“Not bad for an old guy, huh?” Wes asked, grinning, as he rolled onto his back and sprawled out, enjoying the extra space on their king-sized hotel bed.
Eric was smiling when Wes turned his head to look. “I dunno. You’re slowing down a little.”
“Me? You’re the one who was slow. Reaaaal slow.”
“I thought you like it like that.”
“Oh, I most definitely do.” Wes rose onto one elbow, leaned over to kiss Eric thoroughly, and sat up.
“You’re sure full of energy,” Eric grumbled, and closed his eyes.
“Aw, did I wear you out last night?”
“No, but you did this morning.” Eric turned onto his side and curled up. “I’ll just take a nap while you shower.”
Wes chuckled, paused for a moment to appreciate the sight of his partner lying naked amid a tumble of sheets, a few stray beams of early morning sun through the curtains casting a soft light over tan skin. Eric had changed little over the years. There might be a touch of gray in that black hair and perhaps a few faint lines of age beginning to appear in his face - but to Wes’s eyes he still looked as good as ever.
In the bathroom, Wes started the shower and stopped again to assess his own face and body in the full-length mirror. Not bad. Not bad at all for almost forty, and he’d just finished proving he could still hold his own in bed. Still, maybe a little more work on the abs, and maybe lose five pounds... Easier said than done, and getting harder every day. He made a face at himself before stepping under the hot water.
Fifteen minutes later he was ordering breakfast from room service while Eric took his turn in the shower, and half an hour after that they were digging into eggs, rolls, cereal, and fruit. A good meal, and no cooking or dishes to wash. Wes decided they had to do this more often, hopefully next time on vacation. Neither of them brought up the unpleasant topic of Jake until they were finishing up and relaxing with the last few sips of their coffee.
“So - any ideas?” Wes said finally.
As he had expected, Eric knew exactly what he was talking about. “Not any bright ones. Maybe we should just leave things alone. Sherry and Sam are probably better off with her parents.”
“And Sam himself?”
“I dunno. We can keep an eye on them. Step in if anything bad happens.”
Wes frowned. “I’m not sure I like that idea. ‘Something bad’ could mean somebody getting killed.”
“So - what do you suggest? Lock the kid up?”
“No, of course not. But - if anyone knows what to do, it’s Doggie Cruger. I think we should talk to him.”
Eric raised a brow and nodded. “Yeah... and it was Kat Manx’s experiment that caused this. SPD deals with aliens who have some pretty strange abilities; they can deal with this, too. But - you know they might end up locking him up themselves.”
“Still, we have to do something.” Wes sat up as he heard the ring of his cellphone. “Hold on, maybe that’s Dad.”
But it wasn’t. A woman’s voice greeted him with an undertone of worry. “Commander Collins? Good morning, this is Donna Michelson.”
“Mrs. Michelson.” Wes caught Eric’s eye. “Hello. Is something wrong?”
“Well, not exactly. I think. But you said to call if we heard from Jake.”
“Actually, we caught up to him last night. Are you saying he’s been in touch with you since then?”
“Yes, he called this morning, and spoke to Sherry.”
“Really. That’s... interesting.” Wes frowned. “Do you know what he said to her?”
“Whatever it was, he persuaded her to go back to him. With the baby.”
“He did?”
“Yes. She’s on her way over there now. I tried to get her to wait, to give it some time, but she wouldn’t listen. My daughter can be very stubborn.”
“I see.” Wes’s mind ticked back to Jake the way he had been the night before. Why the sudden change of heart? Something felt wrong here. “It does seem pretty sudden. Well, thanks for letting me know, and please call if anything else happens.” Wes was still frowning as he hung up.
“What was that all about?” Eric asked.
“Jake called Sherry, and asked her to come back. With Sam. She’s already on her way.”
“After the stuff he was saying last night? When he can’t stand to be in the same room with the kid?”
“Maybe he changed his mind.”
Eric gave him a skeptical look. “You don’t believe that any more than I do.”
“No, I don’t. In fact, I think we should get over there and have another little talk with him.”
Eric stood up. “Then what are we waiting for?”
Wes was only slightly surprised when it was Sherry who answered their knock at Jake’s door, wearing the same nervous yet defiant expression as the day before. They saw Jake beside her, whispering something into her ear, before she stepped outside and closed the door behind her.
