A/N: The Rangers plan to get their friends out, thanks to some changed plans.

A/N 2: For all the Ninja Storm fans who may peek into my stories once in a while, fair and probably unpopular warning: I've decided to go with Hunter/Tori as a pair although I know Tori/Blake had chemistry. You can thank Lilac Moon for that plus the fact that Blake leaves on tour after Ninja Storm. They won't be central in this story but they are an item. Besides, doesn't every hotheaded Red need a girl?

A/N 3: I own nothing. Power Rangers once belonged to Saban, then they went to Disney and belong to Saban again.

Chapter 17 – The Freedom Part I

Friday, Aug. 27, 2004

2:30 p.m.

Reefside High School

Reefside, CA

Tommy sure was glad that he was just getting in his car and that no one was around, because he could feel the steam coming out of his ears as he listened to his biological brother speak on the phone. He had been in meetings for the upcoming school year all day and was already cranky, so this news he was hearing was not something he necessarily needed.

"You're fucking kidding me, man. You're telling me we're going to have to wait till fucking February to go into that court room? F it all, why can't they just give us a good break for once?" Tommy seethed.

"Like I said I tried to get us in as soon as possible," David Trueheart said gloomily. "I don't know what else to say…I did everything I could. You know how the legal profession works…it's as fluid as all get out."

"I was afraid of this," Tommy groused as he drove his Jeep away from the school and towards his house. "Now, we honestly CAN'T wait to go up there until we go to trial. If we wait till fucking February, it may already be too late and Jen may be dead. That's not something I want on my conscience."

"Yeah, but I understand that Andros and his group got back this past week and they found out some juicy information. Apparently he said something about we don't have to go all the way in and attack her full on," David said.

"For his sake he'd better have some good information," Tommy said. "God, we're gonna have to tell Wes the truth now and he's going to flip and want to go on a suicide mission."

"I'm sorry, David," Tommy continued. "I know you did everything you could but this throws off my entire planning significantly. We're going to have to take some risks now."

"You know I completely understand, bro, although Kim doesn't seem to sweat it, she says she'll be ready whenever," David said. "Are we still on for tonight, all of us for the cookout?"

"Yeah, we're still on and I need to get home and start getting ready," Tommy said. "I'll talk to you tonight, bro."

The cookout that David mentioned was yet another Ranger gathering, sort of the last gasp for the entire team before the team was to split. Trent was going to art school in New York City starting next month, and Selena was going with him; as she put it, in her own words, 'you aren't going anywhere without me tagging along, my darling Drago.'

Trent couldn't have said no if he wanted to, since Zordon's younger sister usually was very persuasive in getting what she wanted. The two hadn't been in the same room with the rest of the other Rangers since the funeral, but it was widely known that Selena and Trent were an item. Trent's mouth gushed with praises every time her name escaped his lips, and Selena was one of the many girls insanely attracted by the typical brooding former evil Ranger male.

Conner had accepted a scholarship offer to go play at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, and depending on what happened with her final tryout for Tanya's band, Kira was either going to their music school or straight into Tanya's band. Ethan was staying in town at Reefside Tech to continue on the gaming path he wanted to continue.

The cookout also doubled as a second, larger Ranger reunion which was going to include several incarnations of Ranger teams, including Ninja Storm with the exception of Blake, who was still out on tour. The hot rumor in Rangerland was that Tori and their Crimson Ranger, Hunter, were an item and the Dino Thunder and older teams wanted to really see if it was true.

Tori and Blake had been an item once upon a time during the fight with Lothor but the rumor now was that since Blake had left on tour, and since Tori and Hunter were still teaching at their respective Academies, that feelings had come to the surface between the both of them.

The older Rangers knew that there had been feelings between Tori and Blake, but the feeling amongst the guys was that after all, didn't every brooding, hotheaded Red (or Crimson) Ranger need a Ranger woman by his side?

It was what had drawn so many of the Ranger females to their Red counterparts, from the Original Power Couple, to Jason and Trini, to TJ and Cassie, Ashley and Andros, Leo and Kendrix, Conner and Kira and on down the line. And it apparently had drawn another.

And speaking of former Red Rangers, Tommy gulped, partially in fear.

Tonight, he knew he was going to have to tell Wes the truth, and was fully prepared to hear sparks fly. That would wait though. Right now he needed to hurry home, lest he be late to help Kimberly prepare for the dinner tonight.

