A/N: Here it is, the turning point in Alex's life!!!
***
Alex took off his shirt and crawled into bed next to Sienna, who was lying amazingly quietly and staring up at the plain ceiling, a faraway look in her blue eyes that Alex didn't recognize. He wrapped his muscular arms around her and they snuggled together, cheek-to-cheek, he kissed her gently and watched as the muscles in her face relaxed and she smiled.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I'm so nervous . . . "
He chuckled, running his hand through her thick hair. "You don't have to be," he assured her, "we're prepared for this. We've been training for years."
"Training is only that . . . " Sienna replied, "training. Not the real thing." She rolled onto her side and faced him, pressing her hands to his bare chest. "What if I lose you?"
"You won't," Alex said, "don't be afraid."
"Do you think Ransik will be there?"
Alex frowned. "I hope so," he muttered, "I want to take him down."
Sienna's eyes widened and she sat up quickly, pulling Alex up with her and grabbing his shoulders: "No, Alex! You can't go after him---he's too powerful!"
Alex shrugged her off and leaned over to turn off the light before going to sleep, he said absently: "I'll be fine, and I'll be watching your back. Make sure to keep your head down, okay?"
"Alex, please---" Sienna pleaded, "don't try to fight Ransik. He'll kill you."
Alex lied down and was quiet for a few moments, Sienna glared at him, waiting for his reply; he took a deep breath and said firmly: "I won't let him get away . . . without a fight."
MORNING
Alex jumped off the ledge and rolled into a firing position, his blaster up; he squeezed the trigger and the bright red lasers shot out over the field from his weapon. He felt someone at his side and glanced long enough to see it was Sienna, she was busy concentrating and never looked at him; he had never seen her so serious.
"You go in," she said, "I'll cover you."
Alex nodded sharply and ran into the night with the others toward the warehouse where a group of mutants had been hiding out; only a few months had passed since his graduation from the Academy, and since then he had been assigned to a unit working on infiltrating the hideouts of the dangerous mutants. He slammed against the wall next to the door, keeping cover and holding his blaster to his chest; he could feel his racing heart, the adrenaline pumping wildly.
"Collins!"
He peered around the corner to see the lieutenant, he listened intently, trying to hear his words over the noise of the battle. When the message was clearly conveyed, he did as ordered: Enter the warehouse with Watkins, Shoeman, and Jacobson. Bobby, Dana, and Sienna.
"Stop what you're doing!" Bobby shouted, "you are all under arrest!"
The largest mutant turned and faced him, smiling wickedly and sending chills down the young officer's spine; Sienna gasped in horror and Dana raised her blaster, while Alex remained still. The emotions running through him were stronger than those of any of his comrades, his breaths quickened, and he struggled to remain calm. He recognized the mutant immediately as the leader of all the others, the mutant responsible for the deaths of his parents . . .
Ransik.
"You're completely surrounded!" Bobby continued, "surrender and this can end in peace!"
"Never!" Ransik snarled, then turned to his followers: "Destroy them!!!"
"Take cover!" Bobby yelled as the mutants shot at them.
Alex dove behind a pile of boxes and a moment later felt something hit him hard, he fell to the concrete floor with it on top of him as Ransik stepped in front of him; cold fear ran through him as he was faced with his worst enemy. He pushed the form off of him and had to struggle from throwing up when he recognized it as the battered body of Dana.
Ransik laughed and reached down, grabbing his throat and yanking the young man up, dangling him in the air with his arm outstretched. Alex struggled to get free, gagging as he fought to breathe; finally, he managed to kick Ransik in the stomach, forcing him to let go. He fell to the floor, scrambling to his feet as quickly as possible before Ransik could attack again; the mutant actually smiled at him, clapping loudly with his huge hands.
"Well done, young man," he said, "you may be a formidable opponent . . . for a change."
"You won't get away this time, Ransik," Alex gasped harshly.
"Oh, I must disagree," Ransik replied, "you may be good . . . but no one could ever defeat me."
"I'm about to change that!"
His throat burning and body aching, he grabbed his blaster and aimed it at the mutant while raising his badge and saying: "Ransik, you are under arrest." He wasn't surprised when Ransik simply chuckled, obviously doubting the young man's ability to bring him in. Alex wasn't a large man, at only 5"11 he was significantly shorter than Ransik; but that didn't seem to phase him at all as he faced the mutant leader.
"You are very foolish," Ransik stated.
"I know I can beat you," Alex said.
"I'm tempted to let you go," Ransik said, "just for your courage."
