Ray, Gaby, Gunn, Alcott, Lorent, and TransGenics are mine.
Rated PG-13 : Mild sexuality; harsh language, strong violence.
Eric greeted Philips, the Collins' butler, with a brief smile and a nod as he walked in the front door. "Where's Wes?" he asked.
"In his room. He's expecting you."
Eric climbed the stairs, taking only a quick glance around at the large foyer, antique furniture, and marble floor. The display of wealth still impressed him. He wondered how long it would be before he didn't even notice. Probably never.
"Come in." Wes's voice answered as he tapped on the door. Eric opened it and stepped in to see Wes sitting in the armchair in his bedroom, dressed in jeans and a shirt, putting down the book he had obviously been reading. He got up with a smile.
"Eric. How's it going?" They shook hands.
"Fine. How are you doing?"
"Better. The pain's almost gone, as long as I'm careful. I'm starting to get bored."
"Probably a good sign."
"I guess. What's happening with the investigation?" Wes sat back down. Eric pulled up another chair for himself.
"Gunn's contacts have come up with some information, and some of the thieves we captured in the warehouse have talked. Looks like that gang got their weapons from T-Gen. They've been selling them to whoever wants to buy."
"Is T-Gen the only one selling them?"
"Looks like it. At least they seem to be the only ones in contact with the future. And we've heard Jonathan Alcott's name mentioned." Alcott had been behind TransGenics' previous attacks on Bio-Lab and on Wes.
Wes frowned. "Alcott. I guess he's back from South America, then. And in hiding."
"Yeah, there's still a warrant out for his arrest, for jumping bail on top of kidnapping and assault."
"You guys have any plans of how to go after them?"
"We think they're using a warehouse in the area. They must be storing the stuff somewhere. One of their subsidiaries owns three warehouses on the west side and they have offices in town. We're watching all of them. The question is whether we'll be able to spot anything suspicious enough to give us a legal reason to go in."
"I'll be back at work in a couple of days. When you move in..."
"Forget it, Wes. You're not in any condition for a fight."
"I'm fine. And the suit will fix me up, and protect me."
"You know as well as I do that the suit can't heal an injury. All it can do is make you feel stronger. It won't stop you from re-injuring yourself." He smiled briefly. "I know you want to join in. I'd feel the same way. But we can't take the chance. And it's not like we're fighting mutants and robots. The Guardians and I can handle it."
"You don't need my help, huh?" They smiled at each other.
"How's my dad?" Wes asked after a moment.
"What do you mean? You're living with him."
Wes shrugged. "I hardly see him, now that I'm not at work."
Eric looked at him more closely. "What do you do all day, here?"
"Watch TV. Read. Walk around the garden."
"Sounds boring as hell."
Wes grinned. "It is. But Philips won't let me do anything else. I can't wait to get out of here. Get back in shape. Start our workouts again."
"That won't be for a while."
"I hear you're teaching Gaby."
Eric looked up to see Wes watching him with sharp interest. "That's right. And she's helping me get a computer set up. I'm going over to her place tonight to look for one on the Internet."
Wes smiled. "The two of you together? In her apartment? Alone?"
"It's not like that. We're just friends."
"Too bad."
"I don't intend to jump into anything. Not after the last time." He frowned and looked away.
Wes didn't pursue it. "Well, you came here for lunch. Let's get downstairs before Philips comes looking for us. I think we're having chicken broth and strained peas."
"What?"
"Kidding. Come on."
Ray sat up on his bed. They were coming. He recognized Alcott's footsteps as they stopped in front of his door. He opened it as soon as the knock came. Alcott was there, several men dressed in black behind him.
"Ready?"
"Yeah." Ray was dressed like them. He thought he looked pretty cool, the light blue hair and his pale face contrasting with the black outfit. Like a superhero. He smiled as he stepped out in the hallway, and walked next to Alcott.
In a few minutes they were outside. He looked up. It had been a long time since he had been out in the open air. With his enhanced vision, the night sky and full moon looked beautiful, bright, almost unreal. He was sorry to get into the car that was waiting for them, but the trip didn't take long. Soon they were out again, standing in front of a large warehouse. The building was dark, after the car was shut off there were no lights anywhere, but he could see perfectly by the moon. They stood.
"What are we waiting for?" he asked.
"You'll know it when you see it. Be patient."
Gaby opened the door and said, "Come on in," with a smile.
Eric walked into her apartment, looking around with an appraising glance. Not judging the décor, she suspected, but mapping out the territory, looking for exits and good defensive positions. He was very much a soldier at heart. Not that he looked like one tonight, dressed in jeans and a tee-shirt, under the jacket he was taking off. He looked good.
"How's it going?" he asked.
"Fine. You want anything?"
