Rated PG-13: language, sexual references in the last section, including slash elements.
A/N: For anyone interested in how I adapted Arthurian legend for this story, visit my website for Author's Notes.
Many thanks as always to all who read and reviewed. Special thanks to Rach aka The Fink, for the PR/King Arthur crossover idea and the contribution of the thunderstorm. And to Shirley Chong, for the idea of the Time Force dimensional travel experiment. She's planning a future story telling about Jen's adventures as she trades places with her other selves in other realities. Special mention to Etcetera Kit, one of whose reviews inspired the use of the MMPR Power Weapons, and to Dagmar Buse, whose agitating for more led to the punchline at the very end. And just - well - thanks to everyone who reviewed, it means a lot to me, and often inspires improvements in my fics.
Home. Wes knew he had a silly smile on his face, but he didn't care. He stood in the foyer of his house, Jen's hand in his, and took a deep breath as if he could inhale it. Home.
"Wes?"
He turned at the hesitant question, and smiled at his father, nodding silently. The next instant, he was grabbed in a hug, his breath cut off as strong arms squeezed him. "Dad," he said as soon as he was freed. "Great to be back. How did you know it was me, instead of the other one?"
"I could see it in your faces," Collins said, smiling at him. "Plus you're holding hands with Jen."
"Ah. I guess that's a giveaway."
"What happened? How did you get back, and where's the other Wes?"
"The storm came again, and this time the other Wes and I changed places. He's home now, too; we could see them for a few seconds."
Wes saw a short brunette woman step from behind his father, and was pulled into another hug. "Welcome back, Wes, we were all so worried. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Gaby. Nice to see you too."
"She came over a little while ago, looking for Eric," Collins said.
"Can't live without me for five minutes, huh?" But Eric moved past him to greet his girlfriend with a kiss.
He looked around at all four of them, unable to stop smiling. "Man, there's no place like home," he said. The grin grew as he pointed to Jen, Eric, and his father. "You were there, and you, and you... but I'm sure glad to be back."
"Okay, Dorothy," Eric said. "What happened this time?"
"Not much really. Except I landed in your bed yesterday morning. That got - pretty weird."
"Not my bed." Eric snickered. "Yeah, I kinda wondered about that when the Wes you switched with told me he had been shacked up with his Eric when it happened."
"So, what happened here, Jen, after we were taken away by the storm?"
She frowned slightly. "Both of you just disappeared in that strange fog, right in front of me... and then it blew away, and the storm broke up in a few minutes, like it had never been there. I searched, and tried calling you with my morpher, but I knew something that wasn't natural had happened. That was the first time I called Time Force. Then yesterday, when Eric and the other Wes showed up, we called again. Didn't know what else to do."
"It's been a rough few days," Collins commented. "Wondering where both of you were and whether we'd ever see you again."
"Yeah," Wes said softly. "You got back okay yesterday, Eric?"
"Yeah, if you can call coming back with the wrong Wes 'okay'. Thought everything was all right until he freaked out, saying he had been asleep and didn't remember anything. I thought you had amnesia until he tried to kiss me."
"What did you do?"
"I discouraged him." He smiled at Wes's expression. "Don't look like that, I didn't hit him."
"You took it better than I did. I punched the other Eric in the face when he - well, never mind what he did."
Eric stared, and then laughed. "I would have loved to see that. Sounds like you didn't have such a boring time after all."
Wes shrugged, smiling again. "It worked out. We had some problems, but it was just that he missed his own Wes. He was really a pretty nice guy. A lot like you."
Eric frowned, perhaps at being called nice. "Anyway. We figured out what must have happened, and I brought him here."
"Where we called Time Force, and then - waited. That was the hardest part, knowing you were still gone, and this time alone," Jen added. Her hand tightened in Wes's. "How about you? What did you do then?"
"After I convinced the other Eric to believe me about what was going on, we went to Bio-Lab and contacted the Time Force in that reality. I talked to another version of you, Jen. She said it was an experiment in dimensional travel that somehow affected our time too. She wasn't even the Jen who belonged in that reality; she was from another one. She'd been switching places with her other selves for a while, jumping between dimensions."
"That explains a few things," Jen said. "Today, I called Time Force again. They wouldn't go into details, but they said they'd been in touch with an alternate reality. It must have been the one that started all this, with that experiment. They were working on a way to get you home, and they gave my Time Force and the one where you were enough of their dimensional transfer technology so that they could help."
"The other Wes had taken off," Eric continued. "Jen and I figured he might have gone to the beach. We stayed there and talked for a while, and then the storm came. You know the rest."
"Almost the same things that happened to me," Wes paused thoughtfully.
"Have to say it's a relief to have you back," Gaby said. "It was bizarre how the other Wes was exactly like you. Except you should have seen the way he kept looking at Eric."
"He was okay. Felt kind of sorry for him," Eric said.
"Yes," Jen agreed. "We could see how hard it was for him. Not just being stranded here, but being around the two of us. Pretty uncomfortable for everyone."
"Must have been rough on you, too."
"Yes." Her eyes dropped from his. "Having him here, knowing he wasn't you - it wasn't easy. I'm sure he felt the same way every time he saw Eric."
Wes wrapped an arm around her waist. "Well, we're both back now, safe and sound. And in the future, I'm staying away from thunderstorms."
"You and me both," Eric agreed emphatically.
As Jen looked up again, her expression was bright. "Yes - all of you are home now, and everything's all right."
Gaby broke the brief silence. "From what Eric told us, some of it sounds exciting. Meeting other Rangers. The whole King Arthur business."
"Yeah... well, I guess some of it was fun. But most of the time, we just wanted to come back."
"Those other dimensions were just plain screwed up," Eric said. "Growing mutants. Giant robots."
"Megazords," Wes corrected.
"Whatever. That guy who wanted to bring back the dinosaurs. A superpowerful witch. A giant floating head in a tube, for Christ's sake." He shuddered. "Sure wouldn't want to live in that kind of a universe."
"I dunno. Just think: fantastic creatures, fantastic adventures..." Gaby said teasingly. "Every day something new and exciting..."
"You can have it. Like Wes said, there's no place like home, and I plan on staying right here."
"Then I think this calls for a celebration," Collins said. "How about a drink, and then we can decide on what to do for dinner." He started into the living room and headed for the bar. Jen and Gaby followed him, laughing over something one of them had said. Eric tapped Wes's arm as he started after them, stopping him for a moment.
"So, did you have a higher purpose in the gay dimension?" he asked with a smirk. "Change any lives; win any battles before you could move on?"
"I'm not sure," Wes said seriously. "Maybe. The other Eric and I had a long talk about - things."
"And that was what you were supposed to do there? Talk?"
"Yeah. I think that was it. Just talk and hang out, and - accept each other, I guess." He hesitated a moment before asking, "Eric... did it bother you, knowing that you and me... that there's a gay version of you somewhere?"
"No reason it should." Eric was watching him curiously. "He's got his way; I've got mine."
"Just what the other Eric said. As he also said, you're exactly alike, except for that one thing." Wes grinned and slapped his partner's shoulder. "You're a good friend, in any dimension. Don't know what I would have done without you."
"Yeah, well - me too." Eric cleared his throat. "Glad you're back. Was getting tired of Jen and your father and the other Wes moping around."
"Are you guys coming?" Jen had come back, and held out a hand to Wes as he started towards her. "You know," she continued with a grin as they entered the living room, "now that Time Force has dimensional technology, they're going to want to develop it. And they going to have to experiment. And they're going to be looking for test subjects... like a couple of Rangers..."
"NO!" Wes and Eric exclaimed in horrified unison.