Author's Notes: As some of you might have noticed but probably haven't, the titles of the chapters come from episodes of Power Rangers that feature one of the original Rangers or the Dino Rangers. The main title "Of Love and Bunnies" is an allusion to CrazyGirl47's Harry Potter fic "The Prank War," and a stab at the sappy sort of romance that makes you want to roll your eyes.

Chapter Three

Leader of the Whack

Over the next week, Tommy prayed for some sort of resistance to the teens' evil intentions to butt in on his vacation. Once or twice he even found himself plotting a fake monster attack just to have an excuse. Unfortunately, no resistance came.

Conner, Kira, and Ethan's parents all granted them leave to take a graduation trip, especially when they found out that it would be financed by Anton Mercer and supervised by Tommy; they seemed to think it was some sort of post-graduation field trip. (When he talked to Kira's mother—the last parent Tommy called—Tommy had been so desperate that he'd nearly screamed that he was a pedophile and that no responsible mother would allow their daughter to go traipsing off to another city with him. His reluctance to get arrested and lose his job was the only thing that held him back.) Before Tommy had gotten a chance to call Trent's father, Anton Mercer had showed up on his doorstep with his checkbook in hand, rambling about numbers and how good it was of Tommy to take Trent and the others and how much it would mean to them to have one last adventure with their mentor.

Tommy seriously considered setting fire to the Angel Grove Inn.

He wasn't sure what was making him hate the idea so fiercely, but he suspected that part of it was that Conner, Kira, Ethan and Trent left him trapped between two worlds—adulthood and theirs. Now, he was going back to relive his childhood, and while he greatly anticipated the chance, he thought he was going to have enough problems going back without bringing the four biggest reminders of his new life into his old life. Angel Grove and the gang were a sacred part of his life, a private part, and he didn't really want to remember how much things had changed, which he would be forced to do if he brought along the kids.

Then, too, there was Kimberly, and all the questions the four recent Rangers were going to ask—Conner in particular was not known for his tact—and then there was the teasing. Jason still wouldn't let Tommy live down the fact that he'd once sported a mullet, for crying out loud. None of his ex-students were ever going to listen to him again once they knew that his chronic lateness and absent-minded-professor habits were not "products of old age."

Still, as he listened to Conner, Kira, Ethan and Trent ramble on about how cool the trip was going to be, a small mutinous part of him agreed with them. That part of him couldn't wait to impress them all with stories about his early Ranger days, make them laugh and stare at him with wide-eyed respect.

Tommy longed to beat that part of him with a sledgehammer.

But, as he couldn't figure out where on his person that part was hiding, and he couldn't find a way to keep the teenagers from coming along without crushing their spirits, he forced a smile to his face as they all assembled at his house early on Friday, all looking like six-year-old kids on Christmas morning. (Tommy had decided to leave the day before, in the hopes of actually making it on time.) All of them were traveling rather light, which Tommy was glad for, as he very well couldn't. In the back of his Jeep rested a long black wooden box, almost as long as he was. Inside were all his clothes and toiletries and so on, but, more importantly—

"GUYS! LOOK! IT'S HIS WHITE RAN—mmph!"

Tommy surged forward and clamped his hand over Conner's mouth. While Tommy had been talking about their route with Ethan and Trent, Conner had snuck over to the Jeep and peered inside the box to investigate. Inside, under the clothes, cushioned carefully by his belongings, was the White Ranger suit—helmet, boots, shield and all. It was the same one that had once stood on display in the back of the Power Chamber; as his Power Coin was destroyed, this suit was the only way he was going to be attending Power Rangers Day as his former self. "Quiet," Tommy hissed, glancing about uneasily, though he didn't see anyone but them in the general vicinity.

"Sorry, Dr. O," Conner said in a muffled voice from behind Tommy's hand.

"Wow," Kira said in awe, gazing in at the helmet until Tommy closed the case's lid. "How come you have the suit lying around?"

"We kept them as souvenirs," Tommy explained. "Well, Jason kept the Blue one for Billy, and Kimberly kept the Pink, but the Red, Yellow and Black went to Rocky, Aisha and Adam, since they can't morph into the original suits anymore and Jason, Trini and Zack can."

"They can? Then why don't they?" Ethan asked, startled.

"Well, for one thing, there's not much need," Tommy said. "For another, we agreed, a long time back, that we shouldn't let anyone know that three of the originals still had Power Coins. That way, if any current Ranger team was defeated, there would be others who could finish their work. Few of the Rangers have their powers still, but those that do don't go around parading it. Like the Zeo Rangers—Tanya, Kat, Adam, Rocky and I still have our powers, but we haven't used them since we became Turbo Rangers."

"How come they still have Power Coins?" Kira asked. "Didn't you say your Coins were destroyed?"

