Not long now. At least, that was what she kept telling herself. Not long. It wouldn't be much longer until they showed up. And not long after that, she and they could take back what was rightfully theirs. Until then…well, until then, they would fight. And they would die.

X Blue Bay Harbor X

"I said enough is enough, Blake. Stop this or face the consequences." Tori backed away from the Navy Ranger, her hands held in front of her and a grin trying to edge past the scowl on her face. "I mean it! Blake Bradley, you stay away from me."

Blake advanced towards her, blood covering his hands and his mouth gaping as blood ran from the side. "Come on, Tor. This won't hurt a bit." He reached out with his hands to grab her arms as she shrieked and backed further away, struggling to get out of his grasp.

Her retreat was stopped short when she ran up against an unmoving figure. She whirled around to see what had impeded her. "Hunter!" she shouted. "Tell your brother to give it up."

Hunter leaned around her to stare at his brother. He took in the blood covering Blake's hands and leaking from his mouth. "I don't even want to know," he said and turned to go.

"What?" Tori exclaimed. "You're not even going to help me?" The twenty-six-year-old surfer whirled to face her brother-in-law. "You're just going to let him bloody me up?"

"He's bleeding. His hands are covered in blood. He's chasing you around Ninja Ops. No, Tori, I'm not going to help you. I don't want to get involved. With whatever this is." Hunter shook his head. "You two can figure this out on your own."

Blake laughed. "Chill, Hunter. It's just fake blood. For fun. Dustin got me some. He also got me this really cool knife and a throwing dagger." Blake pulled the two blades from his pockets and expertly twirled them through his fingers.

"Do you really miss being a Ranger that bad?" Hunter asked, sitting at the low table. Tori dropped down beside him as Blake sat across from them. "It's been a long time, Blake. A really long time. We're twenty-six now. It's been nine years. Nine years, Blake. Aren't you happy?"

"Of course I'm happy. I have a beautiful wife, a wonderful son, I couldn't be happier. Speaking of sons…where is David?" Blake turned to Tori.

She shrugged. "Cam took him somewhere. They were going to go play Thunder Ninja in the park, I think. Ever since you got that kid a thunder staff for his third birthday, Hunter, he just wants to be like his Daddy and Uncle."

"What can I say? Thunder trumps water any day," Blake nodded defiantly and reached towards Tori with his bloody fingers…

X Miranoi X

Leo and Damon were starting a new job. They were in their late twenties, almost thirty, and no longer protectors of Terra Venture. Now, the two men sat in the front lobby of their shop and waited until it was time to open.

"Feels weird." Damon announced. He wore his customary green mechanic's uniform, with a number of wrenches, hammers and tools in his belt. "Doesn't it feel weird?"

Leo noticed Damon's right hand unconsciously twisting around his left wrist. He smiled. "We haven't been Rangers for a long time, you longer than me. Why should this feel weird?" Leo wore a red knit polo and dark dress pants. He'd be manning the front of the repair shop while Damon headed up the repair parts.

"Look at us. It may have been more than ten years since we wore the suits but we still wear our colors. Face it, man. Doing anything but fighting evil is not normal for you and it's not normal for me."

"Yeah, maybe. But we just have to move on. That part of our lives is over. Today is the last day I will ever wear red." Leo declared. He glanced at his watch and grinned at Damon. "Well, it's nine o'clock. Time to open up. You ready?"

Before Leo could get up to go to the door, two little blurs ran in from the garage and attacked him. "Daddy!" one of the blurs shouted.

"Hey, girls!" Leo stood and scooped the two little girls up into his arms. "What are you doing here?"

His wife, Kendrix, came in just then and provided an answer. "They wanted to see Daddy at his new job. Girls, let Daddy open up. Get down." Though Kendrix and Leo had been married for going on six years, they had delayed having children until they knew for sure that their days as Rangers were over. After the Lightspeed debacle, they'd decided that it was time.

Lila and Jessie scrambled down out of Leo's arms as he went to open the door. He called back over his shoulder as he flipped over the open sign, "Hey, Ken, have you heard from Maya today? She was supposed to call me yesterday but she never did."

Kendrix shook her head. "No, I haven't. I'm supposed to meet her later today, though, so I'll tell her to call you. I gotta go, babe. Good luck with your first day of business."

