One

Chapter 12

Rick was still wide awake as he lay there and gazed at Kate's sleeping face. The fact that it was the only part of her he could see had nothing to do with it. He studied every bit of her face. Nothing he saw in any way changed his opinion on just how beautiful she truly was. Yes, while her eyes had been open, they lacked any of the life he had seen in them prior to this. Yes, her skin was pale, even more pale than Alexis's or his ex-wife's. Her lips were thin and lacked all of the fullness and kiss me look they used to have. Also her teeth were no longer the white that he remembered.

The fact that they had done this to her only made him love her more. She had somehow survived long enough to be found. Then his mind when to just who had found her. No one had said a word about that and he had stupidly not asked. He made a mental note to inquire. For now he continued to study her face.

He noted her hair looked clean and he was betting Lanie and Susan had something to do with that. His memory told him that he had seen a bag hanging from the bed, but he'd paid it no mind. Now he was trying to guess what it was for. "A catheter," Rick told himself softly. But he couldn't remember seeing a tube making its way below all the blankets. He was betting Susan had something to do with that. After all, Lanie only worked with dead people. Then he had another question. Why was Lanie here and not at work? Wasn't she needed there? He resolved to ask her. He didn't want Lanie sacrificing her life or career for this.

Rick didn't want to risk using his finger to trace the lines of her face. She needed to sleep and recover her strength so he went back to studying her face again.

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Alexis didn't know if she should go back inside or stay there and wait. The decision was made for her when in a brilliant flash of light, Kim was back and dressed as normal for her. Meaning she looked a lot like Kate.

Alexis chuckled. "Do I want to know how long you've been gone, at least for you?" She was grinning as she continued to chuckle.

"No," Kim stated simply. "Okay, let's get you set up and introduce you to everything you'll be carrying around with you everywhere you go from now on." She was thinking until the day Alexis died, but who knew?

"Let's start with your back. You'll need to take your top off." Kim waited patiently as Alexis unbuttoned her top and took it off, leaving her sitting there on the sand wearing just her bra on top. Kim knelt down and showed it to her first. "It may not look like much but it does hold a number of things."

Alexis thought it looked like a soft, pliable, square piece of skin. "How does it fit?" All she saw was a thin piece of whatever it was made of. It actually appeared to be a little translucent.

"If I told you, you might not wear it. It'll feel a bit tingly like millions of little pin pricks until it's secured and you adapt to wearing it. After that you'll forget that it's even there." Kim laid it down on the sand.

"This little piece goes in your ear." Kim leaned her head down and tilted her left ear toward Alexis so she could look close.

"OH, I see." Alexis reached up a finger and tapped it. "What's it do?" It looked like a tiny hearing aid.

"It has a few purposes. When you deploy your weapon it will prevent the sound of it firing as well as the concussion of its use from damaging your ear drum. It also will amplify things that you can hear. At the same time it will translate whatever language is being spoken. The list of languages that it knows is almost endless." Kim placed it on the back plate.

"Next is this." Kim showed her a box, then opened it, and pulled out what to Alexis looked like a cat suit.

She raised an eyebrow. "Not exactly my style." It was a little sexy-looking and skin-tight.

That made Kim chuckle. "I'm wearing one at the moment. Have ever since you saw me. It's connected to the Vortex Manipulator and allows you to change what what you're wearing, or what it looks like you're wearing in an instant."

Alexis's eyes opened wide. "So you didn't wear the clothes that we bought you." She wasn't put out, it was just that she had gone shopping with the intent of helping her as Kate. She waved her hand before Kim could say anything. "Kate can wear them after she's better."

Kim showed her what looked like a bracer made of the same material as the back plate that she would be wearing. "And lastly, meet Jack."

"Jack?" Alexis was expecting another woman's name. Then she smiled and giggled a little. "Jack and Jill." She found it amusing. And started laughing at the look on Kim's face. "I'll explain later."

"Let's start with Jack, allowing him a chance to scan you and get used to you. Don't forget that Jack, like Jill, is a person. He'll adapt to you and you'll adapt to him. He hasn't been attached to anyone since his construction so he's a virgin," Kim informed her.

Alexis laughed outright; her mind had gone straight into the gutter.

