"Tommy, I'll be fine," Kim said as he opened the door to their home and walked her inside, but she felt that something was wrong. She just didn't know what it could be. She didn't want to tell Tommy that she had a sinking feeling that something was amiss here. She didn't think that he needed to hear that from her right now, especially if she couldn't figure out what it was. There was no need to worry him anymore than he already was
"I don't want to fight about this, I just want to make sure that you're safe. Please just do this for me until we can go to the doctor and if he says that you're fine, I will let you go back to work that day without a single question, but until then I just want to be careful," Tommy said as Kim walked over to their bedroom door and as she opened it felt a shock go through her as she was thrown across the room and landed in a crumpled pile, with Tommy staring towards their room and the being that was exiting it. He recognized him all too well, but that was not the thing that most concerned him at the moment, what most concerned him was the fact that Kim hadn't moved and was just lying in a heap.
"It's good to see you again Dr. Oliver," Halindon said as Tommy took a defensive stance in front of his wife, while he sent out the warning signal from his communicator. He had thought that they would have longer to prepare these rangers, but he had been wrong. The threat had come before he had even been able to show them how to morph. He hoped that Jason would have enough sense to instruct them on how to do that on the fly, because he certainly was not going to have enough time or brain cells to do that. His concentration was on making Halindon pay for what he had done to Kimberly.
"You son of a bitch," Tommy said as Halindon started towards him and began attacking, all the while, trying to get closer to Kimberly. He knew if he could take away another child from the two of them, it might send them to the point of no return and their rangers would have absolutely no help. He needed for the two of them to be out of the picture for as long as possible. They were far too valuable to any ranger team that they came across and he knew that getting their focus onto something else would help his cause greatly.
"What the hell," Madeline said as they landed in the room and saw Kim lying on the floor as Tommy backed the man into the corner, as far away from Kim as he could manage. He barely recognized that the rangers had appeared, but he was going to put them to good work now that they were here.
"Get her out of here, Madeline," Tommy ordered as Maddox and Sam looked between Tommy and where Kimberly was laying. They were sure that he had a purpose with every move that he was making right now, but there was no telling how long he would hold out, although none of them really knew what he was capable of, except the rangers that served with him. They knew what Tommy could do with the right motivation and they were certain that he had that now. "Billy should be there soon enough to take care of anyone that's hurt. Tell Jason to try to wake her up and come back."
"You'll lose another baby, Tommy," Halindon said as Tommy threw the being through a window and he jumped out of it and followed the man onto the lawn. The neighbors looked out and saw the monster and immediately bolted their doors and went about their business. They were sure that Tommy would take care of it, he always did when something like this showed up.
"Tommy, you have no powers, stop," Madeline said as she stood in front of the veteran ranger and held him back from the monster for a millisecond before he went around her and began his attack again. He was not going to let anyone else do this, he was the one that should make Halindon pay back for everything that he might be costing them right now. "Tommy!"
"Madeline, I think we're here to take care of those," Maddox said as the vinons started landing around them and she looked around in shock. It seemed like they had not even seen a fraction of whatever this thing had for them.
"No, Jason told me that Tommy needs to leave, he doesn't need to get hurt because of everything that is going on with Kim," Madeline said as she started fighting the things that were surrounding them and Maddox just shook his head.
"I wouldn't worry about Tommy," Maddox said as he turned his attention to the beings in front of them. No matter what was going on, he knew that it was no good trying to get Tommy away from here when he felt like killing the being in front of him. "He can take care of himself."
"I'm surprised that you still know how to fight," Halindon said as Tommy nailed him and continued to glare at him. He was sure that Halindon could feel the energy floating off of him and he hoped that he was making his point loud and clear. He had been through enough and he could not stand to go through anymore without heavily injuring whatever did the damage.
