Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or anything related to the series. I do own the character of Alex Myers.

Ghostwriter: Thanks for the review and I hope that you really did enjoy both of the chapters.

forevercrane: Thank you for the review and this is the soonest that I can get out another chapter.

Now, on with the Story!

Jason's POV

Well, I thought that Tommy would be able to get over it in about a week, but he is still not himself. I don't have the class schedule that some of the other rangers have and since I'm closer to him, they want me to try to break him out of this. I told them it was crazy. I told them that I was going to get my ass whooped when I walked into his room. I told them I was not going to wake him up. I was not going to put myself in the position to be hurt. Now, I'm here this morning. They weren't too sympathetic as to what might happen to me, they need their leader back more than anything else.

"Get your ass out of bed," Jason said as he walked into Tommy's bedroom and yanked the covers off of the still sleeping, red ranger.

He had not been getting to school on time or doing much of anything since Jason arrived a week ago and he now thought the time was right for drastic measures to be taken. He actually had been told it was time, but he did agree with the other rangers. He could not afford to wait much longer or they would lose what little bit they still had of Tommy here in California. They couldn't lose that part of him as well, they had to get him back to reality and let him know it was okay to hurt. It was okay to mourn the relationship he had lost, but he had to let them help him, although it was going to be hard to convince him of that.

"Five more minutes, Dad," Tommy grumbled, snatching the covers back from Jason and curling up in a ball in the center of his bed.

Any other time Jason would have laughed at what Tommy was saying and let him go back to sleep, but he knew that it was going to take him the next five minutes, at least, to get him out of bed and in the shower. That was his goal for today and he was willing to risk anything to achieve it, including bodily harm and having Tommy pissed off at him for a couple of days.

"Nope, out of bed," Jason said as he snatched the covers off the bed and threw them on the floor, which was cluttered with various articles of clothing and other knick-knacks Tommy decided to throw on the ground over the last few months, from what it seemed. He hadn't been himself since she left and Jason knew it was worse now that she had broken up with him. None of them had seen it coming and he wished that he had, maybe they could have stopped it. "You are going to get to school on time today."

"Damn it, what do you want from me?" Tommy yelled as he sat up and Jason had to physically restrain himself from laughing. Tommy's long hair was sticking out at all sorts of odd angles and his boxer shorts were slanting across his waistline, from his obvious tossing and turning overnight. It was hilarious to him to see Tommy look so un-together, but he knew that he was going to be decked soon, which he was prepared for. He had honestly thought that he would have already been, at least, slapped by now for trying to wake him up. "At least I've been showing up this week. That is more than you can say about last week. Just let me sleep."

"Tommy, showing up is not enough. You can't fail, you can't give up and you know what, you are pretty close to doing both right now," Jason said, as Tommy glared at him.

Tommy had been flirting with the edge of sanity lately and he was about to go over the edge because of Jason's musings. Everyone else wanted things to go back to normal, well he didn't feel as if anything would ever be normal again. Why couldn't they just let him get over it on his own terms?

"Jason, you don't know what it is like to lose someone like that," Tommy said as he stood up and headed across the room toward Jason, with the full intent of knocking the living mess out of him and then climbing back in bed for the next hour, while Jason tried to make sense of which way was up.

"You're right, I don't, but you won't let us help you. You don't act as if you even know us and then you almost get yourself killed in battle. Tommy, we can't lose you, whether or not you believe that is your choice, but it is the truth. We have lost enough rangers to other things. We can't afford to lose you because of something you can't control," Jason said, as he knew how much everyone depended on Tommy to be the strong one.

Jason, however, knew that Tommy was only putting on a show for most people and right now the show was working very well to fool everyone, except him and Billy. That was one of the only reasons he was standing here, risking bodily harm this morning. He had to put a stop to Tommy's show, because it would only hurt all of them in the long run. Tommy had to get over it, because when the show finally fell, everyone was going to see the sad person that he really was. It would hurt them if the Machine Empire, somehow, fgured it out.

"How am I supposed to move on?" Tommy asked, as he looked Jason in the eyes and despite the hilarity that could arise from the situation, Jason knew that he had to answer the question with a straight face. Tommy needed advice and he doubted he would like what he heard, but it was at least a start. Tommy wanted to try to move on, although Jason did think it was nearly impossible for him.

