'Jen, I hate to wake you, but you have an incoming transmission,' a voice said over the com system.
Jen opened her eyes slowly, then rolled over in her bed, turning on her light. She yawned and stretched, then headed over to the control panel in her room. "What is it Angie?" she inquired, yawning again.
'You have a priority transmission, its Captain Logan,' she responded.
'Captain Logan,' she thought. 'There's a name I haven't heard in years.'
After defeating Ransik and returning to the year 3000, she thought her mission was over and she was looking forward to leaving Time Force. In fact, all of them asked to be released and sent back to the 21st century to live the rest of their lives. For Jen, it was much more personal. It was Captain Logan who refused their offers, but allowed the pink and green rangers, Jen & Trip, to return to the 21st century to carry out one final mission. He explained to them that the heirs of destiny would step forth to claim their places in destiny, and it would be their duty to ensure that history fulfilled itself. At the time, she didn't care about the mission at all. This was her chance to be reunited with Wes, and apon her return, they were married. Wes remained leader of the Silver Guardians, but when his father died, he took on the responsibility of running Bio-Lab, his father's company. Jen and Wes researched the Trixyruim project together, but in their first attempt to activate the crystal, Wes was killed. A formal investigation proved to be inconclusive, considering there was no body to present as evidence. The explosion from the Trixyruim tore half of the building apart, and because Wes was in the lab when the explosion went off, there was never even a search for his body. Jen was determined that Wes' death wouldn't be in vain, but she also knew that she wouldn't be able to continue the research after Bio-Lab closed. She turned to Ms. Fairweather, and since then, they had worked together on stabilizing the crystal. As time passed, she had almost forgotten about her mission. Trip and Nadira had settled down and had children, and so occupied with her research, her mission was the farthest thing from her mind. Then, the heirs of destiny arrived just as Captain Logan explained to her, and her research was used in the development of the Trixyruim morphers. The Power Rangers Trixyruim Force was born, and together, they were able to defeat Shin Getti, Shao Kahn, Zolara and the Psycho Rangers. Although the thought had occurred to her that now that the mission was done, she would be reassigned. She had grown fond of the kids, and she and Ms. Fairweather had become very close to, but she welcomed the chance to go back to the year 3000.
Finally, she would get the chance to put it all behind her.
"I'll take it in here Angie, thanks," Jen said, then turned on her view screen.
"Officer Collins, its good to see you," Captain Logan said as his image appeared on the screen.
"You too, sir," she said, getting the small talk out the way.
"The history banks state that your mission has come to its end. Trip has been contacted, its time for you to come home," he informed her.
"When should I expect the time ship sir?" she asked him.
He paused. "You're not going to fight me on this?" he replied.
"No sir, I'm looking forward to reassignment," she told him.
"The time ship will arrive in one hour your time. That should give you a chance to pack your belongings," Captain Logan said.
"Very good sir, it'll be good to see you again," she said.
"Alex will be glad to see you as well. See you soon, Logan out," he said, and the screen blinked off.
'Wait a second,' she thought to herself. 'Alex? It can't be,'
She stood up, putting on her lab coat and hurried down the hallway, making her way to the control center. When she arrived, Josh was working on the control panels. He noticed the confused look on her face, then turned to her.
"Excited about going home, I take it," he brought up.
Almost ignoring his statement, she walked over to the panel. "Can you do me a favor?" she asked him.
"Um, yeah, sure," Josh said.
"Can you pull up all the information on the explosion at Bio-Lab a few years back?" Jen asked.
Josh walked over to the panel, inputting the codes to pull up the information. "Isn't that when Wes... " he paused. "I mean, that accident at Bio-lab when..." he paused again. "I mean, isn't that where..." he was cut short.
"Yes, I need you to cross reference that with all available information on Trixyruim and all known side effects to its exposure," she instructed.
"Okay Jen, you got it. But what are you looking for?" Josh asked.
"The truth," she said.
Jen had read over all the information Josh pulled up for her, and was able to make some sense out of all of it. So occupied with her work, she didn't notice the rangers walk into the room, each of them taking seats behind her, all of them curious as to what she was doing. Finally, she turned around, noticing them.
"How long have all of you been here?" Jen asked.
