Jason spent the short ride back to the launch bay in silence,
mentally reviewing the battle. Overhead, he watched as the Command
Center recovered the last of assault force. His team actually had done
rather well, even in spite of himself acting like some kind of idiot, charging
the dragon the way he did. He wondered if he was letting his own feelings
about certain issues interfere with his ability to do what had to be done.
He would have to consider that. If he couldn't do his job objectively,
then he might have to step down as team leader.
Entering the bay, he could hear the low hum of the Omni-techs powering down. His teammates were opening their canopies and climbing down out of their ships. Scanning the ships, he noticed that there was little to no damage done to the others. Rocky came running up to him grinning hugely, "Way to go man!" he high-fived Jase. "That was one sweet piece of flying; the way you dove in there guns blazing. You should have seen the look on that over-grown lizard's face when you blew its tail off."
Soon, most the rest of the team was surrounding him, patting him on the back and congratulating him for their success. Even the normally stoic Aisha was smiling at him. Looking around, he realized that Billy wasn't with them. Glancing over at his Blue Ranger One, he saw Billy climbing down out of his cockpit as the tech who'd given him grief about the dragon's blood raced across the bay and threw herself exuberantly into his arms. "Billy, they worked! The whole design performed flawlessly!" Looking back over her shoulder at Jase she added quickly, "Outside of that one," she pointed toward Jase, "getting dragon's blood all over his 'Tech- which by the way, I've already sent a sample of to the labs- we couldn't have asked for a better performance! The engines did exactly what they were supposed to do, the handling was almost perfect, and even the weapons were effective."
Billy extricated himself from her and held out his hand, "In that case, I believe the term is: "pay up"."
The redhead stepped back and shook her head, "Uh uh, not 'til we see all the data. The new ammo for the cannons still didn't penetrate the dragon's scales as well as DU rounds would have."
"Red Ranger One's did. Red Ranger Two's impacted on the hardened brow armor; our wager stipulated penetrating the dragon's scales, not solid bone. Besides, you know we can't use DU rounds, there's too much of a chance of setting off another physio-nuclear reaction in the dragons." He leveled his gaze at her, "You still owe me fifty dollars, Mic."
She put her hands on her hips and demanded with a smile, "Do I look like the kind of girl who'd welsh on a bet?"
Billy smiled at her and teased, "I know exactly what kind of girl you are. That's why I want my fifty dollars." Suddenly Jason found himself extremely jealous of the girl with whom Billy was willing to tease.
She smiled at him and winked, "After the data gets analyzed." She turned back toward where Jason's craft was being towed into the bay, "In the meantime, I've got some major repairs to make on Red Ranger One."
"They make a pretty good couple don't they?" Kimberly commented to Jason as she walked by. The tone in her voice made it clear to Jason that she was trying to say something else. He wondered just how much Billy had told their petit little friend. The two of them had always been rather close, in some ways closer than he and Billy had once been.
Jason shrugged and told her, "If you have something to say Kim; just say it. I'm not in the mood for games."
She stepped around in front of him and said, "I'm glad to hear it Bro, because you're playing one now and don't realize it." Putting her hands on her hips, she said, "Okay, it's like this. You're being pig headed, he's being pig headed. Now, either one of you figures out how to fix things between you, or I'm going to have to do something drastic..." She suddenly saluted him, or at least tried to- it was obvious that nobody had ever taught her how to do so properly, "…Commander, sir."
"Kim did anyone ever tell you that you can be absolutely impossible?" He asked.
"As a matter of fact, Adam usually tells me that at least once a day." She smiled and giggled at her own joke, "Now he doesn't have to feel like the Lone Ranger."
Jason just walked away shaking his head in confusion thinking, Was this really getting that out of hand? Had it really reached a point that it was affecting the rest of the team? More importantly, what the Hell am I going to do about it?
Tommy watched Jason leave shaking his head. He was really getting worried about him, and was just a little afraid that his old friend might be feeling just a little put out with everyone else butting in. However, he knew from experience, that for this team to work, they couldn't keep this dancing around Jase and Billy for long. It was going to start affecting their performance against the dragons, and that could cost somebody their life. He made a mental note to finish his talk with Jase before the day was out.
