A/N: I forgot that this site existed for a while, so kudos to those who found this story on AO3 and have been keeping up with the updates there. I might try to catch up here, but I also might forget again.

Chapter 2: Mr. Jenkins

Everyone stared at her following her exclamation. Mr. Jenkins, who bore the exact appearance of Ziggy's former employer and nemesis, approached the table, looking at her. He stopped right in front of her, holding out his hand. "Robert Jenkins. And who might you be?"

"Summer Landsdown." Summer shook his hand.

"That's a lovely name, but not one I'm familiar with." Mr. Jenkins walked over and sat down at the head of the table. "The Jenkins Institute has managed the Delphi Census for the past two years. I know every name in this city. So, Miss Landsdown, where have you been hiding?"

"I'm from an alternate universe."

The man's expression didn't change at all, conveying no shock nor confusion. He simply looked at her for several seconds.

Summer looked at Ben and Berry uncertainly, but they were both also waiting for their boss's reaction.

When Mr. Jenkins spoke again, his voice was louder than before. "Daisy, stop hiding back there. Come on out."

Daisy poked her head out from behind the partition. "How'd you know?"

"One of your teachers called and informed me that you were continuing your trend of absences." Mr. Jenkins looked at his granddaughter. "Keep it up, and I'll recommend your expulsion."

Summer stared at him.

"You know that I'm already smarter than most of my teachers, don't you?" Daisy reached the table and sat down, frowning at her grandfather.

"There's far more to school than gathering intelligence. If all you want to be is smart, you might as well be a computer." Mr. Jenkins gestured at the large screen on the wall. "But this city has already seen first-hand that all the intelligence in the world, when not paired with responsibility, discipline, and empathy, can be more of a harm than a boon. I would not have you provide a second example of that."

"I would never become like her," Daisy asserted. Summer flinched, knowing that she was referring to Doctor K.

"Then go to school and learn what you're really supposed to learn there: how to be a responsible and social member of society." Mr. Jenkins looked back at Summer. "Now, remind me what it was that you told me last month about alternate universes."

Daisy briefly glanced at Summer. "I said that it was highly likely that alternate universes existed, given the nature of energy transfer within the Biofield. One of the teachers that you want me to learn from scoffed at that idea."

"Well, if Miss Landsdown is telling the truth, it's safe to say that your theory is confirmed."

Daisy smiled. "I think she is."

"I do too. Which begs the question, Miss Landsdown: How did you get here?"

"With this." Summer revealed the Vector Vortex. "It's out of power now, and the calibration was thrown off."

"What does it do?" Daisy asked.

"It creates a vortex between dimensions. A one-way portal. I couldn't tell you any more than that. Doctor K created it."

Mr. Jenkins raised his eyebrows. "Did she now?"

"Doctor K is still good in her universe, apparently," said Berry.

Mr. Jenkins leaned forward, looking at the device. "And I'm guessing the only one who would know how to recalibrate the device would be that same Doctor K."

Summer hesitated. She hadn't thought about that.

"You can't go to her and ask in this universe," said Daisy. "She's kinda nuts."

"More than kinda," said Berry.

"I'll have my people take a look at it, if you're okay with that option," said Mr. Jenkins.

"Sure." Summer placed the device on the table.

"Not that I can make any promises, of course. Our knowledge of dimensions is somewhat more limited than that of... Doctor K, as you called her."

Summer nodded, hoping they could figure it out and get her back home soon.

"And as for your morpher..."

Summer drew her jacket over her morpher protectively. "This works just fine."

"Very well." Mr. Jenkins leaned back again, and looked at his granddaughter. "Well, Daisy, since you've neglected to go to school today, why don't you go ahead and give our guest the grand tour."

Daisy smiled brightly, and stood. "Sure thing."

Summer peered down one of the white hallways that branched out from the main room. "That room at the end of the hall was Sam and Deb's. The one in the middle there is Berry's. The other men were in the next hallway over." Daisy gave her a look. "But what do you say we skip that and go right to the fun part?"

"The fun part?"

Daisy smiled and beckoned, and Summer followed her back across the main room. Mr. Jenkins was still sitting at the table, looking lost in thought. He briefly returned Summer's glance as she passed him.