"About 30 minutes. We're worried about you, what's going on?" Rebecca replied, speaking for the group.
"Wes died in an explosion while working on Trixyruim. The explosion took out half of the building, and his body was never recovered. The investigation into it didn't find any traces of Trixyruim radiation, but that's because they didn't look for it," she brought up.
"What are you getting at?" Mike asked.
"When Trixyruim is used incorrectly and in its unstable form, it opens time holes in the space/time continuum, just like it did in our battle with Doomtron and Q- Rex," she told them.
Josh stood up. "So you're saying that the explosion in the lab wasn't an explosion at all..." he was cut short.
"It was a time hole that opened inside the lab, sucking half the building into the hole itself," she continued.
"Which means Wes wasn't killed, he was trapped inside the time hole, which is why they couldn't find his body," Josh finished off.
"Whoa, wait a sec, you're saying that Wes is still alive, just in a time hole somewhere?" Rebecca asked.
"I think that Wes was sucked into a time hole and is very much alive, but in a different point in time," Jen told them.
"I'll be the first to tell you your theory is sound, but do you have any other proof other than this theory?" Josh asked.
"I just received a transmission from Captain Logan, he said Alex was looking forward to seeing me," she said.
The room remained silent for a moment.
"Okay, what does that mean?" Karen asked.
"It means that if Alex is a descendant of Wes, when Wes died in the past, Alex should have been erased from history. The fact that Alex is still alive means Wes had to survive long enough to have a child," Jen pointed out.
"So what's the plan?" Ka'Ron asked.
"There is no plan. When the time ship arrives, I'm going to find Wes," she said.
"But how, he could be almost anywhere in time," Mike pointed out.
"A Trixyruim explosion that big would leave high levels of radiation. I can scan history for traces of Trixyruim radiation, and that should lead me to Wes," she explained.
"Good plan, but you'll need help. We're coming with you," Karen told her.
Jen shook her head. "No, you guys are too important to the future. What you do here is the foundation of what will be Time Force in the future, you all have to stay here," she said.
"But you do need help," Josh mentioned.
"Don't worry, I have someone in mind," Jen told him.
"No Jen, no way!" Trip snapped at her as they stood outside the Aqua Base, waiting for the time ship to touch down.
"Why not Trip, if there's a chance that Wes is alive, its worth the risk," she told him.
"You're talking about tempting fate Jen. Haven't you learned anything from this mission, everything happens for a reason," he said.
"I have learned something, and I'm not going to ignore the chance that Wes is still out there. He needs me, he needs us," Jen said.
"No Jen, I can't,"
"I'm your superior officer Trip, I could order you to help, but I won't. Wes is a part of our team, and he needs us. We came back to the 21st century to help him once, and now, he needs us again. Come with me Trip," she said, stating her case.
Trip let out a sigh. "Nadira isn't going to like this," he moaned.
Minutes later, the time ship came through a temporal vortex in the sky, landing a few feet away from the Aqua Base. A beam of blue light touched down in front of the ship, and when it dissipated, Katie and Lucas were standing in front of them wearing their time force uniforms.
"Jen," Katie cried, running over to her, wrapping her arms around her.
"Katie, you're crushing my ribs," Jen mumbled.
Still unaware of her own strength, Katie let her go.
"Sorry,"
"Its okay Katie, its good to see you," she said.
Lucas walked over to Jen, kissing her warmly on the cheek. "Time has been good to you Jen," he said.
"You too,"
Katie wrapped her arms around Trip, actually spinning him around.
"I missed you too Katie," he said.
"We'll have plenty of time to catch up on old time guys, but we have to get going," Lucas said.
Trip looked over to Jen, waiting for her to tell the others about her plans. "Guys, I'm going to need your help with something," she mentioned.
"Sure Jen, what is it?" Katie asked her.
She paused. "I have proof that Wes is still alive. I plan on using the time ship to find him," she said.
"Find him? Where?" Lucas asked.
"In time," Jen confessed.
"Do you realize how many protocols you're going to break by doing this? You're up for full promotion..." he was cut short.
"The only reason I agreed to come back here was for Wes, and if there's a chance I can be with him again, I'm going to do it," Jen explained.
The four of them looked at one another, then back at Jen.
"So how do we start?" Katie asked.
