Chapter 22:

"I am going to get him for this even if it's the last thing I do," Superman groans, while he crushes the phone in his hand, turning it into a useless pile of electronics.

"Wow! Let me remember never to piss you off," Tommy said a bit in shock.

Superman showed a small smile, as he dropped the broken remnants to the ground. He couldn't help but think that this time Lex had gone too far.

He was still pissed off. He had to force himself not to act on his impulse, to fly to Lex Luthor's place and do harm to him.

Rocky says, "You took the words right out of my mouth, man." having seen him crush the phone too.

Lois looked at him and it said all the things she couldn't at the moment.

"Sorry that I let myself get angry, I usually have better control over myself." Superman sighs as the sound of the police is starting to be heard by the crowd. Showing that they were approaching and that someone in the crowd had called.

"It's okay, Kim has that effect on all of us," Jason says before anyone else intrudes on the moment.

"You are hardly the first one to lose control over it," Adam said.

"Normally that's his job," says Jason as they look over at Tommy, who was holding Kim in his arms. "You saw just a glimpse of what he can do when losing control. You better pray Dragon doesn't take full control this week." Jason adds

Tommy's eyes were still flashing green every few seconds as he held her protectively, she still looked very rattled. Tommy was really fighting an inner war with that dark spot in his soul. Since both of them loved Kim very much, the scare of almost losing her had rattled them both.

Jason noticed it and sighs. Kim was in no condition to react properly, so he had to try and calm Tommy down enough for Dragon to go back to a sleeping state, even if for once he was feeling the same way.

Jason spoke to the young man and got him calm just as the cops showed up. Superman talked to them, and they took some statements from Kim and her friends before clearing them to leave.

They all arrive back at Lois and Clark's place.

Clark arriving last since he had to leave as Superman and follow them back. Superman quickly spins back into his own clothes and adjusts his glasses. He sees the others hadn't left yet, they were all looking after Kim. Trying to make sure she was alright, and finding it hard to leave her in this state.

"What do we do now?" Aisha asked a bit worried.

"I don't know." Jason sighs.

"Is it even safe to have the wedding now?" asks Zack worried about Kim's safety.

"I am not going to postpone the wedding." Kim suddenly said with anger in her voice, "Tomorrow we are going to visit the church and that is final."

"Rita and Zedd couldn't keep us apart, there is no way in hell a mere human will, no matter how much freaking money he has!" she says with such fire they were all surprised.

We could send up the panic alarm, have every retired and active ranger here to secure the wedding." Zack suggests.

"Tempting, but that might be considered personal gain of our powers and besides that many people would be hard to explain." Jason tried to explain.

"Who says this even stops after the wedding, or when we leave the city? Who says that this sicko isn't going to chase her all over the world for the rest of our lives?" Tommy asks, trying hard to keep his temper in check.

"I am not going to spend the rest of my life in fear." Kim says angry, "I am going to get married where I want when I want, and with who I want." She adds, "I don't care who he is, he messed with the wrong woman! If I still had my power bow, I'd use him for target practice."

The others who knew Kim's temper well and knew she would turn the man in question into a pincushion if she could.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" Jason asked, "Who will be there?"

"I think we all should be there just in case. But let's have some other former rangers on standby because nothing is stopping me from walking down that aisle!" Kim had never been so sure about something as she was now.

This was all she ever wanted since high school. She would not be scared off now, not when she was this close, not after all the ups and downs and mistakes made and second and third chances, and times apart, it would not be for naught. This was happening! The grid itself couldn't stop it, the crane and the falcon would be bound together to fly as one. No mere human could get in the way of that, not when more powerful beings couldn't do it either.

About 20 minutes later they managed to send the others back to the hotel. Though most of the time and effort was spent in getting Jason to actually leave, they eventually got him to do so. Once they were gone the two couples sighed and sat down to discuss tonight further.

