"Justin is going to kill you," Jay remarked conversationally.

The moving shadow on the static-filled comm screen was working just as hard as he was to keep the channel open, but they had audio and that was a vast improvement over nothing. JT's voice came back, laced with extraneous noise but no less exasperated for the distortion. "Tell him to get in line."

"That bad, huh?" Justin was due back in Co-Op within the hour, but Jay intended to page him as soon as they had reliable communication. "Are you reading this as grid interference?"

"Worse," JT said curtly. "And yes, but we can't get rid of it without--"

"Losing the link," Jay finished. "I'm cutting it out anyway."

"Don't--" The screen cleared abruptly and JT's image stared back at him. Jay chalked up one more hypothetical confirmation as Justin's double demanded, "How did you do that?"

"I think the grid connection is what's making them switch," Jay said, checking the log to make sure it was recording properly. "We're using it as an anchor, but each Power conduit is so Ranger specific that it can't exist in multiple forms in the same dimension. Not unless it's shared, the way Justin's and mine is, or the Psychos and the Astros."

"You're still stuck on that repelling idea, aren't you." JT was frowning, but not in disagreement.

"Only in the sense that leaving a conduit empty creates a vacuum in one dimension and an overload in another. The grid must be switching Rangers to balance things out. Maybe it's messing up the keycomms because we've disturbed the equilibrium somehow."

"But how are you keeping the comm link open without the grid anchor?" JT wanted to know.

"We already have a Power anchor," Jay reminded him. "The Rangers that switched. Maybe using the grid on top of that is causing some kind of feedback."

There was a flicker of amusement and a knowing look in JT's eyes. "You just made that last part up, didn't you."

Jay grinned unrepentantly. "Yeah, I did. But I think the grid balancing act is real. It could have caused the illusion of consciousness swapping at first, and it would explain why the Rangers switched this last time but the Megaship didn't."

"So we can't transfer Rangers from one dimension to another unless..." JT frowned again. "Unless what?"

"I don't know," JT admitted, belatedly remembering to page Justin. The computer flashed an acknowledgement as he added, "But it does mean that we can transfer anyone intradimensionally as long as we anchor in a dimension that doesn't access the grid."

JT's eyes widened as the implications of that sank in. "That's true! Jay, you're brilliant! We might be able to make this work after all... maybe we can do some de Sitter tests once the generators on this end are back online!"

"If the generators on *this* end survive switching the Rangers back," Jay retorted. "How's Cassie doing?"

JT sobered abruptly and shook his head. "She's stuck here. Linnse says she's not in any shape to transfer again until after her children are born."

Saryn must be a much calmer person in this other dimension, Jay reflected. It was the only way JT could have thought such a suggestion was remotely feasible. "Leaving her there isn't really an option," Jay warned.

"Yeah, well, it's not my first choice either," JT shot back. "But if those twins still have the slightest chance of being born healthy, I don't want to take it away from them."

Jay hesitated, taken aback. "I didn't know it was that bad."

"Cassie almost didn't survive the last transfer," JT said bluntly. "I don't think Linnse told her how close she came to not making it. The twins definitely can't do it--as if they're not messed up enough already. Linnse says it's like the shifting is pulling them apart."

"Is that possible?" Jay asked, searching his own face for whatever JT wasn't saying. "The twins don't have an equivalent in your dimension... what if the grid takes Cassie to replace Cassandra but doesn't latch onto the children she's carrying?"

The expression on JT's face told him that the idea wasn't a new one to him. "It's possible," he agreed. "Linnse suggested that too."

There was silence for a moment. "What about the others?" Jay asked at last. "How are they?"

"Carlos is gone," JT said with a sigh. "The others are keeping their heads down, though. We made them fly patrols the first day they got here because there wasn't anyone else, and they did fine. What about with you?"

"They were all right once we got them all together and figured out what was going on," Jay answered, frowning. "What do you mean, 'Carlos is gone'? Where is he?"

"If I knew, I'd bring him back," JT replied testily. "He took off for Aquitar yesterday and I've lost all contact with him. I can't teleport him, transfer him, or even talk to him, because every scanner I turn on Aquitar says it doesn't exist."

"It doesn't exist?" Jay repeated. "How is that possible?"

"Hell if I know! I've run every diagnostic I can think of, but the scanners are working fine. The whole planet is just gone."

