Disclaimer: I don't own the power rangers.
A/N: Takes place after Muranthias, just before the Passing of the Torch. Anyways, I thought I should put this on here, just in case something like last time happens. Please, tell me what you think. Review! Remember I'm still new at this.
Everything had gone in a rush and her near panic was evolving into accelerated adrenaline. Here she was, a seventeen juvenile delinquent, getting away with murder.
How did she end up in this situation?
She had won gold at nearly every competition she'd competed in. She was supposed to be a leader. What would her mother say if she knew her only daughter was a criminal?
"Hurry! Hurry!"
It was a rush, she'd known it was wrong. Yet she did it… for love? She didn't know but she was getting deeper and deeper into a load of shit.
Ronnie jumped into the car along with his brother Stephen and his brother's girlfriend Holly. She stomped on the gas and maneuvered out of the gas station's lot.
"Whoo hoo!" Ronnie yelled once they'd pulled out onto the highway. "Baby, we're going to be rich."
Holly laughed, giddy. "Ron we are rich!"
"Whatever, Hol. And ya know what Kimmie-"
I hate when he calls me that.
"I'm gonna get you that diamond necklace you've been looking at. And you know what else? We're going to get that house in the Cayman Islands like I said. Baby, we're rich."
She nodded, smiling coolly. She kept her focus on the road ahead of her.
"Only thirty miles till the Shack. We'll change cars and head for the border," Stephen said calmly.
"Lil' bro chill. Ain't no need to worry, no cops gon' get us," Ronnie said, hitting his brother on the leg as he looked back.
Holly quieted, smiling still. "Come on Ron' we all know how serious Steve gets. He just don't want a hexin' to get on our good cache." She turned to Steve and kissed him on the cheek.
"Stephen you still don't trust my driving skills? I thought we were good," Kim commented, feeding on the tension between her and Ronnie's younger brother.
He definitely doesn't like me. Who can blame him? With me in the picture, less spoils for everyone.
"I don't trust you, Kim. And no we're not good. I think my brother's an ass in getting you involved."
Ronnie turned his head swiftly, taking his gun out and pointing at Steve. Holly
yelped.
"Ronnie! What are you doing? Ronnie, put the gun away!" Kim yelled, glancing desperately at Ronnie, trying to keep the car on the road.
"Look, we may be blood but no one talks to my girl like that."
Their eyes were cold and chilled as they stared each other down.
"I'm not afraid to pull this trigger, Stevie."
"Don't fucking call me that," Stephen growled. "Ever since that bitch got here you've been acting like a fucking asshole!"
"That's it," Kim breathed, letting the wheel spin under her hands as they turned onto the side of the freeway.
She unbuckled her seatbelt and swung open the car door, ignoring Ronnie's call. She was a good ten feet away when someone yanked her arm.
She looked back and glared at him. "Let me go." Her voice was low and menacing as it once had been, a couple of months before.
He released his grip on her but his hard gaze didn't falter. "I want to know just where the hell you think you're going?"
"Does it matter? I don't want to be the mediator or the fucking mainspring of you and your brother's family issues."
"Kim, you're not-"
"Ronnie, I don't want to be a part of this anymore. Someone's going to get killed."
His pleading gaze turned cold. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards the car.
"Ronnie, no- You're hurting me!"
She had no time to fight him as he threw her into the passenger's seat of the car. He locked the doors before she could escape. Stephen and Holly remained quiet.
He turned to face her as she glared at him in anger and confusion. "Kimberly, we've worked so hard to get to this moment for you to change your mind."
"Did I ever have a choice? You lied to me."
"I love you and I'll kill before I let you go back to that guy. You know that. He doesn't give a damn about you, Kim. I do. You think I don't know what you're thinking. Well, Kim, you're wrong."
The look in his eyes held an unspeakable intimidation in them as he leaned over and kissed her. "I love you."
She nodded, softly and leaned her head against the headrest. Her mind was blank as she willed herself to cautiously check her thoughts. She wanted to cry out, run away, needed an excuse to get out of this. Her exhilaration turned into desperation.
I'm doing this for love.
Ronnie smiled, glancing at her as he steered the car back onto the road. "Now, that's more like it. Everything's going to be alright. You'll see."
