Kim went out like a light the night before, the feeling of contentment creeping over her after spending the evening with her oldest friends. The happy and warm feeling she had was to be interrupted at 5am from a dream so vivid she swore it could have been real. She was in the back office of Patricks bar, and the man on his knees with the gun to his head slowly turned to face her, and Kimberly found the face of Tommy looking up at her. Kimberly woke up in a sweat and breathing heavily. She couldn't get the image out of her mind the poor man that she ran away from. She tried to push the image out of her mind, flitting between the nightmare of Tommy being shot and the actual man that Kimberly had left to face his fate. Laying in bed thinking it over, Kimberly forced herself to get out of bed. It was early but Kimberly jumped in to the shower which she always found refreshing. She was able to clear her thoughts enough to think about the weekend ahead of her and a new set of nerves kicked in. She was going to be seeing all of the others that she had shut out from her life for the past few years. She couldn't dream that she would be as lucky in that they would all react the same way that Aisha, Jason and Trini had, and she wouldn't blame them. If she hadn't been so naive and fallen for Patricks smooth lines she wouldn't even be having to have these thoughts.
After her shower Kimberly got back into bed pondering on her thoughts for the next hour or so until Jason softly knocked on the bedroom door. He pushed the door open and was surprised to see Kimberly already awake.
"Morning Kimmie, thought i'd come and wake you up but apparently you didn't need that. Did you sleep okay?" Jason asked, she certainly looked a bit fresher than yesterday but the bags under her eyes were still there. Jason also could see that he was correct in his thoughts yesterday now that Kimberly wasn't wearing a sweater, she had lost weight.
"I slept great thanks, just time differences waking me up early." She lied. There was no need to go in to the details of that dream.
"Ahh yes, maybe you can take a nap in the journey. I'm gonna go make us some breakfast and a packed lunch for the road."
"Well, well, well. Who managed to whip you into shape and get you so organised. Such a good little house husband," Kimberly teased.
Jason blushed at the comment, but was happy to see Kim settling back in to their old relationship.
"You'll be thanking me later when your hungry and all that's around is a gas station with a 4 day old sandwich with a fly keeping it for company" he winked as he left the room.
Kimberly laughed at his comment, and got up. Going through her bag she put on some workout leggings and an old crop top. Kim looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn't stupid, she knew she had dropped a dress size since moving to Florida and that people would notice it. One dress size might not be that much, but Kimberly knew she was in good shape when she left. She didn't need to drop weight and if she had had her way she would have stayed that way... but if Kimberly wanted to keep the money coming in and keep Patrick happy she new it was an easy sacrifice.
Wanting to avoid unnecessary attention to herself, she changed the crop top and leggings to a baggy blouse, loose shorts and sneakers. Kimberly looked back at herself in the mirror and straightened the blouse out, feeling more comfortable in this outfit. She carried on getting ready, tying the top half of her hair up, allowing her long bangs to curve round her face. Packing up her bags and heading downstairs Kimberly could smell the appetising aroma of eggs and bacon.
"My, my, the full works from you." Kimberly remarked as she dumped her bags down and sat down to a glass of orange juice whilst Jason dished up the breakfast. Kimberly could hear a vibrating sound coming from one of her bags and knew it was her phone. She had left it in there since she got to Angel Grove not needing the reminder that there were people not happy with her in the world.
"Are you gonna get that?" Jason questioned, watching Kimberly stare at her bag.
"Hmm... oh, no. Voicemail can get that," Kimberly brushed off the comment bringing her attention back to Jason.
Breakfast went by without any further phone interruptions which Kimberly was thankful for. After loading up the car with their camping gear, bags and enough food to feed the five thousand, they set off on the road. Jason was careful to drive the longer way out of his road which avoided having to drive past Kims car. Thankfully Kim was too in her own thoughts to notice this slight detour. He still needed to work out a way of letting her know. Jason picked up Aisha and Trini up en route, Kimberly opting to sit in the back so that she could take a nap and one of the other girls could keep Jason company on the long drive. Kimberly ended up taking the seat behind Jason as she had the smallest legs out of the girls and wouldn't mind so much Jason pushing his chair as far back as he did and Trini kept him company up front.
Whilst they were talking and listening to the radio, about an hour in to the ride Kimberly took the opportunity to check her phone. Another moment of regret hit Kimberly as she read that she had 12 missed calls and 4 text messages in the past 10 hours alone.
