Firstly, this episode is supposed to occur after the episode Double Cross, early in the third season.
Secondly: The following story is intended for entertainment purposes only. This document can be freely distributed with the condition that no part of the text is modified, and this notice is included with all copies.
Some characters and elements of this story are the property of St Clare
Entertainment/Sci Fi Channel and are used without authorization. No copyright
infringement is intended. The author receives no compensation from the
distribution of this work. Any comments or criticism would be welcome.
"Thank heavens for that, Mr Mallory," exclaimed the Professor, "I have never in my life felt so carefully studied. And simply because the people here are so tall."
Quinn smiled, and as the Professor disappeared down the vortex he murmured, "I suppose it made a change to feel short."
Rembrandt muttered something under his breath about the local food not digesting right, then followed the Professor into the wormhole. Wade looked up at Quinn, smiling. "Now you all know how I feel!"
Quinn laughed. Wade had been the cause of a considerable discussion in one bar on this world, where the owner had refused to believe that she could possibly be old enough to drink. Still chuckling to himself, he followed Wade into the vortex.
The next world was evidently of a similar density to their own earth, and hundreds of others, as each of them landed with the accustomed thud at the other end. Quinn landed to see the Professor and Rembrandt already looking round, cautiously, half expecting to see even more incredibly tall people wandering round. Having established that this earth had gravity as strong as they had suspected after landing, they began to walk through the park, satisfied. Quinn and Wade followed on, admiring the scenery, and praying that the four of them would successfully blend in this time.
Their hopes were quickly dashed as a young boy, of perhaps twelve years, rushed up to the Professor and asked to touch his face.
"Why on earth would you want to do that my boy!" roared the Professor, much to Remmy's amusement. "It's simply a face, like any other."
The boy ran away dissatisfied, but there were soon others, staring from an almost discreet distance.
"Maybe we should get inside quickly," suggested Wade. "Try and figure out what's going on here."
"I heartily agree with you Miss Wells," announced the Professor, and the four of them quickly made their way to the Dominion hotel.
While Rembrandt got the four of them a room, he began to notice the sideways glances he and the Professor were continually attracting.
"Time to get in and work out what's going on in this psycho-hole," he whispered to Quinn, hoping that the guy behind the desk wouldn't overhear.
Quinn nodded, "I'm with you, Crying Man."
Several hours later, the four of them were no closer to figuring out why everyone kept staring at the Professor. Quinn and Wade had been sent out to get dinner in an attempt to maintain the group's low profile for the duration of their two day visit. However, it seemed unreasonable to expect the Professor to become a virtual prisoner for that time.
"Well, tomorrow morning I shall risk an excursion to the library and see what I can ascertain," announced the Professor after a long silence fell, "but for the moment I suggest we are all very tired and should get some rest."
Wade glanced at the others, "I think you're right, Professor." Quinn was too tired to even respond.
"Night Professor," murmured Rembrandt.
Approximately an hour later, Wade awoke to a slight noise in the corridor outside. As usual, her heart leapt, but having previously interrupted the others' sleep for no real reason, she attributed the noise to paranoia, and slowly fell back to sleep.
It was late morning by the time she re-awoke, and only she and Quinn remained in the room. They casually got up, then went out in search of breakfast in their latest world.
"Did you hear Remmy or the Professor leave this morning?" Quinn asked Wade.
"No, but you know how the Professor loves going to the library and finding something to tell us all!"
Laughing, the two of them wandered down the street.
Professor Maximillian Arturo, and Rembrandt Brown were nowhere near the library, or any other part of town. They both lay in some form of hospital, and as a nurse watched they began to stir.
The Professor was the first to notice his surroundings. "Madam. I demand to know what we are doing here! How on earth did we get to this place. You can't tell me this is our hotel room!"
The nurse glared at him. "How could you ghost by so much? Everyone else takes what they're given, but you., you people disgust me. I bet you don't even have any children! Selfish people like you never do."
The Professor blinked, slightly taken back. "What are you babbling on about woman?"
Rembrandt chuckled, despite their situation. "Professor, you crack me up. Hey, lady. Why you keeping us in here? What did we do?"
The nurse was slightly less biting in her reply, but she obviously still thought Rembrandt was the scum of the earth. "You might not have cheated us yet, but answer me one question. Where is your monitor?"
Remmy sighed, he could see the hostility was unlikely to let up, especially after the Professor's attempt at 'sweet talking' the woman. He lay back in bed and waited for something to happen to explain what was going on.
Quinn and Wade wandered round the local San Francisco, taking in the sights, and a few shops. They'd even considered visiting computer hell to see if Hurley was still there. But not wanting to ruin a perfectly good day, Wade had decided to stay away. Instead, Wade enthusiastically tried on numerous items of clothing which she liked but couldn't afford, while Quinn patiently waited, enjoying her good mood.
Too busy enjoying themselves for once, the two of them failed to notice a shadowy figure lurking across the road from them. The figure smiled to herself, and left abruptly, but she planned to be back soon.
Some minutes after the nurse left the room, Rembrandt began to snore.
"Mr Brown! Do you mind removing that infernal noise and assisting me in planning our escape." The Professor roared.
"Professor, firstly I don't snore, and secondly I don't think well without at least 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Something which neither of us got last night."
The Professor ignored him. "At least it appears that Mr Mallory and Miss Wells are quite safe. All we need to do is rely on their resourcefulness, and our stay here should be blissfully short."
"Yeah, but what are we doing here to need rescuing?" Rembrandt glanced round the room apprehensively.
"I'm afraid I have yet to work that out Mr Brown, and with the resources here it could take some time," the Professor noted the bare room.
Rembrandt rolled his eyes. "Go back to sleep Professor. For the moment all we can do is wait."
"I see your point Mr Brown. However, I will not tolerate snoring."
Logan St Clare estimated Quinn would be around long enough for her to put her newly formed plan into action. She'd already established that they were staying in the Dominion, as usual, so there was hardly any great rush. And her plan needed to be executed properly, to maximise the impact. Boldly, Logan set her plan in motion, she went to find Wade's double.
Kelly was relaxing downstairs with a cup of coffee when her sister Wade finally got up.
"Mmm, smells good," Wade smiled, looking as if she was still half asleep.
"There's some water in the kettle, I'll get you some," Kelly let her sister sit down and wake up properly.
