Several hours later, all of the rangers were crowded into Tommy's living room using every available space to make themselves comfortable. They'd all eaten lunch—Dino Thunder joining them after they'd taken care of the raptors—and now they were just enjoying each other's company. Having gotten past everything that had happened, the various teams were now actually getting along quite well. Especially the younger rangers. Chip was interrogating Ethan about Dino Thunder's genetic abilities—something he found extremely fascinating. Xander was listening as he lounged against the wall, his legs stretched out in front of him.
"Ok," he said. "So you all have different ones, then?"
"Yep," Ethan confirmed. "The gems essentially amplified an inherent ability and changed our DNA so those abilities were enhanced to an extreme level."
"Like Conner's speed?" said Chip.
"Exactly," Ethan nodded. "He can move at superspeed. I have body armor."
"Really?" Chip exclaimed. "How does it work?"
Ethan shrugged.
"Can't demo—unless someone wants to hit me?" he said, glancing around.
All of the older rangers in the vicinity immediately shook their heads, as did Kira and Trent who were curled up in a chair nearby.
"Not a chance," Kira said drily. "Besides, I think one broken hand is enough for one day."
"It's not broken," Jason retorted from across the room.
She just shrugged, leaning her head on Trent's shoulder.
"So what do you two do, then?" Chip asked curiously, looking at Kira and Trent now.
The pair exchanged looks. Sighing, Kira shifted so Trent could stand up.
"Can't hold me unless I'm unconscious," he said, heading toward the hallway.
But instead of walking through the open doorway, he went straight through the wall. Chip's eyes widened even further as Trent came walking back through and returned to his chair.
"Awesome!" he exclaimed, turning eagerly to Kira.
She just shook her head, making room for Trent to sit back down.
"No demos from me," she said. "I'd wake up the babies—not to mention Dr. O and Hayley. Mine is not to be used in the vicinity of the house for the foreseeable future unless there is an actual emergency."
"But what is it?" Chip frowned.
"Sonic scream," Ethan grinned. "She could blow your eardrums if she really wanted to."
"Wow, babe," Xander grinned. "That's one way to keep the boys away."
Kira's eyes narrowed, and Trent looped an arm around her shoulders to keep her in the chair.
"Don't call me babe," she growled. "Or you're going to find out just how sound proof parts of the lab are."
Xander's eyes widened as Chip and Ethan snickered. Close by, Conner and Nick were debating on who had the most trouble with evil teammates.
"But you only had one turn on you," Nick argued. "My team had to deal with several."
"Yeah, but you didn't have to deal with Trent," Conner countered. "Yes, I know. One of your mentors nearly killed you, Vida was a vampire, and you tried to kill your own team. But Trent actually succeeded in trapping Dr. O in amber—he missed school for months because of the whole incident which left us stuck with Anton as our teacher. And he wasn't always so nice at that point…"
At the mention of the vampire incident, Vida, who was sitting on the couch, blanched and shot a look at Jason. He rolled his eyes.
"V, relax," he said. "I already know about that."
"What part of it?" she asked nervously.
"All of it," he said. "Including the part where you put me in the hospital with a concussion."
She flinched, dropping her gaze to her lap where baby Jacquelyn was currently sleeping.
"Sorry…" she muttered.
"Oh, don't be," Kim said, leaning over the back of the couch. "He's had plenty of concussions before—you were not the first to give him one."
"Not even close," Zach snorted. "That one's a toss-up between a monster and Tommy. Take your pick."
Jason glared at Zach, but the other ranger just grinned.
"He's right," Jason sighed after a moment. "Never had a concussion until I became a ranger…Now I couldn't tell you how many I've actually had…"
"Which explains so much," Kim commented, laughing as Jason turned to glare at her.
His sisters giggled, Vida lightening up a little again now that she realized he wasn't mad at her for the incident.
"Hey now," Tommy interrupted from the doorway, catching everyone's attention. "You can't all start ganging up on him—not without me here. I want a say in this."
"Hey! There he is," Justin grinned, not moving from his spot on the floor. "And no longer looking like a hobo."
Tommy looked a lot more awake than he had hours before. He had showered, shaved, and changed into freshly cleaned clothes, too.
"Doesn't smell like one, either," Rocky snorted as Tommy made his way toward the couch.
Pausing, Tommy shot a look at Rocky as Trini came walking back in with a tray of glasses. She had been in the kitchen getting drinks for everyone.
"I'd keep your comments to yourself if I were you, Ape-boy," Tommy retorted. "I still have pictures of what you looked like your first few weeks with newborn twins."
"Can't be any worse than yours," Rocky countered.
"Maybe," Tommy smirked, crossing his arms. "But at least I didn't faint when my kids were born."
Rocky's face immediately turned as red as his shirt as the rest of the rangers burst out laughing.
"He's got a point, honey," Aisha said.
Grumbling, Rocky gave up the argument and Tommy finished crossing the room. When he had entered, all five of the Mystic Force rangers had immediately fallen silent, trying to make themselves unnoticeable. They still didn't know where they stood with Tommy. But he didn't seem fazed, making a beeline straight for the couch where Vida and Madison were once again holding his daughters. Without hesitation, he sat down right between them and put an arm around each of their shoulders.
"So I see my daughters have officially met their godmothers," he said.
"Wait—what?" they exclaimed, looking at him in surprise.
