Disclaimer still applies

A/N: I can't believe the reaction I got to the last chapter. I knew that there were people reading this story, but I didn't realize there were that many! Thank you all for your kind words and support, they meant so much to me. It's always good to know that your work is enjoy by more people than yourself. I can't thank you all enough for supporting me with this!

And I'm sorry for the lateness of this. It would have been up sooner, but I had finals and had to move back home. Busy week with no time to write, grrrrrr.........

Falling From Grace

By: Batbabe

Chapter 21

Everything was going to hell in a handbasket.

Rocky had been seriously hurt. Kat had almost died. They had nearly lost Lerigot . And, come to find out, their powers weren't strong enough to take on Divatox and her army. Tommy didn't know how much more his team could stand.

The team leader was trying to project an aura of strength for his teammates to follow. He needed to be strong for them or else they would all fall apart. The others relied on him and he wouldn't let them down.

They were all standing in the command center, surrounding the alien wizard lying on the biobed. Not much time had passed since Katherine and Tommy had rescued the powerful being. The two had reached him in time, before the power of the sun could kill him.

Looking down on Lerigot, Tommy was amazed that such a small creature could contain such great power. The wizard was almost cartoonish in appearance, with wide eyes and a big mouth. He was also very small, which added to the deception. But none of that mattered. What mattered was protecting Lerigot from Divatox, at any cost.

Tommy looked across the biobed at Kat, who was holding Lerigot's hand. She had almost died in that river in Africa, while they were searching for the wizard. If he hadn't dove in after her, she would have been swept away and drowned. The young man was more thankful than he could ever say, he didn't know what he would have done if he had lost her.

Kat was so much more to him than a friend. She had been with him throughout some of the worst times of his life, always behind him. For so long, she had stayed in the shadows, caring for him when she knew how much he cared for Kimberly. When the petite brunette had broken his heart, Kat had helped him pick up the pieces. Slowly they had begun their own relationship, but not before he reconciled his feelings for Kim. When Jason had finally told Tommy of his role in the breakup with Kim, Kat had been the support he sorely needed. She had always been there for him when he needed her. She had become his friend, his companion, and his lover. Losing her would have been like losing a piece of his heart.

He wondered how he could have been so blind as to not see what was before him for so long.

That wasn't to say that he hadn't loved Kimberly. The first pink ranger had been his first love. But his feelings for Katherine were so much stronger, so much deeper, than his feelings for the gymnast. A part of him would always love Kim, but Kat would be the love of his life.

That had been just one of several revelations to come to him in the last couple of weeks.

After Jason had lost his powers, Tommy had relived the times that he himself had lost his powers. The ranger leader had never completely reconciled his feelings over losing the green ranger powers, and those feelings had intensified once he had to witness his best friend going through the same thing. Losing his powers had made him stronger and he continued to grow from the experience. He knew Jason would do the same thing.

It was when Tommy had gone to comfort the former Gold Ranger that he had learned of his best friend's betrayal. Jason was the other man that Kimberly had mentioned in that "dear John" letter. To know that one person he loved had betrayed him had been enough, but to learn that another had was almost too much to take.

The red zeo ranger had gone into solitude after that, too wounded to face the world. He had told Katherine what had happened and allowed her to tell the other rangers. He knew that they would shun Jason when they found out about what he had done, but that didn't matter. A part of him had been so angry and hurt that he had wanted his best friend to feel the same. It wasn't right, and Tommy was ashamed of that now. But he was still so angry, he didn't know what to do with it.

The more Tommy thought about it, the more he realized that it was inevitable. He had seen the way Jason looked at Kimberly and witnessed first hand the bond they shared. It almost seemed like they were fated to be together. But Tommy had been so drawn to Kimberly, he couldn't help but step in the way (though he didn't realize any of this at the time). And if it hadn't been Jason breaking them up, it would have been Kat. Not that she would have ever went after Tommy while he was with Kimberly, because that wasn't in her nature. It would have been his feelings for the blonde that would have forced him to break up with the first pink ranger. Kat and Tommy were just meant to be together, just like Jason and Kimberly.

It was then that Lerigot began to spasm on the bed. The rangers jumped at the sudden violent movement, all looking to Alpha for an explanation.

"Lerigot is receiving a telepathic transmission that appears to be upsetting him greatly." The short robot offered, sounding both worried and helpless. Once calibrated, the viewing globe lit up with the transmission from Divatox.

For a few moments, the space pirate rattled on with her demands to have Lerigot turned over to her.

"And if you don't hand him over, I'll get rid of a couple of your favorite humans." The sneer in her voice was evident as the rangers were presented with images of two masked scuba divers. "My scans tell me they were once one of your own.....what do you call it? Oh yes, Power Rangers...." The two divers pulled off their masks to reveal the faces of two of the original rangers. Tommy could feel his face drop at the sight.

"Kim...." His first love, a woman so full of light and life. The woman who had broken his heart.

"And Jason...." His best friend, a man of integrity and strength. The almost brother who had taken his girlfriend.

He looked over to Katherine, full of shock and sorrow at the sight of two of the people he loved most being used for ransom. Her face conveyed the worry and shock that she too experienced, while also communicating the support she had for him.

In the brief moment that the viewing globe displayed their images, all the anger and hurt was forgotten. What mattered most to Tommy, and to the other rangers, was saving the couple. So much had happened........and Tommy would be damned before he'd let anything happen to Kim or Jason.

/I'm coming guys.....just hold on./

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