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.
TrueRomantic: Yep, you are, sorry but that'll be a few chapters away. Yes and no, they'll be in this story some, but they will really come back in the next one. I hope that answers your questions. If not, let me know.
XRachX: Do not worry about that one, it has already been planned in, although some other details will be in their own story (hint, hint).
Now, on with the Story!
Dr O. Goes BlackThe rangers soon settled into the familiar routine of going to school, fighting, practicing for a little while, going home, then falling into the bed for some much needed sleep, before waking up to start the same thing over the very next day. It became more evident as time went on that these teenagers were made to do this job, despite the initial worry they had about their somewhat mediocre fighting abilities. The battles were becoming less and less fatiguing as time went on and it helped that they were now taking classes at the dojo, although it made their schedules even more hectic than they were before they agreed to do this in the first place.
Then one day, it happened. The worst thing that they could ever imagine, happening to them as a team, happened. They were in a battle and Dr. O was helping them, as much as he could without having any powers to protect him and he had managed to destroy quite a few tryadrones, which left them to fight the monster, as usual. Zeltrax showed up and captured him, before he even had the chance to try to attempt a counter attack against the cyborg. Conner desperately tried to grab him, but they disappeared back through the invisaportal before he could get anywhere close to him, even with the super speed that he had been given. When they got back to the command center, they were all devastated, but the one person that would take it the hardest still did not know what had happened to Dr. O and they had the responsibility of telling her the whole story of how they had let this happen. They dreaded what they were going to have to say, but they knew that they had to tell her the truth, no matter how hard that was going to be.
"Ms. Hart, we have to tell you something," Conner said, as Kim walked into the unusually quiet command center. "Something happened to Dr. O."
It had been a long day at the dojo and she was hoping to find something in the oven when she got home, although Tommy's cooking weren't the best in the country, by any means. She hadn't found anything, so she headed down to the command center, hoping to see Tommy talking with the rangers, after the battle they had, had in town today. She had heard about it over the radio in the dojo and knew that everything had gone well, although it had been reported that one civilian was involved and was possibly in the hospital, which she hoped wasn't Tommy.
The monster was defeated, that was all that really mattered, although some civilians had been scared out of their wits by Mesogogg's latest attack, which was to be expected. When she walked into the command center, she noticed the rangers were still in uniform, but had removed their helmets and Ethan was busily typing away at the computer, obviously searching for something. There was no easy way to tell her this, but she figured it out before they could say anything, just by the expressions on their faces. They had him. The bloody monsters had taken him, again and from what she could tell, they had no clue where he was.
"No," Kim said, shaking her head and quickly backing away from the young rangers that were still inexperienced in this particular area of ranger problems. They might have learned a lot about battling, but they knew nothing about other rangers being captured and what it did to them, especially when Kim and Tommy where in something together and were then ripped apart by one of these monsters. This just couldn't be happening again, especially after that damned island blowing up and nearly killing him, only this summer. They couldn't have captured him again. He wasn't even a bloody ranger this time, why would they want to capture him? He couldn't give them a dino gem or anything like that. There was nothing he could do to hurt them this time, what would they want from him this time? She wasn't going to be allowed to go after him, although she sure as hell wanted to give Mesogogg a piece of her mind right now, but she knew that Hayley was not very likely to let her out of her sight, in the condition that she was in. "No, they couldn't have. It has to be a mistake. He's just resting from having his ass handed to him on a platter."
"We'll get him back, Kim. Don't worry," Kira said, walking over to try to comfort her, but found herself being pushed away, by the frightened, former ranger.
She didn't mean to come across as harsh and cold, but she couldn't take the young ranger trying to comfort her when they didn't know how truly hard it might be to find Tommy, while he was still uninjured, as they did not know much about Mesogogg's whereabouts. Kim, now, wanted to get back to the dojo and work out with one of Rocky's classes, right away, maybe that would help distract her some more. She did not need to think about this or she would go crazy. She had to get out of this command center; it reminded her too much of him and that was some thing she didn't need. Anything that could be linked back to him, she had to get away from, to keep her sanity intact for a little while, at least.
"I know you'll try, but there are no guarantees that you'll find him," Kim said, scrambling up the stairs and out into the open-air kitchen, trying desperately to recollect herself. Her eyes fell on the refrigerator, but before she could raid its contents, Billy came out of nowhere and grabbed her wrist, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. Hayley had called him as soon as the worst had been confirmed from the rangers. Tommy had indeed been taken by one of Mesogogg's goons and was now being held hostage, but only goodness knew exactly where he was right now. Billy was one of the few people who would be able to locate Tommy, if it was even possible to do that now, as the invisaportal had long since diminished. He had called his office and asked for an undetermined amount of leave days, but they had been receptive and let him go immediately. He had never missed a day of work before, so something serious must be going on, although he had, had to be very vague with the details. If it came down to it, he was going to find a story to tell them and hopefully one of the others would be willing to play hurt. "Billy."
"I'll find him, Pinkie. I promise I will," Billy said, making her look him in the eyes, only to see that she was truly scared for Tommy this time. "Now, I gotta go to work on finding him. Do you want some company?"