"Go to hell," Tommy said as Halindon laughed and Tommy went after him with more ferocity than before, he was getting tired of this and his thoughts were starting to turn towards his wife. He did not want for anything to happen to her if he could help it and he had taken her home and insisted that she do nothing and then she was the one that got thrown into a wall, not him. He was the one that deserved to have that happen, at least if it happened to him then they'd both just be sitting the Command Center waiting for him to wake up.
"You first," Halindon said as Tommy practically roared and the other rangers watched as he glowed an eerie shade of white and the vinons cowered from the force that came out of him as Halindon staggered backwards. He had gone just a step too far. He had never meant to bring out the remainder of Tommy's powers as he could tell that it was a vast expanse. He then fled from the situation as quickly as possible, before Tommy managed to hurtle him through several buildings with the energy that was building up inside of him.
"Tommy?" Madeline asked, as she carefully approached him and watched as he started looking less like a streak of white and more like a human. She could hear that his breathing was haggard, but other than that he seemed fine. She had been afraid that he would pass out when he started looking more normal, but he seemed to have everything under control.
"Just get me to Kim," Tommy muttered as Madeline nodded as she grabbed Tommy's arm and teleported him away, with the other two following only moments later.
"Tommy, what have you done?" Jason asked as he looked over at his friend and saw the look in his eyes. He could tell that if Tommy had it his way Halindon would no longer be breathing but something had obviously been thrown into his plan of attack. "You just couldn't walk away, could you?"
"He threw my wife into a wall, he deserved everything that he got from me and he didn't get enough if you ask me," Tommy said, as they all heard, for the first time, the deadly serious tone that made them flinch. They had never thought that someone could be that cold and yet be a likable person, but Tommy was a very likeable person, until you messed with someone that he loved dearly. Then you got to see the side of him that scared everyone to death, even his best friends knew that there were certain lines to never cross with him and some of them had just been crossed.
"Billy hasn't been able to wake her up, Tommy," Jason said, quietly, as Tommy just shook his head and then walked back towards the medical bay. He had hoped that he would never see his wife on a gurney again, but that was not the case tonight.
"What's going to happen?" Madeline asked as she looked over at Jason and he could see that she was scared. She had often been around Tommy, but she had never been around him when things were going like this. She had never seen him when he was absolutely furious about something and it scared her more than she ever thought that it would.
"I don't know, but all of you are not going to be able to get his nice introduction to being a ranger. Trust me, as soon as the others get here, he's going to let you know everything, even if they haven't been able to wake Kim up," Jason said as Trini ran in through the front doors and up to Jason. She had just gotten the message from Billy and had run here as quickly as she could.
"What happened?" Trini asked as she pulled off her high heels and placed her purse on the coat rack that they had in the corner. As she was doing this, the new rangers took her in, carefully. They knew that she was a friend, but they were still highly suspicious of anyone that came around them that they had not been formally introduced to. "I didn't think that Halindon would try to go after them again, considering what Tommy did to him last time."
"He wants to hurt Tommy, more than anything and he seems to be figuring out some pretty good ways," Jason said as Trini gave him a kiss on the cheek and then ran towards the medical bay to help Billy and Tommy.
"I take it that Tommy has a lot of enemies," Sam said as Jason looked over at him. That was not even half the truth and he knew that Tommy was going to probably spill that secret tonight, so he was not going to worry about it right now.
"He has just a few," Jason said as Trini jogged back out and Jason looked back at her. "Why are you back so quickly?"
"She's awake, but she's cramping," Trini said as Jason's posture just sagged and Trini shook her head. She did not want for Jason to even consider the possibility that was going through his head. "I'm calling an ambulance, hopefully we'll be able to get her to the hospital before anything bad happens or at the very least, in time for them to get medicine to the baby."
"Trini, they can't…" Jason started as she nodded, but she wanted to cut him off. She knew that the new rangers didn't need to hear about everything that Kim and Tommy had given up to save them in the past. It would honestly make them feel guilty that they were not there.
"I know," Trini said as she dialed 911 and waited for the operator to answer.
