Disclaimer: See chapter 1. Also no ownership of the movie Dante's Peak. It's a great movie, though, for anyone who hasn't seen it.
This is Slash! Don't like it, don't read!
Special thanks to sernity1806 and prophet144 for giving me some pointers and especially prophet144 for the use of her wording a paragraph I had trouble getting to make sense. I really appreciate it.
A/N(11.28.11): Updated to fix a few errors. There is a few paragraphs added at the end to make the story flow a bit better.
Chapter 2:
The group of three finished their shopping, checked out, and loaded their goodies into their respective vehicles. They all drove to Kim's to let her drop off her groceries. She wrote Jamie a quick note and locked the door behind her. Kim followed Rocky and Aisha to a house not more than five minutes away from where she lived. They pulled into the driveway of Adam and Rocky's moderately sized two story home. Rocky and Aisha gathered their goods and walked to the door. Kim followed closely behind. As they walked in they heard Adam talking to someone, apparently on the phone since no one else was in the house.
"Rocky, Aisha, is that you?" Adam yelled from the kitchen as he ended his call, not noticing their house guest.
"Yeah, Adam. We're back." Rocky replied as they made their way into the kitchen to put away the groceries.
"I've got some great news. That was Tommy on the phone. He said that we can count them in. So that means everyone's coming now. This camping trip is going to be the best yet!"
"What camping trip?"
Adam turned to see their forgotten dinner guest standing in the doorway of the kitchen. He was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Oops. Hey Adam, guess who we found at the grocery store." Rocky said in a somewhat sarcastic tone.
"Kim? Hey, uh…when did you get back in town?" Adam asked, still somewhat shocked to see his former pink teammate standing in front of him.
"Last night. Now what is this about a camping trip?" Kim replied, but not letting him change the subject until she got some answers.
"Uh, well, um…we uh…?" Adam stuttered not knowing whether he should be truthful or lie like a dog. He should have known Kim would not be put off so easily.
"Kim, we planned this camping trip for Forth of July. We started making the plans for this about 3 weeks ago. David said he has this great camping spot about an hour from the rez, and he invited us to come along, we just decided that the holiday was the best time for it, with everyone being out of school for the summer." Aisha said quickly, relieving Adam from his momentary speechlessness.
"Ok so, who all is coming?" Kim asked, not yet realizing she didn't have a clue who this David person was.
"Well, we asked everyone, ranger related from original to Turbo that is, to come but a few can't make it due to prior engagements. Everyone besides Tanya and Justin are coming. We would have asked you but we didn't know how to reach you." Adam spoke up again.
"So do I get a chance to be asked now?" Kim asked with a hint of attitude.
"Um yeah, would you be like to come with us on our camping trip?" Adam asked her, feeling a bit guilty.
"Of course I would. Thanks for asking." Kim said with a smile before she turned to walk out of the kitchen. Aisha followed behind her to do damage control. Kim might not have acted like she was upset, but Aisha knew her well enough to know that inside she pissed.
Adam and Rocky stood alone in the kitchen staring absentmindedly at the floor before Adam spoke up.
"Thanks for the warning, Rocko. Now what exactly am I going to tell Tommy when he shows up and sees that Kim is coming?"
"Sorry man. She just showed up at the grocery store and Aisha invited her over for dinner. We thought it would be a nice surprise. We never figured that he'd call and you'd blurt it out before you realized she was here. Guess you better call our fearless leader back and tell him the wonderful news. This way he can choose to bail out before he drives 4 hours for nothing."
"Yeah good idea." Adam said and pulled out his phone, walking out of the kitchen though the sliding glass door and onto the patio outside. He dreaded the call he was about to make but felt it necessary to forewarn his friend that his ex-girlfriend was now attending their get-together. "Well here goes nothing."
While Adam was off talking to Tommy about this latest development, Aisha was in the living room trying to calm Kim down. This left Rocky to put away the groceries while at the same time wishing he could be the proverbial fly on the wall for either of the conversations taking place. The former ape grinned as he thought to himself. 'Or better yet, able to listen in on both of them.' With a soft chuckle and shake of his head, he finished putting the groceries away.
"Hey, Adam?" Tommy greeted his friend questioningly, not sure why he would be calling so soon after their last conversation. Something must be up.
"Hey, Tommy. Yeah I know I just got off the phone with you, but something's come up that I thought you'd like to know about." Adam spoke, hearing the questioning concern in his friend's voice.
"Oh yeah, what's that?"
"Well…"
"Come on, Adam. It can't be that bad."
"I don't know about that." Adam muttered under his breath hoping that Tommy hadn't heard, unfortunately no such luck.
"Okay Adam. Spit it out. Now." Tommy said in his infamous 'leader voice', which to all who served under him knew that he meant business, and it would be pointless to argue. Sighing deeply, Adam knew that Tommy had a right to know.
