Home from the Moon
I thought Trini said Jason would be home sometime this afternoon," Vida sighed. "And now it's almost dinnertime…So where is he?"
Madison shrugged, flipping to the next page in her book. She was curled up in an armchair reading while Vida tried to find another way to keep herself occupied. Their parents had gone out for the evening. So, bored of sitting at home, they'd called Trini to see if they could visit for the afternoon. Trini had told them she wasn't home, but they were welcome to go to the house and wait for Jason. He'd been gone for couple of days with Tommy—though neither had said where they were going. Deciding to surprise Jason, they'd walked over to the house to wait for him to get home. But now it was nearly dinnertime and they hadn't seen any sign of him.
"You could always try calling him again," Madison suggested without looking up. "Maybe he'll answer this time."
Vida sighed.
"I guess I might as well," she grumbled.
As she grabbed her phone, however, they both heard the door opening and excited voices. Madison tucked her bookmark in its place and set the book aside. Hopping up, she followed Vida to the door.
"Hey big brother!" Vida exclaimed, bouncing out into the hallway.
It fell silent. Madison and Vida looked in surprise at the crowd of people at the door. Jason was in front, but there were quite a few people they didn't recognize with him.
"Maddy! V!" Jason exclaimed in shock as Tommy pushed his way through the group. "What are you doing here?"
They didn't answer immediately, eying the group hesitantly. Tommy was glancing nervously over his shoulder as the girls stared.
"Umm…we came to have dinner with you," Madison finally said, frowning in confusion. "Is this a bad time?"
"Uh, well…" Jason stammered, glancing behind him.
"Who are your friends?" Vida asked in curiosity.
A flash of light right behind Tommy made both girls jump.
"And what was that?" Vida exclaimed.
Jason grimaced as the rest of the group shifted nervously behind him.
"Oh!" Tommy said quickly, running a hand through his hair. "That was—my phone!"
He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and answered it as Madison and Vida exchanged confused looks.
"Hey, Hayley," he said. "Can't talk right now…Ok. I'll call you back later. Bye."
Grinning at them, he tucked his phone away again.
"That was your phone?" Vida said doubtfully.
Tommy shrugged.
"Hayley is trying something new to make sure I answer my phone," he said. "Some new program she downloaded on my phone the other day."
Someone behind him snorted, stifling a laugh. Shrugging, the girls took a closer look at the group with Tommy and Jason. As they glanced around at the men, one of them quickly shrugged off a red jacket, tossing it over his shoulder. Standing right next to him was a younger man wearing a red bandana. Two other men were standing next to them, both in uniform.
"Aren't those Silver Guardian uniforms?" Madison asked in surprise.
Both men flinched slightly, as though they'd hoped the girls wouldn't notice their uniforms.
"Umm… yeah," Jason said hesitantly. "This is Wes and Eric. They're here…well, because—"
"Because Jason—it is Jason, right?" the first one, Wes, asked.
"Yes," Jason growled, glaring at him.
"Great," Wes grinned. "Because Jason offered to let us crash here for the night instead of all of us having to drive home this late."
"Ok…" Vida nodded. "But why are you out here?"
Wes froze, turning to look at Jason and Tommy, both of whom seemed to be trying to come up with an answer.
"Might as well tell them," Eric said casually, shrugging. "It can't hurt. After all, they are your sisters, Jason."
Every single one of the men turned to look at Eric in complete shock.
"What?" Jason sputtered.
Eric rolled his eyes.
"Oh, relax," he said. "It won't hurt the project if they know about it. It's nearly complete anyways and I seriously doubt anyone is going to be pestering them for information."
Jason and Tommy both frowned, watching Eric as the rest of them exchanged looks.
"We've been helping Hayley with a new security system," Eric said. "She wrote the programming and Tommy built a few prototypes."
"Right," Tommy agreed, a look of relief on his face as he took over the explanation. "Hayley's really in charge of the whole thing, but she needed more help testing out the system. So she pulled a group together to run some scenarios before we—she moves on to the next stage of the project."
"Uh-huh," Madison said, looking at him doubtfully. "And how did that land you in Angel Grove? Your apartment isn't here, Tommy."
"Because we needed somewhere else to run the tests," he answered. "That's where Carter comes in. He has access to larger testing sights not far from here. He also has experience setting up the kind of scenarios we were looking for, so Hayley asked him to help."
The man with the jacket nodded at them and the girls smiled back.
