DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power rangers or anything affiliated with the series. I do, however, own the characters of Melissa Blake and Chad McPherson.
AN: Okay, firstly, this chapter occurs on the same day as the questioning and confession of Chad McPherson. The rangers know nothing. They will find out everything in the next chapter and I have had to extend my plan to include two more chapters after this one. I didn't think it wise to write a fifteen thousand word chapter. I hope you enjoy this one though!
After the week of investigation, the rangers decided that they needed sometime for themselves, away from everyone else. This usually would mean going to one of their houses and having dinner, but this time it was different. This time they knew what they had to do and where they had to go. It could possibly be the last time they could go there and spending the weekend at the Command Center would certainly cleanse them some. That is why they met at Tommy and Kimberly's home, late Friday afternoon.
"Are you sure we have everything?" Tommy asked, as Kimberly stumbled down the stairs and looked over at him with an astonished look on her face. She could not believe what she was looking at and she hoped that he would tell her whether or not she was hallucinating. She had thought that the first test was a fluke, but after the third one this afternoon, she was fairly sure it was right. She just needed someone else to confirm it for her. "Kimberly, are you all right?"
"Yeah, but Tommy, I need you to read the directions to this and tell me if I read it right," Kim said as she handed him a pregnancy test and a box.
Tommy gave her a shocked look before he looked down at the box and test. He knew that she had not felt well the last few mornings, but he had not thought that she was pregnant. He had thought it was just some virus that she had caught from the kids at school, obviously she had thought that that was the explanation.
"Why would you be worried about being pregnant Kim?" Tommy asked as he carefully read the directions and then looked at the result strip and gave her the same bewildered look. When had this happened? They hadn't honestly been trying to get pregnant this time. Their life was so busy right now that they thought it best to wait just a little bit longer, obviously they hadn't been as careful as they thought.
"I am pregnant, aren't I?" Kim asked as Tommy shook his head yes and then gathered her into a strong hug. They had wanted this for so long and for it to finally happen was a blessing, especially with everything else they were dealing with. They both needed something good to happen right now and although they didn't expect this, they certainly were happy it did happen. "You know that we have to tell the others."
"I know and I'm perfectly fine with that. They'll be happy for us," Tommy said as he smiled down at her and noticed that she was crying. "Hey, what's wrong? What did I say?"
"I just thought that Trini would be here to see this day," Kim sobbed as he pulled her even closer and let out a few tears of his own.
After what she had done for them over the last year, they knew that Trini would have been happy to see that they were pregnant again, but they didn't know if they could bear telling Jason after what he had just lost. They didn't want to upset him anymore than he already was, but they also didn't think that they should even try to hold this back from him. It was going to be obvious in a few months that she was; there was no use in putting off the inevitable.
"I know, we all did. This is something that we never thought would happen," Tommy whispered as the doorbell rang and he slowly let go of her and walked to the door.
"Hey," Jason said, quietly, as Tommy opened the door. He had finally shaved his beard and taken a bath and he felt slightly human again, although he didn't feel anywhere near whole. He knew that it would be a long time before he felt that way again.
"Hey," Tommy said, warmly, as Jason glanced down at his hand, which he could tell was holding a pregnancy test. He knew that they must have some sort of news for all of them, but it would be best to just let it come up. He didn't want to ask that question of them right now.
"The others will be here in a little bit. Zack's running a little bit late, Angela doesn't understand why he needs a whole weekend with us, so he's having to explain it and I don't think it's going well," Jason said as Tommy nodded and then walked him inside.
"Hey, Jase," Kim said as she walked over and gave him a hug. Sure, she had seen him everyday this week, but he needed more emotional support than the rest of them. He had just lost his wife and while the rest of them had lost a good friend, they didn't have anywhere near the same amount of grief that he was having. "Today been better?"
"A little bit. I finally tried some human things again," Jason said as Kim nodded and then pulled him into the kitchen.
"What do you want us to bring up there to eat?" Kim asked, as she opened the pantry doors and Jason gave her a weak smile. He hated to tell her that he didn't feel like eating much of anything, but he knew that it was the truth. He just didn't know if he could bring himself to upset her that much more.
"I don't really care. Just pick whatever all of you will like. I'll eat anything," Jason said as he gave Kim a small smile and then turned to go back to the living room and sit down.
"Hello!" Zack yelled as he entered their home, with Billy right behind him, shaking his head. Why did Zack always have to make a grand entrance? "Listen, my wife is going to have my ass if I'm not back by tomorrow night, it's all I could get from her guys. She was having a mood swing from hell when I left, so I better not push my luck, otherwise I will really be in the dog house."
