Golden Ecstasy

ECSTASY1a

Golden Ecstasy 1a


The six Rangers looked at each other, shocked speechless.
Tanya slowly straightened in Adam’s embrace and shook her head in disbelief.
Finally finding her voice, she whispered, "What did I do?"
Everybody turned towards Billy, who tried for a moment
to lose himself in his printouts, but knew he couldn’t escape answering.
He cast a glance towards the exit where one of his oldest friends had left,
then made himself look at the others.
"It seems as if your display of affection was enough to
trigger Jason’s condition."
Tanya looked sick.
"But ... I never meant to ... all I wanted was ... oh
God ..." The reality of the situation began to sink in. She stepped away
from Adam and the others. The look in her eyes was a mixture of shame,
disgust and fear.
"You mean ... now he’s got to ..."
Billy nodded once, mutely.
"Oh no ...!"
The young people stared at each other, stunned. Billy
and Zordon had made it very clear what the potion would do to Jason ---
have sex soon or turn rapist, with the added complication of having the
strongly enhanced sex drive possibly become chronic. Finally, Tommy stepped
forward. His concern for his best friend roughened his voice as he looked
up at their mentor’s less-than-placid face.
"Zordon, what can we do?"
"I do not know,
Tommy; I can’t say where he can find the relief he needs -- Jason has not
confided the details of his personal life to me. Did you not say he has
found a girlfriend? Maybe that young lady could be prevailed upon to help
him."
Kat shook her head.
"It would be no use, I’m afraid. For one thing, Emily’s
out of town for a few days; we can’t call her back without telling her
why
she needs to come so urgently, and for another, she told me a few weeks
ago that she took a pledge at age fourteen not to sleep with anybody before
marriage. I don’t know whether she loves Jason enough to break that pledge;
besides, they haven’t been dating all that long."
Tanya nodded.
"I don’t know that I would be willing to sleep
with someone I’ve been going out with for only a few weeks."
"There’s another point: Didn’t Billy say that once wouldn’t
be enough?" Rocky for once sounded very serious and concerned. He and Jason
had had their differences after the latter’s return from Switzerland, but
working together had soon taken care of that problem. Now he, too, desperately
looked for a way to help their comrade.
"That’s correct; besides, it would hardly be advisable
to send someone with no experience into a situation like that. I would
assume that some experience in Jason’s partner would be beneficial." The
young scientist swallowed uncomfortably; he clearly wanted to say something
else, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. For once, Rocky was the first
to catch on.
Looking anywhere but at his friends, he asked what everybody
was thinking about.
"Has ... has Jason ever ... I mean ..." his face almost
as red as his former uniform, he blurted it out.
"What if Jason is still a virgin?"
Blushes spread like wildfire over everybody’s faces.
"He’s not."
Tommy’s quiet statement dispelled the awkward silence.
Both girls and the three young men looked at him, but his face was impassive
under their glances. It was clear that he was not going to elaborate, and
after a moment’s consideration, the Rangers accepted that he would not
further betray his friend’s confidence.
"Well, we just have to find a solution!"
"Yeah, Rocky, but where, when, and most importantly, how?"
Adam looked at his friend. "If Emily can’t and won’t help him, what are
we supposed to do?"
The teens racked their brains. Finally, Rocky cleared
his throat.
"What about ... Bayswater Street?"
The four boys looked at each other with varying expressions
of hope and disgust. The girls, both relative newcomers to Angel Grove,
were mystified. Finally, when a look at Tanya confirmed that she was as
much in the dark as herself, Kat asked the others.
"What’s in Bayswater Street?"
To her astonishment, all four boys blushed again and couldn’t
meet her eyes.
"Tommy? Billy? If there’s something there that can help
Jason ..."
Billy looked at her. Clearing his throat, he answered
her.
"Bayswater Street is ... in the red light district. It
is there that you would find ..."
Kat caught his meaning and blushed furiously.
"Oh."
Tanya, whose blush was equally fierce but less visible,
shook her head in disbelief.
"You’ve got to be kidding! You can’t just send Jason to
a ... a ... hooker! That wouldn’t be right!"
