Disclaimer: I own none of this. This is just a story I wrote for the enjoyment of others who also love the Power Rangers series, and a good Tommy/Kimberly fic.
Chapter Seven: Why Did You…
"Are you out of your minds?" Tommy snapped at his students. All four rangers stood side by side in the lab, looking at the furious black ranger. They'd never seen him this angry before. Neither had Haley who was sitting at the computer, watching the scene unfold without a clue about what to do.
"Dr. O, that pink ranger needs to be stopped before she can hurt anyone." Connor pointed out.
"I know that Connor, which is why I was trying to talk to her. Kimberly and I were on the same team once. Talking is the best answer right now, and for the love of God! Why in hell were you so anxious to fight her?" Tommy demanded.
"I don't know if you were on the same field as we were, but she blatantly stated that she wanted to kill you, Dr. O. We were helping you." Kira reminded irritated.
"Yeah, and she would've attacked if I hadn't stepped in. Kimberly isn't just my fellow ranger, but yours too. Power Rangers stick together." Tommy shot back.
"Dr. O, we understand that she was your friend, but you can't let your feelings lead you." Trent observed.
"Yeah Dr. O, it seemed like you were bound and determined that she would listen to you. And why take off your helmet? What if someone saw you?" Ethan added.
"No one saw me, and we're not talking about me. We're talking about your lack of compassion for a ranger in trouble." Tommy snarled.
"You're showing a lot of compassion for someone who was against me when I was evil." Trent pointed out.
"What are you implying Trent?" Tommy asked heatedly.
"I'm just saying that the last time an evil ranger was on the loose you weren't in such a big hurry to talk to him." Trent answered calmly.
"He's right Dr. O. None of us trusted Trent. Why are you so anxious to talk to Kimberly?" Kira asked confused.
Tommy glared at his rangers, furious that they were questioning his motives.
"Kimberly hasn't attacked us yet, nor has she encased a ranger in an amber substance." Tommy reminded darkly.
"I couldn't control my impulses anymore than she could, but you're willing to face her alone and without your helmet. You sent us away Dr. O just to talk to her. What's going on here?" Trent shot back.
"How dare you? How dare you question my authority on this? You four know nothing about Kimberly, and you weren't there when I spoke to her! There's something wrong here, and we need to find out what it is! The only way to do that is to talk to her! I will not fight Kimberly and neither will you!" Tommy shouted suddenly.
"Tommy, that's enough!" Haley said sharply. Tommy whirled on her, his dark brown eyes flashing dangerously. The red head didn't move from her seat, but she glared right back at him.
"I will not let anything happen to her!" Tommy spat.
"No one asked you to. Damn it Tommy! You need to tell them the truth! Tell them why this is so important to you!" Haley snapped. The building rage suddenly fell flat at his feet, and Tommy was forced to come to a decision. The other rangers had a right to know why he was acting this way.
"All right. Kimberly wasn't just the pink ranger to me. She was more." Tommy began hesitantly.
"So she was a friend. What else is there?" Connor urged. Tommy shot him a look of exasperation, unable to believe what he was hearing. The other three rangers were also giving him the same look. Clearly they had come to the correct conclusion, but it seemed like he had to say it out loud anyway.
"Kimberly and I were romantically involved for a time as rangers." Tommy informed.
"No!" Connor gasped.
"Oh for crying out loud Connor! How thick can you get?" Kira bereted.
"Dude, Dr. O said she was more than just the pink ranger to him. Wasn't that obvious enough, aside from his behavior?" Ethan asked.
"That was a sign." Connor said confused.
"We're gonna be here forever. Okay, so you and Kimberly have a past together that goes deep. You still care for her then?" Trent inquired.
"Yes, and I won't see Kimberly hurt because of this. She's been through hell as a ranger, and I won't see her suffer again." Tommy explained more calmly.
"You love her." Kira said suddenly.
Tommy didn't bother to contradict her because he knew it was true. It was something he'd denied for a long time after she'd left. Kimberly Hart would always hold his heart.
"I just need to try to get through to her without violence. Too many have suffered because of conflicts like these. When I was evil I hurt many people, not just the rangers. If I can just get through to Kim then we can get her away from Mesagog." Tommy sighed.
"What can we do to help?" Kira asked.
"I don't know." Tommy confessed.
"What if she comes back?" Connor asked.
"We respond, but we try to reason with her. Fighting will be our last resort." Tommy finally agreed.
"Tommy, maybe you need some time alone." Haley suggested.
"Yeah, I think you're right. I need to get my head on straight. I'm sorry for being so harsh with you all. It's not your fault." Tommy apologized.
The rangers were the first to leave, offering their sympathies to their teacher. Haley left shortly after they did, offering an ear if he needed someone to talk to. Once he was finally alone, he picked up the phone, and dialed a familiar number.
"Hey Bro, long time no see." Jason Scott, original red ranger said.
"Hey Jase." Tommy replied grimly.
"Uh oh. What's up Tommy?" Jason asked concerned. He recognized the tone in Tommy's voice, signaling that something was wrong.
