Author: Jadelyn Tate

Story: Begotten

Characters: RJ, Kim

Disclaimer: I own no one, the idea of RJ and Kim being siblings is all Tara's over at PRU's, I'm just expanding it into a fic.

Summery: A Shark. A Crane. A Wolf. And you thought your family had issues.

Author Notes: I made a couple videos for Begotten over at my YT account. Go forth and enjoy!

"Hey Fran--who the hell are you?" Jason asked, surprised, when he saw a guy he didn't recognize wiping Kim's forehead when he walked into Kim's bedroom. The guy looked up, a flash of guilt on his face.

"I'm Dominic," he introduced himself weakly. He'd been feeling highly guilty since he found out what had happened and why exactly Kimberly had been so agitated with him joining the team. The guy nodded sharply, something in his shoulders releasing.

"I'm Jason," he introduced himself as Fran got up so he could sit down. "How is she?"

Kimberly weakly opened her eyes and half-heartedly glared at them all. "She feels like a Rhino fell on her," she grumbled as she struggled to sit up. Dominic's eyes widened and he leaned back in worry as Jason bent over to help her on the bed. She made a face at the Rhino Ranger.

"Don't be like that, I was making a joke," she scolded weakly. "Though your powers are impressive."

"So they are his powers?" Fran asked tentively, voicing what Dominic had been thinking. Kimberly made another face.

"You think I'm going through this hell just so he can sit on his ass and charm the ladies? Cha, right!" she scoffed. Dominic looked between the grinning Fran, the amused Jason, and the exhausted looking Kimberly and sighed. He had a feeling she was going to take some getting used to.

"All I have is one question, and I'll know if you lie since I'm your bloody conduit," Kim turned to him and Dominic straightened. He nodded hesitantly even as the door opened slightly and Casey poked his head in.

"I'll answer anything you want," Dominic agreed. Kim focused her gaze entirely on Dominic.

"Who let the dogs out?"

Dominic gaped at her even as Jason cracked up. From the doorway, Casey outright laughed and even Fran was giggling. Kim smiled slightly at his flabbergasted expression.

"I'm serious!" she told him, smirking. "Who in their right mind would make my brother a Master? He won't tell me so you're the only choice!"

"…I…"

"Honesty, remember?" she poked him gently with her finger. He shook his head slightly, as if to clear it.

"Sorry, I know what I said but if RJ won't tell you, then I won't break that trust," he told her, being completely honest. She sat back on the bed, a self-satisfied little smirk on her face. Dominic fidgeted for a moment before he felt something land on his head. Frowning, he reached up and pulled down his bracelet. He grinned and Kim rolled her eyes.

"Scat, I want to talk to the munchkins," she waved him out and he did so, handing the water-clogged rag to the entering Theo as he left. Lily gently closed the door and the three teens moved around Kim's bed. Fran stood up but Kim motioned for her to stay. A glare in Jason's direction also told him to remain.

"You let him off easy," Casey mentioned as he sat down at the foot of the bed. Theo grabbed the chair Dominic had vacated while Lily ignored them all and scooted in beside Kim. Fran followed her lead and got on the other side. Kim shrugged.

"He's the masochist, not me," she told him dryly. At the teens's baffled look, she elaborated. "I know the hell he's going to endure the next couple months. He wants to put himself through that willingly than who am I to stop him?"

Theo and Lily snickered. Kim's smile faded. "Listen, before the Wolf comes to talk, I need to talk to you four," she told them, her voice serious, if still rather weak.

"What's up?" Lily asked. Kim sighed.

"I need to apologize to RJ, but I want you three to understand something very very important. Most of this is for you three, but I want you to know as well Fran," she said, leaning her head on Fran's shoulder. She felt the girl nod as Lily lay her own head on Kim's shoulder. Casey and Theo were leaning forward, looking concerned.

"RJ is your primary master and mentor, not me," she told them bluntly and they jerked back slightly.

"But…," Casey began but stopped when Kim raised a hand.

