Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or any of the characters relating to it.

Taken

Regret

Kimberly stood from before the vanity where she had been sitting for most of the time since he had left, crying once again. He would be home from practice in an hour. She had to have dinner on the table for him, now not only for her own sake but for the child growing inside her as well.

She rushed to the kitchen and took the chicken she had been marinating out of the refrigerator and put it to cook in the oven. She set the temperature and the timer and quickly headed over to the bathroom to bathe and dress while her meal cooked.

How did this happen? she thought as she slipped into the bathtub, favoring her right shoulder, which was bruised. The warm water felt so good, and the scent of the bubbles was so soothing and relaxing. She needed this, she told herself – just a few minutes of relaxation before he came home.

She had to tell him about the baby, but she had no idea how he would react. She had no friends to fall back on, not since she had sent that letter to Tommy almost a year ago. Everyone had written her, demanding a real reason. They all had not bought that she had found someone else even though it was the truth. Frustrated and miserable, she had cut off communication with Angel Grove.

Kim still wrote Jason, Zach, and Trini, but she never mentioned the husband she had eloped to or the abuse he had suddenly shown after they had wed. She was too afraid that Jason would show up and get hurt because of his attempt to help her. Besides, she knew it would place her in a worse situation.

Where could she go if he reacted violently? It was her own fault she had no one to turn to, or so she told herself. In her heart of hearts, she knew her old friends would take her in at a moment's notice, but she was not ready to give up on her marriage. He always apologized so sweetly, so genuinely, and she always took him back in her arms because she knew he did not really mean to hurt her; it just happened. It was like a routine they had gotten into – a potentially deadly routine to Kim. He promised he would go to rehab when he had enough money, but somehow at the end of each month somehow there was never enough.

Why didn't I see this before? It had all started so innocently. She had laid eyes on him after practicing for the competitions one evening.

# # #

"Hey," Elijah said coolly as he leaned against the wall by the entrance to the lady's locker room.

"Hello," Kim said shyly, feeling somehow like she was betraying Tommy by just talking to this fellow gymnast.

"What's your name, Beautiful?" he asked smoothly.

Oh! It had been so long since she had heard someone call her that. She had not had time to talk to Tommy this close to the games. "Kimberly," she answered. "Kimberly Anne Hart."

"A beautiful name for a beautiful lady."

"Thank you." Kimberly blushed but quickly composed herself. "What's your name?"

"Elijah McCloud."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, but I must be getting ready to leave."

"Likewise," he said with a smile. He watched her walk to the door of the ladies locker room. "Hey, you free by any chance Friday evening?"

"I have to check my schedule," she answered, and, feeling guilty, she rushed inside.

Inside the room, her friends surrounded her. "Well, how'd it go, Kim?" Courtney asked while rummaging through her duffel bag for a missing hair accessory.

"How'd what go?" Kim asked, grabbing a towel and heading to the showers.

"You know. Your talk with 'Lij. Did he ask you out? I mean the way he's been watching you…" Jessica said dreamily.

"Don't be ridiculous. And, yes, he did ask me out, Jess." Kimberly got into the shower and began to wash her hair.

'And what did you say?" Bridget, Kimberly's roommate, asked. "You didn't say 'yes,' did you?"

"Well, I didn't exactly say 'no' either," Kim replied as she began to get dressed. "But I should have."

"What do you mean you should have?" Jessica asked in disbelief. "Earth to Kim. 'Lij is like the coolest guy on the men's team."

"She has a boyfriend, you know," Bridget cut in on Kim's behalf.

"Thanks, Bridg."

"Ooo…a boyfriend. "Jessica plopped down on a bench and crossed her legs. "Do tell. Is he cute?"

"Yes, incredibly handsome. He has this incredibly dreamy smile, and his eyes…"

"She's stuck," Courtney stated with a smile.

"Yup," agreed Jessica. "I think you should say 'yes,' Kim. I mean it's not like this boyfriend of yours –"

"He has a name, and I'm not going out with 'Lij. I don't care how suave or cute he is. I can't; I'm taken," Kim resolved. "I love Tommy."

"It doesn't have to be a date exactly, just two friends having dinner." Jessica finished brushing her hair, pulled it back into a ponytail, and began to tease it. "Let him show you a good time. After all, you deserve it, girl. No one on this team has been more focused or diligent than you."

"Yea, come on, Kim; what do you say?" Courtney asked.

