Troubled Past
Summary: Tommy finds out during camp that Jason uses to be firends with Bulk and Skull as well as a number of others things about the red ranger past.
Disclaimer: I don't (and never will) own Power Rangers
"Three to a tent," called the teacher as he walked though the group of boys. They were camping as part of an school trip for a few days.
Tommy looked at himself, Jason, Zack and Billy - one of them would have to share with Bulk and Skull. Before he could volunteer himself Jason got there first. "Are you sure?" Asked Tommy, Bulk and Skull weren't the nicest of people and even if Jason could handel himself better than most - being stuck in a tent with Bulk and Skull wasn't going to be easy.
"It'll be fine," said Jason picking up his bag and walking over to Bulk and Skull.
That evening Tommy could help but worry about Jason. They was millions of pranks Bulk and Skull could play on Jason. Tommy could picture Jason walking out the tent the next day without eyebrows . But Billy and Zack didn't have the same concerns as Tommy.
"They won't do stuff like that to him..." Said Zack after Tommy told them of his worries.
This didn't make Tommy feel much better. The look must of showed on his face, because Billy started to talk. "You don't know...Jason used to be firends with Bulk and Skull," explain Billy "Very good firends in fact..."
Zack nodded his head in agreement "The teachers used to call them the three musketeers, they were hardly ever apart..."
Tommy blinked in surprised, "I can't imagine them as firends..." It seem almost impossible to think Jason being close with Bulk and Skull.
"That was in elementary school," said Zack shrugging "In middle school he started to hang around with them less and less."
"Why?" Asked Tommy wanting to know more. If Jason used to be good firends with Bulk and Skull what changed.
Billy paused for a moment before specking "I never really ask him about that, but he was going though a lot of stuff at the time. And back then Bulk and Skull were more friendly...well as friendly as Bulk and Skull can be..."
"Was he a bully too?" Asked Tommy carefully.
"I wouldn't call him a bully," said Zack diplomatically "But when we where younger he wouldn't stop Bulk or Skull for doing it...but then again, before Jase took up karate he was a little skinny kid who didn't talk in school... sooo it wasn't too surprising he didn't speck up against his only fiends...it hard for anyone to stand up against their firends."
"I think they was one or two little things," said Billy thinking back "Nothing too bad - Jason didn't like to get into trouble bad then, used to get so worked up sometimes..."
"I still can't imagine Jason being firends with Bulk and Skull..." Repeated Tommy then again he couldn't imagine the boy Billy and Zack were describing was Jason either.
"Bulk lived in the same apartment as Jason's uncle," said Billy off handly "From what Jason had said he didn't like to stay in his uncle place and would climbed the fire escape to Bulk's apartment..."
"He told you that?" Question Zack looking at Billy.
"He said once he used to climbed the fire space at his uncle building... I knew already at Bulk lived above him..." Said Billy "It's the sort of thing he would do back then..."
"So he was a difficult child?" Asked Tommy frowning.
"He wasn't particularly a bad child," said Billy at once "He was pretty well behaved apart from some pranks with Bulk and Skull...he just...wouldn't speck or interacted much with anyone..."
"He had a lot to deal with at the time," said Zack "If you want to ask him go ahead." Zack paused thinking for a moment "But mind you he doesn't like to speck about it that much..."
Tommy decided to question Jason the next day. They were walking through a field looking at an map "Zack and Billy told me you used to be firends with Bulk and Skull..." Said Tommy starting the conversation.
"Yeah, that's not exactly a serect," comment Jason lightly "Bet they told you that we were used to be known as the three musketeers..."
"Yeh, they mention that," said Tommy "Is that why they give you a hard time at school?" He noticed that Bulk especially gave Jason more hassle than anybody else. But after that Billy and Zack told him last night it made some sense.
Jason shrugged, "Part of it is just how Bulk and Skull are. They say what they think, it can be blunt. Plus they didn't like the fact I made firends other than them...they though I was replacing them but that's not the truth."
