Catalyst
by Peregrine

Trini paced, watching the news report about the explosion at the Jacob's Ladder Mall. She didn't know why, but she had a desperate urge to check on Jason, and after arguing with herself for a while she activated Jason's pager, hoping he had remembered to put it on silent just in case he was somewhere where it might be embarrassing. Mind you, he looked sweet fumbling around for it sometimes. She allowed herself a faint, worried smile.

She waited and waited and there ... a beep back and she sighed with relief. Until she read the message.

T - am in x-ploded mall. SOS. We r getting out. J+B

"No ...oh no ..." Trini sat down, suddenly feeling chilled for some reason. "After all that time on missions and you get blown up in Angel Grove?!" She felt a familiar cold knot of fear twist in her stomach.

She clenched her hands. "And who is 'B'?" She messaged back swiftly.

Am getting others - will find you. Be safe. luv T

Trini fought back her emotions and walked over to the phone, dialing a familiar number with trembling fingers.

"Hi ...Kim ... look, I need a favour. Can you give me a lift?...I need to get to that building. Because Jason's in there. I know ..." tears began to flow, though her voice remained calm. "Can you get the others? He might need our help. Meet you by the fountain in the plaza? Thanks, Kim ... yeah ...I know he will. Too stubborn to kill ...bye."

She put the phone down and looked around at the empty room. Jason should be here, should be making the place small with his sheer presence and physicality as he crept up on her and made her laugh, or surprised her with spontaneous gifts ... or as they stood on the apartment balcony, working through their respective katas in the dawn light in a comfortable silence before breakfast. Instead, the place was empty and the shadows full of dread, and she knew she needed life and love around her. Trini stayed in silence for a moment before getting ready to meet Kim and Tommy and picking the hands-free phone up to call her friends; now she needed them to stop the cold chill of fear settling into her bones.

~*~

The air was tinged with fire and drifting smoke in downtown Angel Grove as Trini, Kim and Tommy waited at the fountain. "Come ON, Tanya ... ah ..."

Three figures half-jogged towards them. "Jase really in that place?" Rocky asked without even greeting them.

"Rocky!" Tanya thumped him.

"What? I called Kat and Zack, too ... they were closing the dance studio and coming right down," Rocky said, looking anxious.

Adam nodded. "We shut the dojo as soon as we heard. The stunt choreography can wait and Aisha is coming down as soon as she can from the University."

"I have to let someone know he's alive in there," Trini said, with a hint of desperation cracking her control.

"Poor Jase ..." Kim empathised with their lost friend. "I wouldn't want to be alone in something like that." She looked at the blazing heap of the building.

"He's not alone," Trini responded "That much I do know, but I think the pager has gone flat. I told him to change the batteries ... he never listens." Her voice quavered a little and Kim and Tanya surreptitiously moved in next to her as Kat and Zack arrived.

"Got here as soon as we could," Zack explained, helping Kat through the débris.

"Me too ." Aisha added, striding up with a lab coat slung over one arm.

They looked at each other grimly and there was a moment's silence as they pondered why they had gathered. Eventually Tommy broke the deadlock. "Come on ... let's tell the rescue crews at least there is someone to rescue."

They threaded through the crowd towards the rescue co-ordination area. Next to it was the local news film crew and an update just going out as they tried to get across to the rescue centre.

"... The latest update on this terrible incident now points to this appalling destruction of property being the work of terrorist activists. A statement was delivered to the police in the last half hour, and to the media, that a group calling themselves the Terra-ists - a Human Purists breakaway group, have demanded the immediate shutdown of the Terra Venture project because it is ... quote 'An Abomination in the sight of God and Man, as man was given his place in the Universe and that place is here'...unquote." The attractive female presenter looked over her shoulder as there was a thump of débris falling a little too close for comfort. "The terrorist group have threatened to randomly bomb at least one building a day until the Terra Venture project is shut down. They also denied they were responsible for the alarm that enabled most of the people to evacuate without injury or fatality, stating their intention was to prove a point and there would be no bomb warnings as that would not persuade the authorities of their utter commitment to their goal. Currently we are trying to contact the Managing Director of the Terra Venture program for his opinion ..."

"Terrorists? In Angel Grove?" Kat was astonished. Somehow that seemed much more unlikely than Rita's monsters or Power Rangers.

"That is unbelievable," Tommy murmured. "Terra Venture is no danger to anyone ..." but then he was distracted by a woman raising her voice.

"No ...no, you listen to me ...'buddy'," her forceful tones cut through even all the noise and chaos. "I'm telling you there could be a good chance that a friend of ours is still inside there!"

"Lady," the rescue co-ordinator said wearily, "If that is the case, then I am sorry, but the chances of survival in a burning, collapsed building are remote."

"The name is Kathy Bishop, and I know all about probabilities of environment collapse survival, thank you very much. I damn well wrote the book." She leaned across the table. "And I am telling you that there is a chance he is alive...that people might be alive in there."

"She's right," Trini confirmed, stepping in. "There is definitely someone alive in there. My fiancé Jason Scott."

The other woman looked at her thankfully and with a slight flicker of recognition that seemed to pass in the urgency of making her point. "See... ?!"

"And how do you figure that?" the rescue co-ordinator asked patiently.

"He paged me," Trini replied calmly and Kathy crowed with delight at the simplicity of the argument.

"See? Now get off your ass and start looking for survivors!" the fiery woman demanded. "Will is too damn clever to get himself killed!"

The group of ex-Rangers looked at each other, a few half smiles appearing despite the dire situation.

"Alright! Alright!" The co-ordinator gave up. "We'll look, okay? But we are unable to get in there at the moment - the place is too dangerous. There is no guarantee they will remain safe though obviously we will try everything we can..."

