Author's Note: This is a "Letter" story. I know they've been done, but I really wanted to tell a story based on the beauty of unmerited favor and love. There's some pretty rough themes within this story, so you've been forewarned. But they serve the better purpose of showing love and redemption
Also, Morgan is the character Derek Morgan from Criminal Minds. I really tried to come up with my own character, but I just kept injecting his character into him.
Grace Alone - Chapter 1
*December 1996 – Miami, FL*
"You coming or not?" Abby asked, hanging around the half-opened door. She gazed at her roommate, the famed Angel Grove phenom, Kimberly Hart, who stared intently at a piece of paper. "Earth to Kimberly." The words shook the petite gymnast out of her seemingly hypnotic trance, and she slowly lifted her sad eyes to meet Abby's. "Still trying to write that break-up letter?"
She nodded.
"Look, Kim, you're hot, he's 3000 miles away, and there are tons of guys who you could be with right now. One of which is Brandon, who simply adores you."
"Abby..."
"I'm just saying..."
"Look, I just..." Kim sighed, not really knowing how to continue. "The idea of breaking up with Tommy just doesn't sit right with me."
"Look, I know you love Tommy," Abby replied. "But what you had was a puppy love. But you're in the big leagues now, sister. It's like when you go to college and leave your high school sweetheart. You suddenly realize, 'oh, I liked him when we were in high school, but now I'm in college. I can date college guys.' Better to leave him now then to drag it on." Kim's eyes drifted back to the letter, and then back to Abby.
"No, I think... I think I'm going to sit on it a little bit longer," she replied.
"Fine," Abby said. "You should still come with us. There will be drinking and dancing..."
"Sounds like a fine way to get ourselves into trouble and kicked out of the pan-globals," Kim countered.
"Nobody's going to know," Abby reasoned shallowly. "Besides, the cops in town are trying to protect the athletes, you'll be fine." Kim stared down at the piece of paper, took it, and threw it in the trash.
"Fine, I'll come," Kim acquiesed. "But no matchmaking. I'm Tommy's girl, and I'm not changing that."
"Whatever, girl, get your hottest dress on and meet me outside."
*Reefside, CA – January 2007*
Dr. Thomas Oliver pulled into his driveway on Valencia Drive after a long day of research. He sighed heavily, trying to mentally transition from a hard day of work to an empty home. He walked slowly to the front door as he pulled his keys out from his brown bomber jacket. While it didn't get too cold, the cool night air warranted the extra layer. After he unlocked the door he pulled it open and walked in, sloppily putting his things on the ground and throwing his jacket on the kitchen table, which had also collected the past few days of mail, mostly unopened.
He moved over to the side table where his mini t-rex skeleton resided, and he pulled the jaw down, revealing the staircase that descended underneath his home. He moved slowly down the steps, until at last his feet hit the hard floors of what used to be the command center for the Dinothunder Power Rangers. While Tommy and Hayley had rebuilt the underground lair, it had mostly no traces of its former use. It had been over two years since Tommy had donned the black ranger armor. No, the basement had now become a sanctuary of his past, boxes and files were stacked on the walls, organized by date and events, the computer and desk in the corner the only remnant of his current life that he kept down there.
He scanned the boxes and found one that had certainly been moved before. It wasn't in line with the rest of them. He looked closer to find the date on the box, which read 'January 1997.' He brought the box over with him to his desk, put it down briefly so he could pour himself a small glass of scotch that he kept down there, and he sat down. Taking a small sip of the drink, he opened the box and retrieved the first thing his fingers touched. It was a piece of paper. A letter. He opened it up to read, holding the letter down with one hand, while holding his glass with the other.
Dear Tommy,
Everything is going great down here in Florida. Coach Schmidt has me more ready than ever for the competition.
Tommy, this is the hardest letter I've ever had to write. You've always been my best friend, and in some ways you're like a brother. But something has happened here that I can't explain. It's both been wonderful and painful at the same time. Tommy, I've met someone else.
Tommy, you know I would never do anything to hurt you, but I feel like I've met the person I belong with. He's wonderful, kind, and caring. You'd really like him. Everything would be perfect if it weren't for hurting you. But I have to follow my heart. I will always care about you Tommy.
Please forgive me,
Kimberly
A tear slid down his eye, and he reached back inside the box to find the envelope that the letter came in, postmarked January 8, 1997.
