4.17 Going From Bad to Worse

"Dad where are we?" Keenan's voice was hushed, worried despite his relief at not being where he was before.

"Wherever we are it's not with Silver," Adam said coming alongside him.

Nodding Keenan leaned into him "anywhere is better than where we were..."

Squeezing his son's shoulder Adam chuckled "I think we should get some rest. Who ever saved us will be coming to see us."

"What? Why?" Keenan asked following his dad over to the twin beds in the dark room.

"There has to be a reason why she saved us and brought us here," Adam explained "otherwise she would have sent us home." He yawned yearning to rest his head on the soft pillow. Close his eyes. Let himself switch off without fear of being molested.

"Dad," Keenan's voice carried a hint of worry "what do you think she wants?" He had no idea who she was or what she looked like. One minute he had been alone worried sick about what Silver was doing to his dad than the next he was here being hugged by his dad.

"I don't know son," Adam stretched out on the bed "which is why we need to get some rest. When she comes we need our wits about us." His voice drifted off, his even breathing and soft snore indicating he was already asleep.

Keenan glanced across at his dad. It had been days since his dad had been able to sleep. He yawned wanting to follow his example. Fear kept his mind awake, alert to every sound around him. He wanted crawl into the next bed beside his dad like he did when he was little. His biggest fear than had been the monster in the closet or the darkness under the bed. He squeezed his eyes shut willing sleep 

to overtake him.

***

Alanon silently shook his head at the expectant faces of the two men sitting around his table. "I'm sorry" he muttered "without Adam the werewolves and vampires won't grant us excess to the vault."

"They can't do that," Chase cried slamming a fist onto the table sending their dinner dishes clattering and crashing to the floor.

"I'm barely able to keep them from declaring war," Alanon shouted at the man "I know your frustrated but you have to understand they think this is all an elaborate conspiracy by the humans. Take their ruler and the heir in the hopes that would somehow leave Moonlight Falls powerless." 

Alanon stopped running a shaky hand through his long hair. His eyes sparkled as his magic bubbled to the surface. He had helped Adam bring peace to Moonlight Falls and now all their hard work was falling apart, "you know as well as I do how humans will react when a bunch of supernaturals descend upon their cities and homes."

"What can we do?" Caleb asked "we've talked until we turned blue. They won't listen. We know what needs to be done to correct this. They're being unreasonable." He had never liked confrontation or violence of any kind. Had never asserted himself when bullies pushed him around when he was a kid. Maybe living two lifetimes had changed him. Maybe this time he had something worth fighting for. Images of his son and daughter came to mind. "They're my children," he stated standing up "that's all I care about. Let them go to war if they're too stupid to help us."

"You don't mean that," Chase stood attempting to put a hand on his brother-in-laws shoulder.

Caleb turned giving the man a hostile glare before stomping from the room. The trouble was he did mean it. As much as it frightened him to admit it he did with every fiber of his being. His children were everything to him. He knew what life was like without them. He had always wanted children, longed for them but never did. It was like an unknown power had kept him from having what he wanted most. He had known a life without having the love of his life. His mind conjured up an image of Star than one of Drew as he held her tight after losing their first child, the oldest of the triplets. He'd be damned if he lost another child. Not if it was within his power to prevent it.

***

"Well?" the impatience in Don's voice brought a fleeting smile to Peter's face. 

"I can operate it," Peter said stepping back "that's not the problem." He glanced at the boy's crest fallen stance "I'm sorry."

"But you said you could operate it," Don insisted "I don't see what the problem is."

Peter understood all too well Don's desire to get home. To be with his family. He had felt the same way when he had been trapped in the future. He took a deep breath preparing himself for the worst when he delivered the bad news. "Our dimension is closed. We can only go from one dimension to another if they're both open."

"Why is it closed?" Everett asked showing the first sign of interest in the portal since Peter started working on it several weeks ago. "It's never been closed before," he added his brow furrowing deeply.

"I don't know," Peter rubbed his chin "my guess would be someone closed it over there."

"So we're still trapped," Don growled pounding a fist into a nearby wall.

"At least you're not still aging backwards," Everett pointed out without thinking.

Whirling around Don glared at him "some comfort," he groused storming from the room stopping long enough to pick up Malachi. He was worried about the boy. It had been days since he had spoken more than a few words and even those had been mostly baby babble. Not the intelligent speech he was capable of.

He set the boy on his lap as he sat on a bench. A couple of people passed by commenting on how nice it was to see a teenager taking care of his little brother. If they only knew he thought. Once they had left and he had grown tired of the senseless speech bubbling from Malachi he demanded "what's wrong with you?"

