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When The Party Is Over

/Disclaimer: /Same as usual; you know the drill, right?J //

Note: sigh This took longer than planned, sorry. I'd fully intended to start writing on this during my vacation, but wouldn't you know, my laptop went on the fritz the day before I left, so ... it's working again now after a fashion, and here I am tapping away, but that were two weeks I'd counted on having. Grrr. Worse news is that I'll be shopping for a new computer soon, so who knows when I'll get this done ... Anyway, all mistakes are mine (especially concerning police procedures); I hope you're still with me. Enjoy, and please don't forget to pass by the feedback box on the way out, okay? DB



Times Present, Times Past

Chapter 14: When The Party Is Over ...




The TV studio was packed, and Kat tried hard not to let her nervousness show as she and Jason made their way to the seating area where Harvey Garvey was waiting for them, a huge smile on his face. Applause filled the air, and the lights were blinding in their intensity - which was actually good, because up on the stage the glare at least partially obscured all the curious faces turned their way. It also helped that she knew her outfit was looking good - they'd both opted for slightly more formal clothes than during the afternoon's press conference. Plus, as she sat down, Kat was glad that she'd heeded her mother's advice and chosen a stylish taupe pants-and-vest ensemble over a silk cream shirt with pale pink candy stripes; at least she wouldn't have to worry about anyone looking up her skirt as she sank into the blue-leather armchair!

/She snuck a glance at Jason, who was sitting at her left. How /did /he manage to look so calm and collected, anyway? He was wearing off-white pants and a comfortably stylish pullover shirt in the same color, something that emphasized his tan and dark good looks. /Funny, I always used to think as white being Tommy's color, she mused. And yet, it seems the perfect choice for Jason ...

Inwardly shaking her head at her errant thoughts - she had the uncomfortable feeling that they were maybe a bit inappropriate now that they were back in their own time - , Kat directed her attention to their host. The sandy-haired man was just finishing his opening remarks, and she hadn't heard a single word! Thankfully, Jason had been more attentive.

"Thank you; it's good to be here," Jason said calmly. "In more ways than one," he added with a wry smile.

Whew. Seems as if I only missed the greeting or whatever.

"I can imagine," Garvey smiled back. "Well, I'm sure most of our viewers have seen your press conference, or will read about it in tomorrow's papers if they haven't, so there's really no need to go over all that stuff again, is there?"

Both teens vehemently shook their heads and gave huge sighs of relief, which made the audience chuckle.

Garvey grinned; this was /exactly /the kind of exchange he'd been hoping for. Less facts, more human interest. Smoothly, he continued. "So, we've heard that the two of you were accidentally sucked into a temporal vortex; what I'd like to know now is this - how did you guys realize what happened, and what was your first reaction when you did?"

Jason and Kat shared a glance.

"You mean after we stopped feeling like we'd been run over by a truck?" Jason asked back dryly.

Garvey raised his eyebrows. "You did? How come?"

Kat winked at Jason. If we can keep things this light, we're home free! I hope! "You never got the number of that truck, either," she reminded him, and laughed when he grumbled and shot her a dark look. Hopefully, his muttered 'damn!' wouldn't be caught by the microphones, or it'd have to be bleeped out. Then she turned towards their host.

"We really wouldn't know; the Rangers told us it might have been a result of the temporal displacement, or something. Anyway, once we'd recovered enough to be able to check our surroundings, we - Jason, actually - did recognize the park. Or at least the area which is the park now," she added. "But it was obvious that something wasn't right - there were no people, no paths, no lawn ... "

"Yeah, everything was ... well, wilder, I guess," Jason chipped in. "Some trees were smaller, others not there at all, the lake seemed kind of bigger, there were bushes where it's open ground today - that sort of thing. Most things looked familiar at first glance, but at the same time there was definitely something odd. What was really kind of scary, there was no sound, except for birds and insects. It's hard to explain; I guess you had to have been there."

"I see. So, how /did /you react?"

Katherine sighed, remembering those first moments. "I'm afraid to say, I kind of panicked," she admitted ruefully.

"Meaning what?"

She shrugged, blushing slightly. "I, um, I had kind of a crying fit," she mumbled. Instantly, Jason touched her hand.

"Hey, I told you - you were entitled," he soothed.

"I'd certainly say you were," Harvey Garvey concurred. "And I'm sure almost anybody else would have, too, in your situation."

"I know /I /was pretty close to bawling myself," Jason said graciously. "Besides, once Kat calmed down she held it together quite well."

"I didn't have much of a choice, did I?" Kat asked rhetorically. "Falling apart wouldn't have helped, and we had other things to worry about."

Garvey leaned forward. "And what were these things? How you'd get back?"

"Sure," Jason replied. "But more immediately, we had other concerns, really."

"Like what? I would've thought rescue should have been foremost on your minds?"

Kat shrugged again. "Well, yes, but like Jason said ...after we'd realized what happened, and that there was nothing we could do about the situation, our priorities shifted."

"To what?"

"What you'd expect, really. Survival until somebody found us. That meant shelter, food ... and whether there would be wild animals or possibly hostile people in the area."

"Luckily, we discovered a small cave near the lake, not too far from where we'd landed," Jason picked up the narrative. "So we didn't have to worry about water, or staying in the open in case of rain. And when we explored the vicinity, we found that there were a few trees to pick fruit from."

"That can't have been a very satisfying diet, though? Couldn't you catch some fish? Angel Grove Lake is full of them even today!"

Garvey was surprised to hear Kat's sudden chuckle. "Oh, Jason certainly /tried/, but ..." Her blue eyes sparkled mischievously.

"But what?" the show's host wanted to know.

Jason had colored up slightly. "You try to catch fish with a sharp stick or your bare hands," he grumbled. "It all looks so easy on TV or in the movies. Trust me, it isn't."

"Especially not if you fall into the water every second attempt," Katherine snickered. "I mean, I knew it wasn't easy and everything, and I really shouldn't be laughing about it even now, but if you could only have seen yourself ..."

"Yeah, well, I bet it was just as funny when you were trying to climb that apple tree and kept missing the lowest branch!"















The former Rangers gathered at the Cranstons' house listened avidly as their friends related several amusing incidents, laughing along with the studio audience. During a commercial break, Zack snickered as he pictured Jason floundering in the water.

"Man, can't you just see ol' Jase chasing fish with his bare hands? I'd have paid good money to watch him going under again and again!"

"Yeah, I bet the fish were having a field day, too," Rocky grinned. "Or water day. Whatever."

