Disclaimer: As we all know, the Power Rangers and characters are owned by Saban, and I'm using them without permission. Anything that you don't recognize from the show is mine. I've read so many fanfics, I don't really know what I've gotten from other fics versus what I thought up myself versus actual cannon. If you recognize something as yours, I'm sorry, and please let me know.
Author's Note: This is part one of my new (actually, quite old, but new to you) series called "The Imposter Rangers." I'd like to thank everyone at various message boards for helping me out with various aspects of this, and dedicate this to the persistence of a few people who just wouldn't let me forget. I'd also like to add that this fic could not be here without the Writer's Guide. I got this idea from a dream I had one night ...
August 2002
It was dark. It was cold. The only thing she could truly see was what the thin ray of light wanted her to see. The outfit she wore was only enough to cover her, not keep her warm. Her companion was out of sight, and if she needed him, it would be difficult to get his attention. And she loved it.
Kimberly and Jason were scuba diving. Again. They had joked before going in that nothing would compare to that one fateful scuba-diving trip they had taken all those years ago that resulted with their being fed to a monster with the munchies. Yet, they were still drawn to the water. Something about swimming with the fish just appealed to them. They had invited the others to come, but all had declined, for various reasons.
"All that time on Aquitar has completely turned me off water. Besides, I wasn't all that fond of scuba diving in the first place. Remember, we had a picnic instead, and that fish monster appeared."
"I can't go today, Jase. Maybe tomorrow. I got a date with Angela. We're gonna see this new dance group. She'll kill me if I go with you and Kim."
"Sorry, bro. I know I said I would, but I forgot I've got to go visit my uncle in Stone Canyon this afternoon. But I would love to go with next time."
"I'd love to, Kim, but Billy called me, and asked me to check out something in his lab with him. He thought I might be able to help him."
Even though it was just herself and Jason, Kim had known that they would still go. It was too much a part of them. Just like gymnastics was a part of her, martial arts a part of him, Trini and Tommy, science a part of Billy, dancing a part of Zack, and the power a part of them all.
Through the murky light, Kim saw Jason change direction and swim toward her. He pointed to his wrist, then up. Kim signaled that she understood, and they surfaced together. Coming out of the water, Kim found herself laughing.
"Jase, isn't this the time you should be replying 'Zordon, I read you'?" she asked, as she started removing her gear.
Jason found himself laughing with her as they walked onto the beach. "Yeah. I know exactly what you mean. We had so many dives end with our communicators going off."
"I miss it .... Don't you? The power ... the rush knowing that you were out there, the last line of defense - the ONLY line of defense - between evil space aliens and the safety of the planet ... I even miss the spandex!" Kim exclaimed, throwing her arms out to the empty beach, knowing that their secret was still safe, even five years after Tommy and the others had stepped down.
"Yeah, I miss it. I don't miss the spandex," he mentioned with a grin before continuing, "but I miss the rest. I had that small period where I was a ranger again. The Gold Ranger. I was part of the fight again, not just that former ranger who had gone to the Peace Conference. Leaving the second time was even harder. That's why it was so great to see you and go scuba-diving together, until that whole business with Divatox," Jason answered, grinning as he finished. "We're talking about scuba diving again."
"That we are. We should get out of here before we find ourselves discussing it a third time. Besides, I have to meet Tommy. And aren't you meeting Emily soon?" Kim pointed out as they reached their cars. Jason's black Jeep was parked next to her mauve Saturn. When she bought the car, she knew that she would not be able to stand a car in pink, but no other color really felt right ... until the mauve. It was pink without being too pink.
"Emily wanted me to meet her at the apartment by five tonight. There was something that she wanted to discuss with me. She said it was important," he said. He piled his gear into the back of the Jeep, while peeling himself out of his wetsuit and throwing on an old red T-shirt and sandals to go with his trunks.
"I wonder what it could be. How have things been going between the two of you?" Kim asked, as she too changed out of the wetsuit, pulling a pair of jean shorts and an old green tank top Tommy had given her on over her pink one-piece suit. "Have you seen my shoes?"