"It's been ten years," he said aloud. "Where are you Kimberly? And what prompted you to write this?" He placed the letter and envelope back in the box, and found reached back in the box to pull out some pictures, and then a small jewelry box. He looked through the pictures, all of them from his relationship with Kimberly. From their early days as friends, to the last few of them before she went to the pan-globals.
He put the pictures down to open the jewelry box. It held the smallest solitaire diamond ring. It was simple, which was to be expected considering he bought it while he was still in high school. He shut his eyes and remembered back to the last time he saw her. After Muiranthias.
Tommy saw Kim walk up the stairs of the arena while their martial arts team celebrated. He wanted to go after her, but he knew how it would look, with Kat being there and all. He saw Jason across the way, and he pulled him aside.
"Can we talk?" He asked. Jason's smile faded. Jason put down the trophy they won, and the pair, dressed in their karate gis walked up the steps toward the outside of the arena together. "Do you know what happened to her?"
"No," Jason sighed. "She almost didn't come at all. I always knew something was wrong with that letter, but she hasn't told me a thing."
"Doesn't help that an intergalactic space pirate decided to intervene," Tommy interjected.
"It also doesn't help that she sees you with Katherine," Jason countered. Tommy's face fell, but Jason continued. "Look, I know that's not your fault. She wrote you the letter, and you have every right to move on."
"I just wish I knew what really happened, it was so unlike her to do something like this," Tommy commented. "I mean, I tried calling, I wrote a bunch of letters back..."
"I know, bro." The pair walked to the outside hoping to find Kim, but she was no where to be found. "I wonder where she could be?"
That was the last that either of them had seen her. She had appeared happy, or at least, happy as anyone could be while being captured by a space pirate. But since Muiranthias, no one, not even Aisha or Trini had as much spoken with her. It was like she disappeared off the face of the earth.
The ringing of his cell phone shook him out of his thoughts. He picked up the phone, not even checking the number.
"Dr. Oliver speaking," he said. "Yes... yes, Dr. Tom Oliver... what do you mean?" Suddenly his breathing was heavy. "Thank you." He quickly hung up and punched in a different number. "Hayley... I need you to come with me to the police station. It's urgent... yes I know it's getting late... look, Hayley, I know I've leaned on you for a lot, but this might be the time I need you the most! I'll be there in 20 minutes." He quickly grabbed his keys, ran up the stairs, and made a beeline for the driver's side of his jeep. He drove with a fury over to Hayley's apartment, each moment seeming like an eternity.
He pulled into her driveway with a few minutes to spare, and she made her way into the passenger side seat. "It must be urgent if you're five minutes early."
"I don't know what I'm going to do, what I'm going to say..."
"Tommy, slow down," Hayley said. "What's going on? Did the police stumble onto your identity as a power ranger?"
"No, no... it's... I don't know how to explain it," he said while starting to pull back out and make their way to the police station. "I've told you about Kimberly, right?"
"Your first love from high school? No, you've only mentioned her to me about ten thousand times." Hayley was tempted to roll her eyes, but knew better than that seeing the state her long-time friend was in. "I know today is the ten year anniversary of her letter, but..."
"Kim is in custody of the Reefside Police Department," he shared.
"Wait... you haven't seen her in ten years, and she's in our town, and she's locked up?" Tommy nodded. "What's she in for?"
"Drug dealing and prostitution," he said soberly. Hayley, who had always hated the fact that Kim dumped him the way she did, found that she was saddened by the turn of the events. "I just..."
"I know that tone of voice," Hayley interrupted. "You're about to get all guilt-ridden, and that's why you brought me here, so that you wouldn't go down that path. This isn't your fault."
"Isn't it? Maybe I shouldn't have given up so easy."
"Tommy, she didn't want to be found. Sometimes, the people you want to help don't want to be helped." Tommy nodded, but kept silent after that. They arrived to the police station, but before Tommy got out, Hayley grabbed his arm. "You ready for this?"
"I'm not sure I have a choice," Tommy replied. The pair exited the vehicle and walked into the station. One of the officers immediately eyed them and waved them over. He was tall, dark-skinned, and dressed in blue jeans, a v-neck and a bulletproof vest. His head was shaved and had a serious look on his face.
"You must be Tom Oliver?" Tommy extended his hand. "Detective Morgan, Reefside PD. This your wife?"
"No, I'm just a good friend," Hayley replied. "My name is Hayley."
"How did you know I was Tom?" He asked.