Aisha, however, was not amused. "I don't find it all that funny," she murmured, memories of the often harsh conditions on the African plains in her mind. "I mean, sure, under normal circumstances maybe, but if one's survival depends on it?"

Tanya nodded. "Exactly. How can they make so light of it? Both of them," she frowned. She, too, was very aware of how hard it could be to live off the land, with little or no resources. "It's not a laughing matter."

"Granted, but this is hardly the right venue to go into the more dangerous, even potentially deadly aspects of their situation," Billy reminded them earnestly. "Remember, the Harvey Garvey show - while generally not lightweight - is mainly about entertainment."

"Yes - it wouldn't do to get overly serious," Trini mused. "Besides, by focussing on the funny things and making everybody laugh, Jason and Kat can avoid more probing questions."

"Do you really think that they had so many mishaps the first few days?" Rocky wondered, sobering.

"I don't think so," Adam answered. "It's more likely that they're fudging the timeline."

"They make themselves sound like idiots," Tommy grumbled. "I mean, nobody is that clumsy, are they? Especially not Jason; he knows how to be in the great outdoors even if he wasn't a Boy Scout."

"That's kinda harsh, Tommy," Kimberly murmured.

"Garvey and the television audience are most likely unaware of that fact, though," Billy soothed him. "I believe they are both deliberately using humor to set up a smokescreen, as it were, in order to obfuscate the truth about the true duration of their sojourn in the past."

"Maybe," Tommy conceded, only slightly mollified. Before he could say more, he was shushed by the others when the station cut back to the show. Silently, the friends watched the second half of the segment, which brought more of the same. All leaned back with relieved sighs as Harvey Garvey brought the conversation to an end eventually and Jason and Kat left the studio, waving at the applauding audience.

"Well, that's over and done with," Tanya commented as Billy picked up the remote and switched off the TV set. She drained her soda. "I bet they are happy it's all over."

"Definitely," Kimberly smiled. She lost the smile, however, when her ex-boyfriend spoke up.

"What's with all that stuff about Kat climbing trees and foraging for food, anyway?" Tommy wanted to know, sounding rather disgruntled. "Couldn't Jason have done that for her?"

Aisha stared at him incredulously. "What, in addition to all the other things he must've had to do?"

"Like what?" Tommy challenged. "Climbing is dangerous; what if she'd injured herself, or run into a cougar or something while she was out in the woods picking berries?"

"Don't be dense, Tommy," Tanya chided. "You're falling for the 'four-days-only' illusion Jason and Kat tried to create; remember, they /were /gone for over two years!"

"Yeah - out in the wilderness, you /share /the work according to your abilities," Aisha told him. "If Kat was foraging, I'm sure Jason was doing other stuff he was better at. Like collecting or even chopping wood, probably hunting ..."

"Things he was more suited to because of his greater physical strength," Adam realized.

"Makes sense, if you ask me," Zack agreed.

Kimberly sent Tommy an exasperated look. "To me, too. Besides, didn't I tell you time and again that Kat isn't a helpless damsel in distress, needing to be waited on hand and foot?"

"If she were, they'd never have survived," Trini mused. "Jason may be strong and courageous and everything, but he /couldn't /have spared Kat all of the work."

"Precisely," Billy added. "They needed to cooperate and distribute responsibilities; otherwise, there is a high probability that they would have incurred exactly the kind of danger you envision. Jason would have been at risk due to sheer exhaustion if he had performed /all /the hard labor, and Katherine because she wouldn't have completely adjusted to life away from civilization."

After a moment's reflection, Tommy had to concede the point, but he didn't seem entirely convinced. "Okay, granted. But still ..."

"I'm sure he did as much as he could," Rocky tried to soothe. "I mean, Jase isn't the type of guy to ask anyone to do something if he can do it himself, right?"

"What makes you think that Kat would have /wanted /Jason to do her share of the work, anyway?" Kimberly huffed. "Do you really trust her abilities to cope that little?"

"Yeah - after all, she's a trained athlete, too," Tanya reminded him. "She /is /quite fit. Neither diving nor dancing are all that easy!"

"And she used to be a capable Ranger," Aisha remarked, just a tad acidly. Like Kimberly, she was getting rather annoyed with their erstwhile leader's assumption that his girlfriend was some kind of shrinking violet. "In case you've forgotten /that/, too!"

"I haven't," Tommy defended himself, blushing. He knew the girls were right, but he couldn't help himself. With him, Kat always was so adorably feminine ... often calling on him for help, making him feel gratifyingly strong and needed. The concept that maybe she might have another side to her personality, a strong, independent streak which didn't /need /help - from him or anyone else - was strangely disturbing, and not something he was comfortable thinking about. "I just thought ..."

"What?" Kim glared. "Are you going all macho on us now?"

"Uh-oh," Zack stage-whispered to Rocky. "Major minefield ahead!"

"Never mind," Tommy groused, looking away. They just don't understand! Not even Kim ...

The petite girl glared at her former boyfriend for a few more seconds, then shook her head. It was no use discussing things with Tommy right now - not in his current state of mind, anyway. He would hopefully see reason once they had /all /the facts from their friends - not just the official, no doubt pretty sanitized version Jason and Kat had given the public today. Which gave her an idea that made her straighten in sudden excitement.

"Guys - why don't we get our facts straight right from the source?" she exclaimed.

"What do you mean, Kim?" Trini asked, intrigued. She had a fair idea of where Kim was heading, but she wanted to be sure before she said anything.

"Duh! Ask Jason and Kat directly what they went through during those two years, of course!"

The friends shared glances, then eight heads nodded in agreement.

"An excellent suggestion, Kim," Billy ventured. "Do you propose we should interview them separately or together, though?"

"Definitely together," Aisha said.

"Yeah; that way, we'll be getting both sides of the story at once!" Rocky looked around and received the support he'd been expecting.

"Uh huh. Besides, what one forgets the other may well remember," Tanya added. She grinned when Adam made a wry comment.

"Or one tells something the other would /prefer /to forget."

"That, too," Zack snickered. "Only question is - where and when?"

"Soon," Kim decided. "/Very /soon. I don't think I can stand the suspense for much longer!"

"You're that curious?" Tommy smiled, getting excited at the prospect. He knew Kim; she would do her utmost to pry even the last detail from their friends, be it ever so tiny.

""Nah, she just wants to know everything right now," Rocky chuckled. "Not that Kim's nosy or anything, but ..."

Everybody laughed when the tiny brunette just stuck out her tongue at him.

"Seriously, though," Trini said, "what /would /be the best time and place?"

