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TORCH CARRYING: 
Embrace of Ashes 1/1
by Meredith Bronwen Mallory
mallorys-girl@cinci.rr.com
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Legal Disclaimer: Sliders is not mine, it is the property of St. Clare
Entertainment and the Sci Fi Channel. No copy right infringement intended.

The song, "Juliet" is by Stevie Nicks, copyright 1989. No infringement
intended there either.

Personal Disclaimer: I am a hopeless romantic, though sometimes not a very
nice one. You. Have. Been. Warned.

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It was way too hard,
It was way too tough,
On this, she had not bargained,
But she was like some missionary,
Dancing to the beat of some mans ancient drum.
And she tries hard to tell her story,
But its a hard one tell.
She consults her book of miracles.
Cry, and the wind says fly on,
And now youre on your own.
Back out on the road again,
For a million reasons.
Youre back out on the road again.
And you try to, try to, try to gather some connections,
You get some ribbons and some bows,
Well get back out on the road again.
So you found a Queen without her King,
Oh, yes, and every one here loves her,
No one was wrong, 
Youre a little bit like her,
Youre just a little bit like her,
A little bit like me and you.
- Juliet by Stevie Nicks, The Other Side of the Mirror

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PROLOGUE

Wade Welles looked at the gun in her hand, then down at the Kromagg guard.
He didnt move. The sound of the blaring alarms shook Wade out of her stupor,
that and the feel of her friend, Dorian, pulling on her arm.
"Wade!" Dorian shook her, "WADE! We have to go!"
"uh, huh," Wade murmured, still looking at the dead guard, then quickly she
turned, following Nina as they ran down the hall, "We need to find a timer
and slide!"
"You dont need to tell me that twice!" Dorian said as she pushe'd open a
door. Nothing. They tried three more before they hit jackpot. Wade fumbled
with the instrument, trying to make sure it was safe, "Wade... they're
coming!" Dorian said worriedly.
Wade decided she really didnt care if it was safe. Holding the timer in
front of her she activated the wormhole "Dorian!" Wade called out. Dorian
looked at the vortex and froze.
"I cant do this," she stammered. It was Wade's turn to take charge.
"Of course you can," she grabbed Dorians arm, "Lets go!" The two young women
disappeared into the void, and the vortex vanishe'd behind them. The Kromagg
guards came three minutes too late, only to discover they couldn't even
track the wormhole.

--------

Quinn held out his hand to her, and she took it. The world around them was
black, but it didn't matter. There was only him, and for her, that was good
enough. Quinn pulled her towards him, and she offered no resistance, that is
until his face began to change. She let out a muffled scream as the face of
the man she loved changed into that of a Kromaggs....

"NO!" Wade jerked up in bed, breathing hard, sweat pouring down her
forehead, no. She looked around the darkened room of the Dominion Hotel and
felt the pit of loneliness in her stomach grow. She almost called out for
Dorian... but soon remembered her friend was dead. Dorian Richards had died
four worlds ago. When she and Wade escaped from the Kromagg Breeding Camp,
Dorian's number had already come up, and she'd been impregnated by a guard.
The thought of having to give birth to a humagg child had haunted Dorian
during her journey with Wade. But there had been no way abort the pregnancy,
since the fact it wasnt human would stick out like a sore thumb.

Then, four worlds back, Dorian went into labor- on a world lacking
civilization. Wade had tried to help her friend as best she could, but in
the end the birthing had been to hard, and Dorian gave up.
Both she and the humagg baby died, leaving Wade all alone, sliding forever.
Wade rolled over and shoved her face into her pillow, fighting back tears.
Anger and sorrow filled her to the brim, spilling over and staining her soul
as her tears did her pillow. Now, more than ever, she wishe'd she still had
Quinn. She wishe'd she could feel his arms around her, holding her. She
wishe'd he would tell her it was all right, and that she wasnt alone. Where
was he now? she wondered. A shudder ran over her small frame as she thought
about it. In the arms of Maggie, probably. Wade tortured herself daily,
thinking now that she was gone, Quinn and Maggie were together. He was
probably sleeping beside that woman right this very moment. Wade imagined
they were quite happy together, and that Quinn never even thought about her
any more. Now Wade cried in earnest, pouring out her rage and tears as the
moonlight streamed in her window, turning the hotel room into a land of
shadows. At last, exhausted, Wade fell into a fitful sleep. Beside her bed,
the timer counted down five more hours until the next world... the next life
time.

