Disclaimer: Power Rangers Dino Thunder belongs to Disney. Not me…..I'm not making any profit from this. But I do own the morphing call. And any characters you don't recognize, they belong to me
Author's Note: For friendships new and old, may the ring of strong friendships never end
Time line: Part of PR normal time line. Jason disappears after Forever Red again.
Old Wounds
Inside the busy Chicago airport, passengers rushed from one place to another without a glance, nor a care in the world.
But the same could not be said for a figure in a red shirt and black jeans. He dialed a number and waited for someone on the other end to pick up. After several rings he began to get impatient.
"Come on, pick up the phone." His voice, deep, yet rich at the same time, was on edge. He had flown from New York after a two week visit and was routed via Chicago, due to the fact that a direct flight from New York wasn't available.
"Hello." His dad's voice came over the phone, he groaned, no one was home. "You have reached the Scott residence. Please leave your message along with a contact number."
He grumbled, "Hey Mom, Dad. It's Jase. I'm going to be home tomorrow. Come and pick me up around one-thirty pm. Love you both." He hung up, a smile beaming on his face at the thought of his parents.
He sighed. But he still had yet to face his leaving for the third time, disappearing without a word. It was something he wasn't prepared for. But he wasn't sure when he would be.
He grabbed his duffel bag and walked towards the exit. His flight was ten-thirty tomorrow morning.
A week later he strolled through the familiar surroundings of Angel Grove High. Memories of his years here came alive with each step. Most of those times were when he was the Red Ranger. God, he sighed, time sure does fly.
He gulped when he heard the echo of a voice he thought was long gone.
"Hey Jason," The figure in yellow greeted him and turned her attention back to the man in blue next to her. The life in those eyes was now gone, and the smile…
He shook his head sadly as he turned a corner. He shut his eyes to stop the tears from forming.
"Hey Angela, how about you and me get together tonight," Zack was heard saying.
"No thanks, Zack," Angela said as she closed her locker.
The images faded into nothing, in their wake they left the silent hallway of Angel Grove High, dark and cold.
Shaking his head, he climbed the stairs to the second story of the school where the Science department was.
He watched him, tall, dark and little bit dangerous. The man on the other side of the door, teaching the class, had gained few pounds since he last saw him. He smirked. Tommy Oliver as he knew him was full of unexpected surprises.
Ahem - Dr. Tommy Oliver, he corrected mentally. He was surprised when his parents told him that Tommy had gotten a degree in science. All those tutoring sessions with Billy must have paid off.
The sound of the bell going off got him back to reality. And he watched the students fill the empty hallway with their presence and chatter.
Now or never, he prayed and walked towards the open door, stopping when he saw Tommy talking to three teens. He smiled as he leaned against the doorway and watched. Teens and trouble did mix together, just ask Bulk and Skull.
Conner McBride; the current Red Ranger's attention was pulled away by a movement near the doorway. He saw a guy in a red shirt and blue jeans leaning and smiling. And he frowned.
Who in the world is he? he thought. But then again the guy didn't look dangerous. He could be the enemy for all he knew. He hated to admit the fact he wasn't as much experienced with the Ranger stuff as Dr. Oliver.
"Um…Dr. Oliver..."
"Yes, Conner?" Tommy replied.
"Sir, there is someone standing near the door," Conner began, "and I believe you-know-who sent him." He coughed, as if he was trying to cover up the words.
Tommy frowned at Conner's words. And turned to see what was worrying him. With one look at his old friend, Tommy smiled and walked to greet his one-time leader.
Ethan saw the change on his mentor's face from a frown to a smile. He gave a frown mixed with confusion. To his surprise, Tommy walked towards the man.
Kira looked worriedly at Conner, as she pushed back her brown hair streaked with blond highlights. "What if this is a trap?" she asked, "He'll be walking right into it."
"Hey, can't we just trust Tommy?" he defended his mentor.
"You can do what you want, Ethan!" Kira glared at him.
"Ahem," Tommy coughed aloud; he had heard every single word.
All three current Rangers turned to face him.
"I would like all three of you to meet my best friend, Jason Lee Scott."
Ethan was the first to introduce himself. "Hi, I'm Ethan."
"Kira," the girl in yellow said.
"Conner," Conner replied not making any effort to be friendly. The tone of his voice clearly stated his feelings. "Now if you'll excuse me, Dr. Oliver, I have soccer practice to attend," he said as he collected his belongings and marched out.
"That went well," Jason said.
Conner hissed out a breath once he was out of the class. There was something strange about Jason, yet familiar. It was something he couldn't put his finger on. He wasn't a person who would be rude, and never intended to be rude. But this one time he was, and he hated it. Why, he wasn't sure.
