Note: Just to clear something up with the ages: Megan is 10, as is Jarrod and Jeff. Jenny is seven and is in the same grade as Erin who is eight. Walker and Erica are five and little Wes is three and a half. I have gone back to the last two chapters and cleared that all up. I kept on mixing up Megan and Erin's ages.

"Do you ever think about trying to find them?" asked Z as she and Jack walked through the junkyard, searching for anything that might be of some use to them.

"Find who?" asked Jack, as he climbed into a beat-up old van.

"Your parents, silly."

Jack didn't seem to be paying too much attention to what Z was saying. He was too involved in getting the van to start. He searched the floor mat for a key.

"Jack? Are you even listening to me?"

"Yes! Yeah baby!" exclaimed Jack when he found the key. He picked the key up and tried to start the van up. "Come on girl, you can do it." The van started to make a rumbling noise like it was getting ready to start and then it came to a stop, complete silence. "Damn!" Jack hit the dashboard and jumped out of the van and opened the hood. "Now let's see..."

"Do you even know what you're doing?" asked Z as she leaned over his shoulder.

Jack made a few adjustments. "Only one way to find out." He closed the hood and hopped back into the van, trying to start the engine once again. This time it started and remained running. "Guess I got the magic touch," he announced as he turned to Z waving at her to join him. "Come on and hop in, Z, we got some wheels now."

Z just shook her head and got into the passenger seat. "Do you know how to drive?"

"Sure I do," he announced.

"I mean other than at the arcade."

"Oh, come on Z, have a little faith," answered Jack as he got himself situated. "Besides how hard could it be?"

"I was afraid you were going to say that," sighed Z as she put her seatbelt on and said a little prayer. She loved Jack, but sometimes his over confident bullshitting got on her nerves.

"You worry too much." He put the van in drive and the two were on their way. He ran right into a fence.. "Don't even say it," exclaimed Jack knowing very well she was rolling her eyes at him.

"Oh, I wasn't going to say anything," she grinned.

"Sure you weren't." He laughed, as he backed away from the fence and drove on out of the junkyard.

"Oh, where is he?" Syd walked through the halls of the academy, out on the prowl looking for Sky. She hadn't seen him since their morning workout; after they were finished he had just gotten up and left without saying goodbye or where he was headed. She then spotted Boom who was a few feet ahead of her carrying a large amount of equipment in his hand. "Hey Boom."

"Ah!" Boom about jumped and came close to dropping everything. "Oh Syd, you startled me." He took a deep breath, as if relieved it wasn't Sky.

"Sorry," she answered that hadn't been her intentions.

"No worries," he answered with a smile brushing it off like it was nothing. "Was there something you needed?"

"I'm looking for Sky, have you seen him? I can't find him anywhere," she exclaimed slightly frustrated as if time was an issue. "We're supposed to meet with Commander Cruger in less than an hour to meet a new Cadet who's being placed in our squad."

"Sorry, haven't seen him anywhere."

"Oh." She smiled faintly. "Thanks anyways."

"Anytime." He walked past her, heading down the hall towards the direction of the lab, but then stopped and look back over to Syd as if an idea popped into his head. "Oh, but I might make a suggestion: look in the SPD Academy's Memorial Chamber."

She looked at him, confused. "But isn't that the place where they honor fallen officers?" What would Sky be doing there? She would expect him to be off training somewhere or studying.

Syd headed down the hall toward the SPD Academy's Memorial Chamber; she had never been in the room, only heard of it. It was supposed to be a great honor for any officer to become part of the antiquity. She was only a few feet away from the room when she spotted Sky, who had just walked out of the room, but headed in a different direction away from her. "Sky," she called after him, but he never heard her. "Great," she muttered. As she came up to the door she looked down the hall, but Sky was gone.

Curious as to why Sky would have gone into the room, she walked inside. No one else was inside, but the moment she stepped in she felt overwhelmed with a great honor. The room was filled with pictures and medals of fallen officers. She saw a picture of Andros and his team. She remembered her mother telling her stories of how one day when the Earth was under attack Andros and the others saved the Earth and so much more.

She then saw a picture of Dashel Jackson the third, who had just recently been placed in the antiquity. She had never met him, only heard stories about him from some of the older cadets. She was getting ready to head out when another picture caught her eye, of a blond-haired young man who looked very familiar to her. Who was he, why did he look so familiar to her? The more she looked at it, the more she felt like she knew him from somewhere.

