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Trent scrubbed idly at the eye of Conner's T-rex zord. He needed a break, but he was afraid if he took one, Dr. O would come down and start... lecturing wasn't the right word; trying to get Trent to talk again? He wasn't ready to talk yet.
Which was why he wasn't sure whether or not to be relieved when Conner climbed up the steps of the platform that Trent was standing on to wash the T-rex. Conner was carrying a white bag.
"Hey." Conner sat down on the edge of the red platform, and started unpacking take-out containers. The smell of teriyaki wafted towards Trents nose. Conner looked up at him, grinning.
"Is this a new form of revenge where you make me smell teriyaki while you lecture me?" Trent asked.
Conner's face fell. "Oh, crud, Hayley said you liked it. I can go run and grab food from somewhere else; what do you want?"
Trent blinked. "I do like teriyaki?"
"Cool, man, chicken or shrimp? I got one of each and I'll eat the other one." Conner laid out two food containers with letters on them.
Trent's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, Conner, I thought you were still angry and hadn't brought enough for two." He picked up the container with the 'C' on it (as opposed to the 'S') and sat down.
Conner handed him chopsticks. "I got a call from one of Dr. O's old friends; Jason Lee Scott, he was Dr. O's first red."
"I'm not sure which is more surprising: that he was a Power Ranger when he was our age or that he started as an evil Power Ranger." Trent opened the container, poking at the chicken experimentally.
Conner took a deep breath. "He wasn't evil, Rita put him under a spell that made him do evil things."
"You sound like Dr. O; it sounds like a line." Trent picked up some chicken, experimentally putting some in his mouth. He wasn't sure he was hungry, but the chicken smelled really good.
"Well if it's a line, I got the same one from Jason."
Trent blinked. "Did you just call one of Dr. O's friends by his first name?"
"We all call your boss Hayley and she's one of Dr. O's friends."
"Point taken." Trent took a bite of his chicken, chewed thoughtfully, and then swallowed. "For whatever it's worth, I'm really sorry for beating you all up so much the last couple of months. Which doesn't change any of the bruises."
"It helps a bit," Conner said. "Also, from the way Dr. O described it to us, it sounds like you weren't exactly in the driver's seat."
Trent nodded. "It was kind of like being trapped in my own head. There was a part of me that knew what I was doing was wrong, but the larger part just wanted to please Mesogog." He shuddered. Part of it, he knew, was wanting to please his dad, and when his dad, as Anton Mercer, told him this wasn't what he wanted for him, the anger had faded enough for the spell to break.
"How did you finally get free?" Conner asked.
Trent frowned, trying to figure out how to explain.
"Never mind." Conner poked at his food. "Dr. O said not to make you talk about it until you're ready."
Trent smiled just a little bit. "Thanks, Conner."
They ate contentedly for a couple of minutes. "I'm surprised you're not asking me my intentions towards Kira or threatening me if I hurt her."
"Newsflash, Trent: you've already hurt Kira."
Trent blanched.
"Dude, it wasn't your fault, and I think Kira knows that," Conner said. "Also, I never told you this, but Dr. O put her in touch with his high school girlfriend awhile back--apparently they dated after the whole Rita Repulsa spell thing."
Trent stared.
"While you were washing zords, we got a lecture."
"He came in here and lectured me after I got started; he must have been on a roll," Trent said. "Apparently he's organizing a special formerly evil Rangers support group meeting for me."
Conner blinked. "There's a group?"
"Apparently around ten? Or almost ten?" Trent said. "The whole thing sounds like a lot."
"I mean, adults, but they do know what you're probably going through," Conner said.
Trent sighed. "I guess you're right. How often does Dr. O tell you something that starts with 'when I was your age'?"
"A lot," Conner said. "We're debating starting putting a dollar in a jar every time he says that, 'when I was a Ranger,' or 'back in my day' during training sessions and then using the money for a pizza party when there's enough in there."
Trent laughed. "How many weeks would that take?'
"One to two, usually, but I think there'd almost be a whole pizza worth in there for only the last few hours."
"You're welcome I guess."
It was Conner's turn to laugh.
Trent poked at his food... "So about Kira..."
"She hits harder than me and Ethan," Conner said. "So don't piss her off."
"I'm aware," Trent said. "I had the bruises to prove it on occasion; thank goodness for Ranger healing."
Conner grinned. "Just be aware if you really piss her off, she was with me and Ethan the whole time, Officer."
"Duly noted."
The door to the zord bay creaked open, and the smell of tomato sauce and cheese wafted up.
"Hi, Conner." Dr. O sounded like he was smiling under his helmet, carrying pepperoni pizza on a pan, the cheese still bubbling. "I see we had the same thought."
"No oven mitts?" Trent asked.
"The suit gloves work pretty well. An advantage I guess."
"Sorry again," Trent muttered. He looked at the pizza as Dr. O set it down between him and Conner. "Is it bad that it smells really good and I've had almost a whole order of teriyaki chicken, but I'm still hungry?"
"Power Ranger metabolisms are really fast, so you need to eat more than you think you do," Conner said.
"It's nice to know you're listening when I'm telling you this stuff." Dr. O's voice sounded like he was smiling.
Conner raised an eyebrow. "I'm here because I'm listening, dude."
"I guess so." Dr. O patted Conner's shoulder. "Where are Kira and Ethan?"
"We didn't want to overwhelm him," Conner said.
"He needs to bond with the whole team," Dr. O replied.
"He's sitting right here." Trent set down his empty container of teriyaki chicken and picked up a piece of pizza. 'Thanks for the pizza, Dr. O, but I don't like being talked about when I'm sitting right here. It weirds me out."
"Fair enough. The zords look great." He patted Trent's shoulder then started walking down the stairs.
"If I need to bond with the whole team then where are you going?" Trent asked.
"I'm good, thanks, Trent." Dr. O headed back out towards his lab.
Trent looked at Conner, who shrugged. "He's still our teacher."
"Yeah, and yet..."
"We all feel it," Conner said. "I figure it's probably The Power dropping hints; also, it's good to know where your teammates are in battle, so there's like this pull."
Trent snorted. "Unless you're whaling on them."
"You could... That explains a lot." Conner said.
"Again, sorry."
"I think quit apologizing?" Conner said. "It's not your fault, and Dr. O says we need to work on moving forward. How's the pizza?"
"Definitely the kind you buy frozen and bake," Trent said. "Tastes fine though."
Conner picked up a slice. "Nice of Dr. O to cook for us when he can't even eat."
Trent smiled sardonically. "Mesogog was ridiculously happy he was stuck like that; the amber was supposed to be inescapable but..." He sighed. "Hayley and I are going to talk about it tomorrow: see if I can help her figure out how to let the poor guy demorph. Are we sure he's OK in there?"
"Dr. O says he hasn't felt hungry, so he thinks the Power is sustaining him somehow."
Trent rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Don't blame yourself. A spell isn't on you." Conner stared at a pepperoni, his tone flat.
"Are you trying to convince me or you?" Trent asked.
"Both," Conner said. "Dr. O's usually right about these things; we should give it some time."
"I don't have...." Trent stopped. "Oh, hey, wait, I'm not going to do bad things anymore, because I'm going to choose not to. So at least there won't be anything else to come to terms with."
"That sounds like moving forward to me," Conner said.
"Thanks, Conner," Trent said sincerely.
It was, Trent figured, a start.
End