------

Some where in the multiverse, a beautiful bird took flight, leaving behind
its empty nest and soaring over the peaceful river towards the dawn. Below
there were nothing but trees, grass and fields of flowers. Humans didn't
exist here, their cars and city scapes didn't dominate the land. The whole
of the Earth was peaceful and green. The beautiful bird swooped down,
perching on the branch of a peach tree. Then, suddenly, the calm of the
morning was broken. The beautiful bird let out a frightened squawk as the
blue, swirling mass of colors opened in the clearing. Seconds later, a form
was deposited on the ground, and lay still there as the vortex closed.

It took Wade a few moments to get up, after all, there really wasnt any
reason to hurry. She slowly pushe'd herself off the ground and checked her
timer. Four days. She looked up, gazing around the peaceful clearing, and
then to the hill that rose above it, strutting its impressive gray against
the blue sky. 
Beautiful, Wade breathed. She sat there for a while, just marveling at the
unsoiled world she'd landed on, before she got up and gathered some wood to
make a small fire.

-------

It was late in the evening when Wade saw it. Up on the hill, there was a
flash of color, movement against the rocks. Then the form retreated into a
small cave. Intrigued, Wade strained to see more, but there was no evidence
to the disturbance at all. Could there be someone else on this world? she
wondered, a slider, perhaps?

 She left her smoldering fire and headed for the cave, the weathered rock
easy for her to climb. There was definitely someone there, Wade realized as
she stood at the mouth of the cave. The soft flicker of a fire reflected on
the walls of the cave, and she could smell something cooking. Apprehension
filled her, but she entered anyway. Her breath caught in her throat
suddenly, when she saw the man sitting by the fire. It was Quinn, her brown
hair longer, his eyes older, but it was Quinn. Then he looked up at her, and
she realized he wasnt HER Quinn. He must have mistaken her too, for his eyes
lit up only for a moment, before he smiled forgivingly and gestured for her
to join him.

"Hello," Wade said, trying to fill the silence with something, anything.
"Hello," Quinn responded slowly, looking her over, "Do you know me?" She
looked at him, he was familiar, somehow, and not in the sense that he was
Quinns double. It was something else.
"Maybe," she said, "Do you know me?"
"Maybe," he echoed her sentiment, "Did you work at Dopplers... before." She
nodded, turning to the fire for a moment before she looked back at him.
Quinn reached out and touched a lock of her hair, "Wasn't it brown before?"
"Yes," she shrugged. His hand slipped to touch her cheek briefly, and it was
then that she realized WHERE she knew him from, "You," she stammered, "You
were.... the one at Dopplers, before I started sliding. You got my Quinn
fired, didnt you?" His smile grew and he nodded, realizing who she was too.

"You remember," he said, "I'm flattered."
"How could I not?" she asked without meaning too. He'd kissed her, for
crying out loud. At the time, she'd thought it was her Quinn. That kiss had
catered to her crush on Quinn, and caused some other reactions down the
line. She looked at this Quinn, the one sitting beside her, and suddenly
felt curious, "Can I asked you something?" she asked. When he nodded, she
said, "Why?" He knew what she was talking about.
"Your double... was my wife," Quinn explained. She felt some color rise in
her cheeks. Was- past tense, she realized.
"Did it not work out?"
"Oh, it worked out," he told her, "Until the Kromaggs came. She's..." he
couldn't bring seem himself to say dead.
"I'm sorry," Wade put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's alright," he told her, then drew her closer, in a simple hug, "It's
alright."
They sat there like that for a while, each taking refuge in the illusion of
their loved one. At last, Quinn gave her hand a squeeze and got up. He went
to his pack, rumaging through it for a minute before drawing out a bottle.
"Wine," Wade realized with a start.
"I picked it up on my last world," Quinn explained, holding out the bottle
for her to examine, "Care for some?"
"Why not?" she shurgged.
He quickly popped the cork and raised the bottle in a mock toast, "To
sliding."
"To old friends," she nodded. He smiled and handed her the bottle.

