Gaby is mine.
Rated T: mild language, some violence and sexual references.
A/N: This is a sequel to 'Crossroads' and part of my 'Year of Time' series. It can, however, stand alone, with most of the background from the series being mentioned along the way.
Reviews are always appreciated.
"There's no way she can do it alone. I can't just leave, not after the way the other me left her. You see that, don't you?" Eric stopped pacing for a moment to fix Wes and Jen with a hard stare as they sat on opposite ends of the bed.
He had come back filled with determination and knocked on Wes's door, thinking he would find agreement or at least sympathy from him. No answer. Both of them had been in Jen's room, both looking oddly subdued, but he had no time to deal with their marital problems now. Instead he had told them to sit down and just started talking.
"But, Eric-"
"Let me finish. And it's not just Gaby," he went on. "The morphants seem to have changed history here. Made it so Time Force won't be created in the future. Who knows what's going to happen because of that? No, someone's got to help her defeat them, and put things back the way they're supposed to be."
"If you just-" He silenced them with another glare. They glanced at each other and then back at him.
"We showed up here in the middle of a crisis," Eric went on, "The Eric, Wes, and Jen of this reality are out of commission. We came just in time, when the morphants attacked again. Can't be coincidence. It's... it's like fate. Almost like we were brought here to help. And don't you even think about laughing at me."
Wes stifled a snicker and tried unsuccessfully to look innocent. "Laugh? Me? Just because someone kept making fun of me when I said the same thing last time? Never."
"Hm." Eric scowled at him before looking at Jen. "Can our dimension's Time Force retrieve me later?"
"Yes, if you keep the communicator, they could bring you home at any time," Jen said.
"Then I'm staying until this is over," he announced. "The two of you can go."
Another glance between them. Wes smiled. "Absolutely no way," he said.
Eric frowned. "You don't get to tell me what to do, rich- I mean Wes."
"Not trying to." Wes turned to Jen again. "Now, what were you were telling me about Trip before we were so rudely interrupted?"
"Right. I transmitted the data I recorded from the first fight we had with the morphants to the Time Force in our dimension. Trip got back to me just a little while ago with the analysis results. He said there have been some illegal experiments along the same lines in our own dimension, both to develop morphed mutants and to build weaponry that can absorb and transfer our Ranger powers. The Time Force scientists were already working on the problem."
She held up her combination sensor and communicator. "Our morphers can be linked to this, and enhanced to resist the morphants' weapon. It should stop them from taking our powers. At least that way we'll have a fighting chance. Trip's downloaded the software through the communications link, and it's ready to go."
"You two... You already decided to stay, didn't you?" Eric demanded.
"Well... I think Jen should go back," Wes said.
"We've been through this, Wes. I'm not going to leave either of you behind." Jen's face was resolute.
"Okay. I understand," he said. "I don't like it, but I understand." With a faint smile, he turned back to Eric. "We were worried about what you'd have to say, but I guess we should have known better."
"And I guess I should have, too." Eric finally allowed himself to smile as he added, "Thanks, guys."
"Don't mention it." Jen held out her hand. "Your morpher, please."
It started just as they were finishing with Wes's morpher. Sirens. Eric came to his feet, fists clenched. The morphants weren't wasting any time, weren't going to let them finish preparing. He looked down at the bed, at Jen handing Wes his morpher, both their faces set and grim.
"Damn," Jen said quietly. "There's no time to modify Gaby's morpher."
"And her morpher's their main target," Eric muttered.
He watched Wes glance at Jen. How far could he count on them? Wes would be preoccupied with protecting Jen, and she would still be trying to prove that she didn't need protection. Meanwhile he had to watch out for Gaby. If the morphants got the power in her morpher, not only the battle would be lost, but the war.
Wes stood up. "We'll just have to stop them." Jen nodded as she got to her feet. They exchanged a quick smile.
Wes and Jen were pros. They'd come through; he should never have doubted it. And Gaby, while an amateur, had more courage and strength than she gave herself credit for. They'd win this one. There was no choice; they had to.
They morphed on the way, following the sounds of sirens and blaster fire as they ran through the corridors to the infirmary wing where Gaby had been when he left her, and apparently still was when the morphants attacked. And where the Wes, Jen, Trip, Katie, and Lucas of this dimension lay unconscious and helpless. One more factor to worry about.
