Home Again continues in Part Two. The Rangers aren’t children anymore and home has a very different definition for them.

All things Power Rangers belong to Saban and Disney. All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks. Demonking belongs solely to Daniel White and Teeg and Rexo belong to KS. The premise of the Coin Series has been borrowed from a story written by Terry, Chris, Daniel, Brice, Katey and myself.

All events in The Coin Series take place in an alternate dimension

Power Rangers: The Coin Series
Home Again Part Two

Tommy marched Kimberly down the hall and into a small meeting room, finally sitting her down in a chair in the front, facing the rest of the room. The room itself was tiny and nondescript. The seats were on a steep slant, three steps high, with two rows of five chairs on either side of the divide. Each chair had a little folding table, like the ones you see in a college classroom, and at the front of the room was a small speaker’s podium with chairs on either side.

“Sit.” He said firmly, pushing her down into one of the chairs by the podium and ignoring her glare. He turned and walked back toward the entrance. Turning back around, he pointed a stern finger at her. “I’ll be right back. You stay put.”

She shot him her most evil glare, but he ignored her and hurried back out of the room.

“Serves you right.” Jason commented from the other side of the podium. She turned her look on him. “Oh…yeah,” Jason continued on, ignoring her. “I hope you don’t mind, I told Tommy the only way to keep you from running off through one of your portals was to hang on to you…real tight.” He grinned evilly at her, absently chewing a pencil.

“Traitor.” She growled.

“Kimberly!”

Kim looked up to see Cole Evans bounding toward her and realized for the first time that the Red Assembly meant all the reds would probably be present. She kicked herself mentally, it was stupid of her not to realize he’d be here. She liked Cole, she’d seen a lot of him in Turtle Cove, but he kind of gave her the impression of an overly large golden retriever. He had boundless energy, except when he was passed out sound asleep on her lawn, he was always hungry, and he always approached her as if she was the long lost friend that he hadn’t seen in ages.

She stood up so he wouldn’t knock over her chair in his enthusiasm and he picked her up in a huge bear hug. Setting her down, he placed two hands on either side of her shoulders. The smile, which had been so big at his greeting, was immediately replaced by a very serious look.

“Where are the plants?” He asked firmly.

“What is this, maul Kim night?” she growled, shaking off his hands. “They’re in Billy’s lab behind two force fields.” She answered. At his overly visible relief she added, “What? You think I’d just leave them unprotected?”

“I was up at your house last night.” Cole explained. “It’s all closed up and there’s a For Rent sign out front.”

“What plants?” Jason asked, still chewing his pencil.

“None of your damn business what plants.” She fired back at him. “And I’m not speaking to you.” She added. “Ever again.”

“I’m crushed,” He drolled in response. Kim was up to something again. Since when was she best buddies with the Wild Force red of all people? He made a mental note to find out more.

“So they’re safe?” Cole asked again.

Kim nodded, “Of course they are. I gave you my word. Nothing’s going to get to them. As soon as Billy confirms the data I collected, I’ll seal them behind an inner dimensional gate.”

“Those must be some plants.” Jason added.

Kim turned and scowled at him, noticing when she turned back that there was someone behind Cole chuckling. She raised an eyebrow and Cole quickly introduced them.

“Kimberly, this is Wes and Eric, the Silver Guardians. Guys, this is Kim, she’s uh…” Cole paused; he wasn’t sure how to answer. He knew she had been a Ranger for a long time and he was pretty sure she was some type of a dimensional guardian. She had an animal spirit that she called her Ninjetti power, and he knew of at least two instances where she’d charged a morpher for him and Merrek. “She’s uh…” He repeated.

“A handful.” Tommy muttered, walking back to the podium area. “Cole go take your seat, we’re going to start.” He turned briefly to the audience as he passed her. “Conner get your foot off the chair, this isn’t a classroom.”

Kimberly was vaguely amused at how the quickly other reds in the room moved when Tommy told them to do something. Tommy was in what Kim had started to call danger mode. It was a serious, deadly kind of aura, which he actually pulled off rather well. She had a hard time taking it seriously, but the reds apparently did.

They weren’t afraid of him, as most people at NASADA were, but they didn’t question him either. As she stood, purposely rooted to her spot, the three turned and walked back to their seats, the one named Eric still chuckling her. She fixed her scowl on him and allowed her eyes to glow softly red. He stopped chuckling and stared back, openly measuring her. She smiled evilly and moved slowly to the other side of the podium next to Jason and away from Tommy. Jason snorted and she kicked him.

“If everyone will take their seats.” Tommy directed from the podium, “We have a lot to cover tonight.”

Watching him, Kim had a clear mental image of him as a teacher. She wasn’t quite sure what Tommy saw in teaching. As a grad student, she had taught one lab and had vowed never to do it again; but she knew he genuinely enjoyed it.

“I’d like to get through this as quickly as possible.” Tommy continued, “If we can take a quick note of who’s not here and pass along the information …”

As Tommy went through the various formalities, Kim found herself becoming more and more interested. There was a lot happening in the galaxies, far more than she would have given credit to. Her search for Zordon and the coins had narrowed her vision a bit.

She knew that there were rumblings of the wars starting up again, but she hadn’t paid much attention. Tommy had always been better at seeing the big picture. She had to give him credit; he was banding the reds together, keeping them up to date and involved in more than just their own circles of influence. When the time came, Earth’s sector of space just might be ready to face the outside universe.

“Karone will give us an update on that later.” Tommy continued and Kim realized her mind had wandered. “Right now, I’m going to introduce you to Kimberly Hart.”

At the sound of her name, her head jerked up and she wondered what the hell was he doing.

“Kim isn’t a stranger to most of you, she’s been a Ranger on and off our world for a long time,” He paused, a slight self-satisfied smile just barely cracking his stern mask. An instant later it was gone. “She’s also well acquainted with the Nova Rangers, a group we’ve been trying to get information on for a while now.” He paused and allowed himself to give her a briefly triumphant look as the rest of the room murmured and sat up a bit more in attention. “And she’s the current Zeo One for the Angel Grove conflict.” He finished.

Kim didn’t think it was possible to hate Tommy. Not even when he was rumored to have asked Kat to marry him. Right now, in this second, she absolutely despised him.

“So,” Tommy continued, “Since Kim is the resident expert on the new villains we apparently share with the Novas, I’m going to turn things over to her and she can explain what’s going on in Angel Grove.”

A long painful silence ensued during which she just stared at him. He collected his notes, moved away from the podium and sat down on the other side Jason.

“If you had bothered to attend the pre-meeting, you would have known I was going to ask you to speak.” He said quietly, giving her a hard look.

He and Jason had talked at length about introducing Kim as a former Nova or not. As far as he was concerned, she was retired and fair game, but the Novas were an active team and he respected that. He had also bowed to Jason’s advice not to introduce her as a red. There would be time for that later and introducing her against her will would probably not go over very well.

Tommy kept the Reds organized, but they still operated independently. Each was responsible to update the others on their conflicts. Kim had fought Teeg before and was the one who had briefed him about the new Rita and Lord Zedd. It was her job, not his, to educate the Assembly. As she hadn’t bothered to come to the preliminary meeting, she was just going to have to get over it.

Kim stood up slowly, running one hand through her hair, and pushing it away from her face. She looked out over the audience, nodding briefly at Rocky, who had chosen a seat close to the door. He had a date with Carri afterwards and planned to bolt just as soon as the meeting adjourned. He nodded back and grinned. He had seen the way Tommy marched her in. Kim resisted the urge to grin back and continued to scan the room. There were only eight other Rangers in the audience, most of whom she already knew. It certainly wasn’t the largest crowd she’d addressed. During her Pan Games tour she’d faced shopping malls full of people. She could easily do this.

“First off, I’m not answering any questions about the Novas. The team is still active, I’ll ask you all to respect that.” There were some nods of agreement and she settled down a bit. Besides, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t already admitted being the pink Nova Ranger to some of them. “However, as some of you already know, one of the Nova’s enemies has decided to follow me back to Earth.”

Kimberly roughly sketched out her conflicts with Teeg, not going into much detail, but a little more than she’d discussed with Tommy. Disclosing just a little more than she’d privately confided was a way of tweaking him back, a tweak he didn’t miss. This game they were playing was childish. They’d have to hash it out at some point, but for now she had too much going on. When she was done, Wesley held up a hand in question, she nodded to him.

“What’s going on with the monster attacks. They’ve been held at exactly four o’clock every Wednesday for the last four weeks. That’s not exactly been a normal pattern.”

