"I'm going to run another series of tests," Chloe said to Batman on the video screen. "Hopefully I can pin down why that tube won't connect to the network. I'll be up later to do some more programming. Oh. Robin?"

"What's up, Chloe?" he said, popping onto the screen behind Batman.

"Stop trying to hack into the network while I am running repairs," she said. "You're slowing it down."

"Got it," Robin said.

Chloe signed off and leaned back in her chair. Everything was almost ready, but there were still a few glitches to work out. Standing up, she stretched and turned to head down the stairs.

"Hayley!" Chloe exclaimed, jumping backward.

She had turned around to see Hayley standing behind her.

"What are you doing here?" Chloe asked.

"We came by to visit," Hayley answered.

"We?" said Chloe.

"Oh, right," said Hayley. "You haven't had contact with Clark since our last phone call, right?"

"Right," Chloe sighed. "It's been three months now and I haven't heard anything from him. Although Lex has had a miraculous case of amnesia that allowed everyone to go home worry free."

"Well that's good," Hayley said, smiling. "I'm sure the quiet is nice."

"So where's Tommy?" Chloe asked.

"They're out at the farm setting up an ambush for Clark," Hayley said. "I guess it's technically an intervention, but they have to start it as an ambush to keep him from disappearing."

"What?" Chloe exclaimed.

"Don't worry," said Hayley. "They'll be fine."

"It's not them I'm worried about," Chloe muttered. "And just who does 'they' consist of?"

"Just the six original power rangers," Hayley said. "Even Billy. He came back from Aquatar to visit Tommy, so we thought now would be as good a time as any."

"Oh boy," Chloe said, shaking her head.

"They know what they're doing," Hayley said.

"Did anyone make sure Lois wasn't at the farm?" Chloe asked. "Because it wouldn't be a good idea to let her walk in on the intervention."

"I think so," Hayley said. "But they didn't tell me the whole plan."

"Great," Chloe muttered. "I'm going to call Lois. Wait a minute. Did you say Kim was with them?"

"What? Oh, yes," Hayley answered. "Once I explained to her that Tommy and I were engaged she managed to pull herself together. She actually started scolding him for not doing it sooner. So we've worked out our differences. I still don't trust her, but we're as good as we can be."


Clark sighed, running a hand through his hair as he headed into the barn, the blue kryptonite bracelet shifting as his arm moved. He had come back to the farm after Lois left for work that morning. Before going out to do chores, he had hidden the key in the loft. Having finished in the fields, he was heading back to get the key so he could head back to the ice fortress before Lois came home. He headed up the stairs to the loft and turned on the light.

"Hi, Clark," Tommy said.

Clark jumped backward in surprise. Tommy was sitting on the couch in the loft, a cane lying across his lap, watching him.

"How long have you been here?" Clark asked, glancing over at the bookshelf.

"A few hours," Tommy answered. "We saw you working in the fields. Gave me some time to go through your stuff."

Tommy held up a hand, showing Clark that he had found the key. Slipping it into one of his pockets, he waited for Clark's reaction.

"I need that," Clark said finally.

"No, I don't think you do," Tommy said.

Shaking his head, Clark turned around and headed back to the stairs. Kim and Trini were standing at the top, blocking his way.

"I don't think so," Trini said, shaking a finger at Clark.

Clark tried heading in another direction and Zach stepped into his way.

"You're not leaving," he said. "You're pretty much surrounded."

To prove the point, Jason and Billy stepped out to complete the circle as Tommy stood up from the couch, wincing slightly as he straightened.

"Mmmm… Leg asleep," he muttered.

The rangers all watched Clark as they waited for him to say something.

Clark turned around looking for a way to slip out of the circle of rangers.

"It is highly improbable you will escape while not using your abilities," Billy said looking at him. The others smiling at him, from all sides.

"What are you guys doing here?" Clark finally asked, looking at Tommy.

"I guess you could say we're having an intervention," Tommy answered.

"You need to stop being stupid," Trini added, glaring at Clark.

"You shouldn't be here," Clark said, shaking his head.

"And why not?" Tommy asked.

Clark didn't answer, he just looked away.

"You can't hide from the world forever, Clark," Tommy said. "Believe me, it doesn't work."