As Kelly stood up there was a knock at the door. "I wonder who it could be at this time," she commented to herself, glancing at her watch. It was only 11 o'clock, and most of their friends had been out late with them the previous evening. A tall, dark girl stood on the doorstep.
"Hi, I'd like to speak to Wade," the girl put her hand against the door frame, ensuring that Kelly couldn't shut her out.
Eyeing the confident young woman suspiciously, Kelly turned and called Wade. "Wade, there's someone at the door."
Wade hauled herself off the sofa, and answered Kelly's call, "Coming."
As she arrived at the door, Logan St Clare put her right hand into her coat pocket. "Do exactly as I say, and you'll both be fine."
Wade and Kelly turned to one another, wondering what was going on.
"What are you talking about?" Wade wasn't impressed.
Logan glared at her, and completely withdrew the gun from her pocket. "If you don't co-operate, I'll shoot your sister."
Wade and Kelly were both too shocked to retort. It was the first gun either of them had ever seen.
"Get in the car."
Logan forced Kelly to drive them to her double's house, sure that a double of hers could be convinced to play along. After all, she'd even been able to persuade Quinn in the beginning.
Logan Mallory was in her basement trying to perfect her own Sliding machine, but she had yet to get it fully working. She suspected it was lack of power. The vortex seemed to leave the earth, only to return to the same earth in some pre-defined location. It was highly frustrating.
As she settled down to repeat some complex calculations, Logan heard a knock on the front door.
"What now!" Logan cursed, and stormed up the stairs, ready to hurl abuse at whoever stood there. She opened the door and first saw Logan, the mirror image of herself. For a few moments she simply stood and stared at them, realising what they must be. Sliders. Her annoyance forgotten, Logan excitedly led Logan St Clare, Wade and Kelly into her basement.
"I need your help," Logan St Clare announced.
Logan Mallory raised her eyebrows. "You're a Slider? You can get this to work? And you need MY help?" She turned and studied her equipment, strewn around the basement.
Logan St Clare smiled. "I'll help you as much as I can, in the time I've got, but it's not safe yet. I need your help keeping another double out of the way."
Logan Mallory was amazed. "Another double? On this earth?"
"In a manner of speaking, only he's not quite like us. I don't want to explain exactly what he did, it could put you off Sliding." Logan paused for effect, "but I need to ensure he'll leave me alone for good."
Alarmed, Logan Mallory listened to her other self carefully.
"And you two," Logan St Clare turned to Wade and Kelly, "I need your help too."
Kelly and Wade looked at each other, thoroughly confused. Neither one understood what was going on, or how this mysterious woman appeared to have a clone.
Wade leant over to whisper to Kelly. "Kelly, we have to get out of here! This woman is crazy."
"But how did she know you? And how are there two of her? Wade, she's dangerous. Don't do anything silly," Kelly replied, knowing that Wade might rush ahead without enough thought.
Wade nodded to her sister, and was about to reply when Logan turned her way.
"What are you two whispering about?" Logan looked at them suspiciously.
Wade glared back defiantly.
Logan's right hand moved into her pocket, and she leaned closer to Wade. "I warned you what would happen if you didn't behave as I asked. Consider this your last warning."
Looking up into Logan's frightening eyes, Wade saw she had no choice but to agree. She nodded silently.
All business again, Logan pointed to Kelly and Logan Mallory. "You two stay here. That's all I need you to do. And be careful who you let into the house, the man who's after me is dangerous." Finally, Logan grabbed Wade, and marched her out of the house. "You're coming with me. I need you to do more than just sit and wait." Wade continued to glare at Logan, but didn't resist. She had to make sure nothing happened to Kelly.
As they left the house Wade cried, "Why are you doing this? I don't even know you!"
"Ah, but he does. Quinn Mallory, the man who's after me, he knows you. Well, he knows your double. All I need you to do is distract him, argue with him, tell him it's all his fault you're stuck here, and you want to go home. As simple as that. If you manage it, then I'll let you and your sister go, and you'll never hear from me again."
Meekly, thinking of Kelly with that other version of this woman, Wade nodded.
The Professor and Rembrandt had long since parted company. Now the Professor stood, chained to a wall, with a strangely twisted looking little man repeatedly asking him questions
"Where did you go to remove the monitor?"
"Who did it?"
"How did you fake your death?"
"Who helped you?"
"Where did you go to remove the monitor?"
The Professor had long since lost patience, "I'm from a parallel earth where they don't practice such ridiculous things you blistering idiot!" he yelled for the tenth time.
But the little man didn't believe him, and the questioning continued.
Seeing a guard enter the room, the little man turned away from the Professor for a moment.
"Sir?" the guard looked hesitant.
"Yes," barked the little man.
"The Colonel asked me to report that news of the ghost's capture has broken, and details must be obtained quickly."
As the guard practically ran from the room, the little man smiled to himself. Glancing at the Professor, he began to pull instruments from his bag. "Well, Professor, we'll soon have the truth from you now."
"I'm telling you the truth, imbecile. Why on Earth would anyone make up such a ridiculous tale!"
"We'll soon see," the little man smiled again, and allowed the Professor to see a long needle in his right hand.
As Rembrandt awoke, he could hear voices whispering in the background. Holding himself as still as possible, he strained to hear what they were saying.
"It could be an accident, an oversight, he's not that old," one whispered.
"You know the Colonel will never buy that," the other responded. "We have to go ahead, even if there are no records whatsoever of this man's existence."
"But it seems so wrong. What if he's done nothing, simply grown up somewhere remote?"
"We'll give him a year, he must be close to his time anyway."
"I suppose so."
Remmy finally let his curiosity get the better of him, and tried to sneak a look at the two nurses. Unfortunately, simply looking required more movement than he'd originally anticipated, and one of the nurses noticed.
"He's awake."
"Hey lady," Rembrandt gave the nurse his best smile. "What's going on here? Where's the Professor gone?"
The nurse looked a little nervous, as if she didn't quite know how to respond. Her companion soon dealt with the situation.
"That is none of your business," the second, older, nurse announced. "Not yet anyway."
'Great,' thought Rembrandt, 'now what?'
