Summary:
Call it a muscle memory, call it a bad habit, but his body is hard wired into protecting her.
A look into the complicated feelings of Tommy Oliver during the Turbo: Power Rangers Movie.
Notes:
Just something I wanted to write down. Thoughts about the movie from Tommy's perspective etc. Enjoy.
Kimberly's on the viewing globe and Kat whips her head around to look at Tommy. His eyes haven't left the screen, mouth dropped open. Tommy knows he should look away, look at his girlfriend but he can't take his eyes off her, his heart feels like it stops and all these emotions come bubbling to the surface, anger, panic, love, hate, but the one that gets him the most is fear, she's in danger and no matter what he's feeling he can't lose her.
Tommy gets irritated quickly, Kat watches him as he literally cannot sit still and starts pacing the command center back and forth. She wants to roll her eyes and make a comment about how Kim makes him agitated and remind him that she's his girlfriend not Kim, but she bites her tongue.
"Listen." Tommy says, trying to devise a plan. "We'll get Kim and Jason out of there and then we'll go after Lerigot's family." He knows that's not the right call, his judgment is being impaired. He'd still choose her over the fate of the world and he doesn't want to acknowledge the fact that it's plain as day obvious to everyone in the room. He's always ready to dive head first into saving her, consequences be damned.
Adam knows this. He looks at Tommy, his lips set in a frown. It's not the right call, but he's worried too and he knows there's no arguing with Tommy when it comes to Kim. Adam steals a glance at Kat, her emotions are locked up tight but he can see the way her jaw clenches that she's upset. Adam decides to keep his thoughts to himself.
Divatox's overgrown peanut of a minion throws two bodies overboard and Tommy rushes into the water without thought, Adam hot on his heels. He can't lose her like this, his worst nightmare coming to life, his friends, Kim, getting caught up in danger and not being able to fight back. Are they dead? No one was moving. Tommy ignores the way his muscles tighten and his lungs burn as he fights to swim faster. "It's not them," Adam yells. "Tommy, come on - Tommy."
"I gotta check the other one." Tommy swims, grabbing the other dummy and throwing it back in the water. His heart hammers in his chest. Adam is grabbing at him pulling him back to reality.
"Come on man." Tommy looks back one last time at the dummies in the water sinking. It makes his stomach twist in knots, bile rising to his throat. He chokes it all down.
Tommy sits below deck, his foot tapping in anxious impatience along the old wooden planks of the ship. Kat comes to sit by his side wrapping her arms around him. He should be grateful for the embrace, for the affection, but he shrugs her off.
"I'm sorry - I just - " He can't articulate how he feels. He's gone head first into battle but much like it was when Kimberly was losing her powers, this one is personal. Kat releases him, pulling her arms to herself sadly and sighs.
"I'm going to go check on Justin." she says shaking her head and turning to go back up top. She bites down on the inside of her cheek. She knows it'll only be a fight if she says something now. Even after their breakup Kimberly still had that power over him and it was then that Kat realizes there was no comparison, no living up to the original pink ranger. They'd be graduating soon and London was looking more and more like a good idea.
When they rush into the cave it feels like someone's knocked the wind out of him. There she is with Jason strung up over a pit. Shackles wrapped around her tiny wrists, beads of sweat covering her forehead and staring at him. He's frozen in place staring back at her. She's so tiny. Still so beautiful. He's finally seeing her in person and he can't help but be drawn forward to her.
"Hey - did we miss the party?" He shouts something he thinks is witty. Because suddenly, just for a moment things feel like they used to. She smiles at him and he wants to melt right then and there.
"Who invited you?" Divatox grumbles.
"We did." Kim smiles again. "Rangers, this is Divatox, Divatox, this is your worst nightmare."
They are lowered further and he can hear Kim and Jason scream at the drop. "Kim!" Tommy yells. He's held back by the Piranhatrons and Tommy all but throws himself forward trying to get to her.
"Help! Tommy!" He hears her pleas and it draws him forward, keeps him fighting because her life depends on it. She's all that matters right now.
"Kim!" He yells back. He's coming for her. But before he knows it Kim and Jason are lowered into the fire pit and he is helpless "Kim!" he yells again watching her disappear into the pit. He's not even sure what to do, he can't breathe and all he can think about is jumping into the pit after her but he's being held back. Kat, the rest of his team, Lerigot, they're the farthest thing from his mind right now.
Jason and Kim reappear in a flame and he stumbles back still trying to catch his breath, eyes trained on her. Her eyes are red, unnatural. He makes a beeline to her grabbing at her shoulders roughly, calling her name but she throws him off roughly making her way towards Kat. She makes it through Adam and Tanya easily as he faces off against the Piranhatrons in his way all the while glancing over Kim's way. He's solely focused on her, has been since he first saw her.
Kim's got Kat by the arm twisting it at an unnatural position. "No! Leave her alone. Kimberly No!" He whips her around taking off his helmet. "No. Look at me Kim. Look at me- it's me - Tommy." She stares at him. Red eyes looking into his brown ones. He sees a flicker of recognition before Kat speaks up and her eyes lose their focus.
