Author: Jadelyn Tate

Story: Begotten

Characters: RJ, Kim

Disclaimer: I own no one, the idea of RJ and Kim being siblings is all Tara's over at PRU's, I'm just expanding it into a fic.

Summery: A Shark. A Crane. A Wolf. And you thought your family had issues.

TimeLine: Set after One Master Too Many

Author Notes: Enjoy!


Kimberly was yawning as she softly padded into her room. The rangers had all retired to their respected sleeping areas for the night, with Fran staying the night with Lily. RJ was taking a shower. Sighing, she thought back to her brother.

He'd been acting oddly ever since they had saved him from Dai Shi and the lizard lady. Whenever he didn't think anyone was looking, he would grab his chest, rubbing it slightly as he winced in apparent pain. Kim had debated calling for her father or even one of the other masters but was putting it off. She was supposed to be the second master to this team, the one with the ranger experience; she couldn't be calling for her father every ten seconds.

A brief but blinding splash of red, white, and gold light lit up her room before condensing into Jason's familiar form. Kim made a face but didn't comment. Ever since Alpha had made the pronouncement they could use the teleportation system to visit, the original sixteen had been popping up everywhere.

Kim hadn't really used it outside of the dinner and helping Jason get settled but knew that Tommy and Hayley had used the system to go watch Kira's first major concert in New York while Billy and Katherine had gone to help Tanya cheer on Zack at his own performance on Broadway. Kim herself had tickets to go see Zack as Sebastian in the Little Mermaid production for Thursday, baring any unforeseen complications but that was the limit to her use. And due to her asking it, no one save Jason had so far teleported to Oceans Bluff.

"Didn't you mother tell you it's rude to pop up uninvited?" Kim asked and Jason merely smiled and flopped onto the twin size bed. Her bedroom had originally been a storage room but RJ and Casey had cleaned it out while she had taken the girls with her to Angel Grove, leaving Theo, Swoop, and Phant to run the Parlor. Her father had already taken off by then.

"So what's up?" she asked, moving to the desk and her laptop. A few quick clicks and the sounds of Kira's first album softly filled the room. Almost every former had shown support for the Yellow Dino Ranger and had went and bought her CD the day it came out. Well, everyone except Adam who had been beyond upset when every store he went to in Angel Grove had been sold out.

"Adam and Alpha are going to drive me up the wall," Jason groaned. Kimberly snickered.

"Alpha asked to stay the night again?" she asked curiously and he grunted.

"No, he was wondering if he could run some tests on the T-rex powers," he told her, one arm above his eyes. Kim giggled as she went around, lighting candles. Almost every night before bed she meditated, something she had picked up from her brother. Over the years she had discovered that the more soothing, comfortable setting she had, the easier the meditation would come. Even when she wasn't going to meditate, she still tended to light the candles to relax herself.

"Is that vanilla?" Jason asked quietly and Kimberly nodded, looking amused as she finished lighting the lavender candle on her nightstand.

"I thought you were out?" he asked, sitting up. Kim smiled slightly.

"Casey heard me complaining about my lack of Vanilla candles and went and bought me some," she told him quietly. "I'd be worried about a crush if it weren't for the fact RJ apparently talked to him and he's decided I'm a sister."

"That's comforting," he teased and she swatted at him. He grabbed her hand and with a grin pulled her down. Within minutes, the two were rolling around, trying to stifle their laughter as they tickled each other. Finally, with a flip of his legs, Kimberly fell onto her back, Jason towering over her as he held her hands above her head.

"I win," Jason smirked smugly down at her. Kimberly stuck her tongue out at him just as the door creaked open.

"Am I hearing the deep laughter of a certain red ranger best friend of my sisters?" RJ asked as he poked his head in. Jason and Kim both looked at him for a moment before turning to look at each other again. With a grin, Jason leaned down and gingerly kissed her forehead before climbing off the bed.

"Hey Rage," the red ranger greeted him with a smile. RJ grinned back, his eyes lingering on his sister who was leaning up from the bed as she smoothed down her pink tank top. His eyes snapped and he abruptly turned to the red ranger.

"Not that I'm not glad to see you, but we have work in the morning," he told him, giving a forced smile. Jason nodded, looking abashed as Kimberly just rolled her eyes. She knew what was going on in her brother's mind.

"One, I am nearly thirty and what I do in my bedroom is none of your concern, Rage," she snapped, getting up from the bed. Jason's eyes rounded as he finally caught onto what had upset her brother. "And two, Jason has been my best friend since I was six. We like to tickle, get over it."

