Babysitting Tommy
The doorbell rang and Vida's head shot up. Scrambling to her feet, she darted for the door to see who it was. Tommy and Madison exchanged glances, shrugging. Madison went back to taking her turn. They were at the Rocca house playing a board game. Jason had run upstairs to finish getting ready to leave while they kept playing. He had to run out for a while, so Tommy was going to babysit the girls while he was gone. Their parents were out of town for the weekend.
"Who's here?" Jason called as he came back down the stairs.
"One of your friends and a kid I don't know," Vida called back.
Jason rolled his eyes, continuing to the door to see who it was. Tommy watched suspiciously, though he didn't say anything. A moment later, Vida came darting back into the room, dropping back on the floor by the game and sprawling out on her stomach again. She was followed a little more slowly by Jason, Kat, and Justin.
"Hey Tommy!" Justin exclaimed, bouncing over to sit next to him.
"Hey, Justin," Tommy said, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "What are you doing here?"
He looked up at Jason as he asked the question, glaring at his best friend. Jason shrugged as Kat rushed over to give Tommy a hug.
"How are you doing?" she asked, hugging him tightly.
"I'm fine," he said. "And Jason knows it. He's also leaving and I'm babysitting. So why are you guys here?"
Kat shrugged, smiling.
"You haven't been home in forever," she said. "And we wanted to see you. The girls don't mind if we're here, do you?"
She smiled at Madison and Vida. They both smiled back.
"We don't mind," Madison agreed.
"Yeah, now there are more people to play games with," Vida grinned.
Tommy sighed, shooting another glare at Jason. Jason grinned back at him. Tommy knew why they were there, or at least he had a really good guess. It had only been a few weeks since they got the news about Zordon after the whole fiasco with the space rangers. After their families had left to return to Angel Grove, Tommy had a hard time for a week or so, spiraling back downward again in regards to controlling his magic. Jason had needed to come home for the weekend to watch the girls, so he'd brought Tommy. But even after the camping weekend he was still paranoid, so he had probably called Kat to see if she could come over while he had to go out for a few hours. Justin would have tagged along without a second thought.
"I'd better get going," Jason said, glancing at his watch. "Call me if you need anything."
"We'll be fine, Jason," Tommy said evenly. "We'll see you when you get back."
Nodding, Jason turned and headed out the door.
"So, what are we playing?" Kat asked.
"Monopoly," Madison answered. "But we can play something else now. Sis has pretty much lost anyways…"
Vida glared at her, but Madison just grinned back.
"Why don't we go outside for a while?" Tommy suggested. "We can't go to the park, but we can do something out in the backyard."
Liking the idea, Madison and Vida quickly put the game away and headed outside, Justin not far behind.
"Hey Tommy," Vida said, pausing.
"Yeah?" he said.
"Can we see if Chip and Xander can come over?" she asked. "Jason said maybe earlier, but I forgot to ask again before he left. Just until dinner."
He smiled.
"Sure," he said. "I don't see why not."
"Yes!" she said, darting back into the house to call them.
A short time later, Xander and Chip joined the group in the backyard. Kat and Tommy sat down in chairs as they watched the kids kick a soccer ball around in circles.
"This is good for Justin," Tommy said, smiling as he watched the youngest ranger running around. "He doesn't spend a lot of time with kids his age anymore. I mean, there's only a two year age gap between them."
"It's hard for him to connect with them sometimes," Kat said softly. "He's too much one of us now and with most of us away at school—or living somewhere completely different—he really doesn't know what to do with himself anymore."
"Yeah…" Tommy sighed. "When does he graduate?"
"Next year," Kat answered. "He still has to decide where he wants to go."
Tommy nodded and they both fell silent, laughing as Xander and Chip collided over the ball.
"So how are you really doing?" Kat asked.
Taking a deep breath, Tommy shrugged.
"Some days are worse than others," he finally answered. "It's been harder since—well, since last month…But it's getting better again. Jason is planning on moving out before the start of fall semester."
"So you'll be by yourself again?" Kat said, a note of concern in her voice.
"Nope," Tommy grumbled. "Hayley decided I need a permanent roommate…She's going to be signing the lease in the next month and taking the other bedroom as soon as Jason moves out…"
Kat laughed.
"So when do the rest of us get to meet her?" she asked. "We've heard a lot about Hayley, but she still hasn't been around to meet all of us. I know I haven't actually met her yet."
Tommy sighed.
"You'll meet her sooner or later I'm sure," he said. "She—"
He cut off, ducking as the soccer ball went flying over his head. Turning to see where it had come from, he saw Chip looking at him with wide eyes.
"Whoops," he said.
Tommy laughed, grabbing the ball.
