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.
"Jen, he's not here." Lucas sounded so calm and quiet, as if nothing important had happened.
But Jen wasn't in a mood for calmness. "He has to be here!" she exclaimed. "He couldn't have just disappeared! Keep looking!"
"He couldn't have walked out without us seeing him. Jen..." He paused, watching her, the helmet hiding whatever expression was on his face. When he spoke again, there was just a hint of unsteadiness in his voice. "I think -- I think he's gone."
She refused to understand. "Gone? What does that mean? Where did he go?"
"You know what I'm saying. That weapon is very powerful." Lucas took a step and nudged the blast rifle with his foot. "It must have destroyed him. Disintegrated him."
"No! How can you say such a thing!"
Lucas turned to face her again, and then suddenly was gripping her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Jen," he said intensely. "Don't you think I'm upset, too? But we're in the middle of a fight. We don't have time for -- for mourning."
"But... he can't be gone. I'd feel it. I'd know it. He can't be!" Jen looked around, desperate. "If he was disintegrated, there would be a residue. Right? There should at least be molecular dust. Something visible. I didn't see a dust cloud or matter scattering, did you?"
"Well, no..."
"And he couldn't have been converted to energy, there would have been a massive explosion. Something else must have happened to him."
"Maybe you're right." Impossible to tell if Lucas was only humoring her, but Jen chose to believe he meant it.
"We have to get Andrea," she said. "Capture her and the others. Make them tell us what happened."
"Agreed. Let's go."
Part of her was terrified, and knew she might only be avoiding facing the truth. Another part suddenly blazed with anger. If Alex was alive, she'd find him, somehow. If he wasn't -- she'd have her revenge. Jen bent to pick up the blast rifle. "Damn," she muttered. "Damaged. Must have been when I hit Andrea with it." She threw it down angrily and activated her scanner, peering at it. "This way."
"Eric? Are you okay? Maybe you should have stayed behind."
"I'm fine. Stop asking." Eric knew he was being unreasonable, knew Wes was showing concern and he should be grateful. But the question annoyed him, made him more determined than ever not to show the effects of the headache that was edging from uncomfortable to painful, and the waves of dizziness that were starting to make him unsteady. Besides, Wes needed him. There was no way Eric would let him run off alone to get himself hurt.
"Amnesia or not, you're still a stubborn bastard..." Wes's face was hidden by his helmet, but his voice managed to be amused, affectionate, and annoyed, all at once. Eric found himself smiling, almost unwillingly, and wishing again he could break through the barrier in his mind, for a new reason. He had the sudden conviction his history with Wes was something he wanted to remember, very much.
Then he stopped, arm out to hold his companion back. "Hear that?" he whispered.
"Yeah." Wes took a few more steps closer to the doorway through which they had heard the sound of movement, ducked, and leaped across to the other side. They both flattened against the wall, one on each side.
A quick nod, and they both whipped into the doorway, crouching, weapons ready. Nothing in immediate sight. Silently, they moved farther inside, found cover, and surveyed the room. It was large and long, the lengthwise walls covered with viewscreens and other equipment, some of it operating. He could see a few scenes of hallways and other locations. There were chairs for non-existent operators to use. More machinery and a series of tables down the middle, with printouts, maps and diagrams arranged on them.
"Watch out!" Wes's voice jolted him. Careless, he hadn't been alert enough, the damn headache was distracting him. Eric ducked as a beam of energy narrowly missed him. Another zipped by where Wes had been a moment ago. At least two people shooting at them, then. He fell to one knee behind a box-like device and peered out, trying to locate them.
Another shot came, from behind a table at the other end of the room. Eric fired back, and they exchanged a few shots. He risked a glance back; Wes was not in a good position; behind a console that wasn't quite big enough. Even as he looked, the red Ranger broke cover and ran a few steps to join him, only exposed for a moment, but it was long enough for one of their opponents to catch him. Wes gasped and stumbled, falling to the floor at Eric's back.