"So, basically Hayley has all of you running around in circles doing her bidding again, right?" Vida smirked.
"Close enough," Tommy answered.
"But where does Jason fall into all of this?" Madison asked. "I mean, what is he even doing with this kind of project?"
Jason frowned at her.
"Hey, what is that supposed to mean?" he said. "I am an expert in martial arts and—"
"Jason just came to watch," Tommy interrupted, shooting a look at Jason. "He didn't have anything to contribute to the project, so he's not important. Just along for the ride."
Madison and Vida snickered at the look of outrage on Jason's face. He started to protest, but Tommy silenced him with another look.
"So, then who's the guy hiding by the door?" Vida asked, peering around Wes and Eric.
"Oh, that's Leo," Eric answered. "He's been playing the perp in our scenarios."
Leo nodded at them, but didn't say anything.
"So then how do you explain him?" Vida said, looking at the youngest of the group.
"We don't," Jason scoffed.
Tommy elbowed him and Jason grunted in pain.
"That's Cole," Tommy said. "He's the victim."
Several of the men in the group nearly choked as they tried to stifle bursts of laughter. Madison and Vida exchanged looks again.
"Ummm… Ok then…" Madison said slowly. "I think we're just going to go. We'll come over for dinner another night…"
Vida nodded in agreement.
"Sorry big bro," she said, looking at Jason. "And just so you know, your friends are weird…"
Tommy burst out laughing as Jason rubbed a hand across his face. Madison and Vida both darted back to the living room to get their things. Hugging Tommy and Jason on the way out the door, they slipped around the other men and headed out of the house. Tommy followed them out onto the porch.
"Let us know when you make it home," he called after them as they headed down the street. "I've got my phone with me."
"We will!" the girls called back as they kept walking.
As they reached the end of the street, they glanced back toward the house. They could still see Tommy standing on the porch. But as they turned away they caught another bright flash of light out of the corner of their eyes. Looking back toward the house again, they saw Tommy heading back into the house.
"Wow," Madison said, shaking her head. "His phone is really bright…I think Hayley may have gone a little overboard this time…"
Laughing, Vida nodded in agreement as they continued toward home.
Tommy took a deep breath as he watched Madison and Vida head down the street. That had been too close. He continued watching as he held up the communicator he was wearing.
"You guys are clear to come back," he said, shaking his head.
The girls reached the end of the street, pausing to look back one more time. But they turned away after a moment. And just in time. Light flashed again as TJ and Andros reappeared on the porch with Tommy. He whipped around, shoving them back in through the front door just in case the girls had caught a flash of light. Once they were all in, he shut the door behind him. Jason and the others were still waiting in the hallway.
"Are they gone?" Jason asked, looking at Tommy.
"Yeah, they're gone," he answered. "And I think we're covered. Pretty sure Eric's cover story worked—Amazing story, by the way."
He looked at Eric, who just nodded.
"Yeah, after he about gave all of us heart attacks," Jason grumbled.
Eric smirked.
"The looks on all of your faces were great," he said. "Did you really think I was suggesting we tell your teenage sisters that we're all power rangers?"
"Not even Eric would do that," Wes said.
TJ and Andros exchanged confused looks.
"So what did we miss?" TJ asked. "Because apparently it was something good."
"Eric came up with some story about working on a security project for Hayley," Leo said. "It was really fast thinking."
"Nice," TJ grinned. "Did they see us?"
Tommy crossed his arms as he glared at him.
"You? No," he said. "The bright light that accompanies you teleporting? Yes. What were the two of you thinking?"
Everyone was looking at TJ and Andros now. They both shrugged sheepishly.
"You said to get out of here…" Andros said. "So we left…"
Tommy rolled his eyes.
"I meant go back out the door," he said. "It was still open—remember? You could have gone out the door and around the house and they never would have seen a thing. Now they think Hayley's installed some crazy program on my phone."
"Sorry, man," TJ said. "It's just habit at this point. So much faster to have DECA teleport us out of trouble…"
"That's what you get for outing yourselves," Jason growled. "You start forgetting normal people things."
"Like calling your wife?" Tommy said, rounding on Jason. "I thought you told Trini we were all coming over here."
"I did," Jason protested. "I called her and—oh…"
He paused, thinking. Tommy smirked.
"You called her before the mission," he said. "To tell her you were leaving. You didn't call her after we got back."
