Chapter 10: The Story

She walked over to the captain. "Why sir? Why did you stop us?" Carter asked. Captain Mitchell turned and looked at all of them.

"Because, he's my son," he replied.

Kimberly's eyes widened and looked over at Dana who was just as shocked. She then looked back at Captain Mitchell. "Your son? Ryan?" She asked. Captain Mitchell nodded.

"That's why I stopped you. You were going to destroy my son," he informed.

"How can that be? Ryan was killed in that car crash," Dana reminded.

"Yeah, he did die in that car crash," Kimberly agreed.

Captain Mitchell turned from looking at his daughter and the girl he grew to love as a daughter. "No, girls, he wasn't," he replied. He then looked back over at the tank in front of him. "It was late, it was pouring rain, you, Ryan, and I were coming home from visiting your grandmother. You two were in the backseat playing with the new toys she had given you. There was a truck coming from the other direction and I looked away for just a second. We tumbled over a cliff and I found myself hanging onto a root. Ryan was holding onto my foot and he was telling me he was slipping. I kept telling him to hold on, and you Dana, you were so young and so afraid and I was trying to call for help. Diabolico appeared and he told me he'd save Ryan, but Ryan would belong to him. I told him "never" and he disappeared. My shoe came off and Ryan had fallen. I shouted for Diabolico to save Ryan and after he saved Ryan from the fall, I begged him to give Ryan back to me, but then he told me I'd never see him again until his twentieth birthday and he disappeared," he explained.

"And today is his twentieth birthday," Dana murmured.

Kimberly placed a hand on Captain Mitchell's shoulder. "Sir, we won't fight him," Carter assured them. Captain Mitchell nodded before he went into his office and both of the girls followed him.

Captain Mitchell had his back turned to the girls as he looked at the fish tank. "For twenty years, I've waited to see him again. For twenty years, I hoped to see him again," he told them.

"You could've told us," Dana stated.

"I was ashamed," he admitted.

"But you had no other choice," Dana insisted.

"I know, but sometimes I wonder," he answered.

"Dad, I would've done the same thing for any of my children," Kimberly assured him.

Captain Mitchell turned and looked at Kimberly. "Did you just call me what I think you just called me?" He asked. Kimberly nodded with a smile.

"If that's ok I mean," she replied.

Captain Mitchell placed his hands on her shoulders. "It's just fine," he replied. She hugged him tight with a smile on her face. Then he took Dana into his arms and hugged both girls tight.

"You did the right thing, father," Dana assured him.

Later that day, the alarms went off. Kimberly turned to see her friends running up the stairs. "It's the Titanium Ranger, he's back," someone informed. Kimberly closed her eyes as she watched Ryan attack the city, having no idea that Dana was gone.

"Where's Captain Mitchell?" Carter asked.

"He left without saying anything," a man replied.

"You mean Captain Mitchell left without telling anybody where he was going?" Joel asked.

"That's not like him," Carter mumbled.

"We can't attack the Titanium Ranger," Kelsey reminded.

"But he'll destroy the city," Chad pointed out.

"This is an emergency, we've got to do something," Joel insisted.

Kimberly crossed her arms over her chest as she watched Ryan attack innocent civilians. "Where's Dana?" Carter asked. Kimberly turned around with the rest of the team to see that Dana was gone. "She's going after him," Carter informed. Kimberly ran with the rest of the team.

When they arrived at the room where the Rescue Rover was being held, Dana was already inside. "DANA WAIT!" Carter called.

"DANA!" Kelsey shouted.

Kimberly was already standing at the edge. "Dana are you crazy? He'll kill you," Kimberly told her.

"I have to stop him," Dana replied.

Carter placed a hand on Kimberly's shoulder. "We're going after her," he assured her. Then they hurried after Dana and Kimberly just stared at what was now an empty hole.

Kimberly ran back to Rescue Ops. "What's going on, Miss Hart?" A woman asked.

"Dana's gone, monitor her location," she instructed.

They found Dana fighting Ryan. "Mommy?" A small voice asked. Kimberly turned to see Kylie standing there.

"Hey, sweetie, you should be with your brothers and sister," she murmured as she picked her up.

Kylie wrapped her arms tightly around Kimberly's neck and Kimberly just held her daughter. Kimberly's eyes widened in horror when Ryan was going to destroy her. "NO!" She shouted.

"RYAN, DON'T!" Carter shouted.

Kimberly watched as Ryan ran off and the Rangers fought off a monster. "Sweetie, I'll be back, you stay right here do you understand me?" Kimberly asked. Kylie nodded and Kimberly ran towards the embarkation room.

