DISCLAIMER: This story involves three series that are not of my creation: Sliders, The Tomorrow People (new series), and Highlander: The Series. So let's get those credits done first....
Sliders: This is the creation and property of Fox television and St. Clare Entertainment. The premise of the series and the characters of Quinn, Wade, Arturo, Rembrandt, Amanda, and Hurley originated there in some form or another.
The Tomorrow People (new series): This is the creation and property of Roger Price and Thames studios. The characters of Adam, Megabyte, Kevin, and Lisa originated there in some form or another.
Highlander: The Series: This is the creation and property of someone who is not me and someone I'm sure Wendy or Selma will inform me of. Selma tells me it's Gregory Widen, Panzer/Davis Productions, and Rysher Entertainment. The concepts of the Watchers and Immortals in general originated there in some form or another.
ABOUT TF: This story is my first entry into Tomorrow's Future, a collaborative effort involving Wendy Kelley, Selma McCrory, and soon Stephen Fitch. This is a crossover universe involving the above listed series. For more information on this project and previous stories written in this universe, check out the Tomorrow's Future home page at:
http://www.calweb.com/~smccrory/fanfic/tf.html
The characters of Michael Gardner and Greer Lewis are the creation of Selma McCrory and I am borrowing them with permission. Same thing with the character of Charity, except she belongs to Wendy Kelley.
ABOUT PRIME FACTOR: This story takes place back in May of 1996, and therefore falls along the Sliders episodic line before Obsession. With this piece, the Sliders are being introduced into the universe and therefore it's a good starter story for the bulk of you unfamiliar with this project.
However, because of the introduction of Sliders into this universe, I not only had to have the fearless four visit this alternate universe, but place doubles there so they could be part of the world beyond this story. Therefore, expect stories to also introduce alternate versions of TF later down the road. :)
Also, because it's a crossover and a looong one at that, there will be parts that won't contain anything from Sliders, TP, or HL. Watch for in jokes, particularly the coffee joke for both SLFIC and TPFICT readers and how many events in this story have been eluded to in my posted fanfic since Five Minutes posted nearly a year ago.
And because this piece is so long and I couldn't control myself, it ended up being rather campy in a mild sense. Don't take this too seriously because it shouldn't be. Don't get bent out of shape if it swerves off in a tongue in cheek direction. It's just a fanfic story.
THANKS: My collaborators, betas (far, far too many to name for this sucker) and fans. Without the inspiration granted from the series above, this wouldn't have happened, either.
POSTING: Every Tuesday and Friday until the puppy wraps up. Send any and all feedback, good/bad/ugly to me at kyrie@dnai.com.
Now, without further ado, let's see if it's worth all the hype....
*May 1996*
They slide in. It's not home. Let's eat.
Wade disagrees. It looks the same as she remembers it being. So the fog is thicker than usual at this time of year in San Francisco. It could happen.
Rembrandt laughs. Next she'll try to convince him that it could hit nearly a hundred degrees there in the fall. Shaking his head, he continues to walk along with the others. He stops walking and glances at Wade, who has done the same. "You weren't..."
"No, were you?" Wade could have sworn he laughed at her thoughts, but that's impossible. No one can read minds, much less go around conversing mentally with others. That's the kind of stuff cheesy science fiction shows have people doing, and this is hardly....
He shakes his head adamantly. "Course not. Just because we travel to other dimensions doesn't mean we're anything other than ordinary people with extraordinary transportation." Winking at her, Rembrandt takes her arm and they rejoin the other two.
"We have an undetermined amount of time until the window, which should be ample to determine whether or not this is indeed our home." Arturo flips the timer shut.
Quinn glances at the Professor. "An *undetermined* amount of time? This doesn't concern you?"
"No more than it usually does," Arturo responds nonchalantly.
Wade sighs. "Get with the program, Quinn. She doesn't want to figure that part right now. While she could give us a number now, what's the point? She just ends up changing it later, leaving us unnecessarily confused and stressed."
She? She who? The only she around Quinn knows of is Wade. "Oh. Of course." He pretends this makes sense to him.
Arturo nods. "All that matters is that there *will* be enough time to determine whether or not this is home."
"Come on, Professor! We all know it isn't," Rembrandt adds.
Wade hits him. "Shut up. What Quinn doesn't know won't hurt him."
The growl in their stomachs reminds the four interdimensional travelers that the quest for food would be the ideal excuse to return to the plot. As they wander toward the business district, the aroma of polish sausage fills the air. Unfortunately, the first hot dog stand they encounter has an unusually long line. After passing approximately twenty stands with similar crowds, Arturo groans and stops at one. "I suppose it isn't going to get better at any of these, and this is about all we can afford if we want to get a room at the Dominion this stay."
Rembrandt searches his pockets for any money he might have forgotten about. "Who's idea was the Dominion, anyway? Nice place and all, but not with the way we don't rake in the bucks...."
"It's not like we're ever going to stay in a Motel 12 again after getting that one room with all the roaches," Wade responds.
Quinn sighs. "Come on, Wade. It wasn't that bad."
"Easy for you to say." She doesn't understand how anyone could stand having cockroaches crawling all over them. It gives her the creeps just thinking about it.
Rembrandt nods not only because he agrees, but because he's allowed to at this point in the story. It's a good thing, too, because it allows a man to notice him that normally might not have. The man's stroll slows to a near halt when he hears Rembrandt's voice, and turns his head in the direction of the voice. He approaches the four, and taps the singer on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Mr. Brown...I'm quite a big fan. Could I have your autograph?"
"Why...why of *course* you can! A big fan, eh? What's your name, there?" It's been a long time since anyone has given Rembrandt this sort of attention. Maybe Wade is on to something. This could be home.
"Steve. All I have on me is a receipt. One I'll be sure to frame!" His face brightens with each passing moment.
Rembrandt turns the receipt to the blank side and scribbles his name across it. Smiling, he hands it back to Steve. "Oh, it's nothing to make a fan happy. Keep listening to the records...and, who knows? There might be a comeback in my future!"
"Comeback?" Steve pauses, confused. Reading the signature on the receipt, he laughs. "Oh, *I* get it! All that talent, and a comedian to boot! Thanks again, Mr. *Rembrandt* Brown! Rembrandt Brown...that's got to be the best laugh I've had all week!" He heads back his original direction while his laughter lingers among the four interdimensional travelers.
They look at Rembrandt's disappointed face. Wade puts her arm around him. "Look at it this way: if 'comeback' and 'Rembrandt Brown' in the same sentence is *that* funny, this may very well be home!"
****
Home. It's a thought another Wade isn't ready to deal with. Home means the end to her well deserved vacation, and a return to work. The latter depresses her more. Which is surprising, considering she spent two weeks in the company of Greer Lewis. She has nothing against Greer, but the woman does tend to have her Plathlike moments. If Wade could convince someone like Michael Gardner to marry *her*, depression would be the last thing on her mind.
Wade met Michael first years before. He was single then. In fact, she found him fascinating the moment she saw him, and it wasn't like it had anything to do with anything in particular. She wasn't ever attracted to him to her recollection...*drawn* to him might be a better term for it. Michael was clearly too old for her, and Wade knew it. She was still in high school, come to think of it. Now the age difference doesn't seem that big of a deal. It's only five or so years if she remembers correctly.
Michael had come into the computer store she worked at in San Francisco. She had asked him if he needed any help, and unlike the 99.9% of the male clientele, he actually acted like he thought she *could* help him as a sales clerk, and it wasn't because he was hitting on her. They made a bit of small talk, and when she rang up his purchase at the register and told him to let her know if he ever needed anything in the future, she *meant* it.
He must have known that, because periodically he would call or stop by to pick something up, specifically requesting her services. Once he even brought in his laptop, wanting to upgrade his hard drive. Wade volunteered to do it personally, and couldn't resist peeking at a file here and there. Okay, so maybe she didn't just 'peek'. But both 'peek' and 'hack' have four letters in them, don't they? There's not much of a difference between the two with Wade's computer talents. Perhaps there was something in Michael's hard drive that would shed some light on who this guy was. Why she needed to know more about him is beyond her, but at the time, she simply did.
That was when she found out about the Watchers.
The whole notion fascinated her, and she did something that was a million times worse than sneaking into these files to begin with - she downloaded copies to floppy so she could read them at home. Only thing was a lot of it still went over her head. Sounded like some of the RPGs her past boyfriends would play, but Michael seemed too old to be into that sort of thing. Maybe he was just insane or in the FBI. She even considered looking into some of the information further, but researching on top of her school deadlines and this dumb job just exhausted her.
More questions than answers entered her mind, and other than investigating the information herself, there was only one person to ask. Wade dreaded broaching the subject with Michael, because she was ashamed of the means she acquired the knowledge. When she asked him quietly about it, he told her to meet him at his hotel room once she got off so they could speak about it freely.
The initial portion of the visit had its awkward moments. Michael spent most of it avoiding the topic of the cryptic files. He steered the conversation towards her whenever he could, asking her all sorts of questions about herself and her life. Personal interrogation was clearly not what she had in mind. Despite this, Wade still politely responded to each and every one of his questions. Even the more personal ones. It may have been guilt on her part for violating his privacy. After a couple of hours, her patience paid off.
Michael explained in detail what the files glazed over. The Watchers were a secret organization that chronicled the lives of Immortals, a special breed that lives forever. People that do not die. Technically they do die, but only if beheaded. At the time, Wade recalls thinking that the odds of anyone these days getting beheading made this a slim to none chance of death for these people. Now naïve of her. Michael told her he did administrative work, and knew first hand the qualities a good Watcher needed. He told Wade she was just the sort of person they were looking for.
The job sounded far more interesting than what she did, and working for him sounded better than working for the boss she had at the time. With him, she knew she'd get the prestige and respect she never would at the dead end job at Computer Hell. Besides, like she wanted to spend the rest of her life at a stupid JC.
Ideally, it would get her out of her house. She wanted to move to New York and see Broadway shows whenever she wanted. He said that at some point, she probably could move around. Now that she thinks about it, that really made little sense, her desire to relocate so drastically. But when you're eighteen and stir crazy, the logic behind the method of getting out on your own is far less important than the fact you actually do get out.
The cover job itself ended up worse than what she left behind. Since she officially began training on April Fool's Day, she kept hoping that Hurley character wasn't for real. Unfortunately, he was. And still is. At least *he* isn't Immortal. She hopes.
Wade sighs as she tosses various articles of dryer-warmed clothing into her suitcase. She has a day left before she heads back. No need to think about work right now. Then again, if she didn't want to think about work, she shouldn't have opted to spend her vacation with her Mentor and his wife, a former Watcher who had to go and turn Immortal on them. It's bad enough that he's no longer even with the Watchers thanks to that, but ever since Michael and Greer moved out to London, she's barely heard from them. She hadn't realized how much she came to depend on his support and advice over the last couple of years until he wasn't around to dispense it as freely as he once had.
Over the last couple of years, nothing has been as easy as it once had been.
****
Nothing as easy as it once had been. That's putting it mildly. Looks like it'll be another scorcher in New York, if the weather this week's been any indication. Quinn sighs. The stuffy air in his rustic office on the 43rd floor makes him restless. It's a good thing few clients see his anachronistic decor with things like a Lincoln Log cabin he built last month and the small reconstruction of the Civil War sitting near his office window. It didn't matter. Research suits him more. Books and computers are much more comfortable than the unpredictable qualities of people, mortal or not. Assuming such things exist. Immortals, of course. Although at times he tends to wonder about the existence of mortals as well.
He really needs a vacation. Wade's probably enjoying her little jaunt to London. At least she will be back to work in a couple of days. One day until her flight back, then another day until she arrives at JFK. She'll probably pop in to go off about Michael and Greer for a while. Visits with them always end up that way. Full of complaints about all the time spent with them, yet her eyes contradict the annoyance she vocally insists upon. He wonders if she ever speaks to them about him with that same sort of vibrance.