"That's fine, Zack. One night is better than none," Jason said as Zack looked over at him and then at Kimberly and Tommy.
"Are the two of you all right?" Billy asked as he looked from one to the other and they just nodded their heads yes. There would come a time in their conversation tonight when they would tell them that they were going to have a baby, but right now as not the time.
"Come on, guys. We better go ahead and head out. I don't want to be driving up there in the dark," Kim said as the four men nodded their heads and then trudged out of the house and hopped into Kimberly's Trail Blazer.
Command Center
"I love this place," Kim whispered as they tumbled out of the Trail Blazer and then walked towards the hidden entrance. When it was destroyed the second time, it didn't bother to rebuild itself on the surface, but it still did rebuild itself for the rangers and that was all that mattered to them. They still had the place that had been their salvation for so many years and no one could take this place away from them, no matter how hard they tried.
"It's a shame this may be the last time that we get to see it for a long time," Billy said as they all nodded. Now that they knew the police department was keeping tabs on them, they were afraid to come here, but they had to tonight. They had to lay some things to rest and this was the only place that they could do that.
"Come on, Billy, you don't believe that a couple of police officers are going to keep us from coming here for very long. We'll just let things settle down a little bit more before we come out here again," Tommy said as he helped Kim down the embankment that led to the entrance.
The last thing they needed right now was to lose another baby, because he knew it would push Kim over the edge and he didn't know if he could pull her back. They had lost too much to have that happen again and them be able to survive it.
"Billy, what was Trini talking about when she said I should ask you about the plan?" Jason asked as they reached the entrance to the Command Center and the doors opened to allow them in. Once they were inside, they bolted it shut and continued into the main room of the Command Center.
"When we first became rangers, the two of us devised a plan of what we would do if we were found out by a civilian group insistent on telling the world who we were. She would go talk to the person, try to reason with them about why our identities have to be kept secret. I would have the Command Center monitor the situation, in case anything went wrong. In the plan, she would write us instructions as to what we should do, in case anything went wrong and she couldn't tell us herself. She stuck with the plan and we know who did it. It's just going to be hard to get a case like that to hold up in court without a confession. I highly doubt they will take the video that we have," Billy said, as he let out a long sigh and looked over at Jason, who was letting the information sink in.
He was afraid that Jason was going to blame him for what had happened to Trini and in a way Billy did blame himself. They had come up with the plan and they never had attempted to change it when their lives changed.
"There was a lot more going on that none of you know about," Jason said as they all looked over at him. They had been dispersing to gather the mattresses they had brought here years ago, but he halted all of them. What did he have to reveal to them?
"What was going on Jason?" Kim asked as Jason stared over at the tube that used to hold Zordon and took in a very shaky breath. He knew that he had to tell them now, but it still didn't make it any easier.
"We found out on Thursday that she was pregnant," Jason said as Tommy grabbed Kimberly to keep her from falling to the ground as they all stared at him in awe. "We were going to tell all of you when we got back from our vacation."
"Why didn't you tell us right after she died?" Zack asked as he looked over at Jason, while Jason watched Kim and Tommy. He now knew he was right to assume that Kimberly was pregnant, Tommy's face had never been that pale before when he had heard any sort of news.
"I was having a hard time just admitting that she was gone, I needed some time before I could tell all of you that she was pregnant," Jason said as Kim let out a strangled sob and turned around and fell into Tommy's waiting arms. It wasn't that Kim had been keeping herself together that well over the last few days, but now that she knew that her and Trini were probably pregnant at the same time, it hit her really hard that she wouldn't ever have her here again.
"While we're telling secrets, I guess that you need to know that although Trini was my first, I know that she belonged with you, not me. I've never held it against you that you got the girl," Billy said as Zack and Tommy stared over at him and Kim looked up at Tommy's face. Trini had never mentioned to any of them that she had had sex with Billy and they thought that one of them would have said something. And when did they have time to do that in high school? They were fighting monsters almost every afternoon.
"I know, Billy. She told me a long time ago. I just never thought to mention it. It wasn't something I wanted to make the team pay for, when I was fine with what had happened," Jason said as Zack and Tommy looked at each other and Kim let out another loud sob.
"I'm pregnant," Kim cried as all four of them looked at her. Yes, Tommy already knew, but he had not expected her to just blurt it out. He had expected her to wait for a time when all of them were less emotionally charged.
