It wasn't that Tommy looked like Drakkon. He honestly didn't; nobody in the world would mistake one for the other if they stood side by side. Tommy was far slimmer and younger, with relaxed posture and a ponytail, and he had none of the craggy facial damage that Drakkon had acquired over ten extra years of hard living – and that was before taking into account the stubble and the green pulsing veins.

But the voice. Just like Drakkon's. Disturbingly so. Low and breathy – like he was always revealing a good secret.

So when Kim, who had her forehead pressed to the wall in the hospital hallway as she tried to process the day's events, heard from directly behind her, "Kim, you can't avoid me forever" in that voice, she spun and backed up, arms up in the "stop" position, before her brain caught up with her instincts.

"Whoa," said Tommy. "Easy. Just me."

He was unmorphed. A good sign. It meant the fight was over. But he wasn't smiling.

She swallowed.

"Could we go somewhere private?" he asked.

Wow. She was surprised at how much she really didn't want to do that. "We should stay by Zack."

"Zack's going to be fine. Zordon said so."

She didn't move.

"Do you know what the last day's been like for me, Kim? Give me a break here. Come on."

He gave her a little pull by the elbow. Not hard, not harsh, nothing she couldn't have broken free from – but firm. There was frustration there. Maybe the desire to yank her down the hall.

A month ago she would never have noticed such a little thing.

She let herself be led. He was going a little too fast for her; she was still limping in the boot. As she felt herself getting further from possible witnesses, more and more alone with him, some dark thoughts she'd been avoiding came leaping back at her.

How long had she known Tommy, really? Six, seven months? Half of their time together was spent in morph, and most of the remainder was with the group. They'd only been on four or five real dates.

The last three of those dates had ended in kisses; the last one, in making out. Kim had enjoyed it. Had thought about taking it further someday. Maybe. Slowly. There was no doubt: Tommy Oliver was attractive.

But who was he?

She knew only the barest facts of his life. He was seventeen. His parents were together, unlike hers. They moved all the time; Tommy had never lived anywhere more than two years, and he'd spent a good chunk of his life in Europe. He liked karate. Boy, did he ever. He'd been chosen by Rita Repulsa for brainwashing due to his ass-kicking talent, and possibly also due to his competition with Jason. He was late to school a lot, but otherwise a good student. Liked green.

And…

He was dangerous.

It was part of his attraction. The unpredictability, the impulsiveness. He had a little temper. His big sweet smile sometimes dissolved into a snarl. He had no qualms about solving problems with violence if he could get away with it.

And in at least one universe, he was Space Hitler.

She knew him well enough to be confident he wasn't going to tornado kick her today. But she found she had no idea what she did expect from him.

They were now in a mostly walled-off waiting room, alone. To Kim's alarm, Tommy didn't just release her arm; he added a little force to the release, as if throwing her off.

"Something you want to tell me?" he said.

In Drakkon's voice. God, why would this nightmare not end?

"Didn't Jason talk to you?" Kim said.

"Jason?" Okay, that was real venom. She wasn't imagining it – he was pissed. "What the hell would Jason and I have to talk about right now?"

Kim realized that Tommy had placed her with her back to a wall again. She wanted to retreat, but there was nowhere to go.

"Tommy, you're scaring me."

"I'm scaring you?"

"Yes! Please take a step back."

He didn't.

"Please."

A few beats longer, and he finally rocked back about six inches – enough that Kim felt able to breathe again.

"I spent last night in a holding cell because I was trying to defend you," he said. "I don't even know from what, I got there last and nobody told me anything, I just saw you fighting with Skull and screaming, but whatever, I did the boyfriend thing and got arrested for it. Thanks for checking on me, by the way. And first thing when I get out and get my phone back, I've got thirty missed calls from my parents. I thought it was because they cared I was arrested, but it got better. Turns out your dad called and told them –"

He lowered his voice.

"For some reason he told them my girlfriend is pregnant. Which I thought really shouldn't be possible, but, hey, maybe I should ask Jason how that works?"

Holy shit.

"AND I couldn't even deal with any of that because Angel Grove was suddenly full of ranger sentries and you all needed me to come save your asses again. But I guess maybe now I know what keeps you guys so busy that you couldn't save the world from a goddamn baby seal without my help!"

BEEP BEEP BEE-BEEP.

