Even Love Trips Once In A While (Power Rangers Time Force)

[estinose]

Summary: Friends watch you fall in love. Real friends try to make you realize it. (Vereco AU)

Disclaimer: The characters (except for some very minor ones) belong to Saban.

Spoilers: Series in general, "Time Force Traitor" and "Fight against Fate" through "Destiny Defeated". Takes place after "Nadira's Dream Date" and before "A Calm Before the Storm".

Author's Notes: This was supposed to be a lighthearted fic. It was also supposed to be a Trip fic. Something happened, and it's not really either of these.

Thank you to Ruth, who helped me plot, and to Chris, who put me in the mood to finish.

Even Love Trips Once in a While
by Estirose
copyright 2001

It was a bright, sunny day and Trip found himself unable to stay inside. Most of the work was done for today and it was time off for their entire team. Ransik had been quiet as well, which meant that he had something bad planned, but there was little they could do about it.

The exercise tree stood in the front yard, with nobody exercising on it. He could just about see a shape, and he walked around to one side, curious. Wes was sitting there, his eyes closed.

"Hi," Trip said, tentative, just in case Wes wasn't in the mood for company.

Wes opened his eyes to look at him, and then closed them again. "What's going on upstairs?"

"Not much," Trip offered. "Jen's gone all moody again. She's looking at recordings of our most recent battle."

Wes grinned and asked, "Looking at her ring again?"

Trip shook his head. "No, but I think we're going to have a tactical lecture this evening."

"Figures," Wes said in an amused tone, and didn't say anything more.

* * *

Trip looked at Wes in concern as Wes stayed silent. Their Red Ranger had to sense that the whole thing was coming to an end. Maybe soon they would be on their way back.

And, as Trip very well knew, Jen wasn't in love with Alex anymore. Their leader, having once made a promise to Wes that he wouldn't go with them if he didn't want to, was considering reneging on the promise. As he had seen that white-haired woman explain to her boyfriend on that tape, she just couldn't let him go.

Of course, Jen didn't feel comfortable asking Wes about it because she didn't know that Wes felt the same way about her. Trip had been working on a few plans to get them together, but he had to keep revising and revising them as circumstances changed. Most of his plans were very subtle, at least for him, and they would require more time than they seemed to have lately.

He was at a loss to figure out how to bring the two of them together while keeping his role in the scheme out of public knowledge. He needed help, and soon, but not from Lucas or Katie. He wanted to do this by himself.

And then he realized that there was somebody else he could ask. Someone who might even help in such a scheme.

Jumping up, ignoring Wes, he rushed to get his bicycle out. He might have finally found an accomplice.

* * *

Eric was enjoying one of his rare days off. Between the active duty he saw as the head of the Silver Guardians, and the paperwork involved in same, he didn't get home as much as he had before. Then again, his position paid decently, to the effect that he was finally starting to afford stuff, or at least hide the money away for the day when Ransik was gone.

He wasn't under the illusion that Ransik would run loose forever and give him steady employment. And with Ransik gone and with no more need for a Quantum Ranger, those two jerks that had dismissed him when Mr. Collins was unconscious would be more than happy to reduce him to what they no doubt thought of his proper station in life.

Rich jerks. Assumed all the world ran on their say-so and the only reliable people were other rich folk. Why else would they grab Wesley Collins to take over his father's company, despite his reluctance. He had so much more wanted to be at that meeting than Wes had, and he had little patience with meetings like that.

At least Mr. Collins knew a leader when he saw one, even though he'd been just as prejudiced the first time Eric presented himself.

Strangely enough, Eric realized, the Rangers were far more accepting of him than his employers ever were. He was too busy being superior to them to ever notice. It was only when he started accepting the inevitable presences in his life that being a Ranger seemed to attract that he knew that he'd wronged them. He still didn't feel comfortable in their little collective at the clock tower, but he could tolerate their presence, and they had apparently grown to adjust to him.

A bicycle tottered on by, and Eric snapped out of his reverie. He had a lot to do, he reminded himself savagely. How often did he get a Silver Guardian, Mutant, or Ranger-free day in order to just take care of things?

The bike noise had stopped by the time that Eric started for what passed for his front yard, and then he realized that somebody was ringing the doorbell on his trailer.

Curious to see who it was, whether door-to-door evangelist or somebody else, he rounded the corner and took a look. Totally oblivious to his presence was Trip, the Ranger team's technician. The mutant. Most of Ransik's mutated gang didn't look nearly as human as Ransik and Nadira did, and Trip did.

