Losing Zordon
"Sorry, Hayley," Jason sighed, glancing over toward the couch as he paced. "I just don't think it would be a good idea for you to come over today. He's not exactly having a good day and I don't want him to hurt you if he snaps over something…"
Tommy was sitting on the couch and staring at the TV, flipping irritably through the channels rather than actually finding something to watch. He'd been agitated since that morning when a sudden burst of magic had blasted through the area and woke him up. Neither of them had any idea where it had come from, but it had equaled instant bad day for Tommy was now fighting every urge to use his own magic after the charge up from the blast. That had put him in a very bad mood.
"No, this has nothing to do with—" Jason protested. "Hayley, I am not trying to hide ranger business from you! I gave up trying to do that after the first week."
He paused, frowning as he listened.
"What are you talking about?" he asked. "What do you mean 'seen what's going on in Angel Grove?...Ok, ok. I'll take a look."
Turning around, he covered the mouthpiece of the phone.
"Tommy, turn on the news," he said. "Apparently there's something on Hayley thinks we're trying to hide from her."
Tommy didn't answer, but he did change the channel to the news. As they realized what was showing, both of them froze. Jason slowly put the phone back to his ear.
"Hayley, I've got to go," he said sharply. "I'll let you know when it's ok to swing by."
Hanging up without waiting for an answer, Jason joined Tommy at the couch for a closer look at what was going on. The news footage was showing the city of Angel Grove in ruins. There was only an aerial view, but everywhere the camera turned they could see more destruction. It looked like more than half of the city had been destroyed. Neither one could look away. Taking the remote from Tommy, Jason turned the sound on.
"…and while the lockdown of Angel Grove has lifted to allow emergency personnel into the city," the reporter was saying, "there are still many areas of the city that are inaccessible. Rescue teams are working their way through the city, but at this time there is no estimate of how many people are still missing. Accounts of damage to the city are astonishing and the number of dead or injured continues to climb—"
Jason shut off the TV, not wanting to hear anymore. Sitting next to him, Tommy was extremely tense. His fists were clenched and he was visibly struggling with himself.
"Turn it back on," Tommy snapped. "We have to make sure everything is under control."
"Tommy, why don't we just try calling—" Jason started to suggest.
"Turn it on," Tommy repeated, glaring at Jason.
Sighing, Jason turned the TV back on.
"…the power rangers have been reported all over the city as they help rescue trapped citizens. We have not been able to collect video footage as of yet because power lines are down all over the city and communications have been spotty—"
"See?" Jason said, turning it back off. "The rangers are helping people now, not fighting. Everything is under control."
"We need to go back," Tommy said, standing abruptly. "Our families are there. My parents—"
He cut off, striding toward the door. Jason leapt up and sprinted to intercept him.
"Tommy, wait," he said, putting himself between Tommy and the door. "Let's try making some calls before we just go rushing in. Someone has to be closer than us."
Jason suddenly froze as something occurred to him.
"Oh no," he said, shaking his head and reaching for his phone again. "Trini is back in Angel Grove already…And she's not the only one…"
Tommy grimaced. They both know Trini, or any of the other rangers, would be the last ones to just run away from the fight. Especially if things had gotten as bad as they looked on the news. Jason and Trini had been dating seriously for a couple of years now. They'd gotten together while they were gone at the Peace Conferences and had been together ever since.
"Try calling your parents," Jason said roughly as he tried calling Trini's phone. "If they don't answer, try mine. And then some of the rangers. We've got to get a hold of someone who's there."
Still glaring, Tommy stalked away to grab his own phone. They both started making phone calls, but neither one could get an answer. Even if the phones rang, no one picked up.
"Agh!" Jason exclaimed in frustration a little while later. "There has got to be someone with a working phone!"
They had both tried their parents, each others parents, all of their friends, and even the Space Rangers—though they hadn't really expected any of them to answer. But they hadn't gotten through to anyone and it was going on lunchtime.
"Let's just go," Tommy muttered, pacing around the apartment. "We have our morphers. No one will stop us from entering the city as rangers."
"No," Jason said sharply. "I am not giving you a morpher right now."
Tommy stopped pacing to glare at Jason again.
"Jason, our families are in danger!" he shouted. "We have to do something!"
"We can't," Jason snapped. "Don't you think I want to go running in there and make sure they're all ok?"
"Then why can't we?" Tommy growled.
"Because there's nothing we can do right now!" Jason exclaimed. "And on top of that, I'm not letting you go anywhere near Angel Grove because I'm willing to be anything it has something to do with that magic this morning. You aren't going anywhere near the source until we know what it is—especially with a morpher."
"Jason, I'm fine," Tommy insisted. "We can't just stand around and do nothing."
Jason shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Falcon," he said. "But it took five of us to get your morphers the last time—especially with those stupid Zeo morphers of yours. I'm not risking it until you're completely over this addiction to magic. Not to mention you don't have the energy without a direct connection to the morphing grid."
"Come on, Rex," Tommy pleaded. "I can't sit and do nothing—I can't."
"No," Jason said firmly, though he desperately wanted to give in. "We're staying here. I will find someone else to send after our families—even if I have to beg Hayley."
Knowing Jason wasn't about to let him out the door and having no way to get to Angel Grove—Jason had locked all of the car keys as well as Tommy's wallet in the lockbox with the morphers after the first time Tommy had tried taking off—Tommy spun and stalked to his room. Jason winced as Tommy slammed the door behind him. Sighing, he rubbed a hand over his face.
"And I'll bet he just locked the door again…" Jason muttered.
Shaking his head, he started dialing his phone again. He wanted to try Zach one more time because, as far as he knew, Zach had been out of Angel Grove that weekend.
"I'll deal with him in a minute," he sighed as he waited for an answer.
"Hello?" Zach answered. "Jason?"
"Yeah, it's me," Jason said, relieved to finally have an answer. "Zach, where are you?"
"Stuck on the freeway," Zach muttered. "Can't get anywhere near Angel Grove right now…"
Jason grimaced.
"That's what I was afraid of," he said. "Have you heard from anyone?"
"Nothing," Zach said. "Can't get through to anyone…"
Taking a deep breath, Jason ran a hand over his head.
"Alright, then call me when you get in," he said. "I can't leave Tommy right now and he's not in any shape to deal with whatever is going on there. Do what you have to do."
"Got it, man," Zach said. "Take care of him."
"Will do," said Jason. "And keep me posted. If you hear from anyone at home, let me know right away."
Hanging up, Jason paced around for a few minutes. He knew he should go check on Tommy, but he also knew Tommy need a chance to cool down. Sighing, Jason decided to update Hayley again before she showed up at their apartment door and irritated Tommy into an explosion. She was Tommy's friend, but somehow Jason always found himself calling her with updates now that she knew what was going on. Though mostly because she had a knack for breaking Tommy out of some of his darker moods.
