Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" TV series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
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"Well, that was a dud," Casey sighed with regret, as she settled down for lunch.
The decision to stop for lunch was made when no sounds of pursuit were heard. So the treasure hunters had stopped a few feet from the tunnel's exit, relaxed but ever vigilant. Just as they had sat down to the food, Chris and Larabee had filled the others in on the ATF agent's theory. Amidst exclamations and confused questions, both men calmly explained the situation and the solution. Now everyone understood how important finding the pieces of the puzzle were.
"Dud?" Dunne's question was asked around a mouthful of biscuit.
"A dud means that it didn't pan out," JD said, as he strategically placed himself between his girl and his twin. He wasn't willingly to admit it out loud, but the young ATF agent was actually jealous of the attention that Casey was giving to his twin. Dunne simply nodded and returned his attention to his food.
"Where to now?" Julia sat down next to Standish, offering him a bite of her sandwich.
"To the next mission?" Tanner suggested.
"It looks that way," Larabee grimly nodded, silently wondering how many missions they were going to have to search before finding the right one.
"Actually, did anyone happen to notice that other passageway?" Buck's words froze everyone.
"Other passageway?" The Fox grabbed Buck's hand, urging him to continue.
"Yeah," Buck said, putting down his food, realizing the possible importance of that little fact. "About halfway down the tunnel, I noticed another opening, but since it didn't have a light at the end of it, I didn't think it was important. Damn! I just kinda dismissed it... ."
"Buck?" Larabee gently prodded his old... his twin's... aw hell, whatever... Buck.
"Within their hearts... ," Buck whispered, indicative of his concentration. "Guys, what if 'within their hearts' means within the heart of the mission... "
"But we searched the whole building... ." Alex interjected.
"Yeah, but not under it!" Buck exclaimed, jumping up in his excitement. "That can be the heart too, right? What if that passageway leads under the mission?"
"Even if it does, what does the ground under the mission have anything to do with the 'heart' of the mission? It's just the ground under it. The heart of something is usually in the middle of it, not under it." Alexandra's objection mainly stemmed from her claustrophobia, but it was nevertheless a valid point.
"C'mon! It's worth a little look-see!" Buck truly wanted to check it out and turned pleadingly to both darkly clad leaders. "I'll just take a quick look around and report back here."
The two leaders briefly exchanged telling looks, then both nodded. "But take Vin with you."
Both sharpshooters grinned as the two blonde men simultaneously issued the same order. Several others valiantly tried to stifle their laughter but didn't quite succeed.
"I'm comin' too!" JD jumped from his seat and followed the mustached man and the two sharpshooters.
"Hey, wait! Me too!" Dunne scrambled to follow his twin.
Casey sighed as she stood. "I guess I should go to make sure they don't get into trouble."
"Ah, hermana pequena, one should never have to put up with that many men alone," Inez sighed as she too stood, dusting off her pants.
"Hey, Inez! It'll be like the walking version of the 'Tunnel of Love'!" Buck winked as he walked backwards towards the tunnel's entrance.
"More like the 'House of Horrors' and you, Senor, are our esteemed host!" Inez retorted.
"Hey! Don't knock those monsters—they got the girls too, you know!"
"Si, by throwing their hapless victims over their shoulders and carrying them off against their wills!" Inez said, with an un-ladylike snort as she and Casey followed the five men to the mysterious second tunnel.
Buck waggled his eyebrows and grinned. "Whatever works, darlin'. Whatever works!"
The torches didn't lend much light to the searching eyes, only enough to guide their footsteps. Buck was in the lead, holding his torch up high, looking for the answer to the latest clue. Behind him, the two young men followed while Inez and Casey followed them, hand in hand. The sharpshooters brought up the rear.
"Can you see anything?" Casey asked as she ducked from a low-lying part of the tunnel's ceiling.
"Not yet, darlin', but I'm right, I can feel it!" Buck continued on, knowing in his gut that this was where the answer to the riddle lay.
"You know that if we take too long, Chris is liable to come looking for us... ." Tanner started.
"... and he ain't gonna be too happy." Vin finished.
Their words caused Buck to pause and turn back with a grin. "That was damn weird."
"What was weird?" Both men asked at the same time.
"That," Buck said with a laugh.
"It's a dead end," Tanner sighed in frustration. Before the small party was a solid wall of rock and nothing else. The rough walls revealed nothing, absorbing the torchlight like black holes, enclosing the adventurers within the earth's depths.
Vin patted his friend on the shoulder. "It was a good hunch, pard, it just didn't pan out."
Buck shook his head determinedly. "No, I know I'm right about this. Move aside, Tanner, I want a look at that thing."
Tanner quickly obliged the ATF agent, letting Buck take his place. Everyone watched as Buck slowly ran his hands along the face of the wall, then around the edges. Buck's eyes widened. "There's a groove here! Help me push."