"Godmothers?" Madison stammered.
"Us?" Vida added.
Tommy smiled, nodding.
"Of course," he said.
"What?! I thought I got to be little Kimmy's godmother. I mean you did name her after me," Kim protested rather loudly.
"Actually I named Jackie, Hayley named Kimberly, after her grandmother I might add," Tommy replied looking at Kim with a slight smirk.
Kim sunk further into her seat pouting slightly.
"But Tommy," Madison hedged after a moment. "We—I mean I—what about everything… oh…"
She stumbled to a stop, not quite know what she wanted to say.
"Maddy, it's fine," he said gently, squeezing her shoulders. "I forgave both of you a long time ago—I was just hoping you'd eventually forgive me…"
His smile slipped a little as he regarded them.
"Though I guess your presence in my house says something," he added.
"There's no reason to forgive you," Madison said, adamantly shaking her head. "You didn't do anything wrong!"
"I did once," he said quietly. "All of you had good reason to be afraid of me…"
Tommy's friends were all shaking their heads now. They'd all heard this from Tommy countless times before.
"We aren't afraid of you," Vida asserted firmly.
"But you were," he said softly.
Vida started to argue, but stopped. Madison was biting her lip.
"What we did was wrong," Nick said, speaking up from across the room. "Afraid or not—it was wrong and we know it now. We had no right to attack you the way we did, especially after you saved me…So if anyone needs forgiveness, it's us, not you."
Tommy opened his mouth to reply, but Jason interrupted.
"Tommy, if you say that one more time I swear I'm going to hurt you," Jason growled, glaring at his friend. "We have all told you time and time again that it wasn't your fault. You didn't choose to be under her control, it was forced on you. Therefore, it's her fault, not yours. The only one to blame is her—it was her spell, after all."
Tommy rolled his eyes, but didn't try arguing. Instead, he just leaned back against the couch.
"Thought she was gonna do it again this last time, too," he muttered quietly to himself. "Was pretty sure she had for a while…"
"What?" someone snapped behind him.
Freezing, Tommy realized there was a hand hovering in his peripheral vision holding a glass of water. Trini, who had been passing out drinks, had walked around the back of the couch to hand him and the girls their drinks. Busy talking, he hadn't heard her come up behind him.
"Uh—hi, Trini," Tommy said quickly, turning to look at her and reaching for the water glass.
She snatched it back, glaring at him.
"What was that you said?" she demanded.
"About what?" he asked, trying to sound innocent as he avoided meeting her eye.
"You muttered something just now," she said shortly. "Now what was it?"
"It was nothing," he said.
"Trini, what's going on?" Jason frowned, looking between his wife and best friend.
"He said something about Rita," she said, still holding the water away from Tommy.
Jason looked at Tommy in surprise.
"What did you say?" he asked expectantly.
"Oh, I was just agreeing with you," Tommy said quickly. "About Rita."
Jason snorted, shaking his head.
"Bro, I've been trying to get you to agree with me since high school," he said drily. "There's no way you're suddenly agreeing with me. Now what is going on?"
"Jase, it's nothing—I swear," Tommy said.
The others were all looking at him now, frowns on their faces. None of them liked talking about Rita—especially when it came to anything that involved Tommy.
"Then why are you hiding something?" Jason demanded.
"I'm not hiding anything," Tommy protested.
"Yes you are," Kim argued. "Tommy, did she approach you? We know she's still around."
"What?" he said, glancing around the room. "Approach me? No, of course not. You know I'd tell you if anything happened—"
"Yeah, like years later," Zach scoffed. "If ever. So spill."
"There's nothing to tell," Tommy continued to argue. "I'm not hiding anything. I've just been busy with the girls. And besides, if something had happened you would have noticed me acting weird."
"Tommy, we can't notice you acting weird if we can't see you," Trini countered. "You haven't been around in months."
"I've been busy," he protested again.
"And you've been out of the country," Kat said slowly, her eyes narrowing.
Jason jerked his head back around to Tommy, glaring at him.
"You jerk!" he exclaimed, practically leaping to his feet before stalking toward Tommy. "That's why you left the country? Something happened and you took off instead of telling us? What did she do?"
"Now, Jason," Tommy said, quickly trying to come up with something. "There's no need—"
"What were you thinking?" Jason interrupted. "You can't take off like that. You have responsibilities to the rest of us, not to mention you had just gotten out of the hospital!"
Tommy groaned, running a hand through his hair.
"Is that why Hayley has all of those scans of you down in the lab, Dr. O?" Ethan asked, looking at Tommy. "She wouldn't tell me what they were when I asked."
Jason's eyes narrowed and Tommy grimaced.
"What?" Jason growled. "What scans?"
"Rex, I promise I'm fine—"
"Don't use that line on me," Jason snapped. "We've both been using it since high school and I know it doesn't always mean what it should."
Pausing, he turned toward the doorway.
"Hayley, get in here!" Jason shouted before turning back to Tommy. "Now you are going to tell me what's going on right now before I drag you off that couch and make you tell me."
Before Tommy could answer, both of his daughters started crying. Madison and Vida immediately started rocking them, but they continued to cry.
"Just great, Jase," Tommy muttered, reaching for one of his daughters. "Now they're crying."
"Don't touch the baby," Jason snapped, grabbing Tommy's arm and stopping him from taking baby Kimberly from Madison.
