DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the characters of Gahaleigh, Belstan, Denlione, the Tinneanites, Angelina Gomez, Andie Pridgen, Katie Oliver, Anthony, Keema, Win, Alexa, Daniel, the planet Denlar, Garrett Till, Kasi Freedmon, Principal Wingard, Anderson Marks, Alison Hutchinson, and Dr. Vestwick.
"What the hell?" Jason bellowed as he landed in the Command Center with a towel around his waist and his hair dripping with water. To say that he was a little pissed off was an understatement. He had thought that they were going to warn him before they just teleported him away from his home. That was why he went ahead and took the shower in the first place. "Couldn't you have warned me first?"
"We tried, but you didn't answer your communicator, so I had to go ahead and teleport you here," Billy said as the others landed and couldn't help but stare over at Jason, wondering what exactly had happened to him. He had never looked like this before and they honestly had not expected to see him in a towel.
"Well could it have killed you to wait five more minutes? I would have had some clothes on by then," Jason said as he looked over at the four wide-eyed rangers. "Come on, you've seen me in a towel before, it's not a big deal."
"That was years ago, Jason. Things have changed a lot since then," Kim said as she came back to herself and Katie roughly shook her head and looked away from the towel wearing Jason.
"Do I have time to go back and get some clothes or am I going to have to go to Eltar like this?" Jason asked, motioning to his nonexistent attire, as Billy looked over at Zordon and he nodded his head yes. He was certain that the Eltarians would not want to see Jason in a towel. "Thank you."
"How's Hayley doing?" Billy asked, as Jason was teleported away. "I didn't want to ask in front of Jason. He already seems to be mad enough at me."
"I think that she is all right. She's been able to get back to work this week and she's done fine, but her employees are doing a lot more. Are you bringing her here?" Tommy asked, as Billy shook his head no. He knew that Billy had the team in mind, but poor Hayley was about to have an emotional breakdown.
"Why can't you bring her here? What harm would it do to have her around?" Katie asked as Billy looked over at Zordon then back at Katie. They had been sure that someone was going to ask that exact question.
"She needs to work while she can. There will be a time when we need her here and until that time life needs to proceed normally for her. She's had too much happen to her lately," Zordon said as Jason teleported back in and let out a long sigh.
"I am so dead," Jason said as he sat down and Kim and Tommy looked over at him. He rarely said something like that, so what was wrong?
"What's going on, Jase?" Kim asked as Jason looked over at her and then covered his face. It was now or never time to tell them and he had to do it. He couldn't keep on putting the inevitable off anymore.
"You're going to kill me," Jason said as Tommy looked over at Billy and Zack, who were looking over at Jason in concern. What had happened to make his whole mood shift in a matter of minutes?
"Why would we do that?" Kim asked as Jason looked up at her and then over at Tommy. Tommy knew that it was the time that they all found out the truth, but it was going to be rough to get them to understand. "You haven't done anything to us to make us feel like we should do that, Jase."
"It's for everything that I haven't told you and what I am about to put you through," Jason said, as Kim looked over at Tommy, who did not seem to be the least bit surprised.
"What don't we know? Is there something else going on with Hayley? Don't tell me that she's having twins I don't think any of us could deal with it," Zack said as he sat down on the other side of Jason. He knew that Jason wouldn't be acting like this unless something serious was going on.
"It's nothing that is going on right now. It's more about the memories that are being brought up by everything that is going on," Jason said as Tommy looked over at them and then pulled Billy over to where they were. He needed to hear this as well.
"What memories could all of this be bringing up?" Kim asked as Katie and Conner looked at each other and then silently excused themselves from the room. They had the feeling that this had nothing to do with them and that they were just better off not knowing anything about it.
"Trini," Jason said, simply, as the others looked at him and then over at Tommy, who was staring at the ceiling, trying to feign ignorance. He did not want to let on that he already knew what Jason was about to tell them.
"What about Trini? It's been ten years, Jason. What else is there that we don't know about her?" Zack asked as Jason looked down at the floor and then stared over at Zordon, who looked as if he knew this was coming and that there was no use to try to stop him from revealing this information.
