"So where are the other two?" Madeline asked as Tommy looked over at her. This was the first mission that they had for them and he hoped that they would accept it without too many questions.
"They are in Australia and England. We need for you two to go get them," Tommy said as Madeline and Maddox looked at each other. They did not really like the idea, but they knew it should be possible, considering who they were getting their orders from. They didn't know any of his history, but he seemed more than competent and not only that, he seemed to understand what was going on here better than anyone else that they had met so far. "First things first, let's get you out of those and into something less conspicuous."
"Tommy am I going to have to bring him here myself?" Kim asked as she walked over to him. Maddox had never seen her before and he didn't imagine how a pregnant Power Ranger was going to be much help, but he knew better than to say anything about the fact that she was pregnant and working on this project. He knew that he was very likely to be slapped by the pregnant woman and he did not wish to experience that.
"Hold your horses, missy," Tommy said as Kim tapped her foot on the floor and Tommy quickly went and brought the lieutenant back. He did not want to risk pissing his wife off this early during the day when she had not exactly slept that well the night before. "You happy?"
"Yes," Kim said as Sam walked over to her and just shook his head. This was exactly what he had envisioned happening to a female ranger once she was past her prime and no longer of any use to the team. Get knocked up by one of the male rangers that refused to marry her and have babies. What more could a woman want in this world?
"You are a Power Ranger?" Sam asked and Tommy quickly grabbed Kim's arm and pulled her back. She did not need to get mad right now. He did not want to have to deal with her having the baby prematurely.
"Arrogant asshole," Kim said as Jason and Rocky teleported in and looked over at Kim with smiles on their faces. They had known that she was going to have this reaction to the man and they had all been waiting for it. Kim was the one that was likely to make the biggest impression on the man and they were very happy for that. She would definitely point some things out that he wouldn't like, if Tommy would let her, but they weren't sure that Tommy would not send her home. They all knew that she did not want for her to experience any more stress than they could help.
"Glad she agrees," Rocky said as Jason and Tommy smiled, they had all been reluctant to let him on, but there was nothing that they could do about it. They had been backed into a corner that they had not been able to get themselves out of, although they had put up a hell of a fight for the fifth ranger to be someone else. "I think that if we ever have to do that again we get all the choices. I'm not going to put up with something like this again."
"I know," Tommy said as Kim stalked over and grabbed the first weapon that was available for her use. "No, mommy, don't even think about it."
"Don't you no mommy me, Tommy, this man needs to be shown," Kim said as Tommy grabbed the sword from her and tossed it aside. She was right, but she did not need to be the one to do it. "Tommy."
"I'll handle it," Tommy said as he placed his hands on her shoulders and made her look him in the eye, he didn't want for her to do anything crazy and she understood that from the look in his eyes. Madeline and Maddox walked back in and saw Sam square off towards Tommy and their eyes widened. Madeline's from her experience with Tommy and Maddox from just looking at the situation in front of him. He knew that Sam took some martial arts, but he was afraid that the man in front of him was just a tad bit more experienced than Sam was expecting.
"You want to split up?" Madeline asked as she looked over at Tommy and Sam. She wanted to see what was happening here much more than she wanted to go hopping around the world looking for rangers.
"I think the idea is for us to work together, you know that we might need to start that now," Maddox said as Madeline looked at him in disgust. Was he not interested in seeing the demise of their least favorite Lieutenant?
"I want to catch some of the show," Madeline whispered as Jason and Kim laughed. They didn't blame her after everything they had seen. Their surveillance systems were much better than the government could ever imagine getting their hands on and they had seen things that made them wonder why the government was so insistent on this man.
"If you hurry, you'll have plenty of time," Tommy said as Madeline grabbed Maddox and they quickly teleported away.
"It should only take ten minutes for me to take you down," Sam said as Jason pushed Kim back down on her stool and Tommy pulled off his shirt and tossed Sam a pole from the wall. He knew that the man was going to need that at the very least once he got started.
