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estinose"Tough Love" was kind of written because I couldn't make sense of Alex's behaviour in the episodes up to and including "Destiny Defeated". This being Vereco, of course, there's the added complication that Wes is his clone.
My favorite line has to be the last one. I did a wonderful last line.
Disclaimers: Alex, Wes, and the others belong to Saban. The much-reviled and never-appearing Rialtson belongs to me.
Spoilers: Destiny Defeated
Author's Notes: Just a short little piece. Alex was such an idiot during his latest episodes, and I figured there had to be a reason other than the writers advancing the Wes/Jen romance.
Tough Love
by Selma McCrory
copyright 2001
Alex stepped out of the timeship and into the thirtieth century, walking away from the events that had happened over the last day.
Around him, Time Force personnel surged to check over the ship, just in case something had been transported that shouldn't have been. There had been a few instances of the Time Flyers or his own Time Shadow picking up things in the twenty-first century air during their fights.
He knew there were things that required his attention in this time period. It was one of the hazards of being so high up in the ranks - eternal paperwork, even though paper wasn't used much anymore.
At least with all that had happened he was free to stop hiding anymore. He had gone from Red Ranger and secretly the head of Time Force's special projects to a near-corpse. When Jen had stolen the morphers and gone back in time, it had become time for him to step out of his cover role and into his real one, making sure the Ranger team won the fight.
In that capacity, he had plenty of time to process the data sent through by the Rangers and their equipment. He was able to keep an eye onto anything that might rock the balance of the future. And, finally, he ended up going.
Even with what he'd seen, he didn't expect to see what he did. Jen and the others... had gone native. They were in odd outfits that no doubt were normal in that time period. They were still Time Force Officers, they were still Rangers, but something had gone wrong.
Mentally strengthening himself, he had walked towards them, barking orders in the hope that he would shock them out of what they had become. And then he had looked at their Red Ranger.
He'd known for months that Jen's choice for his replacement was his own clone. She had, curiously, never given a report that at least one of the Rialtson clones had been found, no doubt a sign of the past's influence on her. The Jen he'd known and trained would have reported his presence immediately.
Unless she didn't know. Unless she never thought to wonder why someone from the past was able to activate his morpher. He was hoping the 'clear' signal had worked and cleared his DNA from the morpher's security, but it was obvious that it hadn't. So someone as bright as Jen should have looked at Wes' DNA and known what she was dealing with.
The reports had given his clone a name: Wesley Arthur Collins. A birthdate. He'd traced Wesley Collins' life through documentation and found out that he was supposed to become the owner of a company called BioLab. Or at least he would in the current timeline. A rampage of Ransik's would soon cause the death of Wesley Collins' adopted father. And Wesley would become the CEO in his place.
He had to seperate his clone from this life, from the life he wasn't supposed to be leading. It was for Wesley's own good. The more he had to do with his own century the better. The thirtieth shouldn't hold a claim over this man, and yet it did.
So, once he had a chance, he gave Wesley a small hint of the future, backing it up with what he knew. The terrible call had come as he'd hoped, and Wesley had reluctantly given his morpher back to him and run out of the ship.
It was all that he could do to get the others' attention back on him. To make them not think of the teammate that he had just replaced. What was it with them? They had to know better than anyone else what Rialtson's followers would make of their teammate.
But he had to keep them focused, which meant that he had to divert their attention away. So, he took a radical step. He made them hate him.
It seemed to work. He could see the distrust in their eyes, the hate that would forever scar his reputation. Someday he'd make it up to them when the situation wasn't so bad and the future not so important.
He just hoped that Jen would believe him.
They had followed his commands, though slowly, and he'd gotten them back in uniform again. They were still thirtieth-century police officers, no matter how attached they'd become to this century.
No matter how much Jen had become attached to Wes. Oh, she tried to hide it, but he'd seen the picture. Wes had fallen in love with Jen, and Jen, perhaps not able to handle his loss, had started falling for Wes. He should have come earlier, but he hadn't known. He just hadn't known.
