It was a new beginning again for him. He was starting over all over, picking up the pieces once again. Sometimes he felt he was cursed, or maybe his family was. The doctors had said she'd had it for years, just didn't know it until it was too late. It hadn't been his fault in any way, but he still felt guilty somehow. What good is it being from the future if you can't even help those you care about? But he did have happy memories, those were the best nine years of his life, and he wouldn't trade anything in the world for them; well, unless he could wish to do it all over again.

He and Jill had married and had a daughter, Jenny. Although Jill knew who they had named their daughter after, she only knew that he and Jen had been married for a short time and he had helped her raise her son, and they had died years ago. Although most of that was true, Sky was in fact very much alive. When it was near the time Jill was dying, he had told her the truth about who he really was, where he came from. She just smiled and said 'I always knew you were something special'.

It had only been a few months since she had died. He decided he and his seven-year-old daughter needed a new start, so they moved to Reefside, a place that had at one time been a home to him. He had friends there, well almost; it had been years since he had seen anyone of them. But that hadn't been his reason for going back there; surprisingly Jill's parents lived in Reefside. He almost found it ironic, like maybe it was meant to be.

He and Jenny were standing out in front of the Reefside Elementry School, she was starting first grade. He knew it was hard for her, starting off somewhere new, having to make friends all over again. He bent down in front of her, giving her a warm smile. "Don't worry you're going to have fun. The kids are going to love you."

"Really?"

"Yeah." He grinned. "And if anyone gives you any trouble, just tell them your dad could kick their butts."

"Daddy!"

He laughed. "Okay. You don't have to say that." He hugged her and then kissed her on the cheek. "Have a good day at school, honey."

"Okay." She waved. "Bye, Daddy." Jenny started into the school and was met by another seven-year-old girl with long black hair.

"Hi, I'm Erin."

"I'm Jenny, nice to meet you."

Erin grabbed her hand. "Come on, I'll show you around." Erin turned and waved goodbye to her mother. "Bye, Mom."

"Bye, honey," called her mother. "Have fun today."

Drake froze in his tracks, and felt a shiver go down his back at the sound of the woman's voice. The woman standing behind him, it was a voice from the past. He knew it was possible and likely he would run into one of them eventually, but he wasn't expecting it to be so soon.

"You have a beautiful daughter," announced Haley.

"Thanks, she gets it from her mother," he replied softly, and then there was a long pause. He thought she might have left, but then…

"So how've you been?" she asked all knowing in her voice.

He laughed, as he turned around. "How'd you know?"

"I saw you in the parking lot getting out of your car." She had to do a double take, but she knew instantly that was Alex Drake getting out of the car with a young girl.

"I guess my beard isn't much of a disguise," he replied, rubbing his chin. It wasn't a full beard, just not a clean shave. He hated it at first, but over time had gotten comfortable with it. And now he didn't know what he would do without it.

She smiled. "Well, for anyone who wasn't in the FBI, maybe. Eric and Tommy probably would have overlooked you in a crowd." She paused for a moment. "But I'm sure they'd love to see you." It was nearing twelve years since any of them had seen Alex or heard from him.

"Tommy maybe," he answered. Eric on the other hand given everything that happens with Wes, Drake wasn't too sure if the former Quantum Ranger would be thrilled to see him. "I don't know about Eric. He probably hates me." He couldn't blame him, some days he hated himself too.

She smiled faintly at him. "He doesn't hate you. He blamed himself more than anything, but he's better now."

"Good."

Hayley sighed heavily, she didn't want to ask it, but part of her wanted to know. Needed to know. She looked into his face. "Did you know?" Did he know about the impending faceoff that would find both Eric and Wes? Did he know they would lose Wes? Did he know they Sky would grow up without his father?

He sighed heavily, knowing that it would be hard for her to hear. "I did."

"Did you ever think-"

"Hundreds of times, I played it over and over in my head. I'd warn him, save him, or even take his place, but…" He bowed his head down. "Doing that would change too much, and I couldn't, as much as I wanted to, I couldn't. I couldn't risk them finding out about Sky." That had always been his top priority was protecting Sky, Jen little boy.

She could see very well that this hurt him, even more than it had hurt Eric. Alex had carried the guilt of knowing something was going to happen, but had no way to or how to stop it. "You did what you had to do."

He nodded. "Yeah." He smiled faintly not sure if that was totally true. He always felt he could have done more, for both Wes and Jen.

"At least they're together now." Hayley said with a faint smile, that seemed to be the only blessing in all of this, that Wes and Jen were finally together, but at a heartbreaking cost.

"Yeah." He smiled too. "Well, I should be going. I have a job interview."

"Where?"

"Where else, the police station."

Hayley waved. "See yah around Alex."

He turned and looked over his shoulder. "It's Drake now actually, Drake Alexander."

Hayley smiled as she watched him go, seeing that he really had changed. She could see it in his eyes; he no longer looked at life the way he once did. He understood that the love Wes and Jen had once shared had been real and should have been so much more. But she could also see sadness in his eyes, as if he had gone down a long road of his own tragedies.

"Good. You have succeeded in phase one of my plan," hissed Gruumm.

Charlie, hidden deep in the underground of SPD, grinned happily at the holographic image of Gruumm. "Of course, my master, and now that we're Rangers, the sky's the limit," she exclaimed. "When the time comes the others and I will be ready to strike."

"Good. Until then keep on doing what you've been doing. Doggie Cruger suspects nothing, right?"

Charlie snickered. "The old dog doesn't suspect a thing. He finds us more loyal than most of his cadets. It's like taking candy from a baby."

