It was a good day for a funeral. Depressing, overcast, a chilly drizzle falling. There had been little talk among the Guardians since it happened, only an atmosphere of both gloom and anger as they mourned, each in his or her own way. On this day they were preparing to say a last goodbye to a man none of them had known well, but all had respected.

On this morning, Eric knew he should be thinking only of his former commander as he walked through the corridors of Bio-Lab. Should be showing the proper respect, feeling sorry for the widow and children, maybe thinking of justice for his murderer. But Porter was gone. And Eric’s thoughts had already turned towards the future. Yes, he wanted justice. Revenge. But he also saw an opportunity. The kind that wouldn’t wait very long.

So he ignored his nerves and quieted his second thoughts as he reached a large reception desk and nodded curtly to the woman who smiled up at him. “Eric Myers, to see Mr. Collins,” he announced. “I have an appointment.”

“Go right in.”

He had been in this office only once before, when Collins interviewed him shortly after he was hired. It had struck him as large, bare, and dark then, and the impression remained. He crossed the room to stand in front of a large desk, automatically assuming an at-ease position, waiting for the man sitting on the other side with his head bent over a pile of papers to acknowledge his presence.

Collins looked up, giving him a sharp and appraising glance before saying, “Mr. Myers. You asked to see me?”

“Yes sir.” Eric paused only for a moment. “With Commander Porter gone, you’ll need a replacement, sir. I want to be considered for the position.”

Collins sat back, staring at him, his face unreadable. “We haven’t even had the funeral yet. You don’t waste any time,” he said finally.

“I can’t afford to waste time, sir.”

Had there been a flicker of amusement and perhaps approval across the older man’s face? “Why should I promote you over the others?” Collins asked.

“I served ten years in the military, more than anyone else here. You can see my record for yourself. I’m an expert martial artist, and marksman.”

“Neither of which have anything to do with command,” Collins murmured.

“My time in the service included some command experience. And there’s no one in the Guardians more loyal or dedicated than I am.”

“But I don’t know you. You’ve only been working for me for a few months.”

“Since you started the Guardians. Since the beginning.”

“Perhaps.” Another appraising look.

With some misgivings, Eric decided to play his trump card. “Sir, I knew your son, Wes, in school.”

“Did you?” Collins’ eyes became cold. “If that’s supposed to get on my good side, it won’t work. I’m not particularly interested in my son, or in showing favor to a friend of his.”

“And I’m not his friend.” Eric allowed himself to meet his employer’s gaze, knowing his own eyes were just as cold and hard. “But I know something about him that I think I should tell you.”

“What is it?” Collins tried to hide it, but his face had shown a definite flash of curiosity and interest.

“He’s a Ranger, sir.” Eric watched closely, but saw only disbelief.

“A Ranger. My son?” Collins snorted faintly. “Wesley never stuck with anything that took any real effort in his life, and you’re telling me he’s a Ranger?”

“He stuck with this, sir. He’s the red Ranger.” Quickly, Eric told his story, how he had seen Wes demorphed during the fight with Conwing that had cost Porter his life. “I’ve been asking around, discreetly. Wes quit his job at Bio-Lab and moved out of your house soon after the Rangers appeared. Now he’s living with four other people. Two men and two women, people no one ever seems to have seen before. There are five Rangers, three men and two women. If you don’t believe me, at least think about it, sir.”

“But how’s it possible? Where did they get weaponry like that? Where did the other four come from?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

Collins stared at him, eyes narrowing. “I’m still not sure I believe it, but... I’d appreciate it if you’d keep this quiet.”

“Certainly, sir. I realize it might put them in danger if the wrong people found out. But you’re his father, I thought you’d want to know.”

Eric endured another long examination before Collins spoke again. “For now, I want the Guardians under the command of someone I know and trust. Steve Miller has been with Bio-Lab for years, I’m putting him in charge temporarily. But I’ll take your request under consideration. That will be all.”

“Yes, sir.” Eric straightened to attention, saluted, and turned to go.

Collins’ voice stopped him on the way out. “If your information checks out... and if you can find out more about the other four... we’ll see.”