"That's Commander Wesley Collins, one of the greatest rangers SPD had ever seen," announced Kat as she walked up behind Syd.

Syd could tell that Kat was very proud of this Commander Wesley Collins. She knew then he must have been a very brave and courages Ranger who sacrificed his life for others. "He looks so familiar to me." She turned to Kat. "But I don't think I ever met him." In the back of her mind she thought that maybe her dad knew a Wesley Collins, but she wasn't positive.

"No, but you do know his son," announced Kat.

"His son?" she looked at Kat, confused. She had only been at the academy for a few weeks and she was pretty sure none of her comrades have mentioned anything about having a dad who was a Ranger. That seemed to be the type of thing someone would brag about.

"Yes, Sky."

"Sky?" How could that be? "They have different last names."

"Yes. It's complicated, but Wes Collins was Sky's father."

Syd turned back and looked at the picture. She began to look deeper and deeper into it, and she was soon able to see Sky through the picture, there was no doubt in her mind that this man was indeed Sky's father. It opened a whole new world into how she thought about Sky. "So that's why he tries so hard." She turned back to Kat. "He wants to be like his dad." It all began to make sense to her, why Sky was the way he was. Why he was so determined. Why he spends nearly every waking moment training.

"Syd, good, there you are." Sky walked into the lobby and found Syd sitting on one of the couches. "Come on, Commander Cruger is waiting for us."

On their way out of the lobby, Syd began thinking back to what she learned about Sky. She wanted to talk to him, maybe even apologize if she ever made him feel that he works too hard. She wanted him to know she gets it now. That she understands. "Hey Sky, there's something I want to talk about with you."

"It'll have to wait until later," he replied as they headed down to the lower level of the Academy's front doors, where Commander Cruger was waiting for them, along with a man and woman and a young boy about 14 or so: Bridge Carson no doubt, the Carsons' only son, whose going to be a member of their squad.

"Good, you made it," Cruger announced as he signaled them over and began to introduce them. "Colin, Beth and Bridge, this is Schuyler Tate and Sydney Drew."

Both Beth and Colin stared at two faces which looked so familiar to them; it was almost like seeing both Wes and Gunther all over again. It had been years since they last spoke to Gunther. They had stayed in contact with Wes's father up until his death. Now years later they were face to face with their former comrades children.

"It's nice to meet you both." Colin smiled, feeling happy that his son would finally have friends who were like him. He would have friends that knew what it felt like to be different to have an extrodemary ability.

"Bridge, say hello to your new friends," encouraged his mother.

"Hi, I'm Bridge." Bridge held out his hand; both Sky and Syd couldn't help but notice that he was wearing gloves. Why was that, it wasn't cold? And if there was something wrong with his hands, it was unlikely he would be permitted into the academy due to the strong involvement of hand techniques, with hand to hand combat and weapons training.

"Sky. Nice to meet you," exclaimed Sky as he firmly shook Bridges hand.

"You can call me Syd." She smiled brightly at him.

"It's nice to meet you both," answered Bridge. He couldn't explain it but he felt comfortable around the two.

Cruger led Bridges parents off to the side where they could talk in privacy. This had only been about the second time they had met in person; the first was almost ten years ago, since then they only kept in contact by phone calls.

"Have his abilities progressed, since last we talked?"

"No. Everything has been the same," answered Colin. "You were right; the gloves did help control his ability."

Cruger nodded his head. "Perhaps one day he won't need to wear the gloves. I will do everything in my power to see that it happens."

"Thank you Commander Cruger, but even if you can't, he'll always be our son. We won't love him any differently," replied Beth. She was just thankful that her son would finally be able to use his gift to do some good.

"He's very lucky to have you."

Beth smiled and Colin wrapped his arm around her. "Sky sure has grown up. He looks so much like his father." Colin eyed Cruger right in the eyes. "How has he been doing?" He knew it couldn't be easy for Sky, losing his father and then just seven years later his grandfather. He only knew small details about how Sky came to be, all he knew is that it somehow involved the Time Force Rangers who had protected Silver Hills sixteen years ago.

"He's one of the best cadets I've ever seen," exclaimed Cruger proudly. "His behavior and attitude could use an adjustment, but other than that he fits in quite well here."

"And this is the break room." Sky showed Bridge into the room, along with Syd. "You can kick back and take it easy."

"Otherwise meaning, if you're looking for Sky this is the last place to look," grinned Syd. Sky gave her a sharp look. "What?" She looked at him innocently. "It's true."

