Friday June 29th, 2018

Mariner Bay, CA

Jason rolled over in bed as he woke up, grimacing a little as he shifted and pulled on his injuries. Opening his eyes, he looked around the room. The lights were still dimmed and there were no lamps on, so Tommy wasn't awake yet either. Sitting carefully, Jason hesitated as he glanced across the room. He didn't know what time it was, but he guessed Tommy would probably be awake sooner rather than later.

"Bathroom and then I'll slip out," Jason muttered under his breath.

He wasn't sure he was ready to talk to Tommy yet. Not after he blew up on him the night before. And he knew he didn't want to sit in uncomfortable silence all morning. Swinging his legs around, Jason stood. He'd only taken a couple of steps toward the bathroom when an alarm started going off. Jason jumped, looking around in surprise as the lights came up and the sound kept going.

On the other side of the room, Tommy jerked awake and upright. He hissed in pain, the quick movement having aggravated his still healing ribs. But he ignored it—Tommy knew what that sound was. Forcing himself to his feet, he took a few steps toward Jason's bed and then froze. Jason was standing near his bed looking surprised and confused. Immediately relieved, Tommy dropped back down onto his bed with his arms wrapped around his torso.

The door flew open and both Dana and Angela came racing inside. They both came to a halt when they saw Jason on his feet.

"Jason!" Dana exclaimed in relief.

"What is going on?" he asked, looking around.

Dana sighed, walking over to the computer to silence the alarm as Angela shook her head.

"It's the computer, Jason," Tommy said, taking shallow breaths to avoid moving his ribs too much. "It monitors your heartrate and everything else. Yours isn't set to recognize you getting…getting out of bed. Because you aren't supposed to…without help. So… when your heartbeat disappeared…"

He stopped shaking his head. Angela hurried over to check on him, frowning.

"Tommy, are you ok?" she asked in concern.

"I'm fine…" he said. "I just—I got up too fast when the alarm went off. I thought…"

He stopped, shaking his head.

"Just give me a few minutes," he said after a moment. "I'll be alright."

Over by Jason, Dana shot him a look.

"Angela, go to get him something for the pain," Dana said. "Or he's going to be fighting it all day now."

"I don't need it," Tommy said irritably.

But Dana ignored him, and Angela turned to leave.

"Tommy, you—"

"Angela, I don't," he argued.

"Well, she is going anyways," Dana said. "And I'm going to help you to the bathroom."

She directed the last part at Jason, guessing where he had been heading, as she walked over to him. He was still standing in the same place.

"I don't need help," he frowned, shaking his head.

Dana rolled her eyes, taking his arm anyways.

"First of all, I was a paramedic before I was a doctor," she said drily. "Second, I'm a mother and there is not a mess you can make that I haven't cleaned. Third, you are still injured, and you haven't been up on your own yet so I'd like to be sure you don't fall on your face."

Jason scowled.

"But, if you're good and leave the door cracked, I will let you go in there alone," she continued. "Deal?"

Jason grumbled but reluctantly agreed as she walked with him to the bathroom in the corner. While she was waiting by the door, Angela came back. She headed straight to Tommy with the medication.

"Here," she said, holding it out with water.

"Angela, I—" he tried to protest.

"Take it," she said firmly. "You've been pretending enough, Tommy. You already overdid it last night. Now take this so you can actually relax."

Tommy sighed and relented, taking the meds and water from Angela. She stayed with him to make sure he actually took it. He scowled at her. Jason walked out of the bathroom while Tommy was taking it and Dana walked with him back toward his bed. Angela started to walk in their direction, satisfied now that Tommy had taken the pain meds. Jason was only partway back across the room when Tommy's phone alert went off. Tommy's head whipped around to look at it and Jason froze. Dana and Angela exchanged a look. They'd figured out what Tommy had done days ago.

"Hurry up, Jason," Dana urged. "You need to lay back down."

But he had only just sat down when the door opened, and Christine and Will sauntered in. They had come early, probably in the hopes of Tommy still being asleep. But the looks on their faces showed their irritation that the lights were on, and people were moving around. Angela had rushed to try and stop them from coming in further.

"I'm sorry, we're doing morning checks right now—"

Christine wasn't listening. She had realized Jason was sitting up on his bed and pushed past Angela.

"Jason!" she exclaimed, rushing over to him.

"Oh, hi…" he mumbled.

She threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly before Dana could intervene. Jason grimaced as she jarred his injuries. Though they were mostly healed, there was still some pain.

"I've been so worried," Christine said, sniffling. "I just love you so much and I'm so happy you're finally awake! It's been awful without you. What happened? Do you remember anything?"

Jason eyed her hesitantly, not saying anything.

"Breathe," Tommy said irritably.

He was still sitting on the edge of his bed. Christine shot a scowl in his direction. As did Will, who had followed his sister and was standing behind her.

"He just came around from being in the cryo chamber," Tommy lied. "Give him a few minutes to process his thoughts."

Jason glanced quickly at Tommy in surprise before looking back at his wife. She was still hanging on him, sniffling as she clung. And now glaring at Tommy.

"Did I ask you?" she snapped, her tears momentarily forgotten. "Besides, I know he woke up yesterday."

Smirking at Tommy, she turned back to Jason.

"I've wanted to see you," she said, pouting.

He hesitated again, shifting a little to try and get some space. Her grip was tight on his arm.

"I…um…" he mumbled.

Dana took the opportunity to intervene.

"Jason did come out of the coma state yesterday," she said. "But it can take some time for everything to come back. His memory may be spotty for a while and we'll have to wait and see how long until he's ready to start going back to normal. So, the best thing I can recommend is you don't overwhelm him right now and give him some time."

"That's fine," Christine said. "Because I'm going to stay right here with him—"

"And space," Dana added, glancing at Angela.

"Actually," Angela said. "We were just starting checkups on both Jason and Tommy when you came in since we're doing a shift change."

"Well, I can—"

"Sorry, but due to privacy I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Angela interrupted. "If it was just Jason it wouldn't be a concern since you are his wife, but since this is Tommy's room as well you will both need to go. So, why don't you head down for breakfast while you wait? The cafeteria is always open."

"I want to stay with Jason," Christine protested, hugging his arm tighter. "He just woke up and—"

"I'm sorry," Angela interrupted again. "Ranger rules—not to mention common sense in a hospital. No one is allowed in the room during a checkup unless consent is given by all patients present."

She glanced over at Tommy.

"I do not consent," he muttered.

Angela nodded, looking back at Christine.

"And since Tommy is not comfortable with you being here you need to leave," she continued. "And if we have to call security to remove you then you will be banned from the medical floor entirely unless you yourself require medical aid. I'm afraid we enforce this rather strictly. So, please leave. You can check back in an hour or two."

Arms crossed, she looked at the siblings expectantly. Christine looked ready to explode as she continued to cling to Jason. Will tugged at her arm.

"Come on, sis," he muttered. "We don't want to be banned…"

She reluctantly allowed herself to be pulled out of the room by her brother. Once they were gone, Dana turned to Tommy with a smirk.

"See?" she said. "I can play along when the situation calls for it. I'm not a bad person—unlike certain people like to imply."

Tommy winced.

"And shots fired," he muttered.

He stifled a yawn.

"I'm sorry, Dana," he said. "It isn't you, it's me. And I know it. But I've never said you weren't a good doctor—I'm just not a good patient. I never have been."

"I've never noticed," she said drily.

Angela chuckled, her attention on settling Jason back into bed.

"Hey, if it makes it any better you are one of the only doctors I actually trust," Tommy pointed out. "And the only one I trust with my son during times like this."

Angela turned to frown at him.

"Sorry, Angela," he said sheepishly, trying not to yawn again. "You, too."

She rolled her eyes.

"Lay down," she scolded gently.

Tommy didn't argue, carefully shifting to lay down in his bed.

"We're going to leave now," Dana said, looking between the two men. "Take it easy. Jason, please use the call button to get my attention if you need to get up again. I don't need another adrenaline rush this morning. Ok?"

"Yeah… sorry…" he apologized.

Satisfied, the two doctors left the room. When they were gone, it was silent for a while. Then Jason sighed.

"Look, Tommy…" he said, staring up at the ceiling. "Uh…I slept on it and… well, I realize I was unfair to you last night. And what I heard from Christine and Will after that wasn't…"

He paused.

"It wasn't normal…" he muttered.

Tommy didn't say anything.

"Tommy?" Jason said.

"Hmm…?" Tommy mumbled.

"Tommy, I—" Jason stumbled over his words. "I don't really—I'm not sure…"

Jason sighed.

"Why was Hayley asking those questions last night?" he asked.

There was no answer from Tommy.

"Come on, Tommy," Jason said. "I know I kind of blew up yesterday and you have every right to be annoyed with me, but I felt kind of ambushed. You know? And—"

"Who are you talking to?"

Jason's head shot around and he saw Adam watching him with an amused smile. He hadn't even heard Adam come in the room.

"Oh, Adam, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I came to visit," Adam answered. "What were you just saying?"

"Trying to apologize to Tommy…" Jason mumbled.

Adam nodded.

"Ok," he said. "But wouldn't it work better if he was awake?"

"What?" Jason said, sitting up to look.

Tommy was fast asleep in his bed.

"Oh…" Jason said, a little embarrassed now.

"They drugged him, didn't they?" Adam asked, walking over to sit with Jason.

"Uh, yeah…" Jason said. "He jostled his ribs earlier and Dana made him take something."

Adam nodded, sitting down.

"He'll be out for a few hours," Adam said.

Then he chuckled.

"But it'll give you time to practice that apology," he said. "Sounded like you were struggling a bit."

Jason groaned, falling back against his pillow. Adam just chuckled again and pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?" Jason asked as Adam put his phone to his ear.

"Calling Rocky," he answered. "I'm gonna have him bring us breakfast and you can practice on us while Tommy's asleep."

"We were so close!" Christine fumed, stalking into the cafeteria with Will. "And once again he manages to ruin it. That man is always in the way!"

No one else was in there yet. They wandered over toward the ordering screen to get food.

"He's always in the way!" she exclaimed again, watching Will push buttons.

"Well, I don't know what you want me to do about it," Will shrugged. "Short of us killing him, too."

"If that's what it takes," Christine scowled. "We're in this too deep now. We don't have another choice at this point. He needs to go."

They moved in front of the pickup window, still talking quietly. Rocky walked in while they were standing there and headed straight to the order screen.

"Good morning," he said absently, plugging in his order.

"Don't touch me!" Christine snapped.

Rocky looked up in surprise as she stormed off. Will followed, snatching their food off the counter before he went.

"And a jolly good morning to you, too," Rocky muttered, going back to his order.

Marc yawned and stretched as he stumbled out of JJ's room. JJ was already gone. Walking out of the kitchen, he found JJ and Kat eating at the table.

"Good morning, Marc," Kat smiled. "Hungry?"

He nodded, grabbing a chair. She set a plate down in front of him a moment later.

"After we eat can I go back upstairs to see dad?" he asked.

"We can, but not right away," Kat said.

Both JJ and Marc frowned.

"It's fine," she said quickly. "Marc, your dad is up and doing good. Angela just asked that we wait a bit before coming up this morning. They need some privacy for a while."

"Is dad ok?" Marc asked anxiously.

"Everything is fine," Kat assured him.

Marc nodded slowly but JJ sighed.

"That's mom's lying voice," JJ said accusingly. "Like when she says she didn't buy my Christmas present, but she actually did."

Kat gave JJ a look, but he just grinned. Then he frowned.

"Wait—is dad ok?" JJ asked.

"I already said everything is fine," Kat repeated. "Your dad is just sleeping."

JJ looked at the time.

"But dad never sleeps this late," he said, anxiety creeping in.

Kat sighed.

"Alright," she said. "JJ, Dana had to give your dad some pain meds this morning."

"Oh," JJ said. "So, he's just drooling on his pillow and you don't want us to bother him."

"Exactly," Kat said, standing up and turning away to hide her smile.

She started putting dishes in the sink to wash them.

