Title: Concourse
Author: Lady Primrose Roxton
Series: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Date: 7/2002
Part: 7 - Their Finest Hour
Rating: R
Codes: M/R, N/V
Category: Romance, Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi
Summary: Starts where HotS left off. Danger Will Robinson! Mushy shipper alert, cliffhanger resolution alert, grandfather paradox
alert, and hey, I even like Finn.
Spoilers: The Secret, Tapestry, Legacy, Trapped, HotS
Disclaimer: As a matter of fact, in the shifting planes of my own reality, I *do* own TLW ;)
Feedback: Tell me -- primrose4@canby.com
Website: http://www.canby.com/ryukyu4
Posting: ff.net, tlwfix.com, others please let me know first.
A/N: Thank you for all the great feedback. It has been brought to my attention that I seem to write a lot of cliffhangers. I agree... ;)
A/N2: If you will accept my version of time dilation with regard to quantum singularities as workable, then you will not get a headache like Malone trying to figure this stuff out. The real theory is fascinating, but, as usual, I've corrupted it to make my story work. I'm expecting to be served cease and desist papers from the National Academy of Sciences any day now :D
***
The birth of the new constitutes a crisis, and its mastery calls for a crude and simple cast of mind—the mind of a fighter—in which the virtues of tribal cohesion and fierceness and infantile credulity and malleability are paramount. Thus every new beginning recapitulates in some degree man's first beginning.
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
There can't be a crisis.... My schedule is already full.
Henry Kissinger (b. 1923)
***
Something was off, Malone decided. It was usually an instantaneous and painless shift from one reality to the next. He likened it to stepping across a threshold, accompanied by the brilliant light of course, but it hadn't ever hurt. Until now, that was. The pain was exquisite, blindingly intense and debilitating. He was fast losing consciousness, and his link to Challenger was fading. Abruptly, he abandoned his course to the center and Veronica, and he headed toward the nearest open plane he could sense. It was there, glowing at him, an easy step away. He tried to go through, but felt resistance. Then, as he was thinking about what to do, the light seemed to reach out and engulf Challenger. Malone could feel the scientist being pulled from him. Desperately, he tried to hold on, but the force was too strong. Challenger disappeared and the threshold slipped shut.
The whirl of feeling, sight, and sound that encompassed the passages to the planes intensified even more. Malone tried to center himself on Challenger, but could not feel him at all. He then tried to find Veronica. There, just a subtle presence, but he could feel her. Hanging on to awareness by a thread, he pushed himself toward her. The flash of light as he passed the threshold felt like immolation. He was conscious of nothing more as he slid to the floor of the tree house some three meters from Veronica's feet, moments after Finn's screams had faded out.
***
George Challenger awoke to find himself facedown, his mouth full of dirt, head throbbing like he'd been on a three-day bender. He sat up gingerly and rubbed the back of his neck, gently rotating his head. Getting too bloody old for this business, he mused. He looked up at saw that it was a clear day, wherever and whenever he was.
"Malone?" he called out, turning to look for the younger man. At the lack of response he frowned, gathered himself mentally, then physically, and stood up, wincing as he did. He looked about himself and then groaned in dismay. A short distance up a grassy incline next to where he stood, there was a sign. It read "New Amazonia 10KM".
***
The light was *wrong*, and the pain was overwhelming. Marguerite knew she had to find a doorway, any doorway. It was impossible for her to go on. It was as if there was a wall between her and the center, blocking the way to Veronica. She felt angry at her inability to bypass it, and she was desperately afraid that she would lose Roxton and Finn. She could still feel them next to her, but the contact was fuzzy and wavering. Frantic now, she searched for a doorway. Finally, she saw a dim light. Pushing with her all her being, she took the threesome toward the glow. It grew stronger, until, with a final lunge, it swallowed them.
Relief permeated Marguerite's body and mind, and she finally was free of the intense pain she had been feeling since she transported Roxton and her to find Finn. Somehow, something had come together correctly, she felt. She noticed that she was kneeling, and looked about her. Marguerite rubbed her forehead to relieve some residual tension, but on the whole felt a great deal better then just a little while ago. She hoped she hadn't done any harm to Roxton and Finn. She got up to examine them, worry etching a frown on her brow. Roxton was to her left, lying on the grass. Finn was to her right, similarly prone. Both appeared so very still.
