What Was Lost: The Return Home

by superdory57

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

27. Chapter 27 The Decision

Carter paced around his office, glancing at his desk every so often where a folder was sitting. Making a decision, he took a deep breath and sat down. Waking up his computer, he dialed a video call and waited for an answer. After a few rings, Andros picked up.

"Carter, is everything alright?" Andros asked. "Did someone else get hurt? What's going on?"

Carter shook his head. He could see the rest of the team sitting with Andros. He knew they were somewhere near the base but had chosen to give Zordon's rangers some space to recover. He was pretty sure he had interrupted a meeting of some kind since they were all in one room.

"No, everyone is fine," Carter said. "Or, rather, there are no new problems. I just need to talk to you about something—privately."

He eyed the other rangers. Andros nodded in understanding as the rest of the Space rangers caught the hint and started to excuse themselves.

"Hold on," Carter said quickly. "TJ, too."

"Sure," TJ said, dropping back into his seat.

While the rest of the Space rangers were clearing out, Carter gave Leo and Cole a call, too. Andros and TJ both looked surprised but didn't question him.

"Carter, what's going on?" Leo asked as he joined. "Did I forget about a meeting?"

"No, this wasn't a scheduled meeting," Carter said.

Cole wasn't answering so Carter disconnected that line. He had three other reds with him now and he didn't have a lot of other options immediately available. Mostly because of the subject he wanted to discuss. Technically there were three other reds on base already that weren't the direct subject of this call, but he knew one of their answers without even asking and if he called the other two up there would be questions as to why he wasn't involving everyone. He couldn't call up the Ninjas for the same reason—or most of the younger reds. He wanted to talk to someone who would actually hear out his reasons all the way before shutting him down.

"So, what's going on, Carter?" Andros asked after a minute.

"I need to talk to you all," Carter said. "I know this is a little out of nowhere, but I needed to bounce something off of some of the other reds."

Andros frowned as he exchanged a look with TJ.

"Aren't there like five other reds on base right now?" TJ asked.

"Yes, but this directly involves more than half of them," Carter admitted. "I wanted to talk to someone who would be a little less biased. And—technically—there are actually seven other reds on base."

TJ raised an eyebrow.

"The Ninjas are here," Carter sighed. "They showed up this morning…"

The other three nodded in understanding.

"Alright," Leo said slowly. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Carter took a deep breath. He really wasn't sure how they were going to take this.

"So, I need an opinion," he said. "And I'd like to explain the whole thing first before anyone asks questions. So, if you could all just hear me out first?"

The other three reds nodded in agreement.

"We're listening," Andros said.

"So, what exactly are you working on, Tommy?" Jason asked curiously.

Tommy, Jason, and Hayley were still sitting at the kitchen table. They'd been joined by Conner who was working on lunch for everyone. Krista had left a while before to take supplies down to Kat. JJ, Marc, Rae, and Izzy were watching a movie in the living room to keep them busy.

"Reports," Tommy said absently. "This one is someone trying to convince us they found ranger technology and is trying to sell it back to us."

Jason looked at him in surprise while Hayley just rolled her eyes. The TV was loud enough, and Tommy was speaking quietly enough, there was no concern about the kids overhearing.

"Should you really be working on any of that?" Hayley asked, leaning on her hand as she raised an eyebrow. "You are recovering, Tommy."

"I don't want to get behind again," Tommy sighed. "I'll stress more if that happens and since Dana has me off my meds for a bit til we can make sure they won't react with whatever else is in my system…"

He shrugged.

"I'm trying to keep ahead of it," he said.

"Tommy…" she sighed. "You know Billy can—"

"I'm not putting it all on Billy," Tommy said firmly. "He's great and I know he'll do whatever I ask, but that's not fair to him."

Hayley sighed again, looking over at Conner.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching him?" she asked. "That is why you stayed after all."

"No, I'm feeding him," Conner said, shaking his head. "And I choose my battles better than that. You want to have that fight it's all yours. He's technically relaxing, isn't he?"

Walking over, he set a plate down in front of Tommy.

"Here you go, Dr. O," he said. "Dana said this was ok. Egg salad sandwich—but with no salt or mustard. Bland, just for you."

"Great…" Tommy muttered, eying the sandwich. "Thanks…"

"Sorry," Conner shrugged.

He headed out to the living room with a plate of sandwiches for the kids. He had left a few behind for Jason and Hayley.

"So, I have another question," Jason said, glancing around the room. "Where does that door go?"

He pointed to a door off the kitchen.

"That's not another bedroom, is it?"

Hayley and Tommy both shook their heads.

"Conference room," Tommy said. "Only seats twelve so it's really not ideal for much these days though. We used it a lot at the beginning for red meetings."

"So, you have your own conference room and a full kitchen?" Jason said in surprise. "Our suite only has a small kitchenette—and no conference room. This seems like a lot of space."

"It is," Tommy agreed.

He had set down the tablet and was now examining his sandwich.

"So why?" Jason asked.

"Because this is the suite for the head of the rangers," Hayley explained. "Originally the idea was that whoever they were would potentially need to host meetings in this suite so there was extra space built in. But that was also before our numbers more than doubled so…"

Jason frowned.

"I thought this was the Dino Thunder suite," he said quietly.

Tommy snorted.

"Nope," he said, shaking his head. "They followed me."

Hayley nodded in agreement.

"Their actual suite is next to Ninja Storm's in the southeast corner," she said. "The door with their emblem on it? The ranger suites are all in order around the hall from oldest team to newest starting with Mighty Morphin' here on the north side hall and ending with Ninja Steel in the west hall. And of course the Command suite here in the northwest corner leads them all off. All of the other rooms are marked by the team's symbol, but you'll notice this door doesn't have one."

"I guess I did notice that," Jason admitted. "I just didn't realize it was on purpose. So, your group is only in here—"

"Because I am," Tommy sighed. "I can't get rid of them."

"Come on, Dr. O," Conner said, dropping into a chair at the table with his own food. "You'd miss us if we were gone and you know it."

He grinned as Tommy rolled his eyes and finally took a bite of his sandwich.

"Yep," Tommy sighed after he swallowed. "Tastes just like I thought it would…"

Jason chuckled.

"So, out of curiosity," he said after a few minutes. "What would happen if you decided to step down? Would you move back into Mighty Morphin' or Dino Thunder?"

Tommy shook his head.

"Nah, that's too much effort," he said. "Besides, the new tower will be done within the next year or so and that holds the new command suite."

"What?" Jason said in surprise.

Now it was Tommy's turn to chuckle.

"Didn't you notice blocked corridor just across from the west elevator?" he asked. "I mean, they aren't actively working on it while there are so many rangers currently in residence, but there is definitely construction going on."

"Oh," Jason said.

Conner and Hayley were both nodding along with Tommy.

"The rangers are always planning ahead," Hayley explained. "Since you all continue to multiply."

Tommy scowled at her but she just smirked.

"So, there is a whole new tower under construction to plan for future ranger teams," Hayley continued. "Especially since there are only two unassigned suites left on this floor that could hold an entire ranger team. And that's on top of all of the building that SPD and Lightspeed are doing for their own spaces. This whole complex will be expanding over the next few years."

"But even if Dr. O decided he was sick of us, he still gets to stay here," Conner grinned.

Tommy shot him a look now. Jason raised an eyebrow.

"It's true," Conner shrugged. "We all decided on that when we approved the construction. Way we see it, Dr. O has been using this suite long enough that it's kind of just his. If and when someone does take his place, they'll just use the new one."

"Which will be better anyways," Hayley added. "Because we now have a much better idea of what the needs in the suite would be. It will be far more catered to a single individual rather than a team and set up to be a place where video conference calls are practical. Unlike the current conference room. Though it still wouldn't hold a full council."

"The only rooms that do that now are the UN room and one other meeting room," Tommy pointed out drily. "Unless we just squished in together."

He sighed, glaring at his sandwich again.

"But they're right, Jase," he said. "While we hope there would never be a big enough emergency we would need to retreat down here with our families, we want to be prepared. So, we're always expanding and building for the future. As for me moving out, at this point with all the kids finding a room is difficult. My room next door has been taken by Izzy and Rae. Same problem in the next room where Rocky and Adam have five kids between them. I could move into Turbo but…"

"You would have Justin and he's essentially taken over the entire space," Conner laughed. "You should see it, Jason. He's got a whole set up there. He's not here as often as someone like Hayley or even Ethan, but he uses it enough. He wouldn't be happy about downsizing."

"That's not wrong," Hayley said, shaking her head.

"It's not…" Tommy said. "Which leaves me with Dino Thunder. And it would work but wouldn't be ideal. So…"

He shrugged.

"It makes sense," Jason admitted. "So, what's the plan for today?"

"Well, that seems like a big step," Andros said hesitantly.

Carter had just finished explaining what was going on with the Mighty Morphin' rangers, going into more detail than had been sent out as a general message. He had also talked about the clause that would put them under protection—whether they wanted it or not.

"I mean, I get where it's coming from," Leo said. "Really, I do. Losing people hurts. If any of us can understand that it's me. But is it really necessary to go that far?"

Carter sighed.

"You all know Tommy," he said. "He can be stubborn to a fault and does not like to admit to being hurt. There are things that still need to be done and I really don't think we can afford to risk him."

Andros shook his head.

"Tommy is important," he agreed. "But we are in a lot of trouble if this network can't run at all without him."

"It probably could if push came to shove," Carter admitted. "But there would be a lot of bumps along the way. I just honestly believe that, for Tommy's health and well-being, he needs to step back for a while and let us help him. But he isn't doing that. He hasn't even been fully conscious for 48 hours and he's already back working on ranger things."

"Are you really that surprised?" TJ snorted. "It's Tommy—he's nothing if not dedicated. Isn't his team helping?"

"Well, yes," Carter said. "Trini and Billy are helping with what they can. But Adam and Rocky are usually the ones who support him with the rest of the rangers and now they're down, too."

He shook his head.

"The whole group is too close to the situation," he said. "They aren't thinking straight right now and it's like they expect the bad guy to just pop out and say: 'here I am'. I mean, wouldn't any of you be grateful in the end that someone else acted with your best interests at heart? Even if you were initially angry about it?"

"Hope you're willing to wait for it," TJ said shortly, crossing his arms. "Grateful is not going to come quick if you go this route. The eleven of them are not going to take kindly to you trying to put them on house arrest—and you can't say that's not what this is. They are way more independent than that."

"I know," Carter said. "And I am willing to take on the responsibility and blame for this. I just…"

He sighed.

"I guess what I need to know is if I'm completely out of line," he admitted. "Or if any of you at least understand where I'm coming from—and maybe partially agree. I'm not doing this because I want to lead the rangers. Dealing with this base is a headache enough some days. All I want to do is keep them safe and I'm afraid that once this week they've agreed to is up, that they're all going to scatter again and someone else is going to get hurt—or worse. I can't think of another way to keep that from happening. They think they can solve this, but they are too close to it. They can't be objective."

Andros, TJ, and Leo all exchanged looks.

"We do understand," Andros sighed after a moment. "But Carter, this is a big step. There are going to be consequences—if only in our relationships with them. Especially you."

"But it doesn't have to be," Carter said. "That's the thing. We don't have to make a big deal out of this or worry everyone unnecessarily. All this is going to do is give me and my team more time to resolve the investigation and make sure they are going to be safe when they eventually leave Lightspeed. Then everything can go right back to normal with no further arguments."

"Doesn't part of this clause involve an announcement?" TJ pointed out. "You aren't allowed to skip that just because it's more convenient."

"I would still send out notices," Carter said quickly. "But if we don't make a big deal out of it, the rest should follow our lead. Unless one of you has a better idea to keep them safe?"

The other three reds all shook their heads.

"Short of kidnapping them all and taking them into space?" TJ said. "I've got nothing. And I'd honestly rather let them be mad at you. Plus, I don't think we have room for eleven extra rangers plus their families."

"And Dino Thunder," Leo said. "Because do you really think you'd get away with abducting Tommy and leave them behind? Because if you do, they will find a way to follow. And you are not going to like the consequences when they catch you."

TJ grimaced.

"Yeah… we don't have that kind of space on this ship," he muttered.

Carter looked around.

"So, will you support me?" he asked. "You have my word I will cede authority back to the appropriate parties immediately upon a satisfactory resolution of this investigation—whether my team finds the answer or someone else. And the three of you will be able to revoke your consent at any time if you think I take something too far. I will keep you updated every step of the way."

They were all silent for a few minutes, thinking over their options. Finally, Andros sighed.

"I have to admit you are probably right," he admitted. "This will likely be best for everyone in the long run. Though I never thought we'd have to use this clause so quickly."

"No kidding," TJ said, shaking his head. "We voted on it—what?—two months ago? Not long after we dealt with Draven."

"Yes, two months," Leo said. "Tommy wanted something in place in case something similar happened again. He didn't want to be used against the rangers like that and wanted preventative measures in place. This isn't quite the same situation but…"

He sighed.

"I will—reluctantly—agree," Leo said. "I will expect daily updates. Along with immediate news of any major discoveries. But Carter—this can't take forever. Eventually you may just have to let it go and let them take care of themselves and each other."

"I know," Carter nodded. "Thank you, Leo. TJ?"

TJ sighed.