She read the most recent messages in order of being sent:
PATRICK: KIM YOU NEED TO COME HOME, WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS SWEETIE. I'VE GIVEN YOU SOME TIME ALONE BUT WE NEED TO SPEAK. I KNOW YOU'RE SCARED, BUT BELIEVE ME YOU HAVE NOTHING TO BE SCARED ABOUT.
PATRICK: KIM, I'VE GIVEN YOU TIME. YOU KNOW I DON'T LIKE BEING IGNORED. CONTACT ME ASAP. WE NEED TO TALK
PATRICK: IF I DON'T HEAR FROM YOU IN THE NEXT HOUR THE BOYS WILL BE COMING TO FIND YOU. I CAN'T HAVE YOU OUT THERE WITHOUT US SPEAKING.
PATRICK: YOU KNOW YOUR CAR IS TRACKED YOU DUMB BITCH. ALL YOU WERE GOOD FOR WAS YOUR DANCING AND EVEN THAT WAS MEDIOCRE. YOU CAN'T OUT RUN ME.
Kimberly wobbled at that last message and snapped her phone shut. What was she going to do. She cursed at herself for ever thinking that a gift from Patrick would come without it's consequences. How could Kimberly have put the lives of her friends in danger - and Mr and Mrs Scott. They would be home before she would and her car was sitting there like a ticking time bomb. She could feel a panic attack coming on and had no way of escaping, trapped in the small confined space of Jason's car. Kimberly clambered for the window and wound it down gasping in the fresh air. Jason looked back in his wing mirror at Kim wondering why she had opened the window when he had the A/C on and could see that she didn't look okay.
Jason pulled over in to the next turning which Kimberly was semi-grateful for, opening the window had drawn attention to herself which she wasn't going to be able to avoid. Trini looked back at Aisha with concern as Kimberly jumped out of the car as soon as it came to a halt.
"What happened?" Trini asked Aisha as she looked back at her.
"Girl, I have no idea. I just suddenly felt the blast of air coming in from her window and looked to see her crying," Aisha replied confused.
Kimberly was walking to a clearing in the woods with her arms above her head, trying to improve the amount of oxygen her body was taking in. Tears were once again falling from her eyes and she was thankful for her mental note of waterproof mascara yesterday. She couldn't live the rest of her life like this. It hadn't even been a week and Kimberly felt so mentally drained. Kimberly could hear Jason coming up behind her, the loose gravel crunching under his shoes and knew she was going to have to come clean. She had been putting this off since she had been back in company with him. Kimberly turned round to Jason whilst focusing on her breathing. Jason identified that she was panicking and spoke through her breathing with her, getting it back under control. Jason could hear her breathing pattern slowing back to a normal rate and lead her over to a log that had been chopped down from a nearby tree. As Kimberly sat she could see Aisha and Trini walking hesitantly over to them. If she was gonna tell the story she might as well do it once.
"Kim, i think if we're gonna spend the weekend with each other you need to let us know what's up. You've been on edge since you've got here. I want to help you, but I can't do that until I know what's up." Jason said as he squatted down in front of her.
Kim looked him in the eyes. He'd always been there for her. From when they were kids in the playground and Bulk pushed Kim over, Jason had helped pick Kim up and shouted at him, to fighting on the front line as Power Rangers. Kim looked down as she played with her hands, debating with how best to tell the story without making her look the weakest person ever. Running her hands through her hair she looked up and saw Trini and Aisha smiling at her encouragingly.
"I want to tell you guys everything." Kim started, "But I am so scared that you won't want anything to do with me after I tell you."
Trini reached out and squeezed Kim's arm, "Kim, how long have you known us now? We will never leave you on your own. Rangers through and through, sisters and brother's to get us through the blue." Kim looked at Trini and did a small laugh. Trini always tried to get that to be our groups mantra, which failed every time she said it. If there was anyone who would forgive her it would be Trini, she didn't have a bad bone in her body.
"Okay, well I guess I should start from the beginning," Kim began.
"Usually a good place," Jason jibed trying to keep the air light to which Aisha clipped him round the head.
