Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

Chapter 14 – Fighting Spirit

"Power down!" Tommy tried again. "Well…seems not all our problems are over." He muttered when it still didn't work.

"Is this something we can help with also?" Delphine asked.

"I wish, but no. It'll be something to do with my Ranger powers, so unless you're an expert on Dino Gems…"

"Unfortunately we are not." Cestro answered seriously, Tommy's sarcasm lost on him. "If there is nothing else we can do, we should return to Aquitar."

"Of course. And thank you both so much." Kira said.

"I still marvel at how much you have grown, young Kira." Delphine said. Living on different planets, the Aquitian and Terran Rangers rarely saw each other, let alone their kids. Apart from Aurico when he'd joined the 'Red Mission', none of the Aquitian Rangers had seen Kira since the last time they'd been on Earth, which had been when she was still a baby.

"And a Ranger in your own right." Cestro added.

"Given who my parents are is it any surprise I'm a Ranger?" She joked, this one not lost on the Aquitians, though they answered seriously.

"No, I suppose not."

"Alpha, will you teleport Delphine, Cestro and I to the Command Centre?" Billy asked into his communicator. Alpha had remained behind wanting to monitor things from the Command Centre, and also have their advanced Med Bay ready just in case.

"Stand by Billy."

"It was nice seeing you two again." Tommy said. "Say hello to Aurico, Tideus and Corcus for us."

"We shall." Said Delphine. "Goodbye, Rangers of Earth." Right on cue the beams of teleportation overtook them, two blue and one white zooming out of the Dino Lab. Once they were gone, Tommy turned his attention back to the task at hand. First thing was first though; he removed his helmet and kissed his wife, then gave his daughter an extra hug.

"Come one Handsome, let's get you out of that suit." Kim said, beginning to lead him upstairs.

"I thought he couldn't de-morph." Said Trent.

"He can't." Replied Kira. "But that doesn't mean he can't get out of the suit. He just has to do it manually."

"You can do that?" Asked a shocked Connor.

"Haven't you ever wondered why the suit comes with a zipper? It's in case something like this happens."

"There's a zipper?!" He asked, even more shocked. Kira looked at him and the other two, seeing they too were shocked, and nodded.

"How could you have never noticed that before?"

"Well considering every time we're morphed we're either in battle or in the middle of a crisis, I think a zipper on the suits not entering our minds is pretty reasonable." Defended Ethan, a defense Kira could not find fault in. With Tommy now out of the amber, Hayley declared she was going home to sleep before she had to open the Cyberspace in the morning.

"And you'd better not be late for your shift this time!" Hayley called back to Trent as she heading up the stairs and to her car. The Rangers followed her as far as the living room where they settled in to wait for Tommy and Kim to return, which they did some fifteen minutes later.

"That is such a pain in the ass." Tommy grumbled. "Handy zipper or not I never wanna have to take the suit off manually again."

"Well you've gone your entire Ranger career without having to do it, so I think there's a pretty good chance you won't have to again. Or at least not for another ten years." Kira said, moving to sit between her parents.

"I know we've had trouble morphing before, but not de-morphing." Said Kim. "They always want to keep us out of the suits not in them."

"So what happens now?" Trent asked. "I mean are you gonna have to put the suit on manually every time the Rangers are needed? Or are we down a Ranger?"

"Neither." Tommy answered. "You're forgetting that I've been a Ranger before. I'll just have to use one of my old powers. They won't be as effective, but you won't be down a Ranger."

"Hayley gone home?" Kim asked.

"Yep." Said Ethan. "Said she'd be back sometime tomorrow to try and figure this new problem out."

"Alright. Well why don't you guys head home?" Tommy suggested. "It's getting late and I don't want your parents to worry."

-C/K-

The following day brought about some answers to Tommy's newest problem. Impenetrable amber Hayley had trouble with, Dino Gems not so much.

"You're Gem is essentially frozen." She reported. "It must be a side effect from the amber, it's the only thing I can think of."

"Frozen?" Tommy asked. "Frozen how?"

"Frozen much like you were. Its power is in stasis, meaning it can't be called on."

"Are we gonna have to call the Aquitians back to free it?"

"No. The effects of the amber still appear to be in place, but the amber itself isn't. I'll be able to reverse the effects, and in fact can use a regular blaster to do it. I'm just gonna have to figure out the proper recalibrations to make the blaster strong enough."

"Alright, well you're the rocket scientist." Tommy conceded to her superior knowledge.

"And you're not. So hovering isn't going to be of any help." She said, stopping his current plan in its tracks. Tommy's protests were cut off by the alarms blaring and the sound of thundering feet as the Rangers, minus Trent who was working, ran down the stairs.

