The Highliner

by A Warrior's Prophet

Five years ago, a former Ranger disappeared out of the lives of those he called 'friend'. He shut himself off from everyone he knew and cared about. What made him change? What will he do when confronted with someone from his past? SLASH

1. What Was Lost Is Now Found

The Highliner

By A Warrior's Prophet

Disclaimers: No money is made from this story. The characters you recognize are the property of Saban—any you don't are from our fertile little imaginations.

Summary: Five years ago, a former Ranger disappeared out of the lives of those he called 'friend'. He shut himself off from everyone he knew and cared about. What made him change? What will he do when confronted with someone from his past?

Authors' Notes: Rated Mature for violence, language, and sexual situations. If you're not comfortable with slash, please hit that Back button now.

Chapter 1—What Was Lost Is Now Found

Jason pulled his bike into a spot and brought it to a stop before settling it into position. Swinging his leg over the seat, he stood there for a few minutes, looking over the cars in the lot. With a deep breath of the cool night air, he unzipped his leather jacket and ran a hand once more through his short, somewhat spiked hair.

It was different than his work look with the scrub top being replaced by a black T-shirt that clung to his chest like a second skin framed by the leather jacket. The dark blue of his jeans hugged his legs and left very little to the imagination. There was no wallet in his back pocket, leaving the view unobstructed. He might not have been as trim as he once was, but the years had been good to him and left him with a decent body. His money and ID rested in his left front pocket while his keys and phone were in the right. It left many to wonder how he was able to get the items in there the way the jeans fit.

He wore black leather biker boots and a simple black belt cinched his waist. With a last tweak to the silver hoop earring he wore, Jason strode towards the black doors of the club. In the background, the beat of the music competed for dominance against the crash of the waves as the tide started coming in.

Tonight he was there as just another patron, trying to leave a part of the day, or their life, behind if only for a few hours. As he pushed through the heavy doors, the former Gold Ranger nodded at the doorman and stepped through joining the crowd as he slowly worked his way towards the bar.

Strobe lights offered the only lighting aside from the lights on the underside of the bar, adding mystery to the atmosphere of The Highliner. A grin brought the bartender over and a wink got his order before several others. The shot was downed quickly before taking the beer and seeking out a secluded corner where he could watch the floor.

-o-O-o-

Sometime later, a jeep pulled into the parking lot of the same club. The driver had been told by the front desk of his hotel that The Highliner was a good place to hang out and meet people. The man had just gotten into town and didn't relish the idea of a long night alone in his room. Hearing the music coming from the dark building, the former Ranger Commander smiled slightly and checked his hair again quickly in his rear view mirror. He wasn't really looking for anything in particular in this club-he was just tired of being alone. He straightened his jeans and shirt after getting out of the jeep and headed toward the front door behind a couple who had parked near him.

After paying and showing his ID at the door, Tommy walked further into the darkened club, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the lighting-or lack thereof. He managed to spot the bar and headed for it, squeezing in between a couple of other men to place his order with the attractive bartender. Beer in hand, he turned back around to see if he could find an open barstool.

The gray eyes spotted the newcomer quickly and nodded towards him while leaning over to his friend. "He'll work and since I've never seen him around here, it's not likely he'll be missed." He grinned coldly. "Go get the room ready for our 'guest'."

Straightening up, he walked towards the bar, purposefully bumping the stranger's elbow as he slid his glass forward. "Sorry about that." He grinned, meeting the warm, chocolate eyes. "Kinda crowded in here tonight."

"Yeah, it is. First time I've been here-is it always like this?" Tommy asked, taking a drink of his beer and leaning slightly towards the other man so he could hear his response.

He laughed softly. "Gets worse when there's a live band and on Saturdays, but yeah, for the most part it's like this all the time." He nodded at the bartender, cutting his eyes towards his new 'friend', before taking a sip from his fresh drink. "So you said it's your first time here, are you looking for someone in particular?" He leaned in a little closer. "Or are you just looking?"

"Just looking mainly," he replied with a slight smile. He was old enough to know better than to give too much information to a complete stranger.

"Hmmm, you know I can help you stop looking for the night." He gave the man a soft smile.

Tom raised an eyebrow at the guy. "And just what did you have in mind?" He wasn't sure if this stranger was propositioning him or offering to introduce him to someone else. Tom figured he'd play along for the moment.

"How about I leave that up to you?" He leaned in closer, his warm breath brushing against the other man's ear. "But I'm open for anything." He let a finger run lightly up and down the arm next to him.

The former Commander chuckled lightly. "And just what makes you think I swing that way?" Tommy had never thought that his orientation was evident to a casual observer. He did happen to be bi, but he wondered how this complete stranger could have picked up on this fact so quickly.

He laughed softly. "Because if you didn't, you would have swung at me by now or told me to get lost." He brought a hand up and let the back of it ghost over the slightly stubbled cheek. "So the ball's in your court, but I promise you that you'll have an unforgettable time with me tonight."

Taking a step closer, he rubbed his leg against the other man's, watching as a small shiver ran through his 'target'. 'Got him', he thought and then he leaned in again, putting his mouth against the stranger's neck, he nibbled lightly for a moment before pulling back to meet the other man's eyes.

Jason looked around. He hadn't really seen anyone he was interested in so far, but a couple might have promise if he could ever see their faces. One of them was leaning against the bar and seemed to be getting an interesting offer. Something about the stranger's posture was familiar to the Original Red Ranger, but he couldn't put his finger on why.

Taking a quick breath, Tommy looked at this very forward stranger. He wasn't one to pick up people in bars-it just wasn't his style. At the moment though, Thomas Oliver was feeling lonely and a bit sorry for himself and maybe this complete stranger could boost his self-esteem. "Well, we could talk about it. I'm not promising anything just yet though." He looked around for a quieter place. "Is there anywhere in here where we can hear ourselves think?" he asked, flashing a warm smile.

He returned the smile before nodding at the bartender. "Two more beers." When he got them, Brad made sure that the one on the right went to his new 'friend'. "Come on, I know a place we can go talk without having to scream." With a grin, he nodded his head towards a hallway just off to their left.

Taking the offered drink, Tommy followed the man around the bar and down the short hallway. He took a couple of long drinks of his beer, trying to calm his nerves just a bit. When they came to a doorway on the right, the former Ranger looked at his new friend and then followed him through the door.

As the two men departed, Jason was able to catch a glimpse of the one and felt his heart leap into his throat. "Tommy," the word was breathed out on a whisper as a myriad of emotions ran through him. He watched them walk down the hallway, numb as flashes of his past hit him full force.

Once the target was through the door, a dark-haired man clipped him over the head with practiced ease, watching their prey hit the floor like a sack of flour. Brad shut the door and locked it after two more men entered the room. It only took a few minutes to strip the man down to his boxers and tie him to the 'T'. The cold metal frame was open, allowing them access from all angles. With a cold grin, one of the men grabbed a bucket of cold water and threw it onto the man now bound and tied for their enjoyment. "Time to wake up, sweetheart."

The first thing Tommy was aware of was the blinding pain coming from the back of his head. The last thing he'd known, he was walking behind this guy that he'd just met. Now he struggled to open his eyes and realized that his arms were tied. "Wha-what're you doing? What's goin' on?" he managed to get out, but with difficulty. He pulled at the restraints that held his arms and found that he was bound tight.

A man with dark blond hair squatted in front of the bound man. "What's going on is that we are going to show you what happens to people like you." He grinned maliciously. "It'll be fun for us, but I seriously doubt you'll enjoy it."

Brad stepped forward into their captive's line of sight. "I told you I'd make tonight unforgettable for you."

Even through the haze caused by the blow to the head, Tom understood what they were getting at. He pulled harder at the restraints, trying his best to get away. "Why are you doing this? I haven't done anything to you!" he yelled as best he could. He legs were bound too, it seemed, as he couldn't seem to move them very well. "Don't...please," he said when he saw one of the men leering at him and coming closer.

Chuckling softly, the man slid his belt free of the loops. "Go ahead and scream. No one's gonna hear you over the music." He stepped behind him, letting the leather tease over his skin. For several minutes, he just let the cool leather of the strap caress the bound man and when he relaxed slightly, the man holding it drew it back and flicked it forward, striking sharply against the bare skin.

"Aaaagggghhhhhhh! ...Stop!" Tommy screamed, hoping that despite what they had said that maybe someone would hear him.

The man laughed, landing several more strikes in quick succession, not giving their prisoner time to catch his breath. When he finally saw blood, he stopped and nodded at Brad.

Brad moved forward and jerked the man's head up. "Now boy, you're gonna show us just what else you can do with that mouth."

