Sorry about the long wait, I was sick for most of November, and then had a crap load of things to catch up on. Of course, I'm not sure anyone is still reading this, so maybe you don't mind. If there IS anyone still out there, I'll try to update frequently again.

I don't own Luke and Noah, but given what happened this week, who knows what might happen next year. *big sad sigh* Let's hope for the best.

Part 4 -The Boy

Mayer and Luke both turned to Luciano. Both asked the same question, "Dad?" Luciano had neglected to mention that part.

Luciano shrugged. "I warned you. Definitely odd."

"I'd hope so," Luke told him. Given that Luke himself seemed to have traveled through time, there was always the possibility that this sixteen year old boy really was Luke's son, but Luke's brain was defiantly refusing to process what would be one insanity too many.

The boy came closer, but he was disappointed for some reason, and seemed to grow more disheartened with every step. "It's not you."

"That's a relief," Luciano noted. "There are limits to how much a person's faculties can stand in one day."

Mayer rubbed what appeared to be an aching head, already at that limit. Though that was no doubt because he'd already realized that, "His father must be twenty, if he mistook both of you. How is that possible?"

"You've got me," Luke replied, rubbing his temples as well. "Who are you?" he asked as the teen stopped in front of him.

"I--" The boy frowned, puzzled. "I don't know."

"How can you not know?" Luciano asked, the frost back in his voice.

"I don't know."

"That's ridiculous," Luciano told him. "You must have a name. An address. Even boys that just fall out of the sky have those," making a curt gesture at Luke.

The boy was clearly upset by the question, and Luke moved in front of him without thinking. "Calm down," Luke told his counterpart. "He's probably got amnesia or something."

Luke turned back to the boy. "We're not going to hurt you," he insisted. "We just want to help. What was the last thing you remember before you came here?"

The boy thought on that for a moment. "Just the other universe," he admitted. "I was there for a few minutes, and then I came here." He looked at Luke, tears forming in his eyes. "Am I really supposed to remember something before that?"

Luke really wanted to address the boy's concerns. Either assure him that it didn't matter, or (more selfishly, he admitted) try to draw the information out. But he couldn't get past the first part of the boy's revelation. "What do you mean, 'other universe'?"

"The one I was looking for my fathers in," the boy replied. "I couldn't find them, so I came here."

"So this isn't my past?" Luke asked. "And I'm not screwing up the timeline by getting these two together?"

Luciano was once again shocked out of his upper class snobbery. "You-- You were going to risk that for us?"

Luke was about to answer, but the boy answered HIS question first. Looking at Luke in an odd way that made Luke feel like the boy was looking at Luke's soul. Which may have been the case, because the boy told him, "No. You don't belong in this reality any more than I do. "

"Do you remember HOW you got here?" Luke asked. "Please. It's really important."

"I was looking for my father," the boy repeated. "I sensed you come here, and I followed."

Luke looked at Mayer and Luciano who, like him, were suddenly grinning. While they'd all hoped that there was some way for Luke to get home, it was a pleasant surprise to find that it would be that easy. Luke looked back at the boy, "So you can bring me back to my own universe?"

The boy considered that. He looked like he really wanted to, but he shook his head. "I-- …no."

Luke's face fell, and he was sure Mayer and Luciano's had as well. "What do you mean, no?" he asked, barely managing to pull a burst of frustration that would have surely upset the boy.

"I can't sense a universe that far away," the boy explained. He seemed just as distressed as the others were that he couldn't oblige Luke. Almost frightened. "The only reason that I found this one, was because you're almost my dad. And I sensed you. And I followed."

"Which brings us back to the question of how Luke managed to sire a boy only a few years younger than himself," Mayer noted. "Especially since none of you so far have any interest in coupling with a woman."

Luciano snickered at that, but the boy looked at Mayer like he'd just made the stupidest observation ever. "My other parent is an alternate version of you."

Mayer's face lost all expression. "Oh," he finally stated.

Ordinarily this would have been something that was of great interest to Luke. He and Noah had talked about children (Yes, it was too early, but with Luke's younger brother and sisters it was inevitable that it would come up), and both really wanted one someday. But Luke had suddenly been hit with inspiration and Luke turned back to the boy, smiling again. "You can sense people in the other universes, right?"

"Just Lukes and Noahs," the boy corrected. He was still frowning, but this time with concentration. Luke could tell just by looking that he wanted desperately to help this man that looked like his father. This man who was just as lost as he was.

"Good enough," Luke replied, having already anticipated this. "And you can sense the difference between us and your dad. Can you see the difference between me and Luciano?"

"I couldn't at first. But I can now. There's something that he and this Noah have in common that you don't have. I can't really explain it."

"You don't have to," Luke insisted. "All you need to do is find a Noah out there that has that same thing in common with me. That'll be MY Noah!"

"Of course," Luciano noted, though it was clear from the looks on his and Mayer's faces that this exchange had gone over their heads.

The boy's eyes, on the other hand, widened with surprise and relief. "I think so. Yes. Just give me a minute to look."

LUKEANDNOAHFOREVER

Noah Mayer sat in the brig of an American warship, watching through a porthole as waves slammed against the hull. He thought about how dangerous it was for his counterpart in this universe to be above decks at a time like this, but he didn't really have much say in the matter. He knew that it was dangerous for him to be showing up in places that already had a Noah, but he never anticipated that he'd be in danger of going before a firing squad for being an enemy spy.

It was almost a relief to hear the now familiar rattle. He was pretty sure he'd reached the pinnacle of dangerous situations.

