Disclaimer: I have never, nor will I ever own any part of Power Rangers, though the characters of Samantha, Rebecca, and Chris Travis are my own creations. This is just for pure fun.

Summary: Kim is married to the guy in "the letter" but she is miserable. Her husband ignores her mostly and she is stuck in the monotonous life of the suburban housewife. Is she stuck in this limbo forever, or can someone change her life for the better?

Pairings: Kim/OC, with mentions of Jason/Kat, Billy/Hailey, and Connor/Kira

Time: Post DT

A/N: Sorry for the late update. I have been sick for the past few days with a stomach virus. Thankfully though, the plot stayed in me, which is more than I can say for everything else! A warning, this chapter contains a pretty dark scene, so if violence offends you, I do apologize.

Chapter five: Much needed support

Hayley's Cyber space café:

For the first time in a very long time, Kim was relaxed and content. Here she was sitting in a café sipping on tea while her girls devoured chocolate milkshakes and Tommy of all people was sitting across from her talking small talk with her daughters. She felt as though she had to pinch herself to make sure that this was real, but there was the proof right in front of her in all his glory, tight chest, defined abs and all.

Damn he looks good. If anything he has only improved with age.

She knew that she was staring at him like a horny schoolgirl, but she really did not care. After being denied so much as a loving glance from a man for the past few years, Kim felt as though she was a starving woman staring at a four course dinner. Tommy must have noticed her look.

"Samantha, would you take your sister and ask Miss. Haley nicely if she can help you get a game started on that computer?" he said pointing at a laptop set up across the room. Sam asked her mother if that would be alright.

Kim, sensing that Tommy wanted to talk to her alone, gave her permission, and Sam eagerly led her younger sister over to where Hayley sat. The redhead smiled in Tommy's direction and happily got the two sisters started on a game, even getting as involved with it as they were. Kim was still staring at Tommy as he turned back to her, still smiling at the girls.

"See something you like?" he joked.

If only you knew just how much.

Those were Kim's thoughts, but she decided to hold back on that, at least for now. She just blushed.

"Those are some wonderful kids you have Kim."

Kim sighed and took another sip of her tea before continuing.

"Thank you. They are wonderful, most of the time, Though Sam is starting to show certain traits of her father, and that I defiantly do not like.'

"What do you mean?"

"Things like talking back to me, being stubborn, and wanting her own way all of the time."

Tommy thought long and hard before he asked the next question on his mind.

"Was he like that when you married him?"

Somehow, Kim knew that question was going to come up sooner or later. As a result, she was prepared.

"No, he really wasn't. He was charming, funny, and treated me like I was the most important thing in the world. I think that he knew what he was doing. I resisted him at first, telling him that I had a serious boyfriend back home, but that did not seem to stop him."

"I would have stopped him," growled Tommy, hating the fact that Kim was being so aggressively pursued when he could not be there to protect her.

"I know you would have Tommy, and in hindsight, I wish I would have told you about him when it first started. Maybe we could have avoided a lot of things. But I thought that I could handle him for myself, and then, then I don't know. Suddenly I started to realize you were busy saving the world and would give up so much to be with me. I could not ask you to do that. I could not be that selfish. I already felt bad enough for leaving you in the first place so I could go after my dreams. Maybe it was Chris getting into my head finally, but the final straw was when I realized that I had to let you go, so you could stop thinking about me and start thinking about the world, and yourself for once. But, like I said the other night; that was the single worst mistake of my life.'

"I understand your logic Kim, I really do. But you have to know that I would have dropped everything to be with you. I would have waited Kim, I would have waited until you had realized your dream and my job with the rangers was done, then we could have been together, but instead, you had to let him get into your head."

He was bitter, and who could blame him?

"I deserve that. All I can say is that I am sorry."

Upon hearing her tone, Tommy softened a little.

"Look, I am sorry I spoke that way, but I lost nearly twelve years with you, that is time that I will never get back. And the shittiest part is that if things continue the way that they are, I will lose even more years with you!"

"What about me in all this Tommy? All I have heard is how bad off you are. What about me? Does it matter to you that I am trapped in a loveless marriage? Do you care that the man that pledged to love me for better or for worse has not touched me in almost a year?" Kim had started to cry now, fighting to control it so her girls would not see her this way.

