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estinoseThis is part 2. Part one and the notes are here.
Moving On
by Selma McCrory
part 2
"What are you *talking* about?" she asked, the horror fading from her face to be replaced by a calm resolve.
Without answering her, Wes went to her bedroom and retrieved the communications device, tossing it to her. She caught it deftly and looked at it. As she did, he explained, "There were a few of these on the first timeship. I know about it because Trip was working on them, and he explained them to me. Besides, how would some stranger named Rachel from Cheyenne know about Lucas' poetry, or that Katie hid the book behind the gears of the clock tower once?"
Her shoulders sagged as she looked at the device. "I knew I should have had Trip design me a new shell. I didn't think you'd find it."
Shrugging, Wes crossed back to the couch and sat down. "Well, I did. What in the heck are you doing back in the twenty-first century, under an assumed name and in disguise? Jen, last I checked, you hated disguises! Remember that time with the Super Strong gym?"
"Yes, I remember. But I didn't have a choice, Wes! I couldn't risk Alex finding out what I'd done. He thinks I'm dead, and that the timeship that I was on was destroyed. That's what Trip tells me, anyway."
"Trip's in on this?" Wes asked, though he wasn't totally surprised.
"All of them are. Were. Wes, it took us five years to plan out and implement what you see today."
Wes tried to not close his eyes in despair.
As if not seeing his distress, Jen continued on. "It was actually Lucas who got the idea to come to the past. Originally, we were hoping to bring you into the future, but we couldn't risk Alex finding out and sending you back home. Besides, we're far more familiar with the twenty-first century than you are with our time."
"Personally, I wouldn't have taken offense," Wes told her.
"I know. But the others could see, even before I did, that I had lost touch with my own time. I just couldn't see any reason to get up out of bed in the morning. Oh, Alex was starting to press his desire to start up our relationship again, and I still had my job, but I had nothing to live for. In the end, it was Lucas that confronted me and told me that he couldn't stand it any more."
Wes nodded. It was similar to what he had experienced, but fortunately, he hadn't had the resources for such a crazy plan. Jen had been beyond his reach, and he had accepted that. Sort of. It had still taken a while before he could say he functioned, though.
"We planned it out carefully. I volunteered on several missions, just so that people would be used to me going on them. I kept Alex from being suspicious by never going near the twenty-first century, and finally, finally, he relaxed his guard. I was supposed to be going to the nineteenth century, alone, to retrieve an item that had fallen through a timehole. Instead, I packed what I wanted to take with me, and Trip modified the ship so that it would seem like it had vaporized."
"And the timeship?" Wes asked, suddenly hoping that he could send her back as he had once before.
"Vaporized. Wes, we're not exactly idiots either! We knew there was a possibility that you'd prematurely find out about me and attempt to trick me into coming home. I wanted you to remember me, remember the happy times, and for once, not think about the timestream. It's more flexible than you think, Wes. There's room for me, if I became someone else. That's why Rachel Whannel was born, and why Jennifer Scotts had to die in a timeship accident."
After a moment, she added, "Wes, I am not going to leave. This is my time now."
Wes looked at her, looked into her dark eyes, and knew that she was telling the truth. Over his objections, she would stay. Oh, he could write a postal letter and hoped it would get to someone in Time Force, but could he really do that?
Jen had been the one to turn his life around. She was the one who had convinced Alex to give him back his morpher. It was clear that she was willing to break the rules for what she thought of as a good clause, and their teammates were the same way.
Besides, Alex had released him from his oath shortly before the timeship had left for the last time. Jen was no longer his commanding officer, and he was free to pursue a relationship with her if he so pleased.
Still, he doubted that the timestream was as flexible as Jen thought it would be. Sure, there was some flexibility; the present hadn't changed much even though Katie insisted she'd met Walter Brown and that he had originally died lonely instead of meeting and marrying his wife.
And, besides, wasn't the road to hell paved with very good intentions? Love was important, but Jen of all people would know that there should be responsibility as well.
But Jen wasn't thinking with her brain. Jen and the others had been thinking with their hearts, just as they had when they had decided to stay in the Silver Hills of 2001, in imminent danger of death. He had been the only sensible one then, and obviously the only sensible one now.
Still, Jen had made it clear that even if they didn't pursue a relationship, she was staying. There was no future for her to go back to, at least in the sense that she had burned her bridges. He had the feeling that Jen would wait until the ends of the earth for him to come to his senses.
