Disclaimer: 'Power Rangers' (all incarnations) are property of 'Saban', who are in some strange way related to Disney, who run the show on ABC. No infringement is intended.
Author's Note: Here ends the chapters set during 'Forever Red.' After this, everything will be set during Dino Thunder. I also want to make a disclaimer regarding some psychology Cole will be talking about during the chapter-- I don't know if he is right or not, it is just an opinion that sounds good. Thanks for the reviews-- I do take suggestions into serious consideration. So let me know what you think-- good, bad or indifferent?
ROARING ON THE WIND
By Etcetera Kit
Chapter Two: After the Fire
-the Next Morning-
The depressed feeling came back tenfold the next morning when Tommy woke up earlier than he had to and realized that this was their last day together. He glanced at his watch. It was six-thirty. No one had to be up until at least eight depending on how long people took in the shower and whatnot. He sat up and saw that Wes was no longer in bed. There was no noise coming from the bathroom, so Tommy assumed he had gone elsewhere.
There was no point in remaining in bed. He wasn't going back to sleep. He jumped off the top bunk lightly and padded out of the room. His attire was decent enough for being on a ship full of men—pajama pants and a wife beater. Being barefoot wasn't a concern either since Tommy couldn't imagine what would be on the ground that could injure a body. Once in the hallway he could smell coffee coming from the direction of the kitchen… it probably had a fancy name used in the military, but at this early hour, Tommy wasn't recalling it.
The light was on in the kitchen. Tommy walked in. Wes and Cole were sitting at the small table in there with mugs of coffee. Both were still in their pajamas. In Cole's case it was a pair of lurid green shorts with smiley faces and red tank top. For Wes, it was a pair of pajama pants and athletics' t-shirt from high school.
"Morning," Wes greeted him.
Tommy nodded at him as he headed straight for the pot of coffee. He grabbed a mug from the stack next to the coffee maker and poured himself a mug. Sinking into a chair at the table, he took a sip of coffee.
"Instant human, just add coffee," Tommy said flippantly.
Wes and Cole grinned. "Couldn't sleep well?" Cole asked.
"Something like that," he replied. He and Wes exchanged knowing glances.
"There's some breakfast-like food in here if we had a mind to fix it," Wes said. He looked like the only thing keeping him awake was the coffee. But then again, how many people truly were 'morning people'? True, he'd rather be up early than late, but it didn't mean he functioned well in the morning.
Cole made a face at the mention of food. "Is everyone else still asleep?" Tommy asked as he nursed his cup of coffee.
"I guess so," Cole answered. "If they are up, they aren't making any noise. I know TJ and Eric are still asleep and I didn't hear any noise from Leo, Carter and Andros' room."
"Jason's still asleep like a foot," he added. And it was typical of Jason. The man could sleep through an earthquake. Tommy was pretty sure the only time he had had trouble sleeping was when Rita used the Crystal of Nightmares to manipulate the original five rangers' dreams. And Jason woke up at whatever time he needed to without an alarm clock.
"If I was to understand Carter correctly, Leo sleeps like a foot too," Wes added to the picture of people who slept through everything. "He also said something about it being dangerous to wake Leo up."
Cole laughed. "He probably has a reflex when he sleeps where he hits people who try to touch him. I'd recommend an air horn for people like that. Then you don't get hurt."
"Is that biological?" Tommy asked with a smile.
The humor immediately left Cole's face. "I think it's learned. I read somewhere that people who do that feel like they have to be on guard all the time. And they simply learned to strike out in their sleep rather than wake up."
"Some kind of trauma?"
Cole shrugged. "I wouldn't ever want to question someone about that."
Wes cleared his throat. "You won't have any trouble getting Eric out of bed. All you have to do is call his name and he wakes up."
"Jason too." Tommy paused. "I don't know about any of the others."
"If Carter's a firefighter, I'd guess that he wakes up to anything," Cole suggested. "I mean firefighters have to be on call all the time."
"Just take away TJ's blankets."
The three of them turned around to see Andros' standing in the doorway with a grin on his face. He, unlike them, was already showered and dressed. He strode over to the coffee pot and poured himself a mug. Tommy glanced down at his watch. It was just past seven.
"That works?" Cole asked.
