As Ethan and Naomi fell asleep downstairs, Kimberly and Tommy were sitting together in his room. Kimberly was lying down and Tommy was sitting up with his back against the headboard.
"I think I'm going to go downstairs and get a glass of water." He said. He went to get out of bed.
"Tommy." Kimberly said. "I really don't think you need to check on them."
"Who said I was going to?" He asked, looking at her. Kimberly rolled her eyes.
"Don't even try that." She said. "You and I both know that's what you're trying to do."
"Fine, fine. Maybe I am. But can you blame me? I've got two teenagers sharing a bed in my living room. Teenagers who are filled with raging hormones." Kimberly sighed and sat up, looking at him.
"I seriously doubt that anything is going on down there." She said. "I mean, come on, don't you remember when we were there age?"
"Yeah, I do, that's why I'm not so sure everything is G-rated downstairs." He said. Kimberly cocked an eyebrow.
"Ah, so let me get this straight." She said as she got up and slid over so she was now straddling Tommy's legs. "Are you saying that if we had been placed in a similar situation when we were younger, you wouldn't have wasted any time in ravishing me?" She asked, sliding her arms around his shoulders. Tommy looked at her.
"I….I didn't say that." He said. Kimberly leaned forward and kissed up and down his neck. She then gently nibbled on his earlobe. Tommy groaned. "Ah……Well…..I……The thought of….doing that……when we were that age did….cross my mind." He said, giving in.
"Are you saying you fantasized about me?" She whispered in his ear before going back to nipping at the lobe.
"May-Maybe once or-or twice." Tommy stuttered.
"Now, did you ever act on said fantasies?" She asked, knowing well the answer.
"N-no." He said. Kimberly smiled and slid off of him, settling back in her side of the bed.
"So, chances are things downstairs are G-rated." She said. Tommy stared at her, shocked by the sudden start and stop of her actions.
"Oh, you are evil." He said. Kimberly smiled.
"Good night, Tommy." She said.
---
The next morning, Ethan and Naomi woke up early. Ethan agreed to walk Naomi home so she could shower and change, since she had been wearing the same clothes for two days as it was, and of course get her things for school. She looked at Ethan as they walked into her room.
"Are you sure you don't want to stop by your house so you can change?" She asked him.
"Nah, I'm fine." He said. Naomi went about getting her books for school.
"If you say so." She said. Suddenly she felt movement behind her. She turned to see Ethan right beside her.
"Why don't you go change, I'll get your books together." He offered. Naomi smiled.
"OK, thanks." She said. She went to leave and then stopped. She turned back to Ethan and before anyone of them could say a word they were kissing passionately. Ethan held her around her waist and pulled her close to him. Naomi's hands wildly went from his shoulders to his face, desperate to feel every part of him. After a while they realized they needed to breath and parted slightly, their foreheads touching. "Wow." She whispered against his lips. Ethan smiled.
"Yeah, wow." He replied. Naomi went to kiss him again but suddenly his body went stiff. Naomi looked at him. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slack. Naomi backed away as he fell over on his side. There was a white blade sticking out from his back.
"Oh my god." She gasped. She kneeled beside him. "Ethan…Ethan say something.." She said. She lifted his head and laid it on her lap. "Ethan! Don't do this to me, come on!" She begged, tears falling down her face.
"He isn't waking up." Said a sinister voice. Naomi looked up and saw the white ranger standing where Ethan had been before. He calmly reached down and pulled his drago sword out of Ethan.
"Tr-Trent?" Naomi whimpered. Trent ran his hand over the blade of the knife, wiping it clean of Ethan's blood. Naomi jumped up and ran out of the room. She found herself running through some sort of woods, lost. She blindly swatted at weak branches and leaves as she ran through them. She could feel Trent chasing her. Naomi kept running but soon her legs began to feel heavy and she felt herself moving slower and trying to keep from falling as her legs felt like they were about to give up any second.
"Gotcha!" Trent said as he caught up to her and grabbed her with one arm around her waist.
"No! Help! Somebody!" She screamed.
"No one's coming to your rescue this time." Trent sneered. She felt him put his knife to her throat. She gasped as he slid the weapon across her skin, drawing blood. Her hands weakly went to her wounded neck as he dropped her on the ground.