"Nope," said Jason. "Someone always comes to find you. Although I have to admit your hiding place is a little harder to get to than Tommy's cabin. At least we can drive to his."

"Well excuse me for not having a super-secret ice fortress," Tommy said. "I'll have to put that on my Christmas list."

"I don't think so dude," Zach said. "You already have a super-cool batcave under your house. You don't get anything else."

"I don't think you should call it the batcave, Zach," Jason said. "Batman might be offended."

"He would," Clark said, frowning. "His is a lot bigger."

"You've been there?" Zach exclaimed.

"Yes—Wait. How did we get on this subject?" Clark asked.

"We do that sometimes," Tommy said, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you and Oliver have done things like this plenty of times. Although, you haven't seen him in three months."

"For good reason," Clark said. "I'm too dangerous to be around. Especially without the bracelet."

"Right," Tommy said. "Thank you for reminding me. Kim?"

Nodding, Kim stepped up from behind Clark and snatched the bracelet off of his wrist before he could react.

"Ooo! It's so pretty! I could take this off the leather and set it in a nice sliver bracelet. Or make it into a necklace-" she started looking at it from different angles.

"Put it away, Kim," Tommy said.

"Oh, right," said Kim.

She pulled a small pouch out of her pocket and put the bracelet inside, sticking the pouch back into her pocket. Clark looked at her in shock.

"I need that," he said quickly.

Jason held up a hand shaking his head.

"You're never getting that back dude," Jason said.

Clark just shook his head sighing

"No, really," said Tommy. "You don't know Kim and jewelry. Trust me, you'll never get it back."

"Hey!" Kim said. "Be nice."

"I don't have to be," Tommy responded smirking. "We're not dating. I don't have to do anything you say."

"But you always used to do things with me," Kim said. "You even loved going to the mall with me."

"Yeah, I liked going to the park, talking, and hanging out. The mall, only for like the first hour," Tommy said. "Then there is only so much i guy can take."

"Wow, Tommy's got a backbone," Zach said with a grin. "Never thought I'd see that."

Tommy turned around to glare at Zach, tapping his cane on the palm of one hand in a threatening motion.

"I'm gonna go stand by Jason," said Zach, scooting away from Tommy.

"Perhaps we should return to the topic at hand." Billy suggested looking at them all

"Are you guys always like this?" Clark interrupted.

"Pretty much," Tommy answered. "It's how we keep things light."

"Yeah," Zach said. "We should invite him to a ranger reunion. Then he'd really see how we work."

"One condition," Tommy said, holding up a hand. "I'm not involved in the planning. No phone calls, no organizing, no nothing, and it will not be at my house."

"Aww, come on Tommy," Zach said. "You have the whole network, and the giant secluded backyard."

"Nope," Tommy answered, shaking his head. "Not involved."

"Fine, we'll get Hayley to help us," said Zach.

"She's going to be too busy planning the wedding," Tommy said. "Good luck prying her away."

"Wedding?" Clark interrupted.

"Oh, Hayley and I are engaged," Tommy said.

"Yeah," Jason said. "That's one good thing that came out of everything. He says he had a plan already, but if you hadn't gone crazy-psycho on everyone he probably would have chickened out."

"She asked him anyways," Zach said. "Although he was high when she asked."

"I wasn't high," Tommy protested.

"Dude, you were talking about Rita and Zed running around on the ceiling," Zach laughed. "I'm surprised you didn't think Hayley was a putty."

"Ok, so I was high," Tommy said. "But I was on so many different medications I don't even remember what they all were."

"Probably a mixture off—" Billy started to say.

"I don't need to know, Billy," Tommy interrupted. "I really don't need to know."

"I don't understand!" Clark burst out in frustration. "Why aren't any of you yelling at me?"

"Why would we be yelling at you?" Billy asked.

"Because I almost killed Tommy," Clark said. "And Jason. You should be angry with me."

It was silent for a moment as the rangers looked at each other and Clark. Then they all burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Clark demanded.

"If we stayed mad at everyone who was brain-washed and tried to kill us," Tommy said, "we'd all hate each other. Not to mention all of the other rangers."

"What do you mean?" Clark asked, confused.

