Saving Madison
"You're mean!" Madison shouted at Vida. "I don't wanna play anymore!"
Spinning, she darted away from her sister and out of the room. They had been playing in their room, but an argument had broken out over one of the toys. Vida had taken it away from Madison, not sharing anymore. Running down the stairs with tears in her eyes, Madison stopped in the downstairs hallway. She could hear her mother in the kitchen, but she didn't want to talk to anyone. So she quietly put on her shoes and slipped out the front door, tying her jacket around her waist.
"I'm going to the park," she mumbled as she shut the door silently behind her. "I'll play all by myself."
The park was just down the block from their house and she'd walked there dozens of times with her parents, so she knew the way. Humming to herself, Madison skipped down the street to the park and went straight to the swing set. No one had seen her, so no one had tried to stop her and she was okay with that.
"I'll go home when I want to," she said out loud to the currently empty park.
For a while she swung by herself, humming to break the silence. But the peace of the quiet park was suddenly shattered by the appearance of the odd grey men. Madison froze in fear, clinging to the swing set. Not far away she saw the power rangers appear, but she couldn't bring herself to scream for help and they didn't see her. The grey men swarmed the area, darting around her as she shook in terror.
"Well, at least the report is done," Tommy sighed, looking at his watch as he turned to cut through the park. "I'm gonna be late for dinner, but my homework is done."
He'd been at the library working on a report. By himself again, but that was normal the past few weeks. Ever since the birthday party blow-up when Jason threw him out, none of the other rangers had really spoken to him. He knew they'd been busy, but he had kind of hoped they wouldn't just forget about him—no matter what Jason felt. Sighing again, Tommy started jogging as he reached the park. Hearing shouting, he paused and looked around. There were putties nearby which meant the rangers wouldn't be far behind.
"There they are," he said, seeing Kim and Zach fighting back to back.
Shaking himself, he started moving again.
"Gotta stay out of it," he muttered to himself. "I can't help them anymore…"
He glanced back one more time when something caught his attention. There was a small figure curled up on one of the swings of the nearby swing set—one he recognized immediately.
"Madison!' he exclaimed.
Ignoring the fact that he wasn't a ranger anymore and he was supposed to leave the fighting to them, Tommy charged into the swarm of putties around the swing set. There were so many around that apparently none of the rangers had noticed this particular group yet. As Tommy fought his way through the putties, one of them grabbed his backpack. So he slipped out of it and spun, kicking the puttie in the chest and knocking it backward. Leaving his backpack where it fell, Tommy darted through an opening to the swings.
"Come on, Maddy," he said, holding his arms out to her.
"Tommy!" she cried, bursting into tears as she threw her arms around his neck.
Her jacket got caught on the swing and pulled off her waist, but neither of them noticed.
"Don't worry," he said, holding her tightly as he turned. "I'm gonna get you home."
She nodded, burying her face against his shoulder as she clung to him. Tommy studied the putties quickly as they regrouped to attack him. They knew who he was and Madison's presence wasn't going to stop them from trying to take him back to Rita if they could get him. Dodging the grasp of one of the putties, he darted through the rest of them going for evasion rather than attack. Slipping through the group, he ran as quickly as he could away from the fight. He knew from experience that the putties wouldn't follow far as their target was actually the other rangers. He wasn't any use to Rita without his coin. But Tommy still didn't slow down until they were almost to the Rocca house.
"You're alright," he said soothingly, smoothing Madison's hair as he caught his breath. "They can't get you here, I promise."
"I tried to scream," she stammered, her eyes full of tears as she looked up at him. "But there were lots of them and the power rangers were far away…"
"I know," he said. "But you're alright now. Did any of them touch you?"
She shook her head quickly.
"I stayed on the swing," she said.
"Good girl," Tommy smiled as he knocked on the door.
It flew open almost immediately to reveal a frazzled Mrs. Rocca.
"Madison!" she exclaimed in relief, reaching for her daughter. "Oh, Tommy. Thank you. Where was she?"
"At the park," he said. "Found her on the swing set—"
"Mommy, Tommy saved me from the bad grey men," Madison said, hugging her mom as she looked at Tommy. "There were lots of them and he fought them and rescued me."
Mrs. Rocca looked at Tommy in surprise. He just shrugged, ducking his head.
"Are you alright?" she asked. "Both of you?"
