Chapter 13: Spitting Tacks

It was a miracle that Haley made it to the Cyberspace in one piece. Her drive from Valencia Drive was filled with more speed, twists, turns, and skid marks than the Indy 500. Once she haphazardly parked the car in her private space behind the café, she entered through the back, stomped through the storeroom and into her office, slamming the door behind her.

The tears hadn't stopped flowing from her eyes since she fled Tommy's house, and neither had the stream of profanity from her lips. Between sobs, Haley made sure to insult everything from his parentage to his anatomical attributes. Repeatedly. She wasn't sure when she had learned to curse like a sailor, but like every other skill she's tried to pick up so far in her life, she was proving to be a quick study. It took only a matter of seconds until she heard a knock.

"What!" The sharp retort came out of her mouth without a second thought.

"Uh, Haley? Is something wrong? I heard a noise." Trent spoke hesitantly. At first, he ran to the back because he thought someone broke in. If they were being robbed, he had wondered how they'd like coming face to face with the White Ranger. His heroic intentions came to a screeching halt, however, when he saw the office door shut and heard muffled sobs coming from the other side.

"No, Trent, I'm fine. Get back to work!"

"Yeah, I'm going." He had never heard her yell before, and was tempted to question her again, but when he heard his boss utter something so obscene that it'd make even Conner blush, he changed his mind. He could live with his curiosity.

Almost two hours later, Haley still hadn't emerged from the back room. Luckily for Trent, business was still slow. He used the time to do as much prep work as he could up front, like cutting fruit and grinding coffee beans, anything to avoid the storeroom. The rest of the Rangers had already shown up and were gathered around the widescreen TV, having their morning java.

Trent had decided not to mention Haley's strange behavior to the others. He hoped that giving her time would help her to pull herself together and get over whatever was bothering her. That plan was shot to hell when he heard loud footsteps coming from the general vicinity of the office. The café's namesake emerged out of the doorway without a word. She clumsily grabbed a coffee cup, but in her haste she fumbled and dropped it, shattering ceramic shards everywhere. "Goddamn it!"

The loud curse easily got the attention of the gang seated on the sofas. It was a good thing there were no other patrons in the place this early on a Sunday morning. Trent automatically moved to help clean up the mess, but Haley stopped his progression with a hand gesture and a stern expression. She bent over behind the counter to pick up the pieces herself, but seconds later more obscene language drifted forth. "Shit, shit, shit, shit. Damn." The Rangers saw a glimpse of blood on her finger just before she stuck it in her mouth and ran back to the storeroom.

"Hey Trent, what's wrong with her today?" Conner was the only one not stunned speechless by Haley's display.

"I have no idea. She came in here this morning, slamming doors and crying. Then she locked herself in her office for like two hours. She snapped at me when I asked her if she was OK, so I just left her alone."

"I've never seen her like that. What could possibly have happened to make her that angry?" Ethan was probably the closest to Haley besides Trent, since he had been a patron of the café long before becoming a Ranger.

"Maybe I should go and talk to her. You know, girl to girl." Kira's offer was representative of her usual sensitivity. She headed towards the office with a confident, determined step. Her friend obviously needed a friend, and she was happy to be one.

Not three minutes later Kira was back, her tail between her legs. "That didn't go well."

"What happened?" the boys all asked at the same time.

"All I did was ask her if she wanted to talk about it. She practically screamed 'there's nothing to talk about', then slammed the door in my face. Now she's crying again."

"Do you think we should tell Dr. O what's up? They've been friends for a long time. Maybe he knows what's wrong and can help." Ethan's suggestion was met with a round of approval from the rest of the Rangers. All of them seemed to look to Tommy as the knower and fixer of all things.

"I'll call him," Conner offered, raising his Dino Gem bracelet near his mouth.

Tommy and Kimberly were still lazing in bed at almost noon. Every time they resigned to assume a vertical position, they would somehow get distracted and end up making love again. Between sessions, they would talk about the old gang, high school days, and Bulk and Skull, or Rita and Zedd. Tommy filled her in on the Dino Thunder Rangers, their weapons and zords, and the tactics they used against Mesogog. The closest they got to doing anything productive was when Tommy dashed downstairs for a few minutes to make a quick breakfast of toast, coffee, yogurt, and fruit. But because of this nutritious snack, they found themselves filled with renewed energy and ready for round…well, they lost count after five.

