This is a retelling of a tale done origanally by Mele. This retelling is done completely with her permission. No intent to steal from Saban or Mele was intended.
 

The brightly lit grass and trees seemed to almost glow as Tommy strode down the gentle hillside. It was early springtime in Angel Grove and that was one of his favorite times of the year, almost as good as Christmas. The California weather was just starting to warm and he could smell flowers on the breeze.

He stood and watched for a moment as he saw several of his frends in the clearing down below playing as carefree as the much younger children he'd just passed by at the playground. Kat, and Rocky were tossing a frisbee, while Adam and Tanya were laughing and talking as they unpacked the picnic basket they'd brought.

Yep, he thought with a smile, its nice to have an afternoon off on such a nice day.

His ears picked up the sound of someone sneaking up on him. He waited until the very last minute and then spun around, catching Jason's outstretched hand. " I knew it!" he said with a laugh.

" I'll get you yet." Jason said, also laughing. " You've gotten a lot better at sensing your opponent." He slapped Tommy on the back in a comradely way. " This should be fun," he said as he followed Tommy's gaze. Then his smile slowly turned to a frown. " Where is Billy? You did ask him, didn't you?"

" Yes... I called him this morning." Tommy felt some of his good mood evaporate. Billy had, over the last few months, turned into a rather cool, distant figure. He rarely even left the Power Chamber. The problem was that Tommy and the other rangers just didn't have enough time to go to school and be power rangers and check in with Billy on a daily basis.

" There's somethng wrong with him." Jason said after a moment. He looked at Tommy intently. " Ever since I came back, he's been really distant. I tried to talk to him, but he keeps saying he's fine. " Jason let out a long breath. " I even asked him if he was mad about my taking the Gold powers... He said he wasn't... but he also hasn't exactly been speaking to me either." He shook his head. " I can't figure out what's wrong and he won't let me do a thing to help."

" Well, listen, why don't I go get him?" Tommy said after a moment, his tone intentionally light. He wanted everyone to have fun that day, including Jason and Billy. Jason hadn't been doing all that well since loosing the Gold powers." You go ahead...I'll bring Billy along even if I have to drag him, ok?"

" Ok...don't take all day." Jason said. Tommy watched for a moment as his friend trotting down the hill. Then, he put himself to the task of locating Billy.

Tommy knocked on the door hesitantly. He had been surprised when Zordon had told him that Billy was at his home. It had been a running joke that Billy had pretty much moved into the power chamber. Suddenly, he realized that Billy and Zordon had never found the joke all that funny. He knocked again, hoping that
Billy's dad didn't wander down the hall wondering why Billy wasn't letting him in the room. " Billy, its me Tommy."

" Come in," Tommy heard after a long moment. He stepped into Billy's bedroom, surprised to see his friend sitting at his desk bent over a pile of paperwork. Billy looked up at him, not quite annoyed but definantly surprised. Perched on his nose were his gold framed glasses, and as he leaned back in his chair, he pushed them back. " What's going on? Something wrong?"

" No...no...Its...We're having a picnic. Remember? I told you about the other day. And I called this morning." Tommy said.

Billy blinked. " Oh...right. I remember. I finished up making adjustments to the zords this morning and thought I'd get some of these out today." He gestured to the thick stack of papers on the desk.

" What are these?" Tommy picked up a few of the papers but Billy quickly snatched them out of his hand.

" These, " he said irritably as he carefully set them back on the small stack, " are my college applications. I need to get them out in the next couple of weeks if I'm going to get in for the fall semester."

" Oh..." Tommy considered that for a moment. Certainly, college had to be on Billy's mind, what with graduating so early, but Tommy hadn't thought he'd done more than just think about it. " Well, where are you thinking of applying?"

Billy sighed. " I'm not really applying to be honest. These are the colleges offering full rides. I'm just seeing what perks they'll offer." He smiled slightly. " I may not play basketball but most of these schools court academics not sports."

" But where?" Tommy asked again. Billy seemed pleased yet Tommy couldn't help but think something was wrong.

" Oxford, Yale, MIT, Cornell..." Billy rattled off a few more prestigious universities, ending with, " Berkely too. That's actually my official back up. That's my father's alma mater. He even wants me in his old frat."

" Well, that's cool, I guess. Except for Berkely, none of those are very close to Angel Grove though. Aren't you considering Angel Grove University at all?" While not exactly Berkely or Stanford, Angel Grove University was a good school. College wasn't really something Tommy had been thinking about for himself but the few times he had, Angel Grove U. had been his pick. It worried him that Billy seemed to be planning to move as far away as he could. Even Berkely was an hour drive.

Billy simply shook his head. " Angel Grove U. barely has an engineering program. Look, Tommy I need to get this done."

Tommy shook his head. " Come on Billy. You know this can wait a few hours." A lot more than that, Tommy realized, if the schools had already accepted him. " We wanted to have a big group picnic. It wouldn't be the same if you weren't there."

For a moment, he saw something in Billy's eyes. A hint of shy pleasure seemed to wash over his friend. Maybe he just doesn't feel like we want him around, Tommy thought suddenly, but that's just not true. " Billy, come on. You deserve a good time just like the rest of us. If not more...you spend so much time working in the Power Chamber." He chuckled. " You could use a few hours in direct sunlight you know."

Finally Billy laughed. " I suppose you're right. I guess I haven't gotten my weekly quota of fresh air either."

King Mondo watched as Billy and Tommy walked down the street. So far he had not been successful in any of his attempts to annilahate the Power Rangers. Now though, with his disovery of one of Zedd's little stockpiles, he was certain he was on his way to victory.

" For this plan, " he mused darkly, " will not only take the Red Ranger out of the action, but their pesky little genius friend as well." He glanced over at the two inanimate clones that his cogs had found in one of Zedd's storage areas. " Then my new young friends will create chaos amongst the remaining rangers. It will all culminate in the utter destrustion of the rangers of course, but there will be many opportunities for amusement between now and then."

It was impossible for the metallic king to smile, but he had a definate gleam in his eye as he sent down the cogs.

The walk to the park had been quiet. Too quiet really. Even though Tommy could tell Billy wasn't upset by anything in particular, something was eating at his friend. What is was, Tommy couldn't quite figure. He suspected Billy was missing having the power, but it was a tough call. Billy had never been one to be terribly open things that bothered him. It could be almost anything, Tommy realized after a few moments of thought.
" I hope you're ready for a ton of hot dogs," he said conversationally.

" I'm more than ready to partake of processed lips and snouts. " Billy grinned. " I've always said thats the best part of the raccoon."

Tommy laughed. " They aren't made of raccoon. Rat and pigeon mostly. Maybe a little road kill when available. Nothing but the best for us."

Billy joined in his laughter. " We're certainly men of taste, Tommy."

At that moment, a band of cogs materialezed all around them. Tommy immediately took up a fighting stance, as did Billy. The cogs circled around and dove, swift as lightning. Tommy fought but with five cogs holding his arms, he was quickly overpowered. Billy was in the same boat, and they both watched as two cogs approahed with syringes. They struggled all the harder. Tommy watched as the first cog roughly injected Billy in his left arm. Billy collapsed almost immediately. Tommy struggled even more but in seconds he felt the stinging prick of the needle. The world wavered before his eyes and then darkened.

When he awoke, it was with the aching blurred feeling of a drug induced hangover. Tommy put a hand to his head letting the vague feeling of nausea fall away before he tried to sit up. He raised himself up and looked around. He wasn't surprised to find himself and Billy in a dank, stone cell. That there was no one guarding them did surprise him, but when he checked the barred door, it was locked.

He checked Billy next, but it was clear that the drug still held Billy in its grip. It made sense, he realized after a moment. Billy was a good forty pounds lighter than he was, and the cogs had simply injected both of them. It was very likely that Billy had recieved a stronger dose just becuase of their size difference. Billy didn't appear to be injured otherwise, except for a large bruise forming around the puncture site on his arm. Tommy checked his own arm, but he had been lucky in that hiw own puncture wound didn't seem to be bruising.

After about a half hour, Billy slowly opened his eyes. He looked up at Tommy, clearly still a little out of it. " You know Tommy, I'm beginning to think this wasn't some sort of set up that going to end in a surprise party for me." He managed a wry grin and then winced. " Any idea whats happening? Aside from the obvious?"

" No one has been by since I woke up." Tommy reached down and pulled Billy to his feet, knowing that his friend would feel a lot better once he was able to get his bearings. Billy got to his feet, swaying more than Tommy liked but after a moment he seemed to get his balance. " I'm missing my zeonizer and communicator. Yours is gone too. Your glasses are in your shirt pocket."

Billy shrugged. " To be expected. About the communicators." He put the glasses on. " We're in deep here, Tommy."

Before Tommy respond, they both heard the clanking footsteps of company. In seconds Kind Mondo and his guard were standing outside the cell.

" Well, isn't this nice." Mondo chuckled. " Both of you so alert. Tommy you are first. If you do not cooperate at any point, this cog, " Mondo gestured to a cog holding a small assualt rifle like weopon, " will open fire on your companion. Is that quite clear?"

Tommy nodded. He spared Billy a quick glance of concern and then calmly stepped out of the open cell door. He was roughly dragged by several cogs down a long hallway. The room he was led into was filled to the brim with electrical devices and equipment. Much to his surprise, he found himself face to face with a near identical copy of himself. The hair was different and the clothes were off but it was him. A clone, Tommy realized. Mondo's plan started to come together for him. He was forced to lie on a long platform and a variety of electrodes were plaed on him, particularly his head. Suddenly, if felt as though a thousand volts of electricity was running through his body. He tried to struggle but his entire body wasn't responding. Finally, after what felt like hours, the electrical current stop. It took him a few minutes to return to full functional thought. The ogs were none too patient with his confusion either. He was led bak over to the clone, and was not surprised to see that the clone now looked like his twin.

