Author's Notes: Thank you all for the reviews. They mean the world to me. I am not going to follow the Gokaiger story line piece by piece but there will be parts tossed in here and there that follow it.
Chapter Two: Putting a Team Together
The chirping of the birds outside his window woke Tommy from what had to be one of the weirdest dreams that he had for a long time. He had no idea why he dreamt of Kimberly or the fact that she was an Alien Princess turned Pirate. 'That was just random.' He hadn't dreamt of her since he had finished updating the ranger logs with the information of the Samurai team. Tommy had made it a point to not think of her that often the last thing he needed to be plagued with was the what ifs. Realizing that he wasn't going to get anymore sleep that morning he attempted to sit up and turn his alarm off and start his day. As he began to sit up he realized that last night was no dream. A petite hand was clinging tightly to the sleeve of his t-shirt like her life depended on it belonging to one sleeping Kimberly who was in fact lying right next to him. She looked so small and fragile in one of his old white dress shirts. Which made him wonder what Kimberly didn't tell him about? Before he could truly contemplate the situation more the alarm clock went off causing Kimberly to bolt upright with her pistol caulked ready to fire ready for whatever battle that was waiting for her.
"Kim, Kimberly, Beautiful it's just the alarm clock you're safe. You're with me, Tommy. It's okay you're safe." Tommy said in a soothing voice hoping to get her to lower her gun. When she did this last night after she regained continuous after being in a crash was one thing but to do it to a common everyday noise was another.
"Tommy?" she blinked and un-caulked her pistol's hammer. "Oh God Tommy, I'm so sorry…" she quickly put the gun away. "I didn't mean to... It's just reflex."
Tommy just replied with a next time we share a bed to leave the firearms out of it. But even though his remark was playful deep down he was a bit scared. What could have caused this reaction with her? Jason had told him a while back stories about how some soldiers returning from the war would experience episodes where they think that they were still in the middle of the battle front but seeing Kimberly twice now waking up like she was in the middle of an attack just made him feel like he had failed her somehow. He should have been there to protect her. He should have questioned the letter. He knew the letter was not like her but he took it at face value, why? He asked himself. Shaking himself out of those thoughts, he didn't need Kim to pick them up and feel guilty she was already a bit skittish as it is. He knew that no matter what she was the one person to read him like an open book and he doubted that her skills have dulled in that aspect. Smiling he asked if she would like some breakfast.
"You can cook?" Kimberly's eyes popped out slightly.
Acting all mock-hurt Tommy said "I'll have you know your highness that I can cook one of the best omelets that you will ever have."
"Please don't call me that." Kimberly asked in a soft voice with her eyes staring down at her clutched fists.
'Clearly she was uncomfortable being dubbed as royalty, but why? The Kimberly he remembered used to dream about being a princess and having a white knight protect her.' Tommy made a mental note to ask at another time. This Kimberly was a lot more self-conscious then he remembered. "All right Kim I promise I won't." he assured her. "How about that omelet though?"
"I'd like that." she smiled.
The two made their way down stairs past the sleeping bird and into the kitchen. During the conversation was kept light and during the meal it was practically nonexistent. It wasn't until Tommy finish loading the dishes into the dishwasher did he suggest that they go check out Kimberly's ship. Kimberly quickly agreed and raced up stairs to dress, accidentally knocking Na'vi off their perch in her wake. Tommy figured that he would have enough time to grab a coffee and make a couple of calls before he got dressed and still have a few moments to spare. Little did he know that Kimberly would be back down the stairs impeccably groomed and dressed before the coffee was fully brewed. He wasn't sure how she had curled and styled hair perfectly with the stuff in his bathroom in two minutes and he wasn't about to ask either. Tommy just shook his head and took his cup of coffee and made his way up the stairs. When he stepped into his bathroom it was like one of those froofy girlly soap shops had exploded into a pink steam filled mist in there. Shaking his head Tommy really didn't want to know what Kim did there he just tried to get the mist dissipate as he pulled his clothes for the day. He constipated on who to call first between Jason and Haley, he opted for Haley because he would need her help with any needed repairs that Kim's ship may need.
"Tom, it is six o'clock in the morning there the hell better be a good reason why you're waking me up." A very grumpy New Zealander's voice demanded.
"Morning Haley, how'd you know it's me?" Tommy replied in his best innocent voice.
"Cut the crap Tommy and get to the point couldn't wait until a decent hour." Haley snarled.
"It's a long story but..." Tommy started.
