A Desperate Affair

[alderwitch]

Taylor smiled and parked the car in front of her apartment, "No disco-tek raves. No culinary buffets. And no dimensions that run at different speeds. Got it. I thought we'd start with something that actually makes it all worthwhile. I'll even try and make the trip quick."

She held out one pale hand, palm up for him to take before they flashed out of the car. There was the moment of blinding darkness in the void before Jack found him standing at the edge of a verdant forest that had petered out into a clearing and a cliff edge that Taylor was looking out over. As far as the eye could see and to all of his senses, there was no sound or sign of people in any direction. In the valley below was a meadow filled with strange creatures, not all that dissimalar to horses but somehow more primal and past that was an endless sea. It was the same dim twilight that they'd left but the stars were already brilliant in the sky above.

"An earth in which primates never developed past the very proto-human stage. Evolution went left instead of right some time around the end of the ice age." Taylor volunteered, her soft voice almost startling in the silence. "There's a beach down a mile or so away that I think, if I had only one day left, I'd spend it lying in the white sand. I stop over here sometimes, when one of the worlds I've left is just... too hard."

[Avenger Assembled]

Jack took a few steps towards the edge of the cliff, a look on his face that was difficult to read. "It's beautiful," he said honestly. "I recognize the landforms here, I think. Freedom City?" At her nod, he looked down at the animals on the beach. "I'm not sure if I'd like it here long-term," he admitted. Of course not. What would I eat? Repressing the gut shot he'd just given himself, Jack shot her a half-smile. "Hard as it may seem to believe for someone who knows me as Avenger, I've always been more of a people person, you know? But this is a very nice place to visit. I can see why you like it."

[alderwitch]

"I'm sure you can guess that I'm not a people person," Taylor replied, walking up next to him with her hands tucked behind her back and her profile tilted up at the stars. "It's peaceful. In another hundred thousand years, sentience will develop fully in descendents of elephants and they'll start building proto-cities. At the moment, their ancestors are the dominant life form over in Africa and India. I stay in America so that I don't accidentally affect their development. Plus, nicer beaches."

She smiled faintly and tilted her head at him, far more relaxed than she'd been back home. Relaxed enough to make an offer that she didn't give lightly, "So, what do you want to see? This is your trip, I'm simply the designated driver."

[Avenger Assembled]

Jack repressed a gasp of shock. She can see the future? Oh, geez... Of course, he reminded himself, so could Scarab. There was nothing harmful about gazing into the evolutionary history of a planet. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more it sounded kind of cool. "How specific can you get?" he asked her with a smile, no sign of his inner discontent as he looked at her. "If I want a world where the Comets won the World Series last year, can you do that?" He laughed. "Or is that more implausible than elephants building cities?"

[alderwitch]

Taylor grinned, revealing the dimples in her cheeks as she laughed, "I wish. I would have much better luck with the occasional sports bet at the college pool if I could do that. I can't see the future, not easily at any rate. Most of my work involves research. I have to know the dimensions so that I don't cause more harm than good when I'm making the calls of who has to go back home, and who can get relocated."

She smiled and glanced up at him, having to tilt her neck to do so, "I spent somewhere around two to three years in the transient dimensions getting drilled by the keepers of the doors for this job. Just don't tell anyone that the mysterious mystic comes from hard-work and study more than cosmic power. I have a reputation to uphold. I could take you to one where the Comets won as it actually happened in a handful of them that I can think of off the top of my head. There are dimensions on watch-lists that I know the best. Hot spots, if you will, where things are more likely to spill out, but the bulk of the multiverse is blessedly conflict free. At least as far as interdimensional travel is concerned."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Okay," said Jack agreeably. "Show me the nearest world where the Comets won the World Series. It's gotta be a cheerful sort of place," he said with a wry smile. "At least in Freedom City. Probably less in Los Angeles and New York, if the same teams were in as last year." He looked around for a moment at the oddly alien sky overhead, and bent down to scoop up a rock. "Souvenir," he admitted. "I'll put it next to that thing I snagged off the surface of Mars."

[alderwitch]

"Hmmm, a Comets fan. Why doesn't that surprise me?" She smiled and slipped her hand into his once more, demonstrating again that she could do whatever it was that allowed her to teleport them both without having Phantom's cloak, which was in fact the case. Actually, Taylor could place someone in the void with any phyiscal contact, the cloak just concealed the process from bystanders. For Jack there was a flash of darkness before the silence of primordial Freedom City was replaced with the cacophony of human celebration. They appeared in a back alley, littered with paper confetti in Comet colors.

"I thought you might prefer to see the celebration first hand. We're a little out of synch with our timeline although time flows normally here, I swear. It's about a half-second slower than our world which has added up over the years." Taylor had to raise her voice to be heard over the noise. She glanced down at her delicate wedge sandals and gave a little shrug. Not the most appropriate dress for the place but better than Phantom's outfit she supposed.