Tommy stared at her, breathing hard. He was still standing too close.

His communicator beeped again. He braced his hand on the wall by Kim's head and looked at the device.

"What if I don't answer it?" he said. "What if I sit this one out? Let the real heroes handle it, since they're such good friends?"

"Tommy," said Kim. "You know what, you're right, you're obviously not my friend. But if I was yours, I'd tell you to shut your stupid mouth before you say anything else you'll regret."

"Hey, maybe right now you're not in the best position to be calling other people stupid," he said.

He clicked the comm button. "Come in."

"Tommy!" It was Billy's voice. "Are you with Kim?"

"Yeah, I found her."

"You've got to get her to a safe location till we can verify we've cleared the area. I've disabled the portal generator, so the dimensional rift is closed, but we don't know how many got through."

"Copy," Tommy said. Then, to Kim: "You heard the man. Safe location. How about the Dragonzord cockpit?"

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

She ducked under his arm, attempting to limp away with dignity. He grabbed at her elbow, and she smacked his hand off. When he grabbed at her a second time, she'd fucking had it. She spun.

"Don't you ever touch me again. I think I'll call Jason to pick me up, Tommy. Maybe I'd feel safer with him."

"Apparently you always have."

"Shut up, Tommy!"

"Or WHAT?" he yelled. "What are you going to do to me? Stab me in the back again? Hey, I know. Maybe you'll call your real boyfriend. And when he gets his ass kicked like always, instead of calling me for help, he can call you!"

"It's not Jason's baby, you moron!"

Tommy faltered, but recovered and summoned a scoff. Kim got more than a little perverse pleasure by ramming the point home with, "It's Drakkon's. Okay?"

Tommy blinked. Closed his mouth, opened it, closed it. Not good enough. Kim twisted the knife.

"But you know what, Tommy? I really think that if Jason was in your position he wouldn't have acted like this. He wouldn't have needed to intimidate me, because he's not an insecure showoff. That's why he's the leader and you're the one nobody trusts. I see where Drakkon gets it."

She stared up at him, hoping to see…what? What did she want him to do? Cry? Beg for forgiveness?

He did neither: just looked at her. His face seemed to be frozen; the only change was in his color, which had drained. Was he thinking? Did he even understand what she'd said? Maybe not. After all, if his brain was firing all cylinders, he'd have figured this out days ago.

As she limped off, she immediately felt cruel and unreasonable. All five of them had kept Tommy out of the loop, some unintentionally, some not so much. She'd told him she was fine. Hell, maybe he was such a nice guy that he couldn't imagine a pregnancy resulting from anything other than romance. He had every reason to be hurt. To lash out.

You're going to need all your friends, Kim, her common sense nagged. Don't be proud. Want to end up like your parents?

Fuck.

But how could she turn around now? She was already at the double automatic doors, and then out in the bright California sun. The air could have been clearer – what could you expect after a laser cannon fight? – but she was free and nobody was talking to her.

Alone at freaking last.

No men to burden her with their endless needs: to hurt her or to feel sorry for her or tell her they loved her or felt guilty about her or were mad at her. No parents to judge. Not even Trini, to treat her like glass. Nobody in her personal space.

"Kim. Stop."

Ugh, he'd followed her.

"Not now. Tomorrow, Tommy, okay?"

"Yes, now. I'm not him, Kim."

Jeez. Kim stopped on the sidewalk, willing her face into a neutral expression. It wasn't productive. She was forced to close her eyes to keep the tears back.

She said, "I know, Tommy. You're nothing like Drakkon. I shouldn't have said that."

His hand settled on her shoulder.

"Perhaps I wasn't clear," he said. "I meant: I'm not Tommy."

And she was back, face against the stone, freezing, his teeth at her neck, his hands around her ribcage…

"No!" she said. "This isn't real."

She opened her eyes. It was broad daylight in Angel Grove. Cheerful colors popped around her – the plush grass, the wide, curvy sidewalk, the shiny cars, a stop sign. Drakkon couldn't exist in this world. This was home. She was safe here. She'd left him back in the darkness.

But the hand on her shoulder squeezed, working its fingers into the tender tissue between her clavicle and her shoulder blade.

"Scream," Drakkon said. "Come on."

She was trying to. Nothing was coming out.

