“Excellent. You make a good traitor.”

Eric looked at Conwing’s face sharply, restraining his anger at the mutant’s mocking words. He nudged Wes with his foot. “He’ll be unconscious for at least an hour. I’ve done my part,” he said curtly. “Now I expect you to do yours.”

“Of course. Taking care of you is first on my list.”

“I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”

“Just an expression. Where’s the serum?”

Eric pulled the vial of blue liquid from the pocket where he had hidden it. He held it up. “What do you want with this stuff, anyway?” he asked.

“That’s none of your affair.” Conwing came forward, holding his hand out. “Where’s the rest of it?”

“Where I’m the only one who can find it. Just as a little insurance.” Eric fell back, circling away from Wes, holding the vial tightly against his chest. “I’ve decided to add something to my price. Information. If I’m selling out, I want to know what for. Why do you want this so much?”

Conwing started for him again, then stopped as Eric abruptly turned to hold the fragile tube over a rock at his feet. “What do you think you’re doing?” he snarled.

“Attack me and I drop it. Kill me and you’ll never get more. And I don’t think you’ll find anyone else to do your dirty work.” Eric shot him a hard glare, and then softened it. “Look, I’m curious. I want to know what’s going on here. Maybe I could -- get more involved. Do you a few more favors.”

“And get more rewards, I suppose?”

“Well, yeah.”

Conwing seemed to relax, slipping his blaster back into his belt, a contemptuous smile appearing on his pale face. “You really are greedy, aren’t you?”

“I have to take care of myself. No one else is going to,” Eric said harshly. “All my life, no one’s ever cared about me. Why should I give a shit about this city, or anyone in it? Damn right, I want to get what I can out of this.”

“Don’t be defensive. I can understand your attitude. Almost respect it.” He nodded decisively. “Very well. We need the serum to cure Ransik. He was bitten by Venomark years ago, but there is no permanent cure for him. The serum is the only thing that can keep him alive.”

“I figured it was something like that. He got sick in the park, when I was attacked. Just like all those people Venomark infected. But he had the serum with him. Did you run out of it or something?”

“No.” Conwing crossed his arms. “Frax destroyed the supply.”

“Frax? Why?”

“An old grudge between them. It turned out Frax has waited all this time for revenge. He destroyed all the serum we had. We were forced to put Ransik in cryogenic storage to save his life. We need more serum before we can revive him, and thanks to you, we’ll get it.”

“Where is Frax? Is he going to fight against Ransik now?”

“We don’t know.” For the first time, discomfort crossed Conwing’s face. “He’s unpredictable. And dangerous. He built the cyclobots, and they obey only him and Ransik.”

“So you need Ransik so you can use the cyclobots. I wondered why you were so loyal.”

“Clever. But you’re wrong. Even mutant scum like me can be genuinely loyal. Ransik is the greatest mutant leader of our time. If anyone can free us from the tyranny of humans, he can.” Conwing smiled again. “This has been amusing, but I really must be going. Give me the vial.”

“Sure. Catch.” Eric tossed it to him.

Conwing caught it and frowned. “Careless human! You could have broken it! Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter.” He tucked it in his belt and started forward. “Now you’ll tell me where the rest of it is. And where the Rangers live.”

“Not yet.” Eric backed off.

“Yes, you will. I’m out of patience, human. When I’m done with you, you’ll be happy to tell -- you’ll beg me to let you tell, if only I’ll stop.” He reached out, grabbing Eric’s wrist, murmuring, “Did you think what happened to your face was bad? Just wait...”

There was a sudden flash of light, followed immediately by a voice shouting, “Leave him alone!”

Conwing whirled. Wes was no longer lying in the dusty road, instead the red Ranger stood there, summoning his blaster before the mutant could move. Eric pulled out of his grip and stepped back.

“Ranger! What is this!?”

“Put your hands up!” Wes took a step forward.

“Give it up, Conwing,” Eric said, his own blaster aimed and ready.

The mutant shot him a glance of pure hatred and fury, sending a tingle of fear through him. “So. This was all a trap,” he snarled.

“You got it. I may be a lot of things, but I’m not a traitor.”

“I saw you shoot him.”

Eric nodded at his blaster. “The engineers at Bio-Lab rigged it up to shoot a harmless beam of light at the lowest setting. I shot him to make sure you wouldn’t. And in case you’re wondering, that tube of serum is fake.”

