Out of Reach

Disclaimer: I don't own the Time Force Power Rangers.

Author's Note: Another one of my Time Force fanfics. I actually wrote this one after I saw the "Jen's Revenge" episode, so it doesn't really have any consistency with the show other than the characters, since it was my second Time Force fic. For the record, I'm a huge JEN AND WES supporter. Let me know if you think I should continue this.

Out of Reach

By: Jennifer Collins

When Wes woke up on Saturday morning, the only other person home was Jen. She was sitting by the window with her back to him.

"Good morning," he called as he sleepily sat up.

She turned around to face him. "Morning?" She smiled. "It's already past noon."

"Where's everybody else?"

"Out for the day." She jumped to the floor. "Looks like it's just you and me."

"Oh." Wes poured himself a glass of milk, trying to ignore the change in Jen's tone when she said the words "you and me" that probably didn't mean anything at all. "So what have you been up to all morning?"

"Nothing much. Just thinking."

"About?"

Jen avoided his gaze. "Nothing, really. Just stuff."

"Oh." Wes thought that he could probably guess what she was thinking about. There was silence for a few moments, then a thought popped itself into Wes's head so quickly that he didn't have any time to think before he said, "So....uh, do you want to....maybe hang out or something today?"

Jen looked at him. "Just the two of us?"

"Well, unless you want to, you know, wait for the others to get back." Wes made himself busy with cleaning up the breakfast table.

"No, no we don't have to. Yeah, sure. I'd love to hang out with you."

Wes looked up at her, unable to keep a pleasantly surprised grin from spreading across his face. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. Where do you want to go?"

"Um, maybe we could.........take a walk?"

"Sure, just let me get my jacket." Jen went to the small closet on the other side of the room and pulled her jacket off its hanger. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Wes offered her his arm, which she tightly took into hers, surprising him for the second time that day.

**********

Katie spread her arms out and looked up into the sun with her eyes partially closed. "It's such a beautiful day!" she sang.

"Yeah, it is," Lucas agreed.

"Don't you think so, Trip?" Katie asked. She opened her eyes when he didn't answer. "Trip?" He was kneeling on the grass, eyes squeezed shut, teeth clenched, and both hands over his face. "Trip!" Katie and Lucas rushed over to him.

Lucas put his hand on Trip's shoulder. "You okay, man?"

Katie knelt down beside him. "What is it? Is it a signal?"

Trip nodded, pulling his hands away to reveal his glowing green gem. With an agonizing groan, he allowed his mind to take in the disturbing vision.

"What do you see?" Lucas asked, sensing that it was serious this time.

"It's....it's Alex!" he exclaimed.

Katie and Lucas exchanged shocked glances. "ALEX?" They said incredulously.

"Yeah....it's definately Alex," he replied.

"I don't know about this," Lucas said skeptically.

Trip turned his pleading eyes to Katie for support. "Are you sure?" she asked. He nodded.

"But...that's impossible!" Lucas pointed out. "Maybe you're wrong."

"Look, I know what I saw," Trip insisted. "Alex is out there, and he's in trouble. He needs our help."

"All right. Where is he?" Lucas asked, deciding not to take a chance, just in case Trip was right.

Trip concentrated for a few seconds. "He's at the abandoned warehouse. But we have to be careful. It's surrounded by cyclobots and I sense Ransik nearby."

Lucas pulled Trip to his feet. "Come on, guys. Let's move!"

**********

"How should we do this?" Katie asked once they were right outside the warehouse.

"You guys take the cyclobots. I'll get Alex," Lucas instructed. Katie and Trip nodded their approval. All three raised their chronomorphers up. "Time for Time Force!" they called, and each changed into a Time Force Ranger.

Trip kicked the door open and ushered the others in. Katie lunged at the cyclobots in an unspoken challenge. They responded immediately, as if they had been expecting the Rangers.

Lucas stayed low to the ground and slipped unnoticed to the back of the warehouse during all the commotion. He spotted Alex tied to a pole and cursed when he saw the five cyclobots that stood guarding their prisoner.

"Five to one," he muttered. "All right, we'll just have to do this the hard way." He leapt up out of his hiding place. The cyclobots raced to put a stop to their opponent before he could succeed in completing his mission. Fists and feet flew at him from every angle, yet he somehow managed to put up a fight. He swung a leg around and struck a robot behind the knee. The cyclobot fell to the ground. One down.

Lucas stepped aside to avoid a blow from behind, but as he did so, a cyclobot's foot connected with his ribs, knocking the wind out of him. He fell hard with a loud moan. He looked around for backup, but Katie and Trip both had their hands full as well. "Oh man," he panted. "We need help." With that, he raised his wrist communicator to his mouth.

**********

"I'm really glad you came with me," Wes said.

Jen smiled warmly. She took his hand in hers. "Me too," she said.

Wes leaned closer to her, but was distracted by the sound of Jen's communication device beeping persistently.