"My daughters are crying, Jason," Tommy said, trying to pull away. "I need to take care of them."
"You're babysitters can handle that," Jason countered.
Not letting go of Tommy, Jason glanced over his shoulder at the younger Dino Thunder rangers.
"Handle that," he snapped. "Tommy is busy. Let's go."
Gripping tightly, Jason pulled the protesting Tommy off of the couch. Barely pausing, he started hauling the other ranger toward the door to the hallway. Conner and Kira had each claimed one of the crying babies, rocking them as they tried to calm them back down.
"Jason, what are you doing?" Hayley cried, hurrying into the room.
"Going to look at the scans in your lab," Jason said, walking right past her with Tommy still in tow.
"Wait—what?" she exclaimed, spinning to watch him go. "Jason, give me back my husband! And don't you dare touch my computers!"
"If you don't want me to break something, then you'd better get down there," Jason retorted over his shoulder without pausing. "Ethan, Billy—lab now."
She glared, but seeing the teens with the babies well in hand, she hurried after them. Jason had disappeared down the hall with Tommy. In the living room, most of the rangers were exchanging concerned glances.
"Should we follow?" Kim asked hesitantly, looking around.
"I don't think we all need to crowd in the lab," Trini said, shaking her head. "Jason will tell us what's going on once he gets it out of Tommy. Although you two should probably go."
Kim sighed, but nodded in agreement as Trini looked pointedly at Ethan and Billy. Both of the blue rangers hopped up from their seats and started making their way out of the living room.
"Guys," Madison said quietly, looking at her team. "They were talking about Mystic Mother. She was Rita, remember?"
The rest of the Mystic Force team's eyes widened in surprise as they realized she was right.
"Let's go," Nick said, jerking his head in the direction Ethan and Billy were heading. "We need to know what's going on."
No one stopped them as they followed Ethan and Billy.
"Wait a minute," Vida frowned as they hurried down the hall. "What lab? Tommy doesn't have a lab. We're heading toward his office."
She looked at Madison, but her sister just shrugged. When they got to Tommy's office, however, there was no sign of any of the other rangers. Instead, they Mystic Force team saw an open trap door in the floor of the office.
"That's new," Madison said in surprise as they paused.
"He's like Batman!" Chip exclaimed, grinning.
The others looked at him.
"Batman?" Xander repeated.
"Yeah," said Chip. "He's got a secret underground hideout. It's awesome!"
"And he was black this time," Ethan snorted, coming up behind him. "So it kind of fits."
He had detoured momentarily before heading downstairs and was just catching up. But he didn't even pause before heading down the stairs the trap door revealed. Seeing him head down without hesitation, the Mystic Force team followed. Downstairs, they found Jason, Hayley, and Tommy arguing as Jason was strapping Tommy to a chair next to a large computer.
"Jason, this isn't necessary," Hayley was snapping, arms crossed as she glared at him. "I ran all of these tests already."
"I don't care," he snapped back, finishing strapping Tommy's arms in. "You both tried hiding this and I want to know what's going on right now. So if you won't scan him then I'm going to."
"Jase, I'm fine," Tommy said, attempting to slip out of the straps.
Jason just growled and shoved Tommy's head against the back of the chair, strapping his head in place.
"Oh, that's comfortable," Tommy muttered, now firmly attached to the chair. "Is this really necessary?"
"Yes," Jason said shortly. "Ethan, how do I work this thing?"
Ethan, who was standing a short distance away watching, froze. He looked back and forth between Tommy and Jason for a moment as he tried to decide which one scared him more at the moment. Tommy sighed.
"Ethan, go ahead," he said. "He's never going to be happy until he sees the scans himself—and I seriously doubt he'll be ok with the old ones…"
Jason scowled, crossing his arms. Hayley was glaring at the red ranger, not happy that he wouldn't accept her word. Still hesitant, Ethan hurried over to the computer the scanner was attached to and started typing.
"Sorry, Dr. O," he muttered quietly as he passed Tommy.
As he started running the scan, Mystic Force took the moment to look around a little more. They were all astounded that Tommy had this place under his home.
"This place is amazing!" Vida exclaimed. "I can't believe you've had this here all along."
"This might even be cooler than Rootcore," Chip agreed, fascinated by the setup of the lab.
Ethan grinned, glancing over his shoulder.
"Our lair is pretty cool," he said. "And it's even better after the rebuild—"
"Ethan," Jason snapped. "Focus."
"Relax, oh great red leader," Ethan said, rolling his eyes. "The scan is done. I'm just waiting for it to finish loading."
As it finished loading, Ethan scooted out of the way to let Jason move in for a closer look.
"Billy?" Jason said, looking over his shoulder. "Interpret?"
Nodding, the blue ranger moved to stand with Jason, studying the scan quietly for a few moments.
"That scan looks a lot different than the one we had," Madison said quietly.
Hearing her, Billy looked at Jason in surprise.
"They had a scan of Tommy?" he said, sounding a little shocked.
Jason nodded grimly, shooting a look at Mystic Force.
"Long story," he growled. "But yes, they did. But it's gone, right?"
"We deleted it," Vida quickly assured him.
"Then that's the end of it," he said shortly, turning back to Billy and the computer. "Now what's going on with Tommy, Billy?"
Billy frowned, pausing again before speaking.
