Breadwinner (Power Rangers Time Force)
Mar. 16th, 2011 03:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
estinoseSummary: In the aftermath of "Lawful and Good", Rachel's ex-fiancee does his best to help her when she gets home, but his ability to explain leaves a lot to be desired. (Moving On storyline)
Disclaimer: Characters belonged to Saban, probably belong to somebody else now. Plot is mine, as are several characters (anybody you don't recognize).
Spoilers: "End of Time", plus the previous stories in this series: "Moving On" and "Lawful and Good".
Rating: PG-13 for some themes and language.
Author's notes: I just couldn't leave the events at the end of "Lawful and Good" hanging. It's still not a Wes/Jen romance, but those of you who read my previous story shouldn't be surprised. Thanks to Rach, who put up a challenge that I didn't quite meet, and Chris, for some stolen dialogue and idea of how to end this thing. Oh, and "Rainier" is not a misspelling.
Breadwinner
by Estirose
copyright 2002
The timeship landed without a problem and Alex looked at the controls in relief before releasing himself from the chair. Behind him, Jen sat strapped in, as did the children that she'd had with Wesley Collins. If his calculations were correct, she should be carrying a third within her own body, one yet to be born.
Frowning, he undid Richard's straps as he tried to think of somebody who would have knowledge of pregnancies. The vast majority of humans preferred the method in which he and Jennifer had been born, but there were a few hundred holdouts somewhere out there who still for some bizarre reason preferred live births.
Which meant that someone had to be delivering the children, and therefore would know how to take care of Jennifer. If he couldn't convince her to allow the child to be canted and born normally. He hoped he would.
But first he would have to confirm her health, as well as do his best to keep his word to both Jennifer and Wesley. He'd decided that he'd hide Jennifer's insubordination. No matter what Jennifer had done, he still owed her that much.
Jennifer was undoing her own strap, and releasing Beja's. Thankfully, she still remembered something of how to exist in her own time, though he had no doubt that she had been damaged in such a way that she might not be able to function well in her own time ever again.
"Come with me," he ordered, gathering up some of the bags the trio had brought with them. He'd arranged for medical examinations for himself and the three of them, just to get it out of the way. Who knew what diseases Jennifer and her children had carried with them?
But Time Force was well-organized, and he, Jennifer, and the children were soon on their way to the medical division.
* * *
Beja and Richard clung to Jen as the medical officers approached the trio. Alex had spoken briefly to the officer in charge, and then had been escorted out. The remaining medics had been dressed up in quarantine gear, no doubt because of the situation.
"I'm Dr. Lachlan," said one of the medics who had approached them. "Commander Scotts, would you come with me? Dr. Kincaid and Dr. Andrews will examine your children."
"Mommy?" Beja asked, tenatively.
"It's all right," Jen told the children. "They just want to make sure you're okay. As I told you in the ship, we just travelled a long way from home and these people want to make sure you don't get sick, or make them sick. It's just like home, but a bit different. Okay?"
Beja nodded, followed by Richard. Each of the doctors took one of the children, while Dr. Lachlan took her to an examination room.
* * *
Alex paused outside the council room, trying not to pace as he waited to be called in. He'd done this once before, to convince the leadership of Time Force that Jen's team didn't need memory adaptation.
Now, with Jen's disobedient dive into the past, he was forced, once again, to convince a committee that her memories shouldn't be modified, while at the same time convincing them that Jen had not deliberately gotten herself stuck in the past. If it weren't for what feelings remained between himself and Jen, he wouldn't be stuck in these postitions.
A quiet cough brought him back out of his thoughts as the door opened for him and he made his way into the chamber to make his report. He walked in, knowing that he had the attention of all in the chamber.
"Sirs," he said, knowing he had to be brief. "I just came back from my mission to retrieve Commander Jennifer Scotts. As you may know, she was thought lost in a timeship accident some years before. However, she was one of those fortunate few who survived, and, following regulations, did her best to blend in with the people of the century, having failed to reestablish communications."
"And where is Commander Scotts currently?"
"In quarantine, sir. In order to blend in more completely, she embraced the customs of the time and... well, sir, they were more primative in that time. She did things that most rational people of our time do not do. She returned with natural-born children. In fact, when I found her, she was carrying a third child."
The council members started talking at this, no doubt as surprised at this news as he could have been if he hadn't known of the child before he'd left.
"Is the third child healthy?" one of the council asked, obviously trying not to struggle with the matter. "And would the child be able to be born... normally?"
Alex gave the council member a small nod. "Dr. Lachlan believes that it is possible. As soon as Commander Scotts is out of quarantine, they will attempt the transfer."
"And Commander Scotts will go through memory adaptation, I presume, after the operation."
"With all due respect... I think she shouldn't." Alex told them, trying not to tense up. "There is no evidence that those who did not go through memory adaptation are affected any worse by their experiences."
"I disagree," came the voice from one side. Councillor Rainier. She turned towards the rest of the council. "From what data I have observed from the Ranger team that returned from 2001, the ones we permitted to retain their memories, I doubt they ever fully adapted back to our time. This is especially true for Commander Scotts. We haven't readapted their memories because the evidence of damage came about too late to correct, but at least we can prevent more damage in Commander Scotts' case."
"I agree with Councillor Rainier," Councillor Adams, the head of the council, answered. "I've seen the data. We all have. No, Commander Scotts will go through memory adapation. It is up to you and those in memory adaptation to work out the details. I know you will do well."
Alex nodded formally, knowing that protests wouldn't do his promise to Jen any good. As he stood before the council, ideas started formulating through his head, plans that would both satisfy the requirements of the council and keep the promise he made to Jennifer and Wesley.
"Dismissed," Councillor Adams said, and Alex walked out, concealing his thoughts behind his facade.