Since the passageway was only wide enough for three large people at a time, the three strongest of themÑBuck, Vin and TannerÑattacked the obstacle. Within in seconds, the three men had their shoulders to the wall and were pushing with all their might. While the trio pushed, the other four watched with trepidation.
"Senor Wilmington, I do not believe that stone will budge."
No sooner had the words come out of Inez's lips than a low eerie echo sounded in the cave. Concentrating on their task, the three men didn't notice the low wailing and with one last shove, the stone door quickly slid open. But the force of their final push exacted a great price.
JD, Casey, Dunne and Inez watched in horror as stone slab slid shut leaving no trace of Buck, Vin or Tanner. Casey instinctively grabbed for JD's hand. JD numbly began backing away from the stone door, knowing that they had to get help. Within seconds, the four remaining spelunkers were racing topside.
"Buck, remind me never to follow your hunches again." Vin's droll words echoed in the dark as he sat back on his feet and knelt on the dirt covered floor.
"No one forced you to go with me, Junior."
Vin's answer was a disbelieving snort.
Tanner ignored his two friends, trying to see through the gloom. "Either of you got a light?"
"Smokin's bad for you." Vin could feel the glare his twin was sending at him and grinned. "Yeah, I got one."
The clicking of a Zippo lighter was followed by a burst of light. What greeted their eyes had all three men echoing the same words.
"Oh shit."
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"Hrmph!" Josiah grunted as he, Nathan and Larabee pushed against the stone slab. "No use, it won't budge."
"Then how did Buck and the two Vins move it?" Julia's voice floated towards them. Minutes before JD, Casey, Dunne, and Inez had shot out of the cave like bats out of hell, breathlessly telling their story. Soon after, the tunnel was filled with several bodies as the men strained to force open the opening where their three friends had disappeared.
Inez leaned against the wall, clutching the gold chalice to her breast, barely listening to the others debate about the next course of action. She worried her lip between her teeth, putting her faith in the blonde leaders to get Buck back. For all her cutting remarks and absolute refusal of his advances, Inez had to admit, at least to herself, that she liked the rogue. He could be such an overbearing son of bitch sometimes, but other times... other times, he could be so endearingly sweet that tears would come to her eyes. The light of pure, unadulterated love in his eyes when he had first held Elena Rose forced the barkeep to admit her feelings for the scoundrel.
The sultry Hispanic woman shifted with a sigh, almost shrieking out loud when her shoulder fell into a deep groove in the wall. Inez quickly pushed herself out of the groove, but as her fingers brushed against the wall, she could feel the unusual grooves in the stone wall next to her. With only her fingers, Inez continued to explore the design in the wall. Her brow furrowed in concentration, the design seemed familiar somehow. Inez's concentration was so focused that she never even realized that the chalice was slipping from her grasp until it was almost too late. Inez caught it just in time, catching it by the base, her fingers brushing against the raised pattern on the cup's base.
Of course!
She bit her lip, carefully fitting the chalice's base into the wall, praying she was right.
"What the hell?" Nathan's voice rang as the wall he had been standing by started to slide back. The modern healer jumped away with alacrity and into a defensive posture, ready for whatever might have come through the opening.
"Nathan? What did you... ."
"Chris, I didn't do a damn thing! It's just started moving!"
"It was me."
Everyone turned around in surprise at Inez's voice. She quickly told them about the chalice and the wall. Ezra congratulated her with a tight hug while Larabee ordered everyone into the secret passageway. Guns cleared leather, their owners readying themselves for anything.
"Oh hell." Ezra's words voiced all of his friends' thoughts. Below them the flicker of torches illuminate a large cavern, ringed with small wooden huts. But what worried everyone were the three huge pyres in the center of the village. The natives danced around the unlit mounds of wood, their weapons dully flashing in the firelight. And tied to the stakes in the middle of each pyre were Vin, Buck and Tanner.
"My God, are they going to burn them?" The Fox could not believe her eyes. The natives did not even look like native Americans. The people dancing about the flames were more primitive, more ... savage.
"They must think they're witches," Casey whispered over JD's shoulder. She watched in fascination as the male warriors dance in the firelight, their bodies marked by war paint. The tribe's women danced about their men, the colorful beads about their necks catching and reflecting the amber glow. She'd wagered a month's paycheck that these people never saw the light of day or another human being other than their tribe. And as if conjured by her thoughts on betting, a southern accent spoke up.
"And how do you know that my dear?" Standish questioned.
"In my anthropology class specializing in the occult, my prof said that the most common method of killing witches, in nearly every cultureÑprimitive or modernÑis death by fire."
"It doesn't matter why they're being burned, the question is how are we gonna get them out?" Chris's harsh whispered brought everyone back on track.
"Well, why don't we just shoot our way through?"
Casey was horrified. "JD! You can't just go in there and start shooting! They may have our friends, but they're just innocent villagers! They're just protecting themselves from people they think are evil."
Josiah agreed, turning to the two blonde men, knowing it was their decision. "Casey's right. It would be genocide. They have no way of protecting themselves if we pump them full of lead."