"Hey, Jason," Hayley said, answering almost immediately. "Is everything alright? What's going on? Did you find out anything?"
"Absolutely nothing," he muttered. "The news is our only source of information right now—and I'll be you can guess how much that tells us…"
"How's Tommy taking it?" she asked.
"That's actually why I'm calling," said Jason. "I'm not going to lift what I said earlier. He's not safe to be around right now—and I haven't even tried extracting him from his room yet."
"Jason!" she exclaimed. "You let him lock himself in his room again?"
"Well, it was either that or fighting to keep him from bolting out the front door," he said defensively. "But I thought you'd appreciate the update before I go deal with him."
"I should have just come over earlier instead of calling," she huffed. "I could have helped distract him."
"Or irritated him more," Jason muttered.
A knock on the door had him spinning around. He frowned, slowly moving to answer it.
"Hayley, where are you?" he asked suspiciously.
"Sitting on my couch," she said. "Why?"
"So I'm not going to open the apartment door and find you standing there?" he said.
"No," she retorted. "If I was there I would have let myself in already."
"Great," he muttered. "Then I'll have to let you go. I'll try and convince Tommy to call you later. Right now I have to go deal with whatever idiot is at my door—they have the worst timing in the world."
"Good luck," she said. "And if he doesn't call, or I don't hear from you, I will be coming over tomorrow whether you like it or not."
"Oh, good," Jason grumbled. "Bye."
Hanging up, he reached to unlock the door and opened it.
"What do you wan—" Jason cut off in shock. "Mom? Dad?"
His parents looked nearly as surprised as he did, but mostly because of the snappy tone in his voice when he first spoke. Madison and Vida were standing there, too, as were the Olivers. Brushing off Jason snapping, Mrs. Rocca reached out for a hug that Jason immediately returned.
"You're all alright," he said in relief. "What happened?"
Both of his sisters started talking at once, meaning he understood hardly any of what they were saying because it was all getting mixed up. He let the twelve-year-old twins chatter on, chuckling as he let the group into the apartment. As they walked in past him, he scooped them both up. The girls squealed as he threw them over his shoulders and walked inside still carrying them. Their parents laughed as they followed.
"Where's Tommy?" Mrs. Oliver frowned, looking around as Jason dropped the girls on the couch. "He is home, right?"
Jason looked up quickly, glancing between her and Tommy's door.
"Oh, he's in his room," he said quickly. "Why don't you let me—"
But Mrs. Oliver was already hurrying toward the bedroom. Jason followed, desperately hoping Tommy had actually locked the door, or that he at least wasn't using magic on anything. It had been nearly two months since Justin's phone call had initiated a major intervention with Tommy. After that first night, Jason had moved into the empty second bedroom in the apartment—despite all of Tommy's protests about it not being safe and how they should just leave him alone. But they hadn't left him alone since. He'd been allowed to spend time by himself in his room or watching TV and other such things, but someone was always in the apartment with him. And the only time he had left during that time had been for class—with Hayley sticking to his side like glue the entire time. Between her and all of the rangers, Tommy was never really alone. He'd had a few relapses with the magic, especially when something really upset or angered him, but for the most part he was finally starting to get better. But, as he was still recovering, he was generally irritable, easily angered, and occasionally lashed out for no reason—which is why the rangers didn't like him being alone with anyone else, even if it was Hayley.
"Mrs. Oliver," Jason said, trying to intercept her. "Tommy really hasn't been having a good day. He wasn't feeling good earlier after we saw the news about Angel Grove and he went to lie down. Maybe—"
"All the more reason for me to check on him," she insisted, walking around Jason. "I haven't seen him in months because you and Miss Ziktor insisted he wouldn't want us to see him like that. But now I'm here and I'm going to take care of my son. Goodness knows you two probably don't take care of yourselves the way you should."
Jason rolled his eyes as Madison and Vida snickered. There really was no arguing with Mrs. Oliver when it came to Tommy and his well-being. She knocked on the door and Jason waited for the explosion.
"Go away, Jason!" Tommy shouted, apparently not having heard anything going on outside of his room.
His mother frowned, shooting a look a Jason. He just shrugged. He was used to dealing with Tommy's moods, so the shout didn't faze him.
"Thomas Oliver!" Mrs. Oliver demanded. "If you don't get out here right this instance I will have your father fetch tools from the car and remove this door!"
For a moment there was silence in the room and then the door flew open. Jason tensed, ready to react, but Tommy just grabbed his mother in a tight hug. She returned the hug just as fiercely, neither one wanting to let go.
"Jason's a jerk," Tommy mumbled as he hugged her.
"Hey!" Jason protested as his sisters laughed.
"Why is he a jerk?" Mr. Oliver asked, prying Tommy loose from his mother for a hug of his own.
"Because he wouldn't let me come find you," Tommy grumbled. "And then you weren't answering the phones and I thought…well…"
He trailed off, hugging his father even tighter as his mother hugged them both.
"We're alright, sweetheart," Mrs. Oliver reassured him. "We've just been worried about you."
"And they aren't letting anyone but emergency responders into the city right now anyways," Mr. Rocca said, standing next to Jason.
"They'd have let us in," Tommy muttered, shooting a glare at Jason.
Jason glowered back, crossing his arms.
"You are still in no shape to be near anything like that," he countered. "Last thing any of us need is you losing con—passing out in the middle of all of the chaos."
"I would have been fine," Tommy snapped, loosening his hold on his parents a little to turn toward Jason.
"They weren't even there, bro," Jason said, tensing. "You would have panicked when we couldn't find them anywhere."
Tommy opened his mouth to snap a reply but caught himself, glancing at his parents. He backed down, taking a deep breath.
"Stop arguing with Tommy, Jason," Mrs. Rocca scolded, her hands on her hips as she glared at him.
"Wait—what?" Jason exclaimed, looking at his mother in surprise. "But he started it!"
"And he's still recovering," she said, walking around Jason to give Tommy a hug. "He doesn't need you aggravating him. You should know that."
Tommy hugged her back, smirking at Jason over her shoulder. Jason glared at him, but didn't say anything.
"She's right, Tommy," Mrs. Oliver frowned. "You should be resting."
Jason snickered as she started shooing Tommy toward the couch. Tommy sighed, but didn't bother protesting. Madison and Vida giggled with Jason, not entirely sure what was going on but thinking it was entertaining nonetheless.
"Have you eaten lunch?" Mrs. Oliver asked as she continued to fuss. "You look like you've lost weight."
"I ate breakfast, mom," Tommy sighed.
