Always a Ranger - Part 15
Déjà Evil Part 4: White Revelations
By Jeannine Trevizo
“I still
can’t believe that it was
“I mean, I
really thought he was our friend,” Conner replied, watching the
African-American youth pace before him as he sat in one of the chairs next to
Hayley.
“Kira said it
wasn’t his fault,” she stated, still focusing on the readouts on her screen.
“Please!”
Ethan barked. “He had plenty of chances to come to us if that was the case.
Kira asked him to stay put at the lake so we could help, but was he there when
we got there? No. That sounds to me like someone who isn’t as honest as he’s
making out.”
“And there’s
still the matter of trying to kill us multiple times… and fossilizing Dr. O,”
Conner complained.
“How long is
he going to be like that?” Ethan questioned, pulling up short and moving
towards where their mentor, encased in the amber substance that was both
imprisoning him and keeping him alive stood.
“I don’t
know,” Hayley admitted reluctantly. “I’m working on it, but…”
“God, like it
wasn’t bad enough to find out who the white ranger is. To lose Dr. O like
this…” Conner commented, getting up from his chair and moving to stand beside
Ethan.
“He’s not
lost,” Hayley repeated firmly. “We’ll get him out. It just is going to take a
bit of time.”
“Time that we
really don’t have,” Ethan grumbled.
“But we know
who the white ranger is, and we were able to stop him,” Hayley said, finally
turning in her seat to regard the young men and rangers.
“This time,”
Conner explained. “But what about next time?”
“I…”
Hayley
couldn’t argue the point with the sandy haired athlete. They had yet to be able
to call a truce with Trent/the white ranger, and with Tommy immobile in the
amber prison he was in, she was just trying to get them through the next thing.
And then
there was Kira.
Hayley still
didn’t know where the yellow ranger had gone to. All she knew was that during
the battle right before
“We don’t
need to worry about that. At least that’s what
“Kira! Where
have you been?” Ethan asked as both he and Conner converged on her as she
walked into the room.
“I went out
to the lake again, where I found
“Shit,”
grumbled Conner under his breath.
“Now what?”
Ethan asked bitterly. “We just wait for him to decide to go all evil again and
try to beat the crap out of us for the hundredth time this week?”
“No!” Kira
stated forcefully, grabbing Ethan’s arm and making him stand still and look at
her. “He said he can’t control it, so he’s going away.”
“And you
believe him?” Hayley questioned from her place at the computer screens, finally
interjecting into the ranger’s conversation.
“I think he
means it. I mean, if you had seen him… he looked so lost, so broken. I think he
really feels like he’s changing and he can’t stop it, no matter what he or
anyone else does.”
“Great. Like
his promising to let you help him before speaks for his honesty,” Conner argued
as he walked over to Dr. O’s enveloped form. “Did his so called concern over
being evil help Dr. O?”
Kira couldn’t
reply. She still was reeling from
“Look, we
just need to do what Dr. O would expect of us… keep looking for a way to get
him out and keep Mesagog from winning. If the white ranger shows up, we know
who he is now, at least. We can keep from hurting him while we stop him,” Kira
stated lightly.
“Fine,”
Conner replied, glancing from Kira to Hayley. “Let’s work on getting Dr. O
freed then, okay?”
With a series
of nods, the team all turned to Hayley, taking on whatever task she appointed
them to, working silently in the overly wrought emotional room.
------
At
The silence
that had met her yesterday morning had frightened her more than she thought she
could ever feel. She’d gotten up, checked her e-mail one last time for word and
then headed to the gym. Once there, she simply walked into practice and asked
to talk to the head coach, alone. He escorted them into his office where she
informed him she had a family emergency and she needed a few days to deal with
it.
Gregor had
stared at her seriously. She’d never taken any vacation except for the previous
month when the whole team had been given the time off. He knew that while not
having Kim there was going to impact the team somewhat, he knew that Kim
wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t serious.
So he’d given
her three days vacation, wished her well and told her to call if she needed
more time.
Without pause,
she thanked him and turned and headed out the door. After returning home, she
again checked for any messages, and made the calls to Kira and Tommy with no
answer. Turning on her computer, she found no e-mails. Turning it off, she
grabbed the phone book and the phone and started calling the airlines, looking
for flights. She’d found that she’d missed most of the morning ones but that
she could catch an afternoon flight that would get her into Reefside that evening.