"Hell," Nathan said. "They probably wouldn't even know the first thing about treating bullet wounds either!"
"All right!" Larabee quietly exclaimed. "This is how we're gonna do this."
The attack was swift, sudden. The natives were unprepared, still celebrating their victory over the "demon witches", but retaliated with a terrifying swiftness of their own.
Larabee took the direct route, attacking the fiercest-looking warriors, returning brutal swing for brutal swing. He did not use the deadly force he was capable of, but did not show much mercy for those who would burn his best friend to death.
The Fox stuck to the plan, distracting the tribe, rather than hurting them. But sometimes, the thief had learned the hard way, that force was unavoidable. Lightening fast reflexes snapped out disabling kicks and punches.
Josiah used his massive strength to subdue his attackers, easily breaking their weapons with his bare hands. The preacher's son disliked the violence of his actions, but could feel the unadulterated urgency of saving his friends take precedence.
Standish had more than one trick up his sleeve, using his wily ways to distract the warriors. But more than once, his twin had shown up in the nick of time. Ezra would simply flash Standish a gold- toothed grin and then jumped back into the fray.
Nathan's knives flashed through the air, but he soon found that the warriors were prepared for such attacks. They easily dodged the flying projectiles and nearly took his head off with their own. The ex-medic had to use his brains rather than his steel to defeat his opponents.
Casey's skills were no where near the Fox's level, but she held her own. Before her was a massive beast, his tremendous size was a disadvantage. She moved quickly, weaving in and out of range of his long deadly blade.
Chris's strength was evasion. The ex-Navy SEAL ran circles around his pursuers, surprising them with unexpected attacks. More than once, he found himself using primitive weapons against their creators.
Unlike her lover, Mary was out in the open, deflecting the warriors' blows. Her foot lashed out with crippling accuracy sending her attacker to the ground. She tried not to hurt them, but like her best friend, sometimes it was unavoidable.
JD and Dunne used their small size and likeness to their advantage, outmaneuvering the tribesmen, confusing them. The two young men grinned maniacally as they ran like specters in and out of the huts, scaring the tribe's people. Their antics made them look like complete loons, but all the while they carefully kept their heads about the possibly dangerous warriors.
The plan was working; none of the tribes' people noticed the extra shadows moving towards the three pyres.
Silently, the four women crept within the darkness, reaching their destination with relieved sighs. While their friends distracted the tribe, their job was to free their captive friends.
Alex used her hand to indicate Vin, and then she pointed to her twin and Tanner. Inez would take care of Buck while Julia kept an eye out for trouble. The four women exchanged nods and got to work. The footing was a bit rough as the women negotiated their way up the pyres, trying to moving as quickly as possible without making any noise. They finally made it.
"Miss me, Senor?"
Buck's eyes widened in surprise. He certainly hadn't expected the sultry Latino woman to come to his rescue. "Inez, darlin', you have no idea." He could feel the rubbing of the rope against the skin of his wrist, painfully burning the flesh, but held silent. The second he had seen the surprise attack, Buck had prepared himself for the escape.
Within seconds the three men were freed and jumping to the safety of the ground.
"Watch out!" Julia's warning came just in time. Agent Tanner spun, kicking a native into a temporary oblivion.
"Where to?" Tanner shouted, as he sent a powerful uppercut to a warrior's jaw.
"This way!" Alexandra led the way to the rendezvous point.
"Are... are... they still... following?" Mary breathed heavily, still out of breath. They had been running through the caverns and without realizing it, had been navigating their way through a maze.
"Yeah, I can still hear them." Chris slowly pulled the air into his lungs. They were together againÑall of them. They hadn't considered the possibility that the natives would be so tenacious in their pursuit of the escaped "witches" and the help they had conjured up to free themselves.
"Then we gotta keep going." Larabee's words drifted back, as he once again started running, the others valiantly following behind.
The treasure seekers skidded to a stop and stood in awe. A single large shaft of light burst through the cavern ceiling illuminating the most amazing sight. Before them was a hidden oasis of natural beauty: trees grew to dizzying heights, flowers bloomed profusely, and creatures—great and small—lingered with the vegetation. Colors, sounds, and light assaulted their senses, surrounding them. A majestic waterfall was the centerpiece of the glorious sanctuary. Its waters pooled into a small lake of the clearest blue. The sounds of the cascading water nearly drown out the war cries of the primitive warriors.
"Move it!" Chris's bark brought his friends to their senses, causing them to scramble from the entrance. They once again skidded to a stop, this time near the lip of the pool.
"What now?" Julia gasped for breath, leaning into Standish's loose one-arm embrace. None of them could see another outlet, the oncoming warriors blocked the only way in and out of the oasis.
"Aw hell! Whatever we're gonna do, we better do it soon! 'Cause here they come!" Tanner's warning sounded and within seconds the natives came bearing down on them. Soon the warriors surrounded them. In the harsh light of day, their opponents seemed even more imposing. The warriors' red war paint dripped off with their sweat, like rivulets of blood flowing off their bodies.
