Wes sighed as he leaned against a tree in the park, his father over by a black limo discussing something on a cellphone. "Dull as hell day."

"Wes, come over here," Collins called, the man walking over to join his father. "I just got done talking with the dean of Harvard, your admission shouldn't have any problems."

"Ah...thanks," Wes replied softly. "Dad..."

"No need for more thanks, it's the least I can do. You will be taking over Bio-Synth when I retire, and Harvard is the best place to go to get you ready."

"But..." Wes sighed and gave up, knowing his father wouldn't listen. "Yes, sir."

Mister Collins smiled slightly. "Good...No substitute for experience, though, keep that in mind."

Just as he finished those words, a ball thumped down on the hood of the limo, Charles looking over his shoulder from cleaning the windshield to see a group of children playing baseball. "Nice hit."

Collins, however, frowned and grabbed the ball before it rolled off the hood, turning as a boy ran over. "I assume this is yours?"

"Sorry about that, mister."

Collins looked at the boy, then the ball as he tossed it up lightly and caught it again. "You know what I think? I think I'm going to keep this. Learn a lesson from it."

"Mister, I said..."

Collins ignored the boy and walked to the back of the limo. "Come on, Charles. I've got a meeting to get to."

"Dad, he's just a kid!" Wes stated as the boy headed back to his friends. "He said he was sorry!"

"He just learned a good lesson," Collins replied, tossing Wes the ball before getting into the limo. "Toss that in the trash, I'll see you at dinner."

Wes frowned as he looked to Charles, the man sighing as he lowered his head slightly and got in the driver's seat of the limo. As it drove off, Wes look back at the group of children. "Hey, kid!" he called, then threw the ball back to the group. "Hit a homer!"

"Thanks!"

Wes smiled as he walked over to his motorcycle, slipped on his helmet, and drove off. "One of these days, dad, you've gott'a learn to quit being such an uncaring jerk."

Destiny's Call

Yuuri and the other three former Time Force officers looked at the holoscreen as Logan appeared. Wes wasn't present, but even if he had been, Yuuri would have kept him out of sight of the holoscreen's view. "Sir..."

"Well, it's been one hell of a job getting an uplink to you four. Where and when are you?"

Yuuri glanced up at Lucas, then back at the screen. "We're in the year two-thousand six, our location is Silver Hills, California."

"Damnit..."

"We've also got the problem of Ransik having an entire prison ship of cryo-frozen mutants and aliens," Domon added. "We're going to need back-up."

"I'm afraid that's impossible. With the time ship destroyed, we can't send anyone into the timestream safely."

The four let out a collective sigh, Syon banging his head lightly against a post in the loft. "Oi..."

"However...despite your rather, unauthorized methods of following Ransik, we can provide you with what weapons we have, such as the Time Jets. I hope that it won't come to needing those, but they are at your disposal should they been needed. The rest is up to you though, you're the only chance we've got back there. Logan out."

As the holoscreen died, Yuuri sighed and held her head, Lucas patting her shoulder. "Kuso...we're pretty much stuck here."

"Look on the bright side," Lucas replied. "He could have simply told us 'screw you, it's your problem now.' Plus they don't know about Wes...yet."

"The longer they don't, the better," Domon stated. "I doubt Logan will take well to hearing we're got an era native using the Time Red Chrono Changer."

Within the chambers of the Hades Island prison ship, Ransik sighed, looking over a list of the prisoners on board. He hadn't found many names that were encouraging to him, most those of murderers and terrorists, certainly not the type of beings he want to let loose on the time. "Should have known better than to take Hades Island, it's where the worst go...I'm not sure how much control I'll have over these maniacs if I unfreeze them, not after that incident with Jetra..."

"Master Ransik?" Frax called, then saw the man sitting in his recently claimed office. "Ah, there you are. I'm please to tell you that my experimentation has been successful, I've managed to create an enzyme that can induce massive growth in whatever lifeform it is induced to. The replication equipment here has been more helpful in creating a large supply, so..."

"Not now, Frax," Ransik replied softly. "I'm trying to find someone on this bloody prison that won't go on a rampage."

"Oh..." The robot sighed, trying to think up a plan. "I could build a robotic soldier for you to send, you'll have more than enough control over that."