"Alright, so that part is my fault," Jason sighed. "But how was I supposed to know my sisters would show up? And how do you get to say I'm not important?"
Tommy smirked, shrugging.
"Hey, to them you're nothing but their brother," he said. "You have no technological expertise to add to our make believe project or any connections that make sense for the part of your life they know about. So in this instance, you aren't important."
Jason glowered at him.
"Come on, Rex," Tommy laughed, slinging at arm around his shoulder and turning him toward the living room. "You're important to the rest of us and you know it."
"Tommy's right, Jason," Carter agreed as the other reds trailed behind them. "You're part of the reason we all know each other and keep in touch."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jason grumbled.
"Hold on a minute," Cole interrupted. "I get that you had to play off Jason as not important. But why did you make me a victim? I saved all of us."
"You go on thinking that, rookie," Jason snorted. "You're lucky you're alive after that stunt you pulled."
Cole sputtered as the other rangers burst out laughing, chorusing agreements.
"Come on, guys," Tommy chuckled. "Let's find something to eat."
The Rock Porium was slow. There hadn't been many customers that morning—not that they'd really expected many two days after Christmas. There had been a rush of returns and exchanges the day before, but the rush had died down. Now they were all leisurely going about their tasks. Xander was directing one of the newer employees on how to use the register from his favorite chair, Chip was absently reorganizing a couple of shelves that had gotten messed up in the rush the day before, Vida was at the DJ tables entertaining them with some music, and Madison had pulled a stool up to the counter and had her homework out in front of her.
"I just can't concentrate," she sighed, closing her book. "I'm never going to finish this before the new semester starts…"
"Come on, Maddy," Xander said from his chair. "Cheer up. It's not like you have to turn that in anytime soon. The semester doesn't start for weeks."
Madison sighed, nodding as she stared down at the closed book. Vida left the music playing and bounced over to join her sister.
"Ignore him," she said, gently bumping her shoulder against her twin's. "It's good that you want to get it done."
Vida looked over her shoulder at Xander.
"She's just trying to get ahead in the reading so she can split her time better once school starts up again," Vida said, giving him a look. "Besides, she's just down because a certain boy in red hasn't called in a while."
Nick, Udonna, and Leanbow had left Briarwood a few days after the defeat of the Master to go visit Nick's adopted parents. That had been a couple of weeks before Christmas and they still weren't sure what day he'd be back. The rangers had spoken to him several times, but he had yet to commit to a return date.
"Well, it seems like he's been gone forever," she mumbled, blushing as she ducked her head again. "And he barely calls and—and… oh…"
"And you miss him," Chip supplied, joining the girls at the counter. "We all do."
"And so does Fire Heart," Xander agreed as he finally stood up to join the group. "Did I tell you he tried to set me on fire the other day?"
The other three rolled their eyes as the new employee stared at them in shock. They just ignored him. He knew who they were and they weren't concerned about him telling anyone.
"Oh, you've told us," Vida said. "And so has Daggeron."
"Though his version has you coaxing Fire Heart to light a fire for you," Chip grinned. "And you were just a little too close."
Xander glowered as his friends snickered. Toby came walking in the front door, frowning when he saw them lounging around the counter.
"And here I thought I might finally have my employees undivided attention," he said, crossing his arms. "Shouldn't you be working?"
"Toby, there are no customers," Xander said, gesturing around the shop. "The new guy is training and we've been cleaning. Besides, aren't you supposed to be at the movies with Leelee's mom?"
"Just got back," Toby countered. "And, for your information, someone just parked outside and it looks like they might come in. So at least try and look productive."
Shaking his head and muttering to himself, he headed for his office. The rangers just shrugged and exchanged smiles. Toby had gone back to his normal self after they defeated the Master. He was one of the few who didn't treat them differently at all, which they all loved.
"Alright, alright," Chip said as they started heading back to what they'd been doing. "Looking productive—Maddy, are you alright?"
As he had started to turn away, he had realized she was staring, frozen, out the window. He looked at her in concern as he waited for an answer. Her face was pale and her eyes wide as she continued to stare.
"Maddy, what's wrong?" Xander asked, looking around quickly for whatever the threat was.
Vida, who had been going back to the tables, was back at her sister's side, looking for the source of the problem.
"Come on, sis," she said, putting a hand on Madison's shoulder. "What's going on?"
Madison jumped, turning to look at Vida with wide eyes.
"It's the jeep," Madison finally said, pointing out the window to the vehicle Toby had been talking about. "That's—it's Tommy's jeep."
