"Just go over the schedule with me- one more time," Tommy said as Kim stood in front of him, the night before she returned to set. They had reconstructed both of their schedules to avoid day care, but everything had to work perfectly. He was not sure their lives were going to work that way, but he was willing to try it to appease her. He was willing to try anything to make her happy.

"I'll be at the studio by 4:30 for the 7am to 10am shows. I'll get home by 11am so that you can teach your university classes and you'll be home by 4pm so that I can do some prep work for the following day. You'll have your evening classes from 5:30 to 8," Kimberly stated and Tommy nodded. The schedule was slightly different each day for him, but mostly- he gathered that he needed to be available from 3:30 to 11 each day and give her a couple hours each evening. He was not sure how long this would be feasible, but he agreed that daycare was not an option. Not with who their children were and who they were. There was a giant target on their back. "Do you think it's too much?"

"The only way that we'll know is to try. On my days with no university classes, it'll certainly be easier," Tommy said and Kim nodded. She was, religiously, following the steps the Command Center had given her and while it had not given her the full relief that Shelby had, it was bringing her into control by leaps and bounds. So was hours of the two of them connecting each day, which was something that was going to take a hit. He was most worried about what would happen if a prophecy overtook her while filming, but she refused to give up her life. He knew that choice might be pulled out of her hands, but he wanted her to make that choice and it not be something he heavily influenced. He knew that she would resent it if he demanded she change her life.

"You're worried," Kim stated and Tommy nodded. There was no point in concealing any feelings from her anymore, which was annoying but also helped their relationship. He had never liked hiding things from her and the Command Center had made it clear that it was not worth even trying to do that anymore. Her prophetess powers were especially fine tuned on any BS he might pull. "Why?"

"You're still losing hours, Kim and you have only held it off occasionally," Tommy said and she looked away from him. He hated to bring this up, but it was something that they needed to face. She needed to start facing how her life might have to change. "I know you want your life. I know how badly you want to go back to your job, I just…I want you to prepare…"

"That I'm not going to be able to," Kim ground out as she glared up at him. "I hate this."

"Me too. I don't want for this to be your life. I want for you to be able to do all of these things, but I need you to get yourself out of there if something starts to happen. We don't know enough about what could come after you if…I want you to stay safe," Tommy said as he caressed her cheek and she leaned into him. She closed her eyes and he pulled her into his arms and she settled against his chest. He took a deep breath and tried to sift through the emotions he was feeling. It was one of the main things he could do for her, but he wanted to do so much more. He heard a cry from down the hallway and he slowly pulled back. The twins were starting to have perfect timing at interrupting them. "I've got them- go on to sleep- I know you'll be up early."

"I love you," Kim whispered as she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. "And thank you."

"Love you too, go sleep," Tommy insisted and he watched her go to their bedroom before he turned to go down the hallway and soother their crying babies. "Here's to day one."


Kimberly walked into the studio and looked around. She had called this set home for so many years and now it felt foreign to her. Alex was still on the staff- no one would have known that he had been planted to hurt her and she had to act like nothing had happened. Roberto had assured her that no one would remember what they had known about her and Tommy. She had preferred them all losing their jobs, but she knew that this would be less controversial. With him being here though, it didn't feel like home. It didn't feel like the job she had left.

"It's great to have you back," Carrie said as she looked over at her stylist and smiled. "We have some new options for you post-baby- just based on your own pieces that you brought in."

"Thank you," Kim said as she turned to follow her and walked past much of the morning crew. She felt self-conscious for the first time in years, but shook that off. She'd never have her pre-baby body and that was fine. Tommy had taken her seriously when she raised the concern with him and had resoundingly told her that if she got back to her pre-baby body it also meant he'd have to get back to his pre-baby body as well. Admittedly, she liked him better with a bit more muscle on him and had decided it wasn't worth adding stress about her weight on top of everything else.

"I was thinking- something signature. Something that just screams you," Carrie said as she pulled her over to the clothes rack. Carrie had outdone herself this time and she really appreciated the effort. Today was hard enough already. "When was the last time you wore one of these?"

Kimberly smiled as she looked at the bright pink pantsuit with a simple black shirt. She had been known to wear bright colors when she started as anchor and over the years she had become more muted. Every once in awhile- she'd pull something like this out, but it had been years since her signature pink had made an appearance. Considering everything that had happened over the last six months- this definitely seemed like the best thing to start this era of the show in.

"I have a skirt option, but I don't know…I really think a pant suit vibe would be good for you right now," Carrie stated and Kimberly nodded. She held the clothing up to her and Kimberly knew a few things needed to change in her makeup. "The rest of the week isn't as in your face…I just…"

"It's great, Carrie. Really. Throwing on something bold is always a good move," Kim said as she took the pieces. "My only concern…"

"Is tailoring," Carrie stated as the show tailor walked in and Kim let out a sigh of relief. "We'll be getting everything fitted on a week to week basis as your body continues to change. Once it seems like it's settled down- we'll go back to the old schedule."

"You're the best," Kim whispered as she quickly wiped her eyes and then started changing for the tailor.

"I'd much rather dress you than Alex- you're so much more fun," Carrie said with a laugh and Kim forced a smile. She hoped everyone would feel that way if she had a prophetic moment in the middle of a morning show. At this point, she couldn't focus on that. She would review a bit of the stories for today and let that worry live elsewhere- most likely with Tommy.


Tommy shrugged off his jacket and turned around to face his students. Inevitably- it was 90 degrees in his classroom and he had just thrown on his jacket over a plain t-shirt. A plain t-shirt that did not even remotely cover all of his tattoos and was already showing the sweat rolling off his body. In his high school teaching days, he had been concerned about what precedent it would set for his students. Now that he was a professor, he was more concerned about how it might distract some of his students. However, he'd rather not pass out from the heat- so the jacket had to go.

