Chapter Two

A Small Problem

Jason grinned broadly as he set down the phone; from the sounds of things, Tommy had never achieved that dream of settling down and living the quiet life. Tommy's life was never very calm, orderly or normal. Jason hadn't really been very surprised to hear that Tommy had formed a new Ranger team and gotten back into uniform; in fact, Jason had just shaken his head and remarked that Tommy would probably end up as a sixty-year-old slightly arthritic Orange Ranger at this rate.

Jason sat back on his couch, glancing absently around the living room. After college, almost three years after he'd broken up with Emily, he'd returned to Angel Grove to open his own dojo, which had been very successful; there were a lot of martial arts fans in the original home of the Power Rangers. His life since the Ranger days hadn't been anywhere near as exciting as Tommy's, but it had been comfortable, and happy—even more so when Trini had come back into it.

He'd gotten together with Trini back in high school, shortly before leaving the Rangers, and he'd stayed with her during the Peace Conference. They'd decided to cool it after the conference and just stay friends; Trini had been bound for MIT, and Jason had wanted to go back to California. They'd kept in touch and remained close while Jason worked on a business degree (he'd wanted to have a fallback, another job opportunity in case his plan of running a dojo had failed, and he'd figured business management would help his school more successful and give him other options if it didn't work out), and Trini studied to be a software designer. She'd gotten a job with a computer company in Louisiana, but she'd missed Angel Grove, and was able to transfer to Angel Grove within a year. She and Jason became inseparable again, spending every spare moment together, and before long, they were a couple again. They'd been married for a little over two years now, and they were thoroughly happy.

Jason had kept in touch with all of his old friends, especially Tommy, Zack, Billy, and Kimberly—which wasn't surprising, given that, with the exception of Tommy, they'd all known each other for most of their lives. At the moment, Billy was the only one who wasn't in California; he was still on Aquitar with Cestria. It was rather silly to ask Billy to come home from a completely different planet just for a short ceremony, but Trini had decided she'd let him know about it; Billy had been thinking about returning to visit anyway. They had all missed Billy, though it helped that he'd sent communication devices to keep in touch with all of his friends (which came with long instructions that no one but Trini could interpret; she'd spent a good long while calling everyone who'd gotten one and helping them figure it out). Trini was especially excited at the thought that Billy might actually come to visit; the two of them had always been very close. Billy had only been back to Earth twice since leaving, and both times had only been for a few hours—once to collect his belongings (only the Zeo Rangers had gotten to see him that time) and once to attend Jason and Trini's wedding.

Trini and Jason had already called Zack, who was working as a fight choreographer in Hollywood. Zack had always made it a point to take some time off each year and visit his friends and family, and he'd immediately warmed to the idea of getting the old crew together for a few days. He was already making plans to spend about a week in Angel Grove, regardless of whether Tommy, Billy and Kimberly came for Power Rangers Day; even if it was only Trini, Jason and Zack who made it, they were all looking forward to it. Zack had booked a local hotel room for the week before Power Rangers Day; they'd offered to let him stay at the house, but he'd pointed out that four extra people might be a little cramped in Trini and Jason's home, and at least Billy was going to have to stay with them, since Billy no longer had American money, or any other form of currency used on Earth.

Now that Tommy and Zack had decided to come, and Trini was talking to Billy, the only person who didn't know about Power Rangers Day was Kimberly. Kimberly, who'd had a long career as a gymnast and even won two Olympic medals, now lived in Los Angeles and ran a gymnastics center. Jason was sure she'd love to come… but she would probably be quite awkward around Tommy. They'd only seen each other once since Kimberly had left for the Pan Global games, and that had been when she and Jason got kidnapped by Divatox, roughly seven years ago. Kimberly and Tommy had barely spoken then, and they'd both seemed very strained. Ever since Jason had heard about the letter Kimberly had sent Tommy, he had avoided asking her about Tommy at all, and she hadn't offered any information. Jason didn't want to take sides, to sacrifice one friend for the other, so he'd just kept his mouth shut about it. Kimberly and Tommy hadn't been hateful or angry with each other when they'd met up during the kidnapping thing, but they hadn't exactly chatted away. Jason couldn't recall them saying a word that wasn't tense small talk or something to do with Divatox. Kimberly would definitely want to get together with Trini, Zack, Jason and Billy, but Jason wasn't sure what her reaction to Tommy would be. He knew Tommy regretted not staying friends with her, or fighting to get her back, but Jason had no clue what Kimberly's thoughts were. Perhaps Trini would know, though; she was just as close to Kimberly as Jason was, if not more so.

