Gaby, Gunn, Kane, Klezmi, and Silva are mine.
Rated PG-13 : sexuality; harsh language, strong violence.
The last chapter! Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who read and everyone who reviewed, especially those who have given me so much encouragement by reviewing frequently. Special thanks again to Jenny and Cecelia, who beta read and gave valuable feedback despite not being Power Rangers fans, and to Rach, whose TF stories have been an inspiration.
The trilogy is over. I enjoyed writing it immensely and hope at least some of you liked reading it. There's more stories in my little TF world, look for me to start posting again soon.
"Jen..." Wes blinked up at her. She was sitting up in the bed, elbows on her knees, staring at the window, just starting to lighten with dawn.
"I woke you up again. Sorry."
"Another dream?"
"No. Just can't sleep."
"What's wrong?"
Her face turned toward him sharply. "You know what's wrong."
He sighed and sat up, a hand squeezing her shoulder. "Yeah, I know. I guess I didn't sleep so well either."
"This could be the last night we spend together."
"They won't want to leave so soon, will they?"
"After we talk to Captain Logan, there's really no reason to stay. Klezmi is dead; Silva, Conwing, and Steelix are in custody. No loose ends." She rested her chin on her knees. "Except me."
"What do you mean?"
"Wes -- I'm dead, in this reality. I don't belong there anymore. I don't want to go back."
"Then -- stay here."
"I can't." Her breath caught, her voice breaking. Wes realized she was crying. "I don't belong in either world -- I don't want to leave, but staying here would endanger the timestream -- I don't want to lose you again."
He wrapped an arm around her. "It'll be all right. Everything's going to be all right."
"How can it be all right, when I have to leave?"
"Maybe we could run away."
Abruptly she laughed. "Run away. Where?"
"I don't know. Anywhere you want."
"Europe? Paris maybe? Or Rome?"
"Sure."
"We can live in a chateau, out in the countryside."
"And just grow grapes or something. Not have to worry about anything."
"Just be a simple, boring couple."
"And we'll have about six kids…"
"Six!" She laughed. "You can have them if you want. But leave me out of it."
"I was planning on you being involved…"
She lay back down, taking him with her. "It's a nice dream. But it's only a dream."
"Jen, I don't want to lose you, either."
"I know." Her voice was calm again, and gentle. "We'll always be together. Even if we have to be apart."
He looked down into her face, barely visible in the early light. "I love you."
"And I love you."
He kissed her, feeling her respond with passion. He held her, stroking her face and hair, breathing the scent of her skin, feeling her arms tighten around him, memorizing each part of her body with his hands, knowing it might be the last time they made love.
Two hours later, Wes wandered out to the garden behind his house. He saw his father, sitting at his accustomed outdoor breakfast spot, at the table on the lawn, reading the paper. He smiled at the familiar sight, so ordinary and so welcome.
As he walked closer, Collins looked up and smiled. "Wes! Good morning!"
"Morning, Dad. How are you feeling?"
"Good. It's great to be home."
"Great to have you home." Wes sat down.
"Thanks, son. Where's Jen?"
"Taking a shower. She said she'd meet me in the garden later."
"I see. I'm glad we have the chance to talk a little." Collins paused to look around. "I need to get in to Bio-Lab, see what Conwing did to my company. But I came out here to relax for a while first."
"I don't think he did anything much. Mostly he wanted us to take that merger with Geneco."
"Did he try to persuade you to do it?"
"Yeah." Wes frowned. "He kept offering to take over. Take the load off me, he said."
"And... did you do it?"
"No." Wes leaned forward, his face serious. "I thought a lot about what you said, just before... it happened. I realized I want to take over Bio-Lab someday. And I'm willing to do the work. I asked Eric to help me out, and I looked into Geneco. Even before we found out the truth about them, I had decided to oppose the merger."
Collins looked at him. "Are you sure, Wes? Is that what you want to do with your life?"
"I'm sure. I care about Bio-Lab. I want to be an important part of it."
Collins smiled, pride in his face. "That means a lot to me, Wes. It really does."
"And Dad, I think Eric should be a big part of management someday, too. He deserves it as much as I do. Maybe more. I think we should share control, when the time comes."