There was an almighty "whumph" and the building actually dropped down a few storeys. Fiery débris started to rain down like the wrath of god.

"Back away!" ordered the co-ordinator. "I want a safety cordon of an additional 500 metres' perimeter set up. This place is coming down sometime soon and I don't want it to be on innocent bystanders, however well-meaning ..." the rebuke, though indirect, was noticeable and a few of the people with Kathy began to lead her away.

"C'mon ...let's leave them to it," one of the men said.

"Neil, you are kidding me!" Kathy retorted. "I'm not going anywhere until I am sure they are looking for him."

"Kathy ... you weren't sure he was coming to lunch, anyway," another intervened.

"He emailed ... he said he was, Chris, so he WAS, alright? I tried his phone ... nothing ..." Kathy replied fiercely. "Besides, he could be okay. She said her guy was alright." She indicated Trini.

"He was when he paged me," Trini confirmed, the two groups merging somewhat in their mutual concern. She looked back at the building that had just dropped and added in a small voice, "...I just hope he is now ."

~*~

"Billy ... Billy, wake up!" Jason hissed.

Flash of images —

Man standing in an office ...briefcase of money ... passing it over ... shaking hands ... explosives ... office ... looked familiar ...

The domes ... the domes bursting like exploding eggs ... one after another ... people running with fire ...familiar people ...roiling firecloud rolling over them all ....stench of burning flesh making him gag ...

"Billy!" Jason shook him and nearly yelped himself as his injured friend leapt a mile in shock and sat back panting with fear.

"Sorry, Jase ...must have drifted ..."

"S'okay, bro ... look, something going on, I can feel it, we HAVE to get out of this area." Jason said urgently.

Billy frowned. "I thought we were stuck here." He felt cold and shocky and fought an urge to shiver.

"We are," Jason admitted. "We have to get through that barrier ...we have to, Billy ..." His eyes were vibrant with urgency, and Billy moved in response.

"Help me out here," he gasped as his leg protested the movement. "Get me to that grid ..."

Jason unsteadily heaved Billy over to the confining grid, hearing the grunts of pain as he did so. Billy ran expert fingers over the mesh and frowned as he started seeking upwards for something.

Jason was feeling the danger growing inexorably ...like a tidal wave poised to break. "Billy ... please ..." he begged, looking over into the darkness as if something was stalking them hungrily.

"It has an electric mechanism. Hold on." Billy popped it open and began fiddling with wires with trembling fingers as Jason's anxiety levels increased.

"No damn current, that's why," he announced. He reached up and yanked down the cable going to the flickering light.

"Wait," Jason said into the darkness.

"What?" Billy replied, not waiting as it happened.

"You're not giving this a silly name? A retransmogrifying polarity dohicky?" Jason asked, nearly on the verge of giggles with his lightheadedness and concussion.

Billy snorted. "I could call it ... a switch, but the copyright is taken. So a Cranston Switch then ... which I will demonstrate ...like ...so ..." there was a spark from the raw connection and the grid slid upwards. "A Cranston Switch never fails but only works once."

"Let's move." Jason ordered, trying to fight the laughter that was threatening when he could feel the danger crawling over his back and settling cold hands around his neck.

Billy tried to move and Jason went through first, practically dragging him. And still the danger persisted ... a screaming crescendo of panic building higher and higher.

"Leave me!" Billy gasped out, barely conscious from the rough treatment as Jason's effort became more obviously frantic. "Go! Something's gonna happen, isn't it? Go ... get clear ..."

"Don't ... be ..." heave, tug and pull, "a bloody ... idiot ..." Jason braced and pulled. "You been eating junk food again, haven't you?"

"Jase ..." Billy's voice was weak and pleading, "I'll never forgive myself if you died when you shouldn't have."

Jason's response shot back sharp and uncompromising. "Well, if I die there's no way you'll be alive, so it's a bit useless to be worrying about it. Quit trying to die on me! The Billy I knew fought to live, not give me this martyr crap."

There was a rumble from above them and Jason's instinct spiked, sending a surge of adrenalin through his body.

"Jase ... go ... please! I can't be responsible for more deaths, especially yours," Billy demanded weakly. His pleas fell on deaf ears. Jason was not going to leave a friend and team-mate behind, not for anything.

"Sorry, bro, this is going to be damn painful, but ..." Jason grabbed Billy's legs and tried to get a semi-sprint going as a deafening noise signalled the weight of the building punching down into the foundations.

The roar of sound echoed around him, the billowing, choking, blinding dust whirled down the tubes in a storm of white powdered snow-dust. Jason pushed his fatigued body to its limits, having to ignore the way Billy's limp form was banging into things, the way he was just having to crash through things, and then ...

Plummeting downward into a foul stench and liquid ...

...clipping the slick edge, losing his grip on his friend and thumping on his side into the stagnant water...and the danger instinct faded, quenched by the cooling waters of comparative safety, letting him drift into unconsciousness.

~*~

The group of friends sat disconsolately with their new acquaintances, sipping cups of coffee, waiting for news. Since they had arrived, seven hours had passed and the evening was drawing in and the light fading, but there was not one mention of leaving. There had been some bodies recovered from some of the rubble and débris, and each time Trini's face had been a mask of calm, only letting her emotions show in relief when she identified that it wasn't Jason. Each time she looked up to see that emotion mirrored in Kathy and the others' expressions. She realised that for everyone she ever heard about on a bulletin or a report - missing, lost, alone, killed, abducted ... they were all the equivalent of Jason to someone. They all had people whose lives would be touched by their absence. Here they were, focussing all their thoughts on Jason, willing Jason to be safe and well and not caring what happened to anyone else. And there was Kathy and her friends doing the same for their friend. What if only one of them made it? What if neither of them made it?

