Chapter Thirty-four

Where There's Smoke, There's Fire

No one had expected Tommy and Kimberly to get locked in the trunk together; they all saw it as a stroke of good luck. They were all thinking of ways to prolong it, and dying of curiosity (especially after Kimberly's hysterical laughter reached their ears), but unfortunately they couldn't keep flying much longer. There was a much bigger chance that they'd get lost or caught if they kept flying around in circles, and, as Jason pointed out, both would royally suck. Most of the guys were also craving food that didn't come in a plastic wrapper, and everyone was dying to drag the story of what was happening in the trunk out of Tommy and/or Kimberly, and Trini liked flying less and less the longer they were in the air.

They were back at Billy's house by nine o'clock, though they stood in the backyard for quite some time, the older Rangers now looking at the RADBUG, house and garage with nostalgia, reluctant to leave.

"Dude, what were you two talking about in the trunk?" Conner asked Tommy. "We could hear you laughing the whole way back."

Kimberly burst into giggles again. Tommy smiled tiredly. "Oh, you know," he said, "same old, same old. The insanity that is life."

Kimberly leaned against the car until she got control of herself, clutching her side. "Oh, man… it's a wonder I didn't suffocate," she wheezed.

Tommy sighed, though he still looked a tad amused. "Anyway… we were thinking maybe we could go to the store? Kim said Billy's eye exam is on Thursday, so we could pick up some cheap clothes until then…"

"There's a Wal-Mart not far from the hotel," Jason said. "Halfway between the Inn and my house. We could swing by there."

"I could really use some snack food," Conner said. Ethan and Kira rolled their eyes.

"I need a hair dryer," Kimberly said. "I'm going insane without mine."

"I'll just grab mine from the house on the way back, don't worry," Trini said.

"I forgot my razor, though," Zack said. "And my toothpaste. I've been stealing Tommy's. And my shaving cream. And my—"

"So we need to buy a whole bathroom for Zack," Tommy interrupted dryly. "I wondered why I couldn't find my toothpaste this morning." Tommy rolled his eyes, putting his foot up on the bumper of the RADBUG and stretching out his leg to relieve his cramped muscles.

"As long as Kim promises not to go overboard," Jason said. "Otherwise, we're leaving her here."

"Hey! I don't go overboard!"

Jason, Trini, Zack, Billy and Tommy stared at her for a moment.

"Well… I'm not that bad, I mean, I… okay, fine. Tell you what. It's a nice night. Why don't we drop the cars back at the hotel and walk?"

"Why?" Conner asked. "What does walking have to do with anything?"

"Then she can't buy more than I can carry," Tommy explained with a wry grin, stretching out the other leg.

"Exactly," Kimberly said, as though it should be obvious. "Once he figured that out he wanted to walk everywhere. He used to try to convince me to walk to the mall. The mall! As if that was ever going to happen."

"Is it really far away or something?" Ethan asked.

"No." Kimberly gave him a slightly confused look.

"Kimberly kept the mall in business back in high school," Tommy explained. "I'm surprised it's still around. No way was she going to the mall with just me to carry her stuff home."

"Couple of stores went under back in 1996," Jason said casually.

"That was so not because of me. Besides, Aisha was a great replacement in that department."

"Aisha left, like, two months after you did, didn't she?" Zack said.

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "Anyway, can we get going?"

"Can I go to the bathroom first?" Conner asked. "We've been gone a really long time."

"Me, too," Zack and Ethan chorused at the same instant.

"Come on, I'll show you where the bathrooms are," Billy said.

Everyone headed into the house, save Tommy, who lingered on the back porch. "Coming, man?" Jason called.

"Nah, I wanna make a call," Tommy replied. Jason nodded and shut the door behind them. The moment Tommy was alone, he pulled out his cell phone. Telling Kimberly the hair story and the whole conversation in the trunk had given him an overwhelmingly strong desire to talk to Hayley.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

"Oh, it's you."

"Gee, I miss you, too."

"That came out wrong. I was just wondering who would be calling the café after closing hours."

"I figured you'd still be locking up." He paused. "Remember that thing with the tomato sauce?"

"Tommy, I'll never forget that. Alzheimer's couldn't erase that from my memory. Why do you ask? I thought it was in the 'never to be mentioned again' column?"

"Just… got to thinking about it today."

"Jason finally tell the story to Conner and the gang?"

"No, no, thank god."

"Then… what made you think of it?"

"Oh… you know… the old gang, cracking on my hair like usual."

"The 'old gang' already knows that story."

"Yeah. I was just thinking about it, myself, is all."

"…Did you tell Kim?"

"What makes you say that?"

"You did, didn't you."

"Yeah. She asked."

"And you just told her the utterly embarrassing, humiliating, horrible story?"

"…Is there a point here?"

"You're not doing anything stupid, are you?" Hayley demanded sharply.

Tommy leaned against the RADBUG, frowning. "What do you mean?"