"Do you have a better idea?" Rocky asked heatedly. "At
least those girls are used to having sex all day! And right now, that’s
what he needs, right? He lets himself get laid for the weekend, and he’ll
be okay!"
"Don’t be gross!" Both girls looked revolted.
"It’s the truth, isn’t it? Prettying up the words won’t
change the facts! We just have to get one of them to a room, and put Jason
in with her, and she gets her money afterwards, and  ..." his voice
slowly died down as the enormity of the situation began to sink in.
"Exactly." Billy’s calm voice restored order among the
friends, who had listened to the exchange with growing discomfort.
"We simply do not have the funds available to implement
that course of action."
"How do you know that?" Adam asked, a hint of desperation
in his voice. Although he had met Jason two years ago, before he went to
Switzerland, he didn’t really know him all that well. The Power transfer
had happened too soon to form close ties, and his association with Tommy,
Billy and Kim had always been closer. But in the weeks since Jason’s return
he had come to respect the older boy’s courage, integrity and honour. Jason
was intelligent, almost as good at Martial Arts as Tommy, and his time
at the peace conference had given him maturity in ways even their experiences
as Power Rangers were hard put to match. Adam knew he could not let him
down; neither could the others.
"I estimate that the cost, were we to go through with
this plan, would come up to the vicinity of $2.500. Even if we were to
pool our resources, I doubt that we could afford to give that kind of money
to Jason -- and that is assuming the fact that he would even consider accepting
our help that way."
"How do you figure that sum?" Adam asked, intrigued despite
the gravity of the situation.
"Well, to rent a hotel room in an at least halfway respectable
establishment, we would have to spend roughly $200 for two days; the rest
would be the ... lady’s .... wages."
"Over two thousand dollars for ... for ..." Kat shook
her head, amazed.
"That sum is based on the average earning for an hour’s
worth of actual sexual intercourse, provided by a professional who is hopefully
free of disease and willing to slightly cut her rates for a chance of continuous
employment for a period of 48 hours with a single partner." Billy managed
to deliver that bit of information in his driest voice, carefully not
looking at any of his friends.
Tanya grinned slightly, if briefly.
"And how would you know the going hourly rate for a hooker,
pray tell?"
"Yeah, Billy; how do you know about that?" Rocky
momentarily forgot to be serious, staring at their genius friend with lively
curiosity.
Billy smiled, humourlessly.
"Would you believe I saw a documentary on PBS a while
ago?"
"Yeah, right!"
Rocky clearly was all set to pursue this further, when
Tommy brought them all back to the point at hand.
"The fact is, we can’t afford it, and that’s that. Besides,
I don’t think Jase would ever go for it."
Kat nodded. Tommy had told her a lot about his best friend,
and she knew what he was getting at.
"Remember who we’re talking about here, guys. This is
Jason.
First leader of the Rangers, champion martial artist, delegate to the Youth
Peace Summit, and until recently, the Gold Ranger. Do we honestly think
he would go to a hooker just to ... to ..." she couldn’t find the words
to describe Jason’s predicament, but she had made her point. Jason Scott
just wasn’t the kind of person to do something like that.

***

As the teens tried to come up with other options now that
the first shock was over, Tommy withdrew from the group and silently made
his way to the outside. At the edge of the cliffs, right below the satellite
dish, he found Jason sitting on a rock, his knees drawn up to his chin
and his arms clasped around them. He was staring out over the desert, towards
the horizon. A rock slipped under Tommy’s foot and clattered down the steep
hillside. Jason looked back at him briefly, acknowledging his presence,
then returned his gaze to the distance. Tommy remembered standing in this
very spot once before, with Jason, Kim, Billy, Trini and Zack. It had been
here that Zordon had first shown them the Thunderzords, and Tommy remembered
the feeling of helplessness he had experienced when it had become clear
that he would not be able to sustain his powers much longer. He imagined
that, though the cause was different, that Jason had to be going through
something very similar right now.
He shared his friend’s silence for a few moments, then
made himself ask in as normal a voice as possible.
"What happened in there?"
