Wes, Eric, Jen, Alex, Trip, Lucas, Katie, and Mr. Collins belong to Disney/Saban. I am using them without permission, however I have not and don't expect to make money from this.
Andrea, Morgan, and any others you don't recognize are mine.

Rated R : Strong and descriptive but not explicit sexual content, including m/m contact; language; violence.

This story includes slash, which involves sexual situations between two men. If you're uncomfortable with the idea, don't read this.

Reviews are always appreciated.

Fall From Grace


Rescuers

"Can't you fix it?" Alex asked.

"If I could, I'd be doing it!" Lucas frowned with a quick and slightly guilty glance upwards. "Sorry. But I don't know what's wrong with it. Nothing seems to be damaged or malfunctioning, it just won't activate. I don't understand it."

"Damn, if only Trip was able to look at it..." Alex stared at the ship's control panel angrily. Without a working timehole generator, they were stranded, with Trip and Katie getting sicker by the minute. "Send a message to Time Force informing them of our situation," he continued after a moment of thought. "Jen, would it do any good to put Trip and Katie in cryogenic containment?"

She frowned, then shook her head. "The process is risky when they're so weak. And it might not slow down the virus much."

They could send a message through subspace using the ship's chrono-communicator, but the longer the timespan, the slower the transmission. The four thousand years between them and home meant instant communication was impossible. They would send a message, but it would take at least ten minutes for an answer, and he saw no point in taking the time for a discussion. Command would have to decide whether to send help, and organize a rescue mission, all that would take hours, perhaps a day... Assuming they came at all, it could be too late for Trip and Katie. And there were also Wes and Eric to consider. Maybe there was a way to help everyone -- if Wes really could win Eric back to their side.

Jen and Lucas were looking at him expectantly. Waiting for a decision. Probably anticipating what it would be. "We have to go after the Quantum Rangers," he said. "Our only chance to get Trip and Katie home before it's too late is to take their timeship." He held Jen's eyes, and then Lucas's. "It won't be easy. The odds are against us."

"When has that stopped us?" Lucas asked with a grin.


Eric stared out the window. He had found a small room away from the areas being used by the others and hidden there for the last half hour, trying to think, trying to remember. But that had only made his head hurt. So he had stood at the window, looking out over the city below. So familiar. He felt connected with it somehow, as if he had walked its streets and been in its buildings. It was so relaxing just to look, and think of nothing, letting himself drift.

But as he watched, the image seemed to gradually change. The graceful skyline seemed to crumble, buildings lit with the red of flames, the sky discolored... Fire, destruction, ugly black holes distorting the air, terrible giants moving half-seen through clouds of smoke and dust... Eric jumped back, shocked and fearful, but there was only the same peaceful view of city lights twinkling under moonlight that he had been staring at moments ago. What he had seen wasn't real. But he had the sudden conviction that it had been real, at some time in his past, that what he had glimpsed was a memory.

A rush of determination filled him. Where there was one memory, there must be more. He had to find a way to get at them, to make them come back. Coming to a decision, he ran to the door and out into the hallway. He was through with Andrea and her people. Somehow he had to find those other Rangers, watch them, decide if they could be trusted. Some deep part of him rebelled at the idea of asking for help, but he knew he might have no choice.

But finding the exit was the first challenge. Eric wandered up and down identical hallways for endless minutes, starting to wish he had simply summoned his Eagle and jumped out the window. Just as he began to think he recognized where he was, he heard it; the sizzling snap of blaster shots. They stopped, then started again, closer this time. And then a sound that sent him running recklessly forward; a cry of pain or fear in the voice of the blond man from the city.


Wes backed up a step, heart thudding as he realized just how much danger he had walked into. The line of Quantum Rangers advanced slowly, spreading out as if to surround him. He glanced backwards; there was the opening to another corridor not far away, and a long desk-like counter between him and it. He fell back another step towards it.

Quantum blue moved first, drawing his weapon and firing. But Wes was already in motion, diving behind the desk. He heard more blasts and saw a trail of smoke rise from the wood of his flimsy shelter. There were running footsteps, they were coming around for a clear shot. Wes rolled into a sitting position and kicked the desk at them as hard as he could, sending it sliding forward to hit Quantum yellow; and scrambled to his feet, bolting for the corridor.

It almost worked, he was dashing through the doorway as a beam of energy caught him, painful but not doing any serious damage. By this time his own blaster was in his hand, he spun and dropped to one knee, sending a quick barrage at them. As they ducked, he ran again.

They had known he was coming; they must have detected his morpher. Couldn't hide for long unless he demorphed, but then he would be completely vulnerable. Couldn't let himself be trapped in one of these rooms with no way out. Five against one; he had been stupid to try this. He ran faster, trying to put some distance between himself and them. Turned a corner, then another. In the next stretch of hallway he stopped, confused, trying to decide which way led out.

