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Hayley clutched the phone in her hand. “I didn’t know who else to call,” she said, watching the little demons rush around her café. She’d closed it for the day, but they were still running rampant. Really, she wanted to just lock them inside and run, but that was not the right thing to do nor was it a Ranger thing to do whether or not she was just a Tech. There were expectations, after all.
“Is everything okay? Is everyone alright?” Justin asked from the other side of the phone. He’d been there recently. Tommy and him had been cordial to each other considering their past, but he’d gotten on well with the other four members of the team. “Mesagog didn’t…”
“No! No, it’s nothing like that,” Hayley said quickly. “In fact, if you know anyone we can call to keep him busy that would help.”
“Hayley?” He asked, trying to keep his voice level. The stress in her tone was completely unlike the friend he’d made briefly during college before she’d left. “What’s wrong?”
“The Rangers were hit by something,” she answered. “They were fine for the fight, but then all of them collapsed. I went to get something to check on them, but they were changed when I got back.”
“Changed how, Hayley?” He asked. There was a pause before she answered.
“Justin, how do I deal with four five year olds and a moody eight year old?”
“I’ll be there soon.”
***
Justin made it back to Tommy’s house where Hayley had insisted she’d corral the kids to. He was nearly certain it was so that they could destroy his house instead of her café, but he was polite enough not to call her on it. He could already hear yelling and slight crashes from outside and he steeled himself as he knocked on the door. Hayley answered it looking exhausted. She didn’t say anything at first, but grabbed him around the wrist and pulled him in. After a few seconds, she spoke up. “I am never having children. I never wanted children. Teens I can handle. Not children.”
Justin tried not to smile as he took in the scene. Tommy was on the couch, arms folded and a pout on his face. As Hayley had mentioned, he was about eight years old and looking similar to how he did the last time he’d turned into a child. He didn’t see Trent and made a note of that as Conner rushed over to him, knocking him off his feet with super speed. “Hi, Justin! Justin is here!”
Justin pushed the kid off which Conner easily let him do, bouncing on his toes. Setting his hand on the kid’s head only made his hand go up and down and Conner giggle. The kid was kind of cute with the same length of hair and a mini soccer jersey with shorts. He was stuck on it for a minute when a child-like version of Ethan’s voice called out. “Justin! Justin, the game got harder! Can you help me?”
He glanced over to see a tiny version of Ethan pouting at the screen and then looking back at him piteously. He was the same build as his teen counterpart though his hair was a bit longer. The overalls he was wearing just added to his look. Justin sighed as he headed over, Conner running circles around him. Before he got there though, a crash interrupted him. Hayley groaned. “Kira! Are you alright?”
“Kira?” Justin asked in surprise. He followed Hayley to see a tiny girl on the floor with all sorts of bright colors in her clothing on the floor with her long hair in her face, glaring at a scratch on her arm. A chair had been toppled with her. “What were you doing?”
“Flying,” she answered. Justin sighed.
“Kira, just because your dinosaur can fly, doesn’t mean you can,” he chided. She glared at the injury for another second before transferring the look to Justin.
“I can scream,” she said. Justin glanced back at Hayley.
“They still have their powers?” He asked.
“Yep.”
“When were you going to mention that?”
“When you asked where Trent was.”
“Camouflage?”
“Five year old Trent is just as shy as teen Trent,” she answered. “Tommy went into the ‘I hate magic. This sucks.’ mode especially went I told him I’d wring his neck if he went invisible and ditched me.”
“Justin! I can run real fast!”
“Justin? How do I beat the final boss?”
“I can too fly! I just need to get higher!”
“Conner, don’t run in the house. You’re making Tommy grumpier and I have to deal with him now. Ethan, check your inventory. If you can’t do it, go level up. Kira, no flying. Tommy, knock it off,” Justin said. “Now, does anyone know where Trent is?”
“No,” came all four voices.
“Great,” Justin said with a half sigh. “Okay. Hayley? Can you go call their parents and let them know that their kids aren’t coming home for a bit.”
“School trip?”
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that parents in Monster Hot Spots don’t ask questions,” Justin answered with a nod. Hayley gave him a thankful smile and raced off to do it. The children just looked at him. “Okay, guys. We’re going to have a slumber party.”