Kim sighs and says, "at least we had most of the night but how did he get that close? I thought it was Tommy behind me when I felt the arm around my waist."

"I don't even know how he could sneak up like that without me knowing," Clark says with his hands in his hair.

"Me either but I think that there was such a crush of people heading out that it was the only time we couldn't notice it. Don't beat yourself up... that's my job," says Tommy.

"Come on I can hear dog whistles from miles away," Clark said yelling not meaning to yell at all.

"It should have been my arm around her, I should have been holding her that close, so I left the opening it's my fault," replies Tommy, sounding upset as well, even if it was not as much as Clark.

I don't think this is what was meant, in the expression having people fighting over you." says Kim, who was trying to lighten the moment with a weak attempt at humor.

Clark walks away with tears in his eyes. Lois wants to go after him but Tommy stops her, "Let me talk to him."

She nods and Kim says, Okay, handsome." and kissed his cheek just remember whatever you tell him goes for you too.

"I will try to remember." Tommy smiles and walks after Clark.

Kim sighs, and says "they really are good at being hard on themselves."

"Tell me about it," Lois says with a weak smile.

"Mine still feels guilty over his green beginnings like he's still trying to pay penance," Kim says thinking back on the worst villain they ever encountered.

"Mine because he didn't tell me sooner about you know who his other half." Lois sighed thinking about how long it took for him to finally come clean and even then it was she who found out first.

"Well, that's understandable on both sides," Kim says

"Yes, his other half, it would have solved a lot of things if he knew I loved him," said Lois

" My guy is sorry that he almost destroyed me, our friends, and the city," says Kim, then after a moment goes on to ask, "Him or Superman?"

Lois looks at her, "both, which made things harder because I thought they were two people. I didn't know how to choose. I just was stupid enough to be afraid of binding myself to the man I really loved. I didn't love Lex, so he couldn't hurt me and as for Superman, he was out of reach or, so I thought. My family made loving someone impossible for me until recently."

Kim nods at this."Hard to know how to love someone when you don't have any good examples of it."

"I was scared back then," Lois says with a sigh.

"I was scared too, seeing how it went with my parents, I thought I was doomed to the same kind of luck, that I'd just repeat their mistakes. My guy showed me that I'm not them and it doesn't have to be that way, that we can make it right, " says Kim.

"I know that feeling, I ran away from home, as soon as I could and vowed not to let a man get to me, but then the right one comes along and is willing to fight through everything to get to you and prove that it doesn't have to be that way." Say, Lois.

"Yeah, and look I got my hero after all it's all Clark. I needed to make him see that.'

Kim smiles at Lois' words and nods.

"Well at least for me that wasn't the problem I was just as much a hero as he was but I got him to fight with me and the rest of us. So that he wouldn't shut down and blame himself for things he couldn't help, things he didn't have control over, that brought him to me so it wasn't all bad and now he had the chance to show what he was truly capable of. What I helped him learn is that it wasn't his fault." Kim sighs.

"I saw him struggling to keep control of his dark side or the little green dragon as we call it. Tommy is a good man and will be able to control better once the bracelet is on earth." Lois says.

"The thing about what we've seen of him so far while here is just a fraction of what Dragon was, a shadow really. At full power he was terrifying," says Kim.

"I try to imagine what you and he even went through, and I can't," remarked Lois.

Kim nods, "until we broke the spell he was dangerous, he almost defeated us all but thankfully we saved him. It was Jason who broke the spell."

"That's why they are so close?" Lois asks curiously

"Yeah, I think we are the first group of real friends he had. He told me that he was a bit of a loner before then had trouble letting people in. Jason saved him from the spell but I think I helped save him from himself afterward. He is a sweet man and if anyone can get through that thick skull of Clark's it's him." Kim smiles, "We kind of saved each other. I taught him well." Kim giggles a bit.

Tommy didn't need to look hard for Clark, "Hey, care to talk about it?"

