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estinoseSummary: Trip discovers a startling truth about Wes. (Vereco AU)
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Saban, not me (except for maybe one or two mentioned in the story).
Author's Notes: Posted on Time Force Fanfics under the title "Al Mem Verighi". This is a probable AU taking place before "Worlds Apart" (therefore no Eric/Quantum and Mr. Collins doesn't know about his son's side job). It's my answer to why Wes looks like Alex (other than they are played by the same actor).
It's No Big Deal
by Estirose
copyright 2001
"He's a clone."
Trip's pronouncement was quiet, but it seemed to explode around the room as if he had shouted it. His three teammates gathered around him, and he felt the absence of the fourth, the one that was most affected by the news.
He himself was uncertain of his announcement. Not the facts, since he was sure of those. No, the fact that one of his teammates, the one that shouldn't have any genetic alterations, the one whose DNA had matched Alex's exactly, the one who had initially been a reluctant part of the team, was the focus of all the attention.
Trip was not empathic, or at least not empathically talented, but he was keenly concerned about the team and the team's well-being. It was why, after Jen's rejection of Wes, that he'd snuck onto the grounds of Wes' residence to convince their Red Ranger that he was meant to be part of the team, and give him what was needed to convince Jen to let him be part of the team.
So far, Trip had managed to keep the peace, except when he was part of the disruption. He was aware that the others saw situations better than he did - he was, after all, Xybrian, and a typical Xybrian to boot - but sometimes it took someone with his touch to keep the team together.
He blinked up at the screen, which displayed Wes' DNA, compared with Alex's, and tapped a key. The screen went blank, to the apparent confusion of his teammates, and Trip wished he'd kept his mouth shut. Nobody except maybe Circuit had to know the truth about Wes. Certainly none of the others did. So Wes was a clone, so what? He wasn't Alex, and Jen, of all people, had to know that.
There was no reason to treat Wes any differently, but now that the others knew, the secret was going to come out. Wes was going to find out, and Wes was from a time when cloning was still in its infancy. The people of Wes' time had cloned sheep and mice, but human cloning had yet to be done, and was the subject of much controversy.
Looking up, he wished he knew what to say.
* * *
Ransik had been quiet, and so Jen, apart from training and the team's rotation at the downstairs counter, had let her team rest. Wes was manning it now, in the off chance that someone would want to hire them to do something.
Jen wished she knew where Ransik's lair was, just to end this thing once and for all. Every day that they failed to capture Ransik meant yet another day in this century. Not that she hated Wes' time, but it wasn't her own, and she wanted to get Ransik and return home. Katie wasn't the only one that got homesick. She had to wonder if, in one of their alterations, that Alex would survive. Of course, that would mean that they would have never gone back to 2001. Paradox.
In the meantime, despite her best intentions, she had Wes to remind her of her lost love. She knew the rest of her team seemed to be highly amused by her occasional romantic reactions towards Wes, and she tolerated them. She wasn't sure why she was responding to Wes in ways other than the team rookie and a teammate, but she was. So she didn't take offense at her team's actions - if anything, they were a gauge of how things were going between herself and Wes.
She leaned back and started to review strategies. It seemed that this was her strength, here in the 21st century where she had little to rely upon except her teammates. It was Trip's pronouncement to, presumably, Circuit, that brought her out of her review back into the real world.
Jen moved towards the picnic table where Trip, Circuit, and the viewscreen sat. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the others gathering curiously towards their Xybrian teammate.
Trip, apparently embarrassed by the attention from herself, Lucas, and Katie, tapped the display off. Judging from the display just before Trip had shut it off, it had something to do with DNA, not too startling considering his statement.
"What'd you say?" Lucas asked, looming over the seated Trip.
"Nnnothing," Trip stammered, in the sure way that signaled that he was lying. Trip was not the world's best liar, in this century or their home one. The Xybrian culture, as Trip had proved a few weeks before, was a trusting one, and few species were lousier at lying than the Xybrians. Fortunately, in his time on Earth, Trip had gotten better at lying. But not to his teammates.
Jen silently blessed the fact that the people of Wes' time thought that Trip was an Earth human who'd dyed his hair green. Trip had grasped the situation quickly and was capable of not blurting out that he wasn't native to the planet, and his hair, though unusual, wasn't a sure-fire way of identifying him as alien. Even though this Earth had been exposed to the Aquitians briefly, she doubted the ordinary person of this century could deal with the truth.
"You've been working on the morphers again?" Katie prodded gently.
Trip maintained silence, with a downcast look that surely meant that he had news he didn't want to share with anyone. When Lucas reached for the controls to bring Trip's research back up, Trip knocked his hand away.
The unusual act by Trip caused her to look up involuntarily and meet the eyes of Lucas and Katie. None of them had ever seen Trip act that way with them, and it was two confused and, from Katie, concerned looks which met her own gaze. What was going on?
Trip keyed a lock on the data and stood up. "I'm going downstairs," he announced abruptly, and moved towards the stairs.
Three sets of eyes followed him.
* * *
Trip stormed down the stairs, the long journey to the bottom of the clock tower allowing his thoughts to stampede unaided. What had he brought about? It was surely a matter of time before the others realized what was going on, and then Wes would know. And Wes didn't need to know. Trip wasn't sure if his teammate could handle the news, and he didn't want to find out in reality.
If only he'd kept his mouth shut. But like every other time he'd fouled up in his life, he was the cause of his own misery. He should go out. The others could call if they needed him. And they'd better only call if one of Ransik's mutants was attacking.
He knew his behaviour upstairs had been almost unheard of for him, but he couldn't help it - he wanted out of there, before he blabbered out the truth about Wes. Or left it on the screen for the others to see. He might be the team's technical specialist, but it wouldn't take forever for the others to find out what he'd been hiding. He almost tripped over a step as he realized he hadn't given Circuit any instructions about not saying anything. Circuit probably wouldn't say anything, but Trip couldn't be sure, and he didn't dare go up and face further questioning from Jen and the others. He'd heard the human saying 'none of your business' but it was still hard for him to comprehend. And he still couldn't say it!
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Trip swung himself so that he could head immediately into the workshop without bothering Wes. "Trip?" his obviously confused teammate called out, but Trip didn't answer, grimly shutting the door behind him.
* * *
Lucas watched Trip depart. He got along okay with Trip, but he had to confess that he didn't know his Xybrian teammate very well.
Still, even he knew that this wasn't how Trip behaved. Trip was smiling and pleasant, always wishing to avoid trouble. Lucas sometimes wondered how the Xybrian had made it through Time Force training, but obviously he had, and just as obviously, was good enough to be a Ranger, not that Jen had had much choice in the matter.
He looked at Jen's and Katie's eyes, hoping that one of them would explain why Trip had stormed out like that, what had affected him so much that he'd go away instead of explaining things. But he didn't see anything that said that Jen and Katie had any idea of what was driving Trip. His teammate had turned off the display so quickly that he hadn't seen what he was working on, other than a representation of DNA.
Jen sat down on the bench and fruitlessly tried to reopen Trip's file. After a few minutes the three of them just sat there and stared, before Jen asked, "Circuit, what was Trip working on?"
* * *
The robotic owl shifted his wings and moved his head around. "Trip was working on the DNA locks on the morphers, hoping to see if he could make them even more secure. The last set of files he was working on was a comparison of Wes' DNA vs. Alex's."
"Wait a minute," Katie piped up. "Does that mean that Wes is a clone of Alex, or vice versa? Jen?"
A remembered moment out of a discussion caused Jen to look up at Circuit. "Circuit, tell us about the Rialtson clones."
Circuit obligingly began to speak. "John Rialtson was convicted for using the DNA of individuals without their permission. His plan was to produce clones that could take over for an individual if that individual was injured or dead. With the help of secret supporters, he produced several individuals. Nobody ever found where he'd hidden the clones!"
"You think Wes might be one of the Rialtson clones?" Katie asked.
Jen shrugged. "It was always a theory," she said, shrugging. "And Alex was one of the people on the list, so we both had an interest in it."
In reality, it had spawned a lot of discussion between the two of them and had gone back and forth for quite some time. They'd even made plans just in case Alex's clone was discovered - Alex had been ready to adopt the child, or whatever was needed.
"But Alex," she had argued, "Doesn't he deserve to live his own life?"
Her boyfriend had shrugged. "He will have his own life, Jen. He's not me and I don't expect him to be." Alex's face had softened into a smile. "In fact, I hope he turns out like you."
"I'll talk to Trip," Jen told Katie and Lucas, before heading towards the stairs.
In all honesty, she mused as she headed down the stairs, she didn't know what she was going to say. Whatever Trip had found, it was obviously something that upset him. If Wes was the clone that Rialtson had made of Alex, then that needed to be faced head-on, not hidden. Wes was very much his own person, and even if he was really a clone, nothing was going to change that.