"That wasn't what I asked," she said. "Which means you haven't eaten lunch yet. What do you have in your kitchen?"
Shaking his head, Jason left Tommy to his mother's attention and turned back to his own parents.
"Did you see Trini before you left?" he asked hopefully.
But they both shook their heads.
"Everything is so chaotic though," Mr. Rocca said quickly when he saw the look of panic flash across Jason's face. "She could have walked right past us and we wouldn't have seen her. It was hard enough keeping track of your sisters in the mess."
Jason took a deep breath. Tommy, who was still trying to convince his mother he wasn't hungry and that he had indeed eaten breakfast, glanced over in time to catch Jason's look as well.
"She'll be fine, Rex," he said. "Trini knows how to take care of herself—just like the rest of them. They know when to keep to themselves."
Sighing, Jason nodded. Madison and Vida, tired of being left out of the conversation, bounced over to Jason and grabbed his hands.
"Guess what?" Vida exclaimed excitedly.
"You just jumped on my foot?" Jason said, wincing as he glanced down at her.
"Whoops," she said sheepishly. "But that's not it."
"Then what?" he asked, waiting for the answer.
"We know who the power rangers are!" Madison burst out, beaming.
Jason and Tommy both froze, looking at each other in complete shock. But the girls didn't seem to notice as they continued to chatter in excitement and neither did any of the parents.
"It was amazing," Vida said. "The evil lady who claimed she was the ruler of the whole universe wanted us to give them up but we didn't know who they were—"
"Not that we would have anyways," Madison interrupted. "But they were going to destroy the whole earth if we didn't. And she was about to do it when they came to save us!"
"They morphed right in front of us," Vida said eagerly. "So now everyone knows who they are."
Taking a deep breath, Jason glanced at his parents for confirmation, though he was really hoping his sisters were wrong.
"We spent last night in some of the rubble downtown where some of the—soldiers, I guess—forced all citizens they could capture to go," Mr. Rocca explained. "We were told we had until this morning to give up the power rangers or the whole earth would suffer."
Jason and Tommy were both shaking their heads now. They'd had no idea things had gotten that bad.
"There were a few who wanted to find the rangers and give them up, but most of us weren't going to turn on them," he continued. "In the end, however, the rangers chose to reveal themselves in order to save everyone. Actually, I believe you know a couple of them at least."
Jason and Tommy both grimaced.
"Really?" Jason said, trying really hard to sound surprised.
"Carlos and Ashley," Mrs. Rocca said, nodding. "Weren't they involved with a couple of your charity events in high school? I'm sure I remember seeing you with them."
"Oh, umm…" Jason stammered, looking at Tommy.
Tommy just shrugged nervously, running a hand over his head.
"Do you really know two of the power rangers?" Vida asked excitedly, grabbing Jason's arm as she bounced.
"I guess," Jason said slowly. "But only in passing really. We never hung out or anything."
Tommy snorted, turning it into a cough. Jason shot him a look.
"But who'd have thought?" Jason said, turning back to his parents. "The power rangers were high schoolers."
Tommy shot a glare at Jason.
"What?" Jason said, putting his hands up.
Shaking his head, Tommy reluctantly took the sandwich his mother had insisted on making him—even though it wasn't quite lunchtime.
"One of them is an alien, not a high schooler," Madison corrected.
Jason rolled his eyes, but didn't argue back. He really didn't want to get too involved in the subject. That was a sensitive area for both him and Tommy as neither one wanted their families to know about them being rangers. Trying to distract everyone, Jason suggested they all sit down and play a game while they ate lunch. Everyone agreed, so more sandwiches were made and Tommy pulled out a few board games. Soon they were all involved in the game. But while they were still in the middle of playing when Tommy's phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and absently glanced at the number, not actually planning on answering. But when he saw who was calling he frowned and stood up.
"I'll be right back," he said, walking away as he answered. "I need to answer this. Hey, man. What's going on? We saw the news. Is everyone alright?"
Tommy stopped, his face lighting up in excitement.
"You did?" he exclaimed. "That's great! Where is he? When can we—"
He cut off suddenly. The smile slipped from Tommy's face as he stood frozen in place, the phone slipping from his hand and hitting the floor with a clatter. Everyone jumped in surprise and turned to see what had happened. Jason was on his feet the moment he saw the look on Tommy's face. He bolted over to see what was going on.
"Who was that?" Jason asked, putting a hand on Tommy's shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Tommy just shook his head in answer, a look of shock written across his face. Eyes narrowed, Jason snatched the phone off the ground. Their parents had stood up from the game, watching in concern. Mrs. Oliver was hurrying over to Tommy as Jason started talking.
"Who is this?" Jason demanded. "And what did you just say to Tommy?"
"This is TJ…" was the answer. "Who is this?"
Everyone was looking at Jason for an explanation now. Tommy wasn't responding to his mother as she asked him what was wrong. She was fretting as she tried to break him out of his shock. He just kept staring at Jason in disbelief.
"This is Jason," Jason said sharply. "Now what did you just say to Tommy?"
"Jason who?" TJ asked suspiciously.
Jason took a deep breath, trying not to scream at TJ just who he was. Whatever TJ had just told Tommy couldn't have been good news if he was reacting like this and the last thing Jason needed was the other ranger snapping while their families were there. Tommy was completely on edge right now. No one else currently present would notice, but Jason had seen the signs often enough over the past couple of months to know that Tommy was fighting very hard to keep himself under control.
"Jason Scott," Jason growled in answer. "Tommy's best friend from high school."
"Ok—so?" TJ said, not making the connection right away.
Jason took another deep breath before he said something he shouldn't in front of his and Tommy's parents.
"I'm the one who did a lot of fencing with Tommy," Jason snapped. "Favorite color is red? Going to kill you the next time I see you?"
"Oh…" TJ said. "You're that Jason."
"Yeah, that Jason," Jason retorted. "Now you have about thirty seconds to tell me what is going on before I personally come hunt you down and pry it out of you by any means necessary—and don't think there is somewhere you can hide from me. I have more connections than you think I do."
TJ hesitated for a moment in surprise, not sure what to do with Jason's threat. Jason was fairly certain none of the Space Rangers knew what was going on with Tommy—as Justin was under strict instructions not to tell any of them—but Jason didn't care at the moment. TJ's ignorance of the situation was not an excuse he was going to take at this time.
"Jason," Mrs. Rocca frowned. "You didn't fence in high school…"
But he just shook his head, not bothering to answer her.
"Now!" he snapped at TJ.
"Alright, chill," TJ muttered. "I'm just not sure how to say—"
Jason growled.
"Ok!" TJ said quickly. "We found—well, Andros found Zordon—"
"That's great!" Jason exclaimed in relief, interrupting TJ. "Where is he? With you guys? I know it might be tricky but is there any way for me to bring Tommy? He could really use—"
"Jason," TJ interrupted. "It's not like that…"
Jason frowned.