Three out of the four visible children cheered as Tommy still looked grumpy. Justin felt a tug on his clothes and looked down to see a very shy and nervous Latino boy looking back at him. Justin knelt down so he was face to face with Trent and offered him a smile. Trent quietly returned it. “With coloring?”
Trent’s voice was so quiet and the other three were so noisy that Justin almost missed it. “Tommy has crayons around here somewhere,” he assured him. His smile increased. “And if a certain trio quiet down, we can sing some songs, watch some movies, and eat some cookies too.”
There was cheering from Kira, Conner, and Ethan as they quickly tried to be quiet and calm. Tommy glared at him. “I might not have crayons.”
Justin looked nonchalant. “You might not,” he agreed. He paused for a minute and snapped his fingers. “Oh right. Allie was asking if she could come by again, but if you don’t have crayons…”
Tommy scowled. “Third drawer down,” he muttered.
“Thank you!” Justin said in a sing-song voice. Jason or one of the girls would scold him for using Allie Scott like that, especially since everyone knew that Tommy was over the moon about his goddaughter.
“That’s cheating,” Tommy said as if reading Justin’s mind.
“Whatever works right now,” Justin responded, pulling out a few coloring books, some paper, and the crayons. “Besides, we don’t know how long this will last.”
There was actual silence from the four former teens as they looked at Justin. He just paused as they looked at each other before looking back at Justin. Conner was the one to speak up. “But… but… tomorrow is Halloween.”
“My costume won’t fit,” Ethan said, nearing tears.
“I was supposed to have a concert at Hayley’s,” Kira said, looking completely distraught. Justin noticed that the look of sadness and envy Trent had was directed toward his teammates. He could tell it wasn’t shyness that kept Trent from speaking up this time. He looked at Trent who look at the ground.
“I didn’t have anything important,” Trent said. It wasn’t a lie really. Justin could tell that, but there wasn’t something right about it. The way he was pulling into himself wasn’t a normal kid thing. It was a ‘I’m not here. Please don’t notice me’ thing.
Are there other signs toward something wrong are there? Dammit, Tommy! Did you miss something again? He filed the information away for then and moved on. “Did you guys have major plans?”
“No,” Conner answered. “‘Cause of stupid Mesagog.”
Did Trent just flinch? Justin shook it off. “Well, how about we all go Trick or Treating instead?”
“I’m not Trick or Treating,” Tommy grumbled.
“Okay,” Justin said. “Those of us who aren’t grumps.”
Tommy’s glare turned baleful. Justin ignored it. Ethan looked a little suspicious. “What about costumes?”
“I’ll make a couple of calls, but we’ll get you costumes,” he assured them. “And tomorrow we can carve Jack ‘O Lanterns.”
Trent in particular perked up at that. Justin relaxed. He had them. He just had to finish it. “And I’ll see if they have a Halloween CD we can play.”
All four of the kids squealed and started throwing out suggestions on what they wanted to wear and be. Justin sighed as he half nodded. This was going to be a long night and he was going to be calling in every favor he had.
***
“What have I told you?” Justin had been around the original five Rangers for a few years now and he still felt that Kimberly Hart was the living persona of a whirlwind. She came into the house, placed four costumes in his arms, and set a CD on the counter before he really acknowledge she was there.
“About?” He asked, trying to keep up. She turned on him, putting her hands on her hips.
“About family, Justin.”
“Oh. It’s not calling in favors if it’s family?”
“And Power Rangers are…”
“A family?”
“Think you can trying again without the guessing?” She teased. “So, I have… one child sized soccer uniform.”
“Thank you, Adam and Carlos,” Trent muttered gratefully, setting it aside for Conner.
“One Cloud outfit from FFVII thanks to Rocky, Kendrix, Taylor, and Dustin,” Kim said.
“All of them?” He asked in surprise.
“They all knew what to look for and each of them got parts of the outfit,” she answered. “After he’s grown up again and sends them a thank you letter, you might want to let Ethan know that there are several gamer Rangers who want to talk to him.”
“I’ll mention it,” Justin answered, still in a bit of awe.
“Some of the girls and I ransacked our old Jem costumes for Kira’s rocker outfit,” Kim continued. Off Justin’s look, Kim managed to look a bit defensive. “It was the 80s.”
“You kept it.”
“Sentimental value.”
“Jem.”
“Do you want my help or not?”
“Which I’m sure wasn’t the train wreck show I remember,” Justin said, his tone still sardonic. Kim chose to ignore the tone. “Did you guys figure out something for Trent?”