Kimberly smiled a bit. “Teeg’s a strategist.” She answered. “A brilliant one.” She ran her hand absently through her hair, pushing it away once again from her face. “I’ve given a lot of thought as to what she could be up to. Everything has a reason, significance, with her. I get the impression she’s toying with us, inducing a type of Pavlov response.”

“What?” Eric asked.

“Pavlov discovered that if you ring a bell at the same time everyday and then feed a dog, the dog would start drooling when it heard the bell... Four o’clock Wednesday afternoon,” Kim slapped her hands together making a large bang. “Monster attacks the city. Monday and Friday mornings,” She clapped a bit softer, “Claybots in the city.” She paused, looking directly at each of the Assembly members.

“She’s toying with us, training us. If Earth is what she’s really after, the attack isn’t going to come on Wednesday at four and it’s definitely not going to come via a cat litter monster.” She said, indicating the most inane monster she’d ever fought. The sand blaster weapon it possessed had been tough, but it certainly wasn’t disastrous.

“If Teeg really wants this planet she’ll import a race like the Orgs and use them in multiple attacks across many continents. She’ll start with the infra structure, poison the natural resources we need to survive, simultaneously disable the governments, and scatter the population. Divide and conquer.”

“Are you serious?” Eric asked. Several of the Reds began shifting uncomfortably. This was what Tommy had warned about for years. To hear it coming from her was unsettling.

Kim half shrugged one shoulder. “That’s what she did the last time she was out of captivity. But I seriously doubt Earth is her main target. She’ll toy with us until she takes what she wants and then she’ll be gone. Maybe she’ll leave Rita and Zedd here, maybe she’ll take them with her.”

“And what is it she wants?" Conner asked, speaking for the first time. She looked over at him for the first time, recognizing his face from Tommy’s histories. She knew Tommy was training him to take over certain duties, just as Zordon had trained him, but to her, he looked painfully young for the job.

“That’s my problem.” Kim said. “Not yours.”

Carri slouched down on the couch and pulled a pillow in front of her with a little pout. She had waited two weeks for this night. Dinner was sitting ignored and cold on the table and things had been hot and heavy on the couch for more than a half an hour. The last thing she wanted to do right now was stop and talk. But Rocky had firmly called a halt to things so she took a deep breath and calmed down.

It was her own fault. She’d initiated the make out session in lieu of dinner when he’d tried to bring up whatever it was on his mind before. She honestly didn’t want to know. She’d been thinking about this night for weeks, if he said he was calling it quits and going back to his old girlfriend, she’d beat him up a hell of a lot worse than Marie had.

“I’m sorry,” He said gently, understanding her frustration. His own was reaching critical levels. “Before this goes any further, I have to talk this out with you.”

“Okay.” Carri said casually, sinking lower and bringing the pillow up to her chin. “Go for it.”

“We have more of a responsibility here than just you and me. Carri, when two Rangers hook up, it affects the whole team. When Kim and Tommy broke up, he was out of it for weeks, the whole team ended up involved. We need to be certain we know where we stand before this goes any further.” He began.

Carri thought he was being a bit dramatic. This wasn’t high school. She wasn’t a little girl who was going to get her feelings crushed if things didn’t work out. She’d yell and scream and probably kick the hell out of something, but it wouldn’t affect her performance on the team. She sighed heavily. Patience was not her virtue. He’s a nice guy, she reminded herself. She wanted someone in her life who would stick around longer than forty-eight hours.

“With everything going on with Marie and my family, I want to make absolutely certain we know what we’re getting into before things get even more serious than they are now. No surprises, things need to be out in the open from day one.” He tried to catch her eyes, but she was looking anywhere in the room except at him. Marie was making life a living hell for him. She would show up constantly at his school or at his mom’s house and she had recruited his mom and his sisters and even Carri’s cousin to her campaign to win him back. It had caused more than a little tension in his life. Now was not the time to start something serious with Carri, but he couldn’t help himself. He was head over heels for her and the serious stuff hadn’t even happened yet.

“Fine… Sure. Go for it.” She said.

Rocky sat back down on the couch, this time careful to keep one cushion length away from her. He’d sat too close last time and a half an hour later they were headed for her bedroom. He had known her for only a few weeks, but in some ways, it was like they’d been together for much longer. After everything Marie had put him through, he wanted to be absolutely sure he and Carri understood one another.

“You need to know how important my family is to me.”

Carri nodded. “Yep.”

“I’m serious Carri. I know you don’t agree with how much time and energy I spend on them…”

“It’s not that I don’t agree,” Carri interrupted, “I just think they take huge advantage of you.”

Every time they seemed to find a moment alone, his mom or one of his brothers and sisters would call. Someone always seemed to need money or something always needed to be fixed and it just didn’t seem to her like they appreciated what they had. They would call or stop by at all hours of the day or night… and all of them had made it very clear they didn’t like her.

Rocky worked his butt off and made a ton of money, but they soaked it up as if he made twice what he actually did. This morning he’d ranted and raved over his sister’s complaints that she’d be able to get a better car if he hadn’t quit his other job. It obviously bothered him, but he never did anything about it.

Money itself didn’t bother Carri, she was more than well off all by herself. She didn’t want Rocky spending on her, she didn’t need it, it was the attitude his family seemed to have. Carri had endured the financial trauma of being cut off by her father and had conquered life head on ever since. She had very little patience with dependant people. It wasn’t like all his siblings were kids anymore. The youngest was thirteen and the oldest two were over twenty-one and employed full time. Yet, in the six weeks she had known him, it had become very clear that Rocky worked only to support them and they worked only to support themselves. It was a huge one-way street and she bristled at it.

“Whatever your opinion,” He said, a slight edge in his voice, “They’re my family, my responsibility, and it’s not going to change.” He knew how she felt. In many ways, he felt the same way, but that didn’t change his responsibilities.

Carri nodded and held her tongue. She was actually quite proud of herself for that feat. It didn’t happen very often.

“I think you also understand why I broke things off with Marie.”

Carri nodded again. “Because you were smothered.” Silently she added that he was still smothered. How he had put up with it for so long she didn’t know.

“I don’t want to get married and start over with another family.” He said honestly. “I really like you Carri, and I can see us being together, but you have to know going in that I’m not looking for that kind of commitment.”

Carri stared at the ceiling, noticing for the first time there was a large crack running across the family room. It hadn’t been there when she’d closed the sale on the condo. She wondered vaguely which monster had done it. “Me neither.” She answered absently. God, a family was the last thing she wanted. If he didn’t get that by now, maybe he was the one in for a shock. It was unnerving. He was being way too open and honest with her. It was too soon in the relationship to start talking about this. Maybe in a few weeks after the sex had calmeded down, but on the way into the bedroom? It was weird. She understood it, but it was still weird. Was this what nice guys did? She honestly didn’t know.

“I just want to make sure we’re on the same page before this gets really serious. I don’t want you to feel months or years from now that you wasted your time with me and didn’t get the commitment you wanted.”

Carri snorted, nose behind the pillow. So that was what this was all about. She was definitely not Marie, but she understood why he’d bring it up. The truth was, he was way more the commitment type than she was, but it wasn’t something she was going to bring up just now. He was trying to be a good guy. She doubted this was a fling for him, but the chances were much better that he’d be the one to end up wanting more of a commitment than she could give.

Carri sat up a little straighter on the couch and turned towards him, still hugging the pillow to her chest. “I think we’re on the same page.” She said after a few seconds. “Look, Rocky, I really like you, God knows I’ve had more fun in the last couple of weeks than…well, in a long time.” She paused, thinking over what to say or leave unsaid.

“You want me to be honest? Marriage is the last thing you have to worry about from me...” She let go of the pillow and ran her fingers through her long hair, tucking one side behind her ear.

“I understand this whole thing with Marie and your mom freaked you out. I get it, you weren’t exactly clear with her and now she’s gone psycho, but I’m not the kind of girl who dreams of being the princess in white with a dozen bridesmaids in tow. Hell, I was the one who walked out on my wedding and left my dad with thirty thousand dollars in lost deposits and stuff…that in itself should speak volumes.” She gave him a tentative smile and took a huge breath. “As for the baby thing… I’m twenty-eight, not thirty-eight. I think the idea of kids is great, I mean I do like other people’s little kids, and I’m not ruling out that maybe in ten years I might want one…but… oh God.” She moaned, bringing her arm up and leaning her forehead into her hand. She couldn’t believe she was actually having this conversation. She had been anticipating a great night of sex, not soul searching.

