Chapter Text
Location: Reefside two weeks after the Homecoming game and dance. POV: Abigail/1st person
With Homecoming out of the way, I found myself with the other art students pulled in to work on the set and props for the upcoming fall play at the end of the month. Thankfully, unlike the parade floats, our art teacher allowed us to work on everything during class. We wouldn’t be delivering the props and backgrounds to be installed until the theater department was ready for them. They did have to be delivered after school was over, to allow for the paint to dry. It didn’t take as long to deliver either, given that the art classrooms were close to the theater.
What I found myself surprised by was that the entirety of the set and prop design team was willing to listen to me, despite being one of the youngest there. Even the director was willing to listen to my input. When I asked why, the answer surprised me.
“Miss Jones, the freshman float at Homecoming was the best one out there. I was told it was your designs that were ultimately chosen to become the float. In the history of Reefside High, no freshman float has ever won Best Float for a homecoming parade and game before. I expect that same work for the plays and musicals,” Mrs. Thompson said, amused at my thunderstruck expression. “What? I certainly didn’t pick your work because Dr. Oliver is your foster parent; I heard what you said to Karan’s parents.”
I was still in a daze when I headed to his classroom after finishing up the delivery and installation of the backgrounds. Even though I’d been in school for over a month and a half, I was still dealing with people wanting to get close to me simply because Dr. Oliver was my parent. I knew if it was Principal Randall as my guardian, I’d be an outcast; despite claiming to no longer be evil, none of the upperclassmen trusted her. It still shocked me that some people beyond my small circle of friends genuinely wanted to be a friend simply because of who I am as a person.
“You doing alright, Katrina?” Despite the privacy of his classroom at the end of the day, neither of us wanted to risk being overheard using my real name.
Shaking my head to clear it, I responded. “Yea…just shocked by something Mrs. Thompson said. She’s put me in charge of finishing up the set designs. I don’t even have a week to finalize everything; basically flying by the seat of my pants here!” I was unable to keep the panic out of my voice.
“You’ll be fine, Abigail. You don’t have to worry much about set dressing and costuming just needs a few tweaks from what I could understand. Your classes are making the props as needed; many of them are being reused from old productions after being retrofitted for the new show. I bet costuming is the same deal; Mrs. Thompson keeps a storage room for a reason.”
I nodded as I calmed down. “Someone else is in charge of costuming; she’s asked me to join her in the storage room tomorrow during art class. She might be the best seamstress in school, but she said something about wanting an ‘artist’s eye’ or some such thing. Peggy did say she wanted to chose stuff that would match the characters and not clash with the set.” I shrugged. “I don’t know what goes through her mind, but this is her final year at school; she’s going to train the next girl during the musical. Tradition apparently. There’s never been a student set designer for the theater department before; I think I’ll have to follow the same tradition.”
I could tell Dr. Oliver was amused by everything, as was I once I calmed down. He’d had to leave campus earlier this afternoon during lunch and his free period to go with Katherine to a doctor’s appointment; even though they were trying to arrange the OB/GYN appointments around his teaching schedule so he could be there, this had been the only appointment available for the entirety of her third month of pregnancy. Dr. Mercer had been on campus to act as a substitute just in case, but thankfully, it hadn’t been necessary.
I knew I was going to have to hit up the art supply store for some more drawing paper; I didn’t have enough at home to fill the need. I wasn’t willing to dig into my supplies for class; despite working on the school play, we still had to learn what was on the syllabus. This was even with being in an advanced art class, which was normally for upperclassmen. It was rare for freshmen to be allowed in; those that did made it in on talent alone.
Thankfully, I was able to make quick work of my homework after getting home from the dojo and immediately lost myself in drawing out designs. Mrs. Thompson had been gracious enough to give me a copy of what she had in mind when she placed me in charge of the whole set design process. Combining that with what we’d already made, built, and painted, I was able to come up with rough sketches for everything else. One of the things she’d included was a copy of the script; tomorrow, when I had more free time, I’d go over the script and make notes of what needed to be where, when and why. She’d thankfully included which actors were going to be where during the play, along with pictures.
We had, at most, 3 weeks to get everything finished before we got to Hell Week, the general term for the week leading up to opening night. This was when the set, costumes, and props were going to be used by the actors to do run throughs while the sound and light departments set how each actor was going to be miced, with what types of microphones, and how they were going to be lit. Lighting, from what I could understand, had as much to do with an actor’s makeup and hair as it did with their costumes and the set. Wrong lighting design and either the stage or actor got washed out. True, there were sometimes that they needed to do that, but it was just a matter of using lighting to help convey what a particular character or characters were going through or to set the mood or background, along with time of day and location. High noon in a forest was vastly different than sunset indoors in southern California; rainy days verses sunny were different as well.
This was going to be the true test of if I did this the rest of the school year. As much fun as it was doing this, I wasn’t about to let my schoolwork or friendships suffer. I don’t care what Mrs. Thompson said, I was a student first. I knew Dr. Oliver would back me up on this; it was the same rule I followed to be able to go to Cyberspace in my free time during the school year. It wasn’t just my homework or friendships that I had to worry about; it was also my lessons at the dojo and responsibilities as a Power Ranger that I had to focus on as well. The minute that this got in the way of any and all of that, I was going to walk away. Even without being a Power Ranger, I knew that being the head set designer would be the first thing I would give up if I needed to.
I resolved to speak to Mrs. Thompson the next day after school ended; as appreciative as I was that she put me in charge, she also didn’t give an opportunity to say ‘no’ either. I needed to let her know that I had other things that came first, though I couldn’t reveal that I was a Power Ranger. Between my classes at the dojo, spending time with my friends at CyberSpace and with my family, I also had therapy appointments with Rocky, which were now once a week, and adjusting to the fact that I was going to have a new mom and become a big sister within the space of 7 months.