He looked at her with a slight smile. "Not right now."
"Then let's get started." She led the way into her living room. One corner was dedicated to her computer, a desk and two small side tables covered with electronics.
"What is all this?"
"Computer. Monitor. Printer."
"I know that much. What's the other stuff?"
"Cable modem. Flash memory reader. Cradle for my PDA. USB hub. Cradle for my other PDA. Scanner. External disk drive. Breakout box for my video capture card." She pointed to each one.
"Jesus. You actually use all this stuff?"
"They don't call me the gadget queen for nothing."
"How do you afford it?"
"Well, I make a pretty good salary. And I don't spend it on clothes or jewelry. Obviously. And I don't travel much. Had enough of that when I was a kid."
"What do you mean?"
"We moved around a lot when I was growing up. Every few years."
"Army brat?"
She smiled. "No. Everyone asks that. My parents are con artists, so we had to keep moving." She laughed at his expression. "They're teachers. University level. Getting a better job for either one of them means moving."
"They sound smart."
"Yeah. What do your parents do?"
He looked back at the crowded desk, his smile abruptly gone. "I don't know what they're doing now, if anything."
She looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
He gave her a carefully blank look. "I don't know where they are."
"You don't know where your own parents are?"
His face turned hard, and closed. "That's right. They abandoned me when I was nine. I don't know what happened to them, and I don't give a shit."
Gaby stared silently, shocked both by the words and the bitter tone they were spoken in. His expression did not invite further questions.
He took a step away, toward the desk. "What's all this stuff for?"
After a moment's hesitation she answered. "Let's stick to the basics for now. Later we'll work our way up. Grab a chair."
They spent some time browsing the Internet, looking for a computer. She answered his questions and gave him advice, the main part of her mind still on what he had just told her. She felt pity for him, curiosity, and a guilty bit of gratification that he had trusted her with something so personal. Then she was distracted as the search quickly turned into an argument. Eric insisted on getting the minimal system that would get the job done. Gaby insisted that he consider something better.
"Why should I get more than I need? It's a waste of money."
"Come on, Eric. You can afford it. And you might want to do something more interesting with it, like play games."
He scowled at her. "I don't play games."
"Well, you should. All work and no play. You know what that does."
"You think I'm dull, huh?"
"Not exactly. But maybe you could use more of a life outside Bio-Lab."
Surprisingly, he smiled. "Wes says the same thing. I think you're ganging up on me."
"Let me show you some of my games. What do you think you'd like? Role playing? Strategy? Card games?"
"Something where I can shoot things."
"That figures. Men. Always wanting to blow things up."
"Not always. So, are you going to show me something or not?"
With a sigh, she picked out a game and started it. Somewhat to her surprise, Eric plunged in, learning the rules quickly and showing considerable enthusiasm. Maybe too much. An hour later, by the time he had massacred the enemy to his satisfaction, she had gotten bored and slightly annoyed. Finally he exited the game with a grin at her.
"All done slaughtering everything that moves?" she inquired.
"Yeah. That was fun. You were right."
"Took you long enough," she complained.
He smiled unrepentantly. "You started it."
"Yeah, and I'm starting to be sorry I did. I've created a monster."
With another smile, he said, "No chance. I wouldn't even buy one. Takes too much time. Besides, I got plenty of fighting in real life when the mutants were here." He got up and moved across the room, stretching.
She followed. "You've never told me about that. What was it like?"
He shrugged. "Some of it was good. Some bad. Like anything else."
"You helped save Silver Hills. That sounds pretty good to me."
He looked down at the floor. "Believe it or not, sometimes I acted like a jerk back then."
She smiled and crossed her arms. "What do you mean, 'back then'?" He returned the smile. "What did you do that was so jerky?"
"I was into power. That's why I took the morpher. I had just started in the Silver Guardians. Just moved to Silver Hills. The Quantum morpher fell in front of me, literally. And I took it. Wes told me I didn't know what I was getting into. Later I found out he was right."
"From what I hear, you did okay."
"Depends on who you ask." He started back to the desk. "Come on. It's getting late. Let's buy me a computer."
Ray was getting bored when it happened. He felt it before he saw it, felt an electricity in the air, a sudden thrill of excitement. Looking up, he saw a dark whirlpool suddenly blossom high in the sky a few miles over the ocean, clearly visible in the moonlight.
"What is that?" he asked Alcott.
"That is what's bringing us those weapons. And what brought us the treatment I used on you. We're seeing tonight's shipment coming in." As they watched, a small flying ship appeared out of the middle of the whirlpool. It circled overhead and then descended.
Ray watched it. "This whole side of the city can see this."
"I know."
"What if the Guardians or the Rangers show up?"
