Andrea, Morgan, and any others you don't recognize are mine.
Rated R : Strong and descriptive but not explicit sexual content, including m/m contact; language; violence.
This story includes slash, which involves sexual situations between two men. If you're uncomfortable with the idea, don't read this.
I always feel a little sad when I finish a long story, and this is no exception. But, being a sucker for sequels, I'm already working on one. Many thanks as always to everyone who read and of course even more to everyone who reviewed. Special thanks to my betas, Cecilia and Jenny; and to Rach and Shirley, who gave pre-posting feedback; and to Dagmar, Sierra, Rick, and SilverRider for being there so consistently for so long. Couldn't do it without you. shameless plugAuthor's notes for this, future plans, etc. are on my website, for anyone who's interested./shameless plug
Reviews are always appreciated.
Year 2003:
Wes was grinning as he trotted up the steps to Eric's house, and as he rang the bell. The door opened, revealing Eric's cool and reserved face, quickly warming into a smile in response. As soon as he was inside with the door shut, Wes stepped close, a hand behind Eric's head pulling him in for a thorough and lingering kiss.
"Mmm. You're in a good mood tonight," Eric murmured.
"You bet. Look what I brought." He held up the bag in his other hand. "Dinner. So we can stay in."
"Chinese?"
"Yeah. I got everything you like." Wes let the way to the living room.
"Thought you wanted to go out tonight."
"Changed my mind. If it's okay with you."
"Sure it is. Gives us more time."
"Well, we've got plenty of time now." Wes grinned again. "I finally got the nerve to tell Dad I won't be home tonight."
"Really?" Eric's eyes turned to him with a hint of concern. "What did he say?"
"Well... He didn't look exactly happy, but I guess he's getting used to the idea, at least. Said to tell you hello." Wes shook his head, smiling. "He's really quite a guy."
Eric returned his smile. "I always thought so."
"Dad's okay, and Philips would never say anything. We still have to be careful. Not let anyone else find out. But we can spend the night together sometimes; not too often, don't want your neighbors to notice."
"I'm glad to see you're being realistic about it now."
"Yeah." Wes turned to look at him, the smile fading. "You know -- things won't change until people like us come out in the open. But after the way Dad took it at first -- I don't blame you for not wanting to go through what would probably happen. I don't know if I'd want to face it myself."
"I know you don't like it," Eric said softly. "Having to hide who we are... Neither do I, but that's the way it has to be."
"For now, anyway. At least we know things will be different someday."
"Yeah. Someday." Eric sat watching as Wes began to unpack the food. "Can I ask you something?" he went on after a few moments.
"Sure."
"When you first told your father -- and he said he was going to fire me, and make me leave Silver Hills..."
"Yeah?" Wes stopped what he was doing.
"Did you mean it, that you'd go with me?" Eric's face was impassive; the dark eyes raised to his were cautious.
"Of course I meant it." Wes reached out to put his hand over Eric's. "Face it, you're stuck with me."
Eric's hand turned to take his. "I think I can stand that."
Year 3002:
"Strange to think that someday this whole city will be a museum exhibit," Jen said, as she looked out at the nighttime view of Silver City from Alex's window. It was very strange, when she was watching the flow of traffic along the streets, the aircars flitting by; to know that someday all of it would be nothing but history.
"We don't know that for sure," Alex commented from his seat on the couch.
"Oh, right, Future-girl wouldn't answer your questions, would she?"
"Shirley told me as little as possible. Just as she should have done."
"Hmmm." Jen grinned. "You haven't told me very much, either. Was she pretty?"
"Extremely beautiful. And highly intelligent."
She turned away from the window to laugh at him. "Come on. You only talked to her for about ten seconds. I guess you think she was intelligent because she had a crush on you."
"I wouldn't call it a crush, exactly, just good taste."
"I'm starting to wonder if I should be jealous."
"No reason for you to be." Alex smiled, but a moment later he was staring at the floor, his face serious and -- nervous, Jen realized. Something was on his mind, she could tell. He had been quieter than usual during dinner. A nice dinner, in a nice restaurant, his treat. Just like that night... No champagne this time, but the feeling was the same, as she took her place beside him.
"Did you have a good time tonight?" he asked finally, as awkwardly as if they were on a first date.
"Sure." She hesitated. "I always have a good time with you."
"Thanks. Things have been going pretty well... haven't they?"
"Yes, they have."
There was a pause. "Jen..." he started again.
"Wait." This time, it was only fair that she take the chance, that she be the one to put herself out there. He had already done it twice. "Let me go first," she continued.
"Of course." He waited, eyes watchful.
"Well... we've been back together for a couple of weeks now. I know it's kind of soon, but..."
"Yes?" His voice was soft, and perhaps hopeful.
"I..." There was no way to lead up to it. No way to go around it. She just had to say it. Jen took a deep breath and pulled her courage together, finding a moment to wonder how men managed to do this kind of thing. "Do you still have that ring?" she asked faintly.
He blinked at her, and then dipped a hand into his pocket. It came out with the small box she remembered. Silently, he held it out to her.
"Alex, if you still want to... I would like to marry you."
