Back in Time

Chapter 19

Jason frowned as he looked at the TV, turning it off and on again to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"Sweetie, what year is it?" He called towards the kitchen.

"Have you banged your head, Jason?" Trini asked as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Just humour me. Please." He said, not looking away from the TV screen.

"It's 2004." She said, walking over to her husband. "What are you looking at?" She looked at the TV and froze, realising why Jason had asked her about the year. "Is that the Dragon Zord?"

"Yes it is." He replied, turning the volume on the TV up.

"The Dragon Zord was seen rising up from the Angel Grove harbour earlier today before it disappeared into the desert. It was later seen moving quickly through the woods, heading towards the town of Reefside." The reporter said, showing the images of the green Zord that had been taken by bystanders. "No one is sure why the Zord was seen today. No one has seen this particular Zord since the Green Power Ranger disappeared in 1994, and no one has seen any Power Rangers in Angel Grove in years. The Dragon Zord has not been seen since it was spotted heading towards Reefside earlier today, and we have not had any reports from other areas about it being seen." Trini turned the TV off, a frown fixed on her face.

"You gave the Dragon Dagger back to Tommy, didn't you?" She asked, looking at him.

"I'm sure I did. We didn't have any need for it once he became the white ranger, so I think he put it in storage." He replied, standing up and beginning to pace. "What is he doing summoning his old Zord?"

"You don't think he's a ranger again, do you?" Trini asked.

"I don't know. I don't even know where he is." He replied, sitting back down with a sigh. "Last I saw him was in hospital after that Island lab he was working at exploded. Which didn't end well."

"What do you mean? You came home from seeing him in a foul mood, but you never told me what happened." She said, making him look up with guilt written on his face.

*Flashback*

Jason stormed through the halls of the hospital, his anger written on his face. He had been in the middle of a meeting with a possible investor for his Dojo, when he'd had a call saying that Tommy was in hospital and he was listed as his next of kin. Jason didn't need the stress of dealing with Tommy right now. He was trying to get his dojo out of debt and he was trying to get the money to take Trini on the Honeymoon they never had the chance to go on.

He walked into the room and saw Tommy laying on the bed, covered in cuts, bruises and burns. A doctor was in there, checking vitals when he saw Jason walk in.

"You must be Mr Scott." The doctor said, holding his hand out for Jason to shake.

"What happened this time?" Jason asked, making the doctor frown. Tommy wasn't looking at Jason, instead he was looking out of the window.

"Dr Oliver was working in a Laboratory on a private Island when something happened and it blew up. He's not broken any bones, but he does have some deep lacerations and burns. He should make a full recovery." The doctor said, looking uncomfortable at the sudden tension in the room. "I will come back in a bit to check on you, Dr Oliver." He left the room, leaving Jason and Tommy alone. They were silent for a moment before Jason spoke.

"The lab blew up?" He said, no emotion in his voice.

"The whole Island. Something went wrong. He did something, but I don't know what." Tommy muttered, not looking at him.

"When did you become a Dr anyway?" He asked, still standing near the door.

"About a year ago. I started working with Anton Mercer when I got my Doctorate." He replied, finally turning his head to look at the former red ranger. "Why are you here Jason?"

"You still have me listed as your next of kin." He said, frowning slightly.

"Well, my friend Hayley is on her way so you can go." Jason frowned at his response.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked, making Tommy's eyes narrow slightly.

"When were you going to tell me you were married?" He asked, making Jason look shocked. "Your ring. We used to be brothers. Now I don't even know who you're married to, let alone that you're actually married."

"Well it's not like you kept contact. You cut me out." He snapped. He was about to say more when the door opened and a woman walked in, an angry look on her face. She walked over to Tommy, not even noticing that Jason was in the room.

"Thomas Oliver, what happened on that bloody Island? If this is something to do with you being a bloody power ranger then I am going to murder you." She snapped, making Jason's eyes widen.

"She knows?" He asked, making her spin around in shock. Jason looked at Tommy, who just looked down at the sheets. "You told her you were a ranger? How could you?"

"From the look of you, I'm going to guess you were a red ranger. Jason perhaps?" The woman asked, crossing her arms.