***
The noise was deafening. The light was blinding. The very air shimmered and seemed thick, making breathing difficult. A sense of urgency permeated the atmosphere, like you could feel the pulse of the universe quickening. It was, Malone thought wonderingly, as if he was at the very heart of the universe, where all energies passed. Shaking his head a bit, he tried to orient himself. Pushing off of the floor, his gasp of wonder was lost in the cacophony of sounds. There was Veronica - magnificent in her power, compelling in her terror, and crowning in her beauty. Struck for a moment, he gazed at the woman he had thought so much of on his journey, the woman he still loved with all his heart.
He slowly made his way to where Veronica stood. Very aware of the power exchange going on between the confluence of planes and what she was holding in her hand, he moved so that he was directly in her field of vision, but avoiding the effulgence.
"Veronica!" he yelled, holding up one arm in a futile attempt to block some of the glare.
Veronica heard someone call her name, but couldn't see over the brilliance of the pulsating energy that kept her frozen in place.
"Veronica!" Ned screamed as loudly as he could, pushing dangerously close to the powerful beams of light.
"Ned?" Veronica mouthed in absolute surprise. The howl of the wind and the crash of intersecting bolts of energy intensified. The pain Veronica was feeling suddenly doubled, and she screamed uncontrollably.
***
As walking along the road seemed to be out of the question, Challenger headed for the closest stand of trees. By his reckoning, this would be the way to where the tree house was, or had been, he corrected himself. He didn't question why he should head in the direction of a structure that hadn't been in existence for many years. It just *felt* like the thing to do, which by his reckoning was just a scary thing.
Generally, following hunches was not something he dabbled in. He directed his thoughts elsewhere. How in the name of science had he ended up back here? More importantly, where was Ned? Challenger was concerned. This was all wrong. They should have been drawn to Veronica, as she was at the nexus of all. Instead, he ended up here, many years and who knew what realities away from *his* Veronica.
God knew where Ned had ended up. "How the bloody hell am I to get home," muttered George to himself as he trudged down an incline, dodging some large boulders and scraps
of metal that littered the hillside.
An idea slipped into his head as he reached the tree line. A long shot to be sure, but it sure seemed that those were all that they were playing these days. He altered direction slightly, and disappeared into the forest.
***
"John, wake up, please," Marguerite's voice held a tremor as she gently shook his shoulders, yet again, with no response, yet again. "John," she called more sharply. That was it. She couldn't take it any more. "Roxton!" she screeched in her *I'm in trouble, get you ass over here* voice.
"What? Marguerite, where are you?" Roxton yelled as he came awake and sprang up almost simultaneously. He looked around frantically, panting with an adrenaline rush.
"That's much better," approved Marguerite, looking up at Roxton, her arms folded.
"Are you all right?" Roxton was puzzled. She didn't look anything except smugly irritating.
"I'm fine now," replied Marguerite archly. Meet his eyes, she ordered herself sternly. You can do this.
"Then, what the bloody hell were you doing screaming your head off?" bellowed Roxton, instantly furious with her. "I thought you were dying, you were carrying on so."
"Well, I thought you were dead!" she screamed back, all thoughts of holding these emotions inside blown to smithereens. "I couldn't get you to wake up. I've been sitting here for over an hour. Neither one of you would wake up. You didn't have a pulse, no breathing, you didn't move..." her voice trailed off on a choked sound as she turned away from him.
"Marguerite?" Roxton was instantly contrite. He should have known. She always reacted this way when she was very afraid for someone else. She retreated back into the brittle shell of disdain and arch humour that irritated everyone so. Irritated them so that they would never see the anguish in her and the sorrow when something happened to someone she cared about, something she couldn't fix.
She was crying. Absolutely unacceptable, she tried to tell herself. It would gain nothing, and she would look like the veriest fool in front of the man whose opinion of her mattered the most of anyone she'd ever known. Pushing the heels of her hands into her eyes, she drew a sobbing breath and tried to suppress the aching shudders wracking her slight frame. Warm arms came about her and tugged her into a familiar embrace.
"It's all right, Marguerite," he murmured gently, smoothing her hair with one hand while carefully holding her close with the other. "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere."
"You did," she accused in a tear-laden voice. "You wouldn't wake up. I thought you'd gone on, just left your body here. I thought I'd failed you yet again," she finished brokenly.
