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A Slider's Story
Summery: Quinn has to deal with his guilt over
the consequences from
Sliding.
Spoilers: There`s spoilers for The Pilot;
Fever; Last Days; Double Cross,
Exodus; Last Of Eden; The Other Slide Of Darkness, This Slide Of
Paradise;
& events from the 4th season. Also minor references to Dragon
Slide; In
Dino Veritas/DinoSlide; State of the Art; & Slither.
Author`s notes: This story takes place 2-3
years after season 4. Another
version of this story can be found at:
http://members.aol.com/XFSlider/WQShippers.html
Also a special thank you to Julie Tharp for her
enthusiasm and
encouragement, and Julia Reynolds for helping me see this story
in a whole
new dimension. I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: Sliders belongs to Tracy Torme; St.
Clare Entertainment; Fox
Network; Universal; & The Sci-Fi Channel. All the characters
except from
Michael belong to these people. I`m not getting paid for writing
this, its
just for fun.
The gunshot rang out in the basement, swiftly
followed by the heavy thud of
a body falling to the ground.
Quinn Mallory watched in horror as his friend
and mentor, Professor
Maximilian Arturo lay sprawled on the ground.
"He`s dead," Wade Welles whispered in
disbelief feeling for a pulse. She
then stared up at her friend. "Quinn, you killed him!"
Quinn stared down at the gun in his hand. Then
soon felt himself being
pushed hard against the wall.
"Dammit, Q-Ball, why`d you kill the
Professor?" Rembrandt Brown yelled into
his face. "He was your friend! Isn`t it enough that you
dragged us away
from our friends! Our homes!"
A blue vortex opened in mid-air and two travellers came tumbling out.
"Quinn, you`ve got to help us, they`re
right behind us!" Maggie Beckett
pleaded.
Colin Mallory rushed over to his alternate
brother. "It`s the Kromaggs!
They`ve followed you here!"
Soon a red vortex opened in the middle of the
basement, and two Kromagg
soldiers stepped through it, and took a firm grip of Wade.
"Quinn, help me!" Wade pleaded, as she was dragged kicking and screaming.
"Wade!" Quinn raced towards them.
"Quinn!" Wade disappeared into the vortex.
Quinn dived for the vortex, and landed on the
basement floor as the vortex
closed seconds before he reached it.
"I said we were alike, Quinn," a
female voice whispered close to his ear.
"You killed your Professor too."
Quinn glanced up to see Logan St. Clair beside
him. He then scanned the
room as he heard a baby`s cry in the distance, which grew louder
each
passing moment.
"That`s the price we pay for sliding,
Quinn," a male voice whispered in his
other ear.
Quinn turned to see an older version of
himself. He recognised him as the
Quinn who had first visited his own Earth. He had met up with him
again,
three years later, where he explained that he was the one who had
gave the
Kromaggs the formula for sliding.
"We cause the destruction of millions of lives..."
The baby`s cry was now becoming unbearable as
it pierced through his
eardrums.
"Even the ones we love most."
Quinn woke up with a start, as the baby`s cry
screamed through the
intercom.
"I`m coming!" Wade Mallory called out
instinctively as she eased herself up
in the bed.
Soon a hand reached out for her and blocked her from rising.
"It`s all right," Quinn said rubbing his eyes. "I`ll take care of him."
Wade nodded with a small smile, grateful for
her husband`s intervention and
laid back down on the bed.
Quinn blinked his eyes open and shut in an
attempt to focus them, as he
pulled back the duvet and got out of bed. He glanced down at Wade
who was
soon falling fast asleep again, and sighed. She looked exhausted.
She had
been nursing Michael day and night for the last two weeks as he
was
teething again. He had helped whenever he could, but he had also
been
working late for the last week as he and Bennish were inches away
from
perfecting the Sliding machine.
As he walked into the hallway he yawned and
stretched his arms wide.
Tucking his hand under his t-shirt he scratched at the itch on
his stomach,
as he used the back of his other hand to stifle another yawn.
Entering the nursery, he rubbed the tiredness
from his eyes, as he strolled
over to the cot.
"Hey, buddy, what`s wrong?" he leaned
over the cot, and glanced down at the
crying baby. "What is it? Are you teething again?"
He gently picked up his seven month old son,
and cradled him in his arms,
with the baby`s head coming to rest against his shoulder.