"I thought things were going good. I know that I haven't been around much lately, ever since I got the job working with my dad," he said as he helped Kim look. "Do you know where you left them?"
"I thought I left them with the rest of my clothes in the front seat," she declared, looking under the front seats of her car.
"I think Tommy's bad memory must be rubbing off on you, now that you two are living together," Jason remarked, failing to hide his laugh.
"I'll have you know that I am not getting his bad memory, just because we're living at such close proximity to each other." Kim slumped down into the car, racking her brain as she tried to recall what she had done with her shoes a scant hour before.
"Now you're starting to sound like Billy. You're not going to break out dancing now, or start showing off your Praying Mantis kung fu, are you?" Jason kidded, as he looked under the car, on the possibility that they had fallen out when Kim opened the door.
"It must be the 'Improve Your Vocabulary' tapes that Kerri has been listening to for the past week," Kim replied, thinking of the girl she had been working with lately, before moving to check the trunk of her car. "And no jokes about how Tommy and I should get 'Improve Your Memory' tapes," she said, halting Jason as he opened his mouth.
"I wasn't going to say anything like that," he protested, holding up his hands in a gesture of innocence. "I swear I wasn't!" he added at the incredulous look he received. "I was going to ask if you had driven here barefoot."
"Sure you were. And I work for Rita. Seriously, I know I wore them here," Kim stated, as she rose from her position leaning against the car to check the trunk. "I never drive barefoot. It just seems so ... wrong, for some reason. Oh, here they are!" she proclaimed, pulling them from her trunk and holding them up in triumph.
"What were they doing in your trunk?" Jason asked, as Kim pulled her recently found shoes onto her feet before climbing into her car.
"Who cares? What's important is that I found them. How they got into the trunk would require too much thought, and I don't want to think about that right now. What I want to think about is whether or not Tommy made dinner, or if he's expecting me to pick something up," Kim stated, pausing just before starting her car. "Hey, Jase, do you have your cell phone? It would be easier if I could call him."
"Of course I do. Don't you have yours?" he replied, taking it from his glove compartment and handing it to her.
"I left it with Tommy today, because he was going out to his uncle's place this afternoon. Apparently, he needed Tommy to check out this new car that they're going to use for the Twelve Hours of Sebring. But he should be back by now," Kim explained as she dialed the number.
"Why don't you just call him on that phone? Then you'll definitely get a hold of him," Jason pointed out, perching on the hood of the Saturn.
"That's assuming he has it with him, and hasn't left it in the car or in the bedroom or something. Oh, I'll pay you back for - Tommy?" Kim said, interrupting herself as Tommy picked up on the other end, her voice immediately softening. "Hey. Did you make dinner?"
"What do you mean, you've been watching the news since three o'clock? You never watch the news!" Kim joked, grinning up at Jason, who returned it. Tommy was notorious for never being up on current events.
"They're what?!?!" Kim's jaw literally dropped, but she quickly regained her composure. "Just a sec, let me tell Jason," Kim told Tommy before covering the mouthpiece with her hand and looking up at Jason. "A group of six people came forward this afternoon, claiming that they were both the Morphin' Rangers and Zeo Rangers."
"WHAT??" Jason's face bore the same expression that Kim's had merely seconds before.
"Exactly what I thought, and what Tommy thought," Kim conveyed. "Tommy's been taping it since it interrupted the rebroadcast of last weekend's Brickyard 400. I'm going to talk to him some more," Kim informed Jason, before turning her attention back to the person on the other end of the phone. "I'm coming home now. Call Billy. Trini should with him. They were working together on something this afternoon. Oh, and let the phone ring at least twenty times. It takes Billy a while to notice it," Kim told Tommy, taking charge of the situation. "I'll call Zack."
Jason tapped Kim on the shoulder. "Zack's out with Angela until late this evening, or later, if it goes as Zack planned. Don't bother him until tomorrow."
"Okay, I won't call Zack. He's out with Angela," Kim explained to Tommy, who had missed Jason's comment. She paused to listen to Tommy's suggestion. "Tommy thinks that we should get together tomorrow sometime. He'll keep taping this broadcast."
