He didn't know where he was or even how he had gotten here, it was all a blank. He felt cold and weak, but for some reason it didn't bother him, not even the sharp stabbing pain he felt in his chest and head. Slowly he opened his eyes, but only to be even more confused; everything was a blur and a gusty wind was blowing. "…Wh…Where am I?" asked Sky as he pushed himself up, only to have his legs give way and his body drop to the ground.
On some conscious level that still remained inside of him he was sure some bones had been broken; the combination of the biking accident and his battles with Mirloc had finally taken its toll on him, but for some strange and unexplained reason that he couldn't figure out he didn't seem to care anymore. ….Am I dead? He didn't feel dead, but at the same time he wasn't sure what he should believe. If he was dead, he didn't know where he would be going or even if there was anywhere to go. …After everything that had happened in his life, he wasn't sure what to believe anymore.
"….It's useless, there's no way out," called out a weak and tired voice. "…I've tried."
Sky laid flat on his back and turned his head in the direction he thought the voice was coming from; he put all his focus and concentration that he could in his weakened state into trying to narrow down the stranger's voice. Perhaps he wasn't dead, after all. "…Who's there?" He wasn't sure how much time had passed until the stranger slowly crawled his way over to him.
Slowly Sky opened his eyes, trying to take the stranger's face in… His heart began racing. There, right next to him, was a young man just as beat up as he was, but that wasn't what had gotten his attention. The young man was wearing an old tattered SPD uniform. Sky's eye fell onto the young mans battered face as his heart skipped a beat. "You're….You're... you're alive…." But before he could say anything else, he felt his body tiring as he drifted into unconsciousness…. And just like so many time before the man beside him too, drifted into a deep sleep.
…The battle scene was going hard as Chase and Drake continued to hold their own, but both were growing tired and knew if something didn't happen quickly they wouldn't be able to last for much longer; Mirloc would eventually overpower them. Mirloc kicked Drake hard in the gut, nearly knocking the wind out of the former Power Ranger.
"Drake, you all right?" asked Chase as he knelt down next to him, making sure to keep one eye locked on Mirloc who was standing just a few inches away, not seeming to care how long this would take, as if he already had proclaimed himself the winner.
Drake held his chest tightly as he took deep breaths. His heart raced rapidly; he knew time was running out. If they didn't get Sky out now they might never be able to and his former son would be forever trapped inside Mirloc, which was something he could not allow to happen. He couldn't break the promise he made to Jen all those years ago. He couldn't leave the boy he never stopped loving trapped in whatever hell Mirloc had imprisoned him in. "…We've got to hold it together!" he exclaimed.
"…There…..I have it…." Sam announced a little breathlessly, but then a second later he screamed out in pain, a horrifying sound, that gained Drake's, Chase's and even Mirloc's attention.
A bright blue ghostly light surrounded the young teen, as he levitated above the ground. Megan was frozen, not sure what to do. In all the times she had witness Sam use his ability, she has never seen anything lik this. "….Sam!" she cried, but her young friend never answered.
"…What the hell is he doing?" exclaimed Chase. He had never seen anything like this from Sam before.
Drake's eyes widened as if he understood what was going on, but knew what Sam was attempting was very dangerous given his young age and inexperience of new territory of his ability. Damnit Sam, you're not ready for that….. But there was nothing he could do now, it was already happening. The only thing he could do was act upon it and help Sam. He turned to the Chase the blue SPD Ranger. "….When I give the word, follow my lead."
All Chase could do was nod his head in agreement, he didn't know what was going on with Sam, but knew he would have to trust Drake on this. "….You got it!"
"What's going on?" questioned Mirloc, eyeing the young boy. He didn't know just what he was doing, but he was picking up on an extreme power source from him, one unlike he had ever felt before, especially from a child. "….What is that boy doing?" he demanded, glaring at Drake, knowing that the former Ranger and Time Force Officer knew what the child was doing. "Tell me! He shouldn't have that kind of power..."