"Wes! You okay?" Eric called as he fired back again, anger banishing the pain from his head for a few seconds.
"Yeah..." But he didn't sound all right.
"Your morpher's still drained from the last fight. Stay back, can't let you get hit again."
"I'm not out of the fight yet." Wes was up on his knees, steadying himself with a hand on Eric's shoulder as he leaned past to send a blast at the other end of the room. "Only one of them's shooting," he said a moment later. "Where's..."
But the question was answered when a beam came from the side, striking Eric painfully. He heard Wes call his name and saw another bright flash, more blaster shots, impossible to tell where they were coming from as he fell to his side, helpless against renewed, almost blinding pain and the surge of dizziness in his head.
Alex groaned. He raised a hand to his head, realizing he was demorphed as his fingers touched hair. What had happened? Dimly it began to come back, Andrea firing at him, nothing to hide behind. She must have gotten him; he could remember that burst of white light. Now he was lying on his back on what felt like a floor, staring up at -- something -- a ceiling studded with what looked like small spotlights, except there was no light coming from them.
As he rolled to his side and pushed himself up, feeling his weakness fade somewhat, he saw a small, low, round platform under his feet. He was still tingling, that shot must have hit him, so why wasn't he dead...? And -- why was he in a small, dimly-lit room, the only sound the soft hum of unidentified machinery?
"Well. You people just don't know when to stop screwing up, do you?"
With a jump, Alex turned towards the speaker. The words had been mocking, but the tone was amused, and not unfriendly. His eyes found her a few meters away, a woman, or a girl. She looked to be in her late teens, on the tall side, long black hair pulled into a ponytail, dressed in an efficient-looking gray jumpsuit and perched on a tall work chair at an instrument console with one knee drawn up; regarding him with a vaguely sardonic smile. Her face puzzled him, it seemed to be a mix of Asian, African, Caucasian, and maybe something else unidentifiable. Her voice was odd, too, with an accent he was completely unable to place.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"A friend. My name is-" She said something both sibilant and musical, completely unpronounceable for him, which might have started with an 'S'. "But maybe you'd better just call me -- um -- Shirley," she finished.
"Where am I?"
"In a safe place. I brought you here when you were just about to get yourself killed."
"The fight, in the cafeteria..." He climbed unsteadily to his feet. "I have to get back! Jen and Lucas..."
"Are fine, for now. Give it a few minutes, a little of that blast caught you before the transporter activated; you need to recover. I'm recharging your morpher, too, before I send you back."
"Recharging it? How?"
"Sorry, can't tell you that." She twisted slightly to touch a control on the console.
He took a few steps away from the platform and stared around, taking a better look. The room was small, but covered with equipment. A bank of monitors stood in front of the girl's -- Shirley's -- seat. "You've been watching us?" he demanded.
"Obviously."
"Why didn't you help us before?"
She smiled again, and just a hint of that mockery was back in her raised eyebrow. "Do you interfere with your own past?"
"You're from this time, aren't you?"
"That would be the logical assumption."
"But -- you interfered now. To save me."
"Are you complaining?" She paused to grin. "This has to be your fight. But for various reasons, we don't want you to lose, and we can't afford to let you die. But I have to say, you're not making it easy."
"Very funny, when it was a sickness from your time that's taken two of my people out of action!" He watched, seeing her brow raise again and her grin widen in reaction. He had only been guessing, but...
"You're as intelligent as the history files say," she said. "Yes... we have to do something about them, too. Can't let you take that infection home with you."
It hit him then. "You disabled our timeship."
"We needed time to correct the situation."
"What does that mean? You haven't -- you can't..."
"No, of course we haven't killed Trip and Katie. That would endanger the timeline too. You'll see."
Another thought occurred to Alex. "Andrea, she was here before," he said. "She said she couldn't remember anything."
"Quite right." The amused smile left Shirley's face. "Her previous visit was -- unfortunate. Perhaps we didn't handle it in the best way."
"Did you do something to her? Wipe her memories?"