“Ok look.” She said, turning back to him. “I know Marie was all about marriage and babies, but I’m about as opposite as you can get from her. I’ve worked really hard the last few years and I’m really proud of the fact that I don’t need anyone to take care of me…and…honestly? The idea of having…uh, well” she took her hands and arced them over her stomach, indicating a bulge, “The idea of something growing in me is kinda creepy.” She rushed on. “That sounds incredibly self centered and horrible and I’m sorry…but it’s true. Not that I might not change my mind,” she couched, “Eventually…. But I still kinda feel the same way about it as I did when my ex talked about having kids eight years ago.” She finished in a rush and bit her lip.

“If I’m going to be completely honest,” she said a bit more slowly, “ I’m not so sure I’d even make such a good mother. I’m a lot like my own mom, as much as that pains me to admit it, and I just can’t see having the perfect two kids scenario only to hand them over to a nanny until they’re old enough to do lunch. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, it makes sense.” Rocky said softly and gave her a little half smile. They were in the same place, just coming at it from different angles. He reached out and placed a hand on top of hers.

“Does that make me a bad person?” Carri asked.

He shook his head. “No. I understand where you’re coming from.”

“I really like you.” Carri said honestly, “But you have to know, with me, what you see is what you get. I don’t play games or try to manipulate people. I grew up in New York. I’ll tell it like it is.” She smiled tightly and squeezed his hand. “Please tell me we’re done with the whole verbal bonding thing.”

“We’re done.” He said scooting closer to her.

“Thank God.” She said dramatically. “You have absolutely no idea how far out of my comfort zone I am right now.

He grinned, sliding one arm behind her back and removing the pillow from in front of her the other hand. He leaned in and kissed her, bringing his free hand from her knee up to her waist.”

“It wasn’t such a bad conversation, was it?” He whispered, pulling back an inch.

“Painful actually.” She said plainly. That was an understatement, she thought. Not that she wasn’t empathetic, but Jesus, it wasn’t like they were moving in together. The whole thing had been unnecessary. But if it made him feel better…

“Did I completely kill the mood?”

“Yes.” She said firmly, then grinned wickedly at him. “But you can make it up to me.” She placed both arms around his neck and pulled him down on the couch.

Early the next morning, Kimberly shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She hadn’t been this nervous in years. Not even standing beneath the uneven bars at the Pan Games. The bars weren’t her specialty, but she had rehearsed the hell out of her routine. Here she was flying blind. Her Uncle Steve was thrilled that she’d found another investor, so thrilled he’d quickly backed out of the whole deal. He wasn’t even present at today’s auction. Michael had shrugged it off, he was excited…curse or no curse.

She nervously fingered the pre-qualification papers, pulling the corners down and then smoothing them out again. To add an extra touch of drama, her grandfather’s property was number thirteen on the docket. She silently hoped that would stave off a few more bidders who were willing to overlook Heartland’s curse in favor of the second property. It wasn’t just the people in the room she had to worry about, there were online and telephone bidders as well. There was no minimum bid, which surprised her, but Michael laughed it off as a testament to how desperate the bank was to get rid of it.

Kim took a deep, shaking breath and let it out slowly. It was just after ten in the morning and no sign of Claybots. She doubted the others would need her help. The last few Fridays had been relatively minor. However, with her luck, Rita and Zedd would change the battle plan and a monster would attack the Lake District, forcing her to leave the auction.

For the past six weeks she’d dangled Jason’s power coin in front of Teeg, but she’d refused to bite. Kim was making it appear too easy for her, she knew that. Teeg was probably baffled and wondering what hidden motive she had. Kimberly had no intention of actually making it easy for Teeg to steal that coin, she just wanted her to go after Jason’s instead of Adam’s. Kim had sent both Jason and Tommy to talk to Adam and get him to release his coin, but he wouldn’t do it. In the scheme of things, it didn’t matter which coin Teeg captured, just as long as she left Earth with one of them. But Teeg was not someone you wanted to go up against alone if you could help it. Kim fretted over what she’d do to Adam if he resisted giving up his coin… and Adam would definitely resist.

Kim silently prayed that the Mystic Mother was right. Everything depended on Teeg capturing one of the replacement coins … and not discovering it was a copy of the original. That was asking a lot, but it would buy them time. Why Teeg hadn’t used the Dragonzord coin to create another evil green Ranger, Kim wasn’t sure. Teeg played by her own rules and in her own time. It would happen, Kim knew that, she just didn’t know when or where.

She shifted in her seat as another property auction closed for a ridiculously high amount of money. So much for the housing slump, she thought ruefully. It was going to be a long morning.

Carri was equally nervous, but for a completely different reason. She and Rocky had spent a wonderful night together. He’d left early that morning to help his brother and for some reason, she hadn’t gone back to sleep. She desperately wanted things to work out between them, now more than ever. She’d never felt like this before, it was like she was walking around drunk. She was giddy, and numb, and extremely happy…except for the fact that Rocky’s family hated her. That one fact nipped at her painfully. Their non-acceptance of her was a dangerous wedge between them.

She’d gone ahead and risen early to talk things over with Kim, but her roommate was nowhere to be found. If she’d come home at all, she’d been up before daylight and left the condo. Carri assumed either Kim was giving her an extra amount of privacy, or she’d spent the night at her brother’s in anticipation of the morning’s auction.

Over three cups of coffee, Carri had mulled over what to do. She couldn’t talk to her cousin, Kat was as much against the relationship as Rocky’s mom. Calling her own mom was out of the question. He mother wasn’t a good source for relationship counseling. Besides, she was on her way to Europe.

Somewhere between the second and third cup of coffee, she decided that Rocky’s family hated her because they didn’t know her. She’d met Rocky’s sister once, but she was a silly little thing who’d gone to school with Marie. She’d stuck her nose in the air and refused to speak with her.

Decision made, Carri dressed and hopped in her car. The driveway at Rocky’s mother’s house was full of cars, so she circled back and parked down the street a little. Actually getting out of the car had taken a good ten minutes. He legs were like Jell-O and she could feel herself trembling as she walked slowly up the front sidewalk.

She didn’t have to knock, the door opened automatically. The woman on the other side of the door was younger than Carri thought she’d be. She was an attractive woman. Her face, Carri thought, was one used to laughter, but one that had also seen its share of disappointments. She wasn’t much taller than Carri, and not over weight, but after six children, she was stockier. Her eyes, as she looked Carri over, were cold and hard. Carri was obviously not expected and not welcome.

“Mrs. DeSantos?” Carri asked a bit hesitantly. The woman nodded sharply once, but didn’t answer. “I’m Carri.” She said hesitantly holding out her hand. “Carri Hillard.”

“I know who you are.” Isabelle DeSantos said coldly, not accepting her hand. “What do you want?”

“I…uh…I thought maybe we could talk.” Carri said.

“I have nothing what-so-ever to say to you.”

“I thought maybe we could get to know each other.” Carri offered

“I don’t need to get to know you.” Isabelle laughed. “You’re obviously not important enough for my son bother introducing you to me, so why would you think to come here by yourself.”

This actually wasn’t quite true. Rocky had been trying for weeks to get his mother to meet Carri, but Isabelle had flatly refused. She didn’t want anything to do with Carri. Marie was the girl she had chosen for her son and Carri was nothing more than a man stealer.

Isabelle knew full well what it was like to have a man stolen and in the last six weeks her imagination had built Carri into everything that was wrong with the female race. The girl before her didn’t disappoint. In Isabelle’s eyes, she was painfully thin with far too much makeup on her face. Her clothing probably cost more than Isabelle made in a week and was just as suggestive as she anticipated would be.

“Oh I know your type.” Isabelle sneered. “Miss high and mighty spoiled little rich girl. You think you can turn my son’s head with your flashy clothes and credit cards. All you are is a man stealing little tramp.”

Carri backed up a little as Isabelle stepped out onto the front stoop. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but not this angry little woman in front of her. Rocky had said he was trying to get her together with his family, was that true or was his mother right? Insecurity nibbled at her and she was suddenly very sorry that she’d come.

“You don’t know anything about me, you never met me before a few seconds ago.”

“ I know women like you. You toss around your money and the boys just coming flocking. Well I’ve got news for you, my son is a good boy. He’ll see right through you any day now and realize what he’s done. Then he’ll dump you like the whore you are.”