"Aw, its okay, Michael, Daddy`s
here," Quinn whispered softly, as the baby
cried louder.
His face then crumbled as he felt a gooey sensation on his hand.
"Maybe your problem lies elsewhere."
He gently placed Michael down on the changing
table, and ripped open the
new packet of Huggies next to him.
"So, does Mikey want Daddy to change his diaper, huh?"
He began to undo his son`s diaper. "Whoa!
That`s a lot to come out of a
little kid!"
In the bedroom Wade lay on her side, eyes wide
open, and laughed quietly as
she listened to Quinn through the intercom. He hadn`t changed
many diapers
since becoming a father, and when he did, it was priceless.
Quinn threw the used diaper into the disposable
waste basket, and began
placing another onto his son. "So, lets see, we do
this," he placed the
diaper underneath Mike. He then took a baby wipe. "And we
wipe this area
clean here," he said as he wiped the baby`s bottom.
Once satisfied the baby was clean, he put on
some baby cream, then he
grabbed the baby powder.
"And then it`s powder time," he said
looking at his child, who was now
staring up at him with wide blue eyes.
Afterwards he put down the powder then sneezed
as the powder irritated his
nostrils. "You knew that was going to happen!" he
smiled down at his son.
Little Michael giggled up at his father, kicking his feet in the process.
Wade laughed lightly as she knew the scene
which had just unfolded without
having to use her imagination. The same thing happened every time
Quinn
changed a diaper. He would always use too much powder, and would
always
forget to close the seal afterwards, so when he placed the bottle
down with
a thud, the loose powder would escape and spray up into his face.
"Okay, we just attach this here and
here," Quinn told himself aloud, as he
fastened the velcro tabs. "And then we`re done." He
then grinned. "Hey,
that wasn`t too bad, was it, little guy?"
He was proud of himself, as he gazed down at
his son who was now wide
awake.
"But, you`re not gonna go to sleep right away, are you?"
The baby boy smiled up at him and gave a little chuckle.
"Okay," Quinn sighed as he scooped
his child up into his arms, along with a
shawl covering him. "Right. Mommy always sings you to sleep
dosen`t she?"
he said in a playful voice. "Do you want Daddy to sing to
you, huh?"
He then thought for a moment, trying to remember the words to a lullaby.
`Lullaby and goodnight...`
Wade smiled as she listened to Quinn sing to
their son. She had only heard
him sing a few times, and even though he would never be able to
make a
career from it like Rembrandt had, when he sang to his son it was
the most
wonderful sound she had ever heard in the world.
Michael giggled in his father`s arms, clearly
winning the battle to remain
awake, and Quinn smiled down at him.
"Well, little guy, looks like the only way
you`re gonna go to sleep is if
Dad tells you a story." He then put on a playful voice
again. "Would you
like that?"
He began walking around the room with him, hushing him gently as he did so.
"Now you`ve heard of the stories of The
Three Bears and Little Red Riding
Hood, but here`s one of The Four Sliders And Their Quest To Go
Home."
Wade settled in her bed as she listened to her husband.
Quinn settled down onto the rocking chair and
began rocking softly back and
forth, as he cradled his son. "Once there was this young
genius who one
day discovered a brilliant blue light which could send him to
this great
new world," he said in a soothing voice.
"Then one day the genius went through the
light and discovered a world like
his own, but it was different to what he knew."
Quinn then gazed from his son and drifted back
to the memories. "But, the
genius didn`t want to be alone on his discovery, so he told his
professor
and his best friend." His smile faded. "But, suddenly
he found that he
had trapped them into going to all these different worlds with
some other
poor guy, a singer, who became a valued friend even though the
genius had
unintentionally forced him to come along with them...and there
was no way
for them to return home."
Wade frowned. She had hoped that after all
these years that Quinn had
finally gotten over his guilt about them being forced into
sliding from one
parallel Earth to another for which seemed to be an eternity, but
in
reality was only five years. However, it would seem that she was
wrong.
"They travelled to different Earths.
Thousands..." he then smiled.
"No...millions of them!"
It was an exaggeration. Yet to him at times it did feel that way.
"They had amazing adventures fighting
dragons and dinosaurs, and robots and
snakes, and even meeting themselves! They were getting to see all
these
brand new worlds." His smile faded again. "But,
sometimes the adventure
would turn into a nightmare, and all would seem lost. No
hope...no
family...times when everything went wrong."
