Author's Notes - Thanks to all for the spiffy reviews . 9 reviews = another early update.

Summary – Tommy has a bit of an anger problem. Zedd explains why he was away for so long and why everything is always Zordon's fault.

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I Owed Him One

Tommy

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Moaning as I slowly swim- okay very bad choice of words after the past few days I've had -back into consciousness I'm pleasantly surprised and slightly alarmed to find myself resting upon a bed instead of the wet splintery bottom of the life boat I had taken to consider my final resting place however many days ago.

God please let me be in a hospital and not back at Mercer's estate. Please just that one little bit of relief.

Taking a few calming breaths in preparation I finally force my eyes open blinking quickly against the dim lighting before feeling my heart sink into the pit of my stomach. Not a hospital, shit.

Though on closer inspection not Mercer's estate either. Unless of course he redecorated in black and purple. Moving my head slowly and painfully to the side I look over the strangely familiar style and décor unable to place just where I have seen this all before. Jason's house? No, definitely not his style. Hayley's? Don't think so, may be her style but far too expensive looking for her to attempt. I know it's not Mercer's, spent enough time there to learn the layout of every room in his house. His house, our house? No, not ours, never ours, his all his.

Sighing and trying to shake away any further thoughts of him as I do with most all painful memories I'm about to just let it go and fall back into sleep when something, someone beside me shifts causing the bed to make a small noise of complaint.

"Stupid Zordon, messing up my life." The half asleep grumble so very familiar I suddenly know exactly who's room this is.

"Zedd."

Turning to face him and finding his eyes still closed and expression dark and full of concern even in his sleep, I reach out a shaking hand, brushing my fingers over his face in amazement. "Should have known all it would take would be a near death experience to get you back here."

Eyes suddenly opening either at my touch or cracked voice, he sits up quickly and is immediately upon me. "Thomas." Eyes filling with relief and then frantic panic once more he's up before I can stop him, grabbing various things from the bedside table. "Oh thank god you're awake."

"Wait."

Either ignoring my soft spoken request or perhaps just too frantic to hear it, he quickly slips a silver cuff around me arm as a digital thermometer is shoved into my left ear. "Stop fidgeting or I won't get the correct readings." Forgot just how compassionate he is when I'm hurt.

Refraining from snorting at my own bitter thought I remain as still as possible glad when first the thermometer beeps and is removed followed only a minute later by the cuff.

Checking the readings and apparently pleased with them, he nods slowly to himself. "Better, much, much better." Good to know.

"Going to live am I?"

"Maybe." Seeming almost as exhausted as myself he sinks back down onto the bed studying me carefully. "At least my medical equipment says you are. I am still however rather leery to relax so soon. You've been unconscious for two days, and that's just counting the time I've had you here. I've no clue how long you were on that piece of wood you consider a boat."

"Three days, maybe. I remember three days let's just say that."

"You're lucky to be alive." Yeah, sure, real lucky. As something somewhere lets out a shrill beep, his attention is once more taken from me as he reaches for the next desired object in his pile. "Speaking of which…" Injection gun in his hand and then pressed to my neck before I can protest he quickly administers the rather painful shot.

"Ow! Geez what was that for?" Hand coming up to rub my stinging neck as the device is withdrawn leaving the area burning with whatever was pushed into my bloodstream, I let out a low growl definitely not in the mood for anything that even looks like pain after what I've been through with Mercer.

"Nutrient and vitamin supplement shot. It's more or less what has kept you alive for said two days as I've been unable to feed you or force any sort of vitamins down your throat. Not that I'm certain that would have even been possible even if you had been conscious. You're greatly malnourished Thomas, not to mention dehydrated, suffering from vitamin deficiency, and finally internal damage to the lining of your stomach."

Swallowing and knowing that that is anything but good, I ask the question I really don't want an answer too. "How bad is it?"

"I'm uncertain if you will actually be able to hold down food or not. At least for right now. However you do need to drink at least a bit of water before doing anything else. These shots can only do so much for you, before your body is just beyond even their help." Laying down the hated device he soon has a glass of water in its place as I'm carefully helped up to rest against the black headboard of his bed. "Take a few sips."

Doing as told and grateful for even the luke warm liquid, I barely contain a cry of protest as it's all too soon moved away even as I know why. Not too much I know that from my own medical training on the dig sites. If you get too dehydrated you need to take only small amounts or else run the risk of vomiting it back up. Mercer taught me that. He also taught me to never accept shots of 'supplements' when I've no clue as to what they are or do. "I don't want anymore shots."

Looking slightly surprised as we've moved the topic from replenishing liquids back to injections, he continues to hold the glass perhaps waiting to see if I can hold down what he's given me before offering a bit more. "You need them."

"I don't want them." Voice stern despite its raw and cracked state, I know he sees the seriousness in it.

"Thomas I am aware of how unpleasant they are, but-"

"No!" Knocking the glass from his hand despite my current state of weakness I fix him with a deadly look. "This isn't up for debate Zedd. No. More. Shots."

"Alright." Agreeance coming slowly and much more calmly then I had expected, he bends to retrieve the pieces of broken glass from the floor without so much as a question or yell to my outburst . "We can try to see if you can hold down solid food and vitamins on your own. However if you cannot I feel it only fair to tell you that if I must I will hold you down and administer the shots needed to keep you alive."