"Zeltrax is back." Tommy said unnecessarily, for they could clearly see him and his latest monster on the screen.

"I'll have to figure the recalibrations out later." Hayley said packing up. "Trent's alone at the Cyberspace so I'll have to relieve him if you want him in battle."

"Thanks Hayley. Send him to us when you can."

"Will do!" she said as she headed out.

"So…which Ranger's gonna join us?" Kira asked her father.

"Oh the Flacon definitely." He responded with no hesitation. Given the choice, none of the Originals would use any other powers then those linked to their Animal Spirits.

"Well we've met the Original Pink, let's see the Original White." Said Connor as he stepped forward.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Dino Thunder, Power Up!"

"It's Mophin' Time! White Ranger Power!"

The three Dino Rangers hopped on their Raptor Cycles as Tommy called Alpha for his Shark Cycle, just as Kim had all those months ago when he'd first become the Black Ranger. They sped downtown using their vehicles' blasters upon arrival to take out at many Tyrannodrones as possible before they had to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

"How does Dr. Oliver like being fossilized?" Zeltrax asked in a rare moment of taunting. Usually it was Elsa that did the taunting while Zeltrax just threatened.

"Can't say I enjoyed it too much." Tommy answered for himself as he engaged Zeltrax in battle.

"What?!" Zeltrax snarled as this new White Ranger claimed to be Tommy.

"Did you really think you could keep me down for long Zeltrax? I'm one of the longest serving Rangers in existence. We always find a way out of any mess. And we always win." This only served to anger Zeltrax more and he pulled out his sword, Tommy following suit.

"Together again, huh old friend?" He joked with his enchanted sword.

"Oh yes, it has been far too long." Saba replied. Saba was by no means a sentient being, you wouldn't hold a conversation with him or anything, he was only programmed to assist in battle, but battle banter somehow fell under his programming. A few minutes into the fight Trent arrived, which not only evened out the odds but put them in their favour. At least it did, until the monster decided to grow big.

"We have no way to contact the Brachiozord…" Kira concluded. Every other Zord was inside the Brachiozord, which either needed Tommy's command from his Morpher, which was out of commission, or Hayley's command by remote from the Dino Lab, but Hayley was at the Cyberspace.

"That really wasn't well thought out on our part." Said Ethan. "I'll head to the Dino Lab and try and figure out how Hayley controls the Zords. Trent if you could go get her, that'd be really helpful."

"Not necessary Ethan." Tommy said, feeling quite excited about unleashing the Falcon once again. "We may not have our Dino Zords, but I've got my Falconzord." Calling on his Animal Spirit, Tommy willed the Falcon into its Zord form, a tiny version of which burst forth from the crest on his chest before growing to normal Zord size.

"Woah!" The boys cried, never having seen a Zord come out of a person's chest. Kira too was quite impressed. Though she'd lived with her Power Ranger parents through almost everything they'd gone through, she'd rarely seen their Ranger side for she was always kept safe somewhere, usually the Command Centre, when they were needed in battle. As a result, she knew everything, but hadn't seen it all; though she had seen Tommy summon his Falconzord once back during the 'Red Mission.' Tommy made short work of the monster, a standard monster not holding a candle to the Falconzord's last conquest, Serpentera. With the monster gone, and Zeltrax retreating, the Rangers returned to what they had been doing before this latest interruption. Shortly after four Rangers returned to the Dino Lab, Hayley showed up to continue work on recalibrating a standard blaster, provided by Alpha, to have enough power to unfreeze Tommy's Gem. By that evening it was ready and everyone had gathered in the cavern command centre with their fingers crossed. Tommy had removed the Gem from the bracelet and placed it on a pedestal, Hayley's super powered blaster pointed directly at it.

"Alright…here's hoping nothing else goes wrong." Hayley muttered. Upon hitting the switch to activate the blaster, it immediately became clear that her hope was in vain. Sparks flew from the blaster as it prepared to fire, not responding when Hayley hit the off switch. The blast hit the Dino Gem directly causing a great explosion of light as the Gem's power was unleashed. However, instead of feeling the Gem's power return, Tommy fell unconscious the moment the light became blinding.

"Tommy!" Kim cried, having felt it the moment he fell unconscious. With great difficulty, she bent down and tried to wake him. Kira rushed to her mother's side and like when Tommy had been stuck in the amber attempted to calm her down. But unlike that time, Tommy was unconscious, not aware, and so Kim could not feel her mate. Trying to wake him didn't work, and when a pulse check came up negative, she began working herself into hysteria and so she didn't hear when Kira told the guys to take her out of the room, but she certainly felt it as she was gently but firmly pried from her mate's side.