The other three rangers whipped around to look. Through the window they could all see the car Toby had mentioned. It was a black jeep, the top up for the cold December air. Vida immediately recognized it, too.
"It is his," she hissed as they all quickly moved out of sight of the window. "What do we do?"
The new guy was frowning at them from the register, nervously glancing out the window as he tried to figure out what was scaring the power rangers.
"There're only four of us," Chip said quietly, trying to keep the conversation between the four of them. "And if he's really as strong as Daggeron believes, we don't stand a chance without Nick."
The others nodded in agreement, looking toward the door again. No one had gotten out of the jeep yet, but they knew it was only a matter of time before he came inside.
"Let's get out of here," Xander said quickly, making a decision. "With any luck, he'll leave when he can't find us."
"Right," Vida agreed. "And if he chases us, at least the fight will be away from town."
With everyone in agreement, they all turned and bolted for the back door. Toby, who had been coming back out of his office, watched them go in surprise.
"Sorry, Toby," Chip called back over his shoulder. "Gotta feed the dragon!"
And then all four of them were gone. Toby sighed, shaking his head. Then he turned to look back at the trainee.
"You aren't going to disappear on me, too, are you?" he asked.
The boy shook his head, still nervous about what had chased the rangers away.
"Good," said Toby as the front door opened. "Then get to work."
"Tommy, you don't have to do this," Hayley said, glancing over at him. "We can still just go home."
He was staring out the window of the passenger seat, as he had been since they left Reefside. It had been a silent care ride. Tommy was not happy with her. Hayley knew it was just because he was worried, though, so she hadn't pressed the issue too much. She just couldn't bear to let him go back to Briarwood without her—or at least not by himself. And he had refused to take anyone else with him.
"I have to," Tommy finally said, continuing to stare out the window. "And I want to. I want them to know…"
He fell silent again. Hayley sighed.
"Tommy, I know you see them like little sisters," she said. "But what they did to you was wrong. They jumped to conclusions and acted without provocation on the assumption that what they guessed was correct—they didn't even try and talk to you about it!"
"They have every right to be afraid of me," he muttered, closing his eyes as he leaned his head against the window. "I—"
"If you say you deserve it one more time," Hayley snapped, interrupting. "I am going to turn this car around and you won't be going anywhere until you get your head on straight. You had no control over anything you did in high school and no one had any right to hold it against you after everything you've done to make it right. Maybe they have a right to be a little afraid of you—though I think the idea is utterly ridiculous—but they still should have given you a chance to explain before attacking you!"
Tommy didn't say anything, falling silent again. Hayley took a deep breath as she gripped the steering wheel. She wasn't the only one unhappy about Tommy wanting to come back to Briarwood. Jason had flipped, too, wanting to know what Tommy was thinking. He had finally, and reluctantly, agreed that Tommy needed to give them another chance. But Hayley knew Jason had to be waiting at home, impatiently waiting for a call that said Tommy was safe or that he needed help—especially because, as far as Jason knew, Tommy had been planning on going by himself.
Neither one spoke as Hayley finally parked the car in front of the Rock Porium. The argument over what Tommy did or did not deserve had been a frequent one since the incident in Briarwood several months before and the only conclusion they had managed to reach was that they disagreed completely on the subject. Taking a deep breath, Hayley turned off the jeep and shifted to look at Tommy. He was looking at the shop. After a moment, he turned to look at her.
"Hayley," he said slowly. "Maybe you should stay in the—"
"I am not staying in the jeep," she snapped.
Before he could argue with her about it, she unbuckled and climbed out. Groaning, Tommy did the same. He really didn't want her anywhere near Briarwood right now, but she hadn't given him a choice that morning to say no. Not only had she been awake and ready before him, but she'd taken or hidden all of the car keys and had planted herself in the driver's seat of his jeep before he realized what she was planning. Tommy had tried to convince her it was too dangerous for her to go, but Hayley wasn't listening. Pregnant or no, she wasn't letting him put himself in danger alone and, since he wouldn't take any of the teens or Jason, that meant she was going. Now actually in Briarwood, Tommy was just hoping that, should something actually happen, none of the Mystic Force rangers would hurt Hayley. He couldn't handle losing her or the baby at this point. Not because of him.
"Coming?" Hayley asked, looking at him expectantly.
