Selene's eyes snapped open, the world around her rushing back in. The ever-present, muffled sound of waves hitting rock, MAX beeping somewhere in the distance, the rumbling of soft conversation. "Woah, that was weird."

John lowered his book and looked over at his wife, sitting in her customary cross-legged pose on her favourite floor pillow. "What's up? Are you okay?"

"What in the glitch in the matrix bullshit was that?"

John set his book down on the floor, knowing that he wouldn't be going back to it any time soon. His wife saw some weird and whacky things while meditating and it was his duty to listen, be they good or bad. "What happened? What did you see?"

Selene uncurled her legs and stretched them out in front of her, flexing her knees a few times to get the stiffness out of them. "It was us, but we were different. Like really different."

"Different how?"

She twisted her back this way and that as she thought about how best to describe it. "You know when you're dreaming and the world around you feels familiar, but it's still really off? It was like that."

John sat up a little straighter in his chair, giving her his full attention. "How different? Was the sky pink and the grass blue?"

"No, nothing like that, it just felt really outdated, probably by about a hundred years, but still modern. Like there were TV's and video phones and things, but no cell phones and everything was really retro, the style and the clothes were all off, and not all that stylish." She paused in her expressive hand waving, her eyes growing wider as she grabbed a chunk of her plum-coloured hair and dragged it to where she could see it. "Oh, thank the gods. I had this hippy thing going on, which was actually kinda cool, but my hair," she paused again to shudder dramatically, "my hair was natural."

"Wow, are you sure it wasn't a nightmare?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Joke all you want, you didn't see yours."

His eyes widened. "Mine? How bad was it?"

"It wasn't bad, but you were blond. Like really blond! I'm talking platinum."

John rolled his eyes in mock irritation, "Were you thinking about Spike again?" Selene and Scott had been on a Buffy the Vampire Slayer binge the past month and if it wasn't Selene drooling over the bad boy vampire, it was Scott making Xander-like jokes every two seconds. Honestly, he was seriously considering cancelling their Netflix subscription just to get some peace.

"No!" Selene scoffed, trying to brazen it out, although his pointed eyebrow raise said he didn't believe her. "I wasn't! Well… not intentionally, but it's boring when you first start meditating and all these thoughts come in that you can't control…That's not the point!"

"So you don't want me with slicked-back blond hair and fangs?" he teased, she was so much fun to annoy.

"No," she promised, shaking her head for emphasis. "You're perfect as you are."

"Yet you saw me blond," he pointed out.

"But it wasn't all slicked back," she protested as she rolled up onto her knees. "It was all poofy and soft and strokable.

John held out his hand to help her off the floor, holding her steady as she got her feet back under her. "You got to touch my hair?" He tugged on her hand, drawing her down onto his lap.

"Just a little," she said, running her fingers through his familiar, and perfect, fiery red strands. "You looked different too, but I knew it was you, you know?" She stroked her thumb across one auburn eyebrow. "Your eyes were so blue." Her fingers danced their way down his jaw to cup his chin, "I could have cut myself on your cheekbones."

"I'm still hearing Spike here," he pointed out, not really bothered in the slightest.

"No, way more gorgeous than Spike."

"Should I be feeling jealous of myself?" he asked, only half joking.

"You rescued me," she continued, ignoring his comment as she snuggled closer, getting comfy.

John huffed out a martyred sigh. "Why are you always in trouble?"

"It's my unholy gift." She nuzzled her nose against his chin and down his neck, breathing in the scent of his aftershave. "But it's fine because now I know that you'll always be there to save me, even if it is an alternative universe hell with no wi-fi."

"Always," he promised her, kissing her softly because she was just so adorable even if she did try his patience on a daily basis. "So, I assume we were together there too?"

She screwed up her nose and wiggled her hand back and forth in a 'eh, kinda' gesture. "Not as we are here, but I'd like to think that we'd make it work."

John nodded, hugging her tighter just because he could. "Were we any different? Apart from the hair, I mean?"

She thought about it for a moment longer than necessary, enjoying the way his fingers doodled little patterns on her thigh. "I was softer," she mused. "I mean, I was still a bossy cow-"

He snorted out a laugh, not even trying to deny it.

"I was still trying to organise everyone and still shouted at people that pissed me off, but I was less self-assured, more wimpy. Like I didn't even tell you that I liked you, which is just stupid honestly. And I didn't swear once!"

"Definitely not the you I know and love."

"Nope. And you, you were so bouncy and cheerful, like this puppy that just wanted to be involved with everything and everyone."

"Sounds like hell."

"The whole thing felt so different, but still so familiar. Like an alternate dimension, but still exactly as it was supposed to be. Does that sound weird to you? I think it does. What do you think? It's weird right? What the hell did I see?"

"Darling, you're usually the one that we ask about the weird things, not the other way around. What do you think you saw?"

Selene pouted as she turned this over in her head. "I don't know," she eventually admitted, "but I guess the important thing is that, whatever it was, whatever I saw, real or not, we were there together."

"That's definitely important," he agreed.

"And that, no matter what happens, no matter how much trouble I get into, even if I do get trapped in a mine collapse on the Moon, you'll be right there with me."

"Wait a second, a mine collapse? What on earth were you up to?"

Selene waved her hand dismissively, "Not important, just focus on the fact that, if alternate dimensions do exist, we'll always find each other."

"Joy," he pretended to grumble, which turned into laughter when she nipped his chin in punishment, holding in her own giggles. Honestly, he wasn't weirded out about it, how could he be? They, more than anyone else, knew that there were things far beyond their limited world view and, if such a thing were true, he took comfort in the fact that their bond stretched further than they had ever dreamed.

"Was it just me, or were the others there?" he asked once they had calmed down. "Did International Rescue exist or did you do your usual routine of blunder into my peaceful existence to cause chaos?"

"As if I've ever done that." She sat up out of her snuggle mode, more than ready to keep talking. "And it did! They were! Well, a version of them at least." She gasped, remembering another horror. "Virgil's eyebrows! He looked like Parker's cousin, I'm talking big! Caterpillar on the face! And his hair was lighter than Scott's!"

John grinned, trying to imagine it.

"Gordy was ginger! And Scott, his hair was all dark and he was so serious, like Mr Military and gods it was weird…" she shuddered in horror. "I…I think I need to lie down, I saw something I wasn't supposed to, how will I ever live with this knowledge?"

John sighed, shaking his head. There was only one cure for an overly dramatic wife, and he was about to take one for the team.

"Sel?" he called, halting her rambling.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up," he whispered, lowering his lips to hers.

She melted back into the arms of her hero, safe in the knowledge that, no matter where she was, no matter the universe, the time period or the state of the world, International Rescue, and most importantly, John Tracy, would be there. What else did she need to know?