Footsteps again. Wes whirled, and saw Quantum yellow and pink coming after him at a run. Turned back, to see Quantum blue at the next corner, blocking his only path of escape. Desperately, he looked for safety, but there were no doors and no cross corridors. He was trapped. Making a quick decision, he raised his blaster. If he could get past the blue Ranger, he might have a chance -- running again, he aimed and fired.

The tall blue Ranger was simply standing there, waiting, as if mocking him, moving only at the last instant to dodge out of the way. The shot passed him harmlessly as he lifted his blaster in an almost leisurely motion. Wes ducked, but something hit him in the back. As he fell to his knees, a cry of pain escaping him, he realized the other two behind him had attacked. They were both coming closer, blasters aimed, another bolt lashing out before he had recovered. Wes fell, still morphed but helpless for the moment, trying to raise his weapon, but knowing it would do no good.

Yellow and Pink had stopped, but Blue was coming closer again. He stopped, standing over Wes, and kicked him with a sudden and vicious movement, knocking him onto his back. He laughed softly, blaster aimed right at Wes's head.

"Just get it over with, Morgan," Quantum yellow said in a disgusted voice.

"But this may be my only chance to kill a Ranger, if Andrea's right and the others have left. I want to enjoy it."

"Rex is right," the woman said. "We're not supposed to like this. Stop talking and do it."

"Oh, if you insist." Wes tensed, watching the trigger finger on the weapon aimed at him. It began to move, curling with excruciating slowness...

There was a flash of blaster energy -- but it didn't hit Wes. Three bolts struck the three Rangers standing over him, catching them all by surprise. By now, Wes was able to move again; he aimed up, fired, and got Morgan, who reeled into the wall. Rolling to his knees, he kicked at Rex, knocking his legs out from under him, sending him falling onto the pink Ranger. And then he looked down the hall for his rescuer.

"Eric?" he gasped.

"Come on!"

Wes climbed unsteadily to his feet and moved as fast as he could. Eric grabbed his arm and dragged him along at a trot. A blast narrowly missed them as they turned the nearest corner.

"In here!" Eric yanked open a door and pulled Wes inside.

The room was dark and empty; Wes only had a blurred impression of it as they dashed through and went out another door. Another hallway, looking just like the others. More corners, more running. Still weakened, Wes began to tire.

"Do you know where you're going?" he asked breathlessly.

"Not really. But we're heading away from the rooms they use. Hold on."

After a few more twists and turns, Eric began to open doors. He looked inside several rooms before apparently finding one he liked, pulling Wes inside and shutting the door. They both stopped, chests heaving, and looked at each other.

"We should be safe here, for a while anyway," Eric said finally.

"They can detect our morphers if we're using them," Wes said. He raised his arm and pressed the trigger. "Better to stay demorphed."

Eric raised his morpher, and seemed about to do the same. He hesitated. But after another moment he said quietly, "Power down."

"Eric, are you all right? I was so worried. Did they hurt you?" Wes stepped forward, reaching out, but Eric backed off, his face hard and suspicious. Wes stopped, dismayed. "What -- what's wrong?" he asked.

"Do you know me?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Do we know each other?"

"Do we-" Wes gaped at him, his mind blanking for a moment, unable to understand. Then what Trip had said came back to him... "Don't you remember me?"

Eric's face was cold and controlled now, the expression Wes knew meant he was trying to hide some strong emotion. "No," was all he said.

"What did they do to you?"

Just the shadow of a sardonic smile twisted Eric's lips. "I don't remember that either. They told me you and your friends wiped out my memory to force me to join you."

"Force you to... Oh my God, that must be what they did. Look, they captured you yesterday. They must have wiped out your memory themselves." He moved forward again, only to be disappointed as Eric avoided him, the suspicion back in his eyes. "Don't you believe me?" he asked.

"Why the hell should I?"

"Why did you save me, if you don't trust me?" Wes countered.

Eric frowned slightly, hesitating before he answered. "I don't know. I just didn't want them to kill you."

"Eric, they're our enemies. They're trying to use you to fight us for them."

"I know. Heard Andrea and Morgan talking. They want to get rid of me when you guys are gone." His emotionless mask cracked for an instant. "I -- I don't know who to trust."

"You can trust me. You probably won't believe me, but we're very close."

"Are we friends or something?" Eric's voice had an unexpectedly soft note in it, his eyes holding Wes's searchingly. "When I saw you in the city, I thought -- maybe I remembered, just a little..."

"Yeah, we're friends. Or something." Wes smiled.

Eric nodded, just slightly. When he spoke again, his voice seemed almost shy. "What's your name?"