Trent’s quiet request had been “maybe a superhero, if it’s okay” which Justin had passed on. Kim smiled. “Oh, we did.”
She held up a small version of a Captain America costume and Justin blinked. “That’s remarkable good. Kim, why doesn’t the shield look like a trashcan lid?”
Kim laughed. “Because Carter is a closet comic book fan,” she answered. “And it was a year he didn’t dress up like a fireman. Are you sure Tommy doesn’t need one?”
“Hayley said if he’s going to mope around, he can just miss Halloween sulk for all she cares. I decided to agree with her,” Justin said. “And the terror trio gave up trying to convince him an hour ago.”
“Terror Trio?” Kim asked in amusement.
“Trent is quiet, well-behaved, and shy. The other three are insane,” Justin said affectionately. “Kira keeps trying to fly, Ethan broke one of Tommy’s chairs because his game made him mad, and Conner insists on going super speed everywhere. Not to mention that he keeps up being a red and is dragging Kira and Ethan down with him.”
“How?” Kim asked. Trent glared at her.
“‘Maybe, if we throw Kira, she can fly!’ ‘Doctor O said rocks have shiny stuff inside sometimes. Here, Ethan! Break this one!’ ‘Kira’s like a bird! Maybe if she screeches, we can have some new bird friends!’ ‘If you guys help me, maybe we can convince Storm Blaster to race! You guys can be in the jeep!’” Justin quoted and gave Kim a look.
“And they go along with this?” She asked. Justin sighed.
“No one asked Ethan to do stuff like that when they were little, so he’s excited to be invited. And I really think tiny Kira was a daredevil. I don’t know when her sensibility came in, but it wasn’t at five,” he grumbled. “And Trent just calmly comes to get me every time. I was worried that they’d be angry at him for it, but Conner said it’s okay because Trent doesn’t like being in trouble. I think he can tell Trent is almost scared to get in trouble.”
Justin seemed a little thoughtful at the last proclamation and Kim picked up on it. “Do you think he’s having trouble at home?”
“Hayley does, but she wasn’t sure what’s going on and she’s waiting on Trent,” Justin answered. “And I’m starting to wonder.”
“Just keep an eye on it,” Kim said. “Try to get him to tell you.”
“I know, Kim,” Justin said with a little bemusement. Kim just smiled at him and he sighed. “I’m already on it.”
“Good,” she said, certain that Justin would figure it out. He wasn’t sure how to react to trust like that, but he had to feeling she’d be back if it turned out he wasn’t able to handle it. “The CD has recordings from Tanya. They’re quick and not very polished, but it’s of every kid’s Halloween song she could think of.”
“Thanks, Kim,” he said.
“Are you sure you’ve got this?” She asked.
“Hayley is going to handle Tommy so I’ve only got the four,” Justin said.
“Only?”
“You just want to see Tommy as a sulking kid,” Justin accused. Kim looked ready to refute it before she changed her mind.
“Close,” she answered. “I want to see that and help out you too. Tommy is a bonus.”
“We’re fine. I’ll call if I need help?”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Pinky promise?”
“Kim!”
“Pinky. Promise.”
“Fine, pink promise,” he assured her. Kim beamed and pulled him into a hug which he quickly reciprocated in the hopes of her letting go. When she did, she whirled around, called a hello to Hayley before leaving. Just as quickly as she had entered, she was gone. “Hayley?”
“Yes, Justin?” Hayley asked as she looked up from watching the kids.
“Did Kimberly Hart ever have the Power of Wind?” He asked.
“Well, she was always a flyer,” Hayley answered as Kira tried, once again, to leap into the air off the couch. Justin watched.
“Close enough,” he decided.
***
Justin had taken the ball away from Conner since he put on his costume. The fact that he put on his costume the minute Justin had shown them their costumes at ten in the morning hadn’t helped. He figured Tommy probably wanted windows in his house when this was over and letting Conner keep his soccer ball wasn’t conducive to that. Granted, the kid hadn’t broken anything yet, but that was just luck. After realizing that they were allowed to dress up early, Ethan had been right on the ‘dress up early’ train. Hayley and Justin helped him with his fake hair and a tiny Ethan version of Cloud was ready to go. At some point, Kira had gotten her costume on too so the soccer player and Cloud were joined by 80s rocker Kira. Trent had just stared at his costume for a good five minutes, actually hugging the shield before Conner had come over.
