Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.
Warstock-Leonhart: Thanks so much for the review and the words of encouragement, as I travel off the beaten path with this story.
XRachX: Thank you for the review and I'm glad that you picked up on that, as those are the characters that I can describe best.
Daniaryezel: Glad you liked the idea and I hope you like this chapter as well.
TrueRomantic: Nah that won't happen since I'm not following the series too closely. She'll have other occasions to be upset, trust me, in this story.
Jojo Momo: There will be more interaction throughout this story and the next one, as they become more involved in each other's lives.
danhyde girl: Will try, I hope you like this chapter.
Ghostwriter: Can do, here's the update. I know it's out a little bit quicker than the others, but I'm going to go on vacation for two weeks, so I won't be able to write.
Daisyz: Oh yeah, no doubt about that one, as you'll see soon.
Now, on with the Story!
Our First Battle, Alone"Kim, if they don't say yes to this, are you prepared to suit back up so soon after we get a break?" Tommy asked, as the tension he could feel in their kitchen was about to drive him crazy.
They had not gone to sleep on the best of terms last night, as they talked more in depth about everything that had happened, but she seemed to let go of some of the anger this morning. He knew what her answer would be, but he knew that she was begrudgingly answering that question, to reassure him more than anything else. She would do whatever had to be done to ensure that the people of the Earth would be safe and he knew that, but that feeling came with a dear price to pay.
"I am, Handsome, but let's not worry about that until they actually say no to all of this. I know that they will have a hard time turning down this offer face to face and if they are able to do that, then they weren't meant to be rangers, Tommy. And about last night, I just over reacted to all of it. It just reminded me too much of the times when we weren't working together and it pushed me over the edge. I'm sorry," Kim said, noticing Tommy was pouring syrup in his coffee, as his emotional state became much more clear to Kim. She had thought that he was slightly stressed about the whole situation, but now she knew his mind was miles, upon miles away from here.
"Kim, it's alright,we've had it rough the last few weeks. I'm just glad that we didn't have a blow out during the middle of making the command center. I don't think I could have taken it," Tommy said with a smile, as he continued to pour the syrup in his coffee, which caused Kim to start giggling.
"You better be careful there or you'll have a sugar rush like you haven't had in years," Kim said, pointing at what he was holding in his hand and watching him stare at her in confusion.
"What?" Tommy said, then looking at the syrup in his hand and then down at his coffee cup, which it was still steadily pouring into, jerking it away, he became more aggravated with himself. "Shit, that's all that I need today."
"No use in swearing Tommy, we have plenty of coffee for another cup," Kim said, placing a new cup of coffee in front of him and taking the syrup and the, now wasted, cup away from him, to keep him from accidentally doing the same thing. If he did that twice, then he would surely lose his mind and the table might be cracked down the middle from his aggravation. "Now, after you finish that cup, you better get going or Randall will be riding your ass even more than normal, especially if she finds out you are meeting with some of your students after school."
"I know," Tommy said, quickly swallowing the coffee and placing the empty cup in the sink, to be washed that evening. "Are you going to get home early this afternoon?"
"Yeah, I should. Do you want me to listen out for any attacks?" Kim asked, as Tommy walked over to give her a hug before they walked out the door. At least they were on good terms with each other now, as he could not stand going into work, knowing that she was still mad at him.
"It would be nice, but if something comes up, it's no big deal, the rangers will be with me and I'm sure that they'll come straight to us. I should get home around six this evening, unless something comes up," Tommy said, as they both got into their separate vehicles and started towards their individual schools.
That day passed very slowly for Tommy, as he waited for his final class to come to an end, as he had decided to let them have all school day to think about it as well. That morning, they seemed wary, as they entered homeroom, so what was the harm in giving them more time to make their decision. Kira, Conner, and Ethan, had all agreed to at least think about it, instead of giving him a flat out 'no', which did give him some hope about the entire situation.
Principal Randall had already come down hard on him again, today, but he wasn't too interested in hearing anything that she had to say, as she was complaining about his student's test scores. She said that he was not teaching them anything that was why they were failing. He really wanted to tell her to kiss his ass, and move on to going after some other teacher. He didn't have the time for the damn nonsense right now, but that would just push the situation to an unbearable breaking point. They had not gotten along any better since their first run-in and Tommy did not intend to change anything between them.
As long as she hated him, he doubted that she would try to hit on him, like many of the teenagers and some of the female faculty still did and that would keep Kim from coming to meet her. He might have a bad temper, but Kim's was at least ten times worse than his was and the ones unlucky enough to inherit her wrath, rarely upset her again. Except him, as he could piss her off on a daily basis, if he ever set his mind to doing that, but he was not that dumb.
"So what are you going to do?" Tommy asked, calling them together for the second time in past two days, as the bell tolled to let them know school was officially over for the day.
This could possibly be the last time, if they decided they didn't want this responsibility and that was a very real possibility for them. If that happened, then, Rocky, Kim, and he would go back into action and risk losing their jobs and their lives again, but they didn't have any other choice. These teenagers were the ones that would ultimately decide if they were going to go back into action this time. Not them, they had no say in what was going to happen here. That was not something they were comfortable with, at least in the past they had some sort of say.