"Most of Tommy's core is the same as it has always been," he began slowly. "Though he has added another layer of color since the last time I saw one of these."
He glanced at Tommy, smiling. Tommy returned the smile, waiting patiently for someone to release him. Turning back to the scan, Billy continued.
"However, while the green portion of his core and personality is still clearly intact," he continued. "You can see that someone has somehow removed all of the outlying remnants of the darker green that represented the latent magic left from Rita's spell. It has been contained here—"
He pointed to small spot in the center of the scan where a small, dark green circle could be seen.
"So, while it has not been actually removed from him," he said. "There appears to be some kind of field containing it to that one place and keeping it from devouring any more of Tommy's life force than it already has."
Jason nodded slowly, frowning.
"So what does that mean?" he asked.
"It means I'm fine, Rex," Tommy said. "Better than I was, actually, because I can't touch the magic even if I wanted to."
Jason spun to look at him.
"What?" he said in shock.
"I can't touch it," Tommy repeated. "It can't hurt me—or anyone else—anymore."
For a moment no one spoke as they all took in what Tommy had said.
"I told you, Jason," Hayley said, crossing her arms as she looked at him smugly. "There's nothing wrong with him."
"But, how?" Jason sputtered, looking between Tommy, Hayley, and the scan.
Tommy shrugged—well, tried to.
"That's where it gets a little fuzzy," he confessed. "I was getting something to eat in the kitchen, heard a noise, and went to investigate because I knew Hayley wasn't home. It was Rita. I know words were exchanged, but I can't remember what was said…The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital…"
"And don't forget the part where I came home to find you unconscious on the floor," Hayley inserted. "And then had to call 911 to get you to the hospital when I couldn't wake you up."
Jason took a deep breath, rubbing a hand over his face. Everyone else in the room was listening quietly now, not wanting to interrupt Jason.
"So why didn't you tell me, bro?" Jason asked, looking at Tommy. "You should have told me instead of running off to another country."
"Jase, I'm sorry," Tommy sighed. "But we still didn't know for sure what was going on and—well, I was afraid she might have turned me evil again and was waiting to make her move… I had to get away from Hayley before I could hurt her…"
"Wait, what?" Jason snapped, his eyes narrowed again. "You thought there was a chance you could have been under a spell again and you didn't tell anyone?"
"Anton knew," Tommy quickly protested. "He knew what to watch for and had all of your phone numbers just in case something did go wrong."
Jason took a deep breath.
"So you're telling me," he said slowly. "That you were alone with Trent's father—who no longer has the ability to defend himself against rangers—for an extended period of time during which you thought there was a high chance that you might be under someone's control as an evil ranger again? Does Trent know about this?"
"Okay, yes," Tommy muttered. "And no, he doesn't. Not that part anyways…"
Ethan's eyes widened as he looked at Tommy, glancing toward the stairs. Tommy sighed.
"You may as well go tell him," he said reluctantly to Ethan. "I'd rather he hear it from you than Jason…"
Without hesitation, Ethan darted toward the stairs.
"Wait a minute!" Jason protested, watching him go. "The others are going to kill me if they don't hear it from me first!"
When Ethan didn't stop Jason took off after him.
"Jason, don't you dare start a riot up there!" Hayley snapped, stalking after them. "My daughters need to sleep!"
Sighing, Billy quickly hurried after them, muttering something to himself about containing the inevitable explosion as much as possible. That left Tommy alone with Mystic Force. For a moment, no one said anything as they all studied each other.
"So," Tommy said, breaking the silence. "Any chance I can get one of you to let me out?"
Jason had left him strapped to the scanner chair.
"Oh!" Madison exclaimed, jumping forward "Of course."
Vida followed and between the two of them they quickly released Tommy from the seat. He sighed in relief, stretching as he stood up.
"Thanks," he smiled, starting to head toward the end of the lab that was away from the trap door.
"Umm… Tommy?" Madison said. "The house is that way…"
She pointed back toward the stairs.
"Yep, I know," he said. "And the tunnels away from the house are this way. Want to come? I've got some great stories about your brother that I can finally tell you."
Smiles spread across the twins faces and they nodded eagerly.
"Like what?" Vida asked, bouncing over to him.
"All sorts of things," Tommy smirked, pausing by one of the computers.
He hit a couple of buttons and they heard the sound of the trap door closing echo.
"That should stall them long enough to let us get away," he muttered, glancing toward the stairs.
The younger rangers frowned.
"You're running from them?" Nick said in surprise. "Shouldn't you go talk to them?"
"I will—eventually," Tommy said. "For now I'm going to avoid it as long as possible. You guys want burgers? My treat."
The five exchanged glances and shrugged.
"Sure, why not?" Xander said.
Tommy paused, raising and eyebrow at Xander, but didn't say anything.
"Then let's hurry," he said. "Before Billy or Justin hack into the system and get the door open, as Hayley and Ethan probably won't help them chase me. Besides, I should probably take some time to explain how things like the ranger hierarchy work."
There was a sudden pounding coming from where the trap door was and indistinct shouting. The only words they could clearly make out were someone shouting Tommy's name. He jerked his head toward an arch on the other side of the room and started that way with Mystic Force following.
"Don't we just have to listen to Jason?" Nick frowned. "He's the original red."
Tommy snorted.
"Yeah, but you guys fall under the second generation group," he said. "That means you're mine."
