by
Jayelle Carey and Jessica Parker

Beta-read by Kim Jones
 

Rembrandt paced a bit as he waited for Maggie and Arturo to return.  They'd left to find Wade.  He took another sip of his fresh coffee, then walked over to a trash can and dumped it in.  He'd had enough coffee over the day to last a year.  He headed back towards Quinn's room.

The door had nothing but a number on it when he got there.  Quinn's chart was gone.  Rembrandt didn't know what to think, and he pushed open the door and entered the room.  It was empty.  Quinn wasn't there.
 

*****

What if there was a world where the Russians ruled America?
Or where the dinosaurs never died off?
Or where women were in control instead of men?

These worlds do exist.  Same planet, different universe.
My friends and I have found the gateway to reach them.
Now all we have to do... is find a way to get home....

SLIDERS... Infinite Slides....
Based On the Original "Sliders" TV Series
Created by Tracy Torme and Robert K. Weiss

*****
 

Logan stood up and looked around.  "Anyone home?" she called in the direction of the staircase.  "Mallory, are you here?"  She pushed the hair from her face and turned to Wade and Quinn.

"I think the slide hurt him more than I thought it would," Wade said nervously.  She'd lifted Quinn's head into her lap and was checking his breathing and pulse.  His breathing was now barely audible and incredibly faint, and his pulse was very weak and unsteady.  She was scared.

"Hey!" somebody called, opening the basement door and coming down the stairs.  Wade thought they were in trouble until she recognized the man as Quinn.  His hair was a very dark brown and had a different style than her Quinn's, but his figure and the way he moved told her that it was him.  He didn't seem to notice her and glared at Logan.  "How many times have I told you not to just slide in and yell like that?  Some guy had a flat tire outside and needed to use my phone.  I told him that you're just a friend and must have come in the back door.  He's gone now, but one of these days you're--"  He stopped abruptly, seeing Wade and Quinn.

"Well, this time I had a good reason for shouting for you," Logan said.  "Mallory, this is Wade.  We've got a bit of an emergency."

Mallory pulled his gaze from Wade and looked at Quinn.  "I can see that.  What's wrong with him?"

"He's bleeding internally and has head injuries.  I don't know how bad," Logan told him.  "We need your help."

Mallory turned back to face Logan again.  "This is a bit out of my league, don't ya think?"  He pulled her a few steps away and whispered harshly into Logan's ear, hoping that Wade wouldn't hear.  "You shouldn't have brought him here, or her.  God, Logan, what were you thinking?  I can't help him here; you know that.  And Ka- ... Wade, I mean..."  He shook his head emphatically.  "You shouldn't have told her that I could help."

Logan looked into his eyes.  She knew how hard this was for him.  "I had to," she said.  "You know how close I am to my Wade - and I was with Kate too.  Wade's her double.  And he means a lot to her.  I couldn't just let him die when this world can save him.  I had to help."

"Alright," Mallory said, then walked back over to Wade and Quinn.  He did understand.

Wade looked up at him.  She'd overheard some of their conversation and wondered what was going on.  Was he going to help?  She gazed questioningly at him.

Mallory's expression softened as he looked at Wade.  As he bent down to look at Quinn, he let his fingers graze her face lightly, then called to Logan.  "Come on, help me get him into a bed."

Logan helped him lift Quinn and carry him over to a bed.  Wade walked across the room with them.  She noticed that this basement was identical to Quinn's, but set up totally different.  One corner held a machine that resembled Quinn's sliding device, while the rest of the room was taken up with two beds and equipment and stuff that looked like medical supplies.  Obviously Mallory was more of a doctor and cared more about that than sliding.  Wade felt thankful for that.

"I can't do much of anything for him here," Mallory said, interrupting her thoughts.  He'd been trying to find out how serious Quinn's condition was.

Wade frowned.  So much for him being the best doctor ever.  She looked at Logan.

"Can't you help him at all?" Logan asked Mallory.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said.  "But I am in no way capable of treating his kinds of injuries with the supplies I have here.  I admit that I have all kinds of high-tech gizmos, yeah, but he needs a hospital."  He looked sorrowfully at Wade.  "You should go back to wherever you came from and let him take his chances there.  I can't help you."

"But he'll die," Wade said.  She didn't understand Mallory at all.  He seemed to really want to help her, but he'd told her to go back.

"I'm sorry," Mallory said again, tearing his eyes from her and looking away.  He couldn't bear to look at her sad face.

"Wait," Wade said.  "You said he needed a hospital.  Could they help him?"

Mallory nodded.  "Of course.  But you can't take him there."

Wade felt confused.  "But you just said they could save his life!"

"You can't take him there," Logan repeated Mallory's words.  "It is way too dangerous."

"Why?" Wade wanted to know, her voice demanding an answer.

"Because he's Quinn Mallory," Mallory said, then decided a better explanation was needed.  "I'm supposed to be dead...  and sliding is illegal on this world."  He said that as if it should make sense to her.  "Besides, you have no money and hospital bills are through the roof here."

"Is that all?"  Wade was beyond frustrated.  "So, I could get thrown in jail?  Big deal.  That's no price at all for saving Quinn's life!"

"But is it worth losing your life?" Mallory asked her.  "Is that price too high?"

"What?"

Logan looked seriously at Wade.  "If they find out that you're a slider, they will kill you."

"Then I just won't let them find out," Wade stated.  "Simple as that."

"But what about payment?" Logan asked.  "Mallory and I can't help you.  I don't exist and he'd be found out.  You don't want to not be able to pay your bills on this world."

"Look, you can't stop me."  Wade was determined now.  "You either take us to the hospital, or I'm calling 911."

Giving up, Logan sighed.  "Alright, I'll drive you.  But I still don't like this."

Mallory grabbed Logan's arm.  "Hey," he said softly to her, "don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Logan nodded.  "I won't.  Can I borrow your car?"

"Yeah, sure," Mallory answered.  "Just be careful."

-----

The phone rang and Maggie quickly answered it.  "Wade?" she asked hopefully.

"No," Rembrandt's voice said.  "Maggie, it's me.  Something's happened.  They lost Quinn."

Maggie sank onto the bed and choked back a sob.  She dropped the phone into her lap and sat staring numbly into space.

"Maggie!" the phone called again when she quit talking.  "Maggie?  Hey, pick the phone back up."

After a moment, Rembrandt's voice started to register with her and she lifted the phone slowly back to her ear.

Rembrandt could hear her breathing and knew that she was crying, but at least she'd picked up the phone again.  "Maggie, did you hear what I said?" he asked.  "Quinn's gone."

"I heard," sniffled Maggie.

"Maggie, listen to me," Rembrandt said, realizing that she must think Quinn was dead.  "Quinn is literally gone.  I'm at the main desk now.  He isn't even listed in the computers."

"What?" came Maggie's bewildered reply.

"Quinn's charts are gone, he's been deleted from the computers, and his room is empty," explained Rembrandt.  "I'm just getting a bunch of run-around down here.  They're asking if I'm certain he was here!  God, how could a patient in critical condition just disappear?!"  He paused for a moment to control his temper.  "Look, maybe you and the professor should just come back here.  We need to figure out what's going on."

"Yeah," Maggie complied, hanging up the phone.

-----

"He's hypovolemic!  I need an EEG and glasgow on him, stat!" a doctor called as Quinn was taken to the emergency room of the hospital.

"He's not breathing properly.  Intubate him!"

Wade rushed along side the doctors, oblivious to the meaning of the their med speak, just trying to stay close to Quinn.  But she and Logan were stopped by a nurse and prevented from going any further.  "Let me go with him," Wade pleaded.

"Your friend is good hands," the nurse said.  "I'll need you two to fill out some paperwork."

Wade started to protest, but Logan placed a hand on her arm.  "He'll be okay," she said comfortingly.

Wade finally nodded and let Logan and the nurse lead her to the front desk.

"I'll need to get his information entered into our computers," the nurse said.  "What's the patient's name?"

"Jim Hall," Wade answered at the same moment as Logan replied with, "James Hall."  They just looked at each other.  Apparently their Quinns had both used that same fake name in the past.  Logan was thankful that they hadn't both said something different.  She decided to let Wade answer the rest of the questions, just in case they weren't so lucky next time.  She walked over to the waiting area and took a seat.

The nurse asked Wade a few more questions, then handed her a paper to sign.  "What's this?" asked Wade.

"It's a check-in form for the patient," explained the nurse.  "It states that you're responsible for putting James in our care."

Wade picked up the pen and signed 'Wade Wells' on the form without even thinking.  She'd considered the consequences of using Quinn's real name, but she'd never given a second thought to the repercussions of using her own.

-----

The three of them sat in their motel room in silence, thinking.  Finally Rembrandt spoke.  "Wade must have done something."

"But how, Rem?" Maggie asked.  "And what could she do?  There's no way she could have gotten Quinn out of the hospital without anyone noticing, and it's not like she can take care of him herself.  I just don't get it."

"I just hope that Miss Wells is alright," commented Arturo.

"And Quinn too," added Rembrandt.

Maggie frowned.  "Quinn is most likely dead.  We should probably accept that."

Arturo hated it, but he agreed with her.  He started to remark, but Rembrandt cut him off.  "No.  We can't just write Q-ball off as dead.  Wade's just figured out some way to help him."

Maggie shook her head.  He was in denial.  "If Wade took him, don't you think there'd at least be a note or something?  Wade wouldn't do this.  I think that she's probably in trouble.  Maybe somebody found out that she's a slider, and they took her and Quinn.  I mean, the timer is gone too."

Rembrandt rubbed his face and sighed.  "I'll call the police."

-----

"Thank you," said Wade.  Mallory had fixed her up a place to sleep in his basement.  She was grateful that she'd have a soft bed and comfortable surroundings again.  Logan had taken her usual room upstairs.

Mallory smiled at her.  "All I did was put fresh sheets on the bed.  It was no trouble.  I have plenty of room.  You can stay as long as you'd like."

"I appreciate that," Wade replied.

Mallory looked at her, and hesitated a moment uncomfortably, then spoke.  "I'm sorry about earlier.  I shouldn't have tried to stop you from helping your friend."

Wade shrugged.  "I understand why you did.  It's okay."

Logan came downstairs then.  "I'm gonna get something to eat.  You guys want anything?"

Wade shook her head.  "No thank you.  I've kinda been too worked up lately to need food.  It's like I'm caffeinated.  Maybe later though."

"Not hungry either," Mallory told her.

"Okay," Logan said.  She walked back up the stairs.

Wade relaxed a bit when she left.  Mallory noticed.  "You tense up every time Logan is around."

"I do?" Wade asked.  "I guess I'm just not used to her being nice.  I knew her double.  She tried to kill me, twice actually."

"Well," Mallory said, "I guess you've seen a lot of action."

"Yeah.  But it's also nice to see a face I know."  He knew she was referring to him and not Logan.

"You'll get used to Logan soon enough," he said, and then paused.  "And it is good to see a familiar face."

"You knew my double?" asked Wade.

"Um, yeah," Mallory said, but then he avoided the subject.  "Hey, let me fix that arm for you."