She was standing on the sidewalk now, her arms crossed in front of her as she waited. Glowering at her, Tommy slammed the door of the jeep shut and joined her. As they headed toward the door, Hayley tucked herself under Tommy's arm and wrapped her own arm around his waist. He was still upset with her for even being there, but he didn't push her away. Instead, he prepared himself to move her behind him at the slightest threat. He really didn't think any of the younger rangers would attack Hayley, but then he had never thought they would attack him without talking first, either. He pushed the door open and they walked inside.
"I don't see them," Hayley said quietly as they paused just inside the door.
Tommy nodded, not seeing the rangers either. The only people they could see were Toby and a boy Tommy didn't recognize who was wearing the Rock Porium uniform shirt. When Toby saw Tommy, a look of recognition flickered across his face.
"Hey, I know you," Toby said, walking over to greet them. "You came to visit Maddy and V a while back. Sorry, but I can't recall your name."
Tommy nodded, holding out a hand to shake Toby's.
"Tommy Oliver," he said. "This is my wife, Hayley."
She smiled, shaking Toby's hand as well.
"It's nice to meet you, Toby," she said.
"So, what can I help you with?" Toby asked, shooting a look at the new employee who hadn't budged from the register.
Tommy took a deep breath, glancing around again.
"We're actually here to see the girls," he said. "Are they around?"
Toby frowned.
"Well, they were," he said. "But now they're not. Something about feeding their—umm…"
He cut off, scrambling for an answer.
"Dragon?" the new boy supplied, trying to be helpful.
Toby turned his head, glaring daggers at the kid who shrunk back. Tommy smiled faintly.
"It's alright, Toby," he said. "We both know they're power rangers already. You don't have to try and keep it a secret."
"Oh, well, then yes," Toby said. "They left just a few minutes ago saying they needed to feed their dragon."
Tommy sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Any idea when they'll be back?" he asked.
Toby shook his head.
"No idea," he answered. "Thought they'd stopped disappearing on me after they finished their fight…"
"They'll never stop disappearing unexpectedly," Hayley said drily, glancing up at Tommy. "It just seems to happen."
Tommy frowned at her, but she just shrugged.
"Mind if we hang out for a while, Toby?" Tommy said, looking at the shop owner. "Just to see if they come back? We have something to talk to them about."
"Knock yourselves out," Toby said. "I'll be in my office if you need anything."
He disappeared into his office, leaving Tommy and Hayley to wander as they waited.
After bolting from the Rock Porium, the rangers headed straight back to Rootcore.
"That was too close," Xander said as they all sat down.
"Way too close," Vida agreed.
Clare and Daggeron were nowhere to be seen, meaning they were both out working on something else at the moment. Relaxing a little now that they were safe in their base and home, the rangers tried to distract themselves with studying and training for a while.
"So what do you think he wants?" Madison asked quietly, unable to avoid the subject any longer.
"Probably the same thing as last time," Chip said. "He wants to turn us to his side."
"I don't know," she said doubtfully. "If it was just that, I think he'd try a less obvious approach. What if Tommy just wants to talk? Or maybe he's broken the spell?"
"Tommy's here?" Daggeron said in surprise, walking into the room. "When did he arrive?"
He had walked in to hear part of their conversation. The rangers turned to look at him as he joined them.
"Just a little while ago," Vida answered. "He showed up at the Rock Porium…"
Daggeron frowned, shaking his head.
"And did he say anything?" he asked.
"We didn't exactly give him a chance," Xander answered. "We left before he got out of his car."
"The last place we want anything to go down is the Rock Porium," Vida added.
"Understandable," Daggeron said. "Just keep an eye out if you leave again tonight."
"We will," they all chorused.
"So what do we do now?" Madison sighed. "We can't hide forever…"
"I say we give it a couple of hour and then go back," Vida suggested. "If he's still there, we'll deal with him them."
"And how do you propose to deal with him?" Xander asked. "V, he's the original green ranger. Tommy has dark magic that rivals the magic of Koragg—and none of us were strong enough to defeat him. We'd be handing ourselves over to him."
She sighed, but nodded.
"Well, maybe Maddy is right," Chip said. "Maybe he's not evil anymore. Or maybe he's fighting the dark magic and wants to ask for our help."
"But why now after all this time?" countered Xander. "He's had multiple opportunities."
"Hold on, guys," Daggeron said. "Chip may be on to something. You girls said you never suspected anything until that day, right?"
Madison and Vida nodded.