"Don't do me any favours!" Alex shot him square in the chest and knocked him backward a few feet before he landed hard on his back with a painful grunt; Alex stepped forward, holstering his weapon and retrieving the large handcuffs.
He felt a flash of agonizing pain in his back and fell forward to his knees next to Ransik, who smiled as he got up slowly; Alex rolled onto his back painfully and looked up, finding three mutants surrounding their leader. One held a long sword, blood dripped from the blade and Alex silently wondered if it was his own blood.
"I told you," Ransik said, leaning forward, "no one can defeat me . . . but you put up a good fight."
Alex bit his lip till it bled, the pain in his back increasing as he tried to get up, to the amusement of the mutant staring down at him. They stood back and watched, he wondered what had become of his teammates: Were they all dead??? He found his strength and stood before them, inwardly smiling when he saw the surprise in Ransik's eyes---and perhaps a little admiration.
"Freeze!!!"
Alex and Ransik broke their gaze and looked to the doorway as a group of Time Force police ran in, Ransik glared at them briefly, then said: "Let's go." As they disappeared, Alex lunged for Ransik, instead grabbing thin air and falling to the ground heavily . . .
"Collins? Ensign, can you hear me???"
He felt himself being rolled over and looked up into the face of a man he knew to be Rob Logan, a captain in the fleet; he grimaced, Logan's voice fading away as the darkness closed in. He looked to the side as a body was lifted and placed into a bag . . . a woman . . . but not Dana.
"Sienna . . . " he whispered.
*****
Nearly four weeks after the funerals of the twenty-two members of Time Force that had been killed in the attack, Alex returned to the Academy as a substitute instructor. He had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant and given a new assignment to get away from any violent action; he had buried three friends all at the same time, and the higher ranking officers agreed he needed time off.
He sat on a bench outside Admiral Kendall's office and patiently waited to receive his assignment, wondering what he would be instructing the cadets on. He had been sitting for an hour while Kendall went through stacks of paperwork, his eyelids drooped as fatigue set in, he was still weakened from his severe injuries.
"Lieutenant?"
He stood quickly and faced the admiral, who blinked in surprise and smiled: "Well, if it isn't Alex Collins himself! I shouldn't be surprised, really."
"Sir," Alex said, "how is your son?"
"Lucas? Oh, he's fine." Kendall nodded. "Just fine."
"Good," Alex said, "what field am I instructing in?"
Kendall smiled again, the young officer seemed anxious to begin work at the Academy, most men his age wanted more action. "Marksmanship and PT," he answered, "Commander Stanford's old job, but he's out for a few weeks."
"I see," Alex said, "where are my quarters?"
"Your office is down the hall," Kendall replied, "Stanford's name is still there, but we'll take it down soon enough. Your quarters are on Deck Two, Room Twenty-Three."
"Thank you, sir."
Alex made his way down the hall and entered the office, going to his desk and sitting down slowly, painfully. He was an 18-year-old lieutenant, the youngest in the Navy branch of Time Force, a fact that wasn't ignored by the higher ranking---and older officers---who seriously doubted his abilities.
He looked out the window as leaves blew from the trees and crackled against the glass, it was autumn of 2995, so many years after his life had taken such a dramatic turn. He got up and left the building quickly, tired but anxious to move around rather than sitting in his office all afternoon; the day was crisp but pleasant, and he enjoyed the fresh air.
He walked outside and headed down the sidewalk, staring at the outer wall of the Academy, not looking ahead of him; he felt his body run into something and turned as a young woman knelt to pick up the helmet she had dropped.
"I-I'm sorry," she stammered, close to tears.
Alex quickly picked her helmet up and handed it to her, their eyes met, his blue to her brown as he said sincerely: "No . . . I'm sorry." She smirked a little and he managed a small smile, she was beautiful, but plain; brown hair tied up in a ponytail, her safety vest still strapped on.
"New to the Academy?" Alex assumed.
"Yes . . . " she said quietly, "since September." She quickly dabbed at her teary eyes and Alex wondered what was wrong.
"You look young," he commented.
"Fifteen."
"Fifteen!?" Alex blinked. "Why aren't you at the school? You're too young to be attending the Academy."
"They accepted me early," she said, "I-I have to go."
Alex watched her hurry across the road, still struggling to maintain her composure even as she got into an aircar with . . . Katie? He smiled briefly, although she didn't see him; it seemed Katie and her friend had entered the Academy together, as she told him they would. It was odd that Time Force allowed her in at fifteen, the minimum age was sixteen, even Alex had to wait till then.
