Chapter Fifty-four

A Drive to Win

The line moved slowly up the ramp and into the Tunnel of Love. Trent and Kira, at the front of the Rangers' group, didn't look around much at the décor; they were too busy grinning at each other about the chance to spend some more time alone. Conner and Ethan, however, looked around in disgust the moment they stepped onto the dock.

"Ugh," Conner muttered. "This isn't romantic."

"Looks like it used to be the house of horrors ride," Ethan added, peering in at the murky green water. "Ew! Zack and Billy swam in that?"

"Not really swam," Kimberly said wryly.
"Shh! I think that's the same carnie working the dock," Tommy admonished, nodding at a strange, creepy old man motioning people into the boats two at a time.

Conner and Ethan nodded and went back to checking out the ride. The boats had the classic two white swans on the front and back, their necks curved so that they formed the sides of a heart, with the beaks touching to form a point. The sides of the boat were painted a ghastly pink that made even Kimberly cringe. The interior dock was badly-worn wood that looked ready to collapse and capable of not just giving splinters but of shooting them five feet in the air. The dock jutted out over the water—if it was indeed water and not some sort of radioactive toxic waste—and the tunnel started a good fifteen feet to the right, while boats came out of a heart-shaped hole in the wall twenty feet to the left. The area between the tunnel's exit and entrance was designed to look like a meadow surrounding a large pond; the edges around the loading bay and dock were covered with frayed Astroturf meant to resemble a meadow with cardboard flowers sticking up at random. A mural of a cloudy sky with little sinister-looking cupids floating near the top covered the walls in peeling paint.

"In," the carnie working the line told Kira and Trent as an empty boat stopped at the dock. They helped each other sit down and the boat took off with a jolt that nearly threw them over the back.

Conner and Ethan stepped forward, watching as the next boat stopped further down the dock, where a ride attendant steadied the boat and motioned for the happy couple in the boat to climb out. Then the boat lurched down to them. They looked at the carnie expectantly, waiting for him to give them the all-clear, but he was peering past Tommy and Kimberly at Jason and Trini.

"Don't I know you two?" he called.

"Who, us?" Jason asked. "I don't think so. I haven't ridden this ride before."

The carnie frowned and absently let Conner and Ethan onto their boat. He scrutinized Tommy and Kimberly carefully.

"You two ever ride this ride before?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nope," Tommy lied with the ease of a guy who'd had a secret identity for over ten years. Kimberly winced, wishing she'd managed to beat Tommy to responding. She doubted it would really help, though—after all, she hadn't been kicked off the ride. She'd spent it making out with Tommy.

Tommy hopped in the boat first and took her hand, steadying her unnecessarily. She let him, hoping that if she didn't growl he wouldn't make a fight out of it, wouldn't cause a scene in front of Trini. She sat down and tossed her purse on the floor of the boat, scrunching as far against the side as she could get and nearly banging her head on the dock when it finally surged forward towards the heart-shaped tunnel entrance. A moment later, the lighting went from dim to worse, so that all she could really make out was the garish red-painted walls and the vague outline of Conner and Ethan's boat ahead of her.

Kimberly shifted uncomfortably in the swan boat. Tommy was taking up most of the space, and he wasn't trying to leave her any extra room. Their shoulders were touching, his hand was right up against her leg, the fingers twitching occasionally so that they fluttered against her bare skin, keeping her jumpy. Worst of all, he was staring at her. Not in an absentminded way, either. He knew what he was doing, and he knew it was bugging her, and he liked it.

Kimberly bit her lip, torn. The girl in her wanted to blush and look away. The ex-girlfriend in her wanted to jump off a cliff. And the Ranger in her—the part that was currently in control—wanted to stare back, stare him down, ram his stupid challenge back down his throat. She'd enjoyed playing this game when she was the one on top, but now that he was playing—and, worse, winning—it had lost a lot of its fun factor. Still, she forced herself to meet his gaze, trying to put as much fire behind it as she could, knowing that if she backed down she'd have lost a serious battle. Something told her this wasn't revenge for the fry thing; it was war, not a simple counterattack.