"A loss of precious resources if the Rangers destroyed it," the man stated in reply. "Your work would be wasted...no, I'm going to find a prisoner that I should be able to keep a measure of control over. I want you to slap together a control band or something just in case."

Frax nodded and bowed as he left the office, growling to himself. "Waste of resources would it be? I supposed he does have a point about the fact of the Rangers possibly defeating a machine soldier...but still, what doesn't he trust my plans?"

Looking around, the robot was searching the cell blocks when Nadira walked in. "Frax? What're you doing?"

Ah, I know just what to do! "Nadira, excellent timing. Tell me, what does one require to obtain resources in this era?"

"Money, of course," the woman replied. "Something we don't have."

Frax nodded and continued searching the cell blocks. "Yes, something that can easily be solved with ransom. Do you remember any prisoners here that were expert kidnappers?"

"There was Crex," Nadira replied. "I had heard he got sent here after he kidnapped the mayor's daughter back in our time. You thinking of letting him loose?"

With a nod, Frax found the block he was looking for, pulling it out and setting it in the cryo chamber before manning the controls. "Exactly. I think that once we kidnap and get ransom for someone rather important, resources will not be such a concern." He chuckled as he activated the reanimation procedure, soon releasing the alien prisoner. "Excellent...Crex, I believe."

"I am," the grey skinned alien replied with a nod as he took in his surroundings. "May I ask who you are, and why I have been released? I recall not being allowed a parole hearing for a good hundred years."

"We have need of your talents," Frax replied with a chuckle. "You are expert at abduction, are you not? If so, that is why you have been released."

Crex nodded as he stepped away from the cryo-freezer. "Yes indeed. Exactly who do you wish me to kidnap?"

Nadira and Frax exchanged a glance, then looked back at the alien. "Actually," the woman started. "We're not quite sure. See, we've jumped back in time to the year two-thousand six, and we need resources with which to aid Ransik's plan...though, even I'm not exactly sure what brother's got planned."

"That's beside the point at the moment," Frax cut in, patting Crex on the back. "We need you to scout around and look for someone that looks to be of importance. Can you do this job?"

"Indeed I can," Crex stated as he walked past Nadira and took a rifle from the weapon's compartment on a wall. "All right, I'll get you someone, I best get a cut of the ransom though to make it worth my while...or are credits even used in this era?"

"Sadly not here," Frax replied. "However, we can find a way to get your payment when we do return to the year three-thousand, I can promise that."

The grey alien snorted and tapped his wrist impatiently. "A teleporter, if you would."

Frax, nodding as if he had just remembered, handed Crex a small wrist device. The alien grunted and strapped the device on, then tapped its controls and vanished, The robot growled a bit, then looked back at Nadira. "Tell me, are all organics like this?"

"He's Gragian," the woman replied with a shrug. "They tend not to respect anyone not from their race if I recall right. As long as he does his job, I can care less."

In the park where Wes had parted with his father, a group of children were playing. Crex grinned as he singled out a particular girl, choosing her as his target. "No one important that's gonn'a be easy, but if Earth is anything like in my time, this city will scramble to save her."

Laughing softly, he jumped down out of the trees and grabbed his target, everyone around screaming in terror as they ran. The girl struggled against Crex's grip, but had no success in gaining freedom, only able to scream in fear.

"Make it easy and this won't take long at all!" Crex snapped as he raced away with the girl in his arms, tapping a control on a device that was hooked to his shoulder armor. A sleek black hover runner burst out of the device from a sub-space pocket, much like that used by the Chrono Changers to store weapons. "All right, let's go!"

As Wes rode down a street toward home, he heard his Changer com beep with alarm. "What the?" He frowned and pulled over, pulling off his helmet and tapping the comswitch. "This is Wes, go ahead."

"Wes, it's Domon. Circuit's picked up a prisoner signal out near, Dalger Park. Provider Base says they're sending some cycles to help us out, so get over here if you can."

"Dalger Park?" Wes repeated. "Damnit, I'm near there! If they're sending one for me, leave it at the tower, I can catch up with this guy! Wes out!"