She finally made it down to the bottom floor. Wes was leaning against the counter, clearly alternating between bored and furtive looks towards Trip's workshop. She ignored him, intent on getting some answers from her reluctant teammate, but the door was locked. "Trip, let me in."
The shuffle of Wes' feet echoed around the room as Wes came into her view. "Jen?" he asked quietly. "What's going on?"
* * *
Wes hated manning the counter, but it was part of his job and he didn't want to be tossed out or tick Jen off again. His Dad owned the clock tower, and they were trespassing, but it was still not a good idea to annoy his roommates.
Nobody had phoned, nobody had come in, and it looked like the team was going to have to shop on a budget again, get enough food to feed five hungry people who had to save the city and 2001 from Ransik's ideas.
Despite what Jen had told him, Wes still doubted she was telling the complete truth, or the true truth. He still felt sorry for Ransik, at least he did when he was alone like this. He tended to get wrapped up in the team's feelings towards the criminal when they were all together. Judging from what Ransik had told him in the TV station, though, Wes sometimes wondered if Time Force had brought this problem upon themselves.
It sounded almost like the mutants were the minorities of the 30th century, their presence suspicious despite any benign intentions. Sure, all the mutants they'd found so far had been violent criminals, but what if there was an innocent mutant in cryo-freeze? Ransik and Nadira were, in some ways, compensating in this time for the injustices done to them in their own.
Still, Wes doubted his teammates would share his views, and kept his mouth shut. It was the best way of keeping the peace with ill-tempered Jen.
Jen... Sometimes he could swear that she was in love with him, and sometimes it seemed like he could never replace Alex. He kept reminding himself that Alex was gone, Jen was free, but he never wanted to make a move. Jen's focus was Ransik, and taking her own revenge on the person who had ruined her life.
Wes wasn't going to share that with her, either.
He slumped further forward, straightening up as footsteps thundered down the stairs, followed in a short while by Trip, who looked extremely upset by something. He called his teammate's name, but was ignored as Trip shut the door to his workshop behind him. Shrugging, Wes started paying attention to the front door again, hoping to look attentive just in case.
A second thunder of footsteps soon followed Trip's, and Wes was somewhat surprised to see Jen appear. Katie was the one who took the hurts of the team, not Jen. She took one look at him and then immediately headed over to Trip's workshop. She tried the door, seemingly finding it locked, and called, "Trip, let me in."
That got Wes' attention. What was so important that would cause Trip to barricade himself in his lair? Why was Jen there? He got up from the chair and walked the short distance to the door. "Jen?" he asked, "What's going on?"
Jen turned abruptly at his intrusion, as if she hadn't heard him come over. "I'm not sure," she said. "I'd like to talk to Trip alone... please?" She fished something out of her pocket. "Why don't you get the groceries? We're running low on some things," she added lamely.
Wes took the list out of her hand, knowing that if this was some kind of weird thirtieth-century matter then it would probably do him no good to hang around. They probably wouldn't feel very comfortable with him around. "Okay, I'll see what I can do. You'll watch the door?"
"I will, Wes," Jen promised. She looked like she was serious, so he left her to her own devices. He couldn't get a lecture for what she'd told him to do, after all, and he'd much rather face shopping than another hour down at the counter.
He was out before he could even think about it, trusting the others to deal with Trip's issue.
* * *
Jen watched as Wes' motorcycle vanished down the road. She hoped he wouldn't get curious and circle around, because she wanted to give Trip a place where he could talk. No matter how the others felt, Trip obviously felt differently, and he might not be too comfortable discussing Wes if Wes was hanging around.
"Trip, if you don't unlock this door, I'll laser it and have you explain why to Wes!" she told her recalcitrant teammate.
About half a minute later, she had the satisfaction of the door unlocking to reveal Trip's face. Not more than that, she noted, and Trip looked appreciably panicked. "You can't tell him!" he pleaded.
"Tell me what's going on, Trip," she ordered.
"Where's Wes?" he asked, not doing as she said.
"I sent him to get groceries," she told him curtly. "I'm going to put a sign next to the bell, and then you and I are going to talk."
Not giving Trip a choice, she plunked the "please ring for assistance" sign and bell from the spot near the register where they usually resided. Once she was satisfied, she went to the door of Trip's workshop and quickly passed through it, closing it behind her. "Now, what's going on. Does it have to do with Wes?"
Trip's expression clouded over, replaced quickly by his best imitation of a scared mouse, and Jen knew that she'd hit paydirt. She silently blessed her decision to send Wes off. "What do you know about it?" Trip asked.
"I know what you said," she offered. "Trip, if it has to do with our team, I have to know. I have to know what's going on."
"Only if you promise not to tell Wes," Trip said, a strange determination settling in on his face.
"I can't promise that, Trip," she said, though she tried to soften the words, mindful of the Xybrian's sensitivity. "Let me hear what's going on and then I can tell you if Wes needs to be told."
Her teammate hesitated, and then started to talk. "Circuit and I... we were trying to do these analyses of why the morphers worked as they did. It was my idea to examine Wes' DNA against Alex's, to see why Wes could activate the morpher when he shouldn't be able to do that. I... I didn't expect them to be identical!"
"So, Wes is a clone. Rialtson?"
Trip let a noise escape that may well have been half a sigh. "It's a possibility. Did... did Alex ever submit his DNA for cloning?"
Jen shook her head. "If he did, he never told me. I think he would have, because it's acceptable to clone, it's just that nobody does it much anymore. It's not like they'll be immortal, they'll just have a child that looks a lot like them."
"Rialtson thought different."
"Rialtson," Jen said sharply, and then regretted it, for Trip was just stating facts, "thought that clones should serve as backups for their genetic parents. It's precisely because of that kind of attitude that it's illegal to create a clone to serve as a housing for your mind or personality."
"I know, Jen," Trip responded softly. "I'm not condoning what he did. I'm not condoning his attitude in any way. And I knew Alex too. I know he wouldn't have subjected any clone of his to what Rialtson wanted to do."
"Sorry," Jen responded. "It's just... Alex knew that Rialtson had created a clone of him after he became a Ranger, and I knew he felt guilty that he was the cause of this new life being born, even indirectly."
"I know you didn't ask, but yes, Wes has all the genetic alterations normal to someone born in the thirtieth century," Trip told her. "If he was one of those that Rialtson cloned from, then Wes must be one of Rialtson's clones. In any case, I don't want to tell him. The people of this time period just aren't... ready for clones. He isn't ready to know."
Jen found herself smiling. "I think you're underestimating Wes," she told him. Then her expression grew more serious. "And he has a right to know. If he is one of Rialtson's clones, then he is a citizen of the thirtieth century, along with being a victim of Rialtson's crime. He also has to know that we won't condemn him for what he is. Besides, I think the secret's pretty much out."
"He's going to hate me for telling," Trip said, as if talking to himself. Then he turned to face her. "He's not going to be with us forever. What happens after we capture Ransik and leave? He's going to be alone in this century, where he's just a science fiction concept, not a real person. The people of this time don't have a thousand years of mistakes in this area to deal with."
"Who says he has to tell?" Jen argued. "Trip, the only people who know this is us! It's not like you blurted it out to the general public. We can handle it, and together, we will help Wes handle it."
"If you say so," Trip replied, sounding like her seriously doubted her words.
* * *
Jen's firm expression indicated that she believed what she was telling him, but Trip had his doubts. How could he have been so careless? Sure, Wes was surrounded by people whose attitudes were accepting of his clone status, but Wes himself was a different matter. Jen seemed to have forgotten that no matter in which time Wes had been born, he had still grown up in this century and had all of its attitudes and prejudices.
Wes was going to hate him. He'd take off, with or without his morpher, and where would they be? With no Red Ranger. He'd have to grab Wes before Wes went upstairs, and give Wes a chance to leave. If he wanted him to, Trip would gladly pack for him. If Wes even wanted him to touch his stuff, that is.
His team leader awkwardly patted him on the shoulder. "I promised Wes that I'd watch the door for him. We'll wait until he gets home and talk about this... together."
"Okay," Trip responded, hoping he'd figure out how to melt into the floor by then.
* * *
Wes pulled up at the base of the Clock Tower, taking the bags that held the groceries out of their packs. He walked softly towards the door, hoping that Jen and Trip had resolved the problem while he was out bargain hunting. In any case, he'd secured enough supplies for the moment.
Turning the knob, he cautiously opened the door. He didn't hear anything, but that didn't mean that the situation was resolved. As he pushed open the door, he kept his senses alert.
"Hi, Wes," came Trip's voice, and he looked around to see Trip sitting up stiffly in their one client chair, an overstuffed armchair. Jen was sitting at the counter, just like she'd promised.