In the boat behind them, Trini smiled in satisfaction and leaned against Jason to whisper to him. "All right, spill. What did you do to Tommy?"

"What do you mean?" Jason asked nonchalantly, the evil grin on his face totally contradicting his tone.

"Come on. If it wasn't me, it had to be you."

"What makes you think that? Could have been Billy or Zack. Or one of the Dino Rangers. Or Rocky or Adam…"

"Please. You know as well as I do that Rocky and Adam are just plain confused at this point, and the others are taking their direction from me."

"Are they? Don't seem to be," Jason said innocently

"Of course they are. It's just that Billy and Zack are the only ones who know it. Now, come on! What did you say? You're the only one who could have made a move. Billy and Zack don't do that sort of thing without clearing it with me. I've got a tight grip on the Dino Rangers' strings. And Rocky and Adam haven't had time yet. That just leaves you. Come on, Jase, spill."

"You know, you've got to stop manipulating people some day."

"Where's the fun in that? Come on, baby, tell me?" She gave him her most enticingly pleading look.

Jason's grin widened. "It's just killing you that I might have gotten in the winning hit, isn't it."

"It is not! I don't care how we get there, as long as we do!"

Jason chuckled. One of the things he liked best about Trini was that she wasn't afraid to take over, when she needed to, when she wanted to. As a natural-born leader, he loved the fact that he could give up control if he had to, let it be someone else's burden when he needed a break. When it came to Tommy and Kimberly, he was content to let Trini push most of the buttons. But Jason had his own agenda, too.

"I didn't do anything," Jason said firmly.

"Yes, you did, and we both know it."

"Sorry, Trini. I've got my own plans."

Trini gave him her most demure pout. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours?"

Jason laughed and pulled her to him. "At the moment, I've only got one plan," he said, and kissed her.

"WHOO!" Zack yelled from behind them. "Hey, Rocky, I think Jason's going for second up here!"

Adam let out a strangled noise that might have been covering laughter before quickly covering it with an admonishing, "Oh, come on, you sound like you're back in high school. They're married." He let out another snort of suppressed laughter.

Trini giggled against Jason's mouth; Jason took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, flipping Zack off behind Trini's head for a moment before the hand promptly disappeared.

"Ja-son, Ja-son, Ja-son!" Rocky chanted from behind Zack and Adam.

"Go for third, buddy!" Zack jeered. Trini made a vague "quit that" hand motion.

Back in Kimberly's boat, Tommy broke eye contact with Kimberly momentarily to casually look back at Jason and Trini. "Looks like they're having fun," he said in a lilting, almost invitational tone.

Kimberly twisted her head to the side, trying to tell herself that it was childish to get into some stupid staring contest with Tommy, though she couldn't fool herself into thinking that it didn't piss her off that he'd won the Staring Contest Round. Great.

Trini, you suck, Kimberly thought in annoyance. She was sure Trini had planned this. Get her thinking about kissing and sex when she was sitting in a swan boat with Tommy. It was the sort of evil genius move that Trini would come up with. It was very psychological. But Kimberly wasn't going to cave. Nope. No way in hell.

"Damn," she muttered. Now the Ranger in her wanted to knock Tommy's lights out, the ex-girlfriend in her wanted to knock Trini upside the head, and the girl in her wanted to knock Tommy's socks off. She was so giving Trini hell for this later. Jason, too.

"What was that?" Tommy asked, leaning closer as if trying to hear her better. Tricky. Practically rehearsed. "I didn't hear you." He was practically sitting sideways now, and she had to stare out of the corner of her right eye just to keep him out of her field of vision.

"I think you're imagining things," Kimberly retorted, staring straight ahead. Two could play at this game. Yes, two could. She just had to figure out how she could play it. After all, this was all his fault. She'd only tortured him with the fries because he'd caused the spill with his driving and then she'd caught him looking down her shirt. Besides, he'd nearly killed them over and over. Yes. It was his fault. This was out of line. They'd been even after the fry thing. Or at least, he should have backed down after she won. This was instigating, this was. She was going to get him for this.

"Your hair smells nice," Tommy said casually, picking up a strand of it and letting it run over his fingers as he released it… using his left hand, so that the right hand was still brushing her leg. He rubbed the outside of her leg again.