Jen tapped a button on her wristband. "I'm here, guys. What do you need?"

"Jen! We're at the abandoned warehouse where Ransik was last seen," Lucas said. He sounded out of breath. "It's Alex! I can't get to him!"

Jen's heart pounded in her ears. "What are you talking about?" She demanded. The tears had already started to form at the corners of her eyes at the mention of her absent fiance'.

"They got Alex. We have to save him!" Lucas urged.

Jen fought to gather her emotions. "Lucas, calm down," she said. "Do you even realize what you're saying?"

"I know it sounds impossible and I wasn't sure I believed it myself, but it's true! Trip sensed him in a vision and we went to investigate it, and Alex is here! Alive!" he explained.

Jen's breath came out in short, fast gasps as she struggled to take in what she'd just heard.

"We'll be right there," Wes said firmly. Jen jumped at the sudden sound of his voice. She'd been so deep in thought that she'd almost forgotten he was there.

"Come on," she said, taking charge once again. She ran ahead. Had she turned around to check on her companion, she would have seen a light flicker out from behind his eyes as Wes's face fell.

**********

"Katie!" Jen wrapped her arms around her fallen friend and slowly pulled her back on her feet. She prepared to enter the battle.

Lucas, Trip, and Katie soon learned that it was a lot easier to defeat the cyclobots with five Rangers on the scene.

With a final punch that took his last attacker down, the Red Ranger whirled around to see a hunched form in the corner at the back of the warehouse. He turned to see what the other Rangers were doing. All four of them were busy defending themselves from the offensive cyclobots. He turned back to the man slumped in the corner and took a few steps forward. Then he stopped to listen, but no one seemed to notice him.

He ran the rest of the way to the other side of the room, never stopping until he reached the other man. He untied the ropes that bound the man's wrist together and took his face his hands, tilting his head up. He gasped. The resemblance was uncanny. It was like looking into a mirror.

"Alex," he whispered, his voice trembling.

Alex's eyes opened. He was momentarily startled at seeing the Red Ranger before him, but his surprise quickly turned to recognition.

"Here, let me help you." Wes put Alex's arm around his own shoulder and let the other man lean on him for support. The two looked up to find that the Rangers had defeated all the guards.

Jen ran over and put Alex's other arm around her shoulder.

"Jennifer," he murmured.

"Yeah, it's me, Alex."

He smiled weakly. "I knew you could do it," he said proudly.

"Come on. Let's take Alex home," Trip said.

**********

"Alex, there's somebody I'd like you to meet," Jen said after they'd gotten settled back up in the clocktower. She took Wes's hand and gently urged him forward. "This is Wes. Wes, this is Alex."

Wes gathered up everything he had inside him to manage a polite smile. Alex warmly grasped Wes's hand in his in a friendly handshake. Wes felt the strangest sensation of familiarity when his skin made contact with Alex's, but his emotions were too tired to try to make sense of it.

He took a seat at the counter at tried to ignore the pounding in his head. His world was crashing down and falling apart around him, but he just couldn't bring himself to hate the man who was responsible. In fact, it annoyed him to his very core, but he felt just the opposite towards the young man who was giving his fiancee the most charming smile that Wes had ever seen, completely unaware of what his very prescence was doing to his successor.

Wes closed his eyes. He heard the excited chatter of his friends reminiscing with Alex as if from far away. Nothing they said was clear to him. He sighed uneasily, feeling like an outsider in his own home. He opened his eyes to see Jen lovingly kiss Alex on the lips. He could feel tears starting to form under his eyelids and he thought he would be sick.

He rose from his seat and clumsily pushed the chair in. He looked up to see everyone's eyes on him. "Um, could you all excuse me? I have to go," he mumbled.

Jen stood up in front of him. "No, please don't," she said.

Wes shook his head. "I'll see you later." He turned to go.

"I'll be right back, " Jen said before she followed Wes out the door.

"Wes! Please don't go!" she called as she chased him down the stairs. She caught up to him at the bottom.

"I don't belong here," he managed. He faced her, and Jen's eyes widened at the sight of his pained expression.

She quickly closed the distance between them and pulled him tightly in her arms, just like he'd been longing for her to do since they'd first met. "Of course you do. You're part of us. Our family."

Wes leaned against her and squeezed his eyes shut. "No, that's not what I'm talking about."

Jen placed the sweetest kiss he'd ever received on his forehead. "It's going to be okay," she soothed.

"No, it's not," he whispered, trying to control his shaking voice. He pulled away from her. "You belong with Alex. You have to go be with him now."

Jen fought the tears that threatened to spill. "Where will you go?"

"I don't know. I just need to be by myself right now."

She nodded. "Come back soon, okay?"

"Sure." His body shook as he walked away from her. He raised a hand to wipe at his wet cheek.

Jen leaned against the door as she watched him go. "He's really a nice guy," she called, wiping her own face with her sleeve.

"I know," Wes whispered. "That's why it hurts so much."