"The move to Florida wasn't all it seemed. I lied to you guys in those early letters. I was hating my time there. I hadn't made many friends, and those that I did may have led me to do some questionable things. We started drinking in a shady bar that served minors, and the girls that I was acquainted with had made friends with this guy who owned the bar, Patrick. After my first visit to the bar I knew it wasn't a place for me. I didn't like drinking, well then, and the whole vibe from the place wasn't for me. But I was so lonely. I loved but also hated how you were all together in two groups, but so far away from me in Angel Grove and Switzerland. I so desperately wanted to find friends like you guys in Florida. I would hang back on a Friday night when they were all heading to the bar so that I could speak with Tommy, but even those calls were becoming far and few between due to Ranger activities. Anyway, there was one Friday night where I had called Tommy and got no answer, I then tried Billy, and then Rocky and got no answer from all of them. I started to worry that something serious was up so googled Angel Grove news. Big mistake as my own insecurities took over. I saw a photo attached to the headline 'Power Rangers fighting to save Angel Grove'. The photo was of all the guys, but the main focus was of The White Ranger and Pink Ranger and how the stupid newspaper then digressed in to whether they thought they were dating. I know it was stupid and just a trashy tabloid but it broke my heart. I should have been there. I should have been the Pink Ranger in that photo, but instead it was Kat. I trusted Tommy with my whole heart, but that wasn't enough for me. I was so insecure then that I marched myself to the bar and met the girls, ready to drown my sorrows. I wasn't going to sit in feeling sorry for myself whilst people were debating whether my replacement was dating my boyfriend." Aisha interrupted at this point.
"Kim, I'm so sorry I had no idea you were struggling so much there. You know I would never had let Tommy do that to you girl, I would have beat his ass if he tried anything with her."
"I know Aish. And looking back I know how stupid I was. I guess feeling so detached from you guys led me to feeling detached from my former self. Maybe if I had reached out and said how I was feeling we would have been able to come up with a better solution to what I did. But that's in the past now, what happened happened. I went on to meet the rest of the girls at the bar and saw they were sat in a booth with Patrick, and one of the girls, Hannah, was trying her best to keep him engaged in a conversation. As I walked to the table Patrick looked up and Hannah gave me the shadiest look. I remember it so well as I laughed on the way home about how silly she was to get jealous of me. Patrick made everyone move up so I could sit next to him and he got me a drink. The drinking continued to the early hours of the morning and the night became a bit of a haze. I do remember that Patrick tried to make a move on me to which I declined as I was with Tommy still. Patrick was a charmer to the ladies. He had all the chat, and knew he was a good looking guy. But to me, there was no one that could replace Tommy. I left the bar on my own and headed home. After that night Patrick kept making moves and tried to get me to go on a date with him. We started spending time away from the bar and I began to think that maybe there could be something there with him. It was at that point I wrote that stupid, stupid letter. God, if there was ever a machine Billy needed to invent it was a time machine so I could go back and stop myself." Kimberly paused, regaining composure for the final part of the story.
"So, as you can imagine Patrick and I ended up getting together. Far too quickly for my liking, but he was attentive to me, and made me feel wanted. Which unfortunately towards the end of mine and Tommy's relationship I wasn't feeling. Which is no shade on Tommy, it was just the way our lives had gone. Anyway, fast forward to last week and Jason calling to explain about Zordon being gone and the memorial you guys were planning on having this weekend. Unsurprisingly Patrick and I's relationship hadn't remained happy for long. I was the only girl that had stuck around out of that original group and when I tried to part ways and end it with Patrick he lumped me with a huge bar tab that had been the total of all the drinks that the girls had had over our time. I should have known that free drinks never come with out a catch," Jason swore under his breath at this point, "and I know I should have left then. Worked out a way to get the money. But I didn't know where to go. I thought no one would want to speak with me after I cut you all off. I was embarrassed by the woman that I had become and found it easier to not stay in contact with people that knew the old Kimberly. All I am now is some girl who works in a gross bar for her ex boyfriend. I know I apologised for it last night but I really am sorry. After Jason's call I spoke with Patrick and said that I was thinking of making a trip back home for a week or so to say goodbye to a friend. Patrick in so many words said I should rethink my choices and ended the conversation at that saying he didn't want to hear anymore of it. I persisted though, this was too special for me to miss. I had to say goodbye to Zordon, I owed him it." Kimberly skirted around what it was that she actually did at the bar, but thankfully the others didn't ask questions. Her work grossed her out and wasn't something she enjoyed doing. Kimberly had paid off Patrick relatively early on, she may not enjoy the work that she did but apparently men liked her well enough and paid well. But from working as an exotic dancer made her feel like she had sold her soul to Patrick. Thinking of those creepy men that would just leer at her made her skin crawl. She had lost the drive and confidence that she once had, accepting the fact that this was her life now.