It was not the first time that he had promised to do something like this and he had come through every time before. As he knew that, sadly, this was not the first time Tommy had ever been taken away from them. He just hoped that he would be able to do it this time. None of the rangers could stand them being apart for very long and he knew that this new team might not be ready to endure this. As it had been a few months into it before Tommy came and even more months before they were first separated from each other. That was hell on them as a team back then and Billy was positive it would have the same affect on the new team now, although they had no clue what was to come over the next few days.
"No, I'll be fine by myself. I need to clear my head," Kim said, picking up the car keys that she had discarded only minutes before on the kitchen table. She had to get out of this house or she was likely to break down much sooner. She couldn't be around anything of his or it would only make it worse. She knew Billy knew that, as they had, basically, had to rid the command center of anything that could remind her of him all those years before when this had happened. Well, except for one of his shirts, which she had been wearing when he had disappeared, the first time. They got tired of her wearing it, but it did not leave her body until he was safely standing in the command center again, a full week later, although he had lucky remained unharmed that time. "I'm going to the dojo, find him Billy. Please find him."
"I'll try Kim," Billy said, giving her another hug, before turning to lift the hidden entrance to the command center from its place in the kitchen floor.
He then headed downstairs, to start the massive search for the lost ranger. Tommy always had the worst luck with things like this and everyone knew it, except the new rangers and they were soon to find out about it. As they were now experiencing what it was like for one of their own to be taken away from them, by the evildoers. It seemed, with each generation of Power Rangers that he had been involved with, he was captured at least once, if not more than that. As the evil geniuses seemed to realize what an asset he truly was, even if he was just sitting in the command center, giving out orders.
It was just his horrible luck for things like this to happen, but he had always happily accepted the challenge and got out alive, somehow. Only this time, the challenge might be too much, even for Tommy, the greatest ranger of all, to handle. He had no powers and his residual powers had been destroyed when he escaped from the damned island. Plus he was dealing with an evil that they did not know the full strength of, yet, although he definitely had the best idea of what some of the worst treatment could be. That, however, did not help comfort any of them, as they knew that there was no plane that he could use to simply fly away from the place this time. He was going to have to fall back on the skills that had managed to get him out so many times before.
"Is she going to be alright?" Kira asked, when Billy walked downstairs, holding a stack of data that could help find Tommy more quickly. He had hated to dig out all of the old scanner codes that they had used for Tommy, in years past, but he knew that any of them could come across now.
He still had some powers residing in him from his last stretch as a ranger and his old residual powers could have returned, as Kim's and his network were not completely destroyed when their powers were drained. Although Billy had done everything to try and do that, but for the two of them, it was safer to risk the exchange than to continue to withdraw powers from inside of them, not that they or anyone for that matter, knew that.
"Once he is back here, she will be, but until then, you might want to try to clear the room of anything that you know belongs to him. She won't take it too well and just be careful about mentioning anything about him," Billy said, as Kira and Conner went to work on doing that, as they knew that she would have to return sometime during the night, even the dojo had to close it's door eventually. Although Rocky might make an exception this one time. Billy then sat down in a chair next to Ethan and looked at the information that he had been able to pull up on his computer screen, which wasn't much, but it was a start. "Have you located the coordinates in which the invisaportal was transferring them to?"
"No, our suits only recorded its appearance, but as it didn't take any of us with it, we really don't have any clue on where they were headed," Ethan said, as he watched Billy and Hayley go into over drive on typing in things for the scanners to look for. They had decided to split the list in half, but each time they punched something in, all it did was come up blank. That just could not be good for them.
"He has to be out there somewhere, but where?" Billy asked the computer screen, as it came up empty, again and he knew that he had reached the end of his list of scanner codes for Tommy, which only left plan B.
He knew that there was not going to be an easy way to do this, as it always seemed that Tommy had to do things the hard way. He was going to have to do a scan of each region of the universe, maybe even having to communicate with other planets rangers, as they might be able to help them, some way, but he hoped that he would be able to do that before it was too late.
At the DojoRocky's class was abnormally large for a Thursday night, but Ashley and Charlie had been taking extra classes ever since they had agreed to be their coed team in the tournament, as they were trying to get their skills as honed as possible. He was focusing on them, so much so that he didn't notice Kim come back into the dojo, clearly distressed by something, as she was only clutching her keys in her hands, along with a few sheets of paper, just as an extra excuse. The other student's stopped their work, as the woman made her way over to Rocky, knowing that it was Dr. Oliver's soon to be wife and she did not seem happy about something, although they could not imagine what it would be.
"Rocky, are you busy?" Kim asked, walking over to them and seeing Charlie and Ashley stop working, as they heard her voice and realized something must be terribly wrong. She wondered if he would let her spar, just this once, to see if she still had it in her after a couple of years out of it. Today, wasn't the day to ask, though. She might seriously injure someone if she wasn't careful and she didn't want to do that, not with the mental state that she was in already.