It looked like certain theories were right about exactly what Rialtson had done with the clones. He had to remind himself that it was not Wes' fault that he'd fallen for Jen - it looked like he had been primed to do so. It still hurt, though, to see the likeness of himself kissing the woman that he'd chosen to spend his life with.
And even more that Wes was not destined to have a life with Jen. There was nothing in his history to indicate that he'd ever fallen in love, much less married.
Wes could be a successful CEO, his history proved it. The time he'd spent in the Rangers was only a diversion from what he was meant to be. No matter what Jen might think after his recent behaviour, Alex felt for the young man that had resulted out of Rialtson's plans. It was in his 'child's' best interests that he have a life that had nothing to do with the Rangers or Time Force.
But, much to his frustration, the team refused to function without Wes. And Wes refused to function without the team. The young CEO, who should have been involved in paperwork, had instead saved them from Frax's machine.
It was far too late. He had no choice but to return the morpher to Wes and turn the team back to what it was. And, truth be told, he was proud of Wes, though he couldn't admit it in front of the others.
No matter what, Rialtson had won, though not in a way he had ever expected. There was no way that Wes could be diverted from what he was. Jen and the others wouldn't allow it. And even he could not, finally, allow it.
And in a way, returning Wes would throw a damper on Rialtson's followers. The clone had succeeded where the original could not. Alex was a loner. Wes had proved that he could become part of a team.
There had to be some way to throw that in the faces of all those who would say that Wes was just one more tool. And he intended to make sure that everybody knew who Wesley Collins was and what he had done.
He had diverted destiny away from the young CEO, making sure that Wes could retain his position as Red Ranger. And the other had seen it, and known. Even though he had lied to Wes' face, he had the feeling that the other had known.
Even if Wesley Collins didn't know about his true self, he had somehow known. And that was what made it worthwhile, what had caused him to go back to the future. Not because of the others, but because of Wes. Because of Jen.
Because even Alex loved.
-end
My favorite line has to be the last one. I did a wonderful last line.
Disclaimers: Alex, Wes, and the others belong to Saban. The much-reviled and never-appearing Rialtson belongs to me.
Spoilers: Destiny Defeated
Author's Notes: Just a short little piece. Alex was such an idiot during his latest episodes, and I figured there had to be a reason other than the writers advancing the Wes/Jen romance.
Tough Love
by Selma McCrory
copyright 2001
Alex stepped out of the timeship and into the thirtieth century, walking away from the events that had happened over the last day.
Around him, Time Force personnel surged to check over the ship, just in case something had been transported that shouldn't have been. There had been a few instances of the Time Flyers or his own Time Shadow picking up things in the twenty-first century air during their fights.
He knew there were things that required his attention in this time period. It was one of the hazards of being so high up in the ranks - eternal paperwork, even though paper wasn't used much anymore.
At least with all that had happened he was free to stop hiding anymore. He had gone from Red Ranger and secretly the head of Time Force's special projects to a near-corpse. When Jen had stolen the morphers and gone back in time, it had become time for him to step out of his cover role and into his real one, making sure the Ranger team won the fight.
In that capacity, he had plenty of time to process the data sent through by the Rangers and their equipment. He was able to keep an eye onto anything that might rock the balance of the future. And, finally, he ended up going.
Even with what he'd seen, he didn't expect to see what he did. Jen and the others... had gone native. They were in odd outfits that no doubt were normal in that time period. They were still Time Force Officers, they were still Rangers, but something had gone wrong.
Mentally strengthening himself, he had walked towards them, barking orders in the hope that he would shock them out of what they had become. And then he had looked at their Red Ranger.
He'd known for months that Jen's choice for his replacement was his own clone. She had, curiously, never given a report that at least one of the Rialtson clones had been found, no doubt a sign of the past's influence on her. The Jen he'd known and trained would have reported his presence immediately.