He almost didn't make it. By the time all the debriefings were finished, the battle had been gone over with a fine-toothed comb, everyone had showered and eaten, it was almost midnight when he found himself knocking on the door to Jason's quarters.
"Come," Jason's voice called from inside.
Tommy entered the Spartan quarters and looked around. A small twin sized bed was attached to the far wall, and across from it, Jason sat in a pair of shorts and a muscle shirt- both red- at a desk, going over the designs of the Omni-techs. "Got a few minutes, Bro?" Tommy asked.
Jason looked up and smiled, "Sure." Pushing away from the desk, Tommy realized that his old friend had lost none of his muscle tone over the past few years. Leaning back Jason smiled, "Let me guess, you're here to hear the rest of the story."
Tommy nodded, "Something like that, Bro. I just want to know why two of my best friends refuse to acknowledge each other are in the same room, unless it's about business."
"According to Kim, it's because we're both pig headed," Jase laughed.
"Kim's a lot brighter than she ever lets on," Tommy said.
Jason laughed, "I don't know about that. She pretty much blew things with you."
Tommy smiled. It had been a long time since he and Jase had been able to joke about his failed relationship with the first Pink Ranger. Tommy got the feeling that there were times that Jason hadn't quite forgiven her for dumping him- or at least for doing with a letter. "I could say the same thing about you and Billy." Sitting down on the bed, he propped his feet up on the desk across the short room. "But I don't think we're going to let you guys screw things up as badly as Kim and I did."
"Whoa, aren't you jumping the gun just a little?" Jason said. "I mean, how do you know there's something there even to screw up?"
Tommy locked eyes with Jase, "This is me Jase, don't even try to go there. We all know something went on, and something ended, and whatever it was, the end wasn't a good thing."
Jason smiled, "Like I told you earlier, nothing ever happened, it didn't have a chance to."
"That's what you said earlier, but you never got to finish." It wasn't his most subtle of hints, but Tommy wasn't feeling in a subtle mood. Jason was his closest friend- the friend who'd decided he was worth saving even when he was trying to kill him. His friendship with Billy on the other hand was no less deep. Although the two men never really had much in common beyond Rangering, they'd still managed to forge a friendship that was surprisingly close. Billy had even gone out of his way to make Tommy feel better after his break-up with Kim. Not trying to clear the air between him and Jase would be a poor way to repay that gesture.
"Okay, I can take a hint-," Jason said holding up his hands, "-even if it does hit me between the eyes."
Tommy smiled at him. "Good."
Jason sighed and began, "I already told you that it all goes back to that night after my OCS graduation." He smiled up at Tommy, "By the way, I just did some checking- Did you know that was also the week after Billy had graduated Army OCS."
Tommy shook his head, "He never told us where he'd been."
Jason smiled and shook his head, "The haircut should have been a dead give-away. Evidently, he joined the Army right after getting back from
Aquitar. Funny, he didn't tell anybody about it."
Tommy shrugged. He had his suspicions about why Billy would keep it a secret, but held his tongue. "You were telling me that something was bothering Billy that night at his house. He was about to tell you what it was, when we were interrupted."
"Yeah, I remember now.":
"Okay, Billy," Jason asked putting his beer down on the coaster on the coffee table. "What's bugging you Bro?" The evening had been great, all his friends had been out to celebrate his making Lieutenant Junior Grade right out of OCS. Everyone had turned out and he'd had good time. However, all evening, he'd sensed something was bothering Billy."
Billy smiled up at him, "Is my countenance that apparent?"
Jason leaned forward, "It is now. You don't usually drop into Billy-speak unless something is bothering you."
Again, Billy smiled, this time weakly, "It has always been somewhat difficult to conceal distress from you Jason." Sighing, he leaned back onto the couch and said, "However, this is your celebration," was that a hint of hurt, Jason detected in his voice? "And I don't want to ruin it for you."
