Disclaimer: I do not own any thing that is affiliated with the Power Rangers. I do own the character of Melanie Burgs. I am not sure which characters from the "Saving the World, Again" series I will bring into this story, as of yet, but keep an eye out for them.
Now, on with the Story!
Communicator Chime From Hell
"Hey guys," Trini said walking into her home and seeing that the boys were still working on something Power Ranger related. They had supplies scattered all over the coffee table and seemed to be in deep concentration, which could only be brought on by ranger work.
They started picking it up as Kim and she came in, to keep them from working on it at all. She got the distinct feeling that Tommy preferred to keep Kim from stressing out over all of this. Kim had been under enough stress, knowing about all of it caused that, and now with the doctors stopping her teaching gymnastics, she had nothing left to do but worry about ranger things, which they did not want her to do.
"Hey, did you have any luck?" Jason asked with a warm smile, as Kim sat down in Tommy's lap and leaned back against him. If her tiredness was any indication of what they had gotten done, then they had managed to get everything done that morning. Which was a good thing, considering the fact that the wedding was only about four weeks away. If they had not found everything, then he was pretty sure that they would be going out again that afternoon, which didn't seem to agree with Kim too well.
"Yeah, we did," Trini said, sitting down next to Jason and glancing around at the first group of rangers, not able to really imagine that they were all really friends again. After Kim and Tommy broke up, everyone was pulled in different directions, but now that they were together again, they could all be friends again. It had been hard to not pick sides, but in the end they had been forced to pick the side of making them talk to each other and hopefully that would lead to good things and lucky for them, it did. "The question is, did all of you get any work done?"
"Of course. Billy gave me the information on the upgrades we need to do while Mesogogg is being quiet," Tommy said, taking in the uncharacteristic silence that was coming from his wife. She was rarely quiet this long, but at least they were around friends and not strangers, because if they were, then they would think that Tommy was a complete and total idiot. He didn't do a great job of talking to strangers and she would, but their friends probably would not let her silence go long without being called out, as they knew it was odd as well. "If he keeps quiet for a few more months, all of this will be done and we'll be prepared for him."
"We'll just pray that happens," Zack said with a smile as Kim had Tommy's arms settle on part of her belly. He had been trying to find a comfortable place to put his own arms and that was the only place he could put them that would not make their friends ask some odd questions. "So are we going to talk about something besides ranger work? I think that we'll be doing that enough as is and we should just enjoy this lull in activity."
"Why not," Jason said with a smile, but he could no longer take Kim's unquestioned silence. Tommy might be fine with her being this quiet, but none of them were used to her acting like this. She had always been the perky one that was talking and cracking jokes, but now she just seemed drained. "Kim, you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Kim said with a smile before she yawned. She didn't really like to admit that a nap sounded good right now. Her friends wouldn't like hearing that, as they would think that things were going bad. It was just that her body seemed to need a lot more rest than she was or anyone else was used to.
"You're being really quiet," Trini said, knowing that Kim had been aggravated with everything at the store, but she would probably be saving her distress to tell Tommy later. They all would love to hear how Kim now felt about clothing, but they were not going to be sympathetic to what she said. They'd find it funny, as it was probably the first time that she had ever honestly hated clothes shopping.
"I'm tired," Kim said, as they simply shook their heads that they understood. There was not much room to start a conversation off of those two words and they could only hope that she had something else to say. "Can someone explain to me why we have to do the upgrades in the first place?"
"Well, we don't have to, but Mesogogg will probably attempt to improve on his tryadrones fighting techniques and his other weaponry while he is rebuilding his forces. It is more a preventative action than anything else is. We don't want him to come back and be more prepared than we are for all of this," Billy said, as Kim nodded her head and then went silent again. It was starting to worry all of them that she was so quiet, but if Tommy didn't worry about it, then they really shouldn't. He was around her the most and he was the most likely to know if this was normal or not.
"You want to go lay down?" Tommy whispered in her ear and she merely shook her head yes, before he picked her up and took her to one of the guestrooms. He had known that this would probably happen, he just hoped that their friends would understand all of it.
