Rated PG-13: language, sexual references in the last section, including slash elements.
A/N: For those not familiar with my 'Year of Time' series, it's a science-fiction AU of Time Force. In it, there are no other Ranger teams, therefore the teamups with Lightspeed and Wild Force and 'Forever Red' never happened.
Reviews are always appreciated.
"What sorcery is this?" After his initial reaction of shock, Arthur-Tommy seemed to be wavering between curiosity and suspicion, with curiosity winning out for the moment. He came closer, looking intently at Tommy's face and circling him slowly, then standing back to scan him up and down. "If you did not look older than I am, I would suspect that we are twins. Perhaps we're related? Who are your parents?"
"I'm - I'm adopted... My birth parents are - I'm sure they were never anywhere near here..." Tommy seemed to collect himself with an effort. "No, we're not related. Not in that way."
"Curious." This time he examined Tommy's clothing, reaching to rub a fold of material between his fingers, and then looking Wes and Eric over as well. "I've never seen this manner of dress before. What are you called?"
"I'm Tommy Oliver. This is Wes Collins and Eric Myers."
"Where are you from, Tommy Oliver?"
"A distant land. Very distant."
"Yet you speak our language." That hint of suspicion was back.
"I learned it from a traveler, when I was very young."
"I see." He stopped in front of Eric, looking at his eyes. "I can see something of your origins in your face. We've seen many travelers here, from many lands. Sir Galahad's ancestors came from afar. Yours, I believe, are from the distant east."
"My father's ancestors, yes."
"You look somewhat like the lady Nimue."
"Sorry, never heard of her."
"Of course." Arthur's voice became softer, but with an undercurrent that set off alarms in the back of Wes's mind. "And of course you've never heard of Vivienne either."
Eric was giving him his best blank look. "That's right, I haven't."
Arthur eyed them all thoughtfully for a few moments before asking in that same soft tone, "What is your purpose in coming here from your unnamed distant land?"
"Just - seeing the world," Wes answered with a shrug.
Arthur gave him a searching look before a step brought them face to face. "You must have been traveling in these parts for some time. Surely you've met many people. People such as Morgan Le Fay?"
Wes hesitated for just an instant as he recognized the name, and saw Arthur's eyes narrow. "No. Don't know her."
The king stepped back and smiled thinly. "There are many dangers on the roads, especially for those in a strange land."
"We can take care of ourselves."
"We would not want visitors to Camelot to come to any harm."
"Perhaps they should remain with us for a while, my lord," Guinevere said, the calculating look in her eyes contradicting the brightness of her tone.
"An excellent idea, my love."
"Sorry, but we don't plan to stay," Tommy said.
"I must insist. For your own protection, of course." Arthur's hand inched closer to the hilt of his sword.
Wes looked around. Galahad also was unobtrusively ready to draw his weapon. Tommy looked shaken, but he nodded. Eric only raised an ironic brow.
"If you put it that way, we're honored," he said.
As prisons went, it was very comfortable. Wes gazed out the window in the stone wall - too narrow for any of them to squeeze through - over the small city spread out below. Then he turned to look around the room again. It was large and hung with tapestries, furnished with couches, a grouping of chairs, and a long table with benches along the sides. Three sleeping alcoves with surprisingly soft beds opened off the main space. Another door led into a bathroom with surprisingly modern plumbing, deepening their suspicions about what time period they were actually in. Several rugs softened the stone floor. A large platter on the central table had held fruit, bread, and assorted meats, until three young men who had skipped a meal and had a very demanding day had finished with it.
Very comfortable - but the reinforced door which was the only way out was locked and barred.
A few steps took him to his companions. Wes sank onto a small cushioned sofa with a sigh. "Looks like we're stuck here for a while," he said.
"I don't like it," Tommy said. "But I have to admit they're treating us well."
"So far," Eric said. "But Arthur's suspicious. He's put us in the luxury prison for now, but tomorrow he may decide to throw us in the dungeons. At least he hasn't tried taking our morphers."
"I hope he doesn't," Wes said. "I really don't want to fight these people."
"We may have to. I don't think they'd hesitate to kill us."
Tommy looked uncomfortable. "I don't think Arthur would do something like that. He has no real reason to suspect us of anything."
"He may not need a reason. It didn't take much for him to lock us up here. If he thinks there's any chance we're a threat, he'll do his best to make sure we never get out."