Madison nodded, still beaming at Tommy. Whatever grudge the seven-year-old had held from her birthday party was apparently gone now.
"I'm fine," Tommy said quickly. "But I should probably be getting home."
"Are you sure?" Mrs. Rocca frowned. "You are welcome to stay for dinner."
Tommy shook his head.
"Nah, that's alright," he said. "I have to get home anyways. Mom is expecting me. Thanks for the offer. Bye, Maddy."
Waving, he turned and jogged off down the street back toward the park. Sighing, Mrs. Rocca turned and headed back inside, scolding Madison for running off. Partway down the street, Tommy froze.
"Aww man…" he muttered. "My book report—I don't want to start over again. Guess I really am going back to the park…"
"Well, that was weird," Kim frowned, looking around at the now empty park. "I wonder why they left in such a hurry…"
The putties had disappeared almost as quickly as they had appeared. And there had been no monster to take their place. Not even Goldar had shown up. The rangers had powered down now and were making sure there weren't any other putties in the area.
"Who knows," Zach grinned. "Maybe they're just that scared of us now?"
Jason rolled his eyes.
"I seriously doubt that," he said, shaking his head.
"Hey guys!" Trini called, catching their attention. "I think we might have a problem."
As they all jogged toward her, standing a short distance from the swing set, she held up a green backpack.
"Hey, isn't that Tommy's backpack?" Zach said.
Kim nodded, staring at it. Jason took the bag from Trini, taking a deep breath as he looked around again, hoping to see Tommy somewhere. No matter how mad he was, he didn't want Tommy to be Rita's puppet again.
"But then where—" Zach cut off. "Oh boy…That might explain the putties sudden disappearance…"
"We may have a larger problem at hand," Billy said slowly, leaning over to pick something up by the swings. "I believe this is Madison's jacket."
Turning, he held it out the jacket to Jason.
"No," Jason said, shaking his head. "That can't be hers. She's safe at home right where she's supposed to be. There's no way she was here in the park."
"Jason, it has her name in it," Billy said quietly, showing Jason the tag.
Jason groaned, taking the jacket from Billy.
"Jason, we'll find her," Trini said. "We'll find both of them."
"I have to check at home," Jason said, turning to head to his house. "Go find Tommy."
Nodding, the rangers scattered to look for Tommy as Jason bolted toward home. Wanting to get there as quickly as possible, he cut through several backyards instead of taking the street. When he arrived, he burst into the house. Vida came running to meet him, Madison right behind her. Jason sighed in relief and dropped Tommy's bag by the door, crouching down to hug both of them tightly.
"You lost something, Maddy," he said, holding out her jacket. "How did this get in the park?"
"I went to the park," she said solemnly, taking her jacket and holding it tightly. "All by myself—mommy isn't happy…"
Jason frowned.
"When did you do that?" he said.
"Umm…" Madison said, thinking hard. "A little while ago. The bad grey men came and they scared me."
Grimacing, Jason took a deep breath as he glanced over his little sister. He hadn't seen her at the park, which meant she probably had run from the putties and dropped her jacket when she ran.
"Tommy saved me," Madison continued, not having seen the look on Jason's face. "The grey men were all around me and Tommy fought them and made them go away so he could rescue me. He carried me all the way back home and made sure I was safe before he went away again."
She beamed up at Jason who looked back in surprise.
"Tommy saved you?" he said.
Madison nodded eagerly, grinning from ear to ear. Straightening up, Jason took a deep breath as he ran a hand over his head.
"Did Tommy say where he was going?" Jason asked.
"He said he had to go home," Mrs. Rocca answered, coming out of the kitchen. "But I just got off the phone with his mother and he still hasn't made it there. He should be there by now. Did you see him on your way home?"
Jason shook his head.
"No, I didn't," he said. "But I think I'll just make a run in that direction. Just to make sure he didn't get sidetracked somewhere."
"Alright," Mrs. Rocca sighed. "But be careful and hurry back. Dinner is almost ready."
Nodding, Jason turned and started heading toward the door. When he stopped to pick up the back pack, Madison saw it and grabbed Jason's sleeve.
"Is Tommy coming over?" she asked, looking up at Jason with a big smile. "Mommy said he can eat dinner with us."
"I think he's supposed to go home for dinner," Jason said, glancing toward the door.