I'm gonna knock your ass out of this boat, so help me God, Kimberly growled mentally. Think, Kim, think! How do I kick his ass? HOW?

This was a game Kimberly knew well. Unfortunately, she was also well-acquainted with the rules. Right now, she couldn't say something rude, such as "You smell horrible" or "Can't say the same about yours." Nothing mean; that would be a game-ender, and right now Tommy was winning the game, so she had to keep it going until she turned the tables. She also had to look at him, which she thoroughly didn't want to do, and time was running out to come up with a return statement. She couldn't think too long; then it wasn't banter, it was her floundering to come up with a response.

Kimberly turned to look at him. He was way too close. She cursed herself for letting him take so much of her personal space. Once he had it, she couldn't make him back up, unless she wanted to forfeit the game, and that simply wasn't an option. "Thanks," she said as calmly as she could, stalling for time. Tommy dropped the hand that he'd touched her hair with—right into her lap, his palm against one leg and his fingertips resting on the thigh of the other. She had to fight not to jump.

Kiss him, the girl part of her urged.

Yeah, kiss him, the ex-girlfriend part of her agreed.

Well, it would take him by surprise, the Ranger part admitted grudgingly.

You're not helping! Kimberly growled at herself.

"You know, I'm getting kind of hungry," Kimberly said, struggling to sound challenging. "I could go for some fries."

"Could you?" Tommy returned easily, smirking slightly.

Damn you! No FAIR! Kimberly raged. Her eyes narrowed a bit in frustration, causing his smirk to widen. He'd tossed that comment right back down her throat, and he knew it.

"Ethan!" Conner shouted from the boat in front of them. "I think they're gonna kiss!"

"SHH! I know!" Ethan fairly squealed back.

"Trent! Kira! You gotta see this!"

"'M busy," came Trent's muffled voice from farther down the tunnel.

Kimberly didn't even bother to flinch. She was angry now. She wanted Tommy to suffer.

She slowly moved herself forward, until she was leaning across his lap, nearly folded in half over him. She thought she saw him shift a bit, thought she felt the muscles in his legs tighten as she pressed against them, and she grinned a bit as she reached down and seized hold of her purse.

By the time she came back up (to Ethan's nervous, disbelieving question of "Uh, what's she doing down there?" and Conner's "Way to go, Dr. O!" both of which were a bit quieter than their previous shouts, but sound carried too much in the tunnel) Tommy's face was straight, but she knew she'd gotten at least a bit of a hit in there. She'd startled him for just a moment, and now she could sit back in any position she wanted under the cover of getting situated. With any luck, she could get some space in between them, and he wouldn't be able to take it back without being obvious. Obvious—the sort of obvious that couldn't be later played off as "I didn't mean to do that, honest,"—was a no-no.

Kimberly resettled herself in the seat, turning towards him and thereby putting her face farther back while maintaining interested body language for the game's sake, then opening her legs just enough that Tommy's hand slipped down between them. Before he could decide what to do about that, she dropped the purse on top of his hand, trapping it. She was in control here. He was going down. Besides, she didn't want that hand going anywhere else. At least there, she could keep it from moving; Tommy certainly wasn't forward enough to do much else in that position. Not to mention the fact that trapping his hand there sent a message that whatever his hands were doing didn't register on her radar.

However, she was still fumbling for a game plan. She reached into the purse and pulled out the first object that met her fingers—her camera. "Can I take your picture?" she asked curiously, glad that his face was now less close; it was a lot more comfortable, and it made it easier to read his facial expression. "This lighting just does wonders for you."

Ha, she thought as Tommy paused. If he said no, he'd have to have a reason. If he said yes, he'd have to go all the way back to his side of the freaking boat so she could get him in the shot, and then he wouldn't be able to get back very inconspicuously. Probably not by the end of the ride. When DOES this ride end? Kimberly wondered.

"Think I saw something about no flash photography in here," Tommy said calmly.

Ugh. Jerk. "What, like none of us have ever done anything we're not supposed to do in this tunnel?" Ha! Eat your heart out.

"Trini would have a fit if she got kicked out again," Tommy pointed out.

