Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

Chapter 39 – The Force of Ages Gone By

With the problem of how the S.P.D. Rangers were going to stay in the past solved, the next problem of where they would stay arose. None of them wanted to stay with their parents past selves, and their past selves, even though they could now do so safely, and yet it appeared that that was to be their only option. Most Rangers didn't have the room to accommodate all five of them, and with Gruumm lurking around they needed to stay together. The only consolation was that without a Newtech City, Gruumm didn't have a set target, but merely caused havoc wherever he liked, and so the Rangers could stay just about anywhere. Tommy and Kim briefly considered contacting Andrew Hartford and asking him to house them, he did have a mansion after all, but with all the Overdrive Rangers staying there they figured he was at Ranger capacity. They also briefly considered the Pai Zhuq or Wind Ninja Academies, but as they were technically in different dimensions, they didn't think it was a good idea; they knew from experience that too much could go wrong in other dimensions and if Gruumm attacked, they couldn't afford for anything to go wrong. This really just left either the Aquabase, or Albert Collins' mansion, unless they wanted to sleep with the Wild Zords on the Anamarium. The Rangers resigned themselves to having to choose one of the two, and while the Aquabase would provide an atmosphere similar to the one they were used to at Delta Command, they had less chance of running in to their parents at Sky's grandfather's place, for it wasn't an important base of operations. Mr. Collins welcomed them with open arms, but quickly saw that they were all uncomfortable staying with their family, but not exactly the one they knew, and so provided the solution no one else had thought of: the Clock Tower. He set the S.P.D. Rangers up in the Silver Hills Clock Tower where the Time Force Rangers had operated out of back in 2001. They even re-opened Nick-of-Time Odd Jobs just to have something to do while they awaited an attack.

-C/K-

They weren't the only ones awaiting an attack. Trent and Ethan had been recalled from school and work in anticipation of Mesogog returning, but after two weeks of nothing, they were starting to get annoyed.

"Can he just show up already?!" Ethan cried one afternoon as they all lounged around the Olivers' living room like old times, though with the distinct difference of Kira being an adult; her and Connor's seating arrangements having changed accordingly. "I swear, when he finally does show up, I'm gonna destroy him just for pissing me off by keeping us waiting."

"Hey, don't forget dad's in there." Trent reminded his friend. "And Elsa won't be far behind."

"We'll get them back Trent." Kira promised.

"I know. I just worry. Part of me wishes Thrax had succeeded in capturing me too." Trent had been truly evil for a time, his Dino Gem having been infused with evil energy, and so like with Tommy, Thrax had attempted to get his hands on the former Evil White Ranger, though had failed thanks to the former Evil Green Ranger; Tommy had gone to help Trent after Thrax's attempt on him for he knew he'd go after other former evil Rangers and had arrived in time to help Trent fight Thrax off. For whatever reason, the son of Lord Zedd and Rita had not made another attempt on either of them since.

"Don't say that." Connor chided. "I know you want to be with your dad and step-mom, but nothing should make you want to be evil. Ever."

"Yeah…I know." Just then, the Dino Rangers' musings were interrupted by the raucous arrival of Eric and his friends, Sky, Bridge and Spike. Sky was the oldest of them at ten, almost eleven, with Eric and Bridge being in the middle, both nine and only a few months apart in age, and Spike bringing up the rear, turning nine in a few weeks.

"Hey no soccer in the house!" Kira yelled at her brother. "You don't want to break the TV again do you?" While most kids break a vase, or a window, while playing sports in the house, Eric had broken the TV.

"No…" Eric grumbled. Kim had not been happy about the broken TV, and Tommy had pretended to be just as angry, but it had given him the excuse he'd been looking for to get the big screen HD TV he'd been eyeing. "Can we go to the park?" Eric then asked, leaning over the back of the couch to where his sister was curled up against his brother. No matter that he understood Connor was not his brother but his sister's mate, though he knew absolutely no more then that, he still couldn't see Connor as anything but his brother, not after the presence Connor had had in his life. "We keep kicking the ball into the woods-"

"And you went to get it?!" Kira gasped sitting bolt upright. "You know you're not supposed to go into the woods right now!" It was a prime location for a Tyrannodrone attack, if Mesogog ever actually showed up. "Any of you!" She shot at the other boys. Two of them may be future Rangers, but they weren't Rangers yet.

