A few notes:
I had initially planned a chapter that would be before all of this, but decided that it didn't really make a whole ton of sense and so we skipped along.
I know next to nothing about military protocol and I did do a bit of research about it but if I got things wrong and if it sounds terrible I'm incredibly sorry.
I'm considering putting up a tumblr for this story with inspo, playlists and even some edits.
"It's the worst part of seeing old friends: when your rose-colored memories become undone by reality." ― Brad Meltzer
Galactic Council Outpost Ship 4 Zeta Echo
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP BEEP
Kimberly groaned turning over in her bed to all but slam down her hand on the com device, shutting off the incessant beeping noise. It would be the third time since coming back from Earth her sleep had been interrupted and she was getting less and less amused as they happened. The first had been only an hour after she had climbed into her bed, body feeling better after taking what could only be classed as the longest bath known to man. The attacks her team had put a stop to a month earlier on Tarmac 3 had begun again. They knew the people, the attackers and the terrain so she decided that even though her team had just been sent out, they would have to go again. She hadn't been asleep long and people's safety came first so she had groaned for effect, morphed and done her job. The second time had been a much longer and far more arduous event. The Morphin Council wanted a full debrief on what had happened with the Staff of Zedd, her fight in Angel Grove and her full reconnection to the ninja powers. After what seemed like hours of round robin debating and even in some points arguing, they had agreed to let Kim's team handle the mission. Directly after she had stood in the control room to debrief her old team, which had gone over like a house on fire. They had of course wanted to help and maybe Kim had taken a little too much pleasure in telling Tommy that in no uncertain terms they were not to do anything. Her team would handle finding the staff and destroying Zedd. The screaming started basically from the second she stopped talking, the cacophony of it making it nearly impossible to make out what anyone was saying. Doverian had cut the her end of the feed, looking a little stunned at what he had just seen. Kimberly had told him she was going to take a nap and that the whole universe better be under attack for someone to wake her again.
"This is Kim." she spoke into the receiver, a yawn cutting into the middle of her name
"I'm sorry to have woken you ma'am but your team has just been cleared for docking, I thought you might want to know before anyone starts showing them around the ship." Lieutenant Khek sounded almost scared to give her the news
Kim looked at the offending piece of technology strangely, unsure of where her team would have gone without them alerting her as well. Generally when something less than a priority one but higher than a priority three hit the control room on any of the ships, she was called to confirm the team deployment and Alpha Strike never deployed for something less than a priority three. Muting the general communicator and activating her personal communicator Kim wondered what kind of trouble Akhuti might have gotten the others into.
"Alpha Strike report in with location." she demanded, annoyance rising with each confirmation that all of her teammates were either in their rooms or in the team common area. Throwing off her blankets she wondered who would in the hell would think a prank like this was funny. She was going to make sure whoever the hell was behind it was court martialed at the very least.
"Khek I thought I told Dove not to bother me. The alpha strike team is all accounted for." Kimberly was all but shuffling into the control room, having not bothered to change out of her black sleep shorts and pale pink tank top or brush through her long brown hair.
"I'm sorry ma'am I should have specified." Khek was pointing at the live video feed coming from the main reception area in the docking bay
"You have got to be fucking kidding me" Kimberly swore "How the hell did they get docking clearance let alone get brought inside the damn ship?"
The video showed the other eleven of Zordon's chosen rangers standing in the main reception area of her ship, talking to the deck captain who looked half in awe, half terrified.
"They were allowed to dock based on the codes loaded into the ship they came in on. It's Kerovian and looks like it holds a space team clearance code. The deck captain let them board once they identified themselves." The Lieutenant in front of her was reading the information off the logs from the docking control station and Kim swore again out loud. Of course that same reverence that was given to her would be extended to her old team, Tommy especially as he carried Zordon's color. The pink ranger rubbed the bridge of her nose, considering her options.
"I'm going to go down there. Have the rooms on Deck C prepped just in case." An idea was forming in her head as she considered how this may play out. She had started to walk out of the room, turning over her shoulder to look at the dark skinned man. "Oh and Khek, get a quiet notice down to the deck, and then the rest of the crew, let them know it's going to be full pomp until all of them are off my ship."