Malachi gave him a mute glare before shrugging "nothing" he mumbled.

For months Malachi had been the only person Don had to talk to. He had come to rely upon him. Now since they had been kind of rescued he felt more and more isolated. "Why don't you talk to me anymore?" his voice was low sure he already knew the answer.

"I'm a nineteen year old trapped in a three year old's body," Malachi told him his voice shaking "I've been poked and prodded and for what? It can't be reversed. All my dreams and hopes are gone."

As much as Don wanted to tell him everything would get better he knew it wasn't true. Malachi would have to grow up all over again. It was different for him. Heath wouldn't age and sooner or later Don would once again surpass him in age. He would grow old while Heath remained the same. If anything this was a blessing in disguise. It gave them more time. "I'm sorry," he muttered feeling how inadequate those simple words really were.

"What's going to become of me?" Malachi asked "I can't go home. My parents would freak out. I can't be with Kimberly." He wiped at his eyes "it would have been better if I had ceased to exist."

"Don't talk like that," Don demanded "I'll think of something. I promise I'll think of something." 

Already Don was thinking of people he knew who might want a child. He smiled knowing the perfect couple. Now he only had to get home and convince them they were perfect.

***

Heath noticed how the werewolves bristled every time their human guests left the house. He worried for his children's safety as they went to and from school. "Mom" he said catching Beverly as she came inside from shopping "do you know what's going on?"

Placing the bags on the table she turned to him sighing "the vampires and werewolves are on edge.  Without your father here to control the chaos they're talking war."

"War" the word left him feeling desolate like someone had yanked the rug out from beneath him "why?"

"Suspicion mainly. Old hatreds. Fear," she put her hands on the counter "it's not safe to be human right now."

Nodding Heath could feel the old paralyzing fear gripping his heart. He wished his dad or Don were here to help him. "Let's gather the kids together. It's time for a family meeting."

"You don't think we're in any danger do you?" she asked "we're related to Adam..."

He gave her a look that clearly said she was being naive. "It's better safe than sorry," he said. He had spent too long being chased by things that were beyond his control to believe anything like a blood relationship to their missing ruler would stop someone with hate in their hearts. They would see human first than attack. He felt like a frontiersman circling the wagons to secure against hostile Indians.

He reached in his mind to Kimberly "honey it's time to broadcast to the family to come home. Use the emergency broadcast so they know it's not a drill."

She complied with his request without question. Now wasn't the time for pointless discussion. Once she had completed her task she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder. Looking up with startled eyes she found herself looking in the hostile eyes of a werewolf. The werewolf was someone she knew, her grandfather's chief guard, the elder of the werewolves.

"I have the girl" he growled into a device as she tried to break free of his grip.

Her strength paled in comparison to his. Unable to escape she did the only thing she could do. She called out to Heath in her mind "daddy they have me. I don't know why they want me or where they're taking me."

***

Phoenix woke up lazily stroking the soft light green hair of the woman cradled in his arms. This was the way he wished he could wake up all the time. He knew they were breaking every rule in the book by being together. They were being selfish for doing something that would put both their dimensions in jeopardy. He knew he should put an end to this. His arms tightened around her, it was much much too late for that already.

He put a finger to her nose smiling when she batted  his hand away. He did it again with the same results. The third time she growled "do it again and I'll send a lightning bolt up your butt..."

Before she could stop him he leaned over kissing her soft lips cutting off her words of protest. 

"Morning sunshine," he said as they pulled apart to catch their breaths.

"Sunshine huh?" she stretched her arms up almost purring.

His eyes followed her every movement, taking in her beauty. If only things were different he thought as he sat up holding his head in his hands. He should never have let things get this far. He felt a light touch on his bare shoulder. He looked into her eyes finding a profound melancholia in them. 

Squeezing his eyes shut he murmured "I wish things could be different."

Stroking his face she gently kissed his soft full lips "so do I. That's why we must savor the time we have together."

"What about the risks? The people who depend upon us to..."

"Shh" she pulled him close "this is our time. No worries no concerns about anyone but us."

"I know, it's just" he wanted nothing more than to let Quinn soothe his worries away. If only he hadn't volunteered. He would have had the life he always wanted. He thought he was doing the right thing "what if we get caught?" He couldn't stop thinking of all the people in his dimension. They didn't even know who he was or how easily their lives could be erased, reset, wiped from existence, forgotten in a blink of an eye. It was an awesome responsibility. One he didn't want to mess up if he could help it.