The last thing he wants to do now is the fake work for Big Apple Archives. He doesn't know why Hurley calls it that, fake work, because it sure seems like real work to him. Cover job or no cover job. All these poor clients who hire their little company to put their files and records onto CD-ROMs. Pretending they take care and pride in that work. In reality, Hurley couldn't care less about these clients. Reality. Quinn smiles. Hurley would have a fit if he knew that in reality Wade was spending her vacation hanging out with a known Immortal. According to the boss, Watchers are to watch without being seen. Or was it seen without being heard? He can't recall. It's something that sounds like it came out of a Cracker Jacks box or fortune cookie, anyway. To observe and record, without interfering. That's it.
Hurley mainly comes to him to whine about Wade because she's the only field worker among them. She wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Michael. How was her mentor to know she would be a natural for the field? It didn't matter. Quinn knows he could have moved up the ranks as quickly as she did had he wanted to. He's not complaining about Wade choosing to work out of this office, either.
Hurley storms into Quinn's office. "Where's Wade?"
"Still on vacation. She gets back tomorrow, I think." Quinn attempts to regain his composure without demonstrating to his superior that he lost it to begin with.
"That girl has a lot of nerve. If you happen to see her waltzing back in before I do, tell her she's got a lot of explaining to do about her little visit to San Francisco." He leaves the room, slamming the door behind him.
San Francisco. Their home. Not that he knew Wade back then, or that she would have given him the time of day if she did. He hasn't been home in a while. Vacation is still nearly a month away. The Bahamas curiously didn't sound as good as a trip home did. It has been nearly five years since he moved out, and despite what his mother says, a couple since he's stopped off to visit. A visit home might just be a good idea. His eyes fall on a note on his desk. A note from Wade....
Wade went to London.
****
Arturo turns his head towards the Dominion Hotel room's door as soon as he hears it open. "It's taken you two long enough!"
"I tell you, I'm somebody on this world, and I'm loving it!" Rembrandt smiles broadly as he sets down a bag of groceries.
Wade laughs. "It's a good thing he's not paranoid. I could have sworn we were being followed half the time."
"A few members of the paparazzi and the girl's nervous." Rembrandt unpacks the bag in front of him. "Granted, it's not one of the brighter sides of fame, but you've got to take the good with the bad. And people admiring my success is not a part of the bad..."
Quinn sits up on the bed, too lazy to get up and inspect their purchases. "You two were gone a while. What'd you do, buy out the store?"
"I bet I could," Rembrandt continues, "judging by the way people were looking at me..."
Wade rolls her eyes. "Who's to say they weren't looking at *me*?"
Rembrandt pauses, and gives her a dirty look. "That isn't funny."
****
In London, Michael knocks on the door to the guest bedroom. "How's the packing going?"
"It's going." Wade sighs. This doesn't feel like it's been much of a vacation. She needs more time. She'd feel that way no matter how long she took off.
He walks into the room, picking up a shirt hanging on the back of a chair along the way. "You don't want to forget this...."
She knows what shirt he's talking about. Forcing a smile, she nods and folds it before placing it into the suitcase. Of all things to buy her as a gift, why did it have to be an Ace of Base T-shirt? As much as she admires Michael Gardner, there's a lot to be said about improving his musical taste. It could be worse. She could be in Greer's shoes and have to listen to it all the time.
"So...are you here to help me, Michael? Or are you trying to get rid of be as soon as you can?"
"Very funny." Michael sits down on the bed, wishing he could pack as neatly as she appears to. "I was just noticing in the last day or two that we haven't really had much time to talk, and you seem to be more and more absorbed in your thoughts. So, since this is the tail end of your break, I wondered how things have really been going for you in New York."
Leave it to him to decide to get deep now. "Can't I just enjoy what little time off I've got left?"
"Can you?"
Wade shakes her head. "Was I that horrible a person to you that you had to stick me in that stint with Hurley?"
"You always wanted to live in New York, so when I heard about that opening, I figured you'd be perfect for it. It's not every field worker who gets the relatively cushy job you did." Michael grins. "At least you aren't working as a roadie."
That joke has grown old over the years, but Wade still smiles. "I suppose it could be a lot worse of an assignment."
He nods. "In all my years, counting not only my time, but what I know about my parents' time, I've never seen anything or anyone quite like what you got. I would be hard pressed to describe a more ideal Immortal situation for a Watcher than what dropped in your lap."
"True, but he's the least of my worries." Wade closes the suitcase, holding it down as she struggles with the zipper.
Michael pushes down on the top of the case to assist her in her cause. "Hurley's full of hot air. You should know that. Don't let him get to you." He notices a little change in Wade's demeanor, a tenseness that wouldn't be associated with complete dislike of a person. Michael smiles slightly. "This isn't about..."
"No, it isn't." She rolls her eyes. Michael knows she hates it when he teases her about Quinn's crush on her. Which is the very reason he does it. "I'd date Hurley first."
Michael laughs. "Shall I tell Hurley you said that? He might be a lot easier to deal with under those circumstances."
Wade grabs a pillow and whacks him across the head. "While I'm at it, why don't I tell him about my nice vacation with you and your little Immortal wife!"
"Don't let her hear you say that."
"Don't let me hear you say *what*?" Greer leans on the door frame. She tries to exude a look of fury, but at the moment, it's not working. Luckily, the two are startled enough that it doesn't seem to matter. "I'd ask which one of you started it, but I have a feeling I know what will follow, so forget it."
Wade and Michael smile nervously. She feels like a little kid caught beating up on her sibling. "It wasn't that important, anyway. He was trying to make me *wear* that shirt back home."
Greer snickers. "If it's the one I think it is, carry on. In fact, I might be willing to assist you if like..."
"That's quite all right," Michael interrupts. "I believe we've met our excitement quota for the week. No need to complicate matters." He places his hand on Wade's shoulder. "As for you, try to enjoy what little time you have left. Then worry about the office."
****
Kate abhors stocking. All the grocery stores in San Francisco have incredibly small aisles, much to her dismay, as another customer runs a cart over her foot. Didn't even say so much as 'excuse me'. The only people that bother to acknowledge you while stocking are idiots who can't find things located in the most obvious places. At least on register you could possibly come across some cute guy or something. Cute guys know where everything is.
Stationery. Who in their right mind buys stationery at a grocery store? Gee, why should I pay a dollar for the very same notepad I can get at the grocer's for three bucks? Someone must be buying this stuff, or she'd never have to stock it. Must be the same idiots who can't find things. They probably can't find the drug stores, either.
"Excuse me, Miss..." A British accent interrupts her thoughts. Great. Not just an idiot, but probably a pompous one who will take great pains to make the sixteen year old sales clerk look like the stupid one.
She turns around and smiles. "Yes?"
"Do you work here?" Arturo feels awkward talking to the kneeling young woman. He wishes she would stand up.
Why should she bother standing up? Just to make him feel comfortable? She'd consider it if her legs were falling asleep, but they aren't. He'll just have to deal with it. Kate yanks at the name tag that reads, "Kate," and the green vest it is attached to. "No, I don't. I actually think the green vest with matching name tag is quite the hip fashion statement." She rolls her eyes. "What can I help you with?"
Arturo's eyes widen. "Are you this rude to *everyone*?"
No. Just the idiots. Kate could risk saying it, but she's not sure what kind of mood her boss is in. And this one looks uptight enough to drag out his complaints. "I'm so terribly sorry I offended you. I just assumed that you, like the bulk of the city, could tell a work uniform from a conscious wardrobe choice."
"Are you insinuating I'm some sort of imbecile?"
So what if he's some Professor of Cosmology somewhere? Like that or any of that other stuff matters to anyone but him. She nods. "Of course not. What is it you needed?"
"Coffee. My friends forgot to pick some up when they went shopping earlier."
Friends he wouldn't associate with if the situation didn't force him to. This could be fun. "Oh, so you associate with people who also cannot distinguish employees from shoppers." Kate smiles slightly.
Arturo takes a deep breath in a vain attempt to calm himself down. "Young lady, if you keep this up, I will have no choice but to talk to your manager about your behavior!" He wonders why some things don't seem to change, no matter how many worlds he visits.
No matter how many worlds he visits? Kate thought her family's thoughts were strange. "Coffee is the row you just passed. As for my 'behavior', who's to say that's not just the way things are here on this world?" She turns around and resumes unpacking the boxes beside her, hiding her mischievous grin.
If what she says is true, this world may be the worst one yet. Arturo continues to stand there, analyzing her words. What did she mean by 'on this world'? "Miss, would you mind explaining what you mean by that?"
"You tell me." The look on this guy's face must be priceless. But if she looks at him, he'll see the look on her face and that would take all the fun out of it. She reorganizes the ball-point pens hanging in front of her.
"I...I don't know what you're talking about," Arturo stammers.
"If you say so." The poor guy's freaking out. She'd better get back to work. Otherwise, the stationery needs of the district may crumble in a matter of hours! Kate giggles quietly to herself over the very thought.
Arturo watches the girl closely. Does she really know about him? How could she? Why won't she face him or answer his inquiry about her enigmatic comments?
Kate can tell he hasn't so much as moved. How annoying. Her past words won't change if he stays there or gets his coffee. "What, do you expect me to hold your hand and walk you over to it?"
He nearly jumps. "I beg your pardon, Miss. I'm sorry to trouble you." Arturo walks away.
She smiles as she hears his footsteps get quieter. It's always fun to play with the idiots' minds like that. Mind reading has to have some perks, and minor stunts like that tend to make the shift go quicker.
The Professor heads down the next aisle and sighs, still ashamed at how much that girl intimidated him. "I see you found it well enough without me seeking help."
Quinn nods, staring at shelves of coffee. "Now I'm not sure if I want any, though."
"Why does this not surprise me?"
"What's bugging you?"
An aisle away, Kate drops a binder. At least it wasn't on her foot, but she probably wouldn't have noticed. She could have sworn she heard him the next aisle over talking to the dumb British dude. Can't be. He doesn't know anyone *that* dumb. Well, he could....
If she pretends she needs to go to the back, she can get a better look and no one would be the wiser. Hopefully he'll be his usual oblivious self, and won't even notice her. Just like always. She sighs. As she approaches the aisle, the voice sounds more and more like his. When that fat idiot friend with him isn't whining about what an awful, rude worker she is. Yep, it's him. Kate doesn't need to see his eyes. That would mean he would see her, and she can't have that.
Right now, she's far too angry to waste any more time on stupid Quinn Mallory, anyway.
****
Quinn shakes his head as he opens the hotel room door. "Professor, you worry too much. I'm sure it was just a coincidence."
"What was just a coincidence?" Wade looks up from the television.
Arturo puts a small paper bag down on the table. "Oh, that salesgirl, who could possibly be the single rudest person I've ever met in my life, seemed to know that I do not belong on this Earth!"
Wade and Rembrandt exchange looks, and immediately laugh.
Smiling, Quinn figures he should help the Professor out. "She said something to him about how for all he knows rudeness is how it is on this world, or something he took to mean that."
"Where were you?" Rembrandt looks back towards the television.
Quinn shrugs. "A row or so down. Looking for some of those instant packages of cocoa..."
"Which he then decided he didn't really want, even though that was the whole point of going to begin with!" Arturo glares at him.
Rembrandt reaches for the television knob and flips channels. "What's wrong with that? Time passes, you change your mind. Why, I can think of at least a dozen tours where me and the band thought we were craving one thing after our shows, when in fact..."
"That's enough, Mr. Brown!" Arturo transfers his glare to Rembrandt.
Wade leans against the bedpost. "A woman tells it to you like it is, and leave it to you to let it throw you into a tizzy. The more I see and hear, the more I think this is home."
"Like take the shows here," Rembrandt adds, motioning towards the television. "They are all the same, except for a few variations that could be from things getting canned, and things moving in."
"They syndicated 90210," Wade acknowledges.
Quinn walks towards the bed, taking a seat next to her. "I thought they did that before we left. Wasn't it on KOFY in the afternoons?"
She looks at him. "And you would know this because..."
"It's not like I watched it or anything. Must have been flipping channels one afternoon...no, my mother watched it." Quinn nods, believing himself more with each movement of his head.
Wade nods right along with him. "Sure. If you say so."