"How about Saturday, at the Youth Center?" Billy suggested. "I happened to overhear a phone conversation Lt. Stone was conducting yesterday; it appears he has a meeting with a group of police officers on this weekend - former colleagues of his, if I'm not mistaken. Thus he plans to close early for a change. If he is agreeable to letting us use the premises, we'd have them to ourselves from 8.30pm."

"Saturday? That's still two days," Kimberly sighed melodramatically. "That long!"

"Hey, we'll need that much time to get supplies anyway," Zack consoled her.

"Supplies? For what?"

"Girl, you've been away from Angel Grove and the Rangers too long," Aisha giggled. "The party, silly!"

"We can't /not /have a welcome-back party for Jason and Kat, now can we?" Tanya said reasonably. She may have been the newest Ranger in this particular group (technically, of course, Jason had joined the Zeo team as the Gold Ranger after her, but as he was one of the 'originals', that didn't count), but she'd very quickly taken to the friends' traditions - and throwing a party at the smallest excuse was definitely one of those traditions!

"Of course not," Kim grinned. This was exactly what she'd had in mind. "And hey, if Lt. Stone leaves at 8.30, we can ask the Turbos, the Scotts and Hillards too until we can get the two to ourselves!"

Billy nodded. "Yes. Their parents surely will want to know as much about our friends' sojourn in the past as possible, and the current team deserves to hear these things, too - if only for all the assistance they have given us."

"And we'll get to ask Jase and Kat about the really juicy stuff once they're gone," Zack enthused. "Sounds like a plan to me!"

There were murmurs of assent all around.

"It's settled, then?" Trini asked.

"Yeah," Tommy decided. "Now, who's going to do what?"

Quickly, the group of friends assigned tasks, then took their leave of Billy who good-naturedly offered to put the living room back to order by himself. What he didn't say was that he wanted time alone to digest everything he'd heard during the afternoon's and evening's media events, to sift through the facts and form his own preliminary opinions. There had been moments during both Jason and Katherine's narration when he'd had the distinct impression that there had been one, or possibly several, incidents which weren't going to be easy for them to relate, not even to their families and closest friends; and he wondered what had happened to them in the past to put the faint shadows into both pairs of eyes.

And I can't talk about these impressions to the others; they'll think I'm imagining things. Maybe I am, /he mused as he carried glasses and empty bowls into the kitchen. /Although I do not believe so ...

Billy's friends wouldn't expect him to be that perceptive, but living on Aquitar, in a very emotionally controlled society, had taught him a lot about reading minute body signals; he knew not yet what Jason and Kat had gone through during their absence, only that there had been something - and that it had to have been rather a momentous thing.

Whatever it was, I'm reasonably sure we will learn about it eventually. Possibly even the day after tomorrow.

/ /Seeing that his house was set to acceptable order again, Billy switched off the downstairs lights and went to his room.














There was a luxuriously-equipped stretch limousine waiting outside the studio, all set to carry Jason and Kat back to Angel Grove. Their parents would follow in their respective vehicles; it really made little sense not to go home with them, but the Harvey Garvey Show's producers had offered them the ride, so ... why not take advantage of a little luxury? Jason pointed out quite sensibly that they'd certainly earned it after their ordeal. Giggling softly, Kat climbed in and settled into the plush leather seat.

"Which ordeal are we talking about, anyway?" she asked, tongue firmly in cheek. "Our trip back in time, or today's media circus? Circuses?"

Jason grinned and sat next to her. "Either. Both. Take your pick."

The driver chuckled as he started the engine. "Don't let Mr. Garvey hear you call his show a circus."

"Oops," Kat murmured, blushing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean ..."

"Ah, never mind," the chauffeur laughed. "To be honest, we lesser beings often think of him as the quintessential ringmaster," he told them in a confidential tone. "He's generally a good guy, but there've been times ... well. The less said about 'em, the better. And you didn't hear that from me!"

"Of course not." Jason replied instantly, barely managing to keep a straight face as he inspected the various buttons and instruments embedded in the backs of the front seat. /Ah hah! There it is! /He placed his finger over the control that would raise the - hopefully soundproof - partition.

"Okay then. Enjoy the ride, you two. You did good tonight."

"Thanks. I'm sure we will." With an apologetic glance, he indicated the button. "If you don't mind ...?"

"Not at all. Go ahead." The driver smiled to himself as the dark glass pane slid towards the roof. He could understand that after all the attention the two teens had gotten this afternoon that they would want a little privacy. Besides, he preferred not to make small talk on the road anyway.











With a sigh, Kat leaned back against the soft upholstery.

"I am /so /glad we're done," she murmured. "I mean, on the one hand I'm - or was, anyway - dying to tell everybody everything ... almost everything, that is ... but now that it's over I kind of feel as if I never want to talk about our experience again. Luckily, we won't have to."

Jason grinned wryly as he opened the limo's mini bar and took out two bottles of sparkling water. He opened them deftly, poured the chilled liquid into two goblets and offered one to Kat who accepted gratefully. All that talking they'd done made for very dry throats.

"Not after the party we won't," he commented as they sipped their drinks.

She frowned, not following him. "Party? What party?"

"Come on, you know the gang - any excuse for having one will do. And our return should be more than enough reason." With a small smile, he pried the now-empty glass from her fingers and set it back into its holder along with his own. The bar's lid whirred softly in its mechanized tracks as he closed it.

"Oh. Yeah."

"What? Don't tell me you're afraid of facing the guys?"

"I'm not," she hastened to reassure him. "It's just ... they'll want to know so much ..." Her faint blush and the sudden stiffening in her body told Jason far more than her simple words.

"They're our friends; we can trust them," he reminded her gently, although he knew very well what had her so apprehensive. /Because /they'd be facing their friends he knew that more than just general details of their sojourn in the past would come to light. "They won't judge us too harshly." /I hope! /he couldn't help but think.

"Yes. Still ..." Kat's expression veered from hopeful to despairing, with every emotion in between, and her blue eyes grew slightly moist.

Reassuringly, Jason reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry too much," he murmured. "It'll be okay, you'll see." Then he, too, had to frown. "Eventually, anyway."

Katherine sighed deeply, clinging to his hold. "I won't mind going into more detail with the gang, I don't think" she confessed. "If it just weren't for Tommy ..." Her voice trailed off, sounding suspiciously chokey.

Jason let go of her hand and retreated into his corner. He sighed, too. "Oh yeah. Tommy."

That was going to be the hardest part, he knew. While he'd managed to push the necessity of that /particular confession to the back of his mind the past two days, he was well aware that the news of their involvement would /not /go over well with his best friend, no matter how much Tommy would understand intellectually why they'd turned to each other. His only hope was that in due time they'd be able to salvage their friendship ... once Tommy was reassured that Kat was firmly back with him. /And he never need know how much that'll cost me.