Tommy was proud of the fact that he managed to keep all
traces of accusation out of his voice. He knew that Jason hadn’t meant
to hurt Tanya, and that he needed all their support right now.
Jason waited a few more moments, then answered, without
looking at his friend.
"Instant hard-on."
The bald statement hung between the two young men, then
Jason continued.
"Man, I’ve never felt anything like it. One moment, I
was normal, then the next, when she kissed me ... it was all I could do
not to rip her clothes off there and then!" He shook his head. Then, a
note of worry crept into his voice.
"Tanya’s alright, isn’t she? I didn’t mean to hurt her,
it’s just that ..."
Tommy smiled reassuringly.
"She’s okay. A bit shook up, but I don’t think she did
more than bump her hip on the console. Adam managed to catch her in time."
Jason’s shoulders sagged in momentary relief.
"Good."
When it becamear tar that he wasn’t going to say anything
more, Tommy slowly came closer, trying to put a brotherly arm around his
best friend’s shoulders. To his astonishment, Jason stopped him before
he could actually touch him.
"You’d better not."
Slightly hurt, Tommy looked at the other boy. They had
always been able to comfort each other with touch; a rare thing among most
young men, but it had made their relationship and close friendship that
much more precious. Tommy had never admitted it out loud to anyone, but
after Jason had left it had taken him a long time to get over the loss
of something so trivial as a shared smile, an understanding look or a brief
touch on the arm or shoulder. Mostly it had been Jason who had initiated
the contact, but over the course of their friendship, they both had learned
to express their feelings for each other that way, and he knew that Jason
had cherished these brief exchanges as much as he himself had done. They
were only just coming to the point where they could pick up the pieces
of their former relationship and return to the way that they had shared
before, and to have Jason reject him now ... hurt.
Jason seemed to know what was going through the Red Ranger’s
mind, and turned slightly towards his friend. Smiling ruefully and all
too briefly, he explained.
"It’s not you; it’s me." Gathering his thoughts, he knew
he would have to do better than that. Looking down at the ground, he tried
to explain.
"It’s ... it’s just that I’m still ... aroused."
"What? But you’ve been out here for almost half an hour!
I mean ... normally it takes me some time to get it down again, yes, but
never that long. And I don’t think that you’d be so different from me!"
Jason glanced at Tommy.
"You’ve never had one of Mondo’s ... Rita’s ... whoever’s
potions in your bloodstream, either."
"Oh ... yeah. Sorry."
"It’s okay."
"No, it’s not! Look, bro, I ..." Tommy took another step
towards Jason, reaching out again and snatching his hand back as Jason
flinched visibly.
"Jase?"
A moment’s silence passed between the two boys, then Jason
gave the explanation his friend deserved.
"Look, Tom, it’s not that I don’t want you to touch me;
actually, the way I feel right now, I can’t decide whether I want to hit
someone or bawl all over you."
"If that’s what you need, you’re welcome to do either."
Jason smiled briefly, humorlessly.
"I know. Thanks. Problem is, the more I think about it,
the closer you get, a third option starts to crop up."
A batallion of butterflies started to prepare for liftoff
in Tommy’s stomach.
"What third option?" His voice had dropped to a whisper;
try as he might, he couldn’t bring himself to speak normally.
Jason looked at his friend, meeting his gaze fully.
"The third option ... you’re starting to look awfully
tempting, my friend."
The butterflies went from revving up to full kamikaze
runs for Tommy. He stared at Jason, his former rival, enemy, teammate,
leader, best friend, as the meaning of Jason’s words sank in. The young
men looked into each other’s eyes for long minutes, then Jason smiled bitterly
and turned away, to look over the desert once more.
"You’d better stay where you are." His deep voice was
expressionless.
Tommy stood rooted to the spot, his thoughts chaotic.
Jason couldn’t mean what he’d just said, could he? Slowly, the full
impact of the situation descended on Tommy. Jason needed help; only another
Human could give it to him. Although Billy hadn’t said anything specifically,
Tommy was sure that they were rapidly running out of time; Jason
was running out of time. Tommy knew that his friend would rather die than
brutalize another; such an action went against everything they both believed
in, against everything they had been taught and what they were fighting
for. He was as certain about that as he was about himself; the two of them
had talked often enough to know and appreciate each other’s values. Tommy
knew he could never bring himself to consciously hurt another, although
he had accepted long ago -- with Jason’s help -- that his own capacity
for violence was far greater than Jason’s. It gave him a greater edge in
a fight, true, but it had been Jason’s influence again that had taught
him to integrate that dark aspect of his personality into himself and make
it work in a positive rather than a destructive way.
