Title: The Shadows of New York

Title: The Shadows of New York

Chapter: (4) The Mind of Alex

Summary: After Jen returns from the year 2001 to the year 3000, she and Alex have broken up because of the fact that Jen's still in love with Wes. However, what happens when Alex snaps and decides it's either 'his way, or the highway'?

Parings:Alex/Jen, Wes/Jen, Eric/Taylor

Timeline: Continues a few months after 'Reinforcements from the Future'

Disclaimer:None of it is mine, so don't bother trying to sue a kid who's already heavily in debt with her siblings AND trying to pay for college tuition fees.

Note: Ranger information was gathered from Writer's Guide to the PR Universe, Power Ranger Central, and Wikipedia

Author's Note: This chapter basically sums up what led to Alex turning bad. It's a lot of information and random dialouge, and I apologize if it's dull, but it'll help explain a lot several chapters down the line. Also, a lot of the dialogue between Alex and Jen were just improvised, they weren't directly quoted from the show. And at last... I'm sorry for taking so long to update. One thing's for sure though: I'm back.

ioioioioioioioi

"Hungry, cadets?" he asked with a smirk.

"You won't get away with this," a voice groaned out weakly.

Alex laughed lightly.

"You don't get it. I already have."

Leaning forward and removing another piece of duct tape, he grabbed the two bags of McDonalds and poured its contents onto the table. Fries spilled across the surface, and there were even a few wrapped burgers.

"Enjoy eating without your hands, cadets. Remember to conserve your food. I'll see you tomorrow evening. Have a good meal, Trip; Katie."

ioioioioioioioi

New York City, America; present time

He closed the door behind him and punched the pin into the security key pad. After making sure the door was securely locked and no sound could escape through the soundproof wall, he then opened another door. The door was a tiny closet full of jackets and suits. He entered the closet and pulled out a key that hung on a necklace around his neck; he locked the door behind him.

Now standing in the dark, he moved the clothes that hung in the closet to the left and felt around for another doorknob. When he found it he unlocked the door again and stepped through into his own bedroom. He shut the closet door and locked it again.

The way he was acting was suspicious, and if Jen had stumbled across his secret hideaway the first thing she'd do is ask why he never told her they had a basement.

It was because of this that Alex wished he still lived in the year 3001. Things were so simple back then. Or should he say, in the future. There had never been a need to feed prisoners; criminals were always sentenced to cryogenic containment. But then again, Trip and Katie were both far from criminals.

The two Time Force rangers had followed him from the year 3001, and for the last four weeks Alex had been moving around America with Jen trying to avoid collision with them. His excuse was that the man they were following was on the move.

Divinder

He was the criminal that they had been sent to capture. He was the 'case' that had been handed to them. The story was that a man named Divinder had broke into the Time Force headquarters and traveled to the past to change the future. As a team, Alex and Jen had gone up against him, and according to Alex, Divinder had managed to take Jen down before making his way to the time machines. Alex, unable to simply leave Jen there, injured, but also unable to just let Divinder leave, made the decision to chase after the criminal into the past, bringing the unconscious Lieutenant with him.

Of course, that was just the story Alex fed Jen when she finally woke up. The 'blow to the head' that Divinder had given her had resulted in her memory loss of the battle, and she couldn't remember a single thing about a criminal breaking into headquarters at all. Then again, that was exactly how Alex wanted things to occur.

It was the perfect explanation too, but then Time Force stepped in and ruined things.

The whole thing was a rough situation, especially for Alex, as he was thinking overdrive trying to plot out the next steps of the plan. He knew that Time Force would be sending more cadets after them, and his guess what that Lucas would be next. Of course, the racer wouldn't try to apprehend Alex and save Jen on his own – he'd contact Wesley Collins and Eric Myers first.

Collins. The mere thought of the name brought forth anger to Alex. He was the reason why Jen had changed. He was the reason why the future was suddenly so different. Alex had checked the history logs: every time Wesley Collins had done something, a rift occurred and the future would change, ever so slightly.

At first, nobody really noticed... which was weird, because usually when great changes occurred in the past, those working on the higher levels of Time Force would notice immediately. For some reason though, they hadn't noticed the memory over lapse.

The commander didn't know what it was like for the others, but it had started small for him, as a dream – a dream where he had grown up differently in the past. By the time Alex woke, the dream had already attached itself to him, replacing the original memory in his mind, and leaving behind a fuzzy deja vu feeling.

Alex sat down on his bed and leaned forward, covering his face with his hands and sighing. Whatever it was that Wesley had done, it had somehow messed with him. For some reason, his childhood, his past, and even the historical ancestry behind the Collins family name had all changed in the last few months.

Before, the Collins were known to their friends as caring parents to their children... however, in Alex's brand new memories, they were strict and almost cold. Shutting his eyes, he could hear the conversations returning again.

'We are who we are today because of Time Force. The rangers traveled to the past to save the future. It is our duty to follow through with what we're destined to do, son, and our duty is to help lead Time Force, that was established nearly a millennium ago.'

His father, teaching him the ways of the family...