"Second generation?" Chip asked.
Tommy nodded, hitting a button on the wall. It shuddered and slid open to the surprise of Mystic Force. The moving wall didn't faze Tommy, who just walked through and waited for them to join him before closing the door.
"Everyone from Wild Force on is under my jurisdiction," he said as they continued to walk away through the tunnels. "Though I really only have them because I have more patience for Cole's—well, I have more patience for Cole and some of that team's oddities than Jason does."
The younger rangers exchanged confused glances and Tommy chuckled.
"Actually, I'm pretty sure the only reason he agreed to letting my have all of the younger rangers is because that lets him off the hook," he said. "I have all of the teams with special powers and genetic abilities. Pretty sure he doesn't want to be directly responsible for anyone he couldn't just beat into submission if necessary."
Mystic Force laughed, Tommy joining them.
"Anyways," he said. "The point is that you guys report directly to me on anything ranger related. If there is an emergency, you tell me and I go to Jason. Together the two of us will make a decision on what needs to be done. Think you can handle that?"
"I think we can probably manage," Vida grinned, bumping her shoulder against him.
Laughing again, Tommy slung an arm around her shoulder. Catching Madison, too, he continued down the tunnel with them on either side.
"Now let's see," he said, thinking. "What should I tell you about first? Oh! I know."
He grinned, looking Madison.
"Maddy, this one should make you feel better about being turned to stone," he said. "Let me tell you about the time your brother managed to get himself turned to solid gold…"
"So do you think they've gone yet?" Madison asked, glancing over at Tommy.
Tommy and the five Mystic Force rangers were walking back down the tunnels toward the lab and his house. they'd been gone for a couple of hours getting something to eat and talking about everything from things Jason had done and ranger hierarchy to what the younger rangers were doing now. but, knowing he couldn't avoid home forever, Tommy had finally said it was time to head back.
"Not a chance," he sighed, shaking his head. "And they are not going to be happy when we get there…"
The younger rangers exchanged amused looks. Over the past couple of hours they had all gotten a lot more comfortable around Tommy. In general they had avoided the subject of what had happened before, focusing instead on getting to know Tommy as a ranger—not to mention hearing quite a few stories about stupid things the originals had done over their career as rangers. Now, while there were still hesitant moments, everything between Tommy and the younger rangers was a lot better than it had been when they arrived in Reefside earlier that day.
"Here goes nothing," Tommy muttered as they reached the door to the lab.
Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and stepped inside. Nick and his team followed. Tommy had barely taken a few steps inside when he was suddenly hit by a small figure in pink. He stumbled a bit from the impact of her throwing her arms around him, but managed to keep his balance.
"Umm… hi, Kim," Tommy said, not really sounding surprised.
"You idiot!" she exclaimed, letting go to hit him on the arm.
"Kim, ouch," Tommy grumbled, rubbing the spot where she'd hit him.
The young rangers behind him snickered, glancing around. Kim wasn't the only one waiting for Tommy. Kat was standing a short distance away with her arms crossed as she glared at him, as were Trini, Tanya, and Aisha.
"Don't complain," Kim snapped. "You deserve it for keeping secrets like that from us—again!"
She tried to hit him again, but Tommy caught her wrist this time.
"Now, now, Kimmie," he said soothingly. "You know I would have told you guys if it had really been life or death. Everything is fine—"
"Don't even start with that, Thomas Oliver," Kat interrupted. "You know very well you avoid telling us anything you don't have to because you don't like to worry us. It's been that way ever since I met you. So don't try and talk your way out of this. We could have helped you, you know."
Tommy sighed again, eyeing Kim as he cautiously let go of her wrist.
"Look, I'm sorry," he said. "But all of you gave your word if something like this happened again. I didn't want any of you to worry about having to make that decision… That's why I didn't want to say anything until I was sure…"
The girls all flinched and the younger rangers exchanged confused looks.
"What decision?" Nick asked, frowning.
Tommy took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair as he turned to look at them.
"It's a long story," he said hesitantly, not sure what he actually wanted to say.
"But to make a long story short," Jason interrupted, coming from the stairway. "Tommy can be an extremely dangerous individual—especially armed with ranger powers. Add someone else controlling him and we have a big problem."
Jason's face was completely serious as he approached the group. Stopping next to his friends, he paused a moment before continuing.
"Years ago, after the last time someone tried to use him against us," Jason continued. "Tommy made all of us swear that, should he ever fall under someone's full control again, that we wouldn't allow him to hurt anyone."
"Meaning what?" Madison frowned, not liking the sounds of what her brother was saying.
"Meaning," Tommy answered for him. "That if I were to ever fall under the control of dark magic again—no matter who is at fault—that no ranger is to hesitate in taking me down. I'm too susceptible to magic at this point to risk trying trying to break me out. It's not worth the damage I'd do…"
Vida and Madison exchanged wide-eyed looks as their teammates stared at Tommy in shock.
"So they would—you mean—" Vida stammered, looking between Tommy and Jason. "You can't be serious."
Jason nodded grimly.
"We don't have a choice," he muttered, shooting a glare at Tommy. "He covered all of his bases when he extracted the promise from us. Including making sure to cover all future teams by making sure we have to enforce it. And since he made us swear by the Power, we don't have a way out of it without risking leaving innocents at the mercy of who knows what…"
"No," Madison and Vida said together, adamantly shaking their head. "Not happening."