"Sweet Jesus, what do we do?" Ezra's harsh whisper broke the terrified silence.
"We still can't shoot them," Dunne nervously pointed out, pushing Casey further behind him and his twin. "Or can we?"
"No, absolutely not," Mary stated firmly. Her job as an international reporter had shown her what horrors could be reeked when a smaller, but more technologically superior force, was let loose on the defenseless masses.
As the natives pressed closer with their razor-sharp weapons, their prisoners pressed closer together into a tight protective circle. A cry rang out and the surrounded captives braced themselves.
The attack never came.
The clearing filled with awed whispers as the warriors slowlyÑreverentlyÑreceded from their captives.
"What the hell is going on?" Larabee's brutal whisper fell silent as he found the reason for the natives' retreat. His intense eyes stared at the glittering blue lagoon and widened with wonder. He felt only serenity at the unnatural sight. The gunslinger knew he should have felt fear, for gliding above the water's surface was a woman's figure. Her features were indiscernible for she was made of pure water.
"What the hell?" Larabee barely acknowledged his best friend, still concentrating on the flowing figure. She continued to slowly glissade towards the group of above-grounders, indifferent to the wonderment on their faces.
"Greetings." Her voice was the trickling of a gentle stream, but it held a note of authority ages old. None of her captive audience spoke, still in wonder of the sight before them. "You have shown my children mercy. You could have destroyed them, yet you did not. What is it you seek?"
At first, the group was too shocked to speak, causing the lady to repeat her words. "What is it you seek?"
It was Chris, who finally found his voice. "La Piedra de las Epocas. We seek La Piedra to get home." His voice was a mere murmur, but the lady heard it.
"So be it."
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This had been one strange trip, Chris Larabee thought.
From the onset of this journey back through time to meet themselves in a different existence, to the search for the Piedra and the adventures that came with it, Chris had kept his mind open to possibilities he had never imagined. He never had any sense of the supernatural and certainly not enough interest to believe that such things could be real. However at this moment, standing before what he could only call a living water sculpture of a woman, he supposed nothing in his reckoning would ever quite be the same again.
She stood before them, this creature of water, beautiful in a way that none of them would ever be able to describe when this strangeness had reached its conclusion. Light bounced off her skin, creating rainbows of color that was mesmerizing to all. The woman extended her arms outwards, having told them earlier that they had finally reached their goal and she would now bring them to La Piedra. As her palms opened and her arms remained outstretched, Chris noticed a slight bubbling in the water around her and for a moment, no one could speak as they waited in anticipation of what marvels they would now see.
His own counterpart was staring with as much awe as he was presently gapping at the sight. He could hardly blame the man when everything about this situation seemed so damned unreal. Chris' attention moved from the proceedings when he felt Mary's hand tightened around his arm. He could sense the tension in her body and wrapped an arm protectively around her shoulders. The others were staring in similar amounts of astonishment.
Suddenly, there was a tremendous splash of water and a wall of moisture rose up on either side of the water wraith. Only an inch of fluid remained in the space between the walls and the lady was able to maintain her own form by the inch of water that still remained on the muddy floor. The space ran through the heart of the lake, coming to a pause at the very center. A glimmer of light beckoned them forward from its emptied death and their guide turned to them once more.
"Piedra is only for one." She spoke.
"What the hell does that mean?" Buck Wilmington demanded.
"I don't understand." Chris answered, wondering what this new hurdle was about. The idea that another test lay ahead when they were so close left him dismayed. Although this trip to the past had its own attractions, those from the 20th century were tired and they wanted to go home. Chris himself was finding that leaving this time was rather painful, knowing that so much lay ahead between him and Mary but not here, not in this time. This world belonged to Larabee and his wife, and to the child that was waiting birth. Chris knew well enough to know that he would not want to share it any more than Larabee probably did.
"Piedra is only for one." She repeated her enigmatic words. "One among you knows who you are."
The group looked at each other, trying to discern which one of them that could be when Chris saw Larabee looking at him.
"Pard," his mirror image said. "You know who they're asking for."
Chris nodded after a moment. "Yeah, I do."
"What makes Mr. Larabee so special?" Ezra wanted to know.
"Because I have the most to lose." He said quietly.
"Lose?" Mary stared at him. "What do you mean?" For a minute, he could see that she feared for his life when there were greater things to fear than just death.
"When I destroy Piedra," Chris found himself saying because he could not bear to lie to her. This affected Mary as much as it did him and she had a right to know this decision he was making for the both of them. "The version that Rainer has will also be destroyed."
"But if he doesn't have it in the past..." Vin started to say and then realized. "Aw hell."
"If he doesn't have it in the past, then he won't be able to pass it on to his heirs in the future." Ezra concluded.
