So I decided to post this now because I've gone back about 15 times since I initially wrote it and tweaked it. I'm crazy obsessing over it, so I just need to post and get it done with.

If you're new to my writing, this is a sequel fic, so some aspects of the plot might not make sense unless you read Chronology Conundrum first.

Anyway, hope you enjoy. Thanks in advance.

The weather man had predicted the summer was going to be one of the hottest on record, but most of the inhabitants of Reefside hadn't taken him quite literally. Sure, they'd figured extra sun tan lotion, maybe some higher electricity bills in order to avoid being too uncomfortable within their homes, but they hadn't actually expected scorching heat that would drive them inside most days that weren't spent on the beach – in the ocean. If they were brave enough to head to the beach, no one was stupid enough to try and stay out of the water. Even the beach front lacked its characteristic breeze and the water felt like a bath tub.

To avoid the heat, a man with short cropped brown hair in a spiked style, wearing a pair of khaki colored cargo shorts and a black t-shirt, had spent most of his summer indoors. Summer was one of the times he really realized how grateful he was to be a teacher. I meant he had no work or responsibility outside his home, and he could stay indoors within the nice cool air conditioned environment. However, after about a week of lazing about, his girlfriend had decided he had more important things to do with his life, including fixing up the lab in the basement that he'd been putting off as the semester at Reefside high school drew to a close. It had taken months, but by that point in July, his team's old command space was fixed up. Though there was really nothing left to keep watch over, or power to fight it off with. Still, his girlfriend had been right. Fixing it up had made him feel a whole lot better. And it had kept his mind too busy to think about anything else.

At present, he had his cell phone to his ear, a plate with a chicken vegetable wrap and a few potato chips on it in his hand, and he was descending down the stairs into the basement lab that was currently occupied by a red haired woman working on beside a device that very closely resembled a hair dryer chair that was more common place inside a beauty salon. She wore a black blouse and long skirt with a silver necklace. Her hair was pulled back away from her face in a low pony tail.

"So everything's sent for your flight home?" he asked the person on the other end of the line, as he greeted the woman in the room with a wave. She smirked and shook her head as he took a seat on the sofa nearby.

"That Kim?" she asked him, and he nodded in response. "Tell her I said hi," she informed him, getting another nod.

"Sounds great," he told Kimberly on the other end of the line. "Can't wait to see you. You sure you're alright flying home on your own?" he paused to let her answer the question. "Yeah, I know there's nothing I can do about that now," he laughed. "Oh, Haley says hi," he told her, before pulling the phone away from his mouth for a second. "She says hi back," he told Haley who chuckled slightly where she continued to work on the strange device. She was attaching a computer monitor to the side of the chair. It wouldn't allow the person in the seat to see the screen, but rather it would display the screen to anyone else observing. "Ok, have a safe flight. Call me when you reach your layover in London," he told Kimberly. "I know that's in like four hours," he laughed, "I just want to know you made it safe." He paused again, listening to her tell him something. "Yeah, I know. I love you, too. Bye," he stated, hanging up the phone.

"Everything alright with Kim in Paris?" Haley asked him, as he set his plate and phone down on a side table and walked over to her.

"Yeah," he replied, dragging his hand through his hair, his mind not completely in the present. "She had a nice visit with her mom and step dad. She's ready to come home though. It has been two weeks."

"She's just ready to be back here with you," Haley laughed, and he shrugged in response. "What time's her flight?"

"Nine at night, Paris time. She just got to the airport and was getting ready to head through security. It's already seven there."

"How long's the flight back?" Haley asked him, watching as he walked towards his desk and leaned back on it.

"An hour and a half from Paris to London," he replied, "and then she's got a two hour layover. So she'll be leaving London around twelve thirty in the morning her time. Then it's a ten and a half hour flight home. She'll be landing here around two in the morning."

"That sounds rough," Haley stated with a grimace on her face. "You picking her up from the airport?"