He was anxious to go find Tommy and make sure he was alright.
"Well, if he hasn't made it home why don't you invite him back here?" Mrs. Rocca said from the kitchen door. "We've got plenty. And it's the least we can do after he rescued Maddy and brought her home. I'll give his mother a call and let her know."
Jason nodded, scooting closer to the door.
"Sounds great, mom," he said. "I'll go find him. Be back soon."
Spinning, he darted out the door. Racing back down the street, Tommy's backpack still in hand, he headed for the park again, hoping to find Tommy somewhere along the way. But it wasn't until he reached the park that he finally found Tommy. The former green ranger was by the swing set, muttering to himself as he looked around.
"I could have sworn it fell somewhere around here," he muttered. "Unless the putties took it…But why would they take my bag? There's nothing they can use in there and I really need that report…"
Sighing, he paused, glancing around again. Tommy froze when he caught sight of Jason watching him. For a moment, neither of them spoke as they watched each other.
"Lose something?" Jason finally asked, holding up Tommy's backpack.
"Yeah," Tommy said warily, not moving any closer. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you," Jason answered, dropping his arm.
Tommy glanced around nervously as he took a step back. There was no one else in the park, the earlier fight having completely cleared the area.
"Listen, Jason," he said, still not moving closer. "I—I really don't want to fight with you right now…I'm already late for dinner and—and if you really want to fight with me can we please just do this later? I really just need my backpack so I can get home…"
Jason sighed.
"Tommy, I'm not going to hit you," he said.
Tommy raised an eyebrow.
"Uh huh," he said doubtfully. "Last time I checked the only reason you wanted to see me was to hit me."
"Well, I don't anymore," Jason retorted.
"Then why are you here?" Tommy asked.
"Because I was looking for you," Jason repeated.
"Why?" Tommy said suspiciously.
"Because I just came from my house," Jason sighed.
Tommy flinched.
"Look, I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I know I'm supposed to stay away from your sisters, but she was surrounded and you were busy and—and I just couldn't see her get hurt…"
Jason started shaking his head.
"Tommy, relax," he said. "I'm seriously not going to hurt you. I—I was wrong before…"
Tommy eyed him hesitantly, not sure how to take Jason's sudden attitude change. Jason took a deep breath.
"Listen, bro," he said. "I really don't know what else to say…I was wrong, ok? I'm sorry. It was a bad week with ranger stuff and she was crying and I took it out on you. I can't help being overprotective of them…"
But Tommy was still watching him nervously, not sure how to react.
"Would you just get over here and take this?" Jason grumbled, hefting the backpack again. "I promise I'm not going to hit you."
"Alright," Tommy said.
Taking a deep breath, he walked over to Jason and took his backpack. Jason didn't move except to hand it over.
"See?" he said. "I didn't hit you. I really am sorry…"
Tommy smiled hesitantly.
"Thanks," he said. "But I should be getting home. I really am late for dinner and—"
"That's alright," Jason interrupted. "Your mom already knows where you are."
Tommy frowned.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"My mom called her," he said. "You're coming back and eating dinner with us."
"I'm what?" Tommy said in surprise.
"Dinner at my house," Jason said. "Maddy insisted I bring you back."
Tommy shook his head.
"I doubt that," he said. "She hates me, remember?"
Jason scoffed.
"She's seven, bro," he said. "She changes her mind all the time. You're her favorite right now."
"I really don't think so…" Tommy said slowly.
Jason laughed.
"I'll bet you that you are," he said. "Come back to my house and you'll see. You'll be the first one she hugs when we walk in the door. She barely even hugged me when I came home. She was too excited to tell me about you."
Tommy started laughing and Jason started laughing harder. For a few moments they just stood there. Then Jason bumped a shoulder against Tommy's, jerking his head in the direction of his house.
"You coming?" he asked, looking at Tommy.
"Yeah," Tommy nodded.
Grinning, Jason nodded back and they started walking.
"Are we good then?" he asked as they left the park.
Tommy was silent for a moment, and then smiled as he nodded.
"We're good," he said.
Jason grinned as they kept walking.
"That's great," he said. "But I do have a question."
"What is it?" Tommy asked.
"What on earth were you thinking running into an army of putties?" Jason exclaimed.
Tommy shrugged.
"Your sister was in the middle of them," he said. "What was I supposed to do? Run through or around them and come get you instead? You were practically on the other side of the park."
