Disclaimer: I do not own the power rangers or any of the weapons and/or original characters from that series. This is the third story in the "Saving the World, Again" series, so any characters from those stories that are mine, might be brought in. I do own the character Ally Jameson as I know she will appear in this story a good bit and I just wanted to let you know that she is my character from the beginning. I also own the characters of Janice Mitchell, Principal McEntire, Mallory Wiggins, David Jackson, Mrs. Thornsby, and Alabaster.
Now, on with the Story!
The long trip back home was uneventful and surprisingly restful at the same time. They were thankful for that much to happen and many of the other things that happened were pure bliss to all of them.
Kim had no more seizures, but she was still not very steady on her feet, which did worry Billy, some, but he said nothing about it to anyone. He knew better than to do that, as he wanted to get a second opinion from a doctor, before he said anything to Tommy. There was no need to worry him if this was just normal for this sort of injury, plus he had to remind himself that she was not going on her full powers. He was only allowing Tommy to give them back to her in small doses. The bruises decreased some, but not enough for her to go back to work within the next few days, as they had hoped. The rest of the rangers were fine, except for the fact that they needed a good nights sleep before they could try to get on with their lives, without having to be a ranger any longer.
"I'm going to take her upstairs and get her settled in, then I'll come get Angie," Tommy said to Hayley as she looked at Kim and stood there in silent surprise. They had only arrived a few minutes before, but he was sure that everything else that was going on could wait for a little while. The two of them needed to get some rest or they would soon collaspe from exhaustion.
She had seen Kim over the screen and thought that it was bad, but now she understood why Billy had been so worried over the last few days. She had never seen someone look like that and survive the obvious injuries that should have killed her, but Kim had been lucky that she was a ranger. That was the only reason any of them could explain Zeltrax not choking her to death any sooner and her being able to hold on just long enough for Tommy to get there.
They were honestly lucky that everyone had made it out of it alive this time, it really had been the closest call that had ever happened to them and they all hoped it would be the last close call they had to deal with, ever. They were officially done with ranger work, from what all of them could see and they were glad about it, well most of them were. They were finally free of responsibility, but that didn't seem too appealing to all of them.
"Billy, is she really going to be alright?" Hayley asked, as Billy sat down in a chair and looked to be in a completely different world, as he silently shook his head.
He had been so worried about just getting them back to Earth, that he had not had much of a chance to rest his mind, although he had slept, some. It hadn't been peaceful for him and he knew that there was still some sort of job left for him to do. He had to help them begin to shut down the Command Center, but that was going to have to wait for a few days, at the absolute least.
"She will be. She's really weak, so it'll still be a few days before she is back on her feet. Other than that everything is back to normal for them. They finally get to be with their family. It's what they need right now," Billy said, as Hayley nodded her head that she understood and then sat down in the chair next to him, sensing that he still needed his space. She didn't blame him after being crammed in that ship for the past four days, but she hoped it would subside soon so she would be able to welcome him back. She needed to be able to talk to him, if nothing more than that right now. "How's it been here?"
"Fine, except Angie's been a little bit cranky," Hayley said, trying to downplay the almost constant crying that had been going on since they had left. She did have to admit that it had gotten a little bit better over the last couple of days, but none of them knew why. "She might not even recognize Kim."
It seemed that Angie could sense that her parents might never come back, although it had calmed some over the last day or so. All of them were thankful for that and they were hoping that she would stay quiet until Kim and Tommy were back up to taking care of her. They didn't really know if they would be able to find the energy to take care of her and make sure that they got themselves back to normal. But they were going to have to; they didn't have a choice about it. She was their baby and she was top priority, although they were injured, that was still the case in their lives.
"I know, but we did everything that we could to help her. It was just too much to take care of in four days, with Jason's concussion and Trini being pregnant as well. We did the best that we could, but sometimes our best isn't good enough. We're only human," Billy said, as he grabbed her chair and pulled it closer to him, trying to insure her that everything would really be fine. She had been worried about them, not that he blamed her for that, going after some one as evil as them was a huge thing to worry about. She was not going to ever come out and ask if it went well, so he would just have to fill in the blanks for her. "Tommy is going to help with the rest. He's taking a few days off work, for personal reasons; at least that was what he told them last night. They didn't sound too happy, it seems Principal Randall is missing. Not that that is a huge surprise, of course."
