(A.N. Here it is, chapter 21. Another very long one. It was nice to see Eric's attitude improving, his character ark is finally coming kinda. I'm glad Alex is gone. I won't lie, I couldn't stop laughing as I was writing the part where they were so blindly following Wes when they'd been so hesitant following Alex, for some reason it made me happy... Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter and feel free to let me know what you think :) )
Destiny Defeated
Jen was sitting at the desk deep in her thoughts as Katie, Trip and Lucas were all out doing odd jobs. They'd been extremely surprised that Alex would not only encourage but enforce that they continue these jobs, but what they didn't know was that he actually had an agenda behind his reasoning.
The pink ranger picked up the polaroid photos and just as it had been yesterday, the one of Wes kissing her cheek was right on top. And it had a pang of hurt stinging through her chest. Things had gotten so messed up since that photo was taken and she was lost. She and Wes were getting closer and their relationship grew stronger but since Alex came back, she didn't know what was happening now.
She had given up on love long before she met Alex and when she finally did fall, it wasn't what she expected it to be. It wasn't all hearts and flowers, it was a mature love, a comfortable love. But with Wes, it was the kind of love you read about in books or watch in movies. Alex had never made her feel giddy like a lovesick teenager. His smile didn't give her butterflies the way Wes's did. Her heart wouldn't race when he grabbed her hand or held her waist – mostly because he rarely did. Alex wasn't a touchy person – that wasn't how he showed affection – but Wes was and being with him made Jen realise how important that aspect of a relationship is to her.
Now that Alex was back, everything was so much more complicated. Just a few days earlier, her and Wes were happy, she was happy. She flipped through each picture and found a smiling version of herself staring back. She was truly happy in these photos and her smile was real, it hadn't been real in a long time.
The door opened abruptly, causing her to drop the photos onto the desk before Alex walked into the room. She stood up and walked over to him, asking. "Should I look for an odd job to do too?"
"No, I only allowed them to book those jobs to get them out of here. I need to talk to you. That's the only reason I'm permitting them to do it." He nodded for her to sit on the crate and she follows the instruction. He paced back and forth for a few moments. "I really don't know what to say, Jen."
Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked at him with confusion. "What do you mean?"
"A few months ago, before you left for 2001, I would've trusted you with my life. If there was a reason that I couldn't lead a team or I couldn't do my job, you would've been the first person I'd have chosen to take my place because there wouldn't be anyone more qualified." She liked hearing these words from Alex until he added. "But I can't say that anymore."
Her eyes widened. "What? Why?"
"You've changed, you are not the person I trained or the Time Force ranger I helped you become." Her breathing increased and she couldn't think much less form a sentence. Where had all of this come from? He walked a few more paces before he turned back to her. "I mean seriously, Jen. Playgrounds? Jokes? Chasing? Toy Target practice? Wasting your time watching movies? Eating pizza and making cookies?"
"That's not all I've been doing." She said, her head spinning. "What's wrong with all those things anyway? And how do you know so much?"
He only answered her first question. "The Jen I know wouldn't do it. The Jen I know wouldn't be messing around. The Jen I know would not put this mission in jeopardy by not doing her job of leading the team."
"Ok so I'm not researching and training every minute of the day but that doesn't mean I'm jeopardising the mission and I'm doing my job as leader for the team. I can still be a good leader even if I-"
"If you what? Have a little balance?" She frowned at him as he added. "Is that what he told you? That you work really hard and you shouldn't feel guilty for having some fun? That it'll actually help your mission not jeopardise it?"
He was repeating Wes's words almost exactly, how was that possible? Her confusion led her to ask. "Alex how-"
"Who do you think sent the Time Shadow Jen? Who did you think saved your asses time and time again? Because it wasn't your precious red ranger. I was monitoring you from the future, making sure you were doing your job."
"You were spying on us?" She asked incredulously, she understood during the battles but any other time was an invasion of privacy and she was surprised that Time Force would even authorise that. But, she also acknowledged, Alex was high up in Time Force, he didn't need the ok from anyone.