"We agreed that we'd have to tell him," Kat whispered miserably. "Everything."

"Yeah, I know." Taking firm hold of his churning emotions, Jason said what he knew he must - expressing the resolve he'd formed since their daughter's death. And that thought had to be pushed way back into the depths of his heart and mind, or fresh grief would overwhelm him.

"Listen," he said finally, slowly. "I've been thinking ... whatever you want to tell people is fine with me. I'll abide with any decision you're gonna make."

Kat looked relieved at first, then a frown marred her smooth forehead. "Are you saying that you're putting all the responsibility of what happened on me?"

"No!" Jason hastily reassured her. "Believe me, I'm not trying to do that. I know we were both equally involved in ... in what happened," he swallowed. "It's just ... I thought you'd want to choose yourself what to tell whom, and when."

"I see," Kat replied pensively. "I ... I was considering asking Tanya for advice on how to tell Tommy," she admitted. "I'm not really comfortable with having all of the guys know everything - at least not right away. Maybe later, but ..."

"Right. Okay."

She rubbed her eyes wearily, glad she'd had a chance to remove the heavy TV makeup before leaving the studio. After two years with no cosmetics at all it had felt very weird to have the thick foundation and mascara on her face.

"Besides, I think I'd just as soon tell Tommy in private about Dorilene," she whispered. "When the time is right ..."

"I'm not sure there ever will be a 'right time' for that kind of thing," Jason murmured. Then he continued more loudly, trying to put reassurance into his voice. "As I said, it's your choice. Just know that I'll be there, in whatever form you need me to be."

"I know. Thanks."

As you've been all that time when it was just you and me. Kat longed to say it, but some indefinable emotion held her back. They may have rediscovered their camaraderie during the afternoon, but it was still a far cry from the easy intimacy they'd shared in the literal past. And she wasn't at all sure whether she wanted it back or not. /Not when I'm not sure exactly what I feel. I wish everything weren't so confusing! /Therefore, the only comment she made was a soft "You're welcome".

She couldn't see his confirming nod in the darkness filling the car, but sensed it anyway. Suddenly deathly tired, she rested her head against the darkened window, watching the scenery speed by as the limousine cruised towards their home town. Thankfully, Jason respected her need for silence and didn't speak again until they reached the Scotts' house. John Scott had taken a shortcut, his burgundy sedan already parked in the driveway. Helen was waiting for Jason in the doorway, her slender form backlighted by the hallway.

"I'll see you this weekend then," Jason murmured as he swung his legs towards the door which the driver held open.

"Most likely," Kat agreed, not knowing whether to smile or frown at the thought.

For an instant, it seemed as if he wanted to say something, but then Jason just got out of the car and walked away, just telling her gently goodnight.

"Good night," Kat whispered back, holding back sudden tears with an effort as she realized he probably hadn't heard. She closed her eyes and remained quiet as the car's egine purred to life again and whisked her to her own home.













Jerome Stone had been perfectly willing to let the friends use the Youth Center on Saturday night; he knew that he could trust this particular group of teenagers to take good care of his establishment. In fact, having them close down everything once they were done meant he could make his meeting with plenty of time to spare. He was in his office, locking the day's profits into the safe when he heard the familiar voices from the main room. The rangy man smiled to himself. He missed police work and training the cadets at the Academy, but dealing with the sporty high school crowd had its own rewards ... and at least there was no need for authoritarian discipline.

At least now that those blasted chimps are gone!

/ /In the depths of his mind, he sometimes missed the two creatures, but he'd eat his old uniform cap before he'd ever admit /that /to a living soul. And as Bulkmeyer and Skullovich didn't belong to Tommy and the others' 'inner circle', there would be no mischief or damage, even with fifteen teenagers. Then again, two of them would have their parents around at least part of the time, so no worries there. He'd have a quiet, fun evening for once.

As soon as I've written out the resupply orders for Monday morning, anyway!

/ /With a grimace, Stone settled behind his desk and reached for the first order form.













"Hey, Teej," Tommy greeted his successor as the Turbo Rangers filed into the Youth Center shortly before 7pm. The premises were already empty of customers aside from their invitation-only group which so far consisted only of all the ex-Rangers except Jason and Kat. They'd come with their folks, he assumed. "Great that you guys could make it. You're actually a little early."

"Hey, a party's a party, right?" TJ grinned. "I'm /never /late for free food and drinks! Besides, we're all dying to know what really happened to Jason and Kat in the past, too!"

"Thought you might," Tommy chuckled. Then he noticed the absence of a certain dark-blond mop top over blue clothing. "Where's Justin?"

"He couldn't get permission from the shelter to come," Ashley informed him. "We tried telling the Matron that we'd have him back safely and in one piece by half past nine at the latest, but she wouldn't budge."

"Yeah, she was spouting something about it not being appropriate or something," Carlos added with an expression of mild disgust.

"Something to do with the age difference and co-ed company, I think," Cassie pouted.

"Sheesh, what does she think we'd be doing with him, make him join an orgy?" Zack muttered.

"We're having an orgy?" Rocky asked with an exaggeratedly innocent expression. "Dang, why didn't anybody tell me?"

"Very funny, Rocky. Not!" Aisha instantly smacked her childhood friend upside the head and was about to give him a piece of her mind, but was stopped from doing so by the arrival of Kat, her parents and the Scotts. The others snickered behind their hands as she glared at Rocky, who rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Hello, Mrs. Hillard," Tanya greeted her erstwhile 'host mother' with a cheery smile. She'd enjoyed the time she'd spent at Kat's house, remembering vivid discussions about a number of cultural subjects with the blonde woman.

"Hello, Tanya," Doris smiled back, giving the yellow-shirted girl a warm hug. "How are your parents?"

Trini and Billy, meanwhile, were welcoming Helen and John Scott who, surprisingly, had shown up sans their son. "Where's Jason?" Trini wondered. "Didn't he come with you?"

"No, he said he wanted to walk; I think he needed to get rid of excess energy, or something." Helen smiled as she handed her light jacket to an attentive Adam, who carried it to the wardrobe hooks. "Jason's been kind of edgy all day. But he /did /promise he'd be here on time."

"Yeah, at least Jase is gonna be punctual even if he walks," Zack elbowed Billy with a wicked grin. "Not like someone else I could mention - but won't!"



Tommy heard him and scowled, but his mouth was twitching with amusement. Before he could comment, Billy saved him the trouble.