"I will agree," he said slowly. "On one condition."

"And that is?" Carter asked.

"You have to inform Tommy, Billy, and Trini yourself immediately," TJ said firmly. "Like as soon as you can sit down with them. Before the announcement has to go out. I don't want them finding out from someone else what's going on and thinking that I went behind their backs and betrayed their trust. That means you explain all of our reasons for agreeing with you."

Leo and Andros immediately echoed an agreement to TJ's statement.

"I can do that," Carter said. "I just need to take an official vote from the three of you."

Quickly recording a vote, the four of them clarified a few details and finished up.

"Alright," Carter said. "Thank you all. I will send out a notice to the rest of the network within twenty-four hours. I want to make sure I have time to talk to Tommy and the other two before I tell anyone else."

"Agreed," Andros said. "Keep us updated. I'm keeping the Megaship close for the time being. But my team is not setting foot on Earth until we are sure the problem is not going to affect anyone else. Not after last time. If something happened to TJ again, Cassie would kill me."

"Understood," Carter said as TJ sighed. "I will talk to you all soon."

Finished, Carter said goodbye and hung up. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

"So, what was that about?"

Carter's head shot up. Ryan was standing in the doorway of his office. Leaning against the doorframe, he had his arms crossed in front of him as he looked at Carter expectantly.

"Oh, Ryan," he said. "Sorry. I didn't hear you come in. I was just discussing options with some of the others."

"Options for what?" Ryan asked, frowning.

Carter hesitated, knowing how Ryan had reacted the day before. Ryan groaned.

"Carter, please tell me you did not seriously call them about that stupid clause," he said.

When Carter didn't immediately answer, Ryan straightened up and walked over to his desk. He leaned on the desk with both hands.

"Please tell me they didn't side with you," he said sharply.

Carter took a deep breath.

"They understood where I was coming from and agreed that it is a necessary step at this point to keep the eleven of them safe," Carter said firmly.

"It's not necessary, it's stupid," Ryan snapped. "This is not going to go well."

"Ryan, you're acting like I can't lead," Carter sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Your leadership abilities are not the point of this conversation," Ryan countered. "The point is that you are making decisions for veteran rangers who are perfectly capable of making their own decisions and taking care of themselves. For goodness sakes, Carter—if it wasn't for Tommy, we probably would have had shattered dimensional barriers three months ago! They know what they are doing! Have you even talked to them about your concerns?"

"I've tried," Carter snapped. "But they aren't listening to reason. None of them can see this clearly because they are so concerned about Tommy, Rocky, and Adam. That's what this clause was intended for—when someone is too close to a situation to make good decisions. That's why I'm stepping up. I'm trying to help them. Someday they will thank me for helping them."

"Thank you?" Ryan scoffed.

"Eventually—"

"Or never," Ryan interrupted.

"They are grown adults," Carter said, shaking his head. "I'm sure they'll see reason once I explain everything."

Ryan shook his head.

"You really need to read your audience better," he muttered. "This is going to blow up in your face, Carter."

Ryan's phone went off in his pocket. Pulling it out, he smirked and looked back at Carter.

"Well, speak of the devil," he said. "It's Tommy."

"Don't," Carter said sharply before Ryan could hit the answer button. "We are not done here, and I don't want him to hear this from you."

"Why?" Ryan countered, though he let the phone keep ringing. "Aren't you going to tell him anyways? Or were you just planning on letting him think he's still in charge while you make all the decisions behind his back and put them under house arrest?"

"I'm going to tell them!" Carter snapped.

Tommy looked up when the suite door opened. Trent walked in pushing a wheelchair.

"What is that?" Tommy sighed. "And why is it here?"

"Special request from your wife," Trent said, walking over to Tommy with it.

Tommy shook his head.

"I don't—"

"I'm just the delivery guy, Dr. O," Trent shrugged. "But Kat did say until you can at least take a shower by yourself, she gets to make the decisions."

Jason, sitting next to Tommy at the table, laughed. Scowling, Tommy grabbed his cane and whacked Jason in the ankle like he had Conner earlier.

"Ouch!" Jason yelped. "Who gave him that thing? It's essentially a sword."

"It's a medical aid device," Tommy retorted, eyeing the wheelchair as Trent parked it next to him.

"For what?" Jason protested. "Medical aids should help, not hurt."

"Stop being a baby," Hayley snickered. "It's not like he hit you in the head."

"I could," Tommy grinned, waving the cane at Jason.

Conner, Krista, and the four kids were watching and laughing, too. Krista had rejoined them a while before and they had been roped into watching a movie with the kids. Still laughing and threatening Jason with the cane, Tommy was starting to stand when the ranger phone went off in his pocket. Staying in his seat, he pulled it out and answered it.

"Hello?" he said, still snickering a little.

He listened for a moment, his smile disappearing.

"Quiet!" he hissed, looking at Hayley.

The laughter in the room stopped.

"Mick—what happened?" Tommy demanded.

Hayley exchanged a look with Trent. Conner was on his feet in the other room and heading in their direction. Krista stayed with the kids to try and distract them.

"Do you know anything else?" Tommy asked a minute later. "Yeah, that sounds like a good plan, but I'm still going to start things moving on this end just in case. I'm not risking the worst-case scenario with this. Call me if anything else changes."

Hanging up, Tommy took a deep breath and grimaced.

"Dad, what's going on?" JJ asked anxiously.

He was still in the living room, but he was watching Tommy closely.

"I'm fine, JJ," Tommy said, shaking his head.

He turned to Conner who was waiting next to Trent. Tommy looked between them for a moment.

"Trent, take them to the cafeteria to wait for Kat," Tommy said. "Have JJ pick some ice cream to go with the cake."

Trent nodded. Krista was already having the four kids put on shoes and grab anything they would need for the party. Trent helped her and they started moving the kids toward the door.

"Jason, go with them, please," Tommy said.

"What's going on?" Jason asked, frowning.

"Too much to explain right now," Tommy answered quietly. "If you were completely up to speed you could probably help, but right now I don't have time to catch you up and I need to move quickly. Go with the kids. The party starts soon. Tell Kat I will be there as soon as I can."

Jason hesitated and then nodded.

"If there is anything I can do, call me," he said. "I want to help."

Tommy smiled faintly.

"Thanks, Rex," he said. "I appreciate it."

Hayley stayed with Tommy and Conner as the kids left with the other adults. Tommy was texting furiously on his phone as he waited for them to leave, glaring at it in frustration when he didn't seem to be getting an answer. As the door was sliding shut, Tommy put the phone to his ear to try calling. Hayley and Conner waited patiently.

"Where is he?" Tommy muttered in frustration when no one answered the call.

"Tommy, what's going on?" Hayley asked.

"Ryan isn't answering his phone," Tommy said shortly, trying again.

"Ok, but what is going on?" she asked again.

"You said something about Mick," Conner said. "Is Ninja Steel alright?"

Tommy shook his head.

"They've been taken in front of the Halloween Court," he said, glaring at his phone.

Ryan hadn't answered again.

"What?" Hayley and Conner both exclaimed.

"You heard me right," Tommy sighed.

"What did they do?" Conner asked. "Because they don't just arrest people for fun."

"I have no idea," Tommy said. "I wasn't going to hold Mick for details. He only has two of the team right now and the explanation I was getting was a little weird. Mick said they were just out trick-or-treating so he's not completely sure what's going on either."

"Umm… It's June, Dr. O," Conner said slowly, frowning.

"I am aware, Conner," Tommy said shortly, sending another burst of texts to Ryan. "Mick was rambling, but I caught something about Halloween being ruined by a monster last year so now that school is out the town was making it up to the kids. I wasn't going to ask."

He huffed in frustration.

"Where is he?" Tommy scowled. "He wanted to help and now he's ignoring me and there's a crisis."

"Tommy, breathe," Hayley said. "Get in the chair and have Conner take you up to Carter's office."

Tommy scowled at her.

"Don't look at me like that," she said shortly as she snatched the ranger tablet off the table. "I'm sure Ryan has a good reason for not answering. But Carter should be able to tell you where he is—and he can help you reach out to the rest of the reds and have someone ready to go if Ryan can't for whatever reason. Remember, you are supposed to be taking it easy."

"I know, Hayley," Tommy snapped. "But I can't ignore this. You know what they'll do if they find the rangers guilty."

"I am aware," she said evenly. "But you still need help. Go see Carter."

Tommy sighed but let Conner help him into the wheelchair.

"Try not to let him overdo it," Hayley said, looking at Conner. "I'm going to try and see if I can figure out what they're being accused of and why they were dragged in front of the court. If they actually did something to warrant being taken to the court we won't interfere but—"

"I doubt that's the case," Tommy interrupted.

"We still need to know for sure," Hayley said. "Get out of here. We can't waste time."

Tommy nodded and Conner turned the chair, quickly pushing him out of the room and heading for the elevator.

"You can't keep them locked up in here like this, Carter," Ryan snapped, slamming a fist on Carter's desk. "You're going to alienate them, and we can't do this without them. They're too valuable to us. To the rangers."

They were still arguing about Carter's decision. Ryan was angry that Carter had gone that far, believing the Mighty Morphin' rangers were going to be angry themselves. He had silenced his phone after the first call from Tommy, so he hadn't realized he had missed a lot more calls and texts. He was pretty much shouting at this point, but Carter wasn't backing down either.

"The amount of work they put into the rangers isn't just something you can change on a whim," Ryan continued. "Everyone relies on Tommy and you know it. He's the one they go to when they need help. He's more than just the job at this point—he's a symbol of what the rangers are trying to be. He's our leader. The one that gives us hope when things seem desperate and a reminder that a ranger will always answer a call for help. That's why everyone freaked out when he disappeared three months ago."

"And that's part of the problem, Ryan!" Carter finally snapped, interrupting Ryan's rant.

"What's the problem?"

Carter and Ryan both spun at the interruption. Tommy, sitting in his wheelchair, was in the doorway with Conner behind him.

"Tommy—what are you doing here?" Carter asked in surprise.

"I came to talk to you," Tommy said. "I needed to find Ryan and have you help me deal with a potential situation. But I found Ryan so let me handle that first."

He looked at Ryan, crossing his arms.

"Did you lose your phone?" Tommy demanded.

"No, I was just—no," Ryan said, shaking his head as he pulled it out. "Oh."

He saw how many missed calls and texts he had.

"How bad of a situation is this?" Ryan asked, looking back up at Tommy.

"Ninja Steel has been taken in front of the Halloween Court," Tommy answered shortly.

Carter and Ryan both grimaced. Tommy quickly explained everything he knew from Mick.

"I need you to get eyes on them now, Ryan," Tommy said. "Call Andros—I'm sure they're nearby after what happened this week. We need to be able to get them out if the court is wrong but still tries to convict them. And I mean take them. We can deal with consequences after they're safe. I don't want to lose them."

Ryan nodded. After shooting another glare at Carter, he stalked toward the door.

"I'll call if I need assistance," Ryan said as he passed Tommy.

Tommy nodded, turning his attention back to Carter.

"Now, what were you two arguing about?" Tommy asked Carter curiously. "Because you were getting loud."

Ryan snorted, pausing at the door.

"There you go, Carter," he said sarcastically. "The perfect opportunity. You wanted to tell him yourself, after all, didn't you? Good luck."

Ryan disappeared out the door and Tommy frowned at Carter.

"Tell me what, Carter?" he asked slowly.

Carter hesitated, looking at Conner standing behind Tommy.

"Can we talk privately?" he asked.

"I'm pretty sure whatever you need to tell me, Conner can hear," Tommy said. "Given that he generally knows everything I know anyways. Now what is going on?"

Conner smirked and didn't move. Carter sighed.

"Fine," Carter said. "Ryan and I were—talking—about my meeting with some of the other reds."

Tommy frowned.

"Meeting?" he said. "About what? I wasn't told there was a meeting."

"It wasn't a full meeting," Carter said, shaking his head.

He paused.

"Tommy, for the safety of you and your teammates," he continued after a moment. "I am invoking the clause from the agreements that puts your team under the protection of mine until we can resolve the current situation."

Tommy and Conner both stared at Carter in surprise for a moment as they both tried to process what he had just said.

"You did what?" Tommy exclaimed. "You can't be serious, Carter. That is not what I meant that to—"

"It wasn't just me," Carter interrupted. "The others agreed that it was the smart move for now—if only to keep you and your teammates from putting yourselves in more danger."

"Who?" Tommy demanded.

Behind him, Conner was scowling at Carter as he gripped the handles of the wheelchair. But he stayed quiet for a moment. He knew Tommy was going to want to handle it himself. And, more importantly, that he could.

"That's not important," Carter answered, shaking his head. "What matters is that I got the required amount of reds to formally agree to this. They all agree that you need a break to recover."

Tommy took a breath before speaking again.

"Carter, why?" he asked. "You never talked to me about this—or any of us. They would have said something. And if this is all of my teams—"

"Just the eleven of you," Carter interrupted. "The rest of Dino Thunder does not appear to be affected by this. The only victims have been from the first two teams."

Tommy rubbed his forehead irritably.

"Have you even told Billy or Trini yet?" he asked shortly.

"No, I haven't had a chance to talk to them about it," Carter said. "I had only just finished with the others when Ryan interrupted me and then you came in."