"Things are about to get a lot more interesting," exclaimed Drake as he glanced over his shoulder, watching as the blue ghost light around Sam grew bigger. It was now or never, this might be Sky's only hope, but he knew if this did in fact work, time would be something they wouldn't have. He could feel his heart racing, knowing the next few minutes would mean either life or death for all of them. "….NOW!" he shouted, as he jumped towards Mirloc, Chase following his lead. They tackled Mirloc to the ground as the light force coming from Sam hit Mirloc…..
…..Slowly Sky started to come to as he felt a bright light shining in his eyes. He turned his head and saw what looked like a portal, with a young boy standing near it. "…..Sam?" Sky gasped, unsure if this was really happening or if this was some dream. He was so out of it that he didn't know what to make of it. Was he dreaming?
"Sky, you have to hurry, I don't know how long I can keep it open…." Sam's voice was soft and weak, as if every ounce of his strength was being pulled away from him to keep the portal open.
Sky tried to push himself up but couldn't. "….I can't…." His body felt heavy and tired. He just wanted to close his eyes and drift away. "…Too tired…."
"Please…..you have to try…" Sam cried out to him …already feeling himself losing control to keep the portal open. "…We need you, Sky. ….You're a Power Ranger, please don't give up." Sam could feel his body growing weary as he dropped to one knee. "…Please Sky…try again. You can't give up..."
Sky's vision was starting to go again, he was feeling the heavy sleep come over him once again, as if the longer he remained here the more he wanted to stay, but he could feel Sam's words trying to penetrate through him. He could hear Sam crying out to him, telling him to hurry. He had to try again, no matter how tired he was, he had to try again. He pushed himself up, one knee to the ground, taking a moment to gather his senses, trying to push back the haziness.
"That's it, Sky…." Sam called out again, as the portal slowly began to get smaller. "Hurry!"
Sky's eyes locked onto the body lying next to him. He wouldn't leave him behind. Not again. "….Just hang on a little longer, Sam." He knelt down next to the body, slowly lifting him up. "…Come on, we're getting out of here." What happened next he wasn't sure, all he could see was him heading towards Sam and the portal and feeling himself being pulled into a bright bluish light…..
….The bright light that had surrounded Sam diminished and he dropped to the ground. Megan quickly dove down next to him trying to wake him up. "…Sam…. Sam!" she cried out, but still the boy would not answer. "SAM!" she yelled again slapping him in the face, hoping to get through to her young friend. Sam jerked awake, gasping for air; he was vaguely aware of Megan telling him to take it slow and not to talk. ….A second later a bright blue light shone above Mirloc, Chase, and Drake, and it looked as if a hole in the sky opened and out dropped Sky and another. "…Sky!" Megan exclaimed. She looked down at Sam, who was still taking in slow and steady breaths. "You did it Sam, you got him out…." And then that's when she realized there were two bodies, someone else had come out with Sky. "….You got them out!" Who else had been in there? She turned to Sam with questioning eyes wanting to know who the other person was. He shook his head in response, he didn't know.
Drake and Chase jumped to their feet, while Mirloc appeared weakened from having his prisoners pulled right from him. ….Drake sighed in relief seeing Sky out, but knew the situation was very dire. The young red Ranger was badly hurt and required serious medical attention, but what got his heart really going was the other SPD uniformed officer lying next to Sky. Drake looked as though he'd seen a ghost… "…Wes!" he said breathlessly.
He could hear Mirloc laughing, as the weakened clone pushed himself up slightly, catching his breath from the extreme drain of energy. "….What, you thought he was dead all this time?" he laughed, as his eyes once again met with Drake. "…The plan never was to kill Wes Collins; he was much more valuable alive."
"…You wanted him to get to Sky," answered Drake.
"No…." Mirloc grinned as he wiped the blood from his lip. "….I wanted him for this…" He turned his head, smirking to himself.
Drake had no clue what he was referring to, he looked in the direction of the purple beast and saw what he had feared since he arrived here coming right towards them. It was an all too familiar young woman wearing a pink tank who had come out for a run. "…Oh no!" Jen….. "…Jen, stay…" Before he or even Chase could react, Mirloc drew his blaster at them, stunning both of them.