"What do you mean?" he asked slowly. "You said you found him. Didn't he come back? Even for just a little while? And if he didn't, can't you guys just give us a ride? It's really important."
"I'm sorry," TJ said. "But Zordon—Zordon is gone…"
Jason froze, his look of shock matching Tommy's for a brief moment. Tommy was still staring at Jason in desperation, hoping for better news. But the look on Jason's face dashed those hopes.
"What happened?" Jason asked harshly, turning away from Tommy.
"It was this morning…" TJ said slowly as he tried to decide the best way to share what happened.
"This morning?" Jason repeated, still surprised.
Tommy's eyes widened. He moved, reaching over and grabbing Jason's arm.
"Jase, that's what happened!" he hissed. "What I felt when I woke up—"
Jason held up a hand as he tried to continue talking to TJ.
"Jason, what is going on?" Mrs. Oliver demanded.
"Andros tried—" TJ was continuing.
"Hold on a minute," Jason snapped at him. "I can't—I can't have this conversation here."
All eyes were still on him as he spun and stalked toward the door to leave the apartment.
"Where are you going?" Mrs. Rocca asked.
"Somewhere that isn't here," Jason answered shortly, surprising her with his tone.
"But what is going on?" Mrs. Oliver cried, stopping Tommy as he tried to follow Jason.
"Mom, let go," Tommy snapped.
She looked at Tommy in surprise as Jason paused to look back at him.
"Tommy, stay here," Jason said. "Give me a chance to figure out what is going on. I will tell you—I promise."
Nodding reluctantly, Tommy stayed where he was. Mrs. Oliver was still looking at Jason expectantly for an answer—all of the parents were. Jason took a deep breath.
"It's about a close—friend—of ours," he said. "He may not have made it through the attack…"
As surprised exclamations echoed around the room, Jason spun and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him before anyone else could question what he'd said. He kept moving away from the door, heading outside to find somewhere more private. The phone went back to his ear as he walked.
"Alright, TJ," he growled. "What happened? I want the whole story right now."
TJ didn't hesitate this time. Jason moved outside, ducking into a nearby alley as he listened to the other ranger. TJ told Jason all he could about the battle and what had happened to Zordon. Jason paced as he listened, unable to just stand still. He only interrupted a few times to ask for clarification. But as TJ explained Zordon's sacrifice and the choice Andros' had been forced to make Jason leaned against the wall and sank down to the ground. He didn't want to believe what he was hearing.
"We were losing, Jason," TJ sighed. "We were outnumbered without Zords and without help—"
"You should have called us!" Jason snarled. "There were eleven—no, twelve—rangers who would have dropped everything to help. We were just one call away. We could have done something!"
"This was our fight," TJ countered. "You aren't supposed to have to fight anymore."
Jason scoffed.
"Who cares about what we should and shouldn't have had to do?" Jason snapped. "We would have been there without a second thought."
"You aren't rangers anymo—" TJ tried to argue.
"We are always going to be rangers!" Jason half shouted. "And that's because of Zordon. We owe everything to him—and none of us were there…"
There was a pause on the other end of the line.
"I'm sorry…" TJ said quietly after a moment.
"I don't want to hear it right now," Jason said shortly. "Because right now I have to figure out how to tell the others—Justin included."
"Carlos or I were going to call—" TJ started to say.
"No," Jason interrupted. "I will tell him with the others. You focus on dealing with your media issues, because you'll get no help from the rest of us on that end. Our identities are going to remain a secret."
"It's not like we wanted to tell everyone," TJ protested. "We didn't have a choice—they were going to destroy the earth!"
"Still your problem, not mine," Jason countered. "You're just lucky the chances of anyone pegging Justin as your teammate are slim to none. He'd be in trouble if the grid didn't give him that height boost. Justin is thirteen. The last thing he needs is that kind of publicity."
"Yeah, I know," TJ grumbled. "But why am I talking to you about him? If I should be arguing with anyone about what's best for Justin it should be Tommy. The kid was his responsibility first."
"Because Tommy is in no shape to deal with you and your problems right now," Jason growled. "And that's all you need to know apart from this warning: Stay away from the others—all of them—until media attention dies down or I will personally make sure you regret approaching them. Because I am not letting you jeopardize anyone's personal lives because you want to visit. Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it," TJ muttered. "Loud and clear."
"Good," Jason said shortly. "Then I'll talk to you later."
Before TJ could say anything else, Jason hung up the phone. Sighing, he let his head fall back against the wall as he rubbed a hand over his face. He had no idea how he was going to break this news to Tommy, let alone anyone else. If he could even get a hold of them. Everyone except Zach and Billy had been in Angel Grove during the attack and none of them had been in contact with him or Tommy since. And from everything TJ had told him, there was a good chance Billy had been in the middle of a battle himself and that concerned Jason, too. He hadn't even heard from Zach in hours.
"I hope they're all ok," he muttered to himself. "No word from Angel Grove, no word from Aquitar…And I just know they all ended up in the middle of the fight somehow…"
Even Justin, who had moved away with his dad after the Space Rangers took off into space, had been in Angel Grove for a few days visiting with Adam and some of the others. The only rangers who hadn't been in the city when it was locked down had been Jason, Tommy, and Zach.
"I just can't believe he's gone…" Jason said quietly, shaking his head as he stared off at nothing.
For a while, he sat where he was. More than anything he just wanted to scream or hit something, but he couldn't. His family was there and he was going to have to deal with Tommy's reaction—which wasn't going to be good. Losing Zordon was a major blow to all of them. It had been hard enough knowing he'd left earth, but to know that they could never contact him again was going to kill the rangers. Standing, Jason took a deep breath and headed back inside to break the news to Tommy. When he walked into the apartment, he saw Tommy pacing back and forth as he waited. Apparently Mrs. Oliver hadn't been able to coax him into relaxing at all while Jason was gone—not that it surprised him. Tommy was clearly agitated by the wait and not knowing what was going on. When the door opened, he spun to look at Jason in expectation.
"We need to talk," Jason said evenly. "In private."
Nodding, Tommy took a shaky breath and spun toward his bedroom. Jason was right behind him, stopping Mrs. Oliver as she tried to follow.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Oliver," he said. "But we need a few minutes—please?"
She hesitated, but Mr. Oliver put an arm around his wife's shoulders and nodded.
"Go ahead," he said. "We'll be right out here if you need anything."
Jason smiled faintly, nodding in thanks as he headed into Tommy's room and shut the door. He locked it behind him just in case.
"What happened?" Tommy demanded the moment Jason turned to face him.