She could see her brother was biting his lip to keep from saying anything back and for that she was grateful; she was already highly agitated and was likely to blow up if he said what was really on his mind.

Finally, he sighed. "I know, I just, with the cubs here, I'd rather not anything happen," explained gingerly. Kim sighed, knowing he was right. Jason nodded.

"Look man, I understand. Not everyone knows Kim and I as well as you do and I know they could see something else," he agreed. "We'll be more careful from now on."

RJ nodded his thanks and slipped from the room. Jason and Kim looked at each other. Jason cracked a smile. "He was right, though, we both have work in the morning," he told her with a sad smile. Kimberly made a face.

"Waitressing, joy," she snarked and he chuckled.

"Come here," he ordered, pulling her into a hug. She sighed happily as he wound his arms around her. "You're gonna do great, Kimmie, I have no doubts of that."

"I hope so," she murmured into his chest. His arms tightened as his chin rested on top of her head.

"Kim, out of all of us, it wasn't Tommy I saw as eventually mentoring a team, it was you," he told her quietly. "You have the patience, the maturity, and the wit to keep up with a new team and to keep them focused but happy. I know you're gonna do great."

"Thanks, Jason. You have no idea how much that means to me," she told him, looking up with a smile. He smiled back and bent down to kiss her forehead again. Only, due to several things, the least of which was a gentle telekinetic nudge by a spying Cheetah cub, Jason's lips didn't settle on her forehead.

They settled on her lips.

They both froze; lips pressed gently together, eyes wide as they stared at each other. Abruptly, Jason pulled back, dropping his arms as he did so.

"Kim, I'm sorry, I didn't," her stammered and Kim nodded, still looking stunned. The original red ranger swallowed. "I think I should go."

Kim nodded again, unable to speak. With a pained smile, Jason gingerly pressed a finger to his wrist band and with a flash of light, disappeared. Kim gingerly sat on the bed, one hand coming to rest on her lips. Eyes still wide in surprise, she gazed at a picture on her mantle-piece of herself and Jason back in high school. Finally, she said the only thing that came to mind.

"Wow."


"So, you three ready for you training?" Kim asked when the three teens walked in. It was Saturday, two days after Lily's apparent walk on the bad girl side. Kimberly, who had heard all about the incident from a still slightly gob smacked Casey, had not been in Oceans Bluff for the spectacle; she'd been spending the day in New York, trying to dislodge any and all thoughts of Jason from her mind as she and Trini shopped and watched Zack in The Little Mermaid. Both original rangers had agreed that while Zack made an excellent Sebastian, it was highly odd to see the first black ranger dressed almost head to toe in red.

"Uh…" was the response she got. Kimberly stood up from where she had been stretching, her pink ninjetti uniform falling back into place. Casey, Theo, and Lily exchanged semi-panicked looks. The red ranger abruptly shook it off and turned to face Kim fully.

"So, whats on the agenda?" Casey asked brightly. A snort made the three teens jump and they looked around to find five more warriors in the loft, all dressed like Kimberly but with different colors. They immediately recognized Adam as he had helped Kim with RJ but the others were unknown.

"Casey, Theo, Lily, meet my team," she told them as the five ninjetti came to stand behind her.

"Tommy, Master Con; Adam, Master Anura; Rocky, Master Swing; Aisha, Master Mama, and Billy, Master Lune," she introduced the five. Lily stared at the yellow clad woman.

"Master Mama?" she couldn't help but ask and the group of ninjetti tittered.

"Cause I'm a mama bear," Aisha explained with a smile, pulling down her mouth guard and hood. The rest did the same.

"I asked them to come and help me with you three," Kim explained and the three cubs nodded, straightening. "Theo, you're gonna go with Adam and Billy, Casey, you're with Rocky and Tommy, Lily, you're with me and Aisha."

"Wait, you're training us separately?" Theo asked and Billy nodded.

"For now," he agreed and Casey shrugged.

"Alright, let's do it!" he grinned. Tommy rolled his eyes and motioned for the red ranger to follow him and Rocky.

"Let's go, Tiger," he said and then froze along with the other five ninjetti as his words fully registered. Kimberly was the first to snicker, followed quickly by Billy, Adam, Aisha, and finally Rocky. Tommy simply sighed as the three cubs looked on in confusion.

"I'll explain later," he told the red ranger and Casey nodded slowly. Still chuckling, Billy and Adam motioned for the blue ranger to go with them while Aisha and Kim grinned at Lily. The yellow ranger gulped.


"So whats Kim been telling you guys about us?" Rocky asked. He and Tommy had returned to their civilian clothes and had gotten Casey into non-cub clothes, much to the red ranger's confusion. They were walking down Main Street with no particular destination in mind, at least to Casey's point of view.

