Hayley walked into the living room and found something she never expected. Eric and Alex were playing video games. Hayley couldn't believe her eyes; one: she never expected to find either one playing videos games, and two: they seemed to be getting along and enjoying each other.
When she sent Eric back here last night to check up on Alex, she just expected they would talk and work things out. She never expected for them to become all buddy-buddy.
"Hey, you're cheating! I was still loading my gun," protested Alex, as he watched as Eric continued to blast at his player.
Eric smirked and continued to blast at Alex's person on the screen. "When you're out on duty I highly doubt the criminal is going to wait until you've finished loading your gun," replied Eric.
"Yeah, well, if this were real I would have had my gun loaded before you could even finish that sentence," answered Alex. "And besides, in my time we don't have video games."
"What, the big shot can't figure out how to work a simple controller console?"
"Well, isn't this nice," announced Hayley she stood behind the two, just smiling and finding this all very amusing.
Both Eric and Alex jumped and quickly turned around. They looked to each other and then back to Hayley. "How long have you been standing there?" asked Eric, crossing his arms against his chest.
"Long enough to see you two getting along."
"What are you talking about? We were just working out our differences in a video game."
"Really?"
Alex stepped forward. "Yeah. The other way would have been way to messy, too much blood."
Hayley just grinned. She was beginning to see a different side of Alex; perhaps the Alex Jen had fallen in love with, so long ago. "So you do have a sense of humor... and to think I thought you were just this arrogant, serious hotshot cop."
Alex looked to be a little embarrassed, but did all he could to hide it. He didn't know how to react to that statement; it seemed so long since he had really laughed or made a joke, had some fun, for as long as he could remember he had worked so hard to work his way to the top, be one of the best, that he had forgotten to have fun once in awhile. Maybe that was what was wrong with him? He was always working, taking things to seriously, never taking a break.
Eric made a light cough and looked to Hayley. "So, did you stop by Tommy's on your way here?"
"Yeah," Hayley gave a faint smile. "Still no changes in Wes."
Eric sighed and nodded his head. He knew sooner or later he would have to call Mr. Collins and let him know what was going on; but without knowing Wes's chances of ever waking up he didn't want to give false hope to Collins.
"How was she?" asked Alex, his face tired and filled with agony.
Hayley could see how much this was eating Alex up, he really was hurting, even more than they all had thought. "She was okay. I made sure she ate some breakfast before I left."
Alex nodded his head, and smiled lightly, as if thanking her for checking up on Jen. He hated the fact that Jen was so angry with him, it hurt even more than her breaking up their engagement, more than her falling for someone else.
"So, you ready to go grab a bite to eat?" asked Eric, who was starting to get uncomfortable in this awkward situation.
"Yeah." The two then looked to Alex. "You're welcome to come."
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm not really in the mood."
"Alright, maybe another time." Both Eric and Hayley nodded their heads, said goodbye and made their way out the door, leaving Alex alone.
He sighed heavily as he turned around to turn off the TV and video game system. On the screen it read, 'try again'. For a long moment he just stared at the screen. Eric had killed his character and the game was asking for a 'do over'. Alex laughed dryly. "If only life were that simple." He would give anything to have a 'do over'; maybe if he had told Jen right off the bat, maybe things would have been different, better, or maybe they would have been worse. He wasn't sure if he would want to know what would have happened, had he told her. But he couldn't help but wonder…
"No, please don't. Please don't hurt me, I beg of you," cried a woman. Hexasaur was gaining at her, laughing darkly, snarling at her.
"Say goodnight!" he hissed. There was an explosion and then total darkness.
His eyes flashed open. His breathing was heavy and his face was covered in a damp sweat. He was terrified, felt like crying, screaming bloody murder.
"Shh, it's okay. You're safe now." He felt someone touch his cheek gently.
He moved his eyes around and found someone staring down at him, tears in her eyes and a kind smile shining on her face. "Jen?" He wasn't sure if it was her, everything felt so messed up right now in his head. Horrifying images he couldn't quite make sense of.
She choked on her tears and laughed happily. He had finally woken up. "Yes, it's me." She ran her hand down his arm and wrapped her hand around his, squeezing it tightly.
What was going on? How had he gotten here? He struggled as he tried to remember, but everything was blank and hazy. He looked around, as if double-checking to make sure he was where he thought he was and that this wasn't just some dream. He saw the computers and scanners, special weapons and devices. He was in the lab underneath Tommy's house.
"Wes, what is it? Are you okay?" A concerned look crossed Jen's face, something just didn't seem right.