"Shhhh, a gràdh," he tucked her into his shoulder, gently easing her down to the ground and pulling her into his lap. "You've never failed me yet." Her sorrow was great, layer upon layer of feelings suppressed, pushing away all the good as she avoided the bad. Oh, how he knew how she felt. It had always drawn him to her, even as she soared with her power over others, he could see the pain within. But now, now he could help her. His pride and disdain had melted beneath the times of loneliness and anguish over *his* failings. Together they would heal.
"We're not at the tree house," she finally said, her voice muffled against his shirt. "I couldn't get there."
"Do you know why?" Roxton asked.
"Something was blocking the way. It was like I could see where we needed to go, but something kept me from taking us there," Marguerite replied with frustration.
Roxton's reply was lost when Finn began to groan. They both turned to look at her as she sat up and rubbed her head.
"What a dream," she mumbled, now knitting her brow. "What happened?"
"You were out cold," Roxton replied.
"Almost literally," Marguerite added, lifting her head from Roxton's shoulder, but not moving from his lap.
"How long?" Finn wrinkled her nose and shook her head as if to clear it.
"About an hour," Marguerite spoke softly.
"Geez," Finn said. "No wonder I had such a weird dream. Didn't sleep very well," she jumped up and stretched.
Marguerite just looked at Roxton and shook her head. The child was irrepressible.
"We have other news," Roxton began.
"Son of a bitch!" Finn exploded as she stared off into the distance. "I just can't believe it," she stood shaking her head.
"What now?" Marguerite asked with a resigned air.
"Look," Finn said simply, hopelessly.
Roxton and Marguerite stood up, turned around, and followed the line of Finn's outstretched hand.
"Oh, damn," intoned Marguerite as she took in the familiar skyline of New Amazonia rising above the trees and water. Roxton was silent as they each contemplated what this meant.
***
Veronica stared at Ned, who was partially visible through the ever-shifting rays of energy that pulsated through the Trion that burned yet did not damage her hand. He had come. She had begged the universe for him, and he was here. Her heart was in her eyes, begging him to come to her, help her, even as her body was tormented by the buffeting energy that sought to implode upon itself.
"I can't make it stop, Ned," she cried. "I can't find the balance."
"Yes, you can, Veronica," Ned's voice suddenly slid under the high intensity discord. He felt himself shift slightly and he walked toward Veronica. She was holding the spirals as they collapsed, one upon another. Such power, such weight, such torment. "You have the balance; you are the center," he assured her. He felt the oneness of it all. The time and space that slid past contained existences he had never nor could ever of imagined, and he paid no attention to them. His entire being was focused on the woman in front of him.
"It's all falling in, Ned," Veronica said breathlessly. "I can't hold them up."
"You don't have to hold them up, Veronica," Ned replied smiling with wonder. He finally understood. The butterfly's wings didn't have to hold up the universe, and neither did Veronica. "Let go," he said softly. "Let them through. You are the center."
"What?" Veronica was completely astonished. "No, I can't," she shook her head in panic. "I can't let go. Something bad will happen, I know it!" she cried.
"Do you trust me?" Ned stood directly in front of her, his own power emanation deflecting the spirals around him as they raced to the Trion.
"Yes," Veronica responded breathlessly.
"Then you have to let go. The change begins here, where it ends," Ned said, raising a hand to gently cup her jaw, stroking her cheek with his thumb. Veronica stared silently at him, lost in his blue eyes full of earnest and complete surety.
***
Challenger increased his pace through the jungle, not needing to take his bearings. He had been here many times, in different times; he could find his way blindfolded. He had been a fool not to realize this before. The whole thing amazed and awed him. The greatest of events, and he was at the focal point, or he would be soon. Suddenly, he stopped.
"Oh, this will never do," he shook his head definitively. "We must all be together or it will not work at all." He spun around and headed back in the direction he had just come. "I certainly hope they hurry," he muttered as he began to make calculations. Time was infinitely running out for them.
***
"We can't stay here," Finn affirmed. "We'll be captured in less than a day. This area is on a major sweep pattern."
"Where should we go?" Roxton asked. "To the city?"
"No," Marguerite said suddenly. "I know where we have to go." She took a deep breath and said, " I think we need to go back to the cave."
"Which cave?" Finn wanted to know.
"Challenger's cave," Marguerite answered.
Roxton looked at her, puzzled for a moment, then smiled as the light dawned, "It's all about the balance."