"What made you stop hanging around with them?" Asked Billy
"It wasn't like that," said Jason " I didn't just ditch them and stated to hang out with the others...it just how it happen over time..."
"That's not answering my question,"
"I didn't like who I was, I wanted to be better," said Jason simply "I wasn't a happy child, I was angry at the world. It wasn't till I started karate that I started to work out my anger... "
"And that made you stop bring firends with Bulk and Skull?" Question Tommy confusedly.
"They saw my new hobby as laughable, I almost stop it because for it..." Said Jason, It was common for children to stop doing things they like just to fix in with there firends.
"Who did you make firends with first, I mean besides Bulk and Skull..." Asked Tommy seeing that Jason didn't want to go into the details about his friendship with Bulk and Skull.
"Billy," said Jason without hesitation "Back then I was a quiet kid filled with anger. Billy caught me kicking at the bins on lunch time. He looked scared of me - I hated that look. I said sorry - I think that's was the first word Billy ever heard me say actually..." Jason paused for an moment "I was pretty upset that day, and I just suddenly started to cry...I think that scared Billy more..."
"What happen next?"
"Billy gave him his chocolate bar from his lunch box," said Jason with a grin. "Then he asked me lots of questions which I didn't answer...but I shared the chocolate bar with him...the next day Billy invited me around his house"
"Did you go?" Asked Tommy half expecting Jason to say no.
"Yeh," said Jason "Billy mom picked Billy up and invited me again, I didn't want to go home so I agreed..."
"What was that like? Did you start talking then?" Asked Tommy
"No," said Jason "But Billy obviously told his parents that I didn't like to talk and they were pretty great about it, even called my mom for me because I wouldn't talk on the phone... I think Billy was still a little scared of me but we ended up making juke models. That was pretty cool..."
A new question come to Tommy mind "Why didn't you talk?" It was strange to think of the guy who taught Karate on a weekly basis didn't used to talk.
"They are a mixture of reasons," said Jason honestly "I was a little messed up back then..."
"Things at home?"
"Yeah, things at home,"
Jason didn't seem to want to explain what was going on at home when he was younger. It definitely had a big impact on Jason early life, Tommy knew himself how much early experience can effect people and how much effort it took to overcome it.
"So you and Billy become firends after that?"
"I guess more playmates to begin with," said Jason "At the time I was still hanging with Bulk and Skull a lot..."
"Did you speck to Bulk and Skull?"
"Yes," said Jason "They used to love the fact that I only talked to them at school..."
"So who did you speck to first...properly... Kim?" Guessed Tommy knowing Jason and Kim had a closed friendship. "Or was it Trini...she can get anyone to talk... Or Zack?..."
"Out of the group...that would be...Kim..." Said Jason "we were paired together to do a project about animals...we ended up doing ours on the Platypus... I knew stuff about them but didn't know how to spell some of the words so I whisper to Kim what I knew...Apparently she could barely hear me," said Jason "The trouble happen later when we have to show the project to the class and everyone had to talk...".
"Dare I asked what happen?" Asked Tommy painting a picture of a trouble angry young boy.
"I run out of class and lock myself in a cupboard," said Jason "They almost had to knock down the door. After that they were lots of meeting and lots of arguments."
"You carry on talking to Kim?"
"kind of. We started to make up a serect hand language, it was pretty cool. How about you take a trun reading the map?" Asked Jason changing the subject.
"When did Jason start talking to you too?" Question Tommy to Zack back in the tent that evening. "He told he started hanging around with Billy but..."
"He didn't talk to me for a while," said Zack getting into his sleeping bag "By the time we become firends Jason had more or less got over the whole not talking thing,"
"Its slightly different for me cos he would come over at lest once a week," said Billy "When that first started to happen he wouldn't say a word. But he stated too then we play make believe games... Nothing huge just a few words here or there..."
"Did he talk to his parents?"
Billy and Zack shared a look, "You do know that Jason's dad isn't he biological one right?" Asked Zack. Tommy shock his head, "Well, Jason real dad turn out to be a real jerk. That properly why Jason had so much trouble early on...Jason never talk about him though..."
