Chapter 10

Dirk had fired his gun exactly zero times since the fighting started. He was standing next to Ken, hidden behind some large boulders. The boulders were from another world and were just transparent enough that Dirk could see blurred movement as shots were fired and people fought on the other side. He could hear Rowdy battle cries and Farah's gun and the sickening sound of bones being broken.

Ken was typing furiously.

"How's it going?" Dirk asked shakily.

"Better if I don't talk." He replied.

"Can I talk?" asked Dirk "I find the act of speaking can be calming and I could use a bit of calm right now." He tried to steady his shaking hands.

"Sure. Whatever."

"We're fortunate. You and I. We have a lot in common, you know. Captured by Blackwing. Lonely life interrupted by surprise companions. And we both like dogs."

"Look, if you're going to keep going talking, can you do it a little quieter?"

"Sorry. I'm just saying, I believe Bart knows how lucky she is to have you as an assistant. To have someone who can see all the strangeness in her life and still accept her. Who doesn't blame her for bringing you into all this. Well, maybe at first, but you don't now that you're real, proper friends and that's so beautiful and unusual even without our crazy lives and she should be even more grateful than she is because you don't have to be in this mess and it would kill her to lose her friends, I mean friend, in this ordeal and she'd never forgive herself if you got hurt or…"

"Look out!"

A rock the size of a baked potato came flying through the air and hit Dirk's hand. It startled him so badly that his gun went off. He and Ken both screamed and then Dirk looked up and saw a Blackwing soldier with a smoking bullet hole through his forehead. The man had apparently snuck up on the two off them, and dropped motionless on the ground from Dirk's unintentional shot. Bart was standing at the edge of the boulder in the same spot she had been standing when she threw the rock.

"I was aiming for the soldier. Didn't mean to hit you. Sorry, I guess. You ok, Ken?"

Ken let out a squeak and nodded in response.

"How 'bout you, Dirk?"

Dirk tried to pick up his dropped gun, but his hands were shaking too hard. "F… fine. J… ju… just fine." He stammered.

"Ok." She said. "Cool. Call me if you need me again." And she was back out in the battle.

Dirk looked up at the equally shaken Ken.

"I think I'm lucky to have her too." He said as he forced himself to regain composure and type.

Todd watched in horror as the battle played out below him. He tried to pick out Farah and Dirk, but he couldn't. It was too chaotic and too far away. The soldiers were coming in fast. Even with the Rowdies and their ability to take on overwhelming odds and Farah being a one woman militia, there was no way they could hold them off for long.

"Anything?" Vogel cried.

"No!" Todd called back "Not yet!"

Then he saw it. Little slivers of light that looked like cracks in the air.

"Wait! I see it! She's doing it!"

The cracks widened, and people came pouring out of them. Each crack was a door to a different world and the people coming from those worlds were varied and strange. He saw bright colored armor and dirt colored clothes and brilliant white hair and florescent purple hair and hair thatso perfectly matched their skintone that he couldn't tell where the face ended and the hair began. Some reminded him of samurais or farmers or knights or monks. He saw men, women, and a few that were huge and looked like ogres. The mosaic rainbow of otherworldly invaders demolished Blackwings forces before it was even clear what was happening. And then they were gone. Scattering like roaches through the interdimensional cracks to avoid the fallout of phase two.

"All clear!" Todd cried as he climbed off the rock and ran to his position. He looked over at Amanda, who appeared weak and exhausted.

"Now the hard part!" shouted Vogel over the roar of the energy rushing around them.

Todd got into position and raked the knife across his hand. Fire burst from the wound and began to race up his arm. It vanished before it reached his face as he felt the rush of energy leaving his body. It was hard to catch his breath. He'd once taken Amanda into a tornado simulator at the science center when she was little. It was a lot like that, only on acid. The colors and shapes and textures that were swirling around and through his body were impossible to describe. The initial burst of adrenaline made him feel like he could swim across the Pacific. But it was wearing off. He soon felt tired and weak. He wondered how much more had to be pulled from them to close the gates.

Then Todd felt a shift. The drain he'd been feeling doubled. It nearly knocked all the air out of him. His body started to ache.

Hang in there. He thought as he struggled to stand. Hang on.

Amanda collapsed to the ground. It was over.