"Let's just hope it never comes to that," Trini said quietly, taking Jason's hand and squeezing it gently. "And it hasn't so far."
"But I don't get it still," Chip said after a moment. "I know we aren't experts, but we've been around a lot of magic and we've never seen anyone react to it like you, Tommy. Even Daggeron wasn't sure what to think."
"And why did it make Jason so mad just to have magic around you?" Xander asked.
For a moment, no one answered. Then Tommy sighed.
"Let's head back upstairs," he suggested. "I want to let Hayley know I'm home. And we'll be more comfortable up there. But I promise, I will explain anything you want to know."
They young rangers nodded and the whole group moved upstairs. The rest of the rangers were still present, laughing and talking in various places around the house as they helped Hayley out with more chores. Moving into the living room, Tommy motioned for the younger rangers to go ahead and make themselves comfortable. Jason had followed and stood in the doorway, his arms crossed as he leaned against the doorframe. The women followed, too, crowding onto the couch together.
"Hey, sweetheart," Hayley said, walking into the living room.
She had heard them coming up. Both of the twins were in her arms, awake and fussing a little.
"Here, let me," Tommy said, taking baby Kimberly from Hayley before anyone else could jump up to help.
Hayley held on to Jacquelyn, sitting down in an unoccupied armchair while Tommy sat carefully on the arm next to her. Kim, who had started to get up to help Hayley, looked a little put out. As she sat back down, more of the rangers started to crowd back into the living room, seeming to realize there was a meeting of sorts starting.
"I still can't believe you want us to be godmothers," Madison said, smiling at the sight of the babies. "Even after all we did."
"Why did you choose them, Tommy, instead of any of us?" Kat asked. "No offense, girls."
She gave Madison and Vida an apologetic glance.
"Because," Tommy said. "I only have two daughters. There are five of you and two of them. You do the math."
Kat exchanged a sheepish look with some of the other women.
"And besides," Tommy continued. "Hayley picked the godmothers, not me. I just picked the godfathers."
"Who are the godfathers?" Rocky asked, leaning on the back of the couch behind Aisha. "You never told us. You didn't pick any of the newbies, did you?"
Tommy snorted.
"No," he said. "I'd pick Conner before I'd pick any of them."
"Hey!" Conner exclaimed in protest, looking at Tommy. "I'd make a good godfather."
He and the other Dino Thunder rangers had just crowded into the the already full room, completing the group. All of the seats were long gone, so most of the rangers were just standing around the room as they waited.
"That remains to be seen," Tommy retorted.
"But to answer part of your question, Rocky," Jason said, shaking his head. "I'm Kimberley's godfather. Tommy didn't tell me who he picked for Jackie."
"Well, he didn't ask me," Rocky grumbled. "Probably did pick Conner and skipped right over the rest of us, right Adam?"
Adam, standing next to Rocky, raised an eyebrow.
"Rocky, I'm Jackie's godfather," he said. "So Tommy didn't skip me."
Rocky looked at him in surprise as most of the others snickered.
"Wait a minute—" Rocky started to protest, looking at Tommy again.
"Just drop it, Rocky," Aisha sighed. "You already have two of your own to worry about."
Still grumbling, Rocky let it go for the moment.
"So, where did the six of you disappear to this afternoon?" Hayley asked Tommy, changing the subject.
"Just to the café," he shrugged. "We took a table in the corner and sat and talked for a while. Covered a lot of ranger business to get Mystic Force on track with the rest of us. Cassidy and Dylan were there so they played distraction for me and kept everyone away from our table. We also talked a bit about you, Jase."
He grinned at the red ranger. Jason, leaning against the doorframe, frowned at Tommy.
"What about me?" he asked suspiciously.
His sisters exchanged grins and then looked at their brother.
"Did you really get turned to gold, big brother?" Vida asked sweetly, though the smirk on her face made it clear she was laughing at him.
"What did you tell them?" Jason demanded, whipping back around to glare at Tommy as everyone else burst out laughing.
"Nothing that's not already public ranger knowledge," he laughed. "They'd have found out eventually."
"Not if I threatened the right people," Jason muttered. "Now I'm never going to hear the end of it…"
"Nope," Madison and Vida chorused.
Still chuckling, Tommy turned his attention back to the younger rangers. Everyone else was waiting now to see what was going on.
"Now, the five of you had a question for me," Tommy said.
They nodded, all looking at each other to see who was going to ask.
"Ok, yeah," Nick said slowly. "We know what we did the night we attacked you was wrong… None of us are trying to claim otherwise."
There were murmured agreements from his teammates.
"But what is the big deal about magic?" he continued. "Why is it such a problem? And around you especially?"
Sighing, Tommy paused a moment before answering. The rest of the rangers waited silently, giving him a chance to explain it the way he wanted to.
"Four of you will remember parts of this," he finally said. "Though all of it will be new to you, Nick. But what do you guys remember about my first year away at college?"
He looked at the four expectantly, waiting for one of them to answer. The four who had grown up in Angel Grove frowned, exchanging looks.
"Not anything specific," Chip said after a moment. "I remember going camping with you once. That didn't end so well…"
Jason grimaced at the memory but didn't say anything.
"Oh!" Madison suddenly exclaimed, her eyes widening. "The pill bottle! You were sick. Or at least that's how mom explained it then. You were addicted to your pain medication and Jason had to live with you for a while."