"You may want to sit," Jason said, not answering right away. "This isn't going to be easy…"
Tommy just crossed his arms, stubbornly staying on his feet as he glared in response. Jason sighed and shook his head. Taking a deep breath, he started repeating what TJ had told him from the beginning. At first Tommy stayed where he was, frozen in place as he listened to Jason. But as Jason started explaining just how badly the battle had been going, he slowly sank down on to his bed. Knowing it would be the final news about Zordon that would really get to Tommy, Jason made sure to avoid the subject until he was done explaining everything else. But he couldn't avoid it forever. Tommy didn't say a word until Jason stopped speaking—then he exploded like Jason had been expecting.
"We should have been there!" Tommy snarled, back on his feet again. "It wasn't just their fight anymore. It was ours, too. Zordon should never have—he shouldn't—"
Cutting off, he started pacing agitatedly around the room, worse than he had been earlier. Jason stayed where he was, watching Tommy cautiously.
"Just go, Jason," Tommy snapped, pausing to glare at him. "Leave me alone."
Jason hesitated.
"Tommy, I don't thin—" he started to protest.
"Go!" Tommy shouted, spinning and throwing the first thing he could lay his hands on.
Jason ducked, barely avoiding getting hit in the head by the book Tommy had just thrown at him. It slammed into the door instead with a loud bang. Making a hasty retreat, Jason slipped out the door and shut it again, making sure it was locked. He was fairly certain Tommy wasn't going to do anything he wasn't supposed to, but there was no way Jason could stop him if he was really determined. Especially with their families there. During the few major relapses he'd had over the past two months Jason had either needed to enlist the help of the closest ranger to snap him out of it or wait for Tommy to collapse from exhaustion—though he avoided the latter option at all costs. But fighting with Tommy over using magic while their families were there would raise too many questions that neither of them was ready to answer.
"What was that noise?" Mrs. Oliver asked suspiciously the moment Jason turned away from Tommy's room.
He shrugged.
"Tommy threw a book at me," he said. "He's just a little—upset—right now…"
Still standing right in front of the door, Jason could hear more muffled thuds coming from inside the room. He hoped that, whatever Tommy was throwing, he was using his hands and not magic. Just in case, he was still glad he'd locked the door behind him.
"He threw a book at you?" Mr. Oliver said in surprise. "That's not like him."
"Yeah…" Jason sighed, running a hand over his head. "It still isn't—usually. But he hasn't exactly been the best roommate the last couple of months. He has his moments. I guess I've just gotten used to dealing with the outbursts…"
The Olivers exchanged looks, as did the Roccas. But Madison and Vida just looked confused.
"Shouldn't Tommy be sad, not mad?" Vida asked. "His friend died…"
Jason flinched slightly at Vida's casual mention of Zordon's death. But he knew she didn't know any better, so he let it go. It was going to be hard playing host for the rest of the night without help.
"He is sad, honey," Mrs. Rocca said, smoothing Vida's hair. "But he's also still sick and it's hard for him to handle right now."
"Because he's addicted?" Madison said solemnly.
Mrs. Rocca hesitated and then nodded.
"Yes," she said.
"He shouldn't be in there alone when he's this upset," Mrs. Oliver decided, stepping around Jason.
She tried opening the door, frowning when she realized it was locked. But it was quiet in there now. Turning around, she glared at Jason.
"It's locked again," she said flatly.
"Yes, it is," he said, crossing his arms. "I locked it."
"Why would you do that?" she exclaimed.
"Because Tommy needs time to process everything," Jason answered. "Time alone. He'll come out when he's ready. And if he doesn't come out in a couple of hours, I have the key to his room or the tools to pop the hinges."
Mrs. Oliver started to protest more, but her husband stopped her.
"Let's listen to Jason right now," he said firmly. "He's been taking care of Tommy just fine and I'm sure he knows what he's doing."
As Mrs. Oliver nodded reluctantly, Jason gave Mr. Oliver a grateful look. Jason took a deep breath.
"Alight," he said, trying to sound less upset. "How about we start a new game? Tommy's going to be a while and there's no point in staring at each other."
With everyone in agreement, they all crowded back around the coffee table in the living room to play. Tommy emerged from his room about an hour later, clearly still upset. He was visibly tense and Jason guessed he was fighting for control with everything he had. But Tommy didn't say a word as he curled up in a chair, ignoring all efforts to convince him to join the game. Mrs. Oliver tried coaxing him into talking to her about how he was feeling, but he had completely shut down. Tommy wouldn't talk to anyone, even the twins or Jason.
"Leave him alone, V," Jason said irritably, reaching over to tug Vida away from Tommy.
She'd been leaning on the arm of the chair, trying to get Tommy to talk while she waited her turn. She pouted, but sat back down.
"I'm sorry," Jason muttered. "But he doesn't need that right now."
She stuck her tongue out at him, but went back to playing. For Jason, the rest of the afternoon seemed to drag by as he tried to keep their guests entertained while keeping a close eye on Tommy. He was trying to act like he was fine and that the news hadn't hit him like it did Tommy, but it was hard. And they couldn't both just shutdown like Tommy had with their families there. So, as much as Jason just wanted to scream and hit something, he fought to keep his cool. It didn't help that he'd yet to hear from any of the rangers in Angel Grove—and that was really starting to concern him. So, when he hadn't heard from the rangers by dinner time, he was really starting to struggle.
"Come on, Zach," he muttered, glancing at his phone again. "Or anyone. Someone please call and tell me you're alive…"
They had decided to order pizza because the apartment cupboards were a little bare for feeding all of them. As Mr. Rocca ordered, Jason started pacing anxiously around the room. The mothers were talking quietly as Mr. Oliver relaxed in a chair and the girls entertained themselves. As Jason passed Tommy's chair, Tommy reached out and grabbed his arm. Jason immediately stopped to look at him.
"Have you heard anything from anyone?" Tommy asked quietly, his voice a little hoarse.
Jason sighed, shaking his head.
"Nothing," he said. "At least not since Zach this morning…I have no idea what's going on with any of them…"
Tommy nodded, falling silent again. It was the first time he'd spoken all afternoon. Jason hadn't pushed at him, though, knowing he'd talk more when he was ready. The first few days Jason had been there he'd barely spoken at all—though part of that was because he was trying to use magic again and Jason kept interrupting him. Jason had been trying to avoid stressing Tommy out more this afternoon by saying anything about the other rangers, but he should have known Tommy would pick up on his own stress.
"Don't worry about it," Jason said, putting a hand on Tommy's shoulder. "They can take care of themselves."
He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. But Tommy gave him a look and Jason knew he'd seen through his attempt.
"Pizza is on the way," Mr. Rocca announced, interrupting.
