You'll note that there are a lot of questions in this chapter and it's kind of paired with another one which you'll understand when you see the title for it.

Any hoo, Tommy makes a few connections and Grace plucks up her courage…

Chapter 36 - The questions

"Tommy." They were calling again, someone was always calling his name but he couldn't work out if they were the same person…

"Tommy?" He didn't want to wake up because something told him there would be trouble if he did; he was safe here between waking and sleeping.

He remembered the mirror and the shadows calling his name. "Tommy." It was growing louder. He remembered the struggle for breath and someone calling his name, full of worry…

"Tommy?" He opened his eyes blearily and gave a groan as bright light burst through his lids. "Oh thank God." The voice on his left said with relief.

"Hayley?" Tommy twisted his head to look for the owner of the voice. "Where the heck am I?"

Hayley helped him sit up slowly. "The Dino lair, I brought you here so I could keep an eye on your vitals."

Tommy scrubbed a hand through his hair. "How did I get here?" he asked in confusion. "Last thing I remember was a large thorny monster trying to crush my throat having beaten my ass into the ground."

"Well you're looking good for it." Hayley replied with a small smile. "No cuts and bruises and from every indication you're still breathing."

Tommy put a hand up to his throat, testing his skin. "Believe me, it's just as surprising to me; I thought I was dead."

"Again," Hayley turned off the heart monitor. "You look good for it, being dead is obviously very you." Tommy managed a small laugh at that. "So you don't remember what happened?"

Tommy frowned and shook his head. "I take it you don't know either?" He asked hopefully.

Hayley sighed and shrugged. "I woke up when someone rang the doorbell at two o'clock in the morning, I found you lying unconscious on the doorstep. I figured you'd passed out before I got there."

Tommy shook his head. "I was at a roadside bar all night…" he frowned and rubbed his head. "It's a bit of a blur after that." He smiled apologetically.

"So I guessed." Hayley said dryly. "You stank of alcohol but I knew it must have been something more when I saw the state of your clothes." Tommy looked down and fingered the blood spattered rips in his t-shirt. Hayley passed him a new set of clothes and gestured for him to go behind the screen.

His head was still whirling as he tried to remember what had happened; someone had been calling his name but their voice had changed, there had been three of them; three voices that had cut through the dark and only one of them had been Hayley's.

"Where are the others?" He stepped out from behind the screen, the thought suddenly coming to mind.

Hayley didn't look up from the computer where she was busy entering Tommy's medical log. "There was another attack this morning." She sighed as though wishing she didn't have to tell Tommy this. "The Acanthid seemed to be in a particularly bad mood and the Green Ranger didn't turn up."

"And…" Tommy prompted, sensing that there was more.

"And their powers took a big hit, they couldn't morph they were exhausted; if the monster attacks again we're in trouble."

Tommy tried to process the implications of this; Reefside was effectively unprotected now he was the only Ranger with any morphing capability. He could only imagine what state the teens were in after taking such a hit, if they couldn't morph they must have been wishing for their black clad mentor…or the green healer.

"Wait, you said the green ranger didn't turn up?"

Hayley nodded as she sifted through the paper and the notes she had taken ready to type into the system. "I haven't been able to contact him either; after all it's pretty obvious that he healed you last night but I just hope nothing has happened to him. Elsa hasn't made any demands or sent any messages so it's probable he isn't-"

"Elsa?" Tommy frowned, trying to remember the previous night's events. "Elsa was there last night crowing about her plan, something about assimilating wounds." Why had he gotten drunk? Now he couldn't remember a damn thing, and then there had been the hit to his head.

Hayley glared at the mess on the desk in front of her, she'd lost the files for the other rangers and they had to be somewhere in all the junk. "Assimilating?" She queried, half listening. "Like taking on someone else's wounds?"

"Yeah," Tommy rubbed the side of his head. "She said something about the green ranger getting hurt because he was helping us; he takes on our wounds and he's outside of my protection."