"Good idea. I have to meet Emily in twenty minutes," Jason agreed, checking his watch. "I need my phone back."
"Oh, right." Kim realized and started to wrap up her phone conversation. "Tommy, Jason needs his phone back. I have to go now. Make dinner. Please?"
Tuning out his protests, Kim toyed with her keys. "Yes, I'm using his phone. Remember how I gave you mine to take to the track today?"
She waited as Tommy tried to recall just where he had left her phone. "Anyway, I'll be home in about ten minutes. Bye Tommy. I'll see you soon," she murmured, before severing the connection and handing Jason back his phone. "Thanks for letting me use this."
"Anytime," he replied. "Let me get this straight. People are claiming to be ... us?"
"That's what Tommy said. Hard to believe, isn't it? We'll call you tomorrow. You're going to be late to meet Emily," Kim pointed out, after glancing at the dashboard clock.
"Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Kim watched as Jason ran over to his Jeep, hopped in and pulled out of the lot, pulling his seatbelt on as he turned onto the street. She glanced at the clock again, then headed for home.
"Hey there Beautiful," Tommy said, greeting Kim when she came in the door to their apartment.
"Hey Tommy." Kim gave him a quick kiss, before moving to where a television was set up in the kitchen. "Are they still broadcasting?"
"I won't tell you until I get a proper hello," he replied, crossing his arms and leaning against the kitchen counter.
Kim turned around, walked over to him, wrapped her arms around his neck and placed a long, luxurious kiss on his lips. Tommy eventually broke the kiss minutes later, desperately in need of air. "That's better. Yes, they're still broadcasting."
"Good. What'd you cook?" Kim asked absently, as she devoted her attention to the news story.
"I made tuna surprise," Tommy grinned as he spun her around before pulling her back into his embrace.
"What's the surprise?" Kim asked, as she abandoned her attempts to see the broadcast and turned her attention back to the former ranger. After all, they were taping it.
"It's tuna. Surprise!" Tommy joked, as she made a face at him. After all, he didn't cook much. Tuna Surprise, Hamburger Surprise, Macaroni and Cheese Surprise, and few other things were the extent of his cooking ability. Kim was the cook in their relationship.
Later, they sat down to their meal of tuna surprise in their living room, as they had yet to buy a real kitchen table. They had sold the previous green and yellow one when they realized that it clashed completely with all their furniture ... and when it broke in half. Table-less, they made do with sitting at the coffee table in their living room.
"What did your uncle want? Are you going to do the Sebring race?" Kim asked as she took a long sip of her iced tea.
"He's not sure. The race isn't until March, but he needs a team of drivers. He's got two other guys who will definitely do it, but he needs a team of four, since he'll be in charge of the pits. Besides, he doesn't want to go to all the trouble of hiring a pit crew and getting all those tires and gas if we don't have much of a chance of at least getting in the top ten. I told him that, if he can find a third driver, I'd be his fourth," Tommy explained, as he served himself some of the tuna surprise and a few of the rolls Kim had bought the day before.
"Sebring is an endurance race, isn't it? Not a lot of banging and crashing, right? Just being able to go that long, and having a car that can do it too," Kim asked, worried about the risks involved in Tommy's hobby of auto racing.
"That's right. There isn't nearly the number of accidents during the endurance races that there are in an average NASCAR Winston Cup race. How was scuba-diving today with Jason?" Tommy asked, changing the subject away from something that Kim had always been uncomfortable with.
"It was a lot of fun. I've missed it. We ended up reminiscing about that fateful dive we took a few years back ...." Kim trailed off, giving Tommy a meaningful look.
"I don't think I'll ever forget that dive of yours, even though I wasn't on it. I was so scared when I found out Divatox had you and Jason. Then, in the volcano ...." Tommy trailed off too, unable to finish.
Kim leaned across the meager table and placed her hand on his. "Don't think about it, Tommy. We've all been turned evil at one point or another. But we've all overcome it. Jason and I had quite a few talks after our experience inside that volcano. We're back to normal. Or as close to normal as possible. And you guys were amazing, defeating Maligore like that, and later at the tournament," Kim would have continued, but thinking about the tournament that followed the experience in Maligore's temple brought up memories of Kat.
