Jen awoke to the sound of her rude alarm clock blaring at six a.m., a time, she decided quickly, that felt far too early; nevertheless, she swung her legs over one side of the bed and somehow managed to pull out from under her warm blankets, dragging her feet till she reached the synthesizer and made a cup of coffee. She was supposed to meet the other Rangers in an hour for a quick breakfast, then take Wes down to HQ where they would brief him on the situation, a simple task that would undoubtedly become interesting with Alex in the same room.

You'll just have to get used to it, she told herself, neither are going anywhere. She ran her fingers through her messy hair, letting out a groan and setting her cup down to begin running the shower water; just as she began to undress, she heard a rude pounding on her door that continued for the thirty seconds or so that she tried to ignore it. Finally, with an annoyed curse, she put her sweater back on and went to confront whoever dared to disturb her at such an ungodly---

"Wes," she said, only half-surprised to see the blonde-haired Ranger standing outside her door with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Hey, I thought you were the early bird of the bunch!" he teased, his eyes twinkling.

"It was a long day." She paused, her glare shooting daggers into him. "What're you doing here? I know you don't like getting up early!" She folded her arms, raising one thin eyebrow skeptically.

"Hey, I've been with Eric for the past four years," Wes pointed out, "you don't think he dragged me out of bed at the crack of dawn every morning?"

"Kicking and screaming, no doubt," Jen muttered.

"What's that?"

"Nothing," she said, hastily, "anyway, you haven't answered---what are you doing here?"

"I," he said, determination clear in his playful voice, "am taking you out for breakfast---well, you have to find the spot. But anyway, I think it'd be good for us to sit down and catch up before we get busy." Instantly, his cheeks flushed a deep red. "You know, with Frax an' all---"

"I know," Jen cut him off, sharply. No need to be so cold, Jen, he is still your friend! "All right, all right . . . but I'm not going out till I've had my shower. So you'll just have to wait." Before she let him in, she frowned: "How'd you find my apartment anyway?"

He chuckled. "Jen, Lucas lives one floor above you," he reminded her, "not like I needed a map an' compass to navigate my way over here. I just asked Lucas."

"Oh yeah," she grumbled, quietly, opening the door all the way to allow him to step inside.

Wes stopped and looked around the dull apartment, with few decorations and hardly any color, for a moment, he frowned in what seemed to be distaste---then he saw the photo collection hanging on the other side of the room, something that immediately perked his interest; Jen watched as he walked over and stood in front of the wall, staring up at each picture. Her mother and father on the day of their 25th Anniversary . . . her two brothers and one sister in a family portrait taken a few months ago . . . and then there was one of Alex, not long after they had started dating, a picture of him leaning against the fence of her parent's home, staring out into his own world, oblivious to her snapping his picture.

Silently, Jen wondered what he was thinking as he stared at the picture of the man he had competed against to win her love years ago, she hoped he didn't harbor any hard feelings toward him---or her; not speaking again, she slipped into the bathroom and closed the door . . .

. . . "I was surprised," Wes commented as he and Jen walked through the city, "that the city still seems so much like home. I mean, it's different of course, bigger and . . . cleaner. But it feels familiar." He glanced at his companion. "Did you feel the same way, when you first went to my time?"

"Not so much at first," Jen said, "but after awhile, there were a lot of reminders."

"Like me," Wes finished for her, "or, my face, rather."

"Well yeah," Jen admitted, "that was part of it." She smiled. "You actually were more like Alex than I said, you know? He used to be really light-hearted, and he always liked to tease me, like you did. And do."

"Um . . . what changed?" Don't get too personal, Collins, this is the man she's in love with remember.

"I don't know exactly," Jen sighed, "maybe it was his fight with Ransik, or seeing the two of us together . . . he has changed. But so have I. I'm far from the girl he fell in love with."

"And yet," he said, softly, "things still worked out between you two." At her obvious grimace, he pressed: "Everything is okay, right, Jen?"

"I wish I could say it is . . . " she shivered, rubbing her arms. "He's having some troubles right now. We both are."

With me, no doubt. Damn. "I'm sorry," he said, "I-I hope everything turns out okay." He placed a hand on her back and rubbed it gently, in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. "Above all else, you're still one of my closest friends, and I want you to be happy." He slid his arm around her and pulled her close briefly, then let her go.

"Thanks---" before she could finish, her communicator beeped and Lucas' face appeared:

"Jen, Alex encountered Frax on patrol. He wants us to meet him at HQ asap."

"We'll be there."

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

"Alex!"

The former Red Ranger twisted from where he sat on the examiner's table, rubbing his arm gingerly as Jen hurried to him, the other four Rangers right behind her; he started speaking before she could, his voice urgent: "He was down by the old lab in East side, I don't know what he's doing, but I know he's got a shitload of cyclobots with him."