"I wanted to," he replied, as he picked up a photograph he'd had framed and added to his desk. It contained a recent photo of himself and Kimberly, once her bruises and burns had healed. Her leg had still been in a boot from the last ranger battle she'd been involved in, but since the photo was only of the waist up, it didn't show. She'd just gotten the ok to walk without the support of the boot before she'd decided to go spend a couple of weeks in Paris. She'd quit her old job in Florida almost immediately after she and Tommy had decided to move in together, and she'd been lucky enough to find that a local gymnasium was looking to hire a coach for their recreational only students, there in Reefside. The position started in the fall when school resumed, which meant she had her summer off as well. "But she wouldn't let me. With everyone supposed to be arriving tomorrow afternoon, she wanted me to get as much sleep as possible. She's taking a cab," he stated, frowning. Clearly not happy with that decision.

"She just doesn't want you to be late to your own reunion," she laughed at him.

"How would that even be remotely possible? Everyone's meeting here at the house," he retorted putting the photograph back down on his desk.

"For most people," she explained, "it wouldn't be. You're not most people."

"Ha ha ha," he laughed, giving her a playful glare in response. She smirked in response and went back to work.

"I take it the kids are excited?" Haley asked him, raising an eyebrow, as she started tightening some of the wires connecting the computer screen to the helmet like structure over the chair. She had moved beyond her tray of tools, and was currently clutching to wires between her finger tips. She frowned at the tools. "Tommy?" she asked, "can you hand me the pliers?"

Tommy pushed himself off the desk and walked over to her, grabbing the requested instrument and handing them to her, he leaned over the helmet of the device, crossing his arms and leaning forward. "I assume so," Tommy told her. "You see them more these days than I do," he replied, a bit of regret in his tone. Haley gave him a sympathetic look.

"They're still trying to adjust," Haley told him. "Coming around here can be a bit too painful for them, remembering what was. And they're also a little worried about the future."

"I know," Tommy replied, "I don't blame them. I remember how hard the adjustment from ranger to non-ranger was the first time."

"I remember your last one before this. It was rough," Haley glared at him, an amused smile on her face. Tommy glared back with a similar joking expression on his face. "And," Haley stated, "They've also been trying to give you and Kimberly space to get reacquainted."

"Yeah right," Tommy laughed, standing up and moving away from the device. "Connor just doesn't want to admit that I can have a life beyond teaching high school science and being a power ranger." Haley laughed with him. He actually had a valid point on that one. Haley sighed and looked down at her watch.

"Alright," she stated, "I need to head out," she told him.

"Is it finished?" he asked her, frowning. It didn't look finished.

"No," Haley told him, getting a slight pout from her friend. She laughed and shook her head. "Oh quit that. I'll finish it when I get back next week. You'll have plenty of time to show it off to your friends during the second week of the reunion. Besides, don't you want to wait until Billy gets here before you give it a try?"

Tommy didn't look convinced, but he sighed and nodded, his shoulders slumping in slight disappointment. "I guess," he pouted.

Haley laughed at him, filing all of her tools away in her tool box. "Trust me," she told him, "as soon as I get back from my meeting at MIT, I'll have it up and running for you," she told him, before shutting the tool box and turning back to face him. "Last you heard, Ethan's sure he didn't want to come with me?"

"He was sure," Tommy said with a nod. "He had orientation back in June, so he's already gotten the chance to have a look around the campus," he explained, following Haley back up the stairs into the actual house. He sealed the lab behind them. "Besides," he added in, "you're right. They're freaking out about going their separate ways next month." Haley nodded understanding. "What's time's your flight?"

"About three hours," she told him, "which is why I need to get going now. I need to stop off by Cyberspace and make sure everything's good."

"I'm sure Trent will have it all under control," Tommy assured her.

"I know," she replied, as he followed her to the front door. "You going to be ok on your own?"

"Kim will be here in the middle of the night, and the others get here tomorrow. I can't get into too much trouble," he laughed, and Haley shook her head. "Have a safe flight. Call me when you get to Boston?"

She shook her head no. "We already discussed this. The whole point of the meeting is to discuss how to make technology less obtrusive in our lives. I'd be a hypocrite if I kept my phone glued to me the whole time. Unless you hear about a plane crash, assume I'm safe."

