Reefside, California
2014

The sun was shining and the sky was clear but the light breeze that blew over the woods made it far from unbearable; to tell the truth it was a beautiful and, in the opinions of the people currently relaxing outside, perfect day.

Two people were lounging out in the backyard of the house hidden in the forest, both in their own lounge chairs; the younger of the two had one leg pulled up to rest her foot on the chair, a magazine held between soft fingers. Her long dirty blonde hair, peppered with streaks of red and blue, lay over one shoulder in a loose ponytail and her eyes scanned the page she was on for a moment before turning to the next and repeating the motion again; she was not paying much attention, her mind elsewhere, thoughts swirling and making it hard to concentrate on anything else.

In the other chair lay a man; he was definitely older than her yet there was still more than plenty of youth to him. Dressed in a simple black t-shirt, showing off more than a few tattoos littering muscular arms, and a pair of what seemed to be swimming trunks, he had his eyes closed. His breathing was light and subtle, his head tilted slightly to one side, not just relaxing but actually napping in the sunlight; the young woman glanced over and couldn't help a light smile. It was good to her to see him so at peace and relaxed. It was very good.

There was a shimmer of light and coolness before a third person appeared, materializing right beside the man; she was young too, and small. Small enough at least to settle in beside him on the chair and curl up into him, wrapping thin arms around his neck. The man was anything but bothered and moved an arm to pull her closer, looking quite comfortable like that as he held her and absently stroked her hair, long black locks that cascaded down her back. Her head tilted up to look at him and crimson eyes stared, a smile touching her face as she saw one chocolate colored eye open just the slightest bit to look down at her. The first woman smiled at them both and let out a sigh, feeling anxieties slip down; maybe they really would be okay. Maybe nothing would happen, that they could enjoy the peace and quiet and not need to worry.

No sooner had the sigh left her lips, no sooner had these thoughts formed, when footsteps were heard. And more than footsteps; she frowned and sat up but the man put up his free hand, "Kira..."

The woman looked at him then nodded, trusting him, having to trust him; she settled again but kept her eyes towards the forest. The noises continued; they seemed to be coming closer. The woman felt the knots in her stomach multiply and she wondered, not for the first time how he could stay so calm, so sure of himself. New noises mixed with the first and the woman, Kira, could swear she saw the flicker of trees being forcefully moved, of something big approaching; she thought it important to be worried yet still relaxed was the man and even his companion in the lounge chair, though her arms tightened around his neck some, seemed to be not letting herself worry too much about whatever was lurking and coming from beyond the trees.

A few moments passed, long minutes that left Kira feeling a bit sick but it didn't compare to the first visual of their visitors. There were hundreds of them, decked out in military finest and she couldn't help but notice the guns in most of their hands. Behind the foot soldiers, and there was no question that was what they were, were a trio of tanks, looking ready to fire and she held no delusions about who they were going to be firing upon. She frowned and gulped a bit before hearing a voice beside her, "Wow, I think 'overkill' is quite appropriate right now to describe this."

"You're telling me," said another and Kira looked over to see both the man and the other woman sitting up, untangled from their previous cozying up and both facing the small army that stopped just a few yards from the trio.

The man, without looking at either girl, gently patted the head of the one beside him and got out of his chair, muttering under his breath inaudibly, and putting his hands in the pockets of his shorts he walked over. Kira frowned and moved to join him but the other woman spoke her name and when faced shook her head. This, it seemed to be written in her expression, was something they had to leave to him and trust in him about. And Kira knew this was right, that it was really her own mind thinking this but still worry and trepidation filled her and she found herself staring as the man approached the intruders.

"Aw so what brings this small army to my backyard?" The man said his tone equal parts amused and annoyed; he stopped a few feet from the army, watching them, waiting for something.

Another man walked forward and the first frowned a little; he was dressed rather plainly for the army, wearing a t-shirt and jeans. He smiled in a friendly manner, as if this was all okay, as if he wasn't currently backed up by soldiers and tanks. The first man tried not to show his anger at this and smiled in return, though more sneer than true smile. "Jason."

"Tommy," the other man said, "You look good. Though I don't see a pool; what's up with the trunks, man?"

"They're comfortable, its sunny out," the first said shrugging, "And Tsuki says I look good in them."

"Oh right, Tsuki." There was a sudden coldness to Jason's voice and he glanced past his old friend to look at the red eyed woman, "Still with her I see."

"She's still with me," Tommy said, almost like a correction; he looked over the army behind Jason again, "Pretty excessive for a visit, don't you think old friend?"

Jason looked back as well then spoke, "Ah yes, well, we didn't want to take any risks."

"If I remember correctly there was only a handful of soldiers when it was ordered that Zack be brought in," Tommy mused and Jason turned to him with a frown; he continued, "Took a few more to drag my student Conner out of the World Series match he'd been in the middle of. Oh and of course Adam put up quite the fight didn't he? Ethan tried and...well," Tommy looked at Jason and the look he gave was harsh, "I guess 'accidentally' murdering them is one way to make sure a Ranger is no longer at large."
"Tommy," Jason started, staring at his friend, "Those were necessary-"

"Oh right necessary," Tommy said letting his anger start to show, "it was necessary to invade Justin's house and take him kicking and screaming; he just got married did you know that? Probably scared the hell out his new bride. And of course trying to kidnap Kira backstage at a benefit concert was also 'necessary'. What about Trini and Kim, hm? It was necessary to interrupt a peace conference, to come after Kim at her studio? I should be glad I'm not Andros at least."

