Equilibration (Trek uberfic -- UPDATED 8/2/04)

[mollyig]

Wow, so much action here, and you've written it really well. Faith and Murdock seemed awfully well matched in the fighting department. Something tells me Faith is going to acquire an interest in meeting up with the good Captain again. And well done our girls for fighting their captor. Initially I was happy the Captain was going to assist them, but damn him and his bad timing!

---

"Love is just like breathing when it's true" Indigo Girls

[WebWarlock]

Very nice.



I had a nice long post, but Ezboard ate it.



Suffice to say, while the Guardian distraction has a me a little worried, I know things will be as they should be in the end.



Great work Capt, much more entertaining than "Buffy" or "Enterprise". This feels more like good old TOS Trek to me.



Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

"I’m so glad that I know more than I knew then.

Gonna keep on tryin’ till I reach the highest ground." - Stevie Wonder, "Higher Ground"

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-



Oh my, I should have seen that one coming!



So many questions run through my mind (a wide open mostly empty place, so they're safe). Among them just what is Murdock and is Faith one of his selections or something new?



I sit by my old G-3 beige tower and wait, mostly patiently.





Jixer

[bluewillowwitch]

Capt. ,

I love the update! I don't believe it! almost and she still is thinking of going home! They have to stop her. She can't go back! And might I add a go Murdock! Kicking a little but. i kinda felt bad for Faith. Can't wait to see that rematch. Can't wait to more. Update soon, please?





Grace

------------------------------------------

"Fate keeps on happening."--Anita Loos

[TemperedCynic]

So what would propel Willow into leaving the present and returning to the past? To find Buffy and Xander and bring them to the present? Maybe the only idea that makes sense to me currently. She would never leave Tara otherwise, just to return to her own time without the blonde officer. This really intrigues me to no end. Please continue.

---

More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly. Woody Allen (1935 - )

[CaptMurdock]

Thank you all for the kind words. I just have a few remarks:



"Kiss ass updates"? I hope that was "kick-ass"



Now, do you guys really think that I would have abandon like that? For shame. Actually, Tempered Cynic has the closest answer (though not quite -- imaginative, though).



Glad you all liked the big puncharoo between Murdock and Faith. Yes, Faith will probably meet the good captain again (but not this story -- gotta save something for the sequel )



As to your questions re: Murdock's and Faith's true natures...lean closer...



....closer...



...closer still...



(beams out with maniacal laughter)

[CaptMurdock]

Back again, finally! More contretemps with the laptop, although I can't lay alll the blame there. I'm a lazy SOB, sometimes. Anyway, more goodness follows...



****



Chapter 11



“Um, Guardian, not to be a knudge or anything, but, like, can we speed this up a little?” As fascinating as the montage of centuries of human history was to Willow, after several minutes the time portal was still stuck in the Second Common Era Millennium. At the rate the centuries were passing… “Or, actually, I kinda had a specific date in mind….” She had read the reports from the Starfleet personnel who had first found the Guardian, about how they had used a tricorder to record images from the time-stream and then used that to calibrate their trip through time to correct a disruption in history. Unfortunately, Willow didn’t have a tricorder, nor did she think it prudent to call the ship (I don’t even have a combadge, so much for that idea!) to request one.



“I was made to offer the past in this manner; I cannot change.”



Willow rolled her eyes. “Not the most user-friendly time portal, are ya?” Still, it was amazing what you could learn from this display. For example, she had never guessed how much Alexander the Great (at least, that’s who she thought the fair-haired general leading ancient Greek legions was) looked like Leonardo da Vinci. Meanwhile, she was trying to figure out, using the computer in her skull, a formula to calculate when she should jump through the portal, based on the progression before her.



She was nearly done, basing her answer on Pell Underhill’s quantum equations, when she noticed a scene set aboard a sailing ship, somewhere in the eighteenth century by her estimation, and populated by somewhat unsavory characters. Oh, cool, a pirate ship! Yo-ho-ho and all that. Some of those guys look pretty scummy, except that guy, could be the…captain…what the frilly heck…



The figure that Willow saw in the Guardian’s timestream image turned around to show his face. The man’s hair curled down past the collar of his frock coat, and he wore a full beard…



…otherwise, he was a dead ringer for Captain Ulysses Murdock.



****



“I’m going back out there,” Murdock told Thelvran. The security chief had already informed him that one of the base’s transport inhibitors was still online, covering the area where he had found him and the two women. Murdock still had not told the Andorian about what really reposed on this planet; the less people who knew about the Guardian – and what Willow might be attempting to do – the better. “Get the Maquis up to the ship and secure them in the brig. See if you can get the last inhibitor offline. Assuming you do, I should be beaming back to the ship in a few minutes.”



“Captain, request permission to accompany…” Thelvran began.



“Denied,” Murdock retorted. “I’ll take care of this myself, thanks anyway.”



Thelvran’s blue features twisted enough to betray his displeasure at his commanding officer’s decision to put himself at risk, though he was too much the professional to argue out loud. He did, however, draw his phaser from its holster and offer it to Murdock. “You might need this, sir.” The captain, after a second’s thought, took the weapon, nodding his gratitude.



“Captain!” Tara exclaimed sharply, looking at the phaser in his hand. Her unspoken objection hung in the air between them.



“Maclay…” Murdock said, his expression tight. Tara steeled herself to be ordered back to the ship with the others, or at least to be admonished into silence. She was therefore mildly, but pleasantly surprised when he continued, “…you’re with me.” He turned on his heel towards the exit, expecting her to follow in his wake.



“Captain, Lieutenant,” Thelvran called after them. He offered their combadges, retrieved from the Hannibal’s bridge. With mumbled thanks, the captain and the counselor, after checking to make sure each had the right badge, affixed them to their tunics and left the building.



****



Willow had barely recovered from the shock of seeing a virtual double of Murdock living in the eighteenth century, when it happened again…this time in a dark, gaslit London street, dressed in an Inverness cape and a suit like something out of those old Sherlock Holmes vids that her grandfather had collected. This time the guy was clean-shaven, though his sideburns came down nearly to his neckline. But again, he could have been Captain’s Murdock’s twin.