"You're losing planets now?" A third identical voice joined the conversation, interrupting from somewhere over Jay's right shoulder. "First Rangers, now planets... if your entire dimension suddenly disappears, don't expect us to come looking for you."

"Thanks for the thought," JT said wryly. "I hear you want to kill me."

"I thought about it, but I'd have to fight people more determined than I am for the chance." Justin dropped into the chair next to Jay, stretching his arms out over his head as he leaned back. "Jay's page said our Rangers are all safe in your dimension?"

"How did you do that?" JT wanted to know. "I didn't even see you page him!"

"I type fast," Jay answered, amused by his incredulity. "Everyone except Carlos," he added, for Justin's benefit. "Apparently JT's misplaced him. And Cassie's okay, but not healthy enough to transfer."

Justin abandoned his stretch and shot Jay a dismayed look. "You're kidding. The twins?"

"Not so good," Jay admitted.

"So Cassie can't come back... what did you do with Carlos?" Justin demanded. "Was he on the planet you lost?"

"I didn't lose it," JT grumbled. "It's just not there anymore. Carlos left for Aquitar last night, and this morning the whole planet is gone from our scanners. Just vanished, like it never existed. I talked to Karen a few minutes ago, so your Rangers will probably be showing up in Co-Op any second."

Jay exchanged glances with Justin. "You're braver than we are," he remarked with a rueful smile. "I'm not sure we dare unlock the door."

"I did it when I came in," Justin said with a sigh. "It may have been a mistake."

"Look, I'm not sorry I saved my friends' lives," JT told them. "But I didn't mean to make so much trouble for you guys, and I never wanted to hurt Cassie. I hope to everything good that those twins are okay."

"Us too," Justin said quickly. "You did what you had to, JT. Either of us would have made the same decision; you know that."

Jay nodded in agreement. "Let's work on fixing things instead of worrying about what's gone wrong. If our Rangers are on the way, we'll call yours up here too. I don't know how many transfers the generator can take--"

"But we know we can do at least three before something shuts down," Justin finished, sharing a grin with Jay. "So let's send Ashley and Zhane and TJ and see what happens."

"Excuse me," JT interrupted indignantly. "You don't get to keep Andros; you have each other! Send him first and keep TJ. He probably wants to be with Cassandra anyway."

Justin made a show of reluctance, and Jay chuckled. "It's only fair," he pointed out. "Besides, at least we won't have to deal with Andros and Zhane snipping at each other over the keycomms if something goes wrong."

"I was just thinking the same thing," Justin admitted, the hint of a grin tugging at his mouth. "All right. You guys work out the calibrations; I'll call the others."

***

"Cassandra, wake up."

This time when she turned she felt the sheets move with her, and she frowned at a blurry world so far removed from the harsh desert sun. Where--Eltare. TJ was trying to rouse her, but there was no way to leave such an idyllic vision gently. Disappointed, she struggled to push his hands away and sit up.

"I'm awake," she mumbled, running her fingers through her hair so it fell in her face. She didn't want to meet his gaze right now, not with the dream of Saryn so fresh in her memory. "What's going on?"

"Justin says they've established contact with JT." He sat down on the bed beside her, reaching out to brush her hair back. "You all right?"

"I'm fine." She drew away abruptly, turning to hide her eyes. "Tired. Did JT say... the others? What happened?"

"They're okay," TJ told her.

She lifted her head, not sure she had heard right. "The other Rangers? The ones from this dimension?"

"Yeah," he said, a smile in his voice. "They're okay. Justin says he can start switching us back this morning."

She spun, eyes wide, and he pulled her into a grateful hug. She laid her head against his shoulder, pressing her lips together as tears pricked her eyelids. "They're okay," she whispered, as much to reassure herself as anything. "They're okay."

"They're alive and well, and we're going home," TJ said softly. "It doesn't get much better than that, Cassandra."

She closed her eyes, hearing Saryn call her "Cassie" once more. Maybe it didn't get better than that, for TJ. Could it for her?

Did she have any right to want it to?

***

The chime of the comm woke her out of the most restful sleep she'd had in days, and Ashley muttered an acknowledgement to KERI before it could wake anyone else. When the computer didn't answer, she sighed and reluctantly rolled out of bed. Her eyes weren't even all the way open when her feet hit the floor, but finally the fact that she wasn't on the Megaship registered.

Padding over to the comm, she rubbed her eyes clear with one hand and silenced the chime with the other. "This is Ashley," she told the comm, glancing around surreptitiously. No, of course they hadn't woken. The two of them could sleep through the destruction of a planet.

