Backwaters

Part Eight: Shaky Bonds

By: Kryptonite

Disclaimer: takes a deep breath I do not own Power Rangers. If I did I would not have to worry about money ever again.

Spoilers: Only slight if any at all. I won't have a whole lot of reminiscing so this shouldn't be a real concern.

Summary: AU. Kimberly's back after two years in Florida and five in hiding in her old house. She has a younger sister and everything past MMPR is void. It never happened. The Rangers aren't needed anymore and they all have their own lives. The following pairings will be present this whole thing: Jason/Kimberly, Tommy/Kat, Billy/Trini, Adam/OC, Rocky/Aisha and possibly Zack/OC, but I'm not sure if he'll show up.

A/N: This inspiration really did take a long, long time coming, didn't it? Anyway I have the usual excuse of RL problems but y'all don't want to hear about that. As such, here's the next installment in my story. Hopefully the next one won't take so long. I can go from where I ended this… mostly…

" We're home!" Kimberly called, Bryan darting in front of her and Jason and heading for the kitchen.

" Good, dinner was getting cold."

Billy and Trini stood up from where they were talking to Adam on the couch.

" Kimberly are you okay?" Trini asked, rushing at her friend. The two embraced as Trini waited to check for cuts and such.

" I'm fine Trini. Riley ended up scaring him off with the shotgun. So glad that my Uncle taught her how to shoot one of those things." Kimberly smiled at Trini before dragging the girl back to the couch.

Bryan had disappeared into the kitchen look for Riley. He was by her side in an instant when he saw her.

" Riley?" Bryan whispered, crouching down to be eye level with the older girl. Riley could see that he was scared and she tried to comfort him.

" You know the drill Bry. You gotta be quiet." Riley spoke her voice no louder than a whisper as she struggled to get her breath back.

" How come when I'm hurt I have to go to the hospital but you don't?" He asked not knowing if he should keep this a secret from Kimberly any longer or not.

" Because I've been to the doctors. My body's dying on me and they can't do anything about it. Remember those pills I have in my room? The ones in the blue bottle? Bring me two and I'll take 'em and I'll be fine. Like I always am."

Bryan nodded before turning to bolt from the room, flashing past the ex-rangers and up the two flights of stairs to Riley's room. He came back down just as they were deciding to send someone into check on Riley.

Bryan hid the pills in his hand behind his back and flashed a reassuring smile.

" She's fine. I'll help her. Honest." Bryan slid through the swinging door, trying to prevent the Rangers from seeing Riley resting on the floor.

" Riley?" He whispered, getting a glass of water off the counter and giving her the two pills.

" I'll be fine Bryan. Can you help me with dinner?" Bryan nodded, resisting the urge to cry. He'd seen his mother like this many times, in the same position, talking the same way after his dad had beat her. And like his mother, Bryan was afraid one day that Riley wouldn't say anything at all.

" Riley?" Adam called, stepping closer to the swinging doors. Bryan rushed to intercept him as Riley vainly struggled to move out of view.

" Adam just stay in the living room okay? We're working on dinner and you'll just get in the way right now." Bryan said, stopping the door from opening any farther than it already had.

Adam stared at Bryan suspiciously before Billy called his attention back to the game that the other four had gotten out to play.

" What token do you want Adam? The shoe or the thimble?" Adam turned to see the board set up and a separate pile of money waiting for him to come play.

" Shoe." Bryan waited for Adam to go sit back down before turning his eyes once more to Riley.

" Dinner." He agreed, moving through the motions of getting ready to start dinner. After a few minutes Riley managed to stand shakily to her feet. Ten minutes later Riley was her usual self, laughing and joking with Bryan as the dinner simmered.

It wasn't enough to remove the fear from Bryan's eyes completely.