"OK," Finn said. "You guys have this personal shorthand thing going on, and it's really cute and all, but I still don't get it."
"Challenger's tele-transporting device," Marguerite explained as they started walking as quickly as they could.
"But, it was destroyed when we went back to your...time..." Finns voice slowed as she figured it out. "But," she nodded with a smile, "it's not destroyed *now*."
"Exactly," Roxton agreed.
"We need to hurry," said Marguerite. "It's starting, the end is starting." They picked up the pace until they were practically running.
***
"I'm afraid, Ned," Veronica said sadly. "I don't think I'm the right person for this."
"Yes, you are," Ned assured her. "You're here, where you should be. All of this," he gestured, "comes to you because you are the center."
"How do you know this?" she asked him with wonder.
"I see things now," he replied. "Part of my journey has been learning how to use the gifts given to me during my time in the spirit world."
"What do you see when you look at me?" Veronica needed to know. Her body was at the end of its strength; she didn't know how she kept
standing, but she couldn't stop looking at Ned.
"I see you, Veronica," Ned said simple. "Just you."
"That can't be all...that can't be enough," she said in despair.
"Of course it's enough," he brought his other hand up and caressed her other cheek. "It's always been. You just never let yourself believe it.
All this time, you fought, survived, thrived, helped others, and save my life countless times," he looked wonderingly at her. "How could you not think that you're all that has to be? You have always been everything to me, ever since the day I met you. It just took me so long to understand it," he finished in a whisper and heedless of the burning power she held up in one hand, he pulled her into a kiss.
The energies swirling, spiraling down intensified as they flowed toward the center, but Veronica didn't feel any more pain. All she could feel was Ned holding her face, kissing her, bathing her heart and soul in the warmth of his love. She began to believe.
***
Challenger paced back and forth on the path where it branched. They were taking too much time. He was worried that if he went to look for them, he'd take the wrong branch and miss them. Just then, he heard noises. Jumping off the path, he hid behind a large tree trunk. There on the path passed Roxton, Marguerite, Finn and himself. Oh, right on schedule, damnit, he swore silently. Where the hell were they?
More noises and passing forms as their pursuers hurried after them. Coming back to the path, Challenger craned his neck, looking for *his* Roxton, Marguerite, and Finn.
He took out his pocket watch and stared at it, laughing at himself. "Can't help me here, my friend," he nodded sagely. "They've gone and stopped the hands of time after all."
"Talking to a your watch, George? Really," Roxton smirked.
Challenger gave Roxton a pained look, and then said, "There's no time to lose. We must get to the cave now." He started off at a fast clip down the path toward the cave.
"We've got that part, George," Marguerite replied dryly. "We've practically run the whole way here."
"Well, then, no point in slowing down now," nodded Roxton as he caught Marguerite's arm and hurried her down the path. She wrinkled her nose at him, but kept up all the same.
"What happens when we get to the cave?" Finn was holding up the rear, hard on Roxton and Marguerite's heels.
"We wait," Challenger replied, slightly breathless.
"Wait?" Marguerite cried. "You're making us double-time to this bloody cave, just to *wait*?"
"We wait for ourselves to go into the cave," Challenger grinned. "We wait until they activate the transport device, and then..."
"We hitch a ride," Marguerite beamed at Challenger.
"But, can the device handle transporting four more people, George? It melted down the last time we used it," Roxton noted.
"That's just it," Challenger felt the stitch in his side expand to make his whole chest feel aflame. "This is exactly what caused the overload in the device the first time, or this time, or what have you," his voice rang with the triumph of understanding a puzzle that had plagued him ever since they had returned from the future.
"You did say that the future could change the past," Roxton said, wiping sweat from his brow as they loped along.
"No, he said that the present could change the future," Finn contradicted.
"The past is what changes the present and the future," Marguerite said as firmly as someone who was panting could.
"You're all right," Challenger grinned at the blank looks on their faces. He started to go into a the explanation he had developed for Malone, then decided on the whole, he'd rather breathe. "Just trust me on this, all right?" he finally got out. "We need to be in the transport field of my device right after ourselves go in."
The others silently agreed. As they approached the site of the cave, gunshots rang out.
"Now is the time," Challenger said as they moved toward the cave.
"Now is always the time," Marguerite said solemnly and Roxton squeezed her hand as they entered the cave.