"It started out as just watching and monitoring the battles but then I thought it was important to make sure you guys were training and researching but it seems I came across some other situations."
"Alex, you can't-"
He looked at her angrily as he spat. "I wouldn't have had to if my fiancee didn't cheat on me."
Her eyes widened and the air was knocked out of her as she sputtered. "Alex, that's not - I didn't - it wasn't like that."
"Oh really?" Venom dripped from his voice as he closed in on her. "My mistake. So you're telling me I just imagined you and Wes kissing? I just imagined you telling him that you couldn't deny your feelings, that you really wanted him to kiss you, how you couldn't spend another second hiding your feelings and how he makes you happy? I just imagined that? I just imagined you draping yourself over him every chance you got and how desperate he was to always touch you? Did I just imagine that... Sweetheart?"
She flinched, hearing the name off his tongue but she could only look down, taking the verbal attack.
"Does that ring on your finger mean nothing to you Jennifer? And don't think I didn't notice that you took it off and you only put it back on yesterday." He added before saying. "We were going to get married, we were going to promise to honour, cherish and care for each other. But how can I trust you to be faithful when you've gone and cheated on me the first chance you got?"
"Ok, that's it." Both Alex and Jen whipped their heads around to the door where Katie stormed in. Neither of them knew that she'd finished her odd job early and had actually heard most of the conversation. She had been planning to keep herself out of the conversation, only listening in case she needed to intervene to help Jen but this was the final straw. Alex would not get away with making false accusations and intimidating her teammate. "You don't get to come in here and talk to her like that."
Alex glared at her. "Don't involve yourself in conversations that you're not welcome in."
"Oh I'll make myself welcome Alex," She shook her head as she glared at him. "You were dead, plain and simple. As far as we were concerned, as far as she was aware, you were dead. Ransik killed you. You made no move to alert us that you were still alive and you cannot blame Jen for trying to move on with her life. What was she supposed to do, be alone for the rest of her life because you're dead?"
"I'm still alive."
"Yeah no shit, you're making our lives miserable."
He got up in her face as he spat. "I am your leader and your superior, you will show me some respect when you speak."
"Why? You clearly don't respect any of us."
"This is between me and Jen. You are out of line for involving yourself in this conversation. You need to mind your own business, Miss Walker. Learn your place"
"Miss Walker? Don't make me laugh." She mirrored his glare as she responded. "And if you're going to yell at Jen in a common area, I have every right to step in and defend my friend."
"Be careful Miss Walker because I am not afraid to confiscate your morpher."
The yellow ranger rolled her eyes. "Fat chance. We struggled against Dragontron yesterday, especially with you in charge, there's no way you're going to jeopardise the mission just because you're upset that someone's finally standing up to you."
Anything else she was going to say was interrupted as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Jen pulled her back from Alex as she told her. "It's ok Katie, we're just talking. I appreciate you trying to defend me but you don't need to."
Katie shook her head, ignoring the glare from Alex as she pulled the girl into a hug. "You didn't do anything wrong, Jen, and I want you to remember that. You've been a great friend, a great ranger and a great leader, don't let him tell you otherwise."
She pulled back and squeezed the pink ranger's hands as Alex instructed her. "I think you should leave."
The yellow ranger rolled her eyes and started walking to the door but momentarily placed her hand on Jen's shoulder. "Call out if you need anything, I'm right downstairs." The girl nodded and Katie reluctantly made her way downstairs where she found Lucas and Trip. She shook her head as she looked at them. "That guy is a real piece of work."
"What's he done this time?" Lucas asked.
"He's up there grilling Jen about how she's not doing a good enough job as a ranger or leader, then had the nerve to accuse her of cheating on him."
"You're kidding?"
Trip shook his head. "After everything he already did this morning, insulting our equipment and Circuit, now he's having a go at Jen?"
Lucas exhaled sharply. "Captain Jackass is really living up to his name, I'll tell you that much." He shook his head. "None of this would've happened if Wes was here. He actually knows how to lead a team."
"I really wish he'd come back."