Of course, the looks on his two teammates' faces told him that something was going on, and he had the unpleasant feeling it involved him. Jen, if anything, looked anxious, and Trip looked like he wanted to melt into the floor.
"I got the groceries you asked for," he offered, holding the bags out to Jen.
She took them, but the groceries were definitely not on the top of her mind, as she just placed them behind the counter. Wes raised an eyebrow, trying his best to do his Mr. Spock imitation, even though he knew his teammates would not "get it".
"Wes..." Jen hesitated, and then continued, "We have to talk."
"We?" he asked, giving Trip a sideways look.
"Yes, we." her voice was firm, and a glance at Trip confirmed that he was soon to be talked to by both sides. Definitely whatever had happened had to do with him.
Trip darted into his workroom and pulled out the other stool that had sometime ago been put there. He hopped up on it, leaving the client chair to Wes. Before Wes had time to question the action, Jen was pushing him towards it. "Sit down," she ordered.
"What's going on?" he asked as he sat down. "Why's Trip upset, and what's so important?"
Jen exchanged a look with Trip, and the two of them sat silent, as if they weren't sure what to do. Finally, Trip spoke. "Uh... I was doing a genetic analysis of your DNA and Alex's, and I discovered something. I'm sorry."
It was Jen who spoke next. "How much do you know about cloning, Wes?"
"Not a lot. I know that it's been done, on mice and sheep at least, but not much beyond that." Strictly speaking, he did know more, but he didn't want to show off his lack of knowledge, not to these two. A school paper seemed pretty foolish when one was talking to people from a thousand years in the future. "I take it cloning is pretty common in your time."
"The ability to do it, yes. There aren't a lot of clones, though," Jen responded. "When they are, it's because of a problem when a child is born, or for some reason somebody has to have one. It's because clones are individuals and are not legally tied to their 'parents'."
Trip took a deep breath and Wes found himself turning his way. Trip seemed to square his shoulders. "What we're trying to tell you," Trip said, his words rushing out as if he was afraid they'd explode in his mouth, "is that you're not from here."
The Xybrian turned away, apparently embarrassed by his outburst. Wes put Trip's initial words together. "You're trying to tell me that I'm a clone?"
His two teammates traded looks in such a way that Wes knew he was right. He battered any further exclamations down, in the hopes that if he didn't cause Trip to die of embarrassment, and Jen to become self-righteous, he would get through this.
"Yeah, you're a clone," Jen confirmed. "You've got to understand, though, that to us you're just as human as you were before we knew about it. You are Alex's clone, but to us, you'd only be strange if you turned out to be a duplicate, personality-wise, of Alex. Which I can assure you that you're not! You're just a typical thirtieth-century clone. In fact, you're the victim of a crime."
"Crime?" Wes asked, trying to take it all in.
"Crime," Jen confirmed. "By someone who didn't value you as you. You and the others were going to be his political statements. He created you and a lot of others to prove that clones were only supposed to be back-ups for their genetic 'parents'. We never did find what happened to the lot of you until today."
"Alex was one of his donors," Trip explained helpfully.
"Unwillingly," Jen said, as if to clarify the issue. "This scientist didn't care about his consent or yours. He just wanted to prove a point."
Wes took a deep breath. "What would have happened if I'd ended up with this guy?"
"He would have force-grown you. You wouldn't have had a childhood, and nothing of yourself except brain-scans that he'd stolen from Alex's records. You were supposed to be there in case Alex got injured in the course of his duties. The other clones were there for similar reasons."
"And I still ended up being Alex's replacement," Wes mused.
"Not because Rialtson forced you into it, though," Jen offered. "You became our Red Ranger because we needed you, but you weren't Alex. You are not Alex. You are Wes. And I don't expect you to be anyone else."
Jen's words were firm, and Wes felt himself wrapped in a cocoon of caring. Jen didn't seem fazed at all by what she'd found out, and Trip's embarrassment seemed to have more to do with some misstep he'd made. Still, this was not what he'd expected when he came back with the groceries. "I've got to think about this," he said, knowing that he had some time left on the desk.
"Go ahead, then. Trip'll watch the desk if you want to go outside. And don't forget to come back for dinner!"
With that one last order, Jen headed towards the stairs, leaving Wes and Trip alone.
* * *
Trip sat there as Jen's footsteps echoed down the long flight of stairs up to their residence. Wes was still sitting in the armchair, looking like he'd been hit by a stun blast. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything...." he apologized, hoping that it would be enough.
"It's all right, Trip, Wes responded. "If what Jen said was true, then I don't have anything to worry about. You guys are the only ones who know, so it's not like I'd have everyone from this time thinking I'm a freak."
"Do you think you're a freak?" Trip asked cautiously. He didn't have access to Wes' emotions, that wasn't his talent, but he could sometimes use words to spot problems. Problem was that most humans were not so honest about their feelings as his people were, and so were hard to judge.
"I don't know," Wes said, and opening up, Trip could see that it was true. He couldn't read emotions, but he was good at thoughts. Wes continued, "I just don't know. Part of me says that clones are impossible, and I'm one of a kind, and the other counters that I've met time travelers and aliens, so I shouldn't find clones such a strange thing."
"Everyone's one of a kind," Trip offered. "Especially clones."
Wes looked up. "Have you ever dealt with a clone before?" he asked.
Trip found his face reddening. "No, not really. As Jen said, they're kinda rare and it's never come up. I know they exist, but...."
"They're not part of everyday life," Wes concluded. "Then how can Jen say that I'm not going to be treated differently? A curiosity."
He shivered as he heard Wes' tone. "Just because clones are rare doesn't mean they're different!" Trip protested. "Sure, some people might get mildly curious, but you're a sentient being. The only difference is that your DNA came from Alex and not from two parents. Talk to Katie - I think she's dealt with clones before."
"Okay," Wes said, sounding doubtful.
"Besides, why would anyone treat you differently? You're your own being, not Alex's shadow!"
He was rewarded with a small smile, but he could tell that Wes was still thinking it over. "Just talk to Katie, okay?"
"Okay," Wes responded. "You okay down here?"
Trip put up his bravest smile. "I'll be okay."
* * *
Wes left Trip manning the counter and went upstairs. He realized he hadn't asked Trip if Katie knew, or if he'd be telling her himself. Ah, well. Best way to find out if Jen was being truthful was to tell her what he was and then see how she reacted.
The stairs up to the top seemed to take forever. It was like he was going up, and up, and up... and he would only know if he was successful when he got up to the top. Would he find himself struggling with himself forever?
It was bad enough falling in love with someone who was in love with someone that was him but not him! And, as much as he hated to admit it, he was in love with Jen, despite her drill-sergeant ways. She was beautiful, she was bold....
She was in love with Alex. His genetic 'parent'. He didn't have a chance.
After forever, he reached the top of the stairs, the back of the clock. His current home, at least until his Dad tumbled on to the intruders and kicked them all out. He couldn't see Katie, Lucas seemed to have his nose in a book, and Jen was sitting on the picnic bench staring. It was as if she was waiting for him.
Ignoring her, he looked around for Katie. She had been upstairs when he started his shift, so unless she'd left while he'd gone for the groceries, she was up there somewhere. Craning his head to the left, he could make her out sitting at the left window, writing in her diary.
He headed for his teammate, mindful of Jen turning her head to look at him, and Circuit also gazing curiously at him. He was half-tempted to ask Jen if she'd told Katie, but then she'd have fits.
Wes reached the window. "Hi, Katie," he said.
"Wes," she acknowledged.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. His teammate looked over at him
"Sure," she said, apparently surprised. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Trip said you've dealt with clones before," Wes said to her, trying not to reveal what else Trip had said. "In your time, I mean."
"Once," Katie said thoughtfully. "It was right after the Rialtson trial. He'd come in; apparently he was harassed for being a clone. He was really close to his 'parent', too, but apparently too much unlike his parent. Apparently some of Rialtson's supporters decided that he would be a good target."
Katie's voice hardened at that, and Wes breathed inward. "What happened next?" he asked.
"We proved that he was being harassed, and the perpetrators were put on trial," Katie responded, her tone matter-of-fact. "I just couldn't believe that they'd do that to him because he was a clone! It's just not right. I don't know how things are in your time, but...."
"Mice and sheep so far, Katie," Wes told her. "No humans, not yet."
"Then it's not a problem yet," Katie said, sounding relieved. "I just can't believe some attitudes."
Taking a deep breath, Wes spoke. "Katie, Trip and Jen just told me something...."
Before he could finish, his teammate looked up. "Were you the clone Trip was muttering about?"
Wes froze.
* * *
Katie had looked up when Jen had come back upstairs after chasing Trip. However, their leader had sat on the picnic bench, watching the stairs, and neither she nor Lucas dared to ask Jen any questions.
So Lucas had drifted off to read one of the books that they'd found while cleaning the place, and she went to her diary, although she had a feeling that it wouldn't do her much good.