"This way!" Wes shouted, coming to a halt and pointing. A bright flash lit the corridor, coming from the main infirmary admissions area, a large space with a central desk and several smaller examination rooms opening off it. A corridor on the far side led to the Silver Guardians 'hospital' and the room where the comatose Rangers lay.
"Watch out!" Jen's voice rang out a split-second before her blaster fired. Eric whirled to see a pair of cyclobots crash to the floor behind him in a shower of sparks.
"Looks like they brought reinforcements," Wes said.
"But not many, or the place would be swarming with them," Jen replied.
There were two Guardians kneeling at the doorway, leaning around the frame to take a shot and then pull back to relative safety. More at the doorway on the other side. Still more inside, judging by shouts and exchanges of deadly beams. Too many. They'd get in the way - and they'd get hurt.
"Steve!" Eric shouted as he spotted a familiar face. "Get your people out of there!"
"Stay outside," Wes added. "Don't expose yourselves to fire. We need you to get rid of the cyclobots, and... in case we don't stop them."
Fortunately, Steve seemed to accept them as his commanding officers or perhaps just as allies, and waved at his men. Eric and Wes stopped for a moment on either side of the door and exchanged a quick nod, years of working together eliminating the need for words. Then they were through, whipping past the doorframe and heading for the nearest cover, blasters blazing, laying down fire as Jen ran through the doorway after them.
The room exploded in a bright criss-cross of rays and sparks, dazzlingly reflected from the metallic surfaces of trays, instruments, and glassware. In the confusion of light and movement Eric tried to assess the situation, quickly spotting two more deactivated cyclobots on the floor near the large curved reception desk - and three larger forms behind it, their heads visible between flashes of energy from their blasters.
At least they seemed to be stopped for the moment. Or... no, one of them was holding off the combined Rangers and Guardians, while the other two were concentrating their attack on one of the exam rooms. Eric didn't need a closer look to know who their target was. Behind the remnant of a tattered, scorched privacy curtain, he glimpsed red and black, and heard the distinctive sound of the Quantum Defender as it returned fire.
"Gaby!" he shouted. "You okay?"
"For now!" she yelled back.
"Stay behind cover! Don't let them get a shot at you!"
"I could figure that one out on my own!"
Under different circumstances he might have smiled. Yes, she'd be careful - but - there was no way to tell her that their morphers were now immune to the morphants' greatest weapon, while hers wasn't. Not without giving the enemy the same information.
As if they sensed his thoughts, the morphants seemed to redouble their efforts, blasting away at the cot Gaby was sheltering behind. The acrid smell of smoke filled the air as the mattress abruptly burst into flames. With a cry, Gaby shoved it away, leaving herself exposed. One of the morphants - Ectocon - lifted his blaster and took aim.
Damn! She's too inexperienced to know a small fire like that won't hurt her through the suit. Eric took aim and fired. Two more beams merged with his, all three of them hitting Ectocon, who dropped out of sight behind the desk. Gaby lunged behind a chair. Not much in the way of protection, but better than nothing.
"Get out of here, Gaby!" Wes shouted. "Get somewhere safe!"
"Exactly how am I supposed to do that?"
She was right, there was no safe path out for her. Besides, Eric admitted reluctantly, they needed her, as he saw the other Quantum Defender fire again and force the morphants to duck. But they couldn't stay like this for long, either; their morphers would run out of power soon at this rate. They had to go on the offensive. He looked around. Wes and Jen were together, of course, behind the barrier of an equipment cart. Even as he tried to catch their attention the cart began to move, rolling towards the center desk at an increasing speed.
Just before it hit with a crash, the two of them leaped from behind it. Wes tucked into a roll and landed pressed against the side of the desk. In a blur of pink Jen dived out of sight on the other side. After a glance in Eric's direction, Wes rose to a crouch and moved quickly around the desk to the opening in the back. Gaby must have seen either him or Jen and was firing steadily, keeping the morphants' attention, while Eric also opened fire. Then Wes was in position.
Eric saw him use his Chrono-blaster and duck back after the bolt hit at short range in a cascade of sparks. Then he converted to saber mode and went in swinging. It was the only thing he could do in such close quarters - but the three morphants were too strong; Mesocon swung an arm and knocked him back a few yards to land sprawling on the floor.
