Chapter 9 – Can You Believe What You Feel?

August 19 2001 – The Clock Tower

For the first time in months Katie was wearing her Time Force uniform but it no longer gave her the same sense of pride that it used to. She was the oldest of Jen's group of cadets, in fact she was two years older than the squad leader herself. In many ways Katie had been bred for a position in Time Force. Both of her parents worked in law enforcement and they had planned for their children to follow the same career. By the year 3000 the population of Earth was so high that governments had instigated a one child policy. The only exceptions to that were if your children were going to serve in law enforcement or the military.

Katie was the youngest of four children and all of them had been engineered with different genetic gifts. As soon as she was twelve, the yellow ranger was enrolled at the Time Force academy. Her enhanced strength made her a natural at close combat, however, she wanted to bring more to a team then power so she had taken three years out to study law. All of that though appeared to have been a waste of time now that she was stuck in 2001.

"Sorry I'll never get to say goodbye", Katie said to herself as she stroked a worn out photograph of her family.

"Hey Katie", she heard Trip call out from behind her. Both he and Lucas were dressed in their uniforms, "feeling any better?"

"Not really, I thought a bender might help but twenty first century alcohol just reminded me that we're stuck here", Katie replied.

"This isn't healthy for you Katie", Lucas sighed, "you're not the only one who's left family behind in the thirty century". The other's looked towards the blue ranger, they thought that Lucas was an only child that didn't have a great relationship with his family. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a photograph of a girl no older than ten, "That's my baby sister Amy".

Trip looked at the picture, the girl did look like a younger Lucas, "Then that means your family violated the single child rule".

Lucas nodded, "To stop the authorities from taking her away, they sent me to the academy, claimed they had planned to all along. For a while I was pissed off with them for showing favouritism towards Amy but I eventually came to understand why they did it".

"I didn't know", Katie stated.

"No one did", Lucas took the photo back from Trip, "apart from Captain Logan. I was told only to share this with the people I trusted the most".

"Aww Lucas, you do care", the yellow ranger grasped his hand.

"Yeah but don't go sharing that around", Lucas smirked, "what about you Trip, are you going to miss the future?"

"I suppose", Trip shrugged, "it wouldn't be the first time that I've had to start again". He rung his hands together, "When I was five there was a war on my home planet. My family sent me to Earth and promised that they wouldn't be too far behind", he paused for a moment, "that was thirteen years ago".

"Oh Trip", Katie sighed.

Trip took a few moments to compose himself, "It was hard, everyone was pleasant enough but I was still an alien on a strange planet. Almost as soon as I was able to, I enrolled in Time Force but it never really felt like home. Maybe I'll finally have a chance to make this my permanent home", he added.

"Oh you two", Katie wrapped her arms around Lucas and Trip, "I was so focused on my problems that I forgot about everyone else".

The yellow ranger was so focused on her hug that she didn't notice that the two men were turning blue, "Katie, can't breathe", Lucas gasped and he frantically tapped her on the arm. She looked at the pair apologetically and released her grasp, "Maybe you've got a career as an athlete ahead of you", he was able to splutter.

"Lucas raises a good point", Trip rubbed his neck to try and get some feeling back, "once we've captured Ransik, what are we going to do?"

"Maybe Alex will have a plan when he arrives later", Katie shrugged.

Looking down at his watch, Trip gasped, "We'd better get moving, I'll go get Wes and Jen".

Almost immediately Katie grabbed the back of the green ranger's uniform and pulled him back, "Not so fast, they're out on the balcony together".

The blue and green rangers looked at each other, "So?" they both said.

"Men have no sense of romance", Katie shook their head.

"Wait a sec you think they finally confessed to each other?" Katie nodded, "Hang on didn't you have August in our sweepstake", Lucas added.

The yellow ranger turned and began to walk down the stairs, "I accept cash only gentlemen", she laughed.

Out on the balcony, Jen looked over the city and fiddled nervously with the engagement ring Alex gave her. Any fiancée should've been overjoyed to find out their partner was still alive but the only emotion she felt was betrayal. Alex had been secretly running their operations for months without even letting them know he was alright. Clearly he thought more about his duty to Time Force then his love for her. Jen always knew that Alex was fully committed to Time Force but this was taking it one step too far.

Then there was Wes and her growing attraction towards the red ranger. At first Jen thought that she was projecting her feelings towards Alex onto Wes, the two of them did look almost identical after all. But as time passed she realised that the red ranger was everything that Alex wasn't. He had a great sense of humour and wasn't afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve. Despite his rocky start, Wes had even developed a strong sense of duty but he still put his friends and family first. That was the crucial difference between the pair and that made her next action a lot easier.

