Jason sat miserably in his room, unable to hold back the tears that flooded
his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. He had just heard the sentence that
Judge Turner had passed down, and it had just about broken him
completely.
How, he wondered helplessly, could someone like Rick Daniels be allowed to
walk free, when he himself was virtually a prisoner of his own mind...?
It was beyond his comprehension, beyond what he could cope with. "Jason?"
It was his father, outside the bedroom door. "Go away," Jason said in a
muffled voice as he threw himself down on his pillows.
"Jason, let's talk about this," Donavon begged.
"Go away!" Jason screamed. "I don't want to talk about anything! Just go
away!"
There was a long silence, and then his father spoke again. "All right, but
we'll be in the kitchen if you decide you do want to talk about it."
Jason listened to the footsteps fade away, then sat up again. One thing he
had become sure of was that he could not go on surviving in a world where
monsters could roam free. Rick Daniels was a monster, and in Jason's mind,
he likened the man to Goldar, who had once caused Jason so much torment. In
his confused mind, Jason suddenly found himself unable to distinguish the
human monster from the other monsters, and he began to cry again, a
despairing, pitiful cry.
Unable to sort out anything in his mind other than his wish to end his
life, Jason stumbled to his feet and headed for the window. Pushing it
open, he slipped through and fled the house.
* * *
Tommy, Rocky and Adam headed through the park together, Adam laughing as
Rocky described the way in which the Rangers had eliminated a recent,
dangerous monster.
"You know," Adam laughed, "if I didn't know any better, I'd have to believe
you destroyed that monster single handedly, Rocky."
Rocky grinned. "Hey, I had a hand in it."
"He did," Tommy added, also grinning. "He had a hand in the high fives at
the end of the fight."
Rocky looked wounded, while Adam burst into a fresh fit of laughter. Tommy
chuckled to himself, wiping tears from his eyes as he gazed around the
park. The next instant, his laughter faded, and panic replaced his sense of
humour. "Oh no...."
"Oh no what?" Rocky asked, looking around. Tommy pointed. "Over there.
Please, tell me that isn't Jason...."
"It is..." Adam said, his voice suddenly quiet again. "He's alone..."
"And he looks damned upset about something," Rocky muttered. "Hey, where's
he headed?"
Tommy frowned for a long moment before realising. "The road... C'mon!"
All three boys broke into a run, taking off in a desperate chase after the
former Red Ranger.
* * *
Jason was vaguely aware of someone yelling at him, but he ignored it. All
he could think of was ending the torture he was sure he would suffer for
the rest of his life. He heard the cars rushing by on the busy road, and
ran faster.
* * *
Adam shot ahead of Tommy and Rocky, faster on his feet than both boys. He
focused his stare solely on Jason, and pushed himself to the very limit.
Jason was fast, Adam had to give him that. In fact, he might just be too
fast....
At the last moment, Jason stumbled briefly over an out jutting tree root,
and it gave Adam the second he needed to catch up. Launching himself
through the air, he hit Jason from behind and brought the teen to the
ground with a crash.
Jason gasped in shock, stunned by the impact with the ground. Adam took his
chance, and quickly pinned Jason down, so he couldn't move. Rocky and Tommy
arrived on the scene, then, and Tommy crouched down in front of Jason.
"What the hell are you trying to do?" he exploded, badly frightened by his friend's apparent
suicide attempt.
Jason looked up at Tommy, tears flooding his eyes. "What do you care?" he
choked out. "What does anyone care? I'm just a loser, I'm nothing..."
"You idiot," Adam growled. "Do you really believe that?"
"Yes!" Jason screamed, nearly hysterical. Adam looked up at Tommy
helplessly. Tommy ran his fingers through his long hair, frustrated and at
a loss for what to say. A long moment of silence passed, and just as Rocky
started to speak, their communicators chimed.
"Aw, hell...." Tommy muttered, getting up.
Adam spoke quietly. "You guys go ahead. I'll stay with Jason."
Tommy hesitated, then consented. "Okay. We'll be back as soon as we can."
The two boys teleported out, and as soon as they did, Jason began to
struggle.
"Let me up..." he growled angrily. Adam shook his head, deliberately
tightening his grip.
"No way. Not until I know you aren't gonna do anything stupid. C'mon, Jase,
snap out of it, will you?"
Jason's head dropped back down to the dirt. "Didn't you hear the news?"
"What news?"
"About the trial..." Jason moaned. "The judge sentenced Rick Daniels today."
"And?" Adam prompted, not entirely sure he wanted to know.
"Six year suspended sentence," the teen whispered, his body starting to
shake with silent sobs.
Adam felt his heart sink. So that was it... He decided that it was past
time for treating Jason with kid gloves; it was time for a serious reality
check. "And you're gonna let that beat you now. Is that it, Jason?"
Jason tried to look at Adam over his shoulder. "What am I supposed to do?
He's practically free...."
"And so are you," Adam argued. "Come on, Jason, get a grip, huh? So things
didn't work out the way you wanted them to, so what? You've gotta get on
with life. I know you won't ever be able to forget what happened, but you
need to start getting your life back together. Don't let everything you do
be overshadowed by what that bastard did to you!"
Jason shut his eyes against the tears. "I can't help it, Adam," he
whispered. "It's too hard...."
"It's only as hard as this because you're making it hard for yourself, and
you won't let anyone help you. You've gotta fight! You have to...." He
trailed off abruptly, realising something with a feeling of shock. "Jason,
did you make it here from your house on your own?"
"Yeah," Jason mumbled dismally. "I snuck out of the house. Mum and Dad
don't know I'm gone. Why?"
"Why....? Because it's nearly a kilometre from your place to here. Just
yesterday, you couldn't walk the length of your block by yourself!"
Jason faltered, realising with a sudden feeling of shock and wonder that
Adam was right. He had come all that distance on his own... "I.... I guess
I was too upset to be scared...."
"Whatever it was," Adam said with a smile, "it worked. C'mon, Jase, are you
really gonna throw it away by stepping in front of a car? Think about
it...."
The more Jason thought about it, the more logical Adam's words sounded. All
of a sudden, ending his life seemed like a foolish thing to try, and maybe,
if he could come all this way by himself, then maybe he could find the
strength and courage to start doing more things for himself.... "Okay," he
said finally. "So it was a stupid idea. Can I get up now? People are
staring...."
Adam grinned and finally let Jason up. "C'mon, let's go to the Youth
Centre. I'll by you a soda."
* * *
Nearly two hours later, Jason headed back up the driveway of his home,
feeling better than he had for a long time. He and Adam had had a long talk
in the Youth Centre, and Adam had managed to drum some sense into him. It
hadn't been any of the usual persuasive attempts, but rather a carefully
laid out argument that Jason couldn't ignore.
He smiled a little to himself. Adam had even left him at the corner, and he
had walked the length of the street on his own. He didn't care any longer
that it seemed a pretty pathetic goal to achieve; for him, it was worth the
effort.
So lost in his own thoughts was he that he didn't notice the unfamiliar car
in the drive, with the words 'Kingston Institute' on the side door. He
wandered into the house, wondering whether Adam would be willing to start
working out with him.
He walked into the family room, feeling better and more confident than he
had for a long while, and gave his parents the first real smile that he'd
shown for some time. "Guess what!" he said excitedly. "I made it all the
way into the park on my own!"
Donavon regarded his son with a pale imitation of his own smile. "That...
That's great, Jason."
The smile rapidly faded from Jason's face as he took in the expressions on
his parents' faces. His mother had been crying, he could tell, and his
father looked as though he was about to cry. "What's wrong?"
There was movement behind him, and he looked around to see Alex Carter
standing there, flanked by a couple of obscenely strong men. Carter came
forward, speaking quietly. "I went ahead and made some arrangements,
Jason. You're going to be coming to stay with us at the Kingston Institute
for a while."
Jason paled considerably. "No way! Dad...?"
Donavon couldn't bring himself to look Jason in the eye. "I'm sorry, Jason.
It doesn't look as though we have a choice."
Panic flooded Jason's face. "But you promised... You promised you wouldn't
send me away...."
"It wasn't our decision," Donavon told him, straining to keep his voice
steady.
Jason moved around slowly, over to the picture window. "What if I don't
want to go? Are you gonna put me in a straight jacket?"
Carter regarded Jason somberly. "As a matter of fact, there is one in the
car. Do you think we'll be needing it?"
Jason felt the confidence he'd regained start to drain away. "You can't
force me..." he whispered, suddenly terrified.
"Actually," Carter said, "I can. The question is, are you going to make it
necessary?"
Jason looked across to his father, starting to cry. "Please, Dad, don't let
them take me..."
Carter glanced back at one of the two men. "Go and get the jacket."
"No!" Donavon exploded, striding forward in anger. "No, you're not putting
my son in a goddamned straight jacket! Just get back! You're scaring him,
dammit!"
Donavon hurried over to where Jason was literally starting to cower in
fright. "Jason, listen to me. Calm down and listen." He paused, waiting
until Jason's gaze was fixed on him. "You listen now. You have to go. If
you don't go willingly, they'll just take you by force. They've got a court
order. You have to go to Kingston."
Jason was crying openly, by then. "I don't want to go," he sobbed. "Please,
don't make me go. I won't do anything wrong anymore, I promise...."
Donavon felt his heart break. "Son, you never did anything wrong to start
with. This whole thing is a big mistake, and I'm going to do everything I
can to put it right."
"It's hardly a mistake," Carter put in. "Jason is simply too unstable to be
left in the community like this, and with his grounding in martial arts,
he's not only a danger to himself, but to others."
Donavon glared at Carter as Jason gave a distressed sob and buried his face
in his father's shirt. "You can say that to an innocent boy when the man
who raped him is allowed to walk free? You bastard, Carter..."
Carter didn't flinch. "I didn't take this job for popularity's sake. Jason
isn't at fault here, but he needs help. It can't be given to him while he's
here."
Donavon refused to let Jason go. "I swear to God, I'm going to fight you on
this with everything I've got. You're taking our son away from us,
dammit...."
Carter shook his head patiently. "No, Mr Scott. I'm hoping that I'll be
giving him back to you. I know you don't understand now, but hopefully you
will in time. And Kingston isn't a prison. You can come and see Jason
everyday. If things go well, we should be able to start to organise day
trips so you can spend more time with him."
Sarah had joined her husband and son by then, putting her arms around them
both. "Isn't there any way we can change your mind? Please, Dr Carter,
don't take Jason away from us."
Carter was remorseless. "I'm sorry. I'm not changing my mind, about this. I
would appreciate it if you'd convince Jason not to put up a fight. I'd
prefer to save him the humiliation of a straight jacket, or having to be
sedated."
Donavon and Sarah exchanged miserable looks over Jason's head. There was
clearly no escaping this.... "Jason," Donavon said softly, "look at
me."
Jason gazed up at his father in distress. "Dad, please, you promised...."
Donavon spoke as strictly as he dared. "Jason, be quiet and listen. You
have to go to Kingston."
"I don't want to go!" Jason sobbed, feeling the earlier hysteria start to
rear its head again. "Don't make me go...."
Donavon took hold of Jason's shoulders in a tight grip. "Jason, stop it!
You have to go. We don't have a choice. You're going to have to be strong,
now. It's not going to do you any good to put up a fight. Please, try and
be strong. For all of us..."
Jason collapsed against his father, sobbing uncontrollably. Donavon held
him tightly, wishing he never had to let go. Sarah came forward and
embraced him as well. "Be strong, sweetheart. You can get through this. I
know you can."
Carter spoke up tentatively. "I don't like to rush this, but we have to get
to Kingston by 3:30."
Sarah gently drew Jason away from his father. "C'mon, sweetheart. We'll go
and pack your things." She led him from the room, sparing Carter a hostile
look as they went.
Donavon waited until they were out of the room before speaking to the other
psychiatrist. "You didn't give him a chance, Carter. You never even
listened to him when he came in."
Carter nodded slowly. "I listened. It just didn't change my decision.
Walking down a street on his own is one thing, but I'll be more impressed
when I know he can do it without thinking about stepping in front of an
oncoming car. You know he's suicidal, Donavon. You were there when he tried
the first time. You might find there have been other times that he hasn't
told you about. I don't want to lose him anymore than you do. You have to
understand that...."
