After Darkness Falls

"New Ability"

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, that is owned by Saban/Disney. Carri and all things related to Carri (including Jason's cougar ninjetti power) belong to KJ with many thanks. Everyone else belongs to me.

A/N:Kim's powers were inspired by KSuzie, but unlike KSuzie's she cannot travel between dimensions, only time and space and I am expanding on them.

As always, reviews are appreciated.

Tommy sat in his apartment, Kim curled up on the couch next to him. He looked down at her, her head was resting on his chest as she slept. It had been a week since they had saved Jason, a long quiet week. That was never a good thing with any of the bad guys they'd faced. But, spending everyday of the week with Kim made it the best week of his life. That second first date had been the greatest night of his life, she had decided to stay over at his place that night, and after eating breakfast the next morning she teleported herself back to her room, hoping Carri wouldn't notice. So far she hadn't. Kim had been staying over every night, and teleporting home the next morning. He couldn't really get mad at her for it, she wasn't using the Rangers teleportation system for her own personal use, she was using the powers granted to her by the Muranthian Pit.

His life was almost perfect now, almost. The day after Jaxora was seperated from Jason he fell into a coma. That, plus making sure the new Zords were ready, plus trying to find a way to free Adam, Tori, and Mike was more than Billy could handle. Luckily Hayley had volunteered to help out. He had been by the Power Chamber to help out and do what he could, which in the way of computers wasn't a whole lot. But mainly he went by to check on his best friend.

Jason was like a brother to him, and he was one of the first people to show Tommy kindness when he first moved to Angel Grove. He even asked him to continue being a Ranger after he nearly killed Jason and the others. Because of all that, he wasn't sure if he could ever repay Jason. But he started when he asked Jason to join the Zeo team as the new Gold Ranger, and for being there for Jason when he lost thsoe Powers, just as Jason had been there for him.

Snapping him from his thoughts was a soft grunt as Kim began to stir and situated herself. He couldn't help but smile, she was just as beautiful, if not more, than the day he first laid eyes on her. He had been preparing for his first match in Angel Grove when he spotted her among her friends. He had wanted to talk to her then, but he needed to focus on his matches. The next day at school he was hoping to see her so he could introduce himself. When he finally found her she was being picked on by two guys he didn't know, and he saw as his chance to be her knight in shining armor.

Those first three years of high school had been the best years of his life up until now. His senior year is when he became hostile towards her, when she wrote that damn letter to him. He regretted being hostile towards her while they worked together on the Turbo team. It wasn't until this past week that he learned why she even wrote the letter in the first place. Zordon had her do it, so that she could become who she is today. Somehow he knew that they would end up at this point, being together again. Even though he was a little mad at Zordon for what he did, he still knew that his old mentor was always looking out for them and always knew what he was talking about.

Sitting up and rubbing her eyes Kim looked around and saw Tommy smiling at her. "Hey beautiful." He said with that same smile.

She whined a little, not wanting to wake up. "Hey." She said as she leaned up and gave him a kiss. "What time is it?" She had to try and make it back before Carri got home, they hadn't told anyone they were back together yet. They wanted everyone's attention to be on Jason as much as possible.

"It's a little after five, why? Got a train to catch?" Tommy joked.

"Something like that." Kim said as she pushed herself into an upright postion. "I have be back before five-thirty you know."

"I know, I know. But isn't there a way you could stop time and stay a little longer?" he teased.

Sleepily laughing Kim said "I wish." She stretched her arms up and out as she yawned. "Will you be here tonight?"

"Aren't I always?" Tommy asnwered. "I'm going to go see how Jason's doing after you leave, but I'll be here when you come back."

"I was gonna go check on him later myself. Who knows, maybe we'll run into each other."

"Maybe we will." Tommy said with a smile.

Carri was proud of herself. Over the past week she had successfully avoided any wedding talk with Kat, told her brother to shove when she quit her job, Kim had taken the container of Jaora to Dulcea who had hidden him away, and now she got to spend more time with her boyfriend than she had in years. Things were going pretty good for her. She was sitting outside Rocky's office waiting on him to finish his paperwork. She had been inside his office, but she had been distracting him by using her telekinesis to move stuff on his desk. So he made her wait outside.

Finally he stepped out of his office. "You ready?" he asked as he slid his coat on.