"Kinda. What's going on?" Rocky asked, surprised to see her back at the dojo so soon, but one look at her let him know it was serious. She had had a rough day today, so what made her come back so soon? Whatever it was, couldn't be good, but he didn't want to risk saying something that would lead to the students finding out about something that they were not supposed to know about.
"Can we talk in your office?" Kim asked, as inconspicuously as possible. She had done a good job as to not break down, but was pushing it to last much longer, as she felt her own hands shaking. She knew that she was not thinking straight when she left, but getting out of that house, surely helped. "There's a problem that came up with some of the student enrollment records and Tommy sent me back to ask you about it."
"Okay, we'll talk in the office. Ashley, Charlie, why don't you take off early today? You've been working so hard that you deserve a little break," Rocky said, excusing himself from the class and quickly leading her towards his office. Once they entered his office, he turned his undivided attention back to her. He knew that was not the real reason that Kim was back at the dojo within an hour of leaving, but he patiently waited for her to look at him before he asked his only question that he thought he would have.
She looked around at the belts that Rocky displayed in his office and felt it tearing at her. Tommy had all of these belts sitting in his office too, which was only a few feet away, behind the plaster walls and a door that led from one office to the next. If it hadn't been for him being a Power Ranger, then he wouldn't be gone, to wherever he was, having whatever was happening to him happen, but she hated to blame all of this on their past ranger careers. Those careers were more valuable to all of them, than any other job they would ever dare embark upon and she knew that all too well, but she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if they had never become rangers.
"Rocky," Kim muttered, as she looked him in the eyes and he could clearly see the pain that was shining through, behind the brave wall that she was still trying to hold in place. God, what had happened to make her act like this, it was like Tommy was gone again.
"What's up?" Rocky asked, being careful to not get too close if she had a somewhat violent reaction to all of this that was going on around her. He knew better than to get in the line of fire, but he still felt as if she needed some sort of comfort, otherwise she would not have been here at all.
"They've got Tommy, Rocko. They took him, again," Kim said as she sank down to the floor, her back firmly against the door of his office, blocking anyone else from attempting to come into that room, unless they were determined enough to sling her out of the way.
Rocky knew what that meant, for all of them, the past, and the present rangers. Until they found him, it was going to be pure torture, knowing that one of their own was out there, with no help and no chance of getting any help to him, from what he could gather in her tone. It also meant, that he was going to have to ask Ally to take over the gymnastics program for the next few days, as Kim would not be able to function until Tommy was back with her and even then she might not be back to herself for a little while.
"Are you sure? Could it be a mistake?" Rocky asked, hoping that this was just some sick joke, but one more look at her told him it was true.
There was no worse feeling than knowing that there was the possibility he wouldn't come back this time, that he really would die in the line of duty. All of them had been through it before, but each time, it hit a little harder, as they wondered how many times it would be before he was killed in action or turned evil again, but none of them mentioned that to Kim. They knew it was running through her mind just as much as it was running through theirs, if not more. They did not need to reiterate it at all to her.
"They called Billy in, I think I'm pretty sure that they have him, Rocky. You know that they wouldn't do that unless it was something serious," Kim said, as Rocky went to sit down next to her. He placed his arm around her and felt her slump against his side, trying to find some comfort, but his comfort was not the best remedy for this problem. He knew that Jason, himself, or Trini were the closest seconds to the peace that Tommy could give her, but why did it have to happen again? And why now, they had just gotten over everything that had happened this summer. "If Richard has him, then he is going to try to kill him if he can and I don't want that to happen, Rocky. I don't know if I can live with that sort of guilty."
"Richard's back?" Rocky asked, shocked as to how Tommy had failed to mention any of this to him, but they had barely seen each other over the last few weeks and when they had, there had not been much time to talk about things of that nature. Tommy had been busy renting his tuxedo and doing other things for the wedding. The wedding. Oh boy, what happened if they couldn't get him back in time for the wedding? "Kim, you're not thinking about going after him, are you?"
"You know Billy won't let me do that, although it has crossed my mind already. Tommy would kill him when we got back, and then he would go after Billy for letting me go," Kim said, with a wry smile. She wanted to go after him, but knew that no one would let her do that, no matter how much she begged them to let her do just that. They couldn't risk another ranger's life, until they knew where he was and what they were up against and even then, she probably wouldn't be allowed to go.
That night, Kim went home, to begin covering up the problem with his other job, as they had done so many times before. If they were going to be able to pull this off, Tommy was going to have to be as sick as a dog, for quite awhile and hopefully the principal would buy it or they would find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Mesogogg's Lair"Well, Dr. Oliver, it's nice to see you awake again," Zeltrax said, as Tommy jerked out of his peaceful slumber and looked around the foreign room he had been placed in, seeing lights blink every now and then, but noticed that it was still fairly dark.
He had been there for two days already, but he had been unconscious during most of it, which led to him having no clue of the time span that he had been there for, which was a tiny miracle, as he did not know what he was causing on Earth. He tried to sit up, but found himself bound to the table by steel casings. He then tried to move his feet, but they were trapped as well. It seemed that they had thought to cover all of the bases this time, unlike all of the times before, when some idiot had captured him. How was he going to get out of this mess? As he was sure that the rangers were having a hard time finding him, as all of his old scanner codes might not show up here or they did not know the codes, which was an even bigger problem to have to deal with.
