A.N: I've been working on some other stuff but it goes slowly, very slowly. Slowed down even further by an evil thesis that is due in umm 9 days. Not good. So yeah I'll try to get that up soon. In the meantime this is the original version of Kim finding out about Tommy's little mission with Andros. The one I scrapped. But since its on my computer I thought I'd give you something to read. Aren't I nice?

A week after Tommy returned from the little retrieval mission he'd run for Andros Hayley and Kim ganged up on him to find out exactly where it was he'd gone. He'd managed to put if off until he thought they'd forgotten in favor of other things, like the fact that Thanksgiving was about a week away and Christmas not long after and he was right, they had. But then Hayley came down to the lab while he was working out and saw the new scar on his thigh. Even if she hadn't been completely familiar with every scar on his body because she'd been the one to patch him up for the last however many years she still would have known it was new, it still had that shiny pink appearance of new tissue.

Hayley thought about haranguing him on her own but then realized it would be much more effective if she enlisted some aid and the first aid she thought of was his new, or not so new or whatever you might want to call it, girlfriend. She thought briefly about enlisting Jason and Zach as well but remembering the Red Ranger Mission Tommy had gone on a couple of years ago she decided against recruiting the other former rangers. Jason at least was also a former Red and Hayley had noted the bonds that existed between rangers of the same color. And while she hadn't seen it between 2 blacks she assumed it existed there as well and she wasn't taking any chances. She and Kim would get it out of him.

Hayley waited until Tommy had gone up to shower before calling Kim. She'd done some thinking while working on the program she was developing and she'd decided the best way to do this would be to ambush him. Preferably tonight. As soon as he was gone she shut down the computer and went up to the kitchen, closing the lab up behind her. There she grabbed his cell phone off the table and looked through the address book until she found Kim's entry. Hitting 'dial' she waited for Kim to pick up, keeping one eye on the doorway to make sure Tommy didn't come back.

"Hey Tiger," Kim answered, "What's up?"

"It's actually Hayley."

"Oh, hey Hayley." She paused a moment. "Is Tommy okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't he be?"

"I dunno, but you're calling from his phone."

"Oh, right. I left mine outside and his was closer. Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out or anything."

"It's all good. So, what's up?"

"Did Tommy ever tell you where he went last week?"

"No, now that you mention it he didn't. Why? Did he tell you?"

"Nope, but it gave him a new scar. He doesn't know I've seen it but he's got a shiny new one on his thigh, saw it myself while he was working out today. I was thinking maybe you could come over and we could team up to get it out of him."

"A new scar? I'm there. I'll be over in about a half hour. Don't start without me."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Hayley hung up and returned the phone to the table before turning to the fridge. Dinner would be a great excuse for why she was upstairs and not down in the lab and since she was fairly certain Tommy hadn't told Kim about the lab yet it would be much better if she was upstairs.

Tommy came in 10 minutes later to find Hayley busy at his stove. With an appreciate sniff he wandered over to see what she was cooking. "Spaghetti Hayles? Didn't we have ziti two days ago? And Alfredo yesterday?"

Hayley elbowed him from where she stood but didn't take her eyes off the meat, onions, mushrooms, and peppers cooking in a skillet. "Yes, spaghetti. You want something other then past you cook it. Since you refuse to eat boxed or frozen foods pasta is one of the fastest things to make."

"Right," Tommy said skeptically. "Where do we want to eat tonight? Living room? Dining room? Lab?"

"Dining room. We have company coming over so set the table for three."

"Company? Who's coming over? I didn't invite anybody."

"I know you didn't. I did. Kim's coming over."

Tommy grinned. "You're the best Hayles. Simply the best." He grabbed three plates out of the cupboard and went to do battle with the dining room table, which, so far as he was concerned, was in the process of spawning more tests and papers from the stack he'd brought home to grade.

20 minutes later Kim slipped in the back door to find Hayley pouring spaghetti sauce into a bowl and Tommy nowhere in sight. "Hey Hayley," she greeted the other woman. "Where's Tommy?"

"In his office grading the quote 'immense and spawning stack of papers which felt the need to spontaneously reproduce' end quote."

Kim giggled. "Let me guess, he put them off long enough that he forgot they were there and brought home another stack."

"Yep. Anyway, I figured we could eat dinner before we corner him. I don't know about you but I think better when my stomach isn't growling. We can get it out of him later."

"Sure. I'll follow your lead. In the meantime, what can I do to help?"

After dinner the three settled in the living room. Kim was curled against Tommy with her legs across his lap. This was a strategically planned maneuver. That would keep him on the couch once Hayley started questioning him about his disappearing act. It had the added benefit of being highly comfortable so as far as Kim was concerned she was making out like a bandit. Hayley didn't start questioning him right away, rather they continued their innocuous conversation from dinner about how Reefside High's football team was doing that season. When that conversation dwindled into silence Hayley decided it was time to bring up what she and Kim really wanted to discuss.

"So" she drew the word out. "Where did you and Andros go last week?"

Tommy started in surprise but, as anticipated, stopped as soon as he remembered Kim's legs across his lap. "Excuse me?" He asked faintly, hoping she'd not just asked him what he thought she'd asked.

Hayley glared. "You heard me Thomas. Where did you go with Andros last week?"

"I suppose if I tell you that we went to Phaedos with Zhane for a little vacation you wouldn't believe me."

"You suppose correctly. So where did you go? And while we're at it, what did you do, why you, and well just tell us everything."

