Disclaimer: Still don't own it…

Sorry for the delay, I've been flattened down with stuff...

So Sky is at Time Force and the other Rangers don't know where he is…and has Trip finally found a reason for the rift wave?

Teardrops on Your Pillow

The next day at SPD was bleak. There was no sign of Sky or his morpher. Jack, Bridge and Z were asleep in the corner. They fell asleep once Syd's turn to monitor the computers came. Syd had been up all night trying to find him, but the love struck Pink Ranger found nothing. She had fallen asleep at the computer controls a few hours before daybreak.

From across the room, Kat watched Syd work all night and fall asleep. 'She's so determined to find him. If there was only a way.'

"How is it that humans need so much sleep, and we hardly sleep?" Cruger's voice interrupted her train of thought as he walked in with a slick grin on his face.

Kat smiled slightly. "I've never been a big sleeper. They've been up all night trying to find him, Doggie. Besides, Sky is more important than anything else I have to do how. We have to find him."

"Kat? Kat are you there?"

The scientist jumped suddenly from her chair, which woke the Rangers from their slumber. Syd's eyes widened as that same voice came over the speakers again.

"Kat, can you hear me? Anyone?"

"Sky," Kat said and hit the communication button. "Sky, is that you?"

The screen flashed to life as it showed a picture of Sky, a smile on his face. "Yea, it's me."

"Thank God," Syd exclaimed. "Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, relax." He said as another friendly face came into the picture.

"I've been taking good care of him, Syd. Don't fret."

Syd merely smiled and crossed her arms. "Captain, we should have known."

"Captain Scotts, a pleasure to see you again." Cruger said and nodded. "I assume everything is under control there?"

"You assume correctly, Commander. As per his returning, which I know all of you are eager for, that should be within the next few days or so. Once we figure out why and how he got her, we'll send him on his way home."

"That's good to hear," Bridge said. "Considering that Gruumm has started digging something up at Casper's Fault a few days ago."

Jen's face turned a ghostly pale as she spoke again. "Where is Casper's Fault located?"

"San Francisco, thirty miles off shore." Jack toned in. "35.78 North, 163.15 West."

"Thank you. Something has come to my attention and we must go. Say good-bye, Sky."

"See you later guys. I miss you!"

Sky let out a relieved breath as he sat back in the chair, a smile on his face. "I feel better now, thanks Jen."

Jen was about to say something when Trip and Katie came walking in, a large stack of papers were in their hands. "Jen," Katie called. "We think we've discovered how Sky got here and why that rift wave occurred."

Jen and Sky followed Trip and Katie back to Central Command where Trip brought up a projection of the city. "So, how did he get here?" Jen asked as her eyes scanned over the printouts. Her eyes went wide as she looked from Sky to the Green Ranger. "You think that the rift wave here and the tornado back in 2026 are related?"

"How else could you explain him landing in the exact same place that the rift wave started?" Trip questioned. He brought up the 3D map of the warehouse and showed where Sky landed in relation to where the rift wave started. They were in the same place.

Sky stood there for a few seconds trying to comprehend the events that Trip was describing. "So you're saying that…"

"The tornado that passed through New Tech was an actual vortex. It found a way to make contact with the ground in a form of a tornado. That would explain some debris that we found at the scene as well." Katie finished his sentence.

"So that storm that came on suddenly, that storm was related to the rift wave?" Sky asked and earned a nod from Trip.

"It makes sense. A vortex from a time hole was above that storm. The rotating of the vortex and the storm created a downdraft that made contact with the ground." Trip added.

"A time tornado, go figure." Sky joked. "So then what caused the rift wave?"

This time, Katie piped in to explain yet another concept to the young Blue Ranger. "We haven't yet pinpointed the exact reason. But for a wave that big to come through here and nearly wipe us out, the fluctuation had to have been huge. I mean something big had to happen that caused it to happen."

"And something recent." Trip added. "If it was a few years ago, we would have never felt anything. But because it was so sudden, it must have happened," Trip bit his lower lip in thought. "About six to eight months ago."

Sky's mind twisted with another thought. "What do you think could have caused it, then?"