"Todd," Tommy managed to croak out, as he suddenly felt the dryness in his throat, as his vocal cords were forced back into use. His throat ached and he could feel some bruises developing on his back and extremities, from some battle he had obviously fought in before he was brought here. But how, exactly, had he gotten here?
He couldn't remember anything besides saying good-bye to Kim this morning and after that, everything went blank in his mind. Oh God, Kim. She must be worried sick about him right now. He had to get out of here and back to her; somehow, although it did not look like it was going to be easy to get out of here. This was one of the many times in the last few months that he had wished that he could morph again, but he couldn't, only this time it, somehow, seemed worse than the other times. He was at the mercy of Zeltrax and he did not like it at all. He knew that meant there were others around and if Richard came in, he could only imagine the torture he would use against him.
"Yeah, that's me," Zeltrax said as he shocked Tommy with stun rays and he jumped off the table, although he was still held down by the straps. He cringed with pain, as he watch Zeltrax smile at what he was doing to him. How could this be the same man that he had worked with, everyday, barely three months ago? No, he knew it wasn't the same man, although he had the same brain in there. He had been changed, in a way that was irreparable, and there was nothing Tommy could do to change what had happened to him now, no matter how hard he tried or wished that things did not have to be this way. "By the way, no one calls me by that name anymore, they call me Zeltrax. I told you that you needed to watch your back the next time I showed up, Oliver. You should have listened to me."
What in the world was he talking about, now? He couldn't remember anything that had happened today and he knew it was not because of his usual forgetfulness, as he was sure he could remember something as important as the battle that had landed him wherever the hell he was now. What had he done today and why couldn't he remember it, at all? If his throat were not killing him, he would have asked, but as it was, he remained silent, choosing to try to keep himself from saying something that would only cause him more pain. His mind trying to pull out some sort of explanation as to why and how he got into the situation he now found himself in, but it was unable to do that this time.
"You might be wondering why I brought you here, Dr. Oliver," Zeltrax said, as Tommy merely nodded his head, which did not hurt him as bad as everything else when he had tried to move it. He knew, then, that he had not received a blow to the head, but that did not help explain anything else that was going on here. Where exactly was 'here', though and did the rangers even know that 'here' existed? Where were they? They had to have been looking for him, but why hadn't they come to help him out of this mess? "Well, you see, you were in a battle two days ago, against all of my tryadrones. You got a little bit sloppy in your technique, Oliver, and I took the advantage that I had and captured you. Your Power Rangers are fine, but now I have you and they are nothing without their so called 'leader'."
"How long are you going to hold me here? You know that they are looking for me and will find me, somehow. It is only a matter of time Zeltrax. You are underestimating what the Power Rangers can do," Tommy croaked out, wishing that he could have a cup of water, to help relieve the pain of his burning throat, but he was not about to ask Zeltrax for a cup.
He was just waiting for Zeltrax to leave him alone, before he really analyzed the situation he now found himself in. There had to be some way to break the seal of the casings, Todd had never been the brightest apple in the bunch and he expected Zeltrax was the same way, although Mesogogg did not know that fact about him, yet.
"Until they come after you, Oliver. My master will be happy to deal with them with you already in tow and at his mercy," Zeltarix said, smiling wickedly down at him.
He, however, didn't think about all of the other rangers that would come out of the woodwork, if it became absolutely necessary and Tommy had no doubt some had already been pulled out. He could only hope that Hayley had thought to call Billy in to help with the search, because Kim would be no help at all in locating him, unless they sent her on the rescue patrol.
She was probably crying right now on the couch in the command center, clutching that old teddy bear he had given her, as Hayley desperately looked for him. He could just imagine the other rangers, sitting around, as the one who was supposed to be second in command sobbed. She had never been any good when he was taken away like this, or so he heard, but the new rangers were now finding out first hand what they had all been through several times before.
But he knew he had hurt her again and he hated to have to deal with that, although she was not there with him, he still had to deal with all of the problems this caused, when he got back home to her. He never let the doubts arise in his mind that he would not, as it would only cause him to begin to worry and that was the last thing he needed. He needed to be able to think clearly and focus, but Zeltrax standing right over him was making it hard for him to be able to do either, at the moment. Why couldn't the thing just leave?
"Oh, Dr. Oliver. This is quite a position you have found yourself in, now isn't it?" Richard asked, as Tommy looked at him with wide-eyed shock written all over his face, as he immediately recognized the voice. Oh God if he died Kim would bring him back, just to kill him again, for being so stupid.
He had to figure this out soon, if only he could concentrate on his old powers, maybe they would help him, maybe they would come back to him, just for a long enough period to get him the hell out of here and back home. That didn't work but Tommy suddenly felt something appear in his fist, it was cold and felt like a stone, but he couldn't really be sure until he saw it, in the dim light of the room. He didn't dare open his fist, until they had left him alone, but what could it be that had come to him now? And would it be able to help him get out of here, in one piece?
