Authors note – We've made a few…okay more then a few assumptions here, for example making Jason the White Ranger, and also clarifying Tommy as the Black Ranger before he even admits he has that gem on the show. But guess what we control THIS world and personally think our idea of making Jase a Ranger again makes sense, so deal with it and love us for it.
Time frame – We've skipped ahead a few months to after Tommy has admitted he's the holder of the black gem and Jason has reveled himself as the White Ranger. As we have no clue how that goes down on the show, you will be favored with flash backs of it happening in later parts. *Bows* Thank you.
Summary – Oh Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, he just draws trouble to him wherever he goes.
(December 15th, 2004)
"I'm sorry, but I'm just too beat to get up. I promise I'll bring it by in the morning though, okay Kira?" As his voice comes back, I know something's wrong here. He just sounds wrong and what's this crap about can't get up? No I just don't buy it especially when I have a key to the place and can let myself in.
"Bu-" Cutting Kira off, I shake my head.
Leaning over to her, I whisper in a low and falsely not worried voice. "No, take my car, and go home. I'm gonna stay here and see if I can figure out what's wrong, and I'll bring yer guitar to you in the morning or borrow his jeep and bring it by later tonight." Handing her the keys and pushing her off the porch in a go on already way, she gives me one more confused look.
"Well okay." Still unsure what's wrong with me now, she looks once more at the door. "Bye Tom, see ya in class tomorrow." Maybe, maybe not.
"Bye guys." The voice shaking now, I know that sound. It's the sound you have when someone has a knife or blaster to yer back and you have to pretend like everything is perfectly fine and normal.
Staying right next to the solid door so I can't be seen from the window, I watch as Kira pulls away from the house and heads off back down the path to the road. Sliding around the porch once she's gone, I wait another few breaths to look in through the side window. Oh shit.
Pinned up against the far wall by none other then the triumphant looking Mercer, bloody knife to his throat, is my one time best friend. Okay have to do something here and have to do it fast…okay well he's lowering the knife, that's a plus at least.
Pressing my ear to the not-so-thick glass on the window, I can make them out well enough. "Good job, Thomas. But I'm not too surprised, after all you seem to be an expert at lying and covering things up." Yeah keep talking lizard face.
Moving from the glass and quickly scanning the porch and yard, I pick up the first thing that looks reasonable enough to do the damage I want. Would morph, but then this is just a bit more on a personal level. This isn't a battle. He's attacked him at home and unarmed; unacceptable. Holding the three foot pipe firmly, I dig my copy of his house key out of my pocket and hurry around to the back of the house.
Unlocking the back door slowly and silently, I ease it open, holding back a growl as a loud smack and thud meets my ears. He's so dead. Sliding into the kitchen and then to the entryway to the main room, I tighten my hold on my lovely temporary weapon, silently sliding up behind them.
"Now get up, we're going and don't make me repeat myself. You give me the slightest bit of trouble and I swear I'll cut your vocal cords and scale plate every inch of your body in g-" Slamming the pole into the side of his head, I really hope that cracked his skull, sure as hell hit hard enough to do some damage that's for sure.
Watching as he slams into the wall and leaves a decent dent in it, I smirk. Oh come on get up, it's been a long time since I've played baseball and I think my batting needs some more work. "Stay away from him, he's not going anywhere, you deranged freak." Standing between him and Tom, I wait to see what he'll do, if he's smart he'll run, if not, I'll make him wish he had.
I watch as he slowly gets to his feet sorry he can still stand and determined to fix that little problem before he turns tail and runs. "He's mine you pathetic human!" Like hell he is!
"He's not yours! He'll never be yours; if anything he's mine!" Whoa, okay where did that one come from? Ok by the looks they're both shooting me; I better say something fast here. You know, suddenly I don't even care! I am sick of this psycho always saying this 'he's mine' crap during battles or making these idiotic comments that only Tommy seems to understand, and he's mine damn it, not his! "I'm the one that's known him since he was sixteen! I'm the one that nurtured his passion for dinosaurs! I'm the one that took him to all those museums and listened to him tell me every little fact imaginable about the bones! I'm the one that bought him miniature dinosaur models to put together! I'm the one that read his papers and thesis's about dinosaurs for science class! And I'm the one that he jumped on a hugged excitedly, nearly chocking me when he was accepted into the UCLA paleontology program, not you, me!"
Hissing and growling, I think I actually have him beat before he suddenly begins to laugh. He's laughing at me?! "Oh, so that makes him yours, does it? Well tell me, where were you exactly when he flunked out of UCLA? Hmm? Or how about during his two suicide attempts?" What? Laughing harder he shakes his head. "Well I suppose since I actually set the last one up, that shouldn't count, but still the first one was all his doing."
Losing some of my grip on the pole, I look down to see Tom looking at the ground and shaking badly, but yet not outrageously denying any of this. You didn't, you wouldn't…Tom? "You lying son of a bi-"
"Lying am I? Now what would be the fun in that? If you don't believe me then just look closely at his wrists, I'm sure there are still scars there. But then I suppose working at McDonalds and living in a rat hole apartment on the bad side of a city like Los Angeles will do that to a human." You know first off you used to be human too, well in a sense anyways, and second…second… "It was all your fault you know. Did you ever even think to check on him? Hm, no I don't believe you did, and so I took him in when he lost his job after not even caring enough to show up for it. I let him perform his research, I made him stronger…alright so first I had to manipulate him into using his Power Ranger technology, but still it was done with…well not love but…affection, on some level."