"Billy, something bothering you is enough to ruin it for me," Jason replied as he realized he meant it. Seeing the pain in his friend's eyes, brought out a protective streak in him. He wanted to pull the smaller man to him and just hold him, protect him, and make what ever it was go away. Sitting there, watching Billy look at the floor, he instinctively reached out and pulled his chin up so that Billy was forced to look him in the eye. Watching the slight beads of perspiration form on Billy's upper lip, Jason suddenly had an urge reach out and kiss them and the hurt away. Whoa! Where'd that come from? Jason mentally asked himself, startled at the intensity of the emotion he felt there.
For long moments, Billy simply sat there looking at him. Finally, Jason could see a resolution come into Billy's eyes. The sandy-man sighed and leaned back and said, "Jason, you know that I've never been that interested in dating women."
Jason nodded, wondering where this was going and half-afraid he knew. "Yeah, buddy. I know." He wasn't about to insult Billy's intelligence by making some kind of comment about him not having time, or being more interested in science.
"Have you ever stopped to consider why?" Billy asked carefully.
Jason shrugged, "I've had my suspicions." He sighed, locked eyes with his closest friend and leaned back, "But I'd like to hear your reasons."
Billy's eyes revealed his surprise at Jason's answer. Finally, he said, "You have no idea how much I appreciate that." Looking down he said softly, "Especially since, I fully anticipate my reasons to cost me your friendship."
Jason leaned forward and touched Billy's arm, "Man, there's nothing you could tell me that would make me feel any different about you. You're my oldest Bud."
Billy smiled up at him, "There's a reason, I've never been that interested in dating girls, Jason- that I've never had any emotional response to women other than brotherly affection."
"What?" Jase joked, "You're secretly a Vulcan, and only go through Pon-Far once every seven years?"
Billy shot him a disapproving look, took a deep breath, and said, "I'm serious here. The reason I haven't had any feelings for any women I've ever been out with is because I have those feelings for you, Jase."
Jase had known it was coming. He'd sensed it echoed inside himself for the longest, but wasn't ready yet to deal with it. A part of him- the Navy Lieutenant part, the Red Ranger part- kept screaming at him: I'm not that way! I'm normal! He took a deep breath and sat back in the couch unable to say anything else. Some part of his mind registered the amount of courage it had taken Billy to talk about this. Hell, the man wouldn't talk about feelings in general, and here he was confessing that he loved Jase- that took guts.
But some other part of him welled up and strangled that part. After a long moment he said, "Billy, I don't know what to say. I care for you man, but not that way." Liar!, his mind screamed at him. Coward! it yelled at him again, but his fear strangled it. "Look, I don't want you to think that this means we aren't friends, Billy," Jason told him. "Nothing will ever change that, I just need some time to think about what you've told me."
Billy just nodded, and turned his face to the floor. The pain in his eyes, tore at Jason's heart. Again, and urge to sweep the other man into his arms and make the hurt go away, threatened to overwhelm him. Viciously, he slammed it back down, and stood up. "Look, I think I'd better go now."
Billy stood too, his blue-green eyes becoming distant, "I'll see you to the door."
Jason just nodded and let Billy show him out the door, feeling something deep inside him die.
"Tommy, the hard part about it, is that I was lying. I've loved Billy since I was fourteen- I was just then starting to understand that it was it more than just as a friend, and it was scaring the hell out of me. Instead of dealing with it, I ran like a dog. Billy and I haven't really talked since then."
Tommy leaned back and watched Jason. He could tell it had taken a lot to admit what had happened- and that he'd been wrong at the time. "Look, you were just out of Officer's school; you'd been indoctrinated into Don't Ask, Don't Tell. You were confused, anybody can understand that."
Jason shook his head, "That's a cop-out and you know it, Tommy. I was scared, and I let it come between me and my closest friend- one that I loved." Jason looked down and muttered, so low that Tommy was at first unsure if he'd heard correctly, "That I still love."
Tommy reached over and put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Then what are you going to do about it?"
Jason looked up at him, "I'm not sure there's anything I can do." He shrugged, "I mean, I treated him like dirt. No wonder he won't stay in the same room with me."
Tommy chuckled, "I think the two of you need to…" The door chime interrupted him.
Jason and Tommy looked at each other questioningly. Instinctively Jason said, "Come."