" Strip." Tommy turned at the sound of the voice of King Mondo. The metallic king chuckled. " Don't be shy, ranger. Strip... or do I need to have your friend killed?" Tommy did as he was told, not wishing to see if Mondo meant his threats or not. He quikly exchanged clothing with the clone, and found himself wearing one of his old outfits from his days as the green ranger. He saw the basis for Mondo's plan, though it's entierety had escaped him. Clearly though, Mondo planned to place the clone on the team.

He was led back to the cell but before he could even give Billy a word of encouragement, Billy was yanked out of the cell and led off. Tommy paced about for almost an hour, hoping that Billy was only being subjected to the same treatment, and not something worse. It was maddening to wait, but he consoled himself with the knowledge that at least he knew he wasn't going to be killed right away.

Finally the metallic footsteps sounded through the hallway once again. King Mondo appeared, followed by his entourage of cogs. Several of the cogs threw Billy into the cell. Like Tommy, he had changed clothes and was wearing a blue shirt shirt combo that Tommy vaguely recalled. Unlike Tommy, he was shaking uncontrollably and Tommy could feel him vibrating as he carefully pulled his friend over to one of the ston ledges that were built into the side of the cell wall. " What did you do?" he said angrily to Mondo.

" Nothing that wasn't also done to you." Mondo said with a chuckle. " Apparently some humans are less tolerant of electrical mind transferance. He should be fine in a few hours. I would give him the same calmative I gave his clone, "and Mondo gestured to the clone of Billy that stood next to Tommy's clone off to Mondo's right side, " but frankly that would bore me. This is far more amusing."

" You bastard!" Tommy made as if to rush Mondo, but stopped himself. It was a useless gesture and likely to get him hurt. Instead, he made it point to check Billy over, giving Mondo a glare as he did.

" How sweet, one comrade worrying about another." Mondo laughed again. " You two will have plenty of time to worry about one another, don't worry about that. But for now I must make sure that the more important part of this plan begins at once." He gestured to the clones. " Come, we must'nt have you two looking quite so pretty for the other rangers. Otherwise they might suspect something. I hope you two enjoy your stay. It'll only be for the rest of your lives." Mondo and his cronies moved off down the hallway.

Tommy watched until the king and his guards left. Then he went back to Billy's side, taking only a moment to really look around the cell. There were two ledges, no doubt intnded for use as beds. There was also a water spigot set about a foot above a small hole in the floor. Charming, Tommy thought darkly, but at least there *was* a source of water. Hopefully. He sat down next to Billy and put his arm around his friend. " Hey bro, how are you feeling?"

Billy was shaking less, that much Tommy could tell by touch. He looked at Tommy, his eyes dilated and huge. " A... little...better..." he said through chattering teeth. " I just... can't stop..."

" I know," Tommy said softly, " I'm sorry... It wasn't this bad for me..."

" Different reactions." Billy spoke a little breathless but stronger. " It's not... your fault. " He took a few deep breaths and Tommy could see the shaking visibly stop, though Billy's hands were definantly still shaking. He managed a slight smile. " Aside from feeling like I was electrocuted, I'm ok."

" That's good." Tommy said worriedly. " Because I get the impression Mondo may not be through with us."

Jason watched the replay of Billy and Tommy's abduction with concern. As a non-ranger, he had no way to really assist in a rescue so he could merely watch the replay and worry. He didn't like the fact that Billy and Tommy had been drugged. A lot of things could happen to someone while they were out and he dwelled on all of them while he waited for the remaining rangers to sweep the city.

Suddenly he heard Adam whoop in triumph. " Got 'em! They just appeared in the park." In seconds all of the rangers and Tommy and Billy teleported back into the power chamber.

" Guys, we're ok." Tommy said after all of the excitement died down. " We got really lucky though Zordon. "

" From the look of all these bruises," Tanya said with concern, " you didn't get off all that easily. Looks like you both got worked over pretty hard." She gestured to the large bruise on Billy's cheek and Tommy's split lip.

" But we're fine otherwise. Of course, you should scan us over, " Tommy said brightly, " but once we came around, we just had to figure out how to escape. It was lucky Mondo's cogs weren't exactly on the ball, right Billy?"

Jason watched in concern as Billy slowly nodded along to Tommy's excited descriptions of what had happened. Maybe Tommy was fine, Jason reasoned, but Billy looked more than a touch peaked. " Billy, are you sure you're ok?"

" Huh? Oh yeah...." Billy ran his hand through his hair, a nervous gesture Jason knew well. " I just..."

" You seem to be suffering from the remaining effects of being tranqilized Billy. " Alpha's chiming voice rose above everyone elses chatter. " Aiy-yi-yi you both were very lucky indeed!"

Lucky, Jason thought as everyone continued to celebrate, didn't really begin to describe it.

It had been a long boring day in Mondo's prison. Early that morning, a cog had delivered their breakfast, some sort of barely warm gruel that neither of the young men had found appetizing in any way but had eaten regardless. They had then spent the better part of the morning examining the cell for the possibility of escape. The best they could figure was that given a sharp object, Billy was fairly certian he could pick the lock. Of course, Tommy thought harshly, they had no sharp objets available. Aside from that, they hadn't been able to come up with anything constructive other than that they could be certian that Mondo wasn't finished with them yet. So they had decided to keep busy

Tommy slowly walked through the kata as Billy watched. "You'll have to do this one perfectly for your black belt test."

" I thought they all had to be perfect." Billy smiled as he spoke. He took over the small empty space in the center of the cell.

" They do." Tommy said as he sat down. " I simply have faith in the fact that you already can do the lower belt katas flawlessly. Once you get one down, you don't have problems with it." Billy was a wonderful student in that respect.

" I just need to get this down." Billy said. He took a moment to collect his thoughts and then began to work through the kata. Tommy watched critically but found little to critique other than things that couldn't be helped. Billy was pulling his punches and not extending far enough but that had a lot to do with teh situation. The cell was really too small to practice in. Still, he realized after a moment, Billy had the basics down. It was just going to be a matter of time before he'd have his black belt.

" That was excellent, Billy." Tommy said as Billy finished up. " You know, you really should consider entering a few competitions."

" Oh, I'm not really into fights." Billy said as he finished up by stretching.

"Not the sparring competitions." Tommy amended, " The kata competitions. Its all about form, presence and style.You have a flair for that. Besides, you're lucky I don't follow the traditions of my teacher. If you didn't spar in competition, you didn't advance."

" Hmmm maybe." Billy sat down. " I just hope everyone figures this out pretty soon. This is not my idea of fun." He looked worriedly at Tommy. " Those two clones could do a lot of damage."

" I know, but our friends won't be fooled for long." Tommy spoke forcefully but he had his doubts. If Mondo was right about the mind transference thing, he had little doubt that the clones could do a creditable job of passing. " We need to wrry about our situation right now."

Billy nodded but it was clear to Tommy that worry about what was happening on earth had Billy's mind working overtime. " Come on, you promised me a chess lesson if I showed you a kata."

Billy nodded, but Tommy sensed his heart wasn't in it. He got up and moved over to the ledge that Tommy was sitting on. He picked up one of the small stones that littered the floor and began to scratch lines onto the ledge. " We each need sixteen pieces."

" Ok..." Tommy bent down and began to pick out decent sized rocks. He had absolutely no interest in playing chess but he wanted to keep Billy busy. It seemed as though something was gnawing at Billy and Tommy wasn't certain that it was just th situation at hand.

They both looked up as the sound of metallic bootsteps started to echo through the hallway. Billy set down the rock he'd been using with a sigh. " I think Mondo's boredom levels just dipped."

"Yeah...hopefully he just wants to gloat." Tommy stood up. Much as they suspected, it was Mondo and his entourage. Mondo sized them up with a glance and chuckled.

" So, are we enjoying the accomadations?" Mondo sneered. He undid the cell door as he spoke.

Tommy tensed but didn't back away. Mondo was the sort that could smell fear and would feed off of it if he sensed it on either of the captives. Tommy noted with some pleasure that Billy was still sitting casually on the ledge. Not giving off any vibrations of fear either, and that was good. He straightened his back and said, " I notice we didn't get the wake up call we requested."

" Room service has been really terrible too." Billy chimed in.

" Well, perhaps I can at least provide you with some entertainment." Mondo gestured to several of the cogs as he spoke. The cogs rushed into the cell. Both Billy and Tommy put up a terrifi fight but in a matter of minutes both were immobilzed. Mondo made another gesture, and the cogs holding Tommy dragged him out. They slammed him into the wall and ripped off his shirt. Then, they forced his wrists into manacles that had been attached to the wall.

Mondo stepped over to Tommy. " You see.... I discovered something interesting. Humans don't respond well to pain. " He unfurled a dark brown rawhide whip. " I'm interested to see how true that is." Mondo handed the whip to Klank. " At least five Klank. As hard as you can."

To Tommy it was an interminable wait. By the time the whistling blow atually struck his bare skin, he almost welcomed it. It felt like a fire lit on his back. In quick succession, four more blows rained down on him. He managed to not scream, but only just, and as the last blow fell, he let out a gasp of pain.

Mondo stepped away. " That's one. Klank, have them switched."

That phrase broke through Tommy's haze of pain. " No!, " he shouted as he struggled against the several putties that held him. " Don't you touch him!" But his pleas fell on deaf ears. As quickly as he had been taken, Billy was placed in the manacles. Tommy watched in horror as the lash bit into Billy's back. The red streaks seemed to almost accuse Tommy. Like Tommy, Billy managed to not scream but his barely suppressed cries tore at Tommy. He was supposed to protect Billy after all. Billy wasn't a ranger. " Stop it!"