Although, Zordon had ordered them back into action the last time they had been on a team together, but they knew better than to go against something Zordon told them to do. Any ranger that had been under his command knew what would happen if that came around. They could wake up one morning and hear on the news that one of them had died, they were not going to risk any of the other ranger's lives. Even when some of them had been apart and not talking to each other, every time that Kim heard about a death in California, she just prayed it was not one of her friends and they had been lucky, so far.
"I'm in," Conner said, looking at the other two and then looking Tommy in the eyes.
Tommy looked at him, slightly shocked, at first, but then he quickly smiled at the young man, thankful that he had decided to stay with them. That let him off the hook of being a ranger again, but what about the other two? Of all of them, Tommy had expected Conner to be the hardest to convince, but something inside of him must have made him want to stay, but only God knew what that was and Tommy didn't even want to try to guess his motives. It could be as simple as the fame or as complex as some emotion that Tommy didn't even know existed. Now, all Tommy had to do was wait for the others answer to this seemingly innocent question.
"So am I," Ethan said and Tommy shifted his gaze toward Kira and could tell that she was very apprehensive about this decision. Good grief, why did she have to be the one to test him like this? The others he could have accepted without feeling a great deal of betrayal, but this was something else, something that went much deeper. He was tempted to snatch her up and carry her to the elementary school, even if she kicked and screamed the whole way, but he knew that he would have to accept her decision, either way. This meant he might not like what came out of her mouth in the next few seconds, but his hands were tied in the persuasion department. He felt that he had to respect whatever they decided, even if it wasn't best for the team as a whole.
"Well, it's a great offer. Really it is, but I don't think that I can do this. I'm just not made from the same mold that all rangers are made from. I can't do it," Kira said, as Tommy looked as if he was physically restraining himself from picking her up and taking her somewhere. She hadn't expected him to take it like this, but at least he wasn't yelling at her, although she was sure that she could have taken that better than how he was looking at her right now. The disappointment was evident in his eyes but, he seemed to have something else there that kept him from voicing how he felt. However, she would never know what that was, as she was now putting all of this out of her life. She had other things that she had to focus on, namely her musical career.
"Kira, we need you," Conner said, taking a step towards her, but Tommy caught him by his shoulder and firmly held him from walking any closer to her. It reminded him too much of what he should have done, when Kim went to train for the Pan Globals. But he knew deep down that if this didn't come from Kira's heart that it meant nothing to the team, absolutely nothing. They would be playing with live dynamite, because at anytime she could choose to leave and she wouldn't feel bad about it, she would not regret leaving them hanging, without their yellow ranger. He had to protect the team, even if they didn't understand the way in which he was protecting them.
"This is her choice, Conner, but the offer still stands if you ever change your mind," Tommy said, taking Kira's morpher from her and letting her walk out of the classroom, before he turned away from the other rangers to think for a few seconds. How would Kim be able to take a color change? She would certainly not like hearing that she would be the yellow ranger, but all of it would be fine or so he hoped. She knew that one of them could turn it down, although they had both had their money on Conner, it was just a good thing they had not bet on it, or they would have both lost money. "I need to start training you, meet me in the park at about 4:30. I need some time to think about who will take her place."
"Okay," Ethan said, as they walked out of his classroom, still thinking about Kira's refusal and how it didn't seem to fit in with how Kira usually was. Sure the thought had passed through his mind, but he couldn't imagine turning Dr. O down when all he needed was some help from all of them. The rangers were in a tight spot right now and by them becoming rangers, it could give them some more time to let their powers recharge, as he had talked toTommy about why they weren't rangers right now, on the phone last night. From what he had said, the last time they had been rangers, they had, had to drop everything, to destroy the new monster. They lost their jobs, their homes, and their families trust, for some of them, but they saved the world and that was what mattered to them. He wasn't asking them to drop everything right now, although they might have to later on. He was just asking them to become regular rangers, although Ethan did not know that there was no such thing as a quote 'regular' ranger. "You got soccer practice this afternoon?"
"Nope, coach gave us the day off. You think we have time to talk Kira back into this?" Conner asked and then the two broke into a run, as they knew what they were going to do.
Dr. O might respect her choice, but they wanted to find out why she really didn't want to do this. She wasn't a good liar and she had lied to Dr. O, he just didn't know her well enough to tell it. The two of them, however, did know her that well and they wanted the truth about why she did not want to become a ranger. She shouldn't abandon them unless she was sure that she didn't want to do this and they were positive that she wasn't sure about that. She had doubts and fear just like them, but the little bit of doubt that she had, might be enough to convince her to be a ranger and keep Dr. O from having to find a second class, yellow ranger, to replace her.
