In town, Eric and Wes were collecting evidence from the remnants of the dinner party, hoping that BioLabs could come up with something, anything, in their new crime division. They sat in their office and detailed what had happened, who had eaten what and made a few phone calls to other people at the two different tables, finding the three had been the only ones to become ill. Wes leaned back in his seat, throwing a ball against the wall and catching it in an annoying rhythm that Eric was growing more and more irritated.
"So all we have is that it was not an accident, and was clearly targeting Rachael, Dad, and you."
"I think I was an accident." Eric's eyes followed the ball. "Rachael had a different side dish than I did; I took a bite of it."
"It would explain why you didn't get as sick." Wes reasoned.
"Dear lord." Rachael opened the door and shut it soundly behind her before falling into the chair near their desks, crossing her legs. "Lisa is really starting to tick me off; she still fights me every time I show up here." She frowned. "You guys have anything or do I need to call Bronwyn?"
"Give us a minute." Eric requested as she leaned back in her seat. "All we know is that it was directed exactly at you, we're waiting for a lab analysis of the poison.
"Dr. Zaskin said he'd take care of it for us." Wes added as he glanced at his watch and then turned to the large computer in the corner. It was a millennium behind the computers they used for Time Force, but it worked for what they needed it for, typing up reports, and searching databases they had access to. The intercom beeped and Eric answered, getting a scowl from Rachael as Lisa spoke breathlessly.
"Dr. Zaskin sent over an envelope, should I bring it?" Eric met Rachael's eyes over the desk, half afraid of the murderous glint, and half thankful for it. "No, just stay there." He shut it off. "Go murder her." He released Rachael who nearly ran from the room.
She was done. There was no way in hell she was letting the stupid receptionist continue to treat her like this after six months. "Lisa." Rachael nearly shouted the girl's name, gleefully watching her shoulders jerk back as she spun in her chair. "You're going to listen, no," she cut her off angrily, "listen. Eric is my boyfriend; you don't have a shot with him anymore. Maybe if we break up, but I don't see that happening any time soon, so back off." She snapped. "If I catch so much of a hint that you're still trying to shamelessly flirt with him, I will come down here and ensure you never work for any company associated with BioLabs or the Silver Guardians for the rest of your life. Got it?" Lisa nodded numbly as Rachael straightened. "Good. May I have the envelope from Dr. Zaskin?" She asked her voice suddenly cordial. Lisa handed it to her slowly. "Thank you." She turned on the heel of her converse sneakers and walked down to the hallway, back to the office and set it down in front of Eric.
"Do I need to cover up a murder?" He asked without looking up, voice even.
"Not today." Rachael breathed out finally.
"Good, I don't think I want to live with a murderer." Eric commented as he picked up the manila envelope and began to open it.
"I'm not sure how I feel about you making jokes." Rachael quirked an eyebrow as her brother chuckled at their interaction from the other side of the room. She ignored Wes and watched Eric read the reports and frown.
"Is there any way to send these specs to Bronwyn?" He asked and handed the paper to his girlfriend who read it over quickly.
"Sure, you still have your computer around here?" She looked back at Wes who moved from the old one and unlocked the filing cabinet and pulling the yellow case from it. The three of them were avoiding mentioning the fact they all knew. Rachael powered up the computer and input the information, getting a flushed looking Bronwyn on screen after a minute. "What have you been doing?" Rachael's eyes went to the twisted shirt on her friend.
"Nothing." Bronwyn adjusted herself. "Fine, this isn't the time." She muttered darkly and started to read over the chemical properties on the screen. "That's not good." After a few tricks she worked with the computer the information was sitting in front of Rachael.
"What are you showing me?" She looked at both graphs. "They look the same."
"That's because they are the same." Bronwyn sighed. "They're the chemical compositions of the poison you ingested, and the poison your mother ingested."
"Odds are it's the same organization." Rachael's face hardened. "Killian killed my mother, but the Vakors are still after me." Bronwyn nodded and looked off screen.
"Could you call Tripp for me? He should have the information about this." She nodded and looked back.
"Who is it Bronwyn?" Rachael raised her eyebrow errantly. "Just tell me."
"Are Eric and Wes there?"