"Now, both of you finish eating and then go get out of your jammies," she said. "You can help me clean up and we'll stay here for a while before we go visit. Ok?"

"Ok," Marc agreed.

"But I gotta get a picture, mom," JJ protested. "And if we wait til he's awake—"

"You have enough blackmail," Kat interrupted. "Now eat your breakfast."

"Aunt Hayley says there's no such thing as too much blackmail…" JJ grumbled, going back to eating his breakfast.

"Good morning!" Rocky said, letting himself into the room. "Breakfast delivery service has arrived!"

He walked in, balancing three trays of food as requested by Adam.

"Shh!" Jason hissed, shooting Rocky a look and then glancing toward Tommy.

Rocky froze. He hadn't realized Tommy was asleep. Then he frowned and looked at Adam.

"Little late for him to be asleep," he said. "Is he drugged again?"

"Jason said he is," Adam nodded.

"Oh, then we don't have to worry," Rocky snorted, walking toward them again. "He's not waking up."

Jason frowned, looking at the other two men as Rocky handed them food.

"But before you were worried about waking him up," Jason said. "And I know he's always been a light sleeper."

"Not on that kind of medication," Adam said, shaking his head. "He'll be out for hours. That's why I called Rocky."

Rocky sat down with his own tray and all three started on their breakfasts.

"So, why is he drugged again?" Rocky asked curiously. "Because last I knew he was determined not to take anything again."

"His ribs…" Jason answered.

Rocky and Adam both frowned.

"They were bothering him enough that he actually asked?" Rocky said in surprise.

Jason sighed and shook his head.

"More of they forced him after I accidentally woke him up when I got up and set off the alarm…" Jason admitted. "I had no idea just getting out of bed would set anything off…And Tommy was out of bed before I even realized what was happening…"

Rocky chuckled.

"Oh, yeah," he said, nodding. "That takes some getting used to. But it's nice to not have to physically attached anyone outside of IVs or oxygen. All you have to do is be in the bed and it can monitor you. Even if you aren't the patient. Only stops if you turn it off."

He shrugged.

"Dana will eventually turn off the setting that says you aren't allowed out of bed," he continued. "But until then you're stuck calling for help or giving everyone in the vicinity a heart attack because they think your heart stopped."

Jason grimaced—he'd guessed that was what had Tommy out of bed so quickly. But it was a little different hearing Rocky say it out loud.

"The only way around it is knowing how to turn that setting off," Rocky told Jason. "And outside of Dana, Angela, and the hospital staff, I'm pretty sure only Billy and Tommy know how. Well, and probably Hayley."

"So do I," Adam offered, taking a bite of food.

Rocky looked at him in surprise.

"You got up before you were supposed to, didn't you?" he accused.

"That is neither here nor there," Adam answered with a smirk.

Rocky started laughing. It took Jason a moment and then he joined in, too, along with Adam.

"And there he is," Rocky sputtered, looking at Adam in amusement. "You're supposed to be the good patient."

Adam snorted.

"I never accepted that responsibility," he retorted. "And Dana has yet to call me out on it."

Still chuckling, Rocky turned his attention to Jason. He had only taken a couple small bites of food and was staring at it more than anything.

"Eat," Rocky said, poking at Jason with his fork. "You need it."

Jason glanced up, hesitating a little.

"I can do airplane for you," Rocky offered with a grin.

"No," Jason said shortly.

"Then eat your food," Rocky replied, his face serious now.

Jason sighed but started eating again. Rocky watched him for a moment and then went back to his own breakfast.

"Well, he's better than Conner," he said. "Took his team… what? Two days to convince him?"

"Something like that," Adam nodded. "And they needed Tommy's help to really snap him out of it."

"Stubborn kid…" Rocky muttered, shaking his head.

Glancing back at Jason, he frowned when he saw Jason had stopped eating again.

"Ok, seriously, Jason," Rocky said. "What's up with you? You were eating just fine yesterday. Are you not feeling good? Do I need to go get Dana?"

Jason started shaking his head.

"No, I'm fine," he said, taking a couple more bites.

"Are you sure?" Rocky asked doubtfully.

"I'm sure, Rocky," Jason said firmly.

"Then what's eating at you?" Rocky pressed. "Because you just seem off this morning."

Jason didn't answer immediately.

"Does this have anything to do with your attempted apology earlier?" Adam asked.

"Apology?" Rocky repeated. "I need more details than that. Apology for what?"

Adam shrugged.

"I'd actually like to know, too," he said.

Rocky raised an eyebrow.

"You heard it," he pointed out. "Shouldn't you know?"

"It wasn't complete," Adam shrugged. "So, I could make some guesses—"

"Alright, enough," Jason interrupted. "Are you two always like this?"

"Come on, Jason," Rocky snorted. "You know the answer to that. You spent enough time with us during Zeo."

"I don't know how Tommy put up with you two together for so long," Jason muttered, shaking his head as he took another bite of food.

"Hey, he's put up with worse than us," Rocky retorted.

"I mean, at least we didn't put him in a coma," Adam pointed out.

Rocky shot him a look as Jason frowned.

"Well, that's not quite what I mean by put up with," Rocky said. "But you aren't wrong. We didn't do that. Though I believe he technically did that part of it to himself—they just didn't stop him."

"Fair," Adam conceded.

"Hold on—coma?" Jason interrupted. "What do you mean by coma?"

"Well, a coma is when—" Rocky started to explain.

"I know what a coma is, Rocky," Jason said irritably. "Why was Tommy in one?"

"Oh, right," Adam said. "You probably haven't heard that one yet. It started with Trent. He trapped Tommy—"

"Nope, save it for later, Adam," Rocky interrupted. "I still want to know why Jason was apologizing. Jason?"

Jason sighed.

"I was trying to apologize to Tommy…" he muttered.

"I would assume so," Rocky said. "Given no one else was in here when Adam walked in on you. But about what?"

"I was short with him yesterday," Jason admitted. "And I shouldn't have been…"

Rocky nodded, sharing a quick look with Adam.

"Short with him about what?"

"Why does that matter?" Jason frowned.

"Well, if we're going to help you form an apology we need details," Rocky pointed out. "Otherwise, it's not a good apology."

"Though Tommy would probably forgive you with a basic apology," Adam added. "But he deserves better."

"Adam is right," Rocky agreed. "So, details. What did you do?"

Jason sighed, hesitating as he stared at his plate. Adam and Rocky left him alone for a moment, giving him a chance to speak on his own.

"We got into an argument about Christine…" he finally admitted. "And I blamed him for Hayley looking into her. Without asking him if he had known…"

Rocky and Adam exchanged a look.

"Hayley is looking into Christine?" he said.

"Yes…" Jason muttered.

Rocky shook his head.

"No, she's not, Jason," he said.

"Yes, she is," Jason argued. "She was asking me all sorts of questions yesterday and Christine was somehow involved in all of them."

"That's not what she's investigating," Rocky said. "Hayley is investigating how the three of us were poisoned and how you and Conner ended up shot."

Adam nodded in agreement.

"She's been trying to put all of the pieces together since you two got hurt," he added. "She's even been working with Carter for the last couple of days and everything."

"Wait—what?" Jason frowned.

Adam and Rocky were both nodding now.

"She's interrogated both of us," Rocky said. "And Tommy. And probably Conner and Zach. It would only make sense she'd interrogate you, too."

Jason looked at them both in surprise.

"So, she's trying to figure out…" he said slowly, then shook his head. "But then why would she be asking about Christine bringing me lunches and that kind of thing?"

Adam and Rocky both shrugged.

"No idea," Adam said. "She's been keeping everything completely under wraps. Though Billy might know more."

"But last we knew she was trying to find a common denominator for us being poisoned," Rocky said. "So, she was tracking everything we ate or drank and trying to figure out what hands it passed through."

"And the only thing Rocky and I shared that day was the lunch you gave us, Jason," Adam admitted.

Jason froze, staring at the two other men.

"Which Christine gave me…" he said slowly.

He grimaced, rubbing a hand over his face.

"I'm an idiot," he muttered. "She wasn't accusing Christine of anything she was just following the evidence…"

"I was the one who told her it came from Christine," Adam admitted. "I saw her give it to you at my house before we got in the car. A lunchbox for you and a paper bag for Marc. Hayley was probably just trying to figure out if anyone else could have had access to it or if it went straight from Christine to you—or if there was a possibility it came from somewhere else, first."

"I'm gonna have to apologize to Hayley, too…" Jason sighed.

Rocky and Adam both stared at Jason in surprise.

"Wait, you yelled at Hayley?" Rocky sputtered.

"Yeah…"

"And what did she do to you?" Rocky asked.

"Nothing," Jason frowned.

"So, you're telling me you got away with yelling at Hayley when she did nothing wrong?" Rocky said as Jason nodded. "Wow, you must have looked like crap yesterday."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jason asked.

"The only reason I can think of that she didn't retaliate," Rocky shrugged. "None of the rest of us can get away with yelling at her for an unjustified reason like that. She either shuts us down in the moment or gets revenge later. Depends on her mood."

"Uh, should I be concerned?" Jason asked nervously.

He'd heard multiple stories about Hayley since he officially met her the week before.

"Nah, she probably gave you a pass with the whole being shot thing," Adam said. "Plus, you only just met her officially at the party at the dojo. But keep it in mind for future reference."

Jason nodded.

"Oh!" Adam said. "And fair warning. She is a lot more vicious when it comes to protecting other people she cares about. Like Billy or Tommy. If someone hurts one of them and they won't do anything and it's bad enough she feels the need to intervene—watch out. It's gonna hurt."

Rocky winced, nodding in agreement.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked slowly.

Rocky and Adam exchanged a look.

"Well, it doesn't happen very often," Rocky admitted. "Because Tommy usually talks her down and cools her off before she actually blows. But there was this one research assistant at Anton's lab—"

"Oh, right!" Adam said. "The one who was trying to pin everything that went wrong on Tommy?"

Rocky nodded.

"Tommy just kept blowing it off even as the kid kept screwing more things up and managing to make it look like Tommy's fault," he said. "I think he even stole his login credentials at one point. But Tommy just ignored him and kept saying it would work out in the end."

"But after the theft of his login credentials and things happening under Tommy's name, Hayley decided enough was enough," Adam continued. "She went scorched earth on the researcher and released the entire contents of his computer—where there was blatant evidence of him plagiarizing and copying other people's research—to, well…"

"Everyone," Rocky snorted. "Including the college he had graduated from. They started a full investigation into his degree and whether or not he had actually earned it. And he was obviously fired, too."

Jason eyed them nervously.

"So, did Tommy complain to her or…?" he asked.

Adam and Rocky both shook their heads.

"Nah, she found out on her own," Rocky said. "She just did some digging and found what he was hiding."

"How far back does she dig?" Jason asked, really nervous now. "What does she know about me? I mean, she wasn't from Angel Grove."

"Oh, she met Tommy in college," Adam supplied.

That didn't make Jason feel better.

"When?" he asked hesitantly.

"Freshman year I'm pretty sure," Adam answered as Jason sank back into his bed. "They've been friends for a long time. But it probably—"

"What happened in college, Jason?" Rocky interrupted. "Because you seem awfully concerned about them knowing each other back then. Did you and Tommy have a fight or something? What are you worried about?"

Adam shot Rocky a look, but Rocky was ignoring him.

"I mean… I'm not sure," Jason said hesitantly. "But, if it was Tommy's fault she wouldn't get revenge, right?"

"Well, no," Adam said. "Not if whatever happened was actually his fault. Then she'd never let him hear the end of it."

"Why?" Rocky pressed. "What did Tommy do?"

Jason sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Listen, it's probably dumb and it was a long time ago but…" Jason said, pausing for a moment. "The truth is, we had a big fight in college before we stopped talking…"

"Continue," Rocky said, shifting to get comfortable.

"Continue what?" Jason frowned. "We had a fight, Rocky."

"That was bad enough you stopped talking to him for like twenty years," Rocky countered.

"No, he stopped talking to me," Jason corrected.

"Details," Rocky said.

Jason shook his head.

