***A/N IMPORTANT! 2 Things! This chapter won't make sense if you don't read the whole AN!

1) Sorry It literally took me months and months to finish this story. The pandemic is sucky and I was just really uninspired for a long long time but then I finally got into a creative mode and finished this last chapter.

2) I totally misremembered Lou's death when I created this story. I mixed up Lou's death with events from two other TV shows and I think a completely separate episode of Flashpoint, and then my brain twisted it even more. When I re-watched the episode where he dies, I had already published the beginning of this story, where I had already started sowing the seeds of how Lou's death related to Kim. I tried to make what I had fit in with Lou's actual death but I couldn't so I'm going to tell you how Lou dies in this story (Some things are accurate to the episode and somethings are not):

The whole set up where the team learns about a bomb, Spike goes to disarm it, they learn about another bomb before he's done and Lou goes to disarm it but steps on a landmine is all the same in this story. However, the people who set the bomb are different and had different reasons. The people who paid for the bombs and landmines to be set are an old couple with extreme political views who owned a company. The building where the second bomb was set (where Lou stepped on the landmine) was associated with an organization that stood for the opposite things the old folks' organization stood for. The old couple's company was known to oppose the targeted organization so Serge sent Jules and some officers to question the old couple. They don't even try to hide that they are behind the bombing because they are proud of it. Jules gets the name of the person they hired to set the explosives and Serge sends another member of Team One to question the bombmaker while Jules takes care of arresting the couple. When questioned, the bombmaker flaunts his designs, stating that the landmines cannot be deactivated. Then it resumes the way the episode actually ends; Lou can't stand still anymore and he doesn't want anyone else to get hurt trying to save him so he calls his parents and says goodbye to them, then to the team and then he steps off the landmine, killing himself.

Ok so I think I combined an episode of NCIS, a different episode of Flashpoint (though I might have made that up) and my own ideas into Lou's death. Sorry for messing this up! But how Kim is able to connect Carter to this (the nephew connection) is definitely something I made up and not something that is actually in any of the real storylines I thought were a part of the episode where Lou dies.

Without further ado, here is the final chapter:

Anger filled Spike's face. "You killed Lou," he spit out forcefully. Then he turned and stormed out the door at the opposite end of the room.

Kim spun, turning her back to her friends and putting the heels of her hands up to her eyes, pressing hard to get the tears to stop.

"I'm gonna go check on him," Wordy murmured as he stood and followed Spike out of the room.

"Jules," Serge started. "What did Spike mean?"

Kim turned back around with a tear-streaked face and turned the laptop so that everyone else could see the screen. The picture on the screen was of a picture on someone's desk. In the picture were three people; two adults and one child around 11 years old. The members of Team One still in the room scrunched their faces in recognition of the two adults.

"When I went to go question the Emerson's (A/N This is the name I made up for the people that paid to have the bombs set) about who they paid to set the bombs, they kept talking about their nephew," Kim choked out. "I was so focused on trying to get information out of them that would help get Lou off that stupid landmine that I didn't pay attention to their talk of their nephew. But it's him. It's Carter. He said 'I am the nephew' when he was being taken away."

"Jules-"

Serge was cut off by Kim shouting, "Don't you get it? There wouldn't have been any bombs to diffuse or landmines to get stepped on if it wasn't for me. Carter had them set so that someone close to me would get hurt. It's my fault Lou is dead."

Kim kept muttering, "It's my fault," as tears streamed down her face and she hunched in on herself. No one moved for a moment. Then Ed stood and made his way over to Kim. He took her by the shoulders and sat her back down in her chair. He squatted down in front of her so that he would be at her eye-level, even though she was avoiding all eye contact.

After a couple seconds of silence, Ed said, "It's my fault you got shot."

All eyes in the room shot to Ed's face, even Kim's.

"What?" Kim asked, so shocked at the drastic change in topic that she forgot she was crying.

"You got shot because of me," Ed repeated with a straight face, eyes locked on Kim's.

