Just wanted to say thanks to those that have reviewed so far, and that we love hearing your thoughts and questions. To those of you who would like to know, the total word count for this story (before the alternative ending which we are still writing) is over 250,000. So it will be a long one guys there is a lot more to happen. Clearly this is going to be a AU so let us know if we're doing alright with it! I will keep posting about a chapter a day some longer than others, and sometimes two a day if there is a real short one. (or days i am really bored and stuck at home) :) Thanks guys enjoy and let us know if you have anymore ideas for us!

Xander frowned, concentrating as he moved the broom around in the air in front of him.

"Don't take your eye off the broom," Daggeron said, walking up to him. "That's the key."

Nodding, Xander didn't glance over, but kept his eyes on the broom.

"You've got more classes today," said Daggeron. "Are you ready?"

"I'd better be," Xander grinned. "I've got a pretty tough teacher."

Daggeron smiled.

"Believe me," he said, shaking his head. "My teacher was way harder on me than I am with you. But I learned to respect him, and eventually he became my best friend."

Xander nodded again.

"Don't take my eye off it, eh?" he said. "Let's see."

Flicking his wand, he brought the broom zipping around Daggeron.

"Hey!" Daggeron exclaimed, jumping backward.

But the broom went straight to Xander without hitting anyone. Xander laughed. Shaking his head, Daggeron laughed with him, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

Tommy sighed, leaning back in the passenger seat. Sunglasses on, he had the window down to let the breeze in as the car sped down the road.

"I don't know why I let you talk me into letting you drive, bro," Tommy muttered. "You are slower than my mom on her way to the store—and the mail man passes her."

"Oh shut it, Falcon," Jason grumbled. "Some of us like to arrive in one piece."

Tommy smirked as Jason sped up a little anyways. He shifted, trying to get more comfortable.

"Besides, I thought you were sleeping," Jason said.

Tommy sighed again, shifting more. He grimaced, holding his ribs as he sat up.

"How can I sleep with you hitting every pot hole in the road?" Tommy retorted.

Jason shook his head at the good natured teasing.

"And this is why Hayley said not to let you drive with those bruised ribs of yours," Jason said, glancing over. "Did you take the pain meds she sent?"

"Yes, Jase," Tommy sighed. "An hour ago. Right after we left. And I thought I was the one with memory problems…"

Jason rolled his eyes as they turned onto another road.

"Well, we're almost there," Jason said.

Tommy sighed and leaned against the door, still holding his rib cage carefully. Jason glanced over at him again.

"You must have really jarred them if they are bothering you that much," he commented.

"It was a lucky shot," Tommy mumbled. "I was trying to keep from hitting Ethan in the head when he froze up, and then Conner hit me from behind."

Jason snorted and Tommy glared at him. He was still waiting on the ribs to heal because he hadn't been carrying around a morpher since the accident. But then he never wore one unless it was completely necessary or an emergency. All of the rangers agreed it was important to let themselves heal at a more normal human rate to avoid questions. Though having them in the house still sped it up a little when he was at home.

"Sorry," Jason laughed. "But you have to admit it's funny, bro. I mean you're what—a seventh degree black belt now? And you got beat up by a couple of purple belts."

"Oh yeah—funny, huh?" Tommy smirked. "Like when you were teaching Mark how to fight, after Trini told you not to, and he landed a punch to your groin? Hitting you so hard you had to go the hospital and then got put on bed rest for a week? That kind of funny?"

Jason grimaced, remembering that incident.

"Hey, who knew a six year old could hit that hard?" Jason muttered as Tommy laughed again. "And Trini hid my morpher on me…"

"Everyone but you, bro," Tommy said, shifting again. "Everyone but you."

"How long are you laid up for anyways?" Jason asked, glancing over at him.

"Only another week or two," Tommy answered. "It's just pretty tender since I've been stretching more every day. Though I'm still not supposed to do any sparring till after I talk to the doctor on the seventh…"

Jason nodded. He knew Tommy's reasons for not pulling out a morpher to speed things up and was in complete agreement. Normally, all of the rangers tried to live as normally as possible. For most of them, carrying a morpher around was a danger in itself because they had no way to hide them from prying eyes. If one of them got in a car accident, like Tommy's many years before, it would be hard to explain what the morpher was to the responders who took it off of them. So they all left them at home and pulled them out for emergencies only—like when the red rangers had all gone to the moon.

"Hayley wouldn't by the whole 'I am a doctor' thing?" he asked, grinning.

Tommy chuckled.

