Chapter Seven

They drove out into the desert later that afternoon. Tommy had simply told his parents that they wanted to visit a few places where they were with their friends most often. Neither of them were sure that they believed them, but they were thankful that they didn't press them for the truth. They were certain that that would happen enough this week. The families deserved the truth.

He ran his hand over the access panel and closed his eyes. He was not sure that he wanted to step back inside the Command Center, but he was sure that he needed to. He was sure that he needed to see this place again. Kim's hand steadied in the crook of his back and he keyed them in with shaking hands.

They walked down the corridor in silence as the Command Center slowly crackled to life. They had made it roughly halfway down the corridor when Kimberly came to an abrupt stop and he looked back at her. His concern spiked and then he saw that she was staring at the walls. As his eyes shifted from her to the walls, he felt the shock settle over him. His rangers. His rangers were on the walls.

"Tommy…you never said that…where did these pictures come from?" Kim whispered as she walked towards the nearest picture and ran her hands across the bottom of the frame. She gasped as the picture shifted to one of that ranger in their uniform, without their helmet. When she pulled her hand back, the picture returned to one of Tommy and that ranger. "Tommy…"

"For they were taken too soon," Tommy whispered as he read the inscription under the Dino Thunder team's photo. He glanced up and down the corridor and saw that the walls were covered by all of the ranger portraits. "They all met me, even if it wasn't on a mission. For some reason- it kept happening. After a while- I just accepted that this was part of my ranger life and gave them all the advice that I could give in the time I was around them. I just can't believe that the Command Center…"

He trailed off as he stood in front of the final picture. It was a picture of the two of them on their wedding day and he gently touched the frame. He felt Kimberly join him as he stared at each of his ranger incarnations and at the couple that Kimberly had held as well. There was one word below their picture- mentor. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. No. He would never be a mentor again. He promised her that would not happen.

"It's almost like the Command Center is in mourning too," Kim whispered and it brought him back to where he was standing.

"It makes sense. This place…this being has nurtured so many rangers. I doubt it ever thought that something like this would happen. I know that I never thought it would happen," Tommy stated and he found her cuddling in to his arms. She had been like this all morning and he enjoyed it. He enjoyed the feeling of the both of them in his arms. "C'mon- we should see if there's anything else for us."

They walked through the doors in to the main chamber and froze. Pristine uniforms lined the walls, uniforms that he did not recognize. He scanned the room and quickly ascertained that the Command Center was not hosting an active team. There were none of the normal signs of something like that happening. The uniforms though. The uniforms meant that the Command Center was prepared for more Power Rangers to come in to existence. Soon.

He walked back towards the dormitory and found six, individual, rooms instead the large bay. He left Kimberly behind as he moved from one area to another. He needed to get as much information as he could, as quickly as he could. When he walked back in to the former library there was one book lying on the table and he picked it up. He did not need to look at the title. He knew that it was for them.

"Is there…" Kim trailed off as Tommy barely shook his head no. "So why does it look like this?"

"The Command Center prepares for coming rangers. I've seen it do this in the past. It also looks like it left something for us," Tommy stated as he handed her the book and he watched her face crumble. He grabbed the book, looked at the title, and then pulled her in to his chest. He had accepted what that book probably had to give long ago, but he knew how much this crushed a dream that she had. "I meant what I said- I'm out, Kimberly."

The lights flickered in the Command Center and he felt a gust of air against his back. He was grateful that her face was buried against his chest and that she had not seen the Command Center's reaction to him saying he was out. He needed to be out for his own sanity. He needed to be out for his family.

"All of this means that something else is going to come after the Earth, that everything we went through didn't end it," Kim forced out as she burrowed in even closer to him. The temperature was dropping in the Command Center quickly and he knew that he needed to get them moving. He was not going to put them in danger today. He ushered her back towards the corridor, dropping the book back on the floor. His main focus was keeping the two of them safe. Their footsteps became distant echoes as a presence swept in to the main chamber and hovered over The Reluctant Mentor. The book disappeared as the Command Center went pitch black. They were the only mentors and they were going to be desperately needed.