Rated PG-13: language, sexual references in this last section, including slash elements.
Reviews are always appreciated.
Wes squinted into the afternoon sun as it glimmered off the ocean waves, and kicked absently at a ridge of sand. It was a nice day, out here on the beach north of Silver Hills. A nice day, but he scanned the clear sky, hoping to see a storm blowing up.
Wait. That was all he could do. It had only been a day, and it was really getting to him. Couldn't work as commander of the Guardians; this wasn't his Bio-Lab, it wasn't his job, and he didn't want to think about staying long enough to step into it. No Jen, and Eric had been so cold and distant... Even his father - the other Wes's father - was obviously uncomfortable around someone who looked, sounded, and acted exactly like his son, but wasn't.
Not that he hadn't been sympathetic, and concerned. After a few more hours with the Bio-Lab scientists they had gone back to the house, had dinner, made conversation. Wes had stayed the night, an odd feeling sleeping in that room that was almost, but not quite, his.
That's the way all of it felt. Not quite right. So similar to his own world, but the cold, hard fact was that there was no place for him here. For the first time since this had started, there was nothing for him to do, no fight to join in on, no one to help. He had no purpose here, no meaning. Instead, he had taken the place of the man who should be here.
There was hope, of course. Time Force was working on it, in the future. Which brought him back to Jen. Seeing her the day before had only made him miss her more. It was so confusing, different versions of the people who were important to him, especially this time, in this world that was so close to his own - with two vital differences. Jen wasn't here, and never would be. Engaged to Alex again... Strange, the sharp stab of jealousy that knowledge sent through him, even though she wasn't the same person he was married to. And Eric had been transformed from the one person he could count on in this mess into just another problem; someone who only resented him for being here.
The sound of a car pulling over on the highway above the beach filtered through the murmur of ocean water, the faint calls of sea gulls, and the turmoil of his own thoughts. Wes watched as it parked. A Silver Guardian SUV. He saw the driver get out and turned his back, aware of the soft crunching of footsteps approaching across the sand.
They stopped, followed by silence, and then, "Hey."
"Hey." Wes gave him only a glance. Eric was in uniform, but with his headset off and his beret tucked into his belt.
"Thought you might be out here."
"Yeah. Got nowhere else in particular to go."
"How'd you do last night, at the house?"
"Okay." Wes shrugged.
"And your father? Wes's father?"
"We talked a little."
"I bet he loved the idea of you and Jen being married." Eric's voice was tinged with bitterness.
"I don't know. He asked a couple of questions."
"He didn't much like it when he found out about me and Wes."
"Can't blame him, I guess."
"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't." Again that hostility was under his voice.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Wes turned to glare at him.
"You don't like the idea either, do you? You're just like all of them, you think it's disgusting!"
"That's not true! And what do you mean, 'all of them'? All of who?"
"Oh, forget it. You wouldn't understand." Eric turned away, heading back to his car.
Wes followed, reaching to grab his arm. "Look, okay, I admit this whole thing bothers me. I admit I don't like the thought of you and me - the other me - being together like that. Sorry, but I can't help it. Maybe I haven't had the best attitude, but at least I'm trying! I know you miss him... I know it's my fault he's gone. Believe me, it wasn't my choice, and if I had any way to get out of here I'd be gone and you'd have your own Wes back. So stop taking it out on me!"
For a moment the face Eric turned to him was furious - but there was something else there too. Suddenly the anger seemed to drain from him, leaving him looking deflated and defeated. He sighed, bent his head, and jammed his fists into his pockets. "Sorry," he muttered. "You're right. I miss him and I'm worried. But it's not your fault."
"I know." Wes faced back to the ocean, letting the breeze cool the angry flush from his face, aware of Eric returning to stand beside him, feeling depression starting to take the place of his own irritation. "It's weird," he said after a brief silence. "I had this crazy idea that all of this has a purpose. That there was something we were supposed to do in each reality, to make things better, before we could leave. In the first one, we got Jen to give the other Wes his morpher. In the second, we saved Tommy's life. In the last one, we all helped win the fight they were in, and Tommy got to sort of have his old team back for a while."
"You mean like that show? Quantum Leap?"
"Yeah, I know it's stupid. Eric told me enough times."
"Hey, anything with Quantum in the title can't be bad."
Wes smiled a little at that, and then went on. "But here - there's nothing for me to do to make things better. All I've done is - be the wrong person in the wrong place."
"Don't be so hard on yourself."
Wes snorted. "You sure don't want me here."
