A Better Alternative

Disclaimer: Don't own them, never have, unfortunately, probably never will.

Author's Note: I know I've been remiss in getting stories posted, but hopefully now that the various things that mess up the writing process (computer disabled for an extended period, vacation, pulling extra shifts at work, etc.) are under control, I'll be more regular. Thank you to every one who's written a review, it really is encouraging to my creative juices!

Trini was quite surprised upon entering the cafeteria to see Kimberly sitting with the three boys from the previous day instead of with the cheerleading group or one of the other more popular sets. She didn't hold Kim's popularity against her, after all, Kimberly had never treated her with anything less than friendship, despite the fact that the two were definitely on different social strata.

Trini had met Kim just after moving from Los Angeles to Angel Grove in the second grade. That same year, the Angel Grove School Corporation had redistricted several of the elementary schools, Kim's former school included. Thus, she had been as new and lonely as Trini, and the two had struck up an unlikely friendship. Even though Kim's interests ran more to clothing and gymnastics, while Trini's included scholarly pursuits and kung fu, for some reason, both girls had sensed something genuine in their affection for each other and continued to remain good friends even when the differences in their personalities began to put them on divergent tracks.

Suddenly remembering the events of the previous day, Trini sighed. It looked as if Evelyn was on another of her vendettas and Trini was willing to bet that Kim had been the one chosen as the newest scapegoat. That didn't surprise her, Kim had been breaking all of Evelyn's ridiculous social codes since day one, and she knew that for simply treating the boy with glasses as a human being, it had been the last straw. What really surprised Trini, however, was how happy Kim looked as she and the three boys joked, all of them talking animatedly amongst themselves, seemingly oblivious to the scathing looks Evelyn was shooting in their direction. Trini headed for the table.

"So, you can actually do that stuff? No kidding. I bet you're as smart as Trini!" Kim was saying to Billy, who, if truth had been told, was in a mild state of shock. He remembered the type of girls he'd first lumped Kimberly with, and most of the time they were not at all nice to him. He remembered being beat up by boys, but the kind of psychological bullying girls had a tendency to indulge in was equally painful and embarrassing. Yes, she'd yelled at him at first, but now Kimberly's friendliness was beyond reproach, and she had apologized after all. Billy turned slightly red at her comment about his intelligence, unsure of what to say. He was mercifully saved by a voice from behind him.

"Hi guys. Mind if I join you?"

Turning, Billy saw Trini standing beside him. "Uh," he stuttered, the attention of no less than four people cowing him slightly. "Affirmative."

Instead of giving him a blank look, Trini sat down at the table. Giving him a friendly smile, she joined the conversation, which had turned to the ending of school in a few weeks.

~*~

Kim was secretly extremely glad when the bell rang on the last day of school. Normally she dreaded the ending of school since few of her friends other than Trini lived close enough to walk, and it made for a much more quiet, boring existence than the one she was used to. Despite her newfound friends, Kim was tiring rapidly of the cold looks that Evelyn and her group kept shooting, as well as going to cheerleading practice which had become a very trying ordeal. Pride prevented Kim from surrendering her spot on the team despite the catty remarks she was subject to on a regular basis. She had gotten a few looks of genuine sympathy from a couple of members, all of whom, unfortunately, were too loyal to (or frightened of) Evelyn to actually intervene on Kim's behalf.

Personally, Kim was realizing just how stupid the entire situation was. Why in the world did the other girls follow Evelyn? They ought to know that once they've outworn their usefulness, they'll be treated the same way, thought Kimberly in frustration, made more intense by the wave of guilt that surged over her, because she knew that she'd been as willing as they at times.

Kimberly sighed as she walked home alone for once, as Mrs. Scott had picked up Jason and Zack for Karate practice, and Trini and Billy had decided to go along to watch, Trini for her interest in the martial arts, Billy for the sake of company. Kim had been invited as well, but had declined. Normally, she jumped on anything social, but this time her mind was in far too much turmoil. Ever since that night her mother had ordered her father out of the house, Kim kept hearing the word "divorce" spoken by both parents. It was her hope that over summer vacation without school in the way, she could work on reconciling her mother and father.

~*~

Karate practice over for the day, Mrs. Scott dropped Zack off at his house as Trini lived close to the dojo and had elected to walk. Billy was coming over to spend the night with Jason, and at that instant, Mary Scott was ready to get home and send both boys outside. They were wound up beyond belief, and even Billy was being rather hyper and loud. Remembering the almost silent waif of a few months ago, Mary smiled. Despite the fact that Billy was physically smaller than either Zack or Jason, Mary had noticed that he kept up with them admirably, and what he lacked in strength or coordination, he made up by inventing fantastic games that kept all three boys, and more recently the two girls, occupied for hours.