"Nothing, actually," he told them honestly. "Except for the random comment or conversation with RJ, we don't know a whole lot about you guys."

"What kinda of random comments?" Tommy asked curiously, adjusting his glasses. Casey shrugged.

"Little things that make the two of them grin but confuse Theo, Lily, Fran, and I," he replied. Tommy snorted and Rocky snickered.

"You'll get used to that, unfortunately," Tommy told him with a small grin.

"I will?" Cased asked, not particularly enthused with the idea. Tommy and Rocky both nodded wryly.

"Oh yeah," Rocky agreed. Tommy's eyes crinkled.

"I dated her for two years and I still don't get half the things she and RJ find funny," he smirked. Rocky snorted.

"That's 'cause you don't want to understand, bro," he pointed out. "Mainly cause half the stuff is making fun of you."

"Yeah, well, I've gotten use to being the butt of everyone's jokes," Tommy replied dryly, causing Rocky to snicker. Casey frowned in confusion.

"I'm thinking it's not just a Kim and RJ thing," he muttered, half to himself. The older rangers stopped and looked at Casey. The red ranger squirmed slightly at their thoughtful stares.

"You know, I think there's hope for you yet," Rocky finally murmured, grinning at him. Casey smiled back as Tommy snorted in amusement.

"Well, you are definitely one of Kim and RJ's students," he said with a smirk. Casey grinned.

"That I am," he agreed, proud of that fact. Tommy chuckled.

"Looks like Jase was right," he told Rocky, who snickered. "They flocked to her."

"Are you really that surprised?" Rocky asked as Casey looked on in interest. "Kim was already half mentor back when we were still in the spandex."

"True," Tommy agreed.

"So where are we going?" Casey asked, getting back to their training. Tommy and Rocky exchanged smirks and the red ninjetti pointed. Casey followed his finger.

"The park?" he asked and they both nodded. Casey's brow furrowed as his eyes caught sight of a small knot of people in red shirts running around on one of the basketball courts. He blinked and looked up to find both older rangers grinning.

"You game?" Rocky asked, tilting his head to the game that stopped when they came into sight. Casey saw Mack Hartford and Andros Dante amongst the group and smirked.

"Oh yeah," he agreed. Tommy and Rocky laughed and the three reds headed to the courts where Mack, Andros, and three other men waited.

"This him?" Andros asked and Tommy nodded.

"Casey, this is Andros, Wes, Shane, Nick, and Mack," he pointed to each. Casey smiled at them all.

"Hey," he greeted. They all greeted him back. Tommy clapped his hands together.

"Ya'll ready for a game?" he asked and the others nodded. Casey must have looked confused because Mack grinned at him.

"All reds try to get together every so often for a game of basketball," he explained with a smile. "Dr. Oliver probably has more in mind for today but not until the games through."

Casey nodded and allowed himself to be placed on what Rocky dubbed the "Rookie" team with Mack, Nick, and Shane. Casey smiled slightly as Shane ribbed on Tommy, saying they were gonna beat the old geezers. If he could handle RJ's unconventional training, why not Tommy and Rocky's?

"Here goes nothing."


"Here we are," Billy grinned as he, Adam, and a slightly disbelieving Theo walked into his office. Theo had been told to change into civilian clothes and then had teleported to Angel Grove with the two older rangers. Looking around, he was surprised at the number of pictures adorning the walls and available surfaces.

"The girls saw this place when I first moved into the building and within a week it looked like this," Billy told him, smiling. Theo smiled back, still confused.

"So, confused yet?" Adam asked quietly and Theo gingerly nodded. The black and green clothed man chuckled.

"Kim thinks you have it in you to be a great grounder," he told him. Theo frowned, confused.

"Traditionally, each ranger team has inner team designations," Billy told him, picking up a remote and pressing a button. A clicking sound told Theo that the door had been locked for privacy.

"You have your traditional leader," Adam picked up. "But there are more."

"For the original six, it was obvious who was who," Billy told him. "Jason was leader, Trini was mediator, Zack was comic relief, I was the techie, Kim was the medic, and Tommy was the grounder."

"What's a grounder?" Theo asked tentively. Adam smiled.

"A grounder is someone who keeps the team grounded, focused," Adam told him. "Each grounder has different ways of doing that."

"Tommy, for instance, had this uncanny ability to keep things in perspective in his mind and make us see that," Billy told him. "Whenever things got out of hand, we could count on him to point out issues within the team and outside the team and could do so without annoying any of us. That's one of the reasons he and Jason worked so well together."

