Chapter Forty-five
Challenges
"See?" Rocky said as he and Adam sat in Adam's black Mercedes. "I told you he was fine." Despite the fact that Rocky had been trying to reassure Adam all morning, he sounded as relieved as Adam felt.
"I'm sure he is," Adam murmured, still staring at the morpher in his hand as he pressed his cell phone to his ear with the other hand. They were sitting in the parking lot of a restaurant not far from Rocky's house, where they'd stopped for a bite to eat. They had planned to go find the ruins of the Power Chamber today; they'd both been feeling rather nostalgic what with all the talk of Power Rangers flooding Angel Grove and Stone Canyon, and neither of them had been there since passing on their powers. Adam's morpher had stayed room temperature all day, but just a moment ago it had been almost hot enough to burn—but without the lightshow. So Zack had morphed again… and everything had been fine. Zack wasn't hurt, or dead, or anything of the sort.
Still, Adam wished he'd pick up the freaking phone.
"Zack, it's me again. Kinda wondering what's up with this colorful thing. It looks like everything's fine on my end, but I'd really like to know what the hell is going on. Couldn't get in touch with you last night. Or this morning. At all. Call me. And if you ever put your phone on silent and forget to turn the ringer back up again, I'm gonna kick your ass."
"What now?" Rocky asked. "If we head out into the mountains, we'll probably lose signal. If and when he tries to call us back." He paused. "And I'm really kind of sleepy." They hadn't slept very well last night; although they'd tried to convince themselves that Zack was fine, they'd both been rather worried.
"Maybe we should call Jase or something," Adam said thoughtfully. They'd refrained from calling the others last night, as they hadn't wanted to wake anyone, but now that it was morning they might have a better shot.
"He's probably at work," Rocky pointed out. "Trini, too."
"Tommy would be off, though," Adam said. "Although… he's probably in Reefside. So I doubt he'll know anything."
"Let's see… Justin's in Massachusetts; that rules him out. Hayley and Tommy in Reefside, Jason and Trini working, Tanya and Aisha in Africa…"
"Kat's in Australia," Adam continued. "She and Zack aren't really close, anyway. Kim's a possibility, but she's probably working, too." He sighed. "I might as well try Jase. If he is teaching right now, his phone will be off, but it's worth a shot." Adam flipped his phone open and started to reach for the buttons, but it started ringing. He eagerly hit send and shoved it against his ear. "Zack?"
"Nope, guess again."
"Carlos! Hey, man, how's it going?"
"Not much, I was just wondering…" Carlos lowered his voice. "Do you know what's up with Tommy?"
Adam blinked. "Hang on. I'm putting you on speakerphone."
"No, it's… a color problem. I think."
"It's just me and Rocky, and we're in my car, alone. Talk."
Carlos breathed a sigh of relief as Adam put him on speaker and set the phone in the holder mounted on the dashboard. Rocky looked over curiously.
"It's just… I called T.J. a few minutes ago, and he said Jason asked him to threaten some guy in the hospital named Walter about this whole Black Ranger mess."
"What Black Ranger mess?" Adam demanded.
"Didn't you watch the news?"
"No, why?"
"Every TV station in California is claiming Tommy is the first Black Power Ranger."
"You mean the Black Dino Ranger?" Adam asked, panicked.
"No, I mean the first Black Ranger. The Mighty Morphin' Ranger."
"But that's insane. Zack was the first Black Ranger. Tommy was Green and White. We ought to know; we were there," Rocky said in confusion.
"I don't know where this is coming from, but apparently Tommy beat up some guy who tried to steal his girlfriend's purse, and then the Black Ranger handed the guy over to the cops and paramedics."
"Does Tommy even have a girlfriend?" Rocky asked, frowning. "I mean, I thought he wasn't dating anyone since… what was her name… Maria. Maria Sanchez."
"I didn't think so, but I haven't talked to him in a while," Carlos replied.
"Me either. He's been really busy, what with all the Dino Ranger stuff," Adam said.
"What did T.J. say about all this?" Rocky asked. He and T.J. had always shared a special bond. They were, after all, the only two Rangers so far to have started out Red and ended up Blue, and Tommy, Adam, Justin, Kat and Tanya had stayed in touch with the Space Rangers after the power transfer, and Rocky had met T.J. through them.
"He said he couldn't talk. Was trying to sneak out of the hospital before he was recognized. Apparently he was convincing the purse snatcher to reword his story about Tommy, and the hospital is swarming with reporters, so T.J. didn't want to be seen."
"Oh, god," Adam breathed. "Think of all the damage that could be done if anyone figures it out. If you start with Tommy and Power Rangers, it won't be long before—"
"That's what I said," Carlos interrupted, "but T.J. told me Jason insisted they had everything worked out, that they just needed someone to 'talk' to the purse snatcher. Said everything would be fine after that; apparently they've got someone on the inside."
"Of the media?" Rocky demanded incredulously. The Rangers had often watched news reports about themselves, good and bad, but reporters were risky to have a conversation with.