Pulling into the driveway, Mary glanced in the rearview mirror. "Jason, you need to change out of your gi before you do anything else," she admonished sternly, knowing that if he didn't, the white gi would be stained badly and nearly impossible to revert to its former state.

"'Kay, Mom! Oh, and Billy, we ought to - " The end of the sentence was lost on Mary as Jason and Billy both bounded out of the vehicle and raced for the house. Walking through the door, Mary could hear the pounding of two pairs of feet on the stairs as the boys flew up towards Jason's room to change. Shaking her head, Mary sighed. "Sounds like a horde of elephants going up the stairs. JASON! BILLY! DON'T RUN IN THE HOUSE!" she called after them for good measure. Walking into the kitchen, Mary began taking items out of the refrigerator to start supper.

Upstairs, Jason had changed into a red t-shirt and jean shorts, while Billy unpacked his overnight bag and got situated. Jason's spacious room was furnished with a set of bunk beds that were more often transformed into a 'castle' or 'fort' for play than they were slept in, but they were comfortable and easily accommodated the two boys. Jason was moving his things to the top bunk to allow Billy the bottom one - Billy always got nervous that he'd fall during the night somehow if he was in the top one.

Jason rooted around in the bottom bunk for Hector, his stuffed dragon. At nearly twelve, Jason would never have acknowledged that he had an attachment to the toy, but the fact remained that even if Hector was carefully obscured among the pillows, Jason preferred the dragon to be near him in sleep. Billy was one of the few people that knew about the stuffed dragon, but had never said a word about it. Jason suspected Billy understood well, and had one day, when lounging in Billy's room, discovered hidden under the covers a raggedy stuffed bear. The bear bore a small, red satin heart on the left side of its chest that was inscribed with "William Connor Cranston, April 1, 1979. Love, Mom and Dad." Jason suspected that the bear had special connections to Billy's mother, and inwardly knew how much those meant to his friend.

Hector located, Jason tossed the dragon carelessly on the top bunk and turned to Billy. "You done? Let's go outside!" Not another word had to be spoken as both boys turned and, Mary's admonishment about running in the house forgotten, flew down the stairs.

~*~

Kimberly hopped into the car with her father and mother excitedly. He had come by unexpectedly that evening to take his daughter out for dinner to celebrate the last day of school, much to Carolyn Hart's consternation. Kim's focus on scampering upstairs to change into a dress for the occasion, she had missed the tersely whispered argument about not simply showing up without warning. Carolyn was furious. She had meant to take Kim out to celebrate as well, excluding her husband. Kimberly had skipped downstairs just at that moment and asked her father brightly if Carolyn could also come.

"I don't think your mom would want to -" Kevin had begun. Carolyn interrupted.

"Of course I would! We can take her out together." A look decidedly challenging in nature was shot at Kevin.

Kevin returned it. "Well, then it's a plan. Let's go."

The car ride was uneventful, neither parent speaking much, nor needing to as Kim kept up a steady stream from the back seat. At last, they pulled up in front of Brandolini's, one of Angel Grove's better restaurants. "Expensive," Carolyn remarked. While she had a job, it certainly did not pay nearly as well as her husband's, and if she had been taking Kim out on her own as planned, she knew she could not have afforded this particular eatery.

"Only the best for my little girl," remarked Kevin, giving Carolyn a saccharine smile. Carolyn bit her tongue. For Kimberly's sake, I will not get fight with him. We are here to celebrate her achievement in completing another year of school, not to discuss our relationship. Even with this noble thought, Carolyn had a tough time not retorting. However, a look at her daughter's glowing face helped reinforce her resolve to be civil.

Once the Harts were seated, Kevin smiled at his daughter. "Well, are you looking forward to cheerleading camp in two weeks?"

"I'm not going to cheerleading camp," said Kimberly, her face darkening slightly. "Mom and I talked it over, and we decided that gymnastics camp would be better." She didn't say that she had no intention of putting up with Evelyn and the rest of the cheerleaders for a full week of sleepover camp. Carolyn, apprised of the situation by another mother, had suggested to Kim that she take a year off of cheerleading and concentrate on her gymnastics, and then rejoin the squad the year after that if she wished.