Until he appeared in the middle of a battleground. With another Luke that very quickly pulled a vicious looking pistol at him. "Who the hell are you?"

"Umm." Noah tried to calm himself. This was sadly, a common reaction when people saw him; anger, distrust, and weapons for what was now the sixteenth time. It didn't take long for Noah's heart to slow to normal, and how messed up was it that he was becoming desensitized to being at the wrong end of a gun barrel. "I'm not going to hurt you. Luke, I need your help."

Luke sneered at that. "Oh, is that what you're going for? You can't get into our camp to replace Noah, so you're trying to convince me that you're the real Noah, and the one I just left is the fake one?"

"No," Noah insisted, shocked. "I'm sure he's real. I'm real, too. I'm just-- I'm not from around here."

"This is pathetic," Armed!Luke told him. "Why do you keep trying this? Isn't it enough to shoot us dead? Do you get off on turning us against each other?"

"Luke, please calm down," Noah insisted. "My Luke would be really sad if you put a bullet in me. Trust me."

Armed!Luke didn't seem to know how to respond to that. He tried to laugh. He tried to scoff. Neither worked out that well. Finally he just shook his head, presumably to clear out everything that Noah had told him that didn't make sense. Which was admittedly a long list. "Trust you? I'm just supposed to believe that wherever you come from, you just happened to have the last Abercrombie and Fitch store that survived Judgment Day?"

"Luke--"

"You're right that you're not going to hurt me, though." Noah winced as he heard the blaster Armed!Luke was carrying power up. "I'm the one that's going to hurt you."

LUKEANDNOAHFOREVER

Mayer and Luciano moved closer to Luke while the boy concentrated on finding Noah. "You look very serious for a man about to get back everything he ever wanted," Mayer noted.

"Oh believe me, I'm ecstatic," Luke replied. "I'm just worried about this poor kid. How lonely and scary it'll be for him, wandering every universe out there, all by himself. Maybe…. Maybe when I get back he can stay with me while he looks for his parents. Like a base camp or something. At least he wouldn't have to be alone all the time."

Luciano shrugged, doubtful. "I don't know. How happy would you have been to stay here, while we found YOUR home?"

Luke half-smiled at that. "Not very," he admitted. "But I have to try something."

Luciano smiled back. "Somehow, I'm not surprised."

The boy suddenly called out to them, "I've got him."

The three approached him again, Luke in the lead. "Kid, I really think you should stay with me in my universe until you find your own. What do you think?"

The boy seemed surprised by this. Of course, Mayer seemed a little stunned by Luke's boldness, too, which wasn't surprising. Luke was well known for charging in, while Noah was still carefully examining the situation. "You really wouldn't mind that?" The boy asked.

"Of course not," Luke smiled. "I know it's not the same as having your own Luke and Noah. God, how I understand that now," he chuckled as he looked back at Mayer and Luciano. "But I-- I know this sounds weird. I know I'm not your dad, but it almost feels like you're mine. There's just something about you that makes me want to hug you, and teach you how to ride a bike, and-- Okay, I really wasn't planning on sounding that psychotic. I'm even freaking myself out now." But from the glistening eyes, not only on the boy, but on Mayer and Luciano, it seemed like they were feeling the same kinship that he was.

Luciano finally spoke up, clearing his throat to make it sound a little less emotional. "I really think it would be for the best. Do we have an agreement?"

The boy nodded wordlessly.

"If you're going to be staying an extended period, you're going to need something for Luke to call you," Mayer pointed out. "Would you mind if we gave you a temporary name?" Another wordless response, this time a shake of the head. Not refusal, though.

Luciano looked over the boy carefully. "How about…Bryant?" he suggested.

Mayer nodded in approval. "Your cousin."

"Mine, too," Luke noted. "Is--" Luke broke off before he could ask what had happened to Bryant in this universe. He couldn't take it if Bryant was dead here, too. But it wouldn't be any less disheartening if he wasn't. Best not to know. "Is that okay with you?" he asked the boy instead.

The boy smiled. "Bryant is fine by me."

Luke grinned back at him. "Well, then. Bryant. Let's get going." Luke stood behind Bryant and placed his hands on Bryant's shoulders, assuming that physical contact would help matters. This left him looking at Mayer and Luciano. "Good luck, you guys."

If they had anything to say in response, Luke didn't hear it. Because they were standing someplace else. The most disconcerting part being that he hadn't felt a thing. Just like last time, there was that odd rattle, but no physical sensation. But now he shivered with an unexpectedly cool wind. He looked around excitedly, looking for Noah. But everything he saw made the smile he had on his face evaporate.

No Noah, but given their surroundings it was almost a relief not to see him there. It was still dark, but it was also clearly not home, unless they were on some other part of the planet. The soil was burnt down to clay, and the sky was lit up not with stars but with mortar fire. Luke wondered if this was the Middle East, or maybe Afghanistan.

Before he could ask, he realized that Bryant's head was swiveling around, taking in the sights wildly. "Oh, god damnit!" he shouted.

"What?" Luke asked. "Where are we? If this is Oakdale--" He couldn't finish. If this wasn't home, that meant that Bryant's powers might not be fine tuned enough to EVER get them there. But then, how could this POSSIBLY be home?

"It is," Bryant replied, looking worried. "But this is the future of another universe."

"How did we end up here?" Luke asked, now totally confused. "I thought you had a lock on my Noah."

"I did," Bryant exclaimed. "He was here. And now he's gone."

"Gone? What do you--" Luke shivered as he looked around the battleground they were on, the smell of blood and burning metal hitting him for the first time. Luke realized with horror just what 'gone' might mean.

(to be continued)