"We all do." Katie agreed. "Jen does too, I think, but she'll never admit it in front of Alex. Our team was better the way it was."
They were struggling as they battled against Dragontron in the megazord. The whole team was on edge as Alex said to himself. "I can't believe it, we lost most of our megazord power." He looked at the rangers as he instructed. "We've got to destroy that energy siphon immediately."
"Alex, I think it might be better if we-"
He didn't let Jen finish as he snapped. "I do the thinking, got it? Now let's go."
Katie's anger overflowed as she stalked after Alex, her fist raised as she threatened. "Maybe you should think about this?"
Trip was the only thing holding her back as he told her. "Katie now's not the time." When he was convinced she wasn't going to attack, he nodded his head. "Come on, get going."
While they were fighting, Wes was in the car on the way to another meeting when they passed the clock tower. He couldn't take it and asked the driver to stop before he ran up there. Walking through the dark, empty room, he called out. "Hello? Anybody here? Hello?" He looked down at the table where he found Trip's bucket hat, he picked it up and looked at it sadly before he noticed the polaroids. He lifted them up and started looking through them: Katie holding him, the four rangers, him with the boys - he lifted that one out of the pile. Sadness overcome him as he looked at it - they were his guys, his team but now they weren't, but he wished more than anything that was still the case.
His thoughts were broken as he heard Circuit's pained voice as the owl flew through the window. "Wes? Is that you?"
"Circuit!" He yelled and dove to catch the owl as he couldn't fly properly, having clearly been damaged. "Circuit, what happened?"
"He's just... too... powerful." He struggled out.
"Who Circuit? Who?"
"Dragon...tron... and... Frax... The rangers have been-" And he couldn't finish before he shut down and Wes panicked thinking about his friends.
"Circuit! Circuit!" He walked away just as voices filled his head. You can't change your destiny. Someone needs to make decisions at Bio-Lab until your father gets better, he'd want it to be you. Wesley Collins has agreed to take his father's place. But you can't change your destiny. It all got too much and he fell to his knees, struggling to breathe. But as he was on the floor, his gaze fell to the photos he dropped in his hurry to catch Circuit. He picked up the one in front of him – a photo of the whole team – as his father's voice filled his head. I tried to plan my son's life but he took charge of his own destiny and I'll always be proud of him for doing it. It was the reminder he needed. "I choose my own destiny." Determination filled him as he declared. "And right now, I choose to help my friends."
The rangers were getting fired at by Frax and fell hurt on the ground while Alex fought cyclobots. He was unsympathetic to their injuries as he yelled at them. "Come on. Get up and fight. Don't you care that the future is depending on you?"
That was Lucas's last straw and he pulled himself up. "I've had enough."
"Lucas!" Trip tried to stop him, but couldn't get up.
The blue ranger got up in Alex's face as he spat. "What are you doing?"
Lucas's hands closed into fists, desperately wanting to punch his so-called leader but he didn't. He instead declared. "You're the one who doesn't care about the future."
Trip stood up, backing up his teammate. "If you did, you wouldn't have taken Wes's morpher."
Alex shoved Lucas out of the way, coldly responding. "The team is strongest this way."
"No." Katie screeched as she pulled herself up. "We're strongest with Wes, if you were a real leader, you'd see that."
His eyes fell on Jen, who didn't respond but looked at him desperately. But the argument ended there because Frax cackled evilly. "Wah. Wah. Wah. What have we here, discord amongst the ranks? Well, none of you will have to worry about the future anyway, because it will be firmly in my grip." Thinly veiled fear encompassed them as Frax pointed his hand out to attack them. They were really scared this time because they weren't sure they had the strength to fight him let alone defeat him.
Luckily, they didn't have to worry as Wes dove out of nowhere, stopping Frax from firing and knocking him to the ground. "Wes!" Jen yelled out.
"Everyone chooses their own destiny," he told Alex, "and right now, I choose to help my friends." Jen grinned, mirroring the expression of Trip and Katie. Alex looked away and without thinking about the consequences, Wes ran to destroy the energy siphon. Frax started firing at him as the pink ranger yelled out.
