Disclaimer: 'Power Rangers' is property of BVE or someone along those lines. No infringement is intended.

MAD SEASON

By Etcetera Kit

Chapter Three: Centuries Gone By

The yelling out in the hallway continued. Conner supposed that they were still 'negotiating' with the police. It almost made him wonder what their ultimate goal was, what these people wanted that they felt they needed to hold innocent people hostage. At least Hayley had gotten out. He knew he should have been grateful for that. He felt numb. This madness had caused him to lose his ability to panic or feel scared. Granted, if these morons tried to rape him or kill him, then that sense would come back, but sitting against the wall, he just felt numb.

The terrorist who had released Hayley and the little girl came back into the conference room. Like before, his gun was slung over his shoulder. He wasn't pointing it at any of them. For some reason, Conner felt like he had seen that man before, but he couldn't place where. His gut instinct told him to trust that man and they would make it out of this alive.

The man was talking in a hushed tone to the mother of the little girl. She looked tearfully at him, as if pleading to join her daughter.

He nodded. "Come on," he said softly, gently taking her by the elbow and helping her to her feet. She allowed him to help and let him lead her out to the hallway.

"Thank you," she whispered to the man before she disappeared out of sight.

"Another one? Are you going soft on us, chink?" someone in the hallway asked, venom and spite in his voice.

"No," came the reply. "I think a hostage released on our behalf without demands would look better for our cause."

Conner was starting to wonder what their cause was.

"Fine," he spat. "Take her to the cops."

Footsteps disappeared down the hallway and Conner knew that the mother had been reunited with her daughter. Neither of them and Hayley had to worry about meeting their doom on the receiving end of a machine gun. God, he wanted to see Eric one last time, just to say goodbye. He wondered, if he was killed, if God or whoever was up there would let him come back for a few minutes to say goodbye to his brother and maybe one or two others.

"Damn chink," someone muttered from the hall.

It made him wonder why that man put up with this. Perhaps he was an undercover cop like in all those action movies. That would be cool. Conner could remember a time in his childhood when he had wanted to be a detective. He'd be just like Sherlock Holmes and have a trusty sidekick and a housekeeper and all that fun stuff. Of course, at that point in his life, his conception of Sherlock Holmes had been Basil of Baker Street from that Disney movie. Then his parents enrolled him in the little kid soccer league and that drove all ambitions of forensics straight out of his head.

He felt Tommy lightly touch his arm. He turned and gave his former teacher and teammate a sidelong glance. Tommy had a compassionate look on his face. Everything seemed to hinge on whether or not they made it out of here alive.

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

"Somewhere between hysteria and a near-death experience."

"That good?"

Conner smiled. For some reason, he had always found it difficult to remain frightened around Tommy. He had an aura of power about him that seemed to tell everyone else that they would remain safe. Perhaps it was just because he had been the longest active ranger. He had served the power that protected them for longer than anyone else. May the power protect you. That had been the greeting the early rangers used amongst one another. Tommy had used it with them on one or two occasions. Now, that phrase suddenly made sense. Maybe their inactive power source would keep them safe and protect them. There was no way that the terrorists could know who they were.

His life seemed to have spiraled to the depths of despair and back again in the time he had left Reefside and started at UCLA. The soccer team… the painkillers… the group therapy… the writer's forum… researching his books as a way to cope with it all… his steady girlfriend… exams and papers… subbing in Angel Grove… It all came flooding back to him, showing him that he had pieced his life back together except for the communication problem. And he had come back to where he started from.

The painkillers, oh God… He hadn't thought about those in a long time. He had started taking them during his freshman year, because the other guys on the soccer team had said it took away the pain fast. That much was right. However, he hadn't planned on becoming hooked on them. His girlfriend realized what was going on and forced him to get help before it spiraled out of control to other drugs and his eventual death. Kicking that habit had taken more willpower than he knew he possessed. His therapist from that time had encouraged his writing. And once more, the only person that knew about it was Eric.