A little while after their latest passionate interlude, the couple lay contentedly in each other's arms. They were just on the verge of dozing off when the familiar signal on Tommy's bracelet broke the silence, startling them both.

"Is that your alarm? Is Reefside being attacked?" Kim's concern was evident in both her voice and on her face. The reality of Tommy being in the line of fire again came rushing towards her like a speeding train. She could not deal with the idea of finally getting him back just to lose him again.

"No, it's just the communicator. Conner, the Red Ranger's signal," Tommy assured her as he wrestled his arm from around her to facilitate answering the call. He put a finger to his lips to remind her to be quiet, and turned his attention to the gem. "What's up, Conner?"

"Hey, Dr. O. Listen, we're all here at the Cyberspace, and Haley is acting really strange. She almost bit Trent's head off, she barked at Kira, and she keeps alternating between swearing and crying. We thought maybe you'd have some idea what's wrong with her."

"No, Conner, I really don't. Swearing and crying? Are you sure?" Tommy needed to verify what he just heard. It didn't sound like Haley, and he wanted to make sure that the kids weren't playing a trick on him. Their sense of humor could get pretty irreverent sometimes.

"Yeah! I'm not kidding. She's running around here like a nut, dropping stuff and cursing like a sailor, then when we asked her what's wrong, she reamed us out." Conner decided to take collective credit for Kira's attempt to talk to Haley since she went in there to speak for all of them.

"That's strange. I really don't have any idea what the problem could be."

Kira's voice chimed in next. "Can you help her, though? She's really upset about something. Maybe she'll talk to you."

"I can try. I'll be there as soon as I can. In the mean time, just leave her alone. Give her a chance to work through it."

"OK, Dr. O, see you soon."

"Yeah, later…"

Tommy cut the link off and flopped back on the bed with a sigh. Kimberly snuggled up to him, her body language communicating her concern and understanding. "Dr. O?" she teased. "That's cute. I'm sorry, baby, but it's so hard to believe you have a PhD." Then more seriously, "you really don't have any idea what's wrong with Haley?"

"Sometimes I can't believe it when I hear it, either. And no, I honestly don't know, but I need to find out. She's a good friend."

Kim was ashamed to admit it to herself, but she felt a sudden twinge of jealousy at the endearing way he referred to his female friend. She decided to ask and get the truth about the real nature of his relationship with Haley right away. She didn't exactly know what she and Tommy were becoming after last night, but she knew it couldn't afford any secrets. She knew he wouldn't lie to her. "I know it's none of my business, Tommy, but was there ever anything besides friendship with you and Haley?"

"No, never. We're good friends, but we never dated. We just don't see each other that way."

Kim mentally breathed a sigh of relief. She knew she had no right to feel that way, because even if he and Haley had been an item at one time, they obviously weren't at the moment, or Tommy wouldn't be lying in bed with her right now. "You have to go to her, then."

"Yeah, I know. What Conner described couldn't be more out of character for her. Whatever it is must be serious. She didn't even act like that when Anton Mercer tried to buy her café out from under her."

"We'd better get up then."

"Yep, we'd better. Listen, I'd like to introduce you to Haley and the team, but under the circumstances, it probably should wait. Now, I have an idea. Why don't you check out of the hotel today? I see no reason for you to spend your money on two more nights when I have a perfectly good bed right here I'm willing to share with you for free. You can take the Durango to get your stuff while I go to the café and talk to Haley."

"Mmmmm…sounds like a plan. Are you sure you can handle two more nights with me?" Kim teased him suggestively.

"I don't know, but I'm willing to die trying." Tommy leaned in for a lingering kiss that threatened to turn into much more, but Kim pushed him away playfully.

"Hey, now. We have to get up. There's plenty of time for that later." She climbed out of bed first, her naked body enticing him as she walked across the room to retrieve her dress. "Do you have something else I can wear back to the hotel? I don't feel like putting this uncomfortable thing back on."