Jason was startled from his thoughts by Trini, who emerged from the basement with a huge smile on her face. "Billy's going to come!" she exclaimed, nearly shaking with excitement. "He said it won't be a problem, the Aquitians can teleport him straight here—he said he'd stay as long as Zack planned to, maybe longer, but he didn't want to impose too long. I told him that was silly, of course, because he could never impose on us even if he tried, but I think he feels bad about not having any money, at least not money usable on this planet, and that he can't stay in a hotel or buy his own food—"

"Whoa, slow down," Jason interrupted, grinning.

"Sorry," she said, sitting down on the couch beside him, "I'm just so happy he's coming back. I miss him like crazy. I bet he's learned loads about the computer systems used on Aquitar—"

Jason chuckled. "Yes, you two discuss alien computers; I'll try and figure out just how to use my e-mail and program the microwave clock. Sounds like fun."

Trini laughed. "Don't worry, Jase. Even while Billy's here, I'll help you use your e-mail, and no amount of time with Billy is enough to make me let you go near the microwave clock." Jason gave her a mock-glare. "What did Tommy say?"

"He's going to call me back," he replied. "He was… in the middle of something, but he's going to be here. And he says he's bringing the new Ranger team."

"Really? How interesting," Trini said, raising her eyebrows. She giggled. "I really can't picture Tommy as a teacher. He's so… well…"

"Disorganized?"

"Well, yes, but that's not why. I just can't see him placing himself in a role like that, teacher to student. He's a leader, but he's usually on even ground with those he's leading, one way or another. I can't see him controlling a bunch of teenagers and not acting like a teenager himself. He's more King Arthur than Julius Caesar."

"Tommy's been shocking us to death for years," Jason pointed out. "Who knew he'd end up with a PhD in paleontology, of all the things?"

She giggled again. "That's another thing I can't see—Tommy sitting still long enough to study something that deep."

"The race car thing, I could see that," Jason agreed. "Examining fossils? That was a shock."

Trini nodded, then gave him a thoughtful look. "Think Kimberly heard about Power Rangers Day?"

Jason shook his head. "I doubt it. She's not much for reading the paper or watching the news, and I'm not sure an Angel Grove ceremony is interesting enough to make L.A.'s news anyway."

"Think she'll come?" Trini asked.

"I don't know. I think I'll drive out there and talk to her about it, actually. She'll probably come. It's not like she and Tommy can't be civil; Tommy's not even mad anymore, really."

"He's the one who ended it," Trini said. "But I don't think Kim is m—"

"What do you mean, 'he's the one who ended it?'" Jason interrupted. He and Trini had never spoken much about Tommy and Kimberly's relationship, both feeling that it wasn't for them to judge, but he was rather shocked that she thought it was somehow Tommy's fault when Kimberly was the one who'd dumped Tommy in a letter.

"Just what I said," Trini replied, giving him an odd look. "Tommy's the one who ended it."

"No, he isn't," Jason argued, confused and not a little defensive. "It was Kim."

Trini's expression darkened, but her tone was still diplomatic. "Just because she went to Florida doesn't—"

The phone rang, and Trini stopped. "That's probably Tommy," she said.

"Yeah." Jason glanced at the caller ID; sure enough, it was Tommy's cell. "Look, let's not take sides, okay? They're both our friends, and what happened isn't our business." It was the same thing they had said eight years ago, back when the breakup had first happened.

"True," Trini agreed. She nodded at the phone. "Put it on speaker, okay?"

Jason hit the button. "Hello?"

