Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or situations presented here and am not making any profit off of them whatsoever.
Story Title: Best Wishes
Rated: PG-13
Word Count: 2,716
Friendship: Kim Hart, Tommy Oliver
Notes: This takes place in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder, February 2004, after In Your Dreams and before Drawn Into Danger. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.
Summary: It's the fourteenth of February. Tommy has to make a phone call.

Tommy noticed the Valentine's Day preparations first. When he got around to noticing them at all, that was, which did take him a couple of days. One might say he couldn't be blamed for it, since Mesogog chose that time of year to attack a little more fiercely than usual. It was probably due to the holiday. Ever since the beginning, he'd noticed that most villains liked to strike a little harder when the various days of celebration struck. Even with his experience, he couldn't always be certain of why that was. He hadn't ever been evil during a holiday, and none of the reformed villains had ever told him why. He hadn't asked, either.

But the point was, it was going to be the fourteenth of February soon, and that meant he had a phone call to make. Any time on it or even before it would be good, of course, so he didn't rush to it. He just marked it on his calendar at his house, and promptly forgot about it all over again.

"Hey, Dr. O?" It was Ethan who asked it first. The Rangers were all there for a quick study session before the weekend. Tommy looked over at the Blue Ranger, one eyebrow quirked slightly. "Why've you got tomorrow circled? Something you're not telling us?"

Tommy looked at the calendar again and frowned. He knew he wasn't dating anyone. He hadn't dated anyone seriously since he was in college to start with, and wasn't really feeling the lack of it now.

"What is it?" Conner turned to see what his friend was looking at, then returned his gaze to his mentor. "So who's the lucky girl?" He glanced back at Hayley for a few seconds, then back at Tommy.

"Guys…" Tommy shook his head. "Stop jumping to conclusions. I'm not seeing anyone."

"But do you want to be?" Ethan teased lightly, a twinkle in his eyes. If Tommy had been five years younger, he may well have headdesked. He thought about doing it anyway.

"Would you tell us if you did?" Conner wondered, leaning back in his chair. His books were spread out before him and Ethan sat on the other side of the table, books before him as well. Tommy considered telling them there would be a surprise quiz in science just to see what they did, then decided that would defeat the purpose of 'surprise'. He'd just see what they did when he pulled it on them Monday.

"You'd better answer them," Hayley said, a faint smile twitching at her lips. "They're not going to leave you alone until you do. Trust me."

Tommy did; they'd been through more than enough together so he would. "Fine. The reason tomorrow is circled is because I have to make a phone call to an old friend. It's her birthday."

"An old girlfriend?" Conner wondered with a grin. Tommy decided that there would be a surprise quiz on Monday and that he was going to grade extra hard for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

"As a matter of fact, yes," he said calmly. "She was one of the first Rangers, too. Kim Hart. We dated for a couple of years."

His Rangers all turned to look at him with various degrees of surprise in their eyes. He could see Hayley rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Well, let them think what they wanted. It wasn't as if he were lying. He and Kim had dated as teens.

"Did you ever forget her birthday while you were dating?" Kira asked, grinning ever so slightly. He decided to take a couple of points off if they weren't in their seats by the time the bell rang.

He didn't bother to dignify that question with an answer, though. Kim's birthday had passed three times while they'd been dating, and he hadn't forgotten any of them. Of course, he'd had to set it up with some of the others every year to make certain he didn't. She hadn't ever guessed. At least not as far as she'd ever told him.

He started to sketch out some questions and answers for the test he was planning, ignoring the rest of their teasing until they figured out he wasn't going to answer them. He also made a note to take points off for any extra noises in class and for anything short of an attack that would have them all leaving anyway.

The next morning, he stumbled, still half-asleep, into the kitchen and headed automatically for the coffeemaker. He let himself sleep in on Saturdays, but that didn't mean he was actually awake when he finally got out of his bed. He drank down the first two cups, scarcely tasting them as he did, and settled down at the table with the third. He didn't bother turning on the television. If there were any monster attacks, the equipment downstairs would warn him before anything on the news would. He could afford to wake up slowly.

He sipped at the coffee carefully, his attention focusing first on the glasses still scattered on the table in front of him. He hadn't bothered to clean them off when everyone left the night before. He'd been too focused on some of the harder questions on the test. They were going to hate him when all of this was through.