“And you tricked me into telling you what you wanted to know.”

“Yeah. I figured you were planning on killing me, so you’d be willing to talk.”

Conwing shot another glance at Wes. “You’re not even the Quantum Ranger.”

“Right again. Us looking alike came in handy, all it took was a little spray-on hair dye. Hope you’re not too disappointed.”

“Only the two of you against me? You’re much too confident.” He moved fast, inhumanly fast, reaching for his blaster with eye-blurring speed. But it wasn’t fast enough. An energy beam struck Conwing’s shoulder, another hit his weapon before he could aim. He grunted with pain, dropped the blaster, clutched his arm, and fell to one knee.

“Ready to surrender? Or do you want more?” There was movement in the shadows under the trees around them. Five more forms came forward, the moonlight revealing them as the Quantum, pink, blue, green, and yellow Rangers. They came closer and spread out, seven blasters now aimed at Conwing. He watched them silently.

“I called them just before I got here,” Wes said. There was a slightly sarcastic note in his voice as he went on. “I’m not totally stupid.”

“Don’t move,” Alex said, ignoring the remark. “We can blast you before you transport. You’ll be dead when you get there.”

“I suppose I’m beaten. Very well, I know how to accept defeat.”

“Good.” Alex straightened a little. “Trip, arrest him.”

The green Ranger touched his morpher, and his blaster disappeared, a small round container materializing in its place. He moved forward. “Conwing, you’re under-” he started.

But Conwing moved again, so fast none of them reacted before it was too late. Eric saw him uncoil from the ground, leaping straight at him, covering the ground between them in a heartbeat. Instinctively he jumped back, brought up his weapon, the shot going wild as the mutant brushed it aside. A white, long-fingered hand reached for his throat -- he twisted back and to the side, barely avoiding it, blocking a blow with his arm, then seeing a flash of motion, feeling a hard impact on the wounded side of his face, and Conwing’s hand clawing at him. There was a burst of crackling light, a tingling shock of energy ran through him, and he was falling, hitting the ground, crushing weight on top of him as he heard Wes’s voice shouting his name.

“Eric! No!” Wes knew it was too late as he and the others started forward, not daring to shoot when they might hit Eric. Helpless, he saw as Conwing struck out, as they struggled for a moment, then as the Guardian staggered under a hard blow, the mutant grabbing at him. A beam shot past, Alex, he realized, hitting Conwing with impressive precision, leaving him jerking convulsively and collapsing on top of Eric.

Kneeling, reaching a hand out, he asked breathlessly, “Are you all right?”

A pale, strained, bloody face turned up to him, but the voice was strong enough as Eric shoved violently at Conwing and exclaimed, “How the fuck do you think I am? Get him off me!”

“I see you’re not too injured to be rude.” The voice came from above them. Wes twisted to see Jen standing over them, touching her morpher to dematerialize her blaster. Lucas and Katie came forward and lifted Conwing off. Eric rolled to one elbow and then sat up slowly, covering the side of his face with his hand.

“You’re bleeding. Let me see,” Wes said, reaching for his wrist and trying to pull the hand away.

“Shit,” Eric snarled, still breathing hard. “Every time I’m around you guys, I end up getting hurt. Just get the hell away from me.”

“Jesus, shut up and let me see.” Wes pulled harder, easily overcoming Eric’s resistance with his Ranger-enhanced strength, then let go, stunned, as the hand came away and he got his first good look. Conwing had pulled the bandage off in the struggle, and he had hit Eric hard enough to open the wounds again. There was blood. But that wasn’t the bad part.

Eric’s cheek was scored with deep cuts, cross-hatched with stitches. The flesh was reddened and thickened. The skin over the side of his jaw was worse, it had been torn apart and patched back together, and looked distorted, warped... Wes felt his stomach lurch. He heard a gasp behind him, and a murmur of shock.

Eric glared at all of them in the sudden silence, and pressed his hand back to his face. “Happy now? Disgusting, isn’t it?” he asked, sounding angry, but Wes saw the slight tremble of his mouth.

“God, Eric, we had no idea,” he said. Then he looked up. “Or did we? Did you guys know...?”