Having finally run out of clothes shops to visit, Quinn and Wade began to wander aimlessly, looking in a few electronics shops to investigate the standards of the components on this earth, and weigh up the possibilities for buying replacement parts, or backups.
"I like it here," Wade turned to Quinn. "It seems really peaceful. Like in the shops, no one tries to shove you out of their way, even if they're in a hurry."
"It's not bad. If we're going to fully appreciate a nice, quiet world for once though, we should probably go to the park, laze around for a bit." The sun was even shining, what could be more perfect, Quinn mused.
"Right!" said Wade, "let's go." She began to accelerate towards the park, leaving Quinn to catch up.
Logan saw them begin to move away from the shops and cursed. Her job was going to be far more difficult once they were in the open space of the park. Fortunately for her, Quinn stopped to look in the window of yet another electronics shop as he walked past, giving Logan time to grab Wade and replace her with her double.
Wade struggled frantically, desperately trying to make a noise, so that Quinn might hear her. But Logan was too strong for her, and the hand clamped over her mouth gave no sign of letting go.
"My plan is underway," announced Logan to an increasingly worried Wade.
Quinn remained oblivious to the struggle. He stood nearly a hundred yards away, engrossed in the front window of the electronics shop.
Remmy lay on his bed quietly singing to himself to pass the time. It seemed like hours since he'd seen the last two nurses, and there was still no sign of anyone. He wondered if he ever got to eat in this place.
He began composing a song about food, humming a little to himself as he thought. Then the door opened and Remmy sat up, hoping that something edible had arrived.
The nurse looked at him. "Lie back now. I've got to give you something to make you sleep."
"What! Why?"
"For the operation." The nurse looked at him strangely.
"But there's nothing wrong with me," Rembrandt protested. "You've got the wrong guy."
"You don't have a monitor, everyone gets one here."
"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me something here?" whined Rembrandt.
The nurse sighed, "look, just be careful where you go afterwards." She looked to the door to check for any noise, then lowered her voice. "They're giving you a year, but really that's only so that they can find out how you got your monitor removed. They could capture someone and change their minds about your life in a flash."
Rembrandt looked at her, puzzled, whatever it was, it didn't sound too great. "Supposing I don't want this operation?"
"You have no choice, I'm sorry. Just remember, be careful who you see." With that the nurse glanced around again, then injected something into Rembrandt's arm. Soon Rembrandt was drifting, unable to focus on anything.
Logan dragged Wade towards her double's house. It was really hard work. Wade fought every inch of the way and, despite her size, was beginning to make some headway, out of sheer desperation. Finally, Logan gave up. She hit Wade hard enough to knock her unconscious, and slung her body over her shoulder. By the time she reached her double's house, Logan was exhausted, but the glow of her imminent revenge kept her going.
While Logan Mallory and Kelly watched her every move, Logan St Clare dropped Wade's unconscious body into a chair. Kelly rushed to Wade's side.
"What have you done to her?" Kelly demanded.
"It was him. Blame him, not me," Logan responded crossly.
"You used her to save your skin!" Kelly tried to shake Wade awake, wishing again that Logan had never found them.
"She'll be fine, don't make such a fuss." Logan was beginning to lose
patience. Noting that Kelly was
too preoccupied with Wade to notice her, Logan gestured to her double and the
two of them briefly left the room.
"What is going on?" Logan Mallory couldn't believe what was happening.
"Look, these two are as dangerous as the man I told you about. You have to keep an eye on them for me." Logan reached into her pocket, pulling out the gun. "Here, have this." She offered the gun to her double. "Just to be on the safe side."
Logan Mallory backed off. "A gun? You shouldn't have that! They're dangerous. You could kill someone!"
Logan sighed inwardly. "Look, I don't need you to kill anyone, just pretend. Keep an eye on them for me. Just pretend you're me, they won't give you any trouble. That Wade'll be out for a while anyway."
Logan Mallory grew more dubious of her double's motives as time wore on. But for the moment she decided that trusting her double, who presumably thought as she did, was her only logical choice. Before re-entering the basement, Logan carefully removed the bullets from the gun. For the moment she could pretend, in order to allow the capture of a dangerous man. But Logan Mallory's great mind was already at work trying to discover the truth.
Logan St Clare left the house once more. She wanted to see as much as possible of the damage done to Quinn.
Wade looked up at Quinn, nervously. This guy was apparently some sort of brutal killer, and if he chose to get annoyed it seemed unlikely she would escape him. She swallowed and thought of Kelly. Logan had assured her that this Quinn wouldn't attack her, whatever she said, but trusting Logan didn't seem like a particularly good move either. While Wade was distracted, deciding what to do, Quinn caught up to her and put his arm round her shoulders. She couldn't help but flinch.
Quinn withdrew, hurt. "What's the matter Wade, are you OK?" He looked down at her, concerned.
Wade had to admit, she really couldn't imagine him intentionally killing anyone, but she had to try to think of Kelly. "What're you doing? It's all your fault we're stuck here, no family, no home, and you act as if nothing's wrong. Why do you think I feel like this? I want to go home! I hate you, how could you do this to me!" Wade did her best to sound convincing. She listed everything she could remember of what Logan had told her, but she thought she sounded ridiculous.
Quinn took little convincing, the words struck a deep chord, harder than if someone had hit him. And for Wade to say such things to him, it was as if suddenly the whole world was breaking up around him.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "It is my fault, but I will get us home, I promise."
"You won't, you're just trying to get round me. You have no thought for people around you, all you can think about is your little experiments." Wade could see she had really upset him. Her instinct was to try and comfort him, to apologise. She fought to remember what Logan had said. She had to remain focused on her task. She decided she really couldn't manage to shout at him anymore, there were only so many ways to have a go at a complete stranger. Instead she stormed off, to the hotel room Logan had directed her to.
During their argument, Quinn and Wade had walked right into the park. Watching Wade go, Quinn sagged against the grass, silently cursing himself for their situation for the millionth time. It had never seemed so terrible, being stuck on alternate worlds. He wasn't sure he could cope if Wade hated him for it. He lay back and tried to think of nothing, to make the pain go away, but all he could think of was Wade. He had to go and talk to her, there had to be something he could say.
Wade wasn't surprised to see Logan waiting for her in the hotel room. She turned to her.
"I did my best. But he wasn't what I expected, it was difficult."