A sound from the stairs made her briefly look up. But she couldn't see who it was, so she kept her ears open in hopes that someone would speak and explain what had happened.
However, nobody spoke. Katie stared at her diary, thinking of what to say, as footsteps creaked towards her and the window.
"Hi, Katie," Wes greeted her. She wondered what he was doing up there, as it was his shift downstairs. Maybe, since his was the last shift of the day, she'd just lost track of time. Maybe they'd closed for the evening.
"Wes," she acknowledged, not sure why he was coming to her. Maybe he needed someone to take care of the downstairs counter?
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. Looking up, she took in his serious, almost downcast expression.
"Sure," she said, although she hadn't thought that she and their Red Ranger were particularly close. Maybe this had to do with his on-and-off relationship with Jen. "What do you want to talk about?" she asked.
"Trip said you've dealt with clones before," Wes said, causing her to start. As far as she knew, he didn't know about Trip's proclamation. A suspicion formed in her mind. "In your time, I mean," he continued, apparently oblivious to her thoughts.
Katie thought about the last time she'd talked to a clone. Her one and only time, in fact. As she explained to Wes what had happened, her mind flashed on poor Lucien. She'd been particularly outraged at his treatment. Anybody could see that Lucien was a person, a different person than his 'parent', Robert!
It was to her immense satisfaction that those responsible had faced justice. To think someone had to be a copy of somebody else just because that someone else had provided their DNA was something that had sickened her. At least, as Wes confirmed, people in his century didn't have that problem. Many problems, yes, that problem, no.
As she finished, Wes took a deep breath, as if ready to give her some bad news. "Katie, Trip and Jen just told me something...."
Something clicked inside her. Trip's proclamation, Wes' sudden interest, Wes' last statement. "Were you the clone Trip was muttering about?"
In that instant she knew she was right, and regretted her choice of words. How they must sound to Wes, who had suddenly found out he wasn't who he thought he was! "Sorry, Wes," she apologized. "I didn't mean it to come out that way."
"It's all right," Wes said, brushing it off in a way that said that he really didn't think it was all right, but he didn't want to discuss it further. "I guess I am really the center of attention right now."
"Look, Trip obviously didn't want to tell us what you were. Obviously, he wanted you to know first. It's just curiosity, nothing more, Wes. Clones are rare, not everybody has ever met one. That doesn't mean that you're any different. You're kinda like Alex's identical twin, except you were born and raised in a different time."
"Right," Wes answered, obviously not convinced in the matter.
"Give us some time," Katie pleaded quietly. "Once everybody knows, it'll be a non-issue. Give us a chance."
With a muttered, "Okay," Wes left her, obviously wanting to brood. She watched him as he disappeared out of her line of sight, obviously distressed, and resolved that they had to convince him once and for all.
* * *
Jen watched Wes as he headed back downstairs after talking briefly with Katie. Whatever the two of them had talked about,it apparently hadn't helped Wes' mood. Inwardly, Jen resolved to bring the matter up at dinner. If this was left unchecked, it had the potential to tear her team apart.
"What was that all about?" Lucas demanded quietly.
"I'll tell you later," she responded. "In the meantime, isn't it your turn to make dinner?"
"Trip's, actually," Lucas told her.
Jen mentally reviewed the duty roster and knew that he was right. "Can you take care of it? I'll see that Trip takes care of one of yours."
"Got it," Lucas said, turning away towards their meager food stores, and Jen realized that Wes' grocery run was still sitting down at the desk with Trip. She debated whether or not to go down, and then decided that since she'd probably be going down anyway she'd worry about it then.
With that, she was left alone, just as she liked it. She quietly thanked the universe that the revelation about Wes was the only thing that had happened that day. She didn't know if they could deal with a mutant attack right now, not just before dinner.
She watched the stairs, willing Wes to come back. Why couldn't he understand? She'd told him, Trip had told him, but he apparently wasn't willing to accept it. She kept telling herself that it was because he was from a bygone era, a time past where they hadn't even really left the planet on any kind of mass basis. Terra Venture was a few years away still as far as Wes was concerned.
Wishing she had Trip's ability to see into people's minds, she waited. And waited. It was coming up time to close, and she could see Trip getting ready to pack up for the evening. She resisted the temptation to activate her morpher and ask Trip, on the off chance that they'd picked up an unexpected customer.
To her immense surprise, two sets of footsteps echoed up the stairwell. Trip appeared first, obviously talking to the person behind him. Wes struggled up after him, holding the grocery bags that they had abandoned behind the counter.
Since it was her turn, she started setting the table that they shared every evening for dinner, taking the napkins and plates out of storage. She paused for a moment when she realized that it was Wes' turn to do the dishes - would he feel like it? Would she enforce it? Maybe normality was all Wes needed. At least after supper.
Trip's face showed panic as he rushed towards where Lucas was preparing their meal, but Lucas smoothly intercepted him with a dish, and Trip scurried over to the table with it.
Wes, to her surprise, started putting the utensils out as Trip and Lucas brought dinner over. As if realizing it was dinnertime, Katie joined them without a word.
It was after the five of them had filled their stomachs with Lucas' offering, bean-with-bacon soup, that Lucas spoke up. "What in the heck is going on around here?" he demanded. "What's the big deal?"
* * *
Wes had gone downstairs after the talk with Katie. He'd spoken briefly with Trip, who had reassured him that he didn't have a problem holding down the rest of his shift. Wes personally suspected that Trip's eagerness had less to do with counter duty and more to do with his embarrassment about the revelation.
He didn't hate Trip for what he'd said. If anything, Trip had just been Trip. Nothing wrong with that. Still, he wasn't beyond conning his teammate into holding down the desk for him.
It occurred to him after he'd slipped out of the building that it might not be a good idea to stay out, no matter how much he wanted to be alone. Jen would come after him and he wasn't sure he wanted to listen to her. Best thing to do was to come up and let her pity him, and let the others pity him. Then he could go back to thinking about himself.
Shrugging to himself, he made his way back inside and asked Trip if he'd give him a yell when the shift was over. Trip readily agreed.
And Trip, true to his agreement, did. The Xybrian yelled and Wes came, picking up the abandoned groceries to take upstairs. The only comment his teammate made was a "oh, no!" when he realized that he was the one that was supposed to do dinner that evening.
He found himself reassuring Trip that Jen would have arranged things to get around that, while thinking of all the disruption in the team's duty schedule that had occurred since Trip had come downstairs, obviously upset. Jen would probably produce a rearranged duty schedule later on that evening, no problem. She was good at that.
Jen was at her previous position when he reached the top of the stairs, although she got up to make the table. He joined her, figuring that the faster they got through with dinner, the sooner he could get away again.
Lucas and Trip brought bread and soup, and the five of them ate. The peaceful, quiet meal was interrupted by Lucas. "What the heck is going on around here?" he demanded, obviously to everyone including Wes. "What's the big deal?"
Jen cleared her throat and looked at Trip meaningfully. But before she could speak, Trip spoke up. "Wes is a clone," he said timidly, giving Wes an apologetic look.
Wes refocused his attention on Lucas, who looked like he was expecting a present and had been denied one. "That's it?" he asked. "Everybody's been acting like there's something big going on. What's the big deal?"
Lucas' expression caused Wes to sag inwardly in relief. Something told him that Lucas was telling the truth. If Lucas was acting, his body language was very, very good and Wes didn't particularly think that Lucas was that good an actor. This was how, he realized, that he wanted people to act.
"What'd you think this was about?" Jen challenged Lucas.
Their teammate shrugged. "I thought Trip meant that Ransik was a clone or something like that. It's not like Wes is anything to get excited about."
Wes ignored the implications as he saw the truth in his teammates' eyes. Jen, for all her stoic demeanour, had that look which meant that she had realized she'd acted foolishly. Trip looked outright ashamed, and Katie's expression was unreadable, but he guessed it had to do with her words earlier. They had meant well, he realized.
The dinner was finished in relative silence, and then began the ritual of clearing the table. It wasn't until Jen gave him the bin full of dirty bowls and dishes that he realized that it was his turn to do them, and there was no way to get out of that!
Smiling, he took them, balancing the load to take it downstairs to the sink. To his surprise, as he walked towards the stairs, Jen followed. He didn't know if it was to talk to him or to use the downstairs bathroom, or even to get more water upstairs, so he let her accompany him without protest.
He reached the downstairs washroom and diligently began washing out the dishes, wishing for a dishwasher. Trip was brilliant, but he wasn't a dishwasher repairman and so any cleaning had to be done by hand.
To his surprise, Jen was standing there, just watching him. "I'm okay, Jen," he told her. "I think with what Lucas said, I finally understand."
Jen smiled at that and didn't say a word, finally leaving him and the dishes alone. He was normal! He was normal. And his teammates knew it. Smiling suddenly, he began to whistle.