She tried to blink the fogginess from her eyes as she pushed herself painfully up to a sitting position. Then she saw it, the crystal was still glowing. Energy was still swirling. And there was Todd. He was standing, rigid and shaky in his trance as the energy was being sucked from his body.

"What happened?" she shouted to Vogel. "Why is he still like that?"

"Gates aren't closed!" cried Vogel. "We need more!"

"Put me back in!" she yelled as she struggled to stand. Her legs felt like she had run a marathon across three states, and her muscles were screaming for her to rest.

Vogel shook his head. "Can't! You're out! Sucked dry! Todd's the only one with anything left!"

Amanda scrambled across the snow to her brother. He looked awful. His face was pale and his unseeing eyes looked sunk in.

"How much longer?" she asked.

"Don't know!" replied Vogel. "They're harder to close than we thought!"

Amanda reached over and took Todd's hand. As soon as she touched him, she was transported back into the energy vortex. She could see it all, the colors and shapes and everything just like before when she was being drained, but she couldn't feel it this time. She realized she was only an observer, and not a participant anymore.

"Todd!" she cried over the deafening sound of energy flowing like a raging river around them.

He made no attempt to hide the surprise on his face. "How are you here? What's happening?"

"I'm out of psychic energy! It's all you!"

She saw a flicker of fear on his face, but he said, "What do I do?"

"Just hang in there! The energy is moving through just you now! When the gates are closed, Vogel will release you and it will all be fine!"

Amanda squeezed his hand, and then realize that he didn't squeeze it back. He looked sick.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I… I'm not sure…" his legs started to buckle.

"Todd!" she cried.

Farah had done a basic check of everyone. The Rowdies refused to be examined, but seemed fine. Ken had been grazed on the arm by a bullet, but was alright. Bart was drenched in blood, but none of it appeared to be hers. Dirk hurt his hand on a flying rock or something and had a large cut on his forehead he didn't remember getting, but it didn't seem to be serious. Farah slapped a bandage on it from the first aid kit, and then began climbing the mountain.

She finally got high enough to see them. Todd was standing like a statue and his eyes were wide and his face looked pained. He appeared to be in some sort of trance. Amanda was holding his left hand and had the same far away look that her brother had, but she did not appear to be in any pain.

Vogel was standing near the crystal. The bluish smoke that was being pulled from Todd (though not from Amanda), was going through Vogel, into the crystal, and then was shooting as if out a sprinkler from the top. That must have been how they were getting the energy to the gates or portals or doors or whatever they were that Blackwing had opened. Vogel looked exhausted, but he was standing strong.

The other Rowdies came up the mountain and passed Farah without a word as they went and surrounded their fourth. They each put a hand on him and Farah saw obvious relief in Vogel's face and posture. They were helping him carry whatever burden was on him.

Farah looked over at Todd and made what was probably a crazy decision. She took a deep breath and reached over and took his right hand. The entire world transformed into the eye of a technicolor tornado. Both Todd and Amanda looked shocked to see her.

"What are you doing here?" Amanda shouted over the noise.

"I saw the Rowdies doing this with Vogel and thought I would see if I could help!" she shouted back.

"You can't!" yelled Amanda. "I ran out of psychic energy! It's just Todd now! He needs to have enough to close the gates or Blackwing and others like them will just keep using them!"

Todd looked terrible. His face seemed hollow and his skin looked dry and brittle. He seemed thinner. Smaller. She wasn't sure how he was standing.

"There has to be something we can do!"

Suddenly, Dirk literally appeared. He was standing between Farah and Amanda with his hand on Todd's shoulder.

"Dirk!" Amanda cried.

"Oh good!" he exclaimed happily. "I was hoping this would work! I had a theory that we could communicate in here! When I saw you three standing around like statues, I wasn't sure if you could speak to each other on this plane! Pleased to see that it worked out!"

"What are you doing here?" shouted Farah.

"Same as you, I suspect! I wanted to help!"

"You can't help!" cried Amanda. "We need Todd's psychic energy…"

Amanda and Farah looked at each other as it clicked.

"Could it work?" Farah asked.

"Would what work?" asked Dirk.

"Could we use your psychic energy to help?" Amanda shook her head. "I have no idea! We only tried it with the energy from pararibulitis!"

Dirk made a contemplative face. "I expect it could work. As long as the gate portals aren't picky about what type of psychic energy is used."

Todd let out a sharp cry.

