A/N Power Ranger Zeo Settings and Characters all belong to Haim Saban and Toei Company and the Fox. Any original characters and this story are copyright © 2011-2018 to Hopelessromanticgurl, all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.
Thank you mae-E for being my beta!
Last time:
After eating Kat offered to dance so he agreed.
Now here they were holding each other close as they danced to soft music. Tommy couldn't help but think of Kim, and how he wished Kim was here, he wanted to be holding her and dancing with her. He loved Kat, but more like a sister than a girlfriend. Kimberly was the only women he'd ever love.
He was thrown from his thoughts when Kat pressed her lips to his. He quickly pulled away.
"Kat, what was that?"
"A kiss." Kat smiled. "Come on, Tommy. Now that Kimberly is out of the picture we can finally be together. I know you want to."
"Kat I…" he was cut off by the strange sound of a whimper.
Now:
As Tommy spun around, he gasped. Laying on the ground was Kimberly herself, but it was different. Her hair was all bundled together in one giant knot. She was covered in dirt, mud, and other things Tommy couldn't identify. Her clothes were ripped, torn and covered in the same things as the rest of her. Was that frozen ice stuck in her hair? If that wasn't bad enough she was covered in bruises, some were darker than others, but it was hard to tell because of how pale she was. Her wounds were covered in dried blood, some had been infected from all the dirt. She was whiter than his old ranger uniform. Her body shook from head to toe, as tears streamed like waterfalls down her cheeks.
"Kimberly!" He rushed over to her and knelt down by her and quickly wrapped his jacket around her. "Kat, call 911," Tommy said.
"I can't."
"Why not?" Tommy growled.
"Because they will be asking questions how she suddenly went from being in Florida to here in California without a plane."
"You're right. Go get the others I'm going to take her to the command center. Zordon will know what to do."
Before Kat could respond, Tommy teleported them both out.
"Thanks a lot, Kim. I almost had him." Kat mumbled. She went in search of her phone she could call the others.
Tommy landed in the Command Center. "Zordon help, please. It's Kimberly, she's hurt."
"Lay her on the table, Alpha scan her body so we know what's going on," Zordon said.
A table appeared, and Tommy laid Kimberly down on it. She squirmed around and whimpered.
"It hurts, Tommy it hurts." She whimpered.
"Shhh, Beautiful, Shhh." Tommy cooed. "It's ok. You're safe. We're going to help you."
"Kimberly, please you must lay still." Alpha said.
"No, no, I can't, I can't, I can't." She whimpered. "It hurts, please make it stop, it hurts."
"Alpha give her this, it will help her relax and numb the pain," Zordon said as a needle appeared.
"Right away Zordon." Alpha said.
The second Alpha neared Kim with the needle in his hand she let out a scream. "NO!" She tried to pull away but almost fell off the table.
"Hey, it's ok. It's ok." Tommy said as he caught her and gently laid her back down.
"NO! NO MORE NEEDLES! PLEASE, NO MORE NEEDLES!" She screamed.
"Kimberly it's just to help the pain stop. It will only pinch for a second and then it's all over." Tommy promised.
"No, please, no, please, no please no, please no," Kimberly begged. Her body becoming too weak to fight back.
"I promise it will help, Beautiful. I wouldn't let anyone else do it unless I trusted them. It's Zordon and Alpha they would never give you anything that would hurt you." Tommy cooed gently. He kissed her hair and held out her arm for Alpha. It was then he noticed a lot of scars, and bruises, like after you get a shot, there was multiple tiny needle holes all over her arm.
"No, stop, please, please stop. Please." She begged.
"Shhh, it's almost over. Just relax." Tommy whispered and stroked her hair. "I'm right here. You're safe. Shhhh."
The medicine took effect instantly, and Kimberly fell into a deep sleep.
"I didn't give her much, if she starts waking up just try and keep her calm," Zordon said.
Tommy nodded as he stroked her hair just letting Alpha get to work and helping her. He couldn't help but wonder what happen to her arm, and it angered him to think of anyone hurting his Crane.
After about an hour Alpha looked to Tommy. "There, she's all better…well sort of."
Tommy chuckled. "What was wrong with her?"
"Nothing too serious, just some broken ribs and bad bruises. Everything else is fine."
"What about her arm? What has she been injected with?"