The Elementary SchoolThe dull thuds of his shoes came down the empty hall, as he watched Ms. Hart's kindergarten class play on the playground, oblivious to what he was going to do to their teacher, their, somewhat, innocent teacher. He had managed to convince the office staff that he was, indeed, Dr. Thomas Oliver, Kimberly's wonderful fiance. Although, if they had taken a good look at the identification he had given them, they would have noticed it was fake, but they didn't and that is what he had been betting on from the moment that he decided to do this, to let Ms. Hart know he was back. Now, he knew, there was no way to convince Ms. Hart that he was her fiancé, but this was the only way he could talk to her, about a proposition he was sure she could not resist, especially if she knew the consequences of her actions.
"Hello, Ms. Hart, it's wonderful to see you again," Richard said, entering the empty classroom and seeing the kindergarten teacher look up at him, expecting to see someone else, as she looked happy. That looked soon changed to fear, as she quit arranging her papers and stared at him with wide eyes, backing away from her desk to try to increase the ever closing distance between them. This had to be some sort of nightmare that she would wake up from and be able to have Tommy hold her in his arms and tell her it was just a bad dream. "This is no way to greet an old friend. I expected better manners from you."
"You're not a friend, Richard," Kim said, taking a glance at the clock and then over at him, as he had a menacing grin on his face. Her class wouldn't come back inside to get their things for another five minutes, which was plenty of time for him to do his damage and get out of there without anyone knowing about him. Why did this man have to choose now to show back up? She already had enough going on in her life without him getting in the way again. "I want you to leave my classroom, now. You have no business being here."
"Well, you wouldn't tell your fiancé that, now would you, Ms. Hart?" Richard asked, as Kim realized how he had gotten past the front office: he had said he was Tommy, the bastard. All she could do was stare at him in wide-eyed shock, as she felt around behind her on the shelf, for some sort of protective weapon. She had nothing, as she had, had to make the room child friendly. Why couldn't she have been a high school science teacher, then she would have all sorts of things she could use to keep this man away from her. "Listen, I won't beat around the bush here, I have a rather good proposition for you to consider, one that could possibly keep you from suffering any more than you have to."
"Nothing that comes out of your lips could be good for me and I can deal with suffering, I've suffered plenty of times before, from far worse than you," Kim spat out, as Richard quickly backed her against a wall, threatening to attack, but holding himself back, as her breathing quickened at the position she was in. She desperately wanted to knee him in a sensitive area, but she could not cause a scene or he might really try to kill her. There would be a time for attacking her later; all he had to do now was cause some problems for the time being. Then his master would take over and do the rest of the dirty work he had started.
"You see, my master would like some help in bringing down Tommy Oliver, but you see none of us are able to get close enough to him, to get the information he needs to do that," Richard said, grabbing her hand and kissing her fingertips, as Kim struggled to get away from the man, but only found that his grip became more iron clad on her tiny wrist. She had been able to fight him off in the times past, but her knee length khaki skirt and kitten heels were no good for a situation like this, as she silently wished she would have changed into her workout clothes about five minutes ago, but she didn't think she would have to until she went to the dojo, for her own workout on her off days. Now she really wished that she would have. "You, my dear, can do that for us and it will surely save you from dying, like he will. It is only a matter of time before it happens, you know he is not that lucky, now don't you?"
"You leave Tommy out of this! He has done nothing to you!" Kim yelled, as Richard nodded his head that he had heard what she was saying and Kim started fighting the tears that wanted to stream down her cheeks. This man had an inside voice with Mesogogg and if he knew how much Tommy cared about her; she would become his next target, as a distraction for the new rangers' mentor. "I will not betray Tommy like that. I will never do that again because of you."
"You know, I could kill you right now, but I won't, if you will say that you will come with me and join our forces. If you don't do that, you will die with that little boyfriend of yours," Richard said, as Kim heard the commotion of about fifteen kindergartner's heading towards her door, although they seemed to be taking their time today. She silently prayed that they would hurry up, so this man would have to leave her alone, before describing his threat more in depth.
"I will not join you," Kim said, through clenched teeth, as the first student walked in and Richard noticed the child's presence.
"Well, if you won't, be prepared to go with him," Richard said, giving her a kiss on a cheek and watching her flinch away as he came closer to her and then he released her and left the room as suddenly as he had came.
"Ms. Hart, are you alright?" Meagan asked, as her teacher was shaking and she looked to be upset. Whoever that man was, he did not seem to be a nice person, and he had also scared her teacher.
"I'll be fine, Meagan. Now get your book bag, so you won't be late," Kim said, putting a smile on her face as she attempted to push the conversation from her mind.
She had to get to Tommy soon or she was going to have an emotional breakdown, but how could she do that without drawing anymore attention to the situation? The last thing she wanted was for Mesogogg to swoop down on them and take her, which would only put Tommy in more distress. She couldn't do that to him, but how was she going to see him before six o'clock tonight?
Reefside Park
"Guys, I don't want to be here," Kira said, as Ethan and Conner dragged her to the park about thirty minutes later.
She needed to see what the training was like; maybe that would help bring her to the realization that she needed to do this. That she didn't need to leave them hanging, without a yellow ranger that would be worth anything. They didn't know who Dr. O would replace her with, but they were sure that it would not be a good replacement, unless he was bringing Kim out of retirement and they highly doubted that one. He seemed pretty determined to keep her out of it, more than keeping himself out of the game, as he had already proved.