They'd been teasing him about something, hadn't they? It took a few more minutes for the memories to filter in through the haze of his normal forgetfulness and the miasma of still having been asleep thirty minutes earlier. He all but groaned when he remembered. They were probably going to nag about it again on Monday.

Still going to call her, though. He reached for the phone and started to dial her number. Like that of all of his friends, he had it memorized. He glanced at the clock a little belatedly and for a moment, his eyes glazed as he tried to figure out the time difference. Identifying dinosaur bones was easy for him. Working out the intricacies of time zones took him a few seconds. Whew. It'll be afternoon for her.

"Hello?" Her familiar voice answered after three rings.

"Hey, Kim, it's me," he replied, leaning back in his chair and taking another sip of coffee. "Just thought I'd call since it's today."

He could all but see her rolling her eyes and grinning at the phone. "I'll just bet. Who did you get to remind you this year?"

All right, so maybe she had known. "No one…not really. I just marked it on the calendar." He decided to get the ritual words out of the way so they could move on to other topics. "Happy birthday, Kim."

"Thanks." He could hear her faintly moving around, probably getting herself comfortable as well. "So, what have you been up to yourself? Keeping in one piece out there?"

She knew that he was a Ranger again. All of them knew. The night after he'd received the Black Dino Gem, he'd put in a call to Jason, who had spread it throughout the entire network. Zack, Adam, and Carlos had descended on him the weekend after to 'initiate' him into the honored ranks of those who wore the black. Which had, in the end, meant having a couple of drinks and telling very bad stories about how awesome their color was compared to all the others, even if they also did have a slight respect for those who had only worn Green.

"Did you ever notice," Carlos had declared, "that there's never a Black and a Green at the same time? If there's a changeover, then whoever was the Black Ranger becomes the Green Ranger." He had waved a hand between himself and Adam, then pointed at Tommy. "You…you were a Green Ranger, and then you went White, and Red, and now Black. Any more you're planning on doing?"

Tommy had tossed back his drink, glad that they were doing this late enough at night so he didn't have to worry about a monster attack. He could hold his liquor well enough so that he doubted he'd have to worry over much of a hangover in the morning either. "Wasn't planning on this." He wondered, though, if he'd ever be a Blue Ranger, and if he was, what Billy, Rocky, Justin, and T.J. would have to say about it. After all, if he'd been a Green Ranger that had turned to Black, why couldn't he be a Red Ranger who turned to Blue? It wouldn't be the first time.

Now, he tried to keep his mind on his conversation with Kim. "Yeah. That little problem I had got cleared up a couple of weeks ago. Glad of it, too. The kids weren't learning anything without me around."

"Yeah, I'll just bet." She laughed a little. "So, going to be going out with anyone today?"

"Hadn't planned on it." The question, which might've had an entirely different playful cast to it years earlier, was now nothing more than one friend to another. Though now that he thought about it some, he kind of wondered if Hayley was going to be free. It didn't have to be anything serious. They could just go see a movie or something. "What about you?"

"Actually, now that you mention it, I am," Kim replied. He wasn't surprised at all. The last time they'd talked, just before Christmas, she'd mentioned that an old friend had shown up and would be taking her out then. He wondered if it would be the same person, and who it was. "In fact, Gene's probably going to be here in a little while."

Gene? That didn't click anything in his memory, but he had the vague thought that it should have. "Are you two serious?" Whoever it was, if they were, then this Gene had better be very good to Kim.

"I don't know yet." Kim admitted. "I've thought about asking him. I want it to be, but he hasn't mentioned it, and I don't want to push things, you know?"

Yeah, he knew. That had been what had ended two of his college relationships. "Well, whatever happens, good luck." He sipped down some more coffee. "Just who is this guy, anyway? I haven't met him, have I?"

Now, that was strange. Why was she laughing like that? "Tommy…didn't I tell you at Christmas?"

"Tell me?" His brow furrowed thoughtfully. "Tell me what?"

"Gene…it's…it's Skull! I'm dating Skull!" Her voice grew a little fainter as she pulled the phone away from her mouth so she could laugh more freely. He stared at the receiver in his hand, not entirely certain if he'd heard that correctly.