Tommy’s thoughts whirled. He knew that their friends were
inside, trying against hope to come up with a solution for the problem,
but all of them knew that chances were slim. Jason needed *someone*,
needed someone *now*, or he would turn into someone no one, least
of all Jason, could live with.
*You’re starting to look awfully tempting, my friend*
... *tempting* ... *my friend* ... *friend*
Tommy’s butterflies suddenly crash-dived and vanished.
*I can’t do this ... to do this would mean ... touching
Jason ... having him touch me ... making love to Jason ... letting myself
be fucked by Jason ... taking his cock up my ass ... having him
thrust into myself just as I thrust into Kat ...*
Memories of his girlfriend and their trysts suddenly overwhelmed
the rather violent images his mind had conjured up before. Kat was still
a bit hesitant about being intimate, but they were both slowly gaining
more confidence; they had started to experiment a little, and they were
both losing more and more of their inhibitions. Sharing their feelings
for each other through making love was turning out to be a wonderful experience,
and it served to bring them closer together emotionally than before. Tommy
had been somewhat leery about bringing their relationship to that level;
he had always thought that his first intimate encounter would be with Kim,
but that was not to be. Kat had given herself to him out of genuine feeling,
and Tommy knew that sharing himself with her physically had helped him
ultimately to let go of any lingering feelings he still had for the former
Pink Ranger. She would always have a place in his heart; after all, nobody
ever forgets their first love, but Kat had found her own place in his heart.
Tommy did not often open himself to others, but he freely acknowledged
that he loved all of his teammates; only some more than others. Kim certainly
had held first place for a very long time, but now that she had gone, the
one person he was closest to was ... Tommy looked up, startled. All of
a sudden, he knew that he couldn’t decide who meant more to him: The young
woman who shared his body, or the young man who shared his spirit ... and
always would. With that realization came a sense of calm, even of rightness.
The Red Ranger knew that what he was about to offer would be honest
and given out of love, whatever reason others might try to read into it.
"What if I don’t want to stay where I am?" Tommy’s voice
was quiet. All of his previous anxiety was gone, replaced by the certainty
that, if Jason -- if his friend -- needed him, even that way, he
would and could give him the way out nobody had been able to find so far.
Jason whirled around to stare openmouthed at Tommy.
"What?!"
Tommy drew a calming breath and smiled slightly at his
friend.
"You heard me."
Jason got up and looked into Tommy’s eyes.
"Bro ... do you know what you’re saying?"
"I’m saying that if you need me, I’m there for you. In
whatever way you need me. After all, you’ve been there for me more times
than I could count. Maybe it’s time I returned the favor."
"I ... I couldn’t do that to you!"
"Why not?"
"Tommy, haven’t you heard what Billy said? I ... I could
rape
you!"
Jason nearly choked on the word. Rape had always been the one thing he
held in absolute abhorrence. Violence against others was something he had
fought against all his life; it had been one reason he’d found so much
contentment in his Martial Arts, because contrary to popular belief Martial
Arts was not about violence, but about avoiding it. Fighting alien monsters
had taken the whole concept to another plane; the the villains they had
battled had tried to do violence on the Earth in one way or another, but
rape thankfully never had entered the picture.