"Alright," he said. "Let me show you how you're supposed to kick this thing."
He jogged over to join them. After a moment, Kat hopped up and followed. Soon the four kids and the three rangers were completely engrossed in a game of soccer.
Speeding up the driveway toward Tommy's house, Jason hung up with Adam. It had taken him a lot longer to get to Hayley's house than he'd planned on. Getting Mark to Trini's parents had been quite the affair—especially with the little boy being sick. It had taken a while just to get out of the house and then, once he dropped Mark off, it had taken a while for Jason to get away from his in-laws. He'd had to do some creative thinking to explain why he was dropping Mark off at their house after one in the morning. Seeing the blue jeep parked outside, he frowned as he parked and climbed out. He stared for a moment, sure he was seeing things.
"That can't be," he muttered, shaking his head. "There's no way."
The jeep beeped at him, flashing its headlights. Jason groaned.
"Oh, that's great," he sighed, turning to head up to the house. "But how—why do I even bother asking? It had to be Tommy."
He stopped suddenly as a thought occurred to him.
"That's why he won't let anyone up at the cabin!" he exclaimed, hurrying up onto the porch. "He's got Lightning!"
Shaking his head and muttering to himself, Jason reached for the door handle. He froze again when he realized it was already open. Walking in cautiously, he glanced around for a reason as to why the door might be open.
"Hayley?" he called, not immediately seeing or hearing anyone. "Hayley!"
"Back here!" she called from the direction of the office.
Frowning, Jason shut the door and headed down the hall toward Tommy's office.
"Hayley?" he said again, walking inside. "Justin? When did you get here?
Justin's head came up briefly from his computer screen to grin at Jason, but Hayley barely acknowledged his presence.
"You know your front door was open, right?" Jason said, looking at Hayley.
"Then close it," she snapped, not looking up.
"I already did," Jason grumbled. "And why aren't you down in the lab?"
Hayley sighed, looking up at him.
"Oh, I don't know Jason," she said shortly. "I guess I thought Tommy's run-of-the-mill work laptop would work far better than my state-of-the-art system down in the lab."
"And we're locked out," Justin added, glancing up from his computer again. "We're really not sure how Tommy did it, but we really can't get that door open."
Jason whipped around to look at Justin in surprise and then back at Hayley.
"You found him?" he exclaimed. "Where?"
"I did," Justin corrected. "And he was wandering down a road several miles outside of Briarwood."
Jason sighed in relief.
"Good," he said. "But why aren't you down there with him?"
Hayley rolled her eyes.
"Because he locked the door before we could catch up to him," she said, glaring at him. "I believe I already said that."
"Hayley," Jason said slowly. "We're talking about Tommy. How did he lock you out of your own lab?"
"I don't know!" she snapped. "The man can barely reset his own password some days without locking himself out and somehow he's managed to lock me out. I have a master override and it's not working!"
Jason put his hands up.
"Ok, ok," he said. "Have you tried just prying open the door?"
Hayley paused, glaring up at him again.
"No," she said. "The crowbar is just lying there for decorative purposes."
Jason looked at the floor by the trapdoor. There was indeed a crowbar lying there.
"Ok, didn't see that," he said sheepishly. "What about any of the other doors? Have you tried them?"
Hayley took a deep breath, giving him a look that said she was reaching a breaking point.
"Nope, didn't think of that," she said. "Two geniuses in the room and we had to wait for the average mind to arrive to remember that there are other entrances to try. Thank you oh so much for sharing your brilliant ideas."
Short rant over, she went back to her computer. Justin grinned at the slightly shocked Jason.
"We tried," he said. "Every single door. They're all the same. Nothing will open…"
Jason sighed, running a hand over his head.
"Alright," he said. "Well… hmm…"
He frowned, glancing at the trapdoor again as he tried to think of another way to get down in the lab.
"Is there any way to break through the ceiling of one of the tunnels?" he asked after a moment.
Hayley sighed, looking up from her computer.
"Oh, yes," she said. "As long as you have a way to break through several feet of nearly solid rock—not to mention the ten inches of steel reinforcing the tunnel ceilings put in place to keep it from collapsing again."
"Ah…" Jason said. "Wait! Have you talked to Trent yet?"
Hayley set the computer aside this time, crossing her arms as she glared at Jason from her chair.
"Oh, no," she said. "I completely forgot to talk to him. Maybe I should give him a call—oh, wait. He's on a jet flying back from the Bahamas and they haven't landed yet!"
Grabbing the computer again, she went back to ignoring Jason. Justin was laughing in his seat on the floor, doubled over his computer.
"Forgot about that," Jason mumbled, clearly embarrassed.