"No, she doesn't like it when I try that one," he said, shaking his head. "Something about her IQ being light years ahead of mine and that if I don't shut up, she will give me something that will give the real doctors something to gossip about."

Jason laughed.

"That sounds like her," he said, shaking his head.

"So, enough about me and my wife," Tommy said, glancing over at Jason. "I know we aren't really going all this way just to get me away from my office. If that was the case, you would just drag me out into the woods somewhere to go camping."

Jason smirked.

"We're heading to Briarwood," he said after a moment.

Tommy perked up at that.

"Really?" he said. "I thought you had already gone to see your sisters."

Jason nodded.

"Yeah, I did," he said. "But I've got to know what you think."

"About what?" Tommy asked.

"Their red ranger," Jason glowered. "I don't like him."

Tommy chuckled.

"Why's that?" he asked. "Is it because the pink ranger almost always seems to end up with the red ranger?"

Jason shot a glare at him.

"Don't even go there," he growled. "I don't want either of my sisters to have anything to do with that kid—we know nothing about him!"

Tommy rolled his eyes.

"You know you can't stop either of them if they really want to date him, right?" Tommy said. "They're not in high school and living at home with your parents anymore."

"Watch me," Jason said shortly.

Tommy sighed.

"Give me your phone," he said.

"What?" Jason asked, glancing over at him.

"Give me your phone," Tommy repeated. "I want to let the girls know we're almost there. You know, just in case they're busy?"

"Why don't you use yours?" Jason asked, though he handed his phone over anyways.

"Are you kidding?" Tommy snorted, taking it. "You know what pain meds do to me. I'm high right now. You're lucky I even remember you have sisters—let alone to text them for you or where my phone is. I'm sure Hayley put it somewhere for me."

Jason shook his head. Tommy just smirked and started texting.

"Well, you'd better pull yourself together before we get there," Jason said.

"Eh," Tommy shrugged. "Just swing through a drive-thru and get me some coffee. I'll be fine."

"Yeah, sure you will," Jason retorted.

Tommy grinned, settling back into his seat.

"Training went well today," Madison said, taking a seat at the counter. "Don't you think?"

The others nodded.

"Yeah," Nick said. "You're doing a lot better, Xander."

"Thanks," Xander grinned. "You guys were all right about needing to practice—it's given me so much more control."

"And now Daggeron doesn't have to ride you all the time," Chip laughed.

"Speaking of training," Vida said, leaning against the counter. "What are we going to do about classes? Summer's almost over…"

They all sighed.

"It is, isn't it?" Nick said, shaking his head.

"Where did summer go?" Xander muttered.

They shrugged.

"Who knows?" Madison sighed. "We've just been so busy…But V's right. What are we going to do about classes?"

"Yeah," Vida said. "I don't think I can juggle work, a full class schedule, and—well, everything else…"

"I agree with V," Chip said. "Especially with no guarantee we'll even make it to every class…"

"I'm glad I don't have to worry about that," Nick smirked, leaning against the wall. "I haven't started college yet."

They all rolled their eyes at him.

"Anyways," Xander said. "Maybe we could miss a semester or two?"

"My parents would kill me," Chip said, shaking his head.

"Ours would, too," Madison said, glancing at Vida. "But maybe we could cut back? Not take a full schedule? That way we're still taking classes, but we won't have as much to worry about."

"Maybe," Vida said doubtfully.

"Or we could try online classes," Xander suggested. "Squeeze in homework and tests on our own time?"

"Maybe," Madison sighed. "We should probably talk to Jason, too. Before mom and dad."

Vida nodded in agreement.

"If we can get him on our side, mom and dad won't flip out as much," she agreed. "I'll send him a text and see if he can talk tonight."

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she looked at it in surprise.

"Oh, I have a text," Vida said. "I guess I missed it while we were at Rootcore…It's from Jason."

"Well, that's convenient," Chip grinned.

Nick rolled his eyes.

"What does he need?" Madison asked.

Vida opened the text to read it. Smiling, she looked up at Madison.

"He wants to know if we'd like a guest for a week or so," she said.

Madison grinned, taking the phone from Vida so she could read the text herself. Nick groaned, leaning his hand back against the wall.

"You know," Madison said, frowning. "This text doesn't sound like Jason."

"A text can't sound like anyone, Maddy," Xander said.

"Sure it can," Madison said. "You guys can tell when Vida texts you from my phone, right?"

The boys nodded in agreement.

"So, it doesn't seem like it's Jason texting this," she said. "It's too—young, I guess. Jason always spells everything out when he texts. That's not how this text is…"

"Maybe Trini sent it for him," Vida suggested as Madison handed the phone back.

