me keep eyes on him without being obvious that you're watching."
"We can handle that," Shane said. "Right?"
He looked around and the rest of the Ninjas nodded.
"Good," Eric said. "Kat's with him now—"
"We'll eat breakfast and get moving," Tori said as she hopped up from the couch. "Come on, boys."
Satisfied that they were on board. Eric headed back out the door. He had to go get Devin.
Heading up and around the corner, Eric headed to the far end of the north hall and knocked on the door of the Mighty Morphin' suite. It opened after a moment and Eric walked in.
"Daddy!" Devin exclaimed, racing toward him.
"Hey, sweetheart," Eric smiled, catching her in a hug. "Did you have fun last night?"
"Yes!" she exclaimed happily.
And then she was talking a mile a minute about everything they had done during the sleepover. Eric just smiled and nodded as he listened.
"And we played hide 'n seek with Rae and I won!" she announced proudly.
"This morning?" Eric asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Uh huh," Devin nodded.
"Why that early?" he asked her.
"I don't know," she shrugged. "They said we had to find her. It was a game. And I found her!"
Eric looked over at Jake and Kim, not even trying to hide his amusement.
"Don't ask…" Jake muttered.
"So, you only just lost the one…?" Eric grinned.
"She left on her own!" Kim protested. "And locked the door behind her!"
Eric just chuckled as he picked up Devin's overnight bag. Still holding Devin on one hip, he slung the bag over his other shoulder.
"That kid is too smart for her own good," he said, shaking his head as he headed toward the door. "Alright, Devin. We're going to go find Ryan. And then meet mom for breakfast."
"Ok," she smiled brightly. "Who's Ryan?"
A little while later, Eric walked into the small gym with Devin skipping next to him. It had taken him a little while to track down Ryan since he'd expected him to be on the upper levels where Lightspeed lived—not in one of the gyms on the bottom level of the ranger areas.
"Ryan!" he called, catching the other ranger's attention.
Ryan paused his workout, looking over to see who was yelling for him. Turning off the treadmill, he grabbed his water bottle and waited for Eric to reach him.
"Why are you down here?" Eric asked. "Your team has an entire personal gym—shouldn't you be using that?"
Ryan scoffed.
"Nah," he said. "I'm avoiding them. Did you need something? Cause I know you're not here for a workout with the squirt."
He grinned down at Devin who waved back.
"Nope," Eric said, shaking his head.
He paused, glancing down at Devin.
"Devin, I need you not to hear something," Eric said seriously.
Her eyes got wide as she looked between Eric and Ryan.
"Ok, daddy!" she said.
Turning, she skipped away to a bench out of immediate earshot. Sitting down, she started swinging her legs as she waited. Ryan watched in surprise and amusement.
"Well, you certainly have her well trained," he commented.
Eric shrugged.
"I try not to do it often," he said. "But sometimes things come up that can't wait that she shouldn't be hearing. And I reward her with candy when she does a good job."
Ryan laughed, but his laughter trailed off as Eric's look turned serious.
"What's going on, Eric?" Ryan asked.
"I need to talk to you," Eric said.
"I gathered as much with you sending off the squirt," Ryan pointed out. "What is this about?"
"Something happened last night," Eric said. "I don't know why, but it did…"
He quickly explained the same things he had to the Ninjas a short time before.
"And when I walked in, Tommy was on the floor and Will was standing over him," Eric finished.
"What?" Ryan exclaimed. "What excuse did they give you?"
"Some idiotic story about him falling and they were just trying to help," Eric scoffed, crossing his arms. "They were not helping. But Tommy won't confirm anything so I can't do anything about it. And none of you can, either."
"But Tommy hates them," Ryan scowled. "Why wouldn't he give us an excuse to kick them out?"
"Feel free to try and get that answer for yourself," Eric sighed. "I can guess it has something to do with not causing more problems for Jason but…"
He shrugged.
"He won't actually tell me anything," Eric said. "We've always had a good relationship, but it's not like we confide in each other."
Ryan raised an eyebrow.
"So, what do you expect me to do about it?" he asked.
"Talk to him," Eric answered. "He's got a weird soft spot for you."
Ryan snorted.
"Yeah, sure," he said, shaking his head. "He spends most of his time insulting me and calling me demon boy."
"And you're the only one who can get away with calling him bird brain," Eric countered. "None of the rest of us would be able to."
Ryan sighed, rubbing the back of his head. Eric wasn't wrong.
"I'll see what I can do," he said. "No promises."
Eric nodded.
"We'll need to keep a closer eye on the siblings, too," he said. "I've already gotten the Ninjas to agree to stick closer to Tommy."
"Not the Dinos?" Ryan asked.
"You want to think about that question for a moment before I answer?" Eric asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ryan paused.
"Ok, that's fair," he said. "No Dinos. Ninjas are bad enough. But at least someone is watching his back. I've been saying something was off since I met them, but Carter just thinks they're concerned. And maybe a little weird."
Eric scoffed.
"Yeah, I know," Ryan sighed. "And Sis has spent too much time around stuck-up families with her job. So, she's used to just dismissing the behavior and working around it."
"I have to admit I wasn't completely on board right off the bat," Eric admitted. "Even though the wife gave of crazy vibes from the moment we picked her up."
"And now…" Ryan asked.
"I don't think they're as innocent as they are pretending to be," Eric said firmly.
Ryan nodded in agreement.
"See what you can do," Eric said. "I've got to take Devin and meet Taylor before she starts looking for us. Devin!"
He called across the gym for her. Her head shot up and she immediately hopped off the bench and skipped back over.
"Come on," Eric said, taking her hand. "Let's go find mom and see what she wants to eat."
"Ok," she said happily. "Bye, Brian!"
Eric laughed as they headed toward the door.
"It's Ryan," he corrected with a laugh.
"Oh," she said, looking back over her shoulder. "Bye, Ryan!"
Looking back up at Eric, she tilted her head.
"Daddy, I thought you said he was the weird one," she said.
"What?" Ryan exclaimed.
Eric just kept walking.
"Those are things we talk about in private, remember?" Eric muttered to Devin, scooping her up.
She just giggled as he headed out the door with her.
"Dad, are you sure this is a good idea?" JJ asked, looking at Tommy with some concern.
They were currently taking the stairs back up to the medical floor. After eating breakfast in his room with Kat and JJ, Tommy had elected to go down to the suite for a chance to shower and a change of clothes. Though only after he'd gotten Ethan to agree to sit with Jason while he was gone. He was regretting his decision a little but determined to make it up the stairs now that he'd started.
"I'm fine," Tommy said, a little short of breath. "It's not that many stairs and I'm going to sit as soon as we get to the room."
"Uh-huh," JJ said, eying his father doubtfully.
Tommy stumbled on the step up to the last landing and JJ yelped in surprise. Tommy caught himself with the railing but dropped his phone in the process. It bounced down the stairs and Tommy winced as it crashed onto the next landing.
"Dad, are you ok?" JJ asked anxiously.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Tommy sighed. "Can you go get that?"
JJ stared at him for a moment and then nodded. When he came back up with it a moment later, he held it out.
"I think you broke it," JJ said.
Taking the phone, Tommy grimaced as he realized JJ was right. It wouldn't even turn back on. The good news, it was only his personal phone. The bad news, Kat would find out he dropped it down the stairs when he wasn't supposed to be using the stairs.
"Mom is gonna be mad," JJ grinned. "Especially when she finds out how you broke it."
"JJ…" Tommy said.
"She's gonna ask, dad," JJ snickered.
Tommy scowled, looking at his phone again.
"I'll make you a deal," Tommy said, looking at JJ.
"What kind of deal?" JJ asked.
"You take the blame for breaking my phone and I'll give you a $10 raise in your allowance," Tommy offered.
JJ thought about it for a moment.
"I don't know dad," he said slowly. "I mean, it's not just the phone mom would be mad about. You're also technically taking the stairs alone since I'm not big enough to help. So…"
Tommy sighed.
"Alright, fine," he muttered. "$15 and I'll take you to the movies after we get home."
"And I can have a soda and the big bucket of popcorn?" JJ clarified.
"Fine," Tommy agreed. "But we go to an early afternoon show so you'll still be able to sleep."
"Ok!" JJ grinned, bolting to open the door.
Tommy sighed and followed his son.
Jake glanced up as Eric and Wes walked in to go order their food. He was one of the only ones currently in the cafeteria, though other people were starting to trickle in for lunch. Like Zach, who was waiting for his food, and Billy with his girls sitting at the other end of Jake's table with Kira and Trent.
"So, how long are you going to stay mad at me?" Wes pressed, looking at Eric.
"How long are you going to keep being stupid?" Eric retorted.
"Hey guys," Jake nodded as they walked past.
They waved absently, still absorbed in their conversation as they walked. By the time they came back, taking their time, Zach was sitting with Jake and more rangers were waiting for food. Including Tanya, Adam, and their twins with Kim. Eric and Wes set their food down across from Jake. But they didn't immediately sit down because they'd been distracted by the Ninjas coming in the door. Or at least most of them. Wes didn't know what was going on, but he stayed standing, watching Eric go to confront the Ninjas.
"We're just getting lunch, Eric," Shane said, seeing him coming. "Breathe. We left Cam behind. We're going to eat and head right back so he can eat. Ok?"
Not sure what was going on, Jake ignored the rest of their short, quiet conversation as he ate his lunch and talked to Zach. Eric rejoined them a few minutes later, actually sitting down this time. Wes, who had been distracted watching Eric with the ninjas, followed suit. Still listening to Zach, Jake turned his attention to Wes and Eric. He watched them with a slight smirk as they shifted their food around and both took drinks of their water. It took them a moment to realize he was watching them.
"Jake, is there—" Eric frowned.
He paused, looking down at his food and then back up at Jake.
"Nope," he said. "Gotta be smarter than that."
He stood, grabbing his food tray and walked away to dump it. Wes, catching on, followed suit. Zach raised an eyebrow at Jake who just put a finger to his lips and quickly picked up the saltshaker. While Eric and Wes weren't looking, tossing their food and ordering something new, Jake dumped the entire contents of the shaker between their two glasses. Zach nearly choked trying to keep from laughing. Billy, Trent, and Kira just shook their heads.
When Wes and Eric came back a few minutes later, they were still shaking their heads at Jake.
"You'll have to plan ahead better next time," Wes commented, setting his new tray down.
"Guess so," Jake shrugged.
Zach was trying very hard to keep a straight face. But the other two men weren't paying any attention to him. They started to eat their lunches. Jake just waited, carrying on the conversation between them and Zach. After a few minutes, they finally reached for their drinks again. Both choked and spit out the water. Jake and Zach both started laughing.
"Wha—what did you do?" Eric sputtered, still coughing.
Jake, still laughing, just held up the completely empty saltshaker.
"Wait!" Wes coughed. "But we drank out of our glasses already."
"You did," Jake grinned.
"You waited until we got back up, didn't you," Eric said accusingly. "Was there anything wrong with our food at all?"
"Nope," Jake said. "Nothing at all."
Getting their coughing under control, Eric and Wes exchanged a look.
"You do realize," Eric said, leaning forward on the table. "That this means we'll have to get you back. Right?"
"Oh, you can try," Jake said, his grin growing wider as Kim took the seat next to him. "Hey, honey."
Adam, Tanya, and the twins had sat down at the other end of the table. Kim didn't have food yet, since she'd been helping Adam and Tanya with the girls. Jake turned to give Kim a quick kiss before he turned his grin back to Eric and Wes. Kim followed his gaze, her smile turning to a frown.
"So, was it them?" she asked Jake.
"Yep," Jake nodded.
Scowling, Kim started scolding the other two men.
"I can't believe you two!" she exclaimed. "Jake isn't even a ranger and you thought it was appropriate to initiate him like that? You know almost nothing about him, and he doesn't have the protection of the Power running through him like we do! How did you know he wasn't allergic to that hot sauce?"
Eric and Wes exchanged sheepish looks. But Kim wasn't done. Everyone was staring now as she continued her lecture. Even the five Ninjas, sitting down at the next table, had paused to watch in amusement.
"And on top of that," Kim continued. "You gave him heartburn! He couldn't sleep which meant I couldn't sleep and I get cranky when I don't sleep."
"Kim—" Wes tried to insert.
"No," she snapped. "I am not happy about this. At all. And I swear, if you try anything like this again I will end you."
She stood abruptly.
"I'm going to go get my food now," she said, stalking away.
Eric and Wes stared after her in surprise.