* * *
Jen forced herself more into the chair, preventing herself from pacing the room. Although all the amenities were provided for - a terminal, with access to entertainment recordings and reading material, a private bathroom, and anything that she could think of that would keep her body and soul together until they could decide what to do with her.
She hadn't seen Alex since she had been put in quarantine, and had little word on her children except that they were safe, and there was even some sign of adapting them to this century without use of memory-modifying technology.
"Commander Scotts, you have a visitor in the visiting room," the pleasant computer voice said.
She got up, trying not to explode out of the room to see who her visitor was. It was probably Alex or some official flunky with question on how she was and what would go on. She really doubted news of her return had reached her teammates.
When she reached the room, she could see Alex standing, stiffly at attention, outside the unbreakable windows that prevented her from passing anything dangerous onto the outside world. "Alex," she greeted her ex-fiance quietly.
"Jennifer," he greeted back. "I have some news for you."
Putting her hands behind her back, she waited patiently as Alex sat down on the chair provided for visitors. He looked up at her, clearly waiting for her to take the corresponding chair. "I've spoken to the council about your... matter, and they've come to a decision."
She sat, waiting for him to say anything further. He seemed to hesitate, in a way that she knew well, before confinuing. "They have decided that you should go through memory adaptation. However, they did not specify what to do with the children."
Jen closed her eyes, knowing that in Alex's expression that he would go along with the wishes of the council and that she would lose the memories of her time with Wes, along with the memories she shared with her children.
"After you are cleared from quarantine, the decision has been made to cant your third child. You will remain in custody of the children, but you will not remember the truth about them. In addition, I have set into motion documentation specifying myself as the father. It will fit in with the story that everyone will be given upon your return to society."
"And that is?" Jen asked, knowing that Alex had set up some story that would be totally believable.
Alex leaned forward. "That you've been on a mission for Time Force that required everyone thinking that you had been lost in a timeship mission. That the price you extracted from me was the children. All three of them."
Beja and Richard were far too young to know that reproductive methods differed in the thousand years between Wes' time and Jen's own. Alex could easily make the two of them believe that Wes had been a relative of some kind. "And you waived all parential rights?"
"Not all of them," Alex said briefly. "It would look odd, after all, if I gave up my right to assure the welfare of my own children."
And keep an eye on his disobedient ex-fiancee, that was for sure. She was dangerous in his eyes. Someone he couldn't control, couldn't dominate.
"I'll be back when it's time."
* * *
Alex walked out of the room, knowing that Jen had turned a murderous glare upon him. That was all right. He had to show that he was following orders. Making his way towards the technical area which housed the memory adaptation machinery, he started formulating what he had to do.
As he stepped into the room, one of the technicians greeted him with a smile. Allici Roberts was one of those in Time Force loyal to him, a member of the small group that someone in his position needed to stay afloat in the dangerous political waters.
Giving him a brief salute, she said, "I got your message. What needs to be done?"
He outlined what he wanted, and her nods became more frequent as her face settled into a quiet thoughtfulness. "What do you think?"
"Certainly possible. You're right, it can be pulled off. Just requires a little bit of fancy footwork so nobody realizes what's really going on."
"How long will you need?" Alex asked. "Because we do have some time. Jennifer can be released at any time, but there are things that need to be done first."
"I'll take that into consideration. I don't know, basically, but I'll give you an official report when I'm ready."
"Thank you," he said simply.
Allici nodded. "I hope she realizes what a sacrifice you're making."
"I wouldn't do it if I didn't still love her. I think even Jennifer realizes that."
"Good luck, sir."
With a final exchanged salute, Alex left the room. There was still some time to do what he needed to do to keep the trio safe, but he needed to do it.
* * *
A small icon flitted up on the terminal in Jen's room. Blinking, Jen gave the command to open it. It was a small message, text only, no doubt scrambled so that nobody knew that someone had gained access to the supposedly secure system.
"We're coming to get you, kids, 2220. Security will be disabled. Bring anything? Pizza?"
Jen allowed herself a small smile. Only her teammates knew of her fascination with the twenty-first century food. It had to be one of them, probably Trip. She noticed the window was waiting for a reply. "Bring communications device twenty-first century. Send."
The window obediently closed, sending off the information to whoever had gotten the message to her in the first place. If it was somebody else, they would probably think that she was going back to Wes. But she knew better, and so would the team when she caught up with them. Smiling a little bit more, she shut off the terminal.
* * *
Jen forced herself to remain calm as she waited for her rescuers to come for her. She hoped that she was right and that it was her teammates come to rescue her, otherwise she'd be in trouble and who knew what would happen to her and the kids.
The door separating her from the rest of the medical ward slid open softly, as a figure in a contamination suit stepped in. She tensed a little before she recognized Katie's face, then relaxed, grabbed those few belongings she had, and followed Katie out. The door slid closed as softly as it had opened, and Katie led her through the small corridor connecting her quarantine room with the rest of the medical complex.
Katie shed the contamination suit, placing it in a container that would probably guarantee that it would be cleaned of any incriminating evidence. The two of them walked out, passing through several corridors, finally ducking into a supply room. After several tense minutes, Jen began to relax, tensing up again as the door opened until she recognized the shapes of Lucas and Trip. The two of them were carrying small bundles, and as they got closer Jen knew that they had brought out Beja and Richard.
Nods passed between her three teammates, and smiles broke out as Lucas and Trip recognized Jen beneath the red hair. "Come on," Trip whispered.
The four of them proceeded slowly down the corridors of Time Force headquarters, careful to avoid various and sundry late-shift members of Time Force, as well as trying not to awaken Beja and Richard. Finally, they skulked into another storage closet somewhere in the building. Jen had lost track of where they were going, but knew her teammates wouldn't lead her straight into a trap.
"What are we waiting for?" she asked, unable to wait any longer. Her desire to get out of there, to get free of the white corridors and the possibility of Alex or security closing in to drag her and the children back to certain doom.
