Chapter Three

--

Alex quickly put on a pair of sneakers and a light jacket, then headed outside for a long jog in an attempt to clear his mind. He took deep breaths as he ran through the city, careful to keep his face hidden beneath the hood of his jacket; he didn't want to draw stares.

An hour later, he was on his way back to the estate when he caught sight of Jen in the backyard, working herself much too hard. She kicked furiously at the air, and then threw a few punches at her invisible opponent; Alex ran up the hill to join her, but she was oblivious to him. He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to stop her relentless workout.

"You shouldn't push yourself," he scolded. "You're still recovering."

"I'm fine!" Jen insisted.

Alex fought the urge to curse at her, but that would be entirely inappropriate for an officer to do to his subordinate. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"Jennifer—" he gripped her arm firmly "—you can't lie to me, you never could."

Jen looked away, unable to meet his eyes; he was right, he had always known when something was bothering her; he could read her easily. She could feel his eyes bearing down on her, finally, she muttered: "I—I just can't talk about it with you."

"Oh." Alex nodded slowly. "Well . . . don't work too hard, we need you healthy."

Jen looked back at him as he walked away, her eyes stinging with tears; Wes didn't deserve to be treated the way she had treated him the past three days. She had practically ignored him the entire time, and whenever their eyes met she could see the hurt behind his.

'I'm sorry,' she said silently, 'I just can't do this . . . '

Wes ran ahead of the others to meet with the mutant sent down by Sordna, he was fully morphed and prepared for battle; the other rangers joined him, followed by Alex.

Jen swung her leg around and kicked the mutant in its mid-section, doubling it over and giving her a chance to knock it off its feet. When she did so, Katie and Trip pulled their blasters and shot it; Alex flew to the ground, landing on a piece of a building that was destroyed and gasping in pain.

Wes shot the cyclobot and helped Alex to his feet as the others hurried over. "Why do they keep disappearing?” Jen's voice sounded confused. “These aren't like the other mutants we fought."

"They don't . . . well, grow," Lucas said.

"I don't know why," Alex said softly, rubbing his back painfully.

"Are you hurt?" Jen asked.

"No." Alex managed a small smirk. "Just fine. Let's get back and try to figure this out."

Wes took a step—and nearly fell, Katie grabbed his arm just in time; he smiled gratefully. "Twisted my knee the wrong way, I guess," he said quietly.

"I guess so," Katie half-laughed. "Come on, I'll help you home."

An hour later, Jen and Alex were sitting together, discussing the battle while Wes wrapped up his knee and the other three played a board game in the kitchen. Wes leaned back on the couch, pretending not to watch Alex and Jen through the reflection of the glass in the shelf across the room.

"Wes?"

He looked up to see Ariana entering and—smiling—said, "Hey, girl. Come to check up on me?"

"Yes, actually." She sat beside him and frowned at his bandaged knee.

"I landed on it wrong," Wes explained.

"You should be more careful."

Wes smiled, leaning in to kiss her cheek. "Sometimes," he said. "In order to do my job—I can't be very careful. But don't worry, nothing all that awful has happened to me yet."

"Except for that day when I took the Quantum morpher," Eric pointed out, coming in.

"Shut up," Wes said. "That was a long time ago." He grinned. "I was young and stupid."

"That's for sure," Eric said dryly.

Wes put his arm around his fiancee and pulled her close, resting his head on hers and closing his eyes, smiling contentedly. Eric shook his head and walked by, joining Alex and Jen in the other room; he saw Jen look over at Wes and noted the pain in her eyes when she saw him sitting so close to Ariana.

"How're we doing?" the Quantum Ranger asked, sitting next to Alex.

Alex shook his head, sighing slightly. "Not as well as I had hoped," he admitted. "Sordna knew what she was doing when she led her army back in time. Without our technology, we're considerably weaker."

"But isn't she weaker too?" Eric pointed out. "I mean, she doesn't have the resources of the Thirty-First Century either."

"True," Alex said. "But she won't hold back if she needs something. We can't interfere with this time."

Jen stood suddenly. "Alex, do you mind if I go to bed? I'm really tired."

"No problem, Jen," Alex said. "you should rest."

"Good-night, guys."

Alex's eyes followed her every move as she left and hurried upstairs, Eric frowned at the longing look in the officer's eyes and realizing for the first time that he was still in love with his ex-fiancée . . .

. . . then he spotted Wes staring after Jen as he stood up and started limping to the kitchen, the same look in his eyes.

Eric swore to himself, suddenly knowing that trouble was coming . . .

--

"Couldn't sleep?"

Jen stood on the balcony overlooking the ocean, resting her arms on the railing; she didn't turn when she heard his voice, and seconds later Wes stood beside her. He hesitated, sighing a little. "Jen, I—I never meant to hurt you."

"You didn't." Jen shook her head. "You haven't done anything wrong, Wes."