"Chill out will ya?" Spike cried in exasperation at his cousin.

"No I will not chill out." Kira growled. "We are at war with every evil villain we've ever faced and my kid brother and cousins are walking right into danger just asking to be attacked!"

"Calm down honey." Connor said soothingly, using a relatively new term of endearment he only resorted to when she was truly riled up and he had to tread on dangerous ground; for there was nothing that got her more riled up then her family being in danger, especially when it was that family knowingly putting themselves in danger. Kira quietly growled at Connor but otherwise let it go.

"Sure, we can go to the park." Ethan spoke up, taking the moment of silence as a good sign and moving things along and away from unknown territory. With another small grumble, Kira agreed and four of the five Dino Rangers packed the kids into both Connor and Trent's cars, carting them off to the park. They actually had an enjoyable, near perfect, afternoon once Kira calmed down, and in retrospect that's what should have tipped the Rangers off. Every time they had fun, every time things were going well, that changed in a heartbeat, and they should have been far more prepared for it then they were when the attack finally came. Their soccer game had basically turned into a free for all, teams forgotten as everyone just tried to get the ball and keep it for themselves, and as Eric 'accidentally' tripped his sister, an Invisi-portal opened up, releasing dozens of Tyrannodrones who were quick to surround them. The four Rangers reacted instantly, their finely honed instincts kicking in, as each of them grabbed on of the kids and swung them around so that they were huddled together with the Rangers forming a protective circle around them.

"See why we don't want you do go into the woods alone?" Kira asked, her gaze fully narrowed as she counted Tyrannodrones.

"Yeah except for the fact that we're not in the woods, and we're far from alone." Eric quipped back.

"He's got a point you know." Connor added before getting down to business. "Twenty even on my side."

"I got eighteen here." Ethan added.

"Twenty-two." Said Trent.

"Twenty-six." Muttered Kira. "Looks like I drew the short straw."

"We have every confidence that after your most recent battles you can handle twenty-six Tyrannodrones." Ethan said.

"You four stay where you are." Connor instructed the kids, then turned back to his team, falling into his role as Red Ranger as he hadn't in a long time. "Spread out a bit, give us room to fight, but no one gets passed us."

"Right!" The other three cried as one before launching on the attack. Fifteen seconds in to watching his family fight these monsters, Eric remembered an all too important fact.

"I should be calling mom and dad." He muttered, raising his communicator. "Mom, dad, Tyrannodrone attack in the park!"

"Shit!" Tommy could be heard to say, forgetting his nine-year-old son was on the other end.

"Tell your sister and brother we'll be there as soon as we can." Came Kim's voice. "We have our own Tyrannodrones to take care of first."

"Ok." Eric said.

"But if you're in trouble you teleport out of there! You hear me Eric Jayden?!"

"Yeah mom, I hear ya." Eric and the others watched as the four Dino Rangers fought the Tyrannodrones. Un-morphed it certainly took longer to bring them to an end, it also didn't help that it had been eight years since they'd last fought a Tyrannodrone, but eventually they did end them. Or so they thought. The Rangers had congregated around the four kids, preparing to speed them back home when a lingering Tyrannodrone they'd somehow missed lunged for them.

"Kira look out!" Eric yelled, seeing the foot soldier lunge at his sister. Without even thinking, Eric spun so he stood in front of Kira and raised his leg, using all his might to kick at the monster and sending it tumbling back. Connor was then quick to finish it off, seeing red as a monster, even if it was only a foot soldier, sneak up on his mate.

"Thanks." Kira said to her brother once the Tyrannodrone was gone.

"I don't…" Eric stuttered, a bit in shock. It had only been two weeks ago that he'd been terrified of these monsters, and yet here he was, taking one on without even a thought. "I just…reacted…"

"Your instincts serve you well." Kira said with a small laugh and proud smile.