“Jake told me about last night,” she said. “You found him, and he’s fine, so now you can go home.”
“Not quite yet,” Eric said. “We want to talk to him.”
“What about?”
“Last night Jake didn’t sound like he wanted you and Sam to come back here,” Wes said bluntly. “Now all of a sudden you’re here. What happened?”
She hunched a shoulder and frowned. “I guess talking to you changed his mind. Anyway, we’re back now, and everything’s fine. So - so goodbye, and thanks for your concern.” She turned and started to reach for the doorknob.
“We still have a few questions for Jake,” Eric said.
“Yeah?” Sherry stared at them challengingly. “What kind of questions?”
“Why he changed his mind. We know about Sam, and we want to know what Jake intends to do about him.”
“We don’t need to do anything about Sam!” Her eyes flared with sudden, surprising anger. “Jake told me you tracked him down looking for Sam! And he told me what you want to do! You want to take our baby away from us so SPD can lock him up!”
“What?” Wes said, startled as much by the similarity to his earlier conversation with Eric as by the unexpectedness of the accusation. “We never-”
“I don’t care if you think Sam is dangerous. Jake and I are never going to let you get our baby and I’m not even letting you inside. So just go away.” She stepped in front of the door, blocking it.
“We didn’t come here looking for Sam. We didn’t even know about him until yesterday. Your boyfriend’s a liar,” Eric said, his eyes narrowing.
“I don’t think so.”
“And a coward. I notice he sent you out to talk to us while he’s hiding inside.”
“Well...” A hint of uncertainty crossed her face before her chin came up. “Please - just leave us alone.” She reached for the door again.
Wes caught Eric’s eye and shrugged slightly. Nothing much they could do; they had no legal reason to force their way into the house, and Jake was unlikely to be any more cooperative than Sherry. He stepped back towards the street, reaching to take Eric’s arm and tug him along. “We might as well go,” he said. “We can check back with them later, and tell SPD to keep an eye-”
“Wait.” Eric was looking back at Sherry. “Something’s wrong.”
Sherry was still at the door, twisting the doorknob and pushing, with no result. As they watched, she thumped on the wood with her fist, and then rang the bell. When there was no answer, she called, “Jake, the door’s locked!”
Wes glanced at Eric again, some deep intuition telling him that something was indeed drastically wrong. Both of them stepped quickly back to the door, Eric firmly moving Sherry aside despite her protests while Wes banged on the door and shouted, “Jake! Open up!”
Sherry struggled free of Eric and tried to push him away. “He won’t open it while you’re here!” she cried. “Just go away!”
“We’re not leaving until we make sure,” Wes said, holding his ground, and then looked up sharply as the shrill sound of an alarm came from inside. “What’s that?”
“Sounds like a smoke detector,” Eric said. He took a few running steps out onto the lawn and looked back at the house.
Sherry had redoubled her efforts at the door, pounding on it and shouting. Wes heard Eric call him and moved to join him. He followed Eric’s pointing finger to see a wisp of smoke trailing up from the roof. It thickened as he stared.
Both of them charged at the door again, forcibly pushing Sherry out of the way. Wes kicked at it, with no effect. He stood back as Eric gave it a harder kick, the wood shuddering this time but refusing to give. Wes looked around; the windows were barred and too small. There was no time to get in the back door the way they had the first time. He could see Eric reach the same conclusion, and with a silent nod to each other they backed up and stood side by side, raising their arms.
“Time for Time Force!”
“Quantum Power!”
The touch of a button and two shouts, twin flashes of energy, and they were the Red Time Force Ranger and the Quantum Ranger again. It had been years, but the sensation, with its flood of energy and power, was as familiar to Wes as if it had been yesterday. No time to enjoy it, though - they ran forward again, this time a combined kick smashing the door into flying splinters.
Inside, they paused to look around. The air was hazy with smoke, the alarm now loud and sharp. Sherry ran between them and stopped abruptly, gasping as a form stepped from the smoky interior. Jake. But not the sad and confused Jake from last night; this time his expression was firm and resolved. And he held a gun in one hand, pointed in the direction of all three of them.
“Just stay right there,” he said. “The gun probably won’t hurt you two much, but you wouldn’t want Sherry to get hit, would you?”
“Jake?” Sherry said. “What are you doing?”
“What I should have done three weeks ago. I’m sorry; I didn’t want you to be in danger. Didn’t want you to see this. Just turn around and go outside again and you’ll be safe.”