Shaking his head, Jason left the rest of his beer on the table and started making his way across the club to the hallway. If it was Tommy, then he wanted to make sure his old friend was okay. There were times the activities in the private rooms could get a little out of hand and the doctor didn't want that to happen to his friend.

Tommy was gasping and moaning from the pain in his back. Fear was welling up inside him as he realized that there wasn't much he could do in his present situation. All those years of fighting bad guys from all over the universe and winning... now he was at the mercy of four or five deranged guys who seemed intent on beating the hell out of him. A terrible thought went through his head. 'I've seen their faces now. What are they gonna do with me after they're done?' he wondered, realizing that he might never see the dawn.

Brad nodded at one of the other men who'd been over in the corner. The man with jet black hair stepped forward, unbuttoning his pants and sliding the zipper down as he did. "Such a pretty mouth. Now it's time to see how much you want to live." He stopped in front of the man. "Suck me or I guarantee you won't like what happens next."

As scared as he was, Thomas Oliver wasn't about to let himself be used like that. "Fuck you!" he yelled, making the most menacing face that he could muster.

Growling, Brad struck the man hard, coming in from the side. "You'll do as he says or you're gonna know the meaning of the word 'fucked' my friend."

Tommy growled at them, attempting to let them know that he was gonna fight to the last. "Let me go!" he yelled, struggling against his restraints once more.

Brad struck him again and then grabbed hold of the back of his neck. "Keep fighting this and we'll put a collar on you, dog." He nodded at the other man, who stepped forward once again, pulling out his half-hard cock as he did. When it seemed the man bound before him was going to fight, another man stepped up and with Brad's help they held his head steady.

Jason finally found the only locked room and decided that no matter what, he was getting his friend out of there. Taking a step back, he raised a booted foot and with one hard blow sent the door flying inward. As he stepped into the room, he winced, recognizing Tommy and the state that he was in. "Let him go." His voice was cold, hard, and held a distinct air of command to it.

All of the men looked up in surprise when Jason busted the door down, half-expecting it to be the police. "And just what are you gonna do if we don't?" one of them asked in defiance.

Tommy had heard a loud voice and noticed that his attackers had taken notice, but he was unable to turn his head to see who had busted in.

Shrugging, the former Gold Ranger settled into a loose fighting stance. "Guess I'm gonna get a workout today after all." When the first man stepped forward, Jason took him out quickly with a round kick to the head. Before he was fully recovered from delivering the stunning kick, he heard movement behind him and struck out with a punishing back kick. That left three other men in the room. "Your best bet is to try and leave before the cops get here." A wicked grin split his face. "And since I'm sometimes a bouncer here, trust me; they'll believe what I say."

Brad stood up, delivering a backhand to their prisoner before removing and wrapping his own belt around his hand. "Well then, bring it on asshole."

Tom tasted blood from the cuts to his mouth and still felt what had to be blood running down his back. He knew that someone had shown up to help him, but he still had no idea who it was or if he could take on all these men by himself. While they were distracted, the former Ranger tried again to get loose, pulling at the ropes that bound his wrists to the metal frame.

Settling in, Jason faced the man before him and realized that if he took this man down, the others might leave quietly. "Relax bro, it'll be okay." It was the first words he'd spoken to his friend in over five years and to just get them out allowed a calm to spread through him.

Brad's eyes narrowed as he realized that the two men knew each other and swung wildly, but as that blow was deflected, the man hammered in the belt wrapped hand to the wanna-be savior's ribs.

'I know that voice,' Tommy thought momentarily as he continued to struggle. He didn't have time to concern himself with that right now, however. He knew that the man that had lured him back to this torture chamber was now fighting with the newcomer. 'I gotta get outta here...no matter what, I gotta get loose.'

Jason grunted as he moved with the blow only to drive his elbow into the guys face, breaking his nose. The Original Red Ranger gave no quarter as he delivered blow after blow until the other man was senseless on the floor. Glaring at the remaining men, Jason could feel the blood from a lucky blow to the side of his head running down near his eye. "You've got two choices: join your friends on the floor or get the hell out of here. The cops will be told, I promise you, but at least you'll have a sporting chance."

Deciding that maybe tonight was not the night to push their luck, the remaining attackers wasted no time in running out the door, hoping to get away from the club fast enough not to be caught by the police.

Having no idea that he was now alone with Jason, Tommy was still fighting for everything he was worth to get free of his restraints. "Help me, please...oh God, please let me get loose," he pleaded as he fought.

Slowly, Jason moved closer to his friend. "Tommy, easy man. You're safe now, bro."

"Help me! Whoever you are, please...get me loose!" he said with desperation in his voice.

Sinking down on one knee, he knelt beside his friend. "Falcon, relax for me and I'll get you out of there. Trust me like you did the day we got you away from Rita."

At last, recognition came to Tommy as he turned and looked into the face of his old friend. "Jase? How did... oh God, get me outta here, Jase!" he cried.

"I'm going to, but you need to be still for me so that I can make sure letting you go isn't going to hurt you." He moved closer, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder as he pulled a knife from his boot. "Hold still for me Tom." Before cutting his friend free, Jason made sure that there was no skin in danger of being severed. After the man's hands were free, Jason stood up and moved behind him. He winced at the lash marks that marred the heavily muscled and inked back, but quickly undid the shackles holding the former Ranger to the floor. Only then did the cut the last ropes. "All right, I'm going to help you take a seat on this bench before we work on getting out of the club, okay?"

Tom nodded and allowed Jason to do as he wished, trusting him completely. As he moved, he grimaced and whimpered slightly, his back causing him considerable pain. He closed his eyes and tried to get past it so that he'd be some good to Jason as they tried to get out of the building.

Kneeling in front of his friend, Jason carefully lifted his chin up. "Tom, I need you to open your eyes and look at me." His voice was gentle, but carried a tone that demanded the small order be obeyed.

The large brown eyes opened, focusing on the Original Red Ranger's face. "Where are my clothes?" he asked in a low voice, feeling ashamed at being found in such a state.

"They're on the floor behind me. I'll give you your pants and shirt, but I gotta tell you man, your back is a mess. Now you've got a choice-I can take you to the hospital and let them check you out." He paused for a moment, not wanting to overwhelm the man. "Or I can take you back to my place and clean you up there."

Considering his options for a moment, Tommy finally decided that he couldn't take the embarrassment of having to explain what happened to him to nurses and doctors. And if the medical report got back to his employers on the Reefside School Board, he could very well lose his job. "Your place... please," he said, almost pleading with his longtime friend.

"Alrighty then, let's get you dressed. We'll leave through the back. It'll be a longer walk to get back to the front of the club, but it'll be easier than trying to work our way through the crowd."

It took several minutes, but finally Jason had helped Tommy back into his clothes and onto his feet. "Okay Tom, let's get you out of here." He slid an arm around the former Ranger Commander's waist, being careful to keep his hands away from the raw area. "I hope you have a car because I rode my bike here."

Tommy felt his pants pockets to make sure his wallet and keys were still there. Miraculously, they were. "Yeah, my jeep is outside. What are you gonna do about your bike?" he asked, limping a bit and leaning into Jason's body for support.

"Sometimes I do a little bouncer work here. If the doormen see my bike still here at closing, they'll put it in a small fenced area for me to pick up later." He laughed softly. "Wouldn't be the first time that I've taken a cab home."

By the time they reached the Jeep, Jason could tell the other man was in pain. "It's about ten minutes to my place and once we get there, I can give you something for the pain."

Tommy just nodded. He needed help to get into the passenger side of the Jeep and once seated, he tried to rest as much as he could. He knew that his shirt was sticking to the blood on his back. All he wanted to do was lie down somewhere safe.

Once he was in the Jeep, Jason buckled them both in and headed for his place. He slowed down as he came to the road that headed towards the small house near the beach. It was quiet, close to town and offered him a place to meditate and workout without having to spend a fortune. As they got closer, a loud bark was heard and a large yellow lab followed by a slightly smaller dog came to greet the vehicle. Jason pulled a remote out of his jacket pocket and opened the garage, driving straight in with the dogs following. After turning the car off, he climbed out as the door started closing and the lights inside came on automatically. "All right you two, go lay down." He gave them each a quick scratch before pointing to a corner that was one big dog bed. "Bed." The pair went and lay down, watching their master and this new person with interest. Coming up to the passenger side, he grinned at Tommy. "They're a little nosy, but have a bark that's a lot worse than their bite."

The former Green Ranger loved dogs, but right now he couldn't care less. He grimaced and groaned as Jason helped him from the Jeep, leaning once more on his friend. "Hurts," was all he could get out, finding it harder to walk now than before.