    Raising it too her lips, Wade drank deeply, the liquid coursing down her
throat. She handed it to him, closing her eyes to savor the feeling. She
didn't notice he never drank from it himself. They talked and laughed for
some time, each sharing happy moments from their travels. Gradually, Wade
found herself growing tried.
"I think I'm going to lay down, the excitement must be getting to me," she
laughed. But suddenly it wasn't funny. There were black spots dancing before
her eyes, and her body didn't seem to want to respond the way she wanted it
to. "Quinn..."
"It's alright," he assured her. He was holding her now, her head in his lap,
"You're just tried, go to sleep."
"Sleep..." she murmured, the darkness closing in all around her. She could
still feel Quinn's hand holding hers, so she slowly relaxed, sleep crowding
in. The last thing she remembered was the feel of Quinn stroking her cheek.
Then she was hovering above the scene. She saw Quinn holding her close, saw
him lift her body and lay it carefully out. He bent to kiss her and she
heard him whisper; 
"You have to understand... I did it to save you." That's when it hit her
fully. She was dead. He'd killed her....

***

No longer was there light or dark. Wade couldn't even feel her body anymore.
She tried to scream, but soon realized she had neither vocal chords or mouth
to scream with. She tried to look around, but there was nothing to see, and
she had nothing to see with. Wade suddenly knew she wasn't alone, and though
she knew she no longer had a body, she felt she recognized this presence.
*I would hope you remember me*. They were not words, but a feeling that was
given to her by this presence. It was Dorian.
*Dorian. How...* 
*I'm sorry, Wade. Its not your time, really. But the damage has been done.
He- Quinn's double-killed you. I suppose he considered it a favor to you. He
told you his wife, your double, was dead?*
*Yes.* 
*What he didn't tell you was that... he killed her, rather than have her
taken to a Kromagg Breeding Camp*
*Oh* Wade projected. There was nothing else to say.
*Like I said* Dorian went on, *Its not your time, but now that you're
dead... Wade, you have chance to be with Quinn, your Quinn, again.* There
was a beautiful, exquisite explosion of light and color. Wade soon realized
that was her own joy.

*But* Dorian intoned, *Its not going to be easy... theres a price.*
*What?* Anything, anything to be back where she belonged.
*Wade, in five days, your Quinn will commit suicide*
*WHY?* 
*He misses you, Wade. He believes you to be dead, and he blames himself.*
Dorian informed her, *You must stop him. Here's the catch. He wont know it's
you... you'll be given your life back, but he must believe you are a double.
Understood?* 
*Why, if I can tell him...* Wade tried to protest.
*No!* Dorian was pleading with her, trying to make her understand. Wade got
the feeling there was a higher power dictating what she was and wasn't
allowed to do, *He must learn to love again.*
*I understand* Wade let out. She didn't really understand it, but she
accepted it. 
*Good. Good luck, Wade* Dorian said as Wade felt the darkness recede. There
was a rush of light, and then she was elsewhere.

***

Wade found herself crushed in a tumble of people. The familiar sound of a
vortex closing was heard, and Wade groaned as she tried to free herself. As
she opened her eyes, she found herself looking into the clear blue eyes of
Quinn Mallory. 
HER Quinn Mallory. He looked at her, and she looked at him.
"Wade?"