It all seemed to happen at once then. A blaster beam hit Wes, demorphing him in a bright sparkle. Jen vaulted up onto the surface of the desk, firing down at the enemy. As Eric cried a warning, Ectocon reached up and grabbed her, shaking her viciously and throwing her across the room where she banged into the wall near Wes and collapsed, demorphing on the way. Eric ran forward, shooting, trying to draw them off, and was forced back by three beams converging on him. He reeled, tried to find cover, but it was too late; his overloaded suit gave out and he found himself on the floor in his normal clothes, watching helplessly through a haze of dust and smoke.
Gaby was already out of the examination room, the Quantum Defender in one hand and a Chrono-blaster in the other, both firing as the morphants turned back to concentrate on her, Endocon running at her from behind the desk as the others ducked back and then blasted her. She was hit, staggered back, converted both weapons to swords and leaped to meet the mutant. By sheer strength she drove him back, but only for a moment. He charged again, pushing her down. More bolts of energy hit. In another second it was over, her suit disappearing in the flash of a forced demorph, leaving her in a panting heap.
"No!" Eric tried to shout it, but heard it come out not much louder than a hoarse groan as he struggled unsuccessfully to get up. A few feet from him Wes and Jen were no better off. Mesocon took a few steps into the middle of the floor, raised the energy-draining weapon almost casually, and fired. There was a bright wave of rainbow color, radiating from Gaby's morpher and flowing back into the weapon, the beams clearly defined in the smoky air. The morphants smiled. They had won.
"What do we do with them?" Ectocon asked with a nod in Eric, Wes, and Jen's direction.
"Take the energy of their morphers too. We'll have enough power to destroy this city once and for all. Then kill them." Mesocon turned and aimed. Eric found himself staring into a flare of color and light that made him blink - and then - there was a bright flash from their three morphers, but not like before. It seemed more like thin beams, returning along the path of the weapon's energy wave. They hit - and blinked out, but something was happening. The energy-drainer sparkled brightly for a moment before it burst into a brilliant explosion of colored energy, knocking the three morphants to the floor, and then disintegrated into a shower of sparks.
"What happened?" Ectocon shouted.
"I don't know!" Endocon cried. "The weapon... it's gone! We've lost the Rangers' power!"
"Damn!" Mesocon turned on them. "They did this, somehow! Destroyed the energy-collector!" He looked right at Eric. "Tell me what you did to our device!"
"Destroyed it, apparently," Eric said, letting a note of triumph enter his voice.
"How? It's impossible!"
"Obviously not impossible," Jen said. "You'll never get our powers!"
"We'll find some way to beat you..." Wes added. "And that's a promise!"
"Brave words. You're hardly in a position to promise anything of the kind." Mesocon eyed them coldly.
"Nothing we can do now... just kill them and let's get out of here!" Ectocon said.
"Her first, while they watch. Then them." Mesocon pulled out his regular blaster and deliberately faced Gaby, who stared up at him with a mixture of fear and defiance.
"No! She can't do anything to you!" Eric cried.
"We'll just make sure of that." Mesocon raised his blaster.
"Leave her alone!"
The shout had come from the doorway leading out into the corridor. Startled, Eric turned his head to see quick movement, a man running into the room, in civilian clothes but with a weapon in his hand. It was hard to see through the haze of smoke - for an instant he thought one of the Guardians or Bio-Lab employees had disobeyed orders and was interfering, but - he felt a wave of disorientation as the man stopped between Gaby and her attackers. A man with his own face. Himself, he realized, the Eric Myers of this universe.
"Back off!" the other Eric snarled.
"Do you think you can stop us?"
"I can try!" Other-Eric fired, the beam hitting Mesocon without much effect.
The morphant took a quick step, lifted an arm, and backhanded him, swatting him aside and sending him flying into the wall with an impact Eric could almost feel himself. Mesocon sneered contemptuously at the former Quantum Ranger, bent, and with a quick gesture yanked the morpher off Gaby's wrist as she cried out in pain. "Did you come for this? Useless. Just as you are useless without it, human," he said, tossing it at him. "Now, where was I?"
"You were about to get your ass kicked!"
Again another voice, this time coming from the doorway leading inside, to the 'hospital' rooms. And again, familiar, very familiar. Eric's eyes widened and he felt a surge of hope as he saw five people standing there, in battle poses. Five people in red, pink, blue, green, and yellow. Five Rangers. The five Time Force Rangers.