After awhile, they left him alone, to go and try to cause some more problems on Earth, as they knew the other rangers were distressed by Dr. Oliver's disappearance and by them not being able to find him, yet. It was only then that he opened his fist and what he saw inside of it awed him. The black dino gem was sitting in his hand, but had not been put in its morphing form. Oh man, maybe if he concentrated enough it would allow him to morph, but it didn't do anything to him or so he thought.
He started fiddling with the buttons that he could reach hoping that he could release himself from the metal bed he was pinned down to. After a few minutes of trying he released himself and quickly moved out of the room, but on the way out, he passed a mirror. Why there were always mirrors in these places, he didn't know, but there was no reflection in it this time. Oh boy, he guessed that gem's power was invisibility, now if he could just find his way out of here. Then he would worry about changing back into his normal form.
He sneaked around the building, looking for any way to get out of there, but he didn't see one that did seem to be guarded by the tryadrones. Well, while he was there, he might as well take advantage of it, as it may be the last time any of them were in there, without Mesogogg knowing where they were located inside of the building. He walked into Mesogogg's main room and saw that he only had three informants, thank goodness. As he listened to them talk, he could tell that Mesogogg was well pleased with their capture of him, although he wouldn't be there much longer if he could help it. He wished, again, that he had his old powers, so he could just teleport out of there, without there even being a trace of his presence. They brushed past him as they exited the room and he followed close behind them, maybe they could lead him out of there and back home. It was then that he saw an invisaportal appear in front of them and he went through it hoping that it would get him back to Earth.
The Command Center"Billy, you had any luck yet?" Hayley asked, looking over his shoulder at the computer, as she brought him a cup of fresh coffee. They had been working for the past two days, trying to locate Tommy, but still had not been able to find him. Kim couldn't function as a normal human being and had been lying on the couch for the past two days, curled up in a ball, while clutching an old teddy bear that no one was really sure about how she had gotten, except Tommy. She had been trying her best to not have a complete breakdown and had managed to do so, so far, although Billy knew she was on the verge of having one if they didn't find him soon.
"Nothing that would be Tommy, I think. It's just frustrating," Billy said, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes out of pure frustration at how this situation was looking worse and worse with each passing second. He had never been this close to letting Kim or any of the other rangers down and he wasn't going to stop until he was completely whooped, which he was close to being, at the moment. Tommy had to be out there somewhere, if he could only hone in on his energy signal, but which one should he look for first?
Hayley had rested her hands on his shoulders and could feel how tense the muscles were, under the navy blue polo shirt he had been wearing for the past two days. She had never seen him like this before and she tried to loosen them, but it was no good, as they immediately re-tightened. Billy was worried, he knew Tommy could not survive much longer out there by himself. They just had to find him soon; there was not another option for them.
"You want me to take over for a little while so you can go get some rest?" Hayley asked, as she had been forced out of her seat after the first day, as Billy had become agitated about the whole situation. She knew that he wanted to find Tommy and any distractions were being thrown out and she happened to be a distraction for Billy.
"No, but this black energy source has been showing up when I do a scan of Lorgan, it might be him," Billy said, as Hayley rested her head on his shoulder and reached down to grab her own glasses.
"Scan the area again," Hayley said, putting on her glasses, as she had, had to get rid of the contacts a few hours before and when he did, nothing showed up. They both knew that he had not imagined it being there, so where had it gone to? "Scan the Earth, I have a hunch."
"Okay," Billy said and the color appeared in a location, determined to be right behind him, in this very command center. No one had walked into the room, to his knowledge, so who was it or more importantly, what was it? "Hayley, has anyone come in here?"
"No, not that I…" Hayley said, as she looked around the command center and then at Kim, who was asleep on the couch. Her head looked to be floating a few inches above the couch's surface and her hair was being brushed by an invisible hand. What was going on here? "Billy...uh Billy"
"What?" Billy asked, as she had been slapping him on the back of the head. When he turned around, he was glad that he had nothing in his hands. Otherwise, he would have dropped it, from pure shock at what he was seeing in front of him. He had never seen something like this before. "Dear Lord."
"Yeah, I know. We have a problem, Billy," Tommy said, as the two of them looked very pale and shocked, Hayley so much so that she sat down in Billy's lap and stared at where the voice had emanated from, hoping he would show himself. He unclenched one of his fists and revealed the black dino gem, in his invisible hand, to Hayley and Billy. Who, then, looked at each other before looking back at the gem, this was not going to be good. As much as he regretted to say it, he knew he had to tell them what he needed. "I need you to make me a morpher, Hayley. It looks like I'm a ranger again."
"Hmm, Tommy," Kim murmured, as she buried her head into his, invisible, chest. She then jolted off of the couch and looked over at where she had been propping her head a few moments before. She knew that she missed him, but this was crazy, even for her. Although, Billy certainly thought she had been nearing this point earlier tonight, but he really seemed like he was there. Then she noticed a black gem floating in mid-air and her eyes widened in shock, as she tried to figure out what was holding it up. What was going on here and had they been able to find Tommy? "Billy, what's going on here?"