"There's going to be a glitch in the system in about fifteen minutes," Trip told her, a shy smile playing on his face. "Security between us and the door is going to be very light."
In other words, Jen realized, Trip had set the security on a side door and corridor to malfunction for a short time- enough to let them through. For one reason or another, however, he'd had to set it up not knowing how much time it would take the four of them and the kids to get over there.
"Did you bring the device?" she asked. A mystified expression replaced the smile on Trip's face, but he fetched it out of his omnipresent backpack regardless. She activated it, praying that it hadn't gotten lost in the havoc.
A few quiet beeps later, she was rewarded with an answer. "Jen?" Wes asked, sounding out of breath as if he'd run halfway across headquarters in order to talk with her.
"Hi, Wes," she said simply.
"Wes!" Trip exclaimed quietly, his smile returning, and smiles dawned on Lucas' and Katie's faces.
"Is everyone all right?" Wes asked.
Jen nodded, momentarily forgetting that Wes couldn't see her. "For the moment," she answered. "Wes, I don't have much time right now. Alex reneged on his promise. He's going to force me into memory adaptation if I don't get out of here. It might be a while before I can talk to you again."
She could almost see Wes nodding. "I heard Trip. Are Lucas and Katie there, too?"
"We're here, Wes," Katie responded warmly. "Don't worry - we'll get Jen to safety where Alex will *never* find her."
One of the bundles on the floor stirred, and Beja looked up sleepily. "Daddy?"
Jen kneeled down, offering the device to her daughter. "Here, say hello to your daddy." When Beja just stared at the device she added. "It's just like a phone, honey."
The little girl looked her. "Hi, daddy."
"Hi, Beja. Are you okay?"
"M'okay."
"That's a good girl. Listen to your mom and her friends, okay? Don't do anything weird."
"'ill, daddy."
"Good girl. Let me speak to your mom again."
Jen ruffled Beja's hair. "Go back to sleep."
Beja, apparently too tired to argue, nodded and lay down again.
"Do they know where they are?" Wes asked.
"I think they've been told that they're in the future, but I don't think they realize what that means yet."
The Wes in her little mental picture nodded once again. "I guess it's easier if they just get used to the future. It's not like they can ever come back."
Wes' voice indicated what he felt about the matter, which mirrored Jen's own. He had given his children and the woman he loved in order to save their lives, but that didn't mean he was thrilled about it.
"Did he say anything about the baby?" Wes asked.
"Alex said... he said that before I went through memory adaptation, that I'd go through a procedure that would make the child born normally."
"For your time," Wes said, comprehension lacing his voice. "I guess he would."
Trip was looking at the door, and Jen knew that it had to be almost time. "Got to go, Wes."
"Hope to hear from you soon," Wes told her, though from his tone she knew he didn't expect to hear from her any time soon.
As the others gathered the kids and prepared to leave the room, the door slid open. "Hold on, Rangers."
* * *
An insistent beeping made Alex turn from his console. He frowned at it, and then remembered that he'd set the complex's sensors to tell him if any of the other Rangers got physically close to Jennifer. Which, it appeared, they had. He called up the signals of the trackers imbedded in the Rangers and found that the four of them had joined up and were just outside the medical center. As the four signals proceeded away from where Jennifer should be, he took a portable scanner and headed out of his office.
He could have known that the Rangers would attempt something like this. He didn't think that they'd be ignorant as to not have something up just in case Jennifer returned to their time from 2001. He knew they'd seek contact with her. And they knew what Time Force did to those who had spent an extended period of time in another century.
And, with Murphy's law in effect, of course they'd find her and break her out the day before she was scheduled to get her life back in sync with her own century. He'd made a promise to Jennifer, and he would keep it, but some things he couldn't do. Not at all.
Following their signals, he cursed the fact that his office was so far away from where they were headed. Perhaps he would find them, get through to them, before Jennifer's team whisked her off into the night.
Much to his relief, the four signals finally stopped. Perhaps they were waiting for some convenient security failure to occur, something likely programmed in by Trip and Circuit.
It gave him some time. Some time to turn them from their course before terrible things happened, things that even he couldn't prevent.
He stopped before the door, triggering the lock release. Nobody would have reason to go into the storage room, making it both an ideal place for four rogue officers to hide out, and also for him to discuss things that would be disastrous if they reached the ears of the council.
The four were packing up, but he spoke to get their attention, stepping forward so that the door would close behind him. "Hold on, Rangers."
Time Force's Ranger team didn't precisely snap to attention at his presence, the way that they should if this had been a legit gathering. "Nobody's going anywhere," he told them, standing close enough to the door so that someone would have to toss him away from it first, but not close enough to trigger it.
Sure, Katie could get him out of the way with little effort, but he hoped that he could talk fast enough to escape any injuries. Even with the inbuilt loyalty to Time Force and their superiors, he had his work cut out for him.
It was Jennifer who pushed to the front, leaving her teammates to 'protect' her children from him. "We're leaving, Alex."
"I can't let you, Jennifer, for your sake and your children's. I'm doing this in your own best interest."
Taking a step forward, Jennifer looked up at him. "My own best interest? Maybe yours, Alex! You've done nothing but railroad me and tell me what to do. You promise me that I won't have my memories erased, and then when I'm sitting there in quarantine, where I can't do anything about it, you tell me that you are. I don't want anything to do with you, and then you tell me that we're going to share custody of the children! This isn't the early twentieth-century, Alex. I have a life... I had a life, with Wes. Just because you can't handle that is no reason to behave like I can't function without your presence. Like I'm your little wife and you're going to bring home the bread."
"It's not like that!" he exclaimed, before getting a hold of his feelings again.
"Then what is it?" Jennifer asked. "You're not a part of my life anymore, Alex. Why can't you accept it? Run off and pursue Allici Roberts. I'm sure she'd be flattered."
"Technician Roberts is busy right now," he said evenly, hoping that she'd catch the hint and shut up.
