"Tommy!" yelled Kim as she chased after him outside. "Tommy Theodore Oliver, you stop right there!"
Tommy stopped the second he heard her call out his full name. "What? What do you want from me? I've told you everything. What else do you want to know?" he yelled angrily. "You want to know how many died? How many families lost people they cared about?"
"Tommy, where is all of this coming from?" she asked. And then it hit her. "You want me to be angry with you, don't you? That's why you never contact any of us, because you thought once we knew the truth we would turn our backs on you." She took a step forward looking him right in the eyes. "Well, I got news for you. You're wrong!"
He couldn't believe his ears. "You mean to tell me that you don't care that I killed people?"
"Tommy, all of those were accidents, it wasn't your fault!"
"I helped create those creatures, and because of it people got hurt and were killed. It's no different from pulling the trigger, except I'm the one who made the gun."
"Tommy, listen to what you're saying. Not everything bad that happens is your fault!" She had to get through to him. She needed to prove to him, show him that it wasn't his fault. That he wasn't like Rita, Zedd and the Machine Empire.
"You weren't there."
She sighed heavily, now knowing too much had happened to him, that maybe it was beyond repair. He had done and seen things others have seen only in their nightmares. She could tell him it wasn't his fault a hundred times over and he still wouldn't believe it. "No I wasn't, but I'm here now..."
He shook his head. "I don't want you to get involved in this, Kim. It would be too dangerous for you. You know what Adam said about the morphers, they're too unstable."
"And what about you?" she cried.
"What about me?"
"You're a ranger again, Tommy. You know what Zordon said about having too many ranger powers, it's not safe. What if-"
"I don't have much of a choice this time. It's my fault those kids became rangers; they need me."
Kim sighed, knowing he was right. The teens did need him. "I know. They really look up to you. I'm just worried about you is all."
She always did worry about him, and in a way it felt refreshing to know that she still worried about him, like she still cared about him. "You have nothing to worry about. I'm the best there is."
That he was, but even the best don't always win. "I know. But even the best eventually fall." She sighed. "Promise me that you're not planning on getting yourself killed to end all this." She could see it in his eyes, him punishing himself for his past mistakes, day in and day out.
Tommy sighed. The thought had crossed his mind, more than he would ever admit. "I'll do whatever I have to do." He smiled faintly. "But I will promise you this; I won't go down, not without a fight." Tommy took her hands in his. He could feel all his old feelings for her coming back to him and he could see it in her eyes. He slowly began to inch towards her face. But before his lips met with hers, she pulled away.
"I can't," she said softly. "I'm sorry, but I'm with Pete now and we're happy." It hurt more than anything to say that to him. A part of her wanted it more than anything, but things were different now, they weren't in high school anymore.
"Right." He slowly released her hands. "I'm sorry."
She could see the look in his eyes. He still cared about her a great deal. "No, don't be. I do still care for you Tommy, but…"
"But you're in love with someone else, right now."
She nodded her head, with tears rushing down her cheeks.
Tommy dropped Kim off at the airport. Before getting out of his jeep she turned to him. "Thanks for the ride."
He smiled. "It was the least I could do, considering it was kind of my fa-"
"Tommy." She stopped him.
"Right, sorry."
"It's okay." She started to open the door, but then turned to him once again. "Goodbye, Tommy, I hope the next time I see you isn't seven years from now." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
"Me too." Tommy then watched her leave and walk into the airport. He felt a pang of hurt in his heart watching her go. A part of him wanted to run after her and stop her from leaving, tell her that he still loved her. But what they had all those years ago was gone. Things had changed, she was with someone else and he was a different Tommy, a Tommy who was carrying a lot of baggage. He didn't know if he would ever be the same again, because of it. She was the only one who knew the truth. And in some ways it felt like a relief telling her, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, like he wasn't alone anymore. It still didn't change the things he had done, but it helped just the same. "Goodbye, Kimberly."
