My Kimberly , My Tommy

Chapter 6: Loss

Pebble Brook Manor

The Dojo

Tommy sat quietly in the Dojo. Kim was fast asleep and he wanted her to stay that way. Their son, Maverick was nestled against him, secure in the baby sling that was wrapped around his bare torso. The baby had been restless and lately, it seemed the only way to get him to sleep was to carry him around and to be outside.

The morning was peaceful and that helped him also relax. No one on their team spoke of it, but, this week was the anniversary of their fight with Ivan Ooze.

They'd fought hard and it had tested their battle skills; their beloved city, though trashed from the fight, was safe and the rebuilding hadn't taken more than a couple of years. However, with the win came a personal loss for him.

It wasn't until a couple of days later that Tommy had gotten a visit from Fred Kelmen's father. His uncle had been killed at some point during the battle. He'd been found crushed and still strapped into his car under some wreckage about a block from the bank.

His last remaining family member was gone and now, he really was an orphan.

"Dr. O, are you okay?" Ethan asked as he and Conner walked into the room.

Tommy blew out a breath. "Yeah, I'm good. Just dredging up old memories."

"Is this another war story?" Ethan asked with an expectant look on his face.

"Kind of, but it's not pleasant. I'm not sure you want to hear about it."

The look on his former student's face darkened. "Hey, if it helps to talk about it, we're all ears."

Tommy sighed again. "It's nothing that hasn't been discussed among my Ninjetti team...especially with my mate. But it is apart of your history, though I pretty much glossed over it in the DVD."

When both men nodded, he continued. "What you don't know, is that my uncle Raymond was killed during the battle against Ivan Ooze. My adoptive parents had been dead since I was eight, and at this point, I didn't know about David or even about my heritage. All I had was an uncle that worked the semi professional race car circuit during the summer. When I turned sixteen, I was considered by him, old enough to take care of myself and all he had to do was sign me up for my junior year at Angel Grove high school, make sure my driver's license and insurance were current and that I had money to for food and clothing, oh and a roof over my head; then he was gone."

"But, the night of the fight, he'd driven back to the city looking for me, or so I assume. I didn't even know he'd come back, so when the cops showed up to inform me that his body had been found, it was a hell of a shock."

"By this time, Kim and I were living together for a solid year and we'd pretty much settled into our own bubble of domestic bliss. But as you might expect, during a disaster, there was looting and trashing in the not so well off neighborhoods like mine. When the party was over and we returned home, it was to a burned out house and a trashed garage. The only thing we had to our name was the Stingray which we'd left at the airport hanger just before we'd taken off for the charity skydiving event."

"Wait, Dr. O, you went sky diving for charity? Conner asked him.

Tommy nodded. "Yeah, we were major thrill seekers back then. We had The Power flowing through us and we always seemed to feel invincible. That fact that it was benefiting the Angel Grove conservatory was a bonus. It might sound crazy to a civilian, but after piloting giant zords, skydiving from 13,000 feet is nothing to worry about. In fact I was feeling so confident, I added on a board...just so I could sky surf for a while."