DISCLAIMER: Nope still not mine. I still wish though.
SUMMARY: The Rangers have Kim in the infirmary and she's awake but she's not being very nice right now. Things are about to go downhill and in a hurry.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. I'm loving it and this is helping to move the story along.
"You can't keep me here! I'll get loose and then you'll all pay for this! You can't do this to me!" Kim screamed at the top of her lungs.
Kim had been shouting at the top of her lungs for hours it seemed. Trini had a headache as did Jason and Zack. Tommy hadn't returned to the room yet, not that anyone could blame him. Of course, Cam had come to the room and told them that Hunter and Blake had been sparring with Tommy for the past three hours straight.
Tommy's angry energy had kept him going for so long that everyone was just waiting for it to burn itself out. The brothers had to keep switching out in order to keep up with him.
"Jason, let me loose!" Kim shouted as Jason turned from her yet again.
"I won't. You're not yourself, Kim and I won't let you go just so you can hurt yourself more." He was staying as calm as possible but it wouldn't last much longer.
Sensei walked into the room just then. "I will watch her for a while. The three of you need to get out of here. Go, eat, rest. Do not return for at least three hours. I will take care of her and let you know the minute you are needed."
Trini could do nothing more than nod as she ran from the room. Zack and Jason followed at a slightly more sedate pace with their heads hanging low.
Sitting in the cafeteria, Trini just pushed her food around on her plate as Jason and Zack picked at theirs. Suddenly, she put her fork down and pushed the plate away from her as she buried her head in her arms on the table, sobbing.
Jason and Zack were both quick to set their food aside and turn to comforting their teammate and long-time friend.
"Trini, don't do this to yourself." Jason bent over his friend and rubbed her arms. Zack simply put his hand her arm in order to show his support.
"Maybe I could be able to render some assistance in this rather difficult circumstance," babbled a familiar voice behind them.
The three of them turned around to see a very familiar head of dirty blond hair coming toward them. "Billy!" Trini yelled as she jumped up and ran to the arms of her long-lost friend.
"Man, it's good to see you," Jason said, slapping Billy on the back.
"Same here, man. We've missed you."
"I've missed you guys too." Billy smiled at his friends.
"What brings you here?" Zack asked.
"Sensei called and asked if I could come home. He told me what's going on with Kimberly. He wanted me to serve as a support for the rest of you." The whole time this conversation was going on, Billy was holding Trini in his arms and stroking her hair, trying to calm her down. "Of course, the minute I arrived, he gave me this." He held up his wrist.
"Billy, you're back with us?" Trini asked.
"Affirmative. It seems that I have accessed the power of the wolf again."
"But what trait are you?" Zack asked.
"Zack, man, Billy's our intelligence, our brains. That much is obvious." Jason slapped Zack on the arm. "Should we go see our wayward Falcon, see if he's calmed down a little yet?"
"Affirmative." The quartet left the cafeteria, Trini still wrapped in Billy's arms.
Tommy was going after the punching bag now because Hunter and Blake were both thoroughly exhausted. Cam was holding it at first but he had given up after about ten minutes. He was already bruised from the force with which Tommy was hitting the bag.
Jason and the rest stood in the doorway just watching as he set about destroying the bag as if it were Lord Zedd.
When the bag gave up and fell apart under Tommy's constant pounding, the young man fell to his knees, sobbing.
Trini ran to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Tommy. Tommy, it's okay. It's all going to be alright," she murmured, forgetting her own upset in the face of his torment.
Billy, Jason, and Zack were a little slower to approach their obviously distressed friend. They all knelt there in the middle of one of the workout rooms, comforting each other. None of them were really sure what the future would bring for them, but they knew that they would face it together.
"You guys can't keep me here," Kimberly sobbed as she realized that her friends had left her here. "Why did they leave me?"
"Because you were being cruel to them. And because I sent them away. I could no longer stand to see them so hurt. I volunteered to stay with you."
"Sensei, let me go. I can't stay here if all I'm doing is hurting my friends."
"We have to keep you here until the spell is broken. It is for the best."
Sensei could sense the conflict growing inside the young Crane. He hoped that the others followed his instructions to stay away for at least three hours. It seemed that she might be able to break free of the spell if she could realize what she was doing to her friends. "Sensei, I'm not worthy to be a Ranger any longer."
"Young Crane, you are confused. You will find yourself and your friends will be there to help you. But, for the moment, you must allow yourself to rest for the next several hours will see you getting very sick due to the potion that Lord Zedd forced you to drink. It is addicting and will have to be purged from your system much the same way that any drug would have to be."
"Sensei, help me. I feel like I'm being torn in two. Part of me is screaming that I should be with Lord Zedd but part of me wants Tommy. Which is right?" Her tears were affecting Sensei. He wanted to help her but she had to work through this difficulty.
Four hours later, Kimberly had fallen asleep, the battle with herself taking its toll on her.
Sensei sat beside the young woman's bed, holding her hand. He could feel the fever starting to rage inside her and knew that soon she would be violently ill and that the trend would continue for days until her body was completely rid of the potion's effects.
A soft knock sounded at the door and the other five Rangers entered, much subdued. Sensei gestured for them to come close. "She sleeps for now. But the fever is climbing inside her and she will begin the next phase of her recovery soon. She will need all your strength and support. Especially yours, Falcon. She will depend very heavily on you to see her through this. I would recommend that you keep at least two of you here at all times. The next several days will not be pleasant. Tori, Shane, Dustin, Hunter, Blake and Cam have all volunteered to take turns with her or to run any errands you may need them to do."
"Thank you, Sensei. And thank you for calling Billy in. He's been a great help to us these past few hours," Tommy said, bowing to man in front of him.
The five took their places around Kimberly's bed, bracing themselves mentally for what would come.