Kim had never been one for the military dress code or the ceremony that surrounded it. She had gotten used to the ma'am after a little while, but she made it a point to only let them get away with the saluting and calling her by her full title unless there were important visitors around. After years of running the ship she had finally gotten the crew used to the relaxed rules and Kim was able to call most, if not all of the crew friends. But her friends didn't know that and if they were going to crash her ship she was going to have fun with them.
Once back in her rooms she didn't bother with a shower, even a quick one wasn't feasible because who knew when her friends would get to restless and start searching the ship for her. Instead she pulled her hair up into a tight, neat bun. She skipped over the make up, even though the vain valley girl that still lived inside her was dying to throw on some lipstick and concealer knowing she'd be seeing Tommy again. Kim couldn't help the chuckle when she pulled out her uniform, something she barely ever wore. It was dressy, showy and going to make one hell of an impression. The pants and boots went on easily, plain black piped with both a lighter shade of black and pink. The jacket was also mainly black, with accents of gold on the cuffs and in the three evenly spaced at the bottom. It was long enough that it fell below her knee, with a high necked mandarian collar. On the left breast was the crest of the Galactic Council with the crest of the Royal House of Eltar next to it, denoting her status as one of Zordon's rangers. The shoulders denoted her rank and the piping that ran along the sleeves, the overlapping closure of the jacket, collar and the edgeding of the belt that held it closed were done in the same shades of black and pink as her boots and pants. Kim used the general communicator to send a coded message down to the docking deck that she was on her way down.
It was hard for Kimberly to place the odd feeling in her stomach she felt as she walked through the halls, even if she smiled every time someone stopped and saluted her as she walked by. There were nerves for sure; her friends were going to be angry at her and she couldn't totally blame them. It had been a terrible idea to cut them all off the way she had, even if she had felt like she wasn't one of them any more. After everything that happened with Tommy and then Maligore she hadn't been able to handle it. What made it all the worse is that no one seemed to care, they all just accepted tha Kat had replaced her whole heartedly. Or at least to the emotionally fragile, barely over eighteen year old Kimberly it had seemed that way. It hadn't been the right decision, she knew that as an adult, but as a teenager with a broken heart it had made sense. There was no going back from it and like she told Dulcea, she had to lie in that bed she made. Kim was also self aware enough to know that while there was remorse for doing what she did, she carried an incredible anger at them all. Anger, that had simmered for so long she was sure it was going to explode sooner rather than later. Anger that they thought she needed their help after she had flat out told them that she and her current team would handle it. Anger that they thought just crashing the party was okay. Anger about things long since done and over with.
"Deck Company, Attention." She heard the Deck Captain call out as she neared the doorway, the footsteps of her boots carrying sound.
Kimberly did her best to set her face in a look of stern unhappiness, hands clasped behind her back as she walked through the door inwardly enjoying the look of shock and confusion as each crew member saluted.
"At ease everyone." she instructed, striding over to where the Deck Captain stood. "Deck Captain Nevanak could you please review for me and the rest of the deck crew the boarding procedure for civilian's and visitors without specific clearance?" She questioned, stern face all but glaring at Nevanak
"Of course Grand Commander." He nodded at her, doing a good job of looking nervous."Anyone without boarding clearance codes must first be authorized by the Grand Commander."
Kim nodded, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Then may I ask why there are eleven civlians currently standing on the other side of the deck? I don't remember being woken up to approve this." her voice took on a harder edge.
Nevanak looked even more nervous now and when his voice came out it was in a near stutter, Kim was going to have to give him a raise for his performance. "They identified themselves as the rangers who had served under Zordon with you. They said you were expecting their arrival ma'am."
Kim raised a brow, turning on her heel to glare at her old team. "Is that true?" She questioned harshly
They all nodded together, still apparently too stunned to speak. Kim wanted to throw things, or punch one of them in their stupid faces. Preferably her ex-boyfriend or big brother whose idea this surely was.
"Company dismissed. Deck Captain I expect to see you in my office for disciplinary action after my return from ship inspection." She waited until they all saluted and filed out, the door shutting with a hiss behind the still fearful looking Nevanak. Kim rubbed the bridge of her nose, the headache she had increasing tenfold. "Do you have any idea how absolutely stupid what you just did was? Not to mention the mountain of paperwork Andros and I are going to have to do " She questioned, voice dangerously low.
"What else were we supposed to do?" Zach implored of her, voice at the same time terribly sad and terribly angry.
