A/N: Last chapter... sobs

Thank you so much for reading this and reviewing, I can't tell you how much it's meant to me to have people like you for over a year now! YOU ARE THE BEST.

Be sure to check out "Love Ain't Enough", the continuation of "Alexander", as well as "Forgotten Son", if you haven't already. This story sort of does a circle again and brings you back to them!

Sierra

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67 . . . 68 . . . 69 . . . 70 . . .

Alex pushed himself up one last time before getting back on his feet and snatching a bottle of water off the table, little by little, he was regaining the strength he had before. The cool drink ran down his throat, sending a feeling of relief through his body while his breaths began to slow down.

Three weeks away from Time Force, spending his time in his childhood home, making peace with himself---and with everyone around him. Now he was back in the city, in his old apartment building, a week away from returning to his job. And in a couple hours, he was meeting Jen in town for lunch, they had a lot to talk about; he had spent all morning working out, trying to get rid of the knots in his stomach. With no luck.

After a shower, he changed and headed outside; he hadn't started driving yet, preferring to walk wherever he went now. He had plenty of time, so he didn't exert himself, just kept walking at a relaxing, steady pace, taking in his surroundings; the city was peaceful now that Ransik had been put away for good, only a few minor disturbances. He had never seen Silver Hills so calm, and it's people so happy . . .

"Alex!"

She stood at the curb wearing a light, summer dress and sandals; her dark hair was braided down her back in the style she had when he first met her. She was an innocent, farm girl completely naive to the rest of the world . . .

"I'm glad you could make it," she said, her voice tinged with hesitation but at the same time eagerness.

"Of course," he said.

"Come on---" she nodded toward the casual restaurant across the street.

He followed her inside and they sat down at a small table in a quiet corner, after ordering a couple drinks, Jen leaned forward, her eyes intense: "So, Alex . . . am I finally going to get some answers?"

Alex sighed, trying to keep his eyes fixed on hers, but finding it more difficult than he expected; how could he explain something he didn't understand himself?

"Where do I start?" he wondered aloud, "I guess all I can say is . . . I was worried about you when I went back in time to help you all with Dragontron, I knew what was going to happen and I wanted to make you realize how serious it was."

"Alex, we all knew," Jen said, "we were Time Force officers long before we were Rangers, and that's just as dangerous."

"I know that," Alex said, "but I also knew you'd been away from Time Force for months. There were distractions . . . " he thought of Wes.

Jen looked down, disappointment crossing her face. "I-I thought you trusted me more than that, Alex," she said, "I've never let my own feelings get in the way of my job!"

"Jennifer, whatever you were going to try to do wasn't going to work!" Alex said, "I needed to find a way to convince you . . . to do things differently . . . I-I couldn't let you die." He fiddled with his fingers uncomfortably. "But I didn't know how."

"You were so cold," Jen said, "I didn't know what to think . . . you'd be gone so long, and Wes was there all that time. I'm sorry I hurt you but neither one of us could help what happened!"

"I'm beginning to realize that . . . " Alex managed a painful smile. "I can't help loving you, so how can I expect you . . . to control how you feel."

"Alex---" she reached across the table and placed her hand on his "---I will always love you, you were my friend before you were my fiance. I haven't forgotten all you've done for me." Tears formed in her eyes and she blinked them away fiercely. "I miss you . . . I miss the Alex I knew before all this."

"I don't have the right to even ask this . . . " Alex began, "I want to be your friend, Jennifer. I don't think I can go on without having you in my life." He squeezed her hand. "At least in one way."

She smiled, the tears overflowing and running down her cheeks from her sparkling eyes. "I want to be your friend, too," she said, "we can work through this . . . "

And, for the first time in too long . . .

Alex smiled.

-----------------------------------------

Sienna leapt into a forward somersault and landed upright on her knees, her blaster outstretched and already shooting it's beams at the target nearly seventy meters away; it fell over and she continued on her way, advancing on the remaining targets. She was crouched over, but she was running powerfully, beads of perspiration on her forehead, her lips pressed tightly together.

"Eventually, it was taken over by Eric Myers, whose great-great-great-grandson expanded the Guardians and renamed it . . . Sienna?"

The pretty, dark-haired girl frowned, looking around the room for a moment before answering: "Time Force?"

"Correct."

Alex sat next to her and rolled his eyes, leaning in closer to whisper: "Lucky guess."

"Shut up."

Alex smirked, pressing his hand to the glass as he watched her push herself further and further, unaware of his presence. To his surprise, she had cut her jet black hair short, she had certainly changed from the materialistic teenager who had joined the Academy years ago; she used to be so obsessed with her appearance. Now she was one of the best officers in the Force . . .

One of the females sat up straight, her black hair bouncing on her shoulders, she gasped in a light voice: "Alex!?" He turned quickly to see who was speaking, but he didn't recognize the beautiful, young woman staring at him with recognition flickering in her midnight blue eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but I have no idea who you are."

