Disclaimer: I don't own PR, I just wish I did.

Jason hadn't had much time to get to know the kids before Tommy's death, but there was a marked difference in their personalities then and now. When they'd been introduced, they were all happy, bright kids. Conner and Ethan were in the middle of a love-hate relationship, their egos often clashing, but with undertones of true --if not grudging-- respect and admiration of one another. Not to mention an honest friendship. They both got along with Kira much better than they did with each other, perhaps her opposite gender providing a welcome change from their testosterone-charged battles. Not that Kira wasn't fiery herself, and often got into her share of snits with Conner (though rarely Ethan). It was clear that the threesome hadn't been friends for a long time, but were easing into it as best they could.

But now, they were tightly bonded, feeding off of each other, reading each other's thoughts easily. Probably because they so accurately mirrored their own. All three were beside themselves with grief, but were dealing with it in different ways. Conner had taken it upon himself to fill Tommy's role as the head of the group. He wasn't enthusiastic about the battles from what Jason could see, but he was determined above all else. He seemed to have lost the cockier aspect of his personality, instead just carrying himself with a quiet confidence. He was also acting as their rock, especially for Kira, who seemed to be taking this harder than either of the boys. He was constantly giving her soft and reassuring touches, or flashing her a smile to cheer her up. Not that his smiles were as bright as Jason remembered them being.

Ethan, on the other hand, was making up for Conner's lack of Conner-ness by being as dark as possible. He was overly pessimistic about everything, treating his duty as more of a chore. While Jason suspected this had been his attitude about it before, it was a lot more pronounced now.

Kira was the one with the most drastic change. The confident, spunky, snarky girl Jason had met was replaced by a shell of a girl. She seemed okay at first glance, able to hold her own in mundane conversation, but there was no spark in her eyes. Jason had been living in Reefside a week now, and he hadn't her play the guitar once. The way Tommy had told it, she was constantly scribbling down song notes or humming to herself, but those quirks never made themselves apparent anymore.

Jason raised his concerns to Hayley at work one evening, asking if she noticed anything unusual about the kids, from a perspective of someone who knew them better. "Conner's lost his ball for starters," Hayley said, wiping down the bar as Jason stacked the chairs upside-down on the tables for closing. "He used to carry around this bocce ball; played with it constantly. Drove everyone bonkers. But he doesn't seem to have it anymore. And I think he's been skipping soccer practices. And Ethan never comes in here alone anymore. He used to be my best customer, and now the only time he comes in is when he's with them. He carries his laptop still--probably out of habit, because I don't see him opening it. And Kira hasn't gone near the stage."

"Should we be worried?" Jason asked.

"I don't know...I imagine they'll get over it soon enough. I mean, this happens all the time in Power Rangers land, right? Losing a member of the team?"

Jason winced involuntarily, and pointed his gaze in a direction that Hayley wouldn't be able to intercept. Not that she was looking his way, anyway, far too preoccupied with her task at hand. She had meant the comment offhandedly, callous though it may have sounded, though she hadn't intended it that way, he was sure.

He was thinking about Trini and the wave of sadness that had almost killed him that afternoon when he'd heard the news. He was thinking about when he had found out that Zordon had died. Zordon was a mentor, but he was so much more than that. He was a father figure to the team, and as such, he had left a hole that would never be filled, not completely.

As Jason mulled over the deaths of Trini and Zordon, crushed under his own grief, a nagging voice asked him why he had not wept at the news of Tommy's death as he had with the other two. Was it because they had grown distant? Was it guilt at not strengthening his ties with Tommy --and to a lesser extent, the other Rangers-- that had stilled his impulse to cry? Had he even had an impulse to cry? Jason couldn't recall it.

Thunder boomed overhead, so impressive that the large windows donning the front of the café rattled in their frames. "I'd better get out of here before the storm starts," Jason said, straightening one of the pillows on the couch and gazing out the window up at the gray sky. Tommy had left Hayley his Jeep, possibly under the impression that Jason already had a car, but Jason had left his car with Emily, so Hayley had given him the Jeep. When he stepped outside, fat droplets were just beginning to explode on the pavement, so he darted to the Jeep. He gunned the engine and pulled out of the parking lot just as the torrential downpour struck.

The house was located in the middle of nowhere, on unpopulated roads, some of which weren't paved. The rain was falling so heavily that Jason was worried that the canvas roof of the Jeep that he'd thrown up that morning after seeing the weather forecast was going to collapse under the weight of the water being dumped on it. He drove slowly as to avoid any sort of accident, and also partly because he simply couldn't see two feet in front of him. When he finally returned to the driveway of his temporary home, it had taken him twice the usual time to get there. Conner's car was already there, and when Jason hung his jacket on the back of a chair to dry, he went into the lair and saw the three teenagers lounging about.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We come here a lot," Conner supplied. "Here or the Cyberspace."

"It's getting kind of late though, isn't it?" Jason asked.

"That's why we're not at the Cyberspace," Ethan said dryly.

"How was your day?" Jason took a seat.

"Brutal," Conner said. "There was a math quiz. Totally bombed it."

"Trig was never your strong suit, Conner," Kira said. "Maybe I could tutor you or something."

"Could you?" Conner asked. "One more F figured into my quiz average is going to kill my grade for the semester."

"I love how you can figure that out, but class itself completely alludes you," Ethan said.

"You guys, I was thinking..." Jason said slowly. They all looked up, and seemed confused for a second, as though they'd forgotten he was there. "I know that Tommy didn't emphasize training too much, but I've been working at a studio for several years now, and I was hoping --if you guys would let me-- that I could teach you a few things."

Ethan frowned. "I don't think I have the time for it."

"How could you not have the time for that?" Conner said. "You haven't touched your computer in ages."

Ethan knew that to argue against Conner was to discuss his separation from his former self, and it was easier to give in to his teammate's wishes than it was to try and think about the past. "Fine, whatever."

"I'll do it," Kira agreed.

"Count me in," Conner said with a firm nod.

Jason allowed himself a tiny smile. They weren't enthusiastic, but they were willing. It was a start.