"Oh, GOD!" Adam felt his knees give out. Just a few hours with Kimberly and he was already fearing for his life and his reputation.
Things weren't supposed to turn out this way, and he was regretting not siding with Billy when he originally suggested an adventurous night of golf. How much trouble could they actually get into doing that?
"I'm gonna kill you, Kimmy!" Rafael squealed, running to grab a tattered blanket to cover his pile of drugs. Like that would do anything for the puffy cloud of powder that went into the air.
"Why are they here?" Jason let out as he struggled coming to his feet. Standing was an exhausting task for the former red ranger. Just thinking too hard had him feeling a little light headed.
When Kimberly had found the keys in her pocket, she knew that the police was going to come after her. After all, that car was Vinny's most prized possession. It had all seemed like a bad dream at first. Waking up married to Tommy had been a teenage fantasy come to fruition, but Jason getting stabbed was not. Vinny was relentless and she was sure he would have every crooked cop in Vegas searching for her and the money she was sure he would claim they took from him.
"He must have reported his car stollen," Kimberly murmured to herself, although it was loud enough for everyone to hear.
Tommy took a step forward, his mouth slightly ajar, "He?"
Who the hell was she referring to?
Kimberly couldn't really explain herself at that moment. Unless they wanted to be arrested for grand theft of an automobile, they had to book it. The police were in the front of the metal warehouse, blocking them from leaving through the door they came in. The car they used wasn't an option either, as it was evident that it's what drew them to their location in the first place.
"No time!" Kimberly shook her head. "We have to get out of here!"
"And where do you suppose we go?" Rocky interjected, the beat of his heart pounding away carelessly.
If the drugs hadn't worn off already, he was sure that the sheer fear from being arrested would have done it! Aisha would never forgive him if he was thrown in prison.
"Raf, I need your car!" Kimberly jogged over to him, trying to pretend that she didn't see the panic in his eyes. She wasn't quite sure if his dilated pupils were from pure terror or the lines of cocaine he had done earlier. What did he have to worry about? It wasn't like they would do anything to him anyway. He was practically untouchable with his underground connections.
"My car? And what do I do, huh? Just get arrested?" Raf huffed, running around to cover more and more of his less than legal substances.
"Like they'll arrest you," Kimberly scoffed. "You know these cops are crooked… but us?.. We'll be piled up in the back of their squad car."
Rafael had worked with countless people, all with different backgrounds and issues of their own. It is loyalty that drove the underground, but unfortunately his own security came above every one else. While he loved Kimberly with all his heart, it was every man for himself…
"I'm sorry, amor," Raf shook his head, lightly touching the soft skin on Kimberly's cheek.
Kimberly swallowed, finding the betrayal in her friends words. She had trusted him, told her friends to trust him, and now he was taking the cowardly way out.
"Raf?" She whispered, unable to believe her own ears. The pounding came louder and Kimberly was finding it more difficult to move.
"I can't," Rafael looked down, "I have my own ass to save!"
Kimberly wouldn't have been able to forgive herself if their day ended like this. Vinny was after her and now the guys too by association.
"I can't believe you," Her brows came together in disgust, brushing his hand away from her face. "After everything?"
How could she have led them to this?
"I stitched him up, didn't I?" Rafael bit back, motioning over to Jason who was trying to maintain his balance, "my debt is repaid."
Tommy felt his fist clutch, the tick in his jaw returning with so much more force than before. The situation sucked, but having the little weasel turn his back on Kimberly was enough for the evil green ranger to come out. Luckily for him, he didn't have to as Jason shot up and landed a hook right into Rafael's jaw, sending the man flying to the ground.
Jason pulled back, shaking the pain away from his arm as everyone turned to him, the pounding continuing in the background.
"What?" Jason winced at the pain at his side, "I'm not getting arrested."
He deserved it. Plus, there was no way that this would be the reason he ended up in prison. Trini could forgive the accidental drug use, but getting arrested was not something she could let slide by.
"Sorry, Raf," Kimberly whispered to his limp form before grabbing the keys from his waistband. "but like you said, 'I have my own ass to save.'"
Kimberly turned to the rest of the guys, motioning over to the other exit where Rafael's 2001 white Tahoe sat on an empty lot.
The group managed to slip out of the warehouse unnoticed, but not before making sure that Rafael wouldn't remember a thing. It was Rocky's genius idea to pour enough of Billy's special elixir down Raf's throat. Even if he were to wake up, it would all seem like a bad dream. Drugging him may not have been the right thing to do, but neither was him turning his back on them. As far as they knew, it was all fair game.