"This way," Alex murmured, almost in a whisper. He moved though a back entrance into 'Time Force'. As he had expected, they had found the buildings as empty, yet neat and spotless, as the rest of Silver City. And complete with plaques on most of the doors. They had demorphed after arriving in their flyers; better to hide from their enemies' scanners, but it made him feel alarmingly vulnerable.

Trip's scanner, now in Jen's hands, had told them the Quantum Rangers were morphed and in the main headquarters building. His lips compressed at the thought. Just like Andrea, to enjoy using the offices and facilities her superior officers had once occupied, the same people she blamed for the turns her career had taken. Almost as much as she blamed Alex himself.

He looked around, examining his surroundings as they moved cautiously into a large area with a long desk at one end and doors opening into what he knew were Captain Logan's office, along with several other high-ranking officers'. His own was just down the hall. There were signs of activity, a few things left lying around, a discarded food container. They had been here.

"Jen?" he asked softly.

"I'm getting five signatures. They're not far. Moving. Two together, three alone. They seem to be searching."

No need to wonder what they were looking for. "Any sign of Wes and Eric?"

"I'm not picking up Wes's morpher. Eric could be one of the signs I'm getting, all the Quantum morphers show up looking the same to the scanner."

"He could be one of the ones who are alone." Alex paused, chewing his lip. "Either way, our best chance is to go after them first. Pick them off, one at a time. If we find Eric, we'll try to talk to him. Choose one, and let's go." He stood back to let Jen lead the way.


"Are you all right?" Wes's voice penetrated the fog in Eric's mind. He straightened with a start, finding himself slumped against the wall, raising a hand to his head. The occasional jabs of pain when he tried to remember had turned into a dull headache in the last several minutes. He looked up at Wes's face, and winced.

"Eric, what's wrong?" Eric moved back as Wes reached for him, more out of automatic reaction than actual distrust.

He saw a flash of disappointment in the other man's face. His eyes lingered, seeing dark blond hair, blue-green eyes staring at him anxiously, full lips -- and another image of Wes's face seemed to superimpose itself for a moment, smiling at him warmly. Then another, glaring in anger. Another, serious and concentrated. Then laughing. Then curious. A startling vision of blue eyes heated with desire. Then -- an image that seemed real and solid; Wes on what he knew was a bed, eyes closed, with an expression which could only be sexual passion...

"Eric!"

Wes was grasping his shoulders, that same face was peering into his. Eric raised his head, fighting off dizziness. "I'm -- I'm okay," he managed, trying to shrug off the grip, but Wes didn't let go. He looked up at the other man's face. "Exactly how close are we?" he blurted.

"Why? Do you remember something?"

"Not sure. I saw..." He blinked. "Shit. Never mind."

"What? You can tell me anything." Wes's voice was so gentle, Eric found himself believing it just long enough to say the words.

"I saw you. I think we were... you know..." He hesitated. "Are we...?"

"Yes, we are." Wes looked uncertain, maybe even a little scared, but he leaned closer. Eric tensed, feeling his heart jump, but he resisted the impulse to pull away and stayed still as soft lips touched his; just a brief kiss, but it sent a ghostly echo of other kisses shivering through his mind. Wes moved back far enough to watch him, face alert and hopeful.

Eric eyed him, trying not to show the effect that contact had had. "What the hell was that? Trying to wake up Sleeping Beauty?"

Wes smiled. "Something like that. I was hoping it would bring more back."

"Nothing -- nothing definite."

"But you remember something. Whatever they did, maybe it's wearing off."

Eric was seriously considering asking him to try it again when they both froze, listening as the faint sound of energy blasts reached them.


Jen could feel and hear Alex crowding behind her, Lucas only a step after him. She held up a hand to stop them, turned her head and motioned them to silence, nodding ahead at the doorway they were approaching. Then she hooked the scanner onto her belt and raised her morpher.

Alex followed her example, as did Lucas. As soon as the flash and surge of energy of morphing was over, the three of them exchanged another look before Jen opened the door, ducking inside and out of the way as Alex slipped in just as fast. She looked around the room and straightened slowly, seeing nothing, as Lucas also entered.

"Spread out," Alex's voice came softly. Silently, they moved, Jen to the left, Alex to the right, Lucas slowly stepping forward towards the middle of the room. They were in one of the Time Force cafeterias, a large space filled with tables and chairs, looking as if it was ready for the usual lunchtime crowd, except for the lack of people. Filled with obstacles, any of which might be hiding the lone Quantum Ranger they were after.

"Where are you?" she whispered, not loud enough for anyone to hear. They were targets as long as the three of them were standing and moving, their quarry probably hiding, waiting for one of them to get within range...