"Obviously," Hayley said. "Now, unless you'd like to try prying up the door, please shut up so I can concentrate on what I'm doing. I am getting in there one way or another."
Jason started to open his mouth to counter, but decided against it. Leaning against the wall, he settled in to wait. For a long time it was quiet as Hayley and Justin kept their focus on their computers. Sometime later, they all glanced up to the sound of rushed footsteps in the hallway. Trent burst into the room followed closely by his father.
"Hayley?" he said, his gaze going straight to her. "What's going on? Have you heard anything else?"
Seeing Trent and Anton, Hayley was up on her feet in relief.
"Oh thank goodness," she said.
"Did you find Dr. O?" Trent asked anxiously, glancing at Jason and Justin before turning back to Hayley. "Is there any news at all?"
"We found him," Hayley said, smiling faintly.
Trent let out a sigh of relief, as did Anton.
"I found him," Justin added proudly.
Hayley shot him a look.
"Thank you, Justin," she said shortly. "Yes, I am extremely grateful that you found him, but if you don't stop saying that I'm going to give you something else to find—like a virus."
Justin's eyes widened.
"Umm… I'm hungry," he said quickly. "Do you have snacks?"
"Justin, we have Conner as a frequent guest in this house," she said drily.
"Right," he said, closing his computer and heading for the door. "You have snacks."
He darted out the door, grinning at Trent and Anton as he passed.
"Ok," Trent said, shaking his head. "Umm… Where is Dr. O?"
He frowned as he looked around the office, his eyes momentarily falling on the crowbar by the trapdoor.
"Uh—Hayley?" he said slowly. "Why is there a crowbar on the floor?"
She sighed, rubbing a hand over her face.
"He locked himself in the lab," she said. "And no, I have no idea. But I haven't been able to get down there and he's been alone for a couple of hours now…"
She glanced at the clock on the wall and was surprised to see that it was already five in the morning. The search for Tommy and finding him had gone on all night.
"Trent, please?" she pleaded. "We need to get that door open. Justin said he's hurt."
He nodded.
"I'm on it," he said.
Walking over to the trap door, he crouched down and phased through the floor, disappearing from sight. With Trent down in the lab, Anton turned to Hayley.
"Hayley, now what happened?" he asked in concern. "Trent didn't give me the full story, but this is not like Tommy at all."
"I don't know the full story myself," she sighed. "But something happened in Briarwood last night…"
Taking a deep breath, she started explaining everything she knew. Jason listened quietly, wanting to hear everything himself. By the time she was done, Justin was back and he took over, explaining how he had found Tommy and what he could about his injuries. But when he was done, there was still no sign of Trent. Finally, about thirty minutes after Trent had disappeared, the trapdoor slowly creaked open. Everyone spun to see Trent pushing it open so he could walk out.
"Door is open," he said. "Sorry it took so long, but he really did a number on it. He pretty much disconnected all of the wires…"
"Of course he did," Hayley sighed, starting to dart for the stairs.
"Hayley, wait," Trent said, catching her before she could run down. "I think you should know before you go down there—someone really beat on him. He's passed out on the couch now, but…"
She paused, frowning at Trent.
"What do you mean?" she growled.
Trent took a deep breath.
"Well," he said slowly. "He's got a really bad burn on the back of his left shoulder and I think it might be dislocated…"
Everyone winced, most of them having felt that at one point or another.
"He's also got bruises everywhere and a couple other glancing burns," Trent continued. "It looks like someone may have tied him up at one point…"
There was a sharp intake of breath around the room. Stepping around Trent, Hayley stalked down the stairs into the lab with everyone trailing behind her. Down in the lab, Hayley rushed right over to Tommy who was stretched out on his right side on the couch. Jason, who had been the next behind Hayley, paused at the bottom of the stairs.
"Trent," he said, frowning. "What is that?"
He pointed off to the side where a long board with several nails still sticking out was leaning against the wall. There was a hammer a few more nails on the ground, too. Trent stopped to look.
"Oh, right," he said. "Dr. O had that nailed up over the trapdoor to keep it shut."
"No wonder we couldn't pry it open," Jason muttered as they all moved over to join Hayley. "He was really determined to keep everyone else out."
"Yep," Trent said, stopping next to Hayley.
She had sat carefully on the couch next to him and was gently shaking his shoulder.
"Tommy?" she said, trying to wake him up. "Sweetheart, wake up."
He just groaned, shifting and turning his head away from her. As he moved his head, though, something caught her attention. With a sharp gasp, Hayley reached over and tugged his shirt down out of the way.
"And that's the worst thing I saw," Trent said grimly as they all stared in shock.