"But," Hayley said as Tommy walked back downstairs. She didn't want to talk about that issue in front of him right now and decided silence was the best course of action.
Tommy walked over to Ally, who was still holding Angie, and gently took her out of her arms, with a smile crossing his face. He was so happy to see her again and he knew that Kim was too, they had been able to talk about that on their way home, even if they hadn't done much of anything else. He had not imagined that this would be the way they came back from the mission, but it was and they were changed people because of that mission. They just didn't tell anyone that, they knew that they all felt the same way. It happened every time they came this close to death and survived to see another day.
"Thank you, for everything that you have done," Tommy said softly, as to not wake Angie up. He didn't have the energy to put her back to sleep once he got upstairs, as he was planning to take a long and hopefully undisturbed nap.
"No problem, Tommy. We know that you would do it for us," Ally said, as Rocky looked at him and saw the classic signs that he needed sleep and then he would be ready to hit the mats again, with a lot less on his mind.
He was sure that Tommy was ready to be carefree again and he was ready for it as well. They had all waited far too long for this day to come and for them to be able to live in peace again. They didn't really know what peace was, but they were ready to try to figure out how to live in it.
"I'll see you at the dojo on Wednesday. I hope Kim will be up and around by then. If not, I'll call you sometime before then," Tommy said, as he exited the Command Center.
"Tommy, do you have a place we can bunk down?" Jason asked, as he knew he was not going to have the strength to drive home and Trini driving home was completely out of the question at this point, as she was leaning against him, having to will herself to stay awake, for just a few more moments. "I can't drive home."
He was more worried about her getting some rest, as she definitely needed it after the stunt she pulled, but he couldn't honestly be mad at her. He was just happy that they were both alive and he didn't have to be forced to live with the regret of losing her or their child. He didn't know if he could have dealt with that and she had already admitted that she had put him in a rough spot, but she knew he was all right. He didn't yell at her when she first told him and that was something that she had thought would never happen.
"Yeah, choose a room," Tommy said, looking down the stairs and then continuing on his way to get his sleep.
"He seems happy," Trini commented, as Jason gave her a look. He knew exactly why Tommy was happy and he'd be lucky when he was able to experience the same thing.
"He is happy. Trust me, I'm pretty sure about it," Jason said as he offered her a hand and then helped her up the stairs.
"We're coming too," Aisha said, as Zack, Rocky, Ally, Adam, Kat, and she headed for the stairs. Jason looked back at them and had to hold in a laugh, as they looked to be as exhausted as he had felt.
The younger rangers had already bunked down in the living room and they thought it might be best to leave them alone, for the time being. Their parents were probably already worried sick, so a few more hours away wouldn't do much to change that situation. They just hoped that they would be able to come up with an explanation that did not get them grounded for the rest of their teenage lives, but they knew that might happen.
It had happened to them several times in high school, although their parents eventually just quit grounding them. They were never able to stay at home more than a couple of hours, because of how frequently they had been attacked back then. It was just useless and it seemed that their parents all learned to deal with the oddness of them sneaking in at two o'clock in the morning with a black eye or worse.
"You want to stay down here?" Hayley asked as she stood up from her chair. Billy had been very quiet and she was not sure why it was bothering her today. Usually the silence between them was comfortable, but today it seemed as if Billy had many things on his mind, things that he really wanted to say to her, but he just could not figure out how to say them. "Billy, you alright?"
"No, I'm not," Billy said, as she gave him an odd look and stepped a little bit further away. That was not the response that she had envisioned him giving her when she asked that simple question. "I'm absolutely miserable."
"Why?" Hayley asked, startled at his declaration, but not surprised that this was what was coming up between them. She had been warned about what he had been thinking, but she didn't think that today was a great day for him to start talking about it. He still was not thinking like normal and she did not want him to regret anything he said now in the morning.
"Because, I can't be here all the time. I have to go and stay in Angel Grove, although I've been trying to get a job here for months. Hayley, I just can't take it anymore," Billy said as Hayley looked at him.