What is this? Did the captain travel back to the past? In two different eras? Or…what? After a brief montage of rifle-and-bayonet-carrying troops rushing across battlefields, politicians waving newspaper headlines, Lindbergh landing in Paris, millions of out-of-work people trudging through city streets, troops marching on European cities, she saw another virtual Murdock: standing with a group of men, some wearing the timeless labcoat of the professional scientist, outside a factory, while a large sign was being hoisted into position.



Willow recognized the familiar triangle-and-ellipse symbol from a history of space exploration. Yoyodyne, she automatically identified, Grover’s Mill, New Jersey, North America…uh, November 1938. Okay, what the hell would he be doing there?



“Y’know, if you want to view a historical retrospective, Willow, there are some excellent holodeck programs on the menu.”



The tone of his voice was so casual that it took Willow a second to realize that she’d been busted. Grimacing, she took a half-turn from the Guardian.



She had expected to see Captain Murdock standing there, most likely with a passel of security guards to drag one errant science officer back to the ship. What she hadn’t predicted that the captain would be accompanied by…



“Tara!” Willow’s voice reflected the odd mix of joy and chagrin she felt at the moment.



“Willow, what the hell are you doing?” The young counselor, too, carried a mixture of emotions: concern for Willow’s safety, and an urge to knock her block off for deceiving her. Murdock glanced at Tara, slightly piqued that (as it seemed to be standard procedure where these two women were concerned) matters seemed to be spiraling out of his control. Tara either did not notice or chose not to notice Murdock’s look. “For God’s sake—“



“Tara,” Willow began.



“I think—“ Murdock tried to interject.



“—think about what you’re doing!” Tara thundered.



“Maclay, back off!” Murdock waited a second as she pulled herself to attention, then turned back to Willow. Adopting as conciliatory a countenance as he was capable at that moment, he extended a hand towards Willow…not the hand holding the phaser at his side. “Why don’t we just go back to the ship, okay? No harm done. I can understand the call of temptation, but…it ends here. Now.”



For a second, the young woman seemed to waver, to want to walk over to her captain and ask his forgiveness and just take up the threads of her life. Then the moment passed as her resolve reconstituted itself. “I’m sorry, Captain, I can’t.”



Murdock rolled his eyes. “Oh, let’s not have this conversation again…”



“Willow,” Tara started again, this time having regained a little professional equanimity, although it hardly took a professional therapist to recognize the emotional undercurrent in her voice. “You can’t just go back to the twenty-third century and pick up where you left off. You are not the person you are when you…left. You have to live the life you have now, with m…the p-people in your life now.”



Willow had kept glancing at the Guardian throughout Murdock’s and Tara’s speeches, watching the images from the Eugenics Wars through Cochrane’s warpship breaking the light barrier. At Tara’s final words she turned fully towards her friend…and more. “I know all that. Don’t you think I want to live here, in this time? Life here is so good…and you’re a big part of that.” She glanced at Murdock. “I mean, you are, too, sir, don’t get me wrong, I mean, who else is going to serenade me at dinner?”



“Glad I’m in there somewhere…” Murdock observed laconically.



“It’s just…there’s something I have to do, back there,” Willow finished, glancing around to see the twenty-second century. The clock in her was counting down all the while, telling her she had little time left. She hoped to be able to get within a loud shout of her goal.



“What is so important that you—“ Tara cut off as she realized the one piece of unfinished business that Willow would find so critical that she would risk everything. “Buffy.”



“Buffy? Who the hell…you mean Elizabeth Summers? Lt. Elizabeth Summers, from the old Hannibal?”



Tara nodded. “She’s going back to prevent Buffy from getting killed by Romulans. Willow, don’t you know how dangerous that is?”



“Even if by some miracle you get there in time, the changes in the timestream could be catastrophic,” Murdock added. “You could be re-writing ninety years of history…all to save one woman who’s been dead for most a century.” His phaser, held at his side, now came up to point, albeit vaguely, in Willow’s direction. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you take the chance.”



Willow took a tentative half-step…towards the Guardian of Forever. Tara stepped forward in response, prudently keeping to one side in case Murdock felt the need to use the phaser on Willow, much as she hoped otherwise. “Willow, don’t do this. Don’t you think that you…oh, my God…” she trailed off, looking past Willow to the Guardian of Forever.



Willow turned back to the time portal, and at first was merely shocked to see a man in an old-style Starfleet uniform. She recognized it as the uniform style in vogue several years before she had graduated from the Academy: gold command-grade tunic over black trousers, with individual ship insignia over the left breast. She was further shocked, as well as nostalgic, to see that the man was Francisco Cumberland, looking several years younger than when she had known him (although he still had the beard), standing next a young woman also in command-gold (albeit in the truncated tunic/mini-skirt) and another man in civilian clothing who had turned away briefly…



…who then turned back to reveal himself as yet another Captain Murdock lookalike.



Tara glanced at Murdock, whose facial (and empathic) expression was not so much surprise or shock, but rather that of resigned embarrassment. He deflated slightly as he mumbled, “Hoo boy.”



Willow took advantage of that moment of distraction. As she sprinted for the Guardian, she saw the last major battle of the Swift War and Vejur descending on Earth and then she herself Buffy and Xander on Iotia and there was the shuttlepod being swallowed up by the temporal anomaly…



Murdock shook himself back to the present. “Willow, stop!” He brought the phaser up, confident that at this range he couldn’t miss, that he could tag Willow with a stun blast before she could reach the time portal…



And then, unbidden, faces from his past came alive. Jean-Paul. Nathaniel. Sophie. Tetsuo. Ratbag. Lynette. Harry. Mrs. Dugan. Emilio. Danny. Kiera. All taken from him, by time.



The moment, his opportunity to stop Willow, passed. The scene shifted from the shuttlepod disappearing through time, just as she leaped through the images.



“No!” Murdock cried, damning himself for being a complete idiot.



“Willow!” Tara shrieked, the cry of the abandoned. “Don’t leave me!”



TBC

_________________



"Many such journeys are possible. Let me be your gateway."

[KiwiAlcyone]

Oh holy crap?!