Damn, she was right; he had not given all of those things much thought, only on how much she had hurt him. He handed her a napkin so she could wipe her eyes, then moved around so he was sitting next to her. He thought about his next move very carefully, but then decided the hell with it, and put his arm around her. Instantly, her head was on his chest. Considering the circumstances, they both should have been worried about being seen by one of Chris' friends, or even worse, by Kim's husband himself, but neither of the former rangers seemed to know or even care about that possibility.

"Can't you just leave him, get a divorce?" Tommy whispered. The solution seemed simple to him. But then again, he had never been married.

"I could, but Chris has some very influential friends. Not only that, he is vindictive as hell. As soon as I started divorce proceedings, he would take everything from me, including my daughters. He hardly ever speaks to them, but he would take them from me simply because I love them. I would have nothing Tommy, and nowhere to go."

Tommy seethed, wondering what kind of man would do that to his own children.

"That's not true Kim, you would have me."

Kim, her heart a puddle of goo, started to cry again. Tommy had just given her what she had wanted him to give her that night next to the lake, though he did not know it yet.

"I need my daughters Tommy!"

"Shhhhh, its ok Beautiful. We will figure something out, together."

Tommy's resistance was breaking down, and his reasoning was telling him that he was not being a home wrecker. How could he break a home that was already broken? All he needed to do was to see that Kim and her children were protected, which he would do gladly.

"Don't worry Kim. I will fight for them. I will fight for you. I will fight for all of you with every breath in my body."

Kim lifted her head from his chest and looked him in the eyes.

"Do you really mean that Tommy?" Her voice betrayed the hope that she felt building in her heart.

"I really do. But I have to ask you this. Do you want it? Do you want to leave your husband and go through what could be years of emotional hell?"

"Before I answer, can I ask you a question?"

Tommy nodded.

"Will you be with us through the entire process? Because I cannot do this alone."

"I already answered that I believe," Tommy joked, "but I will say it again. You and your girls will not go through this alone. I will be here through everything. Whatever you need, consider it done."

Kim thought that her heart would explode from the emotion.

"Thank you Tommy, that does really mean so much to me. And, you have to know, that I still love you. I don't think that I really stopped."

"The same goes for me Beautiful. I love you too, but we have to be careful with this. If Chris is like you say that he is, if he or anyone he knows has that kind of information, it could really hurt you in the courtroom, and your kids might suffer."

Kim knew he was right, though it was going to be hell to restrain herself from this man for so long, but still, some things were worth waiting for, She straightened up and cleaned up her face. Today had been an emotional roller coaster, though she would not trade it for the world. So much had been cleared, most of which was Kim's own mind, she now knew what she had to do. She called Sam and Becky over to the table and told them that it was time to go.

"Aww mom! Do we have to?" whined Sam.

"Afraid so missy, say goodbye to Tommy."

"Goodbye Tommy" chorused the girls.

"Goodbye girls. I am sure that I will see you again soon. Don't forget, I have lots of cool dinosaur stuff to show you."

"Do you promise or are you just telling us that to shut us up?" wondered Becky innocently.

Again, Kim stood mortified, but Tommy was laughing.

"It's more than a promise little Bronto, that's a guarantee."

Becky loved her new name and showed it by running up and giving Tommy a tight hug. He had to fight the tears coming to his own eyes as he returned the embrace.

He does not deserve any of them. This child is something special. I would happily be the father that she never had.

Becky finally let go of Tommy and joined her mother and sister. Tommy, his infamous memory kicking in, finally remembered something. He grabbed a pen out of his pocket and scribbled something on a napkin.

"Oh, before you go Kim, here is my address and phone number, just in case you need it."

Kim accepted the napkin and tucked it safely inside her hip pocket just before giving Tommy a longing look and heading out of the café. She wanted so bad to kiss him goodbye, but knew that she could not, at least not now.

Soon though, soon I will be free and my white knight will be totally mine again.

This was the thought that made Kim hum a happy tune as she headed home with her girls.

Kim's home; that the next night:

Kim had just taken a shower and was getting ready for bed. Sam and Becky had just been put to bed a half hour ago. Becky asked again when she would be allowed to go to Tommy's house to see all his cool dinosaur stuff. Kim had promised her that they would go soon, perhaps the following weekend. This had pleased the little girl immeasurably and she had gone to bed without a fuss, which was a rarity these days.