"Then why do I feel like I have?" Wes demanded. "I love Ariana, Jen! Or, at least, I thought I did. Until . . . "

"Until . . . what?"

He looked at her sadly. "Do you even have to ask?" his voice was barely more than a whisper.

Jen stared up at him, trembling as she felt his hand run up and down her arm, his eyes soft with emotion; suddenly, she kissed him passionately, and his lips pressed firmly to hers. All else was forgotten as they held each other, never wanting to let go; then Wes pulled back, she saw tears glistening in his eyes.

"I—I'm sorry," he whispered.

Quickly, he turned to leave, but Jen wasn't ready to say good-bye yet; she grabbed his arm and he stopped, looking her in the eyes.

"Jen," he said slowly. "Please . . . Ariana, she can't know."

"You don't love her, do you?"

"Yes, I do!" Wes insisted, "I just—I love you so much, Jen."

They kissed again, not seeing Alex standing only a few yards away, also experiencing trouble sleeping; he watched in silence as Wes and Jen stood in each other's arms. He shook his head, frowning slightly, wishing Jen hadn't come; he knew things would get complicated.

As they stepped apart, Alex's communicator went off and Ensign Sherrin's voice came: "We're under attack, Commander! At the former SG Headquarters!"

"On our way." Alex looked up. "Wes, Jen! Sordna won't wait till morning!"

He took off, followed closely by Wes and Jen; they made their way to the site and joined Sherrin and Trip as they fought off the cyclobots. Wes reflected again at how different Sordna was in her battle tactics then Ransik, he found it hard to believe the two used to be partners.

"Time for," he shouted, "Time Force!"

He and the other rangers morphed as Alex, Wisnosky, and Sherrin engaged Sordna's soldiers; Eric went straight for the toughest opponent. This time, the mutant was about six-feet-tall, bulky and obviously very strong. It flung Eric away easily, Wes heard him moan briefly before slumping against the wall; the Red Ranger ran to his friend and shook him gently.

"Eric, wake up!" he said, an edge of panic in his voice, at least he hadn't demorphed. "Eric!"

"Huh?" Eric stirred and looked up. "Fuck . . . "

"You could say that."

There was a loud shout that startled both of them, and they looked up to see Alex shielding both of them from a blow they never saw coming; he fought off the cyclobot skillfully, leaping up to kick it square in the chest.

"Let's get you up," Wes muttered.

But as he pulled Eric to his feet, the Quantum Ranger nearly collapsed, he swore softly, but fear was evident in his voice. Wes grunted and wrapped Eric's arm around his shoulder, supporting him almost completely as they made their way through the battlefield; as they reached a safe section, Eric went limp and demorphed.

"Trip!" Wes shouted.

The Green Ranger ran up to him and knelt by Eric, feeling for a pulse, and then quickly examining his injuries. "We have to get him out of here," he said.

"Go," Wes ordered. "Take care of him, we'll be back as soon as we can."

Trip woke Eric and helped him into the jeep, then drove off as Wes rejoined the fight; two hours later, he visited Eric and watched him sleep peacefully for a moment before asking Trip about his condition.

"He's really weak," Trip answered. "Which is odd because he's so strong and young. I don't know . . . maybe there's some kind of virus we haven't detected yet."

"Keep me updated."

"Of course."

Wes sat on the couch, surprised to see Alex watching television, rare for the officer; his eyes were glued to the set as they reported on the most recent attack. He shook his head and took a sip of water. "I underestimated her."

Wes glanced at him. "No, you didn't," he said. "it's not easy fighting anyone, especially when you're used to having the resources you have in the future."

"We're getting our ass—" Alex cut off abruptly. "People are getting hurt."

"That happens, Alex," Wes said. "You know that."

"More than anybody," Alex agreed. "It's always the leader's fault, Wes. They teach you that the first day at the Academy, and drill it into for the next two years."

"I think it's bull."

Alex snorted. "Maybe," he admitted. "But it's hard to see something you've been taught all your life as bull." He glanced at Wes. "My parents were military also."

Wes straightened up, surprised to hear Alex speaking of his family, he asked hesitantly, "It's a tradition then?"

"Time Force?" He nodded. "It all started with the Silver Guardians."

"Really?"

Alex stood, obviously done conversing, he left and headed for his bedroom; Wes watched him go, wondering about his past. No doubt Alex had a strict upbringing, given his attitude; his walk, everything about him was military.

"Wes?"

"Yeah, Trip?" Wes looked up worriedly.

The young man's face was drawn tight with concern, there were dark circles under his eyes; Wes stood quickly and grabbed his shoulders. "What is it? Eric?"

"He's getting worse, Wes," Trip said quietly. "We've got to find out what's wrong with him."

Wes set his jaw. "I'm going to find that mutant."

"I'm going too—"

"No." Wes held up his hand. "Eric needs you here."

"You can't go alone!"