Series Title: Never Saw Me There
Chapter Title: Reunion
Rating: PG-13
A/N: based on chapter "Old Friend, New Problem" from "Identity" by Rach and the episode "Worlds Apart". Any deviation from the actual episode (which I have not watched) is to remain consistent with the world created by Rach.
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Orientation with the Silver Guardians had been just like basic training, only not as intense. There was no one waking me up at all hours of the morning, trying to demoralize me and drive me insane. Actually orientation and training for the SG's reminded me a great deal of phys ed class back in high school. And after two weeks of "training" I became an official Silver Guardian grunt. It felt strange being back in the roll of the ordered rather than the one issuing the orders.
I stood in the locker room and adjusted the uniform's black baseball cap. It had the letters CGD embroidered in white on it. I wondered what they stood for. But like a good little grunt, I hadn't asked. It didn't really matter. Ours is not to question why, and all that.
"So how does it feel to be all official?" I heard someone ask me. I turned around to see Carter standing there. I had no clue what his first name was, he had been introduced to me as Carter and that's all anyone ever called him.
"Feels like I'm right back in the Marines," I told him. He smiled at me; it was a warm and friendly smile. I wondered if it was actually a sincere one. It would be nice to have a friend again.
"Uniform looks good, like you were born to wear it," he said. I looked down at said uniform. I had to admit I really did look good in the thing. I looked back up at him and shrugged.
"Maybe it's because for the last ten years or so, I've spent my entire waking existence in one uniform or another. Private school, the marines, here. I honestly think I've gotten to the point where I couldn't pick out an outfit on my own."
Carter laughed and slapped his hand down on my shoulder. "Dude, you're a guy. We are chromosomally predisposed towards no fashion sense. That's why I have a girlfriend. She says 'wear this' and I just smile and go 'OK'."
I returned the smile, only half-heartedly. "Well, I don't have a girlfriend. So I guess I'll just have to suffer with the label of fashion victim."
If he had a response he didn't say it. Instead a loud klaxon filled the air. "Code 11. All units report to staging area!" a voice cried over the intercom.
"Wow, your first day officially on the job and you get to see some action," Carter said as he reached into his locker and grabbed his belt and weapon. I followed his example and grabbed my gear.
Together we headed to the hanger where we met up with the other Guardians to receive our assignment.
~*~
We arrived at what remained of Southview Shopping Center just after three in the afternoon. "Delta team, take up a flanking position to the west," a voice said over the headset I was wearing. I immediately fell into position with the rest of my team. It was until we were set that I looked up to see what it was we were flanking.
A woman. We are flanking a woman? I thought to myself. What the hell could one woman do? OK, so she has horrid taste in hair color, but still. Just then I noticed the hundred or so robots that surrounded her.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed Commander Porter join my team and aim his sidearm until he called out to her. "Halt!" he ordered. "You are under arrest." The woman paused for a moment but didn't give in. Instead, she walked towards us.
I raised my weapon as well and waited for the order. It came.
"Fire!" the Commander cried. And with that all hell broke loose.
It felt exhilarating being back in action. There is just something about the power rush that comes with holding a weapon in your hands, surrounded on all sides by your comrades-in-arms, defending your home. Makes you feel like a man.
Eventually the order to cease-fire came. I stopped shooting but keep my blaster raised. Amazingly not a single blast hit her. The robots were another story. They had fallen like flies. Large, metal flies.
I just stood there, waiting for my next order. And, eventually it came. Commander Porter's voice came over the headset. "Fire!" And like the good little soldier boy that I was, I did.
"Hold your fire," I heard. And I stopped, grateful for the order. My arms and fingers were growing tired. I lowered my weapon.
"You'll All pay!" the woman cried. I had to fight the urge to laugh. All I could think of was the Wicked Witch of the West saying "I'll get you my pretty." But before I could actually give into the urge, she did something completely unexpected. She disappeared. Poof. I found myself standing there with my jaw open blinking in disbelief.
"Delta Team, secure the perimeter."
I immediately obeyed and joined my team in making sure the robots were no longer a threat. As we did so, I noticed the large crowd of people that had gathered to watch our showdown with the Pink Lady and her band of bots. I shook my head. If today was any indication of the situations we would be facing in the future, these people needed to learn to get out of the way or end up as collateral damage.
Once we had secured the scene, I heard the Commander call out again. "Let's move out!" I fell in line and headed back to the transports. As I walked back, a face in the crowed caught my eye.