They headed into the time ship, and Jen began to scan the data banks, looking for a Trixyruim signature throughout time.
"Why didn't you ask the power rangers for help?" Lucas asked, not realizing how strange it would sound until he heard it for himself.
"They're much too important to the future for me to risk them, this is something I have to do, not them," she said.
"I'm sure the twins wanted to help though," Trip pointed out.
"There, I have it. There's an unusual Trixyruim reading in the year... 2000," she said with a touch of confusion in her voice.
"A year before we came here!" Trip added.
"Trixyruim shouldn't have been invented at that point in time, so that's where our search should start," she turned to the rest of them.
"I understand if you don't want to come. I can leave all of you here and do this on my own. All I really need is the time ship," Jen said.
"No Jen, we're a team. We're all going," Katie said.
Jen nodded. "Lets get started,"
As the time ship lifted off, the rangers stood at the window in the Aqua Base, waving goodbye to their friend.
"I hope she finds what she's looking for," Rebecca sighed.
Ms. Fairweather looked at Rebecca and smiled.
"I have a feeling she will Becca," she said.
The time ship touched down outside of Silver Hills, and the rangers thought it would be best to leave it near the beach, out of sight.
"The first thing we'll need is civilian clothes for you guys. I can't have you walking around in your Time Force uniforms," Jen said.
Katie picked up a duffel bag, opening it up to reveal their old clothes. "Somehow, I thought this would come in handy," she said.
"Okay you two, get dressed and lets get going. I managed to put together a radiation detector. It should lead us right to Wes," she said.
"Wait a second, we're forgetting something," Trip brought up.
"What is it?" she asked.
"If this is the year 2000, that means Shin Getti is here," he said.
"How is that possible?" Katie asked.
"The prophecy says that he was here in the year 2000, and he slaughtered millions of people. It wasn't until the Great Sage trapped him in the sphere of eternity that the city was saved," he explained.
"Okay, that means we'll have to stay out of times way. We won't interfere with the time line. Everything has to be as it should be," Jen told them.
"Agreed," Lucas said.
The four of them headed into the city, and Jen used her gadget to track down Wes' location. As they walked, Jen was so occupied with the readings that she didn't even notice it.
"Jen, look," Katie said.
She finally took her eyes away from the screen, then looked up.
"Oh my God," she sighed, realizing she was standing in front of the clock tower.
"This sure brings back a lot of memories," Lucas said.
Jen sighed. "Come on, we've got a job to do," she said.
"If Wes is here, he'd do his best not to disrupt the time line. He'd be hiding out, avoiding himself," Trip said.
"What do you mean?" Katie asked.
"In the year 2000, we haven't met Wes yet, so he's here, still finding ways not to follow in his father's footsteps. If Wes from the future is here, he'd be trying to avoid his younger self so that the time line would stay on track," he explained.
"If you were Wes, where would you hide?" Lucas asked as they continued to walk.
"STOP!" Jen yelled.
All of them stopped dead in their tracks.
"What is it?" Lucas asked.
"He's here, in the clock tower," she said.
Katie looked around to make sure no one was around, then snatched the boards away from the door. The four of them walked in, rushing up the stairs. Sure enough, Wes was sitting in the corner, half asleep.
"Wes," Jen called out.
The others stood back, allowing Jen a moment with her husband. Wes looked up, and the first thing Jen noticed was that he had a beard now, and his hair was a lot longer. Wes pulled the hair back away from his face, then got a good look at her.
"Jen?" he mumbled.
Tears rolled down her face as Wes stood up. "Yes, its me," she sighed.
Wes actually took a step back. "No, its not you. It's another illusion. Get away from me!" he screamed.
He picked up a board, swinging at her, but she was to avoid it.
"Wes, its really me, your wife," she said.
"I don't believe you!" he yelled.
Jen looked back at the others, but none of them were making a move. They knew it was something she had to work out on her own.
"Wes, I know about the explosion, and I know the Trixyruim opened a time hole that sucked you back to the year 2000. It took me 20 years to figure it out, but I'm here, and I've found you," Jen explained.
Her statement got his attention, but it wasn't enough. "You're wrong, it didn't send me to the year 2000, it send me to 1980. I've been stuck here for 20 years waiting for someone to come for me. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't see you, but it's all in my mind. I'm tired of it, just leave me alone!" he snapped.
