Chapter Six: Conversations
"Thank you, Sander," Mercer said as the butler set down the food and drinks they had asked for. The man nodded and left, leaving him alone with his two guests. Kim had grabbed the other chair in the room which seemed to suit Conner fine as he laid on the couch, careful to not let his shoes touch the upholstery since all three adults would chew him out for it. Mercer seemed just as pleased as Kim that Conner had agreed to do this and both of the adults had been willing to talk about their own experiences as well. They knew it made it easier on the young man if they were willing to talk. He didn't feel as weak.
"So, what about when you were unconscious. After the final strike against Mesagog?" Kim asked. "You mentioned it was odd."
"Yeah. The power and I were kind of connected, you know? Trent and I weren't. We were able to use them together, but there was no connection between him and me or his powers and ours. It was just silent from his angle, but Mesagog was a different story," he answered and felt himself pushing to continue instead of hiding from it again. "I could, for a little bit, see what he was trying for, his thought, everything and some of it stayed. I didn't forget it. Then there was nothing, but…"
"You knew everything," Mercer said. Conner looked up and realized that the man before him understood, that he had been there. The younger man nodded.
"Do you… Does it… Do you think…" Conner tried, but he felt unable to put his thoughts into words.
"Sometimes, yes. But he isn't me and he isn't you and you won't become him," Mercer promised seeing the expression on the young man's face. Kim and he had been working on this very problem with him all summer. He'd broke through quite a few barriers and he preferred that Conner got some of what he'd learned. "Even if you have dreams of shifting into him."
Conner seemed surprised at that, but quickly got over it. "You have the same dreams."
"Often," Mercer said with a nod. "But they're just dreams."
It seems we have more in common than you thought. Mesagog's words flew through his head as he remembered that fight, getting the claws for that small amount of time, becoming more like the Tyrannosaurus Rex. He didn't hate his chosen dinosaur, but that Mesagog looked like one too hadn't helped matters. Nor did it help that no one had started to become their dinosaur before them. Kim put her hand on his shoulder.
"They're just dreams," she reiterated. Conner shrugged.
"Maybe, I guess, but what if Mesagog was right?" He asked and she looked confused. "He told me that I… I had more in common with him."
"He was a psychopath. What have I told you about listening to psychopaths?" Kim said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Is this like the 'don't listen to Trent' deal?" Conner asked and Kim nodded. "Oh. Don't."
"Then why are you?" She asked. Conner shrugged. "You have more in common with Jason and Rocky than you do with Mesagog. I promise."
"Are you sure? And, okay, listening to psychopaths again, but Scorpina seemed weirded out by me. Like she was expecting someone else," Conner said. "She looked kind of a mix between confused and impressed and it creeps me out. And don't bad guys like people who are similar to them?"
"I'm not surprised. You're not like typical Reds," she said and he looked both upset and insulted. "Oh, you have Red traits, and I don't mean it badly. You are a great leader. Look at Kira and Ethan. They'd still follow you to the ends of the earth if you asked them to, but you're a lot like me too. It's not a bad thing. I personally think it has to do with how few people their were on this team. Kira and you both tend to have pink traits as well as your own color, once again not a bad thing to have, and Ethan actually tends to have black traits. Tommy is more of the extra Ranger. Again."
"You don't seem to like that," Conner teased and Kim sighed.
"They're more reckless than most Reds and that's saying something," she answered and Conner nodded.
"So, because we only had three members, we had to add in the other traits," Conner said and Kim nodded. "Oh."
"It also helped keep you close together and as a team. While other teams tend to split a bit into different groups, you three didn't have that option and it worked in your favor," Kim told them and Conner looked confused.
"Huh?" He asked and Mercer took over.
"Tom explained to me that Trini and Billy were often working together, he and Jason were closer, the girls tend to be closer, and Zack would go with whichever group he felt like that day. It wasn't wrong, it was personality based and this was a team who were friends before," Mercer explained and Kim nodded.