I thought you said goodness to follow?! And not that it wasn't good because well damn, everything you write is always nail-bitingly good but..."don't leave me!" ???



I cannot wait for the next update, is Tara going to jump in after her? Whatever she does she had better do it quick, I mean...she's not going to stand there and let Willow get away from her, sure not



Happy writing Capt!



Alcy

Reality continues to ruin my life - Calvin and Hobbes

[BurningWhiteRose]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....



*deep breath.* Willow cant leave Tara! She'll never love another if she does! NO, WILLOW NO!



Must...read....more...



Sincerely,

BWR

Edited by: maudmac  at: 6/10/04 7:14 pm

[tmr]

I must be dreaming that soooo did not happen



it did happen didn it



why? oh why?

Edited by: tmr at: 6/6/04 10:19 am

[Artemis]

Ooh, I think I know what she's up to! Of course, I could be completely wrong... but one way or the other, I foresee Willow/Tara snuggles eventually. I'll just keep telling myself that, anyway Excellent work, I think you've captured to a tee the 'look and feel' of the swashbuckling-yet-introspective Original Series novels, suitably updated for the 24th century. And as always, something for the trivia hounds - Alexander and da Vinci (Was da Vinci mentioned back then? It's been so long since I've seen it - Brahms and Solomon I remember, but the rest escape me.) And the Captain, what has he been up to? Well, you gave us a pretty clear hint - of course, name one Starfleet Captain who *doesn't* have a personal involvement in several different centuries' worth of history one way or another...

[bluewillowwitch]

Capt. ,

Great update! This sucks. You finally get and semi-past this stand off of emotions they are on and then goes and does something that stupid! All I can hope for is that does something equally stupid to get her back. Damn her! Can't wait to more. Update soon, please?





Grace

------------------------------------------

"Fate keeps on happening."--Anita Loos

[CaptMurdock]

Well, that was strange. I beam down to this thread and find my entire post here gone, replaced with 'HTML Comments are not allowed.' Well. Shows me doesn't it... Sorry about that, greenwitch. Here we go again...



****



New Quito, Gault (Psi Arridon V)

Stardate 7976

Earth Year 2281



Lt. Buffy Summers was able to stun the Romulan over by the reactor’s master control station before the second Romulan, whom she hadn’t seen when she came through the door, kicked her arm and caused her phaser to fly from her grasp.



The Romulan agent figured he had plenty of time, and the advantage of surprise, to draw his disruptor on this small female human. What he did not expect was her immediate counterattack, a whirling spinkick that caught him on the side of his head. Buffy followed that up with a punch to the gut and a snap-kick to the jaw as he doubled over. The Romulan fell back to the floor.



Buffy prudently leaned over and removed the disruptor from his belt. Like his female counterpart, the Romulan was in civilian clothing, apparently trying to pass for Vulcan colonists on this recently-established Federation outpost. Buffy, along with Captain Cumberland and several members of the Hannibal’s complement, was on a mission to investigate several incidents of sabotage in New Quito’s power grid and utility systems. They had found that some of the “Vulcan colonists” were in fact Romulan deep-cover agents. “Just our luck,” Cumberland had mumbled at one point, “one of the Federation’s oldest enemies happens to look just like one of our founding member races.”



“Really,” Buffy had replied, nettled. “Aren’t they supposed to be wearing those very identifiable, and horribly unfashionable, uniforms, that just scream ‘Major Bad Guys Who Have No Taste’?”



Cumberland had grinned at that. “You have an uncanny knack for boiling everything down to the basics, Lieutenant.”



The investigation had gone on for several days, as the Hannibal officers checked security protocols, investigated sites of sabotage, and interviewed some of the colony’s administrative and enforcement personnel. Buffy had participated in this, with some unexpected but very pleasurable side benefits, in the form of a certain young man who worked for the civil security bureau, with whom Buffy had spent several very nice evenings on the planet. He had proven to be extremely competent, very cooperative and great in…other areas.



Unfortunately, during a very nice evening meal, the Romulan “moles”, apparently spurred on by the Hannibal’s investigation, had moved up their timetable, which included an attempted infiltration and takeover over the civil administration center as well as attempting to take Captain Cumberland and the other Starfleet personnel prisoner. The latter had lasted all of ten minutes, as Cumberland, Buffy and the other Hannibal crewmen (assisted ably by Buffy’s new friend) had broken free and disarmed their captors. Buffy herself had disabled three of her attackers, coming in second place to Captain Cumberland, who had taken out five. Once again, she allowed herself to be impressed by his hand-to-hand prowess. For a self-described “glorified helm jockey,” he’s got some nice moves…



After securing their one-time captors, Cumberland had led Buffy and the others to the administration complex, there to meet some more Romulans. They had set up a crossfire on the complex’s upper gallery to trade disruptor shots for the Starfleet phaser fire. A small group had managed to break away and head for the engineering section, which housed the small colony’s main fusion reactor. Cumberland had wanted to after them himself, but Buffy had objected, saying that he should stay to lead the others in securing the main part of the building; she volunteered to chase after the second group.



“All right, but watch your back,” Cumberland had growled in reluctant reply. “I’ll be five minutes behind you!”



“See you there, sir!” she said. After Cumberland and the others had laid down covering fire, she ran hell-for-leather down the corridor where the second Romulan team had gone. Buffy had managed to track them down to the reactor control room…



She retrieved her phaser from where it had fallen from her hand, giving it a quick check for any damage, which there was none. Her sparring partner was attempting to get back up; when he saw that she had her phaser, he decided that perhaps discretion was the better part of getting one’s ass kicked, and relaxed.



Buffy looked at the female she had stunned, then back to the male. “I thought there was another one,” she wondered aloud. The man said nothing, keeping his expression neutral. Buffy was about to inquire further when a beep from the control console, where the Romulan female had been entering commands just as Buffy entered, made her glance over at the readouts. What she saw there did not look good. She turned back to the man, shrugged in a not-very-sincere apology, and stunned him, ensuring that he would not distract or attack her.



Holstering her phaser, Buffy crossed over to the control station. The Romulan woman had evidently set the reactor’s control to cause an overload, which would be, not to put too fine a point on it, bad.



