Ray, Gaby, Gunn, Alcott, Lorent, and TransGenics are mine.
Rated PG-13 : Mild sexuality; harsh language, strong violence.
Wes hardly noticed as they took off, the ship swiftly flying toward the timehole it had opened for their trip to the future. He had wanted to go along to help his friends, and to stop Alcott and Lorent, just as he had said. But he had also wanted to see Jen again, to be with her. And now... how could she not want to see him? How could she be back with Alex?
Jealousy burned through him, as strong as it had been the time he had seen Jen and Alex together, a year and a half ago. Alex had been Jen's fiancé before Wes had met her. Ransik had killed him, before he stole a timeship and came to 2001, to change history and prevent Time Force from existing, but the multiple changes to the timestream had brought him back. He had come to 2001 to join them, briefly, an Alex from an altered future in which there was a long and bitter war between mutants and humans.
They had prevented that future, in the end, and changed things back to the original timeline. Almost. In the future Jen, Trip, Lucas, and Katie had returned to, Alex had survived Ransik's attack.
Jen had loved Wes when she left, but that had been over a year ago. There was no way they could have stayed together, no way they could be together now. He should have expected her to go back to Alex, the man she had loved first. But somehow he had thought she would be waiting for him.
The ship lurched, bringing his attention back. They were in the timehole, he could see a swirl of color and motion outside the portholes, and feel the sensation of unseen forces ripping at him. It was familiar, from his previous trip through a timehole. But the ship should be shielding them. He felt another sharp lurch, and a strong vibration.
"Is it supposed to be this rough?" he shouted.
"No!" Trip yelled back. "It's the disruption in the timestream. Hang on!"
"We'll make it," Lucas said calmly.
After a few more minutes of jarring flight which left Wes with a pounding head and queasy stomach, he was proven right, as they flew out of the timehole and into a wide blue sky. He craned his neck to look down, and saw a city, spread out over the land for what seemed like an impossible distance. He saw towers, reaching up higher and more gracefully than any he'd ever seen before, and huge buildings shimmering with color in the sun.
"Silver City," Lucas announced. "Used to be Silver Hills. Like it?"
"It's beautiful. So big."
"By today's standards, it's not particularly big."
"You're kidding."
They flew downwards, swooping over the buildings, now close enough that Wes could see other flying ships, ranging from the size of cars to huge things like metal blimps.
"Are those flying cars?" he asked.
"The smaller ones are," Trip answered.
"So everybody flies anywhere they want to go?"
"No. That's just not practical, the sky would be too crowded, and flying is expensive. Most people still travel on the ground."
He watched as they approached a complex of buildings, a large round dome surrounded by a circle of big buildings, with many smaller buildings scattered among them. Lucas flew them down, toward one of the bigger buildings.
"That's Time Force headquarters. We'll be landing there, in just a minute."
Wes saw a field behind the building as they flew over it, with other timeships of various sizes parked. They stopped in midair above it, and lowered slowly to the ground. He saw several people appear and walk toward them, wearing the black and white Time Force uniform.
Lucas and Trip got out of their chairs. Wes stood up, then leaned against his chair as he felt a momentary wave of dizziness. They all made their way to the door, where Wes steadied himself with a hand on the wall. The door opened.
"Welcome back, sir," an efficient-looking young woman said to Lucas. The other people helped them out of the ship, leading them across the field to a large doorway into the building, large enough for a moderate-sized ship to fly through. They were escorted down a hallway and into a room furnished with chairs and couches, and with a set of large windows in one wall, overlooking the main part of the city.
Wes sank into a chair gratefully and closed his eyes. Lucas and Trip sat for a few moments and then got up to look out of the window. Curious, Wes joined them. He looked out over a view of the city, spread out below, sunlight slanting across the buildings, the taller ones seeming to reach almost into the clouds. Like all big cities, it seemed almost like a living creature, complete with a personality. This one seemed to vibrate with vigor and power.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Lucas said softly. "I grew up here. Always loved it."
"Nothing seems to have changed," Trip said. "But it takes awhile for the disruption to spread."
Wes asked, "If we can stop them here -- now -- and keep them from going back to 2003, we can prevent any change, right?"