Without speaking, he opened the box. Took out the ring, held it and reached for her hand. He slid it onto her finger. As she lifted her hand to let the light spark from the diamond, bright with promise, he took her face between his hands and looked into her eyes, no need for words as they exchanged a silent message; as he leaned in very slowly, kissing her very softly, moving back just far enough to let her see him smile before he pressed his lips to hers again.
Year 7000: While the English language is no longer in general use five thousand years in the future, the following has been translated for the reader's convenience.
"Agent PR2000SC, assigned to Silver Historical Site, Earth, issuing final report on incident 4287, an incursion from the year 3002. A group of five persons with stolen Ranger morphers attempted to use the Termination virus to cause a mass extinction of mutants in their own time. They were pursued by a team of five Time Force Rangers and two Rangers from the year 2003..."
The woman who had called herself Shirley got up from her chair, absently watching it smooth itself out, ready to mold to her body again the next time she sat down. With a sigh she moved to the window, looking out over the lights of the Silver Hills-Silver City exhibition as the room lights dimmed automatically to give her a clearer view. It seemed almost real by night, the buildings glimmering with light, as if people still lived there. Alex Drake must have seen much the same thing when he looked out from his apartment.
"Alex Drake..." she said. "He's always been sort of a hero to me. Even learned ancient modern English partly because it's what he spoke, and took this job because it was what he did. Never thought I'd have the chance to actually meet him, to talk to him. And Wes Collins and Eric Myers. Jen Scotts, Trip Regis, Katie Walker, Lucas Kendall. Wow, wish I could have come face to face with them, too. But I did get the chance to help them."
She smiled and faced the dictation computer again. "Wonder what all of them would have said if they could have seen us trying to get this place evacuated when Andrea and her friends arrived? Thank goodness for teleporters, and the tracers we make the staff and visitors wear. Barely made it in time, so they didn't see anyone. Some of the tourists were so mad... waited years to visit the history planet, to see the city where Time Force began and the first Rangers lived; and then we kick them out. But it had to be done, for their own safety and to prevent them from getting in the way."
With a chuckle, she went on. "I can't help imagining two teams of Rangers fighting it out while a mob of tourists runs around taking videos and asking for autographs... But it's serious business. Interfere with the past as little as possible, that's our first rule. Even when the past comes visiting."
Leaning against the window, she ran her fingers through her hair, still smiling. "I guess it would be hard for Alex or anyone from his time to imagine; all of Earth turned into a museum. But so many resources were used up; most people had moved on to other planets. This is the birthplace of humanity, after all, it's only right that it was preserved, and important historical spots were restored. Wonder what they made of the exhibit markers. No way for them to know those little metal plaques contain information about the displays they're attached to, readable by the tour-scanners.
"Alex was right, of course. We got a little carried away. Kept an exhibit of the Termination virus that was developed by an offshoot of Bio-Lab as a biological weapon in 3210. I suppose we didn't take it seriously enough, since it was never actually used. That was a mistake; even if the kind of mutation it affects doesn't exist anymore. It may be harmless to anyone living now, but... look what almost happened. We've destroyed it now, and removed anything else that might be dangerous on that scale.
"If Andrea had succeeded, and Trip and Katie had been taken back to 3002 still infected with the virus, it would have caused a major alteration of history. We were forced to interfere. So we sabotaged the Time Force Rangers' engine while they were fighting the Quantum Rangers in the city. We disabled the shielding Andrea had set up around 'Time Force' so Alex's team could detect the Quantum morphers. Luckily, we were able to find the anti-virus, so we could cure Trip and Katie and repair their engine while all of the others were involved in the final battle."
Turning to look out again, pressing her forehead against the window, she went on in a lower voice. "I feel badly about Andrea. What happened to her was partially our fault. We had to act quickly when she showed up the first time, so we wiped her memory. Memory adaptation has changed between Alex's time and ours; their instruments couldn't detect it, or treat it, just as we intended. But it still doesn't work permanently. We hoped when the memories returned she would think it was a fantasy, or a dream -- never considered the possibility she'd come back, never considered that the trauma of not being able to remember, and then of the memories slowly returning, might affect her mind. We won't make that mistake again.
"I could have saved her, teleported her when she fell, the way I saved Alex. But... it wasn't necessary for our purpose. She chose to die, and there was no logical reason for me to interfere with that decision. I was following the rules, I did the only practical thing. But still..." She sighed heavily.
"We were able to help the Time Force Rangers win with a minimum of interference. The timeline remains unaltered. Things turned out all right, this time. But time travel is dangerous. Seems like there's always someone ready to change history, someone who thinks they can make things better, at least for themselves. That's why as long as there's time travel, there will always be a Time Force, or some variation of it. The name may change, but the job it does will always be the same. Always be necessary."
Shooting a glance at the machine taking down her words, Shirley sighed again. "I know, not a very professional report, is it?" The computer declined to answer. Stepping away from the window and sinking back into her chair, she started again.
"Recorder, wipe everything. Initialize transcript. Agent PR2000SC, assigned to Silver Historical Site, Earth, issuing final report on incident 4287, an incursion from the year 3002..."