DISCLAIMER: Nope not mine.

SUMMARY: Did anyone else ever wonder how Andrew knew so much about the Rangers?

"I'm still not sure that this is such a good idea, Jase," the brunette said to the young man sitting next to her on the helicopter.

"Where else are you going to find peace from all those reporters?" Jason asked, draping an arm around the slender shoulders of his childhood friend.

"I just wish they'd leave me alone. It wasn't my fault. I didn't know she'd been doing drugs." Her head fell against his chest.

"I know that, Firebird. You never would have let her behind the wheel if you had known." Jason rubbed her arm, pulling her in close. "I just wish you'd quit beating yourself up over the whole thing. You couldn't have saved that family."

"They didn't deserve dying that way." Kim felt the tears burning her eyes again. She nestled into Jason's shoulder, closing her eyes against them.

Jason felt her start shaking and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Don't cry, Kim. It's all over now. You'll be safe at your uncle's."

"The helicopter is approaching now, sir. It will be there in about five minutes," Spencer announced, walking into the Command Center.

Andrew Hartford picked up a towel as he turned to his butler. "Thank you, Spencer. Where's Mack?"

"Right here, Dad. I can't wait to see Kimberly again."

"Just remember, Mack, your cousin's had a rough go of things lately. Don't get too excited. She's here to get away from the reporters that have been hounding her since the accident."

"Mr. Hartford, did you forget that Mr. Cranston is coming today to perform maintenance on the computer systems?" Spencer asked as the father and son headed for the door.

"I had. Thank you, Spencer. I hope that I'll have Kimberly situated in the guest house before he gets here. But even if I don't I'm sure that my niece will be happy to see her old friend again."

The two of them left the Command Center to wait for the helicopter's approach.

Watching the helicopter approach, Andrew and Mack were worried about the young lady on board. Andrew thought about the phone call he'd gotten about his niece's car crash.

FLASHBACK

"Mr. Hartford, I am calling to inform you that your niece has been in a car crash."

"How badly is she injured?" Andrew's heart had jumped into his throat.

"She suffered a broken leg. Badly broken, I'm afraid. From the knee to ankle in her left leg is almost completely shattered. The right leg is broken as well but not as badly," the doctor informed him sounding almost like he was actually sorry that he had to deliver this news. "I'm more worried about her mental state at the current moment. She's blaming herself for the accident and not even her friend seems able to bring her out of her depression. The reporters aren't helping matters any either."

"What do you mean, doctor?"

"The press keeps hounding her. They act as if it's a miracle that she survived when no one else did. We've had to ban all reporters from the floor she's on."

"If you think it would help, I'll send my helicopter to pick her up."

"That might be a help. She needs to get away from here and find someplace to hide for a while. Her friend, Jason, is here but he can't seem to break through to her. She's been so depressed that I'm almost afraid of what she might do if she's left alone."

"She's that badly depressed? I'll have my helicopter pick her up within two days. Can you have her ready to go?"

"She could actually be checked out of the hospital today. Her leg is still in a cast but she could leave the hospital." The doctor's words amazed Andrew. His niece was depressed and no one seemed able to bring her out of it.

"I'll be there." Hanging up the phone, Andrew sat down, his head settling into his hands. Poor Kimberly.

FLASHBACK ENDS

He turned to his son and slapped a hand on his shoulder. "Don't forget, Mack. Your cousin's had a rough go of it lately. Don't bother her."

"I won't, Dad. I'm just glad she coming here."

The older man smiled. "So am I, Mack."

The helicopter touched down and Andrew stepped forward. When the blades stopped spinning, a young man hopped out of the chopper and turned to help a petite brunette.

The young man turned as Andrew approached. "Hello, Mr. Hartford. Good to see you again."

"Hello, Jason. It's good of you to help my niece this way." He turned to the brunette. "Kimberly, it's been such a long time."

"I know, Uncle Andrew. I'm sorry." Andrew wrapped his arms around the young woman and pulled her in close, letting her know that he didn't hold a grudge.

"You're here now. That's what matters." As he stepped back, Jason reached to steady Kimberly who wobbled slightly on her cast.

"Thanks, Rex," she smiled as she clutched at his arm.

"Kimmy!" Mack exclaimed, stepping up to greet his cousin.

"Mack!" Leaning into her cousin as she hugged him, Kim sighed. "The last time I saw you, you had just turned thirteen."

"No embarrassing stories!" Mack protested.

"Not unless you start it," she chuckled.

Mack made sure that his cousin was steady before backing completely away from her. "You okay, Kim?"

"What did your dad tell you about my accident?"

"That your leg was pretty busted up and the press wouldn't leave you alone."