He hissed out another breath before picking up his bag, and leaving for the practice.
"So, why did you leave?" Tommy asked his friend who was staring out of the window. He had dismissed the class not long ago because he was eager to talk to his friend.
Jason sighed, unsure of what to say. He stayed silent for a long time.
"Jason?" Tommy tried again.
Jason stared out the window, still not looking at his friend. How was he to explain why he had hidden again? He shook his head, clearing it of his rising thoughts.
"I can't say, Tommy," Jason said, his deep voice full of emotions, as he watched Conner practice.
"Of course you can; you just need time," Tommy said as he stood beside his friend. "Hey, we all know how much Trini's death affected you."
Jason turned sharply, and looked at Tommy with shock written on his face. His friend said it so calmly and gently it had him wondering what else Tommy knew of his feelings for the former Yellow Ranger. But what Tommy didn't know was that Jason and Trini were secretly married just a month before her untimely departure.
"How do you know?" Jason barely managed to say, as he watched Tommy walk to his desk and collect his stuff.
"We have been best friends since you broke the spell and…."
"And what?" Curiosity got better of him.
"And let me join the team," he whispered before making his way out of the class room.
That got Jason grinning. It was a memory he was very fond of. He could still feel the thrill of when he knew the spell was broken.
"True. But you're trying to change the subject here, Bro." There was a hint of amusement in his voice.
Tommy was unexpectedly struck with the humor in Jason's voice, he stayed calm and tried everything in his power not to jump up with joy. It had been years since his friend was himself. Or rather, close to it, this moment.
"Uh huh, sure Bro, whatever you say," Tommy said in a teasing tone as Jason caught up with him.
And the two old friends bantered like teenagers, as they climbed down the stairs.
Ethan and Kira sat near the picnic tables, eating burgers and drinking soft drinks, while watching Conner play.
"He's acting odd," Ethan said, after he sipped his drink.
"No kidding, I mean he was downright rude to Mr. Scott. He's lucky that Dr. Oliver wasn't pissed at him."
"Surprisingly, he wasn't. I think he was more happy to see his friend than worried about Conner's remark."
"Uh huh," she agreed as she took a bite of her burger.
"You know something?" Ethan began, "I find something familiar about him."
"About who?" Kira asked.
"Mr. Scott."
"Mr. Scott?" Kira exclaimed, and she choked on her burger.
"Yep."
"Like what?" she asked, coughing.
"I can't pinpoint it, but something is familiar," he said thoughtfully. "Like he's part of…" Ethan trailed off, unable to explain his theory.
"Part of?" she pressed her friend.
"I can't explain it," he said in annoyance and then frowned. He could solve a computer problem, kill a virus, take apart and put a computer together within minutes and he was having trouble explaining a simple situation, some genius he turned out to be.
"Ethan…are you all right?" Kira asked as she nudged him gently.
"Uh, oh yeah, I'm fine."
Some time passed as the two sat in silence.
No one had spoken until Ethan saw Tommy and Jason heading towards them.
"Uh oh, don't look now," Ethan said, his tone was almost singing.
"Why?" Kira asked, confused.
"Dr. Oliver is heading our way."
"Ouch," Kira said as she made a face. "Conner is good as dead."
"True," Ethan agreed. And sat up straight when Tommy approached the table.
"Okay guys, since school is over I'm taking Jason to my place, and when Conner finishes his soccer practice tell him to come and see me when he can, or he'll have detention for a week," Tommy said quickly before leaving.
"Ooohhh, now he's done it." Kira winced.
"Done what?" Conner joined his friends. He was breathing heavily; when he saw a cold drink on the table he grabbed it and drank it in one go.
"Nothing," Kira spoke up. "But you gotta see Dr. Oliver."
"Why?"
"He didn't say," Ethan told him and he shrugged. "But he did say if you don't see him, you'll get detention."
"What!!!!!!!" Conner's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe it, detention over what? He didn't do anything wrong as far as he remembered. "Okay, I'll see him on my way home!" and he flopped next to Ethan on the bench.
"Jason!" Kat greeted him with a hug and smiled. Tommy chuckled at his wife. She turned to give him a glare. "And you…" Her voice was stern and she wagged her finger at her husband. "… you never said anything about bringing him along!"
Tommy grinned. "Now Honey." He brought out his sweetest smile and voice. "I wanted to surprise you."
"Yeah right," the former Pink Ranger scoffed. "By the way, I'm offended that you don't have a Pink Ranger in the new team," she said as she guided Jason into her home. Tommy's jaw dropped open.
Jason's deep laugh could be heard. "Still haven't changed, have you?" he asked as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Hey, I resent that," Tommy said in a hurting tone. Kat laughed as she planted a kiss on Tommy's cheek.
"Poor falcon," she teased.