As they stepped into the street there was something like an impromptu celebration going on although it was elaborate. There were vendors out hawking Comet gear at makeshift stands and places selling beer and food. Taylor tucked herself in against his side to keep from getting bowled over in the crowd as she pointed things out, "There aren't super heroes in this world. Instead, every meta human has gotten picked up by the athletic teams. Freedom City, as you can imagine, has one of the best teams in the world at just about every sport. It's huge. Meta-humans are the worlds top earners. Better than actors even. There's actually some cross-over. You should see the hockey team. Came through this world when a scalper was using a device to go off world and try and pick up new talent for a ringer. Hockey match."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Wow..." A little intimidated by the crowd, Jack automatically put his arm around Taylor; the better to cushion her against all the lights and the noise coming from the parade outside. "Good to know Freedom City's always on top," he commented with a smile, shouting a bit over the noise. "Even if it's in sports instead of superheroes! This is why I've always loved this city, there's always something going on. Even in another dimension."

[alderwitch]

She was grateful for the sheilding presence as turning unsubstantial wasn't an option. With her height, it was easy to get bowled over in this sort of a crowd. Plus, she didn't have to shout quite so loud. "See, there's the replay."

On one of the big screens in the bar down the street, a man in a spandex-y version of the comet uniform swung a metal bat at a streak that one could only assume was the ball before zooming towards first base. The regulation field had been made much larger and a flier from the other team launched off after the ball's orbit. The runner impacted with the first base man who appeared to be made of metal with a resounding clang. When the dust cleared the runner was standing squarely on the base to the cheers of fans, "It's a little more full contact sport now, and, yes, there are certainly some doppelgangers of our super heroes among the stars although the rotations may have changed since the last time I was through.

[Avenger Assembled]

"What's crime like here?" Jack asked curiously. "Wait...I guess there wouldn't be that much, would there? Even the jerks can make a lot of money at sports. Only the real monsters would need to do anything bad, and if there are enough super-cops around..." He smiled. "Sounds like a home run for the whole world. I'm kind of envious of these people, honestly."

[alderwitch]

"Yeah, not too mention you can have all the fame and money you want as a celebrity," Taylor said in amusement. She stopped at one of the stalls with all the various commemorative gear, glancing over the objects. "The white-collar crime is pretty bad, though. With all the money to be made, there are a lot of criminal activities when people get greedy. People will go to a lot to get the star players. Here, in America, it's not so bad but there's a lot of work not getting done in third world countries because there are no heroes to do it and the heroes that might stay, come over here for a better life."

She selected a commemorative pin and after some haggling, paid for it and turned back to Jack to clip it on his collar, "You can add it to your rock collection. Is there anything else you'd like to see?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"No, I think I have everything I need..." Jack looked around, memorizing the view, and stepped back into the alley with Taylor. "This has been quite an evening," he commented to her with a smile. "It was a real pleasure." It was easy to forget, well, a lot of things when they were on such a grand adventure. "Lord, I can't believe I'm in another dimension. We're in another dimension, so casually. I would never want your responsibilities; Taylor...but walking in your shoes has been grand."

[alderwitch]

"I'm glad I could share it with someone," she said it quietly, holding out her hand for his one last time, "It's lonely. I may not be a people person, but it's still lonely for all of the wonder."

She laced her fingers through his one last time and they appeared back on the streets of Freedom City, their Freedom City, once more. Taylor released his hand, and tucked her hands behind her back once more. She cocked her head to look up at him, "Safe and sound as promised. Thank you, Jack. I mean, for everything tonight. Thanks."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Don't mention it," said Jack, looking briefly embarrassed. "I'm the one who owes you, after all this." He touched the pin at his collar briefly. "Thank you for introducing me to your family." He gave her a thin smile. "If you need me again, though, maybe we'll pick something besides supper. I'm not sure I'd be a very good guest for any more of that. Good night, Taylor." And with that he was simply gone, as he so often was, vanishing in the darkness of the alleyway in the space of a moment. She'd given him a lot to think about.

[alderwitch]

Taylor still startled as he vanished. She doubted she'd ever get used to that. After flicking a brief glance up at her apartment, Taylor debated the merits of calling it an early evening and curling up with a book. Something light and fluffy... Then she felt that all-too-familiar tingle at the back of her neck again. Someone, somewhere in the city was using magical powers. Taylor didn't hesitate as she reached up to the Eye of Heshem and within moments the cloaked figure of Phantom was floating above riverside, scanning with her mystical senses for whatever plot was afoot in her city. Despite the uncertainty with her family, she knew with deep-seated certanity where her responsibilities would lead her.

But if every now and again, her thoughts turned to the evening's events and a certain masked avenger, could anyone blame her?