"What?" Billy and Zack yelled as Tommy looked over at Jason, who was remarkably calm, which meant that he must have already figured it out, somehow. "When did you find out?"
"Today," Tommy said as Kim continued to shake in his arms and he gently picked her up and sat her on top of one of the modules, so that he could devote more attention to calming her down. She didn't need anymore stress on her than what she was already feeling.
"Congratulations," Jason said as he walked over and gave Kim a hug, which she gratefully fell into. "Let's pull out those mattresses. We have a lot to talk about tonight."
"We know who killed her?" Kim asked as Billy nodded his head yes. They had arranged the mattresses in a line and were now settled down on them.
"Yeah. I don't know names, but I do have evidence of who killed her. I just don't think that it will be admissible in court; we would have to reveal where it came from, although I am willing to do that," Billy said as he walked over and started up the viewing globe.
"I don't know if I can take this," Jason said as Billy just nodded his head and Kim scooted closer to Tommy, who pulled her into a hug.
"I'll turn it off if you need me to, but there is a chance that the rest of us might know who it is," Billy said as they began watching the scene unfold.
"Who is in the car with her?" Kim asked as she squinted to see the man's form better.
"Don't worry, it is apparent when he exits the car," Billy said as Trini's car crashed into the tree and the man then picked up some objects out of the car and opened the door.
"Holy shit," Kim said as she saw the second car come up and the first man entered the car. "I don't know who the first man is, but the one in the getaway car is Chad McPherson. He's a police officer and he's the one that brought Melissa all of our information and he talked to Trini that day."
"My hypothesis is that the man that killed Trini is a fellow police officer and that they had this planned ever since they got put on ranger detail. They want to reveal us and they could not understand the lengths we would go to, to protect our identities. That is the thing that messed up their perfect plan, we won't be as quiet as they wish for us to be and they think that empty threats, such as us having to pay for the damage we caused will make us forget what they did to Trini. All of us would willingly pay, but they didn't know that until they heard our interviews. The next move they make will be much more drastic," Billy said as Jason just shook his head.
"Why didn't I go with her?" Jason asked as he just shook his head. "I could have stopped all of this from happening."
"Jason, they could have killed you too and I don't think we could have taken the both of you dying," Zack said as Jason nodded his head, but he still couldn't help but think that maybe Trini could have gotten away if he had been there to put up a fight.
"Billy, he touched our packets. Doesn't that mean that his fingerprints should be on them?" Tommy asked as they looked over at him. How he was able to think of that at a time like this, none of them knew, but they certainly were grateful that he still had enough of a mind left to think.
"Mine's in the car," Kim said as Tommy just nodded his head. He had no intention of leaving this Command Center tonight, as he was certain that they had been followed and he knew that they couldn't risk each other. They would leave in the morning, when they could clearly see anything that might be around them.
"We'll get it when we leave, you're not going out there right now," Tommy said as Kim nodded.
"Who are we going to take it to? The Angel Grove police department is likely to just rip it up and throw it away. They don't want us to have any proof of who did this to Trini. They probably just want us to set up a press conference and reveal ourselves along with the fact that someone murdered a ranger. That would just send the media into a frenzy," Zack said as Jason looked up from the ground. He knew who they should take it to.
"Melissa. She's been contacted by the FBI and they are doing a full investigation of the Angel Grove police department. She can give them everything else that we have found," Jason said as they looked over at him. They could not believe that the FBI had been brought in to examine this case.
"That makes sense. A murder of this kind does spread within a police department, especially when the right people hear about it and I can imagine that the FBI placed an agent in Angel Grove soon after the ranger teams began appearing. He would be the perfect person to tip them off about the police department misconduct," Billy said as the others nodded. They were certain that that was what attracted so many people to Angel Grove as well.
"Yeah, but what if they just want to reveal us too?" Tommy asked as the others looked at him. He was the only one that seemed to be thinking logically tonight and they were grateful for that. They didn't need to make a plan and then realize how stupid it was when they were thinking clearly again.
"It's a risk we have to take. If they can help us bring down Trini's murderer, then we need to take those packets to them or at least the envelope. I don't know if I can let go of the rest of the stuff," Kim said as the others nodded. Everything else that was in that package was their personal life and they didn't want to risk anymore of it getting back into the wrong hands.
"Well, I brought some beer and I think I have some water in there somewhere, Kim," Zack said as he walked over to the cooler and pulled out four beers and dug around until he had found the water that he had stashed in there as well, just to make his wife happy. If he had known Kim was pregnant he would have brought more, but they had what they had and they couldn't change it.
