DISCLAIMER: Nope still not mine. I keep dreaming though.

SUMMARY: Jason found the girls at the mall. When he scolded Kim for disappearing without telling anyone, Tara felt bad and changed her mind about the outfit she had been about to buy. She wouldn't even look at Jason as she asked Kim to take her home.

A/N: You guys are fantastic. I can't believe how many reviews I got on the last chapter. This is a new angle for me and I really hope it continues to go well.

Kim had just barely stopped the car in front of Tara's apartment complex when she bolted from the car and inside. Kim sighed; Tara hadn't said a word the whole way back from the mall. She had tried to hide her tears from the former Ranger but Kim knew.

'She feels bad because Jason scolded me when I was just trying to help her. He'd better have a damn good reason for that.'

Another side of her chimed in. 'You know damn good and well that he did. You remember what happened three years ago. He gets worried when he doesn't know where you are. And you should realize that that psycho creep is probably out of jail by now. Do you want to chance him finding you out like that and maybe hurting Tara to get to you?'

'Of course not. But he could have waited until Tara wasn't around.'

'He wouldn't have said anything if he'd waited and you know it.' Kim pulled the car out of the lot and headed home. She was so angry that right now she felt like kicking Jason's ass instead of being grateful that he was so protective of his sister and of her.

Tara threw herself on the bed, crying so hard that anyone seeing her would swear she was about to shake herself apart. Several long minutes passed before she was able to pull herself together.

"I never should have come here. I should just go." She got up and stumbled into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror above the sink, she heard her mother's cruel words again. 'No matter how you dress, no man will ever look twice at you.'

"She was right. About all of it. She was right."

"No, sissy. She was wrong. She was so wrong." Jason's soft voice came from the door to the bathroom. When Tara spun around to look at her brother in shock, he nodded. "I know what she said. Kevin was standing outside the front door when she said it and he called me the next day from his hotel room. He explained everything to me, including the fact that Dad didn't even try to stop her."

Tara ran to her brother's arms and buried her face against his chest. "How could she be so cruel? She's supposed to love me! She's my mother!"

"She is supposed to love you. But if she doesn't, Kim and I do. I'm sorry that I made you feel so bad, sissy. We never told you about what happened to Kimberly three years ago because we didn't want to scare you."

"What happened?" Tara's eyes begged him to answer the question.

"She was being stalked. Some psycho creep was after her and she never told me even though I was head of her security detail. He almost got her here in Reefside. He would have if it hadn't been for Tommy and the Yellow Ranger."

"Was she okay?"

"Other than being absolutely terrified, yeah. But for the longest time after that, she wouldn't leave the room without me with her or at least me knowing exactly where she was going, how long she'd be gone and when she'd be back. I get worried when she just takes off. I worry about you too. When you weren't here and no one answered the phone at the house, my mind came up with the worst case scenario. That that creep had taken both of you and I'd never see you again."

"She was just trying to help me."

"I know that, sissy. But I wouldn't have been so upset if she had just left a note or something."

"She said we needed to get me something fantastic to wear out with Tommy." Tara felt the rumble of laughter in her brother's chest. "What?" she asked, lifting her head.

"She did, did she?"

"She said she had it on good authority that Tommy wanted to go out with me." Tara was getting a little upset; she thought maybe Kim had been teasing her.

"And she did. I'm the one that told her about Tommy wanting to get to know you. He told me about it when we were waiting in the classroom for you yesterday. She sure didn't waste any time, did she?"

Tara chuckled tearfully. "Does she ever? Especially when she's playing matchmaker?"

"No. She really doesn't." Jason's mind flashed images of when Kim had been trying to get Adam and Tanya together and, even more recently, when she'd been trying to get Rocky and Aisha to start going out together.

Tara pulled away from her brother, eyeing the look on his face. "You more than like her, don't you?"

"She drives me crazy but yeah. I want to be more than friends."

"She feels the same about you. Talk to her, Jason. Tell her what you told me."

"Look at you. Just moments ago, you were in tears because I was upset she didn't at least leave a note and now you're playing matchmaker for Kim and I." He put a finger on her nose. "You're almost as bad as she is."

Tara giggled. Jason led her back out into the living room where Tara saw the box sitting on her coffee table. "What's this?"

"A peace offering?" She ran to the couch and opened the box. "Oh, Jase, thank you!" She ran back to him and flung her arms around his waist and hugged him tight.

"How could I not bring something for you? I saw how beautiful you looked in that. I had to make sure you had it. Am I forgiven?"

Looking up into her brother's eyes, she smiled. "I never could stay mad at you. You've always been the one to look out for me."

"You know, thinking back, there was one thing Mom said that was almost accurate."

Tara's head tilted to one side. "What was that?"

"That I was the only one in the family that gave a shit about you. Kevin does too. That's why he told me what had happened. He hasn't been back home since then either."

"You guys have done that for me?" Jason just nodded and hugged Tara tighter to him.

'That was the easy part. You know Kimberly won't forgive you that quickly.'

Kim's tires squealed as she whipped into the driveway, alerting Tommy to the fact that the young woman was home and not happy. "Where is he?" she shouted as the door slammed into the wall. "JASON LEE SCOTT!!"

"Kim, what happened?"

"What happened? Jason found us at the mall. We had found this beautiful outfit for Tara and she had tried it on when he found us. He actually had the nerve to jump me in the store and yell at me for not leaving a note." She huffed a breath. "Tara changed her mind about the outfit and asked me to drive her home. She didn't say a word all the way to the apartment complex. I could tell that she was on the brink of tears, Tommy. I didn't even get the car fully stopped before she jumped out and ran inside."

Suddenly, Kim's anger was exhausted. She dropped onto the couch next to Tommy with tears in her eyes. "She was doing so well too. She was out in public and not panicking. Then, Jason started in and ruined the whole thing."

Tommy pulled her into his shoulder and felt her start to shake with her sobs. "Kim, Jason's just overprotective. You know that, probably just as well as Tara and better than most others. He always feels a need to protect those he cares about." Tommy stopped to think for a moment. "Maybe that's why we get along so well."

"Tommy, what are we going to do? I had her out in public. She wasn't even stuttering. Tommy, we have to help her."

"And we will, Kim. Jason and I want her to get better about being out in public but we aren't about to sacrifice your safety to do it. We're both afraid that that wacko that was after you before is out of jail and after you again. Kim, Jason needs you safe and I want you safe. It's very important to both of us."

Tommy just sat there and held his ex as she cried until she fell asleep on his shoulder. Much the same as Tara had done with Jason.