"Come on, we should get back." Trent said. No one argued and so they all began the walk back to the cars. Knowing the thoughts going through her brother's head, Kira hung back a little, pulling him with her, so they could talk.

"Still wondering how you did that?" Kira asked, not needing the nod of his head to know the answer. "Your instincts overrode any fear you feel."

"They did?"

"Yep. You saw danger and you just reacted. No thought enters your mind in that moment except protecting people. We Rangers have that exact same instinct."

"But people will die if you do nothing. You wouldn't have died if I'd done nothing."

"True." Kira agreed. "But even if a Tyrannodrone couldn't kill me it's still a danger. The principle's the same though Eric, and sometimes danger and its consequences can be worse then certain death. Just because we're Rangers doesn't mean we're immune to fear." Even though whatever he and Jack had talked about two weeks ago had helped Eric, they all knew he was still being hard on himself and still wasn't fully convinced that it was ok to be scared of these monsters. But now he'd experienced what they did, she just had to make him see that.

"But you guys are scared for others, scared that the monsters will hurt your family, or the people of Earth." He argued. "I'm scared for myself…"

"We were too in the beginning. We all have survival instincts and running into a monster attack goes against them."

"But you do it anyways."

"Yes, we do. We override our survival instincts because we no longer care if we live or die." She said it harshly, though the harshness wasn't directed at Eric, and he looked up at her with wide eyes. "That's a huge part about being a Ranger, Eric. You come so close to death everyday that eventually you just don't care anymore. And that's not a good thing. We believe every life is precious, but apparently not our own. That doesn't make us better then others, or stronger, it's just…sad."

"I don't think it's sad." He defended her. "I think it's heroic."

"Most people do. But most people see it from the outside looking in, they aren't in the thick of it, so they base their opinions on perceptions not truth. Look, we got way off track here, this wasn't meant to be philosophical discussion."

"Big words." Eric quipped, earning a playful shove.

"My point is that you've been trying to live up to being a Ranger, thinking you're not good enough, when you've just demonstrated that you have the most basic instinct every Ranger has. No matter what you feel, you can't stand by and watch people get hurt if you can do something to stop it."

"But-"

"We've already established that the Tyrannodone couldn't have killed me, but it would have hurt me. And depending on how it was attacking and where it would have hit it could have put me out of commission for awhile."

"It's a foot soldier."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean it isn't strong and can be ignored. At minimum you saved me from a nasty bruise, but you could have very well saved the Rangers from facing Mesogog without me for a bit. We don't know because you reacted so quickly, without a thought to your fear or your own safety." Eric was about to interrupt but they were arriving at the cars and so Kira cut him off with one final comment. "You think that because of me, mom and dad that you have to live up to being a Ranger, then fine, know you're there. You may not be in the spandex, but you have the instincts and the heart of a Ranger, and no amount of Morphers or Zords could make someone a true Ranger if they didn't have those two things." Kira certainly left Eric with a lot to think about, and he was still thinking when they returned home and he was enveloped in a bone crushing hug from his mother, his friends, one of whom called Tommy and Kim uncle and aunt, while the other two knew them just as well even if they didn't use those titles, getting similar treatment from Tommy before they switched.

"Thank god you're all alright." Kim muttered.

"Only Tyrannodrones?" Tommy asked his daughter and former students.

"For now." Ethan said with a nod of his head.

"But not for long." Came the recognizable voice of the Dino Rangers' tech expert as she appeared in the doorway.

"The alarms just went off." Hayley informed them. "Mesogog has sent one of his goons…and Elsa is leading it." She shot Trent a look but no outcry was heard, merely a deep sigh as his hands clenched and unclenched and without a word he led the way inside and down to the Dino Lab. Sure enough, there was Elsa, in all her former evil glory, leading a group of Tyrannodrones and a 'monster-of-the-day' in an attack on the city.

"Let's go." He said. Instead of morphing and taking the Raptor Cycles and ATVs, Hayley merely teleported them downtown, every civilian having run away long go.

"Elsa!" Trent cried, gaining his step-mother's attention.

"Well, look who it is." She sneered, turning her attention on all of them. "Five little Rangers all in a row."

