Disclaimer: Everything you've heard of already is property of Saban. Anything else is mine. Songs referenced in this chapter are by Panic! at the Disco, The Offspring, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Green Day, the Beatles and Fall Out Boy.

A/N: And now the moment you've all been waiting for. Thanks for reading, reviewing, following, favoriting, and just generally being awesome.


Scott Residence – Master Bedroom
Angel Grove, CA
July 10, 2012
9:58 AM

"We all have our demons, Rock. Mine are just a little less Dr. Phil and a lot more Wes Craven."

Jason stole another glance at his watch. Two minutes. The slow, inexorable ticking of the second hand seemed to taunt him from behind the quartz face. Blowing a nervous breath through his teeth, he ran his hand through his still damp hair and resumed pacing the room, flexing his toes against the insides of his boots. After his shower, he had changed into a pair of grey slacks and a nicer red shirt that he'd buttoned to just below the collar; a tie streaked with black and gold hung loosely around his neck. The shoulder holster with his gun still strapped inside lay across the back of a desk chair in the corner, covered by his jacket.

Jason felt a cold sweat beginning to break out on his lower back and sank to a seated position on the edge of the bed. He propped his elbows on his knees and lowered his head into his hands, squeezing his eyes shut and breathing slowly through his nose.

"God damn it," he whispered, opening his eyes to stare at the floor. Kim and Tommy were downstairs right now, preparing for the others to arrive; he'd already had to tell them three times to give him five more minutes. Eventually he knew one of them would return and drag him downstairs, bodily if necessary. Leaning back, he stretched his arms out behind him and supported his weight on his hands, tilting his head up to stare into the ceiling. He allowed his eyes to relax, the hazy images that swam into and out of focus in the sheetrock helping to divert his attention.

"Hey."

Jason jerked his head upright, blinking rapidly. Kim stood in the doorway, her hands in her pockets, watching him with concern. She wore a different pink blouse, a darker shade than the one she'd put on earlier, and white pants. Jason looked her up and down, a small half-smile forcing its way onto his face.

"Christ, Kim. You scared the shit outta me."

"Not surprising. I've been standing here for like thirty seconds and you never so much as glanced at me." Kim stepped through the doorway and sat beside Jason on the bed, placing a hand on his leg. "You ready for this?"

Jason laid a hand on top of hers and looked at the floor again. "Can I still say no at this point?" Kim smiled and squeezed his thigh.

"Never stopped you before."

"Yeah." He looked up at her, managing the same small half-smile again. "I've jumped through portals into evil alternate dimensions, I've risked the lives of my closest friends more times than I can count, I spent the last ten years lying to everyone I know about the biggest and most important thing I ever did, and you're right – I was never really ready for any of it and it never stopped me. But having to gather together the only people in the world who think they know who I really am and tell them all that they don't…" he trailed off and glanced into her eyes, his mouth still open as though waiting to continue. After a moment, he licked his lips and added, "To tell them all that this time I'm the danger, that something they think ended five years ago never really went away, and worse, that I kept it from them all this time – I don't think I could ever be ready enough." As he spoke, he began rolling his sleeves up to the elbows.

Kim nodded, glancing toward the door. "Well, ready or not, this is the right thing to do. I just wish it hadn't had to come to this for you to listen to me."

"You don't think I feel bad enough about that already?"

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, Jase. Sometimes I just wish you weren't so damn stubborn."

Jason's smile returned, a little wider this time. He was about to reply when several sets of loud voices carried up to them from downstairs. His gaze flicked to the open door. "They're here."

Kim smiled gently as the voices quieted and they heard footsteps on the stairs. Soon Tommy filled the doorway, glancing between the two of them expectantly. "Everyone's here. You guys comin'?"

Kim looked back at Jason. "Time to Dance."

Jason chuckled and shook his head. He leaned over and kissed Kim lightly on the cheek. "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid."

Tommy cleared his throat from the doorway. "Waiting."

Kim jabbed a finger at him. "Warning."

Tommy made a face of mock terror, raising his hands in front of him. "Help!"

Jason stood and crossed the room, grabbing his jacket and holster off the chair, laughing softly as he did so. He walked right up to Tommy and said, "I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth."