“Come on!” Conner said enthusiastically. “You have to dress up, Trent! Please?”
“Promise you won’t take my shield?” He asked and Ethan snorted.
“It’s yours,” he answered. “Conner won’t take it.”
“Nope!” Conner said, side-eying Justin. “Taking people’s things is wrong.”
“Just making sure Tommy doesn’t kill you when you get bigger, Conner,” Justin answered cheerfully. He was pleased when Trent brought the costume over to him for help, but he was in a good mood regardless. He hadn’t had a decent Halloween in a long time and taking them trick or treating actually sounded like a blast to him. After fixing up Trent and letting them run off some energy, he brought them over to carve their pumpkins. He helped them with the actual carving and was amused at how different they all were. Conner’s was simplistic, but as scary as he could manage. Ethan’s was an attempt at an evil wizard. Kira and Trent had laid side by side and colored theirs with markers and left over supplies Kim had brought over for Kira’s costume. Both pumpkins were creative, but in vastly different ways. Kira’s seemed to match her rocker look while Trent’s was more of a created superhero.
“They look great, guys,” Justin assured them, helping them move the pumpkins outside. No one would see them, but they wouldn’t get smashed either.
“Mine is really scary! It’s like ‘grr! I am a scary pumpkin! Run away!’” Conner informed him. Justin nodded.
“I saw,” he assured him. “Trent? Can you get me the matches?”
The boy nodded and rushed to get them as Ethan frowned. “How come you asked Trent?”
“I had faith in him not burning down the house,” Justin answered. He ignored the chorus of ‘hey!’ that followed. Trent gingerly handed him the matches and he smiled.
“Thank you,” he said softly. Trent beamed a bit too much at Justin’s approval. And Tommy and I are having a long conversation about ‘signs’ and ‘how to notice when there’s something wrong with your teammates’ when he grows up. I swear to god, if he’s been abused and Tommy didn’t notice, I’m going to kill him.
He lit the pumpkins and the kids cheered in excitement. He put on Hocus Pocus for them and finished getting everything ready for that night. It took him fifteen minutes to figure out he had a shadow. “Don’t like the movie, Trent?”
“I’ve seen it. I thought you might need some help,” Trent answered. Justin paused in what he was doing. He sighed and knew that no matter how he went about this, Trent would take it badly. He’d been in the kid’s shoes before. Even if he wasn’t abused, something was going on and he wouldn’t want to talk about it. Problem was, if Justin didn’t look into it, he wouldn’t sleep well again.
“That’d be great,” Justin answered, letting Trent into the kitchen with him. He finished washing the apples for the caramel apples he was making later. “So, how do you celebrate most Halloweens?”
“Dad and I weren’t as big on Halloween, but he helped me with the Day of the Dead instead,” Trent said with a small smile. “He’d take the day off work and take me out to my parents’ graves so we could celebrate it. But… he couldn’t this year.”
Trent’s smile faded and Justin gently pushed. “Too busy with work?”
“Sorta,” Trent muttered and Justin caught it. Five year olds were horrible liars.
“Sorta?” He asked, his mind whirling. The sadness, the difference in personality for Trent’s dad according to Tommy, the way he was looking for approval and feared punishment, the unsure attitude, the ease in which he’d gotten the dino gem, and the way that he’s flinched at Conner’s anger toward Mesagog. It clicked into place. Secrets, yes but not abuse. “Oh god, Trent.”
Trent’s eyes widened and the kid began to shift into the counter and wall, but Justin quickly grabbed him and did the only thing he could think of: He pulled Trent into a hug. Granted, he was still adjusting to doing that regardless of how often Kim and Zack did it, but it seemed like the right course of action. To both his horror and relief, Trent clung on and began to cry. It wasn’t a quiet cry, but a soul-wrenching sob that left Justin trying to calm the boy down a bit. The secret was out and some of the anxiety was leaving, but some was getting worse. It didn’t help when Justin heard footsteps into the kitchen and looked up to see Conner, Kira, and Ethan looked over worriedly. Trent just clung harder. “Guys, we need to have a talk.”
Trent looked up at him, about to say something, but Justin shook his head and hugged Trent a bit harder for the support. After a second, Trent managed to whisper out “Do I have to tell them?” and Justin shook his head.