Logan remained silent. As Wade turned to glance out of the window, Logan grabbed her from behind, and forced her to swallow. Seconds later, Wade collapsed. Logan lay her on the bed, and quickly left, placing a small bottle in Wade's hand. Now all she had to do was wait.
Quinn arrived sooner than she'd expected, but as her impatience was beginning to get the better of her, Logan was relieved. Particularly because the longer Wade was left in that state, the more likely it was that she would die. Logan didn't want to kill this Wade, she had nothing to do with anything really. She sank into the shadows, waiting for him to pass, and wishing she could be there when he saw Wade.
Logan Mallory continued to guard Kelly and the still unconscious Wade. She and Kelly had made sure that Wade was as comfortable as possible, but now all they could do was wait. Kelly sat in silence by Wade, refusing to come any closer to Logan than was necessary. Obviously Kelly knew nothing of Sliding, she clearly believed that Logan Mallory was as guilty as her counterpart. The silence gave Logan time to think, and to worry. Fingering the empty gun, Logan continued to try to puzzle things out. If they were doubles they must think a little alike.....
Remmy felt terrible. He lay in the hospital bed desperately trying to focus on something and stop the room from spinning. If he was drunk it must've been strong stuff, he thought, he didn't even remember drinking it! Giving up trying to steady the room, Remmy turned and threw up into a convenient bucket (he hoped).
As he began to think clearly once more, Rembrandt wondered what had happened to the Professor. And more importantly, how long they still had before the Slide. He hated the idea of being stuck forever on this Earth, particularly after his treatment so far. And what was it that nurse was saying about having a year? Rembrandt tried to remember more precisely what had been said, but all he could remember were her last words, "Be careful who you see."
Rembrandt sighed. There never seemed to be any staying out of trouble with this parallel Earth travelling. Still feeling terrible, he'd begun to drift back to sleep when he noticed an odd twinge at the back of his neck. It was a strain to move his arm that far, but he touched the back of his neck and found a small circular device implanted like a porthole coming out of one of his vertebrae.
Quinn couldn't believe his eyes. He saw Wade lying on the bed, and gently knelt down to try and comfort her. She had seemed so miserable. But there was no response, he couldn't wake her. Then he saw the empty tablet bottle in her hand. She had committed suicide! Trying not to panic, he checked for her breathing and her pulse. It couldn't have been that long ago, she was still OK, he could still save her. He couldn't let her leave him like this. Carefully he lifted her off the bed and, pocketing the bottle, carried her downstairs to call an ambulance. It seemed to take forever for the ambulance to come, but Quinn wouldn't leave Wade's side, he clung to her as if somehow that would stop her from dying. He was too preoccupied to notice a dark figure sat comfortably watching nearby.
Sitting in the hospital waiting room, Quinn felt as if he'd slipped into his own personal nightmare. He wondered if this was how helpless Wade had felt when the Dream Masters attacked her. The room was small, and Quinn had no room to pace. So he sat, fidgeting, and trying not to think of the worst. He wished the Professor or Rembrandt was around, but there had still been no sign of either of them at the hotel. Quinn needed the reassurance that Wade would be OK, even if it was untrue. She could die, and he only had himself to blame.
Deep in despair, Quinn thought his situation could get no worse when Hurley walked in and was even more annoying that the version on Quinn's own Earth.
"You know why I got dragged down here?" Hurley informed Quinn, who ignored him. "A colleague of mine suddenly developed appendicitis," Hurley continued, apparently oblivious to Quinn's reaction. "And the hospital calls me as next of kin. I just work with the guy. Then they find me and give me this garbage about how he nearly died, when I can see he's right there. I hope the guy's grateful, that's all I can say, we could be losing custom."
Quinn took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and causing Hurley to realise that he wasn't listening.
"Well, let's see if there's anything interesting on the news," Hurley was apparently trying to save face. "I might as well do something useful."
". and, once again, the leading story of the day. For the first time in a decade, an evasion of the laws of society, a so called ghost, has been captured. This decrepit selfish man has apparently assumed a completely new identity in his attempt to cheat death, but he failed to disguise his true nature." A picture of the Professor flashed up. Quinn could take no more, the Professor had apparently been arrested and Quinn hadn't even been aware of it. His failure was complete.
Smashing Hurley squarely on the jaw, to Hurley's surprise. Quinn ran out of the hospital, no longer able to think coherently. He ran onto the busy road outside the hospital and, much to the confusion of the drivers on the road, hurled himself in front of them.
"I'm here. I'm here! I killed her," Quinn screamed.
As the traffic slowed to avoid him, a nurse came out and gently took his hand, pulling him irresistibly back into the hospital. She lay him down and treated his shock, trying to calm him down at the same time.
"What's your name?" she asked him, trying to persuade him to slow down and think more coherently.
"Quinn, Quinn Mallory," Quinn managed to croak.
"What happened?"
"My, my friend, she ..," Quinn couldn't bring himself to say it.
"What's her name? I could go and see how she is, see if you could see her." The nurse smiled down at him.
"Wade Wells."
Telling a nearby orderly to keep an eye on Quinn, the nurse went to find Wade. Quinn's stomach tied itself in knots, dreading to think what he might hear when she came back.
Five long minutes later the nurse returned.
"Your friend is very poorly, but she'll live. You got her here in time, I imagine she'd like to see you, to thank you." The nurse took Quinn's hand, and, supporting him slightly, led him to the bed where Wade lay. She was obviously only sleeping.
Quinn practically fell beside her, and gently stroking her hair, he woke her. Wade's eyes opened. It took a moment for her to focus, but then she managed to figure out where she was, and what had happened.
"Thank you," she whispered.
Quinn was relieved, but mildly surprised. "Anytime," he croaked. "But are you OK, really OK?"
His expression of concern brought the whole episode crashing back into Wade's mind. She felt terrible. "I'm sorry." She paused for breath, "Logan told me you were a monster."
Quinn looked confused.
"I'm not your friend Wade."
Startled, Quinn stumbled backwards, knocking against the wall. "Logan's here? You're Wade's double? Is my Wade OK?" This Wade seemed exhausted, Quinn knew he shouldn't push her, but he had to know.
"I don't know."
Seeing Quinn's state of panic returning, the nurse pulled him away. "Leave her be now, come and sit down. You've had a nasty shock."
