Hidden away amongst the tall flowering plants, the two lovers grinned, their foreheads resting against each other.
Tommy gave a deep sigh, his arms encircling Jason's trim waist.
"It's not been easy pretending you're just my best friend, you know," he whispered, and he pulled the Omega flush against his front.
"Mmm, I know what you mean. It's hard to remember we can't be as openly affectionate as we usually are," Jason answered, his dark eyes closing in contentment. "I have to catch myself before I grab your hand or call you one of our pet names."
A smooth hand glided up Jason's back to cup his head, fingers tangling in his dark hair. Hot, eager lips pressed against his mouth, the tip of Tommy's tongue temptingly coaxing Jason to allow him entrance. The White Ranger moaned when their tongues touched, his favorite pastime being languidly playing with his lover's mouth.
Pulling back slightly, Jason gazed seductively up through his lashes into Tommy's face.
"You better be careful looking at me like that or you might have a difficult time walking back," he purred to the saucy Omega.
"Well, I'm sure you would be able to carry me back in those big, strong arms. You know it'd be easy for me to trip and twist my ankle in the dark," Jason whispered. "Us Rangers have to look out for each other, you know."
Tommy bit his full lower lip in consideration, picturing his lover nude in the moonlight, bent over amongst the lush blooms, begging to be claimed. But it was too great a risk with Jamie and Red in such close proximity.
"Believe me, I'd love nothing more than to ravish that delicious ass of yours, but considering how things have been going, Jamie would come looking for us and get an eyeful. I managed to get along with Red long enough in the palace to free him. Looking like Drakkon, I don't want to push my luck."
Jason sighed sadly even as he nodded in agreement.
"You're right. Doesn't mean I have to like it though," he murmured, fingers reaching up to play with the long strands of Tommy's hair dangling over his shoulder.
Hazel eyes lowered and Jason noted the guilty expression on his partner's face.
"What's wrong?"
Tommy was quiet a moment, unsure how to vocalize to his Red Omega what he was feeling. Jason calmly waited him out, his face soft and loving.
"I still feel a lot of guilt, Jase," he admitted nervously. "When I look at Jaime, I remember what happened with Red, how I treated him in front of the others. I had no more regard for him than Drakkon did. He was just a warm body, an obedient pet to use as I wished."
The Omega pulled the White Ranger into a tight hug.
"Does Jamie remember that happening? Since it was Red that was present at the time?" he asked softly.
Tommy pulled back and smiled at Jason's tender expression.
"Even if he doesn't remember it, I do. I know what I did was wrong. I gave into my dark side, was tempted to act out a sick fantasy that I used to have as the Green Ranger. It makes me think about all the things I wanted to do with you. So then looking in your eyes becomes difficult," he struggled to explain.
Jason tugged Tommy's hand gently, gesturing him to sit beside him in the grass.
"But you told me about those fantasies. We've acted out several of them," he smiled, wrapping an arm around the White Ranger's shoulders.
His partner swallowed and tensed under the embrace.
"There were worse ones, Jase. Ones I didn't tell you because they happened when I was under Rita's spell. Disgusting thoughts of…" he trailed off, ashamed and embarrassed.
"Of what?"
"I don't know if I can stomach telling you. You might not look at me the same way. Maybe I'll repulse you," Tommy answered timidly.
Jason shook his head, his mouth set in a firm line.
"You were under a spell. I love you and I trust you. I know you'd never hurt me intentionally. Unless I asked you to do it," he responded.
Tommy sighed and averted his face.
"I used to think about what it would be like if I, you know, forced myself on you. While I was killing you. And all the different ways I could execute you," he grimaced, feeling his cheeks flame and tears gather.
He was afraid to look at Jason's expression, his hands shaking while he fidgeted with them in his lap.
"Tommy. Look at me. Please," the Omega ordered.
Anxiously, his partner turned tearful eyes toward him.
"I know I've said this before. Many times. But you were under a spell. You weren't yourself. And none of that happened," he argued.
"With Drakkon, it basically did. He went through with a lot of things I wanted to do, even going above and beyond what I could dream up. There must be something in me, somewhere deep down maybe, that is a monster. Or how could he exist?" Tommy retorted. "And clearly it came out when I treated Red like my own personal toy."
Now, Jason turned his body to grasp the White Ranger's shoulders; he gave him a stern shake.
"You are NOT Drakkon and Drakkon is NOT you," he growled.
"I hate that fucker! If it weren't for Jamie needing him, I don't know that I could keep myself from dismembering him. Slowly."
Jason's dark eyes glittered with reflected moonlight as he stared into Tommy's mournful face.
"None of this is easy, Thom. And poor Jamie getting stuck with that crazy asshole. Obviously, Drakkon seems to wish he'd taken a page out of your book and hadn't decided to be evil. All these years and horrific atrocities later, he decides he's in love and wants a relationship with his Red Ranger."
He shook his head in bewilderment.
"That's why he's so hateful towards you. He might say it's because your weak, but I think its really because you have everything he's always wanted."
"Maybe," Tommy conceded.
"No maybe about it. Now, if we can't have sex, can we at least make out? I'm starving for a small taste," the Omega whined. "Please?"
The White Ranger chuckled despite his tears.
"If you'll still have me," he answered, turning to stare pointedly at the other Ranger's soft lips.
"Always."
The two lovers weren't sure how much time had passed as they devoured each other, lips and tongues blending feverishly, each wanting to go farther but not daring such a risk. Tommy's fingers had just delved under the hem of Jason's red shirt to caress his abdomen when a sudden noise made them jump apart in terror.
