He tossed and turned violently in bed, kicking most of the covers off, clenching and quivering. His face tensed up in a frantic horror and his body was covered in a thick layer of sweat. His heart was racing, pounding rapidly against his chest; he cried out, nearly jumping up out of bed in a fright, eyes wide open, he felt a rush come over him. He turned over towards his trash can, spitting up. It took a moment for him to calm himself down; as his breathing began to steady, slowly it began to lessen and he felt his heartbeat return to normal. Chase looked over at his clock; it was 3:00 AM. He ran his hand over his face; it was drenched in sweat. "Ah man, not again…." He pulled off the rest of the sheets and headed out of his room.

Megan woke up to the sounds of footsteps and the front door opening. She looked over at her clock; it was 3:03 AM, still pretty early for anyone to be getting up. She knew that Sky liked to get up early and go for a run, but that normally wasn't until six in the morning. Curious, she crawled out of bed and decided to investigate, walking past Chase's room to see his door wide open and bed empty. She could hear the soft sounds of Sky breathing from his room, sleeping soundly.

Chase stood outside, hanging by the apartment's balcony, just staring off into the night-covered sky and feeling the cool breeze blow against him, cooling him down and bringing some ease to the heart-wrenching nightmare that had interrupted his sleep. He ran his hand through his damp hair before digging his hand into the pocket of his pants and pulling out a small container. He opened it and popped a few pills into his mouth.

Not too far away, hidden behind a wall, Megan watched him. "Now what's he taking?" She tried to concentrate on the small container, but couldn't see what he had taken; it was too dark to tell.

Feeling as though he was being watched, Chase turned his head, but Megan had already quickly ducked out of sight. The new Blue Ranger once again looked off to the night sky sights, feeling a sort of peace come over him; staring off to the stars, maybe even searching for the home he had left behind. Already the dream was beginning to fade, for now that is….. He knew it would only be a matter of time until he would have it again. He only hoped that it wouldn't be until he had his own place where he wouldn't have to go off and hide, to get away. He wasn't quite ready to share his experience with anyone. He would much rather just keep it to himself and put it all behind him. This was his chance to start over, on everything…..

It was morning; the guys and Megan sat around the table eating their breakfast and reading the paper. Megan kept on looking at Chase as he would eat his cereal and read the paper, as if she were trying to read him or see if she could figure out what he had taken last night. If Chase noticed her looking at him strangely he made no point to show it. He folded up the paper and set it on the table.

"Well, I'm going to go for a run…." Once he took care of his dishes he was out the door.

"What was all that about?"

"Huh?" Megan turned her head and looked to Sky who was getting up from his seat, bowl in hand, heading towards the sink.

"You're looking at Chase like he's a wanted criminal."

"I saw him take something in the middle of the night, some kind of pills."

"And that's your reason for looking at him like you've seen him on a wanted poster?" Sky just shook his head and began to wash the dirty dishes.

"Well, shouldn't we ask him? He could be addicted…"

"….We aren't going to say anything." Sky dried off his hands. "It was probably just some aspirin." And even if it wasn't, it wasn't something Sky wanted to get involved with. He had his own problems to deal with, he didn't have time to worry about someone else's. Not to mention the fact that when Megan wasn't being her cocky little self, she was being just a little too nosy. "Besides, I've told you before to mind your own business…." He gave her one of his hard glares before heading to the bathroom to shower.

Megan just shook her head. In the pit of her stomach something told her that there was something not quite right with Chase and she was determined to find out what that was, whether Sky liked it or not.

After a quick shower, Sky was dressed and ready to head out when all of a sudden Sam appeared in front of him, scaring the crap out of him. He was not expecting the young boy to appear out of nowhere. "Sam!" yelled Sky. "What have I told you about teleporting?"

"….Ah, not to do it, unless it's an emergency."

"And…" Sky narrowed his eyes, looking down at the red-haired boy. He couldn't even count how many times this has happened or how many times afterwards he had told Sam not to teleport in on people, for this exact reason. Sam used to be such a cooperative kid, but then he started hanging out with Megan, who has gotten him into trouble numerous times.

"To use the front door when entering a room." Sam shrugged his shoulders, giving Sky an innocent look that he had always been so good at, although his boyish charm always played better on Z since nothing ever seemed to get past Sky. "Sorry, I must have forgot."