“Trent’s not evil again,” Ethan said quickly. “We’d know.”
Justin sighed. “Please tell me you’re not watching him to make sure he’s not going evil?”
“No,” Conner said. “We decided to check all of us to make sure we’re not going evil. Trent just acted like it more.”
Justin sighed and rubbed Trent’s back at he looked at the other three. “No, Trent’s not evil,” he assured them. He thought about it for a minute before he decided to try a tactic. “What would you do if your mom or dad did something really bad and they could get in a lot of trouble for it?”
The three of them looked at each other, uncertain as how to answer. “I dunno,” Conner answered. Justin nodded.
“Well, Trent had to answer that question. His dad is Mesagog,” he said quietly, feeling Trent flinch. Conner looked a little mad.
“And Trent knew?” He asked. Justin could understand the feeling of betrayal, but he wasn’t about to let it fester.
“It was his dad, Conner. He’s already lost his birth parents,” Justin reminded him and Conner’s anger died down. “It would be like if your parents went evil or your brother did.”
Conner’s anger died as he thought about that and he nodded quickly. He looked at Trent. “But that’s all you’re hiding, right?”
Trent managed to nod. Justin gently kept soothing him. “That’s it, guys,” Justin answered. Conner bit his lip, but stepped forward, putting his arms around Trent.
“No more secrets,” he scolded.
“No more secrets,” Trent agreed. Justin looked at the little boy.
“I know it feels right to hide things sometimes, but it feels better if you can tell someone,” he said quietly. Trent nodded and felt himself tackled by Ethan and Kira who had decided to get in on the snuggling. A couple of tears had fallen down Ethan’s face and Kira had her face in his shoulder.
“You’re not mad?” Trent asked. Conner looked up.
“Only that you lied, but it’s okay,” he said.
“But… I can’t just kill him,” Trent said. “I… he’s my dad.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Kira said from his shoulder. Ethan forced a smile.
“Or make sure you’re not there if we can’t do anything,” he said. Justin thought about scolding Ethan for it, but the kid had a point. If there wasn’t a choice, they’d have to do their jobs. It was his, Hayley’s, and Tommy’s job to make sure that didn’t have to be an option.
“We’ll fix it,” Justin said, sounding as assured as possible. “You have a team, Trent.”
As the four of them stayed in their hug for a while longer before convincing Trent to come back and watch Hocus Pocus while playing an odd sort of ‘Take a drink’ game but with candy, all Justin could think was: Thank god you’re not like me.
***
Justin managed to get all four sugar high little hellbeasts out the door and managed to keep Conner for super-speeding down the street. Helping Trent had made him more connected with the others, but he also lost his helper in keeping the other three under control. He wanted to be part of the group, he knew Justin would love him no matter what, and he was all on board for Conner’s stupid plans now. Hayley was happily back at Tommy’s, baby-sitting his former teammate and watching Ghostbusters. Part of him envied her.
That said, the enthusiasm was catching and the four of them were trying to be good. They would looked behind them to see if he was still there and they’d been thrilled when Storm Blaster had let them decorate him for the drive into town. He had a very patient sentient car. Once they were out of the jeep, they were dashing from house to house, enjoying the compliments of their costumes as Justin decided to be amused at the ‘sweet big brother’ comments coming his way.
“I’m serious,” one older woman said. “You don’t see most big brothers taking their little siblings and their friends around anymore.”
Justin smiled serenely. “Oh, they’re all brothers and sisters,” he assured her. She blinked and laughed.
“Must be a busy household with all four of ‘em,” she said, handing them more candy with a wink. “Give your big brother a run for his money.”
“Okay!” They all chirped at once and she seemingly cackled. Justin couldn’t help but feel her witch costume was accurate. Still, he was amused by it. He was less amused with the slightly older kids who decided to pick on them. He was even less amused when Conner and Ethan tried to fight them for picking on Trent.
“Hey! No fighting,” he said, grabbing them both under the arms and lifting them up. He heard the ‘oww’ and sighed. “Kira!”
“Accident.”
“How was it an accident?”
“Foot slipped.”
“Really? You’re going with that one?”
“I’m five,” she answered. Trent was holding back a snicker.
“No kicking, no fighting, no ‘accidents’. And you three, go home,” he told the bullies.
“Don’t hafta!”
“I have three very anger terrors right now and number four is going to join in. You already whined when she kicked you and I only have two arms,” Justin warned.