Tommy could tell where Kim's thoughts had gone. Kim always withdrew a little into herself when the subject, or thought, of Kat and her relationship with Tommy came up. "Kim, don't do this to yourself. You know that Kat and I broke up long ago, long before you came home after the Pan-Globals. And you know that she isn't hurt by it all, and that she's happily seeing Rocky. And that she genuinely wants to be your friend, without having her former relationship with me play a part in it."
"I know that Tommy, but I still feel bad. She was everything that I wasn't. Tall, blonde, a ranger, your girlfriend . . . " Kim's throat closed up, preventing her from continuing.
Tommy got up from his seat, walked over to Kim, and pulled her into his arms. He carried her across the living room, sat down onto the couch, and pulled her into his lap so that she faced him. "Kim, you know that I love you. I've always loved you. Even when you were dating Chris in Florida, I loved you. I didn't realize it, because your letter really hurt, but I still loved you. Kat realized it long before I did, and helped me to realize it as well. We didn't break up because of you. We broke up because we realized we probably never should have gotten together. We were much happier as friends. I ... love ... you," he ended, punctuating each word with a kiss on her forehead.
"Oh, Tommy ..." Kim wrapped her arms around him, letting his words sink in. "I love you too," she murmured, her words muffled by his neck.
"What was that?" he asked, pulling her away from his neck.
"I love you too," she repeated, realizing that this was the first time she had actually voiced her feelings to Tommy.
"You do? That's great! You don't know how long I've waited to hear you say that! Wait right here!" Tommy exclaimed, setting her on the couch so that he could get up. He ran to their bedroom, and Kim could hear him going through one of the drawers in the dresser. Moments later, he came back into their living room, with one hand behind his back, and dropped to one knee in front of her.
Kim gasped. "Tommy, what -"
Tommy silenced her with a kiss. "Kimberly Anne Hart, will you marry me?" he asked, proffering her a small black jeweler's box.
Kim gaped at him. She had waited for this moment for years. Ever since their first kiss by the duck pond after Rita had drained the Green Candle, Kim had dreamed of marrying one Tommy Oliver. When she moved back to Angel Grove after the Pan-Globals had finished, she had shared an apartment with another college student, Grace Sinclair. But when Grace got married two and a half years later, Kim knew that she needed to find another roommate. Tommy had applied, much to the chagrin of his parents, and hers, when they found out. But no word of marriage had ever been mentioned, even after they had worked out the whole mess resulting from the letter.
Tommy started fidgeting. She hadn't said anything yet. While he hadn't expected an immediate 'yes,' he had expected her to say something. "Kim?" His voice was a bit high. Clearing his throat, he asked again. "Well, what do you say?"
Kim shook herself back to the present. Tommy was looking at her anxiously, trying (and failing) to hide his growing worry. She reached out and took the box, and opened it. Inside was a small diamond, with a tiny pink topaz gem on the right side of the diamond, with a tiny emerald on the other. "Tommy, it's ... it's ... it's beautiful."
"I thought you would like it. The topaz is you, naturally. The emerald is me, when we met. I thought that another small diamond and a ruby or something would make the ring look cluttered. That way, there'd be three for me, and only one for you. This shows we're equal. Want to try it on?" Tommy couldn't hide his eagerness as he took her left hand, and placed the ring on her finger. It was a perfect fit.
"How'd you know what size?" Kim couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful the ring looked on her finger.
Tommy couldn't figure out why Kim was avoiding answering his question, but answered hers anyway. "I remembered that you used to wear rings in high school, and found one of them. I checked some old photos to see what finger you wore that ring on, and took the ring and the photo to a jeweler to help me guess the size. Looks like we were right," he explained, taking hold of her hand once again. "Well?"
Kim knew she loved him. They had been living together in the literal sense for over a year, and in the figurative sense for three months. She knew he loved her. She knew she would never love anyone else the way she loved him. She knew he felt the same. "Yes."
