The Struggling Falcon Chapter Four:

Tommy woke up to the sweet, flowery scent of his wife's shampoo as she snuggled deeper into his side. He sighed, he had known that Divatox wouldn't let him get married in peace, but he had expected her to attack the actual wedding ceremony or at least attack during the wedding. Instead, she attacked in the evenings, every single day for the past week; while he was supposed to be on his honeymoon.

He sighed, he had ended up working through his honeymoon, he was supposed to go back to work at his Uncle John's garage tomorrow and they had promised Kim's dad that they'll watch Kira for the week so that he could attend a business trip.

He shook his head, as he nudged Kim awake, this would definitely give them practice for when they became parents.

Kim groaned and opened her eyes, smiling warmly up at him, "Morning Handsome."

Tommy gave her a kiss before saying, "Morning Beautiful, come on, we need to get going, we need to pick Kira up."

Kim rolled over, she didn't want to get up just yet, she loved sleeping next to Tommy and definitely did not want to get up just yet, especially seeing as they had a six-hour round trip ahead of them. Why had she agreed to watch Kira in the first place?

…

The Olivers were just pulling into the Youth Center with Kira when Tommy's communicator went off.

"What's that?" Kira asked, trying to figure out where the noise came from.

"Nothing," Tommy stated, "You guys go on in, I need to check on something first."

Kira looked up at Kim, "Did you know that Tommy is a secret spy?"

Kim gave her younger sister an odd look, "What makes you think that?"

"He's hiding something, he didn't want us to know what he was doing and what that noise was."

Kim shook her head, helping Kira up onto a bar stool, "Tommy's not a spy, I know where he was going, you just didn't need to know."

Kira's eyes lit up, "Is he getting me a surprise?" she demanded, surely that would explain the strange behavior.

Kim laughed heartily, "If I told you that it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?"

Just then Ernie walked over and handed Kim a flyer that he had just received, "Take a look at this."

Kim felt her heart rate increase as she saw an advertisement for Olympic tryouts for the gymnastics team, "Coach Schmidt is judging it."

Ernie nodded, "I figured that you might want to know about it, now that you have time to work on your gymnastics."

Kim glanced towards the balance beam that she used to use every single day on the gym floor. She hadn't really looked at it since before she moved to Florida and didn't realize that it almost looks threatening, "I can't."

Kira frowned, looking at the balance beam, "sure you can, there's a beam right there, and Daddy told me that you were really good."

"When I was little I was," Kim stated, shaking her head, "I doubt that I can do it now, I haven't done it since the accident."

"Why haven't you?" Kira asked innocently.

"I've been busy," Kim said, after all, it was partially true.

Kira shook her head, "You aren't busy right now, maybe you should try it now, I don't mind, I'd love to see you work on the balance beam."

Kim froze, she wasn't going to even let Tommy know that she was afraid of doing gymnastics, what if she wasn't as good as she was before the accident. The gymnastic's world had turned its back on her once and she did not want it to happen again. And the only way she could ensure that was if she never returned to it, "I can't, I don't have a leotard with me."

"Then run home and get one," Kira argued, rolling her eyes in disbelief.

Kim, however, shook her head, she didn't want to get back on the balance beam, and that was final, "I'll bring one with us tomorrow," she lied, wondering if they could manage to avoid the Youth Center for the rest of the week without Kira noticing.

"You're lying," Kira accused, "You're eye twitches just like Dad's does when he lies."

Kim glanced around, suddenly glad that Tommy was busy at the moment, now would be a bad time to check in on her. he would probably run interference, "I'm just not into gymnastics anymore, it was a fad, I outgrew it."

Jason, who had arrived to prepare for his class, walked in to hear Kira tell Kim, "You're lying again, I can tell, you are a horrible liar."

Jason couldn't help himself, he needed to know what Kim was lying about, if it was about Tommy's strange disappearance that had to have happened for the turbo rangers to be battling a monster on Main Street, he would help support it. If it was about something else, he would determine if it was Ranger related or not and help accordingly.

Kim was trying to convince Kira that she was not interested in gymnastics when Jason suddenly appeared behind her, "So what is Kim lying about, I didn't think that she knew how to lie?"

Kira giggled, "She doesn't want to practice her gymnastics, she says she doesn't like gymnastics anymore, but she's lying, I can tell."

Jason rubbed his chin, so that was the reason why Kim hasn't gotten back on the beam since she had completely healed a month ago, she was scared to, "I think the problem is that she's afraid of getting back on the beam, she hasn't been on it since before the accident."