"You're gonna pay for making me wait out here you know." she said with a devillish grin. She laughed when all Rocky did was blush.

"So, what do you feel like doing tonight?" Rocky asked as they got in his car.

Carri thought for a moment then said "I was thinking about spying on Kim."

"Kim? Why?" Rocky asked, puzzled. Why on Earth would Carri want to spy on Kim?

"Because she's been teleporting out at night and teleporting back before I get up. She thinks I don't know, but it's hard to miss a bright red flash in a dark house."

Rocky sighed, shaking his head. "So she's been sneaking out. Maybe she has a secret boyfriend."

"That's my point, we don't keep secrets from each other, and yet she's keeping one, and I want to know what." Carri said, making a pouty face.

Rocky laughed and said "Maybe you should've been a reporter. You're certainly nosy enough."

"Hey!" Carri said, sticking her tongue out at him. But she knew it was true, anything she ever wanted to find out she snooped around until she found it. She just wished she could find a way to help Jason out of his coma.

Billy was beginning to feel like he lived in the Power Chamber. He hadn't left it in over a week, he stayed to make sure Jason was alright, and to also find a way to break the spell over the three terra Rangers. He was glad that Tommy had sent someone down to help him and Trini with everything. Hayley may not be his favorite person in the world, but he had to admit that she knew a lot about Ranger tech. Thanks to her the new Zords were nearly completed, and the device they were going to use to disrupt the spell over the other Rangers was almost done as well. The only thing that hadn't changed, not for the better anyway, was Jason. Being seperated from Jaxora was taking its toll on him, much like it did his alternate self. The only idea Billy had had been rejected by Tommy, and Billy himself wasn't even sure it was such a good idea, having Jason take a dip in the pit. But it had worked for Kim, or so he had been told. He didn't see any reason as to why it wouldn't work for Jason.

As he was about to put the finishing touches on the spell disruptor a bright red flash engulfed the room. He turned to see Kim standing behind him. "Billy, don't tell Tommy this, but I'm taking Jason to the pit. I agree with you that it's our best option."

Billy nodded and said "Affirmative. But what should I tell Tommy if he shows up while you're gone?"

"Don't worry about that, I'll only be gone for a minute." And with another red flash both Kim and the comatose Jason were gone.

Kim appeared just outside the pit. She could see the glow from the lava along the walls. Just being here brought back nightmares she had for weeks on end. She had hoped she never had to return, and she certainly never thought that she would be throwing her brother figure back in there. She felt terrible just thinking about it. But she knew it had to be done. She felt around and removed both his Terra and his Feral morphers so that nothing happened to them. Checking his pockets she found and removed his green cougar ninjetti coin.

"Jason," she said, almost in tears. "I'm sorry to have to do this to you, but it may be the only way to save your life. I hope you forgive me." She hoisted him up, stepped up on the edge of the pit, and carefully let him go. She watched as his body hit the molten lava below and slowly disappeared. She could taste the saltiness of her tears as the entered her mouth. She hoped that she hadn't just sent Jason to his death. After a few minutes she was beginning to give up hope, when suddenly bright red lightning shot upwards out of the pit.

Billy had just turned around from talking to Kim and got back to finishing the disruptor when a red flash lit up the room again. He turned around and saw not only Kim smiling at him, but Jason as well. He couldn't believe it, his crazy idea had actually worked. They had their friend back. "That was fast." Billy said, unsure of what else to say.

"Time bending comes in pretty handy." Kim said with a smile. "Tommy," she said into her communicator "you'd better teleport to the Power Chamber right away."

There was no response, just a crimson streak materializing into Tommy. "Jason!" he exclaimed as he saw his friend standing there. "Man, you look like crap." Tommy said as he embraced his bro in a quick hug.

"You don't look so good yourself." Jason teased back. One by one the other Rangers teleported in to see Jason, all of them were glad to see up again, and on their side. Carri was especially happy, she had her surrogate brother back and wasn't trying to literally beat him up.

As the others all talked to Jason and congratulated him on a full recovery, Tommy managed to sneak up behind Kim and plant a kiss on the top of her head. An action that Carri noticed, and made her smile grow even wider.

After everything had calmed down Billy announced that he had finished the disruptor and that soon they should have their other three friends back as well. They just needed to be patient, he was certain Sarahna would attack again soon.