To be Continued
Author: Lady Primrose Roxton
Series: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
Date: 7/2002
Part: 7 - Their Finest Hour
Rating: R
Codes: M/R, N/V
Category: Romance, Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi
Summary: Starts where HotS left off. Danger Will Robinson! Mushy shipper alert, cliffhanger resolution alert, grandfather paradox
alert, and hey, I even like Finn.
Spoilers: The Secret, Tapestry, Legacy, Trapped, HotS
Disclaimer: As a matter of fact, in the shifting planes of my own reality, I *do* own TLW ;)
Feedback: Tell me -- primrose4@canby.com
Website: http://www.canby.com/ryukyu4
Posting: ff.net, tlwfix.com, others please let me know first.
A/N: Thank you for all the great feedback. It has been brought to my attention that I seem to write a lot of cliffhangers. I agree... ;)
A/N2: If you will accept my version of time dilation with regard to quantum singularities as workable, then you will not get a headache like Malone trying to figure this stuff out. The real theory is fascinating, but, as usual, I've corrupted it to make my story work. I'm expecting to be served cease and desist papers from the National Academy of Sciences any day now :D
***
The birth of the new constitutes a crisis, and its mastery calls for a crude and simple cast of mind—the mind of a fighter—in which the virtues of tribal cohesion and fierceness and infantile credulity and malleability are paramount. Thus every new beginning recapitulates in some degree man's first beginning.
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
There can't be a crisis.... My schedule is already full.
Henry Kissinger (b. 1923)
***
Something was off, Malone decided. It was usually an instantaneous and painless shift from one reality to the next. He likened it to stepping across a threshold, accompanied by the brilliant light of course, but it hadn't ever hurt. Until now, that was. The pain was exquisite, blindingly intense and debilitating. He was fast losing consciousness, and his link to Challenger was fading. Abruptly, he abandoned his course to the center and Veronica, and he headed toward the nearest open plane he could sense. It was there, glowing at him, an easy step away. He tried to go through, but felt resistance. Then, as he was thinking about what to do, the light seemed to reach out and engulf Challenger. Malone could feel the scientist being pulled from him. Desperately, he tried to hold on, but the force was too strong. Challenger disappeared and the threshold slipped shut.
The whirl of feeling, sight, and sound that encompassed the passages to the planes intensified even more. Malone tried to center himself on Challenger, but could not feel him at all. He then tried to find Veronica. There, just a subtle presence, but he could feel her. Hanging on to awareness by a thread, he pushed himself toward her. The flash of light as he passed the threshold felt like immolation. He was conscious of nothing more as he slid to the floor of the tree house some three meters from Veronica's feet, moments after Finn's screams had faded out.
***
George Challenger awoke to find himself facedown, his mouth full of dirt, head throbbing like he'd been on a three-day bender. He sat up gingerly and rubbed the back of his neck, gently rotating his head. Getting too bloody old for this business, he mused. He looked up at saw that it was a clear day, wherever and whenever he was.
"Malone?" he called out, turning to look for the younger man. At the lack of response he frowned, gathered himself mentally, then physically, and stood up, wincing as he did. He looked about himself and then groaned in dismay. A short distance up a grassy incline next to where he stood, there was a sign. It read "New Amazonia 10KM".
***
The light was *wrong*, and the pain was overwhelming. Marguerite knew she had to find a doorway, any doorway. It was impossible for her to go on. It was as if there was a wall between her and the center, blocking the way to Veronica. She felt angry at her inability to bypass it, and she was desperately afraid that she would lose Roxton and Finn. She could still feel them next to her, but the contact was fuzzy and wavering. Frantic now, she searched for a doorway. Finally, she saw a dim light. Pushing with her all her being, she took the threesome toward the glow. It grew stronger, until, with a final lunge, it swallowed them.
Relief permeated Marguerite's body and mind, and she finally was free of the intense pain she had been feeling since she transported Roxton and her to find Finn. Somehow, something had come together correctly, she felt. She noticed that she was kneeling, and looked about her. Marguerite rubbed her forehead to relieve some residual tension, but on the whole felt a great deal better then just a little while ago. She hoped she hadn't done any harm to Roxton and Finn. She got up to examine them, worry etching a frown on her brow. Roxton was to her left, lying on the grass. Finn was to her right, similarly prone. Both appeared so very still.