"From the picture," Morgan replied, to which Tommy looked even more confused. "Come with me and I'll explain what I can." They walked to the back of the station where they found a private room with a table and four chairs in it. They sat down, and Morgan shared.
"We've picked this girl up three times the past two months. We think she's been coerced by one of the big drug-runners in the state, both as a dealer and as a prostitute. First time we picked her up, we couldn't even identify her. She had no identifying marks, no documentation, and we knew she was working under someone else, so we let her go, trying to see if she'd lead us to her handler. Meanwhile, we sent her picture through the rest of the departments in the state, and after awhile, we tracked down her name. But we couldn't find her parents, family, last known whereabouts. Just her name. So we didn't know who to contact. Until we found this picture in her pocket." He placed the picture in front of Tommy and Hayley, and they were shocked to find that it was a wallet-sized picture of Tommy and Kim from back in high school.
"You found this on her?" Tommy asked. Morgan nodded.
"When we saw this picture, we called the Angel Grove Police Department to see if they knew who you were. And here we are."
"So... why call us in?"
"At this point, Kimberly hasn't told us anything," Morgan shared. "She's been in shock each time she's here. She's malnourished, bruised, and won't talk. But we don't think it's because she doesn't want too."
"Why do you think she won't talk?" Hayley asked.
"Abuse victims often teach themselves that no one will listen, and that it's their own fault. It's possible that she was raped or abused, maybe by a boyfriend or a family member, and that led her down this path. She may be unwilling to give up her pimp if she feels like it would betray him."
"So you're wondering if seeing me might help her feel safe?" Tommy asked.
"That's the theory," Morgan replied. "Do you think you can help us?"
"Look, I can try," Tommy replied. "But I'm not sure she's going to want to talk to me. We used to date, but we've only seen each other once since we broke up, and that was nearly ten years ago."
"Look, if you feel unsafe, or..."
"Trust me, detective, he's not going to feel unsafe," Hayley interjected. The comment earned a stern look from Tommy, and a quizzical one from the detective.
"Maybe I should see her first, like, behind one of those hidden mirrors they have in all the cops shows? This way the shock of seeing her won't be on my face."
"That's not a bad idea," Morgan affirmed. "Come with me." Detective Morgan led them down the corridor and let them into a room next to the interrogation room. As soon as he flicked on the light, Tommy gasped at the sight of his former love. From the other side of the glass, he felt as if the person he saw was some sort of doppelganger, some form of a negative copy of the ex-pink ranger. Her hair was unkempt, her face bruised and her lips cut. While she had always been petite, it was clear that she was incredibly malnourished. She occasionally shook and twitched, and her eyes only focused downward, as if she were too ashamed to look anyone in the eye.
Hayley grasped Tommy's shoulder, giving an assuring squeeze as she looked on at both the prisoner and then to Tommy.
"Are you ready to go in?" Morgan asked. Tommy looked at Hayley for a moment, and then back to Kim, nodding his affirmation to the detective. "Ok... I'll go in first, and then I'll bring you in, ok?"
"Ok," Tommy said weakly. The pair walked out of the room, with Morgan quickly opening the door to the interrogation room. He motioned to Tommy to stay for a moment, and then turned to Kimberly.
"Kimberly, I know you've had a rough go of things, but we found an old friend. Someone that might be able to help you."
"No one can help me," she mumbled, her lip quivering as she tried to get her words out.
"Well, we'll see about that," he replied, motioning Tommy in. He walked into the room, and immediately Kim lost it.
"How... how could you bring him here?" She lunged at the pair, only to be restrained by her chains. "Why would you bring him here! Get me out! Get me out!" Morgan quickly grabbed Tommy and pulled him back behind the glass, while another officer came into help calm her down.
Hayley looked with concern at her long-time friend, who was clearly shaken by the state of his past love.
"What did I do to her..." He mumbled to himself, a tear threatening to fall.
"Most likely, nothing," Officer Morgan replied. "I don't think she reacted like that because you did something to her."
"Did you see how she just responded?" Tommy looked incredulously.
"I did," Morgan replied. "She also had your picture as one of her sole possessions. And it wasn't one of you alone, it was one of the two of you. Happy. If she believed you had done something to her, why would she keep that?" Tommy shrugged his shoulders.
"Do you think maybe she feels ashamed?" Hayley asked.
"Why would she feel ashamed of seeing me?" Tommy asked. The naïve response caused Hayley to roll her eyes.