Once she’d bought the ticket to Reefside, she confirmed where the gate would
be, and hung up.
Her flight
booked, she’d packed the one small (carry-on size) bag, and then caught a cab, making
her way to the airport.
Now, hours
later, she had arrived in Reefside, and her heart thudded in her chest as she
hurried past people to find the taxis. Once she found the row of yellow cabs,
it was a simple thing to give the driver the address. Then it was just a matter
of time to get to his house and find out if he and the rest of the team were
still alive.
Those 25
minutes seemed to her the longest of her life, and she clenched her hands the
entire way in fear that maybe she was too late. When the driver finally stopped
at Tommy’s house, she looked at the fare meter and threw him more than she owed
him, grabbed her bag and bolted from the vehicle, running for the door.
She knocked
loudly, waiting for someone, anyone to answer. Instead, she heard no one.
Still, she was there, maybe there was some way to find out what was going on
from inside the house. Looking about, she searched under the welcome mat and
the nearby potted plant for the spare key. With her love’s memory, he’d need to
have a spare key. Finally she hit pay dirt under the windowsill near the front
door.
Key in hand,
she slid it into the lock and opened the door.
“Tommy?” she
called out, and heard nothing but silence.
Closing the
door behind her, she tossed her bag by it and started looking around, hoping
for a clue. She moved through the house, starting with the kitchen, and then
moved to the bathroom. There was nothing there to suggest that her love and the
rangers had been there recently. Still, she hadn’t heard on the news that
they’d been defeated. The cab driver had been kind enough to put the all news
radio on during the ride, and the fact that the world wasn’t being destroyed
led her to believe that they were still alive and fighting.
When she
walked into the empty bedroom, she felt a wave of near-grief wash over her.
They’d had so little time together. Why the hell hadn’t she stayed when she was
here last? How could she have left him, knowing what he was dealing with? How
could she have fallen for someone else all those years ago and thrown away what
they had, leaving them both to lose years of their relationship that no other
could match?
She sighed as
she found herself sitting hard on the bed, her head dropping to her knees and
her hands covering her face. It always came back to that one decision. If she
hadn’t met Chris, if she hadn’t been lonely, if she hadn’t thought Tommy and
Kat were getting together…
God, what she
wouldn’t do to go back and change it all.
But wishing
for something that she couldn’t have was useless, she reprimanded herself
firmly, fighting to push the tears that wanted to be shed back down. She *had*
to find Tommy or the rangers. They had to be somewhere.
Of course,
she didn’t realize that they all were within several feet of her… albeit
beneath her.
Shoving
herself back up, she moved into the living room, pacing along the floor and
trying to wrack her brain for some clue. Tommy had mentioned his friend Hayley
from college ran the café in town. Maybe she knew something…
With that
idea in mind, Kim hurried to the desk and reached for the phone, knocking over
one of Tommy’s lamps, sending it crashing to the floor.
“What was
that?” Conner asked as a sudden thud from above them broke the silence.
“I don’t
know, but it came from upstairs,” Ethan observed anxiously.
“Come on!”
Kira urged, racing to the trap door to the kitchen with the guys right behind
her.
If there was
an intruder, they’d take care of it. And if it was one of Mesogog’s henchmen,
then they’d send them right back to the hell he came from...
What they
weren’t prepared for was the petite former gymnast that was crouched on the
floor, cleaning up the mess she’d made. As they nearly came to a halt in the
doorway of the kitchen, she turned and saw them standing there, her face going
from pained to relieved in a split second.
“Kim!” the
three called out in near unison.
The three rangers
converged on the former pink ranger as she stood up and moved quickly to meet
them in a flood of arms and bodies. Hugs and smiles were exchanged around, and
the new rangers couldn’t help but trip over themselves trying to update her on
the situation. Never had they been so happy to see someone in their lives.
“The white
ranger is
“Yeah. He
told Kira. Surprised the hell out of us when she told us. Who would have
guessed,” Conner added.
“Me, actually,”
Kim said sullenly, sad that her hypothesis had turned out to be right.
“You?” Ethan
and Conner stated in near unison.
