Disclaimer: Some of the dialogue used in this chapter is not mine; it belongs to Disney and the writers of Dino Thunder.
Author's Note: I have to say I never imagined the kind of support I was going to get for this story. It was just an idea that popped into my head one day and I didn't even know if it was going to work. Now I'm happy to say that there may even be the possibility of a sequel but I haven't made up my mind yet.
PrettyDiva: I think there will be lots of T/Kat time in the chapters to come. Trust me I don't plan on stopping the T/Kat stories anytime soon.
Ghostwriter: Thanks again for your support. I'll always remember you as my first reviewer and I'm glad you're still reading my fics.
Pinkstranger: It's nice to have you back reviewing. Don't worry there will be plenty more Tommy/Kat fics to come. I hope you're planning on writing some as well.
Purple Strobe: Yeah, I like being able to include Kat's missions. I plan on including a few more before this fic is done. It's just not always easy to fit them in. But I try my best.
PurpleRanger76: Celebrate away; I'm glad to finally have Tommy back in this fic where he belongs. As for him hooking up with Kat, only time will tell, they will be spending a lot more time together.
Kat woke up and was immediately unfamiliar with her surroundings. She realized that she was lying in a bed and was very aware that there was someone lying next to her.
"Good morning," Tommy said as he turned to look at her.
"How did I get here, the last thing I remember is sitting on your couch watching a movie, I don't even remember the ending," she replied.
"That's because you fell asleep after thirty minutes," he told her.
"Sorry, I guess I was more tired than I thought," she said.
"It's my fault, I should have known it was too late to start a movie but I just couldn't help wanting to keep you here longer," Tommy replied.
"That's really sweet, I would have figured you'd be tired of me hanging around all the time," Kat said.
For the past week, Kat had been over to Tommy's house for dinner every night. Most times they had ordered food but there had been a few that Tommy had actually decided to cook for her. They would spend all night sharing old memories about high school and all the adventures they had together as rangers which usually ended with the two of them falling asleep together on Tommy's couch.
"You still didn't say how I ended up in your bedroom," Kat spoke after the two of them had been lying in silence for a few minutes.
"I couldn't bring myself to wake you and I didn't want you driving home so late at night, so instead of falling asleep with you on the couch I carried you up here instead, I hope you don't mind," he explained.
"I don't mind at all, it's definitely a nice change from waking up on the couch," she said as they both laughed.
"Remember that time your dad was leaving for work one morning and he found the two of us together asleep on the couch," Tommy replied.
"Yeah, he was so mad that you spent the night, I don't think I've ever seen my dad quite so angry," Kat said with a smile.
"I didn't go back over to your house for a week because I was afraid your dad wanted to kill me," Tommy revealed.
"I would've never let that happen," Kat replied.
"You know, I'd forgotten how good this feels," Tommy said.
"How good what feels?" Kat questioned.
"Being here with you, this past week has been great, I'd forgotten how easy it was talking to you or how nice it was to wake up and have you been the first thing I see when I opened my eyes," he explained.
"It's amazing, after all these years we just fall back into the same routine," Kat commented.
"Kat, look I know it may be a little late but I want to apologize for the way things ended between us," Tommy said as he sat up.
"Oh Tommy, our breakup was a mutual decision, we both made the choice to stop the whole long distance dating thing and just remain friends," Kat responded.
"Yeah, but that was only after I got so busy with racing that I stopped communicating with you all together, I was such a jerk for not putting as much time into our relationship that you did," Tommy replied.
"I'm just sorry that even though we decided to remain friends we didn't stay in contact," Kat told him.
"If wasn't because I didn't want to," Tommy said.
"You know, that night we danced at Anton's party, you never answered my question," Kat told him.
"What question was that?" Tommy asked.
"You said you wanted to call me, so why didn't you," Kat replied.
"The truth is, I was afraid that you had moved on, that you had finally found a guy who could treat you the way that you deserved and I just couldn't bear the thought of it, so it was better just not knowing," Tommy informed her.
"I don't believe this," Kat said laughing slightly.
"What's so funny?" Tommy questioned.
"Sometimes you and I are so alike it's scary," Kat replied.
"I'm not sure I understand," Tommy told her.
"It's just that I didn't call you for the exact same reason, I had this fear that I'd call and you'd tell me that you discovered that your feelings for Kimberly had never went away and that the two of you had gotten back together, I guess I was still dealing with my old high school insecurities," she explained.
"If only we had just taken a chance and tried to find each other," Tommy commented.
"Maybe we would have gotten back together," Kat said.
"Then this would have probably been our house together maybe we'd even be married with a family by now," Tommy said and there was silence in the room.
Neither of them knew what to say. It wasn't doing them any good to talk about what ifs. They couldn't change the past and those years they had spent apart were gone.
"Kat…." Tommy finally whispered.