"I can explain, I think," Tommy said, as Kim eyes widened, as she stared directly at his face, but she could not see him. She heard his voice, clearly, but where was he? If he was playing a trick on her, then this was just cruel, especially for him. He had been captured for two days and then he thought this would be a funny way to come home? Oh he was going to pay, once she located him. Tommy watched as she looked everywhere for him, but she could not see him at all. He had prayed it would have worn off by now, but that did not seem to be the case, at all. "You can't see me, can you?"
"No, we can't," Billy said, as he took the gem from Tommy's, invisible, palm and walked over to the station to run an analysis on the gem, maybe it would help explain the situation, somehow. More importantly, maybe it would explain to them how to change Tommy back to normal, which was the only thing that they were really worried about right now. "Did the gem do this to you?"
"That's what I'm guessing. It just showed up in my hand when I was in Mesogogg's lair and when I was able to release myself, I was invisible," Tommy said, standing up and walking over to the computer to enter more data that he had found out while on his, inadvertent, spy mission. Kim looked over as the chair swiveled around and the sound of typing began. Was he really back or was she just dreaming, like she had so many times in the past two days? "Maybe morphing and powering down will take this away."
"Can someone explain this to me?" Kim asked, as she walked over to sit in what she thought was an empty chair, but she wound up in Tommy's lap. She tried to jump back up, but he held her down, determined not to let her go.
She wasn't going to leave him, if he could help it. The worry that he had seen when she had woke up startled him, although it was not the first time he had seen her like this, but it had been quite awhile since she had been this bad when he was captured. Although he could understand how the other events that had already occurred this year helped in making her more nervous than she had ever been before. He just couldn't stand the sight and he wanted to make it go away more than anything else.
"I will, once I get to where you can see me again. I think it will be easier that way," Tommy said, watching her curl up in his lap, as an attempt to fight off more tears that had suddenly formed. She had thought that she had cried herself out over the last two horrendous days of waiting, but now that he was back, she felt like crying again. Only they were tears of joy this time, she honestly did not care that he was invisible, not right now at least. He was home and he was safe. "Don't. Not until you know the truth Kim."
"Hayley, take Kim upstairs to get some rest," Billy said, as Hayley nodded and then he watched the two of them go up the stairs. Neither one of them needed to be downstairs if this went wrong, as it was likely to do. "You sure you want to try this?"
"Yeah, thanks for getting rid of them. I don't want either of them to go crazy if something goes wrong," Tommy said, as he quickly morphed and then powered down. It didn't work and now they were going to have to find a more invasive procedure to return him back to his normal form, which did scare him, some. "What are we gonna do?"
"Well, let's get the other rangers together, so that they'll be able to meet the newest addition to their team. Then we'll worry about changing you back," Billy said, as Tommy groaned about what this would mean for him, so much for giving this up, ever. That just never seemed as if it was going to happen, to him at least.
"I bet they'll be thrilled to hear about this," Tommy said, spinning the chair around while Billy sent out a signal to the rangers. "She's not been taking this well, has she?"
"Tommy, you were gone for two days and now you're invisible. The two of you are supposed to be getting married in about two months, if I were her, I'd be worried to. She doesn't want you to suit up again Tommy and you know it," Billy said, as he heard Tommy head back up the stairs, knowing exactly where he was headed. He had to talk to her before she began to sob about all of this. He would be fine and him being a ranger again would not change anything between them, but could he convince her of that?
"Kim," Tommy said walking into their bedroom and seeing Kim sitting on the edge of their bed, one of her fingers, absentmindedly, playing with the engagement ring he had bought her.
She knew what all of this meant, he would be going back out there, to fight the fight that they had begun, together, so many years ago. The dino gem had also adversely affected Tommy and she didn't know when or if she would ever see him again. She needed to see him again, just to know he was all right, to be able to know who she was touching and holding, whenever he came near to her. Billy and Hayley would work on a remedy, but she hated to keep Billy away from his job any longer than she already had, although he probably wouldn't mind the extra time with Hayley, as they rarely spent anytime together, but this surely wasn't their idea of a fun way to spend it together.
"Tommy, is it really you?" Kim asked, looking over to where the voice had emanated from, hoping to see its source. Whatever had been the easy solution, had obviously not worked for him this time, but when did it ever work for Tommy? So that meant the next thing they tried would be much more invasive and could possibly land him in the hospital, which was something she did not want to face right now. They had so many lies to make if he had to go to the hospital, namely what caused him to get in whatever condition that he was in.
"Yeah, it's me. Look I'm sorry all of this happened and I wish that I could tell you that it won't happen again, but there's a possibility it might," Tommy said sitting down next to her and brushing his hand across her face. She could feel him next to her, but with everything inside of her; she could not bring herself to believe he was really there, not until she could see who was wrapping their arms around her, hugging away the worries and tears that had been building up for the past two days.