"Strap in guys," Kimberly told the rest of the group as they climbed into the new vehicle.
Their long day was getting longer and it was only beginning.
Kimberly peeled out of the parking lot, tires skidding on rock as they took the north exit out of downtown. There was no way of knowing if the police had raided Rafael's warehouse, although they knew exactly what they would be in for if they went in. The only thing Kimberly could hope for was that a drop of loyalty still lived inside Raf somewhere and he wouldn't squeal on them. Just like they had done with the convertible, the guys packed themselves inside Rafael's more ample vehicle.
Zack's head was spinning just from the second hand inhalation of the smoke filled seats. Every scrap of his clothing was marinating in tobacco and pot, the remnants weaving themselves into every fiber.
Kimberly gripped the steering wheel just a little bit tighter, hearing the leather beneath her fingers squeak. The pulse inside of her was beginning to quicken, the vein along her neck throbbing. She knew Vinny was after her and he would stop at nothing to get her. She had a long and messy history with the son of the Vegas mob leader. The Hidden Jewel was the hangout for anyone that was anyone in Vegas. She had only been working there for a few months, but she knew the guy was trouble from her first day. It was Jerry that forced her into his private room. She wasn't sure why, but Vinny took a liking to her right away. Of course she would play the part, but only because he left her no other choice. She was his private dancer. Kimberly took the time to get to know him and with that came the secrets of Vegas. Sometimes she thought she knew too much for her own good.
He would eventually find her. There was nowhere she could run.
The ring from Tommy's phone broke her thoughts, reminding her that she wasn't alone in the vehicle and she was hiding from a useless fight. The only thing that would bring her some peace would be if the guys got straight out of Vegas and out her life. She would only pull them down into her world.
Kimberly stole a glance at Tommy who had let out a soft groan. Why was it that he kept forgetting about Katherine?
"Hey Kat," Tommy sighed, not hiding the fact he was slightly annoyed to receive a call from his future bride. Shouldn't he be happy to speak to the woman he was about to marry?
"Hi, my darling," Kat said, sounding a little too chipper for Kimberly's liking. Kimberly had to ignore her though, block her out and focus solely on the road, "You will not believe the day we've had."
Tommy closed his eyes, "I can only imagine."
He doubted it was anywhere near as eventful as his.
"We were luckily able to find everything!" Katherine laughed on the other end. "Anyway, the girls wanted to meet you all at the venue, but I really wanted to see you before I left. I know they say its bad luck, but I don't think starting our life together will bring anything but good fortune."
Tommy sighed, feeling himself sink deeper into his chair. This didn't sound too much like the Katherine that he knew, in fact, it sounded like the old Katherine, the one that he had dated in his teenage years. The Katherine he was going to marry was always rather distant and distracted. They had some moments of happiness, but not like they used to. His marriage to her was feeling more like a chore the longer he thought about it. It was an obligation that he was forcing himself into because he thought he should. He was an idiot an he knew it. His life was spent trying to please all of those around him and he wasn't quite sure why he did that. Maybe it was partial fear that doing something wrong would get him rejected. He was becoming a pro at just doing that. He must have done something wrong that made his birth parents not want him, right? Kimberly obviously didn't think he was good enough to hold on to and she let him go. Katherine was the only one that came back for him. She fought for their relationship, something he couldn't have said about the woman driving the car.
He had to follow through with his commitment. Everyone was getting married and now it looked like those around him were starting their own families. He wouldn't be stupid enough to do that though. He wasn't ready yet and his relationship with Katherine wasn't strong enough to survive that. Starting a family with Katherine didn't feel right… almost like his potential marriage. Even if he didn't exactly know who Kimberly was today, being married to her seemed more fitting. The few hours with her had been nothing but exciting and riveting.
When was the last time he had this thrill? The only thing that came to mind was his mission on the moon with all of the former red rangers. When he was called back into action, he went ahead without a second thought. Kat was a little hesitant to let him get back into that life, but that was just how she was. She would pout and huff any time he wanted a night out with the boys. He didn't really give her an option with the moon mission, he told her on his way out of the stratosphere.
She didn't speak to him for days, but he didn't care. He had fun for the first time in forever. The old ball and chain couldn't have been more right when it came to his relationship with the second pink ranger. There has to be some separation, some identity outside of being a couple.