Slamming his helmet back on, Wes turned around as his tires screeched from burn out, then tore off back down the way he had come, taking a moment to tap the center key of his Changer. "Chrono Morph!"

Light blazed over him, his helmet vanishing as his armor burned into form and the helmet of TimeRed took the place of the one he wore. Its visor scanners instantly began tracking the prison tracer signal, Wes turning sharply on a corner in time to see Crex's hover runner shoot by in the other direction. Quickly making another turn-around, Wes gunned his engine and went after the black vehicle. "Time to earn your pay!"

As Crex turned a corner, Wes banked sharply and followed, his scanners keeping lock on Crex's tracer implant. The alien growled as he noticed the Time Ranger on his own screens, tapping on his console. "Pesky cops," he snorted. A series of shots fired from blaster barrels mounted on the rear of his runner, Wes weaving in attempt to dodge and pulling out of the spray without a scratch.

"Damn, he's good," Crex muttered as he glanced at his rear-view screen. "I haven't seen that kind of ability since that damn Ranger cop."

Turning hard at a four-way intersection, Crex drove right through the on-coming traffic and smiled when Wes was forced to slow down. His screen started to beep as it picked up four signals, ones he knew all too well. "Damnit, Time Force! If it involves temporal travel, they're bound to stick their noses in it!"

Wes smiled behind his helmet as he gunned his engine and joined the four hover-cycle riding Time Rangers, his motorcycle being pushed to its limits trying to keep up with Crex's runner. "Glad you guys could join the party!"

"Hey, any party is a good one!" Domon cracked. "Try and keep up if you can!"

Wes merely shook his head and shifted gears, his motorcycle racing forward past Domon and coming alongside Yuuri. "Hey, fancy running into you here!"

Yuuri gave no reply as she pressed a switch on the control bar of her hovercycle, a pair of energy shots bursting forth from cannons on the cycle and slamming into the rear of Crex's hover runner. "Stay focused here!"

Wes shook his head, then widened his eyes as a series of shots flew at them. "Yuuri, move!" he shouted, banking and bumping the lieutenant out of the path of the blasts, but sending them both to the ground, sliding to a halt. Wes groaned as Lucas, Domon and Syon started to slow and waved on. "Keep going!"

Domon nodded as he shot ahead to lead Lucas and Syon on, Yuuri growling as she got to her feet and walked to her cycle to assess the damage. "Kuso," she swore softly. "The entire side's wrecked and it tore the fuel injector loose."

"Sorry," Wes muttered. "But those shots-"

"You don't need to apologize," she replied calmly, turning to face TimeRed. "Probably prevented even more damage."

Sighing, Wes checked his own motorcycle and breathed with relief. "Well, I'm still good to go," he stated, starting the vehicle up and getting on. "Hop on, we've gott'a catch up!"

Blinking, Yuuri shook her head and climbed on behind Wes, hanging on as they shot down the street in chase of the tracer signal. "I don't know if we can make it to the others!"

"Trust me, this baby is one tough machine!" Wes replied with pride, shifting to a higher gear and accelerating. "Custom build and everything! If anything can get us back with the others, it's my Ninja!"

Domon growled as he and his group were forced to straggle behind from the threat of Crex's rear guns. "Damnit!" the man snarled in anger. "He's too good at this! Circuit, a little info here!"

"Tracer IDs for Crex from Verag, he's a Gragian kidnapper for hire. He was finally captured by Lieutenant Murphy during the kidnapping of the mayor's daughter. If there was ever someone who create the book on abductions..."

"It's Crex," Lucas finished, looking to Domon. "This guy means business, we need to stop him fast!"

Domon keyed his side cannons and fired a pair of bursts at Crex's runner, only to be replied to with a round from the rear guns of the vehicle. His hovercycle took a hard hit and lost power, crashing and skidding on the ground before tipping over and sending Domon to the street. "Damnit!"

Several more rounds cause Lucas and Syon to crash and burn as well, the two getting up and only able to watch Crex's escaping hover runner. A small box clattered out of the vehicle as Wes and Yuuri finally caught up, Domon walking over and picking the box up to reveal it was a thick data module. "Ransom message no doubt," he muttered, handing the module to Yuuri. "Sorry lieutenant."