Damon looked up from where he was showing Lila his wrench. "What are you doing with Lila and Jess today, now that your babysitter-house-mom/dad has started a business?"

"They're going to school today for the first time. Four year old kindergarten!" Kendrix headed for the door. "Come on, Lil, Jess. We're going to be late." She held the door open for them but Lila ran back for one more hug from Leo.

"Daddy, guess what?" she leaned back to look him in the eye.

"What, sweetheart?" Leo ran his hands through her shiny, blonde hair.

"I gotsa jelly sandwich for lunch. No peanut butter, cause it's not 'llowed in school."

Jess broke in. "Yeah, some kids are 'llergic!"

Leo laughed. "You two have fun today. I'll see ya after work."

Lila's mouth twisted down and she blinked several times. "You'll come get us, right, Daddy? When school ends? You promise?"

Leo leaned down and rubbed his nose against hers. "Yes, princess, I'll be there at two o'clock to pick you up. Should anything happen, Uncle Mike will be there and he'll bring you to me, okay?"

Lila nodded and Kendrix took her hand. "Come on, girls. We're going to be late." She kissed Leo lightly before she and the girls left.

Damon stood to go into the garage and get started tuning Leo's motorcycle, his first job of the day. "well, send 'em back as they come, buddy."

"Will do." Leo moved behind the counter and watched as a blonde man parked his bike outside. "Here they come."

X Silver City X

"Jen! Jen, where are you? We gotta go." Wes walked through the halls of his house, looking for his wife. "Come on!"

"Coming! Is Sky ready?" Jen's voice floated out of the bedroom. "Are you ready?"

Wes yanked at his red vest and black tuxedo jacket. "Yes, we're both ready. Now, come on. Eric and Taylor's wedding starts in an hour. We're gonna be late."

Just then, Jen Collins stepped into the hallway and Wes felt his heart slip into an irregular rhythm. "Whoa," he breathed.

"Does it look good?" Jen ran her hands down the silky smoothness of her deep red dress. Since she was a bridesmaid and Wes a groomsman, their outfits matched.

"Babe, you look stunning." Wes pulled her close and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Sky's downstairs. Let's go."

The two former Time Force Rangers walked down the stairs to find their six-year-old son, Sky, waiting at the bottom, decked out in a tiny Time Force uniform.

"Wes!" Jen exclaimed, exasperated. "He can't wear that to a wedding!" She knelt down in front of her son. "Schylur Tate, you know you are supposed to be dressed up for Eric's wedding. Why aren't you in the tuxedo Mommy bought you?"

Sky shrugged and pulled his tiny Time Force blaster from the holster at his side. "It's a Power Ranger marrying a Power Ranger, Mommy. I thought everyone would be wearing uniforms." He pointed the blaster at Jen. "Where's your suit, Mommy?"

Jen sighed. "Sky, you need to go change, right now. We're late." She cast a glare at Wes. "Why didn't you stop him?" she asked as Sky stamped his foot and turned to run back up the stairs.

Wes raised his hands in a 'not-me' gesture. "He had his tux on five minutes ago. This is not my fault."

Jen raked her fingers through her hair. "We're going to be late. You know that, right? We're going to be late."

X Mariner Bay X

Carter was finally going to live out his dream. Not that being a Ranger hadn't been awesome, but this was a dream he'd had for a long time. And it was finally time for him to live it out. He was going to be a fire chief.

There was supposed to be some kind of celebration after the awarding of the promotion but Carter hoped it wouldn't be too crazy. He wasn't big on parties. But, his wife and daughter would be there so he guessed it would be all right. And, he supposed, most of the other Rangers would be there as well.

"Carter, you ready?"

Speaking of other Rangers…Dana's brother and Carter's brother-in-law, Ryan, poked his head around the doorjamb. He was dressed in a Lightspeed uniform and wore a ball cap pulled low over his face.

"Worried someone might recognize you?" Carter joked. Ryan typically wore ball caps when he went into Mariner Bay but never pulled so low.

Ryan ignored the question and asked again, "You ready? We gotta get moving."

Carter took one last look in the mirror and fixed his jacket. "Yeah. Let's get this show on the road."

"Where's my namesake?" Ryan asked, referring to Carter's two-and-a-half year old daughter, Ryan.

