Chapter 04

Jason yawned, repositioning his hands on the steering wheel. He brought his left hand p to his face and rubbed his eyes, trying to refocus. They had been driving for hours and the sun was starting to rise. The traffic out of Angel Grove had tapered off so they were able to travel further than he had originally thought. Creeping out of his home city, he was, at first, afraid that they were going o be stopped at any minute. If his mother found the note sooner than he anticipated, then his father would catch wind of it, and he would be stopped faster than he could blink. Hopefully they didn't notice he hadn't come back, sometimes he was able to stay out late, even well after his parents went to sleep so it wasn't an issue. Hopefully it was the same situation here.

Jason glanced over at the gas gauge and then at the exit that was coming up. Thankfully it had a hotel sign on it. Checking over his shoulder, he merged into the turning lane and pulled the wheel over so he could safely turn around the bend. He rumbled through a green light and pulled into a hotel parking lot. Turning off the car, the shuddering woke up Avalon, she sat up straight and looked around, eyes wide.

"Relax, Avie, we're just at a hotel," Jason said, unbuckling himself.

Avalon rubbed her eyes then scowled at him. "Don't 'Avie' me, Jay," she warned. "Now's not the time." Despite the cold edge to her tone, Jason couldn't help but chuckle. No matter what she went through; monster attacks, problems in her own personal life, stress, she always had a tone that she was in charge of her own destiny and what was going on around her. He could admit that one of her flaws was the fact she could be manipulative, doing anything in her power to get her way, and she was used to getting her way. The fact that she told him to not call her 'Avie'—something he did as a brother like comfort-while still calling him 'Jay'—what she called him in return of her own sister like nickname-was humorous. Especially since he was technically in charge of this situation. He should have known she wouldn't give up her voice that easily.

She placed her hand on her wrist, where her communicator normally was. Jason could see her eyes widen and her head shot down, frantically looking for the piece of hardware that Billy had created for them. When remembrance settled through her body, her shoulders slumped and a heavy breath came from her mouth. She then unbuckled herself and pushed open the passenger side door, grabbing her bag on the way out and slammed the door shut behind her. As she walked around the back of Jason's car, she stopped and placed a finger on her chin. "Uh, how are you going to pay for a hotel if you don't want it to be traced back to you?"

"I've already thought about that," Jason reassured her. I've thought about everything. He waved a hand and the two walked into the hotel. He went up to the front desk and cleared his throat, deepening his voice as he did so. "Yes, I'd like to check in."

"And how would you like to pay for that?" the receptionist asked, turning away from his computer.

"Can I pay with frequent flier miles?"

Marissa Scott rolled onto her side and stretched out her arm. She expected the warmth of her husband's body lying next to her to warm her up, the feeling of his chest swelling and collapsing as he breathed peacefully next to her, the feeling of knowing that she was safe with him by his side. Her face twitched into a frown and she moved her arm across the sheets. The cold, cool sheets that sent shivers through the rest of her body. There was a draft in the covers. Marissa opened her eyes and found her husband wasn't lying in bed with her.

"Caine?" Her voice came out muffled, thick with sleep. Rolling in the opposite direction, she glanced at the clock and saw it was only seven in the morning. He didn't normally get up to go to work until nine. And even then, where else would he go? They took their showers at night, he didn't go to the gym until he got to work, and if there was any sort of meeting that he needed to go to, and then he would have told her ages ago. "Caine?" Marissa sat up and pushed her hair back out of her face, scanning the room.

The lights were off, but the watery sunlight trickled through the curtains around them, illuminating the particles of dust that floated through the room, somehow giving her an empty feeling. Much more so that she wasn't waking up to her husband like she expected.

Marissa sighed, running her hands through her dark hair once more, and then stiffened at the sound of footsteps below her. She smiled to herself. That was it, he was just downstairs, probably couldn't sleep, probably making breakfast. Gracefully climbing out of bed, Marissa reached over for her robe and slid it over her thin shoulders. Sliding her feet into her fluffy slippers she crossed the room to the door and walked down the hallway. Humming to herself she descended down the stairs to the bottom floor and, walking to the living room, she started to slow when she heard voices that were not her husband's, low and rumbling, coming from the kitchen.

"Caine?"

There was a brief pause and then sound of her husband cursing, before footsteps rapidly headed her way. Marissa blinked when her husband rounded the corner along with police officers, stern faced and stoic, making a human wall behind him. Marissa's eyes moved back to her husbands, she could feel herself starting to tremble. Her mother's intuition was going off at that moment; a cold wave rolled through her body, crashing against her bones, and sending a spray of dread. Caine Scott reached out and wrapped his arms around his wife, his dark eyes sorrowful, though in the depths held a fiery determination she seldom saw away from his office.