Sky rolled his eyes. He didn't know what it was, but Syd kept on pushing his buttons, to the point that it drove him crazy. He pulled Bridge out of the break room. "Come on Bridge, one more place to show you."

They walked into the lab. "This is the lab, where all the weapons and programs are made."

"Wow. This place is cool. Way better then my lab back at home." Bridge walked around all wide-eyed, as he looked at the super computers and new weapons being made. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

Syd walked up to Sky and nudged him. "It's like taking a kid to a candy store."

Sky just groaned and rolled his eyes and walked away from her. "Come on Bridge, we should-"

"RUFF!" RIC came flying in and ran right up to Bridge.

"Wah! Who's this?" Bridge got down on his knees and patted RIC on the head.

"That would be RIC, he's-"

"He's awesome. A robo-dog, cool." Bridge stood up. "I bet you're real easy to clean up after. Huh, boy?" RIC replied with a bark and wagged his tail.

"Okay. Come on, we should start to head back," announced Sky.

"See yah around, RIC," waved Bridge.

"So you all set?" asked Colin as he and his wife stood in front of their son saying their goodbyes.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to do just fine here. This place is great!" answered Bridge excitedly. He was really looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.

"Good," smiled his mother. She wrapped her arms around Bridge. "Oh, my little boy is growing up!" She kissed his cheek.

"Mom!" Bridge sighed and then hugged his mother again and kissed her gently on the cheek. He then hugged his father and shared a few words with him.

Sky stood back watching, as the Carsons said their goodbyes to their son. In some ways he envied what Bridge had, whose parents were alive and well. He could tell just by watching them that they loved Bridge very much. It brought an aching in his heart, knowing he didn't have what Bridge had; both his parents had died when he was very little. He had no family… Eric…but, it wasn't the same.

"You okay?" asked Syd who had glanced over at Sky, as if being able to see right through him, that something was wrong.

He turned to her, staring at her blankly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, you just seem..."

"Just seem what?"

Syd sighed. In the short time she had come to know Sky, she realized that he wasn't one to talk about what he was feeling. He would put up a front and act as though everything was fine. "It's nothing. Just forget about it." She smiled faintly and turned down the hall to head towards her dorm. She hoped that maybe one day Sky would trust her enough to confine in her.

A few hours later….

Sky watched as Bridge unpacked, and for a moment felt a surge of anger, because now it made it the all more real that Dru wasn't coming back. They would never again be roommates, but then with one look at Bridge's boyish childlike face, he couldn't be angry or hold it against Bridge. It wasn't his fault Dru was transferred and no longer his roommate. Bridge was the new kid, just like he had been three years ago when Dru had welcomed him with open arms. Now the roles have been reversed and it was his turn to welcome the new cadet, his roommate with open arms.

"Need some help?"

"No. I got everything. Thanks though," replied Bridge as he set his books out on his shelf and pulled his computer out of a box and set it out on his desk.

"Can I ask you something personal?" Sky asked, he didn't mean to pry, but it had been lingering on his mind ever since he met Bridge. There had to be some explanation behind it.

"The gloves?" Bridge turned to face Sky. He knew it wouldn't be long until someone brought them up. "I get asked that a lot."

"Sorry. I didn't mean... If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine."

"No. It's all right." Bridge sat down on his bed, so he and Sky were face to face. "If we're going to be roommates and teammates, I probably should tell you." It only made sense.

"Okay."

Bridge fiddled with his hands. "Something happens when I touch people." He turned away from Sky, almost as if he was afraid he would be rejected, like by so many others. "I see things."

"What kind of things?"

"The past." He turned back to Sky. "Sometimes the future."

"How long have you-?"

"I was born this way. At least that's what my parents told me, but no one in my family has this ability." His knew his parents loved him no matter what, but it did hurt knowing that there was no one else like him.

Sky nodded his head. "Oh. So you wear the gloves to sort of control it?"

"Basically." Bridge was surprised that Sky seemed to be taking this so well. Most of the others he had told either laughed at him or called him a freak of nature. "You're not weirded out by this?"

"Why would I be?" Sky hopped all the way on his bed and lay down. "I was born messed up too."

"You can see people's past too?"

"No. I can create shields with my hands." Sky stared up at the ceiling and began creating a shield with his hand.

"Wow. Neat," Bridge watched in amazement. He couldn't believe it. He finally meant someone who was like him. "Can your parents do that too?"

"My parents are dead," replied Sky as he took the shield down and rolled over on his side so his back was facing Bridge.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Forget about it. It was a long time ago."