"Obviously it wasn't effective in the long run. I'll admit it, we made a mistake then."
"Her memories must have come back. She remembered seeing... what? A biological weapon? A mutant plague?"
"Now you're asking too many questions."
"How could you keep something like that around? A disease that deadly?"
"I don't believe I've claimed that we're perfect."
"And -- and why is Silver City -- Silver Hills -- deserted? Is it really a museum now? Why haven't we seen anyone here, except you? Why are you keeping watch, if no one lives here? Why-"
"You're asking way too many questions. Time for you to go back to your friends."
"But..."
"Do you want to help them or not? Come on." She hopped off her chair and took his arm, guiding him back to the platform. "Just stand right there. Won't take a moment."
"Wait!" He still had so many questions... "Just tell me one thing. Who are you? I mean, why are you doing this?"
She grinned impudently at him again. "I'm you, in a way. An officer of our version of Time Force. Protecting the timeline."
The comment slipped out, as he watched her take her seat again. "You seem kind of young for it."
This time Shirley laughed. "Appearances can be deceiving. I'm a bit older than I look to you." Her eyes scanned him appreciatively from head to foot. "Too bad. If only you belonged in this time... we could see what else we have in common." As he found himself smiling, she nodded, her expression more serious. "It's been an honor and a pleasure, Alex Drake. Better morph now. Good luck."
As soon as he was back in his Ranger suit, she touched a control. There was only a subtle shimmer of light that wrapped itself around him. But when it faded, he was somewhere else, under open sky and a full moon. The roof of Time Force headquarters, he realized. The same building he had been in before. But why put him on the roof? A quick look around answered that question, as he saw the timeship Andrea had stolen, sitting quiet and dark a few meters away.
"They're not far ahead," Jen muttered quietly. She and Lucas had been trailing Andrea and Morgan for several minutes now. She glanced at the scanner again, and nodded at an open doorway ahead of them. "In there..." She led the way, moving in quickly, seeing a large, dimly-lit room, one long curved wall consisting entirely of floor-to-ceiling windows, sets of comfortable chairs and small tables. The staff lounge.
"Jen, get down!" Lucas cried.
She had a glimpse of white and blue -- Andrea and Morgan -- across the room, silhouetted against the nighttime city lights visible through the windows behind them. Lucas grabbed her arm and they both dived behind a pair of large armchairs, as she saw the two Quantum Rangers also scrambling for cover. In another moment, weapons were out, energy blasts were flaring like lightning. Jen was trying to see a way to get into a better position when a flash of green appeared at the door they had just come through. Green and black -- the green Quantum Ranger, Travis.
"Get back!" she cried, pushing Lucas. They put one of the chairs between them and their third attacker, just in time as he fired a shot that grazed her shoulder, sending a painful jolt through her.
"Three against two," Lucas said, his voice admirably steady. "Not very good odds."
"Just means we have to fight harder."
Wes saw another burst of light and tensed as there was a sudden movement, someone running into the room. He lay half on top of Eric, trying to protect him with his own body, as there was shouting and a blaze of blaster fire. Raising his head, he tried to make sense of what was going on. Two more Rangers had appeared, one at the doorway, one behind a chair, but both of them were shooting at the Quantum Rangers. Help had arrived... he joined in as the fight intensified, hitting one of their enemies as he tried to run, seeing one and then the other go down into the warping sparkle that meant they had demorphed. And then...
"Wes? Are you all right?"
A familiar voice. Wes blinked in confusion and looked up. A Ranger in yellow and white was bending over him, another in green and white right behind her. "Katie?" he whispered.
"Are you hurt? How's Eric?"
"I'm okay." Wes sat up, and tugged at Eric's shoulder.
"What happened...?" Eric sounded dazed, but he rolled onto his back and propped himself on his elbows. "You two again..." He started to climb to his feet, allowing Wes to help him.
"Is he back with us?" Trip asked.
"Eric's on our side again, yes. But he can't remember anything. They did something to him. How did you guys get here?" Wes asked. "You were sick, Jen and Alex said you were... well, pretty bad off."