-----

Rembrandt hung up the phone.  He was frustrated.  He'd just had a very long and exhausting talk with a few different people over at the police department.  He looked to Maggie and Arturo.  "They refuse to do anything without 24 hours going by.  This is insane!"

Maggie quit pacing and sat down.  She was out of ideas.  Filing a missing persons report was of no use, and they couldn't exactly say that they were sliders from another world.  For once, none of them had a plan, and it was driving her crazy.

-----

"There, good as new.  Well, almost anyway."  Mallory looked up from her arm and found himself staring directly into Wade's eyes which were mere inches from his.  They'd been talking comfortably for the past hour while he'd wrapped her arm.  "Um, it'll still be sore for a while, but it should be fully healed in a month," he stammered.

Wade inspected the silver cast on her arm.  The metallic material was light and not bulky at all, like a weird cloth.  She flexed her arm and was surprised to find that she could move it without any pain.  She extended her arm then pulled it all the way to herself, enjoying the full range of motion.  She looked back up and noticed that Mallory's gaze was still fixed on her, and she stared back into his eyes.  "Thanks," she said softly.

Mallory just looked at her.  God, how he'd missed seeing that face.  He brushed a stay strand of hair from her forehead and pushed it behind her ear.  There was a moment of awkward silence as they just looked at each other.

"Are those contacts?" Wade finally inquired about his deep brown eyes.  She didn't see any tell-tale ring that contacts usually made.

"Uh, no," answered Mallory, "but they, um, used to be blue.  I changed them."

"Same as your hair," commented Wade.  "Why change your looks when you could just slide to a different world?"

He sighed lightly.  "This is my home."

"Oh."  Wade understood perfectly what he meant.  She'd seen worlds that were practically paradise, but she'd left them all behind for just the slightest hope of getting back home.  It was where she longed for each slide to take her.  "I think I know how you feel."

"It must be hard," Mallory said, "being lost, I mean."  He moved closer to her as they talked.

Wade looked down.  "Yeah, it is.  Sometimes I just wish for some stability, something constant in my life.  I find the strangest things comforting.  Like people that are the same from world to world, and landmarks, and stuff.  But it's tough at the same time.  I feel so close to home sometimes, but knowing that I'm not there just makes me feel further away.  Because, well, faces are usually familiar, but inside is a stranger."  She knew she couldn't really explain it, but he seemed to actually understand her.

Mallory touched her face gently, then quickly pulled away.  He stood up and walked across the room to the staircase.  "You're right."  He started up the stairs.  "I'm going for a walk," he said without turning around.

Wade was startled, confused by his sudden change.  "Mallory, wait!"  He stopped and she walked over to him.  "Where are you going?"

"For a walk.  Dunno where really.  Just around, I guess.  I need to get some fresh air."  He didn't look at her.

"I think what I meant to ask was, 'Why are you going?'"

Mallory turned and stepped down a stair towards her.  He looked at her without making eye contact.  "Because if I kept looking into your eyes for another second, I would have kissed you."

"What's so bad about that?"  She bit her bottom lip subconsciously.  She couldn't deny the fact that a part of her wanted him to kiss her.

He finally let his gaze leave the floor and meet hers again.  "I've just met you.  It wouldn't be right....  I'm looking at you, and I'm feeling these feelings for you, but... I don't know if they're really for you or for whom I want you to be."

Wade felt a warm rush as her heart skipped a beat.  "Me either," she replied softly, then blushed.  "I... I mean, I feel the same way.  I don't know either."

Mallory stepped down the rest of the stairs and put his hand on her arm.  "So, what do we do?"

"I'm not sure."  She stepped closer to him without realizing it.

"I know that I see Kate every time I look at you," Mallory said.  "But you're different, too.  So much alike, yet different.  I think I might be falling for who you are, Wade, not just who I see when I look at you."

Feeling suddenly confused, Wade walked over to her bed and sat down.  "Really?" she asked while twisting the edge of her sheet nervously.  Was it possible that they both had developed feelings for each other after just knowing each other for less than a day?

He sat down next to her.  "Yes, really."

Their eyes met again and Wade felt him move closer.  She could feel his breath on her skin.  Then their lips met.  She closed her eyes as she returned the kiss.  It deepened, becoming more passionate, but Wade felt herself tense when they accidentally fell back onto the bed.  She opened her eyes again.  "I can't do this," she said quickly as their lips parted.

Mallory sat back up.  "Why?"

"Because when I look at you, I see my best friend."  She sat up also, touching her lips with her hand.  "What is wrong with me?  Quinn gets hurt and I immediately fall for two guys in the same week.  I mean, that's not like me.  I don't do that.  God, how bad a person does that make me?  The person I care about practically dies, and I just move on to somebody else.  I mean, Quinn and I weren't like dating or anything, but he is my best friend.  How could I..."

"Hey, it's okay."  Mallory grinned a bit at how she was blushing now.  He touched her chin and made her look at him.  He knew how she felt.  He was in the exact same situation.  "It's okay.  You're not a bad person, Wade.  If Quinn was your best friend, then maybe you just felt alone when he got hurt and wasn't there for you.  Somebody you depended on wasn't in your life anymore.  It's understandable that you'd try to find a special relationship with someone else to fill that void.  And one of the guys you fell for being me, well, how could help yourself?  I'm so irresistible."  He smiled broadly at her.

Wade just grinned, but then her smile faded.  "But I still feel bad.  I feel like I gave up on Quinn.  I can't just replace my best friend.  I shouldn't have a normal life if he can't.  We're all a team.  I feel guilty that I could be happy while he's almost dying."

"Do you love him?" he asked her.

"Yes, I do," she answered in surprise to his sudden question, then paused for a moment.  "But not that way.  I love him like a friend, a brother, a best bud.  I don't know.  I sometimes think about him romantically, but he's so much more than that.  He's everything."

She sighed and looked at Mallory.  He was content to listen, so she continued.  "When we started sliding and got lost, well, all I had were the others.  Quinn was the only one I knew before our little adventure began.  I guess I grew to depend on him, like you said.  He and the others are all I have left.  And when the professor died, Quinn and I took it the hardest.  We could count on each other for support, and a shoulder to cry on.  We did have a hard time for a while when we didn't talk much, but we were just getting back to how things used to be.  Best friends forever.  And I've never wanted to take a chance on things getting messed up by starting a relationship.  I don't think Quinn did either.  But I think we were both kinda figuring on sorting out our real feelings when we got back home and put sliding behind us."

She wiped away a tear, then pushed some hair behind her ear.  "But now he could still die, and I'm afraid of losing him.  I don't want another one of us to die - especially Quinn, our leader.  I don't think I could handle it.  I can't take any more death.

"When the professor died, I started thinking more about God.  I've always believed in him and I'd like to think that I have a strong faith, but having somebody die on a strange world... well, it makes me wonder if the same God is in every universe out there - and if every world has the same heaven.  Sometimes I think that we were never supposed to have been able to slide.  We're interfering with things that we have no right to.  And maybe each world has its own heaven.  Where do we go when we die?  To the heaven of our world, or the world we die on?  Where?  And what about friends from other worlds, what happens when they die?  But I think I'm just scared of Quinn dying on a world that isn't home.  I'm not sure what that would mean.  I guess that's why I was acting this way towards you.  It's like I have Quinn back, and... I don't know how to explain.  I just don't want to lose him....

"Jeez, this all sounds really stupid," she said, wiping her face with her hand and trying not to get all emotional in front of Mallory.

"It's okay," he said again, sensing how hurt she must feel and trying to comfort her.  He put his arm around Wade and let her cry into his sleeve.  "You don't have to explain; I understand."

"I'm sorry," Wade said, pulling back away from him when she realized that she was soaking his shirt with her tears.  She sniffed a bit, wiping her eyes again.  "It's just everything has been really hard for me lately."

"Don't apologize," he told her.  "I know what it feels like to lose somebody important to you.  But Quinn isn't going to die; I promise you that.  This world can fix just about anything."

Wade noticed the tears in his own eyes.  "You lost somebody you cared about, didn't you?"

"I guess it's time for my story," Mallory tried to smile, but failed.  "I guess I should start at the beginning.  I invented sliding about five years ago.  Kate - your double - and I, we slid together the first time.  Somehow, I screwed up and got us lost.  Big surprise there; it seems to be a universal consistency.  Anyway, we met Logan after a few slides and started sliding together because her timer had quit working.  Logan had been good friends with her Wade back home, and she and Kate hit it off really well.  We all became the best of friends - Kate and I a little more so.  I asked her to marry me when we got home.  I didn't know when that would be.  We'd been sliding for almost a year at that time.  But she accepted and I thought everything was going to be so perfect."

"What happened?" Wade asked when he quit talking for a while.

Mallory shook himself out of the memory and continued telling Wade what had happened.  "That's when bad luck hit us.  I guess bad things happen in groups, because we were hit hard.  Kate picked up some kind of virus on one of the worlds we slid to.  She started getting sick.  Logan and I thought it was a cold for a few days, but then she got worse.  And that's when things got really bad.  After almost a year of sliding, we hadn't seen a single world without people.  Then we got three in a row.  The first had a few small towns, but nothing that could help Kate.  The next wasn't any better.  And then came the third.  We had about a week there.  There was no sign of any human ever having been there.  We had to make camp by a river and live off the land.  Kate's condition became more serious every day.

"By the last few days..." he started to get choked up, "she had a high fever constantly.  Logan and I did everything we could, but we couldn't get her to even eat anything.  She just got too weak to fight it off anymore and kept slipping in and out of consciousness for a couple days.  Then one day she didn't wake up again....  She died in my arms about nine hours before the slide."

Wade could see how much the memory hurt him.  But sharing it seemed to help.

"The next slide took me and Logan to the most advanced world we'd ever seen.  Their medical technology could cure anything.  A virus could have easily been taken care of with a simple shot.  God, just nine hours!  Nine hours and she wouldn't have had to die!  And the Quinn of that world was able to send both Logan and myself back to our home worlds.  So very... ironic."

He noticed that he was starting to cry and quickly got a grip on his emotions.  "But anyway, after that I became a doctor, and I really helped this world.  That was before sliding technology became illegal.  Anyone who has it is said to be in league with the 'Maggs now.  But I still have it so that Logan and I can see each other.  The two of us are still really close.  But I would have faked my death anyway.  Since I invented sliding, everyone blames me for what the Kromaggs did when they invaded.  I helped save this world from them, but nobody seems to care about that.  All they see is that I brought them here."  He shook his head, his voice strained.  "I guess we've both had some pretty hard times."

"Yeah," Wade agreed.  "We have."

Mallory stood, then picked up Wade's timer.  "I'll see what I can do about fixing this.  You should probably call it a night.  You've had a long day."

Wade nodded, and then she watched him head up the stairs.  She figured that they could both use some time to themselves.  She changed into the large t-shirt Mallory had provided, then crawled into bed and pulled the sheets around her.  She stared at the ceiling until she finally drifted off to sleep.

-----

The bell rang and all the students filed out of the classroom same as every other day.  Only Amy remained behind.  She walked over to Arturo's desk and watched him put his things away.  "You're leaving, aren't you?"

"Yes," he replied.  "Your normal teacher will be back, and I have other situations that need attending to."