"Hayley, can you give us a minute?" Tommy asked, making Hayley frown before nodding, giving Jason a glare as she walked out of the room. "I told her because I had to. She found me when I was talking to Andros before the moon mission. I couldn't hide it after that."

"You have no right to tell her. Especially not who we are. You broke the code, and for what?" He asked, his voice getting louder. "You can't let go Tommy! Trouble follows you wherever you go! You put Andros and all of the other reds in danger when you decided to do that bloody moon mission. You put everyone around you in danger! All of this is your fault! If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have had to fight Serpenterra and the machine empire again! If it wasn't for you, I would be finalising a deal to save my dojo! If it wasn't for you then this Island lab probably would have never blown up! You are selfish and you will always put people around you in danger!" Jason shouted before storming out of the room, walking past Hayley and leaving the hospital.

*End Flashback*

"I told him it was all his fault." He said. "I shouted at him. Told him that trouble followed him wherever he went and he would always put anyone close to him in danger. I said that Serpenterra was his fault."

"The moon mission?" She asked, making him nod. "How was that his fault? Whether he asked Andros to watch what was left of the machine empire or not, they would have still gotten their hands on Serpenterra. The only difference would be that they would have used it to destroy Earth, and other planets. If it wasn't for Tommy and Andros being paranoid, we probably wouldn't be here."

"I know. And I didn't mean it when I said it. But I hadn't heard from him for months. He pretty much cut off contact after the moon mission. I didn't even know that he had me down as next of kin until I got that phone call. And then I get there and find out that he'd called this girl, Hayley I think her name was, and that he'd told her everything about us being rangers. I was angry, and I lashed out." He leant back and Trini could see the regret on his face. "It's too late now."

"It's never too late, Jason. Ok, you acted rashly, but you were best friends once. And we were teammates. That bond doesn't just go away. But you're not the only one that messed up. We all did. We realised he was pulling away and distancing himself, and we let it happen. We chose not to try harder to get him to come to our wedding. Kim chose to break up with him and cut contact with him. Even Zach chose to stop trying with him. We let him pull away. We all messed up, including him, but we can all fix it." She said, almost pleading with her husband. As much as she thought letting Tommy cut off contact with them was a good decision, she regretted it and she wanted her friend back.

"How? We don't even know where he is." He said. He was about to say more when he heard a sharp intake of breath from Trini. He looked over and saw her suddenly double over in pain, holding her head. "Trini?" He gasped, standing up to go to her. A sudden pain in his head stopped any thoughts of getting to her as he doubled over in pain, yelling out as his hands shot up to hold his head. The pain was intense and felt like a Zord was stood on top of them, crushing their skulls. Less than a minute later, the pain stopped. The two took a moment to catch their breath, trying to process the memories that were flying through their minds.

"Reefside." Trini breathed after a moment. She looked up, a slight smile on her face as she looked at Jason. "Well, at least we know the gem worked."

"But did she have to make it hurt so much?" He whined, rubbing his head slightly. "I mean, I know Kira wasn't our biggest fan, but that was evil." He muttered as he stood up.

"Quit whining and get the phonebook. Or do I need to bring up the day you spent as a girl?" She asked, making his eyes widen as the memory of his mind being swapped with Kira's flooded his head.

"Damn, yellows are mean." He grumbled, pulling a phonebook out from a draw.

Xxx

On the other side of Angel Grove, a man wearing a black top and grey trousers stumbled on top of a ladder, trying to fix a broken lightbulb.

"Zach, maybe you should call the electrician." An older man suggested as he held the bottom of the ladder.

"No need, Ernie. I've got this." Zach replied, putting the new bulb in and slowly climbing down the ladder, smiling as he did. "See. Piece of cake."

"You know, I know I signed over the lease to you, but that doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself." Ernie said with a laugh as the two of them walked over to the counter.

"Ernie, I told you. On paper, the Youth Centre is mine. But this is still your place. And you still do a lot around here. The least I can do is fix a few lightbulbs." He said, sitting on the chair. He looked up at the TV that was sat on a shelf and froze, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Hey Ernie, please tell me that I don't see the Dragon Zord walking through Angel Grove."

"Umm… I can't." He answered, his eyes locked on the TV.

"What year is it?" Ernie looked at him in shock for a moment, but even he had questioned what he was seeing.

"2004."