“I talked to
Kira the other night, after I spoke with Tommy when the white ranger first
showed up. She mentioned that
“Wow,” Conner
said as he felt his stomach start to fall out from beneath him and Ethan stood
beside him speechless.
He’d been
really upset when Kira had yelled at them about not remembering Dr. O had been
evil when they’d been trying to stop the white ranger. But when she’d mentioned
it was Kim that had explained a lot of Dr. O’s actions, he’d been surprised.
Now he realized that just like he, Ethan and Kira, Kim would have been going through
the same thing they’d go through with the white ranger… except that it had been
Dr. O that had been the evil ranger back then. He knew it had been rough on his
team, especially Kira, but he couldn’t even begin to fathom how it would have
affected Dr. O and Kim to go through that, especially when they’d ended up
together in the end.
“You okay?”
Kira asked quietly, knowing what the former pink ranger must be feeling from
experience now.
“I’m okay,”
she stated, “it just brought up some memories that I don’t like a lot.”
Kira nodded,
and they gave one another watery smiles. Just as Kim was about to ask where
Tommy was, Conner started relaying the news again in an effort to stop the
emotional rollercoaster that threatened to overwhelm all of them.
“We tapped
into these new dino powers. It was so cool, but
Once Conner
started, the other’s couldn’t help but follow suit as they informed her of what
had been happening; Mesagog trying and failing to recruit the white ranger, the
fact that the dino gem had been corrupted, that Trent had been defeated their
last battle and that he was supposed to leave town, since he couldn’t control
the power. They related everything they could think of, keeping Kim from
getting a word in edgewise until she finally stopped them cold by nearly
yelling over them.
“Guys wait… where’s
Tommy?” she asked loudly, and they all froze.
No one wanted
to tell the former ranger and gymnast what had happened. They all looked to each
other, the guys’ gaze falling on Kira. Conner and Ethan both knew that the
yellow ranger had become friends with their mentor’s former and present
girlfriend. If anyone could break the news… she sighed and turned to face Kim,
who was wearing a frightened expression, and Kira’s heart ached to have to
break the news.
“Kira,
please, what’s happened?” she pleaded.
“Kim… Dr. O’s
been trapped in some amber prison thing,” Kira said simply, taking hold of her
friend’s hand tightly.
Kim’s face
went white, and Conner and Ethan both moved closer to her to make sure she
didn’t pass out.
“Is… is he
alive?” Kim asked brokenly, her throat tight with tears that she so badly
wanted to let flow, but knew she couldn’t just yet.
“He is,”
Ethan said from her right side, hearing Kim’s worried breath come out in a rush
as she found out Dr. O wasn’t dead. “Hayley’s working on finding a way to get
him out.”
“I need to
see him. Where…”
“He’s
downstairs. Come on.”
With that,
Conner and Ethan led the way, letting Kira walk with Kim, their hands now
tightly bonded to one another’s. While Kira was dealing with
“I’m glad
you’re here,” Kira said, glancing over to check on how Kim was taking
everything.
For her part,
Kim was busy trying to push down her fear, and the look of pain that shadowed
Kira’s face was enough to make her realize that there were other things that
she should focus on.
“I’m sorry
about
“Thanks. How
about after we get Dr. O out, you and me have a long talk?”
The two
nodded their agreement to table the evil ranger talk until Tommy was freed, and
they stopped in the kitchen, releasing each other’s hand. Conner and Ethan
descended the stairs first, with Kira following right behind, and Kimberly bringing
up the rear. As much as she wanted to see him, Kim was finding her steps
slowing as she found herself dreading what was to come, and took each step with
deliberate care. Her heart slammed loudly in her chest, and when her feet
finally hit the hard stone floor, she slowly turned to face her worst fear.
Kim had seen
the command center the last time it was here, but there were two major
differences now. First, in the seat Tommy normally would have occupied, a red
haired woman was seated, and she stared at Kim with a mixture of indifference
and dislike. The second was the golden colored crystal formation in one corner,
with the man Kim loved more than her own life visible within.
Like a
sleepwalker, she moved across the room to where Tommy was encased in his amber
cocoon. With a tentative hand, she reached forward and touched the cool crystal
and felt her world start to crack.
“Tommy,” she
cried in a choked voice, and found herself dropping her head to the hard rock
as the tears she’d held back finally broke free.