"No," Lucas said with a sigh. "Eric's death has already changed things. How much, I don't know."
"Eric's death? Is he that important?"
"He's important. He held the Silver Guardians together after Ransik's and Frax's attacks. I don't know how much of what he was supposed to do was already done. But I know he wasn't supposed to die in 2003."
They turned at the sound of footsteps and watched a man enter the room, followed by another man and two women. They all stopped at the other side of the room. The first man was tall, probably the tallest man Wes had ever seen in person. The other had a very familiar face, Wes's own face, with hair and eyes a few shades darker. One of the women was very tall and beautiful, with brown skin and gray eyes. But the second woman, pretty, with shoulder length brown hair and a resolute face, was the only one he really saw.
"Jen," he said softly, stepping forward.
They gave Wes a room, near where Trip, Lucas, and Katie were quartered. Katie cheerfully took the job of guide, taking him there and then offering to show him around. As they closed his door she gave him a sympathetic look and a smile. He smiled back, remembering the hug she had greeted him with. She had learned some restraint; she had actually managed not to crush his newly healed ribs with her mutant strength, although it had still squeezed the breath out of him.
"This'll give us a chance to catch up," she said.
Katie's warmth could make any situation seem better, even his. "Yeah, it will. How have you been doing?" he asked.
"Great. We're sort of heroes now, you know. We all got promotions. And we've all gotten offers, to tell our story. None of us has done it, so far." She looked at him with another smile. "You're a hero, too."
"Really?"
"Haven't you noticed people staring at you?"
"Well, yeah. I thought it was my clothes."
Katie laughed. "No, they want to see the famous Wes Collins. Eric's famous too." Her smile faded and she added, "Sorry, I shouldn't have reminded you."
"It's okay." It occurred to him that to the people here -- now -- both he and Eric were long dead. Eric had just gone a little sooner.
Katie watched him with concern in her face. "This must be hard on you. Seeing Jen again, on top of Eric's death."
"Yeah, hard."
She smiled again. "Well, do you want the grand tour or not?"
"Sure."
Wes absorbed little of what she showed him. They walked into a vast room full of equipment, staffed by people in white jumpsuits. Katie tried to explain, but all he understood was that this was where they monitored the timestream, and tried to determine what damage had been done by changes in the past. The place looked very busy.
Next they entered a huge building where a new timeship was being built. Wes stared at the unfamiliar machinery, only half listening to Katie's explanations. They walked out through a ship-sized doorway into the open air, and looked out over a field of parked timeships. Wes realized this was where they had landed.
"Come on, I'll show you something more interesting," Katie said. She led him toward the center of the complex. After a few minutes they were in the large domed building he had seen from the sky.
"This is the Time Force main headquarters." They walked through what seemed like endless corridors, passing offices and people, many of whom stared at Wes, leaving him uncomfortably self-conscious. Finally they found themselves in a huge circular room, an empty floor in the center, a high bench at the edge of the clear space, and circles of seats all around, reaching to the round wall.
"The courtroom," Katie said. "This is where Ransik was tried. Before he escaped to your time, and after we brought him back."
He stared at the central area, imagining Ransik standing there, restrained somehow, perhaps in chains. A harsh light shining on him like a spotlight. Judges on the bench. People in the seats, watching, staring, their faces surrounding him.
"What happened to him? And Nadira?"
"He's in prison. He seems to really have reformed. In fact, he's part of a program to reach out to mutant soldiers, help them adjust to society. Nadira is on probation, working in a child care center."
"Nadira, working with children?"
"You'd be surprised. She's a natural. Of course she's just a child herself, at heart."
He smiled. "I'm glad to hear it."
She grinned suddenly. "And you'll really never believe this part. Lucas is going out with her."
He laughed in astonishment. "Nadira and Lucas? But he's so... serious."
"I guess opposites attract." She turned back to the entrance. "I'd better get you back to your room. You probably want a few minutes to yourself before we meet with Captain Logan."
"Yeah, I guess. Thanks for the tour." He cast a glance back as they left the room.