There was a brief silence before Tommy broke into a grin and stepped to one side to let Jason through, slapping his old friend on the back as they moved down the hallway toward the stairs. Jason wormed his arms into the shoulder holster and let his jacket hang over one arm, wiping his rapidly moistening palms on his pants. With each step he moved down, the soft voices from the living room grew gradually louder, closer. Taking another deep breath, Jason stepped off the last stair onto the hardwood floor and stopped for a moment to collect himself.

Here goes nothing.

He gathered every last ounce of resolve and stepped around the corner.


Scott Residence – Living Room/Kitchen
10:05 AM

As Jason came around the corner, the scattered conversation in the main living area came screeching to a halt. He tossed his jacket onto a hook near the front door as casually as he could and stuck his thumbs into his belt loops, approaching his friends with what he hoped was an air of calm. Seven heads swirled around to face him at the sound of his footsteps; seven pairs of eyes drilled into him, searching for answers in his face. Jason scanned the group assembled before him, sighing as he realized how long it had been since they'd all been together at once. Tommy and Kim had moved the chairs around the kitchen table so that they all faced him; Adam sat at one end of the table, Trini at the other. Aisha and Kat sat in the other two chairs on the far side, all four resting their elbows on the polished wood in front of them. Rocky stood behind Aisha, leaning on the back of her chair with one hand and shining an apple on his shirt with the other. Zack and Tanya sat next to each other on the couch in the adjacent living room, which had been flipped around to face into the entryway. As his eyes wandered through the room, Jason saw Tommy step away from him and take a spot behind Kat, rubbing her shoulders with both hands and giving Jason a quick nod.

He tried to smile – though it felt more like a grimace – as Kim brushed past him and set her phone on the table, tapping the screen before moving back to his side. "Billy," she mouthed as she turned her back to the others; he nodded and she wrapped her hands around his right arm where he stood in the entryway. Jason exhaled slowly; his palms were sweating again.

"Hey guys."

"Jason." The others chorused his name back to him, some of them more sharply than others. Kat was practically glaring at him; Zack fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. Jason noticed that Trini hadn't even looked up at him yet – instead she seemed deeply interested in the faux wood grain of the tabletop. Finally someone broke the tense silence.

"Hello, Jason," Billy's voice said through the phone. Several people's eyes flicked away from him, toward the sound; Jason didn't miss the fact that Adam and Rocky never even glanced away from him. They examined him intently; Adam scanning him up and down like a doctor, Rocky staring at him in concern. Jason tried to read something in their faces, but Adam's was completely blank, cold and objective; Jason was reminded of why nobody played poker with Adam more than once. Rocky's worry was a little more obvious, but Jason couldn't be sure if it was worry for Jason's well-being or whether Rocky was assessing how big a threat he might pose. "Kimberly implied that this was urgent. Has something happened?"

Jason never got a chance to answer. Kim released her grip and stepped forward. "Yeah, something happened," she answered. She tugged her shirt open, exposing the large bruise on her chest. "This."

Aisha gasped and threw a hand over her mouth. Trini slowly lifted her head at the sound and spun in her chair to face Kim directly, gripping the edge of the table tightly as she gaped at her in shock. Several other people's eyes widened; Adam and Rocky gave Kim only a quick glance before narrowing their eyes at Jason, their questions written all over their faces.

"My God, Kim!" Kat whispered, her already fair face draining of color. "What the hell did that to you?"

Jason stepped up next to his wife and braced himself. He spoke his next two words in as calm and clear a voice as he could manage.

"I did."

For the last two hours Jason had been trying to gauge how much time he would have to allow for his announcement to sink in; how long he would be able to wait before elaborating without anyone reacting. Every scenario he'd run through had granted him at least a few seconds of stunned silence before everything went to shit; thus, firmly believing that he had time to do so, he paused for dramatic effect, intending to give everyone time to process what he'd just said.

He had drastically overestimated how long they would need.