Jason turned away from Tommy. While they waited for the pizza to arrive, they started working out sleeping arrangements. Then Madison and Vida started fighting about which of them was sleeping where. Usually Jason could just tune out their arguments and let his parents deal with them, but today it instantly got to him. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath as he fought the urge to shout at the girls.
"I'll be right back," he snapped, spinning and stalking away.
He went to his room, slamming the door behind him and not caring for a moment what anyone thought. For a few moments he just paced around in circles, trying to relax enough to go back out. But it wasn't working.
"I can't do this anymore," he groaned, dropping on to his bed.
Taking out his phone, he dialed a number, pausing to take a deep breath before hitting send. It was answered on the second ring.
"Jason?" Hayley said. "Is everything alright? How's Tommy?"
"He was better after our families showed up," Jason sighed. "But we got some bad news and—You know what? Can you just get over here? I can't deal with this by myself anymore. I'm tired of playing host and trying to pretend I'm alright when I'm not. And if I have to keep pretending much longer I may just explode."
"Ok…" she said slowly. "What exactly is going on?"
"Oh, I don't know," Jason snapped, up and pacing again as he spoke. "How about we spent the morning thinking our families and friends were all dead? Or the fact that the rangers still could be dead and we have no idea because we can't get in contact with anyone who may have seen them? Or how about trying to deal with the fact that the Space Rangers have revealed themselves and possibly jeopardized all of our identities? Oh, and on top of all that, TJ called to tell us they lost Zordon. They found him and couldn't save him because he sacrificed himself to end the battle before everything was destroyed."
He cut off, panting slightly after his rant as he continued to pace. Hayley didn't say anything for a moment.
"Alright," she finally said. "First of all, breathe. If I've learned anything at all about the rangers over the last couple of months it's that nothing ever seems to stop you permanently—you all just keep coming back. Secondly, have you tried anything other than cell phones to call them? I know several of you have mentioned communicators before."
"Those don't work anymore," Jason growled. "Because Divatox blew up the Power Chamber!"
"Ok, good to know," Hayley said. "Keep in mind I'm still new at this."
"Would you just get over here?" Jason snapped. "Before I explode on someone? I need you to at least help with Tommy. He's not exactly taking losing Zordon well."
"I'm already on my way," she said shortly. "And it sounds like you aren't taking it well either."
"I'm not," he said. "Door is unlocked. Just let yourself in. We're having pizza for dinner."
Hanging up, he took another deep breath. Heading toward the door, Jason sighed and rubbed a hand over his face as he reached for the handle. Forcing himself to try and look more cheerful, he took a deep breath and walked back out into the living room. The girls had quieted down and each was doing their own thing for the moment, which meant Vida had on headphones and Madison was reading. Jason was still grateful when the door opened a short time later and Hayley came waltzing in. She paused just long enough to see where everyone was before walking over to introduce herself to the parents.
"Hi!" she said brightly, smiling at the Olivers and Roccas. "I'm Hayley Ziktor, Tommy's study partner. I've been helping Jason out a lot. You must be the Olivers and I'm guessing you're Jason's parents."
They nodded and introductions went around.
"Tommy's said almost nothing about you," Mrs. Oliver beamed. "But you seem like a wonderful girl."
Hayley smiled back and soon everyone had settled in to talk. Taking over as hostess, Hayley kept the attention on herself to give both Jason and Tommy a break. She talked about school and helping Tommy catch up with classes before the semester ended so that he wouldn't fail. And she asked question after question about the Olivers and the Roccas and life in Angel Grove—anything to keep them at least slightly distracted. And when the pizza arrived, she immediately hopped up to get plates out and enlisted the girls to help while Mr. Rocca paid for the food. And she continued to direct the conversation after they all had food, though she did pause to glare at Tommy when he didn't immediately start eating. He muttered under his breath, but took a bite anyways, which just made Mrs. Oliver like Hayley that much more. Jason had only taken a few bites of his own pizza when his phone started going off. He immediately whipped it out of his pocket and answered without looking at the number.
"Hello?" he said quickly, hoping to hear a familiar voice.
"Jason? It's Zach," said Zach. "Guess what? I've got signal again!"
"Zach!" Jason exclaimed, standing abruptly and striding toward his room. "Where are you?"
Tommy's head jerked up when he heard Zach's name, but Jason just held up a hand and kept going. Hayley glanced after him and then went back to talking with their families to give Jason a chance to figure things out.
"I'm in Angel Grove," Zach was saying to Jason. "It took forever to get in—they weren't letting anyone into the city who wasn't an emergency responder… But I finally found someone who recognized me as a local with family. They got me in. If they hadn't I was going to be resorting to other things—like morphing."
Jason shut his door behind him as he rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, that would have gone well," he said. "Did you find the others? Please tell me you found the others."
"Well, kind of…" Zach said.
"Zach!" Jason snapped.
"Geez, don't be so snippy," Zach said. "They found me, ok? We're all at Adam's house lying low for a while. His mom wasn't home this weekend, so there's no one but us here. Did you hear what the Space Rangers did?"
"Oh, I heard," Jason growled. "Where's Trini?"
"She's right here," he answered. "Just came into the room. Her phone got stepped on by one of those drones last night when it fell out of her pocket… Yeah, I got a hold of Jason. He's—ok, ok! You don't have to threaten me!"
"Jason?" Trini said, her voice replacing Zach's.
"Oh thank goodness," he sighed, dropping on to his bed. "Are you alright? How's everyone else? Are all of you ok?"
"Fine for the most part," she answered. "Some of us are a little worse for wear. We were trying to help people get away and got caught up in some of the fighting…"
"Great," Jason muttered, shaking his head. "No serious injuries?"
"Nothing too bad," she said. "Cuts and bruises all around, of course, and possibly some minor sprains or fractures—and a good chance of a concussion in Adam's case. He hit his head pretty hard last night rescuing Justin and Kat."
"Rescuing?" Jason frowned, not liking the sounds of that.
"Nothing bad," she said quickly. "They got cornered with some civilians. Kat had caught her ankle in some of the rubble and hurt it and Justin couldn't take the drones alone so they were being forced along. We couldn't risk Justin being seen—too high a chance Divatox may have told whoever was in charge about him being a ranger. Not to mention the space rangers would have had trouble putting him in danger…"
Jason sighed, nodding.
"Any of us would," he said. "He's just a kid. I'm guessing you guys got them out alright, then?"
"Of course," she said. "But it was dark by that point and Adam misjudged his footing. The rubble moved under him while he was fighting and he slipped and cracked his head. We got out of there as quickly as possible after that. The bleeding stopped no long after we got here, but we're still keeping an eye on him."
"Good," said Jason. "Now why haven't any of you called until now?"
Trini sighed.