"What you were told is a good place to start! You broke at least six galactic laws, and that's just off the top of my head! This isn't like showing up at my apartment after the 97 games with no warning, this ship is a military installation. Does the Kerovian government even know this is what you borrowed one of their ships for? If you were anyone else I'd have to put you all in prison but the incident that would cause isn't worth the headache! " She rolled her eyes, feeling like this was reminiscent of one of her and Jason's arguments as children. She would end up explaining something incredibly obvious to a stubborn, bull headed Jason.
"After your little video call this morning you left us no choice Kimberly Ann. We can't let some untrained team go after this new guy calling himself Zedd and we couldn't just not come find you" Jason crossed his arms over his chest, his universal symbol for "i'm right and you're wrong."
"Oh I'm sorry are you feeling a little bit left out Jason?" Kimberly all but snarls at him. "Were you and Tommy just so damn offended that instead of needing you to sweep in and save the day I very clearly don't. That I'm just so helpless and unable to assess the situation that you thought you know what screw what Kim said, let's hijack a spacecraft, track down a woman who clearly doesn't want to be found and crash her damn place of work? I told you my team will handle this! It's our job and it was the Morphin Council's decision to allow it! Now I have had a very long week, I've fought a golden monkey who was supposed to be toast twice over, reconnected to powers that are so old they shouldn't work and dealt with all of you crashing my nap. I am tired, I am cranky and I have an inspection of a nearby ship very early tomorrow. So you can stay the night if you want and in the morning when I get back I want you all back home on Earth!" her voice climbed louder and louder until she was yelling by the end of her triade
Trini steps forward, smiling softly at her best friend hands up placatingly "We're sorry Firebird. Emotions are obviously running very high and I think it would be best if we took you up on that offer and everyone got some sleep." Her tone is soothing, stepping on Jason's foot as he goes to protest.
"I'll send one of my Captains down to show you up to Deck C. There's enough room up there for all of you. I understand that Zedd makes all of us a little twitchy but my team and I have everything well under control. You can all go home and back to your lives. This whole thing will be over quick enough" Kim walks over to the communications panel and sends a message up to Khek, waiting for the confirmation before walking out of the room without another word to her old friends.
The eleven rangers left in the room look at each other, slightly stunned at the events of the past fifteen minutes.
"Well that went well." Aisha commented drly, leaning against a piece of paneling that didn't seem to have any buttons on it.
"Went better than I was expecting it to." Justin said with a dry laugh, drawing all eyes to him
"How much worse did you expect that to go?" Tanya questioned the younger blue ranger, eyebrow raised. The only time she had met Kim was during the first days of the Turbo run and she hadn't been all that impressed with the original pink ranger. She had been aloof and somewhat withdrawn and her best friend Kat had been a ball of nerves and worry about her boyfriend deserting her because his ex was back.
"Well we're not in prison for whatever laws we broke. And there wasn't a physical fight." Justin winces at the glare Tommy sends him, but then shrugs because really what can his surrogate big brother say when Justin's right.
"Billy, was she bluffing about the broken laws thing?" Tommy asks the only one of them with Galactic experience.
"I don't think so. One of the insignias on her uniform was for the Galactic Council. Coupled with the fact that she said this was a military installation, then I think it's almost for sure she was telling the truth." He explained, wondering about the coloring and the second insignia on her chest
"I thought SPD was the galactic police force?" Adam questioned, brow raised as he thought about Bridge, the red ranger he had met during his time helping out the Overdrive team
"They are. Think of SPD and the GC as our earth police forces and military forces. Our planet is somewhat of an outlier, most others don't experience the yearly attacks that warrant a ranger team like we do at home. And most planets either don't have a strong enough connection to sustain long term ranger teams or don't see the need. The Galactic Council employs teams of rangers throughout the eight known galaxies and traditionally deals with whatever is needed. I've been a little too far out of the loop to understand the why of SPD beyond how they handle something different from what Council teams do." Billy shrugged not sure what else he could say without all of the relevant information.
"I don't think we should be asking too many more questions tonight." Aisha suggested, trying to grapple with seeing her best friend and the severe way she had looked. There were a lot of scenarios that she had run through, but Kim as some sort of space military commander had not been one of them. She leaned into Rocky, who had come over to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
"It's not terrible to want answers Sha." Tommy ran a hand through his hair, which he had started regrowing after the end of the Dino Thunder run. It was back to being just about the length he had worn it in high school, something his students turned rangers turned slightly surrogate children liked to tease him about.
