AN: Two things: 1). Sorry for the delay, life's been getting in my way. It happens. B). A minor correction to chapter 5. The dinosaurs they encountered were Diictodons (like Sid and Nancy), not Coeulruvaurus (like Rex). Thank you to my anonymous reviewer for pointing this out to me. Sorry about that. That's all, please enjoy Chapter 7.
Chapter 7
Steve shot straight up, looking around wildly. He took stock of his surroundings as the events of the previous day set in. The sun was rising and the morning air was still chilly. Emily was sleeping on the hard ground next to him, her body facing away from the sunlight.
Steve stood up, putting the jacket he'd been using as a blanket over Emily. He looked around at the sleeping forms of his friends. After a quick head count, he realized that both Lucien and Gartus were missing. After stretching slightly, Steve headed down the only path into the woods.
As he walked, his thoughts inevitably wandered back to the previous day and thoughts of his best friend. He quickly pushed the memory of Darren's death to the back of his mind. He'd come to the conclusion the night before that he couldn't handle the death of his closest friend and still be useful to the rest of the team. So he'd avoided all thoughts of Darren. Steve thought of himself as the 'other Steve'; the Steve who didn't have to worry about his best friend, the Steve who could focus on the immediate problems and contribute to the team's safety.
As he got farther down the path, Steve saw Lucien and Gartus sitting in silence, each cleaning a squirrel that had been caught in the traps they'd set up the night before. When he got closer, both Lucien and Gartus looked up in surprise and held their knives out. Steve wasn't surprised by their jumpiness, but they both returned to their work as Steve sat down beside them.
"There's nothing you could have done." Lucien said suddenly, breaking the silence. Steve looked at him in surprise.
"How'd you know what I was thinking about?" He asked, slightly shocked. Lucien shrugged with a small smile.
"Because I've been there before, and it's what I've been thinking about." He replied.
"And me." Gartus added, looking up. "I think that question has been on everyone's mind. There's nothing anyone could have done. No one was expecting them to open fire." The three men sat in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts.
"Has this happened to either of you before?" Steve asked after a moment. They both nodded.
"I lost my brother, Gaius, in a Celt attack." Gartus said unexpectedly. Steve and Lucien both looked at each other in surprise; Gartus rarely spoke about his life.
"It was my first time commanding anyone." He continued, "Gaius had just joined Caesar's army and I requested him in my battalion. I wanted to fight side by side with my brother and keep him safe. But when the battle started, things quickly spiraled out of control. The Celt numbers were much higher than we'd anticipated, and we were being overrun. There was a gap in our line and the Celts were charging straight for it. Gaius' squad was closest, I had no choice but to send them to try and plug the gap." Gartus paused for a moment to compose himself.
"But the Celts were too many." He continued, "By the time I got to his side, he'd already been mortally injured. My younger brother died in my arms." As he finished his tale, Gartus quickly grabbed another squirrel and threw himself into the task, avoiding eye contact with either Steve or Lucien.
"You don't really talk about your life." Lucien observed, looking at Gartus. "I mean, we barely know anything about you; just that you were the commander of Caesar's fifth legion."
"I don't like to talk about it." Gartus replied, still not looking at the others. "I just try not to think about everything I've lost." The trio lapsed into silence again as Lucien and Gartus continued to skin the squirrels.
After the animals had been prepared, Steve and the others headed back to the camp. As they walked into the clearing where the New Arc team had spent the night, Steve could see Danny waking up the rest of the team. Taylor was sitting on her own a small distance away from the others. Steve knew what he had to do and began walking towards her. He sat down next to her. They both stayed silent for a few moments.
"You were good for him, you know." Steve said after a moment of silence had passed. "I just wanted you to know that. He became a lot stronger because of you." Taylor didn't say anything. Steve got up to leave, intent on helping Lucien make a stew out of the squirrels. Taylor caught his arm.
"Steve…thanks." She said quietly. Steve gave her a small grin.
"It's no problem." He replied. Taylor got to her feet and the pair walked over to the rest of the group.
As they reached the others, a loud beeping noise began sounding from Steve's jacket, which Emily was still wearing. Danny looked at the others in shock.
"Who's still got a phone?" He asked frantically, a wild look in his eyes. "I said to ditch the phones."
"We did," Steve replied, reaching into the jacket pocket. He pulled out the anomaly detector, which was beeping loudly. Steve looked at the others in shock.
"There's an anomaly in the woods."