This was stupid. What the hell was he doing? It wasn't like he could actually get married to Kat anyway. He was legally married to Kimberly, and by the looks of it, there was no way of getting out of it that day. So what was he to do? Come clean and tell Katherine the wedding was off because he married Kimberly after Rocky drugged him?
Fuck. He couldn't do it over the phone. Whatever he felt about Katherine now couldn't erase the way he felt about her then. He had to be honest with her.
"So what do you think? Should I swing by the hotel?"
"I'm not actually there right now." Tommy hesitated, unsure of how she could handle his little confession.
That's what it was like living with her, walking on eggshells just waiting for her to be pissed off about the next thing. If she didn't know where he was 24 hours in a day, she would burst. He paused for a moment, awaiting her response.
Tommy heard her swallow through the line, her breathing picking up just a little before she let out a faux chuckle, "you're not?"
She was pissed and he knew it. Their arguments didn't hurt him anymore.
"No, we've been… um.. running some last minute errands," He told her.
"Oh… well, that's fine." It wasn't. "We still have some last minute things to do before we head out. How about I give you a call before we leave and I can go see you?" The tone in her voice failed to offer him any indication that she wasn't going to explode when she saw him.
"I…" Tommy sighed, knowing that this was a losing battle. "Sure."
"Perfect," She giggled, "I'll see you soon. I love you."
That was the three word sentence that made the heat creep up his back. Did he love her? Yes. Was he in love with her? No more than he was in love with Rocky. He couldn't reiterate those words to her, especially with Kimberly sitting right beside him.
He gulped, "I'll see you then."
Tommy didn't wait to hear her response or the hurt and anger in her voice. He closed his phone before he was forced to come to the terms of how she must have felt. His attention went to the petite woman in the drivers seat that was hauling ass down the Las Vegas freeway.
Kimberly had tuned out Tommy and Kat's conversation as best as she could. She couldn't mute the glee in Katherine's voice in the beginning though. Katherine was public enemy number one in more ways than anyone could understand. It wasn't so much her dating Tommy or even almost getting married to him because she wouldn't feel this way if it had been anyone else. This was a rage by it being Katherine. The deceitful woman that no one knew but her. There was so much there that Kimberly wanted and needed to tell Tommy about the woman he was going to marry, but she couldn't. He had to live his life thinking that the sun always set… At least for a little while longer. The moment would come when she would, but that moment wasn't right that second.
Tommy's relationship with Katherine was a huge middle finger from the universe. She had done everything the right way, hadn't she? She gave up her life in Angel Grove for something much greater. Why was everything handed to Katherine while she had to beg for scraps? They were both in the same position once upon a time.
Kimberly pulled up into the back lot of The Hidden Jewel, away from the eyes of the people roaming around the strip in the early Saturday hours.
"Why are we back here?" Rocky asked as he and the rest of the former rangers got out of the stolen vehicle.
Kimberly didn't say anything. Instead she hopped out of her seat and marched back to the door the guys had taken her from the night before.
"Do we follow her," Rocky asked the rest of the guys.
Tommy was long gone by the time they looked back. His instincts beckoning him towards the brunette that was banging on the back door.
Tiffany popped her head out before letting Kimberly and the rest of the guys inside. She had grown familiar with them in the time she saw them yesterday.
"Hey," Tiffany jumped on Billy, nearly throwing him back into the wall as he barely managed to catch her. She was able to plant a long kiss to his lips, throwing the former blue ranger deeper into the wall.
The guys didn't have time to react besides throw each other as lost of an expression as they had been doing all day. Whatever. Nothing was fazing them at this point.
"What the damn hell," Zack threw his hands up in the air.
Billy wasn't able to do anything but succumb to the lust. He was a guy and she was a practically naked woman that was falling all over him. He'd let mature Billy take over later.
Tiffany pulled back, slowly disentangling herself from his arms. "Nice to see you coming back, Billy."
Billy was fighting the losing battle to catch his breath. Other than his one-time romance with Cesteria, Billy wasn't all that concerned with relationships. This was.. different. And God was Tiffany gorgeous… it wasn't that Billy didn't think Cestria was, but he wasn't a fan of the scales.
"While I do appreciate that public display of affection, I'm a little lost as to what I did to deserve it," Billy managed to mutter out as his brain got back to earth.
Tiffany laughed, "Oh, you know what you did."
She reached for his left hand, lifting up his sweater to reveal a tattoo of her face his forearm.
