Wes tapped on the hospital room door, and heard his father’s voice say, “Come in.” He opened the door to see Collins sitting at Eric’s bedside, looking tired and worried. He went in, followed by Jen, Lucas, Katie, and Trip carrying their medical unit.

“Wes! Thank God you’re all right!” Collins was up in an instant and giving him a tight hug. He released Wes after a moment and stepped back, looking him over with an expression of dismay. “You look like you’ve been in a war.”

“We have. But it’s all over now. We captured Ransik, and he even called off his cyclobots.” Wes looked down at his torn and grimy clothes ruefully. There had been no time to clean up.

He stepped to the bed. It felt strange to see strong, arrogant, seemingly indestructible Eric lying there unconscious and pale, his breathing labored. “How is he?” he asked.

Collins’ face became gloomy again. “Not good. The doctors say he’s fading, and there’s nothing they can do.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Collins,” Jen said. “We can do something.” Trip was already setting up the equipment. It looked similar to the medical unit Wes had used in the clock tower; a cubic control box and a set of pads designed to go on the patient’s injured body. In moments it was connected to Eric and emitting a series of beeps and warbles as it went to work.

“What is that thing?” Collins asked.

Trip explained. “This is a medical treatment unit from our time. If a blaster burn doesn’t get you right away, it can kill you slowly. That’s what would have happened to you, sir, if… a friend hadn’t brought one of these to save you. This one is better than the one we had with us in the clock tower. It’s more advanced than anything in our timeline.”

“The worse the wars, the better the medical equipment,” Katie commented with a bitter edge.

“Timeline?” Collins asked.

“It’s a long story, Dad,” Wes said. “I’ll tell you all about it later.”

The medical unit gave a final-sounding chime. Trip inspected it, nodded in satisfaction, and began to disconnect it.

“Is that all?” Wes demanded. Trip smiled and nodded at Eric. He was blinking up at them with an expression of confusion.

“Incredible!” Collins said softly.

“Wes... what happened? Is it over?” Eric asked, his voice weak and hoarse.

“Yeah, it’s over. We won.”

“Good... hey, you guys came back.” Eric looked at the others as they stepped closer. “Thought you ran out on us.”

“We didn’t exactly go of our own free will,” Lucas said with an accusing look at Wes.

“Hey, I thought it was for the best,” Wes protested.

“Did you get Ransik?”

“Yeah. He’s safely frozen. Nadira too.” They had all breathed a deep sigh of relief when Ransik disappeared inside a containment vessel.

“Too bad. She was kinda cute. Frax?”

“He’s… destroyed.” Wes sent a glance at the others. Nadira had told them Frax’s real identity. They would have to live with the guilt of having killed what little was left of Louis Fericks.

He looked down at Eric again to see that his eyes had drifted shut. “What’s wrong with him?”

“He was injured and exhausted before he was blasted. He just needs some rest,” Trip reassured him.

“Good…” Wes turned to his father. “Dad, the clock tower’s gone. Can we all stay at the house for a few days?”

“Of course. For as long as you want.”

“Great.” He smiled at his friends. “I don’t know about you, but I know exactly how Eric feels. I think I could sleep for at least a year.”

Wes wandered out onto the back patio of his father’s house at sunset that evening. The view was still magnificent as he looked out on the flower gardens, the pool, and the ocean. But the only thing he really saw was the woman sitting on a bench in the garden, half hidden in the soft twilight.

“Hey, Jen,” he said as he walked up to her. She looked up, smiled, and moved over to invite him to sit down.

“I’m glad you came out here,” she said. “I want to talk to you.”

“I want to talk to you, too. But you go first.”

Jen looked at the sunset spreading a rosy glow over the horizon. “It’s beautiful out here. You’re lucky to live in a place like this.”

“Yeah, I guess. Funny, but I don’t really think of it as my home anymore. Now it’s my father’s house.”

“With the clock tower gone, you’ll have to live here again, at least for a while.”

“I guess so. Maybe if I’m lucky, I can find another abandoned old building to live in.” Wes paused for a moment, content to avoid serious conversation for a few more minutes. “The last time I remember being out here was when Trip came to talk to me. I hope you didn’t yell at him for that.”

“I don’t yell. At least not much.”

Wes smiled. “I miss the clock tower. I guess you won’t. That drafty, dusty old place.”

“We had some good times there. I guess you won’t miss all the training and drilling I put you through. All the times I bossed you around.”