Sighing Quinn moved away from him. Her thoughts dwelling on the chaos in her own dimension that was now bleeding over into his. "I'm sorry," she said standing up "I should be going."

"Quinn" he said after watching her a moment "you know there isn't any other way."

"I know" she murmured giving him a sketchy smile. Her heart was shattering into a million shards. She should never have let things become so intimate between them. She should have kept things casual. He was so young, so inexperienced compared to the last dimension watcher. Phoenix's dimension had been reset once before. She knew Phoenix would do anything to keep that from happening again. She hugged her arms around herself regretting this momentary respite from their loneliness.

"Will I see you again?" he asked standing up from where they had made love just a few hours before. 

Her eyes roved across his exquisite body "you know we can't," she tried to keep from looking into his beautiful blue eyes afraid she'd cave and agree to come back, to continue what they both knew was a bad idea.

"You should go then," he said knowing all along this was goodbye but he had to ask "what about us?"

"There is no us," she cried her chest heaving crushing her "there can never be an us."

***

Quinn waited until Caleb Gray was alone before approaching him. Remotely she wondered what it would be like to be a mother. To have children she cared about more than life itself. It was a foreign concept to her. She was a selfish being, grown more so over the years she had spent alone watching over this dimension.

Being with Phoenix reminded her of what it was like to be alive. His innocence made her want to try again. Phoenix was supposed to be only a harmless flirtation. A distraction from the monotony. She never expected him to fall in love with her. Worse yet she never expected to care. She started off using him for her temporary amusement.

Shaking her head it didn't matter now. She wasn't going back. She had to fix all that was wrong with her dimension. If she fixed hers his would right itself. She owed him that. If it worked the way she thought it would the counsel would never find out about them.

"Caleb Gray?" she said approaching him. When she let Emit bring him here from Audric's dimension she knew Caleb's descendants would play a key role in saving this dimension. It was the only reason she had allowed it.

"Yes," he said turning towards her confusion lighting his face.

"I have a proposition for you," she told him amused by his wariness.

His eyes narrowed as he looked around. He knew he shouldn't have separated himself from Alanon's protection not while things were so volatile. "Who are you? he demanded.

"Someone who can help you," she evaded his question.

"How?" he asked interested despite himself.

"Your children are stuck in the future," she paused for effect "I can bring them home."

He stared at her blankly as if he didn't comprehend her words. "How?" he asked grabbing her arm "tell me now."

She laughed at his concern "let me go and I'll tell you."

With effort he released her arm. He watched her warily like he was afraid that she might vanish. Taking a step back he growled "how?"

She walked a small circle around him knowing she was just increasing his frustration and helplessness as she prolonged his wait. Would she be any different if it were her children? Impossible to know since she could never have children of her own. Wiping the thought from her mind she said "first you will have to agree to my terms."

"I knew there was a catch," he said his hands curling into fists. He took a step away trying to ignore her offer.

"What, leaving so soon?" she asked "you haven't even heard what the terms are."

"I don't need to know what they are," he told her anger causing his voice to become low and harsh "this is just a trick of some kind."

"You're smarter than you look," she quipped with a smile "I assure you I'm no trickster. I can help you. It requires a lot of power to bring someone back from the future. It can't be done for free." She stepped in front of him "aren't your children's lives worth it? The future as it is now is a dangerous place. They could die while you argue the moral issues of my offer."

"I...I'm not," he stammered torn between what he felt was right and the need to bring his children home.

"Let me show you what's happening right now," she offered as the air around them shimmered. Soon he was staring at a scene that looked like it could be from the most recent end of the world movie. He half expected zombies but mutants were just as bad. He squeezed his eyes shut unable to watch more as his children fought for their lives, "make it stop please," he begged.

"Do you agree to my terms?" she asked nonchalantly as if she hadn't seen a potentially dangerous situation unfolding before her a few moments ago.

"I...I can't," he stammered feeling as if he were condemning his children to a horrible death. His mind swirling with doubts as he wondered what would happen if he agreed to her terms. He had no way of knowing if she could do what she claimed.

Nodding she gave him a knowing smirk "I'll give you something you want to prove that I am capable of doing what I say I can."

With something like the sound of thunder she was gone and in her place lay a young girl with pink hair. "Emmaline," Caleb cried running to her. Dropping to his knees he held his daughter against his chest crying knowing the next time he was asked he'd do whatever that woman asked.

Author's Note: To learn more about Audric's dimension read A Graying World. To know more about Caleb and his family read Not So Ordinary Life.