"He's always been a great guy," Madison said. "Tommy helps people. And he's never shown anything like that before—even after we became rangers. It was just that one day…"
Daggeron nodded.
"Then it is possible that he isn't always evil," he said. "As Chip suggested, he may be struggling against the dark magic. But, without proper training, he wouldn't be able to completely control or expel it. Instead, the magic would control him."
"Which is why he attacked Maddy," Vida said, nodding. "So then it may be possible to save him?"
"Maybe," Daggeron said hesitantly. "But I wouldn't get your hopes up. From what the scan tells me, the dark magic is a strong part of him now. I believe his good moments may become few and far between as the days go on. It may already be too late. I would focus your efforts on saving your brother, instead, before he too is lost in the dark magic."
The girls nodded, exchanging grim looks. Neither of them had spoken to Jason since the last day he came to Briarwood, too afraid to put their teammates in danger.
"We should get back, guys," Chip said, looking at his watch some time later. "We've been gone for hours now. And if he's been with Toby this whole time…"
They were all on their feet, heading for the door.
"Be careful," Daggeron warned them again. "I have a feeling not everything is as it appears when it comes to Tommy. He's dangerous. Call me if you need help."
"We will," Xander assured him as they all headed out the door.
Shaking his head, Daggeron headed out in the other direction.
Sitting on her throne in the other dimension, Mystic Mother frowned as she listened in on her rangers.
"Oh, they're giving me a headache with all of this nonsense," she said, looking at Snow Prince. "What are they going on about this time?"
"The green ranger, Tommy," he said. "They fought with him some time ago and believe he is trying to turn them evil."
"Tommy? Evil?" she laughed. "Ha. He hasn't been evil in years. Believe me. Zeddy and I tried getting him back lots of times."
Snow Prince nodded.
"I believe what you say, Mystic Mother," he said. "But there was a fight. The rangers believe he is under the control of the dark magic they found in him."
"Hmm…" she frowned. "Dark magic, you say? If that is true, then I must do something—and soon. A seed of dark magic can do great harm if left unchecked."
"Tommy, we need to get going," Hayley said softly, placing a hand on his arm.
He'd been pacing around the shop for the past couple of hours as they waited for the rangers to return. But there had been no sign of them. Stopping reluctantly, he glanced at the time and sighed.
"Alright," he said. "We'll go. Just let me leave a message with Toby."
Hayley nodded, going to stand by the door as Tommy walked over and knocked on the door to Toby's office. It opened and Toby popped his head out.
"We have to go," Tommy said. "But can you give Maddy and V a message for me?"
Toby raised an eyebrow, but nodded. Tommy took a deep breath, trying to think of the best way to say it.
"Just—just tell them it's not about changing what happened last time," he finally said. "But I need them to call me. Please. Just tell them that—tell them it's important. I really need to talk to them."
Toby nodded, frowning a little as he tried to understand the message.
"Thanks, Toby," Tommy said. "Keep an eye on them for us."
Turning, Tommy hurried away to join Hayley before Toby could come up with a response. Shrugging, Toby glanced at the time himself.
"Three hours to feed a dragon?" he muttered. "Must be a whole flock of them…"
Before he disappeared back into his office, however, he heard the back door open. Xander, Chip, Madison, and Vida came hurrying back in. Stepping out of his office, he crossed his arms as he glared at them.
"You may be power rangers," he said. "But you still work for me, and there's a lot to do before we close."
"We know, Toby," Madison said, looking around.
But there was no sign of anyone except the new employee. Tommy's jeep was no longer parked outside, either. Heading back into his office, Toby paused.
"Oh, just so you know," he said. "Your friend Tommy came by and left a message."
That caught all of their attention.
"He said it's not about changing what happened last time," Toby said. "And that he needs to talk to you about something important. He really wants you to call him."
Satisfied that he'd delivered the message as promised, he disappeared in his office again. The rangers exchanged looks.
"Go on home, kid," Xander said to the new guy. "We'll close up."
The boy nodded, heading for the door. Once they were alone, the rangers started cleaning up as they talked.
"Daggeron was right," Vida said. "He's still trying to convince us. Like we'd really fall for it."
"Just don't call him," Xander said. "He can't change your minds if you don't talk to him. And if he comes back again, we'll handle it. Agreed?"
"Agreed," the other three chorused.
Settling in to the familiar routine of closing the store, the rangers put Tommy and his visit out of their minds and turned their focus back to other things.