--

It had occurred to Ariana once or twice that maybe her fiancé didn't love her at all, that in fact he just wanted someone in his life, despite the fact that he still loved the beautiful officer from the future. She dismissed the thoughts from her mind—that is, until Jen and the others showed up . . . Wes' lingering gazes, Jen's tear-filled eyes when he walked away. There was nothing left for Ariana to do but accept what could not be changed, and back away.

She looked up as Wes and Jen came in, she knew her fiancé had been visiting Eric in the hospital, and therefore was most likely a little shaken up. He walked over and routinely kissed her cheek, but she frowned, realizing there was not one bit of emotion behind it.

"Wes?" she said as he left. "We need to talk."

He froze, then slowly turned and nodded to her, saying softly, "Yeah . . . you're right. We should go somewhere private though."

"I agree."

He took her hand and led her out of the room, saying quietly to Alex as the passed him, "I'll be back soon."

"Good," Alex said. "We have a lot we need to go over."

Wes ignored his last comment and went straight through the next room to the balcony, where he and Ariana had spent much of their time together. She leaned on the railing, the last rays of light from the sun catching her reddish hair and reflecting off it; Wes marveled at her beauty, but soon found it being replaced by Jen’s.

"All right," Ariana said abruptly. "Let's get to the point—I know you don't love me. And you know it too."

Wes flinched. "I do love—" he began.

"Oh no!" Ariana cut him off. "Don't start that 'I do love you I just love her more' crap. It's all or nothing, Wes, and it's obvious you're not willing to give me all."

"I wish I could," he said quietly.

Ariana managed a weak smile; gazing longingly into his blue eyes and wishing that the love she saw in them were love for her.

"I'm sorry," Wes whispered.

"I know," Ariana replied. "But there are just some things we can't help, I guess. You love her, and I love you."

"Wait—" Wes forced her to stop and look back at him, his gaze was steady. "Believe me when I say this, Ariana, I was not using you. This wasn't some rebound relationship, I swear."

"And yet," Ariana said. "It fell apart as soon as she came back."

Wes looked after he regretfully as she walked by the others and grabbed her jacket, then left the house; he doubted she would ever return, of course. Looking over the railing, he could see his now ex-fiancée get into her car, brush away a few tears, then drive off.

"I never meant to hurt you," he whispered.

Jen watched him from the other room, knowing how he felt, for she well remembered that day when she had given Alex her ring, and painfully told him she didn't love him anymore. Wes came back a moment later, sitting amongst the others and half-listening to the conversation.

"We haven't come up with anything to help Eric yet?" Katie said anxiously.

"No," Alex sighed. "I'm at a complete loss."

"But," Trip said. "You're not giving up, are you?"

"Of course not," Jen jumped in. "Eric has been a good friend and a hard fighter—he deserves all the help we can get him." She looked over at Alex. "Right."

"Right," Alex agreed. "The only thing I think of is to try to get it out of the mutant that attacked him. However, Wes has already tried that."

"Do you really think a mutant would do that?" Lucas said incredulously.

"Well . . . no." Alex shook his head. "But it's our only chance."

"We go together this time," Jen spoke clearly to Wes.

"Tonight?" Wes asked.

"We don't have time to spare," Alex said. "Let's go."

"Time for Time Force!"

--

Wes delivered a sharp roundhouse kick to a cyclobot as he made his way to the mutant, Eric's pale face still vivid in his mind, his best friend's labored breathing, the heart monitor that was beeping steadily . . . for now.

He let out a shout and knocked the mutant to the ground with his blaster, the others joined him and held the mutant down; Wes shuddered as he raised his blaster and pointed it at his enemy.

"Tell me," he said.

"We're trying this again, are we?" it spat.

Alex caught the scene out of the corner of his eye as he fought with the cyclobots, he silently wondered how far Wes was willing to go; then he felt a stabbing pain in his stomach, in the same place he had been hit a few days ago. He doubled over, desperately trying to fight it off as Wisnosky and Sherrin took over for him; he couldn't afford to collapse in the middle of a battle.

Letting out a cry, he fell to his knees, soon joined by Jen; she helped him to his feet as the pain slowly faded, his breaths came out as gasps, sweat trickled down his forehead.

"What happened to you?" Jen asked.

Alex glanced at her, hating himself for being so weak, he was shaking, struggling to stay conscious; he opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Lucas took his arm and shook it gently; his vision began to clear.

Meanwhile, Wes was still trying to pry information out of the mutant, finally, he pushed his blaster into its face. "Tell or I'll destroy you right now!"

The others looked at him in shock, unsure whether or not the Red Ranger meant his words, but he seemed to; he said slowly and evenly: "You have ten seconds. Ten . . . nine . . . eight . . . seven . . . "

Jen rushed to him as he reached five, she could tell the mutant was on the verge of breaking, Wes continued, "Three . . . two . . . o—"

"All right!"

"All right . . . what?" Wes said.