"It's the first time in years since I didn't sense danger," Clark says while looking in front of him to nothing in particular.

"You're not God, Clark." Tommy responded with a sigh, "Neither am I."

Tommy placed a hand on the other man's shoulder, "you're not the only one, eight former superheroes, and he got past all of us. I think that for once we weren't looking for it, we were just living in the moment. Just trying to enjoy the few happy moments we get."

"I am normally always on high alert." Clark says, "You know my father always told me to be careful, or they would lock me up and dissect me like a frog. I never dared to be off guard fearing people would see something about me."

Tommy is shocked by this and is silent for a few moments then says, "I can't imagine what it's like to live with the pressure of being on like that a hundred percent of the time. Nobody can live like that indefinitely! There have been a few times when something would happen to Kim in battle or right before it that I could have stopped if I'd been paying more attention to what was going on at that moment, but we can't catch everything. Some things are enviably going to slip through."

"Well, that's one of the reasons I traveled so much not being able to stay in one place because of fear of slipping up not until Superman was born and I could use my powers to help people" Clark replied.

Tommy says, "What you're missing here is that it's your great capacity for compassion for others, your empathy for other people and desire to help is what makes you so good at what you do. In short, your heart. Your ability to love is what drives you it's what drives all of us." says Tommy.

"You know that's the same thing Lois tells me. In the beginning, I had a hard time believing that she loved me and not the suit," Clark says.

"They don't stick around and go through all the things they went through just because we look good in a fancy suit. It's the man who wears it and the heart that drives it, and sheer stubbornness on their point. Granted Kim had a flashy suit of her own, so that really canceled that out for me." Tommy says with a chuckle at the last part.

"I mean I was afraid she only loved Superman and not Clark," Clark mentions

Tommy replied, " Kim told me that the guilt I felt for the bad things I've done was proof that I was a good person, that she saw something special in me she wasn't going to give up on me and wouldn't let me do so either. She dragged me out of my shell and into her group of friends.

"I understand that but in the end, it's a moot point, isn't it? You are him and he is a part of you. Your both sides of the same coin" says Clark.

"Same goes for you Clark, your both sides of the same coin, and she loved you both even if it took her a while to figure it out, and it seems you had a hard time with that as well.

Kind of how dragon and the falcon are a part of me, as is the white tiger, zeo red, and turbo red. I was each of them they are a part of me. The same goes for you and superman you can't be separated, even if it's a little harder to comprehend that when you have to pretend that your different people." says Tommy.

"That's true," says Clark.

"Forgive me if I sound preachy but I've gotten this speech many times, granted I'm normally on your end, and a sassy pink is on mine but I think it transfers well." says Tommy and grins a bit, "So I kind of know it by heart by now. We do the best we can with what we have at the time and every once in a while we stop to enjoy ourselves." Tommy added.

"I surely forgot that part until you guys showed up," Clark says and laughs.

Tommy smiles, "That's what we are here for," and laughs. "We had a good time tonight."

"The best time I had recently, I almost thought I would actually have a free night," replies Clark.

Tommy says, "Same here, but we got most of the night, and we now know that he must have spies out looking for us or at least for her. So leaving that room and hiding was definitely the right move."

"So don't worry about it too much, Clark. I am more worried about tomorrow though." Tommy says, "Even though I should have had my arms around her when we were leaving, so if anyone should feel guilty it should be me. We caught the problem in time and fixed it. So as the ladies would say no need for guilt on the matter, to cut ourselves some slack, and they are right. Now that they know our numbers are bigger, I'm worried how he might step his game up to combat that. Is there any proof at all that even after we manage to get married and leave the city, he will give up on her? When can we be sure it will stop? Tommy continued to say.

"Don't let him win like that, Tommy. I never gave up on Lois either. He always tried to get her back." Clark says as a response.

"I have no intention of giving up, but I just needed to know will this end after we get married? Or is he going to be chasing us around the world for the rest of our lives? If that the case then I'll have to call in backup. " Says Tommy.