Jason had another, more personal reason to hate rapists;
his father’s younger sister had been raped and even conceived a child;
his cousin Jeremy -- despite everything, the whole family loved the bright,
friendly child which had been forced into the world through an act of violence,
but all of the family had had to deal with the trauma his aunt had gone
through, and it had taken her years of therapy to rebuild her life. Now
she was married to a childhood friend, and Jeremy had found a great friend
in his stepfather, but as is often the case, the victim wasn’t just one
person. The thought that he could turn into someone capable of disrupting
so many lives turned Jason’s blood cold, and he felt sick at the possibilities
Billy’s report had opened up. He knew that, even had she been here, Emily
would probably not be able to help him, and his first and so far only lover
was back in her native Switzerland. Bernadette would help him, he was sure
of that, but there was no way he could get there in time, and teleporting
her here was simply not an option. He might not be a Ranger himself anymore,
but he would never jeopardize the team’s safety simply to satisfy his own
personal needs. If either Trini or maybe even Kimberly were here, he could
go to either one of them, but they were in Geneva and Miami respectively,
and again, there was no way for him to get there in time to do him any
good. As for Tommy’s offer .... he couldn’t possibly be serious, could
he?
A look into Tommy’s eyes, however, proved that Tommy was.
"It’s not rape if both partners are willing. And I am
willing." The conviction in Tommy’s voice rocked Jason.
"Why?"
"As I said, you were there for me. Even after I tried
my level best to destroy the world, and kill you -- several times over.
You forgave me, and accepted me as your friend. You basically gave me my
life. It’s high time I gave you something back. So -- if you really need
me, I’m here for you. In whatever way you need me to be."
"This is hardly the same!" Jason protested.
"Maybe not," Tommy conceded. "But if *no sense in beating
around the bush* having sex with you is what it takes, then that’s
what it’s going to be."
Seeing that Jason was about to reject his offer out of
hand, Tommy used the one argument he knew Jason wouldn’t be able to refute.
"Besides, you’d do the same for me."
As he’d known it would, that shut Jason up. Tommy stood,
waiting. It was up to his friend now to accept his offer or not. And maybe,
just maybe, the others had found a solution other than this.
Jason took a few steps, then looked at his best friend
again. He’d been only halfway serious when he’d said that Tommy looked
tempting; he’d never been attracted to guys before, although he had speculated,
like most people would, what it would be like. He’d just never met anyone
who could possibly tempt him that way -- but, come to think of it, if
he ever were inclined to give a homosexual encounter a try, it would have
to be someone like ... Tommy. Who had just basically offered himself. And
it wouldn’t even be just for the hell of it. And it would help him out
of this mess. And ... he couldn’t possibly do that to Tommy. Could he?
Feeling slightly dizzy and more than a bit hysterical,
Jason forced his mind away from images of touching Tommy; of running his
hands across the hard, muscled torso, of grinding his hips and his still-engorged
cock against Tommy’s tight butt, of kneeling behind him and easing the
pressure in his groin, which had not abated since its violent eruption
when Tanya kissed him, by slowly pushing his aching shaft into a hot, soft
opening ... with a shudder, Jason wrenched his thoughts towards the here
and now.
"Look, you know I’m not into guys. And, while I appreciate
the offer more than I can say, I know you’re not, either. So, I’m wondering
-- why?"
Tommy could do nothing but be totally honest.
"Because ... you’re you. I couldn’t do this for anyone
else. Just you."
Jason was dumbfounded.
"Why me?"
His question came out in a barely audible whisper.
Tommy looked at his friend and said what was in his heart,
speaking a truth that both knew, but had never before acknowledged.
"Because I love you. As my friend, as one of the really
great guys, as someone it’s been a privilege to know, and as a person this
world would be poorer without. I can’t let you do this to yourself; I can’t
let you suffer, or worse, let you go. As Kim said to me, when I lost the
Green Power the first time, we need you. I need you. I’ve needed
you a thousand times while you were gone, I needed you when you came back
-- and not just to become the Gold Ranger! --, and I will probably need
you a few million times for the rest of our lives. And you know what? I
know you’ll be there for me. Even when you’re someplace else, like you
were in Switzerland, you’ll be there if I really need you."
Both boys remembered anguished, doubtful letters and reassurances;
late-night phonecalls and encouragement which had kept their relationship
alive even across months and two continents.
Tommy swallowed once, hard, then made himself say the
rest.
"Now you’re the one who needs someone. Granted, it doesn’t
have to be me, but it looks like there’s nobody else. And you know something?
It feels great to be needed that way. And that’s why I can offer you this.