"Hi Bronwyn." Wes called from where he was still looking through the database of known bounty hunters in their area on a hunch
"Still no." Bronwyn shook her head. "There's no information on anyone travelling to your time, nothing." She frowned. "It could be someone who lives in your time." She suggested. "Batuir and Hinal were there for eleven years, it's long enough to make connections."
"So whoever that was had to have been at the dinner." Rachael ran her hand through her hair as she thought. "That isn't much to go on; I've known most of those people my whole life."
"But not all of them." Eric said from behind the computer. "I say we go through the guest list and eliminate everyone with an alibi, and look into those we didn't see."
"I agree with Eric." Bronwyn nodded. "Send me whatever you come up with, if it's another mutant I'll get you a way to detain it, battle if needed, your morphers are still in working order?"
"Perfect." Rachael nodded. "See you later." She exited the com and picked up the phone to call her father's secretary. It was nearly midnight before they'd eliminated every elderly couple from the list and gotten a list of the employees of the catering company and ran their records through the system. Coming up with a short list of unknown persons at the entire event, they quit for the night, unable to get much further while most of their suspects were asleep.
"Are you alright?" Eric asked Rachael as they stood in their bedroom, undressing. Rachael stopped in her underwear and stared at the wall.
"Surprisingly, I am." She turned to him, pushing her bangs from her eyes and stepping close to him. "My mother's killer got what he deserved; now we're looking for the one who tried to kill me." She looked up into his face. "Are you ok?"
"I've been better." Eric admitted. Without warning he tackled her on the bed, running his mouth from her neck to her mouth and all over her face. Rachael reciprocated all of the love and attention as they turned over in the bed, tearing the sheets and pillows off so that by the end the only thing left on the bed was themselves. "God I love you." He turned over pulled her naked form closer to him.
"Mm." Rachael agreed and wrapped her arms around him. "Loving you still scares me." She laughed. "But I like it."
"Good, because you're not getting away from it." Eric kissed her neck again, assaulting her again. Morning came much too soon for the lovers, the sun found them lying wrapped up in each other, bed completely bare of anything. "Are you coming?"
"Later." Rachael promised as he dressed. "I'm going to clean for a bit." She eyed the practically destroyed bedroom, and grinned. "Then write out a lesson plan or two." She stretched. "I'll bring lunch."
"Ok." Eric agreed and leaned in to kiss her; thankful she wouldn't be there all day. He got to headquarters as Wes did, a monumental moment for him.
"I didn't sleep." He admitted, his eyes sagging and swollen.
"Obviously." Eric started to brew coffee in the small maker Rachael had brought from Boston and donated to their new office. "Drink some before Rachael gets here." He advised, getting a silent nod from his partner. "Where do you want to start?"
"The list." Wes pulled it in front of him and focused on the short list of suspects. They had a few names ranked in order of importance. "There's a few names on here that don't have any connections to any of us, but the ones who do…I just…"
"Courtney had to go on the list, she was there." Eric frowned. "It's probably not her, so we can leave her for last."
"I know." Wes shook his head and straightened in his chair. "That leaves, the waiter from your table with the criminal record, Dad's assistant Dwight, Shirley McAfee, and Mrs. Anderson's grandson." Wes put each name into the computer, and came up with nothing on the last two. Eric moved to the hologram computer, surprising Bronwyn when she appeared.
"Was there anything in the information Tripp and Lucas pulled from Killian's?" He asked.
"I like that you're smart." Bronwyn raised an eyebrow. "And you didn't tell Rachael. Tripp's been going over it; do you have anything to add?" Eric read her the names and she wrote them down to send to the green ranger. "Thanks, I'll get back to you when I can, is Rachael alright?"
"She's fine." Eric nodded and shut off the computer, moving back to his desk for a few minutes before leaving to go through a morning training session with the cadets. He returned to find Rachael entering with a large pizza from Giovanni's on his desk, both Collins' eating while reading something or other.
"Hey." She greeted him with a smile and leaned up for a kiss. "House is clean." She informed him with a smile.
"Finally good news." He teased her before sitting down at his desk and grabbed a slice of the pizza and nearly inhaled it.