I knew from talking to Peggy that Mrs. Thompson expected all of the people involved to attend every single day Hell Week; there was no way I was skipping three lessons at the dojo. She was either going to have to accept that or find someone else. By letting her know now, I was giving her time to find someone else. I knew Dr. Oliver would back me up on this, but it didn’t hurt to ask him either. One of the things that I appreciated was that he always made time for me, even with his wedding coming up in a couple of weeks. I realized I wouldn’t be able to do this unless I was given pass to skip art class; I’d have to give this up.
If it weren’t for the wedding, I honestly wouldn’t mind. I was enjoying this, sure, but I just couldn’t with everything else going on. I sighed as I looked at my sketches; despite it being close to bedtime, I needed to ask Dr. Oliver for some advice. He would know what to do; having had to balance normal life with Power Ranger responsibilities, even as a teenager. He’d had to do so once himself; he’d know what I should do.
Of course, the original plan for the wedding had been over the Christmas holidays, summer at the latest, with the honeymoon right after. With Katherine expecting, they wanted to marry as soon as possible and preferably before she starting showing. Thankfully, they’d allowed me to use my homecoming dress as a bridesmaid dress; I’d picked out a dress that would act as both. Katherine’s maid of honor was going to be Kimberly. The other bridesmaids were going to be Aisha and Tanya. Dr. Oliver had his brother David as his best man; Jason, Rocky and Adam were groomsmen. Zack and Billy had both been offered a groomsman position, but had declined, as had Hayley for bridesmaid. Neither had said exactly why, but we knew and understood.
Kira had volunteered her band for the music during the ceremony and reception; when he tried protesting, she told him to consider it her wedding gift. He shut up not long after that; I suspected he was still going to try and pay her and the band. It was just how he was. If it weren’t for Katherine’s pregnancy, they’d be having their honeymoon right after. Right now, I’d thought I’d heard them say something about a family trip come summer. My baby sibling would be 2-4 months old by that time and not old enough to be left with a sitter yet, even family.
Dr. Oliver had plans to sit down with his former teammates, minus Rocky and Katherine, and swear them to secrecy regarding my identity. Even then, we realized that using a geas was a possibility; it would take some convincing from Dr. Oliver and Rocky for them to keep things quiet even from Lt. Stone. If all else failed, I’d either have to ask or they’d have to play the tape recorder, which would be…disastrous. Ernie, from what Rocky had said, needed a good support system right now. Letting them listen to that tape would destroy that. I was beginning to recognize that what he’d said in a drunken fit of anger was unforgivable; it would have been doubly so if he’d been sober. It was taking me a lot to work through that; Ernie had told me in every letter that if he could take all of that back, he would. Rocky had explained that what he’d yelled had come from a place of hurt.
In the meantime, I headed down to his office; he’d been grading papers right after dinner when I’d been doing my own homework and the sketches. I knew he’d appreciate the break; he only had a few more papers to grade when I arrived. It had become tradition for us to just sit in talk in his office many nights if he wasn’t busy grading tests and papers or either of us was too tired. Sometimes, we talking about safe topics; other times, he listened as I talked about my own fears and other issues. He never made me feel like my fears weren’t valid to have and often helped me work through them. This tradition of ours was a huge reason why my sessions with Rocky had become weekly sessions instead of biweekly. They also served to help my relationship with Dr. Oliver grow stronger day by day.
“Dr. Oliver, can I talk?” I was worried; I’d not felt this bad since the time I revealed my true identity to him. Looking up from his desk, he smiled tiredly as he put his pen down and set the assignments he was grading to the side.
“Anytime, Abigail. You know that.”
With that, I dropped into a chair opposite him and just poured my worries about feeling like I was taking on too much by doing the play’s set design, finishing with, “Something’s got to give, Dr. Oliver.” Like he’d done so many times before, he pulled me into a hug after walking around his desk.
“It’s okay, Abigail. I know you’re feeling overwhelmed with everything right now. If you want to step back from anything except school and therapy, you can.”
I smiled at that. “School, dojo, and Power Ranger duties, and the wedding. School I need, the others I signed up for or agreed to help with,” I corrected. “I’m also not about to let my relationships with my family and friends suffer either. Participating in the mid-year play and spring musical means I’d not have time to help with my little sibling either and family’s important.”
“I also know how important hobbies and participating in school activities are as well. Once the wedding is over, you’ll have more weekday afternoons to do things like participating in school theater if you want. That being said, if you need me to talk to Ms. Thompson, just let me know.”
“I know, Dr. Oliver, and I appreciate it.” I wiped the tears from my eyes. “I want to talk to her first, see if she’ll listen. If not…”
“I’ll talk to her.” I gave him a huge hug at that; he was a wonderful dad, even if I didn’t call him that. I felt better just knowing he had my back. By the time we got done talking, I felt a lot better and went to bed easily that night. I’d heard him come up the stairs as I was getting into bed; he’d had to finish grading papers before school the next day. Even without his other duties outside of school, a teacher’s work was never done. He’d spent a good chunk of the previous weekend grading tests; Katherine had gotten a bit annoyed when he’d forgotten about an appointment for the final fitting for his tuxedo.
As soon as I got to school the next day, I was waylaid by Mrs. Thompson, who was in the theater. I knew Dr. Oliver was waiting nearby, even if I couldn’t see him, and would hear my entire conversation with her. I did hand over my designs, but asked her to listen to me first.