Except Trip was apparently on the Rangers' side. The wimpy little mutant posed almost no threat to him other than the threat to wreak havoc on his day off.

"Trip," he said, not bothering to disguise what he felt in his voice, "What are you doing here?"

"I... I... I wanted to ask for your help!" Trip said, terror in his eyes. Eric wondered if something was wrong at the Clock Tower, or if Trip was just scared of his own shadow.

Eric folded his arms, knowing from what little he'd absorbed on etiquette that the gesture would make him seem closed. But then again, he didn't want a part in whatever was going on. The Rangers would have to do without him. "And what is that?"

The other seemed to draw himself up. "I want your help in putting together a date. I mean, it's supposed to be a date, but I don't want the others to know. I don't want them to know what I'm trying to do."

"Trip, do I look like a matchmaker? For crying out loud, you're supposed to know how to find out things like this!"

But Trip was shaking his head. "I can't ask them. They'd laugh."

"I don't find it funny at all. And before you ask, I'm not going to do it."

"Please, Eric? It's... it's Jen and Wes. They're slowly driving us crazy."

Eric had been turning away when he heard that. It had been impossible to miss Jen's actions a few weeks before when he rescued the two of them from that strange gym. Something had been going on, and he was also sure that Mr. Collins would not approve of his son's latest romance.

This was, he knew there were a few things that should be given a wide berth. Domestic disputes and lovers' spats were high on the list. "Give them time, Trip."

Not very helpful, but far more helpful than he intended to be. Eric congratulated himself on being diplomatic while dismissing the other Ranger at the same time.

"Eric, they don't even realize that they're in love," Trip's voice pleaded from behind him. "I mean, they're in love with each other, but they can't admit it."

"And why do you think that I'd be able to help?" Eric asked. "I'm a soldier, not a babysitter."

"We think that if they could just admit their feelings for each other, that they could concentrate on other things. That things between them wouldn't be so awkward."

Eric could understand that. He still didn't want to have much to do with the rest of the Ranger team, but he knew that a team worked better when there weren't unresolved issues going around. Still, if Wes wasn't in a relationship with Jen now and he sparked one, Mr. Collins was going to kill him. Slowly and painfully, shortly after firing him.

He turned around to look at the trembling Trip. "All right. I'll help. Under one condition."

The other Ranger looked at him, unsure as to what he had in mind, but Eric knew he had Trip. "What's that?"

"I'm going to go with them."

* * *

Trip had been totally unsure whether Eric would help him. Yes, Eric was a little more willing to work with the rest of them nowadays, but other times, he was still what Wes described as a "lone wolf". The condition that he had named made Trip edgy and relieved all at once. There was no way that Wes and Jen realize what he was getting them into, but then again, Eric's presence might drive them away from the ultimate goal of the evening.

Still, from Eric, it was a gift, and Trip had to consider it as such. It couldn't hurt to improve relations with Eric, either. The two of them had to work out the details, but he was sure that it would all work out smoothly.

But he still got far away from Eric's place before smiling.

* * *

Watching Trip leave, Eric found himself preoccupied on what to do next. He doubted that Trip's looks got him very many dates, and Eric hadn't precisely been popular in the past. Then again, Trip wasn't mandating that the two of them fall in love, just that they admit their feelings for each other.

Grimacing, he realized that he couldn't let them do that, even if it messed up team dynamics. Eric had, out of respect for Jen, never told his employer that every Ranger except for Wes and himself were from the thirtieth century. Jen was a time traveler. Which meant that she could very well take Wes with her when she returned home. Even though he knew that Mr. Collins had pretty much okayed his son's secret occupation, he doubted that this was what Mr. Collins had in mind for the aftermath of Ransik's capture.

It occurred to him that Mr. Collins might know what to do. He manipulated people all the time to get the results he wanted. If that kept his son with him, he might be willing to help out on this so-called date.

* * *

Mr. John Collins looked up and was more than a little surprised to see the commander of the Silver Guardians at his office, when Eric had been given the day off. But Eric Meyers was ambitious, a quality that John certainly shared. In a way, Eric had been the son that Wes could not be until he realized that Wes was taking what he was given and running with it.

Relations with his son had improved considerably at that point.