"I've thought of that myself, but I wasn't sure how you'd feel about it. We can work out a partnership, if that's what you want."
"Sounds good." Wes smiled again. "We all have to grow up sometime. I guess it's happened to me."
"I'm glad to hear it. But... you don't have to grow up all at once. I certainly hope to be running the company for a long time."
"I hope so too."
Collins looked past him. Wes turned to see Jen, Alex, Lucas, Katie, and Trip coming toward them. Both men stood to greet them.
"Wes," Alex said. "It's all set. We're having a meeting with Captain Logan in two hours."
"Don't worry, Wes, Jen," Trip said, smiling. "It'll be all right. Trust me."
Wes reached to take her hand. "Whatever happens -- we'll face it together."
"Yes," she answered with a slightly shaky smile. "Together."
"Gaby. It's such a silly name."
"Silly!"
"Yeah. Sounds like you talk too much." Eric propped himself on one elbow in the bed, looking down at Gaby's face on the pillow.
"You seemed to like it okay last night."
"Well, that was last night."
"And things are different now?" She smiled up at him.
"Sure." He lifted a hand to trace the line of her jaw with his thumb. "Gabriella's too long. Maybe I should call you Ella."
"God, no."
"Brie?" His hand glided over her arm.
"Makes me sound like cheese."
"Gab? Gee? Hey-you?"
She laughed. "Now you're being silly. Besides -- at least my name's unusual. Eric's such an ordinary name." She trailed light fingers over his chest.
"Oh yeah? Don't insult my name. I'll get mad."
"And what are you going to do about it?"
He grinned and moved closer, leaning over her. "You're about to find out."
Her eyes widened in mock fear as his face came closer -- their lips only inches apart -- his hand was slipping under the sheets to find naked flesh, and she was sliding an arm around his neck, when Eric softly murmured, "Shit!" as the sound of his cell phone ringing came from the living room. He sat up. "Damn. Excellent timing, as usual." Swinging his feet to the floor, he headed into the other room to answer the call.
"Hello."
"Eric. Good morning."
"Yeah, morning, Wes. What is it?" He sat on the sofa.
"We're having a meeting with Time Force Command, by communicator, at ten o'clock. Can you make it?"
"If they want me there, sure."
"They want you. It'll be in my office at Bio-Lab."
"I'll be there. How's Jen doing?"
"She's okay, I guess."
"Yeah, I understand." He looked up to see Gaby come into the room, dressed only in an oversized tee-shirt. She smiled and came over to sit next to him. He grabbed at her, provoking a giggling protest.
"Was that..."
"Never mind, Wes."
"But that sounded just like…"
"I said never mind."
"Hope I didn't interrupt anything."
"Nothing I can't get back to. As soon as you get off the phone."
"I'm gone. Say hi for me."
"See ya." He hung up.
"Don't tell me. You have to go," Gaby said.
"Well, yeah." He smiled and reached for her again. "But only to Bio-Lab. And not right away..."
Wes stood next to his desk, watching them. Trip was setting up their communicator on his desk, Lucas and Katie offering advice and help. Jen and Alex were sitting silently. Wes looked at her, noting her pallor and the tense lines of her body.
Only one person was missing. He opened the door of his office and started to step out. It wasn't like Eric to be late. Looking for him would be a good excuse to take a break from the anxious atmosphere inside.
He stopped abruptly, just outside the door. Eric was there, with Gaby, leaning with his back against the wall, her leaning against him, his arms loosely around her waist, smiling at each other. They both turned and straightened at the sound of Wes's step.
"Morning," he greeted them. Eric nodded.
"Hi, Wes," Gaby said.
"Hi, Gaby. Eric, we're just about ready."
"Be right with you." He turned to Gaby and said, "See you tonight."
"Bye, Wes." With a smile and a nod she turned and walked away. Eric paused to watch her for a moment before joining Wes.
"Well. You look... relaxed," Wes murmured with a grin as Eric came through the door.
"Wiseass." Eric gave him a very unconvincing frown in return.
They sat and watched while Trip finished. Jen sat next to Wes, her hand in his. He could feel her nervousness. His own tension was knotting his stomach. Eric sat with them, the other Rangers nearby. Trip made the last adjustments on the communicator, a device looking something like a half-melted picture frame with antennae.