Naomi sat up, awaking from her dream. She panted as her hands flew to her neck, feeling for any type of wounds or blood. She blinked as she realized she felt nothing. She then realized where she was. She was still in Dr. Oliver's darkened living room. It was just a dream. She thought. She brought her wrist up and put her other hand on her watch, pressing one of the side buttons so the small light would ignite, showing her the time. It was three o'clock in the morning. She sighed and settled back into bed, trying to go back to sleep, but after that frightening dream, she couldn't seem to be able to do so. She turned to her side so she was facing Ethan. He was sleeping peacefully on his back with one arm thrown over above his head and the other on his stomach. She slowly slid closer to him and put her hand on top of his. It was sort of a reassurance to herself to make sure he was actually there beside her. She sighed and rested her head on his chest as she closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep. About four hours later, Ethan eyes slowly opened as sleep slowly left him. He lifted the arm that was over his head and went to put it down only to feel something like a shoulder under his hand. He looked down and saw that Naomi was sleeping with her head on his chest. He wondered for a moment how he didn't feel her presence on him when he woke up but he couldn't dwell on it since he heard her moan gently as she woke up. She lifted her head and saw that Ethan was awake.
"Oh, hey." She said, sitting up, feeling a little nervous that she was sleeping on him.
"Hey." He replied. He sat up as well. "How'd you sleep?" He asked. Naomi sighed.
"Honestly? Not to well. Had a nightmare." She said. Ethan looked at her.
"Want to talk about it?" He asked. Naomi looked up at him. She remembered how heated it had gotten between them in her dream and decided that dreaming about kissing him after what she said the night before wouldn't be a good idea.
"Actually, I don't remember it, I just know it wasn't a good dream." She lied.
"Which is why you were cuddling up to me like I was your teddy bear?" Ethan asked with a smirk. Naomi looked down, feeling a little more embarrassed. "Not that I mind, of course." Ethan added. Naomi laughed.
"Sorry about that, I just…"
"Needed some comfort after having a bad dream, I get it." Ethan said with an understanding look. Naomi felt bad because it seemed like she had just used him. Naomi wanted to tell him she didn't mean to use him when she heard someone coming down the stairs.
"Oh, hey, morning guys." Tommy said as he came in to view, dressed for work.
"Good morning." They chorused. He looked at both of them. "Is there something wrong, Dr. Oliver?" Naomi asked. Tommy sighed.
"Well, yes. I, uh, well, Naomi, I'm not exactly one to condone skipping school, but maybe it would be safer if you…well.."
"Skipped school?" Naomi asked.
"Uh, yeah." Tommy said. "I just think that perhaps it would be best to stay away from Trent." He looked at Ethan. "Ad maybe it would be a good idea if you did the same." He said.
"So you want us both to skip school?" Ethan asked. He leaned back in the bed. "Sure, I could use a mental health day." He said sarcastically. Naomi rolled her eyes. She looked at Tommy.
"But, wouldn't us not coming to school show Trent that he got to you guys?" She asked.
"Frankly, I'm not worried about what he thinks, I'm more worried of what he might try to do." Tommy said. Ethan sat up.
"Dr. Oliver's right." He said.
"Okay, let me rephrase-I don't want Trent to see he got to me." She said. Ethan looked at her.
"Naomi, the guy has hit you, grabbed you, choked you, kidnapped you, held a knife to your throat and dangled you off a roof." He said.
"Thanks for the recount of events, Ethan." Naomi said, rolling her eyes yet again. She climbed out of the bed and sighed, turning her back to the two of them
"I'm just saying this guy is a total psycho." Ethan said. He got up and stood behind her, putting his hands on her arms. "I don't want him to hurt you anymore than he already has." He said gently. Naomi sighed. She turned around and faced him. She looked down.
"Fine." She said in a resigned tone. She looked over at Tommy as well. "I'll stay home." Tommy gave her a look. "Okay, I'll stay here." She corrected. "I'm going to change back into my clothes. Just because I'm stuck here all day doesn't mean I have to be in pajamas all day." She walked over to where her clothes and glasses were and went up to the bathroom with them. Ethan sighed and looked at Tommy.
"Something tells me she's not going to be happy today." Ethan said.
"I sort of thought of that. I called Haley and she said she'd have Cyberspace open during school hours so you guys can stop by. And as for transportation," he said. He tossed a set of keys to Ethan. "You have no idea how kind Kimberly is for letting you use her car for the day." Ethan caught the keys and smiled.
"Thanks, Dr. Oliver." He said. He looked over to see Kimberly and Trini walk down the stairs. "Thanks, Dr. Hart, for lending out your car." Kimberly smiled at him and walked over to him.