Carri stared at her for a moment, stunned by her language and her verbal assault. “How dare you.” She replied evenly, trying her hardest not to let her temper loose. It wouldn’t serve any purpose to get angry and she refused to do it. But at the same time, Carri had never run from a fight in adult her life. She wasn’t going to just turn around and run. “Rocky says you’re a good person, but you haven’t even tried to know what I’m like… And every dime I have is because I worked my ass off to get it. I don’t take one penny from my father.”

“Spare me the dramatics. You’ve worked jobs your daddy gave you, not like the rest of us who dig and scrape for every penny we can pile together.”

Carri ground her teeth together. She would not get angry, she would not loose her temper, this was important damnit, she would not get angry…

“I was stupid to think we could talk this out.” She said, frustrated. “Nothing I can say or do is going to make a bit of difference to you is it?”

“I know what you are,” Isabelle snarled. “And I’m going to make damn sure my son knows it too. I’m not about to let him ruin his life over you.”

“Your son has a mind of his own. He’ll make his own decisions.” Carri replied. At least she hoped he would.

“My son knows his duty to his family. “ Isabelle fired back. “He will never choose you over us and I’m going to make it very clear that it’s one or the other.”

Carri’s fists clenched by her sides. There was a fine line to be drawn here. On the one hand, she desperately needed to be diplomatic. On the other, if she didn’t stand up to Rocky’s mom now, she’d have no hope of doing so in the future.

“Do you even care about what he wants?” She snapped, with a bit more acid in her voice than she had wanted.

“I love my son far too much to let him ruin his life over something like you. Never underestimate the power of motherly love.” Isabelle warned

Carri squared her shoulders and faced off against Rocky’s mother. Diplomacy or not, she wasn’t going to just simply run away with her tail between her legs. It had been a huge mistake to come here. Probably the stupidest thing she’d ever done, but Carri also had a side to this and she was going to make damn sure Rocky’s mom knew she was in for a fight. At the very least, the one thing she could do was wipe that self-satisfied smirk off her face.

“How about, instead of calling me a whore and a man stealer you take a good long look at yourself in the mirror. That man is not your husband. He’s your son. You let him take over this family and work two and three jobs to pay the mortgage and put your children through school, while they turn around and spend their salaries on no one but themselves… all the while complaining he doesn’t do enough for them. When was the last time you remembered they aren’t his responsibility, but yours?” Two of Rocky’s sisters had come to the door and were glaring at her. She looked each of them in the eyes as she spoke, then turned her glare directly on Mrs. DeSantos.

“You let him give up his childhood way before he had to. Why? Because you were scared.”Carri took a deep breath, willing herself to stop, but Rocky was the best thing that had ever happened to her. If his mom was going to force him to choose, then she’d damn well get her point across before the battle for him started. It was his mom that shouldn’t underestimate her. “…Then you turn around and try to cram a girl he didn’t want down his throat, because you know damn well she’s the kind who won’t take your control over him away from you. You aren’t showing him motherly love; you’re protecting your own interests. You’re shackling him to you for the rest of your natural life because you’re too damn selfish to let him go. You’re going to ruin his life just like you ruined yours, so you can sit back at the end of the day and have the satisfaction that you didn’t let him get very far. I don’t know how the hell you can face yourself. No wonder your husband bolted.”

Carri turned and stormed down the street. She slammed the car door shut behind her and took off before anyone could follow her, not that anyone would. She was shaking with excess adrenalin and tears steamed down her face. Mrs. DeSantos was right, Rocky always put his family first, he’d made that very clear to her, but at this point she didn’t care. That woman’s apron strings were tied with barbed wire. Nothing was going to cut them, but she was damn sure going die to trying.

She was about two blocks away when her communicator went off. She let out a slightly hysterical laugh as she pulled over and parked the car. This was the last thing she needed. The claybots had held off all morning. She was already beyond angry, maybe it was the perfect time to kick some ugly ass. She wiped her eyes and sniffed, it beat crying anyway.

But it wasn’t claybots Carri found herself in front of when she transported, fully morphed, to the coordinates Billy sent her. “Did someone forget to tell this creep to check the calendar?” Carri yelled as she joined the guys in downtown Angel Grove. “Last time I checked it was Friday, not Wednesday.”

The monster was already up to city crushing size, so they had apparently been at it for a while. The thing looked like a bad combination of a squid and a rabbit, if you could actually blend those two. Each of the suction cupped tentacles shot missiles that covered the ground with a black inky tar and the stupid thing hopped from street to street. It had a squid like beak, which opened and closed rhythmically and huge glowing red eyes. Two large rabbit ears swayed rhythmically out of sync with the mouth while a large alligator like tale took out several buildings.

“What’s your name ugly?” Carri shouted from behind her helmet, “Inkstigator? How about Squabbit?”

“Carri, quit egging on the monster.” Tommy shouted at her. “We need the zords. Where the hell is Kim?” Of all days for the pattern to brake, he thought ruefully. Kim was right downtown in the middle of the monster’s carnage and no one had heard from her.

“She’s not answering her communicator.” Billy’s calm voice said over the wire. “And I can’t get a good fix on her. The signal’s sporadic and appears to be coming from directly beneath the target zone. The monsters radiation outbursts must be interfering with the frequency of her communicator.”

“Keep trying.” Tommy called back. He always tried very hard not to worry about the female Rangers, but political correctness aside, he always did. The fact that Kim wasn’t responding didn’t sit well with him.

“I’m working on boosting the signal now.” Billy said.

“Kim doesn’t need the Command Center to transport. If she knows there’s a monster outside, she’ll be here.” Jason said as he re-grouped with the others. “Mike’s with her, she’s probably getting him to safety and then she’ll join us.”

“We can’t wait.” Tommy said. “Call the zords, Kim’ll have to catch up when she can.”

“Let’s do it.” Rocky said.

Kim’s hands began to sweat as auction number twelve closed. It was just past noon and she hadn’t been paged yet. Maybe the fight was long over and they just hadn’t called her. She silently hoped that was true. She wished she could slip out and check-in on her communicator, but she didn’t dare.

As the auctioneer began the formalities to start lot thirteen, several members of the audience stood and quickly cleared the room.

“Looks like most don’t even want to be present for the sale itself.” Michael said, scanning the room. All but about ten other people had left. “Better for us I guess.”

Kim nodded, but didn’t say anything. Her heart was pounding so heavily in her chest she thought it would burst. She listened as best she could as her brother explained the format of the auction. It would be sold in acres, so any bid would have to be multiplied by two hundred and thirty-six. There were also back taxes on the land, land trust issues, and several other details that made her head spin. She really didn’t care, she wanted this auction over with.

Formalities completed, the auctioneer began the bidding at fifty thousand. Kim started to bid, but Michael held her hand down. When no one spoke up, the auctioneer lowered the bid. There were a few chuckles as no one responded.

“Heartland’s curse has caught up with it.” Someone snickered and a few others laughed with him until the room began to shake violently. Kim was tossed out of her seat, her brother on top of her. The lights blinked a few times and then darkened as dust from the old ceiling tiles rained down on them.

“Monster attack!” Someone ran into the room shouting. “Evacuate the building immediately!” The man turned and ran as the building shook violently again and nearly everyone in the audience ran after him. A high-rise in the middle of Angel Grove was no place to be when a monster attacked.

“Kim come on!” her brother shouted as the building swayed and the florescent lights began to fall around them. The auction simply wasn’t worth it.

“No!” Kim shouted, and broke free of her brother’s grip. He gave her a frustrated look, but headed out of the room without her. He felt a twinge of guilt at leaving her behind, but he’d survived too many monster attacks as a kid to let his sister get him killed now.

Kim ran to the auctioneer, who had emerged from his hiding place and was bolting before the entire building collapsed. She grabbed his arm and swung him around.

“Finish the auction!” she demanded. Her communicator sounded and she ignored it.

“Are you crazy?” the auctioneer asked her.

“Finish the damn auction!” She yelled over the thunderous noise outside. The battle must have been going on for a while. The zords were already outside fighting. The building shook again and her communicator paged a second time.

“There are no bids! It’s a dead auction… No-one’s stupid enough to by that land!” He screamed a high pitch wail as the building took a direct hit and they both fell to the floor.

“One dollar!” Kim shouted with all her effort over the sound of metal zords creaking outside. What possessed her to bid something so outrageous, she honestly didn’t know, but it apparently worked. The man stopped panicking and stared at her incredulously. The windows smashed in and glass went flying. Her communicator sounded a third time, this time the code for red alert. The girl was obviously insane, he decided. He looked over to see the bank’s representative crawl out from under a table.