"I know, I've known that ever since I met you and we've all been through it, at least once, while we've been rangers," Kim said, blindly feeling around to find his face, in the dim light of the room. Once she located it, she tried to find his lips, but he started shaking his head no. He knew that she needed his comfort and reassurance and his kiss would do that, but he wasn't going to do that to her, knowing that it might get much worse soon. She had always been strong, maybe not as strong as she wanted to be, but she could hold her own and he needed her to do that right now or he would be the one breaking down. He couldn't stand to see the hurt his disappearance had caused and as much as he wanted to kiss her, he knew that in a few hours, he might be in the hospital. He didn't want to leave her with a memory of him being invisible as strong as a kiss, not when he could not change back, at will, as of yet. "Are you alright?"
"Other than being invisible. Yeah, I'm good," Tommy said, with a laugh as he got up to go back down to the command center.
He needed to be morphed when the others came in or they would be shocked when someone that wasn't there showed up in front of them, although they would probably be more than happy that he was ranger. He had been surprised that Kim didn't have an adverse reaction of her own to this, but she seemed to be avoiding comprehending it all, as she was just happy to have him back, no matter what state he was in when he came back to her.
"Wait," Kim said, standing to follow him, but not being exactly sure were he was, she tried to feel out where he was, which was a fairly funny sight to behold. Tommy stifled back a laugh, as he reached for her hand and carefully took it in his own as he guided her back down to the command center, which he was sure she was quite sick of right now. He couldn't help but feel that a lot more had happened while he was gone than he had been told, but he wasn't going to press that subject now.
He did not need to know that Billy had carried her up to their bedroom the first night he had been gone and that she had called into work sick, knowing she did not have any patience or concentration that day. He did not need to know that she had stayed curled up on that couch crying and clinging to an old teddy bear he had given her, for the remainder of the time he had been gone. He did not need to know that when Hayley tried to comfort her, that she blamed it all on herself, for not being out there to protect him. No he didn't need to know everything that had happened while he was gone, as it would only make him feel worse about the situation and he was already feeling pretty bad about it right now.
"Are you alone?" Hayley asked, looking at Kim with a wry smile and seeing her hands were still shaking, with worry.
Billy and she had been brainstorming for the last few minutes and determined there was only one way to switch the powers back to where he could be seen again. That meant that they would have to use his dino gem against him, but they would be putting him at risk for injuries so severe that it might require hospitalization, which was never a good thing to hear. Neither one wanted to do this, but they knew there were no other choices in the matter. Tommy could not stay invisible forever and they both knew that. He, ultimately, would have to make the choice in how he was going to go around changing himself back, though, even if Kim did not approve of it.
"No," Kim said, reluctantly, letting go of Tommy's hand. He then headed over to get his morpher from Billy, who had just finished working on it. He knew that he could be seen while morphed, but that did not comfort him at all.
He needed to be back at work on Monday, as to not draw any more suspicion to himself, so that only left tomorrow for him to get back to himself, as it was already late Saturday evening and he doubted Billy and Hayley had already been able to come up with something. If Mesogogg had any sense, he would soon be coming after him, just to see what he was really up against, as the black ranger would not be known as Tommy Oliver to him, until after that first battle. Then, he knew, there would be no hiding it, as anyone could tell his fighting style, if they watched him long enough, and Zeltrax had, for some reason.
"Tommy, I think we have a solution to your being invisible, but it's dangerous," Billy said, as he watched Kim sink down onto the bottom step, unable to walk any further without assistance, as she knew she was not going to like whatever was said. Why was Billy even offering him this, knowing he would take it, even if it was likely to kill him? She could only hope they would wait until she was out of the room before they tried it, if they didn't. Then they might as well set up a gurney for her as well.
"Just tell me when," Tommy said and then morphed. Kim watched as the black suit appeared and she started shaking at how real it all was, again. Some of the things that she had seen this man do in so many other colors and now it had changed again? It just didn't seem right for him to be in black, instead of white or even green, although those had been put to rest, for the first time, quite a few years ago. "Are they on their way?"
"No, we're here, Dr. O," Conner said, looking around the command center and spotting the black ranger, but no Dr. O. Where was he? They had heard his voice, but they were unable to see him, anywhere. They were so happy when they heard that he was back, that they dropped everything they had been doing, to rush down to the command center, now he didn't seem to be anywhere in sight, which was odd. "Who's the new guy?"
"Conner, it's me," Tommy said, as Conner stared at him, along with the other two rangers, as they looked over at Kim to make sure that what they were hearing was true and she surely did not seem happy right now. There was just no way Dr. O had suited up again, he was retired and once a ranger went into retirement they stayed, didn't they? They all waited for him to power down and reveal it was a joke, but he didn't seem willing to do that at all. "But there's a slight problem, I'm invisible."
"You're what?" Kira asked, watching the black ranger power down and then he could no longer be seen, by any of them. This was too creepy for words as they watched a chair start moving, with no known source to power it.
"Invisible," Tommy supplied, again, as they continued to look right through him, at the computer screens. Okay, Billy and Hayley had to fix this soon; he absolutely couldn't stand it anymore. It was one thing when it was Kim or Billy, but the teenagers, were a completely different thing, as they were not likely to quit staring in that direction for a very long time. "But hopefully we can fix that soon."