"Jase, when was the last time you saw Kimberly?" Tommy asked hesitantly.
"Kimberly? I haven't seen or spoken to her since Muranthias. Why would you bring her up?" Jason asked confused.
"Kimberly is here in Reefside, and she's been captured by Mesagog." Tommy said grimly.
"Is she okay?" Jason asked.
"Mesagog did something to her, made her evil somehow." Tommy answered.
"Wait a minute? Why would Mesagog take her in first place? He can't know about your past together, and she's not even a ranger anymore." Jason pointed out.
"Actually, Kimberly has her powers back." Tommy added.
"What!" Jason exclaimed.
"I don't know how it happened or when. All I know is that Kim was caught up in the fight against Mesagog, and she was morphed when I first saw her. Before you even ask, she's short and she has the same fighting style as Kim." Tommy explained.
"So you have an evil pink ranger to deal with. Has she hurt anyone?" Jason questioned.
"Not yet, but she's after the rangers, and she wants to kill me." Tommy admitted.
"You? What problem could she have with you? If anything you should be the one to have the problem with her." Jason snorted.
"That's just it Jase, I don't know what's going on. I was hoping you might have some insight, since you two were close when we were in high school. I figure maybe she'd have told you something over the years. We went up against her today. There was no physical fighting, just arguing really. She told me that I broke her heart." Tommy explained confused.
"You broke her heart? It sounds like Mesagog has messed with her head in more ways than one." Jason said disgusted.
"No Jase, I think it's more than that. Kim also said that she broke up with me to save me the trouble of doing it myself. She thinks that Kat and I were into each other." Tommy added.
"Kim broke up with you, so you could be with Kat. Am I hearing this right?" Jason asked baffled.
"That's what she implied. Jason, I don't know what's going on with Kimberly, but I need to get her back. I need to know what happened all those years ago. Why haven't you spoken to her since Muranthias?" Tommy demanded.
"I haven't spoken to her since then because I didn't want to. I wouldn't have come back with her at all, but Trini begged me to. She said Kim needed to get back home, and see some friendly faces again." Jason admitted.
"So then one of the others must know something about her." Tommy deduced.
"No, I don't think they will. Tommy, there's something you should know." Jason began heavily.
"What?" Tommy asked baffled.
Jason let out a deep sigh on the other end of the line, as if he didn't know where to begin. It was rather unnerving to Tommy since Jason was rarely ever at a loss for words. He waited patiently until Jason spoke again, "After you received that letter from Kim, none of us bothered to contact her. We saw what it did to you, and frankly we were pissed. She was cruel after everything you went through together. It was unanimously decided that none of us were going to speak to Kimberly. Even Aisha, who wasn't there for the letter didn't contact her. I think Adam, Rocky, or Billy said something to her in one of their letters." Tommy sat there numb, not believing what he was hearing.
"Jason, are you saying that no one bothered to check up on Kimberly since then?" Tommy asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Trini was the only one. She remained Kim's best friend up until the day she died. If anyone knew anything about Kim it would've been her. I guess she didn't have as much of a problem with what Kim did. She even bereted me for bad mouthing Kim once on the phone." Jason added.
"So Kimberly hasn't had contact with any of the rangers since Trini died? Damn it!" Tommy cursed.
"Look Tommy, why are you upset about it? She obviously didn't care about Trini as much because she didn't even show up at her funeral." Jason reminded.
"That's a lie!" Tommy spat furiously. He couldn't contain himself any longer. Just hearing his best friend say these things about the woman they had all called a friend burned him.
"What?" Jason said stunned.
"Kimberly was at the funeral, but she never let any of the rangers see her! Kimberly lost the only friend she had left, and she grieved alone! We weren't there for her! Damn it Jason! Why didn't you reach out to her? Fuck it! Why didn't any of us? You think that some stupid letter is worth punishing her over when Trini died?" Tommy shouted enraged.
Tears began to spill down his face without warning. He was beginning to realize that Kimberly had been alone all this time. At least Trini had been there for a while, but what had happened when she'd died? Kim would've had no one then, and where would that have left her? Was that why she'd run from the rangers when she'd been injured? "Tommy, we did it for you. You were our leader, and you needed the support." Jason said quietly.
"And what about Kimberly huh? Who gave her support once Trini died? No one! I was devastated when I got her letter, but I never intended for her to lose her friends!" Tommy shot back.
"You never stopped loving her." Jason realized stunned.
"Of course I didn't!" Tommy said bitterly.
"What do you want me to do?" Jason asked suddenly.
"What?" Tommy asked darkly.
"Kim's in trouble, and you need help. What can I do to help you Bro?" Jason asked again.
"Can you morph?" Tommy demanded.
"I don't know. You think maybe I could?" Jason asked.
"I don't know how Kim got her powers back, but there may be a chance that the others have them too. You're right. I need help, but I don't know if it requires you to put on the suit again." Tommy informed.
"I'll see if I can morph, and then I'll get back to you." Jason promised.
"Right. Just be careful, and make sure nobody sees you." Tommy warned.
"Bro, remember who you're talking to." Jason chuckled.