“Close the auction!” The banker screamed, “Close the auction!” In the last week alone his house had burnt down, his wife had an affair, he was about to lose his job, and his dog bit him. Now he was about to get crushed by a monster when monsters only seemed to attack on Wednesdays. He wanted that property gone and out of his life. If that girl was stupid enough to bid, she could have it. He didn’t care what the price.

“What’s your number?” The auctioneer yelled over the sound of straining engines. The building shook again and all three went flying.

“Two hundred -fourteen” Kim called back, spitting dust from her mouth and wiping her eyes.

The auctioneer grabbed a piece of fallen ceiling, and pounded it against the floor. “Sold to two-fourteen.” He yelled. He pulled himself upright and ran from the room.

“Good luck young lady.” The banker yelled, pulling himself up and staggering a bit as the building shook again. “You’re going to need it.” He turned and ran from the room as fast as he could, swaying in rhythm to the doomed building and thanking his lucky stars he was finished with the Heartland property.

Kim grinned. She’d done it. She’d done it without anyone’s help. The building shook again and she dropped to the floor, splitting her chin open. She wiped the blood on her hand and rolled away from a piece of falling ceiling. Her communicator chirped the emergency code again, but this time she answered it. “I’m coming, I’m coming!”

Isabelle DeSantos watched her son’s girlfriend as she marched down the block to her car and raced away. She was furious with the girl. How dare she come to her home and insult her like that. She turned and shooed the girls away from the door.

“What a bitch.” Donita commented.

“Watch your mouth.” Isabelle reprimanded her.

“Can you believe she just came here?” Ileana asked, arms crossed in front of her in imitation of her older sister. “What nerve.”

Isabelle swallowed hard. “My head hurts. I’m going to my room to lay down. You two go get lunch ready for your brothers when they get home.” She turned and walked slowly up the stairs to her room, closing the door behind her.

Bitch was hardly the word to describe that girl. She was vicious, rude, and horrible… Isabelle shook her head as she laid down. What had Rocky gotten himself into? Marie was such a sweet girl, such a good choice, and what does he do? He goes out and finds something like that. Well, that little thing had something coming if she thought she could steal Rocky away from his family.

The girl had brass. Isabelle would give her that, she thought as she laid down on her bed. She hadn’t forced her son to give up his childhood. Rocky had been seventeen, almost grown, when his father left them. The same age she’d been when she’d gotten pregnant with him. That thought made her pause a bit. How much of a child had she been when she’d gotten married? Her mother had cried for weeks. Isabelle had gotten pregnant on purpose. Her parents had forbidden her from seeing her boyfriend again and she’d been desperate to keep him. It had been very foolish of her.

She closed her eyes tightly and banished the memory. What was done was done. In the eighteen years she’d lived with her husband, she’d been pregnant or nursing nearly the entire time. Her husband had been a good lover, if nothing else, but she had refused his attempts to control the number of children they had. She argued that she had flaunted church law once by getting pregnant in the first place; she wouldn’t do it again. She also felt the children would bind her to him. Yet, with each child he’d grown more and more detached. One day he had walked out the door and never come back. Carri’s words echoed in her head. No wonder your husband bolted. The girl didn’t know what she was talking about.

For twenty-eight years Isabelle had run her family. For the last eleven, she was both mother and father to her children. There was no way in hell she’d let them make the same mistakes she had. Marie had indicated that her relationship with her son was a physical one. Isabelle accepted this, they were young, but Rocky was not going to simply leave her for another pretty girl if that’s what they had been up to. He owed Marie that much.

Isabelle thought about her son. There wasn’t much of his father in him. He was like her; strong, responsible, and a caretaker of the family. They depended on him a great deal. She would have never been able to raise the other five without his help. His younger brothers were wild like their father had been. They drove large trucks, with stupid large tires, and listened to loud music. Carri had been right about that, they didn’t help at all with the other children. But, then again, she’d never expected them to.

She expected more from Rocky. Yet, ever since that girl came along, it was as if he avoided coming home anymore. She knew that Carri was back in town two nights ago, which was why she insisted he come over immediately and fix a pipe that had been leaking for weeks. The minute he’d arrived, the girls and Tony had assaulted him with the things they needed. Donita whined for an hour that she didn’t want a used car because her friends at the high school all had new ones and her sister had chimed in that, if Rocky hadn’t quit his second job, they would’ve been able to get her the car she wanted. Isabelle had chastised them all severely and sent them to their rooms, but she had seen the look on her son’s face. It was the same look her husband had given her in the days just before he left. Last night he had refused to answer his cell phone and the boys said he was not at his new apartment, even though his car was parked in the lot.

Isabelle opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, blinking back a few tears. She’d gotten used to depending on Rocky. Maybe there was a little truth in the girl’s remarks. Maybe she’d depended a bit too much on her son over the last few years.

Kim smiled smugly as she powered down in the new Command Center. Tommy had forbidden any of them from morphing anywhere near the target zones. There were simply too many cameras still following the monsters around. Apparently he’d been videotaped morphing in Reefside and he wasn’t about to let that happen again. The others didn’t mind. The fights tended to get nastier earlier, but they were also over quicker.

“You’re hurt.” Tommy said, all but picking her up and depositing her on one of two medical beds. She frowned at him and then remembered her chin. She touched it lightly and felt the wet trickle of blood. She was covered head to toe in dust from the courthouse and the blood on her shirt had congealed with it, making it look far worse than it actually was.

“It’s nothing.” She said, waving him off, but he pushed her down and signaled to Billy. “It’s a scratch.” She insisted as Billy held a medical scanner under her chin. “I fell just before I transported.”

“Stay still,” Billy admonished as he switched the settings to clean and seal the wound. “You’re right,” he said, turning off the machine, “It’s a scratch, you’ll live.”

“I should get back.” She said, sliding off the table. “Michael will be searching for me. Damn, my cell phone is still dead,” she commented absently, checking it’s signal, “The tower must have been knocked out again.”

“How’d the auction go?” Tommy asked, stopping her before she could get very far. They all turned toward her and she beamed.

“It’s mine.” She squealed. “All mine, and I didn’t need anyone’s help getting it.” She flashed Tommy the biggest smile he’d seen from her in years and he smiled back despite himself.

“Oh my God.” She said in a rush. “I better find that auctioneer and the banker before they change their minds…I gotta go.” She turned and, in a flash of red light, disappeared from the room. Tommy turned to Jason and he gave him an indulgent look.

“I gotta go too.” Carri said quietly, not really looking at anyone.

“What? No comments on how inane the monster was or how overkill all our prep work has been?” Jason asked. When Carri didn’t comment or even look at him, he walked over to her and lifted her chin with the crook of his finger. “What’s up sweetheart, you hurt?” he asked gently. If he was reading her right, she was scared and that concerned him more than if she’d simply been hurt. It took a lot to scare Carri. He wondered what was up.

“Hey, I believe that’s my line.” Rocky said, walking over and stepping in front of Jason. He didn’t care if the two hadn’t slept together or even if they had, Carri was his girlfriend now, he didn’t want Jason cuddling up to her.

Jason backed off, giving Rocky a wry look. He understood, but old habits were hard to change. Carri was still his friend, and he still loved her, even if the others rolled their eyes and didn’t get it.

“You ok?” Rocky asked. Carri didn’t look ok. She was pale and way too quiet. They had just smashed a monster; usually she was the most boisterous of them all. They’d crawl back all exhausted and she’d be the one jumping around trying to burn off excess adrenaline.

“Are you hurt?” He asked, concern plain in his voice. Maybe Jason was right. Panic built in his gut. Carri wasn’t behaving like herself, if anything had happened to her… “You’re scaring me.” He admitted.

Carri wouldn’t look at him. She leaned briefly into his embrace and then turned and shrugged him off. “I’m not hurt.” She said quietly.

“Then what?”

“I screwed up.” She said quietly, blinking back tears. She crossed her arms protectively across her chest, chin down.

“You want to talk about it?” Jason offered. Rocky spun around and shot him a warning look. Jason put both hands up and backed off. “Uhm…Tommy, you want to come help me figure out the information from sector fourteen? It’s all encrypted.”

“Yeah sure.” Tommy said nonchalantly and the two walked out of the main room.

“I’m uh…” Billy said hesitantly, moving towards the exit. “Trini’s having a hard time with morning sickness. I should really go back to the lab and check on her.” And quickly walked out as well.