"Hey, Jase."

"Hey."

"Hi, Tommy!"

"Hey, Trini. How's it going, guys?"

"Good," Jason said. "What was going on earlier? Why'd you let Conner and Ethan and Kira have your phone?"

"'Let' is a strong word," Tommy replied, sounding a tad irritated. "It's a long story."

"Jason said you're bringing the Dino Rangers?" Trini said eagerly.

"…Yeah," Tommy said, the annoyance in his voice increasing slightly. "Is that all right with you guys? Because if you'd rather I didn't, I totally understand—"

"Nonsense. It will be great to meet them," Trini said pleasantly. "I'd love to see them."

"Yeah, any protégé of yours has got to be interesting," Jason said, trying to stifle a laugh.

"Oh, ha, ha," Tommy said, sighing. "Are Billy and Zack coming?"

"Yep. Zack's got the time—"

"And even Billy said he could make it home," Trini said, smiling happily.

"Awesome!" He paused; when he spoke again, his tone was carefully casual. "What about Kimberly?"

"We haven't talked to her yet," Jason said, exchanging a glance with Trini. They hadn't often heard him mention Kimberly; the moments when Kimberly came up in conversation with Tommy were few and far between.

"Oh. Well, let me know when you do. This Power Rangers Day… it's in two weeks, right?"

"Two weeks from today, that's right. Zack's coming into town next Saturday, and so is Billy."

"I'll try and come down Saturday, too," Tommy said. "We're all on summer vacation, and I haven't really made too many plans yet. It's the best part of being a teacher—you get your summers off, but you still get paid."

"Lucky you," Jason said. "So… will you all be staying here?"

"Trust me, the last thing you want is four teenagers running amuck in your house," Tommy said dryly. "I'll get a hotel."

"Zack's going to stay at Angel Grove Inn," Trini said. "Billy's staying here, though."

"I'll probably stay at the Inn then, too," Tommy said. "I'll have to make some calls, think a few things over… it's been a while since I had an actual vacation. It'd be nice to hang out around Angel Grove and all. Go to the beach and the park and stuff… but I guess you two will have to work, won't you?"

"We're both going to try to take off as much time as we can," Trini said. "I have some vacation time, and Jason's going to talk to his students, so we should be able to get time off."

"That's great. I think I'd better go and call up Conner, Ethan, Kira and Trent's parents… they might not be allowed to come…" He sounded distinctly hopeful.

"I'm sure they will," Trini said, missing Tommy's tone.

"Well, give us a call when you know more," Jason said. "Can't wait to see you, Tommy."

"Same here, guys. Bye."

Trini and Jason said their good-byes and hung up. Jason set the phone down. "I think I'll just go surprise Kim," he said, knowing that Kimberly was far more easily persuaded in person, as she was often hooked by pleading looks and smiles and had a tendency to make up an excuse to get off the phone when she was being asked to do something she didn't want to do.

"I'm sure she'll come," Trini said. "She wouldn't miss a chance to hang out together; we haven't done that since high school."

"Yeah," Jason agreed, hoping Trini was right.

Kimberly slid into the driver's seat of her car, stretching her head from side to side. She'd been teaching all day—Saturdays were always her busiest—but, while her body was tired, she also felt… ready. She felt as though she could kick some serious butt. Part of her still expected to hear the beeping of her communicator and go rushing off to battle; after all this time, she still felt the urge to fight.

Her life was going quite well. Her studio had grown at an exponential rate; everyone wanted to train with an Olympic medalist, especially one who was also the girl next door and a native Californian. Kimberly now had three other instructors working for her and dozens of students; it was a wonder she remembered their names. She had a nice house, a nice car, and—naturally—a wardrobe and shoe collection to rival most actresses. Still, something felt off. She was no longer competing, and it had been the only thing that had taken the edge off of her love of being a Ranger. She didn't like the danger, but protecting others and fighting for a good cause had always been something she'd enjoyed. Now, she felt like there was nothing spectacular left. There were no high beams above cheering crowds, there were no monsters to fight. She had money, and a job she enjoyed, but she had nothing to excite her anymore.