"That means none of this will happen." Chris met Mary's gaze. "Everything, that has happened since coming back here will be gone. Erased."
"Everything?" She suddenly understood what he was talking about.
"Everything." He nodded.
"Oh God... " Mary did not know what to say. She did not want what happened between them to become a slate wiped clean. It had taken so much to bring them to the point where they could admit how they felt. What if the circumstances in the future never allowed the same emotions to make them fall for each other again? She would lose him forever.
Chris could see the conflict in her eyes and understood all too well that denial she was feeling. He did not want to lose her any more than she wanted to see what was between them disappear like a mist. However, this was more than just about Mary and him. This was about all the seven who had lives back in the 20th century. Just like Mary had a son waiting for her at home. Things were out of balance here and destroying Piedra was the only way to set them right again.
"Mary, you need to go home." Chris spoke, aware that she needed convincing. He could see the indecision; the fear of losing him coupled with the fear of never getting back to their time. The others had mercifully scattered, allowing the two to make the decision between them. Perhaps not even that, withdrawing to make it easier for them to bear it. Not too far away, the Lady of the Lake waited patiently, knowing that in the end she would not be alone in her journey to claim Piedra.
"I can't believe it," the Fox complained once they had cleared a short distance away from Mary and Chris. "All this way and we don't even get the rock!"
"Was I really that insensitive?" Julia asked the others with her, not at all impressed by the self-serving comment made by the future jewel thief.
"Don't worry," Alexandra grinned. "We got used to you."
"Gee thanks." Julia gave the doctor a look.
"God, I hate to be in their shoes." Vin sighed, watching his best friend in the distance, hating that Chris had to make this sacrifice, in order for all of them to be returned to their time.
"A choice between a fortune and the future," Standish replied, agreeing with Tanner's future counterpart most avidly. "A difficult choice indeed."
Larabee said nothing because he knew there was no debate, despite the momentary tete-tete between Chris and Mary, he knew that the choice was already out of their hands. The discussion that the duo was having at this moment was not even that. It was a farewell. He hoped that his duplicate in the future would know what it was to love Mary Travis again. His own salvation had come when he admitted that it was possible for his life to go on following Sarah and Adam's death. For a long time, he had not been sure of that until he met Mary, who taught him that there were some things worth living for, even at the cost of great personal pain.
"It will turn okay," Buck, the eternal optimist, suddenly replied, staring at the duo with just as much deep contemplation as Larabee was doing. "If anything has proved those two were meant to be, it's been this crazy mixed up business. Page will just be written a different ways when we get home, that's all."
"Mr. Wilmington," Ezra remarked with a little bit of smile because the words had the effect of lifting the melancholy that had fallen over them at the realization at what Chris would have to give up in order to return them back to their proper place in time. "That is most profound. I never thought you had such a way with words."
"Well, I got lots of talents I never show," Buck grinned, flashing Inez a look which made the others groan in a mixture of resignation and amusement.
"And we all thank God for it." Inez retorted, wondering if the man's timing could be any worse. However, she had to admit this entire episode had been quite an eye opening experience. The memory of that little baby with her eyes and his smile still lingered in her memory and she realized that like Mary, when Chris destroyed Piedra, she too would remember nothing. Buck Wilmington would have lost all the depths that she had seen in him and be relegated back to his original position of annoyance instead of potential soul mate. Suddenly, the bartender had a splinter of appreciation as to what choices faced Chris and Mary now.
"I don't want this to happen." Mary spoke her voice full of emotion as she looked into Chris' eyes and saw all the sorrow in his eyes. "I don't want to lose you, not now."
Chris swallowed, wishing that she would not make this so hard even though he felt the same way. It remained in his mind how wonderful she had felt in his arms as he made love to her, the heat they had generated and the blinding passion, which had the power to take his breath away each time, he remembered. He did not want to forget how any of it felt and yet he was faced with this necessary decision to bring them home to the world they once knew.
"I don't want to lose you either," he said trying his hardest to crack a smile but could not quite manage it. He had seen the bliss of what they could achieve in a life together. His companion wore his face and his heart, but it was a reflection of him that had moved on with his life and put the past behind him. Chris wanted that for himself but in the here and now it was impossible. He had to be strong for both of them. "This is how it's got to be Mary." He placed his hand on her cheek so that she would understand this was not easy for him either. "You have to go home because Billy is waiting for you."
Mary blinked and heavy tears of anguish rolled down from her eyes because in her heart, she did want to go home to her son. During this entire adventure, despite the pleasure she had found realizing her feelings for Chris, she had worried that Billy might lose another parent. With Stephen being gone, it was a punishment that was simply too cruel to inflict upon a child of eight. She embraced him hard because she had no words to speak that could refute anything he said and the pain of that stabbed at her like a thousand knives. No woman should ever be forced to make such a choice between lover and son but here it was before her and there was no choice to make really. Billy was son and he needed her.
"I love you." She said, so softly that he almost did not hear it.