"Caine, what's going on?" Her voice came out shaky and timid. She cowered under the stares of the police officers that continued to watch the couple, waiting for the right time to speak up. Caine took in a deep breath and stepped back, away from his wife.

"Honey…Jason's gone," he said quietly.

And in that moment, Marissa Scott's world fell apart.

Jason turned a corner and started to walk back to the hotel. The wind that blew around him stung his cheeks, causing his eyes to water. His hands were starting to freeze, though they were put in the pocket of his jeans. Angel Grove never got that cold, but San Francisco usually did, with the chilling winds blowing off the bay and into the city. Thankfully he had thought ahead and taken a sweatshirt with him when he had left the hotel room. After checking into the hotel's guest rooms, Jason instructed Avalon to stay in her room before he had left the hotel, out the back door, to take a walk, clear his head, and figure out what the next move was going to be, where they were going to go next.

Jason held onto the hotel's card key in his hand, moving it through his fingers in a circle, almost subconsciously. His footsteps reverberated against the sidewalk as he went along, his own personal rhythm against the otherwise quiet world around him. It was early enough that not many cars were on the road, it was even kind of peaceful to be able to actually hear his thoughts for once.

It was, well, freedom.

Not having the communicator and morpher on him was a bit of freedom for him, he didn't have to hear the sounds that let him know that Rita and Zedd were attacking. He didn't have to try and keep his secret. But on the other hand, he felt empty without it. Like something was different now that all of his powers were away from him, something was stripped away.

Jason was so into his thoughts he had no idea he was being followed. A long figure walked behind him, head bent, but clearly following the red ranger. If Jason had turned around, he would have stood up straight and continued t a leisurely place, moving his eyes back over to the teen, to give a questioning look just in case. He had this planned out since he had followed the teens from Angel Grove. Keeping back about four or five cars had really suited him, waiting a few seconds before merging into his lane was even better.

The man smiled to himself. This was going to be easier than I thought. He increased his pace, coming closer behind the hooded teen. Just a little bit closer. He stuck his hand into his pocket and when he pulled it out, a switchblade was at his side. Quietly, he pushed out the blade and pressed the knife against his side. Waiting for the perfect moment to—

All of a sudden, Jason whirled around and did a scissor kick, striking the man in the chest and face, catching him off guard. The man stumbled back; falling onto the ground, his knife skittering away from him and Jason turned and fled, racing back to the hotel as quickly as possible.

"Shit!" The man scrabbled for his knife and leapt to his feet, beating pavement after him. He could feel his muscles pushing and pulling as he forced himself to go faster, the wind whipping around his head, whistling in his ears. He watched as Jason pulled away from him, darting around a corner and running down an alley. "Fuck, this kid is faster than I thought!"

Jason looked over his shoulder as he continued to run, pumping his arms and legs as fast as he could go, and his instincts from being a ranger and from his years of martial arts training increased his reflexes, dodging trash cans and boxes that got in his way. Looking over his shoulder, Jason could see that the man was getting closer and started running faster, turning down another alley. His eyes shifted, scanning the buildings around him for any method of escape, any way to get out of sight as quickly as possible.

Yes! Jason darted towards a fire escape that rested on the side of an apartment building. Mind racing, body pumping with adrenaline, he jumped up in one fluid mention and grabbed the bottom rungs of the ladder. His fingers were so cold he was barely able to hang on; the momentum of his jump nearly swung him forward and off the ladder. He held on tightly, and scrambled up the fire escape, pressing his back against the cold, brick wall, gasping for air. Thankfully the sun wasn't up high enough for him to be seen, shrouding himself in the shadows around him. He crouched down, waiting to see if the man was coming closer to him. At the end of the alley, Jason could see the man approach the alley and look around frantically. After a few seconds, the man cursed loudly, throwing an arm up into the air and kicking at a nearby trashcan, denting it and sending it to the ground.

He took one last look into the alleyway and walked away, hands on his hips, taking long, angry strides.

Jason let out a sigh of relief, slumping back against the wall. "What was that?"

A/N: I'm sorry guys. I've been trying to get longer chapters out, but they don't seem to be working. I swear the next one will be longer. Oh and this chapter took forever to get put up because FFN was having a lot of problems with uploading and stuff, so that really hindered my inspiration.

Also, I'm going to refer to Jason's parents by their names and then do 'Mr. and Mrs. Scott' whenever the other rangers or someone of higher authority is talking to them.

~Avalon