Trent sat stiffly in the chair down in the lair, feeling like he'd been sent to the principal's office and trying not to cross his arms and pout.
Dr. O's footsteps didn't sound annoyed as he jogged down the steps, so that was a good sign. And he smiled at Trent as he reached the bottom. "You're not in trouble."
"Oh, that's good."
Swinging his leg over a chair, Dr. O leaned on the back and studied him. "Hayley just thought it might be easier to talk to me rather than trying to find information in the computers if you wanted to know about the dino gems."
"You mean if I wanted to know more about when you were the Green Ranger."
"That too. Whichever you want to talk about." Dr. O waved a hand.
"Hayley thinks I need therapy?"
"Maybe she does, but you're in luck, because there's no way you could explain all of this to a psychologist anyway, so you've just got me."
"Hayley thinks you need therapy," Trent said with a sniff.
"She's thought that for a long time, so I'm not that worried. About me, that is. I'm more worried about you. And don't say you're fine," he said quickly.
"I wasn't going to say that," Trent said, even though he was sure they both knew he was lying.
"Mm-hmm. Why don't we start with what you wanted to know about the gems. And then I can ask Hayley to back off, okay?"
Trent considered it, looking for a catch, then remembered he didn't need to do that now. "Yeah, okay," he said eventually.
"So...what were you looking for?"
"How to get rid of it."
Dr. O looked surprised for an instant, then shook his head. "Right, of course. But you can't. I'm sorry. The only way I know for us to release the gem's hold is for you to be destroyed. I swear, I wouldn't lie about that."
"So if..." Trent trailed off, unable to put the thoughts he'd been having into words. Not in front of an adult.
"If what?" Dr. O asked eventually.
"So I have to die to get rid of it."
The look Dr. O gave him was puzzled for a moment. "Yes," he said slowly. "If you die...however you die, the gem would be released. Trent, are you thinking about-"
"No." He slashed his hand through the air. "I mean, not really. Not now. At first I did. But helping you guys...it's helping. I just wanted to know if there was another way."
"There isn't. I'm sorry." Dr. O really did look upset now. "Trent, if you feel that unhappy-"
"I said not now!" Trent was surprised by his own outburst. "Sorry, I guess I'm still reacting to the doctors Dad made me see after...well, after the cave-in."
Dr. O smiled slightly. "I know what you mean."
"Huh?"
"Oh, something Hayley ididn't/i tell you about me? I'm glad I still have a few secrets. I'm adopted too. I have my own issues with psychologists, as it happens. But I want you to talk to me or to Hayley if you start to feel that way again, okay? I don't want to save the world by sacrificing you."
For a long moment, Trent thought about telling Dr. O his last secret. Just getting it off his chest and letting the adult handle things. But Dad...he couldn't do that to Dad. "I will."
Dr. O studied him, then nodded. "Okay. So, was there anything else you wanted to know?"
Glad for the change of subject, Trent blurted out the thing that had been bugging him. "Kira says you told them the gem chooses you...but what does that really mean?"
"None of the others have ever asked me that." Dr. O smiled. "Ethan may be smart, but I knew you were perceptive."
"So?"
"When I found the red, yellow, and blue gems...well, I had a pretty good idea what they were." He paused.
Trent thought about that. "You tried to choose one."
Dr. O's chuckle was bitter. "I tried all of them. Pretty pathetic. A washed-up Ranger-anyway, they all rejected me. I could tell they were waiting, but I didn't know for whom."
"What about the white one? Elsa told me it was pure evil and Mesogog said it was taking over my mind."
"Now that's an interesting case. Elsa and Mesogog may have thought they'd turned it to evil, but my theory is that it was more like a...greasy film of evil atop the gem's innate power. If they'd changed its fundamental nature, you wouldn't have been able to fight it for so long and the evil wouldn't have drained so easily."
"I wouldn't say it was easy."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I suppose. So you don't know what the gems were looking for."
"Not exactly, but I can guess, based on past experiences. I think your gem was looking for someone to free it. Someone with the necessary internal strength and resilience, someone who'd faced horror and survived."
"That sounds good, but what if it was Elsa and Mesogog's part that called to me and it was just looking for someone with vast levels of untapped evil?"