Pain shone in Donavon's eyes. "The way I lost Rick Daniels' daughter? If I
had have gotten through to her, none of this would have happened."
Carter shook his head. "It's no more your fault than it is Jason's. Don't
start blaming yourself. It won't help your son."
A cold look formed on Donavon's face again. "Well, no matter what you say,
or what pretense you use, you're still taking our son away from us. And
since you got the damn court order, you can call all his friends and tell
them where he is."
Without waiting for a response, Donavon stalked past Carter into the
bedroom.
* * *
Jason stood for the most part in numb silence as his parents packed his
clothes into a suitcase and carry bag. He couldn't believe this was
happening. He'd just been starting to pull himself together a little, and
now his world was starting to crumble again....
Donavon appeared in front of him. "Ready?" It was a ridiculous thing to
say, but Jason didn't react. He simply turned and walk out of his room.
* * *
Carter smiled a little as they came back out into the hallway, and he led
the way outside. On the front lawn, Sarah hugged Jason again, and kissed
him lightly on the cheek. "Try and be brave, baby. Work with Dr Carter,
and you'll be home before you know it."
Donavon came forward, hesitated, then threw his arms around Jason in a
tight hug. After a moment, Jason responded and hugged his father back.
"Don't quit fighting, Jason," he told the boy fiercely. "You keep trying to beat this."
Jason gave a muffled sob, pressing his face against his father's strong
shoulder. "I love you, Dad. I'm sorry for everything."
"I love you, too, son. I love you a hell of a lot. Now be strong for me,
okay?"
Jason pulled back a little. "I'll try," he whispered.
Carter spoke up, then. "Jason, it's time to go." The teen spared his
parents and home one final, grief stricken look, then went and quickly got
into the car.
As Carter shut the door, Donavon spoke in a forcibly calm voice. "We'll be
up there first thing tomorrow."
Carter smiled, and nodded in a sickeningly pleasant way. "We'll be
expecting you."
The Scotts watched in numb silence as Carter and his two men all climbed
into the car. They continued to watch helplessly as it backed out of the
driveway and disappeared up the street, taking their son from their
sight.
* * *
Adam Park watched in shock from a vantage point a short distance away as
Jason was taken away in the car with the Kingston Institute insignia on the
side. He had been going to return Jason's jacket to him, which Jason had
left behind in the Youth Centre, but had arrived just as the awful scene
unfolded.
It didn't take him much effort to guess what had happened. Forgetting the
jacket in his hands, he turned and bolted back into the park.
* * *
The rangers had all just arrived back in the park, hyped up after the
successful fight against what had literally boiled down to a over sized
turkey. They were so busy laughing and congratulating one another on the
fight that they almost didn't notice Adam coming towards them. Kimberly
did, and she felt her good mood deteriorate rapidly. "Uh, guys....?
Trouble's coming...."
They all looked around just as Adam skidded up to them, gasping for breath.
"Take it easy, man," Rocky said, clapping Adam on the shoulder. "You don't
wanna hyperventilate."
Adam deliberately ignored Rocky. "Something's happened," he gasped.
"Just.... Just came from Jason's place.... He's gone!"
Tommy's face darkened considerably. "What d'you mean?"
"That shrink.... the one he's been talking to, I think.... came and got him
today. Saw him take.... take Jason away in a car with Kingston Institute
written on the side...."
There was a long, tense silence, and then Zack spoke shakily. "They... They
sent Jase to Kingston?"
Adam looked grim. "That's what it looked like."
"C'mon," Tommy growled, breaking into a fast walk across the park.
"Where're we going?" Kim asked nervously.
"To see Jason's folks. I want to know what's going on."
* * *
Donavon Scott stood at the picture window in silence, staring out at the
street. That was it. Jason was gone. He was about to turn away from the
window when he saw a disturbing sight.
Jason's friends, seven in all, were coming up the street towards the house,
and none of them looked happy. Donavon hurried to the front door and out
onto the porch to meet them all. His wife was upset enough as it was; she
didn't need a confrontation with seven angry teenagers.
"What's going on?" Tommy demanded, stomping up the porch steps to face
Donavon. "Adam said he saw Jason being taken away by Dr Carter. Where is
he?"
Donavon lowered his gaze. "Jason's been taken to the Kingston Institute."
A murmur of anger swept across the group, and Tommy spoke in a hoarse
whisper.
"You said when he woke up that you wouldn't send him away!"
Donavon sighed heavily. "I know. We didn't have a choice. Dr Carter came
this afternoon with a court order. Jason had to go."
"A court order?" Kim echoed in a trembling voice. "Why...?"
"He claimed Jason was unstable and suicidal. He believes that Jason might
end up not only hurting himself, but someone else."
"That's bogus!" Zack exploded. "Jason's wouldn't hurt anyone, and he wouldn't hurt
himself!"
"Actually," Rocky put in nervously, "that's not entirely true..."
"What do you mean?" Billy asked suspiciously.
"Earlier today," Adam explained quietly, "Jason tried to run in front of a
car. We just managed to stop him in time."
"Well," Trini said softly, "if he tried to... you know..."
Adam looked agitated. "No. I got him talking and he snapped out of it. He
was feeling a lot better! He even managed to walk home by himself from the
corner back there!"
Donavon looked upset. "Adam, why didn't you come up and say something?"
Tommy looked bitter. "Would it have helped at all? I don't think so."
Donavon sighed again. "I doubt it. Carter probably really would have put
Jason in a straight jacket, then. Listen, kids, I know how angry you all
are. Sarah and I are just as angry and upset as the rest of you. We didn't
have a say in this, and we didn't know about it until Carter showed up
today with the court order. Jason was extremely upset, and he's going to
need more help than ever, now."
"Can we go up there to see him?" Trini asked, and Donavon nodded quickly.
"Yes, of course. I'm sure Jason would appreciate it."
Tommy looked gloomy. "This could kill him, Mr Scott."
"That's why we have to keep reminding him that he hasn't been deserted."
At that innocent comment, the teens exchanged uncomfortable and guilty
glances. Only Adam remained unshaken.
"He isn't alone. We'll be there for him, just like we all promised."
Donavon nodded, greatly relieved. "Thank you."
* * *
The journey to Kingston was a tense one. Jason remained silent for the
entire trip, ignoring all attempts Carter made to talk to him. He watched
the scenery go by miserably, and watched as the gates of Kingston came into
sight, towering towards the sky.
_not a prison_ he recalled Carter saying. _yeah, right..._ he thought
dismally.
The car pulled inside the huge brick wall, and rolled up the long driveway
to the stop at the bottom of the steps. Jason climbed slowly out of the car
just in time to see the wrought iron gates slam shut, and he felt his hopes
and confidence drain a little more. Carter walked around and put a hand
gently on Jason's shoulder. "C'mon, Jason. I'll take you up to your room."
* * *
Under any other circumstances, Jason would have found both the room he'd
been allocated, and the place in general, not so bad. As it was, it seemed
to him like something directly out of a horror film, the sole purpose being
to torture him.
"This is going to be your room for a while," Carter announced, as though it
were some kind of paradise. "If you need anything at all, then just let me
know, and I'll see about getting it for you."
Jason looked around slowly. The room was fairly large, and there was some
open space in the center of the room where he could work out without
causing any damage. "How about getting me my karate gear?" he asked
quietly.
Carter paused at that. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Jason."
Jason turned around slowly to face Carter. "How am I supposed to work out
if I don't have anything to work out with?"
"You're not,"Carter replied abruptly. "I think it would be best if you just
forget about the martial arts while you're here. Just try and relax."
Anger filled Jason's face, and his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
"You mean, you don't want me working at something that I could use to hurt
others with."
Carter sighed audibly. "If you want to put it like that, then yes. That's
true."
Jason was defiant. "What makes you think you can stop me? maybe I haven't
worked out much lately, but I'm still a blackbelt...."
Without speaking, Carter walked over to the bed and yanked the covers back.
He reached beneath the mattress, and pulled out a restraining strap.
"These are fixed to nearly every bed in this institute. Don't make it
necessary to use them."
Jason glared at Carter, trembling with anger. "Dad was right. You are a
bastard."
Carter looked indifferent. "You can think what you like about me, but I
think it's common courtesy to keep it to yourself. Now, I'll leave you
alone for a while to settle in, then show you around the place."
Jason stood stiffly, watching in anger as Carter and the orderlies left the
room. Then, once he was alone, he walked over and kicked the wall as hard
as he could.
He had absolutely no intention of ever settling in. That would only confirm
that he was going to be there for a long time. His gaze fell on the
suitcase that sat by the bed, packed full with most of his clothes. He
looked at it, and felt a rush of grief and anger. What right did Carter
have to take him away from his family and friends?
"You can't keep me here," Jason growled softly to himself. "I'll get out of
here and I'm find somewhere to hide. I will...."
* * *
Carter returned half an hour later and spent the rest of the afternoon
showing Jason around. They finally ended up in the dining hall just as
dinner was being served. "Now," Carter said with relish, "time to eat.
What would you like?"
Jason eyed the food being dished up with little to no enthusiasm. "I'm not
hungry."
Carter spared him a small frown. "You have to eat, Jason. It's a basic
necessity."
Jason glowered at the floor, determined to fight Carter in every way he
possibly could. "I said, I'm not hungry."
Carter's expression darkened. For the most part, he allowed his patients
one slip every so often where they missed a meal. It was an allowance given
on the condition that they didn't deliberately try to starve themselves.
That was something that he could not trust Jason not to do. Not yet. "I
want you to eat something. Even if it's just a small amount." Jason fell
stubbornly silent and Carter had to fight back a sigh. "Don't make me fight
this out with you, Jason."
"What are you going to do if I don't eat?" Jason retorted.
Carter's gaze hardened considerably. "We have two options. One is
sedation, and the insertion of an intravenous drip. Or, we have trained
staff on hand to feed you, like a baby if necessary. Either way, you'll be
fed whether you like it or not. It's your choice, Jason. You can do...."
He trailed off. All of a sudden, Jason had gone white as a ghost, and
seemed frozen to the spot.
_hold him, carl... he's gonna eat this, whether he likes it or not..._
Sheer panic flooded Jason's face, and Carter realised that he'd made a
serious slip in mentioning the force feeding. Jason stood, trembling all
over, like a bomb that was on the verge of exploding. "No..." he
whispered, stricken with a sudden, inextricable terror. "Please, no.... I
can't...."
Carter reached up, but stopped short of actually touching the teen. He
glanced over his shoulder, and saw orderlies watching the scene, on alert
and ready to act. He turned back to the stricken boy. "What is it, Jason?
Talk to me..."
Jason shut his eyes tightly, trying to block it all from his mind. It was
over, he told himself desperately. He had to get a grip.... Tears flooded
his eyes, and it was a painful struggle to drag himself back from the
terrifying memories. Carter watched all the while, watched wordlessly as
Jason struggled with his memories and his fear. Then, when the teen managed
to regain a decent level of calm, he spoke softly.
"Are you all right?"
Jason nodded, although he was trembling badly. "I... I think so...." Carter
withheld a sigh. Jason's reaction had effectively ruled out the option of
force feeding; to do so would only cause the boy worse trauma. Which meant
that if Jason refused to eat, they would have to resort to sedation and
using an IV.....
Jason brushed the back of his hand across his eyes, his determination and
stubbornness gone. Defeated, he allowed himself to be led over to the line
to select dinner.
"You don't have to eat a lot," Carter told him gently. "Even if it's just a
plate of chips..."
"That'll do," Jason said in a numb voice.
Carter nodded, relieved. "Good."
* * *
That night, Jason lay in bed, unable to sleep. Once more, his life had
become an unbearable nightmare, and all the logic Adam had drummed into him
had been lost to the four winds. He sat up slowly, eyeing the security
camera that sat in one corner of the room. He desperately wanted to get
out, and although he knew his door was unlocked, he also knew that any
escape attempt would be monitored by the camera. If he got out, he would be
caught in a matter of minutes.
Engulfed by misery, he slid out of bed and wandered into the adjoining
bathroom. Kingston was actually a pretty fancy place, he had to admit.
There weren't too many psychiatric hospital which afforded all the
facilities that Kingston did. He didn't care, though. All he wanted was to
be home, in his own room, in his own bed.