Kevin looked at his wife in surprise. "And you didn't think that this was something you should tell me? Why, Kimberly? I thought you liked cheerleading."

Carolyn interjected before Kim could answer. "There have been some…difficulties. Can we discuss this later?"

Kevin glared back. "What kind of difficulties? And what's wrong with discussing it now?"

"Oh, for God's sake, Kevin, don't be such a jackass!" Carolyn exploded, all of her resolve giving way to her resentment of Kevin's usurping what was supposed to be 'her' evening with Kim.

Kevin took a deep breath to gather himself. "Carolyn -" It was only then that he happened to glance at Kimberly. Her face, before so happy and lively, had fallen miserably. Carolyn's eyes followed Kevin's, and both of them looked at each other.

"I'm sorry, honey," said Carolyn softly to Kim.

"So am I, sweetie," sighed Kevin. "So, how did the last day go? Are you looking forward to going to the junior high school next year? How is Trini?"

Kim answered, relieved. Dinner and the rest of the evening passed uneventfully as Kimberly became more and more animated, in her excitement not taking notice of the strain between her parents.

~*~

"Okay, you two! Up to bed!" grinned Dean Scott, shooing his son and Billy out of the den as their movie ended.

"Awww, Dad, come on! Can't we watch just a little of this other one?" Dean laughed. "Not tonight, you can't. It's pretty late even if you don't have school tomorrow. I'll make you a deal, though. If you go up to bed, I'll let you two watch it tomorrow morning, and it won't be taken out of your TV time, Jason." To discourage too much TV watching, the Scotts had allotted their son a set time in front of the television, and rarely allowed him extra time.

"Okay!" Both boys were off the couch in a flash, deciding that the deal was a good one. Arriving in Jason's room, the boys quickly changed into pajamas and soon all that could be heard in the darkened room were the soft sounds of childish laughter. Those swiftly faded into the deep, regular breathing of sleep.

Dean carefully peeked into the room an hour after he'd kicked the two out of the den. It was quiet, and he softly shut the door behind him. "I think they're asleep," he said, smiling at Mary who had come to stand beside him.

Mary yawned. "Sleep sounds like a good idea right now. I think that's what I'm heading to do."

Dean walked downstairs to turn off the lights and then came upstairs. As he settled into the bed beside his wife, he clicked off the last light, and the Scott house slipped into a peaceful darkness.

~*~

In the Kwan home, Trini was lying in her bed wide-awake, thinking. She sighed softly, hardly able to believe another year of school had passed. The coming year, all of them would be in the sixth grade. Due to a new policy from the school board to relieve overcrowding in the elementary schools, sixth graders would be in the junior high school. Her parents had just been to a meeting to pick up registration and information packets, and one of the first events of the new school year would be a dance. Kim, characteristically, had been most excited about that, and Trini suspected that Kim would have been much more preoccupied with it if it hadn't been for the Hart's marital difficulties.

The first thing that had been discussed by both girls had been dates. Of course, Trini thought with a smile, her parents would never allow her to go on a 'real' one-on-one date yet. Kim's probably wouldn't either, so it was sort of a moot point, but nonetheless an interesting hypothetical situation. Even more interesting since there really is someone I'd like to ask, thought Trini. A soft fluttering pronounced itself in her stomach as she thought about that possibility. While Kim had always been somewhat precocious and had crushes on various boys since the fourth grade, Trini had not felt the stirring within herself until that point. It scared her a little.

Trini shook her head and rolled over. She had no intention of allowing her feelings to be known. It would wreck the friendship, she thought silently, at last fading into sleep.

~*~

"Dad! Dad! Wake up!"

The urgent whisper asserted itself in Dean Scott's consciousness. "Unhhhh," he grunted softly, trying to identify the voice and its purpose in his sleep-addled mind. "Jason?"

"Dad, come with me. It's….it's Billy."

Fully waking as he realized the urgency in Jason's tone, Dean swung himself out of the bed and followed his son down the hall. Reaching Jason's room, he could hear cries issuing from the dark cave of the bottom bunk. What shocked Dean was how much anguish and fear were present in those sobs. "Billy?" he said, grasping the boy's shoulder firmly and gently shaking him awake.

A pair of arms wrapped around Dean tightly. Dean knew inwardly that for Billy to be so, well, vulnerable in front of him, what ever had happened had to be incredibly bad. Billy didn't even act that way with Alden. "What is it, Billy?" Dean queried gently.