"They were. But it was Rocky, Adam and Aisha who lost their Coins, not Jason, Zack and Trini; they were already long gone by then. The Sword of Light gave Rocky, Adam and Aisha their powers, and it didn't completely drain Jason, Trini and Zack's powers. You're all familiar with the theory that energy can't be created or destroyed? Energy can only be converted into matter, and matter into energy?" They all nodded. "Well, the Power Coins were simply a channel for the energy. Like a remote for a television. The Sword of Light siphoned most of the power out of the three original Power Coins, and transferred them into duplicates the Sword created. Jason, Trini and Zack kept their basically powerless coins; they could still transform into the suit and summon their weapons, but most of the power was gone. Apparently our powers weren't destroyed, simply scattered without a way to harness them. But Rocky, Adam and Aisha's powers had a container to go to—Jason, Zack and Trini's old Coins. So they're now at nearly full power again. They even still have their Blade Blasters," Tommy added with a touch of envy in his voice.

"Cool!" Conner exclaimed, looking as though he was itching to reopen the box, pull out the helmet and jam it on his head.

Tommy forced down an exasperated sigh and asked, "Are we ready to go, guys?"

"Shotgun!" the four of them yelled simultaneously, followed immediately by shouts of, "I called it first!"

Tommy groaned as a heated fight broke out; he gazed at his backseat, wondering if he could fit all four of them in the back. Maybe if Kira sat on someone's lap…

Just as he was about to suggest this idea, Ethan turned the tide of the argument, though not in his own favor.

"We're gonna be stuck in that car for hours," Ethan said heatedly. "There's no way I'm spending that long sitting next to Conner!"

This seemed to hit home with Kira and Trent; they realized that even if one of them claimed the front seat, they'd be condemning the other to hours of being trapped in close quarters with Conner. Looking horrified, they both turned to Conner.

"You can have the front seat, man."

"Yeah, you… uh… deserve it."

"Whoo!" Conner pumped his fist in the air, apparently not the least bit perturbed by their lack of enthusiasm to sit next to him.

Tommy stared at Kira, Trent and Ethan with a look of absolute horror. He would rather have sat next to Lord Zedd than Conner.

"Sorry," Kira said weakly. Trent and Ethan gave him apologetic looks of deep sympathy as Conner rushed to the Jeep and climbed in, settling his bags around his feet.

With another groan, Tommy followed them to the Jeep.

The journey was not an easy one. It was cramped in the Jeep, what with five people and their duffel bags and knapsacks and Kira's guitar case. Conner kept bugging the crap out of Tommy, keeping up a steady stream of chatter. Worse, none of the four younger Rangers did a very good job of navigating, which was proving to be quite a problem. Tommy had made the trip to Angel Grove quite a few times since Jason and Trini had taken up residence there, but that didn't make it easy. Tommy had an uncanny knack for getting lost; it was part of the reason why he was frequently late. Near-constant highway construction didn't help matters, nor did the dozens of exits and interchanges and the need for many extra rest stops that Tommy wasn't accustomed to—to use the bathroom, to buy snacks, and fill up on gas lost on "side trips." Tommy had expected this, but not to the extreme that he was forced to endure. It seemed that every five minutes a different occupant of the car would snatch the map from one of the others, study it for a moment, proclaim, "I know where we are now!" and proceed to get them even more lost.

Tommy eventually did what any good-natured, mild-mannered man would do—he avoided bursting into tears by jerking the car onto an onramp so suddenly that everyone screamed and slammed painfully into something as he sped into a nearby drive-thru. When asked for his order, he promptly spilled the last week and a half of his life story to the poor McDonald's cashier and begged for directions to Interstate Five before ordering, in a rather pathetic tone of voice, one girl's and three boys' Happy Meals and the largest chocolate shake they could possibly sell him.

Ten minutes later, they were finally on the right track and everyone was silently munching on French fries, occasionally shooting meek, nervous glances at Tommy. Things were much better after that; while Tommy had a splitting headache, everyone was blessedly quiet and he was nursing a milkshake that appeared to have been put in a small bucket emblazoned with the McDonald's logo.

This didn't last long, however. It started with Conner (naturally), who decided to play with the toy at the bottom of his Happy Meal. The next thing Tommy knew, Ethan, Trent and Conner were holding some sort of car chase with little Hotwheels toys on the back of Conner's headrest, complete with loud, annoying sound effects that he supposed represented revving engines and squealing brakes. Kira snapped before Tommy, however; as the three cars crashed together, she suddenly brought the bottom of her tiny Barbie figurine down repeatedly on the tiny cars' hoods, punctuating each collision of badly-painted plastic and cheap metal with some sort of furious Amazon yell. The boys quickly yanked their cars away and stowed them safely in their pockets. Kira waved the Barbie figurine at them threateningly one last time before dropping it in her lap and folding her arms huffily over her chest.

When Tommy finally found the right road and turned on it, he was cheered so greatly that he let out a whoop of triumph. Right around then, the bucket of chocolate ice cream caught up with him… and hyperactivity set in.

Now, it was Conner, Kira, Ethan and Trent's turn to be driven up the wall. Tommy suddenly wanted to play I Spy, the Alphabet Game and Spot the Out-of-State License Plates, at which he was very good, mostly because his mind was moving at double speed thanks to the sugar rush. So the four teenagers were not only forced to play boring games, but they always seemed to lose spectacularly. When the fun wore off for Tommy, he began to sing what he called "travel songs."