"Good." His eyes turned red. "Because the last thing we need is another misstep; you are very lucky that Dashel Jackson died before he could blow your cover."

"I assure you, an incident like that will not happen again. You have my word."

"I'll hold you to your word." Gruumm then cut the connection.

It had been four months since his passing and they still were no closer to finding out who had killed Dash. The video provided no information and Dru had left the scene long before Dash had showed up. He had even talked to the girl with whom he claimed he had a relationship. The girl provided no information, and after that he had her transferred to the academy on KO-35. It was looking like it would go unsolved. He just hated not being able to give Dash's family any closure. All he could provide to his young wife and three children was his promise that they would be okay. He would send them a check every month and when the boys were old enough, they would be able to attend the academy free of charge.

Doggie sighed heavily, as he went over the new enrollment papers for 2017. Several new cadets would arrive next week, but there was only one he had his eyes set on. Sydney Drew, age fifteen. He would soon have two of the five. It wouldn't be long before he would have three of five. Last week he had heard from the Carsons, and they both assured him that Bridge their son would arriving at the academy, earlier then expected. He just wouldn't arrive in time at the start of the semester. Not that he minded, he was getting Bridge a lot sooner than he originally planned. Bridge was still fourteen years old and it would be several months until he was fifteen, but since the age requirement had been lowered, it was no longer a problem.

All he could hope was that Sky would work well with them. Sky wasn't the easiest person to get along with, he could hotheaded and let his pride get the best of him. He was nothing like his father; Wes had been easygoing and laid back. Cruger wondered if Sky was like his mother, but he had no way of knowing. He had never met Sky's mother and Wes would rarely ever talk about her in front of him. He could only guess that Sky's behavior could be the result of what he had gone through growing up. But despite Sky's misgivings, he knew that somewhere deep inside Sky was a great man, a man his father would be proud of. He just needed someone to show him the way.

Sky sat alone on his bed in the dorm room, door wide open. On the days he had no classes or drills, he either spent the time at the gym or in his room thinking about his life, what he wanted and what he wished he could change. He rarely ever hung out with the other cadets; sure there were a few he would hang with, but not many. He kept on telling himself that none of them would be able to replace Dru, not the kind of friendship, the kind of bond that they had shared. Dru had been like a brother to him, still was, always would be. Deep down he beleved he would never have another friend like him.

Sky felt something nudgeing at his foot. "What the…" Sky looked down and saw RIC staring up at him. He had no idea why, but RIC never seemed to leave him alone. Whenever he was out on his rounds of the academy, RIC was always right on his tail and wouldn't leave him alone. And on top of that when ever he was in the game room, RIC stood at his legs, with a ball in his mouth. "What? What do you want RIC?" he announced harshly not understanding what the robotic dog found so interesting about him.

RIC dropped his ball in front of Sky's feet and barked, wagging his tail.

Sky lightly kicked the ball away, and watched as RIC watched the ball roll by disappointedly. "Sorry, I don't feel like playing." He got up and walked out of his room hoping not to be followed, but he never had been that lucky when it came to RIC.

RIC quickly followed behind him, and when Sky started to move faster RIC moved just as fast. After a few minutes of walking down the hall, Sky had had about enough. He was sick and tired of the annoying robotic dog, always on his tail. Angry, Sky turned around. "RIC, LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Having his feelings hurt, RIC turned around and walked away with his head and tail hung low. He didn't even get excited when he walked past Kat.

"Hi RI-" Kat noticed that something was very wrong with RIC. She then looked Sky right in the eyes, knowing that he must have said something that hurt RIC'S feelings. "What you say to him?"

"I told him to leave me along," exclaimed a annoyed Sky, He didn't care at the moment just how bad his behavior was or if he hurt some silly robots feelings. "I've had about enough of him following me around like he's my shadow."

"You hurt his feelings, Sky. You should be ashamed of yourself." Kat just shook her head; and to think she had defended Sky to Cruger. "You should apologize to him."

Apologize? Sky found the whole idea ridiculous. There was no way he even apologize to a machine. "He's just a machine." Sky rolled his eyes. "Last I checked machines don't feel anything."

"I'll let that comment slide," answered Kat disappointingly.

"Why?" exclaimed Sky, not wanting any special treatment. "I get in trouble for every other comment I make. Why let this one be any different?"

Kat just shook her head disappointedly. "Are you so angry at the world, that you have forgotten what today is?" When Sky made no attempt to answer she got right into his face. "Happy birthday Sky." And with that said she stormed off, leaving Sky blown away.

Happy Birthday… It was his birthday. He was seventeen years old today. How could he have forgotten his own birthday? How could anyone forget the one day out of the year where it's their day to shine?

That did explain a few things, why both Eric and Hayley had been calling him all day, but he had never returned any of their calls. He didn't even listen to the several voice messages they had left him.

Was his birthday no longer important, had it become just another day to him? Clearly it must have; most of the birthdays he had after his seventh birthday were small and usually only consisted of his grandfather and Philips and occasionally a call from Eric. And he knew why, his father had died just a few days before his seventh birthday. Ten years, it had been ten years. His father had been gone for a decade. It didn't seem possible. He didn't want to believe that it had been that long. But it had been. His dad had missed the last ten years of his life.

His cell phone began to ring. He took it off his belt, it was Eric. For a moment he just let it ring a few times. Part of him didn't want to answer he, while the other part of him knew if he didn't the calls would just keep on coming. He might as well get it over with. "…Hey."