ZEDD - A LITTLE OVER A WEEK LATER
It's been a relaxing trip. We all decided that this would be as close to a proper vacation as it could be so took a small detour to a planet that Dar likes to visit from time to time. Personally, I think he likes it just because of the volume of bars and therefore fights that are available. I don't really remember but I think that Thomas and Pina stayed sober. I know that Dar and I didn't and Thomas wasn't thrilled with the shiner I ended up with, nor the two cracked ribs.
I direct the ship to land where I'd put it before, having already cloaked it before entering the atmosphere. As we set down, I suggest, "Perhaps we'll leave the bags and such until later. According to the computer, it's about seven o'clock on Sunday evening."
"Hayley will be closing the café in about an hour" Thomas mentions. "I can show you around the house and then we can go see the Rangers and the others before we settle in for the night if you want to."
I can hear his desire to see his friends. A quick glance at the others shows me that they are fine with the plan. "Lead the way, Thomas."
He does and it's not long before we're moving to the front of the house. "They better not have lost my spare key" he grumbles. Apparently they haven't because it's only another minute before he has the door open and we're following him inside. He stops not far inside the door and sniffs. "I think Jason's been staying here."
Instantly, we sample the air ourselves and agree that the scent belongs to his friend. "But where have your other friends been staying?"
He shrugs. "Possibly in the lair with the raptors." The what now? "I'll check on them in a minute."
He gives us a tour of the house, noting that Jason has, in fact, been staying in the downstairs guest room. Pina and Dar claim the upstairs guest room for themselves. Thomas shows me the room that we'll share while we're here. Surprisingly, when I step into the room, I feel almost as comfortable as I would in my own room in the castle. "Very nice, Thomas."
His tones are slightly anxious, in spite of the fact that he should be able to feel me through the bond. "I know it's not the same as your room back home-" and it warms me that he refers to the castle as home "but it'll be okay?"
"More than okay, Thomas" I reassure him, taking him into my arms. "I like it."
"Good." He looks around. "I'm going to have to get rid of a lot of stuff. I don't really need the furniture, the appliances will stay with the house and I'm going to need a bunch of boxes for the stuff I am taking."
"We'll figure it out, love."
Pina and Dar appear in the doorway. "Nice room" Pina comments. "What else is there?"
"I want to check the lair and then we can go to town and see the others."
"Where is the lair?" Dar asks. "Is it far?"
"No" he smiles. Curious, we follow him once more, down the stairs, through the kitchen and into another room which seems to be his office of sorts. In a moment, he has the concealed entrance open and is heading down the stairs.
At the bottom, we all look around carefully, noting the equipment. "Not bad, Tommy" Dar says.
He grins. "Not too bad for a human, huh?" He turns to Pina. "Want to see how the biomechanics thing was supposed to work?"
He has all our attention and we're right behind him as he goes down a short hall. A chorus of growls has us hesitating, but he continues around a corner. Carefully, we approach to see that it's not a corner but a doorway. He's talking softly to the dinosaurs that are here and sniffing him intently. One of the creatures leans close to his face and opens its mouth, revealing the rows of sharp teeth. Before I can react, the thing licks his face like a dog, making him laugh and the others join in. That is, until they catch our scent and immediately their demeanor changes.
A few barked commands has them settling down somewhat. Slowly, Pina approaches, fascinated. Dar and I exchange worried looks. "Pina-"
She ignores us and Thomas holds his hand out to her, speaking softly to the animals the whole time. Pina steps close to my mate and I tense as they close in on her, sniffing. After a few minutes, one of them suddenly licks her cheek while another one snuffles her ear, making her squeal like a small girl and then break into giggles even as Thomas laughs.
One of them wanders over toward where Dar and I are standing. Watching it carefully, I'm hoping that I don't have to kill one of Thomas' pets. It gives Goldar a cursory sniff before turning its attention to me. Its scrutiny of me is much more intense, sniffing for several minutes before head butting me lightly in the ribs. "What the hell?"
Thomas laughs as it does it again. "She likes you, Zedd. She's mine and she's accepted you as part of her family."
"What are you going to do with them when we go home?" Dar asks.
"I don't know" he admits. "I don't want to destroy them, but we can't take them home and they certainly can't stay here."
"Perhaps the others might have an idea" I suggest, even as the creature nudges me again. "Thank you for your acceptance, but stop it."
Thomas gives a sharp whistle and she reluctantly leaves me to join the others. He herds us out of the room, closing a gate behind him that I hadn't noticed before. We head upstairs and Thomas grabs a set of keys off a hook on the wall. "Come on. Let's head into town. Plus, we'll probably need some groceries before we come home."
