Disclaimer: I own nothing but the ideas in my head. Saban, JK Rowling, and Joss Whedon own the characters and universes.

Whispers in the Dark – Chapter 6

*Yellow Frog Arts and Athletics Complex*

Tommy walked out of his office out to the mats to see what looked like 2 dozen kids finishing up their class with Jason. He had arrived as Jason's class was starting, and though he had wanted to show him something, he decided against interrupting Jason's class.

"Class dismissed," Jason announced to the class, and the kids all bowed to their sensei, who bowed in return. He looked over to Tommy, clad in his matching white gi, who was motioning him into his office. "What's up, bro?" Jason asked.

"I wanted to show you something," he replied cryptically. He went behind his desk, and pulled out a small, black jewelry box, and opened it up to reveal an engagement ring. The solitaire diamond, which was big enough to look special, but small enough to fit the petite woman Tommy intended to give it to, was a princess cut and sat in a cathedral setting. On the sides were designs of two unique birds.

"You know, I appreciate you wanting to give me pretty jewelry and all, but I don't swing that way," Jason deadpanned, to which Tommy rolled his eyes. Jason moved closer to see the ring, and realized the birds were a crane and a falcon, his and Kim's animal spirits. He then took the ring into his own hand and read what looked like an inscription on the inside, "May the power, and our love, protect you always."

"Uhh... you guys want to tell me something?" Rocky uttered loudly, looking at the two men enamored with the diamond engagement ring.

"Yeah, Jason and I are getting hitched." This time it was Tommy who deadpanned, which led Jason to bust out into gut-splitting laughter.

"You're not serious, right?" Rocky said, actually starting to feel concerned.

"Of course not!" Jason clarified, his face red from his laughter. "Close the door, man." Rocky obliged. Rocky had been working with his former teammates off and on in their short history with the school. He often subbed in when either Tommy or Jason had other things going on, but he couldn't work full-time at this point as he was studying full-time down at USC, which was about 45 minutes from Angel Grove. However, the gas prices were much more cost effective than room and board, especially when his classroom observations and student-teaching were all in Angel Grove and Stone Canyon.

"So..." Rocky began to speak. "I'm assuming then that it's for Kim?"

"See for yourself," Tommy said, handing the ring to Rocky.

"Wow... this is awesome, dude," Rocky said, truly enthralled by the ring. "The crane, the falcon, the inscription. Man, she's going to love this!"

"I hope so," Tommy replied. "I actually bought it a few weeks ago, and I just picked it up yesterday at the jewelry store." He turned and looked at Jason with a sly smirk. "When you were grilling me about asking Kim yesterday, I tried not to give it away that I had all ready bought the ring."

"Man, who would have thought after everything you guys have been through, you'd end up getting married?" Rocky asked.

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Tommy said, but it was Jason who responded.

"What's she going to say, no?"

"Well, I mean she could," Tommy started. "Or something else could happen... I mean... anything could happen."

"You mean like you and Jason getting married instead?" This brought another round of laughter to the men, easing any of Tommy's anxiety.

*Angel Grove Surf Spot*

Kim and Kat took their lunch hour to go to the surf spot, which had formerly been the youth center. The girls had reminisced about their time with Ernie there over their salads and juices. However, it hadn't taken too long for Kat to change the subject to what she really wanted to talk to Kim about.

"So... any idea of when he's going to propose?" Kat asked. Kim laughed at her eagerness. It was amazing to think that only a few years ago it was Kat who was dating Tommy, and Kim was crying because of her 'catastrophic' decision to dump him.

"Honestly, I have no idea," Kim started, right before she put a huge hunk of lettuce and cucumber into her mouth.

"No idea?" Kat said, rolling her eyes. "You mean you two didn't talk about it at all while you were in Sunnydale. Kim finished chewing and countered.

"Well, I mean, we did talk about it a little. I mean, we know we want to get married, and honestly, we both want to just do it as soon as possible. We don't want to have a long engagement or anything, we know that marriage is where we're headed."

"So... what are you waiting on?" Kat genuinely asked.

"Well, knowing Tommy, he's probably making absolutely sure we're not going to sink financially, that we can find a house, that my engagement ring is absolutely perfect... and that's going to take him a LONG time." Kat chuckled at this. "Which is sweet, but annoying. I mean, I know I'm going to wear the ring for life, but I'm marrying him, not the ring!"

"At least he is really considering what you would like in the ring," Kat replied.

"Yeah, but sometimes he just over-thinks everything. Then again, I'm incredibly impatient."

"Any fears, or things that hold you back?"

"Umm..." Kim started to get nervous, which Kat could tell with her patented chewing of her bottom lip. "Is there something I should know about?"

"No, Kim," Kat reassured her with her sweet, soft, Australian voice. "I just feel as your friend, I need to ask you these questions. You know, make sure you're thinking everything through before you just lunge at everything."

"Thanks, Kat," Kim replied. "Thanks for bearing with me."