Could it be? I looked at the face and realized it was. Sneaking a quick look around, I broke ranks and walked over to him. As I approached him, I wondered if he would remember me. It had been over close to a decade since we had seen each other.
The look of disbelief on his face told me he did remember me. I found myself smiling at him.
"Long time, no see, Wes," I said, hoping that I at least managed to sound calm. My heart was pounding too fast for me to actually hear my own voice.
He stood there stunned. I smiled at him, hoping, praying, to get a response. As I waited for him to say something, I looked at the people with them. Of the four, the two guys and the African-American girl just looked at me in stunned silence. But it was the expression of the other girl that bothered me.
She stood there stiffly and glared at me. It was a glare of self-importance, of superiority. Clearly she believed that I was beneath her and her friends. "How dare you think to associate with us," it said. It was a look I was very familiar with.
I felt the smile on my lips fade and my back grow straighter. Screw you lady. I fought for my country. I shed blood to keep this world safe. I was a U.S. Marine. What have you done lately? I might not have top of the line clothes or access to daddy's checkbook, but that doesn't make me any less of a human than you are, I thought
I found myself standing in perfect at-ease, the sign of a good soldier. I hadn't even realized that Wes was talking to me. The look on his face told me he had just asked a question. Asking what I was doing there, no doubt.
"I'm with the Silver Guardians," I explained. "We protect the city now." I looked at him. He was wearing some kind of uniform. It was similar to what his friends were wearing. I wondered what he was doing wearing the uniform. It looked like the coveralls janitors wear. Wes Collins, janitor? Somehow that didn't seem right. Not him. But then again, eight years overseas does tend to leave one out of the loop. Maybe it was the latest fashion trend.
"And you?" I queried. I inwardly flinched. It had come out much snider than I had intended. Wes started stammering some sort of explanation, but I didn't hear it.
I jumped slightly as a sudden voice rang in my ears. "Myers! What the hell are you doing?" the Commander snapped over my headset. "Get your ass over here on the double."
"Let's move out!" the Commander yelled so that everyone could hear him.
Snapping back into reality and remembering the real reason I was at the shopping plaza, I looked back to Wes and then to the brown haired woman behind him. "Gotta go," I said. "I have real work to do." I saw the look of hurt in Wes' eyes but I was more focused on her expression. It was icy and cold. Ice Queen. That was her.
I turned and headed back to my team. I paused long enough to call back to Wes, "See ya 'round." Before he could respond I quickened my pace, reached the SUV and climbed in. It wasn't until we were moving that I allowed myself to relax.
Good going, Myers, I thought. Could you have been any more of an ass?
~*~
Another skirmish, another paycheck. At least that's what I thought going into the situation. Actually I hadn't really thought about the situation at all. Even as we rode to the scene all I could think of was Wes.
I didn't exactly make an award-winning appearance when I saw him. And then later, when I offered Mr. Collins to help find his son, what happens? I get shot down again. Why the hell did I bother coming back to Silverhills anyway? Because my life had been rapidly going down the toilet ever since my discharge. And they always say, when something goes wrong, go back to the beginning. And Silverhills was the beginning. Of everything.
"Wake up Sleeping Beauty," I heard as someone shook me. I blinked several times before turning to look at my assailant. Carter sat next to me grinning. "We're here." I nodded and opened the door.
As I stepped out of the SUV, my mind refused to accept what it saw. Everywhere I looked carnage, chaos, destruction. I had seen this kind of thing before. The place looked more like Kosovo than Silverhills.
I felt myself begin to tremble and my palms started to perspire. My heart started racing a million miles and hour and suddenly I was having trouble seeing straight. OH god! Not now! I silently cried as the panic started to take over.
I took a deep breath. I will not panic. I will not panic, I mentally chanted. Ever since Yugoslavia, that had been my daily mantra. My caseworker at the VA had tried to get me to see a shrink, but I wasn't about to let yet another expert poke and prod into my psyche.
"Yes, Sir!" I heard the other Guardians shout, knocking me out of my near catatonic state. Carter came up beside me.
"You OK there, Myers? You look like you've seen a ghost."
More like a nightmare, I thought. "Huh? Oh yeah. I'm fine," I said as I fell into position behind one of the rocket launchers.
"Fire!" the Commander shouted. It wasn't until that moment that I saw what it was that we were fighting.