"You and Kim."

"We're just friends."

"Oh, so you're friends now, are you?"

"Yeah, so?" he said defensively.

"You can't be friends with your ex, Tommy."

"Me and you are exes."

"Only technically. We went out because you were so screwed up in the head because of Kim. You were all worried you couldn't get a girl so you had to torture me—"

"Hey!"

"—torture me with dating you because you wanted to prove you could make a relationship work."

"Guess I failed."

"Oh, shut up. You know we're different. We were never cut out to be anything other than friends. You know I'm not like Kim. And I'm telling you, don't do anything stupid."

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning don't go all nostalgic boy and try to sweep her off her feet. I know you, Tommy. I was the one who helped you get over your relationship phobias. I was the one who listened to your drunken rants about how much you missed her every time you had more than a few beers. I was the one who helped you padlock the Kim Box, for crying out loud. I know you, Tommy, and you do stupid things when it comes to girls."

"Thanks a lot, Hayley," Tommy said dryly.

"I'm serious. Look, I'm glad you're back with the gang again, but I'm worried. This trip isn't healthy. You've spent the last six years being Stuck-in-the-Past Boy. All those experiments, being a Ranger again… you miss the old days, and I don't want you to confuse the good times in the past with Kimberly now. Let her go, before you get burned again."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "I'm not an idiot, Hayley. I'm not going all teen angst drama here. I've got my head in the game. I'm not about to get down on bended knee and beg her to take me back. She left me. I'm done."

"I'm glad. Because I'd be willing to bet anything that Kim is the reason you're calling me right now."

"No, she isn't. I just wanted to talk to you."

"You wanted to talk to me because you were having so much fun reliving the old days that you wanted to remind yourself of the new days, and you couldn't do that with Conner, Kira, Ethan and Trent, especially not when they're staring all starry-eyed at the legends that are your friends." She paused. "Am I right?"

Tommy sighed heavily. "Yeah. I just… I miss them. We were never the same after Jason, Trini and Zack left. By the time they all came back to America, Billy and Kim were gone." He ran a hand over his hair absently. "It's so nice, being here. Every minute, every embarrassing story and exasperating moment and awkward phrase, it's all great, because it's them. It's us."

"I know. That's why I'm so worried about you right now. I don't want you to think you can traipse off into the sunset with Kimberly. After Power Rangers Day, Billy has to go back to Aquitar, Kim and Zack have to go back to L.A., and you have to come back here."

"I don't want to traipse off—"

"Oh, for crying out loud, shut up, Tommy. This is me, damn it. We both know you do. You always have. But you have to think with your head here, the one above your shoulders—"

"HEY!"

"—because going near Kim again can only screw you over. Stop telling her funny anecdotes. Stop trying to buddy up. Because things have changed, and your old feelings are going to confuse you, take you somewhere you don't need to be. Take you to a delusion that'll shatter eventually."

Tommy sighed again. "I know what I'm doing, Hayley. I'm not going to tell you that I'm never going to speak to her again come Sunday. I miss her, and I want her back in my life. But I'll be damned if I let her hurt me again."

"Good." He heard a creak and a sigh and figured she'd sat down on a barstool. "Look, I was thinking… I'd kind of like to see everybody. And who knows when I'll get to meet Billy if I don't do it now. So… I was thinking… maybe I could come up for Power Rangers Day."

Tommy wasn't fooled… but then, he wasn't sure Hayley was trying to fool him. He knew she wanted to keep an eye on him; after all the money she'd lost running off to help the Rangers over the past year, she wouldn't shut down the café unless she felt he needed her.

"That's a good point," he said. "It'd be nice to have you here."

"…Is Rocky going to be there, by any chance?" Hayley asked hesitantly.

Tommy frowned. Rocky had a tendency to flirt with Hayley, which Tommy wasn't too keen on. "I don't know. I haven't talked to him."

"What about Adam and Tanya?"

"Them, either. I know Tanya went to Africa to see Aisha and the tribe a couple weeks back, but I can't remember if Adam went with her or not."

"Well, it'd be worth it to see Billy and Trini and everyone, whether or not I get to see Tanya, Rocky, Adam and Aisha."

"All the hotel rooms are probably booked, so you'd have to bunk with me and Zack or else stay with Jason and Trini. I'll ask them when I get a chance. Why don't you come down on Thursday night? I'm guessing we'll all be really busy come Saturday." Then you can take Conner and Ethan back to Reefside in YOUR car, he added silently, not wanting to scare her off.

"All right. Call me back once you've asked them. And ask them about Rocky and the others too."

"I will. I'll talk to you later, Hayley."

"Don't do anything stupid."

"I won't!"

"All right, then. Be careful."

"I will. Love you, bye."

"You, too. Bye."