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Gartus ran as fast as he could, staying right behind Steve, who was following the directions on the detector. As he ran, he patted his sword through his coat; he wanted to be prepared for whatever would come out of the anomaly. The rest of the New Arc team trailed behind them, each worrying about what would come out.
After another few minutes of running, Gartus stopped in front of the anomaly. Steve stood next to him and pulled out the pistol he'd taken from the man in the parking garage. Gartus slowly moved to cover another angle of the anomaly, drawing his sword as he went. As the rest of the team reached the site, they all moved into their standard anomaly covering positions. Gartus couldn't help but notice the gap in between Taylor and Steve where Darren would have stood.
They watched the anomaly in silence for a few minutes. Suddenly, the surface began to ripple, meaning something was about to emerge from the anomaly. Gartus tightened his grip on his sword, ready for anything.
Almost anything. What he wasn't prepared for was a Roman centurion to emerge from the anomaly, sword held out, and look around at the others in surprise. When the man made eye contact with Gartus, both men's jaws fell open.
"T-Tiberius?" Gartus said in shock, lowering his sword to his side. The man dropped his sword completely.
"Gartus, it really is you." Tiberius responded in Latin. Both men walked forward and embraced each other, hugging tightly.
"Hold on," Steve said, watching the two men in confusion. "Gartus, do you know this guy?" Gartus grinned, almost manic at the sight of a familiar face.
"This man," He said, gesturing to his friend. "Is Tiberius Stratus, my second in command and closest friend." The realization of Tiberius' appearance suddenly hit Gartus.
"Now you're trapped as well." He said glumly. Tiberius frowned.
"No I'm not." He said, looking back at the anomaly. "We can just go right back through the light ball." Gartus looked at his friend in surprise, his eyes widening.
"That leads back to Rome?" He asked in shock. He almost couldn't believe his fortune.
"Of course," Tiberius responded, "How else would I have gotten here?"
"The one I went through took me to a forest filled with killing creatures." Gartus informed his friend. Tiberius' brows furrowed.
"I've been to some of those places." He said. Once again, Gartus was taken by surprise.
"You've gone through the anomalies before?" He asked. The rest of the New ARC team looked surprised as well. Tiberius shrugged.
"If the light ball is called an anomaly, then yes, of course I have. You disappeared through one right in front of my eyes, and then it closed right behind you. I've gone through every one I can find searching for you. And now that I've finally found you, I can take you back home." Tiberius grinned, clearly elated at the news. But Gartus was worried about his homecoming.
"What about Phillipa?" He asked with concern. "She'll have had to remarry, I'm sure. It would have been the only way to support herself and Titus." Tiberius' grin grew wider.
"She would have had to get married, you're right." He said, barely concealing his excitement about whatever announcement he was going to make. "Unless, she was still receiving your pay as a centurion." Gartus frowned, not comprehending what his friend was telling him.
"Buy she wouldn't." He replied slowly, "I would have been announced dead."
"Except," Tiberius said, still smiling, "that myself and eight other men saw you pass through the light ball, meaning that you were still alive. And seeing as the new commander of the fifth legion is such a close personal friend of your wife, he made sure she still received your pay. She's been waiting for you for four months, my friend. And now I'm bringing you back home." Gartus looked at his friends in shock. He'd stopped believing he could even go back to his own time, let alone that he could still be with his wife and son.
"Go on, then." Danny said, breaking the silence. "Get through there before it closes." Gartus looked at the faces of his teammates. They all seemed encouraging, but something was still bothering him.
"I can't just leave you in this mess." Gartus told them.
"Gartus," Emily began, "you have a wife and son waiting for you on the other side of that anomaly. If you don't go now, I'll kill you myself."
"Yeah," Steve agreed. "We'll be fine, don't worry about us. Just go." Gartus nodded as Tiberius walked over to the anomaly and stood, waiting.
"Thank you all," Gartus said, trying to keep the tears out of his vision. "for everything. I'll never forget these times." He gave the New ARC one last look before walking through the anomaly, Tiberius following behind him.
As he emerged into the sunlight, Gartus' first sight of Rome was a country field. His second sight was the six centurions surrounding the anomaly with spears leveled and pointing at him. Tiberius walked out behind him, waving the guards down. Gartus looked around in surprise.
"How many people know about the anomalies?" He asked Tiberius.