“What’s going on Carri?” Rocky asked. She cringed and his heart sank. Everything had been perfect this morning when he’d left her. Well perfect except for the fact that he’d had to leave her at all. If she’d changed her mind, had second thoughts…

“I went over to your mom’s house.” Carri admitted softly, backing a few steps away and leaning against the wall.

“Christ.” Rocky groaned. “Why? Why would you do that without me?” His mother must have had a fit. Damnit, he wasn’t about to let his family ruin this for him. It didn’t matter that he’d only known her for a few weeks, he already knew he loved her. The only thing that kept him from saying it was that he was afraid she’d run screaming for the hills.

“I thought.” She started and then stopped, throat choking and one tear falling down her face. She batted at it with irritation. “I thought maybe I could talk to her. She doesn’t even know me. If she’s really as nice as everyone says she is, she’d listen to reason and give me a chance right? I mean…I don’t know what I mean.”

Rocky walked over and slid both arms around her. He leaned in to kiss her, but she turned her head, so he nuzzled her neck instead. “She eat you alive?” he asked.

“No.” Carri said with a bit of irritation, his mother wasn’t all that tough. She pushed him away a bit, but his arms grew tighter and she really didn’t want to resist that much anyway. She leaned into him allowed him to kiss her neck and ear.

“I lost my temper again.” She admitted and he chuckled in-between kisses. Of course she’d lost her temper. That’s what Carri did when she was attacked, she fought back and she fought to win.

“She really despises me now.” Carri said miserably.

“She despised you before.” He said gently. “So really nothing has changed.” He lifted his head and tried to meet her eyes, but she still wouldn’t look at him.

“Yeah, well now she despises me because she knows me.” Carri sulked.

Rocky released one hand from around her waist and gently turned her head around with his hand. “How bad is it?” he asked, looking directly in her eyes. His eyes twinkled a bit but hers were still deep with despair.

“I uh..” She started to look away and he brought her eyes back to his. “I told her that you weren’t her husband and it wasn’t your responsibility to raise her kids. And uhm…something about shackling you to her to protect her own interests… And then she told me she was going to make sure you knew it was one or the other, her or me.”

“Shit.” Rocky said with feeling and leaned against the wall. He pulled her close and when she leaned against him, he was surprise to notice she was shaking. He didn’t think anything could phase her, she was a strong as a brick.

“That must have been some conversation.” He said absently.

Carri and his mother weren’t really all that different from one another. He’d recognized the similarities almost immediately. Both were strong, self sufficient, opinionated women who ruled life with a no nonsense hand. Neither of them took crap from anyone, especially when they thought they were in the right.

Both had to grow up early; his mother because she was pregnant with him and Carri because her father all but cut her off when she didn’t do what she was told. From a very young age, both had taken life full on, all by themselves. The only difference was that his mother managed a houseful of children and Carri managed her show and her own production company.

“There was too much snarling to be an actual conversation.” Carri admitted sullenly. She put both arms around him and buried her head in his shoulder. “Me and my temper.”

“Believe it or not,” he said gently, “Standing up to her is the only thing she respects. Very few people actually do it.”

“So you think it’s not a lost cause?” Carri asked hopefully, pulling away just enough to look at him.

“No, it’s totally a lost cause.” He said, giving her a wry smile. “She was already prepared to do battle. You’re little visit just gave her a good excuse to cry charge.”

Billy found Trini where he’d left her, still sorting data disks at the counter she’d claimed as her desk. He looked around to see if anyone else was close by. The others were still over at the new command center, but Manx might be lurking somewhere. Seeing no one around, he grinned and crept a bit closer.

“How did the battle go?” She asked, not even turning around. His shoulders deflated a little.

“How did you know it was me?” He asked playfully. She turned and smiled at him.

“Are you serious?” she asked, eyes twinkling. “You have a very distinctive walk.”

He grabbed another stool and pulled it next to hers, sitting sideways so that he faced her.

“This was the most challenging creature we’ve encountered yet. Its armament was far superior and it seemed more capable of adaptive strategic reasoning. Rita and Zedd appear to be done playing games.”

“Any injuries?” She asked ignoring that he was leaning far too close for casual conversation.

“Kim cracked her chin.” He commented, pulling her hands away from the disks and placing them around his neck.

They had spent the entire night together kissing… talking… making love… he was in heaven. He wanted to shout to the world that she’d agreed to be his, but she was far too reserved. Grudgingly, he’d agreed to stay quiet until after her divorce was finale. He honestly couldn’t understand how it mattered. Once they announced the baby was his, people would obviously assume they’d been lovers for a lot longer than they actually had. She surprised him by leaning in and kissing him. He smiled as the passion bloomed between them again. For the first time in his life, he wished he had a home of his own to steal her away to. Someplace where no-one was likely to walk in at an unexpected moment. She pulled away as the kiss deepened and his hands wandered.

“Dr. Manx is here somewhere.” She said, straightening her shirt.

“I don’t care.” He growled, pulling her back. She allowed herself to be kissed again, but gently pushed him away before it could become much more.

“I do.” She said gently, but she also leaned in and kissed him softly one more time. “At least until you lock this place down for the night.” She added, mischievously.

“I could lock it down right now.”

She smiled at him, but also gave him a look that meant absolutely no and returned to sorting the disks.

He had surprised her last night. She hadn’t thought passion like that was possible. She had heard about it, read about it, but she’d never believed in it. Her physical relationship with her ex husband, she thought, had been good, but it was nothing compared to the previous night. She’d been left breathless, and astounded, and for the first time she realized what her husband had been looking for when he strayed. It was the missing piece to the puzzle of her marriage. She never believed before last night that emotions like that were possible.

He exhaled heavily, unwilling to let the moment go. Sex had never been a consuming factor in his life, but he was still a grown man with normal desires. To say he had been a late bloomer was beyond humorous, but he had more than made up for it in recent years. Trini was far too shy for a woman who had been married for five years. Still, nothing could have prepared him for the previous night. He was fascinated, addicted, and he wanted more than anything else to relive it again. His heart began to race and he jerked his thoughts away. He could wait a few more hours.

“How was your appointment Mr. Shills?” He asked, changing the subject. She stopped sorting, but didn’t look at him.

“I gave him the test results.” She said quietly. “The new ones that Dr. Manx gave me this morning.”

He smiled, one arm leaning against the countertop, it was done then. Kat Manx had been surprised by his request, but she hadn’t questioned it either. Medical records for the in-coming intergalactic refugees and even some of the Rangers had been altered for their own protection in Earth’s isolated society. Paternity was not something Manx thought about with any relevance. Her society had been a tribal culture, with the collective raising the offspring. She found Earth’s cultural views on parenting quaint, but impractical. It didn’t matter to her if he wanted to claim paternal status. He had sworn her to secrecy and she had little difficulty obliging him.

“What did he say?” he asked, gently stroking her back.

Trini turned and gave him a shy smile. “He was surprised.” She admitted. Her attorney’s eyebrows had risen a bit over his half glasses, but he hadn’t said much to her. “He says it’ll be easier now to end things quickly, without custody hearings or support issues, but Geirge might question the settlement amount since it’s obvious I had an affair as well.” She turned her head and stared at the countertop, smiling weakly at her embarrassment. “I told him I didn’t care about the settlement, I wanted it over with. As long as there’s no objections on Geirge’s side, the papers will be filed on Monday and then it’ll be final two weeks after that.”

He leaned in, turning his head slightly to catch her eyes with his. “This arrangement, it’s still agreeable to you?”

She smiled genuinely at him, reaching out to touch his face with her fingertips. “Absolutely.” She said softly. “To you?”

He reached up and clasped her hand with his own, bringing her fingers to his lips.

“Affirmative.” He smiled playfully, catching and holding her eyes.

“Well my lord?” Sirius asked, his lizard-like head gliding to one side of his body and then back to the other.

“The Rangers had no trouble destroying the monster.” Zedd growled. “Why should I offer you any praise?”

“I was given the understanding,” Sirius crooned, “That the Rangers were to be kept busy, not destroyed. Four-thirty-one completed its mission. It challenged the Rangers, forced them to struggle a bit, but in the end they prevailed. Should you need something stronger,” he paused, his throat bobbing up and down, “I should be more than happy to oblige you.”

Zedd turned and ascended the steps of his dais. Turning sharply, he sat down and glared at the lizard-man before him. His eyes were huge and bulbous. He was an innocuous looking creature, like a large gecko dressed in black leather, but by reputation he was deadly. Why he had descended upon the Lunar Palace swearing his fealty remained to be seen. Something wasn’t right about the creature, genius monster maker or no.

