It was all a bit overwhelming for him.

Being snatched away from his own time, away from his friends and family. Away from Kimberly. Then thrown a thousand years into the future; it was all so disconcerting for him. Although Alex and the others had done their best to help him adjust to his new environment, there were still things he knew would take a lot longer to get use to.

In almost every ranger incarnation he was in, he had been in control. Whether it was the original team, Zeo, or the assault he led against the Machine Empire, he was in control. He called the shots. Now, to take orders from someone else left him feeling a bit out of place. Jen was a capable leader, and she mad much more experience dealing with these types of situations, but old habits die hard, and part of him felt as though he should have been in command. For someone who was always in control of every situation, found himself unable to even control the circumstances around him. That in itself was difficult for him.

Tommy walked down the dark, deserted halls of Time Force, making his way to the science lab. The building had long since shut down for the evening, and with the exception of a few officers putting in some overtime, the building was empty. He stopped in front of a door, pressing his hand against a plate on the right hand side.

'Identity confirmed. Welcome Tommy,' the computer announced, opening the doors.

As soon as he walked in, he noticed Jen sitting at the desk in front of a stack of papers. The only light in the room was the one that shined above the desk as Jen worked. He walked over to her, leaning over her shoulder.

"Research?" he inquired.

Jen flinched, quickly turning around. "Oh, Tommy. Hey," she took a deep breath. "You startled me," she said.

"Sorry,"

"I'm doing some research, trying to determine what could have happened to Katie," she said.

Tommy grabbed a chair from one of the empty stations, pulling it over to the desk and sitting down next to Jen. "What have you been able to find out?" he inquired.

"Her personnel files says her mother was human, but her father was an Ehtros demon," she said.

"Ehtros?"

"An Ehtros demon is more a spirit than anything else, unable to take corporeal form without consuming the soul of a human host and assuming control of the body. They're known for their overwhelming strength and power. Katie's father was a Time Force officer sent to track the Ehtros demon, but was killed. The demon took over his body, rewriting his DNA to suit its needs. The demon raped her mother, impregnated her. The pregnancy was too much for her mother to handle, and she died during birth. Time Force eventually realized what happened and was able to put the Ehtros demon in Chryo Genic containment, while Katie was sent to live with grandparents," she explained.

"That would explain why Katie is so strong, shes part Ehtros," he mentioned.

"Yes, but most of the DNA is dormant. If any of it were to become active, she would be even more powerful, but the DNA would begin to rewrite the rest of her DNA, eventually turning Katie into a complete demon," she said.

"Is that what you think is going on? You think Katie is turning into a demon?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. There is nothing on file that Katie has been exposed to that would animate dormant DNA, but it would explain her aggressive attitude," Jen said.

Tommy glanced over at another file, picking up the folder. "This is my personnel file. Why do you have this?" he inquired, opening the file and going through it.

Jen blushed. "I was just reading up on you. You're a legend after all," she said, hoping he wouldn't hear her insincerity and push the subject.

Tommy stopped, picking up a picture of Kim. "I remember this picture. We were at the Angel Grove amusement park. I won her that bear," he mentioned, showing the picture to Jen.

"She was beautiful," she sighed.

"Wait. What's this?" he skimmed through some papers. "Kim was pregnant?" he asked, staring at the paper in amazement. "You knew about this, didn't you?"

"Yes," she admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, standing up and backing away from the table.

"Because I knew you would react like this. When TJ and the others took you to Bio-Lab to be treated, Kim was already two months pregnant. She didn't tell you because we speculate she didn't even know," she explained.

"But you knew, and you should have told me," he said.

"I didn't want to hurt you Tommy. Knowing Kim had a baby and knowing what you left behind only makes it harder for you to be here. You were doing so well, I didn't want to complicate things for you," she pointed out.

"Is there a picture?"

"Of the baby, no," she said.

He stared down at the picture of Kim, and then glanced up at Jen with a monotone look on his face. "We have to go back. I have to see," he told her.

"We can't Tommy, that goes against half a dozen temporal protocols. Alex would be all over us if….." she was cut short.

"I don't care. I want to see my child," Tommy said.

Jen saw the unwavering determination in his eyes, and knew she wouldn't be able to change his mind. With that, she reached for her morpher. "Trip. This is Katie, do you read me?" she asked.

For a moment, there was nothing.

'I'm here Jen. What's up?' a voice asked.

"I hate to bother you this late, but can you come to the science lab? I need you to do me a favor," she said.

'I'm on my way,' he told her.

"Thanks Trip," she said.

"Why are you calling Trip?" Tommy asked.

"If we try to use one of the time ships, Alex and Temporal Investigations will be all over us. I'm going to see if Trip can modify the Slipstream to travel back in time," she said.

"Thank you Jen," he sighed.

"No problem,"

A few minutes later, Trip arrived wearing a pair of jeans and a baggy sweater. From the looks of it, he had been asleep, yawning as he walked in. "Okay Jen, what's going on?" he asked.

"Can the Slipstream be modified to travel back in time?" she inquired.

"The Slipstream is only a gateway between worlds, it doesn't have the circuitry to travel back and forth through time," he said.

"Can it be modified?"

"In theory, if we were to use the sight to sight transporter circuitry from the morphers, then cross align them using a phase……." He was cut short.

"Save me the scientific mumbo jumbo, can you do it?" Jen asked.

He sighed. "Yeah, I can do it," he said.

"Do it,"

Without a word, Trip walked over to the Slipstream to begin the modifications. Meanwhile, Jen and Tommy sat down behind the desk again.

"When we get there, we'll have to limit our contact with people, we don't want to risk altering the time line," she said.

"What do you mean we?"

"You didn't think I was letting you go alone, did you? We're friends, we're going together," she told him.

"You don't have to do this Jen. If you think I'm going to stay in the past, you don't have to worry about……"

"I said we're friends, we're going together," she repeated.

Tommy smiled. "Thanks Jen,"

"I think I'm ready over here," Trip called out. The two of them headed over to Trip as he finished the last of the modifications. "Its been rigged to travel back in time, but I had to bypass the timing sequencers to do it," he said.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning the timer that usually reminds us when the portal will reopen is off line. You'll have to keep up with the time yourself," he said.

"How long do we have?"

"Its hard to tell. The Slipstream wasn't meant to work this way. It could be a few hours; it could be a few minutes. I'll contact you when I get the calculations done," he said.

"Alright, I need you to set coordinates for Angel Grove, California. The year is 2006," Jen instructed.

Trip input the information into the computer. "Done. I get the feeling this isn't an official mission," he brought up.

"It's not, so I suggest we keep this one off the books," Tommy said.

"Consider it done, but if our calculations are off even in the slightest, there is no coming back with the Slipstream. I'll have to get a time ship to get you, and I have a feeling you wanted to do it this way to avoid Temporal Investigations," he mentioned.

"Thanks again Trip," she said.

"As soon as you're through, I'm going to disconnect the modifications just in case. The communicators should work, so I'll contact you when I'm ready to bring you back," he informed them.

"Understood,"

Trip turned to the control panel, activating the Slipstream. As it came on, there was a noticeable difference. Instead of a blue swirling vortex, it seemed to be red, and it the swirls were moving counter clockwise. The two of them took a deep breath, then stepped into the vortex, disappearing.

"Good luck you two, you'll need it," he sighed.