"Wes!" But she couldn't help as she was restrained by cyclobots.
She didn't have to worry though because he destroyed the energy siphon, remaining unharmed. Alex had just finished destroying a cyclobot when Jen ran up to him, doing the closest thing to standing up to him that she'd done since he'd gotten there. "Alex please!" He looked across at Wes then down at his morpher before reluctantly taking it off and handing it to the pink ranger. She nodded in thanks before she ran closer to Wes, calling out. "Wes, catch!"
He caught it with ease, offering her a smile and giving a nod to Alex which he returned. Frax gave his final words before he disappeared. "It doesn't matter who the red ranger is, Dragontron will still destroy you."
The rangers got into a line as Wes led the morphing sequence. "Let's do it." Once morphed, he called out 'alright, let's go' and they launched themselves into the megazord ready to take on Dragontron.
Jen looked over at the red ranger. "Alright Wes, you say when."
"You've got it." They attacked the robot but it fired the lasers from its chest and the megazord fell to the ground. Pulling it back up, they changed the formation. "Megazord, mode red." It was at that moment, the quantasaurus rex joined the fight. "Q-rex perfect! Eric, hold on."
Wes launched the megazord so it was on the Q-rex's back and Eric called out to him. "Wes, what do you think you're doing to the Q-rex?"
"Trust me, I've got a crazy idea."
"Well Wes," Trip asked. "What is it?"
"Whatever it is, we're with you, Wes." Katie assured.
"Thanks, guys."
"What is this manoeuvre?"
"I've never seen it before." Trip answered. "But I'm behind Wes all the way!"
Jen agreed. "Me too."
"It's unanimous." Lucas concluded.
Wes followed through with his idea and managed to destroy both the energy core and Dragontron, accomplishing what Alex could not.
The red ranger disappeared from the battle as quickly as he had come, but the rangers didn't stress over it. They understood his rush, he needed to get back to his father. They made their way back to the clock tower where they found Alex sitting at the table. Knowing they needed to talk, Katie placed her hand on Jen's shoulder. "We'll give you guys a few, call if you need anything."
Jen nodded in appreciation. "Thanks, Katie."
The yellow ranger turned to walk away but was stopped by Alex's voice. "Katie, wait." She paused, hesitant to see where this was going but when shocked when he said. "I wanted to apologise for what happened. I think we were both on edge and it just escalated quicker than we expected."
"I'm sorry too."
"And I want to thank you as well." She looked at him incredulously, making him elaborate. "You defended her, even though I was your leader and I threatened to take your morpher, you didn't back down. It's nice to know that Jen has someone that has her back."
Katie shook her head. "Of course I do, she's my best friend. Any one of us would've done it, I just happened to come back in. We've all been through a lot together, coming a thousand years into the past and trying to get used to its customs away from our family and friends while trying to capture Ransik. We've been all each other has and we've grown together. We're a team, I'll always be there for them and I know they'll always be there for me."
"I'm glad to hear. I hope all is forgiven between us."
"It will be... but only when you apologise to Jen for everything you said to her this morning and tell her you were wrong about it all."
He rolled his eyes but nodded. "Ok and does that have to be in front of you?"
"No, not at all, but can I give you one piece of advice?" He nodded and she walked over to him, keeping her voice low as she threatened. "I better not catch you talking to her like that again, because so help me, that confrontation we had this morning will look like a civil conversation. If you hurt her like that again, I will make you wish that Ransik's attack did kill you. I'll make Ransik look like a teddy bear and Time Force will have to look for a new officer, got it?"
He looked at her with a stern but questioning. "Is that a threat, Miss Walker?"
"Nope, not a threat, just a word of warning. But if you do it again, it's a promise."
He nodded slowly. "Ok, don't get on your bad side, got it." With that, the yellow ranger gestured the boys out and they went downstairs. Jen stood nervously a few feet away but Alex gestured to the spot beside him and she sat down. "So, Katie is... protective."
"Yeah, she is. She's protective of her family and we've become family."
