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 Eight: The Wise Wolf
Tommy heard back from Jason fairly quickly. Actually Jason had been trying to call him back for over half an hour, but Tommy had been communicating with Kimberly, so he'd lost all sense of everything else. The phone was ringing when he came out of his trance, and he picked it up in a daze.
"Hello." He mumbled.
"It's about time Bro! I've been calling and calling. You told me to call you back ASAP." Jason groused.
"Sorry Jase. I just talked to Kimberly." Tommy said numbly.
"How?" Jason demanded.
"Remember how I told you about the Ninjetti powers?" Tommy asked.
"Yes, each ranger was given his or her own animal spirit." Jason replied.
"Well, there was more to it, at least for Kim and I. Our spirits were connected on a deeper level, allowing us to communicate telepathically with each other. When Kim left for Florida our bond broke because she'd given up the coin. The falcon was broken after that, and after the coins were destroyed I never felt him again. I'd never felt another connection to Kimberly. It was strange though, Kat was never able to fully connect with the crane. It was like she only listened to Kat because she was the holder of the coin. I tried to see if Kat was able to communicate the same way, but she couldn't." Tommy explained.
"Maybe it was because she wasn't the original holder of the crane coin." Jason suggested.
"That shouldn't make a difference Jase. Rocky, Adam, and Aisha never had trouble controlling the Thunder Beasts when you, Zack, and Trini left." Tommy pointed out.
"Ok. You were dating when you got the Ninjetti powers. You were the closest on the team, except for Kim and Billy. We were all like brothers and sisters when we started out as rangers. Did anyone ever see if Billy could communicate telepathically?" Jason asked.
"No, Kim and I kinda kept it to ourselves. No one else knew we could do that. If the others knew then they never said anything." Tommy replied.
"How did your chat with Kim go? Did she listen to anything you said?" Jason asked hesitantly.
"Yes, she listened. Kim was able to communicate with me through our bond. I guess it was reformed because we got our powers again, but I'm still not sure how that happened." Tommy suggested.
"How is she?" Jason wondered.
"Terrified. She had a hard enough time breaking through just to talk to me. The darkness inside her is powerful. You want to hear something weird though? Kim is with the RATF, and she just transferred to Reefside as part of her assignment." Tommy replied.
"Kim's with RATF? Kimberly Ann Hart is with the RATF!" Jason exclaimed flabbergasted.
"I know. I was shocked too. Back to the important point, did you try to morph?" Tommy inquired.
"Oh yeah! Yeah, I can still morph. It's strange because ever since we went on that mission on the moon with the other red rangers I've felt stronger than ever. I still don't understand how my powers returned." Jason answered, sounding confused.
"Me neither, and just to make things more complicated I can take on all three of my old ranger forms." Tommy added.
"That makes three of us veterans who can morph again. What do you think it means?" Jason asked curiously.
"I don't know, but I want to know if the other rangers are able to morph too." Tommy answered seriously.
"Guess I know what my job is then." Jason chuckled.
"I'm not asking you to do that." Tommy said firmly.
"No you're not. I'm volunteering. We're power rangers Tommy, and we stick together. Besides, we owe it to Kim." Jason added.
"Thank you Jase. I'll update my team here. Just get back to me when you can. And for Christ's sake, find Billy. Is he back on Earth yet?" Tommy demanded.
"Last I checked he hadn't left Earth since Trini's death. He and Cestria were over long ago anyway. I'll see what our blue genius can come up with for a theory." Jason promised.
"All right. Now we're getting somewhere." Tommy said relieved.
When Jason got off the phone with Tommy he felt a wave of emotions running through his body. He hadn't felt like this since his ranger days. They were supposed to be long over, but now it seemed like the mantle had been taken up again for some reason. If anyone could figure out why they'd gotten their powers back it would be Billy. Picking up the phone again he dialed Billy, and after a few rings he got a sleepy answer, "Hello, this is Billy speaking."
"Jesus Billy, it's seven thirty on a Friday night. What the hell are you doing in bed?" Jason scoffed.
"Sleeping." Billy grumbled.
"You're quite the smart ass in your old age Bill." Jason joked.
"Don't call me Bill, Jason." Billy insisted.