Giving my body to you is nothing compared to what you’ve given me in the
time we’ve known each other. You’ve saved my mind, my spirit, even before
we became friends. For once I can pay you back."
"I never expected you to ‘pay me back’," Jason
protested, shaken and touched.
"I know. But maybe that’s what I need to do."
Jason’s eyes misted over. He turned away from Tommy, too
choked up to formulate a reply. Here was his best friend, offering him
everything he was, a way out of his predicament, and more love than he
knew what to do with, and he still couldn’t bring himself to accept the
offer. In addition, a small part of his mind urged him to take Tommy up
on his offer, to grab the way out of the nightmare his life was threatening
to turn into, and his needful body wasn’t helping by screaming at him to
just say yes and get it over with. Again, lustful images of him thrusting
himself into Tommy’s mouth and ass assailed his mind, further threatening
his slowly eroding control.
In desperation, Jason looked at his friend again.
"What if I can’t control myself? What if I hurt you? Damage
you ... internally?"
Tommy swallowed. He didn’t want to think about that; despite
his conviction that he was doing the right thing, that he would gladly
suffer more for the sake of his friend, these issues had to be addressed.
After all, there was a very reassibssibility that his fighter’s instincts
would kick in without him meaning to, and then disaster would strike. Jason
needed a willing partner, or his friend’s physical needs would override
his honor, and the damage to Jason’s spirit would be far greater than any
injuries Tommy’s body might suffer. Besides, the male body wasn’t exactly
ideally equipped to handle that kind of treatment. Fortunately, Tommy could
offer at least some reassurance.
"You won’t have to control yourself all that much. What’s
more, if you should get violent, I’m more than able to handle you." Both
young men grinned slightly at that. While Jason was stronger and more muscular,
Tommy was faster and more agile. All in all, they were pretty evenly matched,
as they knew from countless workouts and sparring matches.
"I won’t fight you. I repeat, whatever you need, I’m willing
to give -- freely. Plus, I know that, if at all possible, you won’t want
to hurt me. Just as I couldn’t hurt you or Kat when Gasket had me in that
arena. You trusted me with your life then; I’m trusting you with mine now.
I’d say the odds are pretty good."
Jason turned away again, fighting his tears, and looked
towards the horizon. The sun was about to set and slowly painted the desert
sky in vibrant oranges and reds. After a few minutes, he spoke. His voice
was a bit hoarse with emotion, and so soft that the Red Ranger had to strain
his ears to hear his friend.
"I ... I don’t know what to say."
"All you have to say is yes."
"Part of me wants nothing more. But there’s another part
that tells me that this is not right, that I’d better take just two more
steps and jump off this cliff, and the problem will go away."
Tommy started, alarmed; they were indeed only a couple
of steps away from the edge and a forty-metre drop. He was about three
yards away from Jason -- if the other should decide to ...
Jason looked back over his shoulder and grimaced slightly.
"Don’t worry; I’m not going to do anything stupid."
Tommy breathed a sigh of relief.
"You scared me for a moment, bro."
"Yeah; I scared myself. But ..... you know what? When
there was a chance that the loss of the Golden Power could kill me, I accepted
that as part of the price for being a Ranger again. I’d do it again in
a heartbeat, even knowing the outcome. But for something like this ....
some stupid potion .... I don’t want to die for something like this. Not
after what you just told me. Especially not after what you just
told me. I feel like ... I have too much to live for."
"You certainly do."
Both young men looked at each other, the emotion of the
moment making them feel awkward with each other. At the same time they’d
never felt closer. Finally, Tommy couldn’t hold Jason’s gaze any longer
and lowered his eyes. All of a sudden, he noticed the considerable bulge
in Jason’s black jeans. The other teen noticed the sudden blush, followed
Tommy’s eyes and reddened himself. Self-consciously, Jason cleared his
throat. The small sound exploded into the awkward silence and the two tried
to compose themselves.
Finally, Tommy found his voice again.
"So ... you want to go ahead, or what?"
Jason thought for another moment, then met his friend’s
eyes fully.
"No."
Before Tommy could protest, Jason went on.