“Poop!” Buffy muttered as she set about stopping the overload, forcing her brain to dig up what she knew about fusion reactors. Trouble was, this really wasn’t her field, and what little information she had was mostly second-hand… I’ve seen Willow do this kinda stuff a million times, but do I pay any attention? Nooo, I’m too busy looking at all the pretty lights! Even so, after a half-minute of re-routing and re-initializing, Buffy was getting encouraging results. So intent was she on her work, trying to keep the reactor from blowing up (and taking most of the colony with it), that she did not hear the third Romulan, the one who had doubled back and come up behind her, creep through the doorway and silently take aim at her back with his disruptor.



Something else, however, grabbed her attention. A section of the wall to her right was suddenly shimmering like hot desert air, a weird rippling effect that made Buffy sit up and blink rapidly. Then something really weird happened: a figure suddenly melted its way through the liquefied wall…a figure bearing a startling resemblence to…



“Willow?!?” Buffy cried out in amazement.



The apparition, clad in some kind of (jumpsuit? uniform?) came to a halt, stumbling slightly, and grinned a familiar grin. “Hey, cutie, I—“ Willow’s eyes widened. “Buffy, behind you!”



The Romulan mole had been preparing to shoot the Starfleet female in the back when this other human had appeared out of nowhere, and certainly not by any sort of transporter beam he had ever seen. The stranger’s shouted warning galvanized him back to the moment, and he leveled his disruptor and fired.



Most people would have been paralyzed by indecision and confusion under these circumstances. However, this time, as on several other occasions, Buffy Summers proved that she was not “most people.” Whirling and crouching down to one knee, she drew her phaser even as she felt the disruptor bolt pass over her head; hours later she would be checking her hair for scorch marks. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Willow dive for cover. Hand and eyes coordinated instinctively as she blasted the Romulan into unconsciousness, the phaser beam knocking him back two meters. Only a slight tremor as she re-holstered her phaser betrayed her outward veneer of calm.



Willow got up from the floor where she had dived out of the way. “Hey, uh, are you – okay? Sorry I cut it so close…although, talk about hitting the target under extreme conditions, kinda like hitting a puppy with a bee—“



“Will—“ Understandably, Buffy was dealing with a number of things at once. “How d’you-- Um. Wait. The reactor!” She lunged over to the console. “I tried to stop the overload, don’t really know if…little help, here?”



Willow strode over and examined the readouts. Funny, how all this stuff seems real antique now…, she mused. “I think you got most of the job done,” she said after a few seconds. Tapping in a few commands, she added, “I’ve re-engaged the safety systems. That should do it.”



“Good. Fusion explosions give me really bad hair,” Buffy quipped. Her eyes shining, she turned and pulled Willow into a fierce embrace. “I can’t believe it! God, I thought you were—“ She couldn’t quite finish the sentence and just let herself bask in the renewed warmth of her friend’s arms.



Willow returned the hug, with equal passion if not force. “It’s good to see you, Buff. It seems like a hundred years…” Close enough for government work. As Buffy inadvertently increased the pressure of the hug, Willow felt her ribs start to creak. “Uh, oxygen becoming an issue…” she gasped, only slightly exaggerating.



“Sorry!” Releasing Willow’s torso, Buffy stepped back, taking her friend’s hands in her own. “You look good. Like the new outfit. Tell me, does the dirt come with, or is that extra?”



Snorting laughter, Willow answered, “Ahh, kind of a long story. And, uh, hate to save your life and run,” she added, glancing back at the wall she had magically appeared through, which was still rippling like firm gelatin, “but I have to go back.”



Buffy’s eyes widened, like a child who had been told she would have to give all her Christmas presents back on December 26th. “’Go back’? No! You can’t just…God, Will, I thought I’d lost…you can’t do this to me! And Xander…he left Starfleet because of you! You know how much it would mean to him that…”



“Buffy,” Willow countered quietly, her patented Resolve Face set at maximum. “I have to go back. This isn’t my life anymore. And…there’s someone there, waiting for me.”



Buffy’s expression changed from heartbreak to glee in record time. “Really? No kidding!” She playfully punched Willow’s shoulder. “Go, Wills!”



“Thanks. And, ow,” she added, rubbing her shoulder. “Oh! I know! Come with me! Oh, Buffy, you’d love it there, it’s so great, and I’d love for you to meet… What? That’s your sad face. Why am I seeing Sad Face?”



“No, Will, it’s just…Captain Cumberland once said to me…I have to let you go sometime. I guess that begins here.” Buffy raised her eyes again and stared into Willow’s. “But that doesn’t mean here,” pointed towards her heart, “right?” Willow nodded, indicating her own heart as well. Buffy then shrugged diffidently. “’Sides, I…kinda…met a guy here, while we were on this assignment…”



“Do tell, do tell,” Willow said mischievously.



“What’s there to tell…basic Nice Guy, white teeth, handles himself great in a fight, and makes me feel great about myself. I know, I know, ‘run away as fast as I can.’ I think just maybe I’m over my whole Bad Boy phase. ‘Course, this guy actually had the gall to ask me to stay with him here on Farm World—“



“You should,” Willow said, cutting her off. “Stay here with him, leave Starfleet, make a life here, at least, y’know, take the chance, carpe diem and all that. Life’s too short.” She glanced over her shoulder at the still-rippling wall. “Look, I gotta—“



“I know. C’mere,” Buffy said, drawing Willow close again. The two girls wrapped their arms around one another again, trying to imprint the feel and the smell of one another deep within, knowing that this was good-bye, knowing the tears and the sobs would have to substitute for words they could not express in the time they had left.



After a timeless moment, eternal and infinitesimal, they parted, wiping checks dry with palms of hands. Buffy nodded, finding her voice somehow. “Alright, get the hell going, before I…change my mind and render your unconscious.” Willow’s laugh prompted her to respond in kind. A sudden thought made her grab Willow again, one hand on the back of her head, and press their lips together.



The kiss was firm, chaste but with a passion that caught Willow totally off-guard. Oh, God, if she tells me she’s been gay all along I’ll kill her, she thought as Buffy released her. Willow felt her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.



