Chapter 9

"Well… honestly… they remind me of all the rangers I know, that share their colors. "

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked her.

"Like Jason, Rocky, and you, Connor is strong, brave, and acts confident, despite any doubts he harbors, to encourage his team. Sounds like red ranger material to me."

"Wow! You really know how to inflate a guy's ego, don't ya?" Tommy laughed.

"He'll be fine."

"Wasn't talking about him, Beautiful," Tommy replied, still laughing. It made him feel good that she thought of him as strong and brave, and knew what lengths he would go to for his team.

"Of course," Kimberly sighed.

"And Kira?" Tommy asked curiously. How had Kim possibly related Trini and Aisha to Kira? What did they have in common that he had missed? Kira was so spunky and outgoing… and Trini and Aisha were… still confident, but… kind of… was shy the right word? No, but they definitely weren't spunky like Kira.

"Strong, but knows when to stand back and has the obvious ability to take charge and be the voice of reason," Tommy was shocked, to say the least. He had never thought of that! Kim knew right away though. She said it as if it was a no-brainer, and gave him the 'are you being serious right now?' look.

"Continue!" Tommy encouraged. Anything to get her to stop giving him that look… anything!

"Misunderstood for his talents, but refuses to let others' negative comments get to him, or change him, strong, and loyal." Kimberly announced, looking at Ethan, who was grinning from ear to ear. Tommy could tell that Ethan was going to get used to Kim very quickly. He smiled widely, Ethan had always been the one that really reminded him of the person who originally had his color. The original blue ranger and Ethan had a very visible amount in common. Unfortunately, now that he thought about it, a lack of recognition was one of those things. How often had he reminded each of his students just how much they were contributing to the team?

"Now you've done it!" Tommy exclaimed. "You've inflated my ego, possibly Connor's, and DEFFINATLEY Ethan's! We're all going to die!"

"I think that's a bit of an overre-"

"The world can't handle- heck, the universe- multiverse! Can't handle all three of our egos being inflated!" Tommy exclaimed, cutting Kim off.

"Ooooookkkk… If you say so…" Kim replied awkwardly.

"Messing, Beautiful."

"Ooh! Speaking of which… I never heard what you told Connor about me."

"Oh-um."

"Yikes! Busted!"

"Shut it, McKnight!"

"You… um… you sure you want to know?" Tommy tried asking one last time.

"Yup, Handsome! I want to know!" Kimberly replied with an excited grin.

"Actually," Trent spoke up. "First… how did you know? That I-"

"Tommy and I have always been close… you remind me of the white tiger and ninjetti ranger in almost every aspect."

"Really?!" Trent asked, grinning.

"Yes, really," Kimberly laughed at his pleasure.

"My ego has grown much today," Tommy noted jokingly.

"Anything else to say, Handsome?"

"I have a question," Kira announced.

"Yes?" Tommy replied in relief.

"What's with nicknames?"

All relief had vanished! Panic mode! System overload! He didn't mind answering the question, the thing was… he hadn't… exactly… realized that Kimberly had been using her nickname for him… All day!

"We dated in high school," Kimberly explained. Tommy wasn't paying very much attention though. Had Kim seriously called him 'Handsome' multiple times that day? The fact that she called him that even just once was surprising in itself, but… multiple times in a day?

"Earth to Doc?" Connor's voice suddenly broke into his thoughts. He looked up from where his gaze had rested on the floor to see everyone staring at him.

"S-sorry. What?"

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine." Not fine! Soooooo not fine! "I was just thinking."

"Oh? Then you won't mind telling me how you introduced my limp body to Connor?" She joked, nonetheless, he winced. Remembering how she had not even been able to talk mere hours ago. Thinking about it… hurt… "Tommy? Are you sure you're ok?"

"Connor?"

"What's up Doc?"

"Could… could you… please… tell her, for me?"

"Sure thi-"

"Wait! Better yet! Security cams! I can show you instead. It'll be a lot less embarrassing then trying to tell you myself, or letting Connor make fun of me!" Tommy announced with a smile.

"Alright," Kimberly agreed. "Where do we start?"

"Right… here!" Connor announced selecting a video.