Unless she didn't know. Unless she never thought to wonder why someone from the past was able to activate his morpher. He was hoping the 'clear' signal had worked and cleared his DNA from the morpher's security, but it was obvious that it hadn't. So someone as bright as Jen should have looked at Wes' DNA and known what she was dealing with.
The reports had given his clone a name: Wesley Arthur Collins. A birthdate. He'd traced Wesley Collins' life through documentation and found out that he was supposed to become the owner of a company called BioLab. Or at least he would in the current timeline. A rampage of Ransik's would soon cause the death of Wesley Collins' adopted father. And Wesley would become the CEO in his place.
He had to seperate his clone from this life, from the life he wasn't supposed to be leading. It was for Wesley's own good. The more he had to do with his own century the better. The thirtieth shouldn't hold a claim over this man, and yet it did.
So, once he had a chance, he gave Wesley a small hint of the future, backing it up with what he knew. The terrible call had come as he'd hoped, and Wesley had reluctantly given his morpher back to him and run out of the ship.
It was all that he could do to get the others' attention back on him. To make them not think of the teammate that he had just replaced. What was it with them? They had to know better than anyone else what Rialtson's followers would make of their teammate.
But he had to keep them focused, which meant that he had to divert their attention away. So, he took a radical step. He made them hate him.
It seemed to work. He could see the distrust in their eyes, the hate that would forever scar his reputation. Someday he'd make it up to them when the situation wasn't so bad and the future not so important.
He just hoped that Jen would believe him.
They had followed his commands, though slowly, and he'd gotten them back in uniform again. They were still thirtieth-century police officers, no matter how attached they'd become to this century.
No matter how much Jen had become attached to Wes. Oh, she tried to hide it, but he'd seen the picture. Wes had fallen in love with Jen, and Jen, perhaps not able to handle his loss, had started falling for Wes. He should have come earlier, but he hadn't known. He just hadn't known.
It looked like certain theories were right about exactly what Rialtson had done with the clones. He had to remind himself that it was not Wes' fault that he'd fallen for Jen - it looked like he had been primed to do so. It still hurt, though, to see the likeness of himself kissing the woman that he'd chosen to spend his life with.
And even more that Wes was not destined to have a life with Jen. There was nothing in his history to indicate that he'd ever fallen in love, much less married.
Wes could be a successful CEO, his history proved it. The time he'd spent in the Rangers was only a diversion from what he was meant to be. No matter what Jen might think after his recent behaviour, Alex felt for the young man that had resulted out of Rialtson's plans. It was in his 'child's' best interests that he have a life that had nothing to do with the Rangers or Time Force.
But, much to his frustration, the team refused to function without Wes. And Wes refused to function without the team. The young CEO, who should have been involved in paperwork, had instead saved them from Frax's machine.
It was far too late. He had no choice but to return the morpher to Wes and turn the team back to what it was. And, truth be told, he was proud of Wes, though he couldn't admit it in front of the others.
No matter what, Rialtson had won, though not in a way he had ever expected. There was no way that Wes could be diverted from what he was. Jen and the others wouldn't allow it. And even he could not, finally, allow it.
And in a way, returning Wes would throw a damper on Rialtson's followers. The clone had succeeded where the original could not. Alex was a loner. Wes had proved that he could become part of a team.
There had to be some way to throw that in the faces of all those who would say that Wes was just one more tool. And he intended to make sure that everybody knew who Wesley Collins was and what he had done.
He had diverted destiny away from the young CEO, making sure that Wes could retain his position as Red Ranger. And the other had seen it, and known. Even though he had lied to Wes' face, he had the feeling that the other had known.
Even if Wesley Collins didn't know about his true self, he had somehow known. And that was what made it worthwhile, what had caused him to go back to the future. Not because of the others, but because of Wes. Because of Jen.
Because even Alex loved.
-end
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