"Trini's a bit busy right now, I think." I'm winning, I'm winning, I'm winni—GAH!

Tommy's thumb had swiped gently, almost accidentally, across her thigh; she'd nearly yelped. Perfect. Now he'd caught her by surprise, and he knew it. She shouldn't have trapped his hand. She didn't think he'd actually move it; Tommy had always been fairly good about not wandering without permission (which she'd rarely, if ever, denied him, but still). A little too good, if she remembered correctly; he had always had a small problem with taking initiative. Now, however, she'd given him even more ground, and while "Don't you dare try that again" could be considered a winning statement, she'd know it wasn't, and so would he. It would completely shatter their air of "let's play pretend." She had to give up on doing anything about his hand—which she couldn't exactly call unpleasant, as his thumb had caused a rather nifty feeling, but she knew she was going to lose if she didn't back him up.

"Good old Trini," Tommy said. His thumb moved again, sensing his victory. "So nice to have the gang all back together again, isn't it? They're all so… helpful. I missed talking to them. Trini and I had a nice long talk yesterday." Kimberly stiffened. Trini was evil. "And Jason and I talked a lot earlier. Zack and I have had some great conversations, too. Like right before I snuck onto your balcony."

Kimberly felt a little twinge of… not exactly fear, but something very close. He was telling her that their friends were on his side, whatever that side was. He was telling her that he was planning, and planning with a miniature army of their fellow Rangers. He was telling her that this wasn't going to be the end of their game, no matter who won this round. He was telling her he was ready to fight.

Kimberly felt the boat slowing down. Risking a glance out of the corner of her eye, she saw Conner and Ethan disembarking up ahead while still trying to watch Tommy and Kimberly. Kira and Trent stood nearby, holding hands and looking covetously at the reentrance line.

Here was her shot. Kimberly dropped the camera back in the purse and zipped it closed, accidentally pressing down slightly so that it pushed his hand against her thigh in a tingle-inducing fashion. She fought off a wince and started leaning in, ignoring Conner's roar of "Guys guys guys LOOK!" while sliding one hand up Tommy's purse-trapped arm, getting closer to his neck. Timing was critical, very critical. He was staring at her, daring her to finish what she was starting, they were so close, she was tilting her head to the side…

The boat shuddered and screeched to a halt.

Tommy rolled his eyes, which Kimberly caught. She smirked, but he was too close to see it. The hand snaking up his arm grabbed a lock of his short hair and tugged gently.

"You know, Tommy," she whispered, "I really do miss your hair."

She sat back, slid the purse strap up her arm, and stood up, still smirking down at him. She'd won. She'd totally won. Fake-out. Mocking the hair. Control of the stopping point. The last word.

Turning around, she grabbed hold of the dock's railing and pulled herself up, grinning both at the thought that Tommy had a nice, "look at what you're missing" view of her climbing out of the boat and at the four Dino Ranger's utterly disappointed expressions. She almost laughed when a faint mutter of "Damn," reached her ears. Humph. Maybe by now he knew better than to mess with her. At the very least, he probably realized his mistake of letting her get in second, knowing it meant she'd get to be the first to leave. She felt Tommy's eyes on her and struggled not to laugh. That'd teach him to start with her! HA!

And for the grand finale, she had to tie up loose ends.

"Jason, Trini, knock it off, would you? Everyone can totally see what you're doing!" Kimberly shouted down the tunnel as loudly as she could.

Trini pulled back so violently she almost fell right out of the boat; she probably would have, if Jason hadn't been so taken aback by her sudden withdrawal that he'd fallen right on top of her, thereby holding her down.

I rule, Kimberly thought in satisfaction as Rocky, Zack, and even Billy and Adam laughed uproariously. Maybe Trini should have thought twice before instigating things.

Trini was bright red as her boat landed at the dock; Jason, however, merely looked annoyed. Tommy stepped aside to make room for them and the eight of them moved away down the dock to wait for the others.

"Well, at least we didn't get kicked out," Billy said as he and Rocky came over.

"Much better than the last time we were here," Jason agreed, still looking a bit ticked about the interruption.

"Ah, I don't know," Tommy said lightly. "I think they both had their fun moments."

