Tommy sprinted through Central Park, moving towards the battle that he could hear in the distance. He had just finished his night class when the first ranger reached out to him and he heard the panic in Julia's voice. Something was going wrong and from her desperation he knew that his only option was to get to them.
He wished that he had given Kimberly at least a communicator for times like this, but he pushed on as he continued to sprint towards the noise. He was not sure what he was running into, but he knew he was their best chance at survival. As he got closer, he saw the fire and let out a sigh. That was not something he had wanted to see. He had hoped that it would just be a minor fight and that they were still unsure of themselves- this was not that.
"Dr. O!" Shelby yelled as he looked across the street and saw her pinned down by the fire and he scanned the area for the other rangers. He quickly assessed who was in the most danger and realized it wasn't Shelby. She could get out. The boys were in danger.
"Shel- go up and over, you can get out. Julia's just in front of you!" Tommy yelled as he saw the pink ranger continuing to kick ass and take names. He didn't know what this team would do without her at this point. He moved towards the other side of the battle and saw Brandon pinned down. Cameron and Patrick were holding their own, but barely. He charged in towards Brandon, barely stopping the monster from landing what would have been a deadly strike.
"Dr. O?" Brandon asked and he could tell he was very close to passing out. Great- this was going to hurt.
Tommy absorbed the next blow, as he bought the rest of the team more time to move towards Brandon's location. He hoped that this wasn't going to leave bruises, but he knew that it was likely. Kimberly might not be asking about what was going on in the ranger world, but she wasn't stupid. Huge bruises would be a dead giveaway that he had had to get more involved than he intended. He knew that the questions then would not be ones he wanted to answer.
"Morph, damn it!" Tommy barked and the rangers quickly morphed, throwing away the monster for a moment and he cracked his neck as he looked at the situation. "Finish it."
The rangers quickly swarmed the monster and Tommy moved out of the way. He had bought them time, but he shouldn't have been needed. Not if they were clicking on all cylinders. And they weren't. They were no where near close to a cohesive team as they took down the monster. How had he missed this?
"What was that?" Tommy yelled as the rangers turned back to normal and he glared at them. "Have you learned nothing from the lessons?"
"We fight better. We just got overwhelmed," Julia defended as Tommy ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head. "What more do you expect from us?"
"To work as a unit. To actually care about each other. Hell, maybe learn to like each other more than tolerate each other," Tommy shot back and the rangers gave him a shocked look. "Tell me you see each other more than fights and training."
"That wasn't part of the deal," Cameron said and Tommy closed his eyes. Of course, the Command Center had expected them to bond, but this was different. This wasn't Angel Grove or Reefside- this was Manhattan and they were bound to have lives outside of being rangers.
"It's the only way that it will work. The only way that your team will survive what is coming after you. You need to move into the Command Center," Tommy stated as they walked away from the battle and they glanced back and forth at each of them. He could tell they didn't like the sound of living together. He didn't like the idea of being pulled into every minor battle that had more than a marginal monster. Kimberly would eventually notice the damage and kill him. He preferred her pretending to not notice when he did mentor duties- she couldn't ignore if he was hurt too badly.
"Dr. O- that's not necessary," Shelby started and he raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her. "We'll hang out, we'll become friends."
"How much is your rent a month?" Tommy asked and they all quieted. He knew how much it had to be and he knew how much free housing could mean. It was not a fair card to play, but it was one he was willing ot play considering how important it was to get them to become a real team. "The Command Center is free and I know it's not ideal, but as long as you're in school…"
"You're bargaining?" Patrick asked and Tommy nodded as they moved onto a crowded street and he watched as each of them covered up wounds and other marks as emergency workers streamed past them. He was sure that someone called in the blaze and the general commotion that came along with rangers.
"It's better than having to walk home through this every time," Tommy said as they moved towards a subway stop and he nodded at them. He was still leery about the subway and did not feel like he wanted to push his luck tonight. "Think about it, but trust me when I say this is what you're missing."
"Dr. O?" Cameron said as he walked into the dojo early for their Thursday evening lesson. Grant had pointed him towards the office when he'd come in looking for Tommy and he was not sure he wanted to bother him, but knew that this was important."
"You're early. Really early," Tommy remarked as he checked his watch and then motioned for Cameron to sit down. "What's going on?"
"I talked with Shelby about what you said and- we're in. We'll stay here. I don't know if that'll get the others to join in, but it's a start," Cameron said and Tommy just nodded. "You should know..."
"You like her?" Tommy interjected and Cameron gave him a shocked look before nodding. "It was bound to happen with a few of you. Just be careful, Cam and remember that the rest of the team is also your responsibility. I was never great at remembering that when Kimberly was involved."
"Should I...we...tell the others?" Cameron asked and Tommy shrugged. It had never been a question with him and Kimberly- the team had watched them fall in love and fall out of love. Nothing about their relationship had ever had the opportunity to be private. "What did you do?"
"It's not quite that simple. If I could go back and do it again- I would have given the two of us a chance to learn more about each other without so many people watching us, but we didn't get that. We still don't get that. If you can take it- I would. They'll know eventually, Cam," Tommy stated and Cameron just nodded. He looked around the office and then awkwardly stood up. "If you go out the back door- there is a stairwell with a reader- wave your morpher in front of it and it'll let you down into the Command Center. Last week a bunch of individual rooms and bathrooms appeared, pick the ones you want."
"Thank you- we'll work on the others," Cameron said as he moved to the back door and then disappeared. Tommy pushed away some of the paperwork on his desk and let out a sigh. He was glad that a couple of the rangers were moving in, but he knew that it was bringing this closer to home and closer to Kimberly truly understanding how much mentoring would interfere with their lives.
AN: If you or someone you know are struggling, call the Suicide and Crisis lifeline at 988 (for the U.S.). Please do not suffer in silence, reach out and get the help you need.
