1992 Valencia Rd. - Saturday, Early Afternoon

[first_sixth]

One thing that Dr. Thomas Oliver has learned in recent weeks is that as exhausting as Ranger duties can be (and no one is more qualified than he is to talk about that), attempting to control a crowd of rowdy and sugar-buzzed teenagers can quickly become ten times as bad. Normally such inappropriate, rambunctious behaviour would have landed the

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[first_sixth]

Tommy's brow furrows in annoyance when the knock comes again; there's no way anyone could have missed that. He gets to his feet with a sigh of exasperation and sets his book on a table, then brushes himself off. Grass and flecks of the pale, dusty soil have a tendency to show up on black, and while the loose khaki cargos he's wearing are fine, the black t-shirt wouldn't be.

After all, even if the company is being annoying by ignoring what he said, he'd still rather not greet them looking as if he'd just been rolling around in a hay loft or something.

"All right, I'm coming..." -Jesus Christ...-

Pushing his glasses back up again, in case the "pissed off teacher" look is required as a part of this exchange, Tommy walks around the side of the house until he can see the front porch. It's at that point that most of his voluntary muscle function ceases and he just stands there staring for a long while before breaking into a huge grin.

"Jase! Hey, Bro, you should have told me you were going to be in town!" Reefside is only a couple of hours from Angel Grove, after all, so it certainly wouldn't be illogical to think that Jason had been to visit his parents and decided to come say hello to an old friend, would it? After all, phone calls and emails were nice, but damn it Tommy's missed his Bro, and seeing him in person is far better than any email could be.

Of course, he might not think so after the other coloured-diamond-adorned white boot drops, but hey. For the time being he manages to regain control of his legs and starts walking over.

[original_red]

"Don't call me that," Jason said, the anger evident in his voice and eyes. He waits until Tommy's close, and then when he is?

Yeah. He swings a heavy punch right at Tommy's nose.

That feels good.

[first_sixth]

Tommy doesn't really see it coming. His mind barely has a chance to register Jason's words and stance, and then his best friend's fist is progressing with alarming speed toward his face. Only that split second of awareness is what possesses him to turn his head slightly, but the punch still catches him hard on his cheekbone and the lower and outer rims of his eye socket.

It's going to leave one hell of a mark, as will the fall that Tommy takes directly into the wall of the house. It hurts like hell, and muscles that were sore and tired beforehand are now protesting very loudly. Tommy's far too surprised to be angry or even upset at the moment, and between that and the pain, he just sits there looking up at Jason with an expression of profound shock.

"Jase..."

He brings his left hand up to gingerly inspect the damage to his left cheek and eye, the bright silver of the bangle around his wrist glinting in the sunlight. Hits like this he can usually take and give back again without even slowing down, but this time it's his Bro who's hit him, and that somehow makes the damage and pain all that much worse.

"Jase... God, what the hell was that for, Bro? All I did was tell you hello!"

He is, understandably, a bit dazed at the moment, too dazed to really process Jason's demand of a few seconds prior.

[original_red]

"Yeah," Jason says, his voice completely flat. His hand is still curled up into a fist, as if he's waiting for another chance to throw another blow.

"That's all you told me."

[first_sixth]

Keeping a wary eye on Jason's fist, Tommy gets carefully back to his feet.

"You barely even have me a chance to say that much, before you hauled off and hit me. Don't even try to blame me for that."

Tommy settles his glasses back into place; fortunately they were just knocked askew and not broken. Given Jason's mood he'd rather remove them entirely, except also given Jason's mood, his pocket may not be a safe place.

"God, what's gotten into you?"

[original_red]

"What's gotten into you?" Jason shoots back, his tone accusatory. "I'm not talking about today. I'm talking about the past few months, man. Or even the past few years!"

He's probably not making sense. But who cares?

[first_sixth]

"You know what I've been doing the past few years," Tommy snaps back, at a loss for why Jason is so upset. "I was getting my doctorate, working on research with Mercer, nearly getting killed by a bunch of bad-ass, reprogrammed, bipedal, dinosaur-based monstrosities, getting my teaching certification and taking up a position at the high school here in Reefside."

He tenses as he talks, ready to fight back this time if Jason tries anything.

"You knew that already, Jason. I bitch about it like an old woman in half the emails I send you."

[original_red]

"Yeah, whatever," Jason says, and grabs for Tommy's arm. He raises it high, as if to emphasize the presence of the bracelet.

"This wasn't exactly in the emails, dude."