"Well - no. But it's nothing personal."
They were quiet for a while after that, but this time it was a silence that felt almost comfortable. Eric bent to pick up a few small stones from the edge of the beach, walked a little closer to the water and threw one, skimming it over the gently rolling surface to bounce a few times. Wes watched him, wondering... He wasn't quite sure if he wanted to hear about it, but it was only human to be curious. And Eric seemed to be in a friendly mood at the moment.
"If you don't mind my asking...?"
"Go ahead."
"How did you and the other Wes - uh..."
"How did we get together?" He paused to skip another stone. "I always felt that way about him. Had a big crush on him in school. Then, when we were both Rangers - I acted like a total shithead about it, but he didn't seem to hold it against me. Tried to be friends anyway. I tried to convince myself he was just a fool, and that I just had the hots for him, but - well, it was a lot more than that. I really fell for him." Eric was still facing the water, but his voice had softened. "It took him a lot longer. Over a year after Jen and the others left. But finally he figured out who he is and what he wanted. And he wanted me."
"He and Jen never got together at all?"
"He thought he was in love with her when she was here, but he wasn't. Not really. Just didn't want to admit to himself that he's gay."
"Weird. I mean that he and I would be so different."
"You aren't. Shit, you're exactly alike, except for that one thing. It reminds me of all that time when he was still trying so hard to be straight and I thought we'd never..." Eric turned his head to look at Wes, his face open and vulnerable for once. "Just makes it harder, knowing you're not him. That he might not be coming back." He looked out to the ocean again, shoulders rising and falling in a sigh.
"You really love him, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do." When he spoke again, his voice was calmer. "Sorry I walked out like that yesterday."
"Can't blame you. We were both starting to get on each other's nerves. And you knew Dad - Wes's father - would take care of me."
"I guess." There was a pause until Eric asked, a little hesitantly, "How long have you been married?"
"About eight months now. We were separated for so long after they went back to their own time. There were so many times I thought I'd never see her again, times I lost hope and tried to find someone else. But I just couldn't forget her. Then she got to stay, and we lived together, and it was great. We got married, and I thought now we'd be together forever..." He sighed. "Then this happened."
"You really love her."
"Yeah."
"Any kids on the way?"
Had that been envy in his voice? It struck Wes forcefully that no matter how much Eric and the Wes of this world might love each other, they faced a very different life from his with Jen. No wedding filled with approving relatives, friends, and co-workers for them, no happy plans for children... only hidden encounters, no public displays of affection, a night together now and then, always wondering if people knew or guessed... He forced a smile. "Not yet. Give us a little time."
"How's she doing? I mean, does she miss her own time?"
"Sure, she was homesick. I guess she still is. But now she's working with the SHPD as a detective. It's kind of like her job at Time Force, and I think she really likes it."
"She's a cop? Weird. Who am I going out with?"
"Huh?"
"I mean your Eric. Who's his girlfriend? Anyone I know?" As he turned to Wes again, his lips twitched in what might have been a smile.
"Gaby Butler. She works at Bio-Lab, in computer security."
Eric looked surprised. "Gabriella Butler? Steve Miller's girl?"
"She's going with Steve here?" Wes shook his head. "Strange how things worked out in this dimension."
"Yeah, strange."
"I thought you didn't care about my Eric being straight."
"I don't. He's got his way, and I've got mine. Doesn't mean I can't be curious." Eric tossed another stone and watched it skip over a wave.
Wes bent to find a few of his own and joined him, throwing it as far as he could. It sank like a - well - stone. He sighed, and tried again, with the same result. Eric did it again, his pebble skimming the water like a bird. Wes tried to copy him, with dismal results.
"You're doing it wrong," Eric said. "Didn't they teach you anything useful at Harvard or whatever fancy place you went?"
It took a while, maybe half an hour of stone throwing, instructions, miserable failures and partial successes, criticism of Wes's style, joking insults and finally, laughter. They depleted the local supply of rocks and went in search of more, then spent some time surveying the beach for the ideal pebble-throwing position. Finally Wes had the satisfaction of seeing his stone fly across the dark water, skipping into the air in a satisfying series of bounces. He felt absurdly proud as they found a dry, level patch of sand and sat down.
"Can I ask you something else?" he said.
"Sure."
"Did my father really give you a hard time when he found out? What did he say?"
Eric shot him a half-smile. "What didn't he say? Just for starters, he blamed me for seducing Wes. Then he wanted to send Wes to a shrink, to 'cure' him."