I had no clue what the THING was. It looked like something straight out of some strange sci-fi movie. It was bipedal, but had some kind of metallic exoskeleton. Frankly it looked like some kind of mutant humanoid cockroach. As I did the mental assessment of my target, I fired my blaster.
Nothing we were doing was working. The thing just kept coming.
Then, suddenly we had backup. Not in the form of more Guardians or police, but in the form of the Time Force Rangers. I had read about them in the paper. A group of five people who got their kicks out of dressing up in ridiculous outfits and acting like some kind of freaking super heroes. Super heroes my ass. Vigilantes was more like it.
From the looks of it, these Rangers had already gone three rounds with the cockroach and had not won. Aren't even smart enough to know to lie down when their dead. But the Rangers did draw the thing's attention off of us and the order to cease-fire came.
I could only watch in stunned silence as the mutant went after the Rangers. One by one they went down until it was only the cockroach and the Red Ranger. It was like watching a train wreck. You want to look away but find that you can't.
The kick that the Ranger sent was easily deflected and soon we were all watching his limp body flying through the air. I flinched in sympathetic pain as he landed. That had to hurt.
"Delta Team, move into flanking position, cover the Ranger," the Commander shouted into the headset. As he yelled the order, he moved to provide cover for the fallen Ranger and I found myself standing next to him. "Weapons ready!"
I raised my blaster and waited for the order to fire. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Commander Porter take a step forward to address the cockroach. "This is your last warning!" he advised.
The mutant paused, brought his hands up before him. "Should I be scared?" it asked sarcastically. I settled myself into a more balanced position and readied myself for the order that I knew was coming.
Suddenly I felt something grab my shoulder. I turned back to see the Red Ranger holding onto me and the Commander. "No, wait! You can't beat him with those weapons. He's too powerful," he said, his voice begging us to listen to him. I paused a moment. I knew that voice. But I just couldn't place from where.
The Commander kept his eyes on the mutant as he shrugged of the Ranger. "Move!" he ordered as he stepped away. "Fire!" A barrage of blaster fire slams into the mutant. Unfortunately the thing seemed totally unaffected by it. Instead it laughed and drew its own weapon and fired.
The next thing I knew I was looking up at the most beautiful blue sky I had ever seen. I tried to stand up. Ow! Maybe not. I looked over to see Commander Porter lying next to me, sans beret and sunglasses, his blaster trained on the mutant.
"See ya, soldier," the thing sneered as it leveled its rifle as the Commander carefully rose to his feet and aimed his weapon.
"No, wait!" I heard behind me. I sat up to see the Red Ranger stager to his feet. "Look out!" He then dove and pushed the Commander out of the way, just as the mutant fired. Time seemed to slow as I sat there helpless to do anything but watch the blast leave the mutant's rifle, the Commander fall to the ground, and the Red Ranger take the entire force of the shot in his chest.
There was an ear-piercing explosion and I dropped back down to the ground, coving my head as best I could to protect it from any flying debris. The loud explosions, the cries of the injured men, the smell of burning concrete. It all assaulted me and forced the memories forward.
"DrZite njima!"
"Mašiti se"!
The feel of them grabbing me. My helmet flying. The world going black.
I will not panic, I will not panic. I am home. I am safe. This is California, not Yugoslavia. I recited to myself.
Slowly I managed to fight back the panic and look around. The Rangers were fighting the robots. All but the Red Ranger, that is. He was kneeling in the base of a large crater, trying to get to his feet.
Being the closest to him, I started to crawl towards him, to see if I could help. "Are…Are you OK?" I croaked. He then looked up at me and I found myself frozen to the spot. His visor was destroyed. How it had exploded and not taken out his eyes was beyond me. But beyond the miracle of having them intact, something about his eyes shocked me.
I took off my sunglasses to get a better look and just stared at him. I knew him. But my mind didn't want to process it. I knew him.
"Wes?" He just looked up at me, his intense green eyes looking at me, startled; as if he were a kid being caught with his hand in the cookie jar. All I could do was sit there and watch him climb to his feet and stager out of the crater.
Gingerly I got to my feet to follow him. "Wes! Wait!" I cried out after him. He turned back to give me one more look before turning back. It wasn't until that moment that I realized that Mr. Collins was there, watching it all. But there he stood, blocking Wes' way.
"Wesley, what's the meaning of this? You're a Time Force Ranger?" I heard him ask. I could hear the disbelief dripping from his voice. But underneath the disbelief was something else. Pride maybe? I wouldn't know. Never had anyone be proud of me before.