The room immediately erupted into chaos. Aisha, Zack and Adam were on their feet almost too fast for Jason to see; Aisha threw her chair back into Rocky with such force that he doubled over in pain, choking on a mouthful of fruit. Zack practically shoved Tanya back onto the couch as he leapt out of his seat as if electrocuted, and Adam cut the distance between him and Jason in half in less than a second. Kat glared daggers at him, pulling Tommy's arms in front of her from behind like some sort of shield. Trini was slower to her feet, but only because her legs were trembling; she, Adam, Aisha and Zack advanced on Jason, jabbing their fingers in his face and speaking loudly, angrily over each other, mostly asking different variations of "What the fuck is wrong with you?" or shouting about how many different kinds of scum he was.

Rocky unfolded himself from over the back of Aisha's chair and made a move to rush Jason only to have Tommy yank one hand free from Kat's grasp and throw an arm around Rocky's shoulders, holding the other man back with a great deal of effort despite Rocky's loud grunts of protest. Tanya covered her mouth with one hand and sank into the couch, looking at Jason with revulsion as the others moved in on him. Kat turned and regarded the struggle between Tommy and Rocky and began shouting at her fiancé to let Rocky go, demanding to know whose side he was on.

Aisha reached Jason first. He stared her down, raising a hand in a calming gesture; she batted it away and slapped him across the face. Hard. Jason just took it, the blow whipping his head to the right and leaving a painful tingle in the shape of Aisha's hand on his cheek.

Kim chose that moment to step in. She pushed between Jason and Aisha, grabbing Aisha's shoulders with both hands and holding her friend back. Adam and Zack flanked the woman in yellow, crossing their arms like bodyguards and eyeing Jason like an escaped mental patient. Trini hung back, angry tears streaming down her face as she screamed at Jason in Vietnamese. He grimaced at her barrage; what little he remembered of her native tongue from what she'd taught him in Geneva was enough for him to know she wasn't talking about sunshine and ponies.

"Aisha, stop it!" Kim's voice cut through the clamor like a siren, drawing the shocked gazes of everybody in the room save Tommy, who still had an arm wrapped around Rocky. He let it drop and pushed Kat back down in her chair, the latter seeming to finally find the strength to stand. Aisha gaped at Kim openmouthed. Her lips moved soundlessly a few times – it looked to Jason like she was trying to speak but nothing came out. Finally, Adam reached up and brushed one of Kim's hands off Aisha's shoulder, replacing it with one of his own. Casting a quick glance over her shoulder at Adam, Aisha turned back to Kim and spoke with barely restrained fury.

"Kim, honey, I really hope this is some fucked up new version of Stockholm syndrome I've never heard of because if it's not I might have to slap you, too."

"Doesn't Stockholm syndrome require someone to be taken hostage?"

"Oh, don't tell me you're defending this asshole!" Aisha flung a hand at Jason without breaking eye contact with Kim. Jason arched his eyebrows and folded his arms over his chest, watching his wife hold her best friend back.

"Jason's only crime here is a failure to grasp the concept of subtlety." At Aisha's incredulous expression, Kim barreled onward. "And we can prove it if you call off the lynch mob."

"Damn, this thing should've come with a play-by-play." Every eye in the room zeroed in on Kim's phone, lying forgotten on the table. Billy's voice carried a hint of amusement that threw the whole situation even further off kilter. "Can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?"

Jason and Kim both opened their mouths to respond, but Trini spoke over both of them, glaring at Jason the whole time. "Jason was just about to explain to us why it's somehow OK that he assaulted his own wife."

Several people began speaking very loudly all at once.

Billy, his voice made squawky by the connection: "Excuse me? He did what?"

Aisha, feeling increasingly like the subject of a tug-of-war between Kim and Adam: "And why Kim feels it necessary to defend him when her chest looks like something I painted in kindergarten."

Rocky, completely removed from the other argument, shoving Tommy away: "What the fuck, man? You gonna start defending him, too?"

Tanya, from the sofa: "This is bullshit!" Her voice was shrill and strained, as though desperately pleading for her words to be true. She spun, finally facing the others. "Kim, Jason, please, tell them this is all bullshit!"

Zack, standing rigid behind Aisha, every muscle on his body drawn taut like a rubber band: "Jason, I swear to god if you don't explain yourself in the next ten seconds I will kick your balls into your goddamn throat." His voice carried a venom Jason had never heard from Zack before; that frightened him more than anything anybody else had said.

Kim finally pushed Aisha away, stepped back against Jason, cupped her hands around her mouth and screamed, "HEY!"