Tommy was not a good singer.

"Come on, guys!" Tommy exclaimed, greatly pleased at their pitiful expressions. "Sing with me now! Conner, Conner bo Bonner, banana fana fo Fonner, mi my mo Monner, Con-ner! Okay, let's do… Kira! Kira, Kira, bo Bira—"

"ANGEL GROVE NEXT RIGHT!" Conner shouted, the way one would shout their thanks when they were rescued right before the swing of the executioner's axe.

"YAY!" everyone else yelled.

Though they'd left before noon, night had already fallen on Angel Grove, but Tommy had no problem finding the Angel Grove Inn. While the road there was a tad confusing, he still knew most of the town like the back of his hand.

"Everybody out," Tommy said cheerfully. This was completely unnecessary; Conner had jumped over his door to land on cramped legs before Tommy could put the Jeep in park, and the others were close behind.

"So when do we get to meet the Ran—your friends?" Trent asked, glancing around casually to see if anyone else in the parking lot was listening.

"Tomorrow afternoon," Tommy replied, carefully lifting his box from the backseat. "Let's go check in, eh?"

They all grabbed their stuff and followed Tommy, yawning widely, their legs stiff. They approached a weary-looking woman sitting behind the front desk, who looked up at them blandly. "Can I help you?"

"We'd like three rooms, please," Tommy said, setting his long case down carefully.

"Do you have reservations?" the woman asked.

"No," Tommy replied. He hadn't bothered; Angel Grove enjoyed brisk tourism because of the Power Rangers and the beaches, but Tommy couldn't recall the hotels ever being full.

The woman frowned and typed something in on a nearby computer. "We only have one available."

"What?" Tommy spluttered.

"It's the first weekend after graduation here," the woman said, somewhat apologetically. "Party after party. Plus they're having an event to celebrate the first Power Rangers next weekend, so a lot of people have come in from all over the place—"

"There's no way we could get two?" Tommy whined. He had planned to put the guys together, get Kira her own room, and have one to himself. He didn't mind making Kira stay in the boys' room too much, but any last traces of sugar highs were rapidly disappearing at the thought of staying in the same room as Conner, Kira, Ethan and Trent. A hotel room, after all, wasn't much bigger than a Jeep, and there was no chance of popping the door open and shoving Conner out if need be. "Do the windows open?" he added as an afterthought.

The woman shook her head. "No, they don't. I'm really sorry. However, if two people cancel reservations, I can get you two rooms by Sunday, when the graduation parties clear out, but that's not definite."

"What about another hotel?" Kira asked, thinking along the same lines as Tommy.

"Most of them are already booked," the woman said. "It's been over a decade since anyone has seen the original Power Rangers, and add that on top of graduation, summer vacationers pouring in, college students coming back to visit and the usual travelers…"

"We'll take it," Tommy said glumly, not wanting to lose the last available room in town while calling other hotels just to end up sleeping on Jason's living room floor with four rowdy teenagers.

Tommy paid for the room, accepted his keys, and headed up to room 603, his former students in tow. The room was very nice, equipped with the standard hotel furniture—a chest of drawers, on which sat a TV; a table and four chairs; and a nightstand between two double beds. A microwave sat on top of a mini-fridge in one corner, near the small closet and the door leading to the bathroom. Moments after they arrived, someone came by with a spare rollaway cot; this prompted an argument over the beds, and, as there wasn't room for more than one cot, Tommy was quick to give the cot to Kira, claim one bed for himself, and give the other to Conner. Ethan and Trent immediately began to argue over who would have to share with Conner, who told them helpfully that he liked to toss and turn and had a habit of snoring. After a long debate, it was decided the three boys would rotate nights on the free bed, the other two taking the floor. Tommy, feeling another headache coming on, seized the ice bucket and left to find the vending machines (not that they had anything they needed to put on ice, but Tommy found this a better excuse than "I'm going to strangle you all if I don't get out of here"). He handed Trent some money to order pizza and gratefully shut the door behind him as the others argued over pizza toppings.

Tommy filled the bucket with ice just down the hall, thinking absently that he could at least chuck the cubes at his former students if nothing else, and turned to head slowly back to the room, having no where else to go. When he reached the room, however, he heard a dull thud, a muffled shout, and a burst of maniacal laughter… so he continued on until he hit the far wall. Then, wondering how long he could continue aimlessly walking around, he reluctantly turned around and promptly crashed into someone.

"ARGH!" the person shrieked, in a familiar female voice. Ice flew everywhere.

"I'm sorry, I—"

Tommy stopped dead. Before him stood a short but lithe woman in a pink tank top, her brown hair pulled back in a casual ponytail. Startled brown eyes stared up at him, no doubt just as shocked to see him as he was to see her.

"—didn't see you," Tommy finished softly, staring down at Kimberly Hart.