-end
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Saban, not me (except for maybe one or two mentioned in the story).
Author's Notes: Posted on Time Force Fanfics under the title "Al Mem Verighi". This is a probable AU taking place before "Worlds Apart" (therefore no Eric/Quantum and Mr. Collins doesn't know about his son's side job). It's my answer to why Wes looks like Alex (other than they are played by the same actor).
It's No Big Deal
by Estirose
copyright 2001
"He's a clone."
Trip's pronouncement was quiet, but it seemed to explode around the room as if he had shouted it. His three teammates gathered around him, and he felt the absence of the fourth, the one that was most affected by the news.
He himself was uncertain of his announcement. Not the facts, since he was sure of those. No, the fact that one of his teammates, the one that shouldn't have any genetic alterations, the one whose DNA had matched Alex's exactly, the one who had initially been a reluctant part of the team, was the focus of all the attention.
Trip was not empathic, or at least not empathically talented, but he was keenly concerned about the team and the team's well-being. It was why, after Jen's rejection of Wes, that he'd snuck onto the grounds of Wes' residence to convince their Red Ranger that he was meant to be part of the team, and give him what was needed to convince Jen to let him be part of the team.
So far, Trip had managed to keep the peace, except when he was part of the disruption. He was aware that the others saw situations better than he did - he was, after all, Xybrian, and a typical Xybrian to boot - but sometimes it took someone with his touch to keep the team together.
He blinked up at the screen, which displayed Wes' DNA, compared with Alex's, and tapped a key. The screen went blank, to the apparent confusion of his teammates, and Trip wished he'd kept his mouth shut. Nobody except maybe Circuit had to know the truth about Wes. Certainly none of the others did. So Wes was a clone, so what? He wasn't Alex, and Jen, of all people, had to know that.
There was no reason to treat Wes any differently, but now that the others knew, the secret was going to come out. Wes was going to find out, and Wes was from a time when cloning was still in its infancy. The people of Wes' time had cloned sheep and mice, but human cloning had yet to be done, and was the subject of much controversy.
Looking up, he wished he knew what to say.
* * *
Ransik had been quiet, and so Jen, apart from training and the team's rotation at the downstairs counter, had let her team rest. Wes was manning it now, in the off chance that someone would want to hire them to do something.
Jen wished she knew where Ransik's lair was, just to end this thing once and for all. Every day that they failed to capture Ransik meant yet another day in this century. Not that she hated Wes' time, but it wasn't her own, and she wanted to get Ransik and return home. Katie wasn't the only one that got homesick. She had to wonder if, in one of their alterations, that Alex would survive. Of course, that would mean that they would have never gone back to 2001. Paradox.
In the meantime, despite her best intentions, she had Wes to remind her of her lost love. She knew the rest of her team seemed to be highly amused by her occasional romantic reactions towards Wes, and she tolerated them. She wasn't sure why she was responding to Wes in ways other than the team rookie and a teammate, but she was. So she didn't take offense at her team's actions - if anything, they were a gauge of how things were going between herself and Wes.
She leaned back and started to review strategies. It seemed that this was her strength, here in the 21st century where she had little to rely upon except her teammates. It was Trip's pronouncement to, presumably, Circuit, that brought her out of her review back into the real world.
Jen moved towards the picnic table where Trip, Circuit, and the viewscreen sat. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the others gathering curiously towards their Xybrian teammate.
Trip, apparently embarrassed by the attention from herself, Lucas, and Katie, tapped the display off. Judging from the display just before Trip had shut it off, it had something to do with DNA, not too startling considering his statement.
"What'd you say?" Lucas asked, looming over the seated Trip.
"Nnnothing," Trip stammered, in the sure way that signaled that he was lying. Trip was not the world's best liar, in this century or their home one. The Xybrian culture, as Trip had proved a few weeks before, was a trusting one, and few species were lousier at lying than the Xybrians. Fortunately, in his time on Earth, Trip had gotten better at lying. But not to his teammates.
Jen silently blessed the fact that the people of Wes' time thought that Trip was an Earth human who'd dyed his hair green. Trip had grasped the situation quickly and was capable of not blurting out that he wasn't native to the planet, and his hair, though unusual, wasn't a sure-fire way of identifying him as alien. Even though this Earth had been exposed to the Aquitians briefly, she doubted the ordinary person of this century could deal with the truth.
"You've been working on the morphers again?" Katie prodded gently.
Trip maintained silence, with a downcast look that surely meant that he had news he didn't want to share with anyone. When Lucas reached for the controls to bring Trip's research back up, Trip knocked his hand away.
The unusual act by Trip caused her to look up involuntarily and meet the eyes of Lucas and Katie. None of them had ever seen Trip act that way with them, and it was two confused and, from Katie, concerned looks which met her own gaze. What was going on?
Trip keyed a lock on the data and stood up. "I'm going downstairs," he announced abruptly, and moved towards the stairs.
Three sets of eyes followed him.
* * *
Trip stormed down the stairs, the long journey to the bottom of the clock tower allowing his thoughts to stampede unaided. What had he brought about? It was surely a matter of time before the others realized what was going on, and then Wes would know. And Wes didn't need to know. Trip wasn't sure if his teammate could handle the news, and he didn't want to find out in reality.
If only he'd kept his mouth shut. But like every other time he'd fouled up in his life, he was the cause of his own misery. He should go out. The others could call if they needed him. And they'd better only call if one of Ransik's mutants was attacking.
He knew his behaviour upstairs had been almost unheard of for him, but he couldn't help it - he wanted out of there, before he blabbered out the truth about Wes. Or left it on the screen for the others to see. He might be the team's technical specialist, but it wouldn't take forever for the others to find out what he'd been hiding. He almost tripped over a step as he realized he hadn't given Circuit any instructions about not saying anything. Circuit probably wouldn't say anything, but Trip couldn't be sure, and he didn't dare go up and face further questioning from Jen and the others. He'd heard the human saying 'none of your business' but it was still hard for him to comprehend. And he still couldn't say it!
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Trip swung himself so that he could head immediately into the workshop without bothering Wes. "Trip?" his obviously confused teammate called out, but Trip didn't answer, grimly shutting the door behind him.
* * *
Lucas watched Trip depart. He got along okay with Trip, but he had to confess that he didn't know his Xybrian teammate very well.
Still, even he knew that this wasn't how Trip behaved. Trip was smiling and pleasant, always wishing to avoid trouble. Lucas sometimes wondered how the Xybrian had made it through Time Force training, but obviously he had, and just as obviously, was good enough to be a Ranger, not that Jen had had much choice in the matter.
He looked at Jen's and Katie's eyes, hoping that one of them would explain why Trip had stormed out like that, what had affected him so much that he'd go away instead of explaining things. But he didn't see anything that said that Jen and Katie had any idea of what was driving Trip. His teammate had turned off the display so quickly that he hadn't seen what he was working on, other than a representation of DNA.
Jen sat down on the bench and fruitlessly tried to reopen Trip's file. After a few minutes the three of them just sat there and stared, before Jen asked, "Circuit, what was Trip working on?"
* * *
The robotic owl shifted his wings and moved his head around. "Trip was working on the DNA locks on the morphers, hoping to see if he could make them even more secure. The last set of files he was working on was a comparison of Wes' DNA vs. Alex's."
"Wait a minute," Katie piped up. "Does that mean that Wes is a clone of Alex, or vice versa? Jen?"
A remembered moment out of a discussion caused Jen to look up at Circuit. "Circuit, tell us about the Rialtson clones."
Circuit obligingly began to speak. "John Rialtson was convicted for using the DNA of individuals without their permission. His plan was to produce clones that could take over for an individual if that individual was injured or dead. With the help of secret supporters, he produced several individuals. Nobody ever found where he'd hidden the clones!"
"You think Wes might be one of the Rialtson clones?" Katie asked.
Jen shrugged. "It was always a theory," she said, shrugging. "And Alex was one of the people on the list, so we both had an interest in it."
In reality, it had spawned a lot of discussion between the two of them and had gone back and forth for quite some time. They'd even made plans just in case Alex's clone was discovered - Alex had been ready to adopt the child, or whatever was needed.
"But Alex," she had argued, "Doesn't he deserve to live his own life?"
Her boyfriend had shrugged. "He will have his own life, Jen. He's not me and I don't expect him to be." Alex's face had softened into a smile. "In fact, I hope he turns out like you."
"I'll talk to Trip," Jen told Katie and Lucas, before heading towards the stairs.
In all honesty, she mused as she headed down the stairs, she didn't know what she was going to say. Whatever Trip had found, it was obviously something that upset him. If Wes was the clone that Rialtson had made of Alex, then that needed to be faced head-on, not hidden. Wes was very much his own person, and even if he was really a clone, nothing was going to change that.