"She alright?" Trini asked, afraid that one of Kim's favorite past times had done this to her. If it had, she had no clue how Kim was going to make in through the next six months, knowing that she would not be able to shop anymore.
"Yeah, she's just tired. She's been taking a nap every afternoon this summer," Tommy said sitting back down on the couch.
"But the doctors think that everything is alright?" Billy asked knowing that it was a little bit odd for someone this early in her pregnancy.
"Yeah, they do. The baby seems to be normal so far. Tanya has hinted at me being a ranger lately, asking about how the other job is going, but no news is good news right now," Tommy said, knowing where this concern was coming from. They all had their suspicions and most of the others doubted that they would ever be in the position that Kim was in, but if they were, they wanted to know what was going on with their body.
"Good, but Tanya doesn't know about her having powers, does she?" Billy asked, as he was the only one there besides Jason that knew Tanya well and Jason did not take to her as well as he did.
She was a nice girl, but when she replaced Aisha, it really became hard on the ones that were left from the beginning. All of the girls that they had counted on were now gone, but they were lucky that they had come back to all of them. If they hadn't then there was a very real possibility that they could be dead right now, but they didn't like to talk about things like that very often, not at least while circumstances were so grim.
"No and you all know why it can't be risked now, although Tanya's help would be welcome with all of this. I just don't know if I can risk anyone else, though. I just can't risk Kim," Tommy said quietly, as they gave him a few bewildered looks and he realized what he had said to them. He wished he could take it back, because of what they would say, but it was too late for that. "Don't say it. I know what you're thinking."
"Sorry, but I have to. Tommy, you're already doing that. That is your child, isn't it?" Jason asked, as Trini looked at him with wide-eyed surprise, knowing that Tommy might go off on him. He was one stressed out man, but he seemed to be carefully thinking about what he was going to say to Jason. He didn't seem to want to lose someone's friendship over a petty argument, as that had happened so many times before with people that were a not ranger.
"Yeah, it is and that is why I'm so worried, but I can't tell her that. I have to keep it a secret. I can't really tell her that, not with how everything else is right now," Tommy said, as they didn't really know what to say. They expected him to blow up, instead of calmly say something to them. He rarely reacted this calmly to anything, especially something with Kim. They just got the feeling that he was more worried than they could ever imagine him being. "We want our baby to be safe."
"I can't believe it," Zack muttered with a laugh, as they looked at him, knowing that statement came out of no where and hopefully he would explain himself. He was the most likely to just say something out of the blue, but this was something that none of them were following, at all and they just hoped that it had to do with what they were talking about. "We're all here dealing with another Kim and Tommy problem, but this time no one is crying about it."
"It's not a problem," Billy said, as they nodded their heads in agreement, although they all knew that it could become a problem if things happened that were beyond their control.
"You're right, as long as Mesogogg keeps quiet and stays away from us, it's not," Tommy said, as they knew it took a lot for him to say that and then they watched as Tommy let down his guards. He rarely did that, but when he did, they all knew that they were about to hear what was really on his mind without him bothering to censor any of it. That was something that was scarier than anything else that they had ever seen come from him. He usually would say things that didn't sound like the leader that they knew, but it only proved he was human. "This is new for me. I'm worried about a ranger that can morph, but she's not supposed to do that. What if they take her away from me?"
"Tommy, Alpha wouldn't let that happen and we know that you wouldn't either," Jason said, as he noticed he was taking on the roll as leader again, but Tommy was asking for it this time. He was the one that needed someone to tell him that everything would be fine and that he didn't need to worry, not the other way around this time. He had to admit that it was odd to see him like this, but he knew that there was only one way to get all of this to work and it meant that Tommy needed to be reassured that everything would be fine. "Everything will be alright, you've made it through the riskiest time already."
