FicWad

Disclaimer etc

Disclaimer etc. in Part One. Any comments? Please?



Times Present, Times Past

Chapter 2: Adjustments





Angel Grove, the Past

Jason returned from scouting out their surroundings to find Kat sitting huddled not far from where the time hole had deposited them, staring blankly at the grass at her feet. She'd managed to collect a few handsful of fruit and nuts, but it was early in the year yet; even sunny California didn't have many things growing wild that would be ripe now. If they had to spend any length of time in the past, food would definitely become a problem.

Let's cross that bridge when we come to it.

Determined not to go about borrowing trouble needlessly - and also because he needed some hope to cling to himself - Jason chased the troubling thoughts away. His energy would be better spent to bolster Kat's spirit, if he could. He crouched down next to her, waiting patiently until the blonde head lifted towards him, the sapphire eyes listless and suspiciously reddened. It was obvious she'd been crying again; not that Jason could blame her. He summoned a smile he hoped was reassuring.

"I've found a place where we can stay for the night," he said gently. "Not really a cave, more of a shallow overhang, but at least we'll stay dry in case it rains, or there's heavy dew. It's right behind that cluster of trees ..."

"No!" Kat exclaimed, looking frantic. "We can't leave here; what if the time hole re-forms and we're not there? You've see how fast it built and closed again. If we miss it, we'll be trapped!"

Jason sighed. The same thought had occurred to him, and he was reluctant to go too far away as well, but he was also realistic enough to know that thy couldn't stay outside, unprotected from the elements or the local wildlife, for any length of time.

"Kat ... I understand what you're saying, and a part of me agrees totally, but we have to have some kind of shelter," he tried to make her see reason. "What if the time hole doesn't reappear today, or even tonight? What if we are trapped here, if only for a few days? The last thing we can risk is getting injured or sick - we have no way of treating anything."

"But ..."

He shook his head slowly, but firmly. "No, Kat. I'm sorry."

She gripped his arm. "Jason ..."

It was harder than he'd thought it'd be to resist the plea in the large eyes, but the natural-born leader in Jason wouldn't let him bury sense under sympathy, no matter how much he wanted to. His mouth pressed together in a hard line when he carefully loosened her hold on his arm. The dark eyes were compassionate, though, as he tried to lead her towards the shelter he'd found. "No."

Kat took a step backwards. "I'm not leaving," she muttered rebelliously, averting her head as she heard Jason sigh. Inwardly, she was quaking with fear - fear of being trapped in the past, fear of missing a chance to get back should the vortex open again, and fear of angering the only person who could help her survive if it really came to that. But she could not bring herself to leave this spot; it had been hard enough to go away for a few minutes to forage for food.

Jason closed his eyes, feeling helpless and furious at the same time. He knew Kat was being unreasonable, knew that the logical course of action would be to seek shelter as soon as possible, but he couldn't bring himself to be truly angry with his pretty companion - not when a part of him wanted to go back home to everything that was familiar, to their friends and families, as desperately as Kat did. Wearily, he wiped his hand across his face.

"Okay, let's compromise," he suggested. "I'll show you the overhang I've found, in case it should start raining tonight or some wildlife appears, okay? Just so you know where to go ... and then we'll return and wait a few hours; maybe the time hole will open up again soon."

Eagerly, Kat latched on to the last bit. "You think it will?"

"Honestly? I don't know, Kat. I wish it would, but there's just no way of telling. Remember, when Kim returned it was after Billy created a time hole artificially. He controlled where and when it appeared. We don't have any idea if and when they occur naturally."

Her shoulders sagged visibly, and Kat had to swallow hard. Blinking back fresh tears, she gulped down the lump in her throat.

"Okay," she mumbled almost inaudibly, her eyes downcast. Jason made a questioning sound, not sure he had understood her right. Kat lifted a haunted blue gaze to him. "We'll try it your way," she whispered unsteadily, not really willing to concede even that much to the fate that had befallen them, but whatever qualities she possessed that had made her a good Pink Ranger wouldn't let her hide from the reality of the situation. Which was that Jason had suggested the most reasonable way of dealing with things.