"You have to forgive and then you have to try to find someone else that you can love, that is nothing like her. You can't just pick the next girl with brown hair that comes along. You have to take sometime and be single," Jason said, as he knew that Tommy might cling to the next gymnast with brown hair that came his way and that was not a good thing. They would have to live up to Kimberly and he was not sure that anyone would ever do that in Tommy's mind.

"I'll be at school, Jason," Tommy said as he knew that what Jason said was right. He, however, had to hop in the shower to do battle with his hair before he could even consider getting dressed for school.

At School

"Did you talk to him?" Tanya asked as Jason nodded his head yes and Tommy walked up behind him. His hair was still partially wet, but at least he was at school on time and that was an improvement for him. They took everything as progress now and they were only hoping that it would continue, in the coming weeks and months.

"Yeah," Jason said with a smile and then he went to his locker. Unlike most of the other rangers, he had a lighter course load due to his time at the Peace Conference and he enjoyed every bit of it. It had given him the time to come up with a plan for Tommy and he was glad that it seemed to have worked well.

"Hey guys," Tommy said as he put on his happy façade for the rangers.

He knew that with time all of this was going to get easier, it was just that the time it took to get better was what bothered him the most. He didn't really know what to do without her and he was having to start all over, which was scary considering all of the other things that went on around him. He had depended on her, more than he thought, and he couldn't help but think that he might have taken her forgranted during the last few months of their relationship.

"Hey, you going to the Youth Center after school? The kids have missed you over the last few days," Rocky said, trying to let him know that there were people that still cared about him. It was going to take all of them to bring him back to himself and he was going to do everything that he could to get him back there. They all had depended on Tommy and it was now time that Tommy needed them to help him out of a bind. He deserved to get help from them.

"If nothing happens to stop me," Tommy said with a smile, as Katherine walked up and he looked at her with a new light in his eyes.

Okay, Jason had said someone that had nothing in common with Kim, but he had to admit that Katherine was good in her own right. He couldn't help but look at her and wonder whether or not he might like her, but it was too soon to assume something like that. He had to go with friendship for the time being and see what happened, nothing could move fast for him right now.

"Like all of us, then," Rocky said as the bell rang and they had to go to class. Tommy was in class with Adam and they all knew he would look after him during first period, but after that there was not much of a guarantee that he would be well looked after, as none of them had classes with Tommy until after lunch.

After School

"Rangers, I need you to come to the Command Center. There is an emergency," Zordon said, as Tommy looked at his communicator in awe.

He had been heading to the Youth Center this afternoon to teach a class, but it seemed that it was just going to have to wait for another day. He really didn't like that idea, but he had to try to go back to normal sooner or later and it seemed everyone else was voting for sooner, although he wished he could have a little longer.

"Coming Zordon," Tommy answered as he looked around to check that the coast was clear to teleport, after seeing that it was, he teleported in to see what was happening. It couldn't be a battle or they would have been taken to it, but he honestly couldn't think of what it might be. Zordon had never called them in for an emergency that they didn't have to fight in.

"Rangers, I am afraid that you will be going a short time without a way to get your powers. Due to the last few fights that you have been in, everything is extremely weak. We have to take some time to repair and upgrade. If there is a battle, you will have to fight without your powers, but it should be for no more than a few days," Zordon said, as they all looked up at him with a questions in their eyes. It didn't make sense for him to do this now, but there was something going on that they must not know about, something that would put them all at a great risk.

"Zordon, why?" Tommy asked, as he looked up at the leader and knew that there was something going on that Zordon was waiting to tell them.

"Your powers need to be conserved, for the time being, just trust me Tommy when I say it will only be a few days. At least I hope it will only be a few days," Zordon said, as Tommy looked at him and then turned to the others. This was their cue to leave and they all assumed that they would be brought back as soon as they had their full powers back in their possession.

"That's odd, why would he do that?" Kat asked as they walked into the Youth Center and sat down at their customary table. They had never had Zordon do anything like this before and she honestly didn't know whether or not this was unusual.

"I don't know, there is no telling with Zordon," Tommy muttered, as the others noticed his first attempt to make a true conversation with someone else. Maybe things were going to turn out all right for him after all.

AN: I know, another short chapter, but I can't really make these too long, until the meaty stuff comes in, but I hope that you enjoy it anyway!