"Why is this hurting him? It didn't hurt me!" cried Amanda.

"His body isn't used to it! You've been having it flow through you and the Rowdies for months, building up your endurance and strength! He's like a child trying to lift like a bodybuilder!" shouted Dirk.

Todd's legs started to buckle. The three of them literally had to hold him up.

"Todd!" Dirk shouted "You have to let us in! If you do, we can help carry this! My energy and even the tiny bit Farah has and maybe even Amanda has a little hidden deep somewhere and it can help you!"

Farah raised her eyebrows. "I have psychic energy?"

Dirk nodded. "Everyone does to some degree. It goes by different names, like intuition or gut instinct or talent or…"

Todd groaned, and his head dropped forward.

"Todd!" Amanda grabbed his chin and lifted his face so that she could look him in the eyes. "Let us in!"

"Hurts…" he said.

"We know." Said Farah. Her face was close enough to his ear that she didn't have to yell. "That's why we're trying to help."

He shook his head. "No… hurts… you…"

"We know Todd." Said Amanda as she put her head close to his. "You've carried enough. You've carried too much. Let us help you before this sucks all your life away and it still might not be enough. We're stronger together. We always have been."

"We're ready." Said Farah as she held him tightly.

Todd's breathing was ragged. He looked up, tears in his eyes as he looked at the ones who meant the most to him in the world. Then he nodded and closed his eyes.

Then Farah felt it. The energy being pulled from her body. She couldn't describe it. First, she thought it was like being electrocuted. Then frozen. Then burned. Her brain couldn't make sense of the sensation, but it was painful enough to make her scream.

She stood there, muscles locked, unseeing and unable to even think. And then, as abruptly as it began, it ended. Farah collapsed, totally limp, onto the ground in the heap of arms and legs that belonged to her friends. She felt her eyes close as her world went black.

Dirk blinked. He looked around and saw that he was in a house. In a bed. In fact, he was in a room full of bunkbeds. They must have been in another cabin.

"Good morning!" said Amanda as she sat on the edge of his bed.

"Did we do it?" Dirk asked.

Amanda smiled. "Yep! All portals to other dimensions have been successfully closed!"

Dirk sighed with relief. "How did we get here?"

"The Rowdy 3 brought us. We should be safe for a while. Blackwing got hit pretty hard. We're not exactly their biggest priority right now."

"Todd and Farah?" he asked.

"Still out cold." She replied.

"Really?" said Dirk in surprise.

"Yeah. Those lightweights aren't as tough as we are." She said with a playful punch to the arm. "Just kidding. They're just not as used to the psychic energy flow as we are. They don't have as much experience being drained by the Rowdies."

Dirk nodded. "But they're alright?"

"Yep. Good pulse. Steady breathing. Just sleeping."

"Sleep sounds good." Said Dirk.

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Really? You're just going to go back to sleep and leave me bored?"

"So sorry. Not all of us have had the daily experience of an energy draw. I'm afraid I could use a bit of a recharge."

Amanda patted his shoulder. "Fine. Rest. See you in a bit."

Dirk smiled. "I told you it was a good plan."

The last thing Dirk saw was her smile as he drifted off to sleep.

Farah was no longer used to being up this early. But between sleeping nearly a day after their mission was completed, and the fact that they didn't have to travel at night, she was catching the first glimmers of daylight as she stepped out into the snow.

Todd was sitting cross legged on a log. He was looking out over the snow covered landscape.

"Would you like some company?" she asked.

He looked up and smiled as he dusted the snow off the part of the log that was on his right side.

"Nice jacket." Farah teased as she sat next to him.

"Yeah." He said. "It was the only one warm enough that hadn't already been claimed by someone else. I have no idea where they got it, but if I had to guess I would say the wardrobe of Andre The Giant."

Farah laughed at the comically oversized black coat. "It looks warm though."

"It really is. Here." He unzipped the coat and pulled his right arm out of the sleeve and wrapped it around Farah. She put her arm into the sleeve and pressed up against Todd's side. He zipped it up and they snuggled together within the enormous coat.

"Wow. It really is a good coat." She said.

"Yeah. If my face weren't about to freeze, I could stay here all day. Look at that view."

The sunrise was glorious. There were just enough clouds in the sky to enhance the colors, but not so many that they would impede the rays of sunlight that were reflecting across the mountain range and lake.