There was a darkening bruise that wrapped all the way around Tommy's throat.
"Someone is going to regret this," Jason growled.
Hurried footsteps on the stairs announced more people and they all glanced over to see Conner, Kira, and Ethan running down the stairs.
"Hayley, did you find—Dr. O!" Conner exclaimed, seeing their teacher on the couch.
Looking relieved, the three rangers joined them. But when they reached the couch, they all froze. Hayley was still examining the bruise around Tommy's neck.
"Someone's gonna die," Conner snarled, whipping back around. "Let's go."
He started to stalk back toward the stairs with Kira, Ethan, and Trent following. But Jason quickly moved to intercept them, catching Conner by the arm.
"Hold on, Conner," Jason said. "You can't just take off like that."
"Wanna bet?" Conner snapped, yanking his arm away. "Watch me."
He started toward the stairs again, but Jason just planted himself in the way.
"You can't go running in without knowing anything," Jason said firmly, crossing his arms. "I want to make them pay as much as you do. He's my teammate and I'm not about to let someone get away with this, but you have no idea what you're getting into running into this blind."
"He's on my team, now," Conner growled. "And we can handle this. So get out of the way."
Conner tried to push past Jason, but the older ranger just caught him by the shoulder. Getting more frustrated now, Conner tried to pull away again. This time Jason didn't just let go.
"You aren't going anywhere," Jason said firmly, keeping his grip on Conner's shoulder.
"Let me go!" Conner exclaimed.
He tried spinning and shoving Jason off of him, but that just gave Jason a chance to put the younger ranger in a headlock. Soon they were struggling with each other as Conner tried to escape for the door and Jason tried to hold him back. Jason held the advantage of more training and his physical build, but Conner wasn't going down without a fight and Tommy had taught him well.
"Conner, maybe Jason's right," Kira said as they watched in exasperation. "We don't even know who did this to him."
"I don't care!" Conner snarled, elbowing Jason in the ribs. "We can figure that out when we get there."
After a moment or two of struggling, Jason finally pinned Conner to the floor. He used his weight to hold the younger ranger there, though Conner was still trying.
"I believe Jason is correct in his assessment," Anton commented quietly, now standing with the rest of Dino Thunder. "Conner, defending Tommy may be the right thing to do, but if you run in blind you may only get yourselves hurt."
"They're right, man," Ethan reluctantly agreed. "We need more info. Then we can go kick some butt."
With everyone agreeing with Jason, Conner stopped struggling.
"Fine," he muttered. "We'll wait. But someone is going to pay for this."
Jason eyed the younger red for a moment before hesitantly letting him up. He knew if Conner really wanted to disappear he could be gone before Jason could move. But Conner just stalked back over to Tommy and Hayley with the others.
"So what are you going to do, Jason?" Hayley asked, looking up at him. "Because if you don't do something, I will—and I don't have to play by your rules. Tommy was in Briarwood as a civilian, not a ranger."
Jason grimaced. He hadn't thought about that. While Hayley had agreed years ago to follow the Code in anything involving the rangers, she was right that it didn't apply to the current situation. Tommy had not gone to Briarwood as a ranger, so she could retaliate as she pleased.
"I'll start by going to Briarwood," Jason said after a moment. "There have got to be answers there somewhere. I have a good guess where a few of the bruises came from—Adam said Tommy got caught in the middle of a rather explosive fight."
Hayley sighed.
"Oh, I know," she said. "I dragged that out of them hours ago. But that doesn't account for everything. Something happened to Tommy after he left Rocky and Adam—I want to know what."
"And I'm going to find out one way or another," Jason said. "Justin, did he say anything at all when you picked him up? Give you any clues?"
Justin shook his head.
"I already told you everything I know," he said. "There was no one else in the area and he wasn't saying a word."
Jason sighed, nodding.
"Alright," he said. "Then I'm going to track down the rangers and see if they know anything—and lecture them for letting Tommy get caught up in the fight. They should have stopped that."
"Oh, you'd better be talking to them," Conner said shortly, crossing his arms. "And give them a message from us. Tell them they'd better get their butts in gear and figure out who did this before we come calling. They are not going to like our intervention."
"I'm going, I'm going," Jason said. "I'll tell you what I found out when I get back. Hayley, call me if he wakes up and says anything I need to know."
She nodded and he turned to look at the four younger Dino rangers.
"Stay here," he ordered. "All of you. I need you to stay with Tommy. We don't know who's after him and I don't want to risk something happening if they followed. So stay close and watch each other's backs until we know what's going on."
"No one is getting near him," Conner scoffed. "Not without going through all of us first."
Nodding, Jason turned to leave the lab. He was getting to the bottom of this one way or another.