DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Just borrowing them for a little while.

SUMMARY: When Kim is drawn back to Angel Grove due to a friend's death, can she and Tommy overcome the past to be together again?

A/N: This is my first attempt at a Power Rangers fanfic. Please don't get upset if I get the characters a little off.

September 8, 2001 Los Angeles Airport

Kimberly stepped off the plane and looked around. She was trying to find her friend, Jason. He had said that he'd pick her up at the airport.

She certainly hoped that he wasn't late. She knew that he was no longer a Ranger but he still tended to run whenever they were fighting. She smiled. That was Jason; always a Ranger in his heart. She could only hope he remembered that he was supposed to be here.

Jason Lee Scott saw the caramel colored hair of one of his oldest friends as she looked around for him. "Kim!" he yelled. "Kim!"

As they got close to each other, Jason reached out a hand and pulled his friend to him. She hit his chest and he wrapped an arm around her. "Let's get out of here. I hate crowds."

Jason couldn't help but notice that Kim tried to keep her back from getting hit as they moved through the crowds. He felt her wince as people would bump into her or accidentally hit her back. "You okay?"

"It's been a long week. I'll explain later," she sighed as they made it to baggage claim. Jason nodded and had her sit down as he went in to find her bags.

When he came back from the carousel, he noticed that she was holding her lower back. "Kim?" he asked as he walked up to her.

"I'm okay, Jase. Just a little sore. And a little jet lagged."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm certain. Let's go." She felt a twinge of guilt for not telling her friend about the surgery that had ended her career as a gymnast. She would explain it later.

Pulling into his house, Jason looked over at his friend. She had fallen asleep during the drive and he noticed that her shirt had ridden up, revealing bandages across the lower part of her back. 'Kim, why won't you tell me what happened?'

Just then, she whimpered. He knew what her dreams were about. He put one hand on her shoulder to wake her up. "Kim, we're here. Let's get you inside."

"Can I have a nice hot shower?

"Are you sure that getting those bandages wet is such a good idea?"

Kim started, sitting up straight with a hand to her lower back. "Owww. How did you know about that?"

"Kim, you've been protecting your back since you got off the plane. When you were asleep, your shirt crept up and I saw the bandages" He took a deep breath. "What happened, Kim?"

"I had to have surgery. There was some sort of tumor on my lower back. They removed it but –" Kim broke. She just couldn't say the words. Saying them to Jason, one of her oldest friends, would be like slamming the door shut on her gymnastics career once and for all. If she didn't say it out loud, she could go on pretending that she still had a chance.

"Kim, look at me." When she did, he could see in her eyes what she just couldn't bring herself to say. "Kim, I'm sorry." He wrapped his arms around Kim as the tears started flowing from her eyes.

"Jason, I'm sorry that I couldn't call you. It was so hard to accept. I still can't believe it's all over. I –"

"Don't, Kim. It's okay."

"It'll never be okay. Not ever again. I gave up Tommy for gymnastics, thinking that as long as I had my gymnastics I could be happy even without him. Now I don't have anything."

Pulling back with his voice full of mock hurt, Jason asked, "What am I? Swiss cheese?"

Kim giggled through her tears. "You know what I mean. I can't have Tommy back. Not after the letter."

"That letter wasn't the best move that you could have made." Jason thought back to the way Tommy was after getting THAT letter. "You should have seen him."

FLASHBACK

"Tommy?" Jason called, walking into the apartment he had shared with his friend before they bought the building that now housed Tommy's dojo. When he didn't get an answer, he went down the hall to his friend's room. The sight that greeted his eyes was not one that he ever cared to see again.

Tommy sat on the edge of his bed in a room that had been torn apart. There was nothing that hadn't been disturbed. As if that wasn't enough, Tommy's eyes were flooded with tears. He held a knife in his hands; the edge was obviously sharp as testified to by the blood flowing from his hands.

Jason knelt in front of his friend who looked for all the world as if someone had just ripped the heart out of his chest. "Tommy, what happened, man?"

Tommy just looked over at the nightstand next to the bed which had been tipped over. Jason picked up the letter and felt his own heart sink. Kim had dumped Tommy. Worse, Jason could tell that his friend hadn't written the letter voluntarily.

Jason placed his hands on Tommy's and opened them, noticing that the blade had sliced open his palm. The other palm had also been sliced but Tommy didn't seem to notice.

Jason went to the bathroom and grabbed a towel in order to stop the bleeding. "Tommy. Tommy." His friend wasn't answering. "Zordon, Tommy needs help. Can you teleport us to the Command Center?"