"Sarahna...when I get my hands on her..." Jason said, remembering everything she made him do while Jaxora was in control.

"Calm down, your eyes are glowing." Kim said. At least she knew that was going to happen anyway, her eyes glowed.

"I am calm, just mad at her. I met this great girl just before, you know, and now thanks to her all that is probably ruined." He was of course talking about Emily, but he couldn't let them know that. Not yet.

"Oooh. Jason met a girl." Carri said in a sing song voice. "Tell us, who is she?"

Jason shook his head "You wouldn't like her."

"As long as it's not Emily, she's okay in my book. For now, right Kim?" Carri said, her distaste for Emily clear.

Kim nodded her head and said "Yeah, I remember she broke your heart big time."

"Yeah, I know. And you guys helped me get through it. I know, I know." He said, raising his hands. "It's not Emily, okay. It's someone else. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to go see if everything's okay between us." And with a flash of red light he was gone.

After that one by one they all left until it was just Billy, Trini, and Hayley left. With nothing left but the Zords, Billy and Trini kindly thanked Hayley and teleported her home as well.

Jason teleported to his condo, grabbed his motorcycle and took off for Emily's hospital. He hoped she was working today. If so, he was going to have to think of a believable lie, fast. Or he could always tell her the truth, and be berated by Tommy later. But he couldn't help but imagine the outcome being very bleak if he told her the truth. He assumed he'd know what to do once he saw her.

As he parked his motorcycle up close to the building he saw Emily walking out the door and heading his way. He quickly hopped off and set his helmet down. He was nervous, not sure of what to tell her. Could he trust her with a secret like that? He wasn't sure. "Emily!" he called out as he jogged to meet her. Seeing the look she gave him, he knew she wasn't happy.

"Where have you been?" she demanded, glaring at him. "I've been trying to call you, I even stopped by your place a few times. Mind explaining the sudden disappearance?" She knew she seemed mad, and she was. But she was more hurt than anything. They were just starting to reconnect, on the path to becoming a couple again like she wanted, and then he suddenly just vanished without a word. Of course she couldn't go ask his friends about him, they all probably hated her now.

"I was..." Jason started, he knew he couldn't keep lying to her, not if he wanted to make this work. "Come over to my place and I'll explain everything." He said, making up his mind.

"Everything?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, everything."

After they arrived at his condo and he grabbed them both something to drink he sat down across from her and proceeded to tell her everything. Everything from the time he was first chosen as a Ranger to what had happened up until today. It was a long story, one that he didn't think she would believe. As he told her the story he could tell she thought he was crazy, that she didn't believe him. Why should she? He had just disappeared for a while with no explanation.

Once he finally finished she opened her mouth to say something, shut it, and opened it again as she stood. "Jason you need help. Serious help. You believe your a Power Ranger? You're a little old to be thinking that, aren't you?" She, like most of her friends and co-workers believed that the Power Rangers were extraterrestrial, how else could they have those amazing abilities?

He had hoped not to do this, but if he wanted her to believe him he'd have to give her proof of some kind. "Emily, wait." He said as he stood and rolled up his sleeve. Once she turned around and rolled her eyes at the morpher, thinking it was a toy, he calmly said "Black Ice Power!" In a flash of black light Jason was gone, and in his place stood the black Terra Ranger.

Emily looked on in amazement. She couldn't believe it, he had been telling her the truth. He was a Power Ranger, a genuine Power Ranger. And she was dating him. It made all of his random disappearances back in high school and college make sense. She didn't know whether to faint or walk over and remove his helmet. Deciding on the latter, she walked over, unclasped his helmet and leaned in to give him a kiss.

Later that night Carri and Rocky were sitting outside Tommy Oliver's apartment on the balcony. It had taken a lot of her energy to get up there unnoticed, she had used her telekinesis to lift both herself and Rocky up in the air, being careful not to be spotted. It wasn't easy to levitate ones self, which is why Andros, Zhane, and Karone never did it too often, but it was doable, just exhausting.

"I can't believe you talked me into doing this." Rocky whispered into her ear. This was the last thing he wanted to do with his girlfriend. He had never liked it when his younger siblings spied on him when he was in high school, so he certainly didn't want to spy on anyone. But somehow Carri had talked him into it.