"No problem." She said. She got a little closer to him. "I find one dent on my car, you are so dead." She whispered. Ethan looked at her and nodded quickly.
"Uh, yes ma'am." He said. Kimberly smiled and patted his shoulder as she walked to the kitchen with her daughter. Ethan looked at Tommy who was simply grinning. "Dude, she's scary." Ethan said. Tommy chuckled.
"I know. That's one of the reasons why I love her." Tommy smiled. "And don't call me dude." He said. After they ate a quick breakfast, the three of them left so Tommy had time to drop Kimberly off at the hospital, drop Trini at school and go to school himself. Ethan went about putting the bed away as Naomi came back downstairs dressed, with her glasses on and her hair up in a braid.
"Bathroom's free." She announced. "I'll finish taking care of the sofa." She said.
"Thanks." Ethan said. He went to get his clothes from Tommy's room and went to the bathroom to change. When he came down he found Naomi sitting on the sofa. He came over and joined her. Naomi looked at him.
"So, we're stuck here all day?" She asked.
"Actually, no." Ethan said. "We can go to Cyberspace."
"Doesn't that go against the whole distance from Trent thing? He works there."
"No, Dr. Oliver called Haley earlier and she said she'll be open during school hours, so it'll just be us."
"Oh." Naomi said.
"And, maybe we can like go other places, you know?" Ethan said.
"As long as it isn't school, and after three o'clock, it can't be anywhere but here, right?" Naomi asked bitterly. Ethan sighed. Naomi took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I'm not exactly being very….well, positive I guess." She said. "I just.." She gave an angry cry through clenched teeth. "I hate this so much! I mean, you can't let this….not even human thing dictate your life." Ethan simply watched her as she went on an angry rant. "I mean, he's just a tiny, little insect." She went on, accentuating her point by making a tiny gesture with her thumb and forefinger. "And he-"
"Naomi, weren't you the one who told me I couldn't kill him?" Ethan asked. "It seems to me now you want a piece of him."
"Well, yeah, I mean he's interrupting my normal daily life." She said. Ethan sighed and put a friendly arm around her shoulders.
"If you're going to be involved with the whole craziness going on here, there's one thing you should know-our normal daily lives get interrupted frequently." He said. Naomi looked at him and gave a small laugh.
"Okay, I get it." She said. Ethan laughed along with her. "So, how are we supposed to get to Cyberspace anyway?" She asked. Ethan grinned and pulled something out of his pocket. Naomi saw that it was a set of keys.
"Dr. Hart lent us her car for the day." He said. Naomi's eyebrows went up as she also grinned.
"Nice." She said. An hour later, the two of them drove to Cyberspace. They walked in together to find Haley sitting behind the counter reading.
"Hey, Haley." Ethan said. Haley looked up and smiled at them both.
"Hey guys." She said. As Ethan had predicted, the place was completely empty except for Naomi, Ethan and Haley. They walked up to the counter and sat on a pair of stools. She looked at Naomi. "I heard what happened. Are you-"
"Please don't ask if I'm okay. It seems to be everyone's motto lately." Naomi sighed. "And, yeah, I'm fine." Haley smiled.
"Well, guys, I turned on two computers in case you two want to do some gaming. The TV's over there, as you both know, we've got drinks, magazines, anything you can possibly want." Haley said. Naomi and Ethan both smiled. "So, can I get you guys anything?"
"Uh, I think for right now, I'm going to try Sea War 2." Ethan said. Haley smiled and handed him the disc for it. "Sweet." Ethan grinned. He looked at Naomi. "You want to play?" He asked. Naomi shook her head.
"I think I'm just going to sit here for a bit. I'll come over a little later." She said.
"Okay." Ethan said as he went to one of the active computers and put in the game. Naomi watched him and smiled. She turned back to Haley.
"So, now that things are like, revealed, how are you going to deal with Trent?" Naomi asked.
"You mean am I going to fire him?" Haley asked. Naomi shrugged. "I thought about it. But Tommy told me if I treated him any differently now, he and the other bad guys would know I'm involved with all of this, and I guess he wants to keep me off of their radar. And besides, how would I explain firing him? Knowing how his father is, he'd probably try to sue me for illegal termination of employment or something." She gave Naomi an apologetic look. "Sorry."
"No, it's okay." Naomi said. "I wasn't really expecting you to fire him."
"As much as I want to wring the little twerp's neck, I'm just supposed to act as if nothing's changed." Haley said.