[first_sixth]

"What, a dude can't look a little spruce when he wants to? None of my other jewelery ever got any complaints from you..."

Tommy's tone of voice doesn't really match the nonchalant words, and he tries unsuccessfully to tug his arm free from Jason's grip before the Power decides that the one who holds it is being threatened more than it likes.

[original_red]

"Whatever."

Jason lets go of Tommy's arm - only to try to shove him, hard.

He's not exactly getting less angry, here.

[first_sixth]

Tommy's ready for the assault this time. Jason's mad, that much is clear, but Tommy still doesn't want to hit him.

The Power has other ideas. One thing that Tommy has discovered during his experience using his Dino Gem, as well as through his research of the concept and his observation of the rest of his team, is that this particular set of Powers operates and reacts different than any other he has ever held. Other sets could be transferred or drained away, but the Dino power bonds to an individual's DNA, their very genetic makeup, becoming so much a part of them that it can only be separated through an utter exhaustion of the Gem itself, or the death of the carrier.

That integration into the host's body, Tommy has learned, means that the Power has a natural tendency to want to protect the bearer, in essence becoming a part of their fight-or-flight reaction. Conner, Kira and Ethan had told him of how they discovered their own abilities, when they manifested without conscious thought to protect the students' lives. For Conner it had been incredible speed, for Kira a painful sonic scream, and for Ethan skin that was as hard as stone.

For Tommy, there had been the power of invisibility, and that ability coupled with the Power's natural protective instinct is why he suddenly disappears. Even as he does so he feels the surge as the Gem in his bracelet calls the Morpher and the Key drops into his right hand. But he won't use them now unless he absolutely, positively has no other choice for Jason's sake and not his own; Tommy still puts too much faith in the oath he swore to Zordon a decade earlier when he had still been breaking in his very first set of Powers.

"Jason..." The voice is coming from somewhere behind where the other man is standing. "Jase... Bro. Calm down and let me at least explain."

[original_red]

Jason isn't surprised by this turn of events at all - he'd expected something of this sort, eventually.

The invisibility, yeah, that is a little weird. But not the use of Ranger powers.

"I think you missed your chance for that," Jason says, crossing his arms and refusing to turn around.

[first_sixth]

"Jase..." Tommy quiets the internal panic that's forcing the latent ability into manifesting itself again and crosses to where Jason is standing. The reaction he's getting is something that he'd feared and didn't want, though the worry was for his best friend and not himself.

"Jason," he tries again, "please hear me out. Give me a chance to explain things to you." Tommy pauses and looks down at his hand for a moment. "You're probably gonna hit me or kick me or throw me for this, but that's still a risk that I'm willing to take. Because you're my best friend, you always have been ever since you helped me up when everyone else was afraid to."

That said, Tommy puts his hand gently but firmly on Jason's shoulder. "I never meant to hurt you," he says quietly, "or make you angry. That's actually what I'd hoped to avoid. Guess it kinda backfired, huh?"

[original_red]

Jason's silent in response to that, and takes a step away from Tommy. But on the one singular bright side - at least he doesn't throw another punch or try another push.

A slight improvement, hmm...?

[first_sixth]

It's certainly better than getting punched in the face. Wisely, perhaps, Tommy just stays where he is, letting his arm go limp at his side.

"Look, Jason... It's not that I don't care, or that I don't trust you. Man, you're my best friend, and I honestly can't think of anyone I trust more. Yeah, sure, I trust the team with my back, but I trust you with my life."

More than anything Tommy wants to know how Jason even found out; the new Ranger team is no secret, especially among former Rangers, but Tommy has been very careful not to let on his exact role to Jason. Sure, the man probably would have known he was involved with it all, but not this much. After all, Tommy had started out as just a mentor to the newest group of Rangers, a friend and leader who had been around the block more than a few times. But then the Black Gem had chosen him, and he realised when the moment happen how certain he had been that the Power wouldn't be leaving him alone - and realised how much he'd missed it. He'd even had Hayley build him a Morpher, for Christ's sake...

"Will you come inside?" he asks. "You don't have to sit down or anything if you don't want, but I'd like to at least explain my reasons for doing what I did, and out here..." He looks around. "Well, people do stop by from time to time, so out here probably isn't the place to do it.

"Besides, I mean, now that you know the least I can do is let you in on the rest of it, right?" He offers a little smile, regardless of the fact that Jason's back is turned.

[original_red]

"Fine," Jason says, and walks away from him, onto the porch once more.

He's not exactly willing to accept any explaination, but he might as well get something for his time. He did pay money to get here.