She had known that those thoughts had been floating around, but to hear him say it so harshly surprised her. She had thought that he had been content in Angel Grove, but it seemed that that was not the case anymore. She also knew that she had something to do with it, but she had not been willing to admit that to herself until he said something about it.
"Billy, I understand that it has been hard on you," Hayley said, as Alpha teetered through the room, but got the feeling that it was best for him to go find something to do in the closet. He never liked being put in the middle of touchy conversations and he had had it happen a few times before. He was making sure he was not going to be put in the middle of one now.
"Hayley, it's hard in more ways than you can imagine. I cannot continue to live like this," Billy said, as he was fiddling with his hands more than normal, trying to find the courage to say everything that was on his mind. He knew that if he didn't say it now, he was likely to never say it because he would lose what little bit of courage he had coursing through his veins in a matter of seconds. "I'm moving up here as soon as I can. I already have a house. I bought it a couple of months ago. I can drive to Angel Grove everyday for a few weeks. It'll be worth it to be closer to you."
"Billy, it's not that bad. I'm fine with when I get to see you," Hayley lied as she was really startled by him.
Billy, usually, thought things out and planned them to perfection, but this seemed wrong for him to do. She could imagine many of the other rangers saying something like this, but not him. He had always been the most logical out of the group, but it seemed something had finally pushed him over the edge and he was now willing to take unheard of chances.
"But, I'm not alright with it, Hayley. I can't work when I'm there because I'm thinking about the next time that I'll see you. Hayley, my life is horrible when I'm there, because no matter how much I try, I always want to be here instead. It's not a fun way to live and it is not really living if you think about it long enough. I only live on the weekends now, that is two hundred sixty days of the year that I am not alive. I can't continue to give up that much of my life for nothing," Billy said, as he stood up and walked over to the paneled board that they had built together two years ago. Why couldn't things be as simple as they were then?
"Billy, come sit down. You need to sit down," Hayley said, as she walked up behind him and steered him towards a chair, knowing that his body might give out on him at any time. She knew how tired he was and she knew he would crash soon; she just did not know when that time would be. "You need to rest and we can talk about this tomorrow."
"No, Hayley," Billy said, pulling her down into his lap and placing his chin on her shoulder. "I can't because if I don't say it now, I won't have the courage to say it again for a long time. I don't know if I can wait that long to say something like this."
"Okay, but if I fall asleep, I'm sorry. It's been rough on us too, Billy," Hayley said, as Tommy stumbled back downstairs to grab one of Angie's toys and then stumbled back up the stairs without saying a word. He seemed completely oblivious to everything that was happening and she was glad that it was that way. She didn't really want for him to give her a hard time once everything registered with his poor, confused mind. "Poor Tommy."
"He's actually faired better than most people, Hayley. Now, back to what we were talking about. The problem is I've always been able to see my girlfriend whenever I wanted. The distance makes me want to see you more, but I don't want you to move to Angel Grove. You have a good business here, and I have a job that I hate there. I bought the house a few months ago, thinking that I would just save it until I got a job up here. Then Angie was born and then Mesogogg came back and before you know it, I'm practically living in Reefside. It won't be much of a move, I've been dealing with it for weeks already," Billy said, pausing to collect the rest of his thoughts. He had never come so close to telling her everything and he just wished he would have had the ring with him right now, because he would have proposed in a heartbeat. That time, however, seemed as if it was going to have to wait. "I can't continue to live there when I really want to be here, it's not fair to either of us."
"Well, I'm not going to tell you that things will be much different when you do that. You've been doing it for weeks already, but you still haven't seen me much more. You'll still get home late and leave early in the mornings. When will I ever get a chance to see you?" Hayley asked, as she knew how Billy's job was right now.
They always had him working extra hours and although the pay was great, it didn't make him feel so wonderful. He had missed so many things because of his job and he was just getting tired of having to drop everything he was doing whenever they called on him. He wanted a job where he could work nine to five and then if he wanted to work over time, he could, but his boss didn't understand that at all.
"When you are closing down for the night or when you have to go in extra early," Billy said, as she stared at him. He had really thought things out, even if it didn't seem as if he had this time. "I need for this to work and I'm willing to do anything to make it work, Hayley. It has to work for me."