"Geez, you get dangled off a roof and suddenly everyone's very protective of you." Naomi said. Haley smiled.
"Hey, I care about Tommy, Kira, Conner and Ethan and they care about you, therefore I care about you. Anyone tries to mess with those I care about, they're not people I like."
"Thanks, Haley." Naomi said.
"YES!" Ethan yelled out suddenly, causing both women to stare at him. He looked over and gave a small smile. "I beat the second level." He said. Naomi and Haley laughed and shook their heads. He played for about another hour and a half while Naomi ordered a chocolate milkshake and watched some T.V. After Ethan finished playing he returned the disc to Haley, ordered a blueberry smoothie and then went and joined Naomi at the T.V. The only thing that was on was daytime talk shows on most of the channels, so they went to Cartoon Network and watched Baby Looney Tunes.
"I don't get this show." Ethan said. Naomi took a sip of her shake and looked at him.
"You don't?" She asked.
"No. I mean, why the heck is Lola Bunny in it if she didn't meet Bugs and all of them until Space Jam, where they're all adults?" He asked. "And where's Porky Pig? Or Elmer Fudd? Or Road Runner and the Coyote? And how can Sylvester and Tweety be in the same Day Care Center if as adults, Sylvester always tries to eat Tweety?" Naomi stared at him.
"You've thought about this way too much." She said.
"What?" Ethan asked. "These are all valid questions." Naomi laughed and shook her head.
"Sure they are." She said. They drank their drinks and continued watching T.V. and commenting every so often on what they were watching. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came on and Naomi simply averted her eyes sarcastically.
"Something wrong?" Ethan asked.
"I'm sorry, I refuse to watch this. The original cartoon show of this was so much better. I mean, April as a scientist? Please. She's a reporter!"
"Ah, you were a fan of the original cartoon?" Ethan asked. Naomi looked at him.
"Uh huh. I remember this one time, when I was about four or five, I went to this party for a friend from school, this was before I went to boarding school of course, and like it was one of those things where it was hosted by like party pro people. Anyway, at one point, they had us all play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The room was split in boys and girls. The boys were then separated into good guys as in the turtles and Splinter and bad guys as in Shredder and folks like that, while the girls were separated into Aprils and….oh man, I can't for the life of me remember the name of the other girl on it. Do you remember her? She was like all frumpy like with glasses and stuff, I want to say her name was Jeannette, but I don't think so. Anyway, so we start to play. The bad guys grab up all us girls and the good guys are supposed to come and save us. I don't think the adults thought that out because in the first five minutes, one of the 'Shredders' got a bloody nose from one of the 'Michelangelos'. This must sound oh so incredibly boring to you." Naomi concluded. Ethan laughed and shook his head.
"Nah, it's cool." Ethan said. He lifted the remote and shut off the T.V. He looked at Naomi. "You want to head out of here?" He asked.
"Okay." Naomi said. They went over to the counter and handed their empty cups to Haley. They said their goodbyes to her and walked out. They got into the car. "So, where to now?" She asked.
"Some place where I seriously doubt Trent will be." Ethan said as he drove off. They soon found themselves at the hospital. Naomi's face paled.
"What are we doing here?" She asked. Ethan got out of the car and went to her side, opening the door.
"Well, I wanted to stop by and tell Kira about what happened." Ethan said.
"Oh." Naomi said. She got out of the car and followed him inside. They found Eric and Mrs. McKnight sitting in the waiting room.
"Hey Eric, Mrs. McKnight." Ethan said as they approached them. They looked up at Ethan and Naomi and gave them weak smiles. "Any news on Conner?" He asked.
"No." Mrs. McKnight said softly. She looked at Naomi, and saw that she had never seen her before. "Hello, I'm Conner's mother." She said softly. Naomi stared at her. Ethan looked at Naomi.
"I………I-I'm Na-Naomi." Naomi muttered softly. Mrs. McKnight gave her a warm smile.
"It's nice to meet you, Naomi." She said.
"Why aren't you guys in school?" Eric asked.
"Uh…Half day." Ethan said. "Where's Kira?"
"She's with Conner." Mrs. McKnight said.
"Can we go in to see them?" Ethan asked. Naomi stared at him. We? Who said I was going in? No, no way, I am not- Naomi thought to herself but was cut off by Mrs. McKnight telling Ethan they could go in.