"So Colin is Jason's stepdad," said Tommy
"Technically specking yes," said Billy "But he see Jason as his son and Jason see him as his dad...they had a bumpy start but Colin was the one who got Jason into karate..."
"So Jason just slowly stated hanging with you guys and just as slowly left Bulk and Skull?"
"Yes basically," said Zack "Just don't ask Jase about his dad...real dad... He wasn't a nice person..."
"Don't worry I won't," promised Tommy.
It wasn't till a few weeks after the camping trip that got Tommy thinking about Jason background again. Jason was called to read aloud, Jason had been asked to do this in the past but now Tommy was noticing little details like Jason holding the book a little tighter and his shoulder tensing. Tommy guess it was because he now knew Jason spend years not talking in school. He guessed that it all caused some anxieties in Jason still, and its something Jason had to face almost everyday.
Tommy could help but feel angry towards Jason unknown father. It was clear that Jason real father wasn't a nice person and obviously scared the younger Jason. Jason could of easily become a bully like Bulk and Skull - maybe worst.
It was Zack who filled in some missing information. Zack had asked Jason of he could tell Tommy about his father and Jason had agreed - only if Tommy didn't asked him any questions.
"He was an drunk, a mean drunk," explain Zack "I don't think he ever lay a finger on Jason but I think he hurt his mom. " Zack paused for a moment "Once when Jase was at Billy's they must of been ten...his dad showed up out of his mind... Must of been drinking and took drugs...of course Billy's parents wouldn't let Jason go with him. He when mental and they had to phone the police..."
"The police?"
"Yeh, he been arrested more than once. He is actually in prison now - armed robbery," said Zack
"So why didn't Jason mom just leave him?"
"I don't think its that easy man," said Zack "He likes to scares people, likes to have the power over them...but in the end they go a estranging order against him... Not that he alway payed attention to it..."
"He didn't"
"Showed up at school im a middle of a lesson," said Zack "We could hear him out in the playground yelling. The school went into lockdown and the police were called..."
"That must of be scary,"
"We were all scared out of our wits," said Zack "We all were taken into the hall so we didn't witness any more drama..."
"When is he getting out?" Asked Tommy
"Not for ages," said Zack "But Jason hasn't seen him since just after that. Then he got the counselling session he really needed started Karate and moves on with his life..."
"It's not that easy,"
"No, but Jason going the best he can, look at him now...he's the red ranger. He fights evil, he is not his dad never has been..."
Jason POV
My earliest memory is of my parents fighting. Mom tried to shield me from it the best she could - but she couldn't stop me hearing the heated words and rises voices, she couldn't stop me seeing her bruise or broken objects around the house. She couldn't stop the images I saw though cracks in the door.
Mom started to take me to my uncles apartment when things got really bad. My uncle didn't want to watch me but at lest he didn't shout or drink himself stupid. My uncle didn't know how to talk to kids so I had to entertain myself.
It was at my uncle apartment I first meet Bulk, a boy who had his own prombles. We become friends, Bulk mother got excited when i come over, I remember we watch a lot of tv. It wasn't long before I use to climb the fire escape up to Bulk apartment. It was nice to have a firend - before that I hadn't know any other children.
At home everything was tense and the fighting never stopped it only got worst. More than once the police showed up - they were scary, more so than my father - at lest my father didn't carry guns on him. My father told me that the police were the bad guys.
The day before I started school my father told me I can tell no one what happen at home. If I did tell I would be taken away forever. I wasn't allowed to tell them about the fighting, he told me all grown up fight and everyone would think I was silly little boy.
I hated my first day of school. Even if I was with Bulk. I cried and cried the first day because I though school was an horrible place and that the teachers were just like the police - I thought they were all bad people.
The second day I cried again, the teacher tried to talk to me but I didn't talk back - she though I was shy. Bulk had become firends with Skull we played spies.