"Were you going to talk to any of us?" Tommy snapped. "Because this isn't talking, Carter, this is telling. Talking actually involves input from the second party, but you've already made your decision and gotten your way. Why didn't you talk to us first if you were this concerned? We could have compromised."

Carter shook his head.

"I have tried compromising," he said. "But all of you are ready to just take off and you could still be in danger. I got Billy to agree to a week and everyone is already trying to get out of it. I'm doing this for the sake of all of your health and wellbeing—I don't want to see something else happen to any of you."

"No one is planning on putting themselves in harm's way, Carter," Tommy said shortly. "But they have a right to go back to their lives. We have no idea—"

"Tommy, think about it," Carter interrupted. "It can't be coincidence that the three of you were drugged with the same thing in less than forty-eight hours. And this is on top of everything else that has been going on the last three months. Especially for you. It's a lot for anyone to handle and now you're injured on top of attending sessions to deal with the last problem—"

"So, what?" Tommy snapped. "Are you saying I'm not fit to lead in my current condition?"

"That's not what I meant—"

"That's kind of what you said, Carter," Conner inserted. "Whether you meant it or not—that's what you said."

Tommy glanced over his shoulder at Conner who just shrugged. He was glaring daggers at Carter. Shaking his head, Tommy turned back to the red Lightspeed ranger.

"Ok, fine," Carter sighed. "However, you want to interpret it. But look at what has been happening! Three months ago you were kidnapped and it took over a month for you to be back on track after that, Tommy. Now someone tried to kill you. Your decisions are being influenced by everything that's happened."

Tommy's personal phone, which he'd had back since that morning, started ringing in his pocket. He ignored it as he glared at Carter.

"My decision making as head of the rangers is not influenced by my friends being injured," he snarled. "I can separate the two."

"Maybe," Carter said. "But you can't guarantee your reactions won't influence your final decisions. I don't want one of you making a decision without thinking it through and someone ending up hurt again—or worse!"

Conner's phone rang now, and he looked at who was calling.

"Dr. O, it's Kat," he said quietly, interrupting before Tommy could snap at Carter again.

Tommy paused and took a breath. Closing his eyes for a moment, he pinched the bridge of his nose as he collected himself.

"Text her and tell her we're on our way down," he said shortly after a moment.

Then he looked back at Carter.

"Don't think this discussion is over," he said irritably. "But I'm not missing JJ's party to argue with you. And if you tell anyone besides Trini and Billy and it ruins JJ's birthday party, you're going to have bigger problems than our disagreement here."

Carter nodded stiffly.

"Conner, let's go," Tommy said.

Conner immediately turned the wheelchair and they left Carter's office. He headed straight for the elevator. While they were waiting for it, Tommy sighed. He could tell without turning around that Conner was almost as agitated as he was about the situation—if only because he hadn't said a word since they left the office.

"You can tell the others," he said quietly, glancing back at Conner. "But don't let it interrupt the party. You can be angry later—alright? But this afternoon needs to be about JJ."

Conner took a deep breath and let it out.

"No problem, Dr. O," he said after a minute. "We'll make sure JJ has a good birthday—then we can all tell Carter he is being an idiot."

A few minutes later, Conner pushed Tommy in through the doors of the big gym where everyone else had already gathered for the party. The kids were all grouped in the center of the room with Ninja Storm while the adults were mostly grouped around the table of food as they finished setting things up. Seeing them come in, Kat hurried over with a frown on her face.

"Where have you been?" she hissed at Tommy. "I'm trying to do something nice for our son and you're off doing who knows what without answering or telling me what's going on."

"Dr. O?" Conner said hesitantly.

"Go, Conner," Tommy said, glancing over his shoulder at the other ranger.

Conner darted away. Meeting up with the other Dino Thunder rangers, he pulled them aside to a corner of the room where they started whispering with each other. Tommy watched him go.

"Where were you?" Kat asked, drawing his attention back to her.

She was looking at him expectantly with her arms crossed. He sighed.

"I'm sorry… but there was a situation with Ninja Steel that needed to be addressed immediately," Tommy said quietly in answer to her question. "It involved the Halloween Court."

Kat stared at him in surprise.

"What?" she exclaimed, her arms falling to her sides.

"You heard right," Tommy sighed. "They were taken before the Halloween Court. I couldn't just ignore it and leave it for later."

Kat grimaced and shook her head.

"Is it handled?" she asked, her anger gone now.

"Ryan is handling it," Tommy said. "He's supposed to call me if he needs support so I can send someone else to help him. But hopefully Andros and company will be enough to extract them if they can't convince the Court of their innocence. If that happens though…"

"We'll have to lock them down here until we can make them see reason…" Kat said.

"Yeah," Tommy said. "Because the Court isn't just going to let them go if they believe they are guilty."

Kat sighed and nodded. Studying Tommy, though, she frowned again.

"There's something else going on, though, isn't there?" she asked slowly. "You don't just look concerned—you look upset. What happened?"

Tommy shook his head.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," he muttered.

"Tommy…" Kat said.

He shook his head again.

"No," he said firmly. "This party is for JJ and I'm not about to let something ruin his birthday. It's been a long few months for him. For all of us. He deserves today, Kat."

Kat nodded in agreement. She couldn't argue with Tommy on that subject.

"But we are going to talk later?" she said.

"Yes, we will talk later," Tommy promised. "But right now, let's make sure JJ has a good night."

JJ had finally noticed Tommy had arrived and came racing over to see him.

"Dad!" he exclaimed. "Isn't this awesome? Can you believe mom did all this? And you got me real power rangers for my birthday! And they're giving us ninja lessons!"

Tommy smiled, looking over to where the Ninjas were working with the kids. They were indeed going through and teaching the kids a few ninja basics—much to Rocky's dismay.

"Do you really need to teach my three-year-old more ways to be sneaky?" Rocky was demanding of a grinning Hunter. "He's already hard to keep track of when he's quiet. He does not need more encouragement."

Tommy chuckled, turning back to JJ.

"I'm glad you're having fun," he said. "Happy birthday, JJ."

Tommy reached over and pulled JJ into a hug.

"Dad!" JJ protested, wiggling away. "Not in front of the Ninjas!"

Kat put a hand over her heart, sniffing.

"Oh no," she said, smirking a little at her son. "He's finally hit that age. Hugs are no longer cool."

Taking Tommy's chair, she moved him closer to the group as she laughed at JJ's scowl. Shane, who had been coming to retrieve the escaped birthday boy, grinned as he approached.

"Come on, kid," Shane said. "Hugs are cool at any age."

Stopping in front of Tommy, he grinned at him.

"If you need a hug, Dr. O," he said, holding out his arms.

Tommy scowled at him as Shane just laughed.

"Oh, free hugs?" Dustin asked, joining Shane and looking at Tommy.

"Touch me and I'll hurt you," Tommy warned them, shifting the cane sitting across his lap.

JJ scoffed as Shane and Dustin eyed Tommy warily.

"You can't hurt ninjas, dad," JJ said, shaking his head.

Shane snorted, ruffling JJ's hair.

"Whatever you say, kid," he said. "I've seen what your dad can do with a weapon. So I'm going to take his threat seriously. Come on."

He started pulling JJ back toward the group. Marc who had followed them in search of JJ, spoke up in agreement with JJ.

"He's right, though," Marc insisted. "Hugs aren't cool."

"Sure they aren't," Shane smirked.

Jason just sighed, shaking his head as he looked at his son. Shane and Dustin caught the look and exchanged a grin.

"Do you need a hug, Jason?" Shane smirked.

Jason scowled at him.

"Don't touch me," he said, following Tommy's lead and trying to threaten them. "You may not know a lot about me—but I fought with Tommy for years and I've been working with Adam and Rocky again."

The two rangers studied Jason for a moment and then nodded at each other.

"Too many witnesses," Dustin announced with a laugh, calling Jason's bluff.

To Jason's annoyance, Shane and Dustin grabbed him from opposite sides and hugged him between them.

"Get off!" Jason growled, pushing them away as they laughed.

He spun to look at Tommy who was snickering.

"Tommy, let me see your cane," Jason said.

"Get your own, Jase," Tommy grinned.

"Where am I supposed to find one?" Jason demanded, scowling at the ninjas again.

"Across the room—cabinet on the wall," Tommy said, pointing. "Your hand will unlock it. Bo staff."

Spinning, Jason stalked away muttering to himself. Shane and Dustin, still laughing, went back to the group of kids.

"Kat, what is going on today?" Kim asked, joining her at the drink table. "I can tell he's trying to have fun, but something is clearly off with Tommy."

Kat, who was filling up one of the punch bowls, looked up at Kim and sighed. The Ninjas had finished with the kids a while ago and they had taken a break for cake. Now JJ was getting ready to open presents before all of the kids started running around again. Tanya and Aisha, seeing Kim talking to Kat, walked over to join in the conversation.

"I have no idea," Kat admitted, glancing over to where Tommy was sitting. "I thought it was the—situation—he sent Ryan to deal with. But I feel like it's more than that now. But Tommy won't tell me anything else."

She had left Tommy with the other guys where JJ was now sitting in the middle of his presents. The kids were all crowded around sitting on the floor while the Ninjas and Dinos were ready to grab paper or hand him presents—and keep a couple of the younger ones from trying to help JJ. Hayley was waiting with her phone to take pictures.

"What do you mean?" Kim frowned. "He has to tell you—he's your husband."

"He says he'll tell me later tonight," Kat said, shaking her head. "He doesn't want to ruin JJ's party with whatever it is."

"Well, I think we can all understand that," Tanya said. "But what on earth could be so serious anyways?"

Kat just shrugged.

"I have no idea," she said again. "I mean, there was a situation with—"

She paused, glancing to make sure the kids weren't close enough to hear her.

"There is a situation with Ninja Steel," Kat continued. "But I can tell something else is bothering him."

JJ was opening his first gift now. Kat knew the moment he opened it who it was from. It was a uniform from the Wind Academy—complete with facemask.

"Dad, look!" JJ exclaimed. "Can I wear this at the dojo?"

Tommy raised an eyebrow.

"Is that part of your uniform?" he asked.

"No…" JJ sighed.

"Then that's your answer," Tommy said.

"What about practicing at home?"

"Knock yourself out," Tommy chuckled.

JJ grinned as he turned and thanked the Ninjas. Kim sighed as she watched him reach for another gift. She pouted as she turned back to the other women.

"I should have asked about birthdays three months ago," she sighed. "Because now I don't have anything for JJ. I mean, I only just found out on Wednesday. Then everything happened so I definitely didn't have time to shop. I've looked around online, but it's not like I can just have something delivered here."

Kat, Tanya, and Aisha exchanged amused looks.

"Actually, you can," Trini said, joining them. "There's just a few extra steps involved—like who you have it shipped to since you don't want to associate your name with the base."

"Really?" Kim exclaimed, looking at Trini in surprise.

Trini nodded. JJ had opened a few more presents. They were from his parents and had been some clothing items like t-shirts and sweatshirts.

"Thanks, mom!" JJ called over, though he sounded significantly less excited than he had been by the ninja uniform.

Kat smiled at him as he grabbed another present. He opened it and Tommy looked at it in surprise. JJ, however, let out a shout of excitement as he pulled out a set of num-chuks.

"These are awesome!" JJ exclaimed, starting to swing them.

Cam was there in an instant and snatched them gently out of JJ's grip—much to the relief of both Tommy and Kat.

"Not until you have had some lessons," Cam said as JJ pouted. "We can discuss that later."

"Fine," JJ grumbled.

"Thank you, Cam," Tommy said. "I forgot about those."

Kat rolled her eyes and turned back to look at Kim as JJ dove back into his gifts. Kim was typing away on her phone shopping for presents.

"Kim, this really isn't necessary," Kat said. "JJ has plenty of gifts—he doesn't need anything else. Trini—did you really have to tell her she could have things delivered here?"

"I wasn't going to try and hide it from her," Trini said. "Besides, it's in the packet of information she's supposed to be reading."

"I'm working on it," Kim protested. "But it's a lot to read. I gave you back the NDAs at least."

Trini just shook her head. She glanced over at Tommy and then back at Kat.

"Do you know what's going on with Tommy?" she asked. "Something is off with him today."

"He won't tell me," Kat said. "He said he'll talk to me later—Kim, you seriously have a shopping addiction."

Kat had just gotten a glimpse of how many shopping apps Kim had on her phone.

"Honey, we knew about that a long time ago," Aisha pointed out. "But it could be a lot worse."

"I do not have a problem!" Kim protested.

"We know," Trini said, patting her on the arm.

"But it really isn't necessary," Kat insisted again.

"There's what is necessary and there is what we do anyways," Kim retorted. "Like this. Is it necessary for me to buy your son the latest video game console? No. Am I going to? Yes."

Kat immediately started shaking her head.

"Please don't," she said.

"Why?" Kim frowned, looking up at her. "Is he not allowed to play video games? I swear I saw a console at your house."

"That's not it," Kat said. "It's just…"

She pointed over to where JJ had just finished opening his gift from Hayley. The other four women turned to look. JJ was bouncing in excitement with a box in his hands—it was the gaming console Kim had just been looking at.

"Hayley and Ethan provide most gaming related things in our house," Kat finished.

"Thank you, Aunt Hayley!" JJ exclaimed with a grin. "This is awesome!"