"Well, there's more to it but I'll explain later. In the meantime, why don't you tell me about your life as a Ranger so far?"

"How did you know?"

"You guys did that interview. Didn't anyone tell you about the three rules of being a Ranger?"

Mack looked at his cousin with a puzzled look on his face. "Three rules? I think Tommy forgot about that."

"Tommy? As in …?"

"Dr. Tommy Oliver. The man who helped me set up my entire Command Center. Along with Billy Cranston."

"Billy? Billy's in on this too?" Kimberly looked pale as if she'd just seen a ghost.

"Billy and Tommy. It figures. Those two being in the thick of this just doesn't surprise me at all." Jason chuckled but stopped as Kim clutched at his arm.

"I can't see him, Jase. I just can't." Her voice was barely more than a whisper but Jason heard it clearly.

"Kim, you can do this." He bent his head to kiss the top of hers again. "If you don't want to see him, we can make sure that you don't." He looked up at Andrew. "Can't we, Mr. Hartford?"

"Of course. If that's really what you want, Kim."

"I can't face him right now, Uncle Andrew. I just can't. It still hurts too much."

"Anyway, you guys were about to tell me about these three rules of being a Ranger," Mack piped up, trying to change the subject.

"First rule is that you must keep your identity as Rangers a secret. Secondly, you can never escalate a battle unless the enemy forces you to. Third and finally, you can never use your powers for personal gain." Jason and Kimberly started walking toward the house with Andrew and Mack.

"How do you know?" Mack asked.

"We were Power Rangers once. Jason was the first Red and I was the original Pink."

"Wow! My little cousin a Power Ranger. Who'd have ever guessed?"

"Obviously we kept our secret well. We haven't told anyone in almost sixteen years."

"Tommy hasn't been so good at keeping secrets though. He made a video about the Rangers while he was with the Dino Thunder team."

"Tommy was a Ranger with them? Which color?" Jason asked.

"Black," whispered Kimberly. "I recognized his fighting style. He was the Black Ranger."

"Right you are, Kim. He was the Black Ranger and their mentor." Kim looked at her uncle and then looked away quickly. "Are you alright, Kim?"

"It's so hard to hide anything from you. You could always read me better than anyone except Jason." She stepped away from Jason and took a deep breath.

"Kim, don't. You know that the Power isn't stable. You know you shouldn't be using it."

"Jason, Dulcea told me that my Power is strong. That it will protect me when I need it to."

"It might be strong but it isn't stable. Kim, she told you not to push the Power too far. Or did you conveniently forget that part?"

"Of course I didn't forget. I know exactly what she told me. You need to remember that she's been training me for years."

"Kim, she's been training you through your dreams. You and I both know that there's a world of difference between the dream world and the real one."

"Of course I know!" Kim was practically shouting now. She looked down at the ground. When she spoke again, her voice seemed full of tears. "In the dream world, I still have Tommy and he doesn't hate me."

"Kim, he doesn't hate you. He just doesn't know what was going on in your life then."

"It doesn't matter. He probably never wants to see me again."

"You don't know just how wrong you are, honey."

Andrew wasn't about to tell his niece about all the nights he'd spent sitting up, keeping an eye on the young man who still loved her more than his own life. Tommy had spent numerous nights sitting in Andrew's den, drinking until he was nearly unconscious and mourning the loss of his relationship with Kimberly.

"I don't think he would want to talk to me now anyway."

Suddenly, the four of them found themselves surrounded by lava lizards. Mack stepped in front of Kimberly and his father. "Rangers, I need help out here!" he called into his communicator. "Dad, get them out of here!" he said just before he morphed.

Andrew looked around and saw that there was no way to get out of there and back to the house. He simply held on to Kimberly to keep her steady as Jason and Mack dropped into defensive stances.

Kim tried to step away from Andrew to join the fight but he kept her close. "Stay back, Firebird!" Jason yelled as he knocked one of the creatures away.

"Jase, I can help!" She pulled away from Andrew and stood tall. Jason had no chance to stop her and Andrew could only watch helplessly as Kimberly made a gesture and suddenly stood before them in full Ninjetti uniform.

"Rangers, I need help out here!" Six heads snapped to look up at the monitor.

"Lava Lizards!" Rose and Ronnie exclaimed, running to the monitor.

"It's Jason!" A sandy haired young man turned to a man with short, spiked dark hair. "Jason's here."

"Does anyone know who the girl is next to Andrew?" Dax asked.

"Yeah, she's cute," Will nodded. The dark-haired man looked closely at the monitor, seeing her morph as he watched.

"Billy, is that …?" asked the dark-haired man.

"Kimberly." Billy turned to see the team morphed, catching Tommy bolting out of the Command Center out of the corner of his eye.