AN: I've been wanting to write Power Rangers since forever...okay, since February. Ish. But nothing seemed ready. That is still the case, but I decided to post the beginning of this now anyway because -well, I was bored and I have an idea for the end, etc, etc. Plus, the bunnies are holding my other ideas for ransom. I've been out of the game for a while, so forgive me some mistakes. And while you're at it, feedback would be muchly appreciated. A NOTE OF BLATANT DISCONTINUITY: We're pretending that Tommy worked at the school longer than he did.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nada. Zip. But once my world conquest is complete, there's gonna be a Tommy/Kim wedding.

Summary: For the first time in a long time, Dr. Oliver has something to hide. Something pink. (Tom/Kim, post-MMPR, pre-Dino)

The Secret

Prologue

It started with flowers. Long stems and pink petals in a crystal clear vase, at the corner of his desk. He was out when she arrived, so she settled at the desk and stared at the anomaly in quiet solitude. To settle a curiosity, she tipped them towards her nose and inhaled the scent of spring. Real flowers.

"Hayley?" She startled when he called her name and her glance upwards was almost guilty. But Tommy just grinned."What's up?"

She frowned and with the tip of a pen, pointed towards the vase. "What's that about?"

He shrugged and buried his hands in his pockets. "They were a gift."

"From a student?" She cheerfully envisioned a pretty teenage girl, lovelorn and starry-eyed, presenting the inappropriate object of her affections with the flowers. Tommy would have been oblivious and grateful at the same time. And kind, always kind.

But he shook his head. "From a friend." Then his smile altered into...something private. Hayley tilted her head and studied him the way she'd studied the flowers, because Tommy with a secret was an anomaly, too. They'd known each other for years and years, and she knew everything about him, all the events that had happened during his daredevil childhood and his uneventful teens and his dedicated, focused adult years.

For lack of a better response, she snorted. "Obviously, a friend who doesn't know you very well. I don't think you could keep moss alive longer than a day, Doctor Oliver." She leaned back, satisfied that that would set things right. He'd grin knowingly and then they'd share a laugh and he'd ask if she wanted to take care of the flowers for him.

But instead, Tommy shrugged and sat himself atop a student desk. "I've had those for a week."

She asked, "Who are you?" and for the first time, he looked as confused as she felt.

Then he missed an appointment with the barber. With slow exasperation she ruffled the too-long locks on his head and sighed. "You forgot to get your hair cut, didn't you." She felt like a mother.

He followed her hands with his own and laughed. "I guess." But then his eyes stayed trained on the floor too long. When he finally looked up at her again, he asked, "What would you say if I grew my hair out? Just a little."

"I'd probably ask if you aren't a bit young to be starting your mid-life crisis." The comment made her smirk, but he frowned. So Hayley sighed again and conceded. "I mean, it might not be that bad. I mean it might be good," she finished in a rush. He looked neither satisfied nor crushed, which lead her to believe that he was getting mixed advice. "Have you been talking to Jason lately?" As though men like them ever spoke on the finer points of hair care.

"He's on a mission. Out of phone range for the next month or so."

"Oh." He was back to studying the floor again, and she wondered if maybe he really was going through a mid-life crisis. Reaching the thirties was a major change. A difficult hurdle, or so she'd heard. Hayley patted his shoulder and tried to be comfort. "Whatever you decide, you'll look fine. Just don't be silly." Secretly, she preferred the shorter look.

His hair kept growing longer.

Following that, there was the Chaperoning Incident.

"I hear from the grapevine that you are chaperoning the girls gymnastics team at their competition next week." Hayley grinned mercilessly at her best friend, who was shuffling though parent permission slips. When he didn't respond to her gloating, she added, "How did you get suckered into that?"

He shook his head. "It so happens I volunteered. Of my own free will." Then he lifted up a crumbled sheet for her to see. "Can you read the signature on that? It looks like Aber- Abner- Amber- something. I hate the man that invented cursive writing."

"Abserson, maybe" She squinted to see better. "You volunteered... by accident?" It wasn't that he disliked students or volunteering. On the contrary, he was always donating time to youth centers and community projects. But the gymnastic girls. Even his oblivious nature had been unable to miss their blatant attraction to him.

Presently, he showed no sign of remembering this. "On purpose, even," he answered.

She narrowed her eyes and sat down so that they were at eye level with one another. "Were you sick?"

"With the desire to help our team succeed? Yes." He folded the papers and slipped them into his briefcase. "Why?" His expression was downright charming. He was happy. Unusually so.

"Why are you in such a good mood about it? You realize that chaperoning teenage girls is like trying to muzzle an alligator with a piece of floss, right? You can keep trying and trying, but you'll only be setting yourself up for disaster."

"Hayley," he said to her.

"Yes, Tommy?"

"Its going to be okay." He offered her a candy in a pink foil wrapper.

She accepted it and rolled her eyes. "That reminds me. Did the team ever find a real coach for the season or are the girls still making due with that English teacher?"

He nodded, chewing slowly on his own candy. "They found someone."

She finally got suspicious when she found nail polish in his bedroom. He was gone for the weekend -on very important business, he'd explained hastily over the phone- and he'd forgotten to leave his lesson plan for the substitute and 'could she please use the spare key to deliver it'. She picked up the nail polish and sat on the bed. It was pink. Not quite a glaringly bright shade, more muted and soft; nevertheless, it was pink. She scratched her head and tried to envision the scenario that ended with the polish in Tommy's bedroom.

He could be... a drag queen. Oh, the secrets men kept when they feared their friends' disapproval. Public censure. She imagined him getting dressed at night in stockings and tight dresses, pink nails and hadn't he wanted to grow his hair out? She tapped the pink bottle thoughtfully.

She didn't really know much about Reefside's nightlife, but-

-she was being ridiculous. Tommy couldn't apply nail polish if he tried. Hayley moved on to scenario two.

He could be... a salesman. Door-to-door. Selling... cosmetics. She frowned at her own thought process. He was a college graduate and a scientist and a teacher; he had no inclination or motive for turning Avon. She wrinkled her nose.

And blinked. She remembered the flowers -the hair he hadn't worn long since high school- the gymnastics girls. Hayley swallowed. The girls had always been interested in him, and he had always been sweetly oblivious. Like a mother bird watching her babies learn to fly, she'd been relieved at that, thankful to see that nature had endowed him with the traits he needed to survive. At a school, especially.

But if his fear of reaching thirty had overridden those favorable instincts -if his insecurities had suddenly surfaced and he'd looked at one of the girls differently... the friendly exchange of gifts at first... then light-hearted flirting...then... pink nail polish in his bedroom. Hayley, she told herself, he wouldn't. Ever. That scenario was wrong. She was just... missing some piece of information.

But what?

The end. No, wait. The beginning! As previously noted, we're playing a bit with the canon -this fic pretends that Tom's been working at the school longer than he actually did, and assumes that he hasn't told Hayley about the Power Rangers or Kim's significance in his life -yet, and for reasons to be addressed later. Though I do hope to slowly integrate it more thoroughly into the canon. Anyways. Um...please review?

Any questions, comments, or coconuts can be sent to me at eileenblzr (at) yahoo (dot) com.