"I remember that," Vida said, nodding. "Mom and Mrs. Oliver flipped when that pill bottle hit the floor…"
The other three nodded, remembering the incident.
"But what does that have to do with any of this?" Chip asked, frowning.
"Everything," Tommy sighed. "You see, I was never addicted to the medication. I was addicted to magic."
That caught their attention.
"Magic?" Vida repeated in surprise.
He nodded as looks were exchanged around the room. Hayley leaned her head against his shoulder.
"It got really bad for a while," he said, not meeting anyone's eyes. "And when my friends tried to step in, I hurt them. But if they hadn't, I wouldn't be here."
"Oh…" Madison said softly, biting her lip.
"Dark magic isn't something to play with," he said. "As I'm sure you all know. And the magic Rita ensnared me with all those years ago took root and wouldn't let go. With no way to remove it, I had to learn to control it. Sometimes it was harder than others…"
"Like when we came after you…" Nick said guiltily. "That's why you used it."
"Yes," Tommy admitted. "And you're lucky it wasn't worse. I could have seriously hurt or killed someone…"
"And he would never have forgiven himself," Kim said, shaking her head. "Sometimes I think he still hasn't forgiven himself for the things he did to us in high school. No matter how many times he says he's over it."
Guilt flashed across Tommy's face.
"The point is," Jason said, quickly changing the subject. "We got mad about the magic because we were afraid of what it might do to Tommy's control. None of us ever wanted to see him like that again."
"But you don't have to worry about it now," Xander pointed out. "Mystic Mother fixed it."
Most of the older rangers scowled at him.
"She didn't fix it, she trapped it," Ethan corrected. "It's well past fixing. Even we know that and we weren't there for everything."
"Ethan, it's fine," Tommy said, shaking his head. "I can't hurt anyone with it anymore and that's what's important. Though Jason did point out I owe you an apology, Trent."
Trent shrugged, not looking too upset.
"You wouldn't have taken him if you really thought you might hurt him," he said. "Dad trusts you and so do I."
Tommy smiled, relieved to know Trent wasn't mad at him.
"So everything is settled, then," Hayley said, smiling as she continued to lean against Tommy. "And Tommy promises not to take off again without an explanation—right?"
She sat up, looking at him expectantly. He sighed, but nodded.
"Good," she said. "Because keeping that secret from all of your friends was far too much stress for me. Next time I'm just going to give them your tracking numbers and let you hash it out with them."
He rolled his eyes, but didn't argue.
"Tracking numbers?" Madison said, raising an eyebrow.
Hayley nodded.
"Yes, we all have them," she said. "Just in case. GPS chips embedded in objects like morphers or phones. We've never actually needed to activate them, but it makes a lot of us feel better knowing we can find someone should they go missing. You two have numbers, too."
She looked at Madison and Vida. Eyes widening, they looked at each other and then back at Hayley. Tommy chuckled.
"It wasn't intentional," he explained. "But do you two still have those silver bracelets I gave you three years ago?"
They nodded.
"Those were prototypes for the Dino morphers," he said. "I personalized them for you, but never took the GPS chips out. So, once you became rangers, we just added the numbers to the system."
"But we've never used them," Trini quickly reassured them. "We promise."
The girls still looked hesitant, though their teammates seemed amused. Vida shot a glare at them.
"So when are you going to plant chips on them?" she asked, gesturing to the boys.
Tommy shrugged.
"Whenever you want them," he said.
"Even on the green?" Zach grinned. "I thought you'd be okay with losing him."
Tommy shot a glare at him and Xander sighed.
"Ok, I know you don't like me," he said, facing Tommy. "But I still don't understand why. Will you please tell me what I did wrong so I can at least apologize?"
For a moment, Tommy didn't say anything. Most of the rangers were watching him now, curious to know the answers themselves. He'd never told anyone why he had a problem with Xander. Finally he sighed.
"You broke something years ago," Tommy said reluctantly. "You hid the evidence and I took the blame for the missing item. Jason didn't talk to me for weeks and if Maddy hadn't gotten into trouble I don't know if he ever would have again…"
Frowning, Jason looked at Tommy as he tried to think of what the other ranger was talking about. Then it dawned on him.
"The birthday party?" he said in surprise. "So you really did have a present for Maddy?"
Madison frowned, vaguely remembering the incident.
"You saved me in the park," she said slowly.
He nodded. Xander, on the other hand, was looking extremely guilty now.
"I had forgotten about that…" he said sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Tommy. Really. But why didn't you ever tell anyone I broke the present?"
"I didn't get a chance to before they opened presents," he said, eying Xander. "And then it would have just been your word against mine. It doesn't look good when I start blaming a seven year old."
Madison was frowning now, arms crossed as she glared at Xander. Catching her look, he turned to face her.
"You owe me a present," she announced. "I don't know what it was, but you owe me a present."
Xander groaned.
"But I don't even know what it was…" he muttered.
"A music box," Tommy smirked. "It was a music box."
"Oh!" Madison exclaimed, smiling. "Xander, you owe me a music box."
"Where am I going to find a music box?" he grumbled, though he didn't argue.
The other rangers were laughing in amusement.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Chip laughed. "Either that or Maddy's going to be mad at you now, too."
Xander just groaned again. Shaking his head, Tommy glanced at the clock.