"I don't think he's like that."
"Tommy," Wes said, "He's not you. He's grown up in a completely different world. Just because you wouldn't do something doesn't mean he wouldn't."
"Maybe. I don't know." Tommy was quiet for a few moments, his face troubled. "I guess you just can't know how people will act." He got to his feet and walked to the window, his back to them.
"What's eating him?" Eric asked softly.
"Worried about his team. Homesick. Afraid we'll never get back. Just like we are."
"Seems like more than that. Maybe it's meeting another version of himself. That must be a shock."
"I guess. Or - seeing those other people. Guinevere and Galahad. They must be this world's versions of people he knows."
"Why would that bother him so much?"
"Well - it shook me up, seeing Trip, Lucas, and Katie again, in that first other dimension. Seeing them the way they were three years ago, just the way I remember, like seeing a ghost, sort of. And I knew it was them, but not really them... Maybe that doesn't make any sense."
"Yes, it does." Tommy's soft voice interrupted them. He was back, and sat again, hands clasped between his knees, eyes downcast. "That's pretty much the way I feel, I guess. Seeing another version of myself was weird. But Kim and Zack, just like they looked ten years ago... that was harder."
"Who are they?"
"My old teammates. The first Power Rangers. Jason, Kim, Billy, Zack, and Trini. I joined later, as the sixth Ranger. We went through a lot together. We were all close friends, and more. But then - first Jason, Zack, and Trini left the team. For a good reason, but..." He hesitated before going on. "Kim and I - we were together. For a while. Until she left too, and found someone else." His eyes filled with an ache that told them it hadn't been an easy end to the relationship. "Now to see her married to him - to me..."
"Must be rough," Eric said.
"Yeah. Billy was affected by his powers and had to leave, too. There were others. New Rangers. All of them left eventually too, and were replaced. Adam, Rocky, Aisha, Tanya, Justin. Jason. My best friend. He came back for a while, and left again. We were like brothers, but now... I've only seen him a couple of times since then. And there was Kat, the second pink Ranger, after Kim - took a while for us to get together, but we did, and I really thought things would last with her. Then after we both retired as Rangers she moved away and I got involved in getting my degree, and it ended. I guess I thought all of us would stay friends forever, but somehow it all fell apart..." He trailed into silence as Wes and Eric traded an uncomfortable glance.
"It's always hard when you lose touch with old friends," Wes said finally. "But you've made new ones since then."
Tommy gave a short, bitter laugh, hands twisting together. "Yeah. Can't say I've done any better with them either."
"What do you mean?"
"Smitty. We were friends. Pretty close, before the accident that turned him into Zeltrax. I don't even know why he blames me, or why he hated me so much. Maybe you're right. You never really know someone. Even yourself."
"He's not thinking straight, I guess."
"But he has a reason to hate me now. He trapped me. Was going to destroy me, and take half of Reefside with us... I tried to kill him. Thought I had, but he survived somehow. There was no choice, but..."
"That's why you're still trying to help him," Eric said quietly.
"Yeah, I guess. Feel like I owe him something."
"Maybe you'll still get the chance-"
Wes stopped mid-sentence as the sound of metal sliding over metal alerted them. The door to their prison room was being unlocked. They all came to their feet as it was swung open by an armored guard. He moved aside, straightening to attention as three people entered, and then stepped out, closing the door behind him.
They were all young, late teens probably, but with an air of confidence and maturity that seemed beyond their years. In the lead was a dark-haired man about Wes's height, in the usual sleeveless tunic over chain mail, this time in red. He was muscularly built, with a face that might have seemed soft if not for the determination in his brown eyes. Behind him was another man with an equally serious expression, sandy-brown hair, most of his body hidden in a loose deep blue robe. Last was a delicately slim, very pretty Asian woman in a yellow gown trimmed with black embroidery.
Wes caught Tommy's startled inhalation, and his exclamation of "Jason! Billy... Trini?"
"Those are not our names," the dark man said sternly. "I am Lancelot. With me are Merlin, the king's wizard and advisor, and his apprentice, Nimue. Arthur sent us to discover the truth from you, and that is what we will do."
"Good old Jase. You never wasted any time," Tommy said softly. "Figures you'd be Lancelot, the greatest knight in Camelot. And Billy as Merlin, the magician. Trini as his apprentice. It makes a weird kind of sense."