"So that's what you consider helping him? You're probably the reason he dropped out of school; you manipulated him when he was depressed, convinced him to use technology that he had no right to use for such things. That also begs the question of how you even knew he had access to it, now doesn't it? What did you do, use you're companies money and power to find out he was a Ranger, then hunt him down? You say I'm to blame here, but from what I see, it's all on you." Then why do I suddenly feel like shit?
"Perhaps, but at least I saved him from Trent." The taunting tone makes me narrow my eyes in suspicion and before I can resist I fall into it and ask, 'who', pulling what I assume is a smile from the freak.
"No! Please no, don't, I'll, I'll go with you, please!" Whipping around at the offer to actually surrender himself, I can't believe he just said that. Who the hell is this guy? Who would make Tommy offer his life up to a mutated freak rather then let me hear the story? Giving Mercer pleading eyes, I'm tempted to smack the boy now. What's wrong with him?!
"Oh, what's the matter, Thomas? Don't want me to tell him about you're drunken sex acts? How Trent used you, or better yet how his girlfriend did and then his friends? How they'd get you, what's the word you used…wasted was it? And then use you, make you into their bitch? Or how about how you flunked out of UCLA after only you're first semester because of all the parties he dragged you too? Or my favorite, how you held all of the people who left you responsible, how you blamed Ja-"
"Enough!" I don't need to hear this crap!
Charging at him and more then ready to run him through with the makeshift weapon, a flash of green suddenly blinds me. "This isn't over you know. I will reclaim what's mine, you can both count on that." As the light dims, I let out a scream of frustration as I see he's gone.
Damn it! I hate when they do that! Cowards, the fucking lot of 'em! Throwing the pole aside, I take a moment to get my vision to clear and my rage in check. Just wait, next time he's mine and I won't stop until I have his head, attack Tom like this and then ju-Tom! Turning back around and jumping back over the couch to where we'd left him, I quickly feel the rest of my anger replaced by fear as he's no longer there. Oh no, no, no, no, this is bad. "Tommy?!" Wiping around to view the room in a panic, I know he has to be here, he has to, he couldn't have gotten anywhere. "Tommy! Tom, answer me! Tommy it's okay now, answer me please!"
"Go away." The tired and choked voice makes my heart sink, but at least it's something, some sign he's still conscious and here.
"I can't. Come on, bro, come on out and let me help you." Where is he? Walking through the trashed living room, and peering into the kitchen, I still don't see him. "Tom? Tom please come out and let me help you. It's alright now, I promise it's alright…I don't care what Mercer said, baby, I don't. I'm not judging you or what you did or what went down, I just want to help you. You're hurt and you need help, please just let me take care of your wounds and then if you want me to go I will." A lie, but then what choice do I have right now?
As the strangled sob hits me, I finally lock onto him, curled up on the stairs and holding himself tightly and protectively. Oh Tom. "D-don't want your he-help, go, go away." Right like I'm gonna leave you like this? What the hell did I leave you with before? God I know I shouldn't listen to that psycho mutant but he's right in a sense, I didn't exactly keep close contact, and…and hell how was I supposed to know what was happening? I mean a phone works both ways why didn't he just call me?!
Grabbing a blanket off the couch, I move slowly to his shivering form. Gently I try to cover him, partly for his own comfort but partly, I'm sorry to say, because I'm about five seconds away from being sick or killing something if I have to keep looking at the blood and slash marks covering him. "Alright, it's alright now. You're safe and I'm gonna help you, okay? Just let me help you." Why is that such a hard concept? He always latched onto me when he was younger and hurt, he craved the attention, what the hell is all this 'go away' stuff now?
"You, you don't un-understand! Ju-just go aw-away." Be a little more convinced if you weren't clinging to my shirt, baby.
Ignoring his commands and quickly gathering him up into my arms, I head back down the few steps and toward the door. Grabbing his keys from the floor and some how managing not to drop him I manage to get out the door. "Shh, I'm gonna take you back to my apartment, you'll be safe there and I'll take care of your wounds and you can rest and explain it all to me later, okay?"
Sobbing now and latching onto my neck, he still shakes his head no. He doesn't seem to love this idea and for the life of me I can't figure out why he's being like this. "You, you'll never un-understand, never."
Sighing and quickly hurrying to his jeep, I don't even know what to say anymore. He's been off since I arrived in Reefside and took the power, but hell he's been civil at least! Now he just got the shit beaten out of him and god knows what else and he's acting like its all my fault and I'm the one that just had his throat on the line. This is going to be a long night.
To be continued…….
"Damn fucking AOL piece of shit!" Munching on a snickers bar Tommy watches amused from the couch as Rene gets cut from AOL once more and tries one more time to connect to the internet but it only reconnects her for one second then cuts her once more.
"You know maybe you shouldn't kick it like that Rene and it'll work." He instantly shuts up however when Ren turns and glares at him giving his evil green ranger glare a run for it's money "It was just a suggestion…. um Ren you know if you shoot the computer then it won't…." Trailing off when Ren turns psychotic eyes to him and growls, he clears his throat uncomfortably "Um but then again who am I to argue with you? Shoot away! Just make sure that the gun is back in Pam's gun case when she gets home."