Back in Time
Chapter 22
Jason drove the red SUV behind Tommy's jeep, following the black ranger to his home. He could see Kira and Ethan in the jeep with him, Conner and Trent in Trent's car behind them.
"So, why do you think Kira lives at Tommy's?" Zach asked, making Jason frown.
"I don't know." Trini replied, trying to watch the yellow clad teenager in the car in front. "But couldn't he get into a lot of trouble for having a student living with him?"
"Unless it's gone through social services." Zach said.
"Tommy said we'd know if Kira wanted us to. Maybe it's better left private." Jason said, following Tommy's jeep as it turned down an almost hidden road in the woods. "Where the hell is he taking us?"
"Trust Tommy to live in the middle of nowhere." Zach laughed as they pulled into a clearing and saw a small 2 story house with a porch and what looked like a garden at the rear.
"Why do you live all the way out here?" Trini asked as they got out the SUV and walked towards the house with Tommy and the teens.
"Privacy." He replied with a smirk. He led them into the house and went straight to the kitchen, pulling some beers out of the fridge. "Anyone want one?"
"Sure." Jason and Zach replied, grabbing the bottles handed to them. They laughed at Conner's attempt at grabbing a beer before Tommy shoved a can of coke in front of him.
"No underage drinking." Tommy said, making the red ranger sulk away.
"Is this what it's always like here?" Trini asked, hearing the 3 boys arguing in the other room.
"Basically." Tommy laughed. He led them into the living room and they sat around the sofas, chatting away until Kira came running in.
"Dr O, we've got a problem." She said, making Tommy groan.
"Please tell me that the problem is that Conner got a beer?" He said, making Kira smile slightly.
"Sorry Dr O. The boys are waiting in the lab." She replied. She looked at the three former rangers and smiled at their confused faces. "You guys are gonna love this."
"One day! That's all I want. Just one day!" Tommy whined as he stood up and stomped towards his office, Kira, Jason, Trini and Zach behind him. He used the T-rex skeleton on the desk to open up the trap door, making the three former rangers watch with wide eyes. Tommy and Kira started walking down the now visible stairs, only for Kira to look back at the frozen three with a smirk.
"Are you coming?" She asked, making them jump and follow them down the stairs. They reached the bottom and looked around at the cave they were in. They took in the rock walls, the dinosaur fossils, the equipment and the high-tech looking computers. They saw the Dinosaur footprint that they remembered from the front of the team's ranger uniforms.
"This is your command centre?" Jason asked in shock, looking at the 5 rangers that were stood in front of the computers.
"We call it the lab, but yes." Ethan said with a laugh before looking at Dr O. "Don't worry, there isn't an attack."
"Good." He sighed. "So what's the problem?"
"This." Trent said, pressing a button which made an image appear on the centre screen. "This is CCTV footage from outside Hayley's." He hit play and they all watched as a green flash appeared on the screen. Once the flash vanished, a figure was left in its place. The figure kicked the wall, leaving a dent before storming off.
"Was that…." Trini asked, remembering the figure from 10 years ago.
"Zeltrax." Tommy hissed. He watched as the video looped and saw the cyborg appear again. "How long ago was this?"
"An hour ago." Ethan said with a frown.
"So he's back from the moon. That can't be good." Tommy said, making the former Rangers frown.
"The moon?" Trini asked in shock.
"Yeah. The device that we used to get back put us back in our time, but in the same place." Ethan said. "Since Zeltrax was on the moon when Kira and Kim used the device on him, that's where he ended up."
"Yeah, and he got back a lot quicker than I hoped." Kira mumbled. She walked away from the computer and sat on a rock sticking out from the side of the lab not far away. Tommy frowned at her as she pulled her knees up to her chest. He knew that she did that when something was bothering her, but he also knew that he had to wait until they were alone to ask her about it.
"So that explains the DragonZord." Trini said, making Tommy wince slightly.
"Yeah. We came back outside the command centre, and by then almost all of Mesagog's Tyrannodrones had been tearing Reefside apart for 2 hours. The DragonZord was the quickest way for us to get back." He said with a laugh.
"You'd think that now Mesagog knows we're back, have destroyed almost all of his minions and have an extra Zord, he'd leave us alone for a bit." Ethan mumbled.
"Well, I don't think he's going to attack tonight." Tommy said before looking at the three boys. "You three should get home before your parents get worried."
"But we want to stay and hang out with you guys!" Conner whined, making the others laugh.
"And we have school tomorrow." Kira said, making the red ranger groan.
"We're all still recovering from our trip to the past and fighting an army of Tyrannodrones." Tommy said, still feeling tired despite his sleep earlier. "The more sleep you get now the better you'll feel in the long run."
"Come on. I'll drive you two home." Trent said, pushing Conner and Ethan out of the lab.
"We should get going too." Trini said, standing up. "We've checked into the hotel in town. Figured you'd need your sleep."
"That, and I don't want to be woken up by you going to work in the morning." Zach laughed. Tommy followed the three former rangers upstairs as Kira said she'd shut everything down in the lab for the night.
"Thanks for coming guys." Tommy said as he stood out on the porch with them. "I honestly didn't think you'd come once you remembered."
"Of course we would, you dummy." Jason laughed. "Nothing would keep us away."
"I know Billy's on his way. He should be here in a couple of days." Tommy said, making them all smile. None of them could remember the last time that Billy had been on Earth and they had seen him in person. They were all looking forward to seeing him again. "I haven't heard from Kim. I'm assuming whatever made her write that letter back then is why she's not coming."
