Always a Ranger - Part 25
The I in Team
By Jeannine Trevizo
With the
threat from Zeltrax stopped for the moment and the Shield of Triumph safely in
Conner’s hands, Tommy assured everyone that they could head out. As the team
exited upstairs, Conner offered to give Trent a ride home like the rest of the
team, but he passed. He still wasn’t fully comfortable with everyone yet, and
the appearance of the White Terrorsaurus and the white ranger clone didn’t help.
Kira looked
at him with a frown, but followed Ethan and Conner to the red muscle car. As
the three rangers drove off, Trent frowned and started home by foot, his mind
circling around the issues weighing on him.
While he’d
been offered a place with the team, there was still a lingering mistrust.
They’d started to get along and work together, but there was still an
underlying willingness on the team’s part to believe that he could go back to
his ‘evil’ ways. Of the group, Kira was the most accepting while Conner and
Ethan continued to have deeply ingrained doubts, no matter how much they had
‘accepted’ him among them.
And his
inability to be fully honest with them didn’t help matters.
When Kira had
said that there were no secrets between them, he had cringed inwardly. He
wondered if they knew that he hadn’t told them everything. He got the feeling
that even though Dr. O trusted him and that the black ranger knew that he
hadn’t been totally upfront with him about his time as the evil white ranger.
Dr. O’s
behavior and what he’d shared with him continued to gnaw at his soul. When he’d
gone to his teacher to talk about his unease at his evil past, he never
expected that he could find not only understanding, but a kindred spirit. Of all
the things he would have believed about the black ranger, the fact that he’d
been evil and that he knew the kind of guilt and fear of not being trustworthy
by his fellow rangers was not one of them. The shock he’d gotten when Dr.
Oliver had explained what he’d gone through when he’d been evil had been
overwhelming.
He had
realized that if Dr. O could get through it, so could he. But when they’d
talked, he hadn’t been fully honest. Dr. O had asked if there was anything he
could offer to help in the fight Mesogog, and he’d stayed silent. Even though
his teacher nodded his head and accepted his reply, he still felt like the
black ranger knew that he wasn’t telling the whole truth about his time as the
evil white ranger.
Which he
wasn’t.
He couldn’t
tell Dr. O about his father. There were lines that you just couldn’t cross. His
word to his father outweighed any loyalty he had to Dr. O and the rangers. And
based on his father’s comments, he knew that Anton was fighting to break free
of the control Mesogog had n him.
He needed to
give him the time to do that.
Yet at the
same time, it ate at him that maybe he was wrong. These were power rangers.
They had access to such amazing things. If they knew that Mesogog was part of
his father, maybe they could find a cure…
But he
couldn’t take that chance.
Before he
realized it, Trent looked up and saw that he was home already. Hopefully his dad
would be there…
-
Kira sat at
one of the circular tables at the Cyberspace café. She was nursing the café
latte that she’d ordered, thinking the flavor and caffeine would keep her
awake. Unfortunately, all it was doing was making her think too much. Ever
since Trent had shown up, free of the evil influence that had been on the dino
gem, she’d had this bad feeling. Like something still wasn’t quite right.
“Earth to
Kira,” said Ethan, coming over with his own drink, a chocolate milkshake and
sat beside her.
“What?”
“You seem
preoccupied. Everything okay?”
“I guess. I
just have this feeling…”
“Oh no,
please don’t tell me you think we’re gonna get attacked again already,” asked
Conner, arriving at the tail end of her comment.
“No, just… I
feel like there’s something we don’t know still. You know, like the other shoe
hasn’t dropped yet.”
“Ah, that
feeling. I’ve been having that one too,” Ethan commented.
“So, what do
you think it is? Maybe the white ranger clone really Trent, and vice versa?”
Kira and
Ethan both glared at Conner, and he smiled at them. Sure, it was a really bad
joke, but humor really kept him from freaking out on a regular basis. It was
bizarre enough that he was a power ranger. The things they saw were just so
crazy, he felt if he didn’t laugh about it he’d go crazy.
“Okay, so no
on the switched Trent theory. What else could it be?” questioned Ethan before
taking a sip of the shake.
“Maybe I’m
just overreacting,” Kira offered, trying to smooth over the issue.
“I don’t
think so. You have good instincts Kira. I think there’s something to it,”
Conner remarked seriously, reaching over to cover one of her hands with his
own.
Kira stared
at the red ranger and smiled. He was the one with the new cool powers, but here
he was making sure that she knew that he believed in her and her instincts. He
had grown up into a good leader.