-----------
"Ah," Kim moaned as she tensed and she clenched down on Tommy's hand. "It's too early, Tommy."
"Shh…everything is going to be fine, don't worry, relax," Tommy said, soothingly, as he looked over at Billy who was keeping track of how long it was between contractions. Billy only spared him a grave look before going back to his watch. It was too close for his own comfort and he did not see how it would be reversed. He could only hope that she would be able to hold out long enough for them to get some medicine to the baby. "The paramedics are on their way."
"I can't lose another baby, Tommy," Kim cried as she fought the urge to push and he could see it in her face.
"We won't," Tommy said, as reassuringly as he could and she clenched her legs together and he gently reached over and lifted her up and then sat behind her. It was killing him to watch this happen, but he knew there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening. Her body was just reacting to the stress and her being thrown into a wall certainly didn't help it any.
"Don't fight it, Kim," Billy said as he walked over to her and she just shook her head as the tears fell down her face. "You are far enough along that the baby will have a chance."
"No, Billy," Kim said as she trembled in Tommy's arms and he gently rubbed her side. She then looked up at Tommy and he just nodded that it was okay, she didn't have to hold back. He couldn't stand to see her in this much pain and he knew that it was better to let her push than for her to continue to go through what she was going through.
"It's okay," Tommy said as she buried her face in his neck and pushed, as the urge became too great.
"The ambulance will be here in a little while," Trini said as she walked up to Billy who merely nodded and discarded the stopwatch.
"Get the oxygen ready," Billy said as Trini just looked at him and he nodded that the labor had come too quickly for them to be able to stop it. They were just going to have to make do with what they had and hope that nothing too bad happened.
"Okay…" Trini said with a shaky breath as Tommy looked down at Kim and closed his own eyes. He hated knowing that this was happening again. Hopefully, she had been able to carry the baby long enough that he or she would survive.
"Go ask if any of them have any medical experience," Billy said as Trini nodded and quickly exited the room.
"Hold out for a little while longer," Tommy said as Kim screamed and he looked down at her and Billy shook his head. He did not like what was going on here and he was worried about the possible repercussions.
"Tommy, please," Kim whimpered as he felt her shake even more as she struggled with her body.
"Stay with me, everything will be fine," Tommy said, as he watched her eyes roll back and she went limp against him. "Billy…"
"I know, Tommy," Billy said as he could feel the head and just looked back up at Kim. That should have killed her right now.
"I'm not an expert," the paramedic said as Trini shoved him into the room and he saw the whole expanse of the problem.
"Fuck it, I'll teleport her," Tommy said as he gathered her up and transported her into her doctor's office and he couldn't help but jump as they two of them landed there. "She's having the baby."
"How did you?" Dr. Sealnon began to ask as Tommy just shook his head. He was not going to answer that yet, he wouldn't unless he was really pressed for the information. The government had put them with Dr. Sealnon because of his past work, but Tommy still did not completely trust him with everything that was going on in their lives. "What happened here?"
"Just save them," Tommy said, as he did not have time to explain it all and he hoped that Dr. Sealnon would leave this alone until he had operated on Kim. Then he could ask all the questions that he felt that he needed to know the answers to.
"I'll get her right in for an emergency C-Section," Dr. Sealnon said as he motioned for Tommy to follow him and he did. "Has she been under any additional stress lately?"
"Dr. Sealnon, you know what our lives our like, do you think that she's been under extra stress?" Tommy asked as Dr. Sealnon just nodded. There was nothing more that he could do.
"Do you remember exactly how far along she is?" Dr. Sealnon asked, as he did not have the luxury of having her chart right in front of him.
"She's almost at the end of her sixth month, beginning of her seventh," Tommy said as some of the nurses sprang up from the aid station and pulled out a gurney for Tommy to place Kim on.
"I'll do what I can," Dr. Sealnon said as Tommy placed Kim on the gurney and watched as the nurses went into action.