"We don't want to hurt you, Elsa." Connor said from his place in the middle, a spot he hadn't occupied in many years, having only aided other Ranger teams since Gruumm's first trip back in time, all of whom had their own Red Ranger to lead them.

"Too bad. I don't mind hurting you. Well, almost all of you." She finally turned her sights solely on Trent. "Come back with me Trent. Your father misses you, and so have I. We can rule the world together as one happy family."

"Haven't we heard that line recently?" Kira muttered to Connor, who remembered back to Leanbow and Nick's Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker moment from just over a month ago.

"Not a chance." Trent said. "Instead of joining you I think we'll just bring you back to the side of good."

"Hm. Never say I didn't give you the choice." Knowing she was preparing to attack, Connor called it as they all activated their Morphers as one.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Dino Thunder, Power Up!"

"White Ranger, Dino Power!"

Save Connor and Kira, it had been awhile since the others had morphed into the Dino Rangers, and for Ethan and Trent, awhile since they'd morphed at all. But like various Rangers had said time and time again, it was just like riding a bike.

"Tyranno Power!"

"Tricera Power!"

"Ptera Power!"

"Brachio Power!"

"Drago Power!"

"Power Rangers Dino Thunder!"

Once their morph was complete, Elsa did not hesitate any longer and sent her Tyrannodrones at them. Now morphed, the foot soldiers didn't last long at all, and as expected it was the monster and Elsa that gave them trouble, the monster because it was stronger then a foot soldier, and Elsa because she too was powerful, but they also didn't want to hurt her. Unsure if he could truly fight Elsa, Trent left her to the others and focused on the monster, Tommy joining him while the other three held off Elsa.

"Tyranno Staff!"

"Tricera Shield!"

"Ptera Grips!" Elsa's sword clashed against their own weapons, but no one made any headway. The same could not be said for Trent and Tommy.

"Drago Sword!"

"Brachio Staff! Wind Strike!" Tommy let loose of his powerful attacks, hitting the monster dead on before Trent ran at it and got in a few good hits before letting loose the arrow attack he'd been so fond of when evil.

"Guys we could use a bit of help to finish him off!" Tommy called to the other three who nodded, sending a few good hits at Elsa, certainly nothing fatal, but it was enough to send her flying backwards, giving the Rangers time to regroup.

"Z-Rex Blaster!" They called together as all five assembled their weapons.

"Fire!" The powerful blast, made all the more powerful by the fact that it was all five of their powers, saw to the end of the monster, at least at this size; Mesogog was quick to send his hydro-regenerator to make his monster grow big.

"You guys go." Trent said to Connor, Kira and Ethan. "We'll handle Elsa."

"You sure?" Connor asked. Trent was silent for a moment, but ultimately nodded.

"I can handle it."

"And I got his back." Tommy added.

"Alrighty then. Hayley, we could use the Zords!"

"Way ahead of you, Connor." Came the expected reply half a second before the Brachiozord made its appearance, opening to reveal their beloved Dino Zords.

"Tyrannozord!"

"Tricerazord!"

"Pterazord!" The three jumped up and merged with their respective Zords, calling for them to form the Megazord and appearing in their cockpit when it did just that.

"Thundersaurus Megazord!"

"Man, I've missed these things." Said Ethan.

"This is what a Megazord cockpit should be like." Connor added. The last time he'd been in a Megazord had been when he and Kira had fought Venjix as the Zeo Rangers and although sitting in a chair with buttons and controls all around you had been a novelty, it just didn't feel right.

"Keep focused will you?" Kira griped as the monster got in a hit, having barely waited till the Megazord was formed before attacking. Though why they always waited till they were either morphed or the Megazord was formed, was a question no one could answer. The battle was short and bittersweet, the monster not able to match the Thundersaurus Megazord's power, and the three Rangers in its cockpit both relishing the feeling of being there again, while cursing the fact that they had to be there for it meant the city wasn't safe and they were once again active Rangers. Once the standard explosion marked the end of the monster, the Rangers quitted the Zords and returned them to their resting place, sending the Brachiozord home, and joining up with Trent and Tommy, both of whom had been standing around just watching the Megazord battle for the last few minutes.

