Ray, Gaby, Gunn, Alcott, Lorent, and TransGenics are mine.
Rated PG-13 : Mild sexuality; harsh language, strong violence.
"What are you doing here?"
Trip and Lucas lost their smiles, and exchanged an uncomfortable glance. Trip answered Wes. "There's been another disruption in the timestream. Someone from our time has traveled back to yours, and caused a change in history. Our scientists are still trying to trace it, but it looks like something's happened to Eric."
"Yeah, he's been kidnapped. We've been going crazy trying to find him."
"And it looks like someone got the Quantum morpher away from him."
Wes frowned. "I thought that was what they were after." He explained quickly about the shipments of weapons from the future, and the fight in the TransGenics warehouse. "That was over twenty-four hours ago. We've got to find him, fast."
"We can locate him," Lucas said. "But it may be too late."
"What do you mean, too late?"
Lucas looked at Trip, who answered reluctantly. "We brought scanning equipment. We've been looking for the Quantum morpher for almost a day now."
"A day? Why didn't you contact me?"
"We were trying to interfere with history as little as possible. When we were here before, there was too much interaction," Lucas said. "We intended to do what we could to save Eric and recover the morpher, and then go home. Now -- we need your help."
Trip continued. "We can only detect the Quantum morpher when it's being used. We didn't pick up anything until about half an hour ago. Eric released the voice lock. And someone else activated it. Someone else is the Quantum Ranger now."
Wes turned away and sank onto the sofa, suddenly weak. "Jesus. What did they do to him, to make him release the lock?"
"We know where he is now. But we have to hurry."
"Right. I'll get dressed." Wes stood up, and started out of the room. He turned back at the door. "Where are Jen and Katie?"
Another uncomfortable glance between Trip and Lucas. "They didn't come. Command only wanted to send two people," Lucas said. "It's just us."
Wes felt sharp disappointment, even through urgency and anxiety, but there was no time to think about it now. "I'll contact the Guardians and be ready in a couple of minutes. Where are we going?" Trip gave him the location. He started back to his room at a run.
Ray paused at the door. He didn't know why he was doing this. He didn't owe Eric anything, especially after the lies he told about Dr. Alcott. But Ray felt sorry for him, the way he had been hurt, and tied up. And he felt a nagging sense of responsibility. He went in.
Eric was slumped in the chair again, looking about the same as before. When Ray bent to look at his face, he saw that his skin was paler, and shiny with sweat. And he was shivering, just a little bit.
"Hey." He said it a couple more times. When there was no response, he shook Eric's shoulder gently. Finally he blinked and opened his eyes, and raised his head a little, staring blankly, as if he couldn't see.
"I brought you more water." There was no answer. Ray held the glass to Eric's lips. He drank a little then. Ray knelt to look into his face, wondering what was wrong. "Can you hear me?" He said it again, a little louder.
"Uh... cold." His voice was so low and indistinct even Ray could hardly hear him.
"You're cold?"
"So dark..."
"It's not dark in here. What's wrong with you?"
Eric's eyes blinked, still unfocused. His face grimaced in pain. "Head hurts. Make it stop."
"I can't do that. I don't know how."
"Please..."
"Dr. Alcott would get mad."
"Hurts..." It was a whimper now.
Ray looked around. It seemed obvious that the machine with wires attached to Eric's chair was doing whatever was making his head hurt. He stood up and examined it. Among the dials and switches there was a red button, with a light next to it. It was on. With a quick, guilty look around, Ray pressed the button. The light went out, and the soft humming sound stopped. He smiled. He had done it. He moved back to the chair.
"Better?"
Eric only mumbled softly. The mumbling turned into incoherent moaning. Ray backed to the door. He had done what he could. More than he should have done. He considered turning the machine back on, so he wouldn't get into trouble. But maybe they would think they had turned it off by accident. Anyway he just couldn't do it.
"Sorry," he said quietly, as he left.
Trip and Lucas had brought three Timeflyers. Wes smiled as he took off, enjoying the exhilaration of flying in the fast, small aircraft, despite his anxiety. Eric was lucky to have his own personal flyer. Wes frowned at the thought. Yeah. Lucky.
They reached their destination in minutes, and circled above it. Little showed on the ground, just a few small, unused-looking buildings and an empty parking lot.
Trip's voice came from his morpher. "Most of it is underground. We can get in though that shack with the big tree behind it."
"Right. The Guardians should be here soon. They'll see the flyers and know how to get in."
"I'm reading an alarm system. They'll know we're coming. No way to sneak in."
"Then let's give them a big knock on the door," Lucas's voice said.