The entire room went silent. Kim let her hands flop to her sides and glanced from one person to another, taking in their various looks of disgust, rage or pity and nodding slightly at Tommy's reassuring wink. "The hell is wrong with you people? Do you know this man at all?" She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at Jason, who still hadn't spoken. The violent reaction he'd elicited had caught him so badly off guard that he'd been rendered utterly speechless; by the time his wits had returned, it had been far too late to say anything productive.

"This is Jason we're talking about," Kim continued, growing more and more passionate with each word. "I can look to any one of you and name a time when he has been personally involved in saving your life. Have you completely forgotten what the people in this room mean to him? He would die five times over for every last one of you." She paused for a moment and chuckled bitterly, still sweeping her gaze around the room. "Now, granted, he didn't exactly bring this up with any degree of tact. Like I said," she turned and looked Jason dead in the eye. "He's not real big on subtlety. But just because he went a little overboard with the dramatic reveal doesn't give any of you an excuse to crucify him without a single word of explanation. Not after everything he's done for you."

Kim moved back beside Jason, who hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether he had the floor quite yet. After an awkward handful of moments, Tommy spoke up from the back of the room. "Kim's right, you guys." A few people turned to look at him; others kept their eyes fixed on Jason and Kim. Tommy ignored all of them and made eye contact with Jason. "Jase?"

"Thanks, bro," Jason said softly. He turned to Kim and said, "Damn, two big speeches in one day? You're on a roll." He offered her a lopsided grin that wasn't returned; she frowned at him and gestured toward the group with her eyes. Jason sighed and turned to look out at his friends, his chosen family, ten people he would give his life for in a heartbeat, who now peered back at him with a horrible, resentful suspicion that formed a knot behind his ribcage. He had earned it, after all – he just considered himself lucky that his mistake could be remedied.

"You guys might want to sit back down," he said softly. "This may take a while."


Scott Residence – Kitchen/Living Room
10:20 AM

It took a good three minutes for everyone to return to their seats. During that time, Jason refused to look at anybody, fixing his gaze on the floor while he chose his words. When Kim tapped him gently on the shoulder, he lifted his head and drew himself up to his full height. The others looked back at him expectantly; Aisha, Kat and Rocky still looked wary of him, while Trini, Tanya and Zack's expressions had softened a bit. Adam, being Adam, had remained frustratingly impassive. Tommy's eyes shone with support; Jason gave him a nod of gratitude before stepping forward and starting at the beginning.

"You guys remember Muranthias?" Tommy bowed his head slightly; Kat closed her eyes, and Jason didn't miss the involuntary shudders that went through Adam and Tanya, the latter whimpering quietly and squeezing Zack tightly against her.

"I wasn't there personally," Billy's voice said from the phone. "But from what Tommy and Katherine told me, I believe that was where you and Kimberly were turned evil for a short time by Dark Spectre's brother Maligore. Correct?"

"To a degree," Jason said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "They tell you how Divatox managed to do that?"

"Yeah, she dropped you two into her own personal Crack of Doom," Zack piped up. "Maligore possessed you or something and sent you back out to fight the others, etcetera, etcetera. The whole evil Ranger bit. Been done to death, really."

"Not quite," Jason replied, earning confused looks from the original Turbo team. "I never told you guys what actually happened in that volcano." Jason took a slow, shaky breath, feeling the color draining from his face. "Maligore didn't just turn us evil. I wish it had been that simple." He licked his lips nervously, unsure of how to proceed.

Rocky came to his rescue. "Come on, Jason, how could it have been worse than that? I mean, when we watched you guys get dropped in there, we thought you were dead."

Jason made eye contact with his successor. "You were right."

Every mouth in the room dropped open, even Tommy's. Jason glanced from one pair of shocked eyes to another as he continued. "I felt the lava in that pit eat every square inch of flesh and muscle off the lower half of my body. I saw my bones stripped clean; I felt the inside of my mouth literally being burned raw. Every inch of my body was on fire, I was choking on smoke, there were blisters forming and popping everywhere…" he trailed off, rubbed the back of his neck and went on. "Kim was holding my hand and I…I felt her die. I didn't last much longer after that.