Daisy led her down yet another white hallway. "The rec room and kitchen are through here." She indicated the first door. "These next two doors are laboratories. But this..." The door at the end of the hall had a pin pad on it. Daisy entered the code, and the door unlocked. She opened it, leading Summer through. "This is the Zord Bay."

Summer stared up at the enormous blue zord that stood in front of her. It was shaped like an elephant. On one side of it was the Simian Zord, which she had already seen in action. On the other side was a smaller, purple zord shaped like a bull. That must have been Ben's zord.

The ceiling of the bay was far above their heads. A yellow, bird-shaped zord was perched on a balcony just below it. Even just looking at it from below, Summer felt a little anxious. She was once again grateful that Doctor K hadn't given her a flying zord.

Walking further into the room, she reached out and touched the bottom of the trunk of the massive elephant zord. The metal ridges were cold beneath her hand. "In my universe, our zords are vehicles, blended with animal DNA to protect them from Venjix's control."

"That was Doctor K's original design," said Daisy. "After she... well, you know... Grandpa decided that modeling zords after the actual animals themselves would be more reliable." She looked up. "These zords may not be as fast as the Eagle Racer is, but they are unquestionably stronger and sturdier."

Summer stepped around the elephant zord and glanced behind it, seeing a red, horse-shaped zord. "I bet you can make some cool megazord formations with these."

"We certainly can. Well, when we have all six rangers, that is." Daisy looked up at the Simian Zord. "But the Simian Zord is strong enough to defeat all of Doctor Blake's anomalies so far. It's Grandpa's latest and most advanced design."

Summer nodded, already knowing first-hand how strong that zord was. "Are you going to try to find new rangers?"

"Eventually." Daisy sighed and looked back towards the hallway. "Not that it will be easy. I don't even know how Doctor Blake went about choosing the original ranger team."

"Well, since your grandfather runs the city's census, he does have data on everyone."

"That's true." Daisy led the way out of the Zord Bay, and Summer followed her.

Mr. Jenkins finally stood from the table as they returned to it. "Daisy, why don't I take over from here? Since you don't want to show your face at school today, it falls to me to show her that."

"Um, okay." Daisy turned to Summer. "Well, I hope you enjoyed the Command Center portion of the tour."

"I did. You're a good tour guide."

"Thank you. See you later."

Mr. Jenkins returned to the double doors that he had entered from, and Summer followed him. The doors opened, revealing a glass elevator that was large enough to fit at least twenty people at once. As soon as the doors shut behind them, the elevator began climbing.

When they reached the ground floor, the cement beyond the glass gave way to a view of a green lawn. High school-aged kids walked to and fro, carrying backpacks and chatting merrily.

"Welcome to the Jenkins Institute." Mr. Jenkins turned as the doors opened again, and Summer followed him out into a large foyer. Students were everywhere, crossing in and out of hallways that stretched out in all directions from the foyer.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Jenkins." Several students that passed by acknowledged Mr. Jenkins, as did the few teachers that were also passing. Mr. Jenkins returned their greetings graciously.

"It's a high school?" Summer asked.

"It's whatever the city needs it to be." Mr. Jenkins turned back to her. "When I founded it, there were no high schools nor universities left in the world, nor was there any dedicated laboratory space. I decided to solve all of those problems at once." He stretched his arms out around himself. "The lower floors of the building are an institution that blends the experiences of secondary and higher education. It provides students with a standard high school education for the first few years, and then guides them on a more pre-professional path towards the field of their choosing."

Summer was impressed. It was a shame that no such institution had ever emerged in Corinth, although multiple schools had sprung up during the recovery, including Dr. K's.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a powerful force crashed into her from behind, sending her to the floor. "Oops. I'm terribly sorry, Ma'am." The boy reached down, and Summer accepted his help back to her feet. He was impressively strong.

"You should not be running in the hallways, Travis," Mr. Jenkins admonished him.

"Yes, I know, Sir. But I'm running late for practice. Coach McKnight is gonna have me doing extra laps." The boy was wearing a blue track jacket with the Jenkins Institute logo over his blue shirt.

"Well, then you'll get plenty of running done on the field today, so there's no need to run through the building."

