Far Away
Author's Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, Zeo Rangers, merely borrowing the characters and taking them along for my own creative story telling.
Rated: M for strong language, violence, some sexual situations, and adult themes (this is a slash fic).
This is a sequel to How You Found Me. Unlike How You Found Me, Far Away is not a series of different episodes woven into one story. This is one plot, derived from my own imagination and is an original idea. Jason and Tommy find themselves pulled into an alternate universe due to their ties with the Zeo power. If you have not read How You Found Me, I recommend it, as this story may not be the easiest to follow if you don't have previous knowledge to what these characters have gone through.
I had a posting schedule for my previous story, but I do not have one set up this time around. I ask for your patience to bear with me, because I have decided to begin posting this before I have it completely written and finished. It's outlined and I know what I plan to have happen, but life is what it is, and the time I wish I could devote solely for writing isn't there. Therefore, please select to follow this story so you can be informed when a new chapter has been added.
I hope you guys enjoy the continuing adventure of Tommy and Jason in their married life together. This is a fun couple to put through emotional hell :)
A personal thank you to sz2000 for the push for a sequel, and to AmaranthShade for encouraging and being my fabulous beta reader. My dear, you are Freaky Awesome XD
I deeply enjoy feedback and hearing what your thoughts are on the story as it progresses. Happy Reading!
Chapter 1: Normal Is As Normal Does
Jason crouched low and stilled his breathing. He tried his best not to make a sound. If he was heard, his cover was completely blown. He may not be a Power Ranger anymore, but he could still perform Operation: Stealth.
Taking the smallest of breaths, Jason took his position and aimed carefully. It had to be just right. He wasn't too worried about missing, though. He still had what it took. He knew it. He could feel it.
His arms needed to raise up just a hair further. . . there.
Stretching the rubber band the proper distance, Jason released his hold and heard the twang of rubber sing through the air. It hit Tommy in the middle of his shoulder blades.
Soapy kitchen sink water exploded in great waves as the former Red Ranger jumped a mile high. The pot he had been washing whipped out of the water as he twirled around, instinctively holding it out in front of him to use as a weapon. His eyes were wide as saucers, searching wildly around for the intruder. Those pupils spotted Jason hiding around the hallway corner, whose face was red and straining. Laughter erupted from his husband.
Tommy's nostrils flared. He pointed the pot threateningly at his husband, sending more sudsy water flying. "Damnit, Jason!" he yelled. "Quit doing that!"
Jason was heedless to the danger in those words, laughing hard enough to collapse on the floor in a heap, clutching at his chest for air. He snorted in oxygen and continued in his hysterical fit, reveling in a successful mission of scaring the hell out of Tommy.
Tommy glared balefully at his husband's complete lack of sobriety. Fine. If that was how he wanted to play things. . .
Turning around, Tommy scooped up a pot full of water and casually began walking toward Jason, who was laughing too hard to notice the red flags until they were mere feet away.
"Oh shit!" Jason swore, his wide smile shrinking down to a grin as he scrambled desperately to his feet. He managed a few steps away, attempting sanctuary toward their bedroom before the water splashed all along his backside, making him cry out, "Ahh!"
Tommy grinned triumphantly. "Gotcha!"
That wasn't the end of it, though. Jason still ran on, throwing open their bedroom door and attempting to close it swiftly behind him, but Tommy never stopped his pursuit. His foot lodged into the doorframe, and he threw his weight against the door, dropping the pot and pushing back against Jason's muscle power.
"You are so dead!" Tommy yelled out.
Jason's response was strangled laughter.
Tommy gritted his teeth and pushed. The door inched forward slightly. He dug his heels in and applied more force. Suddenly he was weightless and thrown forward, inertia propelling him far into the bedroom, the door instantly giving up the fight.
"Whoa!" Tommy cried out, tripping over his feet as gravity pulled his weight onward. Jason tried to quickly skirt by and run out, but Tommy threw his hands out and grabbed onto his husband's arm with lightning quick reflexes. Jason fought against the hold, and it was what prevented Tommy from taking a nose dive to the floor.
He tugged on Jason's arm. "Come here, you!" He threw his arm around Jason's neck and placed his annoying beloved in a choke hold, taking his other hand and vigorously running his knuckles over Jason's hair, giving him what was known as a noogie.
"Nooo!" Jason cried out, wriggling around and fighting Tommy's hold. He grabbed his husband's torso and lifted, lurching forward so Tommy was flipped through the air where he landed on the floor, flat on his back with a soft "oof!"