"Welcome back to Death Science," Tommy said as he turned to face the room and caught the stares, blushes, and jealous glares from the majority of the class. Great. Just great. "As all of you are aware- the heat has been cranked up for some reason- so if any of you need to get rid of a layer, make a fan, go get some water, it's all good. This is also the first day Kim and I are trying our new schedule and…it was a tight run to get here. Last week- we were focusing on the bones from a recent Japanese case study and discussing the conclusions they drew when it came to origin and cause of death. Today- I would like to continue the discussion with some of the items found with that body."

"Dr. Oliver?" one of the students questioned as Tommy looked over at her and watched her gulp. He was going to have to have a talk with building maintenance to get this classroom cooler. "Kimberly Hart?"

"Ahhhh- you're one of the classes I didn't do that introduction with," Tommy said as he chuckled to himself and then quickly pulled up his intro powerpoint. He had run through it with most of his fall semester classes, but had been lazy about it with the spring semester. Apparently that had been a bad idea. "That's my wife. She's one of the hosts on a very popular morning television show. We've just had our first children, so they haven't made it into the slide deck just yet. I also do a bit of karate."

"So are you familiar with the weaponry found with this body?" another student asked and Tommy shook his head no. He had suspicions on what the weapons were and their origins, but he hoped he was wrong. Finding evidence of rangers was not something he ever really wanted cataloged, but he was also one of the best experts when it came to that. He had even been called in to consult on this particular find and he was still deciding what conclusions he would publish. "Didn't karate originate in Japan?"

"Some forms did. I've studied forms that originated in Korea and Brazil as well. There are some modern forms that are really a mix of multiple ancient forms. Most have unarmed and armed version of combat, those weapons are unique," Tommy stated and the students nodded. "There's characteristics that appear to be more modern than the carbon dating would indicate- which is why this case study is so important. It changes the historical record."


Kimberly walked into the dojo and watched Tommy teaching class with Jay in the baby carrier and Kira doing tummy time in the play area. The rangers had started filtering into other classes based on their school schedules and abilities. Cameron and Julia had quickly moved into one of the more advanced classes, which met several times a week. The others were lagging behind, but she could tell Tommy wasn't as concerned about that anymore. They were, finally, working well as a team.

She noticed a new student in this class and glanced between him and Tommy. She felt like she was watching history repeat itself as the boy showed off some of his moves and Tommy glanced back to see her frozen on the spot. He barely nodded that he recognized the similarities, but she knew he didn't want to call it out at the moment. At the moment he really wanted to spar- it had been a long time since he had the chance with someone that he was pretty sure he wouldn't hurt.

She walked over to him and took Jay out of the carrier. She watched as he gently stretched his muscles and then leaned down to give her a quick kiss. There was something that she found so inherently sexy when he prepared to casually kick someone's ass.

"Tommy is hogging all the fun," Julia grumbled as Kim walked by and she had to stop herself from laughing. She remembered feeling the same way when Jason went to spar with Tommy that day so many years ago.

"You'll get a chance," Kim said as she smiled at Julia and the ranger looked over at her. "Just a feeling. You might want to get to know his name first."

"It's Axel," Cameron remarked as they both jerked their heads over to him. Kim had thought that they were being quiet, but maybe not quiet enough. "I have eyes…and you should introduce yourself. He was definitely checking you out too."

"Caaaam," Julia groaned as she blushed. Kimberly shook her head and went over to the play area. She couldn't quite shake the feeling that Axel was meant to meet these rangers, that maybe he was even meant to become one. She also got the distinct feeling he was going to come into the ranger world in the same way that Tommy did. That was what she was most concerned with and what she needed to bring up with Tommy.

"Who did you train under before?" Tommy asked as he pulled Axel to his feet at the end of the class. He could not help but be impressed by the boy and he felt like he knew his form. He knew the sensei that Axel had worked with, he just couldn't place it.

"Rocky DeSantos. You came to our annual training camps- I moved out here for college a couple years ago and when I found out that you were here and teaching…I knew I needed to save up to be able to train here," Axel said and Tommy froze. He knew that there was a chance this would happen, but he hadn't really thought it would happen like this. "My parents told me what happened and I never thought I'd get to train with someone that skilled again- I hope I'll get to stay."

"You've earned your spot in this class. Cam and Julia are close to your age and maybe a bit behind skills wise, but they're fast learners," Tommy said as he nodded towards his rangers and he watched Axel's eyes light up, but he quickly disguised it. "Need an introduction?"

"I've got it," Axel said as he shook Tommy's hand and then started walking towards the rangers. Tommy shook his head as he felt Kimberly's gaze on him and walked over to the play area.

"He's good. He reminds me a lot of you," Kim said, pointedly, and Tommy just nodded. He had thought he was the only one that felt that way, but her words scared him a bit. "Can we deal with another you?"

"I don't think we have a choice- if you've got that feeling…" Tommy trailed off as he took Kira out of her arms and he let out a sigh. "How was your day?"

"Busier than I expected, but it's…" Kim trailed off as Jay yanked on her hair and she closed her eyes.

"It's day one and it's fine that it has been a lot," Tommy said as he rescued her hair and then gave her a quick forehead kiss. "Come on, all three of you are tired and need supper. We'll worry about that if it happens."

"When it happens," Kimberly remarked as he put his free arm around her and glanced back at the class one more time, seeing how openly Cam and Julia were welcoming Axel. He forced back his sigh and just shook his head. Fine, when it happened.