The Rangers and the Troopers were in the Troopers arrived at the Cross World City Hospital a little while later. Ryan carried JB into the building, dumping him on a nearby gurney as they arrived, while Dr. O walked in, cradling his left arm, Kira perched under his right. He didn't have the heart to tell her it was a little redundant. Due to his years of Martial Arts training, and his Ranger days, this wasn't the first time he had broken his arm, but he found it admirable that his student was concerned enough for his welfare to help him into the building despite being half his size, and likely unable to carry his bodyweight if he really did need it.
He couldn't help smiling through the pain in his arm as he felt her in his grasp. He knew that the feelings he had for her were more than merely friendship. Over the time they had spent together, Kira had shown herself to be so much more than just one of his students, and one of his Rangers. Knowing that she was safe, and had been returned from Grimlord's grasp, he couldn't help thinking that his arm was a small price to pay. It would be healed in a few weeks, but he didn't know what he'd do if anything had ever happened to her.
"We got caught up in the panic at the mall." Ryan explained to a doctor semi-truthfully as a team arrived, seeing JB's condition. "My friend took a hard spill in the crush."
"Is he alright?" Kaitlin rushed out as the doctor started a brief examination, tearing open JB's shirt to get a better look at his chest. He just groaned as the doctor pressed down.
"I don't think so, but we should get him in for a closer look." He told them. "Get him to an X-ray; I want to see if there are any fractures."
"Hold on a second." Ryan stated, before reaching to JB's necklace, removing it. "Don't worry buddy, I'll hold onto this for you."
As they took him away, Kaitlin just watched them go, while Dr. O just quietly checked in over at the desk, since his injury was significantly less serious. As he signed in, he looked over to her and smiled, nudging Kira a little.
"I think that's kind of good to see." He told her. Kira looked at him a little confused.
"One of your team mates being taken away on a stretcher?" She asked him. He shook his head in response.
"I've seen the same look so many times, I know what it means." Tommy assured her. "There was a time I had the same look when Kim was taken into a hospital ward."
Kira knew that he had a past. He had spoken about some of his team mates with her back when she was helping him clear out his basement. She knew that Tommy had a past, and more importantly that he had previous relationships. He didn't go into much detail, but she knew about Kimberly and she knew about Kat. She couldn't help feeling a little jealousy building in her as she thought about it, but she appreciated that they were a part of his past. It wasn't as if he didn't have a life before her. She smiled.
"She admitted it to me in the Command Centre." Kira informed him. "I think she'd be really good for him."
"Well I guess it's all up to him now." Tommy replied with a little shrug. "I mean, it would be a great way for all this to end, but things don't always work out that way do they?"
He looked to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Sometimes we fall for those that don't feel the same way." He told her. "Sometimes life just sucks that way."
"Tell me about it." She sighed, before returning to the rest of the group. She went over to where Kaitlin was sitting, and put her arm around the older woman, comforting her as they awaited word on their friend.
Over at the Troopers' Command Centre, a lone figure walked around the base, taking a look around. These systems, these computers had been instruments of a war that had raged in secret for around a decade, and yet now, they were nothing more than fancy televisions. The displays showed a few scenes of an army that was now forever sealed in the Virtual World, incapable of ever returning. He reached a finger to a power switch on one console, powering it down for the last time.
"So many years." He whispered as he wandered around the rest of the base, powering down systems as he went. He then pulled a small, silver, spherical device out of his jacket pocket, and pressed a button on the top, activating a series of green lights around it. He set it on the table as it began to beep.
Turning and walking out the door, he closed it behind him, and walked away, never looking back. Not even when the device detonated reducing the Command Centre to dust, burying it forever.
Back at the hospital, everyone looked round as Dr. O came back with his arm in a sling, having been treated. He came over to his own team, accepting a few hugs as he smiled at them.
"I know you're concerned about me, but this really isn't necessary." He assured them.
"We're not." Ethan quipped with a grin. "Of course with your arm broken, you can't set us any homework."
Tommy just laughed and shook his head as he heard this.
"I'm right-handed remember?" He asked him. "Besides, after spending so much time down here, you all have some catching up to do. You can expect some more..."
"We save the world and we're rewarded with more homework?" Conner asked him. "How's that fair?"
"It isn't." Tommy replied. "Deal with it."
Just then, Kaitlin shot up as a doctor came back with JB. They had advised him to let them use a wheelchair, but true to form, JB toughed it out and walked on his own down the hall, cradling his ribs. Kaitlin and Ryan came over to him, greeting him warmly. Kaitlin just threw her arms around him, unable to contain herself, causing him to wince in pain, but he continued to smile through it as she backed away in panic, fearing she had hurt him.