"What," Billy looked down in horror, the black and white image of Tiffany stained permanently on his arm.
"Oh, shit," Rocky blurted out, his hand covering his face. "Doesn't that hurt?"
"No!" Billy bellowed, panic setting in as he tried to unsuccessfully scrub his arm.
When did he do this? Why did he do this? Holy fuck! He was going to kill Rocky himself.
Kimberly, Tommy, and Jason ignored the other guys, instead opting to find the overweight fellow that was tormenting them the night before.
"Jase," Kimberly started, "Maybe you should sit down. I just have to find Jerry and get something back from him."
Jason nodded. It wasn't like he would be too much help right now anyway. His side was still tender.
Tommy followed Kimberly out of the backroom and into the lounge he had visited the night before. While it was still early in the day, the club was filled. Las Vegas didn't know when to sleep.
He tried to look only ahead and ignore the topless dancers swinging around the poles at the stage. There was something not quite right about being in there with Kimberly.
Kimberly continued walking through the lounge in search of Jerry, strolling through the room like she had done a million times before. She knew every crevice of the club, studied it until she could walk in there with her eyes closed. It never failed that she would get pulled into a booth by the most adventurous guy, she only hoped that they didn't try to do it again. While she wasn't dressed to perform, everyone knew her there. They would line up the door for hours for a few minutes with her.
She only took a few more steps before the opportunity came knocking for a drunken fool. A short man that was wearing far too much cologne reached out and grabbed a handful of her backside, halting her from continuing through the room.
"Hi, baby," the man hiccuped, bringing Kimberly to him.
Kimberly did the only thing she knew and snatched his hand from her body, crushing his fingers. They never knew how to respect a dancer, but she was willing to teach them.
"Don't touch me," She hissed back.
The imbecile came with a crowd, and with the crowd came the show the man obviously wanted to put on.
"That's not what you've said to me before," He returned, his free hand riding the back of Kimberly's thigh, an act that received a series of wild hollers from his group of friends.
Kimberly's eyes narrowed. Ah, she remembered him. He had been there a few weeks earlier with the same group of idiots. How humiliating would it be for everyone to know he wasn't packing anything where it mattered?
"Don't fucking touch her," Tommy came up behind her, pulling Kimberly away from the situation.
The man stood up, standing a near 7 inches shorter than Tommy. What he didn't have in size he made up with ego.
Tommy knew never to resort to violence, but having that man put his dirty hands on Kimberly had him seeing red. Kimberly tugged on Tommys arm, pulling him back and away from the battle of who had the biggest Y-chromosome.
"What the fuck do you care," The man spit back, "She's just a whore."
Kimberly felt Tommy stiffen beneath her touch, the pulse inside him picking up like hers had been doing. Just like Jason had done earlier, Tommy swung back and planted his whole fist in the mans face, sending him flying through the booth and onto the table. The drinks and food spilled everywhere, the remnants of alcohol dripping onto the floor and to the other idiot male-groupies that had joined him.
The DJ only turned the music up louder, keeping the crowd entranced on the show and away from the fight that was about to break out.
In all honesty, it wasn't a fair fight. Tommy was a 3rd degree black belt and whoever this guy was didn't even have proper posture.
Part of Kimberly was pissed she didn't get the chance to do the punching herself, but the other part, a bigger part, was taken aback that someone had finally stood up for her. She didn't have to do it herself for once. Unfortunately, right now wasn't the time to make a scene. They had to go in and out. Making a huge spectacle of things would only draw attention.
Tommy was going to let it go, he learned a lot time ago that fighting never accomplished anything, but the guy wouldn't let up. The man stumbled to his feet, his jaw slightly crooked. "Whodoyou think you-are, huh?" The man managed to slur out.
Tommy's nose flared, prepared to get back in there and knock him out for good, but Kimberly held him back, her hand tightly around his arm pulling him towards her. He wanted to kick something from the rage running in his blood, but he didn't.
"I'm her husband," He sneered before putting an arm around Kimberly and leading her away.
Author note: well, well, well, look what we've got here… another chapter! Hey guys! I'm actually pretty proud of myself for posting chapters somewhat regularly. I know that it's not something you guys come to expect from me, but I try! Hope you guys liked it. I'm still having so much fun with this. Unfortunately, this story isn't super long. That was never the plan for this when I first thought about it. Only a few more chapters to go. Everything will make sense in the end! Let me know what you guys think in a review or PM! See you guys next time!