“You’re supposed to stop ‘em. You’re a grown-up,” one of the kids pouted. Justin leaned down.
“Not all grown-ups are nice,” he said with a slight growl. The kids ran. Justin picked himself back up and looked at the surprised quartet. “Next house.”
They followed his lead. They didn’t have any more trouble. Justin assumed that the kids had told other kids and he didn’t need to worry about it affecting the four Dino Thunder Rangers at school. If the kids had helicopter parents, they weren’t there before they were done, so he didn’t have to worry about that either. Instead, he had a great time of collecting candy.
They finished and headed back to the house where Hayley quickly turned off the movie as they entered. Conner looked at her. “I’ve seen it.”
“Not when you were five,” she countered. “Let me get the music on instead.”
Apparently, while they were out, Hayley had put up some lights and other decorations to make it look like a fun Halloween stage. When the music came on, Kira’s eyes lit up. She looked at Justin. “Go,” he said. “Give us a concert.”
She took her place in front and Justin smiled as he noticed that even Tommy had come out to watch, less scowling than the rest of the time. With Trent in his lap and an arm around Ethan and Conner, Justin couldn’t talk to him right then. And, truth be told, he felt better about letting his former leader know about Trent’s dad when they were on more equal footing. Instead, he listened to Kira sing her heart out and enjoyed some of the candy.
When the candy was eaten, the caramel apples devoured, and the songs had died out, Justin helped them get ready for bed. He was amused when Conner pushed all of their sleeping bag into a pile. He was more amused when the other three helped and none of them climbed in. Instead, they laid in a pile on top of them as if it were a nest. Justin was amused as he couldn’t see when one started and one ended. “They’re cute when they’re sleeping,” he whispered to Hayley. She snorted.
“I am never having children,” she informed him. “They’re nuts.”
“We’re dealing with five at once,” he reminded her.
“You’ve never heard of slumber parties? Forget it,” she said. She paused for a minute and then smiled a bit. “But they could be worse. So, what happened in the kitchen?”
He looked at her a bit sternly. “Mercer is Mesagog,” he informed her. “Trent knew. He didn’t know how to handle it and he’s probably scared to go home.”
Hayley groaned. “Got it,” she answered, quickly dealing with her own feelings. She could read the annoyance on Justin’s face, but he waved her next question off.
“I’m annoyed you didn’t catch it, but it’s hard when you don’t know what you’re looking for and at least you knew he was having trouble at home,” he said. “Tommy should have picked up something was seriously wrong with Trent and he should have figured it out.”
“Why…?”
“You’re a Tech, Hayley. He’s their mentor. And he’s seen it before,” he answered. He sighed and she quickly caught on and nodded. She didn’t say anything, but squeezed his shoulder. He gave her a smile for the contact. “But they’re okay. And that’s what’s important.”
“So the other three know now?” She asked. He nodded. “Good.”
There was silence for a minute before Justin laughed. “Trent and Kira are on the very top of the pile, aren’t they?”
“Ethan’s below them,” Hayley agreed. “Keeping them up.”
“And Conner’s in the middle of all of it. How can he breathe?”
“It’s Conner. He’ll be fine.”
“Right,” Justin said. “I just…”
“Worry like an overprotective hen?”
“Care.”
“That too.”
***
The next morning, Justin wasn’t woken by sounds of crazed five year olds or the complaints of an eight year old, but to the surprised yelling of teens that were stuck in the positions they’d accomplished as kids. He headed into the room in the midst of it.
“Oww! Kira! That’s my face!”
“Ethan! Hands to yourself!”
“Sorry, Kira! Trent, can you move your arm a bit?”
“Working on it. Conner, can you move to the left a bit?”
“I’m in the middle of all of you. I’m completely stuck. I’m going to wait for you guys to get up. Then I’ll move.”
“If we’re all stuck, how is that going to help?”
“It’s better than accidentally feeling up Kira.”
“…Shut up.”
Justin headed over and helped them out of their twisted prison with a slight smile. All of them felt a bit sheepish, but accepted the help. “You guys alright?”
“Yeah,” they all answered.
“Good. Hayley has breakfast cooking. I’m going to go get your mentor,” he said. The four of them cheered into the kitchen and Justin shook his head. They were bigger, calmer, and nearly just the same in other ways. He headed back toward the bedroom and knocked on the door. To his relief, Tommy answered the door. “I’m still not used to the hair.”