***
The noise was deafening. The light was blinding. The very air shimmered and seemed thick, making breathing difficult. A sense of urgency permeated the atmosphere, like you could feel the pulse of the universe quickening. It was, Malone thought wonderingly, as if he was at the very heart of the universe, where all energies passed. Shaking his head a bit, he tried to orient himself. Pushing off of the floor, his gasp of wonder was lost in the cacophony of sounds. There was Veronica - magnificent in her power, compelling in her terror, and crowning in her beauty. Struck for a moment, he gazed at the woman he had thought so much of on his journey, the woman he still loved with all his heart.
He slowly made his way to where Veronica stood. Very aware of the power exchange going on between the confluence of planes and what she was holding in her hand, he moved so that he was directly in her field of vision, but avoiding the effulgence.
"Veronica!" he yelled, holding up one arm in a futile attempt to block some of the glare.
Veronica heard someone call her name, but couldn't see over the brilliance of the pulsating energy that kept her frozen in place.
"Veronica!" Ned screamed as loudly as he could, pushing dangerously close to the powerful beams of light.
"Ned?" Veronica mouthed in absolute surprise. The howl of the wind and the crash of intersecting bolts of energy intensified. The pain Veronica was feeling suddenly doubled, and she screamed uncontrollably.
***
As walking along the road seemed to be out of the question, Challenger headed for the closest stand of trees. By his reckoning, this would be the way to where the tree house was, or had been, he corrected himself. He didn't question why he should head in the direction of a structure that hadn't been in existence for many years. It just *felt* like the thing to do, which by his reckoning was just a scary thing.
Generally, following hunches was not something he dabbled in. He directed his thoughts elsewhere. How in the name of science had he ended up back here? More importantly, where was Ned? Challenger was concerned. This was all wrong. They should have been drawn to Veronica, as she was at the nexus of all. Instead, he ended up here, many years and who knew what realities away from *his* Veronica.
God knew where Ned had ended up. "How the bloody hell am I to get home," muttered George to himself as he trudged down an incline, dodging some large boulders and scraps
of metal that littered the hillside.
An idea slipped into his head as he reached the tree line. A long shot to be sure, but it sure seemed that those were all that they were playing these days. He altered direction slightly, and disappeared into the forest.
***
"John, wake up, please," Marguerite's voice held a tremor as she gently shook his shoulders, yet again, with no response, yet again. "John," she called more sharply. That was it. She couldn't take it any more. "Roxton!" she screeched in her *I'm in trouble, get you ass over here* voice.
"What? Marguerite, where are you?" Roxton yelled as he came awake and sprang up almost simultaneously. He looked around frantically, panting with an adrenaline rush.
"That's much better," approved Marguerite, looking up at Roxton, her arms folded.
"Are you all right?" Roxton was puzzled. She didn't look anything except smugly irritating.
"I'm fine now," replied Marguerite archly. Meet his eyes, she ordered herself sternly. You can do this.
"Then, what the bloody hell were you doing screaming your head off?" bellowed Roxton, instantly furious with her. "I thought you were dying, you were carrying on so."
"Well, I thought you were dead!" she screamed back, all thoughts of holding these emotions inside blown to smithereens. "I couldn't get you to wake up. I've been sitting here for over an hour. Neither one of you would wake up. You didn't have a pulse, no breathing, you didn't move..." her voice trailed off on a choked sound as she turned away from him.
"Marguerite?" Roxton was instantly contrite. He should have known. She always reacted this way when she was very afraid for someone else. She retreated back into the brittle shell of disdain and arch humour that irritated everyone so. Irritated them so that they would never see the anguish in her and the sorrow when something happened to someone she cared about, something she couldn't fix.
She was crying. Absolutely unacceptable, she tried to tell herself. It would gain nothing, and she would look like the veriest fool in front of the man whose opinion of her mattered the most of anyone she'd ever known. Pushing the heels of her hands into her eyes, she drew a sobbing breath and tried to suppress the aching shudders wracking her slight frame. Warm arms came about her and tugged her into a familiar embrace.
"It's all right, Marguerite," he murmured gently, smoothing her hair with one hand while carefully holding her close with the other. "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere."
"You did," she accused in a tear-laden voice. "You wouldn't wake up. I thought you'd gone on, just left your body here. I thought I'd failed you yet again," she finished brokenly.