"You got it." Wes targeted the shack. "Now!" he shouted. Blaster cannon beams shot from their flyers, striking the shack, sending it exploding in flaming fragments. In seconds they were on the ground, running through the debris. Where the structure had been, they saw a stairway leading down. There were lights below. The Red, Blue, and Green Rangers paused for only an instant.
"Let's do it!" Wes led the way down. At the bottom they saw two guards, aiming guns at them. The bullets were ineffective against their suits, but their blasters left the two men unconscious. They ran on, down a wide corridor. The place was erupting in shouts and men running. Quickly they dropped everyone they saw, leaving a trail of inert bodies. Wes noticed only in passing that his chest was beginning to hurt again.
"This way!" Trip shouted. "The Quantum morpher's been activated again!"
"Shit," Wes muttered. "Take out as many of these men as you can. I don't want any more Guardians getting killed."
"We should separate. Meet at Trip's coordinates," Lucas shouted.
"Right." Wes knew the display in his helmet would direct him. And they were in communication, they would know if any of them ran into trouble. With a bogus Quantum Ranger somewhere in this place, there was bound to be big trouble.
Ten minutes later, he had almost run out of men to shoot. Reaching the end of another corridor, he paused for a moment, rubbing his ribs, where a burning pain was starting to grow. He ignored it and turned back, running to the closest intersection and turning down a new hallway. Then he stopped.
The Quantum Ranger was standing only a few yards away from him, seeming to be waiting. Wes took a step closer, staring. For a moment he felt an overwhelming anger. It was the Quantum Ranger, but it wasn't Eric. Even if this man hadn't been a little taller and thinner, Wes would have known it wasn't the same body in the tight-fitting suit. He aimed his blaster, and took another step.
"Trip. Lucas. I need you," he murmured. Their acknowledgements came softly. The false Ranger facing him moved, drawing the Quantum Defender from its holster. They both stood still.
"Who are you?" Wes asked. "Where's Eric Myers?"
"I suppose I might as well tell you. It won't do you any good," the man said, his voice confident. "My name is Lorent. Your partner is in one of our laboratory rooms."
"Is he alive?"
A laugh. "Last time I saw him -- it depends on your definition of 'alive'."
"Bastard!" Wes took another step forward. He heard a sound behind him and looked back, expecting his teammates. Instead he saw a man -- no more than a boy, really -- with strange, light blue hair and too pale skin. He was big, and looked strong. He took a few steps forward.
"Ray. Just in time. I'll let you take care of him. Should be no problem," Lorent said. Wes glanced at him, then turned back as the blue-haired man charged. He blocked a few punches, swiftly realizing that the young man was as strong as any of the mutants they had faced. And with that blue hair, and that strange skin...
"You're another mutant. From the future? Or did Alcott and T-Gen make you?"
"You sound like the other guy. I'm not a mutant."
"Yeah? How did you get so strong? And why is your hair blue?"
The man grinned. "Dr. Alcott made me strong. And it made my hair blue too."
"You are a mutant."
"Doesn't matter. I was strong enough to beat the other Ranger."
"Where is he? What did you do to him?"
"I didn't do anything. Just kicked him a little." He sounded like a pouting child. Wes felt a surge of fury.
"If he's hurt, I'll make you sorry for it!"
"It's not my fault!" Even more like a child. "Lorent made his head hurt. I wanted to help him." Blue-hair stepped back a little.
"Don't talk to him, Ray! Just fight him!" Lorent shouted from behind Wes. Ray started forward slowly, looking reluctant.
"Wes!" A quick glance showed him Trip on the other side of the blue-haired man, with Lucas right behind him. They both ran forward, as Ray turned to face them.
"Get this guy!" Wes shouted. "Watch out, he's strong! I'm going after the other one!" He turned around, just in time to dodge a blast from the Quantum Defender. He fired back, hitting the other Ranger, at full power this time, but doing little damage. He heard rapid blaster shots behind him, and a scream of anger and pain in Ray's voice.
With a bound, Wes was on his opponent, grabbing his arm and trying to wrench the Defender from his hand. He realized he actually had a chance of doing it, despite the weakness from his injury; Lorent might be in the Ranger suit, but he lacked Eric's speed, strength, and training. And his courage; he managed to knock Wes off for a moment, and immediately turned and ran. Something shoved Wes aside and he saw Ray run after him.
