Disclaimer: Still don't own Power Rangers. Just Ashley's parents and the paramedics. And I own Jeff's personality. I have no clue who originally came up with him but I've accepted him as her older brother and decided to put him in here. :)

A/N: Major thanks go to Charmedfan90 for helping me write this chapter. Also, SweetSas brought to my attention that I didn't mention how old Ashley was in this chapter. Sorry about that guys, Ashley and her friends are 14 and Jeff is 17. I added a line to hint at Ashley's age after SweetSas informed me of this. Thank's SweetSas!

Charmedfan90: You're very welcome. And thank you soooooo much for helping me with this chappie. I so wouldn't have gotten finished if it weren't for you.::hugs:: You're an awesome friend and inspiration to me Matt, you always keep me going. I hope we'll be able to push eachother through Nano when it starts up in a few days. :D

bRaInWaVe: Hehe, I loved Cassie in that chapter too. Thanks!

Alexandra Khayman: Not yet, I still need her. Though she won't bother you much in this chapter, since she's not in it. Sorry, for taking so long to update, I hope you enjoy it!

PurpleLeopard: Thanks! I hope you'll keep reading. :)

Tia: Thank you for your review. I'm so glad you liked it. Sorry they seemed a little older than they were supposed to be, I'm not used to writing children. But in this and coming chapters they are older, so hopefully they'll sound like their age. Thank you so much for your review and I hope that you'll keep reading!

Phantom Rogue: Yay, I'm so glad you like it. And no worries, three weeks and you still reviewed before I posted a new chapter. This is the one that I was having problems with, I hope it turned out ok.

Never Lose Faith

Chapter 3: A Brother's Love

"Hey Mom," Ashley called from the living room, "I'll be back later, Jeff's home!"

Ashley's mom poked her head into the living room from the kitchen. "Alright, you two be careful," she said glancing at both of her children with a caring smile.

Jeff sighed. "We'll be fine mom, I'm just going to pick up Ashley's friends and then take them to the movies. Don't worry," he said pulling his mother into a hug.

"Bye mom, love you," Ashley said hugging her mother after her brother stepped back.

"Love you too sweetie, love you both," she said taking in Jeff as well. "Try to be home by dinnertime," she called after them as they went out the front door.

As they started walking towards Jeff's car, Jeff's cell started ringing. "Hello," Jeff said into the receiver. "No, sorry man I can't, I told my sis that I'd take her and her friends somewhere today."

Ashley paused as she was getting into the car when she heard what her brother was saying. Jeff glanced her way and gave her a reassuring smile then sighed, going back to the conversation. "Sorry, I promised Ash...alright well you guys have fun," he paused and laughed then said, "alright bye." He closed his cell and looked at Ashley as he got in the car.

"Who was that?" Ashley asked as she got in and closed the door.

Jeff reached into his pocket and fished out his keys before answering. "That was Matt, he and a couple friends are going to a concert. (A/N: hehe, I couldn't resist, Matt) He asked me if I wanted to go."

Ashley's face lit up. "A concert, and you don't want to go?"

Jeff shook his head. "I made a promise that I'd take you guys out today, and I'm gonna stick to it, even if it means that I'll miss out on a concert. Besides, I'd do anything to make my little sister happy," he told her with a grin. Ashley grinned in return, absolutely touched by her brother's words. Tapping Ashley's shoulder briefly in a brotherly way, Jeff looked away from her and put the key in the ignition. He started up the car and headed for Cassie's house.

"So, which movie are you guys going to see?" Jeff asked while they were sitting at a red light.

Ashley looked over at him and shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. I kinda want to see Titanic, but I don't know what the others will want to see."

"Oh, Titanic, that's a good one," Jeff said with a smile.

Ashley frowned at her brother and laughed. "I thought you didn't like tragic romance movies? And when did you see it anyway?"

Jeff kept his eyes on the road as he answered, "I took Julie to see it last week."

Ashley covered her mouth as she laughed again. "Aww, that's so sweet Jeff."

Jeff threw a mock-glare at Ashley as they pulled into the Chan's driveway. Ashley only laughed harder at his look. "So do you like her?" she asked.

"Go get your friend," he told her blushing slightly.

Ashley looked over at the house to see the front door opening and Cassie emerge, heading for the car. Ignoring his order, she grinned at his embarrassment. "You do like her!" she exclaimed. "Shhhh," he replied, his finger over his mouth as Cassie got into the car.

"Ooh, what'd I miss?" Cassie asked noticing the exchange between the siblings.

Ashley broke down into giggles. "Jeff likes --," the rest of what she said was muffled as Jeff put his hand over her mouth. Grinning back at Cassie, Jeff said "She doesn't know what she's talking about, don't mind her."

Cassie chuckled at Jeff and glanced at Ashley, who was still giggling behind Jeff's hand. Pushing his hand away, she finally finished, "Jeff likes a girl."

"Oh, that's so cute," Cassie replied laughing.

Jeff rolled his eyes and turned back to the front shaking his head. "Girls...," he muttered under his breath. He put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway. Minutes later, they had picked up Carlos and TJ and were on their way to the theater.

Jeff smiled to himself as he listened to the four friends catch up on all that they had missed over the summer break so far. They had only been out of school for three weeks, but they didn't have cars and hadn't seen each other since then. The four of them would be starting their freshman year in the fall, and that seemed to be their main topic of conversation.

Once they got to the theater, the four friends talked Jeff into watching a movie with them. It wasn't Titanic, but it was one that they had all agreed on wanting to see.

A couple hours later they all exited the theater laughing and chatting about the movie that they had just seen. They all piled in the car and Jeff dropped them off, one by one, at their homes until it was just him and Ashley left.