"…What's going on here!?" Jen exclaimed, seeing the horrifying sight of a battle that had taken place, but then her eyes locked onto the young man with blood stained blond hair lying on the ground unmoving. "…Wes!" She started to run towards him, totally unaware of Mirloc locking eyes on her and aiming his blaster right at her, setting it to kill….
"…No, Jen…." Drake gasped trying to warn her, but his words were lost, she was far too lost in the fact that Wes was lying on the ground in front of her. This Jen still believed that the Wes of this time was dead and had no clue that the Wes in front of her now was from the future, a future that ironically believed he was also dead; that he had died years ago in a face off against Mirloc. The very being before them.
"…This time, there is nobody to get in my way," hissed Mirloc. No one would stand in his way of making sure Sky Tate never see the light of day. "…It's lights out for you, missy."
Jen was fully alert now, but felt frozen, she couldn't move, she couldn't morph, her heart raced rapidly, as her eyes locked onto the blaster Mirloc was pointing towards her. "….Get down!" She was vaguely aware of a young man shouting at her, as he shoved her to the ground. "…It ends now, Mirloc, once and for all!"
The next few seconds happened so fast, that nothing seemed to register until after the fact. Somehow Sky, even with his immense injuries, had managed to find some strength to get Jen out of the way just before Mirloc blasted three shots towards her. The first two Sky managed to deflect right back at Mirloc, but with the third shot Sky couldn't hold his shield up any longer and it hit him right in the chest. He felt a sharp pain and dropped to the ground as he felt a dizzy blackness close around him. It was becoming harder for him to breathe, but not before watching as Mirloc dropped to the ground. Disbelief was in Sky's eyes that he had done it, he finally had gotten the best of Mirloc. He watched with satisfaction as Mirloc took his very last breath and his cold yellow eyes closed for what Sky hoped would be the very last time…..
Sky's was breathing heavily as he locked his eyes onto Jen, his mother who was hovering over him, still trying to process everything that was going on. He tried to speak to her, but the words wouldn't come out. He could feel himself drifting away.
"Hey, hey!" Jen shouted knowing this wasn't good, her unknown savior needed to stay awake. "You need to stay with me.."
"…Oh no!" Chase quickly jumped to his feet and demorphed, knowing that the shot Sky had taken could kill his young friend. "Sky…"
"….Sky!" Drake grabbed a hold of his chest and ran towards the young man he still thought of as his son, his heart racing. He began slapping Sky, trying to wake him up. "…Sky, please, you have to wake up…." But the young red Ranger never opened his eyes. Drakes heart pounded against his chest. He quickly reached into his belt harness, his hand shaking, grabbing a small pack and pulled out two shots.
Chase crept around Mirloc, making sure to keep his blaster in hand. He walked around the purple mutant clone before he bent down to feel for a pulse, to make damn sure that there was no chance that Mirloc was still alive. When he was hundred percent sure they wouldn't be having any more trouble from Mirloc he walked up behind Drake, watching as he prepared two injections. "…What are you doing?"
"…This will keep them stable, but we need to get them back now if they're going to stand a chance." He knew the injuries were serious, blood was all over both of their bodies and he wasn't sure what kind of condition Wes would be in or what side effects if any he could have from being imprisoned in Mirloc for so long.
"….Alex?" Jen exclaimed almost questioningly as she looked at the older man who was kneeling down next to the young man who had protected her. She couldn't be sure …he looked like Alex, but a much older version of the Alex she knew… This Alex has a bread and hints of gray hair, so unlike the Alex that was working back at the cabin.
It had been a good many years since he had laid his eyes on her, but there was no way he could deny who he was. Not to her. Not after everything they have been through together. They had known each other for a good many years. She knew his face, his voice and even though he was over a decade older than the Alex she knew, she knew it was him. "…I don't have much time to explain, Jennifer," he knew calling her by her full name would get her attention, that what he had to say was very serious. "...but if I don't get them back to the future, they'll both die."
"….The future?" her eyes widened as she looked over at Wes, who was wearing an SPD uniform. She knew SPD wasn't supposed to exist on earth, not for a couple more years. How could that be? Unless... "…Are you saying that Wes ….is alive?"