"It's Justin," JT's face answered. "Come on up to Co-Op; we've got JT on the line and he says he wants you back."

"You--but--can you transfer us? Is he all right? What happened to your Rangers?" Justin looked about two seconds from breaking the connection, and the questions tumbled out as she tried to force her thoughts into some kind of coherent pattern.

"He's fine, our Rangers are all right, and we think we can switch at least some of you back. It's kind of a long story. If everyone comes to Co-Op, we'll only have to tell it once."

"Right," Ashley said quickly. "We'll be there in a few minutes. Thanks, Justin."

"No problem," he said, deadpan.

She turned away from the comm, a smirk that wouldn't be suppressed sneaking onto her face. They looked so peaceful--and there was all that extra space at the end of the bed. Zhane did it to her all the time.

She had three steps to get a running start, and then she leapt onto the bed with enough force that she bounced. Giggling, she threw her arms over her head as she laid back, lying across their legs even as Andros bolted upright. "Good morning!" she called, tilting her head to look upside down at him. "Time to get up!"

He narrowed his eyes at her, and she barely had enough time to roll away before he lunged forward. Her mad scramble didn't last long, though, as his arms wrapped around her from behind and pinned her to his chest. She struggled, laughing, but he was too strong, and soon she was giggling in earnest as he tickled her mercilessly.

"Well, isn't that a pretty sight," Zhane's voice drawled, and through the curtain of her hair she could see him propped up on his elbow at the other end of the bed. "Makes a man grateful to wake up in the morning!"

"Justin called," she gasped, trying to stop giggling long enough to get her message out. "Wants us--to meet him... Andros! Mercy!"

"Mercy," Andros grumbled, releasing her at last. "Like I got a chance to change your mind when you were leaping on the bed! 'No, sorry, I'd rather stay asleep.' It doesn't work that way, does it?"

"He wants us to meet him in Co-Op," she managed, ignoring his feigned grumpiness as she tried to draw a normal breath. "He says the other Rangers are all right; they didn't die and JT can switch us back!"

Zhane sat up, taking his pillow and hitting Andros with it almost absently. "That's what you get for ambushing first and asking questions second! Do the others know?"

"Justin said he'd tell us the whole story when we got to Co-Op," Ashley offered, shaking her hair out of her face and twisting her tank top back into place. "He must have already called them, or maybe he's doing it now."

"Or maybe they're sleeping peacefully the way we're not," Andros remarked, sliding out of bed with a good-natured glower for her.

Zhane threw his pillow this time, but Andros was fast enough to deflect it before it could reach him. Ashley used the distraction to launch herself at him, and when she knocked him onto the bed Zhane joined in, yelling "Tickle fight!" over the sound of Andros' yelp. Ashley was laughing as hard as he was, and for several long minutes, there was no war.

***

TJ and Cassandra were already out by the time he emerged from his room, and he waved as he jogged down the hallway to join them. "Hey," Carlos greeted them, glancing over his shoulder automatically. "Where are the others?"

The next door down slid open even as he asked the question, and Zhane stumbled out into the hallway to the sound of giggles. Andros and Ashley were right behind him, making it clear that he had been pushed. Zhane shoved Andros into the wall, looking away innocently when Ashley laughed and linked her arm through his.

"Morning," TJ offered, amusement in his voice. "Justin told you?"

"He told her," Andros replied, slapping the back of Zhane's head as he took Ashley's other arm. "She woke us up--" He poked Ashley, and she nudged him back with her elbow.

"And here we are!" Zhane finished. They were obviously in high spirits, and Carlos couldn't help smiling. Just seeing them together and happy improved his mood immensely.

"Do you think he told the other Rangers?" Cassandra asked, ducking under TJ's arm as he held the lift door. "The ones here, I mean?"

"Probably," Carlos said, gesturing for the Giggle Trio to precede him into the lift. "They want their Rangers back as much as we want to be home."

"I'm so glad they're all right," Ashley said fervently, making room for him as he joined them in the lift. More idly, she added, "I wonder if they think our friends are as weird as we think theirs are."

"Their friends are way weirder than ours," Carlos informed her.

"It's not even a question," TJ agreed, grinning.

"I don't know," Cassandra said, surprising him. "They're not so bad. And you have to admit, it's nice to be someplace where people don't worry about ground troops and evacuation plans all the time."