“Your ‘someone’…Give ‘im that, from me,” Buffy said, smiling. “Tell him he better take good care of you, because if he doesn’t, I’ll track him down and kick his ass.”



Willow chuckled as she walked over to the shimmering wall. “Um, okay, I’ll do that,” she said, looking back at Buffy, “but only because I was going to kiss her anyway.”



The casual manner in which Willow had dropped that particular bombshell resulted in several seconds before the clue-by-four hit Buffy upside the head. “Wha—wait a minute! ‘Her?’ What do you mean—“



“Bye, Buffy, I love you,” Willow said as she stepped through the wall.



“Wait, you can’t just—“ She fell silent as the wall abruptly became solid again. She strode over to it and hammered on it with an iron fist. “You bitch!”



“Yelling at walls gets you talked about,” came the voice behind her that caused her to spin and point her phaser at…Captain Cumberland. “So does shooting your superior officer,” he added, putting his hands up for comic effect.



Buffy rolled her eyes as she put away her phaser. God! “Where did you come from, sir?” she asked, barely able to keep from gritting her teeth.



“McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, originally,” Cumberland replied casually, “but if you mean more recently, Lieutenant, the main administration complex. We’re just mopping up over there, but I came to see if you needed a hand.” His breezy manner masked his relief at seeing his junior officer alive and well. All during his mad dash to the reactor control room, he had been filled with the horrid certainty that he would arrive too late. The fact that his instinct had been wrong, as joyous as it was, confused him. He felt as if a subtle shift of some kind had taken place, but he could not figure out why this was so. And there was another feeling, almost like a near-forgotten odor that he could almost place…



“Did I miss something here, Lieutenant?”



Buffy smiled wanly. “I’m not sure you’re going to believe this one, Captain.”



****



“No!” Murdock cried.



“Willow!” Tara shrieked. “Don’t—“



Barely a second after they saw her jump through the images at the Guardian’s center, Murdock and Tara were shocked to see Willow step calmly back to where she had been standing moments ago.



Murdock lowered the phaser he had been pointing. Now he strode forward a couple of steps, a shocked expression on his face. “What have you done?” he asked Willow with an awful calm. Tara crossed her arms, her blue eyes blazing in the dim light.



Before Willow could answer, the stentorian tones of the Guardian rang out. “Time has resumed its shape.”



Tara stepped towards Murdock. “Wh-what does that mean?”



Murdock shook his head in answer. Tapping his combadge, he intoned, “Murdock to Hannibal.”



A seeming eternity went by before an answer came back. “Hannibal; Faraday here, sir.”



Breathing a sigh of relief, Murdock asked, “What’s the status, Number One?”



“Thelvran managed to get the last transport inhibitor offline. Right now he’s bringing the Yamamoto and the Huxley back aboard. Kolrami’s squaring away the Trieste.”



“Very well.” A sudden thought made him ask, “Where are DaKar and Dr. Govarr?”



“In…Engineering and Sickbay, I assume. Do you w--“



“No, no. Where’s Dr. Devereaux?”



“Right here, sir. Captain, is everything—“



“I’m not sure yet. Stand by.” Tapping the comline closed, Murdock strode over to Willow. “Lt. Rosenberg, you are confined to quarters until further notice.” Willow nodded miserably, noting how Tara would not meet her eyes, keeping a stony expression on her face.Lt. Maclay, beam the two of you up to the ship, and escort her to her quarters.” In answer to her unspoken question, he added, “I’ll be right behind you. Go on.”



Tara nodded. Watching Murdock step back, not trusting herself to look at Willow, she tapped her combadge. “Maclay to Hannibal. Two to beam up.”



Murdock watched the transporter beam sweep them away, then took a deep breath. “Guardian of Forever.” By no sense he could name, he felt the great stone monolith’s attention on him. “You know what the future holds for me, don’t you.” It was not a question. Swallowing his anxiety, he continued, “Has Willow done anything to change that?”



“All is as it was before...” the time portal replied, then added as Murdock was able to ask for clarification, “...Ozymandias.”



Murdock flinched as if struck. Regaining as much composure as he could, he called the ship again. “One to beam up.”



The captain vanished in a column of light, leaving behind the somber stone arch and the lonely keening of the wind.

_________________



"Many such journeys are possible. Let me be your gateway."

Edited by: CaptMurdock at: 6/11/04 4:57 am

[WebWarlock]

ACK!



Ok first off you better not disappear for months on end again right after dropping somethng like Ozymandias in our laps!



It don't work like that.



Great set of updates.



So I guess Buffy found her Riley, good. And Willow is in deep trouble. Not so good.

But I have to admit that it was neat that our Willow here shook Murdock so. That's gotta be worth something.



Hmm...storm before the calm much here with our girls.



Gotta have more.



Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

"D&D doesn't teach children that monsters exist. Children already know that monsters are real.

D&D teaches them that monsters can be defeated."
- Unknown

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-



Since Shelley's Ozymandias is one of those terribly evocative poems I now have a bunch of questions about Murdock and where W&T might fit in the story of the shattered visage with it's cold sneer.



As for Willow's action, I can not say she did wrong. Honor, duty, and friendship mixed with love have no doubt been tearing Willow apart since she came here. Now we have to wait and see if she can reach out to the one person who will make her whole. Not that that's a hint or begging or anything-really!





Jixer

[BurningWhiteRose]

NOOOO!



Whats his secret?!?! You have to tell us!! Please, another update?



Sincerely,

BWR

[CaptMurdock]

A few replies...



tmr: As you should be able to glean from the next part, Willow had a very good reason for going back, one that didn't preclude her going back to Tara. granted, I may have left vague the notion that she was going back... My bad.



Artemis: So, was your guess correct? As to "the clues," yes, da Vinci was mentioned in "that episode" (and I mentioned da Vinci earlier in this story, as one such hint), along with Brahms, Soloman and Alexander the Great.



bluewillowwitch: Willow not do something rash and impulsive. That would be like Pizza Hut without pizza. Tara, on the other hand, is understandably displeased towards Willow at the moment, but don't worry -- if there is one thing Tara is, it's forgiving.



WebWarlock: Now, now. No spoiling stuff like that what you learned from CaptSerek and the SFOF webpage (I'll have to check that out and see if he's updated that recently).