"I want answers just as much as you do Fly Boy, maybe even more. But I also remember what a severely pissed off Kim is like and I don't think trying to weasel information out of anyone else is going to do anything other than make her more mad." She rolled her eyes at him waiting for a rebuttal.
The door hissed open, ending the conversation. The man in the doorway tilted his head at them, the unsettling merlot color of his eyes studying them intensely. Tommy locked eyes with the man feeling like he was assessing them all off this one interaction and had found them wanting.
"You're the Captain Kimberly said she would be sending down." Katherine questioned quietly
"Yes I'm Captain Doverian. I run the main control room and work directly under the Grand Commander. She instructed you to be shown up to C Deck. If you could please follow me." His hands were clasped behind his back, waiting only a beat before beginning to lead them out of the room and through the low lit hallways.
"If you work so closely with her how'd you end up being our personal usher. Shouldn't that have been a grunts job" Jason asked moodily, drawing glares from all three yellow rangers
The gold skinned man took a deep breath, thinking to himself if this is what the members of Kim's old team were like all the time no wonder she had gotten galaxies away from them. "You are honored guests after all Sir, and while normally a high ranking officer wouldn't be woken from his sleep Deck C is where the Alpha Strike rangers sleep as well. A specific clearance level is required and the Grand Commander has gone to sleep so it was left to me."
"We appreciate you taking the time to do this for us." Trini said diplomatically
"It is of course my pleasure." His tone was pleasant even if he was imagining strangling his friend for asking him to do this
"Could I ask you a question Captain?" Justin piped up from in the back of the group, ducking under the arm that Tanya swatted out at him
"If I am able to answer it I will." he nodded, curious of what the question could be.
"There was a second badge on Kim's uniform. Do you know what it stands for?" Justin was immensely curious about it, since Billy hadn't explained it like he had the Galactic Council one.
Doverian stopped dead in his tracks, sure that if he turned around and looked at the younger blue ranger his incredulation would show on his bronze face. Kimberly hadn't fully understood until he and Andros explained it to her during the early months of her career as the Alpha Strike black ranger. It was before her promotion to Grand Commander and she was frustrated by the fact everyone treated her like royalty. There had been a rather large amount of swearing about the use of the word ma'am and the saluting that happened every time she walked by someone. But surely the Wolf, who had spent so much time on Aquitar knew and had explained it to the others. The Hercuron shook his head, realizing his pause was going to be questioned very soon. "I'm sorry, I thought I heard my com beep." He shook himself off and began walking again, taking a deep breath. If they didn't know they were royalty to the rest of the universe, he didn't have to treat them as such. "The Grand Commander's personal badge is her own business." He told them, his tone curt as he walked a little faster now. The sooner he was away from them and back in his own bed, the better.
He's physically relieved for them finally showing up at the doorway to Deck C only a few minutes later. Doverian keys in the code and shows them the common area and explains how many rooms are on the floor before hastily putting as much distance between himself and the other rangers. He wonders if Kim's awake, questions swirling around in his head that he can't wait until tomorrow to ask her. Turning to head towards where her quarters were, the gold skinned man decides that if he had to bite the bullet for her then the least she can do is tell him everything she can.
Kim knows something is wrong when she steps off of the teleportation disk and Doverian and Khek are both standing there waiting for her in full dress uniform, saluting.
"They're not off my ship are they." She questions drly, thinking that maybe having them dragged off by the Alpha Strike team isn't such a terrible idea after all
"We have a much bigger issue Grand Commander." Doverian tells her gulping down the lump in his throat.
Kimberly stops in her tracks, looking at the two men who have been her closest friends besides her ranger team. "I'm going to guess it has something to do with the uniforms and the saluting and the grand commandering?" She questions slowly
"The Morphin Council will be here within the half hour. They sent word that they'd like to speak with you and your former team about the Zedd situation." Khek looks physically nervous now and it leaves Kimberly a little confused. The main Morphin Council had visited them numerous times and while it was stressful, it didn't normally cause this level of anxiety.
"Alright fine, a few more hours then. Did they say how many members of the council will be here?" Her mind shuffled through the available rooms with enough space to comfortable house the eleven of her old team plus the six main members of the council.