"So, not that I'm not glad to see everyone," he said. "But how long are you all going to be here?"
"Don't worry, Falcon," Jason said. "We'll leave you alone after dinner. Though I can't promise everyone will stay away long. They want to see your girls."
He grinned as Tommy sighed. Vida suddenly straightened as Jason's comment reminded her of something.
"Jason," she said, glaring at her brother and crossing her arms.
"Yeah?" he said hesitantly, not sure about the sudden change in her attitude.
"Just when are you going to introduce us to our niece?" she demanded. "She's almost one and we've never seen her in person."
"Oh, right," Jason said sheepishly. "Well, you're welcome to come visit any time… And I guess we can probably find a weekend to come visit soon."
"How about tonight?" Madison suggested, glancing at Nick and the other boys. "You guys don't need us to come back to Briarwood, do you?"
Nick shook his head.
"Go ahead," he said. "You have your flyers so you can get home, right?"
They both nodded.
"Shrunk and in our pockets," they said.
"And goodness knows we have enough clothes at mom and dad's still," Vida added.
Trini smiled.
"Then it's settled," she said. "You'll come home with us tonight and get to meet Rose tomorrow when we pick her and Mark up."
Madison and Vida grinned excitedly. Tommy was still shaking his head at Jason.
"You know, Rex," he said. "Most people would find it extremely problematic that your sisters met their goddaughters before their own niece."
"Shut up, Falcon," Jason grumbled, glaring at Tommy.
The girls giggled.
"Don't you two start," he said. "I—"
"Wait a minute," Vida said. "Rex? Falcon?"
"Yeah?" Tommy and Jason said.
Groaning, Vida smacked a hand to her forehead.
"How did we miss that?" she muttered. "You two have been calling each other those names for years."
"What's your point, V?" Nick frowned.
"Rex," she said, raising an eyebrow. "As in Tyrannosaurus Rex?"
"And Falcon!" Chip exclaimed, catching on. "But why Falcon? You were green first."
Tommy shrugged.
"The Falcon powers were made for him," Kim said fondly, smiling at Tommy. "So, while he loved being the green ranger after we freed him, it always seemed to fit more."
The younger rangers nodded.
"I still can't believe we didn't notice," Madison sighed, shaking her head.
"We didn't want you to," Jason said. "We've always been extremely careful not to use those names when the power rangers were being discussed."
Madison just sighed, shaking her head ruefully.
"Don't worry, Maddy," Nick said. "We all missed the signs all those months ago. We should have realized it was them all along. Guess they're just too good at keeping secrets."
Jason smirked, looking at the pair.
"Comes from years of practice," he said. "Oh. And speaking of secrets. Maddy?"
"Yes?" sh said hesitantly.
"You have about thirty seconds to tell Tommy before I do," he grinned, glancing meaningfully at Nick.
She paled, eyes widening as her head whipped around to look at Tommy. He frowned, looking back and forth between her and Jason.
"Tell me what?" he asked.
"Umm…" Madison said hesitantly. "Well… Nick and I—we…we're dating and have been since after Christmas."
The last part came out all in a rush. For a moment nothing happened as Nick looked nervously at Jason and then Tommy.
"Good to know," Tommy said slowly, regarding Nick. "Kim?"
He shifted, starting to stand. Kim hurried over, happily taking baby Kimberly from Tommy. Hayley sighed, rolling her eyes as some of the other rangers started snickering. Jason grinned and Madison looked at the two men pleadingly.
"Tommy, be nice," she begged.
"I will be," he said. "I just want to see how well he can actually defend you—and how hard he's going to fight for you."
"What?" she said, frowning.
Grinning, he strode over and scooped her up. She squeaked in surprise as he threw her over his shoulder and headed out the door.
"Hey!" Nick exclaimed, spinning to watch them go. "Where are you taking her?"
"Away," Tommy called back over his shoulder as some of the other rangers started to trail after him. "What are you going to do about it?"
"Tommy, put me down!" Madison exclaimed, laughing a little as she tried to get away.
"Better get moving, rookie," Jason grinned. "Let's see what you're made of."
Glancing back and forth between Jason and the direction Tommy had disappeared in with Madison, Nick took a deep breath and took off after Tommy. Smirking, Jason followed.
"Oh, this is gonna be good good," Zach laughed, following.
Dino Thunder and several of the other rangers were heading out the door, too, joking about what Tommy was going to make Nick do to get Madison back.
"Hayley, what is Tommy going to do?" Vida asked in concern, looking at Hayley.
Sighing, Hayley shook her head.
"Probably fight him and Jason to get to her," she said, moving to look out the window. "But don't worry, they won't beat on him too much."
Groaning, Vida spun and bolted for the door with Xander and Chip following.
"Tommy! Jason!" Vida shouted. "Two on one is not fair!"
Laughing, Hayley and watched out the window with some of the others who had stayed inside as the group outside continued shouting. They could see Tommy and Jason laughing as they kept Nick from getting to Madison. The other three Mystic Force rangers tried to jump in and help rescue Madison, but were stopped by the Dino Thunder rangers.
"Just wait, sweetheart," Hayley said, smiling down at her daughter. "Someday that's going to be you watching your daddy test your boyfriends."
Kim, holding baby Kimberly, starting laughing.
"Yes," she agreed whole heartedly. "Yes it will."