"Is she serious?" Wes asked.
"Yes, yes she is," Zach said quickly. "As someone who has known her since we were in high school, I wouldn't take that threat lightly."
He shook his head.
"And she's even more dangerous now that she's married to him," Zach continued, pointing to the still smirking Jake. "Now she has the money to make you disappear along with the skills."
"We will…take that under advisement," Eric said slowly, nodding.
Wes leaned over to him.
"So, think Taylor will negotiate boundaries?" Wes muttered.
"Maybe," Eric shrugged.
Tommy tensed and looked up when the door opened. It was lunchtime, and he was temporarily alone with Jason. He was briefly concerned it might be Christine and Will since he didn't currently have his phone to warn him, but it was just Ryan. Relaxing back against his bed, Tommy eyed Ryan with some surprise. He had brought food with him.
"What are you doing here, demon boy?" Tommy asked.
"Brought you a snack," Ryan shrugged, grabbing a chair. "We need to talk."
He set the food down on the side table next to Tommy before he actually sat.
"About what?" Tommy asked.
"How about you still being in bed?" Ryan said. "You're never in bed this late in the day."
Tommy sighed, shifting his legs around and doing what he could to hide a grimace from Ryan. His ribs definitely still hurt after his fall the night before.
"I'm just moving a little slower today," Tommy retorted after a moment, sitting on the edge of his bed now. "And besides, I already made a trip down to my suite."
"Uh-huh," Ryan said as he watched Tommy. "And how much of the moving slow has to do with what happened last night?"
Tommy couldn't stop the surprise flashing across his face.
"What happened last night?" he asked evasively.
"Don't be stupid," Ryan scowled. "I talked to Eric already."
"Of course you did…" Tommy muttered. "Of all the people…"
He sighed, shaking his head.
"What do you want, Ryan?" he asked.
"The truth," Ryan said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "All of it."
"Ryan—" Tommy started to argue.
"You owe me, remember?" Ryan smirked.
Tommy frowned.
"This is what you want to cash in that favor for?" he asked in surprise.
"Yep," Ryan said. "For the whole truth. No holding back."
Tommy hesitated.
"Fine," he said after a moment. "But only if you swear not to tell anyone else."
"Why wouldn't I?" Ryan frowned. "The others should know."
"Because," Tommy sighed. "One—most of them think I'm just paranoid about Christine and Will for reasons unrelated to last night. Two—Dana is going to be looking at waking Jason up soon and you know how quickly information flies around here. It's going to turn into a war zone and ruin any chance of a reconciliation for him if that's what he wants. Three—if something really is wrong like I think it is, it could potentially put Jason in more danger while he's still recovering."
Ryan studied Tommy for a moment and then nodded.
"That's why you've been in here," he said slowly. "You've been keeping an eye on him because you think they're going after him."
Tommy didn't answer, looking at Ryan expectantly.
"Relax," Ryan sighed. "I'll keep it to myself. You have my word. Do you really think they are going after Jason?"
It was Tommy's turn to sigh.
"I have no proof," he admitted. "And I doubt I would get any even if they were left alone with him. I think they're after his money or maybe trying to get something else from him while he is in a weaker state. I just don't know for sure what that is that they actually want."
"But it's what you believe?" Ryan countered.
"It doesn't matter what I believe," Tommy said, shaking his head. "Not without proof."
"So, find some," Ryan said. "There has to be something."
"That's already a work in progress," Tommy said. "But I'm not letting any of that out until I'm sure. I'm not making Jason's choices for him. And we can't do anything without it so…"
He shrugged, grimacing at the movement. Ryan eyed him closely.
"I guess that makes a lot more sense," he said. "So, what actually happened last night?"
"Will and I had a verbal altercation that became a little more physical," Tommy admitted.
"You were fighting?" Ryan asked in surprise.
"Not exactly," Tommy muttered. "He wouldn't leave Amelia alone and when I got in the way… he shoved me. I lost my balance and hit the floor…"
Ryan grimaced.
"Does Joel know?" he asked. "Cause he's going to flip when he finds out."
"I have no idea what Amelia has told him," Tommy said. "I ordered her out and she hasn't come back yet today."
"So did you get yourself checked?" Ryan frowned. "I'd think Sis would have said something."
"No," Tommy answered. "I was fine. It didn't feel good, but Eric walked in a few moments after I hit the floor and before anything worse could happen."
Ryan opened his mouth to argue.
"And before you argue," Tommy interrupted. "I know what it feels like to break a rib. I've done it before and if I had broken anything else or punctured something when I fell, I would have said something. It's just a little more tender today. And Angela did give me something to help me sleep last night…"
"Which means they're more than a little tender," Ryan scowled.
"I'm fine," Tommy repeated. "Just a little off today. That's all—"
His protests were interrupted by the door opening. Both men turned to look, but it was just Dana. Ryan relaxed but Tommy did not, guessing she was probably there for him.
"You need to lay back down," Dana ordered. "Ryan, help him."
"What?" Tommy exclaimed. "Dana, I'm fine. I can sit—"
"No, you aren't," Dana snapped. "I just got an alert that your blood pressure dropped again and your heart rate is high."
"Blame Ryan," Tommy grumbled. "He got me all hot and bothered."
Dana rolled her eyes as she put her hands on her hips.
"Aww…" Ryan grinned. "And I'm not even wearing my cute clothes."
"I'll hit you later," Tommy threatened.
Ryan grinned in response.
"Dana, I'm fine," Tommy tried to insist.
She wasn't taking no for an answer.
"So, you're telling me you aren't nauseous or dizzy or anything right now?" she demanded.
"Nope," Tommy said firmly. "Just excited about this lovely cherry Jello."
Dana raised an eyebrow.
"Tommy, it's lime," she corrected.
Tommy sighed in defeat.
"Ok, so everything is a little grey right now…" he finally admitted.
"Ryan, help me get him laying down," Dana ordered.
Ryan jumped up to help as Tommy stopped protesting and allowed the assistance.
"And I'm going to get you something for the pain," Dana said once he was laying down. "Because I saw that look on your face. I'll keep the dose low, but you're taking something."
"Fine…" Tommy grumbled.
"No, I'm still not sure how much longer we're going to be in quarantine," Kira sighed, pausing to listen as she shut the bedroom door. "Yes, I know."
Trent, stretched out on their bed with a book, raised an eyebrow in amusement as she faked a cough.
"It's been awful," she continued. "But it had to have been that guy on the plane who coughed on me. Doctor says we shouldn't be contagious anymore, but I'm supposed to rest my throat—well, you called me, Max."
She rolled her eyes and sat down on the edge of the bed. Trent set his book aside and rolled toward her, propping himself up on one elbow.
"I would say a couple of weeks," she said, faking a light cough. "Last time I tried singing anything it took hours for me to get the coughing completely under control."
She sighed again.
"We'll have to reschedule," she said after a moment. "But as soon as I am clear to perform again, I will completely open up my schedule and we will make anything work. Ok?"
Shaking her head, Kira listened again for a moment before saying goodbye and hanging up. Groaning, she fell back onto the bed next to Trent.
"Quarantine?" Trent asked, looking down at her.
"I had to tell him something," she muttered. "It's not like I can say I'm in lockdown because someone tried to kill two of our ranger teammates. But it will give us a couple of weeks at least. This thing had better not go longer than that."
Trent chuckled, shaking his head.
"Can't wait til the rumors around your disappearance get out to the world," he said in amusement. "I'm pretty sure illness is going to be on the bottom of the list of theories."
"Probably…" Kira sighed. "And I left it as vague as I could…I didn't want to have to actually pick some illness and fake a list of symptoms."
"Well, come here and share your mystery disease with me," Trent said.
Kira shifted as he leaned over her and gave her a kiss. Laying back down next to Kira, Trent wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Sighing, Kira relaxed into his arms.
"I'm just glad everyone is finally on the mend," she said. "Even Conner. Especially Conner. Life is so much easier now that he's eating again."
"I know you've been worried about him," Trent murmured.
"I was not," Kira protested, sitting up abruptly. "I'm just tired of him being extra obnoxious because he's cranky. And, of course, concerned for Krista having to deal with him."
Trent sat up, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.
"Kira, it's ok to worry about him," he said. "He's your friend and teammate. You're allowed to care even if you don't always get along."
"I will deny it til the day I die," Kira scowled.
Trent laughed, kissing her cheek. A knock on the door interrupted and they both looked over as it opened. Ethan stuck his head inside, one hand covering his eyes.
"Quick!" he exclaimed. "You need to come out here."
"Ethan!" Kira scowled. "This is our room. You shouldn't just walk in here."
"I covered my eyes so I wouldn't see anything," he said, waving off her protest. "Now seriously—get out here!"
"Why?" Trent asked.
"Because I spilled soup and it was alphabets and it spelled a message!" Ethan exclaimed.
Kira and Trent exchanged a confused look.
"Oh, don't tell JJ I took one of his cans of soup," Ethan added in a whisper.
They nodded slowly.
"Now come see it!" he demanded.
He disappeared out the door and Kira and Trent just stared after him. A moment later the door opened again.
"Are you coming?" he asked. "You have to see the message!"
And then he was gone again.
"I think someone else needs to sleep," Kira said. "Or Conner needs to be released so Ethan will bother him instead. Did he go to bed last night?"
"No idea," Trent sighed, climbing out of bed. "But come on."
Standing, he pulled her up.
"You go get paper towels," he said. "I'll get Ethan."
"Tommy! I need to talk to you!"
It was afternoon and Dana had conceded to letting Tommy sit himself up in bed again. So, he'd been trying to keep himself occupied while stuck in bed. Kat, JJ, and Marc had eaten lunch with him before the boys took off to run around the base with Trevor. Kat had left not long after, telling Tommy he needed to take a nap while she was gone. He had tried closing his eyes for a while but eventually gave up. It bothered him that he didn't have a warning system in place anymore to tell him if he was going to have to deal with Christine and Will invading the room.
"About?" Tommy asked as Hayley practically flew across the room.
Grabbing a chair, she sat down and pulled out the stylus for her tablet.
"Wednesday," she said.
"I am aware of what day it is," Tommy sighed. "I know my blood pressure dropped again, but—"
"Not today," Hayley interrupted.
She paused, frowning.
"It did?" she asked.
Tommy looked at her in surprise. Hayley was usually very up to date on all of their conditions. He was pretty sure she had hacked the system to get alerts when there were status changes. Frowning, he studied her for a moment.
"Hayley, you're vibrating," he said, ignoring her question. "How much coffee have you had?"
"No idea," she shrugged. "I just drank what Billy gave me while I was going through everything. Now—"
"Did you sleep last night?" Tommy interrupted.
"Not exactly," Hayley admitted. "But we figured it out!"
"Figured what out?" Tommy asked.
"We'll get to that in a minute," she said. "Now, Wednesday night. I need to know what you remember."
Tommy shook his head.
"Hayley, we've been through this several times already," he said. "I've told you everything I can remember and none of it has helped answer what happened."
"But I have new information," she insisted. "So…"
Sighing, Tommy leaned back against the bed.
"Where do you want me to start?" he asked.
"After you put Will in his place would be just fine," Hayley grinned.
Tommy rolled his eyes.
"Alright," he said after a moment, closing his eyes so he could concentrate. "But you know I don't remember much after that."
Tommy paused for a moment, playing through what he remembered in his head to see if he could spark anything new.
"After the fight—if you can really call it that—I cooled off by myself for a few minutes," he finally said. "Until your youngest invaded my space…"
He looked at Hayley.
"I did not prompt her to do that," she shrugged. "Which I already told you."
"Uh huh," Tommy said doubtfully. "Anyways, I put Rae on my shoulders and walked around for a while. I talked to a couple of people and I remember dinner showing up—"
"Who did you talk to?" Hayley interrupted.
Tommy paused, closing his eyes again.
"Trini, obviously," he said. "Since I was trying to stick at least a little close. I think Billy was with us. Jake came over at one point. And I remember saying something to Jason before I got Rae dinner."
"Yes," Hayley said. "Elaborate on that."
"On feeding your child?" Tommy asked, raising an eyebrow. "Hayley, I'm pretty sure Rae isn't responsible for any of this."
Hayley rolled her eyes.
"If either of my children was poisoning someone, they would have used something much more subtle," she retorted. "No, the conversation with Jason."
Tommy rubbed a hand over his face.
"I don't know, Hayley," he sighed. "He was standing by himself. I think I made him jump, actually. And then I—"
Tommy paused, hesitating.