"So, was it worth missing that concert?" Ashley asked her brother as he backed the car out of Cassie's drive.

Putting the car in drive, Jeff turned his gaze to Ashley before glancing back to the road and pushing on the accelerator. "Of course it was. There are concerts all the time, I can go to one of those and I see my friends all the time. Today I wanted to spend the day with my sister and her friends, even if I was only the chauffeur and chaperone."

Ashley shook her head, "You weren't just the chaperone and chauffeur. I'm glad that you came with us, well," she rolled her eyes, "I'm glad that you took us. Thank you," she finished with a smile.

Jeff grinned at her as he pulled up to a stop light. The intersection was abandoned and he let out a sigh. "Man, I hate it when you get a red light and there's no one coming from the other way."

After a few minutes, the light finally turned green. Jeff pulled out into the intersection and briefly heard Ashley's warning before a vehicle slammed into the passenger side of his car. The momentum from the other car pushed them to one of the corners of the intersection, where they were stopped by a pole.

Jeff did a mental check of himself and knew that he would be ok. Glancing at Ashley, he noticed that she was slumped over in her seat, held up by only her seatbelt.

"Ashley? Ash, are you ok?" His questions were met with silence. "Ashley!" he said, panic creeping into his voice. He reached over and carefully sat her back in her seat. His heart froze when he saw the blood on her face. He reached up and felt her neck to see if he could feel a pulse and was reassured when he felt her fast-paced heartbeat.

With shaky fingers, he fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed 911. "Hello...yes, yes, there's been an accident," he told the operator in a shaky voice. He gave her all the information so that they could send someone out and she assured him that they would be there in a few minutes.

Jeff hung up the phone and checked Ashley's pulse again. It was still very strong and Jeff let out a sigh. He briefly thought about the other car but wasn't going to leave his sister, especially when he wasn't absolutely sure that she would be okay. He looked her over and didn't see any other injuries. Silently he prayed that she didn't have any internal injuries.

After what seemed like an eternity, the ambulance arrived. The paramedics got Ashley out of the car and into the ambulance, where they worked on cleaning her up and figuring out where the injury was.

One of the paramedics approached Jeff and put a hand on his shoulder. "Son, are you feeling okay? Have any pain anywhere?"

Jeff shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Is my sister going to be alright?"

The paramedic smiled at him. "She'll be fine. The impact of the crash made her hit her head, that's what caused her to pass out, but the blood was from a piece of glass that cut her face. She'll have a scar, but she'll be ok." Jeff numbly nodded.

"Look, why don't you go contact your parents, we'll take care of her," the paramedic assured. Jeff nodded again and walked back to his car to get his phone.

Walking a short distance from the car, he opened the phone and called his parents. It was so hard for him to tell them what had happened. He was so scared that they would be mad at him. He broke down in tears before he got off the phone with them. They assured him that they weren't mad at him and that they would be there soon, barely concealing their own worry for their daughter.

Minutes later they arrived at the scene. Jeff's mom walked over to him and just held him when he broke down in tears again. His father went over to the paramedics to see how Ashley was doing. Catching their eye after talking to a paramedic, Jeff's father motioned for them to come over.

When they reached him, he told them everything that he had found out from the paramedic. Ashley was conscious and responsive, but she'd still have to go to the hospital for stitches. Jeff asked if he could ride in the ambulance with her, looking to his parents and then the paramedic nearby.

"There's only room for one," the paramedic told them.

Jeff's mom put her hand on his shoulder and smiled. "You can ride with her. We'll follow behind the ambulance." Jeff smiled at her and climbed up into the ambulance. The paramedics closed the doors behind him and he turned his attention to his sister. Her eyes were closed and she had a bandage on the right side of her face.

"Ash?" he whispered. Her eyes popped open and she smiled up at him. "Jeff, are you ok?"

He chuckled at her. "That's what I should be asking you, you really scared me there for a minute." His half smile sobered into a sad smile and he looked away from her. "Ash, I'm so sorry."

"Jeff, it's not your fault. That car came out of nowhere, I didn't even see it until it was right there," she said motioning with her hand.

Jeff couldn't shake the blame that he was feeling. Ashley saw the guilt playing out in his eyes, and weakly reached out towards him. Jeff immediately gripped her hand and squeezed it gently. "It's not your fault," she repeated.

"I know," he said softly.

"You are my big brother," Ashley said, "and I know you wouldn't hurt me." Jeff smiled down at her, and squeezed her hand. "I'm glad you're ok, Ash." She smiled up at him once again and let her eyes drift closed, knowing that she would be safe with her brother at her side.

One month later...

"Ash, Cassie's here," Jeff called up the stairs.

Ashley finished putting up her hair and walked out of the bathroom. As she went downstairs, she smiled at Jeff. "Thanks," she said, but she saw him looking at the scar that ran down her right cheek, close to her jaw bone. She pulled her hair over it, and gave her brother a smile. "I'll be ok Jeff," she said, as she heard Cassie calling out her name.

"I know…but it is my job as a big brother to worry about you," he said, pulling her into a quick hug.

"And I couldn't ask for a better brother, I'll see you later," Ashley told him as she released him. She threw him a smile before descending the rest of the stairs and walking out with her friend.

A/N: Well, it's coming along slowly but surely. I've just been aggravated with this story in trying to get it up and going. I have a question for you guys. Does it seem to jumpy to you? And if so, do you have any suggestions or help. I'm open to any advice you could give. I know what's going to happen later in this story, it's just the working up to it that I'm having problems with. Thanks for reading and review please!