"Shhhh, a gràdh," he tucked her into his shoulder, gently easing her down to the ground and pulling her into his lap. "You've never failed me yet." Her sorrow was great, layer upon layer of feelings suppressed, pushing away all the good as she avoided the bad. Oh, how he knew how she felt. It had always drawn him to her, even as she soared with her power over others, he could see the pain within. But now, now he could help her. His pride and disdain had melted beneath the times of loneliness and anguish over *his* failings. Together they would heal.
"We're not at the tree house," she finally said, her voice muffled against his shirt. "I couldn't get there."
"Do you know why?" Roxton asked.
"Something was blocking the way. It was like I could see where we needed to go, but something kept me from taking us there," Marguerite replied with frustration.
Roxton's reply was lost when Finn began to groan. They both turned to look at her as she sat up and rubbed her head.
"What a dream," she mumbled, now knitting her brow. "What happened?"
"You were out cold," Roxton replied.
"Almost literally," Marguerite added, lifting her head from Roxton's shoulder, but not moving from his lap.
"How long?" Finn wrinkled her nose and shook her head as if to clear it.
"About an hour," Marguerite spoke softly.
"Geez," Finn said. "No wonder I had such a weird dream. Didn't sleep very well," she jumped up and stretched.
Marguerite just looked at Roxton and shook her head. The child was irrepressible.
"We have other news," Roxton began.
"Son of a bitch!" Finn exploded as she stared off into the distance. "I just can't believe it," she stood shaking her head.
"What now?" Marguerite asked with a resigned air.
"Look," Finn said simply, hopelessly.
Roxton and Marguerite stood up, turned around, and followed the line of Finn's outstretched hand.
"Oh, damn," intoned Marguerite as she took in the familiar skyline of New Amazonia rising above the trees and water. Roxton was silent as they each contemplated what this meant.
***
Veronica stared at Ned, who was partially visible through the ever-shifting rays of energy that pulsated through the Trion that burned yet did not damage her hand. He had come. She had begged the universe for him, and he was here. Her heart was in her eyes, begging him to come to her, help her, even as her body was tormented by the buffeting energy that sought to implode upon itself.
"I can't make it stop, Ned," she cried. "I can't find the balance."
"Yes, you can, Veronica," Ned's voice suddenly slid under the high intensity discord. He felt himself shift slightly and he walked toward Veronica. She was holding the spirals as they collapsed, one upon another. Such power, such weight, such torment. "You have the balance; you are the center," he assured her. He felt the oneness of it all. The time and space that slid past contained existences he had never nor could ever of imagined, and he paid no attention to them. His entire being was focused on the woman in front of him.
"It's all falling in, Ned," Veronica said breathlessly. "I can't hold them up."
"You don't have to hold them up, Veronica," Ned replied smiling with wonder. He finally understood. The butterfly's wings didn't have to hold up the universe, and neither did Veronica. "Let go," he said softly. "Let them through. You are the center."
"What?" Veronica was completely astonished. "No, I can't," she shook her head in panic. "I can't let go. Something bad will happen, I know it!" she cried.
"Do you trust me?" Ned stood directly in front of her, his own power emanation deflecting the spirals around him as they raced to the Trion.
"Yes," Veronica responded breathlessly.
"Then you have to let go. The change begins here, where it ends," Ned said, raising a hand to gently cup her jaw, stroking her cheek with his thumb. Veronica stared silently at him, lost in his blue eyes full of earnest and complete surety.
***
Challenger increased his pace through the jungle, not needing to take his bearings. He had been here many times, in different times; he could find his way blindfolded. He had been a fool not to realize this before. The whole thing amazed and awed him. The greatest of events, and he was at the focal point, or he would be soon. Suddenly, he stopped.
"Oh, this will never do," he shook his head definitively. "We must all be together or it will not work at all." He spun around and headed back in the direction he had just come. "I certainly hope they hurry," he muttered as he began to make calculations. Time was infinitely running out for them.
***
"We can't stay here," Finn affirmed. "We'll be captured in less than a day. This area is on a major sweep pattern."
"Where should we go?" Roxton asked. "To the city?"
"No," Marguerite said suddenly. "I know where we have to go." She took a deep breath and said, " I think we need to go back to the cave."
"Which cave?" Finn wanted to know.
"Challenger's cave," Marguerite answered.
Roxton looked at her, puzzled for a moment, then smiled as the light dawned, "It's all about the balance."
