Chapter Forty-eight

Scent of a Weasel

"NO!" Tommy shouted. "I absolutely refuse to—"

"Quit freaking out, Tommy," Jason chided as he followed Zack down the aisle, looking for a good parking spot.

"Awesome," Conner said approvingly, staring up at their destination. "A fair."

"Not just any fair," Jason said cheerfully, grinning at Tommy. "Stone Canyon's annual carnival, one of the best in southern Cal—"

"Why is it called 'Happy Bob's Carnival of Magic?'" Kira interrupted warily.

"Because all the people who work there are on drugs," Tommy snapped.

"You are exaggerating, right?" Trent asked, looking nervously at some of the bigger rides. The lot was huge, with rides and games and food stalls galore. Trent had had a bad experience on a Gravitron as a kid—the circular ride where everyone leaned against vertical panels and then found themselves glued to the panels by centrifugal force as the ride spun. A little kid riding upside-down next to him had lifted his head up from the panel after it had slid up, and when the panel came back down it had crushed the back of the kid's head open. Trent hadn't ridden a Gravitron since and was still a little leery of carnivals, only slightly comforted by the fact that the kid had lived.

"Jason, turn the car around!" Tommy yelled, ignoring Trent.

"Come on, Tommy. This'll be fun. You don't have to freak out just because—"

"It was our first date, Jason! Trini's only bringing us here because she thinks me and Kim need to have that flung up in our faces. I'm not dealing with this today!"

"I thought your first date was the dance," Jason said, frowning thoughtfully.

"No, this was our first date. After we ditched you guys."

"Hey! I—wait. What makes you think Trini did this because of you and Kim?" Jason demanded.

"I told you, this is where Kim and I went on our first date!"

"Well, if I didn't know that, I'm sure Trini didn't know that!" Jason insisted.

"Sure she… hmm." Tommy frowned. Jason was right. There was no way Trini could have known about it… unless Kimberly had told her… but if Kimberly had told her, then Trini probably would have told the others… aha! "Why did you say 'that's my girl,' then?" he retorted.

"Because this should be awesome. We haven't been here since the day we got banned. And they've probably got a lot of cool new rides and games over the past ten years, and no one should recognize us. You're jumping at shadows, man."

Tommy thought this over as Jason pulled into a parking spot next to Zack. Unfortunately, he was coming up with less and less to go on to link the carnival with Trini's vendetta to get him back with Kimberly. He wondered if he really was just spooked because he knew Trini was coming for him. It seemed like something she would do—get him jumpy and unfocused and set him to thinking that she wasn't planning anything spectacular so he wouldn't see it coming when she finally put her master plan into action.

"You were banned from a carnival?" Conner asked Jason with interest.

"Yeah, well…" Jason said, embarrassed. He shrugged. "It was Zack's fault."

"You've got to tell us this story," Trent begged.

"Yeah!" Kira exclaimed.

"Yeah, Dr. O never tells us things like how he was banned from a carnival," Conner added. "Just morals and do your homework and don't do stupid things."

"Dr. O wasn't banned from the carnival," Tommy told him through gritted teeth. "Dr. O's friends were banned from the carnival."

"At which point, Tommy and I went wandering around alone," Kimberly said cheerfully, appearing at the side of the Jeep. Tommy jumped badly. "I still have a lot of the stuff he won for me." She looked over at Jason. "You'd better get over there. Billy, Zack and Trini are having the argument of the century about this. I'm afraid Ethan might get hurt in the crossfire."

Conner, Kira, Trent and Jason scrambled out and rushed around to the other side of Zack's SUV, where Billy, Zack, and Trini were fighting and Ethan was trying to get a word in edgewise. Tommy sighed and refused to meet Kimberly's gaze. "I still think she did this on purpose," he muttered stubbornly, more to himself than to Kimberly.

"Probably," Kimberly replied with a shrug. "She knew this was our first date, after all."

Tommy whipped his head around to look at her. "She did? HA! I knew it!"

Kimberly grinned. "Come on, Tommy. Like I said yesterday, just play along. She's not going to quit, so she has to be ignored and yet thwarted, before she decides to get drastic. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to freak out about this. We went on a date here. Big deal."

Tommy grimaced, wishing she hadn't just made their first date sound as eventful as stepping in a mud puddle. "I don't know, Kim."

"Look, I'm sorry about teasing you all morning," Kimberly said patiently. She paused, frowned thoughtfully for a moment, then whacked him upside the head, hard. He jumped and rubbed the sore spot, giving her a questioning look. "But that's what you get for looking down my shirt and nearly killing us all in the process."

Tommy cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Suppose it was kind of a fair trade."

