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Tommy opened his eyes slowly, only to find himself back in Amanda's apartment. His head was spinning, his vision was blurry, and his mind was still a little disorientated, but he was sure of where he was. He stood up, but the disorientation was too much for him, and he collapsed to the floor, going through a coffee table in the process.

Amanda, who was in the next room, hurried over to him. "Oh my God, are you okay?" she asked, helping him up. She sat him down on the couch, sitting next to him and putting his head on her shoulder. "Did it happen again? Where you somewhere else again?"

"I-I was with Kim," he sighed.

"Kim? Oh, you mean Kimberly Hart. She was your girlfriend, wasn't she?" she asked.

"Kind of. It was complicated."

"Tommy, I know your mind is playing tricks on you, and I know you think its all real, but…"

He cut short as he sat up. The disorientation was passing, and he was more aware of what was going on and where he was. "Amanda, I know now. I know what's happening to me," he said.

"This is great. This means you're on the road to recovery," she said eagerly.

Tommy stood up, looking around the room. It appeared to be a typical living room; a couch, a chair, a loveseat, even a coffee table (or at least what was left of it). The attention to detail was, to say the least, spectacular. It all seemed so real, so convincing.

"Amanda, none of this is real," he said.

"What?"

"I finally figured it out. This isn't real," he repeated.

She stood up, walking over to him, putting her hand gently on his face. "Tommy, we talked about this. I know how real your delusions must seem to you, your friends, your time as a ranger, but…"

He snatched away. "There have been times when I wanted out, when I was ready to call it quits and have a life of my own, but I can't. I have a duty, a destiny, and I have to…" this time, she interrupted him.

"I know it must seem real to you, but it isn't. You're sick Tommy, let me help you."

"What are your parent's names Amanda?" he asked.

"What?"

"Just answer the question."

"That's easy, my mom's name was…" she paused, but she wasn't sure why. "Her name was…"

"You don't remember, do you?"

"I-I don't…"

"None of this real Amanda. I created all of this; you, the hospital, all of it. This was going to be my easy out, a way for me to finally walk away from it all, but I can't. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to it, and there's no escaping my destiny," he said.

"But I… I mean, I'm…" she paused. "I don't understand."

"You said it yourself, the delusions will seem real, and will have their own personalities. I understand now what I have to do," he leaned in, kissing her warmly on the cheek.

"So what happens now? I mean…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Tommy's eyes glazed over, and he collapsed to the floor.

Tommy's eyes opened slowly, and for the first time, there was no disorientation at all. He tried to move, but soon discovered that he couldn't. He tried to look around, but he seemed to be stuck in… something. Everything was an odd, amber color, and no matter how hard he tried, he wasn't able to move.

"Come on Hayley," a voice said.

'Ethan,' he thought to himself.

"Activating…" Hayley announced, walking over to a machine of some sort, hitting a series of switches.

Just then, a beam of light hit him, and there was a strange humming sound. He tried to speak, but again, either his mouth was moving at all, or it was but nothing was coming out. The light seemed to be getting brighter, and whatever was forcing him to hold still began to dissolve. Soon, everything looked clear to him. Whatever the amber color was, it had faded. There was a flash of light, an explosion of some kind, but his mind was still much too confused to figure out what it was or where it came from.

"The rock, its fried!" another voice said.

'Kira,' he thought as his mind began to clear up.

"Yeah, but look…"

"It worked!" Kira squealed.

Hayley and the others rushed over to him, looking on in disbelief. There were still some things he was unsure of, but he knew he was in his lab. It all seemed so familiar to him, so real. Soon, the events leading up to that moment came rushing back to him. 'I was in a warehouse, the white ranger attacked me. He trapped me in some sort of amber rock,' he thought. Tommy looked over at Hayley, who had a concerned look on her face, but it was also combined with a look of relief. Still unsure as to what exactly happened, he walked towards the group.

"Dr. O!" Conner exclaimed with excitement on his face.

"Awesome!" Ethan added.

"Good work guys," he nodded. "Power down!" Tommy announced.

But nothing happened.

"Huh?" he looked around, unsure as to why he hadn't reverted to his normal form. He saw the look of concern on Hayley's face return, but decided to try it again. "I said, POWER DOWN!" he repeated.

Still, nothing happened.

"I think we might have a problem," he sighed.

"Dr. O, I know the suit looks good and all, but quit foolin' around," Kira mentioned, hoping to lighten the mood.

"I wish I could Kira. When Trent froze me in that amber, somehow my dino gem and my morpher must have remolecularized," he speculated.

"In other words?" Conner asked.

"He's stuck," Hayley announced.

That evening

"How long was I in there?" Tommy asked as he walked over to the couch, sitting down next to Hayley.

"Not even a day. The others found a meteor that allowed us to break you free."

"Only a day. It seemed like so much longer."

"Are you saying that the whole time you were in there, you were dreaming?" she asked him.

"It wasn't a dream, it all seemed so real. The sounds, the smell, the places. All of it was real," he told her.

"You were in an asylum, but you were traveling back and forth through time?"

"Not just time, but realities. Some of the events were familiar, but I don't remember actually doing any of them. Like the conversation I had with Kimberly about…" she cut him short.

"Kim was there?"

He nodded. "Yeah, she's the one who convinced me that I shouldn't give up, that what we do is worth fighting for," he said.

"I remember talking to you at school, you were always so glad that that part of your life was over. I know how much it meant to you to have a life of your own, but if I didn't know any better, I always felt like part of you missed being a ranger," Hayley said.

"Part of me did. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but there are times when I wonder if I'll ever get to settle down, get married, raise a family. I see the other rangers with their lives, and part of me wants that for myself. Kim eventually got married, Zach got married, Adam and Tanya have two kids now, and none of them ever look back. They did their part, and its over. Why is it never over for me?" he asked.

"It will be, after Mesagog is defeated."

"That's what I said when we defeated Zedd and Rita. We said it again when we stopped the machine empire, and I remember having this same talk with you before Andros and I led the other rangers to stop Mondo's generals from digging up Serpentera. Its never going to be over for me, is it? I can't escape the power for too long," he sighed.

"Its not a bad thing. You'll just have to find a way to do both. You can be a ranger and still have a family and friends. You never know, your children may grow up to be rangers someday," she said.

"I hope not."

"And who was this Amanda person?" Hayley asked, changing the subject.

"If I remember correctly, she was an intern when I was in the asylum," he paused. "I sort of had a crush on her," he confessed.

Hayley smirked slightly. "Don't worry, we'll find a way to demorph you. Its only a matter of time," she assured him.

He nodded. "I know. Thanks for not giving up on me back there."

"Never," Hayley smiled.

END