"I appreciate your offer; I really do. And I promise,
if there’s no other way, I’ll come to you. But only if it’s the
only way out. Doing something like that will have an effect on our
relationship, and the last thing I want is to lose you as my friend."
"You won’t."
The quiet reassurance calmed Jason even further. Inside,
he accepted Tommy’s offer, as the other had known he would; they were too
close, had been through too much together to let each other go without
a fight. Together they would pull through, somehow; after all, they were
a team, weren’t they? But Jason still was somewhat reluctant; some part
of him still hoped there would be another way.
*There has to be another way! There has to be!*
Tommy watched his friend for a few more moments, then
looked over his shoulder towards the entrance to the Power Chamber. Their
discussion had taken longer than he’d thought; the others inside must be
going crazy with worry by now. And maybe, just maybe Billy, or Alpha, or
Zordon had found a solution by now.
"You coming?"
Jason nodded, but didn’t move.
"Give me a bit more time. I’ll be right behind you."
"Okay. Don’t take too long. The others care about you
too, you know."
Jason smiled slightly.
"I know. I just ...."
Tommy nodded understandingly. He’d been a loner for large
parts of his life, and he understood the need for solitude -- just as Jason
had taught him that there were times when a friend had to breach that solitude
and hold out a hand to the other. He’d done that today, and no matter what
the ultimate outcome would be, their relationship -- they -- would survive.
He turned away from the broad-shouldered figure in black and made´his
way to the door. Just before he opened the access, he heard Jason’s voice
come to him through the gathering dusk.
"Tom?"
"Yeah, bro?"
"I love you too."
Tommy let the words, never before spoken between them
before today, settle into his soul .
"I know."
With that, he put his palm on the access panel. As the
entrance opened with a soft "whoosh", he heard Jason once again.
"Thanks."
As the Red Ranger stepped into the tunnel to rejoin their
friends, he smiled, even though the solitary young man behind him couldn’t
see it, and whispered his answer.
"Anytime, my friend. Anytime."

***

An uncomfortable silence greeted Tommy as he returned
to the Power Chamber. His teammates looked up at him with various expressions
of hope and despair, but it was obvious that they hadn’t found a way out
of Jason’s -- their -- dilemma. Nevertheless, Tommy felt he had
to ask.
"Did you come up with anything? Billy?"
The former Blue Ranger shook his head once. Billy’s face
all too clearly showed his frustration that so far even his brilliant intellect
hadn’t been able to come up with even a slightly workable solution. Well,
actually, he had one, even a fairly obvious one, but he’d been hesitant
to put this before the team. After all, there was no way to accurately
guess at the reactions of the two -- no, four -- teammembers it
would involve. And the repercussions, should they indeed choose that course
of action, would be staggering for all. Still, Tommy deserved an answer.
"I’m sorry, Tommy; none of us has come up with even a
remotely feasible plan."
"Rangers."
Zordon’s deep voice turned everybody’s attention to his
timewarp tube.
"Rangers, I fear time
is running out on us. Further analysis has revealed that Jason has slightly
less than two hours left before his condition becomes irreversible. If
there is a way -- any way at all that you can help him, it has to be implemented
now."
Billy and Tommy shared a despairing glance. Both young
men knew that they simply could not let their friend down. Breathing deeply,
Tommy asked for details he had to have, before he could go back to his
best friend.
"What can we expect, Zordon? What exactly is going to
happen; what will Jase have to deal with?"
Billy had turned towards Alpha, who had extracted another
printout from the analytical computer. The little android had been uncharacteristically
quiet in all the time the Rangers had discussed their former teammate’s
predicament, working instead on the various analyses, checking his databanks
for the smallest detail that might point towards a solution. So far, all
his efforts had been in vain. This, however, was something he could
help the Rangers with.
Billy quickly scanned the data Alpha handed him, then
summarized for his friends.
"This is going to sound callous, guys, but actually things
could be a lot worse."
"What do you mean, a lot worse?"
"Well, according to the little information we’ve been
able to find, Jason will not experience pain or fever of any kind, although
there will be some degree of physical discomfort until and unless he achieves
physical relief. He won’t be delirious; on the contrary, his mental faculties
will remain at the same level they are now. However, the biological imperative
will
be getting stronger, the longer he has to wait. Ideally, he should have
had started to seek relief as soon as his condition was triggered."
