Sorry for the long hiatus. It took me some time to be able to write again. Depression is a deadly foe. It lies and it knows all of our secrets. All of the buttons to push. I am still breathing despite Amazon's and my own mind's best efforts. One day at a time.


Angels

The battle was a stalemate. Every purple energy beam or missile that the bat winged X-Com fighter threw, the huge robot avoided or took on an equally massive shield that extended from the wings on its back. The first time it happened, all of the onlookers winced. That was the psi killing weapon and it should have struck down all of the pilots of the lions who had merged into the robot. It didn't and the response from Voltron had blown two pieces of the ship's hull clean off.

"What is going on?" Eliza asked carefully as the mighty robot fired a series of beams that the ship took on its enhanced shields. Said shields flared but held. "He can flee anytime."

"He won't." Came from the Lady who hovered near one wall of the small spacecraft. "He knows that if he gives her a shot at him, Alley will tear him to pieces."

"Rightly so." Jian's tone was flat as she too stared at the screen. "He has truly earned her ire." She glanced at the blue Ethereal, but Asaru did not respond. "As have you."

"Jian." The human looking being who commanded the small ship shook her head. Halbratina was not happy with any of this. "We all know the true facts and yes, he messed up. But what was he supposed to do? They were coming from an alternate dimension. How was he to know where the reality barrier lies?"

"I cannot believe you of all people are defending him, Clan Lady!" Jian snapped at the girl and froze as everyone with a physical form winced. Halbratina eyed her and Jian ducked her head. "Apologies."

"Accepted." The girl gave Jian a nod of her own. "We are all stressed, Jian. Alley is sneaky as hell. She learned that from the absolute best and her latest adventures simply put icing on the cake." Halbratina shook her head. "I did not expect this. That said? If anyone can pull this insane plan off, Alley can, but even if she manages somehow? That does still leave us with a quandary." She looked at Elizabeth who bowed her head. "Lizbeth messed up. Yes, she was hurt. Yes, she was broken and bent into this role but she accepted it. She did terrible things here."

"She is not the only one of us who has done terrible things. So have I." Elizabeth said in a very soft voice. No one seemed to know what to say to that and she sighed. "She is my sister. I have to try and help her."

"She is not your sister. She may have started out as a copy of you, but that is not what she is now." The absurdly young looking being in control of the ship said firmly. "She made her own choices. Now she has to live with the consequences of said choices." Halbratina shook her head as Elizabeth glared at the blue Ethereal. "None of us can stay here much longer. We are all needed."

"I know." Elizabeth said quietly. "So… What?"

"We will let Alley act as she wishes." Halbratina's words were soft, but a command. "We are here to observe the endgame. No more."

"And… after?" Elizabeth asked. No one spoke and she had her answer. She bowed her head. "I like Alley. That is not a good thing, I know. Every time I start liking people, bad things happen to them."

"Empress." Jian unbent just a little and took a step to stand beside the distraught woman. "It is not about you. You know that."

"I do." Elizabeth heaved a great sigh and nodded, raising her head to meet Jian's eyes. "I was just trying to help. Alley, Lizbeth, even Jane Kelly. I just wanted to help. Make some good after so much bad. I made a mess. I know that and I accept the Lady's judgment. But I was trying to help."

"You did." Jian smiled at Elizabeth who stared at her. Jina turned to the hover yellow Ethereal and nodded. "Lady."

"Always the hard way, eh, Jian?" The hovering yellow form was more tired than snide. Jian shrugged.

"Easy is boring, Lady." The armored warrior smiled as several of the wardens did. "I too bear some responsibility of this. I saw the incursion and did not act as I should since it was X-Com doing it. Sentimentality stayed my hand. That ends now." Everyone stiffened as she glared at the blue Ethereal. "As of now, anyone who violates the thresholds around this reality will answer to me and mine." That was to everyone and Halbratina nodded as the Oath skittered around the room as if on claws.

"Your Matron taught you well, Jian." The Lady was sad now, so sad.

"Yes, she did." Jian agreed. Then she vanished in a haze of familiar green energy. Warden of reality energy!