"Damn." Zach stood up and started pacing, trying to figure out what was going on. "So, the Dragon Zord hasn't been seen in 10 years, and suddenly it's up and walking again? How? The green ranger hasn't been seen since…. Ah!" He cut off with a yell of pain, clutching his head and making Ernie jump in shock.

"Zach? Are you ok?" He asked, jumping up. Moments later the pain in Zach's head subsided, and Ernie watched as he stood as still as a statue. "Zach?"

"I need to go to Reefside. Now." He said, going behind the counter and grabbing his phone and his keys. "Will you be alright without me for a few days."

"Zach, what is going on?" He asked, watching as he moved quickly around.

"I'll explain when I'm back. I've got to go get Jason and Trini and then we have to find Tommy." He said, walking towards the door.

"Is this something to do with you guys being Power Rangers?" Ernie's question made Zach freeze on the spot. There was a moment of silence before Zach turned around, seeing the smug look on Ernie's face.

"You knew?" He asked, making Ernie smirk.

"Yeah. You guys hid it well, but not well enough. Now, why do you need to find Tommy? Is this something to do with the dragon Zord?"

"Kinda, maybe. Tommy is the only one that can control the Zord now since he has the Dragon Dagger back. But it's more than that." He said, making Ernie frown. "Look, I don't have time to explain right now. I promise I will answer any questions when I get back." Before Ernie could protest, Zach ran out the door, jumping in his car and making a beeline for Jason and Trini's house. As soon as he got there, he jumped out of the car and ran into the house, not bothering to knock. He saw Jason sat on the sofa flicking through the phonebook and Trini pacing in front of him.

"You had better be looking for the Rainbow Ranger's address." Zach said, making Trini jump as she hadn't heard him walk into the house.

"Of course I am. Do you think I'd be looking through this thing if I wasn't?" Jason commented, making Trini smack his head.

"I'm guessing your memories came back too then." Trini said.

"Yeah. Felt like a Zord standing on my head." He replied. "Speaking of Zords, what was the Dragon Zord doing walking through Angel Grove earlier?"

"When we find Tommy, we're going to ask him." Jason said. Trini's phone rang and she smirked when she saw the caller ID.

"Hey Kim." She answered, holding the phone to her ear.

"Trini, please tell me that I'm not the only one pissed off about how much that hurt." She replied making Trini smile.

"Trust me, we all felt it. Jason's trying to find out where Tommy lives in Reefside. Then we're going to go and see him. See if we can mend our friendship." Trini said.

"Good. I'll meet you there. I'm getting on the next plane from Hawaii. I want to get my man back." Trini sighed at the thought of Kim trying to get back with Tommy.

"Kim, you broke up with him. He's probably moved on. Don't do anything stupid." She said, making Kim laugh.

"I'm getting him back. That's a promise." Kim said before hanging up, making Trini look at Jason and Zach with a worried look.

"I don't think this is going to end well." Trini said with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" Zach asked.

"She's going to try and get him back." Jason suddenly looked very worried, as he remembered now that Tommy was in a relationship with Kira, and even though he wasn't sure what he thought of their relationship, he knew that Tommy was serious about her.

"That won't go down well." He muttered, flicking through the phonebook until he found the name he was looking for. "I've got it! Here's his number." Trini grabbed the phone and dialled, frowning when it rang out.

"He didn't pick up. He promised." She said, looking down at the phone. Zach looked at his watch and laughed.

"He's probably asleep. It is a weekday after all." He said. Trini looked at the time and frowned before smiling.

"Right. Let's get some sleep. First thing in the morning, we'll drive to Reefside and find him." They all nodded and Zach headed back to his house so they could all get some sleep before their journey in the morning.

Xxx

"Billy, do you have to leave?" Caestro asked as he watched the former blue ranger pack up with stuff.

"Yes. I should have gone back to Earth years ago. I need to go back." Billy replied, pulling out a blue and silver watch-like communicator and looking at it with a smile.

"But where will you go?" He asked.

"Reefside." Billy smiled, thinking about his new memories of meeting an older Tommy and the Dino Thunder rangers. Billy grabbed his bag and walked towards the transport ship, smiling as he thought of the email he had sent to his old friend. He knew the others would also be on their ways to Reefside as soon as their memories came back, and he was looking forward to having his friends back again, no matter what.