"Conner, Ethan. What have you done?" Tommy asked, as they dragged Kira up to where he was standing, her struggling the entire time against their firm grasp on her upper arms. He had, had the feeling that they would try something like this, but he didn't want to let Kira know that. They had done it out of their own free will, so he didn't feel as bad for her, as he would have if they had consulted him first.
"We went to talk to her. That cop out wasn't an acceptable excuse," Ethan said, as Kira tried to get loose, again, but they only tightened their grip on her arms. She wasn't going anywhere until she explained herself or at least gave them a believable excuse, which she had failed to do, as of yet.
"Yeah, what he said," Conner said, as Tommy shook his head in disbelief.
When he was a Power Ranger, the one thing he did regret was not dragging Kim back to Angel Grove and demanding an explanation for that letter, not that they knew about any of that. Now that they were making Kira tell the truth, he had to admit he was proud of them, although she was begging him for some help out of this situation. That was one thing that he was not sure he could give her right now.
"I have to give them some credit. I wouldn't have done this when I was a teenager. Actually, I didn't do that when I should have when I was a ranger," Tommy said, Kira looked helplessly up at him. She had expected him to try to help her, but he seemed to not be doing that any time soon. He actually seemed to be enjoying this as much as they were which only made her more aggravated with the situation.
"Dr. O, you were fine with me not being a Power Ranger," Kira said, as Tommy solemnly shook his head that she was wrong. The other rangers had let her go, although they were prepared to grab her again if what she said was not worth their while. He had never liked when someone turned down their position on a Power Ranger team, but this wasn't the first time he had seen it happen. It had to be expected after all of the years that he had been involved in this mission, that there were some people that were not willing to let the power protect them, no matter how much you did to try to get them to understand all of it. "Why didn't you stop me?"
"Because, you have to choose this on your own. It's not my choice, although I definitely suggest it. This is something you don't want to live to regret doing," Tommy said, as Kira stared at him. She looked to be very confused about what she should do, if she should maybe change her mind or if she should stick with her original decision. There was only one person that he knew of that might be able to convince her to do this, but Kim didn't really like to talk about the regret of giving her powers away to someone else. Most of the times that led to all of the other regrets she had and neither one of them wanted to talk about those, to anyone right now. They had just barely gotten over them, themselves and bringing in others, was not a good thing, at least not for a few more months. "If you need to talk to Kim, then I'll go get her."
"No, you don't need to. I want back in," Kira said, with a bright smile, as she looked at each of their shocked faces.
These boys could be bearable and she had to admit that she didn't feel right after having the powers taken away, even if it was only for a short period of time. Tommy then handed her back her morpher and watched as she slipped it on her wrist and changed it back into a communicator. It still amazed him that they had managed to pull this off, but the other rangers felt the same way that he did about this. They had no choice and this was what needed to be done, no matter what anyone else said about the situation. They were adults now and it was time that they passed the powers onto some new people. They knew they would have to battle again, but they hoped that it would be awhile before they had to do that, as there were some other things going on in their lives right now.
"Well, then you'll need to start training with us," Tommy said and then remembered he needed to get something out of his jeep. Why did he have to be so forgetful all of the time? He had tried almost everything to over throw this habit over the years, but the only thing that he had learned to do, was to leave early. No matter where he was headed, in case he had to come back home and often times he did, which led him to being late, but at least he had what he needed. "I'll be back in a second, stretch some, none of you are used to working out with me."
Tommy was soon running off towards his jeep, now wishing that he would have parked closer to their designated meeting point. He didn't necessarily want to leave them alone, knowing that their defensive skills were definitely still sub-par. The tryadrones could attack at any time, which he was not comfortable knowing, as he watched them stretch. They had only gotten a small glimspe of what it was like to be a ranger yesterday, but only old rangers knew that and they would learn all too soon. He could only hope that they would be fast learners, as their abilities were bound to be tested sometime soon.
"What the…" Conner said, being thrown to the ground by some unknown force. If Tommy had seen then he would know one thing, their Power Ranger sixth sense had not kicked in, but it would very soon. "Dr. O, that's not fair. I wasn't even watching."
"That's not Dr. O, Conner," Kira said, helping Conner up off the ground and getting him turned around, to face the group of tryadrones. They had, had some confidence with Dr. O around, but now she could feel it leaking out like the helium in a ballon. "That's the tryadrones."
"Shit," Conner said, as he scrambled back to where they were standing and looked at the creatures, as they started to make their way towards them. He knew he was supposed to be the leader, but he sure as hell did not feel up to that challenge right away. "Should we?"
"I think that would be wise," Ethan said and they quickly morphed. Then the battle began with the tryadrones. "Dr. O made this look so easy. We don't know how to do this."
"Yes we do, let the powers take over," Kira said, destroying a tryadrone and watching it disintegrate, before her very eyes.
She could definitely get used to the power she was feeling right now. It was addicting, which made it obvious why the past rangers were always willing to come back, even after a long break from the action. What she didn't know was that there was a hell of a withdrawal when the powers were taken away and that was something that wouldn't be revealed to them until the time was right.