Four hours later

It was early evening, and the Oliver household was a lively place as everyone was digging into their food, and talking about battles fought long ago.

In regards to the question of the night that many of the older Rangers wanted an answer for, the question had been answered about 15 minutes ago when Hunter and Tori had shown up…together, arm in arm. Hunter had also revealed that Blake had been seeing a girl on his current tour.

While he was grateful that it had given him an opening to reach Tori, he wondered how it would affect Blake in the long run because Hunter, like many of the other Rangers, felt it was best to date a teammate.

After a while, Tommy called everyone to attention; it was time. He talked to Kimberly earlier that day after he'd returned home, and she'd done her best to convince him that everything would be OK, that everything could be made to be OK. Nevertheless, he felt a pit growing at the bottom of his stomach as he addressed his fellow members of the Ranger legacy.

"I'm glad everyone could make it and that everyone is having a great time," Tommy said, briefly sparing a glance at Wes, who wondered just what that glance was about.

"Yeah, man, this is great," Hunter said. "You, Rocky and Kim did a great job putting this together."

"Well, you know what they say, behind every great man, well…you know," Kimberly said. "Tommy's lucky that Rocky and I were here because as great a man as he is, rocket scientist and expert chef he is not."

"Anyways, there is another reason I called you all here tonight," Tommy said. "In the last few weeks, since I've talked with all of you, plans have changed."

"I'm sure I've told you all, but we're supposed to go to court with Kim's bitch mother Caroline, but we didn't know when," Tommy said. "Unfortunately, David couldn't get us a date before late February of next year."

All Rangers present groaned, but especially the Original 12. Being able to keep Kimberly around was now going to be a lot harder than they thought it would be.

"I'm sure that most of you also know that Adrianna Repulsa, who was the one that broke Kim and I up in the first place, has several of our closest friends from when we were growing up and is currently holding them prisoner," Tommy said, as he spared another glance at Wes, which didn't go unnoticed. "I was hoping we could wait to go up and free them when we got done with Caroline, but unfortunately that is not an option at this time for many reasons over."

"Why are you telling us all of this, and why do you keep looking at me, Tommy?" Wes said. "What the hell does this have to do with the rest of us?"

"Because, quite frankly Wes, the outcome of this trial and whether Kim and I stay together as one will be a possible factor in determining the outcome of this war we're going to be fighting in, Wes," Tommy said. "And the reason I keep looking at you is another reason we cannot wait very much longer. We're going to have to spring this trap whether I like it or not. I'm going to cut right to the chase, Jennifer Scotts of the Time Force team is back and she's watching over our friends up there."

The mood in Tommy's backyard turned immediately somber, and Tommy saw Wes' face form a pensive look.

"What I'm about to say would surprise you but I'm not that nervous about it, Tommy," Wes said. "Yes, from what you've told me that place is a pit, but if there's one person I know can handle that type of environment, Jen is it. I trust Jen to do what she needs to do. My question is this, why is she back?"

"Plain and simply, for you, Wes," Kimberly said, which shook Wes to his core. "She plain and simply couldn't make it work without you in 3004, so she came back with the stipulation that she had to complete one mission in this time to live a permanent life here. We're going to get her and our friends back and then you can have the life you dreamed of."

Wes' eyes filled with tears. Yes, they had been briefly reunited in 2002 during the Wild Force saga, but Wes still didn't completely comprehend how deep her feelings ran for him. Now, he plainly understood and his eyes pricked with tears.

"I appreciate that Kim and I love what you want to do for me, but I agree with you guys that you can't make this a suicide mission. You just can't walk right into her trap just to get yourself killed, even for Jen," Wes said.

"I agree we can't walk in there blinded but we have to go in there, Wes, if for no other reason than if Jen gets killed, the entire Time Force team changes," Andros said.

"You had better have some good information for us, Andros," Tommy said. "We're running out of time."

"We do, Tommy," Andros said. "On our recent mission into space, we found Adrianna's weapons armory and we also managed to meet up with Jen at a rendezvous point when Adrianna wasn't looking. Little does Adrianna know that we have all the information we need on her; Jen used a flash drive to copy the info and gave it to me."

"Ha, that's her all right," Wes said. "That's why I trust her above anyone else to stay alive in that hell-pit because she's smart, crafty and knows how to keep her identity concealed. That's the kind of stuff we do and that is right down her alley."