Kimberly's hands twitched into claws. Oh, she wanted to strangle him. He was doing it again. Already. How dare he! She won. She hadn't even gotten to gloat yet!

He'd totally blown it all to hell with that one simple phrase. He'd brought up their previous extended make-out session on the tunnel of love—their first, in fact. He'd basically told her that every bit of discomfort she'd caused him just now was nothing. And he'd plucked the last word right out of her grasp.

Tommy turned and sauntered away, the Dino Rangers following him. As Kimberly was now blocking the exit ramp, the others waited patiently for her to move.

She turned and glared at them. Suddenly the fact that they were conspiring was no longer okay. He'd talked with Trini yesterday. He'd hung out mostly with Jason today. And he'd talked to Zack right before sneaking onto the balcony, had he?

Little moments were popping into her head, bits and pieces of plots against her. She'd always thought she'd known about all of them, caught them all… but Tommy had just dropped a few bombshells on her in the love boat. What the hell was the gang doing? And more importantly, how had they pulled it off?

Certain things had taken hours to register before she realized just how well-thought-out they were, whereas moments like locking her and Tommy in the trunk—despite the fact that it had been Conner and Ethan's work—carried the Ranger Insanity, Inc. trademark. Yet she'd never thought that it would all actually work. She had never believed that a few tired tricks could make Tommy snap to like this. Yet it had to have been their friends who had finally knocked some fight into him. The only question was which one. Trini was the most obvious choice, and therefore the least likely. Jason, as Tommy's best friend, was also a factor. Rocky and Adam would have the element of surprise on their side, as they hadn't spent all week playing games. But Billy and Zack were also possibilities…

Kimberly raised her hand, pointing wildly from one to the other, her eyes flashing. "When I find out which of you did this, you are DEAD!" she shrieked, then stomped off down the ramp.

"What'd we do?" Rocky asked, startled.

Trini patted his shoulder. "Come with me, Rocky. I'll explain it to you."

"Hey, how come you get Rocky?" Jason demanded.

"I called him first."

"Yeah, but you've got everyone else!"

"All right, fine. You take Adam." Trini shoved Adam in Jason's general direction. "You'll need the smart one."

"Hey!" Rocky complained.

"That came out wrong," Trini assured him. "Don't worry, Rocky. We've all got our parts to play."

"Come on, Adam," Jason said, throwing an arm over his shoulders. "Let's take a walk."

"Jason's in it now?" Zack asked Trini as Jason and Adam broke off from the others.

"Not on our side," Trini told him. "Which is just as well. We've got two fronts in the war now, guys, and we're closing in. Between us and Jason, Tommy and Kim don't stand a chance."

Trini smiled at Kimberly, who was now looking a little lost. As she'd just yelled at the others, she couldn't rejoin their group, but she couldn't exactly catch up with the Dino Rangers at the moment, especially without a plan, as Tommy was with them. She was netted, and whether he knew it or not, so was Tommy. Everything was finally coming together.

Perfect.

Don idly glanced around the Reefside Mall, checking out groups of high-school kids. He didn't want to talk to a large group; groups of kids tended to be less honest, as they were answering every question while wondering what their friends thought of the answers. He needed one hanging out alone, or at least separated for the moment, but that was hard to find in a mall.

At last he managed to spot one—a busty brunette who looked like she just might be the wrong side of legal, who broke off from her friends to go toss her gum in the trash can. Don hurried over.

"Excuse me," he called.

The girl turned and looked him up and down. "Yeah?"

Don held out his badge so the girl wouldn't think he had any intentions other than interrogation. "I'm with the Angel Grove Police Department. I'd just like to ask you a few questions—"

"I've never shoplifted in my life," the girl said quickly.

Don smiled at her reassuringly. "You're not in any trouble. I'm just looking for some information. Can I ask your name?"

"Tiffany Smith."

"I'm Officer Brewster."

"Whatever. What do you want to know?" she asked nervously.

"It's about a man named Dr. Tommy Oliver, do you know him?" Out of the corner of his eye, Don saw a young blond girl suddenly pause; she watched them for a moment, then went to stare avidly at a nearby directory. Don shook his head, dismissing the girl as a regular mall-crawler; his tiredness and paranoia were just catching up to him, he supposed.