"Wow. Must have been rough."
"Yeah. He said he was going to fire me. But..." he sighed. "It worked out in the end, after he had a chance to get used to the idea. He's been pretty good about it since then."
"Still, it's hard to forget something like that."
"Yeah. I wonder..."
"What?"
"If he doesn't wish you'd stay here. So he'd have a nice straight son who'd get married and have a couple dozen grandchildren for him. Instead of a gay kid who might embarrass him if people find out."
Wes wrapped his arms around his knees. "I don't think that's the way he feels." He smiled. "He talked about you a little. Said how tough this must be on you. I got the impression he thinks of you like a member of the family, the way he was saying how great it is to see how you guys make each other happy."
"He said that?"
"Yeah."
"Man." Eric smiled, a little sadly. "Well, he's right. We make each other happy... I hate to think of Wes out there somewhere, lost, trying to get back..."
"Jen'll help him. And my Eric will. He's not exactly stranded in the middle of the desert, after all."
"I hope so. I hope he's safe in your world. And that he didn't find out what happened the same way I did." Eric raised a hand to his cheek, where a faint bruise showed.
"Yeah. Sorry about that. I guess it wasn't a very good time to change places with your Wes."
"Could have been better. Of course, it could have been a lot worse." Eric gave him a sidelong look, brows raised.
Wes winced. "Oh man, you're right!" They both chuckled. And as if by magic, any lingering awkwardness was somehow gone.
Wes smiled, blinking as the coolness of a light wind combed through his hair, bringing the smell of the ocean. It felt good, sitting there under the sun with Eric beside him, their conflicts forgotten, looking out over the endless gentle wash of the waves. It came to him that he would always remember this moment for no particular reason except that he felt somehow at peace, somehow right. It seemed so close to his own world and his own life that he could almost reach out, almost open a door and walk through, and Jen and Eric would be waiting on the other side...
A quiet voice pulled him back. "Maybe you did come here for a reason, after all."
"Like what? I haven't done anything."
"Maybe I could use the reminder of how much I like Wes. How much my friendship with him means to me, besides the sex."
"And how did I do that?"
"Like I told you, you're exactly like him. You are him. And we could be friends. Just friends."
"Then I guess I learned something too. Didn't think I could adjust to this situation and be comfortable around you, but - I am. Yeah, we could be friends, easy."
Eric smiled at him, and then glanced up at the sky. "Getting a little cloudy. It's not supposed to rain today."
"Rain?" Wes climbed to his feet, heart beginning to pound. Eric was right, clouds were piling up overhead, cutting off the sun with unnatural speed. The wind was picking up, too, sending a chill through him. There was a low, distant rumble of thunder. "It's the storm! It's coming for me!"
"You mean...?"
"Yeah! I'm going home... I hope."
"And my Wes is coming back?"
"Hope so."
They waited, watching, as the sky grew darker and a cold gust of rain blew over them. Lightning flashed high above, followed by the crash of thunder. Wes felt dampness on his face, a wetness in the air as the ocean seemed to blur into fog, tendrils of it creeping across the beach, reaching for him. It gathered, muffling the sounds of wind and rain, until there was almost a quiet quality to the air around them, an atmosphere of anticipation...
The mist and fog deepened until he could see nothing before him but gray, and then it swirled, and parted, showing a dim view of the beach, and three people standing a few yards away. Two men and a woman. He squinted, staring at them, and saw...
"Jen! Eric..." And the third person - was himself, an eerie sensation, like looking into some strange, indistinct mirror.
"Go on, Wes." A hand touched his shoulder, briefly squeezing it.
Wes turned and held out his hand. "Thanks for everything," he said as they shook.
Then he was running into the mist, all sound stopping as it washed over him. A shadowy form loomed ahead and he stopped as it emerged; his own face, staring back at him with a surprised expression that must be identical to his own. Both of them grinned at the same moment, and passed each other.
He was home. Wes could feel it even before he ran to Jen and grabbed her in his arms; almost like a click as he fit back into place, back where he belonged. Wordlessly he hugged her, feeling the tightness of her arms around him, freeing one hand to take Eric's as he held it out. When he looked back, arm still around Jen, the fog was thinning but there was still the faint image of that other beach he had just left, that other Wes with an arm around his Eric in exactly the same attitude as his with Jen. Like mirror images, they raised their hands to wave at the same moment, before the mist faded and dissolved into a few wisps, leaving them under a clear and sunny sky.
TBC...