Gaby, Gunn, Kane, Klezmi, and Silva are mine.
Rated PG-13 : sexuality; harsh language, strong violence.
"This can't be true. Not again." Gaby sat in her office with Steve Miller, chin propped on one hand, staring at him. They had just spent ten minutes sharing the information they had collected over the last two days. The results were alarming.
"It's true all right." The papers he had brought were lying on her desk. "We have to tell him."
"He has such a temper," Gaby said slowly. "Especially where Kane is concerned..."
"Not telling might put him in danger again."
"You're right." She picked up the phone. He was fast, less than five minutes later he was walking in the door.
"What's going on?" Eric greeted them.
"Close the door and sit down. Please." She pointed to another chair. With a look composed equally of impatience and curiosity, he followed her instructions.
Gaby leaned forward. "After you told me about the way Kane acted with you, I got curious. I started watching his use of the network."
"You did? Can't you get in trouble for that?"
She smiled. "Not technically. Nothing he does on the computer systems here is considered private. Of course, if he finds out, he won't be happy about it. Anyway, then you and Wes were attacked and you wanted me to see if Conwing could have gotten into our computer systems somehow, so I started looking at that too." She paused.
"Go on."
"I found records of Kane looking at the case files and activity logs all the Guardians keep. Especially yours and Wes's."
Eric was silent, his eyes narrowing.
"He spent a lot of time looking at your logs before you and Wes were ambushed."
Steve spoke up. "If he read those files -- he knew exactly where Wes would be that day. And he knew about your arson case. Everything Conwing needed to get you there."
"He looked at both your files a couple of hours before you were attacked," Gaby continued. "Then he left for the day."
"Shit. Bastard."
"There's no proof he's working with Conwing. It could be a coincidence."
Eric smiled grimly. "I don't believe in that kind of coincidence."
"There's one more thing, too," Steve said.
"What?"
"Kane's been pushing this merger with Geneco. Gaby asked me to take a closer look at them. After I traced them back far enough, I found out they're a distant subsidiary of -- guess who -- TransGenics."
"Shit!" Eric jumped up, his face infuriated. "TransGenics attacked us twice before. Now they're trying to take us over. It all fits, Kane must be working for them."
Gaby stood up. "What are you going to do?"
"Just have a little talk with Mr. Kane."
"Eric, you don't have any proof. Let me keep watching him..."
"And let Mr. Collins sit and rot, wherever he is? If Kane's working with Conwing, he may know where he is. I'm going to get it out of him."
"Eric... wait, I'll go with you," Steve said.
"I don't need anyone." With a hard glare, he stalked out.
Gaby and Steve exchanged a glance. "What should we do?" she asked.
Steve hesitated. "You get Gunn. I'll go after him," he said.
"Okay." With a nod, he started after Eric.
Gaby ran into the hallway after them. This was exactly what she had been afraid of. She started for Daryl Gunn's office. While she didn't think Eric would actually attack Kane, an audience would hopefully prevent any violence. And it would prevent Kane from making any false accusations.
Gunn was in his office when she burst in and blurted out her story. It took a few minutes, but then he was hurrying beside her, on their way to Kane's executive office. They found the door open, and saw Eric's uniformed back inside the door, Miller in the hallway, waiting for them.
"What the hell do you mean by barging in here like this?" Kane was almost a match for Eric when it came to glares. He stood and stepped aggressively out from behind his desk. Eric noticed uncomfortably that Kane was considerably bigger and heavier than he was.
"What the hell do you mean by looking into our case logs?"
If he had expected Kane to look guilty, he was disappointed. "Those logs are company property. I have every right to look at them."
"But you have to have a need to know. What was yours?"
"I like to be aware of what's going on in my company. Even when it's only the activities of a bunch of security guards with delusions of grandeur."
Eric took a step forward, fists clenched. "If that's what you think, why bother to be so curious about us?"
Kane smiled unpleasantly, his intense black eyes narrowing. "Exactly what are you accusing me of?"
"You're working with Conwing and Steelix, aren't you?"
