Tommy panted as he unmorphed and he let the pain roll through him. His suit had protected him from everything that they had thrown at him, but it didn't mean that his body didn't feel the blows. He still hurt more than he liked, but nothing had penetrated his gear. He slowly stood up and he felt other eyes on him. He looked up to see that Kim was standing on the porch, with worry evident in her features. She hopped down the stairs and walked towards the boys, morphing as she went.
"Kimberly- no," Tommy said as she squared her shoulders and Sam and Dean exchanged a glance. They had no intention of putting her through the same test Tommy had just been through. "If I can withstand it- so can you."
"If I'm going in- we need to be sure," Kim said as she placed a hand on his shoulder and he let out a sigh of relief. They both were a bit shocked by it, but she didn't dwell on it as she looked up at the larger men. She had always been smaller than the monsters she faced- why would that be any different here? "C'mon boys."
"We've seen enough. We don't need to test you too," Dean said as he walked over to her and she looked around at all of them, disbelief running through her entire body. "Kim, you're just as good as he is. There's no need to have the both of you beat up."
"You didn't beat him up," Kim said as Dean grimaced and nodded towards Tommy. She looked back over at him and saw the bruises that were deepening in front of her eyes. Sure he had taken beatings before, but this was different. Something about these weapons were different. She quickly demoprhed and walked over to him as he straightened. "You're not fine."
"I'm good enough," Tommy said as she just shook her head as the bruises continued to deepen in front of her eyes. "I probably can't take too many blows at once, but it seems like everything they've got- we can handle."
"Tommy…if it's doing this to you…" Kim trailed off as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she threw her hands up as a knife tumbled towards them and it then fell straight to the ground. Dean quickly pointed at Sam and she let out a scream that sent Sam flying. She stilled as she was shocked by her powers acting that way and she felt Tommy gently rub her back. He had known she could do this and he wanted them to see it.
"That's one hell of a defense," Bobby muttered as Sam stood up and he gave her a smile. "Glad you were able to pull that out of her."
"I hate you," Kim grumbled as Dean walked over to her, put his arm around her shoulders, and led her away from the group.
"You know. He's right about you- you only did that to protect him. We wouldn't have gotten it out of you otherwise," Dean whispered as she stiffened, but she kept walking next to him. She wasn't sure where he was taking them, but she just knew that she needed to get away- again. She consistently needed to get away because being around Tommy was too much. Seeing him fight was too much. Seeing the look in his eyes that she knew was just for her was too much. "Have you ever really talked to him about it?"
"About what?" Kim asked as Dean motioned to the passenger's seat of the impala and she climbed in. Tommy had asked him to take her away for a bit while they had wailed on him. He had said that she couldn't stay around him that long without it driving her crazy. That she could only really stand him when they were fighting for their lives.
"Your revenge," Dean said as Kim let out a shaky breath and he let out a chuckle. "You know- you're going to regret holding this grudge."
"Just drive," Kim muttered as Dean shook his head before he put baby in drive and peeled out. She leaned back and stared at the roof of the car. He had a point, but she didn't want to admit that to him just yet.
"I don't know about y'all, but all of this sitting and talking about our emotions has gone on long enough. We need a hunt," Dean said as Tommy nodded that he was game, but Kim sat quiet. "Seriously?"
"We're just here for Lipretere, if something else comes after us- fine, but I don't know that we should broadcast what we can do. Have you seen the news today? They're looking for us. They're looking for you," Kim replied as she sank down on the couch between him and Sam. She had only just realized what the repercussions might be for kidnapping them now and she didn't like the danger they were putting them in. "I know you're looking for a good fight, Tommy, but we know we're going to get that."
"Do we? Every time something like this has happened in the past- it's come straight for us. Lipretere wasn't even in that tornado with us," Tommy said as she gulped. He did have a point, but she was not sure that she liked where this was going. "What if we're stuck?"
"I highly doubt that," Kim muttered as the others shook their heads. "Do you know something I don't?"
"I've examined the video footage that they have from when the tornado first began to when it ended. There was only some pink and white lights- nothing else. Nothing that would look like Lipretere tagged along," Tommy explained and Kim just shook her head. She could not be stuck in this world- with him. Absolutely not. "If we're right- you don't have to be a ranger anymore. You don't have to fight anymore. And you don't need me anymore. You can go live the life you want without anything holding you back. It's what you've wanted for over a decade."
"We can't abandon our world, Tommy," Kim said as she just stared at him. She could not believe that he was just suggesting that they give up on trying to get back home. "What the hell has gotten into you? You've never even suggested something like that before."
"I don't know that you have a choice," Bobby interjected as she looked over at him and just shook her head. "If you're stuck here- he's right. There's no reason that you'd ever have to be a ranger again."
"This is all I know, Kim. And I'm good at this. You've got other options," Tommy responded as she just shook her head and he let out a groan. "What do you want from me? You can get out. You can get away from me and now you're fighting that too?"
"We have friends. We have family that is going to be hurt because we…you aren't there…" Kim trailed off as they all looked at her. She had never admitted to him how important he was to the world, even though every other ranger had said it. "They'll wonder where you are, what happened. Tommy…"
"That world will be safer without me and this world doesn't have aliens. It doesn't have monsters that come after people the way that Lord Zedd did; like Divatox did. No one will be used like we've been used in our world. They have a different monster problem- I can help with it," Tommy responded and she looked between all of them as she just shook her head. "Kimberly, none of us are asking you to do this. You can drop your morpher with me and go."
"You're not going to get yourself killed, Tommy. You've heard them. Things are going to come after us, especially if they ever realize how much power you have. Everything will want you and I'm sure there will be hunters that want to kill you too. You're more than this, Tommy. When will you see that?" Kim whispered as she walked dangerously close to him and she felt the shift in the energy of the room.
"I don't know. When will you see me?" Tommy retorted and she closed her eyes. As much as she wanted to see other parts of him, she was just as guilty as everyone else when it came to what they saw in Tommy. He was a weapon. A weapon with one hell of a track record and kill percentage. "When will you actually see me?"