He turned long enough to salute again. Then he was through the door, not letting himself relax until he was out of sight of the receptionist. For a moment Eric stopped, took a deep breath, calmed his mind. It hadn’t gone as well as he had hoped... his fists clenched. As far as Collins was concerned, he was nobody and nothing. But that wouldn’t last for long. Soon everyone at Bio-Lab would know exactly who Eric Myers was.

It was quiet in the clock tower. Wes stood at one of the tall, stone-framed windows, staring out over Silver Hills. A dark and gloomy day... It matched the way he felt. He glanced behind him, seeing the others scattered around the large interior of the tower, not relaxing the way they used to between the odd jobs they did for a living, but all of them working. Trip was tinkering with the communicator again, this time with Jen helping, Lucas was bent over some instrument, Katie was doing research with Circuit’s help, and Alex was going through old newspapers. Wes was the only one without something useful to do.

Alex. Everything had changed when he showed up. There hadn’t been a relaxed moment since. Wes turned back to look out at the city again, unseeingly, remembering what had happened when Jen and Alex returned from the past. At first he had been only happy, that Jen was back safe. He had tried to be happy that Alex was there, too. No one could argue that he hadn’t strengthened the team. In addition to his own Ranger powers, he had brought the Q-Rex. In all the months they had been trying, Jen and the others had only been able to capture one mutant, Steelix, and now Alex had already defeated Brickneck. Wes glanced at the small trunk that held their shrunken captives.

That had been days ago. Days filled with tension, and work. He had thought Jen was dedicated... Alex was driven, obsessed with defeating Ransik as soon as possible. Although, considering he had almost been killed by the mutant, maybe it was understandable.

Wes took another look around. There was one thing he could do that might not be exactly useful, but that seemed like the right thing. “I’m going out,” he announced to no one in particular. “See you guys later.”

“Okay, Wes,” Jen said, looking up with a hint of curiosity. Trip smiled. Alex only gave him a cold look as he headed for the stairs. Wes gave it right back. They were on the same side, working for the same goal. But he just couldn’t like the guy. Maybe it was Alex’s personality, maybe it was the disturbing way they looked alike. But he suspected much of it was the fact that they had something else in common. They both loved the same woman.

Alex watched Wes walk by, listened as his footsteps faded down the stairs. He couldn’t decide what bothered him more, Wes’s bizarre resemblance to himself, his using the red morpher, his knowing entirely too much about their mission, or the way he kept looking at Jen. Not to mention the way she looked at him sometimes, too...

He frowned. There was no room for jealousy in this situation. Had to ignore it. Had to ignore his relationship with Jen, too, difficult as that was. He had moved into the clock tower with the rest of them, but he and Jen weren’t sleeping together. No extra room, no privacy, for one thing. He had thought of asking her to spend her nights with him in the ship, but things were strained between them since he had taken command from her. She certainly hadn’t shown any indication of wanting to be with him. And he felt uncomfortable with the idea anyway, reluctant to share their bodies when he couldn’t share what he was thinking.

What he was thinking... so many of his thoughts were bitter and futile, filled with uncertainty and fear. He had gotten control of the Q-Rex, but at a steep price. Commander Porter was dead. What impact would that have? Porter hadn’t been supposed to die. So much he didn’t know, what had changed, how to correct it, whether he had done the right thing by taking the morpher and coming here. Whether he was doing the right thing now, by letting Wes stay. If he died too, or if he found out too much about the future... and yet there was no choice, they needed the help...

And he couldn’t even tell the others what he suspected, that Ransik had made his move, done his damage, already. By killing the commander of the Silver Guardians, he might have already won; without Porter perhaps the Guardians wouldn’t survive the coming years to eventually become Time Force. Couldn’t tell his teammates because of Wes, because he had seen the closeness and camaraderie between them and him, because one of them might let it slip. Even Jen. Maybe especially Jen.

Wes hung back from the crowd of people clustered around the gravesite, watching from a little distance, not feeling a part of them, but still feeling that he owed this much to the man whose life he had been unable to save. Porter. Wes realized he didn’t even know his first name. Knew nothing about him, except that he was Ransik’s victim.

