Ray, Gaby, Gunn, Alcott, Lorent, and TransGenics are mine.
Rated PG-13 : Mild sexuality; harsh language, strong violence.
"Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy time trip."
Wes smiled. Lucas had watched too many old movies during his stay in 2001. At least he misquoted from the classics.
"Wes. Are you sure you understand what's going to happen?"
"Yes, Trip. You and Logan only explained it a million times." He sighed. The whole thing sounded so bizarre. "Go ahead and tell me again, if you want." Anything to distract himself from thinking about how dangerous this was. And Trip looked like he could use some distraction too.
"The timestream can't tolerate the same person existing twice at the same time. When we arrive in the past, you'll exist in the timeship, and at the same time your previous self will exist back in your house. The timestream won't allow that to happen. So as soon as we exit from the timehole, the two versions of you will merge. Hopefully what'll happen is you'll replace your previous self, keeping your memories of the last ten days, and healed from your injury."
"What do you mean, 'hopefully'?"
"That's the theory. It's never been tested. No one's ever done this before. You could also just vanish from reality, leaving only your previous self. Some scientists even think this universe could be wiped out of existence."
"Oh, great. Now you tell me."
Trip laughed. "That's not very likely. The theory's pretty well established. But you still have time to back out."
"No way."
"Get ready, people. I'm about to open the timehole," Lucas announced.
The deep rumble of the engines changed pitch. Wes watched through a ceiling porthole as the familiar beam stabbed into the sky, blossoming into the whirlpool of a timehole. It swirled, black and violet with lights sparking inside. Then it changed subtly, the color becoming first greenish and then blue.
"It's a non-standard timehole," Trip said softly. "That's why the color is different."
Wes glanced around at the others in the ship. Trip sat next to him, at the back. Katie and Jen sat in the row in front of them, Lucas was piloting, and Alex sat in the co-pilot's chair at his side. All of them had volunteered, without hesitation. He wondered if all of them were as scared as he was.
"Remember, Wes, when we get out of the timehole, we won't be able to communicate until we land. Don't panic if you can't contact us right away."
If you land. He didn't say it. "I know, Trip. You told me." According to theory, he would disappear from the ship and find himself at home, in bed, where his previous self had been. He'd have to act fast, after that, no matter what happened to the others. That was part of the plan. If the ship didn't make it down safely, it would all be up to Wes.
His eyes rested on the back of Jen's head. If he had the choice, she wouldn't be here. He hated the thought of her taking such a risk. But she was a Time Force officer, she had chosen to come on this mission, and she belonged here with the rest of them.
They lifted off smoothly and rose swiftly. Wes looked to the side, trying to imprint his memory with the sight of Time Force headquarters and Silver City spread out beyond it. It was the last time he would see them.
The ship turned. "Here we go," Lucas said softly, his voice steady.
They accelerated forward and plunged into the timehole. Color swirled around them, seeming to invade the air inside the ship. Wes felt energy rippling through him, almost painful in its intensity, and then a feeling like static running over his skin. The ship shuddered and began to rotate, or perhaps gravity was shifting. After a moment it steadied.
Colors rushed by, faster and faster, disorienting in their speed and intensity. Wes looked away from the portholes, his stomach jumping. Then the whole ship jumped, lurching violently, dropping, then smoothing out, but only for a minute. A deafening banging came from the back. They were suddenly weightless, then crushed into their seats, then yanked from side to side.
Wes looked up as a dazzling bright light began to shine through the front viewscreen. They flew toward it, like a moth to a flame, Wes thought uncomfortably. The ship shuddered, feeling like it would come apart at any moment. Wes shielded his eyes.
"Hang on! We're coming out!" Lucas shouted.
Trip turned his head. "Good luck, Wes!"
"Good lu-"
Darkness, more than darkness, absolute absence of light. Absence of anything. No gravity, but he didn't feel sick, or like he was falling, because his body was gone too. No fear, no pain, no thought, nothing, for either a microsecond or a millennium.