“When Venomark bit someone, it acted like a chemical burn... but it was so long ago, for us, and we had the right treatments, no one ended up like this...”

“Trip!” Alex said softly but very firmly. Trip gulped and was quiet.

“Did you know?” Wes asked again, looking at Alex. He got only stony silence in answer. Standing up, he put a hand down to Eric. “Come on.”

“Wes, what are you going to do?” Jen asked.

“We’re going to help Eric.”

“How?”

“How do you think? We’re going back to the clock tower and take care of his face.”

“You know we can’t do that,” Alex said.

“We can. And we will.” Wes raised his arm and pressed the button on his morpher to demorph. “If you guys won’t help, fine. I’ll do it myself.”

“Wes, you can’t...”

“How could you let this happen!?” Wes glared at Jen, then at Alex. “I don’t care what the reasons are. I’m not going to let anyone suffer like this just to keep our secrets.”

“Whether you like it or not, our mission is more important than any one man! I forbid you to take him to the clock tower!” Alex said.

“Don’t try to stop me!”

“Alex...” Jen caught his arm as he stepped forward. “Please, I think Wes is right.”

Back on his feet now, Eric pulled away. “Keep your goddamn secrets,” he growled. “I don’t need help from you jerks. I’ll take care of myself, just like always.”

“Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself and come on,” Wes said, reaching for his arm again. “Give me your keys, I’ll drive your car.”

Eric stopped, his eyes meeting Wes’s, searching his face for a few long moments. Something seemed to pass between them; perhaps some spark of understanding, a realization of mutual respect, maybe even a tiny bit of gratitude on Eric’s part. In any event, he muttered, “Okay,” softly and followed Wes to his car.

It was a silent drive, Wes with his eyes locked on the road, Eric sitting, turned to look out the window at the night. He had found a handkerchief, and held it to his face. As they neared the city limits, Wes saw the vectorcycles, could sense Eric’s tension as his teammates followed them, slowly pulling alongside and pacing them, escorting them into town and then veering off. He knew they would find a quiet, deserted alleyway near the clock tower and demorph.

And sure enough, they had barely climbed the stairs and reached the tower room where they all lived, when they heard the others behind them. Wes was fiddling with the wires of the medical unit, trying to remember how to use it and hoping he wouldn’t make a mistake, as Alex, Jen, Trip, Lucas, and Katie walked in. He glanced at them, and then concentrated on his task again, only peripherally aware of Jen storing the cryogenic container that must now hold Conwing in shrunken form in their ‘mutant trunk’.

Trip came to stand next to him, watching for a few seconds before nudging his shoulder and saying, “Wes. Move over.”

“You’re not going to stop me, Trip.”

“I’m not trying to.” The green-haired young man grinned. “At the rate you’re going, you’ll melt the rest of his face. Let me do it.” With a hidden sigh of relief, Wes got up and watched his teammate connect wires from the small, square medical unit box to tiny disks. Eric flinched as he reached out to put the first in place. “It won’t hurt, don’t worry,” Trip said.

“I’m not afraid.” Eric’s voice was steady, but his eyes rose to Wes’s, holding his gaze as if for reassurance. He submitted as the contacts were placed in a pattern on the side of his face. Then Trip touched a few buttons and the box began to hum.

As they waited, Wes saw Eric look around, taking in their surroundings. He swept the room with a glance himself, seeing for the first time in months how it must look to an outsider, with their instruments scattered over Trip’s worktable, his favorite project, the electro-booster, lying in a corner, looking like a -- well -- a futuristic rifle, the chrono-communicator, their flyers in miniaturized form, even the five Time Force uniforms hanging against the wall.

Then Eric spoke again, startling him. “I already know,” he said, his voice defiant.

“Know what?” Alex demanded.

“That you’re from the future. Two hundred years. Conwing told me, two days ago.” There was more silence, this time vibrating with the aftershock of Eric’s revelation. “I guess now you’re going to say you have to kill me,” he added. Wes looked at him sharply, wondering if he was joking.

“No, we won’t kill you,” Jen said. “But we will ask you to keep our secret.”

“Why? What’s so important about it?”

“Any interference with history can change the timeline,” Lucas said. “Having people know about us, that means they know something about the future. It could influence what they do. Have unpredictable results.”