He held back the tears as his thoughts drifted
back to that fateful day
when his university Professor Maximilian Arturo died while saving
his life.
And also to when he finally returned home only to discover that
the
Kromaggs had enslaved his own world, and held almost everyone he
had loved
prisoners...including Wade.
Wade`s lip trembled as she remembered the same
tragedies as Quinn had. She
thought back to that fateful day when Arturo had died taking the
bullet for
Quinn. And how Maggie Beckett had joined them, as she and Quinn
vowed
vengeance against the killer. She thought she had lost Quinn
then. In
fact she was almost sure of it. When he had failed to come
through the
vortex when they slid home, she assumed he had stayed behind to
be with
Maggie.
And, when she discovered that her own father
had died, and her sister had
placed the blame on her shoulders, she couldn`t handle it. She
needed
comfort. Sure Rembrandt was there, and he was a good friend who
had helped
her cope with Arturo`s death...but she needed Quinn to be there
with her.
She shuddered at the memory of being held captive by the Kromagg
Dynasty.
That was the worst year of her life. And, one that she would
never forget.
A single tear touched her pillow, before Wade wiped the others away.
Quinn shook himself out of his trance and
looked down at his son. "But,
the story had a happy ending. The genius finally fixes what went
wrong,
and he finally did manage to get his best friend home like he
promised...even if it took two attempts. And, he realised what a
fool he
had been, and how much he had missed her when she was taken away
from him."
He then smirked down at his son, with a playful
tone again. "And, do you
know what he did? He married her. And promised himself he would
never let
her go again."
Wade smiled through the tears, as she touched
the wedding ring on her
finger, and the memories that belonged with it. Memories of her
romance
and marriage to Quinn, and the tears both she and Quinn cried
when they
first brought their son into the world.
Quinn thought of his lost mentor once again.
"Y`know you`d have liked the
Professor," he smiled gazing at his son. "He
would have loved you. He was the Dad I lost." He then smiled
tenderly.
"Me and you are gonna do so much, y`know that?"
The baby boy now looked up at him with sleepy eyes.
"We`re gonna have so much fun, yes we
are," he beamed. "I`m going to teach
you things like, how to tie your shoelace, that`s a good lesson.
How to
throw a ball..." he then grinned. "And, how not to cut
yourself while
shaving."
He then sighed, as he gazed into the other end
of the room at the poster of
the universe, with the `You Are Here` label pinned onto one of
the stars.
The poster had belonged to him and had been pinned up on his own
bedroom
wall since he was eight years old. And now it was pinned on his
son`s
bedroom wall, as a significance of what they had been through,
and where
they are now.
"And, how not to mess up your friends` lives along with everyone else`s."
He glanced down only to see that Michael was
now in a sound sleep.
Standing up carefully he gently laid him back down into the cot,
and gazed
at him as he slept peacefully.
"Goodnight, son," he whispered
touching his face softly not to waken him.
"Sweet dreams."
He left the nursery.
Wade wiped away her tears, just as Quinn reentered the bedroom.
"Is he sleeping?" she asked.
"It took a while," Quinn replied as
he climbed back into bed. "But he`s
out like a light now."
"Good."
Quinn noticed her eyes were red and puffy. "Were you crying?"
Wade gently let her fingers caress his cheek.
"Quinn, why didn`t you tell
me you were still feeling guilty over the Professor?"
Quinn lowered his eyes, averting them not to
meet hers. "I sometimes lie
awake at night thinking how I caused his death..."
"Quinn, you didn`t kill the Professor," Wade stated softly.
Quinn finally met her brown eyes. "I just
as good as. Wade, I was the one
who invented sliding. And if I hadn`t have been so foolish and
gung-ho
then none of this would have happened." He felt his eyes
well-up, as he
saw tears glaze over Wade`s. "The Professor wouldn`t have
died, you and
Rembrandt wouldn`t have been missing for God knows how long. And
the
Kromaggs..." he trailed off, as he noticed Wade flinch at
the memory.
"I`ll never forgive myself for what
happened to you with them," he
whispered as a tear fell onto his cheek.
Wade wiped away his stray tear, as her own
escaped from the corners of her
eyes. "I need you to, Quinn. Michael and I need you. We need
you to be
able to forgive yourself so you can be happy with who you
are." She then
smiled softly. "A wonderful father...a loving husband...and
an amazing
human being."