“Just - just give me Sam, and I’ll go.”
“You know I can’t do that. Sam is what this is all about.”
“What do you mean?” Sherry’s voice was beginning to quiver and crack with fear.
Jake sounded rational by contrast, reasonable, solemn - and utterly determined. “Sam should never have been born. You’ve seen what he can do - teleport anything, anywhere - have you really thought about how much power that gives him? Anything - and anyone - he doesn’t like, gone just like that-” he snapped his fingers, “into the ocean, into the ground, into space, wherever. Anything he wants, he can just take. Who’s going to stop him?”
“No! My child is not evil!”
“Who’s going to teach him right from wrong? We tried, and you saw what happened.”
“It doesn’t have to be like that,” Wes said. “With a good home, if his family is careful - and SPD can help, they know how to control people with powers like this.”
“Ah yes, SPD. They can take Sam and turn him into a lab rat like Sky or those other two kids.”
“Hey!” Eric said. “That’s not what they’re doing!”
“I know better. And I know it won’t work. I’m his father, after all, I should know my own son. If he’s anything like me... No.” Jake drew himself up. “Like you said last night, I have a responsibility. The responsibility to make sure my son never hurts anyone again.”
“That’s not what we meant!” Wes cried.
“Doesn’t matter.” Jake looked up. The smoke was thickening around them, and a red light from behind him, dancing with the flickering of flame, was casting his face into shadows the color of blood. “It will all be over soon, for Sam and for me. I don’t want to hurt any of you. Go back outside. I’ll stay with my son.”
“No! Sam!” Sherry darted forward. Jake’s gun turned towards her. Wes didn’t wait to see if he would shoot her; he leaped - the gun swung back and went off - he felt the stinging impact rock him back on his heels and saw Eric crash into Jake an instant later, knocking him down.
“Wes, you okay?” Eric shouted, twisting to glance up as he tried to pin the struggling man and get the gun away from him.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I’ll take care of Jake and call 911. Get Sherry and Sam out of here!”
“Right!” Wes caught a glimpse of motion at the end of the hallway. Sherry, going either for the bedroom or the spare room they had probably used as a nursery. He ran after her, the crackling of fire beginning to compete with the fading sound of the alarm as he passed doorways and stopped to stick his head inside. Bathroom, empty. A closet. In this smoke he couldn’t remember which door was which. He found the bedroom - what looked like a few baby things scattered around, an open suitcase. No one there.
There was another sound - a baby’s cry rising over the noise, bringing him back out into the hallway. Another cry, this time a woman in fear or pain. Wes skidded into the last doorway and tried to see through a cloud of smoke lit by the red of flame. It was worse in here; this was probably where Jake had set the fire. Was that them? A hazy form against the far wall, was it a woman clutching a child? He started forward and cried out a warning as a line of fire ran across the floor towards them and ignited a sofa in the corner. More smoke - he had almost reached them - there was an odd, watery blurring of the air in front of him - and the spot where they had stood against the wall was empty.
Wes blinked and shook his head, hesitating. They had been there; he had seen them - hadn’t he? But they weren’t there now.
One thing was for sure - he had to get out. Wes called, quickly searched the room, and ran back into the hall. He checked the other rooms on his way, and finally dashed into the kitchen. No one. He looked back, panting, at the mass of fire the rest of the house was quickly becoming. The sound of a siren howled from outside.
“Wes!” It was Eric’s voice, and Eric himself appeared from the smoke-darkened hallway to grab Wes’s arm. “Come on, the whole house is going up!”
“I couldn’t find them!”
“We have to get out of here!” Eric’s words were punctuated by a crash and a burst of flame that drove them both towards the back door. “The roof’s going to come down in another minute! Come on!”
He was right; if Sherry and Sam were still inside there was no helping them now. Wes turned, and in frustration as much as fear charged the door and kicked it down, leaping out with Eric right behind him.
“And that’s about it.” Wes looked up at Lyn’s pale face as they sat in her living room in Newtech City a week later, and then back down at his own hands. “The house burned to the ground. I guess Jake did a good job of setting that fire. We turned him over to the police.”
“And he’s charged with arson and attempted murder,” she said quietly. “Although the murder charge probably won’t stick since no one can find Sherry or the baby, and there’s only your word that Jake tried to kill Sam.”
