It was the first time since he'd accepted his new assignment that he'd been given some time off. For the last several days, he'd traveled to different dimensions, different time periods, different planes of existence, but he hadn't gotten a chance to explore the new world he was in.

His job was making it difficult to adjust to being 1000 years away from what he use to consider home, but he was making the best of it. There was still so much he didn't know about his new environment, and he was willing to experience all of it.

Anything to stop him from thinking about…..

….. her!

From the moment he met her, his feelings were conflicted. On one hand, in his heart, he felt as though he was still happily married to his wife, a warm and dedicated father who just wanted to get back to his family. On the other hand, he knew that his wife had been gone for quite a while, and that there was no going back. It hit him had after going to the cemetery; seeing her tombstone confirmed what he already knew: the life he left behind was gone. It was time for him to start a new life – in the future. He couldn't help but he attracted to Jen; there were certain qualities about her that reminded him of his wife. For a while, he considered pursuing something with Jen, but after their last mission, he realized just how against Jen was to being involved with someone she worked with.

He understood it too; he remembered how difficult it was to be a ranger, losing his concentration every time Kim called his name. He didn't want to be a distraction for Jen, but his feelings for her were a distraction to him.

"Well, here we are," Camille said, breaking his train of thought.

He glanced up, getting a good look at the building they were standing in front of. "What is this place?" he asked her.

"Just come on, you'll love it," she insisted, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him inside.

They walked down a narrow hallway, then went through a doorway at the end of the wall. As soon as they stepped through the door, Tommy noticed ranger uniforms on display from almost every generation. He recognized the Mighty Morphin' uniforms, the Zeo, Turbo, Space, Lost Galaxy, Lightspeed Rescue, Time Force, Wild Force and Ninja Storm uniforms, but there were dozens of other's that were completely unfamiliar to him.

"It's like a shrine to the Power Rangers," he sighed, getting a good look around.

"It's an exact replica of the Temple of Light on Eltar. Very few humans have visited the Temple, so Time Force thought it was a good idea to have our own temple of sorts here," she said.

"Who are these others rangers?" he asked, gesturing to the uniforms he didn't recognize.

"There are new rangers chosen every generation, new powers are given each time. There are rangers dating back at least 10,000 years before Zordon even traveled to Earth, and long after Time Force is gone, they'll be another group of rangers ready to take our places," she explained.

"Amazing," he sighed.

"I thought you would enjoy seeing the evolution of the Power Rangers, considering you were there in the beginning as one of the first planetary rangers in 1992," she said.

"Thanks Camille, this was nice,"

"Besides, I know you wanted to get out the office for a while. It's been a stressful couple of days," she mentioned.

"Yeah, it has,"

'Tommy, Camille. This is Captain Logan, respond,' a voice said.

With a frustrated sigh, Camille reached for her morpher. "We're here captain, what is it?" she asked.

'I need the two of you to report to the science lab ASAP. Trip detected something, and we may need you to check it out,'  he said.

"On the way Captain," she sighed.

"So much for a day off," Tommy groaned.

(*)

Back in the science lab, Trip and Katie were examining a probe as Jen walked into the room, zipping up her uniform.

"What is it guys?" she asked.

"It's a probe," Trip said.

"So whats the big deal about that?"

"It's the same type probe that I sent out a few days ago as part of a test with the Slipstream Dimensional Portal," he said.

"Again, whats the big deal about that? You sent out a probe, it came back," she mentioned.

"This isn't our probe," Katie said.

"What do you mean?"

"In essence, it's ours, but the configuration is different, like its been modified. If I had to make a guess, this is a probe that came from an alternate reality," he said.

"Why would someone send a probe here?"

"The same reason Trip sent probes out a few days ago, they're trying to determine if it's safe to travel through themselves. That means that out there – someone – Time Force has perfected the Slipstream Portal and they're preparing for their first mission," Captain Logan said as he walked in the room.

"When did it get here?"

"About ten minutes ago. Trip was going over some readings when a vortex opened and this came out," Katie said.

"I don't see in the harm it in, let it run it's course. We did the same thing before we started traveling through the portal, so we should……." Jen was interrupted as another vortex began to open.

Katie, Jen and Trip stood ready as five figures stepped through the portal.

