Author's note: This chapter contains portions of End of Time pt. III. Again, ff.net is screwing with my italics, so bare with me.

Trip sat in front of his computer in his personal quarters, closely examining the information he'd found. Granted, his computer wasn't as sophisticated as the equipment in the science lab, but he was able to establish a data link to the mainframe and download the information he needed.

So distracted in his work that he didn't hear Camille walk up behind him. She stood behind him, rubbing his shoulders slightly. Trip let out a sigh, leaning back slightly in his chair, but never taking his eyes off his work.

"You've been at this damn computer all night," she mentioned, frustrated by the fact that he didn't come to bed the night before.

Trip glanced over at the clock slightly, and then back to his work. "I had no idea it was so early. I'm sorry Cammy," he sighed.

Ever since Katie was injured, Trip had been in a world of his own. She knew how important Katie was to him, and respected the fact that he was going everything he could to help his friend. "Its okay baby, but staying up all night staring at this screen isn't healthy. You should try to get some rest," she insisted.

"I've been able to pull up some info on the Ethros," he brought up, ignoring her statement altogether. "They are humanoid, but with a some interesting differences. They're immune system works a lot differently than a human; instead of fighting off any dangerous infection that it may come into contact with, the Ethros absorb it, and their immune system produces its own antibody for it," he explained.

"That doesn't make any sense," she said.

"It makes perfect sense. Instead of just curing the individual being, the antibody will be encoded into their DNA, making it impossible for future generations to contract the virus. In theory, the Ethros could fight off every virus known to man and essentially life forever disease free," he said.

"That's incredible," she glanced over his shoulder, reading over his findings. "But how do we apply this to Katie?" she asked.

"In Katie's case, it isn't a virus she's fighting, its injuries. The Ethros are self-healing in the sense that they can force their cells to regenerate damaged tissue cells and internal organs. To do so takes extreme concentration, so much concentration that a human doctor may misconstrue their meditation as…" he was cut short.

"They were asleep," Camille said.

"Katie isn't waking up because she's meditating, trying to heal herself. From what I can tell, it's completely involuntary. When the Ethros are injured, they slip into an almost coma type state until their wounds are healed. While in this state, to ensure that brain patterns don't degrade, the mind produces images," he said.

"So she's dreaming?" she asked.

"Dr. Young did say there was a lot of rapid eye moment, and that her brain pattern was holding steady. Its only a matter of time before Katie snaps out of it herself," he told her.

"That's great,"

"There's a down side," he turned around, facing her. "Because Katie isn't completely human, her mind is unable to process the meditation correctly. Her human side may reject the healing, leaving her in her coma like state forever," he said.

"What can we do to help?"

"There isn't much we can do. The average Ethros would have been healed by now, and the fact that Katie isn't scares me. If her human side rejects her healing process, she may be trapped in her dreams forever," Trip sighed.

(*)

The mood was a somber one as the four of his stood on the beach in front of the time ship. We had every reason to be happy about the situation; we'd captured Ransik, we'd saved the future, and now we were on our way back to our own time. Although for everyone else, it would only seem like we were gone a few days, for us, we'd spent almost a year in the past. We were all looking forward to coming home, to seeing our families, but it was a bittersweet moment.

Over the past year, we'd grown very fond of the 21st century, and of Wes, and none of us were eager to leave him behind. In fact, when Alex and Captain Logan ordered us to return the first time, we all decided that going back and fighting alongside Wes was the right thing to do. Alex wasn't happy about it, but ultimately, he knew he couldn't stop us. We headed back to the 21st century, changing history by helping Wes and Eric save the city.

But with the city safe and history back on track, we knew it was time for us to go back. We all stood there, unsure of what to say, if there was anything we could say. Mr. Collins, Wes' father, and the Silver Guardians were present as well, all of them standing at attention.

Mr. Collins put his hand on Wes' shoulder as a show of support, and Wes walked over to Lucas, extending his hand to him.

"Better take it easy on that race track Lucas," he said.

"Well, at least now I have a drivers liscense," Lucas mumbled.

The two of them wrapped their arms around one another before Lucas walked away, disappearing into a stream of light.

Finally, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I rushed over to Wes, wrapping my arms around him. "Wes… you're the best," I cried.

"Katie…let go," he mumbled.

I glanced up, realizing that I was squeezing him a little too tightly. I backed away slowly, a little frustrated with myself for not knowing my own strength… again. "I'm sorry," I sighed.