The choke hold relaxed, allowing Jason to slip out of it, but Tommy grabbed onto Jason's arm and pulled him down. A wrestling match of sorts ensued, with both partners trying to best the other. Arms and legs tangled over each other, moving furiously. Despite the verbal threats they were issuing back and forth, there was no heated anger in their brawl. Just heated. . . something else.
After a good few minutes of rivalry, Jason managed to pin Tommy to the ground, leaning his entire weight on his husband's upper body. Tommy struggled meakly, but there was suddenly something about the position that rendered him with a quickening desire not to try and rescue himself. He surrendered to Jason's triumphant call.
"Ha- HA! I've got you!" Jason panted out heavily, a broad grin showing all of those gorgeous white teeth. Beads of sweat stuck out on his brow. A few trickled down the side of his temple, forging a path that traveled down and caught his jaw line, traveling forward along it. . .
Tommy's chest heaved up and down, his breath intermingling with Jason's. He wasn't struggling anymore and was actually quite still, but his heart beat was not slowing down. He looked up into those warm chocolate brownie eyes and watched the swirls of honey dance around inside, those irises celebrating a joyous victory.
"Yeah Sunshine," Tommy breathed out in a raspy voice, his lips setting into a crooked smile. "You've got me."
Something shifted in Jason's eyes as he continued to stare at his husband. Tommy could see the pupils dilate. Those fingers twitched and flexed.
"What are you gonna do with me?" Tommy asked, feeling heat flush his cheeks.
Jason lowered his head a few inches, still panting. The grin on his face had faded to a mere shadow. He had some serious smolder going on, creating an intense look that was causing heat to rise in other places inside of Tommy.
"I think I'm going to ravage you," Jason replied huskily.
With that, he descended quickly onto Tommy's lips, planting his mouth firmly onto Tommy's and kissing him with rough passion.
Eyes closed, mouths parted, and tongues joined and danced around each other. Their hot breath mingled and created an inferno of desire that sparked and traveled down electric nerve paths like a trip wire of dynamite.
Tommy groaned into Jason's mouth and jerked his hips forward, pressing into Jason. His husband responded with a ragged moan and pressed back, gyrating in small movements, bringing his hands up so they were grabbing the back of Tommy's head and shoving a handful of hair into those palms, running his fingers through them.
Tommy reached for Jason's drenched black shirt and lifted it upwards, breaking the kiss and forcing Jason to unclasp his grasp of hair so the article of clothing could slide through the arms and come off completely. Mouths re-emerged, while Tommy fumbled to undo Jason's pants. Why did buttons have to be so damn hard to work through that stupid hole? He struggled with impatient urgency while Jason moved and kissed along his jawline, on up to the earlobe and began suckling. . .
Tommy moaned and arched his back. Jason knew that was a highly erogenous area.
That damn button!
"Oh my god, I swear I hate your pants," Tommy breathed out in a ragged voice that was filled with desire. Jason only chuckled and suckled harder, lifting his hips up so Tommy had more space to work with.
Finally he was able to coax the button through the hole, where the zipper easily slid down. While grabbing at the underwear, Tommy sat himself up, coaxing Jason away from his earlobe and worked everything down. Jason grabbed at the rest and pulled it all off while Tommy worked at pulling his own clothing up and away.
Both men were now staring at each other, eyes roaming over all of the exposed flesh and the desire that was springing forward. Jason lunged at Tommy, forcing him back down on his back against the carpeted floor of their bedroom, assaulting his mouth with passion and hunger. Those hands trailed downward, sliding under their pressed bodies until Jason was caressing his husband's member, stroking it firmly but gently. Tommy dug his fingers into Jason's back, squeezing his eyes shut in white hot pleasure.
Jason released his assault on Tommy's mouth and started to trail kisses down his neck, down his collar bone, down his torso, and going lower. . .
"No," Tommy said through a hazy fog of desire.
Jason stopped quizzically, looking up into those dark chocolate eyes.
"Inside," Tommy explained breathily. "I want you inside."
Jason's mouth turned into a grin. He moved himself back upward, trailing kisses along the flesh as he ascended. He spread Tommy's legs apart, and lifted himself, positioning so his member was at the entrance to Tommy's hole. He procured a wad of saliva that he aimed at Tommy's entrance and slowly massaged in the moisture with his fingers, teasing and arousing his lover. He pressed forward ever so slightly before stopping.