"What does everyone think about Kerone?" Zhane put in. "Don't give me that look, Andros; you're thinking it too."

There was an uncomfortable silence, and finally TJ said, "To be honest... I can't help thinking she's taking them for a ride. I mean, come on--Astronema just happens to be Andros' long lost sister? That's crazy."

"But she's really nice!" Ashley exclaimed. "She doesn't *seem* like Astronema. Sure, she looks like her, and she even talks like her--but she doesn't act like the princess of evil. She acts like someone who wants to help."

"And she's a Power Ranger," Cassie pointed out. "She went on a quest with Andros and Ashley and Zhane and that other guy--Ty? The Power chose her. That has to count for something."

"She says she's a Power Ranger," Carlos corrected. "She's a sorceress. She can make them think whatever she wants."

"Come on, Carlos," Ashley protested. "You have to believe *someone* sometime. And it's not impossible, right? She could be your sister, couldn't she, Andros?"

The lift was quiet again, the hesitation broken by their arrival on the Co-Op level. When the doors opened, it was obvious that Justin had not only contacted the other Rangers, but he had contacted them first. Kerone was among those present, and Andros didn't say a word as he straightened from the back wall where he'd been slouched.

As the Red Ranger walked out of the lift, though, he reached up and silently tapped his locket. Carlos frowned, puzzled, his gaze automatically seeking Kerone as he followed the others into Co-Op. She and Saryn were over by the main comm screen, talking to two people that Carlos couldn't tell apart--

He saw it when she turned. A silver chain flashed around her neck, the black beadwork making the familiar pendant look both exotic and unique. It wasn't unique, not really, but the illusion was so convincing that he hadn't even bothered to look at it the day before.

She was wearing Andros' locket.

***

"Clearly, I am not adequately conveying the impracticality of the scenario you suggest."

"No, you're conveying it just fine. We understand the impracticality, Saryn. What I don't understand is what you expect us to do about it."

"I want to speak to Saryn."

"What?"

"I want," Saryn repeated carefully, "to speak to Saryn."

Justin and Jay exchanged glances. He still wasn't entirely sure which was which, but there was no mistaking the confused looks on their faces. "Why?" one of them asked.

"Because what I expect you to do about this situation can not be done without his permission."

This time, their shared confusion included JT. After a moment of silent deliberation, however, the Blue Ranger from the other dimension shrugged slightly. "He should be back by now. I'll tell him to come up to Co-Op."

"Saryn?"

He caught his breath, ignoring the odd look that JT gave him. "Cassie?"

"Your Rangers are here," JT said, unnecessarily. He did something to the panel in front of him and the field of view expanded rapidly. Cassie was standing behind his left shoulder, her presence making the background bustle seem insignficant.

"Are you all right?"

She smiled, and he realized they had spoken at the same time.

"Linnse says I could be better," she said honestly, when he nodded at her. "I feel all right, but I guess she doesn't think I should transfer again. How are you doing?"

He couldn't help a small smile at the obvious concern in her voice. "Probably not much better than you think I'm doing," he admitted, studying her through the comm screen. "I will not allow you to stay there."

"I knew you wouldn't," she agreed. She didn't bother pointing out the reasons she had to, or all the things he couldn't do about it. "Somehow Linnse thinks she's going to convince you by keycomm."

"You wanted to see me." Saryn's voice broke into the conversation, though it wasn't clear whom he was addressing. He must have already been on his way to arrive so quickly.

"I want you to transfer here," Saryn told him. He noted distantly that his double wore black, not red, and that Cassie might as well not have been there for all he paid attention to her. "I wish to switch places with you temporarily."

"To what end?" the other Saryn wanted to know.

"That I may bring Cassie safely back to our dimension."

His double looked skeptical, and the contemptuous look he shot in Cassie's direction made Saryn's fists clench. "If that is your wish... My patrol resumes in 23 hours. Will that be enough time?"

"More than enough," Saryn agreed coldly. "Justin?"

"What are you going to do?" Justin didn't look convinced in the slightest, and Saryn suppressed a sigh.

"I'm a voyager," he told the other Ranger. It was still strange to say the words aloud, but he had been forced to come to terms with a lot of things recently. "I don't have to know what I'm going to do. I just have to know what I want.

"I want Cassie," he added, as though it wasn't obvious. "And I want her here. Right now. So unless you have a staggeringly logical reason why I should not, I'm going to go get her."

