DISCLAIMER: Only Luke "Parker" and the name Sydney Reed, and Ernie's last name (because I couldn't remember if it had ever been mentioned) Reed and past as well as Constellation and this story belong to me. Please don't sue. I have no money.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This section takes place on the one year anniversary of the day Kim "died" and four days after "Memoirs of Kimberly Hart". The ages I mention in this are in early twenties even though when these characters were on the show they were supposed to be just out of highschool when they left. Oh and by the way, if you're one of those people who want Kim and Tommy to get back together, it probably won't happen in this story, though there will be some changes in certain relationships with her return unless my plans for this story change. As much as I did too, I just decided it was an old story line and really didn't fit in with what I wanted for this story. Maybe on another one.
Oh yeah and when it talks about her voice and how it sounds, think about how it sounded when she was evil in Power Rangers Turbo.
Tommy Oliver clicked the stop button on the stopwatch he was holding as he watched Katherine Hillard (a.k.a. Kat) swim through their make-shift finish line. "Congratulations Kat, you beat your day's record by three seconds."
His girlfriend was smiling as she got out of the pool, dripping water. She grabbed her towel off the cement and began rubbing herself dry. She turned a thousand-watt smile on him but it faded as she saw the strange look on his face. "Tommy?" she asked, her Australian accented voice concerned. "What is it? You've been distracted all day."
He forced a smile. "It's nothing I'm sure. It's just that I feel like I'm--we're being watched."
"What do you mean?"
"Well I'm not sure. You know when you get that feeling... like when you're being watched?"
She looked worried. "You think Zedd is planning something?"
He shook his head. "Not that. It's different."
She put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure this isn't because of Kim? The anniversary is today."
He pulled away and went to grab his water bottle which was sitting in a chair by the pool. It was ninety eight degrees out--too hot to go without water for long. He shrugged and forced a smile. He didn't want to talk about it. "No. I'm sure it's nothing."
She looked doubtful but didn't say anything. Tommy had taken Kimberly's death harder than the rest of them. She knew she shouldn't feel jealous of a dead girl and they had gone out together but sometimes she didn't feel like he was really hers. She was pretty sure his heart still belonged to Kimberly.
A smile curved her lips as she put her hand back on his shoulder and suddenly pushed him into the pool. She watched and laughed as he came up coughing and sputtering, standing by the side with her hands on her knees and winked at him.
"I'll get you Katherine Hillard!" he warned.
"Promise?" she asked.
Before she could say anything else he grabbed a hold of her ankles and pulled her in the water, towel and all. No sooner had she come up for breath than he pushed her under and followed her down under the water.
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She watched them as they laughed and tried to dunk each other under the water, rolling her eyes as she did. Were they really that carefree or was it just an act, like her life had been. Had they forgotten what they'd done? Had Tommy forgotten about his son, now five--almost six years old? She'd met little Cameron Sommers once, purely by design. The little boy had practically made her fall in love with him, if that was possible for someone who had no heart or soul. How someone could give up such a beautiful little boy she had no idea.
And what about Kat? Had she forgotten getting arrested for prostitution at the age of sixteen? That was why her family had really moved to Angel Grove. Rita had known about that and brought out the characteristics that had helped her to survive on the streets, selected the ones that best served her purposes, and magnified those one-hundred fold. Surely she couldn't have forgotten that.
She sighed. Time to show herself. Of course they wouldn't recognize her now. After the Shadow Project they'd think of her as nothing more than a girl with a passing resemblence to Kimberly Hart. Her chin-length hair was dyed black, her lips the same color. Her eyes held a cynical look that the Kim they knew had never had. Her lips never smiled and a laugh never passed through them. Her voice had even changed; it was lower, more cynical, with a breathy quality to it. It scared some of her collegues. That's why she hadn't made any friends at Constellation.