"Uh, yes, Sir." The boy glanced at Summer. "I'm sorry again for knocking you down, Ma'am."

"That's okay." She didn't bother correcting his honorific for her, since he was obviously in a hurry. He power-walked away in the direction he had been running before, and she turned back to Mr. Jenkins.

"I'm sorry about that."

"That's okay." Part of her was amused by the experience. It had been a long time since she had been knocked over by anything as innocent as a teenager running late. "So, if the school is on the lower floors of the building, what is above it?"

"I'll show you." Mr. Jenkins returned to the glass elevator, and she followed. As the elevator climbed again, the view through the glass showed more and more of the surrounding city.

They next exited the elevator into a long hallway. A guard sat behind a small desk, and looked at Summer inquisitively.

"Hello, Marty." Mr. Jenkins waved at the guard. "This is Summer Landsdown. She's to be granted limited viewing of laboratory activities, classification 'C.'"

"Landsdown," the guard repeated. He looked at his computer screen and typed. "Nothing's coming up under that name, Sir."

"Yes, I know. Make a custom entry for her, please."

The guard frowned at Summer for a moment, but then did as his boss instructed. After typing in a few things, he produced a tiny camera. "Look at the camera, please." Summer did so, and the guard took the picture.

Finally, a card printed out, and the guard passed it to Mr. Jenkins, who in turn handed it to Summer. "This will be your access card for the facilities here. Don't lose it."

"Thank you." Summer looked at the card, which had her picture and name and the words 'Classification C' in large, red letters. It wasn't a great picture of her, but she didn't care about that.

Mr. Jenkins continued down the hallway, and she followed. They passed a long window, which looked into a laboratory. Scientists in white lab coats were bustling to and fro. "Most of the laboratories on this floor make medicines. You're probably aware of how many illnesses spring up from having so many people packed into the city."

"Yes, I know." She followed him past several more laboratories, until they reached a conference room at the far end of the hall. Several scientists were sitting in there, and seemed to be arguing over something.

When Mr. Jenkins poked his head in, they immediately stopped and turned towards him.

"Hello, all." Mr. Jenkins stepped fully into the room, and Summer peeked in behind him. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Sir. We were just deciding on the most efficient delivery method for the D-H-30."

"Good. Well, I trust you'll arrive at a consensus by the end of the day."

"Yes, Sir."

Summer didn't see a lot of confidence on that around the room.

"Excellent." Mr. Jenkins stepped back out and shut the door, then sighed. "Experts. Put eight of them in a room, get nine opinions."

They returned to the elevator, and it climbed further. Summer noticed that it was passing several floors. "What gets made on the other floors?"

"Whatever the city needs. Customized food products, more energy-efficient fuel cells..." He gave a small shrug. "Defenses. The current zord models were designed here."

"I saw them. They look strong."

"They are."

The elevator stopped at the very top floor of the building, but the door didn't open. Mr. Jenkins withdrew a card from his breast pocket and swiped it in a card reader that Summer hadn't noticed before, then entered a code. The door opened.

They exited into a massive penthouse suite. "Wow," said Summer, looking around. Mr. Jenkins certainly lived well. Summer was reminded of the mansion that she grew up in, but this suite also had a magnificent view of the entire city and the dome above.

Then a grinder appeared, and she immediately snapped into action. "Look out!" She stepped between Mr. Jenkins and the grinder, and assumed a defensive stance, her hand going towards her morpher.

"It's okay, Miss Landsdown." Mr. Jenkins stepped between her and the grinder. "That's Alfred, my butler."

"Your butler?" Summer looked at him, then back at the grinder.

"I found him after the final battle with Venjix. He was cut off from the network and shut down, but intact. I installed a new memory drive and repurposed his software. He makes quite a good valet, so I'd rather you didn't destroy him."

"Ah, Mr. Jenkins, you have a guest." The grinder spoke with a not-quite-human-sounding voice. "Shall I make a second cup of tea?"

"Certainly, Alfred. Thank you." Mr. Jenkins led Summer into a large office. The back wall was all window panels, and most of the city was visible through them. No lights were on, but the artificial sunlight coming from the dome provided all the light that the room needed.