"Who?" His expression was deliberately mocking. For the first time, Eric was absolutely sure he was right. He took another step.
"Where's Mr. Collins?"
"Now, how would I know that?" His voice was even more mocking.
"Where is he?"
Kane's eyes shifted to look behind Eric. Risking a quick glance, he saw Gaby and Gunn in the doorway, Miller behind them, watching with alarm on their faces.
"Eric, what are you doing?" Gunn asked evenly.
"He's working with Conwing and Steelix. He knows where Mr. Collins is. And I'm going to make him tell me."
"Eric -- unless you have proof, more than what Gaby told you -- back off."
"That's right, Eric," Kane said with a smirk. "Unless you want to assault an executive officer. I'll make sure you're fired for that, and your friends won't be able to protect you."
"Not much of a threat, when your friends are trying to kill me."
Kane sneered. "That story again, about mutants from the future trying to kill you? You really are insane."
"How did you know they're from the future?" All of them stared at Kane. Eric started for him.
"Only a few people know about that, and none of them would have told you! You're going to tell me where Mr. Collins is, you bastard!" Overwhelmed by rage, Eric jumped forward, grabbing Kane by the lapels, shoving him back against the bookcase behind his desk.
Kane snarled in fury, a frightening, inhuman sound. He raised an arm and batted Eric away, sending him flying back, crashing into Gunn and Miller, who had started forward, and falling to the floor. "I should never have left you alive!" he shouted.
Eric sat up and stared at Kane. "What are you talking about?" he said harshly.
"I've been among you too long," Kane continued, his voice still shaking with anger. "I'm becoming as foolishly soft-hearted as a human. Time to end this charade." He reached inside his jacket, and touched something on his belt.
"What..." Gunn gasped. Miller echoed him. Gaby gave a soft cry. Eric felt his mouth drop open foolishly.
William Kane had blinked out of existence. In his place Conwing stood, tall, white, and terrifying. They stared at each other for a frozen moment. Eric scrambled to his feet and raised his morpher.
Conwing started forward, faster than any human. He backhanded Eric, stunning him and knocking him to the floor again. When he looked up, he saw Gunn driving a foot into the mutant's gut while Miller spun and struck a blaster out of his hand with a high kick. Gaby had picked up a large paperweight and swung it against him from behind. Gunn and Miller moved side-by-side and hit Conwing together, driving him back a step.
Eric climbed to his knees, shouted, "Quantum Power!" and saw and felt the transformation surge through him. But when the light faded, he saw that Conwing had been too fast.
The mutant had Gaby, holding her in front of him, the fingers of one large hand wrapped around her throat. Next to him, both Gunn and Miller started forward, then stopped, both hesitating and looking to Eric.
"Stay back," Conwing said, his voice level. "I can break her neck with nothing but a squeeze." Gaby clawed at his hand, then drove an elbow into his midsection. He appeared hardly to notice, only tightening his grip until her breath was rasping.
"You're killing her! Stop it!"
A cold smile. "Very well. I think she's learned her lesson."
Gaby pulled in a gasping breath, her face terrified. "Eric..." she whimpered softly.
Eric drew the Quantum Defender. "If you hurt her, I swear I'll kill you this time." He was beyond anger by now, feeling nothing but a calm, cold, and murderous hatred.
"I've heard she's your woman. You don't want to see her die."
Eric's voice lowered. "Just let her go."
Conwing grinned maliciously. "Perhaps I'll take her with me. She might be… entertaining."
"No!" Eric saw Gunn and Miller start to edge forward. "Stay away from him!" he shouted. He aimed, clutching his weapon with both hands, wondering if he could kill Conwing with it fast enough to keep him from killing Gaby, knowing he couldn't, knowing he was helpless. She stared at him, eyes wide, silently pleading for rescue.
Still smiling, Conwing started to reach for his belt. Eric knew he was going to trigger his transporter and escape, taking Gaby with him. Desperate, he tried the only thing he could think of.
"Wait! I told you you're fighting on the wrong side! Klezmi's working against the mutants of your time. And I can prove it!"