Mondo gestured for Klank to strike Billy one more time, watching Tommy carefully all the while. Finally he signalled for Klank to stop. Billy was thrown bak into the cell and Tommy went to his side. The cell door was quickly slammed shut.

" This was very interesting." Mondo said with a metallic chuckle. " This has given me many ideas for the future. Good day." He walked off down the hallway, his cronies following along.

" Are you ok?" Tommy asked. He could see the blood streaked on Billy's back.

" I'll be all right." Billy said after a long pause. " What about you? "

" It's ok... stings a bit." Tommy managed a smile. " This really wasn't how I planned the picnic."

" No I suppose not."

'Tommy watched in suspicion as 'Billy walked into the Juice Bar. Acording to his memories, Billy had turned into a reclusive loner over the last few mmonths. His wandering around the juice bar was likely to arouse suspicion. It was clear to 'Tommy that Jason seemed to think there was something with 'Billy already and his cohort was doing little to shake that impression.

He strode over and grabbed Billy. " What are you doing here? Don't you remember? You're the mechanic."

" No I don't remember, dammit!" hissed Billy in response. "The stupid transfer didn't work, and I'm not doing all the work while you dance around the school and the neighborhood having fun."

Tommy pulled him into the locker alcove. " Now you listen, dammit! I'm real sorry that you have to live the life of a pathetic nerd but you know what? Thats not the hot issue. The issue is planting enough bombs to blow thier prescious command center sky high. Now, you better trot your butt back there and get working! Or do I have to tell Mondo that you aren't... working out?" He let the threat sink in. Finally, Billy backed off.

" Fine. I just want some help." With that he stomped off and out the door. Tommy watched him go and wondered if giving Mondo a call wasn't such a bad idea.

Tommy watched as Billy carefully placed his makeshift rook on the scratched out board. Finally Billy ltook his hand away. Tommy quickly moved his knight. " Check."

" I give up." Billy said softly. He moved to the other ledge, wincing just a little. " Let's take a break."

" You're just mad because you aren't winning." Tommy said cheerfully. He grinned, but it was no use. Billy clearly didn't want to be jollied back into a decent mood. After four days of captivity, Tommy found his own moods veering toward the dark side. " I would have thought that this was your game." Tommy had won every game of chess they had played once he'd figured out the rules.

" I don't play well. My father is the good player in the family." Billy smiled just a little. " He says that's the proof that my brain doesn't come from his side of the family."

" So what has been bothering you?" The question just blurted out of his mouth, but once he'd said it, Tommy didn't regret it. Something was definetely gnawing at Billy, and hard as it was to believe, Tommy didn't think it had much to do with the current situation. " Do you regret giving up your powers?"

Billy glared balefully at him. " Tommy, you don't want to go there."

" What's that supposed to mean?" The level of anger in Billy's voice shocked him. " Billy, if it bothers you that much, I'm sure we could find a way around the negative proton problem."

Billy turned away. " I don't even lie well and yet none of you seem to notice." He glared at Tommy again. " For future reference, there's no such thing as a negative proton. Its an oxymoron."

Tommy looked at him with something akin to shock. " You lied? You wanted the power all along? Then why did you give it up in the first place?" He got up and sat down next to Billy. " What were you thinking?"

Billy moved away. " I was thinking that five crystals can't make six rangers and somebody had to be the adult. "

" It didn't have to be you." Tommy insisted. He tried to put his arm around Billy but his friend drew away.

" I don't recall you stopping me." Billy spoke coldly. Then he sighed, and leaned forward, his head in his hands. " I'm sorry. That was cruel. What I did... It was my choice, I suppose it was for the best, even if it does mark me as the biggest walking target in Angel Grove, and it certainly can't be helped now." He looked up at Tommy. " I shouldn't take that out on you. It *was* my choice."

" You're right though. I didn't stop you." Tommy looked at him intently. " I just assumed.... Either Zordon would step in and pick or that Tanya would back down. It never even crossed my mind to step away." He placed his arm around Billy's shoulders and that time Billy didn't move away. " Ok....so there was nothing but numbers that stopped you from being a zeo ranger. Why on earth did you lie about the gold powers?" Why Zordon had allowed it was what really intrigued him. The truth was, they had all been worried sick about Billy because of that and getting Jason to take the power had been a close call. The gold power had nearly been lost.

" Because...." Billy's voice started to shake. " Becuase my father is sick. He... his kidneys failed. I've been taking him to the doctor... his dialisys appointments. He needs a transplant but I'm not a close enough match. So, " and he wiped his eyes, " I have to be the adult again. I don't have time to be the Power Chamber grease monkey, take care of my dad, and run around saving the world." He managed a mirthless chuckle. " Its a good thing I graduated becuase right now I don't even have time for school."

" But...why are you planning to go away to college?" Tommy asked softly.

Billy looked up at him, tearstricken." Because if my father doesn't get a doner kidney soon.... " He looked away. " Then i'll have a lot of free time to kill." He shook away Tommy's hand. " So now you know whats bothering me. Can you leave me alone now?"

Tommy nodded. He slowly got up and moved to the other side of the cell. Sometimes, he thought as he watched his freind sob, sometimes knowing whats wrong doesn't make you feel better. He felt worse. Much worse.

They both looked up as they heard footsteps in the hallway. The two boys looked at each other. A cog had already brought their sole meal for the day several hours earlier. Based on that only, Tommy was fairly certain that it had been about five days since Mondo's last visit. They didn't say anything to each other, they didn't need to. They had had a long time to discuss the next visit by mondo and they had agreed to do the best they could, to not cry out as much as possible. Tommy had been heartened to realize that Billy had the same thoughts he did. That Mondo would feed off of their fear was something Billy agreed with completely.

Mondo stopped in front of their cell door. He seemed rather mirthful for a robot and Tommy hoped that it was just a sham, that things weren't going that well on earth. Mondo looked them both over. " And how are my guests today? Is your nutrition being adequetely tended? "

" Actually, " Billy said softly, a smile on his face, " I'm getting a little tired of the standard fair. How about some hot dogs?"

Tommy almost laughed as Billy winked at him. It wasn't funny, not really, and Billy was courting danger but Tommy couldn't help but find it funny that Billy was still obsessing over the hot dogs from the picnic he'd never gotten to. Mondo didn't seem to register the humor though. He looked at the two of them, seeming to come to a decision.

" Perhaps, " Mondo said quickly, " I can give you something to take your mind off the surroundings." He looked over his entourage and nodded to two of the cogs. The cogs dove at Billy. Tommy dove at them, and in seconds there was a battle. In a matter of minutes though, the cogs had dragged Billy out of the cell and manacled him to the opposing wall. Mondo looked at him and then at Tommy. He handed the whip to Klank, and a cog brought over what looked like a bucket of water. Then he signalled the remaining cogs and they dragged Tommy over to the barred cell door and held him in place.

" Red Ranger, " Mondo said softly as he approached the cell, " It occured to me the last time we did this that you seemed far more upset when your companion was being struck. So I thought I'd oblige you. Of course, " Mondo stepped out of Tommy's line of sight, " I have added a twist to this that i think you'll enjoy. After all, I wouldn't want your companion to expire from infection. Klank, lets go to fifteen this time."

Klank nodded and let loose with a hard strike to Billy's back that drew blood immediately and reopened several of the older marks. Tommy watched as Billy tensed. Klank stopped, and the cog by the bucket reached down and withdrew a cup. It flung the liquid onto Billy's back. Tommy caught teh acrid scent of alcohol and even though he knew he couldn't stop it, he struggled against teh cogs holding him. To his credit, Billy managed not to scream on the first blow but his face contorted in agony and he struggled against the bonds that held him. The treatment was repeated. By the ninth blow, Billy was sobbing in hysterics. By the fifteenth and final blow, Billy was unconscious. Even as Klank stepped away, Tommy's eyes were on the damage that had been done. From his neck to the small of his back, Billy's back was a raw bleeding mess.

Mondo tossed him the keys to the manacles. " You may tend to your friend. You have thirty seconds to get him back into your cell or else we can start this over. Your choice."

Tommy took that as the threat it sounded like. He quickly undid the manacles and dragged Billy back into the cell, taking as much care as he could to not cause Billy any more injury. He gently laid Billy out on the stone ledge. Then he threw the manacle keys back at Mondo. " Now go, dammit! You've had your fun."

" Oh the fun hasn't even started yet." Mondo laughed as he walked away. Tommy ignored him. He grabbed Billy's shirt and tanktop. The shirt he carefully placed underneath Billy and the tank top he wet down with the brackish water from the spigot. Then he carefully cleaned the wounds as best he could. The only good thing he supposed was that Billy didn't regain consciousness while he did it. Tommy felt his own tears hot on his cheeks.

" I'm sorry Billy," he said softly.

Jason watched carefully as Tommy went up to Billy. Something was wrong, that much Jason was certain of. Before, Billy had just been distant and aloof. Now, he thought as Tommy started to talk to Billy, now I'm starting to think it's not just Billy. As he watched, Tommy basically browbeat Billy into doing something. What, he wasn't sure, but he could tell that it amounted to Tommy ordering Billy off. Ok, he thought as he rose from his seat at the Juice Bar, I've tried working through Tommy, maybe I should go back to the source.

Particulary since Tommy was acting decidely odd. Jason shook his head as he trotted outside and started to follow Billy. Tommy had been browbeating Billy, that much was obvious. That had struck Jason, that and the fact that Billy had suddenly increased the amount of time he spent in the power chamber. Even Zordon had noticed.

" Hey Billy, wait up!"

He caught up as Billy paused to wait for him. " Do you want something, Jason?" The question was polite enough, but he didn't get the impression Billy really cared one way or another.

" No, I just thought maybe we could spend some time together. " Jason looked at him. " Ever since I got back from Switzerland, I haven't hardly seen you. You're starting to worry me a little."