'The blast must have knocked him to the year 1980, but MY exposure to the radiation confused the readings,' she thought to herself.
"Wes, do you remember when I told you I loved you for the first time?" she asked him. He looked at her, but didn't say anything. "We were standing on the beach in front of the time ship. You told me you wished you could live 1000 years so we could be together, remember? I came back for you, and we got married, I still have the ring," she pointed the ring out on her finger. "I've never taken it off. We waited so long to come for you because we thought you were dead. Its me Wes, its really me," Jen cried.
Wes dropped the board, taking a step forward. Jen nodded, encouraging him to come closer. He reached out, touching her face. Suddenly, it all seemed to make sense to him.
"Jennifer?" he mumbled.
"Yes honey, its me," she cried.
They wrapped their arms around one another as tears rolled down both their faces.
"Its really you," he sighed.
The others took that as their cue to come up the steps, walking over to them.
"Wes, its good to see you," Trip said, then pointed to his head. "I still have my hat."
Wes smiled.
Jen backed away from him, allowing the others to see him. Katie rushed him, picking him up as she hugged him.
"Yeah, its really you," Wes screamed out. Katie realized she was crushing him, then put him down.
"Sorry," she said.
"Actually Katie, I missed your hugs," he said.
"What have you been doing all this time?" Lucas asked him.
"I couldn't go home, so I came here. I opened up the odd jobs shop, but I didn't get much business. After a few years, I realized that no one was coming to look for me, so I decided to stay here until you showed up from the year 3000 for the first time. I thought if I warned myself, I could stop this from happening," he explained.
"Well, now we're here. We can be together again," Jen sighed.
"I knew I'd find you here," they heard a voice say. The five of them turned around to see Alex standing there in his Time Force uniform.
"Alex!" Jen mumbled.
"Do you know how many protocols you've broken by coming here?" he asked them.
They all remained silent, except for Jen. "I don't care, I came here to save Wes. It worth whatever punishment you or Captain Logan can dish out," she snapped.
Even after all this time, after all he had been though, seeing Alex still seemed stranger to Wes. It was like looking in a mirror.
"Jennifer, Captain Logan said you were being reassigned, but he didn't tell you what the assignment was. Your mission is to travel here, to the year 2000, to be reunited with your husband," he said.
"What?" the others said in unison.
"The two of you must remain here and have a child, a daughter," he told them.
"And she will keep the bloodline going to eventually give birth to you in the year 3000," Jen finished.
"Correct, but there is some bad news,"
"What?" Wes asked.
"In exactly five years, Shin Getti will kill the two of you in an attack. Your daughter will witness the murder, and later seek revenge on Shin Getti," Alex said.
"No, I won't let my daughter go off..." she paused, and suddenly, it made sense to her. ", Rebecca," she sighed.
"Yes, history can fulfill itself now," he told them, then turned to the others. "Its time for us to go," he told them.
One by one, Katie, Lucas and Trip walked down the steps, leaving the clock tower. Alex was last to leave, but before he walked down the steps, he turned to them one more time.
"Try to stay out of histories way," he said, then walked away.
Back at the Aqua Base, Ms. Fairweather sat in front of the control panel, and the screen blinked on.
"I thought you would want to know, Alex and the others have come back, and the mission was a success," Captain Logan told her.
She smiled. "Should I tell them what happened?" she asked.
"If you feel its necessary, it won't effect the time line," he said.
"I understand," she said, then turned off the screen.
She turned around to see Rebecca standing behind her.
"You knew, didn't you? All this time, you knew," she said. Ms. Fairweather stood up.
"What do you mean Becca?" she asked, still not sure how much Rebecca knew.
Rebecca handed her a picture. "Thats a picture of me with my parents when I was four years old, its the only picture I have of them. Jen and Wes are my parents, aren't they?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes Becca, they are. Now you know the truth, and now you know that you belong in this group as much as the rest of them," Ms. Fairweather said.
"I wish I had known, I wish I could have spent more time with her before..." she was cut short.
"If you had known, things wouldn't have worked out the way they did. Remember Becca, everything happens for a reason," Ms. Fairweather said as she handed her the picture, then walked out the room.