Amy shrugged, trying to act like she didn't care.  "I guess I'll see ya 'round or something."

"Miss Bennish," Arturo said as she started to leave.  "You have been an excellent student to teach."

"You're pretty cool too," she smiled.  "Well, for a teacher."

Arturo found himself smiling back at the girl.  "A word of advice, Miss Bennish," he offered.  "Be patient, and always look before you leap."

"Um, yeah sure."  She didn't know the full meaning behind his words, but she knew it was something that mattered to him.  She waved slightly, then left for her next class.  Arturo doubted he'd ever see her again.

-----

Wade stood in the waiting room adjacent to the ICU.  She looked up as a man in uniform approached her.  "Are you Wade Wells?" the police officer asked her.

"Yes," she replied.

"Your hospital bill is overdue."

"What?  But... he isn't even well yet," Wade said, looking confused.  Quinn had only been on this world for a little over a day.

The officer gave her a look that implied he'd heard it all before.  "You know that bills are expected to be paid within 24 hours.  You're several hours late already and the hospital has issued a 'failure to pay' warrant."

"I'm being arrested?  This is ridiculous!" Wade said.  "I mean, I'm not even related to James.  Why do they think I should have to pay?"

"Did you check him into the hospital?"

"Well, yes," Wade answered.

Taking her by the arm, the officer took out a pair of handcuffs and slapped them on her wrists.  "Then I'm afraid I'll have to arrest you for trying to avoid paying your bill."

In a panic, Wade tried to break away from him.  "Let me go!"

"You've just added Resisting Arrest to your charges," he told her, holding firmly to her arm.  "Just cooperate and stop making things worse for yourself."

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"Central headquarters, for booking," he replied.  "Don't to play dumb with me; it won't get you anywhere.  You have the right to remain silent.  Anything you say or do can and will be used against you in a court of law.  You have the right to an attorney, and to have him present during questioning.  If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you..."

Wade sighed as he continued telling her her rights, only vaguely listening to his litany as she followed him.  This was going to be trouble.

-----

Wade sat in her cell, staring at the wall.  She wondered how she was going to get out of this one.  At least Quinn was alright.  She played with her handcuffs out of boredom, but had nothing to pick them with.

"Not thinking about taking those off, are you?" a voice asked.

She looked over and saw a police officer standing at her cell door with Logan.  She jumped up.  "Logan, what are you doing here?  Please tell me that you've come to get me out of here."

"Sort of," Logan said.  "I'm your lawyer.  Your trial is only a small one, so it starts first thing in the morning."

-----

"I do," Wade said, then took her hand off the Bible and sat down.  She felt horrible about saying that.  She'd just sworn to tell the truth... the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  That wasn't going to be easy.  She knew that the truth would not only cause her, but Quinn, Logan, and probably Mallory to die.  She was afraid that she was going to have to lie under oath.

"Please state your name," the judge instructed her.

"Wade Kathleen Wells," she replied.

The opposing lawyer stood and approached her and the judge.  He was allowed to do his questioning first.  Logan had told her his name was Clark Green, and that although he didn't have much of a reputation, he would be pretty hard to beat.  "Wade Wells, hmm?  Interesting name," he said, pretending to be perplexed.  "I, uh, ran a check on that name.  The only Wade Wells I could find is a 37-year-old male who happens to be an archeologist currently residing in South America."

"I'm not from around here," Wade said.

"Oh, so you're not from around here?" Green asked a little sarcastically.  "Well, are you aware that neither your name nor DNA scan found a match for you anywhere in the world?"

"No, I was not aware of that."

Green smiled.  "So maybe you were just overlooked and your record will be found later?"

"Record systems aren't perfect," Wade said, thankful that he hadn't asked where she was from.  So far she hadn't had to lie yet.  She wondered how long until she'd have to break her oath.

"So, I assume that the system matching your DNA with a Kathleen Wells was just a fluke?"

"I am not Kate Wells," Wade answered honestly.

"Are you aware, Miss Wells, that the man you checked into the hospital is not James Hall, but actually Quinn Mallory?"

She hesitated for a moment, then swallowed hard.  "Yes, I am."  She figured lying would only hurt her in answer to that question since they would have no doubt run a check on Quinn also.

"Oh?"  Green seemed surprised by her admittance.  "Isn't it a bit odd that both you and James - Quinn, I mean - have files labeling you as deceased?"

Wade frowned.  "I told you, I am not Kate Wells."  She looked over at Logan, who appeared slightly sad, and wondered if she was thinking about Kate.

"But you are aware that Quinn Mallory is wanted by the government and that he had supposedly died four years ago?"

"Objection!" Logan said.  "Quinn Mallory is no longer wanted by the government since their is no proof that he currently owns sliding equipment.  And his last recorded slide was before Law 287 was approved.  Also, whether or not he was wrongly assumed dead has no relevance to this case."

"I withdraw my question," Green said.  "I'll get to the point."  He addressed Wade again.  "Did you check Quinn Mallory, under the name of James Hall, into the hospital?"

"Yes, I did."

He held up a piece of paper.  It was the form she'd singed when checking him in.  "So, you admit that is your signature?"

"Yes," said Wade.  She noticed Logan flinch a bit at her answer, but she remained calm and looking like a confident professional, so Wade tried not to get nervous.

"Yet you refused to pay the bill?"  Green tried to sound baffled, but only looked smug instead.  He knew he the judge would rule in his favor.  Wade had just admitted to signing the form; the trial was as good as over.

"I was unaware that the bill would need to be paid within a day," she answered.

"Then you will pay the bill now?"

"I can't," she said.

Green's smile returned, but he tried not to show it.  "You can't?  Why is that?"

Wade squirmed a bit, her nerves getting to her.  "I don't have enough money."

"Yet you signed the form."  He held it up again to stress his point.  "By doing so, you made yourself responsible for the bill."

"I didn't know that," Wade tried to explain.

"Ignorance is no excuse," Green remarked.  "The terms are clearly stated on the form."

"But I--"

"Your witness," Green said quickly to Logan, cutting Wade off.  "I have no more questions."

Logan stood up.  "Miss Wells, you said that you did not read the form before signing it.  Why is that?"

"I didn't have time," Wade said.  "I just singed it so that Quinn could get help.  I didn't want him to die."

"So, she didn't want him to die," Logan said in the judge's direction.  "Where is the crime in trying to save somebody's life?"

"Objection," Green said.  "It is common knowledge that checking a patient into a hospital makes one responsible for all bills."

"Objection sustained," the judge said.  "That is rather common knowledge.  You'll need a better defense than that, Miss St. Clair."

Logan tried hard to think of something, but couldn't.  "I have none."  She gave Wade a sorryful look.  "But it is unfair to charge this woman when she did not know and has done nothing wrong."

"Is there a reason why she wouldn't know of standard hospital policy?" the judge asked.

Logan wanted to say yes.  Wade is a slider; she had way to know.  But she couldn't say that.  It would mean Wade's death.  "No, there is not.  Only the misfortune that nobody ever told her."

"Then the court will let the hospital decide on what should be done," the judge said.

Green stood up again.  "It would be unfair to charge Miss Wells, if she indeed did not know of hospital rules," he said.  "So, the San Francisco Hospital asks that since Quinn Mallory would have died from his injuries if the hospital had not treated him, that his organs be used for transplantation."

"No!" Wade shouted.  "You can't kill him!"

"That is a totally unfair request," Logan hurriedly tried to object.  "I beg the court to instead rule for life imprisonment."

"I'm afraid that was a reasonable request," the judge said, secretly glad that Quinn Mallory would finally die for good.  "It will be approved.  The San Francisco Hospital is now the beneficiary of all harvestable organs and tissues heretofore belonging to one Quinn Mallory."  She lifted her gavel, preparing to signal an end to the trial.

Logan glared angrily at the judge.  Her decision was cruel, unfair, and biased.  She wanted Quinn to die!  Logan realized that she must be one of the people who still blamed Quinn for the Kromaggs finding this world.  She was convicting him to death for a crime he didn't commit!

"Wait," yelled Wade frantically before the judge could strike her gavel.  "Take me instead!"

"What was that?" the judge asked curiously.

"Take my life instead of Quinn's," Wade said.  "He has no say in this.  It's my responsibility.  I signed the form.  I'll take his place.  Let him live."

Logan stared at her in shock.  "Wade, you can't be serious!"

"I am."  This whole situation was her fault.  If they killed Quinn because of her stupid mistake, she'd never forgive herself.  "My life for his.  I don't have any diseases or health problems that would make me any less suitable for transplant.  It's a fair trade."

The judge looked at Green.  He nodded, and she couldn't change her ruling just because the subject to be executed had changed.  "Wade Kathleen Wells, according to the laws of this state and the ruling of this court, you will stand in place of one Quinn Mallory.  In accordance with this ruling, you are hereby the property of the San Francisco Hospital, and as such, your organs and other necessary tissues are
subject to harvest as they see fit.  You will be held under maximum security at the San Francisco State Prison until your harvest date has been decided.  Case closed."

"No!" Logan screamed as the judge struck her gavel and ended the trial.  "How can you kill an innocent person?  Just because you think you're above the law doesn't mean that this doesn't make you guilty of murder!  You're doing this for your own personal revenge!  Change your ruling!"

But the judge held firm to her decision.  To change it would be to prove that she'd purposely convicted Quinn for something he'd been judged innocent of but that she'd never forgiven him for.  She had the security guards drag Logan out.

-----

The guard opened Wade's cell door and let Logan inside.  She looked at Wade.  She was dressed in a plain, gray, prison uniform and her hands were still cuffed.  She was in the corner of her cell with her arms wrapped around her knees, rocking slightly.  Logan could tell that she was crying silently.  She walked over to Wade and sat down next to her.  "Noon tomorrow," she told her.

Wade looked over at her.  She knew what Logan meant.  That was when she'd die.  Logan put her arm comfortingly around Wade.  "I'm still trying to think of a way to get you out.  I haven't given up yet, even though I'm not very respected as a lawyer anymore after this morning.  Every law has a loophole.  Mallory and I won't quit trying to find a way."

"But there isn't one, is there?" Wade asked.  She knew that the court's decision was final.  This was her last day alive.

"Hey, it isn't over yet," Logan tried to comfort her.

Wade kept crying slightly.  "I just wish they'd let me out until then.  I want to see Quinn again.  I want to know that he's alright."

"He'll be fine," Logan told her.  "I checked on him earlier.  He is still unconscious, but no longer in a coma.  He'll wake up soon.  And he's expected to make a full recovery."

Wade almost smiled.  "That's good.  Maybe he'll get home someday.  I know the others would..."  She stopped for a minute.  "They don't even know I'm here!  God, I wish I could say goodbye to them.  I was so awful before I left."  She looked at Logan again.  "Tell Remmy that I'm sorry, okay?"

"I'd forgotten that you were with others," Logan said.  "I'll go get them.  What are their names?"

"Rembrandt Brown, Max Arturo, and Maggie Beckett," Wade told her.  "They're staying at the Motel 12, room 12."

"I'll find them," Logan promised.

-----

Remmy met Maggie and Arturo in the hall on his way back to their hotel room.  "Any luck?" he asked the two of them.

