"How are you doing?" Tommy asked as he walked over to the couch with a heating pad in his arms, which he plugged in before sitting down next to Kim and handing it to her. They were both completely exhausted from the training that they had just experienced. Ninjor was definitely pushing them to places that they had never been with their ranger powers before. They were sure that it would benefit them eventually, but right now their bodies were taking a beating and they were having a hard time bouncing back from it all. They just didn't have it in them like they used to and hopefully Ninjor would realize that very soon.
"I'm hurt Tommy," Kim said as she laid down on the heating pad, hoping that it would soothe her muscles. She usually couldn't tell until the next morning that something was wrong, but today, she knew that things were wrong the moment that she came back home. Her body had been aching from the moment that Ninjor started fighting her and now she was just in pain. She knew that this was not normal, but she also knew that she had been very lucky so far and didn't need to complain about this, at all. Tommy had had some bad days and she hadn't had one until now, so they were no where near equal, although it seemed that it never only affected one of them when they were hurt.
"You want some Aleve or Tylenol?" Tommy asked as he ran his fingers through her hair and she removed her glasses and passed them to him so that he could put them on the table. She wanted to relax, but the pain was not allowing her to do that right now. She just hoped that having bury vision would make her be able to focus her energy into something else and hopefully get her muscles to relax.
"It's not going to help, it never does with these sort of injuries, we both know that. We've been through this way too many times. We should definitely ask Billy to try to come up with something that would help us. He might be able to help us out with everything that he knows," Kim said as he just looked at her. That let him know that she was uncomfortable to the point that medicine wouldn't help her anymore and he hated that sort of thing. He knew that her body was on the verge of breaking and he did not want for that to happen. They both needed to stay strong so that Demetri and Nadrox could not get an upper hand on either of them.
"Let me up," Tommy said as Kim lifted her head off his lap just enough that he was able to stand up. He then scooped her up and carried her into her bedroom, as she still insisted that they need separate ones, although they usually fell asleep together in one room or the other. They just didn't want to make the final step of moving into the same room, it would make some things more obvious than they wanted them to be right now. They needed to keep some of their life a secret, for everyone's sake. There were just some things that none of the others needed to know about.
"What are you going to do?" Kim asked as he placed her on the bed and then left again. She couldn't tell where he had gone, but she did not want him to go tonight. She wanted him to stay with her. "Tommy…"
"I'll be right back, I just need to unplug the heating pad. I don't want it burning down the entire building," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. Their training session this evening had been hell for her, as Ninjor tested her body again and again, trying to find a way to push over the edge and he had. She knew that the stiffness she felt now was going to kill her in the morning, if she could even sit up in the morning. It had been years since she had been like this and she just wanted for it to be over with as soon as humanly possible. "Roll over."
"Tommy…" Kim began to complain, but stopped as he tugged off her t-shirt and she then rolled over without asking anymore questions. Any time he removed clothing, she knew that she was in for some sort of treat.
"Where exactly does it hurt?" Tommy asked as Kim pointed to her lower back and he began to slowly rub the knots out. She had been stressed out a lot lately, but usually he didn't have to massage it out. However, the few times that he did, he found out that it was a very good way to get Kimberly to sleep.
"Oh," Kim moaned as Tommy smiled down at her and he watched as her eyes began to slowly close. She was in too much pain to fight sleep tonight and he could only hope that her sleep would be fine without him tonight. He needed to go back to the Command Center to check some things before he could turn in and although he slept great with her, he knew that tonight he needed to be alone. He needed to be able to think clearly about everything that had manifested over the last few hours. He was not sure how some things were going to work out and he just had to think it out, as soon as he could. "Don't go, Tommy."
"How'd you know?" Tommy asked as Kim rolled over and looked up at him. He was just a blur, but she knew that he was confused at how she had been able to figure out his little plan.
"Oh, I don't know, this is your favorite way to get me to sleep and then leave and go sleep somewhere else," Kim said as Tommy couldn't help but smile. She was right about that. He always did this when he needed to have some time alone and didn't want to ask her for it. "Go do what you have to do, but promise me that you'll come back here. I just want you here tonight. I'm going to need you to be here for me."
"Okay," Tommy agreed as Kim rolled over and quickly drifted off to sleep, which was exactly what he hoped would happen. She needed the rest after today and he had known that it would take everything out of him to get her to sleep without him being there.
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"I thought that I'd see you down here tonight," Hayley said as Tommy landed in the Command Center and Hayley looked at him in shock. He looked like he had been steamrolled this evening. She knew better than to ask about what had happened during his practice this afternoon. The last time that she tried that, she got the silent treatment from him for weeks. Whatever they were having to do, was much worse than anything Tommy had voluntarily put himself through before and she wondered if it was the same for Kimberly as well. "It was cruel to leave Conner to explain that to them. You should have explained it yourself."