She couldn't face that. Would she just walk away if they won and Kathy lost? Not care if her friend was killed because Jason was okay?

"I'm sure ... I'm sure your friend is fine," Trini spoke up suddenly to Kathy, startling her slightly. "Really." She smiled reassuringly.

Kathy sighed. "If only I hadn't sent that email. Stupid, stupid ..." she berated herself. "First day off he takes since he started, and we have to drag him out."

"It wasn't your fault," one of the other women cut in hastily, having obviously heard Kathy take responsibility for this before during their vigil. "We all wanted him to come."

"He's lucky to have such good friends," Kim chipped in. He must be some guy to have his entire workforce turn out for him like this.

"You couldn't help but like him. I mean, he's so clever, but you wouldn't know it," the woman replied. "He never rubbed it in like some others I know." There were meaningful glances and several nodded, agreeing with her.

"Yeah, it was almost as if you were doing him a favour by talking to him," Kathy said softly. "And when you looked at his eyes and saw that pain ..." she bit her lip. "Well, anyway, I know that he's too smart to get killed."

There was a chorus of agreement around her and the group tried to lift their spirits by reassuring her.

"Jason is too stubborn to be killed as well. Besides, he's used to this sort of thing," Trini remarked, unable to resist throwing her the same line of hope she had be given. "He's in the Navy. SEALs." That was the first time she had ever regarded Jason's profession as an advantage. A revelation in itself.

There was a murmur of appreciation from the others before it died down into silence. "In some ways we feel responsible." Kathy said slowly. "We are the Terra Venture team. Ironic really. If the fire alarm hadn't gone off and we had all been there, they wouldn't have had to threaten any other buildings. No word of a lie, the whole lot would have collapsed there and then."

The group shuddered at their near miss. "It's really nice to think that there is an expert at survival in there with Will," Chris said gratefully. "Makes things more hopeful."

And there was the second revelation for Trini. Everyone needed 'a Jason' to be there. All those missions - all those faceless people whom she just saw as taking Jason from her - Jason was their hope in the darkness.

She had been seeing her side only ... worried about him only, not about them. It wasn't until now, when she was in the position to see another do the same, that she fully appreciated that for every successful mission he did, friends would hug their friends again, parents would have children back to love, fiancées, wives, partners have the other half of their souls restored to them that they thought lost forever.

She found suddenly she really cared about the fate not just of Jason, but of the other known to be lost in there, and found herself hoping that Jason was safe not just for her sake, but for the sake of the other man missing in there as well.

~*~

Jason groaned and then his nostrils twitched in disgust as a rank odour wormed its way into his consciousness. His head throbbed, the head wound burned like fire and his fingers pushed against thick cold ooze. He coughed, everywhere seeming to ache and protest. How long had he been out?

"Billy? Dammit, ugh ... Billy? " He felt around in the darkness, prodding for a body and found sodden material under his hands. "Oh man, there you are. Billy, you awake?"

Flash of images -

Domes bursting with fire, exploding ... people running ... people he knew, his friends ... fire chasing them, consuming them ...seared flesh on bones ...stench thick in the air, a wall of fire collapsing over him.

Pain ...pain ... REAL pain ...

"Arrgh ... Jase , my leg ...hands off of my leg!" Billy choked out, coming round to pressure on his right leg.

"Geez, sorry, man." Jason lifted his hand away quickly, embarrassed he had made such an error.

"Arggh, that doesn't feel any better!" Billy said tightly, gasping in pain. "You can put it back if you want." He gave a painful laugh and coughed at the smell. "You know, Jase, the standard of your rescues are really going downhill. I think I might change suppliers."

That raised a chuckle from his long-time friend. "You think this is bad, you ought to have smelt the Dark Dimension."

"But Jase, I pulled you OUT of there into a relatively sweet-smelling place," Billy pointed out half-seriously. "You seem to have got your wires crossed. You rescue me into a foul-smelling place."

"Perfectionist," Jason replied, hauling on Billy to get him upright. "I could just leave you here, you know, but I have no idea where we are," he confessed eventually, the anxiety evident in the tightness of his voice.

A hand found his in the darkness and squeezed tightly in gratitude, belying the banter of their words and Jason gripped back in reassurance and acceptance of that 'thank you without words' feeling. Sometimes it was as good to know that you were needed as it was to need someone yourself.

"No instinctive senses, then?" Billy asked hopefully as if the physical gesture had not occured.

"Nope. Immediate danger gone, and so is the sense." Jason answered and then thought about what he had just said. "Maybe I should rephrase that."

"No, you were right, all sense of any type long since gone." Billy chuckled and then couldn't stop. "Ow ... owow ..."

Jason unfortunately had also started to laugh. "What did you do on your leave, Jase?" he said to himself, and then answered in a mock serious tone. "Well, guys, spent it being insulted in a sewer by one of my best friends ...you ought to try it ... best time ever."

Billy held onto his stomach trying not to shake his leg with the laughter. "Please, Jase ... I feel sick ..."

"In such a pleasant area? Can't think why. We'll probably find Rita and Zedd renting a condo down here, or something. Goldar as pool boy. Rito as ... well, what the hell was Rito, anyway?" Jason said, also laughing.

"I always thought of him as a walking toast rack," Billy replied wryly and the pair of them wheezed with weak laughter until the hysterical relief at escaping such a close call drained away.

Jason eventually moved the pair of them out of the immediate sludge and paused for breath. He was going to run out of strength soon and once he crashed out, it would be difficult to start again. He was running out of inspiration. He looked at his companion and suddenly realised that he was with the person who always managed to supply an answer when they were Rangers. Remember the rules, Jason, in survival you make full use of the tools you have at your disposal, and that includes people, he reminded himself.

"Billy ... I really don't know which way is best to go at the moment," he admitted finally.