"Yeah. Plus it was funny as hell." She giggled, and Tommy smiled wearily at her. "Anyway, the point is, I'm not going to let Trini or our past or anything else upset me today. I've got my friends, I'm gonna get to see Rocky and Adam for the first time in ages, and I plan on totally kicking Trini's butt at the balloon dart game this time. I mean, yeah, her Power Daggers gave her much better practice, but my aim's way improved."

Tommy thought this over, deciding he liked her philosophy better than his previous plan of whining and sulking. "So we just pretend we don't know what Trini's up to?"

"Of course. I'm having way too good a day to let a little thing like this bother me. After all, I tortured you all morning, artfully dodged all of Trini's questions on the ride in from the gas station, and I've got a brand-new shirt I didn't even have to pay for."

He mock-glared at her. "I mean it. I'm going to get you back for that."

"Sure you are. Now get your ass out of the Jeep and toughen up. Someone has to break up the fight the gang is having, and from the sound of things—" she paused so they could hear Trini and Zack's raised voices— "Jason's not doing so well. If you say you want to waltz into the carnival, Zack'll shut up."

"Good point." Tommy sighed, hopped out and headed over to the others. Kimberly smiled and leaned against the side of the Jeep, hoping she was right about being able to ignore the fact that she and Tommy had had their first date here.

The first part of it had been a disaster… as the others had tagged along, oblivious to the fact that Tommy had finally asked Kimberly out. It had been right after their first kiss… which had turned into their second kiss after he'd asked her to the dance. And then their third. And their fourth. And it probably would have become their ninety-second if it hadn't been for an untimely interruption. Apparently the others had been hanging out in the Command Center, wondering how they could cheer up Tommy, and someone had gotten the idea to go find him and drag him to the carnival in Stone Canyon.

Kimberly grinned as she remembered the panicky way he'd jerked apart, the way he'd looked at her in askance to see if she'd mind that he wiped his mouth to take care of any incriminating lipstick, the audible gulp he'd done when Jason had given Tommy his patented Big Brother Look.

It was because of that look that they'd decided not to mention the kiss to the others, or Tommy's sudden surge of bravery in asking her out. They'd decided to split up, go get ready, teleport to the woods next to the carnival lot and meet up by the entrance. As they'd left the part together, Tommy and Kimberly had lagged behind the group, and Tommy had shyly suggested that they make the carnival a date. She'd agreed, and then she'd gone home to freak out and try to prepare for the prospect of a date with Tommy… especially a date with Tommy when Jason, her big brother, and Trini, her best friend, and Zack and Billy would be tagging along…

She'd tried on every outfit she owned that day and some she didn't—twelve shirts belonging to her mother and three that Trini had forgotten after sleepovers. Her hair had been restyled three times and her makeup took forever to get just right and she somehow managed to overturn her bookcase while looking for the perfect shoes and eventually Trini, sensing Kimberly might be late, had shown up and marveled at the chaos that was Kimberly preparing for a date and helped Kimberly through it. That was the only reason Trini had known, and Trini had promised to try to keep Jason, Zack and Billy at bay and give Kimberly some alone time with Tommy…

Kimberly was startled from her thoughts by Zack, who was screaming at Tommy. "Of course you want to go in there! You didn't get banned! You got to make out with Kimberly in the Tunnel of Love all day!"

She winced, then realized with a start that everything Trini had planned to do to her by bringing her here was working. Here she was, hanging around thinking about the good old days when she'd had hearts in her eyes and Tommy at her side. God, no wonder Tommy was so stressed.

She wasn't going to let it get to her. She and Tommy were over. Yes, she loved him, and yes, she missed him, and yes, he was as funny and likeable and hot as she remembered, but she wasn't about to go there and he sure as hell didn't seem like he wanted to, either.

Keep telling yourself that, scoffed a rebellious voice in the back of her mind.

"Kim?"

Kimberly looked up. Kira had come over to them. "Hey, Kira. What's going on?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Kira said dryly. "Now Dr. O wants to go to the carnival, and he didn't a minute ago, and Zack keeps yammering about how he got kicked out, and—"

"And I keep yammering about how it was Zack's fault we got kicked out in the first place," Trini interrupted in frustration, being fairly dragged over to Kimberly and Kira by Billy.

"Calm down," Billy urged. "As I said before, it was really kind of my fault. I shouldn't have pushed him."

"You wouldn't have pushed him if he hadn't been annoying you," Trini pointed out.

"Yes, well, we could play the blame game all we want," Kimberly said. "We could argue it was Jason's fault for wanting to ride with Trini, or my fault for wanting to ride with Tommy, or the security guards' fault for actually escorting you out, but the fact is it just happened and ten years is a long time to keep harping on—"

"BILLY!"

Startled, Billy jumped and spun around, but he didn't have time to prepare before a red-and-blue blur dove at him. The next thing he knew, Rocky was swinging him around happily.

"Billy, man, it's so good to see you!" Rocky roared as he set Billy back down. "I can't believe you're back! I can't believe you didn't call us! Oh, man, it's great to see you!"