Alex was quiet for a few moments before he said. "I'm sorry Jen, things got out of hand this morning."
"Yeah, they did."
"You just have to understand how hard it was to watch you with him. You were doing stuff with him that we haven't even done together."
She shook her head. "That's because you never wanted to do any of that."
"That still doesn't mean it didn't hurt Jen. You're meant to be my fiancee, I'm not meant to have to watch you with another man like that."
She shook her head once more, finally standing up for herself against him for the first time in a long time. "But you were the one who was spying Alex. You were the one who kept watching and you never did anything, you never even told me you were alive. How was I supposed to know?
"I just hate that you picked him, the one person that looked exactly like me but the relationship you had with him looked nothing like ours."
"Alex, I hated him at first because he looked like you. He reminded me of everything I'd lost and everything that wasn't waiting for me in the future but... somewhere along the line, I stopped seeing you when I looked at him and I got to know him as Wes. You guys are so different and it was nice to know that I didn't just like him because he looked like you."
"I guess it's a good thing I came before you fell in too deep, it's not like your relationship was like ours." When she didn't respond, he asked. "Right?"
She avoided the question by answering. "You can't compare one relationship to another, they're too different."
He decided to let that go. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter now anyway. We're here now and I forgive you."
She looked at him incredulously. "You forgive me? Are you joking?" She shook her head, quietly admitting. "Katie was right, I haven't done anything wrong and I won't apologise for my relationship with Wes. I didn't cheat on you because I thought you were dead."
"Well, it's nice to see that you'd replace me so quickly."
"That's not fair. You can't blame all of this on me."
He sighed. "Look, I haven't got much time left here, I don't want to spend it fighting."
"I don't either."
He placed his hand on top of hers as he asked. "So I assume you haven't broken up with him yet?"
"No, I haven't." She looked down, not even wanting to think about it. "How could I? I've been here with you the whole time and I couldn't do that to him yesterday. You took his morpher and he found out that his dad was going to die today, I wasn't going to add to it when he was already hurt."
"Well... both of those problems are gone now so I guess there's nothing stopping you." She looked at him with confusion but didn't say anything in response. He picked up her hand and ran his thumb over his ring. "You're wearing your ring so that's all that matters to me right now." He patted her hand before he stood up and told her. "I need to get ready to return to the future but we're going to be ok, Jen. We'll figure everything out when you get back to the future."
She didn't say anything as he left, feeling disoriented. For the first few months after she lost Alex, she would've given anything to have him back. She thought nothing would make her happier. But in the time that she was without him, she learned that she could be happy on her own and that she could be happy with the people around her. What she hadn't expected was how happy Wes was going to make her. He made her feel things that Alex never did. And being without Wes, even for just a day was terrible.
She'd been right when she told Alex that you can't compare one relationship to another. She and Wes hadn't been through the things she and Alex had been through together and vice versa. She hadn't been with Wes long enough to see how he reacted to things but she really liked what he was showing her. The way he was with her, the way he handle confrontation, it made her question how she felt about Alex.
Having Alex in 2001 led to a lot of questions. The Alex that came was not the Alex she knew and the way he was talking to – the way he was talking to everyone – was not something she liked. She also didn't like the way she'd been feeling around him, she didn't like the timid, spineless person she became. She didn't like the way she felt when he yelled at her and she didn't like how she couldn't bring herself to argue back. Anyone else she could stand up to but not him.
'Before this, I never would've questioned anything about Alex but after being with Wes, I'm really not sure anymore.'
The rangers stood in a line on the beach opposite the time ship. Alex stood in front of them. "Sorry I was a little hard on you. You're excellent rangers." He held his hand out to the green ranger, shaking his hand. "Trip." The boy nodded and he pat him on the head before he moved on to Lucas, repeating the first action with a nod. He then walked to Katie, both of them offering a small smile as he also shook her hand then he moved on to his fiancee. He stood in front of her and shook his head slightly. "I don't know what to say."