"What is it?" Hayley asked.
"I shouldn't be telling you," Tommy muttered. "I promised him—"
"Tommy, this is important," Hayley said. "I swear I won't share anything that isn't absolutely necessary. But I need to know what you remember about the conversation."
Tommy sighed and nodded.
"I questioned his drink," Tommy admitted. "He wasn't supposed to be drinking alcohol because we thought it might have been triggering his episodes. But he had a cup in his hand. I guess Christine gave it to him and—"
"She gave it to him?" Hayley exclaimed, leaning forward.
"Yes…?" Tommy answered slowly. "At least I think so. But what—"
"Keep going," Hayley said, shaking her head.
"I don't know what else you want," Tommy said. "That was the gist of the conversation. He told me he wasn't going to drink it, but he didn't want to hurt Christine's feelings by dumping it in her sight."
"So…?" Hayley prompted.
Tommy grimaced, trying to fight through the fog that surrounded a large portion of that evening.
"So…" he said slowly. "I took it from him—"
"Exactly!" Hayley exclaimed in triumph. "Tommy, you switched drinks."
He looked at her in confusion.
"Ok?" he said. "And…?"
"That was the missing piece," she said. "The one I needed to connect what happened to you to what happened to Rocky and Adam."
"Hayley, you've lost me," Tommy sighed.
"I thought Jason was the link," she admitted. "But I honestly couldn't see him trying to hurt any of you even if you aren't as close as you used to be. It wasn't right. That's just not who he is. But I couldn't find anything else until I realized that Christine was present at some point both of those days—even if not directly."
"Explain…" Tommy said slowly.
"The drink you took from Jason," she said quickly. "And drank—it came from Christine. The lunch Jason gave to Adam and Rocky that they ate leaving base—it also came from Christine. She's the common link. But I don't think she was trying to poison any of you, she was trying to poison—"
"Jason," Tommy interrupted, looking over at the cryo chamber. "Hayley, she was trying to poison Jason."
She nodded grimly.
"I still can't tell you why," she said. "But clearly she overdid it which is what landed all of you in the hospital."
Tommy grimaced, running a hand through his hair.
"And we have proof of any of this?" he asked.
"Mostly just witnesses," she admitted. "Though Rae got a pretty good video of you trading drinks with Jason and actually drinking the alcohol."
Tucking away the stylus she'd been taking notes with, Hayley stood.
"Where are you going, Hayley?" Tommy frowned.
"I need to add your testimony to the rest of my notes," she said. "I'll show you everything later."
"Hayley—"
"Just give me an hour or so," she said, heading for the door. "I'm going to prove this somehow."
"Hayley, wait," Tommy said again.
"What?" she sighed, pausing to look back.
Tommy reached over and picked his phone up off the side table.
"Can you fix this?" he asked sheepishly, holding it out to her. "Or get Ethan to?"
Rolling her eyes, Hayley walked over and took the phone.
"Do I want to know?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nope," he answered.
Shaking her head, she tucked it in her pocket.
"I'll make sure you get it back tonight," she said. "But you should get some sleep."
"Not without a warning system," Tommy said, shaking his head as she walked away. "I can't—I can't relax enough knowing they could walk in here while I'm sleeping and do whatever they want to him…"
Hayley smirked, pausing in the doorway.
"Guess it's a good thing the Ninjas have been hanging around the floor all day then, isn't it?" she grinned before disappearing out the door. "Pretty sure they've been trying to stay out of sight, but I think they'll warn you about company now that they know your phone is broken."
Tommy sighed as the door shut behind her.
Adam laughed, shifting to get more comfortable on the couch next to Tanya. After two days with no further seizures, he'd finally gotten permission to leave the medical floor under supervision. He'd spent lunch with his whole family. Now he was relaxing in the lounge with some of the other rangers while the twins were taking a nap.
"Yeah…" Rocky chuckled. "I don't think Kim is gonna volunteer to babysit for Billy again anytime soon after that."
"Probably not," Adam agreed.
Rocky had just finished telling them what had happened early that morning with Rae. A story that had quickly spread around, much to Kim and Jake's embarrassment. He was sitting in one of the chairs next to the couch. Zach was sitting in the chair next to him. Adam and Tanya were sitting together on the couch and Wes was sprawled in another chair on the other side of the room. Jake was working at one of the tables on his computer.
"Sounds like the girls had fun though," Adam smiled, looking at Tanya.
"They did," she agreed. "And they love Marc, apparently."
"Seriously though," Zach snickered. "Kim's face this morning. She didn't even think about how much time Billy's kids spend on this base—and how smart they both are."
There was more laughter. Rocky glanced around the room.
"Anyone see my—" he started to ask. "Oh. I left it at the table."
He started to stand, looking at a water bottle sitting on one of the far tables.
"I've got it, Rocky," Adam said. "I want to stretch my legs for a minute anyways."
Standing, Adam walked around the room and grabbed the bottle off the table. On his way back, he paused behind Rocky and leaned over the back of the chair to hand him the bottle. Straightening up, Adam walked back to his seat and settled in with Tanya again. Zach, who had been watching, started to snicker and then started coughing as he tried to stop himself.
"You alright, Zach?" Rocky asked, giving him a look.
Zach just nodded and Rocky shook his head in amusement. Then he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. Sitting on his shoulder was a large, black spider. Letting out a sudden scream, Rocky flailed and fell off the chair as he tried to smack it off. Zach burst into laughter along with Adam. Scrambling away from the spider, Rocky prepared to hit it with his water bottle when he realized it wasn't moving—and now everyone else was laughing at him. Including Jake who hadn't been paying attention much until the scream happened.
"What…?" Rocky sputtered, looking around the room.
His gaze landed on Adam, and he narrowed his eyes at his best friend.
"It's not real, is it?" he scowled.
"Nope," Adam snickered.
"What did I do to deserve that?" Rocky demanded, still sitting on the floor.
Adam shrugged, still grinning.
"We needed a laugh after all the tension of the last few days," he said. "And you were an easy target."
Rocky scowled and started to get up off the floor.
"Don't pout," Adam said. "You're the one who was encouraging Tommy to prank Zach a few weeks ago."
Zach, who had gotten up to retrieve the spider so he could examine it, frowned.
"Wait—what?" he said.
"I was not!" Rocky protested. "Tommy started this whole thing with the trunk prank. You're the one encouraging it—I wasn't even there! I'm the victim!"
Adam just laughed again as Zach dropped back into his chair. Wes watched him examine the spider.
"Wait a minute!" Wes exclaimed. "That's Eric's spider, isn't it?"
"It is," Adam confirmed. "He let me borrow it."
Wes scowled.
"I absolutely hate that thing!" he muttered. "Eric hides it everywhere! The number of times that thing has ended up in my mouth—"
"Ew!" Zach exclaimed, dropping the spider on the floor again.
"I'm pretty sure he washes it, Zach," Wes said drily as he stood. "Here, give it. I'm gonna make sure that thing disappears and never comes back."
Adam was already on his feet and quickly moved to snatch up the spider. Rocky had gotten back in his seat and was still grumbling.
"I don't think so Wes," Adam said, shaking his head. "I borrowed it, so I have to return it."
"No, you don't," Wes argued, walking forward with his hand out. "Who's going to know if it disappears?"
"Eric," Adam said, taking a step back.
"By the time he notices it will be long gone," Wes countered. "So, hand it over."
"I don't think so," Adam answered, shaking his head.
He continued to back away as Wes advanced toward him.
"I'll just take it from you," Wes growled.
"Wes, no!" Tanya scolded. "Adam is not supposed to be rough housing yet."
"No rough housing necessary," Wes countered. "Because I'm pretty sure he can't move fast enough to get away from me right now."
Adam just grinned as he continued to back away. Tanya got to her feet intending to intervene before anything happened.
"Who's trying to rough house?" Ryan interrupted.
They all glanced over briefly. Ryan had walked in and was standing in the doorway watching in amusement. Adam looked at Ryan and then at Wes before turning to Ryan again.
"Ryan, catch!" he exclaimed.
He tossed the rubber spider across the room. Ryan caught it, looking at it in surprise.
"Get that back to Eric," Adam told him. "Run!"
"What…?" Ryan frowned.
"Wes is trying to steal it!" Adam exclaimed as Wes spun toward Ryan.
"Oh!" Ryan grinned, taking a step back. "Nope!"
"Ryan," Wes growled. "Hand it over."
"Not happening," Ryan retorted. "The lone ranger squad sticks together!"
Spinning, Ryan bolted and disappeared into the hallway. Wes chased after him with a shout. Rocky was still scowling at Adam who returned to the couch now that Wes was gone.
"I'm going to get you back for that," Rocky warned.
"Can we wait until we're home, please?" Tanya sighed.
"Maybe," Rocky muttered. "We'll see."
Tanya glared at him. In his chair, Zach was still laughing.
"I missed this," he admitted. "This kind of behavior is kind of frowned upon in an office setting. Definitely need to spend more time in Angel Grove."
"You should," Adam agreed.
Rocky scowled at them both.
"Umm… I have a question," Jake said.
He was still sitting at the table but had turned to look at them.
"What's up, Jake?" Adam asked.
"What is the lone ranger squad?" Jake asked, curious. "I thought you all worked in teams—did I miss something? I've heard that mentioned in passing a few times now."
Rocky and Adam exchanged an amused look while Tanya rolled her eyes.
"That's right," Zach said. "What was Ryan talking about?"
"The lone ranger squad is just a nickname for a specific group of rangers, essentially," Adam explained. "All of the sixth rangers—or the last ones to join the team. A lot of them were actually an enemy to begin with—like Ryan. So sometimes they can feel a little on the outside."
"Which is why they made a group to help each other out," Rocky added. "Though I'm pretty sure they just use it as an excuse to cause chaos. There's—how many of them now, Adam?"
Adam paused, closing his eyes for a minute as he counted.
"Umm…thirteen, I think?" he said. "Though a couple of them don't actively participate with the antics of the rest."
"So, Ryan is one of them," Jake nodded. "Do I know any of the others?"
Rocky snorted.
"Tommy for starters," he said.
"Seriously?" Jake said.
Rocky raised an eyebrow.
"Jake, they did tell you Tommy was the original green ranger, right?" he asked slowly. "The one who tried to kill the rangers before he eventually joined them?"
"Oh, right," Jake said sheepishly.
"Anyways," Adam said. "You also know Eric, Trent, and Cam since all three are here."
Jake nodded.
"As for the rest," Rocky said, taking over again. "There's also Zhane, Karone, Merrick—"
"Daggeron and Leanbow," Adam supplied. "Though they tend to stay out of things. As does RJ. And Dominic is a hit or miss depending on the day."
"Don't forget Antonio," Rocky said.
"So, what exactly do they do?" Jake asked.
Rocky, Adam, and Tanya all shrugged.
"Not a clue," Rocky admitted. "Other than get together once in a while. Not usually as an entire group. They're kind of secretive about it."
"But it's understandable," Adam said. "Again, the thing most of them have in common is they were either evil at some point, an outsider on their team, or a late comer."
"So, it's kind of like a support group in some ways," Rocky shrugged. "That occasionally likes to pull pranks on the rest of us for fun."
"Alright," Jake nodded. "I guess that makes sense. It's probably nice having others who understand where you're coming from."
"It is," Adam agreed. "Part of why Tommy is so close with the Dinos even with the age difference. Especially Conner and Trent. He understands where they've been because he was there once, too."
"I still can't believe I didn't put that together about Tommy and Conner," Jake muttered. "It was right there the whole time and I didn't notice."
The three rangers laughed as Jake sighed.
Hayley strode into Carter's office without knocking. He looked up, frowning at her.
"Are you busy?" Hayley asked, dropping into the chair. "No? Good."
She set her tablet down on the desk and proceeded to get comfortable in the chair.
"Actually, I am busy right now," Carter said firmly.
"Oh, really?" Hayley asked innocently. "With what?"
"What do you mean with what?" Carter sighed. "How about with the investigation so I can get all of you out of here?"
Hayley smirked, leaning on one hand.
"Oh, good!" she said. "I solved it for you already. So, now you have time for me, and we can do this."
"Do what?" Carter frowned.
Hayley sighed.
"Just let me do it," she answered.
Carter shook his head.
"Hayley, I don't—" he started to argue.
"You were wrong," she interrupted.
Carter frowned at her.
"About?"
"Well… everything?" she shrugged. "Yeah. Everything."
Carter groaned, rubbing his forehead.