"You got a compass on you?" Billy asked after a moment's thought.

"Funnily enough, yes." He pulled out his special army knife that had a compass built in as well as numerous other gadgets. "How does that help?"

"The sewers have access points to the south of the building," Billy replied with effort. "That's where we will find manholes and exits."

Jason felt his jaw drop. "How the hell do you know that?" He was used to Billy coming up with answers, but inside knowledge of the sewer system was way out there on a bizarre information limb.

"We have to get extra pipes fitted for the waste from work, and Chris, the manager, had a stand up row with the plumbers, telling them it would save them time and us money if they fitted it to the east and linked into the main processing plant rather than looping south. But according to the guy, 'South is how they do it in Angel Grove'." Billy shrugged.

"South it is, then." Jason took a bearing and then heaved Billy upright. They could stand in this tunnel - if they actually managed to stand. They leaned heavily on each other, Billy feeling distinctly ill now and Jason not much better, but knowing they had to move on.

"You stink, you know that?" Jason said politely as Billy clung to him.

"Ewww de toilet," Billy quipped in-between gasps. The pain was shooting up his leg in a burst of agony every time he tried to put any weight on it. "Home, Jase! And don't spare the horses!"

"And you're babbling." the Navy SEAL frowned a little. He touched Billy's forehead briefly. It was most definitely hot to the touch

"Oh man ." Well, it shouldn't be a surprise, he'd be lucky to get away without an infection himself. "Let's move, bro ... and a one, and a two ..."

The unsteady duo lurched down the slippery tunnel in a generally southerly direction.

~*~

Tommy was pacing up and down. "I hate this ... just waiting," he muttered. It gnawed at him not being able to do anything.

"Join the club," Kim replied from where she was sitting with their new friends. "Pacing won't help."

"I wonder where they are?" Adam commented quietly, looking at the wrecked building.

"They must have been low down to escape the initial blast," Trini observed clinically and doggedly sticking to referring to their lost friends as being alive despite the odds. They had discussed this over and over, how their friends might possibly survive such a catastrophe.

Kathy chewed on her lip. "What if they got out into ducts of the building or something?" she mused, grasping at straws, conveniently ignoring the minute chances and improbable required circumstances involved in this being a possibility.

"If they did ... maybe it's worth getting the rescuers to check on them?" Zack suggested as it was now getting dark and they needed to do something before one of them cracked up and took the rest of them with them. It wouldn't take much, not right now.

"But where ...? I mean, there must be masses of them," Rocky said, looking around. "Where would you start?"

The entire Terra Venture group chorused, "The south side of the building."

The group of ex-Rangers looked at them, astonished.

"Sorry, an in-joke," Chris explained. "We just happen to have knowledge of that fact."

"But worth mentioning nonetheless," Kathy said, leaping into action and staying near Trini. "Come on!"

The now familiar sound of Kathy haranguing the rescue co-ordinator went on for some time until the harassed man finally cracked. "Fine! Fine! Gene! Get up here and go with this group to look at the south side, will you? And try to stop them from doing themselves an injury in the process."

"Well, finally!" Kathy huffed and then smiled. "Thankyou," she said to the man genuinely as their token rescue worker joined them on their expedition.

~*~

"Jase ...ugh ... Jase ...hold on a moment." Billy sagged a little, pulling against him.

"C'mon, we've got to keep going ..." Jason replied forcefully , his vision blurring and shaking his head to clear it.

"No point," Billy informed him weakly.

"We're not having that again," Jason said tersely.

"No, Jase, I mean there is no point because there's a manhole here," Billy corrected. "Up you go ..."

"I can't believe I just nearly did that," Jason muttered, kicking himself for stupidity. "Can you climb? I'm not leaving you here."

"Jason, don't be stupid," Billy replied exhaustedly, slumping again. He must have lost a lot of blood. "Just get up there and send down help."

"No ... I never leave anyone behind," Jason replied adamantly, heaving Billy onto his back. "Famed for it, in fact. Together or not at all."

"United we stand," Billy mumbled incoherently.

"Yeah, little bro," Jason agreed worriedly, beginning the exhausting climb. He had to fight to move a rung at a time. He had to push himself to the limit and ignore the pains, the nausea, the dreadful dizziness that made the grip around steel fade in sensation under his hands, making him unsure whether he had a grip or not. The ladder seemed endless, his chest burned. Billy was a dead weight pulling him down, but he was getting there ... getting there.
 

~*~

"This area is no better than around the front ... mind your heads, everyone!" Gene the rescue worker cautioned. The large group of people poked around industriously at various drains and manholes, but still they missed the sudden wobbling of the metal disc behind most of them. And the muffled cursing that went on underneath that same disc.

"Shit." Run out of strength at the final hurdle, Jase, oh yeah that would look good. Navy SEAL defeated by manhole cover. The exhausted ex-Ranger again pushed desperately against the obstacle.

An arm reached up from behind him as he tried once more, and between the two of them they managed to tilt the heavy metal item and slide it to one side. With a few scraped fingers as the casualty for their teamwork.

Jason gave a final pull-up over the edge of the manhole with Billy still clinging to him and collapsed half in, half out of the entrance, gulping the relatively sweet air of the outside. "We made it, Billy ..." he whispered to his friend as the ex-Ranger slid off of his back to the side of him.

"Never doubted you would," Billy murmured back, barely conscious now comparative safety had been reached.

The fresh air invigorated Jason and he managed to stand, yanking Billy upright, trying to support him as he turned to see a heart-stoppingly familiar form maybe twenty metres away.

"Hey," he called out, his voice cracking slightly. "Sorry I'm late for dinner ... guess it's ruined, huh?"

The group of searchers froze.