"There's just a few of us." Tiberius replied. "No one believed me about the anomalies at first, but then a creature came through one and rampaged through a country village. After that, the emperor was much more willing to listen. He wants to see you, by the way." Gartus' eyes widened, he'd only met the emperor once, and that was to receive his commission as commander.
"I want to see Phillipa first." Gartus insisted. Tiberius shook his head.
"As intimidating as your wife is, the emperor still ranks higher." He responded, motioning over one of the centurions guarding the anomaly.
"Bartiartus, I need you to go to the Iorta household. Get Phillipa and tell her the chicken has come home to roost. Tell her we're heading to the palace and to meet us on the way." As the young soldier ran off, Gartus looked at Tiberius in disbelief.
"'The chicken has come home to roost'" He repeated in a slightly mocking tone. Tiberius grinned.
"Couldn't help it." He replied. "I thought it was quite clever." Gartus snorted.
"You would." He said, grinning as well. The two friends headed off down the road into Rome.
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Steve stood watching the Rome anomaly with the others after Gartus went through it. However, five minutes afterwards, a thought occurred to him.
"Do we really need to guard this one?" He asked aloud. Ben gave him a quizzical look.
"What do you mean?" He asked. The others looked curious as well.
"All I'm saying is, if the Romans have people going through these anomalies all the time, then they've got to be Rome's worst kept secret. Like the powers in Misfits." Everyone gave Steve a thoroughly confused look at his point. He sighed.
"In Misfits, like half the town has a superpower, everyone knows about them, but it's never made public news. When you tell someone you have a superpower, there's no surprise or disbelief. Everyone knows, like the anomalies in Rome."
"But they did go public with their powers." Lucien interjected suddenly. "I saw that episode. There was the crazy milk guy killing everyone." Steve looked away from the anomaly and stared at Lucien. He would have been less surprised if Danny had made the reference. Lucien looked around at everyone's surprised faces.
"What?" He asked defensively. "I can enjoy a good sci fi show if I want." Steve shook his head, clearing his moment of shock.
"Curtis erased that timeline, remember?" He told Lucien. "They stopped the milk guy from going public." Lucien nodded, but Danny cut off his response.
"What is the point you're getting at here?" He asked Steve.
"I'm just saying, it seems like the Romans have this under control, so no one's coming in from that side. And we're in the middle of the woods, off the beaten track, so no one's coming in from here. We could probably just leave this anomaly." Ben shrugged.
"So, back to camp, then?" Ben asked the group. The others nodded and they began walking back.
Suddenly, Emily gasped and stopped dead, grabbing Steve's arm.
"An anomaly is open." She said in a terrified whisper. Steve frowned and looked at her in confusion.
"We know that." He said slowly, "Are you okay, Em?" She shook her head quickly.
"You don't understand." She said hurriedly. "Those men have a detector, and we've had an anomaly open for the past twenty minutes." Steve's eyes widened as he realized what she was saying.
"Back to camp, now!" Danny roared. Steve and the rest of the New ARC took off after him.
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Gartus had just finished telling the emperor the condensed version of his travels over the past four months. His wife stood next to him, holding his hand, while Tiberius stood on his other side. As they waited for the emperor to make an announcement or a judgment, Gartus suddenly had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He stiffened and looked around cautiously. Something told him the danger wasn't in Rome, but with his friends in the future. The emperor noticed Gartus' uncomfortable expression.
"Is something bothering you, Commander Iorta?" He asked imperiously.
"It's nothing, Caesar." Gartus replied hurriedly, "Just a bad feeling." Tiberius looked at Gartus in surprise and shock.
"A bad feeling?" He asked. "Like before?" The emperor frowned.
"What do you mean, Tiberius?" The emperor asked. "What kind of bad feeling is this?"
"A few years ago," Tiberius began. "Commander Iorta had a bad feeling while we were on patrol in Britania. He sent myself and half the legion on a parallel route through the woods we needed to pass through. The men with Commander Iorta were ambushed by the Picts. My men were able to come to the rescue and help fight them off. If it hadn't been for the commander's bad feeling, the legion would have been almost decimated." The emperor shook his head slowly, deciding whether or not to believe him.
"Do you think there's danger here?" He asked Gartus. Gartus shook his head.
"No, my lord. I think it has to do with the people I met in the future. I think they're in danger." The emperor nodded again.
"What do you need?" He asked. Gartus was surprised at the man's willingness to help people he'd never met, but decided not to question it. Gartus closed his eyes and let his mind wander. He'd found in the past that he needed to let instinct guide him when he made decisions based on his 'bad feelings'. Suddenly, the solution came to him and his eyes shot open.