"I didn't have a choice. Ninjor doesn't exactly wait when he says that we have practice at a certain time. Do you think that they needed to see him show up here their first day as rangers? We couldn't risk them saying no, we need their help far too much," Tommy said as Hayley watched him as he began punching in all sorts of information that he had gathered lately along with everything that he had been able to pull out of Kim. She had been reluctant to talk about all of the attacks that she had been through, but she saw the necessity in them knowing. They needed this sort of knowledge in order for them to be able to survive without their help, because it was about to be nonexistent.
"Why is it so important that you put yourself through all of this?" Hayley asked as Tommy just looked over at her. He really didn't have too much time to explain it before Kim came here and she was not in very good condition to be up on her feet. He needed to guarantee that she would get some good rest tonight, because they were going to be asked to do the same thing tomorrow. He knew that Ninjor was afraid that they would meet Nadrox and Demetri and not be ready, but he was not scared of that. He was more scared that they would meet them when they were thoroughly exhausted from a work out session.
"We kinda have to save the entire world from being annilated by a being that only we can defeat, so that means us having to prepare for all sorts of things. There's no telling what is going to happen to bring us to the battle that we'll fight," Tommy said as Hayley looked down at him as Tommy continued clicking away.
"Don't get mad at me, Tommy, I'm just saying what they are going to say to you tomorrow and they are going to be even more harsh. You know that teenagers are unforgiving about this sort of thing, especially when they don't understand most of it to begin with," Hayley said as Tommy looked over at her. Had she missed the fact that he had been a ranger himself? He did not need to be preached to about how teenagers would react, he had been there and done that. He knew exactly how they would react and with any luck it would be just a tad bit nicer than the way that he reacted to the entire situation when he had first found out he was a good ranger, not a bad one anymore.
"Honey, let them try their best. I've had to deal with Kim, so guess what, I've already been through a hell of a lot more questions about various situations. They can try their damndest, but they aren't going to be able to beat her, unless they manage to just catch some of her vibe and some of them might do that," Tommy said as Hayley sighed. She didn't want to talk with Tommy about this anymore. He was being too damn stubborn right now.
"I guess that I don't need to talk to you about this Tommy, you seem like you are emotional right now," Hayley said as Tommy looked over at her. If she only knew that half of the situation, she would not be saying that right now. He was not emotional, he was stressed out beyond any point that he had ever been before.
"Hayley, I had to massage Kim's back just to get her to go to sleep and we are both exhausted right now. That lets you know just how bad she's hurting from our practice. I don't know how much longer we can keep doing this to ourselves," Tommy said as Hayley gave him a hard look. "We need to fight them and get this over with so that we can go on with our lives."
"When are you going to marry her Tommy?" Hayley asked as Tommy looked over at her. He hadn't even talked to Jason about it, except mentioning that they would probably be married within the year. He was not sure if he was ready to talk with Hayley about it yet. She was no Jason, even if they were friends, really good friends. He just couldn't bring himself to say something that would truly say how he felt and everything that no one else should know.
"It'll happen one day, Hayley. I just want to make sure that I'll be alive before I ask that of her. If I go, she goes and I can't deal with that sort of idea. I don't want to give her that sort of hope and then the both of us have it dashed," Tommy said as Hayley just looked over at him. She couldn't believe that Tommy was talking about this, especially this way. It was like he didn't even believe that he would make it through the next few months. Whatever that was supposed to happen to the two of them was something that they would not be able to comprehend, even if they told them about it. It was too harsh to truly bring up and they knew that it was useless to ask, even if they wanted to help. No one could help them this time and that hurt. It was hard to see two people that you loved being put through this sort of hell.
"Tommy, how many more one days do you think that she will take that kind of bull shit from you. Hasn't she waited long enough?" Hayley pressed as Tommy just turned away from the computer and looked at her.
"Didn't I wait long enough when she was protecting all of us?" Tommy asked as Hayley looked over at him. Curious that he was talking badly about her, he never talked badly about her.
"Tommy, you almost sound bitter, but you're not. We both know that," Hayley said as Tommy just shook his head. He was absolutely tired and he needed to get some rest. Whether or not it was in Kim's bed, he didn't care. He needed to sleep or he would not make it tomorrow. School had been rough enough this week and tomorrow, which was Friday, was going to be hell. He knew that he was not going to be able to get out of bed, at all without some encouragement.
"You're right, I'm not bitter, but I know just how bad it is. I know that if I give her false hope, she'll never make it back to herself. She still isn't there, Hayley. She's just good at acting like she is. You should know that much about her by now. She can hide everything better than anyone you know, she can even fool me when she tries hard enough. I love her, but right now neither of us needs any added pressures our lives are screwed up enough without having to face that," Tommy said as Hayley stared at him. She was shocked that he had been able piece all of that together. "Well, I'm done with my information dump. It's time I get back to her, I don't want to wake up to a mad wi…girlfriend."
"Tommy, what the hell was that?" Hayley asked as he disappeared and Hayley just looked around, in disbelief. Had he just slipped up and called Kimberly his wife? Was there something going on that none of them knew about? "I hope he just said that by accident. I hope it's not true because I don't think the other rangers can take it."