Jason let out a relieved sigh. "Atta girl," he smiled, reaching for her hand to give it a reassuring, grateful squeeze before leading her off towards the small rise in which he'd found the cavelet.

"I still don't like it, though," Kat grumbled as she stumbled over a loose branch.

"Nobody said you have to. I know I don't."



*



It grew dark fast once the two had eaten a meager meal of cookies and fruit, and they sat leaning against a tree near their small cairn, listening to the sounds of night surrounding them. At first they'd tried to talk, but both Kat and Jason were too worried about their situation to be able to strike up much in the way of casual conversation. And telling each other how much they wanted to be home, or how much they were missing their friends, was far too painful for both. So, they'd grown silent, sharing only occasional looks, sitting motionless except for the spare movements when Jason would add another branch to their small fire. The hours passed, but neither bothered to check their watches; it didn't really matter how late it was. The silvery crescent of the moon had risen shortly before nightfall and was just about to disappear again behind the mountains, when Jason heard a small sneeze, quickly muffled, from Kat. He glanced over and saw her sitting curled in on herself with her knees drawn up high and her arms clasped firmly around them. She was shivering.

Making an impatient sound deep in his throat, Jason knelt up and touched Kat's shoulder. She started, but looked inquiringly at him.

"Are you cold?"

She nodded reluctantly.

"Idiot," Jason chided gently. He rummaged in the picnic basket and drew out their lone blanket, draping it over Kat's shoulders. "Here you go. I told you, we can't afford to get sick here."

Kat warded off his hands. "No. You must be as cold as I am; I'm not taking the blanket when you can't have one."

He groaned, torn between exasperation and gratitude. There was an obvious solution to their problem; he just didn't know how Kat would react to the suggestion.

Well, it won't hurt to ask.

"What if we share the blanket?" Jason asked diffidently, grateful she couldn't see his involuntary blush in the surrounding darkness. It wasn't as if he was suggesting anything improper, but the thought of huddling under a single blanket, his arm by necessity draped around his best friend's girlfriend - who also happened to be a young woman Jason genuinely liked and found attractive - sent the blood rushing to his cheeks ... and someplace else he determinedly ignored. "That way, neither of us will be cold ..."

Kat's first impulse was to refuse; she had never wanted anyone's arms around her but Tommy's, however innocently. But she knew Jason was right ... as much as she knew she could trust him. Feeling her blush rise from her toes to her face, she cleared her throat before she could answer.

"I ... y-yes please," she whispered. A few seconds later, Jason had scooted over to sit next to her, his back propped against a tree and one arm closing around her shoulder so that he could hold the blanket close. She shivered more strongly, but soon the warmth from the blanket and from Jason's proximity seeped into her chilled flesh, and before she knew it, Kat began to relax a little. Dreamily, she stared into their small fire which flickered merrily in the nightly breeze.

"Better?" he wanted to know after a while, when his own goosebumps had disappeared.

"Mmm," Kat sighed, and didn't even mind his slight chuckle when she added a polite "Thank you." Jason squeezed her shoulder companionably.

"You're welcome. And we really should've thought of this sooner, instead of both of us freezing our butts off in solitude."

Kat had to giggle a little. Stretching her legs out once before curling up again, she twisted a bit in the innocent not-quite embrace and found a broad, black-clad shoulder in the perfect place to rest her head for just a second. "Yeah. Why didn't we?" A delicate yawn escaped her.

"Dunno. Stupidity, stubbornness or false pride, I guess. Take your pick."

"How 'bout all of the above?" The softly-accented voice grew indistinct, and the blue eyes drifted closed without Kat being aware of it.

"Could be," Jason admitted, and carefully pushed another dry twig into the fire with his free hand. "What do you think we should do about it the next time?" he wanted to know, but got no answer.

"Kat?"

There was a soft sound, and the blonde snuggled deeper into his arm, one hand coming to rest on his waist. Astonished, Jason drew back slightly, to see Kat had fallen asleep at last, now that she was as warm and as comfortable as she could get under the circumstances. He shook his head, then leaned back against the rough bark, holding his friend close and keeping watch through the rest of the night.

