Part 5 - Oakdale and Malta

Noah sat on the love seat in his and Luke's apartment. Trying not to think.

He couldn't imagine spending the rest of his life without the man he loved. He thought back to all the time he'd wasted. With Maddie, days upon days trapped in a closet that just got smaller as time went by. With his father, spending far too much energy trying to get the man to accept him and withdrawing from everyone when that failed. Even with Luke, fearing that he'd be abandoned once more after Luke found out that sex with him couldn't match up to what he'd be anticipating (ironic, since he'd found out when they finally were together that it was better than they were even hoping for).

Luke was dead. The man he loved was gone forever, and it was all his fault that they hadn't had more time while he was alive.

He fell into shadow as someone walked to stand over him. He vaguely remembered not closing the door all the way, and cursed himself for not arranging more privacy in his grief. Well, there was nothing to be done about it now. Noah looked up, steeled himself for another round of pointless compassion, only to be stunned by seeing that compassion coming from his own eyes.

This!Noah looked up at the Noah standing above him and gasped, "Who are you?"

Noah smiled sadly. "That's a long story. Are you okay?"

This!Noah let his head drop down again, already weary. "No. I wasted so much time with him."

"I know the feeling."

"Luke's dead." This!Noah looked up, surprised to hear a sharp gasp of horror. "He's dead, and I don't know how I'm going to go on without him." This!Noah started to cry, and Noah held him.

"I understand," Noah told him. This!Noah pulled back, frowning irritated. People always said that and they had no idea. No idea, at all. Noah persisted though. "No, I'm serious. I- I'm lost. I'm never going to see my Luke again, either."

"Oh." Well, then maybe he did understand. This!Noah started telling the story again. It didn't take long to get trapped in the memory again. "It all happened so fast. We were on Lucinda's yacht; I told him that it was too late in the year and too cold to be out on the water, but you know how he-- Reality did what he told it to, not the other way around. And then there was this explosion. I was knocked overboard, but Luke was still there. He must have been trapped or something, because there's no way-- Everything burned. I heard Luke screaming for me, but I couldn't-- It took everything I had just to stay afloat! GOD DAMN IT! WHY DID I DO THAT? IF I'D JUST STOPPED MOVING--"

Noah comforted him again, but the rest of his reaction was unexpected. Deep in thought, but not brooding. Like he was trying to remember something. "Did they-- They didn't make you identify the body, did they." Strange that it didn't sound like a question.

This!Noah shook his head. "They haven't found it yet. The yacht broke into pieces on the way down, and now the water's starting to freeze."

Noah's eyes widened. "I-- This might sound weird, but can I borrow your phone?" This!Noah didn't have a clue why, but he handed it over. Noah looked a little relieved as he scrolled through the contacts list. "There it is," he said, mostly to himself. "Hmm. It actually IS the same number here."

This!Noah didn't have long to wait to find out who Noah was phoning. "Jack, it's Noah. I know this sounds weird, but can you check on something from the night Luke-- The night he-- …Yeah. I need to know if there was any planes or boats leaving that night. … Specifically, I'm looking for a name. Dante Grimaldi."

LUKEANDNOAHFOREVER

Luke looked around at the ruined landscape, for the first time considering the possibility that Noah might have --- No. He couldn't even imagine it. Buck up, Snyder, Luke told himself. Bryant didn't say he was dead, you inferred that. He just said gone. Noah was here, and now he's-- "Wait, how is that possible? If he was here, and now he's not, that would mean--"

"He's lost too." Bryant worried. "If he's not in your universe, we might never find it."

"But he's still alive?' Luke asked. Please, Noah you've just got to be okay. Luke exhaled in relief when Bryant nodded. "Okay. We'll worry about my universe later. Where is Noah now?"

"You're looking for that other Noah?" It was Luke from this future. Luke looked up in surprise, but not as surprised as Future!Luke. Future!Luke made a reach for his belt, that Luke guessed was for a weapon. When one wasn't there, Future!Luke searched his pockets, growing more frantic.

Before Future!Luke had a chance to find something, Luke raised his hands, slightly. "Hey, it's okay. I know. You couldn't imagine running into someone who looks like you, and it's a little freaky. But we aren't going to hurt you."

"I actually AM used to it," Future!Luke snarled (giving up on his search for another gun, which was a relief). "But apparently I'm not supposed to worry, because everyone's FRIENDLY metal, today."

Luke was totally confused this, but Bryant was still able to focus on Future!Luke's earlier statement. "You saw another Noah? One that wasn't yours?"

"He stole my gun," Future!Luke informed them. "Then he just vanished into thin air."