Quinn gave a small smile, as he gazed into her
dark brown eyes, and gently
wiped away her tears.
"I sometimes ask myself why after all that
happened why I`m so lucky to
have you," he moved a strand of red hair from her eyes.
"And Michael, and
Mom and Remmy." His smile disappeared. "While the
Professor and all those
other people didn`t make it home...and I was the one to
blame."
Wade continued to stroke his cheek.
"Quinn, it happened," she whispered.
"There`s nothing you can do to change things. The Professor
died because
he loved you. All of us would have given our lives for one
another. But,
Quinn, sliding saved lives too."
Quinn`s expression remained unconvinced, as Wade smiled softly.
"Remember the world with the Q? If we
hadn`t have slid then millions of
people could have died. And the same goes for the world with the
asteroid.
If we hadn`t have been there, Quinn, then a whole world would
have been
destroyed."
Quinn began to relax a little.
"Yes they`ve been times when things went
wrong, but, Quinn, because of you
we`ve done more then anyone could ever imagine! And we`ve helped
people
learn to survive." Wade lowered her eyes for a moment.
"You helped Maggie
come to terms with her husband`s death...and you saved her
life."
Quinn studied Wade`s face as he listened to
her. Wade and Maggie Beckett
weren`t what he would call friends, but on their last meeting
both had came
to find a new respect and understanding for each other.
"Quinn, if it wasn`t for you Maggie
wouldn`t have coped, and she wouldn`t
be the person she is now."
"And still sliding to parallel worlds with
my brother from another
universe?" Quinn grinned.
Wade smiled broadly at the memory of Quinn`s
brother, Colin, from another
dimension wanting to continue travelling to other dimensions, and
Maggie
deciding to go along with him to *look out for him* as she had
put it.
"And that too." She then gazed into
Quinn`s blue eyes. "Everything
happens for a reason. It determines who we are." She lets
her fingers
push through his sandy brown hair. "I love who you
are."
Quinn smiled down at her. "You`re an
amazing wonderful woman, Wade." His
fingers now ran through her red hair. "And I love you for
it."
He kissed her tenderly, and she responded as
their love and passion for one
another flowed through the embrace.
She then took his hand in hers, and their
fingers interlaced, and she
smiled into the kiss. Quinn opened his eyes and smiled, as he
noticed the
grin and funny look on her face.
"What?" he asked with curiosity.
"Today I found out why I`ve been so tired lately."
Quinn smile faded, to be replaced with a look
of concern. "Anything
serious?"
Wade put her arms around his neck. "Well,
I should think so. Do you
remember a couple of months back when we gave Michael to Kelly
for the
weekend?"
Quinn thought back, then smiled. "Yeah,
she and Kevin wanted to get in
some practice before Andrew was born, so we had the whole weekend
to
ourselves..." He paused then stared down at Wade. "You
mean...?"
Wade`s smile widened at her husband`s sudden
surprised expression. "In
just over seven months time there will be another Mallory to take
care of,
Oh Great Procreator," she grinned, reminding him of their
conversation in
an underground city one time whilst sliding.
Quinn beamed with elation.
"Forget it, Quinn, I`m not having a
basketball squad!" she said playfully
remembering the rest of the conversation. "Three is my
limit."
"If I remember you said *at least* three," Quinn grinned.
Wade smiled up at him. "You remembered?"
"Of course I remembered," Quinn replied. "How about we compromise?"
"Compromise is good," Wade nodded.
She then closed her eyes as they kissed once again.
Quinn kissed her softly then gazed down at her.
"I`m lucky to have you. I
mean after all we`ve been through to get this far..."
"Quinn, we`re both lucky," Wade said
sincerely. "But, the truth is luck
dosen`t have anything to do with how we ended being together.
Being on
separate worlds wasn`t going to keep us apart." She then
smiled tenderly
at him. "We both knew it would happen..."
"Eventually," Quinn smirked.
Wade smiled. "Eventually." She then
gazed up at him again. "But, we both
knew we would be together someday."
Quinn swallowed then spoke softly. "I love you, Wade."
Wade gazed into her husband`s blue eyes, and
smiled. "I love you too,
Quinn."
Quinn smiled down at his wife before sharing
another passionate embrace
with her.
Through all the pain and heartache life had
thrown at them in the past,
together they both looked forward to the joys and celebrations
ahead of
them.