"Right," she said, in such a sarcastic tone that indicated she didn't believe him for a minute.
"Believe what you will, Jennifer, but I've come here to save you from the danger you're walking into."
"What danger?" Jennifer asked, the other three looking curiously at the two of them but plainly allowing Jennifer the interrogation.
Jennifer's expression was unyielding, but he forged ahead anyway. "When the four of you returned from 2001, your refusal to submit to memory adaptation made the council... suspicious, especially in light of your refusal to obey orders and leave 2001. They've kept an eye on the four of you ever since. Basically, the four of you are considered damaged goods. People that they have to keep an eye on because they don't trust you to do your jobs. The four of you are also the reason why the policy on memory adapation was strengthened. They can point to the four of you, especially Jennifer, to show why the policy is in place. And I don't blame them."
"Damaged goods?" Trip squeaked.
"The four of you never successfully readapted to our time," he explained. "If you do this, if you insist on following this plan, they will investigate. They will know what I know. Are all four of you that willing to give up everything? Because that's what will happen if they don't find Jennifer safe in her room tomorrow morning for the procedure, and especially if she's not around when it comes time for memory adaptation."
"And if I go back, I won't remember Wes at all," Jennifer countered. "I won't remember that Beja and Richard are his. Why should I stay when I can remember so much more if I disappear?"
Looking at Jennifer's defiant stance, he knew that without something to stop her, she would leave, and unknowingly ruin everything for herself.
"Damn it, Jennifer! I promised you that you would remember everything, and I will honor that promise. Allici's setting things up so that when you go through memory adaptation, it will just seem that your memories have been changed. I was planning on coaching you after you got out, but you forced my hand."
"You were *what*?" Jennifer asked, her expression and her tone of voice both expressing her disbelief.
"Believe it or not, Jennifer, I am not trying to run your life. I just love you too much to not want to make things better. I don't think what you're doing is very wise, but I know you too well. I want to see you succeed on your path, but first I have to get you out from all the scrutiny. And I can't succeed at that if the four of you keep fouling up my plans!"
"If you love me, you'll let me go."
Alex stared at her, the words sinking in. Wasn't that what he'd just told her? Let him guide her out to safety and then let her go? Oh, he wanted to make sure the children were safe, but was that so bad? Plus it assured those in control that Jennifer wasn't a threat to them.
"I know you feel responsible for us going back into 2001 to chase Ransik. But that was my choice, and the others went along. I was the one who chose to let Wes in on the team. We chose to remain in 2001 because that's what we were trained to do. Protect civilians, no matter what time they were from. We didn't want those memories taken away from us, no matter how much it would have made our lives easier. We changed, and we just couldn't be changed back to what we were before."
Jennifer's eyes were starting to glisten, despite the challenging body stance. "I think I've just started to realize that."
She backed down a little at that. "I don't want to go back. How do I know I won't walk out of there thinking you're still my fiancee?"
"Because it would be a lie, and I wouldn't do that to you, Jennifer," he told her. "Maybe... it would be better if the two of us were mostly out of each other's lives too. But we won't get there if you don't go back. Please, Jennifer. It's the best way to accomplish all of our goals."
It was then he knew he had her, that he'd worn down her resistance to the idea. The others would go along with whatever she said. She turned around, picking up her daughter, who appeared to be asleep. A clearly confused Katie picked up the other bundle, and the other two proceeded to gather things up.
But this time it would be back to the medical complex, pretending everything was normal. Alex relaxed, preparing to lead the way.
* * *
Jen walked into the memory adaptation room, nervously letting Allici Roberts fit the helmet onto her head. "You've been through this before. It's no different, but you have to stay *in* the booth this time."
Trying not to let her fear show through, Jen let the other woman lead her to a booth and settle her in. Alex had whispered instructions to her, directing her to let him guide her out of there. He wasn't the only one in the room. Two officials were there, presumably to certify that she did go through the adaptation.
And, for some crazy reason, she was letting Alex do this to her. Letting him have the chance to play havoc with her memories. But he had made a promise to her, and in the end, she could only hope that he would honor it.
Hope that he would let her go. That Time Force would let her go.
The booth hummed, and images of the last few years flowed through her mind, as if something was sifting through them. She saw Wes' face as he recited the vows after the minister, in the same serious manner that he'd had when she'd presented him with the oath.
Reading books about pregnancy when she found out the two of them had concieved a child.
Eric's grin when Wes came back to Silver Guardian headquarters to share the news that the two of them were getting married.
Mr. Collins holding his grandson for the very first time, a sappy smile on the businessman's face.
Then, suddenly, the images faded, and Jen heard the door open and a hand grasping her arm. Alex's, she presumed, because she couldn't open her eyes. "She won't remember," he promised to someone. "I'll return her to medical."
She let Alex's arms and hands guide her through the hallways while she struggled to open her eyes. But she was tired, more tired than she thought possible. "Only a little farther, Jennifer, then you can sleep."
The thought of pulling away surfaced briefly in her mind, but she pushed it away. She had promised too, and she was so tired, exhausted, it seemed, from trying to retain her memories.
After that, she couldn't struggle anymore.
* * *
Alex watched as Jen surrendered to sleep, knowing that it wouldn't be over until she recognized that he had been telling the truth. That she knew that she had retained everything, remembered Wes, remembered the twenty-first century.
But that was the price he had paid for that day on the beach, for recognizing that she was not the Jennifer he had met that day at headquarters, nor even the one he'd sent back in time. This Jennifer had become untrusting, questioning everything that was said and done. And even though this Jennifer would never really love him again, he still saw strong echoes of the Jennifers he had known.
Some coaching would be needed, enough that the council would have no clue of what he'd done, but with Jennifer's help, he would be successful in the end. Then he could let her go, staying there to assure her safety.
It was what he'd owed her. Despite what she'd said the night she tried to escape, he still felt responsible for her and for Wesley. For what she'd become, for what led her to that room, sleeping the sleep of the newly adapted.