_c'mon, scott_ he told himself angrily, _you're a blackbelt, for crying out
loud! you can beat a stupid security camera..._
Filled with renewed determination, Jason stood just inside the bathroom and
eyed the angle of the camera. If his judgment was correct, the camera
showed every part of the room except the walls. He frowned to himself,
wondering if he could slip out by moving along the walls.
_only one way to find out_ he thought grimly. _c'mon... you're not gonna
lose anything by trying..._
Drawing in a deep breath, Jason flattened himself against the wall and
began to make his way carefully around the room. He reached the door
eventually, quietly opened it and looked out. No one was about, the halls
were silent. Sparing a glance back at the camera, Jason fled his room.
* * *
In the observation room on level three, Security Guard Steve Clarke watched
in amusement as Jason left the room. Every patient in Kingston had tried to
escape at least once, but none had been so theatrical as Jason. It seemed
he believed that he could honestly avoid being seen by sticking to the
walls....
"This kid's seen too many movies," he chuckled to himself as he reached for
the radio to contact the other guards, and Dr Carter.
* * *
Jason paused at the stairs, looking around anxiously. There were cameras
everywhere, he realised with growing panic. He couldn't possibly hope to
avoid them all...
_calm down,_ he told himself. _remember, you're a trained ninja. Ninjas are
silent, and invisible. Now, go...._
Drawing in a deep, calming breath, Jason began to make his way towards the
exit.
* * *
Carter arrived in the observation room quickly, to find Clarke paying more
attention to his small TV than the monitors. "Where is he?" Carter asked
anxiously.
Clarke grinned. "Heading for the stairs. Don't worry, he can't escape the
cameras. We've got 'em everywhere. Boy, you should've seen him sneaking
out, like he thought he was some kind of secret agent...."
"Where is he?" Carter asked abruptly, sounding anything but happy. "I don't
see him anywhere, Steve."
Steve leaned in towards the monitors... and froze. "He... He was right
there just a second ago..."
"Damn!" Carter exploded. "Steve, I told you to keep a close eye on him!
Call the guards, tell them to get moving. I want Jason back in his room
within the next half hour!"
* * *
Jason slipped out of the building and bolted across the grounds just as the
floodlights were turned on, lighting up the entire area. Fighting down the
panic, Jason turned sharply and headed for a huge tree he'd spotted earlier
by the wall. If he could just make it to the tree, then he could get over
the wall....
Nearly tripping once, he reached the tree and, just as he heard voices
shouting nearby, he scrambled up into the branches, making his way higher
until he was level with the top of the wall. Ignoring the height, he jumped
from branch to wall and slipped over the other side, dropping to the
ground, ignoring the shocks of pain through his feet.
_free_ Jason thought breathlessly as he looked around. _i'm free..._ Barely
able to believe that he'd succeeded in escaping Kingston, Jason started off
down the hill, wondering whether he should go home, or find somewhere else
to hide out. He barely made it five feet when his world vanished in a flash
of white light.
* * *
Jason landed with a heavy thud on the floor of the hall just inside the
Kingston Institute, and for several seconds he wondered what had happened.
Then, he realised. Zordon....
He scrambled to his feet, but before he could get anywhere, security guards
rounded the corner. They seemed equally surprised to see him, but
recovered quickly and one of them called out loudly. "Hold it, Jason!"
Jason looked around in distress, but there was nowhere he could go.
Orderlies had appeared in the other direction, cutting off all avenues of
escape. Realising he had nowhere left to go, he fell back against the wall,
defeated.
One of the orderlies, a man called John, came forward cautiously. "It's
time to go back to your room, now, Jason. How about you come with me?"
Jason didn't protest when John gently took his arm, and miserably allowed
himself to be led back to his room.
* * *
"You certainly gave the security guards a work out last night," Carter
remarked dryly to Jason the next morning. The teen didn't answer, merely
sitting on the edge of the bed and glaring at the floor. He was furious at
Zordon for interfering with his escape, but habit forced him to stay silent
about it. Carter came over and sat down next to Jason on the bed.
"Maybe you can explain something to me. One of the guards swore he saw you
go over the wall last night. And yet, not five minutes after that, you were
found in the main hall. I'm a little confused..."
Jason continued to scowl at the carpet. "Did you check his breath for
alcohol?"
Carter didn't answer straight away. He watched Jason carefully for a long
moment before speaking. "There's no point in staying angry, Jason. You
can't leave here until I say, and that's all there is to it. And if you
keep trying stunts like you did last night, it won't be any time soon.
Think about that for while, then come down for breakfast."
He stood up and went to the door. "Oh, and by the way, your door will be
locked at night, until you prove you won't try to escape again."
Carter left, shutting the door behind him. Jason waited until he was gone,
then threw himself down on the bed and screamed furiously into the
pillow.
Kingston Institute....
Donavon and Sarah Scott arrived at the Institute the next morning to a wry
faced Alex Carter, and an unusual amount of activity amongst the security
guards.
"What's going on?" Donavon asked as Carter led them into his office. Carter
grimaced a little.
"Your son gave us all a run for our money last night. He got out of his
room, reached the stairs and disappeared on us. The guards are still trying
to work out how he managed to avoid the security cameras."
"Jason's gone?" Sarah asked in shock.
Carter shook his head. "No. He was caught within half an hour and taken
back to his room. It was a very colourful attempt, though."
Donavon scowled. "Can you blame him? You come and take him like a goddamn
prisoner...."
"He is not a prisoner," Carter replied sharply. "We've already been over
that. He's just.... and involuntary patient. Look, I tried explaining this
yesterday. The best thing you can do for Jason right now is assure him that
this is the best place for him. It won't do him any good to see how upset
and angry you both are, when he's already upset himself."
"I will not lie to my son," Donavon growled. "I don't believe this is the
best place for him, and I won't lie just so you can control him
better."
Carter grimaced. "Fine. Come with me, and I'll take you to him."
* * *
Jason was outside, sitting on the grass when his parents arrived, and
trying to ignore the presence of the nearby orderly who was watching him
carefully. Finally, he lost his patience and spoke in agitation. "You don't
have to stand there and watch me for every second."
The orderly smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Jason, but I do. Doctor's
orders."
"You really think I'd be stupid enough to try getting away in broad
daylight?"
The orderly shrugged. "Maybe, since your door will be locked at night."
Jason cringed, remembering Carter had given that order. Scowling, he
mumbled something incoherently under his breath. The orderly smiled, then,
and went over and sat down next to the teen.
"Y'know, it really isn't so bad here, Jason. If you'd just give it half a
chance...."
"I don't want to," Jason muttered, staring intently at the ground. The
orderly, John, frowned at the boy.
"You ought to think yourself lucky, Jason. There are a lot of psychiatric
institutes that don't afford their patients half the freedom and luxuries
that you get here. You could have ended up in a place where you're locked
up all day, and only get out for an hour or so to exercise. Here, you've
got the freedom of the grounds, as long as you don't abuse the
privilege."
"Like I did last night?" Jason asked sulkily.
John laughed. "Hell, no. Every patient in this place has tried to escape at
least once. The guards are still trying to figure out how you got by all
the security cameras.
Jason smiled, at that. "Is that what they were all doing this morning?
Trying to figure out where I'd gone?"
John nodded. "Uh huh. Care to let me in on the secret? I heard someone saw
you go over the wall."
Jason shook his head wordlessly. He dared not admit to that, for he had no
way to explain how or why he'd gotten back into the main hall, and in such
a short period of time. He certainly couldn't tell the truth....
John suddenly nudged Jason a little. "Hey, you got visitors." Jason looked
up, and his face lit up at the sight of his parents. Scrambling to his
feet, he ran to them, and threw himself into their arms.
"I missed you guys..." he said, his voice muffled by their clothes. Donavon
and Sarah held on to their son tightly.
"We missed you, too, sweetheart," Sarah murmured. Donavon ruffled his son's
hair affectionately.
"We heard you kept the guards up last night."
Jason pulled a face. "Yeah. I would've gotten away, too, if..." He trailed
off just in time. "If they hadn't caught up with me in the main hall."
Donavon hugged him tightly. "Don't worry, Jason. It was probably better
that you didn't get very far. You know they would have only come and gotten
you again."
Jason pulled away from them. "Not if I go somewhere that they wouldn't
think of. I can get out of here, Dad, I know I can..."
Donavon exchanged a grim look with his wife. He was almost desperate enough
to tell Jason to go ahead and try. Almost, but not quite. "Jason, listen to
me," he said quietly. "You have to stay here. I know you don't want to. We
don't want you to have to stay here either, but we don't have a choice.
It's only going to make it an even longer process if you keep trying to run
away. The best thing you can do is stay here and try and work with Dr
Carter as best as you can."
Tears filled Jason's eyes. "I hate him, Dad! I hate this place!"
"We know," Sarah murmured, bringing Jason to her in a warm embrace. "Honey,
we know you hate it. We don't like it, either, but your father's right. If
you keep trying to run away, and don't work with Dr Carter, then he'll just
keep you here."
Jason's face fell completely, and he turned away from them, going back to
sit down on the grass. "Why bother?" he asked miserably. "Why should I
bother at all?"
"So you can get your life back on track," Donavon told him, sitting down
next to Jason on the grass. "Jason, don't you remember what you said before
you left with Carter yesterday? You promised us you'd try working with him.
The harder you try, the sooner he'll let you come home."
Jason fell silent, not speaking for a long while. "What about my friends?
Do they know?"
"They know," Donavon confirmed grimly. "They'll probably be up here to see
you in the next couple of days."
"What about Claire?"
At that, Donavon hesitated. Unless one of Jason's friends told her at
school, she probably wouldn't know where he was.
"We'll call her," Sarah promised him. Jason sighed softly. "Thank you."
* * *
Claire Roberts looked around the school grounds slowly, scanning the area
for Jason. She had heard the news yesterday morning, and had tried calling
Jason's home yesterday afternoon. There had been no answer, though, so
either they'd gone somewhere to maybe get away from everything, or they
were just refusing to answer the phone...
She frowned to herself in frustration. An idea had come to her that might
help Jason a lot, and she was annoyed that she couldn't find him anywhere.
She knew he would be upset, but she couldn't imagine his parents keeping
him home from school because of it...
Claire spotted Tommy, but stopped short of actually calling out to him. He
looked anything but happy. In fact, she realised, he looked downright
furious....
He joined his friends at a picnic table, and Claire realised with a sinking
feeling that they were all angry about something. But what...? Gathering
her courage, she went to find out.
* * *
"Bastard..." Tommy swore for the tenth time that day.
Zack stared bleakly at the table top. "That ain't gonna do any good. You
heard his dad. Carter got a court order."
"And that's bull!" Tommy snapped, unintentionally turning his anger and
frustration on Zack. "Jason isn't dangerous! He wouldn't hurt anyone else!
I know he wouldn't!"
"Forget what we know," Billy said dismally. "That doesn't matter now. All
that matters is what Dr Carter thinks. He's the only one who can say
whether Jason can come home."
"Guys, Claire's coming..." Kim said suddenly, startling them all.
Tommy got up quickly to meet the other girl. "Hey, Claire."
She nodded. "Tommy. What's wrong? You guys look really upset about
something."
Tommy hesitated. "You... You haven't heard?"
"Heard what? What is it?"
Tommy sighed heavily. "It's Jason. Carter showed up at his place yesterday
with a court order, and took him to Kingston."
Claire froze for a long moment before speaking. "What...?"
"He's up at Kingston," Zack muttered. "You know, the psycho hospital."
Shock filled Claire's face. "But... but you said his parents weren't going
to...."
"They didn't," Tommy told her again. "Carter came with a court order. They
didn't have a choice."
Claire groaned and sat down with a thud. "Damn, that screws everything
up...."
"How do you mean?" Trini asked. Claire hesitated, then went on quietly.
"I had an idea yesterday. A lot of Jason's problem now is that he doesn't
have anyone much to talk to that really understands what he's going
through. No offense to you guys, but you couldn't possibly understand
it."