Madison shrugged.

"So what is he coming for anyways?" Nick asked, moving over to join them.

"To visit," Vida said.

"But he was just here a month ago," he said. "How often is he going to come around?"

Madison and Vida frowned.

"What's wrong with him coming to visit?" Madison asked. "He's our brother."

"Yeah, I know," Nick said. "But, well—he's annoying."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Madison asked.

"All he does is glare at me," Nick said, shrugging. "And I haven't done anything. I really think he just doesn't like me because I'm the new guy."

Vida and Madison both bit their lips, stopping themselves from laughing.

"Nick, Tommy is Jason's best friend," Madison said. "And when they met, he was the new kid."

"And they were in high school," Vida added.

Nick scoffed, shaking his head. He didn't hear the door opening behind him.

"So?" he said. "Tommy also seems like a bit of nerd. He probably needed someone to look out for him and Jason jumped on the bandwagon. And that's why Jason doesn't like me. He's intimidated. I'm the new guy, sure, but I don't need someone looking after me."

"I don't think he's intimidated by you," Xander said, shaking his head.

"Then how else do you explain it?" Nick said. "I'm sorry, Maddy and V, but he's irritating."

They were both looking at him with wide eyes.

"Isn't there anything you like about him?" Chip asked.

Nick snorted.

"Not really," he said. "The guy is arrogant, rude, and acts like everyone should obey his every word as law—not exactly the kind of person who's easy to get along with."

"I'm guessing you're Nick," a voice said behind him. "I would love to say great first impression, but I don't think that fits. I do have do give you credit, though. You aren't the worst."

Nick froze, staring at his friends. They were all looking at him in shock.

"They're both right behind me, aren't they?" he asked.

They nodded slowly.

"Close," Tommy said behind him. "I'm right behind you and Jason is standing next to me, looking like he's ready to kill you."

Nick spun, taking a step backward.

"Now, we haven't been formally introduced," Tommy said. "I'm Tommy."

He held out his hand as Nick stared in surprise. Unlike last time, Tommy wasn't wearing dress clothes. Tommy was wearing cargo pants, work boots, and a black t-shirt with a green army jacket over top. His glasses were still on, but he'd spiked his hair up.

"Uh, hi," Nick said, shaking himself and quickly shaking Tommy's hand. "I'm Nick."

"Tommy!" Vida exclaimed, moving around Nick.

She and Madison both rushed to hug him, throwing their arms around him in excitement. Tommy grimaced.

"Agh…" he grunted.

Both girls immediately took a step back, looking up at him in surprise.

"Tommy, what's wrong?" Madison asked in concern.

"It's nothing," he said, trying to wave off the question. "I'm fine."

"He's got bruised ribs," Jason interrupted, hugging the girls. "Again."

They both rolled their eyes.

"Tommy," Vida said. "What did you do this time?"

"Sparring accident," he muttered, one arm wrapped around his ribs.

Jason snorted, shooting a glare at Nick.

"Accident," he said, shaking his head as he turned back to his sisters. "He was working with a couple of his students and one of them got a little—over enthusiastic…"

The girls frowned, but Tommy shook his head.

"Conner was doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing," he said. "Ethan stumbled and I was stopping myself from kicking him in the head when Conner hit me from behind—my fault for not being ready."

"So I guess we won't be doing any karate with you then," Vida said.

"Not this time, V," Tommy said. "But Jason is fine. You can always beat him up instead."

Vida flinched, though she tried to hide it. Jason hit Tommy in the shoulder and he grunted in pain.

"Jason!" Madison exclaimed.

"What?" Jason said. "He deserved it."

Both girls glared at Jason.

"Tommy, maybe you should come sit down," Madison said, tugging him toward the chair on the other side of the room.

He let her pull him to the chair. Jason just smirked, turning to look at Nick.

"So, you think I'm intimidated by you, rookie?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

Taking a deep breath, Nick stayed where he was and faced Jason.

"Yeah, what of it?" Nick retorted. "You obviously have a problem with me. Got a better answer?"

Jason chuckled darkly.

"Oh, I've got a better answer," he said shortly. "But I don't have to explain myself to you. As for intimidated—let's see you prove you're intimidating first. Then maybe I'll pretend to be threatened by you."

"So does that mean we really are going to have a sparring session with you?" Xander interrupted.

Jason turned away from Nick and shrugged.

"We'll have to see how things play out," he answered. "Now, what time do you guys close tonight? Tommy and I need to go check in at our hotel, but I was thinking a late dinner."