Conwing hesitated, his smile gone. His hand came back up to close around Gaby's shoulder. "If you have proof, show me."
Eric lowered his blaster and raised his left arm. "I'm going to call the Pink Ranger. She'll bring it."
"How do I know you're not calling your friends to attack me?"
"I swear. I won't let them attack you unless you harm someone."
Conwing nodded slowly. Eric spoke into his morpher. "Jen. It's Eric."
It took her a moment to answer. "Eric? What is it?"
"Those record things you took from your ship. Do you have them?"
"Yes, of course."
"Bring some to William Kane's office. One of the Guardians can show you where it is."
"Wes is with me…"
Wes's voice abruptly came on. "Eric, what's going on?"
"Just get here with those records!"
"But…"
"Just move it!" Eric lowered his arm with a steady look at Conwing. "How about letting Gaby go now?"
"Nice to see you have a sense of humor." Conwing trailed a finger over Gaby's cheek and stroked her arm lightly, smiling as she tried to pull away. "If this is a trick, I don't have to tell you what I'll do to her."
Eric stiffened in anger but forced himself to calmness. "I'm curious," he said. "Why didn't you kill me the other day, in the woods?"
"I don't like killing an enemy when he's unconscious. There's no sport in it."
"But getting rid of us is your whole mission."
"Yes, it was foolish of me."
"Want to know what I think?"
"Not particularly."
"I think you know I'm right. Klezmi should be your enemy, not us."
Conwing's eyes lifted to look past Eric. "Here comes your proof now. Better hope it's convincing."
Jen and Wes had appeared in the doorway, staring. "What the hell is going on?" Wes demanded.
"Just stay there. Jen, give me those things," Eric said. To her credit, she didn't ask questions, but only stepped closer and handed him five of the tiny metallic loops. "Do we have any way to read them?" he asked.
"No. The reader was destroyed with the ship."
"So," Conwing said. "This is your proof? Dataclips I can't read?"
"I'm sure you have at least one reader with you. Certainly there's one in your ship," Jen answered.
"Just take them. They have all the evidence you need. You'll see we're telling the truth," Eric said. He stepped forward slowly, put them down on the desk within Conwing's reach, and backed away.
Conwing stared at them, expressionless, for a few endless seconds. He quickly reached out and scooped up the clips with one hand, slipping them into a pocket on his body armor. Then he let go of Gaby's neck, grabbed her around the ribs, and threw her at Eric. He caught her, twisted and shoved her into Miller's arms, and turned back, just in time to see Conwing disappear in a twinkle of transporter light.
There was silence. Eric could almost feel tension draining out of the room. He turned to Gaby. "Are you all right?"
She was almost as white as Conwing, except for the livid marks on her neck. She nodded numbly, still staring at where Conwing had stood.
"Are you two okay?" he asked Gunn and Miller.
"I'm fine," Miller said. "Just sorry we didn't stop him."
Eric eyed Gunn. "Pretty nice moves. Maybe you should consider transferring to the Guardians."
He grinned. "I wasn't always a desk jockey."
"What just happened? What was Conwing doing here?" Wes demanded.
Eric turned to him. "Conwing was Kane."
"What?" he said blankly.
"Kane was Conwing in disguise."
"How's that possible?"
"Hologrammatic disguise, from my time," Jen said. "They're very effective. And Conwing's good at imitating voices, even without a voice synthesizer."
"Next time maybe I'll listen to you when you don't like someone, Eric," Wes said. "Another Admin and Services director who turned out to be a spy. We don't seem to have much luck with that position."
"At least he took the dataclips. Maybe that'll do us some good," Jen said softly.
He slipped into the timeship hidden in the trees behind the central building. For a moment he stood there, staring at the ship's reader. He knew with a sick certainty what the clips would show him, and for a moment he wanted to simply discard them, forget them, and walk away. If what he suspected was true, the mission he had worked for, the great mutant leader he had believed in, were all a lie.
Conwing moved forward stiffly, sat, and inserted the first clip. He called up the pages of historical documents and began to read. When he had finished, he continued to sit, unmoving.