"No," Tommy said, seeing the teens engaged in a battle with the tryadrones and he began making a beeline for the attack, but got stopped by Zeltrax. This thing, looked a lot like the amephors, although it seemed to be intelligent enough to banter with anyone it came up against, which was one thing Tommy did not need right now. He needed to be able to get to help his rangers. "Who are you?"
"I'm the person that you stole their powers from," Zeltrax said, as Tommy tried not to compare this creature's mannerisms to Todd Billingsway's. This was not going to be good, unless he was only imagining the sword this creature wielded and he doubted that. He did not have anything to protect himself and he was sure that Kim would not like him to come home bruised and cut, again. She had not taken it too badly last night, although they did have a small fight about it, but if this became a daily activity, then she was likely to have some problems with this or even worse, she would want to help in the battles. He didn't want her risking her life like that, unprotected. "Did you like the flowers?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Tommy said, trying to run past Zeltrax, but being thrown to the ground, with a small cut on his forearm from the tip of the sword. Why did he consent to giving his power's up? The nausea and migraines would have been worth it, if he could only morph right now, just if it was to protect himself from any additional injury that might come from this confrontation. He, however, had done that because Billy had insisted that Zordon wanted that to happen, as the powers would have time to recharge, if they ever needed to be used again.
At this rate, Tommy was seriously considering pulling them out of retirement, so that they would have some more people to fall back on. Then he thought about the last statement that this thing had said it sent him the flowers. What in the world was going on here? The evildoers had sunk to a new low if they were trying this hard to get on his good side. He had expected it to be some student, as usual, but if this thing did send those flowers. Was there something else about the vase that might need to be destroyed, as the flowers had already died?
"Yes, you do, Tommy. You know exactly what I am talking about," Zeltrax said savagely and he knew it was Todd now, no matter what this thing made him look like now. Although he no longer looked like the man, Tommy had been around for the previous year and a half; he acted exactly the same. Cocky, arrogant, wise ass that he was, Mercer had still liked him better, but what had Mesogogg done to him?
It then hit Tommy that Todd may have been in on this plan the whole time he had been on that island and that he might have been the only person on that island to not know about it, which could explain why Anton Mercer and Todd did not panic when the attack began. They didn't even try to run, from their inevitable doom, as Mesogogg seemed determined to kill anyone that came across his path, but there was no way that could happen, or was there?
"Todd, get away from here. I didn't choose to do what you are doing and you will not get the dino gems now. It's too late for that. They have already been bonded, so if you want to destroy me, go ahead. Your tryadrones will die and you will have no protection from the rangers wrath and those are not the only rangers in the world. You might want to remember that," Tommy said, seeing that they were dying left and right. Thank goodness the defensive mechanisms that they had installed in the morphers worked. If not, his rangers would have been in a desperate situation right now and he would have had to try to overthrow Zeltrax on his own, which did not look like an easy task, as he already been cut once.
"I will be back, Tommy and next time you may need to watch your back," Zeltrax said, as he and the tryadrones disappeared into an invisaportal. He wasn't ready to go into a full-fledged attack against Tommy, but Todd did know that he was no longer alone in trying to defeat them.
Mesogogg was not going to be happy when he heard all of this; no matter how much he sugar coated it and tried to play down the rangers abilities. He knew that he had underestimated what Tommy could do with the gems, but had they also underestimated the abilities he would be able to instill in the rangers. As he was a mere human and had probably never been a member of a ranger team, but what had Elsa, said about the people in his house a few nights ago?
"Are you alright?" Tommy asked, running down to check on the, thoroughly, exhausted rangers. Now they saw why they had to have the powers and why Dr. O had been so insistent on them keeping them. If they hadn't, they would have been dead right now, they knew that much for sure. They all couldn't help but wonder how often Tommy had gone through this during his tenure as a ranger, but that question would have to wait until later. Right now, he seemed very intent on getting them back to the command center and out of the immediate line of fire. He had not known many creatures to attack twice in a short period of time, but he was not going to risk it. As he had learned that there was a first time for everything in this business.
"I'm fine," Kira said, looking up at Tommy, still dressed in her uniform, until he asked them to power down and head back to his house.
"You've had a rough day," Tommy said, as they piled into his jeep, anxious to get out of this place and into the safety of the command center. They still were afraid that the tryadrones would show up again and they didn't know if they could deal with that today. They were too drained to deal with it now, but they were not ready to admit that to Tommy. If they were going to stay in this, then they were going to have to get themselves in better shape, whether they liked it or not. "So, are you glad you stayed?"
"Yeah," Kira said, as they began to drive towards the command center. This was a trip, that they were going to be taking much more than they had ever thought imaginable. It was going to now have to fit into their daily routine. If they didn't go there every day, then there would definitely be a lull in activity or so they gathered from the past forty-eight hours activities.
"I wish Jason and Billy would finish the teleporting grid. Then we wouldn't have to drive to the command center," Tommy said, as they looked at him, confused as to the device he had just mentioned. What was a teleporting grid and what did it have to do with them?