He didn't answer her right away, as he injected both Sky and Wes with more medicine, knowing it would only give them a little bit of time to keep them stable until he was able to get them back to their time. It pained him he would have to be short with Jen, but they didn't have the time to wait. "…Yes. …You'll find out that he's alive, a few days from now."
"…How far in time are you from?" she asked, not understanding how Wes looked so young, while Alex looked much older. It didn't make sense…. There were so many questions flowing around in her mind.
"…..It's complicated, Wes was trapped inside Mirlocs dimension for a long time," he sighed heavily, as he brushed a falling tear from her face. "You know I can't tell you everything, too much depends on it, but I need to get Sky and Wes back, or we're going to lose them both." He hated to keep things from her, not being able to tell her, but he knew if she knew too much it could change everything…. And even though there were things he would love to change, the risk of changing too much was too high.
"…Who is he?" she asked, looking down at the young man who had saved her life. If nothing else, she wanted to know who the handsome young man was, to know who would risk his own life to save hers.
"….Jen, I can't….."
"….He's your…." Megan started, as she and Sam slowly made their way over to the group, only to be cut off by Drake.
"Megan, don't," he firmly announced as he gave her a hard stern look. "…She can't know…"
"….Alex please, who is he, what's going on here?" She looked her old friend in the eyes, wanting answers from him. "…I know they're with SPD, I recognize the uniforms and logos…" She wasn't stupid or blind, and though she understood the whole reasoning of needing to keep information from her to protect the timeline, deep down she felt there was a reason why this young man had risked his own life to save her and she wanted to know.
"Tell her Drake," Chase pleaded with him. "I have enough charge in the memory eraser for one more use," he sighed heavily as he looked Jen in the eyes for the third time today. "She has a right to know, even if she'll forget."
"Please Alex," Jen cried pleading with her old friend. "Who is he?" She wanted to know even if for a few mere seconds, she wanted to know. She needed to know.
Against his better judgment, Alex knew she had a right to know, even if she wouldn't remember this moment or what had happened here, she deserved to know. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat as he looked her in the eyes. "…His name is Schuyler Colin Tate, Sky," he paused for a moment knowing this next part would come with a shocking blow. "He's your son, Jen, ….yours and Wes's."
Jen couldn't believe it; her eyes widened. That was the farthest thing from her mind, the last thing she ever thought she would hear coming from Alex's mouth. "…My son? Wes and I are going to have a son…." She just watched as he answered in a nod. And then an even bigger question came to her mind. "….Why didn't I come with you guys?" She knew that if her son and Wes were in trouble she would have come ….she knew that. So, why wasn't she here?
He felt a stabbing pain in his heart, the question he didn't want to answer, the question he had dreaded she would ask him, had been asked. How could he tell her that her time with Sky would be short and that her time with Wes would be even less. How could he tell her that this moment right here and now, would be the only time the three were ever together in one place? How could he break her heart like that? How could he do that again? …But he wouldn't have to answer that question as Jen reached out and gripped his hand, as if she understood.
"….You don't have to answer that." She smiled faintly. She could see the pain in his eyes. The thing he didn't want to tell her. And though a part of her wanted to know, she knew it wouldn't matter. None of this would. She would forget this meeting. She would forget talking to this older version of Alex and everything he has told her. Nothing he would have to say would matter. All that mattered now was saving her boys. "….I know you did everything you could." She had tears in her eyes as she stared down at her son and the man she would always love, knowing time was something they both didn't have. "…Get them home safely." The only thing she wanted was for both of them to be safe, even if that was without her.
"….You have my word Jen." He turned to Chase, holding out his hand, wanting the memory wiper and knowing that in order for the future to stay intact this needed to be done.
Drake turned to Sam, who was standing close to Megan, looking a little better then he had before. "…Sam, you think you can get us back to the time ship?"
"Yes. …That's a whole lot easier than creating portals through other dimensions."