Quinn shook her off, "I have to save Wade!" To the nurse's surprise he began to sprint down the corridor.
Her mission largely accomplished, Logan St Clare returned to her double's house, contemplating precisely what to do with the Wade left there. Whether to maroon her here, whether to take her Sliding and perhaps torment Quinn some other way later, or whether to simply shoot her there and then. Taking her Sliding had the most potential, particularly because Logan didn't really want to shoot anyone in cold blood, even Wade. But Wade would fight Sliding with her all the way, so perhaps it would be more trouble than it was worth. One thing was certain, Logan couldn't let the other Logan know of her plans. It had been in her eyes, the other Logan apparently had more than simply her surname in common with Quinn.
"Hi Logan," Logan St Clare greeted her local counterpart cheerfully, taking the gun from her as she did so. "The deed is done, you can take Kelly home now."
"What about Wade? I can't leave her," Kelly cried.
"You can and you will," announced Logan St Clare.
"Come on," Logan Mallory spoke quietly to Kelly, trying to encourage her to leave.
Something in her voice convinced Kelly, and the two of them left quickly, leaving the other Logan alone with Wade.
"Why are we leaving her?" Kelly exclaimed, the minute the front door had closed.
"We have to try and sort things out," Logan Mallory explained what she knew. "That isn't your sister, I think she is the girlfriend of the one Logan was talking about. I have to go back and try to put right what I helped to make possible. I can't leave her. You must go and find you sister, and, if possible, the man Logan spoke of. You must tell him what is happening. GO!" Logan had decided that Quinn was probably on her side, although she was still taking a risk. She wished she had time to meet him herself, but the other Logan could easily have more bullets for her gun. Logan couldn't take that chance with Wade's life.
Kelly headed for town. She had no idea where she would find Wade, but she had to try.
Quinn had no idea where he would find Logan. Frantically he tried to think like her. So far he had fallen for every one of her tricks, and he estimated there would be little time left for him to act. He tried calling Wade's local family, but there was no one there.
Then he saw Kelly. Rushing up to her, and in the process making her back off slightly, Quinn asked her. "Where is Wade? Do you know? Is she OK? Kelly, I need to know, if Logan's there she may kill her."
Realising who this must be, Kelly nodded. "The other Logan said she'd try to help, but Wade's at Logan's house if you think she'll need your help too." Quinn nodded, and was about to run off, when he remembered.
"Your Wade's in that hospital. She's going to be fine, though." He called, already leaving a bewildered Kelly wondering what on earth might have befallen her sister to put her in hospital.
Quinn got a taxi, praying he had enough money to make it all the way. He did.
Logan St Clare smiled to herself. Only half an hour until the Slide, and in that time she could do anything she liked with the still unconscious Wade. She toyed with the gun, fingering the trigger, and wondering whether to simply shoot her, or take her Sliding. Imagining taking Wade with her, even convincing her somehow that Quinn had abandoned her, Logan knew somehow that in reality her only alternative was to shoot Wade. Then Quinn could find her.
"So, Wade," Logan pointed the gun at her, her decision made. Wade remained still. "You think I can't shoot you in cold blood? Not even to torture Quinn? The one who condemned me to this Sliding nightmare?" Logan's voice caught a little, Sliding alone had been terrible. After a while all she had been able to this of was this moment. "There's no need to think Quinn's safe if you die either, I can't leave it at that, he'll suffer further. Later...."
Logan Mallory burst in, interrupting Logan's monologue.
"Kelly gone already?" snapped Logan St Clare, trying to hide her annoyance.
Logan Mallory said nothing. Instead, she walked right into the basement and pounced.
At the last second, Logan St Clare realised what her double was doing. She pointed the gun at Wade and fired, just as Wade began to come round. The gun misfired. There were no bullets, but Logan continued to fire, screaming in frustration. Her anger was so great, she fought off Logan Mallory easily, knocking her to the ground. When Logan Mallory failed to immediately stand again, Logan St Clare began to search her pockets for spare bullets. Meanwhile, Wade was still too unsteady to stand. Instead she frantically crawled behind some nearby equipment.
Logan finally got the bullets in as her timer began to beep.
"No!" she screamed. Putting the gun back in her pocket, she opened the vortex and reached for Wade. Seeing the hand reaching for her, Wade did the only thing she could. She kicked at as hard as she possibly could. Logan flew back and was sucked up by the void.
Shaking violently, and still slightly concussed, Wade stood up unsteadily. She nearly fell straight back down when she saw Logan Mallory slowly rising to her own feet. Wade gripped a nearby cabinet and looked around desperately for a means of escape. There was none.
Logan noticed and held her hands up in a gesture of peace. "Don't worry, she's gone."
"You're her double?" Wade asked suspiciously.
"Yes." Logan looked at the floor, ashamed to have such a double.
Wade said nothing, unsure what to make of her ordeal. Instead, she made her way round Logan and out of the house, leaning heavily on the furniture as she went, but refusing to let Logan help her.
Quinn arrived at what would be his house to see Wade stagger out. He rushed to her side immediately.
"Wade! Are you OK? Thank God she didn't take you with her." Quinn grabbed hold of her and lifted her into his arms, refusing to let go for any reason. He didn't think he could risk it just yet. He stroked her hair away from her eyes and gazed into them, to reassure himself that she really was all right.
Wade looked up at her concerned friend and smiled. "I'll be fine Quinn, don't worry."
"I'm sorry I was too late," he whispered, "I was so scared Logan would take you with her, or worse."
"Logan saved me," Wade replied, as puzzled as he was. "She said she wasn't THE Logan. I didn't really see what happened."
Quinn started his mind working. "My double here is Logan?"
"I think it must be. Why else would Logan save me, let me go? The other Logan wouldn't do that unless she'd wired me to explode or something!"
Quinn pretended to step away for a moment, then holding Wade's hand tightly, for reassurance, he knocked on the front door.
"You're Quinn? My double from another Earth?" Logan looked slightly apprehensive, it was difficult to dispel some of the fears created by the other Logan. "I'm sorry I helped her. It would've been all my fault if Wade had died."
Quinn smiled, and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "I know how it can happen, don't worry."
"So you're a Slider?" Logan wanted to be completely clear about this.
