Chapter 2 – Lost and Found
Disclaimer: No I don't own the Power Rangers…Damn.
Chapter title says it all- Tommy loses something and Grace finds something…
Conner couldn't help but smile as he reached Dr. O's house, already comforted by it and the thought of the secrets it held. Once he reached that place he could be himself and not have to worry about what he was saying and whether his identity as a Ranger would be discovered. Dr. O's lair was a place of safety for him which was strange considering it was a base they used as warriors, he had to fight scary monsters and that place was a constant reminder.
He pushed open his teacher's front door and inhaled deeply. No, there was definitely something safe about it. He slouched down the steps into the cavern and was unsurprised to see the other Ranger's already sat on the old blue couch, and Ethan sprawled across the floor playing on his laptop.
There was something different today though, a kind of tension in the room. Kira was sat fiddling with her hands as though nervous and shooting quick looks at Trent when she thought no one was looking. Ethan wasn't playing; his laptop screen was filled with windows of maps and statistics and Trent appeared to be searching for something amongst piles of paper.
Tommy swore loudly throwing a set of files over his shoulder, not caring that their contents was now flying around the room. How had he managed to lose it?
"Hey!" A loud and indignant voice interrupted his thoughts. "Isn't that my science paper on evolution?" Tommy turned and looked at the tall boy dressed in his usual red. Conner was glaring at the paper as though he expected it to say something rude to him. "How come I only got a C minus? I worked really hard on that, and it's really comforting to see that you take care of your students work by the way. I mean come on Dr. O maybe you think its crap but that's no reason to fling it around the room-"
"Dude." Ethan's voice quietly interrupted him but Conner continued talking.
"You know in a hundred years time some other science teacher could dig this up, and it'll be all fossilized and stuff and he'll say it's priceless. He will then remark it and say "This boy was a genius and was seriously under rated by his science teacher!"
"Hate to break it to you Conner," Interrupted Tommy testily, "your paper will rot not become fossilized, and secondly can we not do this now I haven't got the time." He turned back Hayley's desk and started to sift through the papers again.
Conner turned a confused face to Ethan. "What's going on anyway?" Ethan looked up at him with a grimace and showed him the screen on his laptop.
"Dr. O lost the map Hayley gave him, which pinpointed the location of another Dino egg."
"I did not lose it!" Tommy's disembodied voice had a hysterical note to it, and a crash came from beneath the desk. He swore again. "I have just misplaced it that's all. I have put it in a place I don't know about."
Conner raised an eyebrow and looked at Ethan who just shrugged.
Grace slumped into her chair with a deep sigh; the last of her students were gone and finally the classroom was empty and peaceful. She rubbed a hand across her tired eyes. She knew she's been lucky to get the position after all she's only just graduated and it was usually hard to get a first position in teaching, but she had worked hard for it. Sure her life hadn't been easy and at times it had been hard to pick herself up and continue but she'd done it and got where she wanted to be. Reefside was, by all accounts, an unusual place to be what with its occasional monsters and the appearance of the power rangers, and admittedly the principal seemed to be a bit of a head case; but no where was perfect right?
She pulled the pile of work towards her ready for a long evening of marking history essays that the previous teacher had set. She didn't hold out much hope considering the majority had looked panicked and told her they would bring it in tomorrow, and one boy she was pretty sure had only just done it; the ink had yet to dry when he'd handed it in, his thumb smudging the words.
She flicked through the paper with a frown on her face, they were all mixed up? Then she remembered her encounter with the science teacher, Tommy that was what he had said his name was. She found herself smiling and then quickly shook her head; she'd found a place to live and work she didn't have time for that and besides it was too much to hope for anything else.
"Pull yourself together Grace, you're getting jumpy. All you did was think of him." She murmured to herself. Yes, but that's just the first step isn't it? The little voice in her head replied nastily.
She shook her head again and continued to sort through the paper, pausing as she found several lesson plans for science classes and putting them aside for Tommy.
She pulled out the map from the pages of an essay that was suspiciously smudged and covered in a barely legible scrawl. She recognized the site immediately as the ruins of a church near the western cliffs of Reefside. It was labeled neatly and with very few words; there was a small square drawn in the top left corner with 'Dig site' written next to it. Above the map itself was a time, date and a few sums that she didn't really understand, probably some sort of statistics she surmised.