"We've all been brain-washed at some point or another," Jason said. "The bad guys seem to like turning us against each other."

"I haven't tried to kill any of you," Zach said. "Never been brain-washed."

"Lies," Tommy said. "You tried to kill Kimberly while I was unconscious, remember? It was the four of you versus her."

"Right!" Kim exclaimed. "That was not fun."

"That doesn't count," Zach protested. "It was for like ten minutes."

"You were trying to kill me," Kim said. "It counts."

"Besides, I had to come in and stop you," Tommy said. "You certainly didn't snap yourself out of it."

"Fine," Zach grumbled. "But no one tops you, Tommy."

"Thanks, Zach," he said. "I think we all knew that."

"I'm just saying," Zach said. "Crazy, psycho aliens seem to like using you against us. No offense, Clark."

Clark just stared, not sure how to react to what he was hearing.

"Anyways," Tommy said. "We're not mad at you, Clark. How can we be mad at you without being mad at ourselves?"

"It's still too risky," Clark said. "It wasn't just you I almost killed. I almost killed the kids. And Chloe and Hayley."

"And Lois?" Tommy interrupted. "All of them know what they're doing each time they choose to be around people like us. There are always risks involved, but that's their decision to make.

"And what if no one is there to stop me next time?" Clark asked. "What if I actually kill someone? The world is better off without me. No one can use me to hurt other people if they can't find me."

"So you think hiding from the world is going to fix the problem?" Jason said. "It didn't work when Tommy left. The bad guys are still going to keep doing bad things, Clark. Someone has to stand up to them."

"He's right," Trini said. "And not everyone has the chance you do. You have the power and ability to make a bigger difference than a lot of other people. So don't throw it away."

"I don't see it as throwing it away if I'm saving people from getting hurt," Clark said, shaking his head.

"That's it," Tommy snapped. "No more of this. Clark, you're taking the easy way out. You're scared. Scared that You aren't going to be good enough to save the people you care about. Maybe you're denying it right now, but you know they aren't scared of you. You know they'll forgive you, because they already have every other time you've messed up or gotten in trouble. Stop avoiding them and taking the easy way out. Face up to it and get over it, because every single one of them is waiting for you to come back."

Clark stared at Tommy in shock. He didn't speak for a moment, trying to process everything Tommy had just thrown at him.

"He's right," Jason said. "Your powers and abilities might make you different, but they've already accepted that and everything that comes with it. The good and the bad. They had every chance to take you down for good, Clark, but they cared too much to take that step."

"Your friends, Clark," Tommy said, "including us, chose not to take the easy way out. We took the hard way because we cared. No one is walking away from you. You're walking away from them."

Clark still didn't say anything. Jason clapped a hand to Tommy's shoulder.

"I think the message finally sunk in, bro," he said.

"Shut up, Jase," Tommy said, glaring at him.

"Sorry, bro," said Jason.

"Perhaps we should be going now," Billy said looking at them

Tommy nodded and the rest of the rangers headed for the stairs.

"You coming?" Jason asked Tommy, pausing at the top.

"Go ahead," Tommy said. "I'll catch up to you later."

"Alright," Jason said, heading down the stairs after the others.

Tommy and Clark both stood in silence for a few minutes. They listened to the other rangers climbing into the car and the engine starting. When the sounds of the car had faded away, Clark finally spoke.

"So you have more to say to me?" he asked.

"Some," Tommy said. "Are you going to go see Lois?"

"Not right now," Clark said, shaking his head.

"Hmm…" said Tommy. "Are you going to go to Watchtower then?"

"Maybe later," Clark said.

"Later?" Tommy said, glancing at his watch. "How about—now?"

"What?" Clark said.

"They were my ride," said Tommy, jerking his head in the direction the car had gone. "And I'm not walking back to Metropolis with this thing."

Tommy held up his cane, waiting for Clark to respond.

"You planned this, didn't you?" Clark asked.

Tommy shrugged.

"So what if I decide not to go?" Clark said. "I could always just stay here."

"Then you get the pleasure of remaining in my company, untill Lois gets home" Tommy answered. "Because I'm not giving the key back to you."

"Fine," Clark grumbled. "Get in the truck. I'll get the keys."