Jen was still looking at him expectantly, and he wasn't sure what to say. He really didn't want to break up with her, not after he had a chance with her, but he had to have space to think of alternatives. "I'll see you later, Jen," he managed to gasp out, and then headed for the door, ignoring his ex-commander's pleas.
* * *
Wes got up in the morning, reconnecting his phone, checking his email, and generally becoming part of the world again. After the debacle with Jen, he felt that he really needed to just remind himself that the world was normal. It was just his life that was now topsy-turvy.
"Good morning, Wes," his father greeted him. "I'm told you got in a little late last night."
"I was with Rachel," he said, surprised to see that he could still call Jen by her assumed name. "And then I had some things to think about."
His father nodded, taking the morning paper from a platter held by Philips and flipping it open. "You should bring Rachel over sometime, you know. I've been wanting to meet her."
Unable to tolerate the deception any longer, Wes said, "I think you have before."
"Oh?" his father said, leaning more towards him, paper momentarily forgotten. "In what way?"
"You know how I said she looks a lot like Jen? Well, that's because she *is* Jen. I found out by accident last night."
"She is? Excellent," the elder Collins told him. "I didn't like Jen at first. In fact, I resented her for quite a while. But she was the best thing that could have happened to us."
"Dad, I don't think you're seeing everything! She's not supposed to be here. It's like the trizirium crystals. Anything that comes here from the future is supposed to be destroyed or returned. It was only a fluke that Jen convinced her superiors that Eric and I could keep the morphers."
"Son, sometimes happiness is more important than anything else. Think about it." As Mr. Collins resumed reading the paper, he added, "Oh, and Eric wants to talk to you. You really shouldn't turn your pager off."
Rolling his eyes, Wes turned to have breakfast.
* * *
"Where have you been?" Eric asked as he entered. Eric was leaning against the doorframe of his office door, arms crossed. "I tried to page you last night!"
"I was a little occupied, Eric. If you must know, Jen is back. Rachel is Jen. Can you see my problem?"
"Not really," his co-commander said, entering his office. Wes followed him in.
"Look, Eric. She doesn't belong here. She's from the thirtieth century, and there's a reason she went home. If I could, I'd send her back."
"Plan on sticking her back on the timeship again, Collins? You know, sometimes people other than you want to have a say in their own destinies."
"I know that," Wes argued. "But not when it endangers the timestream."
"Look, mister high-and-mighty, sometimes us mere mortals know there are consequences too, all right? Jen knows what she's doing. And I think she knows it better than you do."
Wes shook his head. Would nobody understand? Or was he not understanding?
"Now, if you don't mind, since you were so out of touch last night, I have some things to do. Why don't you go out and resolve things with Jen so I don't have to listen to you mope for another three months."
Knowing a clue-by-four when he heard one, Wes headed back to his car, hoping Jen was still home.
* * *
As he knocked on the door of Jen's apartment, Wes wondered what he'd say. The stop at the florist had given him time to think, but nothing had come to his mind. Yes, he wanted to see Jen again. Yes, he wanted to resume their relationship. But he wasn't ready to start. This time, he would be the reluctant partner in this dance.
The door opened slowly, and Wes found himself holding his breath. He'd never given Jen flowers before, and he wasn't sure if roses meant anything different to the inhabitants of the thirtieth century.
"Wes," Jen greeted him, hair in a towel, though he could see little red hairs sticking out. "Come in."
She closed the door behind him and he found himself facing his former commanding officer once again. "These are for you," he said, holding the roses out awkwardly.
Jen gave him a tentative smile as Gremlin bolted towards his legs and proceeded to rub around him. "So, can you accept me here?"
"I guess... I guess that I can," Wes said, surprising himself with his words. "I still have reservations... but I think I should put those aside. I've been reminded of things."
Jen smiled, toweling her hair dry. "Thanks."
"For what?" he asked, surprised and uncertain of her meaning.
"For not being Alex. For not turning into Alex. When I met you, I didn't know this, but I was searching for something more in my life. When Alex came back to us, I knew that I had been, and that what, who, I was looking for was right in front of me. I wanted you, and I wanted you even before I realized I didn't want Alex. He'd changed, I'd changed, we'd all changed. I couldn't be what I was before. I didn't belong where I belonged before. So I came... home."
Wes stood there, speechless. Jen walked towards her bedroom, and he didn't follow her, not certain if he should. But she came out again, holding a little box, and Wes suddenly knew what it was.
"Will you marry me, Wesley Collins?"