"That's between me and him."

Rocky scoffed.

"We're involved now, man," he said. "No getting out of it at this point. So, spill."

Jason scowled at him but didn't answer, stabbing at a piece of food on his plate. Rocky and Adam had already finished theirs.

"Come on, Jason," Rocky pressed. "You said he stopped talking to you. So, what did you do?"

"It wasn't my fault," Jason frowned. "He blew the whole thing out of proportion."

Rocky raised an eyebrow. Adam sighed. He'd given up trying to stop Rocky.

"He did," Jason insisted. "All over the same reasons I thought he had Hayley investigating Christine yesterday—he's never liked her! He's always had a problem with Christine, and he's never hidden it."

"And your point…?" Rocky said.

Jason sighed.

"Fine…" he muttered.

He paused for a moment and then shook his head.

"The weekend it happened Tommy was coming for a visit," he started slowly. "He had called me and invited himself over for the weekend. If I remember right, he'd just broken up with Kat and was kind of emotional about it. When he got there, though, I had to tell him he'd be sleeping on the floor. I'd forgotten to warn him Christine had moved in and Will was crashing with us while he was in between apartments. But, I mean, beggars can't be choosers right?"

Rocky snorted.

"We've all slept on floors before, Jason," Rocky pointed out. "Are you trying to tell us he got that kind of mad at you for making him sleep on the floor?"

"Not exactly," Jason said. "Though I'm sure it was part of it…"

"And the other parts were…?" Rocky prompted.

Jason shot him another scowl.

"It was pretty much the whole weekend," Jason said. "He didn't like the concert we went to and then didn't want to go to the fashion show with me and Christine…"

"He didn't want to go even though he asked to spend time with you?" Adam asked. "That doesn't sound like Tommy. And he used to do fashion stuff with Kim all the time in high school because she liked it even if it wasn't his thing."

Jason paused, frowning as he thought about it.

"Ok…" he said slowly. "So, maybe we got separated before the show. But he didn't meet us there."

"Yeah," Rocky scoffed. "Cause I know I'd know where to find a fashion show on a college campus where I'm not a student. But carry on."

"So, you're on his side," Jason scowled, crossing his arms.

"I didn't say that," Rocky replied. "Just pointing out the flaws in your logic from an outside perspective. Plus, it's been how many years? Memories can be a little hazy and biased. So, what next?"

"He decided he was leaving," Jason shrugged, grimacing a little as he moved his injured shoulder. "After making such a big deal out of wanting to spend time hanging out with me."

"And did he?" Rocky asked.

"Yeah, he made a huge deal out of it," Jason frowned. "That was his whole reason for coming for the weekend."

"No—did he spend any time with you?" Rocky clarified.

"No," Jason answered. "Well, I mean, I guess we went to a movie the first night."

"So then why didn't he spend any other time with you?"

"I guess he didn't want to do what we were doing," Jason said, shaking his head.

"We?" Adam repeated.

"We? Who's the we if it wasn't Tommy?" Rocky pressed.

"Me and Christine," Jason said.

Rocky nodded.

"Alright," he said. "So, you wanted him to spend time with you and your girlfriend while he had wanted to spend the weekend with you as a friend—with me remembering that you said he had just broken up with Kat. Can't imagine why he might have been a little annoyed to be playing third wheel in that situation."

"Christine was my girlfriend," Jason scowled. "What was I supposed to do? Ignore her?"

"No," Adam said. "But maybe set some boundaries? It's not like you had to spend the whole weekend with her. You said she lived with you. You saw her all the time."

Jason paused, staring at Adam for a moment.

"I never thought about it that way…" he admitted. "She just—well, Christine always wanted to spend time with me, so I just took her along."

"And you didn't think that maybe seeing you two be all lovey dovey with each other might be hard on someone who just got out of a long-term serious relationship?" Rocky asked. "Jason, Kat and Tommy might not have been dating for years like he was with Kim, but they were very close. It wasn't like they just had a fling."

Jason grimaced. Hearing it from Rocky's point of view it didn't sound like it had when he tried to explain it.

"Ok, I will give you that," Jason muttered. "I should have been a little more understanding about why he'd come to visit. And I probably could have made a better effort to spend some time with him without Christine. But what he did before he left was all on him. Christine did nothing but try to be nice to him the whole weekend."

Rocky and Adam exchanged a knowing look. They'd heard this whole thing from Tommy's point of view already. They were trying to be understanding of Jason's, but so far it was sounding a lot like Tommy's version was the more sympathetic one. And definitely more accurate to the Tommy they knew.

"Well, continue," Rocky encouraged. "What happened when he left?"

Jason sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"We got into a shouting match over everything," he sighed. "Then Tommy said he was leaving and I went into my room to cool off. Next thing I know Christine comes running in crying and told me Tommy hit her—"

"Whoa!" Rocky interrupted, sitting up straight. "Hold on. She said what now?"

Adam was staring at Jason in shock.

"He hit her," Jason repeated. "He hit my girlfriend."

"But why would he do that?" Adam asked, shaking his head.

Jason paused, frowning.

"I guess I don't know," he admitted. "But she came in and she was crying. She said she was just trying to be nice and then he hit her."

Adam and Rocky were both shaking their heads. Tommy had told them he'd been accused of some kind of assault, but it was still a shock that Jason believed Tommy would have hit Christine out of nowhere.

"Jason, think about it," Adam said. "You knew Tommy for a long time before that. Had you ever known Tommy to hit anyone outside of practice or a match? Or a ranger fight. Let alone someone who didn't know how to defend themselves?"

"Tommy has hit plenty of people," Jason argued. "And he was just as mad as I was at that point."

"Yeah, he's hit people," Rocky scoffed. "Who hit him first. We all did that. You're certainly not blameless. I mean, sure he probably hit people first in karate competitions, but letting someone else hit you first there is a good way to lose."

"Christine wouldn't have hit him," Jason frowned.

"Then why would he have hit her?" Adam pressed. "It doesn't make sense."

"He was mad at her for hogging my attention all weekend," Jason said, trying to come up with an excuse.

Rocky snorted.

"Hold on, side note," he smirked. "Jason, you're not that fabulous."

Jason frowned as Adam chuckled at Rocky's statement.

"Don't get me wrong," Rocky continued. "We love you. You're like our brother. But I wouldn't ever assault someone for taking up your time or you ignoring me for them. Do something mean like a prank? Potentially. On you, of course. Assault? Nope. Not a chance."

Adam was shaking his head, too. Jason didn't say anything else for a moment, thinking about what they were saying. Rocky and Adam left him alone for a moment as he mulled it over.

"So, what happened after that?" Adam asked after a while, reaching over to take Jason's food tray.

He hadn't finished eating, but it was cold at this point. Jason sighed.

"Well, I went after him to confront him," Jason said. "He was walking out so I grabbed him to stop him and…"

He stopped and Rocky and Adam looked at him expectantly.

"And you shouted at each other some more…?" Rocky prompted.

"I may have shoved him into a wall," Jason muttered. "And then we were fighting… but apparently one of my neighbors had heard us and called campus police."

He shook his head.

"Probably the neighbor two doors down," he grumbled. "He called them every time Christine and I had the smallest argument."

He sighed.

"But they showed up and separated us. We had to go cool off at the campus department. Couple of hours maybe. Had to sign a form agreeing I wouldn't do it again and then they let me go."

He shrugged, grimacing again.

"I didn't see Tommy when I got out, so I assumed he took off after they released him," he sighed. "I figured he'd call when he got home. Or at least after he cooled off. But he didn't…and I was busy with school and Christine and before I knew it a year had passed and…"

He sighed, shaking his head. Rocky and Adam said nothing, continuing to listen quietly.

"And they kept passing…" Jason continued. "Then a few years after that weekend I got the message about the moon mission. I didn't actually talk to him beforehand. Trini called and left a message with the meetup details. Told me it was an emergency. And I mean, we talked a little bit during but it was all mission related. But that was the first time I had heard from him since the fight—no. Sorry, there was one other time. He called to tell me what had happened to Zordon…Said I deserved to hear it from a friend, not through the grapevine…"

They were all silent for a moment at the reminder of their loss. That one still hurt, no matter how many years it had been. Jason sighed.

"We didn't talk long," he continued. "He just told me what happened and let me go to process. Told me to call if I needed anything. I didn't…Though I could have sworn my number had changed since college so I was confused on how he got ahold of me in the first place…"

"Oh, I can explain that," Rocky said. "Your mom. She updated us whenever your number or address changed so we would have it just in case."

"Oh…" Jason said, frowning.

"It's true," Rocky said. "We're pretty sure she was hoping one of us would fly out, kidnap you, and bring you back to California. She always hinted at hating how far away you were."

Adam nodded in agreement. He looked at Jason, hesitating before he spoke.

"Jason, we really aren't trying to take sides," he said slowly. "But we don't understand some of this. It just—doesn't sound like Tommy…"

"Well, that's the way it happened," Jason insisted. "Christine even told me all Tommy was doing while I was at work on Saturday was annoying her while she was trying to study. Like he was just desperate for attention. I mean, granted, she isn't always the easiest person to get along with, but he could have tried harder for my sake. I guess when she asked for peace and quiet, he got huffy and mad and after that he just kept trying to get rid of her."

Rocky frowned.

"Wait," he said. "So, he was trying to get her attention and when she rejected him but didn't really reject him, he suddenly just wanted her gone?"

"Well, yeah," Jason said.

Adam shook his head.

"Something just seems off with that…" he said.

The door opening drew all of their attention. Kim and Jake walked in.

"Good morning!" Kim beamed. "I—what are you two doing here?"

She frowned at Rocky and Adam.

"Uh, visiting Jason?" Rocky said sheepishly.

Kim planted her hands on her hips as she stopped by the three men. Jake was watching her in amusement.

"That's not fair!" Kim exclaimed. "We have a schedule. You got to see him yesterday. And Zach gets this afternoon."

Jason looked between Kim and Adam and Rocky.

"You made a schedule for visiting me?" he said in surprise.

"We didn't want to overwhelm you," Kim explained, still scowling at Adam and Rocky. "We were trying to be nice."

"It would be nice if you would keep it down so I can sleep…" Tommy groaned.

They all turned to look in surprise.

"Tommy!" Kim exclaimed.

She looked at him and then back at the other three men.

"Why is he still sleeping?" she demanded.

"Angela drugged him," Adam supplied.

"No—Dana," Tommy mumbled. "Wait—Angela. Because Dana said so."

His eyes were still closed, and he stifled a yawn as he shifted, grimacing in discomfort.

"Where's Kat?" he asked.

"We haven't seen her," Rocky answered.

"Oh, I'm gonna go find her," Tommy said, sitting up and yawning.

He swung his legs around to rest his feet on the floor. Rocky started to get up, but Jake was already heading in Tommy's direction.

"Tommy, no," Adam sighed.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Jake said, reaching for Tommy's arm.

Tommy had grabbed his cane and tried to stand up. He almost immediately started to tip over, losing his balance. Jake caught him.

"See, I'm up," Tommy said. "I'm fine."

"I'm holding you up," Jake said drily, shaking his head.

"Nah, I'm fine," Tommy yawned.

He tried to take another step, but Jake gently pushed him back onto his bed and got him sitting down.

"Why is there a chair in the elevator?" Tommy muttered, frowning.

Jake carefully guided Tommy to lay back down. He stayed there, asleep again. Rocky shook his head.

"That medication is kicking him pretty hard," he said. "But we should probably get Kat or he's going to try it again…"

"Already texting her," Adam said, holding up his phone. "She's coming up with the boys."

With Tommy settled again, Kim rounded on Rocky and Adam.

"Great, back to my original question," she said. "What are you two doing here?"

"Having a conversation," Rocky answered.

Kim rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Jason instead.

"In addition to trying not to overwhelm you now that you're awake," she said. "We have been trying to be as welcoming as possible with Christine so we didn't add extra stress with her being here. But you should still take as much time as you need before you talk to her. There is absolutely no rush."

Everyone nodded in agreement on that statement.