"There is so much that I remember about her," Kim said as she leaned back against Tommy and looked up at the ceiling. "Like the time she came home to surprise us."
Flashback
It was Christmas 1998, all of the rangers had graduated from high school and had been at college for a semester, but most of them lived close enough that they could get together for Christmas in Angel Grove. The only one that they were worried about coming was Trini. She lived in New York and they didn't see how she was going to be able to manage to get out there.
"Merry Christmas!" Kim chorused as she walked into Tommy's apartment to see the other rangers already lounging around on the furniture. "Sorry that I'm running late, my mom stopped by and I had to talk to her for a little while."
"It's fine, we're still waiting on Tanya and Adam to show up," Kat said as they gave her a suspicious look. She knew something that the rest of them didn't, but it looked like she was not going to tell any time soon.
"So when was the last time you talked to Trini?" Jason asked as Kim looked thoughtfully at the ceiling.
"Two days ago. She seemed upset about not being able to make it out here, but it's just too much to ask. She's got a lot that she has to work on," Kim said as Jason nodded his head. He had gotten the same impression, but he had wanted to have a second opinion. "By the way, where's Tommy?"
"He had to run out for something he forgot," Aisha said as Kim just shook her head. He was always forgetting one thing or another.
"Should have known," Kim said as she sat down on the couch next to Jason and looked at what they were watching on television. "Why do we have to watch football?"
"Because it is the best sport known to man," Zack said as Kim looked down at him. All the males were mesmerized by the television, although she couldn't imagine that it would last when they were told they could eat.
"And it is the only thing on t.v. today," Jason said as he flipped through the channels to prove his point, as Kim let out a frustrated sigh. She hated watching football on television, but there was no use arguing, as she was well outnumbered.
"Are you going shopping tomorrow?" Aisha asked, as Kim shook her head no, which caused Kat and Aisha to give her a confused gaze. Kim loved to go shopping when there were crowds and deals, why was she passing it up?
"I have to head back to Los Angeles, I have a competition in a couple of weeks and I'll be able to hit the mats without too many distractions. Most of the team is taking the rest of the week off, so I can have some alone time," Kim said as they nodded. They knew that she was working hard to keep her place on the team and they all were sure it would pay off in some way.
"How has Tommy been dealing with this?" Aisha asked as Kim bit her lower lip. She knew that Tommy was just grinding through it a day at the time, but it was getting better and he did get to see her more often than when she was in Florida.
"It's better than me being in Florida," Kim said as they nodded, now fairly sure that Tommy still thought that Los Angeles was too far away.
"I think we all agree with that," Kat said as Aisha nodded. They had had enough of a moody leader to know that Kim being on the other side of the country, was not good for Tommy.
"Hey everybody," Tanya said, as she and Adam let themselves in and quickly went to sit down on a patch of floor.
"Why are you two late?" Rocky asked as Adam gave him a look that clearly said for him to shut up.
"Traffic was horrible," Tanya said, as Kim nodded in agreement. None of them had ever seen this much traffic on Christmas day, but there was nothing they could do about it. "Who's missing?"
"Tommy," several of them said in unison as Tanya and Adam just shook their heads.
"Should have known he would forget something," Adam said as he looked over at the television and also became enthralled in the game.
"You heading back tomorrow?" Tanya asked as Kim nodded her head yes. She was the only one that would be leaving the next day, but with everything that was going on, she had to go get some work done while she could. She never knew when she might just be called up for no reason.
"I wish you wouldn't," Tommy said as he appeared in the living room and Kim looked at him with a confused expression on her face. He was not holding anything that he would have forgotten, so why was he late?
"I thought you went out to get something," Kim said as Tommy pushed the door open a little bit further.
"I did," Tommy said as he stepped out of the way to reveal Trini was standing behind him, which caused Kim and Jason to jump off the couch and try to beat each other to Trini. Jason won.
"I didn't think that you were going to be able to come back," Jason said as Trini smiled up at him and then she wrapped both of her arms around him.
"I couldn't let you have all the fun," Trini said as she released Jason and then gave Kim a hug as well.
"How long are you staying?" Jason asked as Tommy pulled Kim away. Jason hadn't seen Trini in a very long time and he needed to be able to welcome her back, alone.
"A couple of days, that's all that I could manage to take off," Trini said as Jason nodded and then gave her another hug.
"I've missed you," Jason whispered as Trini smiled up at him.