“I’m still not used to you being older than twelve,” Tommy countered. “Thanks for keeping an eye on them.”
“I wasn’t going to let them down,” he answered, wincing at the possible cheap shot and feeling a bit better when Tommy decided to ignore it. “We need to talk about Trent. And we need to do it in a way that doesn’t lead to you rushing to the kitchen in a rage.”
“Justin…”
“No. I’m talking, you’re listening, and we’re going to fix this,” Justin said. He stood up to his full height and looked Tommy in the eye. “Mercer is Mesagog.”
“What?” Tommy called out. “Did Trent know?”
“Yeah,” Justin said and grabbed Tommy’s arm before he could race off. “And you should have known.”
“Excuse me?”
“All of the signs were there, Tommy,” Justin informed him. “His shifting moods, his holding back, his unsure attitude. The fact that Hayley found him in the café. I know he’s easier to read at five, but how could you not notice?”
“I just…”
“You just didn’t see it,” Justin answered. “You wanted so much for everything to be okay.”
“Hey now!”
“You couldn’t accept that something might be wrong or that you might not know how to deal with something and you left him worried to tell you anything! He was worried to come to you, to see how you might react, to think that you might reject him or think he wasn’t worthy,” Justin snapped. Tommy’s anger deflated a bit.
“Is that how you felt?”
“We’re talking about Trent.”
“I know,” Tommy answered. Justin paused.
“You didn’t take me seriously,” Justin said. “Even though I earned it.”
“You did,” Tommy answered. “And… I can give you all of the excuses. I didn’t know how to handle you. Zordon left and I didn’t know how to deal with Dimitria. I…”
“Weren’t the best leader ever?” Justin asked. Tommy shrugged.
“Not to you,” he conceded, not about to agree with more than that. He paused and looked at Justin. “How do I handle this?”
Justin smiled. It wasn’t completely over, but it was a start. “You don’t yell at a scared kid who didn’t know what to do. You support him. You let him know you’ll figure something out and you make sure he’s okay.”
“What if I can’t find a cure?”
“We will,” Justin assured him.
“We?”
“Looks to me like you could use some help,” Justin answered. Tommy smiled.
“I’m glad to have it,” he answered. “Let’s go get some breakfast.”
They headed out of the room and toward the kitchen. The four teens looked up from their already finished breakfasts as the two older men sat down. “I didn’t hear anything break, so I’m assuming you guys had a nice talk,” Hayley said, setting food down for them. Both of them scowled at her, but she ignored it.
“Thanks for taking us Trick or Treating,” Conner said. “And for the candy.”
“And the costumes,” Ethan agreed.
“And the music,” Kira added.
“Thanks for everything,” Trent said quietly and Justin gave him a smile and a nod.
“So, do we know what happened?” He asked.
“Not yet,” Hayley said. “I can’t seem to find anything.”
“Then I better stick around,” he said. “In case it happens again.”
Tommy managed to cough into his food to keep from saying anything which was good since had Tommy not done that, Justin might have had to shove his face into it. Conner grinned. “You’re staying?”
“Really?” Kira asked, just as excited as her red companion. Justin blinked.
“I was thinking about it,” he said slowly.
“That’s great!” Ethan said. “I have so many things I want to talk to you about!”
“Me first!” Conner said quickly. Trent snorted.
“You always go first.”
“Don’t worry,” Kira said to Justin before she played referee. “They’ll calm down eventually.”
Justin just sat there, looking at all of them as Tommy looked at his students and then back to his former teammate with a snicker. “And you say I’m blind.”
“You are.”
“You didn’t even realize they’ve adopted you,” Tommy said, calmly drinking his juice.
“It took me less than a day to figure out Mesagog is Mercer,” Justin hissed. Tommy rolled his eyes before looking at his breakfast.
“I’m just glad they have someone they can turn to if they’re worried to tell Hayley or me,” he said. “I know I didn’t want to tell Zordon everything.”
Justin gave him a polite nod and they were silent for a moment. “Justin?” The four of them looked up from their arguing to look at him. Trent’s face looked worried. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he said. I think I finally have what I always wanted. “I’m fine.”
They grinned and went back to fighting as Hayley and Tommy started up minor bickering and he was left just shaking his head. He wasn’t quite sure about this, but he was willing to give it a shot. For the teens, of course.