"She was four months pregnant when she died," Jason said as Zack, Billy, and Kim looked over at him and then up at Zordon, hoping that he would dismiss this declaration, but all he did was stare back at them.
"No," Zack and Kim said, adamantly, as Billy looked away from the others. He had suspected it before her death, but he had never asked Jason about it. He hadn't felt as if he had the right to ask and he was most certain that it was better for the rangers to not know that sort of information. They did not need that added pressure on their shoulders back then.
"She would have told us about it, Jason. We were her friends. Why do you believe that after all these years that she's been gone?" Kim asked as Jason and Tommy looked over at her. They knew it was going to be hard to make her a believer, but they could also see the recognition in the very back of her eyes that knew that this explained a lot of things.
"She was, Kim, it makes sense. I just don't know why I didn't see it back then. I know that I should have. I was around her more than anyone else," Zack said as Jason looked over at him with a sigh of relief. He had been worried that Zack would jump him for keeping that information secret, but it seemed that he was fine with it.
"What was going on that it would make sense? I was her best friend and she never said anything to me about it; she would have at least done that Jason," Kim said as Billy walked over to the computer and pulled up a picture of Trini that Jason had had someone take about a week before she died. He had always seen the pudge that had developed on Trini's lower abdomen, but now he had conformation of what he had always suspected it to be.
"Kim, she just told me about it. I wish she would have told all of you, but she didn't want to and I don't know why. I have lived with it for too long and now I have to come clean with everyone. I can't make myself live like this anymore," Jason said as he looked over at Kim, begging her to just accept what he was saying.
"Why tell us now? Why wait this long to bring it up?" Kim asked as Tommy looked over at Jason and the two of them exchanged a glance. It seemed that that one would be fairly obvious, but they all had been sleep deprived lately.
"Hayley's pregnant and it has been haunting me ever since I found out. I have to be able to do what I need to do without anything on my conscience," Jason said as Kim looked up at Zack and Billy, who were both crying, although they were taking it fairly well.
"So, it is the truth. She really was pregnant," Kim mumbled as she started to cry and Jason put both of his arms around her and gave her a hug.
"Yes and I know that I should have told all of you earlier, but I thought that I could take it alone," Jason said as Zack and Billy nodded, as he looked up and notice the picture that Billy had pulled up. "I didn't think that you would have kept that."
"I knew there would be a time it would be needed, although I was not sure for what," Billy said as Kim looked up at the picture and noticed the distinctive pudge and how Jason's hands were carefully protecting her small belly.
"Oh, Jase. Why did you do this to yourself?" Kim asked as Jason shrugged his shoulders. He was not sure why he did this, but he was sure that it was the only way when he was younger.
"I'm not sure. I guess it was mainly because I didn't want anymore pity than what I was already receiving. I needed to be able to deal with it alone, but I can't do it anymore. I had to tell you all about it," Jason said as the Eltarian rangers walked back into the Command Center.
"Where are Katie and Conner?" Alexa asked as Tommy just shook his head. He knew that the two of them did not want to be around for the emotional declaration that Jason was having, so it was just easier for them to excuse themselves.
"They're here, they just left the room for a little while," Tommy said as he opened the door into the hallway. "Katie! Conner! You can come back now!"
"It's over?" Katie asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and she walked back into the main room, with Conner only a few steps behind her.
"All of you need to prepare yourself for teleportation," Zordon said as the ten rangers looked at each other, before the Eltarian rangers grasped each other's hands. Jason, Kim, and Tommy then exchanged a glance. They had never seen a group of rangers do that before they were going to teleport.
"What are you doing?" Katie asked as the five of them looked at the other rangers and noticed that they were not prepared.
"Only Daniel and Win have the power of teleportation. The rest of us have to be linked in order to teleport," Anthony said as they nodded their heads and then looked over at Billy and Zordon.
"Three, two, one," Billy counted as he pressed the teleportation button and the rangers disappeared in streaks of glistening light. "Zordon, I hope that you are right. I would hate to have to explain to the other former rangers why they never came back."
"They will return Billy, it may just take some time," Zordon said as Billy and Zack exchanged a glance before they went to pack up for the night. There was nothing that they could do for them now. They just had to wait and hope and pray that the rangers would return safely.