"Then, for a while – I have no idea how long – there was just nothing. No pain, no sound, no thought, nothing. And then suddenly we were back, and I just remember having this…thing in my head that amplified every negative quality about me; every petty resentment, every pent up reservoir of rage that I'd managed to hold back with my martial arts training, everything. It fed on them, forced me to act on them, brought them to life. That's why I went after you two so hard." Jason looked at Tommy and Rocky, both of whom stood frozen behind their partners' chairs, their faces white as paper. "Rock, some part of me resented you for getting my powers when I had to give them up. I think we all know how hard that is." Rocky nodded slowly and Jason turned to Tommy, pain shining in his eyes. "Tommy…fuck, Tommy, I hate just talking about this." Jason closed his eyes and drew in a shaky breath. "There was part of me – a part I spent a long time repressing, a part I never wanted to see the light of day – that never forgave you for taking leadership of the team away from me; that always felt this contempt for every time you succeeded at anything. That rivalry spell we were placed under that one time brought some of that to the surface, but it was so much deeper than that. It became so intense that I…well." Jason choked back the sob that threatened to push free of his throat.

"And then aside from all of that, yes, there was some of Maligore in there, too. He seemed to draw power from my anger, my jealousy, my resentment for you, and he made those things the only things that mattered. When you were holding me over the lava, Tommy, I…" Jason's voice broke; this time he had to pause, wipe his eyes with one hand and glance away for a moment to get his breathing under control. "I think you may have seen it in my eyes, but you told yourself you were wrong. You weren't." He glanced back at Tommy, whose face darkened with the awful epiphany.

"You wanted me to drop you."

Everyone who'd been present on Muranthias whipped their heads around to face Tommy, words of protest dying on their tongues at his expression. "He fought me some but I told myself he was trying to climb up my arm and pull me in. I never thought…" Tommy trailed off and Jason began again.

"It's true. I wanted you to drop me in there so that Maligore could rise up and destroy everything. I can still remember how it felt." He swept his gaze around the room. "Do any of you know how it feels to have someone crawl into your head, put their hands on everything that makes you who you are, and… play with it? To have all of your thoughts, desires, feelings, everything tied to strings like puppets? I felt every ounce of control ripped away from me, a little at a time; that thing didn't just force me to do that shit, it…it made me want to do it." He scanned the group again. "Do any of you have any idea what that's like?"

"I sort of do," Kat said softly, her voice almost a whisper. Jason raised an eyebrow at that. "By the end, Rita had pretty nearly convinced me that what I was doing was part of my own nature, that I had always been evil; she made the horrible things I did feel more right than the real right thing." She looked up at Jason, tears forming in her eyes. "Is that close?"

"Yeah," he said gently, offering her a small smile. Tommy squeezed her shoulder and Jason added, "Only picture that times about six thousand. That's how it felt."

Tommy glanced at Jason again, frowning. "Wait a minute. I thought Lerigot and his wife purified you – got all of Maligore's influence out of your head."

"They did for Kim," Jason replied, motioning toward his wife with his head. "But only because she was first. I guess by the time they were done with her there was barely enough of their magic left to help me. All they were able to do was give me control back. Maligore's fire is still in there; I can't feel it right this second but I know it's there. And I'm the only thing keeping it down."

Everyone was quiet for a moment before Adam, maddeningly practical as always, spoke up. "No offense, Jase, but what does this have to do with what happened to Kim?"

For the next several minutes, the others listened with rapt attention as Jason detailed everything he and Kim had experienced over the last five years – from the steadily intensifying nightmares that gradually began manifesting physically to the flashes of red in his eyes that had become less and less predictable and finally to the last couple of incidents, culminating with the episode in the park. Kim supplied additional input every once in a while, and Tommy gave some of his own perspective on what happened that morning that had prompted the call to go out; for the most part, however, Jason spoke uninterrupted, watching with great relief as even the iciest glares in the room slowly melted into expressions of sympathy.

When Jason had finished, nobody said anything for a long time. A few people fidgeted nervously in their seats; Rocky shifted his weight back and forth from one foot to the other, still taking the occasional absentminded bite of the half-eaten apple in his hand. Zack flopped his head back onto the sofa, staring at the ceiling and sighing loudly. When Rocky finally broke the silence, moving toward the trashcan to throw away the core of the apple, a couple people jerked as if hit from behind; Aisha actually let out a little yelp of surprise – she'd been watching Jason so intently she hadn't even noticed her husband moving away.