Tommy nodded wordlessly. Claire continued to speak. "I'm part of a group
that meets once a month in L.A. We get together for a weekend, talk about
things that have happened, good and bad... talk about any problems we're
having, and pretty much just try and share what we're going through. We're
meeting in a week's time, and I wanted Jason to come with me. Now, that's
impossible...."
"A group..." Tommy echoed. "You mean, like you and Jason?"
Claire nodded. "That's right. I thought it might help him, being with some
other people who have had similar experiences."
"You're probably right," Tommy conceded. "It doesn't make much difference,
now, though, does it?"
Claire didn't answer, and the silence confirmed her reluctant agreement.
* * *
Night came, and Jason was locked in his room, as Carter had promised. There
was no chance of going out the window, either. The bars on the outside of
the pane of shatter proof glass guaranteed that.
Groaning softly to himself, Jason fell down onto the bed and stared
miserably up at the ceiling. Right then, he didn't think he could have
possibly felt worse. His self esteem was shot to hell, he was being held
against his will in a place that was literally a home for the insane, and
what would have been a successful escape had been foiled by a giant head in
a glass tube.
He rolled over, scowling into his pillow. _note_ he thought to himself.
_get tommy and the others to tell zordon to mind his own goddamn
business_
Realising he was not going to get to sleep any time soon, he rolled off the
bed and wandered into the bathroom. Maybe, he thought as he stared into the
mirror at his reflection, he could have a shower, or something... Freshen
up a little....
It was several seconds before it registered in Jason's mind that he was no
longer alone. Spinning around, he came face to face with Goldar, and the
over sized monkey was grinning at him in a frightening way that reminded
Jason of Rick Daniels.
"Hello, Jason," Goldar rasped. "It's been a long time." Jason tried to back
away, but he was already leaning against the porcelain basin. He could not
go any further, and Goldar was blocking his only avenue for escape.
"Wh... What d'you want?" he asked, fighting against his fear. Goldar
sneered at the frightened teen.
"Just a little chat, Jason, for old time's sake. You know, you're not half
the human you once were."
Anger and pain filled Jason's heart, and he couldn't answer, for he knew
Goldar was right. Goldar chuckled cruelly.
"You can't even get suicide right, you pathetic little human."
Tears welled up in Jason's eyes before he could stop them. "Why don't you
get the hell out of here, Goldar?" he choked out. His voice cracked a
little, and Goldar laughed out loud.
"I will, but not before I help you along."
"What d'you mean?" Jason asked, not knowing what to expect. His question
was answered when Goldar lifted his sword and swung it around. Jason
ducked, and the blade hit the mirror, breaking it into a thousand small
pieces. Jason held his arms over his head, shielding himself from the
lethal spray, and when he finally looked up again, Goldar hit him hard
across the face, sending him reeling into the shower cubicle.
He gasped in pain as his lower back struck the tap, and he fell to the
tiled floor, stunned. Goldar approached him slowly, a shard of the mirror
in his clawed hand. "Everyone's going to think you tried to kill yourself,
Jason."
Jason stared up at Goldar in a daze. _tried to...?_
Goldar laughed gratingly. "I'm not going to kill you, you useless human.
I'm just helping you along with your insanity. For all you know, I could be
an illusion, and you're really doing this to yourself."
Jason shut his eyes. _c'mon,_ he thought desperately. _dammit, you dodged
this overgrown hairball in the dimension of darkness. get off your rear and
fight him now!_
But he couldn't. It was beyond his will to fight, and had been since Rick
Daniels had committed the offensive deed of rape back in the basement room.
All the fight had been drained out of him months ago, and he couldn't bring
himself to get up and even try to dodge Goldar.
The huge ape crouched down in front of Jason and, in a single swift motion,
he slashed Jason's wrists and palms open with a small, sharp knife. Blood
welled up and began to stream from the wounds, but still Jason didn't
move.
Laughing, Goldar carefully placed the shard in Jason's bloodied palm, and
then straightened up. "Until next time, Jason...."
He vanished in a flash of light, leaving Jason alone in the bathroom.
* * *
John the orderly stopped in at the camera room on his way out, smirking at
Steve Clarke, who sat watching the monitors with almost unnatural
attentiveness. "Steve, keep that up and you'll teach yourself to sleep with
your eyes open."
Steve scowled. "I wish I could. That kid's stunt last night got us all in
trouble. Carter told me when I got here this afternoon that if I took my
eyes off the monitors, he'd fire me on the spot."
John shrugged a little. "That's fair enough. We nearly lost Jason last
night. That's not good, when he hadn't even been here a full day. Speaking
of which, where is he?"
"In the bathroom," Steve muttered. "Mustn't be able to sleep. Don't worry,
I've been watching him closely. He hasn't disappeared again."
John nodded thoughtfully, and was about to leave the room when a disturbing
sight appeared on the monitor for Jason's room. The teen had appeared in
the doorway of the bathroom, but he was on his hands and knees, and looked
as though he could hardly move.
"What the hell...?" he muttered. Steve leaned in, frowning as he peered at
the monitor, then swore vehemently.
"Oh shit, that's blood..."
"Call Carter," John ordered. "I'll get down there to him." John ran from
the room, leaving Steve to make the call.
* * *
Jason collapsed in the door of the bathroom, unable to go any further. His
head was spinning, and the smell of the blood was making him nauseous. He
moaned faintly to himself, hoping for once that the security guards were
watching the camera. With luck, after last night's foiled attempt, they
would be...
The door suddenly swung violently open, and John ran in, skidding to the
floor beside Jason. "Aw, hell..." he muttered. "Hang on, kid." Getting up
again, he went back to the door and yelled to one of the orderlies that was
coming towards the room. "Get a first aid kit, now!"
Going back into the room, John found the only thing immediately available:
the large towel in the bathroom. He grabbed it and went back to Jason's
side, trying to stifle the bleeding.
Carter reappeared in the room, breathing heavily from running. "What's
happened...? Oh, no...."
"The mirror's been smashed," John said grimly. "He probably kicked it in,
or something. His feet are cut up a bit, too."
Carter dropped to his knees by Jason. "Jason? Can you hear me?" Jason
moaned faintly, indicating that he could. Carter breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good," Carter muttered. "Just stay still, now. We're going to help
you."
Jason couldn't have moved if he'd wanted to. Too weak to do anything, he
simply lay there and let himself be taken care of.
* * *
"All right," Carter said quietly when Jason had been moved to the
infirmary. "What happened?"
"It was an accident..." Jason mumbled, refusing to look Carter in the eye.
Carter looked understandingly sceptical. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe
that. Those mirrors are supposed to be unbreakable. It would take a hell of
a lot of effort to shatter one like you did to it."
_but i didn't do it!_ Jason wanted to yell. He couldn't, though. Even
though he knew the vows probably no longer applied to him, he couldn't
break his promise of long ago and tell the truth. Instead, he just stayed
silent.
Carter sighed. "I was hoping we could trust each other, Jason. Right now
you aren't doing much to help me feel like I can trust you. This is two
nights in a row that you've done something foolish."
Jason shut his eyes, and he spoke in a dull voice. "It was an accident. I
didn't try to kill myself."
Carter nodded slowly. "All right. I'll leave you here for tonight, and
tomorrow morning we can have a proper talk. Just remember, Jason. It would
be a lot better for you, for your own sake, if you just admit the truth. I
won't think worse of you for it, and neither will anyone else. I'm just
asking you to be truthful, with yourself as well as me."
Standing up, Carter left the infirmary. Jason watched him go, then shut his
eyes again. What was the truth? He didn't think he knew anymore... Sighing
miserably to himself, he tried to get some sleep.
* * *
Tommy arrived at Kingston the next afternoon on his own. The others had
been forced to cancel their plans to go and see Jason because of an
unexpected Physics test that had been threatened for the next day. Tommy,
having dropped Physics nearly a term ago, was the only one of the group
that did not need to do any study.
He was quickly directed outside, and did not take long to find Jason. The
teen, still in his pyjamas, was sitting on a grassy slope and staring ahead
with a haunted gaze that Tommy found heart breaking.
"Hey," he said softly, approaching Jason slowly. Jason looked up, and
managed a weak smile.
"Hi, Tommy."
Tommy hesitated, then sat down beside him. "The others said to say hi. They
wanted to come, but Mr Caplan told them he was gonna give them a physics
test tomorrow. They had to stay behind to study."
Jason looked confused. "How come you aren't studying?"
"I dropped Physics, remember?" Tommy told him gently. "A couple of months
ago. Got too much for me."
Jason nodded wordlessly. Tommy hesitated, then spoke in concern. "Jase, are
you okay? You look kind of... I don't know, spaced out..."
Jason spoke slowly, as though thinking about each word before he said it.
"Dr Carter dosed me up with something. I don't know what it was...
Everything's a little hazy at the moment."
Tommy nodded slowly, then spoke in concern, sensing something was wrong.
"What's up, Jase? You didn't try breaking out again, did you? Your folks
told me what happened the first night..."
Jason breathed in slowly before answering. "No... I didn't run away
again... Tommy, something happened last night...."
"Like what?" Tommy asked. Jason blinked several times, as though trying to
remember what he wanted to say.
"G... Goldar.... It was Goldar. He came.... Did... Did this to me..."
Tommy drew in a sharp breath of anger as he looked down at Jason's bandaged
wrists and hands. "He cut your wrists?"
"Yeah... No one else saw him, and I couldn't say what really happened..."
Tommy realised what Jason was getting at. "So everyone thinks you tried to
kill yourself. Damn Zedd..."
"Can you do anything?" Jason asked. Tommy thought it over for a moment.
"I'll go see Zordon tonight. See if there's anything we can do so Zedd'll
leave you alone. Okay?"
Jason nodded. "Thanks."
Tommy smiled and gave Jason a quick hug. "No problem."
* * *
Zordon almost seemed to have been waiting when Tommy arrived later that
night, and he greeted him somberly. "Hello, Tommy."
Tommy nodded in greeting. "Zordon, I saw Jason today. He said that Goldar
showed up and attacked him. Cut his wrists and made it look like he tried
to kill himself."
Zordon looked grim. "That is Jason's perspective of the incident," he said
quietly, and Tommy felt his stomach tighten up.
"What d'you mean?"
Zordon hesitated, and Tommy blinked in surprise. _he actually hesitated_ he
thought. Then, the ancient master went on quietly. "Tommy, I have been
carefully observing Jason over the past two nights. It was I that returned
Jason to Kingston two nights ago when he tried to leave...."
"Why?" Tommy burst out. "Zordon, he could've gotten away! And you're the
one who told us that Jason would never get better if he went to
Kingston..."
"I said that when Jason was still catatonic," Zordon corrected lightly.
"Circumstances have changed. It is best for Jason now that he remain at
Kingston."
Tommy ran his fingers through his long hair, confused and exasperated. He
would have to argue that out with Zordon later on.... "Okay. So what
happened last night, then?"
"As I said, I have been monitoring Jason closely. I am afraid that I could
detect neither Goldar nor any of Zedd's minions anywhere near Jason at any
time last night. What ever happened to Jason, he did it to himself."
Tommy felt sick. "Zordon, are you absolutely sure about that? I mean, Jason
was pretty sure..."
"I am certain, Tommy. Jason was alone right up until he was found by the
security men at Kingston. I am afraid that Goldar was not responsible for
anything that happened."
"So... You're saying that Jason tried to kill himself again...."
"Yes, Tommy. I am afraid that is the truth."
"But he was sure!" Tommy burst out. "Why would he lie?"
"Jason may not even be aware that he is lying," Zordon replied in a
soothing voice. "He is extremely confused at the moment, and may not have
even been aware of what he was doing to himself. Goldar's presence may have
been an illusion that his subconscious mind imagined to excuse the
attempt."
Tommy shut his eyes, starting to feel confused himself. The problem was
that Zordon's words made more sense than Jason's. Jason was
suicidal, they all knew that. He had already tried to kill himself at least
twice. The suggestion that he had tried again, but imagined Goldar as the
aggressor, was not beyond reason.
"Tommy," Zordon spoke up suddenly, "I suggest you do not mention this
conversation to Jason. We do not want to upset him anymore than is
necessary. If he asks, simply tell him that you spoke to me, and I said I
would make sure no more attacks occur."
Tommy nodded. "Yeah, okay. Thanks, Zordon."