As to Buffy's SO, I deliberately left his identity a little vague...but yeah, it's Riley. He just fits better in Trek than That Other Fellow.



I'll try not to drop off the face of the Earth before my next update.



jixer: "Ozymandias" is probably my favorite poem. I used the name in reference to Murdock (in a way -- that too is a story for another day, as WebWarlock knows)...his is the "wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command," as well as "the hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:"

And on the pedestal these words appear:

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

But as to how all this relates to Murdock...



BurningWhiteRose: Besides the usual "see above," I just want to say, thanks for the kind comments, and I hope to bring you more very soon.



Love you all!

_________________



"Many such journeys are possible. Let me be your gateway."

[Sassette]

Ahh ... I had lost track of this one, but finding several updates was like finding a twenty in a coat you haven't worn in awhile - I'm so glad to be caught up, though I'm wondering what the heck Murdock is going to do with Willow. And that wondering has now gotten the song "what do you do with a drunken sailor" stuck in my head. Anyway ... I just wanted to say that I really enjoy this combination of Trek and Buffy ... you've merged the two beautifully *G*



I also really dig how you've woven a very slow buildup of the W/T relationship around a really cool plot, because it 1) is intensely realistic ... how would two people serving on different areas of a starship have >time< to get together quickly unless it were for casual sex? and 2) avoids the problem of the W/T relationship being the only focus, thereby giving you nowhere to go once they've gotten together (literary lesbian bed death anyone? ... though, I see it as a difficulty for the romance genre in general, and not necessarily exclusive to lesbians *G*).



And, ahh ... the ozymandias thing. For anyone interested in the full text of that poem, here's an address (though not a link ... I've been posting on this board for how long? And have no idea how to put in a link? Heh ... me and my willful ignorance).



eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem1904.html



I have no idea how this relates to Captain Murdock, though. But, thinking as I type - assuming The Guardian Of Forever is not making a literary reference (as it doesn't really seem like the type to do so), then we could guess that, perhaps, 'Ozymandias' was Murdock's original name. Something to consider - I picked up where I had left off this time ... I think I need to reread this all from the beginning.



-Sass



edited to add: so, I reread your replies on the Ozymandias thing, and cross-referenced it with the handy interpretation included in the addy above, and I still got nothing *G* Though that webpage is very worthwhile - the historical footnotes are particularly interesting. Or maybe I'm a big dork *G*

Edited by: Sassette at: 6/9/04 10:24 pm

[WebWarlock]

No. No. No spilling by me. I am perfectly happy to let this story unfold for me (and everyone) spoiler free.



Can a webfic have spoilers?



I am greatly enjoying this.



ETA: No Sass, you have to be a big geek instead.



Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

"D&D doesn't teach children that monsters exist. Children already know that monsters are real.

D&D teaches them that monsters can be defeated."
- Unknown

Edited by: WebWarlock at: 6/10/04 7:17 pm

[greenwitch]

Hullo,



Just wanted to chime in and say that i love this story. But i don't see the update, only something that says "HTML comments are not allowed." ummm. i am a little confused?



greenwitch

[CaptMurdock]

greenwitch (is that pronounced "grenitch" like the city in Britian or "green witch"?): As to the 'HTML' thing...



[Don Adams voice]



Sorry about that, Chief



[/Don Adams voice]



I've fixed it.



Sassette: Yes, you're a geek. However, as geeks tend to inherit the Earth, this is a good thing.



As I've stated before in comments on this thread...not that I have anything against "W/T meet and hop into bed five seconds later," but I preferred a slow buildup. I needed to make their eventual, uh, consummation seem natural.



Love ya all!

_________________



"Many such journeys are possible. Let me be your gateway."

[MAISEY12]

Hey, I love this story and I know that you have replied that you've fixed the coding, in order to update, but I can't see it. I don't know if anyone else is having this problem?



Is there something other than simply logging on to the thread that I need to do, in order to access this update?





Ann-Marie

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

- Catherine Aird

[CaptMurdock]

My update is the second message on this thread. I can see it. Can you not? If not, either I'm delusional (a idea certainly not out of the realm of possibility) or there is something seriously wrong on your end. Or, you think I've updated already since June 9, but you're not seeing anything but that update. No, I haven't updated since 6/9.



Sorry about any confusion.

_________________



"Many such journeys are possible. Let me be your gateway."

[MAISEY12]

Thanks CaptMurdock, my mistake. I mis-read something earlier in the thread and thought that you had posted a further update since 9/6/04.





Ann-Marie

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

- Catherine Aird

[mollyig]

Really enjoyed the latest installment. I wasn't that concerned when Willow went through to save Buffy. She's the brainy type, and I figured she knew how to return. As much as she loves Buffy I don't think she would have risked losing Tara. More snippets of the mystery that is Murdoch. Great stuff Captain, thanks so much.

---

Sheacht mh'anam déag do bhéal, do mhalaí's do ghrua

[CaptMurdock]

I'm back! This is the last chapter (no, not just this post, there is more after this, I promise.) I suppose I've been putting this off because the final scenes...I'm trying to get them just right. You all have been patient, and I thank you for that. Just be patient a little longer; I promise to finish this soon. Thanks for coming along for the ride.



Chapter 12



Nearly a full day later, Willow was summoned to Captain Murdock’s ready room.



She had spent the interval, after Tara had unceremoniously delivered her to her quarters, not speaking or even really looking at her, contemplating her future and, once her pragmatism reasserted itself, compiling her official report. She had submitted it to the captain, who had acknowledged receipt without comment.



Fortunately, she had a replicator in her quarters, so she didn’t have to have somebody send her food. Still, it would have been nice to talk to somebody, but her confinement forbade her from initiating contact with anyone, nor was she allowed to receive communications, not involving official business. I’m being held incommunicado, she thought gloomily. “Where’s Communicado?” “Oh, it’s about twenty miles south of Cognito!” Yuk yuk yuk.



I wouldn’t mind it so much, except…Tara. I think what I did…hurt her. I just wish I could explain why I went back, but I don’t think she wants to hear it.