"This will feel much like the backpack will feel. A lot of pin pricks initially but it will pass over time." Kim held Alexis's left arm. "You're right-handed otherwise it would have gone on your right arm." Kim watched Alexis nod.

"Okay, here we go." Kim placed it on her arm and touched a series of panels that Alexis could barely see. The redhead immediately felt the pain of having it attached.

"What exactly is it doing?" Alexis kicked herself for not thinking of this beforehand. She really needed to think things through.

"It's sending thin tendrils, if you will, that travel through your skin and drill into the bones of your arm. This makes it impossible for it to be stolen off of you or for you to lose it by accident." Kim didn't think it was any big deal.

"Into my bones! …Does it come back off?" Or was she stuck with it forever?

"Remember I told you this was a lifetime commitment? Well, you're not just Alexis anymore; you're now a traveler, one who moves through time and space. A new Alexis," Kim reminded her.

"Time and space," Alexis told herself as she gritted her teeth over the pain. Then it hit her that she was going to have to do this again for the back piece. "Get it over with and do the back."

Kim smiled, more convinced than ever that she had chosen wisely.

Soon Alexis was groaning from the pain on her arm and on her back. "How long is this going to take?" She was dying; she was sure of it.

Kim grimaced. "I'm sorry but it takes about an hour." She looked apologetic and listened to Alexis groan some more.

"No pain, no gain huh?" Alexis said wryly.

"That's good! Who said that?" Kim liked it.

Alexis chuckled and took her mind off of the pain for a second. "20th century."

Now Kim was chuckling. "This is going to be fun. You'll learn about the 51st century and I'll learn about the 21st century and earlier."

"Someone has come out of the house and is headed this way," Jill announced.

Kim looked around and saw her. "It's the nurse." Kim lifted her arm and pressed a series of panels and vanished. "Put your top back on."

Alexis scrambled to put her top back on and wait for Susan.

"There you are." Susan walked up to her. "We're going to need another delivery of ice in 12 hours. We have to cool Kate off again. What we have will be melted by then."

Alexis gritted her teeth and tried to think. "I'll make a call," she got out.

"Are you all right?" Susan was a nurse and it looked like Alexis was in pain.

"I was just thinking of running for the house. …Diarrhea," Alexis lied and ground her teeth.

"I have something for that if you want it," Susan offered.

"Sure, just leave it on the kitchen counter. I'll be right there." Alexis watched as Susan hurried back to the house.

"I should go. We can get to that cat suit of yours later." Alexis needed to keep up the pretense of her lie.

"I'll follow. Can't have you stripping naked out here. …Unless you're into that," Kim teased and started laughing at the look Alexis was giving her.

To get back inside the house meant using her invisibility. Kim watched her go into the downstairs bathroom and when she came out she moved the bottle Susan had left behind.

"Smart girl," Kim thought. She smiled as she followed her up the stairs and into her room where Alexis closed the door and locked it.

"How you doing?" Kim asked as she dropped her invisibility.

"You didn't say anything about it hurting." She would have liked to have been warned.

Kim rolled her eyes, looking very much like Beckett. "It'll only last about an hour and there are worse pains than this. Now strip and let's get you into this suit."

Alexis felt a little uncomfortable as she started taking off her clothes. Not that many people had seen her naked and she was a little self-conscious.

"Something wrong?" Kim questioned, observing the speed at which Alexis was removing her clothing.

"No. I mean, I'm… It's nothing." Alexis steeled her resolve and stripped faster until she was standing there totally naked.

"Now let's get you into this thing." Kim began pulling it apart a bit.

"It looks a little like a onsie." Alexis didn't think she was a fan of this thing. It had feet, legs, torso, and arms. The only thing left exposed that she could see was going to be her head.

"Panties?" Alexis inquired just as she started putting one leg through.

"Built-in; so is the bra. And it will adjust as you grow," Kim assures her.

"If I grow," Alexis muttered. She was still a little self-conscious about the size of her breasts.

Kim only smiled as she watched the other leg go in. "Trust me, you'll grow." She was convinced that she would be even bigger than she was and was a little envious. She watched as the young woman's arms went into the sleeves and then moved in to close up the back. It was 51st century technology so there were no zippers, buttons, or Velcro. It just sort of seamed itself together and would do the reverse when she took it off.

"Now after Jack is attached all you need to do is have him scan what you want to wear, and he'll transfer that to the suit. It only takes a second. How does it feel?" Kim knew what her own felt like.