"Because there's no service," she said. "For cells or landlines. Towers and phone lines are down all over the city. Zach was finally able to get through because Justin managed to boost the receiver enough to pick up a satellite signal. He's been trying all afternoon…"
"Fair enough," Jason grumbled. "You have no idea how worried we've been…"
"I'm sorry," she said softly. "How's Tommy holding up after all of this? We all felt that burst of magic this morning."
Jason hesitated, not sure how much he wanted to tell her at that moment.
"He's been better," he finally said. "But there's something we need to talk about."
"What is it?" she asked.
There was a knock on the door and he could hear one of his sisters saying something.
"I can't talk about it right now," he said quietly. "Keep everyone together and lay low. Tell Justin to try and get a hold of Billy—Aquitar was attacked, too. And I don't care what the kid has to dismantle for parts. We need to make sure he's ok. Then get everyone ready for a video call at midnight. I'll have Hayley hack a satellite if I have to."
"She can do that?" Trini said in surprise.
"Apparently," Jason muttered. "She said something about trying it in high school just to see if she could—please don't give Justin that idea."
Trini laughed.
"I won't," she said. "Promise."
"Then I'll talk to you tonight," he said, smiling.
"I love you," Trini said softly.
"I love you, too," he said. "Be careful over there. Take care of yourselves."
"You, too," she said. "And take care of Tommy."
"Don't worry about him," Jason said. "Hayley is all over that right now."
Trini laughed again and they hung up. Just in time, too, because his door flew open and Madison and Vida came tumbling in. They were talking excitedly about something Hayley had just told them. Feeling slightly better now that he knew his friends were alright, Jason allowed himself to be pulled out of the room with them.
Later that night, Jason moved silently around the living room as he got the computer out and set up. He'd made sure he had everything he would need before everyone went to bed that night. The Olivers were in Tommy's room while the Rocca's were in Jason's. The twins were passed out in the corner on an air mattress they'd scrounged up. Tommy, on the other hand, was stretched out on the couch, fast asleep. He was exhausted from a long day of fighting with his magic. Hayley had left about an hour ago, after telling Jason to call her if they had any problems getting the video call connected. He'd pulled her aside briefly after dinner to explain a little more of what was going on. She'd taken it in stride, ready to help however they needed.
"Alright," he muttered quietly to himself. "This had better work."
With everything connected, he settled down into the chair next to the couch with the computer in his lap. Dialing the video call, he waited anxiously for the others to answer. He'd been replaying this conversation in his head all evening—it never ended well. He just hoped no one was loud enough to wake anyone up. The call connected and Jason breathed a sigh of relief as Justin appeared on the screen.
"Hey, Jason," he grinned. "Give me a minute to connect Billy and then I'll figure out how to get everyone in camera view."
"Alright, kid," Jason said, extremely relieved to hear they'd gotten a hold of Billy. "Just make sure everyone knows to keep it down. Tommy and I have visitors who can't overhear this call."
Justin nodded and, after a few moments, the screen shifted to accommodate another video. Billy appeared in the small box, smiling wearily when he saw Jason.
"Greetings," he said.
"Hey, Billy," Jason smiled back.
Things started shifting around again as Justin finished connecting all of the computers into the call. Apparently he'd decided it would be easier to use multiple cameras instead of crowding into the view of one. Jason could tell they were all still in the same room, though. He recognized Adam's basement. Fortunately it didn't take long to get everything straightened out so he could see everyone at one time. Adam was sitting in an armchair, his head still bandaged, with Tanya curled up in the chair with him as the computer sat on his lap. Kat had joined Justin at his computer. Kim, Trini, and Aisha were crowded together on another screen. Jason was a little surprised to see Aisha. He knew she was coming back soon, but he hadn't realized she was back already. Rocky and Zach were sharing the last camera, sprawled on the basement floor in front of their camera.
"Hey, Aisha," Jason said, focusing on her for a moment. "When did you get home?"
"Three days ago," she said. "Just before everything started. Some homecoming, right?"
He nodded, glancing around at the group. All of the rangers looked exhausted. Jason could see several besides Adam sporting bandages and bruises. They really had put themselves right in the middle of everything.
"Where's Tommy?" Kat asked.
"He's sleeping," Jason answered, turning the computer so they could see Tommy on the couch. "It was a long day for both of us…"
He turned the camera back on himself.
"How has the magic thing been going?" Rocky asked. "You haven't called for help in a few weeks."
"There are good days and bad days," Jason said with a shrug. "But he's been a lot better. Today wasn't a good day, though…"
"Sorry, Jason," Adam said quietly. "One of us should have been there…"
Jason shook his head.
"You guys have dealt with enough between today and yesterday," he said. "I was fine with Tommy. I just wish I could say the fighting was the end of it…"
He paused again, hesitating as he tried to decide what to say next.
"Jason, what did you need to talk to all of us for?" Trini asked. "The way you sounded earlier it seemed important."
"But should we be talking with your family there?" Zach asked. "One team is outed already—I vote not following their example."
All of the other rangers quickly nodded in agreement.
"You don't think anyone knows about me, do you?" Justin asked nervously.
Jason shook his head.
"Don't worry, kid," Jason said. "No one is going to find out anything."
"Justin, you have nothing to worry about," Billy added. "Of all of us, you are the least suspect. Due to the morphing grid's acceleration of your body's age while morphed, the chances of an individual realizing it is you in the uniform are virtually nonexistent. Most would not think it was possible and therefore would never make the assumption. It is others who have had connections with them who are in the most danger."
"But you still need to keep your distance for the moment," Jason added. "Or you might get caught up in all the media hype."
"Yeah, I know," Justin sighed, nodding.
The rest of the rangers were still looking at Jason expectantly. They all wanted to know what he had to tell them. He groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.
"I really don't know how to say this…" he muttered, shaking his head. "I really just don't want to say it…"
"Just spill, man," Rocky said, stifling a yawn. "We're all ready to sleep…"
"Don't start, Rocky," Jason snapped. "I'm still not in the mood for that."
Rocky looked at him in surprise, taken aback by his tone.
"Jason, please?" Trini said quietly.
He sighed again.
"It's about Zordon," he finally said.
That caught all of their attention. Everyone started talking at once, asking question after question and talking over each other.
"Enough!" Jason hissed. "My sisters are sleeping on the other side of the room and if you wake them up this conversation is over!"
All of the rangers froze, looking at him in surprise.
"They're in the same room?" Tanya repeated. "I thought they were just there…"
Jason nodded.
"There really wasn't another place for them to sleep tonight," he said. "Our parents are in the bedrooms and there's not enough room to put them on the floor in there…So we have to keep it down. They're usually pretty hard to wake up, but I'm not kidding when I say I will hang up on you if I have to."