“It’s bad enough that Ransik’s causing all this damage,” Katie said. “We don’t want to make things worse... Please, we’re helping you. Don’t tell anyone about us.”

“You owe us,” Alex said firmly. “I want you to promise to keep your mouth shut this time.” Wes rolled his eyes, knowing it was exactly the wrong thing to say.

“Why the hell should I promise?” Eric demanded. “I just risked my life to help you! And I got this from one of the mutants you let escape to this time! I don’t owe you anything!”

“You don’t understand.” Alex’s voice was surprisingly calm, his face resigned. He stared for a moment, then turned half away to gaze out the window, the sparkling lights of the city barely visible from where they stood. “None of you understands...”

“Then why don’t you enlighten us?” Jen asked.

He seemed barely to hear as he began to speak again, softly, his voice the only sound as they all stared at him. “Ransik already succeeded in changing history. It’s all gone... all of it. Our timeline, our whole reality. I saw it die... Worse, now it never existed in the first place. Do any of you have any idea of what it’s like to see the world end?” Alex was facing them again. “I barely got away. Took off, opened a timehole, just as the time wave hit.”

“A time wave?” Trip gasped.

“What’s that?” Wes asked.

“A quantum shift in reality. A sudden, explosive change from one state to a completely different one, traveling down the timeline like a wave...” Jen said quietly. “It’s only theoretical...”

“Oh, it’s real, all right.” Alex gave a short, bitter bark of laughter. “I saw it. Time Force was gone in the blink of an eye. Silver City. Gone. Just ruins and rubble. There was -- will be -- a war, between mutants and humans. Nothing left. No one. Everything dead, just dust and bones... Even the trees and grass... Oh, God...” His face contracted, voice wavering with remembered horror.

“Alex, why didn’t you tell us?” Katie asked.

“I know how it affected me. I still see it. Can’t sleep, can’t... Didn’t want you to know...” His eyes focused on Eric again. “If you don’t believe me, we can show you the video my ship recorded. Maybe then you’ll see that this is important. Maybe not to you personally, but to your descendants, to everyone who comes after you. If we can’t win this fight and put things back the way they were, in two hundred years the human species will be extinct, or very close to it.”

Eric met his eyes steadily. “I keep telling people, I’m not a traitor.”

It seemed to satisfy Alex. He nodded shortly and walked to the window, to stand with his back to the rest of them, looking out over the city. Wes felt a sharp pang as he saw Jen go after him and lightly touch his shoulder, then guilty satisfaction as she got no response and turned away, her head drooping dejectedly. Trip, Lucas, and Katie watched them for a moment. Then Lucas drifted across the room to sit on the couch, just staring at the floor. Katie turned away, her head bowed. Trip focused on the medical unit, blinking rapidly. Eric’s face was set and grim, as he avoided Wes’s eyes. Wes hunched and stared down at his own hands, sitting in silence as each of them withdrew into his or her private dark thoughts.

They stopped at the ‘Nick of Time’ front door, the sounds of occasional traffic in the street outside reaching them faintly. Wes watched as Eric turned to look at him. It had taken only twenty minutes, amazingly, before Trip had disconnected the machine, and Lucas had brought a mirror. Eric had smiled then, a little, raising a hand to touch the thin red scars that were the only remaining signs of his injuries, and listened to Trip telling him that even those marks would fade soon.

“Look, I know you stuck your neck out for me,” Eric said abruptly. He hesitated, fidgeting for a moment, an expression of embarrassment, or possibly shyness, on his face, before going on. “Well -- thanks. For everything. See ya.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. What?”

“Did you ever consider going along with Conwing? Helping him for real?”

Eric smiled again, just slightly. “No. I saw him kill Porter. He liked doing it. He hates humans, I figured he’d kill me sooner or later, whether I gave him what he wanted or not.”

“Was that the only reason?”

And now the Silver Guardian’s face was guarded as he shrugged and muttered, “No, I guess not. I wasn’t about to help him hurt anyone else either. Even you guys.” He started to reach for the doorknob, hesitated, and glanced back. “Aren’t you going to ask me to promise not to tell about your friends?”

“Nope.” Wes smiled. “I trust you.”

Eric stared at him, looking surprised, and then that odd look of almost-shyness was in his face again. He turned away, but took the time to say, “Goodnight, Wes,” before he closed the door behind him.