"And it's the best because it's from me," Hayley smirked, shooting a look at Tommy.

He rolled his eyes.

"Hayley…" Tommy sighed.

"What?" she asked. "You give him things he can hurt himself with. My gifts let him exercise his mind."

"Oh, yes," Tommy said drily. "Because that's why he plays video games."

Kim pouted, going back to looking for new ideas. Ethan interrupted their conversation.

"I need paper!" he exclaimed frantically.

"What?" Aisha said, looking at him in surprise.

"Paper!" Ethan repeated.

They all checked pockets. Trini managed to find a piece of paper and handed it to him.

"Now I need a pen," Ethan said, looking around.

Seeing Billy, he darted away.

"Billy, pen!" Ethan said.

But he didn't wait for Billy to actually respond. Instead, he just grabbed the pen out of Billy's shirt pocket and ran. Billy watched him go in surprise.

"I feel violated," he said, looking over at his friends and then back after Ethan. "I would have let him borrow it if he had waited for me to process his question."

The other seven man were laughing at the expression on Billy's face. Ethan was now scribbling quickly on the paper. Then he leaned over and snagged the bag JJ was about to open away and replaced it with the piece of paper.

"Hey!" JJ protested. "What are you doing, Ethan?"

"Just read the paper, kid," Ethan said, holding the bag behind his back now. "Go on."

JJ rolled his eyes and then started reading the note out loud.

"I owe you five games of your choice for your new console."

JJ paused, reading it again and then grinning up at Ethan.

"Ok!" he said, happily accepting the note.

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief and got out of the way. He walked back over to stand with Conner, Krista, Trent, and Kira. JJ started looking around as he decided what to open next.

"You misread my text, didn't you?" Hayley asked, leaning over to Ethan.

"Yep," Ethan admitted. "I bought games for the wrong system…"

Hayley laughed, but Tommy was looking at Ethan.

"How did your gift even get here?" Tommy asked. "Because the Ninjas didn't detour."

"I left it when I was visiting," Ethan said with a shrug. "I knew where you were hiding things in the—your office—so I just added it to the pile."

Tommy frowned.

"You haven't been over recently," he said.

"Nah, it was months ago," Ethan said. "I didn't want to lose it."

"You'll get your gift from us later, JJ," Kira said, still shaking her head at Ethan. "We weren't in town, so we didn't exactly have a chance to pick it up. But you can open it after you get back home."

"It's at dad's house," Trent added. "With your gift from him."

"That's fine," JJ said, nodding. "That just means I get to open more presents later."

"I got him his present early," Conner smirked, elbowing Trent who just glared at him.

"Because I remembered to go out and get it," Krista said drily.

"Shhh!" Conner said. "We're a couple. We both get credit. That's how it works."

She just rolled her eyes as JJ and the other kids snickered. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction from opening things, Trini walked over to JJ with his gift from her in hand. She shook her head at Kim who was still shopping on her phone.

"Happy birthday, JJ," Trini said with a smile.

She handed him the small, wrapped package.

"Thanks," JJ smiled back.

He opened it to find a book on meditation.

"This is cool," he said. "Thanks!"

He started to set the book aside.

"Open it," Trini said.

"I'll read it later, Trini," JJ said. "I promise."

"Open the book, JJ," she repeated.

Sighing, he picked it back up and opened the front cover. Inside was a $50 bill.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Thanks!"

Grinning, he carefully set the book aside again and started to stick the money in his pocket.

"You're going to lose it," Tommy warned him.

"Right," JJ said.

He jumped to his feet and ran over to Kat.

"Mom, here," he said, holding out the money.

Kat took it with a smile and JJ turned to go back to his spot. Before he sat down, he gave Trini a hug and told her thank you again. Tommy raised an eyebrow.

"I thought hugs weren't cool anymore," he pointed out.

JJ paused next to Tommy before he sat down. He leaned over to talk to Tommy.

"Anyone who gives you $50 is cool enough for a hug," he whispered loudly.

"Well ouch," Tommy muttered as JJ sat back down. "I give you like $20 a week."

"You're my dad, it doesn't count," JJ countered. "And I earn my allowance."

Zach, who hadn't brought a gift but hadn't been stressing like Kim, grinned as he looked between Tommy and JJ.

"Hey, Trini," he said, walking past her to JJ. "Watch this. Happy birthday, kid."

He handed JJ a $100 bill.

"Who's your favorite now?" he grinned as JJ stared at in in surprise and then excitement.

Tommy rolled his eyes.

"Zach!" he said.

"What?" Zach protested as JJ bolted for Kat again.

"You're buying off my kid," Tommy accused.

"Well, yeah," Zach said. "I don't know how to shop for a kid—this is easier. And I beat Trini."

Trini rolled her eyes at him. JJ sat back down again, finally picking up the present he had been about to open a few minutes before. He opened the slightly awkwardly shaped present to find a hiking backpack. JJ studied it for a moment.

"This is cool," he said. "Thanks, dad."

"Hold on," Tommy said. "That present isn't just the backpack."

JJ frowned, opening the bag to look inside. Tommy laughed.

"No, JJ," he said. "That backpack is for you to use when I take you and Mason out to the reservation for a five-day hiking trip. Your Uncle David is going to come with us, and we're going to hike and camp and ride horses while we're there. A fun trip before school starts again—"

Dana, who was standing with Kelsey, Joel, and Chad toward the back of the group, cleared her throat.

"Or after school starts—pending doctor approval," Tommy sighed. "But it's happening this year."

JJ bounced in excitement, hugging the backpack as he started telling Marc and some of the other kids about the last time he'd been to the reservation. Tommy turned to Rocky.

"See?" he said. "I still camp. I don't always stay at the resort."

Rocky snorted.

"I'm not sure how much staying at the reservation with your brother counts," he said drily.

"Fine," Tommy grinned. "You want to come? You can bring your three."

"Ah—nope," Rocky said, shaking his head. "I don't think so."

Damien, hearing the offer, stood up to tug on Tommy's shirt.

"I want to go," he said.

"Only if your dad comes, squirt," Tommy said, ruffling Damien's hair.

"Daddy?" Damien said hopefully, turning to Rocky.

Rocky picked him up.

"Sorry, bud," he said. "But I need at least an air mattress. You know how daddy's back gets—and no one wants to carry one of those on a hike."

"It's ok, daddy," Damien said, patting Rocky on the cheek before turning to look at the other adults. "It's because daddy is too old."

Everyone laughed at Damien's announcement. Even Tommy, who was trying not to laugh too hard with his broken ribs.

"Yes, Damien," Adam laughed. "That's exactly it."

"But you go camping with us, daddy," Lilla said, looking up at Adam.

Both of the twins were sitting in front of Adam's wheelchair by his feet.

"I know," he said. "It just means Rocky is that much older."

"Oh, ok," Lilla nodded.

JJ, still snickering at Rocky, started opening his last present.

"That one is from me," Billy said.

JJ nodded and unwrapped it to find a small box. Opening the box, he pulled out a communicator. Tommy looked at it in surprise—as did all of the other rangers. JJ just examined it in confusion.

"I already have a watch, Uncle Billy," he said. "And this one doesn't have a face. How am I supposed to tell time?"

Billy shook his head as he walked forward and sat down by JJ.

"It is not a watch," he said. "It is a communicator like the one your dad wears that allows the rangers to… keep an eye on him. I built this one for you like I built the one for your dad. Let me show you."

He helped JJ put the communicator on. Tommy was still watching in surprise, as was Kat. She had moved closer to get a better look followed by the rest of the women.

"This communicator is special," Billy continued. "Because it will connect you directly to your dad's if you get in trouble. Push the button on the side."

JJ followed his directions. Tommy's communicator went off with a new alert tone and he stared at it for a moment and then back at JJ and Billy. JJ's head whipped to follow the noise and then back to his own wrist.

"Billy, when did you touch my communicator?" Tommy asked. "Because you had to have both to make that work."

"Hayley brought it to me," Billy said as JJ closely examined the communicator on his wrist.

"You were unconscious," Hayley supplied as Tommy looked at her.

"Oh," he muttered.

"So, I can call dad with this?" JJ asked, looking between Billy and Tommy.

"Yes," Billy confirmed. "It gives you a direct link to your dad—but you should only use it in an emergency. And, if there is ever an emergency where you cannot get ahold of your dad, you push that same button three times in a row very quickly and then hold it. It will then send an alert to myself and your Aunt Hayley so we know you are in need of assistance. This way you will never have to worry about not having someone to help you if you are in trouble."

JJ nodded, still looking at the communicator. Kat leaned over to Hayley as Billy continued to show JJ how it worked.

"Hayley, is it really only going to alert you and Billy?" she asked quietly.

Hayley shook her head.

"Oh, no," she said. "If he's in enough trouble that he needs to set off that alert it's going to everyone. The entire network. It will broadcast his real time location and will continue to ping until it's turned off by one of us. Billy and I figured he didn't need to know that part."

Kat breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, and it tracks across dimensions," Hayley added. "I had Wes test it. You can't pinpoint an exact location until you reach the same dimension, but you'll know if he ever leaves this one because it will automatically alert the network."

"Thank you," Kat said gratefully.

She paused.

"What are the chances of you putting one on my husband?" she asked, eyeing Tommy.

Hayley laughed.

"That was part of the update when we connected JJ's to Tommy's," she told Kat. "The communicators my girls wear have it now, too. And I plan on adding it to all ranger communicators going forward. Just in case."

Rae and Izzy were comparing their communicators to JJ's. Theirs were disguised as brightly colored bracelets, something they wore all the time.

"Mine is a unicorn," Rae said, proudly showing it off to JJ. "Izzy has a princess."

Izzy held out her wrist, too. JJ looked at them with interest.

"I always thought they were just bracelets," he admitted.

Izzy shook her head.

"Nope," she said. "And we cannot take them off. Mommy or daddy have to put their fingerprint here to take it off—that is why they are waterproof."

She twisted part of the bracelet to show a fingerprint scanner on the underside. JJ studied it and then touched his again, twisting it in place on his wrist. The kids were starting to scatter again now that opening presents was over. Billy stood and got out of the way of the kids and Tommy grabbed his attention.

"Thank you, Billy," Tommy said quietly. "Really. Thank you."

Billy smiled.

"Of course," he said, hesitating before continuing. "I do not know how I would have handled either of my girls being taken like JJ was… I wanted to make sure you would always have a way to find him. And for him to find you."

"I'm not going to lie," Tommy sighed, looking over at where JJ was laughing with Marc and Trevor. "It really does make me feel a lot better that he has it."

Turning back toward Billy, Tommy frowned when he saw Carter heading in their direction. Seeing the sudden change in Tommy's demeanor, Billy turned to see who he was looking at.

"What are you doing here, Carter?" Tommy demanded, glaring at him.

"I was hoping to talk to Billy in private," Carter said, looking between them. "Trini as well."

"Maybe now isn't the best time," Tommy said stiffly. "They are currently enjoying my son's birthday party."

Carter sighed.

"I can't win with you, can I?" he asked irritably.

Billy looked between the two men with a frown.

"Tommy, it is fine," he said. "I will go with Carter for a few minutes and be right back. I am sure it will not take long."

Tommy just scowled at Carter.

"Fine," he said shortly after a moment.

Carter turned and started walking away with Billy following.

"Carter, what happened between you two?" Billy asked quietly they walked away.

"Outside…" Carter said, shaking his head. "Trini, will you join us?"

He caught Trini as they walked past and the three headed out of the gym. Aisha, talking with Kim, Kat, and Tanya again, whipped back around to Kat when they were gone.

"Ok, girl, what did Carter do?" she asked.

Kat was already shaking her head.

"I have no idea," she said shortly. "But I'm going to find out. Because clearly that's where the problem is—between them."

She walked away from them straight over to Tommy.

"What happened with Carter?" she asked quietly.

Tommy shook his head, staring at his lap where he was tightly gripping his cane.

"Not right now, Kat," he said shortly. "I—I'm already agitated enough and I really don't want to talk about it here."

Kat hesitated and then nodded.

Kim, Tanya, and Aisha were still talking as they tried to guess what might be going on. But something else had caught Kim's attention.

"They know something," she said.

"What?" Aisha asked.

"Those four know something," Kim repeated, pointing toward the Dino group. "Look at how agitated they are—they were fine before Carter talked to Tommy."

Aisha and Tanya looked where Kim was pointing. Conner, Ethan, Trent, and Kira were standing off by themselves talking. All of them were very obviously upset about something. Exchanging a look, Tanya and Aisha turned back to Kim.

"Girl, they're always offended on Tommy's behalf," Aisha said, shaking her head.

"She's not wrong," Tanya chuckled. "They are nothing if not loyal—to a fault. Especially Conner. And Trent is almost as bad after everything that happened when he first showed up."

Kim shook her head.

"No, that's not what it is," she said.

"How could you possibly know?" Tanya asked.

"Because I do," Kim insisted. "I've seen those kinds of conversations happen. It's like the wife who knows about the insider trading going on gossiping with her friends. She tells them and then tells them not to say anything but they definitely all know. I'm telling you right now—those four know exactly what is going on with Tommy."

"Well," Tanya said slowly. "Conner is the one who brought Tommy down to the party… so, I guess it makes sense that he would probably know."