"Okay, Billy, but you seem to be getting really serious about us," Hayley said as Billy shook his head that she was right. "You scare me when you're serious. I'm not used to it."
"I shouldn't. I've been serious since the beginning. I just don't talk to you about it very much. I've always been scared to admit it, because I'm afraid I'll get hurt," Billy said as he felt his head nodding closer to her back with each passing second. She thought he needed rest and he knew that he did now. He was just excited to be able to see her again and that was what had given him the added spurt of energy when he first got in. That energy, however, was fading fast and he knew he was about to fall asleep. "Hayley, you were right though."
"About what?" Hayley asked as Billy nudged her to stand up, so that he could head up stairs and find a bed to lie down on.
"Me needing to rest," Billy said, tiredly, as he stood up and headed towards the stairs, which looked much longer than normal.
"Billy, just go ahead and lay down. I'll be up there in a little while," Hayley said, as Alpha walked back out of the storage closet and saw that Hayley was barely holding herself up.
"Are you alright?" Alpha asked, as Hayley looked over at her right hand robot.
He had sat and listened to her gripe and complain over the last week and a half about everything that was happening to them. He had been the one to watch her weep after talking to Billy late at night and now she had to admit that although he was back, she was not all right. She knew that she needed exactly what Billy had been talking about, but she was afraid to admit it to herself, for fear of getting hurt. That was what had happened to her the last time that she had fallen in love.
"No, Billy's scaring me. I've never heard him say anything like that to me. He always avoids it," Hayley said. She was ready to settle down, but she had never heard Billy talk so openly about the subject to her. He had always seemed as if he was too shy to mention it, but the way he talked about it made it seem as if it had been on his mind for awhile.
"He just wants to tell you that he cares. They all seem to do that when they get back from something as shocking as that mission. It really makes them think about the things that are important to them. Go get some sleep, it's not as if you have slept well since they left. I can take care of what is left to do," Alpha said knowingly, as Hayley conceded defeat and then headed for the stairs.
"Wahh!" Angie cried, as Tommy rolled over slowly and got out of bed, feeling some more soreness than he had a few hours before, but the tiredness was beginning to drain out of his body. If he could only get just a few more hours sleep, then he would be able to function like a semi-normal person.
Kim was propping herself up, prepared to get out of bed, but thought better of it when she saw Tommy was already up. He had already told her that he would take care of Angie for the next few days, until she was better, but she still hadn't been willing to allow him to do that. She still wanted to try to take care of Angie so that Tommy would have a chance to rest. She knew that he hadn't rested any while he was on the way back from their mission and she felt that he deserved a little bit of rest. He, however, had overruled her thoughts and wishes for the time being.
"Is she alright?" Kim asked groggily, while Tommy shook his head yes. He then picked Angie up and took her downstairs to get a bottle to feed her with.
"You have got to sleep so Mommy and Daddy can. We can't really take care of you right now," Tommy said to Angie, as he sat down in the rocking chair and began rocking her to sleep. Within a few minutes, Angie was asleep and Tommy had gone to sleep as well, while Kim still lay awake upstairs in their bed.
"Well, I guess they're staying down there," Kim said, bitterly, as she rolled over and went back to sleep, just a little bit mad at Tommy.
Most of the day, they slept, waking only for a few brief seconds before rolling onto their other side and falling back into a deep sleep. None of them were ready when they heard a resounding crash of a vase and a scream, which cause all of them to jerk to life. They had no clue what was going on.
"Tommy, what has happened here?" James asked, as Martha went to go get the broom and dustpan.
They had been shocked to find the house unlocked when they arrived, but were even more shocked when they walked in and saw six teenagers asleep in the living room, with bruises all over their bodies. Then Martha saw Tommy and it had caused her to push a vase off of a table and let out a loud scream of anguish. She had not been expecting this sight, at all. He looked absolutely horrible to her and she could not remember seeing him like that, ever. What could have possibly been going on over the last week?
"Dad, where did you come from?" Tommy asked, as he peered over at him and he motioned to the rangers to go back to sleep. There was nothing for them to really worry about except getting the rest that they desperately needed.