Jay held up his hands in a gesture of surrender, but Justin only shook his head. In the end he would do it, not because he had been convinced, but because it would get Saryn out of his hair. Saryn knew that and didn't particularly care. There were advantages to having a reputation of being someone with whom no one could reason.

"We're ready when you are," JT said, glancing up from whatever he had been doing. "If you want to send Saryn first, and then Andros and Zhane, that'll work for us."

"You got it." Jay looked over his shoulder to catch Saryn's eye, and he nodded.

The experience wasn't that much different from teleporting, except that there was no colored rush of Power. He didn't get much further than the obvious before it was over, and suddenly Co-Op was filled with unfamiliar people and the crush of minds was disorienting. It took him a moment to realize that some of the noise was physical, not mental.

Then Cassie was in front of him, and most of the intensity receded as she wrapped him in a fierce hug. "I'm so glad to see you," she whispered, her emotions slipping in between his and making her words ring with sincerity.

He held her just as tightly, closing his eyes in a silent prayer of thanks. "I, too, am more glad than I can tell you," he murmured. "Not until this morning was I certain that you still lived."

He felt her flicker of alarm, and she squeezed him harder. She didn't say anything, but the understanding between them spoke volumes. He couldn't lose her, not now. Maybe not ever. And she knew it.

"You could stay," she whispered suddenly. "Stay here, with me. We could patrol, and--"

"You are not staying on a planet besieged by the forces of evil." He kept his voice soft enough to keep anyone from overhearing, but he would not accept that as a possibility. "You are coming back home where you belong."

"Did you borrow Kerone's magic wand?" Cassie murmured, turning her head to nuzzle his cheek. He was aware that they were drawing more than their share of covert stares, but Andros' transfer helped absorb some of the excess attention, and to be honest he wasn't all that concerned with his reputation in a place he would likely never see again.

"You switched places with Cassandra even though you no longer hold the Astro Power." He was thinking out loud, ignoring her skepticism, and she murmured in agreement.

"I guess it's still stronger in me than in Tessa." She didn't draw back, but she brushed his hair off of his shoulders with a sigh. "She only morphed that one time, after all."

"If that lingering imprint is enough to transfer you," Saryn murmured, "then we ought to be able to duplicate the effect in our children."

"Really?" She sounded doubtful, and his embrace tightened for just a moment.

"Believe, Cassie," he whispered in her ear. "Sometimes that is all it takes."

He felt her relax just a little, and her words made him smile. "I've always believed in you."

When he stepped back she let him go, but he felt every eye in the room turn toward them when he knelt in front of her. Anyone who had been pretending not to watch before this had abandoned the charade and was now staring openly. He tried to block out his awareness of the others, and it was easier when he laid his right hand on Cassie's stomach.

The Power flared even before he touched the crystal around his neck, and he frowned. The healing ability was something he and his teammates channeled rather than controlled, and he didn't like the idea that it had activated without conscious thought. There was something seriously wrong if it was flowing into Cassie without prompting.

It seemed longer than the seconds his mind told him had passed, but the Power gradually receded. He felt Cassie's fingers cover his, and when he looked up he saw her mouth the words thank you. He smiled, and she squeezed his hand briefly.

He rose, more convinced than ever that this would work. He kept his hand on her stomach, resting his other hand on her arm as he stepped around behind her. She leaned back against him automatically, and he didn't even have to try to get JT's attention. The Blue Ranger, like everyone else in the room aside from the un-transferred Astro Rangers, was staring at him with unconcealed surprise.

"We're ready," he told JT. "Send us back."

The calm certainty that he and Cassie had created between them must have touched the others in some way, for JT only hesitated a moment before relaying the message to Justin and Jay. Andros and Zhane were already gone--or back, depending on how one looked at it--and Saryn vaguely remembered some concern over the number of consecutive transfers that would be possible. The last thing they needed, however, was more interference from him, so he turned his attention to more pleasant curiosities.

With the Power split between the four of them, he found himself aware of the twins in a way he never had been before. Their distress at their mother's recent stress was all too obvious, as was the fact that the presence of the Power was completely overwhelming them. He wondered if pregnant Rangers ever remained active.

Co-Op flickered. With no more ceremony than that, he found himself surrounded by a more familiar mental hum as the transfer was completed. Cassie was still in his arms, and though he felt her cringe in anticipation, there was nothing but a queasy twinge as they switched dimensions.