"What's a teleporting grid?" Conner asked, willing to feel stupid, as he often did when he opened his mouth to ask anyone a question. If Dr. O had explained it before, he couldn't remember and he was sure Kira and Ethan would let him know if he had done that.
"It is what we used to get to battles and out of battles if things got too bad," Tommy said, as he noticed Kim was home already, not that this was odd on a Wednesday, but something didn't seem quite right. He just couldn't place what it was right now, as his mind wandered to other things.
"Dr. O, why is Kim's car up here, instead of under the garage?" Kira asked and it hit Tommy that was what was off today.
She had never been scared to park under there before, but something must have gotten to her today. What could it be? She hadn't mentioned anything this morning or last night that she had planned for today that would have upset her, but he could have forgotten, although he had gotten better at it, especially with things that had to deal with her. It could just be that her migraine came back, although he doubted that in some ways. He just had this feeling in the pit of his stomach that it was much more than a migraine or a stomach ache.
"Come on, let's get to the command center," Tommy said, looking to see if Kim had stayed downstairs, but the only thing that even told him that she was home, was that her school bag was sitting on top of the little table he had in the lobby. Well, maybe she was just feeling bad, as she had been having some problems with her allergies lately. He hoped that was all it was, as he wasn't sure he could take anymore bad news today.
"Tommy, are you alright?" Hayley asked, as they walked into the command center. She had been in Reefside when the alarm went off on the communicator Tommy had given her, so she rushed to his house as quickly as she could, closing down the Cyber Café early. She had the feeling that she was going to have to hire some extra staff to help her out, as she was going to have to do this every time a monster attack came and the café couldn't be closed every time that happened or people would start to notice. She knew that she could not risk to blow their cover, as it had been protected for all of these years.
"Yeah, a few bruises, but those will soon heal," Tommy said, with a smile as the rangers stared at Hayley. She hadn't been in any of the pictures, so what did she have to do with them? They knew about the oath of silence, but had the old rangers broken that promise, once upon a time?
"Hayley, what are you doing here?" Ethan asked, as he happened to be a frequent customer of the café. He didn't even know that Dr. O knew Hayley, but he had been out of town for a long time before the school year began. So, it made sense that he wouldn't know about their friendship or much else about Dr. O.
"I'm the technical support, although I don't know why Kim didn't come down here when the alarm went off," Hayley said, letting Tommy know that she thought something was off, too. They had agreed that if Kim or Tommy was home that they would try to take care of it, but Kim hadn't come down there at all and her car had been in the drive when Hayley arrived at their home. Something seemed wrong, but that was only something that Tommy could ask about.
"Do I need to go check on her?" Tommy asked, but Hayley could only shrug her shoulders. How would she know what Tommy should do, if Kim had told her nothing about the situation that was causing her odd behavior at the moment in question? "Great, you're just loads of help."
"That's my job. I don't read her as well as you do," Hayley said with a smile, as Tommy looked at the computer screen and then began filling in the information he had learned to day. The information from the rangers suits had already flowed into the system, but there were somethings Tommy had noticed that needed to be put in there as well.
"Tommy," Kim said, quietly walking down the stairs and emerging into the command center. She had heard him come in and she was now trying to hold her emotions in, until she could talk to him, face to face.
How could she tell him that HE was back? HE had found her again and his threats were more detailed than ever this time. HE had told her to get away from Tommy or she would be killed as well and she believed ever word of it. Tommy wasn't going to take this well and she knew that. Why did this have to happen now, only so soon after having to start working with the new rangers?
"Hey sweetie," Tommy said, not looking up from the control panel, as he helped Hayley enter the information they had learned from this battle. It may not have been much, but it was a start and they needed every bit that they could get their hands on.
The network was extensive, but it could only help them as much as the amount of information that they put in there, which was why they had to store every bit of information, they could get their hands on. The immense amount of concentration this took, was what kept him from hearingthe clear distress in her voice, although she did sound sick to him.
"Ms. Hart, are you alright?" Kira asked, as her eyes looked puffy and she looked to be begging Tommy to look at her, so she wouldn't have to say it, whatever it was. Conner and Ethan looked curiously at her, but they were not going to be brave enough to ask a question like that. They knew that they were no good at female emotions and that it would be best if they left it to Kira, Hayley, and Dr. O.
"No," Kim said, hoping Tommy would turn around and he did at her dismal response to that single question. He had paused while typing in the information and looked over at her, to see she was struggling to not run over to him and bury her face in the fabric of his shirt. He knew that this couldn't be good, whatever it was.
"Kim, what happened?" Tommy asked, the concern and pain of seeing her like this coming through in his voice. Conner, Kira, and Ethan backed away, as Tommy looked at her, to where Hayley stood, utterly confused.
That one word had changed Tommy's whole mood and as he walked over to where she stood, he could see something else welling up in her eyes, besides the tears that were threatening to stream down her cheeks and then onto her neck. Something that he didn't want to see in her eyes again, as he remembered the night he had been told about Richard. It just couldn't be him, he was in Florida. He had to still be in Florida.