"No. I can't betray Tommy." Kim opened her locker and took out her shoes after looking longingly at the picture of her and Tommy.

Courtney was looking over her shoulder in an instant. "Man, you're right. He is cute, and his smile is dreamy, and he is perfect, and –"

"And I won't risk loosing him, not even for Elijah." Kimberly closed her locker.

"And I thought you'd broke up," Jessica said boisterously. Kimberly gave her a confused look. "You haven't been coming in talking about your phone call with Tommy the night before like you used to."

"Well, I haven't exactly had time to return his calls," Kim said defensively.

"And whose fault is that? We all thought you and 'Lij had a thing going on. I mean, as often as you two end up being the last two here, though he does have his buddies there." Jessica looked over at Courtney.

"I know, girl; you haven't exactly talked to Tommy in at least a month. For all you know, he could have found someone else."

"Tommy wouldn't do that."

"You make him sound like a saint," Jessica noted. "He's only human. A pretty girl who knows how to flirt and get her man, and –"

"Stop it! Tommy knows better. He would never do that to me. You don't know him."

"Or would he?" Jessica asked, and she and Courtney left.

# # #

And that was how it had started. A simple seed of doubt planted in her mind. The next thing she knew, she was accepting Elijah's invitation despite Bridget's pleading and reasoning.

If only she had known it then. The regret it would bring nearly a year later. The hurt and danger it would place her in. The helplessness she would feel. However, she could not have seen it.

He had been nice the first few dates. When he asked her if she would marry him, she had said yes in a heartbeat only to feel guilt about Tommy after they eloped that evening. She did not expect what was going to happen next after he started hanging out with those "buddies" of his more often than her. Suddenly, he began having rages, and she would be the one to receive the result of his anger.

She did not know why she did it then, but she wrote the cursed letter instead of begging for help and a way out. She had fallen in love with Elijah and had been his girlfriend, but she had always kept Tommy, who she still loved even though she denied it, as her escape if anything went wrong, but now she did not have him to help her. No matter how much she longed to be safe in his arms, she could never have him.

She still loved Elijah, and she held out hope that he would get off the drugs that had changed him from the sweet, savvy, kind, smooth-talking man she had once known – the drugs that had started all their problems. Stronger than her love for him, however, was her fear of him.

Kimberly got out of the shower and dressed. She quickly put on some make-up to cover her bruises. Suddenly, fear possessed her and she went into the bedroom and dug out the box with Jason's letters in them. Her hands shaking, she pulled out the most recent ones.

She sank down on the bed and smiled slightly as she read the familiar writing.

"Dearest Kimberly,

Why is it that Tommy is saying you broke up with him? He says there's no real explanation and that you won't say anything to the others and have dropped all communication with them. He was hoping I'd have the real explanation, but, to be quite frank, I don't have the slightest clue.

Are you in some sort of trouble? If you are, you know you can always talk to me, right Kim? You have my number. You have always been like a little sister to me, and I do not want to see your name in the obituary anytime soon if your trouble is that great. Please write or call me to assure me I don't have to worry about that.

Jase

She had not replied in any way to that letter; something had always held her back. Now, she was going to have to act quickly if she was going to call him.

She walked into the kitchen and put the letter down on the counter next to the telephone. Trembling, she dialed the familiar numbers.

"Hello?" Jason answered.

"Jase? It's me."

"Kim? It's been a while."

"I know. Look, please hear me through without any interruptions."

"Uh – alright."

"I need you to book a flight for me to your area, please. No time to explain. It needs to leave at least at 7:00 p.m. my time, k, Jase? I might not come, but I need this option if I decide to take it."

"Alright. Look, are you in some kind of trouble?"

Kimberly hung the phone on the hook and walked into the kitchen to put the corn and instant potatoes on the stove. Within ten minutes, her meal was finished and placed on the table. Now all she had to do was wait. She only hoped Elijah's friend would not be with him.

A/N: Now, do you want me to continue this? If so, let me know in your review. Even if there is only one yes, I will continue, but the frequency of updates is not a guarantee as I also write in the Lord of the Rings fandom and that usually gets precedence now over Power Rangers and school is going to start in approximately 19 days. However, if you want this continued, I will try to update as often as possible. Also, this is my first attempt at writing fanfiction based on Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. I plan to possibly link this into Dino Thunder.

Find out next chapter if Kim will take that plane to New Zealand and how Elijah will react.

Please REVIEW. I like to know what my readers think

TBC…