"Like I said before, that's still unknown." Katie stated. "It's a lot to discover, I know."

"Then why, out of a one-thousand year span did I end up here?" he curious Blue Ranger questioned.

"We were the last hole to open in time. In other words, our two times were the last to cross. It was the vortex that opened back in 3000 to 2001. Each time is connected to one another by a means of vortexes and time holes. They lay dormant until they are accessed. You came here because of that reason. The connection has been kept, even as time passed. So now, twenty-five years later that connection was open, but unused until now. Something has happened back in 2026 that caused that vortex to open. The rift wave here and that storm are related, and the time hole opened again." Trip finished.

"Oh," was all Sky could manage.

"So he's here because the gate between our times have been opened again." Lucas said as he pointed towards where Sky sat in the conference room. Jen had called for him after the talk with Katie and Trip about the current situation. "What caused the time holes to open again is my question. I was under the assumption that after we left they would stop forming."

"They did," responded Jen as she stood up. "We just don't know what caused it."

Trip brought up another screen and projection. "Taking a look back at the past there were only two main causes for the time holes to open in the first place. The Quantasaurus Rex,"

"And Doomtron." Katie finished. Silence fell over the Rangers as they looked from one another. "You don't think that Doomtron was revived again, do you?" she asked slowly.

"Impossible," came a strong voice. Sky's ears picked up instantly, and he knew that voice. He turned around and there in the doorway stood a man with jet-black hair, a hard face and crisp blue eyes. "The trixyruim crystals powering both him and Frax were destroyed years ago. Frax's remaining parts are stored in a disclosed location as well."

Sky was speechless for a moment as he stood up and stared at this ghost. Jen placed her hand on Sky's shoulder and gave a formal introduction. "Sky, this is Major Alexander Drake. Alex, this is my son Sky."

"Schuyler Tate Collins, the Blue SPD Ranger." Alex said lightly. "One of the best." He slowly extended his hand. "Welcome to Time Force. Your mother has told me all about you."

The Blue Ranger was amazed at the resemblance. He shook his head and took Alex's hand in a firm handshake. "I'm sorry, it's just..." he hesitated. "You look so much like my father."

"He was my great-great-great… he was my ancestor." Alex chuckled slightly as he finished his sentence. But the Major's eyes drifted off towards where Jen stood. He saw a tear sparkle in her eye at the memory of Wes. 'She should be over him by now. It's been months and yet she's still crying. If only I'd been there for…'

"We must be off now," Katie said as she saw Jen place her head in her hands and sigh. "Come on, boys." She pulled Lucas, Trip and Sky out of the room. Once the door slid shut, Alex walked over to where Jen stood.

"Come on, let's go for a walk." He said quietly. Jen nodded.

"A walk sounds good."

It had been about ten o'clock at night when Alex and Jen arrived back at her apartment in Time Force. He had taken her out for a bit to get her away from the stress. It was finally time he talked to her, trying to get some sense into her.

He followed her through the door as she pulled a note from in the fridge.

Jen-

Went out with Trip, Katie and Lucas to see the city. Be back later.

Love, Sky

"He's out with Katie and the boys." She said quietly and smiled. "Thanks Alex, I needed to get away from here for a while."

"My pleasure." He said and bit his lower lip. "I have to talk to you, about these past few couple of months."

Jen stepped into the kitchen as she grabbed a glass of water, her back still towards him. "What about them?"

How could he explain it? Alex sighed as he picked up a magazine from the table. He had always found himself playing with the magazines or twirling a pen in his hand when he was nervous. Why was he so nervous? "Some of us at Time Force are beginning to think that you've… been going down hill. That you haven't been doing the best of your ability and that you're going into depression. You are always teary-eyed and sad. Not the Captain that everyone in this organization knows."

Jen put the glass in the sink as she turned around to face him. "What?" she asked astonished. She stepped towards him and crossed her arms, waiting for an explanation.

Alex drew in a breath as he spoke. "For the past months I have seen you walking around with your head in the clouds. You have been falling asleep while on duty, and been sobbing around."