There was a flash of fear in Billy's eyes but it was gone before Jason could even confirm it in his mind. Billy waved off his concerns, but his expression was grim. " Sure, if you want... Why don't we go to my house? I need to check on my dad."

" Sure." Jason walked along with him for few minutes. " Is something wrong with your dad?" He had hardly seen the older man since he'd returned ad the last time he'd seen the man, he hadn't looked quite right.

" He's been very sick." Billy said. " He needs a kidney transplant." He shrugged. " That's why I've been busy."

" Billy, tell me you're joking...." Jason waited but Billy didn't retract the statement. " That's awful... Why haven't you said anything?"

" I don't know." Billy said after a moment. " I just haven't. I've been so busy, you know."

" Maybe we could work on that." Jaon said. He followed Billy along, still feeling uneasy. He hated himself for feeling that despite everything, he still thought Billy was lying. Lying about something that was certain.

Tommy toyed with the rough chess pieces. He kept one eye on Billy of course, but Billy had barely stirred over the last few hours. Tommy shivered and rose to his feet. He'd taken his shirt off and draped it over Billy hours earlier, having the notion that some extra warmth might prevent Billy from going into shock. Still he was getting cold, and he decided to do a fast kata to keep warm. He kicked and spun, and in a matter of minutes he ws was sweating heavily.

" You really are quite graceful." Tommy turned and saw Billy looking at him with tired, darkened eyes. " KImberly always said that about you. That you were graceful." Without actually shifting his position, Billy looked around the small cell. " To think I went through that and we still didn't get any hot dogs."

Tommy couldn't help but smile. " Billy when we get out of here, I will personally bring you some chili dogs." He knelt down on the floor beside Billy not wanting his friend to be twisting around to see him. " How do you feel, bro?"

" I really don't feel anything right at the moment." Billy admitted. " How bad is it? Was I out long?"

Tommy lifted up the shirt and took a look. The majority of the marks had scabbed over. The older marks had reopened but didn't look as bad. Still, Billy's back looked like so much raw meat. " It's....looking better. You still have the ranger healing factor." Tommy had noticed that rangers generally healed faster from minor injuries and it was no different for Billy. " You were out for a couple of hours."

" Thats good I suppose." Billy looked at him, seeming to come to a decision. He started to push himself up.

" Billy maybe you shouldn't move around." Still, Tommy gave him a hand. Billy's grip on his arm was tight and white knuckled and gave Tommy no doubts that Billy hurt a lot more than he was letting on.

Billy finally sat up, looking very pale and breathing hard. " It's ok, " he said breathlessly, " Its not that bad. I just couldn't lie there any more. " He slowly put his blue flannel shirt on, wincing the whole time.

" You don't look fine." Tommy said critically. Billy looked sweaty and deathly pale.

Billy looked away. " Tht's probably the point of this whole excercise, Tommy. We need to discuss this, becuase I have a really good feeling that this is just going to get worse." Billy took a deep breath. " Mondo is a bully and he's got you figured out. "

" How do you figure?" Tommy asked.

Billy chuckled, a cyncical sound. " Becuase Tommy, you are the quinessenstial white knight in shining armor. Thats how you see yourself. Its nothing to be ashamed of.... In your heart, you're a decent guy and even the idea that someone might get hurt becuase of you really bothers you. I'm only stunned that Mondo picked that up. Bullies usually aren't that bright." He looked Tommy in the eye. " The only saving grace to this situation is at least I'm not a totally innocent victim. I knew the risks. Maybe even more than you did." He managed a smile.

" Billy.... that doesn't mean its ok for you to get beaten." Tommy's voice filled with outrage. He started to pace around the cell, his energy level seeming to rise along with his emotions.

" I didn't say it's ok. What I meant is that I've expected something like this since I gave up the power. It was a risk I chose to take." Billy spoke almost coldly. " Mondo is yanking your chain. He knows it hurts you more to see someone else get hurt in your place. You can bet this is going to get worse. At least right now he's not getting too violent. I've had worse beatings."

Tommy continued to pace around. He knew what Billy was trying to do, and it wasn't going to work, at least not then. Billy was trying to absolve him of guilt. He knew, in his heart, that Billy was right. The situation was such that he knew that there was nothing he could do to stop Billy from getting hurt. "I just.... I don't like seeing *anyone* get beaten."

" I assure you, I'm not having all that much fun either."

Billy eyed the tray holding their daily meal and pushed it towards Tommy. " I'm not hungry."

Tommy took one of the small bowls off the tray. " You need to eat, " he said as he pushed the tray back. " I'm not hungry either but we have to eat. He waited until Billy picked up the other bowl to drop his gaze. In the last four days, it had gotten more and more difficult to get Billy to eat. Tommy wasn't sure if he was feeling poorly or if it was just some sort of depression. The circumstances meant that it could go either way.

" Listen, lets play a game. I'll ask you a question, and you have to answer it. Then you can ask me a question." Tommy suggested it more out of boredom than anything else. They had long ago run out of stories to tell or games to play.

Billy's eyes lit up. " Sure, why not? Ask away." He leaned back against the wall.

" If I'm the white knight, then what's everybody else?" Tommy asked.

Billy laughed. " Not just the white knight. The white knight in shining armor. That's what Kimberly used to call you. That makes her the princess, of course. Jason is the classic hero, and Zack's the court jester. Trini...she's the warrior priestess. "

" What about you?" Tommy asked after a moment.

" I'm the magician. You know, full of tricks and advice." Billy laughed again. " Satisfied?"

" More surprised at how right you are." Tommy said after a moment. " Go ahead. Fire away."

Billy thought for a moment. " Do you remember your real parents?"

After a long moment, Tommy found himself nodding. " Yes...I do. They didn't die until I was six. It was a car accident." He waited to see if that would satisfy Billy. After moment, despite his sudden rush of feelings, he added, " They'd been drinking. They drank a lot. When they drank they'd argue. If I know my dad at all, he was probably hitting her and took his eyes off the road. He hit her a lot. David and I too but mostly my mom." He looked down at his feet. " I've never told anyone that. Not even my adoptive parents."

Billy nodded along. " It couldn't have been easy."

" Yeah, well....is that enough?" Tommy furtively wiped his eyes.

" Sure. Give me your next question."

Tommy thought for a moment. He hesitated. The game, such as it was, had taken a decidely serious turn. Still, his mind hearkened back to something Billy had said a few days earlier. " You said,... the other day you said you'd had worse beatings. Now I know your folks aren't the type to hit you, so why don't you elaborate?"

Billy smiled but it was a grim sort of look. He got up and much to Tommy's surprise, he started to pace. Pacing wasn't one of Billy's nervous tics at all. " You know, we used to live in Chicago. It was a lot like here, to be honest, except that it snowed more. School was the same too. I didn't have any friends until we moved here so I suppose it was different. " He kicked the floor. " I got beaten up almost every day. Usually it wasn't too bad, but in fourth grade, my last year there, I was in the same class as Eric McCullough." He looked at Tommy. " Eric was a sociopath, and I'm not just saying that because he used to beat me up. He was strange. His idea of funny was to set fire to stray cats. I started going home by different routes and I still would clobbered. My mom tried calling his parents but that just made it worse. Eventually I was put in a different class. It wasn't really different, I still got beat up, but at least it wasn't by Eric."

" Finally, we were getting ready to move. It was a big deal in my class, not becuase anyone really cared, but my mom had made cupcakes." Billy smiled again. " You remember how that was?"

Despite the grim cirumstances, Tommy couldn't help but smile. His adoptive mother had never let a birthday go by without making goodies for him to take to school. " It was like being king for a day."

" And everyone was your best friend." Bitternes crept into Billy's voice. He sat down next Tommy. " Eric decided that he should've gotten a cupcake too. He didn't have a lot of friends either, but he managed to convince about six kids in my old class that I needed to be beaten up. He grabbed me and they all circled around kicking and punching me." Billy paused. " Eric grabbed me and started pounding my head into the pavement. He was screaming 'I hate you' and hitting me. I was screaming for help but the other kids.... They were just laughing. Then Eric pulled out one of those little swiss army knives. He took the little pliers and grabbed my hand. By the time the playground aid got there, he had pulled every fingernail off my right hand. He cut the aid with one of the knives and then he stabbed me. I think it was about four times. I couldn't really tell.... I think the most excruiating pain I ever felt was when Eric pulled my fingernails off. " He shrugged. "What made it worse was that by that time we'd attracted all the kids on the playground and most of them were laughing." He clenched his hands into fists. " I spent three weeks in the hospital, and that was the worst beating I ever took." He chuckled coldly. " A couple strokes of a whip doesn't really compare. Is it my turn?"

" What happened to that kid?" Tommy asked after a long moment. He was stunned by the story but he didn't doubt Billy one bit. It was as Kimberly had once said to him, Billy didn't lie.

" He went to juvile jail." Billy said. " Near as we know, we did move you know, he got out after three years, killed his parents and a few other people and went back to jail, As an adult that time. " Billy looked at Tommy. " He was crazy, I mean, he used to talk to people who weren't there."

" Yeah, thats a pretty good sign." Tommy was more inclined to think that torturing a classmate in public was the sign but he didn't want to disagree. " So come on I owe you one question."

Billy shook his head. " Let me think about it." They sat in silence for a long moment. Finally Billy said, " What are you going do be when you grow up? Once you're done being a ranger."

Tommy smiled. " You think we'll be done at some point?"

" Yes," Billy nodded as he spoke. " You should read some of the historical files. People don't stay rangers long. Three years is the max. Besides, even if you stayed a ranger, you would still need a job."

" I don't know. I guess I never really thought about it." Tommy considered the question for a moment. " Maybe I'll go to college. Run a dojo maybe. Or something exciting like being a pilot. What about you? Be a college professor maybe?"