Hayley winced as she continued her search. "He's getting your wounds? Sounds painful Tommy, I mean some of the stuff that's happened to you guys is pretty serious; like that time Trent got stabbed with a thorn, Kira's black eye and that time Ethan got half strangled; those bruises looked awful-"

Tommy blocked out the rest of Hayley's words, his head was pounding and there was a strange ringing in his ears. It all came to him in flashes; her bruised face through a drunken blur, the marks around her throat as she stood at the doorway. Kira's black eye on a different face, Conner's shoulder and his own hand; cut on test tubes and bandaged by her...Grace.

Then there had been last night; she'd been covered in old bruises and Elsa had finally told him why…Elsa, of course; now he remembered the feel of another pair of eyes and Elsa had said…

"She said 'she'" He murmured out loud. "Elsa knew all along, the clues; I was blind."

"Did you say something?" Hayley asked distractedly.

Tommy didn't seem to hear, ideas came flooding to him; realizations and he spoke them out loud. He stared at his palm, the one that had been cut. "It was there all the time right in front of me, she was always getting hurt…always knew just what to say because she knew."

"You make a great power ranger Tommy." That was what she had said, had thought he wouldn't remember, had kept herself a secret. How could he have been so dumb? Why hadn't she told them who she was? Elsa had realized it was dangerous to keep them separated, she could use it…

Tommy's head shot up and a sense of dread overwhelmed him. "She knew it," He said out loud. "She knew that all she had to do was separate us."

"Tommy?" Hayley's confused voice didn't penetrate.

"She's going to get killed!" He jumped off of the bed and grabbed his jacket; he had to get to Grace before it was too late. He ran past Hayley and out of the dino lair.

"Tommy where are you going?" Hayley yelled after him.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Grace's footsteps crunched faintly on the broken mirror's shards, she was only vaguely aware of them. Every bone in her body ached but she had pulled herself up that morning with a new determination because she was the only one who could do what was needed. Elsa had made it clear last night; she was the only one who could defeat the Acanthid and she was the only one who could protect the others.

She had only one advantage; Elsa didn't realize that she knew, she had told Tommy everything without realizing the real threat had been stood in the shadows listening, she hadn't heard everything but now she knew that she had to face the Acanthid alone. So that was what she was going to do. She looked down at herself and felt slightly dissatisfied, if she was going to do this she didn't want to be in disguise for once she was going to be herself. She closed her eyes and pictured Kira's tunic the 'dress' version of the Power Rangers suits, when she opened them and looked down again she was wearing one too; no one would be able to mistake her for a man again. The bandages were gone and the new long tunic clung to her like a second skin, now she was ready.

She made her way slowly down the stairs, she felt strangely numb like there was no sensation; she didn't notice the lampshade she had knocked over the other night or the blood that smeared the walls in smudged hand prints. She simply stepped into her yard and yelled for Elsa as loud as she could; it would work, she knew it.

"Well Green ranger what can I do for you?" Elsa's sneering drawl floated from behind her.

Grace turned. "Hello Elsa." She replied calmly.

Elsa raised an eyebrow questioningly. "I'm sure you didn't ask me here for idle chit chat," She said, sounding bored. "And I certainly don't want to waste my time talking to you, so tell me what you want."

"I want this to stop."

Elsa let out a shriek of laughter. "Stop! Why would it stop when my master and I are having such fun?"

"Where is the Acanthid?" Grace asked numbly, ignoring Elsa's taunts.

The leather clad woman waved a hand dismissively. "I can never be too sure," She drawled. "Knowing him he's out having fun somewhere, he likes destruction. Why, thinking of challenging him?"

Grace took a deep breath, keeping the calm firmly in place like a blanket. "Yes."

Elsa threw back her head and cackled gleefully. "The green ranger versus my creation! Why you're nothing more than a useless teacher, what could you possibly do to him?" She gave another laugh. "Well why not? If you're so sure of yourself my little teacher this will be worth watching. The last I saw of him he was at the warehouses on the dock, why not go and see if he's still there?"

Grace hesitated slightly, there was something about Elsa's manner like she was eager, but she felt her determination rise again; she had to do this…

Elsa watched as the green ranger gave a single nod and teleported out of her yard. She smiled to herself; all she had to do now was wait.

A/N As always guys reviews are always greatly appreciated I love it when I get them! Hope you enjoyed it and are relatively happy with how Tommy managed to discover Grace was the green ranger, the next installment is coming soon! Xxx