Kira tossed and turned that night in bed. She couldn't sleep; her mind racing as she tried to recall even one small iota of what had happened between her and Tommy. Her efforts were useless. Try as she might, she couldn't remember a single thing. She rolled over and stared at her clock, watching the number slowly change.
"This is stupid," she finally grumbled to herself and sat up. She didn't care that it was after midnight. She needed to get her mind off of this. She slipped into her shoes and grabbed a jacket and her guitar. As quietly as she could she headed outside and up the road a little bit. She found a rock and sat down. She felt the familiar strings beneath her fingers as she strummed.
She wasn't the only ranger unable to sleep that night. Trent was pacing around his room, silently berating himself for not trying hard enough to warn Kira and Dr. O. Conner had been right. He should have tried a hell of a lot harder. When finally realized he wasn't going to fall asleep he pulled on sneakers and headed downstairs. He started walking, not entirely sure where he was going. When he finally stopped walking, he'd ended up the Cyber Space. He fished into his pocket for the key and quietly unlocked the door. He sat down on the couch facing the TV and stretched out.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed until he heard footsteps approaching and the door squeaking open. He jumped up, looking around until he saw Kira walk in.
"Kira?" he called. She looked up at him, guitar still in hand.
"Trent…what are you doing here?" she asked.
"Probably the same thing you are," he mused as she joined him.
"I cant' sleep," she explained.
"Me either," he agreed. They fell into silence for a while, Kira just plucking the strings of her guitar.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," he whispered. She looked at him and actually smiled.
"You tried," she answered, leaning over and kissing him gently on the cheek. Trent couldn't help but blush.
"At least you don't hate me," he sighed.
"I know how you feel. Conner and Ethan are completely shunning me," she complained.
"How's your cheek?' he asked.
"Still sore," she answered. He leaned over and kissed her back, eliciting a small laugh. He checked his watch and realized it was almost four in the morning.
"You don't think Hayley would mind if she stayed here tonight do you?" Kira asked after a moment.
"No," Trent replied and they curled up on the couch.
Hours later Tommy was sitting across from his public defender, giving his side of the story. The attorney was squat and plump with a receding hair line.
"Now tell me just one more what happened," he said.
"I was doing some work in my classroom and one of my students came in and said they needed to talk to me," Tommy began.
"It was a private matter so I shut the door and when I turned around she shoved me against a wall and starting telling me she wanted me," he continued, felling a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks.
"Then what happened?" the attorney interrupted.
"I told her to stop and pushed her away. Then uh…she started to take her shirt off. I told her it wasn't appropriate and to put it back on. The next thing I know she's in my lap," he admitted, starting to get uncomfortable. He wasn't entirely sure why his public defender needed to know all of this for a bail hearing.
"Is that all?" the attorney asked.
"No. She managed to undo my shirt and was going for my pants when the principal walked in," he muttered.
"Had she ever acted this way before?" the squat man inquired.
"No. It was completely unlike her. She was definitely not herself," Tommy answered.
"Any idea what would trigger this? Maybe she was struggling in class? Thought she could get her grade up?" he suggested.
"No. Kira is a good student and she knows that sort of thing wouldn't work," Tommy stated.
"May I ask how you are so sure?" his public defender questioned. Tommy glanced around to make sure no one else would hear him. Thankfully the guards were posted outside the room.
"Because she knows I'm…gay," he whispered. The man sitting across from him nodded his head.
"Good enough reason for me. Well let's hope we can convince a judge that you're not a flight risk and that good stuff. You should be out of here by tomorrow," the man said. Tommy stood up and shook the man's hand before they were both escorted out.
Around eleven, Tommy found himself sitting next to his public defender the court room. He glanced behind him and saw two familiar faces. He hadn't expected Hayley and Jason to show up but he wasn't entirely surprised. They gave a little wave and inclined his head. He and Jason shared a lingering look before he turned around.
"That your…partner?" his public defender whispered in Tommy's ear.
"Yeah…" Tommy answered as the judge walked in. The court room rose.
"Be seated," the judge called and the benches creaked as people took their seats.
The bailiff stood and read the docket number and Tommy and his attorney stood. He looked over to see the DA stand as well.
"Mr. Greene, how does your client plead?" the judge asked, addressing Tommy's attorney.
"Not guilty your honor," Greene answered.
"District Attorney Brayer, what is the people's request?" the judge questioned. The DA cleared his through.
"The people request remand to local facility," Brayer replied.
"Your Honor. My client is not a flight risk, nor is he a danger to himself or others," Greene interjected.
"I beg to differ. This man is a predator. He no doubt knows where his students live," the DA argued. Before Attorney Greene could open his mouth the judge slammed his gavel down.
"Defendant is remanded to police custody. Bail is set at five hundred thousand dollars. Next case," he called. Tommy and his attorney shared a confused look as he was led away. In the gallery Jason's features grew dark.
"That son-of-a-bitch," he spat.
"We'll find a way to get him out of there," Hayley assured him as they walked out of the room.
"You know neither of us has that kind of money," Jason commented as they drove back to the lab.
"Well we will figure something out," she repeated.
That afternoon the Rangers found Hayley and Jason pacing around the lab, looking forlorn.
"What's going on?" Conner asked, keeping his distance from Kira.
"We've been trying to think all afternoon of a way to raise the money to bail Tommy out," Hayley answered.
"How much is it?" Trent asked.
"Five hundred thousand," Jason grumbled. Trent scratched his head for a minute.
"I know where we can get the money," he said. He was met with several raised brows.
"My dad is pretty damn rich. I'm sure he wouldn't miss a few hundred thousand," he explained.
"I thought your dad hated Dr. O," Ethan remarked.
"He doesn't hate Dr. O. They just…have their differences," Trent countered.
"We don't want to ask your dad for all that money, Trent," Hayley interjected.
"So we can work on raising the rest of it ourselves. We can all chip in," he answered.
Far away from Reef Side and Tommy's lab, Mesagog was feverishly working on combining various fragments of DNA. Elsa watched from a distance. He'd been at this all day and hadn't said so much as 'boo'.
"Lord Mesagog…how is the creature coming?" she finally asked, hoping he wouldn't try to give her the world's biggest migraine. The giant reptile slowly turned away from his experiment.
"It would go faster if you did not disturb me, Elsa," he growled.
"I'm sorry…just curious you know. Can't really blame me can you? We all want to see what magnificent creation you come up with," she said, stroking his ego. He gave a reptilian smirk and gathered the various vials and put them into the genome randomizer. With what looked like fiendish glee he pushed some buttons and pulled the lever back. The DNA filled the chamber, creating multicolored smoke. Elsa took several steps back as the doors to the chamber slid open and the creature stepped out.
"It's…" she began, not quite sure what word would best describe the thing before her.
"It is magnificent," Mesagog said in an almost fatherly tone.
"Sure…" Elsa murmured. It was at least seven feet tall already, having to hunch over in the room. He was as many colors as the rainbow and had scales the size of small television screens.
"Does it have a name?" she asked.
"I call it the Laz-Raptor," Mesagog answered.
"Catchy…what's he do?" Elsa probed.
"You shall soon see," he answered. The Laz-Raptor eyed Mesagog with its large elliptical shaped eyes.
"How may I serve you, master," it asked.