"Good. Because the moment I pull this trigger, we need to be gone." Sam nodded his head as Drake turned back to Jen, knowing that this was hard for her, but in a short moment it wouldn't matter anymore because she wouldn't ever remember it happening. "….I'm sorry, Jen," he cried with tears in his eyes. "Forgive me..."
"There's nothing to forgive Alex," she cried, as she closed her eyes, as her former lover and friend pulled the trigger to remove any memory of this moment.
It had been just a couple of hours since Cliff had departed. Mike hoped that one day he would return, but deep down he knew that wouldn't happen. Too much had happened between them and it probably would be for the best. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that Cliff had made the right decision by leaving. He knew the young man had a long road ahead of him; he needed to find peace with what had happened, something that might take years to happen.
He just stood at the door for a moment, watching Cassie rest in her bed peacefully. Kendrix had told him a few minutes ago that she was going to be fine, with some physical theory, but they all knew it was going to take more than that before the former pink Ranger's life was back to normal. She had a long road of recovery ahead of her.
"…Hey." He heard her call out to him. Her eyes fluttered open, her voice was a bit soft, but loud enough for him to hear.
"Hey…." He smiled as he walked over to her and sat down next to her. "….How you feeling?"
"….Tired. Hungry…. Weak." She smiled. "….I guess that's to be expected for someone who's come out of a coma."
"….Yeah," he smiled faintly. "What do you remember?"
She shook her head; everything about that day was still hazy and unclear in her mind. "…I don't know. It's all a blur…." She looked Mike in the eyes, as if she wanted something from him. "…What happened, Mike? What happened to Sirius? ….To my team, Ashley, Andros, Carlos, and T.J.?" She could feel tears collecting in her eyes, as if she feared she already knew. "….My mother wouldn't tell me."
Mike felt a pain in his stomach, much like he had felt the day his daughter had died in battle. The moment he had to tell his wife their daughter wouldn't be coming home. "….I'm sorry, Cassie, but that day on Sirus, the others they,...they..."
"….They didn't make it, did they?"
"No…." He shook his head and bit his lip. "…Only Commander Cruger, his wife, you, and Mora survived,"
Somehow she knew that her friends were dead, it was just a feeling she had inside, something telling her they were gone, but she needed to hear it outload. "…Mora…" She looked Mike right in the eyes. "…You said Mora was alive, right, Andros and Ashley's Mora?"
"Yes." He nodded his head. "…She's living with Andros's parents." There was no reason right now to tell her about Mora's situation, that would come with time, as would the deaths of Zhane and Karone. ….And there would be the death of his daughter, who Cassie had known, but he would never reveal the name of her killer. That would just be too much.
"I guess I have a lot of catching up to do…."
"That will come with time, and the gang, your parents and I are all here for you…" He gripped Cassie's hand. "…You're going to be okay, Cassie. I promise you…"
Time seemed to stand still as two bodies were rushed into the academy, being rushed to separate rooms. Everyone's faces were grim, knowing that two lives were at stake and perhaps a lot more. No one was allowed to go beyond the two doors, as they all watched as the doctors disappeared with Sky and Wes, hoping that it wasn't too late.
Z and Bridge stuck close to Syd, who had not said one word since seeing Sky in the state he was. It didn't even look like him, that's how bad he looked. The once strong and well built man was one inch away from life or death.
Megan had both of her parents' arms wrapped around her and she knew if the situation wasn't what it was, she would be getting a long speech from them about the stupid stunt she had pulled … She knew that would come later, once all of this had blown over. She would be getting her punishment, but for now, the only punishment she had was the one they would all have to share while they waited for the fates of their fallen friends.
Chase and Tommy shared a few words, just gathering a little about what had happened, but didn't get too deep into detail. Everyone was still shaken up at the discovery of Wes, and though he was in bad shape he was alive, whether he would stay that way, no one knew.
Drake walked off to the side, staring out of the windows of the SPD academy, needing to have a moment alone with everything that had happened. He still couldn't believe that after all this time, after all these years; Wes had been trapped inside Mirloc. How could he have not known that? How could he have been so blind? So stupid?
