DISCLAIMER: This story is borrowing characters from both The Six Million Dollar Man and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I don't own them. I'm just borrowing and not making any money off of this.
SUMMARY: I got the idea for this from the end of the episode The Bionic Woman, when Steve's mom tells him that little Tommy Oliver was so excited when Steve asked him to look after the horses. I just couldn't resist the story idea that popped up in my head at that point.
Tommy Oliver was about ten years old when he was living in Ojai, California. He was a good kid. Always willing to help out the neighbors in any way he could.
He especially liked helping out Helen and Jim Elgin. They were a sweet couple that had a famous son who wasn't around all that much. Tommy knew Steve Austin. Steve was an astronaut and Tommy thought he might like to be one some day.
Tommy knew that the couple had become legal guardians to a young woman that their son had been sweet on almost since the first day they met. Tommy knew her too. Jamie Sommers. Tennis pro. A sweeter lady he'd never met. She was pretty.
Tommy and Steve had several conversations when Steve came to visit. Steve had been very serious one day when he had confided in Tommy that he wished he could be around more often but his job kept him away from his parents most of the time.
"Now, Tommy, I'm going to ask you for a very big favor. I want you to help my folks out all you can. They need it sometimes and sometimes, they're just too independent to ask for it. So I need your help in looking out for them. If there's something they need and you can't handle it, I want you to call me. Okay?"
"Yes, sir." Tommy snapped off a salute as best he could at the time. "I understand completely, Colonel Austin, sir."
Steve had smiled at Tommy's response. "I appreciate that, Tommy. Thank you."
Tommy knew that Jamie and Steve would most likely end up married someday. It was a gut feeling he had and, since his gut had never steered him wrong yet, he trusted it.
So it was no surprise when he saw the article in the paper announcing that Steve and Jamie had gotten engaged. He had run straight over to Steve's new place, the old Marsden ranch, to congratulate them. No one was there.
So he ran over to Jim and Helen's house figuring that both of them would be there celebrating the engagement. He had walked in to find them all lifting a glass of orange juice in toast to the couple in question. He saw when Jamie's hand shattered the glass, spraying orange juice everywhere.
Something had changed about Jamie and he wasn't sure just yet if it was a change for the better or for the worse. And he could tell by looking at Steve's face that the man wasn't sure either.
Just days later, the terrible news had spread all over Ojai. Jamie had died. Something had gone wrong after her miraculous survival from the skydiving accident and now she was gone.
Tommy knew when Steve called him to the house after the funeral service that he was going to be leaving again.
"Tommy, I need to ask you another favor. Do you think you can handle one more?"
"I can handle anything you need me to, Steve. What do you need?"
"Could you handle looking after the horses for me while I'm gone? My job needs me back at work and I have to go. But I don't want the horses left all alone the whole time. I just need you to feed them and let them out into the pasture in the morning. Then, let them back in at night. If the weather turns bad, just leave them inside. They'll survive it."
"I can do that, Colonel Austin. Not a problem." The boy smiled sadly, knowing that it would probably be a long time before he saw his friend again.
"Good man, Tommy. Good man. I'll leave the instructions in the barn for you so that you know what needs done and when. Just follow those and everything will be fine.
"You got it, Steve." Tommy turned to head home and let his parents know that Steve had hired him to watch over the horses. He turned back at the door. "Steve?"
"Yeah, Tommy?"
"I miss her too."