"Take care of her," Tommy said as Dr. Sealnon nodded that he would as he rolled the bed away and Tommy stood there, covered in blood and sweat as a couple of nurses walked over to him and guided him to the waiting room. A few moments later Trini and Jason arrived and sat down next to Tommy.
"They won't let you go back there with her?" Jason asked as Tommy just looked over at him. He couldn't bring himself to talk about anything right now that dealt with her. He just wanted to deny that all of it had happened in the first place. "I left Billy with them and he's going to treat them and then send them home."
"Thanks," Tommy muttered as Trini put her arm around him, as he placed his hands over his face. He could feel the tears burning in the back of his eyes as he forced himself not to cry.
"It's okay," Trini whispered as she pulled him closer and he reached over and began to cry on her shoulder. She knew that things were going to get worse, but hopefully both of them would survive. Tommy couldn't lose either of them right now.
"I'm going to call your parents to let them know what's going on," Jason said putting his hand on Trini's back and Tommy nodded, but barely looked up.
"I can't lose them," Tommy mumbled after several minutes of his sobbing, as Trini merely nodded. She and Jason had a little girl already and if Kim hadn't had a miscarriage a couple of years ago, they would have the oldest child. They all knew that the two of them should have had the oldest ranger kid, but fate just seemed to be interfering with them no matter what they did to stop it.
"I know," Trini said as she heard the door open and a doctor walked out. She had met Dr. Sealnon a couple of times, considering what they were trusting the man with, but she didn't remember his face. All that she could tell was that he was not happy with everything that was going on here.
"Dr. Oliver," Dr. Sealnon said as he walked over and sat down next to him as Tommy slowly released Trini and sat up. "You have a baby boy and he is breathing on his own right now, but we did have to put him in the NICU, you can go see him right now if you want to."
"How's Kim?" Tommy asked as Dr. Sealnon looked at the ground and Tommy started shaking his head. "How is my wife?"
"She's still unconscious, but I'm sure she'll wake up soon," Dr. Sealnon said as Tommy looked at him. He had hoped that she would be awake when she got out of surgery. "She's suffered a good bit of trauma. Her body needs time to recuperate, Tommy."
"Don't tell me that," Tommy said as he managed to hold himself still. He couldn't believe that he let this happen. He had promised himself that this would never happen to her again.
"If you want to go be with your son, go ahead. I'll make sure a nurse comes to get you when she wakes up," Dr. Sealnon said as Tommy just shook his head. He knew that Kim would not take it well if he was not there when she woke up.
"I should be the one to tell her everything," Tommy said as Dr. Sealnon nodded. He knew Tommy would be that way because of everything else that had happened to them lately.
"Okay, I'll take you back," Dr. Sealnon said as Trini looked over at him and Tommy stopped for a moment.
"Tell Jason what's going on and let the others know that we're going to have to have a meeting as soon as possible," Tommy said as Trini nodded and he knew that she would make sure everything he asked was done and even more.
"I have to warn you that she is still under the affects of anesthesia for a little while," Dr. Sealnon said as Tommy just nodded. He had been pretty sure that would be the case.
"I know," Tommy said as Dr. Sealnon stopped in front of a recovery room and motioned that Tommy could go inside.
"Good luck," Dr. Sealnon said as Tommy opened the door and peaked in. He could tell that she was still solidly knocked out from the drugs, but as soon as she came to herself, he knew what her first question would be. Dr. Sealnon's words had been encouraging, but he knew that they still had a long road ahead of them. Their son was going to be in the hospital for a few months, at the very least.
"Hey Beautiful," Tommy said as he sat down next to her and then gave her a kiss on the cheek. She then stirred and looked over at him.
"Tommy?" Kim asked as she tried to sit up, but she felt the pain in her lower abdomen and then looked down. "What happened? Where's the baby?"
"He's in the NICU Kim, but he is breathing on his own. Once you're a little bit stronger, we'll go see him," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head and then forced herself to sit up. "Don't push yourself, Dr. Sealnon promised that if anything happened he would come get me."