He answered without words.
-end
Moving On
by Selma McCrory
part 2
"What are you *talking* about?" she asked, the horror fading from her face to be replaced by a calm resolve.
Without answering her, Wes went to her bedroom and retrieved the communications device, tossing it to her. She caught it deftly and looked at it. As she did, he explained, "There were a few of these on the first timeship. I know about it because Trip was working on them, and he explained them to me. Besides, how would some stranger named Rachel from Cheyenne know about Lucas' poetry, or that Katie hid the book behind the gears of the clock tower once?"
Her shoulders sagged as she looked at the device. "I knew I should have had Trip design me a new shell. I didn't think you'd find it."
Shrugging, Wes crossed back to the couch and sat down. "Well, I did. What in the heck are you doing back in the twenty-first century, under an assumed name and in disguise? Jen, last I checked, you hated disguises! Remember that time with the Super Strong gym?"
"Yes, I remember. But I didn't have a choice, Wes! I couldn't risk Alex finding out what I'd done. He thinks I'm dead, and that the timeship that I was on was destroyed. That's what Trip tells me, anyway."
"Trip's in on this?" Wes asked, though he wasn't totally surprised.
"All of them are. Were. Wes, it took us five years to plan out and implement what you see today."
Wes tried to not close his eyes in despair.
As if not seeing his distress, Jen continued on. "It was actually Lucas who got the idea to come to the past. Originally, we were hoping to bring you into the future, but we couldn't risk Alex finding out and sending you back home. Besides, we're far more familiar with the twenty-first century than you are with our time."
"Personally, I wouldn't have taken offense," Wes told her.
"I know. But the others could see, even before I did, that I had lost touch with my own time. I just couldn't see any reason to get up out of bed in the morning. Oh, Alex was starting to press his desire to start up our relationship again, and I still had my job, but I had nothing to live for. In the end, it was Lucas that confronted me and told me that he couldn't stand it any more."
Wes nodded. It was similar to what he had experienced, but fortunately, he hadn't had the resources for such a crazy plan. Jen had been beyond his reach, and he had accepted that. Sort of. It had still taken a while before he could say he functioned, though.
"We planned it out carefully. I volunteered on several missions, just so that people would be used to me going on them. I kept Alex from being suspicious by never going near the twenty-first century, and finally, finally, he relaxed his guard. I was supposed to be going to the nineteenth century, alone, to retrieve an item that had fallen through a timehole. Instead, I packed what I wanted to take with me, and Trip modified the ship so that it would seem like it had vaporized."
"And the timeship?" Wes asked, suddenly hoping that he could send her back as he had once before.
"Vaporized. Wes, we're not exactly idiots either! We knew there was a possibility that you'd prematurely find out about me and attempt to trick me into coming home. I wanted you to remember me, remember the happy times, and for once, not think about the timestream. It's more flexible than you think, Wes. There's room for me, if I became someone else. That's why Rachel Whannel was born, and why Jennifer Scotts had to die in a timeship accident."
After a moment, she added, "Wes, I am not going to leave. This is my time now."
Wes looked at her, looked into her dark eyes, and knew that she was telling the truth. Over his objections, she would stay. Oh, he could write a postal letter and hoped it would get to someone in Time Force, but could he really do that?
Jen had been the one to turn his life around. She was the one who had convinced Alex to give him back his morpher. It was clear that she was willing to break the rules for what she thought of as a good clause, and their teammates were the same way.
Besides, Alex had released him from his oath shortly before the timeship had left for the last time. Jen was no longer his commanding officer, and he was free to pursue a relationship with her if he so pleased.
Still, he doubted that the timestream was as flexible as Jen thought it would be. Sure, there was some flexibility; the present hadn't changed much even though Katie insisted she'd met Walter Brown and that he had originally died lonely instead of meeting and marrying his wife.
And, besides, wasn't the road to hell paved with very good intentions? Love was important, but Jen of all people would know that there should be responsibility as well.
But Jen wasn't thinking with her brain. Jen and the others had been thinking with their hearts, just as they had when they had decided to stay in the Silver Hills of 2001, in imminent danger of death. He had been the only sensible one then, and obviously the only sensible one now.
Still, Jen had made it clear that even if they didn't pursue a relationship, she was staying. There was no future for her to go back to, at least in the sense that she had burned her bridges. He had the feeling that Jen would wait until the ends of the earth for him to come to his senses.
