Back in Time
Chapter 21
Tommy sighed as he got into his Jeep and leant his head back against the head rest. He'd had a very long day and the fight earlier did nothing to soothe his aching muscles from the day before.
"Hey Brachio." He opened his eyes and saw Kira climbing into the Jeep, a smile on her face.
"Hey. You ready to go?" He asked, making Kira nod.
"How about you drop me off at Cyberspace and then go home and get some sleep. You look exhausted." She said, making his sigh.
"No. You're performing tonight and I want to see it." He said, making her smile at him.
"You're not going to see it if you don't go home and get some sleep. I don't go on until 7. Go get some sleep and then if you feel up for it you can come back then." He sighed, knowing that she was right.
"Alright. I'll drop you off. But I will come back to watch you later." He looked around and then leant over to give her a kiss. He drove her to Hayley's and waited until she got inside before heading home. He parked up and went inside, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
Kira walked into the café, walking straight over to the stage and checking the instruments were all there. She was sat on the side of the stage tuning her guitar when Conner, Ethan and Trent walked in. Conner and Ethan walked over to her as Trent walked behind the counter to start his shift.
"Hey. Where's Dr O?" Conner asked, sitting on the sofa in front of her.
"I sent him home. He was about ready to fall asleep at the wheel." She said with a laugh. "I don't fancy trying to drag him back when he falls asleep."
"Good point." Ethan said.
Across the room, Jason looked at his watch before frowning.
"What time do you think he's going to be here?" He asked, making Trini sigh.
"I think we'll be lucky to see him tonight. By the sounds of the fight they had yesterday and today, they're probably all exhausted. He's probably asleep." She said.
"Well, they're here." Zach said, pointing to the stage. Trini and Jason turned and saw Kira sat on the stage with a guitar, Conner sat on the sofa in front of her and Ethan stood next to her.
"Let's go talk to them." Jason said, making a move to stand up, only to be stopped by Trini putting her hand on his knee.
"We can't just ambush them." She said, a concerned look appearing on her face. "Besides, they look exhausted. The battles that they've had has clearly taken a lot out of them. They're all banged up and they could do with some relaxation. You know how much we appreciated just being able to forget about everything to do with being a ranger for a few minutes, and to just have fun."
"She's right." Zach said, still watching the teens as Trent walked over with drinks and Kira's band members walked over and began tuning up. "Besides, it looks like Kira is about to do a gig. Better leave them to it for now."
"I guess." Jason said, sitting back down. Hayley looked at them from the counter and walked over, sitting on the spare chair at the table.
"I know you want to talk to them. You might mean well, but they need a bit of time away from this to just be teenagers, to have no responsibilities other than their homework. Kira and her band are going to do a gig. You can talk to them after that." She said, putting another round of drinks in front of them and standing up. "I don't know if Tommy's going to make it tonight. But if he does, I have a strict no violence rule in here." She walked away, leaving Trini giggling at the looks on Zach and Jason's faces.
"She's scary." Zach said as Kira and her band got onto the stage, Hayley quickly making her way over and standing in front of the mic.
"Everyone, you've seen her here plenty of times, and you always give her the warmest welcome. So please, put your hands together for Kira Ford!" Everyone cheered as Hayley left the stage and Kira walked over to the mic.
"Hi everyone. Thanks for coming out. Let's start with an old favourite of mine." She said. The band began to play and the former rangers watched in awe as she began to sing.
"Wow, she's good." Jason said with a smile.
"She could make a career out of singing. Think we can get her in touch with Tanya? She's a music producer now." Trini said, making them nod in agreement. They listened to Kira playing for two more songs before Jason looked over to the door and saw who walked into the café.
"Hey, look." He said, pointing to the man dressed in black that walked in and moved to a seat next to the counter.
"Tommy." Trini said, watching the individual. "I didn't think he'd turn up." Jason sighed as he watched his old friend. He remembered being Kira for a day and finding out that she was dating Tommy, and he knew that he couldn't tell anyone about it.
Tommy watched Kira singing and playing her guitar with a small smile on his face. He had woken up with just enough time to get to the café for her last song.
"Hey, you look more awake today." Hayley said as she walked over to him.
"Kira made me go home and have a nap after school. I woke up not long ago." He said, turning in his chair and giving her a serious look. "Have you figured out a way to get Kira away from her father?"
"Maybe. It's a long shot, but if Kira's injuries from yesterday's battle match up with the injuries she had before you went to the past, then we may be able to claim they were caused by her dad." She said, leaning on the counter slightly.
"It's worth a try. We'll see what she thinks about it." He said, looking back over at where Kira was finishing her performance. He applauded as she left the stage, smiling as she looked his way.
"Is there something that I should know?" Hayley asked, making him look at her in confusion.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Is there something I should know about you and Kira?" She asked. Tommy inwardly cursed his friend's observational skills.
"Hayley, she needs help and I'm giving her that help. I'd do the same for the boys if they needed it." He said.
"Hey Dr O. Didn't think you'd make it." Conner said as he walked over to the counter, making Tommy glad that the questions from Hayley would stop.
"Hey Conner. You doing alright?" Tommy asked, making Conner laugh.
"I could do with a week of sleep, but I'll take what I can get." He said, smirking as he leant against the counter. "Have you heard from Billy?"
"It's going to take him a couple of days to get here. He is coming from another planet after all." He replied as Kira and Ethan walked over. "Hey Kira, you were great."
"How would you know? You were only here for the last song." She laughed, grabbing the shake that Trent passed over to her.
"Well, the last song was great, so I'm assuming the rest of the set was great." He replied, making Ethan laugh.
"She's always great. It's not hard to guess." He said, making Kira blush.
