Two Months Later…

Little Schuyler was running through the Bio Lab Hallways.

'Ani? Alec? Where are you?' he cried out as he found every room empty. 'Mama? Papa?' He continued to run down the halls. 'Uncle Wes? Auntie Jen? Grandpa Alan?' Nothing… there was no one…

Then he stopped dead in his tracks. In front of him was a monster with bright red eyes, and all around him were members of his family tied up. Fat tears welled up in his eyes. The monster fired at him and he raised his hands in defense… a bright blue shield came up in front of him, protecting him.

Eric ran into his son's room and stopped. Sky was lying in his bed crying… but a blue light surrounded him. He made his way over to the bed and reached out to touch him, but he was thrown back against the opposite wall, landing with a thud.

Taylor was up instantly. She knew Sky was having a nightmare, but she didn't expect to hear a crash. She walked into the room and saw Eric lying on the ground and Sky still on the bed crying. She approached Sky, but Eric stopped her.

"Don't touch it… it's some sort of shield," he said as she stood, rubbing his arm.

"We can't just let him stay asleep!" she just about screamed. She got as close to her son as she could. "Sky… Sky honey wake up," she said calmly.

Sky screamed as he heard Taylor calling him, snapping him awake. The shield went down and Taylor grabbed him in a fierce hug, tears coming from his eyes.

"Mama," he cried into her shoulder. Taylor glanced over to Eric who looked absolutely terrified at what had happened to his son.

"Eric we have to do something," Taylor said as Sky fell back to sleep in his mother's arms. "What the hell was that… that thing coming from his hand?"

"I don't know," Eric said honestly.

"Papa!"

Eric's eyes immediately turned to his daughter's door just across the hall. Taylor saw the nervous look in his eyes as he hurried over.

As soon as he opened the door he saw Ani sitting up in her bed with tears in her eyes. "Ani," he said as he sat on the bed with her, taking her into his arms.

"Papa, is Sky okay?" she asked in a small voice. Eric stroked her hair… his daughter was usually a heavy sleeper… how had she known her brother was in trouble?

"Sky's fine," he said soothingly. Ani contained her tears and sniffled. "You want a tissue?" he asked. Ani nodded her head and pointing over to a box on her dresser. Just as Eric was about to go get them, he saw the box float over to Ani's outstretched hand.

Ani looked at the box and was frightened by what had just happened. Eric saw her lip begin to tremble, and held her against him tightly.

"You want to stay with mama and I tonight?" he asked her. She nodded against his chest and Eric brought her into the hallway where Taylor was waiting with Sky.

"What happened?" she asked. Eric felt Ani drift back to sleep and he rocked her gently.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said softly as they walked back to their room. They placed the kids on their king size bed and sat on their couch. Eric winced slightly and Taylor lifted his shirt.

"Oh my…" she said softly as she saw the huge bruise that was forming on his back. She poked it a little.

"Do you feel the need to abuse me?" he asked. Taylor put his shirt down.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"I walked in, went to touch Sky and that shield shot me clear across the room… then Ani…"

"What happened to Ani?"

"She wanted a tissue and then the box floated across the room to her hand," he said plainly.

"Seriously… What happened?" she asked.

"I'm dead serious… something's not right. Ani knew Sky was in trouble."

Taylor sank into the couch and put her head in her hands. "What are we going to do? How are we going to explain this?"

Eric put his arm around her. "I think we should talk to Cruger."

"Cruger? Why?" she asked almost annoyed. Then it all hit her like a ton of bricks… that day four years ago in the lab… she had felt something go through her… "You think…"

Eric nodded his head. "It's the only thing that would make sense… There's no way they could have developed those… powers without some sort of outside interference. Even with our ranger powers we were never able to do anything like that," he said calmly.

Taylor leaned into him. "Maybe… maybe we shouldn't have another baby," she whispered. Eric looked her in the eye with a confused look. "I mean… if this is happening to them, who to say our other kids won't have the same problem?"

"I wouldn't call it a problem," he said.

"I just… I just want them protected," she said as she looked to the two sleeping children on her bed. "I almost lost them once… I don't think I could live with myself if anything ever happened to them."

Eric pulled her to him and kissed her forehead. "This all happened for a reason Taylor. I want them safe just as much as you do, and from what I've seen, Sky can protect himself just fine with that little trick of his." Taylor just couldn't shake the feeling that her kids were still in some sort of danger.

"Mama," Sky whimpered in his sleep. Taylor rose and lay down with him. Sky's little arms wound their way around her neck and she stroked his back.

"We have to do something Eric… I don't care what we have to do. I want to know what happened," she said.

Eric walked over to the bed and curled up with Taylor and Sky in his arms. Ani was next to Sky and turned over so she was facing her family, still asleep.

"I promise we'll figure this out," he vowed. "No matter what."