"Kim showed up right after I got off the phone with you. I didn't know she met Rocky and Aisha and the store and they invited her for dinner and she walked in the kitchen just as I blurted out that you were coming on the camping trip." He said it all in one breath so he wouldn't chicken out before he told Tommy what had happened.
"Is that all?" Tommy asked with a slight chuckle after a few moments of silence, having to take in all that Adam had told him. It wasn't exactly easy considering how fast Adam relayed the message, but he got the basics of it. Kim's in town, overheard his name and camping trip, and probably weaseled her way into coming along.
"Excuse me? Are you feeling okay, T?" Adam gave a deep sigh of relief. Apparently he wasn't upset, or he was hiding it quite well. He wasn't sure what to expect when Tommy didn't say anything for a few moments.
"Yes Adam, I'm fine. So? Is that all that happened?"
"Uh, yeah. I guess I just kind of expected…"Adam said as he trailed off.
"You expected what? For me to be upset because my ex-girlfriend, who carelessly and cold-heartedly dumped me in letter that she sent to a public place instead of my house and that you read to me before we realized what it was, is back in town and she has subtly invited herself to come along on this trip."
"Uh yeah something like that. Actually she asked me if I was going to ask her to come along since she knew about it and we told her that we didn't ask her because we couldn't reach her. Which is basically true. I just didn't know what else to do. "
"Adam, It's fine. I'm not mad, if that's what you think. Actually I think this will be quite…interesting." Tommy said with an obvious smile to his voice that could be heard even if it was not seen.
"How so?"
"Think about it. You see I get the feeling from her last e-mail a few months ago that she is kinda wanting me back. She has no idea about my current relationship. You know first hand how we can get. Add in the definite consumption of alcohol. I honestly can't wait to see the look on her face. Call it a bit of revenge for the letter, even though I was pretty much over that before J and I even got together."
"You are evil, T." Adam said after he recovered from his laughing fit.
"Well maybe Rita's spell didn't wear off completely after all." Tommy said sarcastically just before letting out his infamous 'Evil Green Ranger laugh'.
"So I take it we should keep your love life under wraps as far as Kim's concerned."
"Yeah. Let's make her squirm."
They talked for a few more minutes trying to concoct a plan for letting Kim in on his secret.
"Okay, well I better get off here and get dinner started before the apeman starts bellowing. It's my turn to make dinner tonight."
"Alright, Froggy, see you in two weeks."
Adam said goodbye, closed his phone and headed back into the kitchen to start dinner.
Aisha had followed Kim into the living room. She was right to assume that Kim was very upset. She started yelling almost immediately at nobody in particular. After about ten minutes of trying to calm Kim down, they were finally getting to civilized conversation again.
"So what made you decide to move back to Angel Grove?"
"I needed a change." Kim said as she shrugged, suddenly finding her hands rather interesting.
"Kim? Is something wrong?"
"No why?"
"Oh nothing, just noticing how you keep looking down at your hands instead of paying attention to our conversation." Aisha said, giving her friend a concerned look that said 'You're not getting out of this one'. Kim let out a deep sigh. She knew she'd been caught. She decided it was best to just tell Aisha the truth instead of beating around the bush.
"Things weren't going so well in Florida. I lost my job and was about to lose my apartment since I had no income. I just couldn't bring myself to ask my parents for help again. So I sold what I could to pay for gas, and probably maxed out my credit card to pay for the U-Haul. I thought that maybe if I came back here, I could start over and things could be different." She continued to tell her friend about her troubles in Florida, including her relationship with Seth.
"Oh Kim, I'm sorry. That's awful, but I'm happy your back." Aisha pulled Kim into a hug, making sure she knew that she had friends here for her.
"At least one of you is."
"What's that supposed to mean? We're all happy to have you back home. And we will help you get back on your feet. You know you can come to any of us for anything right?"
"Yes 'Sha, I know and thanks for that it really means a lot but c'mon! I saw the way Adam looked at me when I caught him red-handed telling you about Tommy coming on the camping trip."
"You just surprised him that's all."
"Maybe so, but by the look on his face I know someone else who will be less than thrilled to know I'm tagging along. Our friendship is fragile enough as it is. What was I thinking?"
"What are you talking about, Kim? We all love you and would love to have you come along."
"Tommy. I know we agreed to be friends after we discussed our break-up, but I just can't shake the feeling that he can't stand me anymore. Unfortunately for me that doesn't seem to erase the feelings I still have for him."
"First of all, don't worry about what Tommy thinks about you. He never said anything about hating you before. Yes he was upset right after the letter but that was like what, 3 years ago? I'm sure he's over it by now. He's been really busy with school and all in LA. Second, what do you mean feelings for him?"
"Exactly what it means 'Sha. I still love him." Kim said a little embarrassed, as her face turned the color of her old uniform "I know I hurt him, and I know we worked through all that. I just realized what I gave up after Seth became a controlling jerk. I really want him back in my life. Do you think there's still a chance for him and I. I mean I know it wouldn't happen overnight but I'd like to know there's still a chance."