Rembrandt grabs Wade's head, his eyes wide with fear. "Stop that, girl!"
"Stop what?" She has no idea what's with him.
"Nodding! No nodding, remember?" Rembrandt looks at her, and then at Quinn, who started the whole nodding business in this scene. "You know what will happen to us if we keep that up...."
Arturo sits down and flips through a tourist guide on the table. "I find it hard to believe this is less annoying than any of our incessant nodding."
****
Quinn catches himself staring at the clock instead of researching Immortals like he should be. For someone with a name like Charity, this McCullen woman is certainly not being very charitable in making his job easier. He's been trying to find her for months. Any distraction would be welcome. Wade should be walking through his office door any minute now. He wants to know why she would lie to him about where she'd spend her vacation. It seems rather stupid, considering that what she was supposedly going to do in London is far more scandalous than anything she could do in San Francisco.
Unless she went to see Kate. Then he understands. That would be something he wouldn't want to know about. He knows they talk sometimes, the two of them, and that it is mostly about him. While it bothers him not knowing what they discuss, he knows it can't be very positive if Kate's involved. Wade could be defending him, but then Kate wouldn't have anything to do with her. Just knowing they gossip makes him uncomfortable.
But if that's all Wade did, why was Hurley acting up like that? It makes no sense. Kate's no Immortal. Thank God. His life is difficult enough without having to deal with something like that. For all he knows, she's moved from fencing to sword collecting and one day she'll decide to go hunting for his head. She'll end up Watching them before she ends up among them.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who desperately needs their vacation." Wade pushes the door open, and walks in. Quinn knocks over three week's worth of information on Charity McCullen and his log cabin model in the process. She probably should have knocked. Too late now. Taking a small gold foil box out of her pocket, she hands it to him. "I got you a little something. Figured it was the least I could do knowing I was getting my break first."
Quinn looks at the box in his hands. "Hope you didn't break the bank on it."
"Not for you I wouldn't." She kneels to retrieve the Lincoln Logs on the floor. "Breaking log cabins is where I draw the line."
"I know." Sighing, he wishes that her statement wasn't so true. "What is it, one of those tourist magnets from Alcatraz?"
Wade's eyebrows crinkle in confusion. "Alcatraz? When did they move that to London?"
"They traded it for the bridge, but then they realized the city was to their bridge limit, so they sent it over to Arizona." He rolls his eyes. "Wade, I know you were in San Fran."
"I was?" This is news to her. Unless the city turned British on her or something.
He nods. "Weren't you?"
"No, I went to London. I told you that."
"Not according to Hurley..."
"Oh, come on, like I'd tell Hurley where I really went. Besides, I didn't tell him anything other than I was not going to be home."
Quinn shrugs, turning his attention back to his computer. "He seems to think you were in San Francisco doing something he didn't approve of."
"How much of what I do does the man approve of? I'd love to see where he got the idea I was there, of all places. Whatever...." She sighs, and heads toward the door.
He watches her leave. "Thanks for the gift...." She nods without bothering to turn her head towards him. Quinn picks up the box from his desk and smiles. He shouldn't complain. She didn't bother getting him anything last year.
****
"Rembrandt, you're awfully quiet." Wade looks at him with a bit of concern. She thought he might be asleep on the bed until he saw his eyes were open. Considering how excited he's been all afternoon, it's a bit odd. Having him this quiet when he isn't asleep is odd, period.
Quinn smiles. "Just let him be."
"Indeed, my boy." Arturo puts down the newspaper he's been reading. "There's certainly no harm in a little rest and relaxation now and then."
"Well, now that you mention it," Rembrandt sighs, "I'm not feeling all that great..."
"I knew it!" Wade walks over to him and puts her hand on his forehead. "What's wrong?"
Rembrandt shrugs. "I never felt anything like it before. It's like a headache, but throughout my entire body. Not like the aches you get with the flu, either. I can't even put into words the sensation I'm feeling."
"The fact you're dressed throws my theory out the window," Wade mutters.
Quinn glares at her. "I'll go to the store to pick something up for you. Think it would help?"
"Yeah, Q-Ball. That would work." Rembrandt closes his eyes. "I think I'm gonna catch a few winks, if you guys don't mind..."
Hopefully Quinn has enough money for whatever remedies this world might have. If it is home, he should. Arturo doesn't want to become as cautiously optimistic as the others are. Something tells him this could not be their Earth, yet he can not prove a point of diversion from their world. "Mr. Brown, by all means rest. The last thing we need is to find out whatever you are suffering from happens to be contagious."
****
Wade slams the door to her office. What's the point in having a vacation to relax you if all that happens when you get back is twice as much stress as you had prior to your time off? She doesn't know. All she does know is that she was in London, and she certainly didn't step foot in the Bay Area for a good year or so. No one can be in two places at the same time, right?
The knock on the door irritates her, but she knows better than to ignore it on her first day back on the job. Especially if Hurley is on the warpath, and guessing by the knock, he is. She sighs. "It's open."
"Would you care to explain this to me?" Hurley throws a manila folder at her.
Barely catching it, she opens it to find a letter, and the edges of what appear to be blown up photographs. "I don't know what this is until I have some time to look at it, so just calm down until I do!"
Hurley doesn't listen. He continues to pace about the front of her desk, agitated. "You'd better have quite an explanation for everything in there..."
"Yeah, yeah," she mutters as she reads over the letter discussing some inexcusable indiscretion of hers directed at Hurley. She can't imagine what they think she did in San Francisco of all places. Even if they found out where she really was, it isn't likely they would be able to do anything about it. Laying the letter neatly on her desk, she picks up the first photograph and brings it towards her eyes. She gasps. "This can't be!"
"Surely you can do better than that."
Wade would react to his words if what she sees isn't what it appears to be. "Hurley, I know what this looks like. Believe me, if I were in your shoes, I'd be thinking the same thing. But I swear to you there is no way on this Earth I would be in a position where I could be...let's face it, I'm still sort of new at all of this, but you should know by now I'm not that careless or stupid. There's no way I'd be caught within ten feet, much less ten inches, of Mr. Rembrandt Brown!"
****
Quinn approaches the cashier's counter hesitantly. The cashier struggles to clean up a juice spill at her station, scrubbing the red stain vigorously. Her long, dark brown hair falls forward into her eyes, and she turns to the register and opens the drawer below it. A green rubber band hangs from her fingers and she uses it to pull her hair back. He wonders if he should even ask her. She looks like she's having a bad enough day without him bothering her. He could find what he needed on his own.
"Top shelf of Aisle Eight." Kate turns around and groans. Her cordial demeanor transforms into annoyance. "What are you doing here? You know I don't want you so much as setting foot in this place so long as I work here! You don't see me barging into your employment!"
He pauses. She obviously knows him. Glancing at her name tag, he is positive her face and the name 'Kate' don't mean anything to him. "What employment?"
Kate rolls her eyes. He's getting good at this non-thought thing. She always suspected his head was full of rocks. His work used to be all he thought about. Not like he has anything better to do with his time. "Nice try, but I'm not going to play that game with you today." She picks up her rag and returns to cleaning the stain on the counter. "I swear, Quinn Mallory, sometimes I can't believe we're products of the same gene pool."
"Of course..." Quinn smiles. This Kate must be his sister. No wonder she looks sort of familiar. She looks a lot like him. Her eyes, mostly. "I mean...well, you know..."
She shakes her head. "Not today I don't. Believe it or not."
"I'm not sure I follow you."
"I didn't even know you were in here earlier until I saw you. Probably because your stupid friend was going on and on about being from another planet." Kate giggles. "I guess in your line of work, you really do see it all."
Quinn's face drops. "Another planet?"
"Something like that." Kate sighs. "I had to say something about it. I couldn't resist."
This can't be. "Kate, I'll be right back." He rushes to Aisle Eight, and scans the top row until he spots the flu remedies. Right where she said they would be...although she never gave him a chance to ask for them.
****
Greer can't decide which is worse: Michael with his incessant humming of "All That She Wants," or Wade with her incessant humming of "Cry Like A Man." Usually she does a rather good job of tuning such things out, but ever since their house guest left, her head has yet to let go of the lingering melodies. It's little consolation to her to know that the odds of Ace Of Base's career outlasting the Spinning Topps is virtually nil. She prays none of those Swedes turn out to be Immortal.
"I can't believe this," Michael groans, as he fiddles with the answering machine.
She looks up from the couch. "Who called?"
He sighs. "I don't know. The machine ate the tape, and I can't even dislodge it."
"If it was important, they'll call back."
Michael glares at her. "The only reason you could care less about it is because most of the people you know can't be bothered with such archaic forms of communication as the telephone."
"Excuse me, but *you* hang around them too. And they still have to use the telephone sometimes." Greer smiles. "Besides, we can't all have extraordinary powers and existences."
"And why not?" Michael closes the machine in frustration, and walks back into their living room.
"Someone's got to be keeping track of all of this."
He shakes his head. "But that's why I recruited Wade in, so she could be the someone!" Not entirely true, of course. Michael is well aware that he brought Wade in expecting to stay with the Watchers longer than he did. He also knows his wife hasn't completely given up with keeping track of those with extraordinary powers. Greer just went freelance with it.
"Oh, so now it's that you left the Watchers to find your true calling as a superior being of some sort?" She laughs. "And all this time I thought it was because I happened to be an Immortal."
"Who used to be a Watcher. Don't try to leave out that little detail. It's not like you even knew you were a Pre-Immortal when we first met. Look how long Wade didn't know about you." Michael glances towards the phone. "You don't suppose it was her, do you?"
"Calling us?" Greer shrugs. "It's possible, but why? She barely left two days ago. Surely there are at least a dozen other people who would call you first."
Michael pauses. "I know it wouldn't make sense, but if something happened while she was away, you and I know I would be the first person she'd call. We both know how Hurley gets..."
"I know, but she's not your little baby. She's perfectly capable of handling whatever sort of challenge that man throws her way. If there's one thing I've learned about this protégé of yours, it's that she isn't one to cry out for help for any minor difficulty on the job." Greer wishes he wouldn't baby the girl so much, as Wade is far stronger than she was at that age. Which says a lot.
The ring of the phone interrupts their discussion. Michael answers it.
"Michael, it's Wade." Her voice rushes through the salutations. "Sorry to bother you, but I really need some help right now and I can't think of anywhere else to turn."
He senses the panic in her voice, and knows Wade enough to know something serious must be going on. "It's all right. What's this about?"
She sighs. "Something strange is going on. The Organization has pictures of me with Rembrandt and I know I've never physically been within ten feet of him. I saw the pictures, and I'd swear it was me, too. But I know it can't be."
"It could be a fake. Their way of testing you, if you will." Michael can't imagine why such a thing would happen. Considering he never understood Hurley, anything's possible where that man's concerned.
"I don't think so." Wade pauses. "There's more. Quinn's sister spotted him in San Francisco as well, and he hasn't been there in more than a year."
Michael clears his throat. "Wade, that makes absolutely no sense. Are you saying that not only did these pictures show up, but Quinn's sister calls you with this sighting that couldn't possibly have happened?"
"Uh...well, now that I think about it, I haven't heard from Kate." Wade sighs. "But I'm sure I will."
"Oh, really?" Michael thinks Wade needs to get out more.
"Yep," Wade replies. "I had a vision about Kate calling me and sometimes I swear she projects thoughts about Quinn on me. Like that time I was in his office and got this overwhelming urge to replace the entire Confederate forces on that stupid Civil War recreation of his with Star Wars figures..."
Michael laughs over the image of Darth Vader as General Lee. "So Kate Mallory's sending you telepathic messages?"
"Well, it's either that or a major plothole."
"Probably the latter."
"Like I said," Wade continues, "something strange is going on here. Any ideas what it could be?"
Michael ponders the situation. "Not particularly. Although I do know of a couple of FBI agents who might be interested..." He smiles, knowing her addition to the adventures of a certain Agent Mulder and Scully. It takes nothing short of a miracle to drag her away from the TV Friday nights. She claims it's the single best night of television.
"Very funny, Michael. How are a couple of *television* characters going to help me?"