He then looked down at Angie to make sure she was still asleep and lucky for him, she still was. He was thankful that she had inherited the ability to be able to sleep through almost anything and he would have slept through the vase breaking, if his father had not said something. His dad had woken him up when he was a kid and his voice still woke him up when he was sleeping better than almost anything else.
"Your mother insisted that we come up here, Tommy. You haven't called us in over a week and she was starting to get worried that something had happened to you. Son, where did you get all of those bruises from?" James asked, warily, as he was not sure he wanted to know the answer to the question. He had an idea of where it could be from and he was not sure that he wanted to face the reality of what they had probably just been through so soon after walking inside.
"The damn monsters," Tommy said, as he saw Jason walk to the balcony of the stairs, but he saw Tommy's parents, and then turn right back around. As long as it was someone that would help, he didn't care that they were intruding on their rest. He had just been afraid that he would find another monster down there and that was something he didn't want to deal with. He honestly hoped that he would never have to fight again, unless he wanted to spar against someone and right now, he even doubted that would happen for a long time. "Dad, we're fine, really. We just need some time to sleep."
"I wouldn't call the way that you look fine, Tommy. Uh-uh, you let me finish this time, mister. I have a few words of advice for you. I haven't seen you look this bad in years and I can remember you coming home and looking pretty beat up. Why don't you let the two of us help you some, son? I'm sure that you could use someone to cook for you for a few days and watch after Angie while you get better. Lets admit it, you're not up to doing much of anything, Tommy," James said, as Tommy looked over at him and then went to stand up.
He knew that he needed to head back upstairs, but if his parents were willing to keep this a secret and watch after Angie, he was all for it. It sure would make things a lot easier on him and the others for a little while. They needed things to be easy on them for a little while. They had so much that they had to recover from this time and if they didn't take the time to do that, then it was going to catch up with them again later on.
"You can watch her, but just tell Mom I'll explain it to her later. I really need to get back to Kim, she's probably mad at me by now," Tommy said, as his father gave him an odd look.
"What happened to her?" James asked, as he had gotten the feeling that the injuries he saw downstairs were only the tip of the iceberg.
He was almost sure that the older rangers had had a harder time in this battle, by just looking at Tommy that was evident. He was not sure if he wanted to see Kim or Jason or any of the other older rangers. It scared him to think of how badly they could be injured as well.
"You'll see when you come up there. Just let us get some rest and tell Mom that there probably aren't any groceries in the fridge, we were going to go grocery shopping the night we had to leave. If she goes into town, I'll pay you back for whatever she buys," Tommy said, as his father nodded his head that he understood then, he took Angie out of his arms.
Martha, then walked in with the broom and dustpan, but decided she could ask questions later. It was obvious that Tommy was in no mood to answer any questions about what was happening around there. He was stumbling up the stairs now and she could only hope he would get some rest, but that had never been something that had sat well with Tommy. He always seemed to be on the move, but he looked like he really needed rest this time and it didn't seem that anything else would help him until he had managed to get some rest. She just hoped that he had learned his lesson, because whatever had happened to them had obviously not been a pleasant experience.
"James, is he alright?" Martha whispered, as to not wake the teenagers that had gone back to sleep so quickly after she had broken the vase. What had these children been through?
"Just tired and a little bit beat up. Let's see what they need from the grocery store and we'll go get some groceries. That way, whenever they wake up, we'll be able to fix them something to eat," James said, as he got the feeling that after they slept for about a day, that they would be as hungry as a pack of ravenous wolves. He did not want to be the unlucky one to receive their wrath for not having any food, so he was going to fix the problem as soon as he possibly could. He was sure that that was the reason Tommy had told him about the food; otherwise, he would have left that alone.
"Alright, but do you want to stay here with Angie? She probably shouldn't be taken out with the way Kim might get. I'm sure that she is just as bad as Tommy right now," Martha said, as she could imagine Kim's anxiety if she found Angie was gone and she was not able to wake Tommy up. He was known to sleep like a log when he was as tired as he looked to be now, but she didn't know that Kim could wake him up, even if no one else could. That was something that she had never learned about her daughter-in-law.
"I'll stay and watch after all of them. They'll probably sleep for a few more hours before any of them wake up again and trust me, they'll be hungry, Martha," James said, as Angie snuggled up against him and he let out a soft laugh at his granddaughter.