"You're welcome, Tommy. Do not worry yourself about Jason. He is safe at
Kingston, and I will be watching over him constantly."
Tommy nodded again, but could not rid himself of the unease that was very
slowly trickling into his mind.
Angel Grove Youth Centre....
Tommy was waiting at their usual table when the rangers arrived, and his
dark mood had an immediate effect on them all.
"What is it?" Kim asked nervously. "Didn't things go too well today?"
"Jason was all right," Tommy said. "A bit confused, but okay. For his state
of mind."
"State of mind...?" Zack echoed. "What d'you mean? What's happened?"
Tommy sighed. "You know Jason took off on the first night?"
"Yes," Billy replied. "What about it?"
"Well, he would've gotten out, 'cept Zordon teleported him back inside
Kingston."
"What!?" Trini exploded. "Why?"
Tommy stared at the table. "Zordon thinks Jason's really... confused at the
moment. You know... sort of unstable...."
"You mean, suicidal," Billy said in a dangerously soft voice.
Tommy nodded quickly. "Yeah. Guys, I think he might be right. Something
happened last night. The mirror in his bathroom got smashed, and Jason
ended up with both his wrists being slit open. He would've bled to death,
'cept the security guards were watching his room because of the night
before."
"Did Jase tell you what happened?" Kim asked softly.
"Jason said Goldar showed up and attacked him," Tommy told them, "but when
I asked Zordon about it, he said he'd been keeping an eye on Jason, and
Goldar was nowhere near Kingston at any time last night. He said everything
that happened, Jason did to himself. Even if he wasn't aware of it."
"Aw, hell...." Zack muttered.
Tommy finally looked up at his friends. "Jason's really screwed up at the
moment, but he doesn't even realise it. We're just gonna have to be there
for him as much as we can."
"If Jason is hallucinating about seeing Goldar," Trini said softly, "then
he won't tell Dr Carter about it."
Billy understood what she was saying. "And he won't be able to get any better."
Kim hesitated, then spoke tentatively. "Maybe we should ask Zordon to be
able to tell Dr Carter the truth. If he knows, then Jason won't have
anything to hide...."
"And he'll have a better chance of recovering from this," Zack concluded.
Tommy had to agree. "It's worth a shot. Let's go now."
The rangers all got up and hurried from the Youth Centre.
* * *
Jason was in his room when his parents arrived. He'd been feeling
off-colour, and was lying down to ease his discomfort.
"How are you feeling?" Sarah asked as she went over and sat down on the
edge of the bed. Jason glanced at her, then looked away towards the window,
not replying.
Donavon leaned over, looking down at the thick bandages that covered
Jason's wrists. "Dr Carter told us what happened last night." Still Jason
didn't speak. Donavon sighed heavily. "Why did you try it, Jason? We know
you hate it here, but why in God's name would you try to kill
yourself?"
Tears filled Jason's eyes, and he half sat up. "But I didn't! It was an
accident! Why won't anyone believe me?"
Donavon exchanged grim looks with his wife. "Dr Carter said the mirrors are
supposed to be unbreakable, that it would have take a lot of force and
effort to break one. It couldn't have possibly been an accident."
The tears came in a flood, and Jason rolled off the bed, stomping over to
the window. "You don't even believe me! No one trusts me...." His shoulders
slumped, and he began to sob helplessly, hurt by his parents' apparent
betrayal.
Sarah went to him quickly, pulling him to her in a tight hug. "Sweetheart,
we just want to help you get better, so you can come home! We're not going
to be angry at you for... for anything like that. We just want you to be
able to admit to it."
"But it was an accident...." Jason said, his voice muffled. "I swear...."
Donavon came over slowly. "If it was an accident, then tell us exactly what
happened."
Jason faltered, then, old promises coming into force. "I... I can't...."
Donavon was unable to hold back his frustration. "If you won't say what
happened, then how can you expect us to believe you? Damn it, Jason...."
Jason began to cry again, cringing visibly as his father's voice began to
rise. "Please, don't yell at me...." he choked out, clinging to his mother
for support and protection.
Donavon winced. "I'm sorry, Jason. I didn't mean to yell. I'm just hurt
that you don't seem to want to let us help you."
"I want to," Jason moaned. "I do... but I can't tell. I promised I'd never
tell...."
Donavon and Sarah exchanged startled looks. "Never tell what?" Sarah
prompted. Jason shook his head, clamping his jaw firmly shut. He had said
far too much already.
"Jason, you can trust us," Donavon said, anxious to get to the bottom of
the mystery. "You know you can...."
"I promised him," Jason whispered, his entire body trembling. "We all
did...."
Sarah looked to her husband questioningly, but Donavon only shook his head.
They would nothing coherent out of Jason right then. All they could do was
stay with the boy, and make sure he knew he wasn't alone.
* * *
Carter was surprised that the Scotts bothered to take the time to speak him
on their way out that evening, and was stunned by what they told him. "A
promise?" he echoed. "He said he'd made a promise about something?"
Donavon nodded. It irked him that he was telling the information to Carter,
but it was Carter who held the key to Jason's release. Only he could give
the order that would allow Jason to leave Kingston. "He said he'd promised
never to tell anyone, that it was a promise they all made. I presume he
means his friends. After that, we couldn't get anything more out of him.
Nothing that made any ounce of sense, in any case."
Carter nodded. "I'll work on that with him. Thank you, Mr Scott. I
appreciate you changing your mind about helping me out here."
"I have not changed my mind," Donavon snapped. "I'm not doing this to help
you, I'm doing it for my son. And you had better damn well make sure no
more 'accidents' happen, or I swear I'll sue this place for everything it's
worth! C'mon, Sarah. Let's go."
Carter watched them go, sighing softly to himself.
* * *
Zordon listened patiently as the rangers explained their request, and spoke
only when they had finished. "You may be right, Rangers," he conceded. "As
long as Jason believes he was attacked by Goldar, he will be less likely to
recover, and his refusal to talk to Dr Carter is not aiding him in any way.
It may be best for Dr Carter to learn the truth, so Jason will have nothing
to hide from him."
Tommy nodded. "That's the idea. So... should we go get him?"
Zordon consented. "Yes, Tommy. The sooner this is sorted out, the sooner we
will be able to help Jason properly."
The rangers all nodded, and teleported out.
* * *
Carter sighed heavily to himself as he finally switched off his laptop.
Although it wasn't anything startling, the information that Donavon Scott
had given him had at least helped a little. Jason was clearly holding back
on something, and that something could well play a major part in his
recovery. Now, he only had to get Jason to open up to him.
He grimaced as he stood up and stretched. That, he knew, would be the
mission impossible. He turned towards the door... and froze when there were
five flashes of coloured light and the famous, albeit mysterious Power
Rangers appeared in the room.
Carter stood frozen for a long moment before speaking tentatively. "Can
I... help you at all?"
The White Ranger stepped forward. "We'd like you to come with us, Dr
Carter."
"What did I do?" Carter asked nervously, drawing back from the suited
figure in front of him. The Ranger shook his head.
"Nothing, sir. This is in regards to Jason Scott. Please...?"
Carter stood frozen for a long moment before consenting with a single nod.
The White Ranger took hold of the psychiatrist's arm and they all vanished
in flash of light.
* * *
"Oh... heck...." Carter nearly lost balance, and would have fallen but for
the White Ranger's grip on his arm. A moment later, a strange voice
spoke.
"Welcome to the Command Centre, Dr Carter." Carter looked around sharply,
and his gaze finally fell on the source of the voice.
"Okay...." he said tensely. "Now I'm hallucinating."
"No, you're not." The voice came from behind him, and he looked around to
see the White Ranger standing behind him. The Rangers hesitated, then
reached up and carefully removed his helmet. Carter was stunned.
"Tommy...?"
He looked around, recognising each ranger as they removed their helmets.
"Kids...? Good lord...."
"You have been brought here for a specific reason," the voice said. "And
the identities of the Power Rangers have been made known to you for that
same reason. My name is Zordon, Dr Carter. I am the one who chose these
teenagers to become Power Rangers."
Carter frowned, as he realised, from memory of news clips, that one was
missing. "Isn't there a Red Ranger...?" He trailed off, realisation
striking him hard. "Oh god... Jason?"
"Was the Red Ranger," Zordon corrected lightly. "The powers of the Red
Ranger are now in the hands of another capable teenager. Jason's
experiences unfortunately left him incapable of wielding the powers."
Carter brought his hands up to gently massage his temples. "I'm confused.
Can you please explain this to me from the beginning?"
Zordon nodded, and went on to explain how he had chosen Jason and the other
teens to become rangers and fight first Rita, and then Zedd.
Carter nodded as things began to slip into place. "Okay. So that's the
promise Jason made that he's been holding back. That he'd never tell anyone
that he was a ranger."
"Exactly." Zordon replied.
"All right, that's fair enough. But how is this going to help the
situation? No offence, but I have a suicidal boy on my hands...."
"Jason is haunted by past experiences," Zordon explained quietly. The other
rangers had gone, and it was safe to talk without upsetting them as well.
"There was always more hatred between Goldar and Jason than any of the
other rangers, and I believe that is manifesting itself now. Jason would
not tell you what happened the previous night when he... injured himself,
because he believes it was Goldar who attacked him."
Carter was silent. That certainly made sense to him... "And was it?"
"I do not believe so. The equipment in this place is very precise, and I
was unable to detect Goldar anywhere near Jason at the time of the
incident."
Carter sighed. "So he really did try to kill himself."
"But he does not believe that. The hallucination was real enough that Jason
is not aware that he attempted to take his own life again."
"Okay," Carter said. "That at least gives me something solid to work with."
He paused. "What about this... hatred between Goldar and Jason?"
"That stems back to Tommy's time as the evil Green Ranger. It was not I who
chose Tommy, but Rita, when the Green Power Coin was still in her
possession. She cast a spell over Tommy and turned him against the other
rangers, in an attempt to destroy them."
"And...?"
"At one point during that time, Tommy sent Jason to another dimension,
where he faced Goldar without any powers. Goldar was about to destroy Jason
when Tommy interrupted, at Rita's command. It gave the rangers the extra
time they needed to locate Jason, and he was rescued just in time. Goldar
was furious that Jason escaped, and has never failed to let it be known. It
happened again, though, after the powers of the Green Ranger were lost. The
other rangers were trapped in a dimension by Zedd, and were similarly
losing their powers, and Jason went in to rescue them. He was was nearly
trapped by Goldar, but again, managed to escape just in time. As Jason was
leaving the dimension, Goldar swore he would destroy Jason, at any cost.
The other rangers know nothing of this, but I am aware that it has been a
burden to Jason for a very long time. These incidents may be haunting Jason
to the point where he is imagining non-existent attacks."
Carter rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Jason is transferring his fears. Rick
Daniels is out of the picture, but because he was released on a suspended
sentence, Jason wasn't able to resolve anything. So Jason is transferring
his fear to a new, albeit imagined threat."
"And unless he resolves his fear, he will never recover," Zordon concluded.
Carter smiled wryly. "When the intergalactic threats are gotten rid of, you
ought to consider going into psychiatry. Okay, this could help a lot. At
any rate, Jason won't have any reason not to talk to me. Thankyou. Ah....
If I have any more questions...?"
"Contact one of the rangers."
"Okay. Now, how do I get out of here?"
"I will teleport you back to Kingston. Remember, Dr Carter. Jason may not
hold powers any longer, but he is still a ranger to us. He was always brave
in battle, and that will never be forgotten."
Carter felt a touch of unease. Zordon was talking almost as though Jason
was dead.... "I won't forget," he murmured. Zordon nodded to Alpha, who had
stayed remarkably silent the whole time, and a moment later Carter vanished
in a flash of white light.
Kingston Institute....
Carter ventured out of his office slowly, his mind almost spinning with all
that he'd learned. Jason used to be a Power Ranger.... That answered all
the questions about Jason's secrecy, at any rate. It also answered his
questions about the guard who swore he had seen Jason go over the wall that
first night. Carter suspected now that Jason had actually succeeded in
getting away, but had been sent back by the Big Head that called himself
Zordon.
He paused, glancing up at the clock. It was only eight o'clock, Jason would
not be in bed yet. Making his decision, he hurried on up the corridor.