She looked down at the ring and furiously tore it off her finger. She gripped her hand tightly around the ring and was about to throw it off the Clock Tower when a voice stopped her, "I wouldn't do that". She turned around and saw Wes dressed in his new uniform, "If you're determined to get rid of it then at least pawn it, might be worth a few dollars". Wes continued to talk but Jen's attention kept wavering. He was tugging nervously at his uniform before waiving a hand in front of her face, "Earth to Jen, anyone home".

"Sorry Wes", she shook her head, "I was miles away".

"So I see", Wes frowned, "anything you want to share?"

Jen thought about a response for a few moments, "The future, ironically", internally she winced, it wasn't the best answer but it summed up her emotions perfectly.

"Your personal future or the future future", Wes asked.

"Bit of both", Jen smiled, somehow Wes was tuned perfectly to her thoughts, "just thinking about what to do after we capture Ransik".

Wes shrugged, "A few celebratory drinks", the pink ranger chuckled briefly before fixing him with her serious expression, "I dunno Jen I'm not thinking that far ahead yet", he added. "How does this sound, let's beat Ransik first and worry about what to after that. Worst comes to worst I'm sure my Dad would give you all some kind of role in his company".

"Still so relaxed about life aren't you rich boy", she replied. Wes laughed at the nickname, once upon a time Jen had used that term in a derogatory manner but this time it was said with affection.

"It's one of the reasons why you love me", Wes immediately stopped, he had used the 'L' word again.

"No keep going", Jen pleaded.

Wes took a deep breath, this was the moment he had been waiting for, "I don't think it's a secret Jen but I'm crazy about you", he paused for a moment, "no that's not completely true because I love you Jennifer Scotts".

There was a moment of silence as Jen didn't move a muscle. Wes was beginning to wonder if he had done the right thing but Jen soon pushed that thought out of his head by quickly closing the gap between them and placed her hands on his cheeks. She gentle pulled him down toward her and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

The pair were locked together for a few moments until Jen pulled away slightly and pressed her forehead against Wes's, "I love you too Wes", she whispered, "but there's just one thing you've got to promise me".

"Anything", Wes gasped.

"Don't call me Jennifer again", she smiled, "that's what Alex called me".

"You're wish is my command", Wes laughed and placed his hands into Jen's. "You're probably not going to want to hear this but we probably should get going, don't want to keep his mightiness waiting".

"Are you talking about Alex or Eric", Jen laughed.

"I forgot about Eric", Wes shrugged, "I don't think that either of them could ruin my good mood today".

The couple intertwined their fingers, stepped off the balcony and back into the living area. The room was empty so they assumed that the others had already gone downstairs. No one was in the store front either so they stepped outside into the street. Almost immediately they were confronted with an excited looking Lucas, Katie and Trip. "Does this mean what I think it means", Katie asked and pointed at their hands.

Wes and Jen looked at each other and smiled, "Yeah I guess it does", Wes answered. There was a chorus of "finally" and words to similar effect from the trio before Katie wrapped them up with one of her bone crushing hugs.

"I am so pleased for you", she stated and released the hug. She turned around to face the blue and green rangers and held out her hands, "Pay up you two". The pair grumbled and they both reluctantly pressed a ten dollar bill into her hands.

"You were betting on us?" Jen asked in shock.

"It kept us entertained for months", Lucas shrugged, "shame I lost though".

The couple were momentarily stunned into silence but any further conversation was interrupted by a buzz from their communicators, "Probably Eric, the impatient ass", Wes grumbled.

"I've got it", Trip said and answered the call.

"Where the hell are you?" Eric's voice boomed from their communicators, "I've been standing on this beach for fifteen minutes".

"Sorry Eric", Trip apologised, "but we've been waiting on Wes and Jen".

"Are those two finally together? If they are then you and blue boy owe me ten bucks each", Eric asked.

"Not you as well Eric", Wes rolled his eyes, "did everyone have a bet on us".

Eric snorted, "Easiest twenty bucks I've made this year, now get your butts here. I'm not dressed like John Travolta for nothing", he didn't say another word and shut down the channel.

"Well I guess that means he's wearing the uniform so we'd better not keep him waiting". She began to walk away before turning around, "After this meeting we're going to have a serious discussion about the rules on gambling when you're on the job".

Katie, Lucas and Trip groaned, "Have fun guys", Wes laughed and ran to catch up with Jen. He placed his arm around her shoulder and gave the pink ranger a warm smile. No matter what came out of their meeting with Alex, at least there was something positive to take out of today.