Tommy hung up the phone and continued to lean against the RADBUG, lost in thought. It'd be nice to have Hayley around. Not only would she distract Trini, but he had to admit that he'd feel a lot more comfortable if she was there to ground him. He'd spent most of his non-Ranger days with Hayley at his side and even though they'd managed to become less dependent on each other than they'd been back in college, it was a tad harder to function without her beside him. The more he thought about it, the better he felt. She might be a little upset about Kimberly, but Tommy could handle that. Besides, if Kimberly was going to stay friends with him, she'd have to meet Hayley eventually. After all, all of his other friends adored Hayley.

Once he and Hayley had started renting a house back in college, his friends finally had the chance to visit him (only so many people could sleep on a dorm room floor) and they'd all taken well to Hayley, even more so when she'd stumbled across Tommy's past as a Ranger. The Rangers were all nervous about it at first, but once they were convinced she wasn't going to blab they were merely relieved that they wouldn't have to watch what they said around her. Even Kat, who'd met Hayley at Tommy's graduation and Jason's wedding, thought she was lovely, though Tommy had caught her sending a few suspicious glances her way.

It had been Trini who'd introduced Billy to Hayley over the Aqua-phone, and after that it was all he could do to keep Hayley from borrowing his Aqua-phone to have three-way chats with Trini and Billy that involved a lot of jargon only the three geniuses knew and a lot of rather evil laughter. Zack liked her as well, though he'd backed up with flirting with her when Tommy had made it clear that Hayley was like a sister to him (Rocky wasn't taking the hint so well), and Jason's philosophy was that anyone who "could put up with Tommy, fix a motorcycle and drink with the pros" was cool with him.

Hayley didn't know Aisha or Kat very well; Aisha rarely got to leave Africa, and Kat tended to only return for big events, given her past with Tommy and the fact that she'd recently moved to Australia after several years of life in Europe. They'd both been at Jason and Trini's wedding, and at Tommy's graduation, but other than that, their exposure to Hayley was limited. Rocky, Adam and Tanya, however, were another story.

Hayley wasn't as close to the three of them as she was to Trini, who—despite the distance between Reefside and Angel Grove—was Hayley's closest female friend, and Jason, Zack and Billy were also closer to her, but Hayley knew Rocky, Adam and Aisha well and enjoyed their company nonetheless. Tommy got the distinct impression that she found it funny when Tommy gave Rocky an older-brother glare for trying to hit on her.

Rocky was currently living in Stone Canyon, where he owned his own flourishing karate school. T.J., who—along with the other Space Rangers—was quite famous thanks to his publicized identity, had met Rocky through Tommy and Adam and had endorsed both Rocky's school and Jason's, which had accounted for a lot of their customers. They'd played it off as an old friend doing his buddies a favor, but plenty of people wanted to train with a Power Ranger's friend. Rocky and Jason had a good laugh every time someone asked them what it was like to be friends with a Power Ranger.

Adam was now a successful stunt man, and had worked on a lot of films with Zack. Adam was still involved with Tanya, who was now a very famous singer. (Tommy hadn't mentioned that fact to Kira, mostly because it had been a very weird moment for him when he'd seen her listening to some of Tanya's albums.) The two of them lived together in Los Angeles, where they hung out with Zack and Kimberly a lot. Adam was always getting in friendly academic debates with Hayley, and Tanya just seemed to recognize that even though Hayley had never been a Ranger, Hayley was definitely a fellow Yellow.

Rocky, Adam and Tanya still hung out with Tommy, Jason, Trini, and Zack whenever they could; they all knew Jason and Tommy from the Zeo team, but Zack and Trini had only met Tanya upon returning to America and they'd all become very close since, as if they were part of the same team, rather than two separate groups. While they'd all formed deep bonds with their corresponding colors, Zack and Rocky were more or less the best of friends, and Adam and Jason got along famously. The three of them also chatted to Billy a lot. Now that he thought about it, Tommy was rather surprised no one had mention calling up Rocky, Adam and Tanya. Billy had said something at the restaurant, but the Kat name-dropping had forced them to put it out of their heads as fast as possible.

Tommy grinned suddenly, thinking of what Rocky, Adam and Tanya would say when they heard he and Kimberly were hanging out together. He was pretty certain they were all on very good terms with Kimberly. From what he understood, Tanya had taken well to Kimberly; Kimberly had even sung on a couple of Tanya's albums, although Tommy hadn't gotten the full story before Tanya had realized she was mentioning Kimberly in front of him and changed the subject (hence he'd received the shock of his life when he'd turned on MTV to see one of Tanya's videos and seen Kimberly dancing around; she'd appeared in two of Tanya's other videos since, and he had all three of them on tape). Adam and Rocky had been on the team with Kimberly for almost two years, as well, so he didn't doubt that they were still hanging with her.

"Dr. O! Kira's got him in a headlock!" Trent shouted out the window.

Tommy sighed, making a mental note to talk to Jason and the others about Hayley (preferably when Kimberly wasn't around) as he headed inside to break it up.