*



/Angel Grove, the Present /

Tommy hovered in the background of the Power Chamber, dearly wanting to help, to do something, anything to get Kat and Jason back, but knew he just didn't have the know-how to do so. Still, he found himself unable to stay away. Dimitria had agreed to let the former Rangers have access to the Power Chamber, but insisted they stay out of the way of the Turbo team.

Better than nothing, I guess. At least this way I know what's going on. But man, I wish there was something I could DO!

Never before had Tommy felt such an overwhelming urge to take out his frustration on a Putty, Tenga or Piranhatron - whichever creature would be handy. Well, the time when Zedd had captured Kimberly came close, but ... he shut off that train of thought. Maybe Adam was up to some serious sparring later; if not, there was a punching ball at the Youth Center just waiting for him. In the meantime, he paced once more around the Chamber's perimeter, watching Trini help Justin with his calculations while TJ and the rest monitored the city and fetch whatever the Blue Ranger needed.

The other ex-Rangers were out and about, taking care of jobs, family matters, and in the case of Kimberly, trying to calm down a near-hysterical Doris Hillard, who was close to breaking down from anxiety over her beloved daughter's disappearance. Feeling guilty, Tommy knew he should do the same for the Scotts; after all, they had always treated him like a second son, but he just /couldn't/. He needed to be HERE, where there was some chance at least to get his lost friends back ... or at the least, where he could get news of how things went right away.

Suddenly, a beeping sound filled the air.

"What's that?" Tommy asked, startled. It didn't sound like the regular alarm. Trini glanced at him curiously, but when no monster siren began to wail, no viewscreen lit up, she shrugged and bent back over her computer console. Justin stayed oblivious, so deep in his calculations that a Zord could step on him before he'd notice.

The active Rangers looked up from whatever they were doing, carefully laid whatever they were holding aside and gathered in front of the main bulkhead. Ashley went over and touched the young Ranger on the shoulder.

"Time to go, Justin."

The boy jerked back to reality.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah."

Typing furiously, he completed his current calculation, then shut down his computer with a decisive smack on the 'off' switch. Catching a glimpse of the time displayed in a corner, he yelped in dismay, touched a button on his communicator and dissolved into a stream of sapphire light, his panicky voice lingering in the air behind him.

"Gotta go! See you guys tomorrow!"

Tommy jumped as if to stop him, but didn't make it. Before he could even take more than a couple of steps, Justin was already gone. Angrily, he turned on his successor.

"Where the hell is he off to? He was in the middle of research - he can't just take off like that!"

Trini shook her head disapprovingly. "Tommy ...."

But he didn't hear her. Or if he did, he chose not to react. "Justin needs to continue working on this problem; he needs to trace the chronotron particles or whatever to get Kat and Jase back! He ..."

Cassie whirled on him, almond eyes blazing. "No, he doesn't!"

"What?" Tommy was close to shouting. He'd been able to hide behind a leader's icy calm when Kim had been sucked into a time hole, but he wasn't the leader now, TJ was; he could afford to show his despair now that he was a civilian again. And nobody would know how much that rankled.

If I hadn't passed on my Powers ... if I were still the Red Ranger ...

But he wasn't. Not anymore. And that fact was brought home to him by the very person he'd chosen personally to take over from him only a few short months ago.

"Cassie's right," TJ said in his quiet way. Hard to imagine this young man ever raising his voice in anger. "Justin doesn't need to stay here."

"You've GOT to be kidding. You are kidding, right?" Tommy said flatly, not believing his ears. However, a look at Carlos and Ashley, who clearly agreed with their team mates, taught him differently.

"No. TJ's right, man," Carlos stated emphatically.

Desperately, Tommy sought help from Trini, who looked chagrined, but not nearly half as frustrated as he felt.

"But Justin ..."

"... needs to be home," Ashley interrupted him. "Tommy, trust me, I know you're anxious to get Kat and Jason back, but you have to consider that Justin isn't exactly in the same boat as we are. Or as you were, when you guys still held the Power."

Breathing hard, Tommy calmed himself with an effort. "What do you mean?"