"And he would tell the other three unless Tommy asked him not to," Aisha added.

"Do you think they would tell us what was going on?" Kim asked.

"Not a chance in the world," Aisha snorted. "Loyal to a fault—remember? If Tommy wants it kept quiet they aren't going to breathe a word to anyone else. Even Krista. And Conner doesn't keep secrets from her unless he has to."

A little ways away, Tommy looked around. He could tell the kids were starting to notice the shift in the mood of the adults around them and were starting to pick up on the fact that something was wrong.

"Shane," he hissed, catching his attention. "Come here."

Shane jogged over.

"What's up, Dr. O?" he asked. "Is everything alright?"

Tommy just shook his head, reaching into a pocket.

"Here," he said, sticking a green bandanna in Shane's hand. "Take the kids and start a game of capture the flag."

"Umm… alright," Shane said. "But this is only one flag."

Tommy glanced around.

"Go take Joel's hat," he said after a moment.

"Alright," Shane grinned, taking off across the gym to snag Joel's hat.

He had it in his hands before Joel realized what was going on. The rest of the Ninjas started corralling the kids into the middle of the room to divide up teams as Shane escaped with Joel's hat to join them.

"Alright," Hunter said, looking at the kids. "So, the birthday boy gets to be one of the captains."

JJ grinned and nodded.

"And our newest member gets to be the other," Hunter continued.

"Damien?" Dustin exclaimed.

The kids laughed as Hunter rolled his eyes.

"Newest, not youngest, Dustin," he said. "There's a difference."

"Then who—oh, Marc," Dustin said sheepishly.

Marc snickered but agreed. They lined the rest of the kids up and Marc and JJ got ready to pick their teams.

"Alright, JJ, you're first," Shane said.

"I pick Rae," JJ grinned.

Marc frowned.

"Why?" he asked, looking at JJ in surprise as the petite four-year-old skipped over.

"Because I want to win?" JJ said.

Rae peered around JJ, a wide grin on her face as she looked at Marc. He just shook his head and turned to look at the other kids.

"Alright," Marc said. "Trevor."

"Izzy," JJ said quickly.

"Again—why?" Marc asked. "I don't understand your strategy—Karly."

JJ just shrugged. Damien was pouting as he watched his sister walk away.

"My turn," he insisted.

"Don't worry, Damien," Blake quickly assured the three-year-old. "Everyone is going to get picked. You just need to wait your turn."

"But why?" he pouted.

"Sorry, Damien," JJ said. "Don't worry. One of us will pick you, but I want them."

JJ pointed at the twins. They beamed and started to walk to him together, but Tori intervened.

"Pick one, JJ," she said.

"But they're a package deal," he protested.

"And you can only pick one at a time," Tori said firmly.

"Fine," JJ muttered. "Jazzy…"

"But—" the twins protested.

Tori just gently shooed Jazz over to JJ's team. Shane leaned over to Marc.

"Pick Damien," he said quietly.

"Why?" Marc frowned.

"Couple of reasons," Shane said. "One, he's about to cry. Two, you already have most of the older kids on your team. Be nice."

Marc sighed.

"Damien," he said.

"Yay!" Damien shouted.

But instead of running to Marc, Damien ran in the other direction. Rocky was sitting in a chair next to Tommy and Adam. He had helped move them to a better spot to watch the game and was now taking a breather next to them. Jake, Zach, Jason, and Hayley were with them. Billy and Trini still hadn't come back. Kim, Tanya, Krista, and Aisha were helping Kat collect JJ's presents so nothing would get lost or stepped on while the kids were playing capture the flag. They were also picking up paper and making sure everything had made it into trash bags. Conner, Kira, Trent, and Ethan were still huddle off by themselves while Dana, Joel, Kelsey, and Chad had moved closer to the door where Carter had gone as they waited for him to come back.

"I got picked!" Damien announced as he ran up to Rocky.

"Yes, you did," Rocky chuckled. "But your team is over there with Marc."

"Oh," Damien said.

He turned and ran away again, going back to Marc. JJ had quickly picked Lilla after Marc picked Damien. Now Marc was hesitating as he looked between Charlie and Liam.

"Dude, don't pick Charlie," Trevor hissed quietly to Marc. "I don't want to play with my little brother."

"Alright, Liam," Marc decided.

"Now I'm stuck with both of my brothers," Karly sighed. "Again."

"Sorry…" Marc apologized.

"That means we get Charlie," JJ grinned, looking very pleased.

Rae skipped over and grabbed Charlie's hand.

"You're with us," she announced with a grin as she pulled him toward their team. "It's gonna be great!"

Zach leaned over to Hayley as the two teams huddled up to strategize a short distance away from each other.

"Hayley, I hate to tell you this," he muttered. "After what she pulled yesterday, that grin on your child's face scares me more than Goldar ever did…"

Hayley nodded thoughtfully.

"Well, from everything I've heard about him, it doesn't really surprise me," she said with a shrug.

"Different kind of fear, Zach," Tommy muttered, shaking his head. "You may never have to worry about Rae overpowering you—but you should always worry about what she can do that you won't see coming."

Tommy had been quiet since he initiated the game, clearly still agitated by Carter's appearance. But he was watching the kids and trying to calm down. Back over in the huddles, Marc was eying JJ's team and shaking his head. He had been a little put out that JJ had an extra team member until Shane pointed out—again—that he had all of the older kids on his team.

"He's not good at picking is he?" Marc asked quietly.

"I guess we'll see," Shane shrugged. "Alright teams—hide your flags?"

JJ and Marc both looked at each other and then at Shane.

"How?" JJ asked. "It's an open room, Shane."

"Right…" Shane muttered. "Uh—"

"We'll make a wall!" Dustin said. "And you are only allowed to look toward your side of the gym until we say otherwise. So, no peeking!"

The Ninjas quickly worked out the logistics of Dustin's plan as they divided the gym in half. Cam, Hunter, and Shane took JJ's team to one half of the room. Cam and Hunter watched JJ's team to make sure they stayed facing away while Shane stood on their side of the room watching the other team. Tori, Blake, and Dustin did the same with Marc's team. Blake watched JJ's team while Tori and Dustin watched Marc's.

"I hope you aren't going to get too upset when my kid beats yours on his birthday," Jason grinned, looking at Tommy. "He can get really competitive."

He, like the rest of the adults, had noticed Tommy's mood shift and was trying to get him to relax with some good-natured teasing. Tommy snorted.

"You need to spend more time around JJ," Tommy said, shaking his head.

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

Tommy just smirked.

"Oh, you'll see," he said. "Hey Jake—grab Conner for me, will you?"

Jake nodded and headed toward the Dinos who were still standing away from the rest of the group in what looked like a heated discussion. Catching their attention, he waved them over to Tommy.

"What's up, Dr. O?" Conner asked.

"Go help referee the game," Tommy said, inclining his head toward the kids and the ninjas.

"Yeah, alright," Conner said, only a little reluctant.

With the rest of the Dinos in tow, he jogged over to join the Ninjas. Krista joined them. They had finished hiding flags and were back in the center to cover rules.

"Alright," Shane said. "Rules for the game. This is the center line—you know which side of the field is yours. Your objective is to find your opponent's flag and get it back across the center line to your team's territory. No tackling—two hand touch only. If someone tags you, you must freeze in place silently for thirty full seconds before you can do anything. You can only tag people if they are in your territory or in the marked no-man's land."

"We'll be watching and counting," Conner inserted.

Shane looked over at him and grinned, nodding in thanks before he continued.

"If you are tagged while carrying the flag," he said, looking back at the kids. "You have to drop it where you were tagged and cannot touch it again until someone else has picked it up. The six of us will be running around. We might help you, we might not. But we will not stop someone from winning the game. Now…"

He glanced around and then paused, frowning as he studied JJ's team.

"JJ, you've lost a team member," he said.

"No, I haven't," he said.

"Then where—" Shane started to ask.

"She's around," JJ grinned.

"Just let it go," Hunter said, shaking his head. "It's part of his strategy."

"Alright…" Shane said. "Is everyone ready, then?"

Marc and JJ both nodded.

"Go!"

Chaos instantly erupted. Marc immediately tried to charge forward only for JJ to spin and tag him.

"Have fun waiting!" JJ grinned, taking off.

Charlie started running in circles, going back and forth over the line in and out of no-man's land and wailing at the top of his lungs. Marc's team looked at him in surprise—except Trevor who just ignored him. Lilla and Jazz both slunk off to the sides of the game, moving away from the chaos that was happening in the middle of the floor. Adam and Tanya saw them and sighed.

"No, girls," Tanya said. "Don't hide…"

Everyone had stopped to watch the game now. Even the Lightspeed team had moved closer—except for Carter. Trini and Billy were back now, but Carter hadn't come with them. They had joined the rest of their team to watch.

"I was hoping they'd play since JJ picked them," Adam sighed.

"I'll go get them," Tanya said, starting to go after their daughters.

"Wait," Rocky said, stopping her. "They are playing—look."

"Rocky, they ran from the game," Adam said.

"In opposite directions," Rocky pointed out. "Look again. They aren't together, Adam."

Adam and Tanya looked again. To their surprise, they realized Rocky was right. Jazz had run to one side of the gym and Lilla to the other. Shadowing each other across the playing field, the twins were sneaking around the edges and had moved into Marc's team's territory.

"They split up!" Tanya exclaimed, smiling.

"And in a room with people they don't know very well," Adam said, grabbing Tanya's hand.

Rocky nodded with a grin.

"This should be interesting," he said. "They've got a good strategy."

"Rocky, sounds like you're rooting for our kids," Adam said, raising an eyebrow. "Yours are on the other team."

"Oh, I know," Rocky said. "And I want them to do well. But—honestly?—they don't stand a chance…They still don't all understand teamwork with others."

Aisha sighed, nodding in agreement.

"They could work well together if they tried," she said hopefully.

"If," Rocky emphasized.

Jason was shaking his head at the chaos.

"I don't know what you're worried about, Rocky," he said. "That team is utter chaos. Why is that kid just screaming? And why is yours following him?"

Damien had started mimicking Charlie.

"Plus, they lost a team member already," Jason pointed out. "They need a better strategy."

"Oh, she's not missing," Tommy smirked as he watched JJ dart around between Trevor and Marc. "She's with the flag."

Hayley's eyes widened and she looked at Tommy and then Joel.

"Rae has Joel's hat," she groaned.

"Yep," Tommy snickered.

"What?" Joel exclaimed. "Why?"

"She can't have gone that far," Zach said.

Billy and Hayley exchanged a look.

"Actually," Billy said. "There are rooms on this base—that Rae has access to—where she could hide for months without coming out as there is access to food, water, and a restroom as well as places for sleep."

Blake, passing by with Cam, heard Billy's comment and froze.

"Oh crap," he said. "We never set boundaries!"

He hurried away to pause the game and set boundaries to keep the kids in the room. Cam stayed with the other adults for a moment.

"Don't worry," he assured them. "Rae is still in this room."

"That doesn't make me feel better," Joel muttered. "And why was Charlie screaming like that?"

Cam grinned.

"I believe JJ told him to distract the other team—and suggested sounding like a firetruck could be effective."

Dana sighed.

"Wonderful," she grumbled. "He is going to be so wound up tonight…"

The game, now with set boundaries, was back in motion. Charlie immediately started running around again and Damien followed suit.

"Damien!" Marc exclaimed. "You're supposed to distract the other team—not us!"

Karly rolled her eyes as she waited for an opportunity to cross the line to search for the flag.

"He's good at distracting," she told Marc. "But you can't aim him. He just goes."

Marc scowled and lunged for JJ who had stepped over the line again. JJ just spun out of reach, darting around Marc with a laugh.

"Trevor, help!" Marc shouted. "We need to stop JJ so we can look for their flag."

Karly made it across the line to continue hunting. Marc was jumping between helping her and trying to keep JJ busy. But he and Trevor were spending most of their time chasing JJ in circles. JJ just laughed as he kept flipping and spinning out of their reach. He wasn't making any progress into their territory, but he also hadn't been forced back into his own. He was mostly just running around no-man's land in circles. Izzy was taking advantage of that to help Lilla and Jazz look for the flag. Every so often she would dart back and tag Karly to freeze her in place.

"Why won't you hold still?" Marc demanded as JJ evaded him again.

"Hyperactivity!" JJ cried. "It's my superpower!"

He dodged Trevor again, cackling as he escaped.

"Which one of you taught him that?" Tanya laughed, looking at Tommy and Kat.

Tommy chuckled and pointed at Kat.

"What?" she shrugged. "It teaches him there is nothing wrong with him the way he is—even if I am tired just watching him…"

"She's not wrong," Tommy said.

Izzy wandered by them, pausing to study the adults. Then she started looking under some of their chairs.

"Izzy, what are you doing?" Billy asked curiously.

"Looking for the flag," she answered.

"They did not hide it under any of us," Billy chuckled.

She eyed him suspiciously.

"How do I know that?" she asked. "You might be on their side."

Billy frowned.

"I am your father," he said.

Izzy sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Daddy…" she said. "You know this. Mom says trust no one when it comes to competition."