She finally made it down to the bottom floor. Wes was leaning against the counter, clearly alternating between bored and furtive looks towards Trip's workshop. She ignored him, intent on getting some answers from her reluctant teammate, but the door was locked. "Trip, let me in."
The shuffle of Wes' feet echoed around the room as Wes came into her view. "Jen?" he asked quietly. "What's going on?"
* * *
Wes hated manning the counter, but it was part of his job and he didn't want to be tossed out or tick Jen off again. His Dad owned the clock tower, and they were trespassing, but it was still not a good idea to annoy his roommates.
Nobody had phoned, nobody had come in, and it looked like the team was going to have to shop on a budget again, get enough food to feed five hungry people who had to save the city and 2001 from Ransik's ideas.
Despite what Jen had told him, Wes still doubted she was telling the complete truth, or the true truth. He still felt sorry for Ransik, at least he did when he was alone like this. He tended to get wrapped up in the team's feelings towards the criminal when they were all together. Judging from what Ransik had told him in the TV station, though, Wes sometimes wondered if Time Force had brought this problem upon themselves.
It sounded almost like the mutants were the minorities of the 30th century, their presence suspicious despite any benign intentions. Sure, all the mutants they'd found so far had been violent criminals, but what if there was an innocent mutant in cryo-freeze? Ransik and Nadira were, in some ways, compensating in this time for the injustices done to them in their own.
Still, Wes doubted his teammates would share his views, and kept his mouth shut. It was the best way of keeping the peace with ill-tempered Jen.
Jen... Sometimes he could swear that she was in love with him, and sometimes it seemed like he could never replace Alex. He kept reminding himself that Alex was gone, Jen was free, but he never wanted to make a move. Jen's focus was Ransik, and taking her own revenge on the person who had ruined her life.
Wes wasn't going to share that with her, either.
He slumped further forward, straightening up as footsteps thundered down the stairs, followed in a short while by Trip, who looked extremely upset by something. He called his teammate's name, but was ignored as Trip shut the door to his workshop behind him. Shrugging, Wes started paying attention to the front door again, hoping to look attentive just in case.
A second thunder of footsteps soon followed Trip's, and Wes was somewhat surprised to see Jen appear. Katie was the one who took the hurts of the team, not Jen. She took one look at him and then immediately headed over to Trip's workshop. She tried the door, seemingly finding it locked, and called, "Trip, let me in."
That got Wes' attention. What was so important that would cause Trip to barricade himself in his lair? Why was Jen there? He got up from the chair and walked the short distance to the door. "Jen?" he asked, "What's going on?"
Jen turned abruptly at his intrusion, as if she hadn't heard him come over. "I'm not sure," she said. "I'd like to talk to Trip alone... please?" She fished something out of her pocket. "Why don't you get the groceries? We're running low on some things," she added lamely.
Wes took the list out of her hand, knowing that if this was some kind of weird thirtieth-century matter then it would probably do him no good to hang around. They probably wouldn't feel very comfortable with him around. "Okay, I'll see what I can do. You'll watch the door?"
"I will, Wes," Jen promised. She looked like she was serious, so he left her to her own devices. He couldn't get a lecture for what she'd told him to do, after all, and he'd much rather face shopping than another hour down at the counter.
He was out before he could even think about it, trusting the others to deal with Trip's issue.
* * *
Jen watched as Wes' motorcycle vanished down the road. She hoped he wouldn't get curious and circle around, because she wanted to give Trip a place where he could talk. No matter how the others felt, Trip obviously felt differently, and he might not be too comfortable discussing Wes if Wes was hanging around.
"Trip, if you don't unlock this door, I'll laser it and have you explain why to Wes!" she told her recalcitrant teammate.
About half a minute later, she had the satisfaction of the door unlocking to reveal Trip's face. Not more than that, she noted, and Trip looked appreciably panicked. "You can't tell him!" he pleaded.
"Tell me what's going on, Trip," she ordered.
"Where's Wes?" he asked, not doing as she said.
"I sent him to get groceries," she told him curtly. "I'm going to put a sign next to the bell, and then you and I are going to talk."
Not giving Trip a choice, she plunked the "please ring for assistance" sign and bell from the spot near the register where they usually resided. Once she was satisfied, she went to the door of Trip's workshop and quickly passed through it, closing it behind her. "Now, what's going on. Does it have to do with Wes?"
Trip's expression clouded over, replaced quickly by his best imitation of a scared mouse, and Jen knew that she'd hit paydirt. She silently blessed her decision to send Wes off. "What do you know about it?" Trip asked.
"I know what you said," she offered. "Trip, if it has to do with our team, I have to know. I have to know what's going on."
"Only if you promise not to tell Wes," Trip said, a strange determination settling in on his face.
"I can't promise that, Trip," she said, though she tried to soften the words, mindful of the Xybrian's sensitivity. "Let me hear what's going on and then I can tell you if Wes needs to be told."
Her teammate hesitated, and then started to talk. "Circuit and I... we were trying to do these analyses of why the morphers worked as they did. It was my idea to examine Wes' DNA against Alex's, to see why Wes could activate the morpher when he shouldn't be able to do that. I... I didn't expect them to be identical!"
"So, Wes is a clone. Rialtson?"
Trip let a noise escape that may well have been half a sigh. "It's a possibility. Did... did Alex ever submit his DNA for cloning?"
Jen shook her head. "If he did, he never told me. I think he would have, because it's acceptable to clone, it's just that nobody does it much anymore. It's not like they'll be immortal, they'll just have a child that looks a lot like them."
"Rialtson thought different."
"Rialtson," Jen said sharply, and then regretted it, for Trip was just stating facts, "thought that clones should serve as backups for their genetic parents. It's precisely because of that kind of attitude that it's illegal to create a clone to serve as a housing for your mind or personality."
"I know, Jen," Trip responded softly. "I'm not condoning what he did. I'm not condoning his attitude in any way. And I knew Alex too. I know he wouldn't have subjected any clone of his to what Rialtson wanted to do."
"Sorry," Jen responded. "It's just... Alex knew that Rialtson had created a clone of him after he became a Ranger, and I knew he felt guilty that he was the cause of this new life being born, even indirectly."
"I know you didn't ask, but yes, Wes has all the genetic alterations normal to someone born in the thirtieth century," Trip told her. "If he was one of those that Rialtson cloned from, then Wes must be one of Rialtson's clones. In any case, I don't want to tell him. The people of this time period just aren't... ready for clones. He isn't ready to know."
Jen found herself smiling. "I think you're underestimating Wes," she told him. Then her expression grew more serious. "And he has a right to know. If he is one of Rialtson's clones, then he is a citizen of the thirtieth century, along with being a victim of Rialtson's crime. He also has to know that we won't condemn him for what he is. Besides, I think the secret's pretty much out."
"He's going to hate me for telling," Trip said, as if talking to himself. Then he turned to face her. "He's not going to be with us forever. What happens after we capture Ransik and leave? He's going to be alone in this century, where he's just a science fiction concept, not a real person. The people of this time don't have a thousand years of mistakes in this area to deal with."
"Who says he has to tell?" Jen argued. "Trip, the only people who know this is us! It's not like you blurted it out to the general public. We can handle it, and together, we will help Wes handle it."
"If you say so," Trip replied, sounding like her seriously doubted her words.
* * *
Jen's firm expression indicated that she believed what she was telling him, but Trip had his doubts. How could he have been so careless? Sure, Wes was surrounded by people whose attitudes were accepting of his clone status, but Wes himself was a different matter. Jen seemed to have forgotten that no matter in which time Wes had been born, he had still grown up in this century and had all of its attitudes and prejudices.
Wes was going to hate him. He'd take off, with or without his morpher, and where would they be? With no Red Ranger. He'd have to grab Wes before Wes went upstairs, and give Wes a chance to leave. If he wanted him to, Trip would gladly pack for him. If Wes even wanted him to touch his stuff, that is.
His team leader awkwardly patted him on the shoulder. "I promised Wes that I'd watch the door for him. We'll wait until he gets home and talk about this... together."
"Okay," Trip responded, hoping he'd figure out how to melt into the floor by then.
* * *
Wes pulled up at the base of the Clock Tower, taking the bags that held the groceries out of their packs. He walked softly towards the door, hoping that Jen and Trip had resolved the problem while he was out bargain hunting. In any case, he'd secured enough supplies for the moment.
Turning the knob, he cautiously opened the door. He didn't hear anything, but that didn't mean that the situation was resolved. As he pushed open the door, he kept his senses alert.
"Hi, Wes," came Trip's voice, and he looked around to see Trip sitting up stiffly in their one client chair, an overstuffed armchair. Jen was sitting at the counter, just like she'd promised.
Of course, the looks on his two teammates' faces told him that something was going on, and he had the unpleasant feeling it involved him. Jen, if anything, looked anxious, and Trip looked like he wanted to melt into the floor.