Andros laughed. "Surprisingly yes. He and Carlos shared quarters on our ship and Carlos learned to take away his blankets to get him out of bed." He paused. "Carter's in the shower and I don't want to attempt to wake Leo up for at least another hour. His wife is due at nine, so he needs to get up at eight-forty-five."
"He gets ready that fast?" Wes said with some surprise.
"I don't question it. All I know is that he hates mornings with a passion."
"Well, that leaves four people in bed still," Wes calculated quickly.
"Jason will be up as soon as he realizes he's alone."
They all laughed. Andros pulled up a chair at the table. Well, that answered the question about who did mornings better than some. It looked like Eric, TJ, Jason and Leo got the honor of being the non-morning people. They lapsed into a comfortable silence. It was then that Tommy realized Andros wasn't wearing his space uniform. He was clad in a black wife beater with blue jeans and a red flannel shirt. Andros leaned back in his chair and Tommy caught a glimpse of his black flip-flops. Must be casual day. He couldn't ascertain what any of the rest of them would be wearing since they were still wearing their pajamas.
Wes finished off his coffee and stood up. "Well, I'll see you guys in a bit. I need to go get dressed and whatnot."
Tommy nodded at him. "Hurry up. I still need to get in there."
Wes batted his eyelashes. "I'll be out of the shower in less than one hour, for sure!"
Tommy gave him a withering glance. Wes just grinned and headed out of the room. He glanced back up at Andros and realized that his hair was in a simple ponytail. Must really be casual day. Tommy figured he needed to learn to be more observant. He and Cole finished their coffee at the same time and stood up.
"I've got to go throw Wes out of the shower," he said. Cole and Andros laughed.
"I have to beat everyone else to the shower," Cole countered.
"I should be in the control room helping Alpha," Andros added to the things they all needed to be doing.
Tommy just laughed as he and Cole left the room. Lunch would certainly be interesting today if nothing else.
Carter and Andros stood in their room, both unwilling to get Leo out of bed. It was eight-forty and if they didn't wake him up soon, he would still be asleep when his wife got to the ship. Carter couldn't for the life of him fathom how he slept through all the noise that had reigned on the ship since everyone had gotten out of bed. Especially since Cole had been singing some strange African jungle song loudly out in the hallway not five minutes ago. When Cory had been younger, he used to wake up to his crying before Dana.
"Want me to wake him up?"
They both turned to Cole stopped at their open door out in the hallway. He had obviously gotten dressed since the last time Carter saw him as he was wearing a red tank top, his vest and a pair of black soccer shorts with flip-flops. Carter waved him in. "Be our guest," he replied to the younger man's question.
Cole nodded and stepped into the room, grinning manically. Instead of just calling Leo's name or shaking him like most normal people would have done, Cole kicked off his flip-flops and climbed up into Leo's bed. Carter and Andros stared at each other openmouthed. Cole was asking to get thrown out of the bunk.
The Wild Force Ranger knelt next to Leo and grasped both his shoulders. The next thing they knew, Cole was shaking Leo awake violently.
"Wha-what?" Leo asked, trying to sit up. He looked at Cole and blinked a few times. "What the hell are you doing in my bed?" he asked.
"Waking you up," Cole replied nonchalantly.
"GET OUT!!" Leo yelled, trying to push Cole out of the bunk bed. However, it didn't quite work because when Cole started to fall out of the bed, he grabbed Leo and took him with him. They landed on the floor with a dull 'thud.'
Cole tried to scramble away from Leo, but was hindered by the fact that the blankets from the top bunk had come with them from the fall. Leo managed to get Cole in a headlock and Carter felt like laughing when Cole realized he was stuck. Leo was stronger. Leo let Cole go and flopped down onto the floor. "What time is it?" he asked.
"Eight forty-five," Andros replied.
"SHIT!" Leo yelled and jumped up off the floor and disappeared into the bathroom. A few seconds later they heard the shower come on. Cole started crawling around on the floor trying to find his flip-flops.
"Thanks," Andros said in the general direction of Cole.
Cole located his flip-flops and quickly put them on. "You're welcome," he replied scrambling to his feet.
"Did Leo just get out of bed?"
They turned to see Kendrix Corbett standing in the doorway. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was wearing a light pink tank top and jean shorts.
"Yeah," Carter replied, running a hand through his hair.
"Are you Kendrix?" Cole asked. When she nodded, he grinned and offered her his hand. "Hi! I'm Cole."