"And if Jake was calling me an obnoxious troll I'd leave him alone for a while, too," Kim shrugged.

"I would never!" Jake protested, spinning to look at Kim in shock.

He was still standing by Tommy's bed, making sure he didn't get up again.

"No talking, this is a test," Tommy muttered, not opening his eyes.

"Guess we're back in school again," Rocky chuckled, glancing over at Tommy.

"I'll confiscate your papers…"

Adam quickly shushed everyone, trying to let Tommy actually fall asleep again. A few minutes later Kat walked in with Marc and JJ. Marc headed straight over to Jason.

"What's going on?" Kat asked, looking over at Adam.

"We're taking a test apparently," Rocky snorted.

"Principal's office!" Tommy ordered.

Kat sighed and shook her head, walking over to Tommy's bed. JJ trailed behind her.

"Tommy, sweetheart," she said, grabbing his hand. "You aren't in school."

"Oh, when did I get home?" he yawned, blinking his eyes open to look at her.

"You aren't," she said in amusement. "You're still in the med bay at Lightspeed—JJ! Put down that phone."

"But it's for Aunt Hayley," JJ protested.

"JJ…" Kat said.

"Mom…" he groaned. "Imagine the bounty I'd get from her…"

"Now," she said firmly.

"Fine…" he grumbled, putting his phone away.

Kat turned back to Tommy, taking away her hand and prodding him into a more comfortable position as she tried to coax him back to sleep.

"How long ago did they give him the meds?" she asked.

"Not even two hours by my count," Adam said.

"Then definitely more sleep," she sighed, looking at Tommy. "At least two more hours…"

"But where do I turn in my test?" Rocky grinned.

Kat rolled her eyes.

"You don't," Adam said. "You got sent to the principal's office, remember?"

"Maybe we should move this conversation next door," Kim suggested.

"Jason isn't allowed out of bed yet," Rocky pointed out. "That's what started this whole thing."

"He's grounded…" Tommy mumbled.

His eyes opening again, he reached over and grabbed Kat's hand.

"I need you," he said. "Angela drugged me and everything is fuzzy and someone needs to keep Jason safe. Someone could take something from him—or hurt him…"

He trailed off, yawning as he shook his head.

"Take what?" Kat frowned.

"I don't know…" Tommy frowned. "But I just—I don't trust them… someone will hurt him and I can't stop them right now…can't protect him…"

He sighed, his eyes drifting shut again. Jason was staring at Tommy in surprise now. He hadn't expected to hear something like that come out of Tommy. A statement essentially making it clear he wasn't necessarily against Christine and Will—he was just scared for Jason after everything that had been going on. Rocky stood up.

"And, on that note, I think we should all leave," he said. "Sorry, Kim. You'll have to visit later."

Adam stood, too, and he, Rocky, Kim, and Jake started moving for the door. Tommy tightened his grip on Kat's hand.

"Sleep, Tommy," she said, squeezing his hand back. "I'm going to stay right here as long as you are asleep. And I'll even keep JJ so he can run and scream for help. Ok?"

"I'm good at that," JJ said, nodding eagerly. "Marc, want me to teach you? There's a right way to do it."

Marc looked at JJ in surprise and then nodded.

"There's a right way?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah, come on," JJ nodded. "I'll show you in the hallway."

"Quietly," Kat said, glancing at them as they left the room.

"We will!" JJ called over his shoulder.

Kat sat down in the chair next to Tommy's bed and got comfortable. Jason glanced at her hesitantly. Catching the look, she shook her head.

"You don't owe me any answers," she said. "Tommy can be a little… overprotective. Especially of the people he cares about when they're in trouble. He always has been. You know that."

Jason nodded slowly.

"But anyways," Kat said. "Now that Kim realizes the visitor's schedule is off, you're going to have a lot of people to talk to later. I'd get a nap in while you can if I were you. Or maybe read a book. Something to relax while you can."

Jason nodded slowly, getting comfortable. He had a lot to think about.

"So, how much longer do you think we'll be stuck here?" Dustin asked, catching the ball he had and tossing it up again.

All six Ninjas were relaxing in the rec room for a while. It was almost lunch time, but they hadn't motivated themselves to get up yet. Dustin was stretched out on one of the couches tossing a ball up and down. Tori and Blake were curled up in one of the recliners. Blake was watching as Tori scrolled through her phone. Cam was sitting at one of the tables working on his computer and Shane and Hunter were sprawled on the floor playing a card game.

"Technically, we are not stuck here," Cam pointed out, glancing up. "We're staying because we want to."

"Well, yeah," Dustin agreed. "But Carter does eventually have to let everyone else go home, right? And we decided we were staying til then."

"Yeah, but at this rate he may never let them out," Hunter muttered.

The door opening interrupted the conversation. And when they realized who was coming in it stayed interrupted. Christine and Will had just walked into the rec room. Seeing the Ninjas lounging around the room the siblings hesitated. Will eyed all six of them nervously. Then Christine caught sight of the phones in several of their hands. Grabbing Will's arm, she dragged him over to take a seat on the second couch. She didn't immediately say anything, so the Ninjas all went back to what they had been doing. For a few minutes, the only sounds were of Cam typing and Hunter and Shane playing their game.

Much to the irritation of the Ninjas, Christine started sighing. They ignored her for a while, exchanging annoyed looks and trying to tune her out.

"Can we help you with something?" Hunter finally asked, looking up from the game.

"I'm just so isolated here…" Christine sighed. "It must be so nice for you all to have friends around."

"Uh huh…" Hunter said, nodding slowly and going back to the game. "Sure."

"Some of us don't have that luxury…" she continued.

"You have your brother," Blake pointed out.

"But it isn't the same," Christine pouted. "And I can't have friends come visit me."

"Duh," Dustin snorted. "It's a secure base. You're lucky they let you bring your brother."

"You could always call them," Blake suggested.

Christine huffed.

"My friends have busy lives," she said loftily. "And besides, they took my good phone when I got here. All I have is this thing."

She held up a small phone.

"Ok…?" Shane said slowly. "And what would you like us to do about it?"

"Could I borrow one of your phones?" Christine asked. "You all still have real phones."

There was a pause and then all of the Ninjas burst out laughing.

"Nope," Tori laughed. "Not a chance."

"But—" Christine tried to protest.

"Still no," Shane said, his attention back on the card game.

"Just for a little while?" Christine whined.

"And still no," Hunter said. "It's not going to change."

Christine scowled at him.

"I don't know," Dustin said, still lying on the couch. "Maybe if you ask one more time? It might make a difference."

"I just need to borrow one for a little while," Christine said.

Dustin paused and then shook his head.

"Nope," he said. "It didn't. Still a no. But I guess it was worth a shot."

Christine scowled at them all again.

"I don't understand why I can't just have my phone!" she exclaimed irritably.

"Don't look at us," Dustin shrugged. "We don't make the rules."

"Actually," Cam said, glancing over at Dustin. "Technically that one we all voted on."

"Oh, right," Dustin nodded.

"Because we don't want nosy busybodies taking pictures of us in our space," Tori pointed out. "Or knowing our names and trying to poke into our outside lives."

They were all getting to their feet now and quickly collecting their things.

"So, bye!" Dustin grinned.

Leaving the irritated siblings, the Ninjas took off toward the elevator.

"You know, I feel kind of bad for her," Shane mused.

"Why?" Hunter scoffed.

"Well, she is stuck here," Shane pointed out. "Her husband was shot and stuck in a cryo chamber. And she can't contact anyone she does know outside of the base without knowing the number—and even that would be monitored."

"Well, I don't feel bad," Hunter shrugged.

"Not even a little?" Shane prodded.

"Nope," Hunter retorted. "And I'm pretty sure it's not just me."

"Fine," Shane said. "Let's go ask the Dinos then."

Hunter rolled his eyes.

"Either way," Cam said as they crowded into the elevator. "She isn't getting a phone. He doesn't have his anymore either now that Ethan has it functioning again. He was cackling about it the other day after he went to give it back and was reminded to give him a base phone and lock up the other one. They're out of luck."

Lunchtime in the Command suite a little while later was crowded. The four younger Dinos along with Krista were having lunch with all six Ninjas. Kat was still gone with JJ and Marc, letting the group of eleven have the suite kitchen to themselves for a while. They had dragged out extra chairs from the conference room and crammed themselves around the small table that usually sat eight comfortably.

"I don't care what anyone else says," Conner was saying. "I'm with Dr. O one hundred percent. I may not know what their goal is, but they're evil people and I do not like them."

The topic had naturally turned to Christine and Will after the Ninjas' run in with the siblings before coming up. Conner stabbed a piece of chicken and popped it in his mouth as he shrugged his good shoulder. He was better at remembering to not move his left one unless necessary. The eleven of them had all helped with lunch, cooking together in the small kitchen as they tripped over each other. It had been relaxing—if loud. Most of the food had been piled on plates in the center of the table family style so they could all serve themselves. Except for Conner. His plate had yet to actually empty because any time anyone else took food, they added more to his plate. They knew he knew what was going on, but no one was stopping and he didn't mind. Trent rolled his eyes as he gave Conner another helping of chicken.

"I don't know that I'd say evil," he countered. "But I definitely agree there is something weird going on with them. And I've been avoiding them."

"Well, I don't know either way," Kira inserted. "Though frankly I don't care about them at all. But I definitely get a bad vibe from the brother-in-law. He's a pig. And, from what I've observed, Christine is an obnoxious, spoiled brat. But evil? Does anyone think they're actually harmful?"

"Yes," Conner answered immediately without hesitation.

The rest of the group chimed in with answers as well.

"Yes," Cam said, agreeing with Conner.

"No," Shane said, shaking his head.

"Probably," Hunter inserted with a shrug. "I get the bad vibes all around."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Blake agreed. "Though I haven't spent enough time around them to make a better call. Not that I want to."

"No," Tori said, pausing. "Though I guess I'd have to agree with Blake on not knowing enough. But the brother is definitely a pig. He proved that the other night."

"Definitely if she wants something," Dustin said. "Cause that's when anyone is the most dangerous. When they want something. And she doesn't seem like the type of person to take no for an answer."

"I have observed the way they act," Cam said, clarifying his first answer. "They don't care about anyone. I'm not even sure they care about each other to be honest."

"I guess I'd have to agree that's probably true," Shane admitted. "Even if I don't think they'd be intentionally harmful. Though I guess I could see them throwing each other under the bus if it did come down to it."

"It wouldn't surprise me at all," Krista chimed in. "They are not nice people."

Trent and Conner exchanged a look.

"Trent and I have spent a lot of time with Dr. O," Conner said. "And he's one of the best judges of character I've ever met. He wouldn't be saying something is wrong if it wasn't. So, there is definitely something wrong."

"We just don't know exactly what it is yet," Trent agreed. "If only because Dr. O isn't sharing details."

Hunter was looking at Ethan. The blue Dino ranger hadn't said a word since the change in subject. He was looking pointedly at his food, concentrating on eating.

"What about you, Ethan?" Hunter asked, leaning forward. "You've been awfully quiet."

Ethan's head shot up and he froze as everyone turned to look at him.

"Umm…" he said, hesitating. "I am of the opinion that we should listen to Dr. O and keep our distance."

That earned him some surprised looks. Not because he had agreed with Conner and Trent, but because they all caught the seriousness in his tone.

"I'm not kidding," he said, shaking his head at their looks. "Keep your distance. Actually, some of us should try not to leave the room at all while they're wandering around."

He looked pointedly at Kira and Trent as he spoke, glancing over at Conner as well.

"Should just stay in here," he insisted. "Have food delivered. No other reason to go out right now. Plus, Dr. O has this place really well stocked as it is. I mean, there's even a six-month supply of freeze-dried food in case access to the food is ever cut off."

"Wait—what?" Dustin said. "Freeze-dried food?"

"Yep," Ethan nodded. "Has it replaced every three years. There is at least a small supply in all of the rooms for emergencies."

"Seriously?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Seriously," Ethan confirmed. "But Ryan did tell me once to stay away from anything that has cheese. It doesn't do good things…"

The others winced at the thought.