"Who?" Adam asked. "How can he be certain they're telling the truth? If he knows someone in the press, and that person is helping him, then that person knows way too much. What if they screw us over?"
"Adam, I did the twenty-minute panic attack with T.J. And he said he did it with Jason. Jason's absolutely sure they'll be fine. One-hundred percent. But I didn't get enough details; T.J. was hiding from the press in some sort of storage closet at the time, and I don't think he knows much himself. I called Tommy, but it rang straight to voicemail; I think his phone's off. I was going to wait an hour and try again, but I thought I'd try you guys first."
"We don't know anything about it—but this explains why my morpher's been acting weird. It goes kinda warm whenever Zack morphs, and last night, it was going haywire, as if… as if someone who shouldn't be using it was masquerading as the Black Ranger," Adam said, realization dawning. "Of course."
"That doesn't make any sense at all. Why would Zack let Tommy use his morpher when Tommy still has his Zeonizer?" Rocky demanded. "I mean, that's kinda… dumb."
"And why Tommy?" Adam asked. "And why was he knocking out a purse snatcher as the Black Ranger, when he could do at as a civilian? This is ridiculous!"
"I'm calling Tommy," Rocky said decisively. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed, but it didn't even ring; it went straight to voicemail. "Tommy, it's Rocky. We're kind of freaking out. What's up with that news story? Call me."
"Damn… try Jason," Adam suggested.
"Jason said not to call back for a while," Carlos spoke up. "Something about needing to take care of a few things and burn a couple bellhop uniforms…"
"What?" Adam demanded.
"I have no idea. But T.J. told me that Jason was pretty busy at the moment."
"If Jason's busy, Trini will be, too," Adam groaned.
"And that's probably why Tommy and Zack aren't picking up," Rocky agreed.
"That means we're out of people to get answers from."
"What about the others?" Carlos asked.
"Justin's still off at MIT; said his last final is tomorrow. Tanya and Aisha are in Africa, Billy's on Aquitar, and it's not like Kat and Kim would be involved with something to do with Tommy," Adam replied.
"Hayley!" Rocky exclaimed, his face lighting up. He scrolled through his cell phone address book to the listing for the café.
"Hayley's Cyberspace," she said a few moments later.
"Hayley! Rocky. Have you heard from Tommy?"
"No," she said through gritted teeth, her voice low. "And when I find him, I'm gonna kick his ass."
"What? Why?"
"I can't talk now. If you talk to him before I do, have him call me. I've gotta go; I'm busy."
"But—"
Rocky heard someone in the background talking, and then Hayley said, in a falsely bright voice, "Yes, that's right, we close at nine Sunday through Thursday, ten on Friday and Saturday. Thank you for calling Hayley's Cyberspace!"
The line went dead. "What the hell was that?" Rocky complained, relating this conversation to Carlos and Adam.
"Maybe she's in on it," Adam said.
"She said she hadn't heard from Tommy, though," Rocky argued.
"Well, T.J. said he hadn't heard from Tommy and yet he was off pulling strings for Tommy," Carlos pointed out.
Adam nodded. "Let's give it some time. At least an hour. Then we'll try calling again."
"Fine," Rocky said. He sighed. "We can always go to the Power Chamber tomorrow."
"I've got to go swing by L.A. tomorrow, remember? We can go Friday."
"You guys are going to the Power Chamber?" Carlos asked eagerly. "Can I come?"
Rocky and Adam looked at each other and shrugged. "Sure," Adam said. "But we'd better get off here. I'm going to keep trying Zack. I swear. Is it just me, or do Tommy, Jason, Zack and Kim have much weirder lives than we do?"
As Zack had already left with Billy, Conner and Ethan, Kira, Trent, Tommy and Kimberly rode in the Jeep and Jason and Trini took Jason's truck back to the house. Things were rather uncomfortable in the Jeep; Kimberly was sitting in the front, while Kira and Trent cuddled in the backseat, holding hands and whispering to each other. Tommy kept his gaze planted firmly on the bumper of Jason's truck and Kimberly leaned as far from him as she could get without falling out of the window, wishing she hadn't picked today to wear his shirt. The more she thought about it, the more certain she was that Tommy had left the room early that morning because Trini and Zack had gotten on his case about just why Kimberly was in Tommy's shower. Zack's cry of "Is that Tommy's shirt? See, Trini, I told you so!" was now ringing in Kimberly's ears. Great. Now everyone probably thought she was sleeping with Tommy… or had Zack just sincerely bought Kimberly's reply of "This is my shirt" and figured he was wrong about her and Tommy sleeping together? Didn't sound like Zack…
Jason's truck screeched to a halt at a stop sign a little harder and faster than was necessary; Tommy was only just able to brake before hitting him. Tommy waited for Jason to move, becoming impatient when he didn't. He looked at the clock. One minute passed… then two… then five… Tommy noticed the brake lights were off, which meant Jason had to have put the car in park and taken his foot off the pedal. Tommy sighed. Jason and Trini were looking at each other, talking about something…
Tommy honked the horn. Jason and Trini simultaneously responded with rude hand gestures.