At that, Tanya flinched guiltily. Adam squeezed her hand
comfortingly, and Kat gave her a sympathetic smile. To Tanya’s everlasting
relief, none of the Rangers looked at her accusingly.
"Basically, the longer Jason waits to do something about
his ... condition, the stronger the initial urge is going to be. To be
perfectly blunt, as soon as he starts ejaculating, the more control he
should have over his actions. The danger of injuring a willing partner
decreases exponentially. His need should run in two-hour cycles, with shorter
rest periods in between. After all, even a chemically hyper-stimulated
body needs time to recharge, as it were."
"Phew!"
Rocky’s exclamation drew the others’ attention. He looked
at them apologetically.
"I’m sorry; I don’t mean to be flippant or anything, but
ever since Billy first came up with what’s wrong with Jason, I kept having
this vision of Jason turning into Mr Spock."
The others looked at him as if the Blue Ranger had lost
his mind.
"You know, from STAR TREK? The episode where Spock
gets this blood fever and has to mate or die, and only a duel to the death
could break him out of it?"
Predictably, it was one of the girls who first lit into
him.
"Really, Rocky, how insensitive can you get?" Kat seemed
on the verge of exploding -- or breaking into tears; it was hard to tell
at the moment.
"I know you watch that stuff all the time, but Jason’s
problem can hardly compare to ...."
"Actually, it is not a bad comparison." Billy’s voice
stopped the blonde Australian from further verbal attacks.
"Furthermore, it certainly is a legitimate concern. Although
I hadn’t made the connection, when I first took a look at the data, something
seemed familiar about it. Like Rocky, I’m relieved that this potion of
Rita’s won’t have the same effect on Jason as pon farr had on Mr
Spock."
The others looked at Billy with varying degrees of astonishment
and disbelief. Finally, Kat found her voice again.
"Billy ... are you seriously telling us that you
-- of all people -- watch STAR TREK?"
The young scientist’s faint blush and slightly sheepish
expression gave him away. Somewhat defensively, he said:
"Well, I used to, when I was younger ..." his voice trailed
away, as the others grinned; this revelation eased the tension that had
gathered around them to some extent, and the six teens all relaxed slightly.
Soon, however, their smiles vanished as they were well aware that they
were no closer to a solution than before.
Adam had been watching his comrades closely; although
it was a relief to all of them that Jason’s problem might not be as dangerous
to him or to his eventual partner as they’d previously assumed, it still
didn’t change the fact that so far they hadn’t even come close to finding
said partner. Something in Billy’s expression caught his particular attention;
there were just too many glances between the printouts, the exit behind
which Jason had vanished, and the rest of the team. An uncomfortable feeling
spread through his stomach. In a slightly strangled voice, as if dreading
the answer, he asked nevertheless.
"You’ve come up with a way, haven’t you?"
All the others’ faces swivelled to Billy, who coloured
up again. Swallowing several times, he finally made himself look at his
friends and say what had to be said.
"Yes."
That quiet statement drew a deluge of excited questions
from Rocky and the girls; Tommy, who had found his own answer outside on
the cliff, exchanged a rueful glance with Billy. Adam noticed that exchange,
and his sense of unease grew stronger.
At last, Billy held up his hands to quiet everybody down,
looked once more at their leader who nodded encouragingly, and told the
group his solution.
"I have been hesitant to suggest this, because it would
mean a very personal involvement from all parties, and I could not guarantee
how Jason would react to such a proposal, but I can see no other way."
"Billy, why don’t you just cut to the chase and spit it
out? As Zordon said, Jason’s running out of time, fast!" Patience had never
been Rocky’s strong suit.
"Acutally, it’s fairly obvious."
"It is?"
"Yes. One or more of us has to help Jason."
Stunned silence greeted that statement. Before any of
them could react, however, Tommy spoke into the sudden quiet.
"It’s the only way, guys. We all know this, even Jase."
With a deep breath, he dropped his own bombshell.
"That’s why I told him that I’ll go with him."