Long Journey Home

The Long Journey Home 4
 
"Hey, who’s for breakfast?"
 
Rocky’s cheerful question for once didn’t elicit the usual groans from the rest of the Rangers. Mondo had really outdone himself this time, waking them shortly after dawn on a Saturday morning, and there was nothing quite like having to fall out of bed and go directly into battle. It was something they all felt they could do without, but even Tommy had to admit, it certainly was effective.
 
"Count me in," Kat yawned delicately, stretching now that the adrenaline was wearing off. "I think I could do with about half a gallon of coffee."
 
"Yeah, me too." Tanya leaned into Adam, snuggling sleepily close as his arm encircled her shoulder. "Buckets of coffee, fresh pancakes, strawberries and cream ..."
 
"I like the way the lady thinks," Rocky grinned at the Green Ranger, exchanging yet another high five with his oldest friend. The slimly muscular Asian grinned right back as he tightened his hold on his girlfriend. He liked the way she looked this early in the morning, a bit mussed up, still soft and warm from sleep. He fleetingly wished he could actually watch her waking up, but reined his thoughts in again. They’d agreed they weren’t quite ready for that experience yet.
 
"Where would we go for that, though? Any ideas, guys? Tommy?"
 
All turned to the Red Ranger, who had remained silent throughout their banter. But then, that was nothing new; for the past six weeks, ever since the trouble with Jason began, Tommy had become more and more withdrawn. Of them all, he took it the hardest that the former Gold Ranger had his ... mind ... switched into some other reality, apparently gliding from universe to universe with no way of coming home. Alpha and Zordon had managed to find out that a random reality warp had manifested in the park six weeks ago, trapping his best friend and exchanging him with his alter egos from different realities.
 
The first transfer hadn’t been too noticeable; apart from the fact that that other Jason had a hard time accepting that he was no longer in charge of the Rangers -- actually, held no Powers at all anymore -- he hadn’t been that different. He fit in quite well with the team, once he accepted that Tommy was not the girl he was in love with. That had come as a shock to all of them -- they’d come to know that there had been duplicates of all of them in Angel Grove over a hundred years ago, when Kim had been sucked into the time hole, but to learn that in some realities, they were not exactly like they were in the here and now had taken some getting used to.
 
The Blue Ranger had had a field day as he’d learned that Jason was in love with Tommy’s female counterpart; he had teased tea team leader unmercifully, until the next switch occurred. They all had gotten quite a surprise as Jason suddenly shrank back from them in the Power Chamber; it soon became obvious that this Jason was not ‘Jason’ at all.
 
Meeting Jess in their friend’s body had passed ‘strange’ very quickly, to slide into the realm of ‘downright weird’. The young woman tried very hard to adapt to her new surroundings, but it had been difficult for her to have to go back to school, when she already was at college, and to learn that her longtime friends were, in fact, the Power Rangers -- something she hadn’t known before. Kat and Tanya had taken Jess under their wings, because it was hard for Tommy and Jess to be together; she had a tendency to snuggle up to the man she hoped to marry one day which was disconcerting for all. After all, it was not the 5’4" twenty-year-old woman who unconsciously tried holding hands with the Red Ranger, but a broad-shouldered male Ex-Ranger. Rocky’s teasing grew noticeably less frequent as he saw how hard it was for both Tommy and Jess to deal with their altered relationship. Also, try as she might, Jess had not been able to completely mask her hurt and resentment at what must've seemed like a monumental lack of trust towards her by her friends -- especially by Tommy, her live-in lover.
 
Thankfully, it lasted not the month it had taken for Jason#2, as the Rangers referred to their first ‘guest’ now, to vacate their friend’s body, but only a week. What had come after that, though ...
 
Tommy shivered slightly as he tried to focus on his friends. Ever since Jess had gone and Jay occupied Jason’s reality, he'd had a hard timepineping his head together. It hadn’t really surprised him to learn that he and Jason were in love with each other in those other dimensions. They always had shared a very special relationship, and given the fact that their counterparts were female, it wasn’t all that difficult to accept. What was somewhat harder to swallow was that Jess had confided to him that she’d gone to sleep in his arms the night before she got caught up in the exchange; it had made for a more than rude awakening to find herself far from her lover, in a younger, male body and in the company of the Rangers all at once. She’d been surprised and a little angry to learn their identities, since she and her Tommy had been a couple for over four years, and he’d never told her about his ‘day job’. Tommy grinned, a bit amused. He certainly didn’t want to be in his counterpart’s shoes when Jess came home.
 