"Sorry. Look Billy, I hate to interrupt your beauty sleep, but I need your help." Jason said seriously. Billy's voice changed instantly from sleepy to alert, "What's wrong?"
"Before I tell you, I need you to do something for me." Jason replied.
"Okay, what?" Billy asked.
"I need you to morph." Jason answered.
There was a stunned silence on the other end for several minutes before Billy finally replied, "Jason, you know we can't morph anymore. Our powers were destroyed."
"Just try it for me Billy, and I'll explain everything afterwards whether you can do it or not." Jason pleaded.
"Okay. Okay. Hang on." Billy sighed. There was a rustling as Billy got out of bed. Jason waited on the line until he heard his old friend call out, "It's Morphin Time! Triceratops!" It was less than minute later that he heard, "Shit!" Jason couldn't help the grin that crossed his face, already knowing what had happened on Billy's end.
"Now try your Ninjetti powers." Jason informed.
"Prodigious." Billy said awed.
"The sooner you try it the sooner you can have the story." Jason offered. Just like before, Billy's Ninjetti powers were restored as well.
"You knew that I could morph didn't you?" Billy asked finally.
"This is where the story comes in, and this is also where I need your help." Jason answered.
"I'm listening." Billy said. Jason explained the story to the blue ranger, who listened in silence until he'd finished.
"And now that's four rangers who can morph without an explanation as to how they got their powers back. My job is to call the rest to see if they can morph as well." Jason concluded.
"This is the most fascinating and complex problem I've come across in years. I'm ready to work. I'll find out why we have our powers back. Damn, I just wish Trini were here to assist me." Billy said sadly. Jason felt a pang himself for the loss of the former yellow ranger.
Billy and Trini had been best friends, and at times it seemed that they might be soul mates. At least, that's what Kim had said when they were in high school. They fit together like two puzzle pieces, and after Trini's death Billy had seemed a bit more detached from the rest of them.
"She's with you in spirit Man." Jason said gently.
"Yes, you're correct even if the notion should seem impossible. I won't let her down. Kimberly was her best friend, and ours too. It's time we bring her home." Billy said somberly.
"My thoughts exactly. Tommy is worried sick about Kim, but I think his little chat with her helped him. He has more hope now." Jason replied.
"As he should. We'll never leave a ranger behind, not again." Billy added.
"What is your take on the whole telepathy that Tommy and Kim shared?" Jason asked suddenly.
"Tommy and Kimberly were able to combine their powers on occasions, and their attacks seemed to meld together when fired. No one else's did that. Their bond was special, and I think Tommy is right that with the restoration of our powers it brought back the bond." Billy explained.
"Any thoughts on the return of our powers?" Jason asked.
"Not yet. Damn it! Where is Zordon when you need him?" Billy growled.
"Zordon is gone. It's up to us now. There were Rangers after us who didn't have Zordon, and they did just fine. If you think about it though, Tommy is our new Zordon." Jason said.
"Tommy as the new Zordon? Well, hopefully he wouldn't forget that he was supposed to remain in his tube." Billy chuckled.
"He'd forget the names of the monsters that Rita and Zedd sent out." Jason added. The two rangers chuckled at the thought of Tommy as their former mentor before quieting down.
"Look, if you can arrange it get the other rangers over to my place tomorrow around lunchtime. I'll discuss what I have with you then." Billy proposed.
"How do you know the other rangers can morph?" Jason asked.
We can both morph." Billy answered simply.
"Okay, I get that. Why don't you elaborate?" Jason suggested.
"You were one of the first rangers, and you can still morph even after you gave up your powers. I was the only blue ranger on the team, and I stayed until our powers were destroyed. If you think about it we're two different generations of rangers, so if a ranger from both generations can morph then its likely that the others can too." Billy explained.
"I'm starting to feel like this is high school all over again." Jason groaned.
"Strap on your communicator Jase, so I can contact you when I need to. I'll see if I can, get the teleportation system up while I'm at it." Billy added.
"You can do that?" Jason asked flabbergasted.
"Sure, all I need to do is tap into the power grid and…" Jason cut him off, "I won't understand anything you say after that. Save it for the meeting, tomorrow. I've got to contact the others." Billy and Jason exchanged goodbyes, both wondering what the following days would bring.