That had hit a nerve. "Well, I think that considering my fiancé is dead I have a little right to be upset." Jen's voice went hard, but then softened.

"We're all worried about you, though. It's just that," he paused and stepped towards her and placed a hand on her cheek. "I just don't want to see you get hurt. Wes is gone; he's not coming back. You have to accept that. Katie has, Trip and Lucas have, and hell even Sky has. But you, you Jen, you haven't. Every time I see you, you always have that same tear in your eye. That same tear that hasn't gone away for almost seven months now and it's beginning to worry me. You have to forget about him."

"Forget about him?" Jen echoed his words in disgust. "How can you say that? You act like he's just a bad memory one can erase. You act like Wes didn't even exist! I love him, Alex. How can I forget about him?"

"Look, that's not what I meant. I meant that you have to move on, Jen. You can't sit around moping anymore. Wes is gone, he isn't coming back." Alex sighed. "Why can't you accept that?"

"Accept that the man I love is dead and lying in the ground, oh that's perfectly logical!" she hollered back as she threw up her hands. "I would think that someone like you would have an understanding for such an occasion. You have no idea what I would give up just to have him to hold and love, and what I throw away to have Wes here!"

There was his name again, and Alex was sick of it. Hearing Wes's name again had sent him off the deep end, and without thinking, he grabbed her. "God damnit!" Alex yelled as he clutched her arms out of rage and shook her. Jen's eyes went wide open with fear. Never in the many years of knowing him had he ever done something like this. "Wes is dead, Jennifer! You need to move on! Wes isn't here to comfort you, to hold you, or to love you like I do!" Alex matched her tone, but lowered it immediately as he lessened his grip. His hands moved to her shoulder as he gazed into her eyes searching for a response. But none came.

Alex was speechless himself. Years of built up emotions had been released in that one single second. The love he still had for her exploded to his ultimate confession of passion. The years of wanting to touch her again had erupted from deep inside his heart. All those emotions, jealously, rage, and love, they had come out in that one single sentence. Twenty years of love and lust had been let out as the silence fell between the two.

Not a single word was said as Alex turned and left, leaving Jen in shock. Had she heard right? Jen watched him turn and leave, tears backed up behind her eyes and began to cascade down her cheeks. Jen waited for him to leave and locked the door behind him; a new pain ached at her heart.

Did Alex still love her after all these years?

Sometime later, Alex found himself opening the door to his apartment. His walk home had been silent; the last thing he said to Jen was still fresh in his mind. It was something he had wanted to tell her for years, but found that familiar lump come to his throat as he tried to speak.

Now, it was out in the open. Now Jen knew he still loved her. After more then twenty years of being just friends, that fire inside his heart for her still burned. How could he have let it get out? Was he that jealous of Wes for having Jen?

He slowly walked into his apartment and walked towards his bedroom. Once there he collapsed onto the bed and did something he didn't know he could do; Alex began to cry. He cried for having let his anger and jealously slip and grab her. He promised never lay a hand on her, and he broke that promise in a heartbeat. He cried for Jen, knowing the pain she felt when Alex himself had almost died in his fight against Ransik all those years go. She proved loyal to him until the end, but fatally fell in love with Wes. Now she was proving loyal to Wes, a loyalty he knew she would never break no matter how hard she tried. Above all else, he cried because he knew one thing, that now it would be impossible for him to get her back.

Love makes people do crazy things. He had sworn that love would not hinder him when he joined Time Force. Love was the one thing that he wanted to avoid. Love is when Jennifer Scotts came into his life. Love is all those nights they spent in each other's arms when they were teens. Love was the ring he bought her and when she said yes, and lifted his heart. But love was the one thing that drove her away. Maybe if he had been nicer when Dragontron was attacking, maybe she would still be in his arms. Love was the one thing that had gotten Wes killed and made Jen suffer so much. His love for her was what put her in the past and met her with Wes. Love was one thing a Time Force Major couldn't have.

Alex sighed into his pillow; those three words that he never said to anyone but her, and a name that always made his heart skip a beat. "I love you, Jennifer." He sobbed into the darkness. "I love you."