"He's back, Tommy. He's back," Kim muttered, as the tears started to fall and he pulled her into his arms, feeling her mold her body to his, carefully clinging to him, as her last piece of happiness. She had needed this hug ever since that man had came and talked to her, but she couldn't call him out of school, without raising any extra suspicion from Principal Randall. She did not want to cause any more trouble for Tommy, although she had desperately needed to see him that afternoon.
"Who Kim? Who's back? Who did this to you?" Tommy asked, feeling that he should know who she was talking about, but he couldn't place whom it was. His mind was just too boggled by her being so distraught that nothing seemed to make sense to him, other than trying to comfort her and make whatever it was go away.
"Richard," Kim whispered, as Tommy's heart filled with rage and his arms tightened around her, as she was now shaking in his arms, at the mere mention of that man's name. Damn this man, he only gave her enough of a rest to feel safe, then he came back with more vengeance than ever. This was going to stop, one way, or another, no matter what she said to try to stop him from going after this man. He had to stop doing this to her.
"What did he do?" Tommy asked, forgetting that the young rangers were still in the command center. They looked on, as Hayley merely covered her mouth at the mention of the name.
She had never really been told the whole story, but she knew enough to fill in the missing pieces and the picture that popped into her mind was not pleasant at all. It seemed that the only person who had heard the entire story was Tommy and he had been greedy with the details around their friends, not that she blamed him. From what Billy had told her, it had not been a pleasant experience in Florida for Kim, due to whatever this man had done to her and even he didn't have a clue as to exactly what that could be. Only Kim and Tommy knew the whole story and it seemed very bleak from the little that the others knew.
"He came to talk to me at school and he said that he was you, that was how he got past the office staff. You are the only person that I have given them that could interrupt my class at their own digression. He even came during my planning period, so I couldn't use the kids as an excuse to get away from him. He plans to kill you Tommy," Kim blubbered out, before the sobs took complete control of her body and made her unable to talk about it anymore for the moment. There was so much more she needed to tell him, but she just couldn't manage to spit it out right now, as she needed to cry on his shoulder and he gladly obliged.
"Damn him, Kim," Tommy said, as he pulled her closer than she had already been, feeling her hands ball up pieces of his shirt within them and stretch it out of the waistband of his khaki pants. The rangers looked on, in shock at Tommy's reaction to all of this. They had rarely heard him raise his voice, even during school, until today and now he was swearing. It was obvious that it was more than the death threat that bothered him. The death threats had to be normal by now, but it seemed this man stemmed from Kim's past, not his own and that past had been a very dark one, where whoever this was, was concerned. "I'll take care of it. He'll never bother you again."
"Tommy, you can't. He's helping Mesogogg, now," Kim whispered as Tommy looked down at her, shocked at this statement, which sounded much more like a plea for him to reconsider anything he was thinking about doing. He had the feeling that Richard had been watching them for awhile and had already learned their schedules by heart. He was another one of Mesogogg's informants and this only increased Tommy's dislike for the creature. He was using a man that made his fiancée feel vulnerable and that he thought would get the two of them to call every thing quits, well he had news for him. He was going to get back at him for everything that he had done to the two of them, if it was the last thing that he ever did. "He's been given powers and you're not protected anymore, Tommy. You can't go do something crazy and get yourself killed."
"The son of a bitch and he knows that you're not a Power Ranger any more," Tommy said, picking Kim up and taking her over to the couch, he had bought for the command center. These kids would be spending more time here than they would like to count and they needed a place to crash, when they were completely exhausted from a hard days battle. It was now pulling double duty, as a counselor's area, which Tommy had always hoped to keep it from being turned into. They had so many sessions like this at the old command center, he hated for this to only be the second time it was used, and now it had that job too. "Kim, I'm going to kill him if he ever lays one hand on you again."
"Tommy, he doesn't want to harm me, he wants to harm you," Kim said, resting her head on his shoulder and looking up at the side of his face. Tommy had never been one to put himself in danger, but it often times came looking for him. She just couldn't seem to hammer it into his brain that Richard was not interested in harming her. He was interested in getting Tommy out of the picture, completely this time. In the hopes that Kim would fall for him, but if he ever did that, then she would be the one that he needed to fear, not Tommy, Jason, or any of the other rangers. She would personally take care of him, herself, if he dared to do kill Tommy or so much as harm one hair on his head. Not many people scared her anymore and her fury would block out the fear she had of this man and Tommy knew that all too well. "You can't die. I've been through all the close calls and I don't want to be here for the actual event, Tommy."
"Kim, if he shows up at your work again, call me and I will come, no matter what time it is. I don't want you to go through this again," Tommy said, holding her as tightly to himself as he could, feeling himself start to tremble in anger and pain. He knew that he should be trying to give her words of comfort, but those wouldn't work this time. She wasn't going to be calmed down, by 'he's gone and he won't come back'; it was going to take much more than that this time and he knew that. "Beautiful, it's gonna be alright."
"How do you know that?" Kim asked, fighting another round of sobs that where trying to escape her lips and body. She had pulled her head off of his chest and was now looking him in the eyes, trying to convey her fear for him with one look and she managed to do that. "How do you know that he won't just show up and just kill you?"