Walking from the turbolift to the ready room door, Willow could not help glancing around the bridge. Most of the damage, resulting from phaser or disruptor fire, had been repaired; a couple of technicians were touching up discolored areas and such. Kolrami and Thelvran were at their respective stations; Faraday was at the command station. The first officer glanced around when Willow exited the turbolift; the expression on the older woman’s face was rather neutral, neither sympathetic nor contemptuous. Willow thought she might have seen a ghost of a smile as Faraday turned back after meeting her eyes briefly.



Taking a deep breath, feeling a phantom ache in her chest, Willow reached out and tentatively touched the door chime. At Murdock’s sharp command, the doors parted. Steeling herself, Willow walked in.



The captain was seated behind his desk, reading his computer screen. He did not look in her direction as she walked in and stopped about two meters from the desk. Willow’s knees suddenly went watery, but she dared not take a seat. She locked herself into a stance of Attention and prayed she would not faint.



Murdock continued to peruse the information on his screen, tapping through one page after another, for nearly a full minute after Willow arrived. She felt herself growing annoyed at his cavalier attitude; he could at least have the decency to acknowledge that she was there for him to yell at her.



On the other hand, he might have been engaging in a war of nerves with her. With an effort, Willow clamped down on her temper and vowed to wait him out.



Finally, he tapped his screen off and sat back in his chair. Still looking away from her, he intoned in a casual manner, “I have to say that, as your friend Tara pointed out, for the most part, this mission really qualifies as a success. We managed to find and apprehend most of a Maquis cell, including a member of the Cardassian Obsidian Order, with minimal casualties on our side; we provided medical aid to their victims in a speedy and efficient manner; and we managed to avert a potentially disastrous breach of Federation security. An above-average day, she said, and I would have to agree with that assessment.” For the first time since she entered the ready room, Murdock turned to look at Willow. “And then, we come to you.”



He stood, slowly making his way around the desk toward Willow, holding her eyes the entire time, the apparent nonchalant demeanor underscored by a tightness in his voice. Willow had to remind herself to breathe. “This is the part where I would usually ask you if you understood what you were doing. However, I feel in this case that would be redundant. I mean, not only are you one of the few people on this ship smart enough to instinctively grasp the temporal mechanics, but you and I had a discussion on this matter, some time ago, in this room.” He strode behind her, crossing the room.



Willow had to resist turning to look at him. Nevertheless, she felt it necessary to interject. “Sir, permission to—“



“Yes, yes, go ahead.”



Wondering if she was pushing the button to blow herself out of an airlock, Willow ploughed on. “Captain, you explained why I couldn’t go back to the twenty-third century, to carry on with my life as it was. I accepted it then, and, and I still do. But Buffy…Lt. Summers…” She drew a breath, finding the calm within herself to continue. “She wasn’t meant to die, sir, not at that time. I felt…I had a chance to save her, the way I would have saved her if I had been there originally.” She saw Murdock walking forward on her left, towards the viewport where stars streaked by at warp speed. “Sir, I know that I have to live in this time. But…I owed Buffy a chance to live, too.”



Murdock stopped. He was still facing the viewport, but he turned slightly and said, over his shoulder, “That still doesn’t explain why you went back and changed the past, Lieutenant.. In preventing Elizabeth Summers’ death, you could have radically undone ninety years of Federation history. People in this time, people who were born and even died since then, could have ceased to exist because of what you did. You and I, and Tara, could have beamed back up to ship and found out that Commander Faraday, or Dr. Devereaux, or Dr. Govarr or Lt. Thelvran had never been born. These are your shipmates, Willow. People who work with you, trust you and, in most cases, even like you. By what ethical principle could you undertake something that would endanger their very existences?”



Willow took a deep breath and took the plunge. “Because Buffy…she would have done the same for me.”



“That’s no excuse and you know it!” Murdock thundered, turning back at her with blazing eyes. Willow felt herself paling at his gaze.



Apparently, he saw the blood draining from her face, too. His anger apparently spent, he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He walked back over to his desk and leaned against it. His demeanor shifted somewhat as well, taking on an almost scholarly manner. “I’ve been perusing the historical database for the past day. Quite frankly, I’ve been looking for any alteration of the timeline resulting from your little escapade. Exploration, planets joining the Federation, treaties with our allies, Starfleet vessels, the Cardassian and Tzenkethi Wars…Mind you, I only have my own memories to draw upon, because all records of the past ninety years would have been altered as soon as you stepped through the Guardian.



“Frankly, Lieutenant, if I had found one world that should have been in the Federation but never joined, one starship captain who never made it through the Academy, one minor battle that we won but now lost, even so much as one… Third-Class Spittoon Polisher on this ship, missing…we would be having this conversation in the brig, and you would be staring down the barrel of a general court-martial.” Murdock had to take a breath after his peroration. “For better or worse, however, you actually managed to not alter the timeline in any significant way.”



“Really?” Willow piped up, then remembered herself. “Uh, I mean, that’s, um, interesting, sir.”



“’Interesting’ is a word-and-a-half word, Lieutenant,” Murdock replied, a slight smile on his face. “I don’t suppose you have an explanation for this?”



Willow’s brain, in the usual overdrive that it perpetually functioned in, had come up with an answer. “Well, actually, sir, it could be that my going back to save Buffy was already a part of the timeline. I mean, the Guardian, when I spoke to it, it knew my name, and I knew that I hadn’t introduced myself previously, and when I asked it how it knew my name, it said that it had been waiting for me, apparently for billions of years, whew, I mean, talk about hanging around a while, but, anyway, maybe I was supposed to go back. Sir.”



Murdock blinked a couple of times as he absorbed her account. “Are you telling me that this was some kind of…predestination paradox?”



Willow had to restrain herself from shouting Yes! Or worse, Good! “Well…I guess you could call it that, sir.” She noticed Murdock closing his eyes and rubbing his temples. “Headache, sir?”



“Naw. My head usually explodes right around this time of day.” Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes again. “Given that history doesn’t seem to have been altered, and the possibility that perhaps you were meant to go back to save Lt. Summers…I can hardly believe I’m saying this…I may have to give you a pass on this.”