Like in a nightmare, her feet seemed to get heavier when she ordered them to run.

"Nothing?" he asked. He lifted her a little, let the grip on her shoulder really bite. A small, rasping shriek escaped, and her feet waved, but she couldn't make her body do more. It had been through too much; at this new horror, it had apparently stopped taking orders from her brain.

"Disappointing, Pink. You've forgotten everything I taught you. Good thing your friends are busy chasing down my soldiers. We can review. First lesson: Following directions."

He dropped her; she collapsed, gasping, and turned on the ground. There he was, Lord Drakkon, huge and alien, contrasting surreally with the normality of his environment. He was in full morph, and seemed to have added extra equipment to his already-enhanced suit.

"You like it?" he said. "I can travel through dimensions at will with it. No external support needed. Nothing for your friends to disable. For you, though…" he extended an arm to the side. From a thick wrist bracer, a triangle of darkness appeared, projecting a dark oval in the air. Through it, Kim could see the grey skyline of Drakkon's world. "An easier way to fly. Get inside, Kimmy."

Her body locked. It wanted to obey him. This was part of what he'd done to her – conditioning obedience.

"Stand."

She dragged herself upright, crying silently.

"Step through the portal," he said.

Waves of misery crashed over her. She couldn't breathe. She took a step, retreated, took another step.

"Remember what happens when you make me wait?"

Boy, she sure did.

"That's right, Kimmy. Good girl."

She was at the dimensional portal. Angel Grove was only a thin frame now for the huge portrait of a doomed world floating in front of her, which Kim miserably, inexorably placed a foot into.

"One more step. Don't make me push you."

WHAM.

She was almost halfway between her world and Drakkon's when the portal collapsed; for a few terrible, confusing seconds, she slammed back and forth between the two realities – all darkness, all light, freezing, hot, stone, grass.

But Angel Grove won.

The grass beneath her was warm and soft, and she seriously considered just lying down in it and taking a nap instead of pulling herself back to reality.

It took more courage than it would have for her to fly her Zord into battle, but she shook off the weariness and turned to see what had happened.

Tommy, morphed, with his golden shield glinting so bright it hurt to look at him, was fighting Drakkon. Their identical green daggers clashed at strobe speed. Usually Tommy's fights were noisy, full of kiais and grunts, but there was little of that now; the blades and limbs were moving too quickly for anyone to have extra breath.

And Tommy was losing.

Anyone could see it: Though he was at his best, mad and putting up a hell of a fight, he was up against a larger, better-armored, more experienced version of himself. Already he was losing ground, inch by inch.

He tried to regain it with a spin kick; Drakkon deflected it, knocking him down.

"You can't protect her, Oliver," said Drakkon. "Just ask her."

"Kim, RUN!" cried Tommy.

"She can't even walk," laughed Drakkon. "Guessing she didn't have that problem much with you, Tommy?"

And Tommy, the valiant idiot, did exactly what he was being goaded to do: lose control. He leapt to his feet and attacked with both arms raised, exposing his chest and waist. The fight was quick and brutal from there; Tommy was slashed six different ways by Drakkon's dagger, and he went down in a shower of sparks.

Fury boiled in Kimberly.

How many people were going to have to get hurt for her? To cry for her, fight for her, die for her?

Drakkon grabbed Tommy by the helmet and held his dagger in throat-slitting position.

"Be thankful, Oliver," he whispered. "It'll be quick. Your girlfriend won't be so lucky. If you'd chosen my path, maybe you'd have been strong enough to protect her."

"If he'd chosen your path," said Jason's voice from behind Kim, "he'd be alone."

And four Blade Blaster bolts hit Drakkon square in the chest, knocking him back twenty feet.

Kim whirled. They were all there. Including Zack, whose drunken swaying told her he was in no condition to fight, but who nevertheless threw her a little wave.

Drakkon stood; made a fist; wavered.

"This feels familiar," he said. "Haven't I killed you once already, Red Ranger?"

"Yeah, must have been tough, taking an unconscious guy by surprise."

Jason raised his sword; the others materialized their weapons.

"I can jump between dimensions!" Drakkon said. "You can't protect her forever."

"Maybe not," said Jason. "So why don't you take us all on now and get it over with?"

The Rangers leapt forward, forming a protective barrier between Kim and Drakkon; Tommy was on his feet, and he joined them, standing directly in front of her.