"If you want to go ahead and try," Billy said, as Kim abruptly stood up and exited the command center, without saying a word.
While Conner, Ethan, and Kira looked on with confusion, at her sudden actions and then over at Billy, hoping he would have some sort of explanation for it all. Billy could tell Tommy was hurt by her leaving, but he understood why she couldn't be there. This was one thing that she didn't approve of or want to see no matter how many times they guaranteed he would be fine, in the end they wouldn't know that until it was over and she knew that all too well.
"What's with her?" Conner asked, figuring that Kim wouldn't want to let the invisible Tommy out of her sights after what had happened in the park a few days ago and he was correct, except for the fact that she did not do well with watching things like this. Not that they knew that, as this was their first ever problem that stemmed from something like this.
"She knows the risks of all of this and doesn't want to watch," Billy said, as he hooked censors to what seemed to be thin air, but it was obviously, where Tommy was standing. He couldn't help but think back to when he had drained their residual powers and knew, in all likelihood, she wouldn't have stayed in the command center if he didn't have to drain them from her as well. That night, the two of them had grown closer and it had helped them go back to their old selves, although the pain they experienced that night could be rivaled by childbirth, from how they later described it. "You alright with this?"
"Let's just get it over with," Tommy said, as Billy began what he hoped would cure Tommy of this malady. It all went fine, for awhile, and then Tommy started seizing, from some unknown cause. They immediately removed the censors, but it didn't stop, at first. Once it ceased they could see him but he was unconscious and very pale, which honestly did worry Billy and Hayley.
"Is he alright?" Kira asked, trying to sound calm, but her voice came out shrill and worried, as their teacher and fellow ranger lay motionless on the floor.
Billy and Hayley exchanged a glance, before moving him over to the gurney that they had set out, just in case something like this happened. They couldn't tell them the truth, but they knew there was a very real chance that he might never be 'alright' again. The only person that had a shot at waking him up was Kim and she didn't look to be heading back downstairs any time soon, not unless they went and got her.
"We'll see. Does someone want to get Kim?" Hayley asked, taking a deep breath, she was going to hate them for what they had done to make Tommy to where they could see him again. Ethan then disappeared up the stairs, in search of Ms. Hart. In a few minutes, he returned with Kim in tow. She didn't even have to look at him to know what had happened, she already knew, from seeing Billy's expression as she walked into the command center. Billy and Hayley then shooed the other rangers out of the house, telling them they would call when he woke up. They knew that Kim needed to be with him by herself, no matter what anyone else thought.
"Billy, tell me the truth. Do you think he needs to go to the hospital?" Kim asked, placing a hand over his and hoping, desperately, he would grip it, but he didn't. She closed her eyes and thought for what seemed like the millionth time that this couldn't be happening again, it was not fair for someone to go through this so many times in their lifetime, but he had.
"I don't think so. Not now, at least. Give him some time to wake up on his own," Billy said, bringing over a chair, but she refused to sit down in it for the time being. She did not feel as if she deserved to be comfortable, in even the slightest sense of the word. She should have tried to stop him from doing this; even if he wouldn't listen to her, at least then she would not feel the resounding guilt that she felt now.
"Why does he always have to be the brave one?" Kim asked, looking over at Billy and feeling him put a comforting arm around her, as she struggled not to cry. Billy knew exactly what she was talking about, but it was not something that needed to be brought up right now, as they both knew how many times Tommy had risked his life, to try to keep the other rangers safe. Although Billy could think of countless times when she had been in the same position, Tommy was in now and Tommy was the one who was concerned about whether or not she would be all right, but in the end both of them had always pulled through. It just seemed that this happened too many times for the pair and not enough for the rest of the rangers. "He has always been brave enough for the two of us, but look where it gets him. He usually winds up on a gurney, unable to tell us that he is going to be fine. I just don't know how much more I can take, I love him too much."
"He'll come around, Kim. He always does," Billy said, motioning for Hayley to follow him out of the command center. Kim needed to be alone with Tommy that much was obvious from her last statement that she had made to them and if there was anything else said they were likely to become embarrassed by hearing it. He knew that she was no longer censoring her emotions. She never did when something like this happened.
"Damn it, Tommy. You can't do this to me. I know that I treated you wrong all those years ago, but we're over that now. I need you Tommy Oliver. I need you to wake up and be back in my life. I don't want to know that everything 'almost' happened, I want it to happen. We're supposed to get married in two months and I need you here for that. I can't live without you, Handsome. Please, don't do this to me," Kim said, taking a seat in the chair Billy had placed behind her. She then rested her head on Tommy's stomach and let herself cry all the tears she had, unknowingly, held in over the last two days. If he didn't make it through, she didn't know what she would do. The time seemed to pass slowly, but she soon found herself falling asleep, still clutching his hand with one of her own and a piece of his shirt with the other.
AN: I know that this is a rather lengthy chapter, but I felt that I needed to get a lot of this out in one chapter, so I hope that it is not too bad on all of you. Thanks for reading and feel free to review!