chapter 17:
After a few hours, the rangers reluctantly left to return to their hotel. Kim didn't want to admit that she was starting not to feel safe there since every time she and Tommy went out something unwanted was waiting for them.
The man who wanted her owned half the city where could she even be safe?
Tommy noticed her unease on the ride home and asked her what was wrong?
"I don't like to admit it, handsome but I am afraid." Kim sighed, "How am I going to walk away from this man. How can I be safe in a city he owns half of? He even seems to have access to our room."
"I will be there for you, beautiful. I won't let anything happen to you." Tommy said softly, “I wouldn't let anyone harm my pink crane.” He kisses her cheek.
Once back at the hotel Tommy and Jason check out the room first while the girls wait in the hall. once they see that it's safe the girls come inside. Jason says, “no gifts, no traps, nothing out of the ordinary if you need us we are right next door.”
Kim sighs in relief, "Thank you, Jase." and hugs him.
“Anything for you sis,” he says as he hugs her back.
Tommy took Kimberly in his arms the moment that they were alone, "Let me make you forget all about him." He whispers in her ear.
she shivers in delight, responding, “please give it your best shot!” before kissing him passionately, with all the desire she had for him at the moment.
That's just what her fiance did, letting her feel cherished and loved but more importantly letting her relax after two rounds of passionate lovemaking.
They both slipped into an exhausted but peaceful slumber, wrapped in each other's arms.
It was in the middle of the night when the sound of footsteps woke up the couple.
"Did you hear that? What was it?" she whispered to him, suddenly alert. Old instincts kicking in and going into overdrive.
Tommy shushed Kim, telling her to keep her voice down before reaching towards the bedside lamp to turn it on.
Illuminating the room just in time, to see what looked like a fully geared attack squad, from the closed glass french doors of the room.
"I think we better morph quickly, beautiful," Tommy said, going into leader mode immediately.
Kim responded with, "you bet your ass we better!"
"Ninja ranger power now!" Tommy yelled.
"The Crane" Kim shouted.
"The Falcon" Tommy shouted.
They transform into their robes instantly, in flashes of light.
"8 against 2, not great odds," says Kim.
"We know who to call if we need reinforcements," says Tommy standing in fight mode as the 8 man squad storm the room.
Tommy and Kim went into attack mode as they were rushed by the men. One pulled a knife out and charged Tommy, he managed to knock it from the man's hand, then kicked him into the wall. Kim punched and kicked and kneed a few of the men they seemed more intent on taking her then beating her. she had to break holds on her several times.
This squad of men was a bit better trained than the ones at the gala, but still not as well as Tommy and Kim. Unfortunately, the numbers might be enough to cancel that out.
"I think we better call on that reinforcement," Kim says while defending herself.
Just then three guys manage to grab hold of Kim at once, in a hold, she couldn't break as she saw one of the men taze Tommy which caused sparks to fly off him as the falcon tried to protect him from it but he still crumbled to the ground.
She felt his pain and had to fuel that pain into her scream for help cause it was the only thing that could save them now. "SUPERMAN!!!! HELP!!!"
Clark jerks awake when he hears a familiar voice crying for help he jumps out of bed and spins himself in his suit and flies full-speed to the hotel.
A sudden breeze blows through the room and then they hear a voice say, "This isn't really a fair fight is it?" he mocks, marking his arrival, everything in the room seems to freeze for a moment.
He quickly swept through the room and incapacitated and tied up the men in the room.
Kim sighs and drops onto the bed her robes soaked. Exhausted, but then still manages to crawl over to where Tommy was and check on him as she pulled the barb from the weapon out of his chest.
She looked up to Superman and says, "thanks for your help"
"I haven't fought that hard in quite a few years."
Superman kneels beside her, "are you guys alright?"
as Kim pulls down her face mask and back on her hood and she nods. "I don't know what they wanted but I have a feeling it was me. we woke up to them about to storm into the room."