Maggie shook her head.  "You?"

He shook his head also.  "Alex hasn't seen her.  She didn't contact him or go back to Doppler."

"We checked the library and phone books," Arturo told him.  "As far as I can tell, this world definitely has no Quinn Mallory, so Wade couldn't have gone to him."

"Apparently none of us exist in this dimension," added Maggie.  "Well, except for Wade who seems to be a journalist working on a story in Europe.  I don't know what else we can check."

Remmy started to unlock their door, but found that it was open.  He looked at the others.  Perhaps they'd just forgotten to lock it.  He cautiously opened the door and stepped inside.  Sitting at the table was Logan St. Clair.  Rembrandt immediately became defensive.  "I guess you never thought to check for her?"

Maggie saw Logan also.  Her hands curled into fists and she started at her.  Arturo caught her arm.  "Easy, Miss Beckett," he warned.

Rembrandt marched over to Logan.  He looked at her arms.  "Well, she's not a freak.  She must be a double."

Logan stood up.  "If you stop looking like you want to kill me, maybe we can talk," she suggested awkwardly.

"Tell us what you did with our friends," Maggie demanded hostilely.

"Whoa, whoa...  I don't want a fight," she tried to explain.  "Wade came to me.  We got Quinn help.  He's alive.  But I need to take you with me or Wade's gonna die."

"I knew it," Maggie said angrily.  "If you hurt her, I'll kill you."

Logan put up her hands in a gesture of peace and an effort to make sure Maggie stayed back.  "I'm trying to help you!"

"What do you want with us?" Rembrandt asked.  "And why'd you just threaten Wade's life?"

"Would you please just stop and listen to me for one minute!" exclaimed Logan.  "I don't know what your deal is, but I'm a friend, okay?  I tried to help your friends.  They're on another world right now, by the way.  Quinn will be fine.  However, Wade has gotten into a bit of trouble."  Logan hesitated.  "She's been sentenced to death at noon tomorrow."

Rembrandt just stared at her.  He didn't know whether or not to trust her, and he didn't know how to take her news.  He was relieved that she'd said Quinn was still alive.  But now Wade was going to be killed?

Arturo shared the others feelings of distrust towards her, but he didn't see a reason for her to lie.  What she said made more sense than anything else about Wade and Quinn's disappearance.  "We've had bad experiences with your doubles in the past," he told Logan.  "I'm sorry if we seem hesitant to believe you.  But we are listening.  Tell us why and who wants to kill Miss Wells."

It suddenly all made sense to Logan.  A bad double of hers explained it all, especially Wade's attitude.  She'd noticed the way Wade had acted around her, but had never had time to inquire about it.  "We can slide now," she said.  "I can fill you in about things on our way to the hospital.  Quinn should be waking up soon, and he'll need to told about the situation."

Maggie shrugged.  "Let's go."

-----

The noise of the book slamming down made Rembrandt look over at Mallory - Mallory Michaels.  It was an unusual name, but Rembrandt could see how it had come about.  He was probably used to being called Mallory, and the Michaels part, he guessed, was after his father.  "No luck?" he asked him.

"No," replied Mallory, frustrated.  "There doesn't seem to be a loophole to this."

"Everything has a loophole," said Maggie.  "And if this world is so advanced, why do they need organ donors at all?  Can't they use artificial ones?"

"That's the problem," Mallory told her.  "Artificial organs have become so common that nobody signs up to be a donor anymore.  But some people have reactions to the artificial ones, and so there's kinda a black market now for the real thing.  Wade's situation doesn't look very hopeful."

Logan just paced some more.  She turned to Mallory.  "You keep trying.  I'll take the others to the hospital.  Somebody should be with Quinn when he wakes up."

Mallory nodded and picked up another law book.

-----

The blackness swirled and blurred with gray.  Quinn tried to see, but still couldn't.  Everything was still so dark, but for some reason it felt different.  He tried to look around again.  Where was he?  There seemed to be gray above him, light that was almost there, a break from the thick blackness that surrounded him.  He didn't remember anything.  He wasn't even aware of the passing of time.  Had he been here days, weeks, or only a few minutes?  He wasn't sure.

He tried to speak, to call out, but heard nothing.  He began to feel hopelessness, but then he felt something else - something real.  Somebody was touching his hand.  But there was no one.  He tried to close his hand over whoever's was holding it.  Then he felt his face be touched.  He became more aware of his senses.  He realized that he was lying down on his back.

"I think he's waking up."  The voice was distant at first, but then became clear.  It sounded close to him, right above him.  Was it Maggie?  Why couldn't he see her?

"Yeah, he should come around any minute now."  That voice was different.  Was it still Maggie?  It was familiar, but he couldn't place it.  He knew it wasn't Wade's voice.  Who was with him?

"Maybe you should leave for a minute."  This time the voice was quieter, and it was a man's.  "I think we should explain things to him before he sees you."

"That's probably a good idea."  He heard that person leave.  Was he alone now?  No.  There were still the other voices.  Now they were talking to him.  Saying his name.

"Q-ball, can you hear me?"  He recognized Rembrandt now.  But he still couldn't see anything.  "Come on, wake up."  Wake up?  He must be asleep!  But this didn't feel like any sleep he'd ever had before.  But he must just not be fully awake.  His eyes must be closed.  That's why he couldn't see.

Quinn attempted to orientate himself.  He was lying down.  He could feel somebody holding his hand.  He just had to open his eyes.  It took him a while, but he finally succeeded.  The gray became a bright light.  He blinked a few times and things started to come into focus.

"Hi," Maggie said to him.  She was the one holding his hand.  Quinn could see her now.  He tried to ask her what was going on, but no words came.

Rembrandt passed Maggie a glass of water, and she supported Quinn's head with one hand and tilted the glass to his lips with the other.  He sipped from it and then his mouth didn't feel as dry and cottony.  "Thanks," he managed to say.

Quinn was feeling more normal now and things were clearer.  He saw Rembrandt and Maggie and a window on the wall behind them.  He started to sit up, but nothing seemed to work and he couldn't move very much.

"Try to stay still, my boy," Arturo told him.  "You're still recovering from some very serious injuries."

That was the first time Quinn noticed that he was there also.  He looked around.  He was in a hospital room.  "What happened?  How'd I get here?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Arturo asked him.

"I'm not sure," Quinn said.  "I feel kinda disoriented.  You said I was hurt.  How bad is it?"

"You're going to be fine," Arturo told him.  "But you did have some internal injuries and severe head trauma.  You've been in a coma for the past six days."

Quinn sighed and let his words sink in.  "Is there anything wrong with me?  I mean, any permanent damage?"  He tried to sit again, but still couldn't.  "I can't move," he said.  "I can't feel anything."

"Don't worry," Arturo reassured the nervous Quinn.  "That's just because of the drugs you're on.  Your dosage is extremely high so that you won't feel any pain.  It will dull out your senses and cause a slight paralyzing effect until they wear off some."

"Yeah," Maggie said.  "You've got more drugs in your system than they have in a pharmacy.  Some pretty trippy stuff too."

Quinn tried to smile at her, but his serious expression returned after a moment.  "Well, those trippy drugs are messing with my head.  Everything is kinda funny right now."  He frowned as he tried to think.  "Why can't I remember anything?  I don't even know what slide was last."

"It's either temporary amnesia or short-term memory loss," Arturo explained.  "Whatever the case, it isn't anything serious."

Quinn nodded.  Maybe if he just really thought about it, then he'd be able to remember the last slide.  He sort of recalled sliding, and something about a steep cliff.  Then he remembered looking for Wade.  She'd been too far away for him to reach.  He didn't know if she was breathing.  Quinn looked around the room.  Maggie, Rembrandt, Arturo.

"Oh God, where's Wade?!" he asked frantically.  He remembered that other person he'd heard when he was waking up.  Rembrandt or Arturo had told her that they needed to explain things to him.  He noticed now how serious they all looked.  "Please tell me that what you have to explain to me doesn't have anything to do with Wade!"

Rembrandt gave the others a concerned look, then looked at Quinn.  "I'm afraid Wade has everything to do with what we need to explain," he said.

Quinn was scared.  "Tell me she isn't dead."

"She isn't," Rembrandt told him.  "Not yet."

"How badly is she hurt?" Quinn asked around the lump in his throat.  More of his memories flashed back to him.  He recalled the fall, smacking his head, the blood in his mouth, and the pain in his chest... He'd been about to die.  He *knew* that he was dying.  What fate had befallen Wade?  He prayed that she'd be alright.

"Miss Wells is perfectly fine for the time being," Arturo said.

Quinn didn't understand.  He'd expected them to tell him that she was critically injured or something.  "What?"

Maggie decided to explain.  "She got into some trouble with the hospital over a bill.  She made some stupid deal, and now they plan on killing her at noon tomorrow."

"So what's the plan?" Quinn asked.

"Actually... there isn't one."
----

The sound of Logan's footsteps was a dull background noise to Quinn.  He came up with an idea every step, and rejected it on the next.  He didn't like their situation, didn't like that they needed to trust Logan's double, and absolutely couldn't stand the thought of losing Wade.

After another minute went by, Quinn spoke.  "This deal is a life for a life, right?"

Logan abruptly stopped pacing, and Maggie looked expectantly at Quinn.  "Yeah."

"That's our loophole," Quinn told them all.

"What is?" asked Rembrandt.

"If I die, they'd have to let her go," Quinn explained.  "So kill me."

"You're out of your mind!" gasped Maggie.

Quinn looked directly at her.  "This world is so advanced, I'm sure there's a way to--"

"It could work," interrupted Logan, already on his same thought.  "But we'd have to put you out for a long time.  Faking your death won't be easy."

Quinn nodded, the look on his face telling her he understood.  "We'd have to make it look real.  You'll need to actually stop my heart, otherwise they won't buy it."  The fact of what he was suggesting frightened him, but he refused to let himself get scared.  "Can it be done?"

Logan nodded also.  "Yes.  It's been done before."

Arturo stood and walked over to Quinn's bed.  "Consider carefully what you're saying, Mr. Mallory," he warned.  "You are in no condition for such a thing.  You're far too weak."

Maggie gently touched the bruise on his temple.  "How hard did you go bang?"

"I don't have a choice."  Quinn returned his gaze to Logan, ignoring Maggie.  "Go research it.  We don't have much time.  And, Logan, do whatever it takes," he added.  They couldn't worry about his safety.

-----

"Alright," Mallory said, tapping his computer screen.  "Here's how we do it."

Logan looked over his shoulder.  "That's the case I heard about," she commented.  "Didn't they stop his heart for an hour, and were still able to revive him?"

"It was 59 minutes actually."  Mallory spun his chair around to face the others.  "Our drug is called Cardiforac.  We can stop his heart and keep his brain active so he can be brought back.  It'll give you guys an hour."

"That'll have to be long enough," Maggie said.

Mallory looked serious.  "You can mix it with Ritoxidill."

Logan frowned.  "Isn't that a bit risky?"

"He's our double," Mallory said.  "It will guarantee that he goes into anaphylactic shock."  Logan nodded slowly.

"I'm not understanding a word of any of this," Rembrandt noted, "but that sounds like a bad thing."