"Fine," Tommy stated, sighing at the same time. "Can I at least get a text message, like on Wednesday or something so I at least know you're alive?"

"Sure dad," Haley mocked him, giving him a quick hug goodbye before she headed off to her car. Tommy watched her go before heading back inside the house. He closed the door, sighed, and realized for a moment, he didn't really much like the quiet.

Four very brave teenagers hung out on a mostly deserted beach. There were people around, but definitely not the usual numbers that hit the beach front during the summer in Reefside. It was a testament to exactly how hot it actually was. The first of the three recent high school graduates was a tall boy with wavy brown hair that hung slightly past his ears. He wore a red pair of swim trunks, a pair of black flip flops, and black sunglasses with bright red polarized lenses. He was bouncing a soccer ball on his knees, playing keep away with the sand. Of the four, he was the only one who was out from underneath the shaded canopy of the large beach umbrella they'd set up, and considering he'd forgotten to re-apply his sun screen, his shoulders were paying for it. They were nearly the same color as his swim trunks.

"Connor," the only girl in the group called out to him. "You might want to think about putting on a shirt, or at least some SPF six hundred or something," she told him, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. Her long dark blond, wavy hair was tied back in a braid and then coiled into a bun on top of her head. It was just way too hot to let it be down over the back of her neck. She wore a dark grey bikini that had yellow accents on the strings that tied around her neck and back, and around her waist. Since the sand was cooler in the shade, she was barefoot, her toes dug into the sand, but she was seated on a multicolored towel, sharing it with the only other lighter skinned individual in their group.

"Kira," the Hispanic youth on her right told her, "If Connor wants to cook himself, I say let him," he added in. Like Connor, he was topless. His silver sunglasses were on his head instead of over his eyes, standing out against his short cropped black hair. His swim trunks were white, with accents of teal and yellow splashed across them.

"Ha ha to both of you," Connor stated, although he did catch the ball in midair and step underneath the shade of the umbrella. He folded his legs underneath himself and lifted his sunglasses off his eyes, before glancing at his right shoulder and wincing when he saw how red it actually was.

"Uh huh," the other boy scoffed at him, extending a bottle of sun screen towards him. Connor gave him a reluctant smile in response.

"Thanks Trent," he stated, as a two toned beep went off three times from his left. He, Kira, and Trent all paled, their muscles tensing at the sound as their eyes darted around them in panic. Connor even brought his wrist up to his mouth, only to find that there was nothing there.

"Sorry guys," the fourth member of their group of friends stated, with an apologetic smile on his face. He had his head withdrawn into his shoulder, and his cheeks were flushed slightly with embarrassment. "My bad; I forgot the sounds from this game are similar," he explained, indicating the hand held gaming device he had. The dark skinned boy with the short black hair was sitting in an orange and green stripped beach chair, where a pair of swim trunks stripped in various shades of blue. He also wore a blue tank top, and khaki colored flip flops. His friends glared at him for a moment, but then sighed.

"Thanks for the heads up, Ethan," Kira told him, rolling her eyes. Connor and Trent laughed nervously, but they all let the tension slowly fade.

"Wishful thinking, huh guys?" Connor asked the group, and all four of them nodded as Ethan folded his hand held game away.

"Maybe not entirely," Ethan stated. "I definitely don't miss sore muscles or bruises I can't explain."

"Or having to run off and come up with random explanations," Trent put it.

"Or fiery explosions and being thrown thru the air," Kira added, with a grin.

"Ok," Connor laughed, "you all have a point," he stated, tossing his ball back and forth from one hand to the other. "You don't miss it at all?"

"Of course we do," Kira laughed at him, noticing how his face had fallen. "But you have to admit," she continued, "it is nice to know that Reefside is safe."

"True," Connor stated with a nod.

"And we have learned, once a ranger," Ethan stated.

"Always a ranger," his three friends finished with him, grins on their faces. Ethan nodded.

"You guys as psyched for tomorrow as I am?" he asked them.

"Absolutely," Trent laughed. "We haven't seen everyone since like March," he laughed.