"Yeah, that was probably Noah," Luke quipped. Luke turned to Bryant. "Can you find him?"

"I think so."

Luke turned back to his future alternate, hearing the sound of loud gears grinding behind them. Hearing it couldn't prepare him for what he was seeing.

It was some kind of robot, though no robot that Luke had seen to this point had ever had the hatred that Luke saw in it's eyes. Luke surprised himself by not freezing. "Get down!" He shouted as he tackled Future!Luke.

Luke was fast, but Bryant was faster. As the robot identified the two Lukes and aimed its own gun, Bryant pointed his hand at it. A blast of energy the size of a discus crossed from his hand to the robot in the time it took to realize that it had happened. The robot was vaporized a second later, and even that vapor seemed to disintegrate. All that was left was the machine's blaster, which hit the ground what seemed an eternity later.

Future!Luke was astonished. "I've never seen anyone-- I've never even seen THEM do that." Of course, he wasn't too astonished to take the robot's gun.

Bryant didn't respond to the comment. "I've got him."

"No kidding," Future!Luke gaped.

But Luke himself could tell, from the unfocused, inward looking look on Bryant's face, that he wasn't talking about the killer robot. "I don't suppose you can lock him down so he can't wander off again."

"Already done."

"Then let's go," Luke told him, as he seized Bryant's shoulder again. "Hang on, Noah. I'm coming."

LUKEANDNOAHFOREVER

"I was told that Luke's mother was coming."

Noah growled at Luke's uncle. "You already have Luke. You can't seriously think I'd let you get within a hundred miles of her." Noah realized absently that nobody in this universe had told him what Luke's mother's name was. Most of the time it was Lily, but there WAS that one time Lily was named Rose and Luke's aunt Rose was named Lily. At least he thought that that was how that reality worked.

"Smart." Dante admitted. "Now that Luke's dead, she's my only key to getting the Grimaldi money away from Damian."

Noah raised the gun he'd gotten in the last universe (he hoped that he hadn't doomed that Luke to death by taking it). "Cut the bull, Dante," he ordered. I already know what you did to Luke. I've got a pretty good idea of where you're keeping him, too." Of course it was possible that Luke had already escaped, like he had at home. But Luke had had Holden with him then, so Noah couldn't count on it.

"Is that so?" Dante asked, with a sneer. "If you're on top of everything, then why aren't you rescuing Luke?"

Noah charged the gun. "Would've thought that was obvious. I'm here for you."

Noah didn't actually plan on shooting Dante. The mere fact that he didn't know the power of the gun he had was enough to make him pause. That pause was enough for Dante to slam into Noah. Which gave Noah another, unwanted pause; one that gave Dante a chance to get out of there.

Noah came flying down the stairs at the opera house, heedless of what he might find at the bottom of them. It wasn't exactly like he'd given up on getting home. But the Luke on this Earth was in trouble, and he'd be damned if he was going to let This!Luke and This!Noah suffer the crippling loneliness that was currently devouring him. Even if it cost him his life.

And it just might, this time. Luke, his Luke, had told him how very dangerous that his Uncle Dante was. That Dante was more than willing to kill Luke if it would ensure that it was Dante, and Dante's descendants that inherited the Grimaldi fortune. Noah couldn't imagine that someone could care that much about money, that they'd sacrifice their own family. Even his own father, who hated Noah's homosexuality with a fiery prejudice, had never gone after Noah himself.

But of course, as Noah had planned, Dante was so busy evading the Noah behind him that he ran straight into this dimension's Noah, right in front of him. This!Noah laid Dante on the ground with a single punch. Dante reached for the gun in his jacket, but Noah was there first, raising his own blaster. This time he wasn't about to hesitate. "I wouldn't."

This!Noah yanked Dante's gun out of his jacket and pointed it at him. "Where's Luke? What did you do with him?" Dante just sneered at him.

"Let's tie him up," Noah told his counterpart. "I think I know where Luke is." It wasn't easy, relying on his memory to find a place he hadn't actually been before. But Luke's story had been so compelling, Luke's storytelling so engrossing that Noah was convinced he could find where This!Luke was. He kept mentally repeating that he could do this, that he could find This!Luke. Right up to the point that he saw the sand crocuses.

"This is it," Noah insisted. They made their way inside, the few people they encountered were put off approaching them by the blaster Noah was brandishing. They reached the downstairs room that Noah was sure faced in the right direction, and he was gratified to see it was locked. "Luke? Luke, are you in there?"

"Noah? Noah!" It was Luke, all right. Or This!Luke, anyway.

This!Noah was at the door, instantly. "God! Luke, baby, I'm here. We're gonna get you out of here."