It's not long before he's parking his vehicle in town. It took him a little while to get the feel of driving again, but we made it in one piece. We approach the café that the female owns only to find that the sign says it's closed. He beckons us to follow him as he pushes the door open. The bell over the door rings as we enter and again when it shuts behind us. The small group at the counter doesn't even look up as the female calls out, "We're closed."
Thomas takes a few steps away from us, grinning as he says, "Even for an old friend?"
I hear Dar turn the lock on the door as the entire group snaps around and then descends on my mate. He's surrounded and they're all talking at once - all of them, except the female that took over his powers. She's hanging back slightly, biting her lip. Finally, Thomas extricates himself from the group and approaches her. "Hales?"
Her distress is clear. "Tommy-"
His voice softens. "Hayley, it's okay. I'm fine - better than ever actually. I'm not angry at you. We're good."
She slips the bracelet off her wrist and holds it out to him. "This belongs to you."
Thomas smiles and closes her hand around it. "No, it doesn't - not any more. It's yours, Hayley." I can't help my sigh of relief. Thomas looks over at me. "Seriously, Zedd? Like we don't have enough going on without me trying to take those powers again - even if they would accept me?"
I shrug. "Sorry, love, can't help it. I know that kind of thing can be addictive and-"
One of the children interrupts me. "Okay, wait a minute. That's the second time he's called you that, Dr. O. What's going on?" Seeing Thomas tense up, it's all I can do not to snarl. Mind your own business, red boy.
"Yeah, what's up with that? Is it a translation issue or something?" Again, I thought the one in blue was supposed to be the smart one.
I notice that the girl is studying us rather intently, probably noticing how we've both stepped closer to the other and Thomas reach for me even as I search for his hand. What she says next silences almost everyone. "You two are together, aren't you? Like dating?"
I can't help it. I nudge Thomas. "I knew I liked her for a reason. Perhaps when she's old enough and tired of Earth life, she can come help us with the business if she wants."
I'm amused to discover that she seems very interested while the two boys protest being left behind. The one in white frowns. "So wait. You are together?"
Thomas straightens his spine and braces himself, but I'm not sure why. Then I remember some of the discussions that we had not long after he first arrived regarding the attitudes of some Earthlings about mates being of the same gender. "Yes, we're together."
The girl nods to herself, satisfied, as the three boys exchange looks. My attention is drawn to Trini, who has Billy's hand clasped tightly in hers - almost a mirror image of Thomas and myself. "Well, that's a damn shame. Good looking men are falling off the market at an incredible rate lately."
Thomas looks over at the former Yellow Ranger. Suddenly, his face breaks out in a huge grin. "Why, Trini Kwan, William Cranston - do you have something to tell me?"
Billy's tone is casual. "Trini might have recently agreed to become my bride."
He releases my hand and quickly hugs them both. "Congratulations! Have you picked a date yet?"
The young woman blushes. "Not yet. There are a few things we need to deal with first. My job wants to move me to New York to help set up a new office, but I'm having a hard time getting them to commit to a date for me to come home if I do and Billy's established here so it would be nearly impossible for him to move there with me. I don't want the company to think that they can send me there for an indefinite period of time."
I return my attention to the boys. One seems to be in shock, another one is having a quiet conversation with the girl - what the hell is her name again? My train of thought is derailed at the expression on the face of the remaining Ranger child, who picks this moment to interrupt Thomas' conversation with his old friends.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" All conversation stops as everyone turns to him. "There's so much wrong with this I don't even know where to start!"
Thomas takes a small step toward him. "Listen-"
"No! You must be out of your mind! Dr. O, I thought I wanted to be like you but you're not the man I thought you were." Thomas flinches even as the boy turns and stalks to the door, unlocks and opens it and slams it shut behind him, leaving the rest stunned.
"Dude, I never thought he'd react like that." Thank you, once again, red boy. "I mean, yeah, it blew my mind but hey - you love who you love, right?"
"That's - a surprisingly mature attitude, Conner" the girl says.
"I don't see what there is to be upset about, Kira" he shrugs. "Hell, half the soccer team is gay or curious - so what?"
Thomas sighs. I can feel his upset so I pull him close. "It'll be all right, love" I tell him quietly.
"I know, but he's the last one I thought would flip out about this" he admits.
Kira comes closer and pats his arm lightly. "Don't worry, Dr. O. I'll talk to him." And by the fire in her eyes, 'talk' is a loose translation of what's actually going to happen. She turns her attention to me. "Thank you, Zedd."