She was humming a happy tune while brushing her hair, thinking about the previous day's events. She had made up her mind that she was going to leave Chris. It had been coming for a long time, and it might have never happened had it not been for Tommy. His strength was what was giving her the power to do this. She would have still done it eventually, but it would not have been this soon.

She was thinking on just how she was going to do this, when Chris walked into their bedroom. The smell in the air told her that it was going to be a long night.

Great, he has been with her again.

Her husband reeked of perfume and sex. Usually he did a pretty good idea of hiding it, but lately he had been getting lazier in covering up the smell.

"Have a good night Chris?" she asked, trying to hide the coolness in her voice.

He said nothing, just grunted and headed toward the shower. She was feeling frisky tonight, and not the same kind of frisky she felt around Tommy. She followed him into the bathroom.

He had taken off his shirt and the nail marks on his back were there for the world to see.

"So, how is Karen tonight?"

The use of his mistress' name coming out of his wife's mouth shocked Chris. How did she know? Kim read the look perfectly.

"Oh, I suppose you are wondering how I knew the whore's name. It was easy Chris. I had a feeling things were going that way when you were going away from the house more and more, not to mention your odd hours. Call it a wife's intuition. Then, you really smell of her cheap ass perfume and um, sex. You have been getting lazy Chris; you usually do a better job of covering it up. And finally, what gave it totally away and gave a name to your other woman was the note from her that I found in your pants while doing laundry last night."

She shook her head. "You really did a piss poor job of hiding your infidelity. It's a wonder I did not catch on earlier. I guess I just wanted to believe that my husband loved me and wanted to be with me forever. Whatever was I thinking?"

She turned and went back into the bedroom. "Oh, and one more thing Chris. Expect divorce papers from me in the next few days. I am taking the girls and getting the hell away from you!"

In a display of speed that she did not think possible, Chris was in front of her and in her face.

"You hypocritical bitch! So what if I have been having a little fun on the side? You have been sleeping with that ex of yours! Oh Yes! Know all about what you have been doing with Tommy. So you can accuse me all you want little miss perfect, but look at yourself before you start accusing me!"

Kim was stunned, she did not expect this. What had Chris seen to make him make such an accusation?

"Chris, I have no idea what you saw or heard that made you THINK that I have been sleeping with Tommy, but nothing could be further from the truth. I have been totally and completely faithful to you and only you for the past eleven years, which is more than I can say for you!"

"Oh yes Kim, I am such a bad husband, you have suffered so much while married to me. I mean, it must be hell to have four credit cards, a four bedroom house, and a closet full of designer clothes. What a dick I am!" Chris said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Yes Chris, I do have those things, but what I have not had was a husband who would look at me as though he gave a damn! You can take all that other shit, all I want is a husband who loves me!"

"I fell out of love with you ten years ago Kim. All this time I have been looking for someone better, and I finally found her. So go ahead, file for divorce. I will ensure that you are left with nothing, including the girls."

His revelation hurt her, badly. She had no idea that he had felt that way for so long.

"What do you care about those girls? They are just tax write offs for you! Do you think for a second that that whore will be a better mother to them than me?"

"Well, she is better than you in every other way, so I don't see why not."

"Get out! I don't want you near me or near those girls!"

"This is my house! I pay the mortgage, not you slut!"

"I don't care! Get away from…"

Kim did not finish her thought. Without warning, Chris slapped her hard on the right side of her face, making her crumble to the ground. She was stunned, and her face was starting to swell, but she was going to make a fight out of this. She saw him coming toward her again, and when he got close enough, she raised her left leg hard, connecting between his legs. As he crumbled to the ground in pain, she stood up shakily and slapped him across the face.

"Don't you ever raise a hand to me again Chris Travis. It will be the last mistake you ever make."

Chris said nothing; he just pulled himself off the floor, wiped the blood from his face and attacked.

Kim went down in a heap again, and this time, she did not get up.

Samantha was scared. She had just fallen asleep when loud voices had waken her up. It took a few moments, but she soon recognized those voices of her parents. Oddly enough, she did not worry at first, her mommy and daddy had done this before.

But then there came a sound that was not normal. It was the sound of hitting. She knew because she had slapped her sister a few times, but never that hard. This was when Sam started to get really scared, so she wrapped herself in her blanket and huddled against the wall against her bed.

Then, her mommy screamed in pain. Samantha started to cry then, but silently, because for the first time in her young life, Samantha Travis was terrified of her father. Her mommy needed her, but she would not go to help her until she was sure that her daddy had gone away.