Chris held her tighter upon hearing them, feeling his own emotions rise out of his soul and choke him with its intensity. This was not fair! He wanted to scream and shout and kick at anything and anyone at how cruel this was, but there was no one there to take his rage. Just like Sarah and Adam, this was one of those things that Chris would just have to accept, no matter how painful it was. Finally, he responded in the only way he could because there were no other avenues left open to him.
"I love you too." He answered.
Mary pulled back and met his gaze and for a moment, they swam collectively in the pools of sorrow that had formed in each other's eyes before sealing their farewell with a long, passionate kiss. As he tasted her mouth with his, Chris drew every ounce of sensation from the moment, determined to keep as much of it in his memory before it finally slipped away forever.
"I'll find you." She said firmly. "I refuse to believe that it's over, just like that."
"Neither do I," he responded, managing the smile that he had been unable to produce earlier. "Maybe this time it will happen a little more romantically than inside a broom closet."
She laughed but it was one devoid of humor and barely capable of keeping her tears from coming again. "Go." She ordered clearing her throat. "Before we change our minds. Go get this done."
Chris nodded slowly and pulled away from Mary, feeling like Orpheus after he was told not to look at back Eurydice when he led her from the Underworld. Facing the Lady of the Lake, Chris said finally.
"I am the one."
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The Lady of the Lake glided alongside of Chris as they began the journey towards Piedra. Behind him, the others were waiting on shore for this final leg of their quest was his to make. Chris supposed it was only fitting since this odyssey back through time had begun with him and it was only right that it ended in the same way. He resisted the urge to turn back and look at Mary, knowing that it would only make this final approach to Piedra all the more difficult if he was allowed to see the pain in her eyes at the sacrifice they were making.
The water wraith beside him did not speak for a long time and Chris was glad that she did not. A part of him still had trouble believing that she existed, despite evidence before his eyes that made it irrefutable. Besides, he had to concentrate on going through with what had been decided upon and further thought on his situation would only give him an excuse to abandon the plan to return them all home. Chris was unable to answer whether or not his love for Mary Travis was worth stranding all his friends in time.
"Do you believe in destiny?" The Lady of Lake asked suddenly. Chris glanced at her, blinking a little as the sunlight bounced off her translucent form.
"No." He shook his head. "The only thing I believe in is the fact that I control my fate."
"Really?" She looked at him with a hint of amusement in her voice. Her eyes like the rest of her was clear and he could tell what she thought of his statement despite her skeptical tone. "How then do you explain your present circumstances?"
Chris was about to question just how she knew what their circumstances were when he decided not to bother. Considering everything that had happened to him already, he was no longer surprised by anything, no matter how far fetched it sounded. "I willed us back here with Piedra, I can take us back." He said after a moment.
"Then why do you grieve so?" She asked again.
"I don't grieve." Chris said shortly, not wishing to discuss anything about Mary with this creature.
"You grieve for the love of the woman behind us." The Lady of the Lake responded. "Do you not have faith in your ability to control your life, that you will be reunited once more, even after this place becomes a memory you no longer have?"
Chris did not know how to answer, aware that on some level she was right. He would find Mary again, because he knew how he had felt about her even before La Piedra had transported them back in time. Without the hiccup in time, how did he know that he and Mary would not have come together in some other way?
"I asked if you believe in destiny," the Lady of the Lake continued. "Because I sense it between you and her. She is your mate."
Chris looked at her and wondered what the lady meant. "If you mean that I love her, I suppose she is."
"There are souls in this universe that are bound together through the infinity of time and space that nothing can keep them apart. She is yours. Time will not be an obstacle and neither will your lack of memory. This I have foreseen because it is destiny."
"How?" Chris wanted to know as Piedra came into his sights. "Tell me."
"There is little use in that, is there?" The Lady replied. "When it is all said and done, you will remember nothing that I have said to aid you."
She had a point; he had to admit begrudgingly. "So what you're trying to say is that destiny has decided that Mary and I will find some way to be together?"
"Destiny is seldom wrong." The Lady remarked with a little smile, although it was rather difficult to tell because her features were clear like glass.
"I hope you're right," Chris retorted as they reached their destination.
Piedra de Epocas was not waiting for him on a pedestal like an object as much sought after. Instead, it remained on the muddy floor, covered in slick moisture from the lake that normally kept it hidden from all eyes. No doubt, without the Lady of the Lake performing this magic trick of parting the waters for him to reach it, it would have taken a team of divers forever to scour the bed of the waterway in order to find Piedra Even then, Chris was certain that the mystical forces that surrounded the gem would still kept them from finding it. With an insight that he did not understand, Chris realized that Piedra would be found only when it chose to be.
He bent over and picked up the gem in his hand, admiring the glimmer of sunlight bouncing off the many facets, cut by a jewelsmith, already a thousand generations in the grave. It mesmerized him with its beauty and for an instant, Chris wondered what it would be like to keep this thing in his possession. Could he access the same power that had allowed Rainier to build a fortune? Would he not be able to use Piedra's energies to do some good?