Kathleen—Katie-Bug—his steady girlfriend from college… he owed so much to her. They had parted ways amiably after they both initially graduated, both of them realizing that trying to keep up a long distance relationship was going to be too much. He remembered her parting words to him.

"Conner, if you find another woman—or man—that will love you completely and make you happy, then promise me you won't pass up the opportunity."

He had promised. However, he had yet to find that person.

"What's on your mind?" Tommy asked softly.

He shook his head. "Nothing much. I was just thinking about everything I went through in college."

Tommy nodded sympathetically. "A lot of crap happened when I was in undergraduate school too. I don't think anyone escapes it unscathed." He paused, giving Conner a searching look that would have made the best compulsive liar shudder. "Care to share?"

"Only if you do."

The former Black Dino Thunder Ranger cracked a smile. "Quid pro quo works for me."

Conner took a deep breath. Perhaps it was time someone other than Eric and Katie knew all about this. "I was hooked on painkillers for a while," he said softly. "Had to break that habit." He shook his head. "It wasn't easy."

There was no condemnation in Tommy's eyes like he would have normally expected from an elder. "Nothing like that ever is," he whispered.

"My girlfriend was there for me and Eric." Something clouded in Tommy's eyes at the mention of his girlfriend, but Conner chose to ignore it. "They both helped me realize some things, sort out my life." He paused. "She was the one that dragged me to those damn writer's forums that started it all."

"Writer's forums?" Tommy looked interested.

Conner sighed, knowing there was no way out of this. "She liked to write poetry and dragged me to the forums with her. One of the guys there lent me some books and I decided that if some guy I had never heard of could write FBI murder mysteries then I could too."

Tommy chuckled a little but remained silent.

"So I started writing. That helped with the therapy too."

"Anything ever come of it?"

He nodded. "Ever read any books by Rex Erickson?"

"That's you?"

Conner nodded. "I suppose you can guess where the pen name came from."

Tommy smiled. The first name came from his primary biozord during their days as rangers and the last name came from his brother. "Those are pretty good books," Tommy said. "I've read a few and I know Ethan loves them. Why didn't you tell us?"

He shrugged. "Like a lot of things that have happened to me, I didn't think that any of you would understand."

"I wouldn't have pictured you as a writer before, but I don't doubt the achievement," he replied. "So what else won't we understand?"

Conner smiled. "Quid pro quo. You tell me something about your undergraduate school years and I'll reveal something else you guys wouldn't understand."

Tommy looked thoughtful for a moment, as though he wasn't quite sure where to start on that tale. Of course, he had gone to college after he had been an active ranger so there had to be some similarities. Although he couldn't see him getting hooked on painkillers like he had. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

"I don't know. Any major tragedies, addictions, revelations?"

He snorted. "There were a lot of those." He stopped, that thoughtful expression coming back into his eyes. "That's where I met Hayley."

"Everyone knows that."

"She was the first person I met on campus. I ran into her when we were moving into the dorms—literally."

Conner laughed. "How come nobody told us about this?"

"I don't exactly cherish the memory of plowing her over and causing the box she was holding to tear." He smiled. "Books all over the lawn in front of the dorm." A wistful expression came back into his eyes. "I was disgusted with humanity in general back then. A bunch of frat boys just laughed at her when we went to pick up the books."

"You went to UCLA?"

He nodded. "I spent the entire twelve years on that campus avoiding the fraternities. I never really did have the money to live off campus and Angel Grove was too much of a daily commute. That ruled out living at home."

"So what else happened besides making Hayley's first impression of you a memorable one?"

Tommy sank back into deep thought. Conner looked to the doorway. All of the terrorists seemed to be engaged in whatever it was they were doing. He decided to give Tommy a few minutes to think about what he was going to offer first.

It was hard to pick out just certain events about his undergraduate years that stood out. Everything had been so intertwined that it had woven itself into a single tapestry telling the story of six people. His undergraduate years had been, mostly, lived vicariously through Billy, who was already married and working out issues of his own. He and Chris used to harass Billy as much as Joanna and Hayley had harassed Trini.