"Friends? I don't have any friends." She breaks his heart a second time because the words sting. He hadn't reached out, hadn't kept in touch and truthfully neither had the rest of his team, but before he can even grab for her again Jason has him. He supposes this is fair, he'd completely neglected his worry for Jason in favor of Kim and now he has to make sure one of his best friends doesn't crush him or worse throw him in this pit he has him pinned against.
It's not something he wants to do but he flips Jason over praying to God, the morphing grid, whoever will listen that he catches him in time, because he has to believe that the two of them, the two who will forever have a place in his heart are still in there.
"Tommy! Hang on!" Suddenly she's at his side. Red eyes are replaced with those soft brown ones he's so used to staring into.
"Kim?" he whispers gripping onto Jason's hand while he thrashes against his help.
"I'm with you." and he wishes those words were more than she means them to be right now. Kim's tugging on Jason's hand begging him to work with them, to clear the evil clouding his mind right now. Jason has the same recognition in his eyes that Kim had earlier.
In a blast they're thrown back and Jason gets up disoriented but Tommy keeps his hand in front of Kim when they get up, hovering by her waist in case he needs to jump back into action. Call it a muscle memory, call it a bad habit, but his body is hard wired into protecting her.
"I think you're gonna need this." Kat's voice rings out as she hands him his helmet. Kat's on the right and Kim's at the left of him and somewhere, somehow this is kind of tortuous and hilarious at the same time. But he doesn't have time to think about that. Kat's words are clipped, it's not like her boyfriend has been obsessively protecting his ex-girlfriend the entire time since she was visible on the message they received at the command center.
He's not sure why he looks to Kim for validation before he calls back to action. She places her hand on him and he can literally feel his heart thumping against his chest. "I'll get the Liarians." she tells him without missing a beat, squeezing his arm before taking off.
"Right." he forces himself back to action, back into the fight where his head should have been the entire time.
Divatox and that ugly lava rock are defeated and they're all back safely in the Zord. Tommy all but runs towards them and skids to a halt, very aware for the first time that everyone is watching his every move and that Kim is clinging to Jason. They laugh at Bulk and Skull and he awkwardly hovers not sure what to say, what to do. Kim stares back at him reaching out and then thinking better of it when Kat steps out behind Tommy. With the fear of losing them, her, gone and his mind suddenly cleared, he remembers he has a girlfriend, Kat, and Kim and him are broken up, something they haven't really acknowledged. It's awkward. Painfully so.
There's too many eyes on him in the Zord and then again at the tournament. He makes sure to keep his distance from her, heading to Kat for a hug after their big win while Kim reaches out to Jason and he wishes that he truly was the former Red Ranger. It's at that moment that he decides he needs to talk to her. He hikes Justin up on his shoulders and parades around in celebration and it's only when he notices Kim slipping out of the tournament that he quietly follows her out.
He watches as she looks up at the night sky, letting out a soft sigh before tightening her ponytail. She's wearing dark colors, not a stitch of pink or white on her, so different from the girl he knew. "Leaving already?" He asks, finally finding his voice. She spins around still her graceful self and smiles at him. Tommy notices her smile doesn't quite reach her eyes.
"Oh well.." she begins taking a few steps closer to him. "It's been a long day." She places a hand on her forehead for a moment. "possessed by an evil lava monster and all that" she hums.
He takes the last few steps toward her so they are face to face. The awkward tension sets in almost immediately. He has a million and one things to say to her and only one word comes out. "Why?"
"Tommy." she sighs looking down at her feet. He knows she knows exactly what he's asking and he waits patiently for her words to tumble out. "I - I don't know what to say, it was immature and stupid and I made a mistake…It - It doesn't matter now." She chews on her bottom lip and Tommy wishes he could close the gap between them, his eyes drawn to her mouth.
"Kim - " His hand brushes against her arm and then falls at his side startled by the sudden interruption.
"Tommy! Tommy, there you are - everyone's waiting on you." Kat's Australian accent rings through as she pokes her head outside the door, her gaze shifting between the two exes uncomfortably.
Kim gives him a tight smile reaching out to place her hand on his bicep. Her touch sears his skin. "You should go back in. Tell Jase I went back to the hotel to pack." She's leaving, running back to Florida and the words 'made a mistake' hang in the air between them and now so does Kat, still waiting expectantly at the door for him.
Tommy doesn't want her to take her hand back, out of instinct his hand covers hers keeping it in place. Her hand is soft like he remembers and his thumb rubs over the delicate skin. "Tommy." Kat insists again.
As he turns to look at the blonde, who, and rightfully so, is clearly annoyed with him Kim slips her hand out of his grip and jogs toward the yellow cab waiting for her. He's torn, not sure what to do - go after Kim, he has so much he needs to say, or go back in with Kat, where he should have been from the start of this.
He watches the cab take off frozen in place. Kim would be gone in the morning. He scoffed to himself. She was probably trying to get on a flight tonight if she could. Behind him he hears the door click shut, turning his head to see Kat had gone inside, giving up on her attempt to call him in.
Tommy stands in place, the cab's gone and the door's shut and he can't help but feel like he's torn in two