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, Larabee.
Chris unsheathed the gun from the holster slung at his hip and dropped Piedra to the ground once more. It landed with a little thud, sending tiny sprinkles of water in all directions upon reaching the ground. Mud splattered its smooth sides as Chris took a step back. He was not using an old fashioned six shooter for the job because the weapons of this time did not have the destructive capability of their modern day counterparts. There's progress for you, he snorted.
As he took aim, he looked at the others and even though she was a distance away, he let his eyes fall on the glimmer of gold under the sunlight.
Mary saw Chris looking this way and even though she could not see it for herself, she knew that he was looking at her. She knew what he was doing and she quickly turned to the others. "He's about to do it."
Larabee nodded and came towards her. He looked so much like her Chris that for a moment, she forgot herself and held him in her arms because it was all she could do to get through this inevitable conclusion. "I know you're not him," she said softly. "But I just...."
"Its okay Mary," Larabee replied, understanding completely. He ached for his future counterpart because he could know nothing so terrible as to lose this woman when he had found her. His own Mary waited for him at home and Larabee had never felt more grateful of that fact. "He'll find you again, you know."
She looked up at him with tear stained eyes. "You think so?"
"I know so," he grinned. "If it were me, I wouldn't rest until you were mine."
Mary smiled and answered. "Mrs. Larabee is a very lucky woman." Her voice was full of emotion. "Maybe I'll know what she feels like someday soon."
"You will," he glanced across the space between himself and his mirror image and added. "I'm sure of it."
Seeing that their time together was coming to a swift close, the others took the opportunity to make their good-byes, knowing that in a very short time, no one was going to have any memory of the extraordinary events that had taken place during the last few days.
"I don't want to forget." Casey grumbled, looking at Dunne and the Old West incarnations of themselves.
"Looks like we don't have much of a choice," Josiah replied. "It's been nice knowing you all and I'll keep an eye out for this Audrey, Miss Pemberton."
"Pemberton?" Ezra looked at the Fox. "That is your real name!" He demanded. "It was there in front of me all this time and I will not remember any of it!"
"Life's a bitch isn't it," the Fox grinned at him. "And then you fall in love with one."
Standish started to chuckle and found himself saying to his duplicate. "I have the distinct feeling, Mr. Standish, that forgetting her identity may not be such a bad thing after all."
Ezra frowned and nodded. "If only it were that simple."
"Hey," Julia hurried to the Fox before this reality erased itself. "You've got to trust someone sometime." She knew the advice was pointless when everyone was shifted back into their proper places in time, but Julia felt the need to reach her mirror on some level.
"Not in this reality." The Fox shook her head. "And not today."
Inez watched the others saying good bye and approached Buck. Perhaps it was because in a few seconds, all this would evaporate like some bad dream that she felt brave enough to speak her mind with him. Until this crazy adventure had begun, she had never thought she could care for Buck Wilmington. She had seen men like him in the past, men who collected hearts and phone numbers like it was a hobby not the search for a soul mate. Men like him cheapened the act of love and romance, turning it into some game where there was no winner, just disappointments. She did not want to be just another conquest to him or any other man for that matter and when he pursued her, she had believed that it had been simply the challenge of meeting a woman who did not want him.
However, since this insane adventure had began and they had been placed in an alternate reality with the opportunity to view themselves from a different perspective, Inez realised that she was not a conquest with him. She was something deeper. Perhaps he had felt that way about her in the beginning, but not any more. She had seen his counterpart with her own and the memory of little Elena Rose, the product of their union, warmed her heart every time that angelic faced surfaced in her mind. She had watched her Buck handle Elena Rose with the same wonder that she had and knew that everything he felt for her had evolved into more than just another dalliance.
"Buck," Inez met his gaze. "We're not going to remember much when this is all over."
"I know," Buck nodded somberly. He could not believe how much he hated the idea of not remembering, especially when he had seen Wilmington and his family. He had never thought he could settle down until he saw how comfortably his nineteenth century incarnation had managed it and Buck found himself wanting what the man had. "I don't want to forget Inez."
"Neither do I," she sighed. "But we don't have a choice so I guess we better make this a fond farewell."
He looked at her not quite understanding until Inez took a step towards him, wrapped her arms around his neck and drew Buck to her in a long and passionate kiss. She felt him stiffen momentarily with astonishment as her tongue slipped past his lips before baser instincts kicked in and he melted into her touch as it was always meant to be. As Inez kissed him, she realized with more clarity than ever that this was meant to be.
Somehow, someway, they would make this happen because it was destiny.
Chris closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. The bullet escaped the chamber and struck the center of the gem, the force behind the projectile driving it straight through the rock. It shattered outwards, splinters of blue expanding outward like solidified tears and Chris had to turn away to shield himself from the spray of sharp fragments. The sound of the gunshot had started to fade into the background when suddenly, the world before him filled with a white blinding light and his senses became overpowered by the sheer brilliance of it. Realizing what was happening, he turned quickly towards the distance where Mary was waiting, trying to catch a glimpse of her before the end, but he never managed it.