Noah thought about announcing himself, but decided it could wait until they'd gotten the door open. "Luke, we're going to shoot the door open. Get on the side of the door the hinges are on, and stand as far back as you can."

There was shuffling on the other side of the door, until This!Luke finally announced. "Okay. I'm out of the way."

Noah wasn't prepared for the power his blaster had. There was a surprisingly small amount of kickback, but the door and the frame on the lock side vanished in a shower of splinters. This!Noah was through the door before the smoke settled, and Noah felt the unpleasant burn of jealousy as he watched his counterpart reunited with the man he loved.

This!Luke and This!Noah hugged and kissed for what seemed like forever before This!Luke noticed that they weren't alone. His eyes went wide with surprise when he saw who was with them. "Whoa. I knew you'd be worried, but I didn't think you'd try to clone yourself."

This!Noah laughed. "I didn't clone myself. This is-- A long story, that I just realized I never heard."

"Ah," This!Luke stated, finally being with his Noah again was apparently leaving him without a care in the world. "Here I was imagining an army of Noah's scouring the world looking for me."

"No." This!Noah frowned, sober and almost guilt ridden. "There was just one Noah, too stupid to recognize a set up when he saw it. And then there was another Noah that wasn't nearly as stupid. He's the one that rescued you."

"Baby, you are NOT stupid," This!Luke insisted.

"He's right," Noah told him. "The only reason I knew what was going on was because it already happened to my Luke."

This!Noah calmed a little, and This!Luke smiled at both of them. "Well thank you for saving me. BOTH of you."

LUKEANDNOAHFOREVER

Luke and Bryant found themselves in Old Towne. An Old Towne that was, if not Luke's, at least not scorched to the bedrock or lit with gas lanterns. Luke sighed in relief. He'd been hoping that Noah hadn't jumped someplace worse; for all he knew one of the dimensions Noah was careening though might not even have an Earth. They needed to get to him before he got into something he couldn't get out of.

While Luke was relaxing a little, Bryant was frowning in annoyance. "What is with your Noah? I lock him down to this reality and the first thing he does is head for the other side of the planet."

Luke had to smile at that. Bryant seemed to be slowly relaxing in Luke's presence, letting a little bit more of himself slip through. It was nice to see, because sometimes Bryant's personality seemed to be as featureless as a newborn baby. "Where is he?"

"I don't know," Bryant admitted. "I can see water, rocks, flowers. I don't know where it is, though."

"Don't worry about it," Luke told him. "We just need to find someone who--"

"Luke?" Lily Snyder was smiling, shaking, and crying. Luke didn't have a chance to ask what was wrong before she threw herself at him. "Oh god, baby. We thought we lost you."

Luke had wondered off and on what his mother was thinking at that moment. If she was worried, or if she just assumed he and Noah were off somewhere. This was what he was hoping for, though, and it was close enough to home that he allowed himself the possibility that it was all over, reveled in his mother's embrace until: "Your grandmother told me Noah thought you were alive, that you'd been kidnapped. But I had no idea you'd be back from Malta already."

"Malta," Luke repeated. His voice dull with disappointment, and a growing concern over what Lily was saying.

"Noah must have gone there to find this dimension's Luke," Bryant guessed.

Lily released Luke, looking over at Bryant, completely mystified. "What is that supposed to mean? Luke, who is this?"

"Mom," Luke sighed, recognizing that this wasn't his mother, but not sure what it was that he was supposed to call her. "I can't really explain right now. I need to get to Noah. Can you tell me what's going on? Start from where I supposedly died."

Lily shivered at this, a reaction that Luke anticipated. "There was an explosion on your grandmother's yacht. We thought you were dead. Then out of the blue Noah calls Jack and asks for information on one of Damian's relatives. Noah asks to borrow the jet to go to Malta and find you--"

"Wait," Luke interrupted. "Which relative?" Though he suspected he already knew, and that knowledge was starting to chill his insides.

"Dante Grimaldi," Lily told him. "Jack's trying to get someone at the state department to find out who that is. I don't remember your-- Damian talking about him."

"Dante," Luke repeated, horrified. "I told Noah about Dante kidnapping me when I was a kid; he must have recognized the set up as soon as he heard it."

"Luke what are you talking about?" Lily asked.

Luke didn't hear her. He turned to Bryant in a near panic. "I need to get to Malta, now."

"You've been there?" he asked.

"Yes!"

Bryant put his hand on Luke's forehead, concentrating. "Hang on. I've never done this inside a universe before."

Luke held on. There was the rattling sound, and a very confused Lily Walsh Snyder was left alone in Old Towne.

(to be continued)