"I don't have time to play this game with you," he muttered. "What do you want?"
"Exactly what I said," she answered, raising an eyebrow. "I'm right and you're wrong—I just want to hear you say it."
"No," Carter said shortly.
Hayley smirked.
"Oh, but you will," she said. "Now."
She picked up her tablet and unlocked it.
"Let's start with Tommy," she said brightly. "He was poisoned while at a party with his friends which was hosted by Kim. Intended to bring them all back together and help Jason get through a rough patch with his wife—"
"Hayley…" Carter groaned.
"Just bear with me," Hayley said. "And if you don't like it at the end, then I'll work as your assistant to help you get caught up for the same amount of time I take up. Deal?"
Carter eyed her for a moment and then sighed.
"Fine…" he muttered.
"Now," Hayley continued. "Tommy was at the party—"
"You covered that already," Carter pointed out.
"Stop interrupting or it will take longer," she countered. "So, Tommy was poisoned at the party but no one has been looking at how he was poisoned. How do I know this? Because no one has talked about the fact that Tommy never ate dinner."
"Your point?" Carter asked.
"If Tommy didn't eat, then how did the poison get in his system?" Hayley asked.
Carter didn't answer—because he didn't have one.
"The other question is who," Hayley continued. "Because, unless one of his friends is responsible, there were only two other people there who could have done it. Christine and Will."
"Hayley, you aren't making sense," Carter said. "This is stupid—"
"It isn't, and you promised to listen so be quiet," Hayley said. "Christine and Will crashed the party uninvited. Reminder for you—Jason and Christine were already having a rough time. Problems included a restraining order and an arrest. But you knew all that, right?"
Carter frowned but didn't interrupt again. Because he didn't actually know that. Since he hadn't looked into Christine or Will at all.
"Christine showed up to the party claiming she wanted to talk to Jason and acting her crazy self," Hayley continued. "Then, later in the evening she made Jason a drink. Problem was—he wasn't drinking. However, only Tommy knew that at the time. They thought the alcohol was potentially part of why he'd been getting so sick previously. But you didn't know that Jason had been sick. Did you? Because you didn't ask."
"Wait—what?" Carter said in surprise.
"Jason had been getting sick for weeks, Carter," Hayley said. "But no one thought about it because it had been happening independently of all of this."
Carter groaned. He was starting to see where she was going, but he didn't interrupt again.
"Tommy and Jason switched drinks," Hayley said, a little smug now. "So that Jason didn't have to drink it and break his word since he was struggling with disappointing Christine. So, Tommy drank it—he is ok with having a drink once in a while after all. But not long after that is when he started hallucinating and nearly died."
She paused, scrolling up through her notes.
"Now, Rocky and Adam, on the other hand," she said. "Were poisoned—not from an outside source like the gas station—but because they at the lunch Jason gave them before they left."
"What lunch?" Carter frowned.
"The one Jason gave them, Carter," Hayley sighed. "Keep up. Rocky ate the tuna fish sandwich and Adam drank the water."
"Hold on," Carter interrupted. "Are you trying to say Jason had a hand in this?"
"What?" Hayley said. "Oh, no. He had no idea. He was just being nice and gave them the lunch Christine made for him because he hadn't eaten it. Adam saw her drop it off just for Jason—with a completely separate lunch for Marc."
"Oh boy…" Carter muttered.
"Yep," Hayley smirked. "So, we have a pattern. And I'll continue. The reason Jason, Zach, and Conner left the base was because Christine called and begged Jason to come. They never saw her, even though they went straight to the location she gave them, because she wasn't actually there. And her involvement ties all three incidences together—and potentially explains why Jason was so sick for a while. Originally, I thought it was Will, but this works, too. He could still be involved or he might actually be innocent—at least of this. All of the evidence points to Christine. Not as an attack against rangers but rather her trying to drug or poison her husband. Which can't be classified an attack on the rangers because she isn't aware of his ranger identity."
Groaning, Carter dropped his face in his hands.
"I've been working on this for almost a week and I have absolutely nothing," he muttered. "And you have all of that…"
"Well, if you had been looking in the right places…" Hayley shrugged.
Carter sighed, nodding as he looked up at her.
"Alright, alright," he said. "Now. We need to get all of this together in a case file and work on next steps—"
"No, no, no," Hayley interrupted. "I believe you are forgetting something."
"What?" Carter frowned.
Hayley smirked and crossed her arms as she leaned back in her chair.
"You know exactly what I want," she said.
Carter scowled but all that got him was a look.
"Ok, fine," he muttered. "You were right…"
"And…" Hayley grinned.
"I was wrong…" he added reluctantly.
"Alright," Hayley said, sitting up again. "That's all I wanted. Let's get to work. I'll show you what I have…"
Eric walked out of the suite heading to the cafeteria to get dinner for his family. He knew Will and Christine had been eating around this time and didn't want to take Taylor and Devin down there. When the door opened again behind him, Eric paused. Wes had followed him. Things had been tense between them since Monday night, but with Devin around there hadn't really been a chance for them to talk.
"What do you want, Wes?" Eric asked, turning to face him.
"Where did you disappear to last night?" Wes responded. "You didn't come back to the suite and Taylor couldn't—or wouldn't—explain. Now every time I go anywhere near the medical floor, I see the Ninjas floating around. I asked and I know you went to see them this morning. Not to mention whatever you talked about at lunch."
Eric shook his head.
"Well, I needed to talk to you anyways," he said. "Wes, I don't trust those two."
"Which two?" Wes frowned. "There are six of them—"
"Not them," Eric said shortly.
"Ok, fine," Wes said, rolling his eyes. "Then who are you talking about?"
Eric scowled.
"This isn't a joke, Wes," he snapped. "Something happened and it isn't funny."
Wes studied Eric for a moment, looking at the expression on his face.
"Ok, you aren't kidding…" he said slowly as his amusement disappeared. "What is it? What happened?"
"I need you to think about something," Eric said, leaning against the wall as he spoke. "When you and Sarah were separating…"
Wes looked at him in surprise. This isn't where he had expected the conversation to go.
"If something like this had happened to you," Eric continued. "And you'd ended up hurt in the hospital unable to make decisions for yourself. What if Sarah had walked in demanding to make decisions and to know every detail of what was going on? Would you have been alright with that happening even though you were in the middle of a separation? Ok enough for Taylor and I to step aside and just let it happen?"
Wes grimaced, shaking his head.
"No…" he admitted. "I know we're fine now, but we were kind of in a bad spot at that point…"
"Exactly," Eric said. "And we've been told by multiple people that Jason and his wife are in a similar situation right now."
"But it might not be the same," Wes countered. "Eric, I've been around rich people all my life. And we've also been told she grew up in that kind of environment. She might just be that selfish. Doesn't mean anything she says or does is intentionally malicious."
Eric scoffed.
"I've been around them, too," he pointed out. "Enough to know when one of them is up to something. And definitely enough to know I wouldn't want someone like them around in an emergency."
He paused, shaking his head.
"Something isn't right, Wes," Eric said. "I wouldn't have trusted Sarah to make any kind of decision for you back then if you'd gotten hurt. And you didn't either, which is why you changed all of your emergency stuff back then. And I trust the intentions of Jason's wife less than I would have trusted Sarah's…"
Wes didn't answer right away as he thought about what Eric was saying. Eric still hadn't actually told him what happened the night before, but if he was that insistent that something was wrong then he really believed it.
"Ok," Wes agreed. "What do we do?"
"Watch them like a hawk," Eric said, nodding. "Tommy's been doing it since they got here, and he's exhausted. He's still recovering, and he can't do it by himself. He's going to miss something."
"He needs help," Wes said. "Which is why you talked to the Ninjas. Does Tommy know you're putting them on guard duty?"
"No," Eric shrugged. "But he'll figure it out eventually. I'm sure he knows I'm doing something after what I saw last night—even if it isn't exactly what I want to do."
Wes frowned.
"What did you see last night?" he asked.
"Walked in to see Will standing over Tommy on the ground," Eric scowled. "Said it was an accident and he was just helping him up. Which just sent my BS meter through the roof. You know, the one that tends to be real accurate with new applicants and trainees?"
Wes stared at him in shock.
"And you just let him walk away?" he sputtered after a moment. "He should be in a cell!"
"Tommy stopped me…" Eric muttered. "And since I only saw the aftermath, not the actual event…"
"Ok, but Tommy is not in charge right now," Wes countered. "Why didn't you call Carter?"
"Maybe not officially," Eric said, shaking his head. "But let's be serious. Everyone respects Carter. They do. And we'll follow his orders as necessary. But if it came down to it? It wouldn't be Carter, Wes. It would be Tommy who could rally us all together. The only other one who might be able to pull it off is Jason—and most of them haven't actually met him. He'd have to prove himself in some way first."
Wes nodded slowly. Eric wasn't wrong.
"But everyone knows who Tommy is," Eric continued. "He has always made sure to introduce himself personally to new rangers so they know who to call if there are problems."
"Which is part of why he'd be so dangerous if he really did go evil again," Wes muttered. "He could cause a war amongst us before we knew what was happening or who was really on what side."
"Why else do you think Tommy worries about it so much?" Eric pointed out, straightening up from the wall. "He understands the kind of power and influence he has among us. Which is why he is so conscious about trying to use it only for positive things. And why there are so many clauses in the contract like the one Carter used. Tommy is protecting us from himself."
"I guess I never thought of it that way," Wes admitted as they both headed toward the elevator.
"But it's true," Eric sighed. "But right now, he and Jason are the ones who need protection."
"Then they're going to get it," Wes said. "So, how do we divide this up?"
"We have dinner!" Kat announced, leading the way into the room.
Tommy, who had been reading in bed, looked up with a smile. JJ and Marc followed Kat inside holding their own dinners as Kat carried food for herself and Tommy.
"I tried texting you to ask what you wanted," Kat said as she set the food down and took a seat. "But you didn't answer. So, I hope you're good with what I brought."
"Oh," Tommy said, glancing at his plate. "No, it's fine."
Marc and JJ were grabbing chairs, too. Tommy set his book aside and shifted so he could balance the tray on his lap.
"So, why didn't you answer?" Kat asked once they were all eating. "You could have picked your own food."
"Uh… Hayley is fixing my phone…" Tommy admitted sheepishly.
Kat sighed as JJ snickered.
"You broke it again," she accused.
"I didn't say that," Tommy countered. "JJ—"
"Tommy, JJ did not break your phone," Kat interrupted.
"How can you know that's what I was going to say?" Tommy sputtered in protest.
Kat rolled her eyes.
"I've known you since high school and we've been married for eleven years—I'm way ahead of you," she said pointedly. "I know how this works. You probably bribed him with sugar."
Marc glanced around as JJ snickered again and Tommy sighed.
"I thought you didn't like it when JJ had sugar," he said.
Kat smiled at Marc.
"No, Tommy only hates having to stay up late with JJ when he has too much sugar and can't settle down," she explained. "Like your dad has probably taught you, it's about making smart choices. Not depriving yourself. Now."
Turning back to Tommy, Kat started scolding him about breaking another phone as he tried to argue back that it wasn't his fault—without telling her what actually happened. JJ sighed happily, starting to dig into his dinner.
"Why are you so happy?" Marc asked, frowning. "They're arguing…"
"Yeah, but this is normal," JJ said with a shrug. "They aren't actually mad at each other."
"Oh…" Marc said, not any less confused.
The door opened a little while later, interrupting the lecture Kat was giving Tommy. Hayley, Carter, and Dana had just walked in. Carter stopped just inside the room with Dana next to him, but Hayley strode right over to the group.
"Oh! Dinnertime!" Hayley grinned, looking at Tommy's plate.
"No one invited you," Tommy scowled, shifting his tray so it would be out of her reach.
"Tommy…" Kat sighed, rolling her eyes. "Hi, Hayley. Did you want something? I brought a little extra."
"No, I'm good," Hayley answered. "But I do need to talk to Tommy."
Kat nodded, catching Hayley's meaning as she glanced at the boys. They were done eating already.
"Ok," Kat smiled. "And while you two are talking, we'll take the dishes and maybe look at dessert. How does that sound, boys?"
"Ok, mom…" JJ sighed, leaning over to Marc. "That's just code for we aren't allowed to hear the conversation they're about to have…"
"Good guess," Hayley smirked. "Now get."
JJ grinned as he jumped out of his chair. Kat grabbed the tray from Tommy who had finished the last couple bites of his dinner and started ushering the boys toward the door. Once they were gone, Hayley turned to Carter.
