TOMMY

It seems like I've only been working for a short while when Zedd comes into my lab again. "Thomas."

"Hmm?" I make some quick notes before I glance at him. "What's up?"

"Dinner, Thomas." Is he kidding?

"We just had lunch, Zedd. And I'm sure you'd like to play as well, but I'm at a crucial stage here and I can't really leave this right now." Quickly prepping a slide, I check it under the microscope. Perfect.

I hear his deep sigh. "Thomas, I know your work is important. I swear, I'm going to get you a proper clock down here." My stomach chooses just then to rumble, underscoring the truth of his words.

"As I said, though, I can't leave this right now. The timing of these experiments is critical. I'll get something to eat later."

"What if I bring you a plate?"

"That's fine." Quickly, I add a little of the carbon powder, smiling as I get the reaction I'm looking for. "Yes!"

After a while, I look around. Zedd's gone and there's a plate of food on the corner of the worktable. I'll just grab a few bites and then get back to work. I bolt down a good bit of the food, thankful that he left me a plate of cold food, rather than something hot. The timer goes off and I drop my fork, hurrying over to initiate the next stage.

So far all my experiments have proven that I'm on the right track. Unfortunately, to properly test it, I'd need an actual Tyrannodrone and I don't happen to have one on hand just now. I'd hate to risk the kids on a 'maybe it'll work' idea. I have no doubt if I send the information to Billy and Trini that they'd be able to finish it, but I'd really like to do this myself. Maybe - I need to make a Tyrannodrone. For testing purposes, of course. I'd have to keep it in the dungeon or a cage to keep the others from finding it.

Wait a minute! Zedd used to keep all kinds of monsters here. I have no doubt there are still pens and whatnot around here. It'll take a day or two to get the Tyrannodrone done so I'll have plenty of time to scout out a place to keep it. Fired by my new plan, I get started on making my test subject.

The next thing I'm aware of is Zedd shaking me and calling my name. "Thomas, wake up." I straighten up from where I've apparently fallen asleep at my worktable, wincing at the stiff muscles. "Did you even come to bed last night?"

I blink at him as I try to focus on his question. "Apparently not. It's morning?"

Unhappily, he answers, "Yes. What in all the hells were you thinking and what the hell is that?" I look where he's pointing at the tarp covered table on the side of the room.

"Yeah, don't touch that."

He raises an eyebrow at me. "By the power, Thomas, is there anything in this room that I can touch that won't explode or eat me?"

I can't help the grin. "Well, when you put it like that, then no, not really."

He rolls his eyes. "What have you been getting Goldar to acquire for you?"

"A lot of it is nothing but basic lab chemicals and compounds but if you don't know what you're doing, it can be dangerous." I slide off the stool, cursing under my breath. Crap, I hurt! This didn't work well when I was in college or working for Mercer, it sure as hell isn't going to now. I jump slightly and curse again when Zedd rests his hand on my back.

"Let me see." I hold still even as I protest that it's not necessary. "Thomas, I love you, but shut up."

In a minute, he's found the worst spots and he's working them out. It takes a few minutes but soon I can at least move without being in screaming pain. I sigh in relief. "Thanks, mate."

"Thomas, you can't keep doing this."

"No kidding" I agree. "It's going to kill my back. Do you think that Dar would get me a coffee pot to keep down here? Just for now?"

"No."

"Oh." I pause for a minute. "You do realize that I didn't mean to fall asleep down here, don't you?"

"Didn't you?"

"No, of course not. I just got caught up in my work." I catch his chin and make him turn to look at me. I sigh inwardly at what I see in his eyes. "Kalleimat, Zedd, mate - I did not stay down here and sleep on purpose. I am way over my temper tantrum yesterday and, while I appreciate you not letting me kill him, I do still feel bad that I hurt you but I just fell asleep. Quite frankly, I'm a little surprised that you didn't come looking for me last night."

"I intended to but I dozed off myself before the deadline I'd set" he admits.

"I'm sorry, Zedd. I'll try not to do it again, but I can't promise. Sometimes it's just the timing of the experiments."

"Just don't make a habit of it, all right?" He draws me into his arms. "I've gotten used to you next to me, love. Remember what it was like when I was gone? How big the bed was?" I nod and he hugs me. "Come on, let's go up for breakfast."

Zedd releases me and we head for the door. As we make our way upstairs, I run my hand through my hair again. I really need a haircut - especially if I'm going to take up researching and lab work again. "I'm going to have to get some clippers or something. My hair is getting out of control."

"You could always just let it grow out again" Zedd suggests.

"It's not practical with my researching" I point out.

"Ah." He sounds awfully disappointed and I look at him, puzzled. "I was kind of hoping to convince you to let it grow out. I was wondering what it would be like to run my fingers through it."

"The other problem is if I do take up a position in your company. It's not very professional looking, Zedd."

We walk into the kitchen to be greeted with, "What's not professional looking?"

"If I were to let my hair grow back out. Morning, Pina."

"Well, when you were young, you had hair that women I know would have killed for" she mentions.

I roll my eyes. "So I've heard. But since I got out of my rebellious stage, it was just a hassle. Between lab work and racing, it just got in the way."

Zedd speaks up. "You keep mentioning this 'racing', Thomas."

Oops. I really need to start thinking before I speak. I wave it away. "It's not important. It was just how I earned the money for college. We were talking about me needing a haircut."

"If you just need it trimmed up to control it until we get back to Earth, brat, Pina could probably do it. Once we're on Earth, you can go and get a proper haircut the way you like it. Pina can go with and watch how it's done so that she can help you maintain it when we return" Dar suggests.

"If she doesn't mind, that's fine with me" I agree.

Zedd speaks again. "Now that's settled, tell me about-"

I know he's not going to like it, any more than he would if he knew what skydiving is. I also know that he's not going to let this go. With a sigh, I interrupt him. "I raced cars."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Goldar wince as Zedd and Pina look puzzled. I wince myself when Zedd says, "So when you had nightmares while I was gone about racing accidents…"

"Essentially they were car accidents. At a hundred and eighty or two hundred miles an hour" I answer reluctantly.

Everyone is silent for a long time. Finally, Zedd says, "Well, they must not have brought you anywhere as close to death as when you were attacked or we'd have known about the bond long before we did."

He's trying to be calm but I can hear the quiver in his voice. "Easy, mate. I'm fine. I'm here."

He draws a breath. "Why did you stop?"

"Because as much as I liked it and was good at it, it wasn't what I really wanted to do with my life and it was starting to interfere with school."