All too soon, however, Tommy’s thoughts returned to their current ‘guest’. Jay and his relationship with his alter ego had come as something of a shock. They’d all expected a connection between the two of them by now, but to learn that in Jay’s reality they were openly lovers, and had been for some time, was a lot harder to come to terms with. Not even Rocky had dared to joke about it, and Kat ...
 
Tommy sneaked a peek at his girlfriend. Things weren’t going quite as well as they’d hoped; it was only recently that Tommy had begun to question his feelings for the Pink Ranger. He still thought about Kimberly more than he cared to admit, and had seriously considered contacting her in Florida to sort themselves out once and for all, when the mess with Jason started. For the past six weeks, he’d been preoccupied with worry for his best friend, wondering and hoping when and if he would get him back. Jay’s arrival had raised questions in everybody’s minds about his feelings for Jason, especially since the familiar dark eyes looked at him with only thinly-disguised emotion.
 
Kat had complained that Jay was scoping him out; much as Tommy would have liked to deny it, he knew it was true. The most innocent of touches, things he’d always shared instinctively with Jason, took on new overtones, and he was getting increasingly more uncomfortable. Part of it had to do with the fact that it didn’t feel as weird as he thought it should when Jay slid a friendly arm around his waist instead of his shoulders, or gave him winks and looks one could only describe as intimate. As a consequence, Tommy withdrew from everybody, isolating himself as much as possible, wrestling with his worries and unanswered questions. Of one thing he was sure, though: He and Jason would have to have a long talk about their experiences if -- no, when; he refused to believe otherwise -- the former Gold Ranger came back.
 
Wrenching his thoughts back to the present with a marked effort, Tommy gave Adam’s question some thought. He knew he could not shut himself off totally, no matter how much he might wish for some time alone to think things through. It was too early yet to go to the Youth Center, and while Mrs DeSantos never complained, it would be too inconsiderate if all five of them dropped in on the large household without warning. An idea began to form.
 
"Um ... who of you can actually cook?"
 
The girls looked at him mistrustfully. Exchanging wary glances with Kat, Tanya admitted to some experience in the kitchen.
 
Tommy grinned. He knew what they were probably thinking, but that wasn’t quite what he had in mind. Getting slowly into the spirit of things, he reassured the girls.
 
"I’m not suggesting you feed all of us ..."
 
"Good," Kat interrupted him, with a playful scowl. "I might be willing to cook for you, but there’s no way I’m making breakfast for that bottomless pit!" She elbowed Rocky in the side.
 
While the Blue Ranger took loud exception to the jibe, to the amusement of the others, Tommy quickly thought about the feasibility of his plan. *Yes, I think it might work!*
 
"Guys ... guys, will you listen?" The others turned towards him, still exchanging mock threats. "My parents aren’t home this weekend, and you know our kitchen is large enough ... what do you say we all pitch in and walk by the shopping center on the way to my place? We can get fresh fruit, milk, a bag of pastries and whatever and eat at home. If Kat and Tanya will agree to cook some waffles, or eggs, or something, I’ll provide the coffee and stuff. We do clean-up together, and see what we can do for the rest of the day."
 
The girls eyed the male Rangers consideringly, then exchanged a glance. Tanya sounded more than slightly dubious as she cautiously agreed. "If you guys promise not to skip out of KP duty...." She earned a chorus of afftivetives. Kat gave her an encouraging nod. "Oh well, I guess we can trust you this once." She smiled as she said that.
 
Adam and Rocky exchanged high fives once more. Just as the five were getting ready to walk to the Oliver house, Tommy turned and looked up the small hillock. His eyes fastened directly on the dark-haired young man who was picking his way carefully down the slippery grass. Before he could alert the rest of the Rangers that something had obviously brought Jo tho the park this early as well, he saw the look of astonishment cross over the well-known features. It quickly changed into a grimace of pain as the solid frame began to sway and shudder. Tommy started in alarm, but before he could take more than a few steps, the newcomer fell to his knees, reaching out a hand and gasping for breath. Something alerted the others, and they watched in horror as the muscular frame collapsed right before their eyes, crumbling unconscious to the ground.