"I'm still waiting for the scans to come back and tell us," Zordon answered. "But I'm going to guess it wasn't good."
Tommy sighed. He wanted to strangle whoever did to this to Kim. He vowed he would make them pay one way or another.
It didn't take long for Kim to start to stir. "Where am I?"
"You're safe."
Kimberly smiled at Tommy's voice. "Tommy."
"Hey Beautiful, it's time to wake up." He kissed her forehead.
Her eyes fluttered but then opened and landed on Tommy. "I don't believe it, is it really you?"
"In the flesh" he winked.
"You're not a dream? I mean…I really found you."
"Yes, You found me. Now you're safe in the command center where you belong."
Kim nodded.
"Do you think you can answer some questions?" Tommy asked gently.
Kimberly shook her head and looked away.
"Shhh." Tommy soothed. "It's ok. You don't have to hide. You don't have to talk if you don't want to."
Kimberly looked back to him. "I'm not ready."
"It's ok. Then just rest." Tommy kissed her forehead once more. It was one of the few places that weren't covered in bruises or cuts or needle wounds. He had noticed more needle wounds on her thighs as well.
"Is it ok if I ask a few?" Kimberly asked softly.
"Of course, anything you want. Well any except math, that I might not have answers for."
Kimberly giggled making Tommy smile. She flinched softly but never lost her smile. "Are you with Katherine?"
Tommy looked confused. "With her how?"
"In love?"
"No way. Kat and I are friends we've never been more than…" Then he gasped. "You saw her kiss me?"
Kimberly nodded.
"I pushed her away, Kim I promise. You saw that right?"
Kimberly nodded. "I just wanted to be sure."
"My heart belongs to you and only you," Tommy promised.
"Mine too."
"Really? What about your new boyfriend?"
Now Kimberly looked confused. "New boyfriend?"
"Yeah, the one you broke up with me for in your letter?"
Kimberly looked even more confused. "Letter? Tommy, I never wrote you a letter."
"But I got a letter from you saying you've met someone else, and you saw me as a brother."
Kimberly shook her head. "I got a letter from you, it said you were with Kat and didn't love me anymore. It was harsh and cold and mean and it didn't sound like you. I was coming back to make sure you were ok and not under a spell or something…that's what started this whole mess…"
"What mess?" Tommy asked.
Kimberly looked away and didn't answer.
Tommy sighed. "I didn't write that letter to you, Beautiful. I believe you when you say you didn't write the one to me either."
Kimberly looked to him. "You do?"
Tommy nodded. "But clearly someone is trying to break us up. We just have to figure out who."
"I don't know."
"We are not going to let then win." Tommy smiled. He kissed Kimberly gently on the lips. "You're my Beautiful forever."
Kimberly smiled. "You're my Handsome forever."
"I hate to interrupt Rangers but I have the results back and I know what Kimberly has been injected with."
Kimberly gasped and looked away squeezing her eyes shut.
"Kimberly, please do not fear. I will not say anything without your permission first." Zordon said
"No, no, no, no." Kimberly whimpered. Tears filled her eyes as she looked back to Zordon and Tommy. "I begged. I pleaded. I fought, I didn't want it. I didn't want it. Don't be mad, please don't be mad, I'm not a druggie, Tommy I'm not I promise. Please don't hate me, please, please."
"Oh my Beautiful Angel. I could never ever hate you." Tommy said. "I believe you, when you say you didn't take…whatever this drug is willingly. Will you please let Zordon tell me what it is?"
Kimberly nodded.
"Kimberly has been injected with steroids. Based off the damage done to her body I can confirm that this wasn't self-inflicted." Zordon explained.
"So who did this to her?" Tommy asked keeping calm so his anger didn't scare Kim.
"That we don't know. Only Kimberly can answer that for us."
"No!" Kimberly screamed.
"Hey, it's ok. You're safe. Shhh." Tommy soothed her. "If you're not ready to talk I won't force you. But when you are ready I'll be here."
Just then a flash of different colors was seen and seconds later the others were standing there.
"Zordon, Kat said Kim was sick what happen?" Adam asked frantically.
"Kimberly is fine, as you can see. I do not know exactly what has happened. Kimberly has not yet shared that information with us."
Kimberly looked at all her friends and smiled softly, then she saw Kat. The past memories returned to her and she looked away.
