This part is being reposted due to ffn eating the original part 6.

Doing It For You
part 6

"Where are we?" he asked Doctor Park. "Other than the future, I mean." He could only think of how hard his teammates and Kay were looking for him, and how they wouldn't find him if Doctor Park was telling the truth.

She sighed, sliding down the wall until she was almost sitting down. He joined her. "I can't tell you exactly - because that would mess up your future - but we're on a town site that would be in the wastelands in your time."

"That… doesn't tell me much." Actually, it didn't tell him anything at all.

"It's not supposed to. Just know that humanity's reclaiming the areas lost to Venjix. That's the important part."

"You probably can't tell me how far I am in the future, either," Ziggy said. That would make sense. He'd read a few science fiction novels when he was a kid.

"Not really," she said, running at a spot just below her shoulder. "But we started in Corinth - some of our original members were in Corinth when it was domed."

Ziggy remembered the woman who had mentioned the Corinth military and how old she'd sounded. "A long time ago, eh?" The woman probably hadn't been that young when she'd been recruited into the group, though.

"Some of our people have been around for decades." Park shook her head.

"Like the old woman who starts fires." If one angle wasn't working, he'd try another.

"Old wo- oh, Marie Brown. Yes. She's been with us for a while. You won't be able to find her, by the way."

He made a note of the name anyway, just in case. "So… um… you folks have time travel."

"Somewhat. But don't worry, we'll be able to get you and the baby home when it's time." Dr. Park seemed to be regaining some of her equilibrium.

"Couldn't you have stopped Venjix?" Ziggy asked plaintively. If they hadn't, there had to be some reason. Because nobody would want to prevent the destruction of most of the planet by a sentient virus, if they had a choice. He hoped being calm would get her to relax her guard and tell him things he shouldn't know.

Maybe Kay was rubbing off on him. He was thinking things through. Of course, he had always really thought things through.

"No, we can't go back that far." She held up a hand. "I can't give you details G-Ziggy. I'm sorry. We would have stopped Venjix, if we could have. In the meantime, the more important thing is making sure you carry safely to term."

She was trying to shift the conversation. "Why is it so important that I have the kid?" he asked.

"I can't tell you. Honestly, I don't know." She shook her head. "But I know it's important. So important that it was considered necessary to take you from the past - risky enough as it is - and isolate you here. We didn't do that lightly, I know that for sure."

Ziggy shivered.

"You're cold," she declared. "Let me get you a blanket. We have to keep you safe."

"I'd rather be out of here," he told her.

He could see her smile. "Yes, but that's not going to happen. You'll return when it's safe for you to return. You don't want to risk the baby, do you? You're not stupid; I know you were bright enough to escape from your room, or you wouldn't be here."

Ziggy had the feeling that she was doing what she could to get him back in his room and away from escaping. But he couldn't not try to escape. Kay and the others had to be worried sick. If he really was in the future... well, he'd deal with that when he got out of the place. "It was nothing, I'm good at that sort of thing." Which was why he had to get out of there before they made it so he couldn't leave. "I have to admit I am kinda cold, though. You guys normally have this many power outages?"

"There are some power fluctuations, but I don't know why we're completely powerless." She shook her head. "In the meantime, let's get you back to your room and under some blankets."

"I could stay here and you can get me a blanket." He smiled winningly at her.

"Nice try, but I'm not stupid," she said, still smiling a little. "Even if kids didn't learn about you in school, those of us involved in your care were extensively briefed about you. We knew it wasn't impossible for you to find a way out of your room - we were prepared for that. One way or another, you would have been caught."

In other words, the best time to get out was there and then, when any technological measures were knocked out. "I'm under extensive surveilance, then." Which wasn't at all new to him - Kay had cameras everywhere in the Garage.

"Of course. You're critical, Ziggy Grover, and while you might not like being confined, it's for your own good."

Ziggy could have rolled his eyes at that, but he didn't. What he had to do now was lose Doctor Park. "Thanks for telling me that, Dr. Park."

"You're welcome. Now let's get you back, shall we?"

He got up. She unfolded herself, and he gave her a grin.

And then he ran. "Sorry, Doc," he called. It reminded him of all the times he'd referred to Kay by that nickname, and wondered if it bothered Dr. Park - or whatever her real name was - as well.

"Come back here!" he heard her cry. "You don't know what you're doing?"

To be honest, he didn't know what he was doing. But he wasn't about to stop, either. If he was going to get out of there, he couldn't. He hoped they didn't remember that he was in very good shape because he'd kept to the routines Scott and the others had taught him when he'd started as a Ranger years ago. It had mostly been because he thought it might not be a bad idea, just in case they were ever called into action again.

Now he was using it to get himself free so he could go home. It occurred to him that Dr. Park had been lying the whole time as a way to get him to stop fighting. Or he could be in the future, but even then there had to be a way to get back to his time. He didn't care, as long as he got back to Kay and the others.

He heard her yelling something about "G616, code sapphire", and wondered if communications was up or if she was yelling down the line, hoping someone would hear and repeat. It could go either way.

As he ran down the corridor, looking for the next exit, he could hear the words echoed by different people and different voices. He wondered how many of them knew who he was and what he could do to make sure they didn't catch him again.

He turned to the next exit. It was only after trying to dash through that he realized that someone was standing in the doorway. He staggered, and a hand reached out to steady him.