"You're going to need that," Tommy said as Jason and Rocky just shook their heads. They were both going to enjoy watching this but they also knew that Sam had no idea who he was facing.
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"Wow," Madeline said as they landed in a penthouse apartment and Maddox looked around. It seemed absolutely deserted, so why would they come here to look for someone? It made no sense that a selected ranger would live in a place like this. "Um…why didn't they pick this place as a headquarters? We could just crash for a little while and no one would ever know."
"You already did and someone does know," Garrett Rapier said as they wheeled around to locate the body that went along with the sound of the voice. "You are the representatives from some American panel, correct? My letter said that you would be arriving here anytime now to collect me, although this is not exactly what I pictured when they said that you would 'drop in'."
"PANEL my ass," Madeline said as she tossed him a communicator and a coin.
"I'm sorry but I refuse to be pink. It kinda messes with my whole complexion," Garrett said as Madeline looked over at him and then took it back. "Much better, I am a man you know."
"And I'm sorry I didn't notice. I didn't really know that they had a specific color with them. But they sent you a letter?" Madeline asked as Garrett nodded. Why hadn't she gotten a nice little letter? Why had she had to meet Tommy one morning and just be told that she was going to become a ranger?
"I had to get some things in order and this was my way to do it, I'm sure that BethAnn had to do the same thing, since she's from outside of the United States," Garrett said as Madeline looked down at the piece of paper Tommy had handed her. It didn't help explain anything except to make sure she gave the male the blue and the woman the pink, but she had already messed that up.
"I love how they know more than us and we were picked up by the actual PANEL members, not by fellow rangers who don't know jack shit," Madeline said as Garrett hitched his bag onto his shoulders and smiled. He could tell that he was going to like the two of them, even if he didn't like anyone else that he had to deal with in this crazy new turn in his life.
"Well, I guess I'll learn to love all of America's ways. Too bad I'm leaving this place, it's been in the family for generations," Garrett said as Madeline nodded. She couldn't help but agree with him that it was a pity that he had to leave a place like this. "Who knows, maybe this will be better."
"An optimistic Brit," Maddox said as Madeline looked over at him. They didn't need to make him mad in only a few seconds.
"Most of us are optimistic. Mind you we have a few nutters that seem to rule your television stations, just like you have those skinny bitches that are all on the news," Garrett said as he looked at them. The fact that they were not objecting to it made him sure that they actually agreed with what he was saying. "Don't we need to get going if we are going to pick up BethAnn before all hell breaks loose back in the states?"
"I think we're missing that as we speak," Madeline said in a disappointed tone.
"Why are you so disappointed?" Garrett asked as they teleported to Australia and landed on the beach. They were certain that this was not a very good place to land, but it was obviously where Tommy had planned to do everything. "I'd be glad to miss hell breaking loose upon the world, thank you very much."
"It's not the world that hell is breaking loose upon, it's the man that has been the thorn in our side is getting his ass whooped and we cannot see it," Maddox said as BethAnn walked over and just shook her head. This was definitely a tad bit different than anything she had thought would ever happen to her.
"You're late," BethAnn said as they looked over at her and she smiled. "But I do expect the time change had something to do with it."
"BethAnn, nice to meet you, these lovely people are our American escorts," Garrett said as BethAnn gave him a shocked look. She had thought that she would be working with more Australians, not Americans and by the sound of it a Brit.
"Weren't there Australian Power Rangers? I thought that that was who I was…whoa, um, we might, I guess…well I suppose I can transfer to their school system, considering…" BethAnn said as Maddox nodded that that would work.
"Come on, put this thing on so we can go watch," Maddox said, eagerly, as BethAnn reluctantly put it on and he pressed the buttons for her.
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"Tommy, don't be so cruel," Kim said with a laugh as Sam stood up and looked at the man. He had had absolutely no idea that Tommy was this talented and he got the distinct feeling that Tommy was not unleashing his full fury right now, he still had more cooped up inside of himself.