"As one of Jen's fellow Pinks, she's going to appreciate you telling her that," Kimberly said. "That said, I agree with Handsome. We've let this go because we were hoping we could go up there on our terms, but we need to get Jen out of there and take the kid gloves off with Adrianna."

"Agree, she had Gasket kill my father a few weeks ago just to piss Kimberly's mother off," Jason said. "We need to pay her back. Take away her trump card and maybe something that she values and see how she likes it."

"That's what happened to Hunter and Blake many years ago, Lothor killed their adoptive parents," Tori said, squeezing Hunter's hand. "We'll do whatever it takes to help get revenge on that freak even if it means we're shorthanded without Blake. I've been itching for some action anyways."

"Oh, you'll get your action, I promise you that," Tommy said, as he noticed most of the group was done eating. "When all of you are finished, I want the Reds in attendance, their spouses or significant others, and Billy and Hayley to join me in the basement. We need to start going over this information and plan when we want to attack and how we want to do it."

Kimberly had smirked deviously when he mentioned the spouses of the Reds being involved; Kim hadn't been at NASADA when the Reds got back from the Serpentera mission (and Tommy had been glad for it…she was the Pink you least wanted to piss off), but he heard about what Trini, Cassie, Ashley, Karone, Kendrix, Dana and Alyssa had done to their spouses and/or family members after that mission…many of the Reds had shiners for at least a day or two afterwards.

Several hours later….

"So she takes several vacations to see her family, and this is every couple of Earth months, from what Billy just said," Kimberly said as she thought pensively on some of the information Billy had laid out. "The last time she went was early July, correct?"

"Affirmative, if this holds true, then it's about time for her to leave again," Billy said. "It is really fortuitous that we called this meeting when we did. If my calculations are correct, then she'll leave in a matter of days which should create an opening for us to go in, get our friends, and get out."

"Unfortunately, I seriously doubt she's that dumb," Tommy said. "I'm sure she'll leave her best warriors guarding the palace even when gone. Unfortunately, while she's gone will be our best shot."

"Yeah, even when she left the last time, she had the place pretty tightly guarded," Anton Mercer said. Anton in the weeks following his release from his imprisonment had seen his health improve drastically. "It's going to be a pretty tough mission, even with her gone."

Tommy scratched his head, and Kimberly kept her eyes on him the whole time. Those wheels were turning, and Kimberly had the sense that whatever Tommy was about to come up with was going to be worth listening to.

"Billy, when do you think the approximate calculation will be when she leaves?" Tommy looked at his friend seriously.

"By my count, it should be Thursday night," Billy said. Tommy then made his decision.

"We go in there and get our friends, and Jen, out of that hell-pit a week from Saturday," Tommy said then looked at his friends. "But you guys, we're not going to be getting them out of there. Morphin teams and Space, we are going to be the diversion."

Jason looked to be about to protest but Billy said, "No, Tommy's right. She'll be expecting us and her vengeance is with the Morphin teams. She values her family, her army of mutants and her weapons above all else. Her family will likely be out of the crossfire so we go after her army and her weapons to draw her attention away from our friends."

"Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder," Tommy said. "Though you eleven are the newest teams of Rangers, I'm putting you guys and Ninjor in charge of the actual rescue mission itself. They will be expecting us, but not you guys. She doesn't respect the Dino Thunder team, her battle is with us, and she sure won't be expecting Ninja Storm and their abilities."

"Tommy, it's an honor that you would put us in charge of this mission," Shane Clarke said, "and we will do everything in our power to rescue your friends. The same goes for you Wes…I still miss Skyla and would do anything for her. We will not fail in this mission."

Wes," Tommy said next, looking at the Red Time Force Ranger, "Because I know I would feel the same way if Kimberly were in your situation…and in a way, she is, you and Eric are going with Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder and you're going to help get Jen and the others out. I trust those guys but I want a couple of experienced Rangers with them."

"Tommy, I can't thank you enough for doing this for me," Wes said. "You know I'd do the same thing if Kimberly was in Jen's situation, although to be fair Jen is doing this of her own free will. We will not let you down."

As Tommy smiled at Wes, he suddenly realized something.

Saturday, Sept. 4, 2004 was 75 days since the Falcon and Crane got back together.

Once again, it was going to be either the end of the road for the Original Power Couple and their friends, or another milestone reached.

"I know you won't," Tommy said. "Meeting dismissed. Everyone go home, get some rest this week and be on call whenever I give the word."

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