"I don't know about that. They say the first three months are the most risky, but what is to say that with her it won't be her last three? Most people don't live with the fear that we live with, you all know that," Tommy said quietly and they could not help but give him curious looks. While they were trying to think of something to say to him, to make him feel better, they heard a familiar chime sound from Tommy's wrist and they all paled at the sound of it.
"Tommy, did we really just hear that?" Trini asked, as they all looked at his wrist and noticed that the communicator was glowing, which was never a good sign. It meant someone desperately wanted to get in touch with him and he had to teleport to the command center, immediately.
"Yeah, you did. I have to go. If Kim wakes up before I get back tell her the truth, there is no need to lie to her about it," Tommy said grasping his wrist before he teleported out of their home. There was no telling what was going on but they were sure it couldn't be good.
"What can we do now?" Zack asked, as Jason stood up to check and make sure that Kim did not wake up when her communicator went off, as they were sure that Alpha was still sending transmissions to her as well.
"All we can do is wait and pray Kim doesn't wake up while he's gone," Trini said with a sigh, as they settled into whatever piece of furniture that they were sitting on. They hated sitting this type of thing out, but it would be all right, as long as they were able to keep a level head about everything, which might not last very long.
Command Center
"Tommy, thank goodness you came. Mesogogg delivered a message for you a few minutes ago. You need to see it," Hayley said, as Tommy looked at her and then looked around to see what she was talking about. Nothing looked out of place, so why was it that he was brought in for something like that? He had expected that Mesogogg would try to contact him some, but it just seemed odd that he was doing it when he knew Tommy was not at home, his informants still kept close enough to tell him everything, Tommy knew that much for sure. "It's on the computer, Tommy."
"Okay," Tommy said, as he sat down in "his" chair and clicked on the item that Hayley had pointed to. He had no clue what to expect to see, but he could only hope that it would not make him lose what little bit of lunch that he had been able to eat on his way to Angel Grove.
"Thomas Oliver, it's nice to see you again," Mesogogg said with a wicked smile as Tommy was trying to see if there was anything in the background that would be vital for their use. Mesogogg's message was important, but there was some other important material around him, as he neglected to stop working on some projects while sending this to him, which was not smart. "Well, I know that this probably means nothing to you, but it's just something that you didn't research well enough and you should probably worry about it. You researched us well, I'm surprised about that actually, but now we have one thing to hold over you. Your child. You may want to watch out for it a great deal more than you already are, you never know when we'll come back."
"What the hell was that about?" Tommy asked, as he stood up and walked away from the computer screen, before he slammed his fist into a defenseless coffee table. Why did he say that to them? Did he honestly think that they had forgotten that they were out there among the normal population?
"We were hoping you could explain it, Tommy," Alpha said, as Tommy stood there and tried to think of some reason that he would deliver such an empty threat. He had to know that he had been keeping a good eye on Kim and every one that was around her, so it just didn't make sense. Unless…he had to get back to Angel Grove now.
"I don't know if I can, but I have to get back to Jason's. I'll think about it while I'm there Alpha," Tommy said, as Alpha looked at him with a concerned glance before teleporting him back to Jason's house. It seemed that Tommy had figured it out, but he did not like what he was thinking about.
"Back so soon?" Billy asked, as Tommy practically landed in his lap, before he stood up and headed to the room that he had left Kim in. If Mesogogg had wanted to scare him to death, he sure had done that, but as soon as he opened the door, he was calmed. She was still sound asleep and nothing looked to be wrong.
"What's with you?" Zack asked, as Tommy sat back down and let out a sigh of relief. "You need to chill out, you were only gone for about five minutes."
"That was long enough if Mesogogg wanted to do something," Tommy said, as they looked at him. They had thought that they had put that subject away for the afternoon, but when Tommy's communicator went off, it opened a whole wealth of possibilities that could happen. "He sent me a message, that's why Alpha and Hayley brought me back to Reefside."
"You want to get rid of him, don't you?" Jason asked as Tommy laughed at the question. It would have not normally have been funny but they all knew exactly what the answer would be to that.
"Of course, don't you? We just have to be patient. It's crazy though, he is the one deciding when we are going to be able to fight him again," Tommy said, as a few of them nodded, but no one knew what to say.