Turning, he left her to her sleep. He had work to do.
-end.
Disclaimer: Characters belonged to Saban, probably belong to somebody else now. Plot is mine, as are several characters (anybody you don't recognize).
Spoilers: "End of Time", plus the previous stories in this series: "Moving On" and "Lawful and Good".
Rating: PG-13 for some themes and language.
Author's notes: I just couldn't leave the events at the end of "Lawful and Good" hanging. It's still not a Wes/Jen romance, but those of you who read my previous story shouldn't be surprised. Thanks to Rach, who put up a challenge that I didn't quite meet, and Chris, for some stolen dialogue and idea of how to end this thing. Oh, and "Rainier" is not a misspelling.
Breadwinner
by Estirose
copyright 2002
The timeship landed without a problem and Alex looked at the controls in relief before releasing himself from the chair. Behind him, Jen sat strapped in, as did the children that she'd had with Wesley Collins. If his calculations were correct, she should be carrying a third within her own body, one yet to be born.
Frowning, he undid Richard's straps as he tried to think of somebody who would have knowledge of pregnancies. The vast majority of humans preferred the method in which he and Jennifer had been born, but there were a few hundred holdouts somewhere out there who still for some bizarre reason preferred live births.
Which meant that someone had to be delivering the children, and therefore would know how to take care of Jennifer. If he couldn't convince her to allow the child to be canted and born normally. He hoped he would.
But first he would have to confirm her health, as well as do his best to keep his word to both Jennifer and Wesley. He'd decided that he'd hide Jennifer's insubordination. No matter what Jennifer had done, he still owed her that much.
Jennifer was undoing her own strap, and releasing Beja's. Thankfully, she still remembered something of how to exist in her own time, though he had no doubt that she had been damaged in such a way that she might not be able to function well in her own time ever again.
"Come with me," he ordered, gathering up some of the bags the trio had brought with them. He'd arranged for medical examinations for himself and the three of them, just to get it out of the way. Who knew what diseases Jennifer and her children had carried with them?
But Time Force was well-organized, and he, Jennifer, and the children were soon on their way to the medical division.
* * *
Beja and Richard clung to Jen as the medical officers approached the trio. Alex had spoken briefly to the officer in charge, and then had been escorted out. The remaining medics had been dressed up in quarantine gear, no doubt because of the situation.
"I'm Dr. Lachlan," said one of the medics who had approached them. "Commander Scotts, would you come with me? Dr. Kincaid and Dr. Andrews will examine your children."
"Mommy?" Beja asked, tenatively.
"It's all right," Jen told the children. "They just want to make sure you're okay. As I told you in the ship, we just travelled a long way from home and these people want to make sure you don't get sick, or make them sick. It's just like home, but a bit different. Okay?"
Beja nodded, followed by Richard. Each of the doctors took one of the children, while Dr. Lachlan took her to an examination room.
* * *
Alex paused outside the council room, trying not to pace as he waited to be called in. He'd done this once before, to convince the leadership of Time Force that Jen's team didn't need memory adaptation.
Now, with Jen's disobedient dive into the past, he was forced, once again, to convince a committee that her memories shouldn't be modified, while at the same time convincing them that Jen had not deliberately gotten herself stuck in the past. If it weren't for what feelings remained between himself and Jen, he wouldn't be stuck in these postitions.
A quiet cough brought him back out of his thoughts as the door opened for him and he made his way into the chamber to make his report. He walked in, knowing that he had the attention of all in the chamber.
"Sirs," he said, knowing he had to be brief. "I just came back from my mission to retrieve Commander Jennifer Scotts. As you may know, she was thought lost in a timeship accident some years before. However, she was one of those fortunate few who survived, and, following regulations, did her best to blend in with the people of the century, having failed to reestablish communications."
"And where is Commander Scotts currently?"
"In quarantine, sir. In order to blend in more completely, she embraced the customs of the time and... well, sir, they were more primative in that time. She did things that most rational people of our time do not do. She returned with natural-born children. In fact, when I found her, she was carrying a third child."
The council members started talking at this, no doubt as surprised at this news as he could have been if he hadn't known of the child before he'd left.
"Is the third child healthy?" one of the council asked, obviously trying not to struggle with the matter. "And would the child be able to be born... normally?"
Alex gave the council member a small nod. "Dr. Lachlan believes that it is possible. As soon as Commander Scotts is out of quarantine, they will attempt the transfer."
"And Commander Scotts will go through memory adaptation, I presume, after the operation."
"With all due respect... I think she shouldn't." Alex told them, trying not to tense up. "There is no evidence that those who did not go through memory adaptation are affected any worse by their experiences."
"I disagree," came the voice from one side. Councillor Rainier. She turned towards the rest of the council. "From what data I have observed from the Ranger team that returned from 2001, the ones we permitted to retain their memories, I doubt they ever fully adapted back to our time. This is especially true for Commander Scotts. We haven't readapted their memories because the evidence of damage came about too late to correct, but at least we can prevent more damage in Commander Scotts' case."
"I agree with Councillor Rainier," Councillor Adams, the head of the council, answered. "I've seen the data. We all have. No, Commander Scotts will go through memory adapation. It is up to you and those in memory adaptation to work out the details. I know you will do well."
Alex nodded formally, knowing that protests wouldn't do his promise to Jen any good. As he stood before the council, ideas started formulating through his head, plans that would both satisfy the requirements of the council and keep the promise he made to Jennifer and Wesley.
"Dismissed," Councillor Adams said, and Alex walked out, concealing his thoughts behind his facade.
* * *
Jen forced herself more into the chair, preventing herself from pacing the room. Although all the amenities were provided for - a terminal, with access to entertainment recordings and reading material, a private bathroom, and anything that she could think of that would keep her body and soul together until they could decide what to do with her.