"OK," Finn said. "You guys have this personal shorthand thing going on, and it's really cute and all, but I still don't get it."
"Challenger's tele-transporting device," Marguerite explained as they started walking as quickly as they could.
"But, it was destroyed when we went back to your...time..." Finns voice slowed as she figured it out. "But," she nodded with a smile, "it's not destroyed *now*."
"Exactly," Roxton agreed.
"We need to hurry," said Marguerite. "It's starting, the end is starting." They picked up the pace until they were practically running.
***
"I'm afraid, Ned," Veronica said sadly. "I don't think I'm the right person for this."
"Yes, you are," Ned assured her. "You're here, where you should be. All of this," he gestured, "comes to you because you are the center."
"How do you know this?" she asked him with wonder.
"I see things now," he replied. "Part of my journey has been learning how to use the gifts given to me during my time in the spirit world."
"What do you see when you look at me?" Veronica needed to know. Her body was at the end of its strength; she didn't know how she kept
standing, but she couldn't stop looking at Ned.
"I see you, Veronica," Ned said simple. "Just you."
"That can't be all...that can't be enough," she said in despair.
"Of course it's enough," he brought his other hand up and caressed her other cheek. "It's always been. You just never let yourself believe it.
All this time, you fought, survived, thrived, helped others, and save my life countless times," he looked wonderingly at her. "How could you not think that you're all that has to be? You have always been everything to me, ever since the day I met you. It just took me so long to understand it," he finished in a whisper and heedless of the burning power she held up in one hand, he pulled her into a kiss.
The energies swirling, spiraling down intensified as they flowed toward the center, but Veronica didn't feel any more pain. All she could feel was Ned holding her face, kissing her, bathing her heart and soul in the warmth of his love. She began to believe.
***
Challenger paced back and forth on the path where it branched. They were taking too much time. He was worried that if he went to look for them, he'd take the wrong branch and miss them. Just then, he heard noises. Jumping off the path, he hid behind a large tree trunk. There on the path passed Roxton, Marguerite, Finn and himself. Oh, right on schedule, damnit, he swore silently. Where the hell were they?
More noises and passing forms as their pursuers hurried after them. Coming back to the path, Challenger craned his neck, looking for *his* Roxton, Marguerite, and Finn.
He took out his pocket watch and stared at it, laughing at himself. "Can't help me here, my friend," he nodded sagely. "They've gone and stopped the hands of time after all."
"Talking to a your watch, George? Really," Roxton smirked.
Challenger gave Roxton a pained look, and then said, "There's no time to lose. We must get to the cave now." He started off at a fast clip down the path toward the cave.
"We've got that part, George," Marguerite replied dryly. "We've practically run the whole way here."
"Well, then, no point in slowing down now," nodded Roxton as he caught Marguerite's arm and hurried her down the path. She wrinkled her nose at him, but kept up all the same.
"What happens when we get to the cave?" Finn was holding up the rear, hard on Roxton and Marguerite's heels.
"We wait," Challenger replied, slightly breathless.
"Wait?" Marguerite cried. "You're making us double-time to this bloody cave, just to *wait*?"
"We wait for ourselves to go into the cave," Challenger grinned. "We wait until they activate the transport device, and then..."
"We hitch a ride," Marguerite beamed at Challenger.
"But, can the device handle transporting four more people, George? It melted down the last time we used it," Roxton noted.
"That's just it," Challenger felt the stitch in his side expand to make his whole chest feel aflame. "This is exactly what caused the overload in the device the first time, or this time, or what have you," his voice rang with the triumph of understanding a puzzle that had plagued him ever since they had returned from the future.
"You did say that the future could change the past," Roxton said, wiping sweat from his brow as they loped along.
"No, he said that the present could change the future," Finn contradicted.
"The past is what changes the present and the future," Marguerite said as firmly as someone who was panting could.
"You're all right," Challenger grinned at the blank looks on their faces. He started to go into a the explanation he had developed for Malone, then decided on the whole, he'd rather breathe. "Just trust me on this, all right?" he finally got out. "We need to be in the transport field of my device right after ourselves go in."
The others silently agreed. As they approached the site of the cave, gunshots rang out.
"Now is the time," Challenger said as they moved toward the cave.
"Now is always the time," Marguerite said solemnly and Roxton squeezed her hand as they entered the cave.
To be Continued