Spinning, she skipped away to keep looking as everyone burst out laughing. Billy just sighed and shook his head. In the middle, JJ was still doing a good job of keeping Marc and Trevor busy to give Izzy time to look. She had noticed that Liam wasn't moving far from where he had started the game and paused to study him. Karly was starting to get frustrated because she wasn't finding the flag.

"Marc, I can't find it!" she shouted.

"Have you checked everywhere?" Marc shouted back.

Karly sighed, looking around. Seeing the adults, who were watching from right around the center line, Karly headed in their direction. She started looking around them like Izzy had. Even going as far as to move Rocky's leg out of the way so she could see under his chair.

"What are you doing?" Rocky asked in amusement as he looked down at his daughter.

"Checking," Karly said. "Dad, stand up."

"I'm not sitting on it, Karly," Rocky said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you sit on the remote all the time," she retorted.

"That's a little different than me sitting on Joel's hat," he said drily. "You would notice."

Karly huffed and turned to study Tommy and Adam. Neither man had been out of their wheelchairs all afternoon.

"You don't have it—right, Uncle Adam?" she asked.

He shook his head. Tommy answered the same. Sighing, Karly spun back to Marc.

"Marc, I can't find it," she announced, heading back in his direction. "Oh! Wait! I didn't check in the punch bowl!"

Izzy snickered.

"It is not in the punch bowl," she offered helpfully. "Unless someone found a snorkel for Rae."

Rocky started to stand to stop Karly, using the chair to help himself up.

"Honey, you can see through the punch bowl," he said quickly. "It's not there. Don't touch that."

He strode over as quickly as he could to redirect her away from the food and drink tables. As he was heading back to his chair, Marc finally managed to tag JJ.

"Yes!" Marc crowed. "Finally! Now where is your flag!"

JJ just grinned and shook his head.

"You'll never get me to talk," he retorted.

Conner, who had been shadowing the three boys as they tagged each other, shushed him.

"No talking, remember?" he said. "You can't interrogate him, Marc."

"So, should we be concerned?" Rocky asked as he sat back down. "What did they do with Rae."

Tommy had been scanning the room for a while, looking for any sign of the hidden four-year-old.

"I have a theory," he said. "Hey Eric! Come here."

Eric and Wes had wandered in a short time before and had been watching the game in amusement. Hearing Tommy's shout, Eric jogged over.

"Do you see what I see?" Tommy asked, nodding his head.

Eric took a knee next to him so he could see from Tommy's point of view.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "I was wondering where she was."

"So how do we test it without giving it away to the kids?" Tommy grinned.

"I've got it," Eric grinned back as he stood back up.

He jogged away and grabbed a juice box from the drink table. Sticking a straw in it, he walked over and handed it to Wes.

"Go put this on top of the cabinet over there," he said, handing Wes the juice box.

"Why?" Wes frowned.

He hadn't been paying attention to Eric and Tommy.

"Because I'm done with it for now and I want it out of the way," Eric answered.

Wes rolled his eyes.

"Then set it on the table," he said.

"Where any of the kids can grab it? Nope. Up there."

"Eric—"

"Just do it," Eric said.

"Why don't you?" Wes countered.

"Because you're taller," Eric fired back.

"Fine," Wes said. "Whatever. My partner is weird."

He turned and headed toward the cabinet, still muttering to himself. Reaching up, he set the juice box on top of the cabinet and turned back to Eric.

"There, happy?" he asked, walking back toward him.

Behind Wes, a small hand reached out of the large bag on top of the cabinet and grabbed juice box to pull it inside.

"Yep, we're good," Eric grinned.

Rocky and Adam, who had been watching with interest, started laughing. Tommy chuckled as Hayley and Billy exchanged looks. Jason frowned.

"How is that fair?" he asked.

"Well, the only rules were to hide it and not move it," Tommy said with a grin. "They didn't say how high. And there was no rule about getting help."

Jason huffed, crossing his arms as he looked around the room.

"So, how long do we let them go before we call stalemate?" he asked.

Tommy shook his head.

"I don't think that's going to be necessary, Jase," he said.

"Neither team has found anything, Tommy," Jason pointed out. "We can't just let them go forever."

"Guys, look," Tommy said, pointing across the room.

Lilla was sprinting across the gym toward her team's territory with a huge grin on her face and Tommy's green bandanna clutched tightly in her hand. She had found the flag. Behind her, Liam was spinning from trying to tag Jazz, realizing their flag had been stolen. But Karly had already seen Lilla running.

"Damien, get her!" Karly cried. "Get Lilla!"

Damien started running toward Lilla, as did the rest of Marc's team. Jazz reached her first and Lilla passed off the flag, Jazz quickly sprinting in the other direction. Everyone changed directions to chase after her. She managed to avoid them, running back to her sister. The twins met briefly and then split and raced in two different directions. Now no one knew which twin had the flag.

"Just tag them both!" Marc shouted. "Don't let them cross the line!"

There was a scramble to catch the twins as they moved into no-man's land. Damien and Karly managed to catch Jazz, freezing her in place, as Trevor caught Lilla and stopped her. Lilla sighed and dropped the flag. Liam was now free and coming to join them. Grinning, Trevor leaned down to pick up the flag to give it back to Liam. Then two hands tapped him from behind.

"What?" Trevor exclaimed.

Charlie just grinned as he snatched the flag from Trevor's hands and bolted.

"No!" Marc shouted.

But as he turned to lunge for Charlie, JJ appeared in front of him and tagged him.

"Freeze, Marc," Conner said.

"Agh!" Marc cried. "No!"

But he couldn't do anything to stop Charlie from sliding across the line with the flag in hand.

"We win!" he shouted as the rest of the team came running over to celebrate.

"And game," Tommy said, smirking at Jason.

Jason was just staring in surprise.

"Imagine if Rae had been on offensive," Hayley mused.

Tommy frowned.

"Cam?" he said, catching the samurai's attention. "Did they ban weapons?"

Cam paused, his eyes widening.

"No, we didn't," he said. "But that's going on the list for the future."

Marc had fallen over on the floor where he had been tagged.

"How did I lose?" he grumbled. "I had the best team…"

JJ looked down at him.

"It's not just about having the biggest or strongest team," he grinned. "You need strategy and have to know the strengths and weaknesses of your teammates. And then use them to your advantage."

Marc just groaned again. Zach leaned over to Tommy.

"Ok, your kid is nuts," he said. "And he's either going to be a politician or a military strategist someday."

"The second one…" Kat sighed. "Unfortunately."

Tommy just sighed and nodded in agreement with her. As much as they were trying to encourage JJ to look in other directions, both of them knew there was a very good chance of him following in his parent's footsteps in some fashion. Especially with SPD now in the picture.

"So where is your flag?" Marc demanded of JJ, climbing to his feet.

"Here I am!" Rae announced, popping out of the bag on the cabinet.

She grinned proudly, still holding Joel's hat. She was also wearing a helmet. Marc looked at her in surprise and then at JJ.

"How were we supposed to reach that?" he exclaimed.

"You weren't," JJ shrugged. "Sorry, but there were no rules against that."

"But how did she even get up there?" Marc said.

"Cam helped," Rae grinned.

Cam was already there, reaching up for Rae.

"We were allowed to provide assistance if asked," Cam pointed out. "And this was their idea."

He set Rae down as she beamed. She was still holding Joel's hat.

"Alright, you can give that back now, squirt," Joel said, walking toward her and holding out a hand.

Rae paused for a moment, looking at him with a grin.

"Nope!" she exclaimed.

Spinning, Rae bolted away. Joel gave a shout and started to chase her, but Izzy grabbed his legs. He stumbled and tried not to fall or knock Izzy over.

"Run, Rae!" Izzy shouted.

"Rae, no!" Billy called.

But Rae was already gone and out the door.

"Oh well," Hayley sighed. "She'll be back eventually."

"With the hat?" Zach snickered.

"Nope," Tommy snorted. "Joel has to find it if he wants it back. That's how it works."

Joel had freed himself from Izzy. Everyone was still laughing in amusement at his predicament.

"It's fine," he muttered. "I have an extra."

He stalked over to the lockers on the far side of the room. Opening one, he pulled out a second hat. As he was shutting the locker, Izzy slipped up behind him and snatched it out of his hands. She bolted the moment she had a grip on it.

"We have both!" she shouted in triumph, heading in the same direction as her sister.

Billy and Hayley both groaned but she was already gone as Joel just stared in shock. The Ninjas and Dinos were all dying of laughter, several of them on the floor trying to breathe. The rest of the adults were laughing, too. Including Tommy who was trying to control it since laughing still hurt. Angela shook her head as she laughed at her husband.

"I am not helping you this time," she said. "You should have kept that out of her reach."

"This is the best birthday ever!" JJ laughed.

A while later, things had settled down. They had eaten dinner and played some more games. The kids were finally starting to run out of energy and were playing a lot more quietly. So, they were starting to wrap things up and clean up for the night to try and get some of the younger kids to bed. Hayley and Billy had left a while before to hunt down their kids. Rocky, who had been helping stack up some of the chairs, was leaning on the back of Adam's wheelchair now taking a break.

"Man, that should not have made me tired," he muttered. "But it did. Can't imagine how you two feel having it worse…"

Aisha, who had been the one to chase him away from the chairs, saw him still standing and scowled as she stalked over.

"Rocky, sit down," she said, interrupting Adam's response.

"Aisha, I just want to help—"

"Sit," she repeated, crossing her arms.

"Honey—"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, I surrender," Rocky sighed. "I'm sitting."

Straightening up, he walked around Adam's chair and sat back down in the chair he had left out for himself.

"Come on, Rocky," Tommy smirked. "Be stuck in chairs with the rest of us."

Rocky scowled at him. Dana looked over from where she was collecting her kids.

"You had better be sitting," she said to Tommy. "You and Adam both."

Adam held up his hands—he wasn't going to argue.

"Dana, I haven't gotten out of this chair all afternoon," Tommy sighed. "I'm fine."

She eyed him but nodded as she started shooing Charlie toward the door. Trevor had gotten permission to join the sleepover with Marc and JJ.

"Do any of you need anything?" Kim asked, looking at the three men. "I can get you water or—"

"We're fine, Kim," Tommy interrupted, shaking his head. "We're just staying out of the way right now. You've been bringing us stuff all night."

"But—"

"Kim," Tommy sighed. "If you want to help, help them finish cleaning so we can all head to bed."

He glanced over at Adam who was stifling a yawn.

"Alright, alright," Kim said. "I'm going."

She went to go help with the rest of the cleanup. The food had been taken care of at this point, but they were still collecting trash and putting tables and chairs away. And they still had to actually take the leftover food back to the cafeteria.

"Daddy, are you ok?" Karly asked, tugging on Rocky's arm.

"I'm fine, honey," he said, wrapping his arm around her.

"Then why is she acting like you're sick?" Karly asked, pointing at Kim.

Rocky shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart," he said.

Karly frowned at him and he sighed. Aisha saw and stopped by to help.

"Daddy got hurt, remember?" she said, crouching down next to her daughter. "So, we need to take care of him for a little while. That's why Kim is helping."

"Oh, right!" Karly said, nodding eagerly. "Daddy, I can help, too!"

"Thank you, sweetheart," Rocky said with a smile.

Liam came running over when he heard Aisha talking about Rocky getting hurt.

"Hugs make it better, daddy!" he exclaimed. "Do you want a hug?"

Rocky chuckled.

"I'll take a hug," he said, reaching to pick Liam up.

He hugged him tightly for a moment and then set him down on his lap.

"Thank you," he told Liam. "I feel so much better now."

Aisha, who had straightened up, sighed and shook her head as she walked away. Karly was looking at Rocky suspiciously.

"You're lying," she decided, looking at her father. "But it's ok. I think you're the kind of hurt that hugs can't fix…"

Liam wiggled down to look up at Rocky with a frown.

"It didn't fix it?" he asked.

"He needs more hugs," Damien said, looking at Liam who nodded.

Karly sighed and shook her head at her brothers.

"I can help," Shane interrupted with a grin. "Want a hug, Rocky? We gave Jason a hug earlier."

Rocky responded by leaning down and picking up a Bo staff that had been laying by his feet. Shane hadn't seen it.

"Try me," Rocky said with a smirk.

"Nah, I'm good," Shane said, shaking his head as he took a step back.

"What about you, Dr. O—" he said, turning to look at Tommy. "Nope. Never mind."

Tommy had picked up his cane again and Shane still wasn't willing to test that. Looking at Adam, he studied him for a moment and then shook his head.

"He doesn't need a staff to hurt me…" Shane muttered.

Spinning, he hurried away to finish helping.

"How come your threats work and mine don't?" Jason grumbled as he joined them.

"He knows us better," Adam chuckled. "Give it some time. I'm sure you'll get your chance to show him he should be concerned."

Jason's phone went off and he sighed. Adam frowned.

"That's been going off an awful lot tonight, Jason," he said. "Do you need to take that?"

"I would rather not," Jason admitted. "She knows I'm at a birthday party but that hasn't stopped her today…"

"I can answer it," Kim offered, holding out her hand.

"No, I don't think that would be helpful," Jason said.

"I can be plenty helpful," Kim said with a smile. "Or we can let Karly—"

"Nope," Jason said.

The phone started ringing again. He sighed.

"You know what?" he muttered. "We're pretty much done here. I'll just go answer it…"

Scowling, Jason stalked out the door as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. Kat, Tanya, and Aisha came walking over to their husbands.