TJ stepped forward again. "Tommy, think. When you were Rangers, you were teenagers. Justin's only 13 years old. He's a kid, for Heaven's sake. He doesn't need to bury himself in here except for his duties as the Blue Ranger, no matter how much we, you or anyone else might want him to. What he does need, though, is to be home by nine. Why do you think we had the alarm installed? He forgets the time like any other kid his age - but we take care that, if he doesn't have to be here, he gets out and has a life. As much as possible, anyway."

"Also, remember he doesn't live in a family, like the rest of us do ... did," Cassie added, calmer now. "Justin lives in a children's home. Different rules apply. He gets into enough trouble as it is, between his Ranger duties, hanging out with us and being in High School at his age."

"He needs to be as 'normal' as possible." Carlos. "Not be what we think he needs to be."

"They're right, Tommy," Trini said softly from behind, her tone full of understanding and regret. With a sigh, the long-haired young man deflated, like a balloon that had been pricked.

"I know." He raised anguished chocolate eyes to the Red Ranger's. "Sorry," he bit out from between clenched teeth. Just because he had to admit the others were right didn't mean he had to like it.



TJ smiled wryly. "It's cool," he nodded. Even though he'd been the team leader for only a short time, he'd already had a taste of the tribulations that went with the job. Tommy might not believe it just now, but TJ wanted the missing former Rangers back almost as badly as their friends and families. They'd disappeared on his 'watch'; he felt responsible. And he'd do whatever he could to help.

With a half-bow towards a silently watching Dimitria, TJ sent his team home as well. "See you all bright and early tomorrow." Four streaks of brilliant light briefly lit up the Power Chamber, then were gone.

Tommy sank down against one wall, barely refraining from beating his head against the nearest console in anger, despair, frustration ... he only looked up when Trini crouched down next to him and slipped a slender arm around his shoulder.

"We understand, Tommy. We want them back as much as you do. But these things sometimes take time, no matter how much we want them to hurry."

He just shook his head, too weary suddenly to speak. But he did send his gentle friend a tiny smile - hardly more than a twitch of his lips - to show his gratitude at her support. Then, Tommy straightened and met Dimitria's eyes above her veil.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, more sincerely now. "I shouldn't let my concern for Kat and Jason get in the way of concern for those who need to keep their wits together to keep Divatox at bay."

The Inquirian mentor listened gravely, then made a graceful gesture inside the warp tube. Even though her face was hidden, there was a hint of a smile in her voice as she spoke to the former Red Turbo Ranger.

"In that case, would it not behove you to get what rest you can, so that your minds will be fresh and rested to tackle the problem again in the morning?"

Trini hid her own surprise; she might be mistaken, but she would have sworn she'd heard just a touch of sarcasm in the mild question.

"Dimitria's right, Tommy," she said briskly, drawing her tall friend to his feet. Unceremoniously hustling him away from the instruments so that they wouldn't damage anything, she held his arm firmly as she groped for her teleporter. "Let's go home. We'll think better tomorrow." Trini hit the proper button, and the two vanished in a stream of bright whitish particles before Tommy could get out another word.

In her warp tube, Dimitria sighed and went back to her own research into the nature of time holes.



*

/Angel Grove, the Past/



One particular time hole didn't appear that night, the next day nor the night after that. Even though they checked each day, Jason and Kat soon bowed to the necessity of creating a more durable shelter for themselves, especially after a night about a week into their stay when heavy rainfall had wetted them thoroughly even under the overhang Jason had discovered that first day. Kat adamantly refused to move too far away from where they'd 'landed', and deciding jointly that the place had possibilities, what with the lake close by for water and several fruit-bearing trees and bushes in the vicinity, the two set about to make more permanent arrangements.

By default, a lot of the hard physical labor, like moving small rocks for a firepit, a low wall or dragging heavy branches for a roof to their clearing fell to Jason. Kat had protested what she perceived as coddling at first, but after a day nearly wasted by doing what little she could to help him, thereby losing precious time she should have used to collect food or find ways to preserve it, she reluctantly agreed to let him work alone - as she would have to do. By dividing jobs, they at least stood a reasonable chance of getting their work done at a steady pace.

