Life Expectancy

Part One: The Virus of Life

Note: I do not own the characters, just the ideas.
Timeline: Dino Thunder
Rating: PG13+ (Language, content)
Pairing: Kirommy

Reefside High School
Dr. Thomas Oliver's Science Class

"Everyone, I have finally finished grading your tests and I must admit I was impressed by most of your scores. I was unsure and how well you grasped the different eras but most of you proved that you could handle it," Tommy Oliver announced to his class as he began to hand back their tests he had spent the last two weeks grading.

Walking through the rows, without looking up he began to hand papers to those he passed. A smile touched his lips when he came to the test of Ethan James and the next paper behind it, which was Kira Ford's. Doodled in the corners were cartoons of a triceratops and pterodactyl fighting each other. It was obvious that after they had finished their tests Ethan began to draw on Kira's and she began to draw on his in her own revenge. "Nice you two," he muttered to the two who were kicking each other under the table, as he handed them their papers and then wordlessly handed Conner McKnight his, who had failed.

"Aw man," Conner groaned, even though he was a Ranger and had his duties Tommy still wouldn't let it slide since they were rarely called out first thing in the morning, and because Conner did the same thing almost everyday. He slept and flirted with Krista, a shy, environmentalist who sat behind him. "I knew I was going to fail this!" he whined.

"Well that's what you get Conner, you filled your self fulfilling prophecy. You thought you failed, so you did," Kira said, rolling her eyes at the jock donned in red that sat to her left.

"She's right Conner, you should know that if you work hard, study and believe in yourself and know you will do well, you will," Tommy agreed as he finished passing out the last two papers and sat on the edge of his desk, folding his arms across his chest.

"What was your minor Dr. O? Psychology?" Ethan asked, at this Cassidy Cornell perked up and began to pay close attention; still seeking any information she could get on the man's background. Tommy had noticed and chose to answer carefully.

"It might have been, it never hurts to attempt to know a little bit of everything. Now class, onto notes on the chapter you should have read last night, Chapter Seven: Extinction."

As the hour began to pass, the usual patterns Tommy usually saw in his students began to show. There were a small handful of those who were actually paying close attention, like Ethan. Then there were others like Kira who wrote the notes but spent the other portion of his lecture doing other homework or doodling. Lastly there were those like Conner who slept or zoned, and with one glance at the look on Cassidy's face signaled that she was somewhere in her own thoughts.

The shrill bell woke three students, startled a handful and made the rest with the exception of the Dino Rangers rush from the class.

"I didn't know I was that bad," Tommy muttered as he watched them flee towards their next class.

"You're not," Ethan said as he approached, the other two at his side, Conner yawned and Kira's eyes were everywhere else but Tommy's face, then he picked up a soft hum, which was coming from her. He had heard it through the class but figured it was the overhead projector.

"Kira? That was you?" he asked, Kira's cheeks turned pink and she nodded.

"Sorry!" she immediately apologized, Tommy was about ready to correct her, wanting to tell her not to apologize when their morphers sounded.

They all glanced around and the three stood in front of Tommy, blocking him as he answered Hayley.

"What is it?" he asked, Hayley's voice filtered through, her voice calm yet perturbed.

"There is a disturbance downtown but I can't make out what it is, something's happening but no one's there," she stated.

"Ok Hayley, we'll check it out," he told her and then looked to the three.

"Who can come with me?" he asked, he hadn't had the time to look over their schedules to see who had what class after his.

"I can't I have Calculus," Ethan said, with an apologetic shrug.

"Nope, I have English," Conner said, Kira shook her head, knowing Conner was just going to sleep through it too.

"You're in luck, due to some weird mishap I don't have a second hour so lets roll," Kira said, sounding slightly cheerful at the thought of violence in the morning. She then blinked her doe eyes as her eyebrows knitted together, "Uh, how are we going to get out of here, its going to look suspicious if a male teacher and female student are seen fleeing the school together," at that thought, Tommy blinked as well.

"Kira, invisibility powers, now lets go," Tommy stated, knowing the sooner they dealt with the new bad guy of the day the better. The 'oh yeah!' expression lit Kira's face as Tommy grabbed her elbow and in a second they vanished.

"Good luck," Ethan said and left with Conner then their cursing could be heard echoing in the hall as the final bell rang.

As Kira and Tommy headed into town, he released his grip on her arm and they both became visible once again. They darted into an alley way and then looked to each other, Kira nodded and they took their stances, their morphers awakening on their wrists from their dormant, silver cuff state.

"Dino Thunder Power Up!" they called, in flashes of yellow and black, they powered up and in Ranger form, and they headed back out of the alley.

"So, what are we looking for?" Kira asked, Tommy shrugged, his eyes scanning, and seeing nothing.

"Hayley, we see nothing," Just as he spoke into his morpher a flash of white streaked passed them, pain ripped through them as they were forced to their knees.