"Yes. You have a Sliding machine?" Quinn asked as Logan led the two of them into her basement. He noted the familiar equipment strewn around the room.
"Almost."
Quinn looked excited; maybe it'd give them a chance of getting home! Then he remembered. "The Professor and Remmy are in trouble. We can't even think about working on this without them." Quinn glanced longingly at the Sliding machine, itching to sort it out. "Logan, do you know where the Professor might be? I saw it on the news.."
"What! He was with you? That man! How could you let him get away with something like that? You want me to help you? No way!"
"What is it he's done?" asked Wade, assuming she'd missed the explanation somewhere along the way.
Quinn shrugged.
Logan's jaw dropped. "You don't know?"
"No!" they chorused.
"But look at him! He's way over 40, he should leave the world for the young, let them get on with their lives, rather than relying on them to look after him in his old age."
"You kill people because of their age?" Wade couldn't believe it. "I thought it was just HER, but the whole place is just as twisted as all those other worlds."
Quinn placed a hand on Wade's shoulder. Shouting at Logan for what she believed wasn't going to do them any good. "What happens when they die?"
"You mean on their birthday? Or afterwards?"
"Errr."
Logan looked at him strangely. "You really don't know, do you. On a person's 40th birthday, the monitor activates, wills them to return to their place of origin. There they are put to sleep, so that they can re-emerge from the same place, restarting their life before their body begins to fail, and assisting the next generation to become more than the previous."
"You mean reincarnation?" Quinn asked.
"Of course. My Mom made sure I was born in the same place as my Grandmother, so that I might have some of her wisdom."
"And Mom? Where is she? You let her die?"
"She's not dead. She's just passed into the next generation. I no longer needed her, and there was no reason for her to become a burden to me."
Quinn couldn't quite believe that a version of himself could so callously dismiss the death of his mother, but he didn't want to press the issue too far, so he said nothing. "Logan. We don't believe in this, and we are no where near the Professor's place of origin. He was born in England on another Earth."
"He should've thought of that before he ghosted. " Logan couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her mother had left her when she was just sixteen because of the way of society. Logan had been upset, but she had known it was right. How could these people now tell her it was wrong? She was tempted to throw them out for even suggesting that that sacrifice had been pointless and empty.
"I suppose you can be forgiven, you grew up on a different world." Logan knew in her head that she was doing the right thing to ignore their words, but in her heart she still fought to remain in control. "But I can't help you do something so wrong. You should trust me, allow us to believe for you, and your friend will be fine. Let us do what should be done without interference."
Wade opened her mouth to continue the argument, but realised its futility. Instead, to Quinn's astonishment, she said, "I suppose I'd better leave you two to work on the Sliding machine. If it gives us a chance to get home." And she began to back out of the basement.
Quinn turned to Logan. "Excuse me a moment." He followed Wade up the stairs. "Wade! What do you think you're doing. We can't abandon the Professor."
She raised her eyebrows. "Of course we can't, but Logan is never going to agree to this, she may even turn us in. I will rescue the Professor without your help, you can try to get us home."
Quinn's jaw dropped. He was relieved to see the fight returning to her, but there was no way he could leave her to do something this dangerous alone. "I can't leave you to do that," he whispered sharply. "You could get killed."
Wade glared at him. "So could you if you go, and I can't fix the Sliding machine. Logan will wonder if we both leave now."
"More like she's going to know precisely why we left," Quinn agreed. "We should say we have to find Remmy. He wasn't on the news, and it really is true, we have to check he's OK." Wade nodded, it was the best they could do. Quinn returned to the basement.
"We have to go and find our other friend too. Rembrandt, he disappeared this morning." Quinn shuddered to think of all that had happened that day, and it was only early evening. "I'll come and find you tomorrow, see if we have any hope of fixing your Sliding machine before we're due to Slide."
Logan nodded. Potential help was better than nothing. Briefly, it crossed her mind that they had left surprisingly suddenly, but then her work called to her, and she turned back to it.
"Thank you," Wade called from the stairs. But Logan was already oblivious to their presence.
"Back to the hotel?" Quinn looked down at Wade.
"Back to the hotel," she agreed, and with a much steadier step, she began the walk back to town with Quinn at her side.
Everything was quiet by the time they got back to the centre of San Francisco. They didn't even talk much, each of them lost in contemplation. Quinn still shuddered to think of his terrible afternoon, and intermittently had to touch Wade gently to check that she really was there.
Wade was also still a little shaken, although her experience had in many ways been less traumatic. Thinking through what had happened, she realised just how little of it she actually remembered, and decided to ask Quinn about it when he was feeling more like himself.
Finally they reached the Dominion, and clambered up the stairs, ready to collapse into bed, but knowing that they still had much work to do. Inside, a surprise was waiting for them. Rembrandt, alive and well, lay sleeping on one of the beds.
"Remmy!" Wade rushed over to him and hugged him. "We were so worried, where were you?"
"Where have you been, girl?" Remmy returned her hug. "I got out hours ago."
Wade looked up at Quinn who spoke. "It's a long story Remmy, we'll tell you on the next world. Do you know what happened to the Professor?" Quinn prayed that Remmy might have a few ideas at least.
"I don't know. I thought he'd come back, that they'd bring him like they brought me. But like I said, it's been hours, and no sign."
"Where were you?" Quinn persisted.
"This hellhole on the other side of town, they stuck some gizmo in my brain and said they'd give me a year to live."
"A year?" chorused Quinn and Wade. "I hope we don't come back here anytime soon then," Quinn added.
"Me too Q-ball," Remmy agreed wholeheartedly, before collapsing once more to sleep.
"He must still be getting over the operation he was talking about," observed Quinn. "Looks like we're on our own."
"How long til we Slide, Quinn?" Wade looked worried.
"23 hours and counting."
"We have to wake him again, he might know something!" Wade had visions of being stuck in this nightmare indefinitely, and in 29 years they would all be too old.
"Remmy, Remmy, wake up! You have to tell us about the place they took you to."
Suddenly, at Wade's shaking, Rembrandt sat up. He looked alarmed.
"I remember.," he looked surprised. "The thing they put in me, they want to know who I meet, you two have to get away from here!" Remmy remembered what the nurse had said, "be careful who you see."
"But what about the Professor, how can we get him out?" Quinn pressed.
"No way Q-ball, there's so many guards.. Leave NOW."