"We could always call in more than a couple of them, if you like." He smiles, knowing the bad jokes will take her mind off of her current dilemma.
Wade groans. "In that case, how are television characters going to help me?"
He laughs. "Why are you asking *me* this?"
"You know why I'm asking you this." She giggles. "Thanks for making me laugh about this, and all. Even if some fictional television characters show up to shed some light on things, you'll still look into it on your end, won't you?"
Michael nods, even though there's no need for him to do so. "Of course I will. Try not to get too paranoid about it on your end, though. For both our sakes."
"Agreed. I'll talk to you later." Wade's voice has relaxed some.
"I'll call you as soon as I hear something." Michael hangs up the phone as soon as he hears the click on the other end.
Greer spots a newfound tenseness in her husband's body. It worries her. "Who was that?"
"Wade." Michael sinks into the couch. "She's got something ugly happening, and I had to play it down so she doesn't panic anymore than she already seems to be."
"Funny how we were just talking about her, and at that precise moment, she decides to call." Greer pauses, searching for the perfect joke to bring Michael out of his problems. He didn't appreciate being chased around by her rapier the last time he got moody over things he couldn't control. Jokes are less painful. Physically, at least. "Perhaps with all that time we've spent with Adam and the rest of them...their abilities have rubbed off onto us!"
Michael's expression transforms from depression to confusion. "Excuse me?"
"It seems that we've become mind readers, with our knowing Wade would call. Which, by my calculations, means that we should have the teleporting down before week's end." Greer smiles at him.
"That's it!" Michael's face brightens. "I don't know how...but it has to be it! You're a genius!"
Greer looks at him, puzzled. "I am?"
****
Quinn bursts into the hotel room, startling the others. "Guys, you are not going to believe this!" He tosses the small paper bag of cold medicine to Rembrandt, who barely catches it. Quinn doesn't notice. "Professor, you aren't crazy. There is a girl working at that grocery who knows what we are."
Arturo stares at the young man. "Are you serious? How is it that she knows?"
"She's my sister." Quinn sits on the bed beside Rembrandt's feet. "My double's sister. In any case, she thought I was him."
Wade grins. "Wow."
"Yeah, I thought so," Quinn agrees, "but that's not what's important. What's important is that she seems to be able to read minds. That's why she knew you weren't of this Earth," he notes to Arturo. "She said since you thought you weren't, she had to make a wisecrack about it. Luckily, she doesn't realize it's the truth."
Arturo paces about the room. "Luck, indeed."
"Unfortunately, she thinks I'm her brother Quinn, and that I'm doing something secretive to be here and not call home first. I'm guessing the Quinn of this world works outside of San Francisco, doing something that isn't public knowledge."
Wade looks up. "What makes you think he's doing something covert?"
"Just the way she talked." Quinn pushes his hair behind his ear. "I also got the distinct feeling she somehow knew I wasn't him."
"Q-ball, that makes no sense." Rembrandt puts the pill bottle on the night stand.
"I know," Quinn acknowledges.
Wade sighs. "Nothing he's saying is making any sense."
"Think about it, guys." He leans forward and gestures intently in the hopes to better convince the three. Okay, maybe it's more for the readers who expect better than the episodic attempts at suspending disbelief here. "If you could read minds, people would think you're strange enough. Imagine how people would react if you then insisted someone who looked, sounded, and acted like your brother really wasn't your brother. Judging by her behavior, I'm guessing she knows something is wrong about me, but she just can't figure out how to explain it logically."
Rembrandt snickers. "So, does that mean you're a mind reader, too?"
"God, I hope not," Wade remarks.
Quinn glares at her. "Anyway, I think this Kate's the key. Obviously, this isn't our Earth. She's seen me and the Professor together, so it wouldn't be feasible for either of us to go back there anytime soon. But I think she'll talk to the right person." He smiles at Wade.
Wade cringes. "Why me? Who's to say we aren't together on this Earth? Who's to say she doesn't hate my double as much as yours?"
"What makes you think we'd be together on this Earth?" Quinn doesn't bother to hide his amusement.
She rolls her eyes. "Never mind. I'm sure she'll wonder why someone like me would even care about your whereabouts."
"Miss Welles, try to find out as much information as you can from this Kate Mallory without being conspicuous about it. I have never met a more obnoxious individual in all my life!"
Quinn, Wade, and Rembrandt exchange knowing looks.
"Not a word out of any of you," Arturo snaps.
Wade stands up and heads towards the door. "On that note, I'll see you guys later."
Once she leaves the room, Arturo takes a seat on the couch. "What is it about you Mallorys that is so determined to drive me mad?"
"Everyone needs to have goals, Professor," Quinn responds with a laugh.
****
A hand touches Greer's shoulder. She jumps. It embarrasses her that she let her guard down within her home. She reaches for her rapier. Another hand prevents her from retrieving it. Her pulse races. This isn't how she expected to be drawn back into the game. It isn't supposed to happen like this at all. The pounding of her heart grows louder and louder.
"Relax, Greer. It's just me." Adam turns the petite woman around and smiles. "Didn't mean to scare you."
The Australian young man's pleasant demeanor relieves Greer. "Oh, it's all right, Adam. Serves me right for paging you and expecting a phone call from you first."
Adam laughs. "I don't think they will be installing phone lines on the island anytime soon. Besides, you did say we could pop in without warning..." He brushes his straight black hair away from his face. Despite being about ten years younger than Greer and Michael, he seems nearly her peer. A lot of it having to do with his demeanor and some of it having to do with his looks. Her looks, actually, since Greer is often mistaken as younger than her apparent age.
"I'm still just a bit startled is all. Don't mind me." Greer gestures him toward the couch. "Have a seat, and I'll get you something to drink."
"I'm not particularly thirsty..."
Greer ignores his objections. "Michael and I just got one of those cappuccino machines...he says we need to make use of it before I break it. Can you believe the nerve of that man?"
"Get me a Mocha, if you must." Adam can't help but laugh at Greer's idea of domestic behavior. "Then you can fill me in on why you called on me."
"Oh, that." Greer walks into the kitchen and emerges a few minutes later with a steaming Latte. "I didn't call you. Michael did." She sits down at the kitchen table.
Adam seats himself across from her. "Michael? Do you know why?"
"You'll laugh."
"No, I won't," Adam insists.
Greer shrugs. "If you say so. Michael is under the delusion there are a couple of Tomorrow People you don't know about."
Adam's eyes widen. "Tomorrow People? That's incredible! Where'd he find them? I'm surprised they weren't drawn to the spaceship like everyone else has been." The spaceship houses some sort of beacon that led him to it when he broke out, thereby triggering his unique abilities that are courtesy of his species.
He was the first known Tomorrow Person and established residency at the island the spaceship embedded itself in. A small green tent pitched outside of the otherwise uninhabited South Pacific island of Tapahini keeps the few possessions he arrived with. It seems rather anachronistic beside the otherworldly spaceship, but comes in handy when others have arrived to the island after their breakouts. The sight of that tent is the all important sign of life.
"It seems they don't know they are of your kind, either."
"None of us knew what we were at first, either." Adam discovered the details from the spaceship when he first reached the island's shore. Soon after reaching the ship, really. The Tomorrow People being the next stage of human evolution. Having abilities straight out of science-fiction television shows. "Most of us just didn't fit in as kids..."
"No, they aren't kids," Greer interjects. "And they don't know that they teleport even though they do."
Watching the young woman's face remain expressionless, Adam can't hold his demeanor any longer and laughs. "Teleporters who don't know they teleport? That's impossible!"
"I told him he was crazy, and that you would laugh at him and his crack pot theory, but does he care? Of course not! So I told him to page you if he insisted on dragging you and the others into his precious little girl's problems. I have enough problems of my own..."
Adam interrupts. "His little girl?"
Greer sighs. "She might as well be, with the way he worries about her so. I'm sure you've heard her name come up around this house before -- Wade Welles. She was just up here for a visit, as a matter of fact."
"Wade? Her name is Wade?" He sips his Latte carefully as the steam rises.
"What kind of question is that? You hang around a guy who calls himself 'Megabyte', and I must say that 'Greer' isn't the most feminine nickname I could have come up with, either." She taps her foot against the base of the table.
Adam blushes. "If you put it that way, it sounds like a rather silly question. Why is this girl so important to him?"
****
Wade isn't sure what she should do. She's been at the grocery store for a good fifteen minutes without so much as seeing one employee. Just like it is back home. Worse yet, she let the whole idea of Quinn having a sister make her lose track of important things. Like his sister's name.
She passes by the aisle containing drinks. The aroma of numerous flavors of coffee reminds her how long it's been since she had a decent cup of coffee. She gazes at the canisters and considers spending the few dollars she has on some.
A hand taps Wade's shoulder. She jumps. Turning around, she sees a girl smiling at her. Wade almost thinks that this girl has mistaken her for an employee. Until she notices the girl's green vest. And until this girl embraces her.
"Wade, I can't believe you're here! I thought you were going to England for your vacation."
Wade doesn't sense an ounce of attitude from this girl. This can't be her. She glances at the girl's name tag...Kate. That name sounds familiar. Wade observes her appearance for a moment. Kate could be related to Quinn. She has the height, as she has to be at least 5'10". Her dark hair reminds Wade of him as well, but not as much as the eyes. Wade could swear Kate's contain that same sort of...twinkle in them.
"I'm glad you found me," Wade responds, "I was kind of looking for you. You haven't happened to..."
"Yes. Unfortunately." Kate groans. "Please tell me you aren't here because of *him*. You know as well as I do you can do *so* much better."
Wade nearly gasps. She can do *better* than Quinn? This world gets farther away from home with each passing minute. Wait a second...she knows Quinn on this world. Kate knows who she is. This could turn out to be a better plan than any of them had anticipated.
Kate's face drops. She tries to hide it as best as she can. "Um, Wade? It's been a long time and all that, so I thought maybe you'd like to go out for some...coffee or something. I'm due for a break, and it would give us a chance to catch up. How's that sound?"
"Coffee sounds great." Wade smiles. "Where's a good coffee shop?"
"Take your pick. The city's full of them. You'd think we've become a regular Seacouver." Kate watches Wade's expression remain motionless. It devastates Kate to know that for once in his life, Quinn was right -- something is very wrong here.
This isn't the Wade she knows.
****
Quinn walks toward the hotel room bed to check on Rembrandt. It seems a bit odd to see the usually energetic man so incapacitated. Nothing outwardly visible, other than his expression appearing more tired and worn than Quinn is used to seeing.
"The sister you never had...who would have thought you'd finally meet her?" Rembrandt opens his eyes, and manages to smile at the young man standing over him.
The comment surprises Quinn a little. Quinn didn't think much about that part of his run-in with Kate. He found the telepathic part far more fascinating. But if she is related by blood to him, why can't he read minds? Is it something restricted to this world? An ability deemed commonplace by society, perhaps.
It can't be. Quinn sensed Kate mainly used her abilities to toy with people, like she did with Arturo. With him, she didn't seem as sure of herself. It appeared to almost surprise her, Quinn acknowledges to himself in hindsight. Not the way he would expect someone with such abilities to behave. She wasn't very confident about them at all.
"Q-Ball. You okay?" Rembrandt looks up at Quinn, a bit concerned about the silence after his comment.
Quinn nods. "Just thinking about what you said. The sister I never had. She isn't exactly what I expected. You really can't go around choosing your relatives, I guess."
Rembrandt laughs softly. "You know, when you're fortunate enough to have a lot of siblings, you tend to appreciate certain things more than you only kids do."
"Such as?"
"Quiet." Rembrandt chuckles.
"Glad to see you've still kept your sense of humor," Quinn notes. "Is the medicine helping?"
"Some. I swear, I've been sick, I've had headaches, I've even had hangovers that lasted well over a week. But I've never felt like this before. You know what the weird thing is? I feel the worst I ever can remember feeling, but yet, I've felt worse."
"Rembrandt, that doesn't many any sense." Quinn places his hand on Rembrandt's forehead. If he gets completely delusional from whatever this is, Quinn needs to warn the others. They still have no idea what this ailment is Rembrandt's dealing with.
