Back in Time
Chapter 27
Kira sighed as she watched the monitor, watching Tommy, Conner, Ethan and Trent fighting the Tyrannodrones while she had been side lined.
"Sometimes I miss being a ranger." She turned her head and saw Adam stood next to her, watching the screen. "But then I remember when I tried to morph with a broken power coin, and I don't miss it as much."
"Add in the long fights interrupting your life." Kira added under her breath. Adam sighed and sat in the spare chair next to the computer.
"How are you coping?" He asked, making her frown. "Not just with the ranger side. You've been through a lot, and I have a feeling I don't even know half of it."
"Does the stress and anxiety ever go away?" She asked. "I feel like I am constantly on edge. At first I just thought that Mesagog was around every corner, but now, I can't tell if I'm more anxious about fighting Mesagog or my Dad."
"I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it's all going to be alright, because I can't. Part of the ranger life is not knowing what's going to happen in the future, and not knowing if you're going to win the fight." He said, knowing that she needed the cold, hard truth. "But I will say that you have got an amazing team here, and even though I have only known them for a short period of time, I know that they will always go above and beyond to help you and protect you, just like you would do for them." Kira smiled slightly as she looked back at the monitor where her team were just fighting off the last of the Tyrannodrones.
"Sometimes I get annoyed by how protective they are, but I just try and remind myself that I would do the same if I was in their position." She said.
"Power Rangers share a special bond. The morphing grid connects us all in a way that we don't understand, but we will all come together to protect one of our own." Adam said, making Kira smile. "You say the word, and there will be an army of past and present rangers ready to protect each other."
"Kim said something about that before." She said with a slight smile. They continued to watch the fight with bated breath, Kira hating not being able to help her team when they needed her. "I just wish I could help them."
"You are helping them by staying here." Adam replied, making her frown slightly. "If you went out there, even if you said you feel fine, they would spend the whole time keeping an eye on you, which would mean their guard would be down and they would be more vulnerable to attacks." An alarm beeped on the computer and they both looked at it in horror. "Shit. We've got to get you to the station." Adam cursed as he jumped up.
"But what about the guys?" Kira asked, looking back at the screen.
"I've got them." They turned around and saw Hayley stood at the bottom of the stairs. "And you might want to take these with you." She said, passing Adam 2 discs. "One is the video you gave me from your house, the other is the camera footage from Cyberspace last night. Now go."
Xxx
Kira looked around the room with worried eyes, and Adam noticed how she seemed to almost curl into herself, her shoulders hunched forward and her arms wrapped around her torso, almost like she was having to hold herself together. Adam knew that she was nervous, but he didn't realise just how nervous until now.
"Hey, you'll be fine." He said, making her smile slightly at him. Before she could reply, the door opened and Detective Marks walked into the room.
"Miss Ford, thanks for coming." She said, sitting in the chair opposite them and putting a stack of papers and a recorder on the table in front of her. She looked up and saw Adam next to Kira. "I'm Detective Marks." She said, holding her hand out.
"Adam Park. I'm Kira's lawyer." He replied, making her nod.
"If you're ready, would you like to get started?" She asked, making Kira nod. "Do you mind if I record this? It'll make writing a transcript of your statement easier." Kira nodded again and Adam frowned, wondering whether she would be able to talk. Detective Marks set up the recorder and hit play, looking down at her notes before looking up at Kira with a small smile. "Kira, can you tell me about your relationship with your father?" Kira looked at Adam, who gave her a supportive nod.
"He's never been the best father." She said, a slight wobble in her voice. "He has a temper, and he would often get very angry over the smallest thing. Then he started to get violent."
"When did this start?" Marks asked, making Kira look down slightly.
"Around the start of this year. I started being late for curfew, missed a few dinners, and he didn't like it. At first it was just a few hits on odd occasions." She trailed off slightly and Adam saw her playing with the silver bracelet on her wrist. He gently put a hand on top of hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Then, about a week ago, it got really bad. He was drunk. And he wouldn't stop hitting me." Kira's voice broke slightly, and she wasn't sure if she would be able to keep going.
"What happened next, Kira?" Marks asked, jotting a few notes in her notebook.
"Umm… Eventually he stopped and went to bed. The next morning, he and my mum left to go away on a business trip for a few days. I went to Dr O's after school." She said, making Marks look up.
"Dr O?" She asked, looking slightly confused.
"Sorry, Dr Tommy Oliver. He's my science teacher. He runs a martial arts club for a few of us on Saturdays and a couple of evenings during the week." She said, trying to avoid any extra details. "He kept me back after the session and asked about a bruise he saw when my shirt shifted. I trust Dr O a lot, so I told him."
"What was his reaction?" Marks asked, making Adam frown slightly.
"He was worried. He asked me if I wanted to stay in his spare bedroom while we figured out what to do, and I agreed. I always felt safer there than at home." She said.
"So you informed Dr Oliver about the abuse, and instead of reporting it straight away, he invited you to stay?" Marks asked, making Adam put a hand on Kira's arm as he stepped in.
"Can I ask where this line of questioning is going?" He asked, making Marks frown. "I was under the impression that Miss Ford was coming in today to give a statement, not to be asked questions about her science teacher's actions."
"I apologise. Carry on Miss Ford." Marks said, clearly annoyed that Adam had shut her down.