"Or take the new team. Seth and Jera hang out together. Tara and Ben hang out together. They don't really hang out as a group," Kim told him. "Kira, Ethan, and you did and still do. You became closer and you weren't about to leave anyone out."
"Got it," Conner said and sighed. "Yeah, we've noticed that about the new team. Kira's thinking we should spend time with them and convince them to work together."
"Do your best," Kim said. "Feeling a little better?"
"Yep," Conner said. "Cake time!"
Mercer chuckled, but easily obliged in cutting the cake for all three of them.
"Holding… holding… can I stop holding the button down now, Hayley?" Kira asked. "I know we said we'd help but this is kinda getting ridiculous."
"A little longer, Kira," Hayley answered.
"Just be glad you're not holding it up," Ethan said with clenched teeth has he held it in place. Kira winced at that considering her friend looked exhausted.
"Sorry, Ethan," she apologized and he gave a noise that told her not to worry about it. "I'm just a little frustrated."
"We're all frustrated," Tommy answered. "They shouldn't be breaking like this. Did you call Trini and Billy, Hales?"
"Yep. They reminded me about the blueprints, but even they're confused at why it's not working," Hayley answered. "Okay guys, you can stop now."
Both teens immediately stopped what they were doing and relaxed. They moved on to the next tasks which were less physically exhausting for them, well, at least Ethan. Only Kira's finger hurt. Ethan turned toward Tommy. "Hey Doctor O? Can I ask you a question?"
"Depends on what it is, Ethan," he answered.
"Right. So, you're a paleontologist while Jason and Rocky each run a dojo, right?" He asked and Tommy nodded. "So… what do the other Reds do?"
"I'd suggest telling them in chronological order," Hayley teased. "That way you won't forget one."
"Funny, Hayley," Tommy said, though he'd already decided to anyway. "Well, Andros continues to look for threats throughout the galaxy and T.J. works with him mostly, Leo has a permanent job with Terra Venture doing similar jobs that he had on the base, Carter still works at Lightspeed Rescue, Wes and Eric are both heads of the Silver Guardians, Cole went on to help animals, and Shane and Hunter are both Sensei of their respective academy."
"I think we should convince him to be a therapist," Kira whispered once Tommy and Hayley stopped paying attention. Ethan who snickered, glad she'd caught onto what he was thinking about.
"I think he needs the therapist," Ethan joked back. "Besides, Conner? A therapist?"
"Good point," Kira agreed before they spoke up again. "So, the only thing they have in common is they're still helping people?"
"Yep," Tommy answered and Ethan stored the information for future use. It might help Conner out later. Kira interrupted his thoughts before he could dwell on it further.
"So, what are we working on, anyway?" She asked and Hayley laughed.
"Back up and take a look," she answered. Kira did, followed by Ethan and both of their eyes widened. It moved slightly, though what they had been working on hadn't. Kira finally realized why they had been working outside in one of the darker areas. Her mentors knew better than to keep them in the same area as before since it would be easy to find. It looked down at her and snorted, but did little else and Kira kept herself from backing away further. Had it been hers, she would have reached to touch it, but it wasn't meant for her. It was meant for a Ranger. Ethan whistled a bit before he said what she was thinking.
"Aeris Gryphon," he muttered. "We've been working on Tara's Zord."
"I'm not that bad!" Seth protested as Conner spoke. The elder teen rolled his eyes as he wasn't perfect at tact.
"You're a Red and I've been watching you. You do it," Conner answered.
"How is it you're the only Red who agrees with this stupid theory?" Seth asked and Conner shrugged.
"I was mentored by a Pink. Some of it stayed with me," Conner answered. "Otherwise, I might have done many more stupid things than I already did. Doctor O and Jason aren't exactly known for their great ideas by the rest of the Rangers."
"How bad could they be?" Seth asked.
"At Jason's wedding, they were going to use karaoke to distract the guests. If you're wondering why that's such a bad idea, get Jason, Doctor O, and half of the other male Rangers drunk and you'll find out. Other than Zack, they can't sing. They've done two, count them, two Red missions…"
"Red missions?" Seth asked dubiously and Conner nodded.