“I hope you’re not having second thoughts about doing this, Katrina. These drawings are excellent.”
“That’s just the thing, Mrs. Thompson. I’ve got school, lessons at the dojo, along with Dr. Oliver’s wedding the weekend before the play. I won’t be able to give the play the concentration it deserves unless I drop something. School and my lessons at the dojo are too important; I’d be gone three afternoons during the last week of rehearsals.” I took a deep breath. “The only other way I’d be able to do this is give up my weekends and my friendships with Kira, Ethan, Conner, and Trent would suffer. That’s not something I’m willing to risk either. It was one of Dr. Oliver’s early rules with me that I have to give something up if either he or I feel that it’s going to negatively impact my schoolwork and lessons at the dojo.”
“I see.” I could tell she didn’t see, really. “This is important too. There’s nobody else that can do this, Katrina; you’re the best person for the job.”
“I am sorry, Mrs. Thompson. You’re going to have to find someone else. I don’t mind if my sketches and designs get used, but I can’t run the set department for this play. Maybe in the future, but I’m just too busy right now.” With that, we both left, as the school bell rang to warn everyone to get to class. I still knew that this wasn’t finished; I might not have classes with her yet, but I knew she would likely approach Dr. Oliver during lunch. That is, if she didn’t approach me during 3rd period first, or have Mrs. Goodridge do so. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed doing the sketches, but this was a bit much right now. If the wedding wasn’t going to be so soon, I would have been fine, but like I’d told her and Dr. Oliver both, something had to give.
I’d given Dr. Oliver a look before heading off to 1st period science; he knew that my talk hadn’t exactly gone well. He just squeezed a shoulder to comfort me before we both had to run as to not be late. I just hoped that he’d be able to talk to her; I didn’t worry near as much as I could have because I knew he’d take care of things.
By the time the end of the school day came around, I’d not heard anything one way or the other. I did notice that Dr. Oliver was there when 3rd period art class and I delivered what we’d finished today. I hoped that it was to keep both Mrs. Thompson and myself from doing something stupid. As soon as everything had been delivered and stored in the proper spots for the actors to use them this afternoon, Dr. Oliver approached me.
“Ready to go, Katrina?” I nodded. “I’ve spoken to Mrs. Thompson and told her that if she wasn’t going to take your ‘no’, I would have to insist you give the job up anyway. You don’t need this stress right now, not with everything else you’re dealing with,” he continued as we walked away.
“Thanks, Dr. Oliver. Don’t get me wrong, I would have loved to do this, like I said, but not at the expense of everything else going on. I could tell she wasn’t going to take my ‘no’ for an answer. I just need to find a good balance between everything before I add something new. If anything, that something new is going to be soccer; I’ve already committed to the reserve team. I only did that so I didn’t give up my martial arts lessons. I’m just glad Coach was willing to accept my compromise.”
Dr. Oliver chuckled; he obviously knew something I didn’t. “That’s because Coach is nobody’s fool. He’s seen how much those lessons have helped you. I think Conner had something to do with it too; Coach even listened when Conner was setting up your team’s practices. He wants you on the team that bad, Abigail.” Now that we were out of city limits, both of us felt comfortable switching back to my actual name. “Told me that between you and Francine, he’s not seen such skill from incoming freshmen since Conner himself. He’d admitted that he’d do anything to get you to play.”
That didn’t surprise me much; Coach was a great guy. I honestly enjoyed soccer more than theater, despite having fun creating the set pieces and drawing up the designs. I’d been learning in science that some of that came from the physical activity and how it impacted brain activity. The rest of it came from the pleasure I got from doing something I enjoyed. Both gave me that same feeling, but I knew that doing the shows on top of everything else would sap away that enjoyment from art.
With soccer, I enjoyed it simply because it gave me another focus for my energy and acted as another moving meditation. It was why I kicked around a soccer ball sometimes when I didn’t feel I could safely let out my emotions or frustrations on Dr. Oliver’s equipment in the basement, not to mention a spar. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes Dr. Oliver and I sparred to get that out, but neither of us wanted to make a habit of it. Using my skills in anger, even within the confines of a spar, meant that I wasn’t using my skills right. I was slowly learning how to shunt my anger aside or turn it into determination if I had to so I could protect others, but I always made sure to either talk about it with either Dr. Oliver or Rocky after. If I couldn’t, I either sketched it out or even talked to Hanshi Scott. The older man always had a sixth sense when his students weren’t at their best, even if they couldn’t always talk about the exact details.
It wasn’t just my physical skills that I had no desire to abuse; my mind and spirit were just as important. I was finding that I was choosing my words more carefully than I’d done even before leaving Angel Grove. I didn’t consider myself a religious person, but found myself praying more often than I’d done growing up. I still couldn’t reconcile the faith I’d been taught growing up with what Dimitria had brought regarding the Grid. It had…scared me when I’d learned that all former Rangers, along with certain Potentials, would join the Grid after death. Mom had been sad when she’d informed me that Zordon, due to his method of death, was unable to return to the Grid. Dr. Oliver had explained that Zordon had become a father figure to all the Power Rangers who’d served under his mentorship. Uncle Billy had explained over a summer visit that to many of the alien Rangers who’d become allies, joining the Grid after death was considered desirable. To risk your own chance to do so to save others was a commendable risk and Zordon was remembered as a hero in part because of that.
The only other way to not join the Grid after death was because a Power Ranger, even inactive, had dishonored their rank and responsibilities. With Zordon’s loss, Dr. Oliver was considered the final arbitrator of such a decision, even if he was unaware of it. I could sense it myself; Mom had even confirmed it when I’d asked. She’d forbidden me to even tell him for reasons she refused to tell me, just that it was not information I needed to know at this time.