"No he's not. We just decided that we were going to wait until he came back, no big deal," Kim said with a smile, before she sat down on the floor to join in on the conversation. "Now, this was what we were talking about when I left, we've got to talk about something else."
"What? When Billy and Zack are going to pop the question?" Jason asked with a laugh as the girls nodded their heads and each took one to look at. "Sorry, guys."
"Kim, really that isn't something that you need to know," Zack said, trying to get out from under her gaze as she walked over and sat down next to him.
"Yes it is. Aisha's my friend and let me tell you she's getting pretty tired of this game you are playing," Kim said, as Trini laughed. Billy couldn't help but smile, as they all knew what she was talking about. Zack had always had a very hard time committing and he was having that problem again, although he had been threatened to be beat to a bloody pulp by Rocky, which surprised none of them. He was Aisha's protector and they had all learned to live with that one a long time ago. Some of them had wondered why the two of them had never dated, but they never felt the need to ask, as neither of them was too willing to offer that sort of information to anyone.
"I'm not playing a game, if anything I just want to wait until we know that we're not going to have to go fight some damn monster again," Zack said, as Kim shook her head and then looked over at Trini, who was more than ready to try to interrogate Billy. She knew just as well as anyone else that Zack was not telling the full truth, but at least he did have a credible excuse. They all knew what it was like to feel like that, but most of them knew that if they wasted their time now, they might not have any time left later.
"No, I've seen that look before. I'm not telling you anything," Billy said, as Trini looked over at him, while Kim actually laughed, which was something they hadn't heard most of the afternoon.
"Billy, I'm telling you that you've already lost," Jason said, as he could tell what type of look he was receiving and there was no way to get around telling Trini something when she looked like that. She was determined for him to answer the question and he would, in some way.
"Billy, we just want to know when you're planning to pop the question. We all know that you have been thinking about it and we know that you've been trying to find a job in Reefside," Trini said, as they nodded their heads in agreement. There was one problem with Reefside that no one really thought about; they didn't exactly carry the widest selection of jobs like the ones that Billy qualified for. He was going to have to get lucky to get a job there, but if he did, it would be worth all of it.
"It's going to be awhile. I need to get myself settled in Reefside before I can do anything with the rest of my life. I don't want to move Hayley away from there and right now the best I can do is just tell her how I feel," Billy said as Trini just shook her head.
He knew that she didn't believe most of it, but there were some things that they just didn't know about him. His company was undergoing some major expansions and they had been looking into setting up a branch in Reefside, but it was still in its beginning stages. The last job he had interviewed for had taken him, but not at the Reefside branch, which was the one he wanted to get on with. If he could ever get this to work out then it would be great, but there was just no guarantee about it, which was something he did not like.
"Sure," Kim said, as Tommy watched her stand up and go to dig something out of her purse, which could never be good for anyone.
"Not the purse," Billy moaned, as Jason, Zack, and Tommy laughed. They all knew what happened to be in that purse and there was no telling how she was going to use it on him now. "I'll do anything to keep you from pulling something out of there."
"Billy, chill out. I just have something that Hayley wanted me to bring to you," Kim said holding up a card and handing it over Billy.
"Thank goodness," Billy sighed, as he placed it in his back pocket and then looked back out at the expectant faces. "What?"
"Aren't you going to open it?" Jason asked for the rest of them, as Billy looked over at him, his face reddening and shook his head no.
"Come on, Billy," Kim said with a smile, as Tommy promptly pulled her down on the couch next to him. They both had a very good idea of what was inside of that envelope, but Tommy knew that Billy didn't want to risk it being some sort of prank from Kim.
"We don't have to see it, Billy," Tommy said, as they all looked over at him, while Billy sighed a sigh of relief. As long as he had one person on his side, he could easily go against what they were begging him to do, although he didn't love the idea. Tommy was going against his wife to give him some peace, but hopefully that wouldn't cause any problems between the two of them.