"Tommy…." She whispered at the same time as she looked up at him.
Tommy leaned down and kissed her. She kissed him back and felt an intensity that she hadn't felt in years. The kissing continued as Kat lay back on the bed with Tommy on top of her. He kissed her harder, and she got lost in the moment. Neither of them noticed the sound of the footsteps that walked up the stairs and were headed towards the bedroom.
"Dr. O, are you awake," Conner's voice came through the door as he knocked.
The sound of the knocking brought them back to reality and they broke apart. Tommy rolled off of her and got up from the bed.
"Conner, what are you doing here?" Tommy called.
"Weren't we supposed to train today?" Conner asked back.
"Yeah, I'm sorry I must have forgotten, why don't you guys wait for me in the backyard, I'll be down in a minute," Tommy said as he opened the door slightly.
"Um, sure, are you ok?" Conner questioned sensing that something wasn't right with his teacher.
"I'm fine," Tommy said as he closed the door.
"I should go, I have a million things to take care of at the office," Kat said as she walked towards the door.
"Kat, wait," Tommy called as he followed her downstairs.
"Hey Kat," Kira said as Kat appeared in the living room.
"I guess that solves the mystery of whose car is parked outside," Ethan commented.
"Oh good morning you guys, I was just leaving, I'm late for work," Kat said as she grabbed her purse and headed for the front door.
"Kat, I'm sorry, I completely forgot they were coming over," Tommy said as he followed her to her car.
"It's fine Tommy, really, we'll talk later," Kat said as she got in the car and left.
Half an hour later, Kat arrived back at her apartment. She was just putting the key in the door when she heard Will's door open from behind her.
"Another late night at Tommy's I see," Will said as she unlocked her door.
"Not that it's any of your business but yes I did spend the night at Tommy's though it's not what you think," Kat replied as she went inside and Will followed her.
"I hope not because any romantic involvement with Tommy is out of the question until this case is solved," Will told her.
"I'm well aware of that thank you, now if you'll kindly get out of my apartment, I want to take a shower," she said.
A few days later, Conner, Ethan and Trent run into each other in the parking lot as they are arriving at school.
"Conner, I really wish you hadn't been making all those jokes about Dr. O and Kat, I'm still sore from that work out," Ethan said as they walked towards the school.
"Yeah, I don't think Dr. O's ever worked us out that hard," Trent agreed.
"Hey, you both know you wanted to do it too, don't get mad at me for having the guts to say something," Conner replied.
"That's the point, you shouldn't have said anything at all," Ethan told him as they arrived inside.
They started to walk down the hallway when Conner stops them. He stops to stare at a girl who is hanging posters on the wall.
"There she is, the future Mrs. Conner McKnight," Conner said as he watched her.
"You might want to get a reality check," Ethan told him.
"Don't be a hater," Conner replied.
"I'm with Ethan on this one, she's kinda deep and you're..," Trent said.
"Not so deep," Ethan finished.
"I didn't want to say it," Trent admitted.
"You guys are supposed to back me up, now observe," Conner said as he walked over to her.
"You're Krista, right?" Conner asked.
"Yeah, that's me," she said as she walked away.
"Hey, wait I wanted to ask about your poster, so there's a tree that needs saving," Conner said.
"It's over a hundred years old and Randall wants to tear it down for a parking lot," Krista answered.
"That seems like such an injustice," Conner told her.
"It's a crime against nature, that's what it is," Krista replied.
"Then where do I sign up?" Conner inquired.
"You want to help?" Krista asked.
"Sure, whatever you need just ask and I'll do it," Conner replied.
"Ok, fine, I've seen you at the cyberspace and I know you hang out with Dr. Oliver a lot," Krista said.
"You want me to ask him to help with the protest?" Conner asked interrupting him.
"Actually, I was hoping you could talk to Katherine Hillard, I understand she and Dr. Oliver are friends and I could really use someone from the E.P.A. on my side," Krista answered.
"Sure, I can talk to Kat, no problem," Conner said.
Later that day, Kat and Will arrived at the protest.
"Tell me again why we're at this thing?" Will asked.
"Because we've supposed to be working for the E.P.A. and this is just the kind of thing that everyone would expect us to be a part of," Kat answered.
"Dude, this is so wrong, you don't even care about his tree," Ethan said as he and Conner stood in front of the crowd of protesters.
"She doesn't need to know that, I just need to make it look like I do," Conner replied unaware that Krista is standing behind him and has heard everything.
"Just as I thought, you can't teach an old jock new tricks, why don't you leave this to the people who really do care," Krista said as she stormed off.
Principal Randall arrives then with a bullhorn. "Get those men working, I have permits!" Randall yelled.
Randall orders that the tree be knocked down, but Krista stands in the way. The worker shuts down the machine, but a piece of the equipment fails. Using his super speed, Conner manages to save Krista from being crushed.