Trini turned and saw, as if teleported in behind her, the unmistakable silhouette of Jason that she would recognise anywhere. He was supporting someone, who strangely also pulled faint threads of familiarity in her. She had to check, though, to confirm her instincts just in case it was a hallucination or a dream.

"Jase?"

"I'm not that late that you can't remember me, am I?" he responded in a deliberately light tone. He stumbled slightly, despite being keen to give the impression he was fine and Trini ran over towards him before the others could converge upon them.

Trini flung her arms around Jason, tears streaming down her face. "Oh Jase ... oh love ..." her composure cracked and emotion poured out as she hugged him, ignoring the filth and stench, fingers touching with concern the clotted blood matting his dark hair, the bruises on his face. Noting the exhausted smile and bright eyes fixing her with a look of such incredible need just to be here with her, she ignored the slime and kissed him passionately, needing to reaffirm their mutual life together in close contact before the others gathered.

"Oh my god!" Kim gasped behind her, seeing the other semi-conscious figure. "No ...it's not ... is it?" She looked at Tommy disbelievingly and then back again to the partially slumped person, features obscured as he hung his head limply forward.

Adam was there like a shot and gently lifted the begrimed head, having his own suspicions confirmed. "Billy? Oh my god, it is him. Guys, quick, it's Billy!" He looked at the others desperately, before cradling the prodigal ex-Ranger's head so the others could see.

"Will?" Kathy came running over. "Will! Guys, it's Will!" she called out triumphantly.

"Will is Billy? Our Billy?" Rocky said, confused. He was trying to absorb the fact that someone he thought was on a planet on the other side of the galaxy had just nearly been killed a few blocks from where he worked.

"Our Will may well be your Billy." Kathy paused, the flicker of recognition she had showed before when they first met springing into life. "You are that Trini? I'm so stupid! How many Trinis could there be?"

"I hate to interrupt," a weak, quiet voice came from the object of their discussion. "But ... pleased though I am to see you all ... I believe I'm going to pass out now." His right leg had totally given way and his head was spinning as crawling hallucinatory lights squirmed across his vision.

Kathy and Adam took hold of him from Jason's tired grip.

"You badly hurt, Billy?" Adam asked, worried now, helping to lay him down gently as the others gathered around, but refusing to let him go completely. He looked sick as he saw the saturated darkness glistening over most of Billy's right leg, concealed a little by the foul-smelling muck. He was hurt worse than Jason, Adam realised with an anxious shiver, he's lost a lot of blood and he's so warm. That's not good.

Kathy absently stroked the filthy hair off of their patient's hot feverish face. "You'll be fine now, really," she soothed, her gentle tone oddly different to the strident demands they had heard since they met her

Billy stared up with glazed eyes at all his friends past and present and spoke weakly, though it was obvious he was not sure if he was speaking or thinking. "I've missed you so much." He sighed wistfully before he drifted into complete unconsciousness, his slight frame going lax in Adam's arms.

Gene the rescue worker had gone to rustle up some hasty assistance and a group of paramedics jogged towards them. They dealt with Billy very swiftly and forced the still conscious Jason to lie down on another stretcher despite his protestations. Trini remained, clinging to his hand when they were carried away as Adam, Rocky, Kim and the others stood in astonishment, left to make their own way to the hospital.

"I can't believe it!" Tommy felt oddly guilty at not even having been able to be worried about Billy and then find him snatched from the jaws of death in front of them. "How could we not know he was back from Aq... Arkansas," he substituted hastily. "Why didn't he tell us?"

He felt somewhat defensive and it showed in his tone and many of the others seemed to feel the same. Adam looked frankly stunned, totally floored by the fact that Billy had been near death and he hadn't known. He could not reconcile the fact that one of his closest friends had been that close to death and he hadn't known and had not even had the opportunity to worry about him or care. A guilt settled on him as if there should have been some way that he would just have known and something he could do.

Kathy looked around. "He's talked about all of you a lot, now I know it was you he refered to," she said to the group. "All of you."

"But why didn't he tell us he was back?" Kat asked, glancing at the others to back her up.

Kathy shook her head. "I don't know ...I do know he cares about all of you a great deal," she smiled. "He keeps a picture of all his friends in his drawer at work. I sometimes come in to find him just looking at it when he thinks no one is around."

"Then WHY?" Kim asked everyone there, friends old and new alike.

"You had better ask him," Kathy said gently, seeing how distressed they were at this turn of events. "Though I do know something hurt him terribly. You can see it in his eyes ...some awful loss. He never talks about it, but it's there."

This statement caused some ashamed looks, and an uncomfortable silence settled across them all as they stood in the shadow of the explosion-blasted tower building, crumbling and destroyed.

"Guess we're just a little upset because it was such a shock to see him there." Aisha surprised herself by her voice breaking a little. "Getting the whole panic, and relief all at once ... kinda shook me up at least." There were murmurs of agreement.

Adam turned, thinking deeply, wondering at his own feeling of resentment. He looked at the building that had changed so many of their assumptions and realised then that was the problem. Billy coming back like this had challenged their assumptions, their complacent conceptions that he was out of sight and out of mind, think of Billy and think that he is fine and happy on Aquitar and never bother to check if that is the case. A friend is fine until the moment you make contact with their life. Saving energy by not contacting, then you never know something is wrong. And something had been wrong, terribly bad for his friend and here he was, terribly ashamed because he hadn't known. What type of a best friend doesn't speak to their friend for years! And then has the gall to be resentful when they return and don't immediately beat a path to their door.

"I want to go and see him and Jase," Adam said suddenly. "I want to know they are both going to be all right and I want to know what happened and the reasons why."