"It's about 50 feet to the den. I need to get you at least there before I can start to help you." He slipped his arm back around his friend's waist, frowning at the wetness he found there, but said nothing. He opened the door leading into the house and flicked on the light. Slowly, he made his way through the utility room and into the den. With an ease born of years of practice, he helped his friend take a seat on the solid wood coffee table. "I'd let you sit on the couch, but I've got to be able to get to your back." Jason stepped back a bit. "Will you be okay for a few minutes? I don't want you to do anything but sit here."

Tommy sat leaned forward with his hands on his knees, trying to stay upright. "Yeah, but not for too long," he said, his breathing becoming more labored. He groaned again and let his head hang down, unable to hold it up anymore.

"I'll be quick." Shaking his head as he jogged through the house, Jason was starting to think that maybe he should have taken his friend to the hospital. With a soft sigh, he grabbed the two bags he used when he rode on the rig before going to the bathroom where he filled a basin with water and grabbed a towel. Going back into the living room, he set the items down on the floor. "Okay Tom, looks like my night off from the hospital is still going to make me keep in practice." He slid on a pair of gloves and grabbed the trauma shears from his bag. "I'm just gonna cut your shirt off and where it's sticking to your back, I'm going to wet with some saline so it'll come off easier."

Tommy nodded slowly and groaned softly again. The muscles in his arms were beginning to quiver, letting Jason know that he wouldn't be able to hold himself up much longer.

When he had most of the shirt off, Jason set the shears down. "Come on, let's get you laying down on the couch." Carefully, he pulled his friend forward and then up, taking most of his weight before easing Tommy facedown onto the couch. He turned the bruised face to the side and slid a pillow under Tommy's head. "I need you to talk to me, T. Where all does it hurt besides your back?" Opening a bottle of saline, he slowly started to pour it onto the material still stuck to the shredded back.

"My jaw and my mouth hurt. That's it besides my back. God only knows what would've happened to me if you hadn't gotten there, though." He tried his best to relax as much as possible so that Jason could help him.

"Yeah well, I've got a pretty good idea and tomorrow, we'll both have to file reports with the cops." As he let the solution work on the stuck clothes, Jason started to exam his friend. When he came to the knot on the back of Tommy's head, he frowned. "Did you lose consciousness Falcon?"

"Yeah, I must have. One minute I was fine and the next I was tied up. They must've hit me over the head with something."

"I really should have taken you to the hospital." He sighed. "Well, it limits what I can give you for pain, but there are a couple of things that I'll do to make what I can give you more effective." He moved into Tommy's line of vision. "Guess it's time for me to actually put that medical degree I've got to use, huh?"

"Yeah, sorry about this, Rex. I didn't mean for any of this..." he started to say but trailed off when the pain got worse and he groaned. "Ah damn..."

"Easy Falcon," He started digging in his smaller bag. "I need you to rate the pain for me."

"It's about an 8 in my back and about the same in my head. My face is feeling like a 5 or so."

"All right, I'm going to give you a mild pain killer combined with an anti-inflammatory plus a mild muscle relaxer. Everything combined, it should help reduce the pain and take care of some of the swelling that's likely to happen. The muscle relaxer will help with your back by reducing the tension in the muscles there." As he talked, the former Gold Ranger worked fluidly, drawing up the required meds and gathering the things he'd need to give the injection. "I'm gonna give this to you in your hip. It'll act pretty quickly, but I need you to keep talking to me."

"Okay, I'll try," Tom said and then whimpered a bit, unable to hold it back. "How bad does my back look?"

Setting the cap back on the used syringe, Jason sighed. "I'm not gonna lie to you, bro. Right now, your back's a mess, but I'm not sure how much of it is just from blood that's been smeared around and how much of it is actual damage. Once I get the rest of your shirt off and clean the area up a bit, I'll know better." He tested a bit of the soaked material and found it gave easily. "Here we go." Bit by bit, he slowly removed the bloody remains of his best friend's shirt.

"Go ahead," Tommy said wincing and grimacing as Jason began to peel the cloth away. He groaned several times when the pain got to him, but tried his best to stay still. "You almost done?" he asked after several minutes.

"Almost. There's one piece that's sticking to one of the deeper cuts." He grabbed the saline bottle and poured some more onto the area, feeling the material give and he was able to remove it the rest of the way. "That's the last of it." Putting the ruined shirt aside, he grabbed the towel and started gently patting the area dry so he could see what he was doing. "Well, most of the bleeding's stopped, which is good."

"Gonna need stitches, I guess, right?"

"Only in a few places, most of the cuts are just superficial." He put a hand on his friend's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "I hope you've gotten used to sleeping on your stomach because for the next couple of weeks you'll be doing a lot of it."

"Oh great. Sleeping on my stomach usually makes my back really stiff. I'm a side-sleeper, usually," he groaned.

"If you sleep on your side, you're going to have to be really careful, especially after I put the stitches in."

"Great, well...just be careful of the ink. I spent a lotta money on those tats," he said, shaking his head a bit. After a moment of listening to Jason chuckle, he suddenly realized what his old friend had said. "Wait a minute...YOU'RE gonna put the stitches in?"

"Yep, I sure am," Jason answered.

"Bro, I know you're an EMT and all, but... can you do that?"

"Tom, I stopped being just an EMT after that last mission together. I'm a doctor now, so yeah, I can do that." Reaching out, Jason grabbed a bottle and opened it, pouring a little into the water he'd brought from the bathroom. "Now, I need to clean these cuts up before I can do anything else."

"You're a doctor? A real doctor? No fuckin' way..." Tom said, momentarily forgetting about some of the pain. He turned as best he could to look at Jason.

"For a few years now. The Peace Conference courses let me skip almost a full year of college. Got my associate's about a year after I left you guys as a Ranger." As he talked, he worked on cleaning the cuts. "I went to school and took extra courses so that I finished out my bachelor's in little over a year. The college fund mom and dad set up for me helped a lot and I worked on the weekends for extra money. I'd finished my third year of med school when I went off to help you guys on the Red mission. Finished my residency here in Seattle a couple of years ago."

"But why didn't you say anything the last time I saw you? We talked several times during that mission... Oww!" he suddenly exclaimed.

Jason's hand slipped as he fought to keep a handle on his emotions. He knew that Tommy deserved an answer to that question, but he also knew that now was not the time for total honesty. "Sorry about that. As for why, I don't know. Maybe because I was afraid you'd laugh at me or call me a fool. Wouldn't be the first time someone I thought I knew did it, so I just kept quiet."

"Bro... I would never do that," Tommy said softly, looking over his shoulder at his friend. "I think it's great that you're a doctor-really cool." He stopped and took a deep, staggered breath as the pain hit again. "I always knew you were smart enough to do whatever you wanted."

"Yeah well, some would disagree with you about that." He finished cleaning the former Ranger Commander's back and shook his head. "That asshole really knew how to use that belt. It makes me wonder how many times they've done this sort of thing before."

"You hang out in that place often?" Tom asked, shivering at the thought of what might have gone on in that room. "Doesn't seem like your kind of place."

Snorting, Jason began drying off the wounds and then opened up a suture kit for the deeper cuts. "Things change bro and like I said, I do some work there as a bouncer."

Tom didn't know what to make of that comment right away and didn't much feel like delving into Jason's private life right at the moment. "Okay well, we can talk about it later." He took another deep breath, trying to make himself relax some. "Does it look any better now that you've cleaned it?" he asked, wanting to know how bad his back still was.

"Not really. All of the cuts and welts are still really red and inflamed. That'll take a couple of days to really go down." The man made sure that a couple of needles were threaded before he picked up a syringe. "I'm going to numb the area that I need to work on, so it'd be good to know if you're allergic to Lidocaine."

"Not that I know of- don't think I'm allergic to anything," he answered, wincing at the thought of another needle. "Make it quick, bro- you know I hate needles."

Laughing softly, Jason shook his head. "Oh yeah, I know, although I think Billy would have liked a warning before you almost took his head off when he was trying to give you that shot to help your ribs heal faster." Shaking his head, the Original Red Ranger worked quickly, injecting several areas with the numbing liquid before setting the empty syringe aside. "Let that work for a couple of minutes. How's the pain?"

"Not quite as bad as before, but it's still there, believe me."

"Right now I can't give you anything stronger because of the blow you took to the head. Most likely it gave you a concussion." He sighed softly. "Once I get done with your back, you should try to get a little sleep. Every couple of hours, I'll wake you up, just to make sure you're okay. Tomorrow, if you're still okay head wise, I'll see about something stronger, which I'm sure you'll need."