"I've told you over a dozen times." Sky reached for the keys to his bike and grabbed for his helmet. "You didn't forget."

"Oh, lighten up, Sky." Megan came in from her room. "It's not like he teleported in on anything personal…." She grinned; just knowing it irritated the hell out of him. It hadn't taken her long enough to know which buttons to push with Sky and she never missed a opportunity to get a rise out of him.

Sky abruptly laughed. "Very funny," knowing that she was just trying to get on his nerves. He swore she was more and more like her father every day, maybe even worse. "Do you think you two can stay out of trouble for a few hours?"

"Of course." Megan wrapped her arm around her young friend's shoulder. "Don't we always…." Thinking about it for a second and seeing the look on Sky's face that said otherwise, "You know, don't answer that. Now you go off and have some fun with Syd."

Sky just shook his head and looked to Sam, knowing he could count on Sam for not suggesting any kind of trouble. "Sam, don't let her talk you into anything that you wouldn't normally do."

"Sure thing, you can count on me, boss." Sam gave him a thumbs-up.

Without another word Sky was out the door, just hoping he wouldn't get any calls from the neighbors about any trouble from the duo. Ever since Megan had joined the Academy she and Sam had become inseparable, and the slight age difference of Megan being older didn't seem to matter.

Once Sky was out of sight, a big grin came over Megan's face as she stared at her young friend with one of her cunning troublesome looks. Sam started backing away, not liking it one bit. "Oh no, I just got done promising Sky that there wouldn't be any trouble."

"Yes. You promised….." she pointed at him, "But I didn't; now here's what we're going to do….."

"Why do I let you talk me into these things?"

"Oh chill out, it's nothing bad…."

"That's what you said the last time…." Recalling the last time she had come up with one of her crazy ideas.

"What eating you?" exclaimed Z, as she opened the door to hers and Syd's apartment for Sky, who looked like he was about to explode.

"Oh just Megan, being a pain in the ass again…."

"A girl after my own heart." Z grinned. She had come to like Megan very much. There weren't too many people in this world who were bold enough to do whatever it took to get a rise of of Sky. "I just love that kid."

"Yeah, you would," muttered Sky.

"Ouch. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," said Z as she closed the door, as Sky stepped inside.

"She was so much easier to get along with when she was seven."

Z crossed her arms, loving every bit of this. "Hmmm….Some would say the same about you."

"Great. If I don't get it from one I get it from the other…."

"Oh, lighten up, Sky." Z walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You know we all love you."

Sky just let out a sigh, as he spotted Syd coming from her room. He was more than just relieved to see her, just wanting a couple of hours without any nonsense. "You ready to go, Syd?"

"Yep." Syd smiled as she walked up to him, giving him a quick kiss on the lips, as she wrapped her arms around him.

Sky was a little slow to respond as he put his arms around her. He turned his head away when he noticed Z was watching them. "Okay, let's go." He took Syd's hand and headed out the door.

Z watched them go, her face frowning; while she was entirely sure that Syd was committed to this relationship she wasn't so sure if Sky was. Something just didn't seem right to her, something just felt off. She would have pondered a little longer, but her cell phone began to ring. It was Jack.

"Hey, bro…."

"Tell me again why we're following him? He doesn't look suspicious," announced Sam, as he and Megan ducked behind a bush, watching as Chase did a full workout in the park of stretches, kicks, and punches. "Besides, didn't you say he seemed like a nice guy?"

"It's always the nice ones you got to watch out for." Megan watched closely as Chase took a sip of his water.

Sam got a grin on his face. "Wait a minute?... You like him, don't you….?"

"Shut up!" Megan slugged Sam in the shoulder. "And I do not; beside he's too old for me."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you still can't like him, like him."

"I don't like him like that. This isn't one of those kinds of things. I'm not like you, I prefer to go for guys my own age," exclaimed Megan, as she referred to the slight crush Sam had on Z.

"Z is just a friend." Sam crossed his arms against his chest.

"Yeah!" Megan eyed him. "Then how'd you know I was talking about her?"