Kimberly's jeep swerved as she quickly stopped it at the top of the cliff Captain Mitchell was talking about. "You don't remember, do you?" Captain Mitchell asked. Kimberly looked up to see Ryan glaring at him.

"I don't need to remember, I've been told. You didn't care what happened to me," Ryan replied.

"That's not true," Captain Mitchell insisted.

"You let me fall, to save Dana," Ryan told him.

Kimberly ran over and stood behind Captain Mitchell. "And then you took her in as a replacement," Ryan snapped.

"I tried to save you both. As for Kimberly coming into our lives, she needed us. You should've seen her, Ryan. She had no money, no food, and she was trying to raise a baby. She needed so yes I took her in and she became apart of this family, but I wasn't trying to replace you," he explained.

Ryan wasn't answering and Captain Mitchell kept talking. "Think back, Ryan, when you had that little fire truck. Then there was that terrible crash," Captain Mitchell started.

"Dad," Kimberly whispered.

Captain Mitchell placed a hand on her shoulder as if to tell her that everything was going to be okay before walking towards the edge. "We went over the cliff, all of us," he added.

"Stop it, you're lying," Ryan snapped.

"Listen to me, I was trying to save you. You and Dana, we were hanging over the cliff, and you were hanging onto my leg," he told Ryan.
"NO! YOU ONLY WANTED TO SAVE HER YOU LET ME FALL!" Ryan roared.

Kimberly watched in horror as Ryan pushed Captain Mitchell over the cliff and taking him too. "DAD!" Kimberly shouted. She ran over to the side to see Captain Mitchell holding the branch and Ryan's arm.

"Hold on, Ryan, hold on," Captain Mitchell told him.

Kimberly watched as Ryan's eyes glazed over. "He's remembering," she whispered. She watched as Ryan climbed up and held onto the branch too.

"I remember," he informed.

Kimberly gasped when the branch was going to break. "Goodbye, Ryan," Captain Mitchell informed. He looked up at Kimberly and gave her a smile before falling.

"NO!" Ryan and Kimberly shouted.

She watched as Ryan jumped off the branch, morphed, and grabbed Captain Mitchell. They hit the ground and Kimberly waited to find life. They were moving and she was able to let out a sigh of relief. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she kind of had a feeling of what was going on. Kimberly watched with sadness in her heart as Ryan took the morpher off and left.

That evening, Kimberly came into Captain Mitchell's office with a smile on her face. "Kylie refuses to fall asleep until she gets a goodnight kiss from her grandpa," Kimberly informed. Captain Mitchell chuckled as he stood up. "Dad, I'm sorry about what happened with Ryan," she told him. Captain Mitchell nodded and placed his hands on Kimberly's shoulder.

"Kimberly, I have faith in my son that he'll make the right choice, just like I had faith that you'll do all these great things, and I was right," he told her.

She smiled and he kissed her forehead. "Now, I have to say goodnight to a certain little three-year-old," he informed. Kimberly nodded and watched as he left the office and walked over to his desk. She found a photograph of Captain Mitchell, little Dana, and little Ryan. She then saw a picture of Kylie, Hunter, Blake, and Hannah. She looked over at the table to see another picture. She walked over to pick it up and smiled at what it was. A picture that was taken almost a year ago.

The picture was of Captain Mitchell, Dana, Kimberly, Kylie, Hunter, Hannah, and Blake. The perfect family photo.

Kimberly placed the picture back onto the table and went to go back to her quarters

When she opened the door to her quarters, she smiled at what she was hearing. "Grandpa, guess how much I love you," Kylie giggled.

"I don't know, how much?" Captain Mitchell asked.

Kimberly choked back a giggle as Kylie opened her arms wide. "This much," she replied. Captain Mitchell chuckled as he opened his arms just as wide.

"And I love you this much," he answered.

He hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head. "Now, better get some sleep," he told her. Kylie nodded and he tucked the blankets around her and kissed her forehead. He placed the white teddy bear in her arms and he smiled at Kimberly. He stood up and walked over to her. "And as far I can see now, you're doing great things right here in this room," he murmured. He kissed her cheek before leaving the room. Kimberly looked at her sleeping children before going to the galley.

Kimberly and saw something that surprised her. She was seeing Dana in tears, but that's not surprised her. What surprised Kimberly is seeing Carter hugging Dana and was trying to sooth her sobs. She quietly stepped out of the galley and stood in the hallway. Tears welled up in her eyes as she pulled a picture of Tommy out of her pocket. "I'll never forget you," she whispered. Kimberly placed the picture back where it was and walked away.