Remmy sagged back into bed, and was once more unconscious.
"That was cryptic; now what?" Wade turned to Quinn.
"Well I think we should follow his advice for the moment. If they are watching him then we don't want to get captured before we can get to the Professor."
"Or at all if we can help it," added Wade, as she reluctantly agreed. "But where do we go? Get another room in this hotel? We've got almost no money, and no time to earn it."
Quinn grabbed her, and dragged her out of the hotel. "We can think about that outside." Wade practically flew down the stairs after him.
Back on the street, which was now in darkness, the two of them were temporarily stuck for ideas, and rapidly growing too tired to think straight.
"I can't rescue the Professor in this state," groaned Wade. "I can barely walk!"
"And after all that sleep you got this afternoon," Quinn chuckled, looking into her eyes for any signs of after effects of the knocks she'd taken. He had to admit, he hadn't exactly had a restful day, and they would stand a far better chance of saving the Professor with clear heads. If that didn't make it too late.
"Do you think your sister would let us stay?"
"What! My sister? When did you see her? What happened this afternoon? You have to tell me," Wade had an uneasy feeling it wasn't going to be a pleasant story. "Is Kelly OK?"
"Kelly's fine, don't worry. But you're right, maybe she's had enough trouble for one day." Quinn deliberately avoided telling Wade about the afternoon, he didn't think he could talk about it to anyone just at the moment. "Maybe we should visit Logan."
"What? Are you crazy? Go back there? But we barely got away without being reported last time. She could turn us in at any time, we can't do it."
"There's no reason for Kelly to be any different, she was brought up with this system too."
". I can't believe Kelly would go along with this..." Wade realised what she was saying, ". I'm sorry, I know Logan's your double. I don't mean it like that, you're probably right."
Quinn looked so miserable that Wade had to try and comfort him. "Really, maybe a female version of you is just naturally inclined to be less wonderful!"
Quinn smiled half-heartedly. "I dread to see the day when we meet a male version of you then!" But Quinn couldn't stay miserable for long, he could see why Wade would mistrust Logan, since he himself was pretty dubious. Nonetheless, he thought they should pay Logan a visit.
"Logan said she had successful wormholes, but they only stayed in this dimension, and I have an idea that could be quite useful!"
Wade turned to him. "You do? How are we going to convince her, though?"
Quinn grinned, "I'm working on it. She's my double, right? I ought to be able to think of something!"
With renewed purpose, the two of them began the trek to Logan's house on foot. Despite their exhaustion, they now moved quickly towards their destination.
Logan had obviously been busy working on her Sliding machine again when Quinn and Wade arrived. Her eyelids drooped as though they had already long since fallen asleep and left Logan in some intermediate state. Still, Logan was obviously quite pleased to see Quinn, and soon they were working on her problems.
It was 3am by the time Logan finally decided to go to sleep. Wade lay curled up, fast asleep in the corner of the basement, having long since given up trying to work out what was going on. Gently Quinn shook her awake.
"Wade? Wade, time to wake up, come on."
Everything was still blurred. Wade shook her head to clear it, and saw Quinn staring down at her. "I'm awake, what's the plan?"
Quinn smiled. "We go back to Remmy."
"After all that?" Wade was amazed. "What sort of plan is that?"
"We're going to get caught," he grinned.
"What!"
"And use Logan's timer to find the Professor and escape?"
Wade realised what he'd been getting at. "You're a genius," she laughed, and threw her arms round his neck.
"Ready?" Quinn let go of Wade and began picking his way across the equipment to the stairs.
Wade looked up at him. "No, but let's get going."
"You don't have to come. You've been through enough on this world already."
"And you haven't?" Wade saw him swallow, and was determined. "I'm coming," she announced firmly.
Quinn nodded, knowing better than to argue, and the two of them made their way back to the Dominion in silence, each contemplating what they were about to do.
The hardest part was waiting at the Dominion. They couldn't decide if it was safe to go to sleep so they sat on one of the beds, watching Remmy sleep.
"What if they don't come?" Wade whispered.
"I don't know," admitted Quinn. "Try guessing the co-ordinates on the timer I suppose. I've never tried local Sliding though, that could take forever!"
Wade sighed, wishing she had a better idea. Waiting to get intentionally captured was surprisingly difficult. The urge to run away was almost overpowering. Then, she had an idea.
"Quinn?" He turned to her again. "Suppose it's certain actions that cause them to come and get us."
"Like what?" Quinn didn't see what she was getting at.
"Like interfering with that device Remmy was talking about."
"Of course! You're brilliant," Quinn kissed the top of her head happily, and leapt to Remmy's side. "So where is it?"
"He said in his brain."
Quinn quickly found the device in the back of Rembrandt's neck, and beckoned to her. "Look Wade, it's incredible." He was so awe-struck by the monitor that he was still staring at it when the room was broken in to by soldiers a few minutes later. As he allowed them to handcuff him with only a token struggle, Quinn prayed that they wouldn't find Logan's timer, hidden down his trousers. He noticed that Rembrandt remained undisturbed.
Quinn and Wade sat and looked at one another nervously as they were driven away in a large black van. With every jolt they both prayed that they were truly getting closer to rescuing the Professor.
Within 15 minutes of finding Rembrandt's monitor, Quinn and Wade had been locked in a cell and left there for the night, their handcuffs removed.
"Perfect," whispered Quinn, peering out of between the bars in the door. "No one round here, I'll just save the co-ordinates."
Quinn activated Logan's glowing green wormhole, and they quickly dived in away from their little cell.
They landed in complete darkness. Dusting herself off, Wade groaned. "So where are we now? Any idea?"
"No, but hold on, I think I've found the Professor's cigarette lighter in my pocket. I knew I had it somewhere," he smiled triumphantly. Uninterested in looking at his surroundings, Quinn peered at the timer and set their return co-ordinates for the corridor outside their cell. "With luck they'll keep all prisoners together. I'll set it for 3 minutes."
Wade nodded and braced herself. Soon they were back in the mysterious prison, as planned. "You check that way," she whispered, and they split up to peer through the bars of each cell door.
Quinn found the Professor, apparently unconscious near the end of the corridor. "Wade," he called, as quietly as possible. "I've found him." She didn't respond. "WADE!" At his second call, she turned, but unfortunately he also set off a number of alarms.