"When I joined the team with Rocky and Aisha, things got messed up a bit for a while," Adam told him. "Everyone's designation got switched except Kim and Billy's."

"I was still techie and Kim was still medic but Tommy became leader. This lead to a major issue with who was who among those three," Billy told him with a smile.

"Eventually, I settled into the role of grounder, Aisha became mediator, and Rocky was comic relief," Adam told him with a grin. "Not that the latter surprised anyone."

"Why are you telling me this?" Theo asked and the two older rangers exchanged grins.

"Because you're gonna end up with two designations for a while and when things change, as they most definitely will, you're gonna have to pick up the slack as grounder," Adam told him seriously.

"Being a grounder isn't a bad thing and Kim wants us also to train you up as a techie," Billy told him. Theo looked surprised.

"But RJ is the one with the tech experience," he argued and Billy smiled wryly.

"For your section of the grid, yeah, but what I'm planning on working with you on isn't about your area of the grid, it's the grid itself," he told him.

"And I'm gonna work on techniques to point out issues within the team," Adam added. "Techniques that won't get you in trouble with your friends."

Theo swallowed and nodded. This wasn't the training he had had in mind when he'd helped Casey and Lily convince Kim to train them but if she thought it was worth learning…

"Alright, where do we start?"


"How is painting our nails gonna help train me?" Lily asked, amusedly, as the two older woman set up bottle after bottle of nail polish on the floor of the loft. Kim had told RJ and Fran that unless absolutely necessary, they were to stay downstairs for the day. Fran had agreed easily but RJ had argued for a bit until he'd withered under his sister's glare.

"We're not doing our nails," Aisha told the younger girl with a grin.

"Yet," Kim added with a meaningful look at the yellow ninjetti. Aisha snickered but didn't argue.

"So whats this all for?" she asked tentively and Kim grinned at her.

"Within each team are designations," she told her. "For example, we were the medic and mediator."

"And, since you only have three members of your team, you're gonna end up with both those jobs," Aisha told her kindly. Lily frowned, confused.

"I don't understand," she admitted and Kim smiled.

"Casey is leader, right?" she asked and Lily nodded. "And how often do you have to mediate between the boys?"

"All the time," she admitted, seeing where she was going.

"RJ and I are both gonna mentor you but team medic is gonna fall on your shoulders because Casey won't have time and Theo will have his own issues to deal with."

"Especially after spending a day with Billy and Adam," Aisha snickered and Kim smirked.

"Point is, as team medic, you're gonna need to know how being a ranger changes your body," Kim told the original yellow ranger. "I'll do what I can when I can, but you're gonna end up taking a lot of the medic stuff on yourself. I'm here to mentor you, not baby you."

Lily nodded, seeing the logic in having another person with ranger medical training. She had a feeling RJ didn't know nearly as much about the subject as Kim obviously did.

"So, what are we gonna do?" she asked curiously. Kim grinned and pulled out a piece of paper. Scooting back a bit, she unrolled it to reveal a life size outline of the yellow rangers uniform. Lily bent over it, studying it.

Within the sketch were multi-colored lines, with circles in various locations. The largest of these circles was at the chest, located where the heart was. She gingerly ran a finger over the vibrant yellow line that ran throughout her entire body.

"What is this?" she asked.

"The yellow indicates your morphin energy, which makes everything we're gonna discuss make sense," Kim told her. Lily nodded.

"Like what?" she asked curiously. Kim smiled.

"Have you noticed that you recover a lot quicker in battle? That your stamina, strength, and healing have all increased?" she asked and Lily nodded. "That's due to the Morphin energy, this yellow line. These other colors are subsidiaries of the Morphin power, each with a specific task."

"The pink, for example, is the strength of your stamina while the red is your physical strength and the blue is your mental strength," Aisha told her, pulling out a scanner from her bag. She turned it on and handed it to Lily. Looking at it, she was surprised to find it was a picture of herself as she sat there, only multi-colored lines flowed throughout her body. Off to the side, a bar graph showed that each color was at 100.

"What happens if it goes to zero percent?" she asked and looked up in time to see Kim and Aisha exchange a look.

"You die," Kim told her softly and Lily nodded, swallowing.

"If you're morphed and all of your levels get below fifty percent, you'll involuntarily demorph," Aisha told her. Lily nodded; she remembered those times with a grimace.

"Ready to learn what each means and how they work together to keep you going?" Kim asked, knowing it was a lot to take in. Lily took a deep breath and nodded.

"Lets get to work."


"The Grid is different for each team," Billy told Theo. They were in Billy's private conference room. The doors were locked, blinds drawn. A projector screen showed several images, including what looked like a giant rock.