"Oh my God JB, I'm so sorry!" She shrieked, before turning to the doctor. "How is he?" JB just looked to her.
"I am right here." He reminded her, making her feel a little embarrassed. "I have a couple of fractures and some bruising, but I should be back to teaching at the dojo in a week or so."
"Your friend may be a little optimistic about his recovery time," the doctor chipped in, "but he is right, there shouldn't be any lasting damage. He's been very lucky."
"It doesn't feel like it right now." JB told him, stroking his ribcage softly. "Maybe I'll feel a bit differently once we've all had some milkshakes."
"They're on me." Kaitlin assured him, putting an arm around him as they left.
"But..."
"No buts." She interrupted Ryan. "Kira was here because of me, it feels a little like this was at least partly my fault."
"I don't blame you." Kira assured her. "Believe me, the stuff Mesagog puts us through? This seems almost pale in comparison."
It was a couple of hours later by the time they got to the Dojo. There were no more classes that day, and it seemed like most of the customers of the cafe had gone home for dinner, and so they largely had the place to themselves. It was a bit of a relief really, as it gave them all a much-needed chance to unwind without having to be too careful about prying ears. Kaitlin rejoined them, putting her wallet away as she sat down next to JB.
"They said they're going to have the new guy bring our order over." She told them. Ryan looked a little curiously as he heard this. He hadn't heard about any new employees being brought in, and he was one of the main shareholders in the dojo. Normally things like that were run past him.
"New guy?" He asked.
"I guess they just got in a part timer or something." She replied with a shrug. "So do you really think that it's true, that the war really is all over for us?"
"Well I asked Hayley to scan the area, and she said that all the energy signatures for rifts between here and the virtual world have gone cold." Tommy told her with a little smile as he drummed his fingers on the table nonchalantly. "There's no sign of any energy. The gateway's sealed; anyone in the Virtual World is still in there."
"Wait, everyone?" Ryan asked, suddenly getting a horrible thought. JB and Kaitlin both looked at each other as they suddenly seemed to get the same thought.
"Professor Hart!" They called out together.
"He's been in the Vitrual World all this time!" Ryan stated. "If he was still in there...?"
"Do you really think I didn't have an exit strategy?" A familiar voice said from behind him. Ryan turned in his seat to see Professor Hart standing there with a tray, carrying a few plates and some shakes. He rested it on the table as the Troopers all greeted him face-to-face for the first time. "I came back before the device went off."
"So what are you doing here?" Ryan asked him. He just shrugged.
"I just needed a job to occupy my mind." He reminded them. "It's not like I have a day job anymore."
"So what about the lab?" Kaitlin asked.
"I've already destroyed it." He assured them. "I vaporised it with a high-yield explosive. There's now no evidence of our operations in the desert."
"So what do we do with these?" Ryan asked him, pulling out his necklace. Professor Hart just smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Just keep them." He told them. "They may not have power anymore, but all of you have done so much more than I ever could have asked. I think a little souvenir is the least I can leave you."
"It's just...we've been fighting for so long. It just doesn't seem real that it's all over for us." Ryan responded, before turning to Tommy. "I just wish we could have helped you like you did for us."
"In my experience things happen for a reason." Tommy assured him. "Personally I've retired more times than Terry Funk. The fact is, things have a way of working out. If fate decides that you need to have a normal life for now, then just take it. You know we're here."
"Well I couldn't think of safer hands to leave the world in." Kaitlin stated. JB took a sip of his milkshake before tapping Kaitlin on the shoulder and jerking his head in the direction of the door.
"Could I have a word with you for a moment?" He asked her. Kaitlin just looked to Kira a little nervously, before getting up and going with him. Tommy and Kira just smiled at each other, exchanging a knowing glance as they watched them go.
Kaitlin arrived outside with JB, beginning to chew her fingernails nervously. She had an idea what he wanted to talk about, her reaction to seeing him fall from the sky was anything but subtle. She had made how she felt about him more than clear to anyone with eyes, and most of all to JB himself. He took a deep breath as he tried to figure out where to begin.
"Kaitlin, what happened at the battle site..."
"I'm sorry JB; I know I shouldn't have done it." She rushed out. "I understand, I know I've made an idiot of myself..."
"I never knew you felt that way about me." He interrupted her softly. "How long has this been going on?"
"I don't know exactly." She replied honestly, finding it hard to look at him. She struggled to think, to even put words together, never mind pinpoint exactly when things had started to change between them. "All I know is that I've felt this way for a long time. When I thought we had lost you, it killed me. I just couldn't help it when I saw you."
He came over to her as she looked away, tears beginning to run down her face.
"I understand if you don't feel the same way." She told him. He just turned her face towards him gently and smiled.