A sobbing hiccup was the only response. "Can you tell me what you were dreaming about?" Dean tried again.

"Mom!" cried Billy. "Don't take her away!"

"Who is taking her away?" Dean probed, an icy feeling beginning to settle on his shoulders.

"The ambulance. And they won't let me go with her, they say I need to stay here and keep lying down. But they've got the sheet pulled up too far, and she can't breathe. She can't breathe as well with the sheet over her face, can she?" Dean felt his heart break as he stared at the tearstained little face. It was so easy to forget what with Billy's normally adult speech and behavior how young he actually was. While Dean had known that Hannah Cranston had died in a tragic car accident, he had not known that Billy had been present at the scene. The scene was too frighteningly realistically described to be the brainchild of even an imaginative person.

Dean sighed, unable to decide what to do. He supposed calling Alden was the best course of action, at least let Billy hear his father's familiar voice. Carefully detaching himself from Billy's iron grip, he stood up. "Billy, I'm going to call your dad so you can talk to him. Jason, will you stay here please?" Hurrying down the hall, Dean went to locate the portable telephone.

All Jason could hear was a terrified sobbing. Unsure of what to do, he climbed into the top bunk, grabbed Hector, and climbed down. "Billy?" he asked. No answer except a sniffle.

Awkwardly, Jason put his arm around his friend. The sobs had started to slow, but there was a definite misery palpable. Unable to think of anything to comfort Billy, Jason looked down at the stuffed dragon squeezed in his free arm. "Here," he said impulsively. "This is for you."

Billy accepted the toy, clutching Hector tightly in his arms. The two sat in silence, Jason's arm around Billy's shoulders, Billy wrapped around Hector, until Dean came back with the phone. "Here," he said softly. "Your dad wants to talk to you."

After a mostly one sided conversation with Billy only answering in sniffles, yeses and nos, the boy had calmed down considerably. Dean carefully took the phone and as he made a last cursory check to make sure that Billy would be all right, he noticed the stuffed animal Billy held. Dean almost smiled. He remembered giving Jason that dragon after he had won it in a carnival when Jason was five. That night, Jason had had a terrible nightmare. Dean remembered it very clearly, for while Jason rarely had nightmares that were more than a bad feeling when Jason woke up, this one Jason had been very specific about the events in it. "A huge gold monster with a sword and red eyes!" Dean remembered his son telling him. Casting about for something to comfort Jason, Dean had seized on the stuffed red dragon lying beside him.

"Here," Dean remembered saying, "This is Hector. He'll protect you from the nasty monster if you just keep him close." Jason had snuggled up to the dragon, remarking that it was even his favorite red. Ever since, even when Jason had begun to consider himself far too old for stuffed animals, Dean knew he could walk into the room and find Hector hidden among the bedding. He was, therefore, surprised that Jason was letting Billy see it, let alone hold it. A wave of fatherly pride washed over Dean as he quietly left the room and heard a childish voice in the darkness.

"You can keep him," said the voice Dean identified as Jason's. Dean padded back to his bedroom and snuggled back down beside Mary.

"I feel so bad," Mary whispered. "That poor boy."

"I know," murmured Dean. "I had no idea." Alden Cranston's conversation with Dean before Dean had put Billy on the line had let the Scotts know that the nightmares had been a regular occurrence for months after the accident, but since moving to Angel Grove, they had almost stopped. Alden had apologized for not telling the Scotts, explaining that he had not even thought about one happening.

"I wish the paramedics had been a little more careful in what they allowed him to see," Alden had sighed. "I think that they were so busy attending to Hannah and then Billy, that it didn't even occur to them to obscure his view of the scene. When I got to the hospital, they had given him something to calm him down, but even then he couldn't stop shaking."

Mary curled close to her husband, unable to imagine how she would feel if something happened to Dean. Dean put his arms around her, and then spoke again. "Jason gave him Hector."

"What?"

"Jason gave Billy Hector the dragon."

"His favorite?"

"Mmm-hmm. I was so proud of him. I think Jason's growing up to be more compassionate than I'd realized."

Mary couldn't resist the motherly smile that curled her lips. "I'm glad for that. But we ought to have Alden and Billy over together some time. It hadn't even occurred to me that while we see Billy here on a regular basis, Alden doesn't do much, and it might be nice for him to get out."

Dean knew that this was Mary's way of trying to help the situation and wisely nodded in silence. At last, both Scotts fell back to sleep.

To Be Continued