"Not your fault," Yuuri replied, then activated the screen of the module. "'Bring five million to the fountain plaza at six pm if you care for the girl.' Shimatta! How are we gonn'a get that amount of money in such short time?!"

"There's no way," Lucas stated. "We can't possibly get that much in only two hours!"

Wes, however, turned and got back on his cycle, revving the engine. "You guys try and find that guy!" he stated. "I think I know how to get that money!" He turned his vehicle around and tore off, leaving his fellow Rangers in confusion.

Pulling up into the driveway of his home, Wes got off his cycle and ran up to the door just as his father and a pair of associates were walking out toward the limousine waiting. "Dad! Great, I need to talk to you."

"I'm sure it can wait till later," the older Collins replied with a smile. "I've got some business to finish up." He tapped the briefcase in his hand and started to walk on.

"No, it can't!" Wes snapped as he grabbed his father's arm. "We need to talk now!"

Glaring at his son in anger, Collins gave an apology to his companions and walked back to the doorway with Wes. "Look, I am just sealing a major business deal with ComCon, I'm heading down to meet their CEO right now to pay the money and finish a very big merger."

"There's been a kidnapping," Wes explained. "A girl's been abducted and the kidnappers are demanding five million dollars."

"Five mill...you don't expect me to hand over the money?" Collins objected. "No, this is for the police not me! Now I have to go."

As his father walked away, Wes dropped his head in disappointment, Charles walking over and seeing the look on the young man's face. "Is something wrong, Master Wesley?"

Nodding, Wes growled with his eyes locked on his father. "My dad's the only one who can help this girl who was kidnapped, and he won't get involve."

"Perhaps you should play at his own game," Charles suggested. "He knows as well as I do that you're very adamant about leaving here to go out on your own. Perhaps if you were to prove yourself..."

Wes smiled and nodded as he chuckled. "Thanks, you just gave me something that might work." He ran over to the limo and stopped his father again, this time with severe conviction in his eyes. "All right, I'll make you a deal," he stated sharply. "You give me the money I need to cover the ransom, and I will save that girl and get you back every last dime of the ransom. If I pull this off, I get to be out from under your thumb, and you will not force me into what you have planned for me."

Glaring at his son, then slowly nodding, Collins looked at his companions. "Very well, this is your only chance, Wesley. If you don't follow through exactly on this, no more talk of leaving, no more nonsense about making your own path. You will do as I say, clear?"

Wes nodded grimly as his father handed him the briefcase, taking hold of it and racing to his cycle. He slammed on his helmet, gunned the engine, and tore off, racing for the plaza fountain as fast as he could.

Nadira paced angrily before glaring at Crex again, her disgust very evident. "Abduct someone important, I believe those were your orders, Crex. And the exact words used to describe you were 'wrote the damn book on kidnapping', isn't that your exact reputation?!"

"This is Earth," Crex snapped. "If it's anything like that of our era, then even this brat will be enough. Some worried rich idiot will find the 'compassion' to front the money, and those Time Rangers will bring the money." He snorted as he looked to where the girl was shaking in fear, then smiled. "It's almost evening. I suggest if you wish to get your money on time, you get going."

Nadira simply nodded and started to walk away when Crex grabbed her arm. "Oh, and do remember to give me my cut," he hissed. "Worthless on my world or not, I still have it for this planet."

Not far from the storehouse where Crex was holding the girl, Yuuri and the rest of the Time Rangers regrouped on the hastily repaired hovercycles. "Any sign of them?"

"None," Syon replied sadly. "He's got something jamming the signal from his tracer."

"They have to be somewhere," the woman muttered as she glanced around. "Set your scanners of any non-human life form. Lucas, Domon, make sure you have yours set to filter off Xybrian life signs."

"Got it," TimeBlue replied as he tapped his Changer, then rode off, Domon and Syon following suit as they all split up again. Yuuri shot down the empty road, then narrowed her eyes when she detected an alien signal in the storehouse.

"Just might be it," she mused, closing in and finding Crex's hover runner resting near the building. "Found them!" Yuuri tapped the com of her Changer. "Guys, get to my location ASAP, I think I got Crex."