"Come in." Wes turned at the sound of a tap on the door of the room they had given him, expecting Katie again, or Trip or Lucas. When Jen stepped in, alone, he looked at her for a long moment, and then turned away, afraid of what his face was showing.
They had greeted each other, if you could call it that, in the time travel recovery room. Jen had hugged him, a quick, almost impersonal embrace, the way one friend would hug another, or the way a woman greets a former love she's no longer interested in. Then she had turned away, and Alex had put an arm around her in comfort, or perhaps possessiveness.
"Wes, I'm sorry about Eric. I know you cared about him," she began.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"We're going to have to work together on this mission... I thought we should talk."
He looked at her. "Is it true, you didn't want to come with Lucas and Trip?"
"It's true. I didn't want to see you again. I didn't want to... start anything again."
"Why?"
She looked down, pain on her face. "Because -- there's nothing between us. It's over. It should never have started. I hope you understand." She said it softly, but it went through him like a knife.
"Of course. I'm in the past now. Literally."
"I thought you would have found someone else by now..."
"I guess you have. You're back with Alex, aren't you?"
She shrugged slightly. "We're dating again, but it isn't the same. I don't know if it'll ever get serious again."
"Why not? He's here. Available. And I'm not."
"Maybe I shouldn't have come here..."
"I thought you loved me." He heard the anger and pain in his own voice and struggled for control.
"I did. But -- we can't be together. We both have to move on."
"So I guess you've forgotten all about me."
"I haven't forgotten. I just don't want to make things worse, for either one of us."
"How is this not making things worse?" Anger was taking over, his words coming without thought.
"Wes, it's been more than a year. You should have gotten over it by now." There was just a hint of anger -- and a note of desperation -- in her voice.
"I didn't know there was a time limit."
"Wes…" She took a breath, obviously reaching for control. "There's no way we can ever stay together. It would be too dangerous for either of us to leave our own time. It's hopeless, and I don't believe in wasting my life on something hopeless."
"So now I'm a waste of time."
"That's not what I meant, and you know it. Don't try to turn this into some kind of betrayal."
"That's what it is, isn't it?" On some level Wes knew he was being irrational, but he didn't care.
Suddenly she grabbed his arm. "Look, Wes. I loved you, and I still care about you, even though you're acting like an idiot right now. But we can't be together. We can never get married, or live together, or have children, or get old together. And I want all of those things for myself." Her voice began to tremble. "Someday I intend to have them, whether it's with Alex or someone else. Don't try to make me feel guilty!"
"Why not? You should feel guilty!"
"I've gone on with my life! You should be doing the same thing!" She glared at him for a moment, and then turned and walked to the door. For a moment she stopped in the doorway, looking back at him, the anger in her face giving way to tears. Then she was gone, slamming the door behind her.
"Lucas shouldn't have brought you. But as long as you're here, we can use you."
Wes sat in Captain Logan's bright, comfortable office, trying to pay attention. But he was too intensely aware of Jen, sitting in a chair as far away from him as she could get, with Alex by her side. He looked, noticing her reddened eyes, and quickly turned his eyes away as Alex looked back. There was something challenging about that glance. It occurred to him that Alex had good reason to be jealous, too.
Alex. His twin. Or doppelganger. When they had warily shaken hands, Wes had had to remind himself that this wasn't the same Alex he had met before, not the one he owed gratitude to, for saving his father's life. Not the grim, sad man who had caused Jen so much confusion. This was the original Alex, the one Jen had loved, or close enough as to make no difference.
Wes returned his attention to Logan as he asked a question. "Wes. What do you know about Alcott and Ray that could be useful to us?"
"I know Alcott supervised TransGenics' mutation experiments. And Ray seems to be a result of one of those experiments. Ray doesn't even know he's a mutant. I think he's not very smart."
"What method were they using to create mutations?"
"I don't know. All I know is they used it on the sisters -- the first T-Gen mutants we met -- when they were babies. Ray remembered it making him stronger and turning his hair blue, so I guess he was several years old, at least."
"After birth. It must be one of the older methods. Probably chemical. They cause genetic instability, makes them almost useless. The longer after birth they're used, the faster the mutated person dies. We haven't used them for -- at least fifty years."