His eyes glanced over at his wrist and then his ankles, they were wrapped in restraints. Why was he in restraints? Did something happen? Was he really that out of it? But then the more he thought about it, he slowly began to remember. He turned to Jen, staring into her face. And then it all came back to him at full blast. His eyes widened in fear, and he struggled to get the image out of his head. "No….It can't be true..." He didn't want to believe it, but he saw himself…
He was choking Jen to death. He was going to kill her, with his bare hands and he didn't care….
She quickly wrapped her arms around him, reassuring him everything would be okay, that the nightmare was over. "Wes, it's okay. It's over."
Was it over? "I could have killed you," he cried. Never had something frightened him so much.
"But you didn't. I'm right here Wes. I haven't left your side." She stared deeply into his face, hoping she could break through the void she felt around him, his fear.
"I can't get it out of my head. I keep seeing me, hurting you, the others, over and over, until…."
She had to get him to see. Prove to him everything was okay and was going to be fine. "WES!" she yelled right into his face. She felt hot tears going down her cheeks. She couldn't lose him. She wouldn't let Alex be right, Wes would be okay, she would help him through this, get him back to the person he used to be. "It's over. You're not Hexasaur anymore, you're you, you're Wes." She broke down crying. "You're the man I love." She then began to take the restraints off of him.
He shook his head; he hadn't even heard what she said, he was too much in distress for the monster he had been and might still be. "No, don't!" She stopped and looked into his eyes, seeing the doubt and pain in his eyes. "I don't trust myself."
"I trust you," she replied firmly and continued to take the rest of the restraints off of him.
He lay there, still, as she finished getting the restraints off of him. He didn't know what to think. She still trusted him after everything that had happened, after he came very close to killing her and the others. How could she trust him, when he didn't even trust himself? And then it came to him: the words she had said before, she said she loved him. "Wait, you love me?" he asked suddenly.
Jen turned to him after she finished removing the last restraint, placing her hand into his. "Yeah, I do."
"How? After everything that has happened? Me being Hexasaur? The way I treated you before, about not needing you." How could she possibly still have feelings for him, still love him?
"Let's forget about that, what's important is that you're back, and that you're okay." She could feel the tears start to come again. "I…We all thought you were dead, Wes. Died in that horrible fire."
Images of the fire flashed in his mind. He was fighting Janixsaur in the building. Calling Eric for help, on his cell phone. "Wait, Eric-"
"Is just fine," she assured him. "He's out to lunch with Hayley."
A confused look crossed Wes's face. "Eric and Hayley, together?"
Jen smiled. "Yeah, they're dating, now."
Eric and Hayley dating? When did that happen? The last he knew the two hated each other's guts. "How long have I been gone?"
A worried, concerned look came across Jen's face. "You don't know?" He shook his head. She took a deep breath. "A little over two months."
"Two months?" Has it really been that long? All of his memories seemed to have just combined into one. He then stared into Jen's eyes and saw how hard all of this had been for her. Thinking he was dead, all this time. He couldn't imagine how that must have been for her. "I'm so sorry Jen." He gulped in heavily. "This is my fault, if I hadn't…" but he was cut off by Jen's lips pressing against his, her hands gently stroking his face.
She needed to show him everything was going to be okay, that the past didn't matter, all that mattered was now and how they felt about each other. Or maybe she hoped to break through his own self-doubt and fear with a little human compassion, connection, love and tenderness. She broke their first kiss and stared into his surprised and confused face, but she was slowly starting to see her Wes shine through. "It's not your fault, none of this is."
Wes felt as hot tears ran down his cheeks. It really was over, and in that moment all that mattered were him and her, together, finally together. After all this time, after all the pain and heartache they had gone through. He sat himself up, taking her hand into his. "I love you too. I always have, always will." And in that very same moment he made a promise to himself that this time around he was not going to lose her. He would fight for all he was worth to have her in his life.
Jen wrapped her arms tightly around him, holding on to him, never wanting to let go. She felt as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, as if he needed her strength to just get through the next few moments.
The two just sat there holding each other in their arms, crying joyfully. Wes gently pulled away and stared into her face, the woman he had always and always would love. He felt as his nightmares started to drift away, for the first time in a long time, he felt safe, at peace, happy. Wes leaned in and kissed her deeply on the lips, as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her down on top of him.
Tommy was heading towards the school parking lot to head on home, when he found Conner still in the parking lot, lying on top of his car. He looked at his watch; school had let out a half hour ago.
"Having trouble?" he asked.