"I know, Q-Ball. But I've had headaches just as bad, if not worse. The way I feel...I can't put into words. I think...no, never mind." Rembrandt pulls up the covers to his neck and wraps the sides tightly around himself, shaking.
"What?" Quinn wonders when Rembrandt decided to start refraining from announcing his thoughts.
"It makes less sense than everything else that doesn't." Rembrandt sighs. "Okay. If you really want to know...to me, it's almost as if I'm not supposed to be here."
****
Greer wrings her hands. "Wade isn't just important to him. Over the last year or so, I'm afraid she's grown on me as well. Michael brought her into the Organization before we reunited. He took her under his wings and taught her everything she knows about the Watchers."
"So, he's practically her mentor." Adam relates to Michael's dilemma regarding this Wade. Being the first known Tomorrow Person, Adam has constantly found himself the designated mentor among his species. Everyone expects him to guide the new ones until they are comfortable enough with their abilities on their own. Luckily, this doesn't take a great deal of time. After all, they are the next stage in human evolution for a reason.
She nods. "He is her mentor. She's quite capable on her own, so for her to ring him for help means whatever's going on is dangerously serious."
Adam looks up. "Michael didn't tell you what's going on? Other than this teleporting business?"
"I don't think he wanted to tell me as much as he did. Seeing as how I'm torn between Watcher and Watchee, if you will, I'm the first person the Watchers would be after for information. The less I know, the better." Greer doesn't like this in theory, but for the time being, she prefers not being involved.
"Did he at least tell you what he wants us to do about this?"
****
"Two coffees, please." Kate smiles at the guy behind the counter. Her mother always told her to be polite whenever possible. Something about never knowing who might be looking her way. Quinn used to tell her she needed to slow down and observe everything she can if she wanted to appreciate life. Back in the days when he gave a damn. These days he's about as appealing as Doug here in the companionship department.
Doug grins. "Hey, Kate. Usual for you?"
"When don't I have the usual?" She sighs. After nearly a year spending her breaks here, Kate expects that any day now this guy will figure out that she always takes her coffee the same way and he doesn't stand a chance with her in hell. Fleeting moments pass where she actually acknowledges her brother is less annoying than Doug.
Kate must know this guy outside of this place. Wade finds him kind of cute, in a boyish way. Certainly too old for a teenager, but certainly not jailbait. "I'll have a mocha."
"Not a problem." He turns to the cappuccino machine and methodically prepares the espresso.
"Doug, could you bring them out to us?" Kate waves a five dollar bill at him. "I'll make it worth your while..."
He grabs the bill from her. "The things I'll do to make my customers happy."
Kate laughs. She walks towards the patio, and whispers to Wade, "I can't believe you actually find *that* attractive."
"What?" Wade isn't sure what the girl is talking about. Neither of them have said much since arriving at this coffee joint - the One Way Café.
"Doug. He's so pathetic. And how much do you wanna bet he messes up the order?"
Wade wishes she'd remember that Kate can read minds. It's weird how she does it, almost like this younger Mallory can't distinguish between what she hears in her ears compared to the thoughts that she hears within her mind. "When did you become psychic?"
"I'm not psychic. He's just that predictable." Kate motions to a small table with two stools next to the wall. "How's this table?"
"Fine." Wade sits down, wondering where this conversation will lead. Hopefully Kate will be able to provide some useful information. Like how she and Quinn know each other on this particular Earth. That way, both she and Quinn can do a better job of avoiding people who would know their doubles.
It doesn't seem like Wade, or whoever she really is, intends any harm. Kate wants to come right out and ask what's going on. She wants to know why on Earth this world could possibly need more than one Quinn Mallory. "What brings you to town?"
Wade isn't sure how she should answer that question. It would help if she knew more about her double. Relief arrives in the form of Doug. Wade smiles. "Let's see if you're right about the order first."
He sets a steaming mug down in front of Wade. "Mocha for you, and Kate's usual." He places the other drink down and gazes into Kate's eyes. "So, how are you going to make it worth my while?"
"Let's see..." Kate pauses, almost pursing her lips. She suddenly smiles and opens her purse. Grabbing a handful of change, she dumps it onto the edge of the table. "Now you'll never be short when you come in for junk food on your break."
Doug smiles. "It's not my fault I have a habit of leaving my money in the apron." He scoops up the money and leaves their table, laughing.
Wade sips her drink. Once she gets beyond the mounds of whipped cream, she realizes Kate is right. "This is cocoa."
"I told you. It took him six months to get mine right, and that was after threatening to have a talk with his manager about it." Kate picks up her cup. "He hasn't messed it up much since."
At this point, maybe bluntness would be best. "You said something earlier about running into Quinn." Wade figures at least this way she'll be in control of the direction the conversation goes.
Kate's smile fades. "I never said that. You just assumed it."
Why is she getting testy all of a sudden? Wade isn't sure, but it does worry her. "We don't have to talk about him if you'd rather not."
"I want to know why you're here. *He's* not here. So why the hell are you?" Kate can get just as blunt as this supposed Wade can, if that's the game she wants to play.
He? Wade is positive Kate isn't talking about Quinn, with the way Kate's emphasizing it. But if this 'he' is someone she should know, asking could blow her cover.
"Wade, the last thing I want to do is jeopardize things for you. I wouldn't even do that to Quinn." Kate takes a deep breath, growing more and more uncomfortable with each passing minute. "But I know things aren't right, and it's scaring me far more than I think it's scaring either of you."
Great. Wade knows she has to say something, but what can she say? The others would have a fit if she told Kate the truth. But it's obvious that Kate's scared, and let's face it, the more scared she is, the more likely she'll draw attention to their presence here. "Try not to worry. Things will calm down soon. I promise."
"I need to ask you something." Kate bites her lip. She wishes she could think of something else to do under the circumstances. "If I called your apartment right this second, would I get your machine?"
There can only be one right answer to this one. So long as Kate doesn't plan on checking. "Of course."
Kate raises her eyebrow. "Okay, Wade. You can start telling me the truth about who you really are."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Wade tries to sound calm about this accusation. It's hard.
"The Wade I know swears up and down she will never own an answering machine." Kate looks down at her coffee. "Therefore, there's no way you can be her and I want to know why you want me to believe that you are."
Kate glares at the impostor pretending to be Wade Welles. She has to be an impostor. Just because this person could be the mirror image of Wade doesn't change the fact there are too many thoughts in that head that aren't Wadelike. No tattoo on the wrist either, which Kate always looks for first thing when meeting anyone - new acquaintance or old. Never can be too careful as a future Immortal where Watchers are concerned. From what Kate can pick up from the woman's thoughts, no other identity or name is coming up. Despite all evidence pointing to the contrary, Jane Doe is convinced she is in fact Wade. Kate gathers it could be worse. Janey here could be convinced she's Quinn.
"Why *don't* I own an answering machine?" Wade knows this isn't the best time to ask such an insignificant question. She could tell Kate the truth, but the others would have a fit over it. Especially Quinn. Understandable, since Wade certainly wouldn't want him talking to her sister's double about this. Kelley would probably make some remark about the things she'd do for the attention of a guy. Wade really wants to know what her double has against answering machines since it is such an odd thing to be adamantly against. Besides, it'll stall Kate until she figures out a way to get around the truth.
Who the hell is Kelley? Wade's an only child. Kate could never forget that because ever since meeting her, Wade was always saying how she was the sister she never got. She often imagined what it would be like to have Wade as a big sister. Wade's everything her brother isn't - including understanding. The Welles even let her drop by whenever she wants, and they even checked on her last time Mom went out of town. Wade is an integral part of her life and there's no way this fraudulent Janey is going to worm information out of her regarding whatever. Even the Watchers. Wade is far more important to her than any enemy organization out to meddle in her eternal livelihood.
Closing her eyes, Kate struggles to maintain the illusion of composure. It doesn't work. She can feel herself shaking, tears demanding a release from her eyes. "Look, I don't know what you want from me, but I know I don't want any part of it." She gets up. How could she get out of here as quickly as possible without drawing attention to herself?
"Kate, please don't leave." Wade reaches for the teenager's arm. "I'll try to answer all your questions as best as I can. But you have to understand that I'm not lying to you on purpose. The last thing I want to do is scare you." She offers Kate a napkin.
Janey's thoughts are consistent with what she's saying. Kate doesn't sense this person wants to hurt her or her family. "You're not really Wade, are you?"
She can't lie or Kate will know. This is as bad as those truth bands were. "I've never met you before today. But I really am Wade Welles. It probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but the details aren't important. I just need to know some basic information about the Quinn and Wade you know."
"They work in New York. That's all I know." Kate figures it's a feasible lie. Trying to interpret Janey's thoughts gives her a headache. Nothing makes sense at face value. She rubs her temples. "I have to get back to work. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful," she mutters as she leaves the coffeehouse before Wade can object.
Wade watches Kate walk across the street. The Mallory teen tilts her head to the sidewalk and grabs her head with her right hand.
****
Quinn sighs. "None of us belong here any more than we do on any other world we've visited, Remmy. In fact, this world's been nothing compared to most of them. You'll probably feel better if you get some rest this slide."
"That's not what I meant." Rembrandt's forehead crinkles. "It's a feeling, but not like that. More of an instinct than something physical. And I know it doesn't make sense, but that hasn't made it go away either."
Arturo glances up from the newspaper. "I must say that I agree with you there. There is something rather...unsettling about this world, and the sooner we determine a concrete difference between this world and ours, the better."
"We already know there's a difference," Quinn points out.
"While the fact your double has a younger sister proves this is not our Earth, something more is going on here." Arturo folds up the section of the paper he's been reading. "I'm particularly interested in knowing where this Quinn is living. Not to mention what the young man is occupying his time with."
Rembrandt smiles. "Considering how you took to this sister of Q-Ball's, I'm not surprised his double skipped town."
"She didn't seem that bad. A bit annoyed that I'd show up at her work like that." Quinn smiles. How would he react to growing up with someone like Kate? From his brief encounter with her, it was obvious she is a lot different than he was as a teenager. He always assumed having a brother or sister meant having someone around who shared his interests. Kate doesn't seem to, though.
Arturo nods. "Is it possible he slides?"
"I don't think so," Quinn replies thoughtfully. "I got the feeling she regularly checks his thoughts..."
"Which would explain why he would want to leave San Francisco," Arturo adds.
"He's got a point there," Rembrandt acknowledges.
Quinn smiles. "I still don't think that's it. I know how my mind works, and I don't think I'd be able to stop thinking about sliding, or any of my projects, whenever...." His face drops and he purses his lips.
Arturo notices. "What is it, Quinn?"
"Professor, all this time I thought Kate was thrown off by me dropping in like that on her, and that was why she seemed so uncomfortable." Quinn sighs. "Thing is, if she can read minds like that, and had me around her whole life, she would know the sort of things I think about."
"That stands to reason."
"What if she knows I'm not her brother?"
****
Pacing in the living room of her London flat, Greer sighs in complete frustration. How is it her husband, Michael Gardner, is conveniently absent when Adam starts in on the questions she's been truly dreading? She knew she should have made Michael wait on paging Adam until he figured out all the details regarding this speculated connection between the Tomorrow People and the situation regarding his favorite Watcher recruit, Wade Welles.
"No, Adam, my lovely husband didn't bother to mention how he expects the lot of you to help clear up this teleporting mystery."
Michael's voice startles Adam and Greer. "Talking about me behind my back, I see."
"She was just trying to give me the background of your problem. With the...teleporters." Adam tries not to laugh at him. Michael has never been one to request outrageous favors. Despite the respect he has for the man, Adam can not help but find the concept of teleporters with no idea of the fact they are doing so...not just once, but multiple times...it seems like a bit of a reach. Normally he would take such an idea seriously, but for some reason he can't get himself to do so today. He's got to stop spending so much time with Megabyte. He's starting to think like him.
"Don't listen to whatever she told you. This is serious. I don't know how else to explain how two people could be spotted in two places at the same time. If I don't help them figure out what's going on, they could be in grave danger. You should be able to imagine what could happen if organizations like the Watchers were to believe individuals had special abilities they truly did not." Michael glances at Adam for a glimmer of understanding. He doesn't see one.