"…There was no way you could have known, Alex," announced Lucas, as he walked up behind his old friend. He knew Alex all too well and knew the former top ranked Time Force Officer was kicking and cursing himself for not knowing about Wes. "….Not even Time Force knew."
"….We should have known," he answered, but continued to look out the window watching as the rain fell. "We should have known; the information was always there, the Mimican's were an extinct race in our time and we knew that Omni had the power to absorb living beings, so it would make sense that Mirloc would be able to do the same …"
Lucas reached out and gripped his friend's shoulder. "…Blaming yourself for what happened to Wes will help nobody." He forced Drake to look at him. He needed to get through to him; whether Drake wanted to hear it or not, he needed to hear it. "It happened, Alex, it's done and over with. And there's not a damn thing anyone can do to change that, not me, not you, nobody." He sighed heavily. "….No matter how much we wish we could."
"…You're right, there isn't a damn thing we can do!" He looked Lucas hard in the eyes. "…And because of that, we could lose both of them!"
A couple days later…..
Eric sat close by Sky's side; he hadn't left since he had yelled at Drake, telling him that this was his fault. …Which wasn't true, he knew Drake wasn't to blame. He was just scared and tired, with everything that had happened, and then on top of it all his daughter had been smack right in the middle, thankfully she and Sam had been unharmed.
"…Ah, come on, kid." He gripped Sky's bruised and scratched hand in his own. "…I know you're a lot tougher than this." But it had been close to four days and still no change had happened, Sky was still the same as he had been after his surgeries. And with every day that passed Eric was slowly starting to give up on the hope that Sky would ever wake up. Eventually they might have to face the fact that he wouldn't wake up.
"Hey…." Hayley walked in carrying a cup of coffee and sat down next to him. She glanced at the monitors briefly. Seeing no changes, she sighed heavily, knowing the longer Sky remained like this the harder it would be to get him out of it. "….Eric, you haven't left this room in three days, you need to eat something and get some decent sleep. This isn't healthy." But he never answered her, he hadn't even acknowledged that she had sat down next to him, he kept his eyes still on Sky, hoping against hope that he would open his eyes. "…You can't keep doing this, sitting here won't help Sky."
"…Nothing I do will help him. So what difference will it make?" he answered her. He was upset with himself that there was nothing he could do to help Sky. Alec had entrusted him to look after his grandson and he let him down.
"What happens next is up to Sky now," Hayley answered know her husband was hurting.
And that was his fear, that there wasn't a thing anyone could do, that it all lay on Sky now. It would be his choice whether to stay or go. "….He has been so angry for so long…"
Hayley gripped Eric's shoulder, knowing this was hard for him. She knew how important Sky was to him. How important he was to everyone, she too didn't want to lose Sky either, but she had three children she needed to be concerned about and she couldn't afford to be worried about her husband who could be making himself sick by sitting by Sky's bedside for days in and days out, not taking care of himself. She couldn't be worried about him too. "….Everyone is starting to worry about you, Eric," she exclaimed. "….You haven't even gone to see him yet?"
"….I can't." He bowed his head down. "…I can't."
"Is that why you won't leave this room, because sooner or later you're going to have to face the fact that Wes is lying just a few rooms down?"
He didn't answer her question, just kept his eyes locked onto Sky, just wanting to forget about everything else.
"Eric…"
"Hayley, don't!" he announced. "…I made my peace with Wes's death a long time ago. I won't go through it again…" He turned to her. Wes too was in a coma, the same as Sky, and it was unclear if his old friend would survive. The only changes that had happened in the last few days with Wes were that his body was starting to catch up to his actual age. "….I can't. I won't watch both of them die…" He wouldn't go through losing Wes again. He had done that enough for one lifetime.
Ever so carefully she wrapped an arm around him, knowing this was hard for him, for all of them. It had come to a shock to them all that Wes had been alive all this time, but now they could still lose him, along with someone else very dear to them. "…It's okay." She leaned her head onto his shoulder understanding why he couldn't go see Wes. "…You don't have to." She reached down and tightly gripped her hand on top of Eric's, which was on top of Sky's. All she could do was be there for him and hope that would be enough for now.