Wes, Jen, Eric and all other characters from Power Rangers belong
to Disney/Saban. I am using them without permission, however I have
not and don't expect to make money from this.
Gaby, Chris, and
Proteus are mine.
Rated T: mild language, violence, sexual references, and danger to a child.
A/N: This is a sequel to 'Reversals of Fortune' and part of my AU '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.
Tapestry
Meeting of the Minds
- - -
"Jen, this is..." Wes hesitated as they stepped inside the apartment Chris had told them she used as an office. "I'm sorry, is it Dr. Tutto?"
"No, I'm not a medical doctor, just a psychotherapist. But please, call me Chris."
"Pleased to meet you." Jen smiled and shifted Junior to one arm so she could shake hands. Chris was a good deal younger than she had expected, she couldn't help noticing. And a good deal prettier.
"And this must be the new arrival... you still haven't named him?" Chris bent to peer at Junior's face as he looked up and met her gaze steadily.
"No, we just call him Junior so far," Wes answered. "Uh... anything wrong?"
Chris had frozen, eyes locked on the baby, her expression one of surprise and bewilderment. After a moment, she seemed to recover and straightened, still staring. "I could have sworn..." she said under her breath, before looking up. "No, nothing wrong. Must be my imagination; I thought I heard him say something. Well - come on into the other room and we can get started."
The other room proved to be furnished in a combination of living room furniture, a businesslike desk, and a small examining table. Chris waved them to the couch and sat in an armchair, facing them. She smiled, her eyes returning to Junior with what impressed Jen as a slightly uncomfortable look, but her voice was confident. "Okay. To start - why don't you tell me exactly what's been going on that troubles you?"
"I'm not sure that I know exactly what it is," Jen said with a glance at Wes. "It's more of an impression than anything else. The way he's so quiet. The way he looks at us. The way he doesn't kick or wave his arms or seem to want attention or - or even drool. Maybe most of all, the way he never cries."
Chris was listening with a professionally impersonal expression. "I see. Is there anything else?"
"No... Just a feeling..."
"What kind of feeling?"
Jen looked down at her child, to find him still looking intently at Chris. "Just - just a strange feeling... like he's watching us, not like a baby with everything still new, but - but almost like an adult..." She sighed in frustration. "I know that doesn't make any sense."
"Never ignore a mother's feelings; they can be more accurate than any test. Wes? What have you noticed?"
"Well, Jen pretty much covered it." He exchanged a glance with Jen, giving her a small and reassuring smile. "Like she said, it's mostly a feeling. But yeah, it's strange the way he acts, not crying or trying to move around or anything. Everyone's noticed it - my father, our friends." He waited, but Chris was staring at the baby silently. "Do you have any ideas?"
"It's too early for me to be making any kind of diagnosis." She returned her gaze to Junior, frowning slightly. Jen thought she seemed hesitant for the first time when she said, "I should examine him."
"Okay. Should we put him on the table?"
"Please." Chris paused again, her forehead creasing. "Uh... would you mind stepping out into the other room for a few minutes? I - I'd like to see the child alone, to evaluate how he behaves without you here."
"I guess that's okay," Wes said with another glance at Jen.
Chris knows what she's doing... The thought was soothing and comforting. It brought Jen to her feet with a smile on her face. "Of course. We'll wait outside," she said. Still filled with the confidence and trust that Chris had somehow seemed to almost instantly inspire in her, she led the way outside and watched the door close behind them.
- - -
Silver City, 3005, in one world...
"Can't we call them?" Katie asked, her voice plaintive.
"No. Wish we could," Trip said, his eyes not leaving the frenzied activity in the Time Force temporal lab they had taken over for the project of setting up the transfer to bring their doubles to 2006 Silver Hills.
"Think about it, Katie," Lucas said. "We know Proteus has some kind of telepathic abilities. If we tell Wes and Jen - and they're around the baby all the time...
"He might realize what's going on. That we're coming after him." Katie sighed. "You're right. I don't like the idea of just showing up and having to tell them their baby is in danger..."
"But we have no choice," Trip finished.
"But..." she murmured softly. "What if something happens before we can get there? What if it's something they could have prevented, if they knew?"
"We'll just have to hope it doesn't," Lucas said quietly. "And work as fast as we can. Besides - what could happen that they could prevent?"
What could happen? Trip frowned. He couldn't think of anything worse than what had already happened to Wes and Jen's baby, and they would soon be on their way to correct that situation - and yet, the words sent an unpleasant ripple of premonition through him.
