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

Deployment

Another Silver Hills, 2006...

"Okay. Are we ready?" Lucie looked around at all of them.

"I... I guess," Trix muttered.

The trip from their own time to 2006 had started to feel almost routine. They had opened a timehole in the first light of dawn, and arrived on the beach just outside Silver Hills as the sun was rising. After a change into clothes suitable for this time and a quick trip downtown, they were standing in a storage yard behind Bio-Lab, in the same place where they had found Jon, Wendy, Erica, and Gabe during their unsuccessful pursuit of Proteus. In fact, the four of them were in exactly the same spot where Jen, Wes, and Eric had transported out of their dimension.

Jon and Wendy were here too, a few yards away, watching, arms around each other's waists. Erica had joined them and was fidgeting impatiently.

"Are you sure this is the right time?" Kevin asked.

"Sure I'm sure."

"Then why the hell don't they get on with it?" Erica demanded. "Haven't they ever heard of punctuality..." She trailed off, looking into the sky.

"Look!" Lucie pointed.

They all looked up and Trix heard gasps as a cone of glittering silver light grew out of nothingness over their heads, spinning slowly, beautiful and frightening in its diamond brightness. It widened - and then shot down, enclosing them in a circular wall of light. A moment later it faded and was gone. Their surroundings looked so unchanged that for a moment she wondered if it had worked - until she saw that Jon and Wendy were gone.

And in their place...

Erica hung back, watching with a smirk, as the three of them slowly moved forward and their mirror images came to meet them. They faced each other: Trix and Trip, Lucie and Lucas, Kevin and Katie. All of them just stared for a few seconds.

Lucas began to grin. He crossed his arms and said, "See? I knew I'd make a good-looking woman."

- - -

He could hear her footsteps as she came to the door. They stopped. There was silence as he imagined her on the other side, peering though the peephole, recognizing him, and wondering whether to pretend not to be there. He raised a hand and rapped.

"I know you're in there. Open up."

The lock clicked and the door opened. Chris Tutto stood facing him, her face coolly questioning. "It's early to be visiting, Mr. Myers. Is anything wrong?"

"You could say that." Eric smiled coldly. "Better invite me in. I don't think you want to have this discussion out here in the hallway."

Apparently something in his expression convinced her, because she stood aside and gestured him in.

Her living room was large, and elegantly furnished. Whatever else he might say about her, Chris had good taste. Expensive taste. "Nice place," he commented. "You do okay for yourself."

"I get by."

"Don't sell yourself short. You do better than getting by. Besides this apartment and those clothes, you've got a healthy bank account. Probably other assets, too. I haven't had much time to look."

"Good. Since it's none of your business."

He could almost feel her hostility. He smiled. "The baby shrink business pays pretty well, doesn't it? Especially when all your clients happen to be rich."

"I expect to be paid. I don't imagine you work for free, either."

"No. But Bio-Lab gets what it's paying for." Eric had been moving around the room, trailing his fingers over the upholstered backs of the couch and chairs. Now he stopped to look at her directly.

"So do my clients," she said defiantly.

"Bullshit." He grinned at the flash of anger in her eyes. "Your clients get the runaround. They get double-talk, and a lot of their time wasted. But they hardly get their money's worth."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I forgot... Some of the fathers do get something worth paying for." He ran a contemptuous glance up and down her body. "Do you charge separately? Or is it a package deal?"

"That's enough. Get out." She was glaring at him with an anger so intense he could swear he felt the heat of it.

"But I'm not done." Eric dropped his hands on the back of a sofa and leaned on them. "You really shouldn't leave so many disappointed customers behind. Some of them had very interesting things to say. Especially the Parkinsons - he was pretty quiet about it, but she wasn't. They both agreed that you got thousands of dollars out of them for treatment that's done nothing for their daughter; that's only prevented them from taking her to a real doctor."

She crossed her arms. "Some patients can't be helped."

"True. But all of them? I admit, I haven't had time to talk to all the parents. But I will. I think you have a good idea of what I'm going to hear."

"You can't prove anything."

"You have no medical degree. No license. The university where your résumé says you got your degree in psychology never heard of you. Neither has the hospital where you say you worked before moving to Silver Hills. I have a feeling, if I keep looking, no college or university or hospital or clinic in the country is going to have any record of you."

"So what? Like you just said, I'm not a doctor; I can't be sued for malpractice. I can't lose a license I don't have. So just what do you think you can do to me?"