"Please," Kat dismissed the thought, her face straightening towards Kim. "After everything you've done for me, this is like a walk in the park." Kim smiled at her friend, but then her face scrunched up. "I'm sure he'll ask soon."

"No, it's not that," Kim replied. "I just..." Kim hesitated, looking around and then leaned over her salad on the table, looking at Kat with a very stern glance, beginning to half-whisper. "I feel it... someone watching us... watching me."

"So what you were sharing last night, about someone watching you from afar. You really meant it, didn't you?" Kim affirmed Kat's question with a nod.

"Since Sunnydale... actually, even before," she confessed, now easing back into her booth seat. "At first, I didn't think anything of it, but ever since that first night, when someone thrashed Tommy's car and knew who we were..." her voice trailed off. Kat reached across the table to put her hand on Kim's.

"Hey, we could make up an entire power rangers team with Tommy, Jason, and Rocky," Kat said, trying to cheer her pink predecessor up. "If someone is trying to mess with you, they're messing with us."

"Thanks, Kat."

"Any time, Kim. Now... back to you and Tommy..."

*Angel Grove Park*

It had been a couple weeks since Kim had gotten time with Kat at the Surf Spot, and though they were roommates, work had taken up a lot of their time. They came home tired and often spent most of their time just sleeping. Kim had just gotten home when Tommy had called, saying he needed to talk to her at the park. She was particularly nervous, wondering if maybe he was feeling the same thing she was... that he too felt that they were being watched. However, when she arrived at the park, she saw a recently built gazebo lit up with lights. It was evening, and she walked up to the lit construction, wondering if Tommy might be there. It oversaw the lake, which had memories for both her and her boyfriend.

As she stepped up to the main floor of the gazebo, she noticed a small table draped with a pretty table cloth, adorned with red, white, and pink candles, and in the center was a vase containing the finest roses of the same colors, but predominantly red. Below the vase was a bag of her favorite candy, dark chocolate truffles from the chocolatier shoppe that occupied downtown Angel Grove. 'Is this what I think...' Before she could finish her thought, she heard someone step up to the main base of the gazebo, and she turned to see Tommy in a dapper white suit, complete with a black shirt and green tie, with a red rose fastened to the breast pocket of his shirt. "I think I'm a bit underdressed, Mr. Oliver," Kim teased playfully, to which Tommy only grinned.

"Well, I figure we can change that later, I got us a reservation to the Black Horse Restaurant at 7:30, hopefully we'll have enough time for you to get changed," Tommy replied.

"The Black Horse?" Kim gasped. "Tommy, that's like, the most expensive restaurant in the city!"

"Well, I think for an occasion like this, it's the only place that would do." At this, Kim smirked.

"And what exactly is this occasion?" She slyly asked. This prompted Tommy to take her hands into his, as he stared into her doe brown eyes.

"Kimberly, this place has meant a lot to us," he started. "I still remember the first day when I tried to ask you out. This was the site where I lost my powers. The site where we first started dating, where we shared our first kiss, the site where you decided to give up your powers to pursue your dreams, and the site where I once lost hope in our romance. This place, for us, represents the reality of life. It has its joys and its sorrows, its pains and its pleasures. I know that life now isn't a fairy tale, but it's a journey which has its extreme highs and extreme lows." At this point, he pulled a small jewelry box from his pocket, and opened it to reveal the sparkling diamond solitaire on the white gold band that was secured inside of the box. He knelt, as per tradition, and continued. "Kimberly Anne Hart, I want to experience that journey with you by my side, as my wife. Will you marry me?" Kim's facial expression seemingly signaled huge excitement, but as soon as Tommy saw her eyes light up at the ring, she turned away. Tommy slowly stood up, remembering a dance he asked her too, and a similar ploy she had used.

"Kimberly?" He asked her, more out of impatience than out of fear. He knew her answer, but he wanted to hear it from her lips.

She turned around, a couple stray tears running down her face, but due to the joy which was displayed by her wide smile. "Thomas James Oliver," she began sweetly. "I have been waiting SO long for you to officially ask me this!" At this point, she all out lunged at him, forcing him to stumble as he tried to balance his own weight while he now carried her's as well.

"So I take it that it's a yes?" He asked with a grin while he held her, now helping her feet make it back to the ground.

"You better believe it!" Kim shouted. She let go of her fiance so that she could take the ring from the box. Before she slipped it on her finger, she observed it carefully, seeing the engraved falcon and crane on the sides. Then she looked on the inside of it, and blushed at the inscription. "It's beautiful, Tommy."

"No... you're beautiful," he said with a grin. Kim smiled, but as she slipped on her ring she saw her watch read 7:15.

"Hey, if we want to get to the Black Horse in time, we'd better hurry to my apartment so I can get changed!"