“Why? If it’s something I need to know, why can’t you tell me?” I almost yelled in frustration.
“Abigail, it’s because it’s not time for you to know. You’ll learn in time. This is information that, if Zordon were still here, he’d be telling Tommy.” She hesitated at that. “I shouldn’t even be telling you this information next, but I can sense it’s going to be important in the years to come. Each arbitrator passes the information on to their successor when it becomes their time to learn to arbitrate. It’s not always at the end of life, either. Sometimes, it’s the choice of the team leader. That’s all I can tell you right now. You’ll understand in time.”
Lovely, Mom, lovely. I thought. That was helpful…not. While my conversations with Mom every time I was able to talk with her grew longer, they were never long enough to learn what I needed to from her. She’d also explained that the arbitrator was also the person that could create physical links to the Morphing Grid; Dr. Oliver was only able to do so to having had the longest active link to the Morphing Grid out of all the Earth based Rangers. She’d not been able to say if I’d be able to do the same, despite my own link going to be permanently active. Some things, she said, weren’t for her to explain to me; that it was going to be up to Dr. Oliver.
We were heading home today after school more because I had a lot of homework to do and I knew CyberSpace wasn’t going to be the best place to do it. It got too noisy and Ethan and Patton were both prone to pull me away from my work to play some game or other. Aside from that, the classmate I was tutoring in science was home sick this week with something. I never claimed to be good at science, but according to my classmates, I at least helped them understand it. I never told them I usually asked Dr. Oliver or Trent for help to explain things better. Some classmates, I did send their way if what I was being asked was above my level to understand.
With the wedding getting closer, I’d noticed Athena acting weird for her. Francine was worried, but their parents refused to even listen to the guidance counselor when he approached them about her behavior. They just called her actions a ‘schoolgirl’ crush, despite her actions being entirely inappropriate. There was nothing I could do except protect myself if need be, so I just put her out of my mind. As I’d told Mrs. Thompson, I had a lot more things to worry about. Aside from that, she and I rarely interacted, even in the lunchroom. She’d contented herself with the occasional bit of jostling in the halls and that was it. That I could ignore; outright bullying I couldn’t.
While most of the attendees at the wedding would be family and friends of both Dr. Oliver and Katherine and not current or former high school students, the Dino Rangers were going to be in attendance. Francine and my friends had been fine with not attending; they’d known the day was more about Dr. Oliver and Katherine anyway. They’d been at the ‘birthday’ party Dr. Oliver had thrown for me at Cyberspace; with my ‘known’ birthday being in September, it had actually been fun having a normal birthday party. Ernie hadn’t thrown David or I many growing up; our friends had given us our gifts at lunch or at the Youth Center when he was busy.
The following week, I was busy enough with anything that sometimes I went straight to bed after finishing my homework, even skipping my normal talks with Dr. Oliver. It surprised none of us when I had another nightmare. I’d not had one in a while; not bad enough to make me disoriented at any rate. It took Dr. Oliver a good 30 minutes to pull me out of a panic attack; we both realized something else had to give. He’d practically ordered me to spend some time at Cyberspace instead of helping with the wedding planning, even if that meant I couldn’t join them when Scorpina attacked. She’d practically left when she’d realized I wasn’t there, puzzling all of us. She’d not even looked for Katherine either, who’d had to hide in one of the dressing rooms during her final gown fitting. Her pregnancy meant that she couldn’t join in fighting Scorpina; she wasn’t about to risk the life of her unborn child even though her Ranger instincts were screaming at her to help fight.
When Dr. Oliver told all of us what had happened in Dino Command later, we were puzzled as the team was.
“That doesn’t seem like her; she’s never left a fight that early; not unless ordered,” Katherine observed.
“It must be part of Ivan’s schemes; she’s the stronger of Ivan’s two lieutenants in a physical fight. Why he’s having her focus on Abigail is a mystery.” None of us liked the situation.
“Unless she’s out for revenge,” I suggested. I held my hands up in surrender. “I don’t like the idea either guys; but I did block her attack earlier in the summer.”
Dr. Oliver shook his head. “She’s attacked enough since then and engaged you in battle to have gotten her revenge for that. No, Ivan’s got something planned, something big. I’ll be damned if it’s not something big. Zordon’s notes say he was working on something to create an heir of his own, but Zordon didn’t think Ivan had actually managed to get it working. There is a dead teenager from an alien world that has Ivan’s experimentations all over it; the boy was a child of two Power Rangers from that particular planet who’d not been chosen to take up the mantle. Why…oh shit!” We all looked at Katherine at that.
“Oh shit is right, guys. You really don’t think he would….would he?” Fear entered my voice; the others weren’t far behind in that. We all cared for Katherine and didn’t want anything to happen.
“From what I can see, yes he would guys.” This came from Hayley, who’d opened the files Uncle Billy had given us. “Zordon had said he’d done his best to destroy Ivan’s notes, citing that they were too terrible to even keep a record in his own files.”
I felt my stomach sinking at that; it was part of why I’d had a nightmare and panic attack that night. Dr. Oliver had called Rocky, who had to be talked out of coming up right away; Ernie needed him that night. He did say he’d get in contact with someone who could help that had actually known Ivan. It would be a while before she and her team could make it over to Reefside, though. Caution was needed here, Rocky had said, but we couldn’t let fear rule us. I’d had to remind Dr. Oliver that wrapping Katherine in cotton wasn’t the best course of action; Ernie had done the same thing with me and we all knew how that had eventually played out.