"Yep. Missions only for Reds," Conner answered.
"Cool!" Seth said as his eyes lit up. Conner groaned.
"No. Not cool. Bad. Very bad. Painful," Conner told him. "The female Rangers especially don't like Red only missions because we're supposed to be a team. And I've noticed that the other male Rangers aren't exactly quick to give the Reds cover either. Well, except Rocky but that's because he runs the other way."
"What?!" Seth asked and Conner nodded.
"Yep. The first time Tommy called him and he pretended the phone wasn't working, packed a bag, and convinced Zack to take him to Vegas. They had a blast. He was enjoying the company of beautiful women while the other Reds were getting throttled by their wives, girlfriends, and just plain female friends. The second time he claimed to have a sixth sense for it. Adam said he left exactly a day before Tommy showed up. He later told me that he was going to come for me, but Kim had already told him she had it taken care of. He convinced Billy to use the transporter to send him to the Bahamas, called Zack, and the three of them enjoyed their time there. They convinced Ethan to baby-sit Neen. Kira and I ended up helping," Conner explained.
"Well, where were you?" Seth asked and Conner grinned.
"See, that's the best part: Kim's my mentor. She knew that getting throttled the first time wasn't going to teach them anything so she wrote me a 'get out of the mission free' note. Doctor O came, I showed him my note, he didn't handle it well, and Jason asked me not to say anything about it as he dragged a rather angry Doctor O out the door. It was great. I got to listen to music."
"She wrote you a note," Seth said slowly. "And that got you out of the mission. How?"
"They could have dragged me kicking and screaming there, but according to my note, that meant that Doctor O and Jason would get throttled more and I'd get off without a bruise. I love my note," Conner answered. "So, look. There is no best color. Most can't even agree on a best Ranger. Doctor O is the most famous, but when you go through colors like that and you're the Ranger who was in uniform longest, you tend to get some notice. And he is great, trust me. I was his teammate, but he wasn't the best at backing down from being in charge."
"Who do you think is best?" Seth asked and Conner shrugged.
"I'm not impartial. Kim's my mentor, remember? Ethan, Kira, and I have argued long and hard about it. And that's not taking the rest of the Originals into consideration or even any of the others that followed. I don't think you can pick the best from them because each of us has our own flaws and our own strengths," Conner answered, but quickly broke out of the solemn speech just as Seth was starting to think he was wise. "And I don't get credit for knowimh any of this, by the way, by any Red Ranger. That's what Kim and Trini screamed at Jason and Doctor O when they got back last time: That I'd had the good sense to stay behind and listen to reason. I got to watch. With ice cream."
"So, the point is, everyone is important and don't go on the awesome Red Only missions,' Seth said. "Are you going to write me a 'get out of mission free' note too?"
"Yeah, but I don't know what it will do. It's not like Doctor O fears me. Don't worry, though. I'll figure out something. At the very least, you can enjoy some place sinfully good with Rocky if I can't. Rocky's cool like that," Conner assured him, before turning serious. Any trace of his former, normal self was gone. "Look, you're halfway good with Jera. The two of you laugh and joke, you hang out together, but it's different when you're both powered up. You're worse with Tara and Ben, either ignoring them or telling Ben why he's wrong. Dude, he's not an alpha male like you. He's happy following your lead, but he can still have good ideas. You need to start listening."
"Like you needed to start mentoring?" Seth fought back and Conner paused what he was doing. Seth looked at him with his arms crossed for only a moment before he was backing up a bit. He was starting to figure out the correlation between Red and Conner.
"You know, Ben might not want to be top dog, but compared to you, I am. I back down to Jason and Doctor O as a sign of respect anymore. They came before me, they know more about this than me, and they respect me in return. I want to respect you too, Seth, but I need that respect in return. I came before you, I know more than you. That said, I should have been mentoring better, but at least I'm trying now. Let me know when you're ready to try," Conner answered and backed off, winning without even needing to touch Seth. The younger teen stood there for a minute before answering to Conner's back.