"For the Dino Thunder Rangers, the Grid was a prehistoric rock," Billy said, bringing the picture of said rock to the forefront.

"For the Overdrive Rangers, it was a complex computer that Alpha could physically go into," Adam added.

"Yours is a sub-space jungle with various pedestals for each possible ranger, according to RJ," Billy told him.

"Each possible ranger?" Theo asked and Adam nodded.

"Each team has an infinite number of rangers possible, depending on the outlets," he told him. "Most teams have no more than six but others have been known to have upwards to ten at a time."

"The more rangers, though, the greater the strain on the outlets and the sub-grid that team is working from," Billy added.

"Almost every animal based team can have one ranger for each animal," Adam said.

"Theoretically, anyway," Billy added and Theo nodded.

"If we wanted, we could probably have more ninjetti than us six but because of how our powers were returned to us, we're not going to unless we have to," Adam informed him with a smile. Theo nodded in understanding; Kim had told them how she had gotten her powers back. The blue ranger couldn't fault the team for not wanting to share that gift with anyone who hadn't know their old mentor.


"So what do you think the point of this game was?" Tommy asked as the eight reds lounged on the grass. Casey and Mack both groaned.

"Age isn't relevant to winning a game of basketball?" Casey asked. The four rookies had been slaughtered by the older rangers. Tommy, Rocky, Andros, and Wes all chuckled.

"Don't think you're invincible 'cause your younger, fitter, or have ranger powers?" Mack asked and Andros nodded.

"I lost my original team on a devastating attack on my home planet because my teammates got cocky," he told them quietly. "They thought they were invincible because we had kept Dark Spector's forces at bay for so long. They were wrong and they paid for that belief."

"You four didn't play as a team," Wes told them. "That's why we, who were working as a team, were able to beat you so bad."

"I got stuck in amber for a couple weeks and then got stuck in ranger form for a few months after that," Tommy told them with a grimace. "All because I didn't call on my team to go with me to inspect an energy reading. I thought I, as the so called experienced ranger, could take care of it by myself."

"How can you work as a leader though and still be a team player?" Casey asked. Tommy gave him a wry carefully.

"You have to find your own balance," he told him. "Its hard but each red has eventually found it."

"Being leader doesn't mean you take everything on yourself," Shane agreed. "It means being able to make the difficult decisions after discussing it with your team."

"It means taking everyone's advice and input and using that to make your final decision," Wes agreed. "Just because you think something should be done a certain way doesn't mean that you're right."

"And don't give up; your friends may have ideas you haven't thought of," Rocky added. Nick nodded.

"And it saves you the trouble of getting yelled at by your blue teammate," he added ruefully. Tommy and Rocky snickered; they'd heard all about that incidence from a highly amused Rita.

"Don't forget to have fun," Rocky added. "The worst thing you can do is to get so focused on the battle that you forget why you're fighting in the first place."

"Find something to fight for and cling to it," Tommy added. "When I first started, I cling to the belief of atonement for my actions when I was evil. Eventually, I fought for my friends and family, for those I loved."

"I fought for a better future for my friends and myself," Wes added with a grin. "Which is ironic since my teammates were from that future."

The group all snickered.

"At first, I fought to prove I was able to be red ranger," Mack said. "After that, I fought to prove that I was more than just an android."

"And it led to your gift of humanity," Andros added and Mack grinned.

"Yup!"

"I fought for the first group of true friends I'd ever had," Nick told them. "They believed in me even when I didn't."

"So what do you have to fight for?" Tommy asked, turning to Casey. The Red Jungle Fury Ranger swallowed as they all turned to him. He looked down, thinking. Finally, he smiled and looked up.

"I fight to protect my friends, my family," he said quietly. "I fight to prove Master Mao wasn't wrong about me, that I can do this."

"I fight because I can," he smiled. Tommy nodded approvingly.

"And that will make you a great red ranger," he told him and the others nodded. Casey smiled slightly.

"I hope so."


"Okay, that, was not Pua Zhua training," Theo commented once they had all returned that night. He had greatly enjoyed hanging out with Billy and Adam and learning everything about the grid but was still confused as to the whole point.

"It really wasn't," Lily agreed. While she had had a blast, what she had been taught was not something she expected to ever learn as a Pua Zhua. Off to the side, RJ and Fran just looked on curiously. Kim was with the other ninjetti downstairs saying goodbye.

"That's 'cause it wasn't Pua Zhua training," Casey, still hyped up from his day with Tommy, Rocky, and the other reds, grinned at them. At Theo and Lily's confused looks, Casey's grin widened.

"That was Ranger training."