"Let me finish?" she asked and he nodded. She smiled. "I'm training you as rangers, but in the end, this war isn't a ranger war. It's a Pua Zhau war. I should never have undermined RJ's authority like I did with Dom. I felt crappy and irritated that he hadn't listened to me, but I should not have done it."

"But you're our Guardian!" Theo burst out and then slumped at Kim's glare. "Sorry."

"Guardian or not, I do not want you to think that cause I have all this untapped power, I'm above RJ. I'm not. I work on the zords, on the ranger powers, hell, even the weapons if I can get Billy to sit on the phone and walk me through it so I don't blow something up." The group snickered, including Jason. "RJ is your master. He's the one who should be making the mentor decisions that have to do with the Pua Zhua, not me. What I need to focus on his how to keep the ranger powers from blowing you all to kingdom come."

"Why must you keep talking about blowing stuff up?" Theo asked, a pinched expression on his face. Kim smirked.

"Maybe cause I keep remembering a rather frantic phone call Tommy got from Kira when Adam and Alpha somehow managed to blow up one of Hartford's computers," she retorted dryly. Jason snickered again while Casey simply grinned. The girls both giggled as Theo rolled his eyes heavenward

"Point is, you do NOT look to me for leadership unless RJ is indisposed, got me?" she asked and the four nodded. Kim smiled, slightly amused at Fran's agreement since she wasn't technically a Pua Zhua. "Besides, I think this little…debacle…has proven that I make poor judgments when I'm pissy."

"We should all run away when it's your time of the month then, shouldn't we?" Casey asked, grinning cheekily. Theo gaped at him as Kim and the girls glared.

"You are so gonna regret saying that come our next training session," Kim finally said and Casey's grin fell. Ignoring Jason's snickers, she smiled at them all.

"Now, I'm hungry. Soup?" she asked hopefully in Theo's direction and the blue ranger grinned.

"Coming up!" he said cheerfully, getting up. Before he reached the door, however, it opened to reveal the worried gaze of not just RJ but her father. She grimaced.

"Oh wonderful," she muttered under her breath, nudging the girls. Getting the hint, they got up and left with Theo, dragging Casey with them. Finn stared at Jason, looking bemused.

"You know, I shouldn't be surprised to see you here, but I am," he commented and Jason gave a forced smile. He'd never particularly liked her father, mostly, she suspected, because of the many nights she had cried on his shoulder about the man.

"Hiya Dad," she greeted half-heartedly as Jason excused himself, firmly closing the door on the family. The two men sat down, looking over her worriedly. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, for God's sake, stop it! I'm recovering from a Rhino size whammy, not dying!" she scolded them. RJ winced.

"Have I mentioned how sorry I am? When you were conscious, I mean?" he asked and Kim nodded.

"I vaguely remember you crying over my person," she agreed and RJ made a face.

"I was not crying!" he argued and Kim rolled her eyes.

"Fine, you were leaking from the eyeballs, whatever," she waved a hand dismissively. RJ scowled. "Or that might have been Dominic—I don't know, it's all the white, I'm gonna get confused."

"Dom isn't the crying sort," RJ defended him and Kim raised an eyebrow.

"Know him so well, then?" she asked, only half jokingly. RJ made another face.

"He's my second best friend. Or possibly my third, I really need to sit down and figure that out," he frowned to himself. Kim made a face even as she noted her father's amused gaze.

"Who's your first?" she asked curiously. He gave her a "duh" look.

"You, Pinky," he told her and then grinned. "God, that nickname makes so much more sense now."

She shook her head at him. "You've known my past for a month or so and you're just now connecting the dots on Jase' nickname for me?" she asked, somewhat entertained by the thought. He shrugged and she grinned. The three were silent for a moment.

"I really am sorry."

"I'm sorry." They said at the same time. The two paused before wry smiles graced their familiar features. A discreet cough made them turn to their father.

"How's the fishing?" Kim asked cheekily. Finn scowled at her, even as RJ snickered.