"No," Kim shook her head. "I got shot because Tomasic shot at me." (A/N That's the guy who shot Jules in Season 2 Episode 4)

"And why was he shooting in the first place?" Ed asked.

"Because he was mad."

"And who was he mad at?"

Kim went to answer but then stopped herself, understanding what Ed was getting at.

"Say it, Jules. Who was he mad at?" Ed repeated.

"... You," Kim whispered then cleared her throat and spoke louder. "He was mad at you."

Ed nodded.

"But it's not your fault, Ed. You didn't shoot me, Tomasic did," Kim protested.

"And you didn't set the landmine, Carter did," Ed said.

"That's not the same," Kim said, looking back down at her hands.

Ed stood. "You know what, you're right. It's not the same. Tomasic actually had a legitimate reason to hate me and come after me and my team. I killed his father right in front of him!"

Kim looked back up at Ed. "You had to. His father would have killed the hostage otherwise."

Ed nodded. "I know. I know I did the right thing. But my point is that Tomasic's anger towards me came from me actually doing something that affected him. And I signed up for this job willingly, never thinking that anything like the Tomasic situation would happen but knowing it was a possibility. You, on the other hand, were just a teenager trying to live your life. You didn't do anything to Carter to get him to come after you, you didn't sign up to get stalked. He just latched onto you and wouldn't let go. Yeah, he hurt some people you cared about because you 'disobeyed' him, but you should never have had to obey him in the first place. He hurt your friends, not you. You just got caught in the middle. None of this is your fault, and I am so sorry that you had to go through all of this. So let me be the first person to say that I don't blame you. For any of this."

Kim was frozen in her seat, shocked by Ed's statement of support.

"I don't blame you either."

Kim's eyes widened as she turned to see Tommy stand up.

"You didn't do anything to deserve having to go through all of that. Carter is the problem, not you," Tommy started. "I'm not gonna lie, I am still a little freaked and I'm still processing everything. But I don't blame you."

Jason stood next. "I don't blame you. I never have."

Serge stood. Then Billy. Then Zack, and Rocky, and Adam, all expressing the same sentiment. Soon everyone in the room was on their feet saying they don't blame her. Kim, who was still sitting, was crying and looking around the room.

"I don't blame you."

Kim finally stood as everyone turned to look at the door to look at Spike, who had just spoken. Spike was standing in the doorway, Wordy slightly behind him.

"I shouldn't have reacted so dramatically," Spike said. "I was just shocked. Lou was my best friend. I'm still angry he died and I took that out on you. Carter is to blame for Lou's death, not you. I don't blame you."

Kim let herself smile at Spike, then looked around the rest of the room. "I love you all so much."

Everyone left Jason's dojo soon after that. The former rangers all agreed to get together the next day for a short time before everyone went back to their regular lives. Team One went off to get ready for their shift, minus Kim, who went with her family to the hotel they were booked to stay in. Kim spent the afternoon getting to know her siblings and being able to really talk with her mom, dad, and step-dad for the first time in years.

In the late afternoon, Kim stopped by the jail where Carter was being held until he could be arraigned (A/N Again, I know nothing about the Canadian justice system so I don't know if that is the right terminology). 10 minutes after she arrived, she was sitting at one of the cubbies on the long counter with a wall of glass separating the visitors from the inmates. The door opened on the opposite side of the glass and Carter was escorted in. When he saw her, he smiled his creepy smile and sat down opposite her.

"Hello, there," Carter started. "I knew you would come crawling to me eventually."

Kim glared at him.

"Did you come to ask for my help?" Carter asked, the smile still on his face.

Kim narrowed her eyes. "Why would I need your help?"

"Finding your brother and sister, of course," Carter said. "Though I am quite surprised you waited this long to come to me. I really did not leave them much food or water. I thought you cared about them more, but I guess I was wrong."

Kim lost her composure and started to laugh.