"With Dana. They are going to meet us at the ceremony. Dana said she had to run some errands on the way." Carter adjusted his outfit one more time and then followed Ryan from the room.

X Reefside X

Kira and her husband, Trent, sat in Cyberspace Café, waiting for her band to show up. Connor and Dr. O should be here soon, Kira thought, and it'll be good to get to see them again. I just wish Ethan could have come. She glanced over to where her almost three-year-old daughter, Connor, slept. She and Trent had had the hardest time naming the little girl before they decided on a name that honored one of their best friends.

Hayley had volunteered to watch Connor while Kira's band played. Ever since Kira's latest album had gone platinum, she'd been on tour and so it was a special treat to come back home. And an equally special treat to have the weekend "off" so that she could enjoy being with her friends. It would be just like old times, only no creepos trying to turn the world back to dinosaur time. Of course, if her band didn't show up in the next few minutes, she'd go Ptera on their butts…

Just then, Connor and Tommy Oliver entered the room. Both looked different than the last time Kira had seen them. A woman followed Connor, a woman Kira had seen before, once, back when they'd met up with the Ninja Storm Rangers one last time after their teamup against Lothor. The woman wasn't a Ninja Storm ranger but she was a friend of theirs. Her name was Kelly and she had run the sporting goods store near Ocean Bluff. Judging by the rock on her finger and the boy who walked between her and Connor, Kira was willing to bet that Connor had followed through on his promise of getting to know her.

"Ok, Paul, you go hang out with Hayley, ok? Don't wake Connor up." Connor grinned at Kira as his son ran off. "I never get tired of you having named her for me."

"Hey, Dr. O. What's cracking?" Trent asked. "Where's Kat? You popped the question yet?"

It surprised all of them that Dr. Oliver hadn't asked Kat to marry him yet but they knew he'd ask when he thought the time was right. Tommy rolled his eyes. "Jason just asked me that question two hours ago over the phone. Seems since he and Kim are happy and their son and daughter are happy, I should be married too."

Kira laughed. "Fine, Dr. O. We won't mention it if you don't want us to." She leaned back. "Just wish you could be as happy as us."

X Ocean Bluff X

Lily and Casey walked hand in hand down the halls of their old Pai Zhuq Academy. They hadn't been married long, only a few months but they already had a family.

"Are you sure this was the right thing to do, Case?" Lily asked. She didn't want to question her best friend and love of her life but she wanted to make sure he believed in what they were doing. What they were going to do.

"Yes, I am. Jon and Luke need this chance. We can't hold them back forever. You know Jon has the Spirit of the Panther. Well, the panther is pushing him. And Luke has the spirit of the Tiger, like me. The tiger won't let him rest. We knew, Lil, when we adopted them two months ago, that this time would come. They're twelve. They're ready."

Lily looked at him. "But are we ready? To give them up to the Pai Zhuq masters to maybe never see them again or at least not for a long time?"

Casey laughed. "Lily, we're the Masters we're turning them over to. We'll see them every day."

"But not like now. Not when Jon wants French toast and Luke wants Cheerios. Not like this. Casey, what if we're doing something wrong?"

"We just have to believe that we're doing the right thing, Lily and everything will work out. Now Dom is supposed to be bringing them to the chamber any minute. I have to get ready." Casey lengthened his stride and Lily was forced to do the same to keep up.

X The Lair X

The two combatants sprang apart. They were breathing slightly heavily but not too much. The man breathed easier than the woman, but that was to be expected. They knew what would be expected of them in the coming hours and they knew that it wouldn't be easy. But they would do what they had to do to preserve the timeline, all of them.

The leader approached her. "You're sure that this is what we have to do?" he asked. He wasn't doubting, just asking. She'd brought him back just for this and he knew it. He'd do whatever she told him to do and he'd see what happened to those who meddled with time.

"Your operators are standing by?" she asked, calmly, quietly. This was her role, to play the one at ease. A role that came easily to her.

He inclined his head slightly. "They are. Each has been briefed. They know what to do. Some of them, though, milady, some of them show signs of weakness. I am not sure they will do what they have to, not when it counts."

She stared into his dark eyes. "They had better. Or the future will end here."

Author's Note: What'd you think? Please read and review and let me know. Not sure where this is going but a plot bunny hopped into my head and I decided to follow the trail. This is where it led me. Major stuff happening in the next chapter. Get ready and hold on!