Long Journey Home

".....and you get not one, not two, not five ... (Zap!) ... What is the Declaration of ... (Zap!) ... And the price of this wonderful ...." (Click.)
 
Disgusted, Jason threw the TV remote on the coffee table. He was bored out of his skull, and it was beginning to tell. It had been four days since he’d been transported into Jess’s body, and the only times he ever got out of the tiny apartment his alter ego shared with Tommy was when Tommy was with him. He normally had no problem being close to his best friend, but these were hardly normal circumstances. Jess was no longer a High School student, but had been attending college for two years now; the risk of someone discovering that he wot, ot, in fact, Jess Scott, was simply too high if he went in her stead. As a consequence, he was condemned to stay at home, ostensibly sick, while Tommy went to his own classes and arranged for someone else to copy notes for Jess. The long hours with nothing to do but read and watch TV were slowly but surely making Jason stir-crazy. While the apartment was big enough for two people who were as close as those two *They’re lovers, for heaven’s sake! What did you expect?*, it was not exactly spacious; after all, they were college students, with a student’s budget. Tommy and Jess simply couldn’t afford anything bigger. That fact added another worry -- he couldn’t cook. Eating out every day simply was not an option; ergo, they had imposed on the Olivers twice already, or made do with canned food, which slowly but surely eroded their normally healthy appetites.
 
Jason would never have imagined how much the lack of personal space would affect him, either; he had nothing he really could call his own, from a room down to his clothes. He groaned as he thought of those. As if it wasn’t disturbing enough that he was stranded in a girl’s body, that girl also owned not one pair of really comfortable jeans. Instead, her closet was filled with skimpy skirts and shorts, tight shirts, and the only pair of jeans he’d tried looked as if they’d been spray-painted onto his legs. They showed every line and fold of those tiny little panties Jess favoured; what he wouldn’t give for a pair of boxers! He’d tried Tommy’s, but they wouldn’t stay on; besides, it looked too ridiculous to wear roomy, baggy shorts with those lacy bras he had to wear as well. He groaned again and plucked at one narrow strap cutting into his shoulder. He desperately wished he could just leave the bloody things off altogether, but Jess was just a bit too... well-endowed to make that feasible. He’d tried it in the privacy of the apartment once, but found himself bouncing all over the place; while it hadn’t been exactly uncomfortable, it had been damned distracting.......not only for him, but for Tommy as well.
 
Tommy.....now there was another problem, and it was fast becoming the biggest. Jason couldn’t recall how many awkward and downright embarrassing moments they’d had once they’d returned to the apartment. At first, he’d tried sleeping on the couch, but it was just too uncomfortable; two nights ago, Tommy had all but jumped down his throat.
 
*"For Heaven’s sake, Jess, will you quit being so childish? You’ve got nothing I haven’t seen before!"
 
"I -- I know; it’s just ...." Jason had felt the heat rise in his cheeks. How could he explain to Tommy that he wasn’t feeling awkward around him because of his own nudity, but because of Tommy’s? Getting a hard-on around Tammy every time she as much as smiled at him had been bad enough; what Jason found nearly impossible to cope with was the low heat coiling deep in his stomach every time he caught a glimpse of his best friend’s body. Admitting to himself that he was attracted to the leanly muscled Red Ranger was one thing; desperately trying not to reach out was quite another.
 
Tommy shook his head in exasperation.
 
"If you’re afraid I’m gonna jump you, forget it. I can keep my hands to myself!" With that, Tommy had left him alone, but not before Jason had seen the flash of sadness and hurt in his friend’s eyes.*
 
So, that night Jason had reluctantly settled to sleep in the comfortable double bed; true to his word, Tommy hadn’t done as much as reached out a hand to him. Slowly, they were developping a routine, but it was more difficult than either had imagined. They had compared notes on personal histories that first night, and Tommy had even reluctantly taken him to the Power Chamber, but Dimitria hadn’t been able to give them any answers, either. She’d promised that Alpha 6 would research the matter of random reality warps, but didn’t hold out much hope for a solution. Jason had gotten the impression that she was more interested in training the new team she’d picked than in helping a civilian friend of the current Rangers.
 
Here, he couldn’t even hang out with the rest of their friends; college had scattered them to the four winds, and they barely managed to keep in touch for Ranger business as it was. Sighing, he got up, walked into the tiny kitchen and poured himself a soda. It was still another two hours until Tommy would be home, and suddenly Jason couldn’t stand it anymore. Changing into a pair of sweatpants -- the only ones Jess owned, and much too warm for the day, but he’d rather melt than wear those flirty shorts -- and an old tee of Tommy’s, he pocketed his keys and went for a run in the park.
 