"Look out!" Alex shouted. Jen whirled, ducking instinctively. She saw a blur of white and black pop up from behind a table in the corner. Andrea. And she had a large silver-gray object in her hands, one that sent a thrill of fear through Jen. A quantum blast rifle. Powerful, deadly. What would it do to a morphed Ranger? She didn't know, only knew she didn't want to find out the hard way.

There was a sharp, loud sound and a flash of light, a thick white beam of energy blasting past as she jumped to cover behind a table and quickly overturned it, making a shield for herself. Looking around, she saw Lucas in a similar position, safe for the moment. A burst of fire from the other side of the room reassured her that Alex was still in one piece.

And the next moment his voice was coming through her morpher. "Try to work your way closer," he said. "Stay under cover."

"No kidding. Where did she get that thing?" Lucas asked.

"Doesn't matter," Jen muttered. "One of us has to get behind her." She glanced around the table long enough to aim and fire in Andrea's direction, and then dashed for another, smaller table, turning it also on its side. This one was smaller and lighter, she rolled it in front of her, working her way closer, jumping as it suddenly shuddered. Another blast had hit the other side.

"Alex!" It was Andrea's voice, shouting.

"Andrea," he answered, his tone calm, but Jen could hear the anger underneath it.

"How nice of you to visit us, Alex. But you really should have gone home. You know you don't have a chance."

"It's three against one, Andrea. I'd say we have a good chance."

"But my teammates are on their way. Then it'll be five against three. Even if Wes and Eric show up, our morphers are still more powerful than yours."

"So. Eric's back on our side, and Wes is all right." Jen smiled as there was a brief silence from their opponent. Andrea had given away more than she had intended.

But then the white Quantum Ranger spoke again, her voice spiteful. "But your pet muties aren't here, are they?"

"How did you know about that?" Lucas demanded sharply.

There was a silvery laugh. "I know lots of things."

"You had something to do with it, didn't you? You infected them somehow!" Alex shouted.

"Just because you're too blind to see mutants for what they are doesn't mean everyone is. Fools. You had the chance to take the solution back with you, but you won't leave. We'll have to do it ourselves, as soon as we take care of you."

"What do you-"

But Andrea seemed to be through talking; there was movement as she bobbed into view for a moment, the rifle showing gray, then another burst of white light and a sharp sizzle of sound as she fired in Alex's direction. There was a shout; Jen looked in time to see Lucas stand for an instant, lifting a chair and throwing it at Andrea's location. It hit with a crash, and they heard a curse. Jen took the opportunity to leave her table and run in a crouch, keeping out of sight as much as she could, stepping as silently as she could, working her way closer.

She saw Alex before she had a clear shot; he was near the opposite wall. They almost had Andrea between them, and Lucas was still distracting her, throwing another chair. Jen stopped, exchanged a nod with Alex, and looked for cover that would put her in a better position.

As she slid into place and raised her blaster, Alex broke cover, dashing over only a couple of meters of clear space. But Andrea saw him. She pivoted sharply, the rifle coming up. Jen shouted, and fired, catching the white Quantum Ranger squarely in the back. But it was too late, the rifle had already sent a white beam of coruscating energy at the black Time Force Ranger. Jen fired again, and ran, reckless of her own safety, as Alex disappeared in a fireball of white.

She crashed into Andrea, sending them both rolling on the floor, wrestling for the rifle. Andrea struggled, kicking viciously, swinging a fist. But Jen struck back with more skill, and with a force born of anger and fear. She heard a gasp as she drove an elbow into Andrea's throat, knocking her flat, and yanked hard, freeing the rifle. Jen raised it by the barrel, and swung it down on Andrea's helmeted head.

"Jen, look out!"

There was a bolt of pain in her back as light and energy hit her. She fell, twisting to look behind her, seeing Quantum blue in the back doorway of the cafeteria, his blaster out, and Lucas only a few steps away, on one knee and shooting at their new attacker. More movement as she tried to blink away the effects of the blast she had taken, a blur of white as Andrea lurched to her feet and ran. Blasts, coming fast, the flashes of energy fire, then silence.

"You okay?" Lucas said, extending a hand to help her up.

"Think so." She climbed to her feet, looking around.

"They got away. But not with the rifle."

"Where's Alex?"

"I don't know." Lucas's voice was grim. "I saw him get hit. And then -- he was just gone."

"What do you mean, gone?" Jen stared at him for a moment, then turned to the spot where she had last seen Alex. There was nothing except a circle of scorch marks on the wall. "Alex?" she called, quickly moving around the area, looking behind overturned tables and chairs. Nothing, only the sound of Lucas's steps as he joined the search. "Alex?" A feeling of panic, like a cold hand closing on her heart. "Alex!" she cried, louder. "Alex, please! Alex!"


TBC...