"That thing can talk to the future?" Eric asked.
"Yes," Trip answered him. "It's a chrono-communicator. Sends image and sound through a sub-space timehole."
"Who are we going to talk to?"
Jen spoke up this time. "Captain Logan. Our commanding officer. He'll give us our orders."
"Jen," Lucas said softly. "Whatever happens, we're with you."
"Thanks."
"Okay, we're getting through," Trip said, moving back with the others as an image formed. The familiar face of Captain Logan looked out at them. He smiled.
"Hello, Rangers. Good morning." His eyes moved. "Jen! It's good to see you again. I didn't quite believe it when they told me you were alive in the past."
"Nice to see you, too, sir."
He looked at Eric next. "Eric Myers. It's a pleasure to meet you at last. Sorry it's not in person."
"Uh… glad to meet you, too."
"Well. I suppose we'd better get down to business. Alex, Lucas, Katie, Trip, you'll be returning to our time today. Sorry, but there's already been too much disruption of the past. We want to minimize contact."
"I understand, sir," Alex said.
"What about me?" Jen asked.
Logan looked back at her. "Ordinarily, you'd be brought back to our time, to take up your life again. But there's a problem. And this will be a shock." He paused as Jen's hand tightened in Wes's.
"Jen -- to tell the truth, I don't quite know how to explain this. As you know, you died in our reality. You're from an alternate timeline, but Alex tells me you have almost complete memories of the original. Our scientists are still trying to find out exactly what happened, but it appears that when 'our' Jen died, you and she merged. You belong to both realities, and neither.
"All of you went through a non-standard timehole during your last mission, to prevent Eric's death. We think that may have somehow changed the way reality shifts affect you. And now, it's had another, completely unexpected result.
"According to our records -- our research -- during the last realignment of the timestream, you somehow became incorporated into the past. You've become a part of the time you're in now. We find evidence of your life there in our historical records."
Jen tensed, her hand closing hard on Wes's. He turned to stare at her, not quite believing what he had heard, not sure he had understood it correctly.
Logan went on. "Perhaps it's because of your unique condition of being between two timelines, because you don't really belong in our reality... Maybe another side effect of the non-standard time jump. Or possibly because you've been involved in so many crucial alterations of history in that time… Anyway, I'm sorry to tell you this, but you can't come home. You'll have to stay there, in 2003."
"Jen…" Wes whispered. She turned to look at him, her eyes filling with tears.
"We'll continue to research it," Logan was saying. "Maybe eventually we'll find a way…"
"Don't bother," Jen said softly. "I think I'll do just fine here." She leaned toward Wes, hugging him tightly. He felt her laugh shakily as he squeezed the breath out of her. When he let go, she turned to Alex. "You knew about this?"
"I knew the general situation. Nothing was final at that point, so we were under strict instructions not to say anything."
She looked around at all of them, her smile fading. "I'm going to miss all of you. You've been great teammates, and great friends."
"We'll miss you too, Jen," Lucas said. "Take care of yourself."
Trip was smiling. "I think the timestream is rewarding you for making things right again, and that's why you can stay here. I know you'll be happy."
Katie had tears in her eyes. "It won't be the same without you, but I'm glad for you."
Jen faced Alex again. "Alex… you're so special to me…"
"I know. I love you too, Jen, and I'll miss you. I'm just glad to know you're alive here, and happy."
Wes turned to Eric. "I guess we have a new partner. Hope you don't mind."
"Sure looks like it." He smiled. "I'm happy for both of you, too. I guess you were right, that you and Jen were meant to be together."
"I guess so." Wes grinned. "Things seem to be working out for you too."
"Yeah. Well -- don't talk about it in front of everyone." But Eric looked pleased, if a little embarrassed.
Logan cleared his throat loudly. They all looked back at the screen to see him smiling. "I'm glad to see you're not upset. Kind of expected it, actually."
Jen smiled at him. "Thank you, sir. For everything."
"Thank you, for your excellent service as a Time Force officer. And it may not be over yet." He smiled warmly, including Wes, Eric, and Jen in his glance. "Be sure to hold on to those morphers, all three of you. I can't tell you your futures, but -- you never know when you'll need them again."