“It wasn’t so bad. I guess it was good for me.”

“I want you to know -- you’ve been a great Red Ranger.”

“Really? Great?”

“Did I say great? I meant good. Or maybe above average.” They grinned at each other.

“I will miss that old clock tower,” Jen said softly.

Wes looked at her. “Is there anything else you’ll miss?”

Jen smiled at him, then looked down and sighed. “That’s actually what I need to talk to you about.” She turned to look at him again. “I took off my engagement ring.”

“I noticed.”

“When the timestream settles down we’ll have to leave. We’ll probably never see each other again. I think it’s time for me to be honest about how I feel.” She took a deep breath. “It’s been so confusing for me. But the one thing I’m sure of now is -- I love you.” She stopped, looking into his face.

Wes smiled gently. “That’s what I wanted to tell you. I love you too.” He slid his arm around her and pulled her closer, stroking the curve of her cheek with his other hand. “I wish we had more time… I wish we had the rest of our lives.” He bent his head to kiss her softly.

When they broke the kiss, Jen pulled back slightly and took his hand. “I’ve been wondering. Which would we regret more? If we spend the last few days we have... together? Or if we don’t?”

Wes looked into her eyes. “It’s your choice, Jen. I want to be with you... I want to be as close to you as I can for as long as we have. If that’s what you want too.”

Jen leaned forward, put her arms around his neck and kissed him, an increasingly passionate kiss this time, her lips opening under his. They were both a little breathless when it ended. She pressed her face into his neck as he lightly kissed the skin under her ear, tightening his arms around her.

“Do you think your father would be shocked if I move into your room?” she asked.

“I think he’ll understand.”

“Good…” She laughed softly. “Want to help me move?”

“Absolutely. I’ll even help you settle in.”

They stood up, kissed again, and returned to the house, hand in hand.

Over a week had passed, happy days for Jen, but always with the bitter certainty that it would end soon. Now she sat in the timeship with Lucas and Katie watching Trip fiddle with the communicator yet again, trying to contact their home time.

There was a sudden exclamation from him. “Got it! We’re getting through!” Jen’s heart sank. But she felt shame as she saw the anxious expressions on her friends’ faces.

Trip glanced back at her and moved aside. She moved forward to sit in front of the screen, trying not to show reluctance. The static abruptly cleared to display a familiar face.

“Captain Logan!” Jen exclaimed, genuinely delighted to see him. The others smiled at each other.

“Jen! Finally! It’s good to see your face.” His eyes moved to the others. “Lucas, Katie, Trip... are all of you all right?”

“We’re fine, sir. It’s good to see you too. Very good.” Jen hesitated, and then asked. “Are you -- in the original timeline?”

“There’s evidence of some minor differences, but to all intents and purposes, yes, you’ve restored the original timeline. Your mission succeeded.”

They all looked at each other, overwhelmed by relief. Katie looked overjoyed, with tears in her eyes. Trip’s face looked like it might split with smiling.

Jen turned back to Logan and took a deep breath. She had to know, and it might as well be now. “Is Alex...” She stopped, not knowing what to ask.

“Alex is fine. He recovered from his injuries months ago.”

Jen smiled and then laughed. “There’s one of your ‘minor’ differences. When we started out, Alex was dead.”

“Interesting. Well, he’s not here now, but I can pass along a message.”

Jen nodded, realizing she had no idea of what she wanted to say to him. “I... just tell him I’m glad he’s all right. And I’ll talk to him when we get back.” They would have a lot to talk about, including things he wouldn’t want to hear. Of course, he’d been on his own for a year too....

“We picked up echoes of the two alternates you prevented. We owe you a great deal. This reality is far from perfect, but compared to the others this isn’t a bad world.”

“Can you tell us what we did? How we changed things back?”

Logan looked thoughtful. “We don’t know for sure. It was a long time ago, and it’s not easy to pin down key people and events. But from the information in our sealed records, we know that Bio-Lab’s Silver Guardians evolved into Time Force.”

“We know. We helped prevent Bio-Lab from being destroyed. And we saved Eric Myers and helped him become commander of the Guardians. That restored Time Force in one of the alternate realities.”

“And Myers was responsible for keeping the Guardians strong enough to survive in our reality too. According to history, you also were involved with Wesley Collins. He played an equally vital role in leading the Guardians in their early years. He promoted restraints on genetic engineering and tolerance and understanding of mutants. Our situation today would be much worse without him.”