"Me? Be okay 'head-wise'? Riiight," Tommy said.

Snorting, Jason shook his head. "Okay, you're right about that, but still. Now try to hold still." He grinned wickedly. "Been a while since I had to do stitches on someone."

"Oh great... out of practice, doc?" Tommy said with a grimace, feeling the pulling at his skin.

"Not really, just most of the time when I do stitches on someone, I haven't had two shots of Jack and had been working on a third beer when I decided to find out if it really was an old friend I'd seen get taken into a back room."

"Well yeah, that's true, I guess. I'm so glad you were there, though. I might be dead right now if you hadn't."

"Maybe not dead, but probably wishing it." He swallowed hard. The ER had been alerted by the cops several weeks ago about a series of gay bashings and rapes that had been taking place in the city. To know that he might have stopped his best friend from becoming one of their numbers sent a shiver through the man.

"I'm just so tired," the former White Ranger mumbled. "And my head hurts."

"I'm almost done and then you can get some rest." True to his word, it only took the doctor a few more minutes to finish the stitches. After applying some antibiotic ointment to the wounds, Jason bandaged the entire area, taping it in place for now. "All right Tom, get some rest for now, okay?"

"Okay. Come over here so I can see your face," he requested, the fatigue evident in his voice. When Jason took a knee in front of him and looked into his face, Tommy continued. "Thank you for helping me, bro. I've missed you."

A thrill shot through Jason at those words, but he pushed it down. "I've missed you too and you're welcome." Reaching out, he placed a hand lightly on his friend's neck. "Now, get some rest."

Tommy smiled weakly and let his heavy eyelids close at last, falling asleep in a matter of minutes. He had been a bit tired from driving before he had even gone in the club, and that beating had really taken it out of him.

When he saw the eyes finally close, Jason stood up and ran a shaking hand through his hair. So many emotions and thoughts ran through him and it was hard to concentrate. Almost robotically, he started cleaning up the mess he created by treating his friend. When he was done, Jason went to take a shower and then he had to find clothes for Tommy as well as make up the bed in the guestroom.

-o-O-o-

After the linens had been changed, Jason walked back out into the living room to check on his patient. The former Green Ranger was sleeping peacefully and being very still. 'Well, that's a good sign,' the young doctor thought as he laid a hand softly on Tommy's dark hair. 'How do you always manage to get yourself into these things?' he wondered, a sad smile starting in the corners of his mouth.

'Guess I'd better make something for us to eat. He's gonna need something in his stomach.' Jason moved into the kitchen and started rummaging through the refrigerator and pantry. Once he'd settled on what to make, Jason pulled out the necessary ingredients and pans. While he was stirring the pasta sauce, his mind was coming up with all sorts of questions. 'Why did Tommy show up in that particular club tonight? Why is he in Seattle in the first place? Is it just coincidence or did he come looking for me?'

He sighed heavily and cut up the leftover chicken he had from the night before. Tossing it into a pan, he added a little seasoning to the meat as it heated up. He'd add it to the Alfredo sauce before serving to make the meal a bit heartier for them both. As he worked next on the bread, his thoughts once again turned to his sleeping friend.

He thought about how things had changed in the years since he'd seen the man that he'd once called his best friend. In making his decision to seemingly disappear, Jason had lost touch with where his old friends were and what they were up to. He realized that he had no idea what Tom did for a living, if he had been married, or if he even had any kids. 'Well, if he is then things must not be going very well if he's up here by himself in a bar.' He made a mental note to look for a ring or a tan line of a ring on his friend's left hand. He'd gotten lost in thought once more when he heard the faint sound of a voice from the living room.

Tommy had woken at the smell of the food cooking and after trying and failing to get himself up; he'd called out for Jason.

Turning the heat down, Jason tossed a towel over his bare shoulder. After his shower, he'd put a bruise cream and muscle rub on his side where the lead guy had hit him and hadn't wanted to get any of it on his shirt. He double checked the sauce before going into the den. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"My back, head, and face hurts," Tommy groaned, turning his big brown eyes up to look at his friend.

"I bet they do. After we eat, you can take a couple of Aleve. They won't bother you combined with what I've already given you." He knelt so that he was in the former White Ranger's eye line. "Want to try sitting up?"

"I suppose. Are you cooking? Something smells good," Tommy said, trying to get his mind off the pain.

"Yeah, Chicken Alfredo with some garlic bread. Mom gave me the recipe for it." Jason slid an arm under his friend's chest. "All right, let's get you sitting up, then I'll wrap an Ace wrap around the bandages. With that and a pillow behind you, it shouldn't be too bad for you to sit up and eat."

"Okay, go ahead," he said, bracing himself for the pain he knew was coming. It turned out not to be as bad as he had feared with the worst pain coming when he twisted slightly. "Okay, that's good," he said when he was able to hold himself upright on the couch.

"All right, let me get the wrap." Reaching into his jump bag, Jason removed one and nodded at Tommy. "Hold your arms up as much as you can. I'll help support your weight."

"Alright, I'll do the best I can." Tommy lifted his arms up slowly, stopping when the extension pulled at the skin on his back. "Ooh, that's about it," he told Jason, grimacing and whimpering from the pain.

"That's fine." Moving quickly and efficiently, Jason wrapped the elastic bandage around his friend's body, holding the bandages securely in place. "Shirt next." He grabbed the shirt that he'd found for Tommy and helped the man get it on before setting a pillow behind him. "Okay, let's sit you back slowly."

Once he'd come to rest against the back of the couch and was resting comfortably, he looked up at Jason. "Much better- thank you so much. Appreciate the loan of the shirt."

"Yeah well, just glad it fits." He took a seat on the coffee table facing his friend. "I mean, you've bulked up a little bit since the last time I saw you."

"A little bit, yeah. I'm about 215 now. Not much else to do but workout," Tom said in a flat tone.

"Can understand that." He stood up. "Give me a couple of minutes and I'll be back with dinner for us." The former Gold Ranger started for the kitchen. "What do you want to drink?"

"I don't care- water, tea, Gatorade- doesn't matter," Tommy answered, shifting slightly and wincing.

"Okay, just don't try to move a lot." Shaking his head, he got down two cups and set about making them both a cup of tea to go with dinner. Several minutes later, he headed back into the den with a laden tray. "Here we go." Setting it down on the table, he looked over at his friend. "The tray you can use after I get my plate and cup off of it. That way you don't have to reach for anything." Removing the mentioned items, Jason straightened the legs on the tray before placing it over Tommy's lap. "Hope you like it."

"It looks great, Jase. Thanks." He paused for a moment and then looked back up at his friend. "I'm sorry to be so much trouble."

"Tom, you're a friend. It's not any trouble and aside from that, I know you'd do the same for me if you could."

The former White Ranger took a drink of his tea. "Mmm, Mama Scott's tea... I still remember that taste," he said with a smile. "And yeah, you're right. If I could, I'd do the same for you. I actually AM a doctor too, did you know that? Just not the same kind," he grinned.

"I knew that you were going to school, but not for what." He took seat in the chair next to his friend. "So what kind of doctor are you?"

"Paleontology," he said with a smile. "I'm a dinosaur doc."

"Figures." At his friend's puzzled look he explained. "When you first came over to our side, you were always trying to get more information on the Zords because you said that they gave you a chance to see how some dinosaurs might have moved."

Tommy thought about that for a moment, then smiled. "You're right, I had forgotten about that. Good memory." He started in on his food, having to be careful of his sore, cut mouth. "Mmm, the sauce is great, bro."

"Thanks. Like I said, Mom gave me the recipe. I figured this would be easier on your mouth than a tomato-based sauce or pesto."

He nodded while taking another careful bite. "So, you live here by yourself or what?" he asked, giving voice to one of the many questions that were starting to run through his mind.

"Yeah, I keep pretty erratic hours sometimes, which is why I got the dogs, but the place is mine and it backs right up to the beach. Got some really beautiful sunset views." Figuring it was time to get some of his own answers, Jason took a drink of tea. "So what brings you to Seattle?"

Tommy stopped mid-bite with the fork still in his mouth. After a moment, he put the utensil down and swallowed the food so that he could talk. Looking up into Jason's face, he fixed his eyes on him. "Looking for you, actually."

That took the other man by surprise. "Me? Why were you looking for me?"

"Well, it's a lot to go into right now, but the short version is that once the school year was over- I'm a high school teacher, by the way- I decided that I needed to get outta town for a while. My last relationship ended kinda badly and I don't have any family close to where I live, so I've been really lonely lately. I decided to take a road trip and when I told Andros about it, he told me that you were here. I figured I'd try to look you up while I was here."