" No. I think the academic world really isn't for me." Billy said. " I plan to get my doctorate but I'd like a career where I was out doing something. Not theorizing about doing something. I want to be able to design something, build it, and then use it. Working in a college would be an absolute bore."

" You want a thrill ride." Tommy said with a laugh.

" Like you don't?" Billy faked a slow punch at him. " Piloting is not risk free. You know we're probably addicted to thrills at this point."

" I could do with out this thrill ride." Tommy said as he gestured to include the small cell.

Jason fumbled as he dialed the phone. I'm not crazy, he told himself. I'm not jumping the gun. There is something very wrong with Tommy and Billy. What I don't know, but I have to talk to someone about it. He dialed the number and waited nervously for the phone to pick up. Finally it did.

" Hello?" Jason smiled as he heard Kimberly's voice

" Kim, its Jason. Listen, I need your help." He quickly explained how oddly both Billy and Tommy had been acting. " The problem, " he finished with, " is that either Tommy or Billy are always in the power chamber. I mean always."

" Well..." He could almost hear Kimberly thinking, " Its not that strange that Billy didn't mention that his dad was sick. Billy's pretty private about things like that, and to be honest, it wasn't a state secret. My mom told me that Mr. Reeves had been sick. What has me thinking that something is odd is that Tommy is jumping on him. That's not like Tommy at all. I mean, the last time I spoke with Tommy he was worried about how much time Billy was spending in the power chamber. Have you tried talking to either of them?"

" they're both blowing me off." Jason said. " Kim, they were both captured by Mondo. Thats when they both started acting weird. I think Mondo might have done something to them but I can't be sure without having Zordon scan them and I never get in the power chamber alone."

" Jason, listen." Kimberly's voice was tinny sounding over the long distance. " I was planning on visiting anyway...we've got a break in the sceduale. I'll hop on a plane and we can figure this out together, ok?"

" Sounds good. It'll be good to have you here." Jason hung up the phone after a moment. I'm not wrong, he told himself again.

Kimberly knocked on the front door. She felt a little self conscious about knocking, but it had been almost a year since she had been to see Billy. Just waltzing in wasn't really appropriate anymore.

The door opened. It was Mr. Reeves. She wasn't surprised to see that he looked ill. She was surprised that, ill as he looked, he was the one to answer the door. " Kimberly, its good to see you again. How have you been?"
" Not bad. Been working pretty hard at gymnastics." Kimberly stepped into the house.

" Well, you know we all expect you to take the gold at the next Pan Global Games." Mr. Reeves smiled as he spoke. " Billy is in his room with Tommy."

Kimberly walked down the hallway with some trepidation. Not only was she worried becuase of Jason's almost paniced phone call, the truth was that she hadn't spoken to Tommy since she'd broken up with him. She wasn't worried, not really, but it was defietely awkward. She waited for a moment outside the door, and listened to what teh two young men were saying.

" Look, I just don't have time today until this afternoon." That was Billy, and there was an edge to his voice that she'd never heard before. " I have to take my dad to the hospital at 10:30. I can't just dump him off, you know. You don't have school today, so why don't you do some of it."

" I have to teach karate lessons all day. And act like a normal human being and be with my friends." Tommy chuckled, a cynial, old sound to Kimberly's ears. That isn't the person I loved, she thought.

" Look, it's almost done. It'll take you ten minutes maybe. There's no way I can get away."

" Fine, but you better show up by four." Kimberly stepped away from the door, not wanting to be caught listening. Tommy was surprised to see her, that was a fact. " Kimberly? How did you get here? Its good to see you." He smiled and it lit his face up. For an instant it took her breath away.

" I had some time off so I thought I'd come home for the week." She smiled at him, hoping that she was coming off apropriately. Not too warm but not the ice queen of Valhalla either, she told herself. Even though she was positive the person standing before her was some sort of monster, she knew it wasn't time to expose the fact that she knew. " I wanted to see how Billy was doing."

Billy popped his head out of the door. " Kimberly, its good to see you." Tommy excused himself and Kimberly stepped into Billy's room. Something was still wrong, she knew that, but she wasn't getting quite the evil vibes off of Billy. There was something creepy about him, and she suspected that he and Tommy had fairly horrific plans for the rangers, but she didn't get quite as bad a feeling from Billy.

" So whats up?" she asked brightly.

" Oh not much." Billy said. There was an awkward silence during which Kim couldn't figure out waht to say. The person standing before her was not her friend. They both heard the phone ring and that held there attention. Then they both heard footsteps and a knock on Billy's door. It was Mr. Reeves and he looked far more excited than the situation seemed to warrant.

" Billy, I'm sorry to make you cut this short, but I need you to drive me to the hospital." There was an undercurrent of excitment in the man's voice.

" Is it good news?" Billy asked.

" They aren't certain...but right now I'm the closest match with in fifty miles. I need to get there so they can run more tests." Kimberly could see that Mr. Reeves was trying very hard to not sound overly hopeful. He was failing miserabley. It was easy to see that the older man was ready to jump for joy. It was just a pity, Kimberly thought sadly, that he doesn't know that it can't possibly be Billy that he's talking to.

Billy held up the tray. " If you don't mind, I'd like to use this as a weapon. I'm not feeling physically competant enough to try this barehanded."

" Not a problem." Tommy said. " I just hope this does something other than get us killed." They had decided that morning that when Mondo returned, they were going to put up more of a fight. The plan was for Billy to rush Mondo while Tommy took out the cog escort. Considering how lax Mondo often was, Tommy thought they had a chance. Now it was the waiting that was driving them both nuts. They knew Mondo was going to be back soon. Billy was recovered enough from the last beating that he was able to move without wincing. That was a sure sign to Tommy that Mondo was going to want to be entertained again.

He looked over at Billy. Much like himself, Billy was obviously nervous. Billy's most notiable nervous tics, running his hands through his hair and wringing his hands over and over, were out in full force. Tommy was feeling none too calm either. Whatever was going to happen was just going to be worse and he had no doubts that Billy was going to take the brunt of it. We have to do something to get our minds off of this, he thought.

" Hey, lets play the question game." It surprised Tommy that after their dismal depressing first attempt, they had tried questioning each other again and for some strange reason, they both found it entertaining, if often rather personal. The irony, Tommy supposed, was that he had never been particularly close with Billy before everything had happened, but now he suspected that the one person who knew him best was Billy.
Billy nodded. " Ok... I get to ask first though." Tommy agreed to that, since he wanted something to do and he suspected Billy had something he really wanted to ask.

" What keeps you up at nights? I mean, if there's one thing that frightens you ...what is it?" Billy looked at him. " I don't mean to get personal... I just always wondered."

Tommy considered it for a long moment. " I suppose, to be honest.... I think the thing that frightens me most is the idea of being alone. Totally alone. " He thought about for a moment and nodded again. "This would be so much worse if I was here alone. I wouldn't wish this on anyone but having someone here really helps. I've never liked being alone." He grinned at Billy. " This may come as a shock to you but I didn't have a lot of friends either, until I moved to Angel Grove. A lot of kids were scared of me becuase I was a lot bigger."

" Is that why loosing the green power was so hard?" Billy asked after a moment. " You thought you were alone?"

" I guess so. I never really thought about that." Tommy said. " I mean... it just seemed like I finally belonged to something and then it got yanked out from under me. It just hurt. I mean, I know everyone tried to help but sometimes you have to work things out by yourself. It just felt terrible to belong and then not belong." A thought dawned on Tommy. " You know... we didn't really pay much attention to how you were feeling about loosing the power. "

Billy grinned. " I didn't loose the power, I gave it up. And I never gave anyone chance to know how I was feeling. I just thought you guys had bigger problems than mine."

" Hmmm..." Tommy looked Billy over. Billy was a surprisingly closed off person and Tommy had a strong feeling that being left out bothered him a lot more than he was letting on. " Its my turn. Same question. What frightens you more than anything else?"

Billy shrugged. " That's easier than you think. What frightens me is not knowing why things happen the way they do. When things don't make sense, I get scared. The world is a very ordered place but sometimes it makes no sense at all for no reason."

" Like your dad being sick?" Tommy asked.

" No, that makes perfect sense." Billy said. " He was in Vietnam..."

" Really?" That was a surprise. Tommy had never seen Billy's dad as being anything other than the mild mannered tax accountant that he was.

" Yes, he was an infantry officer. He got sprayed with Agent Orange. He hasn't really been well since. His needing a transplant is something his doctor's been warning about for years. It was just a matter of time." Billy hesitated. " I mean things that are just.... not right. Its not right that your real parents used to hit you. It doesn't make sense. " Billy paused again, seeming to come to a decision. " You know what doesn't make sense? My mom got killed in a gas station hold up when I was fourteen. Did you know that?"

Tommy nodded. It had been one of the first things Kimberly had warned him not to mention. She hadn't gone into details, but he had gotten the jist of the story. " Kimberly told me."

Billy smiled tiredly. " Lets be honest. Kimberly told you not to ask me about it. I was in the car you know. That... man shot her as she opened the store door. He didn't even take her money. It doesn't make sense, and things like that happen every day. Every day... You know there were times I thought I'd go nuts thinking about that. I imagine Kim told you how bad it was. It still bothers me...especially late at night."

" Now you've got me changing my answer." Tommy said. He leaned back against the rock wall. " You know, this is kind of a depressing game."

" True enough." Billy laughed. " At least I'm not losing at chess, though."

" So that's why you won't play anymore." Tommy let a note of indignation enter his voice. " The genius that can't play chess."

" Its not exactly the only sign of inteligence." Billy said mirthfully. " At least I can remember chess game times."