"I'll tell you."

"Start talking."

"There is an antidote," the mutant stammered, staring at Wes' blaster. "Sordna developed it, and she has it at our base."

"Where is that?"

The mutant scowled, not wanting to betray its commander, but the weapon Wes shoved into it convinced it to go further.: "In the hills . . . surrounding the city."

"Where?"

Finally, the red eyes flashed angrily and it was obvious the mutant intended to go no further; with lightning speed, it knocked a distracted Wes to the ground. Then it dug its arm deep into Wes' stomach and leapt to its feet, only to be shot down by Jen and the others.

Wes slowly stood up, wincing at the pain, he looked at Jen. "We don't know what it looks like or how to use it—but we know there is one, and we know where it is."

"You don't think it was lying?" Jen said.

"There's only one way to find out." Wes looked at Alex. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know," Jen replied. "He collapsed earlier."

Wes frowned. "Lucas, Katie, Trip," he said. "Come with me. Jen, you stay here and take charge, they'll need you now that Alex is down."

"I'm not 'down'," Alex said, walking over stiffly.

"You should go rest," Wes told him. "You can't come with us."

"No," Alex admitted. "That would be foolish. But Jen should go."

Jen smiled her thanks, relieved when Wes seemed to agree; then they went their separate ways, one group headed back for the estate, the others headed for the mountains . . .

--

"Anything come up yet?" Jen asked, turning to the young man behind her.

Trip shook his head as he held up his scanner, they continued walking, as they had been for hours now; they were all growing tired, but Eric was growing weaker, they couldn't afford to turn back and try again some other time.

"What'd you think happened to Alex?" Wes questioned quietly.

"I have no idea," Jen said truthfully. "It's not like him to neglect an injury, he's smarter than that. Whatever it is must not have bothered him that much since it happened. He—"

"Shh . . . hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Wes put his finger to his lips, his eyes darting around quickly, then he pointed to a small clearing up ahead—a cyclobot ran by quickly.

"Jen and I will follow it in," Wes said. "You guys stay further back."

He and the Pink Ranger quietly followed the cyclobot for another half hour before reaching a small structure, which the cyclobot when into, but they held back.

"We can't just go charging in there," Jen said.

"No," Wes agreed. "I'll go in first, you cover me."

"And just where," Jen demanded. "Do you intend on 'going' anyway?"

"I'll see when I get in there."

He demorphed, his regular clothing being less conspicuous than he bright uniform; he snuck inside, finding it dark, thankfully, and easy to hide. He saw Sordna and decided she was his best bet, so—as quietly as possible—he followed her down an opening and into a little room . . .

--

. . . Alex opened his eyes, surprised that he had fallen asleep on the couch while Sherrin and Wisnosky discussed battle tactics; now they were gone, and Alan Collins was coming in with two cups of tea.

"Feeling any better?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes," Alex answered. "Have the others returned yet?"

"No." Alan handed him a cup and Alex took it gratefully, sitting up slowly, rubbing his aching stomach. Alan looked at him, concerned for the young man. "You know," he said. "I'm very tempted to ask you about my future. What Wesley does with his life—" he chuckled.

"You know I can't tell you," Alex said.

"Of course you can't." Alan laughed lightly. "He has a son, I've gathered that much."

"Yes."

"I hope that son wasn't Ariana's."

Alex smirked, his voice was barely a murmur. "No . . . "

Alan sensed something was wrong, and he instantly wondered who was the mother of his grandson: Jen? That hardly seemed plausible, but Alan never did understand time-travel, and he highly doubted he ever would . . .

"I don't suppose you could tell me any more," he said with a smile.

Alex shook his head, also smiling. "No, Mr. Collins," he said. "I can't."

Wes listened intently as a mutant and Sordna spoke in hushed tones, the conversation went to Eric and he perked up immediately:

"They are still searching for the antidote."

"Are they getting any closer?"

"They may have found out by now." The mutant paused. "They captured Venomia."

"We should move it."

Wes watched as Sordna hurried to the wall and opened it, apparently having put a secret doorway there; she pulled out a bottle containing a bluish liquid, and then gave it to the mutant.

"Don't you dare let the Rangers get their hands on that," she warned.

"I won't, Sordna."

"Good. Now go!"

Wes quickly followed the mutant through the building and outside, once there, he motioned to Jen, who joined him in surrounding the mutant. They attacked as one, disabling it before any noise was made and snatching the container of liquid.

"Go!" Wes said anxiously, still holding the mutant down.

"Wes—"

"Eric needs your help . . . go now!"

Jen hated herself for doing it, but she left Wes to fight with the mutant alone, knowing Eric was in desperate need of help; Wes smiled when she did so, relieved. A mere second or so later, Lucas led the others over to help him and they defeated the mutant just as Sordna emerged from the structure with her soldiers.

"Get them!" she shrieked.

"Let's get out of here," Trip said.

"Sounds good to me," Katie agreed.