definitely still in play with his team. They were larger than life, and as different from their onscreen doppelgangers as night and day. Stephen especially, had caught the short end of the casting stick. His ex-military, hot nerd with blue eyes and glasses look, had been written into a pimply teenage genius who suffered from a peanut allergy. Julia had never understood how the character had made it onto a military base in the first place, even a fictional one.
“And this.” Mark gestured again to where Hayden still watched over the way they’d come. “Is Hayden Cooper, or Coop, if he should deem you worthy of such familiarity, has made his home with us on Phoenix.”
“Pleasure.”
Hayden’s solitary word of greeting rumbled warm and thrilling down Julia’s spine, even if he hadn’t turn from his surveillance to deliver it. His manner wasn’t so much rude as uninterested, but Julia didn’t mind. If this Hayden held even the slightest similarity to his one dimensional doppelganger, it would take time to get past his heavily fortified defenses.
Hayden did, however, look at Mark. A look Mark answered with a raised brow and a cheeky grin. He pulled Julia into his side and she rested her head against his shoulder with a sigh of relief. They were both unharmed, and together.
Mark held Julia to him with an arm that was rigid, every muscle tensed. Julia laid her hand on his chest and felt his heart race with the apprehension he was careful to keep from his face. She froze like that, and felt more like an outsider every minute, as the team continued a conversation obviously begun while she was out cold.
“The science is spectacularly complicated, but the short of it is, this is an alternate reality Earth. That laser blast propelled you here, through the pre-programmed portal I was investigating. Took me a day and a half to work out where you’d gone.”
“Found your radio.” Hayden grumbled, an undefinable emotion deepening his voice further.
Mark spared Hayden a sympathetic look before turning his attention back to Stephen. “So time’s running at the same rate here as back home?”
Julia flinched at the mention of home and looked up to see Anora watching her with understanding in her kaleidoscope eyes.
“So…ah…” Stephen glanced at Julia, his eyes skittering away just as quickly. “I can get us back. Phoenix’s coordinates are stored in the glider’s console matrix.”
A tense and heavy silence descended around the island, too solid to be easily broken. It seemed as if eons had passed before Hayden spoke. “We should go. Light is fading.”
“Give us a minute.” Mark barked, each word a razor blade slashing his throat on its way out.
He got to his feet, helped Julia up and led her by the hand across the few meters to the other edge of the island. They stood together, away from the others who were talking amongst themselves in an attempt to give the new lovers privacy.
“It’s my place, my time, I belong there.” He murmured; agony a bitter undertone that cut deep. “I have to go back.”
“I know.” Julia ducked her head into the crook of his neck to hide her eyes and whispered. “But you belong with me , too.”
Mark tangled his fingers through her hair, lifting it off the back of her neck and nuzzling his face behind her ear; inhaling the scent of her skin. “Sure do.”
Julia ran her own hands up his back and crushed her body against his.
“Mmmm.” Mark’s lips crashed down like he was starving and blocked any further thought; only to beg breathlessly when they came up for air. “Come with me?”
How stupid. His leaving was not the only outcome for the situation. If he couldn’t stay, then the obvious solution was for her to go with him.
“Yes!”
She clung to his biceps while her heart thudded with the same joy she saw flaring in her colonel’s eyes. There was no hint of hesitation, no desire to change her mind. She
“And this.” Mark gestured again to where Hayden still watched over the way they’d come. “Is Hayden Cooper, or Coop, if he should deem you worthy of such familiarity, has made his home with us on Phoenix.”
“Pleasure.”
Hayden’s solitary word of greeting rumbled warm and thrilling down Julia’s spine, even if he hadn’t turn from his surveillance to deliver it. His manner wasn’t so much rude as uninterested, but Julia didn’t mind. If this Hayden held even the slightest similarity to his one dimensional doppelganger, it would take time to get past his heavily fortified defenses.
Hayden did, however, look at Mark. A look Mark answered with a raised brow and a cheeky grin. He pulled Julia into his side and she rested her head against his shoulder with a sigh of relief. They were both unharmed, and together.
Mark held Julia to him with an arm that was rigid, every muscle tensed. Julia laid her hand on his chest and felt his heart race with the apprehension he was careful to keep from his face. She froze like that, and felt more like an outsider every minute, as the team continued a conversation obviously begun while she was out cold.
“The science is spectacularly complicated, but the short of it is, this is an alternate reality Earth. That laser blast propelled you here, through the pre-programmed portal I was investigating. Took me a day and a half to work out where you’d gone.”
“Found your radio.” Hayden grumbled, an undefinable emotion deepening his voice further.
Mark spared Hayden a sympathetic look before turning his attention back to Stephen. “So time’s running at the same rate here as back home?”
Julia flinched at the mention of home and looked up to see Anora watching her with understanding in her kaleidoscope eyes.
“So…ah…” Stephen glanced at Julia, his eyes skittering away just as quickly. “I can get us back. Phoenix’s coordinates are stored in the glider’s console matrix.”
A tense and heavy silence descended around the island, too solid to be easily broken. It seemed as if eons had passed before Hayden spoke. “We should go. Light is fading.”
“Give us a minute.” Mark barked, each word a razor blade slashing his throat on its way out.
He got to his feet, helped Julia up and led her by the hand across the few meters to the other edge of the island. They stood together, away from the others who were talking amongst themselves in an attempt to give the new lovers privacy.
“It’s my place, my time, I belong there.” He murmured; agony a bitter undertone that cut deep. “I have to go back.”
“I know.” Julia ducked her head into the crook of his neck to hide her eyes and whispered. “But you belong with me , too.”
Mark tangled his fingers through her hair, lifting it off the back of her neck and nuzzling his face behind her ear; inhaling the scent of her skin. “Sure do.”
Julia ran her own hands up his back and crushed her body against his.
“Mmmm.” Mark’s lips crashed down like he was starving and blocked any further thought; only to beg breathlessly when they came up for air. “Come with me?”
How stupid. His leaving was not the only outcome for the situation. If he couldn’t stay, then the obvious solution was for her to go with him.
“Yes!”
She clung to his biceps while her heart thudded with the same joy she saw flaring in her colonel’s eyes. There was no hint of hesitation, no desire to change her mind. She
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