"Well, that one thing you have in your favor, he doesn't know who you are yet, or how many of you there are," says Clark.

Tommy nods, "that true. This group here now is just the core inner circle, where it started. We are legends to all those that came after us. The ranger family is quite expansive."

Clark nods but sighs, "I wished he would have stayed dead instead of resurrecting all the time."

"Just how expansive are we talking?" Clark asks curiously.

"Well, since we graduated from high school and passed the power to the next team, about 20 years ago, there has been a team of 5 or 6 about every other year. so quite expansive." Tommy answered, then after a moment asked. "What do you mean stayed dead? How many times did he die?"

" I am sorry, I value life like every other hero but this is the third or fourth time already." Clark sighs.

"I have no clue how he did it. He certainly is human. That's the only thing I know." Clark answers, after thinking for a moment he continues, "First he lets himself freeze in other times I have no clue how he came back. Always with one goal take Lois from me and I have the idea that this isn't only wanting Kimberly as a trophy wife. He has quite a few scientists who fall into the mad category. Those that are willing to do anything for money."

"Which explains why you were scared of Billy," says Tommy. "We might just have to call the current team in for backup to make sure he stays down if he goes down this time. I know Zack is itching to hit the panic button."

"Let's hold that as our secret weapon, you can inform them, but we can't let Lex know who you are not yet," says Clark.

Tommy nods then say, " Kim means a lot to all in the ranger family. Veteran and current alike. All I have to do is say something or someone is a threat to Kim, and they all be here in hours or less."

"I am sure after last night he knows you are good fighters, but he has no clue about your past as power rangers. If I didn't know of the existence of the rangers I doubt that he does either," says Clark.

Tommy nods, "Good point, even if he does know they exist, I doubt he would think they would ever be here in Metropolis. Since they did spend some years in space, I bet he doesn't know they are back on earth now." Tommy responds

"Are they still in Angel Grove?" Clark asked curiously.

Tommy shakes his head in no, "They are spread out a bit, but still in California though."

"That's good," says Clark

"There is the aqua base that is the home base of the light-force team.

It's disguised as a military base. So no one thinks much of it," Tommy says and smiles.

"Smart decision," Clark says and laughs.

"I for one am glad I found a secret compartment in this house, try to find one that has that," Clark says.

Tommy laughs and says "true but I'm sure I have a friend or two that could figure out how to put one in if I needed one."

Clark laughs, "I bet you do," he says.

Which made Tommy smile.

"Once he found out she was engaged why not just move on to one of the other girls if all he wanted was a trophy wife? Why keep going after her? Why not move on, when it became too much trouble? This has to go beyond just trying to make Lois jealous? Could his end game have changed and if so what is it?" Tommy asked and looked up at Clark with a worried look in his eyes.

"I don't really know what his end game is this time. I mean I am so used to him going after Lois by now. I know one thing, Tommy. Luthor hates losing. Whenever he has his eyes on something he wants, he will stop at nothing to get it." Clark sighs.

"What if it's not just the challenge, what if he replaced Lois with Kim? They have similarly fiery personalities, could that be possible?" asks Tommy, " that what started as a Trophy wife, a make Lois jealous plan, may have changed after the article into there's a woman worth my efforts and was reinforced when she slapped him at the gala?" Tommy asked adding on to his previous questions.

Clark sighs, he didn't know how he felt about that prospect, "That is a possibility. It's something I don't wish to be true because that would make things worse."

"He messed with the wrong couple this time. If it comes to it, he can't deal with all of us. We vastly outnumber him." Says Tommy with a slight edge, "I'm so tempted to hit that panic button myself, let him try to deal with all of us."

Both the men sit and think about this for a few moments.

"For now there is nothing we can do." Clark sighs, "Don't put the whole city into a panic mode because that is what he wants."