All of them nodded in understanding.
"So they found Zordon?" Kim said hopefully.
"Yes, but—" Jason cut off, hesitating again.
This had been something he had never thought any of them would have to say. The news was going to kill all of them.
"But what?" Adam asked, frowning.
Jason took a deep breath.
"Zordon is gone," he said reluctantly. "That burst of magic this morning was a wave of his energy…He asked—no, he ordered Andros to destroy his tube. Zordon—Zordon sacrificed himself to end the battle…"
For a brief moment, the rangers stared at him in stunned silence.
"No," Kim said adamantly, shaking her head as she broke the silence. "That's—that can't be right."
The others were shaking their heads now, too.
"That's not funny, Jason," Zach said. "It really isn't."
"I'm not joking!" Jason snapped. "I wouldn't lie to you about this."
"But you're just taking someone else's word for it," Zach protested. "What if they're wrong? Or lying? Where's their proof?"
"Lying about Zordon's death would serve no purpose for the space rangers," Billy said quietly. "All it would gain them is our ire—and they know enough of us to understand the consequences. They are fully aware of our loyalties to him and the danger we would present to their team as a united front should they attempt to keep him from us in such a way. So no, they would not lie about this…"
Jason gave Billy a grateful look. The news itself was hard enough, he didn't want to argue about whether or not it was true.
"And Tommy is our proof," Jason added, glancing toward the couch. "Zordon shared his energy with Tommy before—when he charged the green ranger powers and during the creation of the white. Tommy recognized the energy this afternoon once TJ mentioned Zordon. He just hadn't made the connection this morning. Zordon really is gone…"
Most of the girls had started crying. Tanya was sobbing into Adam's shoulder as he hugged her tightly, a look of complete shock and disbelief still on his face. Rocky and Zach had abandoned their camera and were now visible onscreen with Trini, Kim, and Aisha. Trini had tears streaming down her face as she stared blankly at the camera. Kim was shaking and hanging on Aisha as both of them cried.
"Come on, Kimmie," Zach said, his voice rough as he tried not to cry himself. "Don't cry…"
As he put a hand on her shoulder, she spun and flung herself at him as she cried harder. Rocky put an arm around Aisha and she turned to cry into his shoulder. Zach put his other around Trini, pulling her into a hug as well. Billy was no longer visible on screen, though the call was still connected. Kat was crying softly in her chair, her face in her hands. Sitting next to her, Justin looked like he was fighting hard not to cry with her. For a while, none of them spoke as they mourned the loss of their long-time mentor and friend.
"So what now?" Trini asked a while later.
"Now we make sure nothing like this ever happens again," Jason said grimly.
The tears were mostly under control now and the rangers had spread back out again, though not all were at the same cameras as before. Zach had stayed with Kim and Trini while Aisha had moved back with Rocky. Kim was still sniffling with Zach's arm around her shoulders. Billy was also back.
"What do you mean, Jason?" Adam asked, frowning.
"The space rangers didn't call us for help because they didn't think they could," Jason explained. "And that's a problem."
"Why didn't they think they could call us?" Kim cried. "We could have—we would have helped!"
"I know," Jason said. "And, from now on, we're going to make sure we're all on the same page. We aren't losing anyone else like this—not if we can help it."
The other rangers nodded, murmuring their agreements.
"So what do we do?" Zach asked.
"We keep everyone connected," Jason said. "And we watch out for each other and any future teams, whether they know us or not."
"We already talk to each other all the time," Aisha pointed out. "Even when I was in Africa."
"I believe Jason is speaking on a larger scale," Billy said. "Something that would be more permanent that teams who come later could continue to use. Jason, are you thinking something along the lines of a network program similar to how we used our communicators? Something that would allow us to keep track of each other and any future teams?"
"Exactly," Jason said, nodding. "And I'm going to need your help, Billy. You, Justin, and Hayley."
"Hold on a moment, Jason," Kat said, frowning. "You're including Hayley, but should we really be pulling her in like this? She isn't one of us."
"She is now," Jason sighed. "Whether we like it or not. She knows our secret. But Tommy trusts her, and, no matter how much she irritates me sometimes, so do I. Hayley has had every opportunity over the past couple of months to use our secret to her advantage and she hasn't. Tommy and I have both spoken with her and she promised to hold to our code in anything involving the rangers. That means that, while she may never actually be a ranger, she is going to be one of us from now on."
The others nodded, though several of them still seemed reluctant to welcome her into their number so easily. They talked quietly for a little while longer, making sure they were all on the same page in understanding what Jason had in mind. Essentially he wanted to set up a communication network for the rangers that had a line of responsibility with the newest team on the bottom and the most experienced on the top. That way if a new team ran into trouble there was a protocol to follow for who went to help them instead of having the whole group of them converge on the problem.
"So who's gets to be leader and take charge of this whole mess?" Rocky asked, grinning at Jason. "You or Tommy?"
Jason glared at him.
"Me," he said.
Trini raised an eyebrow, giving him a look.
"Alright, both of us," Jason grumbled. "But Tommy doesn't get to make decisions until he's done recovering. More stress is the last thing he needs right now."
"But what happens if the space rangers don't accept your authority in power ranger business?" Tanya asked. "Or any of the new teams that come along? What then?"
"I don't expect everyone to just follow my orders," Jason said, shaking his head. "All I expect is that they give respect where it's due and understand that there is a chain of command for a reason. There has to be order or things don't get done."
"He has a point," Zach agreed. "The only time we listened to him in high school was when we were focused on ranger stuff. Same thing applies here. We can teach rookie teams that."
He was grinning now, too. Jason rolled his eyes.
"Maybe I should just let Tommy have all of you," he muttered, shaking his head.
"Don't worry, oh great red ranger," Zach laughed. "You know we'll all follow you and Tommy to the end."
"Without hesitation," Trini agreed.
"No matter how many times it nearly gets us killed," Rocky added with a grin.
Jason tried to glare at them, but with everyone smiling now he couldn't keep it up.
"Why do I put myself through this?" he grumbled, trying not to smile back.
"Because you would miss us if we were gone," Trini said. "Now I think it's time we all got some sleep. We all need it…"
"Yeah, get some sleep," Jason said, nodding. "Lay low for a while and take care of yourselves."
"We'll be careful," Trini said. "Now that the worst is over…You take care of Tommy for us."
Jason chuckled.
"I will," he said. "Goodnight everyone and we'll talk soon. May the Power protect us all."
As the other rangers echoed his farewell they started hanging up. When everyone was gone, Jason yawned and shut the computer before putting it away. Grabbing a pillow and a blanket, he did his best to get comfortable on the floor. He drifted off to sleep muttering to himself about tomorrow being Tommy's turn on the floor.