Barely able to keep from squealing for joy, Willow managed to answer. “Um, very well, sir.” A streak of masochism, however, prompted her to ask, “Don’t you have to discuss this with the Department of Temporal Investigations?”



“Oh, God, not that,” Murdock replied, deadpan. “I’d rather stick my head in the warp core than deal with those jokers. They’ve been after my ass sin—“ He abruptly cut himself off.



“Since what, sir?”



“Never mind.” Modifying his tone, Murdock continued. “On a, well, related matter, the fact that you and I, plus Commander Farady, Dr. Devereaux and Lt. Maclay, all know about the Guardian’s existence, is definitely something Starfleet Command is not going to be crazy about. However, as I have reported that in my official log, we’re all going to have be debriefed about the Guardian by Starfleet Security. When we stop at Starbase 257 in a couple of weeks, they are going to ask us all a lot of questions. I want you to be prepared for that.” He leaned in to look directly into Willow’s eyes. “However, I think we should keep your, uh, little field trip between you, me and Lt. Maclay.”



Willow grinned. “Sounds good to me, sir.”



Murdock, however, did not return her smile. He came a step closer. “That leaves you and me, or more to the point, the question of how much I can trust you, predestination paradox or not.” He paused as he noted Willow’s cheerful demeanor vanishing. “It wasn’t that long ago what we discussed your need to trust me as your commanding officer. Well, I need to trust my junior officers as well, and your going off half-cocked like you did really isn’t conducive to that kind of trust!”



Willow was unsure what to say to that. The knowledge that he was right, that he had little reason to trust her, especially after all he had done for her since arriving in this time, stung. She found herself unable to meet Murdock’s eyes, and felt her own start to water.



After a moment, the captain continued. “I like to be able to give my people one chance, within reason, within certain paramenters, one chance to really screw up. I think we can consider this your one chance, come and gone.” Pause. “I also realize that the circumstances in this case are unique and highly unlikely to occur again.” Willow clamped down on her jaws to keep from chuckling at that one. “I think we can go on as before, you and I…” He stepped even closer, staring down at her, every inch the authority figure. “…on the proviso that nothing even remotely like this ever happens again. Is that clear, Lieutenant?”



“Yes, sir,” Willow breathed, looking back at him with all the resolve she could muster.



After a moment, Murdock nodded, crossing back to his desk and picking up a PADD. Entering in a command, he said, “Consider yourself restored to active duty, Lieutenant.” Glancing at the screen, he added, “Since you are off restriction, I should tell you that there’s a private subspace communication for you. I think you ought to take it; I’m fairly sure that the lady on the other end has been waiting a long time to talk to you.”



Willow was momentarily confused about who might be calling in. In a flash, she knew, and palpable joy ran through her like hot oil. “Oh! Oh, my…um, sir, I think I should, I mean, with your permission…”



“Go, go,” Murdock said, waving her off. Willow turned and started for the ready room door, when a sudden thought stopped her in her tracks. She slowly turned back to Murdock, who seeing that she had not left yet, came back around the desk. “I thought you were anxious to go. Haven’t you had enough of me for one day, Lieutenant?” he joked.



Willow, however, had adopted as serious a mien as he had ever seen on her. “Captain, um, when I was watching the images in the Guardian, you know, when I was trying to get back to when Buffy…anyway, I saw someone, back in, well, several times, at least several centuries ago, someone who looked just like—“ She looked him in the eyes questioningly. “Somehow, it was you. I don’t know—“ She stepped towards him, her voice dropping to barely above a whisper. “Captain…who are you?”



Murdock came closer to her, looking directly at her with a resolute expression. Willow suddenly felt numb, filled with a dead certainty that he was going to tell her, as the air in the ready room seemed to decay, like the air in an ancient tomb…



“Good night, Willow,” he said, his tone casual, even pleasant beneath the unleavened expression.



“Good night, Captain,” she managed to force out, before escaping through the parting doors.



TBC

_________________



"Many such journeys are possible. Let me be your gateway."

Edited by: CaptMurdock at: 6/23/04 6:11 am

[mollyig]

I was wondering how Murdock would deal with Willow's foray using the Guardian. The predestination paradox does explain why he was so lenient on her. Perhaps, too, he realised she would have seen him at various stages, and knew she'd be curious, and so decided not to aggravate her should she go investigating him. As is, she'll probably just be happy to be "communicado" again!



Thanks for the update!

---

Sheacht mh'anam déag do bhéal, do mhalaí's do ghrua

[BurningWhiteRose]

Willow got off pretty easy....Although, I think being alone with Murdock was plenty of punishment.



Who is Murdock? All those past images....



Curiosity kills me.



Sincerely,

BWR

[WebWarlock]

Yeah Willow got off easy.



Janeway would have her scrubbing deuterium tanks for a week. (and exactly why do those tanks need to be cleaned anyway? It's not like deuterium is dirty.) Kirk though would have given her a pat on the back. I think Picard would have demoted her. Of course they would have all been hypocrits.



But what Murdock did was nothing to what Tara is (likely) going to do to her I am sure. Somehow being in the lowerdecks scrubing for a month might seem better to Willow than deal with Tara's disapointment in her.



I am very curious to see what Willow *did* change now.



Great update. Yeah, I don't blame Murdock not wanting to deal with the DTI. But I bet he gives them a headache as well.



Warlock

-----

Web Warlock

Coming Soon to The Other Side, The Netbook of Shadows: A Book of Spells for d20 Witches

"D&D doesn't teach children that monsters exist. Children already know that monsters are real.

D&D teaches them that monsters can be defeated."
- Unknown

[shuyaku]

Willow definitely got off easy. I was almost surprised she didn't have to play her "I saw you in several time periods" card. Unfortunately, as WebWarlock mentioned, I think Tara is going to be a lot harder on her than Murdock. Although, Tara being the sweet person that she is, will definitely understand her reasons.



Can't wait to see who the personal call is



ST and W/T - it hard to get better than that!

-shuyaku

Oh God, Willow—you’re giving me the gift of Karen Carpenter. Just when I think I grasp the full extent of your love." - Tara

"Why do birds suddenly appear? It’s because, you are queer…" - Willow (Gods Served and Abandoned by AntigoneUnbound)