She hadn't seen Alex since she had been put in quarantine, and had little word on her children except that they were safe, and there was even some sign of adapting them to this century without use of memory-modifying technology.
"Commander Scotts, you have a visitor in the visiting room," the pleasant computer voice said.
She got up, trying not to explode out of the room to see who her visitor was. It was probably Alex or some official flunky with question on how she was and what would go on. She really doubted news of her return had reached her teammates.
When she reached the room, she could see Alex standing, stiffly at attention, outside the unbreakable windows that prevented her from passing anything dangerous onto the outside world. "Alex," she greeted her ex-fiance quietly.
"Jennifer," he greeted back. "I have some news for you."
Putting her hands behind her back, she waited patiently as Alex sat down on the chair provided for visitors. He looked up at her, clearly waiting for her to take the corresponding chair. "I've spoken to the council about your... matter, and they've come to a decision."
She sat, waiting for him to say anything further. He seemed to hesitate, in a way that she knew well, before confinuing. "They have decided that you should go through memory adaptation. However, they did not specify what to do with the children."
Jen closed her eyes, knowing that in Alex's expression that he would go along with the wishes of the council and that she would lose the memories of her time with Wes, along with the memories she shared with her children.
"After you are cleared from quarantine, the decision has been made to cant your third child. You will remain in custody of the children, but you will not remember the truth about them. In addition, I have set into motion documentation specifying myself as the father. It will fit in with the story that everyone will be given upon your return to society."
"And that is?" Jen asked, knowing that Alex had set up some story that would be totally believable.
Alex leaned forward. "That you've been on a mission for Time Force that required everyone thinking that you had been lost in a timeship mission. That the price you extracted from me was the children. All three of them."
Beja and Richard were far too young to know that reproductive methods differed in the thousand years between Wes' time and Jen's own. Alex could easily make the two of them believe that Wes had been a relative of some kind. "And you waived all parential rights?"
"Not all of them," Alex said briefly. "It would look odd, after all, if I gave up my right to assure the welfare of my own children."
And keep an eye on his disobedient ex-fiancee, that was for sure. She was dangerous in his eyes. Someone he couldn't control, couldn't dominate.
"I'll be back when it's time."
* * *
Alex walked out of the room, knowing that Jen had turned a murderous glare upon him. That was all right. He had to show that he was following orders. Making his way towards the technical area which housed the memory adaptation machinery, he started formulating what he had to do.
As he stepped into the room, one of the technicians greeted him with a smile. Allici Roberts was one of those in Time Force loyal to him, a member of the small group that someone in his position needed to stay afloat in the dangerous political waters.
Giving him a brief salute, she said, "I got your message. What needs to be done?"
He outlined what he wanted, and her nods became more frequent as her face settled into a quiet thoughtfulness. "What do you think?"
"Certainly possible. You're right, it can be pulled off. Just requires a little bit of fancy footwork so nobody realizes what's really going on."
"How long will you need?" Alex asked. "Because we do have some time. Jennifer can be released at any time, but there are things that need to be done first."
"I'll take that into consideration. I don't know, basically, but I'll give you an official report when I'm ready."
"Thank you," he said simply.
Allici nodded. "I hope she realizes what a sacrifice you're making."
"I wouldn't do it if I didn't still love her. I think even Jennifer realizes that."
"Good luck, sir."
With a final exchanged salute, Alex left the room. There was still some time to do what he needed to do to keep the trio safe, but he needed to do it.
* * *
A small icon flitted up on the terminal in Jen's room. Blinking, Jen gave the command to open it. It was a small message, text only, no doubt scrambled so that nobody knew that someone had gained access to the supposedly secure system.
"We're coming to get you, kids, 2220. Security will be disabled. Bring anything? Pizza?"
Jen allowed herself a small smile. Only her teammates knew of her fascination with the twenty-first century food. It had to be one of them, probably Trip. She noticed the window was waiting for a reply. "Bring communications device twenty-first century. Send."
The window obediently closed, sending off the information to whoever had gotten the message to her in the first place. If it was somebody else, they would probably think that she was going back to Wes. But she knew better, and so would the team when she caught up with them. Smiling a little bit more, she shut off the terminal.
* * *
Jen forced herself to remain calm as she waited for her rescuers to come for her. She hoped that she was right and that it was her teammates come to rescue her, otherwise she'd be in trouble and who knew what would happen to her and the kids.
The door separating her from the rest of the medical ward slid open softly, as a figure in a contamination suit stepped in. She tensed a little before she recognized Katie's face, then relaxed, grabbed those few belongings she had, and followed Katie out. The door slid closed as softly as it had opened, and Katie led her through the small corridor connecting her quarantine room with the rest of the medical complex.
Katie shed the contamination suit, placing it in a container that would probably guarantee that it would be cleaned of any incriminating evidence. The two of them walked out, passing through several corridors, finally ducking into a supply room. After several tense minutes, Jen began to relax, tensing up again as the door opened until she recognized the shapes of Lucas and Trip. The two of them were carrying small bundles, and as they got closer Jen knew that they had brought out Beja and Richard.
Nods passed between her three teammates, and smiles broke out as Lucas and Trip recognized Jen beneath the red hair. "Come on," Trip whispered.
The four of them proceeded slowly down the corridors of Time Force headquarters, careful to avoid various and sundry late-shift members of Time Force, as well as trying not to awaken Beja and Richard. Finally, they skulked into another storage closet somewhere in the building. Jen had lost track of where they were going, but knew her teammates wouldn't lead her straight into a trap.
"What are we waiting for?" she asked, unable to wait any longer. Her desire to get out of there, to get free of the white corridors and the possibility of Alex or security closing in to drag her and the children back to certain doom.
"There's going to be a glitch in the system in about fifteen minutes," Trip told her, a shy smile playing on his face. "Security between us and the door is going to be very light."