"All of them ma'am." Doverian delivers the news and now, now Kim gets it. The full Morphin Council rarely ever got together in person, let alone left from the scheduled planet that served as their base. Each member represented a color of the ranger spectrum and held within them the base of the power. It was thought that they were part of the Morphin Grid themselves, emissaries of the Grid who kept balance. To have all fourteen members coming here meant something huge was going on. And it wasn't something she wanted to be a part of.
"Okay Dove you go wrangle up my pseudo siblings and find a conference room big enough for all these people. Khek I want you to gather the Alpha Strike team, tell them what's going on and get down on the deck ready to receive the Council in case they get here before I get down there. If they do bring them up to Dove and all of you wait there. I'm going to go run half away across the ship, shower, change and attempt to make myself presentable before they get here." With one last nod at each man Kim takes off running through the halls of her ship, wishing not for the first time that she could use the ninja streak ability outside of being morphed. Even at the break neck speed of her run it still takes almost ten minutes to get across the ship and into her bathroom. She moves through the routine as efficiently as possible but a comm comes through as she's pulling her hair back that the Council is here and being led up to the obersitory on Deck A. Kim groans and takes a breath, reminding herself that getting upset before she's even gotten there is only going to make her more abrasive. She gave herself a few more breaths before returning to getting ready as quickly as she possibly could, teleporting herself up to the deck once she was finished, not wanting to waste anymore time.
"I'm sorry for my delay, I had been on a different ship completing a routine inspection." She excused herself to the council, surprised on her face when she noted that Andros, Mystic Mother and Zandred and a holographic projection of Dulcea were also in the room.
"We of course understand Lady Crane. Your duties as Grand Commander of the Outpost Ships keeps you busy." Councilmember Ryaqb, who represented the Black Line of the Power assured her with a kind smile
"We were just explaining the Morphin Council to the others." Andros explains, Kim wanting to laugh when she noticed he had positioned himself in the middle of the Apha Strike team and far away from Jason, Tommy and Rocky.
"We are honored to receive all fourteen members at once." it was Billy who voiced the platitude that had been on the tip of Kim's tongue, reminding her of the time he spent on Aquitar
"New information has been brought to the Council's decision that has caused us to reconsider our decision to send the Alpha Strike team after Zedd." Councilman Gai, who represented the White Line of Power explained.
Kim was sure she looked ready to explode, her face heating up with anger. "If I may object, the Council made the decision to send the Alpha Strike team after a long debate which included people who are not currently here." She held Gai's gaze, thinking of Dimitera, Queen Zelriana and King Trey.
"This information changes the nature of the original debate. It is not a question of the Alpha Strike's capability to complete this mission." Qamb, the willowy woman who represented the Pink Line of Power said in an attempt to gentle the information. She had a soft spot for the Crane, who was of her color even if her current powers were of Ryaqb.
"What information?" Tommy cuts off Kim's question, staring at the snow skinned man.
"There is a prophecy that I found among the books where I first found the information about the Cult of Zedd. It says that the key to destroying the staff and the Cult's power lay in twelve who would call upon the power of the ancients. They would be the only ones able to truly destroy the staff and defeat Zedd." Xandred had been the one championing any team of Zordon's rangers to go after the new Zedd. His ideal had been the Ninjette team, which he pointed out they now knew was possible because of Kim. The black ranger glared at him, wanting to scream about how he had suddenly found this prophecy after he had been decided against.
"Power of the ancients?" Tanya questioned, eyes flitting between all of the assembled Concilmembers
"The Great Power that six of you claimed all those years ago was the power of the Ancient Ninjette, the first to ever hold the mantle of Power Rangers. They connected directly to the Grid, without the use of coins or any other conduit, so much so that when they died their life force fused with the Morphin energy of their animal spirits. It created the fourteen lines of power as we know them today" Dulcea stepped forward to explain.
"So why if there were fourteen then, are there only twelve of us?" Adam questioned
"The wielders destined for the Green and Crimson powers are dead. Until you all pass on into the Grid, there will be no one able to claim the power of the Dragon or the Eagle." Priim, who was the head of the Green Line told them sadly, looking mournfully at Tommy. "It is a sad thing to lose one's blood before their time young Falcon, I am sorry not only for my line but for your loss." She nodded to him, causing everyone to turn to look at him.
"Kelly and David?" He wondered, thinking of the twin sister who had been killed before he had been adopted by the Olivers and the long lost brother he had found and then lost to cancer only a few years ago.