The sky was starting to darken when Wes arrived at the plaza fountain, stopping his cycle and getting off with the briefcase in hand. He looked around, knowing he wasn't late, nor was this the wrong location. "All right, where are you?"

"Just like a good soldier!"

Wes spun around to see Nadira behind him with several Reavers in escort. "Nadira," he growled, holding up the briefcase. "I have the ransom!"

"Then pay it over!" the woman snapped in reply. Wes growled and threw the case up into the air, a Reaver catching it and bringing it to its pink haired mistress. She smiled and opened the case, gazing at the money inside. "Perfect..."

"All right, I held up my end!" Wes said with a curl in his voice. "Where's the girl?!"

Nadira snorted as she brought up a comlink from her belt. "That annoying little brat? One moment." She smiled and flicked the switch of the comlink. "Crex, feel free to kill the child, she's outlived her worth."

"No!" Wes shouted. A Reaver struck him in the back with the butt of its gunsaber, forcing him to drop down. He took the chance and tipped back onto his back as he kicked up hard, sending the Reaver behind him flying back. Kicking back to his feet, Wes grabbed another Reaver and flung it away, then ran and mounted his motorcycle.

With a rev of the engine, Wes shot toward Nadira, tapping a sequence on his Changer to summon a single Chrono Vector into his hand. "Hey, heads up!" he called, swinging at Nadira and forcing the woman to lean back. He reached with his other hand and grabbed the case, tearing off as fast as he could.

"No! The money!"

Crex laughed as he got the message from Nadira and walked toward his lone living companion. "All right, time for a little fun," he muttered, then yelled as a shot slammed into his shoulder, forcing him to spin around. "What?!"

"Time Ranger!" Yuuri called, aiming her V-Cannon as she and the Time Rangers took position. "You're under arrest, Crex! Come quietly, or there'll be trouble!"

Crex smiled as he slowly reached behind his back. "Well, I'm so sorry then, but...you've already got trouble!" He pulled his hands back out and aimed his own rifle, firing at the Rangers without mercy. "Reavers, get them!"

The swarm of robots attacked in a flash, outnumbering the four greatly. Domon managed to tear several apart, but soon the Reavers grouped together and attacked him en masse.

Crex laughed as a pair of Reavers held Yuuri, allowing him to kick her hard to the ground. "Oh, what fun this will be! I get to kill not just one, but four Time Rangers! This is indeed a day to remember!"

"Don't count on it!"

Crex's eyes went wide as he looked up and saw Wes race toward them on his cycle, his mouth dropping open wide in shock at the young man's looks. "You?! It can't be! The prison records show that Ransik killed you!"

Wes ignored the alien's disbelief, continued to race toward him, then repositioning just as Crex fired, skidding his motorcycle on the ground while he leapt off and over the shots, landing to take stance. "TimeRed, Chrono Morph!"

Light blazed over Wes' body just as he leapt up with the freezing of time around him. The energy surged from his feet and up his legs as it formed his armor, reaching up to his neck, then stopping and resuming down his head to form his helmet. Time resumed again to drop him to his feet on the ground, Crex backing away in shock, then running as he saw the transformation.

"Wes!" Yuuri called, TimeRed providing a new target for the Reavers. They released her and ran after Wes, allowing Yuuri to pick up her V-Cannon and blast the robots apart. "Just in time."

"Yeah, but we got that alien to deal with," Wes replied, running outside and cornering Crex at a dead end. "Nowhere left to go!"

The alien growled, then heard his headset com beep. "I'm in a bit of trouble here!" he snapped.

"I know. Crex, there's a switch on the side of your teleporter, it activates a hyprospray function that's loaded with a growth enzyme that will turn you into a giant! "

Crex smiled and laughed as he threw off the head set, pressing the switch Frax had informed him about. The enzyme was instantly injected into his bloodstream and cause him to grow at an impossible rate into a giant. "Time to die, humans!"

"Damnit!" Lucas swore. "We need something heavy duty!"

"Logan said they'd send us the Time Jets if we needed them," Domon countered, then brought his Changer to his mouth plate and tapped the com. "Circuit, we got a situation here that requires some big weaponry! Pull Provider Base's line and get the Time Jets here now!"

"Sending signal now...launch request confirmed and acknowledged! Provider Base is sending the Time Jets!"