"It is."  Logan put a hand on Rembrandt's arm.  She knew he was concerned.  "But we can't just like put him to sleep.  In order for his death to be believable, we'll have to actually cause him to go into shock.  The drugs we're using are undetectable - unless the hospital knows to look for them, they won't find anything."

"Hang on," Maggie said.  "What exactly is this anaphylactic shock?"

Arturo finally spoke up.  He'd been listening to their plan without input thus far.  "It's an extreme allergic reaction that involves a severe difficulty in breathing, heart failure, and circulatory collapse.  It will kill him, and very unpleasantly."

"It's our only option," Logan said.  "The hospital will appear responsible, and Wade will be free.  It will be a painful way for him to die, yes, but it's the only thing that they won't detect or suspect foul play."

"So we know this is going to work?" Maggie asked.

"It'll be impossible to revive him without waiting ten minutes, and by then the doctors will have given up and pronounced him dead," Mallory replied.  "You just have to get him back here in less than one hour."

-----

"Do it," Quinn said.

Rembrandt looked seriously at his friend.  "You know it could kill you."

"I think that's the point," replied Quinn.

"I mean that there is no guarantee that we can revive you."

"Fifty-nine minutes is a long time for your heart to be stopped."  Maggie placed her hand on his arm.  "There is a very high risk of losing you, even with this world's advanced technology."

Quinn shook his head.  "I'd already be dead anyway if it wasn't for Wade."

"You sure you wanna go through with this, Q-ball?" Rembrandt asked him.

"I have to, Remmy."  Quinn wasn't willing to take a chance on Wade being killed because of him.  She meant too much to him to gamble with her life.  The stakes were far too high.

Rembrandt sighed.  "Yeah, I know."

Logan got out the syringe and looked at Quinn.  He adjusted himself so that he was lying flat on his back in bed.  He looked up at Logan.  "It'll be bad?" he asked.  They hadn't told him exactly what he'd be going through, but from their expressions he had a pretty good idea.

"Yes, it will," answered Logan honestly.

Quinn understood.  He tried to prepare himself.  "I'm ready," he said.

"Just try to relax," Logan told Quinn.  "I'm injecting it straight into your bloodstream.  It will take effect immediately."

"Promise me that you'll wake up again," Maggie asked him.  She was scared.

Quinn just looked at her with a thin smile, then he closed his eyes and nodded in signal for Logan to do it.  He took a few deep breaths as she carefully found a vein in his wrist and gave him the drug.  He was too tense and nervous to even feel the needle, but he felt the drug instantly.  He lay still for a few seconds as it circulated through his system.

Logan turned to Rembrandt.  "I'm going to need you for a minute.  Hold him down, okay?"

"Why?" Maggie asked her.

Logan just looked at Rembrandt, and he thought he understood what was going to happen.  He obeyed and placed his hands on Quinn's shoulders as he started having difficulty breathing.  "I'm sorry about all this, man."

Quinn felt his head start to spin and a wave of extreme nausea came over him.  Then white-hot pain clutched at his chest and he couldn't breathe at all.  He gasped for air, but his throat felt tight.  What had he done?  He'd put his life in the hands of Logan, and now he was going to die.  Panic and terror suddenly engulfed him.  What if they couldn't bring him back?  He started to struggle and toss, and grabbed at Rembrandt as if asking for help.

Logan grasped his hand.  "Don't fight it, Quinn," she said soothingly.  "The drug is what's causing you to feel panic.  Just try to ignore it and stay calm."  She let him go so she could check the monitors that were recording his vital signs.

Maggie watched in terror.  She hadn't expected it to be this bad.  She wanted to help Quinn, but knew she could only stand there and watch while he went through shock.

Quinn kicked and fought against Rembrandt who was holding him to the bed.  He gasped desperately for air, but couldn't get any.  His vision became black and he tried to fight against the darkness, but it only made his pain worse.  He tried hard to control his panic.  He clenched his hands into fists and forced himself to be still.  He tried to ignore the terror and fear that the drug was making him feel.  He tried to accept the pain, instead of fighting it.

"An alarm is going to go off soon informing the doctors that he's crashing," Logan said to Rembrandt.  "We have to go now.  There will be a lot of stuff we have to take care of with Wade, and we can't afford to be detained here."

Rembrandt took his hands off Quinn who was no longer resisting his hold.  He'd quit trying to breathe.

"Come on," Logan said softly.  "It's finished here."

Maggie choked back a sob as the line on the monitor behind Quinn went flat.

-----

A guard shook Wade awake from her restless sleep.  She blinked open her eyes and looked at him.  For a second she didn't remember where she was, but then it all flooded back to her.

"You have to come with me, Miss," he told her gently.

She stretched a kink out of her arm.  "But it can't even be sunrise yet.  It's not supposed to happen until noon."

"I'm sorry," the guard said.  "But I have my orders."

Wade began to get frightened.  They were going to kill her.  "Your orders are wrong!"

He gave her an apologetic look.  Then he led her out of her cell and down the hall.

She eventually ended up in the courthouse next door.  When she entered the court room, she spotted Logan standing in her usual position as lawyer, but her eyes caught on the one person who was sitting in rows for spectators.  Remmy!  She wanted to run to him, but just walked to the table and took her place beside Logan.

The guard who had led her there uncuffed her hands.  She gave Logan a questioning glance.  Logan remained silent, her face expressionless.  She looked to Rembrandt and found his expression to have the same blankness.  She didn't know what either of them was thinking.

The judge finally spoke, breaking the silence.  "Wade Kathleen Wells, all charges against you by the San Francisco Hospital have been dropped," she told her.  "There is still a one hundred dollar fine for resisting arrest.  Once paid, you are free to go."

Wade wasn't ready to celebrate yet.  She looked at Logan who just shrugged her shoulders slightly and shook her head.  "Why have the charges been dropped?" Wade asked.

The judge shifted through some papers, then seemed to find the one she was looking for.  "At 5:38 this morning, Quinn Mallory went into anaphylactic shock caused by being given medication that he was allergic to.  He died shortly thereafter from heart failure."

Wade's world crashed around her.

-----

Maggie sighed in frustration and looked at her watch.  They were getting nowhere and time was running out.  She focussed her attention back on what Arturo was saying.

"But we are his family," he said angrily.  "She's his sister, you blistering idiot!"

The doctor looked at Maggie and she lowered her head and tried to look like she was grieving the loss of her brother.  They had told the hospital staff that Maggie was Quinn's sister, and were trying to get them to release his body.  Half an hour had already gone by with no luck.

"Isn't it illegal for you to keep his body and refuse to even let us see him?" Maggie asked.  Her patience had completely run out.

"Your request will be honored," the doctor said.  "Just as soon as we finish the autopsy and complete all the necessary paperwork.  Now if you'll excuse me," he said as he motioned to his clipboard, indicating that he was busy, then he turned and walked down the hall.

Maggie and Arturo looked at each other.  "Autopsy?"

-----

Wade let out a shocked little gasp.  Quinn had died?  She didn't want to believe it.  Logan moved her hand over slowly and placed it on Wade's.  She didn't appreciate the gesture and pulled away.  "Let's go," Logan said to her.

Wade followed Logan out.  Rembrandt met them in the main hall.  Wade immediately hugged him tightly.  He didn't return the embrace, just patted her on the back once.  "We go that way to pay the fine," he said while motioning to the left.

Wade just stared at him.  "Remmy, Quinn is dead," she managed to choke out.  His face was still blank, and she looked from him to Logan.  Had they already known?  She didn't care.  She sunk to the floor and started crying.

Logan grabbed her arm and pulled her up.  "Don't make a scene," warned Rembrandt.

Wade looked at him in stunned shock.  "Remmy..."

"I'm taking her outside," he told Logan.

"I'll take care of this and meet you in a few minutes."  Logan headed off down the hall.

Rembrandt put his arm protectively around Wade and led her out.  Once away from the clusters of people, he gently wiped the tears from her face.  "Oh, sweetheart," he soothed.

Wade sobbed silently.  She was completely numb.

Rembrandt hugged her close to him.  He put his face next to hers.  "It'll be okay.  Quinn's alright," he whispered in her ear.  He brushed her hair back then bent to her ear again.  "Say nothing.  We'll explain later."

Wade pulled back from him and studied his eyes.  He was telling the truth.  Quinn wasn't dead.  She wanted ask what was going on, but knew to remain quiet.  Rembrandt's behavior told her that nobody could overhear.  She understood, and pieced it together.  But she was curious.  She stood close to him and asked, "Did you do like a Star Trek thing and slow his heart rate so he appeared dead?"

"Not exactly," Rembrandt whispered back.  They'd actually completely stopped Quinn's heart, but he wasn't going to tell Wade that just yet.  "Hush now."

She leaned against him, hiding her smile.

-----

Maggie slipped quietly and unnoticed into the room.  She hoped this was the right one.  She'd tried lying and saying that an autopsy was against Quinn's religion, but she hadn't had time for a fight.  This was plan B.  She was going to get Quinn by doing whatever it took.  She walked carefully around the corner.

A young woman was pulling on a pair of gloves and talking into a tape recorder.  "... male about 24 to 28 years old."  She glanced at a chart.    "Cause of death is listed as heart failure."

She continued but Maggie wasn't listening.  She was trying to think of a plan.  She decided to just solve the problem quickly and easily.  She tapped the woman on the shoulder, and when she turned around, Maggie punched her, knocking her out.

She turned off the tape recorder, then focussed her attention on Quinn.  He was lying on the table, naked except for boxer shorts.  Maggie just paused for a minute.  He looked so dead.

Shaking her head, she forced herself to concentrate.  She had to figure out a way to get him out of this place.  She took off her jacket and put it over him, then she cradled the side of his face with her hand.  "I'll get you out of here," she told him softly.

The doctor she'd knocked out moaned and started to get up.  Maggie quickly hit her again.  Then she noticed that her ID tag's picture looked a lot like herself.  Maggie's hair was more blond than her's, but not much.  She smiled as an idea crossed her mind.

-----

Wade, Rembrandt, Mallory, and Logan rushed out of the house when they heard the van pull into the driveway.  Arturo got out and opened the back for Maggie.

"What took you so long?" Rembrandt asked them.

Maggie climbed out of the van and helped Mallory and Logan with Quinn.  She was dressed like a doctor.  "Long story, don't ask," she called over her shoulder to him.

Wade hurried to help with Quinn.  She brushed loose strands of hair from his face as they carried him inside.  "He doesn't look alive," she said shakily as she half walked half ran to keep up with them.

They got him down to the basement and Mallory and Logan lifted him off the stretcher and onto a bed.  Logan went and quickly filled a syringe.

"How long?" Mallory called to her.

She glanced hurriedly at her watch.  "Sixty-three minutes.  Shit!" she exclaimed softly, handing him the now full syringe.

"Damn, that's over an hour!"  He tapped the syringe, quickly checking it.  "We've got to revive him NOW!"  He injected the contents of the syringe into Quinn's arm, then he started furiously searching through his drawers.

Logan looked over at him.  "Mallory, hurry up!"

"Logan, get him tubed.  And start heart massage."  He waved a hand at the other sliders without looking up.  "Get one of them to help."