Tommy nods, he knew Clark was right, "Ok, are you ready to go back in with the girls or you want to sit out here and brood a little more?" Tommy asks.

Clark laughs, "Let's go inside."

Clark stopped Tommy for a minute, "Thank you, Tommy."

"You're welcome man, I've been there." Tommy says and smiles at him, "we all have. In fact, talk to Jason about it some time, he has been there too, having been a leader at one point."

"Hero stuff probably" Clark quipped with a smirk

"Yup!" Tommy says with a grin, "that it is."

They walk back inside towards the living room where Lois and Kimberly were waiting for them.

"So is my honey back to his strong self" Lois quipped.

And Kim smirks at this.

Clark nods. "Tommy was a big help."

Tommy smiles at Clark's words.

"Don't take this the wrong way honey, but I am glad I can talk to someone who knows what it's like to be a hero, at least for more than a few days," Clark says to Lois.

Kim says, "Then you should talk to Jason. He used to take it as a personal failure if any of us got hurt, or that it was his fault if something went wrong cause he was the leader. It didn't matter if it was or not."

Kim continued on to say, "It took us a while to break him of that a little or at least not be so hard on himself."

"It's not always easy to break such a habit," says Clark.

"It's not, and he still does it from time to time, but at least we stopped him from becoming a basket case." Says Tommy,

"Well Trini deserves most of the credit for that," says Kim. "They were close before they got together. So her words carried weight, at least more so than the rest of us most of the time," she added.

"That's usually the case with the woman we love so much," Clark said holding Lois close.

"Yup," Tommy says, as he sits down and pulls Kim into his lap.

"I agree" he adds.

Kim laughs and says, "Like I needed to be told that." and kisses Tommy's cheek. "It's been like that from the start, at least for us," says Kim.

"It took me long enough to figure it out, though when I did, I knew that I loved every part of you." Lois teased Clark.

Kim says "aww! As long as you get there, that's what counts."

"That's true." Lois smiles.

"Until what happened, I had a really good time tonight," Kim says

"You know, you're a good singer Lois," Says Kim.

"You too Kim," Lois said, and Clark nodded in agreement.

Kim says, "Thanks",

Tommy then says, "Kim used to sing, play guitar, and write songs in high school."

"You should try that again," Lois said. "I always wanted to be able to write songs, maybe even try my hand at an instrument. Everyone tells me I need a hobby outside of work." Lois added.

Kim says, "I never had the time to do so while competing, but maybe I'll do that after the wedding. That is if we make it to the wedding."

"You'll make it, I promise you that," says Clark.

"Maybe you could teach me?" Lois asked

Kim says, "Sure, I'm a little rusty, but sure. I make sure to have my guitar next time we come to visit." and smiles.

Tommy says, "I still remember that song you and Zack wrote for me when I lost the green powers for a second time."

Kim smiles at that.

"It still makes me weak inside, and yet it makes me strong at the same time," Tommy remarks.

Kim smiles and says, "Love of friends or of a family can be overwhelming yet empowering both at once. I'm surprised you remember that, it was so long ago."

"It is engraved in my soul Kim it was just what I needed at that time," he tells her.

Kim blushes a little as her smile brightens. "Good!" she responds.

Lois says I love to hear it sometime."

"Maybe the next time we're here, I'll play it for you. Since I don't have my guitar," says Kim.

Lois says, "Deal, I'll hold you to that."

"You got it!" Kim replied

Tommy yawned, then says "Let's go to bed, beautiful because we have a big day tomorrow." Kim rolls her eyes and shakes her head,

" If that wasn't the fakest, most theatrical yawn I've ever seen. Are you sure that sleep is really what you have on your mind?" she asked with sarcasm dripping off her tone.

He grins sheepishly and says eventually. " And winks at her. The other couple chucked a bit at their new friends, not knowing the problems that laid ahead of them, and that they were about to shift into turbo.

TBC