This mess that ended up as their undergraduate experience actually started when they were still in high school. Trini had left for that peace conference in Switzerland and Billy had started to drift away again, back into the abyss of misery his family created for him. However, Tommy accidentally found out about Billy and Trini's consummation of their relationship before they left. One day during their junior year, he had gone to see Trini and she opened the door, her round belly betraying what she hadn't told them. It would be four years before Billy found out about Mary Anne.

He had still been working out issues of his own—trying to get over Kat, since their parting had not been the best, adjusting to college life and avoiding the frat boys with every iota of his being. The first year at UCLA he and Hayley trudged along with Joanna and Chris, learning college life and growing up from their frivolous high school days.

"Quid pro quo," Conner reminded him in a soft tone.

Tommy looked towards the door. The terrorists were engaged otherwise and not looking in on them. He glanced around at the others still held hostage with them. Most people had their eyes closed and were probably praying to whatever higher power they believed in. Some just looked frightened, their eyes fixed determinedly on one spot. No one was paying any attention to him and Conner.

"I think the biggest tragedy was Trini's death," he said softly.

"Billy's first wife?" Conner asked.

He nodded, having temporarily forgotten that both of them were members of the red ranger distress signal. Conner knew all about Trini from the archives and had probably gleaned a little about her death from Hayley and some of the others. He forced down memories of their final battle with Mesogog, the other gems and the red rangers that had come to help them out. None of the other red rangers knew what both he and Hayley suspected about himself. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell that bunch of straight, macho guys, even if they were fellow distress signal members. Oh, he didn't doubt that at least a few of them would be sympathetic and understanding, but he didn't feel like risking it, especially since he wasn't in a relationship of that nature.

"Trini had a calming effect on all of us," he said softly. "She tried to teach all of us to meditate and contact our 'inner beings.' She loved Mary Anne and Billy so much…" he trailed off.

"What happened to her?"

"She was in a freak car accident." He paused. "She was almost nine months pregnant with Susie. She died instantly, but they managed to save Susie… We were in our senior year of our bachelor's degrees."

"That's horrible."

"I know. Billy graduated with us and then went to the Master's program. It was hard watching him do the schoolwork as the only way to deal with his grief. He holed himself away from the world… I suppose we all did after a while."

He fell silent. Conner didn't say anything. Those three years when all of them had been at UCLA together had been some of the best and strangest years of his life. He had always known that Billy and Trini were closer than they let on, but he had no idea just exactly how close that relationship had become. He had been the catalyst, the one who opened his big mouth when Billy got back from Aquitar and came back to Angel Grove. Of course, over those three years, Billy had always reminded him of his inability to keep his mouth shut. Well… Billy had been correct in that as he thought about what happened with his parents almost four year ago.

All of that was such a long time ago, it seemed like. His more recent memories were of students and things related to Reefside High. Even their problems with Mesogog and their years as rangers dissolved into a hazy past. He had grown used to a life of solitude. He was a single man living in a house in the middle of the woods. He received no visitors and the only time he really interacted with people was when he went to Hayley's or when Hayley browbeat him into shopping trips like the one today.

"Anything else happen?"

Tommy gave Conner a sidelong look. "This is getting rather one-sided. What happened to the 'quid pro quo' thing?"

Conner shrugged.

He suppressed a groan, finding it amusing that, in the midst of danger, they could tune it out and casually reminisce. All those years as rangers must have done something to help with anxiety management.

"I got beat up by some frat boys more than once," he said.

Conner grinned and shook his head. "I suppose I crossed over to the dark side, because I was one of the frat boys for a while. That was before-" He suddenly clamped his mouth shut, like he had been about to say something and thought better of it.

"Before what?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just forget about it."