Still, Eric was competent to go along with his ambition. In fact, Eric and Wes worked well together. Maybe, after this whole thing with Ransik was over, he'd have the two of them work together in his company.

"Eric," he greeted the young man, injecting some warmth into his voice. "What brings you here on your day off?"

"Mr. Collins," Eric greeted back. "It's a personal matter."

"Yes?" John asked, wondering what the young man would say. Eric wasn't particularly attached to his family, nor did he seem to date.

"It's not a personal matter of mine, sir," Eric told him, looking towards one of the windows. "It has to do with the Rangers."

"The Rangers?" John asked, mystified by what was going on with the Rangers that Wes hadn't told him about. Of course, he and Wesley had only reconciled recently, so he didn't know if his son would feel comfortable talking about his 'business'.

"I've become more... aquainted with them, sir, and one of them visited my house a few minutes ago. It seems that Wes has fallen in love with Jen. And vice versa."

John forced himself to remain patient and listen. "Go on."

"From what I'm told, neither of them wants to tell the other that. So I was asked if I could help put them together."

"And you agreed?" he asked.

"I agreed, if I could go with them. I knew that you'd want to have a say in this, sir."

John looked at his commander and then away, staring at the wall in his office. He didn't normally do so, but then again, he hadn't exactly expected the circumstances. There were some upsides - Jen didn't scream "spend the money and run", and she might turn out to be a good business owner just by sheer intimidation. Besides, Wes had to make his own decisions now. And to John's intense pride, Wes hadn't asked for money since he had moved out.

On the other hand, Jen, whatever her last name was, was an unknown. Plus he hadn't had the best first impression of her, though after second thought that might have been Wes. At least his son had gotten more serious after becoming a Ranger, and if that was due to Jen, then he should be thanking her for it.

It all came down to it being Wes' life.

He noticed that Eric was still waiting for his instructions. "My son is his own man. I've learned not to interfere in his life."

Eric nodded. "Sir, do you have any instructions on what to do with the two of them?"

Laughter welled inside as John realized why his Quantum Ranger had come to him. Playing matchmaker between his son and his son's associate probably wasn't something he was required to do every day. Or requested, for that matter.

Folding his hands in front of him, he replied, "Take them out to a restaurant. That's how I met Jolene. It's won't alarm Wes because he doesn't know how we met."

"Yes, sir," Eric responded, coming to attention. "Thank you, sir."

* * *

His talk with Mr. Collins over, Eric realized he had no better idea of what to do with the problem of Wes and Jen than he had before he met with Mr. Collins. And, he realized belatedly, no way to get in touch with Trip to exchange plans with his co-conspirator.

Calling was out, probably. Jen or Wes might be suspicious if he asked to speak to Trip. The morpher was a possibility, though he never knew if his call might be misrouted.

Showing up on the doorstep, like Trip had done with him, wasn't the smartest of moves. He had a two in five chance of running across Jen or Wes. It was the same problem he had with calling.

And, of course, he had no idea where Trip might be sent on any particular day.

On the other hand, he just had an idea. How hard would it be to tell Trip to tell the others he had come here to apologize? He'd have to make the message short, but it was a possibility.

Smiling grimly, he set off for the Clock Tower.

* * *

Somehow, Trip had not expected Eric to come over to the Clock Tower and ask for him. It wasn't something the Silver Guardian tended to do - in fact, from the strange looks given him by his teammates, it was practically unheard of.

It did not bode well for his plan. Probably Eric wanted to tell the whole team what Trip had hooked him into, and then everybody would be absolutely furious with him.

Passing Katie, the counter person for the moment, he stopped expectantly. Eric's cold eyes gave him no clue to what the other had in mind. Eric spoke, and Trip froze. "We'll be right back," Eric told Katie.

Trip found himself ushered outside, near the exercise tree that Jen liked to batter when she was in a bad mood. It was less battered as of late. He took in a breath, preparing to apologize to their sometime ally, but then Eric spoke.

"Look, I have to make this fast. Tomorrow, I'm going to invite Jen to have dinner with me. I'll get Wes to come too. Whatever those two confess or don't confess is up to them.

Startled, Trip nodded.

"And you owe me one. Now, scram. Get back inside and tell them I was apologizing for something. Whatever you want, I don't care."

Trip bobbed his head, and the leader of the Silver Guardians seemed satisfied, pulling away and heading towards his SUV. As Eric drove off, Trip stared after him until the vehicle had disappeared. Then he went back inside.