"And you come to a state where we're lucky if we get a day of sun each week to cheer you up?" He laughed softly. "Sorry bro, I don't mean to laugh. Believe me, I'm glad to see you, but I don't think this is quite how you were expecting the reunion to go."

"You got that right. And again, I'm sorry to put you to so much trouble. If you want to take me to the hospital tomorrow, I can stay there for a few days until I can leave on my own. I don't want you to think that you have to take care of me." Tommy dropped his gaze and went quiet.

Setting his plate aside, Jason went down on a knee in front of the man he still considered the closest thing he'd ever have to a brother and reached out, putting a hand beneath the stubbled chin and tilting upwards slightly. "Tom, look at me."

After a moment, those chocolate brown eyes looked up, slightly hooded by long black lashes. He still didn't speak, but looked into Jason's face.

"You are not a bother and there is no way I'm taking you somewhere to get better when you can do that perfectly well right here." He sighed softly. "I'm sorry that I haven't stayed in touch, but I promise it was not because of anything you did."

"Really? Because ever since the last time I saw you I've been trying to figure out what happened to make you disappear like that. I kept thinking that I must've said something wrong or you took something wrong or... something."

Shaking his head, it was Jason's turn to lower his eyes. "Like I said, it had nothing to do with you, Tom." He wasn't ready to tell his friend why he had left so abruptly after the last mission. They were supposed to get together for drinks a couple hours after Tommy had left to take care of something, but Jason never showed. Instead, he headed back to Colorado to finish packing for his move to Seattle. He never called anyone except his parents to let them know where he was going.

Eyeing him suspiciously, Tom nodded. "Okay well…maybe you can tell me what did happen then…whenever you're ready." He stopped and sighed. "I don't wanna pry."

"Thanks, and I promise, I will tell you." He raised his eyes again, meeting those of his best friend and gave him a sad smile. "For now, let's eat. You need the food after what happened."

"Yeah, you're right." He picked up his fork and started again on his food, watching Jason out the corner of his eye. "So... you work at a hospital, I'm assuming; you live here alone; you go to dangerous bars... what else goes on with you, bro?"

Shrugging, Jason re-took his seat. "I ride on the ambulances sometimes, especially when there's a lot of trauma in a situation, like accidents and fires. Still ride my bike, except when it gets really cold and then I break out the SUV. Other than that, I run and workout, there's a dojo about twenty minutes from here where I go and teach sometimes. Pretty much what I do."

"That's more exciting than my life, I promise. Like I said, I teach school, I work out, I train- Muay Thai mostly- and that's about it. My social life is pretty non-existent these days."

"Well, I only go to the bar on my nights off and sometimes it's to go there to work. So I don't have much more of a social life than you." He finished eating and set his plate aside, but took a drink of tea before continuing. "And you've at least dated recently."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Please, don't remind me. This last one was a mistake." He stopped and shook his head. "I can't believe you haven't though, handsome man like yourself..."

"Partially because I don't have the time and another part is that I haven't found someone I really like." He grinned. "I mean, you know how it is, gotta like the package before you're willing to do any digging."

"Yeah, that's very true. My last was a friend of mine that I never should have started dating. I think we can still be friends, but I don't know yet. She's still acting pretty weird."

"Acting weird how?" He paused. "If you don't mind me asking that is."

"Well, it's just that what she says and the way she acts doesn't make sense." He sighed. "See, she broke up with me, not the other way 'round. Says that we should go back to just being friends like we were before. But every time I see her, she acts cold toward me or tries to ignore me. Women."

"Did she know that you were bi before you started dating or did you tell her after you were dating?" He'd had similar conversations that left him slapped since coming to terms with his own sexuality, something he still needed to talk to his friend about, but now was not the time.

"Yeah, she knew about it. We'd been friends for years and she was around when I was seeing Anton, the last guy I dated. None of that seemed to bother her until a few months before we broke up." Tom stopped and took a deep breath and shook his head.

Leaning forward, the former Gold Ranger frowned at his friend. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just don't know how much of this you want to hear."

"I'm here for you Tom, so tell me as much as you feel comfortable with." Getting up, he moved over to sit on the couch next to the man, hoping that his presence would allow him to draw the necessary strength to tell him.

Tom gave his friend a sad smile. "Well, once we started to get more serious, the physical stuff started to bother her. Even though she knew I was bi before we started dating, all of a sudden she couldn't bring herself to be with me because I'd been with a guy. Said she couldn't get the visual images out of her head."

"Damn, I'm sorry, bro." He put a hand on Tommy's shoulder, being careful to avoid any of the wounds on his back. "You said that she still wanted to be friends, but can you honestly see yourself still being friends with her? I mean, I don't know the woman, but it's like she's saying one thing, but then doing something totally different."

"I know and I really don't know if I can be friends with her anymore. Like I said, we never should've started it in the first place. So that's how my last relationship ended." He stopped and yawned, the fatigue starting to take hold of him again.

"I am sorry, bro." He looked at his friend. "Come on, let's get you to an actual bed and into a pair of sleep pants. Tomorrow, if you're feeling up to it, you can get a shower or a bath."

"Okay. That'd probably make me feel better," Tom said. "You have a guest room, I take it."

"Oh yeah, all the comforts of home." Chuckling softly, he slowly helped Tom to his feet. "This place has two bedrooms, a study, living room, dining room, a den and two full baths. There's also a utility room, garage, deck and a path that leads down to the beach."

"Very nice. I'd like to see your beach when I'm able to walk by myself," he smiled.

"I think that can be arranged." Entering the guest room, he helped his friend over to the bed and let him sit down. "Okay, we can do this one of two ways: A) You struggle to change your pants on your own and possibly open the cuts on your back up; or B) I help you change."

"You can help me change. My God, Jase, how many times have we seen each other naked over the years," he said with a chuckle. "Why are you so reserved with me now?"

The Original Red Ranger blushed. "Sorry…habit, you know? With the patients and all." It was the truth, but not all of it. At the moment, he wanted nothing more than to curl up with his best friend and hold him, be by his side if and when any nightmares brought about by tonight's actions came up. It wasn't the time, however, and until it was, if it ever was, those feelings had to be pushed aside.

"Oh yeah, I can see where that would happen," Tommy said with a chuckle. "It's okay, though- help me with these jeans."

"No problem." It took a few minutes, complete with his hands landing in places that made him glad he was wearing loose pants himself, but Tommy was finally in the sleep pants. "If you think you can stay upright for a few moments alone, I'll go get that Aleve for you."

"Yeah, I should be able to sit here for a couple minutes," Tom said, holding himself up. He watched Jason walk out of the room, wishing he knew what was going on with his old friend.

Once out of the room, Jason stopped and leaned against the wall before running a shaking hand through his hair. It was torture being that close to his friend and not being able to truly touch him. He took a deep, shuddering breath before going into his bathroom and grabbing two of the pills for Tom after taking two himself. The doctor made a detour into the kitchen and grabbed a sport bottle of Gatorade before going back into the guest bedroom. "Here ya go. Figured you could use the fluids too and in the sport bottle you can drink it easier." He handed both items to the former Green Ranger.

"Oh, thanks. Yeah, that will make it easier since I'm gonna be on my stomach." He tossed the pills back into his mouth and took a drink to wash them down. "So, can you help me lay down, bro?"

"Yeah, I will." Moving closer to the bed, Jason had his friend turn slightly so that his chest was against one of the former Gold Ranger's arms. Then he slowly lowered Tommy onto the bed, helping him settle on his stomach. "It gets a little cool at night since we're on the water, but I don't know if you still get cold at night." At one time, he wouldn't have had to admit that. The number of sleepovers and camp outs they had as teens had made asking those sort of things unnecessary.

"Yeah, I do get a bit cold sometimes-especially when I can't move around much. You have an extra blanket you could put over my feet and legs?"

A soft chuckle came from the man. "Oh the benefits of a well-paying job." Reaching down beside the bed, he hit two switches and turned both knobs, setting the heated mattress pad to 5. "There, won't need one now and it'll also help keep your muscles a little loose." As he talked, Jason pulled the blankets up a bit, settling them up on his friend's shoulders.

"Thank you. I owe you for this." He paused and looked up at Jason with his big, soulful eyes. "Think you could sit with me for a little while?"

The man was torn: staying with his friend and being unable to touch like he wanted was torture, but at the same time he could never refuse a request that Tommy made. "Sure." He started to pull the chair that was sitting near the nightstand closer.

"Thanks. I'm a bit unsettled about all this, I guess. Don't really want to be alone right now," Tommy related, looking a bit uneasy.

