Disclaimer: I am in now way affiliated with Power Rangers or the Disney Corporation. This story is nothing more than a way for me to show my appreciation of the series.

Passion Power and Dinosaurs

Chapter 11: Origin

Part 1: When Tommy met Hayley.

The sun shone down on Tommy burning his skin with its powerful heat. Nonetheless, Tommy continued digging; a bright sparkle caught his eye. 'What could that be?' wondered the young Archeologist as he crawled over. It turned out to be three gems, each one a different color. 'Ranger colors….'

The gems were made up of a material unlike anything Tommy had ever seen before, and that was saying something since Tommy had spent approximately 4 ½ years of his life as a power ranger. However, that was a long time ago, approximately 6 years ago to be exact and 6 years was more than enough time for the eager youngster to get a degree in Paleontology. Now he was busy digging for fossils, at a dig sponsored by a foundation back home. Making sure that no one was looking, Tommy quickly pocketed the gems. 'If these are what I think they are, than there's no way I'm going let these gems fall into their hands.'

The team Tommy was working with wasn't exactly very honest. Tommy had heard several things about them throughout the scientific community. Stealing artifacts and selling them on the black market, stealing credit for other people's discoveries, etc, although they were only rumors, Tommy didn't want to take any chances. 'These gems may provide us with the power source we need.'

"Alright guys! Let's call it a day!" shouted the supervisor. Tommy let out a breath of relief; he would no doubt have to do a few tests on these strange gems before coming to a conclusion of what to do with them. Tommy quickly gathered up his stuff before heading out.

"Smitty! Wait up will ya?" called Tommy out to his colleague/friend. Terrance Smith, better known as Smitty, turned towards the direction of the voice and smiled.

"Thomas!" cried Smitty happily.

"C'mon Smitty we've known each other for 3 years now, just call me Tommy." Said Tommy cheerfully patting Smitty on the back. "I'm still really sorry that you didn't get the job at Mercer Enterprises."

"Don't worry about it. I mean Anton must have chosen you because he felt that you were the right man for the job." replied Smitty. "Hey, you won't believe what we found today."

"What is it?" asked Tommy.

"I'm not sure, but it seems to be a weapon of some kind, but the technology used to make it is unlike anything I've ever seen before." said Smitty. "It's almost like a giant mobile fortress."

"Interesting." Said Tommy

"Yeah it is, but the problem is that it's way too big for us to excavate, so we're going to leave it alone. I'd love to see it, but the project's funds are practically depleted. Agreed Smitty, "But never mind me, how are things going for you?"

"Same old, same old, Project Dinothunder, as usual." Said Tommy. "It's different….."

Project Dinothunder was a secret project behind done under the government's back, a top-secret project to create weapons and machines to battle an unknown threat. Anton Mercer didn't give many details about this threat, all he said was. "He's building an army and he's coming…"

The Project was also Anton Mercer's life work, and he wasn't afraid to admit it. Pacing back and forth in his research lab, Anton quietly observed the three original robots in their dormant stages. His partner Tommy Oliver was away at a dig at the moment, so right now, Anton had the lab all to himself. After months of designing and building, Anton and Tommy had finally managed to finish building the main bodies for the three zords. The zords were massive, filled with vibrant colors of red, blue, and yellow, but they were still flawed, very flawed.

'But, we still have ways to go before they are battle-ready.' Thought the young scientist as he pondered on what to do next. 'We've already developed the neural-link technology required to pilot these zords, but we need to implant some sort of survival instinct into the zords if they are to be used without a pilot. Oh well, I'll figure something out once Tommy gets back from Massachusetts. But I'll have to hurry, before that thing takes over once again…'

It was raining in Massachusetts at the moment, rain continued to pour down on the streets as Tommy walked through the streets of the city. All around him people were running for cover, trying their best to avoid the heavy rainfall. Thunder rumbled in the skies followed by several powerful flashes of lighting, and in the streets stood a girl, unlike any Tommy had ever seen before. She wore a black trench coat, which covered most of the lower half of her body, except for her smooth creamy white legs. Her face was hidden by several silky strands of long red hair, Tommy couldn't help but stare, and slowly he approached the girl.