* * *
Remarkably, Jason was already in bed when Carter knocked on the door and
walked in.
"What do you want?" The boy's voice was dull, lacking in emotion.
Carter shut the door behind him and went over and sat down on the edge of
the bed. "We need to talk, Jason. About this secret that you're
keeping."
Jason looked away. "You talked to Mum and Dad."
"Yes, I did. We're all concerned, Jason. It isn't good that you're keeping
secrets. I need you to be honest with me if you're going to get through
this."
Jason shut his eyes, remaining stubbornly silent.
Carter sighed, knowing what he had to say and do. "Zordon is a very
interesting character."
Jason's eyes snapped open, and he stared at Carter in shock. "What did you
say....?"
Carter regarded him grimly. "Zordon. Alpha, too. And that Command Centre is
quite a place."
Jason sat up slowly. "How do you know about that....?"
"I got a visit from the Power Rangers. They took me to the Command Centre,
and I had a long chat with Zordon. He explained everything to me. That you
used to be the Red Ranger... and about Goldar."
Jason was pale, and the shock on his face was clear. "Zordon told you...?"
"Yes. I know all about it. Now you don't have any reason not to talk to me,
do you?"
Jason rose up slowly. "What did he tell you about Goldar?"
"He told me all about the trouble you had with him when you were a ranger.
About the Dimension of Darkness... and rescuing your friends from the
Dimension of Doom."
Jason fell back against the wall, tears in his eyes. "And?"
"And I think we'll be talking about this first thing tomorrow morning. What
do you think?"
"I'm tired," Jason said in a trembling voice. Carter nodded. "I'll leave
you alone. But first thing after breakfast tomorrow, you and I will be
having a very long talk. Understood?"
Jason managed to nod, and was relieved when Carter finally left the room.
On one hand he was glad that he had no more reasons to hide, but at the
same time.... He threw himself down onto his bed and buried his face in the
pillow, crying helplessly into the silence.
* * *
It was a Friday morning. Jason stood by the window in Carter's office,
staring out bleakly at the grounds. Any other Friday morning, he should
have been arriving at school with Tommy, talking about what they were
planning for the weekend. He turned his gaze downwards. That was, before
the kidnapping. Now, he was lucky to make it to the Youth Centre on
Saturday morning.
Carter watched Jason silently for a long minute before speaking. "Come and
sit down, Jason. Please..."
Jason hesitated, then sighed and did as he was asked. Carter nodded.
"Okay. I thought we might start at the beginning. How about you fill me in
on your becoming a Power Ranger?"
When Jason remained silent, Carter spoke a little more firmly. "You've got
no reason not to talk, Jason. I know the basics. You might as well
co-operate."
Jason stared intently at the floor. "It was when Rita Repulsa first
escaped. When we had the big earthquake. I was in the Youth Centre with the
others, and Zordon and Alpha teleported us to the Command Centre."
"That must have been surprising."
"Yeah. The others were pretty freaked out by it."
"And you weren't?"
Jason hesitated, then, as he thought back. No, he realised. He hadn't been
frightened like the others had. He'd been.... curious. When the others had
left the Command Centre, he hadn't wanted to go. He'd wanted to stay and
hear more of what Zordon had been trying to tell them. He'd left with them,
of course, but they had all ended up back there when Rita foolishly sent
putties to attack them.
He told all of that to Carter haltingly. Carter listened with intense
curiosity.
"So if Rita hadn't attacked you kids then, you would never have become
Power Rangers."
Jason shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. Zordon might have found
five others somewhere, or he might have kept trying with us."
"Interesting. And what about this... rivalry with Goldar?" Jason winced at
the choice of words, for it was more than simple rivalry. Carter made it
sound as though they were feuding brothers...
"I hate him, and he hates me. He went for me when Rita first sent him to
attack us. After that, whenever he showed up with the putties, the putties
attacked the others, but Goldar always came for me. Then, there was what
happened in the Dimension of Darkness...."
"When Tommy was the Green Ranger?"
"Yeah."
"Tell me about that."
Jason looked balefully at Carter. "I don't see how this is helping at all."
"Well, humour me for a while. I'm curious." Jason looked away again,
sighing inwardly. "Rita instructed Tommy to get rid of us, and he started
with me. He sent me to the Dimension of Darkness, and Goldar managed to get
my morpher. I couldn't match his strength on my own, and he knew it. He
beat me pretty badly in a short time, and he was about to kill me when
Tommy showed up."
Carter nodded. "That gave your friends the extra time they needed to rescue
you."
"Sort of. They didn't even know what had happened to me until Billy managed
to teleport me back to the Command Centre. It was close. Another couple of
seconds, and it would have been too late. I ended up with a scar from it as
it was."
Carter was surprised. "A scar?"
Jason hesitated, then lifted his shirt to reveal a thin scar in the center
of his chest. "Tommy's sword just nicked me. I didn't tell the others, and
I felt sick for the next two weeks. When it finally healed, I had this
scar. I told everyone who asked that I got it rock climbing."
"I see. Now, back to Goldar..."
"He was really angry at Tommy for letting me get away. Tommy told me about
it later on, when we'd made our peace. He said Goldar ranted on about it
like it was really personal."
"Which it was."
"I guess so. Even after we freed Tommy, Goldar still seemed to hate me the
most. Even though he called Tommy a traitor, he didn't hate Tommy as much.
It was worse after the Dimension of Doom."
Carter nodded his understanding. Inwardly, he was practically dancing,
excited by the freedom with which Jason was talking. "Your friends were
captured, weren't they?"
"Yeah. That was after Tommy lost the Green Ranger Powers, and went off up
to his uncle's cabin. I had a tournament coming up, but I was so depressed
that I couldn't concentrate."
"Depressed?" Carter interrupted. "Why?"
"I felt responsible," Jason explained. "I went after the green candle that
was draining Tommy's powers, but I had to leave it to go and help the
others. Anyway, the rest of them went to find Tommy so he and I could patch
things up, but they were stopped by Goldar. He captured them, and trapped
them in the Dimension of Doom, with four other candles draining their
powers like Tommy's powers were drained. I had to fight the monster Zedd
sent on my own, then go after them in the Dimension of Doom. I got the
others out, but Goldar grabbed my foot to stop me. I kicked him away, but
just as I went out, Goldar said he'd devote his life to destroying me."
Jason trailed off, vaguely surprised by all that he'd said. Carter watched
him thoughtfully.
"You remember that pretty clearly, don't you?"
"I'll never forget," Jason admitted. "Goldar tried to keep his promise.
>From that point on, he doubled his efforts to get rid of me. With Tommy on
our side, though, he was never able to get as close as he had before.
Until...."
Jason faltered, suddenly unsure. Carter gently urged him on. "Until?"
"The other night. Did... Did Zordon tell you about that?" Carter spoke
quietly. "Yes, he told me. Jason, I think you've started transferring your
anxieties to Goldar."
"Huh...?"
"The judge let Rick Daniels out with a suspended sentence. You never
resolved your conflicts because of that. Therefore, you've transferred your
anger and fear to a new, perceived threat."
Jason frowned. He'd heard enough of Billy's techno-babble to be able to get
an idea of what Carter was saying.
"Perceived? You mean, not real...."
Carter paused, realising he was treading on thin ice. "Jason... You aren't
a Power Ranger anymore. As much as Goldar may have hated you, he has no
reason to bother you now. Even Zordon said as much."
Jason's hands slowly curled into fists. "You think I'm lying."
"I don't think you're lying. I think you're confused. There's a difference."
"What did Zordon tell you about it?"
"That doesn't matter. What matters is that..."
"It doesn matter. It matters to me. What did Zordon say?" Carter froze.
Jason was sitting forward in the chair, his face reddening with tension and
growing anger. His hands were clenched so tightly into fists, that his
knuckles were almost bone white. Finally, the psychiatrist made himself
speak.
"Jason, you have to face reality, and getting yourself all worked up and
angry won't help. It was not Goldar that attacked you. You may have
imagined him to be there, but he wasn't. If he had been there, it would
have been on the security cameras!"
Jason rose slowly to his feet. "I am not lying."
"Jason...."
"NO!" Jason yelled, the short fuse of his temper rapidly burning out.
Carter started up as well, pressing an alarm button under his desk as he
did so.
"Calm down. There's no point in getting upset."
"Upset?" Jason spluttered. "Why would I get upset? You just think I'm crazy
enough to try to kill myself, but why would I get upset about that?"
Even as he spoke, he advanced on Carter, causing the psychiatrist to back
away.
"Jason, I never said you're crazy..."
"No, but you're thinking it. And Zordon probably thinks I'm crazy, too,
doesn't he?"
"No, not at all...."
Carter hit the wall, unable to go any further. Jason shot forward, moving
with startling speed, and pinned Carter squarely to the wall.
"What did he tell you about me?" Jason yelled, causing Carter to wince.
"Jason, damn it..."
Jason had started, though, and had no intention of calming down. "Did he
say I was crazy?"
"No!"
"I don't believe you!"
"Jason!" The voice came from the door, and they both looked to see John the
orderly, as well as a couple of others. Carter breathed a silent sigh of
relief as John advanced slowly.
"Let him go, Jason. You're not doing yourself any favours, here." Jason,
however, tightened his grip on Carter. "He thinks I'm crazy."
"No, he doesn't. You've gotta settle down, kid. Just let him go and back
off."
Tears filled Jason eyes, and though his grip eased just a little, he still
didn't let go.
"You all think I'm crazy..."
"We don't."
"Then why am I here?!"
"Because you need help!" Carter said breathlessly. "Jason, please..." John
was close, by then. "Don't make us have to fight you, Jason. Please, I
don't want to have to do it like this."
Jason finally let go of Carter, but backed up, away from all of them.
"Stay away from me," he said, his voice half a growl, half a whimper. John
looked genuinely upset. "Please, Jason...."
"Everyone think I'm crazy...." Jason moaned, backing up to the far wall.
John came up close to the teen.
"That's not true. You know it's not."
Jason stood still for a long moment, and then his temper finally snapped.
Falling back on his disused martial arts skills, he pivoted around on one
foot and kicked out at John with the other. The orderly went crashing over
backwards into the other two orderlies. They were then forced to scramble
right out of the way as Jason, in his rage, kicked the desk right over. He
then turned for the door, only to be tackled by Carter.
The two hit the floor with a painful thud, and Jason shut his eyes in
panic, flashing back to the first kidnap attempt, when Carl Daniels had
tackled him on the pavement. A frightened cry escaped Jason and he began to
fight tooth and nail against Carter.
"Get over here, damn it..." Carter gasped as Jason lashed out with his
fists. The orderlies ran over and managed to pin Jason to the floor between
them while Carter went to his overturned desk and found a syringe.
Unwrapping it, he quickly filled it all the way with a powerful drug, then
went back and quickly injected it into Jason's arm.
Jason stiffened visibly at the sharp prick of the needle, then fought even
harder. He was no match for the orderlies, though, and within a minute, the
drug took effect.
John groaned softly as Jason finally went limp beneath him. "Man, he can
put up one hell of a fight...."
Carter looked grim. "Better get him back up to his room. Are you all right,
John?"
"Yeah. He didn't get me too hard."
The other two orderlies found a wheelchair nearby and lifted Jason's limp
form into it, then they took him back to his room.
"There," John muttered as they placed Jason back in bed. "You can sleep it
off."
Carter spoke from the doorway. "Put him in the restraints."
John looked up sharply. "Is that really necessary, Doc? I mean, he'll
probably have calmed down plenty by the time he wakes up...."
"Probably is not a certainty," Carter replied. "We have a very confused boy
on our hands and I will not take any risks. Put him in the restraints."
John sighed and proceeded to lock Jason's wrists and ankles into the
restraining straps. Carter nodded, satisfied.
"Good. Now, let's go." He turned and stalked out of the bedroom.
John hung back a moment, watching sadly as Jason slept. "Don't let yourself
be beaten by this," he murmured softly. "Keep fighting, kid. For your own
sake...."
He hesitated a moment longer, then turned and left the room in heavy
silence.
Kingston Institute....
The figure stood in the shadows, his face concealed. Whether he was a
benevolent or hostile figure, Jason didn't know. It frightened him. Shadows
frightened him. Hell, just about everything frightened him these days. He
tried to call out to the figure, ask who they were, but he could not get a
sound out. His throat hurt when he tried to speak.