The door slid open to reveal a rather angry looking look Billy wearing an Army uniform. The gold oak leaf on his collar shone in the low light reminding both men that it was an Army major talking. "Commander Scott, may I have a word with you," there was more than a hint of anger in his voice. He looked over at Tommy, nodded and added, "Hello Tommy." Then he looked back at Jason and added softly, "In private."
Entering the bay, he could hear the low hum of the Omni-techs powering down. His teammates were opening their canopies and climbing down out of their ships. Scanning the ships, he noticed that there was little to no damage done to the others. Rocky came running up to him grinning hugely, "Way to go man!" he high-fived Jase. "That was one sweet piece of flying; the way you dove in there guns blazing. You should have seen the look on that over-grown lizard's face when you blew its tail off."
Soon, most the rest of the team was surrounding him, patting him on the back and congratulating him for their success. Even the normally stoic Aisha was smiling at him. Looking around, he realized that Billy wasn't with them. Glancing over at his Blue Ranger One, he saw Billy climbing down out of his cockpit as the tech who'd given him grief about the dragon's blood raced across the bay and threw herself exuberantly into his arms. "Billy, they worked! The whole design performed flawlessly!" Looking back over her shoulder at Jase she added quickly, "Outside of that one," she pointed toward Jase, "getting dragon's blood all over his 'Tech- which by the way, I've already sent a sample of to the labs- we couldn't have asked for a better performance! The engines did exactly what they were supposed to do, the handling was almost perfect, and even the weapons were effective."
Billy extricated himself from her and held out his hand, "In that case, I believe the term is: "pay up"."
The redhead stepped back and shook her head, "Uh uh, not 'til we see all the data. The new ammo for the cannons still didn't penetrate the dragon's scales as well as DU rounds would have."
"Red Ranger One's did. Red Ranger Two's impacted on the hardened brow armor; our wager stipulated penetrating the dragon's scales, not solid bone. Besides, you know we can't use DU rounds, there's too much of a chance of setting off another physio-nuclear reaction in the dragons." He leveled his gaze at her, "You still owe me fifty dollars, Mic."
She put her hands on her hips and demanded with a smile, "Do I look like the kind of girl who'd welsh on a bet?"
Billy smiled at her and teased, "I know exactly what kind of girl you are. That's why I want my fifty dollars." Suddenly Jason found himself extremely jealous of the girl with whom Billy was willing to tease.
She smiled at him and winked, "After the data gets analyzed." She turned back toward where Jason's craft was being towed into the bay, "In the meantime, I've got some major repairs to make on Red Ranger One."
"They make a pretty good couple don't they?" Kimberly commented to Jason as she walked by. The tone in her voice made it clear to Jason that she was trying to say something else. He wondered just how much Billy had told their petit little friend. The two of them had always been rather close, in some ways closer than he and Billy had once been.
Jason shrugged and told her, "If you have something to say Kim; just say it. I'm not in the mood for games."
She stepped around in front of him and said, "I'm glad to hear it Bro, because you're playing one now and don't realize it." Putting her hands on her hips, she said, "Okay, it's like this. You're being pig headed, he's being pig headed. Now, either one of you figures out how to fix things between you, or I'm going to have to do something drastic..." She suddenly saluted him, or at least tried to- it was obvious that nobody had ever taught her how to do so properly, "…Commander, sir."
"Kim did anyone ever tell you that you can be absolutely impossible?" He asked.
"As a matter of fact, Adam usually tells me that at least once a day." She smiled and giggled at her own joke, "Now he doesn't have to feel like the Lone Ranger."
Jason just walked away shaking his head in confusion thinking, Was this really getting that out of hand? Had it really reached a point that it was affecting the rest of the team? More importantly, what the Hell am I going to do about it?
Tommy watched Jason leave shaking his head. He was really getting worried about him, and was just a little afraid that his old friend might be feeling just a little put out with everyone else butting in. However, he knew from experience, that for this team to work, they couldn't keep this dancing around Jase and Billy for long. It was going to start affecting their performance against the dragons, and that could cost somebody their life. He made a mental note to finish his talk with Jase before the day was out.
He almost didn't make it. By the time all the debriefings were finished, the battle had been gone over with a fine-toothed comb, everyone had showered and eaten, it was almost midnight when he found himself knocking on the door to Jason's quarters.