It was funny to him, how this little girl, who could have been killed by what was going on around her was oblivious to the truth. If she only knew what her mother and father had been through to insure that she would be all right, that she would live a life without having to constantly worry about monsters showing up at her door. She probably wouldn't be sleeping so peacefully right now, but what a miracle it was to be young and innocent. It allowed her to be able to be happy, when so many could not be if they had lived in this family and known what their possible fate was.
"Hey," Kim said, as Tommy crawled into bed next to her. He carefully put his arms around her and pulled her closer to him as he settled himself right behind her and he felt her mold her body to his. It felt so good to be able to put his arms around her and not worry about Angie for a little while. He loved his little girl, but he knew that he needed to take care of the woman lying next to him first. It made him feel as if he could help her get well, knowing that his father was downstairs, although he knew that time was the only thing that would truly help her this time. A doctor probably could have helped, but it was not worth risking the questions. They still had to protect their identity. "What was that noise?"
"My parents showed up, so they're taking care of Angie. Now we can get some undisturbed rest," Tommy whispered, as he felt his eyelids becoming heavy again and felt the need to go back to sleep. "I'm sorry I fell asleep down there. I really just meant to give her a bottle and come back up."
"It's alright, we're both tired," Kim said, closing her eyes and quickly falling back to sleep. The whole house was silent for the next several hours, as they all tried to sleep away their pains and many succeeded in doing so, while others just had them fade away slightly.
"Hey, Jason," James said, as Jason stumbled into the kitchen, looking rather alert and very hungry. His short brown hair was sticking out in various directions, but he was oblivious to his appearance. He was just focused on getting something to stop his stomach's growling. He had tried to get back to sleep several times, but his stomach would not allow him to do that. "I guess you're the first one that has willed themselves to get out of bed."
"That took a lot of willpower," Jason said, as Trini walked into the kitchen and then sat down in one of the chairs. Jason walked up behind her and placed a hand on each of her shoulders, gently massaging them, to keep his mind off of other things. She was still tired, but she couldn't ignore her growling stomach any longer, as she had padded through the house after Jason. It also didn't help that she didn't sleep well whenever he got out of bed anymore, but she didn't want to make him feel guilty about being hungry. "Have you been upstairs to see Kim and Tommy yet?"
"No and I don't think I'm going to go up there just yet. Tommy said to leave them alone and I'm going to do that, for the time being. If Angie starts missing her parents, then I may have to go wake them up," James said, as Angie let out a cry and he began rocking back and forth in his chair. He, honestly, hadn't meant for that to be her cue, but she calmed down after a few seconds. She seemed to know that everything was all right and he was grateful for that. "What do you want to eat?"
"I don't care, as long as it is something that is edible," Jason said, as he honestly knew that he would eat almost anything right now and he knew that at least half the people in this house felt the same way. They were hungry and tired and there was not much that they could do to change either of the conditions.
"Trini, do you care?" James asked as she yawned and then shook her head that it didn't really matter to her either. She was just going to have to eat some crackers soon, as she was starting to feel sick, but the crackers had helped on the ship and she hoped they would help on Earth as well. "Well, I think Martha will whip something up for you in the next few minutes. Jason, why don't you take a seat and get comfortable?"
"Do you know what happened?" Trini asked out of curiosity, as Jason sat down next to her.
She knew that Tommy had told his father about them being rangers, but she didn't know if he had told him about what had happened over the last few days. It seemed like he would, but she didn't know if he had had the chance. Tommy needed to rest like everyone else here and she was sure that his father had picked up that on his own.
"No, but I'm sure Tommy will eventually tell me what is going on around here. He just didn't seem to be in the mood to talk about anything earlier today," James said, as he was fairly sure he knew why Tommy didn't want to talk.
He was exhausted and among other things, worried about his wife's health. Jason and Trini didn't look all that hot either, but they looked to be in about the same condition as Tommy, although that did not relieve his stress. He knew that at least one of the rangers had to take it hard and he was afraid about who that one could be.
"Yeah," Jason said, as he couldn't really think of anything else to say.
"The two of you alright?" James asked, as they looked all right on the outside, but he couldn't tell if that meant that they were lucky or if their injuries just didn't show.
