Kimberly rolled up the sleeves of the flannel shirt the next morning that Sam had lent her while he and Bobby went into town for a supply run. She might have been willing to walk around naked with Tommy, but she wasn't going to push her luck with the unknown men. Although, frankly, Tommy's reaction might have been worth risking it. His reaction last night had certainly been what she wanted, even if he had let something slip he never had before. Breaking her had been the thing that set him free. She was bitter enough to ignore that, even though she could hear the hurt in his voice.
This supply run, apparently, consisted of pie and clothing for her and Tommy. Tommy, at least, was able to borrow some clothing from Dean. She was stuck in a shirt that was the size of a tent on her. She sank down on the front porch and looked out into the woods. Woods. Desert. Her life was just going from one isolated location to another, trying to stay away from whatever was going to use her to get to Tommy. As much as she hated him saying that, it was the truth. He had never stopped caring for her. Deep down, she'd never stopped caring for him, but the evil had taken him too far that time. So she went to him when she needed to stay safe and she ran as soon as the danger was gone.
"Bobby doesn't have much here, but I figured you might want these," Dean said as he walked into her field of vision and held up a pair of jeans that looked much closer to her size. She gave him a grateful smile before taking them and pulling them on, they were a bit long- but they would do for now. She felt Dean's eyes on her and looked up at him with a smirk. His charming smile faltered as she moved towards him, apparently Sam hadn't been lying about the crush Dean had on her. He held up a hand as she moved closer and she paused. "You might hate him, but you still love him."
"You're an observant one," Kim whispered as she gently cupped his cheek and she felt another gaze on her. Dean locked eyes with her and then looked back up at Tommy who just shook his head. Fine, he wouldn't make out with her in front of the man, but he couldn't say that he'd turn her down in private. It was taking a lot to point out that he knew how she felt.
"You ever get over him, give me a call," Dean whispered before he gave her a kiss on the cheek and then ushered Tommy back inside. She couldn't believe how smoothly he had shifted Tommy's focus and also given her the space she needed at the same time. "She's not a runner."
"I wouldn't bet on that," Tommy said as he kept an eye on her from a distance and Dean watched him. It was obvious that he still cared for her, but it had had to change over the years. "She ran after I cheated. She ran hard and fast. The only way I caught up with her was because Divatox decided that turning her against me would be fun. She's been running ever since."
"You were evil, right?" Dean asked as Tommy nodded and Dean shook his head. That must have been a hell of thing to come out of being evil to find out that he had destroyed his own life so thoroughly. "I've been there. I nearly…I lost my family because of it. Maybe you should forgive yourself a bit."
"Have you done that?" Tommy asked as Dean shook his head and Tommy let out a chuckle. He had way too much in common with the Winchester brothers. It was a wonder Kim wasn't running because of that. "Yeah, when hell freezes over I'll get around to that. I've hurt her a lot. And every evil being that comes after Earth sets their sights on her to get to me. I stop a lot of it, but sometimes they succeed."
"I know someone that can arrange hell freezing over for you," Dean joked as he tossed Tommy a beer and Tommy opened it and took a long gulp. It might be mid-morning, but he desperately needed something to dull his pain right now. He loved having Kim around, he hated that this was only going to be other temporary stint with her. "You're going to hate how much that show got wrong."
"Lipretere isn't going to give us time to watch tv shows. He'll show up soon, to try to finish what he started," Tommy said as he opened the door and jogged back onto the porch. "Kim!"
"Son of bitch. She didn't even have shoes," Dean said as Tommy gave him a look and then waved his morpher towards him. "She wouldn't."
"Oh she absolutely would. She can't have gotten that far though," Tommy muttered as he morphed and glanced around, looking for a speck of a power trail. He spotted it and let out a groan, she was moving fast. "For fuck's sake Kim- this world isn't like ours."
"Want back up?" Dean asked as Tommy nodded before he sprinted off. Dean was shocked at how quickly the man moved, but quickly fell into cadence behind him. He realized that they were heading towards a nearby lake and wondered if she had done that on purpose, but she couldn't have known the geography.
"Kim!" Tommy yelled as the pink flash stilled at the edge of the water and he ran up next to her. He wanted to be furious, but as she demorphed he saw the pain in her eyes. "What were you thinking?"
"I just needed to get away," Kim explained as she sat down on the dock and he sat down next to her. "From you."
"Yeah, well this world isn't like yours and running off when God knows what is trying to come for you is stupid," Dean scolded as Tommy let out a sigh and Kim glared at him. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, even if the two men next to her thought otherwise. "Look- Sam is barely holding on with his soul being back and Cas is doing some real sketchy shit. The two of you just appeared and I'm betting that you got the attention of everything. It's only a matter of time before something comes after you. You can't just run off"
"Pretty sure I can take care of myself there, Deano," Kim said as Dean threw his arms up and Tommy just shook his head. Kim's fierce independent streak came with a price and most often that price was his sanity. "I would have gotten away from Lipretere without your help."
"You screaming for my help at the top of your lungs says otherwise," Tommy retorted as he felt her discomfort. "Is that what this is about?"
"I can't keep owing you for saving my life," Kim muttered as Dean shook his head, walked over to Kimberly and tossed her over his shoulder. They could have this conversation somewhere else. "Put me down!"
"You two can have this chick flick moment somewhere safer than here," Dean grunted as Kim punched against his back, but she noticed that Tommy was not moving to help her. Tommy, her ever vigilient protector, was letting this practical stranger man handle her. "Oh hun, he's not helping you. He's got it bad for you and he's promised to keep you safe even if you hate him. This keeps you safe."
"Oh you are so going to pay for this," Kimberly growled as Dean laughed. He could see why Tommy had it so bad for her after all this time.
"Why is she cuffed to the bed?" Sam asked as Dean just shook his head as he waved to Tommy and walked out of the cabin. Kimberly had not stopped yelling and cursing at him since they had gotten back. Tommy was taking it pretty well, but he was tired of it. He hadn't really thought through how pissed she was going to be. "Dean?"
"She tried to run. This was Dean's solution and I'm not arguing with him about it," Tommy said as Kim let out another string of curses and he turned on her. "This isn't our world. We aren't at the top of the pecking order- unless you missed that demons and angels exist. And we've met some of them already."
"You exorcized a demon with just a command. You're higher up the food chain than you think," Bobby remarked as Tommy gave him a confused look. That is what he had done yesterday? "We need to do some tests. You up for it?"
"Absolutely. Who's going to keep an eye on her?" Tommy asked as Bobby raised a hand and he gave him a confused look. He was fairly sure that Kim could take Bobby out if she got the proper motivation. "I thought you would do the tests."
"I'll be watching, the boys are better at fighting," Bobby said as Tommy shook his head. He didn't need a good fight, a good fight could be dangerous for the boys. "And then at some point- we'll have to make sure that she's on parr with you."
"She is, even if she doesn't let herself go there that often," Tommy remarked as Kim stared at him. She had never thought of herself as equal to him in the Power Ranger world. There was Tommy and then there was everyone else. Tommy started to say something and then stopped himself as he pulled out his morpher and then walked out of the cabin.
She was quiet as she stared straight ahead and then looked down at the cuff. She tested it for a moment, but then shook her head to herself- none of them were going to let her just run out into this world and try to hide. She just wished she knew more. She wished she knew what was coming. She wasn't sure if she liked where this was going, but she was sure that she was watching Tommy protect her, yet again. When would he just hate her the same way that she hated him?