"NO! NO!" She screamed fighting against the boys as they tried to lead her out of the room. When gently leading her away didn't work, Trent bent down and lifted Kim into his arms and with a murmur of "sorry Mrs. O" carried her upstairs closely followed by Ethan.

"Connor, go help them. Keep her calm and don't let anything happen to my brother or sister." Though reluctant to leave his own mate, Connor conceded and went upstairs.

"Hayley what happened?" Kira cried when she could think clearly again.

"I don't know what went wrong with the blaster, I'm sure my calculations were correct." She murmured, looking at Tommy's prone form. "But his Gem's in four pieces. To destroy it this completely is the same as destroying him." Kira closed her eyes for a moment as tears threatened to fall, but only for a moment as she knew there was no way she was going to let her father die.

"Alpha come in!" She said into her communicator as she raised it to her lips.

"Go ahead Kira."

"I need you to contact Dana. Now!" The urgency in her voice had Alpha moving as fast as he possibly could, and so not two seconds later did Dana's voice come over the comm.

"Go for Dana." She said, obviously having no clue who was contacting her.

"Dana, it's Kira, you need to get here now. Dad's dying…or dead…I don't know, he doesn't have a pulse!"

"Ok, Kira calm down, I'll grab Joel and be there in a few minutes."

"Not enough time, Alpha teleport her now." Doing as instructed, the beloved robot had a pink beam of teleportation entering the Dino Lab half a second later. Dana appeared not in her usual pink shirt and Lightspeed jacket, but a fancy pink dress, having been out to dinner with Carter, though that didn't stop her from rushing forwards upon seeing Tommy. A fast cursory look determined that Kira was right and Tommy had no pulse, his heart had stopped.

"How long as he been like this?" She asked, hoping it hadn't been long.

"A minute? Two maybe." Although technically having been dead for a minute or two, it was a timeframe that Dana could work with.

"Rescue Injector!" She called, summoning a part of the Rescue Bird, which acted as the ultimate medicine. The serum inside was very similar to the Rangers' accelerated healing, though also possessed a modified adrenaline for situations such as this. It was meant to heal wounds that would be fatal before normal treatments could have time to work, and also to keep a person alive long enough for that healing to happen. Sticking it directly into Tommy's heart, Dana injected only a quarter of the serum into him, knowing that while a miracle drug, too much could kill a person. Seconds after the serum touched Tommy's heart, it began beating again, though he remained unconscious. Dana and Kira breathed sighs of relief, at least now they had time to figure out a way to save him.

"I need to get him back to the Aquabase." Dana said. "I'm guessing this isn't a natural occurrence, but something to do with him being a Ranger."

"His Dino Gem smashed." Hayley explained in a small voice. "Unless it's whole again, he won't live…and it's all my fault."

"It's not your fault Hayley." Kira murmured, though with just having watched her father die then come back to life she didn't sound too convincing, even if she meant it.

"I'll call Joel, get him to come pick us up."

"Joel's turned his communicator off, and Angela's not responding, so I don't want to know what they're doing." Came Carter's voice as he ran downstairs. "I got a hold of Ryan, he and Solar Rescue are ready to go, and I've already called ahead for the Med Bay to prepare two beds."

"Two?" Kira asked. Carter didn't look happy with the answer he had to give.

"Kimberly's just gone into labour."

"What?!" Kira cried. "N-no, she can't be in labour, she's got a month and a half to go." With a curse and directive to Carter to bring Tommy, Dana led the way upstairs to the living room where Kim was on the couch, crying as a contraction ripped through her, and being supported by Wes and Jen while the three teens cowered in the corner.

"Mom!" Kira ran straight to her mother's side, not bothering to question why the Red and Pink Time Force Rangers were there.

"Kira…" Kim moaned, clutching her belly.

"Mom, dad's going to be fine." She said, hoping she wasn't lying to her mother. "You need to breathe and try to calm down."

"We have to move her. Now!" Dana said and it was then that Kira noticed the blood. Connor was by her side in an instant as he felt that she was about to lose the control she'd held onto for this long.

"Is it safe to teleport them?" Connor asked, knowing he now needed to keep it together for his mate.

"You won't be able to teleport into the Aquabase." Said Carter.

"Negative Carter." Came Alpha's voice from Kira's communicator, where he'd been listening, concerned for his friends. The Yellow Dino Ranger was in control enough to raise her arm so they could hear better. "The shields surrounding the Lightspeed Aquabase protect against evil. The teleportation system Zordon and I created many millennia ago will have no problem getting through the shields."

"Then standby." Said Dana. "Send Ryan back. We'll figure out if we should block their teleportation later."