"Well, it's kick out time." Hayley said, beginning to usher people out. "I'll let you 3 stay if you help Kira pack away and Trent clean up."
"Are you trying to get free labour out of us?" Tommy asked with a laugh, only to freeze as he saw 3 adults near the back of the room stand up.
"That, and I think you have some people to talk to." Hayley said, watching as the three former rangers walked over to Tommy.
"No way! You guys remembered?" Conner exclaimed as he saw Jason, Trini and Zach.
"Yeah, and hurt like hell too." Zach said, giving Kira a pointed glance.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't think it would hurt that much." She said with a slight laugh. "Conner, give Trent a hand. Ethan, mind helping me pack up? I think these guys want to talk alone."
"Why do I have to help Trent?" Conner whined as Kira and Ethan started walking away.
"Because I'm not letting you close to my guitar. I can't afford a new one." She replied. Tommy watched as his current team walked away before turning and looking at the three former rangers.
"You came." He muttered.
"We said we would." Trini said, a smile on her face. She moved forward and pulled Tommy into a hug, making him freeze for a second with shock before returning the hug.
"I thought that once you remembered and you knew everything that happened you would have changed your minds." He said, pulling away from her.
"Well you thought wrong." Zach said, giving him a one armed hug. "We didn't know the whole story when you travelled back to the past. And now we do." He looked down for a moment and then looked back up with a frown. "We shouldn't have stopped talking to you. We were finding it difficult to cope with losing our powers and you still having them, and then once we found out about you and Kim, we kind of assumed that you had done something to make her break up with you."
"She never told you what happened?" Tommy asked, making Trini give him a small smile.
"Billy told us." She said. "We were talking to him a couple of years ago and he mentioned that he had been talking to you. All we knew at that point was that she had broken up with you, but we didn't know how or why. Billy told us about the letter. We wanted to reach out, but we didn't know how to contact you. And then Jason got a call from the hospital…" She trailed off, noticing that Jason was yet to say anything, and now knowing what had happened at the hospital, she realised that it might be a sore subject for the both of them. Tommy and Jason stared at each other for a moment, Trini noticing that Kira was now alone on the stage and watching the interaction with a frown.
Jason sighed and took a step forward. "I'm sorry Tommy." He said, looking down at the floor. "I should never have shouted at you, and I didn't mean it. I was shocked when I realised that Hayley knew about us being rangers and I was angry at myself. And when you pointed out my ring, and that I never told you, I guess I was just angry at myself. I've regretted it ever since." Tommy was silent for a moment, before he stepped forward and clapped his hand on Jason's shoulder.
"You're here now. We can make every effort to fixing it now." He smiled and Jason smiled back, before jumping when someone hit the back of his head.
"Ow!" Jason yelped, turning around and seeing an angry Trini behind him. "What was that for?"
"You told me that you sent Tommy an invitation." She snapped, making Jason's eyes widen and causing him to take a step back. "I have spent 3 years angry that he never bothered to turn up to our wedding, and now I find out that you never sent him an invitation!"
"What's going on?" Conner asked as he and Trent walked over to where Kira was still standing, Ethan coming back from the other direction at the same time.
"They've mostly made up. Turns out Trini and Jason are married and Jason lied about sending Dr O an invitation to their wedding." Kira said, making Ethan and Trent wince as Conner looked over in shock.
"I meant to send it. But I didn't know where he lived." He explained, stepping back as she advanced on him.
"So you let me think that my friend was so heartless that he couldn't even be bothered to respond to the invitation!" She yelled, making the Dino Thunder boys, Tommy included, grin.
"What are you smiling at?" Zach asked, looking at Tommy.
"For once, it's not one of us on the receiving end of a yellow ranger's anger." He replied quietly to make sure Kira couldn't hear him.
"I'm sorry baby." Jason apologised, looking at the others in the room, Hayley included, for any form of support, but finding none.
"You will be sorry when I'm done with you Jason Lee Scott." Trini muttered, her voice low which made everyone in the room wince. They all knew that a yellow ranger with a voice that low meant trouble.
"If you're going to kill him, please do it outside so I don't have to clean it up." Hayley called, making Tommy and Zach laugh.
"Oh don't worry, I've got a better punishment for him in mind." She replied with an evil smile. "You're sleeping in Zach's room until I decide otherwise."
"WHAT?" Jason and Zach exclaimed. "Why am I being punished?" Zach asked, making the others in the room laugh.
"How about you guys come back to mine for a bit." Tommy said, distracting them from the disagreement. "You lot coming?" He asked, looking at the teens in the corner.
"Of course." Conner said as they all walked over. "Besides, Kira lives with you now, and we haven't been since she moved in."
"Because I moved in last night." Kira replied with a laugh.
"You live with Tommy?" Trini asked, looking at Kira with a frown. The young yellow ranger nodded, an uneasy look on her face which her teammates picked up on. Conner immediately put his arm around her shoulders as Ethan and Trent both put a hand on her back and Tommy gave her a reassuring smile, trying to ignore the pang of jealousy that came from seeing Conner's arm around her.
"It's a long story, and if Kira doesn't want to go into it, then I won't." Tommy said with a pointed look at Jason. The former red ranger remembered being in Kira's body for the day, remembered the bruises and the pain in her ribs. He remembered talking to her when they had got their own bodies back and finding out that it was her father that had hurt her, and from the look Tommy gave him, he assumed that her father was the reason she was now living with Tommy. Even though he knew about Kira's dad, he couldn't help but think that their hidden relationship was also a factor to her moving in.
"Well, let's go." Zach said, trying to ease the obvious tension in the room. Everyone was thankful for the change of subject, and after saying bye to Hayley, who declined the invitation to join them, they were on their way to Tommy's house.