"So let me get this straight," Rocky said, making no effort to keep his voice down. "For the last five years you've slowly been turning into a mix between an evil version of the Incredible Hulk and something out of Hellraiser and you thought we were better off not knowing?"

"Wouldn't you have preferred to go the rest of your life without needing to sit in on my little therapy session?" Jason countered. "I did what I know at least half of us here would've done: I tried to handle it, I tried to do everything I could to not make it your problem, but what happened this morning made me realize that it is your problem. I had to tell you now for the same reason I kept it from you before. I know it sucks and I hate to have to drop this on everyone but I think you have a right to know." Jason made eye contact with Rocky and gave him a small smile. "We all have our demons, Rock. Mine are just a little less Dr. Phil and a lot more Wes Craven."

There was soft laughter at that; Jason felt a massive amount of tension flood from his chest at the lightened mood. When Aisha looked his way and offered an apologetic smile, he gratefully returned it before moving toward Zack and holding out a hand. As Zack took it in his own, Billy's voice squawked from Kim's phone again.

"Jason, first of all I want to thank you on behalf of everyone for sharing this with us – it was clearly very hard for you. That being said, I have to ask what you plan on doing about it."

"Actually, Billy," Jason nodded at Zack and released his hand before moving back to the table. "I was kinda hoping you could help with that. I know you brought some stuff back from Aquitar with you a couple years ago and I was hoping you had something that could run a scan on me like what we used to have back at the old Command Center. Maybe if we knew exactly what was going on with me, we'd be able to handle it better."

"That sounds like a wise course of action," Billy replied. "Unfortunately I don't think I'll be alone here for much longer. I'll see what I can do and call you back."

"Great. Thanks, Billy." There was a soft click from the phone; Jason scooped it up and tossed it back to Kim. "As for the rest of you…" Jason motioned towards himself. "Like I said, these episodes are getting less and less predictable, meaning one could potentially happen anytime. If I'm gonna be around people all the time like nothing's wrong – not to mention armed," he motioned to his shoulder holster. "I need you all to be on the alert in case something does happen. I won't trust myself around Kim without knowing one of you guys is standing by ready to come help her if I lose it."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Aisha said with a smile. "Cause if you pull any more crazy shit on my girl I will not hesitate to put you on your ass."

"Good to know," Jason said with a laugh.

"Jason." Jason turned and saw that Tanya had stood up and was resting one hand on the back of the couch. "I just wanted to apologize on behalf of everyone for jumping down your throat like we did. We should've given you a chance to explain yourself before we jumped to conclusions…we should've trusted you more."

"Thanks, Tan, but I think I'm the one who needs to apologize," Jason said. "I should have told you guys about this a long time ago. You guys have put your asses on the line so many times it was stupid of me to think you wouldn't be able to handle this when all the facts were laid out. I waited too long and Kim got hurt because of it – you all just acted the way you did because you wanted to protect her. I wouldn't ask for anything less. So I'm the one who's sorry. No leader – no friend – worth anything would keep something like this from the people he trusted."

Suddenly Tanya surprised him by crossing the room and enveloping Jason in a hug; Aisha and Trini were quick to join her. Adam stood slowly and carefully gripped Jason's shoulder, smiling softly and nodding, a gesture Jason gladly replicated. Rocky and Zack joined them as well, Zack throwing an arm around Jason's shoulder while Rocky leaned on Aisha from behind and flashed Jason a grin. Tommy and Kat moved to stand behind Jason, enclosing him in a circle of his friends. Jason laughed a little, the gesture catching him off guard. When Adam spoke softly, the proximity ensured his words were heard by all of them.

"Times like this, I really wish Zordon was still here."

Jason looked up at Adam and smiled sadly. "I think he'd be proud of you guys."

They stood that way for a long, wistful few minutes during which there was no need for words; simple physical contact spoke for itself.

Kim killed the moment by dashing back into the room, shoving her phone into her pocket. "Jase, Tommy," she gasped, brushing her hair out of her face. "I just got a call from work. There's something we need to see."