His breath caught at the unease in his friend's voice, making his heart break a little. Jason dropped his eyes a little and then despite himself, heard his voice making an offer. "If you want, I can stay in here with you if it'll help."

Tommy smiled a bit at that. "Would you? I'd definitely feel better and it'd be like old times."

"Yeah, but I'll still have to wake you every couple of hours." Moving over to the other side of the bed, he could feel his heart racing. Taking a seat, he took a few moments with his back to the other man to set the alarm. When he was done, he started to lie down.

Tommy reached out and touched Jason's side gently. "What happened to you? That looks like it hurts."

Jason flinched at the contact, unable to stop a small groan from escaping. "It does." He finished laying back and pulled the covers back up. "The asshole that took you back there wrapped his belt around his hand. He caught me a few solid blows to the ribs before I was able to knock him out."

"Oh no. Damn it, bro...again, I'm sorry." Tommy put his hand on Jason's chest in an attempt to soothe the hurt. "Your ribs okay?"

"They're sore, but I couldn't find any give in them. I'll slip into X-ray when I go to work and have them checked. It'll be fine."

"Okay, if you're sure," Tom said, not removing his hand.

The Original Red Ranger raised a hand and let it come to rest on top of his friend's. "Would it make you feel better if I got it looked at?"

"Yeah, I think it would. Just to make sure, ya know?"

"All right." With a soft sigh, Jason reached out with his free hand and grabbed the cordless off of the nightstand. He kept a phone in each room just for times like this. After dialing a number he knew by heart, Jason waited for Matt to pick up.

Over at the hospital, Dr. Mathias Klein fished his cell phone out of his pocket. "Hello?" he answered after seeing that it was his friend Jason who was calling.

"Hey Matt, you still getting off in a couple of hours?"

"Ummm yeah, sure," he replied after looking up at the clock. "In about two hours or so. What's up?"

Jason sighed. "I got into a little dust up at the club after helping a friend out and I caught a belt-wrapped hand to the ribs."

Matt winced and hissed. "Ouch. Want to come in and let me look at it or you want me to stop by?"

"Would you mind stopping by? I've still got him here." He sighed again. "They did a number on his back, so I'm keeping him close. Actually, I was gonna call you after we talked to the cops. I've got to work in a couple of days and was wondering if you'd mind sitting with him."

"Depends, is he cute?" Matt asked with a laugh.

He snorted. "I'm not going to answer that. Besides, you're taken." Jason grinned. "So I'm guessing you don't have a problem with it. As for my ribs, they're really bruised and tender, but I can't tell for sure if there's any give in them."

"Okay yeah, I'll come by as soon as I get outta here. As for me being taken...look, just because I'm on a diet doesn't mean I can't look at the menu, 'k?"

"I'll remember that next time I see Ichi." He chuckled lightly. "I'll see you later and thanks Matt."

"No problem. Happy to help."

Once Jason had put the cordless back on the nightstand, Tommy looked up at him with a questioning look. "Friend of yours, I take it," he asked with a slight smile.

With a grin, Jason nodded. "Yeah, we work together and he literally lives about three miles down the beach from me with his partner."

"Oh, okay. He's gonna come and look at your ribs?"

"On his way home, yeah, and I want him to meet you." Without really thinking about it, his fingers started moving back and forth on Tommy's hand where it still rested on his chest. "I've got a shift in a couple of days and you're not going to be moving well enough to just stay here alone."

"You're not gonna con him into babysitting me, are you? Poor guy."

"He won't mind and I did the same for him when his partner, Ichi, was sick last month."

Tom sighed but nodded. He knew that he was in no position to refuse-it wasn't like he could just get up and do for himself at the moment. "Well...I hate to be trouble, but... thank you. Are you gonna try to get some sleep before he gets here? Please don't think you have to sit up with me."

He nodded. "Yeah, I am. The alarm's set to go off in a couple of hours and by the time the next check comes around, he should be here."

"Okay," Tommy said through a yawn. "Turn out the light, 'k?" With that, he closed his heavy eyelids, drifting off in no time.

With a soft grin, Jason reached out and turned off the light. It only took a few moments for him to follow his friend into sleep.

-o-O-o-

It only seemed like a couple of minutes had passed before the shrill ringing of the alarm caught Jason's attention. With a soft groan, he reached out and turned it off before flicking the lamp on. Sitting up a little bit, he put a hand on Tommy's shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze. "Tom, need you to wake up for me."

"Mmm..." Tommy groaned, frowning and shifting a little.

"Come on, bro." He grinned. "You're going to have to actually open your eyes and talk to me here."

Long black lashes fluttered a bit and then Tom finally managed to get his eyes open. "What is it?"

"I need to ask you a few questions. First off, how's the pain?"

"Don't know, I'm still asleep," the former White Ranger mumbled.

"Sorry bro, but its standard procedure for people with concussions. So, who's the president?"

"George Bush."

"Good, least I won't be asking you which one." He grinned and shook his head. "What year is it?"

"2007- June," he answered, anticipating one of his friend's next questions.

"Smartass... you've had too many of these. So how's your pain doing now that you're a little more awake?"

"Well, my head hurts a little but my back is feeling really stiff. It seriously hurts, bro."

"All right, I can give you another dose of the mix I gave you earlier, but for a few hours yet I still can't give you anything stronger."

"Okay. Getting me onto my side might help some too. I just can't sleep on my stomach. Think we could do that?"

"Yeah, let me get that for you first and then we'll figure out a way for you to sleep on your side."

Tommy shifted a bit while he waited for Jason to come back with the medicine. He grimaced at how tight and painful his back had become-he could hardly move. "Damn it... this sucks," he mumbled to himself.

When Jason bent down to grab his bag, he had to wince as his side pulled. There were things he could take, but until Matt took a look at his ribs, it was better if he held off. Sighing softly, he drew up a dose of the meds for Tommy and grabbed an alcohol pad before going back into the bedroom. "All right, this will go in your hip again."

"How about the other cheek this time?"

"I was planning on it." With a shake of his head and a grin, Jason made short work of injecting the meds into his friend's hip. After recapping the empty syringe, he put a hand on Tommy's shoulder. "I'm gonna help you slide over in the bed a bit before helping you onto your side to sleep, okay?"

"Yeah, don't know how much I can help, though- I'm pretty stiff," Tom replied, obviously in pain.

"Just help as much as you can." It took several minutes, but eventually they managed to get Tom onto his side and more towards the middle of the bed. Wincing softly behind his friend, Jason straightened up. He walked around to the other side of the bed and reset the alarm. "Okay, try to get some sleep bro." He moved a little closer to the former White Ranger, not wanting him to roll onto his back.

"Okay, I'll try. This feels much better, by the way," he said in a quiet voice.

"I'm glad and hopefully it'll help your back not tighten up anymore." He turned off the light after pulling the covers back up. "Try to get some rest, Tom."

Before very long, the science teacher was asleep again. The combination of meds and fatigue had come together to put him out rather quickly yet again. Sometime later as he settled further into sleep, he slipped an arm over Jason's stomach and instinctively moved a bit closer.

At first, Jason turned a little more into the warmth beside him and rested his head against the one tucked into his shoulder. A few minutes later, his eyes opened wide as he realized who the person was next to him. A myriad of emotions ripped through him and his thoughts were all over the place. 'God, this feels so natural with him. What if this is the only time I can ever do this? How can I tell him that I left all those years ago because I couldn't tell him that I was in love with him?' He closed his eyes, trying to calm the inner storm that was threatening to overwhelm him. 'Will there ever be a time when the two of us can be like this and it actually mean something?'

Still sleeping, Tommy moved his head a bit, snuggling into Jason's shoulder. The hand that had been resting on the doctor's side now slid slowly up to his chest as the former White Ranger moaned softly in his sleep.

The former Gold Ranger squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep his emotions in check. He was torn between staying where he was and taking what he could get or leaving the bed. He sighed softly and opened his eyes, planting a light kiss to Tommy's forehead. "I'm so sorry, bro." His words were filled with emotion as he started to get up only to have the alarm go off in time to a knocking at the door.

Tom felt Jason slip away from him, but didn't wake. Instead, he pulled the now vacant pillow closer and continued to dream.

Jason turned off the alarm as he went to the door. After checking to see who it was, he unlocked the door and opened it. "Hey Matt."

"Hey Jase, you look like you just woke up," the other doctor chuckled.

"Yeah, trying to sleep between concussion checks." He stepped back a bit. "Come on in."

"Thanks," Matt said, moving further into the house. "How's your friend doing?"