Dr. O leaned forward, shaking his head. "Everyone has untapped evil. Hayley says she told you a bit about my time under Rita's spell."
Trent snorted. "Maybe you're just evil like me."
Dr. O ignored that. "Anyone can have that evil brought out by a greater force. It's what happens afterward that matters."
"Yeah, well, I went over to the dark side and backstabbed everyone from you to Mesogog, so I don't think your argument is going to make me feel better."
"You fought it," Dr. O said in his most earnest tone, catching his eyes. "You tried to protect your friends, you tried to get away, and were captured by Mesogog. I hardly think that's your fault."
"I enjoyed it, though. I mean, not having everybody try to beat me up, but...plotting to destroy everything felt good."
Dr. O didn't even blink as he waited, his face impassive.
"All I wanted to do was kill. I wanted everything to burn." Trent felt his heart race. "The feeling every time I lashed out, it was better than sex."
"You may be having the wrong kind of sex." Dr. O frowned. "Wait, what am I saying? You shouldn't be having any kind of sex. Do I need to have the Rangers birds and bees talk with you and Kira?"
Trent felt his jaw actually drop (and who knew that was a real thing?). "Way to miss the point."
Dr. O grinned at him, then sobered. "You're right that evil can feel good. It's a hell of a lot easier to go bad than it is to be a good person and it can make you feel powerful and in control. Who wouldn't enjoy that? There's a freedom in being evil, in not having to weigh your actions, in just...letting loose. Believe me, I know how seductive that is."
Trent pondered that for a bit, looking at his hands, remembering the fierce joy in tricking both sides and then pounding everyone who got in his way. "How do I know if all the evil is gone?"
"It's gone."
"But..." The words stuck in his throat and he choked. Dr. O didn't say anything and Trent finally dared a glance at him. It wasn't Dr. O's disappointed face. Just patience, like he could wait all night. "Sometimes when I'm powered up I want to do it again. I want to hit and burn and..." He choked again, unable to look at his teacher.
"But you don't. That feeling isn't the gem, that's you." Betrayed, Trent looked up in horror and Dr. O seemed to review what he'd just said. "Wait, that didn't come out right. I said we all have evil inside us and I meant it. You've suffered more than anyone should have to. It's normal to want to lash out at a moment when you actually have the power to do it. But you don't because you're Trent Fernandez and you're a good person."
"If you say so."
"I do. And I'm pretty sure Kira and Hayley would be happy to point it out to you on a regular basis as well."
"And-"
"And Conner and Ethan will come around, I promise."
Trent couldn't help a small laugh at that. "Yeah, maybe in the next century they might trust me again."
"It'll be a lot sooner than that. Working as a team like this makes these things happen quickly." Dr. O smiled. "Have I got some stories..." He glanced at the clock. "But they'll have to wait for another day, since it's getting late."
"I guess." Trent really didn't want to leave the first place he'd felt safe in a long time just yet. "Can I..."
Dr. O seemed to understand. "Yeah, sure, I'm not kicking you out. But I'm going to head up and get some sleep before I have to teach another day on no sleep."
"Sure." Trent paused. "I do have one more question, though."
"Yes?"
He thought about how to phrase it. "Why do you think the black gem chose you?"
Dr. O looked at him gravely. "Maybe because I saved it from Mesogog? I don't know. I'm glad it did, though."
"I think..." Trent tried to bring his jumbled thoughts together. "The Brachiozord is kind of the shelter, y'know, for the Zords. It's the thing that keeps us all together. So the black gem needed you for that. Someone with the experience to watch over the rest of us."
Dr. O was actually speechless before pulling himself together. "Thank you. That means a lot." Trent shrugged as Dr. O clapped him on the shoulder. "See you tomorrow."
"G'night, Dr. O."
Dr. O started up the stairs, but paused halfway up. "Oh, and Trent?"
"Yeah?"
"I wasn't kidding about the Ranger birds and bees. I can't believe I haven't had that talk with any of you yet."
"Oh man." Burying his face in his hands, Trent groaned.
"It's going to hurt me more than it hurts you."
"I don't think that's possible."
Dr. O's laughter drifted behind him as he finished climbing. "Good night. Get some sleep."
-end-