"Alert! Alert!" the alarms bellowed all over Provider Base, the massive machine Providus moving into position at the launch runway. "This is not a drill! Prepare for Time Jet launch!"

A large platform holding five jet craft rose up from under the pad as Providus locked to the ground. One of them, a v-wing arrow head shaped jet, hovered to the center of the launch pad while Providus extended its right hand out and locked it back. The Time Gate at the end of the runway flared as it opened up the rift into the time stream.

"Time Gate active! Prepare for Time Jet launch!"

Releasing arm locks and swinging forward, Providus slammed its fist into the rear of the first Time Jet, sending the craft flying down the runway and into the waiting vortex of the gate. The machine reached back again as the next Time Jet was in place, sending it down the runway and into the gate.

Repeating again once more for the next Jet, Providus slammed its fist forward, sending the jet screaming down the runway and blasting into the time stream.

Soon, all five Time Jets were racing through the flow of Time, blasting through a tunnel of multi-flashing colors before bursting out into the skies of 2006 and soaring over the city.

"Amazing!" Wes remarked. "You guys plan for everything!"

"No time to gawk!" Yuuri stated sharply, bringing up her Changer to her mouth piece. "Time Flyer, engage systems!"

Within moments, the sleek white Time Flyer streaked down out of the sky, the five Rangers leaping up and boarding, then pulling up toward the five Time Jets. The craft opened their cockpits to allow access, and the Rangers jumped down to land in the craft, Wes having a bit of disorientation as he landed, but soon his Changer's computer fed information to him on the operation of his Time Jet. "All right, what say we give this guy a run around?!"

He banked hard and did a tight pull flyby of Crex while firing off a blast from his Jet's weapons. The alien snarled and returned fire only for Syon and Lucas to streak past from behind. "Damnit, stay still!"

"Enough playing around!" Yuuri chided as she pulled up to dodge a shot from Crex. "Initiate TimeMega sequence mode Alpha!"

Wes nodded as he, Lucas, Syon and Domon pulled up into the sky to join Yuuri, then activated several switches in their cockpits to start transformation sequence. "All right, torso, go!"

"Left leg, go!" Lucas announced.

"Right leg, go!"

Lucas and Syon's jets transforming into massive legs and feet, Wes' Time Jet converted into a torso, rear piece turning to form the waist and locking onto the leg joints of Jet 2 and Jet 3.

"Left arm, go!" Domon stated as he tapped at his console.

"Right arm, go!" Yuuri added, the two smaller Jets disengaging their wing pieces and barrel rolling into position to lock with Jet 1. "Sequence complete! Engaging head!"

Combining finished, a head rose from Jet 1 to complete transformation. The five Rangers were pulled through the gestalt and into a central control room in the chest of Jet 1, Wes looking around in excitement, then getting a hold on the situation and taking hold of his controls. "TimeMega sequence complete! Time to rock and roll!"

Crex bellowed and fired at the gestalt machine, the shots bouncing off the robot's body as it marched toward the alien fugitive. "Damnit! Why don' you humans just die?!"

"Deploy Saber!" Yuuri called, a blast of energy blazing out from the chest gem of the TimeMega and forming into a sword that the gestalt took hold of. "Ready cryo-inhibitation, this guy is going back to the freezer!"

Crex snarled and fired again and again before running at the gestalt TimeMega. "That's it! I'm gonn'a rip you apart!"

"Yuuri, how do I nail him and shrink him back down?!"

"I'll handle this," the woman replied, transferring main controls to her station. "Time's up, Crex!"

Firing thrusters on the TimeMega's back, Yuuri sent the machine at Crex, then jammed her controls to cause the gestalt to swing the sword and cut through the alien. All time seemed to stand still as the TimeMega stopped and turned on its repulsor cushion, a pair of side blades clicking up in tandem to flush with the main blade as if a clock counting down.

The silent stopping of time ended, Crex screaming as he was engulfed in energy, then shrunk down and became encased in a stasis field. As the re-freezing finished, the five Rangers let out a cry of triumph, disembarking the gestalt and watching as it broke back down into the five Time Jets before shooting off into a time rift back into the future.