"Guys, we may need your assistance back at Jamie's residence," Billy panted in his exertion, having run quite a distance around the property before finding the two tucked away in a secluded corner.
"What's wrong? Is it David? What's he doing?" Tommy sputtered, hauling himself to his feet in panic.
"It's not David. It's Red," the Blue Ranger asserted, shaking his blonde head. "Kimberly and Skull believe he's locked in the bathroom with Drakkon, oh I mean David."
"Fuck!"
Jason's eyes widened as he too jumped to his feet.
"Why? What are they doing in there?" he asked nervously. His experience of Red hadn't been as terrifying as everyone else's had been. It was hard to picture how wild and fierce he could be from Drakkon's journals and others stories.
"We aren't sure. It appeared that Red was trying to answer as Jamie. Skull is insistent that its him though. David was also answering so he was still alive as well when I left," he explained, moving to follow the other two in their run back toward the house. "We don't know if Red might decide to come out."
The three men darted through the darkness back down towards the small house, fearful that they might find a blood bath upon their arrival.
Back in the locked bathroom, David gazed tenderly at his Red, knowing he was going to have call for the others soon. However, he couldn't help stroking the pet's grey hair, remembering with fondness the days of years past when the man curled against his leg in adoration, loving the caress of his master.
"I'm sure you can't hear me right now, Red," he murmured. "And you probably would vigorously deny believing me, but I love you and miss you. Not just because I turned you into a mindless canine."
He sighed, running his fingertips across Red's angular jaw.
"I do wish things had turned out differently, that I made different choices. Or that you and I could have lived here always, just two people making a home together, in love. I had what I thought I always wanted for a long time when we lived in the palace, but it was all bitter dregs."
Pulling his hand back, he swallowed a thick lump.
"All of this would have been better by far. Just being here with you, safe and loved. I wish I could take back the awful things I did to Jason and you. There's no way I could ever things right, I know that."
David worked his way to the bathroom door, reaching up to undo the lock and open the door. He looked back at the unconscious Red.
"I promise I will try to figure out the story with that hound and whoever the fuck sent it. Nobody is going to hurt you, darling, ever again."
When he clicked the knob and pulled the door open, he was startled to find a group of faces staring angrily back at him.
"What did you do to him!" Tommy bellowed, shoving David harshly aside and kneeling beside Red.
Kim was right behind him, storming past the tyrant as well.
"Jamie! Can you hear me?" she yelled, reaching out to shake his shoulder.
David didn't even bother to hide his nudity; if anything, he was proud of his body. He huffed.
"Be careful. I think he's all the way out. He didn't try to tear me up just now. Obviously, that's not Jamie curled up there," he advised.
Kim gave him a dirty look.
"Yeah we figured that out pretty early. The voice was a dead giveaway. Now, why isn't he waking up?"
"If you did something…" Tommy threatened.
"I didn't do it. It was an accident. Red fell in the tub trying to get hold of me when I pissed him off. Jamie had the sedative in his pocket in case I required knocking out. He must have jabbed himself with it accidentally," the sullen man retorted, thrusting the vial towards Billy.
The Blue Ranger carefully took the medication and read the label.
"Whoa, this is a powerful medication. It looks like he didn't get the whole dose," he noted.
David nodded in agreement.
"I don't think it depressed all the way and the needle broke off in his thigh. He didn't even realize it happened until he started feeling its effects."
Skull raised a brow at him
"You have a long history of drugging people and you're saying you didn't do this on purpose?"
David huffed again.
"Why would I wait all this time, when I had him alone before, to half ass it with a house full of annoying guests? And I was coming to raise the alert," he pointed out. "I could have killed him many different times between our reunion and your arrival here. And I fucking didn't!"
"I've gotten an ass cheek full of that shit before. The whole fucking syringe worth of liquid night night juice. He should be fine, maybe not feeling fresh as a daisy in the morning but he won't die," he continued.
"What about the hound? If he shows up and Jamie is still out of it?" Jason worried.
"I'll show that beast a thing or two about fucking with my little doggie," David snapped.
Tommy laughed derisively.
"How do you plan to go about that, asshole? You going to run after him on your stumps and kick his ass?"
Kim raised a hand in warning.
"Knock it off, you two! We need to get him out of here and where we can watch him. If that hound shows up, we all will stand in front of Jamie," she instructed. "Now, David, do you have any idea if when he wakes up, we're going to be dealing with Jamie or Red?"
The tyrant shrugged.
"No fucking clue. It may be Jamie. Red knows he fucked up royally tonight."
Skull shuddered.
"At least he didn't come out to say hello to the rest of us. We were a little afraid that might happen."
"He was too preoccupied with ringing my bell to pay any attention to you all. If you'd tried to come in, that might have been a different story," David chuckled. "I've told him he needs to get his temper in check before he does something regretful."
Kim turned around sharply.
"I'm sure you of all people talking to him like that made the situation so much better," she hissed. "Speaking of that, what the fuck did you do to get Red's attention?"
"I was exchanging cheeky comments with Jamie while I got my bath and Red took offense to something I said. Then his wild ass fell into the tub with me and that really made him warm and fuzzy," he grinned. "He was spazzing out, all pissed off, its no wonder that needle got him."
Jason and Tommy had both scooped the unconscious man into their arms and carried him into the living room. Kim pointed to the couch.
"Put him there. I'm going to watch over him. There's no way I can sleep until I know he's going to be ok. The rest of you get some sleep. Things are wild around here."