Alexis was all set to complain. "Improving slowly. At first I was going to say it's tight and that I could barely breathe, however, it's getting better." Alexis was a little shocked. "Anything, huh?" Alexis considered some of those dresses that cost thousands of dollars that even her dad had trouble finding a reason to afford. Her lips curved in a smile.

"I think I can hear the gears in your brain turning already," Kim chuckled which had Alexis joining her.

Alexis took a deep breath since a sudden sharp pain in her back had her gritting her teeth a little harder. "Kim, why do I need a weapon? I have no intention of using it." Alexis couldn't think of a reason she would want to shoot anyone.

"Never say never. There may come a time when you'll be more than happy to have a weapon. Besides, who says you have to kill anyone or anything? Your shots don't have to be fatal."

"Like tranquilizer darts?" Alexis was thinking drugs.

"If you mean a dart filled with a chemical, no. Think of it as an electrical charge that overwhelms the nervous system of the person shot. It will render him unconscious. Though the larger he or it is, the more shots you may need. Which reminds me. One more item." Kim took out a small case and opened it to show her.

"A contact lens." That's what it looked like to her.

"Using Jack you can cycle through night vision, telescopic vision, infrared vision, or ultraviolet vision."

"No x-ray vision?" Alexis was teasing but it was lost on Kim.

"Sorry, no. You want to see what a male has you're just going to have to wait for him to take off his pants," Kim sniped.

"That's not…OH, very funny." Alexis caught Kim's tiniest of a smile.

"I thought so. Now which is your dominant eye? Left or right?" Kim queried since it mattered.

Alexis thought about it. "I don't actually know. Is it important?"

"If I place it in the wrong eye you'll lose all of your equilibrium. It will make you dizzy while wearing it as each eye fights to dominate. Jill?"

"Alexis is left eye dominant."

Kim carefully inserted it into the proper eye. "You'll have to remove it after 24 hours until you get more used to wearing it. I can wear mine for weeks before I have to take it out."

Alexis walked over to a full length mirror, twisting and turning while gritting her teeth. "I look stupid!" Alexis was convinced she looked like crap.

Kim laughed. "Wait and see, you'll be amazed. For example." She pressed a series of panels.

Alexis watched what she was wearing change in a cascade-like affect. There was another followed by another. "Wait, what's that one?" Alexis had never seen anything like it. She looked amazing in it.

"Like it?" Kim twirled in place. "I saw it on one of the worlds one of my clones was on and I had Jill scan it for later. I kind of like it. It exposes a little more than I'm used to. Though maybe that's why I like it." Kim felt beautiful and sexy in this dress.

"If Kate wore that, Dad would have a heart attack." Alexis was sure of it. She also wished she could wear a dress like that. She didn't think she had the body for it, though.

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Alexis had chosen to lie down on her bed while Kim sat in one of her chairs.

"How do you feel?" Kim thought it had been an hour.

Alexis had to think about it and pay attention to her body. She had tried so hard to ignore all of the pin pricks. "Not too bad, actually. I don't feel anything anymore." Alexis sat up and moved her arms and legs. "Pretty good."

Hearing that, Kim got up and moved over to her. "Okay, let's wake Jack up. Press these panels in this order." She demonstrated and watched as Alexis copied each move.

Alexis instantly saw a 6-inch tall man pop up. He was dressed in what she thought was a tux, though it looked a little old school.

"Scanning…scanning. Hello, Alexis Harper Castle. We are on Earth, in the Milky Way Galaxy. 21st century. Kimberly…JILL!" Jack found her also.

Suddenly a 6-inch tall woman appeared over Kim's upper arm. "Hi Jack," Jill cooed.

"I might have known you two would know each other," Kim commented. She had gotten both of them from the same person, after all.

"Transferring mission parameters to Jack," Jill advised them.

"Interesting. We are hunting down a series of clones. Have we not learned anything from the last clone war?" Jack was a little taken aback at the mission that he was now a part of.

"You're Jack?" Alexis asked and saw him twist to look at her.

"Yes, Miss Alexis, it is a pleasure to meet you." Jack smiled at her. "I am attached to a lovely young woman. This should prove to be interesting. …I promise to close my eyes when you undress."