"What the hell are they talking about in there?" Tommy demanded, just as uncomfortable with the current situation as Kimberly and anxious to end it.
"Isn't it obvious?" Kimberly asked. He looked at her questioningly, surprised. "Carrie, of course."
"I thought we covered everything earlier," Tommy said, confused.
Kimberly smiled. "Not as far as Trini and Jason are concerned. You know Trini's never exactly happy whenever Jason mentions her."
Hayley couldn't believe this was happening to her. She really couldn't. She could not fathom how it had started, or why it had escalated, or why it was still happening.
Only one thing was certain.
This was Tommy's fault.
Hayley was a genius, to be sure, and she saw the world differently from most people. She was, however, normal. Her extraordinary qualities could not transform her from "normal" to "weird;" the things that were unusual about her weren't enough to alter her label. Normality can not be measured or weighed or reasoned. It's simply there. There are normal people, who lead normal lives, and then there are abnormal people, who lead psychotic lives.
Fact is, the majority of the population is made up of normal people. When they see something weird, they will simply stare, shrug, and move on. This explained why the Rangers' identities were rarely exposed—normal people saw them doing something off in the course of Ranger duty, and chocked it up to the fact that weird people live different lives.
Tommy was a weird person. Ranger or not, he had the unfortunate luck to be important. Important people are often the weirdest of all, simply because their lives are eventful and higher powers watch them closely. However, despite the fact that she was one of his best friends and helped him through the insanity, Hayley was not like him. She was normal.
Yet she kept getting sucked into his world.
And she was tired of it.
It had taken some getting used to back in college. Tommy had a flair for accidental catastrophe, and Hayley had a flair for laughing at accidental catastrophe. So they'd worked out together. But somewhere along the line, she'd noticed she was being sucked in.
Like the time he set his hair on fire, and burst into her classroom covered in tomato sauce. Or the time he got his foot stuck in the kitchen sink when they were living together. Or the time they got trapped in the elevator and rather than wait for help, he'd decided to bust on out via the access panel in the ceiling.
Through it all, Hayley had done her best to stay a normal person. She knew that once she became weird, there was no going back. So she'd handled life like a normal person. She'd looked at the world like a normal person. And deep down, she knew she was truly normal.
But every so often something like this would happen, and Hayley would find herself teetering on the edge of the Cliff of Normality overlooking the Ocean of Freakishness, in between the two warning signs (the first sign said "Watch Out for Sharks and Piranhas" and the other said "No Diving; No Lifeguard On Duty") and praying something would pull her back before she fell. Meanwhile, Tommy did the backstroke around and around the sharp rocks at the base of the cliff and called out for her to join him on the dark side.
Not going to do it, Hayley thought mutinously as she glowered at the three men. Not going to let this get to me.
Bulk, Skull, and a random tagalong were standing on the other side of the window, begging to be let in.
"We know you're in there!" Bulk roared, pounding on the glass. Hayley rolled her eyes. It wasn't like she was hiding; she was in plain view through the window.
"I told you," Hayley shouted, "we're closed!"
"The sign says you open ten minutes ago!" the random tagalong protested.
"Don't you remember us?" Bulk demanded.
Hayley grimaced. She remembered them, all right. That had been one of the most eventful weeks of her life, staying at their club back in '02… even before Tommy had run off to the moon, it had been one freakish thing after another.
"I said we're closed!" she shouted.
"It's about Tommy!" Bulk called. "Let us in!"
"I knew it," she grumbled. Raising her voice, she added, "No! Go away!"
"We need to speak to you about Dr. Oliver," the tagalong yelled.
"No! Go away!"
"Do you sell rum raisin smoothies?" Skull asked.
"No! Go away!"
The tagalong muttered something, then reached into his pocket, pulled out a police badge and pressed it against the window. "Ma'am, this is the Angel Grove Police Department. Open up."
Hayley paused. "You got a warrant?"
He rolled his eyes. "We don't need a warrant. We just have a few questions for you."
"No comment."
"That's for reporters."
"Well, what's the proper terminology for telling cops you don't want to speak to them?"
"'I plead the fifth,'" Skull explained proudly.
"The proper terminology for telling cops you don't want to speak to them is 'What do you mean, my car's been impounded?'" the cop shot back, ignoring Skull.
"I don't have a car," Hayley lied sulkily.
"Then why do you have outstanding unpaid parking tickets for a 2000 Toyota and insurance through AAA? Because your file was very clear on that. And the fact that you were arrested twice in Massachusetts—once for protesting without a permit and once for hacking into police records."
"Both of those were dismissed! The charges were dropped!"
"I know. So, do you have $165 for your parking fines?"
"For someone who just wants to talk to me, you've done a lot of research."
"It pays to be thorough. Now, if you want to discuss this in front of your customers, that's fine. We can wait until you open up for one of them, or decide to leave the building. But we'd rather do it now, before the teenagers of Reefside come looking for video games. Besides, I've come all the way from Angel Grove with these two, I've had very little sleep, and I'd like to get this over with."