"We're coming with you." Said Connor. He spoke for himself and Kira, which was obvious, though Trent and Ethan nodded too before they realized if they all went the city would be unprotected.

"We'll stay." Jen said.

"We'll contact the other Time Force Rangers and the Silver Guardians. Between us we'll protect the city." Added Wes.

"A-and I'll stay to help where I can." Hayley murmured, still subdued over what her invention had done. She wanted to go and be with her friends, but she'd caused this, and if she could be useful here, advising should there be an attack, then that was what she was going to do. "Here." She handed Tommy's broken Dino Gem to Ethan, knowing he'd keep it safe.

"Teleport now." Dana said, not wanting to waste anymore time. Alpha punched in the code, and Dana, Carter, Tommy, Kim and the Dino Rangers all appeared in Rescue Ops., drawing quite a bit of attention.

"Get a gurney!" Dana shouted to the nearest person, who ran off to do her bidding. "You are to bring them to the Med Bay when the gurney arrives." She directed to the next nearest person, indicating to Tommy, who was slung over Trent's shoulder. She then led the way out of Rescue Ops. leading Carter, who carried Kim, as well as Connor and Kira; Ethan decided to stay back with Trent. Once in the Med Bay Dana began an examination of Kim, feeling a little relieved at what she saw.

"The bleeding isn't quite as bad as we thought. There's damage to the placenta but it's not detached."

"Which means?" Kim asked, having forced herself to clam down when she felt there was something wrong with her baby and not wanting to harm him or her anymore.

"Which means immediate delivery by caesarean section is not necessary. You may still have to deliver by caesarean section, but for now we can let your labour continue naturally."

"So the baby's going to be ok?" Kira asked.

"I think so."

"You think?"

"I'd be a poor doctor if I made any promises with everything that's going on, especially as the baby will be premature on top of everything else. But unless things take a turn for the worst…the baby will be fine."

"Thanks Dana." Kira murmured.

"Now I've gotta go check on Tommy. Your family sure doesn't do anything by half. Can you contact anyone to stay with Kim? She shouldn't be alone."

"I'll stay." Kira said.

"No." Dana shut that plan down. "You are in shock and I'd rather not have all three of you in a hospital bed so you-"She cut off when she realized that Kira would just ignore any orders she gave and so turned to Connor instead. "You are going to take her to the mess hall and get her something to eat. And you're to stay there till I call you." Connor nodded in understanding and Dana strode from the room muttering something about getting Angela Rawlings here to help her even if it meant throwing Joel out on his ass, butt naked.

"Mom…" Kira said, approaching her mother before Connor could lead her from the room.

"Everything's going to be ok Kira." Kim said, giving her a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"I know." She responded. Though they both knew it might not be ok, they had to go through the motions.

"Go with Connor. And you take care of her." She added unnecessarily. Once again Connor nodded, this time leading Kira from the room. Outside they were met by Ethan and Trent who handed each of them a badge with their picture and name on it.

"Ryan gave these to us." Ethan said. "Said it'll stop people from thinking we're intruders and give us access to all areas. Except the computers, where all their top secret information is."

"As long as it gives us access to the mess hall." Connor muttered leading Kira down the hall till they found someone and could ask for directions. Finding a table, Connor sat Kira down and, following Dana's instructions, went to get her something to eat.

"How's dad?" Kira asked.

"The same." Trent answered.

"I…I should contact Uncle Jason and the others." She murmured to Trent and Ethan who remained with her as she raised her communicator.

"Uncle Jason come in."

"Kira what's wrong?" he asked a couple seconds later, knowing just from those four words that something was up.

"Dad's fighting for his life and mom's in labour."

"WHAT?! What happened?!"

"Dad's Dino Gem broke apart and it nearly cost him his life. Dana saved him, but he's still unconscious and unless we find a way to fix his Gem, he's gonna die. The stress was too much for mom and she went into labour prematurely. There was blood. Dana says for now things are ok, but if anything else happens the baby could die."

"Where the hell are you guys?" Jason breathed after a moment.

"The Aquabase."

"Alright, I'm getting Alpha to teleport us in. I'll call the others too."

"What about Aunt Trini? We'd never forgive ourselves if this hurt your baby too."

"Kira, sweetie, I'm fine." Trini said, and Kira should have known Trini would be listening in. "I'm days away from my due date, so even if I do go into labour the chance of it harming the baby is very small. We're coming. And everything's going to be just fine. Your parents have been through worse then this." Kira wasn't so sure about that last statement but conceded to her aunt, knowing it wouldn't matter what she said, Trini's mind was made up. Signing off, Kira stared blankly at the table in front of her, then at the food when Connor returned.