Mr. Jenkins sat down beside his large desk and gestured for Summer to take the seat in front of it. She sat down stiffly, getting a feeling like she was sitting down in a headmaster's office. Which, technically, she was.

Mr. Jenkins was silent for several seconds, looking at an empty space on his desk. When he spoke, his voice was significantly quieter than before. "Miss Landsdown, what was it that you exclaimed when I first entered the Command Center earlier? You mistook me for someone in your universe?"

Summer looked down, recalling her exclamation. "Fresno Bob. He's a mob boss in my universe. You... look just like him."

"Fresno Bob..." Mr. Jenkins repeated. He sighed, then turned in his chair and glanced through the large window panels at the city. "There but for the grace..."

Summer watched him, not knowing if she should say something else. He was clearly lost in thought.

It felt like nearly a full minute passed before he spoke again. His voice was so quiet that Summer wasn't sure whether he was speaking to her. "My father was known as Fresno Pete. He ran a powerful gang back in the day, until it cost him his life." Mr. Jenkins slowly turned back and looked at Summer. "He was killed by a rival named Monsoon Max, nearly fifty years ago. When it happened, I was... desperate for revenge. I had grown up with the cartel, and knew all I needed to know to take over. The men followed me immediately, and I went after Max. I tracked him down, and put my gun to his head." He looked at his hand, as though it were still holding the gun.

Summer stared, wondering if this was also Fresno Bob's backstory back in her own universe.

"I can't explain what happened then. Something... someone... I'm not even sure. All I know is that I realized revenge isn't the answer. I lowered my gun, and I let the man who killed my father live. Then I disbanded the cartel."

Summer's eyes widened. Mr. Jenkins had come so close to becoming Fresno Bob after all. She wondered what happened nearly fifty years ago that he couldn't explain, that had caused his sudden change of heart.

Alfred the grinder entered the room, carrying a tray with two cups of tea, and set it down on the desk. Summer instinctively stiffened when she saw the grinder, then quickly reminded herself of the circumstances.

"Thank you, Alfred," said Mr. Jenkins. He gestured for Summer to take the first cup, and she did, although she wasn't actually inclined to drink it. She didn't like tea.

"You are welcome, Sir. May I get you or your guest anything else?"

Mr. Jenkins looked at Summer, and she shook her head. "No, that will be all for right now, Alfred. Thank you."

The grinder gave a slight bow and left the room.

"So, Miss Landsdown, I find myself wondering... In the event that we are unable to promptly send you home, where do you see yourself finding a place in this city?"

Summer's eyebrows shot up at the question. Even with the interruption by the butler, it felt like an abrupt change of topic from Mr. Jenkins's background. Also, she had absolutely no idea how to answer that question. "Um, I really don't know."

Mr. Jenkins nodded. "Well, I suppose you've seen very little of the city so far. But it will be something to think about, if you are forced to remain here for a while. You are welcome to stay nights in the Command Center, of course. Since we are short on rangers at the moment, there are open rooms."

"Thank you. And I'll help your rangers, of course, for as long as I'm here."

Mr. Jenkins nodded. "Your help would be appreciated. As for the rest of your time, perhaps I can find a role for you to fill here, as I have done for Ben and Berry. But you should have the opportunity to familiarize yourself with the city first, and see if you can't figure out where you would like to be on your own."

"Okay." The prospect of a real day-job was a little bit daunting. Summer had never had one of those before.

Mr. Jenkins took a long sip of his tea, then studied her for a moment. As he started to say something else, however, a red light began flashing on the side of his desk. He frowned, then pressed the button beside the light. "Cassi, what's happening?"

"Anomalies are approaching the city, Sir."

Mr. Jenkins sighed. "Twice in one day? Have Ben and Berry finished the delivery to the West Distribution Center?"

"Yes, they are on their way back. Shall I reroute them towards the anomalies."

Summer stood. "I'll meet them downstairs."

Mr. Jenkins nodded. "No, Cassi, have them come back here and get Miss Landsdown." He pressed the button again, and looked at Summer. "Go."

Summer felt well-prepared for her second encounter with the anomalies, having already fought them once that day. She avoided any of their attempts to intercept her blows the way one had earlier. The three rangers fought them off more quickly this time.