"You're no fun," Kim said looking down at Tommy as Jason and Zack exchanged a glance before laughing at what she had said. "What'd I say?"
"You don't want to know what we're thinking," Jason said, as Trini looked over at him, catching the way in which this conversation might go. No, Kim did not want to know, but she would probably still ask them about it anyway.
"Really, you don't Kim," Trini said, as she gave the two of them a harsh look before Tommy and Billy joined in on the laughter. Why did all four of them have to have their mind land in the gutter today?
"It's not that bad," Zack said, as Kim aimed a pillow at his head and he barely ducked in time to miss being hit by it. "Hey, that's no fair. We can't fight back now."
"Sure, Zack," Kim said. "What are you thinking?"
"You don't want to know," Tommy said, as they looked at him, knowing that he had gotten what they were talking about, which was a surprise. He always seemed to be slower on figuring out things like that, but even he and Billy had gotten the joke today.
"Fine, but you'll tell me everything eventually," Kim said, as they looked at her and just shook their heads. They would have told her everything on an ordinary day, but they didn't know if they were prepared to have her wrath bestowed upon them, as they had heard from Tommy it was not a pleasant experience.
"Yeah, we will," Jason said, with a straight face before he could not help but laugh some more. After a few seconds, he found it necessary to change the subject, as Kim would continue to try to dig the joke out of them until then. "Hey, did anyone see the news about those kids who found the old command center in the hills?"
"I did, but they're never going to be able to get inside. You have to have been a ranger to be able to enter it, we all know that," Zack said, as they could tell that Billy was thinking about something that they might not want to hear.
"Boy genius, you don't think that's right?" Trini asked, as Billy mock-glared at her before he decided he was going to answer the question.
"I do think that is correct, but I also think that we need to go there sometime and salvage everything out of there that we possibly can. One day, someone, is going to figure out how to get in there and we'll all be up shit creek because people will be able to find out who we are if we have not taken the proper precautions," Billy said, as they looked at him, shocked, that he had cursed.
"Well, we'll do that after we get rid of Mesogogg. By then, the people of Angel Grove might not be as interested in getting the rangers back in their own city, not after what is going to probably happen to Reefside," Tommy said, as he was the first to recover from the shock of hearing Billy use that type of language.
"How long are you going to stay?" Jason asked, as he knew that with the friends that were there, there was no telling how long they had planned to stay at there house.
"We're going to be leaving in a little while. I've got to talk to Conner about something before I can rest peacefully tonight," Tommy said, as Kim laughed at him.
There had been increasing problems between Conner and Trent over the last few weeks and none of them were sure what they needed to do about it. Conner had seemed to have become interested in Kira lately, but Trent was not having any of that and they didn't want them to get in a fight that would split up the rangers.
"What time did you tell him that we'd be home?" Kim asked, knowing that Conner was likely to show up at the exact time that they were supposed to be there and Tommy was always known for being late. The rangers did not understand why he could not be on time, but Kim was the one that had given them the best explanation and that was what they had to go off of.
"I didn't. I told him I would contact him when we got back," Tommy said, as Kim stood up and gave her friends a hug before she headed towards the door. Since they had come on two vehicles the two of them knew that they really did need to be heading out before it got too late. By ten o'clock, it was just Jason and Trini and the two of them were no where close to getting some sleep.
"So, why is it that every time we are together, something odd happens?" Jason asked, as Trini looked up at him as she snuggled closer to him.
"Who knows, but you can't help but laugh at how Zack and Billy are so worried about everything going on with their dating issues," Trini said, as Jason couldn't help but laugh as he thought about the looks on their faces when they mentioned engagement.
"Hey, I was like that not so long ago and trust me, it does not feel good at all. You are always second guessing your decisions and when some little thing is off, it seems that everything has gone crazy in your world. I wouldn't trade what I have right now for the world," Jason said, as Trini looked up at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She had, had a long day and before she really realized it, she had fallen asleep in Jason's arms and he had to take the responsibility of carrying her upstairs and getting her in bed.