"I'm not really being cruel, I'm just being…" Tommy paused as he looked over to see the other for Power Rangers had arrived. He didn't think it wise to finish that particular thought anymore. "I thought you'd be gone much longer."
"We want to see the show," Madeline said as Sam grabbed her by her hair and held her in front of him, knowing that Tommy would not do a single thing to her.
"He won't attack you," Sam whispered in her ear as Tommy looked at the two of them and nodded at Madeline and she simply elbowed him in the gut.
"You forgot something very important, this is no longer considered assaulting an officer while I'm here. You'll be training with me and you might as well get used to it," Madeline said looking him straight in the eyes. "It's time you get what is coming to you, you bastard."
"I can have you court marshaled for everything," Sam said slamming her to the floor and quickly knew that he had done something wrong, as Tommy pegged him to the far wall and Maddox walked over and squatted down next to Madeline and he could feel the rage coming off of her.
"You now abide by our laws, not by the laws of the United States Armed Services. She is your leader and I will beat your ass until that registers and if it never does, you will be gone before you can say Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. We already have someone waiting in the wings to replace you, because we didn't want you, no matter how great your superiors think you are," Tommy said as he looked back at Maddox and Madeline. He could see what Madeline wanted to do in her eyes, but he knew that she didn't need to be the one to do this. He needed to hate the PANEL if he was going to hate anyone, because he was going to have to work with Madeline.
"Yeah, you are a wonderful person to preach to me about my qualifications as a fighter. I've been to Iraq, I've fought everything that they have thrown at me and I'm still here," Sam said as Tommy slowly released him and looked at the man.
"I give you that, I agree that you would be far better than me to lead people into Iraq, but you are not respected by the people that you work with. That is something that I actually value, that's why she was picked over you. That is why we were so hesitant to bring you in, because you are an arrogant asshole who thinks that the sun shines for him every day. I've been in battles where I have almost seen the ones that I love die, I've seen civilians die because I wasn't able to get there in time and I've seen people become evil before my eyes. I have to live with the memories that I almost killed her and that I was the one that put her through a living hell," Tommy said pointing towards Kimberly, who was now giving Jason and Rocky nervous glances. She knew that Tommy was furious to be admitting all of this to him and she did not want to have to talk him down or more accurately pull him off of Sam when he made another smart remark.
"I've watched my friends die," Sam said as Tommy looked at him.
"But where you ever the one that killed them?" Tommy asked as Sam shook his head no. "Then you see that you have something to learn, I was the one that almost killed her and she has almost killed me a couple of times too. We don't remember half of the things that we do when we're evil, but when we come back to ourselves it hits us. You want to know what it's like to see your wife lying on a hospital bed and you know that you were the one that put her there and you can't do a damn thing to change it?"
"I'm not married," Sam said as Tommy looked at him. There had to be some way to reach this man because that speech and seemed to reach everyone else in the room but him.
"And the reason that you're not is because you're so sure of yourself, so sure that everything you do is right and you don't know how to compromise with any woman without making her feel like shit for making you see her point. How many girlfriends have you had?" Kim asked as Sam looked over at her and started towards her, but Tommy grabbed him. If he so much as touched her, he would not wake up the next day or for the next week for that matter.
"I promise you if you touch her, you will not wake up tomorrow," Tommy said as Sam looked back at him. He was not scared of him.
"Sure," Sam said Jason grabbed Tommy and took the brunt of the force that had been intended for Sam as the man stalked towards Kimberly.
"Answer my question," Kim said as she looked up at the man and he laughed in her face, before she kneed him. "Answer my question, I may be pregnant, but I won't take any crap from you or anyone else."
"Four," Sam said as Kim walked over to Tommy and placed her hands on his shoulders. She knew that she needed to calm him down before he got far too worked up over it all. "You are a bitch though."
"Have fun," Kim said stepping out of the way and Jason released Tommy as well. He had just crossed an invisible line and they could see that none of the older rangers were going to try to hold Tommy back.