Either she was incredibly promising . . . or she had connections. He shrugged, it didn't really concern him, it wasn't as if he would ever even get to know the young cadet beyond seeing her during drills . . .
***
"My name is Alex Collins, I'll be your instructor for the next three weeks-- -until Commander Stanford can return."
He scanned the room quickly, it was easy for him to tell who showed promise in the military and who didn't stand a chance. The first person he noticed was a strong-looking girl whom he recognized as Katie, she showed definite promise; he wasn't too fond of Lucas' attitude, but sensed he could get the job done.
And then he saw her.
The same girl he had met the previous day after running into her outside, she looked twice her actual height, standing tall and proud among the other cadets. There was no fear or apprehension in her wide eyes, despite her earlier distress, she hid her emotions like a true soldier.
Hours of drilling passed, physical training first and the most grueling, more so because Alex was the instructor; he gave them give minutes instead of two to complete as many push-ups as they could. Lucas pushed himself up over and over without any trouble, Katie was incredible, her strength neverending; Jen, however, weakened after the first two minutes.
"Keep going!" Alex ordered, kneeling next to her as she lay down on her stomach, her arms burning. "Don't stop, cadet . . . are you a quitter?"
"No, Lieutenant!" she gasped.
"Then push, dammit! Keep it up!!!"
He stood back up and was surprised when she managed to push herself up again, her arms trembling and her face contorting with pain; she looked up at him as she lowered herself, then struggled to complete another one.
"Very good," Alex said.
After PT, each instructor was assigned to a different cadet in order to assist them during the marksmanship---Alex was assigned to his young cadet. He approached her and gave her a small smile, finally introducing himself:
"Lieutenant Collins."
"Recruit Scotts."
"Yes, I know." Alex paused. "I'm here to teach you how to shoot."
"I know how."
"Let's see."
She raised her blaster and aimed for a split second, then let loose with five consecutive shots; there was a circle in the middle of the target and her five shots were neatly within it.
"Very good," Alex said, "now let me try."
Five shots. One hole. Jen's eyes widened in shock, each shot had hit the exact same spot; she looked at Alex and sputtered: "H-How did you do that?"
"I shot, Recruit."
Her eyes flashed angrily, but Alex's simple smile calmed her immediately; he took her hands and positioned the blaster, saying softly: "Let me show you . . . "
TBC
***
Alex took off his shirt and crawled into bed next to Sienna, who was lying amazingly quietly and staring up at the plain ceiling, a faraway look in her blue eyes that Alex didn't recognize. He wrapped his muscular arms around her and they snuggled together, cheek-to-cheek, he kissed her gently and watched as the muscles in her face relaxed and she smiled.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I'm so nervous . . . "
He chuckled, running his hand through her thick hair. "You don't have to be," he assured her, "we're prepared for this. We've been training for years."
"Training is only that . . . " Sienna replied, "training. Not the real thing." She rolled onto her side and faced him, pressing her hands to his bare chest. "What if I lose you?"
"You won't," Alex said, "don't be afraid."
"Do you think Ransik will be there?"
Alex frowned. "I hope so," he muttered, "I want to take him down."
Sienna's eyes widened and she sat up quickly, pulling Alex up with her and grabbing his shoulders: "No, Alex! You can't go after him---he's too powerful!"
Alex shrugged her off and leaned over to turn off the light before going to sleep, he said absently: "I'll be fine, and I'll be watching your back. Make sure to keep your head down, okay?"
"Alex, please---" Sienna pleaded, "don't try to fight Ransik. He'll kill you."
Alex lied down and was quiet for a few moments, Sienna glared at him, waiting for his reply; he took a deep breath and said firmly: "I won't let him get away . . . without a fight."
MORNING
Alex jumped off the ledge and rolled into a firing position, his blaster up; he squeezed the trigger and the bright red lasers shot out over the field from his weapon. He felt someone at his side and glanced long enough to see it was Sienna, she was busy concentrating and never looked at him; he had never seen her so serious.
"You go in," she said, "I'll cover you."
Alex nodded sharply and ran into the night with the others toward the warehouse where a group of mutants had been hiding out; only a few months had passed since his graduation from the Academy, and since then he had been assigned to a unit working on infiltrating the hideouts of the dangerous mutants. He slammed against the wall next to the door, keeping cover and holding his blaster to his chest; he could feel his racing heart, the adrenaline pumping wildly.
"Collins!"
He peered around the corner to see the lieutenant, he listened intently, trying to hear his words over the noise of the battle. When the message was clearly conveyed, he did as ordered: Enter the warehouse with Watkins, Shoeman, and Jacobson. Bobby, Dana, and Sienna.