"Would you get over here?" she said.
Tommy looked suspiciously between Hayley and Carter, who was walking over to join them with Dana in tow.
"I'm not sure I like seeing the two of you in here together…" Tommy said slowly.
"Don't be paranoid," Hayley retorted. "It's a good thing—well, for me. And you. Carter isn't so happy about it."
She turned, looking at Carter expectantly.
"Carter, do you have something to say?" she smirked.
Carter hesitated and Dana sighed.
"Carter," she said.
"I know, I know," he muttered.
He hesitated again, looking at Tommy.
"Usually, the easiest way to say something hard is just to say it," Tommy said. "So, spit it out, Carter."
"Oh, look at you being all wise," Hayley snickered.
Tommy scowled at her.
"Do you need to be here?" he asked.
"Well, I have the evidence," Hayley said, holding up her tablet. "So yes. I've earned this moment."
Tommy sighed and then froze.
"Wait—what evidence?" he asked.
Hayley didn't answer him, turning back to Carter.
"Carter?" she said.
"Alright," Carter conceded. "Tommy, I was wrong."
Tommy looked at him in surprise as Hayley rolled her eyes.
"About…?" she prompted.
Carter sighed.
"I was wrong about all of it…" he admitted.
"Umm… alright…?" Tommy said slowly, still a little confused.
"Oh, for goodness sakes," she said. "Carter, are you going to actually explain, or do I really need to do everything?"
She paused.
"Actually, no," she said. "You do have to explain. So, go on."
"Hayley, what is going on?" Tommy asked.
"I already covered part of this with you earlier today," she said. "But now Carter is going to go over everything in a slightly more official capacity. Carter?"
Carter sighed again but sat down and took the tablet from Hayley. Dana slipped out of the room to get out of the way.
"Alright," he said. "Tommy, we—Hayley—figured out what's been going on."
Using Hayley's notes, and with help from Hayley, Carter walked Tommy through the events of the last week. Tommy listened quietly. He'd known pieces already, but Hayley had never walked through everything she had found with him. When Carter and Hayley were finally done, Tommy groaned and rubbed a hand across his face.
"I can't believe it…" Tommy muttered. "I mean, I don't like her—I never have. But… I never thought she'd go this far to get Jason away from us."
"I agree with what Hayley brought me," Carter admitted. "But I don't understand why Mrs. Scott would want to do any of this in the first place."
"Well, she's always been manipulative," Tommy shrugged. "And she's never liked me because I wouldn't fall for it."
"I don't think that's the biggest motivator," Hayley said, shaking her head. "Though I don't doubt she wants you out of the way so she can carry out whatever plan she has with Jason. But we need to talk to Ethan."
Carter frowned as Tommy nodded.
"What does Ethan have to do with this?" Carter asked.
"Oh, he's been looking into Christine," Hayley shrugged as Tommy shot her a look. "And Will."
Tommy had been the one to talk to Ethan about digging into Christine. Though adding Will to the mix hadn't been his idea.
"Why?" Carter groaned.
"It wasn't ranger related," Hayley retorted. "So, you had no say."
She had her phone out and was texting now.
"He's the one who found half of the information I gave you," she continued. "Though I haven't seen what he found on Will yet. He was up late working on it last night again. Said he'd show me when he was done."
"Do you know what else all of you should do?" Dana interrupted, walking back over.
She had left them partway through the conversation to go next door and check on Conner. Now she was back.
"What?" Carter asked.
"Talk to Jason," she said. "If he's at the middle of all of this, he has to have noticed something. Even if he didn't realize what it was."
"Dana, that's a bit of a problem right now," Tommy said, gesturing toward Jason asleep in the cryo chamber.
Dana sighed.
"Well, obviously we will need to wake him up first," she said.
Tommy frowned.
"Isn't it too soon?" he asked. "He's only been in there a couple of days."
Dana shook her head.
"It is a little on the early side," she admitted. "But from the readings everything is looking good. I intended to wait a little longer but waking him now isn't going to do him any further harm."
Tommy glanced at the time and shook his head.
"If we do it now, we're going to get interrupted," he said. "I don't want them walking in while he's still trying to wake up."
Dana nodded.
"We can wait a few more hours," she said. "Maybe around midnight when everyone else will be asleep?"
"That might work," Tommy said slowly, looking over at Jason again.
"I mean, I didn't really want to wake him any earlier than tomorrow anyways," Dana smiled. "And after midnight is tomorrow…"
She shrugged. Hayley looked up from her phone to interrupt.
"So, apparently Trent has Ethan's phone right now," she said. "Looks like he may have stayed up all night last night—"
"Like you?" Tommy said pointedly.
Hayley ignored him.
"But we aren't allowed to wake Ethan up yet because soup was talking to him," she continued.
The three rangers looked at her in surprise.
"Well, that's new…" Tommy said slowly. "What—actually, I don't want to know. Just tell Trent to send him our way as soon as he can. As long as he is actually functioning."
Hayley laughed, sending a response. Carter shook his head.
"How do you deal with this all the time, Tommy?" Carter sighed. "It's been chaos all week."
"I don't," Tommy said. "I actually normally have a pretty quiet life. I go to the dojo in the mornings, go to school, maybe some classes at the dojo in the afternoon. Then I have grading, occasionally running JJ to afterschool activities, and I spend my weekends either at the resort or café. When the rangers text or call me it's about normal everyday problems. It's actually a pretty quiet life. It's just that when disasters happen, they really happen. Disaster has this tendency to compound around me…"
"Well, that's not wrong," Hayley sighed.
There was a knock on the door and Kat poked her head inside.
"We brought dessert," she smiled. "Is it ok to come in or should we just go have dessert with Conner?"
"We're done for now," Tommy answered. "Don't give Conner my dessert."
There was a laugh behind Kat. She turned her head.
"JJ—that's your father's," she said, smiling and shaking her head.
Tommy shook his head.
"Carter, I'll let you know when Ethan shows up," he said. "It won't be too long unless they plan to let him sleep all night."
"Thanks," Carter said. "I'm going to start condensing everything Hayley has sent me into necessary reports."
JJ came bouncing into the room followed by Marc who was laughing.
"Sorry, dad," JJ grinned. "No dessert for you. Conner's eating it."
"Oh, no…" Tommy sighed dramatically. "I wanted to eat that…"
"Too late," JJ snickered, climbing up to sit on Tommy's bed. "By the time you could get in there, Conner will be done with your ice cream. Sorry."
Tommy shook his head, ruffling JJ's hair.
"It's not real food," Tommy said with a shrug, looking at Kat. "But at least it's something."
She shook her head in amusement, joining Tommy, JJ, and Marc as Carter and Dana excused themselves. Marc was laughing with JJ. Hayley shook her head.
"Oh, Tommy," she said, reaching into her pocket. "Here."
She held out his phone. Tommy took it, nodding.
"Thank you," he said gratefully.
"You want to wake him up?" Trent asked. "I'll get him food. I don't want to make Dr. O wait any longer."
Nodding, Kira hopped up from her seat and headed toward the bedrooms. Trent grabbed plates and grabbed stuff to make a sandwich. He and Kira had eaten dinner earlier, slipping into the cafeteria for food after making sure it was clear and then coming back up when they were done. Not bothering to knock, Kira opened Ethan's door and poked her head in.
"Ethan, time to wake up," she said. "We have food for you."
She stayed there for a moment to make sure he was waking up. When he rolled over instead of getting out of bed, she sighed.
"Ethan!" she said a little more sharply. "Up!"
That woke him up and he blinked at her as he rolled over, yawning.
"Food," Kira repeated.
He nodded and started to climb out of bed. Satisfied he was actually getting up now, Kira returned to the kitchen. Ethan stumbled out of his room a little later, making his way to the kitchen in a zombie-like fashion. Kira and Trent shared an amused look.
"Sit," Trent said, pulling out a chair. "Eat your food. Please don't talk to it…"
Ethan sat in the chair and looked at Trent in confusion.
"What?" he said, glancing at the sandwich and then at Trent. "Why would I talk to it? It's a sandwich."
"Well, your soup was giving you messages earlier," Kira snorted. "So, forgive us for being a little concerned."
"Oh, I don't remember that," Ethan said sheepishly.
"Good, maybe you're actually awake now," Trent said, shaking his head as he sat down. "But seriously, eat. Dr. O and Hayley need you for something."
Ethan's head whipped around to look at Trent and he set his sandwich back down. He knew exactly what Hayley wanted, and Tommy probably wanted the same thing.
"I'll go grab my computer and—" he said quickly, starting to stand up.
"Nope," Trent said, catching his arm. "Food first. So, sit down and eat. You aren't allowed to go anywhere until you've finished what's on your plate."
Ethan sighed but didn't argue. Eating quickly, he cleaned his plate and disappeared back into his bedroom. He came out a few minutes later dressed, with his computer bag slung over one shoulder.
"Have either of you seen my phone?" he asked. "I went to text Dr. O and I can't find it."
"Oh," Trent said. "Here. I took it so no one would wake you up after we put you to bed earlier."
Standing, he walked over as he fished Ethan's phone out of his pocket. Ethan took it, glancing quickly at his missed messages.
"Come on," Trent said, heading toward the door. "I'll walk up with you."
"Why?" Ethan frowned.
"One, because Kira has a video call with her manager," Trent said. "And I'm supposed to be sick still and sleeping. Two, I want to make sure you actually make it up there in one piece."
Ethan glared at Trent as Kira laughed.
"I'm not that bad," he protested.
"Again—your soup was talking," Trent countered.
The two men continued to bicker playfully as they made their way up to the medical floor. They didn't stop as they walked into Tommy and Jason's room—then they both froze as they realized who was in there.
Will and Christine were up for another visit and attempt to get Tommy out of the room. Christine was currently crying over Jason in the cryo chamber while Will stood scowling at Tommy. Tommy had finally gotten out of bed, moving to his usual chair by Jason. He didn't look up when Ethan and Trent came in, his focus on the book he was reading.
The moment they realized Tommy wasn't alone, Ethan quickly shifted to stand in front of Trent who backed straight out through the door. And just in time because Will and Christine turned to see who was interrupting.
"What do you want?" Will scowled.
"Not you," Ethan answered, walking over to Tommy as soon as he was sure Trent was gone. "I'm here, Dr. O."
Tommy didn't react until Ethan was stopping in front of him. Sensing someone in his personal space, Tommy's head shot up. He relaxed when he realized who it was.
"Oh, there you are," he said.
Reaching up, Tommy pulled earplugs out of his ears. Christine stared in shock and annoyance.
"When did you put those in?" she demanded.
"Before you got here," Tommy answered.
Ethan laughed as Tommy shrugged. Scowling, Christine stood abruptly and stormed out the door with her brother behind her. Still laughing, Ethan grabbed another chair and sent a text. A moment later, the door opened, and Trent walked in.
"Well, that was close," Trent sighed, shaking his head. "I really hate having to hide here… this is supposed to be our space."
"I know," Tommy sighed. "I'm sorry…"
"It's not your fault, Dr. O," Trent shrugged, grabbing a chair for himself. "Also, did you know Tori and Blake are sitting on the bench in the hallway?"
"I figured at least one of the six were," Tommy sighed. "Since they aren't in here."
Trent frowned.
"Why are—"
"It's not important," Tommy said quickly. "But how about one of you explains something to me…talking soup?"
Ethan groaned as Trent snickered.
"Well, apparently Ethan didn't sleep last night, and his exhaustion finally caught up to him while he was trying to make lunch," Trent explained. "He spilled some alphabet soup and thought it was spelling out a message. So, he decided to come running into mine and Kira's room to share with us. We made him go lay down after that…"
Tommy frowned as he turned his attention to Ethan.
"You didn't sleep last night?" he asked.
"Ah, no…" Ethan admitted. "Actually, I haven't slept much at all since Saturday between Conner and researching and everything. I was planning on sleeping earlier but I was hungry and I guess that didn't go well…"
Tommy shook his head, grabbing his phone as he started lecturing Ethan.
"Ethan, you need to take better care of yourself," Tommy scolded. "I'm grateful for the help, but you were not supposed to start skipping meals and depriving yourself of sleep."
"But Hayley—" Ethan started to protest.
"This is not something you should follow her example in," Tommy interrupted. "I'll let Billy argue with her. But you are going back to bed as soon as we are done here."
"Sure…" Ethan grumbled.
Trent shook his head and stood.