"It's me . . . Sienna!"

Sienna Jacobson, from his old school, before his parents died; the young girl that followed him everywhere in her rather pathetic attempt to get him to like her more than just a friend. But she had been a skinny 10-year-old back then, and now she was all grown up . . . he couldn't even blame himself for not recognizing her.

"You've changed," he noted.

"Well, I grew a little."

"You certainly have," he spoke aloud, his hand falling from the window and down to his side. She was finished, standing victoriously in the middle of the mock battlefield, her chest rising and falling quickly; she reached up, swiping her forehead with the back of her hand.

Suddenly, she looked up and directly at the window where Alex stood watching her, for a moment she didn't move . . . then she smiled slightly, nodding and beckoning him inside. Hesitantly, he stepped through the doorway and walked across the room to where she stood waiting for him.

"I wanted to talk to you," he said, slowly.

"'Wanted'?"

"I still do."

"Alex . . . " she murmured, "listen, I don't want you think that I'm pissed at you for what happened between us, because I'm not. If anything, you should be pissed at me!"

"Why?" Alex laughed, "I knew how things would turn out---"

"So did I," she countered, "I know you don't love me, Alex."

"No, I don't." He shook his head. "I wish I did, Sienna . . . "

Sienna wiped her hands, then crossed her arms and looked directly at Alex. "We can still be friends, Alex," she said, "it might be hard, but it's better than not having you at all."

"I'd like that," Alex said, "we've known each other too long to let this get between us, I hope." He held out his arms to her, almost immediately, she stepped forward and leaned against his strong chest, sighing with content.

I wish I could give you more.

"So . . . . back to work now?" she asked, pulling away and looking up at him.

"Today's my first day back," he replied.

"You're not going to overdo it, are you?"

"No . . . " he smiled a little, "they're keeping a pretty close eye on me, not that I blame them. I lost it for a while there." He shuddered inwardly, the emotions that had driven him to attempted suicide still fresh in his mind, but slowly lessening.

"Who's your lucky partner this time?" Sienna asked.

"Lucas Kendall."

She blinked, then laughed. "Well, there's a surprise! Never thought I'd see you two paired up," she said, "you always had your differences, especially after everything that's happened."

"I owe a lot to him," Alex said, "he saved my life."

"Well," Sienna said, "it takes a lot for a Time Force officer like Lucas to turn his back on a fellow officer in need, a lot more than what you two have between you. Who knows? Maybe you could be friends!"

"That's a stretch," Alex said, "but we don't hate each other anymore---"

"---and that's a start," Sienna interrupted.

Her communicator stopped any further conversaiton as it started beeping wildly, she turned her back to Alex and raised it: "What's up?"

"We need you at the science center immediately, Lieutenant," came Logan's voice, "there's been a break-in."

"Sir, I have Collins with me . . . should I take him?" Sienna questioned.

"Of course, now hurry up!"

"Let's go!" she snapped to Alex, taking off for the door.

They matched one another's pace as they left the building and hopped into Sienna's patrol car parked outside, Alex typed in the destination quickly and immediately the directions appeared on the screen. They sped down the nearly-empty highway, and Alex felt his adrenaline pumping---he was back in action.

As Sienna skid to a halt in the parking lot, Alex opened his door and leapt outside, crouching behind a wall even as shots were fired from the building. He spotted Jen kneeling behind her car, Katie not far behind, neither was hurt; Sienna ran and fell to her knees beside him, holding her blaster firmly.

"Report," Alex spoke into his communicator.

"Casualties: Two. Not fatal," the captain's voice replied, "suspected only one inside."

"Just one?" Alex frowned. "What's he want?"

"We think he might be one of Ransik's old followers," Logan answered, "either out for revenge . . . or something worse."

"'Worse'?"

"It's a science center, Alex," Sienna pointed out, "where scientists first discovered the beauty of genetic enhancement, there are plenty of leftover tools in there . . . potions . . . or whatever the hell they were working on last."

"All right," Alex said, just as a shot rang above his head; he ducked. "Damn good shot, too."

"We should sneak around the back," Sienna said, "try to find an opening, if we can get him from behind he'll go down."

"I'll go . . . " he hit his communicator " . . . Jen, I'm heading around the back. Wanna come along?"

"Of course," Jen replied.

"I'll cover you," he heard Katie.

Jen and Alex stood up and raced off in opposite directions, down the side of the building as the other officers opened fire, meeting up again in the back; they exchanged smiles when they caught sight of each other. There was a heavy, metal door, and both ran up to it; Alex reached for the handle, twisting it, only to find it was locked.

"That figures," he said.

"Well, we made it this far," Jen said, "you think he saw us?"

"Probably not," Alex said, "not with the amount of firepower coming from the others, he was too busy ducking."

Jen chuckled. "All right, so what's the plan?" she asked, "we just try to get in there as quietly as possible?"

"Stand back---" Jen stepped to the side of the door "---I'll go in first, you just make sure you've got that blaster ready."