"Whoa, what a rush," one of them said.

Trip got a good look at them, only to discover that it was them, with the exception of Tommy. They were identical in every way; the only major differences were that their Time Force uniforms were predominately black with silver and white lining. Each of them wore a pair of sunglasses, but they were each different colors.

It was the other Jen who removed her pink tinted glasses, walking over to Jen. "Who are you and what the hell is going on?" she asked.

"Welcome to Time Force headquarters, kinda," she sighed.

"This can't be right, what the hell is happening here?" the other Trip asked, getting a look at his surroundings. "It looks like Time Force,"

"But it's different, everything is so…. Bright," the other Camille said.

"I think we can explain," Katie said.

The other Katie walked over to her, staring her up and down. "Oh my God, I look ridiculous with curly hair," she said.

"Hey, I like my hair,"

Just then, Camille and Tommy walked in the room, where they got their first look at the other rangers. Tommy took a step closer, completely in shock at what he saw.

"Jase?" he inquired.

The man in the red tinted glasses removed them, getting a good look at Tommy. "Tommy?" he replied, soundly equally amazed.

The two of them walked over to each other, wrapping their arms around each other. "Its good to see you man,"

"Same here bro."

"Come on Jason, that can't be the real Tommy Oliver. If it were, he would have been dead hundreds of years ago," the other Jen mentioned.

Jason cautiously backed away. "What's going on?" he asked.

'I believe I can answer that question,' they heard a voice say.

All of them recognized the voice as Captain Logan, even Captain Logan as he watched on in disbelief. The other Katie reached for her morpher. "What do you have for us cap?" she asked.

'I ran a spectrographic analysis on the vortex the five of you went through. As it turns out, you're in New Silver Hills and the year is still 3000 AD,' he said.

"But how is that possible?"

'The portal is a gateway is not to another time, but to another reality. I've scanned their world and reviewed some the history, it is indeed Time Force,' he told them.

"But if that's true, how is Tommy here?" Jason asked.

'In this time line, it was Tommy who became the white ranger, later switching to the Zeo powers, then the Turbo powers. The multiple energy sources wreaked havoc on his nervous system, and during that incident with the Machine Empire in 2002, his molecules began to break down. He was put in suspended animation until a cure could be found,'  he said.

"I find it hard to believe that Tommy was ever the White Ranger," Jason said.

Tommy took a step forward. "Are you saying on your world, you were the white ranger?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Sorry Jase, no offense, but I can't see you in white spandex," Tommy said.

"In our reality, Tommy was given the white ranger powers, and Jason went to the peace conference," Trip explained.

"It is logical to assume that slight alterations in the time line could result in drastic changes in the present, and the future," the other Trip said.

"So it really is you," Jason sighed, walking over to Tommy again.

"Yeah bro, it's me."

"You look good man,"

"You too."

"This is the first time you've traveled to a different reality I take it," Jen said, walking over to the other Jen.

"Trip received a probe two days ago, and even though it had a Time Force signature, he couldn't determine where it was from or who sent it. He took it apart and discovered it had a pulse generator, and he used it to reopen the portal and send it here. Captain Logan felt whatever was on the other side of the portal could have been a risk, so we were sent here to investigate," the other Jen explained.

"How long before the portal reopens to send you home?" Camille asked.

"Exactly 18 minutes," the other Camille said.

Trip turned to Captain Logan. "Captain, with your permission, I'd like to work with the other me to help him develop the Slipstream. If there were one than one group of rangers traveling to different worlds, it could be helpful," he said.

"I don't see why not. The two of you should get to work immediately," he said.

"I agree. Trip, you and your wife work with them to perfect the Slipstream," the other Jen said.

"Wife? Did you say wife?" Trip asked.

"Of course. Camille and I are married," he paused. "Aren't the two of you?" he replied.

"No!" Trip and Camille said in unison.

"Oh, sorry," the other Camille sighed as the four of them walked over to the control system.

"Jen, I've got to ask: Are you and Alex still together in your world?" the other Jen asked.

She shook her head. "No, we went our separate ways after the mission to the year 2001 to stop Ransik," she said.

"Ransik? The mutant?"

"Yes. In our time, he escaped to the past,"

"So who'd you end up with?"

"I'm single," Jen said.