"You are going to show her some respect, because she is actually the person that is in charge of helping you," Tommy said as he stalked towards him and Sam automatically looked for someone to throw in front of him, so that he didn't have to deal with this man, but Madeline was standing far away and the other girl was glaring at him, while Kim was pacing from her own frustrations. "No help for you now."
"What do you want me to do? Say that I will change my ways? My ways work, it gets things done and that is what my superiors want," Sam said as Tommy just shook his head in disgust.
"Let me tell you that it won't work here, you are the lowest man on the totem pole. You have to earn their respect before I'll give you more responsibilities," Tommy said as Sam looked towards Jason.
"You won't find any help with me. I was the only one that thought you might be able to help us out, but you are proving me wrong with every word you say," Jason said as Tommy looked at him.
"You can walk out now if you want, I'll let you, because I won't put my team through this hell. I'll explain to the government why you won't work out and I'll take whatever I have to take to get them to understand it all, but you won't treat them like this. They don't deserve it. They've done too much to have all of it destroyed by an arrogant asshole," Tommy said as Sam stared at him. He was not going to walk out, they needed him, that much was obvious from everything that they had had to deal with this morning.
"I'm going to stay," Sam said as Tommy gave him a questioning look.
"Then guess what, you have a long night ahead of you," Tommy said as he shoved him into a room and looked back at the others as Kim was giving him a concerned look. "Don't worry, I won't kill him and Kim, I'll be home by midnight, I promise."
"All right, Tommy," Kim said as she watched him close the door and she looked at the others, who were giving her their own concerned looks. They knew that this was not going to be pretty and they wanted to be told to just get the hell out before all hell broke loose. "Go home and everything will be fine with you. We'll call you tomorrow and don't teleport in front of people if you can help it."
"Don't worry, we'll be good little children," Madeline said as Kim just nodded and watched them leave, before she looked over at Jason and Rocky, who were studying her tired form.
"Are you okay?" Rocky asked as Kim sat down in a chair and covered her face. She was so tired and so upset and she didn't want to have to deal with any of this right now, but she didn't really have a choice. She knew that Tommy had to get all of this straightened out tonight. They had so much that they had to do starting tomorrow and if they didn't get him in workable condition, then things were going to be rough. "Kim?"
"I'll be okay, I just hate knowing that he's going to come in tonight so riled up and I'll have to talk him down, before we can even get to sleep," Kim said as Rocky and Jason heard a thump as Kim looked over at the door and let out a long sigh. "I'll be fine guys, I promise. I'll take care of all of it."
"Kim, you shouldn't have to, you've had enough stress on you for the last few months. Go home, take a bath and we'll talk Tommy down before he comes home to you," Jason said as Kim looked over at him, thankful, but not sure if she could really leave. She trusted Jason and Rocky, but she didn't know if they would do a very good job calming Tommy down. They had actually been known to amp him up some times and that was definitely not was she needed to happen tonight. "Kim, he wants you to go home and get some rest. Everything will be fine, I promise you.""Okay," Kim said as she yawned and then headed towards the doors, which slid open to let her out.
"Are you sure about that?" Rocky asked as Jason shook his head no. He had to admit that he didn't think that things were going to go good right now, but he knew that Tommy meant for Kim to go home.
She was the one person that they needed to stay as calm as possible, for Tommy because everything was riding on the decisions that he had made. If something didn't work out, he would have to live with it and Kim didn't need the stress, they all knew that. They knew that they were going to have to eventually make a team and it was something that was a worry from the beginning.
They didn't know when it was going to be, but when they had gotten the call ten months ago, they had been sure that everything would be fine, then Kim found out she was pregnant four months into the search. That had changed everything for them, especially for Tommy. He had to take on a lot more in order to protect her and now he was taking on the one obstacle that they had. Convincing the black ranger that he was going to have to change, because if he didn't then he would have to leave, there was nothing that they could do about it.