'She's crying….' Thought Tommy once he got close enough to catch a glimpse of her face, he was certain of that much, any passerby would assume that the tears that ran down her smooth skin were from the rain, but Tommy could clearly see the wet trail of salt water that ran down her face. Tommy reached into his pocket and felt around for a tissue, before handing it to the girl. The girl looked at him; her beautiful green eyes were scared, lonely, and afraid. 'She's in a fragile state right now...'

"Are you ok? Sorry, I'm being nosy, but I just hate it when a girl cries." asked Tommy

"Yeah, I'm just a little…" replied the girl looking at him, and taking the tissue.

"Is it something you want to talk about?"

"Yeah, it is."

"C'mon you're soaked; I'll buy you a cup of coffee." Offered Tommy, smiling. The girl happily returned the smile, as she used his tissue to dry her eyes. "I'm Tommy, Tommy Oliver."

"Hayley, Hayley Johnston."

It had been a while since Hayley had had a good cup of coffee, most of her free time was devoted to doing homework, sleeping and spending time with her fiancée. 'Ex-fiancée now… ' thought Hayley still very depressed as she sipped her latté enjoying the warm feeling it brought to her body.

"So, do you mind telling this nosy 24 year-old paleontologist why you were crying?" asked Tommy as he reached for a packet of sugar.

"I was dumped…by my fiancée" replied Hayley as she added some sugar to her coffee.

"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that." Said Tommy.

"It's ok, it's not your fault that he was cheating on me with his secretary and I happened to walk in on them while they were…you know." Said Hayley sarcastically. "Now that I think about it, I can't believe I couldn't see the signs. Or maybe I just refused to see the signs because I was too afraid of the truth…"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think you're pretty brave." Offered Tommy before he took a sip of his coffee, needs some more sugar.

"Really? Why?" asked Hayley curiously.

"Well for one thing you just told a lot of really personal things to a stranger who you met 10 minutes ago. I mean you barely know anything about me." Answered Tommy.

"That's because you haven't told me anything about you, Tommy." Replied Hayley dryly.

"Well, I'm a paleontologist, used to be a racecar driver I just never got the chance to go pro. I'm 24 years old and I don't really make a habit of taking strangers out to coffee." Said Tommy. "You happen to be a special case. What about you? Tell me more about you."

"I'm 22 years old, about to graduate from MIT, majoring in robotics, and I don't usually get coffee with strangers." Replied Hayley smiling.

Tommy smiled, this was going to be interesting, really interesting. He had never really met a girl quite like her before. In a way she was refreshing. "Well I guess you could say that you and I are a pair of odd balls."

"Speak for yourself." Teased Hayley.

"So, you're a robotics major at MIT? That's pretty impressive, I've bet you've got like a million job offers right now." Complimented Tommy.

"Yeah, but the jobs being offered aren't exactly what I want to do with my life." Replied Hayley before she took another sip of her coffee.

"Oh? Then what is it you want to do with your life then?" asked Tommy.

"This is going to sound strange." Said Hayley, the coffee was nearly gone; half an hour had gone by. It was amazing how time can fly by when you're having a good time. "I want to open a café."

"A café?" echoed Tommy. "That was the last thing I was expecting to hear."

"What? I've always dreamed of opening a café. A cyber café to be exact, I want to open a café with computers, lots of computers, you know? And I want high school students to come in and do their homework, or study, or do other stuff such as read poetry or perform music on stage." Continued Hayley. "I know it sounds stupid, but it's just that most of my life has been mapped out for me, and for once I'd like to do what I want."

Tommy smiled, it did sound a little weird coming from a future MIT graduate, but it was what she wanted to do with her life, and Tommy had to admire her for talking so openly about it. "I said it was weird, not stupid. It sounds like a great idea, but I'm pretty sure that it'll take a large sum of money to open up that kind of Café."

"Yeah, problem is I'm broke." Replied Hayley sheepishly. "Which is exactly why I'm glad that you're treating me."

"Hey, if you want I could get you a job." Offered Tommy. "That is if you actually enjoy doing stuff with Robots. The pay is pretty good as well, plus the location is in California, so you never have to worry about the weather."

Hayley smiled.

A/N: Ok I know I'm supposed to be talking about how the team's equipment, zords, etc was created, but I really wanted to write this chapter, which was exactly why I split it into 3 parts. I'll try to hurry it up so I can return to the main story.

Please review, it's motivation, plus it's nice to know that someone is actually reading my story.