"It always is with you." she muttered
Ignoring the interruption "Last night I found an injured ranger on my porch and it wound up being Kimberly, my Kimberly who is actually an alien princess that only broke up with me because she was promised to a duke but she didn't marry him and now she's here and wants me to become a ranger again and theirs a space ship crashed in my back yard. And, and she wants me to become a ranger again. And let's not forget that she has this weird robot bird that tells the future…Oh and now my bathroom smells like one of those stores in the mall that you get your soap at and uh Haley help!" he said all in one breath.
Haley paused for a moment and then asked "You had pizza before bed didn't you?"
"What! No… Okay one slice but Kimberly is really in my kitchen and there is really a ship in my backyard." Tommy defended. There was just something about Haley that made Tommy feel like a child who tracked mud all over the new carpet.
Shaking her head Haley informed him that she would be over in ten minutes. True to her word she was walking up the steps from the secret entrance cursing the whole way up. When the door opened she did not expect to be staring down the barrel of a pistol.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" a deadly calm voice demanded ready to shoot her if need be.
"Haley, Haley Ziktor." The red head raised her hands in surrender. "Tom called me, I'm a college friend of his and the Dino Thunder Technical advisor. You must be Kimberly; Tom told me allot about you."
"How do I know that you are telling the truth?" Kimberly asked.
"Ask Tom, he called and I'm guessing his swiss cheese memory forgot to tell you I was coming." Haley's voice shook.
"TOMMY!" Kimberly's voice screeched.
A series of oh craps and the sound of someone running could be heard from above the two ladies.
"Kim what are you doing!" Tommy's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he saw Kimberly holding a gun at point blank range at Haley.
"She was coming up this hidden stair case, rather loudly I might add. She says she knows you." Kimberly lowered her gun.
Taking the gun away from the pink ranger "Yes I know her, I figured Haley could help us fix your ship amongst other things. What were you thinking Kimberly? You could have killed her." Tommy demanded as whipped the shaving cream off his face.
"She was sneaking into the house I didn't know who she was all I could think is that we were under attack… just… just like what happened before." The pirate blinked back the tears that were beginning to form.
"Before?" Tommy's expression softened slightly.
"We had a cook named Basco…. He was attempting to collect the bounty on all of us…" She paused "We were just turning in for the night Lucia came to my room to show me her new ring." Kimberly rubbed the ring located on her left pinky. "We never saw it coming. One minute everything was normal the next the galleon was filled with Gormin, they're kinda like putties but made of metal and much tougher." She explained. "They got Doc first then Joe and Lucia. The captain hid Na'vi, the chest, and me so someone would be able to protect the keys. Basco demanded to know where I was and the keys but no one would say a word. One by one Basco killed them as the Gormin held them down. Na'vi and me stayed hidden as they towed the ship to an impound yard and waited for weeks as the monsters searched the ship for us. I guess they figured that we had escaped already or something because they stopped coming on board. Na'vi and I felt it was safe to make a run for it so we broke the ship free and started to make our way to someplace safe."
Hearing Kimberly's story made whatever current hostility Haley may have had for Kimberly melt away. 'No wonder she was so jumpy.' Haley determined. "You poor thing." Turning to Tommy "How dare you yell at her? This wouldn't have happened if you just told her I was coming over. You dolt." the red head glared at the rainbow ranger. "Come here Kim, let's go sit in the kitchen and have some coffee, while Tom finishes shaving. I swear that man takes forever to get ready."
"HEY!" Tommy exclaimed.
"I'd like that." Kimberly smiled. "I'm sorry I held you hostage."
Haley put her arm over the petite woman's shoulders. "Water under the bridge Kimberly, water under the bridge. Now tell me about this ship of yours, I can't wait to see it."
Tommy watched the two women disappear into the kitchen in a bit of shock. "How did this turn to my fault?" he asked the robotic bird.
"With the princess I find it's somehow never her fault." Na'vi replied.
"I forgot about that." Tommy muttered and went back upstairs.
"Na'vi come over here and meet Haley." Kim called from the kitchen.
By the time that Tommy returned to the ladies they were acting like they had been best of friends all their life. Kimberly was explaining about something that she called an instant groomer while Haley was peppering her with technical questions that Kimberly had no answer for. What was worst is that the two have found his secret stash of thin mints and had nearly polished off the box. Tommy was beginning to regret inviting Haley over. "I see you ladies found my thin mints." Tommy forced a smile. He had been hoarding those so they would hold him over until the next time the girl scouts came around again.
"Hey Tommy, I was just telling Haley about the invention that Doc made for me." Kimberly smiled innocently.
"Uh huh." He eyed the two women.