Yuuri ran over to the stasis frozen Crex and smile faintly behind her helmet as she picked the shrunken criminal up. "All right. Domon, you and Syon find out where that girl lives and get her to her family, Lucas and I will take Crex to the tower. Wes..."

Turning, Yuuri found that Wes was gone, as was his motorcycle. "Wes-san?"

Wes sighed as he pulled up to the driveway of his home, shutting off his motorcycle and pulling the briefcase of money off its back. "Well, here comes the mouth of hell," he muttered, walking to the door and opening it. As he expected, his father was waiting for him, with an angry look on his face. "Dad..."

"As angry as I am," Collins snapped, cutting Wes off. "I am also very surprised your little stunt worked."

"Dad, listen to me," the younger man replied. "I had no choice, that girl..."

"You had no business getting involved in the matter, despite that you some how managed to do as you said," Collins continued, grabbing the briefcase away from Wes and walking into his office. He set the case down and opened it, checking the wads of bills. "There better not be a single bill missing..."

Wes was about to respond rather angrily when the intercom to the security post at the gate buzzed. "Sir, there's several reporters here to see you."

"Reporters? I don't recall calling..." Collins stopped and glanced at Wes, the look on his son's face telling that it was he who had invited the press. "We'll discuss this later, since you see fit to also make me keep my face in front of the media." He frowned and latched the briefcase shut before walking out of his office, opening the front door to see several members of the press walk in. "May I ask what this is about?"

"Is it true you provided the money to pay the ransom for Kendal Bennet?"

Collins nervously smiled as he shot a glance at Wes. "Yes, the money was mine, but all that matters is that the girl is safe and sound, as I had prayed."

Wes frowned, then glanced at Charles as the butler walked out of a hallway, smiling as the man nodded to him. Let him have his fortune and plans...it's time my dad learned his own lesson about life. "That's not all though," he stated, walking over and patting his father on the shoulder. "My father feels so concerned about the safety of our city's children, that he's decided to take the money returned to him and give all five million to charity, so that the children can be safe and happy." He then turned to his father and forced a wide smile. "Isn't that right, dad?"

Collins bit his tongue, knowing what Wes was doing, and he had no way out of it now. He managed to press his own smile and nodded, patting his son on the shoulder. "Of course... anything for the little tykes," he replied, stressing his words as much as he could.

Wes raised his brows as his smile was now genuine. "Learn this lesson from your own son good," he stated lowly so that the reporters couldn't hear, but his father could. "Keep your money, your business, your plans, and your damn ambitions, I'm sick of how you look at life and treat other people. I want no part of the future you planned for me, I'm making my own life, just like mom would have wanted if she were still alive."

He shook his father's hand before leaving, Collins' jaw dropping in shock as he watched Wes walk past the reporters and out the door. The young man paused only to look back at Charles and smirk before continuing away.

The butler looked to his employer, surprised as he saw the faint beginnings of a true smile on the man's face. "Looks like everyone's got their lessons of life to learn," he mused quietly. "Good luck, Master Wes."

Yuuri smiled as she brought out a tray and set it on the table in the center area of the loft, a pair of large bowls filled with rice and two more with cooked chicken pieces steaming. "Dinner is served, people," she quipped, taking her seat at the table. "Dig in."

Lucas smiled as he spooned some rice onto his plate and topped it with some of the chicken and teriyaki sauce. "To one hell of a cook."

"Amen to that," Domon added as he filled his plate. "Yuuri, you've got to be the cook I know. Bottoms up!"

The woman giggled as she took her share, then looked at the staircase to see Wes walk up into the loft, a large duffel bag slung over his shoulder. "Wes-san, what are you doing here?"

"Me and dad had a bit of a...fall out I guess," the young man replied, smiling weakly. "I, uh, grabbed the title to the tower before I left and...was hoping you guys had room for one more person in here."

Yuuri looked at the rest of the team, then back at Circuit, but she didn't even need to ask to know what they would say. "Well, we could use the extra hand around here for business, and someone to keep our earnings in order...so I don't see why not."

Wes smiled with relief, the four Time Rangers laughing as Domon pulled over an extra chair. "Thanks guys."

Yuuri giggled as she held out a plate to their newest room-mate. "Welcome home, Wes-san."