Yeah, sorry I took so long on this.

Doing It For You
Part 5

He awoke to darkness. It wasn't the first time he had, but the sensors or whatever that realized he was awake seemed to fail every so often, if only for a few seconds.

Ziggy tried to think about where he could be that the power was failing, even for a few seconds. Maybe he was outside the dome, where electricity wasn't so reliable, relying on the remoteness of his location to keep anyone from finding him, including Kay. Kay was good at finding things that were impossible to find, but it wasn't like he had a tracking device implanted in him or anything that she could use to find him.

Until the others could get him out of there, however, he had to work on it himself. Sure, they were being careful with him, but he knew that eventually they'd slip up.

Hey! Maybe he could use the power outage to his advantage. He slipped out of bed, shuffling into the slippers his hosts had provided for him, and started to work on the door. He knew a bit about doors, automatic ones, and how to get them open even if they didn't want to be opened or someone didn't want you to open them.

And if the power was out, so much the better. Sure, the motors were probably knocked out, but Ziggy could probably pry the door open. Locks were simple things if you had the right tools.

The fact that Ziggy didn't have any tools didn't matter; he'd find some and get himself out of there. Heading back into the 'living room' of his living area, he started thinking fast about what was where. Nothing really leant itself to lockpicking - and the locks were probably electronic anyway - so he headed back. The door really didn't lend itself to being pulled open - there was nothing he could get a hold of to slide it out - so he had to look for some kind of release. There had to be a manual release, right? Just because they'd kidnapped him didn't mean they didn't follow government safety instructions.

Wait… Kay had showed him things like that, just in case. She didn't want him getting stuck because of his relationship with her, especially with her whole background and all. So he started feeling around the door.

He struck paydirt a few seconds later. If the place wasn't a government installation, it was certainly built like one, or at least one Kay knew.

The manual lever in the doorframe released the door, which clicked quietly and allowed him to pull it open. It took a bit of doing, given that he was out of practice and all and that he was carrying another life, but he gradually got it open. After a moment, he pulled it closed as much as he could, trying to keep people from noticing their patient-prisoner had escaped.

He was even less in practice when it came to sneaking about, though he tried to remember that long-ago skill that private school teachers weren't really supposed to know.

But private school teachers who were married to famous scientists and were famous on their own sometimes knew skills that they weren't supposed to, especially when it came to skills from their past.

So slowly and even more slowly Ziggy inched his way down the corridor, freezing when he heard voices.

"Marie, think you can jump-start the generator or something like that?" one male voice asked.

"Not unless you want to have the place go up in flames, my dear," an older, grandmotherly voice answered.

A third voice. "When was the last time that happened?" Female voice, amused.

"Well, let's see... that would be the last time I worked retail, I believe. I think it involved a few fire trucks and a very unhappy Corinth military." The woman was silent for a moment. "I believe my ex-boss told me that the company logo was not to be taken as a suggestion on what to do with the store. And then the government recruited me."

"That must have been a long time ago," the younger woman said, a tone of admiration in her voice.

"A very long time ago, dear."

"Wait a second, aren't we in the ward area?" the man asked.

"Last I checked," the younger woman asked. "Why?"

"Door's ajar. Should we check to see if the inhabitant's there and okay?"

"We're not trained to restrain patients," the young woman said. "And can you imagine Marie restraining anybody?"

"I could set them on fire," Marie said helpfully.

"I... don't think that's a good thing. Let's just tell the people who would know what to do." The man's voice was uncertain; an underling, a minor player. Like him, a long time ago.

Ziggy heard the man reporting in as he slipped away.

He had no idea of where he was going, but at least he could just make out exit signs. Pictographic ones, to be sure, but exit signs. He slipped out each exit door as he ran across them.

As he slipped through his fourth and went to hug another wall, he touched flesh, and someone screamed.

"Who are you?" the owner asked, and he placed her after a second.

"Doctor Park?" he asked, the words slipping out.

"Wait- you're patient G616!"

So much for charming her before, though Kay'd had feelings for him and still called him by his Ranger designation for a really long time after she'd dropped it for the others. He might have a chance, especially if he could get her to think of him as Ziggy and not a number. It reminded him too much of whenever one of Venjix's lackeys had run across Dillon and insisted on calling him "D-44", much to his displeasure.

"Yeah. And I'm leaving. Can you show me the way out?"

She took an audible deep breath. "I don't think that's a good idea in your condition."

"I'm pregnant, not helpless." He'd been a Ranger! He could handle almost anything.

"But if you go back, and if you miscarry like you did- oh, shit."

"I miscarried?" he didn't remember doing anything like that.

"You did in your original timeline," Dr. Park said, her tones becoming more soothing by the moment. "Come on, let me take you back to where you were, okay?"

"Waitaminute. Original timeline?"

"Somebody is going to fricking kill me," she muttered. "G- Ziggy. You're in your future. You understand? You're in your future. You have no place to escape to."

Ziggy froze.