Conner turned his head and saw Dr. O heading towards him. He sat up and hopped off his car. "Just having a little car trouble."
"Did you call your parents?"
"No. They're gone for the weekend; my brother Eric has this big martial arts tournament going on."
"How were you planning on getting home?"
"I called to the tow company and they said they could give me a lift home."
He nodded his head. "I could give you a lift home myself."
Conner didn't answer at first. He still felt a little resentment towards Dr. O and wasn't too comfortable being alone with him at the moment. "No, it's fine. Really."
He knew right then and there that Conner still wasn't happy with his decision of continuing to be a ranger. "Look, in order for all of this to work I need you to trust me, that's the only way a team works."
"Look who's talking about teamwork." Conner got right into his teacher's face. "You weren't going to even tell us. When were we supposed to find out, huh? When you just collapse during a battle? When you go to morph and it backfires on you, huh? Tell me, when?" He was more than just angry, he was upset, furious.
"I guess I deserve that," Tommy sighed. He then knew he would have to give Conner a better reason. "All right, I'll tell you the reason." He eyed Conner carefully. "But it goes no further. This will just be between me and you."
"But-"
"No buts. This is one of those leader things, between one red ranger and another red ranger." He watched as Conner gave in and gave a nod. "Good," Tommy sighed and leaned against Conner's car. "The reason I cannot stop being a ranger right now, is because all of this that has happened is my fault. I created this problem."
"What are you talking about? I know you said you created those Tryranadrones, but come on, Dr. O, all of this can't-"
Dr. O cut him off. "I was standing right in front of them, alone in one of the labs…."
Tommy was the only one in Mercer's lab. He had been here for about week, studying the dino gems. When he held the gems in his hands, he could feel how powerful they were, maybe too powerful.
He set the gems down on the counter and that's when his eyes saw it, heavy liquid acid. He stared at the acid container for a long moment and then looked from it to the gems and back.
"Even then I knew those gems held a great power, too much power. I knew the risk in studying them and advancing on their technology held a great risk, and if they fell into the wrong hands, the results would have been murderous."
"You were going to destroy the gems." A confused look crossed Conner's face. "But then, how?"
"I hesitated. I thought about it for a good five minutes, pondering, what could happen if I allowed them to exist, allowed the testing on them to continue."
He held the gems in his hands, holding them above the liquid acid. The fumes of the acid burned his eyes through the glasses and mask he wore. He turned his hand, getting ready to drop them in, destroy them, but…
"But I never put them in. And I have regretted that mistake for the last six years." He turned to Conner. "So you see, Conner, if I had destroyed them then, then none of this would have ever happened. The Tyranodrones never would have been created, Mercer never would have done any of those tests on himself which created Mesogog, Smitty and Ellie would never have become Zeltrax and Elsa."
"I would have never become a ranger." Conner bowed his head down, sighing almost. Wondering what he should be feeling. If Tommy had destroyed the gems he and the others would have never become rangers, maybe even never become friends, and probably would have never met Dr. Oliver.
"No, you wouldn't have," answered Tommy softly, almost being able to read Conner's face with mixed feelings.
For the next few minutes, Conner thought about the events that had taken place all because Tommy had chosen not to destroy the gems. He, Kira, Ethan and Trent had all become friends. All of them had learned to put others before their own needs and wants. They had learned to value life, and had met some of the greatest rangers of all time. But then, wouldn't that be selfish? Because of Tommy not destroying the gems when he had the chance, Trent's father was dying. Two innocent people were turned into monsters. Mesogog and the Tyranodrones had been created and Janixsaur had come to the past to join forces with Mesogog, creating all sorts of problems.
Would everything have been better if the gems never existed? He didn't know and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know, because the fact was, everything that had happened up until now was the reason he was the person he was now.
"I don't know what to tell you, Dr. O." He gulped in heavily. "Other than the fact that some good has come out of it."
"Name one thing good that has come out of this," he sighed, stilling feeling ashamed of his actions, his own guilt.
"I got to meet you. The greatest ranger that has ever lived; because of you I became a better person. I learned there's more to life than just sports, that there are bigger things out there worth fighting for. I would have never been able to do that without you." Even as the words came out of his mouth, he wasn't really sure if it was him saying those things, being so open, but he knew it was coming from him, from his heart.
And for the first time, Tommy finally let go, standing there hearing Conner's words play over in his mind. He was able to begin to forgive himself for everything; he knew it wouldn't all happen at once, but as time would go on. One day he would be able to put all of this behind him.
"Thanks. That means a lot coming from you."