"Come," Jason's voice called from inside.
Tommy entered the Spartan quarters and looked around. A small twin sized bed was attached to the far wall, and across from it, Jason sat in a pair of shorts and a muscle shirt- both red- at a desk, going over the designs of the Omni-techs. "Got a few minutes, Bro?" Tommy asked.
Jason looked up and smiled, "Sure." Pushing away from the desk, Tommy realized that his old friend had lost none of his muscle tone over the past few years. Leaning back Jason smiled, "Let me guess, you're here to hear the rest of the story."
Tommy nodded, "Something like that, Bro. I just want to know why two of my best friends refuse to acknowledge each other are in the same room, unless it's about business."
"According to Kim, it's because we're both pig headed," Jase laughed.
"Kim's a lot brighter than she ever lets on," Tommy said.
Jason laughed, "I don't know about that. She pretty much blew things with you."
Tommy smiled. It had been a long time since he and Jase had been able to joke about his failed relationship with the first Pink Ranger. Tommy got the feeling that there were times that Jason hadn't quite forgiven her for dumping him- or at least for doing with a letter. "I could say the same thing about you and Billy." Sitting down on the bed, he propped his feet up on the desk across the short room. "But I don't think we're going to let you guys screw things up as badly as Kim and I did."
"Whoa, aren't you jumping the gun just a little?" Jason said. "I mean, how do you know there's something there even to screw up?"
Tommy locked eyes with Jase, "This is me Jase, don't even try to go there. We all know something went on, and something ended, and whatever it was, the end wasn't a good thing."
Jason smiled, "Like I told you earlier, nothing ever happened, it didn't have a chance to."
"That's what you said earlier, but you never got to finish." It wasn't his most subtle of hints, but Tommy wasn't feeling in a subtle mood. Jason was his closest friend- the friend who'd decided he was worth saving even when he was trying to kill him. His friendship with Billy on the other hand was no less deep. Although the two men never really had much in common beyond Rangering, they'd still managed to forge a friendship that was surprisingly close. Billy had even gone out of his way to make Tommy feel better after his break-up with Kim. Not trying to clear the air between him and Jase would be a poor way to repay that gesture.
"Okay, I can take a hint-," Jason said holding up his hands, "-even if it does hit me between the eyes."
Tommy smiled at him. "Good."
Jason sighed and began, "I already told you that it all goes back to that night after my OCS graduation." He smiled up at Tommy, "By the way, I just did some checking- Did you know that was also the week after Billy had graduated Army OCS."
Tommy shook his head, "He never told us where he'd been."
Jason smiled and shook his head, "The haircut should have been a dead give-away. Evidently, he joined the Army right after getting back from
Aquitar. Funny, he didn't tell anybody about it."
Tommy shrugged. He had his suspicions about why Billy would keep it a secret, but held his tongue. "You were telling me that something was bothering Billy that night at his house. He was about to tell you what it was, when we were interrupted."
"Yeah, I remember now.":
"Okay, Billy," Jason asked putting his beer down on the coaster on the coffee table. "What's bugging you Bro?" The evening had been great, all his friends had been out to celebrate his making Lieutenant Junior Grade right out of OCS. Everyone had turned out and he'd had good time. However, all evening, he'd sensed something was bothering Billy."
Billy smiled up at him, "Is my countenance that apparent?"
Jason leaned forward, "It is now. You don't usually drop into Billy-speak unless something is bothering you."
Again, Billy smiled, this time weakly, "It has always been somewhat difficult to conceal distress from you Jason." Sighing, he leaned back onto the couch and said, "However, this is your celebration," was that a hint of hurt, Jason detected in his voice? "And I don't want to ruin it for you."
"Billy, something bothering you is enough to ruin it for me," Jason replied as he realized he meant it. Seeing the pain in his friend's eyes, brought out a protective streak in him. He wanted to pull the smaller man to him and just hold him, protect him, and make what ever it was go away. Sitting there, watching Billy look at the floor, he instinctively reached out and pulled his chin up so that Billy was forced to look him in the eye. Watching the slight beads of perspiration form on Billy's upper lip, Jason suddenly had an urge reach out and kiss them and the hurt away. Whoa! Where'd that come from? Jason mentally asked himself, startled at the intensity of the emotion he felt there.