"Shhh. Do you want to get us caught?" Carri whispered back. Rocky shook his head no. She knew this was a bit immature, but if Kim wasn't going to tell her where she had been going, then she was going to find out for herself. Besides, it had been a while since she had done something mischievious.

"What makes you think she'll show up here?" Rocky asked "Last I checked they were on speaking terms, but not on dating terms." If they were on dating terms, it was certainly something he missed.

"Because I saw him sneak up behind Kim and kiss the top of her head earlier, now shush!" Carri quickly whispered back. A few minutes passed and nothing. She checked her watch, it around the time that Kim usually left the house. She should've been showing up any minute. A few more minutes passed and then there was a red glow in the good Doctor's apartment. Carri watched as the glow vanished and left Kim standing in the middle of the room. "Bingo." Carri said triumphantly. She waited until Tommy and Kim had their backs turned before she levitated Rocky and herself back down to the ground.

Once they made it back to her car she gloated "See, I told you I knew where she would go."

"Yes, you were correct Detective Hillard." Rocky said sarcastically. He still didn't like being apart of this, having spied on them and all.

"Detective Hillard, has a nice ring to it." Carri said as she plretended to think it over. She was happy for her friend. These past few days Kim had seemed happier than she had in years, and now she knew why. It was nice seeing the two of them together again, even if they were keeping it secret.

"Can we go get something to eat now?" Rocky asked, his stomach growling.

"Fine, fine, if you must eat then we'll go get you something." Carri teased as she leaned over and gave him a kiss before starting the car up and heading for the nearest Arby's.

The next morning Jason woke up and felt Emily lying against him. Last night after she kissed him they moved on to other things, and for him it had been amazing. He glad he had bumped into her at that bar, grateful to Zack for pushing him to go talk to her, and most of all he was glad he didn't have to lie to her anymore. Everything was perfect. He heard her groan as she rolled off of him and sat up rubbing her eyes. "Morning." he said with a smile on his face.

"Good morning to you too." Emily replied as laid back down kissed his cheek.

"I've got to be going soon, I have an early class today." He said, not wanting to get up, not wanting to leave this moment.

"It's okay, I have to be at work at nine." Emily said, sitting back up to let him up. "I'll meet you at Charlie's Bar later?" she asked, hopeful.

"Of course." Jason replied before giving her another kiss.

Sarahna was still seething over the loss of Jaxora. She looked over at her three Terra Rangers, then over at Xinas. It was time to send her pawns back out into battle. This time there was no goal other than revenge. Her plans had been going so well, she got what she wanted, Dark Specter's power was now her own, and she had unleashed the evil within Jason, making him her subordinate. But those goodie-goods had to go an mess everything up, and for that she was going to make them pay.

"Rangers, Xinas!" she growled angrily. The four warriors quickly came and bowed before her. "Today, we are going to kill those puny Rangers. I don't want any of them left standing, do you understand? Unleash everything you have!"

"Yes, Empress." the four answered in unison.

"Good." Sarahna said, this time she would show no mercy to anyone.

Jason arrived at the school when his communicator beeped. "Now?" he asked before holding it up and saying "Go ahead Billy."

"Jason, Sarahna is attacking over by Ernie's old Juice Bar, the others are already on their way, I need you to come and get the disruptor before heading over there." Billy's voice rang through.

"Right, I'm on my way." Jason said before teleporting in a flash of red light.

Once he arrived on the battlefield with the disruptor he immediately began setting it up. As he did so, he watched as Tommy battled Xinas, Kim and Carri took on Sarahna, and the other fought the three Terra Rangers. "Gotta hurry..." he said to himself as he finished setting it up. Once he turned it on he watched as the three Terra Rangers stopped fighting and began grabbing their heads and thrashing around. Not long after, they de-morphed and collapsed. Ryan, TJ, and Rocky quickly grabbed them and teleported them back to the Power Chamber.

He was preparing to enter the fight himself, go take on Sarahna and have one of the girls help Tommy when he saw Sarahna kick Kim away and throw Carri to the ground and prepare to stab her with her sword. Quickly teleporting he arrived in front of Sarahna in time to grab her sword, and before he could punch her to knock her away he saw red lightning crawling down his arm into his palm before it shot out as blast of kinetic energy that sent her flying into the building behind her.