"I've missed you, too," Trini whispered back, as she slowly let go of him and looked at the rest of the rangers. "Where's Billy?"
"Aquitar," Kat said as she let out a long sigh. She missed him so much and she wished that he would come back, but she was afraid that they had truly lost him forever.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Billy said as he walked in and Kat practically leapt over the couch to give him a hug, which caused several of the others to laugh. "I had to come home sometime."
"Why'd you wait so long?" Kat asked as she punched him roughly on the shoulder as the others tried to hold in their laughter.
"Come on, everyone, our wonderful feast of hamburgers and hotdogs is getting cold," Tommy said as they looked at him and shook his head. It was an unorthodox Christmas feast, but after all, they were only teenagers and none of them wanted for Tommy to burn anything. There was a chance that he would never be able to put it out.
End of Flashback
"We had so much fun that day," Billy said as he remembered some other aspects that the others didn't exactly know about. He had never been welcomed back like that before and he knew that if he ever left Earth again, that Kat was going to follow him, no matter how much he didn't want that.
"Yeah, we did. I wish we could have recorded your reactions to let your children watch. They would enjoy that," Zack said as Kim shook her head. They would love to embarrass her in front of her children.
"Her children are going to know enough without having any videos," Jason said as Kim nodded her head. She knew that she wouldn't have made it through this last year without Trini being there.
"Yeah, they will," Kim said as Tommy gently sat her up and then walked over to get some food. He knew that the four of them did not need to be drinking on an empty stomach tonight. They actually wanted to stay fairly sober for once.
"Doritos," Zack said as he shoved a couple in his mouth and Billy began shaking with laughter. "What are you laughing about?"
"Do you remember the Dorito incident?" Billy asked as he continued to laugh and soon the others joined in. That was another day that had been forever emblazoned in their memories. "You and Trini were using no common sense that day."
Flashback
On September 26, 1994, school had let out for the day and things were uncharacteristically quiet in Angel Grove. There were no monsters popping out of trashcans or puddies just showing up out of thin air. That left the rangers with a lot of time on their hands and a bag of Doritos.
"Food," Zack said as he grabbed the bag out of Trini's hands and pulled out several chips. "Lunch was horrible today."
"You should have looked at the menu yesterday and brought something for yourself," Trini said, snatching the bag of chips out of Zack's hands and going back to munching on them herself. She was just as hungry as he was, for once. "That's why I brought these from home."
"You can't share?" Zack asked as Trini looked over at him and then tilted the bag towards him.
"But you know this means that when the others get here, I'm going to have to share with them too," Trini said as Zack nodded his head yes.
"But if we finish them first, then they won't know we ever had any chips," Zack said as Trini looked over at him and then nodded. She had been waiting all day to eat this bag of chips and if she could manage to only have to share with Zack, then she was going to be grateful.
"Hey!" Kim yelled as she ran over and sat down next to Trini, who gave her a suspicious look. She had been moody since Tommy had lost his powers, so why was she suddenly Miss Happy-go-lucky again?
"What's going on?" Trini asked, as Zack continued to eat the Doritos, completely ignoring Kim's sudden change in disposition.
"Tommy's here! He's back for the weekend," Kim said excitedly as Trini looked up to see Jason, Billy, and Tommy walking towards them. She could tell that the three of them had just stopped trying to keep up with Kim when she sprinted off to tell her the good news.
"That's good," Trini said as she went to get another chip and felt that the bag was empty, which caused her to slowly turn and glare at Zack. "Zack, did you finish all the chips in the last ten seconds?"
"I don't think so," Zack said as he scooted away from her and then let out a long burp, which did not help his case, any.
"Zack! I haven't eaten anything since breakfast!" Trini yelled as she bopped him on top of the head with the empty bag.
"That's not my fault," Zack said as Trini glared over at him and then dove at him.
"What's gotten into her?" Jason asked as Trini pinned Zack to the ground and began smacking him around the shoulders.
"Something about not eating since breakfast," Kim said as she tilted her head to the side, as Zack picked Trini up and then pinned her to the ground, as she continued to hit him.
"You ate the entire bag!" Trini yelled as Zack shielded his face as a well placed blow was launched towards him. "How could you? Even you said lunch was bad!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zack asked as he looked down at Trini, quite seriously and got smacked again. "What's that mean?"
"You'll eat anything! And you ate all my Doritos!" Trini said as she continued to pound him, while Kim, Tommy, and Billy were beginning to try to contain their laughter. They could not believe that the two of them were arguing over a bag of Doritos.