"Well duh!" Krista exclaimed. "Freeze dried cheese? Why would anyone…?"

She shook her head. Conner snickered.

"Yeah, picture it," he grinned. "Goes down and starts to expand—"

"And we're done," Kira interrupted.

"But I was just saying—"

"Nothing," she snapped.

"Where does he keep it?" Dustin asked curiously. "Cause I gotta see this."

"Let me get a bucket," Ethan said, hopping up.

He walked away for a moment, most of the group sufficiently distracted. Conner and Kira were still bickering while Trent and Krista sighed. Dustin, Shane, and Blake were laughing while Tori scolded. Hunter and Cam, however, exchanged a look. While Ethan was gone getting the bucket, they stood and headed toward the door. The only one who really noticed was Trent. He caught their eye and nodded. Knowing he guessed where they were going, they nodded back and took off. They wanted real answers and had a good idea of where to start looking for them since Ethan had clearly been told to keep things to himself.

A little while later, however, Cam and Hunter were on their way back down to the residential level and heading toward the Command suite again. They had gone in search of Hayley only to strike out.

"Ok, either she is actively avoiding everyone or she's following us around laughing," Hunter grumbled as they stepped off the elevator.

"Or she's on the Command level," Cam said. "But if she's there it's probably with someone else and there's no way we'll convince her to give us answers with an audience."

Hunter sighed. Then he stopped.

"But I found someone just as good," he grinned.

Cam followed his gaze. Billy was a short ways ahead of them down the hall. He had JJ, Izzy, and Rae with him. JJ was complaining about the escort.

"Uncle Billy, I'm eleven," JJ grumbled. "I don't need help finding my room. I'm not going to get lost—unless maybe on purpose. We've been here forever."

Cam and Hunter quickly caught up.

"Billy!" Hunter called.

Billy stopped, turning to wait for them.

"Greetings," he said. "Is there something I can assist you with?"

"We want to know what Ethan knows," Hunter said bluntly.

Billy looked at them in surprise for a moment.

"Ethan is an intelligent young man," he said, quickly recovering. "And I am quite certain that he maintains a high level of expertise in many fields. So, requesting to obtain the knowledge he has is not a simple task to be undertaken, especially with a request as ambiguous as yours. I could not possibly begin to ascertain what knowledge you are in search of at this juncture."

Now it was Hunter's turn to stare for a moment as Cam shook his head.

"Daddy said Ethan is smart and knows a lot of things," Izzy said helpfully. "So, you need to be more specific when you ask."

Billy sighed as he glanced down at his oldest. She beamed up at him. Hunter crossed his arms.

"Alright, fine," he said. "We want to know what Ethan knows about Jason's wife and brother-in-law. More specifically—what is he not telling us?"

"That they're jerks?" JJ inserted.

"JJ…" Billy sighed.

"What? They are!" JJ protested. "And mom says I only have to be nice in front of Marc. He's with her right now and can't hear me."

"Speaking of—go find your mother," Billy told him firmly.

JJ crossed his arms now, looking up at Billy.

"But I thought I was supposed to stay with you," he grinned.

"I am able to see the door to my suite from here," Billy said. "And your mother should already be there with Kimberly. And even if she is not, I am certain Jake and Zach are present which means you will still not be alone. So go."

"Fine…" JJ grumbled, dropping his arms. "I know you just don't want me to hear…"

"Thank you," Billy said. "Take Izzy and Rae with you."

"But I can help, daddy," Rae said, tugging on Billy's shirt.

"No, honey," Billy said quickly. "Now go with JJ and I will come retrieve you and your sister in a little while."

"But I know, too!" she pouted.

"Go," Billy said firmly.

He shooed them toward the Mighty Morphin' suite and turned back to Hunter and Cam. The two Ninjas exchanged a look. Hunter darted around Billy before he could say anything and scooped Rae up, bringing her back to where Cam and Billy were still standing.

"Alright, munchkin," Hunter said. "What do you know?"

Billy grimaced as Rae immediately answered with a smile. JJ and Izzy had stopped partway down the hall.

"I know the mean lady gave Uncle Tommy a drink that made him sick," she said, proudly sharing her knowledge. "And she gave Jason lunch and he shared and it made Adam and Rocky sick and Ethan has been Googling her all week."

Billy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"He has not been Googling her, Rae…" he said. "He was researching."

"But he used Google!" she protested. "I saw!"

"I think she needs to wash her hands more," Izzy offered helpfully. "And take cooking classes."

JJ frowned as he looked at Rae and Izzy and then Billy.

"What's going on?" he asked slowly. "What drink did she give dad?"

"Suite, JJ," Billy said in answer. "Girls, you, too. Now. Remember, you are not supposed to talk about mommy or daddy's secret projects."

Rae sighed as Hunter set her down on the floor.

"But you didn't give the disclaimer…" Rae pouted.

"Consider it given," Billy said in exasperation, looking between his daughters. "Do not talk about it with anyone."

He gave Rae a gentle shove toward her sister, gesturing for the three of them to go again.

"Aww… but I was gonna tell Karly," Izzy complained. "Now I cannot unless mom reads her into the top-secret club…"

"Wait—I'm part of that!" JJ grinned. "Tell me everything!"

"But you are not a high enough level," Izzy sighed as they turned toward the suite again. "You are only level four…"

"Wait—how many levels are there?" JJ exclaimed.

"Fourteen," Izzy answered, placing her hand on the pad of the door. "Rae and I are level twelve."

The door opened and the three kids disappeared inside. Billy turned back to Hunter and Cam.

"Was that necessary?" he asked, looking at Hunter.

Hunter grinned and shrugged.

"Always start with the kids," he said in answer. "They know more than people tend to think."

Billy shook his head.

"You cannot tell anyone," he said sternly.

"So, she was right," Cam said.

Billy nodded reluctantly.

"And you don't want us to tell anyone?" Hunter frowned.

"No."

"But they almost killed Dr. O, Billy!" Hunter exclaimed. "And Adam and Rocky. I think we should be doing something about it, not keeping it a secret!"

"We are working on it," Billy said patiently. "Hayley has compiled the evidence with Ethan's help and—"

"Then arrest them," Hunter said. "We can't just let them wander around and try again! Clearly it was not a one-time thing."

"There are steps that must be followed," Billy said, shaking his head. "We cannot simply—"

"But it is simple," Hunter interrupted. "They tried to kill someone. They belong in a cell. End of story."

"Hunter," Cam said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I think Billy means Hayley is working on the next steps right now. Probably with Carter and Trini—which is why we couldn't find her."

Hunter scowled.

"So, then I can't go punch Will in the face?" he muttered.

Billy shook his head.

"Technically, we do not know how involved he is at this juncture," Billy admitted. "As it was Christine who provided the poisoned items each time. He is—"

"A pig?" Hunter suggested, using Tori's earlier description.

Billy nodded.

"However, we do not yet have proof of his direct involvement in the poisonings," Billy continued. "At least not that has been shared with me. Hayley, Trini, and Carter are currently the only ones privy to the full extent of evidence and information gathered. Even Ethan and I only know pieces. Tommy knows most of the basics as well, though he is trying to stay out of the direct investigation."

"So, then can I…?" Hunter asked with a grin.

"No," Billy grimaced. "And do not tell the rest of your group. I would appreciate you keeping that information—and your team—under control until we have a full handle on the situation."

Cam exchanged a look with Hunter.

"That may be difficult," he admitted. "Not only do we all dislike them but… well, we were also privy to some information that makes us predisposed to retaliation…."

Billy frowned.

"Please explain," he asked.

They hesitated for a moment and then Hunter nodded.

"We may as well," he said to Cam before looking at Billy. "Eric recruited us a few days ago to be around Dr. O and Jason more. There was an incident between Dr. O and Will. We don't know all the details, but it ended with Dr. O on the ground. Eric walked in on it in time to keep anything worse from happening."

Billy was looking at them in shock now.

"Why did Tommy not inform anyone?" he demanded.

"I believe Dr. O was trying to keep from aggravating the situation any further," Cam said. "From what I understand, at least until now, no one truly believed Dr. O when he expressed concern for Jason's continued wellbeing. His concerns have been dismissed as paranoia and an intense aversion to Jason's chosen partner and her sibling. I would expect that it would also bother him that he was caught in such a compromising situation and was unable to resolve it himself as he normally would have. He does tend to resolve his own challenges without involving others unless absolutely necessary."

"I was not aware of the situation," Billy admitted. "Though that would explain some of Eric's more recent peculiarities. He has been rather adamant and assertive in keeping Tommy and Jason monitored. More so than he would be typically."

Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Would you two please speak English?" he grumbled.

Billy and Cam glanced at him.

"We are," Cam said.

"English I can follow without a thesaurus," Hunter countered. "Dumb down the conversation for the non-genius in the hall."

Billy and Cam both shook their heads. Pausing, Billy studied them.

"This explains why all of you have been so attentive lately," he said. "Are the Dinos aware?"

"No," Hunter said quickly.

"Eric advised us to keep it from them for the time being," Cam said. "And we agreed. They would not have let it go quietly. Not after everything that's happened…"

"You know they're not exactly rational when it comes to protecting each other," Hunter added. "Perfect example is when Kira had a stalker a few years back. You remember how that ended…"

Billy sighed and nodded. They all remembered how that incident had ended. He had no desire to have a repeat.

"I should inform Hayley of this incident," he said. "She and Carter will need to speak with Eric and see if they can get a formal statement. Carter should also be aware that news of Christine's guilt may have leaked from a different source. We do not want the information getting to Jason before we can sit down with all of the evidence. None of us wish to alienate him any further…"

Cam and Hunter nodded.

"We need to relieve Wes and Eric anyways," Hunter said. "It's their turn for lunch and free time since they've been hanging around to let Kat get lunch."

"I will plead with you one more time to keep this information to yourselves," Billy said as they turned to go. "I give you my word it is being handled. We simply need time to be assured we have followed all necessary steps to ensure we cannot be accused of false imprisonment. All involved parties will be punished."

"We'll do our best," Hunter said, not promising anything.

The three men went their separate ways. Hunter and Cam back to the Command suite to collect their teammates and Billy back to the elevator to head up to the Command Floor.

Walking into the suite, Hunter and Cam found the rest still gathered around the table. They looked up when the two men walked inside.

"Where did you two go?" Shane asked.

"For a walk," Hunter answered. "Are you guys ready to go? Eric's probably waiting for us."

"Oh, right," Shane said, standing up from the table. "We'll see you guys later. Our turn to watch for the crazies."

Conner laughed as Ethan shook his head, grabbing the bucket and sticking freeze-dried food back in it. The rest of Ninjas followed Shane and started grabbing shoes to head out. Trent caught Hunter and Cam's eye.

"Later," Hunter said quietly, passing him.

Trent nodded. Then the Ninjas were gone. Ethan came back a moment later from putting the bucket away.

"So, what have you been working on?" Conner asked, reaching for Ethan's tablet.

"Work," Ethan answered, snagging it before Conner. "Which I'm going to work on in my room now because I'm tired of looking at your faces."

He quickly escaped to his room, locking the door. Conner frowned after him.

"I think I've been insulted," he muttered, shaking his head.

"Well, he was looking at you," Kira snorted.

"To be fair, though, he did say faces plural," Trent pointed out.

"Well, then you're implicating yourself," Kira retorted as she stood. "Because it's definitely not Krista and I. Come on, Krista."

The two women took off to Kira's room for some time away from the guys. That left Trent and Conner at the table. Conner sighed.

"I don't suppose I can convince you to tell me where Krista hid my soccer ball?" Conner asked hopefully.

"Not a chance," Trent answered. "But come on. Let's go down to the gym. We'll do some walking laps. I know it's not what you want, but at least you can stretch your legs."

Grumbling, Conner let Trent haul him out of the chair and they headed out of the room.

"We're here!" Shane announced, leading the way into Jason and Tommy's room.

Eric, Jason, and Tommy all looked up. While Tommy and Jason both frowned, Eric stood and stretched.