Sam knew it was useless to argue with Megan; she hated to be wrong and would do whatever she could to have the last word. He sighed and turned his attention back to where they had been watching Chase. "Hey, where'd he go?"

Megan looked too, but couldn't find the new Blue Ranger anywhere in sight. "I don't know….He was just right….."

"Looking for someone?"

Their hearts skipped a beat. Sam and Megan glanced at each other cautiously before turning their heads around to find Chase. "It was her idea!" Sam pointed at Megan, fully intending to get out of trouble this time around.

"Sam!"

Chase just shook his head and grinned, as if he was used to childish mischief. "So how 'bout one of you explain why you've been following me…" He wasn't surprised in the least to see the surprised and confused looks on their faces; they probably had thought they had done a good job at keeping out of sight, but the truth was he had known for a while that they had been following him. "Well….? I'm waiting."

"Uncle Tommy!" shouted little Wesley, as the seven-year-old jumped into his uncle's arms the moment he walked through the door, nearly knocking the long retired Ranger to the floor. "Did you bring me anything?"

"Wesley!" scolded his father, but in a calm way. He knew his son was just happy to see Tommy; it had been a while since they all had seen him.

"Well…." Tommy set Wesley down and threw a grin at Eric before facing his little nephew. "Why don't you go head to my truck, see if you find something you like?"

"Okay!" Wesley was out the door in a flash. Not a second later Hayley and Erin came down the stairs with bright smiles on their faces.

Tommy caught Erin's eyes. "Erin, you might want to go help your brother out; it's for both of you."

"What is it?" Erin exclaimed as she headed out the door after her brother excitedly.

"Yes…." Eric wasn't so sure if he was going to like this gift. He knew Tommy well enough to know when he was up to something. "What exactly did you bring back with you…?"

"Oh, just a little something…."

"…It's a puppy!" They heard the two shout happily from outside, followed by several barks.

Tommy, Eric and Hayley sat out back watching as Wesley and Erin played with their new puppy, a golden retriever. When Tommy had heard from Megan when he last talked to her on the phone about how devastated little Wesley was about Trip, their old dog they had gotten from Sky, passing away, he couldn't help but want to fill the void the boy had been feeling.

"I can't believe you got them a dog. I just got done burying the last one…." Although Eric would never admit it, he had become very attached to Trip the Great Dane over the years; he wasn't sure if it was because of Sky or if it had to do with Wes. Trip had been the dog that Wes had paid for, just a week before he was murdered, for Sky's seventh birthday. But then again, it was nice to see his son happy again. It's never easy to lose a pet, in fact losing Trip had been both his son's and daughter's first experience of losing a loved one.

"Oh, come on Eric, they named it after you," Tommy grinned.

"That's only because Rex sounds better than Dragon."

"Well, we're very thankful for the puppy." Hayley placed her hand on Eric's knee. "Aren't we, honey?"

"Yeah. I guess we'll keep it; can't take it away from the kids now."

"So how's Alex….Drake been?" asked Tommy, now wanting to turn this conversation into something a little more pressing.

"Okay. Sky still hasn't returned any of his calls," sighed Eric, though he too had wanted Sky to know the truth, he was beginning to wonder if that in itself was a mistake, considering what had come out of it.

Tommy leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his beer. "It's a lot to deal with. I'm sure Sky will come around. He always does."

"Yeah." Eric finished off his beer and went for another from the cooler by their feet. "So how are things going with you and Kim, did you pop the question?" asked Eric, wanting to turn the tables. He knew it had to be coming up soon, Tommy and Kim weren't getting any younger; they both were now in their early forties.

Tommy didn't answer; the smile that had been on his face disappeared as he took another sip from his beer. He and Kim had started dating about six months after her husband Pete Cooper's death, the result of a water-skiing accident. They had been dating now for a little over two years on and off, while Tommy still kept his job part time at Reefside High, teaching off a video feed. Things had been great for a while, but lately…..

"Tommy?" Hayley recognized that look. 'Is everything all right? Kim and Junior are okay, aren't they?" Junior was Kim and Pete's fifteen year old son. Though there were a few problems in the beginning, Tommy and Junior had a pretty good relationship with each other. He knew he would never be able to replace Pete, but the two had done 'father-son' things together, going on fishing trips together.