Tommy gave Conner a curious look. What else had he been hiding from his friends back in Reefside for all these years? He decided to continue with the amusing things that had happened to him during college, not wanting to press Conner for information. "We had a scheme to get rid of our RA for a while." He paused, watching Conner smile. His smiles were always so genuine and lit up the dark corners of the Earth. Conner was the type of person who tended to wear his emotions openly, or he had been. Tommy wondered what was behind the mask. "We filled his room from wall to wall, ceiling to floor with crumpled up newspaper. He immediately suspected us, but there was no evidence against us."

Conner shook his head. "I had a couple of RAs that were intolerable. But we never went to any extremes to get rid of them."

"I wouldn't recommend it."

He watched the younger man sigh, a ghost of a smile over his lips, and lean his head back against the wall. For the first time since he had seen Conner in the food court, Tommy thought he looked tired, defeated. It was almost like he had something weighing on his heart and soul, something elusive that no one needed to know, but that he needed to tell.

'What kind of secrets do you have?' he thought. Who and what had Conner become since he left all of them five years ago? The author thing was not surprising. He had always known that Conner was smarter than he gave himself credit for. But there had to be something else besides the books and the painkillers…

"Release one of the males," came a loud voice from the hallway.

Tommy stopped his wandering thoughts as the man from before, who had made sure Hayley, the mother and the little girl were released came in. He glanced to Tommy and Conner. Tommy made a small gesture in the direction of Conner. The former Red Ranger was too young to die in this horrific situation. The man nodded slightly and winked again. He pointed to Conner.

"Up, boy," he said, his tone carefully neutral. Where had Tommy seen him before?

Conner slowly got to his feet. As he was completing the gesture, another one of the terrorists came in.

"Not him," the man said.

"And why not?" the former replied, sounding bored.

"He's the little fag." The man rubbed his hands together with glee. "He's a detriment to our cause. If we have to start killing, he's staying so we can start with him."

"What about his friend?" The man was wearing a green vest under his bulky winter clothing. He gestured to Tommy.

The other man gave Tommy an appraising look. "Leave him and his friend. They could be some use to us."

Green Vest gave them an almost apologetic look before gesturing to a businessman towards the other end of the room. That man got up quickly and walked fast, as if his freedom could be stripped away at any moment.

Conner sank back down against the wall, his features filling with hurt and dismay. Tommy wanted to know how being a writer automatically made Conner gay. Most of the great authors were male and, if he guessed correctly, these men were some kind of supremacist group, whether that be white supremacist, male supremacist or something else. If only these men knew what kind of books Conner wrote… He shook his head. It looked like soon enough, he was going to get the same label by process of association.

He watched as Conner clenched his fists when the businessman was lead away, leaving them in the room once more.

"How am I a fag because I write?" Conner whispered.

Tommy sighed. "To the narrow-minded, many misconceptions occur."

"It isn't fair."

"Nothing is fair."

Conner gazed at him, his face still hurt, but understanding. Tommy gave him a tentative smile, loving the way his light brown eyes lit up. If only… 'If only you were a little older and felt the same way I did,' he thought. 'I would accept and love you for what you are. You wouldn't have to hide behind a mask. Neither of us would. What's inside us would come out and there would be no shame.'

He wished with all his heart he could say those words aloud.

But he couldn't. There was no way he could destroy the fragile trust that Conner had put back into humanity, the fragile trust that was already splintering under the weight of the accusations of the terrorists.

"I want to get out of here," Conner whispered in a hoarse voice.

"I do too," he replied, "But we have to make the best of the situation. Maybe there's a reason we're here and stuck here."

"You sound like you believe in fate."

He nodded. "Sometimes I do."

Conner fell silent, but he knew that he was still being watched. There was so much he felt that was unfinished and the question was, would he ever be able to do it?

To Be Continued...

Author's Note: As per usual, thanks to my reviewers! You guys are awesome! I would leave a more wordy note, but I'm in the middle of finals... next update will come at the appointed time... if I survive finals! lol --EK