Heart of Crimson
Summary: What if Hunter wasn't the first Ranger to wear Crimson. AU for MMPR Season 2. Dairanger powers, sorta. TommyKim, JasonOC slash.
Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I intend/desire to make any money off the Power Rangers/Super Sentai concepts and characters presented in this story. They are fully the property of their respective owners and are used with loving respect. Furthermore, this story utilizes concepts borrowed/adapted from Chris Claremont's run on X-Men. Certain aspects of the story are also due to my current obsession: Jyuken Sentai Gekiranger.
Chapter 5: Crimson Revealed
The next day found Jason extremely distracted. No matter what he tried to do to keep his focus on school, his thoughts continuously wandered to the mysterious Crimson Ranger and the Shadowmancer, Dreaveus. The Crimson Ranger seemed to be the only one who could easily deal with the shadow energy Dreaveus threw around. Dreaveus seemed fixated on the Crimson Ranger, probably for that very reason.
Additionally, Jason found himself ambivalent about the end of their first encounter with Dreaveus. While Kim, Trini, and Zack appeared to have convinced themselves that the Crimson Ranger was not actually trying to kill his opponent, as evidenced by the fact that he allowed Dreaveus to flee, Jason, along with Tommy and Billy, wasn't so sure. And Jason wasn't sure how he felt about that. Part of him wanted to take the stance that Rangers are heroes and heroes don't kill, but another part of him, the part that was a cop's son, realized that sometimes, heroes had no choice. For the hundredth time since he had appeared, Jason wished he could get some straight answers out of the elusive Ranger.
The other Rangers and Brandon had noticed Jason's distraction and had tried to pull him out of it. None of them succeeded, until lunchtime. As Brandon sat down next to Jason, he dropped two pieces of bright red three by five cardstock on the table in front of Jason.
"What are these?" Jason asked, putting down his fork.
"Read," Brandon responded with a self-satisfied smirk.
Jason did so and his jaw promptly dropped, "No way! No way did you get these!" He turned to Brandon, threw a hug around his boyfriend's shoulders, and kissed him loudly on the cheek. Brandon smiled widely.
"What are those bro?" Tommy asked with a surprised laugh. Jason flipped the cards around so Tommy could read them from across the table and the White Ranger promptly mimicked his best friend's response, "No way!"
The rest of the Rangers exchanged a confused glance and Kim interjected, "Okay, what the heck are those things?"
As Tommy and Jason still seemed speechless, Brandon answered, "Tickets to the AGU martial arts expo."
Jason had now recovered enough to add, "Tommy and I have been trying to get tickets, but they were all sold out."
"Well, not completely," Brandon clarified. "The expo's pretty small, so most tickets went to AGU students and students from the other schools participating. However, any athletic or cultural event at the University has a certain number of tickets held back so that at least one set goes to each of the major academic departments to use as prizes, rewards, that kind of thing. The physics department usually just puts tickets like these out on a table as first come, first serve. Luckily for us, my Dad spotted these and snagged them."
"That sounds like it will be a fun date for you two," Trini commented.
At Trini's words, Tommy's face fell. The realization set in that, of course Brandon intended this as an activity for him and Jason as a couple. For just a moment he felt a twinge of jealousy aimed at Brandon. After all, before he showed up a gift to Jason of these kinds of tickets would have meant the two of them were going. But now, Jason was not only in a relationship, but with someone who loved martial arts as much as he did. However, Tommy's impending sulk was interrupted by a discrete elbow from Kim. When he looked down at her, she responded in a whisper. "We already had plans . . . not being able to go saves you from a world of hurt mister."
Before Tommy could respond to Kim, Brandon said, "I'm sorry about this Tommy. When Dad told me about the tickets I was really hoping he could get more, but only two went to each department, and all the other departments he talked to had already given there's away. Martial arts are crazy popular in Angel Grove . . . probably another Power Rangers thing."
Tommy just smiled and the feeling of jealousy died. After all, Jason had put up with him changing plans or not being available for the sake of his relationship with Kimberly. Tommy could do nothing but give Jason the same courtesy. To Brandon he said, "It's cool . . . but you guys need to tell me everything."
"Deal," Brandon smiled back.
As Tommy and Brandon were talking, Jason and Kim were having their own exchange. "That is so cool that Brandon's Dad was able to get those tickets," Kim commented.
"I know," Jason responded, still looking at the tickets. He then looked up at Kim with a smirk, "But, I'm sorry Kim."
"Why?" Kim asked, confused.
"Because, I now officially have the best boyfriend in the world."
Kim glanced at Tommy out of the corner of her eye, thinking about how he had just forgotten their plans for this evening in the wake of the tickets and said, "You may be right." However, she still flung a french fry at Jason on principle.
As the Red and Pink Rangers laughed, Zack looked at Billy and Trini and asked, "So, what are we poor, lonely single people doing tonight?"
The expo was even better than expected. Less a competition and more a showcase of various forms, Jason and Brandon had gotten to see demonstrations of several forms they had never before been able to see live. Their favorite had been Capoeira, although both of them eventually admitted that it was far more the men demonstrating it that they enjoyed than the art itself.
After the expo they went walking across AGU's campus, enjoying each other's company and the fact that on the very liberal campus, with the nickname of "Little Berkley," no one batted an eye at two young men walking hand-in-hand. After a few minutes of not seeing anyone else, Brandon suddenly stopped, his eyes darting around his surrounds. "Brandon, what . . ." Jason started to ask before the other young man cut him off.
"We need to get out of here. Now."
However, before they could move a voice, cold as ice and slick as oil said, "As if that would save you." As he finished speaking, Dreaveus stepped out of the shadows.
Jason and Brandon went into defensive stances. "Who are you?" Brandon asked.
"Oh, you wound me," Dreaveus replied with a sneer. "Don't pretend. You know who I am, and I know who you are . . . Crimson Ranger."