"Kaitlin, you've been so strong, you've been there for me more than anyone else ever has." He replied, looking into her eyes. "I never would have imagined you could see me like that. I never thought I'd be so lucky."
"Lucky?" She asked him. JB drew in, placing a hand behind her head and kissed her deeply. As they parted, she almost lost all will to do anything other than throw herself into his arms and remain there forever. He nodded in response.
"I always have loved you." He told her. "I just never thought I had a shot."
Kaitlin grabbed him, pulling him in once more, kissing him with a passion that she never thought she would share. They were both oblivious to the fact Kira had come to watch the scene unfolding. She turned away to return to her friends, feeling her heart breaking. As much as she was overjoyed for Kaitlin that things had worked out how she had wanted, things would never be that way for her.
She knew she couldn't tell anyone how she felt about Tommy, least of all him. He was a teacher, and at best he would lose the job he loved if he returned her feelings. At worst, if anyone believed anything had actually happened between them before she had turned 18, he could be charged. Worst of all, she couldn't face what would happen if she said anything and he dismissed it as a crush, or if he turned her away. In the end, she needed Tommy in her life, even if he would never be hers.
The following day, the Rangers were packing their things up between Conner's Mustang and Dr. O's jeep for the trip home. Ryan shook Tommy's hand as they prepared to go.
"I'm just sorry you couldn't stay longer." Ryan stated. "I'd really have liked a chance for that match we promised each other."
"Maybe once I'm healed up a little." Tommy replied. "Presuming I survive the trip home with Trent driving."
"Hey!" Trent snapped in disgust at the remark. With only one arm working, Tommy was going to have to leave the driving to someone else. Kira made her way over to Kaitlin, hugging her goodbye.
"Thanks for the interview." She said gratefully. "I should have enough for the article."
"Be sure to send me a copy." Kaitlin requested. "I'd really love to see it."
"I will." Kira assured her. She then reached into her pocket, pulling out a hundred and handing it to Kaitlin. The former Trooper just looked a little confused.
"I didn't hold up my side of the bet." She replied. Kaitlin just pulled her aside.
"You didn't have to..."
"I don't cry off on bets." Kira replied.
"So you didn't tell him?" Kaitlin asked her. "Are you at least going to?" Kira shook her head.
"I can't risk it." Kira told her. "I need him in my life, even if it is only as a friend."
"You're 18; it'll only be a few months until you graduate." Kaitlin reminded her. "Maybe..."
"People would always ask questions and cast aspersions." Kira responded, looking to where Tommy was struggling to get into the Jeep, too proud to ask for help. She just smiled. "I guess friends is going to have to be enough."
"I might think it's a mistake, but I can't force the issue." Kaitlin sighed, hugging her again. "Take care Kira. Maybe I'll visit one day."
"I'd like that." Kira replied. Just then, she heard a horn sounding.
"Are you coming?" Trent asked impatiently. "I'd like to miss the traffic!"
"I'm coming." Kira replied, before turning to Kaitlin. "For what it's worth I'm really happy things worked out for you."
"They will for you one day too." Kaitlin answered. "Don't give up."
Kira just nodded in response, before going to the Jeep, clambering into the back seat and strapping herself in. The Troopers all waved as the Rangers pulled away, heading for the highway back to Reefside. JB pulled Kaitlin into his arms as they disappeared in the distance.
"I still can't believe that it's all over for us." Ryan stated. "What are we meant to do now?"
"That's the challenge life throws at us." JB answered, kissing Kaitlin's cheek. "Now that this chapter's closed, we need to find what we want to do with the next."
"You've been listening to Sensei way too much." Ryan chuckled as he turned and left. Kaitlin was about to go with JB, intending to spend some time with him, and perhaps have their first date when Percy's brown station wagon screeched around the corner, mounting the curb and taking out a trash can. He opened the door and stumbled out.
"Kaitlin, we've been trying to find you all morning!" He screeched. "You didn't answer your cell phone!"
"It's been turned off." She answered apologetically. "What's the problem?"
"We've got a huge story!" He told her. "It's Ziktor!"
"Look Percy, there'll be other stories about Ziktor." She answered in a slight groan. "He's so slimy there'll always be a scandal. I'll pick up the next one."
"That's just it; there might not be another one." He explained. "He cleared his schedule yesterday and hasn't been seen since. He's disappeared without a trace!"
"I'm sure he's just..."
"No, you don't understand, no one knows where he is!" Percy continued to prattle on. "He didn't call anyone, didn't tell anyone where he was going, he didn't leave a note...there isn't even security footage of him leaving the building. He's vanished!"
Kaitlin looked to JB who just nodded and smiled.
"We have plenty of time." He assured her, kissing her softly.
"I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you." She replied, before following Percy, getting into the car with him and speeding off in pursuit of her next story.
Fin.