Except the ringing of her cell phone, which made her jump so badly her head hit the windshield.

"OW!" she yelped, rubbing her head as she picked the phone up. "Hello?" she grumbled sourly into the phone.

"Was that a greeting or a death threat?" came Jason's voice.

"Jason! Hi!" Kimberly exclaimed. "Sorry, had a minor injury."

"You okay?" Jason demanded worriedly.

"Yes, Dad," Kimberly teased. "What's up?"

"I'm driving. I'm about an hour from L.A."

"Why?" Kimberly asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I thought we could hang."

"Any particular reason for this visit?" Kimberly asked suspiciously. Jason rarely surprised her when he came to visit. When he did surprise her, he never called halfway there, enjoying the look on her face when she saw him on her doorstep. If he was already on his way, he probably wanted something, had something serious to discuss, or had news that she didn't want to hear; those where the only times when he started driving before giving her a heads up. His leaving first meant he wanted to be too far away from his home for her to feel right about telling him to turn around.

"Do I need a reason to visit one of my best friends?" Jason replied. "I miss you, is all."

Kimberly smirked. Jason was a horrible liar, especially when it came to his friends. "Do I need a reason" and "I miss you, is all" meant "You're not going to like it." If his motives had been innocent, he would have simply said no, and rambled off something he wanted to do with Kimberly while visiting her.

"Isn't that sweet," Kimberly said dryly, starting her car and putting it in reverse. "An hour, eh? Want me to order pizza?"

"Yeah. Sounds good."

"Right. See you soon."

Kimberly pondered over what Jason could possibly have to say as she drove home, showered, dressed and called the local Pizza Hut. The last time he had done something like this had been when he'd come to convince her that the guy she was seeing was bad news, and the time before that, he'd wanted to propose to Trini and ask for Kimberly's advice. For some reason, she felt particularly nervous about this visit; the word "divorce" was flashing through her mind, as were things like "monsters," "death," and "broken bones."

She was just handing the pizza delivery boy his money when she heard a car door slam; she practically knocked the pizza guy off the porch as she rushed forward. "Jason!" she exclaimed, flinging herself at her friend as he climbed out of his pickup truck.

"Hey, Kim!" Jason said, picking her up and swinging her around. "How've you been?"

"Same old, same old," Kimberly said cheerfully as the pizza boy stalked passed, giving her a disgruntled look as he returned to his beat-up car. "You?"

"Great!" Jason replied enthusiastically. "In fact, I've got some good news."

"What is it?" Kimberly asked, wondering if she'd been wrong about Jason's motives for coming.

"…Let's get inside," Jason said, glancing around casually. Kimberly arched an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

Kimberly led the way up the walk and to the porch; Jason grabbed the abandoned pizza from the railing before following her inside. A few moments later, they were sitting down on Kimberly's couch with their food. Jason picked up his slice but didn't bite into it. "So…" Kimberly began, "what's the news?"

Jason smiled, but something about him seemed nervous. "They're holding another Power Rangers day. One to honor the original team."

"You're kidding!" Kimberly exclaimed. "After what happened last time?"

"You save people a few times and they no longer fear mass kidnapping," Jason joked.

Kimberly giggled. "So… are you thinking of going?"

"Yes, of course," Jason replied. "Trini and I are gonna go, and Zack's getting time off from work. Even Billy said he could make it."

"That's awesome!" Kimberly gushed. "He hasn't been back to Earth in years!"

"Not since he left," Jason said, nodding. "So… we were hoping you'd come down to Angel Grove too. Billy and Zack are arriving next Saturday; they're going to stay the whole week, maybe longer."

"I suppose I could make it," Kimberly said thoughtfully, trying to figure out how to work it. Her classes wouldn't be hard to cover for a week; the people she worked with were always looking for more hours. She could afford it, and a vacation would be nice—especially a vacation with her four closest childhood friends. She'd known Trini, Zack, Jason and Billy for most of her life, and it still felt strange to her that they hadn't all gotten together in roughly more than a decade. While she got to see Trini and Jason fairly often, Zack was usually busy with his job, and Kimberly hadn't seen Billy since she'd left Angel Grove to train with Coach Schmidt. She was suddenly desperate to see them all again.