"Kira you gotta eat something." Connor murmured. His words broke though Kira's unfeeling haze but not in the way he wanted. She finally broke down, sobs wracking her body as tears streamed down her face. Without hesitation Connor reached over and pulled Kira onto his lap, holding her tight.

"It's gonna be ok." He murmured, but Kira shook her head.

"I can't lose them, Connor. I can't."

"You won't."

"If dad dies mom will be as good as dead, which will probably be enough to kill the baby. If the baby dies…I don't know what they'll be like. But it won't be good. If I lose one of them…I lose them all." Connor looked over Kira's head at their two friends, all three thinking, knowing, that Kira was right.

-C/K-

The Original Rangers' arrival in the Aquabase didn't go over as well as the others had for the simple reason that they didn't have a Lightspeed Ranger with them. A couple guards tried to detain them when they teleported into Rescue Ops. and were immediately met with four enraged Original Rangers, their worry morphing into anger instantaneously as someone got in their way. The Ape erupting from Jason knocking the guards back and the commotion it caused was enough for one of the Lightspeed officials to set off the red alert, thinking they were under attack. Seconds later Kelsey, Chad, Ryan and Joel, who had indeed been ripped from his bed, ran in, closely followed by Captain Mitchell himself, along with his first grandchild, who was held tightly in his arms, crying from the alarm.

"Turn the alarm off." The Captain ordered when he saw who it was. "Ladies and gentlemen, meet four of the six Original Power Rangers." He said over the baby's cries to his teams' surprise. "The other two are currently in our Med Bay. There may be more Rangers coming through here and the computer can verify if they are Rangers or not. If more Rangers arrive you are to direct them to the Med Bay immediately, am I understood?"

"Yes sir!" With a nod the Captain turned to the Originals and motioned for them to follow him, who were in turn closely followed by the Lightspeed Rangers. Upon reaching the Med Bay, the four all entered Kim's room, Carter indicating they were still being bared from Tommy's; even he was forced to wait outside, though he was suddenly ok with it when he saw his daughter crying. He came over and took the two month old from her grandfather, gently soothing her. Dana had been pregnant the last time they'd seen the Original Rangers, but with Kira dying that time, it was by no means the right moment to tell them. Tonight had been the first night the two had been out since she was born and they'd double dated with Wes and Jen, two of their best friends, who left their own year old son with Wes' dad. This also explaining Wes and Jen's presence at the Olivers' for there was no way two Rangers weren't going to check up on an emergency when they were there for the call. While Carter calmed his daughter, the Originals didn't hesitate in entering the one room they were allowed into.

"Hey Ptera." Jason murmured as he reached his sister's side.

"Rex." She moaned back, tears falling once again now that her big brother was there to be strong where she couldn't.

"Oh Kim!" Trini breathed, leaning forwards from the chair she'd been sat in to hug her friend.

"You shouldn't have come. You especially Tri."

"Your daughter said the same thing when she called Jason. But I'm fine."

"Have you seen Tommy?" Zack shook his head sadly.

"They're still in there with him."

"Kim, Jase said that Tommy's Dino Gem had been broken and that was what was causing him to…well…" Billy said and Kim nodded.

"If you think you'll be ok here, I'd like to go help Dana and Mrs. Rawlings. My experience in matters such as bonded powers malfunctioning could be of value." Kim nodded again, this time with a little hope. Billy came forward and gave her a hug before he walked out and over to Tommy's room, having the Lightspeed Rangers move aside with one look; they weren't going to bar him from the room.

"Kim, honey, where's our niece?" Jase asked, worried for his goddaughter.

"Dana told Connor to take her to the mess hall."

"I'll go." Zack said before he too gave Kim a hug and took off, just as another contraction hit. In the absence of Tommy, Jason helped Kim through it, remembering what the birthing classes he and Trini had taken had taught him. Afterwards, Kim nodded off, feeling as secure and calm as she could be without Tommy. Fifteen minutes or so later, she awoke, sitting bolt upright, eyes wide in shock.

"Kim what is it?" Jason asked.

"Should we get Dana?" asked Trini. Kim merely shook her head as she tried to determine if what she was seeing was real, or just a figment of her imagination.

'It's real Beautiful.'

"Tommy…" She murmured out lout though she knew he could still hear her, tears once again falling, though this time from happiness.

"Tommy? What about Tommy?" Jason asked.

"I can feel him, see him, through the bond. He's still unconscious, so I shouldn't be able to, but for whatever reason I can. We don't know why…but I don't care. He's ok!"