She came out of her hiding place to see them kissing in a way that should have been outlawed. He'd never kissed her like that, she caught herself thinking. Not that she cared. She cleared her throat. "I hope you're using birth control."
They broke apart and stared at her guiltily. Her eyes were hidden by black sun glasses so except for a similar shape of mouth and chin there was no way they could have recognized her. Still, Tommy did a small double-take and for an instant recognition entered his puppy-dog brown gaze before it disappeared to be replaced by sadness and disappointment. They got out of the pool and Tommy was the first to speak. "Who are you?"
"Syd Reed. I'm Ernie's daughter." Of course they'd gotten Ernie's cooperation on all this. Mostly because he'd been a Constellation agent since he was her age. The time at the juice bar had been his way of watching her and the other rangers. When they'd gotten her, Constellation had seen no reason to keep him in Angel Grove and had relocated him. She was supposedly here for a vacation and since he still kept up the rent on his apartment, he'd sent her here.
Tommy gasped so hard he started to cough and Kat stared at her as if she'd just grown horns out of her butt and was running around naked yelling, "Hi I'm a penguin!"
"Daughter?" they repeated simultaneously.
"How is it that Ernie has a daughter?" asked Tommy.
Kim spoke as if she were talking to two small children. "Well when two people love each other--"
He cut her off with a shake of his head. "I know where babies come from."
She could have burst out laughing if she knew how anymore. "Oh I'm sure you do." She couldn't help the knowing tone in her voice.
Something flickered in his gaze before he shook his head ever so slightly. "I meant why haven't we heard of you?"
Kim shrugged. "How should I know? I don't know how the man works."
She went over to the table they were standing by and grabbed her watch. The pool was empty except for them despite the fact that it was a public pool and extremely hot out. The reason was because it was Spring Break and most people had gone away from Angel Grove to see family and friends. Not many people actually came to the small town because of its infamous record of monsters and other strange occurences. It sort of ruined the spirit of Spring Break.
As she started to leave the pool area, having supposedly gotten her purpose for being out there done, she heard Tommy say, "So maybe we'll see you around, then?"
She glanced back over her shoulder. "Not if I have anything to say about it." She walked off.
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"Have you made contact?"
"Yes sir. Oliver and Hillard know I am in town but hopefully will spread the word that I'm bad news and should be left alone."
"Okay Shadow. It's time for the next phase of our plan. Time to introduce Luke Parker to Angel Grove. I'll be there by tomorrow."
"Where should I expect you?"
"Don't. I'll find you." And with that her boss, a man only known as Luke, hung up.
Kim did the same, picturing him in her mind. Luke was definitely boyfriend material if you didn't know who and what he was. At twenty four he'd been in Constellation since birth and had worked his way up to a very high rank at a young age. He had super-model looks with his sandy-blond hair and caramel-colored eyes. He kind of reminded her of Rocky--except inhuman. She didn't gossip but she couldn't help but hear that he'd once tried to have a life outside of Constellation. It had happened just before she'd arrived. He'd been married to a woman he had met through an assignment. She'd been pregnant when his enemies had found out about her and killed her.
She suddenly wondered how Rocky was doing. No one had really known but next to Aisha he'd been sort of her best friend. Tommy had been a boyfriend--not really someone you could tell everything to. But Rocky had always been there to help her. He was the only one of them who had ever been honest with her. And she'd been honest with him as well. They hadn't told any of the other rangers because they'd felt they couldn't have understood. After all they'd thought the others came from semi-perfect homes. He'd found out about her past by accident. A friend of his from New York had been doing some research and had recognized a picture of her mother (he'd sent a lot of pictures of his friends and their families to her) and contacted him with the newspaper article.
When he confronted her about it she'd broken down into tears. To make her feel better he'd told her about his parents and how they'd killed his brother. From then on it was a great friendship, possibly better than hers and Aisha's.
Damn she missed him! But he couldn't know who she was. Couldn't even know she was alive.
For everyone's sake.