"She's pretty shut down and withdrawn so just be gentle." Tommy said stroking her hair.
"What happen?" Aisha asked.
"We don't know." Tommy said. "Someone hurt Kim. That's all I know."
"Who was it Kim? Just give us his name and we will do the rest." Adam said.
"Or her name. We aren't going to assume it was a guy." Aisha said.
Kim just curled her legs under her and refused to look at them.
Tommy leaned down and gently kissed her temple. Nobody noticed Kat flinch.
"Can I tell them, Beautiful? It's your choice."
Kimberly shook her head. Her next words shocked him. "Make them leave."
"What?"
"Make them leave."
"Kim…"
"Please, make her leave." Her voice shook and
Tommy sighed. He lowered his voice so only she would hear. "You mean, Kat?"
Kimberly nodded.
Tommy gave her one last kiss and looked to the others. "Look, I appreciate you guys all coming so quickly and I know Kim does too. But it's late and Kim needs her rest. Why doesn't everyone go home and we can regroup tomorrow."
"We're not going to leave her, Tommy. She's our friend." Adam said.
"She's just going to sleep. There isn't much you can do."
"Are you leaving?" Kat asked.
"No. I'll be staying the night here." Tommy answered.
"So how can you expect us to leave when you won't do it either?"
"Rangers, Tommy is correct. It has been a long day and I'm sure everyone is tired. It is best for you all to get some sleep. Tommy will stay because Kimberly feels safe and comfortable with him nearby. If he goes home he will just hear his crane crying out to him again, just like before."
"So she was trying to send me a message." Tommy said. "I knew it. I should have listened to my gut."
"It is too late to discuss what you should have done, Tommy. Now Rangers please go home and get some sleep. You all need it."
"Fine, but we're coming back first thing tomorrow." Kat said. She and the others teleported out.
Kimberly let out a shaky breath.
"Shhh, hey, what's wrong?" Tommy cooed gently. "Is this because of Kat? Is this because of the kiss?"
Kimberly shook her head.
"In one of my dreams you told me not to trust Kat. Why? What's going on?"
Kimberly stayed silent and kept her gaze on the floor.
"Please talk to me." Tommy said.
Kimberly didn't speak
Tommy sighed. He kissed her gently and stroked her hair. "Let's talk about something else for a minute then. How did you do it?"
"Do what?" Kim asked softly.
"Send me those messages?"
Kimberly shrugged. "I didn't even realize I was doing it. I just…I was…I was scared, I was alone, I was hurt physically and mentally. I just missed you so much! I wanted you so badly and the next thing I knew there was this pink glow around me. I somehow teleported myself out of…where I was."
"Once you're better we're really going to have to figure this out. I think our Falcon and Crane are connected by more than we realized."
"I don't know how I did it, Tommy. I never wanted to hurt you."
"I felt it. All of it." Tommy said. "Every time that monster, whoever they are, injected you I felt it in my arm. I couldn't explain it. Now it all makes sense."
"I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt you." Kimberly told him.
"It's not your fault. But we do need to figure it out. We need to figure out just how strong the connection is."
"Ok."
Sighing softly Tommy kissed her forehead. "Close your eyes, Beautiful. Get some sleep. I'll be right here."
Kimberly closed her eyes. She was out like a light in no time.
Tommy looked to Zordon. "Why is Kim so scared of Kat? What's going on?"
"I am not sure, Tommy. The only answer I can come up is because she feels betrayed by Kat somehow. Maybe it is the kiss she saw, maybe it is not. I do not know."
Tommy sighed. "I was worried you say that."
"It is not your fault. You must not blame yourself." Zordon said.
"I should have listened to my Falcon. He knew something was wrong with Kim and I ignored it. If I had listened to it sooner, maybe she wouldn't be in this bad shape right now."
"There is nothing that can be done now, Tommy. You did not know, you could not have known, blaming yourself isn't going to help anyone." Zordon said.
"You're right." Tommy said. "I have to focus on Kimberly."
"What you need to do now is get some sleep. You need your rest just as much as Kim does."
Tommy nodded. He carefully climbed onto the bed with Kim pulling her into his arms.
She snuggled closer to him. "Tommy."
"I'm right here, Beautiful. I love you."
"I love you too."
He kissed her head and they were both out like a light.
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