Hayley glared at him. Something was off, something major. She hadn't heard from Tommy since yesterday, and her phone call to him hadn't exactly been uplifting. She sighed. What on earth had he done that warranted Bulk, Skull and a cop dropping by to talk to her?
She stomped over to the door and unlocked it. The cop strolled in a moment later, followed by Bulk and Skull, who tried to go through at the same time and got stuck in the doorway. "Nice place you've got here," the cop said pleasantly as Bulk and Skull finally freed themselves.
"Thank you, Officer…?"
"Brewster," he said, a tad reluctantly, as though he wasn't keen on giving out his name.
She looked at Bulk and Skull. "They're not with the Angel Grove Police Department, are they?"
"They're former detectives," he replied. "They're… special consultants."
"What's their specialization?" she asked defiantly.
"The Power Rangers, of course," Bulk said, throwing out his chest. "Don here says he has a lead on the Power Rangers' identities, and no one knows more about that than us!"
"Uh-huh." Hayley rolled her eyes. Gotta love irony, she thought dryly. Here they are, looking ME in the face and telling me they're the civilians closest to the Rangers' secret identities. "So what do you want to talk to me for?" she asked.
"Haven't you watched the news?" Skull asked. "Duh!"
"The news?" Hayley repeated warily. Oh, great. Hayley didn't often watch the news, mostly because just about every time she did it was full of catastrophe.
"Every reporter in Angel Grove thinks that Tommy's the Black Ranger," Bulk scoffed. "Can you believe it?"
Hayley snorted. Plenty of people had wondered if he was a Power Ranger after he'd fought Elsa on the school's front lawn. "Come on. No one took that bit about him being a Dino Ranger seriously."
"Not a Dino Ranger. The original Black Ranger," Don clarified.
She stared at him, then burst out laughing. Oh, Tommy must love that, Hayley thought gleefully. The boy's been five or six different Rangers, and they accuse him of being one of the ones he wasn't. Would have been even better if they'd thought he was a Blue Ranger—although I love the irony that he was the last Black Ranger and people somehow start thinking he's the first…
She started laughing so hard that she had to sit down on a barstool. "Oh, god," she wheezed. "That was… hahaha…" She dissolved into giggles again. "That was great. I mean, Tommy… hahaha… Oh, man… hahaha… bet he loved that, didn't he?"
"Haven't spoken to him since the mess started," Don replied calmly. "Besides, I think it's all nonsense. I think Tommy Oliver is the original Green Ranger."
Hayley's grin slowly faded. "You're serious." Oh, crap, she thought in dismay, struggling to keep her poker face up.
"Of course I am. Were you aware of the fact that Tommy Oliver moved to Angel Grove shortly before the Green Ranger's arrival? That his behavior became aggressive during the Green Ranger's days as an evildoer? That—?"
"I'm sorry," Hayley interrupted, "but there's no way in hell Tommy's a Power Ranger. The idea is ludicrous."
"Why's that?" Don asked challengingly.
"Well, for one thing, he's been sitting next to me during several monster attacks," Hayley said bluntly. "For another, the boy's a mess. He's always late, he's got a memory like a black hole and he's the unluckiest guy you've ever met. Yeah, he can do martial arts. So can a lot of people. I can name about fourteen off the top of my head. But Tommy? He can't lie to save his life, how could he be a Power Ranger?"
"That's what I told him," Bulk said, looking at Don in exasperation. "But he kept going on and on about Tommy."
"So why are you bothering to tag along on his little mission?" Hayley asked. "You guys know Tommy. You've known him for years. You know he's not a Ranger—"
"Yeah, but he knows the Power Rangers," Skull interrupted. "He has to."
"Why's that?"
"Walter Johnson was knocked unconscious by Tommy Oliver while attempting to steal a purse. He remembers it clearly. Yet it was the Black Ranger who reported the incident to police. For some strange reason, Oliver didn't want to go on record as a man strong enough to beat up a purse snatcher." Don smiled coldly. "Odd, isn't it? My partner is still back in Angel Grove, trying to reach Dr. Oliver to clear a few things up."
"Walter Johnson… who's Walter Johnson?"
"Guy from high school," Skull said.
"What a geek," Bulk added.
"So… how does he know Tommy?"
Bulk and Skull shrugged. "I don't know," Bulk said. "Didn't really hang out with him or anything. Tommy had a different group of loser friends in high school."
"Walter alleges that Oliver beat him up back in high school after Walter's friend said a few harsh words about Kimberly Hart," Don said.
Hayley's eyes widened. Hayley knew all about that; Tommy had told her all about the people he'd been rude to as the Green Ranger. Most had forgiven him, once he'd tracked them all down and apologized. Only Walter, Chris, Matt and Claire hadn't; they'd all felt too betrayed, having befriended him for so long. Aware that Don was watching her closely, she said, "So… this Walter guy tried to steal someone's purse, and Tommy knocked him out?"
"According to Walter, yes."
"But the Black Ranger handed him in?"
"Yes—I spoke to the Black Ranger myself."
"And the Black Ranger didn't mention Tommy?"
"No."
"Well… then Walter must be lying."
"I'm not so sure. He seemed sincere enough."