"For the most part. I have a slight concussion, but other than that, both of us are fine," Jason said, as Trini nodded her head in agreement as she saw Conner and Kira stretching out on the floor, before they walked into the kitchen.
"Tommy…Tommy wake up," Kim said, shaking his shoulder and he finally opened his eyes to see her looking at him with a smile on her face. She could see that he was still tired, but she had waited as long as she could before knowing that she had to have something to eat or she was going to be sick.
"You okay?" Tommy asked, as he was worried that she had woken him up because something was happening or she was not feeling well.
"Yeah, I'm just hungry," Kim said, as he sat up and looked over at her. That was something that he could handle. "Can you help me get downstairs?"
"You up to walking?" Tommy asked, as she nodded her head that she would at least try to walk part of the way downstairs. "Come on, I'm sure Dad will be happy to see the two of us up."
"Tommy, what will they say? I mean, these bruises don't exactly leave much to the imagination," Kim said, as she grabbed his hand and steadied herself on her feet. She didn't feel as strong as she had hoped she would, but at least she wasn't sitting on the floor this time. That had happened the first time she had tried to walk after her spell that she had had while abroad the ship.
"I know, but I'll explain it. I don't know if my mother will believe it, but I'll give it a try," Tommy said, as he slowly walked next to her, making sure that he could catch her if she suddenly became dizzy, which was not out of the equation. She had been given back her powers, but those had not seemed to help much and now it seemed that she was just going to have to gradually get back to normal. "You're doing better today."
"Thanks, but I still don't feel that great," Kim said, as he slipped his arm around her waist and gave her his other hand to hold. He didn't feel comfortable with her walking down the stairs and he just hoped that she understood why he was doing this. "What's going to happen now?"
"I don't really know, but we have plenty of time to think about it," Tommy said, as she paused on one of the steps and took a step closer to him, which made him smile down at her. She wanted to do this, but he still didn't know if she was really up to it. "You sure you want to do this on your own?"
"I'm not by myself, you're still here, aren't you?" Kim asked as she opened her eyes and the room stopped spinning. She really knew how close of a call it had been this time and she was just happy that she was alive. The slow recovery was fine, as long as she was going to live and she got the feeling that Tommy felt the same about the situation. "I just need to stand still for a little while."
"Take your time," Tommy said, as he saw his father look up from the dining room and he knew that he was trying to see what was wrong with Kim, although it would only become obvious once she got in the clear light. He was hiding her far too much on the stairs.
"Thank you," Kim said, taking a step down and holding onto Tommy a little bit tighter as she felt one of her knees give. They continued down the steps at a snails pace, having to stop every couple of steps for her to regain her equilibrium, but she made it down the steps on her own and it was the first step towards progress she had had in days.
"It's not a problem," Tommy said, kissing her on the tip of her nose and then walking next to her into the kitchen, where he saw his father's eyes widen at the sight of Kim's injury. She had been the unlucky one to get the most apparent and probably the worst injury.
"Hey, Mr. Oliver," Kim said with a smile, as she sat down in the chair next to him and then gently took Angie out of his arms. Angie had been stirring from her sleep over the last few minutes and finally seemed to be alert enough to see that her mommy was holding her. "Hey there. Oh, you have no idea how happy Mommy is to see you."
"Kim, are you feeling okay?" James asked, as Tommy looked at his dad and gave him a look that said she was feeling perfectly fine and to not press this issue, thank you very much.
"Yeah, I'm okay, still a little bit unsteady on my feet, but okay," Kim said, as she continued to coo at Angie and Tommy sat back and watched with a smile on his face.
Although she was still not completely back to normal, Kim was still the wonderful mother that he had imagined her to be. He really was lucky, in more ways than he could count and he was glad that he had been blessed. He had no reason to ever be sad about anything; the two of them were all that he needed in his life.
"What happened?" James asked as Martha walked into the room and almost dropped the bowl she was holding, but Jason had seen her coming and quickly took the bowl out of her hands, in order to save the food. Kim looked fine, except for the large bruise around her neck, which resembled handprints. Now, they couldn't say that this was some normal event. They were going to have to finally tell the truth about the odd occurrences that went on around this house.