"How are you?" he asked worriedly. Kim shrugged.

"Honestly?" she asked, and was surprised when he nodded. "I feel like the time I got my coin sucked from my body only in reverse."

"That was bad?" Finn asked, not having learned her history as the others had. Kim made a face.

"Not a pleasant feeling, I don't recommend it," she told him, her voice serious. Finn still looked confused so Kim tried a different approach. "It's like if your shark was forcefully pulled from your body very very slowly."

"I agree, very unpleasant, don't recommend it either," RJ said with a wince as he rubbed his chest in remembered pain. Kim shared a sympathetic look with her brother as her father nodded.

"So whats this guardian nonsense about?" he asked and Kim winced.

"I really shouldn't have told you all about that," she sighed. "Dulcea's gonna kill me, if Ninjor doesn't get to me first."

RJ frowned. "Dulcea and Ninjor, the ones from the book?" he asked and Kim nodded. "Shouldn't they be dead? Tommy said the Little War was before Dai Shi even existed."

Kim shrugged. "Dulcea isn't Terran Human, she's Phaedosian Human," she told them. "Besides, she's the Guardian of the Ninjette and the Master Warrior of Phaedos and she looks like she's in her early thirties. I doubt she's gonna kick the bucket anytime soon."

"Why do people say that?" RJ asked suddenly. "'Kick the bucket.' It sounds so…informal."

"Walrus'," she answered and was greeted with two blank faces. She pouted.

"No one gets my lol cat humor," she grumbled. Finn frowned.

"What do walrus' have to do with cats?" he asked. Kim stared at him before shaking her head.

"You know what? Never mind," she muttered. She looked over at her father. "So whatcha doing here?"

"I can't visit my daughter?" he asked, annoyance tinging his voice. She stared at him.

"The last time you voluntarily visited without me having to call first was right before I moved to Florida, so yeah, I think it's a little odd," she told him bluntly. Finn's eyes narrowed.

"Kimberly…" RJ groaned. "Now is not the time."

"I'm way too tired bullshit him," she argued. "And besides, he'll probably take off as soon as he can. He's good at that."

"He is standing right here," Finn snapped. Kim raised an eyebrow.

"You're sitting," she pointed out and his scowl deepened.

"Kimberly!" RJ scolded in a strangled voice. "He's trying, can't you cut him some slack?"

"No, I can't," she replied back stubbornly. "Six years, that's all the time you two avoided each other. He's been absent for almost my entire life, nearly thirty years!"

RJ and Finn watched as a strange expression crossed her face. "God, I'm nearly thirty and I'm still dealing with this BS," she grumbled. Finn scowled.

"You could have written," he argued. Kim stared at him, honestly surprised at the suggestion.

"You never gave me an address, even after I asked fourteen times!" she told him angrily. Finn scowl deepened.

"You never asked fourteen times!" he shot back. She glared at him.

"I counted!" she snapped back, breathing heavily. A sharp pain hit her side and she winced. RJ sprang to his feet, agitated.

"Stop it, both of you!" He shouted. "Kimberly, you may want to do this now, but you're not recovered enough. Dad, just drop it!"

Finn threw his hands in the air and stomped from the room. RJ turned disappointed eyes on her and she scowled. "Watch, he'll leave 'cause he can't deal."

"You don't know that," he scolded. Kim stared at him.

"For nearly thirty years, RJ, I have watched that man run away when things get too emotional or something doesn't go his way. I'm done watching; he's gonna deal and he's gonna do it soon, even if I have to grab him by his freakin tale and drag him to the Monastery and have Mao lock him in the forbidden room until he deals," she told him tightly. RJ stared at her for a moment before sighing.

"We'll be waiting a while," he finally answered. She smiled slightly.

"Have faith, RJ," she told him with a small smile. "There's only one person on this Earth who can out-stubborn him."

"Who?" he asked, suspecting he knew her answer. She smirked.

"Why, his daughter of course!"