"Kim's fine…..at least that's what she says…" Tommy stared off, watching Wesley and Erin, watching them laughing and rolling around in the grass with Rex. It nearly brought tears to his eyes; the aching in his heart that he had hoped to leave behind him in Florida had apparently traveled back with him. He felt numb inside, as he swallowed a lump in the back of his throat. And then he could no longer hold it in, as tears streamed down his cheeks.

"Now I know something is wrong." Eric knew this wasn't like Tommy, to just break down, not unless it was for a very good reason. "You can tell us, we're all friends here."

When Tommy didn't answer, Hayley got up from her seat and went and knelt in front of Tommy, taking his hands in hers. "Tommy, what happened?"

He took a moment, wanting to gather some composure; he had already shed numerous tears over this for the past few weeks. The whole trip back home had been nothing but tears. "Kim….she was pregnant…." He nearly choked on his own words. "But a few weeks ago, she had a miscarriage, we lost the baby…." All he wanted was to start a family, and now….his unborn child was dead and his relationship with Kim had been torn.

"I'm so…. so sorry, Tommy." Hayley wrapped her arms around her old friend, letting him lean on her, letting her take care of him.

Eric sat uncomfortably in his seat, this wasn't exactly the kind of news he had been expecting. None of them had even known Kim was pregnant, which led Eric to believe she must not have been pregnant for very long, they had only just talked to Tommy a couple of months ago on the phone and he hadn't mentioned anything about it.

"Daddy, what's wrong with Uncle Tommy?" asked Wesley, as he and his sister walked over with Rex right at their feet. They had seen their uncle break down from a distance and watched as their mother consoled him.

"Something bad happened, didn't it?" said Erin, though she didn't know exactly what was wrong, she was old enough to know that something was very wrong with her uncle; she had never in her life seen him so sad or even cry.

Eric, knowing this wasn't the time or place to tell them what had happened, decided it would be best just to let his wife and Tommy have some time alone together without interruptions. She was better at things like this. "Why don't I take you two out for some ice cream, let Mom and Tommy talk for a while?"

Later that night…..

Hayley was already in bed by the time Eric had gotten back with the kids from ice cream and a trip to the pet store to get some things for Rex. Tommy had already gone back to his house for the night.

"Thanks for taking the kids out," smiled Hayley as Eric climbed into bed with her.

"Thought you two could use some time alone together." Not that he wanted to bring it up again, but he had gathered that Tommy might be back in Reefside a lot longer than he had been in the last two years. "What'd he say?"

"After they lost the baby, they tried to make things work between them, but it just all fell apart. Kim doesn't want to talk about it, wants to act like it didn't happen. Tommy did everything he could, until Kim asked him to leave…..said it just hurt too much to be together." Hayley bowed her head down, sighing, feeling an overwhelming amount of sadness come over her, a sadness she hadn't felt in a very long time.

"Hey, you okay?" Eric wrapped his arm around his wife. "We'll get Tommy through this; he's gotten us through some tough times."

"I know." She forced a smile, and kissed Eric on the lips. "….It's just I know how badly he's always wanted to be a father."

"I know…" Eric sighed. He considered himself lucky; back when he had started out as a Silver Guardian he had never thought he would settle down, get married, have kids, a dog. Not with the kind of life he had had growing up. He had gotten lucky, getting all he had now. "So did Megan call?"

"Yes. She told me to tell you hello and she'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Did she say anything else?"

"They have a new roommate, Chase Ryder, he's the new Blue Ranger come all the way from Mirinoi."

"Say anything about Sky?"

"Just that he's his usual charming self and he's still dating Syd."

"You don't sound too thrilled about that….I mean, I'm not too excited about him intermixing with the Drews, either." It wasn't so much that he didn't like Syd; she was all right in his book. Her father, on the other hand, was nothing more than a rat as far as he was concerned.

"No…It's fine. Sky seems happy when he's with her."

"Then what is it?" asked Eric. Ever since they had learned the two had been dating he had noticed that Hayley never did seem really positive on the relationship.

"It's nothing." She kissed him quickly and forced a smile to hide whatever feelings she had about Sky and his present relationship. "Let's just go to sleep."

Eric decided just to leave it at that; it was late and they both were tired.
"All right."