"Sure, you're welcome to whatever you can find in the closet or dresser. I always loved the way you looked swimming in my big clothes. I'm going to get a shower."

"I'd join you, but then we'll get out of here. I'll take one when I get back to the hotel before I check out. I'll call your cell when I'm ready to leave there."

"Sounds like a plan. Do you know how to get back into town from all the way out here?"

"I'll figure it out. I'm not a man, so if I get lost, I'll ask for directions."

"Ha, ha, ha. Let's roughly say a couple of hours." Tommy finally got out of bed and went straight to the bathroom.

Kim quickly found a pair of jogging shorts and a T-shirt to put on. In less than a minute, she was dressed. She heard the shower turn on, so she snuck in, suddenly sliding the curtain aside, scaring the hell out of him. They both laughed at her surprise until Tommy decided that retaliation would be a lot of fun. He leaned out of the tub to give her a kiss, and when she responded, he grabbed her T-shirt and pulled her head under the spray, soaking her head.

"Ahhhh! You ass!" Kimberly wasn't really mad. These were the kind of jokes she and Tommy always used to play on each other. It felt so good to be doing it again. Laughing, she closed the curtain again. "I took the keys out of your pants pocket, and I'll call you in a bit." Then after grabbing a towel from the rack to blot some of the water from her hair, she took off for the Marriott.

Tommy was too lazy to dry his hair and mess with the spikes, so he just rubbed in a little gel and combed it back so that his curls would dry in loose waves. After donning black cargos and a grey T-shirt, he grabbed the Jeep keys and headed to Haley's Cyberspace. The whole way there, he tried to figure out what could possibly be bothering Haley enough to make her act out like she was. The only reasonable answer was that something must be wrong in her family. He knew that her dad died years ago, and her mom lived in Seattle. Last he heard, she was in good health. Something could have gone wrong with her, or even with her brother in Oregon. That would explain the crying, but not the anger. He had never seen Haley display a temper, and to take whatever is bugging her out on the kids was completely off the wall.

Tommy was totally out of ideas, so he allowed his mind to wander to a more pleasant topic, like Kimberly. He still couldn't believe that he spent all last night and this morning having the most amazing sex of his life with the most amazing woman in the world. They still had a lot to talk about because she had to go back to Florida on Tuesday. If Reefside Memorial offered her the job, he still didn't know for sure if she would even take it. If she did, when she moved to California, she would have to get a place to live. His house was plenty big, but maybe she didn't want to move in with him so soon after getting reacquainted. His instinct and trust in fate told him that it was right for them to be together, but how did she feel? He knew she felt something since he knew she wouldn't have slept with him otherwise, but was it enough to make her want to live together?

He was glad that the café was just ahead, because the more he thought about himself and Kim, the more questions filled his head. They would all be answered when they talked over dinner tonight, so he tabled the topic for the time being in order to concentrate on Haley.

When Tommy walked into the cybercafé, the Rangers were all seated around a table in the center of the large space. They basically had the place to themselves. A couple of kids were just leaving as he arrived, but otherwise it was empty. Maybe business was slow, and that was why Haley was mad. He knew he'd soon find out. "Hey, guys."

"Dr. O, glad you're here." Kira spoke for the group. The rest of them nodded their agreement.

"What's going on? Is she still mad?"

"Is she ever? I'm glad she's staying in the back for the most part. It wouldn't be good for the customers to hear the words that keep coming out of her mouth." Trent was very loyal to Haley and the cybercafé. He would make sure its reputation survived until she worked out whatever was bothering her.

"That bad, huh? I don't get it, but I'll see if there's anything I can do," Tommy said as he moved behind the counter then disappeared into the back room.

Even before he reached the office door, he could hear Haley's sobs mixed in with the sounds of shuffling papers and stomping footsteps. Tommy approached quietly, not wanting to startle her. The door was ajar about six inches, so he pushed it open the rest of the way and loudly cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Go away, Trent! I said I'm fine." She didn't even look up when she spoke. She was facing the back wall, obviously to hide her tear-streaked face.

"It's me, Haley," Tommy said softly. "The guys called and said you seemed upset. Is there anything I can do?"