"You! But... how?" Mesocon gasped.
"Beats me," The red Ranger said in Wes's voice. "Don't know what happened or how we got here."
"But we do know one thing." Jen's voice came from the pink Ranger.
"Like the man said, we're going to kick your butts!" That came from inside the room, where the other Eric was back up, face pale and one arm held stiffly to his side, but the discarded Quantum morpher on his wrist. He raised it to his face and shouted, "Quantum Power!" and a moment later stood in Eric's red and black suit.
"Eric! You okay?" Katie asked.
"Never better."
"Then let's go!" Trip said.
"You got it!" Lucas agreed.
They charged as a group, a well-honed team, Katie, Lucas and Wes attacking with chrono-sabers as Jen, Trip, and Eric used their blasters. Caught in the open, the mutants were all hit. Mesocon staggered under the sheer power of Katie's assault as she sliced at him, then battered him with a fist and a kick in the gut while Eric caught him from behind with the Quantum Defender. Endocon barreled at Lucas, who landed a solid blow before being knocked aside, but Trip had a clear shot at him. Ectocon tried to run, only to be caught by Wes who slashed at his legs, sending him sprawling while Jen blasted him unmercifully. One by one, they collapsed under the assault.
"Quick, while they're down," other-Eric said, his voice showing some strain. Jen nodded to her former teammates, and Trip, Lucas, and Katie each took small containers from their belts, holding them over the morphants. With the touch of a button three pale beams shot down; the three criminals rapidly shrank, rose up, and were gone into cryogenic imprisonment.
The other Eric was already helping Gaby to her feet. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"I am now..." She reached to touch his helmeted head. "Eric... You came back?"
"Power down." The bright shimmer of demorphing left him back in his regular clothes. He raised one hand to her cheek. "Do you think I would have left if I knew you were in danger? As soon as I heard the morphants were back, I started home." He paused, eyes searching her face. "Gaby - I'm sorry for the way I acted. You were right, I was stupid and selfish. Can you forgive me?"
"I shouldn't." Gaby frowned at him, but her mouth began to tweak into a smile. "But it's hard not to forgive someone who just saved my life. Besides, you're so cute when you apologize..." She started to hug him, stepping back as he winced. "You're hurt!"
"My arm. It's nothing." He smiled, wrapped the other arm around her and bent his head to kiss her.
"Man, what happened to us?" the other Wes asked. "What are we doing here? Why did you have Eric's morpher? What's been going on around here?"
Gaby looked up at him, a tired grin on her face. "It's a long story."
On the other side of the room, Eric had gotten back to his feet. He glanced at the other two. Wes was helping Jen up, his face concerned. "Jen, are you all right?" he asked.
"I'm fine."
"And...?"
"Fine, I think. And you don't have to say it, I'll see the doctor."
The brief exchange had attracted the attention of the other Rangers. They all turned and stared silently until other-Eric growled, "Who the hell are you?"
"Like Gaby said, it's a long story," Wes said. "Demorph and relax, and I'll tell you all about it."
"Uh..." Trip shrugged. "We kinda don't want to demorph."
"We woke up in a hospital room," Katie said.
"Wearing hospital gowns," Lucas said.
"You know... the kind with a draft in the back?"
"I'm almost going to miss it here," Wes said quietly.
"Yeah. This place was... interesting." Eric's eyes were on Gaby. She was standing a few yards away, her hand in her own Eric's hand, the two of them gazing into each others' eyes in a way he found both sickening and oddly touching. Did he ever look that dopey when he was with his own Gaby? And why would that be so bad?
Next to him, Wes and Jen exchanged a subdued smile. There was still tension between them, that much was painfully obvious, but at least they had spent the last night in the same room. They would come out all right, they always did.
"Almost time," Jen said. "Trip's set up the transfer for ten minutes from now. We should say goodbye."
They joined the others: the Wes, Jen, Eric, Trip, Katie, and Lucas of this dimension, plus Gaby and Mr. Collins. All of them had turned up this morning to see them off.
"Thanks," the other Wes said, holding his hand out. "From what Eric and Gaby told us, we would have been toast without you."
"Lucky for us you three showed up when you did," the other Jen said.