"This is what you want?" Jason asked with a crooked smile, teasing his husband.
Tommy looked into those eyes. Many couples avoided eye contact during intercourse, but such was not the case with Jason. He needed the eye contact. It grounded him. It told him that this time, this moment was about love. There was nothing to fear. No one but Tommy was there, and no one but Tommy would ever be.
Jason had been brutally tortured and raped countless times by Goldar over two years ago. His virginity had been stolen from him. So had Tommy's. When the old Green Ranger was under Rita's evil spell, she had desired him. And, as the spell warranted, he was designed to please her. And please her he did.
Not that Tommy's experience even remotely came close to a comparison with Jason's. Still, both of them had been through hell and back. Together. Through those scarring experiences, they had found each other. Confided in one another.
And found a world of love they still couldn't fathom existed.
But they tried to. They had pledged to take that journey of love every day together. Five months of marriage, and they were making sure to treasure every second of it.
The man who was staring into Tommy's eyes and looking at him with a world full of love and trust and confidence. . . this was what love was capable of. Overcoming all odds and evil demons of the mind and soul. It was remarkable. Jason was remarkable. He was everything Tommy could ever hope to have found.
"Babe?" Jason asked, bringing Tommy back to his senses. Jason pressed into him the smallest fraction. Ohhh, back to those senses.
"Yes!" Tommy breathed, arching his back. "Oh, there, Sunshine. I want you there."
Jason smiled, those gorgeous teeth showing. "Then prepare to be thoroughly ravaged." He pressed until he was deep inside.
Tommy moaned.
Morning rays of sunshine filtered through the bedroom curtains. The sun had been up and greeting the couple for hours, but they slumbered on, happily luxuriating in the feel of a day off and in each other's arms. Lovemaking had lasted far into the evening, thoroughly satiating both lovers.
Suddenly the phone rang through, making Jason jump with instinctive reflexes of coiling into the confines of Tommy's body.
Tommy's head snapped up, jolting him awake. He squeezed Jason's shoulder. "Jase, 'sall right," he said sleepily. He released his hold and reached up, fumbling around for the receiver as it continued in its incessant ringing. Finally he succeeded in grabbing a hold of it. He placed it up to his ear, using his other arm to hold Jason. Small moments of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, or PTSD, weren't uncommon for Jason to emit. This was one such instance.
"Hello?" Tommy answered groggily. He listened in silence as the voice chattered away on the other end. He let out a yawn. "Yeah, i's okay Midge," he replied with sleep slurred speech, then listened some more. "I know, I believe you. I. . .," pause. "Mmm-hmm. It's okay, go home. I can come in and. . . I promise, being sick isn't going to count against you. Go home and rest up. I'll. . . Midge? Were you just about to throw up?" Jason, who was now calm and had sense of his bearings, twisted up and stared into Tommy's concerned expression. "Okay, really, please find someone to take you home right away. It's okay. I'll be there soon. . . yes, you have my permission to leave right now. Get feeling better, okay?"
With that, Tommy hung up the phone and rubbed his hand over his sleepy eyes.
Jason frowned. "No day off after all, huh?"
Tommy shook his head. "Guess not. Midge has got the flu or something. Needs to go home."
Jason nodded. "I figured as much. She seemed concerned about leaving?"
Tommy's mouth pulled up in an exasperated grin. He let out a short laugh. "Yeah, I think more concerned about that than actually being sick," he confirmed. "She kept rambling on about feeling horrible for calling and asking to go. Didn't want that to reflect poorly on her record since we just made her a new manager."
Jason nodded. "She's a good kid. Has a good heart."
"Yup," Tommy agreed, sighing. He gave Jason a kiss on his head and then regretfully left the comfort of their bed to get ready.
Shortly after coming back from their honeymoon, Tommy and Jason had received grave news from their former boss, Ernie. He'd had a heart attack. He had survived it, but his health had taken a drastic turn. Not able to return to work, he had asked for Jason and Tommy to help run the Juice Bar and Gym in his absence. They had agreed, but little did they know that it would result in them taking over ownership of the business. A week later Ernie suffered a stroke. He had survived, but it rendered his left side paralyzed, and he was unable to speak. He'd had just enough time, and lots of handwritten papers asking Jason and Tommy to take over the gym. Dumbfounded and struggling to come to terms with the fact that their boss and dear friend had suffered such a life altering circumstance and was, in essence, getting his last affairs in order. He had no one to pass on his business to, and there wasn't anyone he trusted more than Tommy and Jason. It was the last thing they ever expected, and yet, somehow, it felt like the right decision to say yes.