-C/K-

Tommy was indeed still unconscious in Lightspeed's Med Bay but his brain was suddenly fully functioning, and with The Power's help, it brought his consciousness, or his soul, he wasn't sure which, to some barren wasteland, probably both in his head and in another dimension, thanks to The Power.

"Kim are you ok? Is Kira? The baby?" He asked through their bond, so happy that it was working, and not caring at the moment that there was probably a reason he was here and something he had to do. Right now he needed answers.

"We're ok…kind of…"

"Kind of?!"

"I'm in labour Tommy…and there's damage to the placenta." Tommy's heart skipped a beat at her words, though not in a good way, his fear for his wife and unborn child surging through him.

"Where are you? Tell me you're at the hospital." He begged.

"We're in Lightspeed's Med Bay, both of us. You…you died Tommy. You didn't have a pulse. I don't know for how long, but Dana came and next thing I know she's saying you're alive but unconscious."

"Why? What happened to me?"

"Something went wrong with the blaster. It smashed your Dino Gem to pieces."

"Then I've gotta make it whole again."

"But how?"

"It's here. Wherever 'here' is. I can feel its power."

"Very good Tommy." Came a familiar voice and Tommy spun around, coming face to face with the Red Turbo Ranger. "If you want this piece of your Gem." He said, holding up a tiny black rock, and Tommy recognized it as a part of his Gem, and the voice as his own, though with that mocking quality he associated with Tom. "You'll have to defeat me!" The Turbo Ranger launched on the attack. Tommy blocked it easily and sent a few of his own kicks and punches. As the fight wore on Tommy began to get more and more desperate. Kim was in labour, his baby was in danger, and his daughter was in god knows what condition, though he knew that physically she was unharmed or Kim would have mentioned it first thing.

"Enough!" He roared, knocking the Ranger back, grabbing the Turbo Lightning Sword that fell from his hand, and holding it at his throat. "Enough." Tommy repeated, though this time in a soft voice.

"I yield." The Turbo Ranger said after a moment and both he and his weapon disappeared, leaving behind the piece of Tommy's Gem.

"Kim? How many pieces did my Gem break into?" He asked, fearing the answer for he wanted to return to her as soon as possible, preferably before the baby was born.

"Four." She answered, confirming his fears. Tommy sighed and grasped the piece of his Gem tightly, closing his eyes and begging The Great Power for the patience to get through this. He didn't even open his eyes when he felt a presence behind him, knowing exactly who it was.

"If you want to fight, Zeo V, bring it!" he snarled before whipping around and being the first to launch on the attack this time. Zeo Ranger V-Red didn't say a word as he engaged the black clad Tommy in battle. The more time Tommy spent here, away from his labouring wife, the more lethal he became until finally his Zeo Ranger counterpart found himself in a similar position as the Turbo Ranger. Once again he didn't say a word as he handed over the next piece of the Dino Gem before disappearing, though this time taking the dessert wasteland with him. Tommy found himself sucked into a black void before it too disappeared, turning into a forest, with the White Ranger standing in the distance leaning against a tree.

"Let me guess. I gotta fight you." Tommy said dryly as he began the trek over.

"You were supposed to." The White Ranger responded, stopping Tommy in his tracks as surprise overtook him.

"Supposed to?"

"Yep." The White Ranger pulling himself away from the tree and came over to Tommy, holding out his hand and offering up the third piece of the Gem.

"Is this a joke?" Tommy asked. "Cause this is far too easy."

"No, Tommy it's not a joke. Think about it for a moment. The White Ranger powers were created by The Great Power. The Falcon controls me."

"And the Falcon's pretty desperate to return to our mate." Tommy finished catching on.

"Exactly. He all but ordered me to hand over the piece of the Gem."

"Well…thanks." Tommy said, finally taking the small piece of rock.

"Don't thank me. The Falcon may be able to control me, but he has no control over him." The White Ranger disappeared and Tommy knew whom he was talking about, and also that he was standing right behind him. Turning around, Tommy came face to face with the Green Ranger, a fact that never failed to leave destruction in its wake. But this time was different. Apart from the fact that they were inside Tommy's head and the Green Ranger couldn't harm the city or any innocent people, nothing was going to keep Tommy from getting back to Kim; there was no uncertainty in this battle.

"The Falcon may not be able to control you, but he can destroy you." Tommy said. "This battle is going to last a grand total of sixty seconds, and only that long because I feel like hitting something. In sixty seconds, I'll let the Falcon have you."