"Think Dr. O is ready?" Connor asked them, spinning the soccer ball.

Kira nodded in response. "He said that he and Haley were working on something special for the reunion," she stated, glancing at her watch which showed that it was nearing three in the afternoon. "Haley's flight have left about an hour ago, which means he's all alone until Kimberly gets home tonight."

"What do you say we go pay him a visit?" Connor suggested.

"You just want to get out of having to go in the ocean again," Ethan told him, and Connor shrugged. His friends had been working with him all summer on his inability to swim. Something about making sure he could survive on his own once the fall came. Unfortunately, it wasn't going very well.

"That's just an added bonus," Connor laughed, as the group stood up and began to pack up their things, making sure they had everything before they departed from the beach.

A young woman, still a few years shy of thirty yawned, as she rolled her carry-on bag behind her, a small cup of coffee purchased only a few minutes before from one of the eighteen Starbucks she just happened to pass, in her hand. She fought a second yawn as she tucked herself into a seat in the corner. It was approximately eleven thirty at night, and she still had another half hour to go before her flight to Reefside started to board. She set the coffee in between her knees and pulled a hair tie off of her wrist, tying her long brown hair back into a high pony tail. Since her flight was so late, and she still had another ten and half hours until she reached home, she was dressed in a pair of black sweat pants, and a hot pink t-shirt. Her face was completely devoid of make-up, but she didn't care much, seeing as she'd be getting home at about two in the morning, California time, and her plan was to immediately crawl into bed. Luckily the airport wasn't too incredibly far from the home she shared with her boyfriend.

Feeling the threat of a third yawn, she picked up her coffee cup and took a long sip off of it. She'd didn't want to stay too awake, as sleep was her plan for the flight home, but she was worried she'd fall asleep before they called for boarding. She'd had a long two weeks visiting her parents in Paris, and she knew she had another long, although fun, she hoped, two weeks coming up. She just wished she'd planned things better.

Glancing at her watch and realizing it was just half past three in the afternoon back at home, she pulled out her cellphone and began to dial, happy that she'd purchased a few calling cards before she left. The other end of the line rang a few times, and she was pretty sure it was going to go to their answering machine when she heard someone on the other end pick up.

"Hey Kim," a cheerful female voice answered the line. She knew the girl's identity, but she hadn't expected it, so she laughed slightly, caught off guard.

"Hi Kira," Kimberly replied, keeping her voice quiet so she didn't disturb the other travelers in the terminal. "I didn't know you guys were coming over today," she stated.

"We decided to swing by and surprise Dr. O since we knew he'd be alone once Haley left," Kira replied. Kimberly nodded, realizing that the girl couldn't see her.

"Good idea," she added. "You gonna make sure everything is set for tomorrow?"

"That's the plan," Kira replied. "Did you have a good trip?" she asked the older woman.

"Oh yeah," Kimberly replied, "It was great. Mom took me shopping," she giggled, imaging Kira rolling her eyes. "I bought you guys each something," she added.

"What'd you get us?" Kira asked, amusement in her voice.

"You'll have to wait and see when I get home," Kimberly retorted. "How's everything been there? I mean I know Tommy's still alive, but he has had Haley around."

"It's been quiet," Kira replied, and Kimberly heard the slight disappointment in the girl's voice.

"It gets easier," Kimberly told her, trying to be as comforting as she could over the phone. She still remembered the day a few months before when the teenagers and Tommy had used every drop of energy that was left in the dino gems to defeat Mesogog once and for all. Reefside was safe, but they were no longer rangers as a result. They'd joined the elite club of "formers" as she had dubbed them.

"Dr. O keeps reminding us of that," Kira stated.

"He is right about things every so often," Kimberly told her, and she heard Kira start laughing. "Don't tell him I said that," Kimberly instructed her.

"No kidding," Kira laughed, "it'll go straight to his head."

"And then we'll never hear the end of it," Kimberly laughed in response. "Where is he by the way?" she asked. "He wanted me to call during my layover."

"Fell asleep on the couch," Kira told her. "We found him that way when we let ourselves in."