The White Ranger laughed at them, his dark laughter filtering through his helmet.

"What's so funny?" Kira demanded, climbing to her feet, Tommy right beside her.

"Soon, Dr. Oliver, you're going to be extinct, just like your dinosaur friends. Mesogog's new plan is to take care of you in the past so that you will no longer exist now, its already on its way back to your past where your powers are no match for it," he told them, Kira was momentarily stunned, she didn't want to imagine her life without ever knowing him, without him existing.

"Why are you telling us this?" Tommy asked, his voice holding no emotion.

"I'd like to see Mesogog fail again, I may be evil but I haven't chosen sides. I never said I was on his," with that the White Ranger vanished in a blur of black and white. Glancing around, the two darted back into an alley and powered down.

"Dr. O?" Kira asked gently, upon not getting an answer, she saw that he looked defeated. All of her compassion began to flow through her veins and as he had his back to her she wrapped her arms around his waist and placed her forehead onto his shoulder. "Tommy, look at me," she stated softly.

At the sound of his first name pouring from her lips, Tommy slowly turned, savoring the feel of her arms around him. He looked down into her eyes, seeing determination and compassion glowing within them. He watched as her hand reached up and cupped his cheek, her warm palm flat on his skin.

"Kira…" he whispered, his eyes staring deeply into hers.

"Since we're having a moment, I'll tell you right now, I will do anything I have to do to protect you,"

"Kira," was all he could manage to say and he wrapped his arms around her. One was around her waist and the other was resting on her shoulder, his hand cupping the back of her neck. He placed his forehead onto hers, and for a moment his eyes fluttered shut, needing to cope with what had just taken place.

They stood there as one, foreheads touching, eyes close, destruction consuming their minds.

"What are you going to do?" she asked softly, a few minutes had passed and life around them was returning to normal. Slowly they opened their eyes and continued to stare deeply into each other's eyes.

"I have to warn Zordon somehow," Tommy stated, and then sighed, "But the Mighty Morphin powers aren't enough. I'm going to have to send one of you to the past, my past, I can't go there's a paradox infringement, I believe," Tommy stated, scrunching his eyebrows together. "Kira, would you go?" he asked, as his eyes never left hers.

"I would do anything to protect you," she stated, voiding all emotion from her face, unwilling to show that in that moment, she knew she had fallen in love with him.

"I knew I could count on you Kira, I always can," he smiled at her and she returned it.

"Always," she whispered back and then he reached for her hand, upon taking it they headed back to the school, unable to be seen by anyone.

"Why not Ethan? Or Conner?" Kira asked, curious.

"Conner is ADHD and Ethan can't live without his computer. Remember that two hour span that Conner had it?" Kira laughed at the memory, the sheer panic that Ethan had been in when he had accidentally left his laptop in the jock's car.

"Good point," she replied and smiled as he laughed, then she saw tears forming in his eyes. "Oh…Tommy…" she whispered and instantly cupped his cheek to brush away his tears with her thumb. "Don't cry…don't cry," she murmured gently to him, she pulled him close and on instinct he nuzzled his face into her neck and she felt his warm breath and wet tears on her exposed skin. "Shhhh…you'll be alright, you'll be alright. Why is this getting to you so badly? Don't you have a little bit of faith in me?" she asked, he lifted his face and scrubbed his tears away.

"Kira, you shouldn't have to ask, you know I do," he replied immediately, she sighed and turned from him.

"Then what is it?" she asked, holding her back to him, he reached out, placing his palms on the tops of her arms, she could feel the warmth radiate through her thin cotton shirt.

"I…I can't say," he whispered, Kira felt tears gather in her eyes.

"Fine then, I'll go back and meet you later," trying to hide the hurt in her voice, but he heard and wrapped his arm around her upper body.

"Kira, don't leave, not like this, its not that. It's not at all, Kira, if you go back there, this is my history, something may change because of what I have…"

"What?" she asked, as she moved in his arms and turned to look into his face.

"My feelings for you," he whispered, then continued, "Kira, I fell…I fell in love with you the moment I laid eyes on you. I know its wrong but I did, I saw something inside you that I've been looking for, someone to complete me. If you go back, what do you think I'm going to do then? The same thing I did now, I'm afraid it will completely alter my history," he confessed, Kira gently pressed her lips to his in a brief kiss, pulling away before he could kiss her back.

"Well, I promise I won't do anything stupid, completely on business, all work and no play," she stated, he gave a small laugh. "I'm going to go home and grab some things before heading back to your place, I'm going to skip for the rest of the day, I don't care about school anymore, your life is at stake. I'll explain things to Hayley and we'll somehow contact Zordon and all that stuff. Go on, you have a class to teach, I'll see you later," she said and walked away, he watched her go, realizing that she completely dodge the whole subject of her feelings and if she even had the same feelings.

"Damn it," he whispered as he became invisible and stalked towards the school, "I completely blew it,"