"For what, child?"
"Keeping your word." She turns back to the others. "Come on. Let's go."
As the children head for the door, Thomas says, "Come by the house after school tomorrow and we'll catch you up."
Conner replies, "There's no school tomorrow. The last battle did some damage to the building and they have to have safety inspectors check it out to make sure it's safe. If it is, then we'll go back on Tuesday. Otherwise, who knows."
Kira adds, "We'll call you tomorrow and see what a good time will be." In another moment, the children are gone.
Trini speaks softly. "Jason gave us a brief rundown of what happened while he was there - including how fast you began to improve after Rita's spell was broken."
"A whole lot has happened since Jason left" Thomas says. "Oh, sorry, I forgot. Billy, Trini, Hayley - this is Goldar and Scorpina and, of course, Zedd."
Jason grins at the couple. "So - how's it been going? Is he still growing on you?"
"Like mold" Dar grins at the former Red Ranger, who chuckles in return.
"I think I missed something" mutters my mate.
"Me too."
Trini quickly hugs Pina. "Thank you, Scorpina, for taking care of Tommy and helping him."
"It's been interesting to say the least. And it's just Pina now. Well, mostly."
Trini and Pina continue to talk as Billy and Jason engage Dar in conversation. I nudge Thomas. "Perhaps you should talk to Hayley. She still seems to be distressed."
He looks at the female, who has moved back behind the counter and is wiping it down. He glances up at me. "I'll be back."
I take a seat between the conversations, but my attention is focused on Thomas and his friend. "Hayley, what's the matter?"
"Nothing" she denies quickly.
"Come on, Hales, don't lie to me. Lie to the others if you have to, but don't pull that shit with me."
"I wish I'd never sent you to that place" she admits softly, hands stilling. "I checked it out, I really did. I've gone over the conversations with the doctor and the staff in my head a thousand times, wondering what I missed, what questions I should have asked, what did they say that should have made me suspicious and didn't."
Thomas takes her hands. "Look at me, Hayley" he commands. When she looks up, he continues, "Did it ever occur to you that there wasn't anything to miss? That doctor didn't get to where he was by being stupid. He knew exactly what to say and not say and he probably told his staff exactly what to and not to say, too." He pauses thoughtfully. "It's kind of like when you dropped me off there. Do you remember-" he hesitates briefly and I can feel his stress before he controls it. "Do you remember Big John, the orderly?"
"Yeah."
"He was so polite and nice while we were in the lobby with you, but once he locked that door behind me, that went away." He shudders briefly before he continues softly. "He's the one who hurt me the most."
"Oh god, Tommy, I didn't know. He seemed so, I don't know, good natured. I'd never have thought he'd have hurt you. When he led you back there, I thought he would have-"
"Protected me and taken care of me." He steels himself. "Instead, I was the one taking care of him - and then him and his friends." Abruptly, I realize that all the other conversations have fallen silent as everyone is listening to Thomas speak. "Fortunately, Zedd stopped them before they could do the worst possible thing." He takes a breath and says something that I never thought I'd hear him say. "When Zedd showed up, they were about to - rape me. Three of them. If he'd arrived five minutes earlier, it would have looked like I was safe and fine. If he'd arrived just two minutes later, it would have been too late."
Tears are running down her face now. He reaches across the counter and gently wipes them away. I can feel his affection for her, but that's all it is and I relax about that. "Think about it this way, Hayley. Seven minutes is all it was between appearing safe and being raped. That is such an insanely short time. A window that could have so easily been missed. But it wasn't. Zedd was meant to find me and get to me just then. If you hadn't sent me there, yeah I wouldn't have been hurt, but I'd have also never gotten better like I am now. That small span of time in that hellhole led to much, much better things. No, things aren't perfect, but- truthfully, Hales, I can't remember the last time I was this happy. I have long since forgiven you for something that wasn't your fault. It's past time that you forgive yourself."
She breaks down, crying in earnest. Thomas goes around the counter and folds her into his arms, much as he did for Pina. As if by some unspoken and unseen signal, all of us draw closer, Jason wrapping his arms around them both as Trini and Pina add their comfort as well.
It takes several minutes for Hayley to get it all out, but she finally settles down somewhat and looks up at him. "You're really okay and safe and happy?"
He smiles hugely. "I really am."
She studies him for a minute before shooting a look at me. "And he'd better stay that way."
"As he said, things aren't perfect, but we're working on it."