Alexis laughed lightly. "Scan her, Jack. Let's settle any physical problems first," Kim told him.

"Scanning… Save for presently being hungry, she is in good physical condition. If we are going to be doing much physical activity while hunting for clones I would suggest more exercising. Build up her muscles and improve her stamina. However, she is in good shape. We may begin," Jack responded.

"I am a little hungry," Alexis admitted.

"We need to get you used to using Jack and everything else you have. Jill, send coordinates to Jack for my home. It's time we got her training started," Kim said.

"What about Dad and Kate? R-I-G-H-T – time and space." Alexis shook her head. "I may be gone for weeks or months but can be back a second after I left." She knew she was going to have to get used to that.

"I'll warn you, your first time doing this is going to be… Well I threw up and lapsed into unconsciousness the first time. It wasn't pretty. You get used to it the more you use it," Kim shared even though it was embarrassing.

"OH, SWELL." Alexis rolled her eyes, not realizing that she'd learned it from Kate.

"I'll be there to catch you and take care of you," Kim reassured her. "Show her what panels to press and in what order, Jack. See you on the other side." Kim raised her arm, pressed a series of panels, and vanished in a bright flash of light.

Amazingly Alexis found that the light didn't affect her that much this time. In fact it was mostly in just one eye. "Jack?" Alexis lifted her arm and saw a series of panels light up.

"It's like playing Simon! I can do this." Alexis pressed the same panels in the same order.

The next thing she knew she was on her knees throwing up on what looked like concrete. She felt like crap. Kim was right there cleaning up the mess, then helping Alexis to sit up and just sit there for now. "It gets better, I promise." She handed a towel to Alexis who took it and wiped her face.

Alexis looked askance at the towel. It was soft and moist, yet not wet. "51st century?" She held it up as Kim nodded. Okay, so some things were better in the 51st century.

"Feeling better? Ready for a tour? It's not much but it's mine." Kim stood up and offered a hand to Alexis.

Alexis was shown the pool, seating area, living room pod, and kitchen pod. "What's that?" Alexis pointed to the sky.

"That's the gas giant this little moon circles. If you think that's amazing, just wait until we're on the other side and can see this system's sun." Kim was smiling broadly. "This small moon orbits one of the gas giants that's in this system. I found it and bought it. It's so tiny and has very few natural resources so no company wanted it. It wasn't worth it to them. It's about half the size of your natural satellite for Earth."

"A moon…out in space." Alexis started smiling. "Have you got a space ship?" Suddenly she really wanted to be out in space.

"Sorry, no. With the Vortex Manipulator I have no need of one. Besides, space ships are kind of slow. Really slow." She could be on the other side of the universe in either the same time or any other. Why travel by space ship?

Alexis lifted her arm. "Right." This really was going to take some getting used to. Suddenly a thought hit her and she immediately wanted to go back.

"You said you found who shot Kate. We need to go back so I can call Espo and Ryan. Have them go get him and interrogate him. Find out why he shot Kate." Alexis lifted her arm but didn't know what panels to press.

"And you can – after you finish your training. Remember, you may spend weeks or even months here, but you can go back to a second after you left," Kim reminded her. She wasn't upset that Alexis hadn't caught on just yet. After all it was a difficult concept to wrap your mind around.

Alexis started chuckling. "I'm going to have to get used to that. Sorry." She resolved not to make that mistake again.

"You'll adapt. Shall we get started? Maybe after we have something to eat and drink."

"Where do I sleep?" Alexis had seen only one bed.

Kim shrugged. "With me. There's only the one bed but it's a big one. You can have half of it. You'll be perfectly safe. I prefer men, not that I haven't tried a woman. It just wasn't for me."

"I've never thought of being with a woman. Not really interested in them that way," Alexis agreed.

"Then we're going to get along perfectly." Kim was satisfied.

They were eating what Kim put together. "You own all of this. Is there any life on this planet…moon?"

"Just some small wildlife. I haven't seen anything to worry about yet. None of it will bother you. Though I have to admit that I haven't spent much time in the ocean. There may be something there to worry about." Kim didn't have a boat and had no need of one.

"Are we far from Earth? In space and time?" Alexis queried.

"We are nowhere even close to Earth and this is the 51st century." Kim watched her eat her food. They would start her training after eating.

They were both going to learn a lot.