"If I'm the falcon, then who's he?" Tommy winked at Jason.
"The…well…um…The Gold Ranger." She shrugged.
"HA, beat that," Jason said as he poked his tongue out at Tommy.
"She's my wife, so there."
Jason felt like he had been stabbed with those words, wounded beyond repair, life went out of his eyes, his face firmed, and he nodded. "You win Bro," he said, before taking a deep breath. "So can I freshen up?" he asked Kat.
Pained and confused at Jason's change of emotions, Kat nodded. "Sure, I'll show you to the bathroom." She led the way, leaving Tommy standing in the lounge room.
Tommy frowned, as he watched Jason walking away. Jason was acting strange, not himself, not like the Jason he knew. There was a change in the former Red Ranger, he knew that for a fact, but what caused it he wasn't sure of. Tommy paced back and forth, trying to think of some way to approach Jason with this.
He remembered his friend's earlier reaction when he mentioned Trini. Tommy closed his eyes; remembering the pain of losing a beloved Yellow Ranger was hard, the news of her death was still fresh even after the three years since her passing. To him she was the only Yellow Mighty Morphing Power Ranger. Aisha was good, but she wasn't Trini, the quick minded, gentle and sharp.
Lost in his memories of the very first Yellow Ranger, he didn't notice the tears sliding down his own cheeks. She had been young, full of the life ahead of her, tragically cut short. The sound of the bell ringing brought him back to reality.
He frowned, wondering who could come here at this time of day. He walked towards the door as he wiped the tears from his face on the sleeve of his white shirt.
As he opened the door, on the other side stood the current Red Ranger. Conner.
"Conner?" he said, a bit surprised. He wasn't expecting the boy right now.
"That's my name." Conner grinned.
"Well, this is a surprise. Come in," he said as he gestured.
Conner nervously entered, last time he came here was right after he got the powers. But right this moment it was a different situation.
"Well, what brings you by?" Tommy asked.
"You wanted to see me, right?"
"Oh yeah." He had already forgotten about it.
"Tommy, who is it?" An Australian accent came for the kitchen as its owner made her way to the front door.
"Kat, I would like you to meet Conner," he told his wife, who happily shook Conner's hand. "Conner, this is my wife Kat."
"Mrs. Oliver," Conner said in a polite manner, but his face muscles flinched. He didn't expect anyone else to be around. He wanted to speak to Dr. Oliver alone.
"Why don't you two come in the kitchen. I'm making some fresh lemonade, you can talk it over while drinking."
"That won't be necessary, Mrs. Oliver, I'm not staying long."
"Please, I insist."
Conner looked over at Tommy, who shrugged in reply. And both followed Kat into the kitchen.
Jason sighed as he closed the door behind him. He knew Tommy wanted to know the reasons for his leaving, and about how he felt about Trini's death. He was in the car when she died. Sitting next to her, talking and laughing along, but neither of them had seen the other car coming.
What happened after that was a blur, he only remembered slight details of it. His Trini died on impact. And there was nothing they could do to save her.
His eyes opened and closed. He was barely breathing.
"His pulse is too low," he had heard someone say.
"Trini…Tri.." he was losing the battle to live.
"Who's Trini?" the first man asked again.
"His companion from the accident," a female voice said.
"Dr. Crane, what's the patient's situation?"
"His or hers?" she asked as she wrote a note on the clipboard.
"He's going be fine," she said. "But the other one…" He never finished hearing her words since he was unconscious.
He was still in the hospital, two weeks to the day since the crash. No one had told him anything about Trini's condition. He had asked, but no one had the courage to tell him.
He was getting impatient with the nurses' murmurs behind his back. Just when he was going to shout at the person who was coming inside the room to leave him alone, he saw his doctor walk in.
"Hello Jason, My name is Camille Crane, and I happened to be the attending doctor when you and your friend were brought in."
"My wife," he whispered.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."
"Trini's my wife," he said, after taking a deep breath. "And I'm still waiting to know how she is."
"Mr…Mr. Scott," Dr. Crane said when she found her voice, "I'm sorry to tell you your wife died at the scene."
Color drained from his face. "No, that's…that's a lie," he protested.
"I'm really am sorry, Mr. Scott..."
Jason's world was shattered after that. How he survived without her love for the last three years, he didn't know. He would continue to live, with or without her. But his life was now pointless, and he didn't have anyone to share his joys and his sorrows with.
That was itself a curse, he thought, as the tears slid down his cheeks. He got up from the floor and turned on the water, splashing the cold liquid on his face. Afterwards he grabbed the towel and wiped his face.
He knew it was time to face the music, and exited the bathroom.
TO BE CONTINUED…….
R&R….please on your way out…yes that tiny box which says submit review