In other words, Jen realized, Trip had set the security on a side door and corridor to malfunction for a short time- enough to let them through. For one reason or another, however, he'd had to set it up not knowing how much time it would take the four of them and the kids to get over there.
"Did you bring the device?" she asked. A mystified expression replaced the smile on Trip's face, but he fetched it out of his omnipresent backpack regardless. She activated it, praying that it hadn't gotten lost in the havoc.
A few quiet beeps later, she was rewarded with an answer. "Jen?" Wes asked, sounding out of breath as if he'd run halfway across headquarters in order to talk with her.
"Hi, Wes," she said simply.
"Wes!" Trip exclaimed quietly, his smile returning, and smiles dawned on Lucas' and Katie's faces.
"Is everyone all right?" Wes asked.
Jen nodded, momentarily forgetting that Wes couldn't see her. "For the moment," she answered. "Wes, I don't have much time right now. Alex reneged on his promise. He's going to force me into memory adaptation if I don't get out of here. It might be a while before I can talk to you again."
She could almost see Wes nodding. "I heard Trip. Are Lucas and Katie there, too?"
"We're here, Wes," Katie responded warmly. "Don't worry - we'll get Jen to safety where Alex will *never* find her."
One of the bundles on the floor stirred, and Beja looked up sleepily. "Daddy?"
Jen kneeled down, offering the device to her daughter. "Here, say hello to your daddy." When Beja just stared at the device she added. "It's just like a phone, honey."
The little girl looked her. "Hi, daddy."
"Hi, Beja. Are you okay?"
"M'okay."
"That's a good girl. Listen to your mom and her friends, okay? Don't do anything weird."
"'ill, daddy."
"Good girl. Let me speak to your mom again."
Jen ruffled Beja's hair. "Go back to sleep."
Beja, apparently too tired to argue, nodded and lay down again.
"Do they know where they are?" Wes asked.
"I think they've been told that they're in the future, but I don't think they realize what that means yet."
The Wes in her little mental picture nodded once again. "I guess it's easier if they just get used to the future. It's not like they can ever come back."
Wes' voice indicated what he felt about the matter, which mirrored Jen's own. He had given his children and the woman he loved in order to save their lives, but that didn't mean he was thrilled about it.
"Did he say anything about the baby?" Wes asked.
"Alex said... he said that before I went through memory adaptation, that I'd go through a procedure that would make the child born normally."
"For your time," Wes said, comprehension lacing his voice. "I guess he would."
Trip was looking at the door, and Jen knew that it had to be almost time. "Got to go, Wes."
"Hope to hear from you soon," Wes told her, though from his tone she knew he didn't expect to hear from her any time soon.
As the others gathered the kids and prepared to leave the room, the door slid open. "Hold on, Rangers."
* * *
An insistent beeping made Alex turn from his console. He frowned at it, and then remembered that he'd set the complex's sensors to tell him if any of the other Rangers got physically close to Jennifer. Which, it appeared, they had. He called up the signals of the trackers imbedded in the Rangers and found that the four of them had joined up and were just outside the medical center. As the four signals proceeded away from where Jennifer should be, he took a portable scanner and headed out of his office.
He could have known that the Rangers would attempt something like this. He didn't think that they'd be ignorant as to not have something up just in case Jennifer returned to their time from 2001. He knew they'd seek contact with her. And they knew what Time Force did to those who had spent an extended period of time in another century.
And, with Murphy's law in effect, of course they'd find her and break her out the day before she was scheduled to get her life back in sync with her own century. He'd made a promise to Jennifer, and he would keep it, but some things he couldn't do. Not at all.
Following their signals, he cursed the fact that his office was so far away from where they were headed. Perhaps he would find them, get through to them, before Jennifer's team whisked her off into the night.
Much to his relief, the four signals finally stopped. Perhaps they were waiting for some convenient security failure to occur, something likely programmed in by Trip and Circuit.
It gave him some time. Some time to turn them from their course before terrible things happened, things that even he couldn't prevent.
He stopped before the door, triggering the lock release. Nobody would have reason to go into the storage room, making it both an ideal place for four rogue officers to hide out, and also for him to discuss things that would be disastrous if they reached the ears of the council.
The four were packing up, but he spoke to get their attention, stepping forward so that the door would close behind him. "Hold on, Rangers."
Time Force's Ranger team didn't precisely snap to attention at his presence, the way that they should if this had been a legit gathering. "Nobody's going anywhere," he told them, standing close enough to the door so that someone would have to toss him away from it first, but not close enough to trigger it.
Sure, Katie could get him out of the way with little effort, but he hoped that he could talk fast enough to escape any injuries. Even with the inbuilt loyalty to Time Force and their superiors, he had his work cut out for him.
It was Jennifer who pushed to the front, leaving her teammates to 'protect' her children from him. "We're leaving, Alex."
"I can't let you, Jennifer, for your sake and your children's. I'm doing this in your own best interest."
Taking a step forward, Jennifer looked up at him. "My own best interest? Maybe yours, Alex! You've done nothing but railroad me and tell me what to do. You promise me that I won't have my memories erased, and then when I'm sitting there in quarantine, where I can't do anything about it, you tell me that you are. I don't want anything to do with you, and then you tell me that we're going to share custody of the children! This isn't the early twentieth-century, Alex. I have a life... I had a life, with Wes. Just because you can't handle that is no reason to behave like I can't function without your presence. Like I'm your little wife and you're going to bring home the bread."
"It's not like that!" he exclaimed, before getting a hold of his feelings again.
"Then what is it?" Jennifer asked. "You're not a part of my life anymore, Alex. Why can't you accept it? Run off and pursue Allici Roberts. I'm sure she'd be flattered."
"Technician Roberts is busy right now," he said evenly, hoping that she'd catch the hint and shut up.
"Right," she said, in such a sarcastic tone that indicated she didn't believe him for a minute.
"Believe what you will, Jennifer, but I've come here to save you from the danger you're walking into."