"What if I willing to try now?" He asked and Conner shrugged.
"Then we start again from where we left off," he answered and paused before giving it a try. "Your team is…"
"The only thing between you and becoming a smear on the ground?" Seth answered and Conner grinned.
"Exactly. But more than that, they'll be your family. Seriously, I'm not joking," he said, nearly laughing at Seth's look. "Ethan, Kira, and I fought constantly until we learned how to work together and they're the best friends I could ever ask for. Kira is better than any girl I could have wanted and I think I'm closer to Ethan that to my own twin brother."
"Seriously?" Seth asked. "And you think I'll get that way with Ben?"
"It's a possibility," Conner said. "Maybe not, but you should still end up friends."
"That could be okay," Seth said, thinking about it. Conner grinned. Even if that was as far as he got that night, it was still better than where he was when the conversation started.
"And you're not worried about getting caught by Hayley or Billy?" Jera asked incredulously as she followed Ethan to their destination. "I mean, what if they ban you from all things electronic for a week."
"They won't and they won't catch us either. No one is focusing where we're going. Besides, I asked if you want Blue on Blue time and you said yes," he reminded her. "I'm just… picking the activity."
"Conner suggested it, huh?" She asked and Ethan shrugged.
"More encouraged. It was my idea," he assured her. "Besides, when you see this, you won't care how much trouble your get it. Trust me."
"What could be so great that… oh my god…" Jera said and her eyes widened as they entered the Zord area. "They're, uh, wow."
"Yeah. Aren't they great?" Ethan said excitedly. "Once I found out I was working on them, I just sat there and watched them for like an hour after I was done working. That's Aeris Gryphon, he's Tara's. That's the one we were fixing earlier."
The Zord took a look at them and turned his back to rest the other way, not bothering to acknowledge them. Jera gave Ethan a look. "Yeah, he'll be a big help."
"Well, he's not our Zord. He'll be fine with Tara," Ethan said. "Zords bond to their Ranger. Well, the animalistic ones do anyway."
"Okay," Jera said. "So, what about the other three?"
He pointed straight ahead and chuckled when she looked confused. "Hey! Mirinoi Dragon!"
What she had thought was simply a shed wall or something along that sort moved and shook until it was easy to see it. Just as Aeris, he was a definite replica of his mythical species, the European version. His head moved over to look at Jera and, unlike the less than pleasant Gryphon, nodded his head once. He shook himself off before walking a few feet and falling back to sleep. Plants seemed to move out of his way as he walked, making it so he stepped on nothing but grass before moving back into place.
"He's amazing!" Jera said. "What about mine?"
Ethan moved to the water edge and moved his hand through the water. To both the teens' amusement, he was splashed back. He moved his hand in the water again, and this time Jera saw something head toward the surface. Both moved out of the way as the Zord headed up and out of the water, flipping in the air before landing with a splash back in. Finally, it popped its head out of the water and puts its hooves on land, spraying them both with water one last time. "Jera, meet your Zord. Aquitar Hippocampus."
"Wow," Jera whispered. "He's mine?"
Ethan nodded, but quickly corrected his companion. "She, actually. She's playful, so watch out."
"I don't understand. Why is she so different from me?" Jera asked and Ethan shrugged.
"Probably a compliment thing, you know? She's playful, you're really not. She's content to follow, you're not. Aeris Gryphon, I call him A.G. for short, is prideful, Tara's not. He's extremely focused and business oriented. Well, Tara does what we ask of her…" Ethan said with a shrug. "And M.D. is actually pretty lazy and hardly remembers to finish a project, let alone get lost in one where Ben gets completely lost in his work."
"M.D., A.G., what's that make mine? Ahh?" Jera asked and Ethan laughed. "A.H. doesn't sound right."