It said much that none of the others had to ask to which 'reasons why' the Asian was referring, as they slowly and thoughtfully adjourned to the Hospital

~*~

Jason woke up from a fitful doze. Mmm, crisp clean sheets. Hospital sheets. Not so good but preferable to foul smelling ooze as something to wake up in contact with. Even better, a soft hand in his, squeezing tightly with concern. He turned his head, feeling the tightness of the bandage around his head wound and opened his eyes to Trini's face.

"Morning, love," he said softly, seeing her come alive at the sound of his voice.

"Jase ..." Trini stroked his hand gently and then launched into a familiar tirade. "You idiot! What were you doing? How did you manage to get inside an exploding building? Why is it always you?"

Jason twitched a smile. They had had this conversation a few times after missions had not gone so well and each time he answered the same.

"Just lucky, I guess."

"Why, you ..." Trini leant over and kissed him with that same sense of a need for reassurance coming through to which Jason obliged in responding to the best of his ability.

Trini broke away, barely able to speak as she continued. "When I got that message ..." It was strange, but she felt herself closer to tears now than before when it had been actually happening.

"Hey ... hey, I'm fine ..." Jason captured her hand again and squeezed it reassuringly. "My head is too thick-skulled to take permanent harm." He said it lightly, trying to play down his injury.

Trini shook her head mutely in despair. "Oh Jase ..." she sighed finally, having run out of words.

Jason looked at her, trying to apologise with his eyes, for something he knew he couldn't promise not to do again, not knowing which words would make it better or even if there were words in the world that ever could.

"Well ...at least I won't have to tell you that I have to do another mission now," he said gently, knowing he was invalided out of the one he had been marked down for now.

Trini bit her lip slightly, half relieved at that, but in light of last night half upset for him. "It would have been alright," she admitted quietly.

"What?" Jason couldn't believe his ears. Trini had never backed down on this issue before!

"I said it would have been alright ... yesterday ... watching the hope in Kathy's face when she heard a trained survivalist professional was in there, possibly trying to save her friend's life ... I understood here ..." and she placed her hand over her heart, " ... what it is that you do, when you go on rescue missions." She sighed. "I would have wanted someone like you going after you ..."

Jason was astonished. "Really?"

Trini nodded slowly.

The former Ranger felt an immense burden suddenly lift from him. "Oh Trini ... I ... love you." He looked at her, pleased beyond measure she could understand what he felt when he went out there.

"I know," Trini answered gravely, then started to giggle slightly at Jason's expression. "And of course I love you ... and yes ... to that question you asked me a year ago ... finally ... yes."

Jason practically tried to leap out of bed to embrace her in his happiness. "Oh my Trini ... my beautiful, wonderful Trini ..." he kissed her again and drew back with a wonderful smile of happiness lighting up his slightly battered features.

Trini smiled radiantly back at him and tilted her head slightly. "Don't stop ...I could get to like this."

~*~

Kim and Tommy sat watching the still sleeping Billy as Adam came in silently.

"Any change?" Adam asked quietly, looking at his old friend anxiously.

"No ... he's still out. He keeps talking in his sleep ... about domes collapsing," Kim answered hesitantly. She looked at Tommy, her expression becoming serious. "And he called out to Cestria ... but ..."

She stopped. The simple name had been called with such hopeless, tragic loss that she instinctively knew that Billy had lost her. It had brought tears to her eyes, and to her surprise, when she had looked at Tommy, his eyes were bright with unshed tears and he had reached for her hand as if to reassure himself he would never have to say anything in that tone himself. She was pretty sure that Billy was alone now; not through any choice of his own as the sound had been so full of need and loneliness that it had been all she could do not to wrap her arms around Billy and hug him close, unconscious or not, just to show him there was someone there for him.

Adam picked up on the nuances of the exchange. "Oh no ...you think that something happened to her?"

Rocky suddenly popped open the door. "Guys ... guys ... Jason's awake!"

Kim hesitated, looking at Billy's sleeping form and Tommy reassured her, as he got up, "The doctors said he should be out for most of the day, and maybe Jason can tell us what happened to him."

Adam still looked a little uncomfortable, gazed at Billy seemingly out for the forseeable future, then nodded and the group departed to meet the others at the newly awakened Jason's room.

~*~

"Lie back down!" Trini ordered, pushing her fiancé back against the pillow.

"I'm fine!" Jason protested as the others entered the room, chuckling at the scene of domestic bliss in front of them. "Guys, tell her I'm fine! Please!"

"Ooh no ... you don't get us between a woman and her slave ... oops, man," Aisha joked.

Jason finally acquiesced and sat up, resting in the hospital bed. "Thanks a lot," he said wryly to the sudden influx of people. "How's Billy? Is he okay?" he asked seriously, wanting more updates on his friend's condition than Trini had been able to provide.

"He's still out of it and is going to be for the rest of the day," Kim answered. "He seemed pretty delirious ... talking about domes being destroyed and things. The doctors said he picked up an infection and there is a large amount of damage to his right leg, plus significant blood loss."

Jason blanched. "That's my fault," he muttered. "He was skewered on a damn piece of metal, grabbing hold of me dangling over a very long drop. I have no idea how long he was holding me, I was out of it, but I know I ripped his leg further when I climbed up him."

There were a few sick glances from the others. The very thought made them squirm.

"Okay...we want the full story," Tanya demanded. "Everything ... what happened yesterday, and if you know, why he didn't make contact with us? That's been bothering all of us, I think." Though it was Adam whom her glance found first.

Jason looked down. "Yes, I do know," he admitted quietly and sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you ... all of it. But this means telling you a few things about me, too." He waited until they were all settled and then began in a soft, low voice the entire narrative of what had happened, all about his instinct, all about Billy's uncertainty of his own sanity and his insistence on his responsibility for Cestria's death ... the whole long, soul-wrenching story.

~*~

Billy would have indeed have been out for the rest of the day had it not been for the persistence of dreams tearing at his unconsciousness.