"We better leave." Halbratina snickered as Elizabeth turned an incredulous look her way. "Jian Darkstorm has never been a patient soul and now? She is acting in her rights and duties. Her Matron has chosen this path and we cannot interfere. Live or die, we cannot interfere."

"She chose to fight. She is a combatant, so Rule 2 does not apply." Elizabeth started to carefully gather energy. Rule 2 for the wardens of reality was to leave their families alone. Any of said family who chose to fight took their chances. Anyone else who was touched usually had insane amounts of backup in seconds who cared nothing for collateral damage. Few dared to try that rule and never more than once. The others started vanishing as Halbratina looked at them. In moments only the two Ethereals and Halbratina remained with her. "I… Lady… I am sorry."

"So am I." The Lady said to empty space as Elizabeth vanished in a flash of gold. She turned to the blue Ethereal but he too vanished, leaving her alone with the girl seeming Clan Lady. "There are times I truly hate myself almost as much as I hate the Elders. Elizabeth was just trying to help her sister."

"Welcome to my world." The Clan Lady said sadly. "Are you sure?" She asked kindly.

"No. I do not want to live out eternity helping to ward this reality, but I must. The Elders made so many messes, but even they knew their limits. They understood crossing that threshold had repercussions. Someone in our time has to ward it and I guess I am elected." The Lady floated a little away from the Clan Lady. "I do not want this. I do not-" She broke off as the scene in front of them changed. "What the?"

The robot had formed its sword and the X-Com spacecraft was now fleeing for its life as Voltron charged at it. It clearly had no weapons that fired behind it and both watchers hissed as the mighty robot lashed out and one wing of the ship flew away. It didn't seem to matter, the ship did not hesitate, did not even react to the damage! Another strike and a good quarter of the aft end of the ship was sliced off. The bit that fell away flashed purple and vanished. But the space around them was warping into something totally different.

"What is she doing?" Halbratina asked as the Lady hissed in astonishment.

A new voice answered.

"Healing."

Both of them froze as new form appeared in the middle of the room. The male human wore Advent style combat armor that was oddly nondescript. His expression was remote. Both of them stared as he shook his head. Both knew who he was, the Clan Lady by reputation, but the Ethereal had known him in person!

"MARK?" The Lady's incredulous shout turned to rage as she spun to Halbratina who jerked in place. "What the hell did you do?"

"She didn't, Lady." The one time partner of the Viper who was the center of all of this said quietly. "Let go of your sorrow, none of what happened was your fault."

"You… You died. I couldn't help you! I tried. I tried so hard!" The Lady was babbling, grief, rage and fear all mixing into her tone.

"You repeatedly have stated that you are not a deity, Lady." Mark said with a soft, sad smile. "Do not take the responsibility of one when you are not one. You have enough concerns." Somehow, he reached out to take one of her floating tendrils in both of his hands and her sobs quieted. "Be at ease, Lady. It is handled. Go. Rest. Tend your own and know that there are many who love you."

"I... You… I failed." The Lady said in a tiny voice.

"No, you didn't." Mark reassured her. "My time ended and I had to go. As ends go, it wasn't a bad one. Alley has her own path and it will be what it is. Go on. Go home." That was a command. "Rest and recover. Wake from this nightmare and remember that Elizabeth did mean well. Her desires went awry as such often do around crazy mortals, but that is not your concern. Lizbeth will be handled." The Lady protested in a sputter and he continued, a bite of command entering his tone. "That is not your concern. Rest, Lady."

"I… I can't..." The Lady sobbed as Mark pulled her into an embrace. Were those wings of shadowy energy that surrounded them? A horse nickered and Habratina averted her eyes as the pair shimmered and vanished.

The girl who wasn't one nodded slowly even though no one was present.

"Unlike many, I can take a hint." Halbratina smiled as she started to key controls. "I will be gone in two minutes." She stared as the scene on her screen charged from open space to a fluid filled area, the bat shaped ship turning into a mass of roiling purple energy. A large ball shaped mass shone in the distance, but between it and the energy, Voltron stood, its sword bared. "And… Now, the beginning."

With that, her ship's engines flared to send her back to her own reality. Away form the cytoplasm it had been sitting in. Away from the nucleus that was the goal of the enemy. Away from everything that everyone had assumed was in outer space and wasn't. No wonder no one could find the enemy's hidden fortress. It had been hidden in a very small place.