"He's hurting pretty bad. I've been giving him a mix of anti-inflammatory with a mild painkiller and muscle relaxer until later on." He shut the door again and moved towards the kitchen. "I'll let you do your thing first and then you can meet Tom when I do his next check."

"Okay. Come over here where the light is better. Now, where is this... oh damn, Jase," he said suddenly when he saw the darkening bruise. "Where did you say this happened?"

"Yeah, it's gotten darker since I got out of the shower." He sighed as he took a seat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. "It happened in one of the rooms at The Highliner." He told his friend what happened and how he ended up saving Tommy before grunting in pain as Matt pushed on his ribs. "That hurts, man."

"Sorry. I don't think there's anything broken-definitely bruised and possibly cracked though. You need to have them x-rayed, man." Matt knew that Jason was aware of how to treat ribs that were suspected of being cracked so he didn't want to preach to the man. "Want me to help you wrap them?"

He sighed. "Yeah, I'm not gonna be able to do it and Tom's in no shape to help either." He nodded towards the den. "My bags are in there." At his friend's look, Jason rolled his eyes. "And I'll get 'em X-rayed when I go into work, I promise. Until then, I'll be careful."

"Okay, fair enough." Matt went to get Jason's bags and then asked about Tommy while he was wrapping Jason's chest. "So, your friend was attacked at the club, huh? Think it's related to this string of bashings that's been going on?"

"Possibly." He gave a soft groan as Matt pulled the wrap tight. "Sure fits with what little the cops have gathered. I'm going to call them later this morning and have a couple of officers come out to get our statements."

"Good. That crap needs to stop. I hope they can catch the bastards that are doing it." He finished up with Jason's chest and then asked about Tom. "So, let me meet your 'friend'," he said, cocking an eyebrow. "I wanna see this guy."

"Well, if these guys were responsible, then I'm pretty sure they'll be caught." He stood up slowly, wincing a little as he did. "He's in the guest room." Leading the way down the hall, he turned into the guest room and turned on the lamp closest to Tommy. "I've known him since high school."

Matt looked at the sleeping form in the bed, snuggled up to one of the large pillows. His dark hair and olive skin stood out in contrast to the crisp white of the bed linens. The arm that was visible was nearly covered in vivid, colorful tattoos. "Wow... he's a big one, isn't he?" Matt said quietly, smiling at Jason.

The Original Red Ranger chuckled softly, supporting his ribs as he did. "Yeah, believe it or not, he's almost a hundred pounds heavier than he was in high school. He really bulked up and added a lot of muscle."

"When was the last time you saw him?" Matt asked, kneeling down beside the bed to get a better look at the cuts and bruises on Tommy's face.

He sighed. "Almost six years ago, I'd just gotten done with my third year of med school before I transferred up here. We spent a couple days kicking around with some friends of ours, but we didn't get to really talk, you know?"

"Uh huh," Matt said, nodding a little. "So what's he doing in town? Did you know he was coming?"

"No, I was surprised to see him at the club." He snorted. "Hell, I didn't even know who he was at first until I saw him walking towards one of the rooms." The doctor was quiet for a moment. "As for why he's here..." He met Matt's eyes. "He came looking for me."

"Really? Did he say what for?" the other doctor asked, examining the lump on the back of Tommy's head after Jason had pointed out where it was located.

"Some, but I think a lot of it has to do with me dropping off the face of the Earth."

"Well, that makes sense. I'm just surprised someone hasn't come looking before now, to be honest." He rose back up to stand beside Jason. "That's a nasty knot on his head. What did they hit him with?"

"I have no clue. I'm thinking it might have been one of those small nightsticks. None of them had any weapons or I'm sure when I busted in there they would have used them on me."

"You're a brave man, dude. I don't know if I could've done that." He continued studying Tommy as the sleeping man shifted a little and turned his face more toward the two men. "Although, for that... I might be tempted to try," he grinned.

"Considering he's had my back more times than I can count, there was no way that I could have left him, especially with what all has been happening around here." He sighed and took a seat on the bed, reaching out he put a hand on Tommy's shoulder. "Tom, I need you to wake up for me."

Again, Tom mumbled a little and moved his head, but didn't wake right away. After Jason repeated his request, giving his shoulder a gentle shake, Tommy slowly began to wake, his warm brown eyes fluttering open.

"Jase?" he said in a quiet voice.

"Hey bro, I need for you to wake up enough that you can talk to me, okay? Need you to answer a few questions and also meet someone."

"Okay, I'm trying," he mumbled and then the other part of Jason's statement filtered through his head. "Who?" he asked, turning his head a little more to look around.

"Easy, don't move around a lot. As for who, it's my friend, Matt." He nodded at the other man to move so that Tommy could see him.

"The other doctor?"

"Yeah, he arrived a little bit ago. He's already looked me over and now it's your turn." He grinned. "Question time."

"Oh goodie, go ahead," Tom sighed.

Jason chuckled softly. "Who's the president?"

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Bill Clinton."

Matt, looking rather concerned, gave his friend an 'ask another one' look.

Shaking his head, the former Gold Ranger lightly slapped his best friend in the arm. "Tom, I'm being serious here. Matt can override my decision about taking you to the hospital, especially since my thinking was technically clouded due to the alcohol and being hurt myself."

Tom looked confused. "What? Bill Clinton is the president, it's April, 1994, and we go to Angel Grove High. Isn't that right? You know it is."

With a frown, Matt slipped past Jason and moved closer to the other man, pulling a penlight out of his pocket. "Is that what you honestly believe? Because if you're pulling our leg, now is the time to come clean before I call an ambulance."

Tommy shook his head slightly. "You guys have no sense of humor." After a heavy sigh, he came clean. "Okay, okay. George Bush, June, 2007, and we're in Seattle, Washington. Satisfied?" he asked with a grin.

Jason sighed softly and visibly relaxed. "If it wasn't for the fact that I have no clue what you were hit with or how long you were out, it would have been a little funnier, bro."

The other doctor snorted and after checking Tommy's pupils walked back over to Jason and slapped him on the arm. "You did all of that after you'd been drinking? Are you nuts?"

"Matt, I had to get him outta there and he didn't want to go to the hospital if he could help it. Believe me, I hadn't drank that much anyway and I sobered up real quick when I realized it was Tommy that was taken back to that room."

"Still, you know better Jason." He shook his head. "So what have you taken for pain yourself? Because I know those ribs are hurting you."

"I took two Aleve earlier, that's all. I couldn't afford to be drowsy- I have to watch over Tom."

"That's not gonna cut it. I'm going to see what all you have and grab you something." He held up a hand. "It won't be enough to muddle your head, but you need something better than Aleve to help with the pain and to keep those muscles from seizing up. I'll call you both in scrips, too." He looked at Tommy, who was watching him. "You're going to need an antibiotic as a precaution for the cuts on your back." Turning back to Jason, he nodded. "And you're going to need a muscle relaxer you can take orally for those ribs. I'll have the pharmacy down the street fill it since they deliver."

"Okay, go ahead and do what you think is best. And you're right; I probably should've called you earlier." He sat on the edge of the bed near Tommy and reached over to stroke the man's thick, dark hair. "Will you look at his back and make sure it looks okay?" Matt's words had made Jason realize that maybe he had taken things into his own hands a little too much.

He nodded and moved closer to the bed. "Tommy, I'm going to help you sit up. Then after I take off the wrap, I want to check the stitches and cuts to make sure Jason cleaned them out good enough, okay?"

"I'm sure he did a perfect job, but okay... if it'll make you feel better," Tom said, giving his friend a vote of confidence.

Once Jason had moved, Matt moved over to take hold of Tommy to sit him up. "Okay, here we go," he said, skillfully pulling the man up to a sitting position.

"You alright?" Matt asked, looking into Tommy's face.

"Yeah, just really stiff. The pain meds Jase gave me earlier are still working."

"Good." He looked over at Jason. "Grab your bags and bring them in here, but be careful all right? Last thing I want to do is have to fill in for you because you ended up breaking a rib." He winked at the man and grinned before turning back to Tommy. "So aside from your back, what all else hurts?"

Jason snorted, but went out to the den to grab his bags. He had to set them on the couch and then pick them both up in one hand so that it didn't pull on his ribs.

"Well, my head does hurt, but not as bad as it did. My face hurts too- I'm sure it's pretty ugly right now," he said, rubbing his bruised jaw gently.

Matt laughed softly. "Yeah, you wouldn't win any contests right now, but I've seen worse." He gently probed the bruised jaw, checking to see if there were any obvious breaks or deformities.