Trip shrugged. "Don't know. Last thing I remember is getting back to the ship after that fight in the city. Then we woke up. All of you were gone."
"We're still a little weak," Katie added. "But the sickness is just -- gone. Trip saw that the ship's scanners had traced the Quantum Rangers here, so here we are."
"Well, we're sure glad to see you." Wes looked around. "Where are Jen, Lucas, and Alex?"
"They're not with you?"
"No. We heard shooting before. Must have been them."
Katie and Trip took a moment to use the cryogenic containers Wes remembered so well from their days in 2001, shrinking the two demorphed Quantum Rangers and leaving them safely frozen inside. Then they were on their way, quickly catching the sound of distant battle.
"The lounge!" Trip said. "Come on, they're in trouble!"
Wes had only a confused impression of what followed. Katie and Trip charged through an open doorway; there was the sound of a volley of blaster fire. He followed, diving and rolling, coming up in a crouch and trying to find a target. It seemed like everyone was running, and he realized he was still weakened and slowed by the two battles he had already been in, able to get in only a few accurate shots. The slightly different sound of the Quantum Defender came from behind him, and he turned his head to see Eric flattened on the floor but still shooting.
Quantum blue came into sight, leaping at the tall windows overlooking a balcony with the skyline of the city behind it. He hit, shattering the glass explosively and falling. Lucas was after him in an instant, jumping gracefully through and tackling him, Katie and Trip right behind them. Quantum green was on the floor, collapsing under fire by Jen, Eric, and himself. They stopped when he demorphed and lay groaning and helpless. Lucas and Katie climbed back through the window, dragging a demorphed and unconscious Morgan between them.
"Everyone okay?" Jen asked, still panting slightly. She looked around. "Where's Andrea?"
"Think I saw her run out after Trip and Katie showed up," Lucas said.
"Got to find her. Make her tell us what she did to Alex."
Wes was watching Eric. His partner was back on his feet, but swaying, hand to his head. He leaned against the back of a chair, slumping, shoulders hunching as he took a deep breath. "Eric?" Wes asked. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
"No... I'm okay, let's go." Eric pulled himself up and took a step. But then he sagged, falling heavily to his knees. Wes jumped to grab him, easing him down, kneeling to support his head and shoulders, alarmed as he sprawled limply.
"Trip, stay with them; put Morgan and Travis in containment and see what you can do for Eric," Jen said. "The rest of us will go after Andrea."
A few moments later, all three of them were demorphed and Trip was examining Eric with another of his ever-present scanners, waving it over his unconscious face and frowning. "Will he be okay?" Wes asked as he looked up.
"They must have used memory adaptation on him. It can be harmful when they try to wipe everything like this, not just a few bad memories. Plus Andrea and her people don't have much medical training, probably didn't know what they were doing."
"Can you help him?"
"When we get back to our time, he'll need treatment. I don't think there's any permanent damage; he should be all right." Trip sat back, beginning to smile as Wes shifted into a more comfortable position, tightening his arms around Eric. "So. You and Eric," he said. "I always had a feeling about you two."
Somehow he had known it would be her when he heard running footsteps, that it would all come down to this; just him and Andrea, in a final confrontation on the roof of Time Force four thousand years in the future. Alex stood still, blocking her path to her ship, as she ran out from the stairwell, saw him, and stopped.
"Alex!" she exclaimed. But she recovered quickly. "I'm glad to see I didn't kill you."
"Not for lack of trying."
"That's not true." She took a few steps closer. "I still care about you, Alex. Never meant to hurt you. Didn't want to fight you in the first place."
"You attacked us. Infected Trip and Katie with some disease you found here. Not exactly a friendly gesture."
"They're mutants! You were always such an idealist, you never saw them for what they are!" Her voice had risen, but it fell into a soft murmur as she paused, and took another step. "We're really on the same side. We want the same thing. To protect humanity from mutants."