"Oh, yeah, he teaches at my school. He's way hot. I made sure to get in his class."

"Have you noticed anything strange in his behavior in the last few weeks?"

Tiffany frowned thoughtfully for a moment. "Well, yeah, actually. About a week or so ago he was held hostage in Hayley's Cyberspace."

"Hostage?"

She nodded seriously. "I'd just stopped by for a smoothie, cuz she makes the best vanilla mint smoothies ever, and he's being held down by like five guys right in the middle of the café, and everybody's so shocked that nobody's saying anything! And the guys take his wallet and cell phone, and then the phone rings and one of the guys said that 'the first red' is on the phone, and then the guys start beating Dr. Oliver up and they rip off his shirt and then I kinda stopped paying much attention cuz Dr. Oliver is so totally built and I mean, wow, my mom's always saying that she wants me to marry a doctor someday but the only doctor I knew growing up was my family doctor, Dr. Boca—and he was all old and totally not attractive at all, but Dr. Oliver is way hot and I can totally understand now why my mom wants me to marry a doctor. He must work out like every day to be that yummy—I should know, I've checked out a lot of hot guys in my time." She paused and looked Don up and down again. "You know, you look kinda built yourself." She batted her eyelashes at him and gave him a toothy smile.

Don shifted uncomfortably; he'd always been adamant about working out, but something about the way she said it made him unsure if he should be resolving to attend the gym more or less now. "Um, thanks. Five kids were beating him up, you said?"

"Yeah. There was this one guy with a Mohawk, and this one with these three-foot-long dreadlocks, and this really heavy girl, and I can't really remember what the other two looked like, but there were definitely five. I think they were members of that gang that's been hassling people over on Hanover Street."

"You wouldn't happen to know any of their names, would you?"

Tiffany stared at him incredulously. "Me? Hello, why would I be talking to gang members? If my friends found out I even looked at them my life would be over! I'd be totally shunned."

Don rolled his eyes. "Okay. Do you remember anything else about them?"

"Well, the guy with the Mohawk had a tongue ring, and I remember that cuz I totally want a tongue ring but my mom won't let me get one cuz she says that only freaks and trashy girls get tongue rings but Cyndi got one for her seventeenth birthday and it looks really cool and all the guys are like all over her and stuff and she's totally not trashy or a freak—"

"Do you remember anything else about what happened that day?" Don interrupted impatiently.

"Nope. Dr. Oliver chased them around and got his phone back and fought them off, and then Hayley made him stay and clean everything up that he'd trashed in the fight. Hey, why are you asking all of these questions about him anyways? Oh my god! You don't think Dr. Oliver is a member of the gang from Hanover Street, do you?"

Don blinked and tried to reply, but Tiffany plowed on. "Oh my god! It was a gang war! They must've been fighting over drugs or territory something! Or maybe Dr. O was their leader and the guy with the Mohawk and the tongue ring decided he wanted to be leader and got some of the others together and jumped Dr. O when he just happened to be in Hayley's café! And since she made him clean up, he must be really scared of her—maybe she's the mafia godfather or something! No wonder her smoothies are so good! She must put drugs in them!"

Don blinked again, still trying to wrap his brain around this logic.

"That thing about 'the first red' must've been some sort of gang codeword because everyone knows that all gang members dress in either all blue or all red which is, just, stupid and totally bad fashion sense but oh my god! I've figured out who they are! And they're probably watching me right now!"

Tiffany began glancing around in wild paranoia. Devin and Cassidy, who were still trailing Don, dove into the Sunglass Hut, so when Don tried to follow her gaze, he saw nothing out of the ordinary, though the blond girl was still staring at the directory.

"They probably know I'm talking to a cop, and they're going to put a hit out on me and have me killed for telling the police what I know! Are you going to put me in the Witness Protection Program? Can I make up my own name? I want to be Victoria Louisa Elizabeth Angel Agnes Sabrina Dubois!"

Don continued staring at her until realizing she'd finally paused and was now looking at him expectantly. He struggled to catch up with what she'd been saying. "Uh, I think you're safe. I don't think anyone is watching you."