"Umm… Dr O was worried that if we reported it then it would be my word against his, but I remembered that I was recording a song that night, so I had it all on camera. I'd made a copy of the video and we were discussing with Ada-Mr Park the best way to go forward with the evidence that we had… when my Dad got back from his trip." She said, tears forming in her eyes. "Umm… I was out with some friends, and when I got back Dr O told me that my dad had been there looking for me, and that he was really angry. I got worried and asked him and his friends to come to the Cyberspace that night for my gig in case he showed up. I was packing up my equipment and putting it back in the car after the gig when I got hit from the side. It was my dad. He hit me over and over and over. I guess someone inside saw something, because next thing I know he's being thrown off me. I saw Dr O in front of me, before I blacked out."
"Do you have a copy of your video with you?" Marks asked, making Adam pull the two discs out of his bag.
"They are labelled. One is the video that Miss Ford made, and the other is the CCTV footage that Hayley Ziktor gave us of the Cyberspace car park.
"Thank you." Marks said, taking the discs and putting them to the side and turning off the recorder. "Thank you for coming in, Miss Ford. I know it isn't easy."
"What's going to happen next?" She asked, making Marks look at her with a soft expression.
"Normally, in these sorts of cases, we'd be putting you into foster care until a more permanent home is found. However, since you are 18, the state won't be able to place you." She said, a look of sympathy in her eyes. "In this case, we would be looking for someone willing to take you in, someone you know and trust, or someone we deem to be acceptable." Kira shared a look with Adam before looking back at the detective.
"Can I stay with Dr O?" She asked, making Marks frown. "All my stuff is there already and I trust him more than anyone at the moment." Adam could see the struggle that Marks was having and decided to step in.
"I have seen Dr Oliver and Miss Ford together and I would highly recommend that she stays where she is." He said, making the detective frown. "Besides, if you cannot place her in Reefside then she will need to move schools, and since she is due to sit exams next week, that would be highly detrimental to her education and her future." Marks hesitated for the moment before nodding.
"Alright, as long as Dr Oliver is happy with that, then I see no reason not to agree." She said before giving Adam. "I trust you will be able to get all the necessary paperwork completed." She grabbed her stuff and stood up with a slight smile. "Thank you for coming in. I'll be in touch soon with any developments." She left the room and Kira and Adam sat there for a moment before getting up and leaving. They climbed into Adam's car and sat there for a moment, Kira frowning.
"That's the first step done." Adam said, making Kira look at him. "Hopefully the judge will decide that the evidence is substantial enough to not warrant a trial."
"Thanks Adam. I'm glad that's over." She said, closing her eyes and leaning her head back.
"Right, let's head back and see what trouble the others caused while we were gone." He said, making Kira laugh as he pulled out of the car park. They drove back to Tommy's house, frowning slightly as they walked through the door.
"Hello?" Adam called, not seeing anyone around.
"Maybe they're in the lab?" Kira suggested as they started walking towards Tommy's office. "They must be back by now." She muttered as they walked down the stairs, only to stop at the corner in shock. "What happened?"
Tommy, Ethan and Trent all jumped at the sound of Kira's voice, spinning around to see her stood at the corner step, Adam just behind her with a worried look on his face.
"Kira… hey…" Ethan said, making the Yellow ranger look at him with wide eyes.
"Is Conner unconscious?" She asked, walking the rest of the way down the stairs and looking at the red ranger that was laying on the bed in the corner with Hayley hovering over him.
"Maybe." Trent muttered, taking a step back as Tommy smirked.
"What happened? You were only fighting Tyrannodrones!" She replied.
"Umm…. I may have thrown a Drone into a scaffolding structure." Ethan said with a sheepish expression on his face. "And that may have caused some bricks to fall on Conner."
"It knocked him out of morph and he was already unconscious when we got to him." Trent continued. Kira frowned, looking at the red ranger before looking at Ethan.
"You know we still need him alive, right?" She asked with a slight laugh in her voice as she went and sat on the rock she usually perched on.
"He's fine." Tommy said as he walked over to her and leant next to her. "He's had worse hits than that from you."
"Anyway, how did it go?" Ethan asked, sitting on the sofa and looking at Kira.
"Alright. I said everything that I could, stretched the truth a little bit." She replied, pulling her knees up to her chest.
"Hopefully the Judge will decide that we have enough evidence to forgo a trial." Adam said as he sat on the bottom step.
"Why do you say that?" Trent asked, making Adam frown slightly.
"I got the impression that the detective wasn't fully convinced by everything Kira said." He replied, making Kira look at him in shock. "Especially when she mentioned you Tommy. She asked her why you asked Kira to stay here instead of reporting her dad when you first found out. I'm guessing that it'll probably come up during a trial and it may take more than stretching a few truths to placate a jury."
"Just once, I would like everything to just go smoothly." Tommy muttered, making Kira smirk.
"This isn't going to be another Morphin Grid God's rant, is it?" She asked, making them all laugh.
"Trent, I need you to go to Cyberspace and cover for me while I get Conner sorted." Hayley said, making Trent stand up.
"I'll come with you." Ethan said, following the white ranger to the stairs, where he turned to face Kira and Tommy with a smirk. "Oh and Kira? Even though we know about you and Dr O, please don't do any mushy couple stuff around us. Thanks!" He said before running up the stairs.
"What? You know? How do you know? Did you tell them?" Kira cried, turning to look at Tommy as she did. Ethan laughed as he followed Trent out of the house.
"You know he's probably going to give you extra homework or a quiz for that right?" Trent asked, making Ethan laugh.
"It's worth it." He replied with a smirk.
Here is the next instalment guys! Sorry for the lack of action in this chapter, it is a bit of a filler chapter. The story will start picking up again in the next chapter.
Thank you to everyone who had reviewed so far! It means a lot