Kendrix laughed and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you." After she shook Cole's hand, she gave Carter and Andros hugs. "It's great to see you guys again. I guess we won't get to see much of each other since we're spread all over the country."
Carter shrugged. "You never know."
"I just can't believe that Leo is just now in the shower." She paused. "Oh wait… I can believe that because he does it all the time."
They all laughed. For the first time since his rather interesting phone conversation with Dana last night, he was looking forward to seeing her.
Tommy looked at the faces around the table. Everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves and there was not a shortage of stories to share. They had landed on time and a small party had been there to greet them—well, two people, Ashley and Dana. It had taken them no time to find a restaurant close to the base where they landed the ship. Between the Lightspeed Rescue Hummer and the Suburban that Wes and Eric came in, there was more than enough transportation for everyone.
"So is Cory short for something?" Cole was asking Carter and Dana about their son.
At the question, Leo groaned and buried his face in his arms. Kendrix laughed, apparently also knowing where the question was headed and wrapped her arm around Leo's shoulders.
Carter cleared his throat and looked to Dana. She had a look on her face that clearly said it was his problem to explain it. "It's short for Corbett."
Understanding dawned on Cole's face. Leo poked Carter in the shoulder. "I told him not to do it!" he said with a note of pride mixed with horror in his voice.
"What?" Carter asked. "I asked you if we could name him 'Leo' and you said no. So we named him Corbett instead."
"You should be proud of that," Wes said, shoving Leo in the side.
"He's also Cory's godfather," Dana added.
"You don't have to tell the world that," Leo grumbled. Kendrix moved her arm from around his shoulders and smacked him in the back of the head. "Ow!" Leo exclaimed, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. "What'd you do that for?"
"You need an attitude adjustment," Kendrix stated.
"Don't worry about it," Carter replied. "He's just embarrassed."
Tommy found it amusing that Cole was so fascinated by the red rangers who were married. He supposed that for someone as young as Cole, marriage and a family were things that seemed a long way into the future. He could recall a time in his life when he had dreamed of marrying Kimberly and having children with her. He had been going to own his own dojo and they were going to live in a house near it. All his kids were going to be great at martial arts or be great gymnasts… he sighed. He had put those dreams to rest a long time ago.
He glanced at Andros and Ashley across the table from him. Ashley was obviously pregnant, but wasn't due for some time. It was also obvious, to Tommy anyways, that this was their first child because Ashley was listening to every little thing Dana said about pregnancy with rapt attention. For some reason, it made him feel old. Andros and Ashley looked so… young. Everyone sitting around the table looked young. And in reality, none of them were that old. Then why did he feel so old and tired?
Maybe it was because the rest of them seemed so happy with their lot. Andros, Leo and Carter were all happily married and starting families. Jason was content running and owning that surf shop in Galveston and crushing beer cans on his forehead. Wes, despite the broken heart, and Eric seemed perfectly happy as Silver Guardians. Not much could replace TJ's love of old cars and Cole was still running on the high one always got from being a ranger.
He knew he had no reason not to be contented. His parents had put up with the year after high school he spent racing cars with his uncle. Then they happily helped finance his undergraduate work at UCLA. They were ecstatic when he went on to the Master's program and then to the Ph.D. program. What they didn't know is that he had earned his teacher's certification during his undergraduate work. If he wasn't going to make a living teaching karate, then maybe he could make a living teaching something else. He was currently in the Ph.D. program and scared of the upcoming project he would soon leave for. As much as he liked Anton Mercer and Terrence Smith, he wasn't looking forward the prospect of spending extended amounts of time with them on an island. It wasn't the work—it was the people. If he had to spend a long time on an island with the red rangers, then his outlook on it would have been much more positive.
And the tech girl, as Jason so nicely called her, who had helped him through all this turned out to be one of his closest friends since high school graduation. Hayley had been there for him since undergraduate school and had made it clear that even if she was working for big technology now she would still be there for him. He loved Hayley like a sister he never had, but still, he wished that the person always there for him was Kim. He missed her. It was like a chronic ache in his chest that was never going to leave. Hayley had realized a long time ago that he was still in love with Kim and would never pursue a relationship with her. For that much, he was thankful.
But was this what he really wanted?