At the door of the airport, she stopped and turned around to see him staring right at her. His face was sad, but had a smile on it as he waved to her. As much as she wanted to run and get back into the car with him, and be his forever, she couldn't. There was someone else waiting for her back home, and the hardest part was she loved him just as much. Taking a deep breath she waved goodbye to Tommy; as hard as it was to leave him, she knew it was the way things had to be. Their time had come to an end a long time ago, but just maybe the future had something in store for them. Until then she was with Pete.
"Hey. Did she take off okay?" asked Eric, talking into the phone.
"Yeah."
By the sound of Tommy's voice Eric knew something had happened between the two, whether it was good or bad he wasn't sure. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything's how it should be."
What's that supposed to mean? "Okay. Um, the reason I'm calling is, I talked to Alex last night, he and Jen should be back anytime now, probably tomorrow."
"Good. Are you and Hayley going to meet up with them when they arrive?"
"Yeah." Eric could tell that Tommy sounded kind of down. "Hey listen, Hayley and I were going to go out to dinner and a movie, you're welcome to come."
"No, you two go on ahead. But thanks anyway."
"No problem."
"Yeah. Well, I better be going; I have some things I have to take care of. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Right, bye Tommy." Eric hung up the phone.
"How's he doing?" asked Hayley, standing from behind the couch.
Eric turned around. "Well, you know Tommy."
She laughed. "Wouldn't tell you if there was something wrong with him. Yeah, I know. He was like that in college." She walked around and sat down next to him. "How are you doing?" she asked. It had been close to a week since they had lost Wes.
A sigh. "Okay. Just trying to get by each day."
She nodded her head, understanding, taking his hand into hers. "You know Conner's still blaming himself, maybe you could talk to him."
Me, have a serious conversation with Conner? That'll be the day. "Would that be before or after we beat the crap out of each other?" Eric started to laugh, but then quickly stopped, feeling guilty, like it was some kind of betrayal to Wes in a way.
"It's okay to laugh."
Eric smiled lightly. "Is it? With everything's that's been going on: Wes's getting killed, Zeltrax kidnapping Kimberly, the prison break in the future, Conner blaming himself for Wes's death, when it wasn't his fault."
"It wasn't yours either." She wasn't sure how many times she had told him that.
Eric sighed and turned to her. "Do you really think he would listen to me? We're talking about Conner, he's not exactly thrilled that we're dating."
Hayley laughed, knowing that Conner had been on Eric's case about the whole dating thing. In a way she found it kind of cute that Conner was going protective brother on her. "He's just looking out for me." She grinned. "And whether you choose to believe it or not, he does look up to you. He just has his own way of showing it, and don't tell me you don't like arguing with him. I know you like it."
He smiled faintly. "I guess he's the little brother I never had."
Next morning Eric and Hayley drove down to the Reefside beach to wait for Jen and Alex to arrive. Just as Eric put the car in park the time ship appeared, landing safely on the ground. For a long moment Eric just stared out the window, watching as Jen and Alex exited the ship's hatch. His eyes fell on Jen. She appeared to be hanging in there, but Eric could still tell she was hurting. Why did it have to be this way? He sighed heavily as he opened up his car door and got out with Hayley following behind him.
The two approached them; there was an awkward silence between the four. It felt as if someone was missing. Wes was missing.
Jen was quiet, hand in her pocket and making little eye contact with Eric and Hayley, as if trying to hide the pain in her heart, knowing this time around, Wes wasn't going to be here.
Alex looked to be holding things together, keeping his head held high, but he too was hiding sadness, in his own way.
Eric licked his lips. "Were you guys able to take care of the prison break?" asked Eric, breaking the silence.
"Yes. A few officers were injured, but all of them should be fine in a week or so."
"Good." Eric's eyes fell on Jen. He wanted to say something to her, but he couldn't find the words.
Hayley could sense the tension around everyone. "Well, how about we get moving and get you guys settled back in. Tommy and the kids won't be finished with school until around three."
"Sounds good," answered Alex, as they all headed over to Eric's car.