Halbratina was smiling with both admiration and anticipation as her ship flashed away, leaving the human cell to be a battleground.


The battle

"What is going on?" Jane demanded as the world shifted around them. Where they had been fighting in space, now they were floating in some kind of fluid. They had hit the ship several times and Jane had been optimistic but then, everything had changed.

"I am killing Lizbeth." Alley replied, her tone cold. Jane stared at the monitor in front of her as Alley released her controls and took hole of Lizbeth's head. The girl did not resist. Indeed, the girl seemed just as shocked by all this as Jane was. "She wants it and so do I after all of what she did."

"She is the one who had us...altered." Maya said from her screen, the girl's face strained both from battle and from emotion.

"At the Warlock's command, yes. You and my nest." Alley's hands were glowing now and Lizbeth's mouth spread in a scream that did not pass her lips. "Her mission was to find someone. The best way to search so far and wide was to join X-Com. As long as she stayed within X-Com's reality, she could go through any and every dimensional shift and reboot as their reality shifted into each new timeline. As long as all she did was watch and seek her quarry? No one minded. The Warlock taking her captive put paid to that plan and doomed her. I always knew he was evil, but this? He had so much more to answer for than anyone knew. Crossing the reality threshold was a bad idea. Making this haven? A worse one."

"We are not in space, are we?" Jane asked as she took in the scene. "That is a nucleus, ganglia, mitochondria. Is this a cell?"

"It is." Alley agreed as Lizbeth's eyes shut and her mouth closed. The woman seemed oddly childlike now, her features calmer and cleaner than they had been.

"I don't want to know, do I?" Jane asked, almost conversational.

"No." In comparison, Alley was cold as ice. "You have suffered enough."

"I took the oath." Jane was gentle now. "I do the job, Alley."

"You have suffered enough." Alley all but spat that. "This is my task. I can and will fix this, but I have to do it alone."

"Like hell!" Came from four other throats. Alley did not look up from what she was doing. Indeed, she ignored everyone else as she focused on the woman in front of her.

"Jane, you and the others need to leave." Alley said firmly. "The energy that remains of the Warlock is directionless now. It will be taken and used, probably to fix some of what he did. You four cannot stay now." Her ice cracked for a moment and pain shone through. "Jane, please. The kids need you."

"So do you." Jane retorted. She shook her head on the monitor. "I didn't understand. Now I do. The feel…" She sighed deeply. "Oh dear. I know that feeling. Hello, Jenni."

What happened next did not surprise Alley. The three kids vanished, hopefully to pleasant dreams while Jane, Alley and Lizbeth was suddenly standing on a road that seemed to be made of rainbows. No! A bridge and not just any!

"Jane! You idiot!" Alley did not react as a figure in X-Com armor shimmered into being nearby. Jenni Parker was not happy. She was also composed solely of energy that coruscated in a rainbow. "What do you think you are doing?"

"To be honest? I don't know. I never was much of a planner beyond the tactical or operational levels of fighting." Jane admitted, not moving at all even as Alley laid Lizbeth down, her hands still glowing on the young woman's skull. She did not look away from the energy woman. "This was the Warlock's doing, wasn't it?"

"Not just him." Jenni was all but tapping her foot. "He took advantage of a project that existed long before the Elders came. As far back as the 1960s, various human agencies were experimenting with psionic powers. Most of them with horrific results since few of them had a clue what they were doing and those few mostly knew better than to let governments play with such. A clandestine push here, a slightly increased dosage of mind altering chemicals there and no one managed to harness the powers for their own use. Not even X-Com until much later for very good reason."

"I can see that." Jane's calm face was an act, Alley could feel the pain rearing inside her. "You died. I couldn't help you. I blame myself and likely always will even knowing that I couldn't have changed anything."

"I know." Jenni's tone was warm now.

"X-Com did this." Jane mused as the others eyed her. Alley was mostly focused on her work, but Jenni's energy form was still, so still. "The end always justified the means and their end was protecting humanity, so..." She slowly shook her head. "There have to be limits, Jenni."

"Yes." Jenni replied, still not moving. "I broke a bunch of rules, Jane. I didn't know what I was doing, but that doesn't change what I did. You know this."