He felt like throwing away the thousands he had spent on his education and moving to Galveston with Jason where he could sit on a beach and crush beer cans on his forehead. Did he really want that either? He sighed. He didn't know what he wanted anymore. Things had gotten complicated as the years marched on in their terrible dance. He remembered Billy coming back from Aquitar and finding out about his and Trini's child, Mary Anne. He remembered when they came to UCLA with Mary Anne… he remembered Trini's death and Susie's birth. He remembered Joanna and Chris, the cousins who had been he and Hayley's roommates in undergraduate school. He remembered the relationship Billy and Joanna had after Trini died. He remembered when Billy and his daughters went to Hawaii and Joanna went to Reefside. He remembered when Chris went back to Texas to inherit the family ranch.
It was odd, as close as he and Jason had been, he and Billy grew even closer when they had both been at UCLA together. There was much more to Billy and his warped family than anyone could have previously guessed. He wanted to know what finally cracked Billy all those years ago when he went to Hawaii. Now he was lucky if he got a Christmas card from the original Blue Ranger.
Kimberly, Billy, Joanna, Chris… where had all the people he would have walked through fire for gone? He looked around the table once more, realizing that he would have bled for anyone at this table including their children and spouses. Maybe that was why he felt so depressed about leaving them. He felt like he had found a group of people akin to the original team of rangers back in high school and the group he had forged in college.
"You okay?"
He was brought out of his reverie by the sound of Eric's voice. He turned to Eric and nodded in the affirmative. "I was just thinking."
"Must have been some pretty serious thinking from the look on your face." How did Eric do that? Cole had said something on the way to the restaurant about Eric being able to read people in the dark. Apparently, Eric had hit on something Cole was thinking about after that particular trio of roomies had gone to bed last night.
"Yeah," he conceded. "I was wondering what happened to some other groups like this one that I had been a part of."
"It's amazing how well saving the Earth brings people together." Eric paused. "You have a girl in any of those groups?"
Tommy didn't bother to feel shocked that Eric had picked up on that. "My first girlfriend was in the first group. I watched my best friend's wife die in the second group and watched him botch a relationship about a year after that." He paused. "Well, I guess my best friend and his wife were in the first group too, but we weren't close back then."
Eric shook his head slowly. "That's rough."
He knew that already. Everyone else was laughing at something Cole had just said and he forced a smile. He did not want to leave this group so soon. They had developed an odd dynamic in the short time they had been together. Rather than everyone trying to prove that they had been the best red ranger and their particular power team had been the best, everyone was trying to downplay all of his achievements. Oh, there had been some moments of boasting, but that had been about things that everyone already knew. Saving two worlds, discovering new galaxies, changing history… everyone already knew those things. It was only necessary at first to boast, then everyone scrambled for connections with others.
The most recent example was the fact that Leo didn't want Carter to tell everyone that his son had been named after him. Most of them would not have made the connection between 'Cory' and 'Corbett' had Carter not told them. The bond between Leo, Carter and Andros was obvious. Tommy almost wanted to ask what Andros and Ashley were thinking of naming their first or more, who the child would be named after. The same applied to Carter and Dana's second.
Everyone seemed to have come out of this with new circles of friends. He watched as Eric laughed at something Cole said and ruffled his hair playfully, like Cole was a silly younger cousin or nephew rather than the current red ranger. TJ was on the other side of Cole, just laughing at their antics. Those three had grown close in a short period of time. He looked across the table to Wes and then next to him to Jason. The bond that had been between him and Jason was not as strong as it had been, but it was there. And Wes was another kindred spirit who understood about the bitter break-ups and still being in love with a girl long after the relationship was over.
All too soon, desert was over and the check came. There was some haggling over who owed what, but that was mostly all in good fun. Everyone stood up and piled back into the cars they came in—he was squeezed into the Lightspeed Rescue Hummer with Carter, Dana, Cole, TJ and Eric. They got back to the base and said their goodbyes, everyone promising to keep in touch because no one knew how long it would be before they saw one another. Carter and Dana gave Cole a ride back to Turtle Cove. Eric and Wes headed back for Silver Hills. TJ, Andros and Ashley were bound for Angel Grove. Jason, Leo and Kendrix were going to Galveston.
As Tommy walked to his own car, heading back to UCLA, he couldn't help but wonder if the distress signal would ever be used.To Be Continued...