"You said we could share," Zack said as Trini gave him a menacing glare, but could not manage to flip him off her.
"I thought you'd save me some, not eat all of them!" Trini yelled as Jason walked over to Zack, hauled him off Trini, and then handed her a bag of M&M's.
"Truce, please," Jason said as he stood between the two of them for a few seconds, until Trini dove at Zack again. "Trini."
"He ate my food. He's paying for that," Trini said as the four sane rangers exchanged a glance and then burst out laughing. If it had been anyone else beating up Zack for food, they would understand it, but they never thought that calm, level-headed Trini would treat Zack like a punching bag because he ate all her Doritos.
End of Flashback
"I had bruises for weeks after that," Zack said as he took a sip of his beer and then ate some more Doritos. "I never ate anything else of hers though."
"Yeah, I wish that would have rubbed off with my food, too," Kim said, as she looked over at him and Jason. Between the two of them, she had had to refill her cabinet at least twenty times and it was starting to get old.
"We had to find someone to bum food off of," Zack said as Kim grabbed the bag from him and ate a few chips herself. "Kim, you don't need anything to keep you sober. You're not drinking tonight."
"I didn't eat any supper before we came out here, so I do need something to eat, if you want me to be able to attempt to stay up," Kim said as Zack just nodded, while Jason smiled at the two of them.
"We get to watch you get fat now," Zack said as Kim looked over at him and Billy and Jason began to laugh. Tommy, however, was not going to chance laughing at her as she was sitting between his legs and could easily elbow him.
"That's so nice," Kim said with a smile as she continued to eat the chips, while Tommy rocked her back and forth.
"Trini would have enjoyed this," Jason said, sadly, as they all looked over at him. Whatever he was about to reminisce about was going to make them all cry like babies. "I never thought I would get engaged to her."
Flashback
"Jase, it's so great to be back home," Trini said as she walked over to him. She had just gotten off the plane and she knew that she was coming home for good this time. She just couldn't believe that this had happened to her. She was finally going to be able to be close to the man she loved without anything to really worry about.
"It's great to have you back," Jason said as he bent down and gave her a kiss. He had missed her so much and the thing that he missed the most was just having her there. Just knowing that no matter what happened she would be there and love him, while she was across the country he was not so sure about anything in their relationship, no matter how much she reassured him that things were fine. "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too," Trini said as she snuggled closer to him and he strengthened his hold on her. "So, where are we going?"
"We're just going to go home tonight," Jason said as he looked down at her and then gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Unless you want to go somewhere else."
"No, I'm fine with going home," Trini said as Jason let go of her and then slipped his arm around her. "I'm just so glad to be back here with you."
"So am I," Jason said as he looked down at her. She had her carry on bag, but she did not seem interested in going to get her luggage. "Is that all you brought?"
"Yeah, I put everything else in the moving van and it should get here in a couple of days. I didn't want to be too much of a hassle; I know you have to work tomorrow and baggage claim is a pain in the ass," Trini said as Jason smiled down at her as they continued walking towards the exit. "How have you been?"
"Busy, but it's getting better. Rocky's helping out at the dojo since Tommy and Kim moved to Reefside," Jason said as Trini nodded.
Kim had called to tell her that they were moving to Reefside, which was something that she didn't seem too excited about. She had always imagined settling down in Angel Grove, but she was not going to be able to do that, at least not at the present time. Tommy had been offered a job there and although they were sure that Tommy could eventually get on at Angel Grove, they needed that job for the time being.
"That's good," Trini said as they walked up to Jason's Acura. "When did you get the new car?"
"When my truck quit on me. I didn't have much of a choice about it then Trini; I had to give up on it," Jason said as Trini smiled over at him. She had always thought that Jason would keep that truck until it gave out and he did.
"Well, I like that car Jase," Trini said as she climbed into the passenger's seat and then leaned back the chair. She was exhausted from the flight that she had just been on, plane rides always did that to her and she just hoped her remembered that. "How long of a drive is it back to your place?"
"About thirty minutes," Jason said as Trini looked over at him, wondering if he was all right with her taking a nap. "Go ahead and take a nap, Tri. I'll wake you up when we get there."
"Thank you, Jason," Trini said as Jason smiled over at her and then reached over to hold her hand. He had a lot to think about on their way home and he could only hope that he would be able to pull off had planned.
(!#$&&$#!)