"Is he still asleep?" Kimberly giggled, not at all surprised by the description of what her boyfriend was currently doing.

"If the guys haven't woken him up yet," Kira stated. "Hang on, I'll go check," she added in, and Kim realized that wherever Kira was, she must not have been in the same room as he was. "Nope," Kira's voice came back after a moment. "He's still out. You want me to wake him?"

"Yes please," Kimberly replied sweetly.

"Sure thing," Kira replied. "Hey Ethan," Kim heard Kira stated. "Can you put your game by his head and make that sound go off?" Kimberly frowned, not understanding what Kira was getting at. Ethan must have replied, and done something because the next thing she heard was yelling and laughter.

"Damn it! Connor!" she heard Tommy's voice in the background.

"What? It wasn't me this time!" Connor's voice replied, though it was apparent the teenage boy was struggling to produce words through his laughter.

"Here Dr. O," Kira's voice stated, loud and clear. She must still have been holding the phone still. "It's Kimberly," she added, and Kim figured she was passing off the phone during the moment of silence that followed.

"Hey beautiful," Tommy spoke into the phone.

Kimberly giggled at the slight irritation she heard underlying his greeting. She knew it wasn't toward her, but rather the teenagers currently inhabiting their house. "Hey handsome," she replied. "What'd they do?"

"Little brats played the sound of our communicators right near my head," Tommy replied, and Kimberly broke down laughing, tears streaming from her eyes. "I'm so glad you find my misery amusing."

"I'm sorry," she replied trying to catch her breath and mostly failing. The other people in the terminal were starting to stare at her. She gave them apologetic smiles as she worked on getting herself under control. "That's just hilarious. Let me guess, you jumped sky high?"

"Yes," he admitted reluctantly. "Are you done?" he asked her, indicating her giggling.

"Probably not," she confessed, "but I'll try. Oh man," she added, "they got you good. That just made my night."

"Glad to be of service," Tommy pouted, sighing. "Your first flight go smooth?"

"Completely," Kimberly confirmed with a nod. "Even breezed through customs. We'll be boarding soon."

"Good," he replied, "you'll be home soon. I miss you."

"I miss you too," she confirmed. "We weren't even apart this long when I moved my stuff from Florida."

"Hey," he told her, hearing a bit of sadness in her voice. "Think about it this way. We spent almost a decade apart. Two weeks is nothing. We can handle it. We're in the home stretch," he assured her.

"Eleven hours," she confirmed with a nod, "at least till I touch down on American soil."

"And only about an hour after that until you're home in bed," Tommy told her.

"I was thinking about that," she told him. "I don't want to wake you. What if I just sleep in the spare room when I get home?" she asked him.

"Not a chance," Tommy replied immediately. "You already won't let me come get you from the airport. You'd better at least wake me to tell me you are home when you get into bed," he added in.

Kimberly smirked slight and nodded. She'd secretly hopped that was going to be his answer. "Ok," she stated.

"Promise?" Tommy asked her, and she could hear the pout.

"I promise," Kimberly giggled. She glanced up at the entrance to her gate, noticing the gate agents had propped open the door. "Hey handsome," she stated. "They're gonna call for boarding in a minute and I need to freshen up first," she told him. Tommy laughed slightly, realizing she wouldn't exactly tell him she had to use the bathroom.

"Alright," he told her, "but have a safe flight. I'll see you soon," he told her.

"I will," Kimberly replied. "I love you."

"I love you too," Tommy replied and the two of them hung up at the same time. Tommy stood up and stretched, looking around the living room and realizing the teenagers had disappeared. He placed the handset back on the base and checked in the kitchen, not finding the four of them. If they weren't in the living room or kitchen, there was only one other place they would have gone.

Sighing, Tommy made his way to the basement, climbing down the stairs, his eyes settling on the four teenagers who were scattered around their former command post. "There you are," he stated, looking them over. Connor was standing off to the side spinning his soccer ball. Trent and Kira were on the sofa talking to one another, and Ethan was investigating the salon chair looking device he and Haley had been working on.

