Chapter 12: The Secret

Kimberly was walking down the hall trying to get to Ryan's room before anyone else did. She knew that something was wrong with him after the nightmare she had. "MOM!" Hunter called. Kimberly stopped and looked at her son.

"What is it, Hunter?" She asked.

"Nothing, I was just wondering why you're heading off in such a hurry," he replied.

"Sorry. I have something to do. Hunter, make sure your brother and sisters get to where they need to go."

Hunter nodded and then Kimberly hurried off.

Kimberly came into Ryan's quarters and saw him quickly grab his shirt. "Ryan, what are you doing?" She asked.

"N-Nothing," he replied.

Kimberly could fear the worry and walked over to him. "Ryan, turn around," she instructed.

"What?" He asked.

"Turn around," she replied.

"Kim, I don't think..."

She had him turn around and her eyes widened in horror at the tattoo on his back. "Ryan!" She gasped. Ryan quickly put the shirt on and looked at her.

"Kim, you have to promise me not to tell dad," he told her.

"Are you crazy, Ryan? Dad should know about this," Kimberly insisted.

Ryan walked over to her. "Please, Kim, you can't tell dad, please. Dad would take me off the team. I can't leave the team while the team needs me," he insisted. Kimberly crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at him. "Please sis, let me handle this on my own," he added. Kimberly then walked towards the door and looked back at Ryan.

"You don't have to worry, Ryan. I won't be the one telling your dad, you are," she informed.

Then she left the room.

Kimberly was looking over some reports when she heard the alarms go off. She jumped up and ran to Rescue Ops.

As she stood in Rescue Ops, she saw three monsters. She spun around and looked at the Rangers. "They're back," she informed. They Rangers nodded and Ryan caught the look in Kimberly's eyes, but hurried off anyways. Kimberly pressed her hand against her forehead as she turned back to the screen.

As they fought off the monsters, Kimberly saw that they were losing horribly and she gasped when Ryan fell off a building and watched as something went up his back. "Oh, God, please don't let this happen now," she whispered. She felt Captain Mitchell place his hands on her shoulders to relax her. She watched as Carter pulled the trigger on the monster. However, to her horror, Carter was too close. "CARTER!" She shouted. She held the mouthpiece of her headset close to her face. "Carter, Carter, come in if you can here me," she begged.

"Carter," was all Kimberly could hear.

Kimberly knew that voice all too well, it was Dana's voice. She could feel the sadness from Dana. "He can't be gone," Dana murmured sadly. Kimberly lowered her head in sorrow at the thought of losing one of her good friends.

"Dana, he's not, look," Joel announced.

Kimberly looked at the screen and watched as Carter got up from the ground. She could see the burns on his suit. "CARTER!" Dana exclaimed. Kimberly smiled when she watched the Pink Ranger run over to embrace the Red Ranger.

"Thank God he's okay," she whispered.

Captain Mitchell nodded and then the megazord battle began.

That evening, Kimberly had Carter sitting down on a bed in the infirmary as she was checking him over. "Kim, seriously, I'm okay," he assured her.

"Carter, this is my job, I have to make sure that everything's okay," she informed.

Carter sighed and then Kimberly sighed. "We all thought we lost you, Carter," she told him.

"I know, I thought I was a goner too," he agreed.

"Dana seemed to be holding you tight," she commented.

Carter closed his eyes when Kimberly mentioned Dana's name. "You like her, don't deny it," she laughed.

"I'm not denying it, Dana's a great girl," he confessed.

Kimberly laughed and then she stood in front of him. "Okay, Mr. Grayson, you're done now," she informed. Carter was about to leave when she could tell that there was something else on his mind. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"Kim, did you notice something strange about Ryan during the battle? Did you see something gold move up his back?" He asked.

Kimberly sighed as she sat across from him. "You know about the tattoo then," she commented. Carter looked up at her confused.

"You know about it?" Carter asked.

"I had nightmares again. They were warning me that Ryan's in trouble," she informed.

Carter sighed and Kimberly held his hand. "Go talk to him, Ryan, please, he won't listen to me," she stated. Carter nodded and went to go talk to Ryan.

Kimberly was walking down the hall when she saw Captain Mitchell standing by Ryan's door. "Oh, no," she whispered. She hurried over to him. "Dad, I can..." Captain Mitchell silenced her. She closed her mouth and she went into the room with Captain Mitchell.

When they came in the room and Captain Mitchell dismissed Carter, Ryan looked at Kimberly with a glare. "You promised you wouldn't tell him, Kim," he told her.

"I didn't tell him anything, Ryan," Kimberly insisted.

"Yeah right," Ryan mumbled.

Captain Mitchell placed a hand on Kimberly's shoulder and looked at Ryan. "She didn't say anything. I heard Carter talking about it. Let me see the tattoo," he instructed.

"Dad, it's not that bad," he insisted.

"Let me see it, Ryan," he instructed.

Ryan sighed as he turned and lifted his shirt up to show his father the tattoo. "Until we can figure out how to get rid of this, you can't morph into the Titanium Ranger," Captain Mitchell instructed.

"But, dad..." Ryan trailed off.

"It's too dangerous, Ryan," Captain Mitchell pointed out.

Kimberly bit her lip as she watched Ryan get pulled off the team. Once Captain Mitchell left, Kimberly walked over to him. "Ryan, I know how much being a Ranger means to you. But please, we lost you once, please don't make us lose you again," she insisted. Ryan nodded and he watched as Kimberly left the room.