Flash of images -

Girders ... metal supports, looked familiar ... Massive supporting framework ...support tower - something there. Several, no, a dozen or more devices out of sight. The central stalk ...the engines, Engines ...and above ...

Domes ... half a dozen on a platter ... a city ... a city in a dome ... like Quitaria, but no water ... and ...

His friends ... all of them, old and new, walking around the domes laughing, when ...

Explosions ...

The support struts blown away, the dome platter impaling on the exploding engines, the domes bursting and exploding with fire, one by one engulfing his friends, sweeping to engulf him ...and there ... as he looked away from that tsunami of fire ... the impossible whiteness as the engine cases cracked and a cataclysm of strange energies threatened to sweep across the city ...

"No!" Billy shot awake, perspiring with fear and then shocked into silence by the pain from the injudicious movement of his leg. The images remained floating over his vision as he stared into space. His breathing calmed and he looked around at the empty room, its sterile atmosphere impinging on his vulnerable state of mind. No one here.

He inhaled sharply and lay back against the pillow, looking towards the door hopefully.

No-one.

The isolation crashed down on him ... so it had all been for Jason then, huh? Well, could he blame them? He had been the one to keep to himself, doubting himself, keeping them at arm's length.

Did they ever TRY to talk to you? Did they ever phone up his dad and say, Hey how is Billy getting on? Speak to ANYONE and try and see what had happened to him ... no, just drifted out of their lives without a final goodbye.

A lump appeared in his throat much to his own disgust, and his eyes burned with unshed tears. He lay back against the headrest and twisted his face away from the door, not wanting to see the lack of people wanting him awake and well. He was hurt. He was alone. So what else was new.?

~*~

There was a stunned silence at the end of Jason's recitation and more than a few ashamed looks.

"Is it just me...or does anyone else feel really bad about what they were thinking about Billy before?" Aisha asked quietly, wiping away a stray tear. There were murmurs of agreement from around the packed hospital room, punctuated by the odd sniffle.

"I just wish he had come to us," Adam said, still looking upset. "But ..."

"He was protecting us," Kim finished and sighed. "Oh Billy ... and these visions he's been living with. I think when he is awake, we should all go and have a long talk with him, but the doctors say that won't be at least until late tonight at the very earliest."

A nurse popped her head around the door. "Visiting hours are over until this evening," she informed the group briskly. "You can come back then."

The group of ex-Rangers got up, grumbling good-naturedly, and began to file out of the room. "Have fun without me," Jason called after them.

"We will ... we are visiting where Billy's working. Kathy insisted we see what he has been doing," Tanya replied, smiling again. "Up close and in detail instead of publicity shots on the news." She grinned. "I believe Billy has a definite fanclub at Terra Venture." She chuckled slightly and winked at Jason.

"Visiting hours between 6 and 9 tonight," the nurse said pointedly and ushered the group out of the hospital ward.

Jason lay back with a sigh, actually feeling quite tired for all his banter. Also, he was wondering why he had ever worried about telling any of the others about being 'different'. Maybe that was it ... he didn't want to be 'different' from them. Not on his own as it were. He could understand Billy's reluctance, especially being a lone human amongst aliens. He yawned and then his thoughts started to turn to Billy. Was he all right? Really? The guys weren't hiding anything from him, were they? I mean he had been pretty bad last night...The more he thought about it, the more amazing it was, men in his unit would have been swearing and cursing him, expecting him to save them, and in some ways he would have welcomed that familiarity rather than Billy's amazed gratitude. He fretted a while longer and then decided to just check if he was all right and resting comfortably as the others said.

Jason slipped out of bed and carefully exited the room, slipping on the dressing gown Trini had brought in along with some other vital supplies to cover the highly embarrassing hospital gown that revealed entirely too much. He made his way down the ward and asked an orderly which room Billy was in to have it pointed out.

Jason pushed open the door slowly and silently, not wanting to disturb his friend if he was sleeping. Billy's face was turned slightly away from the door and he paused on the threshold, watching him intently. He was going to step backwards when he noticed an infinitesimal shaking of Billy's shoulder and he stepped forward instinctively, crossing the room and laying a gentle hand on his friend's arm.

Billy jumped a mile at the unexpected contact and tried to hide his face briefly with his arm.

"Hey ... hey, bro ..." Jason said gently. "Didn't expect you awake yet ... no-one did," he added, wondering what was upsetting Billy so, for he obviously was upset. The hastily removed arm did nothing to disguise the red-rimmed eyes, though they were now dry.

"'m fine," Billy mumbled. "You should be resting." He cleared his throat almost embarrassedly. "You ... you've seen the others."

"Yeah ... yeah, they were in not long ago ..." Jason began and realised that had been the wrong thing to say as he saw Billy stiffen. "What's up?"

"Nothing."

"Billy, don't be stupid."

"I said it's NOTHING," Billy replied forcefully and looked away.

"I told them what happened," Jason said suddenly, hoping to clear the air. "Everything."

Billy looked at him, his green eyes stricken. "Well, I guess that explains it, then," he muttered in a strained voice.

"Explains what?" Jason asked, frowning slightly.

"The overwhelming interest in my health," Billy remarked with a biting edge of sarcasm as he looked around the room.

"Oh, you think no-one cared? When did you wake up?" Jason cut in sharply.

"'Bout an hour ago," Billy mumbled quietly.

Jason was appalled. Waking up in hospital alone, not knowing that anyone cared if you were awake or not, then the certain knowledge they cared about another and were with him, not you.

"Oh man ... they must have just come over to me then ... They took it in turns in sitting with you last night until you were declared out of danger ... after that, the hospital has made them revert to visiting hours. They were told you would not wake until at least tonight, if not tomorrow, because of the severity of your injury."