"Finally," he said. "What took so long? These two do not make good company. That one has barely said a word—"

He pointed at Jason.

"And that one has only been awake for like twenty minutes," he continued, pointing at Tommy.

"Angela drugged me," Tommy retorted, stifling a yawn. "It's not my fault."

He was sitting in the chair by his bed. His personal tablet was in his lap, and he was writing on it with the stylus.

"And what did I do that was so bad?" Jason protested, a little insulted.

"Nothing," Eric replied. "That's the point. Hence not good company."

The Ninjas snickered as they grabbed chairs or a seat on the floor around the room. They were all going to hang out, but not necessarily all in one spot in the room.

"Where's Wes?" Dustin asked, glancing around.

"I sent him to patrol after an hour," Eric shrugged. "He was annoying me."

"So, the normal," Hunter snorted. "Go get food."

Eric, satisfied the room was covered, nodded and left. The Ninjas settled in. Cam had a book while the other five had brought various forms of entertainment. Jason frowned as he looked around the room.

"Tommy?" Jason said.

"Hmm…?" Tommy answered absently.

"Why do we have babysitters?" he asked.

Tommy looked up, glancing around the room at the ninjas.

"Because they're paranoid," he answered, going back to his tablet.

"But we aren't babysitters," Shane corrected. "We're guards. There's a difference."

Tommy grimaced. Jason still had no idea what was really going on—even Tommy wasn't sure of the extent of everything with Christine and Will. He hadn't asked anything past what Carter and Hayley told him so that Jason couldn't get mad if something slipped before they told him the whole thing.

"And what are you supposed to be guarding us from, exactly?" Jason asked. "Each other? There's no one else here."

The Ninjas all exchanged looks and then answered at once. With different answers.

"Yep," Hunter nodded.

"No," Tori said, rolling her eyes.

"Spiders!" Dustin grinned.

"You can't be too careful," Shane shrugged.

"Everything," Blake answered.

Cam just sighed and shook his head at his teammates. Jason, not used to the Ninjas all talking at once, looked around in confusion as he tried to figure out who had said what.

"Wait—what?" he said.

"I believe Blake's answer is currently the most accurate," Cam supplied.

"Which one is Blake again?" Jason asked sheepishly. "Please tell me it's not the spider kid."

"No, that's Dustin," Cam chuckled.

"We apologize," Tori added. "We have no explanation for him."

"What?" Dustin exclaimed. "Spiders are terrifying! They can get into anywhere and there's no stopping them."

"Well thanks for rocking me to sleep tonight, Dustin," Hunter muttered.

Dustin laughed, but Tommy shook his head and went back to his tablet.

"I can't believe I'm actually looking at this," Trini muttered, scrolling through Hayley's notes. "And that we're actually preparing to request SPD arrest someone for the rangers. I never expected to have to use any of these policies or procedures."

Hayley shrugged.

"Well, they were written for a reason," she said. "And that's why we're going through everything. Because it definitely happened. There can be no doubt now. We just need to make sure we have all the evidence possible to make sure they can't try again."

Trini sighed and nodded.

"Did Ethan send you the video of Will with the shooter yet, Hayley?" Carter asked, looking up from his list.

"I believe so," she said. "Let me double check. He was going to send it with the edited video of Conner intervening. Blurring his face out is tricky when he moves quickly."

The door opening temporarily distracted them. Billy walked in.

"I apologize for the interruption," he said. "But I needed to speak with the three of you."

"Can this wait, Billy?" Carter asked. "You know we're kind of in the middle of this. And yes, I know you helped and you know a large part of it but I would still like to keep the details to as few people as possible. It's hard enough with Ethan still assisting."

Billy shook his head.

"It is actually about this," he said. "And the potential that more of the rangers are going to be aware sooner than you are prepared for…"

"What?" Carter frowned. "What do you mean, Billy?"

Billy sighed.

"It would appear Eric knows more than he is saying," he said. "He knows enough that he has taken it upon himself to arrange guard shifts to protect Tommy and Jason. It is rotating between himself, Wes, and the Ninjas."

The door opened again, interrupting before Carter could ask for clarification. Ryan strode in holding a piece of paper.

"Carter, sign this," Ryan said, walking straight to the desk.

"Can it wait til later, Ryan?" Carter sighed. "We're in the middle—"

"Oh, what are you working on?" Ryan asked, snatching Carter's checklist.

"You don't need to know!" Carter snapped, trying to take the paper back.

"Oh!" Ryan said, letting him take the paper. "So, you're finally doing something about the psycho siblings?"

He had gotten enough of a look to guess the subject of their meeting.

"And what do you know about them?" Carter frowned.

Ryan scoffed.

"I know they have bad intentions toward Tommy—and probably Jason," he shrugged. "And they tried to hurt him the other night, too, but Eric interrupted."

Hayley and Trini both whipped around to look at him in surprise. Billy nodded, though he was surprised to learn Ryan already knew about the incident. And it sounded like he knew more than the Ninjas.

"How many people know about that?" Billy asked.

"Well, me," Ryan said. "Eric, obviously. Wes and the Ninjas. Though I'm not sure how much Eric actually told them. At least enough to get them to agree to guard duty."

Carter groaned, shaking his head as he glanced at the paper Ryan had dropped in front of him. Frowning, he paused as he read it over.

"Is this a requisition form?" he asked, looking at Ryan.

"Yep."

"For forty-six gallons of ice cream."

"Yep."

"Why?" Carter sighed, making no move to sign it.

"No big deal," Ryan shrugged. "Just sign it and I'll get out of your way."

"Ryan…" Carter said sternly.

"Alright, fine," Ryan grumbled. "It's for an experiment."

"Then no," Carter said, holding the form back out.

"Oh, come on," Ryan said. "We just want to know if a slip and slide would work better with water or ice cream. I had Amelia do the calculations and that should be enough for at least five people to do a run which will give me a good control sample."

"No," Carter said again.

"Come on, Carter," Ryan whined.

"Nope," Carter retorted. "You want it? Go talk to your dad."

Ryan groaned.

"But I didn't want to explain it to him," he muttered. "Fine…"

He snatched the form back from Carter.

"I'll try Cruger," he grumbled. "Maybe if I sell it as a reward, I can convince him to sign off…"

He wandered back out of the room still muttering to himself. Carter just shook his head and turned back to Billy.

"So, just how much damage control is required?" he asked, rubbing a hand over his face.

"I would highly recommend having at least something ready to answer questions with tonight," Billy said. "As I have a feeling the Ninjas will not be able to keep things from the Dinos much longer. And information will likely spread quickly from there. Unfortunately, Hunter and Cam know the basics of what we suspect, though they do not know the depth of the evidence that has been collected. Rae was being… helpful."

Carter grimaced as Hayley sighed.

"So, in other words, move quickly because we are out of time," Trini said, shaking her head. "Because once the rest get ahold of this—"

"It will come back to Jason very quickly," Billy agreed. "And he deserves to hear the whole truth intentionally, not through rumors…"

With that agreed, Hayley picked up her phone to text Ethan again about videos and documents. Billy paused, however, instead of leaving.

"Carter, there was one more thing," Billy said.

Carter looked up from his papers.

"What is it?" he sighed.

"The incident Ryan mentioned?" Billy answered.

"Oh, right," Carter grimaced. "Do you know what he was talking about?"

"I do not know all of the details," Billy answered honestly. "However, it does seem like a solid case for assault even though there are no cameras in the rooms. Circumstantial evidence and witnesses support what Ryan said."

Carter shook his head.

"I already have a stack of complaints on that man," he muttered. "Plus, more than a few complaints from them because someone did something to him…"

"Like Ryan and Kelsey hitting him?" Hayley smirked, glancing up from her phone. "Oh, and Tommy."

"And he did hit him," Billy said, slightly amused. "Which is why he has a broken nose. He also dislocated his shoulder at the dojo."

Carter dropped his head in one hand.

"Because that makes it better," he muttered.

"And have the Ninjas said anything about the other night, yet?" Hayley inserted, back to her phone.

"What do you know about the other night?" Carter frowned. "They told me it was training that went overboard."

"Nothing important," Hayley said, waving him off. "Carry on."

Carter sighed but turned back to Billy. He wasn't going to try and pry the story out of Hayley right now.

"What do you know about the incident with Tommy, Billy?"

"As I said, I do not have many details as Hunter and Cam were not given that information," Billy shrugged. "However, I know Eric was involved because he interrupted the incident Tuesday night."

Carter groaned as something clicked.

"That's the night Joel was all up in arms about," he said. "Will did or said something to Amelia and she came back home all freaked out about him and Tommy fighting. Joel was ready to go kill Will and I had to talk him down. Amelia had locked herself in her room and wouldn't give him a straight answer on what had happened, but he knew it had really upset her. We thought maybe she'd heard about the fight at the dojo—but this makes more sense."

"It would," Billy agreed. "Though I was not aware that Amelia was involved."

"Somehow," Carter said. "And I thought it was weird she was that shaken up. I'll have to talk to her…"

"Later," Trini interrupted. "This now. Assault on the back burner—"

She stopped, realizing what she had just said.

"That is not what I meant," she said quickly. "But this does need to take precedence over an isolated incident. Multiple rangers, multiple lives. I don't know why she wants to make Jason sick but if she tries again, she may actually kill someone. Who knows what she brought with her."

The other three nodded in agreement.

"Ethan will be up shortly," Hayley said. "He's going to help for a while. Billy?"

"I will get out of the way," he said. "I left the girls with someone else rather unexpectedly. I should retrieve them."

He excused himself as the other three quickly went back to work.

"I'm bored…" Zach groaned, falling back on the couch.

"Nice to meet you, Bored," Kelsey giggled. "I'm Kelsey."

The pair were hanging out in the lounge. They had it mostly to themselves right now with everyone else busy running around with kids. The only other person there was Jake. But he had headphones on and was ignoring them as he worked on his computer at one of the tables. Zach groaned.

"That is possibly the worst dad joke I've heard in years," Zach muttered. "When are you going to get your cargo shorts and socks that come up to your knees?"

"I would never," Kelsey said, acting offended. "It's black socks and sandals all the way."

Zach laughed and Kelsey joined him. Getting out of the chair she had been in, Kelsey lifted Zach's legs and sat on the couch with him. He stretched his legs back out over her lap.

"Seriously, though," he sighed a few minutes later when they were done giggling. "I really am bored."

Kelsey glanced over at him.

"Not that this place isn't great," he added hastily. "But I'm glad I won't have to be stuck here like this for months."

Kelsey winced.

"Actually, we still don't have a timeline for when you can leave yet…" she reminded him. "Though Tommy is back in charge now so maybe soon?"

"Please don't remind me," Zach groaned. "It's been over a week, and I've seen or done pretty much everything possible to do in this place."

Kelsey scoffed.

"Not even close," she said. "You've seen this floor, your room, and the med floor. There is so much more to the base."

"Maybe, but I'm not allowed to leave and see it, remember?" Zach pointed out.

"Well, no," she admitted. "But if this was a full-blown emergency you would. In a situation that required calling all of the rangers here we would take over. Anyone who wasn't a ranger, their immediate family, or a member of our thoroughly vetted embassy staff would be gone. Even most of the SPD cadets and officers would be relegated to their assigned segment of the base. So being stuck down here would not be a problem!"

"You're not making this better, Kels," Zach groaned. "I don't want to even think about that being a thing."

"Well, neither do I," she admitted. "But it's still good information to know. I also happen to know that Ryan and the cadets like to set up slip and slides in the fields around the base. They used vegetable oil once and I've never seen anyone slide so fast."

Zach laughed again.

"That would be kind of fun," he agreed. "But I can't go outside right now, remember?"

"I know…" she sighed.

Then she paused, thinking.

"But we can get upstairs to the Command level," she grinned.

"And what good does that do?" Zach asked. "I've been up there, and I happen to know that it's nothing but meeting rooms and offices."

"Because," Kelsey said patiently. "We can try and sneak into Carter's office and plant this spider I have of Eric's."

Zach shot upright, looking at the spider Kelsey had pulled out of her jacket pocket.