"I don't, but you don't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself," Tommy said, glancing up and seeing that Hayley and Kira were looking, distressed, from hearing the little snippets of the truth coming out about this, unknown, man. He wasn't sure where to take this from here, knowing that Hayley wasn't going to leave until she found out the whole story and Kim was in no condition to explain it to anyone tonight, although Hayley had surely figured out some of the missing pieces. Hopefully enough that would satisfy her curiosity until Kim was able to explain it to all of them. "Do you want to take a day off tomorrow?"
"No, I just…I don't want you to leave," Kim said, burying her face in the crook of his neck. He could feel the tears, now on his skin and it felt as if the pain that she was feeling was going through him as well. His composure was becoming very limited, as he struggled to keep from breaking down into tears of his own. She was right, he couldn't fight off someone who had powers, when he didn't anymore. He had already tried that today and he had not done too well, as he could feel some bruises coming up and the wound had only stopped bleeding a few minutes ago, as it had dripped down onto the side of his pants. "If he comes after you at the school, there is no one there that can help you."
"Hayley, do you mind calling Jason?" Tommy asked, as Hayley nodded her head and started towards the stairs. If Jason and Trini were willing to come down, then they would be able to smooth this over, as a group effort this time, which was what it was going to take this time. "Tell him that I need Trini and him to come up for the weekend."
"Okay," Hayley said, jogging up the stairs, hoping that she remembered where Kim kept her address book. She didn't know Jason's phone number from memory, but if she couldn't find the address book, she could always call Billy. He had to know the number and he would certainly want to know about the extra distress being caused in Reefside.
"Tommy, Jason doesn't know," Kim said, as Tommy ignored the comment and tried to continue to calm her down. He knew that Jason didn't know and neither did Trini, but Trini would calm Kim down and Jason would join him in the beat the son of a bitch's ass club. Tommy knew he couldn't control himself much longer and at least he would have Jason on his side if things went the way he thought it would over the next few weeks.
"They'll be here Friday afternoon," Hayley said, as she pulled the Dino Rangers to the side. Tommy wasn't going to be able to disentangle himself from Kim for long enough to excuse them and even if he did, they would only ask questions that would hinder him from getting back to his real love. Hayley knew that he didn't need that right now and it would all be explained to them later, if he had to. They looked exhausted and she thought it best to send them home, for a good night's rest, as they were sure to need it. She had heard that the nights of rest were limited as well and that they might as well enjoy it while it lasted, because things would heat up one day. "Look, it may be best for you to go ahead and go home. Whatever they're talking about, I'm sure they don't want any of us to hear it."
"But," Conner started to object, but he caught Kira's death glare out of the corner of his eye and glanced at her. She didn't even have to say what was forming at her lips, as Conner changed his mind very quickly. He did not have the energy to fight off a verbal attack from her today and he was smart enough to know to back down, while he still could. "We'll go, but keep us posted. I want to help track down this freak."
"I will," Hayley whispered, ushering the boys up the stairs and into the kitchen. She held Kira back for the time being, because she knew that Kira needed to be reassured that everything was going to be fine. This certainly did not look good with the only other female ranger she knew suffering like this. Although it had nothing to do with ranger duties, from what she had gathered.That didn't matter, it was still distressing. "Don't worry about her. Tommy will take care of her, just do me a favor, and keep an eye out for any suspicious characters for the next few days. Call me at any time you need me and don't worry about getting in touch with him tonight, he'll probably be busy all night."
"Okay," Kira said, going to catch up with Conner and Ethan. She had always thought that the evil they would fight, would be these huge monsters, but now she was finding out that they were just like ordinary people and had weaknesses, too. This man, whoever he was, wasn't new on the scene, but his unexpected arrival had thrown the Hart/Oliver household into pure turmoil, which they didn't need anymore of at the present time. Mesogogg was doing enough in that department, in her opinion.
"What did Hayley want to talk to you about?" Conner asked, as they walked up the path that led to the road. Ethan lived close by and he would be able to drive them back to their houses, as soon as they got to his.
"Nothing, Conner," Kira said, keeping her eyes peeled for the man that she knew was out here, somewhere. The boys merely shrugged their shoulders and then everything went quiet. It seemed that they had decided it was best to not say anything to each other, if they could help. When they didn't talk, they didn't fight and it was important to keep it that way.
Richard Myles pulled himself away from the window and over to the corner of the house, just in time to see the teenagers exit the house. Kim had not come back upstairs yet, which made him almost certain that she was talking to Tommy, about all of this. He did not know what had made him go see her in person, but he was sure that Mesogogg would punish him for this. He had given up their secret and now had Tommy Oliver ready to murder him, if he could only get his hands on him. In some ways, he wished that he had never agreed to do this, as it was becoming hard to keep his feelings out of the picture. Kimberly Hart hated him and she was scared of him, which meant Tommy Oliver was going to do anything he could to destroy him. This was going to be a long night, when Mesogogg found out how much he had put their mission in jeopardy.
AN: That's all for this chapter and I hope that you have enjoyed it!