"I know what we need to do." He told the others.
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Steve kneeled on the ground, hands cuffed behind his back, in a line with the rest of his friends. When they'd returned to camp, they'd found it already occupied by at least twenty men in black jumpsuits. They hadn't stood a chance. So now, Steve was kneeling on the ground, looking dead into the barrel of the Captain's pistol. The man leered at him.
"Not so tough now, are we?" He asked. Steve shrugged and allowed himself a small smile at the black eye that was beginning to form on the man's face.
"At least I gave you something to remember me by." He replied. Surprisingly, the captain put his pistol in his holster and walked down the line, stopping by Danny.
"The infamous Danny Quinn." The man taunted. "It might interest you to know that the Temples got away. We just barely missed them, thanks to your tip off." Danny's lip curled in anger. Steve knew the captain was trying to provoke Danny, make him mad enough to try and attack.
"You gonna shoot us, or talk us to death?" Steve asked, trying to bring the attention away from Danny. The captain shrugged.
"Very well then." He said casually. With a small hand signal, the captain ordered one of his men forward. The man walked up to Steve and leveled his rifle. Surprisingly, he then moved it to point at Emily. Steve froze in fear and his eyes widened.
"I think I'll shoot you last." The captain informed Steve. "It'll be more fun that way. Travers, kill her." Travers nodded and looked down at Emily. Steve couldn't force his body to do anything.
Suddenly, a scream of pain filled the air. Steve looked up in shock to see Travers screaming and staggering backwards, clutching what looked like an arrow protruding from his neck. A hail of arrows filled the air, hitting the men anywhere they weren't protected. Steve pushed himself into Emily, knocking her to the ground and trying to keep her out of an arrow's path.
Steve saw Danny throw himself onto his back and kick the captain in the knees, bringing him down. In a blur of movement, two figures in centurion dress flew into the clearing, swinging swords into the remaining soldiers. Steve looked in shock as Gartus, dressed back in his centurion garb, cut through men left and right, Tiberius at his side.
And as quickly as it began, it was over. Gartus and Tiberius stood in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by the bodies of the dead men. Archers, also in Roman clothes, began emerging from the trees, slinging their bows back over their shoulders. Steve and the rest of the team struggled to their feet, looking at Gartus in shock. He gave them a grim smile.
"What are you doing here?" Ben asked, walking forward, hands still behind his back.
"Not that we're complaining." Steve added, with a grin.
"I had a bad feeling." Gartus replied. "Figured you might need some assistance."
"Thank you." Emily said earnestly. Steve knew she needed some form of comfort, but his options were limited with his hands cuffed behind him. He settled for leaning in against her and giving her a reassuring smile. She returned it.
"Yes, we're very glad you're here." Danny said walking up. "It feels like you never left. Now could you please get these off?" He gestured at the handcuffs behind his back.
After Gartus and his men cut off the handcuffs, the New ARC prepared to see the Romans back to their own time. Steve picked up one of the dead men's pistols, to be safe. As they got closer to the still opened anomaly, Gartus stopped and looked at the others.
"Good luck." He told them. "Don't expect another rescue." Ben grinned and extended his hand.
"I hope we won't need another one." He said. The two men shook hands and Gartus led the Romans back through the anomaly. Steve and the rest of the New ARC watched as it closed behind the last centurion. They stayed silent for a moment.
"I don't know about all of you," Steve began, "but I'm pretty hungry right now."
"Being held at gunpoint will do that to you." Lucien said with a small smile. Steve took Emily's hand as they all turned around to head back to their camp.
They stopped dead. Facing them was the captain, holding his rifle and staring at the New ARC with a look of total hatred and slight insanity.
"No monologues this time." The man said, "This time, I'm going to kill all of you, right here, right now." As he brought the gun to his shoulder, something snapped inside of Steve.
He'd been keeping the pain of Darren's death buried, trying to act normal for the sake of everyone else. But seeing this man point a gun at his friends again took Steve somewhere he'd never been before.
Letting go of Emily's hand, Steve darted to the right, pulling the pistol out of his waistband as he moved. Before the man could react, Steve shot him in the knee.
The captain screamed in pain, dropping the rifle and clutching his knee, leaning against a tree for support. Steve rushed forward and slammed the butt of the pistol into the man's head, knocking him unconscious. Steve pointed his pistol at the man's head.