"I wanted to tell you, dad. But I couldn't," Wes mumbled back. I watch his eyes scan the scene, absorbing the chaos and devastation that surrounded him.
It was then that it seemed that Mr. Collins finally noticed the Wes' condition. "You're hurt."
Something inside Wes snapped. "Look," he said turning his attention back to his father, "you don't know what you're up against here. People are getting hurt! All because you want more money. How much is enough? What will it take?"
Mr. Collins shook his head. "No, that's not it at all. You don't understand."
Wes' temper had reached critical. Even I could see it. "Don't I?" Wes shot back.
He reached for Wes. "I…I had the perfect future planned out for you."
Wes shrugged him off. "Your future, not mine. For the first time in my life, I'm really making a difference." He then pushed past his father to head back to his friends.
Mr. Collins reached out and grabbed his elbow and stepped in front of him. "Wes, wait, stop. If you'll just let me explain…"
Wes shrugged him of. "No."
That was obviously not the answer Mr. Collins expected. "No?"
"All my life, I've done what you wanted me to do. Been what you wanted me to be. It didn't matter that I didn't want to do it or be it. Well, now I am making my own future." He then turned and ran up the stairs. Away from his father. Away from me. Away from his past.
"Wes, son…" I heard Mr. Collins whisper. "Hey! Don't you walk away from me when I'm…" But Wes was already almost out of earshot. "Wesley, you walk away, you'll regret it."
Wes paused for a moment and looked back at his father; saying farewell to his past. "I'd regret it if I stayed." Then slowly he turned back and continued on. I don't think he ever saw me standing behind his dad.
"WESLEY!" Mr. Collins cried out.
At the same time I called out. "Wes, don't be stupid. Wes! You should listen to your father!" If he heard me, he didn't give any indication.
He had no idea what he was getting himself into. He was the rich kid I went to school with. The hardest thing he ever had to face was trying to determine which Rolex to wear with his suit. He was heading unprepared into a war. And war doesn't care what side of the tracks you come from. It doesn't stop for the rich, the sick, the invalid or the weak.
I wanted to race after him and tell him to stop. He had been the only person in my life to actually try to care. I wanted to protect him. I wanted to stop him. I took a step forward to follow him.
"Myers!" I jumped. I had forgotten all about my Team. "Get your ass back here. The Commander's hurt." I recognized Carter's voice over the headset. Pausing long enough to give Mr. Collins a glance, to make sure he was all right, I turned and headed back to the SUVs at a slow jog – any faster would have hurt too much.
I arrived back at the vehicles in time to see an EMS team load Commander Porter into an ambulance. I quickened my pace to join Carter next to the emergency vehicle.
"Now what?" I asked him. I knew what I would do in our situation, but he was my superior. OK, maybe not superior, but he was senior Guardian on site. He just looked at me. Great, he had no clue. He was a great grunt, but he would never cut it as a commander.
"Fine. We were hired to protect this place, right?" He nodded. "Well, that's exactly what we are going to do. If those Rangers can take that thing on with just a couple of funny looking swords, we can take him with state-of-the-art technology."
The look of relief in the eyes of my fellow Guardians told me all that I needed to know about my team. They needed a leader and were grateful that someone stepped forward to take on the role. Well, it wouldn't be the first time I lead a team into a war zone. Hopefully it wouldn't turn out the same as the last time I did.
I looked around me, quickly assessing the health of my team. "You, you and you," I said pointing to the people I was talking to. "Load up the launchers and the rest of the big artillery and follow us. Carter, you, Jacobs, and Mendleson come with me. The rest of you, recon the area, help the wounded and try to stop any panicking." I headed towards one of the SUVs and climbed in. As soon as my team was in place I drove off, following the wake of carnage.
It wasn't long before we couldn't drive any further. Streetlamps were blocking the road. While an SUV may have four-wheel drive and be designed for off-roading, I don't think Ford had mutant rubble in mind when they designed the suspension.
Sighing, I climbed out and turned to the other Guardians. "You three help the others get the weapons. I'm going to run ahead and eyeball the situation." They nodded and went to help the others. I checked my weapon, pulled my hat firmer onto my head and took off.
I arrived on the scene the same time Mr. Collins did. Just in time to see the Rangers save the day.
The mutant had been contained. People were cheering, the birds were singing, the sun was shining. It was a freaking Mary Poppins kind of moment.
And a bunch of civilians had saved the city. Sometimes life just isn't fair.
TO BE CONTINUED…