"Always," Jen said.

Without another word, Alex grabbed his blaster and shot the lock off the handle, then burst through the door; Jen jumped in behind him, her weapon outstretched. The room was dark, surrounded by shelves and shelves of scientific equipment foreign to the both of them.

"No sign of him," Alex commented.

"He's probably upstairs," Jen suggested, "from the way he's been taking shots at our people."

"I agree." Alex looked toward the lift. "If he knows by some chance that we're coming, he'll be waiting for us on the other side of that . . . we'll have to find another way of going up."

"There've got to be some shafts or something," Jen said, "we just have to find them."

Alex lifted his face to the ceiling, then scanned the gray walls till he finally saw what looked to be a cutout in one of the corners. "Let's go," he said, quietly, gesturing to it. Opening it up, he saw the ladder leading up to the next floor.

"Gonna be a long climb," Jen sighed.

Twenty grueling minutes later, they emerged on the other side; Alex crawled out first, took a look around, then turned and helped her out. "He's gotta be up here somewhere," he muttered.

"You wanna split up?" Jen asked.

"No," Alex answered, "I don't want to take the risk."

They stuck close to the wall, inching along carefully, Alex in front and Jen covering his back; suddenly, he caught sight of the man standing nearby a window, a high-powered rifle in his hands. He squinted . . . the man's finger was on the fire control, it was set to Kill, and they had already seen how well he could shoot.

Alex looked back at Jen and placed a finger to his lips, she nodded, crouching low but keeping her blaster gripped firmly in her hands. But the sound of her sliding down the wall alerted him and he swung around with his rifle, firing wildly at the corner; Alex felt a sharp burning in his shoulder as he dropped down next to Jen, who immediately took action.

Opening fire, she came out of hiding, surprising the man into momentary paralysis; Alex recovered quickly, leaping up next to Jen as she ducked a shot from the man, who was already staggering back, burn marks on his chest.

Without warning, another shot came from the next room and caught Jen in the upper thigh, toppling her; as she fell to the floor, Alex reached down and caught her with one hand, while shooting with the other. But he was too late, as a beam from the other man's weapon caught him in the wrist, forcing him to drop his blaster. He shouted a filthy curse as it hit the floor, then let go of Jen's arm and lunged at his new enemy, unconcerned with the other man slumped against the wall.

The man fired again, but his aim was thrown off as Alex swung his leg around and kicked him in the forearm; Alex heard a crack, and the man howled in pain before regaining his senses and grasping at Alex's throat. His fingers dug in and Alex gagged, then brought his knee up fiercely, striking his gut; his grip on Alex's throat lessened, and he took the chance to bring his fist up and smash it into the man's mouth.

Blood spurted from between his now shattered teeth and onto Alex's face, he wiped it off quickly, then threw another punch, connecting with the man's jaw. The skin on his knuckles ripped off, but he hardly noticed; the man landed hard on his back, his rifle sliding across the floor, but as Alex stepped forward he kicked sharply, his boot sinking into Alex's stomach and knocking the air out of him; as he stumbled back, he looked over to see Jen slowly sitting up, still stunned from the shot.

"A-Alex . . . ?" her voice was foggy.

But he had no time to reply as the man jumped back up and went into a spinning heel kick, his foot striking the side of Alex's head. He fell against the wall, his ear ringing loudly, blood oozed from the cut above his eye; the man took advantage of the situation, while Alex was trying to recover, he ran over to Jen as she struggled to get up, landing a blow from his boot to her chest. She fell onto her back, gasping for air; the man laughed, turning his attention back to Alex.

"No . . . " Jen gasped.

Alex shook his head, trying to clear it, he knew he needed to concentrate, or things would end badly for both him and Jen; he couldn't let that happen to her, he had to fight back . . . vaguely, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching, but he could barely make out the figure coming at him.

"You were foolish to come up here," he heard the deep voice, "with just that weak girl to back you up . . . you thought you could take me down, huh?"

I still can, asshole.

His leg shot out and hit the man under his jaw, snapping it, he was so overcome by the pain that doubled over, holding his face; Alex brought his fists together and struck him directly below his neck, sending him to the floor.

"Alex!" Jen cried, tossing the blaster to her partner.

Alex caught it and pointed it at the man's head, breathing hard . . . but alive. "Give up," he said, "it's over." He looked over at Jen, who was now sitting up, smiling through her pain; he grinned broadly at her, ignoring the blood running down his face.

"Good job, Cadet," he whispered.

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

YEAR 3005

Alex looked up as Jen entered the briefing room, he smiled slightly and she returned it; they had remained civil throughout the years, but despite their best efforts, their old friendship had never been rekindled. She sat down next to him as Adm. Joseph Fuller walked in, his strides long and precise, much like Alex's; but he didn't sit down, instead he came over and leaned on the table.

His eyes locked with Alex's.

"I'm afraid I have some unfortunate news," he said, "an old partner of Ransik's has escaped . . . "

THE END