"Not all mutants are bad. And I don't like your way of protecting humans. You wanted us to take Trip and Katie back, didn't you? Why? To infect other mutants? Start a plague?"
"Yes, I found it here, in 'Bio-Lab', conveniently labeled, just waiting for me. A virus that only kills mutants, kills them quickly, spreads quickly. By the time you realized what was happening, there would have been no way to stop it. It would have been perfect, Alex. Don't you see? We would have gotten rid of most of the mutants on Earth, without fighting. It would have been over!"
"Over. With millions of innocent lives lost."
"Innocent! Mutants are never innocent! They're all evil! Look what a mutant did to me! Killed our friends, ruined my career, kept me from becoming a Ranger! Ruined us! We loved each other, but they destroyed that... Look what Ransik did to you! And yet you defend them!" She stepped closer again, hands open and out, reaching towards him.
"Not all mutants are like Ransik or Razor."
"You're a fool, Alex."
"You did kill Razor, didn't you? In cold blood."
"Yes, I caught up to him almost as soon as we got here. I executed him for the murderer he was," she said softly, in a voice as cold and hard as ice. "He deserved it. Just like they all do."
"The people of this time erased your memory, Andrea. It affected your mind. You're sick."
"No." Her eyes seemed to glow with intensity. "All of it came back to me, Alex, like a vision. I remembered the virus, and realized I had to use it. It was fate. I was destined to do this, to save all of humanity. The rest of the virus is in our ship... You can't stop me, I can't let you..."
For a moment they stared at each other, now close enough to reach out and touch hands. And then she sprang forward, pivoting to side-kick viciously at his groin. Alex turned, barely avoiding the blow, continued the movement into a spin and kicked back, grabbing her arm as it came up with her Quantum Defender. He twisted her wrist and yanked it out of her hand. As she staggered, Alex hooked a foot behind her knee and slammed her to the roof with a hard push in the chest. When she rolled back to her feet, he had both his blaster and hers aimed.
"Give up," he said. "Please, Andrea. You need help."
"Help. Memory adaptation? Forcible therapy? Just nice words for brainwashing. No thanks." She was backing away now.
Alex moved to keep himself between her and the ship. Movement caught his eyes, more Rangers coming out of the stairwell at a run, stopping as they caught sight of the two of them. Jen in the lead, starting for him again. Lucas. And... to his surprise and relief, Katie.
"Alex!" Jen shouted, breaking into a run again. "Oh, Alex, are you all right?"
"I'm fine." He turned his head as Jen came to a stop at his shoulder. "Where's Trip?"
"Downstairs with Wes and Eric. He's okay."
It was obvious what had happened. Shirley and whoever was working with her had done this, somehow, cured Trip and Katie. And now he knew the rest of it was up to them. He turned his attention back to Andrea. "Looks like your plan has failed."
"And your team is under arrest," Jen added. "It's all over."
"I suppose you're right." Andrea fell back another few steps as they followed slowly. When she reached the short wall at the edge of the roof, she turned, jumping up to balance on it and facing them again.
"You can't get away," Alex warned. "Don't make it any harder on yourself. Just demorph and give up."
He thought she was going to do it. She raised her arm and said softly, "Power down," in a flash transforming back into the woman he remembered. Still so beautiful, golden hair gleaming in the moonlight, her face as lovely and sweet as ever, her figure slim and curved, enticing even in the Time Force uniform she was wearing. He waited as her bright blue eyes rested on his face.
"Too bad, Alex," she said. "We could have been a great team; we could have had everything together... Instead, you betrayed me, and fell in love with her..."
"That's enough. Come down from there."
"You loved me once, didn't you, Alex? Remember what you used to call me? Your angel. Angel... and now a fallen angel..."
He leaped forward, but it was too late. She spread her arms and leaned back, falling away, disappearing from sight. There wasn't even a scream, just silence, then the sickening sound of a thud and the sight that would always stay in his memory, of her broken, bloody body lying on a balcony several floors below, her eyes still fixed on his face.
TBC...