"Your sentries are gone. Their teleportation equipment is destroyed," said Billy. "You can't call a Zord here."

"Sure you want to try one against five?" added Trini.

"Or six?" said Zack.

Laughing – genuinely laughing, she hardly knew why – Kim raised her fists and bent her knees.

Drakkon vanished, leaving a green broken glass pattern crackling in the air where he'd been.

The aftermath of the short battle was predictable: lots of hugs, lots of questions, lots of concern and offers of help. Billy, as usual, was able to provide the most practical support: he removed the chip from Kim's ear, allowing her to be teleported to the Command Center. Under Jason's orders, she would have to stay there at least a few days: long enough for them to regroup, gather information, and determine how best to protect Kim.

Jason didn't say what Kim knew he had to be thinking: The best way to protect her was to kill Drakkon and repair the Grid, and for that, they would need a Pink Ranger. Somebody new.

Well, she trusted his judgment. Now and forever. She trusted all of them, and loved them so hard it hurt.

In a few hours, she found herself alone in the control room with Zordon for the first time since she'd been back, and she said, "I guess I always thought you had good taste in Power Rangers. Now I know it. They really are just the best, aren't they?"

"SO ARE YOU, KIMBERLY," intoned Zordon. "YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THERE FOR THEM."

Kim smiled. She didn't remember being as good a friend to Billy, Jason, Trini, or Zack as they'd been to her, but it was comforting to think that, had the situation called for it, maybe she would have been.

Alpha came in. "Kim-ber-lee, someone would like to speak to you."

She wasn't at all surprised. The others had teleported out one by one a while ago – Jason last, after sharing a significant look with her but not saying anything that, well, couldn't be said in front of Zordon – but she'd somehow missed Tommy's exit.

He entered at an awkward pace, once again out of morph, and looking very much like he had the first day she'd met him. Green plaid hoodie, rope necklace, slightly lost expression – an average high school boy looking for a friendly face in an unfamiliar situation.

Kim crossed to him and hugged him hard.

"How can you forgive me for talking to you like that?" he asked the top of her head.

I was just as mean to you. You didn't know. You're a big bonehead and that's what made you brave enough to go out there and try to kill and die for me today. You're young and stupid like the rest of us. You're hurting almost as much as I am. I need you.

"Lots of reasons," she said.

"I'm guessing none of the others yelled at you."

"Don't worry, Tommy. Someday one of them will make a mistake. Like…use a #1 pencil."

He smiled, catching on. "Stand up before the bell rings?"

"Not gargle for the full thirty seconds?"

He held her tighter and stroked her hair. "I'm not one of them. One of you. I wasn't picked for being perfect. But you know I would never hurt you, right, Kim? I'm not him."

Drakkon's exact words, in Drakkon's voice. Kim waited for fear to rush down her spine, but it didn't.

"I know," she said.

"Are we still…? What happens now, Kim? I have no idea. Tell me what to do."

She let him go. This, she was sure about. "Tommy, I love you. But I can't. We can't. I can't handle a boyfriend right now."

His expression was a mess as he processed this: She saw every emotion there, from bitter disappointment to love.

"I understand," he said at last, though she knew darn well he didn't. Emotional intelligence was never going to be his forte.

He took a deep breath, then kissed her forehead and each of her cheeks. Then, to her surprise, he knelt in front of her and kissed her bellybutton through her shirt. Her breath caught; a sob, half bitter and half joyful, rose in her throat.

"You're strong enough to get through this, Kim," said Tommy. "You're gonna be a great mom."

"Maybe," she said. "But if I'm ever not, this kid is going to have the best set of aunts and uncles anybody could ask for."

After a while, Tommy had to leave; it was late, and he was already in deep shit with his parents.

Kim found herself, for the first time in a month, feeling…

Good.

Okay.

Not afraid, not drained, not ashamed.

She touched her stomach.

"What are you thinking, Kim-ber-lee?" asked Alpha, who had discreetly disappeared some time back, but now popped out of a corner.

"Names. Too many people to name this kid after. It's going to be hard to decide."

"I'm sure whatever you choose will be just right."

Kim agreed. Somehow, in time, with her friends' help, everything was going to be alright.

Thank you for reading. Always review. XOXO -darkwinggirl