"I'm going to check on Conner," he said. "We haven't been up since this morning. Do you know if he still has a fever, Dr. O? Krista hasn't said anything."
Tommy grimaced and rubbed a hand over his face.
"I haven't asked…" he admitted. "Things have been a little weird today…"
"I'll send an update," Trent said. "I'm sure he's fine if Krista hasn't said anything to the contrary. Or at the very least he's not gotten worse."
Waving, Trent headed out of the room. Tommy glanced at his phone when a text went off.
"Carter and Hayley are both on their way," he said to Ethan.
Ethan nodded, starting to fish out his computer. By the time he'd gotten it out and everything pulled up, Carter and Hayley were walking in. They both grabbed chairs and joined Tommy and Ethan.
"Alright, Ethan," Carter said. "I need anything else you have on Christine. And whatever you can give me on her brother, too."
"Well, I already gave Hayley everything I have on Christine," Ethan said. "And I really haven't found anything new… though I still haven't figured out the purpose of the trip to LA. That bank she stopped at? Her and Jason don't have accounts there. Jason's grandfather did, but her name isn't on any of them. Just Jason as a beneficiary."
Hayley nodded thoughtfully as Carter and Tommy waited for Ethan to continue.
"But Will?" Ethan continued, shaking his head. "I'm honestly not sure how this guy isn't in jail already other than dumb luck. He's got warrants on him in New York City and a couple of the surrounding areas. All varying degrees of assault. And I found his name as person of interest in a few other things, too. Plus, thanks to him handing over his phone, I can tell you he's got drug connections in New York and now in California. I've pulled the text transcripts into a file so you can read them, but some of the dates coincide with when Jason started getting sick. Will was asking for something very specific…"
Tommy grimaced as Hayley and Carter exchanged a look. Ethan shook his head.
"That's not the worst thing…" he admitted. "After you sent me everything last night, Hayley, I did some more digging around the night Jason and Conner were shot. You had the video of what happened—"
"What?" Tommy interrupted sharply, looking at Hayley. "There was video? Hayley, Conner—"
"I know," she said. "Don't worry. I already took care of it. None of the businesses in the area are able to retrieve footage of it anymore even if the police did start looking into it. Though I doubt those thugs are going crying to the police for anything."
Tommy nodded and Ethan continued.
"I went back further," Ethan said. "And—well, I found video of Will meeting with what appears to be the same group of men who attacked Jason, Conner, and Zach later that night…Christine isn't with him. Which means—"
"He was either acting on his own or helping her," Tommy muttered.
"I would go with the second," Hayley said. "Since she was the one who got them to that place for it to happen."
"Definitely the second," Ethan agreed. "Cause I've read through some of the texts between them. Unfortunately, neither one flat out says anything in them. But the implications are clear when you compare them to everything else…"
"But what was her goal?" Carter asked.
"Does crazy have a goal?" Ethan retorted. "Because drugging people to get something is not something normal people do."
Carter rolled his eyes.
"And if she was going after Jason before all of this…" Carter said. "What changed?"
"I'm still working on it," Hayley reminded him. "Because right now I'm really not sure. She could have been trying to use drugs to control Jason. Some drugs will make those who take them susceptible to suggestion. But if that was the purpose, I don't know the goal. Or she could have been trying to kill him slowly so no one would be suspicious—"
"But again—why?" Carter sighed. "I'm not saying any of this is wrong, but where is the motive?"
"I will let you know as soon as I figure it out," Hayley said. "But it isn't likely the poisoning of Jason was an accident. I don't think even she would mess it up that many times. With the other three, however…"
She trailed off for a moment.
"Anyways," Hayley continued. "Tommy, I know you obviously aren't close to her. But do you have any guesses what her endgame might have been?"
"The only motive I could come up with is money—cause she has none," Ethan inserted. "And Jason does—but it doesn't look like he was sharing."
Tommy didn't answer for a moment, his eyes closed. Carter and Hayley had brought him up to date on their visit earlier. But now with the information on Will he wanted to think for a moment.
"Well, other than wanting us out of Jason's life?" he said, opening his eyes. "I don't know. She doesn't think like we do. Everything Christine does is for her own benefit. But if she wants something from Jason that she couldn't convince him to just give her—"
The door opened again and all four turned to look. Seeing Will and Christine walk in again, Ethan quickly snatched his computer off the table and closed it. The siblings looked at the group sitting with Tommy in surprise. Tommy frowned, looking around for his phone. He grimaced when he realized it had died without him noticing. Probably because he hadn't charged it after he got it back earlier.
"Well, what's going on in here?" Will asked as Christine glared.
"Just a quick meeting," Carter answered. "I need some upgrades done to some of our systems while he's on base—"
Will scoffed.
"Why would you want any of them to help you?" he said.
"Because Ethan is one of our technological experts," Carter said, standing. "And since he was visiting with Tommy I stopped by. But you're right. The rest of this discussion should be an in-house thing. So, I'll take the—suggestions—I've been given and have Ryan—"
Carter paused, shaking his head.
"Nope, he's still mad at me," he sighed. "Maybe Joel or Chad… actually, Hayley? Do you want to come and give a woman's perspective on all this?"
Hayley rolled her eyes but stood.
"You always need a woman's perspective," she retorted.
Carter ignored her response, taking Ethan's laptop.
"Wait, that's my computer!" Ethan protested as Carter headed toward the door with Hayley.
"I'll get it back to you later this evening," Carter said.
Then he and Hayley were gone. Ethan grumbled, sinking back into his seat.
"But my video game is on that one and I didn't close it…" he muttered.
Tommy wasn't paying attention to him. Instead, he was eying the siblings as they stood a short ways away.
"Did you two come back to say goodnight?" he asked. "Or did you get lost on the way downstairs?"
"No, I got a message that I was supposed to meet Dr. Grayson here," Christine said stiffly, scowling at Tommy and Ethan.
The door opened again, and Dana walked in behind the siblings.
"Oh," she said, looking at them in surprise. "You beat me here. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take so long."
Tommy frowned as he looked at Dana. He had no idea why she had called them there, but she hadn't said anything to him about Jason.
"Is something wrong with Jason?" Christine asked.
"Oh, no," Dana quickly assured her. "I just needed to inform you that we will be waking Jason from the cryo chamber tomorrow."
Tommy groaned quietly, rubbing a hand over his face. He hadn't wanted to tell them it was happening.
"When?" Christine asked quickly. "I want to be here."
"I don't have an exact time," Dana said. "Because it depends on a couple of factors. But it will be sometime tomorrow."
"Oh," Christine frowned. "So, I can't be here—"
"I'm afraid that's not likely," Dana interrupted. "The fewer people involved in waking him up the better. That way no one is in the way. But he will be staying in this room. So, once he is awake, you will be able to visit."
Christine sighed.
"I guess if that's the best you can do," she said. "I mean—"
"That is what I can do," Dana said firmly. "Now, did you have any questions? If not, I need to meet with Angela for the shift change."
Christine scowled but shook her head.
"Then if you could please give us some space," Dana said.
"What?" Christine asked.
"I need to get Tommy settled for the night and then start getting everything ready for tomorrow," Dana said. "So, I would like everyone out for the night."
"Wait—what about him?" Will demanded, gesturing to Ethan.
"Hmm?" Dana said, following Will's gaze. "Oh. Ethan—what are you still doing here?"
"Carter took my computer," Ethan muttered. "I was hoping he'd bring it back."
"Or you can go get it," Dana suggested.
Ethan hesitated, glancing at Tommy.
"Go on, Ethan," Tommy said. "I'll let you know if I need anything."
Nodding, Ethan grabbed the rest of his stuff and slipped out the door. Dana turned and looked at the siblings expectantly. Christine huffed, looking like she wanted to argue. But she had run out of reasons to argue and spun, stalking out the door with Will. Dana shook her head and turned to Tommy.
"Why, Dana?" Tommy asked once they were alone.
"Because I have to," she said. "She is still his wife and legally I have to inform her. I know you are concerned, but there is no evidence she is behind anything or has any malicious intent toward Jason."
Tommy scoffed and Dana put her hands on her hips. She had missed most of the conversation between Tommy and the rest, only catching pieces of it. And she hadn't pressed for more, understanding that rumors spread quickly.
"Has a formal accusation been made?" she asked.
"No…" Tommy sighed.
"Then I have to keep her informed," Dana said. "But I am able to be vague on the timeframe. That will give you time to talk to Jason without their interference. Ok?"
"Yeah, that will work," Tommy said. "You're still planning midnight?"
"I am," she said. "I just have to finish a few things and we'll be all set. Now."
She paused, studying him.
"I don't suppose I can convince you to let me handle it while you sleep?" she asked.
"Nope," Tommy answered. "I want to be awake when he comes out of it."
Dana sighed.
"Alright," she said reluctantly. "Just please try and get some sleep before then."
"How is Conner?" Tommy asked instead of answering.
"His fever broke a few hours ago," Dana said with some relief. "Finally. There is still no sign of infection. He's tired, but hopefully he'll just improve from here."
Tommy let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you," he said.
"Of course," Dana smiled. "I'll check back in a little while."
Turning, she hurried out of the room and Tommy sat for a moment in the silence. After a few minutes, he reached over and picked his book back up to go back to reading.
Conner sighed as he stared up at the ceiling. It was getting late and he was alone for the night. Both Krista and Trent had offered to stay the night, but he had told them no. He'd told Ethan the same thing when he'd stopped by a short time before. None of them had wanted to leave him alone, but Conner didn't want company. He wanted to be off bed rest.
It hadn't helped his mood when Dana told him he was staying on the medical floor for at least another twenty-four hours. He'd been hoping to be released when his fever broke that afternoon. Being told no had just made him crankier and he knew it, which is why he'd asked them all to just leave him alone for the night. Though now that he was alone and couldn't fall asleep, he was regretting not having company. He really didn't want to ask Angela or Dana for sleep aid again.
"Should have let Trent or Ethan stay," Conner muttered to himself. "Not Krista. Krista needs sleep. Maybe she'll sleep better tonight since I don't have a fever anymore."
Sighing again, Conner reached over to find his phone. Krista had made sure anything he might need for the rest of the night was on the table to his right and in reach before she left. Though that had taken some convincing. He could see how tired she was, though, and wouldn't take no for an answer even if he did want her to stay with him.
Getting ahold of his phone, Conner balanced it and started slowly typing out a text message to Tommy. It was frustrating just using the one hand and trying not to drop it. Plus, it was a lot slower going typing. Once he'd finally finished typing, Conner laid back to see if he was going to get a response. He figured Tommy was safe to message because he wouldn't come running unless Conner actually needed something. But he would let Conner vent his frustration.
Tommy glanced up from his book when his phone went off to tell him he had a text message. Since it was getting late and fewer people would be messaging him, he grabbed his phone to check on what it was. It was from Conner.
Sorry to bother you but I need to vent to someone and if I text Krista or the others they'll come back up ad I just convinced them to actually go to bed. But I think I finally understand why you hate being stuck in hospitals so much. Dana says I have to stay here til tomorrow and it's killing me. I can't stand being stuck in the room any longer let alone stuck on bed rest. I can't even go for a walk down the hall because she thinks I'm going to do something I shouldn't. I just want to move or see a room that isn't this one. do you think you could convince her to let me come over there tomorrow morning? I'll stay in a chair. I need out of this room dr O…
Tommy sighed as he read Conner's text. Conner was always on the move, so Tommy knew he really meant it when he said he was struggling. Just the fact that he was offering a compromise that ended in him sitting in a chair was telling. Glancing at the time, Tommy quickly sent a response.
I never planned on you having to cash in this particular favor this quickly. But I'll take care of it.
There was a short pause while he waited to see if Conner would respond.
Conner: um. Ok? What areyou taking care of dr. o? and favor? What favor?
Tommy: Just give me a few minutes. Sit tight.
Ignoring further texts for a moment, Tommy scrolled through his contacts and dialed. It only took a moment for Trent to pick up.
"Is everything alright, Dr. O?" Trent asked.
"I'm fine, Trent," Tommy assured him. "But I need you and Ethan to come up here for a little while again."
"Alright…" Trent said slowly. "Are you going to tell us why or…"
"Just come up," Tommy said. "I'll explain more when you get up here."
"We'll be up in a few," Trent said. "I just need to go pry Ethan away from his computer again. He just got it back from Carter apparently."
Hanging up with Trent, Tommy quickly dialed a second number.
"Hey, I need your help…"
Fifteen minutes later, Ethan and Trent were in Jason and Tommy's room. The door opened and Ryan walked in.