When she heard his voice, her heart seemed to stop for a second. The pain and anger she had been feeling all morning intensified beyond all rational proportions, and it was all she could do to not throw the first thing she got her hands on at him. "No, Tommy. There's nothing you can do. Now leave me alone!"

He didn't expect such an irate reply. The kids really weren't kidding. "Haley, what's the matter? This isn't like you."

She quickly spun around to face him, lightening flashing in her eyes. "Like me! What would you know about what's 'like me'? You don't even know me!" Haley pushed past him and out of the office, heading for the front. Tommy chased after her, confused and concerned. She was acting completely crazed.

"Haley, what are you talking about!" They were in the public part of the café now. Luckily, the Rangers were still the only patrons.

"Nothing, Tommy. I'm not talking about anything. Now would you just get out of my sight and leave me ALONE!" Haley shouted.

Tommy visibly flinched from her reaction. The way she said it made it seem like he had something to do with her anger, though he had no idea what. "I'm sorry if something's bothering you, but there's no reason to take it out on us. We don't deserve this!" As irritating as her rudeness was becoming, he knew that he had to keep his own anger in check. They wouldn't get anywhere if they both acted irrationally.

"No, Tommy, I guess you're right." She said it with enough sincerity that Tommy started to relax, thinking he finally talked some sense into her. Haley turned to the Rangers, who had been a rapt audience to the tense exchange since they had emerged from the back. "I'm sorry, guys. You really don't deserve the brunt of my anger." Then she turned back to Tommy, pointing a finger at him. "But you do!"

There could have been a lively debate over who had the most shocked expression on their face. All of the Rangers' jaws just about hit the table, drool threatening to escape from their mouths. Their eyes repeatedly darted from Haley to their science teacher and back again. Tommy would have probably won the contest though. His initial confusion about her mood was rapidly being replaced by extreme disgust at her treatment of him, but he had too much class to dish it back at her. After all, two wrongs don't make a right. But if she refused to tell him what he did to make her mad, that didn't mean he had to stand there and listen to her insult him.

"Know what? Since you seem to have chosen to be angry at me without even having enough common courtesy to enlightening me as to why, I'm out of here. When you calm down and feel like explaining yourself without being rude, you know where to find me." Tommy looked her straight in the eye, leaving no room for discussion, before turning to go. He stopped in front of the team, still seated at the table in a near-catatonic state. "See you guys at school tomorrow."

Haley didn't know what was worse: hearing him and some mystery woman having hot sex only a few hours ago, or the idea of watching him walk out of there so angry at her. At that moment though, she was blinded by her pain, and she couldn't rein in the fear and jealousy that she was feeling. All attempts at self-control failed her. She spoke just as he opened the door, before she had a chance to think, if for no other reason than to keep him from leaving to go back to his lady friend. "By the way, I brought that new transponder by the command center this morning."

Tommy had better manners than to keep going when she was talking to him, so he stopped, slowly rotating around to face her. "Thank you. I'll take a look at it when I get home. I haven't had a chance to go down there yet today."

"No, I imagine you haven't" Haley knew she was skating on thin ice, but was helpless to stop herself.

He couldn't have been more puzzled as to what she was getting at if she had spoken in Swahili. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, really." She looked just like the cat that ate the canary.

"You're not making any sense today at all. Goodbye." Exasperated, Tommy turned again to leave.

"I just never really took you for the man-slut type, Tommy."

A choking sound was suddenly heard from the general vicinity of the Rangers' table as Conner's coffee accidentally went down the wrong pipe. All of their eyes fell on Haley, as if staring at her would make what she said have some other meaning. Dr. O, a man-slut?

If her goal was to get his attention, she succeeded and then some. Tommy abruptly halted his progression out of the café, but remained facing away from her this time. He didn't speak right away as her implication slowly sunk in. Haley must have come through the house when she brought the transponder over and heard me and Kim making love. That might explain that last comment, but why would it make her mad? She had no way of knowing who I was with, and it shouldn't matter anyway. He thought it best to play dumb just in case he was wrong about what she was getting at. "Excuse me? What the hell is a man-slut?" he asked sarcastically as he revolved on his heel to give her a glare that could have set her on fire. The presence of the kids in the room didn't register in his mind due to the intensity of his anger.