"You could have yelled," Jason countered.
Tommy snorted.
"Yeah, cause you guys would have heard me from the swings with all the shouting you were doing," he said. "Besides, I didn't want to risk something happening if I hesitated. So I reacted. Everything turned out alright."
Jason rolled his eyes, but gave Tommy a grateful look.
"Thanks," he said quietly.
Tommy nodded and they continued down the street. They laughed as they caught up on the last few weeks. Continuing to push back and forth, they settled back into a comfortable pattern as they headed back to Jason's house.
"Are you sure you should be ignoring that?" Tommy asked, glancing at Jason.
His communicator had just gone off again, but Jason was ignoring it. It was after dinner and both of them were sitting in Jason's room. Jason was sprawled across his bed while Tommy had claimed the bean bag, pulling it out of the corner and making himself comfortable. When they had gotten back to the house earlier, Madison had proven Jason right by running straight to Tommy and hugging him excitedly. He'd sat next to her during dinner, smiling as she chatted non-stop, showing no signs of the distress she'd exhibited at the birthday party. After eating, Tommy had gotten permission to stay a little longer and finish up the rest of his homework with Jason while they hung out.
"It can't be that important," Jason said, shrugging. "If it was Alpha would have just teleported me to the Command Center by now. I'll call back after you leave."
"I can always go," Tommy said.
Jason glared at him and chucked a pillow across the room. Tommy ducked, laughing as it missed him. The sound of the doorbell and Mrs. Rocca hurrying to answer the door caught both of their attention.
"Are you expecting more company?" Tommy asked, frowning as he glanced toward Jason's door.
Jason shook his head.
"No," he said. "It's past eight. I have no idea who'd be here this late."
Hopping off of his bed, he hurried over to his door and cracked it open so they could listen.
"Hello, Kimberly," they heard Mrs. Rocca saying as opened the door. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Hi, Mrs. Rocca," Kim answered. "Is Jason home? I need to talk to him real quick."
"Of course," she said. "He's up in his room. Go on up—he's still awake. Tommy is with him."
"Thank you!" Kim said.
They heard the door shut downstairs and Jason turned to look at Tommy, his eyes wide.
"I am so dead," he said.
Tommy frowned.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because I completely forgot to tell the others that I found you," he said. "They were out looking for you…"
"Why?" Tommy repeated.
Jason shrugged sheepishly.
"Well, when we found your backpack in the park we thought maybe the putties had taken you. And Then Billy found Maddy's jacket," he said. "So I ran back here to look for Maddy and the others went to search everywhere else…"
Tommy started shaking his head.
"Yeah, you're dead," he said as the door flew open.
Jason leapt away from the door as Kim marched inside. She immediately fixated on Tommy, glaring at him.
"Why didn't you tell us where you were?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips.
"Because Jason only just told me you guys were looking for me about thirty seconds ago," Tommy protested as he stood up.
Kim frowned, turning her glared on Jason.
"Jason Scott!" she snapped. "What were you thinking?"
"I forgot," he said. "I found him and then we were talking and then he came over for dinner and the girls were really excited and—"
"You found him before dinner?" she burst out. "Jason, we've been panicking for hours! Billy is still at the Command Center trying to track what Rita is doing!"
Tommy stifled a laugh, turning it into a cough at the look on Jason's face. Kim huffed, turning to Tommy.
"I'm walking you home," she said.
"Kim, you don't need to do that," Tommy said, shaking his head.
"Too bad," she said. "I'm walking home with you because I want to make sure you actually make it there in one piece without disappearing again."
Tommy didn't protest any further.
"Alright," he said, grabbing his bag. "I'm ready when you are."
Jason frowned at him in surprise, but Tommy just shrugged. Kim ignored Jason's look, slipping her hand into Tommy's and tugging him toward the door. She paused before they left.
"By the way, Jason," she said. "You get to call the others and let them know what happened. The whole story—including the fact that you found him hours ago and forgot to tell us. I will check to make sure they know. I'd recommend starting with Trini."
Smirking at him, she spun and walked out with Tommy, still holding his hand. He was now laughing out loud at the look on Jason's face. Jason started to protest, but then gave up and shut his door so he could call the others on the communicator.
"Oh, this is going to go over well," he muttered to himself. "I'm going to be dead by morning…"