"When is the last time we looked at a sunrise?" asked Todd. "I mean, really looked. Just took in the beauty of something like this?"

Farah nodded. "It's a lot easier to believe in stuff like alternate dimensions and super powers when you really stop and think about how beautiful and strange even the known world is."

Despite her face being cold, Farah felt very warm and cozy in the coat with Todd. His right arm was inside the coat and he wrapped it around her waist. She took her left arm and wrapped it around his.

"Today feels almost normal." He said. Then he added, "I mean, if you overlook all the weird stuff leading up to it."

Farah smiled in agreement. "So now what? What's next? Blackwing isn't gone, just really hurt. They lost a lot of men and a lot of leads now that they can't get back into those worlds. I'm sure that got them in trouble with their higher ups… whoever those are. But they could still regroup and come after us again."

Todd nodded. "I know we can't stay put long, but can we just take a few days? Maybe here. It's nice to be near Amanda. Plus, having the Rowdies around makes my disease a little less scary."

"Well, and there's Dirk to think about too." Said Farah. "I mean, he hasn't spent much time in snowy mountains. He should have that experience."

Todd chuckled. "Yeah well, we do need to take care of our Dirk."

"So how about this, we stay a few days. Rest up. Have fun. Bond with your sister. After that, we can reassess. Check out how badly Blackwing was really hurt. Measure the risks. Plan from there."

Todd held Farah close. "Sounds good. I'm up for it."

"Good morning!" said Dirk's cheery voice.

Farah looked over and saw Dirk standing nearby. He was wearing a bright orange ski coat with a kitten and skull covered winter hat and had a blanket draped over his shoulders. He was holding a mug of some sort of hot liquid in his gloved hands.

"Good morning." Said Todd. "Care to join us?"

Dirk looked so excited to be invited that Farah was afraid he might burst as he sat down on her right. Dirk smooshed up against her side and she put her arm across his shoulders. Todd and Dirk were pressed so tightly against her that she was no longer in any danger of being cold as they looked out over natures art show in front of them. Almost as if they had planned it, both Todd and Dirk rested their heads in her shoulders.

My boys. She thought as she smiled.

"Wow, am I interrupting something again?"

They all looked up and saw Amanda standing in stark contrast with the snow in her all black ensemble.

Dirk was beside himself with excitement. "Amanda! You're just in time! Have you ever seen anything so amazing?"

Amanda smiled and shook her head. "No, Dirk. I can honestly say this is the best thing I've ever seen."

Dirk frowned in confusion. "But… the view is behind you. You're just looking as us… Oh! I get it now!"

Amanda laughed and sat down next to Todd, who pulled her in with his free arm for a big brother hug. The four sat, staring out for a while when Amanda said, "We're a strange little family, aren't we?"

"No." said Dirk. "We are the best kind."

The couple of days had turned into a week which turned into a week and a half, and Todd still didn't want to leave. It had been the happiest time of his life. And thanks to getting the excess psychic energy drained, Todd's meds worked again. It was safe to part ways.

Todd was folding his small pile of clothes and packing them in his bag. Farah came over and handed him his toothbrush.

"I don't want to go either. But you know it's time. We've already waited too long."

Todd nodded. "I know."

Suddenly, the door burst open and Dirk ran, completely breathless into the room.

"Are you alright?" Farah asked.

"I just got a call on my cell phone!"

"You have a cell phone?" said Todd.

"Yes! Don't you have my number in case of an emergency?" said Dirk.

"No. No I don't believe I do." Said Todd as he crossed his arms.

"Well, I will have to give it to you. It is important that we have a way to contact each other in emergencies. And we do seem to get into a lot of emergencies, and I would feel better if you knew my number and…"

"Dirk," said Farah, cutting him off. "What is so important about the call?"

"Oh, that. We have a case!"

The End

Note from the author-

Like so many fans, I still don't have access to Season 2. As I've been counting down the days until I actually get to experience new episodes, I found out the beloved show has been cancelled. Even without seeing what happens next, I'm sad to think that this may be all. I hope it does end up finding new life on another network, but even if not, I'm so thankful for the episodes I got to see. I fell in love with the characters and the stories. This show has brought me so much joy and inspiration. While it is unlikely that anyone actually involved with the show will see this, I just wanted to say thank you to the cast and crew for sharing your gifts, talents, and passions with us.