Alcott smiled. "I'm counting on it. And I'm counting on you." He rested a hand on Ray's shoulder. "This is your chance to show what you can do. Beat the Quantum Ranger for me. Make me proud."
They were both peering into the monitor when they heard the beeping. Eric's cell phone was ringing, from the jacket he had tossed on the couch. With a soft curse he jumped up and went to get it.
"That's why I refuse to have one of those things, neat gizmo or not," Gaby commented before he answered it.
"Yes," he said into the phone, turning his back to her. She caught the rest of the one-sided conversation.
"Where? What does it look like?" His voice was sharp.
"Shit. Okay. I'll be there in a few minutes." He put away the phone with a deep breath and turned back. "Sorry. I have to go. Guardian business."
"What happened?"
He hesitated for an instant before telling her. "My men have spotted a timehole on the west side, over the ocean."
"A timehole?"
"Yes. That's how the Rangers from the future -- and the mutants -- got here. They open a wormhole through time. It looks like a whirlpool in the sky. Someone's coming through, from the future." He was quickly putting on his jacket.
Gaby stared for a moment. Through her involvement with Emma and her sisters, she had been told that the other Rangers, and the mutants, had come from the future. And she had been told a little about the current problem with weapons being imported. She was fully aware that whoever was coming through that timehole was unlikely to be friendly, and felt more than a touch of fear.
Eric turned at the door. "You can probably see it from here. Come on."
Downstairs they moved out to the sidewalk and looked up. Gaby saw it, a black and violet swirl high in the moonlit sky over the ocean, glints of light and other colors whirling inside it. Under other circumstances it might have been beautiful.
"I have to get going." She turned to see Eric watching her with a slight smile.
"Eric..." She moved closer and tugged at his sleeve to stop him. "Be careful. Whoever that is could be dangerous."
"I'm always careful." He grinned unexpectedly. "Wanna see me morph?"
"God, yes. I'm a real sucker for superheroes."
He grinned again, looking down into her face. Without warning, he moved forward and kissed her, just for a second, so quickly she had no time to react. Then he stepped back several feet and stopped. She would always remember that moment, the light touch of his lips still on hers, the sight of him smiling at her, the still, clear night air, only enough breeze to ruffle his hair. The bright, white moonlight streaming down, his face seeming pale against dark hair and clothes. It was one of those moments that seemed perfect and eternal, in and of itself.
Then he raised his left arm and said "Quantum Power!" into the morpher on his wrist. Light flashed over him, almost blinding in the night, bursting and then rapidly fading. It left him standing in the red and black Quantum Ranger suit, his face now hidden by the helmet, his blaster holstered at his side. While she had seen him morph once before, it had been in a situation that did not allow her to appreciate it. This time was completely different.
She clasped her hands and cried, "My hero!" The tone was teasing but strangely enough, she meant it. A thrill of excitement went through her, not entirely because of Eric's tight and flattering outfit. She was looking at a man who was about to risk his life to do the right thing, to protect people like her. A hero, by anyone's definition.
He raised the morpher again and said, "TF Eagle!" A small aircraft appeared above their heads and lowered to the ground next to him. He turned and leaped onto the wing, quickly sliding into the cockpit. His helmeted head turned back to her and he raised his hand in a salute, his voice calling, "See ya!" The cockpit cover closed as the Eagle lifted off, silently turning overhead and swiftly disappearing in the direction of the timehole, which was now gone.
She stood for a moment, watching him disappear into the darkness. "See ya," she said softly. "Good luck."
Year: 2202
"Jen!" She turned at the sound of her name, and smiled. Katie was hurrying down the corridor after her. They fell into step, walking on toward Captain Logan's office.
"How are you, Katie? It's been a while. You look great."
"Thanks, I feel great. How are you doing?"
"Fine." She caught Katie giving her an appraising look. She smiled, but knew it wasn't totally convincing.
"How's it going with Alex?"
Jen shrugged. "Fine. He's a great guy."
"But something's wrong."
"Katie…"
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
"I know." She watched the floor as they walked. "Alex is great. It's me. Things just aren't the same."
"You spent a year apart. Both of you have changed. Nobody's fault."
"I guess. But you know that's not the only problem."
"Maybe it'll still work out." After a pause Katie changed the subject. "Do you think we'll have to go back again?"
"From what I hear, the disruption in the timestream is growing. Someone from our time is doing something to alter history, and I guess we'll have to try to correct it. But we'll know soon enough. That's what this meeting is about."
"How do you feel about going?"
They stopped at Logan's door. "Katie -- I don't know if I can face it." She suddenly blinked back tears. "I can't go through that again. Seeing him -- and then saying goodbye."
"Jen…" Katie's face was compassionate.
Jen squared her shoulders and opened the door. "Come on. We don't want to be late."