"You believed," he whispered, as she sighed quietly in relief.

Resting her head against his shoulder, she murmured, "Now you know why."

***

He wasn't sure who was more surprised when he finally activated his communicator: himself, or JT. Carlos hadn't been sure it would work at all with Aquitar phased the way it was, and JT's response was nothing short of incredulous. But the promised extraction was almost instantaneous, and he found himself in Co-Op without a hint of the pain that had accompanied his first trip.

"That was an improvement," he remarked, before he realized that the others were all there too. "Hey, where did everyone come from? What's going on?"

"Where did *you* come from?" Andros demanded.

"Did you just transfer him?" Zhane asked JT. "Why were you talking to him over the comm?"

"Carlos!" Ashley launched herself at him before he could ask anything else, and he wrapped his arms around her automatically. "The next time you decide to go halfway across the universe, tell someone first!"

"I did," he protested, patting her back awkwardly. "I told JT. He knew where I was."

"He couldn't get in contact with you! He said Aquitar was gone! What were we supposed to think?"

"Yeah, man, what happened?" TJ wanted to know. "We thought we were going to have to go without you."

"Go where?" Carlos let Ashley go when she pulled away from him, and he glanced from her to TJ and back again. "What's going on?"

"Jay and Justin got the transition thing working again from their side," Ashley told him in a rush. "Andros and Zhane already switched back and Saryn came to get Cassie and I'm going to kill you for not telling me what you were doing!"

He chuckled at her vehemence, secretly relieved by the welcome. After hours on Aquitar where his "friends" seemed to want him dead--or at least gone--almost as much as the enemy did, it was better than he had expected to have people caring about him again. And... they could go back?

"What did you just say?" he wanted to know. "Switching? Does that mean what I think it means?"

"Go," she said impulsively, pushing him toward JT. "Before something freaky happens and the generator burns out or the planets un-align or something."

"But--" He caught TJ's eye, and the other Ranger just nodded. He looked to Andros and Zhane instinctively, before he remembered what Ashley had said. "Good luck," he told them instead, and Andros nodded.

"You're going to tell me what you did with that planet," JT informed him.

When Carlos opened his mouth to answer, JT gave him an infuriating smirk and cut him off. "But not today," he declared triumphantly. "Go annoy the Rangers in your own dimension!"

Co-Op shifted from bustling to almost calm in a matter of seconds, and the shift was more than disconcerting. Carlos tensed, immediately defensive, but there was nothing but familiar faces wherever he looked. And one in particular--

He held out his hand without thinking, and Aura took a single step in his direction before stopping. Her hesitation was obvious. He said the first thing that came to mind. "Did you convince him to cut his hair too?"

It was not quite the most nonsensical thing he could have come out with, but a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She held out her hand and they met each other halfway, fingers twining together as he grinned down at her. "You don't know how good it is to have you not wanting to kill me," he said with a sigh.

"Don't be so certain," she said sharply, but her eyes echoed his own relief. "Your double was extremely obnoxious."

"Hey!" He feigned hurt, but he couldn't get the grin off of his face. "Your double isn't exactly Sunshine Bear, so careful with the accusations!"

"'Sunshine Bear'?" she repeated, giving him a skeptical look.

Carlos laughed, lifting one hand to caress her cheek affectionately. "I'll tell you later," he promised, running his finger across the violet accents under eyes. "I missed you."

She frowned at him. "I'm told you stole my planet."

"Only to protect you," he said hopefully.

"You said I tried to kill you," she reminded him.

"Didn't stop me."

Aura relented at that, a real smile playing across her face. "In that case," she murmured, tilting her head toward his deliberately, "I missed you too."

He leaned down to kiss her, not caring who saw.

***

She wasn't the last, but TJ sent her the same way she had sent Carlos and moments later she was engulfed in Kerone's enthusiastic hug. Ashley laughed, hugging the other girl in return. Between Andros and Zhane, it seemed like it had been days since she'd dared to be so affectionate with any of her friends.

"Ashley," Kerone whispered in her ear. "Do I remind you of Astronema?"

Ashley laughed again, hugging her tighter as she whispered back, "Yes. But only in a good way."

Then Zhane was there, demanding to know why he hadn't gotten the same reception from Kerone. "I got here first," he complained, prodding Ashley good-naturedly. "And she's my girlfriend! How come I'm not first on the hug list?"

