Authors note:
Here out is, sorry it took so long. Thank you Katie Benoit for the beta read!
"Didn't know what?" Jason asked.
Billy only shook his head looking down at his feet. He was suddenly reluctant to go on, to tell them the truth about the alarms and the monitoring system. "Billy tell them." Tanya repeated and the young genius shook his head.
"Tell us what?" Adam asked his girlfriend who shrugged.
"Billy told me something in confidence the day after it happened. I would rather he tell you guys, I don't want to be the girl who blabs secrets. Besides it would do Billy good to tell it himself." Tanya spread her hands in front of her as she spoke.
Billy sighed heavily. "Tommy, I… God, you're going to hate me."
"How the fuck would I know if I'm going to hate you, if I don't even know what you are talking about?" Tommy said flatly. That made Billy's eyes fill up with tears. He had spent the last two weeks feeling guilty and it was beginning to tear his insides apart.
"After.. after Gasket kidnapped you, I set a program up to monitor us so that the computer would know where we were at all times. It is supposed to set off the alarms if any of us are in danger," Billy began. "I even put David in it, just in case you know."
"The alarm didn't go off?" David asked.
"No, that's just the thing it did. I fucked up. I put in protocols to give us privacy, so it wouldn't record us when we were bathing or having sex. The alarm went off but the privacy protocols kept it from showing anything." Billy swallowed hard. What he was going to say next really was going to make Tommy hate him.
"The thing is, Zordon called me in the middle of the night when the alarms went off to fix what appeared to be a malfunction. I worked on it for hours before it occurred to me to turn the privacy filters off."
Tommy shut his eyes for a moment and did some thinking, He'd been unconscious from the drugs for hours before he'd woken up tied to the bed. Hours if what Billy was being said the Power Chamber alarms had been trying to tell Zordon he was in danger.
"I think you should leave," Tommy finally said. Billy's face fell. Tommy opened his eyes. "I think you should all leave. This, it's just too much. I just I need… I need some time to think. And I'm tired. I'm so fucking tired."
The others looked at each other and David put one hand on Billy's shoulder. "It's alright. Come on, our twenty minutes were up fifteen minutes ago anyway."
Slowly Tommy's friends silently trooped out of the room. Tommy rolled over on his side and closed his eyes. He wanted to see Zordon to ask him if what Billy had said was the truth. He would have given anything not to be in the hospital bed. Anything at all.
Three days went by and Tommy was due to go home soon. That worried him more than anything else: going home. He wasn't sure where he was going to end up. Probably in a foster home somewhere with strangers. He wished again childishly that he could just have things back the way they were.
He looked up from the math homework one of his teachers had sent over when someone wrapped on the door to his hospital room. It wasn't Andi or Lisa or any of his friends. A guy in his early twenties dressed in a suit stood in the doorway. Tommy regarded him for a moment, before speaking. "Hello."
"Thomas Horace Oliver?" The man asked and Tommy frowned at him. He hated his middle name and never used it if he could help it. None of the other Rangers or David even knew what the initial H he sometimes used stood for. This stranger calling him by his full name was disconcerting.
"Yes," Tommy sad carefully.
"I'm Christoper Jensen. I'm your Guardian Ad Litem." The man strode into the room and held out one hand. Tommy didn't take it and after a moment Jensen dropped his hand. "I guess you have questions."
"Uh... yeah, um, what's a Guardian Ad Litem?" Tommy asked frowning. He knew it was some kind of legal thing, he just didn't know what kind of a legal thing.
"Well, since you're still a minor, you get a lawyer appointed by the court to represent you. I will represent you in family court and make your wishes known about who you want to live with." Jensen pulled a chair up beside the bed. "Now, several people have petitioned for guardianship.-"
Tommy interrupted him at this point. "I get to choose?"
Jensen looked at Tommy his blue eyes kind. "Not exactly. The judge will decide. You do get to make your wishes known though. The court will take what you want into consideration."
"Who petitioned?" Tommy asked.
Jensen pulled a list out and read it. "The Truehearts; actually, since David Trueheart is biologically related, they have a very good chance. The Scotts, the Hilliards, the Cranstons, the DeSantos, the Sloanes and the Parks."
Tommy blinked at the list of names. Every single one of his friends' parents had petitioned for guardianship. He hadn't thought any of them would want him.
He frowned thinking. "I don't want to switch schools. I'd love to live with Dave and Sam but I don't want to switch schools and their house is tiny. The Sloans were lost at sea for years, they and Tanya just got reunited. Mrs. DeSantos has eight kids to look after; she doesn't need another one and I'd scare the little ones."
Jensen nodded understandingly. "What about the others?"
"Um, the Hilliards would be awkward. I was... before I was... Kat." Tommy stammered and then felt himself go red with embarrassment. The truth was he had been thinking about asking Kat out before this all had happened.
"I understand," Jensen said as he made a note on the paper he held. "Say nothing about it. I can submit that you can't decide between the rest of them and then the judge will pick from those,"
"Not the Scotts." Tommy looked down at his hands which were twisting in his lap. "Jason isn't going to understand. He's my best friend. He isn't going to understand why I don't want to live with his family. I can't do it though. I can't live there."
"Why?" Jensen's face held no sympathy. Tommy was grateful for that. If he had seen sympathy in the lawyer's eyes he might have hit him. Tommy was tired of sympathy.
Tommy shrugged. "It's across the street." A single tear tracked its way down his cheek and Tommy reached up swiping it away angrily. He had thought he was done crying... done feeling like he was broken somehow. He needed to be strong. After all, he was going to be out in the world soon.