"What danger?" Jennifer asked, the other three looking curiously at the two of them but plainly allowing Jennifer the interrogation.
Jennifer's expression was unyielding, but he forged ahead anyway. "When the four of you returned from 2001, your refusal to submit to memory adaptation made the council... suspicious, especially in light of your refusal to obey orders and leave 2001. They've kept an eye on the four of you ever since. Basically, the four of you are considered damaged goods. People that they have to keep an eye on because they don't trust you to do your jobs. The four of you are also the reason why the policy on memory adapation was strengthened. They can point to the four of you, especially Jennifer, to show why the policy is in place. And I don't blame them."
"Damaged goods?" Trip squeaked.
"The four of you never successfully readapted to our time," he explained. "If you do this, if you insist on following this plan, they will investigate. They will know what I know. Are all four of you that willing to give up everything? Because that's what will happen if they don't find Jennifer safe in her room tomorrow morning for the procedure, and especially if she's not around when it comes time for memory adaptation."
"And if I go back, I won't remember Wes at all," Jennifer countered. "I won't remember that Beja and Richard are his. Why should I stay when I can remember so much more if I disappear?"
Looking at Jennifer's defiant stance, he knew that without something to stop her, she would leave, and unknowingly ruin everything for herself.
"Damn it, Jennifer! I promised you that you would remember everything, and I will honor that promise. Allici's setting things up so that when you go through memory adaptation, it will just seem that your memories have been changed. I was planning on coaching you after you got out, but you forced my hand."
"You were *what*?" Jennifer asked, her expression and her tone of voice both expressing her disbelief.
"Believe it or not, Jennifer, I am not trying to run your life. I just love you too much to not want to make things better. I don't think what you're doing is very wise, but I know you too well. I want to see you succeed on your path, but first I have to get you out from all the scrutiny. And I can't succeed at that if the four of you keep fouling up my plans!"
"If you love me, you'll let me go."
Alex stared at her, the words sinking in. Wasn't that what he'd just told her? Let him guide her out to safety and then let her go? Oh, he wanted to make sure the children were safe, but was that so bad? Plus it assured those in control that Jennifer wasn't a threat to them.
"I know you feel responsible for us going back into 2001 to chase Ransik. But that was my choice, and the others went along. I was the one who chose to let Wes in on the team. We chose to remain in 2001 because that's what we were trained to do. Protect civilians, no matter what time they were from. We didn't want those memories taken away from us, no matter how much it would have made our lives easier. We changed, and we just couldn't be changed back to what we were before."
Jennifer's eyes were starting to glisten, despite the challenging body stance. "I think I've just started to realize that."
She backed down a little at that. "I don't want to go back. How do I know I won't walk out of there thinking you're still my fiancee?"
"Because it would be a lie, and I wouldn't do that to you, Jennifer," he told her. "Maybe... it would be better if the two of us were mostly out of each other's lives too. But we won't get there if you don't go back. Please, Jennifer. It's the best way to accomplish all of our goals."
It was then he knew he had her, that he'd worn down her resistance to the idea. The others would go along with whatever she said. She turned around, picking up her daughter, who appeared to be asleep. A clearly confused Katie picked up the other bundle, and the other two proceeded to gather things up.
But this time it would be back to the medical complex, pretending everything was normal. Alex relaxed, preparing to lead the way.
* * *
Jen walked into the memory adaptation room, nervously letting Allici Roberts fit the helmet onto her head. "You've been through this before. It's no different, but you have to stay *in* the booth this time."
Trying not to let her fear show through, Jen let the other woman lead her to a booth and settle her in. Alex had whispered instructions to her, directing her to let him guide her out of there. He wasn't the only one in the room. Two officials were there, presumably to certify that she did go through the adaptation.
And, for some crazy reason, she was letting Alex do this to her. Letting him have the chance to play havoc with her memories. But he had made a promise to her, and in the end, she could only hope that he would honor it.
Hope that he would let her go. That Time Force would let her go.
The booth hummed, and images of the last few years flowed through her mind, as if something was sifting through them. She saw Wes' face as he recited the vows after the minister, in the same serious manner that he'd had when she'd presented him with the oath.
Reading books about pregnancy when she found out the two of them had concieved a child.
Eric's grin when Wes came back to Silver Guardian headquarters to share the news that the two of them were getting married.
Mr. Collins holding his grandson for the very first time, a sappy smile on the businessman's face.
Then, suddenly, the images faded, and Jen heard the door open and a hand grasping her arm. Alex's, she presumed, because she couldn't open her eyes. "She won't remember," he promised to someone. "I'll return her to medical."
She let Alex's arms and hands guide her through the hallways while she struggled to open her eyes. But she was tired, more tired than she thought possible. "Only a little farther, Jennifer, then you can sleep."
The thought of pulling away surfaced briefly in her mind, but she pushed it away. She had promised too, and she was so tired, exhausted, it seemed, from trying to retain her memories.
After that, she couldn't struggle anymore.
* * *
Alex watched as Jen surrendered to sleep, knowing that it wouldn't be over until she recognized that he had been telling the truth. That she knew that she had retained everything, remembered Wes, remembered the twenty-first century.
But that was the price he had paid for that day on the beach, for recognizing that she was not the Jennifer he had met that day at headquarters, nor even the one he'd sent back in time. This Jennifer had become untrusting, questioning everything that was said and done. And even though this Jennifer would never really love him again, he still saw strong echoes of the Jennifers he had known.
Some coaching would be needed, enough that the council would have no clue of what he'd done, but with Jennifer's help, he would be successful in the end. Then he could let her go, staying there to assure her safety.
It was what he'd owed her. Despite what she'd said the night she tried to escape, he still felt responsible for her and for Wesley. For what she'd become, for what led her to that room, sleeping the sleep of the newly adapted.
Turning, he left her to her sleep. He had work to do.
-end.
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