Wes sat up. It was suddenly quiet, still dark, but a normal darkness now, with moonlight showing him the room around him as his eyes adjusted. Softness under him. His bed, in his bedroom. He was home.
Scrambling up and clicking on the light, he grabbed his watch from the night table and checked the date and time. Wes smiled and raised his morpher.
"Eric?" He waited, nerves jumping as it took a few moments.
"Wes. What is it?" Eric's voice, sounding hurried, impatient, slightly annoyed, and most of all, alive.
Wes grinned shakily and steadied himself with a deep breath. "Where are you?"
"Headed for the west side… What's wrong? I'm kind of busy right now."
"You've spotted a timehole there. You're going to the T-Gen warehouse."
"Damnit! I told Miller not to contact you!"
"Don't blame Steve. Listen, I'll meet you there. Find the Guardians and wait for me."
"You're not in shape for a fight. We already talked about this."
Wes smiled again. "I've had a miraculous recovery."
"Bullshit. Just stay where you are. We can handle this."
"Eric… do you trust me?"
A sigh, audible over the communicator. "Yeah, I guess."
"Then wait for me, with the Guardians. Please."
"Jesus. All right. Twenty minutes, and that's all."
"Good enough. I'll be there." He disconnected.
Wes started to look for his clothes and then decided he didn't have the time. He charged out of the bedroom in his pajamas, raced down the stairs, ignored his father's started exclamation from the living room doorway, and ran out into the night. He paused only long enough to tap his morpher. In a moment the Red Ranger was on his vectorcycle, driving west.
Once on the main road, he raised his morpher. There had been enough time. He had to know.
"Jen?" Again that panicky feeling, as a few seconds ticked by. And then…
"Wes. You made it."
"Jen!" He laughed in sheer relief. "So did you."
"Barely. We're getting ourselves together. What's going on?"
"I talked to Eric. I'm meeting him at the warehouses in a few minutes."
"We'll see you there." The communicator shut off.
Wes knew the streets of Silver Hills well, and he had rehearsed this route in his mind a dozen times. It was late, there was little traffic. He was there in only fifteen minutes, spotting a dark line of Silver Guardian SUVs with a knot of people standing by them.
He parked quickly and ran toward them, looking for a red beret until he remembered Eric had been wearing street clothes. And there he was, saying something to Miller, then turning and walking to meet Wes.
"Wes! What's going on?" He stopped as Wes demorphed back into his pajamas, and then smiled. "What's this, your new superhero costume? What are you doing in… Hey!"
Wes was hugging him tightly. He felt Eric tense, and then pat him on the back, briefly and tentatively. He let go and stepped back, grinning.
"Wes -- is something wrong?" Eric's face held concern, perplexity, and a little amusement.
"Nope. I'm just really glad to see you again."
"You saw me at lunch."
"It's been a lot longer than that, for me." He grinned again and looked up into the moonlit sky. "Looks like we've got company."
Five Timeflyers swooped down from the darkness almost soundlessly. They landed a few yards away, and the Black, Pink, Green, Blue, and Yellow Rangers climbed off and walked toward them. They stopped when they reached Wes and Eric, and raised their morphers, in a quick flash of light transforming into Alex, Jen, Trip, Lucas, and Katie.
"What are you doing here? Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Eric demanded.
"Simple," Wes said. "The first time this night happened, you had a fight in the warehouse with Alcott and this jerk from the future, Lorent, and a mutant named Ray. They captured you, and took you to their secret base, and hooked you up to this sort of mental torture machine. You ended up releasing the voice lock on the Quantum morpher, and telling them about the serum. Lucas and Trip showed up, and we found you but you died. We chased them into the future, but they got away, and they were going to change history and screw everything up, so we came back to tonight, to do it over again, keep you from getting killed, and keep all of it from happening."
Eric stared at him. "What?"
"All of this happened before-"
"I heard you. That's crazy."
"I swear it's true. Ask Trip or Lucas."