"Stop what you're doing!" Bobby shouted, "you are all under arrest!"
The largest mutant turned and faced him, smiling wickedly and sending chills down the young officer's spine; Sienna gasped in horror and Dana raised her blaster, while Alex remained still. The emotions running through him were stronger than those of any of his comrades, his breaths quickened, and he struggled to remain calm. He recognized the mutant immediately as the leader of all the others, the mutant responsible for the deaths of his parents . . .
Ransik.
"You're completely surrounded!" Bobby continued, "surrender and this can end in peace!"
"Never!" Ransik snarled, then turned to his followers: "Destroy them!!!"
"Take cover!" Bobby yelled as the mutants shot at them.
Alex dove behind a pile of boxes and a moment later felt something hit him hard, he fell to the concrete floor with it on top of him as Ransik stepped in front of him; cold fear ran through him as he was faced with his worst enemy. He pushed the form off of him and had to struggle from throwing up when he recognized it as the battered body of Dana.
Ransik laughed and reached down, grabbing his throat and yanking the young man up, dangling him in the air with his arm outstretched. Alex struggled to get free, gagging as he fought to breathe; finally, he managed to kick Ransik in the stomach, forcing him to let go. He fell to the floor, scrambling to his feet as quickly as possible before Ransik could attack again; the mutant actually smiled at him, clapping loudly with his huge hands.
"Well done, young man," he said, "you may be a formidable opponent . . . for a change."
"You won't get away this time, Ransik," Alex gasped harshly.
"Oh, I must disagree," Ransik replied, "you may be good . . . but no one could ever defeat me."
"I'm about to change that!"
His throat burning and body aching, he grabbed his blaster and aimed it at the mutant while raising his badge and saying: "Ransik, you are under arrest." He wasn't surprised when Ransik simply chuckled, obviously doubting the young man's ability to bring him in. Alex wasn't a large man, at only 5"11 he was significantly shorter than Ransik; but that didn't seem to phase him at all as he faced the mutant leader.
"You are very foolish," Ransik stated.
"I know I can beat you," Alex said.
"I'm tempted to let you go," Ransik said, "just for your courage."
"Don't do me any favours!" Alex shot him square in the chest and knocked him backward a few feet before he landed hard on his back with a painful grunt; Alex stepped forward, holstering his weapon and retrieving the large handcuffs.
He felt a flash of agonizing pain in his back and fell forward to his knees next to Ransik, who smiled as he got up slowly; Alex rolled onto his back painfully and looked up, finding three mutants surrounding their leader. One held a long sword, blood dripped from the blade and Alex silently wondered if it was his own blood.
"I told you," Ransik said, leaning forward, "no one can defeat me . . . but you put up a good fight."
Alex bit his lip till it bled, the pain in his back increasing as he tried to get up, to the amusement of the mutant staring down at him. They stood back and watched, he wondered what had become of his teammates: Were they all dead??? He found his strength and stood before them, inwardly smiling when he saw the surprise in Ransik's eyes---and perhaps a little admiration.
"Freeze!!!"
Alex and Ransik broke their gaze and looked to the doorway as a group of Time Force police ran in, Ransik glared at them briefly, then said: "Let's go." As they disappeared, Alex lunged for Ransik, instead grabbing thin air and falling to the ground heavily . . .
"Collins? Ensign, can you hear me???"
He felt himself being rolled over and looked up into the face of a man he knew to be Rob Logan, a captain in the fleet; he grimaced, Logan's voice fading away as the darkness closed in. He looked to the side as a body was lifted and placed into a bag . . . a woman . . . but not Dana.
"Sienna . . . " he whispered.
*****
Nearly four weeks after the funerals of the twenty-two members of Time Force that had been killed in the attack, Alex returned to the Academy as a substitute instructor. He had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant and given a new assignment to get away from any violent action; he had buried three friends all at the same time, and the higher ranking officers agreed he needed time off.
He sat on a bench outside Admiral Kendall's office and patiently waited to receive his assignment, wondering what he would be instructing the cadets on. He had been sitting for an hour while Kendall went through stacks of paperwork, his eyelids drooped as fatigue set in, he was still weakened from his severe injuries.
"Lieutenant?"
He stood quickly and faced the admiral, who blinked in surprise and smiled: "Well, if it isn't Alex Collins himself! I shouldn't be surprised, really."
"Sir," Alex said, "how is your son?"
"Lucas? Oh, he's fine." Kendall nodded. "Just fine."