Greer sighs. "I think my cue to leave was the bit about not listening to me. Either that, or that was my cue to do something else to you for that remark." Her smile turns wicked. "But I wouldn't do anything like that with the likes of him around." She casually heads upstairs.
Adam pauses, half wondering if he should call the others about Michael's dilemma. It can wait. There's still a few more things he wants to know first. "Suppose they are Tomorrow People. They should have first teleported to the Island. We all did, usually ending up in the ocean first, but always drawn to the island. Kevin tends to dream about the new ones before they break out and usually tells Megabyte about it. Even if they didn't know about us, we would know about them...somehow."
"I thought your kind breakout during youth...adolescence, isn't that how it usually goes?" Michael walks towards the couch and sits.
"So far, that's how it's worked."
"They are both in their early twenties. And this is the first they heard of their 'teleporting' abilities. Wade further relayed that her colleague Quinn was spotted by his sister and he didn't act as if he knew the girl. Yet at the precise same moment, he was working out of the New York office."
"Cloning, perhaps?" Adam can't think of another possibility. At this point he has to get the others. It is a situation that has the potential to hit uncomfortably close to home, from the sound of it.
****
Back at the Dominion Hotel in San Francisco, Arturo turns towards Quinn. "What did you say?"
"What if she knows I'm not her brother?" Quinn rises from the edge of the bed. "She knew you were trying to assess this world in the brief time she was around you. When I first saw her, I had no idea who she was. She had to have known that based on my thoughts. The same way she knew it would upset you if she directly addressed your thoughts."
"If she does indeed know, we could be in a lot of trouble. Especially if your theory about the work your double is doing holds true." Arturo sighs. "Perhaps sending Wade was a poor idea, in hindsight."
"Guys, I think you're overlooking something." Rembrandt struggles to sit up in the bed.
Quinn turns toward him. "What's that?"
Rembrandt smiles. "If this Kate can read minds, she would know if we had ulterior motives in our contact with her just as she would if we meant her no harm."
"Of course!" Quinn smiles at Rembrandt. "She must by now know at least the majority of the truth about it based on our thoughts. If we filled in the missing pieces for her, perhaps she could help us figure out how we can help Rembrandt and help keep us out of trouble until we slide."
Arturo isn't convinced. "Why would this child want to help us?"
"Oh, that's easy," Rembrandt remarks. "To get the two of you out of her life."
****
Michael sighs. "Cloning? I don't know, Adam. Even if that was the problem, why those two individuals? I can honestly say there's nothing extraordinary about them. Of all the people in the world, why clone *them*?"
[Kevin! Megabyte!] "I don't know either. But it's the only possibility that makes any sense." Adam attempts to once again contact his friends mentally. [Guys, you'll never believe what's going on. Guys?]
A flash of light brings Megabyte to the room. "Come on, Adam. You knew I'd get here sooner or later." He smiles at Michael. "So, what's going on that's so interesting?"
"I have a situation that's been brought to my attention, and since it was right up the Tomorrow People's alley, I decided to run it by at least one of you." Michael grins. "It seems that all I've done is give Adam here a good laugh."
Adam shakes his head. "It wasn't that bad of a theory."
"Just not a good one, eh?" Megabyte smiles. "Now that I'm here, you might as well tell me about it."
Michael knows enough about the kids to know that Megabyte would be the first one of them to rip holes into a theory like this. If Adam did, there's no doubt Megabyte would be merciless. "What would you think if I told you about two young adults spotted in two completely different cities at virtually the same moment?"
"I'd say you've got some more of us on your hands." Megabyte doesn't get what the big deal is. "New Tomorrow People?"
"Hardly, Megabyte. Michael here forgot to mention the best part." Adam grins.
"I didn't forget," Michael acknowledges. "I just didn't get to that part yet."
Megabyte rolls his eyes. "Well, would you?"
Michael clears his throat. "If they are teleporters, neither of them know a thing about it."
"How could they not?" Megabyte glances at Adam and watches the taller teen laugh. "What's so funny?"
"I've been at the spaceship for weeks without a single trip off the island. If there were new ones I would have seen them." Adam takes a seat on the couch. "Even if I didn't, they would have had a hard time missing the ocean. How could they forget about something like that?"
"I don't know." Megabyte glares at Adam. "Besides, what did they do that has *you* so interested, Michael?"
He smiles slightly. "I know both of them. Which is why I believe Wade when she says she doesn't know a thing about how she could have been in San Francisco at the time in question."
Megabyte laughs. "What kind of a girl's name is Wade?"
"Who are you to talk, Marmaduke?" Adam smirks.
Megabyte hates his real name, particularly when people who are supposed to be his friends use it to taunt him like Adam's doing right now. "Very funny." Megabyte groans, noticing Michael appears a bit distant. A bit somber for the circumstances, in any case. "So Michael, where was she when she was caught in San Fran?"
Michael gestures at his surroundings. "Here. She was on vacation and decided to come up and see me."
"Oh, really?" Megabyte grins. The thought of Michael Gardner having some mysterious female guest staying under his roof...with his wife's approval? Somehow, that's the strangest part of all. "And Greer didn't have a problem with this?"
"Wade is very special. I taught her everything she knows about the Organization. She isn't much younger than myself, but I've always treated her as if she's my flesh and blood. I guess I see her as the kid sister more than anything." Michael nods. He doesn't feel like pointing out Greer's interpretation of the relationship at the moment.
Megabyte finds this intriguing. Mainly because Michael never mentioned this person before. He wonders if she's attractive. "Who's the other person?"
"Quinn Mallory." Michael paces. "I don't know him all that well, but he's been working with Wade for a couple of years now. Mainly I get to hear Wade whine about him. He has a little crush on her and it drives her mad on a regular basis. She's afraid any rejection might ruin their professional relations. He was spotted in San Francisco as well, but he was logged in at his New York office at the same time."
"There's no way that sighting was a mistake?" Megabyte asks.
Michael laughs. "I doubt it, seeing as how he was spotted by his sister."
"Hey, when did all sisters earn credibility?" Megabyte could see Millie doing something like this to taunt him. Whenever she's in town long enough to do so. "Oh, what's with both of them being seen in San Francisco? Could that mean anything?"
Adam nods. "That is a rather odd coincidence..."
"Not really. Both of them are from San Francisco and still have family out there." Michael ponders what significance it could have, but beyond this, he can't think of a reason the two would be seen there over somewhere else.
Megabyte has one nagging question that no one has bothered to answer. Yet. "Guys, while this is a fun discussion and all, what's the point? Assuming all this business about being in two places at once is true, why does anyone even *care* about it?"
~*~*~
The dwindling budget on this project prohibits yet another bit establishing setting outside the nearby area of San Francisco. In lieu of this, readers are asked to picture in their minds the image of the Brooklyn Bridge to establish the return to New York and to Big Apple Archives. Thank you for your understanding and patronage - the producers.
P.S. - It was brought to my attention that any new Tomorrow People still working on those teleporting skills may accidentally teleport to the Brooklyn Bridge if thinking about it too hard. However, after thoughtful consideration, it is the belief of the producers that if a true danger existed of TPs thinking too hard, this adventure wouldn't be nearly a 33 parter. But if you suspect you may be a TP, proceed with caution.
And now, back to the story, already in progress....
~*~*~
Quinn could hear Hurley muttering to himself in the hallway, just outside his office. It has something to do with Wade, but what else is new? She needs to spend more time on the field and less time here. Then the odds of her getting on Hurley's nerves as much as she does would be slimmer. Unfortunately, Wade's confidence isn't quite there yet, despite her relatively tame assignment. It isn't that he minds having her around. Quinn doesn't mind that part one bit. Thinking of her like that makes his cheeks flush. How embarrassing if someone saw him like this. He tries to make out what Hurley's saying, but his boss' heavy footsteps drowns out the words. It doesn't matter much. Just needed a momentary distraction from his train of thought. Besides, Wade would tell him about it all. Eventually.
He picks up the unwrapped box on his desk and lifts off the cover. Removing the Scotland Yard magnet, he looks at it for a moment and unconsciously flips it between his fingers. Now he needs to get her something on his vacation, but he has no idea what to get her. Lately, he hasn't been sure if he wants to take the vacation he intended. She could probably use an Alcatraz magnet.
****
"Megabyte, what kind of question is that?" Adam cannot believe that his friend would ask such a thing. It isn't like Michael or Greer to call on them for help like this unless there's a good reason behind it.
Michael shrugs. "A valid one. Unfortunately, I can't give you a lot of the details. Partly because it is a confidential matter, but largely because it is Wade's confidential matter. I'm not sure how happy she'll be about me getting others involved, much less revealing things she shouldn't even have revealed to me to people she doesn't even know."
"So then we'll have to meet her." Megabyte knows Adam will not let this thing die. The problem is that until any of them know more, there's little that could possibly be done. Besides, if this person might not want their help, what's the point of getting involved?
Adam glares at the redhead. "Megabyte..."
"Don't 'Megabyte' me. It's one thing if this Wade was asking us to help. Or even if she asked Michael to ask us. If you ask me, all we're doing here is meddling in her business when we should at least ask her first."
"I'll be the first to admit that I should have broached the subject with her before calling on either of you. But she did ask me for help, and I consider this help. In her line of work, she's used to surprises, but I wouldn't recommend teleporting right in on her." Michael smiles, imagining just how Wade would react to meeting the next stage of human evolution. At least she's always had an open mind about such things.
Adam nods. "Where would be the best place to approach her regarding this?"
Michael walks towards the phone, picking up a business card beside it. "Ironically, her work would be the best place. It was set up in such a way that it isn't entirely unusual for clientele to arrive unannounced. While I don't particularly find it the best way to run such things, it has worked for them."
Megabyte hates it when Michael starts in with his evasive Watcher talk. "What's the name of this place?"
"Big Apple Archivers. Wade is one of the sales people there. If she's not in, ask for Quinn. He handles the bulk of the actual archiving, so you could say that he's working on your project and not attract suspicion. With him, you might want to leave out the details regarding your people." Michael gives the card to Adam.
Adam accepts it. "Why?"
"Quinn has a hard time grasping such things. Sometimes I wonder whether or not he questions the validity of what he does for a living." Michael shrugs.
"Let me get this straight." Megabyte pauses until he has the attention of the others before continuing. "This guy doesn't even believe in the whole Immortal thing, but he's a Watcher? Is the pay that good?"
Michael laughs. "I know it seems a bit strange in theory, but I knew the first time I met Quinn he would eventually join the Organization. After his father's death, perhaps he wanted to believe that it is possible. In any case, that was what brought him in."
"To replace his father?" Adam asks.
Nodding, Michael approaches the two teens. "I've already told both of you far more than you need to know. Any other questions you'll have to take to the individuals themselves."
Even though Megabyte knows Michael is leaving out some significant details, it likely will be easier to go straight to the people in question. Maybe then this whole 'situation' would make a lot more sense. "Adam, we'd better get going, then."
"We'll let you know what we find out, Michael," Adam adds.
"Thanks again. This means a lot to me." Michael smiles as he watches the two teens disappear in a flash of light.
****
Arturo hears the deadbolt turn. He turns towards the door and smiles at Wade as she walks into the room. She doesn't return the smile, and it worries him slightly. The young lady appears tired...worn, even. "Did something happen, Miss Welles?"
Wade collapses on the bed, missing Rembrandt by inches. "Quinn, why couldn't you have the mindreading sibling on our Earth, where it would have been no big deal to discuss our occupations and lifestyles?"
"Our occupations and lifestyles?" Quinn glances at her, concerned that Wade might actually have caught whatever Rembrandt has. She looks terrible, worse than the Professor did after his encounter with Kate Mallory. This sister of his double's can't be as much trouble as she seems to be. She's just a teenager.
"Yes, *our*. Seems Kate likes me better than you. She did until she decided I wasn't really the Wade Welles she knew, at which point she basically flipped out."
Rembrandt grabs her mouth. "Girl, calm down. Or at least quit talking so loud. I think my brain's going to start hatching new ones any moment."