Jason and Trini choose that moment to run into the room, finding Tommy and Kim out of breath and Superman standing next to the attackers neatly tied up.
"What happened?" Jason asked worriedly
They could enter the room since the door to the room had been left open by the men.
Jason was barefoot in red flannel sleep bottoms while Trini came in after in an oversized yellow sleep shirt.
"This looks like something Luthor would do. Can I use someone's phone to call Henderson?" Superman asked before he continued, "I think it's safer that both of you stayed with us until your wedding day."
Kim nods as she holds Tommy worried about him since he got tazzed.
"You can use my phone." Kim said, "It's on the bedside table. How are we going to explain to us staying with them to the others?"
Jason says, "don't worry about it. Once we tell them you were in danger that will be all that matters." sounding like the leader he once was.
"It would be better if you don't check out, to let him think you're still here," Trini said towards Kim.
Trini says, "you should power down." Not knowing the couple had been making love hours before the attack.
Kim says I can't, I'm not wearing anything under this."
Tommy explains to Jase and Trini the suggestion of Superman.
Jason agrees with Superman, "we'll all stay here while you two go. He doesn't want us, so we should be safe."
Kim nods in agreement, "yeah, I don't think they have room for all of us, besides I wouldn't do that to them. Superman can be right that I am safer under his roof." Kim says, still shivering, "It's obvious I'm not safe here. Are you sure Lois doesn't mind?" Kim asks shyly
She won't mind at all. She'll want to make sure you stay safe as much as I do." Superman reassured her.
"We will go wherever we need to, to make sure you're safe, beautiful," Tommy said, slightly recovering from the attack.
In the meantime, Superman had called Henderson. The cops were on his way, "I will come back as Clark in about 20 minutes to help you move. Do you think you can handle it until then? Lois won't mind, Kim. Not in the slightest." Superman says to them.
"Do we want people seeing her moving out of the room? Wouldn't it be better for them to think she is still here?" Trini asked curiously.
"Might as well, he would know that she will be smart enough not to stay here after this?" Jason responds.
Tommy suggests, "why not stay here until the cops come, if you can make a show of taking Kim someplace safe where she can't be found while in town. Jason you and Trini help pack us up by the time they get here and can take it to us in the morning. I doubt we would have to worry about prints. I don't think they left any." Tommy ordered in his leader tone that no one argued with, "Let them think we are wearing weird pj's."
"I can fly you to Lois now if you want to." Superman smiled trying his best to help them.
"So you mean flying without a plane or a zord?" Kim asks curiously.
Superman chuckled, "It's safe I assure you.
"You do this a lot with Lois, do you?" Tommy remarks.
"Yeah, she has a habit of finding trouble during investigations." Superman chuckled again, "I am still afraid every time she calls for my help."
Kim says "I understand that Tommy still freaks out every time he hears the crane call out, it's never anything good."
"I understand him better than you think
Lois can be a stubborn pitbull when she thinks she has something," Superman responds
"That makes sense, she seems the feisty type," Kim says with a smile.
"She is but that is what I love about her." says superman.
"It might be better if Kim talks to the cop first then you take her, this way the news gets back to him she's hidden away by you," Tommy suggests
"That might be best," Kim sighed
Superman nods "okay I'll drive back as Clark afterward to pick up Tommy. He can bring her a change of clothes."
"Sounds good. We will help him pack everything up after you go," says Trini.
" Am I glad Aisha is the one bringing the dress." Kim sighs in relief, "I hate to leave that behind."
15 minutes later Henderson and his men show up. He asks Superman "what happened here?" knowing he was the man in control.
Superman explains the whole story to Henderson. Things he could prove at least.
Henderson moved to Kim and Tommy since it was their room.
Kim says, "We woke up to what sounded like footsteps and other soft noises and saw the men about to breach the room so we fought back but they overwhelmed us so I called out to superman to help."