"Actually, I believe Tommy has improved vastly in this particular area," he said blandly. He really had no idea whether that was indeed true, but it was a reasonable assumption, given Tommy's current work in a profession obsessed with fractions of seconds. "Haven't you?"

"Yeah - Uncle John would have my hide if I didn't come to the track on time," the race car driver admitted rather sheepishly, to Billy's hidden delight. "I /have /to be punctual now, or I don't get to drive. Simple as that."

"How nice to know that being allowed to drive a car in circles can make you do something that going on a date with me never could," Kimberly grumbled, only half joking. Promptly, Tommy blushed nearly as red as his shirt and she had to laugh. "Never mind, Tommy," she said with a soothing pat to his forearm. "I know you never did it on purpose. Whatever works, I guess."

"Well, Jason still has ten minutes until seven," Trini interjected diplomatically, neatly circumnavigating a potential pitfall. "We /did /tell him seven sharp, didn't we?"

"Yeah," Zack confirmed. "So we'll wait until he's here to start the grilling," he added, with a slight smirk at Kat who groaned and lifted a hand to her forehead melodramatically.

"Oh great, I can hardly wait!"

"Neither can we," Adam grinned, waggling his eyebrows. Everybody laughed, even Kat.

"In that case, somebody get me a drink, please? If I have to talk all night, I need liquid!"

"Right away!" With a warm smile, Tommy pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and wandered over to the counter. "Diet soda okay?"

"Yes, thank you ..." Her stomach fluttered strangely as Kat touched the spot where Tommy had kissed her. Helen Scott had said Jason was edgy; now that she thought about it, she too couldn't help a weird feeling as if something momentous was about to happen tonight. I just hope the sky won't fall in when it does ...

/ /Pasting a smile on her face she chose a chair at the gang's usual table - now ranged against several others to make room for such a large group - and watched as the others placed their drink orders with Tommy.

If only Jason will come soon!













Jason had only intended to walk off some of his nervous tension - a condition he ascribed to the prospect of having to tell his family and friends a few things he'd prefer to keep hidden tonight - by wandering through the streets of his childhood home for a little private time, taking the long way from his neighborhood to the Youth Center. But somehow or other, without a conscious decision, his feet took him to the park, of all places.

Not quite knowing how he got to be there, he suddenly found himself at a fairly flat spot not too far from the lake's shore. As if waking from a dream, he first stared unseeingly at the familiar sight.

The lake ... it's smaller now, /he mused. /Funny how I didn't notice before ... the lawn was just a meadow, those oaks were little more than saplings ... I don't remember those bushes at all!

/ /Slowly, he turned around in a 360-degree circle, trying to merge memories from his youth with the current reality ... and what he'd grown accustomed to seeing every day for over two years while marooned in the distant path.

The shore is steeper now, he realized. Gradually, he oriented himself, cataloguing similarities and differences until he had a fairly good idea where exactly he was.

"Our campsite was over here," he murmured to himself. "This is the spot where we had the fire pit, over there we stored our food ..." A lot of the landmarks were barely recognizable, both due to the passage of time and to changes effected by plain landscaping. After all, the park was no longer the virtual wilderness he and Kat had lived in. As he wandered around, he could often only make out places by counting his steps or by letting instinct guide him. After a few minutes, it became easier to reconcile his present surroundings with what he remembered - after all, subjectively barely a week had passed since their enforced stay.

The overhang against which they'd built their shelter had been reformed into a gentle, grass-covered slope, but the longer and harder he looked, the more familiar everything felt.

That's the way to the inlet; over there used to be the clump of bushes we used for a latrine. The forest used to come much closer to the shore, too ... It was both painful and exhilarating to explore the area once more. Slowly, Jason meandered towards the trees. Once under their leafy canopy, he stopped, realizing that it would soon be too dark to explore further. Already, the shadows were deepening to a dusky grey.

I'd better get back, or I'll be late for the party, /he mused. /Maybe I'll come back here tomorrow ...

/ /He turned back to whence he'd come, but his eye caught on an overgrown hump a few yards away. Suddenly, Jason could feel his heart falter.

That almost looks like the boulder where we buried Dorilene, /he thought, swallowing the huge lump that formed in his throat at the memory. /But wasn't it bigger? And more ... well, stony? /His mind supplied the answer to that discrepancy almost right away. /Idiot. It's been over four hundred years. Even with no pollution, there must have been erosion, or something. No wonder it's shrunk and covered with moss and stuff.

/ /Reluctantly dragging himself over to the boulder, he walked around to touch the still chest-high rise. A wave of intense pain racked his body, and he closed his eyes against it. How it had hurt to leave this spot! Had it really only been five days - in his conscious memory, anyway? It seemed much longer than that ... and yet it might as well have been only yesterday. Involuntarily, Jason began to move around the overgrown rock, retracing his steps from instinct until he reached the corner where he'd dug his daughter's grave.

Dark eyes filled with tears as he stared at the ground. There was no trace of the earthen bed he'd made for the limp little body, but he was certain in the very depths of his soul that he'd found the precise spot. Moaning softly, not even trying to stop the trickle of salty liquid down his cheeks, he sank to his knees, his hands coming to rest on the cover of lush grass, twigs and dead leaves.

My - no, OUR - baby is down here somewhere. All alone, lost in time ... /It hurt more than he'd ever imagined. /I wish I could take you home, baby girl. Some place where your Mom and I could at least visit you from time to time, to tell you we haven't forgotten you. /Not that he or Kat ever would /or could forget the tiny, precious life they'd created together and which had been taken from them much too soon. He was absolutely sure of that.

/ /But taking their daughter's remains - if there even were any - back was impossible; after several centuries, surely the soft, barely formed little bones had rotted away, become one with the earth again as it said in the funeral services.

Unless ...

/ /It was a crazy idea that seized the young man all of a sudden, and he shook his head in denial, as if to disperse it to the wind. But once conceived, it wouldn't go away. Jason felt himself in the grip of a desire to /know/, to make sure that this really was the place where he and Kat had buried a part of themselves ... and that there was nothing left.

Not caring that he was certainly going to be late, that he'd get all dirty, that he had no tools and could injure himself, Jason reached for a clump of grass, tore it out, threw away the accumulated dead vegetation until he reached the soil and began to dig with his bare hands.













"Looks like Jason is going be late for once," Adam remarked to Tanya after a discreet glance at his watch. It still felt strange to see an ordinary timepiece where his communicator and/or morpher used to be. "It's already a quarter past seven."

"Yeah; I wonder what's keeping him," his girlfriend frowned. "He grew up here; it's not as if he would've gotten lost all of a sudden."