- - -
Silver Hills, 2006...
Chris paused for a moment before turning away from the door and facing the baby again. Strange. Whatever was creeping Wes and Jen out about this kid, it was affecting her too. A strangeness, the sense of something that didn't belong, looking out from those infant eyes. She had never felt anything like it before, and hoped she never would again.
-Chris Tutto. I had almost forgotten that name.-
She gasped. "What?"
-You handled those two very well. Couldn't have done it better myself.-
Slowly, Chris moved a little closer to the child who was looking at her calmly, smiling a little now, not the way a baby smiles, but with a chillingly quiet confidence. "What... Did you... Did you say something?"
-Not with words. You can hear my thoughts.-
"What are you talking about? Who - who are you? What are you?" She could hear her own voice shaking.
-Quiet, or they'll hear you.-
"They... I... Is this some kind of trick? What's going on?" Wildly, she looked around, half expecting to find a hidden camera.
-You know it's not a trick, don't you? You know it, even if you can't believe it yet.-
"I don't... I don't understand." Chris swallowed. Suddenly faint, she found a chair with a numb hand and sank into it.
-No, you wouldn't.- There was something like a mental sigh. -Nice setup you have here. I remember how it went. You understand children so well, don't you? You can make them behave, make them obey their parents, calm them down, make them feel better. For a little while, anyway. But they always need to keep coming back, don't they? For a price, of course.-
"How do you-"
-And the fathers, at least the ones who are young and good-looking. That's an added benefit, isn't it? If you're anything like me you've always had a way with men, like mine with women. I remember the wives - it was so easy; I hardly even needed to guide their thoughts. All they wanted was a little comfort, someone who understood them better than their husbands. They didn't even notice their kids weren't really getting any better.-
"I - who are you?"
-Don't you know? Yes, I can feel it in you. How do you think we can communicate? We both have certain talents of the mind, an ability to reach out to others and influence them, although you haven't developed yours much yet. But that's not it, that's not the most important part.-
"Talents... What do you mean? How do you know?" But somehow she knew, even before he 'said' it.
-I'm you, Chris. I'm what you will someday become.-
"No, no, it's not possible!" She shook her head.
-I'm from the future of a world that's only a little different from this one. I lived my first life as a man; you're a woman, but we're the same underneath the skin. You can feel it. Don't deny it.-
"I don't believe you!"
-How shall I prove it? Perhaps if you see...-
Chris inhaled sharply, her hands jerking upwards to clasp her head as a stream of images, impressions - sights, sounds, smells, other sensations - seemed to flow into her mind, filling it with lives that she had lived - no, that he had lived - other faces looking back at her in the mirror, memories that weren't hers but somehow were, thoughts she bent to her will, bodies that she slipped into like a suit of clothes and abandoned when she was done with them, entire lifetimes flashing before her eyes...
I'm Norman Donaldson...
I'm Abigail Fine...
I'm Harvey Roderick...
I'm Lawrence Silverstein...
I'm Alicia Garcia...
I'm...
"No...!" she cried, feeling it come out in a whisper, hands over her ears. "You're - you're a monster!"
-I'm the monster you will become, if you want to live on when the body you currently inhabit dies. And you do. I should know.-
"It's not worth it... Not worth it...!"
-Not worth it? Think about it. You're not the same as these humans, Chris. You're different. Stronger. Better. They can live only a few short decades, while you can live forever.-
"Why are you doing this to me?"
-Because we're the same, but you don't know it yet. Because it took me decades to learn what I am and what I can do, and I can tell you all of that now. You won't have to wait; you can have it all now.- There was a short pause. -You have no idea of the abilities you already have, but I can teach you. Make you stronger than I was, as strong as I am now. Think of what we could do together. Think of the power. The money.-
"Mon... money?"
-I thought that would get your attention.-
"I don't know. I have to think."
-Of course. It's time for me to leave anyway, before my 'parents' start to worry. We can influence them, but even we can't dominate their minds completely.-
"Yes. I'll... I'll call them. Tell them we're finished."
-For now. Don't forget to make an appointment for tomorrow.-
"Tomorrow... You think they'll come back...?"
-With both of us working on them, along with their concern for me? Certainly. I'll even show them how much this session has 'helped' me.-
"Okay." It was easier to simply do as he said. Dimly, she realized he might be using the same 'talent' on her, to control her, that he said she had used on others without quite realizing what it was. If she could learn to do it better... Maybe this could work to her advantage...
Still feeling dazed, she got up and walked to the door, pausing to take a deep breath and put a smile on her face before opening it.