"Looking back I don't even know why I asked, I should have just told him, although that would have gone down worse. Anyway, Tuesday afternoon I packed my bags. I was going to start the drive over to Angel Grove that evening and I wasn't hearing otherwise from Patrick. I loaded my car and drove over to the bar and walked in to the corridor that led to the back office which Patrick worked in during the day. The door was slightly jarred open and I could see bags upon bags of drugs laid out on the desk nearest the door. I knew Patrick handled drugs, but never on this scale. The amount of things I had put up with him over the years though I thought he wouldn't mind so much if I was to see the packets, and if anything that me seeing them might change his mind about me coming to see you guys. I knocked on the door and walked in to the room, but as pushing the door open I realised what a grave mistake this was. As the door opened out to the office floor I saw a man on his knees with Patrick holding a gun to his head. The guy on the floor pleading for his life, whilst Patrick and his henchman all surrounded him. Patrick looked up and I swear I have never seen someone so angry before, not even Zedd on his worst day. I backed out the room, apologising saying I would speak to Patrick later. As I shut the door I ran for it down the corridor, not looking back when I heard a gun shot and then tables moving as his men scrambled for the door." Kimberly by this point was crying as she relived the horrible scene.
"I just remember him shouting 'Do not let her go' 'She is not to leave this building', but I knew if I was to see day light again I had to get out of there thick and fast." I was able to make it to my car, thankful for stopping and taking the risk of parking on the lines directly outside the bar. I was in fight or flight mode, and there was no way I could take on all of those guys so I sped off and as I turned the corner I saw them come bowling out of the entrance to the bar. I drove all night constantly checking my rear view mirrors, I pulled over every now and then to catch a couple of hours sleep in the car. I know it was dangerous to drive all that way on my own with such little sleep but you have to understand," Kim was pleading with the guys at this point "...and now he's text me saying to contact him and oh my god, my car, he's going to find it outside your home Jase, what are your parents going to..." but Kimberly never finished that sentence as she was silenced by a smothering hug from Jason. Trini and Aisha had there arms round Kim too as Kim sobbed in to their arms. Kim wasn't sure how long they stayed like that but it felt like eternity. It felt so good, but also so scary for Kim to finally come clean about her Florida life.
"Kim we're not going to let anything happen to you. We've only just got you back in our lives. We're not letting anyone take that away. Not for a second time. Once we're back from this weekend we will go to the police and..." Jason was cut off by Kim's cry of "No!".
Kimberly pushed herself out of Jason's arms, stood up and paced around them shaking her arms trying to gain composure. "Don't you understand. I can't go to the police. That's what Patrick's thinking I'm going to do and why he's after me. If I can just disappear for a while and he realises I haven't reported him he might tell his goons to back off."
"Kim, let's be real. Men like Patrick don't stop just because someone goes away for a bit. We need to deal with this head on." Aisha rationally said. Trini nodded in agreement.
"As Jason said, we aren't going to let anything happen to you Kim," Trini said as she stood up to stand next to Kim. She grabbed her hand, "I've missed you too much to have you running off on me again,".
Kim sighed and wiped away the remaining tears from her face. She knew there was no arguing this, but could acknowledge to herself how much better she felt for sharing her problem with them.
"Okay. But can we not tell the other's about this, please? Not just yet. I.. I didn't even want to tell you guys like this. The phone calls and messages, it just caught me off guard." Kimberly asked of the others.
"Your gonna need to tell them at some point if you're gonna stick around, but that won't come from us, right guys?" Jason said as the girls nodded in agreement.
"I have a plan for that phone anyway, is there anyone you need to keep in contact with from it?" Trini asked.
Kimberly laughed, "Did you not listen to the part of the story where I said I had no friends in Florida,"
Trini put her arm out, "Give me the phone." Kimberly handed the phone over to Trini and watched her open up the back of the phone and take out the SIM card. Next thing Trini had snapped the SIM card in half and throwing it in to the bushes, "Now no-one will be getting in touch with you this weekend." Kimberly had to admit to herself that it felt good knowing that. Maybe she would be able to push everything that happened to the back of her mind with Patrick just for long enough to enjoy these next few days.
"But what about your parent's home Jase?" Kim asked.
"I'll ask them to stay in San Fran for a couple more nights. Just until we can get home and get a plan together. That way you don't need to worry about them being in danger." Jason responded. Kimberly nodded as she listened to his response, thankful that she wouldn't be putting them in harm.
"Right," Jason said standing up, "We're about half hour behind schedule now - not that it was a waste. Shall we get this journey on the road again?" Jason asked.
"Ever the grown up," Kim jibed as she rolled her eyes and started walking back to the car arm in arm with Trini and Aisha.