Kira was
there in a flash, her arm looping over the woman’s shoulders as she tried to
offer some kind of comfort to Kim. Moments later, Ethan and Conner joined her,
the three of them surrounding the petite brunette with their support.
“He’ll be
okay Kim,” Conner tried to reassure her, even if he wasn’t all that reassured
himself.
“Hayley will figure
it out,” Ethan remarked, feeling the shudders of Kim’s shoulders as she fought
through the emotional wave.
With a nod,
Kim agreed, and shakily moved her hands to wipe at her eyes. The rangers
shifted slightly, giving Kim more room, and she took that opportunity to move
away and head for Hayley. As Kim approached, Hayley stood up and moved to
intercept the woman, the two of them pausing in the middle of the room.
“I know we
haven’t met before,” Kim began, and watched the other woman nearly glare at her.
“No, we
haven’t. Tom and I met *after* you’d broken him into little pieces.”
Kim and the
rangers were all taken aback by Hayley’s comment, and while the others had no
idea what it all meant, Kim did, and wasn’t about to back down.
“Yeah, I did.
But I’m still the person he loves,” she replied with force.
Hayley
grimaced, knowing for a fact the truth of Kimberly’s statement. As much as she
wanted to force the former pink ranger out of Tommy’s life, she knew that it
would never happen. Tommy would *never* let her go now. It was a fact that
she’d had to contend with for longer than just the year since he and Kimberly
had renewed their relationship. Tommy loved Kimberly… always, and nothing she
could do would change that.
Now she had
to suck it up and put it all aside.
“I know. And
I’m doing everything I can to free him of the amber.”
“If there’s
anything I can do…” Kim began, her face starting to collapse at the thought of
not being able to free him…
“I wish there
was. All we can do is keep searching for a solution.”
Kim nodded,
and turned slowly back towards the amber prison Tommy was stuck in. Without
conscious thought, she moved towards him, laying her hands on the crystal as
she stared into the semi-transparent material at her love in uniform.
“Hey there
handsome. Nice suit you’ve got there. Very ranger becoming,” she joked in a
quiet voice as everyone watched her. “You know, this really wasn’t the welcome
I was expecting… anyhow, you just sit tight, ‘cause, well, it’s not like you
can go anywhere and Hayley will find a way to get you out of there.”
As Kim talked
to the encased black ranger, Hayley found herself becoming increasingly
uncomfortable watching the lovers together, even if one of them was fossilized
and unable to know that the other was there. It was in that moment that she
came to the decision that she’d do everything in her power to get Tommy free,
so he could go back to his love.
All those
years of pining after the former ranger, she’d always known that his heart
wasn’t free. And now after witnessing Kimberly’s actions and emotions, she knew
that she had no right to ever try to put a wedge between them. There were some
people that were meant to be together.
It was
obvious to her now that Kim and Tommy were two of those people.
“Come on
guys, let’s try something else,” Hayley stated, bringing everyone’s attention
towards her and away from Kim and Tommy.
With a last
glance at Kim and Dr. O, Kira and Ethan moved to the console and began to
discuss with Hayley what else they could do. Conner started forward, but then
turned and swiftly moved to a corner of the room, returning with a folding
chair. He walked up to where Kim stood, and placed it next to her. She glanced
from him to it and then back to him again, as she left her hand braced on Tommy’s
cocoon.
“I figured
you might as well get comfortable, since we all know you’re not going anywhere
until he’s out,” Conner stated, lightly taking hold of Kim’s hand as he smiled
at her, receiving a tentative smile from her in return.
“Thanks,” she
said softly, and then leaned up and gave Conner a kiss on the cheek.
His face
blazed in embarrassment, and he hurriedly turned and went to catch up with the
others as Kim pulled the chair closer to Tommy’s cocoon, sitting down before
she realized that she would have fallen down as the exhaustion and fear finally
started to take its toll. Carefully she settled in the chair and scooted it as
close as she could, laying her hand back onto the crystal.
“You hear
that handsome? I’m not going anywhere.”
That said,
Kim leaned her head against the cool surface and closed her eyes. She’d just
sit there for a little while, until Hayley and the team found something…
It was her
last though before she slipped into sleep at her love’s side.
-End-
tbc....
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