"I agree," Ethan said. "I've been calling her A.C. Aquitar Campus. I think it works for her. Especially with what hippocampus meant."
"What did it mean?" Jera asked.
"Horse sea-monster pretty much," Ethan answered with a shrug.
"You took out the horse and left the monster in her name?" Jera asked horrified.
"It's meant affectionately," Ethan said, holding his hands up. "And she knows it, don't you, A.C.?"
The hippocampus slashed her massive tail down and nodded before turning her attention to Jera and splashing her as well. She let out a noise that sort of sounded like a horse before turning around and diving back into the water. Jera whistled and looked at Ethan. "What about Seth?"
"Over here," Ethan assured her and led her to an area that had a large, red bird sitting in it. "There she is. Kaldenor Phoenix. K.P."
Before Jera could say anything, the mighty zord leapt into the air, flying up a bit and bringing out her wings. She let out a noise that sounded like a hawk, her head looking upward. "It's almost like they're real."
"Well, most Zords feel that way," Ethan said and Jera saw the pain come to his eyes. "Which is why it was so hard when we lost ours."
Jera looked at him. "Conner mentioned something about you not handling that well."
"I think he feels bad because I haven't gotten over it as much. We literally sacrificed them, Jera. We hit the self-destruct. They weren't just machines, they had DNA. Maybe they weren't like the raptors, but they were still part of the family. Tricerazord was still there when I needed him."
They were both silent for a moment before Jera spoke. "The scars that all of you have. Do they ever heal?"
Ethan's smile was a little dark when he answered. "Zack was right. We're hoping one of you guys makes it as a psychiatrist because Rangers, on the whole, have issues. Guilt of not being able to save others, loss of teammates, remembrance of death, fear of being evil again, love to others in different times, pain of losing powers, fear of commitment… Like I said, we've got issues and it's not just me mourning over some Zords. Conner's messed up from nearly dying several times and nearly losing Kim. They're pretty close and I think that he blamed himself for her getting stuck on that ship. He blames himself for a lot of things. Kira, though she doesn't show it as much, is afraid of being alone. She spends a lot of time in our dorm and if her roommate's gone, we usually spend the night at Dr. Mercer's or Doctor O's so she's not alone."
"So, we're going to need a therapist by the time this is over?" She asked and he thought for a minute before shrugged.
"Maybe. Then again, you might be the normal one. Like Zack," he answered and she stared at him.
"Wait, Zack is the normal one?" She asked and he nodded. "The world is doomed."
"Umm… I'm Green," Ben said quietly, even raising his hand as he followed Tara and Kira out. When the elder Yellow had come in, she'd grabbed both of them instead of just Tara like Ethan had done with Jera and Conner with Seth. "I know that has yellow in it, but I'm not sure if I should be coming."
"Of course you're coming," Kira said. "You're not like Ethan, you're definitely not like Conner, so you're like me. Which means that you're going to be like Conner and have a female secondary mentor."
"Oh. Okay," he said slowly and her grin turned into a smirk.
"Unless you'd rather only have Doctor O," she said casually. "He was a green at one point."
"If it's okay with you, I'll stick with you guys," he answered quickly, not really caring if he fell in with Kira's plan. Tara grinned.
"That's great! It means that I get a mentor and a partner to share it with!" She exclaimed before frowning. "I've been trying with Seth and Jera, but it's not working. Being friends I mean. Sometimes I wonder if they even want more friends. And friends are a good thing to have, right?"
"I think you're getting distracted again, Tara," Ben whispered. Kira tried not to laugh. Jera and Seth might have been best friends, but they tended to fight like cats and dogs. Both insisted they were right and often times, they both were. It was just a matter of whose idea was slightly better. Tara and Ben were more distanced from the other two, but there was less fighting between them.
"Oh. Oops! So, where are we going?" Tara asked. "Is it going to be fun?"