"The Cranstons or the Parks then. The doctor told me you get out of the hospital soon, so the shelter hearing will be scheduled the next day after that. You'll spend one night in a local youth home. The idea is to get you in foster care as soon as possible though." Jensen closed his briefcase as he spoke. "I need to go, but I will stay in touch."
One week later…
Tommy sat on a bench inside the Angel Grove courthouse, tapping one foot on the tiled floor and staring at the wall. In ten minutes, he was going to go in front of a judge who was going to decide where Tommy was going to live. Jensen stood nearby talking softly with the social worker assigned to the case.
The families who had petitioned for custody were all there as well. The adults at any rate. Jensen had contacted them and suggested they leave any one underage at home. The courtroom was going to be crowded as it was with so may petitioning for custody.
"Tommy?" The soft voice made Tommy glance up to see Nancy Oliver standing in front of him.
Tommy blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected her to be here. For a moment she wavered and he saw her holding a glass of juice out to him. A small sound escaped him, somewhere between a whimper and a sob. Jensen turned from the social worker and stepped to Tommy's side in an instant.
"If you have anything to say to my client, you need to go through me." Jensen's voice was cold with repressed anger. Tommy had told him some of the details of what had happened: Jensen knew Nancy had drugged her son.
Nancy frowned looking down, "I see. Your his Guardian then?"
"Yes."
"Tell him his dad's here. He's petitioned to have Tommy returned to his custody. I don't think he has a case, but I thought Tommy would like the warning. And tell him I will make sure his clothes get sent to his foster home. And tell him that I'm sorry."
She turned and walked away.
The group moved into the courtroom a few minutes later. The judge, the honorable Jack Carns, was a large black man who was going bald. What little hair he had left was at his temples and going gray. He studied Tommy for a moment, then looked around the room. "I have never had so many people petitioning for one child. Tommy, you're lucky to have so many who care about you."
Tommy glowered, "Lucky?"
"Perhaps that was a poor choice of words. I withdraw it," the judge smiled at the teen and Tommy felt himself relaxing a little. "I understand the child's father has petitioned for custody?"
"Social services doesn't recommend he be returned to his father pending the criminal case." The social worker said flatly. "We also recommend that Tommy's father not have visitation of any kind. His mother Nancy Oliver has asked for supervised visits, Social services is reluctant to allow them."
"And what are the child's wishes." Carns turned to Jensen.
"The Cranstons or the Parks." Jensen spoke. "Tommy has no desire to see either of his parents."
"I see." Carns shuffled some papers reading them carefully a small frown on his face.
"Your honor, may I speak?" The sound of Kyle Oliver's voice made Tommy freeze. He wanted to bolt, to run and hide. It was only Jensen's hand grabbing his arm that stopped him. Kyle was standing in the courtroom in his best suit, looking relaxed as if he couldn't imagine anyone denying him.
"I'll allow it." Carns folded his hands on top of the desk in front of him and waited.
"My son has suffered from a traumatic experience which has left him confused. The best way for him to recover and remember what really happened is for him to come home. He needs to realize that I am not the one who hurt him. I petition that it is in his best interest to return home."
"Is that all?" Carns said grimly.
"Yes." Kyle stepped back. He ignored the glares from the others. Tommy kept staring at the table in front of him. If they sent him to his father, they wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. Tommy would be dead before the day was out. He'd rather be dead than live with his father.
"When I read the details of this case, I was horrified. The damage done to the minor child will have far-reaching consequences that he is going to have to live with for the rest of his life. The best thing I can do for him is to put him in an environment where he has a chance to heal." Carns looked around the room. "Father's petition for full custody is denied, furthermore Kyle Oliver is to stay twenty feet away from the child and have no contact whatsoever. Mothers petition is approved and the court will grant her weekly supervised visits."
Tommy felt tears. He didn't want to visit his mother. He didn't want to see either of his parents again. Jensen shook his head though and Tommy stayed silent instead of protesting the ruling.
"Tommy, you equally favor the Cranstons and the Parks as possible guardians, is this correct?" Carns asked.
"Yes." Tommy croaked out. He swallowed and tried again. "Yes," he said more firmly.
"I am going to grant custody to the Parks, given the nature of this case. I feel it would be better for there to be a woman in the house." Carns picked his gavel up. "Good luck, Tommy. Case dismissed."
Jensen gave Tommy's shoulder a squeeze. "Supervised means you will never be alone with her," he murmured to the teen. "I'm sorry. I recommended she not be granted anything, but since we can't prove she knew about the attack before hand…" his voice trailed off.
"It's okay," Tommy said softly.
"This isn't over." The sound of his father's voice made Tommy cringe. "You will be home by the end of the month, young man."
"Mr. Oliver, if you do not step away from my client I WILL have you arrested!" Jensen stepped in between Tommy and his father.
Kyle spluttered for a moment, then stormed out of the court room.
"You ready to go?" Anna Park's gentle voice broke through the fog of fear that had enveloped Tommy at the sound of his father's voice.
Tommy looked up at her and nodded. He was more than ready to go. He was tired so tired. He looked down at his stomach and put a hand to the bag, feeling it gently as Andi had taught him. Luckily, he had a bit before he would need to change it. That meant he had time to head to his new home first.
"What about my stuff?"
"I'll get your clothes and other items tonight then bring them over to the Parks," Jensen said softly. He stood and gestured for Tommy to walk ahead of him. Anna Park and her husband Brandon fell into step behind the teen. Together they headed out of the courtroom.