"Don't say anything." She smiled, unshed tears behind her voice. "I know you were just trying to do what was right." They hugged each other and as soon as she was in his arms, her previous questions left her mind. This was why she loved him – moments like this were what kept her going.
She couldn't think for too long after they pulled apart because Wes ran towards them, yelling. "Alex, Alex wait!" He skidded to a stop in front of him. "It was you, wasn't it? You saved my father." Alex gave a single nod in response. "Now, isn't that playing with destiny?"
"We all make our own destiny, you taught me that."
They shook hands and Jen looked back at Katie who offered her a smile in response.
Then that was it, Alex boarded the time ship and he left for the future. They stood in silence for a few moments before Lucas put his hand on Trip's shoulder, addressing the group. "Come on guys, let's go home."
They nodded and started walking off but Jen grabbed Wes's wrist. He turned to look at her as she nervously asked. "Hey, can we talk?"
A flash of guilt appeared in his eyes and it disappeared just as quickly before he shook his head. "I don't think so, Jen. I don't think I can have this conversation tonight. Can we just put it off to tomorrow?"
She looked down as she nodded. "Oh ok."
"I'm sorry, I just really need to get back to my dad, I think I'm going to spend the night there tonight."
"Ok yeah um will you be back tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I think so." She nodded, rolling her lips inwards, making him sigh. He placed his hand on her arm, squeezing gently. "I'm sorry Sweetheart... I'll see you later."
Jen had been quiet on the walk home and she'd immediately gone up to her bed which was so unlike her. The rangers knew if Jen needed to think she'd either sit by the window or out on the roof, the only time she was ever in bed was for the reason: to go to bed.
After ten minutes, Katie couldn't take the suspense anymore and climbed up to talk to her friend. But as soon as she saw her, her heart broke. Jen was curled up on her side, facing the wall with tears down her cheeks as she desperately tried to silence her whimpers. Katie immediately rushed to her side, pulling her into a hug which made the girl cry harder. As much as she hated being seen like this, she'd been in such emotional turmoil for the last few days that she needed her. The pink ranger gripped her like a lifeline as she finally let go of all the emotions she'd been feeling. The yellow ranger rubbed her hand up and down the girl's back as she held her. "What's wrong Honey? Why are you upset? Is it Alex or Wes?"
"Both." She whispered before she pulled back and Katie could see the heartache in the eyes that desperately stared back at her. "Everything was going great, I was happy and I was slowly moving past what happened to Alex. But he's alive and he's shown up here and now everything's all messed up. He knows about everything, he knows about me and Wes and I don't know what to do."
"I know it's the last thing any of us expected to happen."
"What do I do Katie?" She asked desperately. "Tell me what to do. I can't do it, I can't break his heart. Please, just tell me what to do."
The yellow ranger shook her head. "I can't do that Sweetie, I can't make this decision for you."
"How can I do this?"
Katie sighed. "I'm not going to waste my time asking if you love him because I know you do and I'm not the one you need to be telling. But I'm not going to give you my opinion because I don't want to sway you, as much as I want to help, this is a decision you have to make on your own." Jen closed her eyes as if she was in pain. "I know it feels impossible Jen and I'm sorry you have to do this... Just try not to think about it tonight. It's been a heavy few days, we're all overwhelmed and emotional right now. Get some rest, get yourself a good night's sleep for a change and think about it in the morning when you're in a clearer headspace."
Jen nodded and moved to lay back down, returning her blank stare to the wall. The yellow ranger sighed once more and leaned down to kiss her friend's forehead. "It'll be ok Sweetie, it may not feel like it now but one day, it will be." She moved to lay back down before she added. "And I'm not meant to tell you this, but I went to see Wes last night when I left. I can't speak for Alex but I can speak for him. Wes cares about you Jen, so much more than you know, and whatever decision you make, he just wants you to be happy."
After Katie climbed down, Jen's tears returned. Although the message was meant to be comforting – and to some degree, it was – it ended up making her feel so much worse. She cared about Wes and dare she admit it, she loved Wes. How could she do this to him? Because breaking his heart also meant breaking her own.