Speaking of, we all knew inviting him to the wedding wasn’t a good thing; he’d even told Dr. Oliver and Katherine that during a phone call. They didn’t call him often; Dr. Oliver was still pretty pissed at him for what he’d said to me in a fit of drunken rage as well as the abuse. The only thing standing in the way of the complete destruction of their friendship was me; they would make their determinations after Ernie and I had our heart-to-heart.
Despite this being only 4 months after I’d left Angel Grove, I was not ready to talk to him over the phone. It had taken me a couple of months before I could even read his letters with someone there and even that had been too soon. I still had Dr. Oliver keep them in his desk; even though that desk drawer was kept unlocked so I could read them any time, I’d not pulled any of them out to read on my own. I knew it would take time for me to even get to that point. This was despite him keeping to primarily safe topics; there had been several that had set nightmares off. Those were usually ones that talked about Lt. Stone looking around; one such letter had talked about someone trying to break into the Youth Center right after Reefside’s Homecoming game. I’d immediately shoved that letter back in its envelope and refused to touch it again. Dr. Oliver, after reading it, had called Ernie to find out what the hell had happened.
Some of the nightmares after that had all included Lt. Stone finding me at school, although I was starting to think that they might not be. They all had the feel of my dreams involving my protectors; Dr. Oliver had said that the Grid was known to send warning dreams. He’d had some himself as he was losing his Green Ranger powers and more just before he’d met his brother David.
I’d suggested trying to use the Grid to spy on Ivan, but had immediately been shot down by everyone else.
“Abigail, your skill and connection to the Grid is growing day by day, but I’m not asking you to risk yourself like that again.” Dr. Oliver had been firm on that. “You almost died getting us the news that Ivan was our adversary; we’re going to have to find another way to get that information.”
“I want to help; you’re not the only one who is worried about Katherine or her child,” I practically snapped at him. “I’m also the only one who can traverse the Grid like this; you’ve never even tried, Dr. Oliver. There’s got to be some form of link to wherever Ivan and his goons are at; the computer’s alarm system wouldn’t go off if it didn’t.”
“It also takes a long time to create that link; I should know.” I spun around at that and glared at Dr. Mercer, who’d entered without either of us noticing. “It’s how Mesogog had been able to create the portals and sense when the original Dino Gems had been moved.”
“You’re not trying that except as a last-ditch effort, Abigail and that’s an order.” An order I quickly found myself being unable to break. It had been why I’d talked to Mom that night; her answers had left me with more questions than answers. This was getting frustrating for me; I hated feeling helpless.
When I’d vented to Rocky, all he said was “Trust Tommy, Abigail. He’s worried, and I know you are too. It’s not just Kat and their unborn child getting hurt or otherwise controlled by Ivan that scares him, it’s Ivan using you too.”
I got in his face at that. “Rocky, how in the hell am I supposed to help if he won’t let me?!?! I know I can get that information and safer than my initial attempt. Not even Dr. Mercer can explain how he blocked the Grid from being used to spy on his lab; that information got removed from his mind when Mesogog separated himself from Dr. Mercer. This is the only method we have, Rocky, and I’ve been forbidden from using it. Trust me, I tried; it’s like there’s a block on me even attempting it, even with Conner being my spotter. It’s the only time I’ve not been able to drop into the grid like that. We’re supposed to be a team, Rocky!”
“And sometimes, team leaders have to make decisions that the rest of the team doesn’t agree with. You use your mother’s coin, Abigail. Tommy was her team leader, perhaps the coin still recognizes that, even though he is part of the Dino Rangers team, under Conner’s command in battle. On top of that, as you’ve said, he’s now your dad. You want to know what he asked me when you were first placed in his care, before he found out Katrina Jones and Abigail Burton were the same person? How in the hell was he going to deal if you showed interest in being a Power Ranger? Once you started using the coin, Abigail, he mentally reacted almost quite like Ernie did, though he hid it better and called me once you’d fallen asleep. He asked me how to get you, as the newest Yellow Ranger of that same power as your mother and Aisha, to trust him and Conner both in battle and with who you were.”
Rocky’s last statements stopped me in my tracks and I gaped at him like a fish. Now that he had my full attention and I wasn’t taking my fear, anger, and frustration out on him, he continued. “Abigail, have you considered that another reason why he’s not asking you to help is because you’re already under a lot of stress? He told me what happened with your theater teacher and how you chose to walk away from being fully in charge of set design? He also told me your reasons behind choosing to do so. Let me use those arguments you made to walk away from that, minus the wedding and being on the reserve team for soccer, and apply them to this.
“1st: you’re still a high school student. He told me that an early rule with you was you weren’t to allow your grades to suffer. Once they did, you were to walk away from something; he’s already had you stand down from helping with the wedding.
“2nd: you’re taking lessons at the dojo; you and Tommy both said you’d asked for those. He’s not about to take that away from you. Ranger or not, knowing how to defend yourself is important to both of you.
“3rd: your responsibilities as a Power Ranger. This is one of those; you cannot fight every single fight. When Conner, Kira, and Ethan gained their powers, they started as a team of three in the field, with Tommy as a mentor. Tommy was the next to join them; Trent took longer. All of them are adults; there’s also Hayley, Dr. Mercer, and all previous Ranger teams. Trust me, Ivan, Scorpina, and Rito cannot hide forever. We already have people looking into it, Abigail. You got us Ivan’s name and history at great risk; trust us to take this the rest of the way. I know you’re scared to lose your new family and frustrated that you can’t help more.”