"Basically we were getting some stones with the right sort of energy to make Rangers out of the hands of someone who would have used them for evil if he'd learned what they were. We couldn't take that chance so we removed the temptation."

"Great synopsis Dr. Oliver," Hayley said sardonically. "Now, can we have the complete story please. There must be more to it, after all you didn't explain that new scar you picked up, or why you, Andros and Zhane went to the old Command Center."

Tommy sighed. "You're to smart Hayley. Okay from the beginning then. Andros has spent the last couple of years tracking down the legend of a set of stones with reputed powers. He learned that they were real and managed to trace them to their current owner. There was however a bit of a problem with this new owner . . ."

When Tommy finished his story there was silence for a long while as Hayley and Kim absorbed what they'd just been told. Even though it was apparent that it had been necessary to get the jewels out it was still hard to reconcile using the Power to do so.

Finally Hayley broke the silence. "So why did you guys make that little trip to Angel Grove?"

"That's where we stashed the jewels. The defenses of the Command Center are still fully active and their stronger then they were even when Zordon was in residence. I've done a lot of upgrades to them. And Andros and I added another level to them while we were up there. And we didn't leave the jewels out in the open either. We hid them. Basically it was the safest place we could think of to leave them until they're needed. Neither of us wanted them in our houses."

"Understandable" Kim said, just before Hayley opened her mouth with an injudicious comment about the security of the lab. "Having that type of thing in your house is just asking for trouble."

Tommy nodded in agreement and Hayley couldn't pass up the opportunity to needle him a bit. "He's asking for trouble by his mere existence. Especially trouble of the Ranger sort. What's a bit more temptation for the bad guys?"

Tommy glared at her but Kim laughed in agreement. "That's true. I thought I was a magnet for trouble but maybe they just targeted me because we were dating. After all, other then that whole Divatox thing I haven't had any issues since giving up my Power Coin. Unlike some multi-hued Ranger we both know and love."

Tommy switched his glare to Kim and both women laughed. "It's so nice to see how loved I am." He said dryly. "I save the world and all I get is a bunch of ribbing. Wonderful. At least you guys aren't freaking out on me." He immediately regretted adding that last sentence as Kim whipped her head around and pinned him with a glare. As he gulped he could have sworn he saw her eyes flash Pink for a moment but since it lasted no more then a second he figured it was just a trick of light, not that he had much time to contemplate it since she was now laying into him with all the skill of a mother of two.

"You haven't even begun to hear about what I think of your little escapade Thomas Jeremy Oliver. What in the hell were you thinking? You could have died! You almost did die! Do you have any idea what that would have done to me? TO the girls? To Hayley? Especially since we didn't even know where in the hell you where or what in the hell you were doing! You just dropped off the face of the Earth, literally, without a single care and showed up a week later with nary an explanation. You can't do that type of stuff anymore Tommy." Kim's voice changed, became a bit softer, less strident. "You have responsibilities now. A family. You can't go tearing off at the drop of a hat. I know you think that you were the only one who could do it, and believe me, I'll be having a conversation with Andros about this, but that doesn't mean you can just disappear."

"But sometimes I have to go." Tommy interjected.

"I'm not saying that you can't ever go on special missions. God forbid the multi-hued Ranger actually hang up the spandex for good." Kim smiled at him to assure him she was joking. "But I am saying that if we're going to have a relationship, and if you're going to be a father to our girls you need to tell me when you're going. And I would appreciate getting some say in the matter, though I am well aware that that is as likely as me becoming a Red Ranger. But I won't stop you from going. Remember I was a Ranger myself, I am well aware of the necessity of some things. And I know the sacrifices that saving the world requires, the demands it makes on your time. But I have the right to make some demands myself. I don't think they're unreasonable. First of all, I want you to tell me you're leaving as far in advance as is possible. I know you don't ordinarily get a lot of warning but I want to know ASAP. Second, I want you to be careful. And the third isn't really a demand, more of a request. If it's at all possible for you to not go, if it can be done by a younger, less tied down Ranger then please, turn it over."

Hayley choked when Kim made her request and Tommy stared at her like he wasn't quite sure about what she'd just said. When it became obvious Tommy wasn't going to say anything Hayley began to speak. "I really don't think you're gonna get that one Kim. This is the guy they call the Legend after all. Can you really see him handing a mission over to someone else?"

Before Kim could respond Tommy broke in. "No Hayles, as much as it pains me to admit it I think maybe Kim might have a point." The words dragged themselves from him with reluctance. "I'm not 18 anymore. And I'm not single and carefree. I'm 28, in a committed relationship, a father of 2, and I have a good, steady job. I can't just run off the way say Conner can. So I'll think about it. I'll consider passing some of them onto other, more suitable shoulders."

Kim and Hayley just gaped at him. Neither had been expecting him to even contemplate agreeing to her request, especially not this quickly. Not wanting to push him and maybe lose the ground she'd gained Kim changed the subject, sort of. "What about the other two?"

"They seem perfectly reasonable to me. Though the second one isn't all up to me. There's only so much I can do on the whole staying safe front."

"I know and I want you to do as much as you can."

"That I can do."

Hayley saw the look on both of their faces and quickly excused herself to finish cleaning up from dinner. As she left the room she risked a glance behind her and swiftly corrected that mistake. Chuckling she made her way into the kitchen, shaking her head to dislodge the image of Tommy and Kim making out like a couple of teenagers. "They're gonna be just fine" she muttered to herself. "They make it through Ranger stuff they'll make it through anything."

The End