- - -
Silver City, 3005, in another world...
"Hi guys. Nice to see you again."
Trix grinned, as both Lucie and Kevin leaned towards the chrono-communicator screen to smile and nod at the images of Jon, Wendy, and Erica. "Great to see you, too," she said. "How's the baby?"
"She's wonderful," Wendy said. "Couldn't be better."
"If you like drooling and crying," Erica muttered. "Ow!"
"Oops, sorry," Wendy said sweetly, withdrawing the elbow she had jabbed into her partner's side. "As I was saying, she only wakes up twice a night. And she's already gained weight, and she's very vocal-"
"Okay, okay," Lucie said, cutting off the recitation of accomplishments. "We get the picture."
Jon laughed and wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders. "You called to find out whether there's been any sign of Proteus, didn't you?"
"Right."
"No. We've used the scanner you left, and we've kept an eye out, but there's been nothing."
"Yeah. We didn't think so," Kevin said with a frown. "He escaped through that dimension-hole, just like we thought."
"So what now?"
"We go after him," Trix said. "We're coming to your time first, and then - I was able to communicate with Trip, the male version of me in the other reality - and they're going to bring us to their dimension."
As Jon and Wendy exchanged a glance, Erica crossed her arms and said firmly, "I'm going with you."
"What?" Lucie said. "You're not a Time Force officer."
"I'm going."
"But why? Proteus is our problem, not yours."
"Hey, all of us spent seven months worrying about that baby. Jon and Wendy have to stay with their kid - but I'm going with you, and I'm going to kick Proteus' butt."
"Proteus doesn't have a butt," Trix said helpfully.
"You know what I mean."
"Well, I don't know what Alex is going to say..." Lucie muttered.
"Doesn't matter, since I'm going anyway."
"Will you promise to behave yourself?"
Erica grinned. "Just like I always do."
Trix sighed.
- - -
Silver Hills, 2006...
"Well? What do you think?" Wes asked anxiously, feeling Jen's hand tight in his.
Chris looked surprisingly tired, as if she had been through some kind of ordeal. Hard to imagine that examining a little baby would have an effect like that. She smiled, not quite meeting their eyes, as she said, "It's still too early to tell. Could be some kind of mild autism - but don't worry, I'm sure I can help him. Come on in."
Jen went to the baby immediately. Wes followed her, and watched as she bent and lifted him up. They were both looking at him, and Wes was thinking that it was ridiculous to think one short session could make any difference, when...
"Hey," Wes said softly. Junior was smiling. He gurgled, raised both arms and groped around, his fingers brushing at Jen's hair.
"He's - he's different!" Jen said, raising her face. "What did you do?"
"Uh... Nothing, really," Chris said. She was still standing by the door. "Just some testing of his responsiveness. Maybe he... maybe the testing was stimulating for him."
"Well, whatever it was, it seems to have made a difference," Wes said hopefully.
"Yes, I suppose it did." Chris seemed to be regaining her confidence and energy. "I'd like to see him again, as soon as possible. He can benefit from frequent treatment."
"Sure," Wes said absently, as he extended a finger and felt his son's tiny fingers curl around it. "How soon?"
"Tomorrow. After that, we can discuss frequency, and financial arrangements."
"Tomorrow. We can do that, can't we, Jen?"
"Of course. I can bring him in by myself if you have to work."
"I'll come too - Eric can cover for me."
They were at the door by now, with Chris holding it open for them. "Good. I'll see you then," she said, her eyes flickering to the baby before she shook their hands and said goodbye.
"He really does seem a little different, doesn't he? A little better?" Jen said as they walked towards the elevators. Her face was bright with hope.
Wes grinned. "Yeah, he really does."
"Chris is amazing. She really helped, didn't she? And this was just the first session!"
"Didn't I tell you everything would be okay?"
"I guess you did." There was a sparkle in her eyes as she went on, "And I don't even mind you bragging about being right."
Wes chuckled. He glanced at Junior again, now propped on Jen's shoulder. As the child looked up at him, for just a moment Wes thought he saw what he could only identify as something adult and knowing, along with an expression that seemed almost - contemptuous. He blinked, and it was gone. Never there, of course. He had gotten so worried about the kid that now he was imagining things.
He put his smile back in place. Things were going to get better. Jen was almost herself again, and now that they had Chris to help, they'd beat this - whatever it was - just the same as they had beaten everything else that had threatened to destroy them or tear them apart. It was just a matter of time.
- - -
TBC...