Billy studied his face as if searching for a lie in Jason's words and then sank back against the pillow. "I'm sorry ... I'm an idiot ... I just thought ..."

Jason smiled, ruffling the sandy blond hair "You're right, you are an idiot if you thought that! Billy, they were originally a little put out when they thought you just didn't contact us, but as soon as they knew the truth ..." he paused. "Let's just say we feel guilty for not being there for you, okay?"

Billy groaned. "There's no reason for that! That's not what I wanted."

"And what did you want?" Jason interrupted suddenly.

Billy paused, obviously overcoming an internal struggle. "I wanted my friends back. I didn't want to hurt anyone again, or have them hurt because of me." He looked at Jason with simple painful dignity. "I want my last chance."

"You got it, bro." Jason gently hugged him, feeling the tension begin to unknot beneath his arms. "And the others will come and grill you later ... after they've been given the lowdown on what you do by your colleagues at Terra Venture," he laughed.

Terra Venture.

The words dropped like explosions into Billy's mind. The fiercest vision he had ever seen hit him point blank just as he was about to stutter a retort.

He seemed gripped in a seizure and his staring eyes flickered madly across scenes playing out in front of him.

Flash of Images -

Man with briefcase of money ... familiar man, the room was familiar ... there ... there on the table, paper with a small familiar logo. The job accepted, the money taken ... and the man smiling as he looked at ... a contract?

Jump scenes ... the metal supports again, the girders and the engines.

Terra Venture

The domes that would explode and the engine spike pushed up through it, and the unthinkable annihilation caused by the unforeseen breach in the drive engines. His friends there, being shown round, oh god, his friends there being shown round. That was happening NOW! Had to stop it ... had to STOP this as the domes exploded and the fire consumed all of them and he was incinerated before a mushroom cloud rose over the crater that had been Angel Grove ...

He snapped into awareness, struggling with mewling gasps to find Jason holding him down, worried by Billy's seeming seizure.

"Let me go ... I've got to get there ... the domes are going to come down. I've got to GET THERE!" He struggled against Jason's powerful grip.

Jason held him still. "That's all over with, Billy," he soothed gently. "Quitaria is gone ..." Frankly, he was worried - it scared him, seeing Billy zone out like that.

"No! No, Jase! You've got to HELP me ... it's Terra VENTURE! " Billy practically yelled. "It's happening NOW!"

He pushed violently against his friend, but was still no match for him.

Jason hesitated.

Put your money where you mouth is, Jason ... do you believe him? Do you believe he can see images of the future?

But he's injured and hurt, possibly delirious and this talk of domes ... couldn't that be a flashback to when he lost Cestria?

And if you make him stay and he's right ...?

More to the point, if you make him stay and it is wrong, what will that do to him? Show him that everything he feared was correct? That all his friends think him mad, just want to humour him?

He needs to know even if it isn't true that you believe in him. Bottom line. You believe implicitly in your team ... can you do less for someone who stuck by you, saved your life and was your team for years? Even if he is wrong, you believe he is right.

"Okay ... okay ... Calm down a minute ...you can't help anyone if you hurt yourself thrashing around like that, will you?" Jason said practically.

Billy looked stunned. "You ... you'll help me?"

"What do you think? But we are not making a rescue dressed in paper gowns," Jason replied briskly, already planning the practicalities in his head. "Think of the fashion horror. Kim would have my hide."

Billy calmed down. "Or at least be able to see it." He slowed his breathing and became less gripped by helplessness now that Jason was on his side.

"Trini bought me a couple of changes of clothes ... hold on ... be back in a moment." Jason scooted quickly out of the room, hoping he wasn't doing something he would regret and that would hurt Billy more. The only consolation was that Billy would know he had support, and if he was wrong, then he would find it easier to deal with than otherwise. Emotional wounds were a lot more difficult to heal than physical ones.

His clothes would be baggy enough on Billy not to constrict the dressings, he thought, grabbing the pair of relatively loose trousers and T-shirt for him and slipping on the jeans and another top for himself.

He re-entered the room to find Billy trying to stand and obviously unable to really bear any weight on his injured leg. "Billy, you sure this isn't something I can do for you?" he asked, helping him dress as swiftly as possible. "You should stay safe here."

Billy looked up at him, the pain of knowledge in his eyes. "Jase, if I am right, there is nowhere in Angel Grove that's safe. I would rather be trying to see what I can do. Besides, the dream showed me there."

Jason paused and looked at his friend, a shiver rippling through his body.

And there it was, the awakening of his instinct. Burning louder than he had ever known, roaring in his stomach, his head triggering a rush of belief. "Oh man ... okay, let's move."

He grabbed hold of Billy and the pair of them made a comparatively speedy escape from the hospital, bluffing that they were outpatients who had just been in for a check-up and disappearing quickly as the nurse went to verify their story.

Outside into the sunny normal late afternoon. Jason flagged a taxi down and practically dragged Billy into the back seat. "Terra Venture site, as quickly as possible!" he gasped, catching his breath, and Billy pulled the door closed.

The driver looked a little surprised, but took off at a creditable speed.

"Can't you go faster?" Jason urged impatiently.

"Look ... the streets are thick with cops," The taxi driver said. "After those bomb threats they are everywhere ... you wanna get pulled over for speeding?"

Jason forced himself to relax. "Sorry, man ... we're kinda in a hurry ..."

"I'll get you there as quick as I can, okay?" the cabby offered, a little placated. "Terrible thing, that bombing ... Didja hear two people made it out alive? Can you believe it?"

Jason twitched a grin despite their urgent mission. "Really?"

"Well, one of them was a Navy SEAL or something," the taxi driver prattled on as he drove and Billy fought his impatience as the Dome disc of Terra Venture began to loom into sight on the outskirts of Angel Grove.

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