“You are helping, Abigail, trust me on that,” came Dr. Oliver from behind us. Running to him, I grabbed him in a hug, crying. “Rocky’s right; I gave that order as much to keep you safe as to keep Kat and I both from worrying about you. It scares all of us every time you go into the Grid, even with Conner or I acting as spotters. Your mom told me you’d almost died, dropping in like that for the first time without a spotter or even knowing what you were doing. That’s why I want this to be only if we have no other way of getting that information and you’re not going to do this alone. As soon as Conner and I figure out how to go in there with you, we’re going to be there every step of the way.”
I gave him a watery smile. “Have you two ever tried meditating while holding on to your Dino Gems? That’s how I do it every time I want to talk to Mom. It wasn’t as easy doing it without; that’s why I need a spotter. It’s getting easier, though. I’m not going to stop using a spotter, though, not for a long time. Don’t want to take that huge of a risk just yet.”
“Meditating with our…that’s what you’ve been doing?” I chuckled a bit at that, glad to have the answers for once.
“Usually when I want to talk to Mom; unless she comes to me in a dream, it’s the only way I can get a hold of her in the Grid. Tried that with Conner spotting once without the coin; Mom wouldn’t even answer. Walked around the Grid for as long as I didn’t feel the tug from my connection to Conner. Always do if I stay in the Grid too long with a spotter, coin or no.
“Be prepared to feel sick and disoriented the first couple of times. You remember what I was like for the first full day after getting the information about Ivan to you?”
“Yea…this was before I knew you and Katrina were the same person. Actually thought you’d caught a stomach bug or something.”
“I’ll act as spotter. Not going to teach you and Conner at the same time, though. You first; I can’t teach Conner this. You’re going to have to. I’ve tried; the Grid itself stops me. That’s why I figured you have to; he’s the only other one that can do it, I think. No offense, Rocky, but neither you nor Jason have the same link to the Grid that Dr. Oliver and Conner do.”
“Feeling better?” Dr. Oliver and Rocky said at the same time.
“Yea…thanks for letting me vent, Rocky, though I am sorry that I blasted you like that.”
“You needed to get that out, Abigail. I simply provided a way to do so; we all know it wouldn’t have gone well if you’d argued with Tommy like that.”
I looked grim at that. “Yea…I’d be grounded except for school and the dojo. I would hate that.”
“I’d hate to do it to you as well, Abigail. I know how being restricted like that makes you feel, it’s why I pointed Rocky in your direction. He came up again for a reason, Abigail, as I knew you’d need to talk to someone not Kat or myself about yesterday. I would prefer to restrict you to the house and dojo only if absolutely necessary.”
“And you wonder why I keep calling you my dad to my friends, classmates, and teachers? You know what Ernie did and you keep doing the opposite. You made it so easy for me to trust you, even when I’m pushing back like I did yesterday. One of the few reasons I’ve not switched to calling you ‘dad’ to your face is because I’m still dealing with reconciling that term and having called Ernie that. Father doesn’t seem right, either; too formal. Calling you some variant of your first name doesn’t seem right either.”
“I’ve noticed you’re not calling Ernie that right now, either.”
“Doesn’t seem right; not with what he did to me. You’re showing me what he should have been doing from the start, Mom dead or not. I saw that photo of all four of us and just want to scream; David says Ernie changed as a parent after Mom died from what little he can remember.” I was worn out after that, despite it only being two in the afternoon, and in no further mood to talk. Dr. Oliver and Rocky both seemed to sense that and I ended up falling asleep in his arms, in our usual location on his office couch. I wouldn’t find until I woke up several hours later that Rocky had headed home. In his place, Katherine sat and I knew she’d been the one to cover us up with a blanket. She’d not been in the house when I’d chewed Rocky out; Aunt Kimberly had driven up for the week to help with wedding prep and they’d been out doing some matron of honor and bride stuff. The rest of the wedding party wasn’t going to be arriving until Thursday or Friday, even Jason and the twins.
Even with Aunt Kimberly staying with us until Jason and their twins showed up, I didn’t want to talk with her. With everything else going on, plus dealing with my anger and frustration today, I knew I wasn’t in a good enough place, mentally or emotionally, to talk with her. That didn’t mean she didn’t try; I ended up telling her bluntly after dinner that I was dealing with enough mentally and emotionally and didn’t need a lecture on how badly I’d hurt Ernie. Dr. Oliver had to stop her from even trying, allowing me to escape up to my art room and relax, losing myself in my drawings. After the emotional roller coaster I’d been on over the weekend, I just needed something mindless to do.
When I returned to myself, I found myself staring at pages that involved brand-new Ranger suits and their associated Power Coins. The Grid was flaring around me and I was having trouble getting my connection to it under control. I was glad I’d not locked the door to the art room and tried reaching out to Dr. Oliver via the Grid, but couldn’t. Even then, he seemed to sense I was in trouble, because he was there within seconds, or so it seemed. I found myself focusing on his voice and arms around me as I allowed the sketches to drop. The Grid eventually settled to a point where I could control it, though I made no effort to pick up the sketches.
“Abigail, what are these? Please tell me you’re not thinking of starting your own team yet?” He asked, not even looking up from the sketches after he picked them up.
“No. I’m nowhere near even being close to being ready for that. I just started drawing to give myself something mindless to do that wasn’t kicking around a soccer ball; I must have drifted into a semi-meditative state. You can see the result. If I’d known that’s what was going to happen, I would have had you here to start with. I was terrified when I came to consciousness and saw what I’d drawn.” My breath hitched as I started to panic again and I soon found myself in a comforting hug. “Can you keep those in Dino Command for now? I don’t even want to leave them in here; too risky.”
“I can do that; I assume you don’t even want to know where I stick them for now?”