"Yet," she said meaningfully. She shook her head in wonder. "Wow! I can't believe Dr. Oliver is a drug-selling gang member!"

"What was that?" asked the girl standing by the directory.

"Oh, hey, Stacey," Tiffany said cheerfully. "Guess what? Dr. Oliver's in a gang!"

"What?" Stacey asked, startled.

"I bet that whole degree thing is totally fake—he must've bought it on the black market or something, cuz he's way too hot to study paleontology," Tiffany continued. "I knew something was weird with him from the first day of class, cuz he's way too fine to be a science teacher." Stacey nodded in agreement. "He should totally have become a model. This is so cool! I have to call everyone I've ever met, excuse me."

Don frowned, not wanting her to be chattering to all of Reefside about "Officer Brewster" being "after" Dr. Oliver. "I don't think that's such a good idea. Um… gang, remember?"

Tiffany waved a hand dismissively. "Duh, they won't care. I mean, talking to a cop, yeah, bad, but why would they care if I told all my friends?" She pulled out her cell phone and began punching buttons, then paused and looked up at him sternly. "Do you mind, Officer Brewster? This is a private call!"

Don sighed and wandered off, discouraged. Everyone he'd talked to in the town of Reefside was either totally insane, totally clueless, or totally smooth. Or a combination of the three. He was running out of ideas. He was ready to throw in the towel as it was.

He leaned against the wall and pulled out the map of Reefside he'd bought at a gas station. Hanover Street was on the way to Valencia Drive, where his research said Tommy lived. He might as well swing by on his way and see exactly how ludicrous Tiffany's story was.

Stacey watched him go and hit the speed dial on her cell phone for her best friend, Cyndi. "Hey, Stacey," Cyndi said cheerfully. "What's up?"

"We need an emergency meeting," Stacey said urgently. "Get the gang together, fast."

Meanwhile, Devin and Cassidy carefully snuck out of the Sunglass Hut and returned to tailing Don with the skill of two kids who'd spent a year trying to and eventually succeeding in spying on the Power Rangers. "Whoa," Devin muttered. "I can't believe Dr. Oliver's the leader of the Hanover Street gang."

Cassidy rolled her eyes and pulled out her cell phone to update Hayley. "Don't be stupid, Devin, there are no gangs on Hanover Street."

"Really?" Devin asked in surprise.

"Devin, you live on Hanover Street," Cassidy reminded him with a sigh.

"Oh, yeah."

Tommy practically bounced down the midway, more cheerful than he'd been in a long time. It was the sort of feeling one—well, a Ranger, that is—got after winning a hard battle at the end of a bad day. Satisfaction was the closest way to describe it.

He could admit it now. He wanted Kimberly. Oh, yes, he did. He always had. He'd never stopped wanting her. But he'd been scared. Scared of having another moment as painful as the moment Adam had read that damned letter out loud.

Well, he wasn't going to let his fear dictate his actions. Oh, he was still plenty scared, no doubt about it. However, now he knew that if he fought for her, the chance that he'd be hurt again was slim. He was a Ranger. Rangers fought for their cause, and they won. He knew that better than anyone who'd ever waved around a morpher.

There was a good chance he'd metaphorically burn, but he was willing to take the shot now. Long years of risking his life had taught him the value of fighting for the things he wanted. That was where he'd gone wrong with Kimberly… he'd never had to fight for her.

Yet once he began, he'd totally kick ass. He was Tommy, after all.

When it was over, he'd be thanking Trini, he knew. He was still mad at her for playing games with him, but it was the sort of anger he might have with a buddy who'd just won a really good hand at poker and cleaned him out for the night—he was pissed, but he'd be back next weekend to play some more cards. Right now, he was oddly comforted by Trini's presence, annoyed as he still was. Just like those days after the letter's arrival, when his friends had driven him up the wall with their Save Tommy antics. It was irritating to be dragged from fun place to fun place, set up on blind dates and constantly cheered up and patted on the back and smiled at, but it was nice, too. It meant his friends cared for him and supported him, and he needed that. So he was thankful for Trini. Irked, yes, but thankful that she was trying to help him. However, he was going to try to avoid Trini's traps as much as possible; Kimberly had red-flagged them, so they'd be less effective than his impulsive attacks—at least, so he assumed.