"What? Why are you doing that?" Carter asked.

Kim kept laughing.

"Seriously," Carter said, "do you really care about your siblings' safety so little that you waste time laughing instead of making a deal with me?"

Kim's laughing died down as she let out a dramatic sigh. "Ahhhh, thank you. I needed a good laugh. I think we have had a miscommunication."

"And why would you think that?"

"Because," Kim smiled at him. "We found the twins less than an hour after you were arrested."

Carter gapped at her. "You're lying. There is no way you could have found them without my help."

"No, I'm serious." Kim said. "I don't need your help. I don't need anything from you. I just came to let you know that this time you lost. You lost big time. Goodbye, Carter."

Kim smiled wider and stood up. As she walked away, she heard Carter screaming, "YOU NEED ME! YOU NEED ME!"

She didn't turn back once.

Later that night, Kim was back in her apartment when there was a knock on the door. She was surprised to see Tommy awkwardly standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"Tommy! What… uh… what are you doing here?"

He grinned at her. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No! No, not at all." Kim said, somewhat awkwardly.

"Sorry for surprising you," Tommy said. "I have to ask you a question."

"Uh, ok, sure."

"So, uh," He started. "I work- well, worked at a High School in Reefside for the past couple years. But they are undergoing some budget cuts and they are probably going to have to cut my program there. The school board is deciding that in a couple weeks."

"Oh I'm sorry, Tommy. That sucks."

"Yeah. But because of that, I have been looking for jobs elsewhere. And I am actually staying up here in Vancouver for a couple more days because I have an interview at a university here to be a part-time professor starting in the fall."

"Wow," Kim said. "That is awesome, congratulations."

"Don't congratulate me yet," Tommy chuckled. "I don't want to jinx anything."

"Right, of course. Sorry."

"No don't be. Anyway, if I do get the job, I will still need to find another job for financial security. My question is, would you be ok with Jason hiring me as a part-time karate instructor?"

Kim's eyes widened. "Would I mind? Uh… why does it matter if I mind or not?"

Tommy gave a little shrug as Kim put the pieces together.

"Jason made you ask me, didn't he?" Kim asked, crossing her arms.

Tommy shrugged again and smiled at her. "Yeah, he did. He said he wanted to make sure you were ok with the possibility of running into me whenever you came to the dojo."

Kim rolled her eyes. "Tell Jason that I said that while I appreciate his concern, who he hires is up to him, not me, and that he does not need to protect me from everything."

Tommy chuckled. "Ok, I will."

"I'm sorry Jason made you come all the way here for that," Kim said. "He has been protecting me for so long that I don't think he knows how to stop."

"No worries, I thought it was sweet that he made me check with you."

There was an awkward silence.

"So, uh, I should probably go. But I'll see you tomorrow with everyone else, and I will definitely see you around if I get the job." Tommy said.

"I hope you do get it. You deserve it."

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Tommy smiled. "If I do and end up moving up here, would you maybe want to get coffee sometime? Just to get to know each other again? To start over and be friends?"

Kim smiled. "I'd like that."

Tommy smiled right back. "Cool. Well, see you tomorrow."

Tommy turned away and headed towards the staircase. Kim started to close the door but then pulled it back open and stuck her head out.

"Hey Tommy?" Kim called out.

Tommy spun back around.

"Just for the record, I don't mind the possibility of running into you whenever I visit the dojo. I quite like it, actually," Kim said.

Tommy grinned at her. "Me too."

Kim smiled back. "Night."

"Night," Tommy responded. He turned around and headed down the stairs.

Kim stared after him for a moment before closing her door, leaving her with more hope for the future than she's had in a long time.

A/N Hi! It's finally done! So I am really not good with endings so sorry if you think it's weird. I just wanted there to be a scene where there was hope for Tommy and Kim to get back together because I love them and they are one of my favorite ranger couples and a big part of why I even wrote this story.

Thank you all for staying with me for so long. I hope you enjoyed the story!