“You assume correctly.” While he did that, I headed into my room and got ready for bed. I still didn’t have complete control over my link to the Grid right now. Whatever had caused me to sketch those suits and coins had also caused my own link, including the link to my current morpher, to be open and exposed within the confines of my own awareness.
While Dr. Oliver was putting those away, Katherine slipped into my room. I’d deliberately not closed my door except to change or turned off the lights; either would have indicated I was either asleep or was working on homework.
“You okay, Abigail? What happened? Kimberly and I both could feel whatever was going on; so could Dr. Oliver. That’s why he ran upstairs so quickly.”
“I don’t know; I’d gone to my art room to draw. It’s too late in the evening to kick around a soccer ball outside; not doing it in the basement. Not after the last time; you’ll have to ask Dr. Oliver for the recording. I know he has it. First and last time he’s ever seriously grounded me and it wasn’t for that long, either. Conner was the one who got the chewing out over that; if the situation hadn’t been that serious, I would have chuckled at the look on his face. Like I told Dr. Oliver, all I can figure is that I dropped into some sort of meditative trance as I drew. Next thing I know, I’ve got sketches of new Power Suits and Coins and I can feel my connection to the Grid going haywire. If he’d not have been here, I don’t know what I would have done. He’s the only one who can help me get everything under control; we’ve found as much following the book and notes Dimitria left.”
Location: Dino Command, same time as convo with Katherine. POV: Tommy/3rd person
Tommy sighed as he put Abigail’s sketches in a secured cabinet. This had been the second time in 4 months that her own connection to the Grid had behaved with a mind of its own. Dimitria’s book and notes had been no help at all. He wished Zordon was still alive; the wizard would know what was going on with her.
After locking the cabinet, he turned around, unsurprised to see Kimberly there. It was hard having both his ex-girlfriend and soon-to-be-wife in the same house. Despite working out the issues behind their breakup, Tommy knew he still had some feelings for Kimberly. Nothing that would make him return to her; not with how much he loved Kat. Their relationship had settled into something closer to siblings, but the odd issue still popped up. Right now, that was the fact that he refused to let her tell Ernie where Abigail was. They’d gone round and round on the issue; Kimberly had even tried talking to Abigail about the topic earlier, but Tommy could see that his daughter wasn’t in the mood. He didn’t blame her, not with the weekend she’d had.
“What the hell is going on, Tommy? First, Abigail’s ran and Jason gets a call from you about an abused runaway girl out of Angel Grove. Next thing I know, Rocky’s taken Ernie on as a client, finally getting him to talk. Ernie’s been placed on suicide watch twice, Tommy. The last time, Rocky’d played something that caused Ernie to get into a very dark place. He was bad enough that Rocky’s spent many a night over at his house. Now, I find Katrina Jones, your foster daughter, is Abigail Burton, Ernie and Trini’s daughter, and my goddaughter. Ernie, the last time I tried telling him that, wouldn’t even listen.”
“For a damn good reason, Kimberly. Abigail’s in no condition to talk to Ernie except through letters and even that’s hard for her. She’s having a hard time getting over what Ernie told her in a drunken rage, one that he doesn’t even remember. He did things in that rage that he wouldn’t have done normally, that’s why she ran. He even admits that he wouldn’t have sought help without her running, suicide watch or no. He told me that much when I talked to him after the Homecoming dance.”
“He said he wasn’t coming up; that he wasn’t ready to meet Abigail again right now as much as he wants to be there.”
“Abigail’s health and well-being is important, Kim, as is Ernie’s. I don’t know why she didn’t turn to you and Jason, or to Billy, but she feared being forcibly returned to Ernie’s care. Still does, actually. She’s been having nightmares about it; apparently, Lt. Stone, for as much as he initially told Abigail when he thought her name was Katrina Jones, is looking for her to return her to Ernie’s care.” Tommy sighed as he looked at his friend and former teammate.
“What happened tonight has been the latest in a long line of weird things that has happened since Abigail’s started using Trini’s coin and morpher. Dimitria said Abigail has the ability to become like Ninjor or Zordon; the process just had to be kick-started by using a morpher and coin.” Tommy summarized what had happened over the summer to Abigail. Kimberly just gave him a look.
“If I’d not experienced that earlier this evening, I’d have thought you were kidding. That was weird, even for us, and we were Power Rangers together.”
“Tell me about it; I wish Zordon was still around. He’d know what to do, Kim.” Despite being in his 30s, he’d worked under Zordon’s mentorship for several years. All of the Rangers who’d served under that selfsame mentorship missed the alien wizard.
“I know; Rocky and Adam both have said that there’s something weird going on at the Command Center. Place’s been rebuilt twice, by itself for the most part. Since Zordon died, both Alpha 5 and 6 have returned to the Command Center. Alpha 6 even said something about Dimitria or the Astro Rangers not needing the help anymore as well as the Terra Venture team.”
“Billy said as much when he was up last; he knows what’s going on there, but has been sworn to secrecy.”
“Command Center was his base of operations during the search for Abigail. He was there almost 24/7; whatever’s going on must be serious enough that he can’t tell any of us.”
Tommy knew that was b.s.; but then again, Zordon had kept many secrets from the teams, only revealing them when he absolutely had to. He’d not told them about the Power Chamber that they’d used after the original Command Center had been destroyed. There was also Zedd, Master Vile, and the Machine Empire. True, he understood why Zordon hadn’t revealed the info right away; their mentor had even said that he’d not wanted to worry them unnecessarily. He just hated playing catch-up; it was the worst part when dealing with new adversaries or what Abigail was going through.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Tommy. My lips are sealed; I remember just how scared Abigail was when she came by the studio and dojo. Before that week, I’d never pegged Ernie as have being abusive.”