"Here ya go." Dropping the bags next to Matt, Jason walked over to the other side of the bed and took a seat. He'd forgotten what it was like to have bruised or cracked ribs and everything that went with it.

"My head seem okay? That lump is really big," Tom asked.

Pulling a pair of gloves out of one of the bags, Matt slid them on. "I'm fixing to check that out now." He looked over at Jason. "Think you can help support him while I do this?" When he got a nod in return, Matt moved, allowing Jason to slip into his place while he stood up to get a good look at the lump on the back of the man's head. "Well, you've got a large blood blister back here that will need to be lanced. That'll help relieve some of the pressure and ease the pain a little. How it didn't split your head open, I have no clue."

"I have an extremely hard head-ask Jase," Tommy said with a chuckle.

"That ain't a lie. Kicked him there a couple of times and regretted it each time."

Matt shook his head. "I don't even want to know why you kicked someone in the head." He grabbed a clean scalpel from Jason's bag. "You do know that you're supposed to ride the rig when you go back in, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm hoping these ribs will feel better by then," Jason replied.

Tommy moved away a bit when he caught sight of the scalpel. "Whoa... what're you doing with that?"

The Original Red Ranger chuckled softly. "Easy Tom, he's going to use that to lance the blister."

Matt nodded, grabbing some gauze to catch the blood. "Using the scalpel makes it easier and quicker than having to make multiple holes with a needle."

"Oh goodie," Tom grimaced. "How bad is this gonna hurt?"

"You'll feel a little pressure, but after that the ache should ease a bit coming from the lump." Moving quickly, the man sliced the blister open with a sure stroke, catching the blood as it was released.

It happened so fast that Tom barely had time to flinch. "God, you doctors. Whoever told you that 'pain' and 'pressure' weren't the same damn thing." He closed his eyes tight. "Mmmmmhh, that smarts."

Jason laughed softly, holding onto his ribs. "Guess I should have told you that Matt's bedside manner kinda sucks."

"Like you have any room to talk Mr. This-Will-Only-Hurt-For-A-Minute." He looked around at Tommy. "That's his favorite line at the hospital, except most of the time he uses it, everyone knows he's lying, including the patient."

"Oh he's been using that for a while now. If I'm not mistaken, he said that to me the first time he patched me up way back in high school," Tom said with a chuckle, trying to ignore the stinging coming from the back of his head.

"Somehow I don't doubt that." After cleaning the area, Matt used a liquid bandage to seal the area. "That should help. Now before I start looking at your back, does anything else hurt?"

"No, just my head, my face, and my back. That's enough, though."

"I'm sure it is," Nodding at Jason, the other doctor started unwinding the wrap holding the bandages and dressing in place. "Once I get done with checking your back, I'll put a new dressing on it, give the ox there a shot for his ribs, and call both your scripts in. Then I'll crash on the couch for a little bit since Ichi's still out of town. That way you can both rest and I'll do the concussion checks."

For a moment, Jason said nothing and then he spoke up. "Take my bed, Matt. I'll stay in here with Tom."

"That'll work. Thanks for doing all this, Matt. I appreciate it and I know 'the ox' there does too," Tom said with a slight smile. He was beginning to get tired again.

"Well, I owed him this time around, so it all evens out in the end." He made quick work of checking the man's back and the stitches his colleague had put in. "Not bad." He grinned. "Least he didn't put any zigzag stitches in."

"I only did that once and the guy deserved it." Jason stated, grinning.

Tom chuckled in spite of himself. "What did he do to deserve it? Tell me."

"Besides kicking me in the crotch? The guy bit me before we were able to get him subdued."

"Oh crap... yeah, that'd do it. Bet that's an interesting looking scar he's got now." He looked at Matt. "Are you almost done?" he asked gently, not wanting to piss the doctor off.

"Almost, just need to re-cover these and then put the wrap back on." He grinned. "And what he's not telling you is that Jason volunteered to do the guy's stitches."

"Oh yeah, gotta get him back somehow. Tell me, did Jase here do a decent job on my stitches? Those tats are expensive."

A solid laugh came from the doctor. "Actually, Jason does really good work, even a little lit. So I think you'll be just fine with how things turn out."

Tommy smiled. "Good. Now, if you guys will help me lay on my side, I'll try to go back to sleep."

Jason laughed softly. "Matt will be doing most of the helping of that."

Shaking his head as he finished re-wrapping the bandages into place, Matt sighed. "So much grunt work and so little pay." He grinned. "All right, let's get you lying down so I can take care of the lug head."

"He knows you, doesn't he?" Tom laughed.

Rolling his eyes, the former Gold Ranger moved out of the way so that Matt could help Tom lay down. He knew that his friend was going to need some more information from him for the scrips and he'd follow him back out to the kitchen to do that. "You're both so funny."

"Ichi seems to think so," Matt shot back, helping the other man lay down on his side.

Once he was settled, Tom looked up into Matt's eyes. "Doc, tell me the truth. How is the lug head over there? Really?" The concern in his eyes for his oldest friend was hard to miss.

Sighing softly, he got a nod from his friend before meeting Tom's eyes. "He's got four ribs that are definitely bruised and possibly cracked. Plus, he's got a few other bruises, a small cut above his eye and a graze on the underside of his chin that I cleaned up. He'll be sore a few weeks and after he gets the X-rays, we'll know better what all he can and cannot do at work."

"Damn it," Tommy sighed. "This is not what I came up here for. I shoulda stayed in Reefside." He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly.

Matt put a hand on the man's shoulder after motioning Jason out of the room. "Let me tell you a few things about your friend that you might not know before you start feeling guilty about what happened." He waited until the warm chocolate eyes were on him before continuing. "This isn't the first time that Jason's been in a fight at a club. Sometimes there's a reason for it, like tonight, and other times he just gets pissed off. I don't know how many bars he's paid damages to in the last two years alone, but it's more than just pocket change. On his days off, he drinks and that's not always a good thing. Several times myself or Kenichi have gone and picked him up from a club or bar, only to take him to our place because he was too drunk to leave alone." He paused for a moment.

"There are months at a time where he'll be okay, but that small period only lasts until September and then he goes into another dark time for the holiday season. His work doesn't suffer, but that's about it. So don't think that you brought this on. Him saving you tonight probably stopped another wave from starting."

"Poor Jase," Tom said and paused to think. "He was never like this before-I wonder what happened to start this?"

"That's something you'll have to ask him. I know that he hasn't been home since moving to Seattle and that every year towards the end of June he takes two weeks off, but doesn't go anywhere. That's also a time I keep my eye on him because he drinks so much. Now don't get me wrong, he's a great guy. Jason will give you the shirt off his back in a heartbeat, but there's always something just under the surface that holds him back from being happy."

"Damn, he sure has changed then. Maybe I can get him to talk to me-looks like I'm gonna be here for a little while. I'll see what I can do."

"Good, he needs someone he can open up to." He stood, pulling the covers up over Tommy. "Maybe you can convince him to think about dating, too. Guy hasn't been on a date in almost two years."

"Wow, that's definitely not like my Rex. Thanks for telling me all this, Matt." Tommy decided then and there that he had to do something for his old friend. Jason had done way too much for him in the past and that very night he had probably saved his life yet again. 'I've gotta get him to talk to me.'

"No problem. Try to get some rest. I'm gonna have Jay give me the info I need for both of your meds and then I'll dose him up for his ribs. After that I'll send him back to get some sleep."

"Okay. And thanks again, Matt. You seem to be a good friend to him- I appreciate that."

"Yeah well," He grinned. "The reason I know how long it's been since Jason dated is because his ex is my partner." He gave Tommy's arm a pat. "Get some rest."

"I will. See you soon," he sighed, knowing that Matt would be back to wake him up in another couple of hours to ask him questions.

Once the young doctor had left the room, Tommy laid there in the nearly dark bedroom listening to the faint, distant sound of the ocean just outside. Before he drifted off to sleep, he re-ran some of what Matt had told him about his good friend. 'Man, Jase has been in a bad way for a while now. Why didn't he call me? Or somebody? And him not dating at all- that's just not like him.' He turned a few other things over in his mind and then all at once, his eyes flew open. 'Jase's ex is a guy?' He knew that the Original Red Ranger had tested the waters a bit a few years back, but the last Tommy knew he was dating women. 'Well... that's definitely interesting.'

-o-O-o-

Author's Notes: Hope you're enjoying our new story! We realize that some of you may feel that Jason is a bit OOC—this is what we intended.

Please check out our other stories—"Misery Loves Company" and "Ranger Retreat". As for our solo work, look for "Family Stands" from Prophet144 and "In His Eyes" by Be A Warrior Casseau. Don't forget to leave us a review!