"Steve, don't." Danny instructed firmly. Steve looked at Danny questioningly. "We're taking him back to the camp." Danny continued. "I've got questions that I need him alive for."
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Gartus kneeled in front of the emperor for the second time that day and waited for the man to speak.
"You've done good works for me, Gartus." The emperor said after a moment of silence.
"Thank you, my lord." Gartus replied.
"But Tiberius is already in command of the fifth legion." The emperor continued. "I can't take that away from him." Gartus nodded.
"I understand, my lord." He said, still looking down.
"But there is a job I do need you for." The emperor said. Gartus looked up in surprise.
"What job is that?" He asked with curiosity.
"These 'anomalies', as you call them, have been appearing all over the country for months." The emperor informed him. "Dreadful creatures come out of them, attack my people and eat our livestock. I'm looking for a man to head up a team of people who will control the creatures that come out of these anomalies. Can I count on you, Gartus Iorta?" Gartus grinned.
"Yes, my lord." He replied. "I have just the name for this group."
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Patrick Quinn emerged from an anomaly into the bright sunlight with one purpose in mind. He needed to find Danny, and he needed to reconcile with his brother. The years alone in the past, with nothing but nature and dinosaurs for company had been therapeutic for Patrick. And now he wanted to find Danny and make peace.
But unfortunately, the four men standing in front of the anomaly holding assault rifles seemed to have a different plan for him.
"Freeze!" One of the men instructed, bringing his rifle to his shoulder. "Identify yourself."
Patrick frowned. The ARC used those little Taser guns, so either they'd gone for human safety over creature safety, or these men weren't part of the ARC. They definitely didn't recognize him, which was another strike against them being with the ARC. Patrick figured everyone working at the ARC would be on the lookout for him to come back, just in case.
So these men were not with the ARC, but they knew about anomalies. And they seemed ready to kill anyone who got in their way. Patrick knew what he was going to have to do.
"I said, identify yourself." The man repeated. Ethan gave him a mocking smile.
"Elvis Presley." He replied casually. "I've been living in the past for a while. Dinosaurs sure do love Heartbreak Hotel."
"Okay, wiseguy." The man said threateningly, walking forward. "You're coming with us for questioning." Ethan shook his head inwardly as the man lowered his rifle and pulled out a set of handcuffs. These men really had no idea how dangerous he was.
As the man got closer, Ethan jumped forward. He darted behind the man, grabbing the rifle hanging loosely from his shoulder. Still behind the first man, Ethan sprayed the other three men with the rifle. They all fell before they had the chance to react. Ethan pushed the man forward, snatching his pistol as he did so. The man turned around quickly and saw the barrel of his own pistol in between his eyes. Ethan pulled the trigger.
As the man's body fell to the ground, Ethan surveyed his surroundings. He was standing on the middle of a forest trail. Grabbing the weapons of the fallen men, Ethan began walking down the path, away from the anomaly.
Farther down the trail, Ethan could see a large black van. Judging by the man in a black outfit matching those he'd left further down the trail, Ethan assumed that the van belonged to whoever was sending these men after anomalies. And whoever was targeting anomalies was probably targeting those who worked with them, which meant Danny. Ethan needed that van.
Leaving the rifles behind the base of a tree, but keeping the pistol in his waistband, Ethan ran up to the driver's side of the van with a frantic expression in his eyes.
"Please, you've got to help." He shouted at the man in the van. The man turned and looked at him in surprise.
"There are people hurt on the trail." Ethan said, gesturing back down the path. "It looks like some type of animal attack. You've got to help them." The man got out of the van and stepped towards Ethan.
"Where are they?" He asked. Ethan moved towards the man, still gesturing down the path.
"They're down there, just follow the path. I think some might be dead." Ethan told him, still keeping the frantic tone is his voice. As soon as the young man rushed past him, Ethan pulled his gun from his jeans. He fired one round into the man's skull. Ethan turned around before the man hit the ground.
He got into the van and checked the SatNav. One location was marked as base. Whatever was going on, base was where he needed to go. Patrick Quinn tossed the pistol onto the passenger's seat and began to drive away. He was going to find Danny, no matter what.
AN: As a quick word of explanation: in my mind, Patrick has a split personality, Jekyll and Hyde thing going on. When he's a calm, rational man seeking reconciliation, he's Patrick Quinn. But when it's time to kill people, he's Ethan Doblonski. The other characters will just refer to him as Patrick, but when he's referring to himself as Ethan, that's when people die.