"Oh, has she not called you?" Trini asked, making him frown. "She's on her way. She's flying in from Hawaii. Last I heard the earliest flight she could get was at 9pm tonight, so she'll probably be here some time tomorrow."
"Well, I wasn't expecting that." Tommy said, not sure whether he should be feeling happy or sad that Kim was coming. In a way he was happy. He wanted them to be friends and be able to hang out as a group without it being awkward, but at the same time he didn't want anything to happen to ruin his relationship with Kira.
"See you in the morning." Zach waved as he and Trini walked to the SUV, Jason hanging back for a moment.
"I haven't told them about you and Kira." He said in a quiet voice, making Tommy nod. "I promised I wouldn't and I won't break that promise. I'm guessing you told her about what happened at the hospital?"
"Yeah. She found an old picture of all of us when she helped me clear the lab out. She asked why I don't speak to you guys, and I told her." He said, making Jason nod slightly.
"I guess that explains why she didn't like us in the past." He muttered. "Oh, you should probably know what Kim told Trini over the phone."
"What?" He asked, worried about what she might know.
"She said she's going to get you back." He said, watching as Tommy's eyes widened. "And you know Kim, no one can talk her out of anything. I just wanted to warn you. You might want to give Kira a heads up as well."
"Thanks Buddy." Tommy said, making Jason nod and walk over to the SUV. Tommy waited outside until the SUV disappeared down the road before heading back inside. He sighed and went down into the lab to see Kira still there, sat at the computer and staring into space. "Hey, we're finally alone." He said, walking over and sitting on the desk in front of her. "Want to tell me what's wrong?" Kira sighed and looked at him, giving him a smile.
"Nothing's wrong. I'm just feeling a bit stressed at the minute." She said. "There's just so much to deal with at the minute. My dad, school, Mesagog, a trip to the past and former rangers. It's just making me feel exhausted."
"I know the feeling. Come on. Let's head to bed." He said, pulling her up and putting his arms around her, pulling her close for a moment and enjoying the feeling of having her in his arms. "We'll get through everything. I promise."
Xxx
The next morning, Tommy sighed as his first class of the day left the room. As much as he enjoyed teaching, he wished that he could have a few days off and recover from the stress of travelling back in time and fighting the whole of Mesagog's army. He picked up his coffee and savoured the taste, enjoying the taste and the shot of energy that ran through him.
"Dr Oliver." A voice droned, making him groan inwardly as he turned to see Principle Randall in the doorway. "Where is your class?"
"I don't have a class this period." He replied. "I was about to get through some marking and lesson planning."
"Well, I wouldn't want to keep you. Just make sure you don't cause any trouble." She snapped before walking off, leaving Tommy looking after her with a frown.
"How the hell did she become a Principle?" He muttered to himself, shaking his head in shock.
"I'm betting she killed someone." Tommy jumped at the voice and turned to see Kira leaning against the door frame.
"You're probably right. Shouldn't you be in a class?" He asked with a slight smirk as she walked into the room and sat on the table in front of his desk.
"I've got a free." She said with a smile. "Mind if I hang out in here?"
"Of course not." He replied with a sweet smile. They sat in relative silence for a while, each sneaking glances of the other every so often.
"How are you feeling?" Kira asked after around half an hour, making Tommy look up. "You know, with everything that's happened over the past few weeks, or days I guess." She asked with a frown as she tried to figure out the correct timeline.
"Don't think about it too much. It'll only confuse you more." He said before sighing slightly. "Honestly, I'm exhausted. And not just physically. I'm no stranger to dealing with unusual situations, but this is by far the strangest."
"I bet." She replied. Tommy saw the way that she looked down and knew that something wasn't quite right.
"Are you alright Kira?" He asked with a slight frown. "You seem worried."
"My dad comes back tomorrow." She said, making his eyes widen. He had forgotten that her dad had been away and was due to return tomorrow. "I'm worried about what's going to happen." Tommy got up and shut the door before sitting next to Kira on the table. He put his arm around her shoulders and let her head fall onto his shoulder.
"No matter what happens, we will get through it together." He said, kissing her head. "I am not going to let anyone hurt you."
"You dropped the ball with the Tyrannodrones the other day." She commented with a smirk, making him laugh.
"Alright. I won't let any human hurt you. Is that better?" He asked, making her look up at him with a smile.
"Much." She said. They shared a quick kiss before parting, Tommy moving back to the desk. They knew how dangerous it was to be intimate within the school grounds, but Tommy knew that in that moment, that was exactly what Kira needed. "So, have you heard from Kim?"
"Trini said she should be flying in today." He said with a slight frown. "Although I'm not sure how I feel about that."
"Would you prefer to see her or fight one of Mesagog's monsters?" She asked with a laugh, frowning when she didn't get an answer. "Tommy?"
"Hang on, I'm thinking." He replied, making her laugh. She looked at her watch and smiled before standing up.
"Well, I'd better get going. Can't risk being late for English." She said with a laugh as she grabbed her bags. "Are the others coming round again tonight?"
"Yeah, I think Jason's planning a BBQ." He said with a smile. "Hopefully Mesagog doesn't ruin our plans."
"That would be a first." Kira laughed. She opened the door and froze at who she saw, making Tommy frown for a moment.
"I hope I'm invited to this BBQ." Tommy moved and saw a small, brunette woman in a pink dress on the other side. "Hey Tommy. Miss me?"
"Kimberly." He said, looking at her in shock.
"Looks like we have some catching up to do White Tiger." Kim said with a flirtatious smile. Tommy looked at the glare Kira was giving her and felt dread raising up inside him. This was not going to end well.