"A petty criminal with a grudge against Tommy seemed sincere?"
Don looked a little hesitant, but he nodded. "Yes."
"More sincere than a Black Ranger?"
"Well…"
"What about the woman who owned the purse? What did she have to say about this?"
"Ms. Hart was—"
"Kimberly Hart? It was her purse?"
"Yes. She was a little too distraught to tell us much, but her friends insisted that the Black Ranger was her rescuer. Trini Scott and Zack Taylor, do you know them?"
"Yes, and they're not the types to lie," Hayley said firmly. "Especially not to cops."
"Not even to protect a good friend?"
"No," Hayley lied.
"They are pretty goody-goody," Bulk said. "Although that Trini… she can pack a punch when she's angry." He rubbed the back of his head, as if remembering an old injury, smiling reminiscently.
"Look," Hayley said, "I'm sorry, but your theory is just one giant flaw after another. First of all, if Tommy was a Power Ranger, he wouldn't be stupid enough to involve one in something he did." How could he be that stupid, anyway? she thought irritably. "Second of all, there's no way Tommy would pass on responsibility for rescuing Kim! Tommy was madly in love with her back in high school. Probably still is. If he beat up a purse snatcher for her, he wouldn't pass off the credit to anyone, least of all someone with a cooler image. Third, like I said, Tommy's nowhere near superhero material. He's a whack job. Late, forgetful, disorganized, and completely incapable of being subtle. He's horribly oblivious to anything remotely subtle."
"But he has to at least know the Power Rangers," Bulk insisted. "He shook hands with them at the last Power Rangers Day, you know."
"So did a lot of people, I'm sure."
"But if Trini, Zack and Kim know the Black Ranger—" Skull began.
"They would have told me if they knew him. Sounds to me like they just met him when he saved them."
Bulk and Skull frowned, thinking this over. Don, however, simply smiled, looking quite unconvinced. Hayley groaned inwardly, realizing that, however inept Bulk and Skull might be, this cop wasn't exactly dumb.
The café doors swung open, and Devin and Cassidy walked in. They'd been coming to the café just about every day for quite some time, drinking smoothies dispiritedly and checking the Net for summer job postings, now that they'd been fired for not coming up with the Rangers' identities. Hayley often gave them discounts, feeling sorry for them, glad that they hadn't turned Tommy and the others over to the—oh, god. Devin and Cassidy knew who Tommy was! She had to get them out of there!
"Hi, Hayley," Devin called with forced cheerfulness. "Usual?"
"Coming right up," Hayley replied. Hayley thought fast. She knew she'd never force Devin and Cassidy out, at least not easily, and if she tried the cop might get suspicious. So she turned Don, Bulk and Skull. "As much fun as this was, I've got work to do. If you'll excuse me."
"Actually," Don began, but he broke off as the phone rang. "Aren't you going to get that?" he asked Hayley in an innocent sort of tone.
"Yes," Hayley ground out, marching over to the phone and snatching it off the hook. Damn Tommy for starting this mess! She loved him, yes, and she loved helping him save the world—but did he have to create so much chaos? "Hayley's Cyberspace," she said, struggling to sound cheery and bright.
"Hayley! Rocky. Have you heard from Tommy?"
Oh, great. So Tommy was confusing and annoying everyone, not just her. "No," she said through gritted teeth, her voice low. "And when I find him, I'm gonna kick his ass."
"What? Why?"
"I can't talk now. If you talk to him before I do, have him call me. I've gotta go; I'm busy."
"But—"
Hayley stopped listening, watching Don out of the corner of his eye. He approached Cassidy and Devin and leaned down. "Excuse me," he said pleasantly. "Do you two attend the local high school?"
Cassidy looked up. "Yeah, so?"
"Actually, we just graduated," Devin explained, far more politely.
"Really?" Don asked with interest. "Did you have Dr. Oliver for science?"
Oh, no! Hayley thought in a panic. As if sensing her watching him, Don looked over at her. She kept her tone perky and spouted off something about the hours of operation before hanging up on Rocky. How the hell was she going to fix this?
Trini was silent the entire ride, staring out the window. Jason tried getting her to speak, but the best responses he could get were noncommittal noises. He even tried asking her if she thought Kerry would win the presidential election in November. (Sparking a political conversation with Trini was a good way to get her talking, as she was always very passionate about the subject—which was why he tried not to spark these conversations with her; she was nothing if not firm in her beliefs, and she got a little too passionate sometimes.) Even calling Bush an evil gray-haired monkey was met with the grunting sound universally translated as "whatever." Exasperated, Jason crammed the brakes at a stop sign, jolting her in the seat and thereby getting her attention. She finally looked at him, and his suspicions were confirmed—she was pissed. At him.
"Are you going to talk to me, or not?" he demanded wearily.
"About what?" she asked sourly.
"I don't know. Why you're ignoring me?"
"I'm not ignoring you. I heard you. Yes, the weather is nice today—bright, sunny, perfect for being outdoors. Yes, gas prices are far too high—by the way, I told you that you should get something with better mileage. Yes, Kim and Tommy don't look cheerful—I can see them in my rearview mirror. Not really; personally, I would have liked to see Edwards or Dean get the nomination. Happy now?"