"Me? Not much. But you can still be sued, malpractice or not, for fraud. If someone got those parents together, you could be looking at a whole bunch of lawsuits. It could possibly become a criminal case. And if Alan Collins finds out what you've done to his son, his daughter-in-law, and his grandson - well, he's not a man you want to cross."

Fear had finally chased the anger from her face. "What do you want?" she asked.

He straightened. "For starters, I want you to leave the Collins family the hell alone."

"They think I'm helping. They won't want to stop coming."

"No, they won't, and I don't want to be the one to tell them they've been fooled by a cheap con artist. Which is why you're going to break your next appointment with them, and tell them you're leaving town. And that's exactly what you're going to do, if you're smart." He crossed his own arms. "I'm going to make sure the cops know just what you've been up to, and I'm going to be watching in case you set up the same scam somewhere else, but if you leave now you'll at least have a head start. I wouldn't give you that much, but this is the fastest way I know to get you where you can't do Wes and Jen and their kid any more harm."

"You think I'm nothing but a crook, don't you?" To his surprise, her voice and expression had softened. She took a few steps closer. "I really do try to help those kids. I do. I've tried with Wes and Jen's son, too. But troubled children... it's difficult. Sometimes the benefits don't last the way I'd like. Still, I think it helps, or I hope it does."

She was face to face with him now, only inches away, her hazel eyes looking up pleadingly, appealingly. "I'm doing some good here, I know it. I can help Wes and his family, just ask him. Maybe I can help you too... We could work something out. Financially... or some other way."

She was so close, close enough that it would take only the bending of his head to kiss her, looking so beautiful, so warm and inviting and exciting... But she's a crook, the worst kind of con artist, a lingering thread of rationality told him. I can't really want her. And what about Gaby? As he wavered, Chris's eyes narrowed and he sensed the chill of ice behind them, an indefinable sensation that made him take a step back. Something felt - wrong about her, and about his own reactions, as if something was putting these thoughts in his head, thoughts he knew didn't belong there. As he was trying to pin it down, the familiar but unexpected sound of his morpher communicator interrupted.

Backing up another step, he raised his arm. "Yeah?" he answered.

"Eric? Where are you?"

The abrupt demand was not in Wes's voice, as he had expected, or in Jen's. It was familiar, but... "Lucas?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yeah. Where are you?"

"I'm downtown. Where are you? What are you doing here?"

"At Bio-Lab. We need you to meet us. Now."

Eric scowled at the summons. "What the hell is so important that I'm supposed to drop everything-"

"Saving Wes and Jen's baby is so important. Are you coming or not?"

As his eyes fell on Chris again, Eric decided. Maybe it was just as well to get as far away from her as possible, as quickly as possible. "Okay. My office, ten minutes," he snapped, and started for the door. Pulling it open, he turned. "Remember what I said," he shot back at Chris. "Stay away from my partner, and get out of my city."

- - -

Chris waited for the door to slam behind him before she slumped into a chair, shaking with reaction. Get out of town... She had no choice, did she? Take her money and possessions, and run. No need to waste time on calling Wes and Jen, she could just pack her things and get out long before their afternoon appointment.

But what about the baby - or rather, her other self inside him? She raised her head. The things he had promised... Was she going to just run away and leave all that behind? Should she? Would she be better off never seeing that creature again? But she knew that was impossible as soon as the thought formed in her mind. He had said it. They were the same. Not just the same kind but the same person, and she would never be free of him, even if she wanted to be.

Reaching a sudden decision, she got back to her feet and reached for her purse. The Collins house. Myers hadn't told them about her. If she hurried, she could go there, and get in, and say she was paying a house call or something. Get them to leave her alone with the baby. And then... he would know what to do.

- - -

"Oh, shit!" Eric came to an abrupt halt in the doorway of his office, staring at the almost-mirror-image of his own face which was scowling back at him. "What the hell? Who invited you?"

"Oh, that's a very nice way to say hello to someone who's trying to save your friends' butts!" Erica retorted, stepping forward to face him.

"If that person's you, I'd rather be saying goodbye!" They both advanced, until they were almost nose-to-nose.

"You know, you're every bit as charming as I remember," she snarled.

"It's just that you're so good at rubbing me the wrong way!"

"In your dreams, pal! I'm not rubbing you any way at all, not if I can help it!"

"All right, can it, you two."