"That's about it." Rachael shrugged. "We aren't finding much, and there isn't anything new from Bronwyn since you talked to her earlier." She sighed and rubbed her temples and checked her watch. "I think I'm going to go see Dad. Bye." She kissed Eric again and waved to her brother before leaving. The afternoon was Wes' turn to work with some of the younger recruits for a few hours before he returned to their desk work.
"Eric, Wes!" Bronwyn's panicked voice came onto the holograph computer. "It's Dwight."
"What?"
"Your Dad's assistant, he went to school with Hinal. I mean Brennan, either way, they were roommates, and you've got to find him." Bronwyn didn't have to say it, both Eric and Wes were out the door as soon as she finished the sentence. Eric pushed the speed limit all the way to the mansion, cutting the normal trip time in half.
"Rachael!" Eric shouted the moment they were in the front door and started up the stairs.
"Eric?" She came out and watched him curiously, eyes wide as he and her brother brushed past her. Alan stood up curiously from the desk in his home office, his assistant at his side. Wes moved for his father while Eric grabbed Dwight's collar.
"Dwight Leonard you're under arrest for three counts of attempted murder." He snarled as he placed the handcuffs on the man's wrists. "Anything you'd like to say?"
Dwight glared at him. "I'll tell the world the rangers were from the future." He whispered.
"Like anyone would believe you." Rachael's voice was cold as she spoke. "One wrong step and we'll have you arraigned there for conspiracy for murder, that'll get you life." Fear filled Dwight's face.
"No, he made me." He started squealing immediately, not holding back any piece of information. It was all recorded and sent to Time Force, who sent their own solution. Bronwyn entered the interrogation room wearing another skirt and top combination, causing Dwight to panic until she held up a small pen with a light on the end. A bright flash stunned the kid and he sat staring at the wall for a few minutes as she exited.
"Is that safe?" Wes asked curiously.
"Yeah, he's just processing. I altered his memories so that he doesn't remember anything about the year 3000, but he does remember what he did to you." She turned to Rachael. "You can prosecute without any repercussions now."
"Thanks." Rachael hugged her with one arm and steered her away from the interrogation rooms and back to Wes and Eric's office. "Now." She cornered the blonde. "Who is he?"
"Who's who?" Bronwyn tried, but her face gave her away, not to mention the blush rising on her cheeks.
"I don't know the guy who you were with at work." Rachael laughed. "God Bronwyn, having a nooner?"
"You're sick." Bronwyn frowned. "We got a little carried away."
"And I interrupted, I'm sorry." Rachael sat at Eric's desk and picked up a pencil. "Spill. Last I heard you were still in love with Lucas."
"I am." Bronwyn whispered, her eyes far off. "He changed here, he's great now." Sighing she settled into Wes' desk. "I mean he's still himself, loves that damn car, but he doesn't absorb himself with it now, he actually wants to spend time with me."
"And your ex?" Rachael narrowed her eyes. "When I was there two months ago he still worked there."
"Got mysteriously transferred to another planet." Bronwyn blushed.
"Badass." Rachael laughed and picked up the only photo on the corner of Eric's desk. It was a picture of the two of them about three months after they met, Wes had taken it outside the mansion at Mrs. Bailey's insistence.
"He doing alright?" Bronwyn looked at the photo of Wes, Rachael and their father taken at the same time.
"He met a girl." Rachael smiled. "He doesn't remember how to act around her. It's cute, she's sweet."
"Good." Bronwyn nodded. "Jen's working a lot." She shook her head. "But we're roommates now, we've gotten closer."
"Good." Rachael nodded and checked the calendar. "I'll be there in two weeks." She yawned as her friend stood. "See you then." They hugged briefly before Bronwyn opened her own traveler and created a hole in time, stepped through it and vanished. The room dimmed after the hole closed, and Rachael sat there for however long until Eric and Wes returned, both exhausted.
"Ready to go?" Eric asked her as he glanced at the clock. It was another long night, and they all had work in the morning.
"Sure thing." Rachael nodded and looked at her brother who was looking at his hand. "Call her." She urged. Wes looked up and smiled as they left. It was something to think about.