"Ready to go?" Aisha asked, looking at her family.

"Am I allowed to get up then?" Rocky asked.

She rolled her eyes, gently smacking him on the arm.

"Well, I'm not carrying you," she said. "Come on kids, bedtime."

Lilla and Jazz, who had come over with Tanya, both climbed up on Adam's lap.

"Mommy says it's your bedtime, daddy," Jazz said.

"But you get to come with us," Tanya said with a smile. "Dana said it was fine."

"Good," Adam said, stopping another yawn. "Hold on, girls."

Tanya started pushing him in the direction Aisha and Rocky had gone with their kids and left Kat alone with Tommy. She studied him for a moment—he looked tired.

"When are you going to tell me what's going on?" she asked. "Trini and Billy wouldn't say anything either."

Tommy sighed.

"Can we finish cleaning up and get the boys to bed, first?" he asked wearily.

"Yes, we can," Kat agreed. "We're just about ready so hold tight."

The Ninjas were working on putting away the rest of the chairs and tables. Conner was handing piles of stuff to his teammates for them to carry up to the suite.

"Hold on, Conner," Ethan protested. "What are you carrying?"

Conner hadn't left anything for himself.

"What?" he said. "Someone had to supervise—lift with your knees."

Ethan glared at him but Conner just grinned. Then Krista solved the problem.

"Well fine," she said. "Then you can run the last of the trash out."

She thrust two bags at him with a smirk. Kat had collected JJ, Marc, and Trevor and was ushering them over to the group.

"Alright, alright," Conner sighed. "Busted."

JJ grabbed the handles of Tommy's wheelchair as Conner took the bags from Krista.

"I'll be up in a bit, Kat," Conner said. "I'll make sure someone turns the lights off, too."

"Thank you, Conner," she smiled.

Turning, she directed JJ toward the far door and elevator that would put them closer to their suite. Conner headed in the other direction with the trash. Kim, Jake, and Trini followed Kat and Tommy's group toward the elevator, leaving just the Ninjas in the gym to finish putting the last few things away. Zach had gone in search of Jason a few minutes before.

"I'll be right back!" Conner called to Shane and the other Ninjas.

"What, Christine?" Jason snapped, answering the phone as he stalked out into the hallway and away from the gym doors.

"Why are you yelling at me?" she answered, sniffling.

"Because you have called me more than a dozen times in the last hour," Jason said, taking a breath. "I told you when I texted you earlier that I was at a birthday party—so what is so important that you had to keep calling?"

"My car broke down," she said. "I was downtown looking for jobs this afternoon and when I finally got back to my car it wouldn't start and now I'm stuck here. It's getting late and nothing is open anymore…"

Jason sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"So, call Will," he said. "He can come get you."

"You know he doesn't have a car," Christine said. "And he isn't answering the phone—I think he was going to a party tonight."

Jason shook his head as he started pacing the corridor.

"Well, have you called a tow truck?" he asked.

"Yes, but they can't come right away. There was some kind of big accident on the other side of town and apparently that's more important than I am. I'm alone downtown, Jason. The only things open down here now are bars. And before you ask—I called emergency services. They told me to just sit in my car and wait for the tow truck. It's only an emergency if I'm actually in danger."

"Christine, I'm an hour away from Angel Grove," Jason sighed. "I don't know what you expect me to do about it. Have you tried calling my parents? Or see if you can find a cab or car service to pick you up."

"They didn't answer, either," she snapped. "They aren't talking to me because of you. And do you really want me to call a stranger to pick me up this late at night by myself? They could kidnap me!"

Jason groaned. Behind him, Zach walked around the corner and stopped when he saw Jason pacing.

"Everything alright, man?" Zach asked quietly, seeing him on the phone.

Jason just waved him off, still listening to Christine crying on the phone.

"You just don't care about me anymore," Christine was saying. "You keep saying you will try and make us work and then you run off and forget I exist. I could get kidnapped or murdered by some maniac tonight and you wouldn't even care."

"Christine, that's not true," Jason sighed, shaking his head. "It's just that I'm not even in Angel Grove and I don't even have my car. There has to be someone closer."

She sobbed on the other end of the phone.

"Please, Jason," she cried. "I'm your wife and I need you… you can't just abandon me like this."

Jason hesitated. He was running out of options to give her—especially since all of his friends were currently with him at the base.

"Fine," Christine snapped when he didn't answer right away. "I guess I'll just go start walking from bar to bar and see if I can find someone to help me. Because, apparently, I'm not important enough to you for you to even put in any effort."

"Christine, no," Jason said, interrupting her rant. "Just stay in your car. I will see if I can figure something out. Please keep calling Will and let me know if he answers."

He finally got her off the phone, rubbing a hand over his face as he continued to pace.

"What's going on, Jason?" Zach asked in concern.

"It's Christine," Jason sighed, shaking his head. "Her car broke down in the middle of downtown and she can't get anyone there to help her."

"So, she called you?" Zach said, raising an eyebrow. "What are you supposed to do from here?"

"Go rescue her, apparently," Jason said.

"We aren't supposed to leave base, remember?" Zach pointed out. "We gave Carter our word we would sit tight for the moment. Plus, he put the base on lockdown until the week is up. Billy says that means we can't leave the ranger levels of the base. It won't recognize us to let us out. We wouldn't be able to get to the car even if you had it here."

"I know," Jason muttered. "But what am I supposed to do, Zach? We've been having problems, but she is still my wife."

"Even if you could get out, how would you get there?" Zach asked.

"Well, I still have Adam's keys," Jason said slowly. "So, I have a car I could use. But getting out is a problem. They aren't going to just let us out…"

"Well, let's think about it for a minute," Zach said. "There has to be something we can do—you could always ask Carter."

"I don't need everyone to know about my marital problems, Zach," Jason said, frustrated. "And if I tell Carter he's going to want to know why I didn't ask to have her brought here earlier. Which means I'll have to explain that I don't trust my wife with my full identity and that we're barely on speaking terms right now. No. I don't want to ask Carter."

Zach shrugged and continued to throw some more ideas around. Absorbed in their conversation, neither of the two men saw Conner walk around the corner carrying a couple of bags of trash from cleaning up inside. He paused when he saw them, listening for a moment, and then silently slipped around and walked away to take care of the bags in his hands.

"I have an idea!" Zach exclaimed a moment later.

"You've had several," Jason sighed. "None of which have been practical."

"But this one is actually good," Zach grinned, fishing something out of his pocket.

Jason watched as he pulled a sunglass case out and held it up.

"Sunglasses?" Jason said, raising an eyebrow.

"Nah, don't need those this late in the day," Zach answered, opening the case. "Not to mention we're inside."

Instead of pulling out sunglasses, he held up a coin and put the case away. Jason stared at it in surprise. That was the last thing he had expected Zach to pull out of his sunglasses case.

"Why is that in your sunglasses case?" Jason asked in surprise. "And what exactly do you plan on doing with it?"

"I always have it," Zach shrugged, looking at his coin. "Never stopped carrying it. Didn't feel right to leave it behind somewhere. I keep it in that case because I always have my sunglasses with me. Harder to lose if it can't just fall out of my pocket."

Jason couldn't argue with that logic.

"Anyways," Zach continued. "What if I use this? I can probably manage to morph for a few minutes at least. And security won't stop a Ranger. Right?"

"Maybe," Jason said slowly, not hating this plan.

"That gets us to the garage and the car and then we drive off base," Zach said. "Easy. Then a quick trip to Angel Grove to rescue your wife and back here before anyone notices we're gone."

"That could work," Jason agreed. "But how does that get us to the garage? The door isn't going to just open because you are a ranger, right?"

"I don't know," Zach said. "But we can at least try. And if that doesn't work, then you talk to Carter or hope someone else can finally help."

"I can take you," a voice interrupted.

Zach and Jason both turned in surprise. Conner was standing a few feet away, watching them with his arms crossed and a grin on his face.

"How long have you been standing there?" Jason asked.

"I still have access to the garage," Conner said, not answering the question. "And authority to pass the gate without red flags. So, I can take you to Angel Grove. You did say there was an emergency. Right?"

Jason frowned, looking at Conner with suspicion.

"Sort of," he said slowly. "But why would you help? I thought you'd go tell Tommy—or Carter—that we are trying to leave."

Conner scoffed and shook his head.

"I'm loyal, not a puppet," he said. "Dr. O and I disagree on things all the time. Just ask anyone. And if it's an emergency he can't be too mad at me. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, right?"

"So, you're just going to take us because?" Zach asked suspiciously.

Conner shrugged.

"I wouldn't mind a chance to make a phone call without someone walking in on me and interrupting," he said. "I can do that in my car while you deal with your emergency."

"What kind of call would you need to make this late at night?" Jason frowned.

"Nothing worth sharing," he said.

"You're calling a girl, aren't you?" Zach grinned.

"I didn't say that," Conner replied evenly.

"But you aren't denying it," Zach countered.

Conner just shrugged again.

"So, what do you want to do?" Conner asked. "Cause you two aren't getting out of here on your own."

Jason and Zach exchanged looks.

"Alright," Jason finally agreed. "We'll go with you. I shouldn't need to be there long. I'll get the address—or at least a street name."

Conner nodded.

"Meet me by the east elevator in ten minutes," Conner said. "I'll have to grab my keys. But you'll want to get out of here before your roommates notice you're gone."

Agreed on the plan, Jason and Zach headed toward the elevator while Conner ducked back around the corner and then into the gym.

When Conner had first come around the corner into the north hall, what he heard of the conversation had set off a lot of red flags for him. While he didn't necessarily agree with Carter that someone knew who the original rangers were and was actively hunting them, he did agree that something was going on and they were safer at Lightspeed for the time being. Just maybe not in the way Carter was trying to force them to be. But still, Jason and Zach talking about sneaking off had him concerned, especially with how late in the evening it was. While he was running the trash down the corridor to the shoot, he thought about what he had heard. Trying to decide if he should call them out or just drop a hint to Tommy or Carter of what they were planning. The two reds completely disagreed on what was going on, but neither would have been happy to see Jason and Zach leave this late at night by themselves. When he came back down the corridor and saw the coin in Zach's hand, however, Conner decided quickly that he was going to have to do something himself. If he took time to go track down Tommy or Carter, Zach and Jason might have disappeared.

In the gym, Conner went straight to the Ninjas who were just putting the last stack of chairs into the storage closet.

"Shane," Conner said, grabbing the other red's attention.

Shane broke away from his team and walked over to Conner.

"We were just about to leave," Shane said. "Were you afraid we weren't going to say goodbye?"

He grinned at Conner who just rolled his eyes in response.

"Not my concern," Conner said, shaking his head. "I need a favor."

Noting the serious tone in Conner's voice, Shane frowned.

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

Conner took a deep breath—he was glad everyone else had gone already. Though that was part of why he was now helping Zach and Jason. There was no one in the gym to give them a no they'd listen to.

"I don't have time for details, but I'm taking Jason and Zach to Angel Grove," Conner said quickly. "Some kind of family emergency for Jason. But something doesn't feel right about it."

"Ok…" Shane said, not sure where he came in. "Why don't you tell Dr. O they need to go? Or Carter? They could help. Dr. O can't have gotten that far."

Conner shook his head.

"I don't have any proof something is wrong," he said. "And I don't want to waste time and resources if I'm just being paranoid because of what happened to Dr. O, Adam, and Rocky. Plus, I don't want to just stop him if there is a real emergency with his wife. I know I'd hate someone for stopping me from getting to Krista."

Shane nodded, understanding where Conner was coming from.

"But they can't get out on their own, can they?" Shane said. "I thought Carter put this place on lockdown."

"He did—but Zach has his coin," Conner said. "And before I stepped in he was planning to morph and try getting past security that way…"

Shane grimaced. He knew what had caught Conner's attention.

"Alright, so what do you need from me?" Shane asked.

"Follow us," Conner said. "Don't be seen. Hopefully I'm just paranoid and we won't need you and you can head home as soon as we take care of his wife's problem. But I'd like to have some more help waiting in case there is a problem."

Shane nodded.

"We can do that," he said. "How long do we have?"

Conner glanced at his watch. He already had his keys and wallet. He'd only told Jason and Zach that he didn't so he could talk to the Ninjas. But he was still trying to avoid them sneaking out on their own.

"I'm meeting them in five minutes," he said. "You'll need to stagger your exit so they don't see you following us."

"We'll give you a ten-minute head start to get out and on the road," Shane said. "As long as you don't drive too crazy, we will be able to catch you. Text us the location if you're able."

"Thanks," Conner said gratefully.

With a backup plan in place, Conner slipped back out of the gym. As he headed for the elevator to meet Jason and Zach he sent a text message to Ethan, Trent, Kira, and Krista.

Leaving base for a potential emergency. Ninjas are going to shadow us. I'll update you when I'm back to base. Should only be gone a few hours. No need to worry.

Satisfied he was covered, Conner jogged the rest of the way to the far elevator where Jason and Zach were already waiting.

When they reached the suite, Kat had the Dinos pile the presents on the bench by the door and turned to the three boys.

"Alright," she said, clapping her hands together. "Time to get ready for bed. All three of you need to shower and put on jammies, then—"

"Mom…" JJ groaned. "They aren't jammies."