"What's that?" Ben asked. Summer looked at him, then followed his gaze. An orange glint was visible in the distance, in the opposite direction from the city.

Summer used her mask to zoom in on what she was looking at. It was an orange, humanoid form, but the way the light reflected off of it, she could tell that it was metal. "An attack bot?"

"It's been a while since we fought one of those," said Berry. "I thought the anomalies were the new thing."

The orange form turned away from them, then leapt into the air, disappearing from sight. Summer waited to see if it would reappear, but it didn't. "Well, whatever it is, it looks like it was just there to watch the show, not take part in it." She reset the zoom on her mask and turned to the siblings.

Berry looked around. "Alright, it looks like it's all quiet out here now." She unmorphed, and turned to Ben. "Should we take her over to Mikey's for dinner?"

He also unmorphed, revealing a grin. "Only if she wants her mind blown."

"Huh?" Summer unmorphed and looked back and forth between them.

"The best burgers you think you've ever had in your life? They're about to be totally blown out of the water," said Ben, turning back towards the van.

"I hate to break it to you guys, but that didn't quite manage to live up to the hype. It was a good burger, but my universe has better."

Ben looked at her skeptically. "If you say so."

Summer returned his look, and for a moment, her mind flashed to Dillon. That same look, that same flippant skepticism. She quickly looked away from Ben.

Berry caught the moment as she paid the check. She didn't say anything, however, until the women were climbing into the back of the van. "He reminded you of your boyfriend just now, didn't he?"

"Yeah." Summer glanced up front as Ben got in and started the van.

Berry nodded, not saying anything else for the moment.

Once back at the Command Center, she showed Summer over to the room that had previously belonged to Sam and Deb. "It's all yours. You'll find that Mr. Jenkins spared no expense on the mattresses. He wanted to make sure the rangers always got a good night's sleep."

Summer sat down on the bed, finding it comfortable. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Berry looked around. "They're due for a visit. It's been a little while."

Summer wondered what it would be like to see Sam and Deb, who looked like Scott and Brie, together. And with a baby, no less. It would be very strange.

"Anyway, do you need anything?"

"No, thanks."

"Alright." Berry turned towards the exit, then turned back. "Hey, what was it that Ben did that reminded you of your boyfriend?"

Summer shrugged. "It's just little things. The attitude, the expressions."

"Is this going to be too weird for you?"

"No. They're different enough."

"Good." Berry looked down. "If you get confused about it, you could wind up hurting him too."

"I won't. I promise." Summer felt confident about that. Ben may have been this universe's equivalent of Dillon, but he certainly was not Dillon.

Summer entered the kitchen to find Daisy in a yellow tank-top, white pajama pants, and the fluffiest slippers Summer had seen since Doctor K's. "Good morning. Do you also live down here?"

"When I feel like it." Daisy opened the fridge and pulled out a silver thermos. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine." Unsurprisingly, Summer's dreams were still depicting the chaos at Turtle Cove in the other universe... the other, other universe... Kira's universe.

"Fine? Whenever Deb said she slept fine, it meant she was having nightmares about past battles."

Summer shrugged. "It's just part of life as a ranger. Takes a while for sleep to become a true refuge from the memories."

Daisy grimaced. Opening the thermos, she took a sip.

"You drink your coffee cold?"

"Yeah. Gives it a little extra jolt. And my mouth has a low heat tolerance."

"Well, I don't." Summer made her way over to the coffee maker. "So, Ben and Berry said that your grandfather saved their lives at Kenmore?"

"Yeah, the orphanage was attacked by Venjix. Fortunately, Grandpa was in the area, and he rescued Ben and Berry and as many others as he could."

Summer stared at nothing as she listened. Mr. Jenkins had saved the two siblings, and stopped them from being captured by Venjix. That, of course, had led to Ben not having the virus inside of him, which in turn had led to the rangers not learning Doctor K's secret until later on, which in turn had lead to the city's new crisis.

"Did your grandfather also have something to do with Delphi becoming the last bastion of humanity instead of Corinth?"

Daisy nodded. "He financed the design of the infrastructure for the shield system at the old lab downtown. A military base in Corinth was also working towards that end, but Grandpa was farther along."

It seemed that Mr. Jenkins was the source of each of this universe's major changes.