…"This morning at 2 am, the Lafayette British Patrol gas station was held up. This robbery is an addition to the chain of robberies springing up all across southern California. Its M.O. appears to be the same. Registers and vaults stripped clean, no camera footage, and carried out under a time frame of five minutes. These people are skilled criminals. The authorities have no clue who these perpetrators are. However, if you have any information on the Desmond robberies please call the number posted on the screen. A reward will be given if your information leads to an arrest or any lead in the case. This is Ayonna Colman reporting."
Jason shook his head. This was all so wrong. He needed to find Kim and fast. His gut feeling told him she was somehow involved. After all a week before the thefts started happening, she had disappeared.
Anger welled inside of him as he thought of her boyfriend, Ronnie. He didn't like the guy. Something about the guy pulled at him in the wrong way. Kim had called things off with him one too many times for it to not be a concern. She never spoke of the reasons why she broke up with him nor why she reconciled, despite their close relationship. She'd always brush it off and say she was a big girl, that she could handle herself, and that she was sure Ronnie was the one for her. She claimed she was in love with him.
Then why'd you leave him so many times, Kim? Why hurt Tommy?
He knew it was a dangerous assumption, for she could very well be in New York with Trini. Suddenly thinking of the Vietnamese beauty pained him. He hadn't returned a number of her phone calls and she called it immature but he just couldn't deal with his feelings for her anymore. It was killing their friendship, if it wasn't already dead already.
I should call. Maybe she knows where Kim is. Or maybe Ricky will pick up the phone. Damn it, man. Pull yourself together. You've been able to ignore these feelings before, and you can do it now. Stop being so goddamn selfish.
The doorbell rang, snapping him from his thoughts. Tommy entered, followed by the others.
"Hey, bro. What's up?"
"Another Desmond robbery, that's what's up… I'm concerned Tommy. Kimberly has been missing for almost three months."
"I know… It's been on my mind a lot lately. I tried to talk to Dimitria to see if she could try and locate her."
Surprise could be seen in Katherine's eyes, despite her trying to guise it.
"All I got in response was that Kim will be found when she is ready." What kind of bullshit is that?
"Maybe Dimitria is right," Tanya suggested. "I mean Kim being on her own and out of high school, it is her right to get away."
"Tanya, Kim is still a minor. And besides she would have let someone know or left a note or something if she wanted to go away for a three month vacation," Rocky said, unchecked hostility raising as he began rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah, and I guess you also have to know her. Tanya, Kim was getting ready to go to Vanderbilt. It was one of her dreams. Why would she just let that go?"
"In the brief time that I've known or heard about Kim, it seems she's been doing a lot of things out of the ordinary," Tanya commented softly. "And I'm sorry to say this guys but maybe she truly has changed or maybe you just don't know her as well as you think you do."
Normally, they might have argued her point but something about what she said made sense.
"Tanya, I understand that you really don't know Kim, but I do. She's like a little sister to me and I know her. Something is wrong. I can feel it."
They were now in the Shack, Stephen and Ronnie's dad's old warehouse in outer San Diego. It was where they stashed everything they'd ever stolen and their dad having been a cop, safe from any investigations.
Ronnie took off his leather jacket, throwing it on the table with their passports, heading to the fridge to grab a beer.
Kim sighed. Please, don't get drunk. I hate it when you get drunk. Let's just get out of here. We're already enough behind schedule. Ronnie…
He stayed seemingly ignorant to her for some time as he downed more than half the can in a few swallows. He looked up and flashed her a smile.
She would have rolled her eyes, but then again he was so unpredictable at times.
Ronnie, I know you hear me…
Stephen walked in, serious still. " 'Kay man, everything's in the car. I changed the license plates on the Chevy and right now Holly's finishing up its paint job. You know just in case…" He watched as Ronnie opened another can. "Ronnie you need to lay off that stuff. Especially if you plan on driving. Last time you nearly got us all killed."
Ronnie laughed. "Bro, you sound like mom. Stevie, you a mama's boy?"
Anger swelled in Stephen's face. Some form of communication seemed to pass through them as Ronnie laughed again.
"Come on baby bro, it's 'bout time you became a man. Do it. I dare you."
"Ronnie, I don't want to play your fucking games anymore. Now put the drink up and lets get out of here."
Ronnie's eyes were emotionless as he looked at his younger brother. Whatever he had in mind next was going to be impulsive.