"I was dead?"
"Dead as a doornail." He grinned again. "We had a very nice funeral for you."
Eric eyed him suspiciously, and then looked the others over. They were all smiling at him, even Alex. "It's still crazy, but I guess it must be true, or they wouldn't be here, all grinning at me like that. So... what now?"
Wes took a step toward the other Rangers, smiling with a little hesitation. "Alex? You're in command."
He showed surprise only for an instant. "Right. Thanks. Wes and I will go with Eric. The rest of you, go with the Guardians. That okay with you, Wes?"
"Sure is."
Eric morphed with the others and watched Jen, Katie, Trip, and Lucas join the group of Guardians. They began to move toward the far warehouse, where his morpher had told him the timeship was.
"Remember, stay back. Use extreme caution. I don't want anyone getting killed this time," Wes called softly to Miller. Then he and Alex turned back to Eric.
"TF Eagle!" he said quietly into his morpher. The small flyer appeared above their heads and lowered to the ground next to him. Eric leaped onto it and dropped into the cockpit, followed by Wes and Alex, who each crouched on a wing. Carefully, he took off and looped toward their target. In a few seconds he was setting down on the roof.
Moments later, he and Wes were lifting a trapdoor, and the three of them were peering down into the dimly lit warehouse. Below them, they could see the timeship, and men swarming around it, unloading boxes that he knew must contain a shipment of weapons. Almost directly underneath, he could see a young man with strange light blue hair, staring up at them, although he was sure they were almost invisible against the dark sky.
"That's Ray. Watch out for him, Alcott's mutated him," Wes's voice came in his helmet. "But -- he's not a bad guy, really. He tried to help you, later on."
"He's very young, and not too bright, at this point. He doesn't know what he's gotten into," Alex added. "The mutating treatment will kill him in weeks if he doesn't get help soon."
"Got it. Ready?" Alex and Wes nodded. "Let's go."
He drew the Quantum Defender and saw them materialize their weapons. A few shots dropped some of the men below. As the shouting and running started, Eric was first through the trapdoor, leaping down to land in a roll on the floor. Wes and Alex landed lightly beside him. They moved together, back to back to back in a triangle, firing as quickly as they could to stun as many men as they could hit.
Their opponents began to shoot back and they all dashed for cover, finding boxes and cartons to leap behind and continuing the fight. Energy blasts and gunshots lit the vast space with staccato bursts of radiance, like lightning in a storm.
Eric heard blaster fire and shouting from the other side of the warehouse. Miller and his men, and the other Rangers, had made their way in and were advancing, working their way gradually closer. The weapons fire between them and the men in black was intense. He saw men running to the cases of weapons, beginning to open them. With those blasters, they would have an advantage. He leaped over the carton he was using as cover and moved closer. In moments he had a clear shot and was firing at the men around the cases, driving them back.
A movement caught his eye and he looked to see the blue-haired man aiming at him. He dodged, and was taken by surprise at the speed with which the man corrected his aim and fired. The blast caught him, sending him tumbling to the floor.
"Eric!" Wes was in front of him a moment later, shielding him and firing back. The blue-haired man retreated, but Alex was behind him, blaster aimed.
"Ray! Fall back! We have to get out of here!" a voice shouted. The men in black were retreating. The air was filled with shouting and cursing.
"Wes! Alex! Cut them off! I'll take care of this guy," Eric said.
"Okay. Be careful." Wes said. He and Alex ran toward the doors.
Eric faced the blue-haired man, who was starting to look frightened. "Jesus, you're just a kid," he said.
"I am not! I'm bigger than you!"
"Maybe. But size isn't the only thing that counts."
"I can beat you." He put away his blaster and advanced on Eric, fists up.
"Look, kid. Ray. We don't have to be enemies. You don't know what Alcott did to you."
"He made me strong!"
"Yeah. But he also used a treatment that made your DNA unstable."
Ray hesitated, looking confused and uncertain. "I don't know what that means."