"He really is a remarkable man, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Summer replied. Putting aside the thoughts for now, she changed the subject. "So, are you going to school today?"

Daisy made a face. "Oh, don't you start with that, too. I already get plenty enough from Ben and Berry."

"Well, they aren't wrong."

Daisy sighed. "Why do power rangers always have to be so responsible? Yes, I'll go to school."

While Ben and Berry spent the morning doing deliveries, Summer explored the city. There wasn't much concern about getting lost, considering the towering Jenkins Institute was visible from just about everywhere. Open-air shops lined a long plaza across the center of the city, and merchants advertised everything from fresh fruits grown in rooftop gardens to souvenirs from the fallen cities beyond the dome. The climate within the dome was kept a little bit warmer here than it had been in Corinth, and the open, airy shops with their noise filtering out into the plaza gave the city a more vivacious feel.

Past the plaza, she arrived in a park. Children who were clearly too young for the Jenkins Institute scrambled around a jungle gym, climbing and playing and laughing, watched vigilantly by parents. Past them, an open field was dotted with picnic blankets and people playing with their dogs. Like in the plaza, the noise and vibrancy gave a feel of what Corinth could have been if more families had reached the dome in time.

Just as in Corinth, however, she noticed how few of the children looked younger than five. As the world came under attack, the birthrate had slowed as would-be parents waited for the assurance of a secure future to raise children in.

That sobering thought was driven aside as a red ball rolled to a stop at her feet. It looked like a toy soccer ball, but the large golden retriever that pursued it was no soccer player. Summer smiled as the dog snatched the ball from in front of her, then looked up at her curiously.

"Hello."

"Hello!" The reply came from a man who was running after the dog. Summer recognized the blue track jacket of the Jenkins Institute over a red shirt. "Sorry about that. He likes people, and I suppose I sent him right to you."

"That's alright." Summer reached down and pet the dog. "Hello there. I'm Summer."

"Chris McKnight."

Summer looked up at the man in amusement. "I was introducing myself to the dog."

"Oh."

"McKnight? As in Coach McKnight?" She remembered the exclamation of the boy who had knocked into her yesterday.

"I'm Coach McKnight starting at two o'clock. I still get to be Chris until then."

"Well, pleased to meet you, Chris." She belatedly shook his hand.

"So how is it that I've never seen you before? I would definitely have remembered if I had."

Summer gave a small shrug, searching for an explanation. "I found somewhere to hide from Venjix."

"Beyond the dome? So there are other survivors?"

She nodded. "I think so." She hoped that she was right, both in this world and in her own, although it might take years more to find them.

"That's really good to hear."

"Summer!" They turned to see Berry approaching. Past her, Summer could see Ben in the van, pulled over beside the park. "Fancy seeing you out here. Exploring?"

"Yeah."

"Hi, Coach McKnight."

"Hi, Berry."

Berry's acknowledgement of him was only brief as she turned back to Summer. "Sam and Deb are stopping by for lunch, and bringing the baby. Want to meet them?"

"Yeah, sure," Summer replied, even as a small lump formed in her gut. She turned to Chris. "It was great meeting you."

"Likewise. See you around, Summer."

Berry led her over to the van. "So did he try flirting with you too?"

"A little bit."

Berry shook her head. "Sorry about that."

"It's no big deal."

They climbed into the van and strapped in, and Ben set out towards the institute.

"So apparently Deb is bringing a fruit salad, since she says we don't eat healthy enough. She really dove headlong into the whole maternal thing."

Ben snorted. "I guess that happens."

They reached the institute and entered the Command Center. Daisy was there, setting seven plates on the table with silverware.

"How were your morning classes?" Summer asked her.

She shot Summer a frown. "Boring and unhelpful, but I went."

"Remember what your grandfather said yesterday," said Berry. "School is about a lot more than just learning facts."

Daisy rolled her eyes. Before she could retort, however, the door to the garage opened again.

Scott, or rather Sam, came through first, carrying a tiny human in his arms. The woman who came in beside him with the fruit salad certainly looked like Brie, but the difference in her demeanor was immediately apparent.

When Deb saw her, however, she froze, and the bowl containing the fruit salad fell from her hands and crashed to the floor. "June?"