TOMMY

I wake up but I'm in no hurry to get up. I'm warm and comfortable and…alone. I frown as I realize that Zedd's not in the bed with me. Before I can even wonder where he is, I hear him laugh downstairs - which makes me smile. I relax into the bed for a few more minutes. After all, why not? Again - warm and comfortable, not to mention content, no urgent need to mate or go anywhere, my mate's fairly nearby.

After a while, my stomach growls a little. Probably should get up and go have dinner before the kids get here. I sigh as I try to convince myself to get up knowing if I don't, Zedd will eventually come retrieve me for dinner. Yeah that's not helping my motivation. "Again with the heavy sighs, Thomas?"

The teasing tone makes me smile again. "Don't really want to get up. Too comfortable."

I hear him move into the room as he says, "That is a dilemma. And what if I were to join you?"

I groan a little in mock dismay. "Definitely won't want to get up then."

He chuckles lightly. "How about this? Dinner's nearly ready. You get up, come eat and deal with the children and then we'll come back to bed together." That does sound nice.

"Tempting…you know this is how we had our first day together" I remind him suddenly, realizing the last time I woke with this lazy content mood was when I was still on his ship, very shortly after my rescue.

"Come again?"

"On the ship, I remember you letting me sleep in your bed while you went and did whatever it is you were doing, because I didn't like staying in the medical room."

"I remember" he agrees with a soft smile. "I was hoping you'd have less nightmares if you slept in an actual bedroom rather than one resembling a doctor's office."

"Didn't really help" I admit with a sigh. "Still though, I remember I woke up feeling warm and lazy and in no mood to get up for the first time in what felt like ages. Then you come in, telling me about dinner and trying to bribe me to get up."

"It worked didn't it?"

"Maybe a bit. Though I'm intelligent enough now to realize you weren't actually letting me pilot on my own." Still though, I must give him credit, it was a rather clever ploy to get me up and convince me to eat something.

"You were piloting" he protests with a smile. "Just not all on your own. I sat you at the secondary controls and sat myself at the main set."

"I liked being with you, just the two of us. It was nice."

"We can do that again if you like. Take some time off, just me and you. Goldar and Scorpina can handle the business for a few days and I can take you wherever you want to go." Suddenly smiling brightly, his tone is teasing. "I'll even let you pilot for real this time."

"Careful, I might take you up on that."

"That's fine, but first, you have to get up and come have dinner. Deal?"

Still, I sigh once more before I move. "All right."

I get up and head for the bathroom but Zedd stops me and pulls me into his arms, just holding me. "We did this too, remember?"

"Yeah, I do." Not really recalling why I had broken down in the middle of the hall, nor really how Zedd came upon me, I do however remember well enough his concern and worry for me when he couldn't figure out what was wrong. "I was frustrated and upset and you didn't know what to do, or how to fix it, so you just held me until I calmed down." I snuggle closer, sliding my arms around his waist.

"I like holding you."

After a couple of minutes, I mention, "This is nice."

"What is?"

"This. Just being held. No drive to mate right now, neither of us needing comforting, no need to hurry up and go anywhere."

I can hear the smile in his voice. "It is indeed."

I rub his back lightly for a minute. We hear Pina call softly from the bottom of the stairs. "Is he out of bed, Zedd, or are you two playing or is he still sleeping?"

Zedd calls back, just loudly enough for her to hear. "He's out of bed and no, we're not playing."

"Well come on, dinner is almost ready."

"Give him a minute more to wake up fully."

"All right. We'll see you in a few minutes then."

He squeezes me lightly before releasing me. We smile at each other and I head into the bathroom. I'm out again quickly and we head downstairs after I retrieve Jason, Pina and Dar's tokens. When we reach the kitchen, I return the others' belongings, thanking them sincerely. The meal is pleasantly relaxed and my contentment continues, thankfully.

We've all relocated to the living room and are talking about nothing in particular when the Ranger kids arrive. I get up from where I'm leaned against Zedd on the couch and head for the stairs. "Hang on a minute, guys. I'll be right back with your stuff."