“Send him away Zedd.” Rita screeched, stomping one foot. “I don’t trust him. Why would he leave Nark’s service and come here anyway?”

“You’re hired.” Zedd growled. It was an impulsive decision to say the least, but if Rita hated him, the creature was his.

“My lord, I will not disappoint you.” Sirius bowed deeply and shot Rita a triumphant look. She harrumphed loudly and stormed out of the throne room.

“See that you don’t.” Zedd snarled.

Kimberly stared at the old dilapidated house with pride. It was hers. She’d expected the bank to put up a bigger fight over the auction price. They’d haggled a bit over it, couching that the phone lines and Internet had been knocked out and there could have possibly been other bidders who were shut out, but in the end they decided not to challenge her bid. Instead, they gouged the hell out of her in fees and closing costs, but it didn’t matter. The bank was rid of an unwanted property and Heartland was hers. All two hundred and thirty-six acres of it.

The reality was that she’d have to let her brother develop part of the second lot. The property taxes alone were going to eat her alive. But Kim didn’t care. It was the best victory of her life. She held the keystone tightly in her hands as she stared at the old house. She wasn’t sure exactly where her grandfather’s garden had been. Her memories of the place were just too old and far too much had changed in twenty years, but she knew where the grid was buried.

Over her shoulder, she heard Tommy’s Jeep strain and slip it’s way up the step hill. The old dirt road was long gone. The entire site had been graded at one point in preparation for a subdivision and everything had long since grown over with grass and brush. The Jeep came to a stop in a cloud of brown dust, but she still didn’t turn around.

“You’re brave, driving up here like that.” She commented as he came around and stood beside her. “Not afraid of the curse?”

“Cautious.” He admitted. “You have the keystone?”

She nodded, showing him the non-descript, bluish piece of frosted glass in her hand. There were no other cars either at the top or at the base of the hill, which meant she’d used her own means of transportation to get here. It was a good sign the grid hadn’t reacted so far.

“Where’s the grid?” he asked, glancing at the glass, but not reaching for it.

“You can’t see it?” She asked, surprised. Over the past few weeks of working with him, she’d realized that his powers were more adept than even she had thought possible. It genuinely surprised her that he couldn’t see the grid, but then again, Jason had a hard time seeing grids too. He shook his head, but didn’t answer.

Kim turned and walked about fifty feet from the house and Tommy grabbed a shovel from the Jeep and followed.

“It knows we’re here?” He asked. She turned and nodded, then, stopping a few feet away from him, she closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them they glowed faintly red.

The first time he’d seen that glow had been on Muirantias. She’d been turned evil and he’d been desperate to turn her back. He’d seen it twice since then, but it still unnerved him, still brought him back to the day he hadn’t been quite fast enough to save her. She looked slowly to the left and the right and then moved away from him another ten feet or so. Kneeling down, she ran her hand above the ground, finally pointing to the spot.

“Dig here.” She said, her voice taking on an ethereal sound, almost as if it were underwater. “Not too far down, maybe four, four and a half feet.” Her eyes dimmed from red back to their normal brown and she moved back a bit to let him dig.

Sure enough, about four feet down, the shovel hit rock and they both knelt down to push the dirt away.

“That’s it.” She said, her voice also returning to normal. They cleared the last of the dirt away and he carefully helped her lift the round stone from the dirt. Under the stone was a small silver box with familiar Eltaran symbols. Tommy brushed the last of the dirt away.

“I’ll be damned.” He said.

“You doubted?” Kim asked.

“No.” He said, shaking his head. “Look at the symbols on the keystone marker. It’s one of Zordon’s. An old one, but definitely his. It probability dates back to the original team that followed him here.” The grid itself was probably much further down. He wondered briefly if they should try to unearth it, then decided against it. Better to just replace the keystone and try to communicate with it through an alternate route.

Kim studied his face for a moment. Several emotions played across it: excitement, wonder, amusement, and even grief. Just for an instant, he looked very much like the boy she had known.

“I miss him too.” She said quietly.

He looked up and met her eyes. “I thought I was so ready to take things over.” He mused, looking from her to the silver box and back again. “I was so damn full of myself. It didn’t take me very long to screw it up did it?”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged and looked back to the box. “Putting my faith in Antoine Mercer, the whole Mesogog incident.” He brushed the dirt from his hands and looked back at her. “Took me less than a year to send everything to hell.”

“You fixed it.” She said, shrugging off his confession. “That’s the only thing that matters.”

“I should never have screwed it up in the first place.” He confided.

“Even Zordon was tricked by Rita.” She said quietly. “The original green Ranger was killed, Rita stole his coin and turned it evil, and Zordon himself was trapped in his energy tube.” Hell, if she had a dime for every time she’d screwed up in the last ten years…it was part of life. How you learn, grow, and become stronger. “You think you’re better than Zordon?”

He smiled at her. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Then quit beating yourself up.” She said, feigning exasperation and giving his shoulder a firm shove. “Mistakes are how we grow.” She said firmly. “That’s the best thing Zordon ever taught me. If we spend our lives afraid of making a mistake, we’re paralyzed. Getting out, taking chances, learning from our mistakes,” She paused and gave him an I told you so look that made him laugh, “That’s what defines us from the common.”

“I’ve missed you.” He admitted. “The past few weeks…it’s been nice working with you again.” He meant what he said, despite the fact that she was literally driving him insane at times. Hayley was awesome at keeping his head on straight, listening and being a good sounding board, but Kim had been there. She’d been a Ranger longer than he had. She had known Zordon and knew what he was trying to live up to.

“Yeah well,” She said a bit uncomfortably, “I have a tendency to grow on people. Come on, let’s get this box open and put the keystone back. The grid’s not going to calm down by itself.”

“Report.” Teeg said lazily as Sirius’s head appeared on the ship’s view screen.

“My queen.” He bowed deeply, but she ignored him. “Lord Zedd has accepted me into his service.”

Teeg nodded briefly. Zedd would have been a fool not to, but one never knew what the male species might do.

“There was a minor issue with Rita,” Sirius admitted, “She does not approve. I believe this works to my advantage with Lord Zedd.”

“See that you stay in his favor.” Teeg purred. “I have one other mission for you. There are two Power coins below on the planet’s surface.”

“Shall I procure them for you my queen?”

“No,” Teeg responded firmly. “You will wait until I return, but I want them watched. If there is any movement from the surface you will contact me immediately.”

“Yes, highness.”

“You will also keep me informed of all Zedd’s activities and insure the Rangers stay rooted to the planet below.”

“Yes highness.”

“Do not fail me Sirius.” She warned.

Rocky put his coffee down on the table and refused his mother’s plate of cookies. He had already shooed his sisters from the room and he motioned for his mother to sit.

“I hear you had a visitor this morning.” He said plainly, measuring her. She paused half way down to her seat, then sat down and adjusted her skirt.

“She certainly didn’t waste any time.” His mother muttered. “Is that where you ran off to? You brother said your pager went off and you ran like a bat out of hell.”

“The pager is connected to my new job. When my boss calls, I go.” He said firmly. He wasn’t going to make excuses for his communicator this time around. He wasn’t a young kid whose family had to know where he was off to.

“And is this new job of yours working for her?” She asked testily.

“No.” He answered, but didn’t elaborate.

“Good.” She said, taking the first sip of her coffee.

“Even if it were,” He said evenly, “It would be none of this family’s business.”

Isabelle put her coffee cup back on the table with a loud thud, giving her son a hard look.

“I mean it Momma.” He said in a firm tone, giving his mother the exact same look. He was ready for this conversation, it was long overdue. Over the last six weeks he’d cajoled, pleaded, supplicated, anything to get his mother to listen to him. It wasn’t so much about Carri, although that was a good percentage of it. He was tired, worn out. He’d known it when his mother started pressuring him to make a formal engagement with Marie. It was time to stand up for himself.

It was complicated though. He dearly loved his family. His youngest two siblings were like his own children. He’d changed their diapers, fed them, taught them to walk and to talk. He would never, ever turn his back on them or his mother, but he wasn’t about to spend the next eleven years being pushed around. He had grown up a long time ago. Now it was time to start living his life.

“I don’t know what she told you I said to her Rocky, but she came here, to my home, uninvited and insulted me.”