"Are you okay?" Eric glanced at her again. Gaby sat, wooden-faced and arms wrapped around herself, in his car. After her ordeal with Conwing, he had insisted on driving her home, despite her protests. He turned back to the road, already darkening in the twilight.
"I'm fine."
"You don't sound fine."
"Eric… just leave me alone."
"No."
"What do you mean, no?" Eric was relieved to hear the anger in her voice. It was an improvement on the numb flatness of before.
"You just had the crap scared out of you. You could have been killed. You're not fine. Believe me, I know, I've been in that condition more times than I like to remember."
She shifted a little, loosening her arms. "I guess you're used to it, then."
He smiled. "You never get used to it."
"How do you do it?" Her voice trembled. He gave her another glance, to see her face crumpling. "I don't think I could ever face something like that again. How do you stop being scared?"
"I don't." He smiled again as she looked at him, eyes bright with tears. "I get scared, too."
"But you do it anyway."
"So would you, if you had to."
"If I had to? To protect someone I care about…" Her voice was so soft he hardly heard the words. After a moment she went on. "Are you mad that I brought Gunn?"
"No. Maybe at first, but you just did what you thought was best. If he and Steve hadn't been there to slow Conwing down, he might have killed me."
"Good."
He looked at her again, his face serious. "And I want to thank you. You believed me, about Kane."
"Of course I believed you."
"You took me seriously, and you took the trouble to check him out."
She smiled, looking a little more relaxed. "Just trying to help."
"I'm grateful. It means a lot to me." He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "When I thought Conwing was going to take you..."
"Yeah?"
He shrugged uncomfortably. "Well, here we are." He parked in front of her building. "I'll walk you in."
He rested an arm around her shoulders as they went inside. She leaned against him. At her door they stopped.
"Are you coming in?" she asked.
"Sure, if you want."
Inside, they both busied themselves briefly taking off their jackets. Gaby disappeared into the bathroom and came out a minute later with her face looking freshly washed.
"Want anything? A drink?" she asked.
"No, thanks."
"I think I'll have one." She went into the kitchen and emerged with a glass. When she sat next to him on the sofa Eric could smell rum. She drank it quickly and silently.
"Gaby…" He moved a little closer. "Will you be all right?"
"I guess."
"Do you want me to leave?"
"No." She turned to glance up at him for a moment and then down again.
He moved still closer and put his arm around her shoulders. Silently she looked up, her eyes holding his, her face lifted to him. He leaned in to kiss her, raising the other hand to pull her closer, stroking the smooth curve of her back. She responded, deepening the kiss, her arms tight around him, her body pressing against his. After a time he raised his head and caressed her throat, gently touching the bruises, then kissing them as his hands moved on.
"Eric..." Her voice stopped him as she pulled back a little. She was smiling faintly. "Still think this isn't a good idea?"
He smiled back. "No... now I think it's an excellent idea..." He kissed the tip of her nose, then her lips again. "It's getting to be a better idea every second..."
Wordlessly, she pulled him closer, her mouth opening to invite his tongue in, and moved her hands over his arms, shoulders, and down his back, tracing the muscles. When she reached his belt she tugged at his tee-shirt, loosening it and sliding her hands underneath. He reached up to brush his fingers through her hair, then down, over her back, following the curves of waist and hips, slipping his hands under her sweater to explore warm, bare skin. After a few minutes he was wrestling with the hooks of her bra.
The sudden buzz of his cell phone made both of them jump. "God damn shit!" Eric exclaimed. "It's a goddamn conspiracy! Every time we're together…" He grabbed up the phone.
"What the hell is it?"
"Sir?" It was Steve Miller's voice.
"Sorry, Steve. What is it?"
"Sir, we've spotted another timehole, near where Jen's ship was." His voice suddenly quickened with alarm. "There's a ship coming out!"
"Take cover! Don't let them see you! I'm on my way!" He turned to Gaby as he grabbed up his jacket. "Sorry, gotta go. Another ship from a timehole. This could be it."
She was already standing, looking frightened. "Be careful…"
He grinned and kissed her quickly. "Don't worry, I'll be back. Keep my place."