"I told you, we are not the people you speak of."
"Never mind, Lancelot," Merlin said, his blue-gray eyes sharp with curiosity. "Let him call us what he wishes. Perhaps to him we are these other people."
"Yet I sense no madness in him," Nimue said.
"No, not madness. Something much stranger."
Merlin came closer, circling all three of them, staring intently into Tommy's face, pausing in front of Eric, smiling just a fraction when he came to Wes. Nimue did not move, but Wes had the feeling of being examined just as thoroughly by her dark and penetrating gaze. Finally, Merlin moved back to stand between his companions.
"Now," he said, "Tommy Oliver, Eric Myers, Wes Collins. Where are you from? Why are you here?"
Wes, Eric, and Tommy traded glances silently. After a moment Wes spoke for them. "We're from - far away. Another land."
"Where exactly?"
"I don't think you've ever heard of it."
"We are not as ignorant here as you perhaps suppose. Where?"
"Uh - California."
"Odd." Merlin smiled. "Since this is California."
"You're telling me Camelot is in California?" Eric demanded.
"Where else would it be?" Lancelot asked, his eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Sarcastically Eric replied, "I don't know. Maybe England?"
"Where would you get that idea?"
"What year is this?" Tommy asked suddenly.
"What year?" Merlin sounded puzzled. "This is the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-five."
"1995. That - explains a couple of things." But his glance at Wes and Eric confirmed that it raised more questions than it answered.
"Why do you not know what time you're in?"
"We've been traveling for so long, we've lost track..."
"They're lying," Nimue said flatly.
"They're - not revealing the entire truth," Merlin corrected. "You think we won't believe you. Or that we will think you insane. We have seen much stranger things, I believe, than anything you could tell us."
"Speak the truth," Lancelot said coldly, "or it may go hard on you."
"We've told you all we can," Wes said.
"Another lie."
"Now, Nimue, give them a chance. Perhaps they think their weapons will protect them." Merlin smiled again, this time not a reassuring expression. "Those devices on your wrists carry great power. Against most opponents, they would prevail."
Wes again glanced to his companions, finding Eric and Tommy looking as startled and alarmed as he felt. Almost instinctively, he moved a hand to cover his morpher.
"I can feel the power that emanates from them," Merlin went on. "I have felt it before. And used it." With a quick gesture, he pulled his robe open, revealing tight leggings under a belted, almost modern-looking shirt. His hands went to the buckle of his belt. A moment later, he had pulled a flat, round object from it and had it in his hand. At a nod, his two companions reached for their own belts, detaching similar devices, and held them out. Freed of the buckles, they looked like metallic frames enclosing what appeared to be large decorative coins etched with the image of a dragon.
"The coins... those are Power Morphers..." Tommy said, barely above a whisper.
"You recognize them, don't you? Watch," Merlin said softly. "Our power calls to yours..." He passed a hand over his device.
Wes caught his breath as the coin began to gleam. A shimmer of light played over it, rising in a glowing haze to meet the magician's hand, then growing brighter. The other two coins had begun to glow also, giving off a softer light. He felt a tingling, and looked down at his wrist, gasping as he saw a misty trail of radiance rise from the center of his morpher as if in response. Murmurs of shock came from Eric and Tommy as a bright spark seemed to float from each of their three morphers, drifting towards Merlin, to merge with identical sparks from his, Nimue's, and Lancelot's devices. With their morphers, he realized, just as Tommy had called them.
"Now," Merlin said as the light faded, "we can talk."
The sun had gone from the sky before they had finished telling their story. Lancelot had paced impatiently for much of it, and looked obviously skeptical, but Merlin and Nimue had listened with only an occasional question.
"Galahad brought us here, where we were taken to meet Guinevere," Tommy was saying. "When he took off his helmet - and when I saw her - I recognized both of them. I know them in my own world. And then Arthur came in. He's - he's me, the version of me who lives in this dimension. Or I guess, to you I'm another version of him."
"And you know our counterparts in your reality, too," Nimue said.
"Yes. We were all friends there. Years ago. We were teammates." He paused. "I guess that's it. We don't know how we got here, and all we want is to go home."
"Do you expect us to believe this story? Alternate dimensions? Our doubles, living other lives? Arthur, Camelot, all of us, only ancient legends?" Lancelot burst out.