"Elsa booked it out of here not long after the monster grew." Trent explained.

"I'm sorry Trent." Kira murmured.

"We'll get her back. And my dad too." He said with certainty, smiling at her, though she couldn't see it under his helmet. Trent's certainty was two-fold and they all knew it. He was sure that they would succeed eventually, but the usual nagging doubt wasn't there, for he knew Kira and Connor would allow for nothing less, not after Venjix. Every Ranger, and others touched by The Power, even those who'd died and been brought back to life by Kira and Connor's power, knew that Earth had been saved, though Alpha's action in turning the Viewing Globe off during the cries of joy after Venjix was defeated stopped those in the Command Centre from knowing how Earth had been saved. Of course, there were those who knew all about the prophecy and so there'd been no reason to hide it from them. The Jungle Fury and Dino Thunder teams had been informed, along with just about everyone up to the Space Rangers. As such, knowing the kind of power his two teammates had, and knowing them personally, Trent knew that they'd never let Elsa and his dad remain evil if all else failed.

"Let's go home." Tommy said just as sirens were heard in the distance. Not wanting to stick around any longer, the five of them teleported out of there, landing in the Dino Lab. Seeing neither Hayley nor Kim they de-morphed and headed upstairs finding them in the kitchen.

"The kids went home. Skull and Aurora are taking Eric for the night." Kim explained her son's absence.

"We thought we could all use some time." Hayley added, earning appreciative nods. Kim then begun pouring out the bottle of scotch they just noticed had been on the counter. "And a stiff drink." None of them were heavy drinkers, no Ranger was as it caused too many problems if there was an attack, but that didn't mean they never drank, it was just usually saved for an actual occasion and not just because, and they all agreed the return of their arch-nemesis, who happened to be family, was an occasion, even if it wasn't a good one.

"Uh uh." Kim said to her daughter as Kira held her glass out. "You're still under age." She then placed a bowl of ice cream in front of her daughter, though admittedly a very large one, having been prepared for this.

"Oh come on!" Kira cried, looking down at the ice cream then to her parents, flipping her attention between the two of them. "I may be under age but I'm nineteen, not nine! I deserve a drink just as much as the rest of you!"

"Maybe." Tommy admitted, but sided with Kim on this one. "But you're not gonna get one until you're twenty-one. Besides you wouldn't like scotch, it's too strong for your first drink."

"It's not my first-" Kira began still a bit incensed at being denied, but quickly caught on to what she was actually about to say. "I mean…I…well that is…crap…" She finished cringing under her parents' stern looks.

"Nice save." Connor snickered, alongside Ethan and Trent.

"Shut up." She grumbled, dutifully digging in to her ice cream. "If I go down I'm bringing you down for aiding and abetting." She added to Connor through their bond. The Red Ranger's eyes snapped to Tommy and Kim seeing they were still glaring at their daughter.

"Well, teenagers will be teenagers." He said, trying to brush it off and divert Tommy and Kim's attention. "Anyone catch Chivas' most recent game? We're gonna trounce them next time we play them." Although knowing exactly what he was doing, Tommy and Kim allowed their attention to be diverted, if only because they both realized they'd had a typical teenager moment, unhindered by the fact that their teenager was a Ranger; parents finding out their underage offspring drank alcohol was something happening across the globe everyday. Letting things settle down, the group spent a few hours sitting around and talking, all pitching in to make dinner, which was new for them all as the last time they'd really had an opportunity to just sit and talk, four of them had been young enough that they didn't really do that kind of thing, but they'd since grown up. Their peaceful evening was only marred by an obviously increasing agitation in Connor and Kira. Ethan, being the smart one, was the first to catch on.

"I think I'm gonna call it a night." He said, rising from the table but doing so slowly, with no real intention of leaving.

"Oh thank god!" Both Kira and Connor cried with obvious relief as they jumped up.

"Uh…really tired." Connor explained quickly.