***
 
Jason finally slowed down. Running had always been a part of his workout routine, but he found that Jess’s training made the experience far more than simple exercise. Muscular memory enabled him to achieve speeds and endurance he hadn’t had before, and today, he’d hit the Jogger’s High for the first time. As a consequence, he’d run longer and further than he’d intended, and it was time for him to head home, or Tommy would be worried. Running had calmed his mind, and without thinking he took the turn into Raleigh, which would take him over Bay Bridge to the off-campus area where Tommy and Jess lived.
 
Just as he cleared the bridge, Jason suddenly became aware of footsteps behind him. He’d slowed to a brisk walk by now, letting his muscles cool down gradually, and was only another ten minutes from his destination. Dusk had fallen, and the area he was passing through largely featured office buildings, which mostly had already closed for the day. He tried to quicken his pace, but the footsteps stayed behind him. Alert, he scanned his surroundings without turning. No-one was about. Then, just as he passed a corner, two young men in their mid-twenties stepped out before him. They were tall, beefy, rather scruffy-looking, and wore leather jackets with some sort of gang symbol painted on the side.
 
"Well, lookee what we have here!" One of them leered at his companion.
 
Jason stopped, his heartrate escalating.
 
"Someone with a really nice ass!", a raspy voice came from behind him. "Man, you shoulda seen how she moves it!"
 
"If she jiggles in back the way she’s jiggling up front, it’s gotta be good," the third one grinned, showing missing teeth. "How about sharing some of your stuff with us, baby?"
 
Jason shook his head, incredulous. He was being mugged?
 
"Listen," he tried. "If it’s money you want, I don’t have any. How about you just let me pass?"
 
"Oooh, she has no money! Didya hear that?" All three cackled and closed in around Jason. He moved a few steps toward the closest building, to keep his back free.
 
"You got sumthin’ else what you can give us, baby," the first one added, glancing meaningfully at Jason’s chest. Jason did not look down, but knew that his tee was sweat-stained and showed clearly the outline of his underwear. Mentally readying himself to fight, he tried once more to reason his way out of the situation.
 
"Guys -- why don’t you just forget you ever saw me, and I’ll do the same?"
 
"Or what? You gonna stab us to death with those boobs o’yours? It’s you who’s gonna get *stabbed*, but someplace else, babe!"
 
"I tell you, let me go!" Jason demanded, getting annoyed. He didn’t want to fight, but if he had to ...
 
"No way, Jose. You got sumthin’ you gonna share with us, toots; the only thing you can tell is who of us is gonna be first!"
 
"Hey, I’m first!" Jason’s pursuer protested, stepping closer. The other two exchanged glances, and shrugged. "Just make sure you leave ‘er fit enough to take us all!"
 
Jason felt the adrenaline pumping in his veins. Stancing slightly, he warned his assailants.
 
"I can take you, alright; but I’m not sure it’s the way you think!"
 
"Hey, I like ‘em spunky," the second one grinned, anngednged for Jason’s breast. He never connected. Jason grabbed his arm, twisted, and flipped the man over his head. He hit the pavement with a thud. His two buddies looked perplexed for a moment, then rushed in with bellows of rage. Jason kicked one in the stomach and engaged the third, while the first picked himself up. Lucky for him, the three were unarmed, relying on their superior strength and number to attack hapless victims. They hadn’t counted on picking a fourth-grade black belt.
 
Jason fought with the three thugs for some time; normally, he should’ve been able to defeat them easily, but his timing was off due to the changed center of balance in his female body, and his punches and kicks had not quite the same effect as he was used to. He simply did not have the weight and sheer muscle mass to put as much power behind his moves. As a consequence, he was thrown about quite a bit before skill and determination conquered pure brawn and blind rage. Finally, one of the three ran afoul of a roundhouse kick, fell and broke his arm. His howl of pain stopped the attack. The other two punks grabbed him and hauled him off into the darkness, cursing and threatening until the gathering night swallowed them.
 
Jason leaned against the nearest wall, panting hard. He could have kicked himself for taking this route; even in his own Angel Grove it wasn’t particularly safe for a lone woman to walk here after dark. He just hadn’t thought; his actions had broken almost every rule he and Tommy had tried to teach in their Women’s Self-Defense class all those years ago. Buddy system, yelling for help -- yeah, right! *What’s the saying -- ‘Do as I tell you, not do as I do’? Idiot!* Shaking his head at his own stupidity, Jason painfully made his way home, every step making him more and more aware of the scrapes and bruises the encounter had left him with.