In the Face of Defeat
Chapter 4
Painful Goodbyes and Hellos
(Three days later)
Billy appeared outside the shield that surrounded the Command Center. He was already morphed, and it was a good thing too because it was the first time that he had been outside during the day in several months so the dark visor was a welcome part of the suit. Tommy stepped up beside him clad in his white ranger Armor, and Hayley and Cestria each held on to his hands. Ethan, Trent, Conner, Kira, and Jason all stood watch in case something happened since Hayley and Cestria had no ranger powers to rely on in the event of an attack. A few minutes later they saw a Dragon fly overhead with a red ranger on its back.
"Daddy" Cestria said tugging at his glove slightly, "Is that a real dragon?"
"It certainly is sweetheart", Billy said with a slightly muffled voice because of the helmet.
"I want to ride him", his daughter remarked.
"I'm sure you will someday", Hayley said as she watched in awe as the dragon gracefully made its landing.
The red ranger jumped off its back and made his way over to the rangers.
"Are you a wizard?" Cestria asked the ranger.
He chuckled beneath his helmet and got down on one knee in front of her, "Yes I am; my name is Nick, what's yours?"
"Cestria", she replied shyly.
"And Miss Cestria, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
She smiled brightly, "I want to be a blue Power Ranger, just like my dad."
Nick took off his helmet so he could give the girl a proper smile, "I have a daughter about your age, and she wants to be a blue Power Ranger like her mother."
The other rangers loaded the equipment onto Fireheart's back, and soon it was time for them to leave. Billy took off his helmet and squinted as the sun hit his eyes. He turned to Hayley and took her hand in a loving manner.
"If all goes well I should be back in a couple days", he said as he looked into her eyes.
Hayley let a tear escape before giving him a kiss, "I'm counting on it she said."
He handed Hayley his helmet and bent down to give his daughter a hug, "I'll miss you Squirt", he said.
Cestria threw her arms around her father and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I'll miss you too Daddy."
Hayley kissed the front of his helmet for luck like she did every time he went out and handed it back to him. He was just about to put it on when Tommy's communicator went off.
"Tommy", Kats voice came through the device, "Kim has just gone into labor."
"But it's too soon", Tommy replied.
"I'm aware of that", she replied dryly, "I am a doctor, you know a real doctor."
"So what do you need me to do?" he asked.
"How about get your ass in here!" he heard Kim scream from the background.
Billy put his helmet on and climbed up on the dragon behind Nick as Tommy waved a goodbye before activating an invisaportal taking them back inside the Command Center.
Tommy rushed down to the hospital ward that Kat had set up when they first arrived, and found himself looking into a death glare from Kim as she screamed in pain. Tommy shuddered inwardly, he still remembered what she was like when the twins were born, and this didn't look like it was going to go any better.
"It's about time you showed up Bird-boy, if you had missed this Venjix would have been the least of your concerns", She yelled at him.
"Kim, I'm sorry", Tommy said.
"Sorry?" She yelled obviously in a lot of pain, "I can't believe I let you do this to me again!"
"Kim, you need to calm down", Kat said, "You know that the added stress of yelling isn't helping." Kat having seen her during the birth of the twins knew that Kim got angry and spiteful under the stress. She said things to Tommy that even Lord Zedd didn't hear after kidnapping her. They all knew she didn't mean it and it was very common for this to happen, but with Kim's small frame the added stress wasn't good.
"I'll calm you down Katherine", she half yelled and half screamed.
"Can't you give her something for the pain?" Tommy asked.
"Too late", Kat said as she checked on Kim's progress, "Alright Kim push."
Tommy offered Kim his hand and instantly regretted it. He winced as she squeezed his hand, and as she gave her last push he could have sworn that he heard a snap.
"You have a son", Kat said as she brought the baby up to meet his mother.
Kim took the baby in her arms and looked loving at Tommy, "I'm sorry about the way I spoke to you."
Tommy smiled as he looked down at his wife and newest member of the Oliver family, "Hey, forget it."
"So what are we going to name him?" Kim asked as she ran a finger down his cheek.
"We should name him after Jason", Tommy said.
Kim shook her head, "No, I think we should name him after you."
"Why not both?" Kat added in.
"Thomas Jason Oliver", Tommy said but Kim scrunched her nose.
"I think I like Jason Thomas Oliver", she said.