"Where did you get that?" he demanded.

"Ryan," she answered. "He needed it to disappear before Wes caught him with it. I do favors for the lone ranger squad all the time. After all, you never know when you'll need to stay on their good side."

She shrugged.

"You just have to know how to work with them," she said with a smirk. "I'm actually off limits with them right now because I know too much."

Zach shook his head, taking the spider from her.

"What—do they keep a running log or something?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah," she nodded. "Justin sends it out like a newsletter anytime there is an update. I've seen it on Ryan's computer."

"Hold on—Justin?" Zach said in surprise. "He's a part of it? How? He was a blue ranger on a full team. And I know there was no way Tommy and the others let him be any kind of outsider."

"But Tommy and his group left," Kelsey pointed out. "And then the second team left him alone and disappeared into space. So, Tommy, Ryan, and the rest adopted him. He runs their backend stuff."

"Oh, right," Zach said. "I guess that makes sense."

"Now…" Kelsey said, taking the spider back and holding up her other hand "We have this, and I have the magic hand to get us onto the Command Floor and into Carter's office. We hide it and then wait for his reaction."

"Alright," Zach agreed, snickering. "But only if we put a whoopie cushion on his chair."

"But I don't have one…" Kelsey sighed. "I guess we could probably find one."

Zach shook his head, standing up from the couch.

"I've got that covered," Zach grinned. "I wasn't gonna be around Tommy, Adam, and Rocky without being prepared. I went to high school with them."

Kelsey laughed and held out her hands. Zach pulled her to her feet.

"I also have rubber snacks and a tub of peanuts that shoots things," he added as they headed toward the door. "Plus, whatever else was in the bag when I grabbed it."

"Rubber snacks?" Kelsey asked.

"They look like chewy candy—but they aren't," he grinned.

"That's wonderful," Kelsey laughed. "All you need now is a joy buzzer."

"Sadly, I don't have one of those anymore," Zach sighed.

Then he paused.

"I bet Billy's kids could build me one though," he mused.

"Perfect!" Kelsey grinned. "So now all we have to do is wait til the coast is clear and then we'll booby trap Carter's office."

"And if I find my rubber snake, you could stash it in one of Joel's planes," Zach suggested.

That made Kelsey laugh harder as they walked toward the elevator.

"And we can put the snacks in his snack stash!" she exclaimed.

"Perfect!" Zach laughed.

Not long after Zach and Kelsey left, Christine walked into the rec room. Jake was still working on his computer. Finished with what he had been working on earlier, he had taken off his headphones and moved to the couch to be more comfortable while he read through some contracts. Seeing him sitting on the couch, Christine made a beeline for him and sat down next to him.

"Hi!" she said brightly.

"Hey," Jake answered, not looking up from his computer.

"What are you working on?" Christine asked.

"Business contracts," he said.

"Oh, well that sounds fascinating," Christine said, leaning closer to try and take a peek.

"Not really," Jake shrugged, shifting just a little.

"Oh…" Christine said. "I'll bet you get tired of people constantly shoving work at you."

"Nope," Jake said, continuing to keep his answers short.

He was trying to not encourage conversation without being rude.

"Really?" Christine said, placing her hand lightly on his arm. "It just seems like it would get so tiresome after a while. Everyone wanting your attention and all…"

Sighing, Jake didn't answer her. Instead, he picked up his phone to send a text message.

Help me she's here

He shifted again, subtly brushing her hand off his arm as he reached forward. Jake didn't want to cause a fuss, but he definitely didn't want to play this game with Christine. It didn't take long for him to get an answering text. He picked up his phone again to read it, making sure to keep the phone angled away from Christine. She was still talking to him, but he had mostly tuned her out.

Kim: You don't normally text me that unless you're at some society event and someone's trying to flirt with you.

Jake: Oh. She's trying to flirt with me.

Kim: Who's trying to flirt with you here?!

Jake: Jason's wife…

Kim: Christine?

Jake: Yep

Christine had scooted closer again, much to his irritation.

"It just must be so hard for you everywhere you go," she was saying. "With all of that attention you have to deal with. You must really love being able to go home at the end of the day to relax."

"Mmhmm…" Jake said.

He tried to shift again but was quickly running out of couch.

"You know," Christine said thoughtfully. "I just don't think your wife really appreciates you enough. I mean, look at everything you do for her and now you're just sitting here alone."

"My wife appreciates me plenty," Jake said stiffly, picking up his phone again.

Jake: Apparently you don't appreciate me

Kim: I mean. I don't appreciate it when you leave your dirty underwear on the floor.

Jake: I haven't done that here!

There was a brief pause and then a picture popped up. Jake grimaced.

Jake: Ok. Often…

I'm sorry!

Christine was still going on next to him.

Jake: And she's still talking to me…

"You deserve someone who will take care of you and be there for you," Christine was saying now.

Jake raised an eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure I have a lot of people for that already," he said shortly.

To his surprise, she stood abruptly. Then, to his annoyance, she walked around behind him. Before he could ask what she was doing, she started rubbing his shoulders.

"You're so tense," Christine murmured. "You know…if my husband was more like you, I'd find it a lot harder for him to be away at work all the time."

Shutting his computer, Jake quickly stood and grabbed his things. Christine looked at him in surprise.

"What's wrong?" she pouted.

"I just remembered I have somewhere to be," he said vaguely. "And my wife will be expecting me."

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind waiting a few minu—"

"Gotta go," Jake interrupted.

Tucking his computer in his bag as he walked, Jake booked it out of the rec room. Out in the hallway, with his computer stashed, he pulled out his phone again. He continued texting as he walked toward the elevator.

Jake: Apparently the brother isn't the only one in the family with boundary issues. Seems to be a trend with them…

Kim: Do I need to come down there?

Jake: No. It was just an attempt at 'you're so tense'. I left.

Kim: Seriously? If she's going to make a play for you while I'm here could she at least be creative about it? If I didn't have to play nice right now…

Jake: Why do we have to be nice again?

Kim:…

For Jason…

Jake: Right…

Anyways. I'm on my way back to the suite.

"Alright, that's it," Hunter said, getting up and looking around. "Why is it so quiet in here?"

All six Ninjas were still hanging around in Jason and Tommy's room. It had been very quiet since Eric left and they settled down. But now everyone was looking at Hunter.

"Because you yell at me if I'm too loud in small spaces?" Dustin offered.

"No, that's Shane who does that," Hunter said, rolling his eyes.

"No, that's Cam," Shane argued.

"Well, if you three would behave like adults…" Cam said with a shrug.

"It's just him," Shane said, pointing at Dustin.

Cam scoffed.

"One, two, three," he said, pointing first at Dustin, Shane, and then both Hunter and Blake. "It's always you two and then at least one of them. Every time."

All four protested as Tori just sighed and rolled her eyes. Tommy ignored the whole group.

"Are you guys always like this?" Jason asked, frowning.

"Yes," the Ninjas answered in unison.

"Though, I would like to clarify that I was talking about Jason and Dr. O originally," Hunter pointed out.

Tommy looked up, frowning at Hunter.

"And when have I ever been the loud one?" he asked.

"You aren't," Hunter retorted. "That's not what I said. However, you do usually hold conversations with your friends when you're in the same room. We've all been there when you and Billy get started. Or Rocky and Adam. But now you're in the same room and Jason's awake and there's nothing happening."

Jason frowned at Hunter and Tommy went back to his tablet.

"Leave it alone, Hunter," Tommy said shortly.

The Ninjas exchanged looks, nodding silently at each other. Grabbing their chairs, they all moved closer to the beds and Tommy and Jason.

"Alright, sounds like we need to do some sharing time," Shane said, looking between the two men.

"Are we in kindergarten now?" Tommy sighed.

Several of the Ninjas snickered as Shane shot them a look.

"Fine, don't think of it as sharing time," he said. "But as a time to find inner harmonization. Like we do with our students who are having conflicts."

Jason looked at them in surprise.

"Wait—students?" he said. "What students?"

"Shocking, right?" Tommy sighed. "Surprisingly enough, five of them are teachers. It's a school for ninjas, but it's still a school."

"We are good teachers!" Dustin protested.

"Which is why we can recognize there is a problem between the two of you," Shane added.

"There is no problem between Jason and I," Tommy said stiffly, not looking at them and staring pointedly at his tablet. "Everything is fine."

"Oh, really?" Hunter said, crossing his arms. "Because since we've been on the base with the two of you, I've heard you call him Jase or Rex more than anything else. Now suddenly he's just Jason again?"

"You guys have no idea what you're talking about," Tommy scowled.

"Alright, fine," Hunter said, leaning back with a smirk. "I guess we don't and we can't do anything so we'll just give up."

He shifted suddenly, leaning forward on his knees.

"So, let's talk about what happened between you and Will the other night instead," he suggested, looking at Tommy.

Jason frowned, turning to look at Tommy, too.

"What did Will do now?" he asked.

"Nothing!" Tommy said sharply, shooting all six of the Ninjas a look. "Absolutely nothing happened."

"That's not what we heard from Eric," Blake said.

"New subject," Tommy said irritably.

"Sorry," Hunter said. "Those are the only two we've got right now."

"You could always leave," Tommy said, glancing up at him.

"No can do," Hunter retorted. "We've already established we're guarding you. From spiders."

"Wait—I thought we were guarding them from everything," Blake frowned.

"I don't want that kind of responsibility," Hunter snorted. "What if there's an earthquake? Can we protect them from that?"

"Maybe?" Dustin said hesitantly.

"No," Hunter said, shaking his head.

Tommy sighed in relief that the subject had shifted.

"And since we can't protect them from everything, we'll just have to protect them from what we can," Hunter continued. "Like each other!"

Tommy grimaced and Jason looked at Hunter in surprise. Hunter leaned forward again, looking between the two men.

"Are you two mad at each other?" he asked. "Do we need to talk things out? Partners should always be honest with each other."

"He's not my partner," Jason immediately snapped.

Hunter looked at him in surprise. Tommy flinched, his grip on the tablet tightening momentarily. Jason saw and tried to backtrack.

"I didn't mean it like that," he said quickly.

"It kind of sounded like you did…" Blake said quietly.

"And if you didn't, then I think you owe someone an apology," Shane added.

Jason shot a scowl in their direction.

"I didn't realize ninja school was for therapy," he muttered.

"It isn't," Tori said. "But we do have a great sensei who makes us talk to each other when we have conflicts. At least now that Cam has gotten him to stop talking about his own feelings…"

Cam shrugged sheepishly.

"He's not that bad," he said.

"You say that cause he's your dad," Shane snorted.

Tommy sighed.

"Why don't the six of you go get dinner or something?" he suggested irritably. "You don't all need to be here."

"Well, first of all it's not dinnertime," Hunter pointed out. "It's like 3p. Second, Eric would probably kill us—not to mention the rest of your team when they eventually figure it out…"

Tommy paused, closing his eyes as he took a breath.

"Alright," he said, opening his eyes again. "You, you, you, you, and you—out. Cam can stay."

There were immediate protests from the Ninjas.

"But why does he get to stay?" Dustin protested.

"Because he knows how to keep his mouth shut," Tommy retorted. "So, out."

Still grumbling, the five Ninjas started getting up to leave.

"Sure, give the guy who has mastered blackmail the information," Shane muttered.

Cam rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you all just go patrol somewhere before Dr. O gets up to chase you out and Dana comes after you?" he suggested.

The other five exchanged looks and quickly disappeared from the room. Tommy sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, Jason," he apologized. "I have no idea what's going on. I never asked anyone to set up any kind of guard duty…"

Jason started shaking his head.

"Actually…" he said. "If anyone should be apologizing, it's me."

Tommy stared at him in surprise as Cam continued to sit silently reading his book.

"I jumped to conclusions yesterday," Jason admitted. "And it wasn't your fault that anything happened. I know Hayley is an independent person—and it's not like you asked her to do it. And, even if you did, I know you don't have the best history with Christine or Will so… well, I should have been more understanding about that and recognized you were just looking out for me."

He shook his head again and looked over at Tommy.