"You are wise indeed Master Falcon." Gai said with a slight bow in his direction
"So I'm assuming before we do anything else, a trip to Phadeos is going to have to be in order." Kim commented dryly, drawing the attention back to the mission at hand.
"I believe that will be the most wise Lady Crane." the Mystic Mother said jovially, her white and pink headdress jingling. Kim sneered without really thinking about the consequences, she hated seeing the colors that she had come to associate with her and Tommy and all of the good parts of their relationship worn by Rita of all people.
"We thank the Morphin Council for their time and for their wise decision. I will help the Grand Commander prepare what needs to be done and the team will start on their mission as soon as possible." Andros stands, unsure of how long Kim will be able to keep her composure now that Jason and Zack are shooting her smug looks. The last thing any of them need is an all out brawl in front of the Morphin Council.
"And we thank you for your cooperation Grand Councilman." Qamb said with an incline of her head, looking to the other members of her Council before they disappeared in flashes of light.
Kim collapses back into her chair, hand resting on her head as she tries to massage the massive headache she could feel starting to form.
"I will prepare for your arrival. Shall we agree on tomorrow?" Dulcea asked, eyes settled on the pink ranger
"Of course Dulcea. It will be good to see you again." Adam speaks for the group, smiling up at the green clad woman
"It will be good to see you again too Frog Prince." The master warrior smiled and then disappeared again.
"Xandred, Mystic Mother, would you please inform the others of this decision? I am sure Queen Zelriana will be pleased to hear the news." There is sarcasm dripping off the latter part of Andros sentence as he looks at the sandy haired man.
"I wouldn't want to be Gai when she finds out." Xandred comments, causing even Kimberly to snort at her words.
The last of the pair teleport out of the room, leaving just the two sets of rangers, Doverian and Khek in the room.
Kim flicks her wrist, removing the morpher from it and walking across the room to where her Captain is standing.
"You have been my best friend since Andros dropped me on this ship. You never asked for it, but I've become a pretty good authority on what makes a good ranger over the years. I want you to have this. Kenale will take the leadership role on the team and I'll be doing the paper work to have you promoted to Commander and take over the ship in my absence." She placed the morpher in his hands, smiling at the way his deep eyes shined with tears.
"Ma'am" he started to say, voice stuttering over thick throat
"Not anymore. We share a power which means I don't care if I become the queen of Eltar and Phadeos, you call me Kim." The slight woman leans forward and hugs him tightly, the rest of the assembled group watching silently. Katherine doesn't know what to make of it. Maybe it had been her origins or maybe it was her attempts to steal Tommy but when Kim had passed her on the Power, it hadn't felt tender or sweet. For weeks actually the power had felt...wrong almost. Like the Crane spirit was fighting back against someone other than Kimberly using it. Not that the blonde would have ever admitted it outloud, as the other five had been devastated by the destruction of the ninja powers, but Kat had almost been glad for the Zeo switch. Having powers that were solely hers had given her so much more confidence as a ranger.
"Will you work something out with the Milky Way rep, get him to do whatever it is he's supposed to do in a situation like this?" Kim questioned Andros, her head jerking in the direction of the other rangers.
"Yeah of course." His head turns so that he's now looking at his other friends seated around the table. "We'll get together a brief for your jobs, one that doesn't mention Power Rangers but mentions you'll be doing some work for the Galactic Council. I should have that ready in a few hours."
"I have to go work out the paperwork for my absence, Doverian's promotion and the transfer of leadership to Kenale. You all are welcome to stay another night on the ship. We'll be leaving from the teleportation deck in the morning." Kim turns on her heel, about to lead her crew and the Alpha Strike team out of the meeting room when she finds her way partially blocked by Tommy
"If we're going to be a team again, we're going to have to talk about the fact you disappeared on us." He insisted, his patented leader tone in full effect.
"No one said we had to be a team again, just that we had to work together on the same team. I have a lot of work to get done if we're leaving in the morning so get out of my way Tommy." Kim didn't even pretend civility anymore, over the way he especially seemed to think she owed him anything. He had some damn nerve after everything he put her through.
"Kim you owe us an explanation" Tommy said matter of factly, arms crossed over his chest as he steps further into her path.
"The last person I owe anything to is you Thomas James Oliver! Now move" She's glaring up at him, hands on her hips as she considers just teleporting to get around him.