Jason put the truck in park. "No. Tell me what's bothering you."
Trini huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Nothing's bothering me."
"Yes, something is."
"If you're so smart, why don't you tell me what it is, then?"
"Because if I make a guess, and I'm wrong, you'll go off on me for both reasons."
Trini rolled her eyes. "Can we just get going, please? Conner and Zack are alone in our house with only two Blues keeping them in line and I don't know about Ethan, but Billy's not very authoritative when it comes to saying things like 'No, don't set that on fire.'"
"No. I'm staying here until you tell me what's bothering you."
"Jason, you're being ridiculous."
"I'm being ridiculous? You won't tell me what's wrong!"
"You know what's wrong!"
"Okay, fine. Carrie? Is that it?"
Trini took a deep breath that seemed to suck everything that wasn't tension from the cab of the truck. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Ah. So it is Carrie. What, exactly, pisses you off about her, anyway?"
"Other than the fact you keep old clippings on display in our bedroom?"
"I keep a lot of stuff on display in our bedroom. Trophies and posters and—"
"And her articles."
"I told you, I don't want them in the main part of the house. People would wonder why I framed them."
"Then you should keep them in the Secret Chamber."
"Fine! I'll move them. Will that make you happy?"
"No."
"Then what will?"
"I'll be happy when you stop reading her articles every morning like they're your cocaine. I'll be happy when you stop quoting her writing at random moments. I'll be happy when you tell me why you were always tensed up during those weeks after the parade until the day you sat down on her desk! I'll be happy when you tell me why you sat on her desk in the first place! And I'll be happy when you tell me how it was possible for her to figure out your identity when the only people who've ever managed that saw us morphing or knew us extremely well!"
Trini looked livid. Angry enough to hit him. And while Jason knew she didn't like Carrie, he was utterly startled to see how deep it ran.
Jason regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, then began to speak, quietly and honestly. "She figured it out because of the island. After it blew up, she saw Tommy on the news and remembered seeing us shaking hands with Tommy on Power Rangers Day. Once she found out the day he'd registered at Angel Grove High was close to the day the evil Green Ranger showed up, and that he was friends with Billy Cranston, it was all over." Jason leaned his head back against the headrest, figuring he should come clean about everything now. "She didn't know about the rest of us until me and Billy came walking into the restaurant. Heard me call out to Tommy, saw me drinking Red Pop—same stuff I drank in the newsroom—and standing next to Billy. Then she figured out it was me. She knew we were married, that your name was Trini Scott now. So from there she made the leap to you being Yellow and Kim being Pink. Only thing she didn't know was that Tommy was White. She apparently did some digging in Reefside, too, knows who Conner, Kira, Ethan and Trent are. But she doesn't know about anyone else. Not Rocky, Adam, Aisha, Tanya, Kat, Justin, anyone. As for the rest of your questions…"
Jason sighed and closed his eyes. "Things were really bad for me back then, Trini. Things were so confusing. Not only were you and I trying not to let the others know we were together, and not only did everyone think Billy was me… but Tommy was back. And I tried so hard to be happy for him. I really did. So I didn't demand to know why Zordon took the leadership away from me. I tried to follow Tommy. While I questioned every decision I'd ever made and wondered if I was stupider or weaker than my best friend." He smiled tiredly. "That wasn't fun."
"I'm sorry," Trini said quietly. That was the trouble with Jason—he kept to himself. He didn't like to share, and Trini couldn't help him if he didn't tell her what was bothering him. She'd always suspected he was more upset about the leadership than he let one; no natural-born leader was very happy with having their power wrested from their grasp. However, Jason had never mentioned it, other than grumbling about still having to be the leader when Tommy was late, or his communicator was broken or forgotten in a gym bag somewhere (Tommy had always had worse luck with his communicators than anyone else; Billy had once emailed her statistics on the phenomenon). And Trini had let the matter go, as Jason had never let her get very far whenever she tried to bring it up.
"Wasn't just the fact that I wasn't leader. It was the fact that he was leader. Tommy, late, forgetful, not as experienced as we were. The guy I failed."
"Jason, the Green Candle was—"
"Not my fault. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I'm just not sure if I believe it. Point is, I thought, maybe this is my punishment, you know? I failed to save Tommy's powers, so Tommy gets new powers and my leadership. It's stupid, I know, but—"
"It's not stupid. Jason, as hard as it is for you to accept, you're human. You have thoughts and emotions and they're not always rosy."
He shrugged. "Anyway, that day, I walked into the sports department, and I started screaming. And they all just stared. Didn't get it. Probably weren't taking it in. And I started to realize that I'd just made everything worse. They were just going to write a huge story about how I'd burst into their office and continue to name candidates because after all who really believes a Power Ranger is going to follow up a threat on a civilian. And then Carrie raised her hand, and told me I was in the sports department. She was honest. And she was in sports. There were sports everywhere—on the TVs, on posters—and there were bobble heads and media guides and all sorts of things. And Red Pop. And I sat down with this one honest person, and I started chatting. And for the first time in a long time it wasn't about Rangers or… or if Trini and I were together, or anything at all in my life. Just sports. She asked the occasional question about being a Ranger, yeah, and she was getting pretty intense when Tommy showed, but mostly it was just all about sports.