Logan grabbed Wade's arm.  "You know CPR?"

"Yeah," Wade nodded.

Logan placed Wade's hands on Quinn's chest.  "Good.  Start."  She went to work on trying to get a tube down his throat.

Wade started pressing Quinn's chest.  She wasn't really able to focus on what she was doing.  She just went through the motions mindlessly.  She was glad that she knew CPR so well and that all she had to do was compressions.  She would have probably messed up if she'd had to also count and give mouth-to-mouth.

"He's tubed," Logan told Mallory.  "You'd better get his heart started."

Mallory pushed Wade aside, then he injected Quinn with more drugs.  "What are you doing?" Rembrandt asked.

"It's an advanced form of adrenalin," he replied hastily.

Wade found a chair and practically fell into it when Mallory plunged the needle into Quinn's heart.  Closing her eyes, she put her face in her hands.

"Okay, it worked," Mallory said.  He grabbed something that none of the sliders had ever seen before and handed it to Logan.  She placed it on Quinn's forehead while Mallory adjusted a monitor.  "How long?" he asked.

"About sixty-six minutes," Logan answered, and Mallory pounded his fist on the counter in frustration.

"What's wrong?" Rembrandt wanted to know.  "I thought you got his heart beating?"

"Starting his heart was easy with this world's advancements, but it will stop again for good in less than a minute," Mallory said, dragging his hand roughly through his hair.  "It's been too long since he was drugged.  He's registering as completely brain dead."

"Oh, God," Wade cried.

Rembrandt felt queasy as he looked at Mallory.  "Are you saying that Quinn is dead?"

"He's been dead for over an hour," Mallory replied flatly.  "That's why it's too late for me to bring him back.  I'm sorry."

Choking back a sob, Wade got up and ran upstairs.  She went outside the house, then leaned against the wall and sank to the ground.  She just couldn't handle being in there now.  She felt like she was going to vomit.  Convinced that this was her fault, she stared crying.

"Wait," Logan said to Mallory after Wade left.  "There could still be some slight activity even though he's registering as brain dead.  Why don't we try a neural stimulator?  It might work."

"Nine out of ten people die from that.  And if there really isn't any brain activity..."

"Well, we don't exactly have any other options," Logan pointed out.

Mallory sighed.  "You're right.  Let's try it."

Logan retreived a tube of a gel-like substance and smeared a bit on Quinn's temples.

"What are you going to do to him?" Arturo asked Logan as Mallory prepared the equipment.

"Electrical shock directly to the brain," Logan explained.  "It's a radical new technology; extremely unsafe, but if we don't try, he's gonna be permanently dead."  She turned to Mallory.  "Ready?"

"Yeah," he replied.  "Pray that this works."

-----
 

A while later, Mallory located Wade and sat down next to her.  "I've been looking for you," he said.

She gazed sadly at him, but didn't say anything.  Her whole life had tumbled down around her.  She'd just lost her best friend.  

Mallory looked out across the yard and then at Wade.  "I thought you'd like to know that he's alive."  He felt his heart contract, seeing her crying and looking so sad and lost.  He gently wiped some tears from her face with his thumb, then smiled comfortingly at her.  "He's completely drugged up and still needs help breathing, but we were able to save him. He's alive."

Wade felt a wave of partial relief come over her.  Quinn was alive!  She could hardly believe it.  "What?!  He's alive!?  You're sure?  That's... that's, um... I mean, is he okay?  What do we do now?" she asked, confused.

Mallory gave her a troubled look.  "We pray that there is no serious brain damage.  Hopefully there won't be any, but nobody's been dead for that for that long.  There's no way I can tell yet if..."

Wade nodded.  She knew there could still be problems.  "I understand."

Mallory scooped up her hand into his, and she looked over at him.  He stared into her troubled brown eyes.  "Hey, it's okay," he soothed her.  He put a hand on her shoulder, then pulled her into a hug.

Wade held him tightly as he stroked her back comfortingly.  She was able to relax a bit and leaned her head against his chest.  She felt better with him there.

-----

Wade was sitting in a chair next to Quinn's bed.  It had been about six and a half hours since they'd gotten him there, and he was still unconscious.  Wade had been waiting over an hour for him to wake up.  Mallory had said it could still be another few before he did.  They'd all gone upstairs to get some lunch.  Wade hadn't been hungry.

Minutes ticked by, and then Quinn slowly woke up, groggily registering
her looking at him.  "Hi," she said softly.  "Don't try to talk.  You've got a tube down your throat helping you breathe.  I'll go get the others."

Quinn clumsily grabbed her hand before she could leave.  He looked into her eyes.  He was glad that the others had gotten her free.  He squeezed her hand before letting it go.

She smiled slightly at him.  "I'll be right back," she said.  She bolted upstairs and interrupted the others' lunch.

"What is it?" Maggie asked.

"Quinn's awake," she replied, unable to conceal her excitement.

Mallory and Logan quickly followed her back downstairs.  Rembrandt and Maggie were right behind them.  Arturo took one more bite of his sandwich as he got up also.

Quinn lifted his hand when Wade got back downstairs with them.  She took it and squeezed it gently, then smiled.

Mallory walked over to them.  "I'm going to take the tube out of your throat now," he informed Quinn.  "Just breathe normally once it's out.  You'll be fine."

Quinn nodded slightly, then Mallory slowly removed the tube.  Quinn choked a bit, but then breathed regularly.

"How's it feel to be back among the living?" Logan asked with a broad grin.  "You went for the all time record.  Congratulations."

"How long was I out?" Quinn managed to say.  Talking felt a bit strange and he swallowed a few times, trying to get his throat to feel normal again.  "And am I suppose to feel like hell?  I don't recall that being part of the plan."

"You've been unconscious for about the last seven and a half hours," Mallory said.  "You were clinically dead for about 70 minutes of that time."

Quinn let out a sigh.  "Whoa..."

"How do you feel?" Arturo asked him.

Quinn tried to sit up, and Wade helped him.  "Like a train ran over my head," he answered.  "But thankful to be alive."

Logan gave him another shot.  "That should help make you feel better for now.  But you're probably going to feel pretty miserable for a while.  You were out a lot longer than we'd expected.  You'll need a lot of rest."

Quinn nodded.  "Thanks."  He looked at Wade.  "You okay?"

"Yeah," she answered.  "Now when I fill out forms, I can check yes for 'Have you ever been convicted of a crime and sentenced to death?'" she joked.  "But your plan to get me out was pretty idiotic.  I can't believe you did that."

"It was worth it."  He weakly pulled her into a caring embrace.  "I'm just glad you're alright."  He kissed her cheek lightly.

She returned his hug for a minute.  "It was still a dumb idea," she said when they parted.

Mallory looked at Quinn.  "I guess I could skip it since you seem to be alright, but just to be safe I'd better go through the whole 'Do you know your name?' thing."

Quinn frowned.  "It's Quinn Mallory.  Why wouldn't I remember it?"

Mallory shrugged.  "Just checking.  What's 8 times 4?"

"What kind of question is that?" Logan asked.  "He's our double, remember?  Quinn, what's the square root of 287?"

Quinn raised an eyebrow.  "I'm supposed to know that right off the top of my head?"

Logan nodded.  "Yeah, it's... um, 16."

"Closer to 17 actually," commented Quinn after a moment's thought.  "Next time, pick a perfect square."

Arturo used the calculator on his watch to figure it out.  He was glad he hadn't lost it over all these slides.  It was often a handy thing to have.  "He's right.  It is closer to 17."

"Well," Quinn said, "if we're done playing Twenty Questions, would one of you mind telling me how long until the slide?"

"The timer was damaged," Maggie said.  "There is no slide."

"Actually," Mallory said, "it's in about two weeks."  He pulled a timer out of his pocket and tossed it to Maggie.

She looked at it carefully.  It was small, black, and looked like a new cell phone.  She handed it to Quinn.

"This isn't ours," he said.

Mallory shrugged.  "It is now.  Only the casing of your timer was destroyed.  I rebuilt it."

Quinn flipped it open and inspected it.  "Nice design.  Best I've seen yet."  He noticed how the settings couldn't be accidentally messed up when it was closed.  That would help when they needed to set coordinates or track a wormhole.  "It seems to have everything too.  Wormhole tracking, coordinates are easily set-able, looks like you can program just about anything, days are listed and not just hours - that will save brain power on converting.  Nice."

Mallory gave him a wicked grin.  "It also has beep, ring, or vibrate.  And it serves as an am/fm radio, and you can jump-start a car with it.  Oh, and as a bonus, you can check your e-mail from anywhere on the planet."

"You're kidding?!" Quinn laughed.

"Well, actually I figured you wouldn't have e-mail and left that feature off."  He smiled teasingly at Quinn, but then he grew serious.  "There is one problem, though.  The damage to the timer erased all the saved coordinates that were already stored in memory."

"But it can still save new ones, right?" Quinn inquired.

"Yeah, it should be able to," replied Mallory, his smile returning.

Logan smiled also.  "When you boys are finished playing with your little toy, I think Quinn should get some rest."

"Yeah," agreed Mallory.  "You are sentenced to bed for the remainder of your slide.  Doctor's orders."  He patted Quinn on the arm.  "Take it easy."

"I'll get you something to eat," Maggie offered hurriedly, then quickly went upstairs.

Rembrandt raised an eyebrow at her as she left.  "I guess she's hungry," he remarked.

"So am I," Arturo said.  "My sandwich is awaiting my return."

They all headed back upstairs to finish lunch.  "You coming, Wade?" Rembrandt asked her.

"I'll be up in a minute," replied Wade.

"Better hurry or Max will eat everything before you get any."

Arturo heard his last comment.  "Mr. Brown, are you implying that I eat too much?"

"No, not at all."  He grinned and winked at Quinn and Wade, then left the basement behind Arturo.

Wade giggled a bit.  Quinn smiled.  "Maybe you should go snag us some food."

"Nah, Maggie will get something," Wade said.

"Good," Quinn said, happy at her reluctance to leave.  "I'd prefer you stay here anyway."  He took her hand again.

-----

Maggie opened the refrigerator and got out some more supplies for sandwiches.  She started to put some mustard on a piece of bread, but stopped and leaned heavily on the counter.  Her body shook slightly with a sob that threatened to escape.  She put her hand to her eyes and told herself not to cry.

Rembrandt walked over to her when he entered the room.  "You okay?" he asked her.

"Yes, I'm fine," Maggie answered immediately, taking her hand from her face.  "I just have a headache."

"Maybe you should sit down for a minute," Rembrandt suggested.

She shook her head.  "No, it's alright, I'm fine.  I'm fine now."  She didn't want to look weak in front of him and the others.  She never cried.  "You know, I think I'll go for a walk."  She handed him the bread and then left the house.

Rembrandt put down the bread and followed her outside.  Something was definitely bothering her.  "Maggie, wait up!" he called.

She didn't slow and let him just walk faster to catch up with her.  She didn't want to talk to him, but she couldn't run away.

Rembrandt finally reached her and fell into step beside her.  "Want to talk about it?" he asked.

"No," she replied coldly.