"We need to talk about this before someone really gets hurt," Tommy said to Principal Randall.
"We'll talk but there's nothing you can say to change my mind but we'll have a chat and resume this tomorrow," Randall told him.
"You're not jealous are you?" Will questioned as Kat stared at the exchange between Tommy and Randall.
"Don't be ridiculous, let's go," Kat said as she turned around and walked away.
Everyone soon leaves, but Devin who is tied to the tree is left behind. Elsewhere, Conner apologizes to Krista and promises that nothing will happen to the tree as long as he's around. Later, Zeltrax steals the "serum of life" from the tree and orders Devin to tell the rangers he has returned. After Devin runs off, Elsa arrives and is surprised that Zeltrax is still alive. He then absorbs the serum, energizing himself, and easily defeats her. Afterwards, he turns the tree into a monster known as Deadwood.
At the cyberspace, Devin tells Cassidy what happened, and Krista and the rangers overhear.
"Where are you going?" Conner asked as Krista got up from the table.
"Didn't you hear what he said, I have to go there," Krista told him.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Conner replied.
"If you're too afraid, I'll go there by myself," Krista told him.
"I just think we should leave it to people who know what they're doing," Conner said.
"I knew it, you haven't changed at all," she said as she ran out.
The teens head for Tommy's where Hayley explains to them the tree has been growing on a fountain of youth. They see Krista on the screen at the tree site and Conner walks away with Tommy following him.
"Are you alright?" Tommy asked.
"I don't think I'm cut out for this superhero stuff," Conner answered.
"Still having doubts," Tommy questioned.
"I just look at Krista who believes so strongly in something that nothing can stop her but I don't know if I have that in me," Conner admitted.
"You crack me up, you remind me so much of myself when I was your age, I had all this ability and raw emotion but it took me awhile to get the confidence to believe in myself," Tommy told him.
"I've got confidence," Conner stated.
"Confidence and cockiness are two different things, there's a whole world you haven't even tapped into yet, beyond Triassic and Super Dino Mode, but you got to believe you deserve it, and when you do you'll be blown away by what you can do," Tommy replied.
The monitors then began to beep and Triptoids are detected. Ethan, Kira and Conner go to fight them. They quickly discover that Elsa and the Evil White Ranger are there too. Tommy soon joins in the fight and the rangers notice that the Triptoids are unusually strong. Tommy tells them to use their dino gem powers to deactivate the Triptoids. After they defeat them, a super-powered Zeltrax arrives with Deadwood, who then grows.
They bring out their megazords to fight him. Meanwhile, Trent arrives to fight Zeltrax while Tommy tells Conner to combine the megazord with the other dino zords. After Deadwood is destroyed, Zeltrax takes a piece of the tree and returns to the fountain of youth. He then throws the piece into it and absorbs more power. When he sees Krista, he kidnaps her and Conner follows. When he realizes that Zeltrax is too powerful, Conner manages to summon a Battlizer after remembering what Tommy told him earlier about finding his inner power. He then saves Krista and seemingly destroys Zeltrax.
Back at the tree site, Tommy walks with Kira, Ethan and Trent.
"The only downfall in all this is that Zeltrax wiped out the eternity spring, it could have helped a lot of people," Trent commented.
"Yeah but like anything good too much could be bad," Tommy told him.
"Good news about the new tree," Conner said as he walked with Krista.
"Yeah, I guess the city decided it was better than a new parking lot," Krista replied.
"You have Kat to thank for that," Will told them.
"All I did was make a few phone calls," Kat revealed.
"Thank you so much, Ms. Hillard," Krista said as she gave Kat a hug.
"Listen Krista, I'm sorry for acting like a jerk but if you give me a chance I know I can change," Conner told her.
"Want to do the honors?" Krista asked as she handed him a shovel.
"To new beginnings," Conner said as he planted the tree.
"That was a really nice thing you did," Tommy said as he walked over to Kat.
"It was nothing, it's my job to protect the environment, I only wish I could have saved the old tree," Kat told him.
"You always put everyone else's needs above your own," Tommy replied.
"Old habits die hard I guess," Kat said.
"So feel like going for a cup of coffee?" he asked.
"I wish I could but we have to get back to the office," Kat replied seeing the disappointment in his face.
"Ready to go?" Will asked.
"See you later Tommy," Kat said as she walked off with Will.
"Why did you just lie to him, we have the day off remember," Will said when they reached her car.
"Weren't you the one who said that I needed to start concentrating on the mission, how can I do that if I continue spending time with him," Kat replied.
"You've fallen for him again, haven't you?" Will inquired.
"What, no, of course not," Kat answered.
"Yes, you have, I can see it in your eyes," he told her.
"I'm not going to get into this with you, I'll meet you at the office," she said as she got into her car and drove off.