Jen smiled. “We prevented Ransik from killing Wes. That was the missing piece.”

Lucas spoke up. “I guess one person can make a difference. Or two people. Strange we happened to meet up with the right ones.”

“Call it fate, or the timestream healing itself,” Logan said. “I don’t think it was just coincidence.”

“Destiny, maybe,” Jen said softly. “Whatever it was, I’m glad we had a part in it.”

“I imagine you’ll be eager to get back, and pick up your lives.”

“Yes, sir. We’ll be returning in a few days. Please notify our families. We’ll be in contact again soon.” Logan nodded, and Jen cut the connection. She bowed her head.

“It’s going to be hard to say goodbye. Especially for you.” She felt Lucas’s comforting hand on her shoulder.

“I can’t wait to get home,” Katie said. “But I’ll miss it here.”

“Me, too,” Trip said. “The city, the people, everything… but most of all Wes.”

Jen looked around at them. “Don’t look so sad. We accomplished our mission. We’re going home, to a world that may be better than the one we left. We’re going to miss some things here, but…” She stopped, unable to go on. Katie reached to rub her shoulder.

“It’ll be hard,” she said finally. “But we’ll get over it. Someday.”

Eric rang the doorbell after a brief struggle to summon the courage he’d need for this night. The Rangers were giving a little goodbye party at the Collins house on their last night together. Why they had invited him, he didn’t know. He wasn’t even a Ranger any more. He would have preferred to stay home. On the other hand, they had all visited him in the hospital each of the three days he had tolerated staying there. And they had visited him at home in the time since then, looking around at his small living room with its worn furniture and telling him it was luxurious compared to their clock tower. So he figured the least he could do was show up and participate in whatever celebration they had in mind.

While waiting for the door to open he had second thoughts, mentally listing the reasons he should turn around and leave right now. First, he didn’t look fit for polite company; his face was still marked with healing scrapes and bruises. Second, none of these people really liked him, with the possible exceptions of Wes and his father. Third -- he didn’t know how to behave in upper-class society. But before he could decide to simply sneak away quietly, the door opened.

A butler smiled at him and invited him in. He walked into a large foyer, a marble floor underfoot, a wide staircase ascending into the upper levels. Tasteful antiques decorated the room. Eric decided he had more in common with the butler than the people he was here to see. But what the hell. Relax and make the best of it, that was his new motto.

“Eric!” He turned to see Wes and Jen on the other side of the room. “Come on, we’re having drinks in the living room,” Wes said. They led him through a doorway. The living room was huge, expensive-looking rugs scattered over carpeting soft enough to sleep on, expensive-looking, highly polished furniture, floor-to-ceiling picture windows looking out over gardens and a lighted pool. Lucas, Trip, and Katie were lounging on a sofa.

“Eric, what would you like?” He heard Mr. Collins’ voice and turned to see him standing behind a full bar.

“Uh… what have you got?”

“Just about anything. I’m making martinis if you’re interested.”

Figures. “How about a beer?”

“Sure. What kind?” Eric told him and was surprised when Collins retrieved a bottle from somewhere behind the bar and poured him a glass.

“Thank you, sir.”

“This is a party. Please, call me Alan. No ‘sirs’ here.”

Eric blinked in surprise. “Okay, um… Alan. Thanks.” It was hard to say. He plopped into an armchair and listened to the conversation between the Rangers.

“First thing I’m going to do is tune up my car,” Lucas was saying. “Then hit the track. That’ll be great.”

“I’m going to take a nice, long vacation and spend it with my family,” Katie said dreamily.

“I’m going to have my first decent plankton sandwich in a year. And then I’m going to rebuild Circuit,” Trip said.

“Trip, don’t you want to do something relaxing?” Wes asked with a laugh.

“That is relaxing.”

Wes turned to Jen. “How about you?”

Her smile looked forced. “I’ll probably take a vacation too. Maybe just stay home and get some rest.”

“What about you, Wes? What are you going to do now?” Lucas asked.

“Beats me. I’ll live here for a while at least. I guess I’ll have to start thinking about getting another job.”

“Eric?” Trip asked. “I guess us leaving won’t make much difference to you.”

Eric shrugged. “I don’t need a new place to live or a new job. But… it’ll make a difference.”

“Yeah? Are you going to miss us?” Katie teased.