"I..." A single tear fell down Jane's face and she tried to dash it away, but was stymied by her blue helmet. "Ah, Jenni." She forced herself to relax. "I shouldn't remember this, should I?"

"No." Jenni was a statue.

"Will I remember Alley?" Jane asked as she sat, folding her hands in her lap.

"Do you want to?" Jenni asked, her tone odd and Alley jerked, looking up for the first time. Jenni looked at her and the hologram's or whatever-she-was's face was stern. "You hush!" Alley stared at Jenni and then went back to her work without a word. Jenni smiled. "Wow, she does know when not to argue."

"Could have fooled me." Jane muttered not even close to under her breath. "And… This representation. The Bifrost?"

"You know me, Jane." Jenni smiled wide now. "If you have got it, flaunt it."

"Yeah." Jane bowed her head but her hand was on her sword hilt! "Do what you have to, Jenni."

"And you, Jane." Jenni knelt in front of Jane, her own head bowing. "The Halls of Valhalla are waiting and they know that a warrior with few peers will join them eventually. But not today. Alley?"

"Done." Alley laid Lizbeth down, her girl's face utterly empty. With good reason. "Her body's chemical makeup was different, but not too much. Molecules are molecules no matter where she was from originally. All the chemical markers that make up her memory are gone. All the psionic energy in this universe cannot reconstitute such when they are erased in such a way. The woman known as Lizbeth is no more and unless someone monkeys with time, she will never be who she was. I will take care of her, raise her and teach her to be someone new. Hopefully someone who knows right from wrong. if not? She is my responsibility now."

"Then, that only leaves one vestige of the Warlock's evil." Jenni said quietly. "I have to end. Alley..." She begged as Jane's hand tightened on her sword hilt.

"Jane, no!" Alley was quick to slither between them. "This is my burden. My duty. Not yours. You took your vengeance on the Elders for the loss of your love. I cannot let you destroy what little of your sanity you still treasure." Then she spoke in careful Scandinavian. [This is my wryd, not yours.]

[IT IS OURS!] Jane threw the words out as she released her sword and grabbed Alley's hand with both of hers. "I stand with you. I will not let you fight my battles for me, sword sister!"

"I know." Alley lapsed back into modern English, having exhausted her store of the ancient tongue. "But this is not a battle you can face with steel and courage." Alley pleaded. She did not draw away.

"Have a little faith, Alley." Jenni smiled as both mismatched females turned to stare at her. The ball behind her flashed. The nucleus was doing something. She suddenly was not standing alone. A host of warriors in golden armor stood behind her, with a tall man in armor who had only one eye hefting a golden spear at her side. No, not a man. Odin! The one eyed king of the Norse gods!

Jane was suddenly on her feet and Alley as well, both clad in golden armor. Alley hefted an oddly shaped golden bow and Jane a golden sword that was both like and unlike her own. The purple energy that had been seething nearby flashed and then coalesced into a familiar blue skinned form. The Warlock was not smiling.

"This mind is mine!" The Warlock snapped as his power flared and purple ghosts started appearing around him.

"Wanna bet?" Jenni had a staff in her transparent hand as she moved to stand between Jane and Alley. "You are not welcome in these halls, monster."

Another form appeared on the other side of Jane, this one appeared human but with a long dagger in one hand and a short sword in the other. He winked at the pair.

"Mom likes this one, Jenni." He leered at Alley who stilled. "Can we keep her?"

"We talk after the battle, Loki." Came from the spear wielder and everyone stilled. Then another form appeared, this one with a hammer and Odin sighed. "Late as always, Thor."

The god of thunder did not speak, simply took his place at Alley's side. The Warlock opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Alley shot him with a bolt of pure psionic hate and the fight was on as the two X-Com warriors and the female they both loved charged their enemy with a host of legendary warriors at their back.

No one noticed as an armored human pulled Lizbeth away from the battle on the bridge. Mark was smiling fondly at Alley as he held up the girl's body. A Valkyrie appeared nearby, her face stern, but it softened as he nodded to her. She took the unconscious girl unto her winged horse. Then all three vanished as the battle for Jenni's mind expanded.