"I got the groceries you asked for," he offered, holding the bags out to Jen.
She took them, but the groceries were definitely not on the top of her mind, as she just placed them behind the counter. Wes raised an eyebrow, trying his best to do his Mr. Spock imitation, even though he knew his teammates would not "get it".
"Wes..." Jen hesitated, and then continued, "We have to talk."
"We?" he asked, giving Trip a sideways look.
"Yes, we." her voice was firm, and a glance at Trip confirmed that he was soon to be talked to by both sides. Definitely whatever had happened had to do with him.
Trip darted into his workroom and pulled out the other stool that had sometime ago been put there. He hopped up on it, leaving the client chair to Wes. Before Wes had time to question the action, Jen was pushing him towards it. "Sit down," she ordered.
"What's going on?" he asked as he sat down. "Why's Trip upset, and what's so important?"
Jen exchanged a look with Trip, and the two of them sat silent, as if they weren't sure what to do. Finally, Trip spoke. "Uh... I was doing a genetic analysis of your DNA and Alex's, and I discovered something. I'm sorry."
It was Jen who spoke next. "How much do you know about cloning, Wes?"
"Not a lot. I know that it's been done, on mice and sheep at least, but not much beyond that." Strictly speaking, he did know more, but he didn't want to show off his lack of knowledge, not to these two. A school paper seemed pretty foolish when one was talking to people from a thousand years in the future. "I take it cloning is pretty common in your time."
"The ability to do it, yes. There aren't a lot of clones, though," Jen responded. "When they are, it's because of a problem when a child is born, or for some reason somebody has to have one. It's because clones are individuals and are not legally tied to their 'parents'."
Trip took a deep breath and Wes found himself turning his way. Trip seemed to square his shoulders. "What we're trying to tell you," Trip said, his words rushing out as if he was afraid they'd explode in his mouth, "is that you're not from here."
The Xybrian turned away, apparently embarrassed by his outburst. Wes put Trip's initial words together. "You're trying to tell me that I'm a clone?"
His two teammates traded looks in such a way that Wes knew he was right. He battered any further exclamations down, in the hopes that if he didn't cause Trip to die of embarrassment, and Jen to become self-righteous, he would get through this.
"Yeah, you're a clone," Jen confirmed. "You've got to understand, though, that to us you're just as human as you were before we knew about it. You are Alex's clone, but to us, you'd only be strange if you turned out to be a duplicate, personality-wise, of Alex. Which I can assure you that you're not! You're just a typical thirtieth-century clone. In fact, you're the victim of a crime."
"Crime?" Wes asked, trying to take it all in.
"Crime," Jen confirmed. "By someone who didn't value you as you. You and the others were going to be his political statements. He created you and a lot of others to prove that clones were only supposed to be back-ups for their genetic 'parents'. We never did find what happened to the lot of you until today."
"Alex was one of his donors," Trip explained helpfully.
"Unwillingly," Jen said, as if to clarify the issue. "This scientist didn't care about his consent or yours. He just wanted to prove a point."
Wes took a deep breath. "What would have happened if I'd ended up with this guy?"
"He would have force-grown you. You wouldn't have had a childhood, and nothing of yourself except brain-scans that he'd stolen from Alex's records. You were supposed to be there in case Alex got injured in the course of his duties. The other clones were there for similar reasons."
"And I still ended up being Alex's replacement," Wes mused.
"Not because Rialtson forced you into it, though," Jen offered. "You became our Red Ranger because we needed you, but you weren't Alex. You are not Alex. You are Wes. And I don't expect you to be anyone else."
Jen's words were firm, and Wes felt himself wrapped in a cocoon of caring. Jen didn't seem fazed at all by what she'd found out, and Trip's embarrassment seemed to have more to do with some misstep he'd made. Still, this was not what he'd expected when he came back with the groceries. "I've got to think about this," he said, knowing that he had some time left on the desk.
"Go ahead, then. Trip'll watch the desk if you want to go outside. And don't forget to come back for dinner!"
With that one last order, Jen headed towards the stairs, leaving Wes and Trip alone.
* * *
Trip sat there as Jen's footsteps echoed down the long flight of stairs up to their residence. Wes was still sitting in the armchair, looking like he'd been hit by a stun blast. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything...." he apologized, hoping that it would be enough.
"It's all right, Trip, Wes responded. "If what Jen said was true, then I don't have anything to worry about. You guys are the only ones who know, so it's not like I'd have everyone from this time thinking I'm a freak."
"Do you think you're a freak?" Trip asked cautiously. He didn't have access to Wes' emotions, that wasn't his talent, but he could sometimes use words to spot problems. Problem was that most humans were not so honest about their feelings as his people were, and so were hard to judge.
"I don't know," Wes said, and opening up, Trip could see that it was true. He couldn't read emotions, but he was good at thoughts. Wes continued, "I just don't know. Part of me says that clones are impossible, and I'm one of a kind, and the other counters that I've met time travelers and aliens, so I shouldn't find clones such a strange thing."
"Everyone's one of a kind," Trip offered. "Especially clones."
Wes looked up. "Have you ever dealt with a clone before?" he asked.
Trip found his face reddening. "No, not really. As Jen said, they're kinda rare and it's never come up. I know they exist, but...."
"They're not part of everyday life," Wes concluded. "Then how can Jen say that I'm not going to be treated differently? A curiosity."
He shivered as he heard Wes' tone. "Just because clones are rare doesn't mean they're different!" Trip protested. "Sure, some people might get mildly curious, but you're a sentient being. The only difference is that your DNA came from Alex and not from two parents. Talk to Katie - I think she's dealt with clones before."
"Okay," Wes said, sounding doubtful.
"Besides, why would anyone treat you differently? You're your own being, not Alex's shadow!"
He was rewarded with a small smile, but he could tell that Wes was still thinking it over. "Just talk to Katie, okay?"
"Okay," Wes responded. "You okay down here?"
Trip put up his bravest smile. "I'll be okay."
* * *
Wes left Trip manning the counter and went upstairs. He realized he hadn't asked Trip if Katie knew, or if he'd be telling her himself. Ah, well. Best way to find out if Jen was being truthful was to tell her what he was and then see how she reacted.
The stairs up to the top seemed to take forever. It was like he was going up, and up, and up... and he would only know if he was successful when he got up to the top. Would he find himself struggling with himself forever?
It was bad enough falling in love with someone who was in love with someone that was him but not him! And, as much as he hated to admit it, he was in love with Jen, despite her drill-sergeant ways. She was beautiful, she was bold....
She was in love with Alex. His genetic 'parent'. He didn't have a chance.
After forever, he reached the top of the stairs, the back of the clock. His current home, at least until his Dad tumbled on to the intruders and kicked them all out. He couldn't see Katie, Lucas seemed to have his nose in a book, and Jen was sitting on the picnic bench staring. It was as if she was waiting for him.
Ignoring her, he looked around for Katie. She had been upstairs when he started his shift, so unless she'd left while he'd gone for the groceries, she was up there somewhere. Craning his head to the left, he could make her out sitting at the left window, writing in her diary.
He headed for his teammate, mindful of Jen turning her head to look at him, and Circuit also gazing curiously at him. He was half-tempted to ask Jen if she'd told Katie, but then she'd have fits.
Wes reached the window. "Hi, Katie," he said.
"Wes," she acknowledged.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. His teammate looked over at him
"Sure," she said, apparently surprised. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Trip said you've dealt with clones before," Wes said to her, trying not to reveal what else Trip had said. "In your time, I mean."
"Once," Katie said thoughtfully. "It was right after the Rialtson trial. He'd come in; apparently he was harassed for being a clone. He was really close to his 'parent', too, but apparently too much unlike his parent. Apparently some of Rialtson's supporters decided that he would be a good target."
Katie's voice hardened at that, and Wes breathed inward. "What happened next?" he asked.
"We proved that he was being harassed, and the perpetrators were put on trial," Katie responded, her tone matter-of-fact. "I just couldn't believe that they'd do that to him because he was a clone! It's just not right. I don't know how things are in your time, but...."
"Mice and sheep so far, Katie," Wes told her. "No humans, not yet."
"Then it's not a problem yet," Katie said, sounding relieved. "I just can't believe some attitudes."
Taking a deep breath, Wes spoke. "Katie, Trip and Jen just told me something...."
Before he could finish, his teammate looked up. "Were you the clone Trip was muttering about?"
Wes froze.
* * *
Katie had looked up when Jen had come back upstairs after chasing Trip. However, their leader had sat on the picnic bench, watching the stairs, and neither she nor Lucas dared to ask Jen any questions.
So Lucas had drifted off to read one of the books that they'd found while cleaning the place, and she went to her diary, although she had a feeling that it wouldn't do her much good.