"I want to see him, Tommy," Kim said, desperately, as Tommy nodded and then stood to go find a nurse that he could convince to let him wheel Kim to the NICU.
"She wants to what?" Abigail asked as Tommy just looked at the nurse. He thought that it would be obvious that a mother would want to see her child, no matter how sick she was herself. "Are you sure she's up to it?"
"No, but I'm not going to try to convince her otherwise," Tommy said as Abigail barely nodded. She knew how hard it was for mother's that had to be separated from their children.
"Okay, I'll get you a chair and you can take her," Abigail said as Tommy nodded. Kim had never liked wheelchairs, but there was not much that he could do about her having to be in one now.
"Have you seen him, Tommy?" Kim asked as Tommy shook his head no and she nodded. "Why not?"
"I wanted to be the one to tell you. I didn't want for you to have to hear it from a doctor," Tommy said as Kim nodded as he scooped her up and placed her in the chair. "Everything is going to be fine, it's just going to take some time."
"I'm so sorry, Tommy," Kim said as he squatted in front of her and looked her in the eyes. He couldn't believe that she was apologizing when it wasn't even her fault.
"It's okay, it's not your fault," Tommy said as she gulped and he wrapped his arms around her and she sobbed.
"If I had just taken it easy…" Kim trailed off as he made her look him in the eyes.
"It's not your fault that you were slung into a wall by Halindon," Tommy said as Kim gave him a confused look. She didn't remember anything happening to her at home. She just knew that she woke up at the Command Center. "You don't remember, do you? Don't worry, you couldn't have done anything to stop it."
"He attacked?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and then stood and walked behind the wheel chair. "Tommy, what are we going to do? We can't risk…"
"I know, I've thought of some things, but we just have to take everything one day at a time right now," Tommy said as Kim barely nodded and reached back and placed her hand over his. She needed him to understand that she was scared, but she didn't want to say that to him.
"Dr. Oliver, Mrs. Oliver," Dr. Sealnon said as they approached him. "Come on, I'll take you back. Let me warn you, he is attached to a lot of machines. We have to keep an eye on his pressures and he's tiny, but somehow he's breathing. We are giving him a little bit of oxygen, but other than that, he is doing good."
"I don't know if I can do this, Tommy," Kim muttered as he looked down at her and then they followed Dr. Sealnon into the NICU.
"You'll need these," Dr. Sealnon said giving them each a mask and they put them on. "I'll give you some time."
"He's so tiny…" Kim muttered as she looked into the incubator and could not help but place her hand on the outside. She wanted so badly to be able to touch him and hold him.
"You know we have to come up with a name some time, Kim," Tommy said as Kim looked up at him. They hadn't even really started talking about names, yet. They had thought that they would have several months to fight it out. "I don't think that Baby Boy Oliver will work forever."
"I know," Kim said as a nurse came over and removed a tiny panel.
"You can touch him," Melody said as Kim reached out and he grabbed her finger and held tight to it. She began to cry as Tommy squatted down next to her and looked up at her.
"I can't believe that he made it," Kim said as Tommy smiled up at her and she looked down at him. "You were a pre-me too..."
"Yeah, I was, Kim," Tommy said, as he looked at her, wondering what logic was behind all of this. He really couldn't see any, but he was not trying very hard to find any at the moment.
"Thomas Christopher Oliver, Junior?" Kim asked as Tommy looked over at her. "He's got your will to survive already Tommy, he should be named after you."
"But what will we call him?" Tommy asked as Kim just looked over at him. She thought that would be obvious to him, but it wasn't right now.
"Chris," Kim said simply, as she loosened her finger from his hand and stroked back his hair. He was weak, but he was still fighting to breathe on his own and he had managed to surprise all the doctors with his lungs. They hadn't thought that things would turn out good, but for right now everything was all right. They were a family and family was all that mattered to them.