"Of course, Jason. Teleporting now." The next thing either young man knew they were standing in the Command Center and Alpha was leading Tommy off to fix his hands.


Once they were certain that Tommy would be okay, Zordon asked Jason, "What happened, Jason?"

"He got a letter from Kim. It just doesn't seem like her. Zordon, look at it and tell me what you think." Jason produced the letter and showed it to Zordon.

"She was crying as she wrote this. There are traces of salt on the paper."

"I just can't believe that she wrote this." Jason thought he knew Kimberly better than that.

"We'll have to keep Tommy busy for several days until he can reconcile himself to these feelings." Jason agreed. He just didn't realize how long it would take Tommy to get past the loss of the woman he loved.

FLASHBACK ENDS

"I'm so sorry." Kim was still crying. "You remember what happened?" When Jason nodded, Kim continued. "Craig is the reason I sent the letter. He forced me to. Just before the first time he …" She couldn't continue and Jason knew why. He remembered the terror in her eyes the day he had discovered what had been happening to his petite friend.

FLASHBACK

Jason parked the SUV near the door that the police were gathered around. He had been granted access to the site by telling the police that he was a representative of the Power Rangers and they wanted him to check on their friend. That, coupled with a few papers from Zordon, got him into the hotel room.

The terror in Kim's eyes as she looked at all the strangers around her was something that Jason never wanted to see again. She had bruises on her arms and her wrists were raw where they were tied to the headboard. He watched as officers tried to get close enough to untie her, only to have her kick at them.

"Officers, could you leave us for a moment?" The officers all just looked at him for a moment before filing out of the room. "Could you please get the reporters back from the room for me, please?" He knew what kind of circus this would be once he started out the door with Kim.

Once the door was firmly shut behind the last officer, Jason stepped to the bed. Kim's terror didn't abate; it was as if she couldn't see the actual person standing in front of her, only Craig.

"Kim. Kim, it's me. It's Jason. It's alright. Zordon sent me to be here for you. We both thought that you could use a friendly face. Especially with as long as you've been missing."

"Jason? Is it really you?" Kim's whisper brought hope back to Jason. Maybe the bastard hadn't done too much damage after all.

"It's me. I'm going to untie you now. Okay?" She nodded and he sat down on the bed, reaching over her to untie the cords that held her wrists above her head.

Once they had been loosened, Kim threw her arms around her friend, more than friend, brother. Her tears were flowing freely by now and her sobs broke Jason's heart.

"What happened, Kim?" She began to explain the fact that she had befriended Craig when he had been working at the training center. He latched on to her and wouldn't back off, no matter what she said or did.

"Jason, he –" She wasn't sure she could actually say this. She took a deep breath and forced herself to say it. "He raped me."

Jason's heart plummeted at the sound of those words. Kim had been raped! He was so glad that Zordon hadn't even considered sending Tommy. That sick bastard would already be dead. He was glad that Tommy had never been much of one to watch the news. Even if the picture made the news, Tommy would change the station before they showed it. He hoped.

"Kim, just relax. I'll take you to the hospital. Then, I have to go back and report to Zordon. I'll be back as soon as I can. Until then, Trini and Zack are flying in to stay with you. It's up to you how much you tell them about all of this. Can you handle that?"

"As long as it's the three of you. Don't tell Tommy." Her terror-stricken eyes found Jason's. She looked deep for a moment and seemed to accept that Tommy wouldn't find out from Jason. She nodded. "Let's go."

"I'll carry you. We'll have to move fast to avoid the reporters." She nodded and wrapped her arms around Jason's neck, burying her face in his shoulder as he situated her in his firm grasp. The minute the door opened, police officers surrounded them and Jason ran for the SUV. He settled her in the passenger seat and took off for the hospital.

FLASHBACK ENDS

"Kim, you need to talk to Tommy. Explain things to him. Try to make him understand that you didn't want to hurt him."

"Why would he believe me now, after all this time?" Kim shook her head. "It's better this way. Can we just go inside?"

Jason thought it was a good thing that Kim hadn't seen the front of the building. The Falcon Crane dojo was the best thing that had ever happened to Tommy. The rest of the team had thought the name was wrong but he insisted. It was his way of demonstrating that no matter what he still loved Kimberly. If it kept him happy, Jason had told them, they should just let the subject go. Besides, it was his dojo so he could name it whatever he wanted.

Jason nodded. He didn't think now was the time to tell her that Tommy lived in the building too. He hadn't even told Tommy that she was coming. He hadn't been sure how Tommy would handle it. He would find out at the funeral.

Carrying Kim's bags up the back stairs, Jason prayed that Tommy was still in class and wouldn't show up until Kim was tucked away upstairs.