WEDNESDAY - AFTER SCHOOL - 16th

Jenny sighed as she prepared for her conference. She rolled her neck, wincing at the slight ache there. The Tyrannodrone attack at lunch was more annoying than anything. Fortunately, she had worn pants today - something she felt would need to happen more often than not until Mesogog was defeated.

She looked up as a large man stepped into her classroom, followed by Dean Reed. She stood. "Mr. Reed?"

"Yeah."

"Nice to meet you, although I wish it had been under better circumstances. Please have a seat." The pair sat as she came around her desk. "Now, we have a problem. Dean hasn't turned in a single assignment this semester. He is currently failing this class and if things don't change, he'll have to be put on academic probation - which means that he'll be benched until his grades come up. I know you don't want to see that happen this late in the season."

Mr. Reed huffed. "So just change his grade. That's what the last teacher did."

"I don't work that way. He does the work and earns the grades or he fails. There is no other option."

He stood up and towered over her threateningly. "Oh really?"

Her eyes hardened. "Really."

BACK HOME

Tommy had just set the Rangers to practicing some new moves when his phone went off. He picked it up and read the text from Jenny. Won't make practice - something came up. Be home as soon as I can.

He frowned as he responded. Everything okay?

Her response made him uneasy. I'll explain when I get home.

He got through practice, went upstairs, got his shower and went to start dinner. It was almost finished when he finally heard the front door open and close. Tommy went to greet her and found her already halfway up the stairs. "Hi."

She paused but didn't turn. "Hi. I'll be down in a little while. I need a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay" he answered as she continued up the stairs. Now he knew that something was wrong. He finished dinner and set the table before she came back down.

He studied her closely as she sat down quickly at the table. Her hair, usually pulled back, had been left loose and was partially covering her face. She was wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt. He frowned. Usually she would dress more comfortably and, even when she did wear long sleeves, they were usually pulled midway up her forearms.

He set the last of the dishes on the table and addressed her. "So what happened?"

"The conference didn't go quite as well as I hoped. Mr. Reed thought it would be a good idea to try and force me to change Dean's grade."

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Obviously, he had no idea who he was dealing with."

She replied, "He does now. He started out just trying to intimidate me and when that didn't work, he tried something else."

Tommy felt uneasy again. "What?"

She stared at her plate. "He tried to hurt me. And before you get wound up, it's not that bad."

"So how bad is it?" he asked impatiently.

Jenny sighed and pulled up her right sleeve. Her wrist looked slightly swollen - until she turned her arm over and revealed the bruises there. Tommy stared for a minute before he realized that they were finger marks. His jaw clenched for a minute before he spoke again. "What else?"

"Don't freak out" she cautioned him. He nodded impatiently. She hesitated for a moment then swept her hair back on one side, uncovering the bruise high on her cheekbone. He quickly moved over to her side, gently tilting her head to inspect the damage. "It's not that bad" she repeated.

"Bad enough." He gently pressed a kiss to her temple. "Is there anything else?"

"No. Any other damage that was done was all to him."

He sat back down, wanting nothing more than to go find the man and make it very clear that his fiancée did not get treated this way. "So how badly did you hurt him? Is that why you were late?"

She ate a little before answering him. "Broke his nose and dislocated his knee. I'm this late because he made the bad choice to get the police involved."

"He did what?"

"Believe me, that didn't go over well. He's nearly twice my size and the bruises were already showing up when they arrived. His story that I attacked him first went nowhere."

He could hear the edge to her voice. "What else happened?"

"He - insinuated - some unsavory things about my character. I almost lost my temper. Fortunately, I realized in time that wouldn't have been a smart thing to do - not with all the police officers around. Plus, I doubt you could have come up with bail money at this hour - if I'd have even been allowed bail."

This surprised him. "Wow - what did he say that was that bad? Usually you don't care what other people think."

Her jaw locked as rage flashed across her face. "I care very much when it's implied that I'm trying to entice the students for sex." She slid her chair back, looking at her plate in distaste. "I'm done eating."

Tommy studied her for a minute as he got himself under control. "Why don't you go down to the lair and get rid of some of that frustration? I'll be down in a little bit."

She considered the idea for a minute, nodded at him and headed for the lair. Quickly, he cleared up and followed her. He sat on the stairs for a little while, watching her as he had Kira many weeks ago. She attacked the bag with an anger he'd not seen in some time. The last time he'd seen her close to this angry was at the cabin. Suddenly, she stopped and shook her head. He watched curiously as she searched around the lair. Jenny found what she was seeking behind some shelves. She pulled out a large piece of wood, propped it against the wall and backed away from it. When she was far enough, she began to pull and throw her knives with carefully controlled violence.

When she'd thrown them all, she retrieved them, returned to her previous position and threw them again. After a few more rounds of this, Tommy said quietly, "Feeling better?"

She shrugged. "A little." She sounded considerably calmer than she had.

"What do you need to do?" At her puzzled look, he elaborated. "Punch the bag, spar, throw some more, what?"

Jenny studied the man before her as she thought. Finally, she spoke slowly. "I don't think that any of this is going to help any more than it already has. I don't think this is what I need anymore."

"Then what?"

"I think what I need - is you."

He smiled and held out his hand as he stood. "Come on, then." She crossed the room and took his hand. He pulled her in close and held her tightly. "I'm here, sweetheart - always." He held her for a long time before easing back. "Let's go up to bed. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day."