"What did Eric want?" Katie asked, apparently more out of curiosity more than anything else.

"He wanted... he wanted to apologize. To me, I mean."

Katie smiled at his not-very-faked confusion. "I think he's getting used to us, Trip."

Trip nodded. "I think I'll go upstairs."

Katie smiled her consent and he went upstairs, knowing enough about the human mindset that his teammates' curiosity had to be satisfied quickly so that the incident would drop from their minds by the time Eric's plan kicked into action.

Three stares greeted him, and he knew he was right. "What did he want?" Lucas asked, suspicion evident in his voice. The two would-be lovebirds weren't quite so hostile, but he could see their confusion.

So, once again, he answered. "He wanted to apologize to me."

Wes shook his head, giving an amused smile, but Jen wasn't as easily quelled. "What for?"

Trip shrugged. "I'm not sure."

Eric had left it up to him on how to handle it, and Trip was happy to see their suspicions relaxing. He'd lied, and gotten away with it!

"That's Eric for you," Wes said. "Don't worry about it, Trip. It's just his way of doing things."

"I know," Trip answered honestly.

With that, the three relaxing in the upstairs room gradually wandered off to other activities.

* * *

It was the next day when Eric made his appearance, as promised. The whole team, and most importantly Jen and Wes, had made their way back to the clock tower for a well-deserved dinner. Trip tried not to grin openly, knowing that Eric had a plan up his sleeve.

Since it was his turn to make the dinner, Trip deliberately made a smaller dinner, not wanting to waste the team's precious food when Jen went to dinner with Eric and Wes followed.

Boots thumped heavily on the clock tower stairs and he turned around to take a peek. Sure enough, it was Eric, missing his beret but retaining his uniform.

The rest of the team must have noticed this as well, as a stunned silence fell over the group. To the best of Trip's knowledge, Eric had never come to their sanctuary, and it was extremely evident he didn't feel comfortable there.

He was the one who broke the silence. "Hi, Eric."

Eric dipped his head in acknowledgment, before turning to Jen. "We need to have a little talk. Leader to leader."

Jen nodded, distrust evident in her face as Trip tried not to wince publicly.

"If you don't mind, privately. I'm prepared to offer you dinner."

Even though Trip could tell that Eric's attempted 'seduction' wasn't anything like he'd seen or read, he could tell that it was having an effect on Wes. Their teammate had tensed up, warily looking alternately at Jen and at Eric.

Jen nodded, though her expression was stony. "I'll meet you downstairs."

Eric returned the nod and walked stiffly down the stairs, soon gone from sight. As soon as his steps started echoing more softly, Wes was at Jen's side. She stilled him with an upheld hand. "I know what I'm doing, Wes."

"There's got to be something going on. Why's he here?" Wes asked her. "He's almost never here unless there's something he wants."

"Right. And what he wants to do is talk to me," Jen said firmly. "Circuit, did you scan him?"

The little robotic owl swiveled his head. "Sure did, Jen! That was Eric all right."

"I'll be back as soon as possible, guys," Jen said at last, getting up and heading down the stairs. "Sorry about this, Trip."

Trip smiled at Jen's last, called message. "No problem," he said, using one of the twenty-first century phrases he'd learned. "No problem at all," he said softly so that nobody could hear him.

A few minutes later, as Trip continued making dinner, Wes returned from his stop at one of the windows. "Hold my portion for later, Trip. I'm going after them."

As Wes left, Trip permitted himself a wide smile. Things were going more or less as planned.

* * *

Things were going as planned.

Aware of Jen's untrusting expression, Eric permitted himself no more than a brief smile before turning into the strip mall with the local pizza parlour. This one was noisy, perfect for a private conversation, but with enough people that he might still be able to monitor the events of the evening.

"Here?" Jen asked, and he nodded.

"Why not? We can talk without being overheard." Eric told her. "Besides, did you think I was going to take you to headquarters?"

"Possibly," she admitted.

"The food's good here, and I'm hungry," he said, heading into the restaurant. He knew she'd follow, out of curiosity, or at least a semblance of honor.

"Do you like pepperoni?" Eric asked. "Or would you prefer a salad?"

"Pepperoni's fine, thanks," Jen said. He nodded, and made their order.

"Large pepperoni-pineapple, two waters," he told the girl at the counter, taking out his wallet and paying. He had no idea if Jen liked pineapple with her pepperoni, but he knew Wes did from their time at school together.