"That's when I came in. If you are finished, inspector, I rather bring her somewhere safe until this is solved." Superman says to Henderson. He wanted to bring her to Lois where she was safe for now.
"Just one more question!" says Henderson, "Why would someone want to take you?"
"Well I am part of the Olympic team, I have won gold, and I was in the papers. I would be an easy target for the undesirables of the city to try to take." Kim said coolly, "Will that be all detective?"
"That will be all Miss Hart," Henderson said while writing everything down.
Superman picks Kim up in bridal style and flies off with her.
After this happens the detective tells Tommy he'll give him 20 minutes to pack up before the room is taped off.
While in flight Kim says" Whoa, this is amazing. You do this with Lois a lot?"
"Lois has a tendency to get in trouble a lot." Superman chuckled, "She leaves the back window open for me for just these moments."
Kim says could this be any more awkward?
What do you mean? asks Clark.
"you leave in the middle of the night and come back with a girl. it's almost like I'm take-out." jokes Kim
Superman smiles and puts her down in the living room, wanting to show the guest room when a voice stopped him, "Clark, honey is that you?"
"yeah, Lois euhm I brought company."
Lois comes down in her robe, "oh my god Kimberly what happened?" Lois asked worriedly.
Kim says, "let just say we had some uninvited visitors of our own. They tried to take me but we put up a fight but there were too many so we called back up."
Kim looks down at her robes and sees a little blood from the guys she was fighting on it.
"I may be an Olympian, but I'm a little rusty on my fighting big groups."
"I said that it would be safer if she and Tommy stayed here for the rest of the time," Clark said
"Of course," Lois said, "You are welcome here but where is Tommy?"
"He's still at the hotel talking to the cops when they got there. He wanted me out of there first. He and Jason and Trini are packing up the room."
Clark spins and changes back into Clark and says I'm going to go pick Tommy up now and goes to get his keys, so he can drive over to get him.
Clark leaves and Kim sighs and sits down, knowing that her falcon will be here soon, she smiles relieved.
This gives Lois the chance to look over Kim's robes, bubble gum pink with white accents, and the golden crest on her chest and is impressed.
"impressive! I like the robes" Lois smiles,
"Does Tommy have the same one?" she asks.
"His are white and with black where I have white and his crest has the falcon while mine has the crane. They corresponded to our ranger colors pink white yellow black blue and red," answered Kim
"Wow, truly impressive," says Lois.
"Even though we all tease Tommy he has been through a few colors. He has been green, white, and red. Three colors in four forms." Kim says
"Wow he has had a long career" comments Lois.
"Yeah, He has. He is legendary in our community. It wouldn't surprise me if he ends up with another color, because I don't think the grid is done with him yet " says Kim.
After a few moments of silence, Kim asks curiously, "What's the story behind Clark's suit?"
"My mom made it for me." sounded a voice behind her. That moment Clark walked in with Tommy
Neither one of them heard the car pull up, for as late in the night it was the drive to the hotel and back was rather short. so even in human speed, they both looked up at the answer.
"The symbol on my chest is the crest of my birth family." Clark continues and Kim nods.
Then rushes over to Tommy who wraps his arms around her, as he drops one of the bags on the floor, at the same time that she wraps her arms around him.
"No problem, now let's get some sleep, I will show you the guest room," Clark said.
Both Kim and Tommy nod and follow him.
The room was painted in a soft yellow with a large bed in the middle of the room. A nightstand at each side of the bed and a closet off to the left. In the room a painting of a little sailboat upon a lake, above the bed.
Kim says, "it's lovely, and thank you again."
"We are glad to help," says Clark.
Both Tommy and Kim say good night.
As she is exhausted and walks over to the bed and as soon and she gets under the covers she glows pink for a second as she powers down leaving her completely bereft of clothes.
Tommy quickly follows suit in her actions and they are both quickly out like a light.
TBC