"We're just going to go over a few things. When Conner, Ethan and I first became Rangers, Doctor O, Kim, and Hayley found themselves in a unique position. For the first time, they were able to teach each of us separately as well as in a group. Ethan and Hayley was an obvious one, but Kim took Conner while Doctor O took me. I didn't understand then why he did that, but now I do. I matched Doctor O and Conner matched Kim. We were more like them and we are all closer to our own mentor than to the other two. Not that it matters too much since we're all attached to each other. Well, Conner and I talked about it to decide if I should teach Seth while Conner taught you guys, but we decided against it this time. Especially with the lack of teamwork, we figured it might actually be better if lectures came from the same or, in your case Ben, a similar color," Kira explained. "Plus, he's hoping that I can help you both with standing up for what you want to say. I'm, uh, good at that."
"Okay," Tara agreed. She often agreed. "What are we going to learn about first? Huh?"
"Well, have you figured out typical colors?" She asked and Tara nodded.
"Blues are smart, like really smart," Tara answered proudly.
"A good number are, yes," she agreed. Ben raised his hand and Kira tried not to laugh. "You don't need to raise your hand."
"Sorry. Uh, Reds are the leaders. That one is easy," he said shyly.
"Yellows are mediators, right?" Tara asked hopefully and Kira smiled.
"Typically yes. Though that doesn't mean that they always have to keep the peace. They're quick to anger if it's important. There's only one male Yellow right now and that's Dustin so we don't really know how they're going to be on the whole yet," she explained. "Just like, other than Jera, there has only been one female blue."
"So, what about me?" Ben asked the question so quietly that Kira almost didn't hear him. She turned to look and smiled softly at him.
"Well, often Greens are a mix between Yellows and Blues. Like Blues, they're often clever about something or another but they're normally not as serious as the Blues. Whether they're sarcastic or quietly keeping everyone together, they seemingly have two 'jobs'," she explained. "And, in your case, like you did when Tara literally started to float off, you'll keep them grounded."
"Oh. So, I am important?" He asked and Kira sighed.
"Yes. You're important. Every member on the team is important. I think that's why they color code us the same every time. So that no one thinks they're not important. Yes, Reds do tend to get the most attention: in the media, to new Rangers, in general, but without us, they're nothing. Conner will be the first to tell you that he would have died without the rest of us helping him and besides, his mentor was a Pink. And she cut off Zeltrax' head."
"Really?" Ben asked and Tara looked a little grossed out.
"Eww."
"Yes, really. I wasn't there for it, but I heard the story. Trent, former white Ranger, is still afraid of her because she cut off his ear and shot him a few times with arrows when he was evil. They've sort of reconciled since he's been good, but there's still something there, you know?" She asked. "Look, in Ranger years, I'm a year old. I'm an assistant mentor so I don't know nearly as much as Doctor O or Kim or any of the others that have been doing this for over ten years. But, it's amazing what you learn in Ranger History 101."
"Do we have to take that?" Ben asked and Kira smiled warmly at him.
"You've already started to," she assured him.
"So, how'd the talk go?" Kira asked as they pulled out the junk food they'd gotten and took their seats around Ethan and Conner's dorm room. Ethan broke open the bags and set them in the center while Conner leaned back against the wall next to his bed. Conner and Kira had been back for a while, having had most of their conversation with their students during the day, but Ethan had had to wait until dark.
"Good. I've got issues," Ethan said decidedly. Conner tossed him a Snickers.
"We've all got issues," he reminded him. "You, me, Kira, Kim, especially Doctor O… and don't get me started on Trent."
"How is Trent?" Kira asked and Conner shrugged.
"Happy. He says he's coming for Christmas. He told me to tell you guys hi," Conner answered. Ethan shook his head.
"Why is it when he was here, you wanted to kill him, but when he left, you keep in the best contact with him other than Dr. Mercer?" Ethan asked and Conner shrugged again.
"Jealous?" He teased and at Ethan's look, he continued. "Kidding, kidding. Anyway, I thought it might be a good idea to keep up with the only other person in the world who has a Dino Power. I hate to say it, but we might need him someday. So, I keep up with him on his life and he keeps up on what's going on here."