"Hey Dr. O," Ethan greeted him, looking up from the weird device. "This the thing you and Haley been working on?"

"Yes Ethan, it is," Tommy told him, laughing slightly at the enthusiastic look on Ethan's face. It reminded him of the teenager's reaction every time they got a new zord or Haley presented them with a new piece of equipment. Ethan looked like a kid in a candy store with permission to get whatever he wanted.

"What's it do?" Trent asked, walking over with Kira.

"Connor," Tommy stated, "stop with the ball," he commanded. Connor rolled his eyes, but didn't stop. Tommy rolled his eyes in response and turned his attention to Trent. "I was going to keep it a surprise, but Haley says it won't be ready until next week. So, I won't make you guys wait that long."

"Thanks," Kira laughed. "So what's it do?"

"Well," he stated, "if it works," he continued, slipping into the seat and bringing the helmet down over his head to demonstrate. "The helmet will capture brain waves from thoughts and transform them into images on that screen," Tommy told them, nodding towards the screen just to the side.

"You invented a way to read minds?" Ethan laughed. "Dude that's sweet!"

"Not read minds, per say," Tommy stated. "It's a way to project thoughts and memories," he explained. "I figured during the reunion, we could take turns thinking about different memories. Rather than retelling stories, we could watch them," he laughed.

"As long as you don't think of something embarrassing, that should go well," Kira stated. "With my luck, I'd think about the day I got stuck as Adam, and that's not exactly something I want to relive," she laughed.

"I still don't quite understand it," Connor stated, still bouncing the ball on his knee, counting slightly. His friends figured he was attempting to see how long he could keep it off the floor.

Tommy sighed and shook his head. "Ok Connor," he stated, "Let's say I want to relive my early days as a power ranger with my friends. Instead of sitting and talking about it, I sit in this chair, place the helmet over my head, and start thinking about it. My memories then get transferred from my thoughts to that screen right there," he explained, pointing. Connor turned his head to follow his hand, and missed the ball, which rolled off the edge of his foot and collided with the top of the machine, which started to vibrate and smoke.

"Oh crap!" Connor stated as sparks started to fly from the machine. "I didn't mean it!"

"Don't just stand there," Trent yelled at him, "we've got to get Dr. O out of there!"

"How?" Kira shouted, panicking as smoke enveloped their teacher, who began coughing.

"I've got an idea," Ethan stated, diving behind the machine and simply unplugging it. The sparks stopped and the smoke began to clear. "Dr. O!" Ethan stated, "Are you alright?" he asked. Coughing was the only response, but his tone sounded slightly off.

"Dr. O! I'm so sorry! I'll never bring a ball down here again," Connor stated, moving toward the machine and lifting the dome like top off of his former teammate and teacher's head, as the smoke continued to thin out. Connor paused and began to blink his mouth falling open as he examined the occupant of the chair. Where a man with short cropped spiked brown hair had been sitting a moment before, there was now a teenage boy, younger even than Connor and his friends, with similar features. His hair was thick and swept back off his forehead. It was a deep brown color and reached just past his shoulders in the back. The boy was coughing into his hands, his eyes squinted shut. Around him, Connor heard Kira, Ethan and Trent run up. He transferred his gaze from the boy to Kira, and then to Ethan, and then finally to Trent. Each of them wore the same mouth open gape and completely confused and bewildered expression that he did. Connor blinked a few times, looking back at the boy. "Dr. O?" he asked.

The boy swallowed his last few coughs as the smoke completely subsided. He looked up and made eye contact with Connor, his expression one of someone trying to hide an immense amount of fear, and almost succeeding. "Who are you? Where am I?" he asked, scrambling out of the chair, and backing away from the four teenagers who all exchanged looks with one another.

"Shit," Connor stated simply.

So, updates for this one will be a lot slower than the initial story. I'm thinking min of 1 chapter per week if I can manage. My students are submitting papers that I have to grade, plus, this one is a bit more difficult. No ranger powers to play with so its actually more work to write. But I've got some entertaining situations in mind as the story progresses.

Reviews as always are appreciated and loved.

Fateless