"Think about it, Tommy," she pleaded. "She's running from something. She's malnourished, she's on drugs, she's a prostitute. And here comes her old flame..."
"She dumped me in the first place, she didn't want me..."
"Maybe not then," Morgan interjected. "But that picture indicates that there's some sort of attachment to you. And I'd bet on what your friend here said. I think she feels a deep level of shame."
"What should I do then?" Tommy asked.
"Well, maybe after she calms down a bit more, maybe you could try going in again and talking with her?" Tommy looked at Morgan intensely after the suggestion. He wasn't sure if he could handle seeing her like this.
He turned towards the one-way mirror to see Kimberly settling down, and his gaze went towards her eyes. He looked into them and saw a different woman than the one he knew ten years ago. Where love, joy, and warmth once resided, fear and shame had now taken control. Her vibrancy replaced by timidity. Her confidence that was so infectious had completely dissipated.
"I'll go in," He said, more of a confirmation to himself, rather than an answer to Morgan. "I'll see if I can help her talk. But I want to go in alone." Morgan nodded.
"Just remember, if you need anything, any support from us, we'll be with you..."
"Trust me, Detective Morgan, I don't really need any help protecting myself from her," Tommy interjected.
"Well, regardless... we're here if you need us." Tommy affirmed the officer with a head nod, and then looked into Hayley's eyes with nervous trepidation. He turned away to walk into the room that the last officer had just left, he crossed the threshold, and readied himself for the most difficult conversation he would ever have.
There was a table that separated the two of them, with a chair on either side. Kimberly sat in the one across from Tommy, and when she saw her ex-boyfriend walk towards her once more, her eyes pierced him with a rage that he had never seen before. Her fists were clenched, and it almost looked like she was biting her tongue, doing whatever she could to restrain whatever she might want to do.
Tommy approached his chair with care, his nerves not going unnoticed by Hayley in the other room. He was shakier than normal, but he was able to find his seat and pull himself towards the cold steel table. "It's..." Tommy started, Kim's eyes darted from looking into his eyes to downward. He remembered what Morgan and Hayley had said, that she probably felt shame.
"It's really good to see you, Kimberly," Tommy said.
"Don't sit here and just patronize me, Tommy," she spat back. "We haven't seen each other for ten years, I look like hell, and I'm bound up in handcuffs at a police station."
"I'd rather see you here than to have never seen you at all," Tommy replied gently.
"You wouldn't say that if you knew what I've done," Kim said, looking once more at the ground as she said. "I'm not the same Kimberly you dated in high school."
"I'm not the same Tommy, either," he countered. "I'm not sure what you think you did that was so terrible, but we all have pasts. I tried to kill you and our friends, remember?"
Officer Morgan looked over at Hayley behind the mirror, his eyes flashed concern. Hayley put up her hand.
"It's ok, it was a long time ago, and Tommy got the proper help at the time," she explained. Morgan nodded his head and then turned his attention back to the pair in the interrogation room.
"Why are you here?" Kim asked, her tone still hardened.
"I'm here because I got a call that someone I care about is in custody." Tommy gazed into Kim's saddenned eyes. Her gaze met his for the first time, and Tommy felt like he could see something he hadn't seen prior. A spark. A glimmer of hope. But it faded quickly.
"You need to leave," Kimberly said suddenly. Tommy refused to move, and when a few moments went by, she said it again and again.
"I'm not leaving without answers," Tommy spoke softly. However, the words triggered in Kim a reaction that he didn't expect. She shot up out of her chair, attempting to lunge over the table to grab Tommy, only to be restrained by her chains once more. She screamed and snarled, cursing him for being in her prescence. Tommy felt his arm being tugged, and he found himself resisting officer Morgan, who was trying to bring him back out of the room. At first he resisted, but Morgan finally was able to drag him back into the room behind the mirror.
"What the hell are you doing?" Tommy asked, after they shut the door. "I had her talking, I could have gotten things back on track."
"We'll send you back in when she calms down a bit," Morgan replied.
"But I could have kept going, I had so much more to say..."
"Look, this is the most she's spoken in the times that we've had her here," Morgan replied. "She's getting used to seeing a face that she hasn't seen in a while. Shame is certainly at play. But you're right that she's starting to open up. It's just going to take time. The last thing we need is for her to do something that would get her into more trouble."
"What do you mean?" Hayley asked.