She waited, and waited, and waited some more. When some time had gone by and she had heard nothing but silence, she dared to get out of bed and peak out of her door. Seeing nothing, she crept down the hall toward her parent's bedroom. Once there, she saw no sign of her daddy, which relieved her, but there was her mommy, on the floor, and she was not moving.

Samantha screamed.

Kim came awake with a start.

Why is Samantha screaming? Isn't she supposed to be in bed?

Strangely enough, these were Kim's thoughts as she came back to consciousness. She tried to stand up, but found that she did not have the power to do so. Why was Samantha screaming? Then, the flood of memories came back to her. Gingerly, she touched her face and instantly pulled back as the pain hit. She guessed her face was one swollen lump, and judging by the hard time she was having breathing, a few ribs were sure to be broken. No wonder her child was screaming. Her mother looked like a monster. Kim had the idea that her oldest knew that it really was a monster that did this.

"Sam honey, don't worry. Please stop screaming. I know this looks bad, but mommy will be fine. But honey, I need your help. Can you help mommy?"

Sam had stopped screaming, but still had tears on her cheeks. She nodded at her mother's request.

"Good, that's my big girl." Kim spit out a tooth as well as some blood as she dragged herself over to Sam.

"Is your father still here?"

Sam shook her head. She was terrified right now and did not trust herself to speak. She had never seen her mother like this before, and she had no idea what to think.

"Good. Listen baby, we need to get your sister and get out of here. Go get Becky, and gather some clothes and other personal items for the two of you and be ready to go in ten minutes."

"What about you mommy?"

"Don't worry about me honey. Just see to yourself and Becky please."

Sam nodded and hurried off to her task. Once she was gone, Kim dragged herself to the bedside table to find her cell phone. Once she found it, she dialed information and got the number to a cab company. They might ask questions about her state, but she would pay them enough to shut up and not take her to a hospital. There was only one safe place for her now, and Reefside general was defiantly not it.

Tommy's home; 10:00 that night:

Tommy laughed. Jason and Adam had come over a few hours earlier and the three decided that a night spent with a few beers, a pizza, and Monty Python movies would be a night well spent. While waiting for the pizza to arrive, Tommy had taken Jason aside and told him of his conversation with Kim the day before. While he was happy for his two friends, Jason cautioned Tommy to be careful; he could be getting into a lot more than he thought that he was. Tommy had assured him that he knew what he was doing. The pizza had arrived and the conversation was forgotten for the moment.

"Man, it's too bad Rocky isn't here. This shit is right up his alley." Tommy said gesturing to the TV.

"That's true bro, the ape man does have a certain taste shall we say for the cheesy. But he had to go and ditch us for a girl." Jason said feigning disgust at the thought that their friend would rather spend a night with a woman than with his best friends.

"Yeah, but Aisha is probably the only woman on the planet that can put up with his crap," Adam said before belching loudly.

Just then, there came a loud knocking at the door. Tommy announced that he would get it, and left his two best friends to continue talking about Rocky's habits. Nothing in the world could have prepared him for the site that met him at the threshold of his home. Samantha and Rebecca stood there dressed in night clothes and tiny suitcases next to them, but what shocked him the most was the woman that they flanked. It was Kim, or someone he thought might have been Kim at one time. Her face was one swollen discolored lump caked with dried blood. She held her side with one hand that told Tommy that she may have some internal injuries as well. The two kids looked like they were not hurt, at least not physically, but from the looks on their faces, they were hurting bad emotionally. He put two and two together and rage filled his body.

That bastard! If it's the last thing I do, I will kill him, flat out end his life.

He quickly realized that he had to do something and soon. There were two other former rangers in his home that could, and would assist him in beating the holy hell out of Chris, but right now, he needed their help with other things, mainly the three women on his doorstep. He reached out to help Kim, but before he could touch her, Kim moaned.

"Tommy, please……"

She collapsed into his arms. He caught her easily of course, and then yelled into his home.

"Jason! Adam! I need you guys in here now!"

Wow! I told you that this would be intense! Sorry for that scene, but I promise that that is the last really dark chapter of this story. What will become of Kim? What will happen to Chris after what he did? And more importantly, who will get to Chris first? Jason or Tommy? Let me know! As always, don't forget those rates and reviews!