"Hey, you're one of the group now," he told her.  "What affects you, affects all of us.  Now what's going on?"

Maggie stopped walking.  "I am one of you now," she said sadly.  "Just another happy, little, lost castaway."  She wiped a tear away quickly.  "I'm sorry.  I just... It's a bit overwhelming, that's all."

"Oh," Rembrandt said, suddenly understanding.  "Any chance you had of going home was destroyed along with the timer's memory.  I'm sorry, I didn't even think of that."

"No, it's okay."  She pushed her hair behind her ears and tried to regain her composure.  "All but a few of the coordinates were erased by Rickman anyway.  I don't know why I ever thought that... well, that maybe we could somehow find some way back from one of those worlds.  It was stupid of me.  There was never a chance.  I was just denying it all this time.  It was stupid."

She pushed the thought from her mind and returned to her usual nonchalant manner.  "My world is gone anyway.  I lost it when those pulsars hit.  All I lost today were some people that I didn't really know all that well and a big, dino-infested hunk of rock with some grass and trees that wasn't my own.  It could have never truly been home.  I guess I knew that all along.  It's just realizing that I can never go back, that there's no way, that made it hurt.  I guess I just always thought that maybe..."  She sighed and didn't finish.

Rembrandt put his arm around her.  "You'll always have a home with us."

Maggie looked at him.  He and the others were her life now.  "I know."

-----

Wade looked at Quinn who was still holding her hand.  "You know, I really missed you these past few days, Quinn," she said.

Quinn smiled at her.  He'd missed her also.  Being in a coma had been scary even though he hadn't really been aware of anything.  There was just that feeling of being alone.  He hoped he wouldn't be by himself again for a long while.  He ran the fingers of his other hand along hers as he held it.  "So, tell me what happened," he requested.

"Okay."  Wade sat down on the edge of his bed.  "You didn't miss much.  But I got a job at Doppler.  Hurley was there, of course.  I'm afraid I might have accidentally put half the store on super sale when he cut my pay for being five minutes late."

Quinn saw the glint in her eyes and laughed.  "Wade, you didn't?"

"Oops."  She grinned as she remembered that and all the old times back home.

Quinn was thinking of the same things.  "Remember that time my double got me fired.  I thought I'd kissed Hurley!"

"Your double was a pretty good kisser," Wade smirked.  They started laughing again as they talked.

-----

When Rembrandt and Maggie got back, Arturo, Mallory, and Logan were sitting at the table discussing something.  "What's going on?" Rembrandt asked, noting their serious expressions.

"We were talking about Quinn," Logan told him.

Maggie and Rembrandt sat down with them.  "Is something wrong with him?" she asked.

"We don't know," Mallory replied.  "I think he'll make a full recovery.  It looks like there's no brain damage.  But healing will take time.  He still has to recover from his original injuries, and this recent little ordeal hasn't helped any.  Two weeks isn't long enough."

"Why?" Wade's voice asked from the other side of the room.  She'd come upstairs when Maggie had never returned with food.  She joined them at the table.  "He seems to be doing pretty well already."

"That's because he's on some really strong drugs," Mallory explained.  "He's completely dependent on them, but he won't have them once you slide.  Just cutting him off like that would cause serious withdrawal problems.  We have to get him off them in two weeks.  That would maybe be long enough, but he still needs them."

"I guess a rapid detox after the two weeks is out of the question," Arturo said.

"Yeah," Mallory replied.  "He'd have to be in much better condition for me to try that."

"Why don't we leave him here our next slide and then come back for him?" Wade suggested.

Mallory shook his head.  "Can't.  This world isn't set in your timer.  No coordinates will be saved until your next slide."

"So we'll go to Logan's world," Wade offered.  "Then she can send us back here."

"Actually," Mallory told her, "your first slide has to be random.  After that you can program in anything, but I guess that doesn't help much right now."

Wade was getting nervous.  "So what do we do?"

"We could try putting him on a different drug," Logan said.  "We could give him something that isn't very strong for the next two weeks, then we could have him just needing pills by the time of the slide.  We could give him a container of pills to take with.  As long as they aren't addictive, he wouldn't suffer any withdrawal when they run out and he should no longer need them at all by then."

Mallory nodded.  "Yeah, that is probably the best idea.  It might make him sick just switching drugs like that, but he'll be alright by the slide."

-----

"What's going on with you two?" Rembrandt asked Wade that night.  She'd come upstairs to get a drink before bed.  She and Quinn were sharing the basement.  He, Arturo, and Maggie had been given rooms upstairs, although he'd gotten the misfortune of having to sleep on the couch.  At least it folded out.

Wade gave him a questioning look.  "What?"

"You and Q-ball.  We've all noticed it."

"Noticed what?"  Wade got a cup from the cabinet and filled it with water.

Rembrandt got a drink for himself also.  "Come on, Wade, you can talk to me about it.  We're a bit worried about you guys."  He sat down at the table and motioned for her to sit also.  When she did, he continued.  "You and Quinn have been putting your lives on line for each other a lot lately without even thinking."

Wade took a sip of her water, then looked at Rembrandt.  "So?  If you'd have been in Quinn's place, I'd have done the same thing.  And I think you'd have made the same choice that Quinn did to help me.  We all would have."

"But what about a few worlds ago?  When you slid with Logan, Quinn gave up a shot at getting home to go after you.  He didn't even take the timer.  You have to admit that that was pretty stupid planning on his part."

She smiled.  "Yeah, that act was significantly below his IQ level, but I also shot him when I was with Logan.  And you and the others gave up that chance of home for us also, if you recall.  Sliding is pretty weird sometimes."

Rembrandt smiled at her.  "Yeah, I guess so."

"We're just back to how we used to be," she told him.  "Quinn and I, we're best friends again, Remmy.  I love him."

"But what kind of love?"

Wade got up.  "We're friends," she said simply.  "That's all."  She picked up her cup off the table and left the room.

Rembrandt watched her walk out.  He sighed and then took another sip of his drink.  Maybe there was nothing going on between her and Quinn after all.

-----

Wade woke up and glanced at the clock on the table beside her bed.  The pale glow of the display read 3:11.  She wondered what had waken her.  She thought she would have slept like a rock, being back in a normal bed again.  She liked Quinn's basement.  It was warm and cozy and even reminded her a bit of home.  It was Quinn's house after all.  She always felt a certain feeling of safety being around anything that made her think of Quinn.

She rolled over and looked at him.  He was stirring a bit in his sleep.  She heard him moan quietly and realized that he must have been moaning earlier and that was what woke her.  She got up and went over to him.

She gently brushed his damp hair from his forehead.  He had a high fever and moaned more at her touch.  He opened his eyes.  "Wade?"

"Sorry I woke you," she apologized.  "You have a fever.  I'll go get Mallory and Logan."

"No, I'm okay," Quinn said.  "It's just from the change in drugs.  I'm fine.  Really."

Wade put her hand on Quinn's face again.  "Well, at least let me take care of you.  You're burning up."

Quinn smiled at her.  He could see that she had a stubborn look on her face, even though it was fairly dark.  "If I said no, you would anyway."

"You're right," she said, then went upstairs and got a washcloth.  She soaked it with cool water and returned to Quinn.

"Wade," he complained, "you're dripping on me."

"Sorry," she said, then wiped his face with the washcloth as she sat down on the edge of his bed.

Quinn sighed.  The cool water did feel good.  He closed his eyes and eventually passed out.

-----

"Well, isn't this cute?" Maggie said to Rembrandt the next morning.  They'd just come downstairs to see if Quinn and Wade were up yet and if they wanted breakfast.

Rembrandt smiled.  "Actually, I think it is."

Wade woke to the sound of their voices.  She opened her eyes and tried to remember where she was.  She must have fallen asleep while taking care of Quinn, she realized.  Her head was resting on his chest.  She quickly sat up and turned to face Rembrandt and Maggie.

Her sudden movement woke Quinn and he looked up at her embarrassed face.  Then he noticed the others standing at the base of the stairs.  Rembrandt was grinning, and Maggie had her arms crossed over her chest and was giving them all a disapproving glare.

"This isn't how it looks," Wade tried to explain.  "Quinn was sick and I was just--"

"Making him feel better?" Maggie finished for her with an odd tone in her voice.  Rembrandt laughed.

"Wade was just worried about my fever," Quinn said, still feeling lightheaded.  "That's all."

"Well, it looks like you're feeling much better," Maggie snapped.  She turned and headed upstairs.

"Maggie, wait," Quinn called to her and started to get up.  But when he stood, a wave of dizziness hit him and his head ached badly.  His knees started to buckle and he began to collapse.

Wade grabbed him quickly and Rembrandt rushed over and helped her get him back into bed.  He put his hand to his head and groaned.

Wade felt his face.  He was hot.  She turned to Rembrandt.  "His fever still hasn't broken.  Go get Mallory and Logan!"

-----

"You shouldn't have tried to get up yet," Mallory said to Quinn.  "You're not used to walking; you've been off your feet for a week.  And standing up quickly is what caused your headache.  You need to relax and rest.  You're recovering from some really serious injuries.  Don't act like you're not.  If you rush things, you could relapse."

Quinn just sighed.  "How long until I can start acting normal again?"

"Two weeks," Mallory smiled at his double, naming the whole time left until the slide.  "You can't leave here anyway.  The police are looking for you.  Might as well get used to house arrest and enjoy yourself."

"Great," Quinn complained.  "I finally get a vacation and I have to spend it sick in bed."

"Cheer up," Mallory said.  "You've got the world's cutest nurse under house arrest with you."  He looked over at Wade who blushed slightly.  "Anyway, as for your fever, we'll have to take care of that the old-fashioned way: ice water and a washcloth."

Wade grinned mischievously.  "Prepare to be dripped on."

"I think I'd prefer the fever," groaned Quinn.

Mallory laughed at that.  "Try not to enjoy yourself too much," he said to Quinn, then gave Wade another disarming smile and headed back upstairs.

Quinn gave Wade a funny look once his double was gone.  "What's up with you and my alternate self?"

"She and Logan seem to be getting along just fine," Rembrandt teased.

"Very funny," Quinn said.  "I meant my *other* double."

"Who, Mallory?" Wade asked.  "I just remind him of somebody he used to know."  She got up and smiled at Quinn.  "I'll go fetch that ice water.  Very, very, very cold."  She stretched out each "very" to further annoy Quinn, then dashed off upstairs.

Quinn turned to Rembrandt.  "There's really nothing going on between her and Mallory, is there?" he asked.  "I mean, she hasn't been helping anyone else with a fever, has she?"

Rembrandt grinned.  "You jealous, Q-ball?"

He looked away, a little embarrassed.  "Only curious."

"Nah, I think he just knew her double or something," explained Rembrandt.  "I'd be more concerned about how cold she can get that water, if I were you."

"Well then, what's bothering the other female member of our group?" Quinn asked.  "Maggie has been acting a bit strange lately."

Rembrandt frowned at that.  "She has a few things to adjust to.  Just give her some time.  She'll be alright."

-----

When the bowl was full of cold water, Wade turned off the faucet.  She picked up the fresh washcloth and started to head back downstairs, but the sound of the back door opening caught her attention.  She turned and spotted Maggie coming in.