"I'm just gonna see Connor home." Kira added before the two booked it out of there, teleporting as soon as they were out of sight, completely forgetting that the others would miss the front door opening and closing and the car leaving. Ethan sat back down with a slightly embarrassed smile as he looked to those around the table.

"I'm never gonna get used to that." Kim groaned and Tommy merely let his head fall onto the table.

"I think they held out pretty well." Trent said. "We never would have known had they had a clean escape about an hour ago."

"Still doesn't mean we're gonna get used to it." Came Tommy's muffled reply for his face was still firmly planted on the table. "And definitely don't want to get used to it."

"Ditto." Ethan mumbled. Everyone in the room knew what happened to their two teammates once a month. Ethan and Trent, along with Connor's twin, were the Red Ranger's best friends, and while they, as guys, didn't tend to delve deep into any form of discussion unless absolutely necessary, they still talked, and Connor had decided to share one day, much to their revulsion for they didn't really want to know about Connor's sex life, especially as Kira had been fifteen at the time; their only consolation was that they were given the main facts, the bare minimum, and nothing else, though it was still enough to creep them out. Hayley had found out because she was very observant, and noticing something off with the two them she quietly approached Tommy and Kim, wondering what was wrong. The only other people to know were the Jungle Fury team, and Tori. Their friends at Pai Zhuq knew because they either lived it, this being Jarrod and Lily and upon the release of her Animal Spirit, Fran and Dom as well, both rhinos and badgers having some form of heat cycle that when mixed with a human's ended in the same result, or because as Masters they'd had to learn everything about Pai Zhuq, including all about mates. As for Tori, Kira had grown quite close to the Blue Wind Ranger during her frequent visits with Connor to the Wind Ninja Academy so he could see his twin. They, apart from Dana who Kira had sworn to secrecy via doctor/patient confidentiality, were the entirety of those who knew, not even the Originals and Kira's other aunts and uncles knew. At least they suspected Tommy and Kim hadn't spilled the beans to their best friends for no one had come to kill Connor, and minimally Jason would have. Barely fifteen minutes later, Kira and Connor returned, taking seats at the table as if nothing had happened.

"I thought you were 'really tired.' " Said Ethan.

"We know you all know." Connor grumbled, the two having realized how unsubtle their exit had been.

"And as this is awkward enough we're gonna say no more on the subject." Kira added, officially ending any further comments. Hours passed and it was nearing midnight when Ethan decided to call it a night for real this time.

"I doubt Mesogog will hold off an attack till the afternoon just cause I'm tired and a bit hung over." The six who were of age had finished the bottle of scotch, and it was by no means a small one.

"Yeah I better get back too." Trent said.

"We'd feel better if you'd stay here." Kim said to the White Ranger. "You in that great big house all alone? If Elsa was serious about Mesogog wanting you to join him you're basically offering yourself up as bait."

"You're welcome to crash here too Ethan." Tommy added. Both Rangers nodded their agreement and offered their thanks.

"One of you can take Eric's bed, and we'll make up the pull couch." Kim said with a smile, glad they were staying.

"Connor and I are heading back to L.A. the other can sleep in my room." Kira said as if it was the most common thing.

"Right…" Tommy ground out.

"And with that we'll be going." Said Connor. "Night all." The two then teleported out, landing in their apartment and practically falling into each other's arms.

"They couldn't have waited a couple weeks." Kira mumbled between kisses, referring to their Animal Spirits and their horrible timing, what with Mesogog just having returned.

"Horrible timing or not…I'm not complaining." Connor said having gotten Kira's shirt off and taking in the red lacy bra. "You knew this was gonna happen." He accused, as he worked her jeans down to reveal matching panties. "You know what seeing you in red does to me."

"Possessive much?" Kira said with a smirk, knowing the more primitive side of Connor loved seeing her in red because it was his colour. Quickly, Kira found herself flat on her back with Connor hovering over her, holding her arms above her head.

"Absolutely." He murmured unashamedly.

"Good." Kira returned, using all her strength to reverse their positions. "So am I."

A/N - No Trent did not get captured, just like Tommy. This is largely, or really pretty much entirely, due to me wanting to keep the team together.

Next up the return on some old friends (in more ways then one)!

Review please!