"I am so sorry," Kat said, smiling in amusement. "Pajamas. And once you're ready for bed you can pick out one movie to watch before you need to go to sleep. Ok?"

"Yeah, yeah," JJ grumbled, dragging Marc and Trevor toward his rooms. "Moms…"

Marc looked a little surprised at JJ contradicting Kat, but he didn't say anything. When Kat turned, Kira, Ethan, and Krista were already getting the living room ready for the boys to watch a movie. Trent had gone to take the wheelchair back up to the medical bay after helping Tommy out of it.

"Go talk and get ready for bed," Kira said, looking at Kat and Tommy. "We have the kids so you don't have to worry."

Kat nodded, frowning at them. Kira had just confirmed that they at least knew something, even if she hadn't said anything specific. Helping Tommy back to his feet from the chair he was waiting in, Kat headed toward their bedroom with him.

"So, they know?" she asked as they walked.

"They know…" he admitted. "And Hayley probably knows now, too…"

Kat frowned at him.

"How?" she said.

"Billy will have told her by this point," Tommy answered. "They left before we did."

"And how does he know?" Kat pressed, opening their door.

"Because Carter pulled Billy and Trini out of the party to tell them the same thing he told me," Tommy muttered.

Kat let the door close behind them. Tommy sat down on the bed. Leaning forward on his knees, he rubbed a hand across his face. But Kat waited patiently for him to continue.

"Carter invoked the clause to remove me from leadership…" Tommy finally said, not looking up at her.

Kat stared at him in surprise.

"What?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah…" Tommy said quietly.

"But he can't," Kat said. "That takes a total vote and—"

Tommy shook his head.

"It's that new clause I talked over with you," he muttered. "The one I put together in case something like Draven ever happened again? Because I wanted them to be able to remove me—or anyone else—in an emergency without waiting. It puts the ranger or team of rangers in question under the protective custody of the invoking red and removes them from any held positions until the situation instigating the invocation is resolved…"

"He didn't," Kat grimaced.

"He did," Tommy sighed. "He turned it against me…"

"Who on earth agreed to that?" Kat scowled.

"I don't know," he admitted. "We didn't get that far."

Kat took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"What was he thinking?" she muttered.

Tommy shrugged.

"Carter is thinking that, apparently me being kidnapped and taking more than a month to be able to function normally means that I am not capable of handling things normally right now," Tommy said irritably. "That because I was poisoned I can't possibly be ok to lead them right now—let alone to make good decisions regarding the safety of my teammates and friends. And trusting me to make that judgement call was clearly not an option in his head. So, he talked at least three of the others into agreeing with him and plowed right ahead with it without ever voicing his concern to me himself."

Tommy sighed and Kat sat down next to him, taking his hands in hers.

"And what bothers me the most right now is I have no idea who actually thinks that's true," Tommy admitted, shaking his head. "It could have been any of the reds…"

"I wouldn't say any of them," Kat said.

Tommy hesitated.

"Maybe," he said. "I know it wasn't Conner—"

He paused, hesitating again and then shook his head.

"It wasn't Conner," he said a little more confidently.

"No, it wasn't," Kat agreed. "He would never do that. Not to mention he was with us all morning."

"And it couldn't have been Adam or Rocky, right?" he asked, finally looking up at her.

"No," she said firmly. "I do not think either of them would ever go behind your back like that."

"I know it wasn't Jason who voted—even if only because he can't yet…" Tommy muttered, continuing. "And I really don't want to think Billy would—"

"It wasn't Billy," Kat stated. "He wouldn't."

Tommy sighed.

"I don't want to think that either, Kat," he said. "But if Carter presented a logical enough argument?"

"Billy is your friend," Kat insisted.

Tommy scoffed, pulling his hands away and dropping his head into his hands again.

"I thought they were all my friends," he mumbled. "But some of them still went behind my back and did this. Maybe they're right. Maybe I'm not suited for this anymore."

"Tommy—"

"Maybe I have lost my mind," Tommy continued, ignoring Kat. "There are obviously things happening that I'm not aware of. I mean, I actually died, and no one bothered to tell me until almost two days later. What else aren't they telling me?"

Kat flinched at the reminder but shook it off. Taking a deep breath, she took Tommy's hands again and pulled them away from his face so he would look at her.

"Tommy," she said gently. "I truly do not think this is an all of them thing. Just a couple that Carter convinced without total context."

"I wouldn't think that either, but Carter said he had a meeting with the reds, Kat," he snapped. "He had a meeting with them behind my back. I'd have thought at least one of them would have tried to talk with me, too—but I was wrong about that."

"Tommy, you need to calm down," Kat said. "I know this is frustrating, but you are going to hurt yourself if you get worked up—"

"I know," he snapped.

He paused, closing his eyes and taking a breath.

"I'm sorry…" he said. "I'm trying. But it is not easy…"

"I know…" Kat said, squeezing his hands again.

He was quiet for a moment.

"How do I know who I can trust now?" he finally asked. "Because how long have they been talking about this behind my back? Are they tired of me being in charge? Do they think I've overstepped my bounds somewhere? I—I feel betrayed, Kat…"

Kat nodded. She didn't have anything to say that would make this better.

"I know I shouldn't," Tommy continued, shaking his head. "But… I mean, I did put that clause I place for a reason. And if they felt uncomfortable with me being in charge right now they had every right. It's just—well, part of me thought it was something they'd never actually use. And now to have it happen not even three months later?"

He trailed off again. Instead of answering, Kat just wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as tightly as she could without causing him pain. Tommy hugged her back, resting his forehead on her shoulder.

"I'm tired," he mumbled. "I think I'm just going to go to bed…"

Kat nodded.

"Alright," she said. "Let's get some sleep. The kids are being taken care of and—and I'm tired, too. Get comfortable and I'll be right back, ok?"

Tommy just nodded as she slipped out of the room. JJ, Marc, and Trevor were back out in the living room debating on a movie. Ethan was waiting patiently with the remote for them to decide. Trent was at the kitchen table with a few sketchbooks out and his pencils while Kira and Krista were making popcorn for the boys. They'd all taken the time to change into jammies like the boys. Kat didn't see Conner, but they left without him so he was probably still in his room changing.

"Good night, JJ," Kat said, leaning over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Mom!" he protested.

Kat chuckled.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I forgot, you're eleven now. I'll try to remember."

JJ grumbled and then looked around.

"Umm… is dad gonna come say goodnight?" he asked, ducking his head.

"Dad's already asleep," Kat said, shaking her head. "It was a long day for him."

"Oh, ok," JJ said quickly. "We're gonna watch a movie now—so go away."

Kat sighed and shook her head as JJ just gave her a grin and went back to looking at the movies with Marc and Trevor.

"We've got this, Kat," Ethan assured her. "Really. And we promise we won't let them stay up all night. Get some sleep."

"Thank you, guys," Kat said gratefully.

Back in their room, Tommy hadn't bothered changing into pajamas. He had just kicked off his shoes on the floor and rolled over in the sweatpants and t-shirt he had been wearing. Kat just let it be. Changing quickly, she turned off the lights and climbed into bed. Snuggling up to Tommy, she wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes to try and sleep.

"Hayley, no," Billy said firmly. "This is not going to resolve anything."

Billy was standing in front of the door of the suite, blocking Hayley from leaving. He had told her about what Carter had done while they were getting the girls in bed. She had stayed calm while they finished tucking them in. Jake and Kim, who had walked in while they were talking, had gotten a better explanation from Trini while Billy and Hayley were occupied. Now that the girls were in bed, however, Hayley had gone from completely calm to extremely angry.

"I don't know why you think keeping me here is going to stop me from hurting him," Hayley snapped at Billy, crossing her arms.

"I say just let her go," Trini said, crossing one leg over the other knee.

She was sitting in a chair watching. Kim and Jake were on the couch watching in concern. This was a side of Hayley they hadn't seen yet.

"Do not encourage her, Trini," Billy said, not moving away from the door.

"I'm kind of impressed, actually," Jake said, leaning over to Kim. "Hayley's got a good Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde impression going on. Though I will say Mr. Hyde is scaring me a bit."

Hayley scoffed, turning her back on Billy to glare at Jake.

"You need to get your references correct," Hayley said shortly. "I'm not Mr. Hyde. I'm a highly functioning sociopath with a high IQ who has absolutely no qualms with hurting people who deserve it. So, think more Sherlock Holmes."

"Uh, Trini?" Kim said, looking at the yellow ranger. "Shouldn't you stop her? She has to listen to you, right?"

Trini shook her head as Hayley let out a sharp laugh.

"No, she doesn't, actually," Trini said. "Because she isn't a ranger… even if she is attached to a ranger team. So she's like Jake. I can ask her to do things and if she compromises the rangers in any way I can react—but I can't give her an order. Besides, she only sticks to the ranger code and ideals for the sake of Tommy and Billy, not because she fully subscribes to them."

Hayley snorted, turning back to eye Billy and the door again.

"I hold them for Billy because I have to because I love him," she said. "And for Tommy? For Tommy because we have an agreement that goes back for almost as long as we have known each other, and I respect him too much to break that without just cause. I am loyal to them, not the rangers."

"Ranger code?" Jake whispered to Kim.

"Later," she hissed since Hayley was still going.

"Tommy is my best friend," Hayley said, still glaring at Billy. "I would kill for him if I had to, and I am not opposed to going against the rangers if they hurt him."

She shrugged as she turned around, giving up on the door.

"I mean, I would kill for Billy or my daughters, too," she said. "But that's not relevant to the current situation."

Glancing around, Hayley's eyes landed on her tablet sitting on the kitchen table. She stalked toward it. Billy, quickly realizing her next intent, bolted and dove in front of her to snatch it away.

"Nope," he said. "That is not happening, Hayley."

"What?" she snapped "Am I not even allowed to work on projects tonight?"

"No," Billy replied. "We are not doing that tonight. It is not going to fix anything."

"What is she working on?" Jake whispered.

"Probably something to do with Carter's computer," Trini said with a shrug.

"Nope—security updates for the base," Hayley smirked, holding out her hand to Billy. "I really should get those done as soon as possible. If you would just give me my tablet—"

"No," Billy said firmly. "And I already put away your computer and phone for the night as well. It is time for us to sleep."

"I never go to bed this early," Hayley shot back with a scowl.

Billy sighed.

"Hayley, please," he said. "For me—let it go. Or at least wait until you actually speak with Tommy so your revenge does not interfere with anything he does."

Hayley scoffed.

"Tommy won't take revenge for himself and you know it," she said stiffly. "He'll just get upset and then stew about it. Revenge is my job."

Spinning, she stalked to their room and slammed the door. Billy sighed again and dropped into a chair, setting the tablet on the table and shaking his head.

"I love her," he said, shaking his head. "But she is a handful sometimes…"

"She scares me a little, Billy," Kim said.

He chuckled faintly.

"She scares me, too, on occasion," he admitted. "She would be a dangerous enemy. Fortunately, her morals do mostly align with our own."

Trini sighed and stood.

"Well, I'm going to bed," she said. "But I'm with Hayley—I'm not done with this. But I'll corner Carter again in the morning."

She left, her door shutting quietly behind her. Kim looked at Billy for a moment. He was still sitting in the chair, rubbing his face as he glanced toward his bedroom door.

"Billy, are you ok?" Kim asked quietly.

"I will be," he sighed. "This is simply unusual territory for us. Hayley and I do not usually fight or even disagree to this extreme. Generally, her bigger disagreements are with Tommy. So I am not usually on the receiving end of her anger. I am simply going to give her some space before I join her for the night."

Kim nodded in understanding.

"So, can one of you clarify something?" Jake asked.

Kim and Billy both looked at him.

"What were Trini and Hayley talking about when they mentioned the 'ranger code?" he asked. "I don't remember hearing that phrase before."

"Oh, right!" Kim exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure Trini was talking about the promise we made to Zordon when he first made us rangers. Right, Billy?"

Billy nodded.

"Trini was simply referring to the agreement that we, as Zordon's rangers, have passed down over the years," Billy confirmed. "And that all rangers agree to uphold when they officially join our network. We also try to actively encourage standing teams to hold them as they fight so as not to hurt the reputation of the rangers as a whole."

"So, what is it?" Jake asked curiously.

Kim glanced over at Billy and he smiled, nodding at her to go ahead.

"Never use your power for personal gain," she said, looking back at Jake. "Never escalate a battle, and never reveal your identity to anyone or risk losing the protection of the Power forever."

"Though the last one has a few grey areas," Billy said. "It is intended to remind rangers we do this for the people we protect, not for personal glory. So, we hide behind the helmets and let them thank the ranger, not the person."

Jake nodded.

"So, why are you concerned about Hayley following those?" he frowned. "They aren't bad."

Billy hesitated and then sighed.

"Hayley does not always agree on when escalation is or is not appropriate," Billy said slowly. "She would rather act than react—or attack than protect. She is proactive and sometimes having to wait until someone else makes the first move bothers her. But we as rangers do not want to cause more harm than necessary, so we tend to hold back until we have no choice. We do not seek out a fight."

Jake nodded in understanding. Kim stifled a yawn.

"You should get some sleep," Billy said. "I will do the same in a little while."

"Good night, Billy," Kim said as she stood to head to bed. "We'll see you in the morning."