Kim stepped in the middle and gently took the can from his hands and kissed him dead on the lips. The distraction was good enough. He grabbed her by her waist to pull her closer to him and deepen their husky kiss.
She was slightly scared. They had never had sex. Maybe because she kept breaking things off but she could definitely feel what he wanted. He was in control.
Suddenly he broke away as if reading her feelings. He kissed her nose and gave a loving smile. "Not here, not now. I understand you want to wait Kim. I'm not going to force you." He turned to Stephen and gave him a once over. "Don't ever try and give me an order again. Sometimes I don't have control over this thing and I'd hate for anything to happen. I don't want us to be enemies. I love you man. We're the only family each other's got. We've got to stick together."
Stephen nodded. "Agreed. I'm sorry, man. …Kim, I apologize for what I said back in the car.
"It's cool." She smiled. "I'm glad to see you two have settled your differences. Now can we go. I don't think my nerves will settle unless we are in Mexico."
"I feel ya, sis." Holly had came in. "It's done."
"Now let's get on the road." Another voice said in the background.
Stephen and Ronnie turned, grinning. "Jay-man, you made it."
"Of course I did. Got the hundred and fifty grand here," James Rodriguez said. Two others stepped from behind.
"Lolita's got the cherries. All three hundred thousand of them," Lolly Alvarez said holding up her stash.
"And the Ace with his five hundred," Jesse "the Ace" Hartman added.
"Five hundred K, I hope," Ronnie asked, somewhat playfully.
They shared a laugh. No one wanted to see Ronnie angry.
"Of course it's five hundred grand, man. I don't deliver less."
"Okay so how much is that, baby," he turned to Kim.
"With our stash and theirs, plus the one already here, that's fifteen million dollars," Kim announced, trying to sound excited. It felt so wrong.
He seemed to catch it and walked over. "Don't worry baby, the money's insured. It's like they lost nothing at all."
She gave him a small smile. Her unease was picked up by the others. Ronnie turned to look at them and all of them froze. "Go to the cars."
They obeyed and left him and Kim alone.
"Baby, you've got to let this good, bad thing go. The others are starting to question where your heart lies."
"It lies with you. Baby, I'm scared. I've never stolen anything before. This is crazy, the only slip up I've ever made was getting detention. Now I'm a fugitive."
He kissed her temple and held her close. "You're not a fugitive. They don't even know who we are. I've got the ends covered. No one will know who we are or if any of us are connected. None of us have records. It's bravura. Now, let's not keep the others waiting." He placed his hand in hers and guided her to the car.
Her thoughts were heading somewhere dangerous, so she began to scramble them. He carefully looked at her as they sat in the back seat. "You okay."
She nodded and stifled a yawn. "I'm so tired. I feel like reality is starting to blur." Her statement could have been taken a number of ways but he nodded. She leaned her head on his shoulder because that's what she felt she ought to do. She let him feed off of her thoughts on happiness and bliss when she knew it was a lie. She wanted to curl up in a ball in cry. How did she get to this point? She didn't even remember. She vaguely remembered the Pan Globals, the acquaintances, the competition, the letter… She felt so guilty and so alone. Maybe if he had read between the lines instead of trying to be all noble, he could have saved her. Or maybe he hadn't loved her enough. He did, in spite of everything, officially start dating Kat, a week after she sent it to him. He hadn't called or anything to prove he still felt anything for her. Did he love her? Did he hate her? Did he not care?
Her thoughts were quickly being infiltrated. Well, it doesn't matter anymore. I wish him and Katherine the best. It's only fair. Ronnie will take care of me better than he could. I'll get over this guilt. I'll let myself finally give into this happiness. She'd told herself that for so long, that she'd begun to believe it.
Ronnie kissed her temple again, after looking at her rather decisively. She was his prize. She was the only woman he could feel for and she was the only person who could invoke in him passion and power. He knew he loved her but her cooperation was slowly pissing him off. He could feel her trying to give in and he could also feel her trying to push away. If only he knew who her ex had been. He hated him with a growing passion. Wasn't it him who she constantly thought about, and not he? Once his power got strong enough he'd search her mind and find out his name and everything, and he'd make him suffer for making him suffer. He wanted Kimberly and he always got what he wanted. He also felt he needed her and hardly ever was he rewarded necessities in life. But he'd have her- all of her, even if it meant ripping her from her previous world and forcing her into his.