"There's another thing," Alex said quietly. "How old were those first mutants, Wes? The sisters?"
"Maybe twenty-two, twenty-three."
"Then Lorent has been working with TransGenics for over twenty years. Traveling back to the past. And we didn't detect it."
Logan answered him. "He must have been careful not to disturb the timestream. If he only gave TransGenics a small amount of mutating agent, and they only conducted a few small experiments, he would have gotten away with it."
"But now he's getting greedy. Selling weaponry and apparently encouraging TransGenics to make mutant soldiers -- and killing Eric Myers for the Quantum morpher. He doesn't care about changing history anymore."
"Maybe he plans to stay in the past. And he figures with history changed, we'll be unable to go after him." Logan looked thoughtful. "This seems to have been a long-range plan. Perhaps he wanted to change history all along, and was waiting for the right time."
"And the Quantum morpher gives him a perfect opportunity, both to disrupt the timestream in the past and to protect himself."
Logan looked at all of them. "We've got to stop him here. If he gets away, back to the past again, we may not be able to prevent him from causing serious changes. He's already done significant damage. We have to stop it now." He stood up. "Wes, Lucas, Trip, you should all get some rest. When we trace Lorent's timeship or detect the morpher, you'll have to be ready to go."
As they all stood up to leave, Wes heard his name. He turned back, reluctantly, to see Alex standing, looking at him with that same hint of challenge.
"Wait a minute, will you? I want to talk to you." Wes stiffened in anger as Alex and Jen exchanged a glance. She silently passed him with only a look and went out the door.
"What is it?" Wes asked, hearing the hostility in his own voice.
"I guess you don't much like me."
"I… it's nothing personal."
"Just that you're still in love with Jen, and I've been seeing her again." Wes looked away, not answering. "Jen told me about what happened. I know this is hard on you. Especially after losing your friend," Alex continued. "I wish there was some way to make it easier. But there isn't."
"In other words, I should just grow up. Act like an adult. Get on with my life, like Jen said." Wes said bitterly.
"Well… I wouldn't have put it like that. But yes." When Wes turned away he went on. "I can understand how you feel…"
"No, you can't! You're the one who's with her now. I guess you feel pretty good."
There was a deep note of anger in Alex's voice now. "Try having your fiancée come back, hand you your ring, and tell you she's fallen in love with someone else. Then maybe you'll know how I felt."
A twinge of guilt almost penetrated Wes's resentment and pain. Almost. "Maybe you're afraid she'll change her mind again."
"What does that mean?"
"Just what it sounds like. It's been over a year, and you're not even engaged again. Maybe you're the one who's jealous."
Alex stared at him angrily for a moment, and then smiled. But it wasn't a friendly smile. "Don't flatter yourself. Besides, as soon as this is over, you'll be gone."
"But I'm here now. And that bothers you."
"I don't own Jen. But we're friends. I don't want her hurt. So maybe I should say it. Stay away from her."
"I'll do what I want."
Alex's face was suddenly furious. "You stupid bastard. Hasn't it gotten through to you that I have much more right to be angry than you do? You're the one who broke up our engagement. You're the reason we're not married right now." Wes looked away, angry but having no answer to that.
After a moment Alex continued more calmly. "Look, we're involved with a vital mission. Any conflict, even with a temporary team member like you, could be a problem. And we can't afford problems, not now. As leader, I need to be sure we can work together."
"I don't remember signing up for any team. And I sure don't remember making you leader."
Alex glared at him for a moment. "As soon as you insisted on coming to this time, you signed up. And that puts you under my authority."
"I don't have to take your orders."
Alex's voice had gotten angrier again. "I have to know if we can count on you. I don't want this mission jeopardized by a childish, jealous fool!"
Wes felt himself lose control. All the pain of the last days, all the tension, fear, grief, and loss, seemed to flare out. He glared at Alex furiously.
"Why couldn't you have stayed dead?" he shouted. He strode stiffly to the door, yanked it open, and ran out into the hallway, almost knocking Trip over.
Well, that was a really great start to this mission, he thought, as he tried to remember the way back to his room.