Jen was still looking at him expectantly, and he wasn't sure what to say. He really didn't want to break up with her, not after he had a chance with her, but he had to have space to think of alternatives. "I'll see you later, Jen," he managed to gasp out, and then headed for the door, ignoring his ex-commander's pleas.
* * *
Wes got up in the morning, reconnecting his phone, checking his email, and generally becoming part of the world again. After the debacle with Jen, he felt that he really needed to just remind himself that the world was normal. It was just his life that was now topsy-turvy.
"Good morning, Wes," his father greeted him. "I'm told you got in a little late last night."
"I was with Rachel," he said, surprised to see that he could still call Jen by her assumed name. "And then I had some things to think about."
His father nodded, taking the morning paper from a platter held by Philips and flipping it open. "You should bring Rachel over sometime, you know. I've been wanting to meet her."
Unable to tolerate the deception any longer, Wes said, "I think you have before."
"Oh?" his father said, leaning more towards him, paper momentarily forgotten. "In what way?"
"You know how I said she looks a lot like Jen? Well, that's because she *is* Jen. I found out by accident last night."
"She is? Excellent," the elder Collins told him. "I didn't like Jen at first. In fact, I resented her for quite a while. But she was the best thing that could have happened to us."
"Dad, I don't think you're seeing everything! She's not supposed to be here. It's like the trizirium crystals. Anything that comes here from the future is supposed to be destroyed or returned. It was only a fluke that Jen convinced her superiors that Eric and I could keep the morphers."
"Son, sometimes happiness is more important than anything else. Think about it." As Mr. Collins resumed reading the paper, he added, "Oh, and Eric wants to talk to you. You really shouldn't turn your pager off."
Rolling his eyes, Wes turned to have breakfast.
* * *
"Where have you been?" Eric asked as he entered. Eric was leaning against the doorframe of his office door, arms crossed. "I tried to page you last night!"
"I was a little occupied, Eric. If you must know, Jen is back. Rachel is Jen. Can you see my problem?"
"Not really," his co-commander said, entering his office. Wes followed him in.
"Look, Eric. She doesn't belong here. She's from the thirtieth century, and there's a reason she went home. If I could, I'd send her back."
"Plan on sticking her back on the timeship again, Collins? You know, sometimes people other than you want to have a say in their own destinies."
"I know that," Wes argued. "But not when it endangers the timestream."
"Look, mister high-and-mighty, sometimes us mere mortals know there are consequences too, all right? Jen knows what she's doing. And I think she knows it better than you do."
Wes shook his head. Would nobody understand? Or was he not understanding?
"Now, if you don't mind, since you were so out of touch last night, I have some things to do. Why don't you go out and resolve things with Jen so I don't have to listen to you mope for another three months."
Knowing a clue-by-four when he heard one, Wes headed back to his car, hoping Jen was still home.
* * *
As he knocked on the door of Jen's apartment, Wes wondered what he'd say. The stop at the florist had given him time to think, but nothing had come to his mind. Yes, he wanted to see Jen again. Yes, he wanted to resume their relationship. But he wasn't ready to start. This time, he would be the reluctant partner in this dance.
The door opened slowly, and Wes found himself holding his breath. He'd never given Jen flowers before, and he wasn't sure if roses meant anything different to the inhabitants of the thirtieth century.
"Wes," Jen greeted him, hair in a towel, though he could see little red hairs sticking out. "Come in."
She closed the door behind him and he found himself facing his former commanding officer once again. "These are for you," he said, holding the roses out awkwardly.
Jen gave him a tentative smile as Gremlin bolted towards his legs and proceeded to rub around him. "So, can you accept me here?"
"I guess... I guess that I can," Wes said, surprising himself with his words. "I still have reservations... but I think I should put those aside. I've been reminded of things."
Jen smiled, toweling her hair dry. "Thanks."
"For what?" he asked, surprised and uncertain of her meaning.
"For not being Alex. For not turning into Alex. When I met you, I didn't know this, but I was searching for something more in my life. When Alex came back to us, I knew that I had been, and that what, who, I was looking for was right in front of me. I wanted you, and I wanted you even before I realized I didn't want Alex. He'd changed, I'd changed, we'd all changed. I couldn't be what I was before. I didn't belong where I belonged before. So I came... home."
Wes stood there, speechless. Jen walked towards her bedroom, and he didn't follow her, not certain if he should. But she came out again, holding a little box, and Wes suddenly knew what it was.
"Will you marry me, Wesley Collins?"
He answered without words.
-end
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