"Maybe he ran into something, or someone," Trini ventured dubiously. "There's a number of reasons why he could've been held up."

"Jase knows we're waiting for him; he wouldn't /let /himself be late," Kimberly shook her head.

"Indeed. It is strangely unlike Jason," Billy agreed.

Zack tried to suppress his concern. What if their friend had run into a monster attack, or something? Nah. The Turbos wouldn't be here if that pirate chick was on the rampage again. "Not even if it's something important?"

"What could be so important on a Saturday night, anyway?" Rocky scowled. "He better be here soon, or we'll send a search party!"

"So impatient," Aisha chided, but she, too, was getting worried. While she hadn't known Jason as long as some of the others, she knew it was uncharacteristic of the one-time Red and Gold Ranger to miss a specific appointment to which he'd promised to come. "You don't think that Boswell jerk got hold of him, do you? I think I saw him still lurking around yesterday."

"He better not be," Kimberly grumbled. "Or I'll tell him we're gonna file a harassment complaint against him with the Press Association!"

"Keep it down, guys; we don't want to worry Jason's folks," Tommy warned as he walked over, his arm around Kat's waist. The blonde looked very thoughtful as well.

"Maybe we should at least have someone go look for him," she suggested.

"Okay, but who? And where? There are several ways to get from Jason's house to here," Adam said practically. "And we can't all go looking for him."

"The most likely path to the Juice Bar would be for Jason to cut through the park," Billy remembered.

"The park? Yeah," Trini agreed. "In fact, his way should lead him right past the picnic area."

Katherine suddenly looked alarmed. "Where we got sucked into the time hole?!?"

Reluctantly, Trini nodded. "Yes ..."

"Oh my God, you don't think that he got swallowed up by another one, do you?" The blonde looked to be on the verge of tears, she got so upset at the thought. None of her friends blamed her; if anyone had reason to fear such an occurrence, it would be Kat - with more than enough justification.

"God, I hope not," Tommy murmured, aghast, even as he gave her what he hoped was a calming hug. "What a nightmare /that /would be!"

"Before we go on a wild goose chase, let's ask TJ if he's heard something; surely Dimitria would've alerted the Rangers," Adam suggested sensibly. "Don't panic, guys!" Whether that admonition was to reassure his friends or just himself, he couldn't say.

"Right." Letting go of his girlfriend, the retired leader of the Rangers went over to his successor. Within minutes, he was back. "TJ says it's unlikely; Dimitria has promised to have Alpha run permanent scans for temporal disturbances. He's sure that if there had been another time hole, he'd have heard of it by now."

"Then why isn't Jason here yet?" Kimberly asked. Nobody had an answer, and the petite girl sighed. "Guys ... I'm getting this weird feeling in my gut that Jason's in trouble somehow!"

Billy took a deep breath. "I'm not trying to be alarmist, but given the duration of Jason's delay, I fear I have to concur," he said quietly. "Something most probably /is /wrong."

"But what?" Aisha wondered, fear in her eyes. If even Billy/ /was getting worried ...

"I dunno. But we're going to find out right now," Tommy decided grimly. He couldn't let his best friend face danger of whatever kind alone - not again. Not like he'd had to during the gruelling last week. "Let's start looking for him."













The friends were just about to corral the current Ranger team into organizing a search party for Jason - TJ and Cassie had promised to try scanning for him from the Power Chamber, just in case - when Mrs. Scott, who'd until now been talking to the Hillards, came over. Her eyes wandered back and forth from her watch to the Youth Center's entrance.

"Tommy, do you have any idea where Jason might have gone to? It's already twenty minutes to eight, and it's not like him to be so late," she said quietly, trying not to let her mounting anxiety get away from her. Ever since her son's disappearance last week she felt better if she either saw him or knew exactly where he was. Helen realized that it was a natural reaction to the events and that eventually she would have to let go again, but right now that didn't help much.

Tommy squirmed inwardly. The last thing they needed were Jason's parents looking too closely over their shoulders.

"We were just wondering the same thing, Mrs. Scott," he replied. "Would you like a couple of us to go looking for him?"

Come to think of it, this was a perfect opportunity to do just that without arousing too much suspicion or cause undue worry in the still-stressed parents.

"If you would?" Helen smiled in relief. "I'm probably worrying too much - he /is /an adult, after all - but ..."

"We understand," Trini said, stepping up to the older woman. "Aisha thought that maybe Jason got waylaid by some reporters on the way over; we've seen a couple still hanging around. Or possibly he's trying to evade them; that'd explain why he's not here yet."

It was a plausible explanation. And yet the concerned mother couldn't quite bring herself to accept it at face value. "Maybe," she sighed. "But I'd really feel better if you could make sure."

"No problem, Mrs. S," Zack piped up. "Take my word for it, we'll have him here in no time." He hoped.













Jerome Stone had finished his paperwork and shut down his computer with a satisfied smile. All the stock and supplies for the next two weeks were taken care of, and he could go meet his friends at the Blue Oyster Bar with a clear conscience. He'd just make sure that Tommy's private party had everything they needed, and leave the keys with the teens. He knew they'd lock the Juice Bar diligently. Picking up his jacket, he closed his office door and looked into the main room, but to his surprise found no gaily-chattering gathering. Instead, it looked as if a few of the teenagers were about to go out - and from their grim expressions, it wasn't to buy party crackers. Every instinct the former police officer had screamed 'trouble!' at him - and in capital letters, too.

"What's wrong?" he asked Rocky, who was just about to slip past him, in a no-nonsense tone. It had worked perfectly with Junior Police recruits at the Academy when they were trying to pull the wool over his eyes over some prank or other.

"Uh, n-nothing," the blue-shirted young man stammered. But the brown eyes shifted sideways, and his faint blush betrayed that something was indeed up. "Really, Lieutenant!"

"Right. In a pig's eye," Jerome muttered. "Then why aren't you all partying hearty?"

"We, erm, we ..." Rocky squirmed under that penetrating Look. Where had the easygoing, if sometimes slightly dour new owner of the Juice Bar disappeared to? This wasn't the same man who fought with (and lost to) a recalcitrant ketchup bottle or cleaned up messes after a couple of chimps; no, this was a guy who could give his mother at her most matriarchal a run for her money. Like with her, he never stood a chance.

"Jason's missing," he blurted.

"What do you mean, he's missing?" Jerome asked quickly, going into full police officer mode in a heartbeat. While he never had developed the close ties Ernie had had with particular group of teenagers, he knew them well, liked them and had rejoiced with their families as the Power Rangers managed to retrieve Jason and Katherine from the past.