"Zeltrax tried to strangle me," Kim said, quietly, as Angie laughed up at her, but suddenly stopped when she felt the change in the mood.
"Zeltrax? Who's that?" Martha asked, as Tommy looked at the floor and then over at his mother. He knew Kim was not going to answer the question, but he really was not comfortable talking about it right now. He, however, was not going to have much of a choice about the matter. His mom wanted to know exactly what had happened and it was about time that she found out the truth of it all. "Tommy, who is the man that did that to her?"
"He was not a man Mom, he was a cyborg," Tommy said, matter-of-factly, as she stared at him and then the realization of the statement sunk in. Tommy really was a Power Ranger.
"Thomas James Oliver!" Martha screeched as Tommy looked over at her and wondered why in the world she was yelling at him. She then hit him on the shoulder with the wooden spoon she was carrying and he just stared at her. He hadn't done anything wrong, that he knew about. Why was he getting hit with the spoon? He had already been through enough traumas over the last few days. "You put your wife in danger! You put your child in danger! What would you have done if she had died out there, Tommy? What were you thinking?"
"Mrs. Oliver, he was thinking that he would let some of his other rangers down if we didn't go to help," Kim said, as she did not blame Tommy for what had happened to her.
She knew the risks on her own and had willing gone into the mission knowing those risks. He hadn't pressured her to go, if the truth had been known, he probably would have rather her stay home, but she didn't. It was just as much her fault as it was his or anyone else's that she had been hurt by Zeltrax.
"Tommy, do you have anything to say for yourself?" Martha asked, still outraged at her son's irresponsible behavior. She was shocked that James had not joined her in this particular crusade, but it seemed as if he already knew what was going on and that irritated her even more.
"I think about those questions every time I go out there and Mom, I really almost lost her this time. Isn't that enough to have to deal with?" Tommy asked, as he managed to choke out the last few words, while Kim gave him a sympathetic smile and squeezed his shoulder with her hand, trying to reassure him that she understood.
She knew that it had been rough on him and she didn't imagine that it would get better on him for a long time to come. He was going to have nightmares about that mission for a long time to come and she was sure that he would never forget it. The sight of Zeltrax holding her against that wall was emblazoned in his memory, no matter what she tried to do to change it, it would always be there. It was part of the life that they had chosen to live and they couldn't change the past, they just had to learn to deal with it.
"Mrs. Oliver, really, it was my choice too," Kim said, trying to defend Tommy and keep his mother from coming at him even harder. He really was not prepared to deal with this sort of assault on so little sleep and she did not want him to snap for some unknown reason.
"But why go at all? You have a child now, Kim," Martha said, as Kim nodded her head that that was true, but she did have a very good explanation for it all.
"They captured three of our rangers. We couldn't let them down, by staying behind," Kim said, as a few tears streamed down her cheeks, while Kira and Conner looked at the two people that had taught them everything that they knew about being rangers.
"So, is there anything else going on it your life that we don't know about?" Martha asked, pointedly as Kim and Tommy shook their heads no. They were not going to give them a tour of the Command Center or anything like that, it was simply enough that they knew about them being rangers.
"I'm pregnant," Trini said, as she did not want Mrs. Oliver to come after her and she was surprised when Mrs. Oliver gave her a long hug.
"I always knew the two of you would wind up together. It took him long enough to find the courage to ask you out though, didn't it?" Martha said with a smile, as she went back in to the kitchen.
"The two of you really are amazing," Kira said, as Tommy looked over at her and smiled. Everyone who knew them thought that they were wonderful people, but she wished that more people knew they were rangers. It would explain to so many why they were the way they were and why they didn't take the things for granted that most people did.
"No, we're just ordinary people, Kira, that are asked to do extraordinary things," Tommy said, as he had rehearsed the lines so many times.
It seemed on the outside that they were normal, so why not say it? Their life depended on a certain amount of normalcy and that was all that they were trying to make known to people. Their careers as Power Rangers, were over and they hoped that it was for the final time. They had a new life, a family to protect, and a will to grow old without ever seeing another monster, if they could help it.
AN: This isn't the end of the story, but it is the end of their ranger work in my little world. I hope you enjoy the next few chapters, as you see how they work to change their life back to what seems normal.