I find three of the four quickly, but I can't remember where I'd stored the last one. Frantically, I go through the pockets on my pants and jacket again and again. I stop, take a deep breath and think. Where in the hell had I put it last? I kept moving things around, reaching for a new token when the current one wasn't helping as much. Suddenly, I think I remember and I dive for the hamper, mentally crossing my fingers as I scrabble for the breast pocket on my shirt.

I sag in relief as my fingers close on the small object. I'd promised everyone that I'd take care of their things and I would have felt horrible if I'd have lost any of them, but especially hers. Double checking to make sure I have all the items, I head back down to join the others.

"Everything all right, Thomas?" Seeing that he's at the bottom of the stairs, I realize that he'd probably felt my worry and was coming to check on me.

"Fine" I assure him. "Just misplaced one of them for a minute." I return their belongings, thanking them once more as I do.

"So, again, do you want to tell us what you needed them for?" Conner asks. He might not be the smartest of them, but he is tenacious.

I look at Kira as I settle back on the couch next to Zedd. "What exactly did you say to them when you talked to them?"

She shrugs lightly. "Just that you had something you had to do and that something from each of us would help you. It needed to be something small and something that would definitely remind you of us."

"Thanks, Kira." I turn my attention to the boys. "I needed to make a statement about what happened to me in rehab." I can't help it when my eyes drop to my hands. "I haven't told you all of it and I'm not going to. Let it suffice to say that I don't like thinking about it and I've been trying to forget it as much as I can. I was - afraid. Kira suggested that I needed things to take with me to remind me that I had all your support."

Silence falls as they absorb this. After a minute, I continue. "It did help - a lot. I don't know why you guys picked those particular things, but I really appreciate it."

Ethan reaches over and pops my knee to get my attention. When I look up, he's grinning. Holding up the flash drive, he asks, "Do you know what's on this?" I shake my head. He laughs a little and says, "It's the program I used to override the sprinkler system, which got me sent to detention."

Conner and Kira laugh as well and I smile, remembering that day. I can feel Zedd's confusion and I murmur, "I'll explain later."

Trent speaks next. "This isn't only an art eraser, not to me. It's the last piece I have of the last art set my parents bought me before they died."

This sobers me slightly and I realize that Trent has gotten past whatever issues he had with me being with Zedd to trust me with something so precious to him. Conner nods. "Yeah, this is important to me too." He looks at the medal in his hand. "This was the first time I'd ever gotten second place in something for soccer. It reminds me that there's always someone better out there that I have to catch to beat."

I look at Kira, who is sitting cross legged on the floor practically at my knee. She smiles awkwardly. "This belonged to my grandfather. When he was my age, he played guitar too. By the time he was about your age, Dr. O, maybe a little older, he started to develop arthritis in his hands and couldn't hold a pick anymore. He was still able to play some, but not like he had. A few years ago, he played one last song for me for my birthday, in spite of the pain in his hands. After that, he gave me that pick and his guitar and he hasn't been able to play since."

"Is that the guitar that you use for your shows?" If so, she's taken incredible care of it and I'd wager Zedd will have to come up with something else for her present given the meaning behind what she already has.

She almost looks horrified. "Oh no! I don't want to take a chance on something happening to it. The one I use is similar, but it's not his." Her voice turns wistful. "One day I'll be able to get a really nice guitar and be able to restore his properly."

"A nice guitar you say" Zedd pipes in, in what I'm sure he thinks is a casual manner. "So, like what sort of guitar?"

"I don't know, there are a few different kinds I'd like to get one day. It'll just take time, that's all."

Smiling as my mate grumbles under his breath about difficult children not giving straight answers, I shake my head at Kira's odd look. "Don't ask."

After a minute, she shakes this off as Conner comments, "Well, I'm glad we could help you for a change, Dr. O. I gotta run though. My dad's expecting me home soon."

"Us too" Ethan agrees.

Stretching and standing, Conner heads for the front hall. "Come on guys, I still gotta drop you all off." The other two boys rise and they all head for the door, calling out goodbyes. I hear the front door open and then sudden silence falls. About to make a joke about them letting wildlife into the house, I stop as Conner snarls out, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to Dr. Oliver. What are you doing here?"