If it came down to it, he'd go to Trini for advice, but meanwhile, he'd be attacking in every possible way. It would take a lot of planning, but no one could be lost in thought the way Tommy could (hence the memory issue). She might turn him down, yes, but the harder he fought the less chance there was she'd consider dumping on him.

He'd be charming. He'd be hot. He'd be enticing. He'd bring up every good time they'd ever had. He'd make her beg for more good times. He'd make her want him back, and once she pleaded with him to give her another chance, he'd say yes. Prince Charming and his giant white tiger were in the building, ladies and gentlemen, and preparing to snag the princess and drag her back to the freaking castle. In chains if necessary. Ooh.

Most of all, he'd have to make Kimberly mad. He knew very well that a mad Kimberly was a driven Kimberly, and he wanted her driving straight towards him. She'd played right into his hands on that ludicrous swan boat. She'd played back. If he was careful, he could have her attempting to seduce him just for the principle of the thing. Fighting was something Kimberly liked. She liked challenges, and if he made himself a challenge, well… she'd either beat the living snot out of him or be madly in love. …Or possibly both.

He had never fought for a girl before. His girlfriends had always pursued him, or been pushed towards him by friends. He was particularly out of his element when it came to getting women. After all, girls were much more dangerous than any alien, monster, dinosaur or robot. But they weren't more dangerous than Tommy. He was a legend, after all. He could do anything. He was the guy other superheroes whispered about, for crying out loud. Still, he'd need a certain amount of advice. Adam would be good for that. Adam was better suited to the Yellow variety of women than the Pink variety (there were only two types of women; life had taught Tommy this over and over again), but Adam was excellent at keeping Tanya happy and also knew exactly what to say to Trini and Aisha to keep them from getting upset when someone did something stupid. The other guys would probably be a good help, as well. Trini was drastically different from Kimberly, but if Jason could keep Trini happy, Jason was probably a good place to start. It might also be a good idea to stay on Kira and Trent's good side; Trent had a deeply engrained coping mechanism that allowed him to take all odd questions in stride, and Kira was the only other female Tommy could talk to at present, as Trini had a vendetta.

Wait.

Hayley.

No. No, Hayley would shred him alive for even asking. (She was, after all, a Yellow-type. Didn't have to wear the color to be the type.) Hayley thought she knew what was best for him (the fact that she was often right was disconcerting but totally beside the point) and therefore Hayley would tell him to stay away from Kimberly. Kimberly had hurt him once and that was once too many, as far as Hayley was concerned. It was Hayley, after all, who'd wrestled the cell phone out of his hands that one night they'd gotten drunk together right after Tommy had filled his closet with new black clothing, and a combination of beer and vodka had given him the inspiration to call Kimberly at three in the morning. It had taken two hours to find his cell phone the next day, the both of them stomping through the forest and trying to hear it ring through their morning-after headaches. Hayley didn't mess around when it came to things like Kimberly. Probably because she'd been there to help him through a good deal of his dating issues, and it hadn't been an easy task.

Come to think of it, he probably shouldn't tell Hayley a thing about Kimberly until it was all good and over.

It could take months, he knew. But he had until Sunday morning, minimum. If that wasn't enough time, he could try to persuade everyone to stay a few extra days, keep Kimberly in town… and if they said no, well, he had the whole summer off. He could camp out on her front porch if he needed to. Serenade her all night. Follow her around. Make her miserable… and get under her skin. That was the key. Get under her skin. Then there was no getting rid of him. At least, not without losing a lot of skin. Oh, well, that was kind of a gross analogy…

Focus, Tommy, he told himself sternly. Plans had to be made. Made, and carried out. He was so going to take her down. He was good-looking, he was strong, he was romantic (which he never admitted out loud but he'd heard it often enough to sometimes let himself say it in his head) and he was charismatic. He could make her like him. Hadn't been that hard the first time.

Tommy didn't even notice when Jason fell into step beside him, took one look at the expression on Tommy's face, and grinned broadly.