Aisha sighed heavily before saying, "Well I can't really speak for him, but I do know he's seeing someone at the moment. But hey! Who knows what the future might bring, right?" If only she believed it herself. There was no way short of a miracle that Kim was going to get Tommy back, but she didn't have the heart to tell her. Hopefully she's not too mad when she finds out who he's dating!
They continued talking and catching up some until it finally dawned on Kimberly that Aisha had mentioned someone earlier who she didn't know. Was he a new ranger after she left? Or just a friend they had met? She never heard any of her former teammates mention this David before. She just had to know who he was.
"Hey 'Sha, can I ask you something? Because I am totally confused. I mean I know I haven't been around much, but who's David? You mentioned that he invited you guys to come camping with him."
"Oh crap! I didn't realize that she didn't know Tommy had a brother. Should I tell her? Well she's gonna find out sooner or later. Please don't be mad at me Tommy." Aisha thought to herself before giving Kim an answer.
"Um, David is…well he's…he's Tommy's brother."
"Oh okay. Wait, what?…Tommy has a brother? He never mentioned that to me. I thought he was an only child." Kim was taken aback by this news. Tommy had a brother!
Aisha began to explain to Kim who David was and how Tommy found him. She tried to explain as much as she could but she didn't have many details being that she was in Africa at the time. She told her what she could and then said if she wanted more details she'd have to ask Tommy.
"Wow. So I'm guessing he's gonna be camping with us then?"
"Yeah he is. He and Tommy are about the only ones who know where this camping spot is at."
"Any family resemblance?" Kim asked with a wink.
"Girl you'd think they were twins! I mean they are different and you CAN tell them apart but there is definitely no doubting they are brothers."
"Nice." Kim said scheming up a plan.
"Yeah they may look alike but personality wise they are very different. Tommy is pretty outgoing nowadays. He's become more assertive since he left town. David is sorta shy. I know what you're probably thinking, but he really isn't your type, Kim." Kim looked at her friend like she'd grown too heads.
"Are we talking about the same Tommy? Outgoing? Assertive? Really 'Sha, I know he's come along way from his loner days in the beginning but Tommy was never really assertive. I mean, maybe while he was leading the team, but even then not all that much." Kim retorted. This just did not sound like Tommy at all.
"Trust me Kim, he's changed. He's still as charming as ever, but he's changed."
"Dinner's ready!" Adam called from the dining room.
The former rangers sat down to dinner and caught up with their recently returned pink-clad brunette friend. They talked about old times and what they knew about their other former teammates not currently in attendance. They explained to Kim that Tommy had definitely changed. Maybe not quite what you would call an "exhibitionist" but he was definitely very outgoing and far from the shy loner he was in the beginning. They explained to her that his change came about after her letter. At first, he retreated inside himself, so much that for a few weeks he would do nothing but stay locked in his room and they didn't see him unless there was an attack. After any attack there was during that time, he would go right back home and sulk by himself.
Then one day it was like the letter never happened. It was during the time Jason came back as the Gold Ranger. He mentioned having talked to Jason. They all had just assumed that he talked some sense into Tommy and he was basically back to himself.
It wasn't until he got into his current relationship that he became more assertive, but still didn't happen overnight. His main change would be that his public displaying of affection toward his significant other. Where before he would be somewhat shy to do more than hug or hold hands, now he would go further than that, sometimes forgetting that he was actually in public. He developed the attitude of "who cares what people think." He was happy and that's all the mattered to him. He didn't feel the need to impress anyone. They left some details out, some minor, some a bit more important. The main detail would be exactly who he was seeing.
After dinner was finished, Rocky headed into the kitchen for cleanup duty. The rule was whoever made dinner was not responsible for cleanup. So since Adam made dinner, Rocky was in charge of loading the dishwasher.
Aisha and Kim headed back into the living room and settled on the couch, while Adam picked out a movie. They agreed upon Dante's Peak, a really good action-filled, suspenseful adventure with just a hint of romance. Pierce Brosnan was a hunk! After Rocky had finished with cleaning up, the movie was started. They each found their comfy spots and were soon intensely gripped into the movie. Kim had not seen this movie, so every so often she would jump when something caught her off guard, and hide her face at the few grotesque parts of the movie.
When the movie ended, Kim stretched from her position on the couch and noticed the clock read almost 10:00 pm. She quickly got up and said her goodbyes, exchanging numbers and promising to call them soon. She grabbed her purse and walked out the door. She got in her car and drove back home. When she got home, Jamie had already gone to bed, so she decided it was best she do the same. She fell asleep with a smile on her face dreaming of her former white knight and rekindling their relationship.
A/N: Please R&R. I love reviews, they make me happy! Next Chapter will be up soon, and we find out who the mystery person is. Who do you think it is? Leave your answer in your review. Virtual cookies for those who get it right! :-)