Eric looked up at the oddly familiar - yet unfamiliar - voice, and for the first time really noticed the six other people in his office. Lucas, Trip, and Katie, he had been expecting. But not the tall, Asian, and very attractive woman who had spoken, the tall Black man, and the short green-haired woman who were with them.

"Uh... Eric," Trip began, waving a hand at them. "This is - um - Lucie, and Kevin, and Trix. They're-"

"Since she's here," Eric interrupted, "I can guess who they are. What's going on?"

- - -

"Is Mrs. Collins at home?" Chris asked, giving the man who had opened the door a big smile, and proud of how calm and collected she sounded.

"Who may I say is calling?" he asked in a British accent.

"Chris Tutto. She's brought her son to me for medical examinations."

"Ah. Yes, Miss Jen and Mr. Wesley mentioned you. Please come in."

Inside, he left her on a bench in a large and elegant foyer while he disappeared upstairs. Marble floors and antique furniture were everywhere she looked. A glance through a nearby doorway revealed a living room and tantalizing glimpses of carpeting, paintings, and statuary. She was wondering exactly how much money it took to support a house like this, with a staff and even an English butler, when light footsteps coming down the stairway announced Jen's arrival. She came to greet Chris with an inquiring smile.

"This is a surprise! Is anything wrong?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that. I was in the area, and thought if I could see the baby here, at home, and observe his environment... But I'm sorry if I interrupted anything, or came at a bad time. I should have called."

"It's all right." Jen still looked slightly puzzled, but she gestured up the stairway. "Wes is at work, but I'm not busy. Come on upstairs, and I'll take you to the baby's room."

"That would be wonderful. Thanks."

A minute later they were stepping into a nursery. Chris barely noticed the decorations, the piles of toys, the child-sized furniture, the warm and comfortable look of the room. Her attention was on the crib in the center, and the non-baby who turned those piercing eyes on her.

-What's wrong?-

"Uh..." Chris kept the smile on her face with difficulty as she groped for an excuse to get rid of Jen. "What a lovely room. I - I'm still working on building a relationship with Junior, and it would be easier without parents to divide his attention. Would you mind if I'm alone with him? Just for a few minutes?"

If Jen thought the request was odd, she was too polite to show it. "Well... sure. I'll be in our room, down the hall at the end."

"Great. Thanks so much."

- - -

"Man, I knew something was wrong with that kid. And this Proteus - you say he used to be Christopher Tutto in your world..." Eric had listened with only a few interruptions. At first it had all seemed like some kind of weird fantasy - but it fit. The baby. Even Chris. With a shiver, he remembered the strange feeling he had gotten when she tried to persuade him to do what she wanted. And his impression that Wes's attitude about her was strange - as if he had been brainwashed - was exactly right. "He and Christina Tutto are the same person, like me and Erica?"

A derisive snort from Erica greeted this question. "Yes, they are," Lucie said, with a glare at her teammate.

"I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when those two met."

"They met?" Trix exclaimed.

"Yeah. It's a long story, but Wes hired Chris as a therapist, to treat the kid."

"Would they have been able to communicate?" Trip asked his counterpart.

"I don't know. But, considering both their mental powers... it's very possible."

"If those two teamed up..."

"I know. We have to get Proteus out of this dimension as fast as we can."

"Eric," Lucas said, "That's why we contacted you first. We need you to call Wes and Jen, and get them away from the baby."

"Why can't you call them yourselves?"

"Because if one of them is near the baby, and he hears, or senses what they're thinking-" Trix said.

"-he'd know what's going on, and that we're after him, and then-" Trip continued.

"-he'd have a chance to escape into someone else's body, and we might never catch up to him!" Trix finished.

"Yeah..." Katie, along with everyone else, was eyeing the two. "If you call, Eric, it won't seem like anything unusual. You can find out where they are, and get them where we can meet them."

Eric picked up his phone. "Wes is probably here at Bio-Lab. I'll call him first and get him over here. Jen's probably home with the baby."

- - -

"What am I going to do?" Chris asked, clasping her hands nervously as she paced around the crib. "I can't stay here, not if Myers and Mr. Collins are going to be after me. But I don't want to leave. I could lose everything I've worked for here. It took years to get to know the right people, and get references, and now it could all be gone."

-You couldn't influence Myers? Use your power of persuasion, along with an offer of money or other favors?-

"I tried. But even if he hadn't gotten a call on that morpher, I don't think it would have worked." She stopped abruptly and turned to look at the baby as she remembered. "That call - he said something about you. About saving Wes and Jen's baby."