"Six o clock today." She murmured.
It was a strange time to begin a dig; after all it started to get dark at that time. The specific date and time suggested that it was of some importance, she glanced at her watch; it was half past five and if she left now she would get there in time. Tommy would be there too and she could then return the map and lesson plans, besides the map had sparked her curiosity; what was he planning to dig up?
She grabbed her bag stuffing everything into it, grabbed her car keys and left the room feeling inexplicably excited.
What do you mean you don't know?" Conner's voice echoed incredulously across the cavern.
"I've always had a short memory, everyone knows that!" Replied Tommy defensively.
"Yeah, but you had a map Dr. O" Reasoned Kira. "I mean you were staring at it all day, how can you not remember?"
"That's why I had the map and I wrote everything down!" Said Tommy with exasperation, "So I wouldn't have to remember and so I wouldn't forget!" There was silence as the other rangers considered this explanation and decided it was strangely logical.
"Let me get this straight." Said Trent, sitting down with a sigh. "At a certain time the egg will reach its full energy, which is what happens once it's mature enough to hatch?"
"Right." Said Tommy, nodding in confirmation as he sat down next to him. "Then we find the ranger it will hatch to."
"What happens when it reaches maturity, I mean won't it be buried, how you will even know when it reaches the-"
Conner interrupted Kira, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Does it explode and leave a giant crater in the ground whilst the sky turns red?"
Tommy glared at him. "Something like that," He turned back to Kira, "It glows the colour of the zord inside, that way you can pin point its location otherwise it's impossible to find. We're in trouble because the glow occurs at a certain time and Hayley managed to calculate that."
"And you can't remember that either?" Said Ethan hopefully. "I mean I may be a 'geek' but seriously I can't understand these statistics at all; we really need Hayley."
"We can't get hold of her though," Reasoned Kira "She's still on holiday and she doesn't get back for another two weeks. Can't we just wait until then?"
"I'm afraid not," Said Tommy with a shake of his head. "The longer we leave it the more likely it is that Mezagog will discover it and use the power for himself, we can't afford any more competition."
Grace shivered in the paling light, he was late. Well it was only five to six but still for such a precise time to be written on the map he was going to be late.
She studied the ruins about her; most of the stones from the church wall had been reclaimed and the rest were half sunken and covered in moss, heaped together as though someone had attempted to tidy up.
It was the glow that caught her eye, a green point of light half buried beneath a nearby pile of stones. It seemed to fill the air until the field was infused with it, and then suddenly the glow dimmed to a steady pulse like a light on a machine. She hesitated and then reached between the rocks, her hand closing around a small smooth stone.
"Is there any time that currently springs to mind?" Said Ethan, watching Tommy massage his head.
Conner groaned when Tommy made no reply. "Can't we just go and stay at the site until it glows?"
"No," Said Tommy bluntly. "Not unless you're willing to stay up there for a week or more, we don't know when it will glow again. For all we know it could be another year!"
Kira looked up and watched the other Rangers, noting the dejected slump of Tommy's shoulders and the way the other three stood watching him as though he were going to jump up with the answer at any moment.
"I'm sorry guys; I've really let you down." Tommy said at last with a shake of his head. "I'm supposed to protect and lead you not to mention help you in any way I can, it seems I can't manage it any more."
"No!" Said Kira in shock, and ran to sit next to him. "You haven't failed us you're only human Dr. O; any of us could have done the same, you know we always forget to do our homework."
Tommy smiled at her sadly. "It's not the same Kira and you know that. My blunders could get you killed; I guess I'm just getting too old for this I'm sorry guys." He stood and walked out of the cavern, they heard his car leave only moments later…
Grace studied the stone in her palm; it felt slightly warm and was smooth like a pebble in the bottom of a river. It was a bright and deep green and seemed to shine in the fading light; she rubbed her thumb over it wondering if it was a reflection. A tingle ran up her arm and she shivered as though she'd had a reaction to it. She pushed it into her pocket and ran back to her car; she'd study it when she got home.
A/N Hope you liked it guys! Please review coz it's my first story and I'd like to know what you think. Sorry if you thought it was a bit rushed but the next chapter will be coming soon!