"Maybe not just luck," Wes commented with a sly glance at Eric.
"Some people think all the different versions of reality are linked," Katie said. "Maybe it's true, and that's why you're here."
"Whatever," other-Eric said. One of his arms was in a sling, but he stuck out his uninjured hand, eying Eric with a glint of suspicion as they shook. "I hope you didn't try to make time with my girl."
"Eric!" Gaby exclaimed, swatting his shoulder.
"Okay, okay. Thanks. Like Wes said, we owe you one. Or maybe a couple. Like for this." He held up his arm with the morpher securely strapped on his wrist for a moment before turning his eyes to Gaby's face. "Speaking of morphing - I should have said this a long time ago, instead of getting all bent because you had the morpher instead of me. You did a great job as a Ranger."
"Thanks." She smiled. "But I've decided I'm not cut out for superheroing. From now on I'll be happy to stick to fighting evil as a boring old computer security geek, one virus at a time."
"How did you know it would work for you again?" Eric asked, partly to distract them as they started making more googly eyes at each other.
"As soon as I picked it up I could feel it, that little voice in my head. The morpher 'talking' to me, telling me to activate it."
"So I guess it went back to normal at the same time the other morphers did."
"Yeah!" Trip said eagerly. "Best I can figure out, when the morphants' energy-drainer tried to absorb the power of your morphers..." he nodded at Eric, Wes, and Jen, "the modification you used to protect them caused some kind of feedback. When the drainer weapon blew up, all the powers returned to where they belong."
"Along with the life energy it had taken from us," Lucas said, "and we woke up."
"That's pretty much what we thought," Jen murmured. "And just in time. If you hadn't showed up when you did, we would have been out of luck."
"And we couldn't have taken them down so fast if you hadn't softened them up first."
"Speak for yourself," other-Eric growled.
"Everything turned out okay," Wes said as they all chuckled, except for the two Erics. "Still, I'll be glad to get home."
"So will we," Katie said. "Not that it hasn't been great being here again, but with the timeline restored, thanks to you, and our Time Force back, we'll be going home soon too."
After another round of handshakes, thanks, and good wishes they moved away to a safe distance across the same Bio-Lab yard where they had transferred the last time, and waited. "What's the holdup?" Eric muttered after a few moments.
"What's the matter? Wes asked. "Don't you like it here?"
"Some of it." His eyes returned to Gaby and his own double, who returned his stare with a look that was not quite friendly.
"Don't tell me you don't like this one either," Jen said, following his gaze.
Eric shrugged uncomfortably. "Well... he left Gaby. Ran out on her, and everyone here."
"He made a mistake. And he came back, didn't he?"
"Yeah. That's some mistake. He doesn't deserve her."
"I don't think so. Besides, he's you, Eric. He's you." Jen's eyes were sharp and curious as they met his before moving away, leaving him annoyed and frustrated. I'm not like that! I'm not. Still... a memory wormed its way through his mind, of himself leaving Silver Hills when Mr. Collins was injured, and the city was under attack, just because he thought Wes would push him out of command of the Guardians. No, it wasn't the same; he had started to go, had packed and gotten in the car and been on his way... He had almost gone, but he hadn't done it. Almost didn't count. Did it?
"Look," Wes said, nudging him.
The dimension-hole, as he had started to think of it, was forming in the air over their heads, sparkling in a thousand slivers of color as the funnel grew, spun, and reached down for them. This time Eric managed not to flinch as the universe around them disappeared, and then came back different. He caught his balance as a wave of vertigo twisted his stomach.
"Whoa. That didn't feel right," Wes said.
Jen was already pulling out her scanning device. "Hope it doesn't mean something's wrong," she muttered, frowning over the tiny display.
"Uh... guys..."
Wes's low warning brought them around as a man stepped out of the Bio-Lab building doorway and into the light.
"Steve!" Eric exclaimed.
"Boy, are we glad to see you!" Wes said.
Steve gave them a confused look. "Why, what happened?" he asked. "And how'd you get out here so fast? We just got the report of a strange light a minute ago. Did you see something?"
"No, we--" Wes trailed off, his eyes going wide. Eric was only vaguely aware of Jen's dismayed gasp as his own heart lurched.
"Who the hell are you?" another Eric Myers snarled as he moved into view, a blaster already in his hand.
TBC...