" That's low, Billy, really low." Tommy couldn't help but laugh. Billy joined in and for a moment, their situation was forgotten as they both shared the joke. Slowly their laughter died off, leaving them in companionable silence. After a few minutes though, the sound of many metallic bootsteps started to resound down the hallway. " You know what that is."

" The bell tolls for me not thee, Tommy." Billy laughed again. Then he looked at Tommy intently, " Tommy, just remember... He's trying to break you, not me. Don't let him mess with your head.That's the only way he wins this."

" Doesn't make me feel better." Tommy stood, as did Billy. Mondo and his entourage of cogs came into view at the cell door. With a flourish, Mondo opened the cell door. Tommy and Billy took that as their que. Tommy kicked the first cog down and dove on the second. Billy slammed the tray against Mondo's head ad it shattered into splinters. The fighting was fierce, but in minutes both Tommy and Billy had been subdued.

" This was very foolish." Mondo said. " Very foolish indeed." He stepped inside the cell and looked down at the two young men who were still struggling. " I suppose you two think its possible to somehow escape. Well, I think now is the time to tell you. In a few hours your precious power chamber will be nothing but rubble. I just recieved word from my team that they are almost done setting explosives. That means that soon you two will be the only living reminders that there ever were power rangers. Of course, you won't live for very long, but I assure you that it will be quite painful." Mondo gestured to the cogs holding Billy and in seconds he was again manacled to the wall opposite the cell door.

" Once a ranger, now merely a mechanic." Mondo mused. He smacked Billy in the back of his head, hard enough that Tommy saw Billy hit the rock wall. " You certainly couldn't have been much of a ranger. Your performance here has hardly been inspiring." Mondo struck Billy in the head again, and that time Billy actually staggered and almost fell. Tommy could see blood on Billy's forehead. Mondo turned and faced Tommy. " Now, Red Ranger, I've decided to give you a choice. You can take this whip, " and Mondo held it out, " and give your friend the ex- ranger twenty-five strokes, complete with antiseptic treatment. Or I can kill him. Its that simple."

" Thats...." Tommy took a deep breath. " That's sick. I refuse to choose."

" Well, then I'll just kill your friend." Mondo chuckled. "Do you want to rethink this, Red Ranger?"

" Tommy, remember what I said before. About who this is supposed to hurt." Billy spoke softly. " I don't want to die today. Not here..."

Tommy could barely swallow, his mouth was so dry. He turned to Mondo. " Give me the whip." Mondo handed it to him. He looked at it and then at Mondo. " One day you're going to pay for this."

" I sincerely doubt that." Mondo gestured to one of the cogs. The cog ran up, holding a hypodermic needle. " Adminster the drug."

" What's that?" Tommy asked. He stepped forward, but the cogs prevented him from doing anything more than watching as Billy was injected.

" Just something to keep your friend here with us." Mondo said with a laugh. " This little excerise is far less entertaining when he loses consciousness so easily. This way ou both will get the full benefit." Mondo waited for a moment. Tommy could see the moment when the drug started to take effect. Billy seemed to tremble and breath hard.

" Billy?" Tommy asked hesitantly. Billy was almost shaking.

" It's ok..." Billy said. " Just feels like I had about ten cups of coffee."

" Enough!" Mondo shouted. He stepped out of the way. "Remember, twenty five times. You don't want to loose count either. You also don't want to be too gentle. If I think you're not hitting him as hard as you can, you start over."

It was unendearable. Each time he raised the whip, it felt as though he was tearing at his own soul. By the time he reached the twenty fifth strike, he was crying himself. Billy was insensible from the pain and as one of the cogs flung another cup of alcohol onto his back, he couldn't even scream, he was too hoarse. Tommy dropped the whip at Mondo's feet. He was too horrified to do anything else.

" You impress me, Red Ranger. perhaps when all of this is done, I can find a place for you in my organization." Mondo tossed him the key to the manacles. " But for now I think you two need to spend some quality time together. Be quick... Unless you want to do this over."

Tommy sensed that it was far more than a threat. He quickly undid the manacles, closing his ears to the sound of Billy's hyper breathing and inarticulate sobbing. He carefully lifted Billy to his feet, ever mindful of the fact that no matter what he did, he was causing Billy more pain. Finally he got Billy inside the cell. Mondo slammed the cell door.

" I'll be sure to let you know when your friends have been destroyed." Mondo said as he walked away.

Tommy didn't even care. He slowly lowered himself to the floor hoping to make Billy more comfortable, though he doubted it was possible. He ended up sitting on the floor with Billy lying across his legs. Billy was shaking so hard, and no matter where Tommy touched him, it just seemed to make it worse.

" I'm sorry, " he whispered. It felt like a hollow phrase.

Kimberly walked into the Juice Bar, looking more than a little upset. Jason felt the knot in his stomah grow. It was bad news, he knew that, but from the look on Kimberly's face, t was worse than he expected. He looked around at the people sitting around the table. Adam, Tanya, Kat, and Rocky were all with him, though it hadn't been planned that way. At least, he thought, everyone can get the bad news at once. At least everyone else was a little suspicious too. They had been discussing how odd both Billy and Tommy had been acting over the last two weeks and evidently everyone had noticed but no one wanted to say anything.

" Kimberly, what did you find out?"

Kimberly looked quiziically at him. " Is.... Does everyone think there's something going on?"

" We've been talking about it for the last hour." Kat said. " I really don't know about Billy since I haven't seen him in two weeks, but Tommy is acting very very strangely."

Kimberly sat down. " Well, you're right to be suspicious. I overheard them talking at Billy's house. they are definitely under Mondo's control and they're planning something. Tommy is at the Power Chamber right now doing something. Billy is at the hospital."

" That means we could neutralize them one at a time." Adam said. " I really don't relish the idea of trying to subdue both of them at the same time. They're both pretty good fighters you know."

Jason stood up. Part of him was glad that he hadn't been wrong, that he hadn't been loosing his mind. The other part of him was horrified that somehow or another, two of his closest friends were working with the forces of evil. " I say we get to the power chamber and see what Tommy is doing." With that they all teleported.

Tommy felt his legs tingle from lack of circulation. He didn't move though. An hour earlier, he'd tried to shift position only cause Billy enough pain that he'd actually cried out. Even though Tommy could tell that the drug was wearing off, he could still see Billy tremoring and Billy had yet to say anything other than to moan in pain. Tommy felt horrible beyond words. Billy's back looked like raw meat. What little skin was visible was already dark with bruises. Tommy didn't think that Billy would survive another session, yet could not think of any way they could excape. Not to mention his worry over the fact that his friends on earth were in serious trouble.

He felt Billy move just a bit. " Billy, are you there?" He knew Billy hadn't actually lost consciousness because of the drug, but Billy certainly hadn't been aware of anything other than the pain. " Billy, can you hear me?"

" Yes..." came the soft, hoarse reply. " You know... I'm really starting to not like this place." Billy slowly reached out a picked up one of the plastic splinters that were littered all over the floor. " I think though... I think I know how we can get out...."

" How?" Tommy was careful not to move as he spoke.

" Help me up..." Tommy started to protest but then realized it was going to help Billy a lot less if he didn't help him up. They both rose shakily. Billy was obviously still in a lot of pain and Tommy could hardly stand because his legs were asleep. He stamped his feet as the pins and needles sensation grew and looked Billy over. Billy was deathly white. He picked up his shirt in his free hand and tried to put it on, wincing as he struggled with it.

" Billy let me help you." Before Billy had a chance to agree, Tommy had gotten his shirt on and was buttoning it for him. He ignored the fact that Billy was blushing. " How do you think we can get out of here?"

Billy stepped over to the door and inserted the splintered piece of plastic into the lock. After a minute, Tommy heard the tell tale click and the cell door opened. Billy looked up at him, his eyes sparkling despite the pain. " I told you... I'm the magician... Now lets get out of here."

The teens teleported into the Power chamber en mass. They all looked about, surprised to see that no one was there. Jason looked around, but not even Zordon was visible in his tube. That was definetely strange, he realized, and he stepped owards the tube, wondering what was up.

A forcefield rose up all around them. " A trap!" Rocky shouted. He touched the field, only to be rewarded with sparks. "Ouch! Dammit!"

" Did you really think I wasn't monitoring you?" They all spun around at the sound of Tommy's voice. He chuckled as he walked into view. " I'm not an idiot. Besides this works out fairly well.... This way I don't have to track any of you down to kill you."

" Kill us?" Kat cried.

" You think we're going to all this trouble to blow up the Power Chamber and the zords and not kill you?" Tommy laughed.

" Wait." All of the captives turned again. Billy strode into the room, wiping black streaks from his hands onto his shirt. "No one said a thing about killing anyone."

" No one had to, its obvious and maybe you should spend more time getting with the program, instead of playing "good son" at the hospital." Tommy thrust a tray of electrical equipment at him. " Why don't you finish up the work you were supposed to do? Mondo wants this done quickly."

They walked down the hallway taking great care to keep quiet. They knew that there was a communications panel at the far end of the hallway. Tommy finally spotted it. " Billy, are you sure you know how to do this?" That Billy was a wiz with computers was simply a fact, but the communication panel looked like nothing he had ever seen before.

" Its a computer. The prinicples are all the same. It's the bells and whistles that are different." Billy tried to pry the top off but after a moment, Tommy saw that it wasn't going to work.

" Here," he said as he stepped forward, " I'll get it." He quickly pried the top off the computer. Billy quickly went to work on the insides. Tommy had no idea what he was doing so he crossed his fingers and hoped Billy knew what he was doing. Finally Billy looked up.

" One press of the button, and we'll be right outside the power chamber. There's something blocking ransport directly into the power chamber but we'll be inside the actual building."

That made Tommy's worry increase. Whatever the plan was with Mondo, it must've gone into effect. " How do we get inside?"