"It means you'll die because of that treatment, if we don't help you."
"You're lying. Dr. Alcott wouldn't do that!"
"He already has. We all want to help you. Don't fight us."
"You're lying!" Ray sprang forward, swinging a punch at Eric.
He was fast, and strong, but untrained. Eric ducked under the blow and struck back, with little effect. In moments he realized he had a real fight on his hands. Then Ray grabbed at the Defender, trying to yank it from his hand. They struggled for it, almost equally matched, but Eric was still feeling the effects of the blast he had taken.
He was about to lose the contest when Ray suddenly let go and knocked him back with a blow to the chest. As Ray turned to run a blaster shot hit him. He staggered but kept going. Another shot hit him. Eric aimed with the Defender, fired, and he finally went down. Katie and Trip passed Eric and ran to stand over Ray.
"He was tough, but we got him," Trip said.
"Yeah, thanks."
Eric looked around. The Guardians had moved in, and were rounding up the remaining conscious men in black. He saw Wes pushing Alcott toward them. As he moved closer to the timeship, he saw Alex and Lucas pulling Lorent out, to where a couple of Guardians were waiting to handcuff him. He checked Ray, saw that he was unconscious but otherwise unharmed, and signaled to a group of Guardians to take charge of him.
In minutes the prisoners were under control, gathered in the space in front of the timeship. Eric did a quick head count, and was gratified to see all of his Guardians were uninjured. He spotted Wes standing apart from the others and walked over to him.
"You okay?" Wes greeted him.
"Of course. Piece of cake. We got all of them, with no one hurt."
"Yeah. Things turned out better this time. A lot better."
Eric smiled as they both demorphed. "I'm going to have to start calling you pajama-boy."
"Crap, forgot about that." He looked down at himself, then up at Eric with a grin. "I didn't have time to get dressed. In too much of a hurry to save your neck."
"Wes..." Eric hesitated for a moment. "Thanks." He briefly gripped Wes's shoulder before locating Miller in the crowd of Guardians, and starting for him.
Alex turned as Jen approached, and saw her. He gave her a quick smile.
"We did it," she said. "Saved Eric, prevented a major change in history, captured Lorent."
"Yes, a pretty good night's work." He looked at her more closely. "What's wrong?"
"This probably isn't the right time..."
He sighed. "But I already know, don't I?"
"Yes." She steadied herself with a breath before going on. "Seeing Wes again -- you were right about me. Alex, I'm sorry. You've always been so good to me. If I had any sense, I'd marry you tomorrow. But I still love Wes."
He looked away from her, his eyes distant. "I've been expecting this."
"I know. All of this hasn't been fair to you."
"No, it hasn't. You should never have started seeing me again."
Jen's eyes fell, as guilt rose up. "I'm sorry," she said again.
"I'll live."
"I wish there was something I could do."
He smiled, without any real feeling. "Our mission succeeded. We've prevented a disaster. We should be happy, shouldn't we?"
Jen felt tears threaten and fought them back. "I don't blame you for being angry. I hope someday you'll forgive me."
He gazed at her bleakly. "I'll get over it. But you -- you'll have to leave him again."
"I know." She saw him look up, followed his gaze, and saw Wes watching them, obviously reluctant to interrupt.
"Go on and talk to him," Alex said softly. "Spend the time you have together."
"Alex..."
"Just don't try to come back to me, when you're alone again," he added bitterly, and walked away. She watched him go, before stiffening her back and starting for Wes.
He met her halfway with a smile. "We did it, Jen. Got Lorent. I guess you'll take him back with you, to stand trial."
"We have to stay the ten days first, so we don't get back before we left."
"Right. I forgot about that."
"I told Alex. It's over," Jen said.
"You did?" He smiled again, then his face became serious. "I feel bad for him. And I guess we really shouldn't spend that time together. It'll just make things harder, in the long run."
"We probably shouldn't." She smiled, a little sadly. "But let's face it. There's no way we're going to stay apart."