"Move over!" commanded Adam, running up behind Rocky. Rocky got out of Adam's way, and Adam hugged Billy, only with less swinging and crushing of vital organs.

"I'm so sorry we didn't call," Billy said, grinning happily at the sight of his friends and straightening his glasses, which had been knocked askew during the bear hug Rocky had given him.

"At least we get to see you now," Adam said, waving his hand dismissively. "Way Trini tells it, you guys have been kinda busy—hey, Trini," he added, moving on to hug her. "It's great to see you guys. Haven't seen you since—"

"That party Tanya invited us to in L.A.," Trini finished. "And I was a tad busy trying to get Jason to leave Dr. Dre alone."

Adam chuckled. "Yeah. It was hysterical." He stepped back and went to hug Kimberly as Trini braced herself for one of Rocky's infamous airborne hugs, which had become more elaborate since the Zeo Rangers had all moved away from each other. "And Kim, I missed you," Adam continued.

"You need to swing by my place more often," Kimberly teased as Adam released her.

"KIM!" Rocky exclaimed as Billy knowingly helped Trini regain her balance.

To Kira's complete surprise, Adam's arms came around her next. "And—" He paused in mid-extremely-tight hug. He drew back. "Random girl," he finished lamely.

"Hi," Kira said, stepping away, embarrassed.

"Random girl!" Rocky said cheerfully as he dropped Kimberly. Before Kira could protest, he was squeezing her to his chest and swinging her around. He was in the middle of the third circle before it hit him; he stopped, Kira's feet dangling quite a ways off the ground as she waited for it to sink in. "Hang on..." Rocky pulled back to look at her. "I don't know you, do I?"

"No," Kira choked out, finding it currently difficult to breathe.

"Remember what I said about accosting strangers?" Adam joked. "Put her down."

"Sorry," Rocky said, hastily setting a dazed Kira back on her feet. She waved his apology away before any sort of annoyance could take effect, and took a second to get her bearings, looking them both over. Quite athletic and healthy. Probably early to mid-twenties. Cute, especially Adam—in her opinion, anyway; when it came to guys, she preferred black hair and a lack of red clothing. They were specifically color-coordinated.

"Oh, this is Kira," Kimberly said, shooting her an apologetic look. "Kira, this is Rocky and Adam. Guys, Kira is, um…" She checked the surrounding area for eavesdroppers; the carnival parking lot was too crowded for comfort.

"She's Tommy's Yellow," Trini explained.

Rocky and Adam's eyebrows rose simultaneously. "Tommy's dating a Yellow?" Rocky asked incredulously.

"Date?" Kira spluttered, trying to shake off the dizziness Rocky had caused before it could combine with the queasiness Rocky had caused. Adam shot Rocky a disapproving look before glancing sideways at Kimberly to gauge her reaction, but Rocky didn't notice.

"Little young for Tommy, aren't you?" Rocky asked, looking her up and down curiously and, to Kira's further discomfort, a tad appreciatively.

"She's not dating Tommy," Trini said hastily, seeing the look of horror on Kira's face.

"You're damned right I'm not!" Kira said vehemently.

"Let me guess," Adam said. He leaned in close to Kira and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Yellow Dino Ranger?"

Kira nodded. "Yes. I am."

"OH!" Rocky said, blushing slightly. "That makes more sense. Sorry, it's just… we heard that Tommy's girlfriend had her purse stolen during this whole Black Ranger TV story—"

"That was my purse," Kimberly said.

"Ah. So you guys are dating?"

"No. That's just bad reporting."

"You'd think they'd watch that sort of thing," Rocky said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I mean, calling Tommy the first Black Ranger was okay, but calling Kim Tommy's girlfriend is just rude," Trini deadpanned.

Rocky laughed. "Got a point there. Is Tommy even dating anyone?" He turned to Kira. "Did your team even have a Pink? I seem to remember something about no Pink."

"I was the only girl," Kira confirmed.

"Ah. Yeah, Tommy doesn't go much for Yellows, for some reason. No offense," Rocky added hastily.

"You're not offending me," Kira told him dryly.

Rocky didn't seem to believe her. "Hey, you know, if you want to ask him out, you should go for it. He did, after all, date Hayley, and if she were a Ranger she'd so be a Yellow."

"He's. My. Science. Teacher," Kira ground out.

Rocky frowned. "Okay, maybe you shouldn't ask him out after all."

"I don't want to ask him out!" Kira hissed. After hearing that Dr. O was once a Red, and after meeting Jason, she had hoped that Conner was just a fluke in the long line of Reds. It would appear she was wrong.

Rocky patted her on the shoulder. "That's the spirit, kid."