"I really liked the fact that I got to see my name in the paper. Especially after I became a Ranger, you know? All the attention you get as a Ranger, you start to forget what else you've got that's special." Trini nodded emphatically. "But football and basketball season meant I'd see my name every few weeks, when I had a really good game. And in the midst of trying to explain that she was not an evil reporter worthy of destruction—" Jason smiled in an "oops" sort of way— "she told me that she was the one who wrote that sort of thing. She was the one who took the call from my coach and typed up my stats and sent them to the printers."
"And that's why you liked her so much?"
"That's part of it, yeah. But the main part of it was that for just a few moments, I could be myself, and in the snake's nest, no less. I could sit in a newsroom, meet a nice honest person who worked for the media, and chat about sports. No questions about what I'm really doing with Trini, no guilt or whatever about Tommy, no team, no nothing, and she's not even treating me like a Ranger, except to ask if the straw's fitting under my helmet okay. It was a really great moment that I needed right then, and then she came up with that story that totally saved our butts. Annoyances aside, Tri, it was only a matter of time before they figured it out. They were interviewing us, looking really hard at Billy and the Rangers in general. They had a lead on who we were. And she just shut it down. I mean, yeah, our going to the Peace Conference helped, but she actually got the people of Angel Grove to stop trying to figure it out. Before long, it was mostly just Bulk and Skull. Again." Jason frowned. "I really wonder how she got her editor to print that story."
Trini shrugged. "Well, other papers did lose business when they tried to keep doing stories about who we were. Took them a while to figure out that no one wanted to hear it, while the Sentinel had great sales. Besides, the Sentinel got to start something. Must be pretty rare, in a market where everyone's reporting the same things."
Jason nodded. "It was pretty ground-breaking. People stopped reading other papers, started sticking to just the Sentinel." He shrugged and grew serious again. "Look. I know you don't like this whole Carrie thing. But it's not like it's got anything to do with me and you. She's just a person who made a bad day better. And you gotta admit, she's totally saving our asses with this 'Tommy is Zack' stuff."
Trini sighed. "If it works."
He shrugged. "Either she's a really nice person, or she's about to ruin our lives. I'm hoping it's the former."
"You talked to her alone, didn't you," Trini said suddenly.
He blinked, looking startled. "Yeah. How'd you guess?"
"You guys wouldn't have a conversation that intimate in the restaurant. Especially not while Zack was running around in morph and bellhops were getting jumped by Conner and Billy."
Jason laughed. "Think about that statement for a moment, and then ask me again why I found comfort in that newsroom. Go on. I dare you."
She favored him with a smile, but it faded quickly. "That's why Kira didn't tell us anything, why Tommy dropped her off alone. You were talking to Carrie."
"Yeah. About this." He grinned. "If it makes you feel any better, she's about eight years older than me. Also, I prefer brunettes."
Trini rolled her eyes. "This is really all about news and Ranger stories?"
He shook his head. "No. It's about a nice person came into my life and I don't want to kick her out just because my wife doesn't like her. So… quit being stupid."
"Hey!" Trini exclaimed indignantly, gaping at him.
"Well, forgive me for not being Mr. Eloquent, but you're being stupid. She saved our butts. Nothing wrong with that. I'm not asking for a divorce."
"What are you asking for? Huh? For Carrie to come over every Tuesday for movie night? Huh?"
"I'm asking for you to trust—"
BEEP!
They jumped at the sound of Tommy's horn and pressed their middle fingers against the rear windshield in unison.
"Where was I?"
"You want me to trust…"
"Ah. Yeah. I'm asking for you to trust me, and stop thinking I've got something going on with a middle-aged reporter I've met twice. She's just like every other person who's ever found out about us. Ernie and, and Rocky and Adam and Aisha before they became Rangers, and Mr. Cranston and… Hayley! Hayley's like Carrie. Yeah, that's pretty, um, plausible. And I'm asking for you to… are you trying not to laugh? I'm having a serious conversation here!"
Trini snickered, quickly covering it with her hand. "I'm sorry. Go on."
"No! You're snickering at me here! That's not… not… not nice!"
Trini straightened her features out and turned to Jason. One look at his utterly offended expression sent her into fits of laughter. "I'm sorry," she gasped, clutching her stomach as Jason stared at her in disbelief. "It's just… I couldn't help… picturing Carrie being Ernie, and you having feelings for Ernie, and then… and Tommy, I can see him in the mirror… and you looked so serious… but it was so… you tried to come up with a comparison and by the time you got to Hayley I just…" Trini dissolved into giggles.