Adam joined his childhood friend. "He was supposed to be here at least half an hour ago," he explained quietly. "Hs parents are starting to get antsy, so we were just about to go looking for him."

"Probably a good idea," Stone murmured after a moment's thought. "Do you know where to look?"

Both Adam and Rocky shrugged. "Along his route from home to here, we think."

"Okay, get organized," Stone decided. "I'll hold down the fort here; you can call with any results you have, and I'll pass it on to the others. You /do /have cell phones, right?."

By now, the other ex-Rangers had joined them and exchanged glances. They didn't particularly want Lt. Stone involved, but it was apparent that the man was not going to be left out. Tommy quickly weighed the pros and cons, then looked at Billy, who had been his second-in-command for quite a while. He received an almost imperceptible nod, and resigned himself to the situation. Come to think of it, there /would /be benefits to having an experienced adult around who could coordinate things. It would almost be like having a center of command; certainly not on a par with the Power Chamber, but better than nothing.

"Yes ... but what about your friends?"

"Don't worry about me; this is more important than having a few beers."

"Thank you," Katherine said softly. "It'll be a big help."

Stone gave her a grim smile. "This kind of thing used to be my job, young lady. I haven't forgotten." He drew a deep breath. "Alright then, who goes where with whom?"

The friends quickly arranged themselves into pairs as the now seriously anxious Scotts were comforted by Kat's parents. Just as they were about to leave, though, someone bumped against he outer doors of the Youth Center. Everybody froze, but before anyone could make a move, the doors were shoved open and a thoroughly exhausted and bedraggled figure in black jeans and a red undershirt stumbled into the brightly-lit room.













"Jason!"

Helen Scott was the first to call out her son's name and rushed forward, beating Tommy and the others by fractions of a second. Directly before him, though, she came to a sudden stop, taking in his appearance with wide, incredulous eyes. He looked almost as if he'd been in a fight.

"My God, what happened to you?"

Jason was ... filthy. His pants were mud-caked, there were streaks of dirt on his chest and arms, he was panting and sweating heavily, as if he'd run part of the way. He was carrying a dirty bundle in his bloody hands. He ignored his mother and the babble of questions his friends were asking him, however, seeking in the crowd until he found a pair of lovely blue eyes.

Looking straight into the crystal pools, he held out the bundle towards Kat.

"I found her," he said hoarsely, still seriously out of breath. "Kat, I brought her home!"

"Huh? Who's 'her', and where is she?" Zack asked - Jason had come alone, hadn't he? But nobody paid any heed to his confusion; everybody's attention was firmly focussed on Katherine, who blanched and cried out softly in pained shock . With faltering steps, she came to Jason.

"Where ... how ..." Instinctively, her hands went to the bundle he'd made out of his shirt. "Is this ..."

"Yes." Very, very carefully, Jason placed his burden on the next table and started loosening the folds. "It's all I could find."

Kat started to tremble visibly. "Show me!" Right now, nobody but the two of them existed in the bright room, despite the large group of people surrounding them.

He nodded. But just before he lifted the final fold, he met her eyes once more. "Brace yourself, babe," he murmured. "It's not a pretty sight."

"I don't care," Kat declared with quivering lips. It was sheer bravado, but she had /to see, /had to know ...

"Okay ..." Jason's hands shook as he opened the bundle fully. Their friends craned their necks to catch a glimpse of what he'd brought, but on the muddy fabric there was nothing but a pitifully small heap of what looked like dirty sticks ... entangled in which was a blackened silver chain with a five-pointed star.

"Eww, gross," Kim murmured to Trini. "What /is /that?"

Her friend could make a very good guess, but shock kept her silent. When she looked up cautiously, she saw the same recognition in Aisha and Tanya's faces. Of course. They both lived long enough in the wilderness to know what exactly Jason has dug up.

Through a throat suddenly gone dry, Billy found his voice at last. "It ... it almost looks like bone fragments," he whispered, his mind rapidly putting two and two together and coming up five hundred every time.

"Bones? What bones?" Rocky asked, bewildered.

There was a heavy silence for a few seconds, then Lt. Stone stepped forward. Briefly, he took a closer look, but he'd seen too much evidence of this kind to be mistaken.

"These are Human bones," he pronounced grimly. "Ones that have been buried for decades, if not longer." He pointed at various pieces. "I'm no forensic specialist, but ... this here's a piece of skull, this is a sternum with a couple ribs, that one looks like a femur ... and from the size of it, I'd say they're from an infant." He turned to glance at Jason, who sank into the nearest chair and just nodded wearily.

"Yeah," he mumbled.

"And just who do they belong to?"

At this point Kat, who had stared wide-eyed at the sad remains, started sobbing. She threw herself into her mother's arms.

"That's my baby," she wept heart-brokenly. "Mummy, that's all that's left of my baby ..."










"Oh. My. God."

Later, nobody was sure who had made the shocked exclamation, but it really didn't matter. Because /this /revelation stunned every person present equally. Mrs. Hillard started to cry as well as she drew her distraught daughter into her arms, Robert hovering nearby. "My God, Kitty ..."

Helen and John Scott immediately closed ranks behind their exhausted son. John laid a calming hand on one broad shoulder while Helen reached for a stack of napkins. Wetting a few, she sank to her knees next to him and began cleaning his dirty, bleeding hands. It really was a nonsensical gesture, but it kept her from screaming hysterically. Her voice was shaky but gentle.

"What happened, Jason?"

"That's what I'd like to know, too. The sooner, the better," Jerome Stone interjected. The teens had never heard him speak so sternly.

Recalled to his surroundings, Jason opened his mouth to answer, then hesitated and cast a wary eye at the former police officer, not wanting to betray anything to an outsider. However, Stone interpreted his look correctly. He shook his head and lifted a hand in warning.

"You'd better tell me everything, young man," he advised. Then he paused and visibly reconsidered.

"Well ... maybe not quite everything. But listen ... the Chief of Police has a standing order that /all /Human remains found will be subject to an official investigation - if only to rule out homicide. I don't want to believe that either of you two has murdered anyone. There's probably a lot of stuff I don't need or even want to know about where, how and why you came to exhume these bones, but I /have /to know when and how that baby died."

"He's right, son," John Scott murmured. "Tell us what you can."

Resignedly, Jason closed his eyes, then looked up again into the stunned faces of his friends and family. They all had a right to know; it just wasn't the time nor the way in which he - and Kat - had intended to break the news. Well, that was water under the bridge now. He repeatedly cleared his throat and managed a small, grateful smile as Kimberly wordlessly offered him a glass of water.

"Tell us, Jason. Please," his mother cajoled.