It was then he realized that he was not suffering nightmares. That was the
moment that he woke up.
* * *
Donavon and Sarah Scott exchanged worried looks as Jason finally stirred.
They had arrived at Kingston late that morning to an extremely riled Dr.
Carter who was trying to sort out the mess in his office. The mess which
Jason had apparently made. And some mess it had been....
Donavon chuckled to himself at the memory, unable to help it. His amusement
won him an elbow in the ribs from his wife.
"It is not funny," she hissed at him. "We can't let Jason think we condone
that sort of behaviour."
Donavon fought back a grin, but his humour won through. "C'mon, Sarah,
don't tell me you don't think its just a little bit funny? Jason completely
trashed that son of a bitch's office!"
Sarah tried to remain stern, but her husband's sense of humour was
contagious, and she began to smile. "I suppose...."
She trailed off, her smile fading as Jason woke up, his eyes fluttering
open. She hurried to his side, looking down at him in concern. "Honey?"
"Mum...." Jason croaked, barely able to speak for his sore throat. Sarah
gently brushed her fingertips over his forehead.
"It's okay, baby. Just relax."
Jason looked around dazedly, and his gaze fell on his father. "Dad..."
"I'm right here, son."
Jason tried to swallow, couldn't. He tried to sit up and couldn't do it.
"Wha...?" He looked confused, unable to figure out why he was immobilized.
Donavon and Sarah looked at one another, and then Donavon spoke softly.
"Jason, they put you in restraints."
A mixture of panic and anger flooded Jason's face. "Get me out of these
things!" he rasped, straining uselessly against them.
Donavon was stricken, but made no move to comply. "I'm sorry, Jason. I wish
I could, but that isn't our decision. Only Dr. Carter can give the word to
let you out."
"Just like every other damn thing..." Jason choked out, suddenly more
miserable and afraid than angry. He knew he had screwed up earlier in
Carter's office, and there was no denying it.
Sarah continued to stroke his forehead and cheek lovingly. "You have to
calm down, baby. Having tantrums like that isn't helping you at all."
"No?" Jason retorted dully. "I felt better."
Sarah looked exasperated, and then horrified when Donavon chortled into the
back of his hand, again picturing the scene of chaos in Carter's office.
Even Jason stared at his father in confusion.
"What's so funny?" he asked, and Donavon struggled to regain control of his
emotions.
"Nothing. Nothing at all. I'm sorry, Jason. Listen, if you're sorry for
losing your temper, then Dr. Carter may be willing to let you out of the
restraints."
Jason sighed. "I am sorry," he admitted gloomily. "Not because I trashed
the office, though. I'm sorry because I broke one of the primary rules of
martial arts. I used it to attack, and not defend. Man, I hope John's
okay...."
"John is just fine," a deep voice said from the doorway. They all looked
around as John the orderly walked into the room. "What about you, Jason?
How are you feeling?"
"Pretty stupid," Jason muttered dismally. "I really lost it this morning."
"Yeah, you did," John replied casually. He walked around to the bed and
pulled back the blankets, revealing the wrist restraints. He leaned over
and quickly undid the nearest one. "But you sound like you've calmed down
plenty. Dr. Carter told me to let you out if you'd settled down."
Jason nodded wordlessly. John smiled faintly and quickly undid the three
remaining straps.
"There. Better?"
Jason sat up slowly, gingerly rubbing his ankles with his bandaged hands.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"No problem. I'll leave you guys alone. If you need anything, just give a
yell."
He sauntered from the room, before another word could be said. They watched
him go, and then Sarah spoke thoughtfully.
"He seems nice enough."
Jason nodded. "Yeah," he admitted. "John's pretty cool. I guess most of the
staff are. They could have treated me pretty rough this morning if they'd
wanted to. I couldn't have fought back if they'd really come at me. They
just took it easy, though, til Carter knocked me out, I guess."
Sarah put an arm around Jason's shoulders and hugged him to her. "What set
you off this morning? Was it something Dr. Carter said?"
Jason winced a little. All up, it had been everything Carter had said. But
he couldn't tell them or could he? Surely if Zordon had consented to
telling Carter the truth, then he could tell his parents... He was about to
bite the bullet and try when there was a knock on the door, and Claire
looked in, her parents behind her.
"Can we come in?"
Jason managed a smile, silently cursing their unintentionally bad timing,
but at the same time relieved that they had not walked in while he'd been
in the restraints. That would have been too humiliating to handle.
"Sure," he said softly. "Come on in." He paused, then added in a bitter
voice, "Welcome to paradise."
Donavon threw his son a warning glance, but said nothing. Claire hurried
over and hugged Jason close.
"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. That's the problem with not having a
license. I don'thave any freedom at all to go where I like!"
Jason managed a smile at the irony of her remark. Claire hugged him again,
more tightly, when she saw she'd managed to draw a smile from him. Jason
sat stiffly for just a moment before sighing a little and relaxing in her
embrace.
Donavon took the liberty of greeting Claire's parents. Then, Jason stood up.
"Let's go outside. I hate this room."
He was gone before any of them could protest.
* * *
He watched the boy from a distance, hidden in the shadows, visible to no
one. The brat was with family and friends right then, an impossible target.
When night came, though....
He smiled and laughed softly, cruelly to himself.
* * *
"Heard you flipped out," Claire said bluntly, much to her parents horror.
Jason, however, laughed softly.
"Yeah, I guess I did. I'm not proud of it, though. I really screwed up."
"Ill say," Claire muttered. "Boy, talk about stupid..." Jason didn't react;
he knew she was right. The girl slipped her arm through his.
"Don't worry, Jason. You won't do it again, will you?" The boy didn't
answer, and his silence disturbed all of them. "Jason?" Donavon pressed in
concern. When he still didn't respond, Ted Roberts tried.
"Jason, what is it?"
"I can't promise that," Jason whispered, staring straight ahead, suddenly
feeling frightened. "When I lost it at Dr. Carter this morning I knew I was
doing the wrong thing, but I couldn't stop. I've never been angry like that
before. I got going, and I just couldn't stop! I... I can't promise I won't
lose it like that again."
"That is not good, Jason," Donavon said, all humour suddenly gone. "If you
can't promise that..."
Jason pulled away from Claire, and turned around to face them all. "What am
I supposed to do? I'm stuck in a place I hate, and everyone's treating it
like it's a holiday resort! How can I help getting angry?"
Claire went back to him, and caught his hands up in her own. "I know how
hard it is, Jason. Admittedly, I don't know how hard this is for
you, but I can imagine. You know you can't keep flipping out like you did
in Carter's office. It isn't good. You'll never get out of here if you keep
losing it and tearing the place up."
Jason blinked back the tears. "I just want to go home..." Donavon and Sarah
moved in quickly, enclosing their son in a protective embrace.
"We want you home, too," Donavon told him. "We want you home with us more
than anything. Jason, you have to work with Dr. Carter, though. You've got
to focus on what you're doing."
"Focus?" Jason choked out, suddenly incredulous. "Focus? What have I
got to focus on? Carter made it pretty clear that I wouldn't be getting out
of here any time soon. I'm not allowed to work out, everywhere I go there's
someone watching me to make sure I don't try to escape... I'm a
prisoner!"
"That," Donavon growled, "is exactly what I am talking about. You're
jumping the gun at the smallest things! You never used to let anything rile
you up as easily as you do now. You've got to get that control back, Jason.
When you do, you might find it a little easier to cope."
Jason's shoulders slumped miserably. "You're right. I know you're right. I
just don't know how to get it back. I don't have anything physical to work
at now, so I guess that's why I've been more..."
"Volatile?" Claire suggested, and Jason smiled weakly. "Yeah." He looked
away, to the wall that loomed on the border of the estate. "My whole life
just seems like one big nothing, now. I probably won't even get to graduate
from high school with my friends."
They all glanced at each other, and then Claire spoke tentatively. "If
you're really worried about that, then I could see if I can get all the
work for you from Mr Caplan. You could work while you're here."
Donavon nodded. "We could get someone in to tutor you, if it's needed."
Jason looked hopeful, for the first time in a long while. "Really? You
think you could?"
"We'll have to ask Dr. Carter..." Sarah said, and Jason's face instantly
fell.
"Then I might as well forget it. He'll never let me..."
"Talking about me behind my back?"
They looked around to see Carter approaching, a wry look on his face.
Donavon spared the psychiatrist a satisfied smirk. "Get your office cleaned
up, Alex?"
Alex spared Donavon a prime we-are-not-amused smile, that was more of a
grimace. "Yes, finally. The replacement desk will be arriving late this
afternoon."
Jason stared at the ground, embarrassed and ashamed. "I... I'm sorry about
that..." he mumbled. Carter's expression softened considerably.
"It's all right. I think we got a bit off-track this morning. Probably my
fault as much as anyone's. But what's this about me not letting you do
something...?"
"We were just discussing school," Donavon explained. "We thought we could
have work sent up here to Jason, so he'd be able to graduate with his
friends."
Carter nodded slowly. "That's a good idea. I'll contact the school and
organize it myself."
Jason gaped in shock. "But you wouldn't let me keep up with the karate..."
Carter chuckled a little. "You can hardly do yourself injury studying for
school. Unless there are any heavy duty books I should know about?"
Jason tried to ignore the joke, but couldn't, and a smile flickered across
his lips.
Carter returned the smile, then side-stepped away from them. "I'll go and
see about that right now. Excuse me."
He hurried away, leaving them all to watch after him in surprised silence.
* * *
Jason was sleeping peacefully that night, for the first time since he'd
arrived at Kingston. He was blissfully unaware of the figure that had been
watching him all day, and who now slipped into his room and walked over to
the bed to look down at the sleeping boy.
"Jason..."
Jason stirred, the harsh, grating voice penetrating his subconscious.
"Jason, wake up."
Jason finally awoke, and rolled over, ready to tell whoever it was to get
lost. The words died in his throat as his gaze focused on Goldar, standing
above him in a very threatening pose.
He started up in shock, only to be forced back down when Goldar struck him
in the chest.
"Stay down, human," Goldar snarled. "You are not worthy to match my height."
Jason lay frozen in shock and growing fear. Surely this was no illusion...
Goldar laughed cruelly.
"You don't even know whether I'm real or not. You're going crazy, Jason.
Everyone knows it except you."
Jason shut his eyes, and pressed his palms to the sides of his head.
"No...." he moaned helplessly. Goldar waved his sword tauntingly over the
boy.
"I'm going to haunt you, Jason. I'm going to haunt you until your mind
snaps completely. And I'm going to love doing it..." Something in Jason
finally snapped, and he rolled sharply to the right, landing on the
carpeted floor with a soft thud. Goldar swung at him with his sword, but he
ducked the clumsy blow and darted over to the door. To his dismay, he
discovered it was locked from the outside.
"Help!" Jason yelled, thumping his fists hard on the door. "John!
Somebody...."
Goldar laughed cruelly. "You really think they care about one crazy human?
You mean nothing to them, Jason! Nothing!"
Jason tried to force Goldar's voice from his mind, and he banged even
harder, yelling as loudly as he could. The door opened unexpectedly, and he
fell forward, colliding with John, who had come to investigate.
"Jason? What's wrong?"
"In my room...." Jason gasped breathlessly. "He... he's there..." John
looked past the frightened boy in the room. It was completely empty. "Who's
there? Jason, there's no one in your room."
Jason looked back slowly, confused. He hadn't seen the gold light of Goldar
teleporting out... So where had he gone?
"I think you're a little confused, kid," John said, gently ushering him
back into the room. "Look, there's no one in here."
"But there was..." Jason protested weakly.
John patted his shoulder. "Look, I'll even check the closet and under the
bed if you want me to. There really is no on here but us."
"What's going on?" It was Carter, alerted by the security guards to Jason's
shouts for help. Jason groaned inwardly, and fell silent, not daring to
speak. Carter caught the look in his eyes, and understood. "You can go,
John. I might have a little talk with Jason." John nodded, said goodnight
to Jason, then left the room. Carter waited until he was gone, then turned
back to Jason. "Goldar again?"
It was said with enough skepticism to make Jason cringe. "I wasn't seeing
things."