Kat was on a food-gathering trip now, trying to keep her attention both on the ground for any nuts or berries, and in the tree tops for early, ripe fruit. The hunger which seemed to be an almost constant companion to her now had let her to gobble down two small, hard pears a few days ago. With a shudder, she remembered the subsequent cramps and diarrhea. Not ever again, she'd vowed.

The blonde pressed a hand against her growling belly as she walked through the sunlit forest; by now, she was almost used to the faint growling sounds it seemed to emit nearly constantly.

"What I wouldn't give for a nice, decent hot meal," Kat sighed. "Even if it were nothing but Shepherd's Pie at Aunt Mildred's!" She detested both the dish and her elderly relative heartily. "I mean, I've always wanted to lose those seven pounds I'd gained after my diving accident, but certainly not like this - by half starving!"

The lack of food was indeed the most pressing thing about their predicament; Kat knew that in a few more days Jason would have finished constructing a reasonably sound shelter, given the lack of real building materials they had. And as the possibility of the time hole opening again any time soon seemed more remote with each day that passed, they really needed to give some serious thought about finding and storing whatever they could.

Kat trudged down a small hill, carefully marking her path as Jason had told her to do. Neither one of them was an adept scout, but they knew enough that getting lost was not a good idea, so a few simple precautions had been agreed on - tell the general direction of where you want to go, always leave a clear trail, and /never/, under any circumstances, take unnecessary risks. It was a nuisance sometimes, but both were realistic enough to know that they couldn't chance any injuries. If that put a curb on spontaneous exploration, so be it. With that thought in mind, Kat wandered into the copse of trees, only to stop with a small, delighted exclamation as she spied about half-a-dozen trees which were heavy with fruit - wild apples, from the looks of it. What was especially good about her find was that even city-bred Katherine knew she could store apples for weeks in a cool, dark place - and Jason had constructed just that by means of arranging a few flat rocks in such a way over a hollow under the trees that they formed a rough but serviceable 'cellar'.

Kat picked the first apple, wiped off the dust and bit into it with relish, almost moaning with delight as the crunchy meat filled her mouth with sweet juice. She chewed blissfully, nibbling every edible bit off the core before laying that into the mulch underfoot, then eyed the tree hungrily. She was tempted to eat her fill of the tasty fruit before she started picking, but she knew that Jason, working hard back at their camp, was just as hungry as she, and her sense of fairness wouldn't let her be so selfish.

"He's probably even hungrier," she mused as she stretched for the nearest cluster of fruit. "If I think about the mountains of food the guys could eat back home ... and I know he's not eating more than me right now." And if that little was making her feel starved ...

"So go pick already, Hillard," she admonished herself, and soon had gathered maybe 20 of the aromatic apples. However, they were so small that the combined weight would come to maybe two kilos overall, if they were lucky. Hardly enough to sate their immediate hunger, and never mind about truly filling them.

Maybe Jason's managed to catch a couple of fish again.

But Kat knew that his success in that area, despite his best efforts, had been sketchy at best. Jason was still experimenting with bait, with locations, with techniques ... he'd gone fishing in the mountains often enough with his uncle, but sewing thread and stripped branches were worlds apart from aluminum fishing rods with fast spools of sturdy nylon line and fancy blinkers sure to attract even the most recalcitrant trout.

The two times Jason had actually caught something had been welcome highlights in their bland diet of raw fruit and nuts, even if the fish had been unseasoned and burnt on the outside. It was a more satisfying meal than anything else they'd eaten recently, and it had been hot - a little detail Kat hadn't ever appreciated before. Her thoughts wandering about the various hot dishes she craved, Kat began to think of ways of enhancing their meagre provisions. She'd found a few spots where herbs were growing - wild sage, marjoram ... Kat had no idea if they went with fish, but as they had no salt, surely it would be okay if she boiled the bones with a few leaves, maybe adding one or two of those turnip-like roots to make it into some kind of soup ... not a very appetizing concoction if she thought about it, but it would be a welcome change. But for her to be able to experiment at all, Jason would need to catch some fish first. If he ever found the time or energy, what with building their shelter, scouting for firewood, making weapons and whatnot.