Kira had to fight the urge to draw back her fist; Trini hastily reached out, grabbed the back of Rocky's shirt and hauled him back a few feet, as if trying to get as much distance as possible between Kira and Rocky. Adam smiled apologetically at her. "Don't mind him."

"He's a Red one, isn't he," Kira said flatly.

Adam threw back his head and laughed while Trini, Billy and Kimberly burst into a fit of giggles; Rocky frowned, looking a bit unsettled by that, wondering if she thought there was something insulting about being Red. "Yes, he is," Adam told her. "I'm Adam Park. Second Black, Green Zeo, first Green Turbo." He held out his hand for Kira to shake, which she took, glad there wasn't going to be any more hugging.

"Kira Ford. Just… Yellow Dino."

"Rocky DeSantos," Rocky said, shaking hands as well. "Blue Zeo." He paused. "And second Red."

"You're the guys who took over for Jason and Zack, I take it?" Kira asked, telling herself that these were legendary Rangers and there was no need to hold a grudge against Rocky for his misunderstanding; it wasn't like he'd been trying to make her throw up.

"Yeah," Adam replied. "Have you—"

"Excuse me."

The six of them turned around quite quickly, nervous that someone had overheard their talk of colors and gotten suspicious, but it was only Trent, who was looking at Rocky and Adam in a no-nonsense sort of way. He had been watching the argument between Tommy, Jason and Zack from several car lengths away with Conner and Ethan, but he'd happened to glance away just in time to see Rocky and Adam hugging Kira.

"Yes?" Adam asked politely.

Trent had to force down an angry "Want to tell me why you're touching my girlfriend?" (which he forced down only because he knew Kira didn't like possessiveness) and held out his hand to Rocky. "Trent Fernandez. And you are?"

"Rocky DeSantos." Rocky shook his hand, confused. "Can I help you?"

"Trent here is Kira's boyfriend," Trini said as delicately as she could.

Rocky and Adam frowned for a minute; Rocky caught on first. "Oh!" Rocky exclaimed, his eyes widening. "Oh, don't worry. She's way too young for me. And Adam's got his own Yellow."

Adam glared at him, then paused when he realized where Rocky's statement was coming from. "Oh! Sorry. See, when we saw Trini and Kim, we got a little carried away, and…"

"Rocky's… an older Conner," Kira said, giving Trent a meaningful look.

"Oh." Trent smiled, looking slightly relieved. "That explains a lot."

"Conner's the Red one, right?" Rocky asked, frowning. He was starting to get the feeling that he was being mocked.

"Yeah, he's the Red on our team," Kira said. "Trent's the White."

"You guys are Rangers too?" Trent asked, moving to stand next to Kira. She grinned slightly and put her hand in his.

"Yep," Rocky said cheerfully. "Jason and Zack's replacements. I was Jason's."

"Ah." Trent looked from one to the other suspiciously and a moment of silence came over the group.

"Where's the rest of the gang, anyway?" Adam asked, with the tone of one trying to salvage a conversation.

"Over there, duking it out about whether or not we should go to the carnival," Trini replied.

"Why shouldn't we?" Rocky asked curiously.

"Well, there's the fact that Jason, Trini, Zack and Billy got banned back in 1993," Kimberly said lightly. "Oh, and this is where Tommy and I went on our first date, so that's a little odd for us all."

"Heh," Billy said, shooting Trini a nervous look. Trini simply smiled in response.

"Well, let's go say hi!" Rocky exclaimed, bounding off with Adam, Kimberly, Trini and Billy at his heels.

"Come on!" Trini called to Kira and Trent.

Trent started to follow, but Kira squeezed his hand to hold him back and he looked at her. "What?"

"That was cute," she said simply.

"What? Those guys?" Trent asked, a little more sharply than he'd intended.

"No. The look of barely-controlled rage on your face," Kira teased. "I could practically see you beating them up in your head."

"I was not! I'm the mild-mannered one, remember?" She raised an eyebrow at him. He paused and smiled sheepishly. "…And also the previously evil guy." He shook his head ruefully.

Kira's smile widened. Giving his hand another squeeze, she began to follow the others. After a moment, Trent looked sideways at her. "Cute, huh?"

Kira let out a small snort of affectionate laughter. "Yeah."

Trent grinned. "I can live with that."

End Notes: Sorry this took so long; not only was Document Manager screwing up, but we'd originally planned flashbacks of the first time around at the carnival. Then Freyja's computer ate the flashbacks and rewriting them got a little too involved. If those flashbacks do show up, they'll come in a later chapter, a sequel, or—most likely—a post on my livejournal or a side story. We'll be working on getting the rest out.

By the way, we've been nominated for several awards in the Hope for the World Fiction awards, the link to which is in my bio; if you think we're deserving, we'd appreciate your votes. I'm also posting a Mystic Force story called "For the Love of Frogs," which isn't related to "Of Love and Bunnies," that I'd like to ask you guys to go read.