With a giggle, Kerone let go of Ashley and threw her arms around Zhane. "It's so good that you're back," she cooed. "My poor Zhane, all alone in another dimension! It must have been terrible for you!"

"That's better," Zhane agreed, looking absurdly smug. "It was hard, but I endured for you. I do it all for you, my darling!" So saying, he caught and spun her around, bowing low in a dramatic dip that Kerone accentuated by throwing her head back.

Ashley burst out laughing, and there was scattered applause from the rest of the control room. The two of them continued to ham it up, prancing around in a barely passable imitation of the tango, while out of the corner of her eye she saw Justin and Jay watching with twin expressions of amusement. She assumed their attention meant that they had already transferred TJ--then she saw the comm screen behind them.

It had been set to show as much of JT's Co-Op as the cameras could encompass, and the lit "widescreen" bar over the monitor told her that the opposite was also true. JT, and anyone looking over his shoulder, was seeing everything that happened in the room. She couldn't help smiling to herself, wondering what JT's dimension thought about "Astronema" clowning around with one of the Power Rangers.

"It's good to be home," Andros said quietly, and she glanced over at him in surprise.

He too was watching Zhane and Kerone, and whether he expected any kind of response was debatable. But Andros didn't talk to himself, so she offered tentatively, "Feels like we never left."

"Maybe," he said with a sigh.

She wasn't sure she should ask, but she couldn't ignore him. "Andros... are you all right?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing. I'm glad everyone's safe."

"Hey," Ty interjected awkwardly. "I know I haven't known you guys very long, but... welcome home."

Relieved at the interruption, Ashley gave him her brightest smile. "Thanks, Ty. Did we miss anything important?"

"You missed me trying to overcome hero worship for people who had no idea who I was," he said dryly. "That was fun. And then trying to get your doubles to talk to Kerone--that was even better."

"Why did you want them to talk to Kerone?" Andros asked suspiciously.

Ty shrugged, gaze flicking from Ashley to Andros. "I thought maybe if they knew what Astronema was really like, they could... I don't know, get her to switch sides. Talk her away from Dark Spectre or something."

"Kerone isn't Astronema," Andros informed him. "And you can't just interfere in their lives like that. It's not our job to tell them how to do things."

"So Carlos wasn't interfering when he went to Aquitar?" Ashley frowned at him, thoroughly exasperated with his attitude toward Ty. "Or Saryn, when he showed their whole dimension what he and Cassie could be like together? No one tried to screw things up for them, Andros, but we can't help who we are."

"We were there!" Andros exclaimed. "Tixe wasn't! He could have kept his mouth shut and not gotten involved!"

"He was trying to help!" She tried to moderate her tone a little when she realized how loudly she was speaking, but it wasn't easy. "There's nothing wrong with introducing people to someone who might be able to save their world, all right? How would you feel if Zhane hadn't told you about Astrea?"

"That's not the same thing," he insisted. "This is none of Ty's business."

"He's a Ranger!" Ashley cried. It was like trying to talk to Andros those first few weeks on the Megaship, and she felt an eerie sense of déjà vu. "Like it or not, he's your teammate, and you can't keep shutting him out like this!"

The similarities obviously didn't escape Andros either. "Why does everyone expect me to suddenly love Tixe? I went days at a time without speaking to any of you when *we* first met, and compared to that I think I'm doing pretty well! Especially since none of you stole my best friend!"

Ashley winced, too aware that they were now the undisputed center of attention. That last comment was not going to go over well, and she wondered what in the world had prompted Andros to say it. It wasn't like him to admit something like that when anyone could hear.

"Well," Zhane remarked, breaking the silence with a lightness that sounded forced. "Now that I know I've been stolen, I want to know why no one's doing anything about it. I mean, have the authorities been notified? Do I get my own search and rescue squad?"

"I'll rescue you," Kerone volunteered quickly. "How many people do you need for a squad?"

"In your case..." Zhane pretended to think about it for a moment. "Probably just one. Unless you can get Ash to help you," he added. "The more beautiful women, the better."

Kerone smirked, and Ashley managed to summon an answering smile. Skipping over to Zhane, she took his arm and leaned against his shoulder in a half-hug. "Count me in!" She didn't dare look over at Andros, but she caught Kerone's eye just as the other girl winked.

"Why did Zordon think it was a good idea to recreate them?" Jay asked Justin. He spoke loudly enough that everyone in Co-Op could overhear, and Ashley heard someone snicker. She glanced around covertly, but she couldn't tell who it had been.