Stunned by what had just happened he looked at his hands, saw the lightning crawl along his arms into his palms and form a red orb with red lightning crawling around it. He wasn't sure how he ahd just done that, as far as he knew all he could do was teleport from place to place. "Carri," he said, still shocked, "go help Tommy with Xinas. Kim, you too. I'll take care of Sarahna." The girls did as he said, knowing that he wanted revenge on her for what she did to him.

He watched as Sarahna pulled herself from the wall, her outfit torn. "That really hurt." She said through clenched teethas she stared at the morphed silver ranger. Quickly she ran and leapt into a kick, her boot connecting with his helmet, knocking him back. Before she could strike him again he teleported behind her and slammed her into the wall.

"My Empress," Xinas said as he fought the three Rangers. "Perhaps it may be wise to retreat for now, due to the unexpected circumstances."

As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. She hadn't expected the Rangers to take back their friends so easily, nor had she expected that new power that somehow manifested in Jason. "This isn't over silver ranger." She said as she vanished, followed by Xinas.

Back at the Power Chamber the seven Feral Rangers gathered around the three Terra Rangers. "How are they?" TJ asked once everyone was there.

"They're going to be fine. They're just exhausted. But, they can't morph into the Terra Rangers anymore. The morphers were destroyed, apparently that's where most of the spell was contained." Billy went on to explain "The evil of her spell ate away at the Powers, slowly but surely. When the machine disrupted the spell and removed it, it caused the morphers to overload. They're useless now."

A few minutes later the three Rangers awoke and had everything explained to them. After the explanation was finished Billy teleported them back to their homes, Tori went back to her apartment in Blue Bay Harbor, Adam was sent home to his wife Tanya, and Mike was sent back to Mirinoi.

That night, before he was supposed to meet Emily, Jason met with Kim and Carri down by the beach. He hoped Kim would have some sort of insight to what he had done earlier, he hoped that maybe something similar had happened to her so he could get some answers. Assuming she knew.

"Kim, do you have any idea how I did that earlier?" he asked, referencing the red lightning and hoping for a positive answer.

"My guess, our powers out expanding. The other day I got a paper cut at work, and it healed right away." she said. She knew it wasn't the answer he was looking for, but it was the best she had to offer. She had been meaning to speak with Dulcea about it, but more important issues kept coming up.

"That would make sense I guess." he said somewhat disappointed. "So now I can teleport, and shoot out kinetic energy. And you can teleport between time and space, and now heal." And on top of that we both have a very long time to live, he added in his head.

"Don't sound so disappointed Jase." Carri said as she nudged him. "I love to be able to do what you guys can."

Jason just smiled and nudged her back. Looking at his watch he stood and said "Sorry to cut this short, but I have somewhere to be. I'll see you tomorrow." Before either of the girls could ask where he was headed he teleported out.

"Wonder where he's headed off to in such a hurry." Kim mused. Knowing full well he was going to meet his secret girlfriend.

"Shouldn't you be going to meet up with your boyfriend soon?" Carri asked, letting Kim know that she knew.

"What?" Kim asked, shocked.

"I know you've been sneaking out at night, hard to miss a red flash in pure darkness." Carri said with a slight chuckle.

"You were supposed to be asleep." Kim pointed out, looking back out at the water.

"Well I wasn't." Carri said plainly. "How are things with you and Tommy?" She saw the look Kim was giving her and went ahead and said "I was outside his place last night, with Rocky, and we saw you teleport in. Sorry."

Kim looked at her, she knew she should be mad at her sister figure, but she also knew that if she Carri was keeping something from her that she probably would have done the same thing. Curiousity did usually get the best of her. "It's okay. I would've done the same thing." she said. "And things between us are going great, so far. Hopefully it keeps up."

"Well that's good, I'm glad to hear it. You deserve to be happy." Carri said, leaning over and giving her friend a squeeze. "I've got to go now, going to meet up with Rocky. Later."

"Later." Kim said as she watched her friend run back towards her car. Once Carri was out of sight Kim turned back to watch the dark ocean waves crash against the shore. The night air was cool and peaceful. She lay back in the sand, just enjoying the quiet before she was going to head to Tommy's. She was thinking about kidnapping him and bringing him back here to enjoy the night air. Mind made up, she teleported out.