"Andros killed Zordon, Tommy, don't forget that."

"Andros is a Power Ranger," he retorted calming again, "Just like us, Jason. He is a Red like you were, and he was a kid like we all were. I am not saying I like what he did but he seemed smart enough to have been able to figure something else out if there had been any other way. Having killed our mentor when he was asked by said mentor is no excuse for what happened."

Jason frowned some more then sighed, shaking his head. "Tommy, I hoped you'd be the one who'd see reason and come willingly."

"That's why you brought three tanks and a full two platoons of soldiers to a high school science teacher's house, because you thought I was going to come quietly."

"Dr. Thomas Oliver," one of the soldiers spoke up, raising his gun to point it at Tommy, the others soon following suit, "Under orders of Senator Astor Morgan and in accordance to the Protection for All Act-"

"Rangers Initiative," Kira mumbled under her breath and Tsuki looked at her.

"-we are tasked with bringing you and Miss Kira Ford to the nearest base for processing, questioning and further transportation."

"So basically you want to lock Tommy and Kira up?" Tsuki piped up and everyone's attention went to the red eyed woman.

"Tsukkuyomi Kokuryuu as a frequent and prolonged associate of various Ranger teams will be brought in as well," Jason said then turned to Tommy, "See, you won't be apart from her. You should be happy, at least until they find out what she's capable of. Then no promises, sorry, old friend."

Tommy frowned and narrowed his eyes. "What happened to you Jason? This isn't you, this is not what the man I called friend, that I fought alongside countless times, would do. Your friends are being rounded up, your fellow Rangers hurt, even killed, and you're helping the people who are doing it? Why?"

"You wouldn't understand." With that Jason raised a hand and both Kira and Tsuki sat up straight in their chairs, attention focused before them as the Red Ranger spoke, "Fire at will but try not to kill any of them."

Gunshots rang out and by instinct the girls flinched away though only for a second; a Ranger doesn't turn from danger, Kira reminded herself, and Tsuki refused to miss what was about to happen. They both turned back to the action and both smiled.

Tommy stood, hands still in his pockets, standing up straight with roughly ten bullets barely an inch from his body; he took note of one or two that were right inline for his head. There were a bunch of other bullets as well aimed for Kira and Tsuki but all of them, the ones that would have hit him as well as the ones that would have gotten them, frozen, stuck in space. Jason and his army stopped and the former looked at Tommy as he smirked and spoke, "Come on you really thought that knowing you'd be coming here next that I wouldn't prepare?"

"But...how?" Jason asked and frowned, "You don't have the expertise to put something like whatever this is together, not to mention put it together so quick. And Haley was already-"

"Apprehended," Tommy said, "When you killed Ethan, yeah I know."

"So how?" Tommy simply shrugged then turned to walk away, letting the question hang there like the bullets. More shots went off but he walked over to the girls, leaning down to whisper to them, "Inside."

Kira nodded and Tsuki got up, grabbing his hand and causing him to smile some. The two headed back towards the house with Kira, reaching the back door just as a large noise exploded behind them. Kira couldn't help a look, seeing the barrel of one tank's gun smoking. A giant cannonball of a bullet was now lodged in air with its tinier counterparts but Kira got the sinking feeling that it got closer than the others.

"Dr. O," she said and he closed the door behind them once all three were in.

"I know," he said without looking.

Tommy let go of Tsuki's hand and walked over to the kitchen counter, slamming his hands down with enough force to make both of his companions jump; Tsuki rushed over, muttering annoyedly about him hurting himself and this not being the time. He pulled his hands away, frowning. "Damnit, I didn't expect them this soon."

"It'll be okay right?" Kira asked looking to her ex-teacher.

"The force field isn't fully charged," said another male voice and a man walked into the kitchen; he pushed up his glasses, frowning gravely, "It will hold for now but we need to evacuate before it breaks and that could be at any time."

Tommy and Tsuki both looked at him and the latter spoke, "Billy...it's Jason."

The original blue hid his reaction well, as usual, instead nodding. "I'm aware, Tsuki. Its unfortunate that he would be our enemy now but it changes nothing. We must escape and put into place the next steps in Tommy's plan."

"Which are...?" Kira questioned.

"We go to Angel Grove and get inside the NASADA building," Tommy said.

"You mean the one they're currently using as a military base? The one they probably were planning to take us to anyway? The one that will no doubt be full of soldiers and tanks and other dangerous things?" Tsuki asked, "That Angel Grove NASADA building?"

"Tsuki, you already knew about this part of the plan," Tommy said with a sigh.

"Yeah but I've been wondering if I misheard you highly intelligent men think up this very stupid plan and had perhaps hallucinated from too much sun. I'm still not big on California weather."

Tommy shook his head some and Billy smiled just a bit; Tommy spoke, sounding amused, "No, no hallucinating. We're doing this."

"But why?" Kira asked and all three looked to her, "Why are we doing this? We could run, get to China, Russia, England, somewhere not here; we could get to safety so why..."

"Because there are people who need us," Billy said.

"Because Rangers don't run from danger; we only retreat so we can find a way to stop the danger," Tommy said.

"Because we'd never make it out of the country and even if we did there's no guarantee those other countries wouldn't give us over or do worse to us," Tsuki said.

Kira frowned some. "So why go to the NASADA building? How will that help us help others?"

"Simple," Tommy said and he smiled, "We're going there to break out Andros."