Tommy's face erupted in a huge grin. He stood up, pulling her with him. He picked her up and spun her around, much like he had all those years ago by the duck pond. Dinner, Kat, and the imposter rangers were forgotten as the newly engaged couple continued their celebration into the night ....
The next morning, long after the tape in Tommy's VCR had run out, the original rangers met in Tommy and Kim's apartment. Kim scanned the room, contemplating her former teammates and how their lives had changed since the day they met a giant floating head in a water cooler.
Trini Kwan looked concerned. Kim surmised that her friend's honor had her questioning why people would claim to be someone they weren't. Billy was seated awfully close to Trini on the couch, and Kim was not going to question their relationship, if one even existed. They both deserved it, after what they had gone through. Trini had met Stefan at the Peace Conference in Switzerland, who had only been using her for her bank account and to get revenge on his former girlfriend, Monique, who was also attending the Peace Conference and just so happened to live next door to Trini. Once Trini had discovered the numerous withdrawals from her savings account, she had questioned Stefan. He admitted nothing and actually laughed at her. After a few long distance calls to Billy and his amazing computer abilities, she had the proof she needed, pressed charges against him and got him thrown out of the Peace Conference. A thief obviously did not belong at a Peace Conference. Trini was currently working as Billy's lab assistant on weekends, as well as her full time job at the bank. She was hoping to get a job in diplomacy, and was making friends in local government.
Billy Cranston also looked concerned. But that could easily be from lack of sleep. Kim had only heard stories, because Billy had yet to open up completely, but she had a feeling that something horrible had happened to him on Aquitar. She knew, from Tommy, that Billy had gone there to cure his rapid aging, and had stayed because he was in love with Cestria, a native of Aquitar. What no one knew, and could only speculate about, was why Billy came back to Earth a year later, in late fall of '97, with no explanations about why he was home. He had refused to discuss it, and continued to do so to this day. But Kim could see the lines in her friend's face that had not been there when she had gone to Florida. She had the feeling that he was putting in too much time in his lab, working to make, from ordinary Earth resources, some of the devices that had been completely normal to find in the Command Center, but utterly alien to the rest of society. She could also see the signs that her friend was putting more hours than prudent into his research.
Zack Taylor, seated in a chair from the kitchen table turned backward, also looked to be thinking, and was most likely thinking about his date the night before, if his expression was to be believed. He had returned to Angel Grove with Trini in late summer of '97, learning after their arrival of the new team of rangers from Tommy. They had left Switzerland after the Peace Conference had come to an end. There had been a new one starting up in a few months, but they had decided to return home. They wanted to see their friends, and that seemed more important than being able to ski year round. On a less frivolous level, they felt that they had done all they could, and it was time for a new group of people to try. After they returned, Zack got an apartment with Jason, who had been living in Angel Grove since his withdrawal from the Peace Conference the previous year. Zack used his scholarship from the Peace Conference to attend Angel Grove Community College, and got a degree in advertising. He had run into Angela at AGCC, who appeared to have finally grown up. She wasn't the same snobby girl she had been in high school, and was actually willing to let Zack court her. They had been dating for about a year, off and on. They were currently in the second week of one of their "on" stages.
Kim turned her attention to the next person in the room. Jason Scott, seated in another chair from the kitchen table, looked just as excited as she and Tommy must look to the rest of the group. He and Emily made a great couple. At times, she had imagined Jason would get together with Kat, but Kim could see now that her old friend was incredibly happy with Emily. They had been engaged for about three months, and were planning on an October wedding. Jason had started working at his father's martial arts supply store a few months ago, after getting his degree in business at AGCC the same time as Zack was there. Although Kim was curious as to what news Emily had had for him the night before, she didn't ask then. She could wait for Jason to announce his news, just like the rest of them would have to wait to hear her and Tommy's news.