And he thought about it for days. Weeks even. He jotted her number down as soon as he got home on a piece of paper that was pinned to his door. Frustrated, he'd look at it so much he had the number memorized. So he wrote it on the desk calendar he had on the office he shared with Eric. The new larger office that they'd gotten after the Silver Guardians headquarters went through a massive overhaul. Three weeks after her second run-in with death, Rachael was up again and started teaching remedial French over the summer. Which Wes didn't imagine was hard for the pretty girl and hormonal teenage boys. Which he imagined Eric wasn't a fan of.
And he was right. After her second stint in the hospital during their relationship, Eric didn't want to let Rachael out of his sight. But he had to. Had to let her go to Silver Hills University every day where there were teenage boys. There was no reason a twenty-two year old should be teaching other twenty-two year olds, it got their hopes up. He tried not to think about it, but she came home to him, that's what was important. Or he came home to her, as she generally left school around four, and he didn't shake work until six at the earliest. Today it was almost seven before he pulled into the driveway and found her sitting at the kitchen table.
"Sorry I'm late." He offered as he came in.
"It's ok." Rachael looked up from the stack of tests she was grading. "Dinner will reheat."
"You're not mad?"
"Why would I be mad?" Curious, Rachael put down the red pen she was using and looked at him. "Am I supposed to be mad?"
"I don't know." Eric sat down. "I feel like you should be."
"That doesn't make any sense." Rachael quirked her eyebrows. "I get that you work late sometimes, I know I work late sometimes. I didn't come home until midnight that once."
"You were at Time Force." Eric pointed out, not sure where he was going with that.
"And you were with my brother. I think the only way I would be mad at you right now is if you were going to break up with me." Her face was steady, but her eyes were concerned.
"Would you murder me?" Eric asked softly.
"Probably." Rachael answered honestly.
"Ok." Eric stood and left the kitchen, pulling off his work clothes. Rachael stood and followed him.
"Ok? What do you mean 'ok'? What is wrong with you?" Frustrated she watched him with her hands on her hips.
"I mean 'ok' as in, you're not normal." Eric turned to her. "Anyone else would be mad I didn't call that I was going to be late, and breaking up with you is the last thing on my mind." He touched her arm.
"I'm not 'that girl' Eric." Rachael said with a frown as she moved closer to him. "I'm freakishly like a guy to be honest."
"I know." Eric laughed and kissed her. "Now how about that dinner?" He pushed her for the kitchen where she turned on the oven.
"Ten minutes." She turned to him.
"Enough." He decided and pushed her against the counters and commenced with a make-out session that would make horny middle schoolers jealous. When the buzzer rang she had to move him off of her to get the baked macaroni from the oven and onto their plates. "Your cooking is so good." He commented as he ate a large helping.
"Strange hobbies of mine." Rachael laughed. "And one of my girlier talents."
"It's delicious." Eric forked more into his mouth.
"Enjoy it because I'm not cooking tomorrow." Rachael sighed. "I got coerced into tutoring; I'll be until at least five."
"I'll pick up something on my way home." Eric nodded. "Chinese?"
"Alright." Rachael nodded as she stifled a yawn. "What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Traffic stops." Eric muttered. "Sitting in a car all day with Wes. Can't wait."
"Poor baby." Rachael laughed and took his empty plate and took it to the sink, setting it in before coming up behind him and sliding her hands on his chest from behind. "Anything I can do to make you feel better?"
"Now that you mention it." He turned and grabbed a hold of her, taking her right there on the kitchen floor before getting her to the bedroom for the second round. Resisting her was never an option he realized as she slept in his arms. She was it for him. The 'm' word was a terrifying thing, but when he imagined Rachael in place of the faceless bride in his thoughts, it wasn't so scary. She'd turned his life around in the seven months they'd been together thus far, and it felt like years. Careful to not disturb her, Eric slid out from under her and went for the spare room across the hall. It took a while of search before he found what he was looking for in the boxes of things from his mother's house that sat neatly in the corner where Rachael had put them.
His mother had taken off her wedding ring after being a widow for a few years and put it away safely. When she'd moved into the assisted living facility she insisted Eric take it, but not having much hope for any kind of relationship he'd forgotten about it. Until he had a girl he wanted to give it to. The ring was a simple square cut diamond on a silver band resting neatly in the black velvet box. It was perfect for Rachael. He stuck it in his dresser drawer before sliding back into bed, pulling her back into his arms without her knowing he'd ever left.