After over a week without talking the teacher had meeting with my parents. Only my mom showed up. That was the first of many meetings.
The teachers were at a lost what to do with me. I didn't talk, didn't put up my hand, or wanted their attention in any way. The first time they told me off I though they would send me away or tell my father I was bad...I didn't know what was worst.
My father broke mom nose once with a frying pan. She had to go to hospital - my father said she tripped over my toys. Only I didn't have many, all the money went on his drinking.
I had to draw an picture of my family at school. I drew me and mom then draw my father in a box. I didn't want him to hurt mom again. The teacher asked me about the picture and of course I didn't answer...Maybe they were beginning to guess what was happening.
Bulk and Skull used to play ninjas, I did too. Bulk and Skull used to let me play with them, the other kids were slightly scared of me, while I played with Bulk and Skull I sometime forgot about my parents and enjoy myself.
Bulk and Skull used to tease some of the other kids, I didn't say anything. Bulk and Skull were my only firends - I didn't want to be alone.
One day a older boy called me names. I got angry, when my father got angry he punched and shouted. I started kicking the bins, I heard something behind me and saw Billy. He was looking at me with big open eyes, I knew he was scared. I spoke and then started to cry. I was sure Billy would go and get a teacher but he didn't. I never ask him why he didn't.
After that I started to go around Billy house. I wouldn't speck at first but Billy patents talk to me and they never thought I was stupid. Billy house was homey and safe.
I still played with Bulk and Skull but now I had Billy as well. Billy was different to Bulk and Skull. Bulk and Skull were easy for me to understand but I didn't like how mean they could be. Billy was sometimes hard to understand but he was friendly to everyone.
One day I was playing at Billy house after school when my father come to take me home. He had been drinking and he took something else too. Billy's parents refused to let me go with him. My father got mad and they phoned the police. I though Billy would hate me - but he didn't.
One day mom took me to a shelter home for women and children. She had enough of my dad. We slept in one room and we could hear the drama from the other families. I though my father would come and take us back, he would let walls or door stop him. I knew this because he broken doors down before.
He did try, he tried to take off with me in his car. But mom already told me not to go with him, no matter what. I ran all the way to the shelter with my fathers words in my head. He also showed up at the shelter, he was scary. I watched from the window as the police come and took him away again.
My mother got a restraining order against my dad. Then he showed up at school out of his mind with drinks and drugs. I was filled with horror, everyone now knew how my father was now. I was embarrassed and scared. Some kids said mean things to me
He showed up once more. He told me he hated me, I told him that I hated him too and I never wanted to see him again. He was surprise I spoke like that to him. He was angry and so was I. I told him I would phone the police and they will come and arrested him and I hope that they feed him worms. He said nasty things back to me as well. Billy's dad had to drag me away.
I never saw my father again.
My mother and me started to rebuild our lifes. I had to go to counselling and so did my mom. I didn't want to talk to them not back then.
Then my mom meet a new man at first I hated him and didn't trust him. Colin took his time he never shouted at me, or at my mom. He took me to my first baseball game, and taugh me to ride a bike, but I was still angry.
Colin knew why I was angry. He told me he promise never to hurt my mom or me. He promised he wouldn't touch any alcohol if I didn't want him to. He said he would alway listens to me if I needed to talk.
I was still angry.
Colin took me to karate lessons and taught me to box. He taugh me how to deal with my anger. Bulk and Skull found it funny and tested me - but Colin become my hero. Slowly I stated hanging around with Billy, Kim, Zack and Trini more. I didn't mean for my friendship with Bulk and Skull to end like it did...but sometimes things like that happen.
One day he asked me if I was okay if he married my mom. I was. Then a few days later after he and my mom got engaged I asked Colin and my mom if I could chance my surname too. I asked I Colin can become my dad, he said yes.
I hardly think about my real dad anymore. Mom told me when be was send to prison but I didn't feel nothing.
Now I am a power Ranger i can protect people from bullies. I know what it like to be bullied and scared - now I can help.