"So, what's going on?" Ryan asked, looking around. "Were you lonely?"
"If that was the problem, I wouldn't have called the three of you," Tommy said, shaking his head. "I needed help, and I knew the three of you would come quickly without asking a lot of questions. Now, Ethan."
"Yes, Dr. O?" Ethan said.
"Go sit with Conner," Tommy told him.
"Umm… ok?" Ethan frowned. "But I just got—"
"Just go," Tommy said.
Shrugging, Ethan headed out the door to head to Conner's room next door.
"Ryan, I need you to get me a wheelchair," Tommy continued.
"Why?" Ryan asked suspiciously.
"Relax, it's not for me," Tommy sighed.
"Uh-huh," Ryan said doubtfully. "That's still going to be a problem. Sis is keeping the one in her office and she is not going to let me just have it after the last time Joel and I raced them in the hallway. She locked the rest of them up in storage and I don't have that code."
Trent chuckled as Tommy shook his head.
"If Dana protests tell her it's for me," Tommy said. "Just say I want to get out of the room for a little while before I sleep but I know I shouldn't be on my feet too long. She'll let you have it."
Ryan frowned, studying Tommy for a moment. The look on Tommy's face and his tone was telling him to just go with it.
"Ok…" Ryan slowly agreed. "I'll be back."
When Ryan was gone, Tommy turned to Trent.
"You just grab a chair and get comfortable," Tommy said. "You're going to sit with Jason for a little bit."
"Alright," Trent said, shrugging and grabbing a chair.
A couple minutes later, Ryan came back in with the wheelchair. And Dana.
"What is going on, Tommy?" Dana asked.
"Nothing," Tommy said. "I'm just tired of staring at these walls and I want to get out of here for a few minutes. But I figured you would yell at me if I tried walking to the cafeteria for a late-night snack and breather. So, I was good and asked for the wheelchair."
"Oh," Dana said in surprise. "Well, I could just take you. Angela has taken over here."
Tommy shook his head.
"No, it's fine," he said. "You still have a lot of work and I know it. Especially with getting ready to wake Jason up. Ryan, on the other hand, is a lazy lay about. And he won't judge me on what I eat."
Dana frowned at that.
"You know I'm not going to eat anything bad," Tommy said. "But I'm also really not in the mood to talk shop. And I know you'll mean well, but conversation with you would inevitably turn to my recovery and I really don't want to talk about it tonight."
Dana sighed.
"Alright, fine," she conceded.
She turned to look at her brother.
"Just take it easy with him," she said. "You have one hour. And I will let Angela know. If you aren't back here in that timeframe, she will send someone to find you."
"We can work with that," Tommy quickly agreed.
Shaking her head, Dana headed back out the door. Tommy immediately stood to move to the wheelchair.
"Alright," Trent said when she was gone. "Do I get an explanation or…?"
"Plausible deniability is a wonderful thing," Tommy said in answer. "Take advantage of it."
Ryan grinned, holding the chair still so Tommy could sit. Once he was settled, Ryan followed his direction and pushed him out into the hall. Hunter and Cam were sitting in the hall. Cam had taken the bench and Hunter was sitting on the floor with his legs stretched out. They both looked surprised to see Tommy.
"Uh… hi, Dr. O," Hunter said hesitantly. "Umm…Where are you going?"
Tommy raised an eyebrow.
"How about you two find something to do at the other end of the hall for a while?" he suggested. "Ryan is taking me on a walk."
Cam and Hunter exchanged a look and then they were both on their feet.
"Hey, Cam," Hunter said, starting to walk away. "Does it look like there's a light out down there? It's kind of messing with our range of vision, right?"
"I see what you mean," Cam said, walking with him. "It is darker down there. We should look into it."
Ryan shook his head as he watched them go.
"The trust they put in you," he said. "They're lucky you like them, or they could be in some trouble. Now, where are we actually going?"
Tommy chuckled.
"Conner's room," he answered. "Let's go."
"Well, that's a short walk," Ryan snorted.
But he pushed the chair into Conner's room and let the door shut behind him. Ethan was sitting in a chair next to Conner's bed and the two men were talking. They both looked surprised to see Ryan walk in with Tommy in a wheelchair. Ryan pushed Tommy over to them and held the chair still as Tommy stood and grabbed another chair.
"Did you really need the chair to come visit, Dr. O?" Conner asked. "And as much as I appreciate it I—"
"You called for a ride, right?" Tommy asked with a grin.
Conner stared at him for a moment. Glancing between Tommy and the now empty wheelchair, Conner grinned himself.
"You're breaking me out, aren't you?" he asked.
Tommy nodded, reaching over to hit a few buttons on the machine monitoring Conner. It turned off. Conner was frowning at the chair.
"I don't need the chair, though," he said, a little insulted.
"Conner, outside of short trips to the bathroom, you've been stuck in bed for four days and have been fighting a fever since yesterday," Tommy pointed out. "And we only have an hour before Angela comes looking. Since we have it, this will be faster."
Conner sighed.
"Yeah, alright…" he conceded.
"And since I can't help right now," Tommy continued. "I called in some assistance. Ryan?"
"Let's get moving," Ryan said.
Conner swung his legs around and got to his feet. Taking a moment to get his balance, he moved into the chair with some help from Ryan. The moment Conner was fully settled into the wheelchair, Ryan headed for the door.
"I'll drop him off in the Command suite and make sure he locks the door to public access," Ryan said to Tommy over his shoulder. "The locked door should slow down my sister. And then I'll swing by the cafeteria for a snack for you so your story is believable."
"Thanks, Ryan," Tommy answered.
They disappeared out of the door leaving Tommy with Ethan.
Ryan and Conner managed to make it to the elevator—making sure to head for the one not next to Dana's office—and down to the residential level without being seen. Stopping in front of the Command suite, Ryan maneuvered the chair so Conner could reach the panel to open the door. As soon as it was open, he pushed him inside. In the room, Krista was curled up in one of the recliners reading a book in her pajamas. She looked up when the door opened and then froze when she realized who it was.
"Conner?" she exclaimed. "What…?"
"Delivery," Ryan grinned.
Book forgotten, Krista scrambled to her feet. Conner pushed himself up out of the chair with his good arm as she came rushing to meet them.
"What are you doing here?" Krista demanded. "You are not supposed to be out of bed, let alone the med bay."
"I didn't want to stay…" Conner said, rubbing the back of his head. "And Dr. O may have helped."
Krista rolled her eyes.
"That does not make it better," she scolded. "You had a fever still this afternoon. You're supposed to be where someone can watch you!"
"You can watch me," Conner retorted. "And it's not like I walked down here by myself. Ryan made sure I was fine."
Krista sighed, eying him. She was annoyed he was out of bed, but she couldn't really be mad that he was back in their suite. The door to the boys' room opened and Kat walked out saying goodnight to them. Shutting the door, she turned and stopped when she saw Conner and Ryan.
"Conner?" she said in surprise. "What—"
She paused, sighing.
"Did my husband—" then she paused again. "Actually, no. I don't want to know. Plausible deniability."
Spinning, she headed into her room and shut the door behind her. Conner snickered as Ryan laughed behind him.
"They really are married," Ryan snorted.
Krista couldn't help it. She started laughing, too. Relenting, she wrapped her arms around Conner's waist and hugged him carefully. He hugged her back with his good arm.
"You still should have waited for doctor permission," she muttered into his chest.
"Well, Dr. O gave me permission and technically—" he said.
"He does NOT count," she retorted, looking up at him.
Ryan shook his head.
"Alright, I'm out of here," he said. "Conner, turn the lock on so only your group can get in. And don't let my sister in."
"Why would I let her in?" Conner asked, turning to look at Ryan. "I plan to avoid her for the rest of forever. Or at least tomorrow. Then maybe she'll just let me be free without a fight."
He still had his arm around Krista's shoulders.
"I'm just saying," Ryan shrugged. "But good luck."
Ryan turned and headed out with the wheelchair as Conner looked back to Krista.
"And now you can still go to bed," Krista said, turning him toward their bedroom. "Because whether you are up there or down here, you still need sleep."
"Not arguing," Conner said, following her.
Ryan returned to the med bay about a half hour later with a sandwich and an empty wheelchair. Tommy and Ethan were still talking, but stopped when he walked in. Glancing at the time, Tommy stood up to move to the chair. Ethan stood, too, but Tommy shook his head.
"Stay here," he said.
"Umm… why do I have to be the one to explain to Angela that Conner escaped?" Ethan frowned.
"You don't," Tommy said. "But Angela will be by in about fifteen minutes. When she comes in, tell her Conner went to the bathroom. When she says she'll come back in a few minutes, wait until she's gone and get out of here. And if anyone asks later—you finished your project and went to bed. No idea what happened with Conner. Got it?"
Ethan grinned and nodded, grabbing his tablet out of the computer bag on the floor.
"And I'll get you back to your room," Ryan said, turning the wheelchair.
There was no sign of Angela in the hallway, but Cam and Hunter were back on the bench.
"Did you have a nice walk?" Hunter asked with a smirk.
"And I have a sandwich," Tommy answered as Ryan opened his door.
Hunter and Cam exchanged amused looks as Ryan pushed Tommy into his room. Holding the chair, and the sandwich, Ryan watched Tommy shift back into his bed. Trent stood and stretched.
"I'm assuming I'm good to head to bed?" he asked.
"Have a good night," Tommy answered. "Thank you."
Waving, Trent headed out the door. Tommy got settled in and Ryan set the sandwich on the table by his bed. Knowing it would come into question if he didn't, Tommy grabbed half the sandwich to eat. He'd only taken a few bites when Angela came in.
"Oh, good," she said. "I don't have to come chase you down. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," Tommy said. "And I'm even going to close my eyes for a while after I eat so I can be awake when Dana comes back to turn off the cryo machine."
"You know you don't need to be awake," Angela pointed out. "He's not going anywhere."
Tommy just shrugged and Angela sighed.
"I'm going to check on Conner," she said. "Get some sleep."
"I will," Tommy said as she left.
Once Angela was gone, Ryan stood to leave.
"You owe me another favor now," Ryan grinned.
"Yeah, yeah," Tommy said, waving him off. "We can haggle later."
Ryan nodded and paused, studying Tommy for a moment.
"Are you actually going to sleep?" he asked.
Tommy hesitated, glancing toward Jason.
"It's covered, Tommy," Ryan assured him. "And I'll even have one of them come in here if it will make you feel better."
"Alright, I'll try," Tommy sighed.
Ryan nodded as he walked over to the door.
"Hunter, get in here," Ryan said as he walked out. "And finish that sandwich. I know Tommy isn't going to."
Tommy scowled at Ryan but didn't try to say he was wrong. Waving, Ryan disappeared into the hallway and Hunter walked in. Grabbing the sandwich with a grin, he dropped into a chair and got comfortable.
"Get some sleep, Dr. O," he said. "I've got this covered."
"I wish I had my board with me…" Tori sighed wistfully.
Tori was currently swimming in the pool, alternating between laps and floating on her back. Dustin and Shane were sitting on the edge of the pool, dangling their feet in the water as they watched. They had been swimming, but now they were just hanging out. Blake had left a short time before to go check in with Hunter and Cam.
"Wouldn't matter even if you had it," Dustin pointed out. "There are no waves."
"And the pool isn't that big," Shane added.
Tori just shook her head.
"It's an Olympic sized pool," she countered. "And I could totally make some waves."
Shane and Dustin exchanged amused looks. As the three continued chatting, the door opened and Will strode in. He tossed his towel onto an empty chair and headed straight for the pool. The three Ninjas attempted to ignore him.
"I'm using the pool!" Will announced, interrupting their conversation.
"Uh, good for you?" Shane said, watching Will climb into the pool.
"You can leave now," Will continued as he pushed away from the wall.
"Yeah, that's not happening," Shane scoffed.
"Dude, it's literally an Olympic sized pool," Dustin added. "There is way more than enough room. So…not leaving til we're ready."
Will, still in fairly shallow water, shook his head as he moved around. He looked at the two guys.
"You two are definitely leaving," he said.
Then he turned to Tori. She had stopped swimming again and was floating in the middle of the deepest part of the pool. He gave her a wink that she scowled at.
"You, however, can stay," Will smirked. "I've always liked a nice view. And if you'd like, I could give you a nice workout in the water. Love to see what you can do."
Dustin and Shane were on their feet now, both ready to jump in the water to remove Will. Tori responded first.