"What a shame. In my world, Alex and I have been married about a year. I'm expecting a baby in six months," she said.

"Congratulations," she said.

Jason and Tommy stood off in a corner away from the rest of them as they talked amongst themselves.

"I can't believe you're here. I thought I'd never see anyone from my own time again," Jason said.

"I know the feeling. The future is nice, but there's nothing like the good old days," he said.

"I hear you," he paused. "So you're an official member of Time Force now?"

"Yeah. My official rank is Lieutenant," Tommy said.

"They didn't offer me a rank yet, but I'm sure they'll ask me to join their special unit after they get this reality jumping thing working," he said.

"They did for me too."

"You should come with us man. It would be just like old times," Jason said.

"You mean come with you? To your reality?"

"Why not? If things have been as hard for you as they have been for me, you don't really have anything holding you here. Our lives were over a long time ago, but being here has given us a second chance. Come with me bro, and at least we'll have each other," he told him.

"I don't know if I……"

"Come on man, what's holding you here?" he paused. "Wait a sec, you've got the hots for Jen, don't you?" he asked.

"No I don't."

"Yes you do. You have that same googlie eyed look you use to have with Kim a long time ago. You like her," he said.

"And what if I do?"

"I take it you're still playing the shy and innocent Tommy role. Seriously man, its time to get over that. You don't want to look at and another 1000 years have gone by before you tell her how you feel," Jason said.

"I know, but it's complicated,"

"Its never as complicated as you make it. You like her, she likes you. That's the end of it. Just go for it man," he said. "And if you're not going to take a shot, just come with me. Where I'm from, theres this mutant chick named Nadira….. shes hot," he said.

Tommy cracked a smile. "You think Nadira is hot?"

"Yeah, don't you?"

"We're ready over here," the other Jen said as she motioned to Jason and Tommy. The two of them walked over to the control panel, joining the rest of the group.

"I've given your Trip all the information you need to get the Slipstream up and running. You may want to run some tests before you try it again," Trip told them.

"Understood," the other Trip said.

Katie reached for her morpher. "Captain, we're ready over here," she said.

'Acknowledged. The portal will open in 30 seconds,' he said.

"I don't know about you guys, but this has been an experience," Camille said.

"Same here," the other Camille said.

"Its not too late for you to change your mind man," Jason said, quickly catching Jen's attention.

"Change your mind about what?"

"Jase wants me to go with them, back to his world," Tommy said.

"You said no, right?"

"No, I didn't." he sighed.

Jen turned to Captain Logan. "We can't just let him go, can we?" she asked.

"Technically, the idea of alternate realities are new to us, there is no rule against someone from our world going to another. If he wants to go, I can't stop him," he said.

"So whats it gonna be?" Jason asked as the vortex opened.

Not waiting for the answer, Jen, Trip, Katie and Camille headed through the portal. They all watched on as they awaited Tommy's response.

He knew that being with Jason again would help him adjust to his new world, he also knew that with the way things were going for he and Jen, they would never be together. Still, there was part of him that knew traveling to another world would only be running from the problem.

"I can't man," he sighed.

"Suit yourself bro. Next time you're on my world, look me up!" he said, extending his hand to Tommy.

The two of them shook hands.

"You got a deal," he said as he watched Jason disappear through the portal.

(*)

Later than evening, Tommy returned to his quarters. There were still he needed time to adjust to – like how to work the lights in his apartment, but he knew that in time, he would learn everything he needed to know.

He was almost asleep when someone knocked on the door. He quickly stood up, heading over to the door.

"Jen," he stepped aside, allowing her in. "What's up?" he asked.

"I did some reading on you and Jason; he was your best friend. I don't understand why you didn't go back with him when he offered," she said.

"You wanted me to go?"

"No," she blurted out, not realizing how eager she sounded until it was too late. "Its not that, but I would have thought you'd want someone from your own time to be with," she said.

He shook his head. "I do, but I want to stick around here. Give it some time and I'll be use to the place," he said.

"Yeah, all we need is a little time," she sighed, moving a little closer to him.

Before they realized it, they were face to face.

"It'll be worth the wait," he said.

Tommy leaned down towards her, but Jen quickly backed away. "Yeah, it will. I promise," Jen said, walking out the room.