After she presented him with the receipt, he headed towards a table near the back. It was the best place to discuss private business, such as the love lives of a thirtieth-century police officer and a twenty-first century business owner's son.

"You stay here, I'll wait for the pizza," he told her. He didn't know if Jen had ever ordered pizza before, if she knew that it wasn't likely to be ready-made. Especially with the specialty order he'd put in.

Still, when he looked back, she was still sitting there. Probably she was wondering what the heck was going on there, and what he had to discuss with her. He looked away and smiled. Several minutes later, at about the time his pizza should be done, he checked his belt, knowing that Jen was watching.

To his great relief, he'd judged things correctly and the pizza came right on cue, along with their two waters. He picked the tray up, bringing it over to Jen, who watched him expectantly.

"It turns out I have business out at headquarters," he told her. "You can pay me back sometime."

She was beginning to stand up as he turned around and strode towards the front door, but he knew she was too frugal to leave their dinner alone. As he left the building, he turned, spotting the figure in the shadows. Striding over, he said simply. "You might as well go in. Pizza's getting cold."

With that, ignoring Wes' startled protests, he strode towards his car, not bothering to look back.

* * *

Wesley Collins wasn't sure what impulse drove him to follow Jen and Eric to the pizza place. However, upon reflection, he realized that this was a really stupid thing to do. What if Jen caught him? He'd never hear the end of it.

He bet Alex never acted this foolishly, this impulsively.

But then again, Alex didn't have Wes' programming. He intellectually knew that he could have fallen in love with Jen due to Rialtson's plan, but it was difficult to remember that whenever he looked at his leader.

Still, he couldn't be seen. He'd go home. Jen could take care of herself. Hadn't she done just that with Steelix?

Wes snuck further into the shadows and tried to make himself get back in the car and return to the clock tower.

The door to the pizza parlour banged open and Eric stepped out. Wes held in his breath as the commander of the Silver Guardians looked in his direction. As Eric walked over, he knew that Jen would be told. But the figure paused in his stride. "You might as well go in. Pizza's getting cold."

"What?" Wes asked, startled. "Wait a minute...."

But Eric ignored him, striding away. Wes watched as his former classmate walked away and looked at the doorway for the pizza parlour. Should he go in and confess, or hope that Eric never told Jen he was there?

Not quite trusting Eric, Wes hoped that Jen was feeling merciful that night. He strode into the pizza parlour, searching for his friend and leader.

Finally, he spotted Jen sitting near the back, observing the street, a pizza in front of her and two glasses, one that she was drinking from. He made his way towards her, hoping that she would restrain her famous glare so that he could try to explain the unexplainable.

She looked over, and he knew that she had seen his reflection in the slightly-darkened glass. From her expression, he knew he'd have to act fast if he wanted to avoid an explosion.

"I know I'm going to probably sound very petty," he said, hoping to forestall her anger, "but I didn't know what Eric had in mind. I was worried."

"I can take care of myself, Wes," Jen told him stonily.

"I know. It's totally irrational. Trip thinks it might be something Rialtson did."

Actually, that wasn't quite true, but Wes felt no remorse at blaming things on the scientist. "And what did Trip think Rialtson did?" Jen asked, her demeanour not softening one bit.

"Trip and I were talking one day, and he kind of theorized that Rialtson may have planted certain... impulses of Alex's in my head before I was born."

He realized that he could kiss any chance of romance with Jen goodbye then and there, but at least he wouldn't look stupid when he was obviously mooning and stuttering in front of her. Or at least she'd understand.

Jen's face half-quirked in a smile. "What?" Wes asked.

"I am just so glad we arrested him. The more I know about what he might have done, the happier I am that we caught him."

"So am I," he said, cursing himself for a lack of anything else to say on his part.

She was looking at him, an unreadable expression on her face. She picked up a slice of the pizza, staring at it, and Wes looked down. Pepperoni-pineapple. It had been one of the few things he and Eric had enjoyed in common, and it looked like the other Ranger had retained his taste for it.

"I'm really sorry about this, Jen."

She shook her head. "We've told you before, Wes. It's not your fault."

He was about to speak, and then he closed his mouth. How would he explain to her that he felt more than Trip could explain? He'd gotten himself knocked out of the running by his own confession. Better just go through the evening and pretend everything was normal.