“Yeah, probably.” Wes sighed. “At least no human remains were found in the wreckage.”
“You think Sam used his power to teleport them out.”
“I’m sure I saw them, and then they were gone.” He looked up again. “I spoke to Mrs. Michelson again a couple of times since then. She wouldn’t admit that Sherry had gotten in touch with her, but she didn’t seem nearly as upset as I would have expected after what happened. Yes, I think Sherry and Sam got out, they’re alive, and they’re out there somewhere. For some reason she took off instead of contacting us.”
“She’s afraid,” Lyn said. “Jake told her you would take the baby away from her, or SPD would, because of his power. It wasn’t completely a lie, was it? It could happen, if Sam becomes a problem.”
Wes nodded silently, unable to disagree.
“And Jake’s still alive, even if he’s in jail. Maybe she’s afraid he’ll get out someday and try to hurt Sam again. She’s confused and frightened and doesn’t know who to trust. It doesn’t surprise me that she ran.”
“I guess. We’re still looking. I hope some day we’ll find them in time to help.” Wes got to his feet. “Well, I’d better get going if I don’t want to get back to Silver Hills in the middle of the night.”
“I appreciate your coming here to talk to me.” Lyn followed him to the door and stood, looking thoughtful, as he put on his jacket and turned back to say goodbye. “I wonder...” she said softly.
“What?”
“What Jake did was terrible, but he thought he was doing the right thing, saving the world from - from what he thinks is a monster. I wonder if in ten years or so we’ll wish he had succeeded.” Her eyes lifted to his. “That sounds awful, doesn’t it? But Sam is a very powerful child - and he’s Jake’s son. What if he turns out like him, or worse?”
“He’s also Sherry’s son, and he’s your nephew and Sky’s cousin.” Wes smiled. “Remember, he saved his mother as well as himself in that fire. The kid has good instincts. I have a feeling he’ll turn out okay.”
“I hope you’re right.”
So do I, Wes added fervently but silently as he bent to kiss her cheek. So do I.
It was late when he opened the door to his and Eric’s house in the suburbs of Silver Hills. Late enough that Eric should be home from work by now - but there was no sign of him. Except - Wes was sure they had turned out the lights in the bedroom, yet a soft glow he recognized as their bedside lamp was on now, apparently turned to the dimmest setting. Not like Eric to be in there awake, but maybe he was changing his clothes.
“Eric?” he called.
“Yeah, I’m in here. How’d it go?”
“Not bad. Lyn’s a tough lady. She said her parents are upset, of course, but taking it as well as can be expected.”
“Good. You okay? How was the trip back?”
Wes shrugged. “Fine. I’m a little tired is all.”
“Are you alone?”
“Well, yeah. Why, who were you expecting?”
“Just you.”
Wes frowned as his partner still did not appear. “You gone to bed already?” he asked.
“Come on in and find out.”
Puzzled, Wes did as he was asked - and stopped short when he reached the bedroom doorway. He stared in surprise and growing amusement, not knowing whether to laugh, and finally asked, “Uh - what is that?”
Eric was lounging on the bed, wearing nothing except for a bright, shiny, curly red ribbon tied artistically around a vital body part. He glanced down at it and then back up, with only a sparkle in his eye to contradict his solemn expression. “Wes, after all these years, if you don’t know what that is we’ve got a serious problem.”
Wes did laugh this time. “Not that, dummy,” he said. “What’s with the ribbon?”
“It’s your birthday in-” Eric glanced at the clock, “just about two hours. Consider this an early present.”
“My birthday?” Wes smiled and started to shed his own clothes. “You know, with everything that’s been going on, I almost forgot all about it.”
“Then it’s lucky I didn’t forget, isn’t it?”
Lucky. That was a good word for it, Wes thought as he tossed his shirt onto a chair and unbuckled his jeans. Eric was not given to romantic gestures and even less to such silly ones as this, but here he was - and Wes knew why, it was to cheer him up after the gloomy events they had been through in Sacramento and also to make his fortieth birthday a little less depressing. And now it didn’t seem depressing at all, not when they could celebrate it together. Yes, Wes decided - he was a pretty lucky guy.
“Thanks, Eric. I can’t wait to unwrap it.”
“No need.” Eric grinned at his puzzled look. “The ribbon’s elastic.”
Wes was snickering as he climbed onto the bed. “You think of everything.”