"Well, because of her record, another offense would just make it more difficult to actually move on her handlers. We're all ready talking about a lot of jail time, and while she deserves it, it'd be nice if we actually were able to catch the guys who have been putting her up to this." Hayley furrowed her brow at the officer's explanation.
"Do you think she'd lead you to them if you released her?"
"Not likely," he confessed. "We've dropped charges before, in hopes we could follow her to him, but she never goes back straight to him first. She waits and tries to get clean. But then after a while she shows back up here, without us ever knowing how she went from trying really hard to get back into the world, to the state she's in now." Tommy sat down and rubbed his head, frustrated that he didn't know what to do.
"I think I have an idea," Hayley replied. "What if you could put her under house arrest in my home?"
"What?!" Tommy shot up out of his seat.
"I'm not sure we could do that..."
"Why not?" Hayley challenged.
"There's a lot of paper work and policy that go into that," Morgan shared. "She's not convicted of the crimes..."
"What about witness protection?" Hayley replied.
"We could only do that if she actually gave us something."
"Give us a few weeks," Hayley reasoned. "If she's around friends, maybe it would loosen her up... help her be willing to open up more."
"What if she leaves?" Tommy asked. "There's no way to keep her there."
"Well, if she leaves, she's bound to end up back here," Hayley replied. "But I highly doubt that she would leave. She would have a home, food to eat, money in her pocket..."
"Uhh... you don't have a lot of money, Hayley," Tommy leveled.
"But you do," She shot back.
"Can you give us a moment?" Tommy asked Officer Morgan. He nodded and stepped out, leaving the pair alone. "What are you doing?"
"Do you want to help Kimberly or not?"
"I fail to see how this would help her," Tommy replied. "You've never met her, and the only friend she has is me, and she gets really upset at the sight of me."
"What if we could change her perception of reality?" Hayley pleaded. "What if we could help her see that she isn't a burden? That she doesn't have to be ashamed?"
"How could we do that?" Tommy reasoned. "Her past is littered with things that bring shame, just how exactly do you just get rid of it?"
"I don't think we just 'get rid of it,'" Hayley remarked, using her fingers to make air quotes. "But I wonder if having her live as a friend, a roommate, rather than as a convict and ex-junkie, would help her. She's lived so long ashamed of the life she's led, wondering what you would think of her. What if all she saw was how proud and supportive you were?" Tommy mulled over her friend's thought for a moment. He looked once more at the young, emaciated woman that once was his girlfriend, and furrowed his brow.
"We can do this," Tommy muttered. "But before we do... why? Why do you want to help Kimberly?"
"Well, it wouldn't be wise to have her live with you, considering her outbursts..."
"I mean, why do you want to help her," Tommy interjected. "You've routinely told me how much you hated her for what she did to me. Why the change of heart? Why house her?"
"Seeing someone suffer changes your perspective," Hayley replied. She peered through the window and, for a moment, Tommy could see a tear drop from Hayley's eye. "It reminds me that she has a story, and this easily could have been my story."
"What do you mean?"
"We should get Officer Morgan back in here," Hayley quickly changed the topic. "You're good with this plan, right?"
"As long as you are," Tommy replied. They brought Morgan back in and discussed their plan, and within a few hours they were able to get paperwork drawn up to release Kimberly into a protective custody of sorts. She got changed and met Officer Morgan, Hayley, and Tommy outside.
"Kimberly, this is Hayley Ziktor," Morgan replied. "She's going to house you for the next few weeks. You'll be wearing an ankle monitor, it will track where you go, and it will notify us if you break your mandated curfew. If you think of anything you want to tell us, please call me on my cell. Here's my card." Morgan handed her his business card, and she looked it over for a moment, and then quickly slid it in her jean pocket.
"Kim," Tommy's gentle voice broke Kim out of her seeming hypnotic trance, her eyes becoming glued to his. "Hayley is a dear friend of mine. She's going to take good care of you. If it's okay with you, I'll visit tomorrow and we can talk through any details you'd like, does that sound okay?" She nodded her head with little vigor.
After a few more details, they walked out of the station, got into Tommy's car so he could drop them off at Hayley's apartment. Little did they know, they were being watched by a broad-shouldered, spiky-haired man. He smirked, and then pulled out his cell phone.
"Boss... we may have a problem."
To be continued...
Thanks for reading! As always, feedback is appreciated!
- Googz333