"Nimue and I believe them," Merlin said mildly. "And we have ways of recognizing the truth."
"Well, I don't! They're spies, sent by Morgan and Mordred, or that witch, Vivienne!"
"Do you doubt me, Lancelot?" Merlin didn't raise his voice, but his eyes had turned hard as he locked gazes with the darker man.
Lancelot returned the stare steadily for a few seconds. Finally he frowned, but nodded. "All right, Merlin. If you and Nimue say they're telling the truth, that's good enough for me."
"Thank you, my friend." The wizard's face warmed before he turned back to Wes, Eric, and Tommy. "We are all suspicious these days. There has been trouble in Camelot. Trouble and treachery."
"Tell us what's wrong," Wes said. "Maybe we can help. Maybe that's why we're here."
"Wes..." Eric sounded pained. "Jeez, don't start that again."
"But every place we've been, we've helped whatever Ranger team is there! These guys have morphers, they're Rangers too. Aren't you?"
"We are knights and warriors," Lancelot said. "Whether that is the same as 'Rangers', I do not know."
"See? There's a reason we've been in each of these realities, something we were supposed to do. We got Jen to give the other Wes his morpher; we saved Tommy. Now we must have been sent here to help Arthur win, and we can't go home until we've done it."
"Interesting, and somewhat familiar," Nimue commented. "There's a popular troupe of playactors who perform a series of entertainments about a man who leaps into the bodies of various people, in various times in the past."
"That's right," Lancelot said. "He's supposed to 'put right what once went wrong,' I believe. A silly bit of mindless drivel."
An odd snorting sound came from Eric, which Wes did his best to ignore. "Hmm. If we could get back on the subject," he said, "Morgan Le Fay. She's Arthur's enemy, right? That's how it is in the legends."
"Morgan - it's more complicated than that," Merlin said. He sighed, and settled more comfortably into his seat. "We were all childhood friends and companions as we grew up together in the royal court. Nimue and Morgan came from far places to study the magical arts with me; Lancelot and Galahad, along with Arthur, learned the skills necessary for knighthood. Guinevere came to us after she was betrothed to Arthur as a child. Fortunately, they loved each other almost at once."
"Morgan was your friend?"
"As close as friends can be. She even adopted the young son of Arthur's sister Morgause, after he was orphaned by an accident. The boy, Mordred, loved her well, as also he loved his uncle."
"I thought Arthur was Mordred's father," Eric said. Wes had also remembered that less pleasant aspect of the Arthurian legends.
"When his own sister was the boy's mother? Not in this universe. No, all was peaceful and happy, until... Vivienne came to Camelot."
"I've heard of Morgan, and Mordred. But not Vivienne."
"She's a powerful witch. Powerful, ambitious, and as it turned out, heartless and treacherous. Morgan was persuaded to join forces with her in an attempt to destroy Arthur and seize the kingdom for herself."
"There must be a spell on Morgan," Lancelot muttered, his eyes hooded. "She would never turn on her friends willingly."
"Yes, she must have fallen victim to a powerful enchantment." Merlin continued after a thoughtful pause. "That was not all. Vivienne also laid a spell upon young Mordred, poisoning his mind against his uncle, and transforming him from a child into an adult overnight. He is an important part of her scheme. With Arthur out of the way, he would become king, under her complete control."
"Okay," Wes said. "How can we help?"
"This is not your battle," Lancelot said.
"As long as we're here, it is."
"Vivienne is a dangerous enemy. Be sure you are picking your battles wisely."
"Whatever you say, I'm going to help," Tommy said quietly but very firmly. "Whether or not this is my world, all of you are my friends, in a way. If I have another chance to join you, to fight at your side, I'm taking it."
"I guess I'm in, too," Eric said.
"Then that's it, we're all in," Wes confirmed.
"Very well." Lancelot stood up, followed by Nimue and Merlin. "We thank you. Now it is late. We will give you time to sleep."
"Wait!" Wes exclaimed. "You haven't told us where Vivienne, Morgan, and Mordred are! Or when they're going to attack next - or how you got your morphers!"
"Your questions will all be answered." Merlin gave them a faint smile. "In the morning we will take you to meet Myrddin."
"Who's that?"
It was Nimue who answered, turning back to them with a lifted brow. "Only someone truly from another world would not know of Myrddin, the greatest wizard who ever existed. Take your rest. You will need it."
TBC...