Lawyers were brought in. Lots and lots of paperwork and documents were signed, and Jason and Tommy were made owners of the newly formed Youth Center.
A month later Ernie passed away.
It was heart breaking. He was such a kind and wonderful man with a huge heart. The Zeo Rangers, though retired and not in need of protecting Angel Grove, made a special appearance at his funeral.
Jason and Tommy's newfound business had a huge learning curve they were still trying to figure out how to manage. One thing was for sure, they needed someone to help them manage. That was where Midge came in. In all technicality, she was the same age as Tommy, and just a few months younger than Jason. Her appearance was young, and Jason teased her about it, hence why he referred to her as a kid. But she had a bachelor's degree in business, and stood out as one of the best candidates to help them manage the business side of something they knew nothing about.
Karate, they knew. Teaching pupils how to defend themselves, they knew. Fighting monsters and villains they definitely knew. But operating an entire business was a whole other level.
And it looked like the flu was going to push back the learning curve yet another week.
Such was life.
One thing was for sure, they didn't find themselves with lack of boredom since their Power Ranger days appeared to be over. Not that the Zeo power was completely gone from either of them. At times it sparked and glowed in their palms still. But it didn't rear back to life. And there was no need for it to.
The Machine Empire was gone. Rita was gone. Lord Zedd and Goldar were dead. Earth was enjoying peace from intergalactic threats.
Jason sighed and got out of bed. He made his way over to his closet. Tommy shot him a quizzical look that read 'what are you doing?'
Jason shrugged. "I figured I would come in too. Help cover the place with you."
Tommy's mouth pulled into a reluctant grin. "Jase, you don't have to. Really. One of us should have a day off at least."
Again, Jason shrugged, reaching into his closet for some clothes. Tommy stepped in front of his husband, blocking the closet and folding him into an embrace. He placed a soft kiss on those luscious lips, giving just enough heat to it that when he pulled away, Jason was trying to claim another one.
"I'd love it if my husband dropped by later today with dinner that we could eat together on my break, hmm?" Tommy suggested, smiling coyly.
Jason huffed out a breathy laugh. "Why don't you want me coming in with you today?"
"Because I doubt Midge will be feeling better by tomorrow, and then you get to go in, and I can have a day off," he explained.
Jason frowned slightly, realizing the truth in that statement. "Damn."
Tommy smirked. "Yup. See? A day off is sounding decent after all, hmm?"
Jason pulled a small grin and raised an eyebrow. "Dinner for me tomorrow if you get dinner today?"
Tommy planted another sensual kiss. "Mmm-hmm."
Jason stood in the master bathroom, giving himself one last look-over in the mirror. Yup, he looked good. He was wearing a black button up short sleeved t-shirt with black embroidery to give it texture and design, and blue denim jeans. He was wearing a flat banded gold choker necklace that Tommy had given him on their one month anniversary of being married. It hung around the hollow of his throat, just above his collarbone. Tommy loved it on him. He wore it every day.
Smiling at his reflection in the mirror, Jason was satisfied at the ogling he knew he was sure to get from his husband when he came to bring dinner. A freshly showered, groomed husband holding a Subway bag with some foot-longs?
Hell yeah.
It was Tommy's favorite fast food place.
Jason exited out the door, leaving their bedroom and grabbed his shoes at the landing to their front door. After putting them on, he went to reach for his wallet and keys on the kitchen table when the sensation hit him.
Red hot needles instantly prickled his blood, sending it to a roaring boil. Jason gasped against the sudden sensation. It felt like a hook had stabbed into his gut and was yanking at him from inside, yet there was nothing physically present to suggest such a notion. Pressure started to bear down on him, like there were invisible walls that boxed him into an instant pressure cooker. Jason tried to take a breath, but the action only elicited room for more compression to crash into his chest cavity.
It was staggering.
What was happening?
Jason tried to move but found himself frozen in place, that fisher's hook driving itself deeper into him and pulling with fierce determination. He wanted to groan out with pain, but there was too much pressure colliding into him for sound to emit.
Darkness started to enter at the corner of his vision. It grew until it enveloped his entire eyesight. He felt his feet suddenly leave the ground, and he was propelled helplessly forward toward a lure that answered to the pressure that surrounded him. Wind roared in his ears. He saw nothing but blackness.