" Depends." Billy said. " If they haven't disabled my special emergency access codes, we should be able to walk right in. If they have, I can hack in."

" You have emergency access codes?"

" Yes, for about two years." Billy shook his head. " I do a lot of tinkering in my copius spare time. Let's go."

Jason watched as the clone of Billy continued to work on the computer console. Jason had gotten the idea that whatever had Tommy in Mondo's power was not working in full force on Billy. At least, Jason reasoned, he isn't in love with idea of killing us.

" Hey, "Jason said softly as Billy came around into view. "Do you really want to do this?"

Billy looked at him. " I don't get a choice. If I don't do this, Mondo will kill me. "

" If you do this, do you really think he'll reward you?" Jason asked.

Billy glared at him. " Do you really think he won't torture me to death if I don't? And what are you people going to do if I do help you out? I get screwed either way. " With that he walked away.

" Did you ever finish with all of the zords?" Tommy asked harshly.

Billy didn't answer, which seemed to infuriate Tommy. Tommy strode across the room, so intent on grabbing Billy's attention that he didn't notice the power chamber door slide open. In a flash, two forms dove at the imposters. Jason was shocked to see that the two new figures in fact Tommy and Billy, and they both looked a little worse for wear.

Tommy dove at the first person he saw, and slammed the imposter Billy hard in the chest. Despte his own weakened condition, it took Tommy only a few minutes to subdue the copy and choke him into unconsciousness. He turned, as he dropped the clone, and saw that Billy was barely holding his own. Then, in a sudden flurry including a kick to the groin, Billy managed to drive the clone into Tommy's waiting arms. Tommy applied a choke hold and in seconds the second clone was also unconscious.

" They were setting explosives!" Rocky called. Billy and Tommy both looked at each other and then dove at the console. In seconds they transported everyone inside the forcefield away.

" Now what do we do?" Tommy said.

Billy looked in the console. " I think we should scan the entire facility. Acording to the device here, we have about ten minutes before they blow." He tapped a few commands, drawing up a diagram of what devices were still in the command center and zord hanger. Tommy took a moment to wrapp duct tape around the clones hands and feet effectively immobilzing them.

" How about it?" Tommy asked. " We only have eight minutes left."

" We're in luck." Billy said softly. He pointed to the interactive diagram. " See the dim spot compared to the bright? Somebody already went through and disabled a lot of these already. " He reached into the device on the main concole and yanked the red wire out. " The power chamber is safe. There's two bombs still active. One in your zord in the cockpit, and one in Rocky's in the main engine. We have six minutes. All you have to do is pull out the red wire. These aren't sophisticated devices."

" I'll take the one in my zord." Tommy eyed him critically. " Are you ok to get the other?"

" You don't have time to do both." Billy said. " Let's go. Time's wasting already."

" Dammit!" Rocky said again. " Why didn't they just let us out of the forcefield?"

Jason held up his hands, causing the small muttering group to quiet down. They had been teleported to Billy's garage, a familar enough place but, Jason reasoned, even with billy's father sick, it was possible the older man would notice a group of kids in the garage discussing the power chamber. " Listen...Tommy knew if he just let us out of the forcefield we'd never get organized enough to defuse all of the bombs." Jason mentally wondered if, being so short of help, whether Billy and Tommy could defuse all of the bombs but he kept that unpleasant thought to himself. We'll know soon enough, he thought.

" But...." Kimberly looked at him intently, and he realized that she was thinking roughly the same thing. He gave her a dark look, and she hesititated. Finally she said, " They didn't look right. I thought....I thought I saw blood on Billy's forehead... and his shirt."

" We just have to wait." Jason said again. No one liked it, but no one disagreed either. It was at that moment though, that everyone's communiators beeped.

" What!" Rocky shouted into it.

" Rocky, " Zordon intoned through the small communicator, "there is no need to shout. The power chamber is quite safe and you all are free to return."

In a flash, they all transported back to the power chamber. The first thing they spotted was the fact that Zordon was back in his tube and the clones were no where to be seen. Billy was working at the main console and Tommy was simply waiting.

" What were you guys thinking?" Rocky said, his face lit with a grin. " What the hell happened anyway?"

" We were abducted by Mondo about two weeks ago." Tommy said softly. He kept his eyes on Billy as he spoke.

" And those were clones sent in to replace you!" Jason said. " I knew it! Are you two ok?" All of the rangers gathered around, and Jason could see that both Tommy and Billy looked more than a little pale, and Billy did in fact have blood on his shirt and forehead.

" Yeah man, " Rocky said. " Neither of you look all that great."

Kimberly decided to take over. Tommy looked alright to her eye, but Billy was definetely not ok. " I think, " she said loudly, " that you two really should get checked out. " With that, she took Billy by the arm, noticing that he winced as she touched him. In a matter of minutes she had him lying on the medical bed. " You're shaking, Billy."

" I'm sorry..." He closed his eyes. " This really hurts."

Alpha handed Kimberly a small injector filled with medication. She quickly gave it to Billy and in seconds she could see him visibly relax. After a second, she realized he was asleep. After looking at the results, she suspected that was probably for the best.

" Is he all right?" Tommy asked. The other rangers were as worried, Kimberly knew that, but she sensed that there was something more there in Tommy's concern. Not exactly worry, but guilt.

" He should be all right," she said after a moment. " He should probably stay here on the med table for a few hours." She decided against saying exactly what was wrong. If Billy wanted to discuss it, she knew he would, but as long as he was going to be ok, there was no need to get into details. " He was beaten pretty badly but he should be ok. Tommy I should scan you too."

He allowed her to scan him, but he seemed almost impatient with the process. " Well?" he asked.

" You should be ok , too. You ought to spend some time on the med table too, and both of you really could use a few meals." Kimberly looked at him, wondering what exactly had him so upset.

" Yeah, well... maybe later." Tommy said. He looked at the rangers. " We locked the clones in the two storage closets. Most of the bombs had been diffused already ... you might want to check into that." He looked down at his feet and then at Billy's still form. " I... I better go."

With that, he teleported out.

Jason stepped into the storage closet with some trepidation, He'd just gotten done trying to talk to the Tommy clone but all he had gotten was snarled words and shouting. In contrast, the clone of Billy was sitting quietly on one of the metal boxes. He looked up at Jason, his expression unreadable.

" Have you decided what you're going to do?" the clone asked. " I assume you don't plan on turning these closets into cells."

" I thought we should have a talk first." Jason knew that one of the clones had disconnected most of the bombs. The question was why. Jason didn't think that Billy's clone had been making some sort of attempt to turn to the side of good, yet at the same time, the fact that he had done such a thing needed to be considered. "I assume you were the one that disconnected the bombs."

The clone nodded his head. " It just seemed unnecessary. We weren't ordered to kill you all. Once we had you captured...killing you was not appropriate." He shook his head. " Mondo wouldn't really have cared one way or another. He just wanted you all captured."

That was pretty much what Jason had figured. Unlike the clone of Tommy, Billy's clone had apparently retained a shred of decency. Not enough that anyone, Zordon included, felt safe just letting him go, but there were several possibilities available for him. " All right, " Jason said, " Here's what we can do. You can go back to Mondo. You can go to the penal colony on Rixian 3. That's where your... friend has chosen to go. Or, you could go to the Eltarian research encampment on Hartol-3." Zordon had told him to offer that only if his gut instinct told him that the clone was not truly evil. The research encampment was extremely isolated but Zordon was certain that it would be the best place for Billy's clone. Likewise, the penal colony was more of a rehabilitative place where the other clone would be welcome.

The clone sniffed. " I think choice number three sounds the best. When do I go?"

" Now would probably be best." Jason said. He held up a transporter button. Tommy's clone had already been sent away."The coordinates are set."

" A one way trip I'm sure. Still, its better than i have any right to expect." The clone took the button. " I won't drag this out... I can tell you aren't having much fun. Tell Billy that his father is at the hospital and that the doctors found a decent match. At last check everything was fine but I suspect he'll want to stop in tonight for visiting hours."

" That's... that's good." Jason couldn't help but feel releived. He liked Billy's father.

" I thought so too. Good luck sorting this all out. I don't envy you." With that, the clone teleported away. Jason sighed. He had a feeling that the clone had a point.

He wasn't surprised when he spotted Tommy up on the grassy knoll of the park. The park was a huge place and even on a busy day, it was possible to be alone. The grassy knoll was in a rather isolated area that most people didn't frequent. It had been a favorite place of his and he had shown it to Tommy when they had first met.

" Hey Tommy." Jason called pleasantly. Tommy looked up and waved lethargically, confirming Jason's worries. Tommy had barely spoken to any of them in the week since his and Billy's escape. Neither had Billy, but Jason knew he could only solve problems one at a time. He took a seat beside Tommy. " I was just wondering how you were doing?"

" Fine.... I'm fine." Tommy said softly, not meeting his eyes.

" No you're not." Jason spoke with some conviction. " You haven't hardly spoken with anyone since you got back. I'm worried about you. What happened up there?" Jason already had a good idea but he suspected that Tommy needed to discuss it. Jason had cornered Kimberly a day earlier and gotten the extent of both Billy's ad Tommy's injuries. The fact that Billy had teken the brunt of it really surprised him until he took a moment and thought about it.

" We were locked up. We hardly got anything to eat..." Tommy's voice broke off.

" And Billy got beaten royally but you didn't. Not much anyway." Jason could see that his words had scored a direct hit. At least I'm on the right track, he thought. " Whats up with that? Billy just never struck me as the type to act up enough to get beat for it." He picked the one thing he thought was least likely to happen. Billy was not the sortin a crisis to spend his time ticking off the captors.

" No... that's not what happened." Tommy looked at him with saddened eyes. " Jason I really don't want to discuss this."