"Which way?" asked Wade, imagining she could already hear the thundering of hundreds of soldiers coming for them.
"Can you pick this lock?" asked Quinn, remembering her talent for releasing handcuffs.
"Maybe. Any wire?" Wade watched the corridor as Quinn searched his pockets frantically. "Too late. They're coming..."
She was interrupted by the beeping of the timer as the soldiers rounded the corner and instantly saw them. Quinn opened the vortex hurriedly, and pushed Wade in before him, as she stood frozen to the spot.
Once more they landed in a dark room. There was no way of knowing whether it was the same one.
"Quinn? Did you make it?" called Wade.
"I'm here, Wade." Quinn took out the lighter and began to survey their surroundings, but was too tired to register anything but a lack of immediate danger. "I think we'd better wait a while. I know the co-ordinates to get the Professor now."
"What if they move him?"
But Quinn had already sagged against a wall, and was fast asleep, he was so exhausted.
"Quinn! This is Logan's basement." Wade realised that Quinn was so tired he was no longer thinking coherently. "We have to risk going back now." Wade shook him. "Now. Come on!"
As Quinn groaned the lights came on, forcing both of them to squint.
"On the contrary, WADE, you're not going anywhere. I can see why my double hated you so much now, and I thought she was wrong to hate you, I thought she was insane. I didn't help her! How I regret that now. Give me my timer. NOW!"
Logan threw herself at Quinn, who barely managed to defend himself. He held her off while he opened the vortex back to the Professor's cell, but Logan managed to stop him from jumping in, and snatched the timer from him. Wade leaped into the wormhole before anyone could stop her.
"Wade! No, not alone." Quinn panicked. If Logan altered the timer now it would no longer bring Wade back automatically. He had to get it back. In desperation Quinn hit Logan, knocking her out. He hated to do it, but occasionally he could go against his principles. He tried to think of her as Logan St Clare, but all that created was a regret that perhaps he had changed her to make her more like the other Logan, their double. All he could do then was pray. The timer was set to return Wade after 30 seconds, so he didn't have to wait long.
Wade arrived successfully in the cell, and immediately leaped to the Professor's side. The Professor looked awful. These people had obviously treated him really badly, but she had no time to worry about that. She didn't know how long she had.
"Professor, wake up!" The Professor stirred in his sleep.
"What are you imbeciles doing?" he muttered.
"Professor! It's Wade, wake up." Wade knew she had no hope of moving him unless he woke up. Outside, the alerted guards were fumbling with the keys; she could hear them, they wouldn't be long. She had to get the Professor on his feet.
After what seemed like forever, but was actually only a few seconds, he opened his eyes. She managed to get him to his feet, just in time to push him into the newly opened wormhole. As she jumped in to follow him, a guard grabbed her ankle and began pulling her out of the void. She struggled violently.
Quinn caught the Professor as he landed with his usual style, and the two of them waited for Wade. The wormhole was beginning to fold, and neither of them dared turn away for a second.
At the very last moment, Wade shot out, almost flying straight over Quinn's shoulder. As he caught her, Quinn finally dared to look at the Professor. "We made it!" he shouted.
The three of them left Logan and her timer in her basement. Then, as it was beginning to grow light, sought out a hiding place for the remaining hours of their Slide.
In the end they broke into the shed behind Wade and Kelly's house, and squeezed between the garden tools. Soon they were fast asleep, despite the discomfort.
A few hours later, Quinn woke with a start. Checking the timer he realised that they only had 30 minutes remaining before the Slide, and Remmy was still at the hotel. He scrambled to his feet, waking the others in the process.
"What time is it?" Wade murmured.
"Nearly 6pm. We Slide soon," Quinn looked at her. "Remmy."
The Professor grunted. "Next time I choose a different hotel." He waved his arms at the garden tools and wooden floor.
"How are you feeling, Professor?" Wade asked.
"As if I just got kidnapped, escaped, and slept in a shed. Blistering idiots!"
Quinn and Wade laughed.
"Will you be OK here while I get Remmy?" Quinn asked.
"I'll come my boy, save time."
"You can't, they'll spot you straightaway. You were all over the news."
The Professor grunted again, but relaxed. Obviously he was going nowhere.
"You stay too, Wade, they saw you last night," Quinn added as she stood up.
"What about my double?"
"She was in hospital; they'll know she didn't leave."
"Hospital?" Wade and the Professor chorused, slightly alarmed.
"Will she be OK?" Wade asked, still hating to think that they could've caused anything like that.
"She'll be fine," Quinn continued, refusing to explain.
Quinn was about to leave, having scrounged some money off the Professor, when
Wade held him back. "I'll try calling first. I'm sure Kelly will
let me, and it'll leave us with better chances. They saw you too last
night, if you remember."
Sure enough, Kelly was quite happy to let Wade call Remmy, and Remmy sounded
far better. He said he'd come straight to the house, but remembering the
homing device, they amended that to a little way from the house. They
would have to risk exposure in their last minutes on this Earth. When
Kelly also explained what she knew of the previous day's events, Wade couldn't
believe it. As she returned to the shed and told the others the
arrangements, she made up her mind to be especially nice to Quinn on the next
Slide.
The four of them met successfully just 5 minutes before the Slide. As they waited impatiently for the timer to hit zero, there were already signs of occasional passers-by staring at the Professor, and of potential trackers of Rembrandt. It was probably more tense than only just meeting up in time, as was more usual.
Finally the moment came, and they safely Slid out, glad to leave this world behind them.
In her basement, Logan was back at work on her Sliding machine. After Quinn's help the previous night, it was very close to finished. Soon Logan would be a Slider herself. She wondered what she would do if she ran into Quinn again, whether she would get her revenge. But she knew what a desire for revenge had done for her counterpart. Logan smiled, she had so many worlds to explore, thanks to Quinn. She chose to forget what had happened.
The Sliders landed with a characteristic thump, back in Golden Gate park. As Quinn helped Remmy up, he noticed a number of people already staring at them.
"Oh no, not again," groaned Remmy.
"Maybe it was just the wormhole," suggested Quinn, doubting it already as people continued to stare.
Then a man walked up to the Professor and asked him crossly, "Why did you let
them out? They're never old enough to be trusted."