The service went fast, perhaps because of the chilly drizzle that drifted over all of them. A quick and depressing ceremony. Wes was relieved when the group began to break up, a line of people waiting to say a few words to the widow, others standing around or heading for their cars. He picked out Eric in the unit of Guardians that had watched from behind their ever-present dark glasses, faces hard and impassive.

And he spotted his father, headed straight for him. Wes took a step back, and turned to go, but it was too late.

“Wes!” the familiar voice called.

“Dad,” he said, turning back reluctantly.

“Wesley.” Collins looked at him for a few moments, then around at the trees, shoving his hands in his pockets. “How have you been?” he asked.

“Fine.”

“I hear you’re living in the old clock tower downtown.”

Wes glanced at him, a little surprised that he had bothered to find out. “That’s right.”

“I own that building, don’t I?”

“Yeah. What are you going to do, evict us?”

“No, I’m not that petty.”

They stared at each other until Wes got uncomfortable enough to ask, “What do you want, Dad?”

Collins seemed to hesitate, uncharacteristically. “I want an honest answer from you, Wesley,” he finally said.

“I’ll give you one if I can.”

“Are you a Ranger?”

Startled, Wes blinked and stared at him, knowing with a plunge of his heart that he had given himself away as he saw his father’s gaze sharpen. But he tried denying it anyway. “Where did you get that idea?” he asked, forcing a smile.

“From one of my Silver Guardians. Says he’s an old schoolmate of yours.”

“Eric...” Wes knew instantly that he had made another mistake, and tried to cover it. “I mean, I saw him a few days ago... But... but why would he say something like that?”

“Is it true?”

Faced with the blunt question, he tried to lie, but found the words wouldn’t come. Wes opened his mouth, hesitated, and closed it again. “Dad... leave it alone,” he said softly.

“Wesley, you’re still my son. If you’re putting yourself in danger, I want to know. I want to know why, I want to know who those other people are...”

“I can’t talk about this. I’m sorry.”

“It is true, isn’t it? It all fits. The way you got involved when those kids were kidnapped by one of Ransik’s mutants. The fact that you moved out right after that. The four people you’re living with now.” He looked at Wes searchingly. Wes avoided his eyes. “Who are they? How did you get involved in this?”

“I said I’m not going to talk about it.”

Collins watched him silently for a few seconds, and then sighed. “All right. You’re an adult now.”

“Thanks.”

“I want to make you an offer.”

Surprised again, Wes looked up. “What?”

“The Guardians have no commander now. As you know.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“I need a new leader. I want you to take the job.”

“Me?” Wes blinked at him. “You want me to take over the Silver Guardians?”

“That’s right.” Collins was watching him, his expression intense. “Listen to me, son. If you want to protect the city, fine. But do it with the Guardians to back you up-”

Wes cut him off. “No. Sorry, but I’m not interested.”

“But your Ranger technology could do Bio-Lab so much good...”

“And that’s what this is really about, isn’t it?” Wes could almost see it, the greed behind his father’s words. “You just don’t get it, do you?” he asked harshly. “The Rangers aren’t about money. We help everyone, not just people who pay for it. Our weapons, our technology, none of it is here to help you.” He paused, and then went on. “I don’t want any part of your company, or your private army.” His father stared at him, a flicker of hurt running over his face, as he turned away.

“All right. If that’s the way you want it.” The tone was bitter. But a moment later he spoke again, his voice so full of pain and vulnerability that Wes was touched in spite of himself. “You’re right, Wesley, I just don’t understand you.”

Wes turned for another look, feeling sudden regret at his own words, at all the angry words that had passed between them recently. But there was no going back, not now, no way to heal those wounds, at least not yet. “I guess we both don’t understand,” he said. “I hope someday we will.” And this time, he kept walking.

Wes was almost back to his motorcycle, depressed and lost in thought, when the sight of another familiar figure brought him up short. Eric, standing with several other Guardians near where their black SUV’s were parked, obviously waiting to start on the drive back to Bio-Lab. Eric, who had told their secret. On impulse, he walked closer, seeing the other man straighten and stare at him defiantly.