"I'm sure you believe that."
"Why won't you believe me?" Jason demanded, ridden with distress. "Why...?"
"Because there has been absolutely no proof that he was ever here. Not even
a scrap of fur to suggest it. I don't think you're lying, Jason. I just
think you don't realize what you're telling me is not the truth."
Jason looked around the room slowly, feeling worse with each second that
passed. "But... He was here... He was..."
Carter gently guided Jason to his bed. "How about you get some sleep, and
we'll talk about this in the morning. All right?"
Jason lay back down without protest, and didn't object when Carter covered
him up. He hesitated, then spoke softly.
"Do you think I'm crazy?"
Carter looked down at Jason in concern. It was that same question that had
led them into hot water that morning... Jason propped himself up on his
elbows.
"Please... I won't flip out or anything. I just want to know the truth."
Carter sat down on the edge of the bed. "Jason, you aren't crazy. I promise
you that. What you are at the moment is very confused. That's why you're
here. It isn't because I think you're crazy. You need help to deal with
everything that's happened to you. I think that right now, this is the best
place for you."
Jason stared at him for a long moment, not saying a word. "I'm not crazy?"
"No! Jason, you are not crazy. I'd swear to that in court. There is a very
big difference between being crazy and being confused."
Jason lay back down, resting his head on the soft pillow. "I was scared
that I was going crazy."
"You can rest easy about that. You aren't going crazy, and you're in no
danger of going crazy."
Jason smiled up at Carter, and it was a genuine smile that was filled with
relief and gratitude.
"Thank you."
Carter gently patted Jason on the shoulder. "You're very welcome. Now, get
some sleep. I have feeling we're going to have a very productive day ahead
of us tomorrow."
* * *
Carter left the room, carefully closing the door behind him. He started to
lock it, then stopped. He paused, thinking about his discussion with Jason,
then stepped back from the door, deciding not to lock it. He had a feeling
Jason would not try to escape again.
Smiling to himself with relieved satisfaction, Carter turned and headed off
up the hallway, ignorant to the pair of blood-red eyes that watched him
from the darkness.
Kingston Institute....
Jason awoke the next morning feeling remarkably stupid. He'd laid in bed
after Carter had left last night and thought everything over. Maybe, he
started to concede, he was only imagining Goldar. Maybe he wasn't really
aware of what he was doing. Maybe....
He sighed and got up, wandering slowly into the bathroom to have a shower.
Perhaps it was time to have a proper talk with Dr Carter, and sort
everything out once and for all.
Filled with renewed determination, Jason unbuttoned his pyjama top and
started to take it off, only to suddenly freeze in shock. Right in the
centre of his chest, a huge bruisewas developing, accompanied by numerous
scratches. Exactly the same type of bruising he had ended up with after
being pummeled by Goldar in the Dimension of Darkness... And the scratches
that accompanied the bruising matched the tiny metal razors that adorned
Goldar fist plates.
Jason stepped back from the mirror, his breath quickening with sudden fear.
So he had not imagined it. There was no way he could have caused himself an
injury like this. The bruising, maybe, but not the tiny lacerations. He had
no access to anything that could cause it. Shrugging his top back on, Jason
went to the door and tried it, expecting to find it locked. He was
surprised and relieved to find it swung open easily.
Glancing back fearfully into the room, Jason fled down the corridor towards
Carter's office.
* * *
Alex Carter was startled, to say the least, when his office door was flung
open and Jason skidded in, panic written all over his face.
"Jason?" Carter rose up slowly from his chair. "What's wrong?" "Tell me,"
Jason said breathlessly. "You know I wouldn't hurt myself. Not now. I know
there's no point to it."
Carter blinked, confused. "What are you getting at?" "Just tell me! I
wouldn't hurt myself. Not unless it was was a real suicide attempt. I
wouldn't hurt myself to try and make you think Goldar really was here."
"I'd like to believe that," Carter said carefully, not knowing where it was
leading.
"And you'd trust me not to do that? Please, it's important" "Well... Yes, I
would trust you. After yesterday afternoon and last night, I would. You
seem to be gaining some sense."
"So you don't think I'd injure myself."
"No. Jason, what's going on?"
Jason pulled his top open, revealing the bruise, which seemed to be growing
even then. "Then tell me how this happened."
"Good god..." Carter murmured. "How did this happen?" "That's what I'm
asking you. I didn't do it to myself. There's no point, it wouldn't gain me
anything. And since you're so sure Goldar wasn't there last night, I'd like
to hear your explanation."
Carter leaned in close to examine the bruising. "All these scratches...
They look like they were made with some sort of a razor."
"I don't have access to any sharp things like razors," Jason pointed out.
"The sharpest thing I have right now are my pens."
Carter looked grim. "Let's go to the infirmary. This looks like it's
getting infected. We'll have it seen to, and then we'll eliminate the
possibilities. All right?"
Jason nodded his agreement. "Okay. But do something for me. This is
bleeding. If you take just a few drops of my blood and take it to the
Command Centre, Alpha will be able to run a check."
"Run a check for what?"
"I'm not sure," Jason replied as they started to walk. "I've just got a
weird feeling."
Carter consented. "All right. I'll do that, after we get that seen to.
Let's go."
* * *
Half an hour later, Alex Carter stood back in the Command Centre, waiting
silently as Alpha and Billy ran a check on the blood sample he had brought.
He was starting to feel extremely nervous. The doctor in the infirmary at
Kingston had done a quick blood test of his own, and it had revealed there
was a slight trace of poison in the many scratches on Jason's chest.
However, he hadn't been able to figure out just what the poison was. Now,
he'd left Jason in the infirmary to come to the Command Centre in the hope
of getting a few answers.
Finally, Billy spoke. "Okay, the results should be coming through now." He
had barely spoken when a single sheet of paper was printed out. Billy tore
it off and quickly scanned it. Alpha, reading over the genius' shoulder,
gave a startled exclamation. Billy looked grim.
"Looks as though you were wrong, Zordon." Carter strode forward. "What is
it?"
Billy handed the sheet to Carter, who stared blankly at the data. "I'm
sorry," Carter apologized. "This means nothing to me." "It's the blood
analysis," Billy explained. "It shows a trace of poison that has entered
Jason's bloodstream. The poison is a mixture of chemicals not found on
Earth. It's an exact match for the poison that we know Goldar uses to brush
over his fist plates before battles."
Carter felt light-headed all of a sudden. "Then Jason really was attacked
by Goldar."
"It looks that way," Billy replied. "More than likely it was Goldar that
attacked him on the second night, as well. Zedd must have found a way of
getting Goldar in and out of Kingston without alerting the Centre's alarm
system."
Zordon, who had remained silent throughout the exchange, finally spoke. "I
am afraid I owe Jason an apology for doubting him."
"I'd say we all do," Carter muttered. "Okay... What can you do about this?
If Goldar's attacked Jason twice, then he'll try again."
"Goldar doesn't seem to be intending to do any real harm to Jason," Zordon
said quietly. "I would be inclined to believe he has another goal in
mind."
Carter moaned softly. "He's dragging Jason down mentally. Confusing him...
Jason asked me last night if he was crazy. It was the same question that I
tried to dispute yesterday morning that caused him to go... to lose his
temper in my office, but last night, I think he would have accepted
anything I said. Even if I'd said he was crazy."
"It's got to stop," Billy growled, angered by the continued abuse that
Jason was seemingly being forced to suffer. "He isn't even a ranger
anymore! Why would Goldar be so determined to bring Jase down?"
"Evil always holds a grudge," Zordon murmured. Carter agreed. "Yes, it
does. That was proven when Rock Daniels kidnapped Jason in the first place,
simply because he held a grudge against Jason's father. Now, we have to
help Jason separate the real monsters from the human ones, so he can start
to fight them properly."
"What about Goldar?" Billy demanded, looking up at Zordon. "Even if he
isn't intending to really hurt Jason, we can't let him get away with
this."
"No," Zordon conceded. "Until we know how Goldar is coming and going from
Kingston, though, there is little we can do."
"There's one thing we can do," Carter said, "and that's give Jason a boost
to his self confidence. Billy, would you mind coming with me? You don't
have to stay long. I'm just concerned that if I tell Jason we believe him
about Goldar, he might be... skeptical."
Billy nodded. "Certainly. Zordon, could you teleport us to Kingston?"
Zordon nodded. "Yes. Alpha, activate the teleportation beam." The robot did
so, and the two vanished in a flash of blue and white light.
* * *
Carter and Billy were met at the infirmary door by the resident doctor, who
looked grim.
"If you've come to see Jason, Alex, I'm afraid you won't get anything out
of him. The poison has had a heavy sedating effect on him, and he lost
consciousness nearly twenty minutes ago."
Carter felt a touch of concern. "Excuse us, Mark. We'd like to see him
anyway."
The doctor nodded and let them through, eyeing Billy curiously as they went.
"Is it anything to be worried about?" Carter asked Billy in a low voice as
they stood by the bed in which Jason lay. Billy shook his head.
"No. It's just a mild poison. No lasting effects. He'll be out for the next
day or so, though."
Carter sighed. "How the hell am I going to explain this to his parents...?"
"Zordon agreed that they'd have to be told the truth at some point," Billy
said tentatively. Carter eyed Billy curiously.
"Meaning...?"
"There's no time like the present."
Carter chuckled, despite all that had happened. "You do have a way with
words, Mr Cranston."
Billy only smiled a little to himself.
"I have to confess" Billy said as Carter showed him to his office, a safe
place to teleport from. "I initially thought you were just another
psychiatrist looking for an interestingresearch case."
Carter lifted a single eyebrow in amusement. "You mean Jason?" He sighed
and shook his head. "I know my tactics weren't the most subtle, but that
couldn't be helped. I've spent the past few days trying to convince
everyone that I'm not as evil as they'd like to believe. I didn't bring
Jason here because I thought he was a threat to society. I brought him here
because I was worried about him. He wasn't stable, Billy. You all know
that. If he was even halfway sound in his mind, he would never have tried
committing suicide."
Billy sighed. "More than once..."
Carter looked sideways at the teen. "I was right, then. He did try more
than that one time."
Billy nodded. "Yes. At least one more time that we know of. You... You do
want to help Jason, don't you? You aren't trying to hurt him..."
"Of course I'm not trying to hurt him! Billy, as harsh as I might seem, I'm
not a villain. My job is seeing that Jason gets out of here as soon as
possible and gets on with his life. I have to convince him that he does
actually have a life to live. I do care about Jason, just like I care about
all of my patients. I don't want to see him go under any more than you do.
Which is why I'm happy to admit I was wrong about Goldar. That is going to
be a welcome bit of stability to Jason, knowing he was not hallucinating
and injuring himself."
Billy nodded wordlessly. Slowly, his image of the psychiatrist was
changing. All of a sudden, the man actually seemed human....
They entered his office, and Carter sat down behind his desk with a thud.
"The best part is that Jason has started to open up to me. I think he is
actually starting to trust me. If that's the case, then he may be out of
here sooner than he thinks."
"Really?" Billy asked. Carter smiled.
"Trust is a very important thing to people like Jason. He hasn't really
trusted anyone since the kidnapping, has he?"
Billy looked embarrassed, thinking of the general feeling that the rangers
had deserted Jason. "Well...."
"It's all right. None of you are to blame. Jason hasn't really even trusted
his own parents. Not completely. He only really trusted Claire. Didn't
he?"
Billy had to concede. "She seemed to be able to get through to him when the
rest of us couldn't."
Carter nodded. "Exactly. There was one time that I was at the Scott home
that neither I nor Jason's own father could pull him out of the corner of
his room. Claire not only did that, but she put him to bed and to
sleep."
Billy gaped in shock. That was something he had not heard.... "I think,
though," Carter said with quiet confidence, "that Jason has started to take
a few steps towards recovery. There is a long way to go, still, but he's on
the right path. Now, I... all of us... have to make sure he stays on that
path."
Billy started to reach for his communicator to teleport, then paused. "Dr
Carter... Jason is going to pull through this isn't he?"
Carter stared at Billy for a long moment before replying. "Yes. I believe
he is, Billy."
The Blue Ranger smiled with clear relief and gratitude, and teleported out
without another word.