'Mom, why is dad never home?'

'He's at work, honey. He's trying to make the future a better place for you.'

'The future?'

'Oh sweetie, you'll understand one day.'

His mother, trying her hardest to take care of him on her own...

'You're not trying hard enough Alex! You and I both know you can be the Red Ranger! You're destined to be the Red Ranger! It's in your blood! Come on! Get up! Don't just lie there!'

'Dad, I can't - '

'It's Commander, cadet. You and I both know I shouldn't need to train you.'

'Sir...'

'Get up and finish what you started!'

Failure, teaching him to try harder in order to reach success.

'You're Alex, right? The new Captain?'

'You are?'

'Jennifer Scotts. I just recently joined.'

The first time he had met Jen; that memory had barely changed...

'For the next six months I will be training you. You can refer to me as Captain, or sir. First things first, all of you need to know that here at Time Force, we do things by the book! If any of you cross even a toe out of line, you'll be out of here... yes, Cadet...'

'Scotts, Jennifer Scotts. We met earlier.'

'Do you have a question?'

'No Captain, I just wanted to introduce myself. I noticed attendance hadn't been taken.'

'Indeed, I wasn't planning on taking it until after the laps had been done.'

'If you don't mind me asking sir, what... laps?'

'The twenty laps around the field that you have just earned you and your team. Thirty for you.'

'What?!'

'Not enough? Speaking out of order, perhaps a discussion about the standards is needed after the session? And what are all of you still waiting for? Get out there!'

The first training session they had together. He had never been this harsh the first time around.

'Finished, I see.'

'Not sir, not yet... one more to go...'

'You can stop now, Scotts.'

'It's Jen, actually.'

'Excuse me?'

'My name's Jen. You just told me to stop, meaning training session is over, right? No more formalities?'

It was her boldness that first caught his attention. It was what caused him to fall for her.

'Cadet.'

'Yes, sir?'

'What are you doing tomorrow evening?'

'Nothing as of yet sir, why do you ask?'

'There's a new screening of the Zords, I was uh, wondering if you'd like to accompany me.'

'Are you asking me out on a date?'

'Yes. No. I mean... you're doing... poorly in the class. You could use the visit as a learning experience.'

'Evaluations were last week. I scored highest out of the class.'

'Learning experience, Scotts. Do you want to go, or not?'

'What time are you picking me up?'

They used the excuse of work when they were seen together to lessen the suspicion...

'You do realize I could lose my job over this.'

'If I recalled Alex, you were the one who asked me out.'

Yet in the end, work also kept them apart

'Hey, I just heard about the promotion. Congrats, Major!'

'Thanks. I booked us a reservation at The Ritz for tonight, pick you up at seven?'

'Ritz? Isn't there usually a three month waiting list? Pretty confident that you'd get the promotion, huh?'

Overall, he still cared more about her than the job though. Just like he had originally.

'Alex, what is this?'

'Happy Anniversary.'

He even remembered their anniversary; they had even celebrated in public.

'You know how it is Jen. Not until Ransik is caught. I can't put you at risk like that.'

'Alex, it's been three years!'

'Trust me, please. You know how it is, how it'll be: you and me...'

'Forever.'

He worried for her, always. Worried that he would lose her, that someone would find out. That was part of the reason why he tried so hard to put Ransik away.

'You know, now that Ransik and his gang of mutants are finally going to be put away, I think we're going to have a little more time to spend together.'

'Hm, it would be nice to spend some time with my boyfriend...'

'I was thinking of something... a little more permanent... Jennifer, will you marry me?'

'Yes!'

When the time finally came, he knew it was meant to be. That's how it was to work out – destiny. However, fate had other ideas.

'What? Where... where am I?'

'Major Collins, please, don't move. You just barely survived an attack with Ransik. You have to rest.'

'Where's Jen? She was there... where is she? Where is she, doctor?'

'She's in the past, Alex.'

'Logan?'

'The tales were true, four Time Force rangers have traveled to the past. Ransik managed to get aboard one of the time ships.'

He was overwhelmed. He never expected to be apart of the generation that changed history on such a grand scale.

'Dad, you were right. The time finally came.'

'What time? What are you doing here? Why aren't you at Headquarters? Working?'

'Time Force traveling to the past, dad. It's finally happened.'

'Time Force's traveled to the past? What... what are you still doing here for? Why didn't you go with them?'

'Dad, I don't think I was apart of the plan...'

'No! It's not like that. You're supposed to go back as well! You have to!'

'Dad, don't get up! You're sick!'

'Don't touch me! You're a disgrace! I can't believe you're still standing here doing nothing! You should be helping the rangers! Our ancestors dedicated their lives to making the future a better place, and you're just standing there letting it fall apart! Why are you still here?'

The voices got louder, and Alex grabbed his head in pain. He couldn't get them to leave! Echoing, and echoing, the ache grew with each passing second. At last, he could take it no longer; his conscious mind shut off, and his subconscious took over.

Memories continued to replace one another.

Please review; my writing style has changed in the last year so I'd like to know what you, as the reader, thinks of it. Thanks