"Force of habit. Talk to you later Bro." Tommy said, feeling a little better.
After hanging up with Jason he decided to try his own test. He still had his Zeo powers, and he'd given up the Turbo powers to TJ. It was his Mighty Morphin powers that he was curious about. He went over to one of the dino prints on the wall, and held his hand up to it. The print began to make a sound as a scanner took in the image of his hand. There was a slight click as his handprint was recognized. A small door opened up beneath the dino print, and Tommy looked inside. It was a small safe that even Haley didn't know about. She'd made the scanner, but it had been Tommy's choice on where to install it. He'd stored his old morphers and power coins in the safe for fear that they may fall into the wrong hands. Grabbing the Power Morpher and one of the gold coins, Tommy pulled it out.
Upon touching the coin, an electrical charge surged through his body. Ignoring the sensation Tommy placed the coin into the Power Morpher, and green electricity sparked off it. Pushing back nerves Tommy called out, "It's Morphin Time! Dragonzord!" Green light surrounded him, and the next thing he knew he'd morphed into the Green Ranger. Impossible! His dragon coin wasn't supposed to have any power left. The last traces of power he'd felt from it had been just before Lord Zedd had taken his green ranger powers for good. Now strangely enough, it felt like he'd just been given his coin for the first time. The power flowing through him was intense.
"Power Down." Tommy called out reluctantly. He placed the dragon coin back in the safe, and pulled out the Tiger coin. "Tiger Zord!" This time the light that engulfed him was white, but the results were the same. Tommy had morphed into the White Ranger, whose powers he'd believed lost long ago. After powering down one more time, Tommy pulled out the falcon coin. Much to his shock, the coin was shiny and unblemished. The last time he'd seen the coin it had been heavily damaged no thanks to Goldar. Pushing the coin into the morpher Tommy called out, "White Ranger Power!" And just like that he was the White Ranger again. Two lights shot out of the safe, and one out of the coin on his belt. He looked up to see the dragon, white tiger, and falcon circling his head.
"What the hell is happening?" Tommy asked. The spirits shot back into the their respective coins, leaving Tommy flummoxed. The falcon let out a cry inside his head, and for the first time in years Tommy felt connected once again to his ninjetti spirit.
An idea suddenly came to Tommy. If he had connected to the falcon then it was more than likely that Kimberly had connected to the Crane. There had been a point in time when they had been able to communicate telepathically with each other because their bond had been so strong. Would it work now? Would the falcon be able to find his crane? It was a long shot, but there was only one way to find out. Staying in his ranger suit, Tommy settled himself on the floor legs crossed in a meditative position. Placing his hands on his legs, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Mentally he called out to her, "Kimberly." The falcon followed with a cry of his own. Nothing. He tried again, calling out for her with the same results. Unwilling to give up so easily Tommy kept crying out for Kim, reaching for her in his mind wherever she may be. The time passed, but he barely noticed as he was so focused on finding her.
"Kimberly. Beautiful, it's me. I'm here for you. Please answer me."
"Tommy?" Kim's voice finally sounded. Her voice was distant and weak, but it was there.
"Oh God! Kimberly! It's you! Thank God! It worked!" Tommy exclaimed excited.
"You woke the falcon." She said.
"Yeah, and he found the crane." Tommy added.
"Tommy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you or the other rangers. Mesagog's control is very strong. I'm barely able to get through to you now. I don't know how long I have before the evil takes control." Kim warned.
"All right, I'll try to be quick. Kim, how'd you end up in Reefside? Did Mesagog kidnap you? I mean from home." Tommy wanted to know.
"I live in Reefside now Tommy. I transferred recently as part of my job." Kim informed quickly.
"Your job? Then what the hell were you doing by that warehouse fighting Mesagog's goons?" Tommy asked. Kim let out a slight chuckle and said, "Tommy, I'm an agent with the RATF."
"You work with the Ranger Assistance Task Force?" Tommy gasped.
"Yeah. Please stay with me Tommy. I ran into Mesagog's goons by accident. I started fighting them, and by some miracle I was able to morph. My powers are stronger than ever. I fear what Mesagog will do with access to them." Kim explained frantically.
"Take it easy Kim. It's going to be all right. I won't let Mesagog hurt you." Tommy promised.
"I don't think you have choice. That Elsa woman kidnapped from the hospital without any trouble. Mesagog isn't like Rita and Zedd." Kim informed.
"I know that Kim, and I swear to you that we will save you!" Tommy assured.
"I believe you." Kim replied.
"Why did you run from us after the fight? We could've helped you." Tommy said, changing the subject.
"I was scared. Everything happened so fast that I reacted on a self perseveration instinct." Kim said.
"Self preservation? Kim, you know the rangers would never hurt you." Tommy said gently.
"Maybe not, but… Uh oh. The evil is taking hold. I'm sorry Tommy! I'm so sorry!" Kim apologized tearfully.
"Hang on Kimberly! I'll save you!" Tommy exclaimed frantically.
"Tommy!" Her screams echoed through his head as their connection was severed by the forces of evil.