"None of your business" he snaps back. By now I'm on my feet and heading for the door with Zedd right behind me.

"Conner, what's going -" I stop short as I see who is at my door. "What are you doing here, Elsa?"

"Being stupid" Zedd growls in a very similar manner to Conner's earlier demand, even as he tries to step in front of me out of habit I would imagine.

I hear the others scrambling to join us even as she holds her hands up innocently. "Not Elsa, not any more. I'm just Elise Randall now."

"I wasn't real fond of her either" I answer.

"Nor was I fond of her interest in my mate." Ah, so that's what it is then. Recalling a rather snide comment Elsa had baited Zedd with shortly before Mesogog decided to nab me, I lay a grounding hand on his arm.

"Easy, Zedd. No bloodshed in front of the kids, please."

"I smell any trace of her on you and she's losing a limb" he warns in what I'd almost bet is a half truthful manner.

"Fair enough." Somewhat pleased as this makes the woman take a slight step back, I return focus on her and why she's here. "So what do you want?"

"Look, I know that I can't apologize enough for everything I've done or what Mesogog or Zeltrax did-"

"Dropping in uninvited is a bad way to start" Conner mutters, earning him a telling glare from her, but wisely no words of warning.

"Listen, I just came to tell you that the school board has heard that you're back and they're wondering why you haven't contacted them about your job - either to get it back or to resign from it officially."

Crap, I'd forgotten about that. Or rather, I'd assumed that I didn't have a job to come back to anymore.

"And how'd they hear that?" Dar questions.

"Well, being seen around town aside, your friend there" Pointing at Zedd, though careful to keep her finger far enough away that he can't grab it, she continues sternly "decided to get into a slight altercation a few days back at the school."

"With who?" Looking at him in surprise as I hadn't heard of this, I'm unsurprised as he looks slightly guilty.

"With her" Goldar supplies calmly. "So don't act like he was solely at fault, female. You baited him into it."

"Regardless, in that state of mind, it might have led to me mentioning your return." Great.

I shrug. "I'll send them a letter of resignation, then. I'm not going to be around all that long and, even so, supposedly I'm still damaged enough that I certainly wouldn't be able to teach anymore."

"I'd suggest that you double check your contract and make sure that you don't miss any steps in resigning. There's one or two that are throwing around phrases like 'breach of contract'."

"Really? Suffering massive trauma to the head counts as a breach of contract?" Seeming unimpressed, Dar shakes his head. "I'll look over them with you if you want, Tommy."

"Thanks." I sigh. This was supposed to be a simple, relaxed visit to get a few things done and go home not business, interviews, and contracts. Looking back at Elsa I give a nod. "Okay I'll handle it tomorrow. Thanks for the warning."

"And don't worry. I'm not going to tell anyone that you're pretty well recovered."

"That would be in your best interest" Zedd agrees shooing her along as she turns and leaves, the boys following her shortly. The rest of us head into the living room when Kira sets her hand on my arm.

"Um, Dr. O, I have to leave in a little while too, but can I talk to you first? Alone?"

"Sure." I lead her to the kitchen and we both sit down. "What's up?"

She takes a breath. "I don't know if Zedd told you or not, but I had a few other things I wanted to tell you after you made your statement." Oh boy, this is probably not going to be good.

Trying to seem unworried about it, I shake my head. "No, he didn't, but whatever you want to talk about I'll listen."

"I know I'm just a kid and this might not mean much, but I'm proud of you and proud to know you. You've been a hero one way or another ever since you started using the Green Ranger powers for good, but it's always been your alter ego - what ever color it was." A lump forms in my throat as she bites her lip for a moment and then continues softly. "Yesterday, you became a real hero. You, Tommy Oliver - not the Ranger, just a man doing the best he can with the hand that life dealt him. You showed real courage, Dr. O. Thanks for showing me what that looks like." She stands up, gives me a hug and a quick peck on the cheek and then she's gone as I sit there stunned.