She sighs. "Sorry, Rembrandt."
"It's okay," Rembrandt comments. "What did Kate do to you?"
Wade's eyes widen. "Oh, my God! Guys, I didn't even think about that!"
"Think about what?" Quinn is glad that whatever it is sort of brought back a glimmer of the Wade he's accustomed to.
"Right before she left, her eyes were getting all squinty, and as she headed back to work, she kept grabbing and rubbing her head. Like she had all of a sudden gotten this massive headache. Like the way Rembrandt was when we first got here." Wade notices both Quinn and the Professor looking at her strangely. "What?"
Arturo laughs. "Miss Welles, people do get headaches."
"What if there's a connection?" Wade looks at Quinn.
"What if it's just that you freaked her out?" Quinn vainly tries to convey reassurance to her. "If our doubles both work in New York, wouldn't it be a little weird to run into both of us in a matter of a couple of hours, completely unannounced?"
Wade glares at him. "What if she senses the thing with Rembrandt from me?"
"What if you tell them about what you did learn from the kid? Then maybe we can drop this portion of the talk," Rembrandt suggests.
"Do you want me to move, Rembrandt?" Wade's getting annoyed, and she's not the one with the migraine.
"I'm fine, sweetheart." Rembrandt pats her on the arm. "It's not your fault, anyhow. I still bet this headache has to do with my double."
"Not this again," Arturo mutters.
Quinn rolls his eyes at the ridiculous behavior his companions are displaying. The way Rembrandt's being so melodramatic about his migraine and Wade comes bursting into the room complete with the overdone collapse on the bed. He would never stoop to such antics to get attention.
"Guys! I want to know what Kate said. Either Wade's going to tell us about it, or I'm going to my house to ask her myself." Hey, the way Quinn sees it, if it works for them....
****
The phone rings in the kitchen just after Kate has stuck a huge brownie in her mouth. She chews as fast as she can...after all, it might be someone important, like her mentor. Soon after she found out about the Watchers and determined she was destined to become one of these Immortals, Kate recalls asking Quinn how an Immortal figures everything out. He told her something about mentors, watering it down to whatever he believed her ten-year-old mind could comprehend. She always imagined one day her mentor would call her on the phone to introduce herself, or a cute young-embodied himself. Then the mentor would arrive at her front door with roses and champagne like those Publisher Clearing House people do when you win the millions. Might sound silly to someone else, but Kate always noticed how the people who win those look like they're a step away from their grave.
Her mother yells to her to answer the phone. Kate tries to tell her she will once she swallows the food in her mouth, but that isn't what it sounds like she is saying because of that brownie. When she's close enough to done to be understood, she answers it.
"Hrro?" Kate swallows the last chew and searches for a clean glass for some water.
"Hey, sweetie..."
She groans. Forget the water. "What do you want?"
"I've missed you too."
"I'm busy. Don't you have work to do?" Kate hates when he gets all sappy with her. This is the reason he does it. To drive her mad.
"What else is new?"
This is annoying. Can't he get the hint and leave her alone? "So what do you want?"
"I'm thinking about coming home for my vacation..."
She rolls her eyes. "Oh, this is a good one..." How many times has she heard this one before? And of all stupid times to choose to lie about it, too.
"I mean it, Katie. Look, I know things haven't been great between us..."
"Oh, shut up. I know you're in town, you dork."
Quinn turns off the speakerphone and picks up the receiver. "What do you mean, I'm in town? I'm calling from my office in New York." He hates it when she messes with his head. Which is why she does it.
"This isn't funny. I saw you at work." Now he's getting beyond annoying.
"I *knew* you missed me."
"As if. This retarded fat guy asked me for something, and then I saw him with you. And I was praying it wasn't you, believe me, but I got close enough to hear your voice and don't even try to tell me there's some poor soul out there with the unfortunate fate to have to look and sound like you."
"I thought *I* needed a vacation."
She growls. "Then you came back in wanting something for a friend with the flu and didn't even remember who I was!"
He laughs. "And when do you see that therapist of yours again?"
Of all lousy things for him to say. Dr. Wilcox would have a field day if she really got into her sibling rivalry issues. "Fine. Don't believe me. I'll let you talk to Mom." Grabbing the receiver, she yells, "Mom! It's Quinn!" Within seconds, she hears her mother's footprints coming down the stairs. Yes, that's right - footprints. Between mindreading and paranoia, Kate has fine-tuned her hearing ability to the point that she has the ability to hear footprints. She has no idea what good such skills have now. It's not like Mom would ever come running to speak to her.
Before Kate knows it, her mother has taken the phone out of her hands and gestures for her to leave the room. She walks out of the room as she hears something about how he doesn't call home enough. If Mom had her way, he'd call a dozen times a day. Odds are, that still wouldn't be enough for her. Imagine how bad she'd be with him if he had been the only kid she had. Kate rolls her eyes. Sometimes, she wishes he had been.
"I tell you, I don't know what to do with that sister of yours..."
Kate picks up the TV Guide on the end table and sits down on the couch. "Dad would know. Because he would know *everything*, right, Mom?" Turning the set on can wait until after the phone conversation is over. It's nice to pretend she's mouthing off to her mother even though the woman is out of hearing range.
"I wish your father were around to deal with her sometimes. I'm sure he would have found the solution to her behavior by now."
Laughing, Kate debates which talk show she wants to watch this afternoon. They drive Mom crazy. At least they make Kate feel her family isn't quite so bad by comparison. One day she's bound to catch an episode of Jenny Jones where some Immortal reveals themselves and all those Immortal truths Quinn and Wade have glossed over. Hearing the information from an Immortal stupid enough to go on national television isn't much better than hearing it from the two Watchers in her life. Dad wouldn't lie to her about such things. Kate mutters under her breath, "don't forget the part about how if Dad were still here, I probably wouldn't be like this..."
"Of course, if he were still here, maybe she wouldn't have been a problem to begin with. I think she could really use your influence these days. She's not like you were when you were her age."
"Mom," Kate groans to herself, "like he wants to make me in his own image. I'm sure he'll be as happy to see me marry out of this family as I will be."
Mrs. Mallory's sigh is loud enough to be heard through the kitchen door. "I know she's not you. And I know you don't want her to be. But you know what I mean. Hopefully a visit could shed some light on her rebellion...I know it's not your idea of a vacation, but you and I both know deep down, she misses having her big brother around."
Kate makes gagging noises. If she never sees him again, she wouldn't so much as bat an eye over it. Maybe then she could just be who she wants to be without having to stand in Quinn's shadow for the rest of her natural life. If she never hears the phrase, "why can't you be more like Quinn?" in any way, shape or form for the rest of her life, she will die a very happy woman. Not like she'll be dying, though. Not before him, anyway. What she wants to know is why she couldn't have gotten someone other than Mr. Perfect for her brother. It could be worse - he could end up her Watcher on top of it all.
"She told you *what*?" Mrs. Mallory laughs. "Well, you have to give her credit, I suppose. It isn't every day someone claims to spot someone in San Francisco and New York at the same time...Quinn? Quinn, are you there? Hello?"
Quinn couldn't have hung up on Mom. He doesn't have it in his ideal offspring blood to hang up on his very own mother, or anyone else for that matter. Kate pauses, listening to her mother's voice grow more and more concerned. Or could he? If he did, she could respect him for something. Knowing him, the line probably disconnected. The ring of the phone answers her suspicions. She doesn't even bother to move and the ringing stops almost instantaneously. Yawning, Kate considers skipping the talk show thing completely and choosing the better alternative: Talk Soup. Mom hates that even more than Richard Bey.
Her mother enters the living room with one of those motherly looks of disapproval. The one that Kate always compared to a scowl and always accompanied some thought about what a lazy, unsociable girl she is. Kate tries to ignore those negative thoughts whenever possible. Verbal lectures are bad enough.
"Don't you hate it when your kids hang up on you, Mom?"
"He didn't hang up on me."
"Sure he didn't. That would be Quinn doing something wrong. Impossible."
"You had better watch your mouth, young lady!"
"Sorry, Mom." Next comes the full name business and she's really not in the mood. "What's up?"
She sighs. "I need you to straighten up the basement. Put everything back the way your brother likes it. You'd better get started. Quinn's coming home." Smiling, she heads towards the staircase to work on his bedroom.
"Coming home?" Kate realizes her mother can't hear her. But she knows that she saw him in San Francisco. He even spoke to her and played along like he knew her. The last thing this world needs is two Quinn Mallorys. Until his second arrival, she figures she'd better come up with something inventive of her own for his precious little basement.
****
Quinn shakes his head as he opens the hotel room door. "Professor, you worry too much. I'm sure it was just a coincidence."
"What was just a coincidence?" Wade looks up from the television.
Arturo puts a small paper bag down on the table. "Oh, that salesgirl, who could possibly be the single rudest person I've ever met in my life, seemed to know that I do not belong on this Earth!"
Wade and Rembrandt exchange looks, and immediately laugh.
Smiling, Quinn figures he should help the Professor out. "She said something to him about how for all he knows rudeness is how it is on this world, or something he took to mean that."
"Where were you?" Rembrandt looks back towards the television.
Quinn shrugs. "A row or so down. Looking for some of those instant packages of cocoa..."
"Which he then decided he didn't really want, even though that was the whole point of going to begin with!" Arturo glares at him.
Rembrandt reaches for the television knob and flips channels. "What's wrong with that? Time passes, you change your mind. Why, I can think of at least a dozen tours where me and the band thought we were craving one thing after our shows, when in fact..."
"That's enough, Mr. Brown!" Arturo transfers his glare to Rembrandt.
Wade leans against the bedpost. "A woman tells it to you like it is, and leave it to you to let it throw you into a tizzy. The more I see and hear, the more I think this is home."
"Like take the shows here," Rembrandt adds, motioning towards the television. "They are all the same, except for a few variations that could be from things getting canned, and things moving in."
"They syndicated 90210," Wade acknowledges.
Quinn walks towards the bed, taking a seat next to her. "I thought they did that before we left. Wasn't it on KOFY in the afternoons?"
She looks at him. "And you would know this because..."
"It's not like I watched it or anything. Must have been flipping channels one afternoon...no, my mother watched it." Quinn nods, believing himself more with each movement of his head.
Wade nods right along with him. "Sure. If you say so."
Rembrandt grabs Wade's head, his eyes wide with fear. "Stop that, girl!"
"Stop what?" She has no idea what's with him.
"Nodding! No nodding, remember?" Rembrandt looks at her, and then at Quinn, who started the whole nodding business in this scene. "You know what will happen to us if we keep that up...."
Arturo sits down and flips through a tourist guide on the table. "I find it hard to believe this is less annoying than any of our incessant nodding."
****
Quinn catches himself staring at the clock instead of researching Immortals like he should be. For someone with a name like Charity, this McCullen woman is certainly not being very charitable in making his job easier. He's been trying to find her for months. Any distraction would be welcome. Wade should be walking through his office door any minute now. He wants to know why she would lie to him about where she'd spend her vacation. It seems rather stupid, considering that what she was supposedly going to do in London is far more scandalous than anything she could do in San Francisco.
Unless she went to see Kate. Then he understands. That would be something he wouldn't want to know about. He knows they talk sometimes, the two of them, and that it is mostly about him. While it bothers him not knowing what they discuss, he knows it can't be very positive if Kate's involved. Wade could be defending him, but then Kate wouldn't have anything to do with her. Just knowing they gossip makes him uncomfortable.
But if that's all Wade did, why was Hurley acting up like that? It makes no sense. Kate's no Immortal. Thank God. His life is difficult enough without having to deal with something like that. For all he knows, she's moved from fencing to sword collecting and one day she'll decide to go hunting for his head. She'll end up Watching them before she ends up among them.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who desperately needs their vacation." Wade pushes the door open, and walks in. Quinn knocks over three week's worth of information on Charity McCullen and his log cabin model in the process. She probably should have knocked. Too late now. Taking a small gold foil box out of her pocket, she hands it to him. "I got you a little something. Figured it was the least I could do knowing I was getting my break first."