"I think it was something about having a backup team in case their one-liners got so bad that he couldn't take it anymore," Justin replied, with perfect equanimity.

"Oh, like your humor is so sophisticated," Carlos put in.

"This from the man who was a vampire for Halloween," Aura murmured.

He gave her a mock glare. "Whose side are you on?"

"Look, as glad as I am that you're all safe," JT's voice interjected from the comm, "I've been trying to go off-shift for a while now. Is there anything you need that's more important than my sleep?"

"To thank you," TJ said. He had his arm around Tessa's shoulders, and he looked completely serious. "I know the whole transition thing didn't work quite the way you expected, but it did work. Your Rangers are safe. We're safe. And it's because of you."

"Hey," Justin objected. "What am I?"

"Chopped liver?" Jay finished. "A little recognition here!"

Ashley giggled, knowing only the old Turbo Rangers would get the joke. She felt a twinge of nostalgia and tried to ignore it. She had spent most of high school waiting to graduate; she wasn't going to start wishing herself back there.

But things had certainly been easier then...

"Thanks JT, Jay, and Justin," Tessa said, a smile in her voice. "And congratulations on your experiment."

"Nothing like an unannounced field test," Justin remarked.

"You're welcome," JT said pointedly. "Good night." The comm screen flickered and went dark, effectively ending his participation in the conversation.

***

"Did I mention that I have a lab report due on Monday?"

"I think it came up once or twice." Karen didn't move from where she was lounging at the back of the Aquitian pod. "Why? Would you rather be working on that than cruising around between galaxies?"

Tessa made a face. "When you put it like that, no. Of course not."

"It's just that on Monday, when you're sitting in lab without a report to hand in, you'll wish you were cruising around between galaxies," TJ interjected wryly.

"Something like that," she agreed with a smile. "It's not that I begrudge the time spent trying to rescue you or anything--"

"I do," Carlos interrupted. "Stop taking up my study time with your need to be rescued, TJ."

"Perhaps if you used your study time to study, you would have more room to complain," Aura informed him.

"And if you didn't need to be rescued just as much as TJ," Karen added.

"Thanks for putting up with us, Tess." TJ lifted a hand to catch hers as she paced by him for the third time, pulling her into his lap with a rueful smile. "It was nice of you to come when you really didn't have to."

"Oh, of course I had to," she sighed. "I'm sorry for complaining. I know you went through a lot worse in high school."

"Hey, it's hard to be a good student and a Ranger," TJ protested. "We had DECA to help us, and Justin before her. Sometimes it still didn't get done... I guess you learn to prioritize."

"By having pizza parties?" she asked, poking him gently in the ribs.

He exchanged sheepish grins with Carlos. "I thought we needed some refreshments for our debriefing?" he suggested, and she shook her head.

"Nope, sorry," she told him. "Not buying it."

TJ grinned and relented. "Okay, so I want to catch up with everyone on KO-35. They were gone for months even before this dimension thing, and Andros and Ash are still arguing. Maybe we can get them to talk if they're with friends."

"Plus Cassie and Saryn look like they could use at least a week's vacation," Carlos added. "I bet they'll take any time they can get away from Elisia right now."

"You are more sympathetic than is usual," Aura remarked lightly, and he just shrugged.

"Is Max going to mind having a zillion people crash his house?" Karen asked, coming to Carlos' rescue. "I know you guys have an open-door policy, but this is kind of pushing it, don't you think?"

"Is it still Saturday?" TJ wanted to know. "Because I'm pretty sure he was going out Saturday night. Besides, he owes me for last weekend."

"Oh, come on," Tessa said with a giggle. "That was fun."

"If you like colonial reenactments," TJ retorted. "I'm still not sure why we had to be involved in the duels."

Aura glanced over at them. "Duels?"

"Don't get any ideas," Carlos told her.

"I want Hawaiian pizza," Karen announced out of nowhere.

"Veggie," Carlos countered, not missing a beat.

"Everything," TJ said firmly.

Tessa laughed, shaking her head. "Is extra cheese too much to ask around here?"

"Everything with extra cheese!" TJ declared.

"Absolutely not," Tessa informed him. "And I don't want any of Aura's shrimp, either!"

Unperturbed by the assertion, Aura didn't even look up from the pilot's console. "More for me," she replied over her shoulder. "ETA to Earth is one quarter."