“I want to talk to you,” he said.

“And why should I want to talk to you?”

Wes felt a surge of anger, and used the one argument he was fairly sure would work. “What’s the matter? Scared?”

“Screw you.” With a glare, Eric led the way. They stopped again several yards off, out of earshot of anyone else. “Just make it fast,” he said, crossing his arms.

“You told my father.”

Eric gave him an unfriendly smile. “That’s right. So what? I never promised to keep your little secret.”

“I told you how important this is! Dammit, we saved your life! And this the kind of gratitude you show! You may have put all of our lives in danger!”

Eric shrugged, but there might have been a trace of discomfort in his face. “He’s your father. Doesn’t he have the right to know? He won’t spread it around, and I’m not planning to tell anyone else. If you had any brains you’d be asking him for help instead of keeping secrets from him.”

“We don’t need his kind of help! He’s already trying to take over! Just offered me a job as commander of the Silver Guardians! All he cares about is getting his hands on our technology, getting control of the Rangers...” He stopped, struck by the sudden flash of anger he saw on Eric’s face.

“He offered you the job?”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t take it. Told him I didn’t want anything to do with it.”

“Good. Last thing we need is a spoiled rich brat leading us.” Eric paused as Wes glared at him angrily. “Your friends could beat Ransik a lot faster with your father’s money and technology,” he went on. “But you never thought of that, did you? All you could think about was yourself!”

Infuriated, Wes struck back. “Why did you tell him, anyway? To kiss up? To get the commander’s job yourself? You’d probably tell Ransik if you thought it’d do you any good-”

With a sudden move, Eric grabbed his shirt collar, pulling him close, to stare into a face filled with sudden rage. “Don’t you ever say something like that, you asshole,” he snarled. “I’m not a traitor!”

“Aren’t you?” Wes grasped his wrist and roughly yanked his hand away, stepping back. “As far as I’m concerned, you’ve betrayed me, out of -- of nothing but selfishness!”

“Fine. Think whatever you like.” Eric’s face was cold and hard again. “What do I care?” With a quick turn, he marched off, back stiff, to rejoin his companions.

It was late, Nadira had come looking for her father, to talk him into getting some rest. He had been so preoccupied lately, ever since their plan to get control of the Q-Rex had backfired and Brickneck had been captured. She winced inwardly as she remembered the other part of that plan, the part that had worked, to assassinate the leader of the Silver Guardians. While she knew what they were working for was important, and that inevitably people would get hurt, that cold and deliberate murder still had the power to disturb her.

But then all other thoughts fled as she heard a cry from her father’s study, the room he had taken over for his work. A scream, really, of pain. As she ran to the door and tried to open it, she heard crashes from the other side, as if furniture was being thrown around, and more cries.

“Daddy!” she shouted, pounding on the locked door. Looking around in desperation, she saw that Conwing and Frax had also heard the noise, and were standing behind her. She tried the doorknob again, uselessly.

But the sounds had stopped. Breathlessly she waited, hearing footsteps, and then stepping back as the door was thrown open.

“Daddy?” she asked hesitantly. “Daddy, are you okay?

Ransik smiled at her. She gasped as she saw the telltale bluish marks on his face and arms, irregular blotches that were fading in front of her eyes. “Oh, Daddy, not again,” she said.

“Yes. It’s been so long, I was hoping it wouldn’t happen again. But I found the serum in time. I’m fine, now.”

“But -- it’ll only come back …”

“There’s plenty of serum.” Ransik smiled at her, and then stepped out and faced Conwing and Frax. “I’ll have time to finish what we came here to do.”

“Finish,” Conwing said. “What’s our next step?”

“At the moment, nothing. I don’t want to take the chance of attacking the Rangers again, not all six of them together. We’ll wait. Make more cyclobots. Let Frax work on something bigger, something that can fight the Q-Rex. See how the Silver Guardians deal with the loss of their commander. Then, when the time is right, we’ll attack in force.”