Snorting out a bitter laugh full of self loathing and anger I know I'm pressing it as Zedd has never really shown himself to be one to hold his temper for an extended period of time, even where I'm concerned, but I just cannot bring myself to stop. "Hold me down. You'll hold me down. Well isn't that just like you."

Laughing to the point of tears I know I've reached the turning point on what one might consider a mental collapse due to exhaustion and stress, but I'm truly too far gone to really care. "I hate you. I hate you so much."

"Thomas… Tom." Forgetting about what's left of the glass he once more moves beside me trying to take me in his arms. "Alright human time to take a breath for me. Take a nice deep breath and calm down."

Arms almost around me he gets a rather unpleasant surprise as I quickly shove him back. "Breathe. Breathe? You think that's going to fix this? Who do you think you are? Who are you to tell me what you will and won't do to me? Who are you to run off on me, leave me for ten years. Ten years Zedd. And then come back and presume that I am going to let you tell me what I will and won't do."

Flinching ever so slightly at my tone and words, he shakes his head slowly. "I told you before I left-"

"Yeah, yeah you told me. You warned me. Jason warned me. Everyone warned me but I didn't listen. I didn't want to think it was all just another one of your lies." Uncaring how harsh I sound, how unfair I'm being, I continue to chock on unstable laughter growing increasingly hoarse and lightheaded.

"Thomas I did not intend to stay away for so long. It was unavoidable. I was held in a position-"

Waving off his excuses, I sink back into the bed, finally gaining some form of weak control over myself. "Doesn't matter. Just doesn't matter anymore." After all why should it we're all going to die when Mercer rebuilds his labs. Or is it Mesagog now? Isn't that what it called itself before I blew the place? Don't remember. Doesn't matter I suppose. Nothing matters.

"Apparently it does or else you wouldn't be throwing a fit at me after being dumped into the middle of the ocean and left to die." Low blow. "Talk to me Thomas. Tell me what happened."

"Why? You can't fix it." I mean hell if eleven strategically placed bombs couldn't fix it don't know what the he thinks he's going to be able to do.

"You'd be surprised what I can fix." Conviction evident in his stern voice, I decide to turn the tables once more, not even remotely in the mood to bend so easily.

"Why did you stay away for so long? Why if you are so determined to be the white knight did you leave me here for ten years to wonder just what happened to you?"

"Zordon." The one word left on it's own as if that should be the end all be all answer to everything, he sits back down waiting for my response.

"Zordon?"

"Yes Zordon. I was all set to come back here five years ago when that idiot got himself cracked out his stupid tube by whoever the moronic current Red Ranger was at the time."

Not amused in the least I let my anger begin to mount once more. "Zordon's dead."

"Pfft, I wish." Making a dismissive gesture, he continues his own tone filled with annoyance and now slight boredom it seems. "Then I wouldn't have had to be his errand boy and house keeper for five years. Do you know how anal retentive that moron is? Can't even wear my boots in the condo because they might leave scuff marks on the floor. Oh and don't even get me started on the bathroom towel issue! You'd think I'd slaughtered a baby by how he carried on when I left my wet towel on the floor."

"What?"

Apparently too caught up in his rant about how stupid and rule oriented my one time mentor is, he continues without so much as missing a beat. "And heaven forbid if you don't use a coaster."

"Zedd stop!" Forcing myself back up into a semi sitting position I look at him straight on, not at all in the mood to be messed with right now. "Zordon's alive?"

Rolling his eyes he nods slowly keeping an extra eye on me incase I might be unable to remain up. "Alive and an ever constant pain in my ass."

"But, but no one said…"

"No, because no one was to know until he regained his strength. Being broken out of that tube in such a way it's really quite amazing it didn't kill him. I'm certain the Red Ranger thought it had." Andros, Andros did think it had. I can still remember just how guilt ridden he was during our last mission together.

"How did you know?"

Shrugging and looking almost bored with the conversation he answers easily. "He told me. He had to go somewhere had to have someone watch over him until he was back to his annoying old self. I owed him one." Owed him one? Alright obviously I am more unaware of what occurred between them in the past then I originally thought. "I am sorry it kept me away for so long, but I honestly thought you were doing well. Scorpina had been keeping tabs on you and reporting back to me every few months so I just assumed…"

"Wait what?" Hold up there, what was that now? "You had Scorpina watching me?"

"Had to have someone do it or else I wouldn't know how you were doing. Eltar is a far cry away from just down the road you know. Plus as I said Zordon was driving me crazy with complaints about towels on the floor and lack of cleaning, me nearly shoving him out the window. You know pointless nit-picky crap of that nature." Uh huh.

"So why did you help him then? If he was so annoying and you were so concerned about me? Why did you stay there for so long?"

"Well he did give me this ship. Not to mention immunity from prosecution as once he's back up to full strength he'll return to his seat on the High Council. Man is that going to piss his father off." Chuckling at the thought of the other Elders reactions to hearing Zordon demand he be let off scott free for his time under Dark Spector, Zedd continues quickly at my unamused look. "Also as I said I owed him one. He…despite how much we both hate each other we do sort of perhaps- I'll kill you and deny this if you ever breathe a word of it to anyone -maybe depend on each other just a bit." Wow. "Plus as I said I had been hearing reports of all going well for you here."

"So what now? Going to go back to Eltar now that you have immunity?" Voice clipped with anger, I'm rather surprised as strong arms come to hold me and a peaceable kiss is given.

"Not unless you want to live on Eltar. Honestly though I think you'd find it a little boring."

To be continued…..