"I'm not moving until you talk to us Kim" Tommy is insistent now, rage filling him as she claims he's the last person she owes anything to. After everything that happened between them, after what she had done to him with the letter? He wanted to scream or maybe just lay down and sob for a while. She was still everything to him, even after she had torn his heart to shreds and handed it back to him. He had spent years trying to deny that fact but seeing her standing there, looking not a day older than twenty two and more beautiful than she had any right to, it just wasn't worth trying to pretend to himself anymore.
"Move Tommy or I will move you and I swear to the Power this fight will not go like they used to." Her feet grind down, ready to lash out at him. Kim wonders absently if he's thinking about how their one on one training used to end when they were in high school. Even when they trained at the youth center it always ended up with them back at one of their houses, normally Kim's because her mother was never home, half naked and making out like the teenagers they were. It didn't go any farther until the start of junior year and after that the sparring was basically just extended foreplay.
"Dragon come on." It's Trini that uses the endearment with a hand on his shoulder, one Tommy hadn't heard in a very long time. Once the nicknames based around his white ranger powers came about, their tendency to call him by the mythical beast that had been the symbol of his green ranger powers had fallen out of use. "We'll all have plenty of time to talk." she assures him
Tommy nods but there's still fire in his eyes. "Try not to run off again before we leave." He snaps, ignoring the double yellow ranger glare he picks up for the comment
Kim snorts but shoots her friend an appreciative smile. "No reason to. You can't send any letters in space Oliver!" Kim shouts as she walks out of the room, not bothering to turn around and look at the shocked faces her comment has left behind.
The eleven of them stare at the spot their pink ranger had been in for a long time, stunned into silence. It was a callous thing to say, even if Tommy's comment had been a low blow. Billy watches Tommy while the rest still stare at the door. The long haired man physically flinched when the comment first came from the slight pink ranger and now he looked like he could crumble at any moment. There was that unaccustomed anger from before again, thinking about all the times he had seen his friend like this; so near to breaking that it seemed he was holding himself together by sheer force of will. He would never understand why Kim seemed so insistent on breaking Tommy's heart and what he had ever done to make her think he deserved it.
Galactic Council Outpost Ship 4 Zeta Echo, Kimberly's Bedroom
Kimberly collapsed onto her bed, wishing this day had all been a terrible dream. None of the ill conceived ideas she had about seeing her old team had ever been so spectacularly bad. She hadn't even really had time to think about it, busy with the actual paper work that came along with giving Doverian command and taking what was basically a very extended leave of absence. But once everything had slowed down and she was having dinner with her team, it hit her like a ton of bricks that she would be spending an indefinite amount of time with people who would fight her every step. Who would demand answers and explanations she didn't want to give. And she would have to face that fact the more time she spent around Tommy, the harder it would be to rationalize not letting him within ten feet of her heart again.
She had wanted to strangle him this afternoon. And maybe had so many witnesses not been in the room she just might have. He sure had an awful lot of nerve, talking to her like she had been the one to do something wrong. Rolling over, Kim reached under the bed for the box that she kept there, dropping it on the bed and opening the top. She pulled out her old communicator, sure that it was probably something the team was going to insist on to communicate with. The old photos she left inside the box, deciding that particular part of memory lane wasn't where she wanted to go. Kim finally found what she was looking for at the very bottom of the box, tears pricking her eyes at just the sight of the innocent white envelope. She pulled out the contents, always surprised that it wasn't more battered than she expected. It still hurt to read the words of the break up letter Tommy had sent her, with all of its reasons why they just would never be again; that they were just growing too far apart. That he needed someone who understood how the changing of villains and powers felt, and who hadn't left for something so trivial. That he had begun to fall head over heels for Kat and he would always love Kim, just like a beloved little sister.
She hadn't talked about it with any of the others about it, they were barely talking as it was anyways when she had gotten the letter. And only Trini had ever called to check on her, to see how she was doing in the face of the break up. She had flatly told her best friend she didn't want to talk about it and made an excuse to get off the phone. maybe it had been a respect thing born out of teenage minds, trying to make sure that it didn't tear the group of them apart. It didn't make it hurt any less. Jason had taken weeks to convince her to come along on the trip back to Angel Grove and Kim in equal parts wished she hadn't and was glad for it. Seeing Tommy and Kat together was hell, it tore her apart at her very soul, but everything that happened on that island had given her the push to get back into being a ranger.