Disclaimer: I don't own PR, I just wish I did.
His plane landed at 2:45 pm, Pacific Time. Jason collected his suitcase from the baggage claim, shouldering his red carry-on backpack, and hailed a taxi to take him to his hotel. Reefside was a coastal city, and though it didn't boast the same multitude of distractions as Los Angeles did, it wasn't some hick town. Rather, it reminded Jason a lot of Angel Grove.
Once he'd checked into his hotel and gotten settled, Jason wasted no time in calling Tommy. He wasn't here to explore Reefside, he was here for a visit, and he might as well get started on that. Tommy greeted him enthusiastically, but said that he was too tied up to make it out to Jason's side of town, and did he want to come to Tommy's place?
"Sure," Jason said. He jotted down Tommy's address, hung up with his friend, and then called a cab. Thirty minutes later, the cab was dropping him off in front of a one-level wooden abode on Valencia Drive, which was apparently out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by woods. "Nice place," the cabbie remarked as Jason paid him. "No neighbors for about half a mile in any direction, though. Your friend must like the privacy."
Jason nodded, and as he climbed out of the cab, he couldn't help but wonder why on earth Tommy would have his home out here. It was just another mystery to add to the list.
Parked in the driveway were a black Jeep, and next to that, a red Mustang. Jason stopped to admire the Mustang, drawn both to the red color and the sleek curves. It figured that Tommy would have a budding car collection. Probably had a bevy of Zords in his basement, Jason thought with a sardonic smirk. He jogged up the steps and knocked on the front door.
The door swung open to reveal Tommy --née Thomas-- Oliver, his hair cut short, his chin sporting an almost-goatee, glasses perched on his nose, and a smile on his face. "Jase, man, how're you doing?" Tommy said, holding out his hand.
Immediately, familiarly, Jason clasped hands with his bro and the two hugged, slapping each other on the back in that male way. Misgivings about this entire trip flew out the window as Jason was just glad to see his friend again. "Bro, the new look…" Jason said, eying Tommy's brown pants and khaki-colored button-down over a black t-shirt. A very casual, earthy look, and a far cry from the bright green, white, or red outfits Jason had once known his friend for sporting. "I like it."
"Could say the same for you," Tommy returned with an easy grin. Jason himself was wearing a plain white t-shirt, slightly baggy jeans, and a black leather jacket. "C'mon in," his host said, stepping aside.
Inside, the décor was very simple, wooden and rustic. Almost immediately Jason spotted a framed document hanging on the wall, and he went over to investigate. Tommy's diploma, signifying a PhD in paleontology. "Man, you get this out of a crane game or something?" Jason joked.
"Something like that."
"And here you are, decorating the part and everything," Jason said, moving over to touch the model T-rex skeleton displayed on Tommy's table.
"Whoa, man, no touching. That took me ages to put together," Tommy said, intercepting his friend's hand quickly.
Jason didn't have a chance to puzzle that one over--out of the kitchen emerged three teenagers, their abrupt presence startling him and making him completely forget about the model. "Guys, I need you to go outside and see if you can find me a couple of local fossils, okay?" Tommy said, before any of them had had a chance to speak.
The kids were staring at Jason, but finally the one in the lead, a tall kid with moppy brown hair and a shirt that looked like it was sporting the Union Jack, nodded. "Sure thing, Dr. O." He led the trio outside.
"'Dr. O.'?" Jason asked with an amused grin. "Who are they?"
"Some students of mine," Tommy said. "Here, have a seat." He gestured at the wooden chairs that passed as the furniture of the living room.
"Students?" Jason repeated, sitting in a chair. He felt it creak beneath him and wondered where Tommy had picked these up. He noticed that none of them matched.
"Yeah, from the high school."
"Sorry, bro, it's just weird, thinking of you as a science teacher. I mean, I'm not saying that you're not good with kids and stuff, because you are. I just figured that you'd be working at a studio or something. Like me." He didn't add that when he was younger, he had harbored an idea that he and Tommy would open their own studio. That looked unlikely to happen.
"I never figured I'd find a passion in paleontology, but it happened," Tommy said. "I took a class as an elective, to fulfill a science requirement. I figured I'd dealt enough with dinosaurs in the past that it should prove interesting…suddenly, I'm hooked, I'm changing my major."
"Wait…how'd you get from cars to bones, though?" Jason asked. "Last thing I knew, you were going to have a career in racing."
"I was," Tommy said, and the happy note that had been in his voice earlier had dissipated. "I was all set to make my big debut, but then Trini…"
Jason looked away, fixing his gaze on a spot on the floor so that Tommy wouldn't see that his eyes were watering. "A car accident, and I just…she was a friend, and we weren't as close as we could have been, but…suddenly I just didn't want to do it anymore," Tommy said, "so I decided to go to college instead." There was silence, and Tommy said quietly, "I'm sorry, man. I know you two were really close."
"No, it's okay," Jason said, blinking away his tears and offering his friend a half-smile. "It's been quite some time, is all. I just wasn't expecting…" he trailed off, uncertain of what to say, and then deciding that he simply didn't want to say anymore. "So go on, more life story here."
"Right. Well, during my last year of school, I pulled an internship for one of the professors in the graduate program, and after I graduated, he and I started working on this project. But there was some kind of accident, and the island where our lab was…well, it exploded."
Jason cocked an eyebrow but said nothing. After all the things he'd seen in his life, an exploding island was next to nothing. It just came as an interesting bit of news, considering the more mundane turn his life had taken after losing the Gold powers.
"My partner disappeared before the explosion, presumed dead, and I ended up coming back to Reefside and getting a position as science teacher."
"And those kids were your students," Jason said.
"Yeah. They were just doing some…extra credit work for me," Tommy said. He stood up quickly. "Hey, man, you want something to eat? Want a beer or something, maybe?"
"Uh…just a Coke is fine, if you have it," Jason said. "Not really hungry."
"On it," Tommy said, and disappeared into the kitchen. It was a quick exit, one that made Jason suspicious. Tommy had thrown those kids out the second Jason had arrived, and run off when Jason mentioned them. Something was up.
"So, bro," Jason called, standing up and walking over to inspect Tommy's diploma some more. "I heard that there have been some interesting things going on around Reefside. Bit of a blast from the past…monster attacks?"
"Yeah," Tommy answered from the kitchen, "but I'm so far out of the way that it's no big deal or anything. Insurance is much cheaper if you live on the outskirts of town."
"So I assume there's been someone around to deal with the problem?" Jason continued. He'd heard tell of several Ranger teams since his departure from uniform.
"Yeah. Rangers. Kids." Tommy came back into the room and handed Jason a cold soda can. "So, are you still with Emily?"
"Got some boring old rocks for you, Dr. O.," the brunet teenager from earlier announced, as he and his friends came back inside.
Jason finally got a good look at them. Aside from the tall kid, there was a short black kid in a baggy blue shirt, and a girl with long blond hair and heavy eye makeup, dressed in a yellow tank top. Jason popped the tab on his soda and nodded at the tall kid. "That your Mustang out front?" he asked casually, punctuating his sentence with a long swig.
"Yeah," the kid said with a confused half-smile. Jason wagered that the kid had no idea what was going on, but was proud of his vehicle nonetheless, hence the reaction. But more importantly than that, though, the former Red Ranger had hit the nail on the head. 'Kid' Rangers, monsters in Reefside, three color-coded teens doing 'extra credit' in the home of the most infamous retiree of them all.
"My God, man," Jason said, looking to Tommy. "Don't you know when to quit?"
"Say what?" Tommy said.
"C'mon, Tommy. These three are Power Rangers."