Shrugging her
shoulders in answer, Kira glanced over to see Hayley moving out from behind the
counter. The brains of the ranger technology had been a good mood for weeks.
First there had been the former blue ranger’s appearance, and then with Trent
being freed from the evil influence on the white dino gem, he’d come back to
work and patched things up with the red-headed woman.
“Hey guys, I
was wondering, how is Trent doing, coping with not being evil and all? He seems
okay, but…” Hayley asked as she set down Conner’s smoothie on the table.
“Okay I
guess. We haven’t talked as much as I thought we would,” Kira sighed, and
Hayley nodded and walked over to help some other customers.
That was
something Kira was getting used to… the fact that as much as she wanted to help
and be there for him, the one person that really could talk to was Dr. O. He
was the only one of them who could really empathize with Trent.
As Kira took
a sip of her latte, Ethan shot a look at Conner and he raised his eyebrows to
show a facial shrug. Neither of them truly knew what Trent’s evil ways might
have done to him. But his behavior still wasn’t really ‘normal’. Both of them
were still a bit hesitant about his reformation, even if they’d all hung out
the week before after his turn to good. They knew that they should be more
understanding, but it was hard.
They both
just hoped that Dr. O could help.
“It probably
takes some time,” Ethan remarked, trying to put things into perspective. “Did
Kim ever mention how long it took Dr. O to get over being the evil green ranger
back in the day?”
“No, but I
got the feeling that it was a while, and it was hard on everybody.”
“Well, at
least Trent’s got Dr. O to talk to. That’s got to count for something,” said
Conner, and Kira and Ethan both nodded in agreement, shelving the conversation
for the time being.
-
Tommy Oliver
paced the living room of his house, wondering just what new twists were in
store for his new team. Trent coming over to the side of good was a big
adjustment. Conner with enhanced powers was another. And the evil white ranger
clone was something that reminded him of a log time past when it was his evil
clone running around Angel Grove, both in the present and the past.
All of those
things were equally significant, but he couldn’t keep from thinking about the changes
that affected him on a more… personal level.
Like Kim
moving in with him and him asking her to marry him.
Still, those
were future realities that were his and his alone. What he and Kim did wouldn’t
affect the team. What happened with Conner and Trent did.
And most
worrisome was still Trent’s hesitancy to be truly part of the team, and the
lingering distrust of the guys in his reformation. He was glad that Trent had
come to talk to him, and he hoped that he’d been able to give the young man
something to help him cope.
But making
people trust you wasn’t always easy. And getting past the violence and pain you
dished out on people that didn’t deserve it wasn’t something that went away in
a day or a week.
Hell, to be
honest, it still was with him, even if it was now an accepted part of what made
him who he was.
It still
amazed him that he’d gotten through being under Rita’s spell as well as he had.
Something like that could scar a man; make him forever doubt himself, his
motives and his behavior. But he’d had Kim, Jason and the rest of the team.
They all had helped him in one way or another to find the hero that was within
him. Helped him reconcile the fact that you needed an edge, and that you could
always walk the fine line between good and evil and come back.
His friends
had been the reason that he was here today. He just had to hope that this new
team could do as well with Trent as Kim and the others had done with him.
Just thinking
of Kim again drove him to break his pacing and head for the phone. He hadn’t
called her, and knowing his love, she probably would be checking the news for
ranger activity and give him hell if he didn’t call her with his ‘report’.
Picking up
the cordless phone, he started to dial.
“Hello?”
“Hi
Beautiful,” Tommy said, and heard Kim’s sigh on the other end of the line.
“Hi yourself
handsome. Are you calling to tell me that you guys had some fun today?” she
asked in a knowing way.
“Please don’t
tell me we were on TV again,” Tommy sighed as he moved to sit on the couch,
stretching out along the soft fabric and wishing for the thousandth time since
he last saw her that the Olympics were over and she was there.
“East coast
evening news. Hey, you fight in downtown, you get publicity. You know, I think
some days that I spent more time on TV between being a ranger and the Olympic
trials than most actors do.”
Tommy
laughed, and heard her voice join his.
“Well, I know
the feeling Kim, although I don’t think I had more than one or two races filmed
by a sports show or local news crew. Of course, you have a lot more face time
still to come. You’ve got less than a month before you have to be in Athens.”
“I know. And
I hope they have the power grids fixed before then. I am not looking
forward to baking in 105 degree heat with eighteen teenage girls.”
“Well, that
is something I can’t help you with. I will however be glued to my TV as they
show the Women’s gymnastics events for a glimpse of you.”