"Come on, Tri, wake up," Jason said as he reached over and gently shook her shoulder. He didn't wish to wake her up because she looked so peaceful, but he knew that she would not like to wake up in his bed and not know how she got there.
"Um," Trini hummed as she rocked her head back and forth. "Where are we?"
"At home. You want me to take you inside and just leave your stuff out here for the night?" Jason asked as Trini nodded her head yes and Jason smiled over at her. "Okay."
"Thanks," Trini said as Jason picked her up and she snuggled closer to him. "I'm exhausted."
"I know, do you just want to crash?" Jason asked as Trini's stomach grumbled and he couldn't help but laugh. "I guess we need to eat some supper before we get some rest."
"Yeah, I didn't have time to eat lunch today, so I'm going on the bag of peanuts that they gave me on the plane," Trini said as Jason placed his keys in her hands. There was no way that he could open the door, but Trini was more than capable of doing that task. "Sorry I'm such a handful."
"You're not, you know that," Jason said as Trini pushed open the door and Jason walked in. "What do you want to eat?"
"I can fix something, Jase. I'm not that tired," Trini said as Jason shook his head no and she gave him an odd look. Why did he want to cook for her so bad?
"I want to welcome you back to California and I don't want you to do a thing, except find a movie that you want to watch," Jason said as he put her down on the couch and Trini sunk into it. She had forgotten exactly how comfortable that couch was and the look she gave Jason told him that she might not be able to pick out a movie either. "I'll wake you when the food is ready."
"Thank you so much Jason," Trini said as she closed her eyes and he smiled down at her. If she knew everything that he had planned for tonight, she probably wouldn't go to sleep, but he knew it was best to keep it a secret. He wanted her to be able to enjoy a surprise for once.
(!#$&&$#!)
"Wake up, Tri," Jason said as he knelt down next to her and watched her eyes flutter open. "You sleep good?"
"Yeah, I really needed this. My body is going to have to get used to the time change," Trini said as she sat up and looked towards the windows, which revealed that the streetlights had come on. "I didn't realize that I slept so long, you should have woken me up."
"I just got through cooking supper, Tri. It's no big deal," Jason said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek and she smiled at him.
"What have you got up your sleeve, Jase?" Trini asked as he shrugged his shoulder and then pulled her off the couch.
"Like I said before, I want to welcome you back," Jason said as he walked her into the kitchen and her mouth fell open. Jason had made a dinner for two, which was to be expected, what surprised her was the fact that he had put a cloth on his kitchen table and even set up some candles.
"Jase...you didn't have to do this," Trini said as he pulled out her chair and she then sat down in it, without noticing his action at all.
"I know, but I wanted to, you deserve it," Jason said as Trini looked up at him and watched him go take a seat across from her at the table.
"What's going on?" Trini asked as Jason looked down at the floor and then over at her.
"I'll tell you later. I just want to talk to you some more," Jason said as Trini nodded her head.
Whatever Jason was doing was probably harmless and she would like it anyway. He always did things that she enjoyed and she could tell that he wished that she would not have picked up on it. He liked to pull off surprises on her, but it seemed that he was never able to do that.
"Okay. Have you talked to Tommy lately?" Trini asked as Jason nodded his head yes. He had actually talked to Tommy yesterday and even had Kim come up here to help him with some things. "Anything new?"
"A creature called Mesogogg," Jason said as Trini stared at him with wide eyes and then began shaking her head.
"They're going to have to be rangers again?" Trini asked as Jason shrugged his shoulders. He had absolutely no clue if they were going to be pulled back into ranger work, but his gut told him that they would be out there within the month.
"I hope not," Jason said as Trini nodded her head and began eating. "You didn't have a lot to say yesterday."
"I was trying to tie up some loose ends and I had to finish packing for the flight," Trini said as Jason nodded his head. He could tell that she had been stressed yesterday; he was just worried about what it had been about.
"When do you start work?" Jason asked. They had talked about when she would start back to work several times, but he had never been able to get a concrete answer out of her.
"Monday," Trini said as Jason smiled over at her. They were going to have a whole week together without her having to go to work and it was absolutely wonderful. He couldn't have imagined it being any better than that. "How's Billy doing? I haven't talked to him in the last couple of weeks."
"Good, he popped the question a couple of weeks ago. I don't think that they've set a date yet," Jason said as Trini nodded her head. She had expected that Billy would pop the question soon, but she did have to say that it had surprised her when he first got together with Katherine.