"Sounds good to me," Tommy replied. Kim grabbed the candy and flowers from the table, and they began to walk. Kim was going to ask about the tablecloth and candles, but as they walked from the gazebo, Kim spied Rocky and Jason from the corner of her eyes, undoubtedly there to help clean up.

"So, Rocky and Jason helped set up, and Kat made sure I didn't eat before this so you could take me out?" Kim asked.

"Let me guess, you caught Rocky poking his head out?" Tommy joked. "As I was proposing, I saw him almost jump out of the bush." Kim laughed.

"No, I just saw Rocky and Jason make a beeline for the tablecloth and candles after we left. I was going to ask why we were just leaving stuff there, but when I saw them it made sense." The beaming couple continued to walk, Kim got into her car, Tommy into his, and he followed her to her and Kat's apartment. She quickly got ready, and came back down wearing a lovely strapless light pink full-length gown.

"Wow..." Tommy gasped, awe-struck by Kim's radiance.

"You like it?" Kim asked, putting her hand in his.

"You look stunning in it... not that you ever don't look beautiful. Is it new?"

"Yeah... last week I took an hour to shop and I fell in love with it. I justified it because I had a hunch that this day was coming soon." Tommy opened the door and helped her into his car, and they sped off to a night to remember.

*Angel's Mansion*

"Who's there?" The ensouled, tortured vampire asked, still chained in the shackles that had kept him captive for two weeks. Buffy appeared from the shadows, holding a large brown paper bag. She placed it on the ground, and dug into it and grabbed its contents; a large container of red liquid.

"Pig's blood," she muttered. She carefully slid it across the floor, and Angel opened it and began to suck it dry, draining it in a matter of seconds. He threw it to the ground, and looked at the slayer, demonic face showing, and then returning to its human, angelic one.

"Buffy," Angel said softly.

"What happened to you?" She demanded suddenly.

"Besides the fact that you ran me through with a sword?" He responded, but immediately regretted what he said. "Sorry. I... I haven't been myself." Buffy looked at him intently, not angry, not hurt, but honestly looking for answers. She didn't cringe or swell with anger when he quipped back, but she wondered earnestly how the vampire standing before her, the one she had loved so passionately, the one that she had to sacrifice, was still standing before her.

"I know," she replied. "I want to be patient... but I also want to know how you came back... none of this makes sense Angel. You were supposed to be tormented in a hell dimension for the rest of eternity, and though I'm thankful that you're back with us, I want to know how you got back here."

"We were wrong about Acathla," Angel replied.

"What?" Buffy asked alarmingly.

"When you stabbed me... when I went through the portal, I embraced myself to encounter hell. I thought I did. I don't remember much, aside from the torment. But it wasn't hell."

"How do you know?"

"Because of the one who tormented me. He... he wanted to use me for his own purposes."

"What did he want from you?" Buffy asked. "And how did he get a hold of you. I mean, we researched Acathla, and what it was supposed to do. How do you know that this guy wasn't part of the hell dimension that the portal was supposed to send you to?"

"I don't know. There's a lot that I can't remember. To be honest, the memories I do have are just starting to come back to me. There's a lot that's still fuzzy. But, I think that I'm finally in control of myself again... the rage that you saw before..."

"That was from the torment, right?"

"No... I thought it was... I thought I was acting out of being tortured for eternity. But my memories... I was being controlled by someone... and when they couldn't control me fully, they threw me out, threw me back into this world. That's how I came back."

"Do you know who it could be?" Buffy asked, now kneeling beside him, looking into his eyes. "A demon, vampire... could it be Spike getting revenge?"

"Definitely not Spike... he's too stupid to concoct something like this."

"Wow... now I definitely know you're back to normal." At this they both gave a small grin.

"I do remember one thing. I never heard his name, but he went by some sort of alias. He called himself the Trickster."

"The Trickster?" Buffy asked. "That sounds, well, lame."

"It might sound lame... but I never want to see him again."

"Hopefully you never will."

*Mayor Wilkins Office*

"So this 'Trickster' fellow said something about the new slayer being won to our side?" Mayor Wilkins asked.

"And why exactly can we trust someone named the Trickster?" Mr. Trick said unconvinced.

"I find it rather amusing that a vampire named Mr. Trick would get caught up in the name," Lucius quipped. Trick growled at Lucius, but he merely smiled back.

"Why are you here again?" The black-skinned vampire asked, staring into the eyes of the wizard. "I've always wondered what wizard's blood tasted like. Maybe I'll get my chance to get a taste tonight." Again, Lucius merely cackled at his assertion.

"Foolish demon," he retorted. "In a matter of seconds I could reign down flames to consume your body. I don't think you want to test me."

"Boys, let's hold on here for a minute," Wilkins interjected. "We're all on the same team here. I want to ascend, and Lucius wants vengeance. We can achieve both if we work together." Trick conceded, and Lucius smirked.

"Faith is the key to our success," Lucius re-iterated.

"Agreed," the Mayor replied.

To be continued...

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- Googz333