"Are you okay?" Jen demanded, impatiently, her hand running down from his shoulder to his bare arm, where a bruise had formed.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Alex replied, "Frax saw my car pull off and tried to follow, bumped me around a bit, that's all."

"Do you think he'll still be there?" Wes said, almost incredulously, "I mean, now he knows that we're aware---"

"I doubt he'll stay," Alex admitted, "but, in his haste to leave, he might forget some valuable information." He slid off the table, shouldering back into his jacket. "But we have to hurry. My car's outside."

"So is mine," Lucas said.

"Good---" he started for the door, giving orders as he walked "---I'll get some back-up and meet you all there. Be careful! He might've left the place rigged with explosives." He paused. "He knows we're coming."

As Alex disappeared, Jen began handing out her own orders: "Katie, I want you to get to the Arms Room as fast as you can and round up some extra ammo, we might need it. You've got your bike, so get back to us when you're done. Trip, double-check your scanning equipment, I want to make sure we don't walk into a trap."

Credited to Lucas' driving skills, they arrived on the scene only ten minutes later, Trip went out first with his scanning device ready, while the other three hung back, Lucas and Wes watching, as Jen stood to the side and spoke into her communicator; moments later, she returned to them: "Alex and Katie are on their way, they should be here within five minutes."

"Looks like we won't even need their help," Lucas commented, noting how quiet the area was and that Trip was having no troubles.

Nevertheless, Wes called out: "Hey, Trip! You find anything?"

The young Xybrian turned, smiling as he answered: "It's all clear so far! I'm gonna go inside and check it out, you guys can wander around outside without worry." As they started moving, he disappeared into the dark lab and began walking slowly, cautiously, across the floor, covered with broken glass, reeking with the smell of old experiments gone to waste; Trip morphed, his helmet shielding him from any chemical poisons as he went on.

Outside, Wes knelt at the corner of the old building, reaching down to touch the moisture that had accumulated there, he felt it touch his gloved fingers, but when he raised his hand, it was hardly noticeable; however, invisibility could not mask the smell, something he immediately recognized.

"Hey, guys!" he called, "come over here!"

Jen was the first to reach him, frowning when she saw the spill and squatting down so she could touch it as well---Wes held back her hand: "No need. It's gas."

"Gas?" Lucas echoed.

"We don't have gas in our time, Wes," Jen explained, "our vehicles don't operate with it---"

"So, obviously," Wes interrupted her, "this came from Frax. No one else in your time would have it." He shook his head. "What the hell would he want gas for anyway?"

"Rangers!"

They all looked up to see Alex hurrying toward them, Katie not far behind, the latter spoke first: "I've got us plenty extra, any luck finding anything?"

"Just this---" Jen gestured to the ground, catching Alex's attention.

He sniffed the air. "Gas?" At Wes' nod, he spoke again: "Gas is highly flammable . . . did Trip run all his scans yet?" He looked around for the Green Ranger, a scowl creasing his brow.

"He's inside," Wes answered.

"Alone?" Alex's eyes widened.

"He didn't want us following him until he could make sure it was safe," Lucas said, "he's the only one who has a scanner, after all. Besides, we needed to look around inside."

All at once, an older version of Alex came through as he snapped at them impatiently: "It didn't occur to you that maybe Frax left someone behind in there? He could be in trouble!"

"He has his communicator, Alex." Jen stood, putting her hand on his shoulder. "He'll call if he needs help."

"I'm going in to check on him," Alex said, regardlessly, "Katie, issue out those weapons. The rest of you continue---" he looked back down at the spill "---looking around." He spun around quickly and headed toward the building, rounding a corner and vanishing from their sight.

Jen sighed. "He's right," she admitted, "we should've followed him." Trip will have Alex now, he'll be fine. "Katie, I'll help you with those---"

"Jen, wait," Wes said, his voice growing more nervous as he knelt back down again, peering into a tiny hole at the bottom of the wall. "Check this out."

Jen dropped to her knees and stared into it, but still looked confused. "Wes, what is it?"

"Don't you see? There's a trail of gas going through there!" He pulled out the flashlight he kept in his pocket, shining down into the hole . . . memories came back to him of a class Eric had made him sit through, explaining in detail what seemed like every explosive known to mankind . . . "perhaps the most dangerous tool used in modern warfare" . . . Wes jumped up. "Shit! Get away from the wall! We've gotta let Alex know---"

"Wes, what is it?" Jen cried.

"That's C-4 packed in there!"

As he spoke, a load roar rolled through the building and the bricks of the wall began to tremble, then abruptly flew out in a fiery explosion; Wes felt a brick impact his side and gasped painfully as he fell, another one struck Katie in the head, she collapsed to the concrete ground with a cry. The blaze seemed to climb up the wall, engulfing the second floor as well, the windows shattered, glass rained down on the fallen Rangers---

---and just as suddenly as it had begun, the entire building took one last tremble and collapsed . . .

TBC