"I've been busy," Kim argued, although she knew that Jason knew that if she had wanted to she could have made time.

"So has everyone else, that is not an excuse, I think you're scared."

Kim ducked her head, of course, Jason would hit it straight on the head, he knew her too well, "I'm not afraid, it goes against my job description."

"What Job?" Kira demanded.

"Even power rangers get scared sometimes, I heard a rumor once that they got so scared that they almost quit," Jason said, remembering the time with the crystal of nightmares.

"Really," Kira asked, "What happened?"

Jason looked down at the little girl, "They faced their fears and found out that there was nothing to be afraid of. Just like Kim faced her fears of seeing her friends after her big accident."

Kim snorted, "I didn't have much choice, did I?" she asked with glittering eyes, "You pretty much ambushed me."

Jason's eyes lit up, "Now that's an idea!" he crowed and scooped Kim up over his shoulder before she could realize what was happening.

"Jason Lee Scott, you have till the count of five to point me down!" Kim shouted, "One…two…three…"

With that, Jason swung her off his shoulder and onto the balance beam, "Now stand up on it," he encouraged. Kim sat there and crossed her arms in a defiant way and shook her head. If she stood up, she'll fall, and everyone would laugh at her again, just like after the accident.

Jason shook his head, Kim could be very stubborn at times, but he was going to win this battle, it was for her own good, "I'm just going to put you back up there if you get down."

"You're not in charge of me," Kim retorted, giving him a harsh look.

Jason, however, simply shrugged, he had a feeling that Tommy would support him in this endeavor, and there was no question that Tommy was the leader.

Kim smiled as she saw Tommy enter the Youth Center, he wouldn't make her do this, definitely not in jeans and a t-shirt. However, that smile quickly turned into a frown when Tommy turned to Jason and Kira, "I see you finally got Kim on the balance beam."

Kira nodded, giggling, "Jason picked her up and sat her on the beam, and he won't let her off until she stands up."

"Well Beautiful, what are you waiting for you need to stand up," Tommy stated.

"I don't want to fall," Kim insisted, remaining where she was sitting, "I don't want to get hurt again."

Tommy walked over and sat down next to her, "How often have you fallen off the beam and gotten hurt?"

Kim looked up at Tommy, "Twice, once when I first was learning how to dismount and right before I left for Florida when I hit my head."

Tommy gave Kim a strange look, "Both times you came back stronger than before, why should this be different? Tell me what you really afraid of."

Jason knew that it was time to clear out and let the Olivers deal with this, besides he had a class to teach, "Hey Kira, how would you like to join my class while Tommy and Kim talk."

As they left Tommy turned to Kim, "Well, what are you afraid of?"

Kim took a deep breath before asking, "What if I can't do it anymore? The doctors in Florida told me that my career was over. What if they were right?"

Tommy slowly stood up on the beam and held his hand out to Kim, "I believe that there is only one way to find out."

Kim slowly accepted the hand and stood up on top of the balance beam. Tommy smiled, taking a few awkward steps backward on the beam, how had Kim make this seem so easy, "Now walk towards me slowly."

Over on the mats, Jason was having a hard time focusing on his class as he watched his little sister walk across the balance beam towards her husband, though that was okay because the rest of his class was mesmerized at watching a gymnast get on the balance beam after a long absence.

Kim had managed to get to Tommy, and following his encouragement turned around and walked back the way she had come, before dismounting.

"You did it!" Kira called out, racing up to her older sister.

Kim shook her head, "That was a basic beam walk, nothing spectacular."

Kira's eyes grew round, "You can do something more than that?" she asked.

Kim nodded, mounting the beam again, "Watch this," she instructed.

Jason and Tommy could tell that Kim was a little rusty as she went through her balance beam routine, but how much of that was from lack of practice and how much of it was the fact she wasn't wearing the proper clothes for the activity.

Kim dismounted, shaking her head, "See, I wasn't any good."

Tommy pulled her into a hug, "for someone who hasn't been on a beam for five months, you did amazing, and if you try again tomorrow, you will do even better."

Kim buried her head into his shoulder, "Thanks Tommy, I doubt that I could have gotten back up there without your help."

Tommy nuzzled her, well aware that they were in public, "You should thank Jason and Kira, they are the ones who made you face your fear, I just helped you face it."

….

A/N: Done, what do you think, please review.