For long moments, Billy simply sat there looking at him. Finally, Jason could see a resolution come into Billy's eyes. The sandy-man sighed and leaned back and said, "Jason, you know that I've never been that interested in dating women."
Jason nodded, wondering where this was going and half-afraid he knew. "Yeah, buddy. I know." He wasn't about to insult Billy's intelligence by making some kind of comment about him not having time, or being more interested in science.
"Have you ever stopped to consider why?" Billy asked carefully.
Jason shrugged, "I've had my suspicions." He sighed, locked eyes with his closest friend and leaned back, "But I'd like to hear your reasons."
Billy's eyes revealed his surprise at Jason's answer. Finally, he said, "You have no idea how much I appreciate that." Looking down he said softly, "Especially since, I fully anticipate my reasons to cost me your friendship."
Jason leaned forward and touched Billy's arm, "Man, there's nothing you could tell me that would make me feel any different about you. You're my oldest Bud."
Billy smiled up at him, "There's a reason, I've never been that interested in dating girls, Jason- that I've never had any emotional response to women other than brotherly affection."
"What?" Jase joked, "You're secretly a Vulcan, and only go through Pon-Far once every seven years?"
Billy shot him a disapproving look, took a deep breath, and said, "I'm serious here. The reason I haven't had any feelings for any women I've ever been out with is because I have those feelings for you, Jase."
Jase had known it was coming. He'd sensed it echoed inside himself for the longest, but wasn't ready yet to deal with it. A part of him- the Navy Lieutenant part, the Red Ranger part- kept screaming at him: I'm not that way! I'm normal! He took a deep breath and sat back in the couch unable to say anything else. Some part of his mind registered the amount of courage it had taken Billy to talk about this. Hell, the man wouldn't talk about feelings in general, and here he was confessing that he loved Jase- that took guts.
But some other part of him welled up and strangled that part. After a long moment he said, "Billy, I don't know what to say. I care for you man, but not that way." Liar!, his mind screamed at him. Coward! it yelled at him again, but his fear strangled it. "Look, I don't want you to think that this means we aren't friends, Billy," Jason told him. "Nothing will ever change that, I just need some time to think about what you've told me."
Billy just nodded, and turned his face to the floor. The pain in his eyes, tore at Jason's heart. Again, and urge to sweep the other man into his arms and make the hurt go away, threatened to overwhelm him. Viciously, he slammed it back down, and stood up. "Look, I think I'd better go now."
Billy stood too, his blue-green eyes becoming distant, "I'll see you to the door."
Jason just nodded and let Billy show him out the door, feeling something deep inside him die.
"Tommy, the hard part about it, is that I was lying. I've loved Billy since I was fourteen- I was just then starting to understand that it was it more than just as a friend, and it was scaring the hell out of me. Instead of dealing with it, I ran like a dog. Billy and I haven't really talked since then."
Tommy leaned back and watched Jason. He could tell it had taken a lot to admit what had happened- and that he'd been wrong at the time. "Look, you were just out of Officer's school; you'd been indoctrinated into Don't Ask, Don't Tell. You were confused, anybody can understand that."
Jason shook his head, "That's a cop-out and you know it, Tommy. I was scared, and I let it come between me and my closest friend- one that I loved." Jason looked down and muttered, so low that Tommy was at first unsure if he'd heard correctly, "That I still love."
Tommy reached over and put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Then what are you going to do about it?"
Jason looked up at him, "I'm not sure there's anything I can do." He shrugged, "I mean, I treated him like dirt. No wonder he won't stay in the same room with me."
Tommy chuckled, "I think the two of you need to…" The door chime interrupted him.
Jason and Tommy looked at each other questioningly. Instinctively Jason said, "Come."
The door slid open to reveal a rather angry looking look Billy wearing an Army uniform. The gold oak leaf on his collar shone in the low light reminding both men that it was an Army major talking. "Commander Scott, may I have a word with you," there was more than a hint of anger in his voice. He looked over at Tommy, nodded and added, "Hello Tommy." Then he looked back at Jason and added softly, "In private."
