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

This is a little ahead of schedule, but I realized that I probably wouldn't have computer access Saturday for the usual update, so I figured you guys would get a reprieve.

Jason awoke with a start. He was in the kitchen --still hesitant to refer to it as "his" kitchen-- and had apparently fallen asleep at the table. His faced felt somewhat numb from being pressed against the wood for so long. It took a moment before he was able to place the source of his waking up. Ah, it was the phone ringing. He shook his head to clear the haze and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Hey, honey."

A smile crossed his face regardless of the dull ache in his jaw. "Hey, Em," he said warmly. "I miss you. How is everything?"

"I landed a spot in a new Coke commercial," she said.

"Em, that's fantastic!" Jason said. Emily launched into a tale of everything that had happened in the past week, and Jason was content just to listen to his fiancée's voice and appreciate this taste of the home he used to know. She asked about Reefside, and he filled her in on his new position as personal trainer. He neglected to mention the exact circumstances behind Tommy's death, that was, the disturbing new little tidbit he'd learned.

"There's one other thing," Emily had said before hanging up, "Kimberly called."

So Jason sat now at the counter, very much awake, staring at the phone. He had never told any of his friends that he'd be moving to Reefside, the home of Tommy's death.

He dialed Kim's number, feeling awkward. She answered on the third ring.

"It's Jason."

"My God, Jase, I thought you'd died," she said with a slight laugh, one that tapered off into dead silence. "Bad choice of words."

"Yeah. Well."

"I haven't heard from you in awhile," she amended. "How are things? Where are you? Emily said you weren't living in your apartment anymore, did something happen?"

"No, nothing. We're still engaged. I just had to move to Reefside for a few months."

He could imagine her screwing up her face in confusion. "Reefside?"

"Yeah, it's in southern Cali," he covered. "I had to...deal with some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Suspicion was dripping from her voice, and Jason felt a stab of guilt at having to lie to Kim, his closest friend, but he had a lot to protect.

"You know. Work stuff."

"For the studio?"

"Yeah," he said, perhaps a little too quickly.

"Oh my God, Jason, you're not cheating on Emily, are you?" Kimberly accused.

Jason's eyes widened, and he was so flabbergasted by this accusation that he was completely unable to answer. But before he could say anything, the front door swung open (he liked to keep it unlocked during the day and early evening, in case anyone dropped by--only four people ever did). "Jason?" Hayley called.

"I'm in the kitchen," he called. "C'mon in."

"Jason Scott, is that a woman's voice?" Kimberly said.

Hayley was holding Conner's red morpher in her hand. "I need to do this quick, I'm on my break," she said.

Jason nodded. "Just go on down." Hayley went into the other room, and he thought he heard a second set of footsteps following her. Faintly, he heard a voice in his ear, and it was a moment before he realized it was Kimberly. "Kim, I gotta go," he said hastily, "I'll call you later."

"Jason, wait a second--" But he'd already hung up and was heading down into the lair. Conner was the second set of footsteps, he was perched on a stool watching as Hayley tinkered with the morpher. "What's going on?"

"My com went off in last period today. There was dead static there, though. I thought I'd bring it to Hayley."

"I'm hoping it's just a glitch and not some sort of interference, courtesy of you-know-who."

"That's not an option, is it?" he asked, worriedly.

"Not from the looks of things," Hayley said, turning around to face the men with an exasperated expression. She held up a blade of grass, and Conner went a little red. "Be more careful next time, Conner. I don't know what you were doing exactly, just watch yourself." Conner offered her a half-smile, and she shook her head in exasperation and walked away.

"Kira used to do that to me all the time," Conner remarked once the redhead had left.

"Roll her eyes and leave?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, basically." Conner sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Jason...you're, like, engaged, right?"

"Yeah."

"Can I ask you a question? About, like, girls? I mean, I could never go to Dr. O. with this sort of thing, 'cause, well, look at him. He's completely clueless." Neither of them noticed the reference to Tommy in the present tense--or if they did, they didn't seem to care.

Jason laughed. "You should have seen him in high school. But sure, ask away."

"It's about Kira."

Jason had always thought he detected a connection between the Red and Yellow Rangers, but he just assumed that it was a deep bond of friendship, like between himself and Kim. He was intrigued at the prospect of there being something else.

Conner fussed with his com bracelet, snapping it back on his wrist and keeping his eyes trained on the task. "She...I sort of...well, you know, she didn't always..." He sighed, meeting Jason's eyes again. "Look, the thing is, I'm really worried about her. She's not really herself, you know? I mean, she's totally not like this. You saw. Nowadays she just seems sad all the time, and I'm really worried that she might not get better. 'Cause, I mean, I'm bummed, too, but I'm still myself. And what if she doesn't ever get back to normal? Because I liked the old Kira. I mean, I like this Kira, too, she's a lot easier to deal with, it's just...it's not the same."

Jason nodded. "I understand. But she's getting better, though. The other day during training she gave me a death glare that almost made me wet myself."

Conner smirked, which had been Jason's intent. "That's the Kira I know."

"None of us are really who we used to be, Conner," Jason said quietly, a decided seriousness creeping into his tone. "But it's only a matter of time before things go back to normal. It sounds weird to hear, I know, but it happens."

"It's not a good normal or anything," Conner argued. "A good normal would be going back to science class tomorrow morning and having Dr. O. yell at me for being late."

"I've done this before, remember? And I hated to think that there was a day where I'd begin to feel normal again after Trini died. But it happened. It took awhile, but it happened." And then there was Tommy, Jason thought, but he kept it to himself. "It'll happen for you, and it'll happen for Kira, too. And she'll remember who was there to help her through the hard times, Conner, trust me on that."

Conner nodded. "Thanks, Jason." Jason smiled, and as he followed Conner out of the lair and watched him drive away, he couldn't help mentally thanking Conner for his trust and respect.