"Wade," Maggie addressed her curtly, then headed for her room which she was sharing with Logan.

Wade set the stuff she was carrying down on the table.  "Hey, wait a second," she called to Maggie, following her.  Maggie stopped and looked at Wade.  "What the hell is your problem today?!"

"There's no problem," she coldly replied.

"Then maybe you'd like you tell me why you've reverted back to your bitchy old self."  Wade glared at her.

Maggie was slightly surprised by her comment.  "What?"

"You have been nothing but rude to me for the past day," Wade explained.  "And you didn't even care when I told you that Quinn was sick.  What was that earlier anyway?  If there's something between you and Quinn, tell me, alright?  Don't just get upset about whatever it is that you think we did last night!"

"Well, he's fine now, so I don't know why I should act all concerned like you," she snapped.  "And for the record, I honestly don't care what you two do together!"

Wade just shook her head.  She didn't know what Maggie's deal was.  "We didn't do anything, if you care.  Not like he could anyway.  He can't even walk.  He collapsed when he tried to chase after you."  She gave up on talking to Maggie.  "I've got to get back to Quinn.  He's still running a high fever."

"I didn't know," Maggie said, her voice not as angry.

Wade picked up the washcloth again.  "You would have if you'd cared enough to stick around earlier."

Rembrandt entered the room and looked at the two of them.  "What's going on?" he asked.

"Nothing," replied Maggie as she turned and went to her room.  She'd been about to tell Wade how she did care - after all, she owed Quinn her life - but right now she just wasn't in the mood.

"Maybe we should try bashing her head in again," mumbled Wade, watching her go.  "The last time seems to have worn off."

Rembrandt guessed that they'd been fighting.  "Go easy on her, Wade," he said.  "I know she can be a pain, but give it a few days to blow over."

Wade looked at him.  She guessed that he knew what was bothering Maggie.  "Okay, Remmy," she said.  She decided that it was none of her business.  She'd let it blow over on its own as he'd suggested.

-----

Maggie walked over to Quinn's bed later that day.  Wade had taken a break from caring for him to get something to eat.  She'd fallen asleep on the couch while snacking and watching TV.  The others had all just let her sleep, so Maggie had decided to check on Quinn.  He was sleeping also.

She touched his forehead and found that he was very hot.  He wasn't well.  She sat on the edge of his bed, and then gently stroked his hair.  He woke up and rolled over slightly so that he was looking at her.  "Hey," she said to him.

"Hey," Quinn echoed weakly.

"You don't look so good, Quinn."  Maggie was concerned.

Quinn laughed a bit.  "You sure know how to make a person feel better.  It's always nice to be told you don't look good."

"I'm serious," Maggie said.  "You seem to be getting worse instead of better."

"I'm fine," replied Quinn.  "But what's been bothering you lately?  Tell me."

Maggie almost said that nothing was bothering her, but she knew she wouldn't get away with that lie.  "You know when we first found out that Rickman had messed up the timer?" she began.  Quinn nodded.  "You looked at me like you thought I'd break down sobbing, or throw furniture, or something.  You were just waiting for me to lose it."

"Maggie, I wasn't--"

"Yeah, you were, Quinn," she interrupted.  "And you were right.  It just took me until now to finally let it out.  I actually cried last night."

"But why, Maggie?" inquired Quinn.  "Why now?"

She shook her head.  This sounded so silly.  "It's just that we know about slide trails, tracking wormholes, and all that.  Well, I've started thinking of the worlds we slide to as links in a chain.  What Rickman did wiped out my whole chain, but there was still a little link left.  And although one link can never make a chain, it was an actual link, something real for me to hold on to.  And now that's gone."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Quinn asked.  "I do understand, Maggie.  You're homesick."

"But I didn't even want to go back to that world," she told him.  "That's why this is so stupid.  There was nothing for me there."

"Our world can be your home, Maggie," Quinn assured her.  "You belong with us."

A tear slipped down her face.  They all kept telling her that.  And that was her problem more than anything else, she realized.  "I can't breath on your world.  When you find your earth, I'll have to keep sliding.  I can't go back, and I can't stay with you.  I'll never have a home anywhere."

Quinn reached up and wiped her tear away.  "I will find a way.  No matter what, you are stuck with us, Maggie.  Like it or not, you will always have a home."

She stood up.  "I should let you get some rest."  She headed back upstairs.  She decided not to dwell on the issue of where her home would be.  For now, she was just a slider.  Any other bridges would be crossed when she came to them.

-----

That evening, Wade decided to have a talk with Mallory.  She knocked lightly on his door.  "Come on in," he called.

Wade opened the door and entered his room.  "Quinn isn't getting any better," she told Mallory.

He frowned.  "I know.  If his fever doesn't break within the next couple hours, I'll give him something for it.  I hate having to put more drugs in his system, but I guess we don't have a choice."

Wade sat down on Mallory's bed.  "Will he be okay come time to slide?"

Mallory got up from his desk and went to sit beside her.  He put his arm around her and rubbed her shoulder.  "He'll be alright."

-----

Quinn's fever didn't break like everyone had hoped.  Instead his condition only grew worse.  Mallory and Logan gave him something for the fever, but it didn't help and they ended up having to sedate him so that he could rest.

For the next two days, Quinn kept slipping in and out of consciousness and remained feverish.  One of the others was almost always by his side.  Finally, his fever broke for good after another day, and he started getting better.

Mallory decided to have a talk with him then.  He had some serious information that Quinn needed to know.  He figured it best they speak in private.

"I shouldn't have been sick like I was, should I?" Quinn said, guessing what their conversation was going to be about.

"No," replied Mallory.

Quinn nodded.  He'd suspected as much.  "Was it the drug you used to put me into shock?"

"I believe so."

"Cut to the chase," Quinn told him.  He wanted it straight.  "How bad?"

"It severely weakened your immune system, almost destroying it completely.  You've also be weakened in other areas, probably your heart as well."  Mallory paused.  "I'm sorry.  I knew the drug was dangerous, and I used it anyway.  Even given time, your condition is permanent.  You'll never fully recover."

Quinn sighed and rubbed his face, then ran his hands through his hair.  "Do they others know?"

"No," answered Mallory.  "I've told them everything else because it concerned your slide.  This is only about you.  I didn't think you'd want Wade to know."

"Of course I'm going to tell Wade," Quinn said.  "She does need to know this.  We all trust our lives to each other every slide.  When something happens to one of us, we're obligated to tell the others."

"Wade will blame herself."  Mallory knew her well enough to know that.  It wasn't her fault; she'd saved his life.  But she still blamed herself for having been foolish enough to get thrown in jail.  Now Quinn was facing this because of what they'd had to do to get her out.

Quinn figured that Mallory was right.  "Will they be able to tell?"

"They shouldn't be.  You'll seem fine.  And you can live a normal life," he told Quinn.  "But sliding isn't a normal life.  You'll need to be careful, Quinn.  You can't constantly get into fights.  No trying to always save the world.  And if you pick up a virus, you'll go down pretty hard with a weak immune system.  But there's no reason for the others finding out.  It's your decision if you want them to know."

Quinn frowned.  "Okay, don't say anything to them.  I'll have to think about it."

-----

On the morning of the slide, Wade went downstairs to make sure Quinn was ready.  She'd been up for past few hours.  She couldn't wait to get to a new world.  Being under house arrest was getting to her.  She skipped down the stairs.  "Ready to go?" she called to Quinn.

"Give me a minute, Wade," he called back.  He'd just gotten up.  It was only a little after eight.  And although he was feeling much better, he would never enjoy their early morning slides.

She hopped down the last couple stairs.  "Good morning," she said cheerfully.

"Wade!"  Quinn hurriedly zipped up his pants.  "I said to give me a minute."

She laughed at how his face had become flushed.  "Oh, come on!  We've been sharing a room for the last two weeks, and we've been sliding together for like four years.  I've seen you a whole lot less dressed than this."  She grinned.  "And after Naked World, I don't think that--"

"Okay, quite enough of that!" Quinn hastily interrupted.

Wade grabbed a shirt and threw it at him.  He caught it and started to pull it over his head.  He groaned a little.  "Oh, you big baby," Wade chided.  She walked over to him and helped him finish getting dressed.  As she adjusted his shirt, she touched the silver material that wrapped the lower part of his chest and waist.  "That doesn't still hurt, does it?"

Quinn yawned, still sleepy.  "Not really."

Wade looked at her own arm.  "This world is so cool.  They could fix Humpty Dumpty here.  However, I could do without the whole having to hide from the law bit.  Let's go!"

"You're certainly full of vip and vigger today," commented Quinn.  Seeing how happy she was that they were both healed and good as new, he'd decided not to tell her about what Mallory had told him.  At least not yet.  He tried to smile at her.  "You might want to cover that arm.  I doubt it will be the latest fashion on the next world."

"Good idea," she said, then started dragging him up the stairs which he could take fairly easily now.  Wade had been pulling him up and down them for the past week, trying to get him back in shape.  He just shrugged and tried to keep up.

-----

"Five minutes, everyone," Rembrandt informed them, looking at the timer.

"I guess we should head to the back yard for this," suggested Maggie, grabbing one last pancake.

"Good idea, Miss Beckett," said Arturo, following her example.

Rembrandt also helped himself to another pancake.  "Just like momma used to make," he said.

"Breakfast was excellent, Wade," Quinn told her.  "I think you should do this every day."

"Not a chance," she replied, then got up from the table and headed outside with Maggie.

Quinn smirked and looked from Rembrandt to Arturo.  "But now we know that she can cook."  He popped a couple pills into his mouth and washed them down with some juice, then put the container in his pocket.  He scooped up the rest of the pancakes from the plate, then went outside also.

The others all followed.  Then everyone said their good-byes.  "Thanks for the clothes," Quinn said to Mallory.

"Not a problem," Mallory replied.  Then they were interrupted by a ringing noise.

"I thought you were joking about the timer ringing," Quinn said in surprise.

Mallory laughed.  "I was.  That's my phone."

Then there was a familiar beep, and Rembrandt held up the timer.  "Here we go," he said, opening the vortex.  He dove into it.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Arturo said to Logan and Mallory.  "It was greatly appreciated."  He jumped into the wormhole after Rembrandt.

Maggie turned to Quinn.  "You sure you're up for this?"

"Never better," he answered.  What she didn't know couldn't hurt her.  He looked towards Wade.  "Come on, Wade," he called.

Wade looked at Mallory and Logan.  "Thank you," she said sincerely.  "I don't know what we would have done without you."

"If you ever happen to slide to this world again," Mallory said.

"Yeah," said Wade, knowing what he was going to say.

He bent over and gave her a hug.  "Good-bye, Wade."  He kissed her gently on the lips before letting her go.

She touched her hand to her lips, then headed back to Quinn and Maggie without saying another word.

Maggie jumped into the vortex.  Quinn held out his hand to Wade.  He wanted to ask about that kiss, but decided that some things should remain between them and Mallory.  They both would leave this world knowing things that would go unsaid.

Wade pulled at her sweater sleave, making sure it covered her silver cast.  Then she took Quinn's hand.  He tightened it around hers.  "Let's go."
 

THE END