When she came back, more composed this time, he asked, "Skull? As in, Eugene Skullovitch?" He knew that the former punk had turned himself around even while they'd still been in high school, but he wasn't sure if he could fully wrap his brain around this one.

"There's no other Genes around here that I'm interested in." Kim's reply was firm and strong. "I really care about him, Tommy. I know what he was like, but you saw for yourself that he's changed."

"I know. I guess it just surprised me some. I wasn't expecting it." Hadn't he first met her when Skull had been aggravating her? And now she was dating him. The way the world turned surprised even him most of the time. "I wish you guys the best of luck." Now that he thought about it, they did have some interests in common. Maybe it wasn't all that startling after all. He probably would've taken it better if he had been more awake.

"I can't say I was when he showed up here, either. Things really do change when you least expect it." Kim laughed again. "What was that girl's name you're working with? The one who helps you at your base, kind of like Billy did when you guys were the Zeo Rangers?"

He closed his eyes for a moment. Was Kim going to say what he thought she was going to? Probably. "You mean Hayley?"

"Right. Is she seeing anyone?" He couldn't have missed that note of teasing if he'd tried, and he wasn't trying. All he could utter in reply was a faint groan, however. "Come on, Tommy. I bet you were thinking about it anyway."

"All right. I was. So what?" He didn't feel defensive. Jason would've said something about it even faster than Kim had. He didn't mind not dating, but he was also certain he wouldn't mind dating, if he found someone he could trust. And I trust Hayley.

Wisely, Kim chose to change the subject. "Are you going to Emily and Jason's this summer? Jason asked about you when he called me this morning. I think they miss you."

He finished off his coffee and poured another cup, moving carefully to keep the phone near his ear. "Probably. If this is all wrapped up by then. Otherwise, I can't be sure." He wanted it to be done. He wanted to have settled everything with Mesogog and to have seen the kids off to college. Retiring again would be sweet. In fact, giving himself a trip to Angel Grove would be even sweeter. It had been way too long since he'd seen them anyway. "I'll call them later and let them know."

"Good. Good luck with what you're doing there, too. Both jobs. I have a feeling you're going to need all you can get." Kim told him seriously. "Let us know how it comes out, all right?"

"I will. And you let me know how it comes out with you and him, all right?" He was more curious than anything else. The more he thought about how Skull…Gene…that was going to take some getting used to…had acted the older they got, the more he became comfortable with the idea of the two of them together. Not that they would need or want his approval, but he liked life better when he liked the people that his friends cared about.

"No problem. I've got to go, we're going to be catching an early movie. Later!"

Once he'd told her good-bye and hung up, he put the phone down and leaned back in his chair, a content smile on his lips. He always felt so much better, no matter what was going on, after he'd talked to one of his friends. He stared at the phone a bit more, then decided he'd better get it over with. A few moments of button punching later, and the phone rang once more.

"Hello, Tommy," Hayley's voice was calm, as it always was. She so very seldom got upset. He liked that about her. When something did bother her, she got down to solving it as quickly as possible. "What do you need?"

He was quite grateful he'd managed to develop a slightly smoother ability to ask someone out than he'd used when he was in high school. Practice, or getting older, had improved him that much. Or both. "Hey. If you're not busy tonight, I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie or something with me."

There was a moment or two of silence, and he heard the smile in her voice. "All right. I'm free. Say, about seven or so?"

"That works." Both of them suddenly went stiff as a familiar beeping sounded from below Tommy's house. "On the other hand, how about we meet up in headquarters in about five minutes, and get the kids there too?"

"Yeah, that sounds a lot better. See you then." The phone clicked off, and Tommy tossed it back down before heading up to the bathroom. Like hell was he going to fight a monster before his morning shower. He was going to kick this one extra hard for attacking on the weekend, for that matter.

Still, that was one of the risks of the season, and the risks of the job. He couldn't help but smile even as the water started to pound down on him. It was really worth it. Even if all he could hope for was that they'd get rid of it before he had to worry about it interfering with his date with Hayley, it was still worth it.

Of course, eight hours later when every bit of his body ached beyond the ability of words to describe it and they'd ditched the idea of going to the movies for just watching DVDs at his place, he was almost willing to reconsider that thought.

Almost.

The End