"That's good; poor Billy was probably close to a nervous breakdown when he got it out," Trini said as Jason could relate to how Billy felt. He was just looking for an opportunity in their conversation to ask her. He didn't care when it came and if he had to hastily swallow a mouthful of food, he knew that he needed to ask her tonight.
"Yeah, he probably was," Jason said as he took a sip of water and then looked over at Trini. "You're so beautiful."
"Jase," Trini said with a laugh as she noticed his intent stare and couldn't help but look over her shoulder to see if there was a bug on the wall. "Jase, I think that you haven't been checking your e-mail."
"Trini, you know I check it, but that's not what I want to talk about," Jason said as Trini watched him walk over to stand beside her.
"What do you want to talk about?" Trini asked as he pulled the chair over and sat down to where he was looking her directly in the eyes.
"I've loved you before I realized it, before I knew what it was that I felt for you. I never thought that I would get the chance to date you; I always thought you would want someone else, not the jock, but you wanted me. You wanted to love me and take care of me, even when I didn't want anyone to be there for me. Trini, I never thought I would be able to get over what I had done to the other rangers, almost killing my best friend and everything else, but you pulled me back. You took care of me and that's what I want to do; I want to take care of you for the rest of our lives. Trini…will you marry me?" Jason asked as Trini's mouth fell open and she could only stare at Jason. Although she was prepared for him to surprise her this was not what she had been expecting.
"Ja…Jase?" Trini asked as he gave her a tentative smile and she continued to stare at him. She wanted to marry him, but she was not sure that she could find the words to answer him.
"Say something Tri," Jason said, gently, as she formed words with her lips but nothing came out. It was the first time that he had ever made her speechless and he could only pray that it was in a good way.
"I…I will," Trini said as she reached over and gave him a kiss and began to cry. "I will."
End of Flashback
"I never pulled another surprise off on her like that," Jason said as Kim wiped her eyes and looked back at Tommy. She missed her best friend and Tommy knew that, but he didn't know how much more she could take tonight. He didn't want to risk anything happening to her tonight when they were so far away from a hospital.
"I think we need to try to go to sleep," Tommy said as they all looked over at him. They had all thought that they were going to pull an all nighter tonight and then go back to Kim and Tommy's and catch a couple of hours of sleep.
"You can sleep if you want to Tommy," Kim said as Tommy looked at her and she then looked at the floor. She knew that she needed some rest, but she didn't want to sleep now. She wanted to keep reminiscing, although she had admittedly sunk further into Tommy's arms over the last few hours.
"Kim, you know why I want to get some rest," Tommy said, pointedly, as Kim nodded her head yes.
"But you and Zack haven't given a memory yet," Jason said as Tommy looked over at him. He knew that Jason needed to get a lot of this out of his system, but they still had most of the day tomorrow to do that and he didn't want for any of them to have a true emotional breakdown. They didn't have anyone that could truly calm them down anymore.
"Why don't we do that tomorrow, Jase?" Kim suggested as he looked over at her, surely she felt the same as all of them about needing to finish this tonight. "I really do need the sleep Jase. I haven't been sleeping well all week and I need to watch out for the two of us."
"How many tests did you take that you are this sure without going to a doctor?" Jason fired back as Kim looked at him and Tommy tightened his arms around her.
"I've taken four tests, Jase. They were all positive. I started thinking I might be pregnant last Friday before I found out about Trini's accident and I took a test that day. I didn't want to tell anyone until I was sure," Kim forced out as she began crying again and Jason just looked over at her. Damn, he hadn't meant to upset her this way, but his emotional range was no where near a broad as it would have been two weeks ago.
"Let's try to get some sleep," Jason said as Tommy gave him a grateful smile and then stood up so that he could go grab another mattress that would hold him and Kim without him winding up on the floor.
"We'll head back to our house early, my cell phone will go off at six so that we can get there and have the rest of the day to talk about anything else," Tommy said as he placed the mattress on the floor and then quickly set the alarm clock on his phone.
"All right. Have a good night," Jason said as he looked up at the Command Center knowing he would never get to sleep with those lights on. "Billy can you shut off the lights?"
"Yeah, I'll find a way," Billy said as he stood up and walked over to the control panel and quickly had the lights out. "Now if I can just get back to the mattress without falling."
"Night everyone," Kim said as the others couldn't help but smile. They had come and given Trini's memories back to each other, when they needed it the most. Now, if they could only find her killer.
AN: As I said at the beginning of this chapter, my plans have changed so there will be two more chapters left in this story instead of just one. I hope you've enjoyed this and thank you so much for taking the time to read it. Toodles!