Quinn looks at the box in his hands. "Hope you didn't break the bank on it."
"Not for you I wouldn't." She kneels to retrieve the Lincoln Logs on the floor. "Breaking log cabins is where I draw the line."
"I know." Sighing, he wishes that her statement wasn't so true. "What is it, one of those tourist magnets from Alcatraz?"
Wade's eyebrows crinkle in confusion. "Alcatraz? When did they move that to London?"
"They traded it for the bridge, but then they realized the city was to their bridge limit, so they sent it over to Arizona." He rolls his eyes. "Wade, I know you were in San Fran."
"I was?" This is news to her. Unless the city turned British on her or something.
He nods. "Weren't you?"
"No, I went to London. I told you that."
"Not according to Hurley..."
"Oh, come on, like I'd tell Hurley where I really went. Besides, I didn't tell him anything other than I was not going to be home."
Quinn shrugs, turning his attention back to his computer. "He seems to think you were in San Francisco doing something he didn't approve of."
"How much of what I do does the man approve of? I'd love to see where he got the idea I was there, of all places. Whatever...." She sighs, and heads toward the door.
He watches her leave. "Thanks for the gift...." She nods without bothering to turn her head towards him. Quinn picks up the box from his desk and smiles. He shouldn't complain. She didn't bother getting him anything last year.
****
"Rembrandt, you're awfully quiet." Wade looks at him with a bit of concern. She thought he might be asleep on the bed until he saw his eyes were open. Considering how excited he's been all afternoon, it's a bit odd. Having him this quiet when he isn't asleep is odd, period.
Quinn smiles. "Just let him be."
"Indeed, my boy." Arturo puts down the newspaper he's been reading. "There's certainly no harm in a little rest and relaxation now and then."
"Well, now that you mention it," Rembrandt sighs, "I'm not feeling all that great..."
"I knew it!" Wade walks over to him and puts her hand on his forehead. "What's wrong?"
Rembrandt shrugs. "I never felt anything like it before. It's like a headache, but throughout my entire body. Not like the aches you get with the flu, either. I can't even put into words the sensation I'm feeling."
"The fact you're dressed throws my theory out the window," Wade mutters.
Quinn glares at her. "I'll go to the store to pick something up for you. Think it would help?"
"Yeah, Q-Ball. That would work." Rembrandt closes his eyes. "I think I'm gonna catch a few winks, if you guys don't mind..."
Hopefully Quinn has enough money for whatever remedies this world might have. If it is home, he should. Arturo doesn't want to become as cautiously optimistic as the others are. Something tells him this could not be their Earth, yet he can not prove a point of diversion from their world. "Mr. Brown, by all means rest. The last thing we need is to find out whatever you are suffering from happens to be contagious."
****
Wade slams the door to her office. What's the point in having a vacation to relax you if all that happens when you get back is twice as much stress as you had prior to your time off? She doesn't know. All she does know is that she was in London, and she certainly didn't step foot in the Bay Area for a good year or so. No one can be in two places at the same time, right?
The knock on the door irritates her, but she knows better than to ignore it on her first day back on the job. Especially if Hurley is on the warpath, and guessing by the knock, he is. She sighs. "It's open."
"Would you care to explain this to me?" Hurley throws a manila folder at her.
Barely catching it, she opens it to find a letter, and the edges of what appear to be blown up photographs. "I don't know what this is until I have some time to look at it, so just calm down until I do!"
Hurley doesn't listen. He continues to pace about the front of her desk, agitated. "You'd better have quite an explanation for everything in there..."
"Yeah, yeah," she mutters as she reads over the letter discussing some inexcusable indiscretion of hers directed at Hurley. She can't imagine what they think she did in San Francisco of all places. Even if they found out where she really was, it isn't likely they would be able to do anything about it. Laying the letter neatly on her desk, she picks up the first photograph and brings it towards her eyes. She gasps. "This can't be!"
"Surely you can do better than that."
Wade would react to his words if what she sees isn't what it appears to be. "Hurley, I know what this looks like. Believe me, if I were in your shoes, I'd be thinking the same thing. But I swear to you there is no way on this Earth I would be in a position where I could be...let's face it, I'm still sort of new at all of this, but you should know by now I'm not that careless or stupid. There's no way I'd be caught within ten feet, much less ten inches, of Mr. Rembrandt Brown!"
****
"You think she's seen them by now?" Michael Gardner stares at a nearby phone in his living room, which hasn't done much of anything in the last hour or so. Sending Adam and Megabyte to see Wade about a work related situation isn't something he would have ever expected to do, no matter what the circumstances were. Indisputable evidence placing the Watcher he brought into the Organization in two countries at the same time isn't something Michael ever saw coming, either.
Greer sighs. "Yes, I do. She's probably a bit peeved that you didn't warn her, knowing Wade."
"I could call her. I *should* call her..."
"Michael, you worry too much."
He rises from his chair. "I haven't told you everything..."
"Excuse me?" Greer glares at him. "Let me guess...there was a lot more going on between you two than you've let on over the years after all." She grins, aware he might not recognize this as a feeble attempt to put him at ease.
"Let's be serious for a moment," Michael asks somberly. "This isn't something I kept from you on purpose. I didn't think it mattered much. It wasn't all that important at the time. But suddenly it is."
"Something having to do with Wade, I take it."
"Not just Wade," he corrects. "All three of them. Wade, Adam and Megabyte. Kevin, too."
Greer is confused. "You don't mean to tell me she's one of these Tomorrow People..."
****
Wade rolls over in the bed and rubs her eyes. Random sliding at all hours sure takes a toll on the body clock. Across the room someone is making noise. She thinks she dreamt about those very sounds. Those noises probably woke her up. As she's about to turn over, her mind registers what she saw. Jumping out of bed, she half-dreamily staggers across the room.
"Quinn," she hisses, "where are you going?"
Tying his shoelaces, Quinn smiles. "I never got a straight answer from you last night. So, I'm going to see my mother."
"You can't be serious!"
He looks her in the eyes. "Watch me."
"Don't." She grabs his arm.
"Will you tell me what you wouldn't yesterday?"
Wade nods. "Just not here."
"Fine," Quinn remarks. "Wherever you like."
****
It isn't even summer yet, but SFO is as busy as ever. Quinn hasn't been here in at least two years, but nothing has changed. Here at the airport, at least. It's another story where his family is concerned. He hasn't seen Kate since she was about to start high school, and it won't be much longer before she graduates. Hard to believe this is the same kid sister who delighted in serving him chocolate ice cream with a handful of mud just to see if he'd catch on.
Hopefully this guy passing himself off as Quinn has kept his distance from Kate. The last thing Quinn wants is to see something horrible happen to her indirectly because of him. This guy better not have gone anywhere near his mother, either. If anything happened to his family because of this fake, Quinn wouldn't hesitate to kill.
He picks up his keys at the rental car booth, and exits the airport terminal to wait for the van that will take him to the lot where his rental awaits. It would have been nice to have Wade around for this trip. Company would be nice. Quinn worries about the reception he'll get from Kate this time. Her unpredictable antics are practically a tradition when he has a homecoming. At least with Wade around, Kate actually makes a point to try to behave like a normal young woman.
But Kate should have known it wasn't him she saw. If it was just a fake, why couldn't she sense it? The one thing Quinn envies about his sister is her ability to see the truth in things before it's obvious. Wade insists it's because Kate can read minds. He doesn't buy into that sort of thing, but he acknowledges there's something Kate has that is unique to her. According to Kate, it's common sense and an attention span longer than three seconds.
Suppose Wade's right and Kate can read minds. Shouldn't she then know that the guy she saw wasn't him? Even if you can duplicate outward appearances, you can't duplicate thoughts. Besides, if she's always one step ahead of everyone like she is, shouldn't she be able to deduce what's going on before anyone else?
Quinn smiles. He never thought he'd live to see the day he'd put himself at his sister's mercy by choice.
****
"I gather from the way both of you speak that you do have some knowledge of the nature of my work," Wade begins. She's never been good at vulnerability. To have to ask these two boys for help is hard.
Adam nods. "We have a basic understanding of the Watchers organization."
"But Michael didn't tell us any specifics regarding your work with them," Megabyte adds.
Wade opens her top desk drawer, and pulls out a manila file. "I do field work. I'm still rather new at it, but I've been told I'm a natural. In any case, once I completed my training, I was assigned to...wait, you said the two of you know Greer?"
Megabyte twitches. He knew he should have been listening to her thoughts so giant leaps in the conversation wouldn't take him so off guard. "Yeah, we know her just as well as Michael. And about her, if that's what you're getting to."
"Good." Wade picks up her coffee mug. "But would you do me a favor?"
"We'd be happy to try," Adam remarks.
"I need to understand something." Wade observes the two teens, looking for some sort of reaction. None, really. "The two of you are from England, right? I mean, that's where you met them..."
Adam nods. "Not originally, but yes, that's where we spend the majority of our time."
"I live there, but I'm American." Megabyte sighs, placing both his feet firmly on the ground. "Your point?"
"I only called Michael a few hours ago. Yet the two of you managed to find out all about it and come here to see me in less time than a flight from London to New York."
[Oops,] Megabyte communicates telepathically to Adam. [We really blew it this time.]
****
"No, Wade is not a Tomorrow Person to my knowledge." Michael laughs. "But she's closer to them than any of them think she is. Wade included. That's why I'm worried."
Greer hates it when people spring revelations on her. It was bad enough spending nearly a decade in the Watchers, developing a frame of mind the Organization smiled on, only to discover she was an Immortal. That she is among those she trained herself to watch and record as if they were laboratory mice. Only real difference between Immortals and lab mice is one group is bent on global conquest. After all, there can be only one. But finding out she didn't appreciate being at the receiving end of that attention upset her greatly, because of all the time she spent on the giving end of it.
Chronicling history is one thing. Becoming it is another.
She sighs. "Michael, I don't understand this. How is it that Wade is connected to the Tomorrow People? And how is it none of them know about it?"
"Lisa," Michael replies quietly.
Lisa Davis was a name Greer hadn't heard a peep about in ages. She met Lisa about the same time she met the others. Unlike the three boys, Lisa didn't particularly enjoy her newfound abilities. The girl insisted she wanted to just have a normal life. Ignoring all reality in her recollection of the details, Greer laughs at the idea that this wish of Lisa's, along with Greer's own observations, led Michael to setting the girl up as a Watcher.
He looks at his wife, obviously lost in thought. "Wade was the one."
"Huh?" Greer turns towards him, terribly confused. "What about Wade and Lisa?"
Michael quietly continues. "Someone within had to push her papers through. To hide the real records, and make sure no one found out about Lisa being that teleporter that was all over the news. Remember?"
Greer nods. "And Wade was this person?"
"Yeah. Thing is, I never told her anything about the details. Figured that the less she know, the better should she get into trouble. Wade knew something was up, but didn't question me about it. Just did as she was told. I know she remembers Lisa's name, mainly because she's mentioned a desire to meet her."
"Do you suppose she could be the link they need?" Greer runs her fingers through her hair. "They get so worried about Lisa, and if Wade trusted them, and got Lisa to trust her...Wade could at least ease their minds some. Letting them know Lisa's fine."
Michael agrees. "I also think it would help Lisa to know there's at least one person in the Watchers who not only knows what she is, but still thinks it's okay...and normal."
A thought suddenly pops into Greer's mind that causes her to erupt into laughter. "If we really wanted to get Wade to befriend Lisa, all we'd probably have to do is send a certain colleague from her office over to Lisa's..."
"Which one?" Getting rid of Hurley would certainly win favors in Wade's book, but Michael wonders if she wants to get rid of Quinn. Despite what Wade says.
Greer smiles. "Good point. Besides, if you keep Hurley's mouth shut, he's capable of making a good impression. I think."
"Should I tell them?"
For a bunch of telepathic kids, Greer would think that one of them would have stumbled upon this thought stream of Michael's. "Yeah, you should. Wade, too. She can be stubborn about things, you know."
"I know." Michael is amused at the irony of this observation coming from Greer. "She's not the only stubborn woman I deal with on a regular basis, either."