"But that doesn't mean I'm just going to give up on her," he continued. "I know you don't like her, Tommy, but she is my wife. And, even with everything that happened, I'm not ready to just give up on our marriage yet. No matter how conflicted I might feel about it right now…"

Tommy sighed.

"Jason, it's fine," he said. "I never intended to interfere in your decisions in any way. It's your marriage and your choice. And I've always tried to make that clear to anyone who mentions it. It will always be your choice."

Jason nodded.

"I appreciate that," he said. "And maybe we can leave it at that?"

Tommy nodded.

"Yeah, I think we can do that," Tommy agreed.

"And," Jason said, a little hesitantly. "I can understand that you don't like Christine—or Will. So, I won't bring her up with you anymore. Because it's not fair of me to talk to you about this stuff when I know you don't care about them anyways… I do appreciate you've tried though. But I'll work it out on my own."

"Jase…" Tommy said.

He paused.

"Alright," he agreed, a little reluctantly. "If that's what you want, then that's fine with me."

The two men fell silent again, but it was a more comfortable silence this time instead of the tension from earlier. Tommy's phone going off a little while later broke the silence. He glanced over to see who was calling and picked it up.

"Hey, Anton," he said. "What's going on?"

"My office looks like a funeral home," Anton answered. "And they just delivered more flowers today!"

Tommy chuckled as he listened to Anton complain. Jason was looking over in interest while Cam hadn't even glanced up from his book.

"I hope you don't expect any of the chocolate that came, because I'm eating it," Anton continued.

"They don't know me very well if they're sending chocolate," Tommy said drily.

He paused.

"Oh, wait," he said. "I guess that was probably for Kat."

"Probably," Anton agreed. "But I'm still eating it. Why did you even tell them to send it here?"

"Are you annoyed?" Tommy said, smirking as he leaned back in his chair.

"Yes."

"Good," he said. "That's the point."

Anton sighed.

"Why couldn't you have just had them sent to your house?" he asked.

"Because there would have been no one to take them in?" Tommy answered. "I'd have a porch full of dead plants."

"Or you could have said not to send anything," Anton pointed out.

"But that wouldn't be nearly as entertaining for me," Tommy countered.

Anton sighed again.

"You know, this was not the kind of relationship I was looking for when I said you were like a little brother all those years ago," Anton told him.

"Too bad," Tommy laughed. "I didn't get my brother until high school, so I've got to make up for those years somehow. And I can't take it all out on David."

"Mmhmm…"

"And if it makes you feel better, I sent David directions to feed the raptors until I can get out of here."

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"Is that safe?" Anton asked after a moment.

"Instructions included wearing one of my jackets and hats," Tommy shrugged. "He looks the most like me out of anyone I could involve. So, it should fool them for a bit at least."

"At least you planned something," Anton said. "I didn't even think about them. I try not to—they really don't like me…"

"Nope," Tommy agreed. "But that's why I asked David—unless you wanted to trade?"

"Absolutely not," Anton said quickly.

Tommy laughed again as Cam shook his head. Jason was frowning at them both in confusion.

"Raptors?" he muttered to himself.

Cam heard him and leaned closer.

"Don't ask," he said. "If you don't know, you don't have to help. And if Carter doesn't let us out soon, we're going to have to figure out how to transport them here cause there's no way David is making it more than a couple of weeks before he needs help—and Anton would only make it worse at that point."

"Plus, all David can do is feed them," Tommy pointed out.

He was off the phone now and had heard Cam's comment.

"So, who's exercising them?" Cam asked.

"I could always send you six," Tommy grinned.

Cam shook his head.

"We can't leave, remember?" he said.

"Sure you can," Tommy countered. "The six of you have never been under the protection order. It was me and my teams. You are protection."

"I guess that's fair," Cam conceded. "Though I would still rather let yours handle them."

Tommy shook his head.

"Conner wouldn't be able to go anywhere near them right now anyways," he pointed out. "Too much risk of reinjury. And they don't like Trent so it would just be Kira and Ethan—which is three on one…"

Jason continued to listen to the debate. Part of him wanted to ask for more details, but the rest of him was afraid to ask after Cam's warning.

"Dinnertime!" Eric announced, walking into the room.

He paused, looking around and frowning when he only saw Cam sitting with Jason and Tommy. Ryan had followed him and was standing there with a wheelchair.

"Where did the rest of them go?" Eric asked, looking at Cam.

"Out," Cam answered. "They should be around."

"Didn't see them in the hall," Eric commented.

"We're out here," Hunter said behind him, sticking his head in the door with a grin. "You just walked right past us."

Eric and Ryan glanced back at him, but Hunter disappeared back out the door.

"Remind me to make sure they're on my side in case of a civil war," Ryan muttered, shaking his head. "Because there is nowhere to hide in that hallway."

"Sure there is," Shane said, taking a turn at popping in. "You just have to understand the space."

Tommy rolled his eyes. The five Ninjas crowded back into the room, ignoring him.

"Out," he said before turning to Eric and Ryan. "Why the wheelchair?"

"Oh, we're taking you to get fresh air," Ryan answered.

Tommy raised an eyebrow.

"Ryan, we're in what is essentially an underground bunker," he pointed out. "And, even though Carter has lifted the protection order, I'm still not allowed out yet."

"Ok, so stale air that smells like bread," Ryan said. "Kat wants you with them for dinner. We're taking you to the cafeteria."

Jason frowned.

"What about me?" he asked.

"Sorry, no can do," Eric shrugged. "Took enough convincing just to get Dana to give us the chair for him. Maybe when we get back—"

"This isn't wheelchair rides," Ryan interrupted. "Deal was I take that one."

He pointed to Tommy.

"So, get in," he continued, walking over to meet him.

Tommy shook his head but got up and took a seat in the chair. Ryan turned him and they headed out the door.

"You six go eat, too," Eric said after Tommy and Ryan were gone. "And whoever is spending the night—"

"Spending the night?" Shane interrupted. "But we've been here all afternoon."

"There are six of you," Eric pointed out, grabbing a chair. "Why were all six of you here all afternoon?"

Shane paused.

"Ok, so maybe we didn't think that through," he admitted.

He looked around at his team and sighed.

"I guess we're going to go eat and decide who needs to try and take a nap," he muttered.

"It's fine, Shane," Hunter said, shaking his head. "I'll take the night shift. Just get me an energy drink and I'll be fine."

"I'll do it, too," Cam said, closing his book and standing. "I've done plenty of late nights and all nighters after things break in our command center."

"So, you mean after Dustin breaks something?" Tori grinned.

"Tori!" Dustin protested. "You promised!"

"We have cameras, Dustin," Cam said drily as they all moved toward the door.

"Then why do you pretend you have no idea?" Dustin frowned, looking at Cam.

"Giving you a chance to be honest," Cam answered.

"Well thanks for letting me keep my dignity," Dustin said, darting out ahead of the group.

Eric shook his head and got comfortable as the rest of the group followed Dustin. It was quiet for a while. Eric stayed sitting in the chair, his arms crossed as he watched Jason. As the minutes passed silently, Jason kept glancing uncomfortably over at Eric. The quantum ranger still didn't say anything.

"It wasn't my fault, ok!" Jason finally burst out. "Hayley attacked me with questions, and I jumped to conclusions, and I've already apologized."

Eric raised an eyebrow.

"Mmhmm…"

"Hayley and Tommy are practically attached at the hip so it's only logical that I thought Tommy knew what she was doing," Jason continued. "And I think I have a right to be upset that she is possibly looking into my wife as a suspect. That's not the kind of person Christine is. She doesn't hurt people like that. But that's what it sounded like she was implying so yes, I got a little mad. Maybe I overreacted, but…"

Eric continued to nod at Jason's rant.

"And it's not like I woke him up this morning on purpose!" Jason said irritably. "How was I supposed to know the bed would set off an alarm just because I got up?"

He sighed, looking over at Eric.

"What more do you want from me?" he muttered.

"Nothing," Eric said with a smirk. "That actually worked better than I thought it would."

Jason stared at him for a moment.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he frowned.

"I wanted to know why you two weren't talking," Eric shrugged. "Tommy wouldn't say and clearly the Ninjas didn't get it out of him. But you cracked faster than an egg falling from a third story window."

Jason scowled.

"I hate you," he muttered.

Eric just laughed.

"A lot of people do," he said. "Doesn't bother me."

He paused, studying Jason.

"So, you apologized," Eric said. "What else are you gonna do about it?"

"I don't know," Jason sighed. "I don't want to just give up on my marriage… and I don't want to keep putting Tommy in an awkward place. I know he doesn't like them and it's hard for him."

Eric smiled, shaking his head.

"You two think a lot more alike than you think," he said.

Jason frowned.

"Why does everyone always say that?" he grumbled.

Then he shook his head.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "I've already apologized, and we've come to a truce. Besides, it's not like it's my fault we're in this situation again."

"Again?" Eric frowned. "What do you mean again?"

"Not talking," Jason mumbled. "We stopped talking once because Tommy chose to walk away. I didn't make him. It was his decision. And even if I understand it a little bit, it doesn't change the fact that he's just as responsible. He can make his own choices and I'll make mine. It is what it is and I don't want to hear anything else about it."

"Alright," Eric shrugged, still studying Jason. "If that's what you want…"

He fell silent, settling back in his chair as Jason stared up at the ceiling.

When Cam and Hunter came back an hour or so later, Eric left them with Jason and took off for the residential floor. He stopped at the Mighty Morphin' suite but didn't find who he was looking for. Heading down a floor, he found Zach hanging out in the lounge with Kelsey. Billy had been eating in the cafeteria with his family, so he left him alone for the moment.

"Come with me," he said to Zach, hauling him off the couch and pulling him with him.

"Wait—what are you doing, Eric?" Zach protested, looking back at Kelsey over his shoulder.

She watched them leave in surprise, not trying to stop Eric. Not letting go of Zach's arm, Eric dragged him back to the elevator and headed up to the medical floor. Zach continued to protest as Eric continued to ignore his questions. Back on the medical floor, he headed straight to Adam's room. When he walked in pulling Zach behind him, Adam and Rocky both looked up in surprise.

"What's going on, Eric?" Rocky frowned.

Eric let go of Zach, crossing his arms as he looked at the three of them.

"You need to fix it," he said.

"Fix what?" Zach sputtered. "You're the one who dragged me all the way up here."

"Fix whatever is going on between Jason and Tommy," Eric responded, crossing his arms. "Something is wrong, and it needs to be fixed."

Rocky and Adam exchanged a glance. They knew, but they hadn't said anything to anyone else. Not that it surprised either of them that Eric had noticed the tension between the once best friends.

"You were Jason's teammate, Zach," Eric said. "And they were Tommy's, so—"

"Technically I was both," Zach corrected.

"Great!" Rocky grinned. "Then you can handle the problem, right?"

"No!" Zach protested. "I have no idea what's going on, so I am not trying to talk to them by myself. If I have to, then you two have to help."

Eric shook his head.

"Someone has to do something," Eric said firmly. "And you guys make the most sense. You've known them the longest and you know them best. The rest of this—"

He gestured around them.

"Is going to continue to be a situation if you can't get your leaders on the same page," he continued. "Especially if Jason is going to move forward with the rangers."

"So why are you putting this on just us?" Rocky asked.

"Did you want me to tell the girls?" Eric asked, raising an eyebrow. "Kim was—"

"No!" Adam quickly interrupted. "That would only make it worse…"

"Then you three figure it out," Eric retorted. "Before it gets worse."

The other three men sighed and nodded.

"Wait—where's Billy?" Rocky asked. "He should be part of this, too. He's known Tommy and Jason longer than me and Adam."

"He was eating with Hayley," Eric smirked. "Did you want me to interrupt—"

"Absolutely not," Rocky said, sharing a concerned look with Adam. "Hayley does not need to help."

"Fine," Eric said. "Then figure it out. And soon."

Spinning, he stalked out of the room. Zach looked at Adam and Rocky and then sighed, dropping into a chair.

"So…" he said. "Do we have a plan?"