* * *

After Eric had left, Jen had found herself staring at the street outside the window. She could make out his vehicle departing, and realized she had no way of getting home, apart from walking. Or having to call one of the others to get a ride.

Eric had probably forgotten her the moment he was called up. She hadn't seen an actual call, but she suspected that he had been called one way or another, and it was something that required his immediate departure.

Of course, he hadn't seen fit to tell her what, exactly, it was. It could be anything from Mr. Collins wishing to see him to an imminent mutant attack, though she would have hoped that he'd warn her if that was the case.

Taking a sip of her water, she looked again at the scene outside the window. It was getting dark, and she could start to see the crowd inside the pizza parlour. Someone was approaching her table, though she couldn't see who it was clearly.

Looking over, she was both surprised and unsurprised to see Wes approaching the table, a somewhat befuddled expression on his face, as if he wasn't quite sure why he was there. Of course, she had no idea why he was there, and if it turned out that he had followed them to the pizza parlour, he'd better have a good explanation.

Every so often, Wes reminded her of the way he had been when they had met. He'd been a bratty rich kid, not serious at all, and not understanding why what they were doing was so serious. Some of it had to be ingrained twenty-first century behaviour. Some of it was just pure Wes.

"I know I'm going to probably sound very petty," Wes told her, "but I didn't know what Eric had in mind. I was worried."

He sounded like he expected her to blow up at him at any minute, and Jen briefly considered doing so. He could be aggravating that way - one minute seeming like he was interested in her, the next minute chasing after another girl. "I can take care of myself, Wes," she said, hoping to remind him that she was the leader here, and hardly helpless, something that Wes normally remembered.

Wes looked like he'd just realized he'd made a fool of himself, and rightly so. "I know. It's totally irrational. Trip thinks it might be something Rialtson did."

Jen resisted raising an eyebrow, or letting Wes off the hook that easily, though what he said both intrigued her and sickened her. Sometimes, she was reminded of why she'd gone into Time Force and the injustices people justified in the name of superiority. "And what did Trip think Rialtson did?"

One of his shoulders lifted up in a slight shrug. "Trip and I were talking one day, and he kind of theorized that Rialtson may have planted certain... impulses of Alex's in my head before I was born."

Jen made a note to ask Trip later about his theories. It seemed that the Xybrian had left a few things out as of late. Though, if it was half as embarrassing as Wes looked at the moment, Trip might have done it out of kindness.

It was somewhat disconcerting to know that some of Wes' loyalty to her may have sprung from Alex's devotion. That their Red Ranger could have been so persistent about staying on the team not only because he liked the fights, but he just didn't want to be away from her.

Everything that she'd thought was typical Wes, she'd have to rethink and reestimate. She found herself smiling slightly. Who would have known that catching Rialtson would have helped them one thousand years in the past?

"What?" Wes asked.

She looked at him and tried to condense her feeling into words that he would understand. "I am just so glad we arrested him. The more I know about what he might have done, the happier I am that we caught him."

"So am I," he said, sounding a little bit relieved. She had the sense that there was something he wasn't telling her, something he considered too personal to tell his team leader.

But maybe she had time. They were there, alone, and he might find the courage to tell her what was going on with the others absent. Of course, the two of them had found themselves doing things together as of late, but not in circumstances that allowed them to relax like this.

She picked up a slice of pizza. She hadn't considered Eric's pizza order too exotic, though she wished that he'd consulted her before the order. She caught Wes staring at the pizza, as if debating whether to take a slice.

"I'm really sorry about this, Jen," Wes told her, mind obviously more on his regrets than anything else. Jen almost groaned as she recognized Wes was about to guilt-trip for something that Rialtson had done to him.

Shaking her head, she said, "We've told you before, Wes. It's not your fault."

He opened his mouth and closed it, and she tried to be patient. Sometimes she wondered if telling him about being Alex's clone, about Rialtson, had been a good idea after all. As they learned more about Rialtson's activities, the more disgusted she became.

If anyone wanted evidence of how different Wes was from his predecessor, all they had to do was get to know him. Wes was not a shadow of Alex, he was his own person, and the only people who could not see that were Rialtson's supporters. And, weirdly enough, Wes.

She longed to tell him that she was attracted to him, in a way that she had not been to Alex. But she was his superior officer, and he hadn't shown anything that meant that he was in love with her, too. Loyal, yes, as a Ranger teammate and maybe by what Rialtson had done to him. But she had been too harsh on him, and as Alex had proved, there could be no love in that kind of relationship.