Wes looked at me with his beautiful blue eyes, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close. "No, don't be sorry. I'm actually gonna miss your hugs," he told me.

"Goodbye Wes," I mumbled, heading for the ship, disappearing into the light.

I materialized on the ship, where Lucas was already prepping the ship for launch. I quickly took my seat on the control panel.

"Do you think we'll ever get to come back? To see Wes again?" I asked him.

"I doubt it, but at least now we know he'll be okay," he told me.

(*)

Jen and Tommy walked into the medical bay hand in hand, making their way towards Katie. Dr. Young was standing next to the examining table, reading over the charts on his clipboard, comparing them to the readings on the machines next to the bed.

"How's she doing doc?" Tommy asked her.

"The regeneration process is over 94% complete, but I still can't account for the coma like state she's is. It goes against everything I've ever learned about medicine," he said.

"Have you been able to contact any of her family? They might have an idea as to what's happening to her," Jen brought up.

"I sent a sub-space communication, but no one has gotten back to me yet. Even if they did, the situation is out of my hands now. There's nothing more I can do for now except make her comfortable and hope she comes around on her own," he explained.

The two of them walked over to Jen, each standing on either side of her as Dr. Young excused himself.

"Come on Katie, you have to snap out of this. Please," Jen sighed, putting her hand gently on Katie's forehead, brushing her hair away from her face. "I know you Katie, you're a fighter, and I know you're not going to let this beat you," she sighed.

"Yeah, and you still owe me a rematch in arm wrestling," Tommy sighed.

"Come on, we have to report to the admiral at 1400 hours. He's going to give us an update on the science lab," she mentioned.

Tommy leaned down, kissing Katie gently on the forehead before he and Jen walked out the room together.

(*)

"Oh no," Ransik sighed as the pressure began to suck everything through the hole. He quickly dived for the hole, trying to block it. "I can't hold it forever rangers, finish this," he screamed.

Nadira, the white ranger and I teamed up on Zedd with a triple tornado kick, knocking his staff out his hand. Tommy would caught it, then aimed it at Lord Zedd and fired it. That was enough to knock Zedd against the wall, falling to his knees.

Camille hurried over to the only functioning control panel, going over the readings. She turned up one of the active modules, opening the door as a lifeless mutant fell out. "Get'em in the tube," she screamed to the others.

It was the white and gold rangers who got the message, hitting a double spin kick and knocking Zedd into the module. As soon as he was in, the blue ranger closed the door and activated the module, trapping Zedd inside.

"What are you doing?" Tommy asked.

"Giving Zedd a taste of his own medicine," she said as the machine lit up, sucking the life out of him.

"So that's it, it's over," Nadira sighed with relief.

We all let out a sigh of relief, thinking the worst was over. I glanced over at Ransik, who was struggling to keep the hole in the ship sealed. "Goodbye rangers," Ransik mumbled as he was ripped in half by the pressure, sucking him through the hole in the ship.

"NOOOO!" I yelled as I jumped through the hole, going after him.

I managed to grab hold of Ransik's upper body as we both fell. It was all happening so fast, I didn't have much time to react. I looked down, and luckily we were over water, but it wasn't going to matter. The speed we were falling at was too much, and as I hit the water, I hit my head on a piece of debris from the ship, and I sank to the bottom………

~

"NOOOO!" Katie yelled at the top of her lungs as she sat up on the examining table, covered in a cold sweat.

She glanced around the room, discovering that she was in the medical lab. She took a deep breath, wiping the sweat away from her eyes as she slid off the table. As soon as she did, her knees gave out, and she fell to the ground.

Dr. Young hurried in the room, helping her back onto the examining table. "Your body is still adjusting, you have to give yourself some time," he said.

"What happened?" she mumbled.

"Whats the last thing you remember?"

She paused, gathering her thoughts. "I was on Zedd's ship, and Ransik got pulled through a hole in the side of the…" she paused. "Where is Ransik?" she inquired.

"I'm sorry," he sighed.

"Just tell me where he is," she snapped, trying to sit up.

"I'm afraid is didn't…" he was cut short.

"No, its not true. That was just a dream, right? Ransik is fine. Where is he?" she screamed.

"It wasn't a dream Katie," a voice said. She turned around as Trip walked into the room with a somber look on his face. "Ransik gave his life to save us Katie, he did what he had to do," he told her.

"It's not true," she screamed.

"I'm sorry Katie," Trip said, walking over to her.

She didn't say a word. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him, crying on his shoulder as he held her. "I loved him Trip," she cried.

"I know Katie, I know,"