"Then I guess we'd better not waste time." The Green Ranger said, summoning the Dragon Dagger and running towards his opponent. Tommy wasn't joking about letting the battle last only sixty seconds. Facing his toughest opponent or not, there was no way he was going to let him stand in the way of getting back to Kim. But during those sixty seconds Tommy got the distinct impression that the Green Ranger was holding back, something he'd never done before. It was as if the Green Ranger wanted to lose this battle, and lose it in the time frame Tommy had allocated, for by the time sixty seconds was up, Tommy had been able to take the Dragon Dagger from the Green Ranger, and hold it to his neck while he pinned the Ranger to a tree.

"You win Tommy." The Green Ranger said, lifting his hand and presenting the final piece of the Black Dino Gem.

"You let me win." Tommy breathed. "Why?"

"Contrary to how I went about things, I do love Kimberly. And our children." Tommy growled, hating it when his evil Green counterpart called Kira, and now the new baby, his. "That never fails to annoy you." He chuckled, easily taking the Dagger as Tommy took the piece of his Gem. "I'll be seeing you again Tommy, count on it. And next time I won't be so lenient. We've been fighting for control for almost twelve years, and you've had it for far too long."

"And I'm going to keep it." Tommy snarled. "I'll never let you have control."

"We shall see." The Green Ranger said in parting as he disappeared. Once he was gone, Tommy took the pieces of his Gem and held them in one hand. He could feel The Power engulf him, and the Gem fuse together, its power filling him.

"I'm coming Beautiful." He told her before raising his Gem. "Dino Thunder, Power Up!"

-C/K-

In Tommy's room in the Med Bay, Dana, Mrs. Rawlings and Billy were all monitoring Tommy's brainwaves, which two of them classified as abnormal and shouldn't be possible while Billy simply said it was Tommy and nothing was out of the realm of possibility with him. There had been no change physically over the last hour or so since they brought him here. Very suddenly, however, that changed. The machines attached to Tommy to monitor both his brain activity and for any physical change all went off at once, and mere moments later Tommy's eyes opened.

"Tommy!" Billy cried, rushing over to his friend's side.

"Hey Billy." He said with a smile.

"Are you alright? I…I mean…" Billy wasn't exactly sure what he meant. One minute Tommy was practically in a coma, the next he was awake and smiling. Thanks to Jason, Billy knew that Tommy and Kim had made contact through their bond and that is what the 'abnormal' brainwaves must have been, but with neither of the two other people in the room in the know about the depth of Tommy and Kimberly's bond, those in the extended Ranger family, meaning anyone passed the Space Rangers, merely thinking it a superficial bond, he saw no reason to let on unless there came a time he believed that knowledge would help save Tommy. However, even though he knew Tommy was getting closer to waking, he hadn't expected it to be so fast.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Tommy responded, opening his hand and revealing the completed Dino Gem. "Now I gotta get to Kim. Has the baby been born?"

"No, not yet. Her contractions are still about five minutes apart." Billy answered.

"How does he know Kim's in labour?" Dana asked.

"Not important. What's important is to unhook me from all this and let me see my child be born."

"Oh no. You're not going anywhere until I get a full body scan." Dana responded sternly. Tommy looked to Billy for help but the genius merely shook his head.

"You're crazy if you think I'm gonna let you out without knowing for sure you're ok. Kim would kill me." Sighing in resignation, Tommy laid back and allowed Dana and Mrs. Rawlings to run every scanner over him, and run every test they could think of.

"You're fine." Dana said nearly ten minutes later. "Completely healthy." Although she was extremely happy with this news, she was also confused. Not two hours had passed since she was teleported away from her and Carter's double date, and Tommy had gone from dead, to alive, to in a coma, to alive again and it was enough to make her head spin. With Mrs. Rawlings help she unhooked all the wires and told Tommy that Kim was in the room next to his. When Tommy ran out of his room he was met by the Lightspeed Rangers who were all shocked and happy to see him, for they'd had no news beyond 'still unconscious'.

"I'm fine, Billy will explain!" Tommy called as he let himself into Kim's room.

"Tommy!" Kim sobbed in relief.

"Hey Beautiful." He murmured giving her a quick kiss and taking Jason's place at her side.

"Welcome back, bro." the Red Ranger said as he happily gave up his spot and went around the bed to join his wife.

"Thanks. Trini how are you?" Tommy asked with concern.

"I'm fine. Though much better now that you're safe."

"There's someone else you need to go see." Kim said, referring to their daughter who Tommy could see through Kim's memories had been nearly as distraught as Kim had been. "Go, my contractions are still five minutes apart." With a nod and another kiss Tommy did just that, asking one of the Lightspeed guys to take him to the mess hall. When he got there he was greeted to the sight of five subdued Rangers. Trent and Ethan had been attempting a game of chess, but failing miserably, while Zack and Connor just sat against the wall, the latter still holding Kira who had finally fallen asleep after a lot of crying, as evident by her still tear stained face. When Tommy entered the room Zack was the first to see him, immediately sitting up and pointing.