“Sure. I’ll miss the way all of you used to stare at me like I just escaped from the violent ward.” They looked at him in surprise and uncertainty, until Wes started to laugh and Eric grinned.

“Now that we’re all here, I have something to say,” Jen announced as soon as they were quiet again. “First, Time Force command decided to let Wes keep his morpher.”

Wes held up his arm proudly. Eric felt a stab of the old resentment even as he said as sincerely as he could, “That’s great, Wes.”

Jen faced Eric and went on. “That’s not all. We want to thank you. I know we weren’t too happy when you took the Quantum morpher. And we haven’t always gotten along too well.” Even Eric had to smile at the magnitude of that understatement. “But you turned out to be a great Ranger. We were lucky to have you on our side.”

Startled, embarrassed, and gratified, Eric lowered his eyes. Before he could respond Jen took the Quantum morpher from her pocket. “Command approved letting you keep this. And we all want you to have it.” She held the morpher out to him.

Eric looked at it, then at her face. He felt stunned. “Go on, take it,” Wes said gently. “You deserve it.”

Eric looked at him, then slowly took the morpher. After fastening it onto his wrist, he spoke to it softly, saying, “Activate voice identification.” The morpher responded with the familiar ‘voice’ in his mind.

“Voice identification confirmed. Welcome back, Quantum Ranger.”

Eric felt tears sting his eyes. He blinked them back furiously. Looking up at the others as soon as he dared, he said as steadily as he could, “Thanks. This means a lot to me. Not just the morpher, but that you think I should have it.” They were all looking at him again, smiling this time. Eric felt a touch on his shoulder and looked up to see Collins standing behind him.

Wes finally took pity and started talking. “Sorry about the Q-Rex, Eric. Trip says it’s trashed permanently.”

Eric shrugged slightly. “Too bad. Funny how much I’d gotten attached to that thing.”

“Guys and their machines….” Katie said with a smile.

“What’s going to happen to Ransik and Nadira?” Wes asked Jen.

“With the crimes Ransik’s committed he’ll never be released, even if his change of heart is genuine. But if he is sincere -- he’ll have opportunities to do something useful with the rest of his life. Nadira hasn’t done anything too terrible, and we’ll testify that she tried to stop her father, at the end. She may not do any prison time.”

“What did you find out about how your time has been affected by all this?” Eric asked.

“We’ve restored the original timeline, but there are a few differences,” Lucas said.

“Good ones, like Alex being alive,” Katie said. Eric noticed Wes’s face fall slightly as Alex’s name was mentioned.

Trip added quietly, “Things are the way they should be now. Everything’s going to be all right.”

“So we all got something good. I got my morpher. Wes and his father got a better relationship. And you guys got a better place to go home to.”

“And we got to be friends. I hope,” Wes added.

“Yeah, I guess we did.”

They were silent until Collins spoke up. “Sorry to break this up, but we’re ready to go in to dinner.”

Eric got up with the others, and followed them into a dining room as huge and intimidating as the rest of the house. After they were seated he found himself next to Wes and leaned over to ask him a question.

“Which fork am I supposed to use? There’s three of the damn things.”

Wes grinned at him. “Don’t look at me, I never paid attention in finishing school. Don’t worry, we’ll protect you from the fork police.”

“Thanks.” Eric hesitated, then went on. “This must be hard on you.”

“Yeah, it is. I’ll miss them.”

“Especially Jen.”

Wes turned to glance at him, his expression no longer cheerful. “You noticed.”

“I’d have to be blind not to.” He hesitated again. “I wish there was something I could do.”

“I appreciate that. Thanks.”

Collins stood at the head of the table and tapped the side of his glass to get their attention. “I’d like to propose a toast. All of you have worked hard, taken risks, and made sacrifices for this moment. You’ve succeeded in saving us, in this time, and in saving our future. But we suffered some terrible losses along the way. And now some of you are going home. So tonight is both happy and sad.” He raised his glass. “To all of you. The six Rangers.”

“The six Rangers!” they said together.

It was morning on Hillside Beach. The sun was shining; it was a beautiful day. Wes felt a vague resentment that one of the darkest days of his life could look so bright. The time had gone incredibly quickly. Two weeks had passed since their final battle with Ransik. Now the hardest part had come.

He had his memories of the time he had spent with Jen, but he didn’t want it to be over. He didn’t want to say goodbye to any of them.