Wes started after them, a glance back showing him Lucas and Trip only a few steps behind. They ran, chasing their quarry through several turns in the identical corridors. Finally Lorent and Ray darted through a large reinforced door, slamming it behind them. It took the three Rangers several rounds of blaster fire to get through. They ran up a tunnel, lit only by the corridor lights behind them and the moonlight shining faintly in the other end. They got to the surface just in time to see the timeship lift off and vanish in the night sky.
The Guardians were in control of the underground complex when they re-entered it from the tunnel. Squads of Wes's troops were rounding up those few of T-Gen's men who were still conscious, and handcuffing and removing those who weren't. Wes, Trip, and Lucas had barely begun to search when Miller came hurrying up, out of breath.
"Commander Collins! We found him," he announced.
"Is he all right?"
Miller's face contracted. He dropped his eyes to the floor. "No. You'd better hurry."
Wes raised his morpher and tapped it, demorphing. "Take me there," he said quietly. Trip and Lucas demorphed and followed, silently, as they ran, Miller leading the way through the hallways. Wes found time to wonder how he didn't get lost. They stopped at the open door to a small room, apparently some kind of laboratory. Wes stepped inside to see Eric, sitting in a chair, several Guardians bent over him. They had unfastened the straps that had obviously been used to restrain him, and were trying to get a response from him. Wires dangled from the top of the chair's backrest. Eric appeared to be unconscious, his face tense and strained. He was shivering slightly.
Then Wes heard it, a low moan, punctuated by a gasp. The sound was chilling, the kind of sound that should never come from a living being. He stepped forward and knelt in front of his friend, grasping his arms.
"Eric? Can you hear me?" Eric's eyelids fluttered. He raised his head slightly. Wes saw four small, reddened marks on his temples and forehead.
"Cold..." The word was soft and weak, completely unlike Eric's usual confident tones.
Wes turned to Miller. "We have to get him to the hospital."
"Ambulance is on the way. Let's get him out of here."
They lifted him, Wes, Lucas, and Trip helping to carry the limp body back to the tunnel they had been through before. When they reached the surface, they took him to the cluster of Guardian SUV's parked around the remains of the shack they had blown up. They laid him down in the pool of brightness from the car headlights, a circle of watching men casting their shadows over them.
Wes sat to support Eric's head and shoulders on his lap. He bent his head, watching, willing his friend to just open his eyes, look up, and say, "What the hell are you doing?" But he knew it wouldn't happen. He looked at Trip and Lucas, kneeling on Eric's other side. Trip had one of his instruments out, and was scanning with it.
"Trip. Can't you do something? Use your medical equipment?"
Trip's face showed his despair. "I'm sorry. Even if we had the medical unit here, it wouldn't do any good. There's too much damage to his brain."
"His brain... Oh, my God." Wes looked down. He saw Eric's eyelids flutter again, and then saw his eyes open. They stared blankly, then moved rapidly. He gasped deeply and tensed, his face frightened.
"Eric. Eric, can you hear me?"
The eyes slowed, and almost focused on him. The lips moved. The voice was hoarse and so low Wes had to strain to hear it. "Wes?"
"Yes. It's me, Eric. You're safe now."
A hand reached up, uncertainly. Wes took it and squeezed gently, feeling an answering pressure.
"Can't see."
"It's okay, Eric. Everything will be all right."
"Wes... sorry."
"For what?"
"I... did it..."
"What did you do?"
"Morpher... morpher..." His voice quivered. There were tears in those blank dark eyes.
"I know. It wasn't your fault. Don't worry, it'll be all right."
"Don't go..."
"I won't."
Eric blinked several times. His breathing deepened into sighs and he shivered again. He spoke one more time, not much more than a whisper, so soft Wes had to bend over him to hear.
"Wes. Brother..." The deep breaths quieted and stilled. The shivering faded.
"Eric... No..." Wes bent lower, unable to see now himself, through a blur of tears. Eric's eyes were fixed and staring. His hand was limp. There were no more signs of breathing or movement. He had simply stopped.
Wes heard the sound of sirens, then saw the Guardians around them move aside as the paramedics ran in. They took over, moving Wes away, a respirator ready while they opened Eric's jacket and cut away his shirt to attach their equipment. Wes watched them work numbly, wincing when Eric's body jerked in a travesty of life as they shocked his heart. He knew they were just going through the motions. He knew instinctively that Eric was gone.
"I'm sorry, Wes." Lucas was next to him on one side, Trip on the other with tears in his own eyes, their comforting hands on his shoulders. He saw Miller, several other Guardians around him, all with disbelief, shock, and grief on their faces. They all watched, waiting for the inevitable.
Wes turned away, his self-control crumbling, when one of the paramedics finally sat back, nodded to the others, and said, "Time of death..."