" I know." Jason said simply. " Bottling this up though...its eating you up and I can't sit here and watch you do that to yourself. Tommy, it can't be that bad."

Tommy looked away. " First Mondo beat us both. Then he got the idea that it was more fun to beat Billy and make me watch..."

Jason shuddered. That was, he realized, a pretty effective way to torture Tommy. Tommy had always been the sort to leap to the rescue of almost anyone in trouble. Still, it clearly wasn't the entire tale. " Then what did he do?"

Tommy looked away. Jason could see tears welling up in his eyes. " The last time... right before we escaped, Mondo came. He said... He said I had a choice. I could watch him kill Billy... or I could beat Billy myself."

" And since Billy's not dead, I can guess what you did." Jason sighed. It was worse than he expected. Trust Mondo to think of something as awful as that, he thought darkly. " Do you think he would have killed Billy?"

" Yes," came the almost instant response.

" Then why are you beating yourself up like this? " Jason shook his head. " You did the only thing you could. Billy knows that. I can understand why you haven't been telling everyone about this, but... you shouldn't feel like this."

" Jason, I beat him until he couldn't even scream. " Tommy's voice shook as he spoke. " He's not even a ranger. I was supposed to protect him and instead... I hurt him. You don't know how badly I hurt him..."

" And you think this wasn't part of Mondo's plan? To turn you into a wreck? " Jason pressed onward. He had a pretty good idea of what was troubling Billy too, but that was another whole issue. " I knew in about three days of knowing you that you can't stand to see people get hurt. Kimberly knew it too. She used to call you..."

" The white knight in shining armor." Tommy chuckled just a little. " I guess she said that a lot."

" Because it fits you. And becuase you can't sit by and watch a bad thing happen without trying to stop it." Jason put his arm around his friend. " That makes it hard for you in situations like this but please don't shut your friends out. We're not judging you... most of us don't even know what happened and I really don't think Billy plans on taking out a newspaper ad. If you feel this horrible about it, why don't you talk to Billy? I know he'd listen." Billy would probably wave off the apology and say something appropriately pleasant, but Jason wasn't ready to start divulging all the problems going on at that end.

" I don't think he can forgive me." Tommy said quietly. " I really don't."

Jason considered that. He still had to really sit down with Billy and make him see reason, but he had tried to broach it a few times. He didn't think that Billy was angry with Tommy.

" You aren't going to know until you talk to him." Jason said.

Jason and Kimberly knocked on the door. There was no response. " I know he's home." Jason said. " I had Zordon double check."

" He's just being all stubborn and depressing." Kimberly said brightly. " Once he gets it in his head to be upset over something, it takes wild horses to drag him into a good mood." She reached up and took the small hidden house key off the top of the door ledge. " I think he's forgotten how persistant I am," she said with a smile.

They walked into the quiet house, and headed straight for Billy's room. Billy was lying on his bed, a laptop computer resting on his lap. He looked up at them and frowned darkly. " I hope you two know that you've just commited a felony. Waltzing into a locked house is against the law."

" My, aren't we Mr. Cheery." Kimberly laughed as she spoke. "You didn't call the cops did you?"

" It crossed my mind but no." Billy managed a wry smile. "Did you two break into mu house for any particular reason?"

" Yes, but I have another errand to run." Kimberly said. Jason nodded along with that. Kimberly had to coordinate the second part of the plan... picking up and delivering Tommy.

Jason took a seat on the bed with Billy. " I just wanted to see how you were. You've been pretty quiet about everything. And how's your dad doing? I didn't know he was even sick."

" He's doing ok. He was lucky that they were able to find a doner though... Especially such a good match." Billy set the laptop aside when he spoke. " I'm going to the hospital later if you want to come along. He'd probably like to see someone other than his friends from work and me."

" Sure." Jason made a mental note to tell his folks to stop by. Then he forced himself back on topic. " You just avoided most of the questions I asked. How are you? Are you ok with what happened?"

Billy looked away. " I'm fine. My back isn't even going to scar, which is nice."

" You got beaten pretty bad. Tommy told me what happened." Jason could see that being subtle just wasn't going to work. As it was Billy was appropriately surprised. He looked Jason in the eyes.

" He told you what happened?" Billy asked.

" He told me that Mondo was using you to get to him. That he was forced to hurt you." Jason decided to press his point. " Are you mad at Tommy? "

" No... no..." Billy's voice was almost shocked. " I... I didn't have fun... but I have a feeling it was worse for Tommy. Mondo was trying to break him mentally. Everything he did to me was to hurt Tommy. I didn't even matter to him."

And that, Jason suddenly realized, was a lot closer to the heart of the matter than he'd gotten so far. " Did he actually say that?"

" More or less." Billy said softly.

" And that doesn't bother you?" Jason asked.

Billy shrugged. " I'm not a ranger anymore. Aside from the sheer convince of having a clone of me on hand, it could have been anyone. Tommy would've felt guilty if his worst enemy had been there getting beaten."

" Billy, Tommy felt horrible. I felt horrible and I wasn't even there." Jason was sure he was closer to whatever it was that had Billy in such a funk, but he still wasn't quite there.

" He said I couldn't have been much of a ranger." Billy leaned bacck against the bedstead. " I know that's not true. I was an excellent ranger.... It's just hard to be a ranger when you don't have the power backing you up." He was silent for a long moment. " I couldn't even get up without help. We were trying to escape and I was just about useless. " He sighed. " No matter how hard I try, I still manage to beaten up by someone. Even after four years of karate lessons I still can't defend myself. You know, I told Tommy I was the biggest walking target in Angel Grove. I thought I was exaggerating but after all is said and done, I was right all along."

" All right..." Jason understood and now found himself facing the uphill battle of convincing Billy he was wrong. "Billy, Mondo was messing with Tommy's head, but that doesn't mean he wasn't try to screw you up too. Have you even thought about what you did there? You were being tortured, and yet, you were the one that figured out how to escape. Do you think Tommy wanted to stay there? And do you think he would've gotten out without you? Billy, you didn't loose this fight. Sure, Tommy had to help you, but you need to ask yourself, would he have gotten away at all if you hadn't been there? "

After a long moment, Billy said, " I suppose not."

" So Tommy had to help you... is that so horrible? You two are friends. Friends help each other in bad times. Everybody needs help sometimes, Billy, and you shouldn't feel humilated if you were hurt so badly that you needed Tommy to help you." Jason spoke emphatically. He knew that Billy had been the victim of
more than his share of cruel behavior. It hadn't occured to Jason that Billy's confidence in himself had gotten focused almost solely on his physial abilities. " Everyone needs help sometimes, Billy. I think you're just too busy helping everybody to see it."

Billy looked at him, his expression hard to read. " Its just not easy sometimes. The last couple of months.... Everyone has so much going on, I just felt like I shouldn't be bothering people with my problems. That I should just handle things."

" And meanwhile you've been running yourself ragged helping everyone." Jason chuckled. " Billy, you shouldn't feel this way about asking for help. If we were all like this, we'd be miserable all of the time."

Finally Billy managed to smile." You'd all probably be taking Prozac during finals."

Jason laughed. " Exactly. Do you see what I'm getting at?" " Yes.... I think I'm just not ready to jump up and down for joy yet." Billy playfully threw a pillow at him. " I know you well enough to know you have something more planned than just a visit."

" I do..." Jason stood as he heard the tell tale sound of a car pulling up. " In fact I have a couple things planned but the next thing I think you should do is talk to Tommy."

Billy smiled. " And that wouldn't be Tommy pulling up to my house would it?"

" Well....maybe." Jason ducked out of the way of another pillow. " I'll see you in a little while."

As Jason left, Tommy cautiously entered the room, holding a paper sack. He was uncomfortable, that was a fact. Just facing Billy was hard. He couldn't chase away the guilt he was feeling despite the talk he had with jason. Jason simply didn't know, he had reasoned, just had bad it had been. Or that Billy had spent the better part of his childhood defending himself against tormentors and Tommy had, by beating him mercilessly, been clumped into the group. Intellectually he knew that Billy understood what had happened but that didn't make it much easier.

Billy looked up at him, and smiled. " Hey Tommy. I see you've been roped into this grand scheme."

" Yeah, well..." Tommy shrugged as he sat down by Billy's desk. He handed the paper sack to Billy. " I almost forgot about my promise."

Billy looked at teh sack quizzically and then opened it. He grinned. " Chili dogs!"

" I did promise." Tommy said after a moment. He waited, hesitating but then decided to plow ahead. I am never going to be ok about this, he told himself, if I don't apologize. " Billy...about what happened... I wish there had been some way that... I wish I hadn't had to hit you like that. I'm sorry... "

Billy considered his words for a moment. " You know, " he said finally, " I could do what Jason expects me to do and tell you I compltely understood that you had to do it and that it was something you had to do. I'm not going to though. I'm going to do the better thing." He held out his hand to Tommy. " I know you're sorry... and I accept your apology. If this last couple weeks taught me anything, its that life is too short to keep holding all my grudges. I'm tired of being angry... angry deep inside over things that are over and done. You are one of my best friends and the last two weeks has done nothing to change my opinion, except maybe to make it stronger."

Tommy took his proffered hand, and pulled him into a hug. "I *am* sorry..."

" I know, " came Billy's muffled reply," and that just makes me like you more." He pushed away after a moment,
and quikly wiped his eyes. " You know, we better get going."

" Going?" Tommy asked.

Billy grinned. " Don't you know? This all must end with the two of us popping into the Juice Bar, only to be surprised by all of our friends at an impromptu surprise party."

" You know, " Tommy said with a smile, "I almost forgot that Kimberly and Jason were involved. I guess we better get moving. Kimberly would ship us back to Mondo if we skipped our own surprise party."
Billy laughed. " All I have to say is that this time we're taking a car."