Haley knew she had gone way over the line, but her sense of right and wrong flew right out the window about the same time she heard the ecstatic, simultaneous climaxes coming from Tommy's room. "You don't know what a man-slut is? It's a guy who sleeps with any girl he can get his hands on."

"And I'm to understand that's what you think I do?" Tommy's suspicions were confirmed. She did hear them.

"Yeah, it is! I mean, I needed to talk to you this morning, so I came upstairs to see if you were around. When I kept hearing these noises, I thought you were being attacked by a bunch of Tyrannodrones! Then it became blatantly obvious by all the screaming and moaning what was really going on, so I figured I'd better get out of there before your bed came crashing through the living room ceiling!"

Tommy's self-control was as absent as Haley's was at this point. He felt lightheaded and dizzy, unable to contain his fury. "Is that how you're getting your thrills these days, Haley? Eavesdropping on other people in bed? I never took you for a pervert!"

"I'm a pervert! I wasn't the one trying to win a gold medal in the sexual Olympics!"

"I'd like to know how any of this is your business. Why do you care what I do in what is supposed to be the privacy of my own home?"

"Don't you mean who you do, Tommy? And I don't care. I just thought I knew you better. Who was she? Some bridesmaid you picked up at the wedding last night?" Haley knew she was pushing all the wrong buttons, especially since she was perfectly aware that four of his students were still sitting at the table just a few feet away, but she couldn't keep her mind from focusing on the sound of the woman's passionate cries. She had gone over there hoping against hope that she would eventually be the one screaming his name.

"Again, none of your business! Now I know what your problem is, Haley. The self-proclaimed queen of information can't figure out who Tommy was with last night. What a huge blow to your ego! Well, I'm sorry to be the one to inform you that you don't know everything!" A few long strides later, Tommy was at the door again. He had to get out of there before he said something he would regret later.

Haley's rational side knew that she was behaving like a toddler. She wasn't getting the positive attention she wanted from Tommy, so she was acting out, greedy to receive any attention at all. Her feelings rather than her brains were running this show though, and since she was ordinarily so highly intellectual, her emotional maturity was sorely underdeveloped by comparison. He was ready to leave again, and she couldn't say that she blamed him, but she had to keep him there somehow, with her, at least until she got a hold of herself and could begin damage control to their friendship "Fine! Just leave then. Go back to your whore!" Her thought was verbalized before she even realized she was speaking, and then a hand flew to cover her mouth as her eyes welled with tears.

Tommy already had the café's door open when Haley's vicious slur hit him like a knife in the back. He stopped dead in his tracks, barely even able to breathe. The Rangers were mentally struggling with all that they just witnessed, but right then, they were more concerned with the state of their mentor's sanity. He still stood with his back to them, seeming outwardly calm, but the slow, repetitive opening and clenching of his right fist told another story.

The four teens sitting at the table were afraid, themselves, to move. They were shocked and embarrassed to have been witnesses to such a personal argument. Against Dr. Oliver's will, Haley made his students privy to information that they had no business knowing. Now, their technical expert was quietly sobbing, and the Black Ranger looked like he was about to blow a fuse. An exchange of glances easily communicated without words the question each of them was thinking. Should we do something? Conner may have been the Rangers' leader, but in this case, all of the guys naturally deferred to the much more sensitive Kira.

The Yellow Ranger had no more idea what to say or do than the boys did, but before she had a chance to let them know that, a thunderous, shattering crash came from their teacher's direction, accompanied by an earsplitting Ki-Yi! The kids and Haley all jumped at the roaring sound that unexpectedly penetrated the thick tension in the room. A nanosecond later, a small, round table near the window lay in two pieces on the hardwood floor, split straight down the middle in a single, swift blow from Tommy's lethal forearm. He stood there for a moment in silence, staring at the damage and breathing heavily before kicking the swinging door open and storming out.

Author's notes: I'm really curious about how this chapter will be received. Please remember that my basic storyline is already written, I'm not making this up as I go, and I have to stay true to my vision. Now things get interesting...