"Guys." He said, a happy note in his voice. The three teens looked up and upon seeing Tommy all breathed a sigh of relief. Connor shook Kira gently awake, his relief overflowing through their bond and making her turn tired eyes towards the door.

"Dad." She gasped as Connor released her. Tears once again fell, though thankfully from happiness this time, and she ran to her father who met her half-way and held her close when she jumped into his arms.

"I'm so glad you're ok. I was so scared I would lose you. All of you."

"You'll never lose me, or your mother. Not even when we live to be a hundred years old and die of old age as all beings must, you still won't lose us."

"How's mom? And the baby?"

"They're both fine. Your mother's contractions are still five minutes apart and-"

"Tommy you'd better get back here if you wanna see your kid be born." Came Jason's voice over Zack's communicator, knowing Tommy didn't have his and that he'd be with Kira and the others in the mess hall. "Kim's contractions are coming fast."

"Ok scratch that last bit." Tommy said, letting his daughter down. "They're both fine, but we've gotta go." Tommy and Kira ran from the room, closely followed by the others. When they got back to the Med Bay it was to see everyone loitering in the hallway outside Kim's room, only Dana, Mrs. Rawlings and Jason missing, even Trini and her chair, that Jason insisted she constantly have available, were there. With a final look at his daughter, Tommy went into the room, sending Jason out. Finally having the opportunity, both godparents and Uncle Billy converged on Kira, giving her hugs and telling her how brave she'd been. Over the next twelve minutes, they'd been counting, screams were heard from Kim's room that had all the guys cringing, Carter especially having heard those cries recently, and Kelsey paling, sending a look to Ryan that clearly said she was reconsidering wanting kids. Kelsey and Ryan had been dating since sometime in 2002, and Ryan was preparing to propose, though Kelsey already knew all about it; Ryan was horrible when it came to keeping secrets from her. By all accounts Trini should have been the one paling, what with being so close to her due date and possibly going through this any day now, but she seemed the most calm of all of them. Finally, after another agonizing seven minutes, at just before midnight on May 4th 2005, the cries of a baby were heard, the closed door to the room regaining the attention of everyone out there. No one was sure exactly how much time passed between the baby's first cry and Tommy coming to the door with a goofy grin.

"Kira. Want to meet your brother?" Both excited and nervous, Kira nodded and followed her dad inside. Her mom was sitting up in bed holding a small bundle in her arms and smiling between her two children. Completely unaware of Dana and Mrs. Rawlings finally leaving the room after cleaning up, Kira approached her mother's side and looked down on the scrunched up face of her newborn baby brother.

"He's so small." She murmured. "He's not too small is he?" Tommy and Kim chuckled. Of course their daughter's first thought of her baby brother would be for his health and safety.

"He's a bit small yes, but his lungs are developed enough to breathe on his own and his heart is strong. Apparently Ranger births aren't quite as normal as we thought. The Power in our veins transfers to our children, giving them traces of The Power, and apparently our accelerated healing." Kim said. "Dana's keeping us for a few days just in case, but she says he's gonna be just fine, The Power's helping him develop fast and keeping his heart strong." Kira nodded, satisfied with the answer, as she reached up and grasped his hand, which had escaped from his blankets.

"Do you want to hold him?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah." Kim scooted over to give Kira room to sit on the bed before she handed the baby over to his big sister. Kira smiled widely when he contentedly settled into her arms, and just as her family was sworn to protect her, she in turn swore to always protect him.

"What's his name?"

"Eric Jayden." Said Kim. "After Tommy's two fathers."

"Grandpa's name is Mark." Kira said confused.

"Jayden is his middle name." Tommy answered. "Eric was my birth father's name and we played around with Mark either as a first or middle name-"

"But I really liked Jayden. Eric Jayden just sounded so nice." Kira smiled again completely agreeing with her mother.

"Eric Jayden Oliver." She murmured. "Welcome to our crazy, but loving, family."

A/N - It's a boy! Many of you wanted a boy and you got your wish! Yes his name is Eric, like Connor's brother, but unlike Connor's brother baby Eric is going to been seen so much more then Earth Ninja Eric, and if they are ever talked about at the same time I'll make the distinction like I am now. I just wanted them to once again use a name important to Tommy's birth family, and really liked the name Eric Jayden.

And yes, Dana and Carter have a daughter and Wes and Jen have a son...more on them later.

Only one more chapter until the end of Dino Thunder. Mesogog comes to an end in chapter 15!

Review please!