"I'm glad you find our touching heart-to-heart moment amusing," Jason said dryly, though he couldn't help but smile. He was pretty sure that, from her perspective, Carrie was nothing like Ernie. Wondering what she'd meant about Tommy, he adjusted the mirror to see what Tommy was up to. Tommy was turned around in his seat; curious now, Jason cracked the window in the hopes of hearing something good.
"Will you two quit it back there?" Tommy was yelling at Kira and Trent. "For crying out loud, if you're going to make out, do it somewhere where I can't see!"
"Oh, come on, Tommy. Trent's sharing a room with Conner and just about every nifty thought Kira's had in the past few days ends up being spoiled by you walking through our room in your underwear," Kimberly teased. "Have a heart."
"You wouldn't be so keen on letting them make out if it was your backseat," Tommy shot back.
"Tommy, we're in an open-topped Jeep, I'm practically a stranger and you're their science teacher. I don't think you need to worry about your upholstery."
"Hey, you didn't have to sit through a horrible conversation with Trent's prim-and-proper father—who happened to be my mentor back in college—and listen to his requests to keep an eye on his son. It was full of polite euphemisms, Kim. Euphemisms I didn't understand because they went out of style before I was old enough to figure them out, so I had to ask him to clarify a few things. Never want to talk to my parents again after that conversation."
"Are we close enough to walk?" Kira asked plaintively.
Jason rolled up the window and joined Trini in the art of laughing himself sick. It was quite a while before they got control of themselves; when they did, the mood was exponentially lighter.
"Okay," Trini said. "I'll try to get over the Carrie thing."
"Okay," Jason said. "I'll cancel the subscription to the Sentinel. No more avid reading, no more quoting. But now that she knows who I am, I'd like to let her in a little. Just like any other female friend. Emails, phone calls, occasional coffee."
"Okay. But I get to meet her."
"Agreed."
Trini opened her mouth to say something, then paused and rolled her window down a bit.
"I'm not going off on them! I'm asking them not to make out in the back of my car and why the hell hasn't Jason moved!"
"Are you always this strung out? You used to be so much more… laidback." Kimberly appeared amused, whereas Tommy had the tone of one who knows he's the only one who doesn't find something funny.
"I'm not strung out, I'm… I'm… I'm having a bad day! And by the way I want my shirt back!"
"Well, you can't have it right now!"
"If you hadn't taken it in the first place—"
"If you hadn't snuck onto our balcony, I wouldn't have taken it!"
"I told you, we got locked out!"
"Really? Why, exactly, did you close the balcony door behind you? And oh, yeah, did you know those doors don't shut tight if the lock is pushed down? Must be some wacky safety feature they installed to keep weirdoes from getting locked on the balcony in their underwear in the middle of the night."
Trini rolled up the window. "Funny, isn't it."
"Got that right."
"No… I mean, ironic. It's ironic."
"What is?"
"Back in high school, they were the ideal couple. I mean, I got up the guts to make the plunge from friendship to relationship with you because I wanted to be like them, be as happy as them. Now…" She giggled. "Now I'm really glad we're not like them."
Jason snorted. "Yeah. We're way better than them." He took off his seatbelt. "Come here."
Trini unbuckled her own belt and they met halfway, ignoring the sudden burst of outraged honking from Tommy's Jeep. Jason made another rude hand gesture, this one much more triumphant than annoyed, and cracked the window again.
"What the hell? That's it! I'm going up there!" Tommy roared.
"Tommy, sit down! She's been in my room all week; they deserve a little—"
"A little? We're in the middle of a crisis and they're in the middle of the road! They're blocking traffic!"
"What traffic?" Kimberly demanded. "There's no one behind us!"
"Even so!"
Jason grinned and locked the doors, just in case.
End Notes: Fair warning—update times are gonna slow down a bit until mid-June. Freyja's got a friend from out of town staying with her, and I'm having one of those weeks that consist of nothing but freak accidents. My car's control arm bushing broke right before it got a crack in the radiator and I somehow managed to break my toe in my sleep and… well, never mind. (Now you know where we get a lot of our Tommy moments.) Point is, Freyja's out of commission for the rest of the week and I'm going on a road trip next Friday, won't return until June 8th or so. So updating will slow down, but I'll try to put up our next chapter before Friday.
Would anyone be interested in hearing about where we got our ideas from? I'm thinking of posting our inspirations in my livejournal, but typing it up would take a lot of work, so I'd like to know if people are remotely curious about it first.
Figured if the updating's gonna go somewhat caput for a while, least I could do was dig up some hints again:
1) Jason sighed. "We're all gonna die, aren't we."
2) "Yes. I was going to cream you with a blender. Then play it off, like you had a bug on your head."
3) "She left Tommy the Power Ranger for Tony the janitor?" he hissed incredulously.
4) "Let's make some magic, baby," Conner said, deepening his voice and smiling as seductively as he could. He waggled his eyebrows at Ethan.
5) "I have rope," Zack offered. "Maybe some handcuffs, too; I'd have to check." They all turned to stare at him. "What?"
6) Jason frowned, looking from the red-faced Tommy to the disgusted Ethan to the semi-smug Kimberly to the now-disappointed Conner. "Okay. What am I missing?" he asked slowly.