Jen, Lucas, Trip, and Katie had already solemnly shaken hands with Eric. Katie had even kissed him on the cheek, to his obvious embarrassment and the quiet amusement of the small group of Silver Guardians with him. Now they filed past Wes’s father, saying their goodbyes. In another minute they stood in a group near him. There was no way to put it off any longer.

Lucas stepped up first and shook his hand. “Take it easy on that racetrack, Lucas,” Wes said, his voice a little unsteady. “You’ve been a great friend.”

“Yeah, you too. Thanks for everything.” Lucas stepped forward and hugged Wes firmly, patting him on the back and then pulling away, his face showing a manful struggle for control. He turned and quickly walked toward the ship.

Katie was next; she grabbed Wes in a rib-bending bear hug. “Wes, you’re the best!”

Wes struggled in vain to push her off, gasping, “Katie, let go!” He inhaled in relief when she did so.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I forgot.”

“It’s okay.” Wes put his own arms around her and got a more restrained hug in return. “You know, I’m going to miss your hugs.”

Katie wiped tears from her eyes. She looked past Wes at the city just visible in the distance. “I’m going to miss everything here. Goodbye, Wes.” She turned and entered the ship after a last look back.

Trip stepped up. Wes started, “Trip, I…”

“I know. I’m going to miss you too.” His face fell, eyes brimming. “I wish we could stay friends forever.”

“We will. Take care of yourself.” Wes stepped forward and they hugged fiercely. Then Trip was gone too.

That left Jen, the hardest goodbye of all. Wes moved to stand in front of her, taking her hands.

“I wish you could stay,” he said.

“So do I. But we both know I can’t. And you can’t come with me.” Looking down, she took something from her pocket. “I want you to have this, Wes.” She held out her Time Force badge for him to take. “Don’t ever forget me.”

Wes took it and folded it in his hand. “Never could,” he said softly.

Jen squeezed his hand and let go. She started for the ship. After a few steps, she stopped, turned and ran back to him, throwing herself into his arms. “I should have told you a long time ago that I love you,” she said, starting to cry.

Wes could feel tears running down his own face too. “I wish I could live two hundred years so we could be together again.” They held each other tight for an endless but too short moment. Then Jen stepped back and they looked into each other’s faces for the last time, before she turned again and ran to the ship.

Moments later the engines hummed to life. The ship lifted from the ground and turned, a beam of light stabbing up to open the timehole. As it rose upward, Wes heard Eric command his Guardians to salute in tribute. The ship entered the whirlpool and vanished. The timehole shrank and disappeared a moment later.

“Goodbye,” Wes whispered.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and heard his father’s voice ask, “Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” he answered, not at all sure if he would ever be all right again.

“What now, son?”

Wes shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I’ve got a job offer for you.”

Wes turned to stare at him in disbelief. “Come on, Dad!”

“Wait, just hear me out.” Collins began to lead him back to the others. “I want to make some changes to the Silver Guardians. Expand them, so they can help protect the entire city as well as Bio-Lab. For free this time.” He turned to face Wes. “I’ll need a good leader. How about it?”

“You’ve got a good leader already. He’s standing right there.” Wes nodded at Eric.

“There’s going to be plenty of room for two commanders.”

Wes looked back at him, surprised to find that the idea appealed to him. But there was a potential problem. He looked at Eric, who was watching him with an unreadable expression. “I have to talk to Eric for a minute,” he said. Collins nodded and they moved a few yards away, then turned to face each other.

“Did you know about this?” Wes asked.

“Sure. Your dad asked me to keep it quiet.”

“Are you okay with it?”

“Yeah. I don’t want to run the whole thing, I’ve got enough work. And I think you’d make a good leader. With training, of course.”

“Are you sure?”

“You know me. When have I not told you exactly what I think?”

With a smile Wes asked, “Then will you agree to train me?”

Eric smiled back. “You may regret this. I won’t take it easy on you just because you’re the boss’s kid.”

“Wouldn’t want it any other way.” Turning, Wes led the way back to his father.

“I’ll do it,” he announced. “As long as Eric is my partner.”

“Just what I had in mind,” Collins said. He rested his hands on both their shoulders as Eric held out his hand and Wes took it.

When the handshake ended Wes looked down at the badge Jen had given him. It brought back his sadness, and a hint of the loneliness he knew he would face in the future. He had lost close friends, and the woman he loved. But he had gained a great deal too. His father’s respect. A new friendship. And a future he could really care about. He held up the badge for Eric and his father to see.

“I think the future looks pretty bright.”