The thought felt sharp. -Who was he speaking to?-

"Someone named Lucas, I think."

-Lucas... Lucie Kendall? The other Rangers... Is it possible that they followed me, or sent their counterparts after me?- There was a pause. -But perhaps it's fate again.-

"What? What are you talking about?"

-Fate brought us together. Now it is bringing us even closer. We both face a crisis. You need me. I need you. There's only one thing we can do.-

"Only one thing? What? What can we do?" She leaned over the side of the crib. "Maybe if we work together we can control Myers? Make him forget what he found out about me? Or - or get rid of him?"

-Nothing so petty, or so uncertain.-

"Then what?"

-Join with me, Chris. It's the only way. It's what we're meant to do. Together we can achieve power beyond anything either of us has dreamed of.-

"Join with you?" She shrank back, a hand rising to her throat. "W-what do you mean?"

- - -

"My son - under the control of a mutant?" Wes had turned pale. Unobtrusively Eric pushed a chair closer to him and watched him sink into it. He slumped for a moment, and then turned up a stricken face. "He's only a baby... Can you - can you help him?"

"Yes," Trix said in a quietly confident voice. She lifted a slim metallic tube from a pocket and held it up. "This projector will create a force field which can weaken him, pull him out of whatever body he's in, and trap him inside. Once we have him, we'll take him to our dimension where we can put him safely back in containment. With stronger precautions this time."

"And then Junior would be okay? He'd be normal?"

"As normal as any other baby."

"And Chris... she's the same person, in this dimension... I can't believe it. It explains a lot, though." To Eric's relief, Wes's voice was regaining its strength and his expression became determined as he continued, "What do you need me to do?"

"We have to get Proteus in a place where he can't escape into someone else and get away," Kevin said. "If he's at your house, that's a good place, as long as we can get everyone else out."

"Okay. I'll call Jen."

"Don't tell her what's going on," Lucie cautioned. "Proteus might be able to pick up on it. Just get her and anyone else out of the house before we get there."

"Without alarming her, if you can," Lucas added.

"Okay. I'll try." Wes pulled out his cellphone, paused to take a deep breath, and dialed.

- - -

-We must join together. We must become one, more powerful than either of us alone.-

"I don't - I don't know..." Chris backed away, shaking her head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

-Of course you do. Let me in, Chris. Let me inhabit your body as I inhabit this child's. With my own power added to yours, my knowledge and experience inside your living body, there's no limit to what we can do!-

"Let you control me? Take me over, like you've done with all those children? No!"

-It wouldn't be like that. We would be equals inside your body. We were meant to do this; this is why we were brought together through the dimensions.- His mental voice became warm and soothing. -Trust in me, Chris. We're the same person; I would not harm you. We will overcome our enemies, and then, if you wish, I will find a new body.-

- - -

"Hello? Oh, hi, Wes." Jen smiled, even though no one could see her inside her bedroom as she waited for Chris to finish whatever she was doing.

"Jen... Honey, I have a surprise for you."

She put down the book she had been reading and sat up. "Sounds interesting. What is it?"

"If I tell you, it won't be a surprise, will it?"

She chuckled. "No, I suppose not."

"I want the staff to see too, so get them together, and all of you go outside and wait for me to get there."

"Outside?" She laughed again. "What is it, a new car?"

"You'll see. And make sure Philips and everyone else are there too. But you can leave the baby, he's probably sleeping, and - and it's cold out. You'll be right outside; he'll be fine for a few minutes."

"Well, if you say so... Now?"

"Yeah, hon, right now."

"Sounds exciting. Okay." She kept the phone to her ear as she got up and started into the hallway, and then hesitated. "Wes, Chris is with the baby. Should I bring her too?"

"Chris?" Wes's voice lost some of its calmness. "Chris is there?"

"Yes, she came by to see the baby at home. Why, is something wrong?"

There was a mutter of voices in the background, and then Wes again, his tone sounding slightly forced. "No, leave her, we'll tell her later. Please, just get everyone else outside and I'll see you in a few minutes. I gotta go."

"Wes, what...? Wes!" But only the empty sound of a disconnected call answered her.

- - -

"I can't!" Chris cried. "I don't want to fight anyone, or - or join with you! I never wanted any of this!"

-They will be coming for you. They will know what you are: the other half of me. They will think you are dangerous and they will destroy or imprison you, just like me. But I can protect you. You will be safe... if you let me in.-

"I don't want to..."

-You have no choice.-

TBC...