Kim went
quiet on her end, and Tommy knew he’d embarrassed the hell out of her. But what
could he say… he wanted to wake up to her every day for the rest of his life.
And with them separated by nearly two continents, he was looking forward to any
opportunity to see her.
“So, once the
Olympics are over, do you think that you can handle not being a celebrity?” he
asked, redirecting the conversation to somewhere he knew she was comfortable.
“I would be
more than happy to never be on a TV screen or interviewed for the rest of my
life. All I have to do is get through all the press junkets when the team
arrives in Athens, and all the press conferences during the games. Then I can
settle down in Reefside and only read about the news, not be it.”
“Except I’ll
be running off at every turn,” he reminded her.
“I know. But
that’s the job. I know about that. I even miss it sometimes,” Kim replied
simply, and Tommy sighed on his end.
“I miss you
with me Kim… both in uniform and out.”
“Out of
uniform and in your bed, you mean,” she said with a smirk in her voice.
“Hey! I
wasn’t thinking…”
“Sure you
weren’t. Tell me now that you weren’t thinking of you and me under the covers
of your bed…” Kim challenged.
“…Okay, I
can’t… sue me,” Tommy replied grudgingly as images of the last time Kim had
shared their bed floated up to the surface and made him want to close his eyes
and groan. “We’ve had so little time together Kim, and what time we have had
since we got our relationship back on track is what keeps me going. The promise
that one day I won’t have to let you leave to go home, because you will be home…
with me.”
“I know
Tommy,” Kim answered quickly, her own longing discernable in her tone of voice.
“It’s hard to have you there and me here. I know we both have our
responsibilities, but I just want to live a somewhat normal life with my not so
normal boyfriend.”
Tommy
considered telling Kim that he didn’t plan to be just her boyfriend for very
long, but stopped himself. He’d just started talking with Jason about his
desire to ask Kimberly to marry him. He didn’t want to get too far ahead of
himself when Kim was still a month away from stepping off the plane in Reefside
and staying forever.
“Enough about
us for the moment, how is the team, and how is Trent doing?” inquired Kim
“Fine I
guess. We had a talk, and I hope that it helped, but things with him are still
very difficult,” Tommy explained, thoughts of his feeling that Trent was
keeping something from them him and the team coloring his reply.
“And Kira and
the team? Are they getting through to him?”
“I don’t
know. I get the impression that Trent is still being removed from not only
Ethan and Conner, but Kira too.”
“Oh… I hope
that’s okay with her.”
“I think that
Kira and Trent won’t find what you and I did Kim,” Tommy stated bluntly.
“Well, maybe
it’s for the best… being in love with a ranger isn’t easy.”
“You made it
look easy. You still do.”
“Flatterer,”
Kim said laughingly. “So did you.”
“I was lucky.
Between the shorts and skirts and you in pink spandex, how could I ever look at
another woman?”
Kim laughed,
and Tommy joined her, but he wondered if she ever compared herself and her pink
spandex with Kat…
“Good. I
expect the same dedication to my legs and other non-spandex assets when I get
to Reefside.”
“That I can
guarantee,” Tommy stated, when a knock at the door brought him up short. Who
would be there at this time of day?
“Kim, there’s
someone at the door,” he stated as he got up from the couch.
“I’ll let you
go and talk to you later,” Kim said quickly, before adding, “I love you.”
“Love you too
Beautiful.”
Shutting off
the phone as he crossed the room, Tommy opened the door to see a mail carrier
there. The man smiled and handed him a package, and then turned back to the
path. Juggling the box and the phone, Tommy turned back to sit on the couch,
dropping the phone to the side as he looked at the brown cardboard with a white
envelope with his address on it taped to the front.
It only took
a second before he recognized the return address and was more than a bit
surprised at it. He had no idea what they were sending him… Taking the envelope
off the front, he ripped it open and unfolded the letter.
‘Tommy,
Sam asked my
permission to send this to you, saying that you should have it now. It was our
mother’s and I figured since you have so little of our parents in the first
place that you should have it. Speaking of which, if you really do need this,
you need to call me and tell me what’s going on.
Take care,
David’
Placing the
letter aside, Tommy opened the box, carefully pulling away the shredded
newspaper until he reached a smaller box. Taking hold, he pulled the small
cubed item from the paper. Carefully, he realized the box had a lid. Popping
the hinges, he stared at the contents and smiled.
Yeah, exactly
what he wanted, he thought happily. He’d have to call Sam and David to let them
know it was perfect.
-End-
To be continued…
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