"I-I-I think I'll just wait here for you." Naomi stammered. Ethan sighed and gently grabbed her elbow and pushed her before him as he walked to the room. "Ethan," Naomi said as she tried to get out of Ethan's grasp. "Ethan, stop." She said. "I can't do this."
"Do what? See two friends?" Ethan asked. Naomi looked at him.
"I-I-I can't. Please Ethan, don't make me do this." She pleaded. Ethan walked around her so he was now facing her.
"Naomi, Conner and Kira are your friends, what-"
"I just can't see them like this knowing I could have prevented it!" Naomi finally yelled with tears in her eyes.
"What? Are you still thinking you should have left with Trent after the fight?" Ethan asked.
"He wouldn't have messed up Conner's car. He wouldn't have been able to, I would've been with him."
"Unless he ditched you or knocked you out." Ethan said. "We all know he's done the latter." He sighed and put his hands on her shoulders. "Naomi, come on. No one blames you for what happened."
"You say that now. Bu what if Kira blames me, or Conner blames me when he wakes up?"
"They won't, I promise you." He said. Naomi sighed and leaned forward, resting her forehead against his. After about a minute or so, she stood up straight.
"Okay, fine." She said. Ethan put an arm around her shoulder and led her to Conner's room. He gently knocked on the door to announce his and Naomi's presence before walking in. Kira's head shot up. The knock on the door had scared her. She looked over and cleared her throat. "Come in!" She called. She arched her back slightly to get rid of any sleepiness that had imbedded itself within her back. Ethan, followed by Naomi walked in. Kira smiled.
"Ethe, Naomi....hey." She smiled and stood up and went over to her friends. "How are you guys?" She asked while giving them both hugs. Ethan smiled.
"I'm good." He replied. Both teens turned at looked at Naomi.
"I......I'm sorry Kira."
"Sorry?" Kira asked. "What are you sorry for?" She asked. Naomi's eyes fell on Conner and her knees slightly buckled beneath her. She fell back against the wall.
"Ethan, I can't do this." Naomi whispered as tears filled her eyes. She opened the door and ran out of the room. Kira looked at Ethan who simply sighed.
"What's going on Ethan?" She asked. Ethan looked at her.
"She blames herself for the accident. Which, wasn't exactly an accident." Ethan sighed.
"What are you talking about?" Kira asked. "Did Naomi-"
"No, no," Ethan said quickly. "Trent did it. Trent cut the brake line of Conner's car." Ethan said. Kira's eyes widened.
"What? Why because Conner and him fought?"
"That might have been a small part of it, but, there's also the fact that Trent's the white ranger." He said. Kira looked at him. She took a deep breath and then let it out, turning away from him as she rubbed her forehead. "Are you okay?" He asked. Kira sighed and turned back to him.
"For some reason, it all makes sense. Trent becoming this mean guy when he started off kind of nice and all that. I just can't believe we didn't pick up on it sooner."
"It's not like the guy wore a neon sign saying 'hey, I'm the evil dude that's been kicking your butts'." Ethan said.
"I know." Kira said. She ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm going to go check on Naomi." She said, going for the door. Ethan stopped her.
"No, it's cool. I'll go find her." Ethan said. Kira shook her head.
"I need to stretch my legs a bit anyway, you stay here with Conner." She said. She gave a weak smile before leaving the room in hopes of finding Naomi. Ethan looked over at Conner and sat beside his bed.
---
Kira looked around the hospital for the bit before deciding to try the ladies room. She went in and saw Naomi sitting by the sinks. Naomi looked up at her as she walked in and her chin quivered as tears cascaded down her cheeks. Kira went over and sat beside her.
"Kira, I'm so sorry, I-" Naomi tried to get out through her tears.
"Naomi, I don't blame you. You shouldn't blame yourself." Kira said softly. Naomi put her head in her hands. Kira sighed and put her arm around Naomi's shoulders. "You want to talk about it?" Kira asked. Naomi looked at her and told her everything that happened.
---
Ethan sighed and looked at Conner.
"Hey, buddy." Ethan said. "Listen, man, you really got to wake up soon. I mean, Kira's a wreck, and, as much as I put on the front of being my super cool self, I need you to wake up too. And…Naomi needs you to wake up." Ethan said. "She blames herself for this whole thing and if you woke up, she'd feel better. I……I need her to feel better. I love her. I'm not saying that I don't care if you wake up for my benefit. You're my friend, and you and Kira have made me feel more then just some computer geek and if you…….If you weren't around, I don't think I could handle it. So, wake up." Ethan pleaded. "Please."