Kim came to the last member of the room. Tommy Oliver. He was seated next to her on the love seat, and they were pleasantly squished together. When Kim had flown home in the early spring of '98, she had only let Jason know she was coming. But instead of Jason at the gate, it was Tommy. And Tommy wanted answers about a certain letter. After a few days of civilized discussion, interspaced with yelling from both parties, they had come to an agreement. They didn't hate each other, but they certainly weren't dating again. For two years, they saw each other on occasion, but only as acquaintances, not as friends. It was hell for Kim, seeing him and missing him and knowing that it was her fault that she couldn't have him. Then Tommy had come to rent the apartment with her. Through their shared apartment (with separate rooms), Kim had learned about what Tommy had been doing. After passing on his powers to TJ, Tommy had done a little racing with his uncle in IMSA. Although he loved racing, it just wasn't a passion like martial arts was. Tommy continued to do a little racing on the side, but had gone into a partnership with Rocky in a martial arts school. Both had business degrees from AGCC, and they were doing quite well.
Since they weren't talking about the news broadcasts yet, Kim let herself look back at what had brought her home. When she had returned to Angel Grove a few months after Billy, Trini and Zack had returned, she had just finished spending about nine months with her mother and step-father in Paris. After the Pan-Global Games in July of '97, Kim had realized that she did not want to devote so much time to begin training for the Olympics, which wouldn't happen until 2000. She just didn't have the motivation anymore. Instead of coming back to Angel Grove with her gold medal for the balance beam, Kim went to Paris. There was no one in Angel Grove for her. Billy had moved to Aquitar. Aisha had moved to Africa, and had never actually lived in Angel Grove (Kim still didn't understand that one). Tommy was dating Kat. Trini was still in Switzerland. Her mother lived in Paris. Her father lived in New York. Her uncle Steve and cousin Kelly lived in Angel Grove, but she couldn't intrude on them. So, she went to Paris. But, after nine months of too many stereotypically rude French people, Kim had saved up enough money to be able to get an apartment in Angel Grove, provided she had a roommate. Kim had been working on writing a book about gymnastics the past few months, with a young gymnast named Kerri, who had just been bitten by the gymnastics bug. Kim had attended night classes at AGCC, while helping out at a local gymnastics club, to get a degree in English, with an accounting minor. The accounting was helpful, since she was in charge of the books from Rocky and Tommy's school, which was no easy task.
Kim was shaken from her contemplations of her old friends, and where each had gone with their lives, when Tommy snapped his fingers in front of her eyes. "What? What'd I miss?"
"Jason was just saying that he had an announcement, so I had to get your attention. What were you thinking about?" Tommy asked, putting his arm back around her, having successfully brought her back to the present.
"Just us. All of us. What we've done. What we've accomplished. Stuff like that," she explained to Tommy, snuggling into his embrace.
Jason looked at the two of them with an amused grin on his face, noticing the ring that had not been on Kim's hand the day before. Instead of asking, he decided to share his good news. "Emily's pregnant!"
Grins appeared on everyone's faces throughout the room. Tommy gave Jason a high five, and Kim and Trini both gave him a hug of congratulations. The others offered congratulations to Jason, along with queries like when it was due, if they knew what it was, if they had picked out any names, if this meant that they would have the wedding earlier, etc.
Jason held up his hands, hoping to stop the questions. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. She just found out last week. We think she's about two months along. The wedding will go as scheduled, but her dress might have to be just a bit bigger than planned," he finished, with a grin.
"Congratulations, Jason," Tommy told his best friend. "Actually, Kim and I have some news too. We're getting married."
More congratulations flooded the room. They had all been expecting to hear such an announcement from the couple, and were surprised that it had been so long in coming. Trini got up and crossed the room to give her old friend a hug, and to admire Kim's ring, while Billy and Zack clustered around Jason and Tommy, offering them both random advice.
A few minutes later, it was Zack who remembered why they had all gathered. "Tommy, do you have the tape of the broadcast from yesterday?"
Zack's question stopped all conversation. The happiness from the announcements was pushed to the side while Tommy inserted the tape in the VCR and rewound it. Grabbing the remote, he sat back down on the love seat, pulling Kim with him. After they were settled, he motioned for the others to sit as well.
Kim watched Trini and Billy as they sat down. They were careful not to touch, and not
to make eye contact. Kim made a mental note that she would later have to find out what
was going on with her old friends.