“Neither would I, Kim; it took Abigail the better part of a month and a half to two months to trust me with her big secrets. It was the Sunday before the soccer camp game against Angel Grove; Dimitria showed up during Ivan’s attack after that same game. Ernie all but accused her of being her; I fended him off. The way he was acting…Abigail confirmed that’s how he’d been the week she fled.”
“She’s lucky to have you, Tommy. I’ve seen how she acts around you; she clearly trusts you, as we all have.”
“I’m lucky she came to me; the day she came to me, she said she came because her mom had trusted me. Of course, I didn’t realize her mom was Trini; had my suspicions, yes, but confirmation….not for a long while.” Checking his watch, Tommy realized he needed to head back up. Abigail was waiting on him; she’d not felt comfortable falling asleep just yet.
They headed back upstairs, Tommy securing Dino Command and putting the house in Grid lockdown. At Kimberly’s look, he explained that between Ivan’s attacks and Kat’s pregnancy, he wasn’t taking chances.
“Aren’t you worried that he’s going to get past that?” Tommy just shook his head.
“I was given enough details about what happened in the alternate timeline that Billy and Hayley were able to devise several ways around it. Let’s just say they’re not getting in unless they truly mean none of us harm. Not even Anton knows how to get past them and he was the one to originally help me build the basement.”
“How does Abigail normally react to the Grid being up like that?” Tommy was about to answer, when he heard a cry from her room. They both sprinted upstairs to find her about to lose control again. He grabbed her in his arms, doing what he could to calm her.
“Kat, you’re going to have to go down to the basement and turn the lockdown off for the main section of the house.” Risky, Tommy knew, but Abigail wasn’t reacting well to it being up. He was pleased to see that Kimberly went with her. He could feel it when it returned to its normal boundaries; Abigail relaxed, falling asleep in his arms not long after. This was going to be an issue; he just hoped she felt better by the time school ended tomorrow; she’d have to sit at the edge of the mats at the dojo otherwise.
When Kimberly and Kat came back up, he explained that it must have messed with her control.
“Sort of,” Kat replied. “She said it felt like she was in the middle of a giant spider web.” Kimberly was amused at that.
“Yea…she’s a bit ticklish, not that she lets anyone find out. I only know because Amy’s her closest friend in Angel Grove and there was this tickle fight when they were 9 and Abigail was over for a rare sleepover.” Kimberly didn’t mention that Amy and Abigail had to team up on Austin to get him to quit bugging them. The tickle fight had blown up into a free-for-all pillow fight by the end of it. There’d been feathers everywhere.
“Rare? She’s had Kira and Francine over more than once for sleepovers; she’d met Francine at soccer camp. Francine was one of the two girls from her year on the Homecoming Court; Karan, the other, is another friend. There’s 3 others that they hang out with; three boys by the names of Patton, Steve, and Johnny.” Abigail had told him just how strict Ernie had been, but rarely letting his daughter going over to friend’s for sleepovers. Even he’d let her when she was comfortable doing so.
“I’m sorry I didn’t realize just how bad Ernie had gotten and done something earlier.” With that, both headed to bed; Tommy wasn’t leaving Abigail’s side right now. He didn’t care how many times he woke up with a sore back in the morning because he’d stayed by her side, it was well worth it. He’d find out Kat had joined them during the night, which neither of them complained about. The only real complaining was about Abigail’s alarm going off; it was right behind Tommy’s ear.
Kat had returned to their room after the other two had gotten up. Tommy had only left the room because Abigail had to get dressed; she was doing a lot better after yesterday’s weirdness. He was still going to keep an eye on her today as best he could; the only time he really got to see her during the school day was during lunch.
When lunchtime came around, he realized he’d not even had to worry. Francine knew her best friends well and had kept an eye on Abigail. He made eye contact with her and she gave him a thumb’s up, smiling. Tommy was a bit relieved at that; last night had been the first night he’d stayed by his daughter’s side that wasn’t nightmare related. He was glad Katherine not just understood, but had also joined him in making sure Abigail was going to be okay.
By the time school was over, Tommy refused to admit that he practically sprinted to her locker, which was next to Francine’s. Most teens in her position would be embarrassed by their teacher-parent doing that, but not Abigail. She ended up giving him a smile and hug when she saw him, despite some of her classmates giggling.
“What, you guys? Monster attack over the weekend got us scared, especially with Scorpina attacking the same place Katherine was in. We got lucky she left when she did.” Abigail told them. Her classmates quit at that, most of them anyway. Tommy could see Athena, who’d showed up to check in on her sister, scowling at that. He had a good idea as to why; Athena made no secret of the fact that she wanted to be in Katherine’s position despite being underage and one of his students on top of that. If he wasn’t going to be marrying Katherine, Tommy knew it would likely be Kimberly or another female Ranger that he knew he could get along with. Athena, even if she was at the right age, was too concerned with status; she’d milk the fact that he was one of Reefside’s protectors for all that it was worth and then some.
Tommy paused when they got to his car. “Katrina, how are you feeling? I know last night was a bit rough on you,” he asked quietly.
“Not 100%, but I can do my lessons today. Of course, if Hanshi has me sit out, I’ll listen to him. He always knows when his students aren’t well enough to participate, even if they can attend lessons.” Tommy knew Abigail well enough to know that she believed in what she told him. Tommy, by the time he’d gotten to the same point in his training as she was at, knew how to do a physical and mental self-check. His own sensei had made sure that all of his students knew how to do so; Hanshi Scott was the same way.