"You are a disgusting pig," she spat. "If you want to swim, fine. Stay over there in the shallow end. Because I am not even going to try and save your sorry butt when you end up a drowned rat in the deep end."
Will scoffed.
"Like I'd need a girl's help," he said. "You should be the one worrying about deep water, honey. Women have no business in the deep end. Stick to the shallows. Just deep enough to be getting wet, but still give you a nice tan. That and to show off the string bikini you should be wearing."
He paused, leering at her again.
"But if you want to play rescue," he said. "I could pretend to drown for some mouth to mouth."
"That's it," Shane snapped. "You're done. You've been warned and I'm not listening to anymore of this."
He started to climb into the water with Dustin following. Will, who had just been paddling around a little rather than actually swimming since he was still in fairly shallow water, stood and put his arms out.
"And what are you gonna do, boys?" he scoffed. "I don't even have to deal with you. I'll just swim away."
"It's fine, guys," Tori interrupted before Shane could snap back again. "I'll handle it. He did say he'd like to see what I can do."
"And I'm out!" Dustin exclaimed.
He had only made it as far as sitting and putting his legs back in the water. Now he yanked them back up and quickly moved several feet away from the pool. Shane, who had just made it into the pool, scrambled back out and joined Dustin away from the water. Will laughed as he watched them retreat.
"What?" he smirked. "Don't tell me you two boys are actually scared of this little lady here?"
Dustin raised an eyebrow.
"Dude…" he said. "Has no one explained to you exactly who we are?"
The six Ninjas hadn't been concerned with hiding their identities from the siblings. Given that most of them lived and worked at secret academies the siblings would never have access to. Though they hadn't gone out of their way to flaunt anything, either.
"Yeah, yeah," Will said, rolling his eyes. "You're rangers. Woo. The place is full of them."
"We're also ninjas," Dustin said. "With specialized training. Including Tori."
He paused.
"Actually, in this case… especially Tori."
"Oo…training," Will mocked. "I'm so afraid. You two aren't even man enough to get in the pool and fight me. Afraid of a little water?"
"Afraid of the water?" Shane repeated. "Nope. Afraid of what she's about to do with the water? Definitely."
He gestured at Tori who still hadn't moved.
"And what's she going to do?" Will laughed. "Dunk me?"
Tori scowled at him.
"Oh, you wanna play games?" she asked. "You wanna have fun in the water with the little girl? Fine. We can have fun."
Dustin and Shane quickly retreated further away as Tori's arms went up. And so did Will. Using her affinity with water, Tori lifted Will into the air above the pool. She held him there, essentially floating in midair wrapped tightly in water.
"Hey!" Will exclaimed, kicking his legs. "What is happening? Let me down!"
"You wanted to see what I can do," Tori snapped. "Well, here it is."
Shane and Dustin were smirking.
"Part of being a ninja is being trained in an element," Shane said in amusement, crossing his arms. "Tori's element is water."
"Let me go, you freak!" Will screamed, still struggling as she raised him higher. "Fight fair—let me down!"
"Let you down?" Tori repeated. "Fine."
She released her hold on the water.
Will, who had been hovering about two yards above the water, dropped. All of the water Tori had displaced fell, too, and splashed out over the edge of the pool, flooding the pool area. Tori stayed above the water the entire time. Will floundered his way to the top, coughing as he broke the surface. Tori didn't give him time to recover, however. Instead, she used the water again to throw him out of the pool. He rolled as the water receded back into the pool. Tori glared at him as Will scrambled, managing to get his feet under him. But now he found himself facing Shane and Dustin.
"Having fun yet?" Dustin grinned. "Cause I want to share something else with you. We're underground right now. And earth? Earth is my element."
The floor shook beneath them as the entire building trembled slightly. Will, panic on his face, backed away and turned to try and run. Dustin was immediately in front of him, letting the tremor subside.
"Where are you going?" he asked, tilting his head.
Will just tried to run in the other direction. Dustin intercepted again. He let it happen several times, essentially chasing Will around the room while Shane and Tori watched in amusement.
"Don't you get it yet?" Dustin asked, popping up in front of Will again. "I could pop up anywhere. Anytime. It's part of the training. Like the element thing."
"And you haven't even seen what the rest of our friends can do yet," Tori inserted.
She was standing on the edge of the pool now, her arms crossed as she smirked at Will.
"I hope you're not scared of thunder and everything that comes with it."
Will stared at her for a moment with wide eyes and then made another break for the door. Dustin laughed, letting him go. He had only made it a few feet, however, when Shane was suddenly right in front of him. Will froze and Shane leaned in close.
"You should remember this," he said calmly. "You don't want to make us mad. We aren't fun when you make us mad."
Will took a few steps away, stammering incoherently. Dustin tapped on his shoulder and he jumped, letting out a yelp. Slipping on the wet tiles, Will fell to the ground. He spun, getting to his hands and knees as Dustin crouched in front of him.
"This is the point where you run," Dustin grinned. "Unless you want to stay and play some more?"
It didn't take any further prompting. Will, pretty much at the point of wetting himself, scrambled to his feet.
"Shane," Tori said, watching Will getting to his feet and heading for the door. "We can't let him go out sopping wet like that. He might catch a cold."
"You're right," Shane grinned. "We should dry him off."
Will was only a few feet from the door when Shane let go a sharp blast of wind. It knocked Will off his feet and straight into the door. The door blew open and Will fell out into the hallway. He scrambled to his feet and froze again when he found himself looking at Ryan and Blake. For a moment, none of them moved.
"So, what's going on in there?" Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"They attacked me!" Will managed to get out.
Ryan and Blake exchanged a look. Then Blake looked around Will at his teammates standing in the doorway.
"Why didn't you guys call me back down?" he asked. "I would have helped."
"I have places you could hide the body," Ryan offered.
Will stared at them in shock, though none of them were paying attention anymore.
"He's not dead, Ryan," Shane pointed out. "You know we don't kill."
"He doesn't have to be," Ryan shrugged. "I said body—not dead body."
Will, finally breaking out of his stupor, bolted away down the hall. Ryan and the four Ninjas all burst out laughing as they watched him go. Once he was gone, Ryan and Blake turned to the other three.
"So, anyone want to explain what happened?" Blake asked.
"We all felt that shake, Dustin," Ryan added, crossing his arms. "Carter isn't going to be happy."
Dustin just smirked.
"It was nothing," Tori shrugged. "But he won't mess with me again."
Blake frowned.
"It's fine, Blake," Tori assured him. "Shane and Dustin let me handle it. And then made sure to help escort him from the room."
"Escort?" Ryan snorted.
"Eh, it's up for interpretation," Dustin grinned. "And technically no one laid a hand on him."
Tori just shook her head as Ryan rolled his eyes.
"Now, if you'll all excuse me," she said. "I'm going to finish my swim that was so rudely interrupted."
She headed back inside. The guys followed, Shane and Dustin explaining the details to Ryan and Blake as they settled in to wait for Tori.
"Adam did what?" Kelsey giggled. "Seriously?"
She was sitting on the couch in the Mighty Morphin' suite, her legs pulled up and she leaned on her knees. Zach was sitting on the couch with her, telling her about the prank Adam had pulled on Rocky.
"Seriously," Zach laughed. "And Rocky screamed like a little girl. It was fantastic."
Kelsey laughed harder. Her phone started going off so she grabbed it as she giggled. Looking at the caller ID, however, she sighed.
"Sorry, it's Angela," she told Zach. "I should answer…"
He nodded as she answered the call.
"Hey, Angela," she said. "What—wait, seriously? Who is it this time?"
She frowned and stood, heading over to grab her shoes from by the door. Zach trailed behind her.
"Ok, ok," Kelsey said. "I'm coming."
Hanging up, she stuck her phone in her pocket and pulled on her shoes.
"What's going on?" Zach asked, watching her tie them.
"Apparently Conner is missing," she said. "He's not in his room or anywhere on the medical floor."
Zach snorted, shaking his head and grabbing his own shoes.
"I'll bet he's next door," he said.
Kelsey shook her head.
"I'm not taking that bet," she said.
"I'd also bet Tommy had something to do with it," Zach grinned.
"Well, if he did we can't ask right now," Kelsey said. "Angela said he's sleeping and she's not waking him up."
"Yeah, sure he is," Zach scoffed.
"I have to go help anyways," Kelsey sighed. "Because Angela wants to know where he is…"
"I'm not worried about the kid," Zach shrugged as they headed out the door.
Out in the hall, they went directly to the Command suite next door and knocked. It opened after a moment and Kira looked at them in surprise.
"Umm… hi?" Kira said, letting them in. "What's up?"
Inside, Kat was sitting at the kitchen table while Trent and Ethan were comfortable in the living room. There was no sign of Krista or Conner. Marc and JJ had been sent to bed already.
"I'm looking for Conner," Kelsey sighed. "Is he here?"
"No?" Kira said. "Isn't he in his room?"
"Nope," Kelsey said. "He's gone…"
Kira turned to look at Ethan and Trent. They exchanged a look and both bolted for their own rooms. Rolling her eyes, Kira turned back to Kelsey. Kat was just shaking her head.
"Hold that thought, Kels," she said.
Kira strode across the suite to the bedrooms and stopped at Conner's room. Knocking lightly, she opened the door and stuck her head in. Pulling back, she shut the door quietly and walked back to Kelsey.
"He's in there," she said, shaking her head. "Conner and Krista are both sound asleep. So, I don't know who all was involved or how, but at least you know where he is."
"Thanks, Kira," Kelsey said gratefully. "I'll let Angela know."
Letting themselves out, Zach and Kelsey headed toward the elevator as Kelsey sent a text.
"Why is it always me?" she sighed.
"Stop answering your phone," Zach suggested. "That's what I do when I don't want to deal with work while at home. You weren't supposed to be on duty tonight anyways."
Kelsey looked over at him in surprise.
"Wait—that's an option?" she asked.
"I mean, it is for me," Zach shrugged. "Though I'm pretty sure I'm less likely to have a life-or-death situation than you. But I mean, you do wear a communicator at all times so if it's a real emergency…"
Kelsey nodded thoughtfully.
"But I'll still have to keep that in mind," she said, reaching to open the elevator.
She paused as the building suddenly trembled. Kelsey just sighed and opened the elevator as Zach whipped his head around.
"Was that an earthquake?" he exclaimed. "Should we be getting on an elevator right now? We're underground, Kelsey!"
"No, that isn't an earthquake," she said. "That was definitely a Dustin."
Zach blinked at her. The shaking had stopped.
"Umm…what?"
"Ninja Storm," Kelsey said, raising an eyebrow as she stepped into the elevator.
"What about them?" Zach asked, following her hesitantly.
"Elemental powers. Remember?"
"Oh, right!" Zach said. "I forgot about that."
"Yeah…" Kelsey sighed, closing the elevator and hitting the button for the rec floor. "Dustin has an affinity for Earth. Shane has wind and Tori has water. The brothers have thunder."
"That is not an element," Zach pointed out.
"We know," she shrugged. "We're pretty sure it's just something to do with electricity. Thunder just sounds cooler. The point is, they make things go boom."
Zach nodded and then frowned.
"Wait, what about Cam?" he asked. "I can't remember what Trini said about him."
Kelsey shook her head.
"Cam is a samurai," she said. "Not a ninja. Even if he does get lumped in with the rest."
"So, he doesn't get a cool element?"
The elevator stopped and Kelsey opened the door. They headed toward the lounge.
"No, but he is one of the most powerful in the group," she said. "Element or not, he is not someone to mess with. Especially if he's armed."
Zach nodded.
"Alright," he said. "But one of these days someone is going to have to sit down and explain ninja logic to me."
Kelsey laughed.
"Hold on," she snickered. "You think there is logic involving those six? You seriously need to spend a day at the Wind Academy."
Zach eyed her as they headed into the lounge.
"Maybe later…" he said slowly. "Anyways. These earthquakes Dustin makes. Or earthquakes in general. Being that we're underground—you do have structures in place, right?"
"Oh, definitely," Kelsey nodded, dropping onto the couch.
She paused.
"Well, sort of," she clarified.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Zach exclaimed, sitting next to her.
"It means we've tested the integrity of the foundation of the building with Dustin at full strength and nothing collapsed," she shrugged. "So, worst case scenario, we would definitely have time to evacuate before anything actually broke down."
"Oh, great…" Zach grumbled, falling back on the couch. "I feel real safe now. When you say full strength…where exactly on the Richter scale does Dustin fall?"