So, no matter how much she wished otherwise, procuring enough food to keep them alive until they could go back home was up to her, Kat Hillard, former diver and ballet hopeful. She sighed and eyed the tree again. She'd picked all the fully ripe apples she could reach from the ground, even pulling down some branches with the help of a curved stick. There were more fruit in the upper branches which looked much bigger and juicier, but they were too far up.

/They're also way too nice to just leave for the birds, or fall off and rot, /Kat thought. "Someone needs to climb up and pick them," she muttered to herself. Gathering what she'd picked so far, she made her way back to their shelter, intending to lead Jason to the trees so he could help her.

She was approaching their camp from a slightly different direction than usual, so Jason didn't see her approach; but for once, Kat had an excellent view of what he was doing. He'd stripped to the waist, his black jeans as filthy as hers as he was kneeling next to a small boulder, rocking back and forth in a rhythmic motion, the muscles in his shoulders and arms standing out in stark relief. A strangely screeching sound accompanied his movements, and for a second, Kat was baffled - then she realized what he was doing: honing one of the knives from her picnic basket to an edge that would make it into an effective weapon for hunting.

Or for defense, but that was a thought neither wanted to vocalize. So far, they'd been lucky - there had been no attacks either from wildlife or from any people. Neither knew whether there were already colonists in the area or if there were any Native Americans in this time or place, but it wouldn't do to be unprepared for either possibility.

Kat was about to call out her companion's name, when Jason suddenly stopped his activity and rocked back on his heels with a sharp curse. She blushed at the words; her friends usually didn't use language like that, but when she saw what had happened, Kat swallowed any protest. The knife obviously had slipped from Jason's grasp while he was whetting it on the rock, and gashed his left hand pretty badly. He was entitled to swear - there was blood dripping from his fingers as he lurched to his feet and over to the lake's edge, to wash away the grime and gore. Kat stayed where she was, just at the trees' edge, observing Jason with guilty eyes. His injury, while apparently minor (he could move all of his fingers freely), was just as obviously painful, if his grimace was any indication as Jason sank down at the stone again, cradling his injured hand as he waited for the bleeding to stop completely. Hidden as she was from his view, Kat witnessed the defeated expression wash over the darkly-stubbled face while the broad shoulders slumped exhaustedly.

It was a revelation.

Up until now, Jason had been her rock, her bastion of hope in a desperate situation, giving her strength and encouragement when she'd been tempted to just crawl into a cave and hide, or when tears overwhelmed her yet again. He'd never offered her pipe dreams or made promises she knew were patently false, but had given her quiet, reasonable optimism instead - told her that their friends WOULD NOT desert them, that somehow, somewhen, they'd find a way to go back where they belonged ... and he'd held her when the need to cry wouldn't be denied, soothed her with his simple presence and the safety of his arms against the chill of the night and loneliness.

Now, though ... in this unguarded moment, when physical pain broke through the façade of strength and unflagging spirit he'd shown her until now, Kat saw clearly that Jason was just as scared and helpless as she felt as he sat there, his head resting on his drawn-up knees. Only, he'd hidden it from her, giving her the comfort she'd craved without fail when she should have offered him the same in return. But she hadn't; she'd only taken from him selfishly, never thinking that her strong, confident friend might need comforting himself. Her mouth dry, Kat watched as Jason visibly collected himself, drew himself up and reached for the steel knife again, wincing when he stretched the torn skin by grasping the handle. Disregarding the pain he must still feel in hands that were scraped and bruised all over - WHY haven't I seen this before? I should have! - he resumed his steady movements, continuing to hone what might be their only weapon.

Quietly, the blonde young woman went back a ways. Having seen what she had, there was no way she could ask Jason to climb trees just to pick a few bigger apples. He already carried more than his share of the burden of their survival, protecting them by finding and constructing a shelter, by bringing building materials to their camp, making weapons as best he could and in general serving as bodyguard, getting up twice each night to secure the clearing and making sure their fire didn't die down while she, Kat, slept exhaustedly on the springy mattress of moss and twigs Jason had also helped to amass.

"Well, no more," she whispered determinedly to herself. "From now on, you pull your own weight, girl - starting with climbing those trees and getting the biggest apples for him you can pick!"







To Be Continued ...