“Oh yes, I sure she came to the door spitting venom and you just smiled and offered her a glass of lemonade.” He said sarcastically, holding his mother’s gaze. Standing up to her wasn’t easy. He was the only one of her six children who even tried, but eleven years of supporting the family financially gave him some privileges. His mother respected him for it, but it didn’t make it any easier.

“You should have seen the way she was dressed.”

“Kind of like Doni?” He mused, and Isabelle shot him another hard look. “Actually, Momma, Carri wouldn’t tell me what you said. She’s got some crazy idea that if I know what my mother called her, it would just hurt me. Now I wonder what you could have said that was so bad?”

Rocky had a pretty good idea what kind of conversation his mother had with Carri, he’d heard it often enough himself from his sisters. The youngest two were like little parrots of his mother. Carri had been really upset, not so much with the actual words, but with the fact she’d let them get to her and the fear that he would turn away from her for fighting back. He liked the idea very much she was concerned about losing him, liked it even more that she’d fight for him, but that still left him with the fact that he now had to deal with his mother.

“Don’t you dare talk to me that way Ricardo. That girl came here…to my home.”

“That girl, has a name. She came here with a good heart to try and get to know you a little better.”

“I don’t want to get to know her. She won’t be around long enough for me to know her.”

“Momma…” Rocky warned.

“As soon as you come to your senses…"

“That’s enough Mom.”

“I’m serious Rocky.” Isabelle said, catching her son’s eyes, hands playing with the coffee mug.

“So am I.” Rocky dug in. This was not a fight he was going to give in on. He and he alone would determine whom he spent his life with.

“Marie is a good girl…”

“I’m done with Marie Momma, it’s over.”

Isabelle cringed, but she was prepared for this. Marie had wept openly at her table several times. Isabelle knew all about their relationship, about the promises he’d made to her. She knew that Marie had allowed her son to take advantage, thinking all the while they’d soon be married anyway. Her son was a good boy, but he was also a man and men needed to be set straight sometimes. She hadn’t had any control over her husband, but she had control over her sons. She could do at least that much for Marie.

“You owe her more than that. I know you slept with her.”

“Yes, I did.” He admitted, nonplused. “But she was hardly and unwilling partner.”

“Don’t talk like that.” Isabelle cringed, shaking her head. Talking about sex unnerved her, even with her girlfriends. To talk about it with her son was more than uncomfortable.

“Why not? It’s the truth. You’re so wrapped up in thinking you’re version is the only one out there and it simply isn’t the true one. You don’t have all your facts right or, at the very least, you’re unwilling to look at the facts.”

“So what are you saying? That Marie was the slut and this new girl is an angel? I don’t believe it for a second.”

“Neither of them are angels Mom. You’re so wrapped up in thinking I spoiled Marie or something? I was hardly the first man in her life.”

“I don’t want to hear this,” Isabelle said, shaking her head and waving her hands. “You’re simply justifying yourself Rocky, and I won’t have it.”

“I don’t get it Momma. You want to trash Carri because you just assume, without ever having gotten to know her, that she’s been with a lot of other men, but Marie, who you’ve know all her life, you think is some kind of vestal virgin? Either you’re completely blind or you’re way too selective in your memory. Marie was constantly getting into trouble with boys growing up.”

“No.” Isabelle shook her head. “Kissing boys and allowing them to do what you did to her a two completely different things.”

Rocky made a frustrated sound and sat back in his chair. It had never bothered him that Marie wasn’t a virgin, but it bothered him that she continued to play one. At twenty-three, she was getting a bit old for it now. He knew full well she’d played this game with every boy she’d ever dated.

In contrast, Carri seemed fairly open about her past experience with men. The only relationship that even remotely bothered him was the one she’d had with Jason. He believed her when she said it was a platonic one, they had no reason to lie about it, and lying was out of character for both of them. But he still had a hard time understanding why Jason had never taken advantage of the situation. Carri was gorgeous… and the two were very close. He couldn’t see himself being in a close relationship without constantly mauling her; he had no idea how his friend had managed to do it.

“I’m not going to argue with you Momma.” Rocky said. There was no changing her mind once she determined that she was right. He could only point out the obvious and plant some seeds. “My relationship with Marie is over. I refuse to talk about it again. I’ve moved on, and you need to do the same.”

“No.” She said sternly. “I’m not going to let this go. Rocky you owe that girl…”

“I owe her nothing.” He snapped, banging one flat hand against the table. The coffee sloshed out of both cups and spilled across the table. He rarely lost his temper with any of his family, but when he did, they took notice. “I’m done discussing it. No more lectures Momma, no more bringing her over here when I’m around, no more scheming behind my back. I refuse to have anything more to do with her. The next time I see her over here, I’m leaving.”

“This is my house.” His mother said angrily, “You will not talk to me that way and you will not tell me whom I may or may not invite here.”

“As long as I pay the mortgage and the utilities,” He said with equal vengeance, “I will absolutely have a say about what goes on here, especially if it involves me.”

His glare was hard and unmoving. He had bought this house for them five years ago when his school had begun to take off. It was three times the size of the apartment he had grown up in. He was proud and thrilled that he could do it for his family, but it was still his house and they lived in it rent-free. That gave him an advantage his mother would have difficulty overcoming. Once her shock and anger calmed down, she would, of course, turn on the guilt full force. Guilt always worked with Rocky, even Carri was learning that, but he was ready for her.

“I mean it Momma, it stops right here, right now.”

“How could you allow that slut to turn you against us like this?”

“Carri is not a slut and she hasn’t turned me against the family. I’ve a made a decision that involves me and my life. You need to respect that.”

“No.” She said, shaking her head and waving her hands. “No, I won’t accept this. How dare you tell me what to do. Me, your mother who birthed you and raised you, and sacrificed everything for you. It’s that whore.” She spat. “ That witch has turned your head, you’re talking nonsense and I won’t put up with it. She has to go, you need to get rid of her. I won’t put up with this kind of behavior.” She stood up and grabbed a towel, mopping up the spilled coffee.

“No Momma.” Rocky said calmly. “Carri’s not going anywhere. For the first time in my life, I’m head over heels in love with someone. I’m not giving that up.”

“Love?” Isabelle sneered, tossing the towel firmly down on the table. “Lust is more like it. She spreads her legs and you’re no better than a dog.”

“That’s enough Momma.” Rocky warned, eyes hard.

“Choose Rocky.” His mother said angrily. “It’s one or the other, this family or that whore. You can’t have both. I won’t tolerate her around this family or you backing away from your responsibilities to Marie.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” Rocky said, far calmer than he’d thought he’d be. He knew this was coming. It made him incredibly sad, and he felt horrible for doing it, but he also knew that it wouldn’t last long. He had only to hang on long enough to make his point. He was a grown man, he wouldn’t allow his mother to dictate to him anymore. He stood up, pushed his chair back against the table, and kissed his mother on the top of her head.

“I love you Momma.” He said, turning to grab his keys off the counter. “The mortgage and the utilities are already sent directly to me, don’t worry about them, I’ll keep up the payments. Tell the kids to call me directly about their tuition and car payments, I’ll keep them current only until the end of the month unless I hear from them.”

“Where are you going?” His mother asked incredulously as he turned and opened the back door. He turned again and looked her directly in the eyes.

“Home to Carri.” He said firmly, then turned and walked through the door, pulling it gently closed behind him.

“You ready to go?” Tommy asked, dropping down on the grass beside her. The sun was setting and Kimberly showed no signs of wanting to leave. The grid had dropped it’s security level a bit once the keystone had been replaced, but still remained active and unwilling to communicate with them. He didn’t like the idea of her hanging around by herself, especially after dark.

They had spent several hours walking around the property. They didn’t have the tools necessary to open up the house, but Tommy had promised her he’d come back in the morning and help her remove the plywood from the doors and windows. The house was far larger than he’d expected and far more dilapidated. A cursory investigation of the outside showed a crumbling foundation and sunken roof. However she wouldn’t hear of tearing it down. Tommy had flipped enough old houses with his brother to know it could probably be restored, but she was going to have to sink a ton of money into it.

“I don’t want to go.” She said softly, laying back on the grass and enjoying the late afternoon breeze.

“I’ll come back with you tomorrow.” He said firmly. “Let the grid calm down a bit more before you move in on it.” She made a non-committal sound and closed her eyes.

“I love this place.” She said wistfully, eyes still closed.

“Why?” He asked, pulling a piece of foot long grass and twirling it between his fingers. “Other than the grid, there’s nothing here except a broken down old house.”

She rolled over on her side and faced him, head propped up on one hand. “I’m home.” She said simply.

The End

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