"Does he know that's why you keep up with him?" Ethan asked and Conner nodded.
"Pretty sure. I said 'I'm keeping up with you in case we need you again', so I'd hope he's figured it out," Conner answered. "Neither of us really wanted it to be where we hadn't talked in six years and out of the blue, I'm calling to let him know bunnies are taking over the world."
"Bunnies?" Kira asked.
"It's an example."
"How do you know he'll come back?" Kira asked.
"He has to. Then again, by the time I'd be willing to call him, I'm not sure what he could do anyway. I think it's more of making us feel better. He wants to feel like he's doing something without doing anything super important and I'm being a good leaders by filling him in. It works," Conner answered, ignoring their looks. "So, why do you have issues this week?"
"The whole Zords thing. I thought I'd be over it by now," Ethan muttered. The other two nodded knowingly before turning back to their friend.
"Ethan, you're a geek. A huge geek. Maybe not as bad as Billy was, but you're pretty high up there," Conner started.
"Gee, thanks, Conner," Ethan snapped.
"No, wait, here me out. I liked the Zords, but you helped Hayley with them. You spent more time with them so of course you're going to miss them more," Conner continued. "It's normal. And it's not like we can replace it with a goldfish. Kira and I would be devastated if something happened to Yellow or Red."
Kira nodded. "Yeah. Besides, you were the most excited over the whole Ranger thing. 'My partners in crime fighting'. That's what you called us. And losing the Zords was like knowing that our turn was over."
"Yeah, now that it's over, I want it back," Conner complained. Both of his friends snickered a bit at that. "But seriously, being a Ranger is great, but part of it screws you up."
Kira moved over to sit by him and laid her head on his shoulders. "Conner, have you…?"
"Yeah. I have," Conner promised. "Are you going to say you don't want to be the Kim to my Doctor O because Ethan already used that one except with Jason instead of Kim."
"That's sweet, Ethan," Kira said, smiling at their third friend who shrugged. "Wow. A little over a year ago, I hated both of you."
"Back at you, Kira," both boys chorused. She reached over at threw a pillow at Ethan while gently hitting her boyfriend in the arm as both of them grinned. They hadn't missed a beat on that one. Still, she continued.
"And now, I don't know what I'd do with you," she answered. Ethan pretended to sigh and threw the pillow back to Conner who caught it.
"You want to spend the night again, huh?" Ethan asked and she nodded. "Figured. How do you two fit on that bed?"
Kira gave him a knowing look as she cuddled with Conner. "Carefully."
"Is it your turn or mine to do the dishes?" Tommy asked as he took them into the kitchen. Both of them had had an extremely quiet dinner and he was trying to change that a bit as he cleaned off the table. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy talking to Kim, but neither of them wanted to upset the other and they'd been doing that over the past few days, ever since Conner and Ethan returned.
"Yours," came the quick response. "I'm going to go read."
"Kim! Wait!" Tommy started and she turned around to look at him. "Do you blame me?"
"Blame you for what?" She asked, curiously but also incredulously.
"Conner and Ethan. Do you blame me?" He asked. She paused for a minute and he nearly slammed the dishes down in frustration. "You do, don't you?"
"I blame us." He almost missed her response. Considering how vocal his fiancé was, it was unusual for her to be so quiet, but this time she was. He turned away from the dishes and back toward her.
"Us?" He asked and she nodded. "Why?"
"Oh come on, Tommy. Scorpina wouldn't have bothered with them if she hadn't noticed we were connected with them. We put them in danger," she answered. "And not just this time, but we left the gems out, you accidentally convinced them to take them, I convinced them to stay, so yeah. I blame us."
"They didn't have to stay," Tommy argued. "They could have left."
Kim rolled her eyes. "No, they couldn't. Those gems would have called them back. But I convinced them to stay of their own will instead. It was easy for us to do this when they didn't have faces. When I didn't go to their games, performances, or learn how to play video games. It was easy when I didn't have to worry if they'd make it back this time."