"Good," Alex said, "what field am I instructing in?"
Kendall smiled again, the young officer seemed anxious to begin work at the Academy, most men his age wanted more action. "Marksmanship and PT," he answered, "Commander Stanford's old job, but he's out for a few weeks."
"I see," Alex said, "where are my quarters?"
"Your office is down the hall," Kendall replied, "Stanford's name is still there, but we'll take it down soon enough. Your quarters are on Deck Two, Room Twenty-Three."
"Thank you, sir."
Alex made his way down the hall and entered the office, going to his desk and sitting down slowly, painfully. He was an 18-year-old lieutenant, the youngest in the Navy branch of Time Force, a fact that wasn't ignored by the higher ranking---and older officers---who seriously doubted his abilities.
He looked out the window as leaves blew from the trees and crackled against the glass, it was autumn of 2995, so many years after his life had taken such a dramatic turn. He got up and left the building quickly, tired but anxious to move around rather than sitting in his office all afternoon; the day was crisp but pleasant, and he enjoyed the fresh air.
He walked outside and headed down the sidewalk, staring at the outer wall of the Academy, not looking ahead of him; he felt his body run into something and turned as a young woman knelt to pick up the helmet she had dropped.
"I-I'm sorry," she stammered, close to tears.
Alex quickly picked her helmet up and handed it to her, their eyes met, his blue to her brown as he said sincerely: "No . . . I'm sorry." She smirked a little and he managed a small smile, she was beautiful, but plain; brown hair tied up in a ponytail, her safety vest still strapped on.
"New to the Academy?" Alex assumed.
"Yes . . . " she said quietly, "since September." She quickly dabbed at her teary eyes and Alex wondered what was wrong.
"You look young," he commented.
"Fifteen."
"Fifteen!?" Alex blinked. "Why aren't you at the school? You're too young to be attending the Academy."
"They accepted me early," she said, "I-I have to go."
Alex watched her hurry across the road, still struggling to maintain her composure even as she got into an aircar with . . . Katie? He smiled briefly, although she didn't see him; it seemed Katie and her friend had entered the Academy together, as she told him they would. It was odd that Time Force allowed her in at fifteen, the minimum age was sixteen, even Alex had to wait till then.
Either she was incredibly promising . . . or she had connections. He shrugged, it didn't really concern him, it wasn't as if he would ever even get to know the young cadet beyond seeing her during drills . . .
***
"My name is Alex Collins, I'll be your instructor for the next three weeks-- -until Commander Stanford can return."
He scanned the room quickly, it was easy for him to tell who showed promise in the military and who didn't stand a chance. The first person he noticed was a strong-looking girl whom he recognized as Katie, she showed definite promise; he wasn't too fond of Lucas' attitude, but sensed he could get the job done.
And then he saw her.
The same girl he had met the previous day after running into her outside, she looked twice her actual height, standing tall and proud among the other cadets. There was no fear or apprehension in her wide eyes, despite her earlier distress, she hid her emotions like a true soldier.
Hours of drilling passed, physical training first and the most grueling, more so because Alex was the instructor; he gave them give minutes instead of two to complete as many push-ups as they could. Lucas pushed himself up over and over without any trouble, Katie was incredible, her strength neverending; Jen, however, weakened after the first two minutes.
"Keep going!" Alex ordered, kneeling next to her as she lay down on her stomach, her arms burning. "Don't stop, cadet . . . are you a quitter?"
"No, Lieutenant!" she gasped.
"Then push, dammit! Keep it up!!!"
He stood back up and was surprised when she managed to push herself up again, her arms trembling and her face contorting with pain; she looked up at him as she lowered herself, then struggled to complete another one.
"Very good," Alex said.
After PT, each instructor was assigned to a different cadet in order to assist them during the marksmanship---Alex was assigned to his young cadet. He approached her and gave her a small smile, finally introducing himself:
"Lieutenant Collins."
"Recruit Scotts."
"Yes, I know." Alex paused. "I'm here to teach you how to shoot."
"I know how."
"Let's see."
She raised her blaster and aimed for a split second, then let loose with five consecutive shots; there was a circle in the middle of the target and her five shots were neatly within it.
"Very good," Alex said, "now let me try."
Five shots. One hole. Jen's eyes widened in shock, each shot had hit the exact same spot; she looked at Alex and sputtered: "H-How did you do that?"
"I shot, Recruit."
Her eyes flashed angrily, but Alex's simple smile calmed her immediately; he took her hands and positioned the blaster, saying softly: "Let me show you . . . "
TBC