Knowing that she had to give Wes time, she tried to turn his attention to something else. "Let's finish this pizza," she said, and to her relief, he took a piece, smiling.

"Did you know that this is Eric's favourite flavour?" Wes asked, his mind for the moment obviously on days past. "I like it too."

She smiled at that, glad of the distraction. Watching him, she ate her pizza.

* * *

"Trip, we have a visitor downstairs," Circuit chirped. Looking up from the meal he was about to serve, Trip swiveled his head towards one of the balcony windows.

"I thought I heard a car," he heard Katie murmur. "I'll go downstairs and see who it is."

"No, no," Trip said, hurrying to get to the stairs before Katie. "I'll go. You just go and enjoy dinner."

He made sure that Katie went back to the table before taking the stairs down as fast as he could. Barreling out to the front door, he saw Eric's unmistakable figure. Had something gone wrong?

Opening the door, he took in Eric's tired expression. "Is everything all right?" he asked.

"You owe me big," the Silver Guardian answered. "And Wes and Jen owe me for the pizza."

"I thought you said that you were going to stay around," Trip protested. As odd as Eric's request had been, he reflected, it actually helped to have somebody there to see if the mission had been successful.

"Trip, they wouldn't have done anything with me there," Eric told him. "If they're going to do what you want to do, they're going to have to be alone together."

Shaking his head, Trip wished he'd brought Eric in earlier. "We've tried that," he said. "It didn't work!"

"Maybe it did this time," Eric said. "Why couldn't you have set this up, anyway? Never had a date in your life?"

Trip blushed. He couldn't help it, not with Eric's reminder of his lack of success on the dating field.

"No, I guess not. Mutants aren't well loved in the thirtieth century, I take it."

Suddenly, Trip realized that Eric had the wrong idea about him. Since Ransik and Nadira looked human, and Trip looked human, he had to be a mutant like them.

"I'm not a mutant. I'm a Xybrian."

"A what?" Eric asked, the look in his eyes telling him that Trip's admission had unsettled him.

"A Xybrian. From the planet Xybria."

"You're an alien," Eric said, in a tone of voice that had it been anybody else speaking, would have been wonder. In Eric, it just indicated "why didn't I realize this earlier, I had all the clues".

Eric shook his head as if to clear it. "There's more to you than I thought. But you still owe me one, no matter what happens with Jen and Wes."

Trip nodded, somewhat disappointed that Eric refused to open up to him further.

"I'd better be heading back. Just in case Jen or Wes think to check up on me."

Trip nodded, and Eric did an about-face, almost marching out the door and back to the car. Heading back upstairs as he heard the engine rumble to life, he knew he'd have to come up with something to explain his presence downstairs. He wasn't about to let the others know about his attempt.

Sitting at the table, the remaining two Rangers looked over at him. "Who was that?" Katie asked.

"Just some guy wanting some directions," Trip told them, marveling how easy it had become for him to lie since they had landed in this century and met Wes.

Katie nodded, her suspicions apparently fading away, and Lucas just turned back to the meal, which was finished in peace.

* * *

A while later, Trip had wandered down to his workshop on the ground floor. Not only did he want to do some equipment maintenance, but he wanted to be the first to greet Jen and Wes and see how things went.

The door jangled as two forms slipped in. To his disappointment, Wes and Jen were not holding hands or anything he'd seen Jen do with Alex. He smiled for their sakes, and asked, "What did Eric say?"

"He left early on," Wes told him. "We've got this pizza - want to join us upstairs?"

"Sure!" Trip exclaimed. "So, you two ended up having pizza because he had to leave?"

Eric had been spare on the details, and Trip yearned to know what had happened.

"Yeah," Wes confirmed. "He apparently way about to sit down when he got called into the office."

Trip nodded. Glancing Jen's way, he knew he'd have to get Wes alone to get the story out of him. "Here, let me hold that."

Wes smiled, handing him the pizza. Trip slowed down, letting Jen get far ahead of the two of them. "So, what happened after Jen left?"

"Not much," Wes answered, and from his look, Trip knew that there was a lot the other Ranger was leaving off. "Eric left, we had pizza. That was pretty much it."

Struggling to keep the disappointment from his face, Trip watched as Wes started hurrying up the stairs. Oh, well. If he didn't succeed the first time, then all he had to do was try again.

And this time he'd do it in person.

-end