"Kim…" he started, reaching for her but she pulled away. Tears were starting to come to her eyes as she spoke.
"It was easy when I wasn't looking at his face, trying to be brave but scared out of his mind. He was helpless and he was torn between wanting me to come save him or keeping the new Rangers safe. God, Tommy. We could have lost them," she whispered. "Because she wanted us."
Tommy reached for her again and this time she went, crying into his shirt. "That's why you said no again, wasn't it?"
"I'm happy for Billy and Trini and Jason. And eventually I'll be happy for Zack," she answered. "But we were supposed to get time off and something happened. Destiny has it in for us, Tommy. She doesn't want the others to be primary mentors," Kim answered and he sighed.
"Kim, it's coincidental, okay?" He told her. "Next time…"
"It will be us again," she answered. "Except we won't have anything to work with."
"We'll figure something out," Tommy pushed. "Maybe in a few years…"
"Maybe," she whispered back. "But I don't want to feel like this anymore. It's bad enough with Conner, Ethan, and Kira. What's going to happen if I have a child of my own?"
Tommy sighed again. "Probably nothing more than what you feel now, Kim. But we'll wait."
"Was Ethan surprised?" Neen asked as her father tried, for a third time, to tuck her in. He sighed, but nodded.
"Affirmative," he answered. "Hayley said that both Kira and he were extremely surprised."
"Did his eyes get big? They do that," Neen said, causing her father to have to try a fourth time.
"I am sure they did. Will you settle down if I bring Hayley in to tell you?" He asked and Neen's eyes grew bigger.
"She is here? Hayley!" Neen called and Billy held his head. He felt Hayley's hand touch his shoulder.
"She's having one of those nights?" Hayley asked and Billy nodded. "Alright. Neen, come on. Lay down and stay there."
"Do it, Hayley. Please?" Neen begged and Hayley smiled knowing how much the child loved to watch her use the knowledge that she seemed to have. Even Tommy wasn't sure how she knew so much about everyone.
"Alright. Let's see… Ethan enjoyed the Zords so much that he decided to show Jera them so now both of them are excited, Conner talked things over with Seth so they should be getting along better now, and Kira made Tara and Ben feel better. Kira, Ethan, and Conner are sitting in their dorm room talking about their day and mentor stuff. Auntie Kim and Uncle Tommy are talking about why you're not going to have a little cousin from them anytime soon. Dr. Mercer and Elsa are, hopefully, asleep. Auntie Trini and Uncle Jason are resting and talking about baby names and Zack's… being Zack. And Daddy is about to go nuts from you getting up every twenty seconds."
"Okay. Sorry, Papa," Neen said and made sure to stay down. "Hayley, how do you know?"
Hayley grinned at her while Billy rest his hands on her shoulders. "I'm Hayley. I know everything."
Author's Notes: Sorry about last week. We're doing some crazy stuff at work so I've been getting home and just being tired. I barely have time to keep up writing for NaNoWriMo sometimes, but I still feel bad about the lack of chapter. Still, here's a nice new one and you guys did get the Halloween side story, so I hope that makes up for it.
I had two favorite parts for this chapter: One was the talk between Kim and Tommy. I tried to keep it as real as I could, using married couples I've been around as examples. Fortunately, couples I've been around have never had something that serious happen to them though. So, I did my best.
The other part was the end. Was I the only one who was impressed by Hayley? I figure that knowing about Conner and Kira was due to Tommy, but Ethan implied that she does it with everyone. Yes, I spent half the series wondering about that. I've gotten it down to: lots of cameras set up around the dinosaurs, Tommy's house, and her café (all for safety purposes), access to confidential files that she probably shouldn't have, and a good network of people willing to talk to her. Not to mention just good instincts about people. Still, it was something I figured Neen would find amusing, like a game. In ten years when she's trying to date, it probably won't be as much amusement for her.
Thank you for the reviews from the past chapter and the Halloween Fic. I appreciated all of them.