"I'd like to keep him here for a few days to monitor him", Kat said as she brought over a crib.
"Is something wrong with him?" Tommy asked.
"Not that I can see, but with premature babies you can never be too careful."
"Hey", Jason said as he poked his head into the room, "Feel like some visitors?"
"I think I'll be ok for it", Kim replied.
Jason stepped into the room and was followed by David and Crystal.
"Hey kids", Kat said as she was cleaning up.
"Hey Aunt Kat", the twins said together. "Is mom ok?" Crystal inquired.
"She's just fine", Kat replied.
David and Crystal walked up to the bed and watched as their parents introduced them to the newest Oliver.
Wes, Eric, and the rest of the Wild Force rangers were finishing up a supply mission to the ruined Turtle Cove when they suddenly came under attack. This was the same attackbot that had killed Cole as well as severely injured Taylor several months ago so Eric automatically took a defensive stance to protect his wife. He couldn't see her eyes through the visor of her helmet, but he knew she was afraid to face this monster again even if she wouldn't show it to the rest of the team. Wes instructed the rest of the rangers to take the supplies and head back to the Animarium before he went over and took a defensive stance with the man he considered to be his brother and his wife. Taylor stood there frozen in anger and fear. She knew her husband and Wes saw it, but she refused to let this mechanical abomination see it as well. They all dove in different directions as the monster fired a shot from its cannon. The blast hit an old car causing it to explode. Taylor screamed in pain as the axle from the destroyed car landed on her leg pinning her to the ground. Wes and Eric both scrambled to get up when they saw the monster start walking over to Taylor. She closed her eyes as the monster took out a very large lethal looking spiked sword and held it over its head preparing to impale her with it. She heard a scream and opened f her eyes after a few moments when her painful death didn't come, and what she saw horrified her. Wes was over her with the sword sticking through his chest. He looked over at Eric and gave a thumb up before going unconscious and falling to the floor demorphed. The monster was about to pull it's sword out Wes when a hooded figure jumped over a pile of debris landing a kick right into the middle of its chest. The monster stumbled backwards, but before it could regain its bearings the cloaked person pulled out a large energy rifle and shot it in the head. The attackbots head was blown clean off and the rest of it fell to the ground in a heap as the hooded person kneeled over Wes. The person put an odd looking device on Wes' forehead stopping all movement and appearing to instantly freeze him in that moment of time. The person then removed the axle from Taylor's leg before turning to Eric and removing the hood. Eric gasped as he saw the face, it was older than when he had last seen her, but unmistakable. "Jen", he said as he carefully stepped towards her, "What are you doing here."
"I had to come", she said sadly, "I had to come and save Wes."
"I'd love to hear all about it", Eric said, "But I think we need to get out of here first.
Eric helped Jen pick up Wes, who was now stiff as a board. "What did you do to him?" Eric asked.
"I put him in a form of suspended animation, but the stabilizer only has enough power to last about twenty-four hours. If we don't get him help by them, he'll die".
"Then there's only one person who can help us", Taylor said walking beside them with a slight limp.
A little while later they were back at the Animarium, and while Jen and Taylor were with the medical staff Eric was trying to contact Tommy at the Command Center. Once he managed to get a connection he saw an unfamiliar face sitting at the screen.
"This is the Command Center, how can I be of assistance?" the voice asked.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't know you", Eric said.
"Right, this isn't my usual post. I'm Jeremy, Green Ranger."
"I need to speak with Dr. Thomas Oliver."
Jeremy looked at the screen, "I'm sorry, but Dr. O isn't available. His wife just had a baby."
"Please", Eric said adopting a less gruff tone, "This is an emergency, a life or death emergency."
After a few minutes Tommy's face appeared on the screen and it was clear that he was less than pleased to have been disturbed.
"What can I do for you Eric?" Tommy asked.
"We have a medical emergency and need transport to the Command Center"
Tommy looked grimly into the screen, "What kind of medical emergency."
"Wes is dying", Eric said bluntly, "He was stabbed by an attackbot. We have him in stasis but we only have about 20 hours before he dies."
"Our teleportation system is nonfunctional. We're working on an alternate method, but it's not online yet. I'll see what I can do and contact you in one hour."
A/N: Here is chapter four. My co-author and I have written this as only long chapter (Was originally just going to be a prologue) so we've decided to break it up. I hope you like the story so far and as always please read and review.