"That's awesome," Jason said casually. He hesitated, and Kimberly rolled her eyes, exasperated.

"You know, Jase, the Mystery Man thing doesn't work so well if you can't lie to save your life. Why don't you tell me the reason you felt you couldn't tell me this over the phone?"

Jason opened his mouth with an expression on his face that said he was clearly planning to deny that he had bad news, but a no-nonsense look from Kimberly made him decide to come clean. He sighed and put down his pizza.

"All right," he said. "Look, when I said 'original team,' I didn't exactly mean you, me, Billy, Zack and Trini…" He frowned, struggling to find the right words. Without warning, he suddenly blurted out, "Tommy's coming."

Kimberly blinked, staring at him. "Oh."

Jason seemed to be in suspended animation, waiting for some sort of explosion. When none came, he forced out, "Are… are you still going to come?"

Kimberly looked even more startled by this question. "Of course I'm still going to come," she said, "you know—" She broke off. She had been about to say "You know that," but she didn't really think Jason did know that. They had never talked about Tommy, not once. This was the first times she'd ever heard Jason—or any of her friends—mention Tommy's name since they'd broken up. "You know I would never miss the chance to hang out with the gang," she amended after a long pause.

"Being around Tommy won't upset you?" Jason asked anxiously.

Kimberly sighed. It would upset her. Tommy wasn't just some jaded ex-boyfriend; he was her first love, and you never forgot your first love, as the saying goes. She still thought about him, often. She still wished that it hadn't ended, that she'd done something to repair their relationship, or at least to remain friends. When she'd been released from Divatox's spell, she'd been horrified at the memory of what she had done to Tommy while evil. She had always imagined a thousand things she would say and do if she ever saw him again… but she had never imagined she would get her first shot to reconcile right after being under an evil spell, during which she'd ignored his attempts to get through to her by removing his helmet, then urged Jason to throw Tommy into a lava pit. For a moment when they'd been talking aboard the Megazord, she had looked at him, and they'd just stared at each other for what seemed like ages. She'd tried to tell him everything with that look, and for a moment she'd thought he'd understood… and then Tommy had turned back to Jason and said something about the Liarians.

"Kinda," Kimberly said noncommittally, with a half shrug. "But I'm not, like, going to spit fire if I see him. He might, though—have you talked to him?"

Jason nodded. "He asked if you were coming. He didn't sound upset or anything."

Kimberly nodded. "Look, what happened with Tommy is in the past. If he's willing to be friends, I most certainly am, too."

Jason smiled, looking as relieved as a person who'd just been told their puppy wasn't going to die after all. "That's great, Kim. I can't say for sure, but I think he feels the same way." He looked like he wanted to say more, but thought better of it. After a long pause, during which Kimberly's mind swirled with thoughts about Tommy and the past, he said, "Oh, he's bringing his Ranger team, too."

"Tommy has a Ranger team?" Kimberly repeated, looking astonished.

"Oh, yeah, the Dino Rangers," Jason said, surprised. "Haven't you heard of them?"

"Yes, but I didn't know Tommy was one of them!" Kimberly said, rather exasperated with her friends. It appeared that their reluctance to mention Tommy around her ran deeper than she'd thought. "Which one was he?"

"Black."

"Really? Is his life's aspiration to fight in every color known to man before he dies?"

Jason laughed long and hard, suddenly seeming far more at ease. "I think so. Of course, to do that, he'd have to be Pink, too."

Kimberly snorted. "Wouldn't surprise me, at this rate. Wow. He's back in uniform?"

"Not anymore, no. Their powers were drained in their last battle."

"Happens a lot, doesn't it?" Kimberly mused thoughtfully. "Odd."

The two friends were soon engaged in a light-hearted discussion of Rangers, past and present, and their conversation and laughter drove all thoughts of awkward reunions with her ex from Kimberly's mind.