"You ready to go see this ship?" Haley changed the subject she knew that Tommy wouldn't be too happy about her breaking into his secret stash of junk food. "I can't wait to see this thing." Her and Kimberly stood up and walked out the back door arm in arm with Na'vi trailing slightly behind them leaving Tommy to follow them.
Whatever Tommy was expecting he this was not it. Less than 100 feet from his home was a huge red pirate ship resting on a series of broken trees. Up the small hill he could see where the ship initially hit and skidded down the land.
"Not my best landing mind you. But not the worst either." Kimberly admitted. "Come let me show you guys around the galleon." She smiled.
"This thing is huge." Haley walked around the deck in awe.
"It's got to be it holds the other four zords and also a living area for the crew. The galleon is the red ranger's zord. All the zords fit into each other those cute little nesting dolls. There's the Red Galleon, the Blue Jet, Yellow Tractor-Trailer combo, Green Race Car, and the Pink Submarine." Kimberly explained. "It may be a little scratched up now but it's been my home for the last four years. She's served me well." The pirate ranger beamed with pride as she walked down the steps to the galley.
"Wow." Tommy and Haley chorused.
"Yeah that was my response when I first saw it." Kimberly smiled. "Wait right here I want to change into something clean."
Tommy waited until Kimberly was out of site before speaking "Well?"
Haley shrugged. "I like her. I have no idea how you were able to get her but. I guess there is no account for personal taste."
"Hey!"
"I'm just saying Tom that you are not the pick of the litter." The former technical advisor smirked.
"Thanks Haley. You're a real friend." He shook his head. "She wants to set up a new team do you think that you can help her with that while I'm at school?"
"No problem." The red head waved her hand dismissively as she walked over to the large computer screen on the wall.
"Thanks Haley I owe you."
At that moment Kimberly walked back into the room wearing an expensive looking pearl pink blouse, gray capri length pants, matching gray strappy sandals. "I hope that I didn't take too long I needed to find something that would, you know blend in on Earth." She did a little spin.
It took Tommy's brain a few moments to form anything besides wow. "I uh, got to, to, to? I got to uh go to work." His tongue tripped all over itself.
"Smooth, Tom real smooth." Haley muttered causing Kimberly to laugh. "Well Kim that leaves you and me to do the fun stuff."
"Cool by me." Kimberly planted a small kiss on Tommy's cheek before wishing him a good day at work and watched Haley shove him up the stairs.
"Well as fun as it is to watch Tommy make a complete fool of himself I think the first order of business is to get this ship into hiding. Do you think that it can still move?" Haley asked.
"I think so." Kimberly wasn't a hundred percent sure.
"Well then let's get this show on the road." Haley whipped her hands together.
All day at school Tommy impatiently waited for the final bell to ring. He had already informed Principle Randle that he didn't think he would be returning when school year started again. He vaguely hinted that it was due to ranger business and the one time evil general understood. She was sad to see him go but she understood all the same. He had to admit Kimberly did have great timing to land at the start of summer. During his lunch Haley called to let him know that Kimberly was able to move the galleon to the old zord hanger and that she and Kimberly have been going through the ranger archives. She was certain that they have picked out the perfect former rangers to make up the rest of the team. They just wanted his feedback on it before contacting them. He glanced at the clock for the nine hundredth time that day two minutes to go. One minute, thirty seconds, five, four, three, two, the final bell echoed through the halls and Dr. Oliver was off like a flash. He made it home in record time to find both women in the kitchen, enjoying some tea and more sweets from his secret stash.
"Oh Tommy your back!" Kimberly beamed.
"Welcome home Tom." Haley said halfheartedly.
"So you guys figured out the team?" he loosened his tie.
"Yeah, I got the list and profiles here." The technical advisor handed him a folder with a key and crossbones on it. "First is Taylor Earnheart, the yellow for Wild Force. Good combat knowledge; she was one of the few female rangers to lead a team." Haley paused to let Tommy go to the next page. "For green I chose someone you are familiar with, Cameron Watanabe. He started out as the technical advisor for the Ninja Storm team then became the green samurai ranger. He would be able to help me out with the technical stuff that you tend to break."
"And finally last is Kevin, you didn't have a last name listed for him but he was the blue ranger for samurai. His swordsmanship will be a great asset." Kim chimed in. "What do you think?"
"Impressive." Was all Tommy could say as he read the file over; causing Kimberly to break out into an infectious smile that soon had Haley smiling as well. "Well I guess the only thing left to do is contact them."
"Actually Tommy, there is another thing that needs to be done." Kimberly paused.
"What?"
"You need to take me shopping. I need a whole new wardroom and you need some red in your closet that is not seriously outdated." Kimberly smirked.