"Mary.... " Chris started to say when suddenly, the flash of light became the universe and he knew nothing else.
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Chris Larabee who was presently looking across the crowded room of the saloon that Team 7 often frequented when they were finally off duty after a hard day's work at the office, blinked. For a brief instance, he had no idea what he had doing or thinking last. A strange sense of disorientation came over him and for a second, he felt a sensation not unlike that of waking up from a deep sleep and being uncertain whether one was in the waking world or the dreaming one. He looked around the room and saw nothing had changed from a second ago, the only thing that seemed different was him.
There was something lingering in his mind, something he tried desperately to grasp, but could not. He could feel it dissipating in his mind like smoke, becoming more intangible each time he attempted to concentrate. Finally, it was gone and Chris wondered if there was something there to begin with. Maybe he had too much to drink. It was only mid week and he was starting to feel that it was going to be one of those weeks that made you want to forget it ever existed by the time Saturday came along.
He could see Ezra sitting at the corner of the bar, drowning his sorrows and pretending not to care about the mysterious red head that seemed to be getting the better of him lately. Buck was swaggering over from the table where the rest of the seven, including Vin's new lady Alex Styles, were sharing a drink. No doubt, the sharpshooter would disappear from their company soon enough, no doubt eager to spend some time with his new found love. Chris was happy for the young man, because Vin and Alex seemed so perfectly suited. Vin had never shown much interest in the opposite sex and had a tendency to be almost painfully shy at times. Chris was glad that Alex was in Vin's life, because Chris had never seen his best friend happier. While he was the same Vin they always knew, the innate sadness that he wore in his eyes had disappeared and as his friends, they were all grateful for its loss. Vin seemed too young to have such old eyes.
"Are you going to sit here and brood all night?" Chris heard Buck's voice in his ear. The man had taken the time that Chris had been ruminating on Vin's relationship with Alex to sneak up on him.
"I ain't brooding." Chris said annoyed, completely aware of what Buck was alluding to and not prepared to discuss it in any shape or form.
"Why don't you just call her?" Buck asked with a sigh, wondering how a man as together as Chris Larabee could sometimes behave like such a teenager. "After what you put her through today, a call to apologize is the least you can do."
"Apologize for what?" Chris glared at the ATF agent and his oldest friend. "She wanted to come with me to see Lenny. How was I supposed to know that it was going to lead to something?" Something meaning he and Mary getting ambushed and captured by a bunch of gun runners. If that was not bad enough, to add insult to injury, it was Mary who had effected their escape when she had incapacitated one of the men with her promises of sexual favors.
He imagined what it would be like to take her up on those promises and found himself smiling involuntarily at that thought.
"Chris, I ain't debating this with you, but I think she likes you and if you weren't such a stubborn son of a bitch, you might find it ain't such a bad thing."
"Buck," Chris glared at the man. "Don't you have something better to do. Go bother Inez for a while."
"Thanks a lot Senor!" Inez who had been in the process of filling Buck's order immediately retorted.
"Oh, come on Inez," Buck could not resist teasing her after that response. "You know we're meant to be together. It's destiny."
"Drop dead." Inez returned with a sweet smile. "If that's destiny, than I have lost all faith in there being a cosmic design to anything."
Chris tended to agree with her. "Better luck next time." He gave Buck a look and dropped a crumpled up note on the counter to pay for his drink. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Right," Buck shook his head in disapproval not only at Inez's lack of interest but also at Chris' determination to be so obtuse. "So I suppose you don't want to be the one to give Mary a lift into the office tomorrow morning?" He made a final attempt, aware that he should surrender now because Chris was too pigheaded to see what was right before his eyes.'
"I thought she had a car." Chris looked at him in confusion.
"No, it's in the shop or something." Buck replied. "She had to leave it overnight to get it fixed for tomorrow afternoon."
Chris thought back to the beat up old pinto that Mary drove and wondered why she hung to such a relic. As a journalist with her background, she could afford something better. However, Mary was a dozen mysteries all wrapped up in one sexy package that Chris was not certain he was ready to explore just yet. "What's tomorrow afternoon?"
"Her son's baseball game or something." Buck replied. "So what about it? You want to let me off the hook so I can spend the rest of the night breaking down Inez's defenses?"
Chris rolled his eyes. "No thanks," he answered, aware of what Buck was trying to do and was much too smart to fall for a ploy like that. "I think you can handle it. Besides, Inez will never forgive me."
"You got that right." Inez smiled at him with a truly sarcastic expression.
"Thanks," Buck scowled, as Chris started to leave. "But I'm telling you, you and Mary, it's destiny."
"I don't believe in destiny." Chris replied and kept walking.
Destiny, he snorted. Right.
THE END
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