Utterly exhausted, he nodded and directed his first words at Lt. Stone.

"We weren't stuck in the past for just four days," he began, "but for over two years. We just didn't ... /don't /... want that to become public knowledge, which is why we've kept mum about it."

"Quite understandable," Stone agreed. "And I have no problem with that. Go on."

"Well ... after a year had gone by with no rescue, Kat and I ... we ... uh ... " He blushed.

"You turned to each other for comfort?" Robert Hillard murmured delicately, his voice rough with emotion. What his daughter must've gone through! It looked as if it was even worse than he'd initially assumed.

"Yeah," Jason replied, thankful for the polite euphemism. "Anyway, even though we tried to be careful, she got pregnant after a while."

"That must've been pretty scary," Adam murmured, aghast.

"You have /no /idea," Tanya whispered back, having seen the consequences of unmonitored pregnancies several times in Africa.

Jason didn't hear the exchange. "We muddled along as best we could, and everything seemed to be going reasonably well until about six weeks or so before the baby was due. Kat fell while fetching water, and went into premature labor. Our baby was born the same evening."

"She was so beautiful, Mum," Kat wept. Even through her fresh grief, she'd listened to Jason's narrative, absurdly grateful that she wouldn't have to do the telling. But this was something that /had /to be said. "She was so tiny and soft ... with dark hair, and her fingers were so tiny ..." She sniffled brokenly. "But she was so cold, and I couldn't warm her. Oh Mum," she wailed. "I wanted you so!"

Doris was crying, too, as she hugged her daughter. "If I'd known, if I'd been able, I would have been there, honey!"

Jason, too, was wiping his eyes. "We tried everything we could think of, but nothing worked," he continued hoarsely. "We both held her, but ... after a couple hours she just stopped moving. Then she stopped breathing, too. And then she was gone." He swallowed hard. "The next afternoon, we buried her at the bottom of a rock near the lake. And tonight, when I walked through the park, I recognized that rock again. I dunno what made me do it, but I couldn't stop myself; I /had /to see whether I'd found the right spot. So I started digging, and that's all I found of our daughter." He gestured towards the tiny bone fragments still lying on the table. With a sigh, he let his eyes drift shut again. There was nothing else to tell.

Yes, there was. Jason looked first at his own mother, then at Doris Hillard. "We named her Dorilene, after the two of you," he said very, very softly, his voice choked with unshed tears.

"Oh my," Helen whispered, her own heart breaking as she saw the pain in her son and in Katherine. In a gesture as old as time, she drew the dark head against her shoulder and wrapped her arms around the broad back which was shuddering with the need not to break down - not when so many people were watching. "You poor kids!"













The silence in the Juice Bar was overwhelming. There really wasn't much to say after Jason's confession. Finally, Lt. Stone cleared his throat.

"Is that true? Is that what happened, Miss Hillard?" he asked formally. Mutely, Kat nodded.

"Pretty much," she croaked.

"Well, then. Okay." Stone drew a deep breath. "I believe you," he murmured awkwardly. "You're both not the type to make such a thing up ... and it looks as if nothing untoward happened."









"Except for a tragedy," Adam murmured to Billy, who nodded. Losing his mother had been pretty bad, as it had been for Rocky to lose his father, but their departed parents had at least experienced the joys of growing up, of making friends, of falling in love and seeing their children born. All of that had been denied to the unknown baby girl - and neither would Jason and Kat know what the future would bring for their child.

"They not only lost a child," he whispered to himself. "They also lost a life yet unlived."

"Don't," Kimberly requested, tears in her eyes. "Just stop, okay? I don't think I can take much more of this tonight."

"Me neither," Trini agreed. "God, I don't even want to think about what Jason and Kat must've gone through!"











Meanwhile, the Scotts and Hillards had come to an agreement with Lt. Stone. As, in his expert opinion, no crime had been committed, he saw no reason why the families couldn't take the baby girl's remains home and make whatever arrangements they wanted. He promised to keep the secret he'd inadvertently been made privy to - it harmed no one, after all, and the two families had had more than their share of media attention already. There was no need to add to their burden. Having received that most welcome reassurance, Helen helped Jason to re-wrap the tiny bones in his shirt, then quietly left, the Hillards in their wake.

Jerome Stone felt that after the events of the past half-hour, he more than deserved a beer or four in the company of his friends ad colleagues - if only to forget the grief on Katherine's pretty face. He handed the Youth Center's keys to TJ, told him to lock up after them and left. If he hurried, he wouldn't even be late for his appointment.

Looking slightly pale under his dark skin, TJ and the other three Turbo Rangers approached the friends.

"Guess the party's over, huh?"

"Definitely," Aisha agreed. "Before it even began, too."

"I dunno about you, but I'm not in the mood anymore," Zack almost snapped.

"None of us is," Trini soothed him.

"Certainly not after such a revelation," Billy murmured.

"Well, we wanted to know what really happened," Rocky said, still in shock.



"Now we do." Tanya breathed deeply. She felt as if she'd been stomped on by her Zord.

"But who would've expected /this/?" Adam wondered.

"Nobody did," Kim sighed. "I mean, I can kind of understand how and why they ended up together, but a baby?!? Yikes."

"Pretty mind-boggling," Cassie commented. While the current team didn't know Jason and Kat very well, during those gruelling four days of searching the time stream they had gained a pretty good idea of the friendship they shared with the others.

"You can say that again," Carlos said.

"Well, let's call it a night, guys," TJ decided. "I'm not in the mood to do clean-up now; what do you say we meet early tomorrow morning and set things to right again?"

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Ashley seconded him. "Let's just all go home and get some sleep."

"If we can," Rocky muttered as he obediently went towards the door.

"Yeah, easier said than done," Zack agreed. The two stood aside as the other teens filed out one by one and TJ locked the doors. With a wave and muted good-byes, the Turbo Rangers left.

"Everybody here?" Adam asked, not really expecting an answer. He still got one.

"Yeah," Tanya replied sombrely. "All present and accounted for."

To her surprise, though, Billy contradicted her. "Not quite, Tanya."

"What? Who's missing?"

"Yeah, who? I could've sworn we left nobody inside," Aisha mused.

"We didn't."

"Then who ..." her voice trailed off as she performed a quick head count. Jason and Kat were with their parents; all four Turbos had left together. There should be eight people in the Juice Bar's parking lot; however, there were only seven.

It was Kimberly who provided the answer in a choked whisper. Really, they should have seen it coming, but they had all been so shocked that nobody had noticed anything except their own surprise.

"It's Tommy. He's disappeared."







To Be Continued ...