A sound from the stairs made her briefly look up. But she couldn't see who it was, so she kept her ears open in hopes that someone would speak and explain what had happened.
However, nobody spoke. Katie stared at her diary, thinking of what to say, as footsteps creaked towards her and the window.
"Hi, Katie," Wes greeted her. She wondered what he was doing up there, as it was his shift downstairs. Maybe, since his was the last shift of the day, she'd just lost track of time. Maybe they'd closed for the evening.
"Wes," she acknowledged, not sure why he was coming to her. Maybe he needed someone to take care of the downstairs counter?
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked. Looking up, she took in his serious, almost downcast expression.
"Sure," she said, although she hadn't thought that she and their Red Ranger were particularly close. Maybe this had to do with his on-and-off relationship with Jen. "What do you want to talk about?" she asked.
"Trip said you've dealt with clones before," Wes said, causing her to start. As far as she knew, he didn't know about Trip's proclamation. A suspicion formed in her mind. "In your time, I mean," he continued, apparently oblivious to her thoughts.
Katie thought about the last time she'd talked to a clone. Her one and only time, in fact. As she explained to Wes what had happened, her mind flashed on poor Lucien. She'd been particularly outraged at his treatment. Anybody could see that Lucien was a person, a different person than his 'parent', Robert!
It was to her immense satisfaction that those responsible had faced justice. To think someone had to be a copy of somebody else just because that someone else had provided their DNA was something that had sickened her. At least, as Wes confirmed, people in his century didn't have that problem. Many problems, yes, that problem, no.
As she finished, Wes took a deep breath, as if ready to give her some bad news. "Katie, Trip and Jen just told me something...."
Something clicked inside her. Trip's proclamation, Wes' sudden interest, Wes' last statement. "Were you the clone Trip was muttering about?"
In that instant she knew she was right, and regretted her choice of words. How they must sound to Wes, who had suddenly found out he wasn't who he thought he was! "Sorry, Wes," she apologized. "I didn't mean it to come out that way."
"It's all right," Wes said, brushing it off in a way that said that he really didn't think it was all right, but he didn't want to discuss it further. "I guess I am really the center of attention right now."
"Look, Trip obviously didn't want to tell us what you were. Obviously, he wanted you to know first. It's just curiosity, nothing more, Wes. Clones are rare, not everybody has ever met one. That doesn't mean that you're any different. You're kinda like Alex's identical twin, except you were born and raised in a different time."
"Right," Wes answered, obviously not convinced in the matter.
"Give us some time," Katie pleaded quietly. "Once everybody knows, it'll be a non-issue. Give us a chance."
With a muttered, "Okay," Wes left her, obviously wanting to brood. She watched him as he disappeared out of her line of sight, obviously distressed, and resolved that they had to convince him once and for all.
* * *
Jen watched Wes as he headed back downstairs after talking briefly with Katie. Whatever the two of them had talked about,it apparently hadn't helped Wes' mood. Inwardly, Jen resolved to bring the matter up at dinner. If this was left unchecked, it had the potential to tear her team apart.
"What was that all about?" Lucas demanded quietly.
"I'll tell you later," she responded. "In the meantime, isn't it your turn to make dinner?"
"Trip's, actually," Lucas told her.
Jen mentally reviewed the duty roster and knew that he was right. "Can you take care of it? I'll see that Trip takes care of one of yours."
"Got it," Lucas said, turning away towards their meager food stores, and Jen realized that Wes' grocery run was still sitting down at the desk with Trip. She debated whether or not to go down, and then decided that since she'd probably be going down anyway she'd worry about it then.
With that, she was left alone, just as she liked it. She quietly thanked the universe that the revelation about Wes was the only thing that had happened that day. She didn't know if they could deal with a mutant attack right now, not just before dinner.
She watched the stairs, willing Wes to come back. Why couldn't he understand? She'd told him, Trip had told him, but he apparently wasn't willing to accept it. She kept telling herself that it was because he was from a bygone era, a time past where they hadn't even really left the planet on any kind of mass basis. Terra Venture was a few years away still as far as Wes was concerned.
Wishing she had Trip's ability to see into people's minds, she waited. And waited. It was coming up time to close, and she could see Trip getting ready to pack up for the evening. She resisted the temptation to activate her morpher and ask Trip, on the off chance that they'd picked up an unexpected customer.
To her immense surprise, two sets of footsteps echoed up the stairwell. Trip appeared first, obviously talking to the person behind him. Wes struggled up after him, holding the grocery bags that they had abandoned behind the counter.
Since it was her turn, she started setting the table that they shared every evening for dinner, taking the napkins and plates out of storage. She paused for a moment when she realized that it was Wes' turn to do the dishes - would he feel like it? Would she enforce it? Maybe normality was all Wes needed. At least after supper.
Trip's face showed panic as he rushed towards where Lucas was preparing their meal, but Lucas smoothly intercepted him with a dish, and Trip scurried over to the table with it.
Wes, to her surprise, started putting the utensils out as Trip and Lucas brought dinner over. As if realizing it was dinnertime, Katie joined them without a word.
It was after the five of them had filled their stomachs with Lucas' offering, bean-with-bacon soup, that Lucas spoke up. "What in the heck is going on around here?" he demanded. "What's the big deal?"
* * *
Wes had gone downstairs after the talk with Katie. He'd spoken briefly with Trip, who had reassured him that he didn't have a problem holding down the rest of his shift. Wes personally suspected that Trip's eagerness had less to do with counter duty and more to do with his embarrassment about the revelation.
He didn't hate Trip for what he'd said. If anything, Trip had just been Trip. Nothing wrong with that. Still, he wasn't beyond conning his teammate into holding down the desk for him.
It occurred to him after he'd slipped out of the building that it might not be a good idea to stay out, no matter how much he wanted to be alone. Jen would come after him and he wasn't sure he wanted to listen to her. Best thing to do was to come up and let her pity him, and let the others pity him. Then he could go back to thinking about himself.
Shrugging to himself, he made his way back inside and asked Trip if he'd give him a yell when the shift was over. Trip readily agreed.
And Trip, true to his agreement, did. The Xybrian yelled and Wes came, picking up the abandoned groceries to take upstairs. The only comment his teammate made was a "oh, no!" when he realized that he was the one that was supposed to do dinner that evening.
He found himself reassuring Trip that Jen would have arranged things to get around that, while thinking of all the disruption in the team's duty schedule that had occurred since Trip had come downstairs, obviously upset. Jen would probably produce a rearranged duty schedule later on that evening, no problem. She was good at that.
Jen was at her previous position when he reached the top of the stairs, although she got up to make the table. He joined her, figuring that the faster they got through with dinner, the sooner he could get away again.
Lucas and Trip brought bread and soup, and the five of them ate. The peaceful, quiet meal was interrupted by Lucas. "What the heck is going on around here?" he demanded, obviously to everyone including Wes. "What's the big deal?"
Jen cleared her throat and looked at Trip meaningfully. But before she could speak, Trip spoke up. "Wes is a clone," he said timidly, giving Wes an apologetic look.
Wes refocused his attention on Lucas, who looked like he was expecting a present and had been denied one. "That's it?" he asked. "Everybody's been acting like there's something big going on. What's the big deal?"
Lucas' expression caused Wes to sag inwardly in relief. Something told him that Lucas was telling the truth. If Lucas was acting, his body language was very, very good and Wes didn't particularly think that Lucas was that good an actor. This was how, he realized, that he wanted people to act.
"What'd you think this was about?" Jen challenged Lucas.
Their teammate shrugged. "I thought Trip meant that Ransik was a clone or something like that. It's not like Wes is anything to get excited about."
Wes ignored the implications as he saw the truth in his teammates' eyes. Jen, for all her stoic demeanour, had that look which meant that she had realized she'd acted foolishly. Trip looked outright ashamed, and Katie's expression was unreadable, but he guessed it had to do with her words earlier. They had meant well, he realized.
The dinner was finished in relative silence, and then began the ritual of clearing the table. It wasn't until Jen gave him the bin full of dirty bowls and dishes that he realized that it was his turn to do them, and there was no way to get out of that!
Smiling, he took them, balancing the load to take it downstairs to the sink. To his surprise, as he walked towards the stairs, Jen followed. He didn't know if it was to talk to him or to use the downstairs bathroom, or even to get more water upstairs, so he let her accompany him without protest.
He reached the downstairs washroom and diligently began washing out the dishes, wishing for a dishwasher. Trip was brilliant, but he wasn't a dishwasher repairman and so any cleaning had to be done by hand.
To his surprise, Jen was standing there, just watching him. "I'm okay, Jen," he told her. "I think with what Lucas said, I finally understand."
Jen smiled at that and didn't say a word, finally leaving him and the dishes alone. He was normal! He was normal. And his teammates knew it. Smiling suddenly, he began to whistle.
-end
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